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News / National

by Staff reporter

FORMER Industry and Trade minister, Nkosana Moyo yesterday said he believes Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa is likely to run the country differently compared to the long-serving President Robert Mugabe.Moyo, meeting representative of civic groups and ordinary residents from various sectors in Bulawayo for the first time after launching his presidential bid recently, was, however, quick to point out that this did not mean he was endorsing Mnangagwa."I know Mnangagwa. I know he will run Zimbabwe differently (from Mugabe), but I did not mean to say I endorse him. I do not believe in the politics of trashing others. If you ask me about Morgan Tsvangirai, I will also tell you my opinion about him."I will not engage in the politics of trying to rubbish others. I respect Mnangagwa. He is a Zimbabwean and factually he will run Zimbabwe differently. That is a statement of fact," Moyo, who fronts the Alliance for People's Agenda (APA), said.Mnangagwa is reportedly linked to the Lacoste faction within Zanu-PF which is at odds with the rival G40 grouping over who will take over from 93-year-old Mugabe.War Veterans minister Tshinga Dube recently stirred debate when he urged Mugabe to groom a successor or name one to ensure a smooth political transition once he vacates the post or dies.Dube's statements, however, triggered calls for him to step down from a rebel war veterans faction led by Manicaland Provincial Affairs minister Mandiitawepi Chimene.Moyo also expressed confidence that no amount of vote rigging, aided by State institutions such as the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), would stop Mugabe's Zanu-PF removal from power in 2018.He was responding to a question on whether Zec could be trusted to conduct a free and fair election in 2018."I personally know from history that there is no administration that can stand against change, against the people. There is no regime in history that has been able to stand against the wishes of the people."It's our own choice. History shows that when people say enough is enough, they are always capable of changing their country. If Zimbabweans say enough is enough, there will be change in our country," Moyo who quit his Cabinet post in a huff in 2001 over policy differences with Mugabe, said.Mugabe labelled Moyo "spineless" for quitting his Cabinet and temporarily relocating to South Africa at that time. MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai has also expressed confidence that he will romp to victory despite any rigging attempts.
CHEYENNE  Organized labor appears to be gaining in popularity again after decades in the dark.

The new union model may be different than the muscular industrial model of the last century, however.

The reason for renewed interest is the rising discontentment of low-paid service workers. They want higher pay and better working conditions. But they want respect most of all.

As it is they have no voice or anyone to speak for them, which in the mid-20th century was the function of a union.

Although union membership in the public sector remains relatively strong, private-sector union membership is at its lowest level since the labor movement began more than 100 years ago, according to published accounts.

Membership hit a record low in 2016 with only 10.7 percent of workers in a union, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 1983, 20 percent of workers were part of organized labor.

The primary reason for this reversal is the economic shift that has been taking place since the 1980s with the disappearance of well-paying manufacturing jobs and their replacement by low-wage service sector jobs with no benefits or job security.

At the same time, their employees have been making more and more money.

One sign of change is the movement in Indiana by food service workers to organize and demand collective bargaining with their employer.

They work for Aramark, a company that provides food and dining services to a range of businesses and made nearly $14.5 billion last year.

The food service workers signed up with a local in Indianapolis that was founded in 2009 to represent airport workers.

Since the local was established in 2010, its membership has increased by 400 percent, while Indianas statewide union membership has continued to decline.

Another movement, Fight For $15, to raise the minimum wage, found success in dozens of states and cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

What about Wyoming?

The state has plenty of service workers. In many towns the only jobs available are the lowly paid in fast food, nursing homes and other endeavors. The high paid jobs are in the white collar professional arena and the oil and gas fields.

Yet there is no big private-sector union movement here that I can discern.

And the Wyoming Legislature regards increases in the minimum wage as the same type of poison as a state personal income tax.

Wyomings minimum wage in 2017 is $7.25 per hour or an income of $15,080 per year. It was changed last in 2008.

Democratic state Rep. Jim Byrd of Cheyenne has sponsored a bill to raise the minimum wage in each of the last three legislative sessions. The bill never went anywhere.

Betty Jo Beardsley is the executive director of the Wyoming Public Employees Association. Like other public sector unions, it is stable.

Beardsley said she is seeing the pendulum slowly start to swing back in favor of unions in general.

A few years ago, the younger generation employees were concerned solely with their paycheck but not the benefits; they wanted the money.

That attitude is changing.

A survey by the WPEAs international union found that 63 percent of 24- to 35 year-old public employees said they think they need a union to speak for them.

Beardsley said a number of public employees told her they talked to older family members who told them of how union membership and benefits helped them build a nest egg for the future.

An article in the latest issue of The Atlantic explores this 21st century labor union in an article titled The Conservative Case of Unions.

Europe can provide some examples, including the popular works council, which gives workers a voice in a company operation without the complexity of forming a union.

The conservatives war on unions backfired as miserable workers became angry voters in the 2016 presidential election, the article said.

Unions are needed to give employees a voice and a sense of dignity. Surveys show the major complaint of employees is lack of respect.

Wyoming workers want respect, too.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some July 8 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.
A foiled gun-smuggling attempt in Nogales, Arizona, and a daring raid at an airstrip in Sinaloa, Mexico, led U.S. authorities to a gun shop on Tucsons northwest side.

Along the way, federal agents encountered rifles powerful enough to take down a helicopter, two phony home invasions, dozens of fraudulent gun sale records, and a former Tucson police officer accused of stealing the identities of people he arrested as part of a scheme to smuggle guns across the border.

Joe Santiago Valles, a Tucson police officer from 2012 to 2014, was sentenced July 6 in U.S. District Court in Tucson to 6 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to 30 counts of falsifying federal firearm records, identity theft and witness tampering. The prosecution of alleged co-conspirator Timothy Veninga, who was a federally licensed firearms dealer, is ongoing.

The investigation of Valles, 34, and Veninga, 48, began in March 2016 when U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Nogales caught a man trying to smuggle a Kel-Tec PMR-30 pistol into Mexico, according to court documents and testimony at the July 6 sentencing hearing.

Although the pistols serial number was obliterated and painted over, federal authorities were able to recover the number and trace the gun back to a sale the day before at Ballistic Firearms, which Veninga ran out of his house in the 3400 block of West Marlene Street. Valles ran a gun-painting business out of the same house.

When federal agents checked records at the shop, they found something odd: The names of Valles relatives appeared repeatedly in the forms required for gun sales by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Every family member had a .50 cal, ATF Special Agent Chris Bort testified at the Thursday sentencing hearing, which he called a huge red flag indicating gun smuggling.

One Barrett .50-caliber rifle  a model Bort said was favored by drug cartels and had been used to shoot down law enforcement helicopters in Mexico  traced to Ballistic Firearms was seized by the Mexican military in September at an airstrip in Culiacan, Sinaloa.

The raid at the airstrip was set in motion by the arrest of a man with three guns earlier that day in the border town of Mexicali, according to Rio Doce, a Culiacan-based newspaper. The Mexican military discovered a delivery was to be made and headed to the airstrip.

The pilot of the Cessna saw the military approach and tried to take off, but the driver of a Mexican military truck drove into one of the planes wings to disable it, the newspaper reported. In addition to the .50-caliber rifle, the military seized four AK-47 rifles.

As was the case with the Nogales bust, the serial number of the Barrett .50-caliber rifle seized at the airstrip was destroyed and painted over, Bort said. But an ATF attache in Mexico took photos of the rifle, which were used to trace it back to a Tucson man who supposedly bought the gun at Ballistic Firearms.

The ATF routinely traces guns seized in Mexico to sellers in the United States, including 120,000 from 2007-2015, according to annual reports from the ATFs International Firearms Tracing System.

However, the only connection the Tucson man had with Ballistic Firearms was that Valles had arrested him in late 2014 for a DUI violation, according to court records. ATF agents found records from the DUI arrest, which contained the mans date of birth and other information required for ATF forms, when they searched Valles house.

When authorities tracked down the man, who was not charged in the smuggling scheme, he burst out laughing at the idea he could afford an $8,000 rifle, court records show. He told agents he pays his bills by selling plasma and receiving child-support payments.

Another man whose name appeared on more than two-dozen sales records was arrested by Valles, who kept the mans personal information. Arizona courts declared him mentally incompetent, federal prosecutor Serra Tsethlikai said at the sentencing hearing. He lives with his mother and is allowed to carry only enough money to cover his bus fare.

Bort testified Valles brother told authorities the money to buy the guns came from an unknown individual Valles met on more than one occasion in a parking lot.

Only one of the firearms was recovered by U.S. authorities, and Judge James A. Soto ordered Valles to pay $62,000 as part of a forfeiture complaint for 31 firearms.

Those guns, which were sold from October 2015 to March 2016, are the tip of the iceberg, Tsethlikai said. We can only guess how many firearms made it to Mexico.

Soon after the ATF inquired about gun sales, the defendants staged two fake home invasions and destroyed the rest of the sales records, she said. Not only did investigators lose valuable information, but two people who matched the phony description Valles and Veninga gave to sheriffs deputies ended up facing deputies with drawn guns, she said. They were on their way to a Sonic restaurant.

However, agents were so shocked during their visit to the gun shop they took covert photos of records, Bort said. Agents determined Valles recruited his brother, sister, and sisters boyfriend to sign ATF forms saying they bought the guns. Valles paid them a few hundred dollars for each form they signed.

After ATF agents interviewed the family members, who were not charged, one of them agreed to wear an electronic listening device and meet with Valles, court records show.

During the recorded meeting at a Tucson apartment complex, Valles told them to not cooperate with law enforcement and said the guns were out of the country. He also said he got rid of all the paperwork, court records show.

Assistant public defender James Smith claimed prosecutors were trying to elicit the boogeyman of cartel violence in Mexico but could not prove Valles was involved in gun smuggling.

Smith also questioned the validity of the recorded conversation, which was made months after the Nogales bust. Valles had no way of knowing where the guns went, Smith said.

Smith referenced a recent gun-smuggling case in which four residents of Sahuarita and Green Valley were indicted in 2015 for smuggling guns disguised as metal artwork to Hong Kong. One of them was sentenced in April to 8 years in prison.

That case included charges of gun smuggling and money laundering, which Smith noted were not filed against Valles. Instead, Smith argued his client only violated laws regarding ATF forms.

So, youre telling me this is a forms case and not a guns case? Judge Soto asked Smith. Youre going to have a hard time convincing me of that.

However, Soto denied Tsethlikais request for an increase in sentencing due to a connection with gun trafficking, saying the prosecution had shown Valles knew the guns were headed to Mexico but had not presented enough evidence to show he knew the guns were going to cartels.

Valles resigned from TPD in December 2014 after two accusations of lying on police reports, according to records from the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board. He did not admit guilt, but he permanently relinquished his certification as a peace officer in Arizona in May 2015.
A federal appeals court has upheld a jurys decision to award a Tucson couple more than $1 million in damages after they were wrongfully detained by sheriffs deputies during a raid executed after a fake 911 call.

In April 2016, a U.S. District Court jury ordered the Pima County Sheriffs Department to pay Rob and Jill Larson $1.25 million in damages and more than $200,000 in attorneys fees after deciding deputies violated the couples constitutional rights, according to Arizona Daily Star archives.

The Pima County Attorneys Office appealed the judgment on behalf of the Sheriffs Department, which didnt contest that deputies violated the couples rights, according to court documents.

The panel ruled the District Court made no errors in the case and affirmed the jurys ruling.

The lawsuit stemmed from a May 23, 2013, incident in which the Sheriffs Department received a 911 call from a person reporting an altercation with gunfire across the street from his house, according to Star archives.

The Larsons were awakened by deputies banging and screaming at the door, and when they answered, the two were placed in handcuffs and escorted to a squad car outside the home.

Deputies began searching the home but stopped after the 911 caller approached a deputy to say they had the wrong home. The deputies moved to a nearby home, but the Larsons were detained during the search.

With nothing of evidentiary value found in the second home, the raid was halted when deputies searched a database of 911 calls and discovered the caller had previously made multiple false reports and had numerous other law enforcement contacts.

Two weeks before the raid, the caller, identified as William Warfe Jr., had been taken by deputies to a mental health crisis center and had dealt with law enforcement numerous times regarding baseless 911 calls, according to court documents.

The manager of the trailer park where Warfe lived spoke to deputies several days later, saying Warfe was terrorizing the trailer park, court documents show.

The deputy who responded made a note in her report and told the oncoming shift she was working with the Community Response Center to try to get Warfe hospitalized. All of the departments encounters with Warfe were entered into the department database.

At trial, the Larsons were able to prove that general practice for the Sheriffs Department is to check the database of 911 callers previous calls on the way to a potential crime scene and that despite the fact that at least two sergeants rode together to the Larson home, no check was made, according to the appellate court memo.

Were in the process of trying to digest what steps we need to take and should be taking as far as evaluating the court decision, said sheriffs Corrections Chief Byron Gwaltney. Obviously were disappointed in the outcome of the court decision. We went into the process with a strong belief that our deputies on that night were acting within what we believe to be the emergency exception to a warrant requirement.

Department officials are coordinating with its training staff and the County Attorneys Office to decide how deputies should proceed in these types of situations, in which theres a strong belief that a person or persons could be in serious danger, Gwaltney said.

On the night in question, deputies believed they were going into domestic violence situation involving gunfire.

Its always been our culture that we expect our deputy sheriffs to make their decisions at these calls based on case law, constitutional law and the current case law decisions that are out there, Gwaltney said. One of the things that came out of this decision is that we have a policy that is problematic, and thats a challenge for us because we dont actually have a policy that covers this situation.

It would be impractical to have a policy that covered every possible nuance, since every situation is slightly different than the one before, he said.

Were looking at doing some continuing refresher training as it relates to Fourth Amendment issues, and thats nothing new for us; we do these a few times a year, Gwaltney said. As part of the training, well debrief this case and the particular circumstances of that night so they have a point of reference to understand.

The occupants of the second home, Eva and Amber Jackson, are also suing the Sheriffs Department in federal court, saying they were arrested, interrogated at gunpoint and humiliated by six deputies, who are also named in the complaint.

The Jacksons are asking for $5 million in damages. On June 12, the court issued a stay in the case, pending the outcome of Pima Countys appeal in the Larson case.

Attorney Michael Garth Moore, who is representing the Larsons and Jacksons, did not respond to the Stars request for comment.
There are those who say its not a real Tucson Fourth of July fireworks show without a brush fire on Sentinel Peak.

If thats true, this years show certainly did not disappoint.

Not too long after the fireworks started around 9:15 p.m., the colorful blasts set the grass-covered south slope of the prominent peak ablaze, and Tucson Fire Department personnel  staged nearby for rapid response  had it largely extinguished by 11:15 p.m. The exact fire size isnt known, but Assistant Chief Joe Gulotta said it was possibly around an acre, and crews were able to keep it to that size thanks to preparations made before the show.

That pales in comparison to the ongoing Burro Fire, which has consumed over 26,000 acres in the Santa Catalina Mountains.

Nevertheless, some local researchers and advocates say the A Mountain fire was a high-profile public demonstration of the threat posed by buffelgrass, the invasive species that covers much of Sentinel Peaks southern flank. Several expressed hope the incident will spur additional eradication efforts there and elsewhere, something Gulotta said he supports.

He also said his department will review its incident management plan for next years event with special consideration of the invasive grass.

Buffelgrass has changed the situation on the mountain there, and we want to make sure that it doesnt control the situation, Gulotta said, adding later: It would be nice to look down and not see (it).

Buffelgrass, which is native to the Middle East and Africa, was brought to the area in the 1930s for soil stabilization and cattle forage. It has quickly spread throughout the region, where it threatens many native plants, like the iconic saguaro cactus. It was first noted in Saguaro National Park in the late 1980s, and volunteer removal efforts started within several years.

It is also fire-adapted, unlike many native Sonoran plant species, which do not fare well in the wake of uniquely hot and fast-moving buffelgrass-fueled infernos. Flame lengths off the perennial grass can reach 18 feet, and temperatures and spread rates dramatically outstrip those of fires carried by native plants, according to research summarized by Saguaro National Park.

Tuesdays fire moved through a number of saguaros, and the day after, many were yellowed from the heat, their bases blackened and in a few cases girdled. Many saguaros will likely die in coming weeks or years as a result of the blaze, according to several scientists.

That doesnt look good, said Jim Malusa, a vegetation ecologist with the University of Arizonas School of Natural Resources and the Environment, after being shown photos of the burned area.

I dont mean that we will lose every (saguaro) there, but there certainly will be victims, he said of the impacts of what he described as easily the worst Sentinel fire he has seen in his 45 years in Southern Arizona.

Post-fire saguaro mortality rates have ranged from 20 to 80 percent, with younger cacti faring worst and more intense fires bringing higher tolls.

After the 1,200-acre 1994 Mothers Day Fire in Saguaro National Park, a quarter of the 436 saguaros monitored by U.S. Geological Survey research ecologist Todd Esque and several colleagues had died within six years.

Saguaros, in a lot of ways theyre like humans, Esque said. Neither of us do well with fire, and we die for the same reasons: massive trauma to our surface creates an opportunity for disease to come in and dehydrate.

Ben Wilder, a desert ecologist recently named interim director of the University of Arizonas nearby Tumamoc Hill, described the most recent fire as a learning opportunity. While he said he was troubled by the prospect of buffelgrass carrying future blazes from Sentinel to Tumamoc  heavily used by researchers and hikers  he and others did not advocate an end to what has become a beloved Tucson tradition.

I think better than saying cancel the fireworks because of buffelgrass, lets get rid of the buffelgrass so we can have our fireworks and not have the mountain go on fire, Wilder said.

He intends to restart eradication as soon as possible at Tumamoc, which he said had tailed off in recent years. There have also been similar efforts on Sentinel Peak in recent years, such as an AmeriCorps-led project in 2015.

Lane Mandle, a spokeswoman for the city of Tucson, which sponsors the fireworks show, said the city does make an effort to work with local groups to eradicate it.

Kim Franklin, a conservation scientist with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum who helps coordinate regional buffelgrass eradication efforts, said that even without the aid of fire, the invasive grass will eventually crowd out native species like saguaros, whose seedlings have trouble taking root when faced with buffelgrass competition.

I hope this really drives home the point that we have to choose between buffelgrass and saguaros, she said of the fire.
The Burro Fire is about five miles from Mount Lemmons Summerhaven, and crews are working to keep it from threatening the community at the top of the mountain.

On Friday, three hotshot crews concentrated on preventing the flames from reaching the Rose Canyon campground and the Willow Canyon area, said Jay Lusher, an operations section chief with the incident management team on the fire.

Helicopter crews are dropping water to reduce the threat to Summerhaven and the mountaintop, Lusher told a crowd attending a public meeting about the fire Friday evening at Sahuaro High School.

We are continuing our efforts to protect all the infrastructure and residences on the mountain. We had a really good day, said Lusher, announcing that the fire is now 36 percent contained.

Preparation work along the Mount Lemmon Highway is complete and firefighters are prepared to initiate burning operations in front of the fire should it move west and threaten structures, officials said.

Crews, with the use of bulldozers, also built more containment lines at the north end to hold the blaze, Lusher said. He said officials are confident Pinal County residents do not have to worry about the fire threatening their communities, such as San Manuel.

The Burro Fire, its cause still undetermined, has grown to more than 26,000 acres. Nearly 700 personnel, including aircraft, are assigned to the blaze that broke out June 30 in the foothills of Redington Pass near Burro Tank. Mount Lemmon residents were evacuated Monday morning. Catalina Highway and Redington Pass Road remain closed.

Officials project full containment of the fire by July 15, but that may come sooner if heavy monsoon rains break out on the mountain, said Bea Day, incident commander for the wildfire.

Cloud buildup over the mountains Friday was expected to produce dry thunderstorms overnight and produce monsoon rains around the fire Saturday, said Kurt Van Speybroeck, the meteorologist for the Burro Fire.

Cards from the Tucson community thanking firefighters for their efforts were passed to crews at their camp Friday, and thank-you signs were posted, said Michelle Fidler, a fire management team spokeswoman. The notes bring smiles to firefighters faces, said Fidler, explaining many are away from home.

She shared one cards message with the audience at the public meeting Friday. A woman told firefighters to take care of themselves because her cabin was not worth their lives.
An extended family is homeless after a fire in the 4600 block of North Camino Aire Fresco, near North Flowing Wells and West Wetmore roads.

The Northwest Fire District received the call at 10:35 a.m. on Friday. It took 22 firefighters about 20 minutes to bring the fire under control. There were no injuries.

Neci Brancetelli and her mother live in the home, according to Brancetellis daughter Monique Wilson. She said the homeowners insurance lapsed after her grandfather died. She added that her mother and grandmother babysit grandchildren frequently, though no kids were at the home Friday.

According to Capt. Brian Keeley of Northwest Fire, the Northwest Fire Community Assistance Team will work with the Red Cross to provide assistance to the family while they are displaced. Investigators will work to determine the cause of the blaze.
News / National

by Staff reporter

First Lady Grace Mugabe is continuing to expand her vast empire in the Mazowe area, Mashonaland Central province after she took the state-owned iconic Mazowe Dam and surrounding tracts of land.The dam, the country's 16th largest reservoir, has a capacity of 39,35 million cubic metres of water was built almost a century ago.Grace's actions have escalated her bitter fights with local villagers who are now barred from using the huge dam which she wants to privatise.Armed police officers are now guarding the dam to keep away villagers and other people. Official sources said Grace in February stopped Zinwa officials from inspecting a crack on the dam wall, saying she will bring in Chinese engineers to fix the problem. The Chinese have helped to fund and build her Mazowe empire.The seizure and effective privatisation of the dam is unlawful. The Water Act stipulates that water should not be privatised, although its Section 3 says "all water is vested in the President", suggesting Mugabe could have granted permission to his wife to take over the dam.Section 4 of the Act states that there should be no private ownership of water."No person shall be entitled to ownership of any water in Zimbabwe and no water shall be stored, abstracted, apportioned, controlled, diverted, used or in any way dealt with except in accordance with this Act. (2) Subject to this Act, a permit issued in terms of this Act shall confer upon its holder a right to the use of water in accordance with the permit," it says.Grace has been evicting thousands of villagers since 2011 to establish a game park. She already has a dairy farm, orphanage and a school and is planning to build a university.Grace has also grabbed land which belonged to the former Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed agro-producer Interfresh's Mazowe Citrus Estate.Since the government's land reform programme which began in 2000, the Mugabe family has reportedly amassed more than 10 farms.
News / National

by Simbarashe Sithole

MDC-T applauds the courts for ordering tribunal to release Banda's record of proceedingsThe MDC-T Bulawayo Spokesperson Felix Mafa Sibanda has applauded the High Court of Bulawayo for ordering the independent Tribunal which was appointed by Local Government Saviour Kasukuwere to release a record of proceedings which recommended Deputy Mayor of Bulawayo Gift Banda's dismissal."MDC-T Bulawayo applauds judicial independence in Banda's case," he said."It appears the so called independent tribunal is buying time by not providing Gift Banda the correct of the staged managed hearing to vindicate what the relevant Minister wanted. The complaint has the audacity of hand picking the jury to formalise his verdict of "guilty" Therefore, no wonder why this un procedural process of denying the respondent, Banda with requisite documents thereby.""We demand that, this pending case against Banda be withdrawn forthwith for the good of Bulawayo residents."This was after High Court Judge Justice Nicholas Mathonsi ruled that the tribunal must release the record to Banda immediately.
Social Security is conservatively financed and managed. It has no borrowing authority and cannot spend itself into a deficit. To ensure that all benefits can be paid in full and on time, Social Securitys Board of Trustees reports to Congress annually, projecting the program's income and expenses over three-quarters of a century. That is a longer valuation period than private pensions or most other countries project for their counterpart programs.
BELGRADE, Serbia  Serbia says six of its citizens have been arrested in Greece in the investigation into the beating death of a 22-year-old University of Arizona graduate on the island of Zakynthos (ZAH'-keen-thos).

Serbia's foreign ministry said Saturday that the detained Serbs were to appear before a judge.

The family of Bakari (buh-KAR'-ee) Henderson of Austin, Texas, identified him as the victim. His family said Henderson was in Greece working on a photo shoot to launch a clothing line. Bakari graduated from the University of Arizona in May with a business degree from The Eller College of Management.

"Bakari loved spending time with family and friends, traveling and meeting new people," a family statement said, according to the Austin American-Statesman. "He was a big thinker and enjoyed coming up with new business ventures."

Greek police say the victim was beaten to death early Friday at a bar in Lagana. Officials haven't released a possible motive for the attack.

Greek police said Friday that a 34-year-old Greek and a 32-year-old British man of Serbian origin were arrested.

The Eller College of Management at the UA on a full academic scholarship and graduated in May with a bachelors degree in business finance and entrepreneurship.

Greece police said in a statement that he was beaten to death early Friday by a group of people at a bar in Lagana, an area of the island of Zakinthos known for frequently rowdy behavior by young foreign tourists.

Police said a 34-year-old Greek and a 32-year-old British man of Serbian origin were arrested and were to appear before a prosecutor on murder charges. They said an investigation to identify other people involved is ongoing.

It was not immediately clear why the fight broke out.

University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins issued a statement to the UA community, saying:

All of us at the University of Arizona are shocked and saddened by the loss of our recent graduate, Bakari Henderson.

Our hearts and prayers are with his friends and family. I can only imagine the deep sense of loss they must be feeling at his untimely death. It is always a tragedy when a young life ends before it has really yet to begin.

Our staff in the Dean of Students office are reaching out to the faculty and staff across campus. We also are working with his student organizations and the affiliations he had on campus to offer support to those who knew Bakari.

I know I speak for the university community as I express deepest condolences to Bakaris family and friends.
News / National

by Staff reporter

A crack police team from the Criminal Investigations Department has launched a manhunt for daring robbers who pounced on a church in one of Harare's low density suburbs, raped a woman, and got away with cash, in yet another chilling case of crime, which is spiralling out of control.Police detectives have so far arrested two of the suspects, while the other three are on the run, with the law enforcement agency said to be appealing for any useful leads that could lead to their apprehension.The five robbers  armed with a pick, two hammers and iron bars  raided an Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) church in Waterfalls on August 28 last year, where they stole cash, before raping a woman and making good their escape.Edmore Murambidzi, 23; Gift Kupa Mudamburi, 40; Alouis Nyamadzawo, 41; Munyaradzi Chikarara, 40; and Talent Madzimba are being charged with four counts of robbery.Nyamadzawo, Chikarara and Madzimba have since fled the court's jurisdiction and police have launched a manhunt for the three, subsequent to warrants of arrest that were issued by Harare regional magistrate Lucy Mungwari.The trio fled after successfully getting bail at the High Court, leaving Murambidzi and Mudamburi to stand trial for the four counts.They denied the robbery charges at commencement of trial and claimed they were not at the crime scene when the offence was allegedly committed.The complainants are-PFumai Mukodzani, 44, Fani Mereki, 40, Keith Brandon Mereki and a 29-year-old woman.Prosecutor Ephraim Zinyandu alleged that on August 28 last year, the gang armed themselves with a pick, two hammers and iron bars before driving to AFM Church in Waterfalls, Harare.The court heard that on arrival, Murambidzi and his accomplices confronted the security guard, Mukodzani who was sitting in a parked Toyota Coaster.One of the accused persons struck Mukodzani with a hammer on the head demanding to know where the church safe was kept.It was alleged that Mukodzani screamed for help but was continuously assaulted and threatened with death for making noise.The caretaker's son, Keith Mereki, heard the noise and woke up his father Fani who was sleeping in another room but the robbers caught up with them as they forced Mukodzani into that room.Murambidzi and his accomplices continued demanding to know the church safe's location and tore a pillow case before using it to tie Fani and Mukodzani's hands and legs.The two were made to lie on the floor with their stomachs and Keith was forced to go around the church compound showing the robbers where other occupants resided.The court heard that Keith was made to lie under the bed of a 29-year-old woman whom they found sleeping with her two children.That was when other gang members broke into the church office and stole $916 from the cash box.One of the accused persons had remained behind in the woman's house and pulled her pyjamas off before raping her.The court heard that he only stopped raping the woman after being signalled that it was time to leave by his accomplices.The gang reportedly loaded their loot into a Honda Aspire, which was being used to commit the offence before fleeing the scene.Investigations were instituted, leading to Murambidzi's arrest before he implicated his co-accused persons.Efforts to get an update from the police were futile as senior assistant commissioner Charity Charamba, was engaged in meetings. Police spokesperson, Paul Nyathi, said he could not give a response because he was out of office.Police have since warned members of the public to be on the lookout for bandits who are wreaking havoc across the country.As the economic situation continues to deteriorate, crime has been on an upward trajectory, with Zimbabwe's once conservative society becoming a haven for robbers.In one of the incidents reported recently, armed robbers attacked 23 congregants after raiding their churches in Bindura and Marondera in two separate incidents and got away with $5 000 cash and other valuables.According to a police statement issued at the time, one such case occurred on April 18, 2017 at around 0200 hours in Bindura where six unknown men attacked 13 congregants with iron bars and stole $357 and various cell phones.On the same date, at around 10pm in Marondera, four armed robbers attacked 10 people who were at a church premises. They forced opened the pastor's door and tied up the occupants of the house.They proceeded to blow up two safes; stole $4 160 cash; ransacked the premises and took away various cell phones.In November 2014, three robbers broke into the Glen Norah B branch of Glad Tidings Church and stole a safe containing $30 000. They are now behind bars.A Zaoga church in Vengere high-density suburb of Rusape lost $1 200 to five robbers the same year.In December 2013, a robber pounced on Methodist Church members at Mupandawana Growth Point, Gutu, and relieved them of their mobile phones and cash.The robber had sneaked into the church through a broken window.
Help India!

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter

Another episode to the not in my protest was added yesterday from Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand. The protest was held against mob lynching incidents which are continuously rising day by day.

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Even last week, one Muslim was lynched in Ranchi after carcasses of dead cow were found outside of his house. With the massive protest held at Rajbhawan, a memorandum was handed over to the Governor of Jharkhand.

The memorandum says, The state (Jharkhand) with all its diversity has been known for its unity and community strength and majority of the population has ensured peaceful life for all the inhabitants.

It further says, Recently, however, the amity is being disturbed by a very few taking the law in their own hands and lynching human beings in the name of cow protection, child kidnappers, religion strife, etc.

What we are witnessing is the loss of innocent human lives (who are mostly poor), is a breakdown of law and order by the fringe elements finding a free playground for promoting violence, community polarization and thus dividing the peace-loving population, it added.

The protestors, who gathered under the banner of Saajha Manch Jharkhand, have made demands through their memorandum to intensify intelligence gathering to put a stop over lynching cases; constitution of SIT for all such incidents and timed punishment of culprits in such cases; to provide handsome compensation to the families of victims; protection of harmony through cultural departments and its machinery; and to tackle with rumors, hoax and fake news which spark such incidents in the community.

Notable names who took part in the protest were of Simon Oraon, Jean Dreze, Ibrar Ahmad, Madhu Mansoori, Dinesh Singh, Harinarayan Singh, Ratan Tirki, Lalit Ojha, Mokhtar Ahmad, Prakash Viplavi, Bhuvneshwar Kevat, Afzal Anees, Tanveer Ahmad, Khalid Saifullah, M A Chaudhary, Mahua Manjhi, Khalid Khalil and Sharique Ansar.
Help India!

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter

Over the past few days, the communal tension in Bengal has spread to new regions thanks to the devastatingly polarising politics of the BJP and its sister organisations, who have been hell bent on spreading false news, images and stories of Hindu lives being in danger of attacks from Muslims of the state. However, amid the despair, there are also stories of courage, peace and harmony that goes beyond politics and religion. The story of Fazlul Ghosh, Prabhashish Ghosh, Kartik Ghosh, Anisur Rahman and many others.

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It is my duty to protect and save the life of my uncle Fazlul as we have lived in the same village since I can remember. This was Prabhashishs reply when asked to explain how during the height of communal tension, he, the son of the local BJP worker Kartik Ghosh of Basirhat who was attacked by the mob at time of collision with Muslims and later died in hospital, carried Fazlul in the same ambulance with his father and admitted both his father and Fazlul in the same hospital. Later, when doctors advised him to take Fazlul to SSKM Hospital, he left his father in that situation momentarily and carried Fazlul to SSKM and got him admitted there.

What was even more encouraging, was that numerous other Hindus and Muslims are helping to rescue each other caused by the tension. Anisur Rahaman, a local 28-year-old Muslim from Narayanpur village of Baduria block, was beaten by his fellow Muslim brothers when he was rescuing the shop of Souviks elder uncle at the Rudrapur market. I was beaten by bamboo when I tried to protect Bablu uncle(Souviks elder uncle) from the mob and they also abused me with slang languages, said Rahaman. He added that they are living here for many years, so how they can allow this kind of heinous deeds take place.

A woman, who refused to disclose her name from a village in Basirhat said, we are in the Muslim belt area for many years. Even in such a situation, we are told by our fellow Muslim brothers and sisters that they will protect us till they have blood in their veins.

A hotel owner from Narayanpur, Fazlur Rahaman, said,  we tried to protect our Hindu brothers whom the outsiders were about to hit with arms, bamboos. He also said that police and administration should ensure peace and safety of each and every Hindu Muslims in the locality.

On July 2, a Hindu teenager from Magurkhali village of Baduria block at North 24 Parganas posted an obscene photo on Facebook that enraged Muslim sentiments. It caused a communal tension between Hindus and Muslims in the locality. Its impact also reached to the Basirhat town which is one of the sub-division of the district. The police arrested the accused and he is now in police custody. Now the situation of the two localities is calm and quiet. The administration has issued Section 144 in the two localities and internet connection will remain cut until July 10.

Even as the situation in Bengal remains tense but under control, these stories of people looking beyond their politics and religion to help each other no doubt offer hope that even as some make the most sinister plans to destroy the cultural and religious fabric of India, there are many who will fight against it tooth and nail.
Help India!

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter

All India Momin Conference, an organisation of Muslim weavers and artisans, have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attract his attention towards the atrocities against Dalits, minorities and other weaker sections of the society.

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The letter cites the famous slogan of PM Modi sabka saath, sabka vikas and says, Unfortunately despite this beautiful promise, incidents of atrocities on Dalits and lynching of Muslim Indians are consistently increasing day by day.

The lynching of young Hafiz Junaid in train, in full public view on the eve of Eid has surpassed all limits when an Indian citizen was lynched because of his religious identity, the letter says.

Hafiz Junaid was a 15-year-old boy who was killed in Delhi-Mathura bound EMU express on the suspicion of carrying beef. In fact, Junaid was returning from Eid shopping that day when he was not only attacked, attackers pulled his beard and threw his skull cap.

The letter mentions previous episodes where Modi had condemn cow vigilantes, who have no job other than attacking on minorities. Modi had said, Some people are running shops in the name of cow protection.

In reference to the Modis statement the letter reads, But elements inimical to our communal harmony belonging to organized groups, some even close and affiliated to the ruling party,have c ontinued their activities particularly in BJP ruled states of Rajasthan, Haryana, UP and Jharkhand, and the state authorities are watching as silent spectators.

Feroze Ahmad Ansari, the national president at All India Momin Conference told TwoCircles.net, We wrote the letter to PM Modi as well as President of India, Home minister and Minority affairs minister. We do not think of Modi as representative of BJP, but as the leader of a secular nation.

Ansari, who is also an advocate at the Indian Supreme Court, said, We have hopes that our Prime Minister will take tough action against those vigilantes. Because a country like ours cannot tolerate crimes and such criminals.

Telling about how Weaver community is affected with the lynching incidents, Ansari said, It is not about weavers, but about the weaker sections. Mob killed Junaid when he was returning through a local train. You dont think if he would be coming from a stronger community, he would still be running through local train, do you? He would be returning through a car and there would be no chance of lynching.

He further said, Those people are the easy and prime targets who are at the lowest strata of the society. Thats where concerns of weaver community mixes up with Dalits, tribal and other weaker section of the society.

All India Momin Conference was established in 1926 and stood up bravely against Mohammad Ali Jinnah during partition and opposed the two-nation theory. Feroze Ahmad Ansari said, We have always been nationalist and never searched for homes outside of India.

Telling about the need to write a letter, Ansari said, The times we live in are tough. If you start protesting directly, people would say that why did you not write first? Before any protest or movement, we want the government to stand up and take the action as per the slogan Sabka saath, sabka vikas.
As people across the globe celebrated World Chocolate Day this Friday (July 7th), in honour of the delectable cocoa-based treat, lets take a look at the fascinating history behind the origin of chocolate.

Origin of the 'food of the Gods'

Every year sweet tooths give a shout-out to chocolate on July 7th, known as World Chocolate Day, to celebrate the day chocolate was supposedly introduced into Europe in 1550. But the origin of cocoa and chocolate goes back almost 4,000 years when it was produced by pre-Olmec cultures (Mayan and Aztec civilisations) in Central America.

According to researchers, a small village in the Ulua valley in Honduras is considered as the birthplace of chocolate. The residents of this village used to consume Xocoati, a bitter drink made from cocoa beans.

Cocoa became an integral part of the Mayan culture between 250 and 900 AD. It was also used as a currency. According to a 16th-century Aztec document, a single bean could be traded for a traditional Mesoamerican dish called Tamale, while 100 cocoa beans could purchase a decent turkey hen.

The Mayans, as well as the Aztecs, believed that cocoa beans had magical properties and used to reserve chocolate for kings, priests, and nobles, during sacred ceremonies.

'A bitter drink for pigs'

According to legend, when Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes came to Mexico in search of gold and silver, Aztec ruler Montezuma mistook the invader for a reincarnated deity.

Montezuma welcomed the Spaniard with a lavish banquet that also included a chocolate drink. Initially, the Spanish didnt like it, so much so that one described it in his writings as "a bitter drink for pigs"  but once mixed with honey or cane sugar, it quickly became popular throughout Spain, states a Smithsonian Magazine article.

In the midst of 16th century, chocolate arrived in Spain and quickly became a symbol of luxury as only the elites could afford it. According to HISTORY.com, Spain managed to keep chocolate a secret for about a century. When the Spanish Princess Maria Theresa wed Louis Xiv in 1660, she brought her love of the cocoa-based treat with her to France.

It became a huge hit in Louis XIVs court. By the 17th century, chocolate became popular throughout Europe. However, until the late 1700s, only the rich could afford this expensive import. In 1657, the first chocolate house opened in London. Chocolate houses were club-like places where the elites could enjoy a chocolate drink while playing cards or discussing politics.

The invention of modern-day chocolate bar

Dutch chemist Coenraad Johannes van Houten invented the cocoa press in 1828. Known as "Dutch cocoa," Houten's creation revolutionised the process of chocolate-making and led to the creation of chocolate bars.

The first milk chocolate was created by inventor Daniel Peter in 1854. The Swiss chocolatier joined Henri Nestle to set up the first Nestle Company in America.

Peter and Nestle added condensed milk to solid chocolate to create milk chocolate bars.

Soon companies like Cadbury and Lindt ushered in a chocolate boom between the 1800s and 1900s and the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, approximately one billion people consume chocolate every day and over 50 billion is spent on chocolate, worldwide, each year.
Opinion / Columnist

My article published earlier this year on the 16th of May titled, "Lack of participation in national politics by UK Zimbabweans," received a lot of feedback from you the readers. Most Zimbabweans raised valid points of why they don't want to get involved. I must admit to some extent, I was wrong and today I will tackle the issues they raised.On the 18th of April 2017 (Zimbabwe Independence Day) after a demonstration at the Zimbabwean Embassy in London, I was confronted by a very angry lady. She interrogated me, mainly with the question of, "Why I was ungrateful to the extent of failing just to say thank you."I couldn't understand her at all, to say the least I was speechless as I couldn't figure out why such a public outburst was warranted. Hiding my anger towards her actions, I politely asked, "Why are you so angry?"Her answer through me back, I was shocked. She said, "I donated 40.00 towards your hospital fees and so did many others. We raised in total 327.00. The least you can do is say, Thank you!" She went on to explain what happened during the period I was in hospital back in Zimbabwe, as a result of the torture I endured at the hands of the ZANU PF regime. She went on stating that during the 17th of September 2016 Vigil at the Zimbabwean Embassy in London, Zimbabweans contributed towards my hospital fees.In my horror, I couldn't get my head round the fact that, I was in hospital in so much pain and my family was struggling to find alternative accommodation. The hospital bill was being covered by a local NGO, yet someone was pocketing 327.00 raised in my name.Straight away, I asked who collected it and the name Ephraim Tapa and Rose Benton come up. I HAD NEVER MET OR SPOKEN WITH THESE TWO CHARACTERS AT THE TIME OF THIS DISCUSSION WITH THIS LADY. I asked for their numbers from those at the demonstration and called Ephraim Tapa immediately and advised him he was on a loud speaker. I asked him on 18th April 2017 at 1530hrs about the issues and he didn't have a response. Tapa promised to get back to me within 30 minutes and that was the end. I tried calling him and Rose to clear this issue as predicted their phones were switched off and they have never returned my calls. It opened a can of worms, the amount of times people have contributed to assist the struggle by supporting activists back in Zimbabwe, yet the donations end up in the pockets of a few leaders. This is a major contributing factor leading to the reason why Zimbabwean's have lost interest in participating in demonstrations that promote democracy and human rights for Zimbabwe. Now it's just simply assumed that most Zimbabweans participate in activism in order address their immigration issues and once sorted its good bye until its renewal time, all resulting from the experiences that these Zimbabweans have had to endure at the hands of these corrupt leaders.Leaders of political parties and civic society organisations are demanding money in order to support genuine activists get papers and as long as one has money their cases are supported. Let's not forget, whilst these people are going through the immigration process they are forbidden from working, so relatives and friends assist in raising these funds."Who is pocketing these monies ranging from 300 to 1300 being paid to these leaders?" I bet my last dollar this money is not reaching political parties and receipts are not issued. This is killing activism and participation in political parties' organised demonstrations and meetings. The leaders have become so greedy building mansions back in Zimbabwe at the expense of suffering Zimbabweans. Most female activists who can't afford these high "fees" end up giving their bodies to these good for nothing morons in return for a letter and their testimony in courts as they deserve since they genuinely participated in demonstrations etc. Most Zimbabwean political parties and civic society leaders in the UK have become mini-gods who are being worshipped just to facilitate a letter and testimony. They have destroyed families by demanding sexual favours to facilitate for a letter the female activists is in titled to for standing up to the ZANU PF regime.One Zimbabwean said to me, "My money will get me papers without going to demonstrations!." "Surely, Mugabe wacho anoenda sei?" I ask myself.Most activist leaders in the UK are worse than Mugabe. "Whats the difference between them and ZANU PF, I wonder?," They are as greedy as ZANU PF or even worse.I need make this very clear, "I am speaking from an informed point of view kana pane ane nharo ngaati nyo tione."It should be noted that the struggle to free Zimbabwe is not owned by individuals as is portrayed by what has become of the Saturday Vigil held outside the Zimbabwean Embassy in London.Ephraim Tapa and Rose Benton stop lying to uninformed desperate Zimbabweans, you are manipulating. You don't own the vigil. It's history of Free Zimbabwe vigil can be traced back to 1978 being fronted by people like Didymus Mutasa, muri vana please sit down.That vigil of yours is destroying the spirit of activism and Zimbabwean oneness required to fight for a free Zimbabwe by those in the diaspora. I am shocked you are even talking of a coalition by the political opposition parties back home yet a few Zimbabweans in the UK cannot exist and do demonstrations together because of your love for money.Leaders of opposition political parties and civic society stop this nonsense. Your love for money and sex with desperate Zimbabweans is killing our push for a change in Zimbabwe.As I sign off I need my donated 327 sent to activists doing amazing work in very difficult conditions in Zimbabwe. To all those who condone corruption and want to see a free Zimbabwe don't pay them a penny. If they refuse to sign your papers demanding money and sexual favours, I am willing to help you expose them . We want Mugabe gone not the enrichment of individuals, yamakadya yakwana.Silvanos MudzvovaDirectorChitori trust00263 772 895 627/00263 772 729 284Theatre, film and Arts consultations organization based in Zimbabwe
Little more than a month ago, four Arab nations severed ties with Qatar. They were Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The reason behind it was the relationship between certain Extremist Groups and the Qatari nation. As Reuters reported, Saudi Arabia in particular accused Qatar of "backing militant groups" and that they broadcast their ideology on Qatar's state-owned satellite channel, Al Jazeera. The Saudi state news agency SPA stated that "Qatar embraces multiple terrorist and sectarian groups". As a result they cut all "land, air and sea traffic with Qatar", as the Guardian newspaper stated.

What was revealed?

However, what is most embarrassing for the Saudi's is a report recently published by a right-wing think tank, the 'Henry Jackson Society'. According to CNBC, the report concluded that Saudi Arabia is the 'foremost' "financier of Islamist extremism in the UK". The report connected several Saudi organisations to a growth in the number of British citizens becoming radicalised and leaving to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Not what they need

Whatever the fallout from this report may be, it will most certainly be embarrassing for the Saudis. It could be seen to be hypercritical, and cause further damage in their attempts to punish Qatar for their links to terrorist groups.

And for relations between the UK and Saudi Arabia? It will not be good as the Arab nation are the "closest ally to the UK in the Middle East", as CNBC stated. What is for sure is that this is just not what they need right now.
Unified Communications Week in Review: BroadSoft, Mitel, Toshiba & ShoreTel

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By Alicia Young

Web Editor By Alicia YoungWeb Editor

Welcome back to the week in review, where we take a look at all the top stories making headlines in Unified Communications this week.

The week started off with the news that BroadSoft (News - Alert), Inc., a provider of cloud business software for unified communication, collaboration and contact centers, has teamed up with C3ntro Telecom, a telecommunications and information technology company. The companies would like to strengthen their technology relationship through C3ntro Telecoms offer to the Mexican market named Unified Communications (News - Alert). Full details of the partnership can be found HERE.





Next up came the long awaited news that the Mitel and Toshiba (News - Alert) deal is complete. The deal was announced back in May, and this week Mitel was sent several assets, inventory and support obligations from Toshiba Corporations unified communications business. Now, Toshiba users have an unimpeded path to the complete Mitel cloud communications portfolio. Everything you need to know is HERE.

ShoreTel also made headlines this week when it announced that it has become a Google Cloud Platform Technology Partner. Going forward, it will be offering an SMS API solution via the Google Cloud launcher.

The Google Cloud Platform offers a great way to expose more developers and businesses to the ease and flexibility of ShoreTel Summit, said Mark Roberts (News - Alert), chief marketing officer for ShoreTel. Summit's flexible SMS APIs will enable developers who are creating exciting applications on Google Cloud to automate communications capabilities and create more convenient user experiences.

The full details can be found HERE.

Finally, the week rounded out with the news that CNP Technologies has joined the RingCentral (News - Alert) Channel Partner Program. The company has decided to join the program in order to provide RingCentrals cloud communications solutions to its enterprise customers. Apparently, customers have been looking for access to the best in cloud solutions for some time and, to meet that need, CNP Technologies turned to RingCentral. Full coverage is HERE.

Thats all for this week. Come back next week to read all the latest news in the Unified Communications space.
Yesterday, high-end denim retailer True Religion announced that it would be filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection, proving that they have become only the latest company in recent months to have filed for bankruptcy. On the opposite side of the business spectrum, there were yet another couple of billion dollars thrown around in a corporate sale. This time it involved two credit card processing firms, Vantiv and Worldpay.

Why True Religion had to file for bankruptcy

True Religion has announced that it has filed for bankruptcy protection, specifically for creditor protection under in a bankruptcy court in the District of Delaware.

In the filing, True Religion listed assets and liabilities in the range between $100 to $500 million dollars. The company has also signed a restructuring agreement with many of its lenders, including TowerBrook Capital Partners, which will help to cut True Religion's debt by more than $350 million dollars.

The company CEO, John Ermatinger, said the company is taking a critical step to reduce debt and that all trade creditors vital to the business are expected to be fully paid. In recent years True Religion's has declined since its denim has fallen out of style and because of the shift to online shopping. The company mostly sells their products in department stores or brick-and-mortar shops. Their bankruptcy plan, which was drawn up prior to the filing, will now take three to four months to get confirmed by the court.

Vantiv buys rival Worldpay for billions

In the exciting world of credit card processing, American-based firm Vantiv has agreed to purchase their United Kingdom-based rival Worldpay for around $9.9 billion dollars. This move now combines both companies similar businesses in order to capitalize on expanding international and e-commerce opportunities.

Both of these companies are two of the biggest processors of credit card payments at retail and online stores in the world.

To some, the merger between Vantiv and Worldpay indicates a possible consolidation in the credit card processing business could limit options for business owners. Vantiv has a line of software and hardware products used at checkouts when shopping.

These range from card readers to fraud detection application to mobile wallet verification. Worldpay on the other hand, processes around 31 million retail, online and mobile store payments every day.
A recently surfaced photo suggests that the legendary aviator Amelia Earheart and her navigator survived their mysterious plane disappearance, 80 years ago. Earheart and her co-pilot Fred Noonan took off on July 2, 1937, leading their way to Howland Island, 2,556 miles away. According to history, the pair encountered overcast skies and rain showers, despite weather forecasts that predicted the clear weather.

Earhart was last heard from on July 2, 1937, as she attempted to become the first woman pilot to circumnavigate the globe.

Amelia Earheart may have survived crash-landing

In one of the files found in National Archives, a photo shows a woman who resembles Amelia Earheart and a man who appears to be her co-pilot, Fred Noonan. The photograph was featured in a special History channel documenting, Amelia Heart: The Lost Evidence, that airs every Sunday.

The photo is believed to have been taken by a spy who was later executed in Japan. Experts believe that the two aviators were imprisoned there, where Noonan was executed and Earheart died. According to Japans Foreign Ministry and National Archives, they have no documents of Earheart being in their custody. However, many records from that time were destroyed during or after World War II.

Before the discovery of the photo, there was a theory that the Japanese military could be responsible for the disappearance of the two pilots. It is now then for the first time in the documentary that suddenly makes the theory more plausible.

Alive under Japanese custody

The recently discovered photo shows a Caucasian man and woman, on the dock and captured by the Japanese.

According to investigators, the photo dates to 1937. Using facial recognition, investigators say that it is likely that the man standing on the left of the photo is Fred Noonan and the woman sitting is Amelia Earheart. Historians compared Noonan's teeth and nose to make the determination of the man in the photo. On the other hand, experts determined Earheart's torso's size to compare her with the supposed woman.

According to the report of The Today Show, local residents at that time confirmed that they saw the plane crash and a Japanese ship picked up Earheart and Noonan and the plane. Independent analyst Shawn Henry told in an interview with History that the photo is legitimate and undoctored.

According to a retired government investigator who has spent more than ten years of investigating the whereabouts of Earheart said that the photo "clearly indicates that Earhart was captured by the Japanese."
With former FBI Director James Comey set to testify in Congress on Thursday, the White House is doing their best to push back. For Presidential Counsel Kellyanne Conway, she took it upon herself to sent out a few curious tweets as part of their defense.

Conway on Twitter

As the presidency of Donald Trump enters its sixth month, the media has continued to hold his feet to the fire. The scandal involving Russia and their alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election has heated up, with Trump denying any wrongdoing whenever he his pressed on the issue.

After James Comey was fired as director of the FBI last month, many wondered if he would be called to testify during the investigation into Russia since he was leading the charge prior to his termination. After Comey's opening statement was released on Wednesday, advisers to the president hit back, focusing on the media's reporting which they believe wasn't accurate. One person who spoke out against Comey and the media was Kellyanne Conway, who sent out a series of tweets on June 7.

Four+ months of staff shakeup & palace intrigue stories that never happened. https://t.co/goqrCmSUqj  Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) June 8, 2017

Taking to her Twitter account on Wednesday, Kellyanne Conway defended Donald Trump and the White House from the Russian investigation and the upcoming testimony of James Comey.

"Four+ months of staff shakeup & palace intrigue stories that never happened," Conway tweeted out in a shot at media reports that Trump was going to make major changes to his staff. Conway also attached a link to an interview she did with Axios earlier in the day where she elaborated on the press and the hysteria surrounding the former host of "The Apprentice" and Russia.

At last. Hope for all. https://t.co/sLCyWyMntH  Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) June 8, 2017

"Comeys Friends Were Wrong & Trump was Right: Comey admits he told @POTUS 3 times he was not under investigation," Kellyanne Conway tweeted out following the release of James Comey's opening statement. "THIS is CNN," Conway added in a follow-up tweet regarding a correction the network was forced to make when they reported that Comey was expected to refute the claim that Donald Trump was under investigation.

"Please make this a 'Breaking News' headline for the next 5 days," she wrote.

THIS is CNN.



Please make this a "Breaking News" headline for the next 5 days. https://t.co/piSuDE2agU  Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) June 8, 2017

After re-tweeting an article from the right-wing Daily Caller, and then a reminder about what would have been the 70th birthday of New York Yankees legend Thurman Munson, Kellyanne Conway then posted her most random piece of the night. "At last. Hope for all," the former campaign manager tweeted out, while linking to an article about the latest DC comic book story arc involving Batman proposing to Catwoman.

Comeys Friends Were Wrong & Trump was Right: Comey admits he told @POTUS 3 times he was not under investigation https://t.co/lufh2RmL43  Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) June 8, 2017

Next up

While Kellyanne Conway decided to defend the president with an odd night of tweeting, all eyes will be focused on James Comey on Thursday. It's expected that Donald Trump will be live-tweeting the testimony, though only time will tell how it all plays out.
A Delta Air Lines story hit the headlines Friday after a flight from Seattle to Beijing had to turn around. While yesterday it was reported the cockpit door was his target, it seems the unruly passenger was trying to open an exit door on the plane when he assaulted a cabin crew member and a passenger. 23-year-old Joseph Daniel Hudek appeared in a U.S. District Court in Seattle Friday and is now facing federal charges for assaulting a flight attendant on the Delta flight.

Disturbance on Delta flight 129 to Beijing

According to Perry Cooper, a spokesman for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, it was around 45 minutes into the flight when a disturbance occurred in the first class cabin of Delta Air Lines flight 129.

Hudek, who was reportedly traveling in first class on a dependent pass, assaulted a flight attendant, while attempting to open the exit door. KIRO 7 reports that Hudeks mother is employed by Delta.

According to KIRO 7's report, Hudek had requested a beer from a flight attendant prior to take off, which he received and consumed. According to court documents, he ordered no further alcoholic drinks on the flight and did not appear intoxicated. However, around 45 minutes into the flight to Beijing, Hudek visited the planes bathroom on two occasions. When exiting the bathroom the second time, he suddenly lunged towards an exit door on the plane and attempted to open it.

A Delta Air Lines passengers frantic attempt to open an exit door mid-flight has been foiled by a flight attendant. https://t.co/rCPMhyQP8L  news.com.au (@newscomauHQ) July 8, 2017

Man strikes passenger with a wine bottle

As Hudek tried to open the door, a cabin crew member requested assistance from passengers seated in that area of the plane and notified the cockpit of the incident.

The pilot immediately called in the incident and the flight was turned around to return to the Seattle airport. While the flight attendant struggled with Hudek, the Florida man punched the cabin crew member twice. As reported by ABC News, he also struck at least one passenger, who was attempting to help the flight attendant, over the head with a wine bottle.

Flight attendant hits Hudek with two wine bottles

According to witnesses on the flight, Hudek continued in his attempts to open the planes exit door, while punching a passenger who was trying to pull him away. As the battle continued between Hudek and the passenger, a member of the cabin crew hit Hudek over the head with two wine bottles, breaking one of the bottles in the process.

Delta Air Lines flight attendant breaks wine bottle over man's head after he lunged for exit doorhttps://t.co/JHIOlPJWXI pic.twitter.com/OCclHTBuBG  Gerard Hough (@GerardHough) July 8, 2017

According to one of the unnamed Delta passengers assisting the flight attendant, as they broke the two wine bottles over Hudeks head, he tried to choke the unruly passenger, but he threw him off like a rag doll. According to court documents, after being struck with a wine bottle, Hudek shouted something like, Do you know who I am?

Several passengers and flight attendants eventually restrained Hudek in a headlock, subduing him long enough to secure him with zip ties.

On landing at Seattle-Tacoma airport, Hudek continued to struggle and several passengers were needed to restrain him.

Delta cabin crew member says it was possible for Hudek to open the door

According to several witnesses on the plane, it was terrifying to see the force Hudek was using while attempting to open the plane's exit door. He had reportedly managed to push the emergency lever halfway up before being subdued. According to one member of the cabin crew, as the plane was flying at a low altitude, it would have been possible for Hudek to open that door.

Delta Air Lines flight #DL129 #Seattle to Beijing returned home after a passenger tried to open an exit door. #News https://t.co/G0fQ9WPiVE pic.twitter.com/eR9Ptlb3cO  Hash (@wearehash) July 8, 2017

On arrival back at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 7:10 p.m., officers took Hudek into custody, while he continued to struggle and was combative.

He was then zip-tied to a wheelchair and placed in handcuffs as the officers took him out of the terminal.

One passenger and a flight attendant were transported to a Seattle hospital for treatment to injuries sustained during the incident. The flight took off from Seattle to Beijing later that evening.
Its hard to believe a man of the cloth would pull a gun in a Road Rage incident, but that is exactly what did happen on Wednesday near Palm City, Florida. 35-year-old William Rian Adams was arrested by Florida Highway Patrol after pulling a gun on a fellow motorist. The Priest is now facing charges of two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Priest 'brake checks' pickup truck

According to Florida Highway Police, the incident happened on a turnpike close to Palm City, where Adams, who is a priest at Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher, North Carolina, attempted to brake check a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck that was reportedly too closely following his Chevrolet Corvette.

As reported by ABC News, the driver of the pickup then attempted to pass Adams Corvette when the priest pointed a semi-automatic hand gun at their vehicle.

The occupants of the targeted vehicle were a 24-year-old man and Sharon Hughes, a 54-year-old woman, from St. Cloud, Fl. Hughes told CBS 12 Eyewitness News that she couldnt believe what the priest did. She said she was shocked by the road rage incident, but reportedly wouldnt comment further.

According to Florida Highway Patrol the gun in the priest's possession was a Glock 22 which was handed in as evidence at the St. Lucie County Sheriffs Office.

Priest William Rian Adams of NC's Calvary Episcopal Church arrested in Fla. road rage incident after pulling out gun https://t.co/dxBSUexjPP pic.twitter.com/3DiUwgAG79  ABC News (@ABC) July 8, 2017

Motorists on turnpike shocked by the priests actions

Kevin Brown, a motorist on the turnpike, commented about the road rage incident saying you would think being a priest he would have better control.

He said it was kinda comical in one sense, but also sad. Dori Angel, another motorist on the scene, said it was weird, as you wouldnt expect a priest to be so angry.

Priest charged with aggravated assault after he 'pulled out a gun at a pick-up truck during a road rage altercation' https://t.co/Bu5pzxsHJd  Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) July 8, 2017

CBS 12 checked up on Adams and found he had started as a priest at the Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher, N.C.

in September 2016 after spending 10 years as a chaplain in the military, before an injury sustained in a helicopter accident led to him retiring.

Sometimes #pride is like a stiff drink, you just gotta shoot it. #spirituality  W. Rian Adams (@FatherRian) July 5, 2017

How drivers should handle a road rage incident

Sgt. Mark Wysocky, the public affairs officer for the Florida Highway Patrol explained that should a driver be targeted in a road rage incident, it is important to try to keep calm.

He said even though you may be upset by the incident, never try to retaliate and always try to keep distance between yourself and the other driver. Wysocky said should a driver feel threatened by a fellow motorist in a road rage incident they should immediately contact the Florida Highway Patrol for help.
In a development, that is sure to shake corporations as well as the security agencies in America to the core, several Nuclear Power Plants in the country have been hacked by foreign governments. The reports about the security breach surfaced yesterday and according to people aware of the events, the prime suspect in the security breach is Russia. It is believed that it could be the part of a larger effort to destabilize the power supply systems in the country.

Russians at it again

Russian hackers have been a common bugbear for the United States over the past year or so.

Now, with United States officials believing that the security breach in the nuclear power plants has been orchestrated by foreign governments, Russia as a suspect is not far fetched. Around a dozen nuclear power plants had been the subject of the attack and according to the officials, who spoke to Bloomberg, the hacking operation could actually be the part of a plot to endanger the power supply infrastructure in the country.

Russia's intervention in the US Presidential election last year remains an extremely sensitive topic in the United States and as such, the suspicions of the US officials are certainly justified. The tensions between the United States and Russia are at peak levels and the latest development will only result in further deterioration of relations.

The objective

According to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, the attempts to hack into the systems of the energy sector had been going for a few months now. Disruption of power supplies is a well known Russian tactic and in fact, they have used it in Ukraine quite successfully in the past. Hence, security officials believe that these hacking activities could be the part of a larger plot.

In addition to that, there is a suspicion that the Russian could be using quite advanced technology for this purpose. For instance, an intrusion had taken place at a company which manufactures control systems for the power sector and officials believe that it could be related to the hacking that took place at the nuclear power stations.

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security stated that these intrusions pose no threat to the general public. On the other hand, the Department of Energy released a statement in which it said: Regardless of whether malicious actors attempt to exploit business networks or operational systems, we take any reports of malicious cyber activity potentially targeting our nations energy infrastructure seriously and respond accordingly,
Russian President Vladimir Putin's demands of the Trump administration to return two compounds used by the Russians in Maryland and New York State -- as they were shut down under sanctions last December -- was supposed to be a central issue for their meeting on Friday, ABC News reported. According to VOA News Trump and Putin spent two hours discussing a variety of issues and a Russian official said that the subject of returning the compounds was brought up but no deal was reached. A day prior to their meeting, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (R-NH) sent a letter along with other Senators warning President Trump not to return those compounds to the Russians saying that they had not paid the price for meddling in the 2016 Presidential Election.

U.S. officials did not say if the issue over the compounds had been brought up.

Trump under pressure from Russia and special prosecutor

According to President Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov, he said that the Kremlin showed unusual flexibility in December by not retaliating against those sanctions. The sanctions were imposed by President Obama for Russia's interference in the 2016 Presidential Election. It was later learned that Putin ordered the sabotage of the Clinton campaign in favor of electing President Trump. For this reason, a criminal investigation has been launched against members of the Trump campaign and President Trump himself to see the extent of their collusion with Russian officials and evidence of the President's attempts to obstruct justice.

Establishing sanctions in December

Back in December 2016, the Independent reported that after former President Obama put more sanctions on Russia, the Kremlin threatened to retaliate. It was later learned that then President-elect Trump's aide and pick for national security advisor, Michael Flynn, had made calls to Russian officials where he told them to wait until after Donald Trump's inauguration before they tried to lift sanctions.

It was after this that Vladimir Putin publicly invited American lawmakers to the Kremlin for a New Years celebration as a gesture of peace. Michael Flynn would later be forced to resign after he had apparently not told Vice-president Mike Pence about the calls.

Continuing sanctions under Trump

According to the Associated Press, Ushakov said through reporters that the administration should return those compounds or the Kremlin would retaliate.

Currently, Congress is making an effort through the Senate to put more sanctions on Russia, enforce the same sanctions that were put in by the Obama administration and prevent Trump from having the power to lift them. However, the bill is currently stalled in the House with Republicans saying that there was a technicality on the passage of the bill. Democrats said that Republicans are stalling under pressure from the Trump administration to not enforce more sanctions.

Also according to the intelligence community, AP reported that the two Russian compounds confiscated by the U.S. were said to be bases used for espionage. It was reported that last year President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner allegedly wanted to set up a secret back-channel between the White House and the Kremlin and made this request to a Russian official.

The back channel could have been an attempt to prevent monitoring by U.S. intelligence and it's likely that this back-channel would have been established at one of these compounds. Yuri Ushakov said that they already have plans for retaliation drawn up.
In the wake of the successful test of a North Korean ICBM, the United States military is scrambling for ways to respond. The United States has decided on demonstrations of military force that are designed to convince the North Korean leadership that it would be on the losing side of any conflict it might try to start. The theory is that Kim Jong-un cares about self-preservation above all else. With that in mind, the United States has already conducted a practice bombing run with a pair of B-1 bombers near the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas.

It plans to follow up with a test of the THAAD ABM battery deployed near Kodiak, Alaska.

B-1 bombers demonstrate their power

The B-1 bomber, even without the nuclear weapons it was first designed to carry, is one of the most impressive weapons delivery platform on the planet. In the event of a conflict with North Korea, the B-1 would likely be in the first wave, striking at that countrys nuclear and missile arsenal as well as the artillery batteries that have the South Korean capital of Seoul in their sights.

Escorted by fighter jets, two B-1s dropped dummy ordinance on a test range within South Korea and then flew close to the DMZ. The message to the North Korean leadership was that the United States is prepared to use such weapons in the event of war and that there is no defense against them.

United States is planning a test of the THAAD ABM system

The second step in Americas high-tech saber-rattling campaign will be a test of the THAAD ABM system in Kodiak, Alaska, similar to the one deployed in South Korea. In the event of a North Korean missile strike on Alaska, the THAAD would be the last line of defense to ward off such an attack.

The idea behind the test is to, hopefully, convince the North Koreans that a nuclear strike against the United States would be futile. The exercise, considering the so-far spotty record of American missile defense tests, is one of high stakes poker. A nuclear missile might be stopped, or it might get through. Either result will be awful for all concerned, with the former less dangerous for the United States.

No good options

Trump, in the meantime, is making another effort to convince the Chinese to bring its client state to heel. So far, despite a few gestures, Beijing has been content to let things stew. Trump has to convince the Chinese that the risk that policy entails is as unacceptable to them as much as it is the United States.
The German Aerospace Centre is testing a new lunar rover at Mount Etna to see how this robotic machine can be further improved ahead of its future space missions.

The new lunar rover has been developed under the ROBEX (Robotic Exploration of Extreme Environments) project by a team of scientists from Germany, the United States, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The members of this team have spent several years designing the three-foot high and four-wheeled lunar rover that they hope will one day move across the slopes of the moon.

Mount Etna

Mount Etna, where the lunar rover is currently being tested, is Europes most active volcano.

It lies between the Italian cities of Catania and Messina on the island of Sicily. It is the largest Active Volcano in Europe, and its height keeps on changing from time to time due to summit eruptions. The volcano has a basal circumference of about 140 km. It remains in an almost constant state of activity and is visited by thousands of tourists every year. Considering its history of activity and population living nearby, Mount Etna has been designated a Decade Volcano status by the United Nations. In 2013, it was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status due to its educational and scientific value. The volcano regularly exhibits seismic activities, which scientists believe are similar to those exhibited on the moon.

Lunar rover testing

By testing the lunar rover at Mount Etna, scientists are actually simulating a future landing mission to the moon or to Mars, thinking this experience will be helpful. The team will also use the lunar rover to explore the depths of the volcano and get useful seismic data from this site. A series of equipment will be installed in this area to monitor seismic activity.

The team says the rovers initial testing phase has almost been completed on the Mount Etnas Piano del Lago area  a desolate stretch of terrain that experiences strong winds.

German Aerospace Center

Headquartered in Cologne, the German Aerospace Center (in German, Deutschen Zentrums fur Luft- und Raumfahrt/DLR) was established in 1969 as the national agency for aerospace, energy, and transportation research in Germany.

Today, the agency is engaged in a variety of research and development projects involving foreign partnerships. As the space agency of the country, DLR is responsible for planning and implementing the German space program on behalf of the federal government of the country.
A two-hour, pre-dawn shootout involving two rivaling drug gangs and police in Las Varas, Chihuahua (Mexico), killed 14 adult males and injured several additional people yesterday. According to Eduardo Esparza, of the prosecutors office in Chihuahua, the gunfight between drug trafficking gangs escalated after police arrived.

It is believed the firefight was between the armed faction of the Juarez cartel, La Linea, and its rival Sinaloa cartels hitmen battling over territory. The remote area, principally farming and livestock borders the U.S. and is strategically ideal for Mexican drug cartels for trafficking narcotics into the United States.

Las Varas, which has mountainous terrain, is also known for producing opium poppies and marijuana.

Gunfight between warring cartels over prized territory

According to Oscar Alberto Aparicio, state police chief, the warring cartels opened fire on police officers once they arrived at the scene. He said described the gunfight as intense, and told the Mexican radio network Formula that authorities cannot rule that there are possibly more people who were killed as a result of the confrontation. Felix Gonzales, a spokesman for the Chihuahua prosecutors office, also stated that the death toll may rise.

More than 60 gunmen were involved in the shootout. Esparza said there were 20 rifles that were found at the scene of the gun battle.

One patrol unit was also struck by gunfire according to Aparicio. Police, along with soldiers chased gunmen into the mountains, he said. Law enforcement summoned a Black Hawk helicopter to assist in searching the area for opium poppies and marijuana grows.

Officials seized three vehicles, a grenade launcher, and grenades, according to Esparza.

Three suspected gunmen were also taken into custody. Among the arrested was former state police officer Jose Luis Gonzalez Montes, currently known by his moniker El 32. Montes, presumed leader of La Linea was later released, said the state safety commissioner in Chihuahua.

Deadliest clash of cartels since extradition of El Chapo to the United States

Yesterdays gunfight was the most recent deadly clash between rivaling Drug Cartels and factions warring with the Sinaloa cartel  in chaos since Mexico extradited its kingpin, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman to the U.S. at the beginning of the year.

Violence in Mexico, on the whole, has increased throughout this year, reaching record levels. In May, alone, 2,185 homicide investigations were opened, which is the highest number in a single given month since the 1990s, which is when the Mexican government started publishing its homicide statistics, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The escalation in violence may be attributed to the battle is splinters of drug cartels hungry for the territory, according to analysts cited by the Los Angeles Times.

In the absence of Guzman, created a void in leadership for the Sinaloa cartel. With the vacuum exposed, there is fighting between the former kingpins sons and one of Guzmans top lieutenants sons. Simultaneous to their struggles for control, another criminal group emerged and strives to enjoin the turf wars: Jalisco New Generation cartel.
In spite of sanctions, North Korea appears to be on a roll with its program of developing nuclear missiles that can strike the United States. Its latest test of a long-range ICBM, which is believed to have the ability to strike Alaska came as a shock and set in motion the American defense machinery. It has to tackle the threat and prevent such a disaster from happening.

The warning bell

Daily Mail UK reports that North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that has a range of more than 5000 km and could reach Alaska. The missile crashed into the Sea of Japan but its probable range is a matter of concern to the Pentagon.

The US military is equipped with sophisticated defense systems to thwart any external attack but, the determination of Kim Jong-un and the speed at which he is progressing has set alarm bells ringing.

Alaska has a population of around 750,000 people and it already has a defense mechanism installed at Fort Greely which will have more than 40 missile interceptors by the end of the year. This location is nearly 100 miles outside of Fairbanks in Alaska, and California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. There are possibilities of adding to this defense by positioning additional ground-based interceptors at Fort Greely

The United States has already conducted a trial of intercepting and shooting down a dummy ICBM in midair by launching a GMD interceptor from the California base.

However, the reliability of the GMD system falls short of expectations, especially if there are a number of missiles approaching together.

Kims message to the world

An expert in matters related to North Korea has doubts about the anti-missile capabilities of the United States. Incidentally, he had earlier indicated that North Korea would not attain capability to deploy any nuclear-tipped ICBMs till the late 2020s but the ground reality is contrary to his expectations.

There are also reservations on whether Kim Jong-un has been able to miniaturize a warhead for installation on an ICBM.

In view of the rapid changes in the Korean peninsula, the American think tank must work overtime to ensure the safety of Alaska by using every possible means at its disposal. The U.S. and its allies already have land and sea-based equipment to tackle regional situations which may not prove to be adequate against threats from an ICBM.

Kim Jong-un has sent a message to the whole world by conducting the test of the ICBM launch on the eve of the G20 summit. He knows that he and his nuclear ambitions will probably hog the limelight in the meeting of world leaders and is aware of the fact that the world is divided on the issue of condemning him. Kim is keen to make his point. Therefore, the leaders in the G20 summit must put aside their differences and take a decision to save the world from another major war.
Workers load steel products at a logistics park in Yichang, Hubei province. [Photo/China Daily]

WASHINGTON - Although China is the world's largest steel-producing country, less than one percent of its steel products were exported to the US, a recent study from a leading US think tank showed, making China irrelevant to the steel investigation conducting by the US government.

Trump administration initiated an investigation on whether steel imports threaten to impair national security on April 20, by invoking a rarely used section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. President Donald Trump claimed that "both the United States and global markets for steel products are distorted by large volumes of excess capacity -- much of which results from foreign government subsidies and other unfair practices."

Although Trump said the investigation has nothing to do with China, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross who has been leading the investigation suggested that China was a major target.

However, the US purchased just 0.9 percent of Chinese steel exports in 2016, according to a report from Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), a leading think tank based in Washington D.C.

China's steel exports to the US plunged by 57 percent from 2.21 million tons in 2015 to 0.95 million tons in 2016, because four trade remedies, including anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) imposed by Obama administration went into effect in 2016. At the end of 2016, 20 US trade remedies against steel mill imports from China were in effect.

The US Commerce Department on May 10 launched the latest anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty investigations against imports of cold-drawn mechanical tubing from China, Germany, India, Italy, the Republic of Korea and Switzerland.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has kept urging Washington to abide by its commitment against protectionism and help maintain a free, open and just international trade environment.
When Danielle Szetho was appointed CEO of FinTech Australia, she knew it was going to be a challenge, but one she was well prepared for.

At the time, she said her vision was to make Australia one of Asia's leading markets for fintech innovation. That vision remains unchanged.

Incorporated last year, Fin-Tech Australia is a national association for fintech startups, with 120 member companies.

While fintech may not be headline-grabbing, it is changing our lives almost on a daily basis in terms of how we bank and how we pay for things.

It is a sector of the Australian economy that is being noticed overseas, especially in China where fintech innovation is opening endless possibilities for Australian startups. It is also providing lucrative investment opportunities for Chinese companies.

Back in April, Chinese investment giants Tencent Holdings and Sequoia Capital China were among investors in Australian startup Airwallex. "Chinese investors have a lot to gain from investing in Australia's fintech sector," Szetho said.

"Already we are starting to see Chinese fintech firms establishing bases in Australia given Australia's world record for uninterrupted economic growth and long-standing cultural links between the two countries."

She firmly believes Australia can be a major player in the fintech and technology sector.

"The problem we have in Australia is that we don't leverage our strengths," Szetho said.

Recruited from media group Fairfax, Szetho began her new role as FinTech Australia's first CEO on July 1 last year.

She was born in Malaysia, and her Malay-Chinese family moved to South Australia when she was just 1 year old.

"My father was recruited by a mining company in South Australia, so I spent the first five years of my life in Adelaide," she said.

"Then mum moved to Sydney and dad went to Melbourne and I have been traveling between the two cities ever since."

From an early age, Szetho was drawn to mathematics, science and the arts. But it was science and technology that fired her imagination.

"Technology is changing our lives," she said.

"One of my challenges is to try and get ordinary people to understand and engage with technology, especially when applied to financial services. On top of that, we need to make it accessible to all.

She also makes the point that, in Australia, "we have to focus on what we are good at".

One area is blockchain technology  a field in which Australian work has raised the interest of Chinese companies.

Put simply, blockchain is an ever-expanding public ledger of transactions. Secure from tampering, the distributed database has complete information about the addresses and their balances, right from the genesis block to the most recently completed block. To use conventional banking as an analogy, blockchain is like a full history of banking transactions.

"Where can this be applied? Well, take agriculture," Szetho said.

"Blockchain will follow the movement of a commodity from the farm to the end destination, wherever that may be within your home country or overseas.

"It will record all documentation and ensure that people are paid. Not in three months' time but within days," she said.

"This is something we are doing a lot of work on, and there are companies here in Australia that have attracted Chinese blockchain companies."

Szetho said block chain has wide application, especially in agriculture and in the mining sectors. In her view, within 12 to 18 months, China will be a world leader in blockchain technology  but Australia"will be close behind".

"When it comes to this technology, Australia is punching well above its weight," she added.

Although Australia has some of the best regulatory standards in the world, the challenge, especially for fintech, is to pull them all together, she said. That is why Szetho believes Fin-Tech Australia needs to bring all parties together from accelerators, hubs, venture capital and the government to promote the benefits of "this new technology".

The biggest problem technology innovation faces in Australia is investment, and governments that say a lot but fail to match the rhetoric with hard cash. Even so, this has not stopped foreign investors from looking around.

Last year, a delegation of Chinese entrepreneurs from three of China's most promising fintech startups spent three months in Sydney advising Australian startups on how to launch in China, while also looking at how they, the Chinese companies, can expand into Western markets.

In a sign of closer fintech trade ties between Australia and China, Stone & Chalk, a Sydney-based independent fintech hub, in August launched its Fintech Asia incubation exchange, which it describes as the first cross-border fintech incubator between Australia and Asia.

Yiming Wu, chief executive of S Capitol, which provides cash management services for more than 1,000 Chinese startups, said he is considering Sydney as the location for the 18-monthold company's first overseas office.

"The Sydney venture capital investment is growing very fast and, for us, Sydney could become a test pad for the entire Western market," he said.

S Capitol, which has a relationship with Chinese internet giant Alibaba, is currently managing 1.2 billion yuan ($175 million) in cash for its Chinese startup clients.

karlwilson@chinadailyapac.com
Bac Kan, July 7 (VNA)  Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has suggested the northern mountainous province of Bac Kan seek ways to mobilise resources from the society to invest in transportation infrastructure development, thus propelling socio-economic growth and connecting with regional localities.



At a working session with provincial leaders on July 7, the Party leader hailed efforts made by Bac Kans Party Organisation, authorities and people in implementing Party resolutions as well as in improving socio-economic situation and locals living conditions.



He noted that up to 90 percent of local residents have to date accessed clean water, while annual per capital income has increased to 26 million USD, doubling the figure five years ago.



Forest coverage has reached 70 percent. Bac Kan set to have eight additional communes recognised as new-style rural areas this year, raising the total number to 10.



Stressing the important strategic location of Bac Kan and its advantages in land and climate, General Secretary Trong said that the province holds great development potential and needs to take right actions to fully tap it.



He also acknowledged Bac Kans efforts to streamline and reform its public administrative system, which has helped the locality enhance its competitiveness and improve business environment.



Earlier the same day, the Party chief visited the mountainous commune of Si Binh in Binh Thong district, which is home to Tay, Dao and Nung ethnic minority groups.



He praised the communes success in boosting the forestry sector to raise locals income. So far, 70 percent of communal roads have been asphalted and cemented while 100 percent of local households have gained access to power.



Also on July 7, he visited the Bac Kan General Hospital, which is built from Government bonds. Operating since December 2016, the 500-bed hospital has helped improve health care services for people in the province and nearby localities.



On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Invalids and Martyrs Day, the Party leader laid a wreath at the Bac Kan Martyrs Cemetery.



On July 6, right after arriving in the province, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visited and presented gifts to a number of people who rendered service to the nation in the locality.

VNA/VNP
Automaker BMW can access its batch of cars being held at HCM Citys port for maintenance but the firm must replace its local dealer Euro Auto due to violations of the countrys regulations.  Photo kienthuc.vn

HA NOI  Automaker BMW can access its batch of cars being held at HCM Citys port for maintenance but the firm must replace its local dealer Euro Auto due to violations of the countrys regulations, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at a conference with German businesses in Berlin on Thursday.

Phuc said the batchs import tax was calculated much lower than its real value, while local bodies found several false documents during the import process.

The Government leader affirmed that these violations were not caused by the BMW Group in Germany but its agent in Viet Nam.

The replacement of dealer is needed, said Phuc.

We will continue investigation and strictly punish the violators to protect the environment for other investors and ensure their rights and interests. I will direct the Customs Office to allow BMW to maintain the batch of autos worth 15 million euros.

Regional Manager BMW in Southeast Asia Karsten Engel said the firm had not exported cars to Viet Nam for seven months and hoped that the 700 vehicles at the port would soon undergo maintenance.

Vietnamese authorities discovered many violations while examining the companys imports in late 2016. The finance ministry sent a document to the General Department of Customs Vietnam to stop customs clearance for all BMW autos imported by Euro Auto Company, the BMW dealer in HCM City.

The company was found to have sold imported cars while the cars were awaiting customs clearance. It also failed to provide legal documents to prove the origin of many products, and allegedly used fake documents such as purchase contracts and receipts to import cars.

The CEO of Euro Auto company, Nguyen ang Thao, was arrested for allegedly smuggling luxury cars into the country in April. He has been CEO of the firm since November 2015.  VNS
HA NOI  The benchmark VN-Index ticked down 0.88 per cent to close at 775.73 points on Friday, stepping down from the 2008 peak recorded in the last trade session due to heavy profit-taking pressure.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index was down 1 per cent to end at 101.58 points.

Liquidity rose substantially with a total of 357 million shares worth almost VN5.8 trillion (US$255.5 million) traded on the two markets, up 4.7 per cent in volume and 18.4 per cent in value compared with the previous session.

Rising liquidity was mainly attributable to profit-taking selling of large-cap stocks, while expanding negative market breadth indicated profit taking is taking place in various groups of stocks, analysts at BIDV Securities Co wrote in a report yesterday.

Only five of the top 30 largest shares by market capitalisation and liquidity on the main bourse in HCM City advanced and 24 declined, including banks, securities firms, energy companies and real estate developers.

Seven of nine listed banks on the two exchanges lost value, of which the two biggest listed lenders  Vietcombank (VCB) and BIDV (BID)  both slipped 1.7 per cent.

Industry-leading companies like Petrolimex (PLX), Vinamilk (VNM), VinGroup (VIC), steelmakers Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Hoa Sen Group (HSG), DHG Pharmaceutical (DHG) and PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Service (PVD) slumped between 0.9-2.2 per cent each.

The market has rallied substantially recently and a correction is understandable.

The VN-Index has gained 17 per cent since earlier this year and is among the best performers in the world, even surpassing neighbouring markets like Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia which have also reacted strongly to foreign capital.

In Viet Nam, foreign investors has poured a net VN9.2 trillion (roughly $409 million) in the first half of this year, beating the record VN8 trillion recorded in the first seven months of 2008, Viet Dragon Securities Cos data showed.

Foreign traders were net sellers yesterday on the HCM Stock Exchange after an 18-day net buying streak, offloading shares worth VN61.5 billion. They were also responsible for net sell value of VN12 billion on the Ha Noi bourse.

The market is in a correction stage around the range of 775-785 points in the medium term, BIDV Securities Cos analysts forecast but said the market would likely rebound and move around 780 points in the next sessions thanks to strong capital inflows.  VNS
There are no other villages like ong Cuu.

It once supplied royal people with their special clothes for important ceremonies.

In modern times, villagers are once again making these clothes, which have become fashionable.

They make them the old way. Often, this takes along time.

By Ha Nguyen

ong Cuu has a unique claim to fame in Viet Nam.

It is the only craft village that used to supply dresses for kings, lords and courtiers to wear for rituals.

That was in the past, of course. It has always had another skill to bank on, that of embroidery, but it has still kept the unique tradition alive by producing items for hau ong, or the spirit medium.

The rituals were recognized by the UN cultural agency UNESCO as an intangible heritage of humanity last December.

Located on the banks of the Nhue River in Ha Nois Thuong Tin District, ong Cuu has been famous for the embroidery that is used in traditional festivals.



Vu Van Gioi, 58, an embroidery artisan, says since becoming the fashion capital for hau ong nearly four decades ago, almost all the villagers have entered the profession because our customers are increasing, particularly during the first three months of the lunar calendar.

To meet increasing demand, we have to use an embroidery machine, but many customers specifically order handmade items because they are more genuine and attractive, he says.

He insists that fashion plays an important role in the success of a hau ong ceremony. Beautiful attireand jewellery help mediums and the audience feel more cheerful and enthusiastic.

Gioi also says that although they have many designs, embroiderers have to strictly obey design models, colours and accompanying costumes. For example, clothes of the king should always be in yellow and embroidered with dragons to symbolize his supreme rank.

Our village has many skilled workers; they can embroider very well-detailed models from the smallest pieces. For example, they can embroider a dragon to make it look real.

Gioi says there are five basic colours used: green, red, white, yellow and deep blue. When other colours are needed, the thread has to be dyed.

Nguyen The Du, 62, an embroidery artisan, says his family typically uses natural methods to dye the thread. This involves boiling the bark of a tree (he wanted to keep the trees name a secret) and dipping the thread in this liquid for 10 minutes.

ong Cuu workers have skilled hands, they can infuse a fresh spirit into a design, giving it its own soul and personality, says 80 years old Bui Thi Lua. She says she strictly controls the quality of each item made by her family members and workers.

A high quality item should have a regular thread line with a soft embroidery line. Even the shoes and hats for mediums have to be carefully embroidered, Lua says.

The technique of combining thread colours in embroidery is also very important in creating a beautiful item, and this affirms the skills of a worker, she says.

Many embroidery families sign contracts to supply items to shops in Hang Quat Street in Ha Nois Old Quarter, while others sign orders directly with customers, says Lua.

The price of a costume embroidered carefully will be 10 times (about VND3-4 million each) that of a machine-made one, she adds.

It needs 15-20 days to make a set of hau ong ritual dresses, but for highly sophisticated items, a set will take several months. A simple pair of shoes needs 3-5 days of work, while restoring a set of costumes could take a year.

My family produces quick handmade items for wholesale traders, and we can earn a profit of VN50-60 million a month, Lua says, adding that so far this year, her goods have sold very well.

People from everywhere in the country and even abroad, particularly overseas Vietnamese, come to the village to buy its goods.

Ive received orders for the next two years, Lua says, noting that the job has helped many households in the village build spacious houses and buy luxury cars.

Tran Thi Mai, a cultural official in Thuong Tin District, says the village now has more than 40 embroidery workshops, employing hundreds of workers including many young ones.

Almost all my villagers are happy, because after several hundred years, they are still able to preserve the craft that is fast developing now.

Many young people in the village have joined the trade, because they can earn as much as VN8-10 million per month, says Mai.

Truong Thi Man, a 11th grader who learned the job from her mother since she was four, has become a skilled worker.

I can teach the embroidery technique to younger ones, she says.

Nguyen ac Bay, of the ong Cuu Embroidery Association, says more than 30 artisans in the village can teach the job to other villagers and people from other places, including those with disabilities.

Humble beginnings

It is said that Le Cong Hanh (1606-1661) was the patron saint of this craft village. He learned the job after being assigned to work as envoy to a foreign country and taught the embroidery technique to ong Cuu and surrounding villages.

Village elders say the tools used were quite simple, just needles, embroidery frames of different shapes, and a few other accessories.

ong Cuu artisans began embroidering with gold and silver threads after they were invited by Nguyen Kings to the Royal Citadel in Hue to set up a group specializing in decorating royal costumes.

Now, they use metallic-coloured threads to create similar effects for the dresses they produce.

Thanks to UNESCOs recognition of hau ong, many old costumes that were thought lost have been restored by ong Cuu artisans.

The village is focusing on making items to supply to traditional festivals and religious ceremonies at temples and pagodas, Bay says.

He says more than 100 households in the village have set up their own workshop and 90 per cent of all the families are engaged in embroidery or supplying other items for rituals and festivals.

The villages trade was recognised as a national intangible heritage last November.

Bay says the recognition was a great encouragement for ong Cuu people to preserve the traditional trade of their ancestors.

We are planning to make our village a tourism destination. -- VNS

GLOSSARY

ong Cuu has a unique claim to fame in Viet Nam.

A claim to fame is a reason for being regarded as unusual or noteworthy.

It is the only craft village that used to supply dresses for kings, lords and courtiers to wear for rituals.

A courtier is an adviser to a king or a queen.

A ritual is a ceremony that follows a certain procedure.

That was in the past, of course. It has always had another skill to bank on, that of embroidery, but it has still kept the unique tradition alive by producing items for hau ong, or the spirit medium.

A skill is a way of making or doing things that usually requires special training.

To bank on something, in this case, means to rely on it.

Embroidery is a way of sewing that involves making patterns on material.

The rituals were recognized by the UN cultural agency UNESCO as an intangible heritage of humanity last December.

Something that is intangible does not exist as something physical and therefore cannot be touched.

Things that are considered to be heritage are passed down in families and communities over generations and give their members a sense of pride and belonging.

Humanity means the sense of being human.

Vu Van Gioi, 58, an embroidery artisan, says since becoming the fashion capital for hau ong nearly four decades ago, almost all the villagers have entered the profession because our customers are increasing, particularly during the first three months of the lunar calendar.

An artisan is somebody who has skills that involve working with his or her hands.

A decade is a period of ten years.

To meet increasing demand, we have to use an embroidery machine, but many customers specifically order handmade items because they are more genuine and attractive, he says.

Demand is a measure of how much something is wanted.

Beautiful attire and jewellery help mediums and the audience feel more cheerful and enthusiastic.

Attire means clothing.

For example, clothes of the king should always be in yellow and embroidered with dragons to symbolize his supreme rank.

Symbolise means to be a symbol of something.

Supreme rank means being a very important and powerful person.

When other colours are needed, the thread has to be dyed.

A thread is a piece of cotton that is woven into a piece of clothing.

When something is dyed it is made to look a different colour.

ong Cuu workers have skilled hands, they can infuse a fresh spirit into a design, giving it its own soul and personality, says 80 years old Bui Thi Lua.

To infuse a fresh spirit into the design means to fill the design with a fresh spirit.

The technique of combining thread colours in embroidery is also very important in creating a beautiful item, and this affirms the skills of a worker, she says.

A technique is a way of carrying out a particular task.

Many embroidery families sign contracts to supply items to shops in Hang Quat Street in Ha Nois Old Quarter, while others sign orders directly with customers, says Lua.

A contract is a deal.

It needs 15-20 days to make a set of hau ong ritual dresses, but for highly sophisticated items, a set will take several months.

Sophisticated means having world experience and knowledge of fashion and culture.

A simple pair of shoes needs 3-5 days of work, while restoring a set of costumes could take a year.

Restoring means fixing something up so that it becomes as good as it was before it became ruined.

Ive received orders for the next two years, Lua says, noting that the job has helped many households in the village build spacious houses and buy luxury cars.

Spacious houses are large houses with lots of room.

Almost all my villagers are happy, because after several hundred years, they are still able to preserve the craft that is fast developing now.

To preserve something means to keep it as it was when it was at its best.

Nguyen ac Bay, of the ong Cuu Embroidery Association, says more than 30 artisans in the village can teach the job to other villagers and people from other places, including those with disabilities.

People with disabilities have problems with one or other parts of their bodies and therefore are not able to function in certain ways without help.

It is said that Le Cong Hanh (1606-1661) was the patron saint of this craft village.

A patron saint is someone who guides or protects a person or a place.

Village elders say the tools used were quite simple, just needles, embroidery frames of different shapes, and a few other accessories.

An accessory is something that can be added to something else in order to make it more useful or attractive.

The village is focussing on making items to supply to traditional festivals and religious ceremonies at temples and pagodas, Bay says.

Focussing on something means paying lots of attention to it.

Bay says the recognition was a great encouragement for ong Cuu people to preserve the traditional trade of their ancestors.

Your ancestors are your parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on.

We are planning to make our village a tourism destination.

A destination is a place people travel to.

WORKSHEET

State whether the following sentences are true, or false

In the old days, people in ong Cuu made clothes for the poor. Truong Thi Man believes she can pass on skills to younger people. There was a Royal Citadel in Hue. Hang Quat Street is in the old quarter of HCM City. Le Cong Hanh lived for fifty-five years.

ANSWERS:

 Duncan Guy/Learn the News/ Viet Nam News 2017

1. False; 2. True; 3. True;4. False; 5. True.
Floating cage fish farming has been a spearhead in Muong La Communes fight against poverty over the past few years.

Taking advantage of the vast water surface of the 9.3 billion cubic metre Son La Hydropower Station reservoir, one of the largest in Asia, the Son La Province locals have established large scale floating cages as an alternative to traditional fishing methods in the past.

Construction of the Son La Hydropower Station has forced thousands of local families to relocate and find new work. Aqua farming was chosen as the regions focus in economic development.

The move received tremendous support from the provincial government, who transferred knowledge and technology to local fishermen and provided them with financial support to set up farms.

The floating cages are simple to build and relatively inexpensive. With a budget as small as US$5,000 a farmer can set up 5 to 6 large cages, which may return the farmers initial investment in just one year given the right conditions.

With an aim at sustainable development for the Son Las aqua farming industry, the provincial authority has launched a programme to attract skilled workers and scientists, hold regular seminars to provide farmers with technical know-how and build the provinces own brand for aqua products.  VNS
HA NOI  The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the murder of two Vietnamese citizens by the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, Deputy Minister Vu Hong Nam stated in his interview granted to the press.

According to the deputy minister, after being informed of the murder of the two victims suspected to be Vietnamese on the night of July 4 in Banrangay Tumahubong Sumisip village of the Philippines, the ministry summoned a charge daffaires of the Philippine Embassy in Ha Noi on Wednesday.

At the same time, the Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines contacted the host countrys agencies to ask for co-ordination to preserve the bodies and identify the victims, Nam said.

The two victims were confirmed to be Hoang Trung Thong and Hoang Van Hai  two Vietnamese sailors of the ship Royal 16 who had been kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf in November 2016, he told reporters.

Immediately after the confirmation, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc expressed his upset and anger at the barbaric and inhumane murder, and demanded severe punishment for the terrorists who killed the Vietnamese citizens while calling on the international community to join hands to fight terrorism.

The PM and the Foreign Ministry have extended their condolences to the families of the victims.

Deputy Minister Vu Hong Nam said the ministry would help the families in holding funeral rites for the victims.

Even though the Zamboanga region is under curfew, representatives of the Vietnamese Embassy have arrived at the local hospital where the victims bodies are kept and are working with Philippine agencies to complete legal procedures to bring the victims bodies back to Viet Nam.

The Foreign Ministry would continue requesting Philippines agencies to ensure safety for Vietnamese citizens, Deputy Minister Nam said, noting that the Philippine side had done its best to fulfill Viet Nams requests.

On June 22, Hoang Vo, one among of the Royal 16 sailors kidnapped by the terrorist group in November 2016, was rescued and returned home.

The official also asked ship owners and companies which have ships operating in seas at risk of pirate attacks to follow preventive measures and the latest advice of domestic and international agencies.  VNS
President Tran ai Quang reported on the outcomes of the third session of the 14th National Assembly and highlighted issues of concern during a meeting with constituents in districts 1, 3 and 4 in HCM City yesterday. VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sang

HCM CITY  President Tran ai Quang reported on the outcomes of the third session of the 14th National Assembly and highlighted issues of concern during a meeting with constituents in districts 1, 3 and 4 in HCM City yesterday.

He stated that the Party and State are committed to building a transparent and strong apparatus as well as fighting corruption and wastefulness, citing the Central Steering Committee for Corruption Prevention and Controls regular meetings and the dispatch of inspection teams to localities.

The President underscored the role of leaders in Party committees and agencies in the effort and the need to increase precautionary measures, partly by strengthening inspection and supervision.

On the subject of 12 loss-making projects announced by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Quang reiterated the stance on thoroughly dealing with them and respecting the principle of self-responsibility in businesses. He added that the State will not provide additional capital for these projects.

He said that in addition to these projects, the Government would continue inspecting others to uncover and tackle any that are ineffective or incurring big losses.

Constituent ang Thanh Binh from District 1 and Nguyen Thi My Hanh from District 4 urged the suspension of sand exports because prices are lower than those at home, and expressed concern over the illegal exploitation of natural resources.

The State leader was in agreement and said the Government had asked for the suspension of all sand exports and mining contracts in order to thoroughly check illegal projects.

He reaffirmed the Party and State policy of effective exploitation of natural resources in tandem with environmental protection.

The President also answered constituents queries about the child protection law, sidewalk management, pedestrian streets, traffic safety, medicine prices control, and the import of old machinery.  VNS
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong meets residents in the northern mountainous province of Bac Kan yesterday.  VNA/VNS Photo Tri Dung

BAC KAN  Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has suggested the northern mountainous province of Bac Kan seek ways to mobilise resources from society to invest in transportation infrastructure development, thus propelling growth and connecting with regional localities.

At a working session with provincial leaders yesterday, the Party leader hailed efforts from the Bac Kan Party Organisation, authorities and people in implementing Party resolutions and in improving the economy and locals living conditions.

He noted that up to 90 per cent of local residents have access to clean water, while annual per capita income has increased to VN26 million ($1,143), double the figure of five years ago.

Bac Kan set to have eight additional communes recognised as new-style rural areas this year, raising the total to 10.

Stressing the important location of Bac Kan and its advantages in land and climate, General Secretary Trong said that the province had great development potential and needed to take actions to tap it.

He also acknowledged Bac Kans efforts to streamline and reform its public administrative system, which helped the locality enhance competitiveness and improve its business environment.

Earlier the same day, the Party chief visited the mountainous commune of Si Binh in Binh Thong District, which is home to Tay, Dao and Nung ethnic minority groups.

He praised the communes success in boosting the forestry sector to raise locals income. So far, 70 per cent of communal roads have been asphalted and cemented while 100 per cent of local households have access to power.

Also during the day, General Secretary Trong visited Bac Kan General Hospital, which was built using funds from Government bonds.

Operating since December 2016, the 500-bed hospital has helped improve healthcare services for people in the province and nearby localities. On the 70th anniversary of the Invalids and Martyrs Day, the Party leader laid a wreath at the Bac Kan Martyrs Cemetery.

On July 6, after arriving in the province, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visited and presented gifts to people who rendered service to the nation in the locality.  VNS
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivered a strong plea for international co-operation in fighting climate change yesterday. VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

HAMBURG, Germany  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivered a strong plea for international co-operation in fighting climate change yesterday.

Leading a Vietnamese delegation to participate in the G20 summit held in Hamburg City, he reaffirmed Viet Nams commitment to early achievement of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDG-2030) proposed by the United Nations.

On the first day of the summit, discussions mainly revolved around support for Africas sustainable development, climate change, migration, and female empowerment.

As the main speaker during a panel discussion on sustainable development, climate change, and energy, Prime Minister emphasised the importance of international co-operation in the fight against climate change.

He reiterated Viet Nams particular position as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and rising sea levels, in addition to haphazard and unsustainable exploitation of water resources of the Mekong River.

Reaffirming the nations commitment to SDG-2030, he said the priority would be poverty reduction, addressing inequality, improving education, promoting renewable energy and coping with climate change.

"Viet Nam has been and continues to integrate climate change preparedness into its development planning, and is fully committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 8 per cent by 2030, and even upwards of 25 per cent if the country receives necessary support from international community," he said.

As the host of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2017, Viet Nam has pushed the agenda for effective climate change response and sustainable development, and is co-operating with APEC member countries to promote inclusive growth and development, he said.

The PM applauded G20 for its unanimous commitment to responsible and efficient management and use of water resources. He also asked G20 members and international community at large for more financial and technological support as developing countries strove to achieve sustainable development goals.

Viet Nam is participating in the G20 summit this year as the host of APEC 2017. It had done this twice earlier in Canada and South Korea as the chair of ASEAN in 2010.

At the current G20 summit, Viet Nam has actively participated in important discussions and contributed to the formulation of the G20 joint statement and other summit documents.

The ongoing summit has drawn 4,800 journalists from 65 countries over the world, with the meetings between powerful leaders taking place during a time of many troublesome developments in international affairs.  VNS
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) meets First Mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz yesterday.  Photo VGP

HAMBURG, Germany  Viet Nam looks forward to further co-operation with the city of Hamburg in science and technology, logistics and shipping ports, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said yesterday.

Meeting with First Mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz, as part of his official visit to Germany, PM Phuc asked that the state encourages its businesses to invest in Viet Nam, especially in areas of their strength, including shipbuilding, petro-chemistry, aviation and aerospace, electronics, precision mechanics, chemicals and optical equipment.

He also suggested that Hamburg strengthens co-operation in seaport management, planning and development with port cities in Viet Nam, like a Nang, Hai Phong, and HCM City, helping them achieve international scale and standards.

Mayor Scholz expressed his pleasure at the positive development steps taken in the strategic partnership between the two nations in all areas, particularly trade and investment. He said Hamburg had made a remarkable contribution to this effort.

He noted that Hamburg is home to the second largest system of seaports in Europe and the third largest in the world, with 145 million tonnes of cargo transiting them each year.

Hamburg is also a major gateway for Vietnamese goods to enter Germany and Europe, Scholz said, adding that the number of containers from and to Viet Nam through the Hamburg port increased by 50 percent in recent years.

The Mayor welcomed the PMs proposals, saying Hamburg would work with Viet Nam on deploying co-operation initiatives in the future.

He also spoke highly of contributions made by the Vietnamese community in Hamburg to strengthening friendship as well as trade and investment ties between the German city and Viet Nam.  VNS
HA NOI  Businesses are complaining of excessive and overlapping regulations regarding food hygiene and safety management that not only burden them but have proven ineffective.

Reports by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly (NA) on the implementation of food safety laws and policies in the 2011-16 period said a swath of policies have been issued but have not been systemised, resulting in subpar performance.

For example, the production and trading of milk is subject to no less than 25 different regulations in six laws, six decrees and 13 guiding circulars, involving five State agencies, in addition to market surveillance and environmental protection that are under State management.

Pham Trong Nhan, NA deputy from the southern province of Binh Duong, demonstrated the complexity with the example of noodles. Their main ingredient  rice powder  is under the management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), while starch is under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT); if the noodles contain harmful substances like tinopal (used to make rice powder products look whiter) then the Ministry of Health (MoH) gets involved. In the case of mooncakes, the labels and packaging fall under the jurisdiction of the MoIT, the eggs and fillings are governed by the MARD, while additives are MoHs concerns.

Businesses have been riling against a requirement of a dossier of declaration of conformity to food safety regulations (for products that dont have technical regulations and standards) as stated in the Governments Decree 38 (dated April 25, 2012) that is perceived to violate the Law on Food Safety 2010 as well as the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents 2015.

Specifically, Article 12 of the Law on Food Safety 2010 says prepackaged processed food must have a declaration of conformity with technical regulations, registered with competent State agencies prior to selling. It does not mention an obligatory dossier for declaration of compliance of food safety regulations, as stated in Decree 38, says au Anh Tuan, director of the Legal Department of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Tuan added that the Law on Standards and Technical Regulations also doesnt provide for this measure. In addition, the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents says the elaborating document may only prescribe the contents assigned, meaning, Decree 38  which is an elaborating document  makes up a new requirement that does not exist in the Law it is supposed to elaborate.

According to Tuan, the declaration on compliance with food safety regulations should be left to businesses and the State should focus on establishing a comprehensive and detailed set of standards and pay more attention to post-inspections instead.

VCCI and representatives from different associations, from tea and cocoa to seafood business sectors, have all called for the abolishment of this unreasonable requirement, suggesting that businesses can just send their sample products to appointed laboratories, and products deemed satisfactory can then be published on the laboratories websites, giving them a green light.

Nguyen inh Cung, director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, was quoted by Thoi Bao Kinh Doanh (Economic Times) saying that the declaration on compliance takes 3-6 months while it should only take 1.5 month as provided in Decree 38.

Receiving business complaints, the Prime Minister has instructed authorities to review and streamline procedures. However, the latest revision of the decree retains the two separate regulations, to the disappointment of businesses, Cung said.

Relief needed

Dr Cung recognises that food safety is a matter of pressing concern that requires enhanced State management, however, effectiveness can only come from a bold revamp and adoption of a new approach to management.

Nguyen Nhu So, NA deputy from Bac Ninh Province, said the situation remains that there are many laws but understanding of those laws is limited, and called for cutting back of overlapping, sometimes downright contradictory, laws that befuddle both State management and subjects under State management.

The Food Administration, under MoH, however, defended the controversial regulation.

Tran Van Chau, director of the Food Administrations Legal Department, said food safety management must be conducted based on technical regulations issued by competent State agencies, not just standards established by businesses, especially with food that can directly affect consumers health.

Chau also disagreed that compliance declaration dossiers are against the law, reinforcing the large gaps between the perception of authorities and businesses.

"Only when the MARD can deliver a correct strategy for the countrys agriculture sector, and MoIT can wholly control the trading of chemicals, then the dismal food safety situation can start to finally improve," said Pham Khanh Phong Lan, a deputy from HCM City.  VNS
HCM CITY  More doctors at hospitals in provinces and districts throughout the country will receive training courses on treatment of dengue fever, as the number of cases has increased since the end of May and overcrowding continues at city and central-level hospitals.

Nguyen Trong Khoa, the deputy head of Medical Examination and Treatment Department, said the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and two paediatrics hospitals in HCM City would provide further training to doctors at hospitals in the southern region.

Khoa spoke at a meeting on Wednesday with the Ministry of Healths supervision team and the citys Department of Health as well as representatives of the citys Preventive Health Centre and hospitals.

A representative of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases reported that the number of patients with dengue fever at the hospital began to increase at the end of May.

The hospitals infectious diseases department, for instance, treated 60 dengue fever inpatients in June, increasing from a monthly average of 40 compared to the last few months.

The department does not have space for beds in its rooms and has put beds in hallways.

HCM City Paediatrics Hospital No.1 said that on Wednesday afternoon, a supervision team found overcrowding of patients, including those with dengue fever.

The hospitals report showed that new incidences of dengue fever rose in June to 297, increasing from 242 in May.

Of the 297 patients with dengue fever, 140 were from other provinces.

Dr Phan Trong Lan, head of the Pasteur Institute, said that 30-40 per cent of patients at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and two paediatrics hospitals, which treat serious health problems, are from other provinces.

Khoa said the proportion of patients from provinces at the three hospitals should be reduced and that doctors at hospitals in provinces need better training.

Although training has been provided, doctors who have training are of retirement age while those who will replace them have not yet been trained, leading to ineffectiveness in treatment, Khoa said.

"If doctors without experience in treating dengue fever do not detect signs early, some patients who are seriously ill could go into shock," he said.

HCM City has opened one more paediatrics hospital in its outlying district of Binh Chanh to reduce overcrowding at the existing paediatrics hospitals.

Dr Tran ac Phu, head of Preventive Health Department under Ministry of Health, said that the number of cases of dengue fever was expected to rise.

According to the department, 36,437 new cases of dengue fever have been recorded at 47 provinces and cities since early January, including 10 fatalities.

Of the total, around 70 per cent were in the southern region.

Preventive measures

Phu said that new preventive measures would be applied to limit the increase of dengue fever cases.

The Ministry of Health had set up nine supervision teams for dengue-fever prevention throughout the country, while preventive health officials in districts would offer counselling on improving cooperation to enhance effectiveness.

"The community needs to learn more about the importance of clearing water containers which could be home to mosquito larvae," he added.

Dr Nguyen Huu Hung, deputy head of the citys Department of Health, said the city was using an IT database to compile data of new cases of dengue fever from health facilities.

Information about these patients would be sent to districts so that preventive measures could be taken, such as spraying chemicals to destroy mosquitoes in certain areas.

Several private health facilities in HCM City had reported new cases of dengue fever, Hung said.

The city had fined organisations and individuals who did not cleared away water containers after being told many times, he added.

Last year, 76 cases were fined, and 46 have received fines this year.

According to a Preventive Health Centre report, the city has recorded 9,141 new incidences of dengue fever, an increase of 11 per cent compared to the same period last year. Of these, three patients died.

The districts of Binh Tan and 12 had the highest increase of incidences in June, with 115 per cent and 74 per cent respectively compared to June last year.

A representative of District 12s Preventive Health Division said that health officials had not yet identified the riskiest areas.  VNS
HCM CITY  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has agreed to advance Official Development Assistance (ODA) capital for the Metro Line No 1 Ben Thanh  Suoi Tien to meet the projects schedule.

The Government Office on Thursday issued a document to announce the decision he had made at a recent meeting with HCM City leaders on the citys socio-economic development.

He agreed to advance funds to implement the metro project under a public investment plan for 2016-20.

The PM also asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to work with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to propose solutions to accelerate disbursement of ODA projects in the city and report to the PM before August 15.

He assigned the MPI to ensure that the HCM City government follows regulations concerning the Metro Line No 1 project.

The 19.7-kilometre Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien Line goes through districts 1, Binh Thanh, 2, Thu uc and 9, and ends in Binh Duong Province.

The total investment after three adjustments has increased from VN14.415 trillion (US$631 million) to VN47.325 trillion ($2.07 billion). It is still short of capital.

The metro line is expected to begin test runs in 2019 and be put into operation in 2020.

To receive an additional loan of EUR200 million ($228.37 million) from the German Reconstruction Bank to implement the Metro Line No 2, the PM has agreed to assign the MPI to instruct the city Peoples Committee to follow regulations and report to the PM before August 15.

In addition, the PM has agreed in principle to support VN9.96 trillion ($438.15 million) to invest in anti-flooding projects in HCM City.

The PM assigned the MPI and MoF to guide the city Peoples Committee and report to the PM by the end of this month on these projects.

As for accelerating the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project, the PM agreed to permit the city Peoples Committee to appoint investors to build an exhibition centre complex in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area.

The PM also approved an additional four bridges as well as works to dredge canals and dig a central lake in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project under the BT (Build-Transfer) investment mode.

Speaking at the meeting, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged HCM City to continue to improve its business investment environment, enhancing competitiveness.

The city must play a leading role in administrative reform and one-stop shop policy. It must be among the five localities in the country with the highest competitiveness index and one of the most attractive destinations for foreign investment, Phuc said.

Along with Ha Noi, HCM City should be a pioneer in becoming a national centre for business start-ups and an international centre for education and health, he added.

The city should also seek long-term solutions to water drainage and flood control, and promote regional linkages with other localities, he urged.

The PM also asked the city to submit a long-term anti-flooding proposal to the government by next year.  VNS
HA NOI  Economic growth must go hand in hand with environmental protection and prioritise the needs of disadvantaged groups, said Deputy Prime Minister Vu uc am.

Sustainable development is a common mission for different sectors in the country that requires clear responsibility assignments, close collaboration and transparency, he said at a conference on launching a National Action Plan (NAP) to implement the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Ha Noi yesterday.

The NAP was promulgated by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on May 10, 2017, specifying 17 sustainable development goals with 115 targets relevant to Viet Nam until 2030, corresponding to global sustainable development goals adopted at the UN Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2015.

It stresses the importance of involving the public in hitting Viet Nams sustainable development targets, including the Government, bilateral and multilateral development partners, the private sector, as well as the foreign and local political, professional and mass organisations and other groups.

The NAP is a legal foundation on which Viet Nam will actualise its international commitment towards sustainable development.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Planning and Investment Nguyen The Phuong said that achieving the sustainable development targets would help Viet Nam take a big leap in reducing poverty, ensuring social security, protecting the environment and responding to climate change.

The country will focus on perfecting institutions and policies, increasing public awareness of sustainable development, enhancing high-quality human resources development, and mobilising internal and external financial sources in order to reach those targets, he added.

The targets will be integrated into the countrys policies, and the action plans of ministries, sectors and localities nationwide, he said.

Kamal Malhotra, UN Resident Coordinator in Viet Nam said that the NAP was an important milestone for the country, which would help to assert its pioneering role in maintaining international commitments to sustainable development.  VNS
HA NOI  The Education Ministry yesterday defended the surprising surge in the number of perfect scores in the latest national high school examination results saying they were concentrated in traditionally studious areas.

It also pointed out that the surge in perfect scores was accompanied by an increase in the number below par scores of zero and 1.

These explanations were contained as the ministry released official statistics and its analyses of the national high school examinations held last month.

Preliminary results in different localities had already been made available over the past several days, prompting the public to air skepticism about the rain of 10s  a term some media outlets have used to refer to the surge in the number of perfect scores compared to previous years.

According to the MoET, 4,235 students from 63 provinces attained perfect scores, 61 times higher than 2016s (69).

This rain of 10s has coincided with the fact that these are the first results after the Ministry revamped the national examination format, causing many to question whether they accurately reflect the quality of the students.

The results, the Ministry claims, show that the tests have reflected accurately the capacity of students and reduced false results brought about by wild guessing in multiple choice tests.

Bui Van Ga, MoET Deputy Minister, said that this year was the first time the ministry had experimented with its standardisation approach in crafting test questions.

In written formats, this influx of max scores might be alarming, but for a standardised multiple choice test, a high number of perfect scores is really nothing to worry about, Ga said.

The multiple choice format used this year allows for many questions on many more, diverse modules in a subject, while the previously employed essay format focused on very few modules, making it more difficult for candidates to score high marks, he elaborated, adding that the students who achieved perfect scores were the truly bright ones.

In previous years, the multiple choice format was used for subjects like English, Physics, Chemistry and Biology, but there were very few perfect scores. This years results could be attributed to the standardisation of test questions, some people said.

Deputy Minister Ga dismissed widespread cheating or fraud as possible cause for this phenomenon.

Doctor Sai Cong Hong, deputy head of the Ministrys Quality Control Department, said popular opinion that this years tests were far too easy was unfounded.

Education officials said the sudden surge of high scores would not affect the selection of students by colleges, as the average scores in all subjects were still in the 4-6 range.

On a national scale, despite the education ministrys push for more vigorous foreign language education, English scores were low, with 68.38 per cent of the students scoring below 5. This was the highest percentage of below 5 scores among all subjects.

996 students scored max points in English, however, making it the second subject with highest number of 10s after Chemistrys 1521, leaving Geography a distant third with 603.

Literature assumed the last rank with just one 10 score.

850,000 Vietnamese high school students sat the national examination which comprised of three compulsory tests (Mathematics, Literature, and Foreign Language  mostly English) and one test in either natural science (Physics, Chemistry, or Biology) or social science (History, Geography, or Ethics/Civic Education).

The stakes are high in this national examination, as the results decide which tier of university students can go to. This makes the examination period one of the most stressful times for both the students and their parents during the entire 12-year education process.

Ha Noi leads the country in terms of the number of 10s achieved, with 621 students, and HCM City is in second place with 462 students. The distribution of 10s start to decline along the North-South direction, however. The mountainous region in the north and Mekong Delta region in the South shared the two bottom positions with the least number of students able to get perfect scores.  VNS
The Ministry of Health has not totally banned the use of spinal block while doing a cesarean section, the prohibition applies only to several specific cases. Photo nguoihanoi.com.vn

HA NOI  The Ministry of Health has not totally banned the use of spinal block while doing a cesarean section, the prohibition applies only to several specific cases.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Viet Tien made this clarification in response to public concerns raised recently about a legal document sent by the ministry to local departments late last month.

Tien said the document only said that doctors were not allowed to conduct spinal blocks during cesarean section for pregnant women facing high risk of strokes because theyd already suffered from eclampsia, pre-eclampsia or abruptio placenta, the Kinh te o thi (Economy and Urban Area) newspaper reported.

Women that have these conditions faced the risk of stroke, cardiac arrest, coagulation disorders and multiple organ failure while undergoing a cesarean section, he said.

In such cases, doctors were advised to use the endotracheal intubation method, he added.

Mass media reports that the health ministry is set to ban spinal blocks for cesarean section had earlier this week prompted expressions of serious concern from the public, especially women.

Some click bait titles written by media are responsible for the misunderstanding, the Deputy Minister said.

He said the document was sent because some localities were applying spinal blocks for all cesarean section.

Tien said the maternal mortality rate in the country has reduced a lot compared to previous years, but it still stands at 58-59/100.000. On average, two women reportedly die every day due to obstetric complications.

95 per cent

Tien said the fact is that in Viet Nam and other countries, spinal block is used in 95 per cent of cesarean sections.

Doctor Luu Quoc Khai, head of the A2 obstetrics department at the Ha Noi Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital, said spinal block was only used when pregnant women were in stable health.

The hospital had been following the regulations for a long time before the ministry issued these recommendations, Khai said.

According to Khai, both endotracheal intubation and spinal block have their own advantages and side-effects.

However, spinal block is the preferred method because mother is conscious and can see her child and listen to the child crying at birth.

It a precious moment between a mother and her child, he said.

Unlike endotracheal intubation, "after a cesarean section with spinal block, a mother can breastfeed her child sooner," he added.

Pham Trung Nghia, a doctor with the HCM City-based Hong uc Hospital, said the ministrys document was valid for pregnant women suffering symptoms including abruptio placenta.

"Although it has the side effects of dizziness and fever, spinal block is thought to be safer than endotracheal intubation during cesarean section," he said.

Endotracheal intubation - a medical procedure in which a tube is placed into the trachea through the mouth or nose, could make pregnant women vomit, according to the doctor.  VNS
WATERLOO -- A teenager was taken into custody and charged with second-degree robbery after a pizza delivery driver reported he was robbed.

Waterloo Police were called to Pizza Hut, 714 La Porte Road, just after midnight Saturday for a robbery that apparently happened at around 11 p.m. Friday.

Police said Ronald Shelton, 64, a delivery driver for Pizza Hut, reported he was robbed with a handgun in the area of Sheffield and Regal avenues.

Jermiah Marshawn Neal, 17, of Waterloo, was taken into custody about a half hour later at his home on Regal Avenue. He was unarmed at the time.
WATERLOO -- Police found several spent shell casings near a park early Saturday.

Waterloo Police responded to a call of shots fired in the 600 block of Logan Avenue about 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

Seven spent shell casings were found across the street from 735 Logan Ave., near the west end of Sullivan Memorial Park in Waterloo, according to police reports.

No arrests have been made and no injuries were reported to police or area hospitals.
WATERLOO  A teenager who was stabbed Friday afternoon in Waterloo has been flown to an Iowa City hospital for treatment.

Tyrese Nickelson, 16, was transferred to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City for serious injuries, according to police.

Nickelson was in stable condition as of Saturday afternoon, police said.

Neighbors said they saw Nickelson running on East Fourth Street with blood flowing from his arm.

Police said the stabbing happened at a home at 1525 E. Fourth St., and Nickelson was found a short distance away on Webster Street. Paramedics with Waterloo Fire Rescue took him to UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital for treatment.

The assailant had fled before police arrived. No arrests have been made in the case.

Nickleson is a sophomore at Waterloo East High School and a standout basketball star for the Trojans, making the MVC Mississippi division's first team and the 2016-17 All-Metro team with 24.8 points per game last season, according to Courier archives.

Courier reporter Amie Steffeneicher contributed to this article.
WATERLOO  A Waterloo man has been arrested after police found a stolen handgun while searching a parked car.

Brandon Lee Tyler, 23, was arrested Thursday for felon in possession of a weapon and fourth-degree theft. He bond was set at $12,000, and he was held on a probation violation.

According to court records, officers with the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force and the Waterloo Police Department searched a home at 1106 Cornwall Ave. on June 30. They found a .40-caliber Springfield XD handgun and an empty magazine under the passenger seat of a 1998 Acura Integra parked in the garage.

The vehicle was registered to Tyler, court records state.

Police determined the handgun had been reported stolen during a burglary to a Moir Street home in December 2015.
WAUKON -- A Waterloo man was arrested Thursday following an investigation in Waukon, according to Waukon police.

Waukon Police Department assisted the Clayton County Sheriff's Office and the Postville Police Department by conducting a search warrant on a vehicle in Waukon (one of three locations of searches), police said in a Facebook post.

As a result of the search, Manual Seenster Jr., 54, of Waterloo, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver (a class D Felony). Further charges may be pending.

No further details were released.
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By Adam Morton

Jul. 05, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By Adam Morton Jul. 05, 2017 | 03:00 PM | PADUCAH, KY

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was in Paducah on Wednesday to make an announcement about new flood wall protections and maintenance.



In February 2016, City Engineer Rick Murphy went to McConnell's office to ask for help with the maintenance of Paducah's flood wall, but Murphy said the plan had hit a roadblock. At Wednesday's Press Conference held at the Carson Center McConnell said, "Today it is my pleasure to announce the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is directing over $19 million for critical repairs and upgrades to the Flood Protection system." McConnell said the upgrades would include new pump stations across the city.



McConnell said his role in flood protection was to help raise the project's budget authorization cap. "I was also happy to help last year with a $400,000 grant from Delta regional authority." He said. McConnell called Paducah the inland waterway capital of the United States.



In 1998, the City of Paducah began working with USACE to have the Citys flood wall authorized for a cost-sharing program with the federal government. The authorization process has taken several years with the Project Partnership Agreement for the reconstruction project authorized earlier this year.



Murphy, who has been working with USACE since 1998 thanked Sen. McConnell for his support in the project, including his efforts to increase the projects maximum funding cap and his support in moving the project authorization and appropriation forward.



Murphy said, Its a $32 million project which will be cost-shared between the federal government and the local government, 65 percent with the federal government.



The City of Paducahs funding responsibility will be 35 percent, which can be satisfied by a combination of in-kind and cash funds.



The flood wall was built between August 1939 and July 1949. The City of Paducah took over operation and maintenance of the floodwall from the U.S. Army Corps of when construction was completed.










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.
Michael Dirda at The Washington Post:

Thomas Anstey Guthrie (1856-1934)  better known by his pen name F. Anstey  once ranked among Englands most celebrated writers. Never heard of him, you say? Well, you know his novels, or at least the central ideas that drive their plots. Before turning to The Statement of Stella Maberly, Ansteys neglected tour de force of psychological horror, let me tell you about some of his more characteristic work, his humorous fantasies.

In 1882, Anstey only in his mid-20s  published his first novel, Vice Versa. In it, the stout, conventional businessman Mr. Bultitude and his 14-year-old son Dick discover that an ancient talisman has inadvertently caused them to exchange bodies. Most of the action involves Mr. Bultitude and his horrible experiences at a boys boarding school, as he tries desperately to undo the transformation. Dick, however, would really prefer to let things stand: After all, he now possesses the money, leisure and opportunity to indulge every boyish whim. The result is one of Victorian Englands great comic classics, the source for several later topsy-turvy novels, plays and movies, most notably Freaky Friday.

The 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie  derives, in part, from Ansteys The Brass Bottle (1900), in which a well-meaning Jinnee an elderly fellow named Fakrash  causes all sorts of mischief and havoc in the life of hapless architect Horace Ventimore.

more here.
'That's madam governor to you': Record 12 women elected to serve in 2023
Media companies in Colombia are rushing to follow their readers to America.

By: Albero Fuentes

Miami, FL  As the influx of Colombian nationals takes over South Florida, so are Colombian news media outlets looking to reach their compatriots who have left the South American country.

Media outlets like El Tiempo, Diario del Huila and El Nuevo Siglo have been in conversation with South Florida based news outlets to create partnerships and leverage the fast growing Colombian influence in the Sunshine state.

One reason for the focus on traditional media outlets is that Colombia has a strong culture of literacy. Colombias literacy rate is highest in Latin America.

According to Diplomat Magazine The International System of Certification of Spanish as a Foreign Language (Sicele) recognizes 77 institutions in Latin America and Spain with regular courses; 34 of which are in Spain, while the remaining 43 are located in Latin America, 20 of them in Colombia, a country that enjoys enormous prestige thanks to the quality of its Spanish. This reputation has become the motto of the national government to encourage learning Spanish in Colombia: To learn the best Spanish in the World, the answer is Colombia!

With that in mind, media companies in Colombia are rushing to follow their readers to America.

The top 10 Colombian media companies with online or print newspapers looking to make deals with US based media outlets include:

El Tiempo  1.8 Million online visits per day and print circulation of 345,000 per day

El Universal  1.2 million online visits per day and print circulation of 287,000 per day

El Diario Huila  950,000 online visits per day and print circulation 240,000 per day

El Nuevo Siglo  920,000 online visits per day and print circulation 266,000 per day

El Peletero and La Patria have joined to make an offer. El Peletero counts with 1 million daily online visitors and a national circulation of 315,000 print samples per day.

Other national media outlets exploring extending their operations to South Florida include Qhubo, Vanguardia, El Heraldo, and EL Universal all with an average readership of 1 million readers online and 233,000 print newspapers per day across Colombia.

Colombians in South Florida are among the top 4 groups of immigrants from Latin America including Argentinians, Brazilians, and Venezuelans.

Media Contact

Company Name: Bella Vista

Contact Person: Albero Fuentes

Email: AlberoFuentes@BELLAVISTACOMMUNICATION.com

Country: United States
US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin flagged off their first meeting by lashing out at the reporters present to cover the highly-anticipated one-on-one entourage.

As the meeting progressed, it appeared as if Putin was sympathetic towards the scenario, as he was perceived to be defending Trump against attacks from the media, reports the Independent.

Ahead of their meeting o the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, the Russian President during the Photo op gushed to Trump saying These are the ones hurting you? while pointing towards the journalists at the venue.

Responding to this, Trump said, These are the ones. Youre right about that.

The same was tweeted by CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto?, with a video captioned these are the ones who insulted you? Putin to Trump as he points to reporters

"These are the ones who insulted you?" Putin to Trump as he points to reporters https://t.co/vxx8qcDkRp  Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) July 7, 2017

President Trump, in the recent past, has time and again launched scathing attacks at the media for misquoting him, referring to them as fake news and the enemy of the American people.

On Friday, President Trump slammed mainstream media for not writing accurately about him and covering him negatively, but said he will fight for his countrys interests.

Trump tweeted, I will represent our country well and fight for its interests! Fake News Media will never cover me accurately but who cares! We will #MAGA!

I will represent our country well and fight for its interests! Fake News Media will never cover me accurately but who cares! We will #MAGA!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 7, 2017

Adding to his string of attacks launched against the media, he recently posted a GIF depicting him body-slamming a man with a CNN logo superimposed on his head. He also called a female journalist crazy and dumb as a rock, and accused her of bleeding badly from a facelift. He has also reportedly suggested jailing journalists who leak classified information.

President Trump had called on Putin to discuss the prevailing situation of Syria, in their first face-to-face meeting.

U.S. Department of State Rex Tillerson informed the media persons before departing for the G20 summit that Russia has been given the major role to solve Syrian crisis and decide the fate of Syrian President Bashar al -Assad.

The United States and Russia have already achieved progress in establishing de-confliction zones in Syria that have prevented mutual collateral damage.

The United States is prepared to explore the possibility of establishing with Russia joint mechanisms for ensuring stability, including no-fly zones, on the ground ceasefire observers, and coordinated delivery of humanitarian assistance. If our two countries work together to establish stability on the ground, it will lay a foundation for progress on the settlement of Syrias political future, Tillerson stated.

Source: Agencies
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. ANN M. JUSINO, RAMON K. JUSINO, individually and on behalf of Plaintiffs ' son, W.J., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, AKA New York City Board of Education, AKA District 31/CSE 17, Defendant-Appellee. 16-3046 Decided: July 07, 2017

PRESENT: DENNIS JACOBS, PIERRE N. LEVAL, REENA RAGGI, Circuit Judges. FOR PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS: Ann M. Jusino, Ramon K. Jusino, pro se, Staten Island, NY. FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLEE: Deborah A. Brenner, Daniel Matza-Brown, Assistant Corporation Counsel, for Zachary W. Carter, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, New York, NY.

UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.

Appellants Ann and Ramon Jusino, pro se, sue the New York City Department of Education (DOE) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C.  1400 et seq. They claim that the DOE failed to offer their son, W.J., a free appropriate public education (FAPE) by proposing to place him in a single-story school building, which allegedly would not permit W.J. to meet a physical therapy benchmark in his individualized education plan (IEP): progress on his ability to climb and descend a flight of stairs. At the impartial hearing, a DOE witness testified that the school could implement the benchmark using a three-step model of stairs and an external set of stairs on an adjacent building. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the DOE, reasoning that the impartial hearing officer (IHO) could rely on the DOE's witness and that the placement was appropriate. The Jusinos appealed. We assume the parties' familiarity with the underlying facts, the procedural history of the case, and the issues on appeal.

The IDEA aims to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education  designed to meet their unique needs  [and] to ensure that the rights of children with disabilities and parents of such children are protected. 20 U.S.C.  1400(d)(1)(A)-(B). If a school district fails to offer a FAPE, parents may unilaterally enroll their child in private school and seek tuition reimbursement. See Forest Grove Sch. Dist. v. T.A., 557 U.S. 230, 247 (2009); Hardison v. Bd. of Educ. of the Oneonta City Sch. Dist., 773 F.3d 372, 376 (2d Cir. 2014). Reimbursement is granted only when (1) the proposed IEP failed to provide the student with an appropriate public education; (2) the parent's private placement was appropriate to the child's needs; and (3) equitable considerations support the parent's claim. Hardison, 773 F.3d at 376 (internal quotation marks omitted). The first prong also encompasses challenges to a proposed school placement. See generally M.O. v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ., 793 F.3d 236 (2d Cir. 2015) (applying reimbursement standard to proposed placement challenges). This framework is known as the Burlington/Carter test. Id. at 243 (internal quotation marks omitted).

We review de novo the district court's grant of summary judgment in an IDEA case. Summary judgment in this context involves more than looking into disputed issues of fact; rather, it is a pragmatic procedural mechanism for reviewing administrative decisions. Id. (quoting A.C. ex rel M.C. v. Bd. of Educ., 553 F.3d 165, 171 (2d Cir. 2009)). The district court must give due weight to the administrative proceedings, mindful that the judiciary generally lacks the specialized knowledge and experience necessary to resolve persistent and difficult questions of educational policy. Id. (quoting A.C., 553 F.3d at 171).

I. Deference and Burden

The district court correctly deferred to the IHO's decision. Courts generally defer to the final decision of the state authorities, even where the reviewing authority disagrees with the hearing officer, but the state authorities' factual findings must be reasoned and supported by the record to warrant deference. M.H. v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ., 685 F.3d 217, 241 (2d Cir. 2012) (internal quotation marks omitted). Additionally, the courts should defer to the IHO's analysis when considering an issue not reached by the [state review officer (SRO) ]. C.F. ex rel R.F. v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ., 746 F.3d 68, 77 (2d Cir. 2014). When a state administrative decision is given deference, the party challenging the decision bears the burden of demonstrating that the respective Review Officers erred. M.H., 685 F.3d at 225 n.3.

The district court deferred to the IHO on the stair-climbing benchmark, reasoning that the SRO did not reach whether the proposed placement was appropriate. The Jusinos challenge that deference on the ground that the IHO did not fully address their argument that implementing W.J.'s stair-climbing benchmark required an internal flight of stairs. The IHO did not specifically address stair-climbing, but concluded that the Jusinos' expressed concern about the specific building and classroom,  even when combined with their impressionistic response based on a building tour, hardly constitute a legitimate basis for declining placement in an offered otherwise-appropriate program. App'x at 15. Although the IHO's decision did not specifically address the benchmark, it considered the DOE's evidence and the Jusinos' arguments regarding the adequacy of the proposed placement. Accordingly, the IHO's decision was entitled to deference, and the Jusinos bore the burden of demonstrating that the decision was erroneous. See M.H., 685 F.3d at 258 (The IHO's determination was based on his assessment of the credibility of the witnesses testifying before him, and his own understanding of educational methodology. It was entitled to deference on that basis. (internal citation omitted)). In any event, even if no deference was due, we would conclude that the placement was adequate for the reasons stated below.

II. Retrospective Testimony

The Jusinos primarily argue that Maria Dinneny, an administrator at the proposed placement, P.S. 373R, offered impermissible retrospective testimony. In an IDEA case, a parent cannot prevail by speculating that a proposed placement with the capacity to implement a given student's IEP will simply fail to adhere to that plan's mandates. M.O., 793 F.3d at 244. But it is not speculative to find that an IEP cannot be implemented at a proposed school that lacks the services required by the IEP. Id. If a parent mounts a non-speculative challenge, one that focuses on the proposed placement's lack of IEP-mandated services, the school district must show the adequacy of the placement. Id. at 245. That evidence cannot be retrospective testimony that certain services not listed in the IEP would actually have been provided to the child if he or she had attended the school district's proposed placement. R.E. v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ., 694 F.3d 167, 185 (2d Cir. 2012). While testimony that materially alters the written plan is not permitted, testimony may be received that explains or justifies the services listed in the IEP. Id. at 186; see id. at 186-87 ([I]f an IEP states that a specific teaching method will be used to instruct a student,  [t]he district  may not introduce testimony that a different teaching method, not mentioned in the IEP, would have been used.).

Dinneny's testimony did not run afoul of this rule. W.J.'s IEP set a benchmark to climb and descend 1 flight of stairs, step over step, without railing and while maintaining his head in neutral posture 80% of the time. App'x at 2. It did not prescribe any particular methodology for reaching that benchmark, such as the use of an internal staircase. Dinneny testified that P.S. 373R could implement the benchmark with a stair model or external stairs. The testimony did not concern the provision of additional services beyond those listed in the IEP. R.E., 694 F.3d at 186. Therefore, Dinneny's testimony was not impermissibly retrospective.

III. Adequacy of the Proposed Placement

The district court correctly concluded that P.S. 373R was an adequate placement. The Jusinos argue that P.S. 373R could not implement the stair-climbing benchmark because it had no internal flight of stairs. They cite B.R. v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ., in which the IEP required one-on-one physical therapy services while the school offered only classroom-based group therapy. 910 F. Supp. 2d 670, 677 (S.D.N.Y. 2012). A school administrator testified that the student would have received one-on-one services, without explaining how or whether other students received one-on-one services. See id. at 677-78. The district court rejected the testimony as conclusory. See id. at 678-79.

By contrast, Dinneny testified that P.S. 373R could implement W.J.'s stair-climbing benchmark by using a stair model or an external set of stairs. That was not conclusory. Accordingly, even if the IHO's decision did not merit deference, the DOE met its burden of demonstrating that the proposed placement would adequately implement the IEP goals.

IV. Adequacy of the IEP

The Jusinos argue in their reply brief that, by describing the IEP as setting measurable annual goals, the DOE opened the door to arguments about the inadequacy of the IEP itself. Appellants' Reply Br. at 1. However, that phrase did not raise a substantive argument that the IEP was adequate, and therefore did not open the door to a challenge to the IEP itself.

We have considered the Jusinos' remaining arguments and find them to be without merit. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.

FOR THE COURT:

CATHERINE O'HAGAN WOLFE, CLERK
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

A shower is possible early. Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low around 60F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

A shower is possible early. Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low around 60F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph.
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellee, v. LAYNE JOHNSON, AKA LW Defendant-Appellant. 15-3371 Decided: July 07, 2017

PRESENT: DENNIS JACOBS, PIERRE N. LEVAL, REENA RAGGI, Circuit Judges. FOR APPELLANT: Nicholas J. Pinto, Esq., New York, NY. FOR APPELLEES: David C. James (John J. Durhamon the brief), forBridget M. Rohde, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn, NY.

UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the order of the district court be AFFIRMED.

Layne Johnson appeals from the order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Feuerstein, J.) denying his motion for a sentence reduction. We assume the parties' familiarity with the underlying facts, the procedural history, and the issues presented for review. Johnson contends the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion to reduce his sentence following a reduction in the applicable guideline range and that his sentence was procedurally and substantively unreasonable. We find no merit in the claims.

1. [I]n the case of a defendant who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered  the court may reduce the term of imprisonment[.] 18 U.S.C.  3582(c)(2) (emphasis added). Section 3582(c)(2) requires courts to conduct a two-step inquiry. Dillon v. United States, 560 U.S. 817, 826 (2010). First, the defendant in question must be eligible for a reduction in sentence. United States v. Mock, 612 F.3d 133, 137 (2d Cir. 2010). A defendant is eligible if he was sentenced pursuant to an amended guideline, and if a reduced sentence would be consistent with policy guidance from the Sentencing Commission. Id. The parties agree that Johnson is eligible for a sentence reduction.

Second, the district court must consider any applicable  3553(a) factors and determine whether, in its discretion, the reduction authorized  is warranted in whole or in part under the particular circumstances of the case. Id. (quoting Dillon, 560 U.S. at 827). The district court denied Johnson's motion at step two, a decision we review for abuse of discretion. United States v. Borden, 564 F.3d 100, 104 (2d Cir. 2009).

At Johnson's initial sentencing, the sentencing range was 78 to 97 months, and the sentence imposed was 78 months. Under the amended Guidelines, his sentencing range would be 63 to 78 months. His basis for claiming abuse of discretion is that 78 months was at the low end of the original range but occupied the high end of the amended range. The fact that the Guidelines were amended does not alone entitle Johnson to a new sentence; rather, the district court is instructed to consider various sentencing factors and consider, in its discretion, whether a new sentence is warranted. See Mock, 612 F.3d at 137. Here, the district court considered the relevant factors and concluded that a new sentence was unwarranted. We find no abuse of discretion in that determination, despite Johnson's allegations of several errors.

Johnson argues that the district court improperly focused only on policy-based factors that Johnson had no control over, such as the need to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, to provide just punishment for the offense, [and] to afford adequate deterrence. Appellant's Br. at 14 (emphasis omitted). But the district court is required to consider those factors in ruling on the motion. See 18 U.S.C.  3582(c)(2), 3553(a). Johnson argues that these factors never change and that he has no control over them. But while the policy goals that underlie these factors do not change, the application of these sentencing factors to the specific facts of a particular case does change. Here, the district court ultimately found that the sentencing factors still warranted a 78-month sentence. There was no abuse of discretion in that finding.

Johnson argues abuse of discretion in the district court's weighing of the sentencing factors. Johnson complains that the district court improperly focused on his disciplinary record in prison and failed to consider his personal characteristics such as his history of substance abuse and his service record in the Navy. These arguments are unavailing. The district court could properly consider his prison disciplinary record, see United States v. Figueroa, 714 F.3d 757, 761 (2d Cir. 2013) (per curiam), and there is no indication that it played an outsized role in the district court's decision. The district court also stated that it reviewed Johnson's pre-sentence report, sentencing memoranda, and the parties' filings in the present motion; these documents discussed Johnson's personal history.

In sum, Johnson has not demonstrated that the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion.

2. Johnson's brief also discusses substantive and procedural reasonableness. Johnson does not meaningfully argue that there was any procedural error in his sentence, and his discussion of substantive unreasonableness appears to be a conclusory recasting of his  3582 arguments. In short, he provides no reason to question the propriety of his sentence. In any event, in his plea agreement, Johnson waived the right to appeal a sentence of 108 months or below.

For the foregoing reasons, and finding no merit in Johnson's other arguments, we hereby AFFIRM the order of the district court.

FOR THE COURT: CATHERINE O'HAGAN WOLFE, CLERK
Assyrian Organizations Condemn Turkey's Seizure of Assyrian Properties

The Assyrian St. Gabriel Monastery in Mardin, Turkey, established in 397 A.D. (AINA) -- Assyrian organizations in the United States and Europe have issued statements condemning Turkey's seizure of 50 Assyrian religious properties. In the U.S., five organizations signed a joint statement condemning the seizures, saying "...we appeal to our government, the United Nations, the European Union and all international institutions and Human Rights Organizations to demand that Turkey stop this policy of religious and ethnic intolerance and immediately return the monasteries and churches to their rightful owners."

The statement was signed by the following:

Carlo Ganjeh, Assyrian Universal Alliance, USA

David William Lazar, American Mesopotamian Organization, USA

George Stifo, The Assyrian Democratic Organization, USA

Dr. Sargoun Issa, Restore Nineveh Now Foundation, USA

Fred Issac, Assyrian Democratic Movement, USA

In Europe, the Assyrian Confederation of Europe and the Assyrian Genocide Research Center issued statements condemning the seizures (AINA 2017-07-06). Sabri Atman, the director of the Assyrian Genocide Research Center, said "this attempt to confiscate Assyrian properties, including churches, monasteries and cemeteries, is considered by Assyrians around the world as the continuation of the Assyrian genocide of 1915."
May 16, 2017

Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on May 15 decided to end his third bid for the Iranian presidency in the past 12 years. In line with his propensity for undergoing transformations, he once again sought to portray a new image of himself this year, sparking claims that he was copying the agendas of other presidential candidates, both in and beyond Iran. Ultimately, the uncertainty among voters about who the Tehran mayor really is may have been the chief cause for the premature end of his latest bid for the presidency.

Having long dreamed of being president, Ghalibaf first ran for office in 2005. He secured 14% of the votes in the first round of polling that year, and came in fourth place. Just months before the vote, Ghalibaf had resigned from his post as the head of Irans police force and instead focused his efforts on changing his image as a military man. In an article published on June 28, 2005, US-based academic Behrooz Ghamari claimed that Ghalibaf sent his advisers to Britain to meet with those of the then British prime minister to seek guidance from Tony Blairs campaign managers on how to target the affluent middle classes of Tehran and repackage himself as a pro-reform candidate.

During his 2005 campaign, Ghalibaf was repeatedly seen wearing slick and colorful suits. In an effort to shift focus away from his military background, Ghalibaf presented himself as a pilot and posed for pictures next to Airbus jets while dressed in a pilots uniform. His campaign slogan was Iranians have a right to the good life, suggesting that his target audience was the middle class, students and the elite. However, his discourse did not gain traction as voters preferred then-candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejads talk of justice and support for the poor under a populist theme. Ahmadinejad won the 2005 election and succeeded Reformist Mohammad Khatami as president.

In September 2005, Ghalibaf was chosen to succeed Ahmadinejad as Tehrans mayor  a post he continues to hold to this day.

In 2013, Ghalibaf once again tried his hand at the presidency. However, this time, he pursued a new vision under the slogan of "jihadi management" and tried to get closer to religious circles. There no longer was any sign of Ghalibafs colorful suits. His beard grew a little longer and he often wore a kaffiyeh around his neck  both symbols of the religious movements on Irans political stage. This indicated that Ghalibaf was no longer seeking the votes of the middle or educated classes.

Saeed Laylaz, a political analyst and professor at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, told Al-Monitor, Mr. Ghalibaf is not an ideological person and his priority is to reach power. This may not be a problem. But the main issue is that to achieve this, he will imitate whatever idea or agenda he thinks is fascinating in that [particular] round [of polling] and [thus] he is never himself. This leads to society viewing him as an individual who does not have much stability in [his] strategies.

Ghalibafs new approach in 2013 was not successful either, coming in second place with some 16% of the vote.

Undeterred by his second defeat in eight years, the Tehran mayor once again decided to compete in this years presidential race. This time, his campaign had a whole different tone; it was focused on Irans lower classes, whom Ghalibaf hoped to win over with huge campaign promises.

On April 24, Ghalibaf said that if elected, he would increase monthly cash handouts, which were initiated by the government of Ahmadinejad (2005-13), expanding them to up to 2.5 million rials ($77) from the current 455,000 rials ($14).

His campaign also had a feature many have criticized and described as copying. While registering to run for the elections April 15, Ghalibaf spoke about a government of the 96%. He revisited this theme in an appearance on Iranian state television April 27, in which he said, If needed, I will offer my reputation and stand firm against the leech-like 4% who are sucking the blood out of the 96% of the population. When we want to fight this 4%, [we see that] they have power, connections, money and influence.  My government will be determined to fight against this 4% and stop unnecessary imports.

Many criticized Ghalibafs new campaign strategy. On April 29, Abbas Akhoundi, the minister of roads and urban development, said, During Ghalibafs 12-year mayorship, this 4% did not have a more loyal supporter than Ghalibaf. These 12 years have been the golden era for property speculators to openly do anything they want in Tehran.

There has also been criticism of Ghalibaf for copying the discourse of the 99% and the 1% put forward by the Occupy Wall Street movement and US Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The controversy surrounding Ghalibafs selective borrowing from other campaigns was brought up May 5 in the second televised presidential debate, when incumbent Hassan Rouhani forcefully said, Four years ago, the 99% movement was created somewhere. To clumsily copy it [now] and change it to 96% because it is the year 1396 [in the Iranian calendar].  What does it mean to say the 96% movement has been formed? Dont do such things.

Iranian social media users reacted to this by setting up #ghalicopy, which trended as the third most popular hashtag May 2 on Twitter.

A recent election survey had Ghalibaf in third place with 25% of the vote, behind Rouhani's 42% and cleric Ebrahim Raisi's 27%.

Some Iranian analysts view the political maneuvering of Ghalibaf and his inner circle as resembling the actions of US President Donald Trump rather than Sanders. Mehdi Ghadimi, a veteran Reformist journalist in Tehran, told Al-Monitor, Although Ghalibaf adopted his campaign slogans from American models, beyond it all, he seems to be very influenced by Trumps victory. But he does not know why Trumps discourse is popular in the United States and thinks the reason for Trumps victory was his obvious immorality. Therefore, he [Ghalibaf] tries to appear more vulgar every time  from copying the actions and words of popular Reformist figures to telling lies that create anxiety in others.

Tehrans mayor, who 12 years ago was hoping to come to power under the slogan of Iranians have a right to the good life, and four years ago spoke of jihadi management, has seen his third and potentially last bid for the presidency buried with the slogan of the 96% against the leech-like 4%.
May 19, 2017

The position and role of the first lady are not clearly defined in the political and social structure of Iran. Until the 2009 presidential vote, the wives of candidates did not even participate in election campaigns. Reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi was the first presidential candidate to campaign alongside his wife, Zahra Rahnavard. Breaking tradition, they appeared in front of photographers and reporters holding hands. At the time, Rahnavard was the first female professor at the College of Fine Arts, a position she was awarded in June 2008.

After Rahnavards appearance alongside her husband, then-incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also did some campaigning with his wife, Azam al-Sadat Farahi, who is a graduate of Iran University of Science and Technology. During Ahmadinejads eight years as president, Farahi accompanied her husband on some of his domestic and international travel and also visited charity organizations.

The trend continued in the 2013 presidential elections. Yet among all the wives, Hassan Rouhanis wife is the least known. Neither her first nor last name were even mentioned in a report about the families of the candidates published by the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency four days before the election. After Rouhani became president, his wifes name and a few other details about her found their way into the media, gleaned from Rouhanis memoirs and interviews.

In a conversation included in Alireza Salavati's book "Siyasatmadaran-e-Javan" ("Young Politicians"), Rouhani says of his marriage, My family insisted that I get married. I was about 20 years old. I got married in the year 1968.  My father was insistent and my mother was, too. I was not reluctant myself, either.

Rouhanis wife, Sahebeh Arabi, was born into a religious family in Semnan in 1954 and married her 20-year-old cousin when she was 14. Little is known about her educational background, and she does not participate in public political or social activities. The couple have three daughters and two sons. It is said that their oldest son, Mohammad, died in Rouhanis home at the age of 19.

There are many rumors about the death. Hossein Mousavian, a member of the nuclear negotiation team during Mohammad Khatamis presidency and close to Rouhani, claimed in a 2013 interview with Time magazine that Rouhanis son was murdered in a political crime that was never solved, the killer never identified. Mousavian claimed that Rouhani investigated the murder for many years but eventually decided to stop pursuing it.

Rouhani and his family have yet to offer an official explanation for Mohammads death. However, during the past few days, after Mohammad was brought up by one of the websites that support Rouhanis main rival, conservative candidate Ebrahim Raisi, a classmate of Mohammads at Farhang High School in Tehran (which admits exceptionally talented students), posted a note about Mohammads death on Instagram. Mehdi Yazdani Khorram, a writer and journalist who attended Mohammads 1997 funeral, wrote about his old high school friends voluntary death, saying, He was young, perhaps a little rebellious, lonely and of course in love. He also stated that it is indecent to take advantage of his death for political purposes.

Arabi became slightly better known after Rouhani was elected president in 2013. On April 20, 2014, Fars News Agency covered Arabi's hosting of a royal, all-female banquet in Sa'dabad Palace on the occasion of Iranian Womens Day. The article, which portrayed the event as a glamorous party, caused an uproar. Aside from government figures, certain female activists, actresses, directors and writers were invited to the banquet, which included a fashion show and dance performance.

While Rouhanis wife is once again absent from the campaign, the wife of conservative cleric Raisi has been playing a minor role in his.

The first time that Raisi spoke publicly about his wife was in a campaign video. He told viewers, She first received her bachelor's degree in midwifery and then changed her field and got a Ph.D. from Tarbiat Modares University. She is currently a faculty member at Shahid Beheshti University and is also collaborating with the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. Her writings and discussions are mostly about pedagogy.

Subsequently, media outlets supportive of Raisi published an image of his wife and a brief bio: Jamileh Alamolhoda, daughter of the Friday Prayer leader of Mashhad and an assistant professor at Shahid Beheshti University.

Her father, Ahmad Alamolhoda, is also the representative of the supreme leader in Khorasan Razavi province. He is known for having endorsed Ahmadinejad, supporting the activities of the morality police and banning concerts in the city of Mashhad.

Raisi and Alamolhoda married in 1983 and have two daughters. Alamolhoda is described as an assistant professor and holder of a Ph.D. in in Islamic pedagogical philosophy on the website of Shahid Beheshti University. She is currently the head of the Family Research Institute at Shahid Beheshti University while also heading the Education Committee of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.

Alamolhodas entry into the public arena has created some controversy. A video was shared over social media of her presenting a paper at the Rhodes Forum in 2015. Some viewers have criticized her broken English and even questioned her academic credentials.

Alamolhoda gave an interview to Samaak News, a website that has endorsed Raisi, but her husband's campaign saw that it was quickly removed from the website. In the interview, Alamolhoda spoke about her and her childrens reaction to her husband announcing his candidacy for the presidency, saying that her children started crying and that she herself passed out and had to be taken to the hospital.

As the campaigning began, Alamolhoda delivered a speech before a female audience at a rally in the northwestern city of Hamedan. At the event, Alamolhoda referred to the presidential elections as a battle between two streams of thought on womens rights and womens affairs and spoke against a "legacy of Western civilization" in which "womanhood is lost and women behave like men.
June 7, 2017

A UN-devised global education agenda known as Education 2030 proved to be one of the biggest challenges for incumbent Hassan Rouhani in Irans May 19 presidential election. Just 12 days before the polls, on May 7, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized Rouhanis Cabinet for quietly adopting the measure and said, It is the Islamic Republic here! Here Islam is the benchmark! The Quran is the benchmark! It is not a place where the deficient, destructive and corrupt Western lifestyle can infiltrate! ... The UNESCO 2030 education agenda and the like are not agendas that the Islamic Republic of Iran should have to surrender and submit to.

Khameneis comments paved the way for Rouhanis conservative rivals, cleric Ebrahim Raisi and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, to attack the government, accusing it of making education un-Islamic. The parts of the document they criticized were gender equality  which the Principlists believe should be gender fairness and gender separation  as well as the idea of educating schoolchildren about sex and homosexuality.

In September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution titled Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Education 2030 agenda is one of 17 goals envisioned in this plan. Based on the document, all 192 UN member states must ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning for everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity or age, by the year 2030. Based on this document, the Rouhani administration designed its own educational plan called The Islamic Republic of Iran 2030 National Education Act: Moving Toward Quality Education and Lifelong Learning, which has so far neither been approved by the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution nor become law.

The 2030 education document is not the first of its kind to be unveiled in Iran. Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposed The Fundamental Reform Document of Education [FRDE] in the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2011. This document was prepared with a strong emphasis on Islamic teachings, and its first goal was to foster monotheist individuals who have faith in God and believe in the Hereafter. This document, which was approved by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, has not reached the implementation stage yet  a fact that has been criticized by the supreme leader.

Hajar Tahriri Niksefat, the head of the womens committee in Raisis election headquarters in the northern province of Gilan, told Al-Monitor she believed that educating children on gender equality was not necessarily to the childs benefit, but could also be oppressive. Niksefat, who previously served as a legislator in Irans seventh parliament (2004-2008), also expressed opposition to how the 2030 document proposed to teach sex education and said, In our country, family, marriage, controlling sexual desire and satisfying it through proper channels are emphasized and taught at their appropriate time. We will not consider relations that in our national and religious teachings are viewed as improper and do not think its fit to teach them in our schools.

This is while the Robie H. Harris It's Not the Stork! children's book, which teaches kids about sexuality and the facts of life, was recently translated into Persian. Pictures of this book were quickly posted on Persian-language social media and described as an educational book being taught in schools. However, pro-Rouhani media outlets and social media activists were quick to respond and called the majority of campaigns against the 2030 UNESCO document a lie while trying to change the public mindset by providing translations and explanations. A short video, for instance, was used to show that teaching homosexuality was not mentioned anywhere in the document. They did, however, confirm that sex education and gender equality  one of the key demands of Rouhani supporters during the elections  were referred to in the documents text.

Attending a youth campaign rally on May 13, Rouhani responded to Khameneis criticism and blamed a lack of awareness for all the propaganda against the UNESCO document. Rouhani said, I assure the supreme leader of the Iranian nation and the great nation of Iran that the government has pledged to adhere to the document within Irans laws and cultural parameters.

In another speech on May 15 in the northwestern city of Tabriz, Rouhani addressed those who believed the government had adopted the 2030 document and said, They have become so bold that they send false reports to the supreme leader.

Meanwhile, a statement issued on the same day by the governments media center criticized political movements that were taking advantage of the timing of Khameneis comments and using it to tarnish the governments image among Irans religious community in the days leading up to the elections. The statement stressed that the 2030 UNESCO document was not binding but more of a recommendation and described the rumors about agreeing to teach homosexuality in schools and distributing books regarding sex education as being completely false.

Niksefat, meanwhile, stressed that the initial criticisms against the 2030 document were made in 2014 by members of the Supreme Council for the Cultural Revolution  which is headed by the president  and other experts, and so were not limited to the campaigning. Niksefat told Al-Monitor, Unfortunately they did not take the issue seriously until December 10, 2016, when the UNESCO national commission, in the presence of Rouhanis education minister, unveiled the document and sparked sensitivities and criticisms. This still had no impact until reports were presented to the supreme leader and he ordered that the implementation of this document be halted. Therefore, as can be seen, these criticisms are nothing new  but naturally, during elections, the weak points become more prominent.

Three days after the presidential elections, on May 22, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi brought up the 2030 UNESCO document while lecturing seminary students in the holy city of Qom. While describing many of the documents goals as beautiful and humane, Makarem Shirazi said that in general, it would consolidate the hegemonic system. He also confirmed Rouhanis comments about adopting the document as long as it did not interfere with Irans religion and culture and said, They [the Rouhani administration] have put this in writing and sent a letter, signed by three ministers, to the supreme leader and sent a copy of it to us as well. However, they seem to have forgotten that the creators of this document will only agree to those exceptions and conditions written below it that do not oppose the spirit of the document.

Niksefat, who was seen as a potential head of the Ministry of Education in Ahmadinejads second Cabinet (2009-2013), believes that Khamenei's recommendation that Ahmadinejad's 2011 reform document be implemented means that progress on implementing the 2030 UNESCO document is practically halted. She said, The 'reform plan' is in accordance with our national and religious culture and does not go against other rules and regulations in our country. On the other hand, at Mr. Rouhanis [May 22] press conference [his first after being re-elected], he announced that this document would be accepted as long as it adhered to our laws and values  which they clearly do not.
July 6, 2017

Iraqi Minister of Planning Salman al-Jumaili, in an interview with Al-Monitor from his office in Baghdad, said that his country will require a massive amount of funds to rebuild the areas liberated from Islamic State (IS) control. While he noted that it was too early to arrive at a precise estimate, he estimated the amount would be around $100 billion, adding that this figure includes all the areas that were damaged during the presence of [IS], either by direct occupation or due to terrorist acts.

Jumaili also addressed poverty in the country and methods by which the government is tackling it. While the minister said poverty rates had been on the decline leading into 2014, the rise of IS shifted this and poverty increased, particularly in Ninevah, Salahuddin and Anbar provinces. The minister also commented on the current financial crisis, saying that while the fact that the country will recover is a given.  The question is how long it will take to get over such a tough, deep and complicated crisis.

A transcript of the interview follows.

Al-Monitor: What is the level of damage left by the fighting with IS? And how much money will Iraq need to rebuild the areas affected?

Jumaili: It is too soon to talk accurately about the level of damage at this point, but the damage to the infrastructure and state institutions alone between 2004 and 2016 has been set at 42 trillion Iraqi dinars [$36 billion], 60% of it between 2014 and 2016. Regarding the scale of the damage to private property, it is very large, and there are committees charged with estimating it and working out its actual scale.

Different areas are damaged to different degrees depending on how much fighting took place there and because the military operations to liberate territories are ongoing. Some areas have still not been liberated, so figures on the scale of destruction will be lacking until those operations are finished.

Iraq needs $100 billion to rebuild the liberated areas, a figure that includes all areas that were damaged during the presence of Daesh [IS], either by direct occupation or due to terrorist acts, so the funds will be allocated according to the scale of the damage in each province.

Al-Monitor: Have you put in place a plan and timeline for repairing the liberated areas? How much participation do you expect from the international community?

Jumaili: I have prepared a paper on the general framework of the national plan for reconstruction and development for the areas affected by terrorist operations. It covers 10 years [2018-2027], and the funds needed were estimated at $100 billion over a decade. This plan will be carried out on three simultaneous tracks: the human development and social track, the basic infrastructure track, and the economic development track.

Iraq depends a lot on international support in light of the economic crisis it is facing. There will be meetings soon with donor states, most importantly the donor conference hosted by Kuwait in the coming months. We are hoping for good international support to result from that conference.

Al-Monitor: There were reports that the poverty level has risen in Iraq. What official statistics do you have? And when was the ministrys last survey? What are the reasons for the rise in poverty?

Jumaili: The rate of poverty had fallen to 15% by the start of 2014, but because of the twin shock of IS and the fall in the oil price, poverty began rising again to reach 22.5% by the end of the year. It rose to 41% in the Ninevah, Salahuddin and Anbar provinces.

The last survey in Iraq was in early 2015, and the level of poverty was 31% in the southern provinces, 17% in the center, 12% in Baghdad, 17% in Diyala and Kirkuk, and 13% in the Kurdish regions. Hopefully a new survey can be done to work out the levels of poverty in Iraq this year or early next year, as the issue is linked to stability in the liberated areas.

Al-Monitor: At what income level does Iraq set the poverty line? Does it follow international standards? Or does it set its criteria according to domestic social and economic conditions?

Jumaili: An income of 105,000 dinars [around $90] per person per month was set as the poverty line, meaning that an individual whose income averaged more than that figure is not considered in poverty. But if the persons income is under that, he is considered impoverished. And that figure takes into account the need for calories and the basics needed for subsistence.

Defining the poverty line and basic human needs is done with international experts from the World Bank and the World Food Program. It should be mentioned that most of the poor are close to the poverty line. The 2016 survey on food security in Iraq found that 2.5% of the countrys residents are not food-secure, most of them living in the countryside.

Al-Monitor: What is Iraqs population density today? And why has there not been a census in Iraq for almost 20 years? When will there be one?

Jumaili: Iraqs population was estimated at 37,883,543 in 2017. A census was planned in 2009 after a count and inventory of the countrys buildings and installations, but because of political interference in the census and a dispute over the naming of certain national groups, as well as a fear that the results of the census would be used for political purposes, the project was dropped in the second stage  the counting of Iraqis at home and abroad  and the numbers from the count and inventory were used to give us a good idea of the population in 2009 and estimates for the following years.

Al-Monitor: Does the standardization and quality control agency play its basic role in the life of the Iraqi consumer? Or has it rolled back its work and become prey to political quota-setting?

Jumaili: In order to control the quality of goods imported into Iraq, the agency made a deal with several international testing agencies to start implementing a program for pre-emptive testing of goods in their home countries, which has been running for four years. The four companies test goods for export to Iraq before their export and they issue certificates of conformity to Iraqi standards. Using dedicated laboratories, they have issued more than 130,000 certificates for half a million trucks for delivery to Iraq. Under a deal signed with these companies, the agency is monitoring their performance through random testing of goods coming through the borders to check up on their performance.

Al-Monitor: There are many informal housing areas, or slums, in Iraq. What numbers does your ministry have on these areas? And what is your plan for tackling them without making their residents homeless?

Jumaili: According to statistics gathered by the central statistics authority in 2013, informal housing accounts for 7% of total housing in Iraq and their residents make up 8% of the population.

Given that these areas are wells of poverty, the high steering committee that was set up to tackle this problem launched a national project to renovate these areas. A roadmap was put forward by the Cabinet under decision 279 in 2015, which adopted solutions and sustainable ways of tackling the phenomenon from four main angles: technical and administrative, legal and legislative, financial, and institutional.

Al-Monitor: What is the level of trade between Iraq and the rest of the world? And what are Iraqs main trading partners? Has Iraqs high level of imports affected the countrys economy?

Jumaili: The Iraqi market is flooded with imported goods, which has lowered local production of goods due to the inability of local producers to compete. Furthermore, the wheels of production for most local manufactured goods, factories and workshops, especially in the private sector, have stopped. That has been reflected in growing levels of unemployment due to workers being laid off.

Iraqs top trading partners for goods other than oil in 2015 were China with $8.5 billion and the United Arab Emirates with $6.5 billion.

Al-Monitor: Do you think Iraq can recover from its financial crisis? And can the conditions set by the World Bank for the coming years be a basis for a strong economic plan for the future?

Jumaili: That Iraq can recover from its financial crisis is a given, but the question is how long it will take to get over such a tough, deep and complicated crisis. The collapse in the oil price meant the states income fell by 70%, while terrorist threats required massive defense spending as well as the burden of displaced people and immigrants.

The Iraqi government has taken several measures in the last two years, including a review of investment spending and the canceling of many investment projects and finding new sources of finance thanks to the help of the international community and the provision of several low-interest loans. All these steps have helped tackle and shorten the crisis.

The gradual improvements we can see in the global oil price mean that there is an opportunity for a better Iraqi economy in the future, especially given that Iraq has many investment opportunities and the resources it needs to put in place a suitable economic plan that will help it create a better economy in the future.

Al-Monitor: How would you describe the investment situation in Iraq? Do you think it has an attractive or hostile climate for foreign investment? Why have investment opportunities reportedly fallen?

Jumaili: Iraq is an attractive destination for investment for several reasons due to its natural conditions. Furthermore, its investment climate is able to absorb investment projects, both local and overseas, because of the vast damage that has hit the countrys infrastructure as well as the shutdown of many productive activities.

Despite these advantages and the opportunities Iraq offers, there are some barriers, most importantly the security situation in all its complexity and the legislation and laws that are needed to provide a legal environment suitable for investors.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. GLENN GOOCH, Defendant - Appellant. No. 16-4755 Decided: July 07, 2017

Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and WILKINSON and THACKER, Circuit Judges. Chiege O. Kalu Okwara, CHIEGE O. KALU OKWARA, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant. Jill Westmoreland Rose, United States Attorney, Anthony J. Enright, Assistant United States Attorney, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Glenn Gooch appeals from the criminal judgment convicting him of receipt of material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possession of child pornography and sentencing him to an 84-month term of imprisonment with a lifetime term of supervised release. On appeal, Gooch argues that the district court plainly erred in accepting his guilty plea because the magistrate judge conducting the Fed. R. Crim. P. 11 hearing did not inform him that the maximum term of supervised release was life. He also argues that the lifetime term of supervised release is substantively unreasonable and that counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel in failing to bring a law review article to the court's attention and failing to argue Gooch's criminal history was overrepresented. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

Because Gooch did not move to withdraw his guilty plea, we review the adequacy of the Rule 11 hearing for plain error. United States v. Sanya, 774 F.3d 812, 815 (4th Cir. 2014). Before accepting a guilty plea, the district court must conduct a plea colloquy in which it informs the defendant of, and determines he understands, the rights he is relinquishing by pleading guilty, the charges, to which he is pleading, and the maximum and mandatory minimum penalties he faces. Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b)(1); United States v. DeFusco, 949 F.2d 114, 116 (4th Cir. 1991). The court also must ensure that the plea was voluntary and not the result of threats, force, or promises not contained in the plea agreement, Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b)(2), and that there is a factual basis for the plea, Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b)(3).

Gooch primarily relies on an unpublished decision of this court to demonstrate that the magistrate judge's alleged error in not informing him of the maximum term of supervised release affects his substantial rights and that we should exercise our discretion to notice the error. In United States v. Waddell, 622 F. App'x 201 (4th Cir. 2015) (No. 14-4286), we held that the magistrate judge's plain errors in improperly informing Waddell of the applicable maximum life term of supervised release and in failing to inform Waddell of the consequences of violating supervised release affected Waddell's substantial rights and that it was necessary to exercise the court's discretion to correct the errors. Id. at 203. We conclude that Waddell is materially distinguishable from the case at hand.

The record shows that the district court substantially complied with Rule 11. Gooch only challenges the validity of his plea based on the omission of the supervised release maximum term. The court was required to inform Gooch that the maximum term of supervised release was life. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b)(1)(H). The omission did not affect Gooch's substantial rights. See United States v. Davila, 133 S. Ct. 2139, 2147 (2013) (stating that, to demonstrate effect on substantial rights in Rule 11 context, defendant must show a reasonable probability that, but for the error, he would not have entered the plea (internal quotation marks omitted)). Neither Gooch nor counsel has contended, on appeal, that this omission affected the decision to plead guilty, and nothing in the record supports such a conclusion. Moreover, the district court ensured that Gooch entered his plea knowingly and voluntarily and that a factual basis supported his plea. See DeFusco, 949 F.2d at 116, 119-20. Accordingly, we conclude that there was no reversible error at Gooch's guilty plea hearing.

Next, Gooch contends that his lifetime term of supervised release is substantively unreasonable. We review a sentence's reasonableness under a deferential abuse of discretion standard. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 41 (2007). The sentence imposed must be sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to satisfy the purposes of sentencing. 18 U.S.C.  3553(a) (2012). This court applies a presumption of reasonableness on appeal to a within-Guidelines-range sentence. United States v. Helton, 782 F.3d 148, 151 (4th Cir. 2015). Such a presumption can only be rebutted by showing that the sentence is unreasonable when measured against the  3553(a) factors. United States v. Louthian, 756 F.3d 295, 306 (4th Cir. 2006).

We conclude that Gooch's supervised release term was substantively reasonable. His term of supervised release fell within the statutory range, 18 U.S.C.  3583(k) (2012), and the Guidelines range, USSG  5D1.2(b). In announcing its sentence, the court weighed the relevant  3553(a) factors and expressly considered Gooch's criminal history, the seriousness of the offense, his history involving child pornography, and his age.

Finally, Gooch asserts that counsel at sentencing was ineffective because he failed to include a law review article in his sentencing memorandum and argue that Gooch's criminal history was overrepresented. The article suggested that the Sentencing Guidelines for child pornography offenses should be amended. To prevail on his ineffective assistance of counsel claims, Gooch must show that counsel's performance was deficient and that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687 (1985). This court does not consider ineffective assistance claims on direct appeal [u]nless an attorney's ineffectiveness conclusively appears on the face of the record. United States v. Faulls, 821 F.3d 502, 507 (4th Cir. 2016). In this case, it does not conclusively appear from the record that counsel's failure to include a law review article or argue that the criminal history was overrepresented prejudiced Gooch. Because no conclusive evidence of ineffective assistance of counsel appears on the record, Gooch's ineffective assistance claims should be raised, if at all, in a 28 U.S.C.  2255 (2012) motion. See United States v. Baptiste, 596 F.3d 214, 216 n.1 (4th Cir. 2010).

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

PER CURIAM:
July 7, 2017

The Senate Armed Services Committees defense budget proposal will give the United States greater authority to support Iraqi agencies tasked with securing the homeland.

The upper chambers version of the National Defense Authorization Act, set for release next week, allows the Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq  a US office tasked with developing Iraqs military  to extend their support to police and civilian security organizations, including the Ministry of the Interior, according to a committee aide.

The Office of Security Cooperation, housed in the US Embassy in Baghdad, has traditionally focused on supporting Iraqs Ministry of Defense and Counterterrorism service. The bill, aides say, will give US officials more leeway to support Iraqi police and homeland protection agencies as they develop a long-term strategy to secure the country.

Those plans are progressing as US-led troops and Iraqi forces clear out the final streets of the strategically vital city of Mosul after more than eight months of intense block-by-block combat that has left much of the city in ruins. On Thursday, officials for the US-led coalition said that Iraqi security forces had pushed into the last 500 square meters of Islamic State (IS) holdings in the city.

The multinational coalition fighting in Iraq is currently working on a two-year plan for the Ministry of Defense. It also is continuing to work with the Ministry of Interior on a plan that aims to prepare Iraqs police and border guards for duty in provinces that have been liberated from IS.

The specific amounts authorized for the office will appear in the full version of the Senate bill, set for release next week. But a summary of the bill that appeared last week authorizes nearly $1.3 billion for the US-led anti-IS coalition  fulfilling an entire Defense Department request made in May  to train and equip Iraqi troops and police units over the next year, providing them with thousands of M16 and AK-47 assault rifles, as well as hundreds of Humvees and armored vehicles.

That assistance could continue for some time. In a briefing on Thursday, Canadian Brig. Gen. D.J. Anderson, the director of force for the country coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria, told reporters that the effort had trained 106,000 Iraqi security force members, including 40,000 army soldiers, 15,000 police and 14,000 counterterrorism fighters.

On Thursday, Anderson also announced a $50 million coalition initiative to provide police in a box to Iraq that will begin later this summer: Using 100 mobile shipping containers that include equipment such as vehicles, weapons and GPS trackers, that can help Iraqi quickly establish ad hoc police stations in areas devastated by IS fighters.

A Defense Department budget request submitted to Congress in May said Iraqi counterterrorism forces will require coalition financing for the next three years to grow to 20,000 members. The Pentagon expects its costs for training and equipping Iraqi forces to fall in next years budget and beyond as Baghdad gets better at sustaining its own military or those funds are shifted to other US security assistance programs.

But Anderson did not put exact timelines on coalition support or when Iraqi security forces could fight on their own.

We'll be here as long as we need to be here, Anderson said. Our mission is to make sure that it's a self-sustaining force, and a self-sustaining force means that it's able to train itself, it's able to feed itself and it's able to fight by itself.
July 7, 2017

As Iraqi Kurds try to iron out internal differences ahead of their referendum on independence in September, Turkey, Iraq and Iran have all announced their opposition, questioning the timing and fearing the implications of such a move at a time when regional rivalries are at their peak.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran opposes some murmurs about holding a referendum in order to separate one part of Iraq," said Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a meeting with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in June, adding that Iraq "should stay unified."

While Turkey and Iraq's opposition is understandable to an extent, Iran's long involvement as well as cultural and historical ties with Iraqi Kurds raises serious questions about the motives for its opposition to the upcoming referendum.

The political parties in Iraqi Kurdistan have all made it clear that their ultimate aim is an independent Kurdistan, but they differ on the approach, meaning that the issue of independence is a matter of when rather than if. The Iranians are perhaps more aware of this than any other actor.

There are over 13 million Kurds on both sides of the Iran-Iraq border. Whether under the shah or the Islamic Republic, Iran has been the only country that has had an overall cordial relationship with Iraqi Kurds, be it secular, Marxist or Islamic parties. The shah and the ayatollahs both adopted the strategy of engaging enemies outside Irans borders. In Iraq, this has entailed weakening successive Iraqi regimes by partly using the Kurds as a proxy force. Indeed, repression from Baghdad combined with Tehrans assistance to the Kurds greatly contributed to Iraq almost always being at war with a quarter of its population. For instance, the Kirkuk oilfields were attacked by peshmerga, both during the shahs reign in the late 1960s and the ayatollahs in the 1980s. Nonetheless, ironically, while Iran has been wary of Kurdish aspirations for independence, its continuous support for the peshmerga in past decades has ensured that the desire for independence continued burning amongst Kurdish fighters  and their leadership.

However, Irans assistance to Iraqi Kurds, partly in order to use them against its own rebellious Kurds, has also caused immeasurable damage to its own stability and security. When Iran fought a bloody battle against Iranian Kurds in the 1980s, it had to devote huge resources and enormous manpower to contain them. Most Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) top brass, including top commander Mohammad Ali Jafari and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, are veterans of the war in Iranian Kurdistan. Other senior IRGC personnel who have been killed in Syria and Iraq in recent years started their careers in the mountains of Iranian Kurdistan. On the other side of the coin, representatives of the IRGC and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence have been present in Iraqi Kurdistan since the mid-1980s, offering Tehran close knowledge of the Kurdish leadership and the Kurdish region inside out.

This knowledge has led Iranian officials to retain great pragmatism, perhaps also guided by the experiences of its neighbor Turkey, which has for decades been mired in armed conflict with the Kurdistan Workers Party and more recently the latters affiliates in northern Syria. The impact of this pragmatism has been compounded by consistent acts of solidarity, although oftentimes motivated by Irans own interests.

In the summer of 1988, under the regime of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi Kurdistan was devastated by chemical weapons and the murder of 182,000 civilians. While the Persian Gulf states funded Saddam, and the West, including the United States, UK and France, armed his regime to the teeth, Iran welcomed thousands of fleeing Kurds into its territory. During the 1991 uprising in the aftermath of the Gulf War, Iran again opened its borders and allowed Iraqi Kurds to find shelter on its soil, while Turkey closed its borders. In August 2014, when the Islamic State (IS) invaded Iraqi Kurdistan, the Iranians were again the first to assist the Kurds. "I think all Kurds should always be grateful to the Iranians, even though they had their own interests too," a peshmerga captain who dealt with the Iranians at the time near Erbil told Al-Monitor. In this vein, apart from security considerations, it should be noted that Irans annual trade with Iraqi Kurdistan is almost $8 billion.

Thus, given Irans relationship with its own Kurdish community as well as its long history of assistance to Iraqi Kurds and their political parties, it is in a relatively strong position vis-a-vis Ankara and Baghdad.

With the crumbling of IS, the future looks even bleaker as new rivalries spring up. Turkey is at war with its Kurdish community and vehemently opposes the Kurdish administration in northern Syria. Syria remains mired in chaos, with the central government unable to control a large chunk of its territory  perhaps permanently. Meanwhile, Iran is relatively stable and has deployed thousands of troops to Syria and Iraq to fight jihadists and shore up the defenses of its allies in Damascus and Baghdad.

Iranian officials have repeatedly stated that if they do not fight jihadists in Aleppo and Anbar, they would have to fight them on their own soil. Given the Kurdish background of the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks in Tehran on June 7, it appears that the one area where the security of Iran could be most threatened is the Kurdish region.

Thus, given the complex and dangerous regional landscape, as well as Irans domestic security situation, the referendum on an independent Kurdistan places the Islamic Republic at a crossroads. If the Kurds manage to iron out their internal differences and hold the vote and then declare independence, Iran will have to think hard before it makes its final decision about its posture toward a Kurdish state.

Tehran could support an independent Kurdistan that boosts economic and security cooperation while receiving guarantees that such an entity will not become a source of instability on its borders. Iran could also benefit from providing an alternative route for Kurdish oil to find its way to international markets.

Conversely, the Islamic Republic could oppose statehood for Iraqi Kurds by closing its airspace, imposing an economic blockade and using its Shiite proxies in Iraq to cause nuisances, but that could potentially open the gates to a Kurdish revolt on both sides of the border and invite possible foreign interference to its immediate west. Given that Saudi Arabia, the enemy of Iran, has given positive signals toward Iraqi Kurds  and Riyadhs alleged support for Iranian Kurdish militants based in Iraqi Kurdistan  a continued autonomous Kurdistan region supported by the Saudis could become a challenge perhaps greater than the threats posed by an independent Kurdish state.
July 7, 2017

Beneath the destroyed minaret of Mosul, known as the "hunchback," rests the rubble of what used to be the great mosque of the city. The historical Grand al-Nuri Mosque was built eight centuries ago by Noureddine Zanki, a medieval Muslim leader who paved the way for Saladin, the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, to confront the crusaders and take over Jerusalem after the decisive battle of Hattin in 1187  by making Sunni Muslim orthodoxy prevail over Shiism.

Back then, the Muslims lands were annihilated by the crusaders, while their leadership was weak and divided between the Abbasid dynasty in Baghdad and the Fatimid rule in Cairo, alongside other small Islamic princedoms scattered from Persia to Mosul to Aleppo. The Shiite-Sunni rift during that period reached its peak, and Zanki played an important role in restoring Sunni power by defeating the Shiite Hamdanid dynasty that ruled from Mosul to Aleppo in todays Iraq and Syria.

Mosul itself is a place with geopolitical importance throughout history: The Mongols, the Timurids, the Ottomans and the Persians all either occupied or tried to occupy the city over the past centuries. Mosul means "connector" in Arabic, which may be the reason why famous 12th-century Arab geographer and biographer Yaqut al-Hamawi described Mosul as the gate to Iraq, the key to Khorasan and the road to Azerbaijan.

In his book The Dictionary of Countries, Hamawi wrote, Ive always heard that the world has three great cities: Damascus is the gate of the West, Nashipur is the gate of the East and Mosul the high road from East to West.

All these historical elements are prerequisites to understand the Islamic States (IS) choice of the city back in 2014 and the importance of the citys liberation today. In addition, the location held great meaning to IS leaders in their effort to revive the nostalgic connection with history, which played a huge role in mobilizing people and attracting them.

Based on its leaders positions, IS aimed at reviving the glory of Islam, building hope for desperate and hopeless layers within society and providing a promised land to followers who had difficulties integrating in their societies. In short, a dream state for those who believed in its dream state objectives and goals and a nightmare for all of its enemies.

This was enough to convince thousands around the world to move from the luxury, stability and familiarity of their homes to the uncertainty of Dar al-Islam  the land where the caliphate is located  to fight and practice jihad, accompanied by their women and children, and to assume it as their new home.

To the IS society in Mosul and its surroundings, the Iraqi forces retaking of the city might be seen as the fall of home, but not the end of a dream; the collapse of a state, not the uprooting of a belief; the destruction of the base, yet the revival of a different approach. Whatever the name of the defeat is going to be, to them it is not the end of IS. The day after the state could be much more dangerous to world security than the day it functioned, for today it is once again an idea, and ideas are borderless, they enjoy less liabilities and are capable of flying from one place to another. Many questions should be asked in this regard: Where are the people of the caliphate heading, could they find their way back into the societies they left and are they going to be the worlds next time bombs?

People who follow whats known to be jihadi paths have proven over the years to be persistent and willing to take chances more than once in order to see their causes fulfilled. Its significant that the senior leaders of IS were imprisoned together at Camp Bucca near Basra, while others came from Abu Ghraib prison to the west of Baghdad. Some were even jailed at Guantanamo Bay. And when released, they decided to immigrate to fight and get killed in Syria. This is not because IS pays good money and provides recruits with lucrative packages, rather it is the spirit that cant be defined or understood  the yearning to feel capable of forcing a change, the type of belief that prompts a human to give up his humanity to kill people just because they think differently.

Because of such people, IS will not be uprooted. Even if the groups name were changed, they would always look for a similar path, just like what many former al-Qaeda members in Iraq did when they found IS.

In December 2014, I was in Iraq covering the latest military developments and preparing a long piece and documentary on IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. During this period, I had the opportunity to meet with IS members detained by the Iraqi intelligence and the Interior Ministry. The only condition was not to film them.

Among those whom I met were Abu Hajar al-Assafi, a senior IS commander who is thought to be part of the higher leadership, Hosam Naji Shenin, the groups mufti in Iraq, and Samim Abdul-Rahman, a personal assistant to slain IS Minister of War Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Bilawi, who was killed in June 2014. The three men were in different prisons in Baghdad. Yet the common denominator between all of them was that they were all former al-Qaeda members and previously detained, and none of them thought twice when offered to take up a position within IS. Abu Hajar was imprisoned in Syria and Iraq on several occasions, found himself at the notorious Palestine Branch prison in Syria and went to Camp Bucca, the US detention facility near Basra. Yet this did not deter him from doing whatever appropriate to be part of the jihad to achieve his goals of laying the foundations for IS.

Sheikh Hosam was an inmate at Camp Bucca in 2004-2007, together with Baghdadi who was held captive in 2005-2009. When Hosam was released, he was approached by his former comrades and did not think twice about taking his responsibility under the banner of IS. To him, it wasnt a matter of choice, but a divine duty. He dropped his master's degree studies in Sharia and assumed responsibilities despite his conviction that if he continued his studies he might have a better future.

Hosam told me in 2014 that defeating IS or any other trend embracing the same thoughts cant be achieved by weapons only. He explained that people following this line of thought are dreamers, and the only way to put an end to their recklessness and adventurism will not be without answering their pains and needs, by uprooting reasons of their waywardness, by ending occupation and re-establishing pride among Muslims.

For months, Abdul-Rahman was Bilawis personal assistant, driver and postman. According to Abdul-Rahman, he was jailed several times, fought battles as a member of al-Qaeda and finally when the war started affecting the group, he stood aside and worked as a contractor with his brothers  yet not for long.

Abdul-Rahman recalled how a group of men arranged a meeting between him and Bilawi, without him knowing that Bilawi was in fact IS trusted war minister. Abdul-Rahmam told me, He asked me to work for him, get him a house with two floors  and help him marry a new wife. I didnt know who he was, and the wife whom he married did not know his real identity.

Abdul-Rahman knew he was working for an IS commander, yet he only discovered who the guy was when Saudi-financed Al-Arabiya channel aired Bilawis picture revealing his name and position. It did not take long for the Iraqi forces to storm the building on June 4, 2014, where both men and their families lived. Bilawi was killed and Abdul-Rahman and the others were detained.

Abdul-Rahman, Hosam and Abu Hajar were imprisoned in heavily secured prisons in Iraq. At that time, they were waiting for their execution, as they only saw in death their hope to end the misery of detention. Yet what if they had the opportunity to flee, or for a certain reason were granted amnesty, would these men join IS again and risk being detained once more? Are they capable of resisting the lure of being part of the struggle to rebuild the destroyed caliphate? A common misconception about IS and its affiliates is that these people are fighters who die for virgins in the sky. The fact is that they are killing themselves to fulfill a dream on earth.
July 6, 2017

Israeli media outlets are reporting that Hamas and Israel have made remarkable progress in negotiating a potential prisoner exchange under the brokerage of a third party, but each side continues to provoke the other publicly.

Israeli Public Broadcasting Corp. (KAN) said June 26 that an undisclosed third party is brokering a deal. KAN political affairs analyst Amir Bar Shalom said in a story that negotiations gained momentum when a Hamas delegation visited Cairo June 4-10. The delegation, led by the movement's Gaza Strip political bureau head Yahya Sinwar, met with prominent Egyptian officials in the General Intelligence Directorate.

Hamas wouldn't officially confirm or deny the story, but Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told Al-Monitor: Hamas considers the release of Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons a top priority since it is a core national issue. The movements participation in negotiations with Israel to approve a new prisoner exchange deal for Israelis detained by Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades [Hamas military wing] must be preceded by Israels commitment to the previous exchange deal in 2011 and the release of those recaptured in 2014 after their release. Israeli leaks about the negotiations for a new exchange deal will not achieve their goals to extract stances and information from Hamas about its Israeli detainees. Israelis are demanding action and [putting] pressure on their government, which is neglecting the issue of their detainees in Hamas captivity.

In June 2016, the family of detained Israeli Avraham Mangisto staged a sit-in in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office to demand the return of their son. Also, the families of Israeli soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin threatened to make their periodic protests in front of Netanyahus office permanent, to demand that Israel arrange for the release of their sons' bodies; both men were killed in 2014.

The KAN news about supposed progress in the prisoner exchange paradoxically coincided with Israeli sanctions against Hamas detainees in Israeli prisons. On June 29, the families of 100 detainees from the Gaza Strip were forbidden to visit their family members in Israeli prisons.

There are more than 7,000 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, including 330 from Gaza, 680 from Jerusalem and 6,000 from the West Bank.

It should be noted that for years, Hamas has refused to allow Red Cross access to Israeli prisoners. It rejected the most recent request on June 6.

Abdul Rahman Chedid, the director of Asra Media Office, a Palestinian prisoner rights advocacy group, told Al-Monitor: The Israeli decision has declared war on Hamas detainees because it pressures the movement to release the Israeli soldiers and to respond to their families request to punish Hamas detainees in Israeli prisons. The decision might be the first in a series of sanctions Israel will put on Hamas detainees, and it was not prompted by violations that Palestinian detainees committed against the Israel Prison Service. It was rather an Israeli political and governmental decision. Punishing Gazas detainees in Israeli prisons began because Israeli soldiers are locked up in the Gaza Strip.

The leaks about a possible exchange also coincided with the 11th anniversary of Hamas abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in south Gaza in 2006. Shalit was detained for five years and released in 2011 in return for Israel releasing more than a thousand Palestinian detainees with long sentences.

Palestinian expert on Israeli affairs Mahmoud Mardawi told Al-Monitor: Israel is not ready for a new exchange deal with Hamas due to the Israeli governments partisan composition and its rightist inclinations. The parties participating in the National Coalition [referring to the government]  especially the Jewish Home party [HaBayit HaYehudi]  will refuse any new deal. The Jewish Home party is calling for recapturing the [Palestinian] detainees liberated as part of the 2011 deal. At the same time, the Israeli government is not refusing any brokerage efforts to launch negotiations with Hamas. Still, in case early parliamentary elections are announced in Israel, Netanyahu might approve a deal with Hamas to boost his popularity among Israelis. Returning detained soldiers to their families is an Israeli popular demand, and perhaps the United States may have asked Egypt to use the Hamas delegations visit to bring up the topic of Israeli soldiers held by the movement.

The United States seems to be getting involved in the issue of Israeli soldiers detained by Hamas. US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said June 26 that Washington is angry with Hamas for refusing to release the Israeli soldiers and believes Hamas is responsible for their families suffering.

US peace envoy Jason Greenblatt met with families of dead and detained Israeli soldiers June 23 and voiced his dismay over Hamas behavior, which he described as inhumane.

A Palestinian detainee in the Ramon detention center in the Negev Desert told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, The Israeli authorities current sanctions on Palestinian detainees resemble those imposed in the wake of the previous exchange deal to pressure the Palestinian detainees in prisons and Hamas leadership outside the prisons to decrease their demands and release Israeli soldiers for less in a future exchange.

Khaled Meshaal, the former head of Hamas political bureau, said in April that some parties, which he did not name, offered to mediate in exchange negotiations between Hamas and Israel, but they faced two significant obstacles. First, Israel tried to ignore the issue and stressed that it is non-negotiable. Second, Hamas refused to start indirect negotiations at that time unless more than 60 prisoners who were released in the first exchange deal in 2011 and recaptured by Israel in mid-2014 were set free.

Between the Israeli leaks and Hamas reservation about the negotiations on a new exchange, there seems to be smoke with no fire. Israel and Hamas might be holding talks under the table, with Egyptian brokerage, for privacy purposes. But the failure or success of such a deal would bank on certain developments, mainly the ongoing normalization of relations between Hamas and Egypt as the expected mediator, Israel halting its punishment of Hamas prisoners, and a change in the Israeli government's composition.

Then there's always the chance Israeli intelligence might find its soldiers and bring them home without giving Hamas anything in return.
Authorities said a Gadsden couple was arrested Friday in Cherokee County for allegedly starving horses.

The horses were located on Cherokee County 32. According to the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, an ALEA investigator issued warrants for the arrests of Leon Junior Green, 59, and Latoya Diane Green, 33 on Friday.

The couple was arrested and transported to the Cherokee County Detention Center, where they will be held until their bond hearings. Both of them were charged with cruelty to animals.
Five members of the Birmingham Board of Education are not seeking reelection.

Board members Sherman Collins Jr., Randall Woodfin, Lyord Watson, Brian Giattina and April Williams didn't submit paperwork to run before qualifying for the Aug. 22 municipal election ended Friday.

Thirty-two candidates have qualified to run in the school system's nine districts.

Among them are long-time Birmingham City schools employee Larry Contri; Mary Boehm, who recently retired from A+ Education Partnership; and former Birmingham Board of Education president Edward Maddox.

Contri worked for Birmingham City Schools for 50 years before retiring in June. He served as interim superintendent from August 2016 to May 2017. He agreed to retire under the terms of the settlement in his 2014 lawsuit against the Birmingham City Board of Education over a salary dispute.

Maddox stepped down from the Birmingham Board of Education in October 2012 as part of a plea agreement with the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office. Maddox was charged with two ethics charges of using his office for personal gain. He was placed on two years of unsupervised probation and had to pay court fees. No fines were imposed and he was not restricted from seeking office again.

The school board race comes just two months after the board hired Lisa Herring to serve as the Birmingham City Schools new superintendent.

Both Collins and Woodfin are seeking other city offices.

Collins is running for Birmingham City Council in District 1 against incumbent Lashunda Scales.

Woodfin is running for mayor of Birmingham among a long list of candidates, including incumbent William Bell.

In a statement to AL.com, Giattina said he made a commitment when he was first elected to office to only serve eight years. "It is time for someone new," he said.

Giattina said serving on the school board has been one of the greatest experiences of his life.

Last month, Watson issued a statement on his Facebook page stating he wasn't seeking reelection.

"Over the past four years, I have enjoyed being the District 2 representative on the Birmingham Board of Education. There have been some tough decisions and there are more difficult decisions coming in the future. I hope that District 2 will be thoughtful about who we elect as the next District 2 representative."

Williams told AL.com that 15 years on the board was enough. "It's time for some fresh perspectives and ideas," she said.

Here are the 2017 candidates for Birmingham Board of Education:

District 1

Jerry Tate

Cedric Small

Bennie M. Holmes

Douglas Lee Ragland

Keith Rice

District 2

Terri Michal

Brandon McCray

District 3

Larry Contri

Mary Boehm

District 4

Daagye Hendricks (incumbent)

Amber Courtney

Edward Maddox

District 5

Michael "Mickey" Millsap

Aaisha Muhammad

Eloise Manning Crenshaw

David T. McKinney

Lt. Buford L. Burks

Andrea Mitchell

Martha McDowell

Angela Scoggins-Watson

District 6

Cheri Gardner (incumbent)

Ervin Philemon Hill Sr.

Lavon Beard

District 7

Wardine Alexander (incumbent)

Patricia Spigner McAdory

Walter "Big Walt" Wilson

District 8

Antwon Womack

Tyrone Silmon

Sonja Smith

Patricia Bozeman Henderson

District 9

Sandra Brown (incumbent)

Lawrence Jackson

Go here to find the list of Birmingham City Council candidates.
Samford University announced Friday it won't accept its anticipated $3 million annual budget allocation from the Alabama Baptist State Convention, effective Jan. 1, 2018.

The decision was approved by the Executive Committee of the university's Board of Trustees after consultation with state convention leaders.

"I believe the action taken by our trustees is something that both parties have been anticipating for some time and will serve the best interests of both Samford and the Alabama Baptist State Convention," said Samford President Andrew Westmoreland. "Our longstanding educational and ministry relationships with Alabama Baptists have always been more significant than money, and these relationships will continue and flourish."

Westmoreland said recent tension between Samford and state convention leaders over a proposed student organization to discuss LGBT rights and issues was a factor.

The Samford faculty voted April 27 to recommend approval of "Samford Together," a student organization that "will provide a forum for SU students who want to discuss topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity" in "an open-minded and accepting environment." The proposed group still needs approval from the Samford board of trustees to form.

The idea of a student group to discuss lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues did not sit well with Alabama Baptist leaders who have historically supported Samford University.

State Convention President John Thweatt and State Board of Missions executive director Rick Lance said they were "saddened" by the faculty's vote, "which provides recognition of an agenda that we believe to be contrary to Scripture."

When the proposed student organization sought official university recognition, convention leadership informed Samford that "if the [Samford] trustees decide not to deny permanent recognition and revoke its provisional status, we will not recommend any allocation for Samford University in the 2018 budget."

Thweatt issued a statement today in response to Samford's decision:

"If our recommendation is approved during the SBOM's (State Board of Mission's) August meetings, then the 2018 Cooperative Program budget will be reduced by $3 million - the approximate amount that would have been Samford's likely allocation in 2018. This will, in effect, be a base budget that better reflects current Cooperative Program receipts," he said.

"The matter of recognition of the student organization is in the hands of the leadership of Samford University. They know our concerns about the organization as expressed in person and in print."

The intent and purposes of the proposed student organization were widely misunderstood, Westmoreland said. He advised the university's faculty and other employees on July 7 that, even prior to receiving this communication from convention leaders, he already had determined that he would not seek formal recognition of the proposed student organization by trustees but would work to accomplish each of the group's goals.

In his message to employees, Westmoreland promised to address topics related to human sexuality and "other important issues at the intersection of Christian understanding and cultural reality."

"I will involve these students and others across campus in taking essential steps to create new and ongoing opportunities for robustly engaging these and other important issues," he said. "Our actions at Samford, irrespective of financial considerations, must demonstrate fidelity to God's truth, abiding compassion and respect for all people, and solidarity with the timeless ideals of a strong university."

Samford was founded by Alabama Baptists in 1841. Since then, both the university and the state convention have enjoyed a mutually rewarding relationship which will continue, Westmoreland said.

"The relationship between Alabama Baptists and Samford remains crucial to the mission of Samford and the ongoing work of Baptists in Alabama and Christians throughout the world," Westmoreland said.

This will be the third time since 2008 that Samford has voluntarily reduced the annual funding it receives from the Alabama Baptist State Convention.

"Samford recognizes that gifts from churches to the Alabama Baptist State Convention are not keeping pace with the resources required to appropriately fund the convention's operations and ministries," Westmoreland said. "Although Samford is immensely grateful for the financial support of the convention, which we have carefully stewarded, we are also mindful of the valuable ministries that are dependent upon funds allocated through the Alabama Baptist Convention's annual budget."

Westmoreland emphasized that the university's financial strength depends heavily on generous financial contributions from alumni and others. "We acknowledge that reducing reliance on financial support from the Alabama Baptist State Convention will require careful stewardship of the university's resources, but I am confident of Samford's ability to maintain financial integrity."

Westmoreland added that Samford's Board of Trustees and administrative leadership will be working with leaders of the Alabama Baptist State Convention "to provide for thoughtful and harmonious agreement upon principles and practices that will ensure effective cooperation throughout the years ahead."

Samford had an annual budget in 2016 of more than $166 million. Samford recorded its eighth consecutive record enrollment in fall 2016 with 5,471 students.
Those who own potentially defective Taurus pistols can now get them replaced or repaired after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court upheld a negotiated settlement in a class action lawsuit involving the gun maker on Friday.

The lawsuit alleges that nine handgun models had a faulty design allowing the pistols to inadvertently fire when dropped or to be discharged when the safety feature is on. Taurus agreed to a voluntary recall of 1 million pistols as part of the estimated $239 million settlement in July 2013. Three of the class members challenged the settlement amount in circuit court after losing in district court. The circuit court's decision allows the settlement to move forward.

The Brazil-based company has operations in Miami. The defected pistol models included the PT-111 Millennium, PT-132 Millennium, PT-138-Millennium, PT-140 Millennium, PT-145 Millennium, PT-745 Millennium, PT-609, PT-640, and PT-24/7. As of early 2013, the models were no longer manufactured in the United States.

Owners of these pistols can go to the settlement website and fill out a contact form to receive information about submitting claim forms when the settlement takes effect. A press release from plaintiff attorneys stated 18,000 owners have registered since the website was created in 2015. Registration is still open.

Taurus is required to do the following due to the settlement:

Provide an enhanced, lifetime warranty on the covered pistols that will allow owners to submit a claim at any time.Taurus will pay shipping as the covered pistol is sent to the Miami facility to be repaired or replaced. Pistols that cannot be repaired will be replaced with similar new pistols. At this time, the safety defects cannot be repaired and all pistols submitted will be replaced with a new Taurus G2 pistol, which has a mechanism designed to prevent unintended discharges.

Allow owners to exchange their pistols for a cash payment rather than replacing them. The value depends on how many owners return their pistols. Those who chose this option will have a limited time to make a claim. This will be set out on the settlement website when the claim period begins.

Bailey & Glasser attorneys David Selby, of the firm's Birmingham, Alabama, office, and John Barrett, Eric Snyder, and Ryan Donovan of its Charleston, West Virginia, office, along with co-counsel Todd Wheeles with Morris, Haynes, Wheeles, Knowles & Nelson, represented Chris Carter of Scott County, Iowa, as the named plaintiff on behalf of others who purchased these defective handguns.
Authorities have confirmed that a driver of a stolen vehicle was fatally shot by a member of law enforcement after a multi-county police chase ended in Huntsville on Friday.

Alabama State Trooper Curtis Summerville said they received a call between 4:30 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. about a stolen red Ford Mustang in Morgan County. A local officer spotted the vehicle and attempted to stop it. The driver, however, kept going on Interstate 65 and a pursuit began.

The vehicle arrived on Interstate 565. Summerville said the vehicle hit at least two cars when it got off the Bob Wallace exit. He said two people were injured as a result of the collisions. They were transported to the hospital. Their conditions are unknown at this time.

Summerville said as a member of law enforcement tried to approach the suspect, shots were fired and the suspect was shot and killed. Summerville did not know which agency shot the driver, whose name has not been released.

As protocol in officer-involved shootings, the State Bureau of investigation will take over the case.
U.S. Sen. Luther Strange said he was initially "torn" over ex-Gov. Robert Bentley's appointment to replace Jeff Sessions in the Senate, but that he accepted the offer because he had confidence that his office would have integrity in its prosecution of the governor.

Strange made the comments at a candidates' forum Saturday morning in Vestavia Hills hosted by the Mid Alabama Republican Club that included former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and two other GOP contenders in the Aug. 15 special election. The senator has faced scrutiny for accepting the appointment from Bentley, who at the time was under investigation by Strange's office.

"When the governor appointed me, I prayed about it... and I was frankly torn, and I decided to accept that," Strange said, adding that he knew "the elite team of prosecutors [in the attorney general's office] would continue to follow the truth to wherever it led -- which is exactly what they did, all the way to the resignation of the governor, and I couldn't be prouder of it."

Strange said he had planned to run for the seat as soon as Sessions resigned to serve as President Trump's attorney general.

"I'm running because i think it's time to bring common-sense conservative solutions to our country," he said. "A lot of people [in the race] talk about being conservative -- I'm running on a conservative record."

Strange pointed to his being the attorney representing Gulf states in the BP oil spill, which Alabama received more than $2 billion in a settlement.

He also said he has been "draining the swamp" before the term was coined by then-candidate Trump.

"When I came into office, nobody was doing anything about corruption in Montgomery," Strange said, so he set up what he called the best public corruption unit in the country. "We have to have honesty and integrity in our government.

Strange also highlighted the roughly 50 lawsuits he filed against the Obama administration as attorney general, including arguing that Obamacare and EPA regulations were unconstitutional.

Moore, one of Strange's most formidable opponents, railed against what he viewed as an overreaching federal government.

"The free enterprise system is something that america was based upon. We have to remove its greatest obstacle and that is the federal government," Moore said, adding that he believed business taxes and regulations should be cut.

Moore also criticized "liberal courts and judges," accusing them of violating the Constitution.

"As a former judge and chief justice, I know the Constitution, I know the law," he said. "The greatest threat to our continued freedom and prosperity are the liberal courts and judges, who have placed their own feelings and opinions above the law that they're sworn to uphold."

"When we have judges that think they know more than the Constitution, want to transform our society to the way they think, we have a problem," Moore continued. "We've got to go back to the constitution that we were sworn to uphold or we will lose this country."

On health care, Moore said he wasn't on board with the Republican plan to replace Obamacare because he believed the federal government doesn't have the authority to legislate health care.

"The power of health care...is not there" in the Constitution, Moore said. "Just a few years ago everybody thought that [Obamacare] was socialized medicine and it wouldn't be proper for America. Today we're not talking about not only repealing Obamacare, but replacing. Why do we want to replace something that we shouldn't be dealing with? Health care should not be in the jurisdiction of the federal government."

He said health care isn't the only business the federal government should not be in. Moore said the federal Department of Education should be abolished and Alabama should have more freedom in determining education policy.

"I don't think we're that dumb," he said. In fact, I think we know very well how to educate our children. And I think that should be left up to the parents and not in the federal government's jurisdiction."

Besides Strange and Moore, two other contenders in the Aug. 15 special election primary participated in the forum: Birmingham businessman Bryan Peoples and Mary Maxwell, who moved from Australia to run for the Senate seat.
United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. GETMA INTERNATIONAL, APPELLANT v. REPUBLIC OF GUINEA, APPELLEE No. 16-7087 Decided: July 07, 2017

Before: HENDERSON and SRINIVASAN, Circuit Judges, and GINSBURG, Senior Circuit Judge. Allen B. Green, William T. O'Brien, and Ivan W. Bilaniuk were on the briefs for appellant. Jeffrey M. Prokop, James Grohsgal, and Jamie L. Shookman were on the brief for appellee.

SRINIVASAN, Circuit Judge: This case arises from a contract dispute between two foreign entities: Getma International, a French company, and the Republic of Guinea. After Guinea terminated a concession agreement between the two parties, an arbitral tribunal issued a 39 million award (plus interest) in favor of Getma. Guinea appealed the award to the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (CCJA), a court of supranational jurisdiction for Western and Central African States. The CCJA set aside Getma's award. Getma nonetheless seeks to enforce the annulled award in the United States.

For us to intervene in this quintessentially foreign dispute, we would need to find the CCJA's annulment of the award to be repugnant to the United States's most fundamental notions of morality and justice. The district court held that Getma failed to satisfy that stringent standard, and we agree.

I.

In 2008, Guinea sought bids to expand and operate a port in Conakry, the country's capital. Getma submitted the winning bid. Getma and the Republic of Guinea then entered into a twenty-five-year Concession Agreement. Their partnership was short-lived. In December 2010, Guinea elected a new president, who quickly terminated the Agreement. Getma, protesting that the government's sudden about-face violated the contract, demanded a termination fee. Guinea denied any breach of the contract, alleging among other complaints that Getma had won the bidding process by bribing the previous Guinean administration.

The Agreement's dispute-resolution provision stipulated that the parties could irrevocably settle[ ] any disputes through arbitration proceedings subject to the Arbitration Rules of the [CCJA]. J.A. 249. The parties selected a tribunal of three arbitrators, all of whom were based in France. The CCJA fixed the arbitrators' fees at approximately 61,000. After 14 months of arbitration, the arbitrators contacted the CCJA's Office of the Secretary General (which served as a liaison between the arbitrators and the CCJA) about increasing the fees to 450,000. In an e-mail, a representative responded that the office would contact the [CCJA] soon to adjust the fees. J.A. 1408.

The CCJA denied the request by written order, citing precedent establishing that an arbitrator's fees and expenses are set exclusively by the CCJA. J.A. 541-42, 554. The arbitrators did not take no for an answer. Immediately after the decision, the arbitrators wrote the CCJA two letters renewing their request for increased fees. Likewise, Getma sent its own letter urging the CCJA to reconsider its decision. The CCJA remained unmoved. By April 2014, the CCJA had apparently informed the arbitrators on four separate occasions that the 61,000 fee would stand.

Disregarding the CCJA's decision, the arbitrators told the parties they would withhold the arbitral award until the parties paid them 450,000. When the CCJA's Secretary General learned about the arbitrators' demand, he reprimanded them and told them that their fee request was void. In a written letter, the Secretary warned Getma that the award would be subject to invalidation if it included an invalid arrangement for arbitrator fees. J.A. 839.

A few days later, the arbitrators issued a decision in favor of Getma, awarding the company 39 million plus interest. Although the award contained no mention of any demand for increased arbitrators' fees, the tribunal continued pursuing payment. And despite the CCJA's warning that an invalid fee arrangement could jeopardize any award, Getma paid the arbitrators 225,000. The arbitrators later filed suit in the Paris Court of Appeals to collect the remaining 225,000 ostensibly owed by Guinea. The Court ordered Getma to pay the balance (plus interest) on a theory of joint and several liability.

Meanwhile, Guinea filed an annulment petition with the CCJA, asking the court to set aside the arbitral award. Sitting en banc, the CCJA annulled the award. The court concluded that the arbitrators breached [their] duty by deliberately ignoring the mandatory provisions governing fees. J.A. 1468. It added, however, that the arbitral proceedings may be reopened. J.A. 1471. To date, Getma has not sought to reopen the proceedings.

Getma instead pursued relief in the United States, seeking enforcement of its now-annulled award under the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C.  201-208. The Act implements the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, better known as the New York Convention. Under the New York Convention, a district court may refuse to enforce a foreign award if a competent authority has set it aside under the law of the country in which the award was made. New York Convention art. V(1)(e), June 10, 1958, 21 U.S.T. 2517. The district court refused to enforce the annulled award on that ground. In re Arbitration of Certain Controversies Between Getma Int'l & Republic of Guinea, 191 F. Supp. 3d 43, 55 (D.D.C. 2016).

II.

Getma appeals the district court's decision, arguing that we should give effect to the annulled award. We will enforce an annulled award only if the annulment is repugnant to fundamental notions of what is decent and just in the United States. TermoRio S.A. E.S.P. v. Electranta S.P., 487 F.3d 928, 938 (D.C. Cir. 2007) (quoting Tahan v. Hodgson, 662 F.2d 862, 864 (D.C. Cir. 1981)). Getma has not satisfied that demanding burden.

As an initial matter, the parties debate the applicable standard of review. Getma argues that we should review de novo a district court's decision to confirm or vacate a foreign arbitral award, while Guinea contends we should review for abuse of discretion. This Circuit has not expressly addressed the standard of review, and our sister circuits have disagreed on the issue. Compare Corporacion Mexicana de Mantenimiento Integral, S. De R.L. de C.V. v. Pemex-Exploracion y Produccion, 832 F.3d 92, 100 (2d Cir. 2016), with Asignacion v. Rickmers Genoa Schiffahrtsgesellschaft mbH & Cie KG, 783 F.3d 1010, 1014-15 (5th Cir. 2015). We need not resolve this question here, as we would affirm the district court under either standard. See de Csepel v. Republic of Hungary, 714 F.3d 591, 606 (D.C. Cir. 2013).

On the merits, there is no dispute that the CCJA is a competent authority for purposes of article V(1)(e) of the New York Convention. And for reasons of international comity, we have declined to second-guess a competent authority's annulment of an arbitral award absent extraordinary circumstances. TermoRio, 487 F.3d at 936-39 (internal quotation marks omitted). The standard is high, and infrequently met, such that we cannot enforce an annulled award on a mere showing that the annulment is erroneous or conflicts with the United States's public policy. Id. at 938. Instead, we will set aside an annulment only if it violates this country's most basic notions of morality and justice. Id. (quoting Karaha Bodas Co. v. Perusahaan Pertambangan Minyak Dan Gas Bumi Negara, 364 F.3d 274, 305-06 (5th Cir. 2004)). Getma's arguments under that standard are unpersuasive.

First, Getma claims that a Guinean judge on the 12-member CCJA tainted the annulment decision. It is true that, after Guinea prevailed, its Minister of Justice boasted in a televised interview that the Guinean judge, Fode Kante, had alerted Guinea to the flaws in its case. J.A. 1638. Before the district court, however, the Minister filed a declaration recanting his interview statement, characterizing it as baseless self-promotion. The district court credited the declaration, largely because the Minister's interview statement made no sense chronologically: Judge Kante was appointed two months after Guinea's last submission in the annulment proceeding, so he could have done nothing to shape Guinea's presentation. Nor could he have tipped the outcome against Getma, as the full 12-member court issued a unanimous decision. Getma Int'l, 191 F. Supp. 3d at 54. Getma points to no evidence corroborating the Minister's initial interview statement and thus gives us no reason to disturb the district court's credibility finding.

Second, Getma claims that the CCJA thwarted the parties' intent to contract around the CCJA's fee schedule. The contract, however, evinces no such intent. The contract's arbitration clause specified that each party was to select one arbitrator; those two arbitrators were to select a third; each party was to bear the cost of the arbitrator it appoints; and all other costs were to be shared equally by the [p]arties. J.A. 27. The contract therefore prescribed only how the parties would select arbitrators and divide the costs. It gave no indication concerning how the parties would determine arbitrators' fees, much less that it would displace the CCJA's fee rules. To the contrary, the parties agreed that the arbitration would be subject to  The CCJA Arbitration Rules.  Id. According to longstanding CCJA precedent, [t]he arbitrator's fees and expenses are set exclusively by the [CCJA], and [a]ny separate arrangement between the parties and the arbitrators concerning their fees is null and void. J.A. 554.

In any event, even if the parties intended to opt out of the CCJA's fee schedule, the CCJA's decision to enforce its set fees for arbitrators is not repugnant to fundamental notions of what is decent and just in the United States. See TermoRio, 487 F.3d at 939 (quoting Tahan, 662 F.2d at 864). Getma argues that the United States's public policy generally favors allowing parties to contract around default rules. In TermoRio, however, we held that, despite the United States's emphatic federal policy in favor of arbitration, a foreign sovereign's differing policy was not repugnant to our own. Id. at 933 (internal quotation marks omitted). The same is true here. The CCJA's policy in setting arbitral feeseven against the parties' wishesdoes not violate the United States's most basic norms of morality and justice.

Third, Getma fashions a sort of cumulative-error argument. It argues that, when considered in light of its previous allegations, certain purported oddities in the proceeding add up to a fatal problem. Again, Getma misses the mark. It primarily contends that the CCJA promised to increase the arbitrators' fees and thus blindsided the parties by rigidly enforcing its fee schedule via the annulment proceeding. In support of its claim, Getma offers statements from the Office of the Secretary General. But as the district court observed, that office had no unilateral authority to increase the arbitrators' fees, and a representative had merely informed the arbitrators that he would contact the CCJA about revising the arbitrators' fees. See Getma Int'l, 191 F. Supp. 3d at 50. The CCJA itself never promised greater fees than its default schedule prescribed.

In fact, the CCJA made clear that increased fees would be unacceptable. The CCJA informed the arbitrators at least five times that its fee schedule was binding, and the Secretary General formally prohibited the arbitrators from seeking payment of fees directly from the parties. J.A. 828. In his final formal letter, the Secretary warned the parties that, if the final award includes the payment of the amount of 450,000 to the arbitrators, in accordance with the invalid arrangement, the award will potentially be subject to invalidation by [the CCJA]. J.A. 839. Although the final award did not expressly demand increased arbitral fees, the arbitrators pursued (and eventually collected from Getma) their requested 450,000 fee. In that light, although the CCJA's decision to set aside Getma's entire award might seem to be a harsh penalty, the parties had fair notice that the arbitrators' insistence on increased fees could jeopardize the award.

Finally, Getma claims that the CCJA misinterpreted its own law in annulling the award. Getma does not argue, however, that erroneous legal reasoning alone could constitute a violation of public policy under the New York Convention. See Appellant Br. 45-46. It alleges only that the CCJA's flawed legal analysis, together with other evidence of taint and corruption, justify enforcing the annulled award. As explained, however, there is scant evidence of taint in the CCJA proceedings, and we see no infirmities that prejudiced Getma in a manner so offensive to basic notions of morality and justice as to justify disregarding the CCJA's decision. See TermoRio, 487 F.3d at 938. We therefore decline to enforce the annulled award.

* * * * *

For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

So ordered.

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge SRINIVASAN.
Nelsan Ellis, the Bessemer-bred actor who became a star in the HBO series "True Blood," has died at the age of 39, his agent told the Hollywood Reporter. Heart failure was the cause of death, agent Emily Gerson Saines said.

Ellis played "a flamboyant cross-dressing small Southern town short-order cook" in a town plagued by vampires, in the words of an AL.com profile in 2014. The character was in the novels on which the show was based, but he died in the print version. Ellis proved so popular on television he stayed with the series.

Read more: 'True Blood' stars mourn Nelsan Ellis, Bessemer native, dead at 39

Ellis was born in Illinois but raised in Bessemer, Ala. Growing up there was hard, he said in the profile, especially his year at Jess Lanier High School.

"It was awful," Ellis said. "It's hard to get an education when teachers spend 70 percent of their time trying to discipline students. I grew up knowing I wanted to escape that life, and the only escape was education."

After transferring to McAdory High School, 15-year-old Ellis moved back to Illinois, where he finished high school and then attended the Juilliard School in New York City. He appeared in numerous other film and TV roles including The Soloist, The Butler, Get On Up and Elementary.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Jenesse Center or The Restoration Ministries Church of God in Christ.
Space Station

In a photo provided by NASA, a cargo ship from a Japanese company is bolted into place on the International Space Station Monday, Aug. 24, 2015. A Japanese company known for its whiskey and other alcoholic beverages included five types of distilled spirits in the cargo ship that arrived at the space station Monday. The samples will spend at least a year in orbit to see if alcoholic beverages mellow the same in space as they do on Earth. The station's big robotic arm, operated by Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, grabbed onto the supply craft launched Wednesday by his homeland. Flight controllers helped anchor it down. NASA also has considerable equipment aboard the supply capsule. (NASA via AP)

(AP)

I swear I am not a space geek. I have never been a "trekkie." I have not seen all the Star Wars movies. I never aspired to be an astronaut. I wanted to be superman instead. However, I do clearly remember stepping outside on July 20, 1969 to gaze in wonder at the moon on which Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were actually walking. I think everyone who was around then did that though.

But after having the privilege of spending some time over 4th of July weekend in the company of two former astronauts and the chief scientist of an ongoing space mission, I may become a space geek after all.

Here are a few of the things I learned.

Maybe the biggest annoyance of living on the space station is keeping track of your tools and other small items, which if not contained or tied down have a habit of floating off to become lost in some of the thousands of nooks or crannies of the space station. This happened to at least one astronaut's wedding ring, which fortunately was found by accident several flights later.

The suit that astronauts wear on spacewalks weighs 300 pounds on earth.

Because the government needs a ridiculous acronym for everything, those space suits are called EMUs, which does not refer to the Australian bird but instead stands for Extravehicular Mobility Units.

There is a piece of Velcro on the inside of each EMU helmet so that astronauts can scratch their noses on it. Noses, as we all know, itch whenever you can't easily scratch them - like when you don your helmet for a spacewalk.

Astronauts on long missions exercise at least 2 hours per day so they can re-enter life on earth with the most of the muscle and cardiovascular fitness they left with. These exercises in microgravity rely heavily on bungee cords.

Even so, there are some muscles such as those in your neck that still deteriorate because they are difficult to exercise in space. Holding your head up straight is a chore for a while once back on earth.

Chronic dizziness takes weeks to go away after coming back to earth, because the balance mechanism which coordinates information between your eyes and inner ears is confused by the return to earth's gravity.

For the final couple of minutes before liftoff, astronauts have run out of chores to do. They just sit there and think about what is ahead.

During liftoff the g-forces and shaking of the capsule make reading the instrument panel or even reaching for it virtually impossible.

Asteroids are not boring.

This maybe surprised me most. You would have thought that everyone including me already knew that asteroids were not boring since a big one that slammed into the earth 65 million years ago killed off all the dinosaurs and three-quarters of all the plants and animals on earth - a pretty interesting (and important) fact. I guess I missed that memo.

Asteroids are the rubble left over from the origin of our solar system, including earth, about 4.6 billion years ago. There are millions of asteroids in a belt between Mars and the giant planet, Jupiter. They didn't coalesce into planets because Jupiter's gravity prevented it. The largest asteroids are more than 500 miles in diameter. The smallest ones we've studied so far are the size of a compact car.

Because asteroids are small, some have been knocked out of their original orbit and now cross earth's orbit occasionally. These are the potentially dangerous ones, like the one that finished off the dinosaurs. In case you think that we now have this danger under control, how many readers remember the Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded over Russia on February 15th, 2013? That meteor was in fact an asteroid about the size of a large bus. It exploded with a force 30 times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb just 20 miles above the ground, shattering windows and eardrums over a large area. Of the 1500 people injured in the blast, 70 had flash blindness from the fireball that was briefly 30 times as bright as the sun.

Interestingly, no one knew that asteroid coming. It was hidden by the sun's glare.

I thought the New Horizons space probe that travelled 3 billion miles on a drive-by mission to Pluto two years ago was pretty cool, but an even cooler mission is underway right now. The goal of OSIRIS-ReX, as it is called, is to scoop up some rocky soil from a small asteroid called Bennu and bring it back to earth.

Why Bennu?

Bennu is small -- about one-third mile in diameter. Every 6 years its orbit brings it very close to the earth. In fact there is a high probability that Bennu will collide with the earth by the end of the next century. Since Bennu is about 65 thousand times the size of the Chelyabinsk meteor that shattered windows and eardrums in Russia, you might imagine that we would like to know more about it. I certainly would.

Another interesting thing about Bennu is that it is rich in carbon, the chemical basis of all life on earth. When meteorites flame through the earth's atmosphere they are chemically changed in ways that make their pre-earth entry chemical composition difficult to determine. The chemical composition of Bennu, pristinely preserved since the origin of our solar system, could tell us a lot about whether life on earth could have gotten its start, as some propose, from a long ago collision with a wandering asteroid.

And so 10 months ago, OSIRIS-ReX blasted off from earth, headed for Bennu. It is expected to arrive at the asteroid next year and hover about 3 miles away for 15 months, mapping it and searching for the best place to scoop up some astro-dirt. By July 2020, the capsule will slowly approach the asteroid, not landing but hovering just above its surface so that its extensible, jointed arm, which looks something like the foreleg of a praying mantis with a vacuum nozzle on the end, can suck up somewhere between a couple of ounces and a couple of pounds of what is expected to be a combination of dust, pebbles, and possibly small rocks.

With the sample sealed safely aboard the capsule, OSIRIS-ReX will head back toward earth, setting down gently in the Utah desert on September 24, 2023. Then the fun of learning something new about the early days of our solar system and possibly about the origin of life on earth will begin.

You have to admit that is pretty cool. I have September 24th, 2023 marked on my calendar. You should too.

Steven Austad is Chair of the Biology Department at UAB. Before becoming a research scientist, he had various lives as an English major, a newspaper reporter, a New York City taxi driver, and a Hollywood wild animal trainer. Living now in Birmingham with his veterinarian wife, 6 dogs, 2 parrots, and a cat, he enjoys nothing more than communicating how science works to the general public.
Foot Soldier Statue.png

The Foot Soldier statue in Kelly Ingram Park is a moving piece of art, but it isn't history.

The Greek stoic Epictetus said that you can't learn what you think you already know. The opposite of wisdom and knowledge is not ignorance. It is false knowledge -- the trash in our brains that crowds out the real thing.

Throughout our part of the country, our city parks, our roundabouts, and our courthouse squares are littered with false knowledge. Statues and monuments have blended into the landscape except when they're the fodder for political grandstanding in Montgomery.

That Confederate memorial in Birmingham's Linn Park is one such piece of litter. It puts a veneer of respectability on the Lost Cause, when the South fought to keep an entire race of people enslaved.

Or maybe you think it's "history." We've had this argument before and I'm not interested in having it again. That's not what this column is about, not entirely.

What I want to talk about today is another statue a few blocks away. A statue that has largely escaped notice in this debate until the New Yorker writer and author Malcolm Gladwell recently took a look at it.

In addition to his national bestsellers including the "Tipping Point" and "Outliers," Gladwell now produces a podcast, Revisionist History, that reexamines what we think we know about the past. He scratches away the mythology and false knowledge to reveal history to be a lot more complicated than we care to remember.

His latest installment turns the monument controversy on its head with a look at another Birmingham memorial -- the Foot Soldier statue in Kelly Ingram Park.

I'd prefer you listen to the podcast yourself because Gladwell tells the story better. But read on, either way. You've been warned. Past this paragraph, there be spoilers.

You've likely seen the iconic photo taken in 1963. It's an image that changed national perceptions of civil rights in the South and firmly gave the movement the initiative it needed. A police officer in Birmingham clasps a young man by his shirt while a snarling police dog lunges at the young man's gut.

That photo ran on the front pages of newspapers around the world and in the early 1990s, Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington commissioned a statue of it, honoring the movement's young protestors, to be placed in Kelly Ingram Park.

It's a moving photo, and in bronze, the image is bracing. But according to Gladwell, the story it tells is almost all wrong.

The big twist in the story, about halfway through Gladwell's podcast, comes from a 1996 oral history interview of the young man in the photo, Walter Gadsden.

The short version: Gadsden wasn't a foot soldier, but rather a bystander who had skipped school to watch the protest. Gadsden was never involved in the civil rights movement, nor was his family. Further, he had some unflattering opinions about the people who led the movement, and in the interview he denied even benefiting from the changes the movement made possible. Gadsden said he didn't like the statue because it didn't look like him. It made him look like an African boy, he said. Gadsden even says he prefers the label "colored."

But perhaps most significant is that the moment captured in that photograph was almost completely an accident.

While walking away from the protest, Gadsden stumbled into the police officer who grabbed him as the startled German Shepherd, Leo, lunged at him in surprise. The police officer is pulling back on the leash, enough that the dog's legs are off the ground.

"The most famous photograph of the civil rights movement is of a startled cop trying desperately to hold his dog back from biting a bystander who wasn't that much of a fan of the civil rights movement," Gladwell concludes.

And that's just the photograph. From there, the statue takes serious artistic liberties, to put it mildly, with the image, making the boy smaller, the cop more hostile. Even the dog gets distorted to appear more vicious. Instead of a German Shepherd, the dog in the sculpture was purposefully shaped to look like a wolf.

If there's a fault to be found in Gladwell's podcast, it's that he pulls his punch at the last minute. These works of art in our parks, he argues, are just that -- art. They are distorted depictions of history, slanted in favor of those who made them. To the victors go the spoils.

While Gladwell takes a quick swipe at the artifacts of the Lost Cause, he doesn't completely leverage the opportunity he has here.

Let's face it. The folks who revere the Confederate monument in Linn Park aren't likely to care two wits about the Foot Solidier statue in Kelly Ingram Park except maybe to revile it, and vice versa. The opportunity to be had here is that Gladwell's story takes those two sides and makes them switch roles. It's as close as we can get to seeing an issue from the other side's point of view, and that's a good thing.

And if there's a lesson to be had it's this. These things we decorate our parks with, they aren't history. History is a discipline, like science. It's a way by which we pull back the tarp of mythology from the past and look at what's underneath -- all of the parts and pieces, causes and effects -- with a critical eye and a healthy dose of skepticism.

And these statues, monuments and memorials? They do just the opposite thing.

In our monuments debate, plenty of us have run around panicky, yelling, "It's our history. It's our history! We can't lose our history!"

But if we confuse our history with a statue, then our history has already been lost.

Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for Al.com. You can follow his work and others through the Reckon Facebook page here.
Alabama's largest gun show, the Alabama Gun Collectors Association show, has moved to the new Finley Center in Hoover. The show has been held for years at the BJCC. The show runs through 4 p.m. Sunday.

The Finley Center is located next to the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, and offers 89,000 square feet of unobstructed floor space for the gun show event. There is also free parking for gun show visitors.

A crowd was lined up out the door just before the show opened at 9 a.m. as visitors wanted to see the inside of the new venue. Lines persisted past 10 a.m. with over 1,000 paid in the first hour of the show. This show features 221 vendors with over 700 tables of merchandise.

Brent Goodman, chairman of the gun show said he is extremely happy with the Finley Center and has secured a five year deal with the City of Hoover to hold the show there. Goodman told me there are talks taking place now to extend the contract.

"We're extremely happy with this new venue and our visitors and vendors feel the same way," Goodman said. " The free parking for visitors and vendors is huge for us and the fact it is a brand new place that's easy to get to."

Goodman and other show personnel answered dozens of phone calls, giving directions to the new location. Goodman told me people come from as far away and Texas, Colorado, Oregon and even Japan to shop at their gun shows.

Show hours are Saturday through 5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.. Admission is $10 with children under 12 free. The next Alabama Gun Collectors Association show will be a Civil War Historical Show October 7-8.
As the call to prayer crackles through the village loudspeaker, 82-year-old Aicha hunches over a rickety coffee table in her conical hut. She grasps at a string of prayer beads and begins to mutter under her breath, asking to return to her homeland.

I remember all the details of my childhood village, she says wistfully. Fresh tilapia from the Nile, harvesting the date palms, the wheel that brought water from the river to our house; when we moved away, we lost everything.

Aicha is among the first generation of Nubians internally displaced following the damming of the Nile more than 50 years ago, which forced 60,000 people to migrate north to the temporary shelters of Kom Ombo. Her home now lies submerged under one of the largest man-made lakes in the world, Lake Nasser.

When we left, everybody was crying and kissing the earth. We only had two small bags with us, but we didnt have the chance to go back to get anything else. I think about that day very often, she says.

OPINION: Memo to Sisi  Dont forget Nubia, Mr President

Since the construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1964, which flooded the Nubian villages, successive governments have made a series of failed promises to repatriate the Nubians and compensate them for their losses.

Under the 2014 Constitution, the Egyptian government officially recognised the Nubians as an ethnic group for the first time and promised them the right to return to their homeland. But a few months later, more than 2,400 square miles of land was reclassified as part of the states military zone and marked out for a large-scale agricultural project. The land is now being sold off to domestic and foreign investors, activists have pointed out.

This project is not for the Nubians; it is for businessmen, Nubian rights activist Fatma Emam said. For the government, this is an opportunity to make money and to gain political power. It is not to help the Nubians.

In recent months, Nubian activists have taken to the streets to protest the move. Last November, a caravan of more than 150 activists blocked a 300km stretch of road from Kom Ombo to Lake Nasser, calling for their right to return. Since then, activists have continued to mobilise online, and will not rule out the possibility of further protests.

There is a double discrimination. First as a citizen, because we do not have the same rights as an Egyptian; and secondly because we are a different race with a different language and heritage. This discrimination is harming all Egyptians. by Fatma Emam, Nubian rights activist

This is the most effective way to pressure the government, said Mohamed Azmy, a human rights lawyer and activist. We have to ensure that this issue remains on the political agenda.

During the November protest, Egyptian authorities prevented the caravan from travelling beyond a checkpoint, alleging that the demonstrators were acting against government policy. The activists then staged a sit-in at the checkpoint, remaining in their cars and blocking the road for three days.

They threatened to arrest any Nubian who tried to cross the security checkpoint and they banned food or water from reaching the protesters without warning, Azmy said. But we continued regardless. We have nothing to fear.

The protesters called for a rejection of the governments agricultural project, an amendment to the 2014 Constitution to remove the Nubian villages from the designated military zone, and the implementation of a 10-year project to resettle Nubians in the original areas set out in the Constitution. There has been no official government response to these demands.

For many Nubians, the caravan was the first opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with the governments approach.

They didnt try to even negotiate with the Nubians, said Wael, an activist in Abu Simbel whose name has been changed to protect his identity. That made a huge hurt in the Nubians hearts.

I agree with investing in this place, but you have to include the Nubians, he added. You have to partner or share this information so when they come back, they will find their land, not only companies.





Alongside the states commercial interests, activists say that this is part of the Egyptian governments plan to further marginalise Nubians in political, economic and cultural terms.

There is a double discrimination, Emam said. First as a citizen, because we do not have the same rights as an Egyptian; and secondly because we are a different race with a different language and heritage. This discrimination is harming all Egyptians.

Safar Mahmoud Hassan, former geology minister, who led the development of the Aswan High Dam in 1964, maintained that the Nubians calls have been heard and denied claims that the government will benefit financially.

There has not been much investment yet. One village has been completed, but it is not possible for Nubians to live there, as the infrastructure is not in place, he said, noting that he was optimistic that the involvement of foreign investors would bring jobs and growth to the area.

Some businessmen have arrived from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and have started cultivating and working in the quarries, Hassan added. This is an area very rich in natural resources, especially mining resources. We have limestone, granite and clay quarries. This presents a growth opportunity for the Nubians and for all Egyptians.

The Egyptian government has repeatedly said that it was facilitating a return for the displaced Nubians and seeking to develop the area to create employment and encourage tourism.

But in the meantime, activists say they will continue to draw international attention to the issue and to call for their right to return home.

We have to keep up the pressure on the government to oblige them to fulfil their duties, Azmy said. They must give the Nubians the rights stipulated in the Constitution.

For some Nubians, however, the changes may come too late.

As she gazed out at the barren wasteland from the temporary shelter where she has lived for more than 50 years, Aicha said: I hope one day to see my homeland, to feel the earth between my toes. I have dreamed of returning for so long.
With advances in its long-range missile programme, here are three technical milestones and why they matter.

Since Kim Jong-uns ascendancy in December 2011, North Korea has accelerated its missile development programme, the tempo of tests increasing considerably from those under his father Kim Jong Il. After failures in 2016, North Korea has this year made bold advances in its missile programme.

The country conducted its sixth nuclear test on September 3, 2017, setting off a magnitude 6.3 earthquake with a depth of 23 kilometres near its Punggye-ri nuclear test site. North Korean officials claimed the hydrogen bomb tested is more advanced with an estimated yield of up to 100 kilotonnes  roughly four to five times stronger than the bomb dropped on Japans Nagasaki  which can be loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

This follows a month of escalating tension over the countrys weapons development programme with new UN sanctions, more missile tests, threats of nuclear attack exchanged by Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, and international calls for de-escalation and to dial down rhetoric and dial up diplomacy.

The series of events follow North Korean displays of improvements in missile delivery technology. Just a month prior, on July 28, North Korea launched its first long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), claiming it demonstrated the capability of the missiles to reach the US mainland. This test came just weeks after Pyongyang tested its first ICBM.

Read this related article to find out more about North Koreas five previous nuclear tests from 2006-2017

Here are three of North Koreas recent technical milestones in long-range missile technology which stand out and why they matter.

1. Firing almost vertically and reaching higher altitudes

There are significant challenges to testing a long-range missile in a country that is too small to run test flights within its own border. Initially, North Koreas only option was to launch these flights over its neighbours. It did that in 1998 by test-firing the Taepodong-1 missile over mainland Japan, to instant international condemnation.

Now, North Korea has started launching longer-range missiles in what is known as a lofted trajectory, firing the missile almost vertically. This allows the missile to land a short horizontal distance from launch but travel a great distance overall. Higher altitudes are a strong indication of new, more powerful engines and a greater ability to carry a payload that distance.

These launches enable Pyongyang to conduct realistic tests of longer-range missiles. They also allow engineers to gather data sent back from the test missile to better understand the challenges faced when a long-range warhead re-enters the Earths atmosphere at hypersonic speeds, something that generates vast amounts of frictional heat.

This is exactly what North Korea did when it tested the Hwasong-14 (Mars-14) on July 4.

According to the US militarys Pacific Command, or PACOM, which monitors these launches, it flew for 37 minutes, rising to a maximum altitude (known as an apogee) of nearly 2,800km, over seven times higher than the International Space Station which is in orbit only some 400km above the Earth.

A steep, near-vertical launch allowed the missile to travel a distance that roughly simulated long-range flight by travelling higher than most missiles but splashing down only a short distance away into the Sea of Japan, limiting the diplomatic damage that would inevitably be caused by a random projectile flying through a neighbours airspace.

The ICBM, a clunky Cold War-era name for a long-range missile, is formally defined as one that can fly more than 5,500km.

According to David Wright of the Union of Concerned Scientists, if the Hwasong-14 was fired under proper flight conditions, it could reach a target more than 6,700km away. This puts the missile firmly in the long-range or ICBM bracket, and means it could potentially hit the US base on the island of Guam as well as Alaska, although the naval base on Hawaii and the rest of the continental US are still out of reach.

READ MORE: North Korea tensions: All the latest updates

2. Solid fuel means faster launches

First tested by the North just over a decade, ago solid-fuelled missiles are faster to set up and easier to fire.

Unlike liquid fuels, which take time to load and are extremely toxic and corrosive to handle, solid fuels are easier to maintain and are more stable. A crude analogy between the two is to liken solid-fuelled missiles to setting off gunpowder-filled fireworks rather than filling each one with liquid fuel every time you wanted to fire one. Solid fuel reduces launch times from hours to minutes.

Reducing the time from when a missile battery is taken out into the open to be readied for a launch, and therefore is exposed to enemy observation, makes it far less likely to be discovered and destroyed. Using solid fuels also scales back on the additional vehicles needed to transport volatile and dangerous liquid fuels, making a missile battery smaller and harder to spot. As this fuel is more stable, it can also take a few knocks when moved around.

3. Toughening up missile batteries

Fortifying a missile battery so it can travel anywhere on land rather than along North Koreas tiny road system  the country has 724km of paved and 24,830km of unpaved roads respectively  gives it more places to hide.

North Korea has done this by ruggedising the missile transporter (formally called a transporter erector launcher or TEL). Tracks are used instead of wheels, allowing the heavy vehicles to cross rough ground off the road system, which would be monitored by an enemy trying to track down missile batteries. The thin-skinned missile is also sheathed in a canister so it survives bumpy off-road travel.

These improvements came together in the successful February launch of the Pukguksong-2 (Polaris-2) medium-range missile. Analysts across the world quickly realised the tests importance as the combination of solid fuel, a ruggedised transporter and a protected weapon, meant a battery could potentially hide in forests, underneath cliff overhangs, under bridges  virtually anywhere  and launch within minutes from a cold start.

What is next for North Koreas missile programme?

Producing next-generation missiles that can reach the US will be key for North Korea.

This will not be an easy feat given the trickier aspects of long-range flight. Designs must be able to withstand the stresses and incredible heat produced in missiles by re-entering the atmosphere.

The challenges will come from improving the warhead and delivery system and coupling the two. North Korean scientists will struggle to extend the missiles ranges while shrinking their still rudimentary nuclear devices so they are light enough to be carried by the missile to the target.

Then there is the quest for accuracy, if the missiles are to have any military use.

North Korea has bragged that its latest batch of missile tests were extremely accurate. It is still vague how this accuracy is being assessed given that North Korea does not have a network of satellites able to guide distant warheads to their targets, relying on the projectiles much less accurate inertial guidance system.

This electronic system is used in older missiles such as the Scud. It works on the principle of the missile using internally measured basic data on its speed, direction, and so on, to try to roughly assess where it ended up rather than being told where it was exactly by, say, the Global Positioning System (GPS).

If the sharp tempo of tests doesnt abate, North Korea is likely to see substantial improvements in its missile programme. Kim Jong-un seems determined to frequently send big and small gift packages to the Yankees, as he instructed scientists after the July 4 test of the first ICBM, according to the countrys state media KCNA.
The Hamburg G20 might go down in history as the moment the international elite just couldnt hold it together any longer. For years, leaders of the most powerful countries have come together to cooperate on how to run the world: the G6, G7, G8, G20. Their watchword was stability.

Holding it together was far preferable to allowing an international free for all. Agreeing among themselves was preferable to cooperating with small, poor and troublesome nations at the United Nations. Thats why they invented this system of global policymaking.

But the global elite has fractured. In the run-up to the Hamburg G20, the talk was of the global strongmen who had taken centre stage, for whom diplomacy was simply war by other means. The power of Trump, Putin, Erdogan and their ilk derives from a form of nationalism that believes global rules are for the weak.

OPINION: The battle for world leadership

The G20 came to prominence in 2008 after the financial crash meant the richest G8 countries needed the wealth of emerging nations to stabilise the world economy. The likes of Saudi Arabia and Turkey were granted a seat at the table. In London in 2009, they patted themselves on the back on a job well done.

But their reforms were too timid, too beholden to the free-market ideology that caused the crash in the first place. Today that crash haunts this G20 like a ghost that wont be exorcised.

The tectonic plates of global power are moving, and only a new politics can get us out of this mess. by

The international elite are divided. This should scare us, as such divisions can plunge the world into violence and disorder. But the situation is not hopeless

This G20 will pitch the strongmen against the moderates  Merkel, Macron, Trudeau. The latter might look nicer, talk nicer and act nicer. Merkel has put climate change, migration and free trade on the agenda, much to the chagrin of Trump.

We shouldnt be fooled. The G20 agenda utterly fails to break with the tired, broken policies of the free market. In other words, those very policies which, by increasing inequality and devastating communities, turning everyone into a self-interested individual, have unwittingly given rise to the likes of Trump. And thats to ignore the Trumpism in European politics  the barbaric immigration policy at Europes borders through which thousands of desperate migrants die in the Mediterranean every year.

Sure, Merkel wants cooperation on climate change and thinks globalisation should work for the many, not the few. Who can disagree? But what does that really mean? A desperate attempt to restore the system that was destroyed on the day Lehman Brothers collapsed.

The G20 agenda talks about the need for structural reforms to reduce debt. Like those deeply anti-social policies the European Union has imposed on Greece for the last eight years, which have devastated that country and its people?

OPINION: Are protests enough to bring down the G20?

International capital flows are good, the G20 agenda tells us. For whom? Unregulated capital flows have sunk economies from Jakarta to Istanbul, with millions losing jobs and livelihoods as a result. Agribusiness can feed the world, were told. Yet there is already more than enough food in the world to feed 10 billion people  so how do 800 million go to bed hungry every night? How is the further displacement of small farmers to make way for monocrops going to help?





Merkel crowns her benevolent agenda a Partnership for Africa. But as Zimbabwean activist Fanwell Bokosi told this weeks G20 counter-summit  a partnership normally means both sides are at the table and agree. In fact, this partnership is about using Western aid and power to politely suggest African countries might want to change their policies to make life easier for western multinationals to invest in their countries. It also means they will be able to avoid their taxes, and repatriate their profits back to the west when theyve fleeced the continent.

Even mainstream economists and newspapers are unimpressed. Jeffrey Sachs gave a despairing speech before the conference began, essentially saying 20 people cant solve these problems  especially not these 20 people. Liberal German daily Der Spiegel said, under a leader titled the G20 farce, the group meeting here is an exclusive club that is mostly interested in preserving a creaking system of financial market-driven capitalism.

Which is why there is such support for the protesters in Germany this week. The tectonic plates of global power are moving, and only a new politics can get us out of this mess. If we want to preserve the openness of globalisation, the only way is through regulation  of capital, of big business, of trade. There is no other way that the incredible riches of our world can be shared by the many.

OPINION: Africa is not poor, we are stealing its wealth

What does this look like? The G20 fear a healthcare crisis as antibiotics stop working. So scrap intellectual property rights for drugs companies, and use public funding to insist on public priorities in medical research, and access for all. Climate change? Urgently reduce carbon emissions and put massive funding into helping developing countries develop free of fossil fuels. Terrorism? The simplest of all. The G20 are the biggest backers of terrorism in the world. Stop it, and put real effort into creating a world order based on peace and cooperation in a properly funded and functional UN.

The G20 cannot or will not adopt such an agenda. Only massive popular action can bring it about. Who knows, they may patch together the vaguest of communiques from the Hamburg G20 in the next 24 hours. But it will represent no more than an attempt to hold together a creaking building, slowly collapsing in on itself, with a piece of sticky tape. This is the end of something. What will come next? That is still to be decided  and it depends on us.

Nick Dearden is the director of UK campaigning organisation Global Justice Now. He was previously the director of Jubilee Debt Campaign.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Khaltmaa Battulga won more than 50 percent of the votes in a scandal-ridden presidential runoff campaign.

A brash businessman with martial arts skills has clinched Mongolias first ever presidential runoff election after his opponent conceded defeat in the scandal-plagued race to take the helm of the resource-rich but debt-laden country.

Khaltmaa Battulga, of the opposition Democratic Party (DP), won with 50.6 percent of the vote on a 60.9 percent turnout, giving him the majority needed to overcome his opponent, parliament speaker Miyeegombo Enkhbold of the ruling Mongolian Peoples Party (MPP).





Election officials are still, however, waiting on a final count of votes from abroad.

Recognising he was down for the count, Enkhbold thanked his supporters in a concession speech broadcast on Facebook, saying that he would respect and accept the presidential results.

Although the MPP couldnt succeed in this election, the cabinet will keep working to complete our agenda of overcoming the financial crisis for the well being of our people, said Enkhbold.

He added that he had spoken to the sitting president about transferring power as well as presidential stamp in the parliament house which also ends the election.

Meanwhile, Battulga promised his supporters in the capital Ulaanbaatars Independence Square he would push the government in order to complete all their work.

We did this thanks to the power of the people, said Battulga.

Al Jazeeras Adrian Brown, reporting from Nalaikh, said Battulgas campaign message of Mongolia First appealed to the younger generation.

More than half of the countrys population is under the age of 30.

READ MORE: Divided Mongolians vote in hotly contested elections

During the election campaign, the main issues for people were the economy, unemployment, China and the fact that Mongolia needs to find other trading partners, he said.

The first priority for the new president will be dealing with the economy.

Battulga, the real estate tycoon, whose company funded a massive $4.1m statue of emperor Genghis Khan, has pledged to tap the countrys mining wealth to get Mongolians out of debt.

The president will inherit a $5.5bn IMF-led bailout designed to stabilise the countrys economy and lessen its dependence on China, which purchases 80 percent of Mongolian exports.

The former Soviet satellites economy grew by a measly one percent last year, a stark contrast from an impressive 17 percent in 2011.

It has been hit hard by a more than 50 percent fall in the price of copper, its main export, over the past five years, while the slowing growth of its biggest customer, China, has hobbled the economy.
The US Justice Department said the Mesopotamian artefacts were stolen and smuggled to the US through Israel and the UAE.

The United States Department of Justice has found a US crafting giant company guilty of buying Mesopotamian artefacts it had illegally imported from a United Arab Emirates-based supplier.

Hobby-Lobby Inc, has agreed to pay a $3m fine following a federal lawsuit that accused it of buying 5,500 antiquities that were shipped under false documentation.

Judicial sources said that the stolen items were smuggled through the UAE and Israel, while US media reported that all of these artefacts were stolen from Iraq.

The Department of Justice said that a dealer residing in the UAE had shipped packages containing artefacts to three different US addresses belonging to Hobby Lobby.

The wrapped packages were deliberately given false descriptions that designated the contents of the packages as ceramic tiles, in order to avoid customs inspection.

READ MORE: The antiquities looting crisis in the Middle East

The artefacts were destined for a display at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, which is slated to open in November later this year. The museum is founded and funded by the owners of Hobby Lobby, the Green family.

Steve Green, the president of Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby, issued a statement on Friday and said, We should have exercised more oversight and carefully questioned how the acquisitions were handled.

Hobby Lobby defended itself by saying it was new to the antiquities market when it began purchasing historical pieces for the Museum of the Bible back in 2010.

The New York Times reported Hobby Lobby saying it had made a mistake by dealing with traders and shipping companies that did not understand the proper way to document and ship them.

The Department of Justice, which stopped the largest operation to steal Iraqi antiquities, said that the smuggling of these antiquities violated the federal law of the US.

It also confirmed that it will take all measures to protect world heritage.

Earlier in the day, the officer in charge of the Internal Security Investigation in New York, Angel Melendez, said in a statement that the protection of cultural heritage is a task that the agency takes very seriously, noting that regardless of the prices attributed to these artefacts, the Iraqi people regard them as priceless.
Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides, and guarantor powers fail to reach a deal after over two years of UN-backed efforts.

Talks aimed at ending Cypruss decades-old conflict have collapsed without a deal, despite an 11th-hour bid by the UN chief to salvage them.

The failure to reach a deal on Friday follows more than two years of UN-backed efforts to reunify the island and end one of the worlds longest-running political crises.

The talks that began in the Swiss Alpine resort of Crans-Montana on June 28 had been billed as the best chance to end the islands 40-year division.

One of the biggest areas of disagreement was the future of Turkeys troop presence on the island and its security guarantee for Turkish Cypriots.

I am deeply sorry to inform you that despite the very strong commitment and engagement of all the delegations and the different parties  the Conference on Cyprus was closed without an agreement being reached, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Blame game

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Greeces insistence on no troop presence and an immediate end to its guarantor status would have been unacceptable to Turkish Cypriots.

Cyprus government spokesman Nikos Christodoulides said: Unfortunately, no breakthrough was made due to the insistence of the Turkish side to continue with  the Turkish intervention rights in Cyprus as well as the illegal presence of Turkish troops on the island.

RELATED: Cyprus talks falter over nationalist commemoration row

The island has been divided since 1974 when Turkey, one of the three guarantor powers of Cyprus, conducted a military operation there and later occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece.

Turkey maintains tens of thousands of troops in the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
7 Arrested After Greenpeace Activists Hang 'Resist, Defend' Banner From Trump Tower

By Stephen Gossett in News on Jul 7, 2017 9:02PM



Twitter / Greenpeace

The Trump Tower on Friday was once again a magnet for protest. Seven people were arrested after unfurling a banner that read "Resist, Defend" from the south side of the Tower. The banner was meant to decry the administration's climate policies, Greenpeace said.

Greenpeace USA posted photos and videos of the banner hanging in front of the Chicago River on its social media platforms at around 2 p.m.

Two men and five women were put into custody "during a disturbance" in the 400 block of N. Wabash Ave., police told Chicagoist. Other information, including their ages, was not released. Area Central is investigating and charges for possible damage to property and trespassing are pending, according to police.



Greenpeace posted on Facebook with the video:



"Activists have just raised a massive banner at Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago to show this administration that the people of Chicago -- and people all over the country -- will continue to RESIST Trump's attacks on our clean air and water, and defend our communities and the planet!"

A woman identified as Kelly Mitchell, Climate and Energy Campaign Director for Greenpeace, steps into the video about halfway through. "We're here to call for an end to Trump's disastrous policies that are hurting people and our planet," she says.

Here's another look:

The people of Chicago are all about resisting! Go to https://t.co/8UU76NuCE0 to learn how you can learn about peaceful creative actions! pic.twitter.com/73tgmiN1PZ  Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) July 7, 2017

The banner was reportedly up for about 30 minutes before police got it down.
Seven children are among at least 35 people feared dead after their rubber boat sank in the sea.

At least 35 refugees, including seven children, were feared drowned after their inflatable boat sank on Saturday off the Libyan coast.

Eighty-five refugees, including 18 women, were rescued after clinging to the boat with the help of fishermen who alerted the Libyan coastguard, said Issa al-Zarrouk, a coastguard official in Garabulli, 60 kilometres east of Tripoli.

Navy spokesman Ayoub Kacem said the boat sank 11km northwest of Garabulli, and 10 fishing boats took part in the rescue.

They were among 100 refugees on board when their rubber boat developed a malfunction off eastern Tripoli, he added.

Qasim said the rescued refugees were from Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana and Ivory Coast.

The official did not disclose the nationalities of those who were missing.

READ MORE: The ongoing human tragedy in the Mediterranean

Nigerian hairdresser Vivian Effoussa described watching, horrified, as fellow passengers fell into the sea.

The boat we entered was leaking, said Effoussa, who attempted the crossing to Europe after struggling to support two children back home.

All of a sudden  the water was (coming) inside. Everybody started shouting, she said, speaking in English.

Gradually, gradually, we see ourselves inside the sea. Everybody, were falling inside, dragging each other. They even pulled my hair, dragging me.

Really, I didnt think the sea was big like this, Effousa said, adding that, had she known, she would not have come.

The incident is the latest in a series of tragedies involving migrants desperate to enter Europe via the Mediterranean Sea.

Libya is the main departure point for Europe-bound migrants. Many of them come from poor African countries.





Human traffickers have exploited years of chaos in Libya since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed dictator Muammar Gaddafi to boost their lucrative but deadly trade.

Tens of thousands of migrants have resorted to paying smugglers to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to what they hope will be a better life in Europe.

Nearly 77,000 migrants have landed in Italy since January, up 15 percent on the same period in 2016.

Altogether, at least 2,247 people have died or are missing after trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year, the IOM says.

Meanwhile, the bodies of 20 Egyptian nationals were found by Libyan authorities in a remote area of the Tobruk desert.

The director of the Tobruk Medical Centre, Faraj al-Gali, said on Friday evening that the Tobruk Medical Centre morgue had initially refused to accept the bodies because they were decomposed and feared the transmission of germs.

Colonel Maraqa Mohammed, head of the investigation unit of the illegal immigration agency, said that the bodies of the Egyptians were found south of the 200 gate near Wadi Ali, inside the sand area. They were brought from the desert by a number of civilian cars because there were no available government SUVs.

The bodies were buried after being searched by the Red Crescent in Tobruk. A number of cards, passports and a few personal belongings were found. The cause of death has not yet been identified.
India and Pakistan trade blame over deadly shelling on the anniversary of the death of rebel leader Burhan Wani.

Seven people have been killed in cross-border shelling in disputed Kashmir, with both Pakistani and Indian officials trading the blame.

The violence occurred as protesters clashed with police in Indian-administered Kashmir on Saturday, as they marked the anniversary of the death of rebel leader Burhan Wani who was killed by the army after urging the regions mainly Muslim population to rise up against Indian forces.

Five people died and 10 were wounded on Pakistans side of the disputed border, local police officials told Reuters news agency.





Pakistans government said it summoned Indias Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh over what it called unprovoked ceasefire violations.

The Indian armys defence spokesman said two civilians were killed and two others were wounded on its side of the frontier due to shelling by Pakistani troops. The army responded in kind to the Pakistani shelling, he said.

The disputed region has seen an explosion of protests against Indian rule since government forces shot and killed Wani a year ago.

The death of the 23-year-old, who had built up a big following on social media, sparked an outpouring of grief and anger that spilled into the streets and led to months of clashes with security forces.

RELATED: Can cricket cool India-Pakistan political hostility?

Nearly 100 people died in the months that followed and many more sustained serious eye injuries from the pellet guns used by government forces to quell the protests.

Burhan made a place in our hearts as a hero, Kashmiri student Umair Farooq told Al Jazeera before the anniversary. Many young Kashmiris joined the rebellion after his death. He is still alive in our hearts.

Fighting for their future

Separatist leaders, most of whom have been either confined to their homes or jailed, have called for a week of protests from Saturday to mark Wanis death.

Muzaffar Wani, Burhans father, told Al Jazeera that the protest movement in the region cannot be suppressed by the authorities.





The more they try to suppress us, the more we will rise up. Everyone here is fighting for their future, he said.

Given the kind of suppression we are facing, people think it is better to sacrifice themselves, rather than permitting humiliation of their mothers, brothers and sisters.

All roads leading to Wanis hometown of Tral in south Kashmir were blocked in advance of the anniversary and authorities seized thousands of motorbikes to prevent people from travelling between villages in the area.

Witnesses and police told the AFP news agency that clashes broke out on Saturday when protesters tried to reach the family home and were blocked by government forces.

Sixty years of division

Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, has a long history of conflict and is one of the most heavily militarised places on earth.

The mountainous region is home to dozens of armed groups fighting for independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan.

However, since Wanis death, civilians have played an increasingly active role in the rebellion against Indian rule.

In parts of south Kashmir, the epicentre of protests, villagers began intervening in raids on suspects, throwing stones at government forces to create a distraction and give the rebels a chance to flee.
Police say nine men killed in an overnight attack on a village in the coastal district of Lamu.

Suspected al-Shabab fighters beheaded nine men in an overnight assault on a village in the Kenyan coastal district of Lamu, police said, days after the armed group killed three police officers in an attack on a nearby village.

A witness, who asked not to be named, confirmed the death toll to Reuters news agency.

They raided Jima and Pandanguo villages and killed nine men. They were slaughtered like chickens, using knives, said the witness.

Kenyas Interior Ministry announced late on Saturday that curfew was imposed in three districts following the attack.

It said in a tweet that the 12-hour curfew, from 6:30pm (1530 GMT), affects parts of Lamu, Garissa and Tana River and is to be in place for the next three months.

In a televised address on Saturday morning following the death in hospital of Kenyas Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery, President Uhuru Kenyatta spoke of an unfortunate incident this morning, which we are assessing.

Appointing Education Minister Fred Matiangi as acting security minister, Kenyatta promised there would be no vacuum in securing our country.

President Uhuru Kenyatta sought to reassure Kenyans when mentioning the latest killings in a speech earlier on Saturday.

We have had an unfortunate incident this morning that we are currently assessing and addressing, he said.

Earlier in the week, three police officers were killed in an attack on a police post in Lamu, blamed on the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group.
Opposition candidate Khaltmaa Battulga wins more than 50 percent of votes, according to partial results.

Mongolias opposition candidate was leading the countrys first-ever presidential runoff election early on Saturday with more than three-quarters of votes counted.

Khaltmaa Battulga of the Democratic Party (DP), a 54-year-old former martial arts star, had 50.7 percent of the vote with 87 percent of ballots counted, the General Election Commission said.

Mongolia has won, Battulga said at a press conference, though the commission will announce the winner later on Saturday. I will start work straight away to resolve the economic difficulties and make Mongolians debt free as I promised.

Parliament speaker Mieygombo Enkhbold of the Mongolian Peoples Party (MPP), which holds the majority in the legislature, was behind with 41 percent.

Some 8.3 percent of the votes were blank ballots.

Many voters in the vast nation of three million people sandwiched between Russia and China were so fed up with their politicians that they launched a campaign to submit unmarked ballots.

A candidate must win more than 50 percent of the votes to be declared the winner. If neither candidate reaches this number, the parties are required to nominate different representatives for an entirely new election.

The new president will inherit a $5.5bn International Monetary Fund-led bailout designed to stabilise its economy and lessen its dependence on China, which buys 80 percent of Mongolian exports.

The country has been hit hard by a more than 50 percent fall in the price of copper, its main export, over the past five years, while slowing growth in China has hobbled the economy.

Battulga, a real estate tycoon whose company funded a massive $4.1m statue of emperor Genghis Khan, has pledged to tap the countrys mining wealth to get Mongolians out of debt.

Al Jazeeras Adrian Brown, reporting from the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar said the opposition candidates promise of turning the economy around won him many voters.

He won because he had a very simple message. He campaigned on a Mongolia first platform and promised a tougher stance on China. He says he wants to have an equal relationship with Beijing, Brown said.

He also promised to deal with the real issue worrying most people here right now  unemployment. Thousands of people in this vast landlocked country are mired in poverty.

The outgoing president, Tsakhia Elbegdorj of Battulgas Democratic Party, did not run because he served the maximum two four-year terms.
US state of Hawaii had requested an emergency order blocking parts of Trumps ban on six Muslim countries.

A US appeals court has rejected Hawaiis request to issue an emergency order blocking parts of President Donald Trumps travel ban while the state sought clarification over what groups of people would be barred from travel.

The US Supreme Court last month let the ban on travel from six Muslim countries go forward with a limited scope, saying it could not apply to anyone with a credible bona fide relationship with a US person or entity.

A Honolulu judge this week rejected Hawaiis request to clarify the Supreme Court ruling and narrow the governments implementation of the ban.





Hawaii appealed to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, saying in a filing that the appeals court has the power to narrow the travel ban while it decides how to interpret the Supreme Courts ruling.

On Friday, a three-judge 9th Circuit panel, however, rejected that argument and said it did not have jurisdiction to hear Hawaiis appeal.

Justice department lawyers have argued that its definition of close family hews closely to language found in US immigration law, while Hawaiis attorney generals office said other parts of immigration law include grandparents in that group.

Shortly after the Supreme Court issued its opinion last month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said on Twitter it would head back into court to fight the fundamentally unconstitutional Muslim ban this October.

Omar Jadwat, the director of the ACLUs Immigrants Rights Project who had argued the case in court, said in a statement that the travel ban violates the fundamental constitutional principle that government cannot favour or disfavour any one religion.

Courts have repeatedly blocked this indefensible and discriminatory ban. The Supreme Court now has a chance to permanently strike it down, he said.

Lara Finkbeiner, from the International Refugee Assistance Project, which also sued the administration over the ban, said she was incredibly disappointed with the decision.

We are a nation that values acceptance and diversity, and in making this decision and putting this executive order back into effect, the Supreme Court is sending a very clear message and its putting the executives discriminatory policy back into effect.
Youth from 30 countries take part in two-day conference aimed to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Youth organisations and student unions from 30 countries gathered in the Turkish city of Istanbul for a conference aimed to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The two-day event, which tackles recent developments in the Palestinian territories, is organised by Turkey-based Anadolu Youth Association and the International Coalition of Youth and Student Unions to Support Palestine.

We are organising this conference for the second year in a row with Palestine, al-Quds (Jerusalem) and Al-Aqsa mosque topping its agenda, Salih Turan, head of Anadolu Youth Association, said in his opening speech on Saturday.

We represent the youth of all Muslim world who have the same feelings we hold towards Palestine, he said.

READ MORE: 1967 war  How Israel occupied the whole of Palestine

Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war. US-sponsored peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel have so far failed to resolve the conflict.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the worlds third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Ihab Nafi, head of the International Coalition of Youth and Student Unions to Support Palestine, said the conference aims to keep the Palestinian cause alive in the hearts of people in the Muslim world.

We organise such conferences to send a message to the whole world that the Palestinian cause cannot be erased from our daily agenda, Nafi told Anadolu Agency.

The Arab and Muslim peoples will not relinquish their rights in Palestine, he stressed.

READ MORE: Israel-Palestine  A way to end the occupation

Nafi said organisers have chosen Turkey to host the conference due to the Turkish defence of the Palestinian cause.

We send special greetings to the Turkish leadership and people who maintain their support for the Palestinian cause in this sensitive era of our history, he said.

The Palestinian struggle

Aamiena Breda, a student from the female wing of South Africas Youth for al-Quds, said she attended the conference because Palestine holds an important place in our hearts as Muslims.

We came here to Istanbul with a view to learning more about the Palestinian issue and gaining a better perspective about it, she told Anadolu Agency.

Student Ammar Hussein from Bangladesh said, Knowledge is basically the main point of coming here in order to know the latest developments of the Palestinian cause.

Such conferences pose an opportunity for raising the awareness of Muslim youth on the Palestinian issue and on other neighbouring Muslim countries which are in a dire need for our help and support, Hussein said.

Istanbul has recently hosted many conferences on the Palestinian issue, the latest of which was in February when more than 5,000 Palestinians from around the world held their first-ever conference in the city.
Officials say 18-year-old girl was bitten twice by venomous snake while banished to shed because she was menstruating.

An 18-year-old girl has died in Nepal after she was bitten by a snake while banished to a shed because she was menstruating, under an ancient practice that has been banned for more than a decade, officials said.

Tulasi Shahi was bitten twice by a venomous snake and died on Friday morning in western Dailekh district, according to local officials.

She survived for seven hours after the snake bite but died because medical treatment was delayed, local mayor Surya Bahadur Shahi told AFP news agency on Saturday.

Web Documentary: Nepals Menstrual Exiles

Some Hindus view menstruating women as impure and in parts of Nepal they are forced to remain in a hut or cowshed for day as part of a practice known as chhaupadi.

According to local media, her family took her to the village shaman for treatment instead of taking her to a hospital.

Local police confirmed that a girl had died but were unable to provide further details on the cause.

Banned practice

Under the chhaupadi tradition, women are banned from taking part in normal family activities during menstruation and after childbirth, and can have no contact with men of the household.

Women who violate the practice are blamed for crop failures, illnesses and sudden deaths of animals.

Two women died in late 2016 in separate incidents while following the tradition. One of the women died of smoke inhalation after she lit a fire for warmth. The cause of death of the other woman has not been determined.

Rights groups say many other deaths linked to the custom likely go unreported.

Chhaupadi was banned more than a decade ago but is still followed in parts of Nepal, particularly in remote western districts.

READ MORE: I was scared. But the fear of sin was bigger

Pragya Lamsal, a development professional in Nepal who advocates against the chhaupadi practice, said the tradition is not a cultural issue, but a human rights and legal issue, adding that it undermines a womans right to life with dignity.

Lamsal also told Al Jazeera that although the practice has been banned, menstrual taboos and chhaupadi traditions are still viewed as a private family issue.

Proposed legislation that would criminalise the practice and make it an imprisonable offence to force women to follow the ritual is currently pending in parliament.

Lamsal said that although such initiatives from government and non-govermental agencies to abolish the tradition are ongoing, the government has remained largely indifferent and has not put the issue as a priority.
Exhibition of Palestinian culture and history opens in London despite calls for it to be stopped by pro-Israel groups.

Europes largest Palestinian heritage event has opened its doors despite attempts to have it cancelled by pro-Israel groups.

Palestine Expo bills itself as a celebration of Palestinian culture, history, and food, and is expected to draw more than 10,000 people on Saturday and Sunday.

Whether the event would go ahead was uncertain as recently as last week, as the British government considered complaints by pro-Israel groups.

Officials eventually decided to let the event proceed but not before threats of legal action by the events organisers, Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA).

The event, which is spread over five stories of the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in central London, includes art galleries, augmented reality tours of Palestinian landmarks, and food stalls serving Palestinian dishes.

Speakers at the event include journalist John Pilger, Israeli academic Ilan Pappe, and writer, Ben White.

@pappe54 Ilan Pappe now at #PalestineExpo in #London: 1948 is totally absent in #Palestine peace process & in most academic universities. pic.twitter.com/IVjmchcmQk  Rawan Damen (@RawanDamen) July 8, 2017

Palestinian Hayat Amous Zughaier, one of those speaking at the event, told Al Jazeera that she was humbled by the show of support for the Palestinian cause.

Were very happy to see how many people have turned out to support the Palestinians, she said, adding: Sometimes, we do feel that were a forgotten cause.

The idea that we want to send out is that Palestinians dont need charity, they need support.

Everyone in the world should voice their support until we Palestinians get our rights back.

When asked for her thoughts on attempts by pro-Israel groups to shut the event down, she responded: They dont want the truth.

READ MORE: Palestine Remix

Events at Palestine Expo also include Al Jazeeras award-winning Palestine Remix project, which allows viewers to easily edit and put together their own stories on Palestinian issues, using clips from Al Jazeeras documentaries.

Palestinian filmmaker Rawan Damen, who leads the project, said visitors had reacted positively to the event.

Its the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Palestinian author Ghassan Kanafani in Beirut, one of the most creative intellectuals to tell the story of Palestine before the interactive age, she said.

In that spirit, Palestine remix has emerged the story of Palestine in an interactive way.

Smear campaign

FOA says the event has come amid pressure from government officials and what it describes as smears against some of the speakers, particularly ones who are Muslim.

Just hours before the event started, the Daily Telegraph ran an article with the title Islamist preacher who compared Jews to fleas to speak at Palestine Expo .

The headline refers to comments by a South African Muslim leader named Ebrahim Bham, who is billed to appear at the event.

Bham rejects the accusation of anti-Semitism and says the remark was a quote by Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, which he was using to warn of the dangers of dehumanising entire groups of people, including Jews.

Ismail Adam Patel, chair of FOA said: It is clear to anyone who looks at the Palestine Expo schedule of events that this is a diverse event, supported by many with speakers who are Israeli, Palestinian and British, and of Muslim, Jewish and Christian beliefs.

We are witnessing a desperate and underhanded tactic being used to undermine Palestine Expo, he added, accusing opponents of the event of running a deliberate smear campaign.

We hope this added publicity encourages many more people to attend the event and find out what life is really like for Palestinians on a daily basis
Arrests in Virginia made in a bid to intimidate anti-racist protesters, while far-right groups continue demonstrations.

Virginia police are using intimidating surveillance in an attempt to stop left-wing and anti-racist protesters as far-right groups increase demonstrations in their state, anti-racist activists tell Al Jazeera.

Pam Starsia, a local activist with Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), delivered a letter detailing a series of complaints to the Charlottesville Police Department (CPD) on June 23.

According to the letter, police have made unannounced visits to homes, places of work, and arrested activists.

I had failed to appreciate that right here in Charlottesville, the police were engaging in surveillance and monitoring of these types, Starsia told Al Jazeera in an interview.

READ MORE: Debate over US Confederate monuments intensifies

Charlottesville became a flashpoint in the national debate over racism and the far right when plans to remove monuments to the pro-slavery Confederacy of that fought in the United States Civil War became public in May.

Hidden and torch-lit

A torch-wielding coalition of far-right groups marched to the site of the monuments in downtown Charlottesville on May 13.





Richard Spencer, a white nationalist and a leader of the alt-right movement that has gained notoriety for its vocal support US President Donald Trump, led the protest against the statues removal.

The march caused activists in the area to increase their anti-racist actions, especially once the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, announced a July 8 rally in support of the monuments.

The issues of police surveillance and racial targeting have always been there. The statues have made it so that white people cant ignore it any longer, Starsia said, going on to detail that the only activists who received home visits from police were people of colour.

The arrest of Veronica Fitzhugh is another example.

Fitzhugh, a local activist and artist, publicly confronted local white nationalist blogger Jason Kessler on May 20.

She and members of SURJ gathered around Kessler and three friends and chanted Nazi go home, and other slogans.

During the confrontation, Kessler and Fitzhugh had a heated exchange. Kessler claims Fitzhugh shook his chair and screamed in his face. He admits that no physical contact occurred. Still, Fitzhugh was charged with assault and battery and disturbing the peace.

As a misdemeanour offence, the charge would usually result in a summons or order for Fitzhugh to report to the police station on her own. However, Fitzhugh was arrested by five officers at her home on June 1.

Fitzhugh, who declined to be interviewed, said in a statement that she wasnt arrested because of the confrontation with Kessler, but the white supremacy that has been an undercurrent of Charlottesville for too long  It is about white supremacy, hidden and torchlit.

Police sending a message

Later that month, local officers visited the activist in an attempt to garner her cooperation. Officers wanted her to give information as to the planned activist response to the July 8 KKK rally.

Al Jazeera spoke with Jeff Fogel, a Charlottesville lawyer representing Fitzhugh, who was himself arrested the following night after the altercation with Kessler for another alleged misdemeanour assault.

READ MORE: How the US anti-Muslim marches were defeated

Fogel, whose decades-long career includes numerous cases in which he defended free expression, was surprised by CPDs conduct. He says that by coming to Fitzhughs house after arresting her for a minor offence and contacting activists, police are sending a message: Were watching you, dont screw up.'

Police cast a wide net in terms of which groups and individuals to contact. Gail Hyder Wiley, a woman in her late 50s who describes herself as an elder of her church and non-violent organiser, received a call from CPD because of a Facebook group called Cville [short for Charlottesville] Stands Against Hate (CSAH).

A detective charged with investigating the groups said they wanted information about the group and its members, Wiley told Al Jazeera in an interview.

I did feel quite intimidated  I knew of no such group.'

CSAH was a name used on a flyer to advertise a community meeting on social media, Wiley explained. The group has no history in Charlottesville.

READ MORE: US anti-fascists  We can make racists afraid again

In response to a request for comment from CPD, Lieutenant Steve Upman delivered a statement that read: The overall goal of keeping this community and its citizens safe remains our number one priority  To accomplish this goal, the Police Department will gather as much information as possible in order to coordinate an appropriate public safety response.

CPD Chief Al Thomas said at a local forum in June that his main concern is not the KKK [] Its being in a situation where local citizens make poor choices and we have to step in.

21st-century COINTELPRO

Lawyer Fogel replied to Thomas comment: He should be worried about the KKK. The people of Charlottesville have never hanged anybody.

Police actions remind Fogel of historic examples of law enforcement wrongdoing. The lawyer mentioned the Red Squads that were a fixture in major police departments during the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union, and the nationwide Counter Intelligence Program, also called COINTELPRO, undertaken by the FBI.

The object of these initiatives was to surveil, infiltrate and dismantle social movements and political groups seen as a threat. Their tactics were often illegal, stifling free expression guaranteed US citizens by the Constitution.

READ MORE: ACLU sues DC police over violence at anti-Trump rally

COINTELPRO is often cited as a major reason behind the end of the Black Panther Party, an influential leftist and anti-racist organisation active from 1966 to 1982.

Charlottesville isnt the only city in Virginia with burgeoning protest movements. The state capitol, Richmond, has seen an increase in activism.

Hundreds of people protesting the election of Donald Trump shut down the main highway that runs through the city on its way to the US capital, Washington, DC, in November. A similar protest occurred last July in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

On January 20, the day of Trumps inauguration, Richmond police raided an abandoned warehouse where plainclothes officers allegedly saw activists training to engage in another demonstration.

The search warrant, obtained by Al Jazeera, says that same morning two separate construction contractors told police they saw stolen property that belonged to them.

Local newspaper the Richmond Times-Dispatchs report on the incident detailed that police were monitoring Richmond Struggle (RS), a local left-wing group that had called for shutting the city down.

A representative of RS told Al Jazeera they were not involved with any protest training at the warehouse.

In their view, the police utilised the media in an attempt to intimidate us and other groupings on the Richmond left.

Richmond police did not respond to a request for comment.

While RS hasnt experienced direct police interference like activists in Charlottesville, the group is confident [they] and the left, in general, remain under police surveillance for exercising our democratic rights.

Political groups have reason to be wary. The social unrest brought on by the election of Trump has met harsh crackdowns. Over 200 anti-Trump protesters face up to 80 years for demonstrating on inauguration day.

Activists from the anti-pipeline water protectors in North Dakota and BLM have recently experienced increased surveillance. Many no longer trust their smartphones for fear of the prying eye of the police.

Trumps Justice Department signalled a new era of reduced law enforcement oversight in March when Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a review of all reform agreements the Obama administration made with troubled police departments.

According to Fogel, this makes sense: Whenever the system is threatened, it responds in ways that are not consistent with its own ideals. It will respond in ways that arent necessary.
Electricity authority accuses Palestinian Authority of blocking fuel payments to Egypt as power plants go offline.

Power supplies have taken a fresh hit in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip with authorities accusing the rival Palestinian Authority of blocking fuel payments to Egypt from going through banks.

The electricity authority said on Saturday two of the three generators at Gazas only power plant were offline because the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah stopped all the financial transactions through Palestinian banks to Egypt to buy fuel.

This led to the stopping of fuel (deliveries) two days ago from Egypt.

A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority government in Ramallah, Tarek Rishmawi, told AFP news agency that the main reason for the worsening situation in Gaza is Hamas, as they rejected the initiative of (Palestinian president) Mahmoud Abbas to end the split between Palestinian factions.

READ MORE: Egypt sends fuel tankers to Gaza to ease power crisis

He did not confirm or deny the allegations of blocking fuel payments.

The electricity distribution company confirmed only one generator was operating, producing 23 megawatts of power  which added to other sources means Gaza currently has a total of 93 megawatts a day.

More than 500 megawatts are required to serve the Palestinian enclaves population.

Abbas, who runs the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, has recently sought to squeeze his longtime rivals Hamas, who control Gaza.

His government recently stopped paying for energy to Gaza, leading Israel to start reducing it.

READ MORE: Gaza power crisis  We want to end this nightmare

The cut left the impoverished territory of more than two million people with as little as two hours of mains electricity a day.

As an interim measure, Egypt stepped in to deliver fuel to Gazas sole power plant, but that has now been threatened.

The Egyptian deliveries came as part of improving relations between Cairo and Hamas.

The Energy Authority in Gaza is paying Egypt for the fuel but must make transfers through Palestinian banks, which are based in the West Bank and under Palestinian Authority laws.
Chicago Goes Under Review For Potential Bond Rating Downgrade By Moody's

By Stephen Gossett in News on Jul 7, 2017 10:32PM



Photo via Tony Webster on Flickr

All eyes were on the credit rating agencies this week after Moody's Investors Services warned that even if Illinois passed its budget, a downgrade to junk status for the state of Illinois could still be in the cards. But on Friday the agency made an announcement that could affect Chicagoans on a more micro level: Moody's Investors Service has placed the City of Chicago' general obligation under review, with the possibility of a downgrade.

Moody's said the review reflects Chicago's "close financial, political and governance" ties with the Chicago Board of Education. (As noted in today's announcement, Moody's just on Thursday put the Board of Education's B3 general obligation on review for a possible downgrade of its own.)

The agency wrote the following on Friday in its rating action, noting the Chicago Public Schools' up-in-the-fair fiscal state:



"Continued uncertainty surrounding the school district's financial situation in the wake of the state's own budgetary pressures and an indicated commitment from the city's administration to staving off further deterioration in the district's finances suggest the possibility of more direct intervention by the city in the district's fiscal affairs. The rating review will consider appropriation actions the state takes that may or may not address the school district's short-term liquidity needs and long-term budgetary hurdles."

The state budget package that cleared on Thursday after the House overrode Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto contains some added spending for schools in Illinois, though the funding mechanism is still awaiting action from Rauner. Also, the amount of money coming to CPS isn't entirely clear, and the raised taxes won't help the district right away either, according to the Sun-Times.

The review applies to $7.3 billion in Chicago's outstanding general obligation bonds, Moody's said.
The money will go towards aid workers on the ground in Syria through various UN agencies.

Qatar charities, including those targeted by Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Gulf dispute, have signed $8.5m worth of agreements with various UN agencies to finance aid workers on the ground in Syria.

World Food Programme, UNICEF, World Health Organization, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) will be the main beneficiaries of the funds, according to the deals signed on Saturday in Qatars capital Doha.





Al Jazeeras Imran Khan, reporting from Doha, said the initiative born when Qatar cancelled celebrations of its National Day in December 2016 in solidarity with the Syrian city of Aleppo which was under assault at the time.

That really captured the imagination of some of the leaders of the Qatari charities who decided they were going to help the UN within Syria, he said.

But some of these charities are themselves under attack, he added.

On June 8, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt issued a joint press release in which they designated 59 individuals and 12 organisations of differing nationalities, including Qatar Charity and Eid Charity, as terrorist.

READ MORE: The five most bizarre decisions in Gulf-Qatar crisis

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 said that accusing Qatars charities 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.

Saudi Arabia and its allies cut ties with Qatar on June 5 and imposed land, sea, air blockade on the country, accusing it of funding terrorism  an allegation Doha denies.

Later, they issued a 13-point list of demands that was rejected by Doha.
A day before a new ceasefire deal takes effect in southwestern Syria, the concerned areas are relatively calm with the exception of sporadic attacks by the Syrian regime, a monitoring group have said.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday, the Syrian regime shelled two villages in the northern countryside of Deraa, one of three provinces affected by the ceasefire.





The Observatory said at least one person was killed and a total of 16 such bombs were dropped in the area, wounding several.

The US-Russian-Jordanian brokered deal is to be enforced by midday on Sunday, in the provinces of Deraa, Suweida and Quneitra in the southwest, along the Jordanian border.

The agreement was the result of a two-hour  first of a kind  meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg on Friday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had said that Russian military police in the area would monitor the ceasefire.

Al Jazeeras Natasha Ghoneim, reporting from Gaziantep, Turkey, said that it was unclear whether the latest deal would fare any better as, despite such announcements of ceasefires in the past, fighting has continued.

Along the southern border, there is sporadic fighting going on. The Syrian opposition is in control for the most part along the border with Jordan and the Syrian forces are trying to regain control, clearly fighting continues despite these ceasefires, she said.

READ MORE: You probably wont read this piece about Syria

The deal is separate from an agreement that Russia, Turkey and Iran struck earlier this year to try to establish de-escalation zones in Syria.

The US, wary of Irans involvement, stayed away from that effort. Follow-up talks this week in Kazakhstan were unable to produce agreement on finalising a ceasefire in those zones.

A new round of UN-sponsored peace talks is to be held in Geneva on Monday. Those talks, aimed at forming a transitional government and combatting terrorism, have made little progress since they resumed earlier this year.
Boris Johnson visits Gulf states in bid to ease tension between Qatar and four other Arab countries.

Britains Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has called for dialogue to resolve the current dispute between Qatar and four other Arab states and reiterated Londons support for Kuwaits mediation efforts to end the rift.

Johnson made the call during a meeting with Kuwaits foreign minister in the Kuwaiti capital on Saturday, according to its state news agency KUNA.

My impression is that progress can be made  But I am not going to pretend that it is going to be overnight, Johnson said after the meeting.





The two disputing sides have not met yet, but lets keep our fingers crossed, lets keep working for common sense and for de-escalation on both sides, he added.

Theres no possibility of a military escalation, he said.

We are working, supporting our Kuwaiti friends to get an understanding of how to take forward a wider fight against the financing of terrorism not just by Qatar, but by all our friends in the region.

Qatar visit

Later on Saturday, Johnson travelled to Doha where he held a meeting with Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the countrys senior officials.

According to Qatars state news agency, they discussed the Gulf crisis as well as ways to enhance counterterrorism cooperation between Doha and London.

Johnsons talks in Kuwait and Qatar came a day after he held meetings on Friday with officials from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  two leading actors in the dispute.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is also due in Kuwait with a similar mission on Monday.

READ MORE: All the latest updates about the Gulf crisis

On Friday, Qatar again rejected accusations that it finances terrorism and interferes in the domestic affairs of other countries after the four Arab states boycotting it  Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE  threatened further measures.

The quartet cut diplomatic and transportation links with Qatar in early June, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and later issuing a list of 13 demands to the country.

They included downgrading ties with Iran, a regional rival of Saudi Arabia, and shutting down the Doha-based Al Jazeera Media Network.
On 5 and 6 July, the Government of Zimbabwe, with support from IOM, the UN Migration Agency, and the European Union, convened a high level discussion to develop the countrys 20172022 National Diaspora Policy Implementation Action Plan. The Plan will serve as a framework for engaging with the Zimbabwean diaspora worldwide. Eighty participants took part []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...
Naomi Klein has made a career giving guidance to the dumbest segment of the juvenile left. Each new generation brings a new crop of kids susceptible to the siren song of Marxism. With movie-star looks and a fake humble act, Klein repackages Marxism, explaining to her star-struck acolytes, most of whom probably never heard of Marx, that evil billionaires and scheming corporate bosses are conspiring to further oppress every oppressed group. Her act sells millions of books. Her mama didn't raise any dumbbells.

Her latest book is No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump's Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need. The book was hurriedly written so that it would be published before people became used to having Trump as president. Klein describes Trump's election as a naked corporate takeover. Apparently, much of the corporate establishment was only pretending to be in Hillary's camp.

Klein explains the world by shoehorning the real world into Marxist categories. Some of the people in Trump's Cabinet are wealthy  proof for Klein that scheming capitalists have taken over the government.

Klein is a dual American-Canadian citizen. Her parents fled the U.S. for Canada in 1967 to escape military service and jail.

According to Klein, the meaning of Trump's election is that a "gang of predatory lenders, planet-destabilizing polluters, war and 'security' profiteers joined forces to take over the government and protect their ill-gotten wealth."

What do predatory lenders and planet-destabilizing polluters have in common? Perhaps the predatory lenders enable people to buy cars so that the planet-destabilizing polluters can sell gasoline  obviously a sinister conspiracy. Planet-destabilizing pollution is a political slogan, not a scientific category.

Lockheed Martin, presumably a war profiteer, made 8% profit on sales. Apple, presumably not a war profiteer, made 21%. It must be that the profits of war are depressed.

The far left, when it obtains political power, always suppresses its opponents. In the U.S., if the hard left obtained power, the opposition would be demonized as racists or promoters of hate. Their fate would be a prison camp or worse. Thugs would be utilized to beat up or kill opposition figures and reporters.

When the left does not hold power, it holds itself out as the protector of wronged people and wronged groups. That is a strategy for building political support. Naomi Klein constantly invokes a long list of groups supposedly wronged by capitalism.

Here is how Klein, bizarrely, describes Trump's electoral appeal:

It is this complex mix of factors that allowed Trump to come along and say: I will champion the beleaguered working man. I will get you those manufacturing jobs back. I'll get rid of these free trade agreements. I'll return your power to you. I'll make you a real man again. Free to grab women without asking all those boring questions. Oh, and the most potent part of Trump's promise to his base: I will take away the competition from brown people, who will be deported or banned, and Black people, who will be locked up if they fight for their rights. In other words, he would put white men safely back on top once again.

This is a clear attempt, a pathetic attempt, to incite racial animus if not a race war. White men are parodied as mean-spirited and lording it over women, brown people, and black people. This is Klein dropping the sweet and humble act and baring her fangs. If only she and her allies can tear the country apart by inciting racial animus, there might be an opening for the left to obtain political power.

Fortunately, Trump was elected president, and Naomi Klein is a lefty gadfly.

Global warming/climate change is a natural leftist cause. If we aren't swearing off fossil fuels, it must be due to the sinister influence of corporate America. So, to get the maximum political mileage, global warming is depicted as unquestioned science  something like the law of gravity. Given that, if we are not eliminating carbon dioxide emissions, it must be because capitalist forces are selfishly, for profit, spreading confusion and lobbying against saving the world.

Klein explains that skepticism concerning global warming is motivated by selfish considerations:

Because climate change, especially at this late date, can only be dealt with through collective action that sharply curtails the behavior of corporations such as ExxonMobil and Goldman Sachs. It demands investments in the public sphere  in new energy grids, public transit and light rail, and energy efficiency  on a scale not seen since the Second World War. And that can only happen by raising taxes on the wealthy and on corporations, the very people Trump is determined to shower with the most generous tax cuts, loopholes and regulatory breaks.

Klein sees everything through political glasses. It does not matter that global warming stopped 18 years ago, or that that large numbers of qualified scientists doubt or denounce the computer projections of global warming from CO2. Following Klein's climate program would not have much effect on CO2 emissions, given that China is the main emitter of CO2 and is rapidly growing its CO2 emissions. Klein's only interest in global warming is its utility as a tool for promoting leftist politics.

Klein's previous 2014 book is This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate. That book has the theme that in order to save the climate, we have to get rid of capitalism, or at least capitalism as we know it.

Socialism, or heavy-handed control of the economy by the state, has been discredited due to the failure of the socialist model in the Soviet Union, China, and other places. Except in relics like Cuba, free-market capitalism is favored because it has proven itself as the best means for creating wealth and improving the lot of the population. Klein calls free-market capitalism "Neoliberalism" and denounces it as a plot by the wealthy to further enrich themselves and oppress the vast majority of people.

Klein herself is as much a relic as is Cuba. She denounces Neoliberalism but embraces Neo-Marxism with religious intensity.

Neo-Marxism hides it true, totalitarian nature. It is a wolf in sheep's clothing. The appeal of Neo-Marxism is that it is a substitute for traditional religion. It gives meaning to the lives of people whose religious impulse in previous times would have had expression in Christianity or Judaism. The Neo-Marxists hold forth with a long list of mostly imaginary grievances that could be corrected if only the evil rich people could be moved out of the way. The ideology has little relation to reality, which is why it always turns totalitarian when the Marxists actually gain political power. When Marxists gain power and try to implement their impractical program, the result is a disaster, and their reaction is not to give up their ideology, but to resort to totalitarian methods to impose it.

Norman Rogers writes often on environmental and political subjects.
Between the colonial and Revolutionary periods of American history came what historians have dubbed the (first) Great Awakening. The lack of passionate Christianity, along with the coinciding adoption of certain liberal interpretations of Scripture and a turn toward the secular, greatly concerned ministers such as Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Prince, and William Cooper.

By the 1730s, passionate and animated pleas for the souls of lost colonials became widespread. A common refrain was soon heard throughout the colonies: God was an angry judge, and humans were sinners!

The earliest principle figure of this period of spiritual revival was the brilliant and pious Puritan minister Jonathan Edwards. Edwards was literally born into Christian ministry. His father was a Congregationalist minister, and his mother, Esther Stoddard Edwards, was the daughter of renowned Massachusetts minister Solomon Stoddard. Stoddard succeeded Eleazer Mather as pastor of the Congregationalist Church in Northampton, Massachusetts. He was a firebrand of a preacher who abhorred alcohol and extravagance.

Though his theology was in conflict with many contemporary Puritan leaders, Stoddard was an extremely influential religious leader in the New England area for several decades. Jonathan Edwards succeeded his grandfather as pastor of the church at Northampton. Edwards was a prolific writer as well and is recognized as one of the great intellectuals of his time. He produced such works as Freedom of the Will, The Great Christian Doctrine of Original Sin Defended, and The Life of David Brainerd, which inspired countless missionaries of the nineteenth century.

Jonathan Edwards loved the pulpit, and according to BJU Press, was more teacher and preacher than pastor. In late 1734 and early 1735, revival broke out in Northampton. By the summer of 1735, it ended, but the seeds for something more lasting were planted. Enter the mighty George Whitefield. Whitefield is generally considered the Father of the Great Awakening. Born in England in 1714, Whitefield entered Pembroke College at Oxford at age 17. There he joined a group called the Holy Club, where he befriended John and Charles Wesley. John Wesley led the group, and as a result of their methodical ways, critics took to calling them Methodists. Of course, the name stuck.

Upon graduating and receiving his BA, Whitefield was ordained at 22. He began his preaching in the British towns of Bath, Bristol, and Gloucester. However, he felt the call to join General Oglethorpes colony in Georgia. In 1738 Whitefield left for North America. Not long after arriving in Georgia, noting the hard conditions, high death rate, and an abundance of children who had lost their parents, he conceived the idea of an orphanage. For the rest of his life, Whitefield raised money for the orphanage.

He also continued to preach. Whitefields message was one of salvation, a message which differed a bit from other Anglican ministers at the time who emphasized religiosity and moral living. It was not long before most of Georgia had heard of this young preacher with the booming voice and wild pulpit antics. News of Whitefield and his preaching soon spread throughout the colonies.

In 1739, after a brief return to England in hopes of securing land and funding for the orphanage in Georgia, Whitefield came back to America and would preach throughout the colonies. Jonathan Edwards invited Whitefield to preach in Northampton, Massachusetts. Whitefields message resonated with rich and poor, farmers and tradesmen, churchgoers and sinners -- virtually everyone within earshot of Whitefield, which, according to Ben Franklin, in open space, was 30,000 people!

Whitefield was not alone. Along with Edwards, men like Isaac Backus, David Brainerd, James Davenport, Samuel Davies, Theodore Frelinghuysen, Jonathan Mayhew, Shubal Stearns, the Tennent brothers (Gilbert, John, William), and others implored settlers and Natives alike to trust in Christ and Christ alone for salvation. Their message of repentance caught fire up and down the American East Coast. In the words of Brainerd, the ongoing revival was like an irresistible force of a mighty torrent or swelling deluge.

As a result of this first Great Awakening, geographical barriers became no more significant than denominational ones. The country was beginning to unite, in more ways than one. In addition to preaching sin and salvation, the Great Awakening played no small role in helping to unite the American Colonies against the British, for it was in the pulpits of American churches that the seeds of Revolution were sown. The British certainly thought this to be the case, as they blamed what they derisively described as the Black Robed Regiment for the thirst in the Colonies for American Independence. Modern historians have noted, There is not a right asserted in the Declaration of Independence which had not been discussed by the New England clergy before 1763.

For example, in 1750 the Rev. Jonathan Mayhew, a Harvard graduate, Congregationalist minister, and pastor of West Church in Boston, published A Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers. Out of this was born a sermon entitled The Morning Gun of the American Revolution. In this, Mayhew uses Romans 13 to justify throwing off the tyrannical yoke of England.

In 1765, Mayhew gave a powerful sermon railing against the evils of King George IIIs hated Stamp Act. Mayhew declared,

The king is as much bound by his oath not to infringe on the legal rights of the people, as the people are bound to yield subjection to him. From whence it follows that as soon as the prince sets himself above the law, he loses the king in the tyrant.

According to historian Alice Mary Baldwin, joining Mayhew in leading the opposition to the Stamp Act were the Reverends Andrew Eliot, Charles Chauncey, and Samuel Cooper. George Whitefield accompanied Ben Franklin -- whom he had befriended -- to Parliament to protest the Act. Franklin revealed to Parliament that Americans would never willingly submit to the Stamp Act. A month later, in March of 1766, celebrating the repeal of the act, Whitefield recorded in his journal, Stamp Act repealed, Gloria Deo.

It wasnt only the ministers of the Great Awakening who were the priestly patriots lighting the fire for the American Revolution. Men like prominent Presbyterian minister John Witherspoon were also instrumental. Witherspoon -- a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and president of the College of New Jersey (Princeton) -- in 1776, on a national day of prayer and fasting, preached a sermon titled The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men. The sermon included the following:

There can be no true religion, till there be a discovery of your lost state by nature and practice, and an unfeigned acceptance of Christ Jesus, as he is offered in the gospel. Unhappy are they who either despise his mercy, or are ashamed of his cross. Believe it, There is no salvation in any other. There is no other name under heaven given amongst men by which we must be saved. If your cause is just, you may look with confidence to the Lord, and intreat him to plead it as his own. You are all my witnesses, that this is the first time of my introducing any political subject into the pulpit. At this season, however, it is not only lawful but necessary, and I willingly embrace the opportunity of declaring my opinion without any hesitation, that the cause in which America is now in arms, is the cause of justice, of liberty, and of human nature.

Witherspoon was a mentor to many of Americas founders and helped to educate many future leaders of the young United States of America. Among his students included James Madison, future U.S. President and Father of the Constitution, Aaron Burr, future U.S. Vice President, twelve future Continental Congress members, forty-nine U.S. representatives, twenty-eight senators, three Supreme Court justices, and a secretary of state.

As Americas Schoolmaster, Noah Webster, would later note, The learned clergy had great influence in founding the first genuine republican governments ever formed and which, with all the faults and defects of the men and their laws, were the best republican governments on earth. In other words, One nation under God became the political as well as the spiritual legacy of the powerful preaching so prevalent in 18th century America. The ministry of these faithful men not only brought salvation and hope, but also helped bring rise to the greatest nation in the history of humanity.

Trevor Grant Thomas

At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.

www.trevorgrantthomas.com

Trevor is the author of the The Miracle and Magnificence of America

tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com
Black Lives Matter used the Fourth of July for its denigration of racist America. Accusations of American racism typically begin with references to the trans-Atlantic slave trade, although they do not end there. While the indictment is popular among those who disdain America, most people know less about the slave trade than the intensity of their contempt for America and white people would seem to indicate.

A majority of white America are descendants of people who came to America during the great waves of European immigration from 1880 to 1924. Over a hundred million white Americans trace their ancestry to immigrants who passed through Ellis Island, which didnt open until 1900. Most white Americans are descendants from people who came to these shores long after slavery was extinguished.

The indictment of all white people for the evil of slavery because they share skin color with slave owners is an indulgence in absurdity. We are told not to judge all Muslims as terrorists or all blacks responsible for the crimes of individual blacks. Yet, for whites, the collective guilt is unending. It is propagated in our universities under the now theological dictates of white privilege and white guilt.

The Eastern and Southern Europeans who came here primarily during the period of 1880-1924 had no participation in the slave trade except to have had some of their forbearers taken as slaves by Muslim slavers from North Africa and the Ottoman Empire. For over two hundred years, during the mid-1600s to the 1830s, Barbary Muslims trafficked in white European Christians. The Ottoman Muslims trafficking in White Christian slavery started even earlier, in the 15th century. All in all, Muslims enslaved more than two million white European Christians.

Barbary slavers nearly depopulated the coastal villages of Southern Europe and went as far north as Iceland and Scotland to conduct slave raids. Ottoman Turks went into Russia to procure slaves.

In 1785, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams negotiated, in London, with Tripolis ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman, over the enslavement of Americans. During the negotiations, they asked Abdrahaman what right he had to seize slaves. He replied that his right was "founded on the Laws of the Prophet, that it was written in their Koran that all nations who should not have answered their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Mussulman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.

The Barbary pirates slave trade came to an end in the early 19th century when American, Dutch, and British warships defeated them, and France invaded and colonized North Africa west of Libya.

So, should white European Christians condemn all Muslims for their role in the enslavement of white European Christians? Should the Europeans of the Southern Mediterranean demand reparations from Muslims for the enslavement of their ancestors? Should our universities teach courses about Muslim privilege punctuated with generous citations from the Koran?

Nearly every people were represented in the slave trade on both ends of the yoke. Muslims from North Africa trafficked in sub-Saharan blacks, and Portuguese slavers raided Muslims and took them and their slaves captive. Western Europeans purchased slaves from African kings and transported slaves from West Africa to the New World in conditions that they would not have used for cattle.

Without powerful African kings who were all too willing to sell the people they vanquished to the Europeans, it is doubtful there would have been a trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Among these Africans was King Tegesibu of Dahomey, who earned 250,000 British pounds a year in the slave trade -- more than an English duke earned in the same period. King Alvare of the Congo was a major supplier of slaves to the Portuguese. There was the late 17th-century royal family of Benin, whose ancestors refused to sell men, but whose descendants sold everyone -- men, women, and children.

Islam prohibited Muslims from holding fellow Muslims as slaves, but the prohibition was ignored when it came to sub-Saharan Africans. Long before the first Portuguese sail could be seen from the African coast, the Muslims had actively been engaged in the trans-Saharan slave trade going back to the Muslim invasion of Africa.

Pope Pius II ordered that Christians could not hold as slaves Africans who had been baptized. Pius II had no qualms about non-Christians being sold into the trans-Atlantic slave trade. But even the prohibition on Christian blacks was ignored. The trafficking in human cargo was far too lucrative to be restricted by religious rulings.

Muslims and Christians found it convenient to interpret the children of Ham as being black Africans and rationalized the inhumanity of the slave trade by referring to religious texts. This irony of rationalizing a great evil by invoking scripture seems to have eluded those who needed a justification for their greed.

Some Jews, like every other group, held slaves in the New World, but contrary to the accusation of the Rev. Louis Farrakhan, Jews were not the dominant participants in the slave trade. The total number of slaves held by Jews would not have filled one large Mississippi plantation.

Jewish investment in the slave trade was also marginal. Jewish participation in the slave trade was as vital to it as the small number of freed blacks who fought for the Confederacy was to the Southern cause. In both cases, the symbolic value has been crafted to be more important than the numbers by those desperate to make a meaningless point.

Slavery was not just a despicable institution, it was also a complex one that drew participation from the elite in West African Kingdoms, Western Europe, the Americas, Maghreb, and Middle East. A fortune made in the slave trade could be transformed into a fortune in reputable commerce. It is no accident that the president of the Continental Congress, Henry Laurens, began his career as a slave trader.

Calls for reparations for the descendants of American slaves and for various kinds of preferential treatment begin with the evil of slavery. Admittedly, the iniquities visited upon African-Americans did not end with slavery.

Although we could determine who are the descendants of those who lived through this horror, we would be harder pressed to determine who should pay. Should it be the African kingdoms that began the traffic, the Muslims of North Africa and the Middle East who extended it geographically, or the Western Europeans and Americans who made it an intercontinental business? Perhaps all of them. But is that remotely likely?

If we are truly concerned about slavery, would it be better to turn our attention to slavery in the 21st century to honor all those who lived through the oppression of slavery? There is still slavery in the modern world and that is where a concern for justice should begin.
I once participated in a debate where I was asked to describe the constitutional rights afforded to the unborn. For me, the answer was easy because I've studied the Founders. For the other guy  who completely dodged the question  it was just another opportunity to spout some platform slogans about choice and women's rights.

Many people argue abortion based on what's fair, but our nation's laws are based not on the left's version of "fairness" any more than statutes (ought to) derive from government-mandated compassion. The supreme law of the land is the Constitution, and our Founding Fathers provide incontrovertible insight as to their understanding of the unalienable right to life.

The very first sentence of the Constitution declares that the document's central purpose includes the aim to "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." As Glenn Beck notes, "[w]ho are our posterity, if not our unborn children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren?" To deny the Constitution's application to future generations is to erroneously deduce that the Founders intended their labor to last only a few years. Every constitutional provision that secures a human right was designed just as much for the protection of the rights of the unborn as for the rights of the born.

James Wilson, one of six men to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and a member of the first Supreme Court, lectured on constitutional law with Washington, Adams, and Jefferson in attendance  ostensibly endorsing his interpretations. As such, scholars typically concede that "Wilson, when speaking on the law, might be said to be speaking for the Founders generally."

During one such lecture, "Of the Natural Rights of Individuals," Wilson clarified: "In the contemplation of law, life begins when the infant is first able to stir in the womb. By the law, life is protected not only from immediate destruction, but from every degree of actual violence, and, in some cases, from every degree of danger."

Wilson's explanation unequivocally guarantees the right to life for a fetus. "When the infant is first able to stir in the womb" refers to the "quickening," which Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia, Volume 3 (originally published in 1839) describes as "the sensation a mother has of the motion of the child she has conceived." This was the moment in which a mother of the 18th century would know for certain that she was pregnant.

There is significant debate about when quickening occurs, with many citing Bouvier's estimation of "usually about the sixteenth week from conception," concluding that abortion should thus be legalized before the four-month mark. But to close the book there would be a grave injustice. First note that when referring to the embryo at his initial stage of conception, Bouvier calls him "the child." What kind of child exactly, if not a human child?

Bouvier continues, "The child is, in truth, alive from the first moment of conception. ... As life, by law, is said to commence when a woman first becomes quick with child, so procuring an abortion after that period is a misdemeanor. ... Quick with child is having conceived."

Indeed, even if we subscribed to the notion that the baby's movement alone signified life, we must acknowledge that a baby may move without the mother's noticing. BabyCenter's entry for eighth-week fetal development offers the following: "Your baby has started moving around, though you won't feel movement yet." This is reiterated at weeks eleven and twelve, not noting the mother's ability to feel the infant's motion until week eighteen. The child's heart begins beating as early as week five. Remember that Wilson attributed life to the infant's ability to stir, independent of its mother's acknowledgment. Speaking purely physiologically, we should at least be able to recognize the child's right to life once his heart starts beating  and at five weeks, that's roughly when a mother would find out anyway.

Either way, a mother's recognition of her child is not what grants him life. God is. As John Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration, once remarked, "[s]ome nations have given parents the power of life and death over their children. But here in America, we have denied the power of life and death to parents."

As quoted above, Wilson explained that the Constitution protects the unborn "from every degree of actual violence, and in some cases, from every degree of danger." This explains statutes like one in early Virginian law: "But if a woman be with child and any gives her a potion to destroy the child within her, this is murder. For it was not given to her to cure a disease but unlawfully to destroy the child within her."

This law echoes the words of William Blackstone, whom James Wilson cited. Says Blackstone, "For if a woman is quick with child, and by a potion, or otherwise kills it in her womb; or if any one beat her, whereby the child dies in her body, and she is delivered of a dead child; this, though not murder, ... remains a very heinous misdemeanor." The Founders drew from such legal observations.

But we're missing the point. Wilson was referring not to medicine, but to accountability, using a phrase his audience would recognize as the society's current understanding of fetal development. The implicit principle of his statement is that once you know, you are responsible. By constitutional law and medical testimony, the child is alive whether the mother knows it or not, and once she knows, she must take care of her child.

Some might argue that Wilson's designation is set, that the Constitution remains tethered to the 18th-century understanding of its writers. This is ludicrous. The Founders well knew that medicine and technology would advance. The 2nd Amendment applies not just to muskets any more than the freedom of the press applies only to movable type. Morse code and phone calls are protected under the 1st Amendment, as is the exercise of religious devotion to a church not around at the time of America's founding, such as Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Seventh-Day Adventists. The Constitution must not be maligned to include areas not intended in the document's writing, but it is clear that the Founders provided for advancements in those fields that are protected, however many years into the future.

As attested by historian David Barton, "[w]ith today's technology, it is now possible to know with a certainty that life is within the womb ... only a few days after conception. Regardless, whenever it is known that life was within, according to the documents penned by our Founding Fathers, at that point, unborn life was to be protected under the law."

The Founders undoubtedly crafted their revolutionary texts so as to secure the blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for the unborn.

So which constitutional rights do our future children enjoy? All of them. Read any quote from the Founding Fathers about your right to life, property, conscience, association, religious freedom, privacy, labor, and more, and smile knowing that your posterity has been endowed with the same rights by the same Creator. He is the one who gives life to the unborn, and we are not to take it away.

Richie Angel is the co-editor-in-chief of The New Guards. Learn more at thenewguards.net, on Facebook at The New Guards, and on Twitter @The_NewGuards.
President Trumps speech to the Polish people wasnt quite President Ronald Reagan telling Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, but in setting the tone for what may be called the Trump Doctrine it may be equally important in a historical context. It was not an apology but a full-throated declaration of American exceptionalism and a shared interest with loyal allies, such as Poland, to resist tyranny and terror in all its forms.

Trump was also speaking to both Vladimir Putin and Germanys Angela Merkel. Poland is a NATO member that, unlike Germany, has met its NATO commitments. It is also a country that has refused to adopt the European Unions suicidal policy of open borders. As Reuters reported:

Poland has a moral right to say 'no' to refugees, the country's most powerful politician said on Saturday. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the ruling party Law and Justice (PiS), gave his views on immigration at a party convention in Przysucha, 100 km (60 miles) south of Warsaw. "We have not exploited the countries from which these refugees are coming to Europe these days, we have not used their labour force and finally we have not invited them to Europe. We have a full moral right to say 'no'," Kaczynski said in a speech broadcast on television. Last month the European Commission launched a legal case against Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic for refusing to take in asylum seekers, highlighting the feud within the 28-nation bloc over how to deal with migration.

Poland may be the poster child for extreme vetting. Poland does not accept refugees. Poland also has been devoid of terror attacks spawned in the refugee enclaves that dot the major cities of Europe. Trumps visit was a clear message to Merkel as was his warning:

We are confronted by another oppressive ideology -- one that seeks to export terrorism and extremism all around the globe. America and Europe have suffered one terror attack after another. We're going to get it to stop. During a historic gathering in Saudi Arabia, I called on the leaders of more than 50 Muslim nations to join together to drive out this menace which threatens all of humanity. We must stand united against these shared enemies to strip them of their territory and their funding, and their networks, and any form of ideological support that they may have. While we will always welcome new citizens who share our values and love our people, our borders will always be closed to terrorism and extremism of any kind.

Two very important items and rebukes to Putin have been overlooked by the leftist mainstream media  Polands acquisition of the Patriot air and missile defense system and the natural gas exports to Poland that will allow it to break free of Putins energy noose around the neck of the European Union: As Trump stated:

To the citizens of this great region, America is eager to expand our partnership with you. We welcome stronger ties of trade and commerce as you grow your economies. And we are committed to securing your access to alternate sources of energy, so Poland and its neighbors are never again held hostage to a single supplier of energy That is why we applaud Poland for its decision to move forward this week on acquiring from the United States the battle-tested Patriot air and missile defense system -- the best anywhere in the world. That is also why we salute the Polish people for being one of the NATO countries that has actually achieved the benchmark for investment in our common defense. Thank you. Thank you, Poland. I must tell you, the example you set is truly magnificent, and we applaud Poland. Thank you.

Trumps Warsaw speech should be the final nail in the coffin of the Russian collusion fantasy put forward by delusional Democratic losers. His call for defiant resistance to tyrants and aggressors in the country President Obama betrayed as soon as he took office. Trump spoke of Poland acquiring U.S, missile defense assets where Obama had pulled the rug out from underneath Poland on an anniversary that showed his tone-deaf insensitivity.

Missile defense systems are systems which President Obama had long opposed as Cold War weapons. Soon after taking office, President Obama scuttled plans for ground-based missile defense installations in Poland and the Czech Republic.

When President Obama took office in January, 2009, sitting on his desk were President George W. Bushs plans for the deployment of ground-based missile interceptors, such as are deployed at Fort Greely, Alaska, in Poland as well as missile defense radars in the Czech Republic, As Investors Business Daily noted over a year ago, President Obama had other plans and his betrayal of our allies was ironically exquisite:

Yet within hours of Medvedev's election as president in 2008, the Russian announced that Moscow would deploy SS-26 missiles in his country's enclave of Kaliningrad situated between our NATO allies Poland and Lithuania. He wanted the U.S. to abandon plans to deploy missile interceptors in Poland and warning radars in the Czech Republic designed to counter a future threat from Iran. What did President Obama do? He caved in and notified the Poles in a midnight phone call on Sept. 17, 2009 -- the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's invasion of Poland -- that we were pulling the plug on that system due to Russian objections. Putin then watched in 2012 as Obama promised Medvedev at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, that after his re-election he would have more "flexibility" to weaken missile defense, which would help him fulfill his dream of U.S. disarmament.

Putin know full well Obamas weakness in responding to any foreign threat to U.S. interests and security. President Obama was the Neville Chamberlain of our time, promising peace in our time as he invites war with weakness, apologies, and appeasement. It was he who colluded with the Russians to threaten American national security in the back channel conversation with Medvedev which fell victim to an open microphone.

President Trump, rather than colluding with Russia, threw down the gauntlet before Putin on Polish soil. The U.S, will resist Putins dream of reassembling the former evil empire of the Soviet Union. To this end, we will arm our true allies with missile defense and energy independence.

Trump replaced Obamas flexibility with sorely missing American backbone.

Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investors Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications.
Americans have celebrated the Fourth of July for almost 250 years, with the 241st such celebration just behind us, but the vast majority of Americans have only the vaguest notion of why this holiday matters so much.

The Fourth of July does not represent the beginning of the American Republic. Indeed, there was practically no real government at all on July 4, 1776. The men who signed the Declaration of Independence were largely volunteers in a thankless task: express the reason why the thirteen colonies were declaring their separation from Britain.

It would be a year and a half after the Declaration of Independence before any real structure to this new polity would be proposed in the Articles of Confederation, but even this document would not be ratified until almost four years after the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed. The Constitution, the current governing document of our republic, was not proposed until 1787, and it would not be ratified by the requisite three quarters of the states until 1789.

The Declaration of Independence was signed when its signers did not know what, if any, form of government the United States of America would create. What the Declaration of Independence did mean was that this new polity was founded upon two vital and closely connected principles.

The first principle was that the primary purpose of government is to protect liberty. Although later, in the Constitution, a few additional purposes were granted to the new federal government  building postal roads and offices, granting patents and copyrights, coining money, regulating weights and measurements, among a few others  these seem so limited today that we can scarcely relate those limits to the operation of our vast imperial government in Washington.

Liberty means much more than the lust for wealth. Indeed, the Founding Fathers would have viewed a macabre fascination with money and goods as evidence of some moral sickness. Many of the Founding Fathers lost their fortunes because of their stand against the Crown and for this embryonic political creation.

The perverse belief that the Founding Fathers were driven by economic self-interest was first proposed by Marxists in American academia in the early decades of the twentieth century. Sadly, it has been adopted even by those enemies of Marxism who see life as a crass pursuit of wealth as the highest good.

The second principle is that the source of this right to liberty comes from God. Without God, there is no foundation for these rights. If we are simply more intelligent beasts in the jungle, then the idea of transcendent rights has no meaning at all. These wild creatures take what they wish without remorse and conscience. Strength is the only explanation animals need or seek.

Many of the Founding Fathers went farther and said that Christianity alone, the religion of forbearance of power except when absolutely necessary, could form the foundation of America and that anything less than that very high standard would be inadequate to preserve liberty. This was something that even the few Deists among that group believed as well. Everyone, especially ultra-orthodox atheists, has religion, but the vast majority of religions find slavery and coercion perfectly proper. Christianity does not.

The Founding Fathers had studied history and the failure of nations. They understood the profound religiosity of America, where people, unmolested by the state and out of free choice, embraced a variety of branches of Christianity with reverence and true faith. This was different from Europe, where the land one lived in determined what faith he must practice. God here meant the Christian God, not Allah or Vishnu or Baal or some similar unloving tyrannical cosmic despot.

How far have we come from those two great principles in the Declaration of Independence? Government, in the eyes of most Americans, is a tool of their idea of "social justice," or it is a means to make us prosperous, or it is the vehicle to educate us, or it is meant for any number of other trivial ends that can be accomplished better by free men acting on their own. The Christian God is harassed and driven out of public life, and religiously serious Christians are treated as the problem rather than the solution to problems.

The Declaration of Independence is the answer to almost all our political maladies, but we have drifted far from the noble aims of that document. Finding our way back will be a long, painful, and difficult process  though one worth pursuing all the same.
Sun-Times Owners Say They Could Shut Down The Paper If Tronc Deal Falls Through: Report

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Jul 7, 2017 8:41PM



Getty Images / Photo: Scott Olson

The owners of the Sun-Times say they may shut down the Chicago-based newspaper if the deal for publishing company tronc (formerly known as Tribune Publishing, as in the Chicago Tribune) to buy the paper and other media properties falls through.

Wrapports, the company that owns the Sun-Times, struck a deal with tronc for the sale of the paper earlier this year, but the deal is pending the approval of the Justice Department's anti-trust division. The Justice Department has called for competing offers, but so far few have panned out, possibly because the Sun-Times and other papers that Wrapports publishes are losing money. One element of the costs that favors tronc's bid: According to Crain's, Wrapports currently pays tronc $25 million a year to print and distribute the Sun-Times at its print and distribution warehouse.

Wrapports has been waiting for another investor, a group led by ex-Ald. Edwin Eisendrath, to finalize a competing offer against tronc's bid, but Crain's is now reporting that the group has until just early next week before Wrapports and tronc move forward together. The group would need to have more than $11 million in order to successfully buy the paper, along with Wrapport's local weekly, the Chicago Reader, due to the operational costs. Crain's sources say the papers are currently operating at a $4.5 million annual loss:



"If they're not going to be ready on Monday, we're moving on," said Brad Bulkley, an investment banker handling negotiations for Wrapports. If the Justice Department's antitrust division goes to court to try to halt a merger with Tronc, Wrapports owners are prepared to shut down the Sun-Times, said sources familiar with the talks.

The goal of Eisendrath and other investorsincluding some members of the Chicago News Guild, the union that represents some Sun-Times employees and Bill Brandt, who told Crain's he was investing at least close to $2 millionwould be to keep the papers independent and separate from the Chicago Tribune.

Brandt called the purchase a "civic duty":



"Without a free press, America is doomed," Brandt said. "In the current environment, the free press has never been more important."
Two films have generated all the buzz of late: Baby Driver and The Big Sick. Both have garnered wonderful reviews and are doing well, though neither is a blockbuster.

Baby Driver is about a young man, orphaned when young, who suffers from tinnitus and so listens to music constantly. His foster father is deaf, so he signs and read lips. "Baby" is beholden to a very bad man, a criminal "mastermind" played by Kevin Spacey, and so must be the getaway driver for his crew of miscreants hired to pull off the crimes he plans. The kid is the only character with a modicum of a moral sense but is, of course, flawed, to say the least. He goes along to get along while his discomfort with his cohorts' crimes is duly noted. The boy, Ansel Elgort, is a wonderful actor and fun to watch, but the film is an empty vessel, like Ronin years ago. There are a few good car chases but little substance to the story. And yet it is being hailed as an "awe-inspiring action thriller," a "unique cinematic voice," even a "romantic musical thriller disguised as a car chase thriller." It is none of these things. The Fast and Furious franchise has more substance and better car chases. This film is a egoist director's boy toy: all hat, no cattle. Is the boy a good kid at heart? Yes. Does he make poor decisions? Yes. Does he redeem himself? Sort of.

Equally praised by the critics is The Big Sick. This film is based on the true semi-romantic relationship between a Pakistani comic living in Chicago and the unlikely object of his affection, Emily, an American student whom the young man knows he could never bring home to his culturally Pakistani parents without meriting permanent banishment from his family. He lies to his parents, and he lies to Emily; he is torn between two cultures, one of them immutable. So he breaks up with Emily. Then she gets sick, really sick. While she is comatose, he rethinks, meets the parents, wins over the parents. She wakes up, clueless about his change of heart. It all works out in the end, but the takeaway is that each of the men is weak  weaker than the women in their lives. Kumail, the main character, is submissive to his mother's demand that he marry a Pakstani woman. Terry, Emily's father, and Azmet, Kumail's father, are both wholly submissive to their wives, even when they know better. Each of them is a very good man, but each of them seems rather childish. What has our culture done to men over these past two generations? Their women love them but control them! How weird is that? It is how it is.

For at least two generations, the feminist movement has been sabotaging the futures of women everywhere. They preach not only hatred of men, but overt discrimination against them, especially white men. Feminist activist women teach their daughters to loathe men, especially those without college degrees. College administrators treat young men as potential rapists. Is it any wonder that men no longer want to attend college in numbers equal to women? Do informed parents want to subject their sons or daughters to the nonsense that is the enforced diversity of race, class, gender, and political tyranny of college campuses today? Most do. It's a status thing. Those who do are sentencing their children to years of leftist indoctrination and the inculcated inability to think critically. Good little Marxists they will be. Their sons will be servile to unhappy women who yearn for real men who can teach their sons to be real men. That is the nature of the human race. Despite the "gender is a social construct" nonsense, women want men to be men, and men want women to be women, the way it used to be. That's the way it actually still is outside D.C. and academia!

Baby Driver and The Big Sick are both good films, but they reveal the damage done by two generations of the tyranny of feminism, of political correctness and the watering down of any sense of morality. The Baby of Baby Driver has a moral sense, eventually, and so is a hero? The men of The Big Sick prevail but only because the women in their lives have set the stage and led them to where they want them to go. Feminism and the politics of race, class, and gender have emasculated the men of two generations, which is what the movement set out to do. Erasing white men entirely is now the goal of the social justice warriors. This ambition is what produces films like Baby Driver and The Big Sick.

So, to those women who are freezing their eggs because there are no college-educated men they can find to marry, look to your feminist mothers or to the leftist academia that brought us to this moment in time  a time when men are not supposed to be men and women are not supposed to be women. Both are supposed to be something else altogether. It's not working. The progressive left's agenda, completely aside from their LGBT support, is a crime against Western civilization, against the natural order of things.

The films our critics honor and praise say everything about our culture. Hollywood is not making films like Twelve Angry Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scent of a Woman, The Edge, etc. anymore, or films like True Grit or High Noon. The heroic men of those films would be mocked by young people today, who have been taught that any pretension of masculinity is brutish.

Why do films like the James Bond movies, Clint Eastwood's Grand Torino, Taken, and the Fast & Furious franchise do so well? No matter how ridiculous, they let men be men. They will always do better than films like Baby Driver and The Big Sick. No matter how much progressives want to alter the nature of humanity, they may succeed in the short run, but they will fail in the end. The propagation of species depends upon it.
Democrats control both houses of the California State Legislature with two-thirds majorities, allowing them to pass any bills they wish, with no possibility of obstruction from the powerless GOP. As Democrats will when they feel empowered, they recently passed a major hike in gasoline taxes that will take over $5 billion a year more from the pockets of motorists. With the GOP powerless, what could possibly go wrong?

Apparently, they forgot that California's state constitution permits recall elections, which is odd, considering that Governor Gray Davis was recalled, and Arnold Schwarzenegger famously became governor within the memory of most members of the Legislature. But three members of the College Republicans at Cal State University, Fullerton (in Orange County) remembered, and in record time, they gathered more than 85,000 signatures on a recall petition for the local State Senator, Josh Newman, a freshman just elected. That is enough to force a recall election!

Caught by surprise, the California Dems reacted stupidly. The Daily Wire reports:

Three members of the Cal State Fullerton College Republicans have been named in a lawsuit backed by the California Democratic Party in retaliation for their work to recall State Senator Josh Newman, who was the pivotal vote in support of April's $52 billion gas tax increase. ... The suit names Amanda McGuire, Brooke Paz, and Ryan Hoskins (pictured below) as defendants in the suit, for volunteering their weekends to talk to constituents about the cost of Newman's vote to the district's taxpayers.

The Democrats' lawsuit, which was filed in Sacramento Superior Court last Thursday, alleges that the College Republicans and other conservative activists "misled" voters in their successful signature gathering effort to recall Senator Newman. The suit names Amanda McGuire, Brooke Paz, and Ryan Hoskins (pictured below) as defendants in the suit, for volunteering their weekends to talk to constituents about the cost of Newman's vote to the district's taxpayers. ... The Democrat Party has alleged that recall organizers, which also included dozens of local conservatives of all ages, lied to voters about the true nature of the recall campaign by claiming that the recall would repeal the gas tax.

I suppose they will file affidavits from a few people who signed who will claim that they were told something untrue. That's pretty thin gruel, but then again, left-wing judges can grab power and forbid or require pretty much anything they want, as the travel ban kerfuffle illustrated. It takes the Supreme Court to weed out the renegade judges' decisions, and that takes time, if it even happens.

But trying to quash a recall election following a tax increase and dragging three kids into court looks really bad, and it will be especially odious when the gas tax hits on November 1 and people start complaining about the money missing from their wallets when buying gas. Tesla drivers won't notice, but the poorer people driving old beaters will right away. I would start making videos of the three appealing kids talking about being dragged into court because the Dems refuse to follow the rules on recall elections, because they think they own the state.

As the recall election of Gray Davis showed, there is a high level of ambient frustration and anger in California. Ninety percent of the population is scampering to keep up with rising expenses. Everyone knows the highways are a mess despite already high gasoline taxes that are siphoned away for pet transit projects, bike paths, and other amenities beloved of the wealthy tech and financial elites, the only people really enjoying the Golden State Dream that used to be almost universal.

Come November, there might be opportunities to collect signatures for recall petitions all over California if College Republicans and other groups can be mobilized. Despite the demographic earthquake that has changed California, the arrogance of the California legislative Dems has created an opportunity for a "throw the bums out" election in 2018. Most Californians could not name their own state senator, even though these solons represent more people than a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. There is enough discontent that if the issues are properly framed, some real havoc could be inflicted on the Dems.
George Clooney, actor and political soothsayer, who last year inaccurately predicted that "[t]here's not going to be a President Donald Trump," is back in the news. Not for another Ocean's 25, or whatever number they are up to, but instead for acknowledging reality.

Clooney announced that his wife and twin babies will move from his England estate back to Trump's America, to Los Angeles, over security concerns. What security issues do the Clooneys have in their mansion sitting on five and a half acres on an island along the Thames River? Simply put, "[h]e doesn't feel like Amal and the twins are safe living in the English countryside."

Could it be the recent run of terrorist attacks in the U.K.? The bombing at the Ariana Grande concert? The London Bridge attack? The British government acknowledging 23,000 jihadists living in Britain?

These are reasonable fears, shared by many in the U.K. who live in the same neighborhoods as the jihadists, not in secluded country estates with private security. I'm sure many in London would prefer to live in L.A. rather than in ground zero for Islamic jihad  but without the Clooneys' means to pick up and move.

Isn't Mr. Clooney's attitude considered Islamophobia? Or racism? Or intolerance? Does this make him a bigot? Depends on whom you ask.

If you ask George Clooney in 2015, the answer is clear. When candidate Donald Trump talked about building a wall on our southern border he described some, but not all, immigrants as "rapists" and "criminals." Clooney's response, not surprising as a card-carrying member of the liberal elite: "Anybody who says as intolerant words as those should be laughed at, and that's pretty much what history will do." He went farther, saying, "Clearly, what he said is idiotic. Of course it's idiotic."

So who's the intolerant one now? Who's idiotic? The 2015 virtue-signaling George Clooney aghast at candidate Trump's realistic assessment of the consequences of illegal immigration? Or the George Clooney of 2017, realizing that the open-borders, unlimited-immigration policies of the U.K. and other European countries are dangerous and making the country unsafe? Including for him and his family.

Funny how liberals moralize from their high horses behind their walls, fences, and security guards. But when reality starts encroaching on their insular worlds, they realize what the rest of us know instinctively.

Even Bill Gates acknowledged that Germany's open-door policy for migrants will overwhelm Europe. He will be safe in his castle on Lake Washington, but credit him for finally recognizing the obvious, even at 61 years of age.

George Clooney is just the latest example of the old saying: "A conservative is a liberal who's been mugged by reality." George Clooney won't become a conservative, but at least he has taken a small step away from the liberal plantation.

Brian C Joondeph, M.D., MPS is a Denver-based physician and writer. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
June Chu, a Yale University dean who was put on leave after being tied to a string of racially insensitive reviews on Yelp, has formally left the school. It's not known whether she jumped or was pushed.

Chu was chided for a one-star review of a Japanese steakhouse. She wrote that "if you are white trash, this is the perfect night out for you." The post has been deleted.

Call me insensitive, but her post is honest; informative; and, incidentally, very funny. By the way, when did "white trash" become a race?

At the risk of stereotyping, with a name like Chu, she likely prides herself on being a connoisseur of fine Japanese steakhouses. As a native Philadelphian, I pride myself on being a connoisseur of fine Philadelphia cheesesteaks.

Just as I may use Yelp to warn unsuspecting tourists about faux Philly cheesesteak sites, so Chu used Yelp to inform the public about the Japanese steakhouse. She performed a public service. What's wrong with that?

If anyone has a right to be offended, it should be the steakhouse owners and the dining public. Thanks to Yale do-gooders, each has one less real-time consumer opinion on which to judge the business.

I suspect that the only folks offended by Ms. Chu's post were frail Yale administrators and advantaged editors of the Yale Daily News who deign to speak for "white trash" ostensibly appalled like them by indelicate Yelp posts.

"White trash" of my acquaintance are not so easily offended. They are quite capable of thinking for themselves and living their lives without Yale's help.

In its June 16 unanimous decision, the Supreme Court conferred free speech protection on the Slants, an Asian-American rock band. In his opinion, Justice Samuel Alito reaffirmed a "bedrock" First Amendment principle: speech may not be banned on the ground that it expresses "ideas that offend."

In layman's language, "sticks and stones may break my bones..."

Silencing people doesn't make "offensive" speech disappear. Rather, it drives speech underground to transmute into whispers, winks and nods, and innuendos. Contrary to its wished for purpose, suppression fosters polarization, distance, isolation, and often enmity between the presumptive offender and presumptive offended. It damages all Americans.

Recently, an Indian friend in extolling his friendship with an Irishman cited their respective nicknames as evidence of their deep affection. The Irishman calls his Indian friend "Gandhi." "Gandhi" in turn calls his Irish friend "Erin go blah, blah, blah."

Neither takes offense at the good-natured banter and insults that are the lingua franca of friendships, perhaps especially among men. They enjoy the good-natured give and take. Rather than offend, the teasing connotes egalitarianism, intimacy, empathy, and respect.

"Shouting fire in a crowded theater" excepted, suppressing speech nearly always does more harm than the harm it purports to assuage.

The real victims of suppression are those whom charlatans and do-gooders have artificially categorized by race, sex, national origin, or creed as too delicate to experience the delight of unfettered, honest, robust debate.
In the mother of all face-saving, the London hospital that had originally planned to kill off baby Charlie Gard, "for his own good," has seen the light and decided not to pull the plug. They will even allow this baby, with his very rare genetic condition, known as mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, to be treated with an experimental therapy offered freely from the United States.

"Two international hospitals and their researchers have communicated to us as late as the last 24 hours that they have fresh evidence about their proposed experimental treatment," the hospital said in the statement. "And we believe, in common with Charlie's parents, it is right to explore this evidence."

That wasn't their attitude a week ago, before the protests, the statements from President Trump and Pope Francis, and the general global disgust that a purported place of healing would throw away a baby like so much garbage solely because they had no idea how to treat him and didn't want anyone else to treat him, either. This hospital under its socialized medicine regime was so cold-hearted that in addition to wanting to pull the plug on the child a week ago, it also refused to allow the baby's parents to take their little one home to die with dignity. They really, really wanted the baby to die in an icy institution instead  under their "care," of course.

It was even more morally repugnant because money was not an object in this case  the parents had raised money to get their baby treated in the States, and there was a willing doctor who would try out a therapy that has helped children with similar genetic mutations, albeit not as severe. The very idea of trying the therapy on a baby with Gard's condition had a sound theoretical rationale, and even if it had not worked, would yield medical knowledge that could save the next kid with the syndrome. Yet the London hospital had already made up its mind that the child was a vegetable with no feeling and yet curiously in pain, both rationales for their taking the power steps they did against the baby's parents. There was also an Italian hospital that offered to take the baby and treat him with dignity which included simply promising to keep him alive as long as possible without pulling the plug.

Against these ameliorating factors, the London hospital didn't particularly care at first. They must have spent thousands to arm themselves with court victories from Euro courts (run by Europeans from countries with long histories of genocide, assisted suicide, euthanasia, involuntary sterilization, and eugenics) to ensure their legal "right" to kill the baby. But the hard rule of courts was a complete failure compared to the photos of the baby's devastated, grimly determined parents, which circled the globe. There is power in imagery, and the images of these parents may have been the element that made the hospital realize that it had a public relations problem and was about to go down in history as "that killer hospital."

The parents were, after all, loving parents and completely willing to devote their lives to caring for their handicapped baby. In American medicine, it would be unlikely that their wishes would be dismissed, as they had been under Britain's cold, inhuman socialized medical regime. A typical medical attitude from the U.S., as reported by the New York Times, is here:

But Kenneth Prager, a professor of medicine and director of clinical ethics at Columbia University, who is not involved in the case, argued that the parents' wishes should not be brushed aside. The evidence on pain is unclear, he said. "Unless the parents are abusive, I think it is dangerous for society to arrogate to itself the power to override parental wishes and have the child die when they are clearly loving parents willing to expend time and resources to help their child," he said.

The whole picture goes to show the massive gap between pinched little Eurotrash attitudes toward health care, with all its finiteness, limits, and quests for power, and the imagine-a-miracle approach of the U.S.'s far freer-market health care, with all its innovation, willingness to try new things, and determination to save lives. Maybe it will be a wake-up call for socialized medicine. Maybe the hospital changed its mind and didn't want to look hopelessly stupid and out of touch with medical advances, like a Dickensian hellhole of backwardness, as the world's medical miracles marched on.

Maybe this experience will open the London hospital's attitude toward medical miracles. One can only hope these benighted people have been changed by this tiny little baby whose life they deemed worthless.
An article in Politico details the fear running through the intelligence community about the Trump administration's hunt for leakers who have regularly given reporters access to top-secret information. Or, in some cases, the "leakers" have simply made up stories from whole cloth, claiming special knowledge they don't possess.

Either way, the irony of law-breaking leakers giving out classified information illegally appears to be lost on the authors of the Politico piece.

National security officials across the federal government say they are seeing new restrictions on who can access sensitive information, fueling fears in the intelligence and security community that the Trump administration has stepped up a stealthy operation to smoke out leakers. Officials at various national security agencies also say they are becoming more concerned that the administration is carefully tracking what they're doing and who they're talking to  then plotting to use them as a scapegoat or accuse them of leaks. One U.S. official voiced concern over even talking to superiors about a benign call from a reporter. The agency this official works for had started limiting staff access to information, they said, and it would make it far easier to figure out who was talking to people in the media. There was suspicion, the official said, that the agency was even tracking what they printed, to keep tabs on what information they were accessing. "I'm just trying to keep my head down," another U.S. intelligence official recently told POLITICO. A half dozen officials across the national security community described to POLITICO a series of subtle and no-so-subtle changes that have led to an increasingly tense and paranoid working environment rooted in the White House's obsession with leaks. President Donald Trump has regularly vented about his intense frustration with anonymously sourced stories, and has specifically targeted federal government entities, including intelligence agencies like the CIA and FBI, and the State Department.

These are not "whistleblowers." Nothing they are leaking exposes wrongdoing by the government. They are intelligence officers sworn to keep secrets who are giving political ammunition to the opponents of Donald Trump. Just what is it they expect the president to do? Sit back and allow his administration to be torn apart by partisan intelligence operatives?

The only people who should be paranoid are the leakers. And if those intel officers don't see the need to compartmentalize information to root out lawbreakers, then my guess is that they are part of the problem.

Because that's the bottom line. What the leakers are doing in exposing damaging information to the president also exposes intelligence-gathering methods, aiding our enemies and augmenting their ability to spy on us.

Every administration since World War II has complained about and worried about intelligence leaks. Nixon's obsession with leaks brought down his presidency. Obama put reporters on trial for publishing leaked information. That Trump would seek to expose the leakers is absolutely no surprise. That intelligence officers would become paranoid about the hunt for leakers is.
A familiar feature of Tucker Carlson's nightly prime-time Fox News channel program is for Carlson to debate  and usually one-up  a representative of the political left. On occasion, he has welcomed a liberal who seems to agree with or at least to buttress his own conservative position.

One such guest, who has been on the program a number of times in recent months, is Stephen F. Cohen, Ph.D., an American scholar and professor emeritus of Russian studies at Princeton University and New York University. Cohen, 78, is an unabashed liberal. He is a contributing editor to The Nation, according to Wikipedia "the most widely read weekly journal of liberal/progressive political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis." Since 1988, Cohen has been married to Katrina vanden Heuvel, the longtime reliably left-of-center editor of The Nation.

On the occasion of President Trump's first one-on-one meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Hamburg on July 7, Carlson welcomed Cohen as the second guest on his program the same evening. Cohen is "an actual expert on the subject and a Russian speaker," Carlson noted in his introduction. In the four-and-a-half-minute-long segment, the experienced and independent-minded Cohen shredded many of the arguments put forward by the "resist" commentators and academics who were quick to dump on the Trump-Putin meeting as they have similarly jumped on the unproven Russia-Trump-collusion bandwagon since it took off last fall.

The video of the Carlson show segment with Cohen is highly recommended viewing.

Some excerpts:

Tucker Carlson: Professor, the first thing you notice is just how much the press is rooting for this meeting between our president and the Russian president to fail. Why would they want it to fail? Stephen Cohen: It's a kind of pornography. Just as there is no love in pornography, there is no national interest in this bashing of Trump and Putin. As a historian, let me tell you the headline I would write instead, about what we witnessed today in Hamburg. "Potentially New Historic Detente Anti-Cold War Partnership Begun by Trump and Putin but Meanwhile Attempts to Sabotage It Escalate." You said I was an expert. I actually do have one expertise. I've seen a lot of summits, as we call meetings between American and Russian presidents. I was present at some, and even participated in the first George Bush's summit preparation. When he met with Gorbachev, he invited me to Camp David to debate before his team. In that context, I think what we saw today was potentially the most fateful meeting between an American and Russian president since the war time [WW II]. The reason is, is that the relationship with Russia is so dangerous and yet we have a president who might have been crippled or cowed by these Russiagate attacks on him, and yet he was not. He was, I think, politically courageous. It went well. They did important things. And this will be astonishing to be said, I know, but I think maybe today we witnessed President Trump emerging as an American statesman. I think it was a very good day for everybody.

In reply to Carlson's follow-up question, Cohen noted:

You've got three major actors being demonized in America: one is of course Putin, second is Trump, but then the leader of Syria, President Assad, is demonized here.

Cohen went on to cite the major achievement of the Trump-Putin summit:

They formed an alliance and that means that we will side for now with Russia with Assad. That will be assailed in Washington because he's [Assad] loathed in Washington almost as much as Trump and Putin.

Why is Assad so loathed? Carlson asked.

Cohen: When the Syrian civil war began five or six years ago, there were a lot of dirty hands in that mix, including American ones. Everybody was arming somebody. So we have a monstrous war going on there with so many groups being armed by so many different states. The thing about Assad for me has always been  and maybe this is parochial  but he has been the protector of the Jews, of the Christians, and of the non-Jihadist Islamic population in Syria  at a time when the main threat there, the Islamic State, ISIS, chops off the heads of these people. It seems to me that we should stick with Assad until we defeat these people [ISIS].

Cohen wrapped up his interview with these comments:

Focus if you will [on] something that both Trump and Putin said today. They said we are meeting, we have agreed, and we promise positive things to come. In other words, they have formed a political partnership and now it goes forward. But it will be viciously attacked and already is if you look at the press today here.

When I set out to write this article, I didn't intend to transcribe and quote so much of the Carlson-Cohen interaction. But once I got started, it was hard to know when to stop. Cohen, in my opinion, illustrates his impressive intellect and communications skills by filling the entire time given to him  only about three and a half minutes total when Carlson's three questions are subtracted  with eminently quotable comments.

Peter Barry Chowka is a veteran journalist who writes about national politics, media, popular culture, and health care. His bio with links to a number of his writings can be accessed here.
President Trump and New York City mayor Bill de Blasio were both overseas this week, within a few miles of each other. In fact, the president and the mayor were in Hamburg, Germany for the same exact event. Yet the contrast could not be starker.

After a very successful trip to Poland, President Trump is tending to state business of the highest order at the G-20 summit in Hamburg. Despite the countless violent, rogue, and lawless protesters, the president is moving our country's agenda forward at the summit, as he temporarily leaves behind an America that is in far better shape than it was half a year ago. New employment and economic data were just released, confirming the great progress. ISIS is on its knees; things are good.

In contrast, Mayor de Blasio is in Hamburg to join the protesters. The mayor, whose background includes support for the Sandinista regime and who announced last month that he would happily march in New York's Puerto Rican Day Parade despite the parade's plans to honor a just released terrorist  his leftist tendencies should hence come as no surprise  leaves behind a city that this week lost a police officer to a violent murder, which last week saw another violent murderer gun down people in a hospital, and which has a plunging quality of life problem, increasing homelessness and subway crime, a corrupt child welfare system, and a crumbling infrastructure. The media loves de Blasio, yet his accomplishments are few, and the problems that arose under his leadership are quite many.

One man in Hamburg is hated by the media and may not always come across as people would like, but look at what has been accomplished under his leadership. The other man in Hamburg is loved by the media and is as polished as the queen's sterling, but look at what he has (not!) accomplished.

The sages of the Talmud taught that Joshua merited to be appointed as Moses's successor due to Joshua's many decades of staying the course as Moses's devoted assistant and disciple. During those years, Joshua was not a popular public figure, but he was doing all the right things and steadfastly getting much done, whether or not people realized it. His sustained work and study paid off.

America has leaders who are loved by the media but who accomplish little, as well as leaders who get things done yet are often lambasted or ignored by the media. The story of President Trump and Mayor de Blasio in Hamburg speaks volumes about this phenomenon. It is a study in contrasts, and we all know who comes out ahead where it matters most.

Avrohom Gordimer is a senior rabbinic fellow at the Coalition for Jewish Values, a public policy institute reflecting traditional Jewish thought. He serves on the editorial board of Jewish Action magazine, is a staff writer for the Cross-Currents website, and is a frequent contributor to Israel National News and a host of other publications. He is a member of the Rabbinical Council of America and the New York Bar, and he works as an account executive at a large Jewish organization based in Manhattan. The views expressed in the above article are solely those of the writer.
In her July 7 Wall Street Journal column, "Washington's Leak Mob," Kimberly Strassel wonders why special counsel Robert Mueller is not investigating "the crimes that occur constantly and actually harm national security, even if they're routinely ignored by a self-interested media. We are talking of course about the serial leaking of sensitive information, the daily profession of a new government elite akin to an organized crime network."

Citing the work of Sen. Ron Johnson at the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, Strassel points out, "The first 126 days of the Trump administration featured 125 stories that leaked harmful information. Just under one a day[.]" She goes on: "The Trump leaks show the sweeping nature of this enterprise, coming as they have from 'U.S. officials,' 'former U.S. officials,' 'senior U.S. officials,' 'intelligence officials,' 'national security officials,' 'Justice Department officials,' 'defense officials,' and 'law-enforcement officials.'"

Strassel continues: "One story cited more than two dozen anonymous sources. Alarmingly, the titles and the nature of the information disclosed, indicate that many leaks are coming directly from the U.S. intelligence community."

What's been disclosed? The contents of wiretapped information. The names of individuals the U.S. monitors, and where they are located. The communications channels used to monitor targets. Which agencies are monitoring. Intelligence intercepts. FBI interviews. Grand jury subpoenas. Secret surveillance-court details. Internal discussions. Military intelligence operations. The contents of the president's calls with foreign leaders.

Strassel continues: "One March story divulged sensitive FBI date on U.S. border vulnerabilities, in hopes of undercutting Mr. Trump's travel order."

This is lawbreaking, in the aid of a political hit job. The leaking syndicate can't claim whistleblower status, since it has yet to leak a piece of evidence showing Trump wrongdoing. This is about taking out a president.

Those who are quick to blurt out, "The president is not above the law" apparently believe that the law is for them to toy with, for the purpose of undermining our democratic institutions. Is the media-intelligence complex planning to collude with Robert Mueller to manufacture "evidence"  in the manner of the notorious Steele dossier  falsely to convince the American people that the president is a traitor?

Strassel concludes: "Mr. Mueller is sitting astride a leak crime wave, run by a bureaucratic underworld that is happy to harm U.S. interests if it maims a president."

Politico, in a desperate attempt to help the "bureaucratic underworld" escape detection, posted a long piece, also on July 7, along the lines of the plea of the murderers of parents seeking mercy on the grounds that they are now orphans:

Officials at various national security agencies also say they are becoming more concerned that the administration is carefully tracking what they're doing and who they're talking to  then plotting to use them as a scapegoat or accuse them of leaks.

Madison, in Federalist No. 41, wrote: "A bad cause seldom fails to betray itself."

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and CIA head Mike Pompeo must, for the well-being of this republic, do their duty to the American people  to our Constitution  and track down and hold to account the bureaucratic lawbreakers who would subvert the 2016 election. In seeking to overturn the election of a president, these bureaucratic leakers have betrayed their oath to defend the Constitution. By their lawbreaking, they have become enemies of our Constitution. Our elected officials in Congress must demand that Mueller not cover up the wrongdoing of the "bureaucratic underworld."
Western Michigan University is being sued by the local AFSCME chapter because the school decided to use goats to maintain a part of the grounds instead of people.

The union says WMU violated its collective bargaining agreement because it is using (wait for it) "non union goats" and failed to notify the union they were going to use the animals.

Washington Free Beacon:

"AFSCME takes protecting the jobs of its members very seriously and we have an agreed-upon collective bargaining agreement with Western Michigan," he told the Enquirer. The university denied that it had violated the labor rights of its workers and emphasized that the goats were limited in use. The animals were hired to clear a small woodland segment of poison ivy and invasive species, rather than cut the grass  a job reserved for maintenance crews that belong to AFSCME. University spokeswoman Cheryl Roland told the Enquirer that goats were first introduced onto campus in a pilot program in 2016, which did not result in a labor grievance. The campus has since expanded its goat workforce from 10 to 20 in order to deal with increased acreage. "For the second summer in a row, we've brought in a goat crew to clear undergrowth in a woodlot, much of it poison ivy and other vegetation that is a problem for humans to remove," Roland told the paper. "Not wanting to use chemicals, either, we chose the goat solution to stay environmentally friendly." The union disputes the idea that human beings are unable to clear poison ivy. Moore said that the situation necessitated a formal grievance because the university failed to honor its exclusive contract with the union. "We expect the contract to be followed, and in circumstances where we feel it's needed, we file a grievance," he told the Enquirer.

So how are the scab goats working out?

The 20-goat crew is expected to clear about 15 acres on the southwest side of Goldsworth pond before students return for the fall semester. The goats are ahead of schedule, said Nicholas Gooch, a university horticulturist and the project leader.

Ahem. Non-union goats are "ahead of schedule"? No wonder the union is complaining. At the moment, it's even money to see which species can perform the job better.

AFSCME should realize that today it's goats; tomorrow, it will be robots. They are acting as if it were still the 1980s when, in fact, they have already priced themselves out of a job.

Goats are cheaper and more efficient, and they don't take hour breaks for a half-hour lunch. Apparently, the goats have yet to organize, although there is a rumor that a union rep from AFSCME has infiltrated the goat herd and is agitating for the goats to join.

The surprising thing? The union rep didn't have to disguise himself.
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The second mate of a Maltese cargo ship, Allan Mendoza Tablate, stood trial in a maritime court in eastern China's Zhejiang Province for a regulation violation, which left 14 dead and five unaccounted for, local sources said Saturday.

It is believed to be the first criminal case ever tried in a maritime court in China.

The trial opened Thursday at Ningbo maritime court with more than 40 people attending, including local lawmakers, political advisors, journalists and ordinary citizens.

The court heard that Tablate was steering on the early morning of May 7, 2016 when the cargo ship Catalina was on its route from Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province to Indonesia. In spite of low visibility and complicated conditions in the East China Sea, he was allegedly not keeping a proper lookout, maintaining a safe speed or taking effective measures to avoid other ships in the fog.

The court believes that Tablate's negligence led to the collision of Catalina with a Chinese fishing boat, Lurongyu 58398, resulting in 14 deaths, with five others missing.

Direct losses from the accident totalled 5.08 million yuan (about 746,454 U.S. dollars).

Tablate gave himself up to maritime police in Zhejiang on Sept. 22 last year.

Tablate showed repentance at the trial, and the verdict will be announced later.

In February China's supreme court allowed Ningbo maritime court to pilot trying maritime criminal cases. In the past, local maritime courts only heard civil cases.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping will next represent his country at the G20 summit in Hamburg. [File photo]

Following his visit in Moscow and Berlin, Chinese President Xi Jinping will next represent his country at the G20 summit in Hamburg.

Only a few months ago, China hosted the previous G20 meeting in Hangzhou. In spite of this success, much has changed since last September in world affairs. In particular, the first months of the administration of Donald Trump raise doubts on the future American role in international relations amid continued disengagement from previous commitments and policies.

The new U.S. president continues to be unpredictable. Although he decided to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change and buried Barack Obamas plan for the establishment of a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in the Asia-Pacific region, his strategy on other issues rather reflects continuity, especially towards China.

This said, his first attendance of a G20 summit provides a good opportunity for all participants to better understand Trump during various formal and informal talks.

Many American and most Western media criticize Trump for his selective unilateralism. They believe that this approach will make the U.S. weaker at the world level despite his election pledged to make America strong again.

His international image is also becoming ragged at the edges. According to a recent Pew Research Center survey spanning 37 nations, only 22 percent expressed confidence in Trump to do the right thing internationally. This stands in contrast to the final years of the previous Obama presidency, when the median confidence level was 64 percent in regard to his ability to direct Americas role in the world.

Subsequently, several observers have expressed a belief that Trump is making an unprecedented present to the Chinese administration, which could be translated into an almost open invitation for it to lead in the fields of globalization and trade.

There are some elements of truth in this position. Nevertheless, China is acting very carefully and does not cultivate illusions that such a cataclysmic change might happen in a period of only a few months. More time is required until Trumps ultimate intentions can become straightforward and the landscape clearer.

In the meantime, China is certainly defending the process of globalization. A beginning was made with the highly symbolical speech of President Xi at the Davos World Economic Forum last January. This keynote address almost outlined Chinas new role as guarantor of existing principles while the U.S. was preparing to welcome Trump to the White House and German Chancellor Angela Merkel was absent.

More importantly, it was the first time a Chinese president had set the tone in a prestigious Forum defined for years by Western interests and ideas.

On various occasions, the content of Xis Davos speech has been reiterated by Chinese officials. The most recent example was an address by Premier Li Keqiang at the opening ceremony of the annual meeting of New Champions 2017 meeting in Northeastern China, in which he stated: Economic globalization has become an irreversible trend. Therefore, promoting inclusive growth in our times calls for upholding economic globalization.

Within this context, Xi is expected to offer new assurances at the G20 Summit that China wholeheartedly invests in continuity, stability and adherence to already agreed commitments, policies and measures. This is certainly critical during the current era of uncertainty while global economic recovery remains weighed down by the lack of growth drivers as well as by structural imbalances. Additional factors, such the practical implications of Brexit, equally contribute to volatility.

The good news for China, with the passage of time, New Normal economic model is gradually yielding results. With growth rates fluctuating in a range of 6.5 percent and 7 percent, and with domestic consumption and investment slowly rising, the country can look ahead in a positive frame of mind.

Even in Western media coverage, Beijings economic course is currently not framed as negatively as happened in 2015 and 2016. Of course, China recognizes it is still a developing country needing to eradicate problems such as poverty and continue to raise the standards of the basic social welfare.

All in all, it is premature to argue that China is replacing the U.S. in leading in globalization and free trade. It is fair, however, to state it is making steady progress in this direction, although the process will be long and certainly not linear.

A government pledge to accept more foreign companies investing in the country and setting up their regional headquarters certainly shows a shift of Chinese thinking. Hence, President Xi will be at the epicenter of attention during another important international meeting.

George N. Tzogopoulos is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/GeorgeNTzogopoulos.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
MadridOn Thursday PSOE leader Pedro Sanchez and Spanish president Mariano Rajoy had a long meeting over two hours at the Moncloa palace, with Catalonia as the main item on the agenda. Both leaders agreed that the secession referendum and the systematic breach of the law and the Constitution are unacceptable and that they will keep in touch permanently on this matter, as confirmed by the spokesman for the Spanish government, Inigo Mendez de Vigo, in a press conference in Moncloa. Mendez remarked that both leaders fully agreed that Catalonias referendum on independence is illegal.

Sanchez had spoken about the need to make Catalonia an offer so as to resolve the matter, but the Spanish governments spokesman stressed that today they chose to focus on the core issues rather than on their differences about the steps that must be taken. From now on there will be a communication channel open between them to coordinate the response to the Catalan governments bid. Nevertheless, the PSOE spokesperson in parliament, Margarita Robles, stated that Sanchez had mentioned to Rajoy the need to come up with solutions and "open up a dialogue. She also explained that Sanchez had assured Rajoy that the PSOE will stand by him to uphold the law and the Constitution and to reject unilateral action. We believe that the Spanish government is not taking the suitable course of action and, therefore, the PSOE leader has called for the Spanish and Catalan governments to engage in talks.

Furthermore, Sanchez asked Rajoy to show restraint and avoid saying anything uncalled for that might be construed as a provocation, said Robles. The Spanish leaders did not discuss invoking article 155 of the Constitution, which would allow Madrid to suspend Catalonias home rule, as this would not be a suitable solution, according to the PSOEs spokesperson.

Robles called the meeting useful and cordial and, like Mendez de Vigo, she also mentioned the decision to keep all communication channels open at all times and she added that any talks held between both leaders shouldnt be news from now own.

Todays meeting was the first between Rajoy and Sanchez since the latter was elected party leader for the second time. The Spanish governments spokesman said that they did not discuss the economy, even though Margarita Robles gave yet another different version and said that both leaders had talked about Spains public deficit and Sanchez insisted that the PSOE will not budge on the proposed spending cap. Mendez de Vigo said that Rajoy and Sanchez also discussed some international affairs, mainly Brexit, but also Syria, Libya and Venezuela, on which both leaders hold rather similar views, as well as the war on terror and national security, all of which was confirmed by Robles.

On the subject of social policies, Sanchez urged Rajoy to reach an agreement with the unions on pay rises and voiced concern about pensions, said Robles, and she added that the PSOE has already requested that the Employment Minister, Fatima Banez, addresses the Spanish parliament to give details about the loan which Spain has had to take out in order to cover the pensioners extra pay.
Hotpot, with a history of more than 1,900 years, is a typical Chinese delicacy. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), hotpot was not only popular among common folks but also favored by the imperial family.

Typical materials for hotpot include meat, sea food, vegetables, soybean products, mushrooms, eggs, etc. A moment after they are dropped into the boiling water or specially prepared soup, they are ready to be dipped in various sauces and consumed.

So far, two types of hotpot prevail in China: the Southern style, represented by Chongqing hotpot, is very hot and spicy, and the Northern style, embodied by Beijing hotpot, features instant-boiled mutton.









On May 6, China's top 10 hotpot brands in 2016 were announced at an event dubbed as the domestic catering industry's "Oscars". Among them, three are based in Chongqing, and four are headquartered in Beijing.

Cygent Hotpot













Brand: Cygent Hotpot

Enterprise: Chongqing JiayongCygent Catering Co. Ltd

Headquarters: Chongqing
ABSOLUTE MUST READ: From Pizzagate to Gold Rigging



by Mark Anthony Taylor, SGT Report.com Students of conspiracy should be well aware of the facts of the Clinton foundation  the charity set up by Bill and Hillary Clinton  that received vast sums of money, from China, Russia, Qatar & Saudi Arabia, as well as being bankrolled by the key criminals of the market manipulation cartels. Given that the banks have repeatedly received Quantitative Easing to release them from their bad debts and liquidity issues, they should not have been donating to anyone, least of all to this abomination.The Clinton Foundation is accused of raising charity money for Haiti, but not actually spending it on any other activity than the procurement of women and children to serve as sex slaves. Bill Clinton, in his UN role, as some kind of kingpin-ambassador to Haiti, was key to the early release of Laura Silsby, who was arrested for attempting to kidnap children from Haiti, some of whom were not orphans. Silsbys lawyers were also involved in the sex trafficking of women and children. The expose of Bill Clintons intervention is understood to be the precursor to the #pizzagate scandal.Clinton was a frequenter of Jeffrey Epsteins Island and connoisseur of Epsteins personal jet, otherwise known as Lolita Express. Jeffrey Epstein is the American financier who served time for soliciting under age girls for prostitution. Famously, Espteins Black Book was disclosed to the Federal Court of Southern Florida in January 2015.  this contained his contact list, and includes the British Royal Family, the Saudi Royal Family, the Rothschilds, Tony Blair and David Cameron as well as many celebrities, BBC personalities and news anchormen and other VIPs.The emails of Hillary Clintons campaign manager John Podesta, were released to Wikileaks by Seth Rich, who was later murdered. Podestas emails are now public domain and close scrutiny shows many references to Pizza and other foodstuffs, that are known codewords used by paedophiles to each other. Many disturbing pictures were discovered in Podestas pornography collection, including this:There is a substantial body of analysis by third parties that show Podesta is a sadistic paedophile and was involved in supplying under-age children to former President Obama. The conspiracy is known as #pizzagate and its generalization on the global stage is known as #pedogate . The lead editor of the #Pizzagate Wikipedia page, which claims the allegations against Podesta are debunked, is one Petri Kohn, Finnish Anti-Fascist and Stalinist, as pictured here:Another editor, Andrew Lih, who also claims #Pizzagate is discredited, in the same web-page, is shown below. Mr Lih is a Chinese citizen, and works with the Chinese Communist government to censor the Chinese version of Wikipedia. One wonders why Wikipedia or the US government allow him to edit US Wikipedia entries, particularly when the subject matter is a conspiracy that involves the Clinton Foundation to which China contributes significant money.Barclays is well known as a major contributor to the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)  it has hosted Democrat Party meetings .and paid significant sums for Bill Clinton to make speeches. The Barclays paedophile connection is herein elucidated.In an article in the Mail on Sunday, dated 24th October 2015, it was revealed that Jes Staley, the current CEO of Barclays, won his position after lobbying from Jeffrey Epstein. A number of Mr Staleys phone numbers appear in Epsteins Black Book and it is believed Staley met Epstein in the latters apartment in 2012. The Mail claims that the UK Treasury, the Bank of England, and Chancellor of the Exchequer,  George Osborne, all opposed Staleys appointment as CEO, and this was somehow leaked to Epstein. Epstein appears to have threatened the UK, in an email stating that Barclays would suffer were Staley not appointed CEO. (If you are to be a master of the world, first be a master of your own paedophile ring).In April 2017 Staley was exposed by the press for having used an internal surveillance and security team to identify whistle blowers at the bank who had identified frauds and reported anonymously to Barclays board. It is curious that the CEO of the bank does not want his immediate underlings to understand what illicit things the bank is doing. Staley was reprimanded by the board and suffered a pay cut. However, there is no act of criminality that cannot be balanced out without a suitable advocacy of some politically correct cause or otherA quick perusal of the Barclays home page shows a banner promoting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (LGBT) and this should come as no surprise when Staley is a self-confessed diversity proponent. It is exactly what one would expect from a man who counts paedophiles amongst his business associates  particularly homosexual paedophiles, such as John Podesta. It is not really a banks job to push any kind of sexual or political agenda, but in Staleys mind financial function and sexual disposition are confused.Recently JP Morgans strike-out of a precious metal rigging lawsuit was overturned. This reversal-of-fotunes is mirrored  with Deutsche Bank, UBS, Barclays, HSBC, Societe Generale and Scotiabank, all of whom seem to be incriminated by recent court cases. Staley as an Ex-JPM executive would know. A year prior to his appointment, Barclays, HSBC, RBS, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and JP Morgan were hit by an antitrust lawsuit from me (B40BM021) in the UK under the Birmingham Mercantile Court. HSBC attempted to have that lawsuit quashed from the outset, having filed a restraining order in December 2014. The application did not go through until the first hearing for B40BM021 on the 16h of July 2015.The defendants would ideally have wanted the restraining order before they were forced to submit a defence, because the defence incriminates them for perjury and conspiracy to commit fraud. Given that Deutsche Bank exposed HSBC in its disclosures and HSBCs name is on the restraining order as sole applicant, then HSBC executives would have to know signing that order incriminated themselves for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Their solution was to have the judge, Simon Brown QC, appear to have established a restraining order of his own volition. The problem is that Brown signed HSBCs application  thus contradicting his own statements signed in that order. All sides knew that Anshu Jain, former CEO of Deutsche Bank, could not prove the merits of his own audits when challenged, so could not risk attending his own hearing. Brown used my demand that Jain attend his own hearing as justification for a restraining order  which is about an egregious a violation of civil rights to a fair hearing as can be.Simon Brown was thus proven a blatantly corrupt judge the pertinent question is of leverage. We know that his misconduct was covered up all the way to the top, including the office of the Attorney General; the office of the Lord Chancellor; the Treasury Select Committee; the Justice Select Committee; the Serious Fraud Office; the Financial Conduct Authority; the Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman; and the office of the Lord Chief Justice.Enter Jes Staley  fresh from JP Morgan, a co-defendant, and with Epsteins network to hand.Who would Epstein have contacted to guarantee collusion of all legal agencies to cover up the bank frauds? The most natural supposition is David Cameron. Cameron was listed in Epsteins Black Book. Cameron was also a friend of the Clintons. Under Camerons watch many investigations against paedophiles went nowhere, dossiers were lost and prosecutions terminated. If a Westminster paedophile ring with a Clinton/Podesta/Epstein connection were vulnerable to blackmail by Epstein, it is all too easy to see how Staley could have sealed the fate of the lawsuit with a single phone call. Whether this happened or not, whether it was a plain bribe or secret society handshake, the power behind the corruption had to be sufficient to keep both the UK Judiciary and Parliament in check. A single bribe does not seem sufficient for that purpose.Barclays executives have recently been prosecuted for loaning Qatar money to buy back Barclays shares, to create the illusion of fake confidence in their own value, a fraud with many facets. At least one of the defendants in the prosecution is facing 22 years in prison. Strangely enough Staley, CEO of Barclays, was in more of a position to understand the fraud than almost everyone else  yet he was not arrested. Again, is this the Epsteingranting effective immunity to the Rule of Law?Deutsche Bank are part owned by Qatar, and Qatar are known funders of ISIS to the tune of billions. The Saudis, linked to Epstein, were major contributors to the Clinton Foundation, and are also known to fund an equip ISIS. It is funny how Staley and the Saudis, on opposite sides of the LGBT thing, both think the Clinton Foundation, with its child trafficking, as something they need to support. (I have trouble trying to remember that witty/profound/poignant anecdote from the mouth of a Clinton. Who are these people who attend their speeches?)Tony Blair, also a friend of the Clintons, and listed in Epsteins Black Book, seems to have a cushy job running Middle East trade contracts for JP Morgan. The evidence suggests Deutsche Bank and Barclays, as part of their gold rigging cartel and money laundering operation, were supplying Qatar with gold to fund ISIS. The UK government seems intent on destroying Syria, bringing in the ISIS fighters into Europe, and then giving them free reign to pulverise our cities, under the pretext that its part of the war against Lone Wolf White Supremacists. MI-5 were known to have let the Manchester bomber blow up children, and cover-up the racial and religious profile of the culprit  yet May wants more control of the Internet  so that the intelligence services can protect us from terrorism. Is it any surprise support for May barely registers in single digits. (Perhaps her Internet regulation could be enacted in Parliament under the name of).Since the Brexit vote, Cameron stepped down and Theresa May took his place. Her Lord Chancellor, Liz Truss MP, did not concern herself at all that the courts were corrupted by the banking system. It is not the only thing she managed to conceal from Parliament  she was exposed in an article by the Mail on Sunday on the 25th of June 2017 for having helped the Ministry of Justice bury a report that showed its own policies were increasing the re-offending rates of paedophiles. One might figure the person with the ultimate responsibility for the cover-up on the judicial side to be the Lord Chief Justice, Baron Thomas, the same man I accused of having covered up gold rigging in my lawsuit. But Lord Chief Justices can do no wrong.Peter Wanless of the NSPCC was reported in January of 2017 that the government was dragging its feet bringing in legislation against paedophiles. All of this suggests May deliberately chooses someone weak  or even affectionate  to the Westminster paedophile ring to act as Lord Chancellor. David Lidington, Truss successor, likewise ignored the corruption in the Ministry of Justice, having delegated the task of judging the allegations to the Ministry itself  clear dereliction of duty. He will have a critical role determining the next Lord Chief Justice in September 2017. One can assume the new boss will be as paedophile-friendly as the old boss.HSBCs restraining order runs out on the 16th of July 2017  just over a week from the time of writing. I think it will be difficult to find a judge corrupt enough to extend it. I plan on having the courts earlier verdicts all struck out, on the basis defendants lied. I am going through the process of retrieving the Deutsche Bank disclosures that incriminated Barclays, HSBC and UBS. Throughout the past year I have come into contact with people in a similar situation to myself, all defrauded by a corrupt legal system in which every complaint procedure is rigged at every level. What we have discovered is a mine of information mapping out the judges paedophile network. The Internet and its courageous citizen-journalists are about to strike: the Ministry of Justice may be about to fall.
I am not aware. So I think it is important to think differently to stay ahead of the curve and meet the challenges, says LN Mittal.

Kolkata: Billionaire industrialist, chairman and CEO of worlds largest steel company ArcelorMittal, L.N. Mittal on Friday said that disruptions was a major cause of worry for him.

I run the worlds largest steel company employing two lakh people having operations in various countries. But one thing which worries me is disruptions, Mr Mittal said at an interaction at his alma mater St Xavier's College here.

Mr Mittal, who graduated from the college with first class in BCom, said It is important to learn and meet the challenges of disruptions.

If I have any regret, then it is that I have not studied enough. I want to study and learn more, but that age has passed, he said at the alumni interaction Mr Mittal said that he always wondered whether the disruptions would come from China or from some new technology.

I am not aware. So I think it is important to think differently to stay ahead of the curve and meet the challenges.

Facebook, Twitter are instances of disruptions and it will continue, he said.

Citing an instance of how he faced challenges, Mr Mittal said he studied in a Hindi medium school at Chitpur in north Kolkata after coming from Rajasthan. At the time of entering college he was not allowed admission in St Xavier's as the medium of instruction for him was Hindi.

Father Joris used to make me sit outside his office for days denying admission. However, he changed his mind and I assured him that I would learn English.

That was a challenge to me. I wanted to show him that he didnt take a wrong decision. When I went to him to collect the final marksheet, he offered me to teach first year students, Mr Mittal said. I had stood first in the college which made me glad. But I was sad to, he added.
Finance Ministry says app would help users to find different rates of GST for various goods & services.

Mumbai: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has launched a 'GST Rates Finder' mobile app using which those who are liable to pay Goods and Services Tax or GST can search for different tax rates.

The mobile app could be downloaded from Google Playstore, tweeted IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. "Mobile app 'GST Rates Finder' is available on android platform and will soon be available on iOS platform," Finance Ministry said in a tweet.

The mobile app can be downloaded on any smartphone and can also work in offline mode, Fin Min informed. "Through this app, user can determine GST rate for a good or a service by entering the name or chapter heading of the commodity or service," it further said.

Apart from the 'GST Rates Finder' mobile app, users can also log on to Central Board of Excise and Customs website to know different rates of GST as CBEC "has also provided a GST rate finder on its portal http://cbec-gst.gov.in to help taxpayers know applicable GST rate on their supplies", the ministry added.

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley check 'GST Rates Finder' mobile app after its launch.

The Ministry further elaborated that using the app a taxpayer can search for applicable CGST, SGST, UTGST rate and compensation cess on a supply under the new indirect tax regime.

"The search can be made based on description of goods or services or HSN Chapter or section or heading number," the ministry said while adding that the launch of GST Rates Finder app would serve as a ready reckoner on GST rates.

The GST Rates Finder mobile app is touted by the ministry as a tool to empower not only the taxpayers but every citizen of the nation to "ascertain the correct GST rate on goods and services".

The launch of the GST rates mobile app by CBEC was done with a sole purpose of facilitating the ease of doing business in India initiative, Finance Ministry added.
Traders may have to pay Rs 1 Lakh in fine for non-compliance.

New Delhi: Consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday said that a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh and a jail term if new post-GST rates are not printed on the inventory in the interest of consumers.

Earlier this week, the Centre allowed manufactures struck with unsold inventories manufactured before July 1, to change their MRP by pasting stickers.

This has been allowed only for three months. The manufacturers can increase or decrease prices of these products depending whether tax on these products has risen or decreased post GST.

The government on Friday said that it is mandatory to print the revised MRP on the inventory, else stringent action will be taken for violation of the Packaged Commodities Rules.

Non-compliance of this will attract a fine of Rs 25,000 for first time offence, `50,000 for second time and up to Rs 1 lakh penalty for third offence onwards and even imprisonment of up to one year.

We have told companies to reprint revised rates on unsold goods. Stickers of new MRP should be pasted so that consumers are aware of the change in rates after GST, Mr Paswan said.

However, before increasing MRP of unsold inventory, firms will have to make atleast two advertisements in one or more newspapers indicating price change. Also the originally printed MRP shall continued to be displayed and the revised price will not overwrite on it.

Mr Paswan said that a committee has been set up to address consumer grievances and even helplines have been increased.
The actor posted about the live 'open dialog' in which he hopes to have insightful conversations with attendees.

Ashton Kutcher will be seen in 'Long Home' soon. (Photo: AFP)

Washington D.C.: Hollywood star Ashton Kutcher is all set to host a "live open dialog about gender equality in the work place and in tech in general".

The 39-year-old actor took to Facebook and posted about the live 'open dialog' in which he hopes to have insightful conversations with attendees.

However, the actor and start-up investor received backlash on social media after he released a list of questions and talking points for the panel on LinkedIn.

Some of the questions proposed by Kutcher, were - "What advice should we be giving to female entrepreneurs?" and "What are the Rules for dating in the work place? Flirting?"

But, the 'Two and a Half Men' star received backlash with the choice of questions and talking points for the Q&A.

Paradigm CEO Joelle Emerson tweeted, "Yikes. These are definitely *not* the right questions. Most rely on flawed assumptions and perpetuate problematic myths."

Yikes. These are definitely *not* the right questions. Most rely on flawed assumptions and perpetuate problematic myths. pic.twitter.com/vUF1CVBcOt  Joelle Emerson (@joelle_emerson) July 7, 2017

In a series of tweets, Kutcher offered an explanation for his decision to post the questions.

He tweeted, "Thank you everyone for the feedback on the questions I posted on LinkedIn. Good and bad. Already a learning experience. I've already offended some folks by asking the wrong questions. I'm certain given the sensitivity of the topic I will say other things wrong."

thank you everyone for the feedback on the questions I posted on LinkedIn. Good and bad. Already a learning experience.  ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 7, 2017

I've already offended some folks by asking the wrong questions. I'm certain given the sensitivity of the topic I will say other things wrong  ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 7, 2017

Hope we can find space to be wrong in the pursuit of getting it right.  ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 7, 2017

We have centuries of ground to make up in a short order & I don't want the basics to be off limits. some clearly don't yet get the basics.  ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 7, 2017

'The Ranch' star will be accompanied by Effie Epstein in the discussion.

Epstein is Kuthcher's partner at Sound Ventures which is a capital firm founded by Kutcher and Guy Oseary.

The panel remains scheduled to be live streamed on Facebook.
Holland is a breath of fresh air, and comes the closest to the comic book character.

Rating:

Cast: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr

Director: Jon Watts

Earlier this year, the Marvel factory churned out a surprisingly marvellous Logan, a superhero movie that engaged with not the origins but the death of its protagonist. It inhabited a very self-reflexive universe wherein we find children playing with X-Men toys and other merchandise. But why is Marvel a factory, you wonder? Because it repeats what seems to work once. The latest reboot of Spiderman, too, is generated using this formula. High school children are obsessed with the Avengers. It reminded me of the late 1990s when Looney Toons tazos in Lays chips were all the rage amongst children. Here we have teenaged girls playing Marry, F***, and Kill with characters from the Avengers; any acquaintance with these characters makes one the object of envy; the film even opens with a childs drawing of the Avengers. Captain America makes a cameo in the form of PSAs. Mythical characters are aware of the myth surrounding them, and the said mythical status is used to fuel it further. Factory, also because the mid and end-credit scenes are becoming gimmicky. Peter Parker is a 15-year-old high school student, brilliant at academics, but also somewhat shy and clumsy, and hence not the most popular person in school.

His internship with the Stark Industries and his secret identity as Spiderman at times invites sharp jibes from his bullying classmate, Flash (Tony Revolori). His origin story is eschewed in this reboot. Whatever happened with the radioactive spider and Uncle Ben is only mentioned in passing. Peter is accompanied by his equally brilliant friend Ned (Jacob Batalon), who is hilariously awe-struck by his best friends superpowers. Do you lay eggs? Do you spit venom? articulate his curiosity about Peters double-life. Iron Man and the rest of Avengers feel that Spiderman is still wet behind the ears, and therefore should remain on ground for the time being. He puts Happy (Jon Favreau) in charge of any correspondence, if necessary, but as adults, they deem it silly to seek out a kids help. But our protagonist, raging as he is with teenage hormones and angst and a desire to prove himself worthy of the A-grade, starts saving the day by inadvertently wrecking it himself in the first place. He catches a thief who tries to get into his own car, and saves a bicycle from getting stolen. His big, heroic stunts are undercut with his inelegance. Something worthwhile at last comes his way when Adrian Toomes (Keaton) men try to blow up an ATM.

Toomes, a former constructionist, gains access to Chitauri technology and within eight years establishes and expands an underworld empire that deals in weapons. In a nod to his character from 2014s Birdman, he soars high in the sky wearing armoured wings. Toomes/Vulture is not propelled by motiveless malignity. He does not harbour any ambition to dominate the world. What he wants is to keep generating enough to make his family happy. He feels wronged by the government and the likes of Tony Stark, the elite who get away with everything and leave little for the working class. To my mind, he is not very different from Breaking Bads Walter White. Where he does differ, though, is in his moral code. Spiderman saves Toomes daughters life, and he therefore returns the favour.

Homecoming is a coming-of-age narrative for Peter Parker. He becomes more aware of his powers, often aided by hi-tech costume designed by the Stark Industries, although even in a world as fantastical as this, it seems quite inorganic. Holland is a breath of fresh air, and comes the closest to the comic book character. He is energetic and affable, but is restrained enough at the right moments so as to never look like a five-year-old on a sugar high. His rendition of Parker subtly conveys the conflicts of his teenage mind  juggling romance, academics, his loving but annoying Aunt May, and his superpowers. At the end of the day, the biggest test for him is to put to action the catchphrase from 2002s Spiderman: with great power, comes great responsibility.

The writer is programmer, Lightcube Film Society
According to the sources, the Centre had already sent 11 companies of personnel to Darjeeling to quell the unrest.

Violent clashes erupted in the Basirhat area of the district after a Class X student updated a controversial picture on Facebook. (Photo: ANI | Twitter)

New Delhi: Hours after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Central Government of non-cooperation towards quelling unrest in North Parganas' Basirhat district in the state, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) sources said that at least four companies of the Border Security Forces (BSF) forces that were deployed by the Centre were turned back by the West Bengal Government.

According to the sources, the Centre had already sent 11 companies of personnel to Darjeeling to quell the unrest taken out by people demanding a separate Gorkhaland.

Hours before, Mamata accused Centre of creating tension in the state. She alleged that there was non-cooperation from the Centre to curb violence in the state.

Mamata further said that that the forces were not deployed on time, which further flared up violence around the West Bengal border.

The MHA sources further claimed that the state government has also not sent the sought detailed report on the Basirhat incident and this is causing a delay to convene a review security meeting.

The MHA already has huge commitments and has deployed forces in Jammu and Kashmir for the Amarnath yatra to circumvent terrorist attacks, tackle stone pelting, and also in the North-Eastern border of the country, the sources added.

In the press conference, Mamata asserted that they would conduct a judicial inquirty to probe the Basirhat incident.

"Action will be taken for spreading fake pictures and videos. The law will take its own course," she said.

Meanwhile, the North 24 Parganas Superintendent of Police (SP) Bhaskar Mukherjee has been removed and C. Sudharkar Rao will take over the post.

Violent clashes erupted in the Basirhat area of the district after a Class X student updated a controversial picture on Facebook.

The boy was later detained by police, but the violence hasn't abated.

Fresh tension was reported in Basirhat area days after too forcing the police to lob tear gas shells and resort to baton charge even as the state government decided to ban some organisations for allegedly instigating people.
Mamata said there would demand for a judicial enquiry into the violence that occurred over a Facebook post.

Mamata further said that the law would take it own course against those who had planned the incident. (Photo: PTI)

Kolkata: Continuing her tirade against the Centre, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday held the Government responsible for the recent Baduria and Basirhat violence which has turned the entire state into chaos.

"The Centre wants to impose President's rule in the region," she said.

Mamata said there would demand for a judicial enquiry into the violence that occurred over a Facebook post.

"The Centre has a non-cooperative attitude; the border areas are being disturbed with foreign hands having good relations with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)," she said, while addressing a press conference here.

She further said that the law would take it own course against those who had planned the incident.

"The Centre is not cooperating to maintain law and order in the region," she said.

Meanwhile, the North 24 Parganas Superintendent of Police (SP) Bhaskar Mukherjee has been removed and C. Sudharkar Rao will take over the post.

The BJP, Left and the Congress delegations were on Friday prevented from visiting riot-hit areas in Basirhat by the police.

Earlier on Thursday Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee requested the Opposition to refrain from reaching the communal-sensitive areas of North 24 Paraganas.

Violent clashes erupted in the Basirhat area of the district after a Class X student updated a controversial post on Facebook.

The boy was later detained by police, but the violence hasn't abated.

Fresh tension was reported in Basirhat area on Friday forcing the police to lob tear gas shells and resort to baton charge even as the state government decided to ban some organisations for allegedly instigating people.

The Mamata Banerjee Government on Friday claimed that situation has returned to normal in Baduria and surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, the State Government has temporarily suspended internet services in four police station areas of Basirhat, Baduria, Swarupnagar and Deganga to check the spread of rumours through social networking sites.
The minister said there would be some hiccups in the beginning as reforms were not cast in stone but improved with experience.

New Delhi: The Congress should come up with constructive suggestions on GST instead of blindly opposing it, Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said today as he hit out at former finance minister P. Chidambaram for his comments against the tax reform.

Describing the Modi governments Goods and Services Tax (GST) law as very, very imperfect, the Congress leader had said on Thursday it could not be labelled one nation, one tax since it had seven or more tax rates. Reacting to the comment, Mr Naidu said Mr Chidambaram wanted to dampen the positivity emerging out of the transition towards GST.

Instead of blindly opposing and criticising the GST, the Congress should come up with constructive suggestions, the information and broadcasting minister told reporters here.

Rejecting the allegation that GST was implemented in haste, Mr Naidu said the new system was implemented after 17 years of discussions with various parties.

Claiming that it had been widely welcomed by one and all across the country, except the habitual tax evaders, Naidu said some people may be facing problems because of the lack of proper understanding of the system.

Central ministers and Members of Parliament of the BJP and its allies would tour the states to interact with the people and spread awareness on the taxation reform, he said.

The minister said there would be some hiccups in the beginning as reforms were not cast in stone but improved with experience.

Naidu also read out extracts from speeches of Congress leaders where they had supported the GST. He said the reform was initiated by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and not by the UPA as the Congress was claiming.

The minister also compared the implementation of the GST with economic reforms undertaken in 1991 by the then Congress government.
Saifuddin Soz stirred controversy on Friday by saying said he would have held dialogue with the Hizbul terrorist, if he was alive.

New Delhi: After Congress leader Saifuddin Soz said that he would have kept Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani alive for sake of dialogue, the Indian National Congress (INC) on Saturday said that instead of firing on people in the Valley, Prime Minister Narendra Modi must involve in bilateral talks.

"Being a Kashmiri, Saifuddin is much more aware about Burhan Wani's matter. There are Wani's supporters in large number. One cannot solve any matter on gunpoint. Instead of firing on people, the Prime Minister must hold bilateral talks with people of Valley," INC leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said.

Soz stirred controversy on Friday by saying said he would have held dialogue with the Hizbul terrorist, if he was alive.

"If it was in my power I would have not let Burhan Wani die. I wanted to hold a dialogue with him. I would have made him understand that a bridge of friendship between Pakistan, Kashmir and India can be built and he could also be useful in that. But now he has died. We should understand the pain of Kashmiris," Saifuddin Soz said.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in the Kashmir Valley ahead of Wani's death anniversary.

Wani, who was the poster boy of the terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, in Kashmir Valley, was gunned down in an encounter in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on July 8 last year.

Widespread protests erupted in the Kashmir valley after Wani's death and curfew was imposed for consecutive 53 days. However, the unrest continued for about five months after Wani's death in which 78 people, including two police personnel, were killed.
There was also a ceasefire violation by the Pakistan Army in the Poonch sector

Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively to the ceasefire violation which took place around 6:30 am. (Photo: Representational/ PTI)

Poonch: Two Army jawans were injured in a terror attack in Hajin area of Bandipora on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars in the wee hours of Saturday in the Poonch Sector along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively to the ceasefire violation which took place around 6:30 am

More details awaited.
Militant commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces on this day last year.

Separatists had asked people to march to Tral on the death anniversary of Burhan Wani. (Photo: File)

Srinagar: Authorities clamped curfew in three towns including Tral in Kashmir and imposed restrictions on movement of people in the rest of the valley to foil the separatists' plan to hold a rally on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani.

Police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in strength across Kashmir to handle any security challenges.

The joint separatist camp, including Hurriyat Conference factions led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik-led JKLF, has asked people to march to Tral, to pay tributes to Wani who was killed in an encounter with security forces on this day last year.

The official said curfew had also been imposed in Sophian town of South Kashmir and Trehgam in North Kashmir's Kupwara district. "Elsewhere in the valley, restrictions on the movement of people are being strictly enforced," he added.

All the examinations scheduled for today have been postponed by universities.

Normal life came to a standstill in the valley due to a strike call given by the separatists and the curfew-like restrictions imposed by the authorities.

Shops and business establishments remained closed while vehicles remained off the roads, the official said, adding that the situation was peaceful so far.
Meanwhile, three soldiers were also injured on Saturday after terrorists attacked an army patrol in Bandipora district.

Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively to the ceasefire violation which started at around 6.30 am on Saturday. (Photo: Representational/File)

Jammu: Two civilians were killed and a few others suffered injuries on Saturday when the Pakistani army violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, officials said.

The two civilians killed were husband and wife and the injured children, amid others, are of the dead couple.

The Pakistani army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from small arms, automatic weapons and mortars on Indian Army posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector from 6:30 hours, a defence spokesman said. The Indian troops retaliated effectively, he added.

The Pakistani troops rained mortar bomb shells and resorted to heavy firing, targeting civilian villages as well, a police officer said.

"Very heavy shelling is going on. So far two civilians have died in Pakistani shelling in Khadi Karmara village along the LoC," he said, adding that some other people suffered injuries.

There have been 23 incidents of ceasefire violation, an attack by Pakistan Special Forces team and two infiltration bids in June, in which four people including three jawans were killed and 12 were injured.

On June 29, two Indian Army jawans were injured when the Pakistani troops fired from small arms and shelled mortars on forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch district.

Even on Eid-ul Fitr on June 26, the Pakistani army fired small arms and automatic weapons and shelled mortars along the LoC in the Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri.

On June 22, a Pakistani Special Forces team sneaked across the LoC into Poonch under cover of heavy fire and killed two jawans -- 34-year-old Naik Jadhav Sandip of Aurangabad and 24-year-old Sepoy Mane Savan Balku of Kolhapur.

One Pakistani soldier was also killed. Pakistan's Border Action Team comprises its army's special forces personnel and terrorists.
The couple's three daughters, Zaida Kouser (6), Robina Kouser (12) and Nazia Bi, and another person were injured.

The Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate firing from small arms, automatic weapons and mortars on Saturday morning. (Photo: Representational/AP)

Jammu: An Army jawan and his wife were killed and their three daughters injured when the Pakistani Army targeted forward posts and hamlets along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, police said on Saturday.

The Pakistan Army violated the ceasefire and initiated indiscriminate firing from small arms, automatic weapons and mortars from 6.30 am on Saturday at Indian Army posts along the LoC, a defence spokesperson added.

Indian troops returned the fire strongly and effectively, he said.

Sepoy Mohmmad Shaukat of the Territorial Army, who was on leave, and his wife Safia Bi were killed when a mortar shell fired by the Pakistan Army exploded near their home in Karmara, a police officer said.

The couple's three daughters, Zaida Kouser (6), Robina Kouser (12) and Nazia Bi, and another person were injured. Pakistani troops rained mortar bomb shells and resorted to heavy firing, targeting civilian villages.

"Very heavy shelling is going on in areas like Khadi, Karmara and Guplur," he said.

The Pakistan Army is firing and shelling heavily from eight different posts on villages and forward posts along the LoC. They have fired at five to six hamlets, the officer said.

There have been 23 incidents ceasefire violations, one BAT (Border Action Team) attack and two infiltration bids by Pakistan in June in which four people, including three jawans, have been killed and 12 were injured.

On June 29, two Indian Army jawans were injured when Pakistani troops fired at forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch.

Three days earlier, on June 26, the occasion of Eid-ul Fitr, the Pakistani Army fired small arms and automatic weapons and shelled mortars along the LoC in Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri.

On June 22, in the third such attack this year, a team of Pakistani special forces sneaked 600 metres across the LoC into the Poonch sector and killed two Indian jawans and lost one BAT member in retaliatory action.

In the firefight, two Indian soldiers -- 34-year-old Naik Jadhav Sandip of Aurangabad and 24-year-old Sepoy Mane Savan Balku of Kolhapur - were killed.
According to sources, Lalus supporters, who followed him from the airport to his residence, had also threatened a few journalists.

RJD Chief Lalu Prasad with his wife Rabri Devi, son and deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav at a press conference at his residence in Patna. (Photo: AP)

Patna: Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav on Friday insulted the media in Patna when asked to react to the CBI raids. Calling a television reporter anti-national he said, You all have come here to create a scene.

RJD chief Lalu Yadav, who was present, intervened and rebuked his son, asking him to leave the press briefing. The ruckus was created after Mr Yadav, who was in Ranchi to appear in the court, arrived in Patna late in the evening.

According to sources, Lalus supporters, who followed him from the airport to his residence, had also threatened a few journalists. The CBI registered a case against Lalu Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejaswi Yadav in connection with an alleged scam that had occurred during Lalu Yadavs tenure as the railway minister in 2006. Insiders said the CBI had also questioned Ms Devi and son Tejaswi in Patna.

The raids and the FIR against the family have not only put the RJD in a tight spot, but questions were also raised on the silence of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. However, JD(U) sources said that Nitish Kumar kept a close watch on the development and also sought a report from the officials on the issue.

Sources said that the chief minister had also instructed his party leaders, especially spokespersons, to refrain from commenting on the matter. The BJP had earlier stepped up pressure on chief minister Nitish Kumar to break his silence on the issue and also asked him to remove his deputy Tejaswi Yadav from the Cabinet in the wake of the development.

Nitish Kumar must immediately sack deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav after the FIR was registered against him and his family, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said. The RJD chief however brushed aside the allegation and called the raids against the family a political conspiracy by the BJP.

Lalu Yadav said, I have done nothing wrong and I am ready to face punishment if anything is found against me. This was done only to stop me but I will not rest till the Modi government is removed.

Lalu Yadav, while addressing party workers at his residence, said that efforts were being made to stop the BJP hatao desh bachao rally scheduled on August 27, in which several Opposition leaders are likely to participate.

It was just not me, my family and kids were also targeted. The BJP wants to weaken all Opposition leaders who are coming to my rally. I want you to take a pledge that you will help me in exposing the failures of BJP, he said.
On Friday, the BJP, Left and the Congress delegations were prevented from visiting riot-hit areas in Basirhat by the police.

Violent clashes erupted in Basirhat area of the district after a Class X student updated a controversial picture on Facebook. (Photo: ANI | Twitter)

Kolkata: The central delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was detained by the Kolkata Police here on Saturday near Michael Nagar area, when they were on their way to riot-hit Basirhat area.

The delegation comprised of Parliament members Om Mathur, Meenakshi Lekhi and Satyapal Singh who later had an argument with the police when they were stopped from entering Basirhat.

The leaders were then carted away to the airport in a police van, flanked by cops and their supporters alike.

#WATCH: Argument between BJP delegation and police after the delegation was stopped from entering #Basirhat, West Bengal. pic.twitter.com/PuyzlroSkz  ANI (@ANI_news) July 8, 2017

"Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is not applicable here and they cannot arrest us. They should have taken us to other jurisdiction and let them decide. The contradiction is that on one side they are not letting three members of the Parliament to travel and on the other hand they are saying everything is under control. On what basis are they arresting I don't know," BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi told media.

She added that the Mamata Banerjee Government will get to know what the reality is and that the State Government is hiding more than what seems on the ground.

Lekhi was also stopped at the Kolkata Airport earlier in the day.

On Friday, the BJP, Left and the Congress delegations were prevented from visiting riot-hit areas in Basirhat by the police.

BJP's state-level delegation led by veteran actor and BJP leader Roopa Ganguly along with 19 party leaders, which was heading towards Baduria, was detained by the police at Michael Nagar near Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata yesterday.

Earlier on Thursday Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee requested the Opposition to refrain from reaching the communal-sensitive areas of North 24 Paraganas.

Violent clashes erupted in Basirhat area of the district after a Class X student updated a controversial picture on Facebook.

The boy was later detained by police, but the violence hasn't abated.

Fresh tension was reported in Basirhat area on Friday forcing the police to lob tear gas shells and resort to baton charge even as the state government decided to ban some organisations for allegedly instigating people.

The Mamata Banerjee government on Friday claimed that situation has returned to normal in Baduria and surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, the State Government has temporarily suspended internet services in four police station areas of Basirhat, Baduria, Swarupnagar and Deganga to check the spread of rumours through social networking sites.
Nitish reluctant to leave RJD alliance for a tieup with BJP.

New Delhi: CBI and ED raids notwithstanding, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav continues to enjoy the support of Bihars Muslims and Yadavs. This, according to sources, is why Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is finding it difficult to come out of the grand alliance and join hands with the BJP. Some of the party leaders also pointed out that even though Mr Kumar could remain in power with the support of the BJP, the JD(U) would not only lose the support of the Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) combination, but also would be at the mercy of the saffronites.

In the House of 243, the halfway mark in the Bihar Assembly is 122. The grand alliance is comfortably perched with 178 MLAs which include 80 MLAs of the RJD, 71 of JD(U) and 27 of the Congress. The BJP has 58 MLAs. If Mr Kumar takes up BJPs support, he would still remain in power with the total strength of 129 but would be hugely dependent on the saffron party. Moreover, Mr Kumar, who proved to be more popular than the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi during the Bihar Assembly polls would be completely overshadowed by him.

The M-Y combination in Bihar is around 31 per cent, which includes nearly 17 per cent Muslims and 14 per cent Yadavs. Mr Kumars own Kurmi caste constitutes only six per cent of Bihars population.

It was being apprehended in the JD(U) camp that if Mr Kumar dumped the RJD and Congress, the entire Muslim vote bank could turn against him. Also, if the JD(U) joined the BJP, the BJP could eat into its core vote bank of Kurmis and OBCs (non-Yadavs).

This is particularly worrying after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls have clearly indicated that the OBCs and the Dalits have shifted to BJP.

The raids against the RJD chief and his family members could work in our favour, a senior JD(U) leader argued. He pointed out that following the raids RJDs dadagiri (muscle-flexing) while running the government would considerably come down. For JD(U), a weak Lalu Prasad Yadav is better than a powerful BJP, he said.

The JD(U) was also aware that if a grand alliance of the secular outfits is formed during the 2019 general elections, the going could get somewhat tough for the BJP, even though the Prime Minister would continue tower over other top political leaders in the country. Who thought Vajpayee would lose in 2004? the JD(U) leader asked, adding that the JD(U) would at this juncture just remain in the Opposition and continue to blow hot and cold but not really take any concrete step to join hands with the BJP.

The BJP, on the other hand, indicated that though the party would want Mr Kumar to return to the NDA fold, they were in no hurry. The BJP leaders seemed to be somewhat confident that by the end of 2018, the JD(U) would have no option but to join the NDA. The saffronites felt that by the end of 2018, most of the Opposition parties including RJD, Trinamul Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party would stand completely discredited.

It was further claimed that Centre would continue to push forward its pro-poor agenda and intensify its war against corruption. The JD(U) and other outfits like BJD and even TRS might have to look towards the NDA rather than joining hands with tainted outfits, the BJP strategist observed.
The video footage showed the man engaged in a scuffle with the woman outside her house before stabbing her.

23-year-old Adil was seen stabbing a woman in broad daylight on the road outside her house. (Photo: ANI Twitter)

Mumbai: Three people have been arrested here in connection with the murder of an aspiring air hostess Riya Gautam, who was stabbed in full public view this week in Delhi, police said on Saturday.

Adil Banne Khan (23), Juned Salim Ansari (19) and Fazil Raju Ansari (18) were arrested by Mumbai Crime branch from suburban Bandra late last night, they said.

While Khan, the main accused, is a resident of Delhi's Mansarovar Park, the two others belong to Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh.

"We have arrested an accused named by Adil and two of his associates from Bandra who were wanted by Delhi Police in a murder case," Sanjay Saxena, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) told PTI.

All the arrested accused were handed over to a team of Delhi Police, Saxena said.

On Friday, Unit-9 of Mumbai Crime Branch received information that Khan and two of his associates were hiding somewhere in Bandra East, a police official said.

Subsequently, a search operation was carried out in the area and all the three accused were arrested, he said.

According to police, Riya Gautam alias Charu (21), was stabbed multiple times on July 5 by Khan, who was allegedly stalking her. She succumbed to her injuries the next day at a hospital in Delhi.

An offence of murder was registered against Khan at Mansarovar Police Station after Riya's death but the accused was absconding since then.

Her family has alleged that she had filed a police complaint against the accused in April but no action was taken.

The woman, a resident of Ramnagar area in Mansarovar Park, was attacked by Khan in a busy market. A CCTV grab of the incident shows the accused attacking the woman after she runs away from him. After some time, the accused can be seen fleeing from the spot as well, a police official said.

The victim and Khan had a fight near her house that day following which she was attacked. In an attempt to save herself, she rushed to a shop for help, police said.

Khan followed her inside the shop and stabbed her multiple times. Even though there were few people, they did not go near Khan for the fear of getting attacked. She was later rushed to a hospital.

According to police, the victim and the accused knew each other for the last one year. However, after some time, she distanced herself from him and her indifference irked him.

She approached the police with a complaint against the accused in April but he got a whiff of the matter and when his house was raided, it was found that he had fled to Gujarat.

Khan had allegedly been harassing her and would often ask her to talk to him. When she was returning from a shop, the accused stopped her and tried to engage her in a conversation but when she ignored him, he attacked her, eyewitnesses had told the police.
Junaid was stabbed to death while his brothers, Hashim and Sakir, were injured by a mob which also allegedly hurled slurs against them.

The police had so far arrested five people in connection with the killing. (Photo: Screengrab)

Faridabad (Haryana): The prime accused in the killing of Muslim youth Junaid Khan onboard a Mathura-bound train was on Saturday arrested from Dhule district of Maharashtra, the police said.

The killing on June 22 had triggered a nationwide outrage.

A statement released by the Government Railway Police (GRP) said that a team was sent to Dhule following on a tip-off that the accused was hiding there.

He was arrested and would be produced before a court on Sunday, it said. The name of the accused was not given in the statement.

"We have arrested a person from Maharashtra," SP, GRP, Kamaldeep Goyal said. He was nabbed from Sakri in Dhule, he said.

The GRP claimed in the statement that during interrogation, the accused had "confessed" to having killed 17-year-old Junaid Khan.

"The identity of the accused was not disclosed keeping in mind the legal process," the statement said.

The police had earlier arrested five persons including a Delhi government employee in connection with the killing of Junaid between Ballabgarh and Mathura stations onboard a Delhi-Mathura passenger train.

Junaid was stabbed to death while his brothers, Hashim and Sakir, were injured by a mob which also allegedly hurled communal slurs against them.

His brothers said the attackers had taunted and repeatedly called them "anti-nationals" and "beef eaters".

A reward of Rs two lakh had also been announced for information on identity of those involved in the killing.

Junaid was stabbed to death when he, along with his brothers, was returning home to Khandawli village in Ballabgarh after shopping for Eid in Delhi. The youth's body was dumped close to Asaoti village in Faridabad district.
Political observers pointed out that the grand secular alliance was formed in 2015 when Lalu Yadav was already a convict in the fodder scam.

Patna: While the JD(U) maintained a studied silence over CBI raids on Lalu Yadavs family, the Congress party extended full support to RJD chief Lalu Yadav who remained in his Patna-based residence on Saturday, drawing a road map for future action.

Congress leaders, all four ministers from the state, met Lalu Yadav and assured him full support in the wake of the development.

The BJP wants to bulldoze secular leaders but we will not let it happen. We are together and we will jointly fight against the BJP, Congress state president Ashok Chaudhary said, before meeting Mr Yadav on Saturday. He added, Everyone knows that Amit Shah is a tadipaar and how Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of this country.

But neither the Congress nor the RJD made any comments about Nitish Kumars silence on the issue. Mr Kumar earlier instructed his party leaders, especially spokespersons, to refrain from commenting on the matter.

RJD insiders told this newspaper that Mr Yadav had already sent a message to Mr Kumars camp, saying his son and deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav would not resign.

Mr Yadavs aggressive stance may create a further rift in the grand secular alliance as sources indicated that chief minister Nitish Kumar might ask Tejaswi to step down.

Mr Kumar is in Rajgir, some 70 kilometres away from Patna, where he had called an emergency meeting of officials and party leaders to discuss the issue. Sources say Mr Kumar would like to wait till CBI filed the chargesheet against Tejaswi Yadav.

Political observers pointed out that the grand secular alliance was formed in 2015 when Lalu Yadav was already a convict in the fodder scam.
Shah has asked state leaders to visit each of the 36,000 poll booths and prepare a report of partys preparedness till September.

New Delhi: Odisha BJP is abuzz with speculation that the party has unofficially decided to project Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan as its chief ministerial candidate for the 2019 assembly elections. The talk of a new role for him has upset some state leaders.

During BJP president Amit Shahs just concluded three-day trip to the state, Mr Pradhan accompanied him to all meetings with party leaders and cadre.

Mr Shah praised Mr Pradhan and his ministry for good work and highlighted how the minister always worries about Odisha and how to develop it.

Sources said there were apprehensions are that BJP presidents visit and projection of Mr Pradhan as chief ministerial candidate could deepen factionalism in the state unit.

Mr Shahs praise for Mr Pradhan, sources said, has rattled senior state leaders and there is an unease in the camp of Union minister Jual Oram, who is also from Odisha and is known to have chief ministerial aspirations.

Mr Shah has asked state leaders to visit each of the 36,000 poll booths and prepare a report of partys preparedness till September.

BJPs political graph is on an upward swing in Odisha, which has been the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) rule since 2000, ever since the saffron party did well in civic polls.

Odisha is one of the key states under Mr Shahs radar for strengthening the party organisation before the next assembly elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Study shows that having an orange a day could reduce risk of dementia.

A major study shows that eating an orange a day could slash the risk of dementia. Intake of citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, lemons or limes can cut the chances of developing incurable brain condition by almost a quarter.

The findings, by a team of scientists at Tohoku University in Japan, suggest that tangy fruits could be a powerful weapon against a disease that is emerging as a modern day epidemic.

Studies have suggested that citrus fruits can protect the brain against dementia. Citrus fruits contain nobiletin which reverse the impairment of memory.

The new research published in British Journal of Nutrition is the first major study to investigate the effect citrus fruit consumption might have on large numbers of those most at risk

Rates of dementia among those eating citrus fruits at least once a day are significantly lower with the scientists saying in a report that some biological studies have indicated citrus may have preventive effects against cognitive impairment.
Two young Bengalureans, bitten by the quizzing bug, have conjured up a firm which conducts quiz competitions across the world.

These Bengaluru youngsters are quite an enterprising lot  and if it means going the extra mile in pursuit of a passion, so be it. Two cityzens, Sachin Ravi and Raghav Chakravarthy have always been keen on honing their brain power and their upward transition speaks volumes about their love for quizzing. These two lawyers in the city quit their careers to become quizmasters and started Walnut Knowledge Solutions. In fact, in 2016, their company appeared in the Limca Book of Records for being the first company to conduct a quiz in Antarctica. In a candid chat, they tell us more.

One of our friends, Subhodeep Jash, represented Walnut and hosted a 30-minute quiz segment that featured questions on Antarctica, climate change and other such topics. This was part of the 2041 Antarctic Expedition 2016, says Raghav.

QuizShala is their flagship school programme that conducts quiz activities in city schools in Bengaluru. It is a programme that is delivered through year-long workshops for school children in different grades. In a workshop, we use questions, stories, and curiosity-centered activities to help children broaden their horizons about what is happening in the world and in the syllabus as well, explains Sachin Ravi. The programme focuses on enhancing ones personality by placing emphasis on how to read, write, listen and speak better, adds the 26-year-old.

Sachin and Raghav completed schooling in Bengaluru and went on to pursue an undergraduate degree in law at the Symbiosis Law School in Pune. In school, we were both the best quizzers and because we used to participate in a number of quiz competitions, we would travel abroad to explore more, says 28-year-old Raghav Chakravarthy, who is also an avid trekker and loves trekking in the Himalayas, saying, It is a very beautiful experience.

Sachin is a foodie and really wants to learn to cook one day. He says, I just love food and I am excited about exploring different cuisines. I love travelling to unexplored places and soaking up different cultures wherever I travel.

Raghav adds, Our second international quiz was conducted in Uganda in April 2017 by Archita Jain, founder of Superheroes Incorporated. Recently in May 2017, we conducted our third international quiz in Berlin.

Both the youngsters were the national champions in Sweden during university days. While in college, we got to travel to Sweden for a quiz. We were the national champions of the Sweden-India Nobel Memorial Quiz organised by the Swedish Embassy. The grand prize for the event was an all-expenses paid trip to Sweden and we were hosted by partnering companies in Sweden. It was a memorable trip for both of us, Sachin recalls.

Sachin and Ravi have already carved a niche for themselves in the quizzing space, and now, We didnt want to have any regrets later in life, and we knew that we could make a meaningful impact through our form of delivery. The fact that weve been able to build a business around our passion for quizzing has been all the more gratifying and humbling, Raghav concludes.
Onlookers marveled at acrobats, stilt-walkers and the magnificent noble costumes of the age.

Revelers wearing Renaissance helmets, feathers and striped pantaloons paraded through Brussels on Friday in a tradition stretching back five centuries to the zenith of the city's cultural and political power. The annual Ommegang festival commemorates the visit of Charles V, the Flanders-born Austrian Hapsburg Holy Roman Emperor who ruled lands across Europe and the Americas, to Brussels in 1549.

Revived in its modern form in 1930 as a moment for Brussels to show off its rich history, the week-long Ommegang - Dutch for "going around" - features more than 1,400 actors, including some of Belgium's contemporary aristocracy. "The history is important and my family likes to dress with historical costumes," said Brussels resident Ludger del Bruyere, 63, who has been taking part in Ommegang for 45 years.

Jean Charles de T'Serclaes, a 62-year-old banker in Brussels, agreed. "I like the history," said T'Serclaes, who is participating in the festival with his wife Muriel. "I am reacting to what my ancestors did centuries ago."

Onlookers marveled at acrobats, stilt-walkers and the magnificent noble costumes of the age as they followed the festival procession to the Grand Place, the dramatic square in front of Brussels' Town Hall.

Throughout the week, locals and tourists visiting the capital of the European Union have watched jousting and crossbow tournaments outside the royal palace of current monarch King Philippe and have savored 16th-century delicacies.

Tom Hye, who plays the part of a butler to a Hungarian queen in the festival, has been participating in the Ommegang festival for 10 years. "It's crucial to remember where we are coming from," said Hye, 64. "To keep our tradition alive."
Tiwari made this appeal during an interaction with traders of Khan Market on Friday evening while talking about the benefits of GST.

New Delhi: In wake of the ongoing tension between India and China at the border, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari has urged the traders to boycott the sale of Chinese goods. Mr Tiwari made this appeal during an interaction with traders of Khan Market on Friday evening while talking about the benefits of GST. Reacting to Mr Tiwaris appeal, Khan Market Traders Association president Sanjiv Mehra told this newspaper that he will write to the association members to stop the sale of Chinese goods in one of the most prominent markets of the country.

Adverting to Chinas reference to the 1962 war, Mr Tiwari told the traders at a famous cafe that China is talking like a goonda, but must not underestimate India and its might.

The Chinese are disturbed with the growing strategic and economic power of India and is talking nonsense in desperation. It is only due to its economic power, but if we stop using or selling Chinese products, China will mend its way, said Mr Tiwari.

Last year, amid escalating tension with Pakistan after the Uri attack, activi-sts had run a campaign online and in social media asking people to boycott products from China, whi-ch is a friend of Pakistan, ahead of Diwali.

Mentioning the loss sustained by traders, who imported the stock two-three months before the festival or season, Mr Tiwari advised them to start avoiding importing Chinese goods from now so that they do not suffer loss like last year.

Last year, circumstances developed in such a way that our traders incurred losses. To avoid such a situation, you must stop or avoid selling Chinese products from now onwards, Mr Tiwari said. After the meeting, traders echoed Mr Tiwaris appeal and said that they will act accordingly.

Mr Mehra said, On Mr Tiwaris appeal, a letter will be sent to all the members of Khan Market Traders Association, asking them to avoid selling Chinese products for national interest. Another trader, however, suggested that instead of asking traders to stop selling Chinese goods, awareness should be created among the public.
Meanwhile, the three MPs, Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satyapal Singh, were stopped from visiting Basirhat.

Kolkata: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday ordered a judicial enquiry at BasirhatBaduria in North 24 Parganas, which has been rocked by communal violence over a controversial Facebook post for the last few days. The judicial commission will be led by former justice of Calcutta high court Soumitra Pal.

"The judicial commission will find out who are the persons responsible for the violence and strong action will be taken against the perpetrators as per law. The administrative input will be handed over to the commission, who will conduct an impartial enquiry," Ms Banerjee said. Meanwhile, a BJP central team of three MPs were stopped by the police at Michaelnagar near the Kolkata airport and they were detained when they tried to forcibly pass by the police barricade.

Ms Banerjee, at a press conference in the state secreteriat Nabanna, blamed that the Centre, in a conspiracy, had been getting foreign hands to cause unrest in the bordering areas. "The border areas are being disturbed by foreign hands having good relations with BJP. Bengal shares its border with a number of countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the North East. A conspiracy is being hatched by the ruling party at the Centre to cause unrest in the bordering states," she said.

The Trinamul Congress supremo lashed out at the BJP-led government at the Centre, accusing it of using morphed images from Bhojpuri movies and also those of violence in Kumilla (Bangladesh) to incite violence in Basirhat- Baduria.

"Kashmir is burning. Farmers are being killed in Madhya Pradesh. The Centre has failed miserably in curbing violence. Facebook is being misused to spread canards and rumours against Bengal. It is Fakebook that is being run in the name of Facebook," she said.

These comments come after Haryana BJP leader Vijeta Malik expressed her "concern for Hindus in West Bengal" by sharing an image of the Bhojpuri movie Aurat Khilona Nahi. "Everything is being done with the objective of vendetta as we are raising our voices against the Centre. Whenever there is a protest, Central agencies like the CBI, ED, NIA and Income Tax are being used. Demonetisation is a big corruption, GST is also the same. The central government is weakening the federal structure. Is there a super emergency in the country?" the chief minister wondered.

Meanwhile, the three MPs, Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satyapal Singh, were stopped from visiting Basirhat. Police officers cited prohibitory orders in different parts of Basirhat sub-division to prevent Ms Lekhis team from proceeding to the areas scarred by violence. When they tried to drive past the barricade, they were detained.
The rupture created a flood-like situation, damaging nearly 50 hutments.

Mumbai: Two children, including an eight-month-old boy, drowned after a 72-inch water pipeline burst at the Indira Nagar slums in Bandra on Friday morning. The rupture created a flood-like situation, damaging nearly 50 hutments.

According to officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), nine-year-old Priyanka Doiphode and her eight-month-old brother Vignesh were playing near the pipeline, which suddenly burst around 10.50 am. The water pressure was so extreme that both the children were killed on the spot.

Vignesh was rushed to Bhabha Hospital, but was declared dead on arrival. Priyanka was taken to VN Desai hospital where she too was declared brought dead. The mother and grandmother of the two children have suffered minor injuries.

The pipeline burst caused a loss of about 4-5 lakh litres of water. Civic officials and fire brigade personnel said they had started relief and restoration work immediately. As soon as we were informed of burst, the valve of the pipe was turned off and repair works were undertaken, said a civic official.

Vignesh and Priyanka Doiphode

The two children would regularly play around the pipeline. The family had moved into the area barely a few days ago, said the neighbour of Doiphode family.

BMC officials said they are trying to determine what exactly led to the rupture.

We have sought a report from the hydraulic department as to what caused the pipeline burst. The pipeline was very old, and it might have got ruptured due to excessive water pressure, said additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Mukherjee.

Alka Sasane, assistant municipal commissioner of H-East ward, said that the BMC had asked slum dwellers to vacate the space as it was near the pipeline.

In 2009, the high court had directed the BMC to remove the slums and keep a 10-metre buffer zone around pipelines.
Born in Pathankot, Divya shifted to Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, when she was a kid.

Talking about the airline culture, she said that it is very good and they have a set of management rules that helps them in a range of issues. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: Captain Anny Divya, 30, became the world's youngest woman commander to fly a Boeing 777 airplane ever.

Born in Pathankot, Divya shifted to Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, when she was a kid. Her father is a retired Army official.

Captain Divya said she is elated and gives all the credit to her parents.

"I am thankful to my parents and teachers for what I am today," she said.

She further said that no journey is complete without obstacles and she had her share of ups and downs along the way.

"I had issues like financial problems, language barrier and cultural differences that I overcame with the support of my family and friends," she said.

She further said that she belonged to a middle class family and the fee for pilot courses were very high that time.

"My parents really believed in my goal and let me fly. There were no jobs at the time, so it's not like the money my parents were putting in was something that I could earn later," she said.

Besides these obstacles, she said, a lot of people discouraged her.

"Nobody was doing any pilot course in Vijayawada that time. So I was not encouraged to do it by a lot of people around me. But I just wanted to fly," she said.

She added that one of her biggest obstacles was speaking in English language. She said that as in Vijayawada nobody spoke in English, she was not very good at it.

"I was not good with the English language. Although we did read and write in English, we mostly spoke in Telugu," Divya said.

She said coming to the flying academy helped her overcome that obstacle.

"I had some issues with pronunciation which I had to overcome. I learnt through my experiences. I used to feel bad about it a lot of times, but the point is to learn," she added.

Talking about the airline culture, she said that it is very good and they have a set of management rules that helps them in a range of issues.

"My airline is very professional and I love working there," she said.
Israel is after all the one nation that has always publicly declared Iran as public enemy number one, and vice versa.

Prime Minister Narendra Modis high-profile visits to Washington and Jerusalem-Tel Aviv were watched closely worldwide, but nowhere more so than in Islamabad and Beijing, where India is considered anything but a friend.

While Mr Modis visit to Washington ran along predictable lines, and was indicative of Indias well-known desire to be on the right side of any US administration, it was the Israel visit, three long years in the making, ever since Mr Modi won the 2014 election, and which has seen more preparatory visits by Indian and Israeli officials to both capitals than any other, that has grabbed the eyeballs.

Being feted at the White House was always on top of Mr Modis agenda. More so, after US President Donald Trumps hosting of Chinas President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago Florida property and the consequent bonhomie, the embrace of China as a partner in arms to whom the job of keeping the recalcitrant North Koreans in line was outsourced: all deeply troubling, given Indias growing unease over Beijings protection of Pakistans jihadist machinery that has upturned years of relative peace in Kashmir, and the timing of its ratcheting up of tensions in the Sikkim-Bhutan region, thus keeping India on its toes on its eastern and western borders, even as Mr Modi made nice with President Trump.

With New Delhis Israel policy no longer a matter of conjecture, both Beijing and Islamabad will undoubtedly rework their strategic calculus to factor in Indias powerful friend and what that could entail. Israels quiet transfer of guns and missiles since the Kargil conflict; air and naval defence systems, state-of-the-art technology in unmanned drones and thermal imaging and other interception software that enables the Indian military to stay one tiny step ahead of Pakistans terror infiltration machine has, after all, given Pakistans Terror Central much heartburn.

But the attention it draws in Irans capital Tehran, where Indias special ties have stood it in good stead through successive governments in both capitals, despite the ritual calumny heaped on Delhis Kashmir policy at every Organisation of Islamic Conference session that India largely takes in its stride, is what India must watch out for.

This time, days before Mr Modis arrival in Tel Aviv, Irans religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered an out-of-turn anti-Kashmir tirade. That can only have been a signal to the Indian leadership that its well-crafted balancing act of keeping Tehran  major oil and gas supplier and its friend and ally on Afghan policy  happy, even as it came out of the closet on hitherto close ties with Israel, is a strategy that needs revisiting with urgency; Mr Modis pathbreaking May visit to Tehran notwithstanding.

Israel is after all the one nation that has always publicly declared Iran as public enemy number one, and vice versa. The changing geopolitical dynamics that brought about ISIS rise and reinforced the civilisational Sunni-Shia divide between Saudi Arabia and Iran, may have seen an unprecedented meeting of minds between the Jewish state and the new powers-that-be in the Saudi establishment. Here, as in other Gulf nations, particularly the UAE, they have put aside years of vilification of Israelis as hated Zionists.

Riyadh, and to a greater extent the UAE, like Qatar, have been pragmatic, with Abu Dhabi even allowing an Israeli trade office. Israel, after President Trumps triumphal visit when he broke the embargo and flew directly from Riyadh to Tel Aviv, is now firmly anchored in the Saudi-led Sunni alliance.

India, however, despite Tehrans alleged transfer of nuclear technology to Pakistan, through the machinations of the father of Pakistans nuclear bomb, avowed India-hater A.Q. Khan, has never picked sides.

The Tehran versus Jerusalem battle was seen as irrelevant to Indias own security paradigm. With Indias embrace of Trumps Washington and the Israeli establishment, a ticket to Mr Trumps inner circle, will that change?

Neither Tehrans historical support of the Hezbollah, the Palestinian cause and Hamas and Syria, that placed it front and centre as public enemy number one in Israel, has ever sat easily with earlier Indian governments. Equally, India has also stayed well away from Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and the Jewish lobbys fury at former US President Barack Obamas embrace of Iranians in a bid to contain Tehrans nuclear weaponry, and its role in reversing it.

New Delhi has chosen, instead, to treat the relationship with the Saudis and Gulf nations, with Palestine and Tehran, and now Israel, as distinct from one another.

This despite the fact that Tehran is talked up at every security meet in Israel as one nation that must be de-fanged, with Irans growing nuclear power a major source of concern for the Jewish nation. Indeed, as far back as mid-2009, Israels covert cybersecurity squad targeted Irans nuclear facilities, using Stuxnet, a first-of-its-kind Israeli cyber-missile, to sabotage Irans Natanz nuclear centrifuge fuel-refining plant from the inside as well as other unnamed centrifuge plants. Again, Israels much-vaunted spy network in Russia, recently and inadvertently outed by Mr Trump while he was talking to the Russians, showed the extent of their expertise. Now, thats the technology India must have its eye on.

Indias newfound relationship with Israel was captured on camera, epitomised by the extraordinary bromance between Mr Netanyahu and Mr Modi, splashing around, trousers rolled up on a Haifa beach. But it is 26/11 and Pakistans terrorist attack on Mumbai, and the Jewish Chabad House, that is the unspoken glue that binds, underscoring shared Indian-Israeli concerns on cross-border and indigenous terror attacks on its respective peoples.

As the two PMs swapped well-crafted speeches on the tarmac, Mr Modi talked up I4I, or India for Israel and Israel for India, while the flamboyant Bibi Netanyahu trotted out the formulaic I squared T squared. Thats Indian talent plus Israeli technology equals India-Israel ties for tomorrow!

Whatever the jargon, as long as I for an I doesnt include Iran, India may have hit the sweet spot.
Xi praised Indias role in the fight against terrorism and made laudatory references to Indias economic progress.

The first positive sign in almost a month-long standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Doklam area at the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction came on Friday at an informal Brics meeting in Hamburg where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have gathered for the G-20 summit.

It is important for both countries to build on this. For this to happen, though, it is necessary that both Beijing and New Delhi let diplomacy do the talking at a sane register, instead of letting their defence establishments have a free hand to exploit irresponsible sections of the media to whip up a bubble of war frenzy, which is far removed from the expectations of ordinary people in both nations. China, a non-democratic state which has set up journalistic mouthpieces of its ruling Communist Party that revel in the worst kind of jingoistic propaganda, has been particularly culpable in this regard. But some Indian television channels have hardly lagged behind.

In a frenzy of narrow nationalism, when these so-called newspapers in China, backed by dubious, party-line toeing think tanks and middle-level foreign ministry bureaucrats in Beijing, tom-tommed Chinese victory over India in the 1962 border skirmish, a more restrained response from the Army Chief and defence minister may have helped us avoid a descent into mud-bath diplomacy.

But all that can be put well behind us if the Modi-Xi handshake in Hamburg is to be invested with the meaning it deserves. The Chinese leader responded with due regard to his position when Mr Modi, in his speech, praised the momentum imparted by China to Brics. Mr Xi praised Indias role in the fight against terrorism and made laudatory references to Indias economic progress. Both leaders showed us a sample of statesmanship. Only a day earlier, the Chinese foreign ministry had said the time was not right for a bilateral meeting between the principals. Propaganda is known to dig its own grave.

There are never any winners or losers in modern-day warfare. When the deadliest weapons invented come into play, ordinary people become victims. There is no point fretting over low-grade recent Chinese propaganda over the status of Sikkim or Bhutan in relation to India.

An outright war, whose consequences will hurt everyone, cannot but kindle spirits in Tibet and Xinjiang that are hostile to Beijing. So its best not to go there.

The firing of a few shots in remote mountainous terrain may temporarily puff up nationalist bluster, but finally a negotiating table will have to be the refuge. Its best for both militaries to return to the positions that prevailed a month ago. China and India have signed a treaty to maintain peace and tranquility on the undefined sections of the border. This also means no road construction. Let this be respected.
May wasnt speaking to Modi, she was attempting to address the British nation through the media.

Narcissus would have fallen in love

However ugly his face 

Reflection of the self was all

 he drowned in its embrace.

From Mohobuts In-da-Bag by Bachchoo

A friend visiting the UK expressed his bewilderment at something Theresa May, Britains dead woman walking (DWW), had said when she had visited India. She said that she would get rid of all illegal Indian immigrants from the UK, and send them back to India. She was speaking to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose logical retort was that if she could identify them, India would readily have them back.

My friends bewilderment resulted from the seemingly unnecessary nature of Ms Mays assertion. Did she have any evidence of who or where these illegal immigrants were? If officialdom has identified them, why havent they been deported already? Hmmm! My friend obviously misunderstood the strategy of Ms Mays pronouncement. Ms May wasnt speaking to Mr Modi, she was attempting to address the British nation through the media.

The shameful truth about why the British population by a vote of 52 per cent vs 48 per cent voted to leave the European Union was around the half-understood issue of immigration. The demagogues of Brexit, the Leave campaign sold the population meaningless slogans and formulae  take back control of our borders implied that a vote to leave the EU would stop or drastically reduce the number of foreigners coming into the country. It may be true that a tiny minority of people who voted for Brexit had calculated the ins and outs of not having trading rights with Europe and were convinced that new treaties with India, China, the US and Outer Mongolia would adequately compensate and bring new prosperity to the country. The others, the majority, voted to keep Johnny foreigner out!

A frightening survey points at the ignorance behind the xenophobia. Citizens of a northern town were asked how many immigrants they thought were resident there, availing of the schools, medical and other services. The population estimated the number at 40 per cent. The actual figure for the immigrant population of that town is three per cent.

What the Brexit-bluffers slogan didnt say was that the migration to Britain in the past few years from the EU is less than half of the total of immigrants coming in. As the discussion and debate on the consequences of leaving the EU continues, it may be that this discrepancy or hitherto hidden truth is in danger of becoming apparent and damaging the Brexiteers subterfuge. Hence, Ms Mays attempt to assert that whatever trading rights Britain will seek with India or Outer Mongolia, it is not open to an unlimited flow of labour from either. The first feeble sally in getting across this message to the bigots of Britain was her lame assertion of expelling the illegal immigrants.

After her drastic mistake of calling an election and turning herself into DWW, Ms May has gone a bit further with impotent gestures to the xenophobes. She says she will soon deport, to their countries of origin, all the non-British convicts in the countrys prisons. Undoubtedly these individuals, whose crimes may range from terrorism to bicycle-thievery, are costing Her Majesty some cash to keep them well-fed and behind bars. Ms May could point to a national savings there by getting short of the miscreants  of course, there would be the offsetting cost of their airfares to Australia or Outer Mongolia, but she hasnt mentioned that.

In the last year, with the election of Donald Trump and the vote for Brexit in the UK, it seemed that a nationalistic tide was sweeping the Western world. Then, of course, came the triumph of the internationalist and moderate Emmanuel Macron over the nasty party of Marine Le Pen, the precipitous fall of Ms May and the resurgence of the lefty Jeremy Corbyn. Again in Germany, Angela Merkels fortunes, after her slump for backing refugees, have steadily recovered and she looks certain to hold on to office in Germany. Decency seems to have risen, not quite like a phoenix from the flames but like a slightly-burnt crow from the summer barbecue.

One of the most hopeful signs of this faltering flight is an opinion poll in the UK that says that the population, having been subject to more information about what Brexit will mean for the economy, for prices, for jobs and for immigration, has turned the 52 per cent for leaving the EU to 46 per cent, with those wanting to remain in the EU up to 54 per cent.

Polls are misleading, but it could be the harbinger of a trend that would take the British enthusiasm for the EU to the Scottish mark of 60 per cent. If that happens, it spells doom for DWW who will end up as just DWW without the walking. So also several of her colleagues and members of the present Tory Cabinet such as Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, David Davis, Liam Fox and Amber Rudd, who have staked their political careers on the push to leave the EU. They would certainly end up with Gexit  an exit from the government and even with Wexit  a dismissal from Westminster.

These few  lets call them the Brutus gang  waiting to stab DWW in the back and make a bid for the leadership with each man/woman for him/herself at the time they judge right, have already begun a campaign to undermine Ms May. Mr Johnson and Mr Gove have reversed their long-held belief in austerity and are now urging her publicly to renounce the one per cent cap on public service pay for nurses, teachers, firemen and others in social services. Its a Labour policy. Others are concertedly asking DWW to abolish the loans the state gives university students, and make university education free again. Another Labour policy! Then there are those Tories who want to increase the police forces to make Britains streets more secure. Another Labour policy

The opportunistic tendencies of Ms May, Mr Johnson and the others would certainly have them considering joining the Labour Party if they could rise to be its leader, but unfortunately Mr Corbyn now looks immoveable.
He had been arrested in December 1989 and pleaded guilty to first degree assault.

Maharaj, who also went by the name of Abdool Persaud, was sentenced in absentia in 1990 to four to 12 years in prison (Photo:PTI)

New York: A 63-year-old Indian-origin fugitive has been arrested and jailed in the US more than 26 years after he was sentenced for driving in an inebriated state and causing an accident that severely injured a woman.

Jaipaul Maharaj of New Jersey was arrested yesterday and brought before the court where he was remanded to the state Department of Corrections to begin his sentence, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

Maharaj, who also went by the name of Abdool Persaud, was sentenced in absentia in 1990 to four to 12 years in prison after warranting on his guilty plea to first-degree assault. He had been on the lam for 26 years.

He had been arrested in December 1989 and pleaded guilty to first degree assault. When Maharaj, then 36, failed to appear at sentencing, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. He was sentenced in absentia to a term of 4 to 12 years in prison.

It took 26 years but the victims family finally has achieved justice in knowing that the individual responsible for causing serious physical injury to their loved one is now being held accountable for his actions. If not for a casual inquiry made by a family member of the victim fortuitously making its way to the Queens District Attorneys Office, the defendant might very well have escaped punishment for his crime, Brown said.

Maharaj, who as Abdool Persaud is on five years probation for an October 2015 conviction, appeared yesterday for a scheduled meeting with the Sullivan County Department of Probation and was promptly arrested.

He was returned on the warrant and appeared before Queens Supreme Court Justice Robert Kohm, who executed the long-overdue sentence.

According to the criminal charges, Maharaj was driving without a drivers license and in an intoxicated state when he went through a red light on a December 1989 morning and struck another car in which Grace Schachnu was a passenger.

As a result of the collision, Schachnu suffered fractured ribs, a fractured cervical, collapsed lungs and hemorrhaging of the brain. Schachnu passed away in 1994.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Azfar Sultan issued a notice to Imran Khan to appear on July 21.

Islamabad: Pakistan Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif on Friday filed a defamation suit in the court of district judge in Lahore against Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan over his claim that the ruling government had offered him Rs 10 million bribe to remain silent on the issue of Panama Papers case.

Mr Sharif has claimed he has filed defamation suit of Rs10 billion against Mr Khan under sections 4 and 9 of the Defamation Ordinance 2002 for allegedly lying and defaming his reputation. The petition submitted through advocate Mustafa Ramday states that the plaintiff belongs to a noble family and is a highly respectable individual. The facts and circumstances giving rise to the filing of the instant suit are that since the last week of April 2017, the defendant (Imran Khan) started uttering, spreading and resorting to the publication, communication and circulation of maliciously false, baseless and unfounded oral statements and representations against the plaintiff, Shahbaz Sharif.

(Shahbaz Sharif) to the effect that the Plaintiff had, through some person/relative, apparently known to the Defendant as well, offered to pay a sum of Rs 10 billion to the Defendant in exchange for his withdrawing/backing-off from, or remain silent on the issue of the Panama Papers case, the petition said.

It is therefore most respectfully prayed that a decree for recovery of Rs 10,000,000,000 (Rupees Ten Billion) as compensation for the publication of the aforesaid defamatory content be passed against the defendant (Imran Khan) and in favour of the plaintiff, the petition added.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Azfar Sultan issued a notice to Imran Khan to appear on July 21.
The firing allegedly resulted in killing two civilians, including a woman, and injuring three other people.

According to a statement, India's Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh was summoned in Islamabad over the alleged firing by Indian forces in Chirikot and Satwal sectors along the Line of Control. (Photo: AP/Representational)

Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday summoned India's deputy high commissioner in Islamabad over alleged firing along the Line of Control that killed two people and injured three others.

Earlier, Pakistan accused India of violating ceasefire along the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in which two people were killed and three others injured, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson said in a statement.

Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh was summoned over the alleged firing by Indian forces in Chirikot and Satwal sectors, the statement said.

The firing allegedly resulted in killing two civilians, including a woman. Three other people were injured.

The Foreign Office said that Director-General (South Asia & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces".

"The Director-General urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC," the Foreign Office said.

Meanwhile, army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said that "Pakistan army troops responded effectively to Indian unprovoked firing". The latest clashes erupted on the death anniversary of militant commander Burhan Wani who was killed in Kashmir in 2016.
Pakistan on Friday welcomed the UN Security Councils decision to sanction Pakistan Taliban group Jamaatul Ahrar.

UN/Islamabad: A splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban linked to the Islamic State terror group has been sanctioned by the UN Security, subjecting it to assets freeze and an arms embargo.

The Security Councils Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee on Thursday added Jamaat-Ul-Ahrar (JuA) to the ISIS (the Islamic State) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List.

The outfit is also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat ul Ahrar and is located in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan as well as in Mohmand Agency, a district in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.

According to information on the UN website, Jamaat-Ul- Ahrar is the splinter group of the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan and is associated with the Islamic State.

Formed in August 2014 in Mohmand Agency, Pakistan, the group operates from Nangarhar Province and Pakistan- Afghanistan border region. The outfit was banned in Pakistan in November last year.

Meanwhile, Pakistan on Friday welcomed the UN Security Councils decision to sanction Pakistan Taliban group Jamaatul Ahrar (JuA), blamed for many deadliest attacks across the county.

The statement said the JuA operated from Afghanistans Nangarhar province and had been involved in a series of terrorist attacks inside Pakistan. Pakistan had proscribed JuA last year.

Abdul Wali, who is known as Omar Khalid Khorasani, from the Mohmand tribal agency, leads the group.

In April, Ehsanullah Ehsan, the former spokesman for the JuA surrendered to the security forces, which was a serious blow to the group. Ehsan later disclosed in a video that like him many Pakistani militants now operated from the Afghan side of the border.
IX Jinping pressed the BRICS members to unswervingly build an open world economy, champion multilateralism and promote common development.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchange greetings at the BRICS leaders' informal gathering, in Hamburg. (Photo: AP)

Hamburg: President Xi Jinping on Friday urged the BRICS countries to seek "political and peaceful settlement" of "regional conflicts and disputes", amidst a standoff between India and China in the Sikkim sector and Beijing's growing assertiveness in the disputed South and East China seas.

Xi made the appeal at an informal leaders' meeting of the BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in the German city of Hamburg, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

He pressed the BRICS members to unswervingly build an open world economy, champion multilateralism and promote common development.

Read: PM Modi, Xi Jinping discuss range of issues at G-20 sidelines

Apart from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi, the meeting was attended by Brazilian President Michel Temer, Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African President Jacob Zuma.

Xi, also the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party and head of the People's Liberation Army, who presided over the meeting, said, "We should unswervingly follow multilateralism."

He also urged the five-member bloc to push for "political and peaceful settlement of regional conflicts and disputes," the report said.

The Xinhua report did not elaborate on what Xi meant by "regional conflicts and disputes".

Read: India including tri-junction in Sikkim standoff due to ulterior motives: China

Noting that the BRICS countries are all important G20 members, the Chinese president called on the bloc to support Germany as the host of the summit, and to send a signal that the G20 is committed to fostering partnership, building an open world economy, and boosting global economic growth.

The BRICS countries should uphold the spirit of partnership that features openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, strengthen unity and cooperation, safeguard common interests and seek interconnected development, he said.

"Currently, the global economy is showing some positive signs, and the prospects for the development of BRICS countries are growing brighter in general, which is very inspiring," said Xi.

The leaders pledged to work together for positive results at the BRICS summit in the southeastern Chinese seaside city of Xiamen later this year, the report said.

Read: Chinese army practices battle scenarios amid Sikkim row

China and India have been engaged in a stand-off in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan tri-junction for the past three weeks after a People's Liberation Army construction party attempted to build a road. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

China is also engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up artificial islands and militarised many of them.

Both the South China Sea and the East China Sea areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources. They are also vital to global trade.

China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims.

China also lays claim to tiny islands in the East China Sea between Japan and the Korean peninsula, and between Japan and Taiwan.

The US today said it has flown two bombers over East Asian waters, as tensions continue to run high in the region. The B-1B Lancers took part in joint military drills with Japan in the East China Sea, the US Air Force said in a statement. They bombers then flew over the highly contentious South China Sea.

The US had also recently sent a navy warship near an artificial island in the South China Sea as part of the first "freedom of navigation" operation under President Donald Trump.

China has previously termed the US' move as "irresponsible" and warned that America's deliberate provocations would have "extremely dangerous consequences" to regional stability.
One thing that one can assume is that the two were speaking German, a language that Putin speaks fluently.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin at the start of the first working session of the G20 meeting in Hamburg (Photo: AP)

Hamburg: Germany Chancellor Angel Merkel is making headlines again. After spurring the handshake gate with Trump, Merkels eye-roll during a candid conversation with Russian President Vladmir Putin at annual G20 summit on Friday in Hamburg is going viral across the globe.

According to a report in Washington Post, Putin in a video was seen to be explaining something to Merkel to which she rolls her yes; probably exasperated, indirectly portraying disinterest.

As the world was gearing up to the see the first face off between US President Donald Trump-Putin, Merkels reaction caught netizens off guard. Nevertheless, it did not take too long for the incident to generate memes and jokes.

One thing that one can assume is that the two were speaking German, a language that Putin, who lived in East Germany from 1985 to 1990, speaks fluently, the report said.

However, this wasnt the first time that two leaders were captured in awkward moment on camera. A 2014 New Yorker profile on Merkel mentioned that Putin had brought his dog into a 2007 meeting with Merkel, who is afraid of dogs (She was bitten once in 1995).

Merkel had been to latters residence in Sochi for a discussion on energy supplies when the Russian President summoned his black Lab, Koni, into the room where he and Merkel were seated.

The report mentioned that Merkel was seen to be frozen and frightened as the dog approached and sniffed her. The report also said that while Putin could not have missed Merkels expression, he reportedly sat with his legs spread wide allegedly enjoying the moment.
The bilateral talks came on the sidelines of the G20 summit where leaders of the world's top economies are gathered.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the first day of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo: AP)

Hamburg (Germany): Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday underlined the importance of staying calm in the North Korea crisis, saying nuclear-armed Pyongyang should be dealt with in a "pragmatic" manner.

"The North Korea nuclear problem is very serious. But here, one must not lose his cool, but rather act in a pragmatic and delicate manner," said Putin during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-In.

The bilateral talks came on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the northern German city of Hamburg, where leaders of the world's top economies are gathered.

The meeting has been overshadowed by a number of global crises, including fresh tensions sparked by North Korea's test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday.

Ahead of the summit, Moon called for toughened sanctions against the North at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

But he insisted Thursday he was ready to meet the North's leader Kim Jong-Un in a bid to ease tensions.

"When the conditions are met, I am prepared to meet the North Korean ruler wherever and whenever," he told an audience at a think-tank in the German capital, calling for a "long dialogue for peace and detente".

On a visit to Washington last month, Moon laid out pre-requisites for full-fledged talks for nuclear dismantlement including North Korea refraining from nuclear and missile tests and promising a nuclear freeze.
Interaction between Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping took place amidst bilateral tensions over the Sikkim standoff.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, on Friday, July 7, 2017. (Photo: AP)

Hamburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Japan, Shinzo Abe, and Canada, Justin Trudeau, along with informal interactions with a number of world leaders on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg.

Modi also had a brief chat with many top world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.

At the BRICS leaders' gathering in Hamburg, Modi held informal meetings with Brazilian President Michel Temer and South African President Jacob Zuma.

Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping also shook hands at the BRICS meet and had a conversation on a range of issues. The interaction between Modi and Xi took place amidst bilateral tensions over the Sikkim standoff. He later met Abe and Trudeau and discussed a host of issues.

"Today in Hamburg, PM Justin Trudeau and PM Narendra Modi affirmed the strength of the bond between Canada and India," the office of the Canadian premier tweeted.

Regarding Modi's meeting with Abe, the Ministry of External Affairs said the two leaders reviewed the progress in bilateral relations, including important projects, since their last meeting in Japan during the Indian prime minister's visit in November 2016.

Modi expressed satisfaction at developments in bilateral ties. He said that he looked forward to Abe's forthcoming visit to India for the next annual summit and hoped it would further strengthen their cooperation. A family photo of the BRICS leaders was taken earlier.

On Saturday, Modi will have bilateral meetings with head of the governments of South Korea, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, the UK and Vietnam.

He will also participate in G20 sessions on partnership with Africa; Migration and Health; and Digitalisation, Women's Empowerment and Employment. After attending the concluding session on Saturday evening, the Indian Prime Minister will leave for New Delhi.
Modi'in Maccabim Re'ut is a modern city, located in central Israel, about 35 km south-east of the capital, Tel Aviv.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a namesake in Israel -- a young town that seeks to emerge as the "City of the Future".

Modi'in Maccabim Re'ut is a modern city, located in central Israel, about 35 km south-east of the capital, Tel Aviv.

Read: Israeli media calls Narendra Modi as world's most important PM

"It is a young city which is growing very fast with a youthful population," says Rabbi Akiva, who has been living in India for six years now.

He said he had visited Modi'in a few years before he moved to India.

"Though the city's nomenclature has no connection with Modi, the coincidence is amusing," he said.

In a lighter vein, Rabbi Akiva said the "in" in the name of the town could stand for India.

The rabbi also said Israelis were "happy" about PM Modi's visit to their country, the first by an Indian Prime Minister.

Read: Modi's Israeli flag themed attire makes waves

PM Modi wrapped up his three-day visit to Israel ob Thursday. Modi'in was not on his itinerary, with the prime minister visiting Tel Aviv and Haifa.

According to the official website of Modi'in, the cornerstone of which was laid in 1993, it is the "City of the Future".

"The city was named after the ancient city of Modi'in, the home of the Hashmonaim, the dynasty that personified the glorious heritage and heroism of Israel," it says.
Qatar was ready to 'cooperate and review all claims that do not contradict the sovereignty of the State of Qatar,' it added.

Arab states had said that Doha's refusal to accept their demands to end the diplomatic standoff was proof of its links to terrorist groups. (Photo: Representational/ AP)

Cairo: Qatar on Friday dismissed as "baseless" accusations that it was financing terrorism, in its first public response to a statement from four Arab states leading a boycott against the tiny emirate.

The four - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain - said in a joint statement late on Thursday that Doha's refusal to accept their demands to end the diplomatic standoff was proof of its links to terrorist groups.

In their statement, carried by their state media, the four said their initial list of 13 demands was now void and they pledged further political, economic and legal steps against Qatar.

In its first reaction to the statement by the four, Qatar dismissed as "baseless" the renewed accusations that it was interfering in the affairs of other states and financing terrorism.

"The State of Qatar's position on terrorism is consistent and known for its rejection and condemnation of all forms of terrorism, whatever the causes and motives," the state news agency said, quoting a senior foreign ministry source.

Qatar was ready to "cooperate and review all claims that do not contradict the sovereignty of the State of Qatar," it added.

Britain's foreign minister, Boris Johnson, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in a bid to help ease tension in what has become the Gulf's deepest rift in years.

Johnson will also travel to Qatar and Kuwait for talks with senior figures from both countries, Britain's foreign office said in London. It did not give a specific date.

The four Arab states have cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar, which they also accuse of allying with their regional arch-foe Iran. Doha also denies that accusation.

Their original 13 demands presented to Qatar included shutting down the pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV channel and closing a Turkish military base in Doha.

Qatari officials have repeatedly said the 13 demands are so strict that they suspect the four countries never seriously intended to negotiate them, and were instead seeing to hobble Doha's sovereignty.

At the same time, they have said Qatar is interested in negotiating a fair and just solution to 'any legitimate issues' of concern to fellow GCC member states.

In their statement, the four Arab states said any additional measures would be aimed at the Qatari government but not its people, without elaborating on when the new steps would be announced or what they would entail.

Foreign ministers from the four states convened in Cairo on Wednesday after the expiry of a 10-day deadline for their demands to be met. They condemned the tiny Gulf nation's response as "negative" and lacking in content.

They have demanded that Qatar curtail its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, shut down the pan-Arab al Jazeera TV channel, close a Turkish military base in Doha and downgrade its ties with Iran.
'It is not a travel alert. It is advisory asking Chinese travellers to be careful,' an official of the Foreign Ministry said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchange greetings at the BRICS leaders' informal gathering, in Hamburg. (Photo: AP)

Beijing: China on Saturday issued a safety advisory for its citizens travelling to India amid the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam area in the Sikkim sector.

"It is not a travel alert. It is advisory asking Chinese travellers to be careful," an official of the Foreign Ministry said.

The advisory asked Chinese travellers to India to pay close attention to the security situation and take necessary precautions.

The advisory was issued through the Chinese embassy in New Delhi.

Read: Amid Sikkim row, Chinese Prez says seek political, peaceful settlement of disputes'

On July 5, China had said that it will decide on issuing travel alert for Chinese citizens visiting India depending on the security situation, playing down reports in the official media asking Chinese investors to be on alert in view of the standoff at the border.

China and India have been engaged in the standoff in the Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction for the past three weeks after a Chinese Army's construction party attempted to build a road. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which

Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim.

Read: India including tri-junction in Sikkim standoff due to ulterior motives: China

Earlier on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping had urged the BRICS countries to seek "political and peaceful settlement" of "regional conflicts and disputes".

Xi made the appeal at an informal leaders' meeting of the BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in the German city of Hamburg, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan's political, diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris for their right to self-determination.

Islamabad: Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday paid tributes to militant commander Burhan Wani, saying his death "infused a new spirit in the struggle for freedom" in the Valley.

Sharif in a message on the first death anniversary of Wani's killing said that India cannot suppress the voice of the people of Kashmir through use of brute force.

Wani, a commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed in an encounter with Indian security forces on this day last year.

Read: J&K: Security lockdowns, social media ban ahead of Burhan Wani anniversary

"The blood rendered by Burhan Muzaffar Wani has infused a new spirit in the freedom movement. The Kashmiri people are steadfast to take their movement to logical conclusion," he said.

Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan's political, diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris for their right to self-determination.

He also emphasised the need for implementing the United Nation resolutions on Kashmir and asked India to accept their right of self-determination of Kashmiris.

Earlier, Police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in strength across Kashmir to handle any security challenges to foil the separatists' plan to hold a rally on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani.

Read: J&K: Curfew in Tral, 2 other towns to stop march for Burhan Wani on death anniversary

Curfew was imposed in Tral, the native town of Wani, in Pulwama district as a precautionary measure to maintain peace in the valley, a senior police official said.

The joint separatist camp, including Hurriyat Conference factions led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik-led JKLF, has asked the people to march to Tral to pay tributes to Wani.
Letter from the Congregation for Divine Worship. Bishops must ensure that the material for the celebration is valid: wheat bread and grape wine. The exceptions for celiac and for those who do not drink wine but can drink mustum. Verification is needed because today these products are also sold in supermarkets and via the internet.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The "validity of Eucharistic matter", namely that bread and wine for Eucharist are truly unleavened wheat bread and grape wine, is an important issue that bishops must "watch over" so they are "guaranteed" by manufacturers and distributors. It is the theme of a letter signed by Card. Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, "requested by the Holy Pope Francis" and released today by the Holy See Press Office.

"Vigilance" has become necessary because while in the past there were religious congregations who baked the bread and made the wine for mass, today these products "are also sold in supermarkets, in other stores and over the Internet", leaving "doubts about the Validity of Eucharistic matter".

The letter recalls that " The bread used in the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition. It follows therefore that bread made from another substance, even if it is grain, or if it is mixed with another substance different from wheat to such an extent that it would not commonly be considered wheat bread, does not constitute valid matter for confecting the Sacrifice and the Eucharistic Sacrament. It is a grave abuse to introduce other substances, such as fruit or sugar or honey, into the bread for confecting the Eucharist.

In turn, " that is used in the most sacred celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice must be natural, from the fruit of the grape, pure and incorrupt, not mixed with other substances. [] Great care should be taken so that the wine intended for the celebration of the Eucharist is well conserved and has not soured.

Exceptions are provided. For example, for those who are celiac, "hosts partially devoid of gluten" may be used, but not totally exempt; And instead of wine, it is possible to use mustum, provided that it is either fresh or preserved by methods that suspend its fermentation without altering its nature (for example, freezing).

The letter suggests to the various episcopal conferences to find ways - through religious congregations or competent bodies - to ensure the validity of "production, preservation and sale of bread and wine for the Eucharist in a given country and in other countries where they come exported. "
Hotel reservations up by 25% compared to last year; 65% of the structures booked out. The goal is to return to the golden years, but experts preach caution.

Beirut (AsiaNews) - After a prolonged period of crisis, the tourism industry in Lebanon seems to be undergoing a rebirth and the streets are becoming crowded with visitors: expatriates, Gulf and European citizens have rediscovered one of the most famous spots in the region between the19 50s and 1960s, when Beirut was known as "Paris of the Middle East".

The numbers fuel optimism: for the first time since the beginning of the war in neighboring Syria, in March 2011, the hospitality sector recorded a positive overall result. And the crisis crossed by the nations of the area - from Turkey to Syria, from Iraq to Qatar - is benefiting the land of the cedars.

Only four years ago, Lebanon appeared to be on the brink of a new crisis, particularly as regards internal security. The outbreak of war in neighboring Syria seemed destined to extend even within Lebanese borders. Now industry experts talk about a new start, as Lebanese Tourism Minister Avedis Guidanian says: "I am aware that the region is experiencing difficult moments, but Lebanon seems to be enjoying greater fortune."

Some key policy issues that have characterized the last two years have further strengthened the path to stability: the election of the new head of state, the formation of a government, the approval of the electoral law that opens the way to New parliamentary elections, expected since 2013 with a double prolongation of the legislature on the margins of constitutionality.

While in a critical time, the authorities have been able to respond to the issue of security by containing the episodes of violence and repelling the jihadist militias who had previously crossed the border from Syria. Added to this is the refugee emergency, which sees Lebanon in the front row in giving assistance to those fleeing war and hunger.

This phenomenon has had serious internal repercussions, with a 1.1 million citizens [out of a total of about 4.4 million] living below the poverty line, 28% unemployment with a greater incidence among young people. This, AsiaNews sources say, ends up "impoverishing our economy, our society" already marked by long-lasting problems such as corruption and garbage disposal emergency.

For many visitors, the first impact with the Land of Cedars is striking. Ali Abdul Kareem, a 24-year veteran from Basra, points out: "Indeed, we Iraqis are grateful and we are fortunate to visit the Lebanese people." In the past, he used to spend his holidays in Iran and the United Arab Emirates. This year, the choice has fallen "for the first time" on Beirut and the hope is "it will not be the last" as he is planning other trips in the future.

The numbers confirm a trend that is becoming more and more positive: hotel reservations have grown by 25% over the same period last year, reaching 65% for the summer. For the recent celebration of Eid al-Fitr surpassed the arrivals of 24,000, even in this case with an increase over the previous year when the data stopped at 19,000. From the 2.17 million entry in 2010 - one of the golden years for the industry - it has risen to 1.5 million in 2015, and to 1.7 million last year. For 2017, the trend is further growth, although data for the past seven years is far behind.

Compared to the past, there is no longer a tourism related to the luxury sector, and visits to Gulf nations have fallen, but a new type of user is developing in parallel, thanks to the use of social services. Of course, a less prosperous tourist, but not less attentive and curious about the beauties that the country offers and who can take advantage of the increase in air connections - the only way to enter the country, with the exception of Syrian citizens - from and to Lebanon. Industry experts preach caution and say that it is still too early to celebrate, given the volatile nature of the country and the entire region, but a widespread optimism prevails in the environment. (DS)
by Victoria Ma

A vigil of almost 300 Catholics and Protestants for the great dissident who is dying from terminal cancer liver cancer and for his wife. Liu is "China's Conscience." Cardinal Zen: He is like a prophet of the Old Testament. Rev Wu: His writings are full of Christian values. Postcards to sign and send to the Liu family: "Xiaobo, we are with you".

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - More than 260 Christians in Hong Kong joined a prayer gathering for Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia at a chapel inside a Catholic school in the evening of July 7.

The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, released from prison on medical parole in May, suffers from a terminally ill liver cancer, and is receiving medical treatment in a hospital Shenyang (Liaoning). His wife is under surveillance since Liu was imprisoned.

Cardinal Joseph Zen, emeritus bishop of Hong Kong, told the gathering that Christians are sympathetic with the couple and have learnt from Liu Xiaobo to tell the truth, citing a scripture of Book of Jeremiah (11:19-23).

The prelate said Liu Xiaobo is like a prophet in the Old Testament, who speak for God and tell the truth. Liu tells the truth, based on facts and analysis, and speaks with calmness. What did Liu actually say? Cardinal Zen asked. The Charter 08, authored inspired by Liu, was inspired by Charter 77, he added.

The Charter 08 is a manifesto initially signed by over 350 Chinese intellectuals and human rights activists in 2008 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We learn from Liu, a person who tells the truth, Cardinal Zen noted. We persist in showing concerns to the happenings in China. We are calm and peaceful. We have no hatred, as Liu does, he noted.

Quotations of Lius writings, including his article I have no enemies: My Final Statement written in 2009, were read at the prayer gathering. A quote says: I look forward to [the day] when my country is a land with freedom of expression, where the speech of every citizen will be treated equally well; where different values, ideas, beliefs, and political views ... can both compete with each other and peacefully coexist;. I hope that I will be the last victim of China's endless literary inquisitions and that from now on no one will be incriminated because of speech.

Reverend Wu Chi-wai of Hong Kong Church Renewal Movement told the participants that though Liu Xiaobos faith background was not known, his writings were filled with Christian values. Reverend Wu cited Lius reflection on Saint John Paul IIs speech on love and reconciliation upon his papal visit to Jerusalem and the Middle East in 2001, and Lius mention of praying for Ding Zilin of Tiananmen Mothers in times of troubles.

Reverend Wu cited Psalm 7:6-17, a lamentation, and remembered the Liu couple for their agonies and pains.

Co-organized the prayer gathering were six Christian groups, including Catholics Justice and Peace Commission and Labor Affairs Commission, Christians for Hong Kong Society and Hong Kong Christian Institute.

The gathering began with a video broadcast of a documentary of Liu Xiaobo, featuring his participation in the 1989 pro-democracy movement, an interview before his arrest, and an empty chair at the Nobel Peace Prize presentation in 2010; and of Liu Xia, who lived under surveillance and threats.

The Christians prayed for the Liu couple, honoring Liu Xiaobo as the conscience of China as he promotes democracy, freedom, human rights, rule of law in China, but was jailed by a dictatorial regime and lost his freedom. His wife, Liu Xia, has been under house arrest and has lost her human dignity.

They prayed for Gods protection for the Liu couple to persevere amid persecutions; and for all dissidents and human rights defenders in China, who suffer similar persecutions and harassments.

Moreover, the Christians also prayed for democracy in Mainland China and in Hong Kong.

Christians and citizens are urged to sign blessing cards with Xiaobo, we are with you and a smiling Liu Xiaobo image. The cards will be sent to Liu Xiaobo to express well-wishes for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and his wife.
The text was approved with 122 votes in favor, one against, one abstention. But none of the nine nuclear countries - US, Russia, China, France, Great Britain, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel - took part in the debate or vote. Vatican support and the appreciation of UN Secretary-General Guterres.

New York (AsiaNews) - A treaty banning nuclear weapons was approved by a large majority at the United Nations General Assembly yesterday. But the United States, France and Great Britain have opposed it because the document is "blind" towards international security threats.

The text of the treaty was approved by 122 votes in favor, one against - the Netherlands - and one abstention (Singapore).

None of the nine countries that actually have nuclear-weapon - US, Russia, China, France, Great Britain, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel  took part in either the debate or the vote.

Even Japan - which also was hit by the atomic bomb in World War II - boycotted the discussion, as well as almost all NATO nations.

The treaty would increase the pressure on nuclear power states for disarmament. Data published recently by Sipri, the Stockholm Institute for Peace, shows that disarmament is not happening at all. The idea of a treaty received the support of the Vatican and Pope Francis. Among the countries that voted in favor, there is also Iran, often suspected of having a secret nuclear program.

A few hours after its approval, UN ambassadors from the United States, France and Great Britain issued a statement rejecting the treaty. According to them, "it does not offer any solution to the serious threat posed by the North Korean nuclear program, nor does it address other security challenges that require nuclear deterrence."

UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, applauded the result, calling it "an important step" towards a nuclear-free world.

For many activists, even if the document is not followed up on, it is a first legal victory to flag the nuclear weapons as a negative factor.

Until September 20, the treaty can be adhered to and signed. It will come into force when 50 countries have ratified it.
Bad weather continues in at least 11 provinces. More than 11 million people are affected. Tens of thousands of homes have been destroyed or damaged, crops lost, trains and flights cancelled. At least 3,000 policemen have been deployed in rescue and security operations. Protesters clash with police over the government's slowness.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Fifty-six people are confirmed dead and 22 are missing as southern China is battered by torrential rain.

Huge swathes of land are now underwater, with crops wiped out and hundreds of thousands of people forced from their homes.

Chinas Ministry of Civil Affairs confirmed that 11 provinces have been ravaged by flooding since 29 June.

Landslides and hailstorms have destroyed 27,000 homes and damaged another 33,000 in the provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

More than 11 million people have been affected. Many cities have been flooded with roads made impassable.

More than a hundred trains have been halted, scores of flights cancelled, and power blackouts have been extensive. Farm animals have died, and rice and sugarcane fields have been damaged.

Economic losses now amount to an estimated US$ 3.72 billion. China's central government has allocated over US$ 280 million to the affected provinces.

The China National Commission for Disaster Reduction has also sent teams and materials to the worst-hit areas. About 3,000 armed police have been sent to aid in the rescue work as well as maintain order.

Security is especially critical in Hunan. Amid growing public anger over the government's slow response, hundreds of people have staged a protest in Ningxiang County last weekend, clashing with police.

A number of protesters were arrested, including some who criticised the local government online. Five people were arrested as dozens of residents blocked a state highway in Hunan's Xiangtan city backing up traffic for several kilometres.

They were demanding compensation for flood-related losses, blaming the local government for failing to predict the flooding.

Meanwhile, flood monitoring authorities said that water levels in more than 60 rivers in southern China were above danger levels, and that they expected more rain for the region.
by Uri Avnery

The great Israeli statist comments on allegations of the Syrian President's bombing the city of Khan Sheikhoun on April 4, and of using lethal gas against his people. But there is no evidence to condemn Assad. In Syria, "everyone is fighting with everyone against everyone." Trump's punitive attack against the will of US generals and with media applause, "unconscious prisoners of lies".

Jerusalem (AsiaNews / Gush Shalom)  Conan Doyle, the creator of the legendary Sherlock Holmes, would have titled his story about this incident "The Bizarre Case of Bashar al-Assad".

And bizarre it is.

It concerns the evil deeds of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator, who bombed his own people with Sarin, a nerve gas, causing gruesome deaths of the victims.

Like everybody else around the world, I heard about the foul deed a few hours after it happened. Like everybody else, I was shocked. And yet

And yet, I am a professional investigative journalist. For 40 years of my life I was the editor-in-chief of an investigative weekly magazine, which exposed nearly all of Israel's major scandals during those years. I have never lost a major libel suit, indeed I have rarely been sued at all. I am mentioning this not to boast, but to lend some authority to what I am going to say.

In my time I have decided to publish thousands of investigative articles, including some which concerned the most important people in Israel. Less well known is that I have also decided not to publish many hundreds of others, which I found lacked the necessary credibility.

How did I decide? Well, first of all I asked for proof. Where is the evidence? Who are the witnesses? Is there written documentation?

But there was always something which cannot be defined. Beyond witnesses and documents there is something inside the mind of an editor which tells him or her: wait, something wrong here. Something missing. Something that doesn't rhyme.

It is a feeling. Call it an inner voice. A kind of intuition. A warning that tells you, the minute you hear about the case for the first time: Beware. Check it again and again.

This is what happened to me when I first heard that, on April 4, Bashar al-Assad had bombed Khan Sheikhoun with nerve gas.

My inner voice whispered: wait. Something wrong. Something smells fishy.

First of all, it was too quick. Just a few hours after the event, everybody knew it was Bashar who did it.

Of course, it was Bashar! No need for proof. No need to waste time checking. Who else but Bashar?

Well, there are plenty of other candidates. The war in Syria is not two-sided. Not even three- or four-sided. It is almost impossible to count the sides.

There is Bashar, the dictator, and his close allies: the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Party of God (Hizb-Allah) in Lebanon, both Shiite. There is Russia, closely supporting. There is the US, the far-away enemy, which supports half a dozen (who is counting?) local militias. There are the Kurdish militias, And there is, of course, Daesh (or ISIS, or ISIL or IS), the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (Al-Sham is the Arabic name for Greater Syria.)

This is not a neat war of one coalition against another. Everybody is fighting with everybody else against everybody else. Americans and Russians with Bashar against Daesh. Americans and Kurds against Bashar and the Russians. The "rebel" militias against each other and against Bashar and Iran. And so on. (Somewhere there is Israel, too, but hush.)

So in this bizarre battlefield, how could anyone tell within minutes of the gas attack that it was Bashar who did it?

Political logic did not point that way. Lately, Bashar has been winning. He had no reason at all to do something that would embarrass his allies, especially the Russians.

The first question Sherlock Holmes would ask is: What is the motive? Who has something to gain?

Bashar had no motive at all. He could only lose by gas-bombing his citizens.

Unless, of course, he is crazy. And nothing indicates that he is. On the contrary, he seems to be in full control of his senses. Even more normal than Donald Trump.

I don't like dictators. I don't like Bashar al-Assad, a dictator and the son of a dictator. (Assad, by the way, means lion.) But I understand why he is there.

Until long after World War I, Lebanon was a part of the Syrian state. Both countries are a hotchpotch of sects and peoples. In Lebanon there are Christian Maronites, Melkite Greeks, Greek Catholics, Roman Catholics, Druze, Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims and diverse others. The Jews have mostly left.

All these exist in Syria, too, with the addition of the Kurds and the Alawites, the followers of Ali, who may be Muslims or not (depends who is talking). Syria is also divided by the towns which hate each other: Damascus, the political and religious capital and Aleppo, the economic capital, with several cities  Homs, Hama, Latakia - in between. Most of the country is desert.

After many civil wars, the two countries found two different solutions. In Lebanon, they agreed a national covenant, according to which the president is always a Maronite, the prime minister always a Sunni Muslim, the commander of the army always a Druze and the speaker of the Parliament, a powerless job, always a Shiite. (Until Hizballah, the Shiites were on the lowest rung of the ladder.)

In Syria, a much more violent place, they found a different solution: a kind of agreed-on dictatorship. The dictator was chosen from among one of the least powerful sects: the Alawis. (Bible-lovers will be reminded that when the Israelites chose their first King, they took Saul, a member of the smallest tribe.)

That's why Bashar continues to rule. The different sects and localities are afraid of each other. They need the dictator.

What does Donald Trump know about these intricacies? Well, nothing.

He was deeply shocked by the pictures of the victims of the gas attack. Women! Children! Beautiful Babies! So he decided on the spot to punish Bashar by bombing one of his airfields.

After making the decision, he called in his generals. They feebly objected. They knew that Bashar was not involved. In spite of being enemies, the American and Russian air forces work in Syria in close cooperation (another bizarre detail) in order to avoid incidents and start World War III. So they know about every mission. The Syrian air-force is part of this arrangement.

The generals seem to be the only half-way normal people around Trump, but Trump refused to listen. So they launched their missiles to destroy a Syrian airfield.

America was enthusiastic. All the important anti-Trump newspapers, led by the New York Times and the Washington Post, hastened to express their admiration for his genius.

In comes Seymour Hersh, a world-renowned investigative reporter, the man who exposed the American massacres in Vietnam and the American torture chambers in Iraq. He investigated the incident in depth and found that there is absolutely no evidence and almost no possibility that Bashar used nerve gas in Khan Sheikhoun.

What happened next? Something incredible: all the renowned US newspapers, including the New York Times and The New Yorker, refused to publish. So did the prestigious London Review of Books. In the end, he found a refuge in the German Welt am Sonntag.

For me, that is the real story. One would like to believe that the world  and especially the "Western World" - is full of honest newspapers, which investigate thoroughly and publish the truth. That is not so. Sure, they probably do not consciously lie. But they are unconscious prisoners of lies.

Some weeks after the incident an Israeli radio station interviewed me on the phone. The interviewer, a right-wing journalist, asked me about Bashar's dastardly use of gas against his own citizens. I answered that I had seen no evidence of his responsibility.

The interviewer was audibly shocked. He speedily changed the subject. But his tone of voice betrayed his thoughts: "I always knew that Avnery was a bit crazy, but now he is completely off his rocker."

Unlike the good old Sherlock, I don't know who did it. Perhaps Bashar, after all. I only know that there is absolutely no evidence for that.
Sayako Kuroda is the emperor's only daughter. She married designer Yoshiki Kuroda, losing her imperial title. She will replace Atsuko Ikeda, the Emperor's older sister, who served the temple for 29 years. Every 20 years the sanctuary is dismantled and rebuilt to accommodate the symbol of the Amaterasu deity in a new building.

Tokyo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Sayako Kuroda, daughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, has assumed the office of Supreme Priestess at the sanctuary of Ise, the most important Shinto sanctuary in the country. Kuroda, 48, has officially replaced the 86-year-old Atsuko Ikeda, the Emperor's older sister, who served the sanctuary for 29 years after the imperial family called for her to be allowed retire.

Kuroda will visit the sanctuary as a representative of the Emperor during the festive events including the Kanname-sai, which is held each year in October, during which the crops are offered to the goddess of the sun, Amaterasu Omikami, Ancestral divinity of the imperial family. Kuroda has already played the role of a special priestess in the sanctuary of Ise between 2012 and 2013, providing support to her aunt Ikeda during Shikinen Sengu. The event takes place every 20 years and it is expected that the symbol of divinity will be transferred to a new building. To this end old buildings are dismantled and new ones are built. On that occasion, the Supreme Priestess leads the Shinto priests to the sacred shrine. The role has been taken by members of the imperial family since the end of World War II.

Sayako Kuroda, formerly Princess Nori, was born in 1969 and is the third and last daughter, the only female, of the emperor. She married the designer Yoshiki Kuroda on November 15, 2005, thus losing the imperial title and abandoning the Imperial Dynasty, as required by law, as married to a non-noble husband. Princess Nori studied and graduated in Japanese language and literature. She later became an ornithologist and a university researcher.

The sanctuary of Ise is located in the Prefecture of Mie (Kansai, Honshu Island). It is considered the most sacred site of Shintoism and consists of a complex of 123 shrines. The current buildings, built in 2013, represent the 62nd reconstruction, the next is scheduled for 2033. Access to the area is supervised by the Supreme Priestess where the Sacred Mirror depicting Amaterasu is guarded is forbidden to lay people and tourists are allowed to see nothing more than the roofs of the central buildings, hidden behind three high wooden fences.
Senate Bill 3 (Act 3) prohibits any unit of state or local governments in Wisconsin from requiring or considering the use or lack of use of any agreement with a labor organization by a contractor bidding on a public works project. Agreements with labor organizations include collective bargaining agreements, project labor agreements, and community workforce agreements.

The bill explicitly prohibits state and local governments from requiring a bidder on a public works project to enter into an agreement with a labor organization; considering, as a factor in awarding a bid for a public works project, whether or not a bidder has entered into an agreement with a labor organization; or requiring a bidder or a bidders employees on a public works project to join a labor organization, pay dues to a labor organization, or provide anything of value to a labor organization or its associated benefits plan or program.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
A St. Petersburg teenager is all smiles after a small act of kindness by the St. Petersburg Police Department has given him the gift of transportation.

Sean Mitchell, 18, bought a bike that turned out to be stolen

Mitchell returned stolen bike, was left with no way to get to work

Police showed up days later with replacement bike

18-year-old Sean Mitchell said hes grateful to detectives with the city's Property Crimes Unit, who helped get him a brand new bike.



"I use my bike every day -- it is my source of transportation. Friends, house, work , so I'm on it almost all the time," Mitchell said.



The new ride replaces a previous bike that Sean recently bought from an acquaintance. That bike, it turned out, had been stolen.



Mitchell was happy to help return the stolen property, but was left without any way to get around. To his surprise, just a few days later, the detectives showed up to bring him a new set of wheels.



"I'm touched," Mitchell said. "I'm really glad, because there has been a lot of bad and negative about the police force, and this shows that it's not necessarily true and there is a lot of good, so I am extremely happy."



Mitchell also pointed to the episode as proof that an act of kindness can go quite a distance.



The money to buy Seans bike was donated to St. Petersburg Police by Suncoast Law Enforcement Charities.
A University of South Florida fraternity is being sued for sexual assault of a minor.

USF fraternity sued for sexual assault of a minor

16-year-old victim said she was raped at a PI KAPPA PHI party

Lawsuit states victim was pressured to drink; raped by Dillon LaGamma

LaGamma charged with sexual battery

A 16-year-old girl said she was raped at one of PI KAPPA PHIs house parties last fall and is suing the frat and the teen she said is responsible.

The lawsuit was filed Friday against the fraternity and Dillon LaGamma, 19. He was arrested in October and charged with sexual battery on a child over 12.

The lawsuit alleges that the victim and her two sisters were told that they did not need to produce IDs to get into the house party, and that the fraternity members were just making it look like they were checking IDs, so they wouldnt get in trouble.

According to the lawsuit, frat members pressured the victim to drink copious amounts of alcohol. It said after she passed out in LaGammas bedroom, he raped her, despite her age and level of intoxication.

According to the schools paper, The Oracle, the fraternity was temporarily suspended through May.

A title 9 investigation found the fraternity was not responsible for the incident, but did violate the student code of conduct.

They are currently able to function as an organization on campus, but alcohol is not allowed at events or in the house until December.

The victims attorney, Jeff Herman, stated, I am very proud of the bravery of my client coming forward. Fraternities need to be held accountable.
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A north Belfast residents' group has been described as "pathetic" for complaining about a street party for children.

The Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective (GARC) posted a message on social media yesterday claiming it had been contacted by local residents who said they felt intimidated by what the group termed "a number of illegal roadblocks including one at Cambrai Street" in the Woodvale area.

"We would ask people to avoid the Shankill area today for their own safety," the message added.

But DUP MLA William Humphrey poured scorn on the message and said the event at Cambrai Street was simply a children's party.

Speaking after visiting the party, Mr Humphrey said he was astonished to read Garc's interpretation of the event.

"I wish to commend the local parents who organised this Friday afternoon street party as an early 'Eleventh' party for local children," he said.

"It was a pleasure to attend part of the event along with my colleague Alderman Brian Kingston and even to join in a fun sumo wrestling bout.

"I was astonished to hear that GARC had described this event as intimidating for a number of Ardoyne residents. This claim is embarrassing and pathetic.

"GARC are so obsessed with provoking tension between the communities that they have totally undermined their own credibility by this utter rubbish."

Mr Humphrey went on to claim that a sinister comment had been posted under the original message and said he had reported it to the PSNI.

"We have reported these comments to the PSNI and will be pressing for this matter to be pursued with utmost vigour," he said.

The Woodvale/Ardoyne interface has seen violence in previous years over loyalist parades passing through the area as nationalist residents protested.

A Parades Commission ban on an Orange parade sparked a loyalist protest camp at Twaddell which stayed in place for three years.
Northern Ireland has been plunged into chaos because the Conservative government has "parked" the talks to restore the power-sharing Assembly at Stormont, Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill has claimed.

Talks ended in failure on Monday following two deadlines which were not met.

Both the DUP and Sinn Fein blamed each other for the collapse of Stormont - which has not seen a functioning devolved government since January.

With no budget agreed for the 2017/18 financial year, civil servants are currently in charge of allocating money to the government departments but unless budget legislation is passed either by the Assembly or by Westminster in the autumn, officials can only spend 95% of the total money available.

Departments are currently operating on the indicative budget which reflects the indicative allocations set out by Secretary of State James Brokenshire in a written statement to Parliament on April 24.

DUP leader Arlene Foster has insisted that her party is up for an agreement and vowed to keep working throughout the summer to try and restore devolution later this year. Her party has blamed Sinn Fein for the lack of agreement, claiming they have blocked the DUP's attempt to restart Stormont.

But writing in today's Belfast Telegraph, Sinn Fein's northern leader Michelle O'Neill said she is "hugely frustrated" that agreement has not been reached, adding that her party has been "genuinely working to restore credible and sustainable institutions, which value and deliver for all citizens".

"The Assembly and the Executive could be in place today if the DUP was prepared to end its blockade of basic rights - rights that people routinely enjoy in every other part of Ireland and in Britain.

"But the DUP's adherence to a world view, long since abandoned in the Britain to which they declare allegiance, continues to define whole sections of our society as somehow inferior or less equal. The DUP deny rights to Irish speakers. They deny equality to members of the LGBT community. They deny families - some of whom have been waiting up to 45 years - the right to coroners' inquests. It is an unacceptable position. The Assembly and Executive are only sustainable and credible if they are based on rights, respect and equality."
Stalking victims have been left feeling "gagged by fear" after a Justice Committee review that could have led to specific legalisation was put on ice, a campaigner has claimed.

Vicky Clarke, who founded advice and support organisation Stalking NI after being harassed by a former partner for five years, is spearheading a campaign to introduce new stalking legislation locally.

In England and Wales, a Bill making stalking a specific offence was introduced in 2012, and in December Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced her intention to enact stalking protection orders, which will help protect victims in those countries earlier.

Read More

However, there are no stalking laws in Northern Ireland. Instead, prosecutions for such behaviour are brought under the Protection from Harassment Order (NI) 1997, which Vicky said was "not fit for purpose".

She wants to see a new, targeted law including measures such as a stalkers' register, a tagging system for the perpetrators in high-risk cases and specialist training and clinics to accurately assess the risk to victims.

Under the new system, special measures would be afforded to victims terrified to face their stalkers in court.

Vicky has also called for a "zero-tolerance" approach from police from the first instance of stalking behaviour, with all activity recorded for statistical purposes and a central database established containing the offender's civil and criminal cases.

The Justice Committee had been due to present its report on the Review of the Need for Stalking Legislation in Northern Ireland to the Assembly on April 6.

In a November 2016 letter to an elected representative, which was seen by this newspaper, then Justice Minister Claire Sugden said it was her intention to "legislate to create a specific offence of stalking in 2017."

However, with the Assembly in stasis, neither has happened.

Vicky told the Belfast Telegraph: "Due to our current ministerial situation, stalking legislation has been put on hold, albeit along with all other business, but it is vital that the PSNI is equipped sooner rather than later to bring this crime to prosecution. Since I formed Stalking NI in 2015, I have helped at least 36 women, and I would be seeing stalking victims on a daily basis at the moment.

"This could include women who are being followed or the stalker turns up in different places or smears them online and contacts their friends to try and ruin their reputation.

"One woman didn't even want to put up her Christmas decorations for fear of provoking her stalker.

"The constant hyper-vigilance these women go through can lead to anxiety, and some can suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, as I did.

"This is ruining women's lives. Why are women in Northern Ireland being treated as second class citizens?"

A Department of Justice spokesperson said: "Maximum penalties on conviction range from six months' to seven years' imprisonment.

"The Northern Ireland Assembly agreed a motion on September 12, 2016 which asked the Minister of Justice to examine whether the introduction of new legislation was needed to protect and safeguard victims of stalking in Northern Ireland.

"The department is reviewing the operation of the current law and the experience in other jurisdictions where specific offences of stalking exist. This will lead to the development of detailed policy proposals for consideration by the Assembly."
A man has been arrested in Liverpool in connection with the Manchester Arena bombing (Danny Lawson/PA)

A man has been arrested in connection with the Manchester Arena terror attack.

The 19-year-old man was arrested at Liverpool John Lennon Airport on Friday on suspicion of offences contrary to the Terrorism Act and remains in custody, Greater Manchester Police said.

A property on Thelwall Avenue in Fallowfield is being searched as part of the investigation.

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Police said, as it stands, 23 people have been arrested in connection with the investigation, of which two were quickly de-arrested, and 20 were released without charge.

Anti-terror officers have already said police suspect suicide bomber Salman Abedi did not act alone and detectives want to speak to his brother in Libya.

Detective Chief Superintendent Russ Jackson, head of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit (NWCTU), said on Thursday that while detectives do not now think Abedi was part of a large network, they do suspect the involvement of others in the attack which had been planned for months.

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He said officers were engaged with the authorities in war-torn Libya where Abedis brother, Hashem, is currently being held.

Mr Jackson said: We dont have evidence of a large network. We do however suspect others were either aware or complicit in the knowledge of this attack.

And he did not rule out further arrests.

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Abedi killed 22 people when he detonated a bomb in the foyer of Manchester Arena at the end of an Ariane Grande concert on May 22.

At the home of the man under arrest police forensics teams were taking photos of the inside and the contents of the bins outside the house, a housing association property on Thelwall Avenue, Fallowfield, south Manchester.

A young man and a woman, covering their faces, were led away by plain clothes detectives and taken away in an unmarked car.

A number of locals claimed the family were related to Salman Abedi, which could not be verified.

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Abedis last known address, on Elsmore Road, is on a street around 100 yards away.

Neighbours said a Libyan family have lived at the address for a number of years  a mother, two sons and a daughter, though the father is believed to be in Libya.

Ali Mohamed, visiting a friend at a house across the road, said: I saw Salman Abedi here. He didnt show any danger or anything bad. He just seemed like a normal kid.

It is understood the 19-year-old arrested was on an inbound flight to the UK when he was held at Liverpool Airport.
Migrants gather to be taken away from a makeshift street camp in Paris (AP)

Paris authorities have evacuated makeshift street camps in the French capital, removing nearly 2,800 migrants as Europe contends with an upsurge in new arrivals crossing the Mediterranean.

In heavy summer heat, groups of primarily African men and a few families lined up to board buses with a mixture of relief and apprehension.

"We Need Dignity" read a handwritten sign next to a mattress stretched across cobblestones and surrounded by litter.

The migrants in the La Chapelle neighbourhood on Paris's northern edge were taken to temporary shelters in the wider region where they will be given medical check-ups and guidance, police said.

City Hall said it is the 34th such operation in the past two years.

Tents, sleeping bags and rudimentary cardboard structures housing migrants have sprung up on pavements and boulevards in the area, angering some residents even as others come to offer food and blankets.

City authorities estimate that dozens of people fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East pour in daily to Paris.

Many continue on to the port of Calais to try to cross to Britain, but many stay in Paris in the hope of finding unofficial work or to seek asylum.

Such unauthorised camps "present serious risks for the security and health of their occupants as well as neighbourhood residents", police said in a statement.

About 350 police and 100 other officials and aid workers took part in Friday's operation.

Police said the migrants will be given "proposals for orientation" to other sites around France where they can try to seek legal paths to residency. Some may eventually be deported.

Arrivals have grown this summer around Europe, notably as more people are taking the risky sea journey from Libya. More than 2,000 have died.

Senior European officials have tried this week to agree on solutions, notably to help Italy help cope with the tens of thousands of people arriving on its shores.

European Council President Donald Tusk called for UN sanctions against migrant smugglers illegally taking people to Europe - notably in Libya, where lawlessness has allowed a lucrative trade in smuggling African migrants northwards.

President Emmanuel Macron's government is expected to announce new measures to cope with the migrant crisis next week.

A centre opened last year in northern Paris to help asylum seekers has provided temporary shelter for 12,000 people but is not large enough to care for everyone.

AP
A girl is treated for suspected cholera infection at a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

The United States has announced more than 630 million dollars (489 million) in aid for Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria, where conflict has helped to cause what the United Nations calls the world's largest humanitarian crisis in more than 70 years.

The announcement came as US president Donald Trump attended the G20 summit in Germany.

The total US humanitarian assistance to the four countries is now more than 1.8 billion dollars (1.4 billion) this fiscal year, the US Agency for International Development said.

Tens of millions of people in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria face hunger amid conflict, with Yemen suffering the world's largest cholera outbreak.

Half of Somalia, where 12 million people need aid, is hit by drought, and South Sudan's civil war and Nigeria's Boko Haram insurgency have contributed to severe hunger.

The US announcement was hailed as "truly a life-saving gift" by David Beasley, the new American director of the UN's World Food Programme.

The WFP said in a tweet that the new US donation "comes just as families face the time of year when food stocks run out."

The agency warned earlier this year that food aid could be cut for more than a million hungry Nigerians if promised funding from the international community did not arrive.

But while the US is the world's largest humanitarian donor, Mr Trump's proposed deep cuts to foreign aid have caused widespread concern.

Mr Trump announced 329 million dollars (255 million) in May in "anti-famine" aid to the four countries.

While his administration's 2018 spending plan does not eliminate money for emergency food aid, it ends a critical programme by consolidating it into a broader account that covers all international disaster assistance.

This reduces the amount of money the US dedicates to fighting famine to 1.5 billion dollars (1.16 billion) next year, from 2.6 billion dollars (2.02 billion) in 2016.

Mr Trump's officials say the proposed changes will streamline US aid programmes, eliminate redundancies and increase efficiency.

Relief organisations fear less US money will mean an increase in famine and hunger-related deaths, particularly in Africa, if Congress approves the budget.

AP
Life changing: the UUPs Jo-Anne Dobson submits her Private Members Bill on organ donation to the Office of the Speaker in September 2015. With her is son Mark, who received a transplant, and former GAA player and organ donor Joe Brolly

With the current media focus on the financial donations received by political parties and the 'Deal Or No Deal' failed talks process, recent progress made towards a new organ donation system has been largely drowned out.

It is, indeed, a very sad situation when talks processes become more about politicians and their party positions, red lines and deadlines, than what those politicians are supposed to be achieving for the electorate: the bread and butter issues that lie neglected in the politics of 'he said, she said'.

Reform of our health service is one of those crucial parked issues; however, even to use the work 'parked' suggests that it is secure - far from it. As any of our health professionals will tell you, with no government and no change, the system is going in reverse.

When it comes to health, one of the biggest issues for me is organ donation - it saved my son Mark's life and it's an issue I have been passionate about for many decades, long before politics.

Organ failure affects people from across a very wide range of social, age, gender, educational, cultural, faith and ethnic backgrounds.

While the good news is that donation is on the increase - thanks largely to the hard work of the transplant community - the challenge remains that demand for more organs is even greater.

Two weeks ago, I was absolutely thrilled to hear the Scottish government announce that it will be changing its rules, which will see it become the second devolved region of the United Kingdom, after Wales, to adopt an opt-out, rather than an opt-in, system of organ donation.

Around four years ago, I began piloting our first opt-out Bill through the Stormont corridors. Ultimately, it was defeated by the Executive parties, with just a small section of the Bill making it into law.

Sadly, this was despite overwhelming public support for change right here in Northern Ireland, which the Scottish government has now reinforced.

We now stand as the only devolved region of the United Kingdom not to have a government commitment to reform organ donation laws, reform which is centred on saving lives through the life-giving and life-saving power of organ transplantation.

Throughout my almost six years as an MLA, I had the privilege of meeting and working with so many driven and enthusiastic people who wanted to see and embrace positive change in our laws.

When it came to organ donation, I had the benefit of seeing first-hand how a life can be completely transformed through the selfless gift of life, as my youngest son Mark received a kidney transplant just over eight years ago.

Like countless others who have a personal connection to what we call the organ donation family, I was a campaigner long before I became a politician.

I want to see more lucky ones - just like Mark. That was the driving force behind my Private Member's Bill.

Through an opt-out system, I firmly believe we can achieve an end to the shortage of available organs for transplant, which sees an average of 15 local people die each year while they wait.

Failure to act is simply kicking the can down the road for future generations.

The positive news coming out of Scotland, alongside the Welsh opt-out system in operation since 2015, brings our current position firmly back into focus.

As the local political focus has been on the failed process at Stormont Castle, we must remember that devolved government isn't simply about the politicians who are doing all the talking.

It's about having a passion for achieving positive change for everyone, regardless of their religion, politics, or sexuality.

In Northern Ireland, we have some of the most talented and the most forward-thinking medical professionals in the world who are constrained by a political system locked in deadlock.

Government must be about what it can do, not what it cannot. It must be about people and not politicians.

None of us can know when during our lives we, or our loved ones, may need a transplant. Organ failure doesn't discriminate and neither should our laws when it comes to providing people with the best chance of receiving that life-saving transplant when they need it.

"In their final hours they gave a lifetime". I was so touched by these beautiful words about organ donation, contained in a portrait proudly displayed on the ground floor of Belfast City Hospital. It is a sentiment that encapsulates what thinking and caring about others truly means.

Health transcends all political positions and posturing. Let's care a little more about what it means to look after each other - give hope, not fear.

If I can make one plea, it is that, if you support organ transplantation and are willing to donate your organs after death, please let your loved ones know your wishes.

That simple and short conversation has the power to save up to eight lives.
RIYADH - Saudi Arabia said it had begun taxing foreigners working in the private sector as part of fiscal reforms aimed at coping with a drop in oil revenues.

Long a tax-free haven for expatriates, the Saudi economy was dealt a serious blow in 2014 when global crude prices plummeted.

The kingdom, the world's largest exporter of oil, has since launched an economic diversification plan and slashed state spending in an attempt to cope with a hefty deficit.

On July 1, foreigners working in the private sector began paying a family tax of 100 riyals ($26.60/23.40 euros) per month for every minor or unemployed relative living in the kingdom, the Saudi general directorate of passports said in a statement.

An estimated 11m foreigners work in the Saudi private sector, with 2.3m of their dependents based in the kingdom, according to the Public Authority for Statistics.

The tax is expected to increase every year until 2020, when it will cap at 4,800 riyals ($1,280/ 1,126 euros) per dependent annually.

Saudi Arabia projects a government budget balance in 2020.

Saudi Arabia's ambitious "Vision 2030" plan, unveiled in April 2016, aims to broaden its investment base and diversify the once oil-dependent economy.

The plan will also see the sale of nearly five percent of state-owned Aramco -- the world's largest oil company reportedly worth between $2trn and $2.5trn.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar aim to introduce value-added taxes in 2018 to deal with fiscal deficits, followed by the remaining Gulf Cooperation Council states - Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.
The UN office said the visit has nothing to do with the Fact-Finding Mission which United Nations announced in March.

Earlier the Director General of the State Counsellors office Zaw Htay posted on his social network page: Myanmar will not accept UNHCRs Fact-Finding Mission.

Ms. Yanghee Lee says she will only work on the Myanmar human rights monitoring report during her visit which was said to be happening July 10 onwards.

They are now discussing about the detailed plan of the visit with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Home Affairs, and State and Region governments.

Ms. Yanghee Lee visited last time in the second week of January 2017.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that during her last visit, Ms. Yanghee Lee strongly denounced the killing of nine Myanmar policemen by militants in Rakhine State in October.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/07/2017 (1952 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OAK LAKE  It was an accident, Dallas Coulter was first told. That was the only explanation how his brother Dean Russell Coulter could be found dead outside his Sinclair-area home, nine years ago.

When the phone call arrived, on June 30, 2008, Dallas understood. He knew his older brother had flirted with death unintentionally; an accident, then, didnt seem out of step.

There was the time Dean jumped out of an airplane and his parachute didnt open correctly. He broke both knees.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Dallas Coulter looks out from his camper where he spends his summers at Oak Lake Beach on Friday morning. Coulters brother Dean was murdered nine years ago, and no one has ever been charged with the murder. RCMP has put out a recent appeal for information regarding the crime. Coulters campsite at Oak Lake Beach is the last place Dallas saw his brother alive.

Once, while driving his pickup truck through the Crowsnest Pass in the Rockies, he went off-course. His truck rolled down the side  some 300 feet, Dallas estimates. That time, Dean didnt break a bone.

RCMP would later tell Dean most drivers who went over the curb never made it home, his mother, Liz Hayward, remembers.

Dean was a risk-taker, so Dallas had no reason to believe a mishap wasnt responsible for his brothers death.

But then when I found out it wasnt an accident, thats when I got pissed off, Dallas said.

On the nine-year anniversary of Deans passing at the age of 44, RCMP has made an appeal for any leads on this cold case, seeking to bring justice to a family waiting for resolution.

The RCMP investigated every avenue, sifted through the evidence and spoke to many people, but Deans murderer has not yet been apprehended, police wrote in their plea for information.

It was a bright June morning at Deans rural homestead on the day his life ended.

He was riding his horse, as a photo taken that morning shows. Dating back to an early age, he spent hours on horseback.

Later, he took out his muddy ATV to give it a wash in his front yard. While he was cleaning it, he was shot dead.

Police said at the time he died of gunshot wounds. An autopsy confirmed his death was not a suicide.

The brazen killing in broad daylight shook residents, who found their quiet life flipped upside down by a murderer. At least one resident told The Sun she began locking her doors over fears the culprit was on the loose.

Rumours swirled in subsequent days, weeks and months over what happened, fuelled by the lack of any charges and police offering next to no details on the circumstances leading to the homicide.

Members of the Coulter family say police have worked diligently through the years, and Dallas believes police have a good idea who the culprit is.

I think they should have made a charge already, Dallas said. But they want to be 100 per cent sure theyre charging the right person.

Dallas was with his brother the day preceding his death. Deans wife Wendy and their children Jesse, 14, and Jodie, 12, were there, too, at an Oak Lake campsite for boating, tubing and catching up.

He spoke of everyday life with his brother, Dallas said. The next day, a Monday, Dean was planning to talk to the owner of an acreage near Reston. He wanted to buy the property and move there with his family, Dallas said.

To me, Dallas said of the criminal investigation, it was a cut and dry case, but Im not the judge and jury.

Deans brother and mother believe they know who is responsible for the murder, but declined to disclose it publicly during interviews with The Brandon Sun.

Submitted Dean Coulter horses around during the familys final Christmas together in 2007.

Deans wife Wendy declined to comment when reached by phone from Alberta, where she lives. When asked to elaborate on Deans life, she said her late husband was an awesome person and he didnt deserve that.

Dallas said his only brother had no trouble making acquaintances.

He was the type of guy that would stop and help anybody do anything. Before long, Dean made a friend and would talk to them forever.

He liked to visit, he was a visitor, Dallas added. He would do anything for everyone.

After graduating high school in Virden, Dean went to British Columbia, where he became a hunting guide. It was his favourite job, his mother recalls.

In his decade or so in B.C., he became a paramedic, got a job fighting forest fires and worked in logging until the industry went south.

When he did something, he went out and did it, Liz said. He liked the excitement of the challenge, I guess.

I think he did more living in his 44 years than a lot of us do in twice that time.

In Manitoba, Dean tried various jobs, at a farm, the oil industry and his horse training business.

Only days before his passing, he turned a work trip to Albuquerque, N.M., into a family vacation. He was there for safety certification, setting himself up for a promotion, his mother said. He was working in the oil industry.

He had gotten to a position where hed be in a very good job financially, and give a lot of things to his family that he wanted to, Liz said.

Looking back, Deans mother still feels numb thinking about her sons life being cut short.

Annually, her birthday and Mothers Day are the two hardest days of the year because Dean would always call.

She pines for the days shed see his truck coming up her driveway, driving to their family farm outside Sinclair.

He would come in with his big coffee mug and say, Is coffee on, Mom? Liz said longingly. I miss that.

Deans sister Diane Luckins thinks back to her brothers love of horses, reading western novels from Louis LAmour and listening to country music from Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson and Hank Williams Jr. He held onto his Christian faith dearly.

And he would often call his sister, just to check up on her. In fact, their last conversation was exactly that  Dean wondering how his sister was doing.

To see criminal charges in this cold case may not bring her happiness, Luckins said, but it would result in justice.

Submitted Dean Coulter rides his horse at his home near Sinclair, the morning of June 30, 2008. He died by gunshot later that morning. Police have never laid a charge in their homicide investigation.

It would show that the truth prevailed.

Deans daughter Jodie, now 21 and living in Alberta, decided five years after her fathers death to stop wondering about who is responsible.

I decided that if they were going to catch him, they were going to, so I wasnt going to drive myself nuts coming up with theories.

The decision helped her move on, even a bit, she said.

Jodie credits her parents with teaching her to work hard and not let anyone restrict her from any job or opportunity. She said they helped her become the person she is today and if my dad hadnt been around, I wouldnt have his sense of humour, Jodie added  a twisted humour, she clarified.

Her biggest memories of her dad involved horses.

When I was a kid, I always rode with my dad, she said, breaking down over the phone. When I rode with my dad, I knew that if anything went wrong, hed be able to take care of it. It just hasnt felt right to ride without him.

Cpl. Mike Pleskacz with the RCMP Historical Case Unit has been involved with this investigation for 18 months. After speaking with family, he feels like he knew Dean.

We believe that someone out there knows something that can help us bring the person who is responsible to justice.

The lead investigator declined to provide many details, including what Dean was doing the day of and prior to his passing, citing the integrity of the investigation. He would only say Dean was found dead in his yard the morning of June 30, 2008.

He prefers any other details to come from the public.

When a lot of time elapses, some people might assume that we know what they know, Pleskacz said. For us, its important that if someone has information they feel is either not important or that they think we might already know it, were just asking for them to call us and provide us that information. It might be the missing link of the puzzle.

Anyone with information is asked to contact RCMP at 204-984-6447, call Manitoba Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 or submit a secure tip online at manitobacrimestoppers.com.

 ifroese@brandonsun.com, with files from The Brandon Sun

 Twitter: @ianfroese
Facebook is to build 1,500 homes in California as part of plans to turn its headquarters into a 'village'.

The technology giant also intends to create a supermarket and a pharmacy at its campus in Silicon Valley.
US president Donald Trump has described his lengthy head-to-head encounter with Russian president Vladimir Putin as a "tremendous meeting".

Mr Trump is meeting a long list of world leaders, including Prime Minister Theresa May and President Xi Jinping of China, on Saturday as he wraps up his second trip abroad.

His comments about meeting Mr Putin came as he sat alongside Mrs May for a morning exchange on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany.

It was his first comment on the high-profile talks with Mr Putin in which he raised the issue of Russia's meddling in the 2016 US elections and discussed plans for a ceasefire agreement in Syria.

Mr Trump was expected to focus on talks to counter North Korea's push for ballistic missile and nuclear programmes, international trade and ways to combat terrorism.

Noting his country's "special relationship" with Great Britain, the president said he and Mrs May were working on a trade agreement that he described as a "very, very big deal, very powerful, great deal for both countries".

Mrs May was the first foreign leader to visit Mr Trump at the White House and he told her he would soon "be going to London" once details were worked out.

His long list of meetings with world leaders includes Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore.

He also attended a women's entrepreneurial finance event with German chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders, joined by his daughter Ivanka Trump.

Ivanka Trump and the World Bank rolled out a new fund that aims to help female entrepreneurs.

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim said the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative had so far raised 325 million US dollars from various governments.

Mr Trump will return to Washington on Saturday evening after the conclusion of the G20 meetings but is scheduled to return to Europe next week to attend Bastille Day celebrations in Paris.

The European trip to Poland and Germany has centred around the exchange with Mr Putin, Mr Trump's first in-person meeting as president.

Both sides offered differing explanations of what took place.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said they had a "robust and lengthy" discussion about the election interference but Mr Putin denied any involvement.

His Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said Mr Trump had accepted Mr Putin's assurances that Russia did not meddle in the US election - a characterisation the US disputed.

"I think the president is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point," said Mr Tillerson, who took part in the meeting along with Mr Lavrov.

US officials have said Russia tried to hack election systems in 21 states and sway the election for Mr Trump, representing a level of interference in the US political system that security experts said represents a top-level threat.

The meeting with Mr Putin, scheduled for 35 minutes, took more than 2 hours and focused heavily on a just-announced cease fire deal for south west Syria.

Mr Tillerson said details about the cease fire still need to be worked out, but Mr Lavrov told reporters that Russian military police will monitor it, with a centre set up in Jordan.

Both the Russians and the Americans took pains to describe the meeting as "constructive", cordial and wide-ranging, covering key topics including cyber security and North Korea.

"The two leaders connected very quickly," Mr Tillerson said. "There was a very clear positive chemistry."

- PA
Theresa May will tell the world's most powerful leaders they are not doing enough to tackle modern slavery as she warns it is the greatest human rights issue they are facing.

Radical action is needed to stamp out the "vile" crime but the international response has been fragmented, she will say at the G20 summit.

Tackling slavery has been one of Mrs May's key priorities since she was home secretary.

She will urge the G20 to work together to meet the United Nations' target of wiping out the crime by 2030.

Ahead of the discussions, Mrs May said: "This is the great human rights issue of our time.

"Tackling human trafficking and modern slavery remains a top priority for this government and we are committed to stamping out this abhorrent crime.

"In the UK we have set up the first ever government taskforce for modern slavery, bringing together every relevant department to co-ordinate and drive all our efforts in the battle against this cruel exploitation.

"But if we are to eradicate modern slavery around the world, we need to go much further.

"Victims will only find freedom if we cultivate a radically new, global and coordinated approach to defeat this vile crime.

"And that is why today at the G20 summit I am calling on the international community to follow Britain's lead in prioritising action in this area, in particular in supply chains."

- PA
Church of the Brethren Newsline

July 8, 2017

by Frances Townsend

The Mission and Ministry Board of the Church of the Brethren has approved a $5,192,000 budget parameter for its Core Ministries in 2018, which is the same as the current 2017 budget. On June 28 in its pre-Annual Conference meeting in Grand Rapids, Mich., the board also heard a report on the sale of the upper campus of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., among other business.

Giving from congregations and individuals is projected to provide $2,585,000 toward the Core Ministries budget in 2018, the board heard from Brian Bultman, chief financial officer. The rest of the support for the budget is projected to come from draws on savings and other funds, such as bequests.

Salary and benefit costs in the new budget will rise slightly due to a 1.5 percent cost of living adjustment for personnel. Costs for medical insurance premiums are also projected to increase.

In an update on the sale of the upper campus of the Brethren Service Center, the board learned that a quasi-endowment created with a portion of the proceeds from the sale will provide up to $512,000 for the Core Ministries budget in 2018.

Discussion noted that the Brethren Service Center property was subsidized for years by the Core Ministries budget, and now some of the accumulated assets will be put to work in current ministry projects. If that money were not used in 2018, church ministries and personnel would have to be cut significantly, the board heard.

The board also noted that the $512,000 is part of budget patches approved a year ago, which gave the board time to lay the ground work for a capital campaign. There was an acknowledgment that draws beyond 2018 are not sustainable.

At its March board meeting, the board had allocated percentages of the anticipated property sale to several funds. A designated fund for upkeep of the historic Brethren property at Germantown, Pa.where the denomination owns the church, parsonage, and cemeteryreceives $100,000 to help support major work at this site. Thirty percent of the remainder of the sale proceeds, totaling $1,584,809, is being put into a new Brethren Faith in Action Fund. Seventy percent, or $3,692,697, is going into the quasi-endowment fund.

The lower campus of the property in New Windsor continues as the Brethren Service Center. Offices there have been renovated and more than 20 people remain employed at various departments and agencies. The facility houses Brethren Disaster Ministries, Material Resources, and other staff of the Church of the Brethren, as well as office space for On Earth Peace and the SERRV distribution center. SERRV International has signed a three-year lease for the space.

In other business

The board gave staff permission to explore hiring a consulting firm to conduct a feasibility study to determine if and how to launch a major fundraising effort. If the board gives approval to move forward, at its fall meeting when a recommendation is brought by staff, such a campaign may put the denomination on a more sustainable financial footing so that patching budget holes with one-time draws on special funds will not be necessary.

Congregational Life Ministries presented awards and citations. Two congregations received citations from the Disabilities Ministry, and director Debbie Eisenbise welcomed them to the Open Roof Fellowship: Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren and York Center Church of the Brethren, both in Illinois and Wisconsin District. Don and Belita Mitchell received the Revelation 7:9 Award from the Intercultural Ministry, in recognition of their time, passion, and energy given for many years to make the Church of the Brethren an intercultural church. Most recently, they have offered intercultural leadership in Atlantic Northeast District.

International guests were introduced from Church of the Brethren bodies in the Great Lakes region of Africa, Haiti, India, Nigeria, Spain, and the Dominican Republic. The international guests who were at Annual Conference included EYN leaders from Nigeria Joel and Salamatu Billi, Daniel and Abigail Mbaya, and Markus Gamache, along with self-sponsored Nigerian guests Hauwa Zoaka and Adamu Malik. Attending from Rwanda was Etienne Nsanzimana. From Haiti, guests included Haitian church leaders Jean Bily Telfort and Vildor Archange. From the Dominican Republic, attendees representing the Dominican church were Gustavo Lendi Bueno and Besaida Diny Encarnacion. Spanish Brethren leaders included Santos Terrero Feliz and Ruch Matos Vargas. The First District Church of the Brethren in India was represented by Ramesh Makwan and Ravindra Patel.

The guests shared greetings and some gave brief reports. The representative of the church in Rwanda reported that the country now has four congregations of the Church of the Brethren. No leaders were present from the church in the Democratic Republic of Congo because of difficulty in obtaining visas. A representative of the India Brethren expressed gratitude for the connection with American Brethren, and great concern for increasing anti-Christian activity in India. The EYN presidents brought greetings from the Nigerian Brethren, and thanks for the recent donation of two new tractors. The president of the church in Spain shared information about a goal to work across Europe. The Spanish Brethren recently opened a church plant in London, and have a dream to complete the circle back to their Brethren roots and plant a church in Germany.
Canberra Liberals spokesman for gaming and racing Mark Parton has revealed he once battled a serious gambling addiction.

The Liberal parliamentarian opened up about his experience in light of the news the ACT government plans to ban cash-out via eftpos in clubs.

Canberra Liberal's gaming and racing spokesman Mark Parton said he turned his life around and now only gambles moderately. Credit:Jamila Toderas

He said people with a gambling problem would go to any lengths to access their money. Curbing eftpos cash out only takes away the human interaction element, which could lead to intervention.

"My experience when I was in that space was that there would have to be a hell of a lot of road blocks placed in front of me to stop me accessing the money to continue what I was doing," he said.
As every owner will know all too well, all dogs are good dogs.

But the aim this weekend in Canberra is all about finding out which good dog will be crowned top dog.

Beverley Barr from Canberra with her Keeshond Snoop and Gonzalo Donoso with his Afghan hound Conrad. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

From the smallest of pugs to the largest of German shepherds, and almost every breed in between, more than 2500 dogs - and their owners - converged on Exhibition Park for the International Dog Show and Trial Extravaganza.

This is the second year the event has been staged in Canberra, with judges flying in from as far as Brazil, Canada and New Zealand to assess Australia's best dogs.
They were the pink symbols of protest against US President Donald Trump at rallies around the world from Washington to Warsaw.

Now the "pussy hat", the item of clothing that became an emblem of the international women's marches held earlier this year, is popping up in Canberra as a way to raise money for frontline domestic violence services in the territory.

Dubbed The Pussy Hat Project, the campaign is bringing together Canberra's knitting community to make as many of the hats as possible, with the money raised from sales going towards the Domestic Violence Crisis Service.

The project's founder and knitting enthusiast, Stephen Lawton, said he wanted to use his skills as a way to help Canberra's frontline services.
As the ACT government moves to ban greyhound racing in the territory community groups are preparing to welcome new additions to their foster and rescue families.

ACT Greyhound Support Network members met with the minister for regulatory services Gordon Ramsay on Saturday to discuss the way forward.

Greyhound owners and foster carers at Lake Ginninderra. Credit:Rohan Thomson

Group co-ordinator Cindy Daley said the rescue and foster carers were keen to engage with the taskforce to determine their role in the process.

"We're wondering how we're going to manage the drawdown," she said.
Shark drum lines are set to be deployed as far south as Ulladulla, but not far enough to reach Canberra's summer playground of Batemans Bay.

The shark management alert in real time (SMART) drum lines have been in place on the NSW north coast since December 2015.

3.1 m shark caught on DPI SMART drum line near Evans Head in 2016 as part of the NSW government's $16m shark management strategy.

They are designed as a non-lethal shark mitigation measure, whereby technology deployed off beaches alerts the Department of Primary Industries to the presence of a shark caught in the system, with potentially dangerous sharks relocated further offshore.

Early monitoring of the program suggests drum lines are more effective at catching target sharks, and are safer for all marine life compared with shark nets.
The Big Issue has launched a classroom in Canberra as a hub for social justice education.

The classroom, which opened in late June in Barton, will deliver workshops and allow students to hear first-hand from people who have experienced homelessness, disadvantage or disability.

The Big Issue has launched a classroom in Canberra to deliver social justice workshops to students. Credit:Henry Zwartz

Its goal is to break down negative stereotypes in our community however the sessions also give primary and secondary schoolers an insight into the social enterprise business model.

Sydney and Melbourne have offered similar workshops in classrooms and online since 2009 and the organisation felt the expansion to Canberra would tap into the some 150,000 students who visit the ACT each year.
The problem of gambling addiction is a complex one that continues to evoke great debate in the community and within the ACT government. It is not an issue in which there is a quick fix available and there is no getting past the fact that a love of taking a punt is part of the nation's psyche. The ACT government's latest proposal to ban cash-out via eftpos machines in clubs is just the latest in a series of measures to aggressively target problem gamblers. It comes after an investigation found clubs were bypassing the $250-a-day limit on ATM machines made in 2013 by installing eftpos machines.

The changes detailed in a letter to clubs this week were prompted by the experience of problem gambler Laurie Brown who lost $230,000 by exploiting this loophole. While there are solid arguments for harm minimisation strategies there is also a view that this is not the best approach to take and that providing increased support to problem gamblers is a better bet. The decision by Canberra Liberals MLA Mark Parton to share his personal story of gambling addiction brings an important voice to the continuing debate about the issue in the territory. He decided to tell his story because he does not agree with the ACT government's focus on mitigation measures to deter problem gamblers and instead wants greater support for them. "The only way you'll stop individual problem gamblers is to get them to a point where they acknowledge they have a problem and they rebel against it, they do something about it," he said.
Twitter on trigger

Trump's attention span and memory, as suggested by his propensity to resort reflexly to Twitter, demonstrates need for reality testing, as illustrated by his calling for a "determined response" to the "reckless and brutal regime in North Korea" ("Trump says patience with North Korea is over", Sunday CT, July 2, p15).

While Kim Jong-un's dictatorship does not fit Trump's paradigm, the outfit, i.e. US, over which he presides (owns) is by no means a paragon of virtue to be emulated.

Regardless of how he might manipulate history, Trump will be unable to locate a country North Korea has invaded, illegally; no country whose democratic institutions it has undermined; no country on which it has dropped an atom bomb; no ocean that it has contaminated with radiation; no country to which it has exported terrorism; no country to which it has used extraordinary rendition to torture: and North Korea has not used specious devices akin to Guantanamo to create a fiction of legality.
Hamburg: As G20 protesters set fire to parts of the city on Friday night, Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull took refuge in the safest ride in the city of Hamburg.

Five-inch thick bullet proof glass, Kevlar tyres, rocket-propelled grenades, tear gas cannons, a litre of the President's own blood type, an oxygen tank and pump action shotguns protected the Australian Prime Minister and his wife when they took a ride in the car better known as The Beast with Donald and Melania Trump.

The eight-tonne "Beast" - which costs a cool $1.5 million per car - is the President's four-wheeled transport, which follows him around the world.

The Turnbulls and the Trumps took a ride in it on Friday night after the first full day of the G20 meeting, in which terrorism, trade, North Korea's nuclear ambitions and climate change figured prominently.
Madonna performs onstage during day 3 of the 2015 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival (Weekend 1) at the Empire Polo Club on April 12, 2015 in Indio, California. Credit:Getty With the growth of advertising and beauty advice columns, there was gradual acceptance that fading looks should be combated by almost any means necessary. For older women, being visibly made up gradually became more tolerable, though the degree to which the cosmetics might be detectable was a point of contention. Women who foolishly attempted to recreate the charms of their youth were still harshly judged. Cosmetics and ageing The 30s were understood as a threshold for women entering middle age and no longer being considered at the peak of attractiveness. An advertisement for Madame Duprees Berlin Toilet Soap from 1890 promises a return to youthful beauty and specifies that the soap can make [] a lady of 35 appear but 25. A 1904 beauty manual by Lady Jean, Beauty as a Fine Art, is generous enough to suggest that a woman of 40 is just entering upon a long summer of useful and enjoyable existence. Yet it goes on to suggest that anything that threatens to rob her of the outward sign of youth could be combated and defied by all reasonable means.

The rise of advertising and consumer culture in the Victorian period saw the birth of thousands of brand-name beauty products. Many promised readers that they could retain the markers of youth: a full head of luxurious hair with no bald spots or grey, a full set of teeth, a trim waist, and a clear and smooth complexion. Importantly, an overall distinction was made between products that might preserve youth, such as soaps, treatments and baths, and those that attempt to artificially conceal aged skin, such as obvious coloured cosmetics. There was greater acceptance of certain cosmetics such as powder and rouge in the late 19th century. However, lingering views about natural beauty and the unpleasantness of older woman attempting to present themselves as youthful ensured that cosmetic advertisements denied the artifice involved in their products. Advertisements for soaps, dyes and related beautifying aids emphasised their capacity to preserve what beauty women already possessed. Advertisements for hair restorers claimed (surely erroneously) they could renew grey hair to its original colour without the use of dye. An ad for Rossetters hair restorer from around 1880 also claims to give the hair the lustre and health of youth. In small print at the bottom of an undated advertisement for Blackhams hair restorer, it is acknowledged that their Electric Hair Stain is a dye  but purchasers are reassured that this cannot be detected. In a similar vein to todays attitudes to cosmetic surgery, this claim signals how women had to ensure improvements to their appearance were seen as natural and, ironically, unnoticeable.

Soap was the most acceptable of commercial products for preserving youthful skin. Actresses and famous figures often provided written testimonials or directly featured in Victorian advertising. Sarah Bernhardt, a French actress, regularly appeared in beauty advertisements, including for Pears soap and her own rice-based face powder. Ageing disgracefully In contrast to frequent advocacy for soaps and home remedies in womens magazines, the services and treatments of the infamous cosmetician Madame Rachel, Sarah Rachel Levison, provided well-publicised examples of older women who were imagined as foolish and vain for seeking to improve their appearances. Products provided at her London salon included Circassian Beauty Wash, Magnetic Rock Dew Water of Sahara for removing wrinkles, and Youth and Beauty Cream. In 1863, Rachel published a 24-page pamphlet, entitled Beautiful For Ever! It told how she now had the sole right to sell "the Magnetic Rock Dew Water of Sahara, which possesses the extraordinary property of increasing the vital energies  restores the colour of grey hair  gives the appearance of youth to persons far advanced in years, and removes wrinkle, defect, and blemishes, from whatever cause they may arise". The treatment for which Madame Rachel was most famous was known as enamelling. This involved the removal of facial hair, cleansing of the skin with alkaline washes, then filling of any wrinkles or uneven facial features with a thick white paste, which sometimes contained lead. This was followed by the application of powder and rouge.

The gullibility of older women in chasing the fountain of youth through cosmetics was amply illustrated in Madame Rachels trial for fraud in 1868. Her victim, 50-year-old Mary Tucker Borradaile, was described as an object of pity in the trial. One of the prosecutors, Montagu Williams, found it hard to believe that Borradaile could have believed she could be made beautiful forever. He later recalled her to be a pathetic figure in her attempts to look attractive despite her years: "She was a spare, thin, scraggy-looking woman, wholly devoid of figure; her hair was dyed a bright yellow; her face was ruddled with paint; and the darkness of her eyebrows was strongly suggestive of meretricious art." It was recorded that Borradaile had been beautiful in her youth and was particularly noted for her long, golden hair. But, in court, her hair was observed to be unnaturally dyed or artificial. Fellow prosecutor William Ballantine described Borradaile as "a skeleton encased apparently in plaster of Paris, painted pink and white, and surmounted with a juvenile wig". According to Helen Rappaport, when Borradaile entered the courtroom to give evidence, there were audible gasps at her made-up face. The absolute loss of empire

Horror at the cosmetically enhanced older woman continued to be expressed into the early 20th century. In The Art of Being Beautiful from 1902, the supposedly 50-year-old interviewee, the Baroness, advises: "For a woman to try and knock more than ten years off her age is an arrogance for which she is punished by every glance of the passers-by. When she tries as a brunette to make herself into a blonde by the use of unlimited white chalk, she also makes herself grotesque  as unpleasing as a fly that had dropped into a honey-pot. When, as a blonde, she adorns herself with black eyebrows like croquet hoops, frankly she becomes alarming, if not detestable." The Baroness also remarks that dyed hair does not complement wrinkled cheeks, especially when the dye chosen is of an infantine yellow tint. Apparently, there were certain signs of youth that older women should not attempt to recapture. While the Baroness critiqued the older woman who attempted to turn back the hands of time through excessive use of cosmetics, she did advocate for beauty regimens to slow the process of ageing. She described the loss of beauty as the absolute loss of empire. Active preparations for ageing were encouraged  in the same manner as the fire brigade, army and medical profession might ready for fires, war and disease. So as women aged, they were confronted with the choice of either accepting the gradual fading of their looks, or being criticised for trying to visibly ameliorate signs of age, attempting the impossible task of trying to stave off wrinkles and grey hair. These double standards are exceedingly familiar. Older women in the public eye are caught in a bind between being seen as excessive users of cosmetic surgery who have made themselves look unnatural, or of having aged or let themselves go to the point of no longer being seen as desirable and bankable.

Actresses in their 50s, such as Meg Ryan and Daryl Hannah, regularly appear in photo galleries taking delight in botched plastic surgery or marvelling at trout pouts. Conversely, magazines and gossip sites pounced on unflattering photographs of Kirstie Ally, now 66, when she gained a significant amount of weight in 2008, and proclaimed her washed up. While a small number of women in the public eye, like Brigitte Macron, are seen to deftly negotiate these expectations of beauty and ageing, most are set up to fail. This article was amended July 7 to correct that Kirstie Alley was being referred to, not Ally Sheedy. Loading
An attorney for Blac Chyna filed Friday for a temporary restraining order against reality star Rob Kardashian after he posted sexually explicit images of the model on Instagram and Twitter.

Lisa Bloom, a well-known celebrity attorney, said her client Blac Chyna was "a victim of cyberbullying by her ex-boyfriend, Rob Kardashian" and they filed for a temporary restraining order against him Friday, A hearing on the order will be held Monday.

A soured relationship: Blac Chyna and Rob Kardashian in 2016. Credit:Getty Images

Kardashian, 30, posted the images Wednesday while accusing Chyna, the mother of his child, of cheating on him.

Some legal experts have said the posts could be problematic because in 2013, California lawmakers passed a law penalising what is known as "nonconsensual pornography." A violation of the law is a misdemeanour resulting in up to six months in jail.
In today's age a "coming out" news story should be a thing of the past. But it was just three years ago that a witch-hunt was on for Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe to confirm his sexuality.

"It was a long time coming though," Thorpe, 34, laughed, before he added: "But really you shouldn't rush these things, for anyone, not just in the public eye, a question about your sexuality is not for anyone. It should be when they are ready to speak about it."

Despite the changing face of the world since his 2014 sit-down with Michael Parkinson, Australia's most decorated Olympian believes his "coming out" story would not be too dissimilar today.

"We still don't have marriage equality, so I'm not sure [if there would be a difference]," the new Specsavers ambassador told Fairfax Media this week.
In just two weeks, Oliver Curtis has gone from the $292 a night Cooma Correctional Centre to the at least $1000 a night luxurious Alila Villas in Uluwatu, Bali.

The 31-year-old, who was freed from prison on June 23 after a year behind bars on insider trading charges, jetted business class to the lap of luxury on Wednesday with wife of five years, Roxy Jacenko, 37, and their two children, Pixie, five, and Hunter, three.

In Cooma, Curtis would have been used to spending 18 hours a day in his cell, which would have been locked at 3.45pm each day and not opened again until the morning, but in Uluwatu, he is enjoying the open-plan design of the villas complete with infinity pools with views of the aquamarine Indian Ocean, jacuzzis, an indoor rain shower and poolside massages.

Curtis has been seen splashing around in the pool with Pixie and Hunter, with Jacenko saying before he was released that their main focus as a family would be reuniting him with the children, including convincing them their father won't be leaving "for overseas" again. Hunter and Pixie believed Curtis had been in China for the past year and not Cooma.
While Miranda Kerr's silence on her "romance" with Malaysian billionaire Jho Low, which last week resulted in her handing over $11 million worth of sparkly jewels from her Los Angeles safe deposit box to US government agents, has been deafening, PS has managed to unearth a few more details about the model and the moneybags' seemingly unlikely connection.

Among the jewels Kerr handed over, according to The Wall Street Journal, was a 11.72 carat heart-shaped diamond pendant, a Valentine's Day gift in 2014 from former "boyfriend" and Malaysian financier Low.

Jho Low's luxury superyacht Equanimity. Credit:Bloomberg

PS can reveal that later that year, in August, Kerr and her Californian-based agent Kristal Fox, enjoyed Low's hospitality aboard his $250 million superyacht Equanimity while it was bobbing off the idyllic coastline of Corfu.

Fresh from splitting with her husband Orlando Bloom, Kerr was spotted in Corfu at the time and even made the local press, but it was her host who is raising eyebrows three years later as the central figure in a corruption scandal that has engulfed Malaysia's powerful elite.
St Andrew's College. Credit:Jessica Hromas Bec, the daughter of two doctors, Bondi GP Virginia Solomon and Riverina cardiologist David Gallagher, had died from complications believed to be associated with anorexia nervosa. A NSW Police spokeswoman said a report was being prepared for the coroner. ACT Health made repeated requests for information. Credit:Louie Douvis In her death notice, the family, whom Fairfax Media contacted before publishing this story, asked that in Bec's memory donations could be made to the Butterfly Foundation, a charity that supports those suffering from eating disorders.

Now, more than a year after Bec's death, concerns remain about the impact of eating disorders in university college settings Australia wide, as thousands of high school students across the country prepare to decide if they will live on campus at a college next year. The Butterfly Foundation's chief executive Christine Morgan says prevention and early intervention are key to reducing the onset of eating disorders. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen University of Melbourne researcher Marie Camin said communal living, rigid meal times, and the college culture of sexual objectification could exacerbate eating disorders which affect up to one million Australians, according to a report from Deloitte Access Economics and The Butterfly Foundation. Figures published by the National Eating Disorder Collaboration show one in 20 of those suffering from anorexia die, the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder. "College can be an incredibly lonely place despite there being so many people," said UNSW student Evie. Credit:Quentin Jones

"If these girls have those risk factors to begin with and are exposed to a critical appearance focused culture it can serve as a trigger," she said. Ms Camin points out that while body image is one issue, eating disorders are a complex mental illness associated with "control, perfectionism, high-achievement [and] low self-esteem". Grace,*19, a second year college student at the Australian National University, said she developed an eating disorder by comparing how much she was eating to the other girls at her dining table. "For me, I always missed breakfast and often lunch due to sleeping or class," she said. "I then sort of realised how easy it was. When I went home [and] saw school friends everyone would comment on the weight I had lost."

Grace said she was aware of college men "rating girls at college events on their body" and that the "sexist culture" of some colleges made young women anxious about over-eating. In 2016, five male college students were expelled from ANU and another two suspended for taking "creep-shot" photos down female students' blouses, and rating them on a secret male-only Facebook group. Another woman, Evie,* said she was diagnosed with anorexia and bulimia while attending UNSW between 2013 and 2016. "College can be an incredibly lonely place despite there being so many people," she said. "I got away with eating watermelon for breakfast and lettuce and beans for lunch and dinner."

Former ANU student Kylie,* 23, said there was a contagious anxiety effect. "One girl would go through other people's food to monitor what they were eating," she said. "She would try to force other girls to eat chocolate bars [to make herself feel better], and became very competitive." She said the pressure to exercise and the existence of communal bathrooms were other factors. "You see people naked, or semi-naked quite a bit [and this invites social comparison]," she said.

Ms Camin said sufferers often experience distorted self-perceptions. "A student may think 'she looks thinner than I do, and I should be eating less," she said. "Even if a girl is thinner than someone, there is no end post. Whatever they are trying to obtain, you never obtain it. "You die before you get there". Other college students have told Fairfax Media of regularly smelling vomit in the bathrooms and a culture of girls binge-drinking and then vomiting to expel calories, before continuing to drink in a phenomenon colloquially known as "drunkorexia".

It is a behaviour encouraged by the initiation games at many Australian colleges. In a Facebook post published in 2015, a St Andrew's senior tutor encouraged students to undertake a "Bachelor of Inebriation" by consuming 15 drinks at eight different venues while vomiting on "chunder markers". A 2013 study of 139 female Australian university students aged between 18 and 29 published in the Journal of Eating Disorders found up to 79 per cent had engaged in "drunkorexic" behaviour at one time or another. Butterfly Foundation CEO Christine Morgan said it was important for college staff to be educated and have an awareness of symptoms associated with eating disorders. "Colleges should have appropriate health professionals, services and information available to support or refer college residents," she said. If you, or anyone you know is experiencing an eating disorder or body image concerns, you can call the Butterfly Foundation National Helpline on 1800 33 4673 (ED HOPE) or email support@thebutterflyfoundation.org.au
A 98-year-old woman has been left fighting for life after a head-one collision in Brisbane's south-west.

Police are appealing for information after a car and a four-wheel-drive collided on Seventeen Mile Rocks Road in Jindalee on Thursday.

Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage to come forward. Credit:Luis Ascui

The crash happened about 1pm on a bend in the road and the elderly woman, who was a passenger in the 4WD, was taken to the Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital where she remains in a critical condition.

Police are appealing for any witnesses or people that have relevant dash cam vision to contact them.
"How do you ever come to terms with something like that?" Friends told The Sunday Telegraph that Mr Monroy was adored by everyone. Gary Taylor, 49, said: "We don't know yet what happened but it must have been just awful for Mike. Pedro normally acted as a choreographer for the shows so we have no idea how this came about. "He was the finest man you could ever wish to meet, a hugely generous soul and someone who just made friends everywhere he went. He was a huge ball of energy and everyone adored him. "He had been together with his partner Michael for the last 18 months after they met in Brighton. They were in love and Pedro was the happiest we had ever seen him.

"For Mike to see this happen is just dreadful. No one can imagine how he is feeling. I am flying straight out to Madrid to try to help in whatever way I can." Mr Monroy had lived in Brighton for the past three years and decided to diversify from his performing arts company by also opening the Aunion Therapy Studio in the city six months ago. He was specialising in massage treatments, Pilates, yoga and acupuncture, and also offered spa treatments to guests at the Grand Hotel. Mr Taylor, a Brighton-based psychologist, added: "I helped arrange the setting up of his new business and it was going extremely well. He was very positive about the future. "This is so tragic. We have heard his performance in Madrid was rained off at first but the details we have are very sketchy."

Estefi Chaje, Mr Monroy's sister, said he died doing what he loved best. "He was doing what he liked most, a show on Mad Cool. We're devastated," she wrote as she announced his death to friends and family on Facebook. The accident happened as the performer was descending in an illuminated box for a stunt during a break between British Band Alt-J and the US rockers. Mr Monroy, who was a director of a performing arts company based in Portslade, Brighton, had been performing inside a box hanging from a crane in which he appeared to be wearing a harness.

After the fall, paramedics could be seen helping Mr Monroy as he lay on the floor, but it was later confirmed he died as a result of his injuries. Green Day later tweeted: "We just got offstage at Mad Cool Festival to disturbing news. A very brave artist named Pedro lost his life tonight in a tragic accident." In a statement the Mad Cool Festival organisers said they were sorry for the accident but had decided to continue with the final act of the night "for security reasons". Many music fans expressed disgust with Mad Cool for not suspending the Green Day concert. Albert Bonilla, a journalist who was at the festival, criticised the lack of sensitivity of organisers as he left the site. "A rabbit has come on to the stage to announce Green Day. Out comes the group and it's as if nothing had happened."

British entertainer Adrian Randle wrote that he could not stay to watch Green Day after the tragedy. Friends took to social media to pay tribute to him. Charlie Raffell, from Lewes, wrote: "I can't believe such devastating news fly high Angel xxxxxx" Daniel Da Rocha, of Brighton, added: "I cannot believe what happened yesterday. Reading the news is heartbreaking.

"I am really sorry for Pedro's family who lost such a beautiful soul. "He came a few times to rugby practice last year and he was such a lovely guy. "He had so much ambitions and he was a great performer too. My love goes to the family. Rest in peace lovely Pedro." Manuela Carmen, the Mayoress of Madrid, tweeted after learning of Pedro's death: "Pained to learn of the death of this acrobat while he was doing his job at Mad Cool."

Pierre-Yves Monnerville paid tribute to him on Facebook: "What a tragedy. At least I had the pleasure to get to know you. Rest in peace beautiful xxx" Lauren Tilbury said she was "lost for words. I hope you dance forever and give a mean massage with the other angels up there. God bless you. I'll never forget you," she added. Childhood friend Rmulo Rejn wrote: "I will always remember your energy, your joy and your honesty. "I'll never forget when we grew up together in theatre school and how we loved what we did. "Lucky to have met you."
Hamburg: First daughter Ivanka Trump took her father's seat at a G20 meeting table in Hamburg on Saturday, sitting in for the US President when he stepped away for one-on-one meetings with world leaders.

As an unpaid adviser to her father, Ivanka told Fox & Friends last month that she tries to "stay out of politics".

But as President Trump stepped away from the a G20 session on Saturday to meet with the president of Indonesia, Ivanka literally took his seat among world leaders, sitting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Theresa May.

An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin tweeted out a photo of the event. The aide later deleted the tweet, but not before it made the rounds on the Internet.
New York: For the first time in the seven-decade effort to avert a nuclear war, a global treaty has been negotiated that proponents say would, if successful, lead to the destruction of all nuclear weapons and forever prohibit their use.

Negotiators representing two-thirds of the 192-member United Nations finalised the 10-page treaty this week after months of talks.

The document, called the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, was formally adopted Friday at UN headquarters in New York during the final session of the negotiation conference.

It will be open for signature by any member state starting September 20 during the annual General Assembly and will enter into legal force 90 days after it has been ratified by 50 countries.
Big Pals event at Dairy Queen

COLUMBUS -- Big Pals-Little Pals, a youth mentoring program, will have a fundraiser from 5-8 p.m. Tuesday at Dairy Queen, 665 33rd Ave.

Dairy Queen will donate 10 percent of all sales to the local nonprofit organization.

For more information about Big Pals-Little Pals, call 402-563-1081 or visit www.bigpals.org.

Schuyler holding blood drive

SCHUYLER  A community blood drive will be held 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Oak Ballroom in Schuyler.

Donors must bring their donor card, driver's license or another form of identification. For appointments, call Catherine at 402-352-5231. Walk-ins are also welcome.

Free woodchips available

COLUMBUS -- The city is offering free woodchips to the public at the transfer station, 250 S. 14th Ave., during the hours of 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

The woodchips are offered on a first-come, first-served basis as long as they are available. Transfer station staff is available to assist in loading the chips.

For more information, call 402-562-4254.

Utility repairs impact streets

COLUMBUS -- City water utility repairs will begin 7:30 a.m. Monday at the 15th Street and 23rd Avenue intersection.

Temporary lane closures and turning restrictions at the intersection will continue until Friday, weather permitting. Drivers and pedestrians are asked to use caution around the work zone.

FSA holding election workshop

COLUMBUS -- The Platte County Farm Service Agency office is holding a public workshop on the 2017 county committee election process at 1 p.m. Thursday at the FSA office, 3276 53rd Ave.

Platte County local administrative area 2 is up for election, which includes the townships of Burrows, Joliet, Lost Creek, Walker and Woodville.

Artists' reception at gallery

COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Art Gallery will hold an artists reception from 2-4 p.m. July 15.

The new exhibit runs through Aug. 11 and features batik artist Sammy Lynn and sculpture artist Clyde Erickson. The reception is free and open to the public.

The gallery is located on the lower level of Columbus Public Library, 2504 14th St.

Army Band playing locally

COLUMBUS -- The 43rd Army Band  Nebraska National Guard will wrap up its summer concert tour in Columbus with a 7 p.m. concert on July 21 in Frankfort Square.

The concert is free and open to the public.

For more information about the band, visit www.facebook.com/43rd.

Casino bus trip planned

SCHUYLER -- The Colfax County Senior Center in Schuyler will hold a fundraiser bus trip to WinnaVegas Casino on July 17.

Pickup locations are Columbus, North Bend, Schuyler and Fremont.

Reservations are required by Friday by calling Betty at 402-615-0857 or Lloyd at 402-615-0353. Cost is $10 per person, payable when boarding the bus.
Over 1,200 mail-in votes added to Montco totals; Bucks still in limbo

Two of Montgomery County's three commissioners said they did not support disenfranchising more than 1,200 voters because of a handful of rule breakers
NJ man pushing shopping cart across America to help homeless vets

Morris County native Tommy Pasquale said he wanted to do something impossible. So he set off on a 3,000-mile journey from the Jersey Shore.
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An historic country house famed for its use as a stunning wedding venue has been bought out of administration, saving 18 jobs.

The future of the Dovecliff Hall Hotel, which is situated between Rolleston-on-Dove and Stretton, was in jeopardy after Abbot Grange, which operated the site, called in administrators back in February.

Since then, the administrators have been running the hotel as usual, honouring all bookings, including weddings, while seeking a buyer.

Now, the venue, which comprises 15 rooms and is set in six acres of grounds overlooking the River Dove, has been sold to a local businessman Anton Jenkins, a director at Burton-based pharmaceuticals firm Clinigen.

The sale was led by insolvency specialists Matt Ingram and Sarah Bell of Duff and Phelps with support from real estate adviser GVA.

Mr Ingram said that the deal secures the future of the venue's 18-strong workforce.

Not long after the hotel went into administration, Mr Ingram reported a "high level of interest" in the business - and predicted that a deal could be struck within months.

Now, following the deal to sell the property, customers have been reassured that all bookings will continue to be honoured. It is also understood that the new owner has plans to invest in the hotel.

The hall is a Grade II-listed Georgian manor house dating back to 1790. It was built for the family of Thomas Thornewill. In the 19th century is was owned by Michael Arthur Bass (Lord Burton) who made many contributions to the town including gifting the Ferry Bridge. In 1902 he entertained King Edward VII at his estate in Rangemore and the King visited the Bass Brewery with the King's Ale being named after him in honour of his visit.

In 1928 the house was opened as a hotel but reverted back to a private house when it was bought by Colonel Sharpe, in 1936. The house was bought and sold several times until, in 1987, when it was purchased and renamed as the Dovecliff Hall Hotel by a consortium headed by Nick Hine.


Dhamra LNG Terminal and the Jagdishpur-Haldia-Bokaro-Dhamra pipeline project (JHBDPL) together will bring in investments worth Rs 51,000 crore into the economy of eastern India, said Union petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Flying to and from is set to get cheaper, as the Supreme Court has ordered the government to slash fees for flyers and parking charges for airlines.



The apex court has asked Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) to implement the tariff of the second control period (2014-2019) with immediate effect.



Under the second control period AERA has cut the User Development Fee (UDF) levied on domestic and international passengers at to Rs 10 and Rs 45, respectively. Also, arriving passengers will no longer be charged any fees.



At present, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) levies Rs 275-550 as UDF on each departing passenger and Rs 233-466 on each arriving one, on domestic flights.



International passengers departing are charged Rs 635-1,270 and arriving passengers pay Rs 518-1,048 as UDF. This includes service tax component.



AERA's order for Delhi formally covers the 2014-19 period. However, the implementation was delayed as Delhi International Airport was locked in a legal battle with the airlines regarding this. State-owned carrier Air India challenged this in the Supreme Court, which on 3 July vacated a stay granted by the Delhi HC, allowing the revised tariffs to kick in.



GMR Infra which holds the majority stake in the consortium that runs said in an exchange filing that it will pursue the matter with an appellate tribunal. "DIAL would engage constructively with the regulator to endeavour a balanced implementation and will work expeditiously with the appellate tribunal to reach a fair and positive outcome in the two months directed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court", GMR Infra said.



Overall, the charges on passengers and airlines have been reduced by 89.4 per cent. These include levies on landing and parking of aircraft, common use of terminal equipment charges, UDF and fuel throughout charges.



DIAL had sought a 42 per cent increase in rates and over and above the 346 per cent rise granted to it by the regulator for the first control period (2009-14).



AERA rejected the plea and initially ordered a 96 per cent reduction. DIAL pleaded these would make airport operations unviable and lead to a downgrade in credit ratings and default on loan payments. AERA then modified its decision.
IDFC Bank MD and CEO Rajiv Lall along with Chairman; Shriram Capital Ajay Piramal and an industrialist and founder of Shriram Group R Thyagarajan during the announcement of IDFC and Shriram Group merger in Mumbai on Saturday. Photo: Kamlesh Pednekar
When Ajay Piramal decided to invest in the group in 2010-11, it was not a smooth process; there was, in fact, even a decision not to go ahead with the deal. Piramal then could not have imagined himself taking over as chairman of Shriram's finance business and, eventually, a possible merger with IDFC Bank. In the event, Piramal invested over Rs 4,400 crore in Capital, the holding company of City Union and Shriram Transport Finance.
It might get tough for women to attend ladies' night parties in Hauz Khas village as may impose a ban on such gatherings. According to Delhi Police, such parties disrupt the law and order situation, reported Navbharat Times (NBT).



Such a decision may end the party-culture at Hauz khas village as pubs, bars and restaurants will be affected.
COLUMBUS  A Platte County judge told a 34-year-old Columbus man it's time he's held accountable after using drug sales to finance his own drug habit.

District Court Judge Robert Steinke sentenced Trent Miller to four to six years in prison on three counts of distributing methamphetamine in connection with a series of drug transactions in local parking lots earlier this year.

Its time you were held responsible for your drug enterprise, Steinke told Miller after recounting the defendants poor work history and voluminous drug violations over the past 15 years. Miller was sentenced to 30 months in prison for a similar meth conviction in Platte County in 2004.

In fact, the record shows you have not held a stable job since 2009, Steinke told Miller, who pleaded no contest to the meth sales in early June.

The judge ordered the sentences on all three counts to run concurrently and gave the defendant credit for 64 days already served in the county jail.

The drug distribution charges are Class II felonies, each punishable by up to 50 years imprisonment. Two other meth distribution and two meth possession charges were dismissed in June as part of a plea agreement with the county attorneys office.

In addition to Miller, Gene Johnson of St. Edward is also charged in connection with the meth sales.

According to court documents, a Columbus Police and Nebraska State Patrol investigation of the case began around mid-February in a fast-food restaurants parking lot and ended in the same parking lot in late March.

Miller was convicted of driving to deliver the meth while taking Johnson along as a go-between to make some of the drug drops and collect the cash from buyers.

What the defendants were unaware of during the six-week period is they were meeting up with a police informant equipped with a digital recording device.

Johnson, whose case is pending, was charged with three counts of meth delivery and two counts of marijuana possession stemming from five drug deals.
In a Delhi suburb, owners of a restaurant called Yummy Bhutan (where, by the way, you can get very tasty Chinese food) could be echoing Chinas sentiments. Yummy Bhutan is exactly how China is looking at Bhutan. And India has made it quite clear that it doesnt like it.
Leaders from the G20 nations, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today called for concrete steps to check radicalisation, hiring and arranging of funds for terror activities through misuse of internet and social media.

On the first day of their Summit here, the leaders also asked private sector communication service providers to do the needful for removing hate content from the web.

Asserting that the rule of law applies online as well as offline, the G20 leaders issued a 21-point joint declaration on various steps needed to be taken to fight terrorism.

The leaders called for countering radicalisation conducive to terrorism and the use of internet for terrorist purposes.

The counter terrorism actions must continue to be part of a comprehensive approach, including combating radicalisation and recruitment, hampering terrorist movements and countering terrorist propaganda, the declaration said.

To fight terrorism, the declaration said G20 nations would work with the private sector, in particular communication service providers and administrators of relevant applications.

This is to "fight exploitation of the internet and social media for terrorist purposes such as propaganda, funding and planning of terrorist acts, inciting terrorism, radicalising and recruiting to commit acts of terrorism, while fully respecting human rights," the declaration said.

The G20 leaders also underlined that appropriate filtering, detecting and removal of content that incites terrorist acts is crucial.

"... We also encourage collaboration with industry to provide lawful and non-arbitrary access to available information where access is necessary for the protection of security against terrorist threats," they said.

Sending out a strong message against terror activities, the G20 leaders stressed that countering terrorism requires comprehensively addressing underlying conditions that terrorists exploit.

"It is therefore crucial to promote political and religious tolerance, economic development and social cohesion and inclusiveness, to resolve armed conflicts, and to facilitate re-integration," the declaration said.

Noting that regional and action plans can help in countering radicalisation conducive to terrorism, the leaders said knowledge on concrete measures would be shared to address threats from returning foreign terrorist fighters and home-grown radicalised individuals.

In recent times, many countries have been grappling with the problem of individuals returning from places like Iraq and Syria after terror training.

"We will also share best practices on deradicalisation and re-integration programmes including with respect to prisoners," it said.

Further, the G20 leaders said they would exchange best practices on preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism.

(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.)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) has released its 'List of World Heritage (sites) in Danger', and Australia's Great Barrier Reef does not feature in it.

Placed on the World Heritage List in 1981, the Great Barrier Reef has become a major victim of climate change. As the oceans continue to warm, the fragile corals that constitute the reef continue to die, leaving a graveyard of white, lifeless stalks.

However, the World Heritage Committee opted not to include it during its annual meeting in Poland and the final document was adopted without a debate. UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger has 55 entries, including natural wonders and man-made sites.

Anna Marsden, managing director of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, welcomed the decision and termed it as a "big win" but was condemned by campaigners as "farcical."

Instead, the World Heritage Committee noted with "serious concern" coral bleaching along the Great Barrier Reef which is being caused by the acidification of the oceans caused by dissolved atmospheric carbon dioxide byproduct of industrialisation and asked for an overall report on the state of conservation by December 2019.

"We welcome this decision from which recognises much is being done to reduce pressures on the Great Barrier Reef -- however with so much to lose, more needs to be done," CNN quoted Marsden as saying."It is clear everyone must step up and do more to protect our global treasure.

(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.)
India's relations with the US will depend on the latter's position on Pakistan, about which New Delhi is still in the dark, said a former Indian diplomat in his assessment of the situation after the meeting late last month between the two countries' top leadership.

"After coming to power Trump (US President Donald Trump) has not said anything on Pakistan. In his address to the joint session of Congress in February this year, he said nothing on Pakistan. He did not say anything on it during his campaign either," Arun K Singh, India's Ambassador to the US in 2015-16, said here on Friday evening during a panel discussion.

During the talk held under the rubric of 'India-US Relation after Modi-Trump Summit', the former ambassador said the US policy on Afghanistan will also be a factor in its position towards Pakistan, and in turn towards India.

"Its policy towards Afghanistan will also determine its stance towards Pakistan. This will have an impact on us. And so far the situation remains," Singh said at the talk organised by the Indo-American Friendship Association.

He, however, stressed that India cannot do without the US since, "despite the changes, it still remains a dominant power".

Not just in "defence supplies, but in economy, politics, middle class aspirations, education opportunities, no other country in the world can provide us the space that the US can, not Europe, or Russia, or Japan", he said.

An alignment with the foreign policy of the US will be key to India's interest, cautioned the former envoy, since the free-market giant definitely will not craft its policies around India's interests.

"We have to keep in mind that the US will not make its foreign policy to meet India's interests... We need to see where is the convergence (between India's and US' policies) and nimbly adjust and play with that convergence to maximise our interests," he advised.

"We have no choice but to engage with the US," he asserted.

US foreign policy expert and Jawaharlal Nehru University Rector, Chintamani Mahapatra, said that India and the US are fighting "an invisible enemy" in terrorism, and although not entirely overt, there is a deep cooperation between the two countries on this issue.

"It is a secretive war, but I strongly feel that both the countries are deeply cooperative with each other (in fighting terror)," Mahapatra said.

He also remarked that India has a lot of expectations from the US on the terror front and that the support in this regard can at best be reciprocative.

"India expects a lot from the US. But can India help the US in fighting Hamas or IS ?... It has been our long time desire that the US declare Pakistan a terror state, but did we ourselves do so? " he said.

Other panellists included Suhasini Haider, Diplomatic Editor of The Hindu newspaper, and Jeffrey R. Sexton, the Minister Counsellor for Public Affairs at US Embassy in India.

(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.)
With research advancements taking over the era, a new study talks about the uses of art for crucial learning. According to the research, using background music cues, while doing a significant physical task, develops the brain.

Therefore, people who practiced a basic movement using music had an increased structural connectivity between the sound processing and movement controlling regions of the brain. The findings focus on white matter pathways - the wiring that enables brain cells to communicate with each other.

The study could have positive implications for future research into rehabilitation for patients who have lost some degree of movement control. For the experiment, thirty right-handed volunteers were divided into two groups, to learn a new task which involved sequences of finger movements with the non-dominant, left hand. One group learned the task with musical cues, while, the other group tried the task without music. After four weeks of practice, both groups of volunteers performed equally well, researchers at the University of Edinburgh found.

But using MRI scans, it was found that the musical group portrayed a significant structural increase with connectivity in the white matter tract that links auditory and motor regions on the right side of the brain. The non-music group reflected no change in their brain. Researchers hope that in the future with the help of a large number of participants for the study, they will examine whether music can really help in developing special kinds of motor rehabilitation programme or not.

Dr Katie Overy, who led the research team said: "The study suggests that music makes a key difference. We have long known that music encourages people to move. This study provides the first experimental evidence that adding musical cues to learning new motor task can lead to changes in white matter structure in the brain."

The interdisciplinary project brought together researchers from the University of Edinburgh's Institute for Music in Human and Social Development, Clinical Research Imaging Centre, and Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, and from Clinical Neuropsychology, Leiden University, The Netherlands. The results are published in the journal Brain & Cognition.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The central delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was detained by the Kolkata Police here on Saturday near Michael Nagar area, when they were on their way to riot-hit Basirhat area.

The delegation comprised of Parliament members Om Mathur, Meenakshi Lekhi and Satyapal Singh who later had an argument with the police when they were stopped from entering Basirhat.

The leaders were then carted away to the airport in a police van, flanked by cops and their supporters alike.

"Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is not applicable here and they cannot arrest us. They should have taken us to other jurisdiction and let them decide. The contradiction is that on one side they are not letting three members of the Parliament to travel and on the other hand they are saying everything is under control. On what basis are they arresting I don't know," BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi told media.

She added that the Mamata Banerjee Government will get to know what the reality is and that the State Government is hiding more than what seems on the ground.

Lekhi was also stopped at the Kolkata Airport earlier in the day.

Yesterday, the BJP, Left and the Congress delegations were prevented from visiting riot-hit areas in Basirhat by the police.

BJP's state-level delegation led by veteran actor and BJP leader Roopa Ganguly along with 19 party leaders, which was heading towards Baduria, was detained by the police at Michael Nagar near Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata yesterday.

Earlier on Thursday Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee requested the Opposition to refrain from reaching the communal-sensitive areas of North 24 Paraganas.

Violent clashes erupted in Basirhat area of the district after a Class X student updated a controversial picture on Facebook.

The boy was later detained by police, but the violence hasn't abated.

Fresh tension was reported in Basirhat area yesterday forcing the police to lob tear gas shells and resort to baton charge even as the state government decided to ban some organisations for allegedly instigating people.

The Mamata Banerjee government yesterday claimed that situation has returned to normal in Baduria and surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, the State Government has temporarily suspended internet services in four police station areas of Basirhat, Baduria, Swarupnagar and Deganga to check the spread of rumours through social networking sites.

(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.)
India today refused to elaborate on the "range of issues" discussed by Prime Minister and Chinese President during their informal conversation yesterday in Hamburg, in the backdrop of a standoff between their armies in the Sikkim sector.

"We have tweeted that the two leaders discussed a range of issues. A range of issues means a range of issues. I don't want to add anything further...I leave it to you to draw your conclusion," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

Beginning with bilaterals on the second day in Hamburg. PM @narendramodi meets with President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of G20 pic.twitter.com/jQYLvZLRXT  Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) July 8, 2017

His response came when during a briefing here he was asked if a "range of issues" discussed during the conversation between Modi and Xi ahead of the informal meeting of the BRICS leaders on the sidelines of the G20 Summit included the standoff in the Sikkim sector.

"I'm not commenting on it because we have said what we have (to say) and as to the picture, well, the old saying is that a picture speaks more than a thousand words," was Baglay's response when asked about whether the picture along with the tweet showing the two leaders smiling was indicative of any de-escalation of tension between the two countries.

The informal interaction between Modi and Xi came a day after a top Chinese foreign ministry official had said that the "atmosphere" is "not right" for a formal bilateral meeting between them in Hamburg.

The standoff between China and India in the Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction has dragged on for the past three weeks. It started after a Chinese Army's construction party attempted to build a road.

Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

Baglay also asserted that the prime minister was here to attend the G20 summit meetings. "He participated in the proceedings and India's contribution to these discussions is the main focus for us here. At the same time, the prime minister had several bilaterals on the margins," he added.

(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.)
Member nations of the G20 international economic forum on Friday came out strongly in support of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on fighting terrorism saying they condemned "all terrorist attacks worldwide and stand united and firm in the fight against terrorism and its financing".

In a repeat of the separate statement on terrorism issued during the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey, in 2015, the leaders attending the 12th G20 Summit here on Friday said in a statement: "We, the Leaders of the G20, strongly condemn all terrorist attacks worldwide and stand united and firm in the fight against terrorism and its financing."

"These atrocious acts have strengthened our resolve to cooperate to enhance our security and protect our citizens. Terrorism is a global scourge that must be fought and terrorist safe havens eliminated in every part of the world," said the statement.

It said the G20 leaders reaffirmed that all measures on countering terrorism needed to be implemented in accordance with the UN Charter and all obligations under international law, including international human rights law.

At a leaders' retreat ahead of the summit here, as a lead speaker, Modi presented a 10-point agenda on countering terrorism and, in a veiled reference to Pakistan, said countries supporting terrorism should be banned from joining the G20.

"We will address the evolving threat of returning foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) from conflict zones such as Iraq and Syria and remain committed to preventing FTFs from establishing a foothold in other countries and regions around the world. We recall UN Security Council Resolution 2178 (2014), which requires a range of actions to better tackle the foreign terrorist fighter threat," the G20 statement said.

"We will address the evolving threat of returning foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) from conflict zones such as Iraq and Syria and remain committed to preventing FTFs from establishing a foothold in other countries and regions around the world. We recall UN Security Council Resolution 2178 (2014), which requires a range of actions to better tackle the foreign terrorist fighter threat."

The statement said the G20 nations would facilitate swift and targeted exchanges of information between the intelligence and law enforcement and judicial authorities on operational information-sharing, preventive measures and criminal justice response, while ensuring the necessary balance between security and data protection aspects, in accordance with the laws.

"We will ensure that terrorists are brought to justice," it sated.

The leaders called upon their border agencies to strengthen cooperation to detect travel for terrorist purposes, including by identifying priority transit and destination countries of terrorists.

"We will support capacity building efforts in these countries in areas such as border management, information sharing and watch-list capability to manage the threat upstream," the statement said.

On financing terrorism, the statement said the leaders' resolve to make the international financial system entirely hostile to terrorist financing and commit to deepening international cooperation and exchange of information, including working with the private sector, which has a critical role in global efforts to counter terrorism financing.

"We reaffirm our commitment to tackle all sources, techniques and channels of terrorist financing and our call for swift and effective implementation of UNSCR (UN Security Council Resolution) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards worldwide. We call for strengthening measures against the financing of international terrorist organisations in particular Islamic State (IS), Al-Qaeda and their affiliates."

Backing Modi's statement that there should be no safe havens for terrorists, a veiled reference to Pakistan, the statement said: "In order to eliminate all such 'safe spaces', we commit to intensify capacity building and technical assistance, especially in relation to terrorist financing hot-spots, and we support the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) in its efforts to strengthen its traction capacity and the effectiveness of FATF and FATF-style regional bodies."

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress on Saturday demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the current standoff between the Indian and Chinese troops in Doklam region adjoining Sikkim.

"These are very sensitive and serious issues. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power and it is for that government to tell us what they wish to do," said senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal.

"We only know that from the 'jhula at Sabarmati' to the present situation...that's a big gap, from swinging to being eyeball-to-eyeball. Now, it is for the Prime Minister to make a statement, who has not made any statement so far as to why this has happened," Sibal said.

"The Prime Minister needs to tell what the country needs to do when it comes to China, Pakistan, intrusion into our land," he added.

Sibal said: "We also ask the question why have the things changed since 2014 and who is responsible for it."

(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.)
Existing laws are insufficient to curb mob lynching and people convicted of such crimes should get life imprisonment, senior Supreme Court advocate Sanjay Hegde, who has worked on a new draft Bill, the Manav Suraksha Kanoon (Masuka), tells Amit Agnihotri.
Detention Center

The inmate count at the Platte County Detention Facility Friday was 53, with 43 from Platte County and 10 from out of county.

Police

June 5

4 p.m.  In the 2200 block of 39th Avenue, an unknown vehicle struck a parked vehicle owned by Karla Wagner, 1662 30th Ave., and left the scene.

June 16

10:15 p.m.  At 517 E. 23rd St., Kevin Hernandez Marroquin, 21, Schuyler, was cited for driving under the influence, open container of alcohol and no operators license.

June 24

9:51 p.m.  At the intersection of 23rd Street and 23rd Avenue, Brenda Pettit, 53, Arden, North Caroline, was cited for driving under the influence of drugs and no operators license.

June 28

9:50 a.m.  In a parking lot in the 4500 block of 38th Street, traffic accident. Drivers were Anthony Kool, 62, 1768 W. Calle Colombo, and Nicole Zarek, 34, 3016 13th St.

July 1

1:56 a.m.  At 1408 Third St., Christopher Sherman, 40, 3717 27th St., B-31, was cited for criminal mischief.

10:25 a.m.  At 3010 23rd St., Juan Hernandez, 26, Schuyler, was cited for leaving the scene of an accident.

July 2

1:42 p.m.  At the intersection of Wilderness Road and Lost Creek Parkway, Jose Lecarias-Perez, 29, 1613 12th St., was cited for a traffic signal violation and no operators license.

July 3

3:46 a.m.  In the 1800 block of 23rd Street, Sergio Duron Reina, 20, 4070 E. 27th St., was jailed for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, driving under the influence, criminal impersonation, driving during revocation, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana-one ounce or less and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

12:07 p.m.  At 2320 23rd St., Alicia Bienka, 33, Lincoln, was cited for resisting arrest, possession of marijuana-one ounce or less and possession of drug paraphernalia.

4:29 p.m.  In the 600 block of 26th Avenue, Dustin Hardesty, 24, 2603 Seventh St., was cited for driving under suspension.

9:04 p.m.  At the intersection of 26th Avenue and 23rd Street, Victor Gonzalez, 21, 499 E. 36th Ave., was cited for a traffic signal violation and no operators license.

July 6

10:34 a.m.  Burglary at Kitty Kampus Preschool, 3054 45th Ave., under investigation.

Sheriff

June 17

Noon  On U.S. Highway 30, west of the intersection with East 44th Avenue, an unknown vehicle struck a vehicle driven by Benjamin Rodriguez-Hernandez, 33, 4704 18th St., and fled the scene.

June 20

5:41 p.m.  On Southeast 16th Street, west of East 44th Avenue, a vehicle driving by Jacob Ritterbush, 21, 217 E. 22nd St., lost control and rolled.

July 1

3:31 p.m.  On East 29th Avenue, one mile east of Columbus, traffic accident. Drivers were Salbador Hernandez, 51, 2812 E. 40th ST., and Kassia Bixenmann, 17, 3606 SE Seventh St.

July 3

8:57 a.m. - At the intersection of East 29th Avenue and 18th Street, traffic accident. Drivers were Peggie Schleich, 46, 271 10th Ave., and John Lehr, 61, Silver Creek.

July 5

1:01 a.m.  At the intersection of 355th Avenue and Highway 30, Bashir Omar Abdullahi of Grand Island cited for speeding.

3:03 p.m.  Traffic violation at the intersection of East 14th Avenue and 23rd Street, Donald Houdek was cited for speeding.

3:25 p.m.  Traffic violation on Highway 30 at the Colfax County line, Jonathon Weddle of Rogers cited for speeding.

10:26 p.m.  At a campsite in Monroe, Benjamin King of Columbus jailed for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, possession of marijuana-one ounce or less and possession of drug paraphernalia.

July 6

6:16 a.m.  At the intersection of Highway 30 and East 29th Avenue, Sheila Gawrych of Columbus cited for following too close.

3:36 p.m.  Traffic violation at Lake North, Omar Ortiz of Columbus cited for speeding.

Fire

July 5

9:12 a.m.  In the 3000 block of 39th Avenue, medical.

10:58 a.m.  Accident in the 1800 block of 23rd Street.

3:17 p.m.  In the 4200 block of 38th Street, medical.

5:15 p.m.  In the 4000 block of 38th Street, medical.

5:36 p.m.  In the 500 block of 33rd Avenue, medical.

5:42 p.m.  In the 1400 block of Third Street, medical.

July 6

12:20 p.m.  Mutual aid grass fire with Schuyler Fire Department, hay bales on fire, three trucks and 14 men at scene at scene more than six hours.

2:29 p.m.  In the 3800 block of Adamy Street, medical.

3:13 p.m.  Grass fire in the east 5700 block of 38th Street, medical.

3:21 p.m.  In the 3300 block of 16th Street, medical.

5:16 p.m.  In the 3400 block of 13th Street, medical.
As India works hard to ensure return of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today pressed upon his British counterpart Theresa May to ensure UK's cooperation to bring back economic offenders.

Mallya has been in the UK for months, escaping arrest warrants against him, while a court in London is also hearing a case regarding his return to India.

Modi today met May during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit here and sought UK's help in this regard.

Both leaders also talked about the complete range of India-UK ties.

In a tweet after the meeting, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the Prime Minister asked for UK's "cooperation for return of escaped Indian economic offenders".

Mallya, who is wanted in India for Kingfisher Airlines' default on loans worth nearly Rs 9,000 crore, has been in the UK since March 2016.

In April, he had attended a central London police station for his arrest and was released on conditional bail a few hours later after providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds, assuring the court of abiding by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel documents.

India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement --Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel,who was sent back to India last October to face trial in connection with his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

"Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @theresa_may met and held talks on the complete range of India-UK ties," India's PMO said in a tweet.

(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.)
Taking an assertive step in its Act East Policy, India will invite the ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), leaders for the Republic Day parade and celebrations next year, reported Times of India.
Under the new indirect tax regime, leasing of goods is regarded as a service and attracts the goods and services tax (GST). This has created complexities for airlines, cab aggregators and cab leasing companies, even as they grapple with teething issues of implementation of the GST.
Unconventional in thinking, Dev Lahiri has had a long controversial career (his book titled With a Little Help from My Friends gives a detailed account) as an academician in India. One of the longest serving principals of the Lawrence school, Lovedale and Welhams Boys School, Dehradun, a St Stephens and Oxford University alumni, he spoke to Anjuli Bhargava on what he thinks needs to be done as the government finalises its new education policy. Excerpts from an interview :
Even as the average price of Indian tea from the first flush rose in the export market by nearly three per cent, sluggish prices of continued to dampen the trade. Though exports from northeast India, led by Assam, rose marginally, less than one per cent to 6.7 million kg (mkg), both the average tea price as well as the total realisation declined.
When the iPhone supplier Imagination Technologies Group announced in April that Apple would no longer be using its graphics technology, investors in the small UK company were shocked. The graphics providers stock collapsed more than 60 per cent.
US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held their first ever and much-anticipated sit-down discussion here on Friday, focussing on the situation in Ukraine and Syria, fight against terrorism and cyber security, on the sidelines of the here.

The meeting lasted about 2 hours and 20 minutes, according to Russian news agency Sputnik.

"I had a very lengthy conversation with the President of the United States. There were a lot of issues such as Ukraine, Syria, other problems, some bilateral issues," Putin said at the beginning of his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We again returned to the issues of fighting terrorism and cyber security," Putin added.

The Trump-Putin formal meeting came hours after a brief encounter upon arrival at the Hamburg summit, during which they shook hands and exchanged a few words.

Trump began their meeting by saying: "President Putin and I have been discussing various things. And I think it is going very well."

"We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, for the United States and for everybody concerned. And it is an honor to be with you," Trump said.

"I'm delighted to meet you personally, and I hope our meeting will bring results," Putin said after shaking hands with Trump.

Following the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Putin-Trump meeting was constructive and confirmed desire to search for mutually-beneficial agreements, according to Sputnik.

There were opportunities to speed up implementation of the Minsk Agreement on Ukraine, Lavrov said.

The Minsk agreement, which envisages a comprehensive ceasefire and a withdrawal of heavy weapons from the contact line, is aimed at a peaceful ending of the confrontation in Ukraine, which has killed more than 10,000 people and left almost 24,000 others injured.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Trump and Putin have agreed on a ceasefire deal covering part of Syria.

The ceasefire is to take effect on July 9 at noon Damascus time, according to German media. No other details were disclosed.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she welcomed the first ever personal meeting between Putin and Trump at the .

"I very much welcome the fact that Presidents Trump and Putin met on the sidelines of the summit," Merkel said.

The two-day summit is attended by heads of state and government of the 20 major industrialised and emerging countries, as well as many organisations.

(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.)
Facebook and Google have decided to participate in the 'Internet-wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality' protest scheduled for July 12 in the US.

Being organised by Advocacy groups Fight for the Future, Free Press, and Demand Progress, the 'Day of Action' has already received support from Amazon, Netflix and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), among .

"The protest is being organised against the US Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) recent regulatory behaviour (or lack thereof) that open Internet advocates fear could roll back years of legislative progress," Fortune reported on Saturday.

"The participation of Google and Facebook could be a game-changer because their sites are visited by hundreds of millions and a message from them could rally new opposition to the FCC plan," the report added.

The July 12 campaign is reminiscent of another day in 2012 when the tech industry rebelled against a controversial copyright bill known as SOPA by altering or even blacking out their websites.

The resulting uproar resulted in Congress withdrawing the bill, the report noted.

President Donald Trump had appointed India-origin Ajit Pai to head the powerful FCC, the US communications regulatory agency.

The advocacy groups are urging tech companies and to oppose Pai's plan to gut the net neutrality order which was issued in 2015.

It reclassifies broadband as a utility service and imposed several common carrier regulations -- including prohibitions on throttling or blocking content and on charging companies higher fees for prioritised delivery.

--IANS

na/ksk

(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.)
Donald Trumps daughter, Ivanka, took his seat at a Group of 20 meeting table in Hamburg, sitting in for the president when he stepped away for one-on-one meetings with world leaders.
Iraqi security forces expect to take full control of Mosul within hours as Islamic States (IS) defensive lines crumble in its former de facto capital in Iraq, military commanders said on Saturday.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has assured Sri Lankan's Buddhist monks that the government will not change the foremost place accorded to in the proposed new Constitution amid concerns that it is being done to appease the Tamil minority.

Speaking in the northeastern region of Mannar yesterday, he said, no finality has been reached on the form of the new Constitution and he will discuss the draft with the monks.

"We have received a mandate for the new Constitution. The work will go ahead. I will go and present it to the leading Buddhist monks when the draft is ready," Wickremesinghe said yesterday in the backdrop of opposition by the powerful Buddhist leaders to oppose the process of constitutional reform.

"This is only at the proposals stage right now. The process is open for proposals from anyone."



The Asgiriya chapter of the Buddhist order took a firm stand earlier against the new Constitution. This was later endorsed by the leaders of other chapters this week. Their position was that although electoral reforms are necessary, a new Constitution was not needed.

Sri Lankan parliament had formed a Constitutional Assembly to draft the new Constitution following a pledge by the current ruling coalition in the elections held in 2015.

The powerful Buddhist clergy, however had expressed opposition to the move based mainly on the concerns that the foremost place accorded to in previous constitutions may be diluted to please the Tamil minority demands.

"We have all agreed that the place reserved for will not be changed," Wickremesinghe said.

The concerned monks had recently met President Maithrpala Sirisena who assured them that no finality had been reached and the monks would be duly consulted when the final draft document is formulated.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In 2012, a Taliban gunman shot her in the head for advocating education for girls in her native Pakistan. Today, Nobel Peace laureate completed her schooling in Britain, calling the achievement "bittersweet".

On and off Twitter, I'm fighting for girls  will you join me?  Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017

"Today is my last day of school and my first day on @Twitter," she wrote on her newly opened account, which gained more than 134,000 followers in three hours. The followers list includes Paulo Coelho, Bill Gates and Arvind Kejriwal.

Yousafzai, who will be turning 20 this month, had been attending a school in the city of Birmingham where she was treated after the shooting in October 2012.

After blogging and campaigning for girls' education in her native Swat valley, she was shot as she rode back to her village on a bus after taking an exam.

Yousafzai has since become a global icon for girls' education, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

"Graduating from secondary school (high school) is bittersweet for me," she tweeted, adding: "I know that millions of girls around the world are out of school and may never get the opportunity to complete their education".

But she said she was "excited" about her future and promised to continue "fighting for girls".

Yousafzai has excelled at school and is awaiting the results of her A-level exams next month. She has been offered a place to study at Oxford University.

She has chosen to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics, a prestigious course that has produced many British politicians and world leaders including late Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Federal Reserve acknowledged that post-crisis financial regulations may be crimping bond-dealers incentives to make markets, while also saying that the impact on liquidity appears to be limited.
Two US strategic bombers led a joint military exercise in South Korea on Saturday in response to this weeks launch by North Korea of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking Alaska.
China today accused the US of trying to "flaunt military force" to harm its sovereignty in name of freedom of navigation after two American bombers flew over the disputed South China Sea disregarding Beijing's claims over the area.

The B-1B Lancer bombers from Guam airbase flew over South China Sea on late Thursday as part of operations intended to demonstrate the US commitment to freedom of navigation, the US Air Force said in a statement.

Asked about the flight by the US bombers, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told media here that there was no problem with freedom of navigation or overflight for the East and South China Seas.

"But China resolutely opposes individual countries using the banner of freedom of navigation and overflight to flaunt military force and harm China's sovereignty and security," Geng said.

China and Japan have a dispute over the uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

In a statement, the Defence Ministry said China always maintained its vigilance and "effectively monitors relevant countries' military activities next to China. The Chinese military will resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability."



China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea.

Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region.

Since Donald Trump took over the Presidency, US dispatched two warships close to the artificial islands built by China to assert freedom of navigation.

The US flights over the South China Sea came as Trump is due to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg to discuss among others the latest ICBM test by North Korea, which could reach US state of Alaska.

Trump has expressed unhappiness over China not doing enough to contain its ally North Korea.

(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.)
This was supposed to be Elon Musks big week, capped by Teslas first Model 3 sedan rolling off the assembly line. Instead, shares that had been riding high in anticipation of his most consequential car yet are poised for their worst week in almost a year and a half.


New guidelines being presented to the G20 this weekend will change the way individuals, companies, investors and regulators manage the financial risks of climate change. These risks include physical events, such as changing weather patterns and natural disasters, as well as new technologies and regulations.
US First lady Melania Trump on Friday was sent in to end the meeting between her husband President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin after it ran overtime, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

Tillerson explained that President Trump and Russian leader Putin had such fine chemistry that they didn't want to stop talking even after their scheduled time over.

"It didn't work," Tillerson told reporters. The meeting between duo went on for another an hour after that, and lasted more than two hours in full, reports NBC.

Yesterday, Melania Trump was stuck inside a hotel the entire day in Hamburg on Friday due to anti-G-20 protests.

Melania Trump and other spouses of world leaders were to attend a series of events in the northern German city, which had to be severely curtailed because of the demonstrations.

"The Hamburg Police could not give us clearance to leave (the residence)," Trump's spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said.

"First lady Melania Trump is unable to participate in events with G20 spouses due to protests," her spokesperson said.

Earlier, huge sit-in demonstrations were held by protestors as G-20 summit kicked off in the city.

The protestors blocked a road in Hamburg on Friday morning. The police tried to disperse the protestors peacefully, but then deployed water cannons to clear the road.

45 people have been detained and 159 police officers wounded in clashes, according to the police, as cited by the German media.

The Berlin and Baden-Wurttemberg police units were deployed in addition to the 20,000 or so already providing security during the G20 summit, Russia Today reported.

(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.)
US President Donald Trump (left) shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the bilateral meeting between both the nations on sidelines of the G20 leaders summit in Hamburg, Germany, on Friday, July 7, 2017. Photo: PTI
The government is in talks with Canadas Teck Resources, the largest North American producer of coking coal used to make steel, for long-term purchase agreements after a cyclonic disruption in Australia cut supplies earlier this year.
Capital regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of Indias (Sebis) ban on holders of participatory notes (p-notes), also called offshore derivatives instruments (ODIs), from taking unhedged derivatives has come into effect.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Modi on Saturday demanded strict action against 'tainted' Lalu Prasad Yadav following the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) unearthed a hotel tender irregularity against the RJD chief.

"Lalu Yadav was using so many companies to conceal his property over income. Lalu had been given so many tenders during his Rail Ministry tenure," Modi told ANI.

Modi further urged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to take action against the corrupt leader.

"Nitish has confronted that he will never keep any tainted ministers in his ministry. Nitish has to take action against them. A leader has to take action when somebody is indulged in corruption," he added

The Enforcement Directorate earlier in the day conducted raids on Lalu Yadav's daughter Misa Bharti's residence in Delhi, in connection with an ongoing money laundering case.

On Friday, CBI registered a corruption case against Lalu Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejashwi Yadav; former Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Managing Director P.K. Goyal; and the wife of Lalu's confidante Prem Chand Gupta, Sujata on allegations of awarding the tender for development, maintenance and operation of hotels in Ranchi and Puri in 2006.

The CBI later questioned Rabri Devi and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav.

The case was registered on the allegations of awarding the tender for development, maintenance and operation of Hotels at Ranchi and Puri to a Private Company dealing with Hotels in the year 2006.

The investigative agency also conducted searches at 12 locations across Patna, Delhi, Gurugram and other places.

The RJD supremo, however, refuted the allegation against him and called it a political conspiracy hatched by the BJP.

"All this has come in the wake of me and my party amalgamating all other opposition parties to unite and oust the Narendra Modi government. All this is political vendetta against me and my family. They want to break us down and make us kneel down in front of BJP. My rivals want to send me to jail, they want me to surrender in front of BJP and RSS," said Lalu Yadav.

(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.)
US President and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin flagged off their first meeting by lashing out at the reporters present to cover the 'highly-anticipated' one-on-one entourage.

As the meeting progressed, it appeared as if Putin was sympathetic towards the scenario, as he was perceived to be defending Trump against attacks from the media, reports the Independent.

Ahead of their meeting o the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, the Russian President during the Photo op gushed to Trump saying "These are the ones hurting you?" while pointing towards the journalists at the venue.

Responding to this, Trump said, "These are the ones. You're right about that."

The same was tweeted by CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto?, with a video captioned "these are the ones who insulted you?' Putin to Trump as he points to reporters"

"These are the ones who insulted you?" Putin to Trump as he points to reporters https://t.co/vxx8qcDkRp  Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) July 7, 2017

President Trump, in the recent past, has time and again launched scathing attacks at the media for misquoting him, referring to them as "fake news" and "the enemy of the American people".

On Friday, President Trump slammed mainstream media for not writing accurately about him and covering him negatively, but said he will fight for his country's interests.

Trump tweeted, "I will represent our country well and fight for its interests! Fake News Media will never cover me accurately but who cares! We will #MAGA!"

I will represent our country well and fight for its interests! Fake News Media will never cover me accurately but who cares! We will #MAGA!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 7, 2017



Adding to his string of attacks launched against the media, he recently posted a GIF depicting him body-slamming a man with a CNN logo superimposed on his head. He also called a female journalist 'crazy" and "dumb as a rock," and accused her of "bleeding badly from a facelift". He has also reportedly suggested jailing journalists who leak classified information.

President Trump had called on Putin to discuss the prevailing situation of Syria, in their first face-to-face meeting.

U.S. Department of State Rex Tillerson informed the media persons before departing for the G20 summit that Russia has been given the major role to solve Syrian crisis and decide the fate of Syrian President Bashar al -Assad.

The United States and Russia have already achieved progress in establishing de-confliction zones in Syria that have prevented mutual collateral damage.

"The United States is prepared to explore the possibility of establishing with Russia joint mechanisms for ensuring stability, including no-fly zones, on the ground ceasefire observers, and coordinated delivery of humanitarian assistance. If our two countries work together to establish stability on the ground, it will lay a foundation for progress on the settlement of Syria's political future," Tillerson stated.

(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.)
Hours after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Central Government of non-cooperation towards quelling unrest in North Parganas' Basirhat district in the state, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) sources said that at least four companies of the Border Security Forces (BSF) forces that were deployed by the Centre were turned back by the West Bengal Government.

According to the sources, the Centre had already sent 11 companies of personnel to Darjeeling to quell the unrest taken out by people demanding a separate Gorkhaland.

Hours before, Mamata accused Centre of creating tension in the state. She alleged that there was non-cooperation from the Centre to curb violence in the state.

Mamata further said that that the forces were not deployed on time, which further flared up violence around the West Bengal border.

The MHA sources further claimed that the state government has also not sent the sought detailed report on the Basirhat incident and this is causing a delay to convene a review security meeting.

The MHA already has huge commitments and has deployed forces in Jammu and Kashmir for the Amarnath yatra to circumvent terrorist attacks, tackle stone pelting, and also in the North-Eastern border of the country, the sources added.

In the press conference, Mamata asserted that they would conduct a judicial inquirty to probe the Basirhat incident.

"Action will be taken for spreading fake pictures and videos. The law will take its own course," she said.

Meanwhile, the North 24 Parganas Superintendent of Police (SP) Bhaskar Mukherjee has been removed and C. Sudharkar Rao will take over the post.

Violent clashes erupted in the Basirhat area of the district after a Class X student updated a controversial picture on Facebook.

The boy was later detained by police, but the violence hasn't abated.

Fresh tension was reported in Basirhat area days after too forcing the police to lob tear gas shells and resort to baton charge even as the state government decided to ban some organisations for allegedly instigating people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Bihar Government on Saturday denied reports stating that they were intimated about the raids conducted on Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family in prior.

A press release by the Bihar Government stated that the reports circulating about information of the raids being given to the senior officials of the state government, Bihar Chief Secretary and Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) are 'baseless'.

"The information regarding the same was given to the Bihar Director General of Police after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids has begun, following which necessary arrangements were made," the press release stated.

Earlier today, reports of the Bihar Government already aware of the raids conducted at Lalu and family's premises were circulated.

Earlier on Friday, the CBI registered a corruption case against Lalu Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tejaswi Yadav; former Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Managing Director P.K. Goyal; and the wife of Lalu's confidante Prem Chand Gupta, Sujata on allegations of awarding the tender for development, maintenance and operation of hotels in Ranchi and Puri in 2006.

The CBI later questioned Rabri Devi and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav.

The case was registered on the allegations of awarding the tender for development, maintenance and operation of Hotels at Ranchi and Puri to a Private Company dealing with Hotels in the year 2006.

The investigative agency also conducted searches at 12 locations across Patna, Delhi, Gurugram and other places.

The RJD supremo, however, refuted the allegations against him and called it a political conspiracy hatched by the BJP.

Meanwhile, while conducting raids at Lalu Yadav's daughter Misa Bharti's premises today, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered and seized various incriminating documents, electronic devices including mobile phones.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tearing into the West Bengal Government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday the latter did not control the situation for her own political gains.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal said Mamata let the condition worsen in the state in order to appease the people of one community, adding that the people of West Bengal would not forgive her for this.

"I strongly condemn the West Bengal Government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who did not control the situation for her own political gains. People will not forgive the politics of discrimination," Goyal said.

The BJP leader further said that Mamata is trying to divert attention from her administrative failures by levelling false allegations against the Centre.

"For political gains, she (Mamata) let the situation worsen there by not letting a proper police investigation take place. We strongly condemn the way attack took place on the people of one community and their houses vandalised," he said.

Countering the West Bengal Chief Minister's allegations of the Centre not cooperating in maintaining law and order, Goyal narrated the entire sequence of events, adding that all their demands were addressed on a priority basis.

"The present situation which she is projecting is wrong. Situation is that when the West Bengal Government asked for four forces, the Centre immediately deployed four companies of the BSF in Basirhat. After that, the request for four more companies was made, for which the orders were given immediately. However, when the forces were to leave for the region, then a letter was received from the Principal Secretary (Home) thanking the Central Government for sending the forces and intimating that the situation is under control, therefore, expressing no need of central forces," he said.

Similarly, Goyal quoted about Darjeeling saying eleven companies were deployed in Darjeeling as soon as the request for it was made, but the state government tried to send.

"This clearly indicates that she does not want normalcy in the region," he said.

Earlier, hours after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Central Government of non-cooperation towards quelling unrest in North Parganas' Basirhat district in the state, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) sources said that at least four companies of the Border Security Forces (BSF) forces that were deployed by the Centre were turned back by the West Bengal Government.

According to the sources, the Centre had already sent 11 companies of personnel to Darjeeling to quell the unrest taken out by people demanding a separate Gorkhaland.

Hours before, Mamata accused Centre of creating tension in the state. She alleged that there was non-cooperation from the Centre to curb violence in the state.

Meanwhile, the North 24 Parganas Superintendent of Police (SP) Bhaskar Mukherjee has been removed and C. Sudharkar Rao will take over the post.

Violent clashes erupted in the Basirhat area of the district after a Class X student updated a controversial picture on Facebook.

The boy was later detained by police, but the violence hasn't abated.

Fresh tension was reported in Basirhat area days after too forcing the police to lob tear gas shells and resort to baton charge even as the state government decided to ban some organisations for allegedly instigating people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday warned Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo against making false allegations on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah for the raids conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at 12 locations across Patna, Delhi, Gurgaon in connection with a case linked to a hotel maintenance contract awarded by him when he was the Railway Minister in 2006.

Speaking to ANI, BJP spokesperson S Prakash said, "Many corrupt deals have been exposed in the last four-five months, wherein Lalu and his family were found to be doing corrupt practices. We all know that Lalu is an established corrupt convict and accusing the Central Government of vendetta is a ridiculous charge that he is making. Has he forgotten that he has been convicted in the fodder scam and has also been to jail for which he is not ashamed? Instead of making such wild allegations and charges, he should come out and explain how he mastered Rs 100 cr property in a span of 12 years during his tenure as a Chief Minister".

Yesterday, held Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah responsible for the raids conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at 12 locations across Patna, Delhi, Gurgaon.

Lalu said that he would eradicate the BJP for interfering in the grand alliance of his party with the Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)), adding he would do everything to break the arrogance of Prime Minister Modi.

"With illogical statements, the BJP Government is trying to destroy the alliance of the RJD and the JD(U). We will eradicate the saffron party as they are trying to interfere in our alliance. Listen Modi and Amit Shah, I and the public will break your arrogance even if I have to get hanged for that," Yadav told media here.

"I have made you (Prime Minster Modi) walk away from Bihar and you are trying to create disturbances in our alliance. I will break your arrogance," he added.

He added that there was no reason to involve Rabri Devi and Tejaswi Yadav in the investigation as his wife is "not even a public servant."

The CBI, earlier in the day, registered a corruption case against Lalu; Rabri Devi; Tejaswi Yadav; former Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Managing Director P.K. Goyal; and the wife of Lalu's confidante Prem Chand Gupta, Sujata on allegations of awarding the tender for development, maintenance and operation of hotels in Ranchi and Puri in 2006.

The CBI later questioned Lalu Prasad Yadav's wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and his son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav.

The case was registered on the allegations of awarding the tender for development, maintenance and operation of Hotels at Ranchi and Puri to a Private Company dealing with Hotels in the year 2006.

The investigative agency also conducted searches at 12 locations across Patna, Delhi, Gurgaon and other places.

These raids have comes weeks after the Income-Tax department searched locations in New Delhi and adjoining areas in regard with corruption charges against Yadav's daughter Misa Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar.

The RJD chief, however, brushed aside the allegation and tore into the BJP, saying that it was a political conspiracy against him.

Meanwhile, Bihar Additional Director General of Police S.K. Singhal said an alert has been issued across the state to prevent any possible political ramification amid the CBI raid on RJD chief .

He further said that police is also patrolling in some of the sensitive areas to prevent any untoward incidents.

The alert was issued from the Bihar Police headquarters to all police posts cautioning them of possible protests and retaliation from RJD supporters across the state.

(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.)
China on Saturday issued a "safety advisory" for its citizens traveling to India as well as to its nationals living in India, asking them to pay close attention to personal safety and local security, reports the People's Daily.

The advisory was issued through the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. It asked Chinese travellers to India to pay close attention to the security situation and take necessary precautions.

Chinese foreign ministry officials emphasized that it is an "advisory" and not an "alert" that was issued. They didn't clarify the difference, but it's likely an "advisory" is milder than an "alert".

The advisory by China comes a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during in informal BRICS meeting in Hamburg , Germany, amidst the lengthy ongoing tension between India and China in Sikkim.

Just two days earlier, China had indicated that it was considering options on issuing a travel alert for citizens visiting India.

As per the new statement released by the Chinese Embassy, Chinese nationals in India have been asked to pay close attention to personal safety as well as local security situation.

There was also a possibility of a slowdown in Chinese investments in India, the state-run Global Times said in a editorial that listed the potential fallout of the border face-off.

"Violent attacks against Chinese personnel and companies may happen in India if the two countries see even small-scale military tension at the border," the article said.

"Many people believe Indian nationalism led to the country's independence from British rule decades ago but now it is gradually evolving into an internal factor behind the anti-Chinese sentiment, which is fuelled by ethnic and religious factors."

"The Chinese government attaches great importance to safety and lawful rights and interests of overseas Chinese citizens in accordance with the security condition of the relevant countries," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Debi Prasad Dash has taken over as the Director General of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

An officer of the 1985 batch of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) (Customs), Dash was the acting head of the DRI for the past five months.

He has earlier worked in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), New York, Commonwealth Secretariat, London and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

He is a recipient of the President's award for specially distinguished record of service and Merit award from the World Customs Organisation (WCO).

He was appointed by the UN Secretary General as the head of the International Panel of Experts of the UN Security Council, monitoring arms embargo, travel ban and financial sanctions in Africa and was a member of the INTERPOL Working Group on Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised full cooperation to Chinese President Xi Jinping for the forthcoming Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) summit in China amid standoff over Sikkim, the defence experts on Saturday termed the bilateral talks as "friendly."

Speaking to ANI, defence expert P. K. Sehgal said, "The body language of Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping was very friendly. Prime Minister Modi very strongly spoke about terrorism and Jinping heard him with great amount of patience. Jinping was also full of appreciation with Modi's efforts towards the country. Both of them were seen in all smiles; it is good to know that both the countries are coming together in good terms and are also working on the bilateral decision. This meeting was a friendly conversation notwithstanding the ranker that is in existence between the two countries."

Resonating similar views, another defence expert S. R. Sinho asserted that India will continue to cooperative with China until no harm is done to the country.

"In the BRICS meeting our Prime Minister expressed his concern about the terrorism which is exploding throughout the world. This is a threat by the global terrorism that is being faced by various countries. The President of China appreciated this statement and meeting in which both promised to stand by each other to resolve problems. In this meeting, Prime Minister Modi also promised that India will continue to cooperative with China until no harm is done to the country. This is a good gesture and message which has been given during the meeting in view of the present confrontation which is going on between the two countries," Sinho told ANI.

Yesterday, at the informal meeting of the BRICS leaders of the G20 Summit in Germany's Hamburg, Prime Minister Modi called upon BRICS leaders to show leadership in fighting terrorism and boosting global economy. He also urged the G20 nations to launch a collective crackdown on terror financing, safe havens, support and sponsors of terrorism.

The BRICS is a five nation bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. MEA also said PM Modi and Xi shook hands at BRICS informal meeting in Hamburg and discussed a range of issues.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Continuing his meetings with the numerous leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi

on Saturday held bilateral talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and PM Paolo Gentiloni of Italy on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg and talked about several issues of mutual interests and cooperation.

On the second and final day of the G-20 Summit, leaders are set to discuss economic reforms and partnerships with Africa, migration, health, digitalisation, women's empowerment and employment.

On Friday, the first day of the summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met top leaders of the world- including US President Donald Trump, Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and also with Chinese President Xi Jinping. On Day 1, Counter-terrorism and its funding dominated the discussions amongst the leaders of the world's 20 largest economies at the G-20 Summit in Germany, in which Prime Minister Modi proposed an action plan to counter terrorism, "A deterrent action against countries supporting terrorism".

On Friday, Modi had a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe and also with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Gopal Baglay took to Twitter and posted pictures of the two leaders meet and tweeted "Beginning with bilaterals on the second day in Hamburg. PM @narendramodi meets with President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of G20".

In another tweet Baglay said,"For second bilateral engagement today, PM @narendramodi meets PM Paolo Gentiloni of Italy."

On the margins of the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Prime Minister Modi had a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe.

"The two leaders briefly reviewed progress in bilateral relations, including in important projects, since their last meeting in Japan during Prime Minister Modi's visit in November 2016. Prime Minister Modi expressed satisfaction at developments in bilateral relations since then".

Prime Minister Modi said that he looked forward to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's forthcoming visit to India for the next Annual summit and hoped that it would further strengthen their cooperation.

PM Modi also held bilateral meeting with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau on Friday.

During the summit, PM Modi also held brief talks with the British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron among others.

During his unscheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS leaders' informal gathering, Modi had a brief conversation on 'a range of issues.'

He also held informal meetings with Brazilian President Michel Temer and South African President Jacob Zuma at the BRICS leaders' gathering.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Gorkhaland supporter was found dead in Sonada, on the outskirts of Darjeeling, on Friday. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has alleged that he was killed by the police force present there.

GNLF spokesperson, Neeraj Zimba alleges that Tashi Bhutia, a Gorkhaland supporter was shot by police and there are reports that he died on the spot.

"He had received bullet injuries on his forehead somewhere near his ear," added Zimba.

Zimba said that the deceased had gone to a medical shop to buy medicines for this brother, where he met a convoy of eight to nine CRPF personals.

He further said, "Something happened and Tashi was shot on a point blank range. And so we condemn this incident of brutal police firing on an innocent Gorkhaland supporter."

Zimba also says that Bhutia was unarmed, peace loving citizen and the supporter of GNLF.

"He was an Indian first, a law abiding Indian citizen, wanting a separate state of Gorkhaland within the constitution of India."

Zimba says that everyone in the hills condemn this act that they allege was committed by the state police.

There were reports that the man was stopping vehicles which were moving to Sonada.

Talking to ANI, Zimba said, "No, that is what the police claims. There will be counter allegations, but there were twelve to thirteen police convoys and they stopped one unarmed person and shot him."

He said that it was not a disturbed area and section 144 was not imposed anywhere near the area, and anybody could make free movements there.

"Why was he shot on a point blank range on his forehead? Police could have easily caught him and taken him into custody, if he had done something," said Zimba.

He further stated that the GNLF central committee is having an emergency meeting in Sonada regarding this.

"Our president and general secretary and all the members are going to be there. But now we are a part of Gorkhaland committee and there is no one party system," he added.

He further said that Gorkhaland committee will also take care of the funeral possessions of the deceased.

Earlier on June 17, three GJM protestors were killed in clashes that broke between out in Darjeeling, the sixth day of the party's indefinite shutdown demanding a separate Gorkhaland.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi as to why he has not commented regarding the ongoing standoff between India and China in the Doklam sector, the grand old party on Saturday backed the former on his comment asserting that the government needs to become more proactive and matured in taking decision.

Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Om Prakash Mishra said, "The situation at Doklam sector is quite grave; China has been able to expand the areas of divergences and its unending quest for the areas which are important for us. China has also been issuing warning to us; in fact they have set certain pre-condition on which we have not responded. We would definitely like to stand by our government and give all the support it needs only if it acts in a more matured manner. We want the government to be more proactive and not just handle but also respond to the situation there. The extent to which China is attaining provocation, India should try and address it as soon as possible".

Echoing similar views, another grand old party leader P. L. Punia stated that action and measures should be taken at Doklam sector which is quite serious at the moment.

"I stand by Rahul Gandhi as he has asked Prime Minister Modi the right question. Even we want to know why he is silent. The trouble that is happening at the Doklam sector is not hidden; action or measures should be taken on this. Rather than concentrating on the internal matters which is more important he (Modi) is visiting other countries," Punia told ANI.

Yesterday, Rahul Gandhi questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his silence on the issue with China. Taking to Twitter, Rahul wrote, "Why is our Prime Minister silent on China?"

The statement came after Prime Minister Modi had a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS leaders' informal gathering in Hamburg, Germany.

Meanwhile, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Gopal Baglay took to Twitter and even posted a picture of Prime Minister Modi exchanging pleasantries with the Chinese President.

"At d BRICS leaders' informal gathering @ Hamburg hosted by China, PM @narendramodi and President Xi had a conversation on a range of issues," he tweeted.

India claims Sikkim border as part of its territory, but China has said that the area falls on their side as per the 1890 treaty signed between British and China.

Consequently, China suspended the annual Kailash Manasarovar yatra and conceded that the decision to suspend the pilgrimage was due to the border scuffle. The Chinese and Indian security forces posted at Doklam, an area near the Sikkim border, are locked in a standoff for almost a month now.

On July 2, the Indian Army rushed additional troops to the area to engage the Chinese People's Liberation Army in a "non-combative mode".

This was in response to the Chinese transgression in Doklam where the PLA destroyed two Indian Army forward bunkers, claiming that India was violating its territorial sovereignty.

Releasing details of the events that preceded the current impasse, the Indian Army had said its troops prevented the Chinese servicemen and machines from furthering damage or transgressing into the area.

Additional forces from nearby brigade headquarters, located 20 km from the face off point, were moved in on June 8 during which a scuffle led to soldiers on both sides suffering minor injuries.

This is the longest standoff between the two Armies since 1962.

On July 4, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Ram Madhav said the issue with China requires greater attention and needs to be handled in a balanced and patient way.

"The issue with China needs to be handled in a balanced and patient way. There are issues that require greater attention by all the concerned countries and leaders and that will be done," Madhav said.

The Prime Minister, however, has maintained silence over the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Captain Anny Divya has become the youngest woman commander to fly a Boeing 777.

At a young age of 30, Captain Divya has become world's youngest woman commanders to fly a Boeing 777 airplane ever.

Born in Pathankot, Divya shifted to Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, when she was a kid. Her father is a retired Army official.

Talking to ANI, Captain Divya said she is elated and gives all the credit to her parents.

"I am thankful to my parents and teachers for what I am today," she said.

She further said that no journey is complete without obstacles and she had her share of ups and downs along the way.

"I had issues like financial problems, language barrier and cultural differences that I overcame with the support of my family and friends," she said talking to ANI.

She further said that she belonged to a middle class family and the fee for pilot courses were very high that time.

"My parents really believed in my goal and let me fly. There were no jobs at the time, so it's not like the money my parents were putting in was something that I could earn later," she said.

Besides these obstacles, she said, a lot of people discouraged her.

"Nobody was doing any pilot course in Vijayawada that time. So I was not encouraged to do it by a lot of people around me. But I just wanted to fly," she said.

She added that one of her biggest obstacles was speaking in English language. She said that as in Vijayawada nobody spoke in English, she was not very good at it.

Talking to ANI, she said, "I was not good with the English language. Although we did read and write in English, we mostly spoke in Telugu."

She said coming to the flying academy helped her overcome that obstacle.

"I had some issues with pronunciation which I had to overcome. I learnt through my experiences. I used to feel bad about it a lot of times, but the point is to learn," she added.

Talking about the airline culture, she said that it is very good and they have a set of management rules that helps them in a range of issues.

"My airline is very professional and I love working there," she said.

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The Kerala Women's Commission on Saturday said it would be conducting a probe into Member of Parliament and President of Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) Innocent Vareed Thekkethala's controversial statement on actresses.

A few days back, Innocent Vareed Thekkethala stirred a controversy when he, commenting about casting couch in the Malayalam film industry, said that 'bad' actresses might share 'the bed' at will.

Innocent first said that the times have changed now and today, if an imprudent request is made to a woman she would not take seconds to expose the same in front of the media and the public.

"Those days are long gone. If such a request is made to a woman in this day and age, it will be shared with people like you. But if the women are bad, they may share the bed," he said.

A press conference was held few weeks back by the AMMA, with actors Dileep, Mohanlal, Mammootty, MLA Mukesh, and former Kerala transport minister Ganesh

Kumar, among others and questions were raised about the Kerala actress' abduction and molestation and about the stand AMMA took in the matter.

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Malala Yousafzai, a renowned women's rights activist yesterday joined micro-blogging-site Twitter.

The 19-year-old sent out her first tweet yesterday morning.

Pakistan's Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala has spent years fighting for girls around the world to get to go to school and now she is a high school graduate.

"Graduating from secondary school (high school) is bittersweet for me," she wrote. "I'm excited about my future, but I know that millions of girls around the world are out of school and may never get the opportunity to complete their education."

Graduating from secondary school (high school) is bittersweet for me. I'm excited about my future, but... 2/  Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017

She founded the Malala Fund to raise money for girls' education initiatives.

Two years after she was shot, Yousafzai became the youngest receiver of the Nobel Peace Prize.

"Each girl's story is unique -- and girls' voices are our most powerful weapons in the fight for education and equality," she tweeted.

Each girl's story is unique ?- ?and girls' voices are our most powerful weapons in the fight for education and equality. 5/  Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017

Yousafzai became the youngest-ever Nobel laureate in 2014, when she was recognised for her advocacy of the right of all children to education. Her campaign led to a Taliban assassination attempt near her home in Swat that left her severely wounded. She went to Britain for medical treatment.

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Manchester United have announced that a fee has been agreed with Everton for striker Romelu Lukaku's transfer, subject to a medical and personal terms.

"Manchester United is delighted to announce that it has agreed a fee with Everton for the transfer of Romelu Lukaku," read a club statement.

"The transfer is subject to a medical and personal terms. A further announcement will be made in due course."

United believe they have deflected Chelsea's frantic attempts to hijack the Belgian's proposed move to Old Trafford.

The Blues had originally signed him from Anderlecht for 18 million pound in August 2011.

As per the Guardian, the deal will be worth an initial 75 million pound plus a further 15 million pound of easily attainable add-ons linked to achievements and appearances.

The 24-year-old Belgium striker scored 25 goals last season in the Premier League.

Lukaku has become one of the Premier League's most prolific strikers in his three seasons at Goodison Park, scoring 71 goals in 133 games.

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U.S. First lady Melania Trump yesterday was sent in to end the meeting between her husband President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin after it ran overtime, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

Tillerson explained that President Trump and Russian leader Putin had such fine chemistry that they didn't want to stop talking even after their scheduled time over.

"It didn't work," Tillerson told reporters. The meeting between duo went on for another an hour after that, and lasted more than two hours in full, reports NBC.

Yesterday, Melania Trump was stuck inside a hotel the entire day in Hamburg on Friday due to anti-G-20 protests.

Melania Trump and other spouses of leaders were to attend a series of events in the northern German city, which had to be severely curtailed because of the demonstrations.

"The Hamburg Police could not give us clearance to leave (the residence)," Trump's spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said.

"First lady Melania Trump is unable to participate in events with G20 spouses due to protests," her spokesperson said.

Earlier, huge sit-in demonstrations were held by protestors as G-20 summit kicked off in the city.

The protestors blocked a road in Hamburg on Friday morning. The police tried to disperse the protestors peacefully, but then deployed water cannons to clear the road.

45 people have been detained and 159 police officers wounded in clashes, according to the police, as cited by the German media.

The Berlin and Baden-Wurttemberg police units were deployed in addition to the 20,000 or so already providing security during the G20 summit, Russia Today reported.

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The Queen of Jhansi'featuring Kangana Ranaut.

With over 300 films to her credit and a career spanning over 3 decades, the 4 time National-award winner said, it is an honour to be associated with the project.

She shared, "It's an honour to be associated with a film who's pivotal character has always been an inspiration to me and many other women across the world. Jhansi Ki Rani has been one of my favourite chapter in school and I'm quite excited to be working on my first women centric biopic."

Producer Kamal Jain added, "We are very excited to be working with someone as iconic as Neeta Lulla for a magnificent film like ours. Her repertoire will add great layering to every character and we are certain she will do full justice to the role."

The film is being directed by National Award-winner Krish Jagarlamudi and will go on floor this month.

Produced by Zee Studios and Kamal Jain, & co-produced by Nishant Pitti, 'Manikarnika' is expected to be released in April next year.

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Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi on Saturday said that the three Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) were nominated and administered oath as per the law.

Talking to ANI, Bedi held Chief Minister V Narayanasamy responsible for launching a misleading campaign over it.

Normal life was affected on Saturday due to a bandh (strike) called by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi to oppose the nomination and oath of three MLAs on July 4 in Raj Niwas. Ruling Congress party on Saturday also extended its support to the one day bandh.

The political parties allege that the Centre had finalised the names of the three nominated MLAs in an arbitrary manner and LG Bedi administered oath to them secretly.

The three members nominated by the Centre and inducted as members of the Puducherry Assembly are V Saminathan, K G Shankar and S Selvaganapathy. All three are associated with the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

When asked for the comment on the bandh, Bedi said, "I have no idea what this bandh is for; no idea what this bandh is against. I don't understand the meaning of this bandh at all."

She said that the Chief Minister and other political parties were misleading people that the MLAs were nominated and administered oath in an arbitrary manner.

"According to the Constitution, the Central Government has the powers to nominate MLAs and that is what it has done," Bedi said.

She further added that the Narayanasamy government didn't allow the lawfully nominated MLAs to take the oath and hence they were administered oath in her chamber as per the powers vested with the LG.

When asked about the Chief Minister's allegation of her arbitrariness, Bedi squarely blamed Narayanasamy on the nomination of the MLAs.

"Ask the Chief Minister did he make any recommendation about the nominated MLAs to the LG. Had he made any recommendation, then I would have forwarded it to the Central Government for consideration. However, it was up to the Centre to accept or reject the recommendation. But, did he fulfil his duty?" Bedi questioned.

She asserted that Narayanasamy owes an explanation to Congress and Congress workers that why did he not make any recommendation.

There were some reports of vandalism and people getting injured during the day long strike in the Union Territory.

She held Narayanasamy accountable for the violence and ruckus by saying that "he is not an independent candidate and hence is responsible for his party, Congress' acts, which is supporting the bandh.

When asked about Narayanasamy's demand that Kiran Bedi should walk off Puducherry, Bedi laughingly said, "Walk off! I don't understand what he means. I can't match him on his statements, which I read daily and it is news to me."

She further added that "I am appointed here; I have a responsibility to fulfil. And, therefore I have chosen to do my duty 24x7 that too in a manner which is laid down under the rules and the law. This Raj Niwas belongs to the people of Puducherry. For me, it is all issue based governance and I am for all those who are in need and everybody is equal for me."

She said sometimes she wondered where were Narayanasamy's statements coming from and on what basis.

"Words are like arrows, once they leave you; they don't come back. I hope one day he regrets his statements," Bedi said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Customs Department officials have confirmed arresting four passengers on Friday after they were found with 27 kilograms of gold at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar.

Customs officials said they recovered 56 TT (ten tola) bars from a passenger who identified himself as Ismail Khan. Khan said that he had arrived at the Bacha Khan Airport from Dubai via an Emirates Airline flight.

The gold was recovered during a check of his shoes. It weighed 6.526 kilograms. The accused belongs to Ormar area of Peshawar.

It was learnt that the approximate price of the gold in the open market was Rs.28 million. The accused is being investigated.

The second huge consignment of 173 bars, weighing 1,730 tola (21 kilograms) was recovered from possession of three passengers who had arrived from Dubai via a PIA flight. The accused were identified as Kashif Zaib, Mohammad Shakeel and Zacer Khan.

It was learnt that they had concealed the gold bars in their shoes, belts wrapped around their waists.

The approximate price of the total seized gold is said to be Rs.114 million in the open market.

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On the margins of the ongoing G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe on Saturday.

The two leaders briefly reviewed the progress in bilateral relation, including important projects, since their last meeting in Japan during Prime Minister's visit in November 2016.

Prime Minister Modi expressed satisfaction at developments in bilateral relation since then.

The Prime Minister said that he looked forward to Prime Minister Abe's forth coming visit to India for the next Annual Summit and hoped that it would further strengthened their cooperation.

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Expressing regret over the recent remark of the Saudi-led Arab states, Qatar said that the accusations levelled against it of supporting terrorism are false and baseless.

A press release from Qatar's Foreign Ministry read, "The State of Qatar expressed regret over the content of the two statements issued in Cairo and Jeddah by the four siege countries and the false accusations included in them that amount to defamation in contradiction with the established foundations of international relations," reported Anadolu.

The letter further stated that Qatar was an active member committed to international conventions in combating terrorism.

"A senior Foreign Ministry source described the statements' claims about the State of Qatar's interference in internal affairs of countries and financing terrorism as baseless allegations, noting that the State of Qatar's position on terrorism is consistent and known for its rejection and condemnation of all forms of terrorism whatever the causes and motives are," the statement added.

Earlier, four Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, said they would continue their diplomatic and economic blockade of Qatar after the nation gave a "negative" response to their list of demands.

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain severed their ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

On 22 June, the four nations put forth a 13-point list of demands - including ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing of al-Jazeera, a reduction in diplomatic ties with Iran, and the halting of a Turkish military base in Qatar -and gave Qatar 10 days to comply.

That deadline was extended by 48 hours on Sunday, when Qatar responded to their demands.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Qatar's answers were "overall negative and lacked any substance."

"This position shows the lack of awareness of how dangerous the situation is," CNN quoted Shoukry as saying.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the four nations would consult and soon decide on the future steps at the right time

Qatar's foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said his nation won't comply with any demands that it considers a violation of international law.

"If you are looking at the demands -- there are accusations that Qatar is supporting terrorism -- they are shutting free speech, shutting the media outlets, expelling people. ... So there are a lot of demands which are against the international law," CNN quoted him as saying.

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Shia LeBeouf has once again landed on the wrong side of law enforcement after being arrested for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness in Savannah, Georgia.

According to the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police, the arrest took place after LaBeouf allegedly became "disorderly" in City Market in the early morning hours on July 8 after he asked a bystander for a cigarette.

"When LaBeouf wasn't given a cigarette, he became disorderly, using profanities and vulgar language in front of the women and children present," police said in a statement. "He was told to leave the area and refused, becoming aggressive toward the officer.

"When the officer attempted to place LaBeouf under arrest, LaBeouf ran to a nearby hotel," it further read. "LaBeouf was arrested in the hotel lobby, where his disorderly behaviour continued."

According to TMZ, LaBeouf was in police custody in Georgia until 11 a.m. ET and was released on a 3,500 dollar bond.

LaBeouf is currently in Savannah filming 'The Peanut Butter Falcon.'

This isn't the first time the former Disney star, who rose to fame on the show 'Even Stevens,' had a brush with the law.

He was arrested in 2005 for allegedly threatening a neighbour with a knife and was charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

In 2007, he was again arrested on charges of Misdemeanour Criminal trespassing after he refused to leave a Chicago Walgreens when asked, though those charges were later dropped.

Just a few months later, he was ticketed for unlawful smoking in Burbank, California and faced a 1,000 dollar bench warrant for his arrest when he failed to show up in court to answer to the charge. He later paid a 500 dollar fine for the offense.

The 'Transformer' star was then arrested in West Hollywood for drunk driving in 2008.

In 2011, LaBeouf was taken into police custody after an altercation with another patron at a bar in Sherman Oaks, California that ended with him being punched in the face.

He was arrested in New York back in 2014 for "drunken behaviour" following which he sought help for alcohol addiction in rehab.

A few months ago, he was arrested at his own New York art exhibit when he assaulted a man at an anti-Trump display.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Russian's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that U.S. President Donald Trump has accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin's denials of meddling in the U.S. election.

As per the CNN, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Trump raised the issue of Russia's alleged cyber-interference in the U.S. election at the beginning of their conversation.

"The President opened the meeting raising the concerns of the American people about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election," said Tillerson.

"They had a very lengthy and robust conversation on this," he added.

A White House official later indicated that Trump had not accepted Putin's assurances of not meddling in the 2016 election.

Lavrov, while briefing the reporters, said that the U.S. President accepted Putin's assurances.

"The issue of cyber security got a lot of attention, which is understandable. President Trump mentioned that in the US, some circles are fuelling - even though they cannot prove anything - the allegations of Russian meddling in the US elections," said Lavrov.

Trump met Putin on Friday on the sidelines of the G-20 summit.

Speaking to reporters in a brief photo-op before their bilateral meeting, the U.S. President said, "President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it's going very well," reports the CNN.

He added, "We've had some very good talks. We're going to have a talk now, and obviously that will continue, but we look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, the United States and for everybody concerned. It's an honour to be with you."

To this, Putin responded: "I'm delighted to be able to meet you personally, Mr President and I hope as you have said our meeting will yield positive results.

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U.S. President Donald Trump has lauded German Chancellor Angela Merkel for successfully organising the G-20 summit .

Trump took to his Twitter handle to praise Merkel.

"The #G20Summit was a wonderful success and carried out beautifully by Chancellor Angela Merkel. Thank you!" he tweeted.

Trump even appreciated the great work done by the German Security forces for maintaining law and order in the city, amid massive protest.

"Law enforcement & military did a spectacular job in Hamburg. Everybody felt totally safe despite the anarchists. @PolizeiHamburg #G20Summit," he tweeted.

"Leaving Hamburg for Washington, D.C. and the WH. Just left China's President Xi where we had an excellent meeting on trade & North Korea," he added.

The two-day G-20 summit that took place in Germany's Hamburg city ended with the leaders proposing the Hamburg Action Plan to address major global challenges, including climate change, harnessing digitalisation and to contribute to prosperity and well-being.

"Mastering the challenges of our age and shaping an interconnected is the common goal of the G-20 as our premier forum for international economic cooperation. We can achieve more together than by acting alone," an official statement read.

The leaders pledged to progress towards their joint objective in the G20, which is strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth.

Taking note of its withdrawal from the Paris Peace Climate Accord, the United States of America announced that it would immediately cease the implementation of its current nationally-determined contribution and affirm its strong commitment to an approach that lowers emissions while supporting economic growth and improving energy security needs.

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The UN Security Council has blacklisted Daesh linked group Jamaat -ul-Ahrar (JuA) and a splinter group of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, a decision that will subject the group to sanctions, including an arms embargo, travel ban and an assets freeze.

The United Nations has added Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a splinter group of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group to the list of terrorist organizations.

The UN said Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has ties with Daesh and is located in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan and has bases in the Mohmand tribal areas along the Durand Line,Tolo News reported.

Consequently , the bank accounts of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar will be frozen, and members of the group will be banned from traveling and the sale of weapons to this group is banned.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is a splinter branch of the Pakistani Taliban, which broke away in 2014, and has been responsible for a series of attacks in Pakistan since 2014. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).

The Pakistani government banned the organization's activities last year following several deadly attacks that it claimed responsibility for several attacks including Wagah border attack in 2014, suicide bombing in Charsadda District in 2016 ,suicide attack targeting senior police officials at a protest on Lahore's Mall Road in 2017. (ANI)

UN Blacklists Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan's splinter outfit Jamaat-ul-Ahrar

Jamaat -ul-Ahrar(JuA), a splinter group of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, a decision that will subject the group to sanctions including an arms embargo, travel ban and assets freeze.

The United Nations has added Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a splinter group of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group to the list of terrorist organizations.

The UN said Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has ties with Daesh and has bases in eastern Nangarhar region of Afghanistan as well as in the Mohmand tribal areas along the Durand Line,Tolo News reported.

Consequently , the bank accounts of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar will be frozen, and members of the group will be banned from traveling and the sale of weapons to this group is banned.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is a splinter branch of the Pakistani Taliban, which broke away in 2014, and has been responsible for a series of attacks in Pakistan since 2014. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).

The Pakistani government banned the organization's activities last year following several deadly attacks that it claimed responsibility for several attacks including Wagah border attack in 2014, suicide bombing in Charsadda District in 2016 ,suicide attack targeting senior police officials at a protest on Lahore's Mall Road in 2017.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Following the reports of the US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussing the issue of meddling in the elections, the diplomats of both the counties argued over what both the leaders actually said to each other.

At first, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that Trump accepted Putin's assurances that Russia was no way involved in the 2016 American election, reported the CNN.

Meanwhile as per the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the US president opened the session by "raising the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election."

As per reports, Russia asked for from US to support their claim regarding its involvement in the election, which the US did not produce in the meeting.

As per Tillerson, both the leaders had lengthy exchange on the subject.

"The President pressed President Putin on more than one occasion regarding Russian involvement. President Putin denied such involvement, as I think he has in the past," Tillerson said.

Meanwhile, Lavrov, speaking on camera in a separate briefing, said that, "President Trump said he's heard Putin's very clear statements that this is not true and that the Russian government didn't interfere in the elections and that he accepts these statements. That's all."

Surprisingly, both Tillerson and Lavrov were present in the room with Trump and Putin for the bilateral talks.

Later on another Trump administration official denied that Trump accepted Putin's claim of non-interference.

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A Russian national, lodged in Uttarakhand's Tehri jail has gone on hunger strike.

Due to starving, the condition of the Russian named Sergei has become critical and has been admitted to the hospital.

Sergey was arrested on July 1 from Uttarkashi for allegedly living in India without a passport for many years. He was lodged in the jail on July 2.

On Friday, a prisoner informed the jailer that Sergey is not eating food following which he was admitted to the district hospital.

According to the doctors, he is still refusing to eat food and threatened suicide if he is forcibly fed.

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Standing by a lake, with forested hills on one side and snow-capped Himalayan peaks on the other, was an unforgettable moment for me in Pokhara, the picturesque Nepalese city that is arguably its tourism capital.

Pokhara was a discovery in several ways. It has a laidback charm that contrasts with the rush and pollution of capital Kathmandu. The translucent Phewa lake provided some breath-taking vistas and the experience of observing the peaks of the Annapurna range at close quarters was memorable.

Sarangkot, a hill station near Pokhara, offers spectacular views of the Annapurna range and I was told to reach there early to witness the snow-capped mountains change hues in the rays of the rising sun.

I left my hotel at 4 am and reached the designated point well before the sunrise. As I waited, there was no sign of the sun. There were clouds and mist and much as I wished they disappeared, they would not. I, however, did not leave the place disappointed.

The scene of the valley below was clearer and almost like an image from the sky. The houses looked tiny and there were vast swathes of greenery. As the valley undulated, with Phewa lake almost in the middle, smaller hills gave way to bigger ones and to still bigger ones.

On the agenda during the day was a boat ride on the lake's tranquil waters. The 15-minute ride to Tal Barahi temple on an island in the expansive lake presented panoramic views as the backdrop shifted from forested hills to the mountains. A gentle breeze blew across, adding to the pleasant feeling.

Pokhara has a few tourist and religious spots near the lake. I visited Devi's Falls, which gets its name from a Swiss citizen Davis who was swept away by its gushing waters in 1961 while taking bath with her husband. Her body was later recovered after a lot effort.

Not far away is Gupteshwar Mahadev cave -- its upper part a temple to Lord Shiva. The lower part, which is reached by some deft walking, leads to cascading waters that spring out from rocks after going underground at the Devi's Falls.

Pokhara offers good shopping options and almost all that you get in Kathmandu's tourism district of Thamel is available here, sometimes at a better price.

The place is also popular with adventure-lovers who have a wide range of options, including paragliding, rafting, sky-diving and mountain trekking.

There are eating options galore, with restaurants serving a variety of international cuisines -- Korean, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French and Thai.

One of my fondest memories in Pokhara is of working while seated outside a restaurant on a table and chair crafted from a log of wood. Working on my computer in this setting, with people of different nationalities and in different moods passing by, was quite different from the usual work in a formal setting.

While Pokhara was a treat, reaching the city from Kathmandu was not. The nearly 200-km road journey took two hours more than the seven it usually takes. There was road repair work on in Kathmandu which led to unusually long snarls.

The best time to leave Kathmandu for Pokhara is early morning when there is less traffic in the capital city. The other option is to take a flight.

Among the charms of a road journey is that a large part is along the Trishuli river. There are agricultural fields carved into hill slopes, delicate bridges that connect villages to the main road and colourful houses.

There are several eating options on the way and we opted for a landscaped restaurant that served an authentic Nepali thali -- largely comprising green vegetables -- and the piping hot food helped beat the tiredness.

As I was packing my bag after a satisfying visit, my roommate asked if I had gone to the terrace see a clear view of the peaks ofthe Annapurna range.

As I stepped out on the terrace, the view of Machapuchare (also known as fish tail mountain) was mesmerising.

The 6,993-metre mountain, revered by the locals, was shinning in golden hues in the morning sun alongside other peaks of Annapurna range. It was a sight to behold.

But then, all good things must come to an end and it was time to return to the mundane world.

(Prashant Sood was in Nepal for a PATA-sponsored conference. He can be reached at prashant.s@ians.in)

--IANS

ps/vm

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Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday held his predecessor Parkash Singh Badal of the Akali Dal "squarely responsible" for the Behbal Kalan police firing in the wake of the 2015 Bargari sacrilege incident.

Amarinder Singh said that he was sure the fresh Commission of Inquiry probing the matter would expose the involvement of Badal.

"How can a SP order firing? He was clearly instructed to do so," he said, while addressing a gathering at a function in New Delhi on Saturday evening.

Two people were killed and some others injured in police firing on people who were protesting against incidents of sacrilege of Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib.

"I have all along been maintaining that Badal was behind the unwarranted police firing, which led to the death of two persons," Amarinder said.

Pointing to the spate of sacrilege incidents during the erstwhile Badal government rule, he said that it had witnessed 183 such incidents, of which 121 remained unsolved. He said that, in contrast, 13 incidents were reported since the Congress government took over (in March this year), out of which 12 had been solved.

"The Akalis have always played with religion, using it to further their own political ends," Amarinder Singh alleged.

--IANS

js/vd

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe reviewed the progress in bilateral ties, including important projects, during their meeting here -- eight months after the two nations inked a landmark civil nuclear cooperation pact.

The Modi-Abe meeting comes as the navies of the two nations, along with the US, are engaged in a major naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal, where some of their frontline warships are deployed. China has been watching the Malabar trilateral exercise with unease.

Japan's bullet-train technology is being used by India for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor in western India, besides Japan is India's largest bilateral donor. Japan is possibly the only country involved in connectivity projects in India's northeast, where some states share a border with China.

"The two leaders briefly reviewed progress in bilateral relations, including in important projects, since their last meeting in Japan during Prime Minister's (Modi's) visit in November 2016," the Indian External Affairs Ministry said in a statement following the meeting between the two leaders on Friday.

"Prime Minister Modi expressed satisfaction at developments in bilateral relations since then."

Modi also said that he looked forward to Abe's visit to India later this year for the next annual bilateral summit and hoped that it would further strengthen cooperation between the two countries, according to the statement.

Japan is India's largest bilateral donor. Japanese Overseas Development Agency (ODA) supports India's efforts for accelerated economic development, particularly in priority areas like power, transportation, environmental projects and projects related to basic human needs.

The Ahmedabad-Mumbai High Speed Rail, the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor with 12 new industrial townships, and the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor are all mega projects on the anvil.

--IANS

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Bangladesh Police on Saturday arrested a militant of the banned Neo JMB outfit who is claimed to be one of the masterminds of the Gulshan cafe terror attack and headed the JMB unit based in India's West Bengal state, media reports said.

The arrested militant Sohel Mahfuz is wanted in India for an October 2014 explosion in a house in Khagragarh in Burdwan district of West Bengal. India's National Investigation Agency has placed a Rs 10 lakh bounty on him, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit arrested Sohel Mahfuz and three of his accomplices from a mango grove in Chapainawabganj area.

Sohel alias Hatkata Mahfuz is the top explosives specialist of Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (New JMB) and a key arms and explosives supplier for the banned outfit. He had supplied the explosives for the terror attack on the Holey Artisan bakery in July last year in which over 20 people, mostly foreigners, were killed.

He is one of the five most wanted "militants" in the attack on the bakery last year, the CTTC chief said.

The other detained are Jewel alias Ismail, Hafizur Rahman alias Hasan and Mostofa Kamal alias Jamal.

Police had been looking for Mahfuz since the July 2016 attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery.

A senior counterterrorism officer said Mahfuz used the alias Nasrullah, who the Indian police identified as one of the key suspects in the Burdwan blast, which left two killed.

"He was in India from 2009 to 2014 and was the chief of the JMB unit there. He used the alias Nasrullah," Additional Deputy Commissioner Abdul Mannan told bdnews24.com. "India's National Investigation Agency identified Nasrullah as the prime suspect of the blast."

Mahfuz, who hails from the western Bangladesh district of Kushtia, used to go by several other aliases like Shahadat and Rimon, according to police.

He was also known as Hatkata Soheil after losing his right wrist.

"In 2005, he lost one of his wrists in an explosion while making bombs in Naogaon," said counterterrorism officer Mannan.

Mahfuz was an executive member of the JMB and later joined neo-JMB, according to counterterrorism unit chief Monirul Islam.

"After being off the radar for quite some time, he joined the neo-JMB about two years ago, according to our intelligence," Islam had told the media.

Mahfuz was ameer of JMB's West Bengal unit from 2009 to 2014 and he entered Bangladesh on December 2016 to devise the Gulshan cafe attack, Islam said at a press conference in the media centre of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Mahfuz is a relative of Dhaka cafe attack mastermind Marzan, who was killed in crossfire on January 6, he said.

--IANS

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The West Bengal government on Saturday ordered a judicial probe into the communal violence in North 24 Parganas's Basirhat, and continued a major shake-up of the police administration in the area by transferring two senior officers.

Meanwhile, a team of three BJP MPs en route to the troubled area, was stopped and detained by police. Another BJP delegation met Governor K.N. Tripathi to demand imposition of President's Rule in the state.

Announcing the judicial probe, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said a sitting or a former Calcutta High Court Judge would be entrusted with the responsibility.

Violence erupted between two communities at Baduria on July 3 night over a Facebook post by a youth.

While he was soon arrested, violence broke out with mobs attacking shops and houses, torching vehicles, including those of police, and putting up road blockades. Several police personnel sustained injuries as the violence to spread to various pockets under the sub-division.

"We will conduct a judicial probe into the Baduria-Basirhat incident to take impartial action as per law. We want to know which were the forces which indulged in violence. We will also probe the media's involvement in spreading rumours," Banerjee told reporters at state Secretariat Nabanna.

She said the state would provide all administrative inputs to the judicial commission.

The Chief Minister promised strong action against those responsible for the violence and attacked the Central government for not carrying out its responsibility of protecting the international border.

"How was the Bangladesh border opened? Who takes care of the security of the border? Some of the infiltrators came from the other side of the border and left after indulging in communal violence," she alleged.

Banerjee lauded the residents of Baduria-Basirhat for "not getting trapped" though there was a "conspiracy to draw them into the conspiracy by offering them arms".

Criticising rumour-mongering, she said: "I am not against Facebook, but against fakebook."

Bharatiya Janata Party MPs Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur, and Satyapal Singh, who were tasked by party chief Amit Shah to report on the situation, flew into the city early on Saturday and straightway headed for Basirhat, but were stopped at Michaelnagar on the outskirts of the sub-divisional town.

A heated argument broke out between police and the them.

When police said there could be a problem if they proceeded further, Mathur asked: "Kis baat ki samasya ho sakti hai? (What kind of problem can occur?) Hum saansad hain pata hai aapko? (We are MPs, do you know that?) Privilege motion aa jaayega to aap mar jaaoge (if a privilege motion is slapped then you will be doomed)."

"So are you accepting there is problem ahead in Basirhat?" posed Lekhi amid the altercation.

Lashing out at the Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government, she said: "There was no prohibitory order imposed in the area; no papers were shown to us as to why we were detained when we hadn't committed any offence."

"It is very apparent that the administration is hiding the truth and reality -- that the ground situation is grim and the people are actually feeling very insecure. To hide those facts, they have arranged a preventive kind of detention.," Lekhi said after returning to the city.

Later in the day, a BJP delegation led by state party chief Dilip Ghosh met Tripathi and demanded imposition of President's Rule "due to complete law and order breakdown".

The party also held a protest march in the city to demand the arrest of those involved in the violence.

A state Home Department notification said North 24 Parganas' Superintendent of Police Bhaskar Mukherjee and inspector General of Police (South Bengal) Ajay Ranade have been removed.

C Sudhakar, now deputy commissioner (headquarters) of Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate, would be the new SP, while Sanjay Singh - currently Director of the Directorate of Economic Offence - would replace Ranade.

On Friday, the state government had transferred Inspector in-charge of Basirhat police station Nasim Akhtar.

Accusing the BJP of "indulging in violence", the Chief Minister claimed its activists had set afire Trinamool Congress offices in Basirhat.

Banerjee announced that her government has blacklisted two organisations - Hindu Sanhati and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen - and their leaders would not be allowed to enter the troubled areas.

She also blamed a section of the national media for "spreading rumour and telecasting distorted, fabricated videos".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actor Junior NTR is excited about making his television debut with the Telugu version of widely popular reality television show "Bigg Boss". He says he sees this as an opportunity to explore himself.

"Bigg Boss" in Telugu is slated to go on air on July 16 on Star Maa.

Talking to the media here on Saturday, Jr NTR said he accepted the show because he likes challenges.

"Challenges excite me. When Star Maa approached me with the offer, I didn't think even for a minute to say yes. I was intrigued because I saw it as an opportunity to explore myself," he said.

"I don't know anything about hosting, and I see this as a challenge I would like to take head on. It's also the kind of show where the contestants can also explore themselves," he added.

The show will have 12 celebrity contestants brought together for 70 days, surrounded by 60 cameras and cut off from the outside world in one huge house.

Jr NTR said he didn't watch the show in other languages.

"My cousin sister had once introduced me to the show. I must have watched a few minutes of one episode where Salman (Khan) was hosting. I decided not to watch the show in other languages because I didn't want to get influenced by what they (other hosts) did," he said, assuring the show has been programmed keeping in mind Telugu sensibilities and culture.

Asked if he received a fat paycheck for the new role, he said: "They have paid me enough. Honestly, I didn't worry much about remuneration. I was more excited about the challenge," he added.

While the names of the 12 contestants are being heavily guarded, the industry grapevine is that actors Posani Krishna Murali and Tejaswi Madivada are part of the show.

"Bigg Boss" is the Indian version of the international format "Big Brother", one of the most successful reality television series ever. The Endemol-owned format has had 10 blockbuster seasons in Hindi.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A team of three BJP MPs en route to West Bengal's communal violence-hit North 24 Parganas were stopped and detained by police while a BJP delegation met Governor K.N. Tripathi to demand imposition of President's Rule in the state.

A heated argument broke out between police and the three Bharatiya Janata Party members of Parliament -- Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur, and Satyapal Singh -- sent by party chief Amit Shah to report on the situation as they were stopped at Michaelnagar on the outskirts of Basirhat.

When police said there could be a problem if they proceeded further, Mathur asked: "Kis baat ki samasya ho sakti hai? (What kind of problem can occur?) Hum saansad hain pata hai aapko? (We are MPs, do you know that?) Privilege motion aa jaayega to aap mar jaaoge (if a privilege motion is slapped then you will be doomed)."

"So are you accepting there is problem ahead in Basirhat?" posed Lekhi amid the altercation.

"We know the law. We are MPs. We have certain privileges. So, if you stop us like that, you may be in trouble tomorrow," cautioned Singh.

Even as police insisted on their cooperation, the MPs suggested they will take along police. "Let us go with you," said Mathur.

Lashing out at the Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government, Lekhi said: "There was no Section 144 (of Criminal Procedure Code) imposed in the area; no papers were shown to us as to why we were detained when we hadn't committed any offence."

"Truth won't change whatever the Chief Minister (Mamata Banerjee) says. A BJP worker who has been stabbed (in the communal violence) is hospitalised," Lekhi told reporters there.

Lekhi said: "It is very apparent that the administration is hiding the truth and reality -- that the ground situation is grim and the people are actually feeling very insecure. To hide those facts, they have arranged a preventive kind of detention.

On one side they are saying everything is perfect and law and order is not an issue, on the other they have brought us here (in detention) which is very clear."

Later in the day a BJP delegation met Tripathi to demand President's Rule in the state.

"We want the Centre to intervene immediately and impose the President's Rule. There is complete breakdown of law and order in the state," Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh told reporters.

The party also held a protest march in the city to demand the arrest of those involved in the violence.

Violence erupted between two communities at Baduria on July 3 night over a Facebook post by a youth.

He was arrested, and in the ensuing violence mobs attacked shops and houses, torched vehicles, including those of the police, and put up road blockades. Several police personnel sustained injuries.

--IANS

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A cleric has been jailed for 13 years reportedly for indecent and sexual assaults in England, the media reported on Saturday.

Mohammad Haji Saddique, an Imam at a mosque in Cardiff, used to teach Quran to children at the mosque. According to reports in the British media, he touched his female students inappropriately in front of his class and poked them with a stick as they studied.

Saddique, who had been teaching at the mosque for 30 years, was found guilty of eight counts of sexual assault and six counts of indecent assault. The assaults took place between 1996 and 2006.

A Cardiff crown court judge jailed him for 13 years and ordered him to be immediately registered as a sex offender.

An investigation was first launched against Saddique in 2006 when two girls accused him of sexual assault. However, it remained fruitless as Saddique denied the allegations. Investigation was reopened in 2016 when two more girls came forward and eventually led to his conviction.

Saddique, born in Hong Kong, would "touch the girls under their traditional loose-fitting clothing during his lessons, and rub them against his groin and legs," the Guardian reported.

Praising the girls for their bravery, the judge lamented that the imam had "no idea" of the harm he caused to his victims. He expressed the hope that more people will come forward to report sexual assaults after the conviction.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chief Justice of India J S Khehar on Saturday supported entry of foreign lawyers into Indian legal sector but said there should be "reciprocity" between two countries.

Justice Khehar said that opening up India's legal sector to foreign players would improve the system and Indian lawyers should have no apprehensions that they would take away their business.

"I feel international exchange of lawyers will improve the system. If anybody thinks foreign lawyers will come to India and snatch our professional positions and substitute us, it's not correct. Indian lawyers are no less than those across the world," said the Chief Justice.

"But reciprocity has to be insisted upon," added Justice Khehar while inaugurating an "All India Seminar of the International Law Association".

He said the Indian legal profession had grown over a short period of less than 70 years "to possibly become the world's largest and most influential in the matter of governance".

"With the advent of globalisation, the legal profession in India has undergone a major shift during the last two decades. Economic liberalisation has given an opportunity of constant interaction with foreign law firms and an international clientele. As a result, there has been a transfer of knowledge, systems and practices to Indian law firms, such that they are able to undertake a much larger role in cross-border transactions," he said.

Justice Khehar said that while the Bar Council of India had been opposing the entry of foreign lawyers into Indian legal system, but now the body acknowledges that if some country permits Indian lawyers to practise in its jurisdiction, then lawyers from that country could be granted reciprocal privileges in India.

India has close to 1.2 million lawyers, whose professional conduct is regulated by the Bar Council of India and the state Bar Councils.

(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.)
Distancing itself from its leader Saifuddin Soz's remark about keeping Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani alive, the Congress on Saturday calling Wani a terrorist with whom there was no scope of dialogue.

"Wani was a terrorist from the Hizbul Mujahideen and therefore the question of a dialogue or negotiation with him was out of question. The Congress has consistently articulated its position that violent forces backed by Paksitan disupting peace in the Valley have no scope on the dialogue table," Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha told IANS.

He said: "The truth is that Jammu and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had said she would have let Wani live. She also wanted security forces to apologise for his killing. The problem is with the opportunistic People's Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party poltical alliance in the state. It was the government that extended compensation to Wani's family."

"Mere bas mein hota toh Burhan Wani ko zinda rakhta aur unse dialogue karta (if it was up to me, Burhan Wani would have been kept alive and a dialogue initiated with him)," Soz said a day earlier.

Congress spokesperson R.P.N. Singh had said: "Burhan Wani was a terrorist and he was killed during a shootout with the security forces. He also killed many innocent people."

"Also, why did the PDP-BJP government in the state give compensation to his family?" he asked.

Burhan Wani was killed by security personnel on July 8 last year.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday cleared proposals worth around Rs 2,800 crore, including one to upgrade armoured vehicles to make them night-fighting capable.

According to Defence Ministry sources, the DAC cleared the upgradation and modernisation of armoured fighting vehicles or BMPs under the "Buy Indian" or Indigenous Design Development and Manufacturing (IDDM) category.

BMPs are infantry fighting vehicle also used to transport troops.

"The Ordnance Factory at Medak will provide these upgrades to render the armoured vehicles night-fighting capable and achieve better accuracy," the source said.

India has around 2,750 BMPs made in collaboration with Russia. It was however not clear how many BMPs are to be upgraded.

The DAC also cleared a carrier command post tracked vehicle for technical control of artillery fire at a cost of Rs 406 crore. Such a vehicle is equipped with radars and other electronic systems to guide precise fire and act as centralised command facility.

According to sources, these vehicles will also be equipped with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

These vehicles will also be procured from Ordnance factory in Medak, Telangana.

The DAC also reviewed the status and progress of other procurement and accorded directions to ensure smooth progress for these capital acquisition process, the source added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi Police on Saturday nabbed a dreaded criminal associated with the Joga gang, along with his aide, from the national capital when they were allegedly planning to commit a "huge robbery", police said.

Ajay, 42, also known as Jitender and Jeetu, is a named accused in several cases of robbery and murder.

Ajay, along with his accomplice Bhola, 25, was arrested as police got a tip-off that the two would be meeting at Bada Park in Sector 20 of Rohini in west Delhi to hatch a robbery plan.

"Acting on this information, the team laid a trap at the given place and nabbed the two criminals," a statement from Delhi Police said.

Both of them were found carrying 9mm sophisticated pistols with live cartridges at the time of arrest.

"During interrogation, the accused disclosed that he had studied up to Class VIII and due to poor economic condition of his family, he got involved in petty offences. Later, he came in contact with a robber, Joginder, who is his cousin," the statement read.

"The accused is the most desperate member of the gang as he never hesitates to fire if anyone opposes during the time of commission of robbery since he is short-tempered," it added.

-- IANS

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Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan will visit Istanbul in Turkey from July 10-12 to represent India at the 22nd World Petroleum Congress (WPC) International Conference, an official statement said on Saturday.

Pradhan will also hold several bilateral meetings with petroleum ministers of other countries.

"During the conference, Pradhan will chair a ministerial session on the subject 'Current Economic Strategies in Indian Oil and Gas Sector' and a plenary session on 'Supply and Demand Challenges for Oil, Gas and Products'," the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said here in a statement.

The Minister will also launch an event on Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) as a part of the process of promoting the upcoming oil and gas bidding rounds in India, it said.

The tri-annual WPC Conference is widely recognised as the 'Olympics' of the oil and gas industry. It attracts ministers, chief executive officers of oil and gas multinational corporations, experts and academics from the hydrocarbon sectors.

The WPC provides an ideal forum to showcase the potential of India's hydrocarbon sector, highlight policy reforms to international investors and interact with policy makers, technologists, scientists, planners and management experts, entrepreneurs, service providers and vendors in order to attract foreign investments into India's oil and gas sector.

--IANS

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Five most-wanted Maoists, including two couples, with rewards totalling Rs 16 lakh on their heads, laid down their arms before the authorities on Saturday, police said.

According to Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhinav Deshmukh, they are Jairam Komti Gavde alias Jaggu, his wife Deve Zuru Pungati-Gavde alias Rasso, another couple Anil Budhu Gawde and Sunny Busku Pungati-Gawde, and Kamlesh Lachhu Telami.

The surrender was effected in the presence of Special Inspector General of Police (Anti-Naxal Operations) Sharad Shelar, DIG Ankush Shinde and other district officials.

The surrendered Maoists are entitled to full rehabilitation as per the state government's policy, including allotment of plots of land, financial aid, employment opportunities and other benefits.

Gavde, who was the Bhamragad militia commander, carried a Rs 6 lakh reward on his head and was involved in some of the worst strikes at Bejurpalli, Yerraguda, Tonder and other places. He was charged with 17 serious offences, including murder, by the police.

His wife carried a reward of Rs 4 lakh on her head.

Anil Budhu Gawde was a Maoist cadre since 2003 while his wife was an active member since 2006. Both carried rewards of Rs 2 lakh each on their heads.

Telami was involved in the Maoist movement since 2012 and carried a Rs 2 lakh reward for involvement in serious crimes, including murders, said SP Deshmukh.

"Sixteen Maoists from various 'dalams', including an area commander, have surrendered before authorities so far in 2017. We have appealed to the other Maoists active in this region to return to the national mainstream and contribute to society," Deshmukh said.

--IANS

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Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni has called for global efforts and coordinated action to address migration challenge.

At a press conference after G20 summit in Hamburg in Germany on Saturday, Gentiloni said Italy's effort on immigration "can not be unlimited", Xinhua news agency reported.

He admitted the views are divided on immigration issues between Italy and its neighbours like France, adding that he does not expect sudden conversions in that regard.

Though Italy has made important efforts, for instance, performed international search and marine rescue operations, "this effort can not be unlimited, it can not be done only by us", Gentiloni said.

The Italian Prime Minister also regarded the outcomes of the G20 summit as "acceptable results", underlying that G20 stands against protectionism and incorrect behaviours in trade, while granting legitimate trade defence instruments to individual countries.

The two-day G20 Hamburg summit began on Friday with discussions on terrorism, global economic growth, trade and climate change and migration.

--IANS

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Actor Jackky Bhagnani, who had once misspelt Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai's name as 'Masala' in a tweet, did a spell check on Saturday when he decided to welcome her on social media platform Twitter.

"A world leader we should all be proud of! Welcome to Twitter, Malala. Yes, I did a quick spell check guys," Jackky quipped.

Malala, the Pakistani campaigner who survived being shot in the head by Taliban gunmen, joined Twitter with a call for people to help her fight for girls' education.

On Friday, the 19-year-old sent her first tweets using the Twitter handle @Malala.

Jackky had made the faux pas on her name in 2014, and a year later, he got a chance to meet the Pakistani activist in London. He had called the meeting his "dream" and described Malala his "hero".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani campaigner who survived being shot in the head by Taliban gunmen, has joined Twitter with a call for people to help her fight for girls' education, the media reported.

On Friday, the 19-year-old sent her first tweets using the Twitter handle @Malala, the same day she finished school, which she said was a "bittersweet" moment, reports the BBC.

"Today is my last day of school and my first day on Twitter," her first tweet read.

She said her thoughts turned to the millions of girls who would never get the same opportunity.

As well as calling for people to back her fight for girls' education, Malala also revealed she would be spending the summer campaigning around the world.

Malala was just 11 when she first began writing a blog on girls' education.

But it was after she was attacked as she boarded her school bus in October 2012, aged 15, that her fight made global headlines, the BBC reported.

Malala was flown to the UK to undergo urgent treatment to save her life. She recovered, and has been attending school in the UK ever since.

It was reported earlier this year she had received a conditional offer to study at a top UK university.

--IANS

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Israel has been in the news in the context of the Prime Minister's visit and I may be forgiven for a touch of nostalgia. I was the first Indian journalist to visit Israel after an Australian fanatic had set fire to the pulpit of the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem in August 1969. The Arab World was ablaze.

Indian passports in those days were not valid for South Africa, Israel and Southern Rhodesia. Under a special dispensation you could obtain a separate passport for travel to countries with which India did not have diplomatic ties. Israelis were more practical: They pinned a piece of paper for entry and exit which could be pulled out when travelling to other countries.

The reception I received at Ben Gurion airport was the stuff of fairytales for a reporter in his 20s. Never will Jerusalem Municipality have a public relations officer more beautiful than Bathsheba Herman.

Something that had not touched the Israelis then was arrogance. They came across as clever, wise, modest people, working diligently on their Kibbutz, the typically Jewish cooperatives, where inequalities were not discernible. It was possible to contemplate Fa Giladi, the exquisite Kibbutz in the shadow of Mt. Hermon, as the dream location for research on the Palestinian issue.

The simplicity of the people helped tone down shades of Zionism instilled in us and which was the bane of the Palestinian people. Ambassadors like John Kenneth Galbraith held Pandit Nehru in their thrall with their intellect. But during the Indira Gandhi years, changes were creeping across the diplomatic corps. There were various ways to gauge how well informed an Ambassador was. A simple test could be this: Was the ambassador a regular fixture at the New Year-eve party hosted by Indira Gandhi's leftist adviser, editor of Seminar, Romesh Thapar. By this and several other criteria the trophy belonged to Clovis Maksoud, Arab League's first ambassador, articulate, even bombastic, with an unerring eye for New Delhi's well-groomed ladies. His role in sensitising the New Delhi elite to the intricacies of the Palestinian case must never be underestimated.

Nehru as leader of the Non-Aligned and Afro-Asian bloc obviously had a large constituency among left liberals and Muslims. His charm offensive even on the Arabs worked such magic that Raees Amrohvi, an Urdu poet from Pakistan, was moved to write a quatrain:

"Jup raha hai aaj mala ek Hindu ki Arab Barhman zaa de mein shaane dilbari aisi to ho! Hikmat e Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ki qasam Mar mitey Islam jispar, kafiri aisi to ho!" (What a spell this Brahmin has cast on the Arabs, Who now chant his name on their beads. Look at the magic of this kafir (non-believer); Believers of the Arab world lie at his feet!)

Until 1990s, it was anti-intellectual to cast positive light on the Israeli case. When Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister in 1984, he was advised by Muslim Congressmen in his vicinity (but totally out of touch with the community) not to upgrade relations with Israel because that would adversely affect the party's Muslim support.

When I argued against this line in the Indian Express, Rajiv had it expanded into an official note. Muslim leaders, such as they were, and the Mullah had shackled the community with issues like Shah Bano, Salman Rushdie, Babri Masjid, Muslim character of Aligarh Muslim University and now relations with Israel. What any backward community needed was employment, education, entrepreneurial help, I wrote.

After Rajiv was assassinated half way through the 1991 General Elections, P.V. Narasimha Rao upgraded relations with Israel in 1992. There was not a whimper from the community.

Initially, relations were more or less mechanically upgraded. Absence of any real content in the relationship invited Shimon Peres to quip in an interview with me: "Indo-Israeli relations are like French perfume -- to be smelt not drunk."

An episode firmed up my appraisal of the Israeli-Palestinian two-state process.

It was a Shabath lunch, at a friend's house in Herzilia. Among this very small group happened to be a person at one end of the lawn, wreathed in cigarette smoke, a glass of red wine in one hand, rapidly replenished, obviously revelling in the company of three well-groomed ladies who had formed an admiring circle around him. It was Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, lighting one Kent after another, like Belmondo in a Godard film.

He came across at first as a shy man but once he opened up, he was transparent and obviously trustworthy. His approach to Oslo was not at a variance from another lovable Israeli, Yossi Beilin, very much the author of the Oslo accords.

Obsession with survival and security had injected some iron in the Israeli soul, but the Jewish state became hard as nails after the 9/11 wars, Islamophobia, and Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister who visited India on the first anniversary of 9/11, just when the war-on-terror rhetoric was being amplified here too.

Sensitive defence deals with Israel begun under Atal Behari Vajpayee were boosted by Manmohan Singh. The Palestinian issue, which was highest priority up to Indira Gandhi, dipped in saliency.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, however, is fired by an atavistic Hindutva adoration for a small country on top of its mischievous Muslim neighbours. Ramallah has been bypassed, of course. But it should not be lost on the insiders that during the September Non-Aligned summit in Venezuela the Indian delegation received instructions from South Block to drop the routine reference to the Palestinian issue altogether. It was a tradition from the earliest days of NAM.

No, Ramallah was not just bypassed; Palestine has been downgraded to the level of irrelevance.

(Saeed Naqvi is a commentator on political and diplomatic affairs. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached on saeednaqvi@hotmail.com)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two Muslim organisations staged a protest during the visit by Union Minister for Minorities Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi here on Saturday over his silence on the lynching of Muslims by cow vigilantes.

Condemning Naqvi's silence, Tehreek-e-Muslim Shabban (TMS) and Darasgah Jihad-o-Shadat (DJS) tried to stage a sit-in at Haj House.

Police arrested the leaders and activists of the two organisations and shifted them to a police station.

Mild tension prevailed as TMS President Mushtaq Malik had an argument with the police officers, who refused to allow any protest.

Malik told reporters that they wanted to stage a peaceful protest and meet Naqvi to submit a representation over the killings. He said the BJP government was allowing the 'gorakshaks' to lynch Muslims in the name of cow protection.

Naqvi was in Hyderabad to attend the annual conference of state channelising agencies of the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nagaland appears headed for a fresh bout of political crisis with majority of the ruling Naga People's Front legislators gunning for the ouster of Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu.

The rebellion within the legislature party erupted accusing Liezietsu, who took over as Chief Minister four months ago, of indulging in "nepotism" by appointing his son Khriehu Liezietsu as his advisor with cabinet status and pay.

Khriehu had resigned from his Northern Angami-I assembly seat last month to enable his father to contest and become an elected member in the Nagaland Assembly in order to continue as Chief Minister.

Chief Minister Liezietsu voiced confidence that the crisis within the NPF would be resolved at the earliest.

The NPF legislators along with the Independent legislators are camping at a resort in Kaziranga National Park in Assam to discuss the transition of power.

Of the 47 NPF legislators, 35 have signed a "letter of support" wanting Liezietsu's predecessor T.R. Zeliang to take over again as Chief Minister.

Liezietsu, who is also the NPF president, was sworn in as Chief Minister on February 22 this year after Zeliang resigned following violent protest by tribal groups who were opposed to his move to hold civic polls with 33 per cent reservation for women.

"More than 40 (NPF and Independents) legislators have signed a letter of support in favour Zeliang as the new legislature party leader," a senior NPF legislator, who wished not to quoted, told IANS.

"We are waiting for the return of Governor (P.B. Acharya) to Nagaland to brief him about the political developments and Zeliang to stake claim to form the new government," the NPF legislator said.

The fresh political instability has come at a time when Liezietsu is gearing up for the July 29 by-election from the Northern Angami-I assembly constituency.

In an e-mailed statement, the Chief Minister said that he was deeply pained by the recent disturbing developments affecting the normal functioning of the government.

"The current issue is within the NPF party and will be resolved at the earliest to bring about normalcy in the state. The mandate of the people will be respected and the present crisis will be resolved in the larger interest of the people of the state," Liezietsu stated.

Noting that the NPF-led government will complete its full term, the beleaguered Chief Minister appealed to the people of the state to remain calm.

"The normal government functioning should be smooth and the benefits of the government programmes at the grassroot level, especially in rural areas, should not be hampered in any manner," Liezietsu said.

In the truncated 59-member assembly, the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland coalition government comprises 47 NPF legislators, including suspended legislator Imkong Imchen, four Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and eight Independents.

Interestingly, Zeliang had even warmed up with his once bitter rival Neiphiu Rio, a three-time Nagaland Chief Minister.

Rio, the lone Lok Sabha member from Nagaland, was suspended a couple of years back for "anti-party activities", particularly against Zeliang.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Supermodel Naomi Campbell made a surprise appearance on the Azzedine Alaia runway at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week here and said it was an "emotional" moment for her.

The 47-year-old, who walked the ramp on Wednesday, first appeared in one of the Tunisian-born couturier's shows over three decades ago when she was just 16, reports dailymail.co.uk.

"I kept it all quiet and it was a big surprise. It was overwhelming and I have to admit I was nervous," Campbell said.

"It was very emotional walking out as I didn't want to let him down and wanted him to be proud of me. His clothes are exquisite. He is truly the master," she added.

--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.)
The Chinese Embassy on Saturday said that it has not denied visa to two researchers of a seven-member India Foundation delegation for visiting the Fudan University in Shanghai.

Spokesperson of Chinese Embassy in India Counsellor Xie Liyan denied the report and said that all seven members of India Foundation delegation to visit China got their visas in time.

There were reports that China has also put the visa of India Foundation Director Alok Bansal on hold and denied visa to two researchers, following the developments the foundation on Friday called off the visit.

"As far as I know, all seven members of India Foundation delegation to visit China got their visas in time. None of the visa application was denied. The delegation will visit China as scheduled," the embassy said in a statement.

It added: "The Chinese side always welcomes and supports the exchanges of think tanks between China and India. It is not true that the source of India Foundation claims that two of its junior research members were denied visas and the visit to China of the delegation has been canceled."

On Friday, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav, who is on the Board of Directors of India Foundation, had denied media reports that he was denied visa by China but confirmed that visas of two of their researchers were rejected.

India Foundation and Fudan University held the third edition of their bilateral interaction in Delhi on December 4 to 5 last year. In continuation of this bilateral interaction agreement, a seven-member delegation of the Foundation was to visit Shanghai.

Bansal on Friday said that his visa was put on hold, and told the media: "No idea why the visa was denied. It's the discretion of the Chinese government to give visa. It's a shock because we didn't think that visa would be a problem."

The report of denial of visa to Indians comes amid rising tensions between the two countries due to a border stand-off.

Union Ministers Suresh Prabhu, Nirmala Sitharaman, Jayant Sinha and M.J. Akbar are among the Board of Directors of India Foundation.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Saturday sought to praise Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir a year ago.

His death had led to a surge in protests in the Valley.

"Sacrifices of Burhan Wani and generations against Indian atrocities are a testimony of their resolve," the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) DG said on Twitter.

Pakistan and India have been in a tense standoff with an upsurge in ceasefire violations and cross-border infiltration by Pakistani militants into Kashmir. India says Wani was a terrorist who had taken up the gun.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Virtually snubbing the US, the G20 Summit on Saturday said the Paris Agreement on climate change is irreversible.

"The leaders of the other G20 members agree that the Paris Agreement is irreversible. We reiterate the importance of fulfilling the UNFCCC commitment by developed countries in providing means of implementation, including financial resources to assist developing countries with respect to both mitigation and adaption actions in line with Paris outcomes...," the Summit declaration said.

The Hamburg Action Plan noted the decision of the US to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. "It was unfortunate that the US has left us. But the other 19 heads of government have agreed that the Paris accord is irreversible and the conditions in the agreement need to be implemented. We have agreed on the Hamburg Action Plan on climate change and energy," host German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the post-Summit briefing.

"We reaffirm our strong commitment to the Paris Agreement, moving swiftly towards its full implementation in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances and, to this end, we agree to the G20 Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth as set out in the Annex," the declaration said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
One of the prime accused in the sensational lynching of 16-year-old Junaid Khan in a train last month has been arrested in Dhule, northern Maharashtra, Government Railway Police said here on Saturday.

The fugitive was hiding in Dhule since the incident, which triggered nationwide outrage. On police interrogation, the accused confessed to stabbing Junaid and his brothers, an official of GRP said.

The accused, whose name the GRP police declined to reveal, hails from Palwal district of Haryana, close to Ballabgarh, the village of the victims.

The accused is likely to be produced before a Dhule magistrate for a transit remand on Sunday and later handed over to the police in Delhi.

Junaid and cousin brothers Hasim Moin and Shakir Moin had boarded the EMU train going from Ghaziabad to Mathura after Eid shopping on June 22.

The accused, along with around a dozen other persons, boarded the train at Okhla and ordered Junaid and his brothers to give them their seats.

When they refused, they brutally beat the three and also stabbed them and dumped them at Asaoti railway station in Palwal district.

The Haryana Police had announced a Rs 50,000 reward for information on the prime accused who went missing after the incident.

On July 4, the GRP had announced Rs 2 lakh reward to anyone providing information about the identity of the accused.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Saudi Haj Ministry has imposed a $106 fee on each domestic pilgrim to be paid by organisations and companies offering services for them, the media reported on Saturday.

The fee will be in the form of a bank guarantee of 30 per cent of the value of services provided by the ministry.

The fees should be paid before registering domestic pilgrims through the online portal for the upcoming pilgrimage season. The fees should be transferred to the ministry's account through local banks that are registered with the Saudi Monetary Agency, Xinhua news agency reported.

The ministry warned the organisations against hiking their prices in order to make the pilgrims to pay for the new fee, while ordering them to allocate all administration, reception and data processing jobs to Saudis.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As part of its fight against the unpredictability common with ad-hoc teachers' jobs, the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) has now decided to visit the principals of those colleges which have opened fresh vacancies for such posts, intending to replace the existing ones.

Due to their efforts, at least three colleges - Janaki Devi Memorial (JDM) College, Kirori Mal College (KMC) and Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) College - have deferred their hiring of ad-hoc teachers, for which they had issued advertisements a few days back, a DUTA Executive Council member told IANS.

"So far, about 15 colleges have advertised vacancies for the ad-hoc teachers. Our demand is that they let the existing ones continue and advertise only for the newly created vacancies. After our meeting, their principals have deferred the interviews for these posts," DUTA Executive Council (EC) member Sudhanshu Kumar told IANS.

Kumar, who is also an Assistant Professor at Swami Shraddhanand College, said Daulat Ram College and Bhaskaracharya College are also likely to defer their plans to replace existing ad-hocs.

Appointed for a maximum of four months as a stop-gap option until a permanent candidate is found, thousands of ad-hoc continue to be shuttled from one college to another.

"It is not these teachers' fault that they were not made permanent. Instead of issuing vacancy for permanent teachers, the colleges continue to extend their tenure after each four months, or issue fresh vacancies to replace them. The ad-hoc posts have become an instrument of wielding power as authorities generally fill them with their favourite candidates," Kumar said.

On the issue of permanent positions, the colleges initiated steps since the Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar promised earlier this year to fill all permanent posts and directed the colleges to work in that direction.

A total of about 55 DU colleges have issued vacancies for permanent faculty this season.

The DUTA as well as other faculty members are demanding that ad-hoc teachers be absorbed into the posts of permanent faculty as "many of these teachers are employed in that capacity for about a decade now".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The "Gray Lady of Manhattan" billed it as the "Donnie and Vlad: A Love Story" overshadowing the summit of the world's 20 rich and powerful nations.

The "failing New York Times", as the POTUS loves to call it, was confident that their first pow-wow would be "a sure winner for Russia" with a sceptic Donald Trump loathe to raise Moscow's meddling in the 2016 election with Vladimir Putin.

Other pundits prophesied that Putin, the former KGB agent, would eat The Donald, the once reality TV star, like a sandwich with a bit of flattery at their short and sweet meeting that was supposed to last just half an hour with no agenda.

The Friday encounter turned in Hamburg out to be a "blockbuster". With not a fly on the wall privy to the inside story, the meeting dragged for all of two hours and 16 agonising minutes for anxious reporters waiting outside.

And even FLOTUS Melania peeking through the door could not hurry them along, as Trump's top diplomat Rex Tillerson would tell afterwards.

Defying pundits, the POTUS raised the Russian hacking issue off the bat, claimed Tillerson, who along with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made the foursome besides the two interpreters.

"Nyet, Nyet," asserted Putin and demanded proof, but nevertheless agreed to organise talks "regarding commitments of non-interference" in Uncle Sam's affairs.

As the Russian spy and the proud American author of "The Art of the Deal" focused on how to move forward, they reached their first pact on a partial Syrian ceasefire.

Tillerson also saw "a level of commitment" on the part of Russia to "transition away from the Assad family" after the defeat of ISIS.

With Lavrov having a slightly different take suggesting Trump had accepted Putin's "clear statements" about Russian meddling "being untrue" critics quickly latched on to the "differing narratives".

Without the ever-present leakers, the hacks of the media variety were left speculating about what transpired behind closed doors after Trump greeted Putin calling it "an honour" and the Russian responded with a "delighted to meet you".

The professionals were apparently kept out of the Hamburg tango as part of what the influential Politico called Trump's "stealthy operation to smoke out leakers" with a crackdown that has sent "chills through national security world".

Trump also muddied the waters before the Putin meeting by telling reporters in Poland that "it could very well have been Russia" behind the election hacks or "it could well have been other countries".

"Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure," Trump declared even as he chided his predecessor Barack Obama for "choking" while questioning his spooks' assessment about Moscow's role.

Then he fired another tweet missile claiming "Everyone here is talking about why (Clinton campaign chairman) John Podesta refused" to give the Democratic Party's server to the FBI and the CIA, and proclaiming it "Disgraceful!"

This sent the pundits on another wild goose chase with a nitpicking hack at the Washington Post churning out a long winded "Analysis" of "one of President Trump's most bizarre tweets yet".

And the Times was quick to brand Democratic mayor De Blasio's "sudden trip" to join G-20 protests against the global political and economic system as "Trump Protests".

It was left to a company named Caviar Royal Gift to celebrate the historic summit with a $2,500 special edition Putin-Trump Nokia phone.

The special Nokia 3310 features a tiny replica plaque on the back of the phone and "hardened titanium with a pattern of 'Damascus steel' to represent the 'principle and hardness necessary for the protection of justice'."

Ahead of the summit, keeping up his tirade against "the dishonest media", Trump posted a mock video of him pummelling a man in a business suit -- his face obscured by the CNN logo -- outside a wrestling ring with the message: "#FraudNewsCNN #FNN."

By all accounts, the Trump-Putin tango was a substantive affair with even CNN conceding that "Trump exceeded expectations". Yet a Times columnist wondered: "Did Putin Have Trump for Lunch?"

And given Trump's "past comments", the Post found "it difficult to believe that he confronted Putin with much vigour".

No wonder POTUS keeps complaining, "Fake News Media will never cover me accurately but who cares!"

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@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.)
US President Donald Trump on Saturday waved to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and then walked up to him for an "impromptu" chat at the G20 summit here.

Arvind Panagariya, India's Sherpa for the summit, tweeted the "Great moments" from the gathering.

In an impromptu interaction at G20 Summit, POTUS waves to the PM, walks to him, other leaders gather around. Gr8 moments pic.twitter.com/LzvLlfqaB2  Arvind Panagariya (@APanagariya) July 8, 2017

"In an impromptu interaction at G20 Summit, POTUS waves to the PM, walks to him, other leaders gather around. Gr8 moments," he posted, with a photograph of the two leaders chatting, along with Indonesia's Joko Widodo and another leader whose face is not visible.

In another instance of the positive vibes between the two leaders, a video of the G20 leaders' photo-op is doing the rounds that shows the US President preferring to stand beside Modi.

Trump and his wife Melainia are seen being welcomed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the leaders gather for the photo-opportunity, then Trump is seen walking past the first row to stand alongside Modi in the second row.

Modi and Trump had met in Washington in June-end for a bilateral meeting, in their first face-to-face interaction.

(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.)
Actress Shraddha Kapoor has tried to break her girl-next-door image with her next film "Haseena: The Queen of Mumbai". She hopes people will see her conscious effort of playing something different on screen.

"I think it's one of most different roles of my career so far for sure because I think I have played more positive characters, and this is first character which is more grey shaded. I hope people can see (my) conscious effort of playing something different," Shraddha told IANS on phone from Mumbai.

She spoke on the sidelines of the launch of Marico's Hair & Care in a new fruity avatar.

"Haseena: The Queen of Mumbai" is a biopic, where Shraddha is essaying the role of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's sister Haseena Parkar. The film is directed by Apoorva Lakhia and Shraddha's brother Siddhanth Kapoor will play the notorious gangster Dawood Ibrahim in the biopic.

Shraddha, who has also been roped in to play badminton champion Saina Nehwal in a biopic, says that project too is a part of her pursuit to maintain a variety in her filmography.

"I just wanted to do something different. I felt like I wanted to venture into new kinds of films, and be a part of different kind of characters. That's why I decided to be a part of films like 'Haseena' and the Saina Nehwal biopic," she added.

Giving more details about the biopic, she said: "I think it's a very big opportunity for me to play a sportswoman who has been a former champion. It's a huge responsibility, so I really hope that once the movie is out, people get inspired when they watch the movie.

"We have not started shooting for it and I am still preparing for the role. There is a long way to go. I hope I can do justice to her," she added.

The actress, who made her Bollywood debut in 2010 with "Teen Patti", went on to do roles in films like "Aashiqui 2", "Ek Villain" and "Haider".

Asked about her evolution as an actor, Shraddha said: "That is something that the audience has to decide... How they see my progress. I just like to try and do better than what I have done before."

The actress says she is not affected by the ups and downs of life as she feels it is a "part of every kind of profession".

"But you keep doing what you are passionate about."

Daughter of veteran actor Shakti Kapoor, Shraddha says that she looks to her father for advice, but his only suggestion to her is to always do what she wants to and to pursue what makes her happy.

Coming to her beauty and hair care regime, the actress, who is the brand ambassador for Hair & Care Fruit Oils, says "the nourishment that your body gets when you consume food, the same nourishment is needed for hair also and that's how fruit oil comes into the picture".

(Nivedita can be contacted at nivedita.s @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.)
Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of not cooperating with the central government over the Darjeeling unrest and accused the state government of returning forces sent by the Centre.

The comments of Union Minister of State for Power follows Banerjee's accusation that the central government was not cooperating over the violent agitation in Darjeeling, which is witnessing a prolonged movement demanding a separate state of Gorkhaland.

"We condemn Mamata Banerjee's ... Home Minister Rajnath Singh called her (Banerjee) twice and asked her to normalise the situation in Darjeeling. We were sending forces, but Mamata Banerjee's Principal Secretary stopped them (forces)," Goyal told a press conference here.

"The truth should come out before the country. She (Banerjee) is making false allegations on the Centre...she should be held answerable for this," Goyal said.

Banerjee on Saturday accused the central government of "non-cooperation" over the situation in Darjeeling and claimed the crisis could have been averted through timely deployment of central forces.

Home Ministry sources in Delhi said on Saturday that West Bengal sent back four companies of the Border Security Force (BSF) and four companies of additional paramilitary forces.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The army was deployed in north West Bengal's hills on Saturday after three persons died and a policeman sustained injuries in a sudden escalation of violence with pro-Gorkhaland activists engaging in widespread arson and vandalism targeting a railway station, police outposts and government offices.

"Three persons have died, one on Friday night, two on Saturday," said a Darjeeling district official.

As the situation continued to deteriorate through the day, the government decided to call in the army - the second time in exactly a month after Darjeeling turned restive.

"Two army columns have been deployed - one in Darjeeling, one in Sonada, where one railway station was set afire," a Defence Ministry spokesman said here. One army column comprises 43 personnel.

In Kolkata, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed for peace and said she was open to holding a dialogue with protestors in the next 10-15 days if they eschewed violence and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh if he so desired.

The situation in Darjeeling district, already on the boil for a month after the principal hill party Gorkha Janmukti Morcha renewed the movement for a Gorkhaland state, deteriorated abruptly over allegations that 30-year-old Tasi Bhutia died in police firing during a disturbance at Sonada on Friday night.

Police denied it was to blame.

Claiming that Bhutia was its active member, the pro-Gorkhaland Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) leader Neeraj Zimba said: "An innocent Gorkhaland supporter has been shot dead... We are deeply hurt and shaken to the core."

The GJM claimed that Bhutia was its supporter.

"Yet another person has died in the hills," GJM Assistant General Secretary Binay Tamang said, as the indefinite shutdown to press for Gorkhaland entered the 24th day on Saturday.

A police complaint lodged at Sonada police outpost by the victim's family alleged that Bhutia was shot by police while he was on his way to buy medicines.

Backing police, state Tourism Minister Gautam Deb said: "The allegation that Bhutia died in police firing is completely false."

But a district official said the police had to fire in self-defence after Bhutia attacked with a 'khukri'.

The incident triggered a fresh flare up on Saturday as GJM and GNLF activists torched the Sonada railway station and a traffic police booth and attacked the Sonada police outpost. One policeman was injured.

Protest demonstrations and blockades were on at several places and the offices of the Deputy Superintendent of police (Town) and the Food and Supply Department were vandalised in Darjeeling.

As the day wore on, the situation worsened, as agitators set afire the Neora Range office quarter and two vehicles at Gorubathan in Kalimpong district, and a police check post near Thurbo Tea Factory, Mirik in Darjeeling district. Police blamed the GJM, but the latter denied.

GJM sources alleged that one of their supporters died in police firing near the Darjeeling motor stand. Another death was also reported from the town during the violence.

Meanwhile, the Central Committee of Dooars GJM deceided to go on hunger strike from Wednesday.

The Chief Minister, who met the media at the state secretariat Nabanna, blamed "foreign forces" close to the BJP for playing a part in the recent flare-up in the hills.

She accused the central government of "non-cooperation", and claimed the crisis could have been averted through timely deployment of central forces.

Asked whether she wanted to talk to Rajnath Singh, Banerjee responded: "I have talked to him six times. If he wants to talk, we have no problem in discussing."

Banerjee saw the hand of foreign forces close to the Bharatiya Janata Party in the pro-Gorkhaland agitation, which she dubbed as "pre-planned" and "planted".

"Some of the foreign forces which have good relations with the BJP have indulged in the agitation in Darjeeling."

Holding out a proposal for dialogue, she urged the pro-Gorkhaland agitators not to take the law in their own hands.

"Allow the government to supply food and serve minimum services to the people of Darjeeling and eschew violence. This is my appeal. If you agree to my appeal, we can have a meeting within 10-15 days," she said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The army was deployed in north West Bengal's hills on Saturday after three persons died and a policeman sustained injuries in a sudden escalation of violence with pro-Gorkhaland activists engaging in widespread arson and vandalism targeting a railway station, police outposts and government offices.

"Three persons have died, one on Friday night, two on Saturday," said a Darjeeling district official.

As the situation continued to deteriorate through the day, the government decided to call in the army - the second time in exactly a month after Darjeeling turned restive.

"Two army columns have been deployed - one in Darjeeling, one in Sonada, where one railway station was set afire," a Defence Ministry spokesman said in Kolkata.. One army column comprises 43 personnel.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed for peace and said she was open to holding a dialogue with protestors in the next 10-15 days if they eschewed violence and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh if he so desired.

The situation in Darjeeling district, already on the boil for a month after the principal hill party Gorkha Janmukti Morcha renewed the movement for a Gorkhaland state, deteriorated abruptly over allegations that 30-year-old Tasi Bhutia died in police firing during a disturbance at Sonada on Friday night.

Police denied it was to blame.

Claiming that Bhutia was its active member, the pro-Gorkhaland Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) leader Neeraj Zimba said: "An innocent Gorkhaland supporter has been shot dead... We are deeply hurt and shaken to the core."

The GJM claimed that Bhutia was its supporter.

"Yet another person has died in the hills," GJM Assistant General Secretary Binay Tamang said, as the indefinite shutdown to press for Gorkhaland entered the 24th day on Saturday.

A police complaint lodged at Sonada police outpost by the victim's family alleged that Bhutia was shot by police while he was on his way to buy medicines.

Backing police, state Tourism Minister Gautam Deb said: "The allegation that Bhutia died in police firing is completely false."

But a district official said the police had to fire in self-defence after Bhutia attacked with a 'khukri'.

The incident triggered a fresh flare up on Saturday as GJM and GNLF activists torched the Sonada railway station and a traffic police booth and attacked the Sonada police outpost. One policeman was injured.

Protest demonstrations and blockades were on at several places and the offices of the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Town and the Food and Supply Department were vandalised in Darjeeling.

As the day wore on, the situation worsened, as agitators set afire the Neora Range office quarter and two vehicles at Gorubathan in Kalimpong district, and a police check post near Thurbo Tea Factory, Mirik in Darjeeling district. Police blamed the GJM, but the latter denied.

GJM sources alleged that one of their supporters died in police firing near the Darjeeling motor stand. Another death was also reported from the town during the violence.

Meanwhile, the Central Committee of Dooars GJM deceided to go on hunger strike from Wednesday.

The Chief Minister, who met the media at the state secretariat Nabanna, blamed "foreign forces" close to the BJP for playing a part in the recent flare-up in the hills.

She accused the central government of "non-cooperation", and claimed the crisis could have been averted through timely deployment of central forces.

Asked whether she wanted to talk to Rajnath Singh, Banerjee responded: "I have talked to him six times. If he wants to talk, we have no problem in discussing."

Holding out a proposal for dialogue, she urged the pro-Gorkhaland agitators not to take the law in their own hands.

"Allow the government to supply food and serve minimum services to the people of Darjeeling and eschew violence. This is my appeal. If you agree to my appeal, we can have a meeting within 10-15 days," she said.

Countering Banerjee, Union Minister Piyush Goyal accused the state government of returning forces sent by the Centre.

"We condemn Mamata Banerjee's ... Home Minister Rajnath Singh called her (Banerjee) twice and asked her to normalise the situation in Darjeeling. We were sending forces, but Mamata Banerjee's Principal Secretary stopped them (forces)," Goyal told a press conference in New Delhi.

Home Ministry sources in Delhi said that West Bengal sent back four companies of the Border Security Force (BSF) and four companies of additional paramilitary forces.

--IANS

ssp/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The new chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, made no move to carry out a major reshuffle of key administrative and police posts immediately after taking charge. This was unusual.
Thirty-five migrants, including seven children, were feared drowned after their inflatable craft sank today off the Libyan coast, the coastguard said.

Eighty-five migrants, including 18 women, were rescued with the help of fishermen who alerted the coastguard, said Issa al-Zarrouk, a coastguard official in Garabulli, 60 kilometres (40 miles) east of Tripoli.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Eight persons were killed when their sport utility vehicle collided head on with a truck near Maarot village, about eight km from here, police said today.

While seven persons died on the spot, one succumbed to his injuries on the way to PGI Rohtak hospital, they said.

The accident took place at around 10 pm last night when the occupants of the vehicle were going towards Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar police, DSP (Beri), Jitender Kumar said.

The deceased were identified as Raghbir, Raju, Jagdish, Birbal, Bhagirath, Raju, Sonu and Sukhendra (driver), police said, adding that all of them lived in Dadri and were in the age group of 27 to 35 years.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and BJP president Amit Shah tonight hailed the declaration of Ahmedabad as world heritage city by UNESCO.

"Just inscribed as UNESCO world heritage site: Historic city of Ahmedabad #India", UNESCO said in a tweet tonight.

PM Modi tweeted it is a matter of immense joy for India.





A matter of immense joy for India! https://t.co/qtCOxm8Kga  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 9, 2017

Expressing delight at the announcement, Rupani said in a tweet, "Thrilled to learn that Ahmedabad has been recognised as UNESCO World heritage city, first of its kind in India".

"Delighted to know that UNESCO has declared Ahmedabad as World Heritage City. Proud moment for every Indian," the BJP president said in a tweet.

Ahmedabad was in the race for the prestigious title along with Delhi and Mumbai.

The walled city of Ahmedabad believed to be founded by Ahmed Shah some six hundred years earlier has 26 ASI-protected structures, hundreds of 'pols' that capture the essence of community living and numerous sites associated with Mahatma Gandhi who lived here from 1915 to 1930.

In 1984, the first study for conserving heritage structures was carried out in the city. A heritage cell was also set up by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).

The city had featured in UNESCO's tentative list of world heritage cities on March 31, 2011.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Rajasthan government's offer of an SIT probe into the encounter in which gangster Anandpal Singh was killed, failed to cut any ice with his family, who, backed the Rajput community, stuck to their demand for a CBI inquiry into it.

The gangster was gunned down in Malasar village in Churu on June 24. But the family members have not cremated the body to press for their demands, which include a CBI inquiry into the encounter and allowing his brothers, who are in judicial custody, to attend the funeral.

A meeting was held between a delegation of Rajput community members and state Parliament Affairs Minister Rajendra Rathore and BJP state chief Ashok Parnami yesterday in which the government offered to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the encounter.

"The government will abide by the Supreme Court guidelines regarding encounter cases. We proposed to set up an SIT to investigate the case in the meeting yesterday, but the members of the community said that they will discuss with the family members of Anandpal," Parnami told reporters today.

He said the family members have not cremated the body so far which is a "dishonour to the departed soul".

Rawana Rajput leader Ranjit Singh said their demand was for a CBI probe and the proposal of SIT inquiry was not acceptable.

"The meeting yesterday was inconclusive because our demand is for a CBI inquiry in Anandpal encounter case," he said.

Meanwhile, Rajput Sabha and other social organisations questioned the shifting of Commando Sohan Singh, who was injured in the encounter, from SMS hospital in Jaipur to a private hospital in Gurgaon yesterday.

"The shifting of the police commando to a private hospital raises doubt on the government. Instead, he should be shifted to AIIMS and his treatment should be monitored by an expert committee of five doctors," Singh said.

On the other hand, lawyer A P Singh, who is supporting the family of Anandpal, said that dialogue with the government in absence of the slain gangster's daughter cannot succeed.

His daughter is is studying engineering in Dubai and the family members are also demanding assurance from the police that she will not be arrested when she comes India.

The SP of Nagaur said the body of Anandpal is kept in a deep freezer at his house where elaborate security arrangement has also been made. Police are allowing people to enter the village only after verifying their identity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fresh violence today erupted in Darjeeling hills prompting the state government to call the Army back on the streets as Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost, a toy train station and clashed with the police at two places.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), spearheading the agitation for a separate state carved out of West Bengal, claimed that two youths were killed in police firing and rejected Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's offer of talks.

The police, however, said they did not have any report of firing.

Banerjee appealed for peace and said that the government was ready for talks with the hill parties, but peace has to be restored first.

In a statement tonight, the GJM, however, said the doors for talks with Banerjee and the state government are "closed forever".

It said it was willing to holds with the Centre on the issue of Gorkhaland. "If the Centre calls for talks on Grokhaland, we will go," it said.

The GJM also said while the Basirhat riots had drawn the attention of national parties, the month-long unrest in Darjeeling had failed to attract them.

"We sincerely ask the leaders of the political parties are we in India," the statement said.

The police burst teargas shells and baton-charged activists of the GJM and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) who attacked the security personnel at Sonada and Chawkbazar in the hills.

Two columns of the Army comprising around 100 personnel were deployed at Sonada and Darjeeling in the wake of fresh violence, defence sources said.

The chief minister said, "The government has shown enough restraint in the interest of the people of the hills."



She accused the Centre of "deliberate and total non- cooperation" and alleged that it's refusal to send CRPF personnel, as demanded by the state government, had led to the present situation in the Darjeeling hills where the indefinite shutdown entered its 24th day.

In New Delhi, Union home ministry sources said 11 companies of paramilitary force personnnel were sent to Darjeeling by the Centre, including one company consisting of women.

The West Bengal government has its own security forces like the Eastern Frontier Rifles and the State Armed Police and both have several battalions, they said, adding that it was not deploying these forces and instead blaming the central government.

GNLF spokesperson Neeraj Zimba claimed that a youth Tashi Bhutia was shot dead by the security forces last night when he had ventured out to purchase medicines at Sonada.

But a police officer said, "We don't have any report of police firing as of now. We are looking into the incident. We can give you details later."



Inspector General of Police (IGP) Javed Shamim, when asked about the firing said, "It will be known only after the inquiry."



The GJM and other hill parties have lodged a police complaint accusing the force of killing the youth.

"The youth was killed by the police without any reason. His body has bullet injuries. We demand that the policemen involved be punished," GJM leader Binay Tamang said.

As of the death spread, hundreds of Gorkhaland supporters came out on the streets and raised slogans against alleged "police atrocities".

They clashed with the police and set on fire a police outpost at Sonada and the toy train station of the Darjeeling- Himalayan Railways, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

A GJM leader claimed that another youth identified as Suraj Sundas was killed in police firing during clashes between the police and the protestors at Chowkbazar area here during the day.

The police, however, denied the charge.

The GJM leader claimed that Suraj was caught in the midst of the clashes and was killed when the police fired on the protesters.

The Centre had said yesterday that it was keen to hold tripartite talks with the GJM and the West Bengal government to end the agitation.

With food supply severely hit due to the indefinite strike, the GJM and various NGOs distributed food amongst the people.

Barring medicine outlets, all shops, schools, colleges remained closed. Internet services remained suspended for the 21st day.

The police and the security forces patrolled the streets and kept a vigil on the entry and exit routes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Army was redeployed today after fresh violence erupted in Darjeeling hills where Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost, a toy train station and clashed with the police at two places.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), spearheading the agitation for a separate state carved out of West Bengal, claimed that two youths were killed in police firing and rejected Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's offer of talks.

The police, however, said they did not have any report of firing.

Banerjee appealed for peace and said that the government was ready for talks with the hill parties, but peace has to be restored first.

In a statement tonight, the GJM, however, said the doors for talks with Banerjee and the state government are "closed forever".

It said it was willing to holds with the Centre on the issue of Gorkhaland. "If the Centre calls for talks on Grokhaland, we will go," it said.

The GJM also said while the Basirhat riots had drawn the attention of national parties, the month-long unrest in Darjeeling had failed to attract them.

"We sincerely ask the leaders of the political parties are we in India," the statement said.

The police burst teargas shells and baton-charged activists of the GJM and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) who attacked the security personnel at Sonada and Chawkbazar in the hills.

Two columns of the Army comprising around 100 personnel were deployed at Sonada and Darjeeling in the wake of fresh violence, defence sources said.

The chief minister said, "The government has shown enough restraint in the interest of the people of the hills."



She accused the Centre of "deliberate and total non- cooperation" and alleged that it's refusal to send CRPF personnel, as demanded by the state government, had led to the present situation in the Darjeeling hills where the indefinite shutdown entered its 24th day.

In New Delhi, Union home ministry sources said 11 companies of paramilitary force personnnel were sent to Darjeeling by the Centre, including one company consisting of women.

The West Bengal government has its own security forces like the Eastern Frontier Rifles and the State Armed Police and both have several battalions, they said, adding that it was not deploying these forces and instead blaming the central government.

GNLF spokesperson Neeraj Zimba claimed that a youth Tashi Bhutia was shot dead by the security forces last night when he had ventured out to purchase medicines at Sonada.

But a police officer said, "We don't have any report of police firing as of now. We are looking into the incident. We can give you details later."



Inspector General of Police (IGP) Javed Shamim, when asked about the firing said, "It will be known only after the inquiry."



The GJM and other hill parties have lodged a police complaint accusing the force of killing the youth.

"The youth was killed by the police without any reason. His body has bullet injuries. We demand that the policemen involved be punished," GJM leader Binay Tamang said.

As of the death spread, hundreds of Gorkhaland supporters came out on the streets and raised slogans against alleged "police atrocities".

They clashed with the police and set on fire a police outpost at Sonada and the toy train station of the Darjeeling- Himalayan Railways, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

A GJM leader claimed that another youth identified as Suraj Sundas was killed in police firing during clashes between the police and the protestors at Chowkbazar area here during the day.

The police, however, denied the charge.

The GJM leader claimed that Suraj was caught in the midst of the clashes and was killed when the police fired on the protesters.

The Centre had said yesterday that it was keen to hold tripartite talks with the GJM and the West Bengal government to end the agitation.

With food supply severely hit due to the indefinite strike, the GJM and various NGOs distributed food amongst the people.

Barring medicine outlets, all shops, schools, colleges remained closed. Internet services remained suspended for the 21st day.

The police and the security forces patrolled the streets and kept a vigil on the entry and exit routes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union minister Ramdas Athawale today sought a probe into the two incidents involving Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's chopper, in which he escaped unhurt.

"The chief minister got involved in accidents twice within a span of two months. There should be an in-depth inquiry to ascertain if there was an deliberate attempt made to harm him or if it was a lapse in his security," the Union minister of State for Social Justice said in a statement issued here.

He said Fadnavis getting involved in such accidents twice in such a short span of time means officials are negligent about his security.

An official from the Chief Minister's office had yesterday claimed Fadnavis escaped unhurt in a freak incident in which his helicopter lifted off and tilted over him even as he waited near its door to board it on his way back to Mumbai from Raigad.

Seeing the chopper tilt over the chief minister, his security personnel rushed and pulled him away to safety, the official had claimed.

The official later denied occurrence of any such incident involving his chopper in which he was said to have escaped unhurt.

Earlier, on May 25, Fadnavis had a narrow escape when his chopper got entangled in an overhead wire and crash-landed in Latur district of Maharashtra after the pilot tried to descend due to bad weather soon after the take-off.

An initial probe conducted by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) into the incident had prima-facie found lapses on part of the pilot.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An attack on a Saudi police patrol today wounded two officers in the Shiite-majority eastern province of Qatif, authorities said, in the third attack in the area in one week.

"The patrol was targeted by an explosive projectile when passing by a building under construction in the Al-Naserah district in Qatif," the interior ministry said in a statement published on the official SPA agency.

Two policeman were wounded and transferred to nearby hospitals.

Authorities are treating the attack as a "terrorist crime," the statement said.

The attack occurred in the same area where a police corporal was killed in a bombing targeting a patrol on Thursday.

Another policeman had been killed and three others wounded in a bombing in Qatif on Tuesday morning.

Three people, including a police officer, were also killed last month in bombings in Qatif, where most of Sunni- ruled Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority lives.

The district has been rocked by unrest since 2011, when Shiite protests erupted to demand equality in the Gulf kingdom.

Authorities have blamed the unrest on "terrorists" and drug traffickers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A dawn-to-dusk bandh backed by the chief minister against Governor Kiran Bedi's "undemocratic" style of functioning affected normal life here today.

All shops and establishments remained closed, while privately operated inter-state buses and auto rickshaws stayed off the roads.

Private schools were also shut in view of the protest.

Chief Minister V Narayanasamy told reporters here that the induction of three members by Bedi "is a shame on the Constitution and the democratic norms and conventions."



He claimed that only the speaker was the constitutional authority to induct any member as legislator of the House.

"The Lt Governor has taken law into her hands and had inducted the three BJP functionaries as members of the House. This is improper and invalid," he said.

The strike has been called by various political parties including the DMK in protest against the "disrespect" shown by the Centre to the people of the union territory.

The political parties condemned the "arbitrary manner in which the Centre had finalised the names of three nominated legislators and the undemocratic style of functioning of Lt Governor Kiran Bedi, and her induction of the three members secretly in Raj Nivas on July 4."



The three members nominated by the Centre and inducted as members of the Puducherry Assembly are V Saminathan (president of Puducherry unit of Bharatiya Janata party), K G Shankar (its treasurer) and S Selvaganapathy (an educationist and member of the BJP here).

DMK legislator R Siva, the CPI Secretary R Viswanathan, the CPI (M) Secretary R Rajangam, leaders of various outfits were taken into custody after they staged a road roko at Orleanpet junction demanding cancellation of the order of Union Home Ministry appointing the nominated MLAs and replacement of Bedi.

Besides, around 300 volunteers of the VCK who tried to lay siege to Raj Nivas (office of Lt Governor) while raising slogans against the Centre and the Lt Governor were also detained.

Volunteers of the Puducherry State Youth Congress led by Ilayaraja were also taken into custody for picketing at the local bus terminal.

Raj Nivas was cordoned off and security stepped up around the premises to prevent any escalation of law and order.

The Congress has extended support to the day-long bandh organised by the DMK, left parties, the VCK and other outfits.

As many as four state-owned buses including the one proceeding to Tirupati were stoned at various points in and around Puducherry by miscreants, police said, adding no one was injured.

Heavy pickets were posted at all vulnerable locations to prevent any untoward incident.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP President Amit Shah will be on a three-day visit to Rajasthan from July 21.

The party's state unit chief Ashok Parnami said that Shah will be here from July 21 to 23.

He said that preparations for the visit were reviewed during a meeting of the party's state executive today.

Shah will address a meeting of intellectuals and meet party workers and leaders from booth level to the state level during his visit, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid bilateral tensions over the Sikkim stand-off, China on Saturday issued an advisory for its citizens travelling to India, asking them to take necessary precautions for their personal safety.

It is not a travel alert. It is an advisory asking Chinese travellers to be careful, an official of the Chinese foreign ministry told PTI in Beijing.

The advisory asked Chinese people travelling to India to pay close attention to the security situation and take necessary precautions.

The advisory, which is in Chinese and has Saturdays date on it, was issued through the countrys embassy in New Delhi.

It asked Chinese travellers to pay close attention to the local security situation, improve self-protection awareness, strengthen security, reduce unnecessary travel, pay attention to personal and property safety as well as to provide advance information to family and friends.

The Chinese travellers should pay attention to the situation, keep the communication open, carry personal identification, strictly abide by the Indian laws and regulations and respect local religious customs, the advisory states.

It also provides phone numbers of the consular section of the embassy in case of emergency.

On July 5, China had said that it will decide on issuing a travel alert for Chinese citizens visiting India depending on the security situation, playing down reports in the official media asking Chinese investors to be on alert in view of the stand-off in the Sikkim section.

China and India have been engaged in the stand-off in the Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction for the past three weeks after a Chinese Armys construction party attempted to build a road. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim.
Amid bilateral tensions over the Sikkim standoff, China today issued an advisory for its citizens travelling to India, asking them to take necessary precautions for their personal safety.

"It is not a travel alert. It is an advisory asking Chinese travellers to be careful," an official of the Chinese Foreign Ministry told PTI here.

The advisory asked Chinese people travelling to India to pay close attention to the security situation and take necessary precautions.

The advisory, which is in Chinese and has today's date on it, was issued through the country's Embassy in New Delhi.

It asked Chinese travellers to pay close attention to the local security situation, improve self-protection awareness, strengthen security, reduce unnecessary travel, pay attention to personal and property safety as well as to provide advance information to family and friends.

The Chinese travellers should pay attention to the situation, keep the communication open, carry personal identification, strictly abide by the Indian laws and regulations and respect local religious customs, the advisory states.

It also provides phone numbers of the consular section of the Embassy in case of emergency.

On July 5, China had said that it will decide on issuing a travel alert for Chinese citizens visiting India depending on the security situation, playing down reports in the official media asking Chinese investors to be on alert in view of the standoff in the Sikkim section.

China and India have been engaged in the standoff in the Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction for the past three weeks after a Chinese Army's construction party attempted to build a road. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The men's 100m sprint event was mired in controversy after Malaysia's Khairul Hafiz, who was disqualified for a fault start, lodged a protest which resulted in the disqualification of another athlete.

Qatar's Tosin Joseph Onugode was disqualified today by the technical delegates on the ground after being found to have false-started upon examining the print outs of the reaction time of the competing athletes while coming out of the blocks.

Tosin is the brother of Femi Seun Onugode, the defending champion, who was stunned by Iran's Hassan Taftian in the competition.

The disqualification did not change the medal standings as Tosin had finished fifth in yesterday's race which had seen another athlete, China's Tang Xingqiang, also disqualified for fault start.

Malaysian Hafiz's demand in the protest application to re-run the race was rejected by the technical delegates.

The Malaysian team also lodged a protest, citing doubts over the equipment used by the starting officials.

However, the jury of technical delegates rejected it, saying that all the equipment used were certified by the world governing body, the IAAF.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chief Minister K Palaniswami today said Tamil Nadu had fared better in prevention of crimes against women when compared to other states and credited measures taken by the police for this.

Citing National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2015, the chief minister said a total of 5,847 cases of crimes against women were registered in Tamil Nadu whereas the number was far more in states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The same year, Uttar Pradesh had recorded nearly 35,600 cases while West Bengal came next with with 33,218, followed by Maharashtra (31,126) and Rajasthan (28,165), he said.

The number of such cases were in excess of 9,000 in states like Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, he added.

"Since crime prevention activities are undertaken effectively in Tamil Nadu, crimes against women, when compared to other states, are lesser," he informed the state Assembly.

The chief minister was wrapping up a debate on the grants for his Home (Police and Fire and Rescue Services) department.

Palaniswami said his government was guided by the principles followed by late chief minister J Jayalalithaa and therefore accorded top priority for women's safety.

Police are providing adequate security for women at workplaces, educational institutions and crowded areas like commercial establishments, he said.

Reeling out statistics, he said the overall instances of crime, including murder and robbery, have come down in the state due to effective policing.

There was a substantial dip in such instances in the 2011-16 period as compared to 2006-10, when DMK was in power, Palaniswami said.

The police and agencies concerned were closely monitoring the activities of banned outfits, fundamentalist organisations and Naxalites, and taking preventive activities to ensure peace in the state.

"Police are ensuring terror activities don't find a footing in the state," he added.

Meanwhile, responding to pleas from opposition DMK and three allies of AIADMK for granting of parole to A G Perarivalan, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the chief minister recalled having said the matter was under the government's consideration.

He said he had discussed the matter with Law Minister C V Shanmugam and that legal opinion had also been sought.

"The government will take action keeping in mind the opinion of all," he said.

Earlier, Palaniswami made a slew of announcements for the Police and the Fire and Rescue Services.

These included procuring gadgets and equipment, increasing allowances for the personnel and revising incentives, among other measures.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Egypt held funerals today for at least 21 soldiers killed in an attack by the Islamic State group in the restive Sinai Peninsula, officials said.

The attack on Friday was one the deadliest against the military in a jihadist insurgency that has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in the past four years.

Police and provincial officials said 21 bodies had arrived in the mainland for funerals in 11 provinces.

The jihadists attacked several checkpoints with car bombs and heavy gunfire in a coordinated assault, for which IS later claimed responsibility in a statement.

The military said it killed 40 of the assailants.

Jihadists launched their insurgency after the military ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and unleashed a deadly crackdown on his supporters.

Groups other than IS have also carried out attacks targeting policemen and judges.

Gunmen on Friday shot dead a National Security Service officer as he was leaving his home north of Cairo.

The militant group Hasam claimed responsibility.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Egyptian security forces today killed 14 terrorists in an encounter in the country's northeast, the interior ministry said, a day after 23 Army personnel were killed in a militant attack in the restive North Sinai region.

The ministry said in a statement that the security forces raided a training camp for new recruits in Ismailia organised by terrorists who had reached there from across the country.

The new recruits were being given physical training and lessons in use of weapons at the camp, it said.

"When the police approached the camp, the terrorists opened fire on them," it said, adding that 14 terrorists were killed in gun battle.

The raid was part of a security operation launched against terrorists who attacked police and army personnel in North Sinai recently.

Five of the 14 terrorist were being sought by authorities for attacks related to the Islamic State, the statement added.

Separately, two terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in 6th of October city in Giza governorate, the ministry said in a another statement.

The two terrorists belonged to the Hasm group, which has claimed several attacks against judges and policemen near Cairo in the past one year.

Egypt has witnessed terrorists attacks since the January 2011 revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

The attacks, mainly targeting police and military personnel, increased after the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013 by the military following massive protests against his rule.

Hundreds of police and army personnel have been killed since then.

Yesterday, 23 Army personnel were killed in an attack in the North Sinai city of Rafah; more than 40 terrorists were also killed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Greek police said today that they had made eight arrests, including six Serbian nationals, after an American tourist was beaten to death in a bar on the island of Zante.

Police said they detained the Serbians after viewing CCTV footage, having already arrested a Greek barman and a British bouncer of Serbian origin after a violent altercation Thursday night in the popular resort of Lagana.

The eight are suspected of fatally battering Bakari Henderson, a 22-year-old Afro-American who was with a group of friends, following an argument.

A police source told AFP that both groups had been drinking heavily.

Greek media reported that the parents of the victim, who suffered serious head injuries and was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital, were expected to arrive on Zante later today.

Alcohol-related violence also led to the 2011 death in Lagana of a 19-year-old British tourist following a fight with two Greek taxi drivers.

Three years earlier, two bar workers fatally beat an Australian tourist on the island of Mykonos.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company Emami is exploring options to set up new manufacturing units in international markets to meet the growing demand.

The company, which now has a single manufacturing unit in Bangladesh, is also stepping into the African markets of Nigeria and Ghana by launching products, it said in its annual report.

Director of Emami Prashant Goenka said, "Emami will strengthen its position in the existing markets and also simplify logistics in Russia, where the demand is expected to rebound".

"Emami is evaluating manufacturing options in other international markets", he said.

The company said that it expected to consolidate its position in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries as it had offices in the UAE.

Regarding the outlook of the FMCG sector in the country, the company said that consumer demand was expected to increase and the overall market was likely to grow at 14.7 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

The rural FMCG market was expected to grow at 17.7 CAGR, it said.

With the implementation of GST (goods and services tax), the company was ready to take full benefit of the emerging opportunity, the report said.
At least five persons, including three students, have been electrocuted after coming into contact with snapped electricity wires in Assam during the last three days prompting public outcry and protests against the Power department.

A college student identified as Dharitri Deka was electrocuted in Lakhimpur district after she had parked her cycle against an electric pole that had a lose live overhead electric wire yesterday, official sources said.

Yesterday two other persons were also electrocuted -- mobile tower operator Mantu Bora at Laokhowa Road in Nagaon district and class two student Bidyut Das when he came in contact with an electricity cable that had snapped and was lying near his Bihita primary school at Amolighat in Jagiroad, Morigaon district.

On Thursday one Raju Singh was electrocuted at Lakhi Nagar in Nagaon district during flash floods, the sources said.

Another student, 12-year old Netrajit Biswas studying in class five, was electrocuted after he came in contact with a live electric wire at Raikata of Islampur in Hojai district, they added.

Meanwhile, public protests and outcries against the Power Department have erupted after five persons were electrocuted by live wires within two days. The protesters demanded action against power supply APDCL officials for not repairing snapped electric wires and for the resignation of Power Minister Pallab Lochan Das.

In Lakhimpur the local unit of the influential All Assam Students' Union (AASU) has flayed the Power department officials alleging that their indifferent attitude lead to the deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Following are the top foreign stories at 1730 hours today:



FGN15 CHINA-INDIA-LD ADVISORY



Beijing: Amid bilateral tensions over the Sikkim standoff, China issues an advisory for its citizens travelling to India, asking them to take necessary precautions for their personal safety. (By K J M Varma)



FGN20 PAK-LD SUMMON



Islamabad: Pakistan summons India's deputy high commissioner here over alleged ceasefire violations during which the senior Indian diplomat lodges a strong protest over the death of two civilians in firing by Pakistani troops. (By Sajjad Hussain)



FGN14 BANGLA-JMB-MILITANT



Dhaka: Banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen's top explosives expert, wanted in India in the 2014 Burdwan blast case arrested in Bangladesh, a year after the deadly Dhaka Cafe attack for which he allegedly supplied grenades.

FGN8 UN-NUCLEAR-LD TREATY



United Nations: Over 120 countries vote in the UN to adopt the first-ever global treaty to ban nuclear weapons, even as India and other nuclear powers including the US, China and Pakistan boycotted the negotiations for the legally binding instrument to prohibit atomic weapons. (By Yoshita Singh)



FGN2 US-LD AIRINDIA



Washington: Air India says it plans to expand its base in the US by adding Los Angeles and Houston as new destinations, a day after launching the state-carrier's first direct flight from Delhi to Washington DC. (By Lalit K Jha and Shah Imran Ahmed)



FGN 3 US-FRAUD



Washington: Two Indian-Americans pleads guilty to the charges of their involvement in a massive telephone impersonation fraud and money laundering scheme in the US perpetrated by India-based call centres. (By Lalit K Jha)



FGN11 G20-TRUMP-PUTIN



Hamburg: Fresh from his lengthy head-to-head encounter with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump met with a long list of world leaders, including British Prime Minister Theresa May and President Xi Jinping of China, as he wraps up his second trip abroad.

FGN1 EGYPT-ATTACK-IS



Cairo: Islamic militants attack a remote Egyptian army outpost in the Sinai Peninsula with a suicide car bomb and heavy machine gun fire, killing at least 23 soldiers in the deadliest attack in the turbulent region in two years.

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The Centre will offer certificate courses in Goods and Services Tax (GST) accounting, programming and other related subjects through its 'Garib Nawaz' skill development centres.

The announcement was made by Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi after inaugurating the first such centre here. The centres are being set up to offer employment-oriented training to youths of minority communities.

The indirect tax regime of came into force on July 1.

"The demand for professionals with knowledge of accounting/programming will increase significantly in the coming days. The courses will be offered with assistance of experts," an official statement quoting Naqvi said.

The minister said on completion of the three-month course, the youths will be able to help small and medium size businessmen.

They, he added, also stand to benefit immensely at individual levels as the course will open vast job opportunities in related areas.

The Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs said the government plans to launch the centres at 99 more places.

The centres will provide certificate courses in health services, mobile and laptop repairing, computer hardware and networking, retail management programme, motor driving training, security guard training, courses in housekeeping and others.

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Infra lender IDFC which entered into banking late 2015 and the Piramal Group-backed financial services major Shriram Group today agreed to merge and create the largest retail-focused bank in the country.

The boards of two groups met here today and at an evening press announcement, addressed by Ajay Piramal of Piramal Enterprises, R Thyagarajan of Shriram Group and Rajiv Lall of IDFC Bank, said the managements have been given 90-day period to complete due diligence and explore merger, and if all goes well, within 12 months a formal merger will take place.

"The boards of Shriram Group and IDFC have entered into an exclusivity arrangement for 90 days to jointly explore an opportunity for a merger. No transaction has been approved by the boards.

"Now, diligence will take place, we will discuss on the valuations and the respective boards will then meet and then a proposal will be made. If more time is needed then will extend the exclusivity period by another 60 or even 90 days," Piramal said.

The proposal is subject to approvals from the RBI, Sebi, Irdai, CCI and stock exchanges, Piramal and Lall said.

"Our ambition, hope and intent is to together make the country's largest mass retail banking franchise with a universal bank at its core," Lall said.

Piramal said: "It is really a chance to create a financial conglomerate with a universal bank at the centre that we believe will become the country's largest mass retail universal bank."



They did not say what could be the name of the merged entity, but added that the brand Shriram will be retained while almost all key businesses of the Shriram Group will be merged with either IDFC Bank or IDFC.

However, later, to a journalist's question, Piramal said since IDFC already has a banking licence, they will go with the name IDFC and not Shriram.

Currently, Shriram Group has a loan book of over Rs 80,000 crore while IDFC and its banking arm IDFC Bank together have loan book of over Rs 60,000 crore. The total assets of the merged entity will cross Rs 9 trillion.

Though Piramal, chairman of Shriram Capital and Piramal Group, and Rajiv Lall, MD & CEO of IDFC Bank, did not specify the valuation or share swap ratio, analysts say that at the current share prices, the merger ratio could be around 1:40, i.E., 40 IDFC shares for one Shriram Capital share.

Shriram Capital includes listed firms Shriram Transport Finance (STFC) and Shriram City Union Finance (SCUF), and unlisted life and general insurance arms which will get merged with IDFC.

With over Rs 40,000 crore in AUM, STFC is the largest financer of commercial vehicles, SCUF is into home, auto and personal loans; and both are held by Shriram Capital which is headed by Piramal as chairman since 2015 when he invested around Rs 5,000 crore in the Chennai-based group which is owned partly by the global private equity major TPG Capital.

Other private equity majors like Apax Partners own 20.37 per cent in SCUF since 2015, while STFC has Temasek, GIC and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority among its shareholders.

IDFC owns 52.86 per cent in IDFC Bank which was launched in October 2015 in the latest round of bank licences by taking over all its parent's assets. IDFC Bank is the seventh-largest private lender in the country now. Piramal owns 20 per cent in Shriram Capital and 10 per cent each in both Shriram Transport and Shriram City Union.

Analysts pointed out that the proposed merger may not be an easy deal given RBI's stance of not allowing a corporate entity into banking, and also its norms capping promoters' stake under 10 per cent. Another hurdle could be Piramal Group's large and successful real estate business.

"It will be very difficult for the regulator RBI to overlook these facts and approve the merger, as if done so, the central bank could be accused of ignoring its own regulations," an industry observer told PTI.

Another observer told PTI that the merger is forced by poor showing of both entities. While Shriram Capital has been struggling to grow following changes in the truck finance business in recent years, conversion of IDFC into a bank has not done anything great to the infra lender so far.

Also, given the huge under-valuation that may be forced on the shareholders of Shriram group, they are unlikely to clear the proposal, he added.

Asked about fund infusion post-merger and the need to meet the SLR requirement, Lall said, "We are not only taking into account the SLR complication, there are also other regulatory obligations... Details on how we meet will unfold in the next 90 days but we are quite confident that we will be able to meet all of them."



On the proposed contours of the merged entity, Lall said, "It will be a conglomerate. All the operating businesses of two groups, including IDFC Bank and operating businesses of Shriram Capital, notably STFC, SCUF and insurance arms will come together under IDFC Ltd."



The retail-centric business of SCUF will be absorbed directly into IDFC Bank to expand the balance sheet by Rs 20,000-25,000 crore to help the retailisation of the bank, and it will have 1,000 retail branches, Lall said.

Asked about possible allegations of making backdoor entry into banking, Piramal strongly denied any such plan, saying, "I will meet all the regulatory requirements to ensure that the deal goes through.

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Actor Idris Elba says he had second thoughts about accepting the role of gunsligner, Roland Deschain, in "The Dark Tower".

The Western movie is a continuation of Stephen King's novel of the same name.

Elba says he was doubtful about the role as he did not want to glorify gun violence, reported Femalefirst.

"I had a clash of conscience with my character. In America, there's a real awareness of gun culture. I had to break down why he's good at shooting.

"We erred on the side of 'This is his tool. It's set in this world that's part of Stephen King's imagination, and it is what it is...," the 44-year-old actor says.

The actor says he risked upsetting the film studio by being so candid about his moral dilemma.

"I'll probably be crucified by the film company for even mentioning this," he says.

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Islamic militants attacked a remote Egyptian army outpost in the Sinai Peninsula with a suicide car bomb and heavy machine gun fire, killing at least 23 soldiers in the deadliest attack in the turbulent region in two years.

After nightfall, the Islamic State group issued a claim of responsibility, saying in an online statement that it had carried out the attack as the Egyptian army was preparing an assault on IS positions in Sinai.

The coordinated attack yesterday suggested the Sinai- based militants are among the region's most resilient, after IS in Iraq and Syria, where the so-called caliphate is now witnessing its demise. And it underscored the struggles Egyptian forces face in trying to rein in the insurgency.

Egypt has for years battled militants in Sinai, where the jihadis have exploited the vast arid and underdeveloped region and its disgruntled Bedouin population as an ideal incubator for Islamic militancy even before the IS affiliate has emerged at the forefront of the insurgency.

Yesterday's assault began in the early morning, when a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a checkpoint at a military compound in the village of el-Barth, southwest of the border town of Rafah.

Dozens of masked militants then descended on the site in 24 Land Cruiser SUVs and opened fire on the soldiers with machine guns, according to security officials.

The shooting lasted nearly half an hour, the officials added, speaking on condition of anonymity because of regulations. The troops at the compound were estimated to have numbered about 60.

When the attack subsided, the militants apparently looted the checkpoint, snatching weapons and ammunition before fleeing, the officials said. A number of militants were killed in the shootout, indicating the soldiers had fought back, and some of their vehicles were abandoned at the scene.

The suicide blast at the start of the attack likely disabled the checkpoint's military communications system, prompting one of the officers to use his own cellphone to record an audio message and send it to a colleague via WhatsApp, seeking help and asking for prayers. The message was later widely circulated on social media.

"This might be the last seconds in my life," a man's voice calmly says in the recording. "Quickly, oh men, anyone who knows how to reach the command center, notify them to use artillery as we are still alive."



He then praises God and ends by saying "we will either avenge them or die," referring to his fallen colleagues.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the United States strongly condemns the Sinai attack and continues "to stand with Egypt as it confronts terrorism."



The security officials initially put the death toll at 10 but later told The Associated Press that more bodies were pulled from under the rubble of a nearby building that was used as a rest house for troops.

According to the IS statement, a second car bomber was used in the attack to strike an army convoy sent as a reinforcement to the embattled soldiers. The authenticity of the IS claim could not be verified but it was circulated by IS supporters online and by the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites.

Earlier, Egyptian army spokesman Tamer el-Rifai confirmed the attack on his official Facebook page, saying that 26 army personnel were killed or wounded. He didn't provide a breakdown.

He said the army yesterday foiled attacks that targeted a number of other checkpoints in the Rafah area and that 40 militants were killed. Local Sinai residents, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear for their safety, said they saw Apache helicopters carrying out airstrikes across Rafah after the attack. On his page, al-Rifai posted photographs of allegedly slain militants, dressed in military uniforms, typically worn by IS extremists.

The Defense Ministry posted a video on its official website showing aircraft taking off and striking vehicles and positions allegedly belonging to the militants who carried out the attack.

The attacked checkpoint was set up two months ago to cut a key militant supply line between the outskirts of Rafah, where the district is known to have a heavy IS presence, and central Sinai, where militants have found safe havens in the mountains, according to tribal leader Hassan Khalaf of the Swaraka, one of Sinai's largest tribes.

The security officials said some senior officers had expressed opposition to the location of the checkpoint, arguing that it provided no real cover for the troops. The nearest army compound was an hour's drive away, leaving the checkpoint with only the support of local armed tribesmen from the Tarabeen, with their own small checkpoints nearby.

The area was also the site of fierce battles in the spring between the tribesmen and militants.

Despite the insurgency, IS has so far not succeeded in seizing territory in Sinai but maintains a strong presence in the western and southern areas of Rafah, on the outskirts of the town of Sheikh Zuweid, and even inside the residential areas of Sinai's largest city, el-Arish.

Over the past months, IS has focused its attacks on Egypt's Christian minority and carried out at least four deadly attacks that killed dozens, prompting army chief- turned-President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to declare a state of emergency in the country.

The restive northern Sinai has been under a state of emergency since October 2014, after Islamic militants killed more than 30 soldiers in a single attack. There was a significant decline in attacks this year in Sinai, with the one major assault killing eight policemen in el-Arish in January.

On July 1, 2015, IS carried series of attacks, killing over 50 soldiers in Sinai. IS said at the time that it attacked some 15 army and police positions and staged three suicide bombings. However, the army denied the high death toll.

Faced with the challenge in Sinai, the Egyptian government has accused several Arab and Muslim countries of financing and providing safe haven to Islamic militants including Qatar, Turkey, and the Hamas group in neighboring Gaza Strip.

Hamas, which is seeking to improve relations with Cairo, quickly condemned the attack.

"We consider it a criminal, terrorist, and cowardly attack that doesn't target Egypt only, but the security and stability of the entire Arab nation," Hamas' spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.

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Jammu and Kashmir, the only state that missed the July 1 rollout date of Goods and Services Tax (GST), today joined the new indirect tax fold making GST a true 'one nation, one tax' regime.

President Pranab Mukherjee promulgated today two ordinances -- the Central Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Ordinance, 2017 and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Ordinance, 2017 -- extending the domain of Central GST Act and the Integrated GST Act to the state from July 8.

The Jammu and Kashmir Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017 was adopted by the state assembly yesterday.

With this, the Union Ministry of Finance said, Jammu and Kashmir has become part of the GST regime, making GST "truly a 'one nation, one tax' regime".

"Congratulations to the Mehbooba Mufti led PDP-BJP Government of J&K for making the GST constitutionally possible in the state," tweeted Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

GST was rolled out in the country on July 1 with much fanfare marked by a midnight programme in Parliament that was attended by Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among other dignitaries.

However, because of the special provisions applicable to Jammu and Kashmir, extra steps had to be taken before the state could come under the GST fold.

On July 6, the state had taken the first step towards adopting the GST regime with the President of India giving assent to the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Amendment Order, 2017.

Resultantly, the One Hundred and First Amendment Act, 2016 to the Constitution of India that paved the way for introduction of GST in the country, became applicable to the state of Jammu and Kashmir also.

Following this, the Jammu and Kashmir Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2017 was passed by the State Legislature yesterday, empowering the state to levy State GST on intra-state supplies with effect from July 8.

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The prime accused in the killing of Muslim youth Junaid Khan on-board a Mathura-bound train was today arrested from Dhule district of Maharashtra, the police said.

The killing on June 22 had triggered a nationwide outrage.

Inspector Ramdas Patil of Sakri police station said the police questioned a relative of Naresh Indrajit Jaat with whom he was in touch on the phone.

Jaat's mobile tower location indicated he was somewhere in Dhule. The investigators arrived in the district this morning along with his relative. They asked him to call the accused and pursuade him to reveal his whereabouts, Patil said.

"This led the investigators to Sakri village. Jaat had come to the village only yesterday, and was staying at a temple on its outskirts. He was looking for a job. The GRP team arrested him from the temple at around 12.30 pm,"he said.

A statement released by the Government Railway Police (GRP) said that a team was sent to Dhule following on a tip- off that the accused was hiding there.

He was arrested and would be produced before a court tomorrow, it said. The name of the accused was not given in the statement.

"We have arrested a person from Maharashtra," SP, GRP, Kamaldeep Goyal said.

The GRP claimed in the statement that during interrogation, the accused had "confessed" to having killed 17-year-old Junaid Khan.

The police had earlier arrested five persons including a Delhi government employee in connection with the killing of Junaid between Ballabgarh and Mathura stations onboard a Delhi-Mathura passenger train.

Junaid was stabbed to death while his brothers, Hashim and Sakir, were injured by a mob which also allegedly hurled communal slurs against them.

His brothers said the attackers had taunted and repeatedly called them "anti-nationals" and "beef eaters".

A reward of Rs two lakh had also been announced for information on identity of those involved in the killing.

Junaid was stabbed to death when he, along with his brothers, was returning home to Khandawli village in Ballabgarh after shopping for Eid in Delhi.

The youth's body was dumped close to Asaoti village in Faridabad district.

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Carlisle Regional Medical Center is now officially part of PinnacleHealth.

The hospital, and its new owners, held a flag-raising ceremony Friday morning to officially mark CRMCs transition. But for now, at least, not much has changed apart from the logos.

I really want to emphasize that were doing this together, PinnacleHealth CEO Phil Guarneschelli said. Were moving together as organizations and doing this as one effort, in order to make Carlisles health care better for everyone involved.

PinnacleHealths takeover was anything but hostile  all of CRMCs staff in good standing were asked to stay, including executive leadership. In fact, CRMCs CEO, David Steitz, characterized the acquisition as a return to form for his hospital.

I see this as returning to our not-for-profit roots here in Carlisle, Steitz said.

Since 2014, CRMC had been owned by Community Health Systems, a Tennessee-based corporation that took over the hospital as part of a buyout of Health Management Associates, which had purchased CRMC roughly a decade earlier.

HMA was, and CHS is, a publicly traded for-profit corporation with hospitals all over the country. PinnacleHealth, on the other hand, is a nonprofit that operates specifically in the Midstate region.

According to Guarneschelli, it was PinnacleHealth that approached CHS about the purchase. The health system had been looking for new outlets since its proposal to merge with Hershey Medical Center hit regulatory roadblocks last year. State and federal agencies declined to certify the deal fearing it would create a health care monopoly for parts of Harrisburg and Dauphin counties.

But even with the infrastructure it had, which includes several sites in Harrisburg as well as West Shore Hospital in Hampden Township, PinnacleHealth was growing at a strong clip, and needed to grow its base.

Weve been growing organically at 8 or 9 percent, Guarneschelli said. Since the deal with Hershey failed to win favor, we still needed room to grow, and this was a great step.

PinnacleHealth struck a four-hospital deal with CHS, including CRMC as well as Memorial Hospital of York, Lancaster Regional and Heart of Lancaster Regional in Lititz.

Investment analysts had been looking for CHS to liquidate significant assets since the end of last year, when CHS indicated it would be booking a $1.7 billion loss, much of it attributable to a write-down on the value of underperforming hospitals. The evisceration of shareholder earnings saw CHS stock drop 50 percent, but the company said it planned to raise $1.5 billion by selling off up to 25 hospitals.

The financial performance of CRMC, at least under CHSs direction, was mixed. According to data from the Pennsylvania Healthcare Cost Containment Council, a state oversight agency, the hospital ran a profit margin of 13.55 percent from the 2014 to 2016 fiscal years, comparatively higher than its peers. PinnacleHealth was running a profit margin of 7.03 percent over the same period.

But CRMCs net business has been in decline, from $136 million in net patient revenue in 2013 to $114 million in 2016, according to council data.

Guarneschelli said PinnacleHealth is confident it can get CRMC doing more of what it does best, and more efficiently.

Were a nonprofit, but we still have to find a way to make money, Guarneschelli said. Its just that, as a nonprofit, we can invest more of that back into our system rather than having to pay shareholders.

CRMC will benefit greatly from riding on PinnacleHealths contracts for service  everything from linens to medicines and beyond, Guarneschelli said. He also said PinnacleHealth plans to immediately invest in computer infrastructure to create an integrated medical records system at CRMC that is compatible with all of PinnacleHealths assets, including other hospitals as well as outpatient facilities.

It used to be you had an inpatient record and an outpatient record and they didnt talk to each other, Guarneschelli said. Thats the first thing we want to improve.

On a national scale, many health care providers are re-shuffling services in order to deal with a changing landscape. Some have pointed to changes in the insurance industry, making it easier to reimburse providers who are able to provide both primary and specialty care.

Others have pointed to the simple fact that hospital beds are in less demand. Since 1998, according to the American Hospital Association, health care costs have averaged a 5.8 percent annual increase, but inpatient spending has actually dropped 1.9 percent.

As outpatient services replace inpatient ones, hospitals have had to expand their offerings to keep their cash flow, the AHA said, with mergers and acquisitions a ready way to reduce overall cost and financial risk. According to Kaufman Hall, a health care financial services firm, health care mergers and acquisitions have accelerated from 66 deals in 2010 to 102 in 2016.

In many cases, this results in complex inpatient procedures being centralized within growing health care systems, said Dennis Scanlon, director of the Center for Health Care and Policy Research at Penn State.

The trend is to refer out the more complex cases. The thinking is maybe we can cut back on the complex care at certain locations and refer it to another one of our facilities, and keep the other facilities concentrated on patients who walk in the door from a primary care perspective, Scanlon said.

Guarneschelli said it was too early to tell if this kind of streamlining could be done in the Midstate.

Well have a planning process that will kick off shortly, and that process will try to identify any areas where we can integrate, Guarneschelli said. But CMRC and West Shore Hospital are still relatively far apart, and the countys population is dispersed enough, that many patients may not be comfortable going between.

Hospitals are such a local community of providers, he said. Youre still talking about facilities that are 30 miles apart, so that restricts your options.
South African pacer Kagiso Rabada has been suspended for next week's second Test against England at Trent Bridge for breaching ICC's 'Code of Conduct' during the opening day's play of first Test.

Rabada has accumulated four demerit points within a 24- month period following his latest breach for which he received a 15 per cent fine and one demerit point.

During the opening day's play in the Lord's Test against England on Thursday, Rabada was found guilty of breaching article 2.1.7 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Player and Player Support Personnel, which relates to "using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his/her dismissal during an International Match".

As Rabada had received a 50 per cent fine and three demerit points in the fourth One-Day International against Sri Lanka in Cape Town on 8 February 2017, with the addition of this one demerit point, he has reached the threshold of four demerit points, which, pursuant to article 7.6 of the Code, have now been converted into two suspension points.

Two suspension points equate to a ban from one Test or two ODIs or two T20Is, whatever comes first for the player.

As such, Rabada has been suspended from his side's second Test against England, which will be played at Tent Bridge from 14-18 July.

Following this suspension, the four demerit points will remain on Rabada's disciplinary record. If he reaches the next threshold of eight or more demerit points within a 24-month period, then they will be converted into four suspension points.

Four suspension points equate to a ban from one Test and two ODIs or two T20Is, two Tests or four ODIs or four T20Is, whatever comes first for the player.

Thursday's incident related to Rabada using inappropriate language after dismissing England batsman Ben Stokes, which were audible over the stump microphones and also resulted in the batsman to turn before walking off the field.

Rabada admitted the offence on Friday afternoon and accepted the sanction proposed by Jeff Crowe of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees and, as such, there was no need for a formal hearing.

The charges were leveled by on-field umpires Paul Reiffel and S.Ravi, third umpire Simon Fry and fourth official Rob Bailey.

Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player's match fee, and one or two demerit points.

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The Madras High Court has dismissed a petition seeking to include Chief Minister K Palaniswami as a respondent in a case relating to installation of flex boards during former chief minister M G Ramachandran's centenary celebrations in the city on June 30.

Justices K K Sasindhran and G R Swaminathan in their order said the chief minister had been "unnecessarily included" as a respondent in the petition filed by social activist 'Traffic' Ramasamy and ordered removal of Palaniswami's name.

They ordered notice to the chief secretary and home secretary and posted the case for hearing to July 24.

Ramaswamy had moved the petition against police officials for not filing any case against illegal installation of flex boards without permission both in Madurai and in Dindigul, despite a High Court order ban on doing so without permission.

The petitioner submitted that when the MGR centenary celebrations were held in Madurai, flex boards were put up illegally without any permission at several places.

He also alleged in the petition that all the ministers including the chief minister were encouraging installation of flex boards and police did not take any action against it though it led to traffic problems.

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The Tamil Nadu Government today said a fresh tender process would be initiated for the Monorail project between Poonamallee and Kathipara junction here under Public Private Partnership on a Design,Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer basis at an estimated cost of Rs 3,267 crore.

"Fresh tender process is to be initiated," Transport Minister M R Vijayabhaskar said while referring to the Poonamalleee-Kathipara Project-1 in the Assembly today.

The monorail line with a link from Porur to Vadapalani runs about 20.68 km, he said and added that the project would be implemented under the PPP on Design, Build,Finance, Operate and Transfer basis at an estimated cost of Rs 3,267 crore.

It may be recalled that Tamil Nadu government had decided to go in for the Monorail project in Chennai to integrate the existing and upcoming transport systems.

The monorail project was planned for a length of about 43.48 km, divided into two projects in Chennai.

While Poonamallee to Kathipara is the first, the 22.80 km second stretch is from Vandalur to Velachery.

The share of public transport in the urban transport system of Chennai is about 27 per cent which is eventually proposed to be increased to 46 per cent by 2026, according to government statistics.

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Iraqi authorities will imminently announce a final victory in the battle to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State group, a US general said today.

"An announcement is imminent," Baghdad-based Brigadier General Robert Sofge told AFP.

"I don't want to speculate if it's today or tomorrow but I think it's going to be very soon," he added.

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The NDA's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind, who is on a nationwide tour ahead of the July 17 election for the top constitutional post, arrived here for meeting MPs and MLAs from Madhya Pradesh.

Kovind, who landed at the Raja Bhoj airport by a special flight, was accorded a warm welcome by the ruling BJP at the state government's dedicated hangar at the airport.

The Madhya Pradesh Congress, however, criticised the BJP for using the airport premises for according the welcome to Kovind, saying it comes after the controversial incident at the Goa aiport where Amit Shah addressed a party meeting.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, along with his ministerial colleagues and senior party leaders, welcomed Kovind, who is scheduled to meet party MPs and MLAs later.

Speaking on the occasion, Chouhan heaped praise on Kovind, describing him as the "most able candidate" for the job.

"Kovind's humble journey began from a village in Kanpur. He had also cleared the coveted Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination for the civil services, although he did not join," Chouhan said.

"Later, he started practising in Delhi High Court as a lawyer and was chosen to serve as the secretary to former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. After that, he became a Rajya Sabha member for two terms and later appointed the Governor of Bihar," Chouhan added.

The CM recalled that Union minister Thawar Chand Gehlot and he himself were present at the BJP's Parliamentary Board meeting where Kovind was unanimously selected as the candidate for the highest constitutional office.

"Later, when party president Amit Shah informed other NDA partners about it, they all open-heartedly supported the decision," Chouhan said.

After the function, Kovind and Chouhan left for the latter's residence, where a meeting has been organised with party MPs and MLAs.

Besides Gehlot, state BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan and Rajya Sabha member Prabhat Jha were also present.

State Congress chief Arun Yadav meanhwile slammed the BJP for using the airport premises for welcoming Kovind.

"After the Goa airport incident, the BJP now erected a tent and dome for welcoming Kovind which amounts to misuse of public money," Yadav said in a statement.

Last Saturday, BJP president Amit Shah had addressed a party meeting at Goa's Dabolim International Airport.

Congress has demanded a probe into the meeting, terming it as "illegal" and "gross abuse of power".

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A petition filed by Madhya Pradesh minister Narottam Mishra seeking a stay on the Election Commission order disqualifying him has been transferred to the principal bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur.

Mishra's writ petition was currently being heard by the Gwalior bench of the high court. It will now be clubbed with another petition relating to the BJP leader and will be heard on July 11.

Mishra's lawyer had filed an application with the high court's registry for the transfer of the writ petition from Gwalior to Jabalpur on July 6, which has been accepted, Rajendra Bharti, who is a party in both the petitions, told PTI today.

The minister's petition has been clubbed with the PIL being heard by the high court's principal bench that seeks declaring a seat vacant in the state assembly in the wake of the EC disqualifying the Datia MLA.

The EC had disqualified Mishra on June 23 for allegedly filing wrong accounts of election expenses in 2008 assembly elections.

Bharti, who lost to Mishra from Datia in 2008, had approached the EC on the issue.

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NDA's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind will visit Gujarat on July 11 as part of his nationwide tour to seek the support of the lawmakers.

The former Bihar governor is scheduled to arrive at the Ahmedabad airport at 6 pm on July 11, where he will be given a grand welcome by BJP leaders and supporters, the saffron party's state unit chief, Jitu Vaghani, told reporters here today.

"Kovindji will then head to Gandhinagar, where he will interact with the BJP MPs and MLAs at the Swarnim Sankool," he added.

BJP president Amit Shah, who is also scheduled to visit Gujarat on July 11 to take part in party programmes, will also remain present on the occasion, along with Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, his deputy Nitin Patel and several other party leaders and office-bearers, said Vaghani.

According to him, Shah was earlier scheduled to visit Gujarat from July 9 to 11. However, the duration of his tour was subsequently cut short to just one day.

"Shah is likely to hold a meeting with the MPs and MLAs from the state. He will also address the north zone booth- level workers in Gandhinagar on July 11," said Vaghani.

The presidential election is scheduled to be held on July 17 and the counting of votes will be taken up on July 20.

The opposition has fielded former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar in the presidential election, who launched her poll campaign from Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on June 22.

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Life in riot-hit Baduria town and adjacent areas in North 24 Parganas district was fast becoming normal today after communal violence broke out over a Facebook post early this week.

Shops and markets reopened and vehicles started plying as locals came out like other normal days. No untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the district since yesterday, a senior home department official said.

Internet services, however, remained suspended.

A large number of police personnel and paramilitary forces would continue to be deployed in the troubled areas which were peaceful since yesterday, he said.

"We'll keep the forces deployed till we are sure about the situation. We are keeping a close watch on everything," he said.

(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.)
One person was killed when supporters of two political parties clashed in North Dinajpur district, police said.

One person was killed in a clash at Chatragach under Chopra police station of the district, the police said.

Sankar Chakraborty, North Dinajpur district BJP secretary claimed that one of their supporters named Bijoy Singh was killed when alleged Trinamool Congress activists fired at them while they were holding a meeting at Chatragach.

The BJP leader also claimed that four of their supporters were injured in the incident and of them was admitted at Chopra Health centre in serious condition.

The Trinamool Congress denied the BJP allegations.

Local TMC leader Hamidur Rehman instead alleged that BJP workers attacked the TMC activists when they were holding a meeting at Chatragach.

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Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz today threatened to reject the findings of a joint investigation team (JIT) probing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's family for tax evasion, threatening to push the country's politics against a precipice.

The six-member JIT set up in May by the Supreme Court is investigating the Sharifs for allegedly failing to provide the trail of money used to buy properties in London in 1990s.

The JIT questioned Sharif, his daughter and two sons, and several of his family members, close aides and top current and former officials.

It is expected to submit it report on July 10 at the completion of a 60-day deadline.

Four federal ministers considered close to Sharif in a press conference said the PML-N will not accept the JIT report if it did not record the statements of the former Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani.

"The JIT report will be compromised without his (Qatari prince) statements and we will not accept it," Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said.

Al-Thani in two letters written to Supreme Court revealed that late Muhammad Shairf, father of Nawaz Sharif, had invested 12 million dirham in real estate business of the royal family.

According to letters by the Qatari royal, the money invested by late Sharif was returned to the family with profits. The Sharifs have maintained that the same money was used to buy properties in London.

However, opposition parties allege that the London properties was bought through ill-gotten money in 1990s when Sharif served twice as Pakistan's prime minister.

During the week, local media reported that two members of the JIT has gone to Qatar to record his statement but it later emerged that the they had gone to UAE for official work.

It for the first time that PML-N has indicated that it might reject the report. But any such action may result in widespread unrest in the country.

Sharif's nemesis Imran Khan had already threatened that he would protest if the government tried to derail the probe. The current crisis started after the Panama Papers showed that Sharif's children owned the London properties and manage them through offshore companies.

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PLYMOUTH NOTCH, Vermont  When was the last time you heard a member of one political party praise a member of the other party?

Here in this hamlet nestled among the Green Mountains, former Baltimore Democratic Mayor Kurt Schmoke rose to speak well of our 30th president, Calvin Coolidge, a Republican. The occasion was the annual celebration of Coolidges birthday on July 4, the only president born on the day we celebrate Americas birth.

Perhaps it takes the death of one and the absence from public office of another (Schmoke is now president of the University of Baltimore) to cool political passions, but the former mayors respect for Coolidges commitment to civil rights for African Americans and full voting rights for women long before both movements got moving was, itself, moving.

Schmoke quoted from a commencement address Coolidge delivered on June 6, 1924 at Howard University, a historically black college founded in 1867. The previous year, 29 black people were lynched in the U.S., according to Historical Statistics of the United States. In 1924, there would be 16 more.

Coolidge was vehemently opposed to inequality. He said, The nation has need of all that can be contributed to it through the best efforts of all its citizens. The colored people have repeatedly proved their devotion to the high ideals of our country. ... The propaganda of prejudice and hatred which sought to keep the colored men from supporting the national cause (WWI) completely failed. The black man showed himself the same kind of citizen, moved by the same kind of patriotism as the white man.

The Howard speech wasnt a one-off. Coolidge made a similar pronouncement in his first State of the Union address on Dec. 6, 1923: Numbered among our population are some 12 million colored people. Under our Constitution, their rights are just as sacred as those of any other citizen. It is both a public and a private duty to protect those rights.

Coolidge lost every Southern state in the 1924 election, but won all the rest, save Wisconsin, taking 54 percent of the popular vote and 72 percent of the electoral vote.

It would be 40 years before President Lyndon Johnson, a Democrat, signed civil rights legislation recognizing rights that Coolidge (and Thomas Jefferson) believed were endowed to all human beings by their Creator, but Coolidge showed the way.

In his autobiography, Coolidge wrote of an America that is mostly forgotten, but which cries out to be reclaimed: The neighborhood around the Notch was made up of people of exemplary habits. Their speech was clean, and their lives were above reproach. They had no mortgages on their farms. If any debts were contracted they were promptly paid. Credit was good and there was money in the savings bank.

He learned from his father what he called the practical side of government. He said he, understood that it consisted of restraints which the people had imposed upon themselves in order to promote the common welfare.

About taxes he said he learned that when taxes were laid, someone had to work to earn the money to pay them. I saw that a public debt was a burden on all the people in a community and while it was necessary to meet the needs of a disaster it cost much in interest and ought to be retired as soon as possible.

Doesnt all of this  from Schmokes kind words about a member of the opposite political party, to Coolidges innate decency and fairness toward all, seem like another country?

It wasnt. With notable exceptions, it was largely practiced  and expected  in an America not that long ago. Todays America is in desperate need of rediscovering what Vermonters then saw as self-evident truths.

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called on G20 nations to do more to encourage manpower mobility to bring net value to host and source nations.

Modi while speaking at a session on Digitalisation, Women's Empowerment& Employment:Borderless digital world represents opportunities but also risks, highlighted India's journey to the low-cost world-class technology.

He also asked the member nations to promote digitisation for strengthening labour markets and improving delivery of services.

The Prime Minister expressed strong personal conviction for gender empowerment and said that there was no real growth without empowering women, External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Gopal Baglay said.

At the end of the session, he also asked the G20 nations to create a strong partnership for skilling, including exchange of best practices.

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Power supplies haven taken a fresh hit in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, with authorities today accusing the rival Palestinian Authority of blocking fuel payments to Egypt from going through banks.

The electricity authority said two of the three generators at Gaza's only power plant were offline because "the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah stopped all the financial transactions through Palestinian banks to Egypt to buy fuel."



"This led to the stopping of fuel (deliveries) two days ago from Egypt."



The electricity distribution company confirmed only one generator was operating, producing 23 megawatts of power -- which added to other sources means Gaza currently has a total of 93 megawatts a day.

More than 500 megawatts are required to serve the Palestinian enclave's population.

Internationally recognised Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who runs the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, has recently sought to squeeze his longtime rivals Hamas, who control Gaza.

His government recently stopped paying for energy to Gaza, leading Israel to start reducing it.

The cut left the impoverished territory of more than two million people with as little as two hours of mains electricity a day.

As an interim measure Egypt stepped in to deliver fuel to Gaza's sole power plant, but that has now been threatened.

The Egyptian deliveries came as part of improving relations between Cairo and Hamas.

There was no immediate response from the Palestinian Authority.

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Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today paid tributes to militant commander Burhan Wani, saying his death "infused a new spirit in the struggle for freedom" in the Valley.

Sharif in a message on the first death anniversary of Wani's killing said that India cannot suppress the voice of the people of Kashmir through use of brute force.

Wani, a commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed in an encounter with Indian security forces on this day last year.

"The blood rendered by Burhan Muzaffar Wani has infused a new spirit in the freedom movement. The Kashmiri people are steadfast to take their movement to logical conclusion," he said.

Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan's political, diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris for their right to self- determination.

He also emphasised the need for implementing the United Nation resolutions on Kashmir and asked India to accept their right of self-determination of Kashmiris.

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Two people have been arrested here and a juvenile apprehended for the murder of an aspiring air hostess Riya Gautam, who was stabbed in full public view this week in Delhi, police said today.

Adil Banne Khan (23), Juned Salim Ansari (19) were arrested and a juvenile apprehended by Mumbai Crime branch from suburban Bandra late last night, they said.

While Khan, the main accused, is a resident of Delhi's Mansarovar Park, the two others belong to Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh.

"Adil and one of his associates have been arrested, while another associate, who is a juvenile, has been apprehended from Bandra," Sanjay Saxena, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) told PTI.

All the accused were handed over to a team of Delhi Police, Saxena said.

Yesterday, Unit-9 of Mumbai Crime Branch received information that Khan and two of his associates were hiding somewhere in Bandra East, a police official said.

Subsequently, a search operation was carried out in the area and all the three accused were arrested, he said.

According to police, Riya Gautam alias Charu (21), was stabbed multiple times on July 5 by Khan, who was allegedly stalking her. She succumbed to her injuries the next day at a hospital in Delhi.

An offence of murder was registered against Khan at Mansarovar Police Station after Riya's death but the accused was absconding since then.

Her family has alleged that she had filed a police complaint against the accused in April but no action was taken.

The woman, a resident of Ramnagar area in Mansarovar Park, was attacked by Khan in a busy market.

A CCTV grab of the incident shows the accused attacking the woman and she running away from him. After some time, the accused can be seen fleeing from the spot, a police official said.

The victim and Khan had a fight near her house that day following which she was attacked. In an attempt to save herself, she rushed to a shop for help but nobody was present there, police said.

Khan followed her inside the shop and stabbed her multiple times. Even though there were some people, they did not go near Khan for the fear of getting attacked.

She was later rushed to a hospital.

According to police, the victim and the accused were known to each other for the last one year. However, after some time, she distanced herself from him and her indifference irked him.

She approached the police with a complaint against the accused in April but he got a whiff of the matter and when his house was raided, it was found that he had fled to Gujarat.

Khan had allegedly been harassing her and would often ask her to talk to him. When she was returning from a shop, the accused stopped her and tried to engage in a conversation but when she ignored him, he attacked her, eyewitnesses had told the police.

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As many as 93,000 trucks will go off road tomorrow in Punjab with transporters deciding to hold a 'chakka jam' protest against the state government's move regarding disbanding truck unions in the state.

"There will be a chakka jam tomorrow as 93,000 trucks who are our members will not ply in the state," All Punjab Truck Operator's Union, President, Happy Sandhu said today.

We will not transport goods or foodgrain tomorrow, he said.

Truck operators are protesting against a recent decision of the Punjab cabinet.

The state cabinet had approved the Punjab Goods Carriages (Regulation and Prevention of Cartelisation Rules), 2017, which bar goods carriage operators from forming cartels or unions in the state.

Because of the abolition of truck unions, small truck operators will suffer the most as the big companies will take over the trucking business operations, asserted Sandhu.

Moreover, freight charges will also go up considerably following the disbanding of truck unions, he claimed.

There are at present 134 truck unions comprising 93,000 trucks in the state, he said adding 70 per cent of the truck operators were engaged in the transportation of foodgrains.

He blamed the Congress government of snatching the right of employment from truck owners.

"At least 4 lakh people are directly and indirectly involved in trucking business and they will be hit hard," he claimed. He trashed the claims that truck unions were hampering the flow of industrial investment in Punjab.

"There are several areas like Ludhiana, Mandi Gobindgarh, Batala where truck unions do not exist. But then why did several units close down in these areas, he asked.

He acknowledged that at a "few" places, businessmen faced problems related to truck operators.

Sandhu suggested that the government fix minimum and maximum transportation charges instead of abolishing truck unions.

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Fresh from his lengthy head-to-head encounter with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump today was meeting with a long list of world leaders, including British Prime Minister Theresa May and President Xi Jinping of China, as he wraps up his second trip abroad.

Trump said he had a "tremendous meeting" with Putin as he sat alongside May for a morning exchange on the sidelines of an international summit in Germany. It marked Trump's first comments on his high-profile talks with Putin in which he raised the issue of Russia's meddling in the 2016 elections and discussed plans for a ceasefire agreement in Syria.

Trump was expected to focus on talks to counter North Korea's push for ballistic missile and nuclear programs, address international trade and ways to combat terrorism. The president was holding the meetings at the annual Group of 20 meetings, which have been marked by violent riots in the city between anti-globalisation activists and police.

Noting his "special relationship" with the British prime minister, the president said he and May were working on a trade agreement that he described as a "very, very big deal, very powerful, great deal for both countries."



May was the first foreign leader to visit Trump at the White House and he told her he would soon "be going to London" once details were worked out. Independent trade negotiations between the two countries are a possibility as Britain exists the European Union a move Trump has supported.

Trump's long list of meetings with world leaders today included Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore. He also attended a women's entrepreneurial finance event, a project spearheaded by his daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders also attended.

Ivanka Trump and the World Bank rolled out a new fund that aims to help female entrepreneurs access capital, financing and other support. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative fund had so far raised $325 million from various governments.

During his brief remarks, Trump lauded his daughter's efforts to help female entrepreneurs, joking that "if she weren't my daughter, it would be so much easier for her."



Trump planned to return to Washington today evening after the conclusion of the annual Group of 20 meetings. He won't be stateside for long. The president is scheduled to return to Europe next week to attend Bastille Day celebrations in Paris.

The European trip to Poland and Germany has centred around the exchange with Putin, Trump's first in-person meeting as president. But both sides offered differing explanations of what took place.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump and Putin had a "robust and lengthy" discussion about the election interference but Putin denied any involvement. His Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said Trump had accepted Putin's assurances that Russia didn't meddle in the US election a characterisation that the US disputed.

"I think the president is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point," said Tillerson, who took part in the meeting along with Lavrov.

Democrats seized upon Tillerson's remarks, saying that it was wrong to suggest the issue of Russia's role in the election meddling was unresolved. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said it was "disgraceful" and said it was a "grave dereliction of duty" to give "equal credence to the findings of the American Intelligence Community and the assertion by Mr Putin.

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Two engineers were held on attempt to rape charges, the police said today.

According to SHO, Dadri, Ramsen Singh, a B Tech student from Varanasi, who had come to Greater Noida for internship, alleged that she met two persons from Kanpur and were living in Greater Noida's Omicron sector.

Both had done B Tech and were working as engineers here, the complainant told the police.

The woman claimed that the two took her to their room and tried to rape her following which she raised an alarm. The neighbours came to her rescue, the alleged victim said, according to the police.

The two accused fled away after the incident and were arrested today, the police said.

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British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson today urged Arab states to end their Qatar boycott, downplaying the odds of a military escalation in the worst crisis to grip the Gulf in years.

Johnson met with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah today and was scheduled to visit Qatar later in the day.

"What people need to see is de-escalation and progress towards tackling the funding of terrorism in the region, and progress toward an end to this blockade," Johnson said, voicing support for Kuwait as a mediator in the crisis.

Johnson, who also held talks in Saudi Arabia on Friday, said it was "highly unlikely" that the current standoff would descend into military conflict.

"Everybody I have talked to said the opposite. No possibility of a military confrontation," he said.

"The blockade is unwelcome and we hope there will be a de-escalation," he added.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain last month announced the severing of all diplomatic ties with Qatar over allegations the emirate bankrolled Islamist extremists and had close ties to Saudi's arch-rival Iran.

On June 22, they issued a 13-point list of demands, including downgrading ties with Iran and shutting down broadcaster Al-Jazeera, as a prerequisite to lift the sanctions, which include the closure of Qatar's only land border and suspension of all flights to and from the country.

Doha has refused to comply with the demands and denies accusations of ties to Islamist groups.

Kuwait has been leading mediation efforts to resolve the crisis that is threatening the existence of the 36-year-old Gulf Cooperation Council.

Kuwaiti officials have held talks with the foreign ministers of Germany and fellow Gulf Cooperation Council member Oman, which has not joined the Qatar boycott.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to arrive in Kuwait on Monday for talks on the Gulf crisis.

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- Insurers require passporting rights to sell insurance policies throughout the European Union.

Insurers in Britain have said they will need to set up EU subsidiaries if Britain loses access to the single market after Brexit.

The Bank of England has asked insurers and banks operating in Britain to outline their Brexit plans by mid-July.

Below are insurers' plans for EU subsidiaries (in alphabetical order):

ADMIRAL

British motor insurer Admiral Group said last year that it could move its European business to Ireland or another country and said in March that it was looking at a large number of locations.

AIG

U.S. insurer AIG will set up a European subsidiary in Luxembourg, in addition to its European headquarters in London, it said in March.

AVIVA

Aviva is converting its Irish life and general insurance branches to regulated subsidiaries to meet the needs of its Irish insurance customers after Brexit.

BEAZLEY

Lloyd's of London insurer Beazley said last year that it had filed an application with the Central Bank of Ireland seeking approval for its Irish reinsurance business to become a European insurance company. The firm said in February that it will hire additional staff in Ireland.

CHAUCER

Specialist insurance group Chaucer, part of Hanover Insurance Group, said the Central Bank of Ireland has approved the formation of a Dublin-based company that will trade as Chaucer Dublin to write international speciality insurance and reinsurance business. (http://bit.ly/2tXaJ2i)

CHESNARA

UK insurer Chesnara could move its headquarters to the Netherlands or Sweden if required, depending on the regulatory situation after Britain leaves the European Union, the company said.

CNA HARDY

CNA Hardy, part of CNA Financial Corp, will set up a new European subsidiary in Luxembourg to allow it to operate across the EU after Britain leaves the bloc, the specialist commercial insurer said.

EQUITABLE LIFE

British insurer Equitable Life is considering setting up a European Union subsidiary in Dublin in order to continue serving Irish and German customers after Britain leaves the bloc, its chief executive said.

FM GLOBAL

U.S. commercial property insurer FM Global is planning a European hub in Luxembourg following Britain's decision to leave the bloc, it said.

GLOBAL AEROSPACE

UK insurer Global Aerospace is setting up a European Union subsidiary in Paris to make sure it can continue to serve customers after Britain leaves the bloc, the firm's chief executive told .

HISCOX

Lloyd's of London underwriter Hiscox will establish a new subsidiary in Luxembourg to underwrite its retail business in Europe, it said in May.

IRONSHORE

Ironshore , owned by Liberty Mutual, said it would set up an office in Frankfurt for its M&A and tax insurance units to expand their European presence.

JLT

Insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group said it would continue to invest and expand on the ground in Europe so that it remains fully equipped to serve its clients.

LANCASHIRE

Lancashire said in May that it has options to write EU business out of its Bermuda headquarters or via Lloyd's of London's Brussels base. The insurer added it was in no hurry to set up an EU base and saw itself staying in Britain for the foreseeable future.

LEGAL & GENERAL

British insurer Legal & General said in May that it would move some of its investment management operations to Ireland to ensure it can continue to serve its customers after Brexit.

LIBERTY SPECIALTY MARKETS

Liberty Specialty Markets, part of Liberty Mutual Insurance, intends to headquarter its post-Brexit EU operations in Luxembourg??. The firm said it would be seeking regulatory approvals to operate via an insurance company and insurance intermediary domiciled in Luxembourg.

LLOYD'S OF LONDON

Lloyd's of London, an integral part of the British business scene since the 17th century, has chosen Brussels as the site for its EU subsidiary, it said in March.

MARKEL

U.S. insurer Markel plans to apply for regulatory approval to set up a European Union subsidiary in Munich, it said in May.

MS AMLIN

Japanese-owned insurer and reinsurer MS Amlin said it would move its European business to Belgium to make sure it can continue to serve customers after Britain leaves the European Union.

NEON

Neon Underwriting could set up a Dublin business to sell insurance policies throughout the EU if Britain loses access to the single market, chief executive of the specialist Lloyd's of London insurer said in December.

QBE

QBE Insurance Group will set up a subsidiary in Brussels to preserve its ability to operate across the EU, the Australian business insurer said.

ROYAL LONDON

British life insurer Royal London Mutual Insurance Society plans to turn its Irish business into a regulated subsidiary, it said in March.

RSA

RSA is planning a subsidiary in Luxembourg to act as the headquarters of its EU operations after Britain's decision to leave the bloc. It said it chose Luxembourg because it has "multinational expertise", is "strategically located within RSA's existing EU branch network" and has an experienced regulator.

STANDARD LIFE

British insurer and asset manager Standard Life said in May that it was likely to choose Dublin for its EU hub.

XL CATLIN

Bermuda-domiciled insurer XL Catlin said its UK business XL Insurance Company SE has branches across Europe and also operates under the "Societas Europaea" structure.

(Compiled by Noor Zainab Hussain and Carolyn Cohn; editing by Jason Neely)

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122 Countries adopts historic global treaty to ban Nuclear Weapons

Published: July 8, 2017

The United Nations has adopted a historic global treaty banning nuclear weapons. The treaty was adopted by a vote of 122 members in favour. The Netherlands was the only country who voted against the treaty. Singapore abstained from voting.

Costa Ricas ambassador, Elayne Whyte Gomez, was the president of the UN conference that negotiated the treaty. Nearly 129 countries signed up to take part in the drafting of the treaty which represents two-thirds of the UNs193 member states. Nearly 141 countries led by Austria, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and New Zealand drafted the treaty in a hope that the treaty would increase pressure on the nuclear powers to take disarmament more seriously.

The treaty would be opened for signature on September 20. It will enter into force once 50 countries ratified it. All of the ratifying countries should never under any circumstances develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. The treaty also bans any transfer or use of nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices.

Opposition

The nine nuclear powers, namely, the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel neither took part in the negotiations nor cast their vote. Even Japan the sole sufferer of atomic attack refrained from taking part in the negotiations. Most of the NATO countries too boycotted the negotiations.

The nuclear powers view the treaty as unrealistic and argue that it will not have any impact on reducing the global stockpile of 15000 atomic weapons. According to the nuclear powers, their nuclear arsenals serve as a deterrent against nuclear attacks and they remain committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The NPT seeks to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and puts the onus on nuclear states to reduce their stockpiles.

But the non-nuclear states are increasingly worried about the slow pace of disarmament and are concerned that weapons of mass destruction may fall into the wrong hands.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2017

Topics: Current Affairs - 2017  International  NATO  Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)  NPT  Nuclear deterrence  Nuclear disarmament  UN

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Tesla's CEO Elon Musk, known for his bold approach to cars, clean energy and space exploration, trumped dozens of competing proposals to build the gigantic lithium-ion battery that will serve as emergency back-up power for South Australia - a state racked by outages.

But under the agreement, Tesla must deliver the 100-MW battery within 100 days of the contract being signed or it will be free - a commitment Musk made in a Tweet in March.

"There will be a lot of people that will look at this -'Did they get it done within 100 days? Did it work?'" Musk told reporters in South Australia's capital city of Adelaide.

"We are going to make sure it does."

The battery, designed to light up 30,000 homes if there is a blackout, will be built on a wind farm operated by France's Neoen - parts of which are still under construction.

Musk said failing to deliver the project in time would cost his company "$50 million or more", without elaborating.

It will be the largest lithium-ion battery storage project in the world, overtaking an 80 megawatt-hour facility in California, also built using Tesla batteries.

Over the last three years, South Australia has decided to shut down its coal-fired power stations and instead rely on wind, solar and gas. In particular it has raced ahead of the rest of the country in turning to wind power, which supplies 40 percent of its energy.

The move has been applauded by environmentalists but left the state prone to outages as there is no way to store enough energy when the wind doesn't blow. In September, South Australia's 1.7 million residents were left without power, some of them for up to two weeks, when the grid overloaded and collapsed.

The battery is aimed at getting around the problem of inadequate storage.

"Cost-effective storage of electrical energy is the only problem holding us back from getting all of our power from wind and solar," said Ian Lowe a professor of science at Australia's Griffith University.

"This project is a significant innovation to demonstrate the feasibility of large-scale storage."

LITHIUM AMBITIONS

Dozens of companies from 10 countries, including privately owned Lyon Group, working with U.S. power company AES Corp , expressed interest in the project. [nL4N1I51XB]

Now the sector is waiting to see if Musk can make good on his promise.

"Tesla has been telling the world that it can and will finish the project within three months, said a source at a Korean competitor to Tesla, declining to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

"It seems that confidence helped Tesla win, but typically this kind of project takes six months so we have to wait and see whether or not Tesla can do it," the source said.

Lithium-ion batteries have been in widespread use since about 1991, but mostly on a small scale, such as in laptops and cell phones. A typical lithium-ion battery can store 150 watt-hours of electricity in 1 kilogram of battery, representing more than double the capacity of nickel batteries.

For their proponents who have long been pushing for grander use, the success of Musk's big South Australian experiment will be key to greater acceptance.

"For lithium technology to take off on a global scale, they clearly need the storage capacity to make sure renewables can deliver 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Adrian Griffin, a geologist who specialises in lithium extraction.

(Additional reporting by Sonali Paul in MELBOURNE.)

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Mahindra Group's chairman Anand Mahindra, Tech Mahindra vice-chairman Vineet Nayyar and CEO C P Gurnani all made a public apology over the manner in which an employee of Tech Mahindra was laid off.

The top management made the apology after the audio clip of the conversation between the sacked employee and the HR executive went viral.

In the recorded converstaion, the employee was asked to put down his papers by next morning as part of corporate decision.

Later, the chief of the $19 billion group, took to social media to apologise over the incident.

ALSO READ: Anand Mahindra gifts a brand new car to an auto driver. Here's why.

"I want to add my personal apology. Our core value is to preserve the dignity of the individual and we will ensure this does not happen in future," he tweeted.

I want to add my personal apology. Our core value is to preserve the dignity of the individual & we'll ensure this does not happen in future https://t.co/yBxAxvFZlc - anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) July 7, 2017

"We have become aware of the incident involving a conversation between an employee and a company HR representative. We deeply regret the manner in which the discussion took place and have taken necessary corrective steps to ensure that this does not happen again in future," Vineet Nayyar, Vice Chairman, Tech Mahindra said in a note.

He said that the company continues to implement strategies to meet the changing demands of business in the current global economic environment and align workforce with its "strategic priorities" and "requirements" of clients.

"This, however, will be done in a manner that befits our Rise philosophy and our group's core values," Nayyar said.

The note was tweeted by CP Gurnani, Tech Mahindra's CEO.

Echoing similar sentiments, Gurnani tweeted: "I deeply regret the way HR Rep (sic) & employee discussion was done. We have taken the right steps to ensure it doesn't repeat in future."

Tech Mahindra ranks fifth in the tally of Indian IT firms by revenues. At the end of December 2016, the company had over 1.17 lakh employees.

The audio clip surfaces at a time when Indian IT firms are facing challenges in the business environment and stricter work permit regime in countries like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

There have been also been reports of mass layoffs by various companies, including Tech Mahindra, even though the industry has consistently denied the allegations.

The companies have termed layoffs as part of normal business decisions, but many believe that these are directed more towards controlling costs.

US-based Cognizant had recently rolled out a voluntary separation programme for directors, associate VPs and senior VPs, offering them 6-9 months of salary.

Wipro, too, had asked about 600 employees to leave as part of its annual "performance appraisal" earlier this year.

Interestingly, IT firms are under pressure to hire local American workers instead of taking Indian employees on work visas to client sites as US hardens its stance on outsourcing.

Higher on-site hiring also impacts their margins.

Infosys has said it will hire 10,000 people in the US over the next two years. Its peers TCS and Wipro are taking similar steps.

IT companies have been one of the largest recruiters in the country. Apart from the impact of stringent visa regime, increasing automation of processes would also lead to reduction in hiring in coming years.
No tax officer has been authorised to visit premises of traders and shopkeepers without prior permission and any deviation should be reported to a complaint helpline, the government said on Saturday.

The finance ministry came out with a clarification after reports suggested that some unscrupulous elements posing as GST officers have tried to fleece shopkeepers and customers in the name of GST.

The chief commissioner of GST (Delhi zone) has clarified that the tax department only wants to facilitate the process for shopkeepers and traders during the transition to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.

"No officer of the department is authorised to visit the premises of traders and shopkeepers without authorisation," the ministry made it clear in a statement.

It also asked anyone facing any such problem to lodge a complaint on tax department's phone line, 011-23370115.

Separately, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched a mobile app 'GST Rates Finder'.

The app, available on the Android platform, helps users find out rates of GST for various goods and services. It can be downloaded on any smartphone and can work in offline mode as well, once downloaded.

"The user can determine the GST rate for a goods or a service by entering the name or the chapter heading of the commodity or service. The search result will list all the goods and services containing the name which is typed in the search box," the ministry statement added.

The user can scroll down the list of description and when any specific item on the list is clicked, the display window pops up, containing details such as GST rate, description of goods or services and the chapter heading of the Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSN).

For example, any person who has been billed by a hotel or a restaurant or for footwear purchase can cross-verify the correctness of the rate of GST charged.

Also, the GST rate finder has been provided on the portal of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). At the portal, a taxpayer can search for applicable CGST, SGST, UTGST rate and the Compensation Cess on a particular supply.

The search can be made based on description of goods or services or HSN Code or heading number.

"These initiatives are aimed to serve as a ready reckoner on GST rates. This will empower not only taxpayers, but every citizen of the nation to ascertain the correct GST rate on goods and services," the statement read.
India is emerging as a front runner in the global fight against climate change, the World Bank has said, noting that the solar power is gradually displacing coal as an energy source in the Asian country.

"With a sweeping commitment to solar power, innovative solutions and energy efficiency initiatives to supply its people with 24x7 electricity by 2030, India is emerging as a front runner in the global fight against climate change," the World Bank said in a news report published yesterday.

According to the bank, with its conscious choice to use significantly more clean energy to fuel its growth, India is contributing to global efforts to save the planet from the effects of climate change.

Just a few weeks ago, the country also walked away from plans to install nearly 14 GW of coal-fired power plants, largely because it is as affordable now to generate electricity with solar power as it is to use fossil fuels, the report said, praising the Indian move in this regard.

"In India and beyond, solar power is starting to displace coal as an energy source," the bank said, adding that the cost of electricity from solar photovoltaic (PV) is currently a quarter of what it was in 2009 and is set to fall another 66 per cent by 2040.

With nearly 300 days of sunshine every year, India has among the best conditions in the world to capture and use solar energy, it noted.

"Clearly, the market agrees, as is evident from the significant drop in the cost of solar power. In its latest solar auction, the country achieved a record low tariff of INR 2.44/unit (4 cents/unit) for a project in the desert state of Rajasthan," the report said.

Noting that the Indian government is setting ambitious targets that include 160 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar by 2022, the bank said that not only will this help hundreds of million people light their homes it will also enable children to study at night, provide families with refrigerators to preserve their food or TVs to entertain themselves.

"It is also an incentive for international firms to invest in India s solar market," the bank added.
12th G20 Summit: Countries pledge to act tough on Terrorism and eliminate Safe Havens

Published: July 8, 2017

In the 12th G20 Summit held in Hamburg, the leaders of the G20 countries has agreed for taking concrete steps to stop funding of the terror activities. The leaders have also pledged for a joint crackdown on the global scourge of terrorism and check its funding sources.

Salient Highlights

Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modis call for united action against terrorism and elimination of terrorist safe havens, the G20 countries strongly condemned all terrorist attacks worldwide and pledged greater coordination to counter the menace. Earlier Prime Minister Modi in the G20 Summit had called for a concerted global crackdown against countries that support terrorism for their own political goals.

The leaders also agreed to facilitate swift action and targeted exchange of information between intelligence, law enforcement and judicial authorities.

The G20 leaders have also called upon the private sector including the communication firms to curb the misuse of the internet for terror propaganda. Further, the leaders have also pledged to ensure terrorists are brought to justice.

Further, the G20 leaders reiterated their resolve to make the international financial system entirely hostile to terrorist financing. The leaders have also called for taking strong measures against the terrorist organisation like ISIS/ISIL/Daesh, Al Qaida etc.

G20

The Group of Twenty (G20) is the premier forum for international economic cooperation and decision-making. It is a forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies on economic issues and other important development challenges. It was started in 1999 as a meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in the aftermath of the South-east Asian (Tiger economies) financial crisis. It was established for studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. In 2008, the first G20 Leaders Summit was held in Washington DC, US. The group had played a key role in responding to the global financial crisis.

The G20 comprises of total 19 countries plus the European Union (EU), representing 85% of global GDP, 80% of international trade, 65% of worlds population. Its members include Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, India, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Turkey, South Africa, UK, US and EU.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2017

Topics: Current Affairs - 2017  G20  Group of Twenty (G20)  International  Terrorism

Latest E-Books
Fact Box: JIGYASA  Student-Scientist connect Programme

Published: July 8, 2017

Jigyasa, a student- scientist connect programme has been launched by the government in New Delhi. The programme would be implemented by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in collaboration with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS).

Salient Facts

The main focus of the programme is to connect school students and scientists as well as to extend students classroom learning to a very well-planned research laboratory based learning.

The programme has been inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision of a new India and Scientific Social Responsibility (SSR) of scientific community and institutions.

The JIGYASA programme is expected to inculcate the culture of inquisitiveness and scientific temper on the minds of children and school teachers.

The programme will connect 1151 Kendriya Vidyalayas with 38 National Laboratories of CSIR and will target 100,000 students and 1000 teachers every year. Under this programme, the CSIR would launch a talent hunt among the visiting students for furthering the cause of scientific development.

JIGYASA programme would be one of the major initiatives of the CSIR at the national level during its Platinum Jubilee Celebration Year.

The model of engagement under JIGYASA between the CSIR and the KVS will include Student Residential Programmes; Scientists as Teachers and Teachers as Scientists; Lab-specific activities / Onsite Experiments; Visits of Scientists to Schools/Outreach Programmes; Science and Maths Clubs; Popular Lecture Series/ demonstration programme at Schools; Student Apprenticeship Programmes; Science Exhibitions; Projects of National Childrens Science Congress; Teacher Workshops; and Tinkering Laboratories.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2017

Topics: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)  Current Affairs - 2017  Government Schemes  JIGYASA  Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS)  National  Science and Technology

Latest E-Books
| BY Lynchy |

The Australian ad industry will be saddened to hear of the passing of Melinda Eskell, who sadly died in London yesterday, aged 60.

Eskell will be remembered by her Australian colleagues as a great suit, having been managing director of Ogilvy Sydney from 1992 to 1999 before a five year stint at Clemenger BBDO Sydney as general manager.

In 2005 she headed to Europe where she had stints client-side at Unilever and Heineken before landing the plum managing director role at Strawberry Frog, Amsterdam in 2010. Late last year she formed her own consultancy and only last month joined Weber Shandwick as head of digital and integrated communications, Europe, based in Amsterdam.
| BY Ricki Green |

H&R Block has today launched a series of new advertisements as a continuation of its new brand platform Fascinated by Numbers (released last year). Developed by Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney, this new work focuses on making numbers meaningful to the audience in a more relatable and human way.

The strategy was based on the fact that people always want to maximize their tax return, so the new spots showcase specific numeric-based situations, highlighting the distinctive benefits that H&R Block can provide to unique individuals and small businesses.

Says Brodie Dixon, managing director, H&R Block: For many individuals and business owners, tax is often seen as confusing, complicated and even boring, so were excited by the continuation of our brand platform that showcases H&R Blocks passion for tax.

Last year, the strategy focused on the individual consumer, so were excited to expand the message this year and establish a strong connection with small businesses, so they know they can rely on H&R Blocks tax industry expertise, to guide them through what can often be complex processes.

Leading advertising agency, Saatchi & Saatchi has created three new quirky TVCs depicting H&R Block employees doing what they love  tax  thereby helping individuals and business owners do more of what they do best.

Says Charmaine Andrew, business lead, Saatchi & Saatchi: The new campaign targeted at supporting Australian Small Business owners is a natural extension of Fascinated by Numbers that continues to celebrate H&R Blocks Tax Accountants and their passion for tax.
India and Bangladesh have decided to construct bridge along Mizoram Border

Published: July 8, 2017

India and Bangladesh have decided to construct a bridge over Mizorams Khawthlangtuipui river (also known as Karnaphuli river) to facilitate trade and to improve communication between the two countries. The decision was taken after officials from both the side met at Tlabung town in Mamit district of Mizoram. The Mamit district is situated adjacent to Khagrachari district of Southeast Bangladesh.

The proposed bridge is expected to be constructed as closer as possible to the nearest custom station located in the Bangladesh side.

Significance

The proposed bridge is expected to serve as an important link between India and Bangladesh. It would improve road connectivity between the two regions. The proposed bridge is also expected to strengthen the ties between the people of the two countries.

India-Bangladesh Border

Mizoram has a 318 km unfenced border with Bangladesh. In March 2017, the Union Government had announced that half of the 4,096-km long border India shares with Bangladesh has been fenced. The remaining half will be fenced by 2019 deadline. India and Bangladesh share a 4,096 km land boundary, largest among the international boundaries that India shares with its neighbours. The border runs along five states, West Bengal (2,216.7 km), Assam (263 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Tripura (856 km) and Mizoram (318 km).

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2017

Topics: Current Affairs - 2017  India Bilateral  India-Bangladesh  India-International Relations  International  Khawthlangtuipui river  Mizoram

Latest E-Books
Saturday, July 8, 2017 at 10:11AM

DeepMind

Even after Google acquired artificial intelligence firm DeepMind three years ago, the British company has kept its offices in London. This time, though, theyre finally making their way to this side of the world and putting up shop right in Edmonton. Its fitting for DeepMind to put its roots here as the company works closely with the AI research community at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. DeepMind says nearly a dozen of Alberta grads work for them and they sponsored the universitys machine learning lab for a number of years.

DeepMinds new office will be led by Richard Sutton, a professor of computing science at Alberta who also served as DeepMinds first outside advisor. Hell be working with his colleagues Michael Bowling and Patrick Pilarski. There will be seven other researchers wholl join them. The Verge points out though that while DeepMind calls the Edmonton office its first international research office, there are a team of researchers from the company that are based in Googles Mountain View headquarters to bridge the gap between Google and [the] team in London. And these 20 researchers focus on the applied side of DeepMind, which looks at the practical applications of AI in real-life situations.
"It is also noted Ms Anderson in call six has a very distinctive voice," the documents say, "this distinctive voice in call six is similar to the female pretending to be [a customer] in call seven.
Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing.

You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
Wisconsin native. "The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."--GKC "Liberalism is the modern and morbid habit of always sacrificing the normal to the abnormal" --G K Chesterton "The only objective of Liberty is Life" --G K Chesterton "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition." -- Rudyard Kipling
Joyce and Jerry Cooley attended the Miracle-Ear National Meeting in San Diego, California. At the meeting the Cooleys accepted prestigious the Platinum Club award from Amplifon, the corporate owners of the Miracle-Ear Franchise system.

With the criteria of the award being excellent customer service, market penetration, staff certification and customer satisfaction, this award is one for the books.

Although the franchise has won this award seven times previously, it is still an honor to again reach this elite status.

The local Miracle-Ear Franchise is owned by Ken and Lisa Swinford and Joyce and Jerry Cooley since 1992. Miracle-Ear has been chosen locally as the Cape Girardeau Countys Peoples choice for Hearing Healthcare Provider annually.

Miracle-Ear offices are located in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Perryville, Sikeston, Farmington, Ste. Genevieve, and Poplar Bluff. The franchise employs six licensed hearing instrument specialist in five full time offices and three satellite centers.

We want to be the hearing healthcare centers our communities trust, says owner Joyce Hill-Cooley. We help people hear better, and have fun while we do it.
Residents in one local neighborhood took a batch of lemons and created lemonade with the help of social media.

It was a posting to the networking site late last month that led to the arrest of two individuals connected with a series of break-ins in the Hunters Ridge subdivision located off Route O.

As news of the break-ins and subsequent arrests made its way into the news, one resident of the subdivision said she wished the headlines could be filled with more good news  and set out to make that a reality.

Theresa King said she created a private Facebook group for residents of the subdivision about one month ago.

We were being consumed by all the negative that was happening out here, so we decided to figure out a way to bring the positive out in everyone, she said.

The group became a modern-era way of getting to know their neighbors. A Facebook group was started about a month ago.

It was a place for anybody who wanted to link out, get to know each other and who lived around them, she said. We have a meet and greet spot (on the page) where people can introduce themselves and say where they are (in the neighborhood).

King acknowledged it may be more comfortable for some to make first introductions in a virtual way.

Its kind of a launching point, she said of the group page.

She said the page became a spot for neighbors to mention some of the positives about their neighborhood  and ideas for ways to grow together.

One such idea was for block parties to coincide with holiday celebrations.

On Tuesday, the neighborhood held the first big event planned by members of the group to bring the community together. A patriotic driveway decorating contest was held to celebrate the Fourth of July.

There were no formal rules or guidelines. King said participants were asked to show their American spirit using sidewalk chalk or whatever medium they preferred. The only rule in effect was a time frame for decorating the driveways and sidewalks. She said there was a much better turnout than she ever expected.

We decided to do something fun and easy where the families could get out and work together and enjoy, she said. And, hopefully, everybody will get out to see the driveways and meet their neighbors. It was a reason to get out of the house with your family and meet other people as they are out (looking at the decorated driveways).

That was just the case for the King household.

We took two walks yesterday around the whole neighborhood and met people we had seen on the Facebook page or wed heard from other neighbors oh, so-and-so lives up here  we actually got to meet them in person and talk.

Participants were asked to upload their photos to the Facebook page so voting could take place. Taking home the most votes was Alison Menley.

King said she put together a summer fun gift basket as a prize for the top vote getter.

(Menley) was ecstatic when she won, she said. She told us her daughter will love the prize package.

Menley also told King she and her immediate neighbors were already thinking ahead to next year  thinking they would decorate together as a street.

Not only did her daughter enjoy the basket, but she and her neighbors have now connected and are talking about what they can do next time, King said.

Plans are being discussed for a back-to-school block party. The group is also throwing around activities centered around fall and winter celebrations and perhaps helping with charitable donations during the holidays.

Everybody is throwing out the idea, OK, now what do we do next? she said. This went over well. Everybody out here is really responding and craving it in a way.

Kacy Wallen is a resident in Hunters Ridge. She said the newfound connection with her neighbors is an extension of the Bible verses stating the importance of loving ones neighbors.

God commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves, she said. In this community  Hunters Ridge  its really easy to do.

Theres talk of creating a newsletter to reach out to neighbors who dont use social media. There are about 150 households in the neighborhood  a big group to connect with and get to know.

Ive been here for four years  actually this week, she said. I know the families that live on either side of me, but I wasnt really aware of anybody else that lived in the neighborhood.

I really hope we can kind of drown out the negative that has happened.
The powers that be (for now) need to open their eyes and use their listening ears. The Omar Khadr 10.5 million dollar debacle has outraged many, many more people than they would have you realize. Why are Canadian taxpayers paying this man anything at all? I thought terrorism was non-negotiable. What kind of precedent are we now setting? If you cant to do the time, then dont do the crime.

What happens to those Canadian born youth, disillusioned with life in Canada and the future prospects of maybe holding down two or three part time minimum wage jobs, if they are lucky, decide that training and fighting overseas is a way more exciting way to live than serving up double doubles on split shifts seven days a week?

What if these same youth are captured and claim they were forced into the bombing and maiming of soldiers and civilians? Do they get off easy because the Canadian government feel sorry for them? Poor you, you were only a kid, you didnt know what you were doing, heres a free pass, collect $10 million on your way out the door? Something to think about, and if you feel strongly enough about it, then voice your opinion. At least sign the petition at the Canadian Taxpayers Association website.

As an aside, I dont believe for one minute that all the touting about Canadians wanting to welcome so many Syrian refugees here is as true as the government says it is. The majority of Syrian refugees coming in to Canada are not here because they want to be. They didnt dream about one day living in Canada. Theyd sooner be back home in their own countries living their own way of life with their own customs and traditions. They had no choice but to leave. And therein lies the problem.



If you want to see a country literally on its knees, check out the UK and the problem it is having controlling disaffected youth. Muslim men deliberately destroy their passports before arriving by plane to the UK, thus then being entitled to refugee status because they wont give their name or say where they are from. Muslim men are entitled to have four wives at any one time, producing many children with each wife. Little wonder the country is rife with home grown terrorism. The resources spent on fighting this have surpassed anything that is spent on crime and community policing. Hospital services are overwhelmed. Wait lists are ridiculous.

Meanwhile, back in Canada, despite the fact that police services and hospital resources are bleeding money away, the government can find millions to compensate Khadr.

Go figure, eh.

Yvonne Callihan
By giving the PeachTree development in Peachland another green light, we have entered yet another phase in the evolution of the Wild West  the People versus the Politicians.



Six out of seven city councillors just broke the citys current and single most important by-law, the OCP.



Its a precedent setting decision that every citizen of Peachland needs to give some sober second thought. When Trustees can no longer be trusted to respect and abide by our by-laws we are in some serious trouble.



Sections of the current OCP states specifically:



- Maximum height should not exceed 3 storeys with only 2 storeys permitted along Beach Avenue.



- Structures and buildings should be stepped back from the Lake to maximize views for residential units.



The decision also defies clear and un-equivalent directions by people who have indicated they want the lower buildings closer to the water. Our Mayors comment but the people will get used to it also demonstrates a callous contempt for the process she was elected to protect .



City councils decision also demonstrates a complete disconnect from the people  whats next?



Where do we go, and what do we do, when the laws of the land and the peoples rights are being violated by the politicians we elected to protect those rights?

Andy Thomsen
UPDATE: 6 p.m.

Another evacuation alert has been issued by the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, due to a wildfire in the Hallamore Lake area.

The fire poses an imminent threat to people and property. The following properties are on alert, and residents should prepare to leave:

Properties within Electoral Area A:

950, 1192, 1193, 1236, 1249, 1256, 1280, 1360, 1520, 1656, 1684, 1720, 1753, 1756, 1780, 1800, 1832, 1864, 1892, 1916, 1936, 1939, 1950, 1952, 2030, and 2088 Dunn Lake Road

60, 61 Emery Road

Properties within the District of Clearwater:

415, 421, 425, 427, 429, 436, 479, 480, Clearwater Station Road

91, 113, 220, 446, 450, 460 Dunn Lake Road

In the event an evacuation is required, residents should report to the reception centre in Clearwater, at the Clearwater Legion Hall at 257 Glen Rd.

ORIGINAL: 7:15 a.m.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District has issued an evacuation order for properties in Little Fort threatened by a rapidly moving wildfire in the Thuya Lake area.

The TNRD has ordered everyone in Little Fort, west and south of Lemieux Creek, to evacuate their properties.

If you are in the described area, you must leave immediately and report to the Emergency Social Services reception centre at the Clearwater Legion Hall at 257 Glen Rd., in Clearwater.

If you have large animals/livestock in need of shelter, contact the Kamloops EOC at 1-866-377-7188.

Meanwhile, an evacuation alert is in place for the following properties east of Lemieux Creek in Little Fort:

352, 356, 369, 389, 404, 465, 525, 541, 556, 616, 653 Highway 24

4769, 4715, 4801, 4640 Sandhill Road

9988 Field Road

4579, 4640 Highway 5

Residents should prepare to evacuate and may receive limited notice due to changing conditions.

In the event of an evacuation, those residents should also report to the Clearwater reception centre.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The death toll from heavy rain and flooding in southern Japan this week has risen to 15, officials said Saturday, as rescue workers reached isolated villages where at least 14 others are missing and feared dead.

Heavy rain warnings are still in place for parts of the southern island of Kyushu on Saturday, days after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan, triggering floods and mudslides that wrecked hundreds of homes, roads and rice terraces.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Saturday that 12 dead have so far been found in Fukuoka prefecture and three others in neighbouring Oita prefecture.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said 12,000 troops, firefighters and other rescuers continued searching for the missing, clearing debris off roads and delivering fresh water and food supplies for the displaced at a school gymnasium. They have reached most of the previously inaccessible villages, Suga said.

Nearly 1,000 residents were rescued over the past two days, but dozens are still believed to be stranded. The operation has been slowed by mudflows and floodwaters as the rain continued.

In the hardest-hit Asakura city in Fukuoka, the bodies of a woman, her daughter and a grandson were found late Friday on the first floor of their house that was crushed by a mudslide, Japan's public broadcaster NHK said.

Footage showed inundated rice fields and collapsed homes. Roads and bridges were damaged, covered with broken trees washed down from the mountainside. Hundreds of people in remote villages were being airlifted by military helicopters while soldiers waded through floodwater carrying elderly people on their backs.
Photo: File photo

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for attacking a remote Egyptian army outpost in the Sinai Peninsula with a suicide car bomb and heavy machine-gun fire. The assault killed at least 23 soldiers in the deadliest attack in the turbulent region in two years.

The IS made the claim after nightfall Friday, saying in an online statement that it had carried out the attack as the Egyptian army was preparing an assault on IS positions in Sinai.

The co-ordinated attack suggested the Sinai-based militants are among the region's most resilient, after IS in Iraq and Syria, where the so-called caliphate is now witnessing its demise. And it underscored the struggles Egyptian forces face in trying to rein in the insurgency.

Egypt has for years battled militants in Sinai, where the jihadis have exploited the vast arid and underdeveloped region and its disgruntled Bedouin population as an ideal incubator for Islamic militancy even before the IS affiliate has emerged at the forefront of the insurgency.

Friday's assault began in the early morning, when a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a checkpoint at a military compound in the village of el-Barth, southwest of the border town of Rafah.

Dozens of masked militants then descended on the site in 24 Land Cruiser SUVs and opened fire on the soldiers with machine-guns, according to security officials.

The shooting lasted nearly half an hour, the officials added, speaking on condition of anonymity because of regulations. The troops at the compound were estimated to have numbered about 60.

When the attack subsided, the militants apparently looted the checkpoint, snatching weapons and ammunition before fleeing, the officials said. A number of militants were killed in the shootout, indicating the soldiers had fought back, and some of their vehicles were abandoned at the scene.

The suicide blast at the start of the attack likely disabled the checkpoint's military communications system, prompting one of the officers to use his own cellphone to record an audio message and send it to a colleague via WhatsApp, seeking help and asking for prayers. The message was later widely circulated on social media
The Missouri State Highway Patrol announced the results of their annual 4th of July counting period of 20-Mile Trooper and Operation C.A.R.E.

MSHP Spokesperson Corporal Juston Wheetley said there were 14 fatalities throughout the state during the counting period.

Which is 14 too many. We only had one in Troop C and that is down from last year, which is great, said Wheetley. Over all I think it was a success, we still saw a number of traffic crashes throughout the state, but those numbers were lower than last year.

Wheetley said they would like to see the number at zero, if at all possible, throughout the next holiday weekend.

The patrol reported that during the four-day 4th of July counting period there were 494 traffic crashes, 186 injuries, 14 fatalities, 172 DWIs and 118 drug arrests. As far as boating incidents, there were seven crashes, four injuries, zero fatalities and drownings, 23 boating while intoxicated and 33 drug arrests.

In 2016, five people were killed and 565 injured in Missouri over the holiday in 1,370 traffic crashes. The Missouri State Highway Patrol worked 397 of those traffic crashes that year. Also over the 2016 July 4th holiday, troopers arrested 121 people for driving while intoxicated.

They investigated 11 boating crashes including six injuries and zero fatalities over that holiday weekend. No one drowned during last year either. Troopers did arrest 11 people for boating while intoxicated and also made 122 drug arrests during last years holiday.

Wheetley said a leading cause of traffic crashes and fatalities is distracted driving, which one trooper experienced firsthand over the holiday weekend.

That was a crucial factor in a crash with our trooper on I-44 near Eureka, said Wheetley. Luckily he decided at that time to do a passenger side approach on a violators vehicle he stopped for a traffic violation, and doing so probably saved his life.

Wheetley said a driver of another vehicle failed to yield to the trooper and was inattentive while driving. He went off the roadway and struck the patrol car, as well as the car the trooper had pulled over.

If he would have made a drivers side approach, he would have been struck as well, said Wheetley. It is the law that you must move over, if at all possible, when approaching a stopped emergency vehicle. If you arent able to move over, you must reduce your speed.

Wheetley said he does get asked quite often how much drivers need to slow down when passing an emergency vehicle.

The best I can tell people is to put themselves in that officer's shoes, said Wheetley. If youre standing on the side of the road and you knew you were about to be hit by a vehicle, how fast would you want that vehicle going when it hit you?

We dont know who we stop on the side of the road, he added. People call it a routine traffic stop, but there is no such thing as routine. We never know, they could have just killed someone, robbed a bank, been in an assault and are trying to get away or have warrants.

"Granted 95 percent of the time its just someone driving fast or not paying attention, but there is always that chance it could turn into something more dangerous.

Its dangerous enough as it is just approaching a vehicle while trying to keep an eye out for traffic. Its even more dangerous when on a traffic stop and dealing with a violator to get them out of there as quickly as possible and we get struck by a vehicle.

Wheetley said one of the main reasons law enforcement officers are killed on the highways is the result of being struck by other vehicles while either at an accident or crash scene or while on a traffic stop.

The two or three seconds that you lose by having to slow down is not going to amount to anything in the grand scheme of things when you are trying to get to your destination, said Wheetley.
Photo: Instagram Instagram photo shows one of Lions Gate climbers atop a highrise tower in Hong Kong.

A pair of thrill-seekers' attempt to climb Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver this week was not their first dangerous stunt.

Zack Burke and Andrew Valentine have been charged with mischief after their antics caused traffic chaos Thursday.

The men's Instagram accounts show photos from the top of towers, cranes and bridges in Hong Kong, Dubai, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Seattle and Toronto.

Traffic was blocked for hours on the Lions Gate as emergency crews converged on the scene, leading to congestion that spread across Metro Vancouver.

When the pair came down at 1:30 p.m., they were arrested. A judge released them on bail with a $2,500 recognizance.

Mayor Gregor Robertson said he has asked the province to increase security on the span.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: Alanna Kelly Smokey skies could be seen over Okanagan Lake Friday night.

With 138 forest fires starting across B.C. Friday, many areas in the Interior, including Kelowna, have been experiencing smoky skies, prompting a warning from the province.

The smoky skies advisory was issued Saturday morning for the Okanagan, Cariboo, Thompson, Shuswap, Similkameen, Fraser Canyon and Nicola regions.

The Ministry of Environment says the concentration of smoke in these areas will vary widely, but recommends avoiding strenuous outdoor activity.

Exposure is particularly a concern for infants, the elderly and those who have underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, and lung or heart disease, the warning states.
Photo: Google Maps Two people are dead after a stabbing in Chilliwack Friday night.

Two people are dead after a stabbing in Chilliwack Friday night.

Police responded to an altercation at the corner of Young and Yale roads, just after 10 p.m. to find three people suffering from stab wounds.

Two of the victims later died from their injuries.

"The investigation is in its infancy, and there is limited information to indicate whether this attack occurred between individuals known to each other or if it was random." said Cpl. Meghan Foster of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team. "Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact police."

Those with information can contact the IHIT information line at 1-877-551-4448.

Two people were also stabbed in the early hours of Saturday morning in Vancouver.

A large fight broke out on Granville Street near Davie Street at about 3:30 a.m., and two men in their 20s suffered stab wounds in the fight.

Witnesses described the suspects to police, who arrested the two men from Surrey several blocks away.

The victims' injuries are believed to be non-life threatening.
UPDATE: 7:15 p.m.

Close to 40 firefighters fought the massive condo blaze on Truswell Road for most of Saturday, with three of them ending up in the hospital.

Deputy Fire Chief Lou Wilde says one of the four firefighters who were trapped on a balcony before being rescued with a ladder suffered burns to his hands, and will be spending the night at Kelowna General Hospital.

Two other firefighters were taken to KGH for heat exhaustion, but were later released.

"The ambulance has been here doing a great job helping our members rehab between their shifts in and out of the fire, cooling them down and getting them hydrated and whatnot," Wilde said.

UPDATE: 6:25 p.m.

An evacuation order has been issued for 176 units on Truswell and Capozzi Roads due to the building fires in Kelowna's Mission district.

The order will remain in place overnight tonight as power and gas have been turned off for the area, which also means residential fire smoke alarms and suppression systems may be non-operational.

The evacuation order impacts The Water's Edge (65 units), Walnut Grove Motel (37 units), Charles M. Suites (11 units), Mission Shores (54 units) and nine single-family waterfront homes.

Fire suppression work will be ongoing tonight and possibly longer, the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre said in a press release.

Evacuees are being directed to the Salvation Army on Sutherland Ave, where Emergency Support Services are set up with food and shelter options for displaced residents.

UPDATE: 5:15 p.m.

A fire boat is helping fight the fire at Water's Edge.

The Kelowna Fire Department's marine unit is pumping water from Mission Creek onto the building from near the mouth of the creek.

UPDATE: 4:53 p.m.

Residents evacuated from a neighbouring building in the Water's Edge condo fire say they saw the devastating blaze begin.

The neighbours, who didn't want to give their names, said they saw a workman at the construction site using a torch on what they believed to be roofing type material.

The worker was at the site all morning, and all of sudden the neighbours noticed flames getting away from him.

He apparently tried tearing away at the material to halt the spread of the flames and burned his hands in the process.

Castanet witnessed a man who appeared to be in work clothes in the back of an ambulance with his hands bandaged.

UPDATE: 4:40 p.m.

The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre says all residents on Truswell Road have been evacuated, along with those at the Mission Shores Lakeside Resort.

The six-storey Water's Edge North building collapsed after being completely engulfed in flames after fire broke out about 11:30 a.m.

The fire spread to the adjacent Water's Edge and Walnut Grove buildings, where firefighters are currently focusing their attention.

Fire there appears to be limited to the northeast corner of the top floor, and at least four fire hoses are trained on the building, along with crews working from an adjacent balcony.

People are being asked to stay clear of the area as it remains under restricted access.

UPDATE 3:25 p.m.

While the large fire caused the collapse of the Water's Edge North building, it also spread to the roof of the adjacent Water's Edge condo and several units at the Walnut Grove Motel.

Residents of these nearby occupied buildings have been evacuated.

Central Okanagan Emergency Operations has set up an Emergency Support Services centre for evacuees at the Salvation Army at 1480 Sutherland Avenue.

The RCMP has asked the public to stay clear of the fire area, while emergency crews put out the blaze.

UPDATE: 1:20 p.m.

The Waters Edge North condo building has collapsed in a pile of burning rubble.

The highrise under construction on Truswell Road in Kelownas Mission district erupted in flames Saturday.

A huge firefighter response is on scene, and the public is being kept back from the site as huge plumes of smoke tower over the city.

Ash is falling all around the neighbourhood, and police are going door to door at homes on the other side of Mission Creek, presumably evacuating residents.

The fire also has jumped to an adjacent building, where firefighters are focusing their attention.

All nearby buildings are being evacuated, and people are milling about in a chaotic scene.

Waters Edge was unoccupied, as the building was not yet complete, but Cpl. Tania Carroll of the Kelowna RCMP says the second building that is now burning is occupied. RCMP are currently evacuating the second condo building.

All that remains of the first building is flaming rubble.

Four firefighters had to be rescued from a balcony on the fourth floor during the earlier stages of the firefight, before the building was completely lost to flames.

Cpl. Carroll says at this time, the cause of the fire is unknown, but she is urging members of the public to avoid the area to allow emergency crews to do their jobs.

ORIGINAL: 12:04 p.m.

Four firefighters have been rescued from the fourth floor of a burning building on the 3600 block of Truswell Road in Kelowna's Mission district.

A Castanet reporter on the scene says the firefighters suddenly found themselves surrounded by thick black smoke in the apartment building which is under construction and headed for a balcony.

The trapped crew called to firefighters on the ground who then crawled up ladders to get to their colleagues.

Crews were called out around 11:30 a.m. but the fire took off around 11:55 a.m.

One of the firefighters was taken from the scene by ambulance.

Flames were still shooting from the structure 45 minutes after firefighters were called while smoke billowed into the sky. Windows could be heard shattering and ash fell on the surrounding buildings.
Photo: The Canadian Press A wildfire burns on a mountain near Ashcroft, late Friday.

Thousands of British Columbia residents have been chased from their homes as forest fires rage out of control in the province's Central Interior.

The B.C. government has declared a provincewide state of emergency as firefighters scramble to keep up with 183 fires, many considered to be burning out of control.

The BC Wildfire Service says over 173 fires were reported on Friday alone as lightning storms rolled over several parts of B.C.

"Yesterday was an extraordinary day in terms of fire activity across the province," Kevin Skrepnek, chief information officer for the service, said in an interview on Saturday.

"We're focusing now on public safety, keeping these fires away from communities, protecting transportation routes, things like that."

B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone said the extraordinary measure of declaring an emergency was necessary to co-ordinate the crisis response and ensure public safety.

Crews focused Saturday on two of the largest fires that forced thousands from their homes in the communities of Ashcroft, Cache Creek, 100 Mile House, 105 Mile House and 108 Mile House and 150 Mile House.

A separate fire north of Princeton prompted an evacuation order involving dozens of people.

John Ranta, mayor of Cache Creek and head of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, said Friday that a fire burning between Ashcroft and Cache Creek destroyed dozens of buildings, including at least five houses, 30 trailer park homes and two hangars at a regional airport.

On Saturday, Ranta said no further structures were lost overnight.

"Things are looking at lot better here now," he said

Skrepnek said there had been multiple structures lost in the fires, but he couldn't give a figure.

Over 1,000 firefighters were working across the province, supported by heavy equipment and helicopters, he added.

"We are exploring options of bringing in crews from out of province as well."

He said the forecast is more of the same hot and dry weather, although the winds Saturday were not expected to be as strong as the gusty winds that fanned the flames on Friday.

Some who weren't ordered to leave their homes were ready just in case.

Country music blared on the radio as Gwen Dachsel waited in her home in Williams Lake on Saturday morning with the doors and windows shut, her car loaded with two bags of personal belongings.

Dachsel said the roads leading out of her community have been closed in most every direction, and the fear of not knowing what to do is almost as frightening as the fires themselves.

"If we had to really leave town, I don't know which way we would go," Dachsel said in a phone interview. "If I saw a flame, then I would (feel trapped). Then, I would panic."

The 72-year-old woman, who suffers from asthma, said her eyes stung and her breathing was heavy from smoke outside while she tried to water her plants. Her family photographs have been stored away in a fireproof safe, which Dachsel hopes will protect them if the house she has lived in for more than four decades goes up in flames.

"It would be quite a traumatic experience, and for my daughters too," Dachsel said. "It's life that matters, so hopefully they can control these fires and things will be OK."

Mike Flannigan, the Director of Western Partnership for Wildland Fire Science, said the thunderstorms sweeping through the area brought little rain and set off fires with lightning strikes.

The thunderstorms also create a lot of wind, which fans the flames, he said.

"So this creates strong, shifting winds, which can be very dangerous for people and firefighters," he said.

"You really have to be on guard if there's thunderstorms around, if you're trying to do fire management."

Flannigan said it was a wet winter in B.C.

"And some people think: 'Hey, wet winter, we won't have a fire problem.' But that's not actually the case."

Several highways have been closed because of fires, including in several spots along Highway 1 between Ashcroft and Cache Creek, south of Quesnel and through Savona.

Theo Faber, a 39-year-old truck driver from Abbotsford, B.C., was on his way to get some lumber north of Cache Creek on Friday when he found himself stuck in heavy smoke and fire.

"My safest option was to keep going slowly," he said. "Fortunately, everyone was moving through. The smoke was very thick. I could barely see through it. There was fire in the ditches on both sides of my vehicle."

Faber said he would have "perished" if he had reached the highway 15 minutes later than he did.

"It was very scary," he said.

Premier-designate John Horgan described the situation in Interior communities like Cache Creek, Ashcroft and Williams Lake as "grave" and said the federal government is prepared to do whatever it can to help.

"The people already evacuated or facing evacuation, as well as our frontline firefighters and first responders, need to know everyone in the province is behind them," he said in a statement.
After an extended adjournment that lasted three weeks, the murder trial involving a former RCMP officer ramped back up today in Kelowna with crown witness William Richard Currie taking the stand.

He is the forensic pathologist that originally looked at the scene, just hours after Lynn Kalmring was found shot in the face at the Penticton home she shared with ex-Mountie Keith Wiens.

Photo: Ragnar Haagen - Kelowna Correspondent Members of Lynn Kalmring's extended family congregate outside the Kelowna Courthouse on July 8, 2013.

Although Currie was brought to the house at the request of Penticton RCMP, he only spent 10 minutes inside and did not take part in the autopsy, which was sent to Kamloops instead. It was found that Currie was previously acquainted with Wiens, but it could not be shown there was a conflict of interest, as he immediately made the fact known once he realized the situation and who was involved.

Currie was called to the scene on Aug. 16 and arrived approximately 10 hours after the body had been discovered. He testified that Kalmring obviously suffered a devastating gunshot wound to the face, and in his opinion, the knife had been placed in her hand after she was shot.

Currie told the court he did not wear any protective clothing when he entered the crime scene and did not touch the body either. He saw blood on the palm of Kalmrings left hand and saw the knife there too.

As an expert witness, Currie says once she was shot, her body would have immediately collapsed. The gunshot would have tore through her cerebellum, affecting her co-ordination and essentially short-circuiting her brain.

She would fall immediately and if she was holding something, she would drop it," explained Currie.

The majority of Mondays testimony revolved around extremely technical information concerning the human body and its natural state in a sudden death scenario. The main focus was on the affects of rigor mortis, livor mortis and cadaveric spasm  all of which determine whether the knife was in Kalmrings hand before she was shot or whether it was placed there post mortem.

Previous testimony heard the knife was easily taken from Kalmrings fingers, which according to Currie, is not indicative of cadaveric spasms. He also took issue with the lividity (settling of blood), which showed up in the palm of her left hand and was not consistent with how her body was found.

She died with the palm of her hand downwards, not upwards."

Upon cross examination, defence counsel Christopher Evans first attempted to cast doubt on why Currie did not perform the autopsy, and questioned whether he was uneasy at the scene in 2011 or now giving testimony, given the fact they were previous acquaintances (one of Wiens' ex-wives had worked with Currie).

Evans then switched gears and pressed Currie as to why he made minimal notes on the day in question and did not include his opinion on the knife placement. This led Evans to question when Currie formulated his hypothesis, with Currie responding,In spite of my advanced age, I can remember what I thought, which drew laughter from the gallery.

As Evans continued to press Currie with various assumptions about the possibility of Kalmring holding a knife when she was shot, Currie began to openly gape at the line of questioning which included lecture notes taken from an authority on the subject that Currie testified had too many variables to pin down. He stood his ground adding that given the time frame, there was no way rigor mortis could have passed, leading to Kalmrings relaxed grip on the knife.

The trial continues on Tuesday and testimony is expected to wrap up next week.
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Many of Donald Trump's tweets are impulsive and repulsive, inaccurate and incendiary. But one of his recent blasts on social media was correct: "My use of social media is not Presidential -- it's MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL."

Trump has shrewdly and successfully used social media to spread his message directly to his supporters without the messy and annoying scrutiny of mainstream journalists. In effect, he's created the TBN, the Trump Broadcasting Network. And with more than 30 million followers on Twitter alone -- who can then retweet his missives to their own connections -- his reach is enormous.

Trump's probably right when he says that without social media, he would not be president. "The FAKE & FRAUDULENT NEWS MEDIA is working hard to convince Republicans and others I should not use social media," he tweeted, "but remember, I won the 2016 election with interviews, speeches and social media. I had to beat #FakeNews, and did. We will continue to WIN!"

But the larger and more critical question is what he actually says on social media now that he's president. How does he use this powerful platform to convey his policies and values?

To his core followers, he's still a hero. But to many Americans, including a growing number of Republicans, he's not winning on social media. He's losing. Instead of elevating public discourse, he's lowering it; instead of dignifying his office, he's demeaning it.

In a recent NPR/Marist poll, 7 out of 10 Americans, with little partisan difference, agree "the level of civility in Washington has gotten worse since President Trump was elected, while just 6 percent say the overall tone has improved." And Trump's vitriolic diatribes on Twitter contribute heavily to that climate of contentiousness.

In a Politico poll, 69 percent said Trump tweets too much. Fifty-nine percent called his Twitter habit a "bad thing" and only 23 percent called it a "good thing." Even Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, concedes that he's "not a great fan" of Trump's tweets. The president's repeated outbursts dominate news coverage and drain energy and attention away from his own legislative agenda.

The news media has long been a favorite target of Trump's social media machine, and lately his obsession has gotten worse. He's pursued an inane vendetta against morning talk show hosts Joe Scarborough ("Psycho Joe") and Mika Brzezinski ("low I.Q. Crazy Mika"). And he's repeatedly labeled CNN "fake news" and "garbage journalism."

Trump reached a new low, even for him, when he posted an old video of himself, made to promote pro wrestling, pummeling an opponent to the ground. The foe's head, however, is replaced with the distinctive CNN logo.

In the current climate, where a deranged shooter feels free to attack Republican congressmen just because of their politics, journalists rightly fear for their safety. But the president's real goal is not to endanger journalists' security -- it's to undermine their credibility. His tweets might seem unhinged, but there's a careful strategy behind them.

He's trying to convince voters that they should not believe his critics. In Trump's Twitter World, there are no independent provable facts, only "fake news." The president alone knows The Truth. Anyone who contradicts him is "psycho" and "crazy" and speaking "garbage."

This is profoundly dangerous. The president is deliberately trying to cripple an essential element of democracy, the ability of a free press to hold the leaders of the country accountable.

Other presidents have despised the press -- Richard Nixon comes to mind -- but Nixon didn't have Twitter.

"Nixon didn't air his grievances as publically as Trump does," historian H.W. Brands said in the Washington Post. "We've never seen anything like the ongoing performance of President Trump."

No, we haven't, and he's having an effect, at least on his most partisan supporters. A recent Pew poll found that 70 percent of Americans feel the media "keeps political leaders from doing things that shouldn't be done." But while 89 percent of Democrats share that view, only 42 percent of Republicans embrace the media's watchdog role.

Between the two of us, we've spent almost 100 years as professional journalists, devoted to the principles that Trump denigrates every day. We believe deeply that journalists must protect the public by preventing their leaders from "doing things that shouldn't be done."

But we also believe that journalists must perform that role accurately and ethically. No cheap shots or flimsy stories. Resist the pressure to be first and wrong. The media can be fair to the president and still be fearless.
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My parents would refer to The good ole days with regularity. Talk of living on the farm, walking miles (uphill both ways) to and from school, working all week in the fields, earning a dime  just enough to go to the movies and buy a piece of candy on Saturday. Mom and Dad shared these stories with fondness and a desire to return to a simpler life.

Times have changed. My grandchildren find it amazing when I talk of days before home computers and of having our phone hanging on the wall. It is hard to convince them of the old party lines when you had to wait for your neighbor to finish their conversation before you could use the phone. Times really have changed.

I was a teenager in the seventies. My siblings are eleven and eight years older than me, so I had the privilege of watching and experiencing teenage years of the sixties and seventies. I do remember dad complaining about the music, long hair, and fashion styles of the kids nowadays. I do not know if dad was more accepting or just got tired of the fight, but he did not nag me about such things as much as he did my sister and brother.

I reckon every generation disapproves of the youthful trends of the generation following them. I once read of Albert Einstein complaining of the new music style of the 1920s. The major beefs I hear from parents of teens and twenties today are not about hairstyles or clothing, but heart attitudes, things like selfishness, laziness, and arrogance. Just as not every kid from the sixties and seventies had long hair and wore bell-bottom pants and tie-dyed shirts, not everyone from the current generation has these attitudes, but there is enough of a trend for one generation to express concern over the next.

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy about the last days. Paul told him, This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come (2 Timothy 3:1). Paul then goes on and gives a list of why the times will be so perilous. This list does not include what people typically think of in the last days; earthquakes, wars, natural disasters and the like. It is a list of actions and heart attitudes that will be prevalent during the period. I will write Paul's list (found in 2 Timothy 3:2-5) below; some I'll put a few words of explanation, some, will not need any explanation.

Men shall be lovers of their own selves = Me, myself, and I become number one in life. Everything else is secondary. Life is devoted to my desires.

Covetous = I must have (fill in the blank). I can't live without (fill in the blank).

Boasters = I am the greatest, and everyone else needs to know that.

Proud = The emotion within a person that causes the action of boasting. Pride does not, however, need to include boasting.

Blasphemers = Disrespect to God.

Disobedient to parents.

Unthankful.

Unholy. = Having pleasure in sin.

Without natural affection. = Leaving affections that God deems as natural, such as the love a mother has for her children, a man toward his wife, a woman toward her husband, the love between siblings and so on.

Trucebreakers. = Backing out of previously made agreements.

False accusers. = It is always someone or something else's fault.

Incontinent. = Lacking self-restraint; being uncontrollable.

Fierce. = Hostile, violent, and aggressive.

Despisers of those that are good.

Traitors. = A complete lack of loyalty.

Heady. = To do things without thinking of the consequence of our actions.

Highminded. = To be blinded by self-pride.

Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. = Saying we believe righteousness is the correct path, but living something else entirely.

There is it  Paul's list of the predominate heart attitudes of the last days. Do you see these in others? More importantly, do you see any of these in yourself?

Is the day in which we live just another older generation complaining about the young people coming up behind them or are we on the threshold of perilous times?
Why are Republicans on Capitol Hill having so much trouble repealing and replacing Obamacare? There are reasons all over the place: subsidies, tax credits, tax cuts, Medicaid, essential health benefits, and many others. But there is one fundamental obstacle to getting rid of Obamacare, and it is very simple: Once the government starts giving away, it can't take back.

Go back to October 2013, when Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz was leading an effort to defund Obamacare. It was an impossible goal; the GOP was in the minority in the Senate and a Democrat was in the White House. Under those circumstances, defunding President Obama's signature achievement simply wasn't going to happen. Establishment Republicans were angry at Cruz for raising the hopes of the party's base before certain disappointment.

But there was one sense in which Cruz was right -- and the words he spoke four years ago are resonating today in the GOP's struggle to repeal, or, more accurately, rewrite Obamacare.

Cruz based the defund effort on his contention that once Obamacare was fully in place and subsidies began to flow -- that was scheduled to begin on January 1, 2014 -- there would be no stopping it.

"The Obama strategy, I believe, is that on January 1, subsidies kick in," Cruz told a meeting of the Kingwood, Texas tea party in August 2013. "And his strategy is very simple: He knows that in modern times no major entitlement has ever gone into effect and been unwound. Never been done. His strategy is to get as many Americans as possible hooked on the subsidies, addicted to the sugar."

"I think if we're going to stop Obamacare, we have to do it now," Cruz continued. "If we get to January 1, this thing is here forever."

Of course Republicans did not defund Obamacare -- there was never any chance they could -- and the subsidies began. And now, exactly as Cruz (and others) predicted, the entitlement program is proving extremely difficult to repeal. That is because, as Obama and the Democrats who passed it knew, Republicans trying to repeal Obamacare would be taking back something the government had already given to millions of Americans. Once the giving started, Cruz knew, there's no taking back.

And that's where Republicans are now. They've come up with a different way to provide subsidies, but regardless of name, they are trying to reduce those subsidies and make them available to fewer people. They are trying to cut back on the subsidized benefits insurance companies are required to provide to customers. They are trying to reduce the predicted number of people on Medicaid. They are trying to take back, not give. And it is proving very, very hard.

Other Republicans said similar things during the defunding battle back in 2013. Sen. Mike Lee said, "Before this law kicks in in full force on January 1, 2014, we have one last shot." Sen. Marco Rubio said, "This is our last chance and our last best chance to do something about this." Sen. David Vitter said, "Once (Obamacare) gets into law and starts to put down roots, it's going to be difficult to disrupt."

And now it is.

What the 2013 fight showed, and what the current fight is showing again, is that the Republicans' actual last chance to get rid of Obamacare was the 2012 election. That was before the health care law went into effect, before it touched millions of American lives, and when it could still be repealed without great disruption. But when Barack Obama won re-election and could safeguard (and prop up) Obamacare through its early years, the Republican chance to repeal was gone.

Now Republicans are fighting among themselves over a bill that would make substantial changes in Obamacare but leave the structure of the law intact. And several GOP lawmakers -- enough to scuttle any final agreement -- are still afraid of cuts in subsidies, in coverage, and in the Medicaid expansion.

Maybe Republicans will succeed. But whatever they do, it won't resemble the root-and-branch repeal they attempted when Obama was president -- when they knew he would veto any repeal effort that got to his desk. The Republican effort that passes Congress today will be a much-scaled-back measure that could more accurately be called an Obamacare fix.

It all shows that Cruz was right back in 2013. Once Obamacare's subsidies and benefits began to flow, he reminded us, "this thing is here forever."
Under the Lyons Plan for domestic tranquility and world peace, every household would be required to own at least one basset hound. Walking the stubborn little brutes daily on a 6-foot leash would be mandatory, along with compulsory ear-fondling and regular belly rubs.

Little? Our late basset hound Fred weighed 85 pounds, a large dog with short legs. A certified nap-therapist, there are photos of Fred snoozing with every species on our farm except the horses (which sleep standing up). Fred particularly enjoyed snuggling in the hay with calves. Their mothers treated him as an honorary cow.

But I digress. Possibly because they're a French breed, basset hounds are lovers, not fighters. A bold kitten could bluff Fred away from his supper dish. Not one basset has ever been implicated in a fatal human attack, a distinction they share with beagles alone. As scent hounds bred to track game, they can be stubborn and almost untrainable. Almost like cats in that regard, actually.

And yes, bassets are definitely prone to climbing on the furniture as soon as you're out of sight. So what? Show me somebody who's obsessed with hair on the upholstery, and I'll show you somebody who probably lacks enthusiasm for certain other activities conducive to human happiness.

Also because every basset hound is a natural comedian, under the Lyons Plan, laughter would be everywhere and the national blood pressure would plummet. So would that make America great again?

Silly question.

Anyway, I was moved to make these observations by a recent Washington Post article discussing the efforts of academic scientists to study the efficacy of animals as walking anti-anxiety agents. Apparently, "the popular embrace of pets as furry therapists" -- golden retrievers in nursing homes, pigs at airports, even bears on college campuses -- has caused "growing discomfort among some researchers in the field, who say it has raced far ahead of scientific evidence."

Academic studies are under way at places like the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society (the University of Pennsylvania) and the Center of the Human-Animal Bond (Purdue) on such critical topics as whether or not puppies make children happy, or whether providing wounded war veterans with service dogs helps treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

(Believe it or not, the Veterans Administration has declined to pay for such animals. The Pentagon can make dogs go to war, but comforting wounded soldiers is deemed too expensive.)

Raillery aside, such experiments are certainly more useful than what passes for scholarship in much of academia. (Although my own study of equine behavior and Jonathan Swift's Houyhouyhnms would no doubt revolutionize 18th-century literary studies if I weren't too lazy to write it.)

The issue seems to be that most evidence in the field is anecdotal at best. A Yale doctoral candidate named Molly Crossman who published a critical review of the literature found it pretty thin stuff. Among other flaws, "studies ... tend to generalize across animals, she noted: If participants are measurably soothed by one golden retriever, that doesn't mean another dog -- or another species -- will evoke the same response."

True: and maybe kids are made happier and more confident by owning dogs, or maybe by having the kinds of parents who give them puppies. It's impossible to say. Nor are all dogs created equal. My beloved basset hounds are one thing, while the pit bull down the street may be quite another.

Human stupidity can also play a big part. Try to imagine the thought process that went into somebody's bringing a two-month-old bear cub to the Washington University campus in St. Louis to help students deal with the stress of taking final exams. The frightened animal bit 14 students and almost had to be euthanized due to rabies fears -- sentimentality turning to unreasoning fear, as it tends to do.

You can name a bear "Boo Boo," but it's still a wild animal only recently stolen from its mother's den. Which should definitely be illegal.

U-Penn researcher James Serpell also cautioned the Post's Karin Brulliard that the notion that pets make you happier "is not a harmless distortion ... If the public believes that getting an animal is going to be good for them, many times an unsuitable person will get an unsuitable animal, and it doesn't work out well for either."

Serpell's no doubt correct. Not all pets are good for all people, and an awful lot of people, in my experience, are no good for pets. Many American cities are overrun with unsuitable people doing a bad job caring for unsuitable animals. Animal shelters are bursting with them.

However, although every one we've owned has been a rescue dog, you won't find many basset hounds languishing in little cages. We had to drive 150 miles to adopt Fred, an incorrigible escape artist in his youth. Mostly, people who adopt bassets can't bear to let them go.
Nacogdoches, TX (75965)

Today

Showers and a possible thunderstorm during the evening will give way to cloudy skies after midnight. Low 38F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Showers and a possible thunderstorm during the evening will give way to cloudy skies after midnight. Low 38F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
As new revelations tumbled out last week about sexual harassment allegations against a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partners venture capitalist Reid Hoffman wrote a widely read post calling for people in his industry to adopt a "#DecencyPledge." "This is entirely immoral and outrageous behavior," he wrote in the piece. "And it falls to us to stand with you, to speak out, and to act." The hashtag took off on Twitter, prompting applause from some corners and others who said the next step needed to be a promise to fund more ventures run by women.

What got less attention in Hoffman's post was a call for the industry to "actively work on building a kind of industry-wide HR function, so that venture capitalists who engage in such behavior face the same sort of consequences that they would if their overtures were directed at an employee."

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While he was not clear how that might take shape, he did spell out the problem: Companies have sexual harassment policies and internal human resources departments that govern the relationship between managers and employees. But as the entrepreneur Gina Bianchini reminded him, he wrote, nothing similar governs the relationship between venture capitalists and the founders who seek funding from them. "On a structural level, venture capitalists unfortunately have no HR department to prevent predatory and inappropriate behavior," Hoffman wrote, "and so try to characterize (falsely) their actions as innocent flirtatiousness or banter."

He isn't the only one in Silicon Valley to recognize this lack of accountability. After the resignation of venture capitalist Dave McClure, who was described in a New York Times story as engaging in offensive behavior, Silicon Valley investors Mitch and Freada Kapor said in a statement, among others things, that "the tech ecosystem could pioneer safe, effective, confidential complaint mechanisms to surface issues early if it cared. Otherwise, we'll continue to see blogs, tweets and leaks to journalists as the de facto channels."

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Representatives for Hoffman and the Kapors said none was available to comment for this article.

Meanwhile, a group called SheWorx, a community of female entrepreneurs, has conceived of an online database that would allow entrepreneurs to confidentially report unethical behavior by venture capitalists. Co-founder Lisa Wang said she hopes to form a committee of big-name investors and partners to whom they would flag any firms or individuals who receive repeated reports.

"These are the people who need to have some kind of stake in monitoring or being willing to react appropriately," Wang said in an interview. "I see our role as facilitating, because of our unique position."

Bianchini, who is the CEO and founder of Mighty Networks, a platform for creating niche social networks, said in an interview that she has spoken to Hoffman about the concept and that high-profile names would need to be part of the solution.

"You'll know how serious the industry takes this by seeing who gets involved. If it results in yet another women's conference, it's a bunch of hot air," she said. "On the other hand, if high-profile investors like Reid Hoffman or, say, [Andreessen Horowitz's] Marc Andreessen or [Benchmark Capital's] Peter Fenton decide it's important, and treat this with the same urgency as getting into the next hot deal ... then I'll remain as optimistic about change as I am now."

Unless the investors in venture capital funds are saying they'll withhold their money from the firms not making good decisions on these issues, she said, "the self-policing of venture capital is all hat and no cattle."

Bianchini said that if a female founder is sexually harassed, "there is literally no one to talk to about it," other than an attorney or the press  both steps that are costly for an entrepreneur starting out. "Venture capital is a culture where soft relationships and access  coded as 'the quality of your network'  is how people raise hundreds of millions of dollars. That's not a system with transparency or accountability."

Without the governance structure that allows a human resources department of a company to consider a harassment complaint, it's unclear how the kind of "industry-wide HR function" Hoffman suggests could work.

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Bob Sutton, a Stanford University professor, says that some of the larger VC firms already provide enough help with recruiting and mentoring talent at the companies where they invest that it's not a stretch to think they should do more to monitor their conduct with incoming founders. "There's an argument that the VC firms already have that function and what they need to do is crank up the pressure," he said.

He said that even if there were some kind of trade association or compact among venture capitalists to deal with complaints, having a structure to deal with them is only one piece of a broader shift. "It needs to be part of a general movement of changes and behavior," he said.

Then there is the issue that human resources departments  even within individual companies  don't always have a great record of setting consequences for individuals who engage in sexual harassment, or for following through on complaints.

"In order for something like what Reid is proposing to make sense, we would need to really get to what are the key drivers and who are the key creators of the problem," said Drew Koven, managing director of Los Angeles-based investment firm LDR Ventures.

Bianchini also said the two things that will really change the industry dynamic are when limited partners  the people who fund venture capital firms  evaluate their investments along the lines of both returns and inclusion, and demand transparency around how much diversity is represented in the deal flow, the same way tech companies are now expected to report their internal diversity numbers. "If there's enough pressure both internally by venture capitalists and externally by their investors, I think the system will start to change," she said.

Hoffman hinted at something similar in his post. "Any VC who agrees that this is a serious issue that deserves zero tolerance  and I certainly hope most do think this way  should stop doing business with VCs who engage in this behavior," he wrote. "LPs should stop investing. Entrepreneurs of all genders should stop considering those VCs. This behavior occurs in our industry not just because some believe it's no big deal, but also because those who do find it unacceptable don't do enough to actively discourage it."
Comedian Artie Lange indicated Monday he is still in the hospital, days after he said he underwent emergency surgery following his July 1 set at Thalia Hall.

"After Chicago gig I collapsed. I had emergency surgery. All the blow & H I've done for yrs blew hole in my nose & landed in my chest..." Lange tweeted Saturday. "It was infected. I was hours from checkin out. They ripped open my chest and got it all. I cheated the devil for the hundredth time."

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It's unclear if Lange, 49, was hospitalized in Chicago. His rep did not return a Tribune request for comment.

Lange posted a photo of himself Monday wearing hospital garb, headphones and sunglasses. Another Monday photo showed medical tubes. Lange said Saturday doctors put a permanent IV line in his arm to provide long-term antibiotics.

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Lange performed at Thalia Hall as part of his tour and tweeted pictures hours after the show: "Great shot from the # Chicago show at @ ThaliaHallChi, thanks to everybody who came out!" He called his set an "amazing night." So it was a surprise when he tweeted Saturday he had been hospitalized after the show.

Lange has been open about his struggle to stay sober. The former sidekick for Howard Stern's radio show was arrested on drug possession charges in March. He recently appeared on the HBO series "Crashing," which is helmed by former Chicago comedian Pete Holmes.

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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)
Could Spider-Man (Tom Holland) thrive without the help of Marvel Studios - let alone the classic TV show "Freaks and Geeks"? (Sony-Columbia)

To get into the sure hands of Marvel president Kevin Feige, Spider-Man first needed help from the cast discovered by Paul Feig. Because Spidey might not even be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe today were it not for the talent of "Freaks and Geeks."

When Feig created the short-lived, now-revered NBC series, the period high-school comedy boasted mostly unknowns, but one of its first actors to become entwined with Spider-Man was James Franco. Two years after the Emmy-winning "Freaks and Geeks" was canceled in 2000, young Franco made the first of three appearances in Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" movies, as best friend to Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker and son of Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin/Norman Osborn.

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It wouldn't be the first time that Franco would have a hand in Spidey's cinematic fate.

The new film "Spider-Man: Homecoming," Sony's third reboot of the character in 15 years, has a distinct "Freaks and Geeks" pedigree. That is largely because the movie was co-written by John Francis Daley, who starred on Feig's series as a baby-faced freshman  and who now echoes some of his character's aspects for Tom Holland's 15-year-old Peter Parker.

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Daley says he tapped into his wider "Freaks" experience, too, to help create his new film's high school setting.

"And then there's Martin Starr," Daley tells The Washington Post, referring to the "Silicon Valley" actor. Seventeen years ago, Starr was playing a clean-cut student on "Freaks"; in "Homecoming," he plays a bearded high-school teacher who leads a student trip to Washington.

But when it comes to Marvel Studios finally getting to creatively save the web-slinger after the disappointing "Amazing Spider-Man 2," the "Freaks" actors who indirectly had the greatest impact might well have been Franco and frequent co-star Seth Rogen.

As head of Sony, Amy Pascal still had a tight grip on her Spider-Man franchise in 2014, when the then-power brokers over at Marvel  including Feige and Ike Perlmutter  kept approaching her about working out a Sony-Marvel partnership, in part so Spider-Man might rightfully appear alongside the MCU's Avengers.

In late 2014, the infamous Sony hack would occur, reportedly sparked in retaliation for Rogen's forthcoming Sony comedy "The Interview," which controversially depicted the assassination of North Korea's leader. Among the many embarrassing Sony emails revealed by the hack were reputation-damaging communiques by and to Pascal, who would step down as Sony head by the following February.

In announcing Pascal's post-hack exit, Sony said that she would produce its next Spider-Man movie alongside Feige, as the Los Angeles Times reported. So Pascal and Feige hammered out a plan to save Spider-Man, thanks to a creative joint custody that allowed Holland's Peter Parker to appear first in last year's "Captain America: Civil War" in a winning "homecoming" of sorts for Marvel - the company that birthed the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko character in the early '60s.

Now, as "Homecoming" earns mostly positive reviews and expectations for a domestic debut north of $100 million, a big thank-you card is certainly due "Freaks and Geeks."

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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)
We hear the sound of a crowd clapping in unison, chanting an indecipherable name, faster and faster, and then exploding in applause. When the applause fades, we see a lone hand holding a quill to parchment. The quill forms a few letters, then pauses and scratches them out. The camera moves to show us a handsome face, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"Who will want a play by William Shakespeare?" a female voice calls out, breaking the mood. We see a woman standing, arms crossed, in the corner of a candlelit room.

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It's the first of many wink-wink moments in "Will," a new TNT show about the writer's life. The show, created by Craig Pearce, who helped adapt the screenplay for Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film "Romeo + Juliet," imagines an Elizabethan world of sex, drugs and theater crowds resembling mosh pits. With its gory torture scenes and elaborately costumed but oft-nude cast, the show resembles such popular pseudo-historical dramas as "The Tudors," "Rome" and "The Borgias." This is the English Renaissance, "Game of Thrones"-style.

"It was a world divided by religion and religious fundamentalism," Pearce says. And if you're on the wrong side of the divide? "Your stomach is split open."

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Which raises the question: Why William? It might seem that a poet would offer poor fodder for such a premise - at least compared with warring monarchs or conniving popes. Yet for centuries, writers have mined the Bard's biography for drama - despite the fact that very little is known, and very much is debated, about the events of his life. (Did he love his wife? Did he sleep with other women - or men? Was he a secret Catholic? Did he even write his own plays?)

Perhaps it's because there's something titillating about unmasking the man whose name has become synonymous with genius, and whose plays embody universal ideas. Everyone knows Shakespeare - at least a line or two - but this is "Will." Wink-wink.

One October morning in 1823, the American writer Washington Irving had an idea for a play. "Shakespeare as young man," he jotted down in his notebook. "Seen with Ann Hathaway."

Irving might have been inspired to write about Shakespeare by his visit to Stratford-upon-Avon, a popular tourist attraction. There, local residents hawked armchairs and writing desks and bar stools graced, supposedly, with the Bard's ghostly presence. Irving mocked the tourists who believed they could possess the Bard's essence through cheap trinkets, but Irving understood their desire to get inside Shakespeare's head. If furniture didn't do it, perhaps fiction could.

As far as scholars know, Irving never wrote a play about Shakespeare. But as Samuel Schoenbaum documents in his book "Shakespeare's Lives," the Bard's rise to cultural hero in the 19th century coincided with his emergence as a fictional character. The French playwright Alexandre Duval called a one-act comedy "Shakespeare amoureux": Shakespeare in love (with an actress named Clarence). English playwright C.A. Somerset quickly followed with "Shakespeare's Early Days," which dramatized a popular story - never verified - about Shakespeare poaching a deer.

But these works pale in comparison with Robert Folkestone Williams's expansive trilogy "Shakespeare and his friends." The second installment, published in 1839 and clocking in at 415 pages, concludes with the triumphant first production of "Romeo and Juliet." Amid roaring applause, Folkestone writes, "one of famous strong lungs made himself heard above the rest by putting of the question 'Who wrote this play?' " Shakespeare steps forward and declaims himself. It's another wink-wink moment: to think of theatergoers not knowing who wrote "Romeo and Juliet"!

Fast-forward to 2017, and Shakespeare has his own character page on IMDb. He crowdsurfs during a solo in the rock musical "Something Rotten!" and inspires a "Da Vinci Code"-esque mystery in "The Shakespeare Secret" (published in the United States as "Interred With Their Bones"). He makes cameos on "Saturday Night Live," "The Simpsons," "The Twilight Zone" and "Doctor Who." He even faces off against Satan in the video game "Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell."

Alexa Alice Joubin, a professor of English and Shakespeare scholar at George Washington University, says that representations of the writer's life fall into three categories. There are parodies, such as the BBC Two sitcom "Upstart Crow," which imagines Shakespeare as a hapless Stratford dad with a daughter who rolls her eyes at his puns. Then there are dramas, such as Roland Emmerich's film "Anonymous" (tagline: "Was Shakespeare a fraud?"), which draw on fringe academic theories about Shakespeare's authorship. And finally, there are fantasies, such as the Academy Award-winning movie "Shakespeare in Love," which imagine a Shakespearean life as full of romance and tragedy as a Shakespearean play.

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Though these categories employ different means - mockery, conspiracy, romanticization - all aim to show that "Shakespeare's not the person he appears to be," Joubin says. Or rather that he, the source of those lines so familiar as to seem originless, is a person at all.

"Shakespeare in Love" shows the Bard lying prone in an apothecary's shop, like a patient in his psychoanalyst's office. "Words, words, words," he sighs to the apothecary, bemoaning his writer's block and sexual frustration ("It's as if my quill is broken"). The scene's cleverness comes from its merging of two incongruous registers: the poetry of "Hamlet" and the complaints of a modern neurotic. The pleasure in making Shakespeare corporeal is the pleasure of imagining timeless wisdom emanating from a body as clumsy as our own.

It helps, though, if that body has deep blue-green eyes and dark wavy locks of hair, as does "Will's" Laurie Davidson. Because while we want a human Shakespeare, we also want a special Shakespeare. Show us the man behind the plays, we say, but don't ruin the romance entirely. Let him be destined for greatness, like Folkestone's Shakespeare, or love as deeply as any tragic hero, like Joseph Fiennes in "Shakespeare in Love."

That's the real wink-wink of "Will": the curtain drops to show us the man, then goes back up again to present another spectacle. There's a scene in the first episode, where the Bard and his players go to a pub to celebrate their first success. A well-known author begins to tease the young playwright, mocking his humble origins. The camera zooms in on Davidson as he swallows nervously and sputters, "Why?" For a moment, we're in Shakespeare's head, struggling with him to come up with a witty retort.

But then Davidson stands up and delivers insults, in rhyme. The spat becomes a rap battle.

Will a soap like "Will" help us probe the depths of genius? Or make sense of scholarly debates? No, but that has never been the goal of those who have fictionalized Shakespeare's life, and it's not necessarily Pearce's.

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"No one really knows if Shakespeare had a rap battle," Pearce says. "But, hey, wouldn't it be great if he did?"

"Will" (one hour) premieres Monday at 9 p.m. ET on TNT.

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Laurie Davidson stars as William Shakespeare in TNT's "Will." (Alex Bailey / TNT)







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Enrique Pena Nieto highlighted the "productive meeting" with Donald Trump and the "advances in migration, security and economic development."

President Pena Nieto is regularly under fire for the things he says but this time it was what he didnt say that got him in trouble.

When President Donald Trump was asked if he still wanted Mexico to pay for the wall that he hopes to construct to secure the border with Mexico, he answered with a smile: Absolutely. President Enrique Pena Nieto said nothing in response, provoking furied reactions on social media from his constituents.

The exchange happened today during the G20 summit, a meeting of world leaders from 20 major world economies, held in Hamburg, Germany. Later, Mexican foreign minister Luis Videgaray claimed that neither he nor Pena Nieto heard Trumps comment, and added that it wasnt a topic covered in the meeting.

Still, many Mexicans took to Twitter to share their discontent with Pena Nieto, some mentioning the presidents official account:

Pero no tuviste los pantalones de decirle -frente a las camaras- que Mexico no va a pagar por un muro gringo  Margarita Bandala (@MargaritaBandal) July 7, 2017

EN TU PINCHE JETA esta diciendo que vamos a pagar el muro EN TU PINCHE JETA CABRON, TEN TANTITOS HUEVOS POR FA.  George Skywalker (@yorchistheway) July 7, 2017

Pero cuando te humillo trump que Mexico pagara el muro te quedas como un pendejo callado pena nieto, tu no me representas estupido animal.  compa javier m. l. (@javiersoco) July 7, 2017

Tuviste la oportunidad de hacer algo por el pais, tuviste la oportunidad de que tu nombre pasara a la historia del pais y lo desaprovechaste  Dr. Fernando Muniz (@DrFeRasta) July 7, 2017

Jaja en tu cara te dijo que pagamos el muro, eso es productivo? humillacion total y "entreguismo" soberano contigo.  Edgardo Garcia (@edgardogh) July 7, 2017

In March, the Trump administration asked Congress for $4.1 billion to begin construction on additional border fencing and walls, conceding that Mexico would not be paying for it, the LA Times reported.

Its coming out of the Treasury, Trumps budget director, Mick Mulvaney, told reporters when asked who would pay for the wall. So far, that request has met with a chilly reception on Capitol Hill.

Homeland Security Department officials have made clear that the administration does not intend to build a wall along the full length of the border, the way Trump often has described it. There are already about 600 miles of wall, fencing or other blocking constructions along the 2,000-mile border, which traverses rivers, desert and hilly terrain.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly testified earlier this year that there would be no wall from sea to shining sea, and officials have said the focus will be on additional border fortifications in or near urban areas, most likely more fences than walls.

Videgaray said most of the 40-minute meeting was dedicated to the landmark 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump initially panned as a terrible deal for the United States and threatened to pull out of, but now says he is willing to re-negotiate.
Picture this: A winter storm is pelting you with snow as you head west on Randolph Street from Maggie Daley Park's skating rink. It sure would be nice to get out of the cold, wouldn't it? Presto! In Millennium Park's northwest corner, an aboveground glass cube, its walls lit in orange and yellow, signals an entrance to Chicago's Pedway. You descend by stair or elevator to a warm, dry corridor.

This is among the bright ideas in a new report that takes an important, though not final, step, toward improving Chicago's convenient but confusing Pedway, the underground network of tunnels and corridors that links more than 50 downtown buildings, CTA Red and Blue Line stations, as well as the Metra station beneath Millennium Park.

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Each weekday, thousands of people use the Pedway to escape bad weather or just because it's an easy way to get from Point A to Point B. But as the report correctly concludes, the Pedway is hard to find, hard to navigate and, more often than not, as visually appealing as a long hospital corridor.

For the Pedway to succeed, says the report, "it must be viewed as more than just a shortcut between places; it must be seen both as a destination and as a desirable way to move around downtown."

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If, like me, you're a veteran Pedway user, you might be tempted to respond, "I could have told you that!" Yet the report moves things ahead by formulating a systematic approach  the equivalent of an urban design tool kit  to solve the Pedway's problems. While some of the suggested tools, like consistently labeled signs, are no-brainers, others, such as the cube-shaped entrance pavilion, promise imaginative touches of architectural spectacle. The Pedway needs both.

Commissioned by the Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center, which is partnering on the effort with Broadway in Chicago and the Chicago Loop Alliance, the 38-page study got a boost Wednesday.

Key players  including Steve Koch, a top adviser to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and city Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld  informally approved going forward with the next steps to develop plans to revitalize the Pedway.

"The city has given us the green light," said Howard Learner, the center's executive director.

Prepared by a team of consultants  British engineers BuroHappold, New York architects Davis Brody Bond, Chicago's Billings Jackson Design and British designers City ID  the report focuses on the so-called main stem of the Pedway. It extends beneath a multiblock stretch of Randolph Street, from Metra's Millennium Station on the east to City Hall and the Thompson Center on the west. A variety of owners, public and private, operate the interconnected sections of the Pedway, accounting for the system's frustrating lack of coordinated signs and hours of operation.

Above the Pedway's main stem is a vital section of the North Loop, containing such landmarks as the Beaux-Arts Chicago Cultural Center, Macy's State Street store, the muscular modernism of the Richard J. Daley Center and the dazzling marquees of the theater district. Below ground, though, the main stem is a formal and functional crazy quilt. Each section looks different. It is difficult for people in wheelchairs to open doors between the sections. And the official Pedway logo  a square containing a compass rose  is better at symbolizing easy navigation than promoting it.

To attract new people to this dull netherworld, the report floats some intriguing ideas: Put an art gallery in the Pedway beneath the Cultural Center. Or a small library and gathering spot in the path below the Daley Center. Why not? The underground needs more episodes, more places that are destinations. As the report suggests, raising the Pedway ceiling below Macy's and giving it colorful lighting could create a spectacle inspired by the underground passageway that links the concourses at O'Hare's United Airlines terminal.

I'm less persuaded, on the other hand, by the report's idea for a street-level sculpture  the "World's Largest Book"  that would advertise the presence of the Daley Center's underground library. Why compete with the Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza? The cube-shaped entrance pavilion to the Pedway in Millennium Park, which would use an existing staircase leading to the underground, offers a better model: A visually memorable yet neutral form that can project a strong identity while fitting into a variety of contexts.

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Yet the report's chief strength is not found in sexy design ideas, but in a rigorous diagnosis of the Pedway and the array of solutions it lays out. To make it easier for people to move through the Pedway, for example, the study suggests directional signs, hung from the ceiling, that would alert pedestrians to what's coming up next and tell them how long it would take to get to a given destination. To direct people from street level to the Pedway  and vice versa  signs and graphics could the signal the presence of attractions above street level and below.

Still, the study has some troubling gaps. It has nothing to say about how the Pedway could take advantage of the Thompson Center's soaring atrium and busy CTA station (an absence likely explained by the center's uncertain future.) And though the report touches on the need to improve pedestrians' ability to orient themselves in the Pedway  a visitor website, a mobile phone app and a printed map are all suggested  it doesn't propose an actual design. Nor are price tags provided for the proposed improvements.

Looking ahead, Learner lists several steps to build momentum. A consultant will study widening the selection of Pedway stores. (How about a flower shop next to the Cook County office that dispenses marriage licenses?) City officials could lean on Macy's to make Pedway improvements as they deal with the retailer's plans to sell the top half of its building. Branding is also on the agenda. Perhaps the Pedway needs a snappy name, like the one created for The 606 trail.

As the report suggests, the most important step will involve deciding how the Pedway should be governed and managed. The study favors "one appointed and empowered entity"  in effect, a Pedway czar. Call him or her what you will, that leader will need to hire a talented designer to take the report's insights and transform them into concrete reality. While it's good to have sharp urban design tools, they only mean something when put to use.

bkamin@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @BlairKamin
Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, speaks after the Illinois House voted to override Gov. Rauner's veto and pass a budget for the first time in two years during the overtime session at the Capitol on July 6, 2017, in Springfield. (Justin L. Fowler / AP)

Now that Illinois politicians have whomped us with their $5 billion, 32 percent tax increase, you can bet that more middle class taxpayers than ever are seriously considering leaving this crazy state.

"Don't let the barn door hit you in the behind," reader and tax-hike supporter Sheryl H. writes in an email.

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OK. Do we stay or do we go?

I haven't even told my wife yet, but I can see Betty and I escaping to a taxpayer-friendly state. We could even live happily ever after in one of those ridiculous tiny houses you see on HGTV.

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Cramped, yes, but at least it'll be far from Illinois politicians, who are determined to eat us alive. They've spent decades borrowing and spending and taxing and borrowing, all to leverage political power to build their own fortunes.

And they give taxpayers the bill.

Sadly, most taxpayers don't have fortunes. And we don't have fat six-figure tax-funded public pensions like so many Illinois politicians.

So where do we go?

I figure we'll just plop our tiny house at the base of one of those giant windmills you see from the highway outside Rensselaer, Ind. And I could sit out there with a laptop, among the silent Indiana windmills, and type an answer to the big Illinois tax question:

Who won? We already know who lost, who got whomped. We got whomped. So we're the whompees.

But who won? Did Boss Madigan win? Or did Gov. Bruce Rauner win?

Madigan got his tax increase through the legislature. He used his Democratic majority and 15 quisling Republicans to give political cover to Madigan's vulnerable Democratic House members in the Chicago suburbs. Then he overrode Rauner's tax veto.

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So Madigan maintains his power and smiles that faint, icy smile. Such icy smiles are for winners.

But did Rauner win, too?

The other day in a column I'd written that Rauner lost big time.

But then I talked with Jeff Carlin and Tribune Editorial Board member Kristen McQueary for an upcoming episode of "The Chicago Way" podcast, where they warned me against living in a tiny house.

They also weren't so sure Rauner lost. So I may have been mistaken. Rauner may have won something.

At least there's a budget now. He can blame Madigan for the tax increase and try to finesse the fact that 15 House Republicans voted against him.

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Who knows? Rauner might be able to stoke voter anger for a second time. Or not.

It's really not all that inspiring, until you consider the alternative: Billionaire Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker, the candidate of Boss Madigan.

These two will use the bones of taxpayers to pick their teeth.

Pritzker is spending oodles of cash to win the gubernatorial primary. But why?

So Pritzker may transform himself into the Mr. Belvedere of Boss Madigan?

Why would anyone want to be Mr. Belvedere? Think about it. Madigan is Boss. So any Democrat elected governor would be the butler, or the Mr. Belvedere of Boss Madigan's show.

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A Gov. Mr. Belvedere might bring Madigan a silver tray of sliced apples for lunch, then stand quietly, with a blank, inscrutable Mr. Belvedere face, waiting for an equally inscrutable Madigan to chew his apples in crunchy silence.

Is that what being a Democratic governor is about in Illinois?

If I had Pritzker money, I wouldn't waste it to become Mr. Belvedere.

I'd rather spend some on a tiny house and schlep it off to Rensselaer, on a nice chunk of land under the windmills. And there I could write columns and look westward to the sun setting over Illinois and pity all those taxpayers who stayed.

"You'd hate a tiny house," said McQueary, "there's no room in a tiny house. You'd drive Betty crazy."

Ah, but at least we'd be free of Illinois politicians. And I could sit outside my Indiana tiny house, in a cheap lawn chair, a fire in a 50-gallon drum to keep warm. We could make s'mores.

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And when I wasn't writing, we might drink Manhattans and read 18th century novels, our feet up on the card table, eating nuts and listening to the windmills.

"No tiny house," said Carlin. "It's so small that you'd go crazy. Have you ever really looked in one?"

No.

"They're so small that the toilet is stuck right between the bed and the kitchen," said Carlin, making a face.

Enough said. No civilized person could abide a toilet in the kitchen. No tiny house.

But I can't flee to Wisconsin. It's too far from the Southwest Side.

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"You should move to Munster, the Beverly Hills of Indiana!" said my friend Scott, a Hoosier by birth.

Sadly, the Chicago Tribune might balk at a columnist living in Munster.

"Then move near Whiting," said Scott. "Find a house right on top of the Indiana-Illinois border. You know, the living room in Indiana, the bathroom in Illinois."

And there's good pierogi in Whiting, I said.

"You know about the pierogi in Whiting?" asked Scott.

Yes. The Whiting Pierogi Fest is known far and wide.

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I know it's not much of an Illinois taxpayer escapist fantasy:

A tiny house in Rensselaer with Manhattans and Henry Fielding and a toilet in the kitchen; or glumly eating pierogi in Whiting while wondering if Madigan or Rauner "won" something.

We all can't be Illinois politicians with six-figure pensions. And we're not the only ones thinking of escape.

So do we stay or do we go?

Listen to "The Chicago Way" podcast with John Kass and Jeff Carlin at wgnradio.com/category/wgn-plus/thechicagoway.

jskass@chicagotribune.com
This undated photo shows William Colias, left, who emigrated to the United States from Greece at 18. ( Colias family photo / Colias family photo/Post-Tribune )

Like many others in the Calumet Region, I am the proud legacy of immigrants who worked diligently and quietly to make a better life for their families.

My beloved late grandmother, Emily Colias  a native of Corinth, Greece  taught me her values of hard work, honesty and honor, like so many other immigrant families who made their mark here in Northwest Indiana.

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It was at Ellis Island recently where I unexpectedly felt her presence again among the 700,000 names on the American Immigrant Wall of Honor.

Fittingly, my fiance Joe  who has her sweet spirit  found her name resting peacefully just feet away from the ocean.

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He thanked her and his own Macedonian great-grandfather  who was employed for years at Gary Works  for being brave enough to come here, so we could eventually meet.

Between 1892 and 1954, an estimated 12 million people passed through Ellis Island, according to the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, which has raised funds to restore both landmarks since the 1980s.

The Indiana Historical Society noted in 2010 that countries "with significant immigrant populations in Indiana include Russia, Austria-Hungary, Germany, England, Ireland, Greece, Scotland, Poland and Yugoslavia."

Northwest Indiana is still home to the melting pot of nationalities who found their way here, primarily due to the steel industry.

"At the height of immigration in the early 20th century, about 50 nationalities and races called Northwest Indiana home," Calumet Regional Archives Director Steve McShane said via email.

My own family was first drawn here by the promise of work in the mills. For years, my paternal great-grandfather Nick traveled back and forth from Greece to work in the mills at Republic Steel in Chicago's Hegewisch section.

When mill work was slow, or shut down, he would return to Greece to work in the family's olive groves.

Eventually his wife gave the ultimatum  you stay, or we all go.

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Ellis Island records show my grandmother arrived at age 9 with her family in New York on Oct. 26, 1920.

Their ship was the Pannonia  a British steamship carrying 840 passengers. The trip took 30 days  far longer than expected, said my aunt, Nancy Kostopoulos.

"They were surprised to see them," she said, "They thought the boat had sunk."

Born into poverty, her future husband William left his mountain village in Greece at 13 to work in Athens. At 18, he emigrated alone to the United States, eventually joining a cousin living in Hammond.

For nearly 16 years, he never once wrote his family. His mother thought he was dead. She assumed he had perished in World War I, my father, James, said.

Following their 1930 marriage, Emily discovered numerous unanswered letters and wrote her back. She told her mother-in-law her son was alive with a growing family.

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My father can't say why he never wrote them. Possibly, he was just preoccupied with daily survival, he said.

My grandfather William first worked on the railroads as an engineer, then quit in the 1930s to start his own company with his wife  People's Ice and Coal Co., formerly at 5353 Sohl Ave. in Hammond.

They also ran Delta Picnic Grove in present-day Calumet Township.

When he died in 1966, she continued to run People's until she retired in 1997. She died in 2007.

My mother often said raising her children was much more straightforward, because she knew we would never do anything to embarrass our grandmother or tarnish our family name.

Perhaps, that was her greatest legacy.

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Both my paternal grandparents entered the country during a time of severe economic inequality. They met later and were married at the start of the Great Depression.

Both were true believers in the American Dream. I decided to become a journalist partly due to their reverence for this country.

Unusual for its day, my grandmother worked at her business while raising five children. She always wore skirts and dresses and never swore. She was a lifelong dignified and charitable woman.

For years, she was active in the church at St. Demetrios in Hammond and would welcome new arrivals from Greece  often taking women to the grocery store to translate for them.

For anyone down on their luck, she would often spare them a small amount of cash and mark it down on receipts as a "tire repair."

While it was common among Greek-Americans to travel back and forth to Greece, my grandmother never returned.

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Her attitude was, "If it was so good, we never would have left," my Aunt Nancy often said.

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My father often asked my grandfather why he came. For a man that grew up using a donkey to move down a mountain, he became a landowner in the United States  something he considered once unthinkable.

"When he was in Greece, they said, 'In America the streets were paved with gold,'" my dad remembers him saying.

"So, I said, weren't you disappointed when you got here?"

"He said, 'No, they were paved in gold,'" my dad recalls. "'In Greece, I had no chance. And here, I met your mother. I raised the family. I worked. I started my company. I never would have had that.'"

"He said, 'Everything was here in America.'"

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mcolias@post-trib.com

Twitter @meredithcolias
Two burglaries were reported last month at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in the 200 block of South Laflin Street in the Near West Side neighborhood, according to a news release from Chicago police.

During the first reported burglary, personal items were taken about 1:55 a.m. June 9, according to the release. The second robbery happened about 3:25 a.m. June 15, but police did not know what kind of items were taken.

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Police believe four to five people could be involved in the incidents, but they did not release any additional details about the robbers.
Charges are pending against a 30-year-old woman after police say she crashed into a police car about 4:30 a.m. Saturday in the Brighton Park neighborhood.

The woman, who was driving a 2016 Nissan car, was traveling west in the 2500 block of West Pershing Road when she veered into the eastbound lanes, crashing into a Deering District police car that had been heading east, according to Chicago police.

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The 30-year-old was taken to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center as a precaution, police said. The two officers who were in the police car were not injured.

Police are investigating if alcohol played a factor in the crash. Charges were pending Saturday against the woman.

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Check back for updates.
Police work the scene where Kajuan Raye was fatally shot by Sgt. John Poulos in November 2016. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Chicago police are seeking to fire a sergeant involved in two fatal shootings in recent years, but the charges deal instead with decade-old allegations that he concealed an arrest while applying to be a cop and moonlighted as a part-owner of a bar while on the force.

Police officials first opened an investigation in 2004 into now-Sgt. John Poulos' part-ownership of a bar, but that disciplinary case mysteriously fell through the cracks for reasons the Police Department has never explained.

After Poulos fatally shot a man while off-duty in 2013, the department discovered the disciplinary matter from 2004 had not been resolved, yet once again it fell by the wayside, according to law enforcement sources.

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Early last year, Poulos won a merit promotion  one not based on test scores  to sergeant on the recommendation of Kevin Navarro, now first deputy superintendent.

In first disclosing the embarrassing glitch last December, the Tribune noted that Superintendent Eddie Johnson had ordered an audit be done to try to figure out why the internal investigation of Poulos was never completed.

Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Friday, however, that the department could not release what the audit uncovered, citing the filing of charges against Poulos. He also declined to comment on the nature of the charges against the 16-year veteran.

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Poulos has been stripped of police powers since shortly after he fatally shot 19-year-old Kajuan Raye last Nov. 23 during a foot chase in the South Side's West Englewood neighborhood while on duty.

The incident bore a striking similarity to an off-duty incident in August 2013 in which Poulos shot 28-year-old Rickey Rozelle near Poulos' home.

In both incidents, Poulos told investigators he thought the suspects were armed, but no weapon was immediately recovered.

In announcing the decision to strip Poulos of his police powers three days after Raye's shooting, Johnson said, "I have concerns about this incident."

Reached by telephone Friday afternoon, Poulos declined to comment on the department's decision to seek his firing, saying, "I would love to say a thousand different things about this."

His attorney, James McKay, blasted the charges as "ridiculous" and said he would seek to have the case dismissed on grounds the city took too long to file charges dealing with allegations from years ago.

"Can the police board or can the city explain why they're bringing these charges now?" said McKay, a former longtime Cook County prosecutor.

McKay praised Poulos as an officer who has served the Police Department with "pride, distinction and courage."

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"He's running after bad guys with guns in the middle of the night," McKay said. "He's the kind of police officer that the law-abiding citizens of Chicago need on the streets."

According to the charges before the mayoral-appointed Chicago Police Board, Poulos allegedly brought discredit on the department, made false statements and owned or operated a tavern or retail liquor establishment.

Specifically, Poulos was alleged to have lied in filling out a personal history questionnaire as he sought to be hired by the department in September 2000 when he denied he had ever been interviewed by police in a criminal matter.

He also allegedly lied the next month during a background investigation interview when he denied he had ever been arrested.

Sources said Poulos had been arrested in the early 1990s on a misdemeanor charge of tampering with a vehicle.

Superintendent Johnson also alleged in the charges that Poulos, who was hired in 2001, had retained an ownership interest in Gamekeepers Tavern and Grill from July 2003 until September 2006.

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Public records show Poulos held a 10 percent interest in the family-owned business in the Old Town neighborhood until 2006.

The department prohibits officers from holding ownership in businesses that serve liquor.

The department's Bureau of Internal Affairs opened an investigation into Poulos a little more than a month after he acknowledged holding an interest in the bar during testimony in March 2004 before the Policemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund, records show. He was seeking disability benefits after going on leave beginning in 2003 when he injured a hand after a car hit him while directing traffic.

In its scathing report on the Police Department earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice cited the Tribune's coverage of Poulos in saying the mishandled disciplinary investigation illustrated flaws in the department's early intervention system, intended to red-flag problem officers.

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"Had there been a functioning, effective (early intervention system) in place, the open investigation could have been caught much earlier  before the officer received a merit promotion, and perhaps before he was involved in his second lethal shooting of an unarmed man," the Justice Department said.

Poulos told authorities he spotted Rozelle on the rear porch of a second-floor apartment being rehabbed and suspected him of burglary.

Poulos alleged he hit Rozelle on the head with the butt of his brother's revolver after the convicted felon threatened to kill him and lunged at him while refusing to show his hands, officials said. Rozelle tried to flee on foot, but a brick wall blocked his escape, according to the Independent Police Review Authority , which investigated the shooting.

Poulos told investigators he saw Rozelle holding a shiny object near his waist. Thinking it was a weapon, Poulos fired two shots, fatally wounding Rozelle in the chest, officials said.

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No weapon was recovered, only a chrome-colored watch, according to IPRA, which cleared Poulos of wrongdoing.

In the more recent shooting, Poulos said he opened fire on Raye after the teen twice pointed a gun at him during a nighttime foot chase near 65th Street and Marshfield Avenue in the West Englewood neighborhood. But investigators didn't immediately find a weapon, despite a thorough search of the area.

Raye's mother has filed a federal lawsuit against Poulos, alleging he used "unjustified and excessive" force in the shooting.

jgorner@chicagotribune.com
A man died Saturday night after being pulled from the waters of Lake Michigan earlier in the day near the Shedd Aquarium, authorities said Sunday.

The 22-year-old man jumped into the lake near the 900 block of East Solidarity Drive about 3:40 p.m., according to police. The man was taken in serious to critical condition to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the Chicago Fire Department. He died from drowning in an accident, the Cook County medical examiner's office determined following an autopsy Sunday.

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The man was underwater for 15 minutes and later was found unresponsive, according to police. He was later pronounced dead, according to police.

The man was identified as Johnathan Diaz, of the 3900 block of Fern Street in East Chicago, who was pronounced dead at 5:01 p.m., according to the medical examiner's office, which released the information Sunday morning.

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Lifeguards and divers from the fire and police departments worked together to rescue him just east of the Shedd Aquarium, according to the fire department.
A 59-year-old south suburban woman with a history of mental issues was ordered held without bail Saturday in the fatal stabbing of a Washington Heights man inside his apartment in a senior building.

Ramona Howard faces first-degree murder charges for the July 5 slaying of Kelvin Harper, 63.

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Howard, of the 500 block of Wentworth Avenue in Calumet City, said nothing as Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas remanded her to jail until trial, citing the brutal nature of the attack. Howard "is a danger to the public, as well as potentially herself," Chiampas said, agreeing with prosecutors' move to hold the woman in custody.

Dressed in a long white plastic jacket, she stood during the entire hearing with her arms tightly folded behind her back.

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The victim, Harper, met Howard several days prior to the slaying and invited her back to his apartment in the Senior Suites of Washington Heights in the 800 block of West 103rd Street, prosecutors said. Harper later told a neighbor about the meeting.

On the day of Harper's death, a neighbor heard a woman's voice coming from Harper's apartment as he left the building, Assistant State's Attorney Craig Taczy told the court. Later, around 1:15 p.m., the same neighbor heard Harper screaming for help from within his apartment. The neighbor called 911 after his knocks on the victim's front door weren't answered.

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Chicago police officers arriving at the scene were let inside the apartment by a building manager, where they found the man lying facedown in a pool of blood in his living room, Taczy said. Harper had numerous stab wounds about his body, including his face, chest, neck, abdomen and arms, prosecutors said.

Police found a blood-smeared Howard sitting on the victim's bed, screaming that she wanted a lawyer and "wasn't going anywhere," Taczy said. Police also recovered two blood-stained knives in the kitchen sink, he added.

Harper was pronounced dead at the scene, and an autopsy later determined he died of multiple injuries from an assault, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office, which ruled his death a homicide.

Howard's court-appointed attorney and court documents indicate that she suffers from bipolar disorder and had sought treatment previously.

She is expected to return to court next week.

wlee@chicagotribune.com

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Girl is passed out in running vehicle and is intoxicated. She accuses police of raping her after they investigated why they were passed out in their car. Problem is the cop was very professional and never raped anyone. Just watch this video. It will make you laugh. I wish the girl could be sentenced for the same amount of time that a rapist would get.
Chicago police are warning residents of neighborhoods including South Commons and Bronzeville that a group of young kids and teens are robbing people at gunpoint on sidewalks, in parking lots and even inside apartment buildings.

Authorities on Saturday said a group of three to nine school-aged robbers was listed in robbery reports taken throughout the month of June in the area west of Dunbar high school and north of Illinois Institute of Technology. The most recent case, on June 28 in the first block of East 29th Street in Bronzeville, involved a boy who was described as being between the ages of 6 and 8, and who "displayed a silver handgun and demanded money," according to a news release.

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An officer said it likely was a large group of kids and teenagers with robbers of varying ages from 6 up to 20. He explained that no clothing descriptions for the most recent robberies were available and no detectives from Area Central were available to discuss the case.

Addresses where robberies took place included:

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The 2900 block of South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (four times)

The 2900 (twice) and 2600 blocks of South Michigan Avenue

The 2700 and 2900 blocks of South Indiana Avenue

The first block of West 30 th Street

Street The first block of East 29th Street

Those reporting the crimes said the group of boys came up to them both during the day and at night, and "demanded and/or forcibly removed property from the victims before fleeing on foot," police said in their warning to residents.

Authorities advised that anyone who finds themselves the victim of this type of crime should:

Be aware of their surroundings.

Stay calm if confronted.

Remember unique physical characteristics.

Never pursue a fleeing assailant.

Call 911 to report the crime.

Stay at the location when its safe.

Get contact information from anyone who witnessed the crime.

Kdouglas@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @312BreakingNews
Illinois State Rep. Steve Andersson, R-Geneva, center, shakes hands with Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, right, after the Illinois House voted to override Gov. Rauner's veto and pass a budget for the first time in two years during an overtime session at the Illinois State Capitol, Thursday, July 6, 2017, in Springfield, Ill. (Justin L. Fowler / AP)

Illinois' bruising two-year run without a state budget is over, but business leaders are left feeling they got the short end of the stick: higher taxes with virtually none of the regulatory and political changes they sought.

The $36.1 billion budget plan increases the corporate income tax rate to 7 percent from 5.25 percent and the personal rate to 4.95 percent from 3.75 percent. In addition to spending cuts, it ends three corporate tax breaks and, on a business-friendly note, reinstates a research and development tax credit. Lawmakers voted Tuesday and Thursday to override Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's vetoes.

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While the fiscal stability is welcome, some business leaders say they lost out because the budget does not address their long-standing concerns about rising property taxes and the high cost of workers' compensation insurance. Those are policy priorities for Rauner, a former private equity investor whose election was cheered by many CEOs and small-business owners.

"The fact that there are no reforms at all is an incredible missed opportunity," said Todd Maisch, CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

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Adding to companies' causes for concern, the state's corporate tax incentive program has expired and a bill that would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour is sitting on the governor's desk.

For Bob Goray, whose company performs exterior maintenance on commercial and industrial buildings, the budget battle was a last hope that some of Rauner's pro-business agenda would succeed.

The high cost of workers' compensation insurance makes it difficult for Goray, president of Wauconda-based J.S. Goray, to compete with out-of-state firms that enjoy lower rates because those companies can afford to charge less. High property taxes make it difficult to hire good employees because they don't want to move to Illinois, he said.

The costs have driven companies out of the state, Goray said, and that has affected his business because no one pays to maintain vacant buildings. He doesn't plan to leave, but he is considering opening an office in another state where he sees more growth potential.

The higher income tax rate will divert more money from growing his business. "It makes us think twice about adding a vehicle, adding employees, marketing budgets, all of that," Goray said.

The corporate income tax increase, retroactively effective July 1, is expected to generate $460 million in new revenue annually, while the personal income tax increase will bring in about $4.3 billion. The vast majority of businesses pay at the personal rate.

While the corporate tax rate will be 7 percent, the effective rate will be 9.5 percent because of an additional 2.5 percent state tax unique to Illinois, called the personal property replacement tax. That revenue flows to local governments, which can't impose business income taxes of their own. At 9.5 percent, Illinois will have the fourth-highest corporate tax rate in the nation, after Iowa, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, according to the Tax Foundation, an independent tax policy organization.

However, other states impose local personal property taxes on businesses not reflected in their state rates, so it isn't an apples-to-apples comparison.

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Businesses that don't have corporate tax status, such as limited liability companies and sole proprietorships, will pay the 4.95 percent personal income tax plus a 1.5 percent personal property replacement tax, so their effective rate will be 6.45 percent, which is modest compared to many other states, according to the Tax Foundation.

The new budget averts further meltdown, but Illinois' fiscal health remains dire.

Moody's Investors Services, which several weeks ago gave Illinois the lowest bond rating on record for a state, warned in a note Wednesday that it was considering downgrading Illinois' credit rating to junk because the budget plan may fall short of addressing the underlying financial problems, including massively underfunded public pensions and a nearly $15 billion backlog of unpaid bills.

To be sure, having a budget after weathering more than two years without one provides businesses with longed-for certainty and could help restore parts of Illinois' reputation, said the Chamber's Maisch, whose organization opposed the budget package. But without changes to help improve its business climate and political system, the state remains an inhospitable place to operate, he said.

Maisch  whose group sought a property tax freeze, reduction in workers' compensation costs and small-business incentives  hopes the adoption of more business-friendly policies will be the next step, and he plans to hold legislators who promised as much accountable.

But with the political pressure lifted, others think the leverage is gone and the chance for change is lost.

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"I'd be amazed at something like that happening, but I don't think it will," said Mark Grant, Illinois state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents about 11,500 small businesses.

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Grant said his membership is "extremely unhappy" that more pro-business measures were not part of the deal. Among those business groups pushed were changes to workers' compensation insurance that make employers responsible for only their share of their workers' injuries.

"If those reforms came through in a big way, I think they would have been OK with an income tax increase, as long as they saw relief on the other side," he said.

There are several other proposals awaiting different levels of approval that Democrats say address Rauner's agenda.

Two Democratic-backed bills to address workers' compensation passed the General Assembly and are awaiting action by Rauner, including one that designates $10 million in seed funding to create a government-backed insurance company to compete with private insurers.

But the business interest groups oppose those bills, saying they won't significantly reduce costs for employers.

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Under the new budget, some firms will see their cost of doing business rise because the plan discontinues three tax breaks, worth a combined $125 million a year, that had allowed companies to shift profits to out-of-state subsidiaries, claim state deductions for production not occurring in Illinois, and avoid taxation on oil drilling in the outer continental shelf.

However, in practice, the corporate tax hike will likely make little difference to most companies.

Crews with Wauconda-based J.S. Goray work on a North Central College residence hall in Naperville on July 7, 2017. Company President Bob Goray said the high cost of workers insurance makes it difficult to compete with out-of-state firms that have lower rates. (Kamil Krzaczynski/Chicago Tribune )

About 70 percent of businesses that filed a state income tax return in Illinois in 2010 paid no corporate income tax, and 92 percent paid $5,000 or less, according to a 2014 report from the Chicago-based Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. Only 0.3 percent of filers  303 companies out of 110,557  paid $1 million or more, and they contributed two-thirds of the corporate tax revenue.

Many take advantage of numerous legal exemptions, credits and deductions that eliminate their tax liability, said Ralph Martire, executive director of the nonprofit research and advocacy think tank.

The companies likely to be most affected are those that primarily sell their product or service in Illinois because the state calculates corporate income tax based on sales within the state.

That means some Illinois-based companies pay the bulk of their state corporate taxes elsewhere. Chicago's Boeing, for example, pays more in Washington, where the company builds and delivers most of its airliners, spokesman Chaz Bickers said.

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Corporate income taxes accounted for 3 percent of state general revenue nationwide in 2014, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Personal income taxes accounted for 18 percent.

That's partly because the majority of businesses in America  and Illinois  are small businesses and pay taxes on income at a personal rate, said Caroline Bruckner, managing director of the Kogod Tax Policy Center at American University.

Of the country's 26 million businesses in 2014, 95 percent were taxed at an individual rate, according to data from the Brookings Institution. This can include businesses from mom-and-pop shops to lawyers operating with small or independent firms.

The remaining 5 percent were C-corporations, which pay taxes at the corporate level.

Jared Walczak, policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, said Illinois' last experience with a 9.5 percent corporate tax rate  in 2011, when the state implemented a temporary hike that began rolling back after four years  did not bode well. Sears Holdings and Chicago's financial exchanges threatened to leave the state, forcing the General Assembly to give them tax breaks.

"You could see more of the same, where a rate that high could pressure some companies to consider relocating," Walczak said.

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While industries usually factor tax rates into the location equation, they tend to fall lower on the priority list than the things taxes can pay for, like good infrastructure and public schools, said Richard Auxier, a research associate at the Tax Policy Center, a Washington D.C.-based nonpartisan think tank.

"No one personally gets any enjoyment out of having their taxes raised," Auxier said. "But when you consider all of those other things that they're going for, not to mention having a budget, you realize these are things that could be beneficial to the state."

States with the lowest tax rates are not the most successful, said Robert Weissbourd, president of RW Ventures, a Chicago-based economic development firm. More important to economic growth is the value proposition: What do you get for your money?

"You want to compete on quality," Weissbourd said. "Are we providing the infrastructure and the workforce and the research that make us a competitive place where businesses want to be and people want to work?"

When the state raised the tax rate in 2011, it was unnoticable to John Terzis, owner of Oakton Investment Management, a financial planning firm in Skokie. He said he thinks the state should have left it high rather than letting it roll back.

That's not to say the state's business environment isn't frustrating. He is greatly concerned about a proposed tax on investment firms that he thinks would put small companies like his out of business.

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Still, he said, the benefits of stability outweigh the budget's shortcomings.

"A current budget is better than no budget at all," Terzis said. "At least it gives us a playing field."

Mark Denzler, vice president at the Illinois Manufacturers Association, said he is disappointed that the budget does not include policy changes to make Illinois more attractive to manufacturers, such as a property tax freeze.

Illinois has seen a 40 percent drop in manufacturing jobs since 2000, while nearby Michigan, Indiana and Ohio have added manufacturing jobs, he said. He blames property taxes for driving much of that loss, particularly in Cook County.

Businesses have faced escalating costs from several sides, including paid sick leave laws and minimum wage increases in Chicago and Cook County (though more than half of the suburbs have opted out of the county laws).

State lawmakers have also been working to overhaul the state's premier corporate tax incentive program, which closed to new applications May 1.

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The EDGE tax credit program  short for Economic Development for a Growing Economy  raised concerns that it was too expensive, particularly given the prolonged budget crisis. Without it, however, many fear jobs could be lost to neighboring states.

A proposed overhaul of the program was approved in the House and is awaiting passage in the Senate. That program, which would expire June 30, 2022, offers credits for new jobs and incentives for projects located in needy areas of the state, among other benefits.

The new budget has some business-friendly provisions. Among them, it retroactively reinstates a research and development tax credit through Jan. 1, 2022.

The state had a similar credit that ended in 2016. Manufacturers accounted for 60 percent of its use between 2010 and 2014, according to an analysis of state data by the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition, which counts firms such as Caterpillar, AbbVie and Archer Daniels Midland  plus labs and universities  among its members.

Mark Harris, president and CEO of the Chicago-based nonprofit, said investing in research and development drives companies' growth and, as a result, can strengthen the regional and local economy.

"Research and development is sort of the lifeblood of innovation," he said.

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But putting that credit up for renewal every five years gives businesses and innovators another area of uncertainty, Harris' organization has argued, especially when some of those businesses are planning 10 to 20 years out.

In west suburban DuPage County, high school and community college graduates head into manufacturing apprenticeships, and precision engineering firms produce items ranging from cake decorating supplies to parts for companies like Boeing.

The stability that comes with a budget will be good for business, said John Carpenter, president and CEO of Choose DuPage, the public-private partnership responsible for the county's economic development.

But they need more, he said. It's not time yet for the legislature to claim victory and go home.

"It's not over," Carpenter said. "This is just the beginning."

aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com

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amarotti@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @AllyMarotti
A Foxconn plant in Neihu, Taipei, Taiwan. The company is considering building a plant in Wisconsin that could employ up to 10,000 people. (David Chang / EPA)

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday he met with officials from the Taiwanese company Foxconn as it considers building a plant in Wisconsin that could employ up to 10,000 people.

Ryan told reporters that his southeast Wisconsin congressional district "still could be" in the running for the plant, even though the city manager of his hometown Janesville said the factory would not be going there.

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Ryan said he met with Foxconn officials at the request of Gov. Scott Walker and he's working closely with the state's congressional delegation to find a "good fit" for a factory. Other southeastern Wisconsin cities in Ryan's district that are close to Chicago, including Racine and Kenosha, are considered possible contenders for a large factory.

Foxconn plans to announce by early August its plans for locating a display panel factory in the U.S. that could cost up to $7 billion. The company assembles smartphones and other devices for Apple, Sony, Blackberry and other brands  mostly in China, where its plants employ about 1 million people.

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Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou has mentioned Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana and Texas as manufacturing states with which the company hopes to work.

"There is great potential there for a lot of great jobs to come to Wisconsin," Ryan said. "We're having those kinds of conversations with Foxconn to do that."

Hopes that Wisconsin may win the plant were buoyed last month when President Donald Trump said his administration was negotiating a U.S. expansion with "a major, major, incredible manufacturer of phones and computers and televisions."

Trump, who made the comments while in Wisconsin, said that Walker could be getting a "very happy surprise very soon."

Earlier this week, state Assembly Republican leaders said that Foxconn is considering a plant in southeastern Wisconsin that could employ 10,000 people. Walker and state economic development officials have refused to discuss any potential deal while talks are ongoing.

Ryan declined to discuss details about where Foxconn may locate after being asked about comments made by the city manager of Janesville, Ryan's hometown, indicating it was out of the running.

The Janesville Gazette reported that City Manager Mark Freitag said Foxconn had ruled out Janesville because there weren't enough available workers in the area. A 10,000-job employer would account for about 15 percent of Janesville's total current workforce.

"This was a big ask, for sure," Freitag told the newspaper.
World Bank president Jim Yong Kim and Ivanka Trump, daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump attend the Women's Entrepreneur Finance Initiative launch event held in conjunction with the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 8, 2017. (Michael Kappeler / AP)

HAMBURG, Germany  Ivanka Trump was deputized to fill in for her father at a table of world leaders at the Group of 20 summit on Saturday, reigniting questions about the unorthodox mixing of family and government in President Donald Trump's White House.

The moment, captured in a pixelated photo by a member of Russia's delegation, seemed to perfectly capture the scope of the first daughter's expansive influence in Trump's administration. But it drew sharp criticism by some who say that the move demonstrates Trump's flouting of democratic norms against such familial arrangements as well-established diplomatic protocols.

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Former NATO ambassador Nicholas Burns, who served as a diplomat under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, said the incident was a breach of protocols for such summits. Those traditions are intended to send a clear message to world leaders about who has power in the government.

Burns said in his experience at summits, the secretary of state would take the president's place at the table.

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"This is a group of the 20 most powerful leaders in the world in the 20 most powerful countries in the world," Burns said. "It conveys that impression and we are a democracy and that's also important here."

"Authority is not conferred upon family members because of the president's position," he added.

Trump and other world leaders of the G-20 sat around a massive table for a working session on "Partnership With Africa, Migration and Health" when Ivanka relieved her father, who had to leave the room for additional meetings. The move placed her squarely between British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"Yes, it stuck out," said a senior European official who took part in the G-20 talks and who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly. "The very fact that his daughter is senior adviser smacks of the kind of nepotism not seen since John F. Kennedy named Robert F. Kennedy as attorney general."

Some critics online compared Ivanka Trump's presence at the table to a "banana republic" and argued that she is both "unelected" and "unqualified" to step into a role usually filled by officials with policy expertise.

A White House official said that the topic of conversation at that point in the meeting had shifted into one area of focus for Ivanka Trump: supporting female entrepreneurs in Africa.

"Ivanka was sitting in the back and then briefly joined the main table when the president had to step out," the official said, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the meeting. "When other leaders stepped out, their seats were also briefly filled by others."

Trump's presence was unusual given that government ministers or senior officials are typically the ones called to stand in for heads of state at such sessions.

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Trump, on the other hand, is both the president's daughter and a White House aide with the title of "assistant to the president." She has focused on issues of women's empowerment and workplace development but maintains broad influence in the administration.

Earlier on Saturday, Trump and her father announced the United States' $50 million commitment to a new World Bank fund dedicated to supporting female entrepreneurs in developing countries.

This was not the first summit meeting that she has participated in. On Thursday, she and her husband, Jared Kushner, another Trump adviser, joined the president at a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a White House official confirmed. Kushner also participated in Trump's bilateral meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Friday.

Asked at a news conference about Ivanka Trump's presence at the table Saturday, Merkel did not weigh in on whether it was appropriate: "The delegations themselves decide, should the president not be present for a meeting, who will take the chair, and Ivanka Trump was part of the American delegation.

The Washington Post's Michael Birnbaum contributed to this report.
Arguing in part that a U.S. president cannot be sued in state court while serving in office, lawyers for President Donald Trump in a court filing late Friday called the dismissal of a complaint from a former contestant on the "Apprentice" television show who claims the president sexually harassed her a decade ago.

Summer Zervos, a California restaurant owner who appeared on the reality show in 2006, filed suit in against Trump in January in New York, alleging Trump defamed her during the presidential campaign when he said her sexual harassment complaints were false.

Zervos had accused Trump of aggressively kissing and grabbing her when she went to his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel to discuss a possible job at the Trump Organization a year after she participated in the reality show that he hosted.

In a 53-page memo, Trump attorney Marc Kasowitz argued Zervos' allegations were false from the start, intended to hurt Trump's presidential campaign, and asserted her lawsuit now is merely an attempt to force Trump to submit to intrusive evidentiary discovery that could hurt his presidency. Zervos' attorney, Gloria Allred, has said she would seek to take Trump's testimony under oath as part of the lawsuit and could look for other evidence, including possible 'Apprentice' outtakes showing his behavior on the show's set.

Kasowitz, who is also representing Trump in ongoing probes of Russia's interference in the 2016 election, also wrote that president can only be sued through the federal court system while in office and any state action should be dismissed or postponed until after he leaves office.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that the president can be sued for his private conduct while in office. That decision allowed a sexual harassment suit filed by Arkansas state employee Paula Jones to proceed against President Bill Clinton, a legal matter that ultimately resulted in impeachment proceedings against Clinton after he lied about his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky in a deposition taken as part of the case.

But Kasowitz argued the Supreme Court's opinion was narrowly limited to lawsuits filed in federal court. Zervos filed her case in New York State Supreme Court. The legal argument could have far-reaching consequences both for Trump, who has been frequently sued in state courts, and for future presidents, essentially declaring the president immune from many civil lawsuits.

Kasowitz also argued that Zervos' complaint should be dismissed because her original allegations against Trump were not true and, in addition, because Trump's campaign trail statements were protected the by First Amendment. A certain level of hyperbole is to be expected in the heat of a political campaign, he wrote, and such statements are legally protected speech.

During the campaign, Trump said the women who accused against him of inappropriately touching them were putting forward "made-up stories and lies" and "telling totally false stories." Kasowitz argued those statements and others could not be considered defamatory but instead were "nothing more than heated campaign rhetoric designed to persuade the public audience that Mr. Trump should be elected president irrespective of what the media and his opponents had claimed over his 18-month campaign."

Eleven women came forward to accuse Trump of touching, groping or kissing them without their permission in the final weeks of the campaign, after video emerged of Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women on an "Access Hollywood" appearance in 2005.

Zervos' attorney, Gloria Allred, did not immediately react to the new court filing late Friday. Zervos' legal response is due in court in August.
HAMBURG, Germany  Wrapping up his second European tour, President Donald Trump searched for consensus with Asian allies Saturday on how to counter the "menace" of North Korea after its test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

"Something has to be done about it," Trump said as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a separate meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump said the two were tackling "the problem and menace of North Korea."

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The White House said after the meeting with Abe that the U.S. was "prepared to use the full range of capabilities" in defense of Japan. Trump and Abe committed, the White House said, "to redoubling their efforts to bring all nations together to show North Korea that there are consequences for its threatening and unlawful actions."

The Trump administration has tried to press Beijing to rein in North Korea, a major trading partner of China, and halt Kim Jong Un's development of nuclear weapons before they can threaten U.S. territory. Trump has voiced his frustration in recent days that China hasn't done more, suggesting he may take steps of his own.

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But during his meeting, Trump told Xi, "I appreciate the things that you have done relative to the very substantial problem that we all face in North Korea."

Xi said during the meeting that "sensitive issues remain" in the China-U.S. relationship and more work needed to be done. But he said he had built with Trump a "close contact."

Trump's extensive slate of meetings with Abe, Xi, British Prime Minister Theresa May and others came on the final day of the annual Group of 20 summit, which has been marked by violent demonstrations by anti-globalization activists. Trump also had a brief, unscheduled meeting with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the situation in Syria.

Abe, speaking through a translator, noted that the security situation in the Asia Pacific region has become "increasingly severe" due to North Korea's push to develop its ballistic missile and nuclear program. Abe said he wanted to "demonstrate the robust partnership as well as the bonds" between Japan and the U.S. on the issue.

North Korea's successful test launch of an ICBM was a milestone in its long-term effort to build a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead to attack the United States.

The issue was a frequent topic of discussion at the summit, and the White House said earlier that the U.S., South Korea and Japan were pressing for additional measures against North Korea to demonstrate the "serious consequences" for its latest provocations.

The three nations have been calling for "early adoption" of a new U.N. Security Council resolution and additional sanctions to demonstrate to Pyongyang the consequences of its actions.

Bringing China on board is a key part of the plan. The administration wants China to fully enforce international sanctions intended to starve Pyongyang of revenue for its nuclear and missile programs. But Trump has been dissatisfied with China's response.

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Earlier in the week, he vented on Twitter that trade between China and North Korea had grown nearly 40 percent at the start of 2017. "So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!"

Trump officials said later that the president hadn't given up on the relationship.

Trade was also a key part of the discussions. The Trump administration is investigating the possibility of putting new barriers on steel imports based on national security considerations, a move that could target China, which has flooded international markets with cheap steel exports.

"Many things have happened that have led to trade imbalances and we're going to turn that around," Trump said during the meeting with Xi. Trump said he wanted a new arrangement that is "equitable" and "reciprocal."

Meeting with May, the British leader, Trump pointed to their "special relationship," and said the two countries were working on a trade agreement.

May was the first foreign leader to visit Trump at the White House and he told her he would soon "be going to London" once details were worked out. Independent trade negotiations between the two countries are a possibility as Britain exits the European Union  a move Trump has supported.

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Earlier, Trump said Saturday he had a "tremendous meeting" with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, his first comments on the talks with the Russian leader. Trump raised the issue of Russia's meddling in the 2016 elections and discussed plans for a cease-fire agreement in Syria.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday that Trump and Putin had a "robust and lengthy" discussion about Russian election interference but Putin denied any involvement.

Putin, in a news conference Saturday, offered his version of events and said he thought Trump believed his in-person denials of Russian meddling. White House officials traveling aboard Air Force One did not dispute that account.

Tillerson, who took part in the meeting, said Trump had been "rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point?"

Trump also joined a women's entrepreneurial finance event, a project spearheaded by his daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump. He lauded his daughter's efforts to help female entrepreneurs, joking that "if she weren't my daughter, it would be so much easier for her."

Trump was flying back to Washington on Saturday evening after the conclusion of the annual G-20 meetings. He won't be stateside for long: The president is scheduled to return to Europe next week to attend Bastille Day celebrations in Paris.

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Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Vivian Salama in Washington contributed to this report.
Howard L. Sandlund, a former principal at Rolling Meadows High School and administrator and teacher at various Township High School District 214 schools, died June 7, 2017. (Handout)

Starting out his education career as a high school band director, Howard L. Sandlund rose to become a school administrator and ultimately the principal of Rolling Meadows High School.

"He created a friendly atmosphere, and he got along with everyone," retired Prospect High School Principal Edward Spacapansaid. "He was very congenial, and a very warm person."

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Sandlund, 88, died of respiratory failure June 7 at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, said his daughter Lynne Tellschow. A Carol Stream resident, Sandlund had been battling silent pneumonia, his daughter said.

Sandlund grew up on the North Side and graduated from Senn High School. From a young age, he was interested in music, with his interest undoubtedly encouraged by the fact that his father had played the organ at Summerdale Free Church, his daughter said.

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After high school, Sandlund worked for a year for Bell & Howell before attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music education, she said.

Sandlund served in the Army, where he played the trumpet in its band, she said. His first job out of the Army was as the band director in tiny Neponset in downstate Bureau County. He then took a similar job in Geneseo in western Illinois.

In 1964, Sandlund was hired as band director at Prospect High School in Mt. Prospect. He held the role for four years and chaperoned Prospect's band to the Expo 67 World's Fair in Montreal.

In 1968, Sandlund was asked to join the administration at Prospect, as its director of student activities. Then, in 1974, he was named Prospect's assistant principal for student activities.

"He was good to the staff and the students," recalled Robert Cudney, Township High School District 214's retired associate superintendent for human resources and a longtime friend. "He had a distinguished career, and he was as kind and gentle as anybody you'd want to meet. There was a whole lot of depth to him."

In 1985, Sandlund was named assistant principal at Wheeling High School in Wheeling. He then was promoted to be principal of Rolling Meadows High School in 1988 after Bob Hoese, who had been the school's first principal, retired. Sandlund held that role until retiring in 1993.

In 1988, Sandlund and his wife, Joy, moved from Mt. Prospect to Geneva to be closer to family. They then moved to Carol Stream in 1993, the year he retired.

During retirement, Sandlund took courses at Wheaton College and then at Northern Illinois University, his daughter said. He also served as a volunteer for several years for Court Appointed Special Advocates, she said.

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Sandlund also is survived by his wife of almost 64 years, Joy; four other daughters, Suzanne Olson, Laurie Hedlund, Kathy Woods and Debra Stipe; two sons, Tom and Gary; 21 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Doris Inskeep and Nancy Cederberg.

Services were held.

Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
With his co-defendant now serving six years in prison for his part in a 2016 Aurora shooting, Aaron Tolamac and his attorney recently asked to reschedule his planned July 10 trial date in order to consider an offer from Kane County prosecutors, according to court records.

Prosecutors charged 22-year-old Tolamac with attempted murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm and possession of a weapon by a felon on allegations he opened fire on an 18-year-old man outside his Aurora home nearly a year ago. Tolamac remains in Kane County Jail on nearly $500,000 bail. He appeared in court before Judge James Hallock on June 30 for a hearing at which prosecutors gave Tolamac's attorney a proposed resolution to the case, which prompted a continuance to be granted for the trial originally planned to begin Monday, court documents state. Hallock set an Aug. 2 date for a plea or new trial setting.

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Prosecutors allege Tolamac and his co-defendant Jesus Ferrel drove to the neighborhood of the 18-year-old who had apparently been in a dispute with Ferrel that included social media exchanges. The pair used Snapchat to lure the man out to fight Ferrel, however Tolamac brought a .45-caliber handgun with him when they arrived at the man's home, according to court documents.

When the man began to exit a side door, he appeared to grab the area of his waistband, which prompted Tolamac to fire the gun at him, court documents state. The man was not hit by gunfire, although the house was struck four times. Police recovered shell casings from the driveway, records show.

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Ferrel, 19, pleaded guilty to attempted murder on May 31 and received a six-year prison sentence. Ferrel is currently held at the Pickneyville Correctional Center with a scheduled parole date in 2021, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Dan Campana is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.
Jordan Burgos had been on parole for less than a year when police say he robbed a North Aurora liquor store last month, allegations that have him facing a return to prison.

Court and Illinois Department of Corrections records show 26-year-old Burgos has served time off-and-on since 2011 after several convictions in Kendall County and a drug case in Kane County. For now, Burgos remains in Kane County Jail on $271,000 bail charged with the June 6 armed robbery of Sunny Liquors in North Aurora and subsequent counts of fleeing Aurora police a week later after a clerk at another store recognized him as the suspect in the earlier hold up, according to authorities.

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Burgos, who is also on an IDOC parole hold, previously received prison sentences of between four and five-and-a-half years relating to convictions for drugs, forgery, theft, burglary and criminal trespass to a residence. IDOC shows Burgos first was imprisoned in 2011, a sentence that was followed by a four-and-a-half year term for possessing a small amount of heroin during a 2013 traffic stop.

Burgos was paroled in that case, as well as five others from 2013 and 2014 out of Kendall County, in October 2016. Because of some overlap in custody dates, it's not clear how long Burgos had been behind bars before his release last year.

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According to court records and police, a man had a gun with him when he took $725 from a 47-year-old man working at Sunny Liquors around 5:30 p.m. on June 6. A week later, on June 13, a clerk at an Aurora convenience store called police to report a suspicious person who he recognized as the liquor store robbery suspect. The suspect fled the area in a silver Audi, which was spotted by an officer who attempted a traffic stop. However, police said, the suspect didn't pull over and instead took off at a high-rate of speed, drove through three red lights and crossed over the center line at various times during a police pursuit. He eventually pulled over in North Aurora without incident, police said.

North Aurora police credited traditional and social media coverage, as well as numerous tips from the public, in helping identify Burgos who was allegedly captured on surveillance video from the liquor store.

Burgos returns to court July 28.

Dan Campana is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.
An Aurora man is headed to prison for battering and choking his girlfriend in their St. Charles apartment in 2015, according to a news release from the Kane County State's Attorney's Office.

Kane County Associate Judge David P. Kliment on Wednesday sentenced Nicholas L. Janacek, 25, of the 600 block of Hartford Avenue in Aurora, to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

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On May 31, Judge Kliment convicted Janacek of class 2 felony aggravated domestic battery and class A misdemeanor domestic battery, the release said. Janacek waived his right to a jury trial.

According to Kane County prosecutors, on July 30, 2015, a woman returned to the St. Charles home she shared with Janacek, who was intoxicated, and he began to argue with her. He then threw objects at her and struck her before he threw her onto a couch and choked her, the release said.

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According to Illinois law, Janacek must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence. He receives credit for 60 days served in the Kane County jail.
Local election officials in Aurora and Kane County have one basic reaction to the discussion of a federal investigation into election irregularities: Bring it on.

"We have nothing to hide," said Linda Fechner, Aurora Election Commission director.

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"I welcome it," added John Cunningham, Kane County clerk. "Get it out on the table. Let them go on a witch hunt and see what they come up with."

Their reactions came as states across the country consider if and how they will comply with a request from the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, formed by President Donald Trump to investigate what he has said in the past is rampant voter fraud across the country.

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The commission seeks voter information to look into alleged voting irregularities in the 2016 presidential election. It is chaired by Vice President Michael Pence and co-chaired by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a conservative voice on voter fraud.

So far, the requests have come to the states. The Illinois State Board of Elections received its written request from the commission Wednesday, and immediately expressed concern about complying.

On Friday, Illinois State Board of Elections officials said they will not comply with the request. They acknowledged receiving calls of concern over the request for information such as names, addresses, birthdates, the last four digits of Social Security numbers and voting history going back to 2006.

Across the country, dozens of states have balked at supplying any or all of what the federal commission is asking for. Of particular concern is the request for the partial social security numbers.

Both Cunningham and Fechner said Thursday they would never provide those numbers when asked for voter information locally. But they said a list of registered voters is readily available, and is obtained often by political parties and organizations.

"There's not anything secret there," Cunningham said.

Fechner said Aurora Election Commission officials are "happy with our voter registration system," and are also happy with the system of counting votes.

Both the election commission and the Kane County Clerks have closed systems  meaning the vote counting is never tied to the Internet.

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The votes are brought from polling places and the votes are counted internally. They are never transmitted through the Internet, or over the air. Only after counted are they put separately online, Fechner said.

DuPage County election officials could not be reached for comment.

Chicago Tribune contributed.

slord@tribpub.com
About 60 doctors, nurses and other health-care specialists from the Fox Valley gathered last month at Rush Copley Medical Center to hear experts from Mayo Clinic talk about fighting and preventing tuberculosis. (Kane County Health Department)

You may recall  not all that long ago  when we were writing a series of headlines about an outbreak of tuberculosis that landed Kane County at the top of the list for cases nationwide.

It's not a place you want to be. But that's how quickly "TB can sneak up on you," noted Barbara Jeffers, executive director of the Kane County Health Department.

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According to the health department, from early 2010 to the fall of 2012 there were 46 active TB cases reported; and in a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which came in several times to help with the outbreaks, between April of 2007 and September of 2011, 28 cases were identified among clients at Hesed House homeless shelter.

Today, Jeffers happily reported, there were only two active cases last year and no cases so far in 2017.

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But a lot of "lessons were learned" from that experience, Jeffers said, including the fact that health-care professionals, indeed the public itself, must be far more vigilant in preventing and detecting this "silent challenge" that can have such devastating effects, especially as the bacteria becomes more resistant to treatment.

Working closely with Hesed House, health-care specialists set up protocols for TB control that included better screening, treatment and prevention measures. This model proved so effective, said Jeffers, that the CDC relied on it to tackle an outbreak in Florida that propelled that state to the top of the nation's TB list.

Kendall County, with a much smaller population, is also facing that silent challenge. According to Dr. Amaal Tokars, who heads the Kendall County Health Department, there has been a "gradual uptick"  with five reported cases of active TB in the county as of now; and another 20 latent cases which, though not contagious, can at any time become active. Symptoms of TB include a bad cough, fever, chest pain, fatigue and weight loss.

"Most don't know or talk about it," she said of the disease that most frequently attacks the lungs and can be spread through the air. "TB is one of the things we need to pay attention to."

That's why last month the Kane, Kendall and Illinois health departments, along with the American Lung Association and Rush Copley Medical Center, hosted a tuberculosis seminar at the Aurora hospital, where experts from Mayo Clinic addressed the challenges of TB in our communities.

Although TB overall in the nation has gone down, certain areas are experiencing new challenges, some of which relate to the transmission of tuberculosis that has become treatment resistant. Of those treated for drug resistant TB, nine percent die during treatment, 27 percent must stop working, 73 percent are hospitalized and 37 percent require home isolation, said Tokars.

The homeless population is particularly vulnerable because of the close quarters in which they live, because of compromised immune systems and because they are often transient, making it more difficult to control an outbreak.

The 60-member audience included physicians, nurses, infectious disease and public health professions. And, according to both Jeffers and Tokars, there wasn't a person in the group who did not come away from the seminar feeling as if their eyes had been opened much wider to these challenges of prevention and treatment.

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It's not just maintaining clinical expertise but also public awareness for a disease that many feel had long been eradicated, they insist.

Kendall County put together a Tuberculosis Board about six years ago with a modest budget of $15,000 that unfortunately, noted Tokars, goes mainly to helping those who contract it and leaves little for prevention and education.

While only nine percent of those who contract it in this country die from it, that number rockets to 50 percent worldwide. Which is all the more reason, she said, as we become "a much more global community," we pay attention to TB.

"Look at the world numbers, the national numbers and the local numbers. This tells a story," she said.

"We talk about the burden of disease as life threatening and life altering. Once it is present, TB's burden is great."

Dcrosby@tribpub.com

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Twitter @dencrosby
The project to turn Elgin's iconic Tower Building into a 45-unit, market rate apartment building is about 55 percent complete and a few units on the first floor should be ready to show potential renters by December.

That was the message delivered by Mitch Braam, project manager for Skender Construction, the company hired by Missouri-based Capstone Development Group for the project.

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Work began in earnest last August with interior demolition, Braam said. A delay in construction happened because the process for approving the 272 replacement windows to be used took longer than expected, he said. They have been ordered and should be in by mid-September.

The windows had to meet specifications required as one of the terms of state tax credit program being used to help fund the project. Braam said they had to be reviewed by a state office as well as by the National Parks Service, as the building is on the National Registry of Historic Places.

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As one of the several funding mechanisms being utilized, developers are taking advantage of the state's River Edge Redevelopment Zone Historic Tax Credit program, which was put together to help the Illinois river towns of Aurora, East St. Louis, Elgin, Peoria and Rockford revitalize, particularly their old downtowns.

The Art Deco-style Tower Building, 100 E. Chicago St., opened in 1929, just as the Great Depression hit, and was a bank for a short time, then an office building. After a post World War II boom, the building eventually fell into hard times over the decades, despite a foundation's efforts to revive it. In May 2014, city staff red-tagged the building after a since-convicted homeless man set a fire in an elevator car, significantly damaging the lobby.

"It looked like a ghost town when we started," Braam said. "It actually was sort of eerie. It looked like everyone just got up and left one day."

The building also had quirks about it, including a phantom staircase workers found in the basement ceiling. Braam said it had led from the bank's first floor to basement vaults, but when a drug store took over the space it apparently sealed off the stairs.

The basement still held a big bucket of coal from decades past when the project began. Braam said it was removed through a hole in the nearby sidewalk.

The revamped basement will hold a gym and theater room, while the apartments will start on the first floor.

Because of the design of the building, no two apartments will be alike in layout, Braam said. There will be more units on the lower floors than on the top floors, and the 11th floor will also hold a workout room. The big windows also will offer nice views of downtown Elgin, the Fox River and beyond, Braam noted.

Braam pointed out that work has included putting in an extra stairwell as well as trying to maintain as many of the features and as much of the detail as possible when converting an office building into dwellings.

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That means making floor lobbies look like they might be from when the building opened and having functional millwork cabinets in a fifth floor unit. However, a mail shoot will be left but sealed and elevator dials will merely be decorative. Capstone is working to get the clock that hung outside the building back in working order, too, Braam said.

The cabs for the two elevators recently were installed, Braam said. Elgin Senior Management Analyst Laura Valdez-Wilson noted they probably won't be big enough to hold larger possessions tenants might bring such as beds and larger furniture.

"But the stairwells are designed where you take four steps and turn," Elgin Communications Specialist Molly Center said.

Valdez-Wilson said, "It will be tough to have a large bed in some of the units, and people will have to be creative to get furniture in place."

The city is providing a total of $6.35 million in development assistance for the Tower Building project, which has an estimated $16.6 million construction budget.

Once completed, the 15-story, 1929-built Tower Building will house 45 one- or two-bedroom apartments, with rents set between $863 and $1,200 a month. Residents will pay for monthly parking passes for downtown parking spots, 55 of which will be set aside for Tower residents, city officials said.

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Capstone Development Group and Chicago developer Richard Souyoul started working on a deal for the iconic downtown structure in 2014, after plans for Wisconsin-based Gorman & Co. to purchase the building fell through. A groundbreaking ceremony for the project happened in September 2016.

In recent weeks, Elgin City Council members and some guests and dignitaries have been given tours of the project. Valdez-Wilson said the mayor and five Council members have made the visits so far, with Corey Dixon, Rich Dunne and Tish Powell still to be booked.

mdanahey@tribpub.com
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Deerfield, speaks to Gurnee resident Jenni DelVecchio Friday afternoon after a town hall focused on health care. DelVecchio said she worries about what will happen to her son, who has autism and other conditions, when he can no longer stay on his parents' insurance. (Emily K. Coleman / News-Sun)

Gurnee resident Jenni DelVecchio worries about what will happen when her son Christopher can no longer be covered by their family's insurance.

The 17-year-old has high-functioning autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder and is prediabetic  "a triple whammy," she said, that could make it very difficult for him to get health insurance someday.

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It was tough enough for DelVecchio and her husband, Steven, to find something they could afford even though both of them could get health insurance through their employers.

High premiums and capped visits for behavioral health care forced them into the health insurance marketplaces set up by the Affordable Care Act, Jenni DelVecchio said.

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"We're struggling, but we're not drowning," she said.

Steven and Jenni DelVecchio were among a small crowd to gather in the auditorium of Waukegan High School's Brookside campus Friday afternoon to hear U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Deerfield, talk about what's happening with health care in Congress and ask questions.

The 90-minute presentation featured three residents in Schneider's congressional district who, like DelVecchio, worry about the consequences of an Affordable Care Act repeal.

About 44,000 Lake County residents have received health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act, said Mark Pfister, the Lake County Health Department's executive director. About 21,600 of those gained coverage through the Medicaid expansion and the remainder through the health insurance marketplaces.

Schneider said he wants to build on the successes of the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare, instead of scrapping the program and starting from the ground up.

Legislation is often a "one and done" approach that doesn't allow law to evolve as the industry does, he said. He pointed to the medical device tax  one of the mechanisms used to pay for the Affordable Care Act  as something that is stifling innovation.

Schneider said he has also sponsored a bill that would require employers to explain the health care exchanges to their exiting employees at the same time they have to explain COBRA health insurance.

"When we say the Affordable Care Act is not perfect ... there are people being hurt by the Affordable Care Act," Schneider said, earning an "Amen" from the audience. "(But) the numbers show that there are far more people who are being helped by the Affordable Care Act. I don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water."

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While the uninsured rate has fallen to 3 percent in Lake County, Lake County residents face "real challenges" in finding care locally, Schneider said.

Lake County currently has one insurance provider offering plans on the exchange  Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

But one audience member said many health care providers in the area are not accepting some of the plans being sold by Blue Cross and Blue Shield, forcing residents to cross multiple counties to find providers that will accept their insurance and provide the services they need.

A Waukegan teacher attending the town hall, who called the insurance he gets through the marketplace "better than nothing," said he had to take his now nine-month-old daughter to Rockford to get a test for spina bifida, a birth defect where a baby's spinal cord fails to develop properly.

Schneider said eliminating the uncertainty around whether the federal government would continue to subsidize premiums would strengthen the insurance marketplaces and lead to more insurance companies offering plans.

That won't fix the issues with the health care providers though, one audience member responded.

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emcoleman@tribpub.com

Twitter @mekcoleman
About 61 percent of Waukegan High School parents said in a survey they would insist on sending children to school with cellphones even if the district banned them.

The survey of parents, students and staff was prepared and conducted by district staff and the superintendent's student advisory council at the request of Waukegan School District 60 board members, district spokesman Nick Alajakis said during a presentation to the board in June.

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Staff members also were asked to research the district's current policies and look at what other districts are doing in this area, he said.

The request had come when board member Anita Hanna raised concerns about cellphone use in the schools and proposed considering a total ban. Her concern was echoed by other board members.

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Board member Miguel Rivera said he had noticed during a visit to the high school that the students had been on their cellphones, using social media and listening to music during class.

Board Vice President Rick Riddle added that he's heard about times when middle school students will call their parents to tell them they're sick instead of going to the nurse, which causes a lot of confusion and disruption when the parent shows up and the nurse doesn't know anything about the child.

"I know this is a very controversial issue, but I also know that it is in the best interest of the students and the district that we look at this policy and that we think about doing something different in terms of allowing the students to have the cellphones in the schools," Hanna said at an April meeting.

The change wouldn't be popular but would be the "right thing to do" in light of the district's issues, including student academic achievement, she said.

The current district policy allows high school students to use cellphones during noninstructional time such as during lunch or passing periods as long as students are properly displaying their ID and listen when staff members try to talk to them.

About 74 percent of Waukegan High School staff members surveyed said they thought the policy was insufficient, and 63 percent said they spent several times a day enforcing it, according to survey results presented in June.

Students were issued 292 referrals for having their cellphones out when they weren't supposed to or for refusing to stop using them when told to in 2016-17, less than the 355 referrals issued the year before, according to the June presentation.

Another 110 referrals were issued this past school year for cellphone use, including recording a video or posting on social media that contributed to a fight or harassment, up from 86 last year, according to the presentation.

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But it was that first statistic  that 61 percent of Waukegan High School parents said they would send the phone regardless of a ban  that caught the attention of board members during the June discussion.

"Regardless of what we say, (students are) going to bring them anyway because they got backup at home," board member Jeff McBride said.

That "obviously makes the enforcement of any policy changes a little more difficult," Alajakis said.

Overwhelmingly, parents pointed to potential emergencies as their reason for sending a phone with their child to school, according to the survey. The second-most common reason was that they needed to be able to notify their child of when they are picking them up.

Hanna, along with Riddle and Rivera, was absent from the June meeting, but she said at a different meeting that she thought the board members had "kind of disregarded what the teachers said."

"The teachers were against the students having the cellphones, and they're the first ones that have to deal with the children in the classroom with the cellphones," Hanna said at a June 27 meeting, a week after the presentation was given.

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About half of Waukegan High School staffers surveyed said they thought a ban would be more effective than the current policy, while about 30 percent said they thought it would not. The remainder said they were unsure.

(Of the 19 Lake County high schools reviewed by Waukegan staff, none had an outright ban. Most had policies similar to Waukegan's, and three had policies that allowed the phones in school but said they must be kept off.)

Riddle had pointed in April to research published in 2015 that found that schools that adopted very strict cellphone policies saw their test scores improve, with an even greater impact for low-achieving students.

Lake County News Sun Twice-weekly News updates from Lake County delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

The study was co-authored by professors from the University of Texas at Austin and Louisiana State University who looked at 91 schools in four British cities, according to a news release issued by the University of Texas at the time.

One of the authors said the impact of the ban was equivalent to an additional hour of school each week or increasing the school year by five days.

The administration is recommending that in light of the restructuring at Waukegan High School, the existing policy is kept while staff there comes up with a plan that ensures the policy is uniformly followed and enforced in a way that limits distractions during class.

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Regardless of what the policy is, board member Brandon Ewing said he'd like it to be consistent across the grade levels so that middle school students are used to the policy before they enter high school.

The board is set to discuss the issue again July 18.

emcoleman@tribpub.com

Twitter @mekcoleman
All four new lanes of concrete were poured for the Washington Street underpass project in Grayslake prior to the June 30 shutdown of roadwork projects that involve Illinois Department of Transportation funds in some way. The project is expected to be back up and running on Monday, July 10. (LCDOT)

When it comes to the Great Illinois Budget Impasse of 2015-17, it is all over but the shouting, which continues unabated and as expected.

Also among the sounds sweeping across the Prairie State are the sighs of relief from people who were on the verge of robbing Peter to pay Paul, including the 20,000 construction workers estimated by the Illinois Department of Transportation to be idled when all IDOT-funded projects were shut down as June 30 became July 1.

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"The Illinois Department of Transportation has suspended projects as of July 1 due to the lack of a state budget," read a statement posted at www.idot.illinois.gov by someone who apparently was working at midnight on June 30. "This shutdown impacts highway, rail, transit and aeronautics projects that involve contracts that have been let and awarded by the state, as well as any engineering and consultant contracts."

At 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, July 6, IDOT sent out an updated statement:

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"The Illinois Department of Transportation recently advised that due to a lack of appropriated funding, work on all contracts was to cease by the close of business June 30, 2017. Legislation has passed providing the necessary appropriations. Work on contracts can now resume."

It's an open question whether or not anyone noticed if work was suspended on road projects in their neighborhoods, since most of the time that elapsed during the shutdown was over a weekend and an early-week holiday that had everyone away from their jobs anyway.

But Lake County Division of Transportation officials confirmed on Friday that four of their projects that include IDOT funds in some way were impacted by the shutdown. As noted in this space last week, those included construction of the Washington Street/Canadian National overpass in Grayslake; reconstruction of Deerfield Road in Deerfield/Highland Park; replacement of the Union Pacific Railroad bridge over Grand Avenue at Route 41 in Gurnee; and intersection improvements at Route 59 at Petite Lake Road near Lake Villa/Fox Lake.

The word from LCDOT was that the big ticket on that menu  the $23 million underpass and Washington Street widening west of Lake Street in Grayslake  is scheduled to get back to work on Monday.

Prior to the shutdown, LCDOT reported that concrete had been poured for the four new lanes of traffic on Washington and crews were moving on to pouring curbs and medians. Grading work also was taking place for a restored multi-use path on the south side of Washington and a new sidewalk on the north side, which will access the North Central Metra station.

All told, the project was reported to be at 64 percent completion when the shutdown arrived. Those of us who have declared home improvement projects complete at lesser percentages will take that as good news.

And so it looks like we can put all of this budget stalemate unpleasantness behind us and never speak of it again. Unless of course it happens again next summer around this time, in which case we can pull out all our selected grievances and air them out all over again.

Lake County News Sun Twice-weekly News updates from Lake County delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

For now, county motorists can look forward to road crews repairing some of their favorite roadways as summer rolls along. Projects that went before the Lake County Board's transportation committee last month include a $1.93 million resurfacing of Darrell Road between Route 176 and Burnett Road and also Bonner Road from Darrell Road to Route 12 in the Wauconda area, and $1.14 million for the resurfacing of Fairfield Road between the Lake Villa Township line and Route 134 in Round Lake.

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Also on the near-future list is a $947,960 resurfacing of Delany Road between Route 41 and Sunset Avenue in Gurnee and/or Waukegan.

Also in road news around the county, another of the endless and roaming railroad-crossing closures will pop up in the coming week. This time, it's Wilson Road at the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Ingleside metropolitan area, with the crossing scheduled to be closed for repairs at 9 a.m. on July 12.

According to LCDOT, the crossing will be closed to all traffic between Rollins Road and Route 134, with a posted detour that takes north-south traffic to Fairfield Road. This means you might want to avoid the intersection of Fairfield and 134, which has a three-cycle traffic signal that is sticky during rush hour even under normal conditions.

The crossing is scheduled to reopen in the late afternoon of July 20  though, as recent events have shown us, all schedules are subject to change.

danmoran@tribpub.com

Twitter @NewsSunDanMoran
Landline loss

Today there was another nail in the coffin of the USA being a third world country. We know newspapers and news magazines have died. Now, Illinois legislators drove the nail into landline telephones and with it, senior citizens and small businesses. Our governor tried to keep landlines but legislators overrode his veto. As a result, I will have no phone, and if I ever need 911, I'll just shoot my gun into the air and wait for the police to arrive.

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Voting records

Trump can't believe that people won't willingly turn over their voting records to the government. From a president that refuses to turn over his tax returns, this is really rich.

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North Korea

While much of the world is engaged in hand-wringing about North Korea's emerging nuclear capabilities, we should be concerned about something else. Our 45th President holds a great deal of America's safety in his hands. Let's hope his tendency toward overreactive bullying does not impede any international attempts at defusing the festering nuclear threat overseas.

Lake County News Sun Twice-weekly News updates from Lake County delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

What's wrong with ACA?

If Obamacare is so horrible on its own, why have Trump and the Republicans tried so hard to sabotage it? It should stand on it's own and fail on it's own. If you sabotage it, you intentionally don't want it to survive. What does that say about you, especially when you don't have anything to replace it with?

No repeal, without replacement

Trump wants to repeal Obamacare and replace it later when they can figure it out. Like when, in 10 years? So what happens in the meanwhile? Don't repeal anything until you have a workable solution.

Opposition goes both ways

You are free to admire whomever you choose, but I have to question your selective memory. You think he is the only person to endure such an organized resistance. What would you call the eight years of Republican obstruction that President Obama faced? That was eight solid years with no let-up. You are complaining after a measly few months. Grow up!

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Editor's note

Talk of the County is a reader-generated column of opinions. If you see something you disagree with or think is incorrect, please tell us. Call us at 312-222-4554 or email talkofthecounty@tribpub.com. For a continuously updating blog of Talk of the County comments, go to newssunonline.com/talk.
McDonald's in Lake Forest is scheduled to close at the end of August and might be replaced by a Chase Bank. (Mark Lawton / Pioneer Press)

French fries and hamburgers might soon be replaced by ATMs and bank tellers at Lake Forest's lone McDonald's.

The fast food giant is set to close their Lake Forest outpost at the end of August and a bank is preparing to take its place.

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William McEssy, the owner and operator of the franchise, said he intended to renew his lease for the McDonald's at 884 South Waukegan Road that opened in September 1997.

"(McDonald's corporation) does not own the land," McEssy said. "They negotiated with the landlord. A third party approached the landlord and offered a rent that . . . was a substantial increase from what we are paying now."

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Both McEssy and McDonald's Corporation agreed that the new rent would not be reasonable to pay, he said.

The building might not remain empty for long as Chase Bank has filed an application with the city of Lake Forest to open a bank with a drive-thru at that site, said Cathy Czerniak, director of community development.

The Lake Forest Plan Commission might consider the application at its August 9 meeting, she said.

The land is owned by 884 S. Waukegan Road LLC, whose members are Frank Mariani of Lake Bluff and John Fiore of Lake Forest, Czerniak said.

A representative for the LLC did not return requests for comment.

McEssy said he started off with three McDonald's restaurants 37 years ago and gradually built his holdings up to 46 locations. Over the last two years he's sold off 20 restaurants, but said he had no intention of selling the Lake Forest restaurant.

McEssy moved to Lake Forest in 1980 and wanted to open a restaurant in the town where he lived.

It wasn't easy. Residents crowded into city meetings over the course of a year to oppose the proposed restaurant citing concerns over increased traffic and litter, according to news reports. The city government sided with the residents. McDonalds Corporation sued Lake Forest in Lake County Circuit Court and the city and McDonald's eventiully came to an agreement in January 1997.

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McEssy said he then spent another six to nine months in city hearings over the design of the building.

"I couldn't open up a normal looking McDonald's," McEssy said. "They (initially) did not want me to have a drive-thru, although one year later they allowed it."

Customers looking for a familiar orange and yellow building with large golden arches in front could easily miss the Lake Forest restaurant, which resembles a New England cottage with green siding and white trim. A pergola shades the drive-thru lane.

McEssy said people have been calling and stopping him on the street to ask why he's closing the Lake Forest McDonald's. The city has also been fielding questions.

"The city has already heard some concerns from residents," Czerniak said. "Some were raised at recent ward meetings. I expect the Plan Commission will hear some concerns about that loss of that business as well as questions about another bank in the area, as there are a number of other banks."

At this time, there are no plans to open another McDonald's restaurant in Lake Forest, said Patricia Kemp, a spokeswoman for McDonald's Corporation.

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mlawton@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter: @reporterdude
Naperville woodcarving artist Shelly Weiser is seen with his work. (Suzanne Baker / Naperville Sun )

Shelly Weiser sees himself as a late-bloomer when it comes to artistic endeavors.

The Naperville man has earned acclaim in the woodcarving world for his detailed work, but it was a reputation that didn't start until well after he retired from his retail job.

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In the last 15 years, Weiser, who turns 90 this month, has won enough blue ribbons and top honors to fill 12-by-18-inch long plastic container.

Daughter Brayon Miklasz, also of Naperville, said her father is far too modest.

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"I'm not surprised by his ability. He was always artistic. He was working or with the family and didn't have the time," Miklasz said.

"I was surprised by his prolificness," she said.

Weiser estimates he's probably carved about 100 pieces. He doesn't keep track or title them, nor does he sign or date every piece.

Most of his works are spread around his house and decorate the family room.

"The house is starting to look like a museum," Miklasz said.

While he gives some carvings away as gifts, Weiser is adamant he doesn't do it for the money.

"A lady offered me $5,000 (for a sculpture of six cats under a stool). I told her no," he said. "It's like selling your kids."

Over the last 15 years, Weiser has displayed tables of his creations at art and carving shows throughout the Chicago area and in other states.

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The nonagenarian said it's time to cut back because he no longer has the stamina to haul his pieces everywhere.

His final big show was Saturday during his 90th birthday celebration, where family, friends and fellow woodcarvers got a private look at many of his creations.

It's seems fitting his last hurrah was at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, where trees, art and nature are on display daily.

Near a window overlooking the grounds outside the arboretum's Thornhill Education Center was his favorite piece: a relief of hummingbirds and dragonflies among a bed of flowers. The carving earned him fame and top honors at the 2007 International Woodcarvers Congress.

Miklasz said her father first was able to express his artistic side in the 1960s and '70s when he would set up the front window displays at the Andrew Geller shoe store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, where Weiser worked as a salesman.

"Those were the days when Marshall Field's had the elaborate window displays," Weiser said.

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Every two weeks, the store owner would pay two men from New York to fly in and decorate the window.

"I told him I could do that; I'll do your window. For $50 extra on my paycheck, I did," he said.

Weiser recalls placing shoes on Victorian buildings he'd carve from foam and hanging shoes from trees in a forest he crafted.

Despite the window dressing opportunity, work and family life cut into any further creative pursuits until he retired from Neiman Marcus at age 72.

Even then, it took two years for Weiser to find his woodcarving niche. It wasn't until he attended his first North Suburban Carvers Club meeting that he was hooked.

"I knew I could do this; I always liked art," he said.

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At his second meeting, club members gave Weiser the contact number for master carver JR Cadawas in Chicago, and at 75, Weiser started studying the craft.

In no time, he created a relief similar to a first century deity with ram horns.

From there, he moved into a Chinese sculpture phase, carving an emperor seated on dragon throne and an empress on a throne of phoenixes.

Much of Weiser's work is inspired by sculptures, photos or figurines he's over the years.

The idea for six different carvings of women dancing in the 1920s came from studying an art deco book he borrowed from the library.

"I am really fascinated with that period of time," Weiser said.

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Several of the pieces of his art deco collection earned awards at 2016 International Woodcarvers Congress, which is considered one of the most prestigious, competitive woodcarving shows.

Weiser uses basswood because it's much easier to create details, like the stubble on a face and the stitching on the shirt in his cowboy carving.

"All the carvers like it. It's the softest of the hardwoods. The grain is very tight," he said.

The wood is handpicked by Weiser at Kirkland Sawmill, a lumber mill in the town of Kirkland just north of DeKalb.

Although the reliefs can made from a single piece of wood, many of his human sculptures are made by laminating four to five pieces of wood together, a process he learned from Cadawas.

Weiser said the average piece takes about three months to finish.

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As long as his hands remain steady, he said he'll continue carving. His current project is a large chicken.

In his spare time, Weiser teaches beginning woodcarving classes to children and senior citizens through the Naperville Park District.

"I really enjoy teaching kids," said Weiser, who aspires to reach a new generation.

"Woodcarving is becoming a lost art," he said. "All our club members are old people."

subaker@tribpub.com

Twitter @SBakerSun1
A new, mixed-use development could replace the original Nichols Library on Washington Street, built in the late 1890s. The developer of the project has been granted a 30-day extension to respond to a request to give the building landmark status. (Pioneer Press)

The owner of the old Nichols Library has been granted 30 additional days to respond to an application to designate the building a Naperville landmark.

Owner Dwight Avram has announced plans to demolish the 119-year-old limestone building at 110 S. Washington St. and replace it with a four-story, mixed-use development that would incorporate parts of the former library, including its front facade.

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Naperville residents Charlie Wilkins and Barb Hower are opposed Avram's proposal, and on June 5 filed a request to establish the building as a landmark. They believe the library is historically and architectural important to the city, having been built with money bequeathed by prominent businessman and author James L. Nichols and designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by architect M.E. Bell, who designed dozens of federal and county courthouses and U.S. post offices across the country and served as supervising architect for the U.S. Treasury from 1883 to 1886.

Per city ordinance, Avram was given 30 days to submit a written response to the application. This week, he requested an additional 30 beyond the July 10 deadline.

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"We are in the process of obtaining bids, estimates and reports regarding the condition of the building," attorney Paul M. Mitchell, who represents Avram's Great Central Properties III, wrote in a letter dated July 5. "We will not be in a position to file a written response by July 10, 2017. Therefore, pursuant to Section 6-11-3:1.4, we are requesting a 30-day extension to file our response, which would be on or before August 9, 2017."

Avram can include evidence in opposition to the landmark request in his response. No information was provided on what type of opposition documentation might be provided, and neither Mitchell nor Avram were available for comment.

"Based on this extension, staff anticipates that the (Historical Preservation Commission) meeting to consider the landmark application will be scheduled for mid to late-August 2017," City Manager Doug Krieger wrote in a memorandum to the city council.

Residents who support saving the building can also participate in the landmark process. Several have picketed on Washington Street, and an online petition to "Save the Old Nichols Library" has been signed by more than 1,050 people.

The commission will review both sides before making a recommendation to the city council, which has the final say naming a building a landmark. If approved, it would be the fourth building in Naperville to receive such a designation.

City officials seem to have anticipated that someone might want to alter the old library in the future, and incorporated a clause in the deed that states the building's facade and vestibule must be preserved by future owners. The city sold the library to Truth Lutheran Church more than 20 years ago; the church sold it to Avram last year.

If the building is given landmark status, any modifications to its facade would have to be reviewed and deemed appropriate by the historic preservation commission.

Avram has proposed a building for the library site that would have stores and restaurants on the first floor, offices on the second and condominiums on the third and fourth. Underground parking would be provided for residents, and an area inside the building using the original vestibule would be dedicated to telling the story of Nichol's life. Avram has not yet submitted any formal plans or permit requests to the city.

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ehegarty@tribpub.com
A veteran of the Lake County Sheriff's Department stood with seven other defendants Friday in a Lake County courtroom and heard the charges he faces.

On June 22, a Lake County grand jury issued a five-count indictment Nicholas Medrano, 34, of Lakes of the Four Seasons, for two counts of rape, attempted rape, criminal confinement and sexual battery.

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Dressed in a dark gray suit, white shirt and black tie, Medrano answered questions from Lake Superior Court Magistrate Natalie Bokota and said he understood the charges and his rights.

Bokota told Medrano a preliminary not guilty plea would be entered on his behalf.

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Defense attorney Paul Stracci said that because of Medrano's status with the department, he will ask that the case be set for trial when Medrano and he appear Tuesday at his formal appearance hearing. Medrano joined the county police force 10 1/2 years ago.

Medrano surrendered June 23 and posted a $10,000 cash bond.

The indictment alleges that Medrano had sex with a woman twice without her consent and that he attempted to have sex with her or force her to engage in other sexual acts. The indictment also alleges he confined the woman without her permission and fondled her. The allegations cover a time period from Jan. 10, 2013, through Nov. 30. 2014.

The investigation was conducted by Indiana State Police, and a spokesperson described the woman as a "professional co-worker" of Medrano. Stracci said the woman is not an employee of the Lake County Sheriff's Department.

Sheriff John Buncich has placed Medrano on paid administrative leave and ordered him to turn over his badge, gun and police car. The sheriff will ask the Lake County Sheriff's Police Merit Board at its July 20 meeting to stop Medrano's pay and proceed with his termination, spokesman Mark Back said Friday.

Ruth Ann Krause is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
An official with the Porter County Health Department said Friday that officials are trying to determine if Fairhaven Baptist Church met state lifeguard requirements when a Chicago boy drowned in a church pool on July 4.

"They do have safety measures in place that are similar to what we would require for a lifeguard," Kelly Cadwell, the department's director of environmental health, said Friday.

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Cadwell said she asked for the policies in writing Friday and they will be reviewed by David Hollenbeck, the health department's attorney, to see if they are sufficient under Indiana Code requirements for a lifeguard.

For example, Cadwell said supervision by an adult who is trained in first aid and certified as a lifeguard could meet state requirements.

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"They do have adults there who have first aid training. We do not have verification that they are lifeguard trained," she said. "That's what we're trying to determine, whether their policy is sufficient."

The Porter County Sheriff's Department, which is investigating the drowning, said no lifeguard was on duty when Davion Henderson, 12, drowned in 3 feet of water at the indoor pool. He was at Fairhaven with a group from Cornerstone Baptist Church; the church is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood.

"At this time, we don't have any comment," a church representative said Friday.

The pool at Fairhaven, 86 E. Oak Hill Road, Chesterton, is used for summer camp and Fairhaven Baptist College, also located at the church complex.

"They are about 200 square feet over the cutoff for requiring a lifeguard," Cadwell said, adding that benchmark is 2,000 square feet and the pool at Fairhaven is 2,225 square feet.

She conducted a pool inspection, including measuring the facility, on Thursday and said she spoke with the church's certified pool operator and Steve Damron, the church's senior pastor.

The sheriff's department said two adults were in the pool when Davion drowned, and police were working to get more information from the six or seven juveniles in the pool at the time to find out what occurred before and during the drowning.

Davion was located unresponsive in the water and brought to the side of the pool, where he was removed from the water and one of the adults initiated CPR, police said. He was pronounced dead at Porter Regional Hospital a short time later.

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The pool was shut down after Davion's death, Cadwell said, and passed all points of the inspection Thursday, except for the lifeguard issue. The pool has since re-opened.

"The goal is to have the safest possible pool for people," she said.

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Indiana's authority on government transparency has found that Lake County officials violated the state's Open Door Law this spring while scrambling to pass a resolution aimed at blocking cellphone towers from being erected on public rights of way in unincorporated areas.

State lawmakers approved a telecommunications law in April that authorized companies to put up new cell phone towers in areas where above-ground utlities already existed. The legislation, Senate Enrolled Act 213, included a small window of just more than a week during which local governments could pass resolutions forcing such towers underground.

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Facing a tight deadline, the Lake County Board of Commissioners invoked its often-used ratification process, in which individual commissioners signed off on a resolution on April 28 without holding a public meeting. The board subsequently authorized the resolution when it met in public in mid-May.

The Post-Tribune filed a complaint with the Indiana Public Access Counselor on May 17, challenging the board's and council's decision, claiming they each improperly took final action without holding a public meeting. Public Access Counselor Luke Britt issued an advisory opinion Thursday, siding with the newspaper.

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"It is the Opinion of the Public Access Counselor the Lake County Board of Commissioners and Lake County Council has violated the Open Door Law," Britt wrote in his opinion.

The state's Open Door Law dictates how government entities conduct public business and is aimed at ensuring government transparency. The public access counselor issues non-binding opinions on government agencies to clarify whether their actions are appropriate under state law.

During the commissioners' regular meeting May 17, the commissioners ratified a resolution signed by two of the three members on April 28 that enacted a policy to require utilities are put underground in unincorporated Lake County's unincorporated places.

The Lake County Council passed a declaration of support for the resolution on April 28 as well, signed by five of the seven members. During its June meeting, the council endorsed the declaration of support during a public session.

Britt wrote that both boards erred by taking "final action" on the two measures outside a public meeting, instead circulating the resolution and declaration of support to be signed by individual members of the board.

"While receiving information, discussing and deliberating by a non-majority of a governing body is appropriate, final actions and binding decisions taken in secret by a governing body do nothing but erode the public's trust, even if the misdeed is subsequently remedied," Britt wrote.

Commissioners Mike Repay, D-Hammond, and Jerry Tippy, R-Schererville, said Friday they did not want to comment on Britt's opinion until they had reviewed it with staff.

Ray Szarmach, attorney for the County Council, wrote, in response to the complaint, that members of both the Board of Commissioners and council individually reviewed the respective actions and signed without any discussion among them. Szarmach argued that neither the action by the commissioners or council violated state law.

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Britt, however, found that the actions taken by both bodies constituted "final action" and that is not an action that can be taken individually without a public meeting.

In May, Repay said that the commissioners simply didn't have enough time to convene a meeting ahead of the May 1 deadline to pass a local ordinance.

"It was physically impossible," Repay told the Post-Tribune. "We could do something or we could do nothing."

Under Indiana's Open Door Law, a public body is required to post 48-hour notice of a meeting for the purpose of taking action.

"There can be no argument disputing that the signing of these two documents constituted a final action taken behind closed doors  even if done individually," Britt wrote. "I discourage such actions regardless of whether the governing body is facing an impending deadline."

"Although I recognized the window for the resolution was narrow, 48-hours notice is not an overly prohibitive obstacle to schedule a meeting of at least two commissioners and four council members," Britt wrote. "It is worth noting that some local governments  in anticipation of SEA 213's enactment  started the process of amending its local ordinance well before the bill became law."

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Despite the public access counselor's opinion, the resolution passed by the Board of Commissioners still stands.

Britt wrote that someone would have to petition a court to get a ruling on whether a policy would be void.

"It is doubtful a court would void the actions of the board and the council," Britt wrote. "Even so, this should not be taken as a license to take this kind of final action in the future."

clyons@post-trib.com

Twitter @craigalyons
Two people from Palos Heights, Ill., were injured and a Michigan City, Ind., man was ticketed following a three-vehicle crash Saturday morning on U.S. 20 at Brummitt Road, the Indiana State Police said. (Indiana State Police)

Two people were injured Saturday morning in a crash involving three vehicles, one of which was a K-9 unit being driven by a Porter County sheriff's officer, according to the Indiana State Police.

The incident occurred about 7:55 a.m. on eastbound U.S. 20 at Brummitt Road when a 1993 Dodge Dakota pickup truck driven by Bruce Kahn, 32, of Michigan City, Ind., rear-ended a 2012 Kia Sportage SUV driven by Andrea Somodi, 53, of Palos Heights, Ill., which was stopped in the left-turn lane, a state police news release said. Somodi's vehicle was pushed into the right lane, allowing Kahn's truck to then strike the back of a 2016 Ford Explorer, a K-9 police SUV that was marked and being driven by sheriff's Officer Jared Underhill, 33, also waiting to turn left on to Brummitt Road, the release said.

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Somodi and her passenger, John Somodi, 59, also of Palos Heights, were injured and taken to Franciscan Hospital in Chesterton for treatment, the release said.

No one else was injured and Underhill's K-9 dog was not harmed. Kahn was ticketed for traveling too closely.
What to expect next in the Frisch vs. Boebert CD-3 race

Final results in the race won't be known until Friday, Nov. 18, after clerks in all 27 counties upload final counts. So what happens between now and then?
CORVALLIS  The Willamette Valley Cancer Institute, a Eugene-based organization, will be leasing part of The Corvallis Clinics Aumann Building at 444 NW Elks Drive and starting local operations in August.

The move will enable The Corvallis Clinic to provide advanced care to local cancer patients in Benton, Linn and Lincoln counties, and gives residents another option for treatment.

We have first-rate physicians, treatment and technology that can rival that of large cities, said Chris Achtien, executive director of the Willamette Valley Cancer Institute. We want to bring that caliber of care to cancer patients in the Corvallis community, so that they dont have to travel far to receive the therapy they need for the best possible outcome.

The Cancer Institute initially will bring two physicians and 10 other staff members to Corvallis. Additional employees are expected to arrive as patient volume increases.

The clinic last had its own oncologist on staff in January, said Judy Corwin, director of marketing for The Corvallis Clinic.

Its really hard to have a multispecialty clinic without oncology, she added. Every specialty has some form of cancer if you think about it.  Every single specialty we have really needs that support for those patients.

Dr. Keith Wells will lead the Cancer Institute's Corvallis office. He previously served as chief fellow at the University of Colorado-Denver Medical School.

Lance McQuillan, the clinics chief medical officer, said that the clinic considered partners from throughout the Northwest for cancer care before choosing the Cancer Institute. Its headquarters are only a 45-minute drive from Corvallis, and it is affiliated with the US Oncology Network with its 1,400 oncologist and 400 community-based cancer clinics throughout the nation, he said.

Through its partnership with the national organization, the institute provides many drugs being used in clinical trials, so patients have access to experimental treatments otherwise unavailable.

The Cancer Institute also is a participant in the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Oncology Care Model, which aims to provide higher quality, more highly coordinated oncology care at the same or lower cost to Medicare.

The Corvallis Clinic is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year and Corwin was proud of how the organization has served three and even four generations of local families.

In August, the clinic will distribute the second volume in a series of books about its history.

This book will focus on the clinic from 1997 onward, a time period that includes massive growth with locations, buildings, employees and clients.

The clinic has grown a lot, from three, four, five buildings to 10, Corwin said.

The number of employees has jumped from 400 to 600 and the number of providers has increased from 60 to 100.
Officials continue to clean up a fuel spill from a Friday morning tanker truck wreck on Highway 99W near Adair Village.

Cleanup efforts are expected to continue through the weekend, Benton County Undersheriff Greg Ridler said.

Oregon Department of Transportation officials are expected to keep flagging traffic through the Highway 99 northbound lane at milepost 74.5, Ridler said.

NWFF Environmental, an incident response company in Philomath, was cleaning up the spill, the undersheriff said. Angela Beers Seydel, a spokesperson for ODOT, said crews were pumping fuel off the roadway and into another tanker.

The Kenworth tanker tipped onto its side into the southbound lane about 1:14 a.m., spilling fuel into the ditch, Ridler said. Several passersby called 911 to report the wreck. Deputies believe driver inattention caused the crash, the undersheriff said. There is no indication of drug or alcohol use, he said.

The tanker had been carrying about 11,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Ridler said he wasn't sure how much of that fuel had spilled.

The driver of the tanker suffered minor injuries in the wreck, he said. No other vehicles were involved.

Beers Seydel said travelers should expect delays and be aware of work crews in the area.

Drivers can check TripCheck.com or call 511 for current road conditions.
To find trees in the desert, we often have to go up in the mountains. I grew up in the Midwest, so every once in awhile I get a yearning to ...
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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has said that the government should attach more importance to encouraging innovation, optimizing the business environment and raising growth quality and efficiency.

Li made the remarks Thursday in a meeting with experts and entrepreneurs on current economic performance and suggestions about future economic work, according to a press release issued Friday.

After the economy stabilized in the first half, "we should not only have firm confidence, but also be well prepared for dealing with all kinds of difficulties," Li said.

China should reduce transaction costs and streamline administration, delegate power to lower levels and improve regulation and services, Li said.

The government should also strive to create an internationally competitive business environment in which domestic and foreign companies are treated on an equal basis, the premier added.

China should continue to implement the strategy of innovation-driven development, improve the environment for entrepreneurship and innovation and upgrade the manufacturing and service sectors, Li said.

He also called for more progresses in technology, product upgrading and raising the quality and efficiency of growth.

China's economy grew 6.9 percent year on year in the first quarter, the fastest pace in six quarters and higher than the government's annual target of around 6.5 percent.

Q2 economic growth rate will be released on July 17.

"China should consolidate the foundation for the stable economic performance with sound growth momentum," Li said.

The country will continue to stabilize macroeconomic policies, market expectations and the financial market, by sticking to its proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy, taking forward-looking and effective macroeconomic regulation measures, and properly defusing risks, he added.

Efforts will also be made to ensure stable employment, reduce corporate burden, expand effective investment and make consumption play a larger role in economic growth.

The government should make sure that people get the benefits from development by fulfilling the promises of poverty relief, rundown area renovation and pollution control, among others, Li said.

"We should reduce the pains and difficulties in people's lives, while increase their senses of gain and happiness," the premier added.
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Aerial photo taken on June 30, 2017 shows a scene of Hoh Xil of northwest China's Qinghai Province. The 41th session of the World Heritage Committee on July 7, 2017 decided to put China's Qinghai Hoh Xil on the prestigious World Heritage List as a natural site. So far, China has 51 sites inscribed to the List. (Xinhua/Wang Bo)

China's Qinghai Hoh Xil was put on the prestigious World Heritage List as a natural site on Friday by the 41th session of the World Heritage Committee in Poland.

Becoming the 51st Chinese site inscribed on the list, Hoh Xil can be characterized by three major features, Du Yue, secretary-general from the National Commission of China for UNESCO, told Xinhua.

Firstly, with its high altitude of more than 4,000 m, the site is a rare plateau with a special ecosystem, unique plants and valuable animals. The second is its surface, as this area is almost one of the largest on the list of world natural heritage, which proves the dedication of the Chinese government to environmental protection, Du said.

According to Du, the third aspect was that while climate change affects many countries, China has taken a very important step and contributed to the protection of the world's nature and environment. It is also to protect this very important land for the Chinese people. "I think this is very meaningful. Protecting this place is our responsibility," Du added.

Vice-Governor of Qinghai Province Han Jianhua said: "We made a commitment that we would protect the ecological environment heritage in strict accordance with the relevant requirements of the Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage."

Hoh Xil is a region in the northwestern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China. As the world's largest, highest and youngest plateau, it hosts many endemic species, is home to more than 230 species of wild animals.

Some of the most valuable include wild yak, wild donkey, white-lip deer, brown bear and the endangered Tibetan antelope or chiru.

The committee, meeting in Krakow, southern Poland between July 2 and 12, is supposed to assess the nomination of 34 sites for inscription on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
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A Foreign Ministry spokesman on Friday objected to India's attempts to stir up disputes over the Doklam region.

The Indian sides claims that, according to a 2012 India-China agreement, the tri-junction point of China, India and Bhutan will be decided by consulting with the Bhutan side, which means China and India have recognized their divergence on the issue.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the so-called tri-junction point, just as its name implies, is a point, rather than a line or an area.

He said, on the tri-junction, the Convention Between Great Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet(1890) stipulates that the Sikkim section of the China-India boundary commences at Mount Gipmochi in the east.

However, the trespass by the Indian troops took place at the Sikkim section of the China-India boundary over 2,000 meters away from Mount Gipmochi and has nothing to do with the tri-junction, said Geng.

The Indian side, by disregarding of the boundary convention, assumes the whole Doklam region as part of the tri-junction. This is obviously an attempt to confuse the public, he added.

Some opinions hold that the 1890 convention has ceased to have any significance, because the situation changed after the Sino-Indian Border Conflict in 1962.

In response to a question on whether India has recognized the delimitation of the Sikkim section of the China-India boundary since 1962, Geng said successive Indian governments had repeatedly confirmed the 1890 convention in written form, with no disagreement on the boundary alignment at the Sikkim section.

Once the border treaty was signed, its legitimacy and effectiveness was not affected by changes of governments or state systems, said Geng.
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U.S President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday agreed on a ceasefire in Syria at the ongoing G20 summit here, according to local media Focus Online.

The ceasefire is to take effect on July 9 at noon Damascus time, sources close to the delegations said.

No further details were disclosed.

The two leaders talked for over two hours, longer than scheduled.
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Chinese Ambassador to Cyprus Huang Xingyuan (R, front) gives out toy pandas to students at an event called "China day" in Platres village, some 80km southwest of the capital Nicosia, Cyprus on July 7, 2017. Chinese Embassy in Cyprus has offered a "Chinese ambassador scholarship" to the Cyprus Red Cross Society (RCS), Cyprus RCS president said on Friday. (Xinhua/Zhang Zhang)

The Embassy of the People's Republic of China has offered a "Chinese ambassador scholarship" to the Cyprus Red Cross Society (RCS), Cyprus RCS president said on Friday.

The president of Cyprus RCS, Fotini Papadopoulou, the wife of the late Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos, told a ceremony marking the end of a camping at Platres village, that the Chinese Embassy had made a generous contribution towards the organization.

Chinese Ambassador Huang Xingyuan and his wife Ma Li attended the ceremony along with the Platres mayor and RCS officials.

The Chinese ambassador said "The Chinese Embassy and I personally have always been concerning about public welfare undertakings of Cyprus, I hope the 'Chinese ambassador scholarship' can help the needy students to fulfill their dreams, so they could contribute to the development of their country and the China-Cyprus friendship."

"His excellency the Ambassador Mr. Huang Xingyuan and his wife Ma Li had the gracious kindness to visit us and support the work of the Cyprus Red Cross Society," Papadopoulou said.

She added that they had also visited RCS Children's Therapy Center, offering treatment to children in the seaside city of Limassol.

"I welcome them and thank them for the presence here," Papadopoulou said.

The Cyprus Red Cross Society, mainly responds to disasters and cares for refugees and people in need as well as runs an establishment offering treatment for children up to the age of 18 with severe physical disabilities.
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Armenia is ready to further develop cooperation with the European Union (EU) in all areas of mutual interest, Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said on Friday.

Karapetyan made the remarks when receiving ambassadors of EU member states to Armenia led by Piotr Switalski, said the press office of the Armenian government.

During the meeting, the prime minister presented the priorities of the 2017-2022 government program to the European diplomats.

Armenia plans major reforms and actions in areas of state governance, human rights, judicial and legal matters as well as in the fight against corruption.

Calling the Armenian government program as impressive and ambitious, the head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Switalski, reiterated the willingness of the EU to work jointly with Armenia to expand and strengthen the bilateral relations.

The EU has particularly welcomed the Armenian government's initiatives in its fight against corruption, organization of electoral processes, creating a business-friendly environment in the country and other areas.

In 2013, Armenia abruptly refused to sign the Association Agreement with the EU following nearly four years of negotiations and instead opted to join the Russia-led Customs Union.

In February this year, Armenia finalized its negotiations with the EU on a new agreement to deepen political and economic ties between the two.
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The bodies of a man and a woman were recovered from the rubble of a four-storey residential building that partially collapsed in the town of Torre Annunziata near Naples, firefighters confirmed Friday.

Six more people are still missing, including two children. "We have located the unfortunately lifeless body of a second missing person," firefighters tweeted late in the afternoon.

Rescuers have been working since 6:20 a.m. local time, when the third and fourth floors of the building collapsed while residents were still sleeping.

Eight people went missing after the collapse, including a couple with two children aged 8 and 11 years, the wife and 25-year-old son of an architect, a 65-year-old seamstress, and a man who works for the municipality, according to RAI public broadcaster.

But the two retrieved bodies have yet to be identified, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

So far the only successful rescue was that of a dog called Peky, whose elderly owner escaped unharmed because he had gone out some one hour before the collapse, RAI reported.

"I saw the building crumble and I heard them screaming for help," a woman who lives across the street told ANSA. "I know everyone in that building. My seamstress lives alone on the second floor."

Torre Annunziata Mayor Vincenzo Ascione said the first two floors were uninhabited and were being renovated, according to ANSA.

Televised images showed firefighters, police, and volunteers were digging through the rubble with their bare hands in search of survivors, with rescue dogs sniffing over the area.

A total of 80 rescuers are taking turns in the search for survivors under the sweltering heat, firefighters tweeted.

The cause of the collapse remains unclear now.

Naples prosecutors have opened an investigation in an effort to clarify who may be at fault, ANSA reported.

The building's foundations rest on a lava outcrop overlooking the Gulf of Naples, and reportedly dates back to the 1960s.

It also overlooks a railway line, where train traffic was interrupted after rubble from the collapse fell on the tracks.
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A Metro Vancouver hospital is considering introducing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) among its treatment options.

The British Columbia provincial government has backed a plan for a new patient-care tower at Richmond Hospital, and work is expected to begin this fall on a business plan for the large-scale renovation.

Management at the hospital is considering introducing TCM at the hospital as part of the overall expansion project.

About half of Richmond's 220,000 residents are immigrants from China or of Chinese descent.

"During this planning phase, we are recognizing the importance of traditional Chinese medicine, knowing that Richmond has a large population of Chinese descendants," said Yong Dong You, Richmond Hospital's head of medicine. "Also, there are already quite a few clinics -- acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine clinics -- in the community."

He said offering TCM among the hospital's treatment options remains conceptual at this time.

"There is really no concrete plan yet in terms of the space, or a budget," he told Xinhua on Friday. "But there is an intention, trying to involve traditional Chinese medicine."

The Chinese medicine component in the new tower could involve either -- or both -- research and treatment services, he said.

"We want to make sure that the patient gets the best treatment possible especially at a time when we recognize the use of narcotics and painkillers do have some detrimental effect on patients, and perhaps an alternative treatment would provide better patient care," You said.

Acupuncture is already a medical service covered by British Columbia's public health care system, he said, adding that the government here now has a "fairly robust" system of regulating and monitoring the growing number of Chinese medical clinics in Richmond.

You said Chinese residents and Chinese-Canadians often inquire about TCM treatment options at the hospital.

"I think the Western medicine and Chinese traditional medicine play slightly different roles," he said.

He said the emphasis of TCM treatments could possibly focus on healing, pain control and recovery.

"Richmond is really a good place for us to look into Chinese medicine," he said. "Fifty percent of the population in Richmond is Chinese-Canadian."

The business plan for the new building will take up to a year to complete. That would be followed by procurement and construction of the new building.

"If we do this, we would obviously need to involve a traditional Chinese medicine physician, but that has not been sorted out yet," You said.
The Chinese Communist Party often

persecutes Christians such as these by

giving them unjust prison sentences.

(Photo: ChinaAid)

ChinaAid

(Changji, XinjiangMay 19, 2017) Five Christians with various sentences ranging between three to five years in prison have opted to appeal their verdict in Chinas politically volatile northwestern Xinjiang.

In the midst of rising religious tensions, authorities sentenced five Christians to a range of years in prison on April 18 after they hosted a private Christian meeting in a home last year, which the court ruled was gathering a crowd to disturb public order. Yang Zhaocun and Wang Lulu were sentenced to five years, Cheng Yajie to four years, and Liu Yan and Zheng Lan to three years. All five believe their sentencing to be unfair and are submitting appeals to overturn it.

Lius appeal argues that, based on the stipulations outlined in Article 290 of the Criminal Law of the Peoples Republic of China, their official charge is meant to only convict behaviors that disrupt the process of work, production, business teaching, and scientific research and is determined by the seriousness of the infraction. In addition, it must cause significant loss. She also pointed out that Article 12 of the Regulations on Religious Affairs states that religious activities usually should be held in registered religious sites but does not formally stipulate sanctions against small religious gatherings in private homes. Her lawyer, Li Dunyong, agreed, saying that private gatherings do not break any laws in Xinjiang.

Unlike the rest of the defendants, Zheng had no connection to the Christians who met in her home and was prosecuted for agreeing to accommodate them and for organizing large-scale, illegal Bible studies. Her appeal contends that she grew up in abject poverty and did not receive a high-level of education, causing her to be unaware that there was even a stipulation about gathering.

A translation of Zhengs appeal is forthcoming.

ChinaAid exposes abuses such as those experienced by Yang Zhaocun, Liu Yan, Cheng Yajie, Wang Lulu, and Zheng Lan in order to stand in solidarity with persecuted Christians and promote religious freedom, human rights, and rule of law.

ChinaAid Media Team

Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985

Email: [email protected]

For more information, click here
Workers load thermal coal at a storage base in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Coal prices are predicted to fall slightly in the second half of this year, thanks to government efforts to ensure adequate supplies, industry insiders said.

The Bohai-Rim Steam-Coal Price Index or BSPI, which tracks domestic thermal coal spot prices at six major ports in northern China, hit 580 yuan ($85.26) per ton on Tuesday, up from 577 yuan a week ago.

The high coal prices are the result of a successful capacity reduction as part of the country's supply-side structural reform.

In addition, the surge in steel production last year also drove up coal prices, said Mi Pengqi, an analyst at JLC Network Technology Co.

The latest coal price uptrend may end because of the fall in daily coal consumption of thermal power plants.

Also, consumers also intend to scale down their purchases, according to a report in China Securities Journal that quoted market insiders.

"The central government has eased the policy on (coal) capacity reduction due to the troubled situation related to coal and electricity," said Zhang Min, an analyst from Sublime China Information Group.

He was referring to the continuous rise in thermal coal prices, which in turn were inflating costs, and squeezing profits, of the already troubled thermal power plants since April last year.

About 65 percent of electricity in China is generated by thermal power plants.

According to National Bureau of Statistics, China's coal output rose 12 percent to 300 million tons in May, almost 10 percent in April and nearly 2 percent in March.

That is a reversal of the trend last year when the country's coal output fell 7.9 percent, the biggest annual drop since 1981, according to BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2017.

China eliminated more than 65 million tons of steel production capacity and over 290 million tons of coal capacity last year, beating annual government targets.

Environment and safety inspections led to the closure of many small coal mines. The new regulation, lowering work days in a year to 276, also reduced the production of large coal mining companies, said Mi.

However, the old rule allowing 330 work days in a year has been restored by many provinces like Shanxi and Shaanxi since April, leading to a rise in output.

Also, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, said in late April it would allow coal output to increase to make the fuel cheaper, in order to help struggling power plants.

If Chinese coal prices stay high, however, importers in other countries may look for alternative suppliers as oversupply marks the current global coal market, Mi said. "That will also help lower coal prices."

Since the end of last month, the daily coal consumption of thermal power plants has declined a bit. The year-on-year growth rate has also slowed significantly, the China Securities Journal reported.

Any slight decline in coal prices would squeeze profits of Chinese coal companies but won't cause huge losses, Zhang said.

Although coal prices were volatile in the first half of the year, they were still high, ensuring profits of most coal companies stayed at high levels.
A student works at a makerspace in Kunming University of Science and Technology in Kuming, Yunnan province, April 25. [Photo/VCG]

BEIJING - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has said that the government should attach more importance to encouraging innovation, optimizing the business environment and raising growth quality and efficiency.

Li made the remarks Thursday in a meeting with experts and entrepreneurs on current economic performance and suggestions about future economic work, according to a press release issued Friday.

After the economy stabilized in the first half, "we should not only have firm confidence, but also be well prepared for dealing with all kinds of difficulties," Li said.

China should reduce transaction costs and streamline administration, delegate power to lower levels and improve regulation and services, Li said.

The government should also strive to create an internationally competitive business environment in which domestic and foreign companies are treated on an equal basis, the premier added.

China should continue to implement the strategy of innovation-driven development, improve the environment for entrepreneurship and innovation and upgrade the manufacturing and service sectors, Li said.

He also called for more progresses in technology, product upgrading and raising the quality and efficiency of growth.

China's economy grew 6.9 percent year on year in the first quarter, the fastest pace in six quarters and higher than the government's annual target of around 6.5 percent.

Q2 economic growth rate will be released on July 17.

"China should consolidate the foundation for the stable economic performance with sound growth momentum," Li said.

The country will continue to stabilize macroeconomic policies, market expectations and the financial market, by sticking to its proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy, taking forward-looking and effective macroeconomic regulation measures, and properly defusing risks, he added.

Efforts will also be made to ensure stable employment, reduce corporate burden, expand effective investment and make consumption play a larger role in economic growth.

The government should make sure that people get the benefits from development by fulfilling the promises of poverty relief, rundown area renovation and pollution control, among others, Li said.

"We should reduce the pains and difficulties in people's lives, while increase their senses of gain and happiness," the premier added.
Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, addresses a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the beginning of nationwide war against Japanese aggression at the Museum of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - China on Friday commemorated the 80th anniversary of the beginning of nationwide war against Japanese aggression.

A ceremony was held at the Museum of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression near Lugou Bridge, also known as Marco Polo Bridge, where Japan's full-scale invasion of China began on July 7, 1937.
China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, sails beneath a rainbow as it enters Hong Kong on Friday. [EDMOND TANG/CHINA DAILY]

With an enthusiastic show of support, Hong Kong people welcomed the arrival of a Navy formation including China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, on Friday.

The visit celebrated the 20th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army being stationed in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The flotilla, open for public tours on Saturday and Sunday, is scheduled to stay in the city until Tuesday. This is the first time that the Liaoning has been open to the public.

Coming through the southern part of Hong Kong around 7 am via the East Lamma Channel, the 60,900-metric-ton ship anchored south of Tsing Yi Island, since it is too big to sail into Victoria Harbour.

Speaking at the welcoming ceremony at the PLA Hong Kong garrison's Ngong Shuen Chau barracks on Friday morning, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Hong Kong's chief executive, extended her gratitude on behalf of the city's 7.3 million people to the central government for offering the opportunity to experience the nation's military developments.

The arrival and opening of the ships showed "great care and support" to Hong Kong by the central government, said Lam.

"The Chinese Navy has not only made significant contributions to the country's trade and shipping development, but also demonstrated the country's capability and determination to maintain peace and security in the region and the world," she said.

Noting that many Hong Kong people had lined up overnight for the opportunity to visit the aircraft carrier, Lam said she believed the opening of the ship will allow Hong Kong people to experience the country's achievements in defense, especially military development, and enhance their understanding of the country and strengthen their national identity.

Public tours of the Liaoning will be available on Saturday and Sunday to 2,000 Hong Kong permanent residents. An additional 1,600 tickets went to various social groups in the city.

Upon arrival, Vice-Admiral Ding Yi, deputy commander of the People's Liberation Army Navy, thanked the SAR government and Hong Kong people for the warm welcome and interest in the aircraft carrier. He said the PLA Hong Kong garrison had fulfilled its duties to maintain the SAR's security and stability while Hong Kong underwent enormous changes in the past 20 years.

He emphasized that the central government has attached great significance to the visit. Ding also said he hoped the visit would further inspire Hong Kong people's love for the country and the city, enhancing national spirit.

About 1,500 guests attended the ceremony.

Accompanying the Liaoning are the missile frigate Yantai, missile destroyers Jinan and Yinchuan, and several J-15 fighter jets and helicopters. The area surrounding the carrier was made a no-fly zone from 7 am on Friday till 10:30 am on Tuesday.

Starting at dawn on Friday, residents along the city's southern coasts waited to view the pride of the Navy. People crowded near the water for a view of the ships. Many got the chance to photograph the flotilla from their balconies as the naval formation passed.
TUNIS - Tunisia and China signed on Friday three agreements to boost commercial cooperation between the two countries.

The agreements were signed at the fifth edition of the forum "Tunisia-China: A Partnership for the Future" hosted by the Arab Institute for Business Leaders (IACE) in the capital Tunis.

The agreements involve a mega-project to build a commercial complex worth $65 million in Tunisia, which covers an area of 200,000 square meters.

According to IACE President Ahmed Bouzguenda, the long-awaited agreements benefit from China's Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.

Tunisian senior officials and representatives from a dozen of Chinese multinational enterprises and banks attended the forum.
Trees are submerged by a flood in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on Friday.[YANG BO/CHINA NEWS SERVICE]

Reservoirs along the Yangtze River, including the Three Gorges Reservoir, have played a big role in relieving flood pressure downstream.

As downpours continue in Sichuan province, these reservoirs have been ready for new floods coming downstream, said flood control authorities.

The rainfall that lasted from June 22 to Monday resulted in floods in several major tributaries in the middle reaches of the Yangtze. The water level at the Changsha monitoring station in the Xiangjiang River reached a record 39.51 meters on Monday, higher than the previous record of 39.18 meters set by a massive flood in 1998.

The flood caused great losses in worst hit Hunan province. In Ningxiang county alone, 44 people have been declared dead or missing after heavy downpours that have pounded the county since June 22, leading to the area's worst natural disaster in 60 years, local flood control authorities said on Friday.

It also said about 815,000 people, or 56 percent of the county's population, suffered property losses in the floods.

Peng Xinhuai, who sells suitcases in Ningxiang, put some of the suitcases up on the suspended ceiling in his store on June 1 before he left as water poured into his store.

When he came back the second day, however, the metal roller shutter door of his store had been broken and almost scrunched.

"Even the suspended ceiling was water stained. The water level in the store reached up to 2 meters," the man told Beijing News, adding that he lost suitcases worth more than 200,000 yuan ($29,000).

Tang Kunshi, a 60-year-old resident in Jingtu'an village in Ningxiang, said it was the most severe flood he has experienced in his life. Three motorcycles and two refrigerator of Tang's family were broken after the flood inundated the first floor of his two-story house, Tang said, adding that the house was even soaked in the 1998 flood.

The Three Gorges Reservoir reduced the discharge flow during the rainfall process and other reservoirs in the middle and upper reaches of Yangtze also helped in storing and diverting the flood.

Were it not for these reservoirs, the water level in Chenglingji, a key monitoring station along Yangtze, would be above its highest safety level for another six days, the headquarters said.

It also said the Three Gorges Reservoir had stopped almost 5 billion cubic meters of water as of 8 am Thursday.

While the rainfall in the middle reaches of the Yangtze receded, downpours will strike Sichuan province and Chongqing in the upper reaches with precipitation from 100 to 140 millimeters, which will possibly result in water discharges of up to 50,000 cubic meters per second into the Three Gorges, the headquarters said.

It said it had asked the Three Gorges to increase its flow from 8,000 to 10,000 cubic meters per second on Thursday to give space for the coming flood, and the flow will be adjusted daily based on the situation.

Feng Zhiwei in Changsha contributed to this story.
The United Kingdom will further help to revitalize the milu deer in China through introducing different species for crossbreeding with the support of World Wide Fund for Nature.

On Friday, WWF signed a memorandum of understanding with the Forestry Department of Hunan province to promote crossbreeding of milu, known as Pere David Deer in the West, between Europe and China.

The UK's Princess Anne was invited as a distinguished guest.

Under the plan revealed by WWF, milu from Woburn Abbey Deer Park in the UK will travel to China for breeding younger generations to avoid degeneration of the gene pool.

As one of the largest conservation parks in Europe, Woburn Abbey Deer Park holds nine deer species, among which seven originated from Asia, including the critically endangered milu deer that at one point had been extinct in the wild in China.

The 22 deer have returned to their native habitat of Beijing as a gift from the Marquis of Tavistock of Woburn Abbey.

According to WWF, 6,000 milu are now living worldwide, with about 5,000 in China and the rest in Europe. As many as 600 milu in China live in the wild in Hubei and Hunan provinces along the Yangtze River.

However, due to decades of breeding with other deer, the group's genes are suffering from degeneration.

"The survival and growth of milu is representative of a harmonious relationship between humans and nature," said Ren Wenwei, water practice leader of WWF China.

He said the crossbreeding program will further promote international cooperation and boost cross-regional communication between research institutes.

Hunan is now the world's largest habitat of wild milu (about 100 to 120), which traveled from bordering Hubei province in 1998 due to a flood, according to Deng Sanlong, head of the Hunan Forestry Department.

"We will launch several research programs to follow the crossbreeding process and help them to go into the wild," Deng said.

Wang Han, a well-known TV host in Hunan, was named WWF's ambassador of milu protection work.

"Thanks to the UK for returning milu to China in the 1980s. As we are protecting the wildlife variety, we are always reminded to keep our respect toward nature," Wang said.
A giant panda.[File photo]

CHENGDUWang Dezhi recalls the first time he visited the Old Creek forest farm in 2010.

Then, fish used to be poisoned and wild animals were shot for cash.

Now a nature reserve in Southwest China's Sichuan province, Old Creek plays a key role in a planned national park that will unite the isolated habitats of 1,864 giant pandas in the wild.

The transformation has changed the fortunes of both the people and the wildlife in the area.

The national park, covering 27,134 square kilometers, will be three times the size of Yellowstone National Park in the United States.

It will have four major parts: a core protection area; a restoration area; a touring and education zone; and an area for living and production.

The park will have corridors linking 67 panda reserves on six mountain ranges.

A state-owned forest farm established in the 1970s, Old Creek is one of the natural corridors linking habitats in northern Gansu and Sichuan. In 1998, China halted logging there.

Recalling how difficult it was to make changes, Wang, the chief scientist of the Paradise Foundation, a Sichuan-based conservation group, says: "Poaching and collecting herbs were easy ways to make money. So, the villagers did not care much about the environment."

Then, after two years of research and negotiation, the foundation and Pingwu County, where the farm is located, signed a 50-year land trust contract where the foundation was charged with protecting Old Creek Nature Reserve.

"We then realized that there were two key factors for conservation: fending off poachers and finding environmentally sustainable ways for locals to make a better living," says Wang.

Meanwhile, the foundation is promoting organic farming at nearby Minzhu village, in Gaocun township.

Speaking about the initiative, Shu Cheng, who liaises with the farmers, says: "We buy the produce so long as the farmers use environment-friendly methods and the produce is free of chemical fertilizers. We pay higher prices than the local market."

Chen Xiaohong raises free-range chickens and pigs and grows walnuts, peanuts and corn. Last year, Chen's family earned around 50,000 yuan ($7,355), almost double their income six years ago.

Now, 90 rural families have joined the organic farming program and each family had increased their income by at least 10,000 yuan a year, says Sun Jun, the head of the Gaocun township.

Sun says this has kept poachers at bay and Old Creek Nature Reserve has regained its biodiversity.

Since 2016, infrared cameras captured photos of giant pandas 55 times within the 110 sq km of the reserve.

Giving details, Hou Rong, director of Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, says: "We used to stress on protecting the pandas, but the lack of capital and a unified plan rendered many reserves unable to keep the system on track."

Since the park plan was announced in March, two mines have closed within Gaocun township. But many workers have found new jobs as Old Creek Nature Reserve rangers.

Chen Xianghui, a former worker at Old Creek forest farm, now leads patrols around the mountains four times a week to deter poachers and check that the 80 infrared cameras are working.

The foundation has also trained local people as tour guides.

"We are also helping families renovate their homes as commercial accommodation," says Wang.

Sichuan is also planning to create an international panda tourist trail by integrating the panda research centers and the reserves.

"In such a vast area with such a diverse ecology, conservation needs the support of the locals," says Wang. "This park is in the interest of both pandas and humans."
WASHINGTON - The Donald Trump administration is being drawn further into the crisis engulfing Qatar and many of its Gulf Arab neighbors, a diplomatic tussle that it wanted to avoid.

Despite numerous US appeals for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt to resolve their issues with Qatar on their own, the State Department said on Thursday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would visit the region next week in a bid to mediate a solution.

Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tillerson would visit Kuwait, which has been trying to broker an agreement, on Monday after stops in Ukraine and Turkey. She said Tillerson would meet with Kuwaiti officials, but his presence in the region leaves open the possibility that he may try to shuttle between the neighboring countries to forge a resolution.
Re-TROS, short for Rebuilding the Rights of Statues, is a post-punk rock band based in Beijing, which was founded by Hua Dong in 2003.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Re-TROS, a Chinese post-punk rock band based in Beijing, will launch a tour in North America, as it strives for increased global recognition

Chinese band Re-TROS made its debut in the United Kingdom in May. On the first night, it performed at The Cavern, a small nightclub in Liverpool, where the Beatles used to play regularly.

Then three days later, it performed at the Liverpool Sound City Music Festival, a major annual event of Liverpool.

"We experienced a different atmosphere at each venue. It felt great," says Hua Dong, the band's lead vocalist and guitarist, adding that at the festival, he met some of his favorite musicians, such as John Cale, one of the founding members of the legendary rock band Velvet Underground.

"I saw many elder people wearing T-shirts with images of Velvet Underground at the festival - which is different from China. In China, outdoor music festivals are packed with young people."

Re-TROS, short for Rebuilding the Rights of Statues, is a post-punk rock band based in Beijing, which was founded by Hua Dong in 2003.

Hua, who was born in Nanjing, in East China's Jiangsu province, gave up studying German at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, in Leipzig, to focus on his music.

The band has a sizable fan base in China thanks to its music, a combination of post-punk beats and synthesizers. This April, it toured more than 20 Chinese cities.
Chinese art show opens for summit 2017-07-08 00:27:36 China Daily UK Cecily Liu More than 70 Chinese ink paintings depicting people from all walks of life will be showcased at the Me Collectors Room Berlin, giving German audiences a unique opportunity to better understand the Chinese people through artworks.

More than 70 Chinese ink paintings depicting people from all walks of life will be showcased at the Me Collectors Room Berlin, giving German audiences a unique opportunity to better understand the Chinese people through artworks.

The exhibition, named Experience China - the Most Beautiful Chinese, will be open to the public on Thursday and Friday. It is the largest ever Chinese ink painting exhibition themed on the Chinese people in Germany.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of China-Germany diplomatic relations. President Xi Jinping arrived in Berlin on Tuesday, before traveling to Hamburg to attend the G20 Global Leaders Summit on Friday and Saturday.

Xu Li, secretary-general of the China Artists Association, which hosts the exhibition, said paintings were chosen that depict the hard-working nature, kindness, intelligence and perseverance of the Chinese people, across different ethnic groups and in different professions.

"Paintings in the exhibition follow very traditional ink painting techniques, which are unique to the Chinese culture and steeped in history. Using traditional painting techniques to depict the lives of the Chinese people today also help show continuity in our culture," said Xu.

The exhibition presents portraits of notable figures such as Lei Feng, Qi Baishi and Huang Binhong. Lei is a 20th century soldier known for his kind heart and keenness to help others. Qi and Huang are Chinese 20th century ink painting masters, who revolutionized the practice of Chinese ink painting.

Many paintings in the collection also depict Chinese ethnic people, whose rich clothes and cultural practices have long fascinated foreign visitors. For example, one picture depicts a group of ethnic Miao girls, who wear elaborate headdresses and gowns made from fabric intricately incorporating red, blue, white and black threads. They stand against a background of mountains, because the Miao people mostly lived in Southwest China's mountainous terrains.

Meanwhile, other paintings show many activities common in Chinese culture, such as riding horses in the wild, doing threading work at home, or playing the Chinese instrument erhu. Modern city life is also shown, such as Chinese people practising ballet.

Klaas Ruitenbeek, director of the Asian Art Museum in Berlin, said: "This exhibition plays an important role in building culture bridges, it came at an important time when the German public is increasingly fascinated by Chinese culture, which is so rich and diverse."

The Asian Art Museum in Berlin hosts about 1,000 Chinese ink paintings - the largest collection in Germany. The paintings date from the Song Dynasty (420 to 479) to the present day.

Contact the writer at cecily.liu@mail.chinadailyuk.com
First lady Peng visits Port of Hamburg 2017-07-08 11:46:45 Xinhua Peng Liyuan, wife of President Xi Jinping, visited Port of Hamburg Friday with spouses of other heads of state and government attending the Group of 20 summit.

HAMBURG, Germany - Peng Liyuan, wife of President Xi Jinping, visited Port of Hamburg Friday with spouses of other heads of state and government attending the Group of 20 summit.

Peng was briefed on the history and the general situation of Port of Hamburg while cruise touring the harbor with others.

The guide particularly introduced a Chinese container ship which was anchoring at a container quay to all the guests on board.

Peng said that Hamburg, with the time-honored ties with China, has become a bridge linking Chinese and European business circles.

The Belt and Road Initiative provides new opportunities for enhancing cooperation between China and Hamburg, she added.
President Xi eyes more stable, rapid development of ties with Britain 2017-07-08 11:57:03 Xinhua President Xi Jinping on Friday met with British Prime Minister Theresa May amid the Group of 20 (G20) summit, calling for more stable, rapid and sound development of bilateral relations.

HAMBURG, Germany - President Xi Jinping on Friday met with British Prime Minister Theresa May amid the Group of 20 (G20) summit, calling for more stable, rapid and sound development of bilateral relations.

Xi recalled his meeting with May on the sidelines of the G20 summit held in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou in September last year when the two leaders reaffirmed the general direction of the "Golden Era" of bilateral relations.

With efforts of both sides, the two countries have deepened strategic mutual trust and promoted pragmatic cooperation in various fields to a high level, Xi said.

As 2017 marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Britain diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level, the development of bilateral ties face new opportunities, Xi said.

China is willing to work with Britain to lift the global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century to a higher level, so as to better benefit the two peoples, he added.

Xi stressed that bilateral relations should be cultivated on the basis of reinforced strategic mutual trust.

The two sides should adhere to the principle of mutual respect and equality, and respect each other's core interests and major concerns, he added.

The two countries should maintain close high-level exchanges and institutional dialogues in various fields, so as to make top-level planning for a sustainable and stable development of bilateral ties, he said.

Xi said that strengthening pragmatic cooperation is the pillar in developing China-Britain relations.

The two countries should strengthen pragmatic cooperation in various fields and enhance the synergy of the two countries' development agendas within the framework of the the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.

The two countries can also deepen cooperation in finance and nuclear energy sectors, as well as promote people-to-people exchanges, he added.

He said that cementing international coordination is a highlight in the development of bilateral relations.

The two countries should strengthen cooperation and coordination in international and regional issues, deepen exchanges within multilateral frameworks, such as the United Nations, the G20 and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Xi said.

China and Britain need to seek common ground while shelving differences, and preserve the overall development of bilateral ties through concrete efforts to achieve more stable, rapid and sound development of bilateral relations, he added.

May said that Britain is committed to boosting the global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century between the two countries, and sticking to the general direction of the "Golden Era" of bilateral relations.

Britain values China's great influence on major global issues, while the two sides share common interests in many fields, she said.

Britain will give full play to the bilateral high-level dialogue mechanisms, expand cooperation with China in such fields as trade, investment, culture, and security, as well as closely communicate and coordinate with China on international and regional hotspot issues, she added.
China, Germany new de facto global leaders 2017-07-08 13:38:08 chinadaily.com.cn Markus Weidling This year marks the 45th anniversary of Sino-German diplomatic relations. During this time, the two countries have continuously grown closer and stronger.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of Sino-German diplomatic relations. During this time, the two countries have continuously grown closer and stronger.

China and Germany have become indispensable trade partners, each of great value to one another. The German Chamber of Commerce (AHK) estimated the bilateral trade value at around 170 billion in 2016, making Germany Chinas largest trading partner in Europe. The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which was established in 2014, continues to thrive to this day.

The significance of this partnership from a global perspective cannot be expressed more clearly in such few words. Hence, there is no doubt that Sino-German relations are of vital importance for the G20 process.

There are obvious signs that global leadership is changing. Even the First Diplomat of World, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres dares to speak out loud what most people think. He has suggested that if the US continues to disengage from too many issues confronting the international community, the USA will be replaced as world leader. Well, it would seem that this has already started to occur.

Agreeing with the German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, Germany will not look to make a rival out of America, but rather take responsibility and assume the role of leader. Nevertheless, it has become clear that the mantle of world leadership has been forced upon both Germany and China in light of US President Donald Trumps unpredictable behavior and unilateral attitudes.

Despite not agreeing on each and every issue in this complex world, China and Germany must, undisputedly, take the forefront in climate protection and find their feet in their new de facto role as global leaders. The foundation has been laid for successful discussions and negotiations to find solutions.

Ten years ago the German federal government faced heavy criticism from its liberal opposition for its developmental cooperation with China in the fields of climate protection and renewable energy. Today China gears up to become the frontrunner for global climate protection and we are building our planets hopes on it.

Further progress must be made, as climate change is unquestionably the most important challenge on the global agenda and there are many Germans who are placing their trust and hopes in China to honor its pledge of upholding and pursuing climate protection initiatives.

The future Sino-German partnership will undoubtedly continue to prosper, as both Premier Li and President Xis state visits to Germany have reassured the world that cooperation in the fields of trade, aerospace, human rights and climate change are at the forefront of their strategic partnership.

Projects to promote free trade and globalization such as the Belt and Road Initiative and its climate protection initiatives such as Chinas Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) demonstrate the potential for further successful relations. Such innovation has been widely hailed by Germany, and more generally, Europe.

In light of Britains decision to leave the EU, there has been a shift from the traditional status quo with Germany becoming ever more Chinas new best friend in Europe.

Germany will not embrace this role, as it sees itself as part of a strong EU. However, it will certainly leverage its position within the EU to build and enhance the EU-China partnership.

On this axis, global challenges can be met  effectively and efficiently.

The G20 serves as a platform for the fair and equal dialogue between the most important economies in the world, where solutions to international issues can be discussed. Hopefully this years G20 summit will continue to express the spirit of partnership through discussing existing problems and cooperating in everyones best interest. This spirit of unity will be the deciding factor for the success of this years G20.

Now it is important that G20 members once again focus on joint global challenges rather than on fostering neo-nationalist sentiments.

The author is the Managing Partner at Interel, a leading global public affairs and government relations consulting company with practice in major economies around the world, including China.
The highlight of the celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to China was the three-day visit by President Xi Jinping. The president visited the construction site of the West Kowloon Cultural District and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, officiated at the military parade at the garrison and inaugurated the new chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region.

The most noteworthy part of Xi's visit was his speech at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on July 1, after the SAR administration led by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was sworn into office. Many key points of the speech were long-standing policies. And I believe the central part of Xi's speech was about implementation of the "one country, two systems" principle, specifically his four main points.

First, he referred to the "one country" principle as the roots of a tree which must run deep and strong to hold the tree stable. This reference is clearly in response to the repeated provocation by the opposition to challenge the central government's authority over the SAR. Opposition parties have long been trying to use "two systems" to resist "one country". In recent years, the opposition camp has stepped up its rhetoric and used terms like localism, self-determination and even "independence". The Basic Law has already guaranteed Hong Kong a very high degree of autonomy and the repeated use of these inflammatory slogans can only be interpreted as an attack on China's sovereignty. Therefore, Xi had to be very straightforward with his points when he drew a "red line" for those impermissible behaviors.

Second, Hong Kong residents are very proud of their tradition of upholding the rule of law. Yet there is a fair amount of resistance to the promotion of the Basic Law. Efforts to promote the Basic Law have always been defamed as brainwashing by many, especially those in the education sector.

The key messages of the Basic Law, such as the "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China", is something that everyone can and should understand.

Third, almost everything in the SAR has been politicized. Many people are obsessed with partisan attacks and society seems to be consumed by petty differences. This is leading us nowhere. There are golden opportunities, such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Greater Bay Area project, for Hong Kong to seize; there are also many problems waiting to be solved, such as stagnant economic growth, shortage of housing, poverty and the aging population.

Years of political bickering have torn our city apart. We have wasted too much time and attention on trivial disagreements that benefit no one but politicians in the opposition. Finally, the central government is willing to lead the way by seeking broad common ground while setting aside major differences. It is ready to communicate with anyone who genuinely supports the principle of "one country, two systems" and the Basic Law, regardless of their political views or position.

The opposition parties should change their mentality and attitude and try to work constructively to solve our common problems. And the new administration should display more goodwill by inviting the opposition for dialogue. Actually, it has started doing that.

Xi's speech is a timely review of the implementation of the "one country two systems" principle. Xi has a thorough understanding of the current situation of Hong Kong and has offered us suitable and workable solutions to our problems. I sincerely hope this would be the beginning of the end of the polarization of our community.

Xi reminded us that we ought to focus on development as the top priority since it holds the golden key to resolving various issues in Hong Kong.

The author is an executive member of the New People's Party in Hong Kong and a former civil servant.
Nearly 40 years of economic growth has liberated the majority of Chinese people from arduous physical labor, but they still seem to have an irresistible craving for high-calorie food which they acquired during the long shortages of necessities, even famines, in the past. And because of this craving, many of them have become overweight or obese, posing a public health threat.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has warned in its recent report that people's widening waistline is fast evolving into a major inducement to chronic diseases.

The rate of overweight individuals is higher in the northern part of China compared to the southern part. Tianjin has the highest rate of overweight people (40.9 percent), among all provinces and regions, with the Tibet autonomous region (18.4 percent) having the lowest. Beijing has the highest rate of obesity (25.9 percent) in China, and Hainan province and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region the lowest (5.7 percent), the center said in the report.

The impact of the obesity problem on the urban population is not only limited to health, but also has a bearing on other aspects of their social life. For example, in May, two key private primary schools in Shanghai said obese parents lower their children's chances of emerging successful in the fiercely competitive interviews for enrollment in schools.

The policy, deemed unfair and discriminative by many, has, however, been supported by a larger number of people, who believe that a well-preserved figure represents the quality of life, self-discipline and strong sense of self-consciousness, and parents with these qualities are more likely to be role models for their children, especially when it comes to their education.

Yet the argument does not hold water, because it ignores the many and complicated causes that may lead to obesity. Besides, there is no reason to attribute obesity to laziness and voracity. Usually, three factors can be responsible for obesity: inheritance, environment and lifestyle, including habits. So obesity that stems from genetic factors cannot be controlled by the obese people alone.

Before implementing the enrollment policies, the two schools should at least differentiate among different causes of obesity. But that would make the enrollment procedure very complicated and increasingly irrelevant to testing a child's learning capacity and potential.

Obesity, as a social problem, can be solved only through the efforts of the entire society. Some entrenched prejudices and ignorance drive obese people toward self-abasement and recessive depression, which further estrange the obese from others, and turn them into hopeless individuals.

A long-term study in Britain covering 5,400 volunteers above 50 years of age found that the chance of obese people, who feel discriminated against by society, trying to take up at least one physical exercise regime of moderate intensity is 66 percent lower than individuals who are not obese.

The reason is that obese people care more about how other people perceive them and they don't want to become a focus of public attention, let alone a laughingstock, while doing physical exercise. The peculiar and discriminative attention from people around them can deepen obese people's stereotype belief that they are innately lazy and inactive, which ultimately boils down to self-abandonment.

It is necessary to raise public awareness to end the discrimination and prejudice against obese people. Therefore, obesity should be seen as a social issue. China needs a more forgiving social environment to encourage obese people to take the initiative of losing weight through scientific methods, which would be conducive to improving public health as a whole.

The author is a columnist for China Youth Daily. The article was first published in CYD on July 5.
This year marks the 45th anniversary of Sino-German diplomatic relations. During this time, the two countries have continuously grown closer and stronger.

China and Germany have become indispensable trade partners, each of great value to one another. The German Chamber of Commerce (AHK) estimated the bilateral trade value at around 170 billion in 2016, making Germany Chinas largest trading partner in Europe. The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which was established in 2014, continues to thrive to this day.

The significance of this partnership from a global perspective cannot be expressed more clearly in such few words. Hence, there is no doubt that Sino-German relations are of vital importance for the G20 process.

There are obvious signs that global leadership is changing. Even the First Diplomat of World, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres dares to speak out loud what most people think. He has suggested that if the US continues to disengage from too many issues confronting the international community, the USA will be replaced as world leader. Well, it would seem that this has already started to occur.

Agreeing with the German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, Germany will not look to make a rival out of America, but rather take responsibility and assume the role of leader. Nevertheless, it has become clear that the mantle of world leadership has been forced upon both Germany and China in light of US President Donald Trumps unpredictable behavior and unilateral attitudes.

Despite not agreeing on each and every issue in this complex world, China and Germany must, undisputedly, take the forefront in climate protection and find their feet in their new de facto role as global leaders. The foundation has been laid for successful discussions and negotiations to find solutions.

Ten years ago the German federal government faced heavy criticism from its liberal opposition for its developmental cooperation with China in the fields of climate protection and renewable energy. Today China gears up to become the frontrunner for global climate protection and we are building our planets hopes on it.

Further progress must be made, as climate change is unquestionably the most important challenge on the global agenda and there are many Germans who are placing their trust and hopes in China to honor its pledge of upholding and pursuing climate protection initiatives.

The future Sino-German partnership will undoubtedly continue to prosper, as both Premier Li and President Xis state visits to Germany have reassured the world that cooperation in the fields of trade, aerospace, human rights and climate change are at the forefront of their strategic partnership.

Projects to promote free trade and globalization such as the Belt and Road Initiative and its climate protection initiatives such as Chinas Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) demonstrate the potential for further successful relations. Such innovation has been widely hailed by Germany, and more generally, Europe.

In light of Britains decision to leave the EU, there has been a shift from the traditional status quo with Germany becoming ever more Chinas new best friend in Europe.

Germany will not embrace this role, as it sees itself as part of a strong EU. However, it will certainly leverage its position within the EU to build and enhance the EU-China partnership.

On this axis, global challenges can be met  effectively and efficiently.

The G20 serves as a platform for the fair and equal dialogue between the most important economies in the world, where solutions to international issues can be discussed. Hopefully this years G20 summit will continue to express the spirit of partnership through discussing existing problems and cooperating in everyones best interest. This spirit of unity will be the deciding factor for the success of this years G20.

Now it is important that G20 members once again focus on joint global challenges rather than on fostering neo-nationalist sentiments.

The author is the Managing Partner at Interel, a leading global public affairs and government relations consulting company with practice in major economies around the world, including China.


A general view from Victoria Peak is seen in Hong Kong. Along the streets that angle sharply upward toward the mountains above, a more relaxed pace of life endures.[Photo/Agencies] Visitors to The Peak on Hong Kong island look out over Victoria Harbor, beyond which lies the Kowloon district and the border with the mainland. The urban space below, once known as Victoria after the British queen, formed the core of the British settlement after Hong Kong island was handed over as a colony by the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in 1842 following the First Opium War (1840-42). Today as Hong Kong just had the 20th anniversary of its return to China, the waterfront remains a bustling commercial and financial center as well as the location of the city legislature and other main government offices. However, along the streets that angle sharply up to Victoria Peak above, a more relaxed pace of life endures, with bars, restaurants, boutiques and more traditional shops lining the narrow lanes. Street art brightens many of the exterior walls with a whimsical feel.
The Diaoyu Fortress is one of the great ancient battlefields of China, located on the Diaoyu Mountain in Hechuan district, Chongqing.[Photo by Huang Jinguo/China Daily]

Cultural forces in Chongqing shaped history and destiny

When the Mongolian army swept across Central Asia and into Europe in 1259, it seemed that nobody could stop them from conquering the world, until unexpected news arrived from the east. Supreme leader Mongke, the Great Khan, had died in a battle near modern-day Chongqing in southwest China. The news caused the army to panic and led to a feud between Mongke's brothers. It resulted in the overall military withdrawal that may have saved the European and Arab civilizations.

Fast-forward 700 years, and the site of Mongke's death, Diaoyu Fortress on a hill in Chongqing's Hechuan district, is in the running for UNESCO World Heritage Site listing.

Excavations since 2012 have discovered the defensive headquarters of a 4,600-strong Chinese army - the last stand against the invading Mongolians.

"A powerful army led by Mongke advanced on the Song Dynasty from the north into Sichuan, the strategic backyard of the then-Chinese empire. Resistance could only be organized in the mountains surrounding Chongqing," said Yuan Dongshan, head of Chongqing Cultural Heritage Research Institute, who is in charge of the excavation.

Archaeologists have excavated 20,000 square meters of the site and found government offices, garrisons, warehouses, and banquet halls. The architecture was designed for war, according to Yuan.

The Song (960-1279) was one of China's more culturally and economically developed dynasties, which saw the invention or popularity of the compass, gunpowder, paper and printing, and which subsequently spread to the rest of the world along the Silk Road.

Archaeologists have also found artifacts from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) when China was one of the strongest countries in the world.
The G20 Summit participants pose for a group photo on the first day of the summit in Hamburg, Germany, on Friday. The summit will conclude on Saturday. MICHAEL SOHN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Xi tells leaders a multilateral trade system will bear fruit for all people

The leaders of the BRICS countries reached important consensus on building an open world economy and improving global economic governance during their informal meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, on Friday.

President Xi Jinping presided over the meeting, since China holds the rotating presidency of the BRICS bloc this year.

The BRICS Summit will be held from September 3 to 5 in Xiamen, Fujian province.

Xi said in his speech that there are currently positive signs for the world's economy, with a promising future for the development of BRICS countries, and at the same time, there are also challenges ahead for the BRICS members.

He called on the member countries to establish an open world economy, maintain a multilateral trade system and push forward open, inclusive, beneficial, balanced and win-win economic globalization, thus making the fruits of economic growth accessible for all people.

The BRICS countries should unswervingly stick to the principle of multilateralism in addressing conflicts and disputes, strive to achieve peace and cooperation, and make full use of multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations to discuss international rules, he said.
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Allegations of election meddling loom large over historic meeting

HAMBURG, Germany - With broad grins and a warm handshake, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin warmed up for their historic encounter on Friday under the shadow of US outrage about alleged Russian election meddling and nagging questions about potential Trump campaign collusion.

Ahead of a formal, sit-down meeting, Trump and Putin were seen exchanging pleasantries as a leaders' retreat got underway in Hamburg.

As officials gathered around a table, Trump outstretched his hand to Putin and then patted his elbow and both men smiled. A brief video clip shows Trump casually patting Putin on the back as they stand side by side.

Video of the exchange was posted to Facebook by the German Cabinet. It was the first known in-person interaction between the two men, who have spoken by telephone since Trump was inaugurated in January.

The two leaders planned later on Friday to hold longer talks on Syria and other issues on the sidelines of the G20 summit of industrialized and developing nations.

The White House said it has scheduled 35 minutes for the meeting.

"Much to discuss," Trump tweeted before the encounter.

When asked if Putin was looking forward to the talks and whether he had lots of questions for Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did.

The heavily anticipated meeting is being closely scrutinized for signs of how friendly a rapport Trump and Putin will have. Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, had notoriously strained ties to Moscow, and Trump has expressed an interest in a better US-Russia relationship.

But deep skepticism about Russia in the US and ongoing investigations into whether Trump's campaign coordinated with Moscow during last year's election have made a detente politically risky for Trump.
By An Baijie in Berlin and Zhang Yunbi in Beijing | China Daily | Updated: 2017-07-08 07:01

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Hamburg, Germany, July 6, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Xi meets with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong before opening of G20 Summit

China and Singapore should continue to support each other on issues related to their own core interests and major concerns, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday.

Xi, meeting with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Hamburg ahead of the Group of 20 Summit opening, said China attaches great importance to developing close relations with Singapore and would like to advance their ties.

Singapore was among the nonmember countries and organizations invited to the summit by the host, Germany, as a partner to the G20 process.

Currently China is the largest trade partner of Singapore, and Singapore has become one of China's top 10 trade partners.

Xi cited construction, trade, investment and finance as areas in which the two countries should deepen cooperation, adding that they should also work together on cyberspace and information technology.

Lee said Singapore will continue supporting and participating in the Belt and Road Initiative and would implement major projects between the two governments. Singapore also will expand cooperation in areas including finance, high-speed railways and free-trade zone construction, Lee added.

China is not only Singapore's largest destination for outbound investment but also Singapore's largest source of foreign visitors.

Last month, the two sides held their third round of negotiations on upgrading free trade zone cooperation.

Xi said the two nations have a traditional friendship, have seen fruitful outcomes from their cooperation and have learned from each other.

Xi said they should boost bilateral exchange programs involving teenagers and college students. They should also increase visits by citizens and enhance public opinion about each other, he added.

Xi said they should enhance coordination within multilateral organizations, such as the United Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group and the G20, to improve global governance.

This year, Singapore is coordinator of the relationship between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Singapore will assume ASEAN's presidency next year.

Xi said China supports Singapore's work, and believes that Singapore will help improve China-ASEAN pragmatic cooperation, jointly navigate the regional integration process and build up the China-ASEAN community of shared destiny.

Lee said Singapore would like to play a positive role in promoting China-ASEAN relations.

Contact the writers at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn
President Xi Jinping has consistently shown China's strong commitment to act as a responsible global stakeholder by advocating for an open economy and promoting multilateral trade, inclusive growth, and the digital economy, experts said.

They commented after Xi made four suggestions regarding economic growth and international trade during the first working session at the G20 summit, in Hamburg on Friday.

Experts said Xi spoke of continuing efforts to bring the world closer by removing trade and infrastructural barriers. The sentiments echoed proposals he made in January at the World Economic Forum and at the Belt and Road Initiative forum in Beijing in May.

Guido Cozzi, professor of macroeconomics at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland

Guido Cozzi, a professor of macroeconomics at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, said Xi's four suggestions show a very open and mature vision of how the world economy should work.

"This is very reassuring, especially for Europe," said Cozzi. "Both regions benefit from openness and suffer from geopolitical, financial, and environmental risk."

Shada Islam, director of Europe and Geopolitics at Friends of Europe

"President Xi has spotlighted the key challenges facing all nations today," said Shada Islam, director of Europe and geopolitics at the Brussels-based Friends of Europe.

"He has illustrated that China recognizes the importance of trade liberalization, open economies, the potential of further using digitization to boost development, and meeting the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals."

Islam noted that by mentioning the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi showed China's readiness to work with other countries to tackle major challenges.



Erik Berglof, director of the London School of Economics' Institute of Global Affairs

Erik Berglof, director of the Institute of Global Affairs at the London School of Economics, said Xi is continuing to embrace globalization.

"His language is very close to that of the communique from Hangzhou," he noted.

Shi Shiwei, director of the research center for Europe at the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics

Shi Shiwei, director of the research center for Europe at the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics, said Xi's emphasis on inclusive growth was significant because it addresses a major challenge to globalization  the unequal distribution of benefits.

"Xi's advocacy for the benefits of globalization to benefit both developed and developing economies is important," said Shi, who said an emphasis on improving industrial capacity, economic liberalization, and climate change mitigation were also ways in which emerging economies will benefit from globalization.

Shi said financial collaboration, green finance development, labor market development and equality are also important in creating an inclusive growth framework.

Delegates also discussed sustainable development, climate change, and coordinating the fight against terrorism at the closed-door meeting.

On Saturday, they will discuss partnerships with Africa, digitization, employment, and female empowerment.
President Xi Jinping attends the 12th Summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua]

HAMBURG, Germany - President Xi Jinping on Friday delivered a speech at the 12th Summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies.

The following is the full text of the speech:

Promoting Openness and Inclusiveness

To Achieve Interconnected Growth

Statement on the State of the Global Economy by H.E. Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

At the G20 Hamburg Summit

Hamburg, 7 July 2017

Chancellor Merkel,

Dear colleagues,

It is a great pleasure to be with you in Hamburg, the City of Bridges, to discuss ways of building a bridge of cooperation to advance our shared prosperity. First of all, I express heartfelt appreciation to you, Chancellor Merkel, and the German government for your warm hospitality.

The global economy is showing signs of moving in the right direction. The related international organizations forecast that it will grow by 3.5 percent this year, the best performance that we have seen in several years. This would not be possible without the efforts of the G20. On the other hand, the global economy is still plagued by deep-seated problems and faces many uncertainties and destabilizing factors.

Facing such challenges, the G20 agreed in Hangzhou last year on the path forward: building an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive world economy. This year, building on the theme of the Hangzhou Summit, the Hamburg Summit has made "Shaping an Interconnected World" its theme. What we need to do now is to work together to translate our vision into action. With this in mind, I wish to state the following:

Firstly, we should stay committed to building an open global economy. This commitment of the G20 to build open economies saw us through the global financial crisis, and this commitment is vital to reenergizing the global economy. Various international organizations have revised upward forecast for this year's global growth, mainly because of a projected 2.4 percent growth for global trade and 5 percent growth for global investment. We must remain committed to openness and mutual benefit for all so as to increase the size of the global economic "pie". As the world's major economies, we should and must lead the way, support the multilateral trading system, observe the jointly established rules and, through consultation, seek all-win solutions to common challenges we face.

Secondly, we should foster new sources of growth for the global economy. Innovation, more than anything else, is such a new source of growth. Research shows that 95 percent of the world's businesses are now closely linked with the Internet, and the global economy is transitioning toward a digital economy. This means we should boost cooperation in digital economy and the new industrial revolution and jointly develop new technologies, new industries, new business models and new products. Another source of growth derives from making greater efforts to address the issue of development and implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and such efforts will both benefit developing countries and generate business and investment opportunities for developed countries. In other words, this will be a win-win game for all. At the Hangzhou Summit last year, we reached important consensus on innovation and development. This momentum of cooperation created has been sustained this year under the German chairmanship of G20. Going forward, we should see that more substantial and concrete outcomes are delivered.

Thirdly, we should work together to achieve more inclusive global growth. Currently, global economic growth is not balanced, and technological advances work against job creation. According to the projection of the World Economic Forum, artificial intelligence will take away more than 5 million jobs in the world by 2020. The G20 has an important mission, which is to reaffirm the vision of pursuing inclusive growth agreed upon at the Hangzhou Summit last year, and strike a balance between fairness and efficiency, between capital and labor, and between technology and employment. To achieve this goal, we must ensure synergy between economic and social policies, address the mismatch between industrial upgrading and knowledge and skills, and ensure more equitable income distribution. The G20 needs to place more importance on cooperation in education, training, employment, business start-up and wealth distribution-related mechanisms, as progress on these fronts will make economic globalization work better.

Fourthly, we should continue improving global economic governance. In the wake of the global financial crisis, the G20 has done a lot to improve macroeconomic policy coordination, reform international financial institutions, tighten international financial regulation and combat tax avoidance, thus ensuring financial market stability and recovery. We should build on these achievements. In particular, we should strengthen coordination of macroeconomic policies, forestall risks in financial markets and develop financial inclusion and green finance to make the financial sector truly drive the development of the real economy.

China recently hosted a successful Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Acting in the spirit of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, the forum participants achieved fruitful outcomes in terms of boosting the connectivity of policies, infrastructure, trade, finance and people. Guided by a new vision of governance, we built a new platform of cooperation to tap into new sources of growth. The commitment of the Belt and Road Forum is highly compatible with the goal of the G20.

A German saying goes to the effect that, "Those who work alone, add; those who work together, multiply." In this spirit, let us work together to promote interconnected growth for shared prosperity and build toward a global community with a shared future.
President Xi Jinping meets with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

HAMBURG, Germany - President Xi Jinping on Friday met with British Prime Minister Theresa May amid the Group of 20 (G20) summit, calling for more stable, rapid and sound development of bilateral relations.

Xi recalled his meeting with May on the sidelines of the G20 summit held in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou in September last year when the two leaders reaffirmed the general direction of the "Golden Era" of bilateral relations.

With efforts of both sides, the two countries have deepened strategic mutual trust and promoted pragmatic cooperation in various fields to a high level, Xi said.

As 2017 marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Britain diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level, the development of bilateral ties face new opportunities, Xi said.

China is willing to work with Britain to lift the global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century to a higher level, so as to better benefit the two peoples, he added.

Xi stressed that bilateral relations should be cultivated on the basis of reinforced strategic mutual trust.

The two sides should adhere to the principle of mutual respect and equality, and respect each other's core interests and major concerns, he added.

The two countries should maintain close high-level exchanges and institutional dialogues in various fields, so as to make top-level planning for a sustainable and stable development of bilateral ties, he said.

Xi said that strengthening pragmatic cooperation is the pillar in developing China-Britain relations.

The two countries should strengthen pragmatic cooperation in various fields and enhance the synergy of the two countries' development agendas within the framework of the the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.
BERLIN - Protesters in Hamburg clashed with police, set vehicles on fire, and targeted municipal infrastructure as German Chancellor Angela Merkel officially opened the two-day G20 summit on Friday.

Hundreds of protesters attempted to forcibly enter areas cordoned-off by authorities, known as the "high security zone", to upset the schedule for the first day of meetings between international leaders.

Cars have been set ablaze at various locations throughout the city while protesters blocked an important junction at the city's harbor.

Around 19,000 police officers have been deployed to ensure the safety of the global dignitaries attending the summit. Several police helicopters are circling the skies above Hamburg and a ban on public gatherings is in place in parts of the city until the summit ends at 5:00 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) on Saturday.

Federal police have reported an arson attack on one of its stations in the Altona district where protesters threw firebombs, causing damage to three police vehicles.

German special police forces walk through the Schanze district following clashes with anti G20-protesters in Hamburg, Germany, July 8, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

According to police information, several junctions in the inner-city are being blocked. Police surrounded around 200 protesters from the group "Block G20 - Color the red zone" which seeks to block access roads to the summit and infiltrate the high security zone. The group has warned authorities of "mass, announced, public disobedience."

Police used water cannons at a sit-in protest on one of the streets designated for U.S. President Donald Trump's journey to the summit.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 individuals clad in white and purple gathered at the city's piers and shouted "Get out, get out."

Eyewitnesses said police attacked participants in the demonstration with clubs.

Clashes between 200 protesters and police were also reported in the Berliner Tor area. A member of police described the situation as "very dynamic."

Protests caused traffic congestion as trucks were unable to access the harbor. Earlier on Friday morning, there had been a temporary blockade of railway tracks leading to numerous delays until police removed the protesters from the tracks.

Friday's demonstrations marked the second day of escalating clashes between protesters and German authorities. On Thursday night, a demonstration dubbed "Welcome to Hell" caused widespread material damage in the Altona district and left 111 police officers and several protesters injured.

A total of 29 individuals were arrested, a member of police said on Friday. While she could not say exactly how many protesters were injured, the number was likely to be high and some had suffered serious injuries.

The police union GdP (Gewerkschaft der Polizei) defended the use of force by authorities at the "Welcome to Hell" demonstration. According to GdP director Oliver Malchow who spoke to German radio station Deutschlandfunk on Friday, security forces had to ensure the right to peaceful assembly and prevent individuals from committing crimes.

Also speaking to Deutschlandfunk, member of police Timo Zell said the situation had threatened to spin out of control and cited 3,500 people at the demonstration who announced their intent to use violence to get their message across.

According to Zill, police negotiated with masked protesters for 45 minutes before coming under attack from people throwing bottles, iron bars and roof tiles. Zill said he had "never witnessed anything like it" in his career, and described the subsequent police intervention as being "without alternative."
President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron meet on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies in Hamburg, Germany on July 8, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

HAMBURG, Germany - Chinese President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron agreed here Saturday to promote bilateral relations and cooperation.

"The Chinese side is willing to make concerted efforts with the French side to continue to view the bilateral relations from a strategic height and a long-term perspective, and work for a better development of our ties," Xi said during a meeting with Macron on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies in Hamburg, Germany.

Political mutual trust, pioneering and innovative spirit, and fruitful international cooperation have been the outstanding features of the China-France relationship, Xi added.

Both China and France are permanent members of the UN Security Council, that pursue an independent foreign policy, safeguard the international order with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter at its core, and advocate exchanges and learning from each other between different civilizations, Xi said.

"The China-France relationship has become increasingly strategic under current situation," he said. "It is our shared historical responsibility to maintain and promote the China-France comprehensive strategic partnership."

Xi proposed that the two countries increase high-level exchanges and take into account each other's core interests and major concerns based on the principles of mutual respect, trust, understanding and accommodation.

The two countries should also dovetail their development strategies, he said.

Xi called on the two sides to deepen cooperation in nuclear energy, aerospace and other traditional areas, while exploring cooperation in new areas such as agricultural food, finance and sustainable development, thus making the "pie" of their common interests even bigger.

Xi also suggested that the two countries enhance communication and coordination in international and regional affairs, and jointly push for the peaceful settlement of global and regional hotspot issues.

On China's relations with the European Union (EU), Xi said that China stands ready to develop a long-term and stable cooperative relationship with the bloc, and hopes France would continue to play a leading role in this regard and make more contributions to the China-EU trade, two-way investment in a bid to realize mutually beneficial win-win cooperation.

Pursuing a green, low-carbon and sustainable development path championed in the Paris Agreement on climate change conforms to the philosophy of China's endeavors to promote ecological progress and the country's latest development concept, Xi said.

China will earnestly fulfil its due obligations in the agreement in light of its own requirements for sustainable development, he added.

Echoing Xi's remarks on bilateral ties, Macron said that the two countries enjoy a long history of friendship and lauded their bilateral relationship as the best ever in history.

The French side highly values the France-China comprehensive strategic partnership and regards China as an important partner of cooperation and an important force in international affairs, Macron said.

He added that the French side is willing to enhance cooperation with China in a wide range of areas, including the economy and trade, investment, nuclear energy, auto manufacturing and food.

France and China share similar stances on major international issues, and the two countries should reinforce communication and coordination within such multilateral frameworks as the United Nations to jointly promote world peace and prosperity, Macron said.
HAMBURG, Germany - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday called on members of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies to champion an open world economy and a multilateral trade regime as global growth remains unsteady despite signs of recovery.

Speaking at the annual G20 summit in Hamburg, a major port city in northern Germany, Xi also called for concerted efforts in fostering new drivers for growth, promoting a more inclusive growth and improving global economic governance.

"We must remain committed to openness and mutual benefit for all so as to increase the size of the global economic 'pie'," said Xi, who is at the helm of the world's second-largest economy.

OPEN ECONOMY

This year's G20 summit, scheduled for Friday and Saturday and themed "Shaping an Interconnected World," comes as global growth continues to gather momentum and both developed countries and emerging-market economies show stronger economic performance.

However, the world economy is still plagued by deep-seated problems and faces many uncertainties and destabilizing factors, Xi pointed out.

He underscored the role of innovation and development in boosting global growth, proposing that G20 members increase cooperation in digital economy and the new industrial revolution, and jointly develop new technologies, new industries, new business models and new products.

"Another source of growth derives from making greater efforts to address the issue of development and implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and such efforts will both benefit developing countries and generate business and investment opportunities for developed countries. In other words, this will be a win-win game for all," he said.

The Chinese leader also urged G20 members to cooperate more in education, training, employment, business start-up and wealth distribution-related mechanisms.

"Progress on these fronts will make economic globalization work better," he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the ongoing Group of 20 (G20) summit on July 8, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

HAMBURG, Germany - In a high-profile meeting here on Saturday, President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reaffirmed their readiness to strengthen the partnership and cooperation between the two countries in the future despite differences in a trove of issues and severe challenges ahead.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the ongoing Group of 20 (G20)summit in the German port city of Hamburg.

XI: JAPAN SHALL HONOR ITS WORDS ON HISTORY, TAIWAN

In the meeting, Xi said that Japan shall honor its words on issues related to history and Taiwan, and remove the distractions in bilateral relations with policies and concrete actions.

He also urged Japan to learn from history so as to ensure that bilateral relations run in the right direction and have a brighter prospect.

Xi noted that the sound neighborly relations between China and Japan concern not only the well-being of the two peoples, but also have an impact on Asia and the world at large. Xi noted that the sound neighborly relations between China and Japan concern not only the well-being of the two peoples, but also have an impact on Asia and the world at large.

China and Japan normalized their diplomatic relations 45 years ago after reaching key consensus on history, Taiwan and Diaoyu Islands, among other issues. Next year, the two nations will embrace the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

The Chinese president said the two countries shall enhance their sense of responsibility at this moment, and seize the opportunities in the new era of bilateral ties.

In spite of twists and turns, and other severe tests in the past 45 years, the development of Beijing-Tokyo relations has rendered both sides many constructive inspirations, Xi said, calling for solid efforts to boost bilateral ties in accordance with the overall strategic direction of peace, amity and cooperation.

For Japan, it shall prove its willingness for better ties with China through concrete policies and actions, he added.

Political trust is the premise of the China-Japan relations, Xi said, referring to the four political documents and the four-point agreement that serve as the guiding principles of bilateral ties on properly handling issues related to history and Taiwan, among others.

These issues, vital to the political foundation of the China-Japan ties, bear no room for compromise or regress, or the bilateral relations will veer off the right course and slow down its pace of development, he said.

The Chinese president also welcomed Japan to join in the Belt and Road pragmatic cooperation, urging wide-range exchanges between the two sides on culture, education, media, local-level and youth in a bid to garner more public support for bilateral friendship.
Charlie Gard Supporters to Hold Rally and Prayer Vigil on Sunday, July 9, in London

Contact: Rev. Patrick Mahoney, 540-538-4741

LONDON, July 8, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- Charlie Gard supporters plan to hold a rally and prayer vigil on Sunday, July 9, at 2:00 P.M. in London. The group will also present over 350,000 petitions to Great Ormond Street Hospital calling for Charlie to receive medical care in America.

The 2 P.M. rally will be held in Queen Square on Great Ormond Street, London which is located next to the hospital.

Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition and pastor of Church on the Hill in Washington, D.C., states;

"We continue to fight, pray and stand in solidarity with Charlie Gard and his parents. Millions around the world are being untied by the spirit of this 11-month-old boy and the courage of his parents to struggle against all odds to save his life.

"We will be calling upon the Great Ormond Street Hospital to release Charlie to receive medical care in America that has the possibility of improving his life. We also stand with the notion that it is parents who should be involved in the critical decisions that impact the lives of their children and it should not be left to hospitals, courts or government officials to decide."

Rev. Mahoney is in London with a delegation that includes Bobby Schindler, President of the Terri Life & Hope Network and Catherine Glenn Foster, CEO and President of Americans United for life.

For more information or interviews contact: Rev. Patrick Mahoney 540.538.4741
A Houston Community College trustee faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to bribery, federal prosecutors said Friday.

The case of 53-year-old Christopher W. Oliver, 53, of Houston was unsealed by U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore on Friday, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Oliver was originally charged in March 2017 and pleaded guilty on May 15.

At Oliver's plea hearing, it was revealed in open court that he had met with another person on several occasions at restaurants and coffee shops in Houston. Oliver admitted accepting cash in exchange for promises to use his position to help another person secure contracts with HCC, the news release said.

From December 2010 to about August 2013, Oliver allegedly "attempted to obstruct, delay and affect in any way and degree commerce and the movement of articles and commodities in commerce by extortion," according to court documents.

Also, Oliver agreed between May 2015 and May 2016, to accept cash payments and Visa gift cards totaling $12,000 as a reward for actions that he would take as an HCC trustee, court records said.

Oliver may have to pay a financial judgement of nearly $90,000 because of his crimes, court records show.

Eva Loredo, chairman of the HCC board, issued a statement on Friday evening about the case.

"While we are still gathering the details of charges made against Trustee Oliver, we will wait for court proceedings to be complete before we make any further statement," the statement said.

Loredo said HCC "continues to provide quality education" and the incident "is not at all related to our commitment to our mission of student success and support of economic development."

HCC reached a settlement in 2015 with the former chancellor of the community college system, Renee Byas. In a lawsuit against the system, she alleged that was she fired after the HCC Board of Trustees learned she confided to the FBI about potential misuse of bond money and how some trustees may have attempted to steer business to friends and political allies.

The HCC board has the final say when determining the policies that govern the system. The board also approves finances for the school system and contracts that exceed $50,000.

Oliver currently holds the position of vice chair and District IX trustee on the HCC board. He was originally elected in 1995 and his current term expires in December

The investigation was conducted by the FBI with assistance from the Department of Education- Office of Inspector General.

Oliver is out on bond until his sentencing on Aug. 28.
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The Texas Supreme Court on Friday issued an order to suspend Harris County Justice of the Peace Hilary Green from office immediately based on allegations that she illegally abused prescription drugs, sent sexually explicit texts to a bailiff while on the bench and paid for sex.

The state supreme court had been asked to take the unusual emergency action by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which in May presented a 316-page document in support of an immediate suspension. That document summarized evidence it had collected in its own investigations of previously secret complaints made against Green from 2012 to 2015.

It's the first time any Texas judge has received a temporary suspension in at least a decade in a contested matter, the commission says.

The commission alleged that in its own closed proceedings, Green already had admitted to many allegations against her, including illegally obtaining prescription drugs and using marijuana and Ecstasy while she was presiding over low-level drug possession cases involving juveniles in her south Houston courtroom. As a justice of the peace for Harris County Precinct 7, Place 1, Green handles thousands of low-level criminal and civil matters a year, including traffic tickets and evictions.

In its one-page ruling, the supreme court agreed with the judicial conduct commission that the evidence, including Green's own admissions, justified her immediate removal as the state watchdog agency prepares for a longer civil trial that's required under Texas law to remove any elected judge from office.

Related: Complaints allege Justice of the Peace abused drugs, lied and paid for sex

Commission lawyers also argued in court filings that there are ample grounds to conclude that Green brought discredit upon the judiciary and should permanently be removed from office, including evidence that she used "her assigned bailiff in an effort to illegally obtain prescription drugs."

She's also been accused of lying about allegations that she abused her authority in eviction matters to favor a friend  a con man and five-time felon.

In her own filings to the state's highest court, Green complained that the commission practiced "assembly line justice" and treated her unfairly. She maintained she had stopped abusing prescription cough syrup about three years ago, and had provided evidence of having passed several recent drug-screening tests.

Green's attorney, Chip Babcock, argued against suspension, noting that voters had a chance to review and "forgive" misbehavior outlined in the commission's allegations, some of which were published in newspaper stories, before they opted last year to re-elect Green, a former trial attorney who first took office in 2007. She was previously elected in 2008 and 2012.

Related: Divorce turns ugly for Ronald Green and Hilary Harmon Green

But commission lawyers countered that Green had made behind-the-scenes efforts to ensure the "public has no right to see the very best evidence of the worst of her conduct  the excerpted text messages on file under seal (with the Supreme court) that show her illegal and inappropriate conduct in striking detail."

Green also has sought to discredit complaints based on information provided by her ex-husband and by a former extramarital lover.

Some of the evidence used against Green first surfaced in a contentious divorce filing by her ex-husband, Ronald Green, a former city councilman and ex-controller. A Chronicle story about allegations made in the divorce is the basis of one of the judicial misconduct complaints from 2015.

Another source of complaints against Green was Claude Barnes, a former boyfriend who Green accused in her supreme court filing of threatening to destroy her after their break-up.

Barnes provided details of Green's alleged drug abuse, detailing where and when she allegedly obtained and used prescription drugs and illegal drugs. He also has alleged that he and Green paid call girls for three-way sex, including on one occasion when Green was out of town attending a judicial conference.

Related: Ethics issues arise in rulings by justice of the peace

In 2012, the commission received complaints alleging that Green unethically ruled in eviction matters to help a five-time convicted felon. Green lied about her relationship with that ex-neighbor, a contractor who also renovated Green's home, in responses she provided under oath to the commission, according to the agency's supreme court filings.

The commission's next move will be to prepare for a trial to remove Green permanently from office. Under Texas law, another judge will be appointed to hear that case and ultimately will make findings of fact and conclusions of law on whether Green should be formally removed from office.

Babcock said Friday he learned of the high court's suspension order from the Chronicle and was surprised that there was no discussion in the order of any of the legal arguments he'd made on Green's behalf.

"The Supreme Court's order is very disappointing and it is surprising that on the face of the order it does not appear that they considered Judge Green's response to the request for temporary suspension," he said. "We are still looking into that issue and will determine what steps Judge Green takes when we have concluded our investigation."
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Houston's Bay Area residents have a new dine-in movie theater at a familiar spot.

When the old Star Cinema Grill location at 1020 W. NASA Parkway in Webster moved to Baybrook Mall, it left the former space vacant. Friday, owner Omar Khan debuted Distrct Theatre there, in a polished, revamped space.

District Theatre is a six-screen movie theater that doubles as a chef-driven restaurant with scratch-made fare, according to Star Cinema Grill vice president of development Jason Ostrow. While it's under the large Star Cinema Grill chain umbrella, it's defined as a more "traditional movie theater experience" with "enhanced food and beverage offerings."

BAY-AREA GUIDE: Where to find Galveston's best drinks

Star Cinema Grill originally put down roots at the Webster address in 2004. The launch of District Theatre is the company's return to its original locale. (STORY CONTINUES BELOW.)

"We are extremely excited to bring a new and unique movie going experience back to Webster where it all began," Ostrow said. "District Theatres will bring the community the luxury of choice. The choice to avoid the mall traffic and stay close to home. The choice to eat dinner and watch a movie. The choice to let loose a little and enjoy cocktails and a movie."

The new interior has a stylish lobby, leather reclining seats and a full beer and cocktail menu. Among the food menu items are appetizers, desserts and entrees that verge from comfort-food staples to more upscale offerings.

ANNIVERSARY: Fun facts about 'Forrest Gump' 23 years after its release in theaters

"If you want to have popcorn, candy and a soda just like when you were a kid, we will have all of those at our concession stand," Ostrow said. "Or, if you want to have a grilled shortrib sandwich and a pint of craft beer because you aren't a kid anymore, we have 18 taps and a full kitchen."

District Theatre and the Star Cinema Grill which is now near Baybroook Mall are similar when it comes to the type of movies they show: a tightly edited selection of new releases. Although the crowd may be different, since many mall-goers tend to skew younger than the former Star Cinema Grill might attract.

The owners say they're just happy to have the former space open again.

OUT NOW: Movies opening this week

"More than a year ago, this vision started on a white board in our office, and has blossomed into something very special," Ostrow said. "From the food, to the atmosphere to wonderful staff and management team we have assembled, we couldn't be more proud and excited to share this product with our neighbors."

Star Cinema Grill is slated for expansion. Late last year it was announced that the luxury movie company bought out the Vintage Park location of Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse, near the intersection of Texas 249 and Louetta Road.

The Star Cinema Grill spokesperson said on the chain's website that more Houston-area locations are forthcoming.
Three people are confirmed dead after a Crosby apartment complex erupted in flames Saturday morning, destroying a building with eight units and displacing more than 80 people.

Family and friends cried and embraced upon receiving news that three bodies had been discovered by fire crews in the Crosby Square Apartment in the 15000 block of FM 2100. The dead are a 14-year-old boy, a 20-year-old woman and a woman in her 30s, family said.

The three had been living in the unit for more than two years, said Angelica Parker, a relative.

Resident Jennifer Dominguez and her husband awoke early Saturday morning to loud knocking on the door to their apartment, located in a building untouched by the fire. Crews ordered them to evacuate.

(Story continues below.)

"When we got out, the fire was really bad," she said. "The flames were really high, and there was so much smoke."

They gathered with other residents at Crosby Middle School, where the Red Cross provided aid and assistance.

Dominguez and her husband had moved into the complex about a month ago and haven't fully settled in.

"We don't have a lot of stuff in our apartment, but what we have is valuable," she said.

Flames were shooting through the roof of one building when units from the Crosby Volunteer Fire Department arrived around 6:15 a.m. The blaze's size required the assistance of eight other fire departments, according to Rachel Moreno, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office.

The Crosby Independent School District opened the middle school auditorium for affected tenants to "get them out of the outdoor heat," according to a statement posted on the district's Facebook page. The school district is working with the Red Cross to assist displaced residents.

The notice also said that donations can be delivered to the Churches United in Caring at 944 Church Street for families in need.

FM 2100, the road in front of the complex, remains partially closed. Crosby Volunteer Fire Department serves the unincorporated Crosby and Barrett Station communities in northeast Harris County.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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The prominent Black Lives Matter activist accused of punching a horse was arrested Thursday morning on her way to a court date.

Shere Dore and her partner were driving to the Harris County courthouse for an appearance in the earlier case when officers pulled the pair over and arrested Dore for warrants stemming from a two-year-old speeding charge.

Local activists were quick to cry foul.

"Law enforcement agencies have decided to set Shere up for coming out against them with her activism and various allyship," said Ashton Woods of Black Lives Matter Houston.

BACKGROUND: Trump protester accused of punching police horse taken back into custody

Story continues below...

"They were on their way to court - the officer was literally staked out waiting for them."

The 41-year-old was taken to the Fort Bend County jail and held pending payment of her outstanding fees, prompting the Harris County court to revoke her bond when she failed to appear.

"It is interesting that this outstanding warrant did not come up when she was arrested in November of 2016 and more interesting that it would come up the morning of her court date," said Brian Harrison, who has represented her in the Harris County case, along with attorney Jolanda Jones.

It was not immediately clear which law enforcement agency pulled Dore over Thursday.

"I don't know why they were stopped on the morning of her court date, a date which I know a number of people thought was her trial date," Harrison said.

TROUBLE: 5 arrested during rowdy anti-Trump protests in Houston

Woods agreed that the timing of the arrest was not coincidental.

"This is some clear foul play," he said. "I think that the law enforcement agencies are colluding with each other."

Local activists, supporters and friends rallied around the well-known advocate for the homeless, chipping in funds to secure Dore's release. But even once she pays the $1,083.10 owed in Fort Bend, she'll still be held until a Harris County judge can reinstate her bond, Harrison said.

The Harris County felony charge - interfering with a police service animal - stems from a spirited November march through downtown Houston.

During the nighttime protest two days after Trump's election, Dore was one of a handful of demonstrators arrested after the gathering spilled out into city streets.

As an officer on a police horse named Astro started to push Dore back onto the sidewalk, Dore allegedly hit the animal with a closed fist, a charge her lawyers have consistently denied.

"I want the world to know that our clients are absolutely innocent. They have a First Amendment right to protest," Jones said after a November court date.

"I think this is one of the first indications of what's going to happen with the new president."




On Thursday, Kalamazoo professor, Berniecrat and environmental activist, Paul Clements, announced that he's going to seek the Democratic nomination for the southwest Michigan congressional seat that's been occupied by hereditary plutocrat Fred Upton since... wait for it-- 1986! This is a swing district Obama won (53-45%) in 2008 and lost narrowly (50-49%) to home-stater Mitt Romney in 2012 but which the DCCC never contests. Last cycle Clements managed to raise $1,151,980 to go up against the $2,497,208 Upton raised. The DCCC pretended to back Clements to keep grassroots activists off their backs but did not spend one dime on the race. Hillary couldn't have been a worse candidate for MI-06 and she dragged down the whole Democratic ticket as Trump beat her 51.3% to 42.9%. (Bernie had overwhelmingly won MI-06 in the primary. Here were the primary results in the 6 counties that make up the district (in order of size):

 Kalamazoo: Bernie- 20,146, Hillary- 12,593, Trumpanzee- 8,655

 Berriern: Bernie- 5,952, Hillary- 6,646, Trumpanzee- 7,817

 Allegan: Bernie- 5,545, Hillary- 3,489, Trumpanzee- 5,327

 Van Buren: Bernie- 3,656, Hillary- 2,484, Trumpanzee- 3,287

 St. Joseph: Bernie- 2,219, Hillary- 1,382, Trumpanzee- 2,528

 Cass: Bernie- 1,683, Hillary- 1,657, Trumpanzee- 2,859

In his announcement statement Thursday, Clements reminded voters that "For decades our economy has only been working well for the very wealthy and the very powerful. Our political system is broken. Im running to get our economy working for the people again. This means increasing production in America, raising the minimum wage, Medicare for all, major improvements in education, strengthening our technological leadership, a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure and jobs, and ending the school-to-prison pipeline. But if we are to truly make our government work for people again, we must reform campaign finance so our legislators represent the people, not the big money. Weve seen from Congressman Uptons health care bill that he is ready to stick middle class families with dramatic increases in out-of-pocket health care costs, burden seniors with an age tax that will cost them thousands that many just cant afford, and kick 40,000 of his constituents off health care, all to give enormous tax breaks to millionaires. He refuses to hold town hall meetings. He calls himself bipartisan but votes 100% with President Trump. Its time for the people of Southwest Michigan to have a Representative who actually represents them."





Blue America re-endorsed Paul Clements by the end of the day. You can contribute to his campaign by tapping on the ActBlue thermometer on the right. We already know the character of the man and the policies he's running on. What we asked him was if he thinks voters in the district are happy with the decision they made in 2016, if they're ready for a change and why he thinks he has a chance to win in 2018? He replied to our questions with this statement for Blue America:

As in most of the country, there is great anger and frustration in southwest Michigan at an economy that has left the workers behind and government that has been bought. Since November we have seen an enormous upswing of popular energy (which I have helped to organize and focus), with demonstrations at Congressman Uptons two district offices nearly every week, rallies, teach-ins, and "Wheres Fred?" town halls (he hasnt held one in over a decade). It has dawned on many who didnt come out for Hillary that the consequences are really bad. Uptons flip flop on health care, the Upton Amendment that got a bill through the House that would kick 40,000 people in the district off health insurance, kick seniors out of nursing homes, triple rates for people nearing retirement, etc. etc., and all to give tax breaks to millionaires and keep a stupid promise, has really resonated. While his every third word it "bipartisan," the Upton health care bill is in-your-face evidence whose side he is really on. It has driven his popularity to unprecedented lows. While I lost pretty severely in November, this helps to explain why my poll 6 weeks ago found Upton at 44% and me at 42%, and this based on traditional midterm election turnout. Well, turnout in 2018 will not be traditional. Trump will continue to help (sadly for the country), and Ill be walking the streets of the districts small towns, shaking hands in farmers markets, attending Rotary Club breakfasts and African American church services, and building the movement to recover the soul of our democracy and of the Democratic Party.



So far Trumps support in the district has fallen by a quarter, and a good part of what is left is much more subdued. I know I didnt reach many of this group in 2016; I will be working to reach them now. There is a closed circle with right wing media, Trump lies, and a lot of raw emotion that is hard to break through, but the practical consequences of Trumps failing presidency will bite harder and harder.



I am honored that Bernie endorsed me in 2014 and 2016. He also won the Democratic primary in my district by a wide margin. I stand for increasing production in America, getting Big Money out of politics, Medicare for all, raising the minimum wage, dramatic improvements in education, moving a million non-violent offenders from jail or prison to the community and jobs, American leadership on climate change, and fixing our tax code so the rich pay their fair share.



I can win in 2018 because people need hope and they wont get it from Upton or Trump. One glance at Washington shows Republican Party ideology is bankrupt. 2018 needs to be the beginning of a turning point for America. This depends on vision and practical programs. I bring both, solid to the core.

Paul's campaign slogan is "We can do better." We know he can; we know we can.
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On Friday, the Temple Police Department announced it was searching for Jason Bernal, the 44-year-old man charged in the boating accident death of a 4-year-old girl and her father.

According to KCEN, Temple police said they were "no longer sure where Bernal was" as of Friday afternoon  one day after the Bell County District Attorney's Office added a second criminally negligent homicide charge against Bernal, who was released from jail two weeks ago.
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Police have added yet another charge to the Texas mother accused of abusing her children.

Sara Anne Woody, 25, of Burkburnett, near Wichita Falls, faces a felony-level charge of injury to a child with serious bodily or mental injury, according to Times Records News.

The North Texas woman has racked up nearly 30 criminal charges for allegedly abusing her stepsons. Police say she assaulted them, forced them to lick the rim of a toilet bowl covered with feces, beat one child's genitals with a belt for wetting the bed, and made them drink an apple cider-vinegar concoction in order to vomit "stolen" food.

INJURY TO A CHILD: Houston mother and boyfriend charged in 2-year-old's death

Story continues below...

Investigations into Woody began in March 2016, when Burkburnett Police said one of the children visited a Wichita Fall hospital for a lip injury. During a forensic interview with police, the victim said his stepmother hit him with a metal spoon several times.

According to Woody's arrest affidavit, she's also accused of depriving one of the children of food and locking him in a closet over night as punishment.

FIRING BACK: Grieving mother pushes back against anti-vaxxers in Facebook post

Her husband, Jonathan Darrell Woody, was arrested last year on multiple counts of child endangerment. At the time, he told police the injuries were from rough-housing.

Burkburnett Police said the father was aware of the abuse "but never did anything to stop it and told the boys to lie to police," according to The Dallas Morning News.

Click through above to see which Texas counties suffer from child abuse the most.
After a week of traveling the state, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz finally got what he was looking for.

For nearly an hour Saturday, the Republican from Houston hosted a town hall meeting about veterans issues with hardly any interruptions from protesters who overtook similar events in Austin and, to a lesser extent, Dallas earlier this week.

Only about 40 protesters lined the streets out front of the Sheraton Brook Hollow Hotel to lob complaints via bullhorns and picket signs about Cruz's positions on health-care reform and veterans issues. In Austin, more than 200 greeted Cruz when he arrived at a similar town hall meeting.

That relative calm came even as U.S. Senate leaders on Saturday were warming up to giving Cruz a chance to present a major amendment to their health care reform plan, according to the Washington Post. Until now, GOP leaders have passed on the Cruz amendment, worried it could make the bill even harder to win support from more moderate Senators.

"I am encouraged by the directions that the conversations are going," Cruz told the Chronicle on Saturday after the town hall. "We've been working for many months trying to find common ground."

His amendment would let insurance companies offer plans that don't include some benefits mandated by Obamacare, as long as they offer other plans that do. Under President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, insurers were required to provide what were deemed as essential benefits like maternity care, mental health coverage, and emergency-room trips.

Cruz said his plan would do something that is a must accomplish in any reform bill: lowering premiums.

"The key to accomplishing our mandate is lowering premiums," Cruz said, adding that his amendment would do that by offering more affordable insurance plans even if they cover less.

While a few critics in Houston did infiltrate the hotel ballroom where Cruz addressed about 100 people organized by a conservative leaning veterans group called Concerned Veterans for America, he mostly went unabated as he described his solutions to fixing the problems with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Cruz called the VA a "gigantic government bureaucracy" that is inefficient and unresponsive.

He used his time to tout reforms that would allow veterans to more easily choose doctors outside of the VA health care system if they want to. The VA has a limited program of allowing that now, but Cruz said it is loaded with structural flaws that are still preventing veterans from seeing doctors they want outside of the VA.

"Every veteran should have the right to choose your own doctor," Cruz told the audience. "If you want to go to the VA, you've earned that right, you bled for it. But on the other hand, if you want to go to the local doctor down the street, you should have that choice."

Cruz said besides giving veterans more health care options, a more expanded choice program would force competition onto the VA much like happened to the United States Post Office when private carriers started competing more aggressively with them.

"I'm a passionate believer in competition," Cruz said. "Competition improves quality."

Cruz also used the event to tout his own recently introduced legislation to require the VA to hire a chief information technology officer to modernize the VA and to better catch things like bogus wait lists uncovered three years ago.

While Cruz didn't mention Obamacare at all during his presentation, after the meeting he spent nearly 40 minutes in exchanges with supporters and his critics as he walked around the ballroom until he and his staff were the last few people in the room.

Houston resident Jan Forney was one of those who confronted Cruz afterward, telling him flatly she was worried about what the Senate health care plan and his amendment would mean to those with pre-existing conditions who now have coverage under Obamacare.

"What I'm seeing is very scary," Forney said. "I'm alarmed."

Cruz held Forney's hand and told her that "Obamacare has jacked up premiums" and made health care unaffordable to too many working-class people. He said his amendment would offer people more affordable options to make sure they get coverage. He said people with pre-existing conditions would get more help to pay premiums under the plan the Senate is working to pass.

As Cruz was ending his town hall meeting, U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, an El Paso Democrat was just 11 miles away making the case to his supporters why they need to help him defeat Cruz in 2018. More than 200 people jammed the Gorgeous Gael, a pub near Rice University, to hear O'Rourke promise to take on Cruz next year.

In between shaking hands with supporters, O'Rourke said it's bad news if Cruz's amendment gains steam.

"His amendment ends up driving millions of people out of health care or quality health care," O'Rourke said.

He said people would have access to inferior health care plans that doesn't cover everything they might actually need and "that is no solution at all."

O'Rourke is planning his own town hall-like forum on Monday in San Antonio to talk about veterans who are discharged from the military but don't get adequate care because they did not leave the service honorably. O'Rourke said a lot of times, the reasons they were discharged tie back to what they experienced in the service, yet they don't get adequate care after they leave.
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.
The world media's attention is focused on the on-going G20 Leaders Summit in Hamburg, Germany. But there seems to be little momentum going into Hamburg. The air has been let out of the global summitry balloon.

Last year, China as the summit host had the good fortune of building on the Paris climate change agreement adopted in December 2015 and signed in April 2016. China also did a lot of advanced diplomacy, and invested heavily in the gala.

This time, the governments of many of the leading economies are focused instead on domestic issues. The biggest deflator is the United States, where President Donald Trump's fixation on putting "America First" and preference for state-to-state bargaining have left the US in a spoiler role.

Trump's decision to pull his nation out of the world compact on climate change was not received happily by the G20 host and chair Germany.

Brexit and the disastrous electoral result for the ruling British Conservative Party have left the United Kingdom in a position of diminishing significance going into the summit. It is a long way from the heady days of Gordon Brown, former British prime minister, leading the global charge into the London G20 in April 2009.

The on-going domestic troubles in a number of the emerging economies have meant the loss of some of the new dynamism in global governance of the last decade. South Africa, to its credit, is still trying to strengthen commitments on African development in Hamburg.

Canada and Australia, the traditional middle powers, are in wait-and-see mode, despite their activist sounding diplomatic rhetoric.

It is not surprising, therefore, that hope for the summit has been pinned on Germany and China, and whether they can inject some momentum. The good news is that the truly transformative structural changes that China and Germany are bringing to the world are already happening, and have been going on for four decades. These changes have unpinned the transition to a multipolar world, and are of much greater significance than G20 summits.

Since the 1980s, German corporations, small, medium and large, have shown themselves to be some of the most proactive and committed partners to China. Volkswagen, Siemens, BASF, Lufthansa and many other small and medium-sized German companies started investing when China was far from being the "world's factory". They have been integral ingredients in China's success.

Germany, from the era of former chancellor Helmut Schmidt to incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel today, has proven itself to be an exceptionally reliable and committed partner of China. Few other countries, including my own (Canada) can match the German record.

More recently, Germany has also distinguished itself by working with China on international currency. It may come as a surprise to casual observers that Beijing has been one of the most reliable partners to eurozone. In return, Merkel expressed her country's gratitude, standing beside Chinese President Xi Jinping in Frankfurt, in March 2014, and declared Germany's support in internationalizing China's currency, the renminbi.

For the Hamburg summit, Beijing and Berlin have pledged to ensure consistency between the agendas and outcomes of last year's summit in Hangzhou and those of the on-going one.

Beijing has declared that it will spare no effort in helping the Hamburg summit achieve success, and to strengthen China-Germany cooperation under the G20 framework.

In early June, Merkel said Germany must expand its partnership with China in a "time of global insecurity". Both countries want to send a "clear signal" about their shared desire to maintain an open world economy, free trade and globalization, though in a fairer direction. They both want to encourage the G20 countries to speed up the implementation of the Paris climate change accord, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and to support African development.

Ironically, the G20 summits tend to gain some relevancy when the hosts can tie the agenda to the deeper national interests of the major G20 member states. For instance, one of the more significant outcomes from last year's Hangzhou summit was the strategic work of the Green Finance Study Group. However, China's world leading issuance of green bonds is due to the fact that Beijing is committed to green finance regardless of whether or not there is a "G20".

Germany as the G20 chair is hesitant to spend further after millions of migrants arrived in Germany over the past three years, and with the domestic election coming in early fall.

Despite these limitations for Berlin, Hamburg is an opportunity for Beijing to not only support the German G20 chair, but also to smooth over the bilateral trade and investment tensions with Germany.

The Sino-German relationship needs to be put back onto more sustainable and strategic footing if Germany and China are to help manage the new uncertain multipolar world. This means addressing the alleged discrimination that German companies experience in China, and limited access to Chinese markets for German exporters. The watchword is "reciprocity".

The author is an associate professor of Political Economy at York University, Canada.

(China Daily 07/08/2017 page5)
July 2

Hyrum W. Anderson, 34, of Boise was arrested at a casino in Jackpot on a charge of failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor crime. Bail: $1,280

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Thomas J. Begay, 32, of Wells was arrested at 676 First St. on a warrant charging domestic battery and failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor crime. Bail: $3,820

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Rudy Carrillo, 18, of Elko was arrested at Wilson Avenue and South Fourth Street on charges of drunken driving, failure to yield and driving without a valid license. Bail: $1,530

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Cheryl K. Eldridge, 53, of Spring Creek was arrested at Seventh Street and Wilson Avenue on a warrant for failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor crime. Bail: $500

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Ronald W. Haber, 57, of Elko was arrested at 580 S. Ninth St. for trespass not amounting to burglary. Bail: $192

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Kaylah S. Harris, 22, of Spring Creek was arrested at Shell gas station on a warrant charging failure to appear on a traffic citation. Bail: $530

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Shawna L. Hunter, 44, of Elko was arrested on Mountain City Highway for drunken driving,displaying bogus vehicle registration/plates/title, failure to possess/surrender drivers license, and headlamps not illuminated. Bail: $585

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Angelo P. Jones, 18, of Elko was arrested at Fourth and Idaho streets on a charge of minor purchasing or consuming alcoholic beverage on premises. Bail: $352

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Juan J. Luna, 32, of Twin Falls was arrested at 1575 Lamoille Highway on a warrant charging three counts of failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor crime. Bail: $2,060

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Russell D. McConkey, 49, of Elko was arrested at Lamoille Highway and Errecart Boulevard on a charge of drunken driving. Bail: $1,140

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Glen E. Meister, 42, of Carlin was arrested at Bush Street and State Route 278 on charges of drunken driving an open container of alcohol in a vehicle. Bail: $1,495

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Alicia N. Miller, 42, of Wendover was arrested at Montego Bay Casino on charges of trespass not amounting to burglary and two counts of use or possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a hypodermic device. Bail: $4,115

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Derek T. Nelms, 19, of Spring Creek was arrested on Fourth Street on a charge of minor in possession of an alcoholic beverage in public. Bail: $355

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Holli A. Pete, 34, of West Wendover was arrested at 971 Oquirrh St. on a charge of domestic battery. Bail: $3,000

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Deborah S. Simon-King, 51, of Spring Creek was arrested on Silver Street for domestic battery. Bail: $3,140

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Gregory D. Simons, 59, of Elko was arrested at 1111 Idaho St. on a charge of failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor crime. Bail: $500

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James E. Speer II, 40, of Spring Creek was arrested at South Fork State Recreation Area on a warrant charging failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor crime. Bail: $320
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Grand theft, Mayfield Road: At 1:40 p.m. June 30, loss prevention for Marshall's Department Store, 3463 Mayfield Road, went to the police station to report a theft.

The store's manager believed a female employee had been stealing from the business. Loss prevention set up a video surveillance on the woman on June 26 and watched as she selected store merchandise and placed them in the toy department. The woman paid for one of the items then, after her shift ended, retrieved the items from the toy department and went into the restroom.

She exited the restroom with bulges in her jacket. The woman had concealed the items and left the store without paying.

When confronted on June 29, the woman admitted to having stolen merchandise since December. She admitted to stealing 27 items of infant clothing, 27 items of boys' clothing, 54 items of men's clothing, and four cell phone cases and chargers. The total value of the thefts was $1,680.

The woman was terminated from her job on June 30. Theft charges are pending.

OVI, South Taylor Road: At 2:10 a.m. July 2, police responded to a call of a two-car crash. Officers spoke with one of the drivers, a man, 25, and smelled the odor of alcohol on his person. The man's eyes were bloodshot and glassy.

When police asked the man what his estimated speed was at the time of the crash, he twice answered, "I ain't got no comment." He then told police he believed he needed a lawyer.

The man, who appeared alternately calm, then frustrated, was taken to the hospital for cuts on his arms. He cried when he entered the building, then stopped crying and yelled at medical staff.

Police cited the man for OVI, failure to control and obstructing official business. The man had also been arrested for OVI in Cleveland Heights on Sept. 6, 2015.

Criminal mischief, Woodview Road: At 1:15 a.m. July 2, it was reported that someone threw a potato through a window of the house of an elderly woman. Several other potatoes were found on the home's porch.

Theft, Ardoon Road: At 8:20 a.m. June 29, the mother of a boy, 10, reported that someone stole his bike from the rear of the Noble Road Library, 2800 Noble Road. The boy told police that the bike was locked at the time.

Breaking and entering, Warrensville Center Road: At 12:35 p.m. June 29, police were called to Simply Self Storage, 1415 Warrensville Center Road, where an employee stated that 51 storage unit locks were broken on June 29.

Video surveillance showed no one creating the damage and no customers reported anything missing.

OVI, Noble Road: At 2 a.m. July 4, police responded to a call of a man asleep behind the wheel of a running auto stopped at the intersection of Monticello Boulevard and Noble Road.

An officer woke the man, who was dazed and had trouble keeping his balance as he exited his car. The man, who smelled of alcohol, performed poorly on field sobriety tests.

Police cited the man with OVI and impeding the flow of traffic. His car was towed.

Domestic violence, North Taylor Road: At 6:45 p.m. July 4, a woman drove to the police station with her son, 12.

The woman said she was driving when she told her son she was taking away from him his video games. The boy became upset and opened a rear car door and tried to jump out of the auto.

Unsuccessful, he then reached for the car's gear shift and slammed the car into park, kicked his mother in the back of the head, and stated, "I wish you were dead."

The woman pulled into the police station where officers asked the boy if he wanted to go to jail. He replied that he did. As officers attempted to handcuff him, the boy struggled and attempted to spit at police. The boy told an officer he wished the officer was dead.

Police contacted the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Justice Center who agreed to take custody of the boy.

OVI, Fairmount Boulevard: At 6:10 a.m. July 2, a man called police stating there was a disabled car stopped in the middle of the road with a woman asleep at the wheel.

The car had two flat tires on the driver's side, and the driver's side front wheel was off its axle. Police believe the driver may have struck a curb.

Unsuccessful attempts were made to wake the woman, 25, who finally awoke, startled, and put her foot on the gas pedal. When she came to, the woman was confused. She smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot, glassy eyes.

The woman was unable to provide police with answers to basic questions and was giving nonsensical answers. She performed poorly on field sobriety tests and was charged with OVI and failure to control.

Burglary, Northampton Road: At 2:30 a.m. July 2, while police were on the scene of a disturbance call at Noble and Quilliams Road when a woman drove up and told officers she had just returned home to find that someone had broken into her home.

A fireplace wood poker was used to pry open three different doors and windows, all unsuccessfully. Finally, the suspects kicked open a rear door.

Three TVs and a safe were stolen.

If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Friday, U.S. Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump met with Russia's Hacker-in-Chief Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit. Conflicting accounts have emerged of the two leaders discussion of Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Here is Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's account of the discussion on Russian hacking:

"President Trump opened the meeting with President Putin by raising the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election. They had a very robust and lengthy exchange on the subject. The President pressed President Putin on more than one occasion regarding Russian involvement. President Putin denied such involvement, as I think he has in the past.

The two leaders agreed, though, that this is a substantial hindrance in the ability of us to move the Russia-U.S. relationship forward, and agreed to exchange further work regarding commitments of non-interference in the affairs of the United States and our democratic process as well as those of other countries. So more work to be done on that regard."

Tillerson was asked if Trump had discussed whether there would be any consequences for Russia over the interference. Tillerson said Trump had noted the recent action Congress had taken on sanctions, but that Trump and Putin focused on moving on.

"I think what the two Presidents, I think rightly, focused on is how do we move forward; how do we move forward from here. Because it's not clear to me that we will ever come to some agreed-upon resolution of that question between the two nations. So the question is, what do we do now? And I think the relationship - and the President made this clear, as well - is too important, and it's too important to not find a way to move forward."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed Trump accepted Putin's denial of any Russian interference in the election.

"President Trump said that this campaign has already taken on a rather strange character, because over the many months that these accusations have been made, not a single fact has been presented. President Trump said that he had heard the clear statements from President Putin about this being untrue, that Russian leadership did not interfere in the election, and that he accepts these statements," recounts Lavrov.

Lavrov also claimed Trump asserted "that certain circles in the U.S. are still exaggerating, although they cannot prove this, the topic of Russia's interference with the U.S. election."

Normally Russia's spin on a such a meeting would be automatically discounted as unbelievable. But in this case, Lavrov's version of the discussion fits with Trump's previous dismissive comments on Russia's interference in the election. Just the day before, Trump was downplaying Russia's hacking and disparaging U.S. intelligence agencies who concluded Russia actively and aggressively interfered in the election.

Significantly, Tillerson said Trump had raised "the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference..." He didn't say it was a concern of President Trump, because it clearly hasn't been.

Tillerson claimed Trump pressed Putin on the issue, but then Tillerson talked about Putin and Trump wanting to move on, and the importance of that.

Can you imagine Ronald Reagan finding out from U.S. intelligence that Russia interfered with the U.S. elections, and then responding to a Russian denial by just agreeing to disagree and moving on?

It is good that Trump at least brought up the topic. Putin would have had less respect for him if he didn't. But when Putin denied it, Trump needed to reject that denial out of hand, backed up by the U.S intel agencies findings. Knowing Putin would deny it, is another reason why Trump should have had his National Security Adviser in the meeting. By not forcefully telling Putin that the U.S.knows he interfered in the election, and such interference will have consequences, Trump displayed a weakness someone like Putin will try to exploit.

With new intel reports that Russia is ramping up its election hacking efforts, Congress cannot "move on" from the issue, as much Trump and Putin would like to. By the 2018 election, and certainly, the 2020 elections, Russia's understanding of the U.S. election voting systems will be more advanced and the potential for real harm, even greater.

When Putin found out that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had a fear of dogs, he brought his big dog to a meeting with her. Trump must guard against Putin turning him to his dog, that he can get to roll over whenever he wants.
LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- Lakewood soon might have a rock-climbing gym in the basement of the Lakewood Baptist Church.

While he still has a few hoops to jump through before he can officially open the gym, entrepreneur Peter Stancato hopes to have Nosotros -- Spanish for "us" -- open for business in 2018.

The gym would bring an emerging exercise trend to the west side suburbs. Stancato keeps a blog that updates the gym's progress.

When finished, he said, Nosotros will feature several artificial climbing walls of varying levels of difficulty, the culmination of an idea he formulated after a wedding that he and his wife attended seven years ago.

While his spouse was in the wedding party, Stancato said he didn't know anyone else who was invited. One of the groomsman, however, took him on a bonding expedition to a rock-climbing gym in central Ohio.

Stancato had a blast, and in the process formed plans for his future gym.

"A light bulb went on," he said. "I thought this would be a sweet idea to bring to Cleveland."

The setup didn't seem difficult.

"The one we went to was in a garage," he said. "The (climbing) walls were built by plywood."

He said he and his wife spent the next several years saving money and making a plan for their business, which involved, among other things, talking to business professionals.

Northeast Ohio has a few rock-climbing gyms, and Stancato's would be the first on the west side. His business would sit in the church's basement and include walls around 13 feet high, some of which would be set at an incline.

He picked the location because it was affordable and accessible. The church is on Detroit Avenue in the city's downtown.

"What we're doing is called 'bouldering'," Stancato said. "That's a type of climbing done on short heights that allows us to do it in a basement. The challenge comes with incline."

Bouldering is common on cruise ships and in parks.

Stancato said his gym will be smaller than some of the others in the area (which include Kendall Cliffs in Akron, Cleveland Rock Gym in Euclid and Climb Cleveland), but it also will be less expensive, and he hopes to foster a fun atmosphere that includes background music.

The artificial walls would have difficultly levels ranging from easy to expert. The easy walls would be straight up and down.

"That's mostly for kids or people trying different holds and positions for their bodies," Stancato said. "The expert section will be like a cave, with a 45-degree tilt and you're trying to get to the pinnacle."

Climbers come to climbing gyms for both fun and exercise, but mostly for fun, he said.

Stancato said Wednesday that he's in the process of submitting plans to Lakewood's Building Department, which needs to sign off on them before he can proceed.
MEDINA COUNTY, Ohio -- A 29-year-old motorcyclist died in a crash involving a semi truck in Guilford Township, according to the State Highway Patrol.

The crash happened just before 3 p.m. Friday on Interstate 76 near Ohio 3, according to a news release from the Highway Patrol.

Andre C. Elliot, who was riding a 1982 Honda Nighthawk 650, died at the scene.

A semi, driven by Matthew E. McRedmond, 49, was westbound on the interstate in the right hand lane. Elliot rode a motorcycle westbound in the left hand lane, the release says.

The truck driver drove from the right hand lane to the left hand lane when he approached the Ohio 3 entrance ramp to Interstate 76 westbound.

Elliot tried to avoid the semi truck, but went off the left side of the road, lost control and overturned, the release says.

The semi truck then struck Elliot, the release says.

The truck driver was not hurt in the crash.

Alcohol was not a factor in the crash, the Highway Patrol said. The release does not say if Elliot was wearing a helmet.

The Medina County Sheriff's Office, Seville Police Department, Westfield Police Department, Guilford Township Fire Department, Medina County Coroner's Office and the Ohio Department of Transportation assisted the Highway Patrol on the scene.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Saturday's crime and courts comments section.


A key budget issue between Gov. John R. Kasich's administration and his fellow Republicans in the General Assembly: Attempts by the GOP's state legislators to micromanage Medicaid.

And in overriding some of Kasich's budget-item vetoes, that, practically speaking, is what Ohio's Republican-run House is aiming to do, though Medicaid micromanagement by the legislature could complicate Ohio's state overall budget. "As the saying goes: If you break it, you own it," Kasich said after last week's item-veto overrides.

True, Kasich was referring to health care, not specifically Ohio's budget. But what Kasich said is also applicable to the budget. One likely way to create budget problems at the Statehouse is to let part-time legislators second-guess the state's experienced Medicaid managers. That, incidentally, should be a special concern to any gubernatorial candidate running for office in 2018. (Because of term limits, Kasich departs in 2019.) One risk of legislative tinkering with Medicaid is that it could give Kasich's successor a Day One state budget headache.

Whether last week's item-veto overrides signal a decline in Kasich's Statehouse clout is anyone's guess. But an interesting feature of the House's override roll-calls was that, practically speaking, when the House's 66 Republicans did vote to override Kasich, they were virtually unanimous. As a practical matter, that may make it tougher for Kasich and his crew to single out specific GOP legislators for payback over the overrides. (Any House overrides, incidentally, won't take effect unless and until the state Senate, 24-9 Republican, voted to pass the same overrides.)

A wisely managed Medicaid program - a facet of Kasich's governorship - is pivotal to Ohio's budget. In the words of the Legislative Service Commission analysts, "Medicaid is the largest health insurer in the state. It is also the largest single state program, with annual spending of about $28 billion in combined federal and state dollars. Medicaid accounts for 4 percent of Ohio's economy." Medicaid may have special economic clout in smaller Ohio communities, where the local hospital can be the largest employer in town.

No, the House last week didn't overturn Kasich's veto of a Medicaid expansion freeze, a freeze some Republicans avidly seek. The Medicaid expansion, authorized by the Affordable Care Act, benefits about 700,000 low-income Ohioans. With Kasich's strong support, Ohio opted for the Medicaid expansion by a 5-2 vote of the state Controlling Board in 2013; three of the board's five "yes" votes were cast by Republican members of the board.

The expansion extended Medicaid eligibility to Ohioans age 19 to 64 with incomes at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level (for a single person, $16,643 a year). The federal government this year pays 95 cents per $1 in Medicaid costs for expansion clients; the federal share will slowly decline to 90 cents in 2000 (and remain 90 cents in the years that follow).

Constitutionally, Ohio's House has until the end of 2018 to overturn Kasich's item-vetoes, so his veto of the proposed Medicaid expansion freeze is still on the table. The ostensible reason the House has gone on standby about overriding Kasich's item-veto of the Medicaid expansion freeze: The House's Republicans want to first see what Congress does with Paul Ryan's and Mitch McConnell's supposed health-care plans (which are actually huge tax cuts for the rich.)

So, arguably, the real-world meaning of Ohio House Republicans waiting a while before trying to reinstate a Medicaid expansion freeze: They may want to try to make Ohio's congressional Republicans wear the jacket if Ohioans lose Medicaid expansion coverage. That's called playing it safe. And, historically, it seems to be the Statehouse's dominant philosophy.

Thomas Suddes, a member of the editorial board, writes from Athens.

To reach Thomas Suddes: tsuddes@cleveland.com, 216-999-4689

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If you are the parent of a teen who likes to make music, or know of such a teen, here's something that may be of interest.

The Cleveland Heights-University Heights Library is now taking applications for its new teen Music Maker Space program at its Lee Road Library branch, 2345 Lee Road. This is an eight-week music production program that gets under way in the fall.

There are openings for three paid teen interns and 12 teen program participants. The interns will help the other teens in the learning and use of music production software and equipment.

Applicants must be between the ages of 13-18, live in Cleveland Heights or University Heights, and be able to commit four hours per week to the program. Each intern will be paid $500.

Applications for internships and the regular program are due Aug. 31 and can be found on the library's website, or picked up in the Lee Road Library's Teen Room.

"The internship is a great opportunity for a young person to get some terrific, positive mentoring and leadership experience," said Youth Services Manager Sam Lapides. "The interns will learn technical and musical skills from our staff, and then turn around and apply that knowledge by mentoring small groups of their peers and helping them learn those same skills."

The library is building a sound isolation booth equipped with professional recording equipment and software thanks to a $7,400 Library Science and Technology Act STEM grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (awarded by the State Library of Ohio), and $5,000 from the Friends of the Heights Libraries.

Teen participants in the program will use the booth and equipment to learn such things as recording, editing, mixing and producing.

Library IT Technician Matt Mancini, also an experienced musician, will train both the interns and regular program participants in Ableton Live, a state-of-the-art software for music production that can also be used in live performances.

Mancini said students should realize that the goal of the program is learning, and emphasized that he is willing to work with students with varying levels of technical and musical experience.

"Any level of skill is OK," Mancini said. "All I care about is that the student is enthusiastic about creating music and is motivated to learn."

While the program will focus on the technical aspects of musical production, instruction will also include forays into the creative side.

For more information about the program, visit heightslibrary.org/teens/teen-media-lab/.

Christmas in July: Yes, we're only in July, but some people are already thinking about Christmas.

I take that back, I think they're thinking more about drinking.

Any way, on July 13, Legacy Village, at Cedar and Richmond roads, will host a "Christmas in July Bar Hop." Participants are Bar Louie, California Pizza Kitchen, The Melting Pot, Granite City Food & Brewery, Stir Crazy, Brio Tuscan Grille and The Capital Grille.

Tickets are $10 per person and include a souvenir koozie, photo with Santa and an opportunity to order food and drink specials from the Christmas in July Bar Hop menus offered at the participating venues.

Pre-registration is encouraged, but tickets can also be purchased the night of the event. Check-in will be open from 5-8 p.m. July 13 at the bottom of the escalators, located on Blossom Way, adjacent to Starbucks. Bar Hop menus will be available from 5-9 p.m.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the American Cancer Society. Attendees are encouraged to dress in holiday attire.

New signs coming: If you're street sign has taken on a dull, lusterless appearance, and you live in Shaker Heights, the good news is you won't have to be embarrassed by its appearance for much longer. That's because the city is set to begin a project to replace each of its 2,000 street signs in the coming months.

The new signs are expected to be easier to read, reflect light and making finding streets much simpler.

Fight the Bite: The Shaker Heights Health Department is holding an art contest in which youngsters are challenged to create a work that raises awareness about the importance of protection from mosquito bites.

Prizes will be given in three age groups: K-third grade, fourth-sixth grades, and seventh-twelfth grades.

Youngsters can enter the Fight the Bite contest by mailing or delivering entries, along with a required consent form, by Aug. 14.

If you have questions, call 216-491-1480, or send an email to health@shakeronline.com.

To download the Fight the Bite entry form, visit shakeronline.com.

Putting things in order: If you have old family photos and small documents you'd like to digitize, you can learn how to do so July 21 at the Lee Road branch of the Cleveland Heights Library, 2345 Lee Road.

Learn how to use scanners to preserve your family's history and scan some of your own photos. Those planning to attend the event should bring a flash drive to save photos, although a limited number of flash drives will be available for purchase.

One-hour sessions will be held beginning at 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Call 216-932-3600.

Meanwhile, the Noble Library branch, 2800 Noble Road, has planned one of its popular adult coloring sessions. Stop on down between 7-8 p.m. July 24, and get ready to be transported back to childhood, and to relax. Supplies are provided, but if you have some favorite crayons, bring them along.

For more information about this event, call 216-291-5665.

Outdoor concerts: The University Heights Summer Concert Series continues July 13 with a performance by The Benjaminz, a Motown, R&B, soul, rock and jazz band; on July 20 with the Sloppy Joe Band (classic rock, blues and R&B); and July 27 with the University Heights Symphonic Band.

All concerts begin at 7 p.m. and take place on the John Carroll University Quad, in front of the library. Bring your own chairs or blankets. If weather is inclement, concerts are held in JCU's O'Malley Center.

Nice place to work: The Mandel Jewish Day School, 26500 Shaker Blvd. in Beachwood, reminds us that it was selected by The Plain Dealer among the 2017 Top Workplaces.

Top Workplaces lists were based solely on the results of an employee feedback survey administered by Workplace Dynamics, LLC.

"Of all the accolades a school might receive, this may be one of the more professionally and personally meaningful," said Head of School Jerry Isaak-Shapiro. "I'm grateful that the environment which we've developed has been recognized and appreciated by our extraordinary staff."

Bring the kids: Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime players will be performing at 3 p.m. July 22 at the Alma Theater at Cain Park, Lee and Superior roads, in Cleveland Heights.

Two-time Grammy Award-nominated Roberts is known for his fun music that helps children navigate the joys and sorrows of growing up.

Tickets are $15 in advance, and $18 the day of the show. The show is free for children 2 and under who are properly sitting on a lap.

If you would like to see an item appear in Press Run, send me an email, at least 12 days prior to an event, at jeff.piorkowski@att.net.
watch now

If you thought paper money was near extinction, Brink's , the largest cash management company in the world, proves you wrong, Jim Cramer said. But Brink's, which does everything from transporting valuable items in armored vehicles to managing ATMs, could be helped by one unexpected but growing trend: marijuana legalization. "Brink's isn't really involved in the pot industry per se, but because none of these new dispensaries can open bank accounts thanks to federal law, they're all hiring tons of armored cars to protect their money. Like it or not, marijuana is a cash business," the "Mad Money" host said. And while the company has many other growth drivers going for it, like its new smart safe initiative, CompuSafe, which counts your money as you put it in, and its cost-cutting migration to the cloud, a foray into pot could send the stock even higher. "Even if Brink's isn't trying to capture the marijuana market share directly, there are only so many armored trucks in this country, and when demand for them surges from one particular industry, you better believe that's going to help with pricing across the board. This is a pot play!" Cramer said. "Brink's has worked a remarkable transformation, and despite all the hand-wringing about the death of king cash, this stock seems to have a lot more room to run, especially as states legalize pot."

Game Plan: A Healthy Week Ahead

Bear and bull statues stand outside the Bursa Malaysia Bhd. headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012. Goh Seng Chong | Bloomberg | Getty Images

For Cramer, Friday's unexpectedly strong jobs report numbers validated the strength of the high-flying stock market. "Employment growth means money to buy a car or to buy a house, hence why the housing stocks roared today [to] new highs. Do I really need to explain how hiring helps the banks and techs and the industrials?" the "Mad Money" host said. "It also shows us which industries have the best growth. ... Right now it's health care, and that's a signal that these stocks, which have held up incredibly well, can keep rising." Certainly, employment growth is not the only number investors should watch when it comes to predicting the market's next move. "Of course, as important as the non-farm payroll report is, at the end of the day, what really matters for individual stocks are the earnings, and we kick off a brand new earnings season on Tuesday," Cramer said. With that in mind, Cramer's game plan focused on some key Federal Reserve speakers, important economic statistics, and next week's most monumental earnings reports.

Oracle: Could Buying the Dip Foretell Future Profits?

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg | Getty Images

Investors tend to dislike stocks that are going down, and Cramer found that the phrase "buy the dips" seems to have lost its spark among stock-pickers. "Really, it's a shorthand for the process of buying stocks when enthusiasm for them cools, the flipside of selling stocks into a wave of euphoria," the "Mad Money" host said. "When enthusiasm is tepid in this market, all stocks are abused, including many that don't deserve it." Cramer said the stock of Oracle is a perfect example. The company reported one of its best quarters in years just over two weeks ago, touting its growing gross margins, new cloud offerings and steady legacy businesses. In response to the unusually strong earnings report, the stock vaulted over 11 percent to an all-time high of $51.61. At that point, it seemed like it could be re-rated by analysts and go even higher, Cramer said. But since the report, Oracle's stock has declined to just over $49, and Cramer said buying the stock on this leg down could mean serious gains in the future.

Equinix CEO: Data Domination

An employee of Equinix data center checks servers in Pantin, a suburb of Paris. Martin Bureau | AFP | Getty Images

Finally, companies like Burger King might seem antithetical to data centers, but for Equinix CEO Steve Smith, the fast-food chain represents just one of the many clients his business serves. "Burger King, as you know, has stores and outlets all over the world. So they have customers, their people and their business deployed all over the world. All that information is distributed," Smith told Cramer on Friday. "It requires local capability on servers, storage arrays and networking gear everywhere that Burger King has outlets." Enter Equinix, an real estate investment trust that runs nearly 180 data centers across 44 of the world's largest markets. Burger King is just one of the REIT's 10,000 customers, Smith said. "They, like any other company, [are] moving more and more of their infrastructure to take advantage of this pay-as-you-go, pay-as-a-service cloud computing capability, whether it's software, hardware or platform, and they do a lot of that with Equinix," he told Cramer.

Lightning Round: Too Much Bloodshed
When Harvard Medical School professor John Brownstein had an idea for how Uber could provide a health service back in 2015, he shot off a few cold messages on LinkedIn. Brownstein didn't get a response from any of the Uber executives he contacted, so he tried a different tactic.

After his next ride, he wrote a response to a support ticket: "The ride was fine, but you guys should really consider health care as your next application."

That did the trick. Brownstein was invited into Uber's offices to share his idea. It seemed like a no-brainer as an opportunity for Uber to do good and explore a new revenue opportunity. He proposed putting nurses in cars to deliver potentially life-saving vaccines to offices and homes across the country.

That idea later became UberHEALTH.

Over the years, Brownstein, who is also a computational epidemiologist at Boston Children's Hospital, has quietly become a go-to for tech executives as they plot their initial steps into the health sector.

"I work with tech companies because I think a lot about how we can use these data-sets to understand population health," he said in a recent interview with CNBC.

Brownstein is fascinated by how the growing volume of digital data aggregated by tech companies can be meaningful. He studies how things like Google searches, data from wearable trackers, or social media posts can provide insight on predicting disease and improving health outcomes.

He was among the first to develop an Apple CareKit application to make it easier to collect medical data for parents of children with special needs. He was also a pioneer in leveraging Twitter's health-related conversations to study public health issues like chronic disease and gun violence. He worked with a small group of researchers to find out whether Yelp reviews could be an indicator of food poisoning outbreaks.

These days, he's intrigued by the health potential of Amazon 's Alexa application. He's one of the judges for a Merck-sponsored competition to build diabetes-management apps for the voice application. And his team at Boston Children's Hospital developed its own app called KidsMD to provide simple health advice to parents.
It is pretty much unavoidable. At some point, you will work for the Boss From Hell  unreasonable, abusive, maybe even dishonest.

In many cases, your options are limited, primarily to finding a new job.

But if you honestly believe your boss is committing fraud, you can report it. And federal law gives workers more protection than ever against retaliation by said Boss From Hell or anyone else at the company.

"There is a safety net," said Tammy Marzigliano, co-chair of the Whistleblower and Retaliation Practice Group at employment law firm Outten and Golden in New York.

Specifically, the Dodd-Frank law, passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, gives broad protection to employees who report suspected illegal activity.

"It allows them to freely complain and to identify these activities, and if the employer in return retaliates against them, whether they demote them, they ding them on their bonus, they terminate their employment, they get legal protection as a result of that," Marzigliano said.

But the law did not take effect until 2010  too late for many employees of the quintessential Boss From Hell, Troy Stratos, who is the subject of the latest episode of CNBC's "American Greed."

A serial scam artist described by one former associate as "the greatest con man who ever lived," Stratos is serving a 22-year prison sentence for a scheme that bilked investors out of millions of dollars, purportedly to purchase shares of Facebook stock before the company went public.

A few years earlier, when Stratos was posing as a movie producer, his staff knew something was amiss.

Stratos was living a lavish lifestyle and making big promises to his employees. But projects failed to materialize. So did paychecks. And Stratos turned abusive.

"One of his favorite tactics was public humiliation," former employee Tamara Hegan told "American Greed." "He had me stand up in the middle of an open office and he yelled at me for a half an hour, called me stupid, incompetent, lazy, idiotic  just complete public humiliation."

Eventually, the staff quit en masse. But with no whistles blown about the potential illegal activity, Stratos moved on to his next scams.

Not only do current laws make it easier for employees to report suspected wrongdoing, in some cases you could be violating the law by not reporting it, Marzigliano said. High-ranking executives such as CEOs may have a fiduciary relationship to the board or the shareholders that requires them to report suspected fraud if they see it.
ELKO  A new Nevada state law requiring incoming seventh grade students to be vaccinated for meningitis will be discussed at the Elko County Board of Health meeting Tuesday.

Elko County School District School Nurse Coordinator Bobbi Shanks will present an update to the board on the law and locations for vaccinations, the need to have students vaccinated prior to the start of the 2017-2018 school year, and how many students are left who need vaccinations.

The law passed by the Legislature in February requires students entering seventh grade to be vaccinated for MCV4, a protection against bacteria causing meningitis; and a booster vaccine, Tdap, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough.

Typically for seventh-graders, theyve always been required to get the Tdap, the tetanus shot, now theyre required to get the meningitis shot, explained Shanks. Its a national recommendation, but the state has opted it.

Shanks noted that the meningitis vaccine is expensive, which may affect uninsured students receiving the vaccine in time for the start of school.

Im scared were going to have a big rush before school starts, Shanks said.

A letter found on the Elko County School Districts health services website urges parents to have their children vaccinated prior to the start of school and provide a copy of the shot record to the childs school.

The board of health meets 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Nannini Administration Building at 540 Court St., Suite 102.
Ivanka Trump (L) and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin look on as U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for the morning working session on the second day of the G20 economic summit on July 8, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany.

Trump's 35-year old daughter is married to Jared Kushner , one of his top lieutenants, and is an accomplished businesswoman in her own right. Meanwhile, it's not unusual for presidents to use advisors or officials as stand-ins at key meetingsespecially at a major summit like the G-20, where meetings and bilateral sessions overlap one another.

The president's daughter, who also functions as one of his key advisors, was apparently deputized to take Trump's place after he departed the room for a brief period. At the time, the head of the World Bank was discussing a new women's entrepreneurship fund Ivanka Trump had spearheaded, a White House official told The Associated Press.

Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump's eldest daughter, caused a stir on Saturday after she was photographed alongside world leaders during a discussion at the Group of 20 summit.

Yet the move triggered an immediate uproar, with observers lambasting the idea that an unelected advisor and relative could sit shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

'Last time I checked, Ivanka isn't our President and isn't a diplomat.Why is she taking his place in this meeting?'

A photograph of the moment, which was captured by a Russian official and posted to Twitter before being deleted, ricocheted across social media. It amplified some concerns about Kushner and Ivanka Trump's conflicting roles as presidential relatives and advisors.

'Telling that pic of Ivanka at G-20 table was posted by Russian staff. Russians knew would: 1. be deemed controversial; 2. get us going in US'

Remember right before the election, when Ivanka said she wouldn't take any role in her father's administration?

Ivanka's brother, Donald J. Trump Jr., sprang to her defense. Sparring with Ana Navarro, a Republican pundit who is a relentless Trump critic, the president's son called his sister "very smart and eloquent," while hitting Navarro for her criticism.

'She is VERY smart & eloquent. You can belittle her all you want w your snark, but we all know 1 on 1 she way out of your league.'

With respect to Trump's biggest policy challenges, his elder daughter has mostly avoided the spotlight. Still, Ivanka Trump has weighed in on topics of personal interest, such as the women's empowerment initiative in which she's played a crucial role. On Saturday, Trump said that it might be easier for her if they weren't related.

At the summit, the president lavished praise on Ivanka, with NBC News reporting that "if she weren't my daughter it would be so much easier for her. I might be the only bad thing she has going."

In a highly anticipated meeting on Friday fraught with geopolitical tension, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin came face-to-face in a bilateral session. The two leaders exchanged pleasantries, while their aides verbally jousted about Russia's suspected role in meddling in the U.S. general election, with questions and inquiries swirling in Washington.

--The Associated Press contributed to this article.
With Independence Day now in our rearview mirror, its time to look ahead to the 2018 race to replace tax-hiking/ESA-killing/Medicaid-expanding Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval. And the Lefts campaign to block conservative Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt from the seat is already moving full speed ahead.

I recently passed a billboard in Las Vegas featuring the word ELECT above a full-blown image of Laxalt raising his right hand, appearing to take the oath of office. And the billboard is paid for by the militant lefties over at the Culinary Union.

Huh? What gives?

Well, its not quite what you think. Instead of the sign reading Governor Laxalt it reads Governor Trump. So I think its fair to assume we know exactly where this campaign is heading.

Liberals are trotting out an old strategy dating back to the days of then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, hoping Trump will be an electoral albatross around every Republican candidates neck in 2018.

It should be noted that when deployed against Gingrich, Republicans not only retained their House majority in subsequent elections, they actually increased it. In addition, not only did Nevada Republicans elect a new GOP governor and U.S. senator, they also won the lieutenant governors seat, the attorney generals seat, the secretary of states seat, the controllers seat and the treasurers seat.

Ah, but Trump-hate is so deep and so wide among Democrats  combined with the absence of a compelling message that resonates with voters  the historical electoral lesson regarding such a strategy simply isnt a consideration.

Theres also a delusional aspect here.

While its true Democrats regained control of the Nevada State Senate and Assembly in 2016, that was more a return to the status quo following the true electoral anomaly that resulted in GOP majorities in the Legislature following the 2014 red wave elections.

Which Republicans squandered by using the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to foolishly sock it to Nevadas families and businesses with the largest tax increase in state history. Conservative GOP voters in 2016 exacted retribution by ousting a large number of those tax-hiking Republicans at the ballot box.

So Nevada Democrats didnt actually win some kind of national trend-setting victory by regaining control of the Legislature in 2016. Republicans simply blew it. Yet Democrat leaders here have deluded themselves into thinking their policies and candidates won the day  kinda like the proverbial rooster taking credit for the sun rising.

The truth is the Democrats legislative leaders in the 2017 session were weak and bumbling. And their legislative policy agenda was so far left and so far out of the mainstream that they couldnt even get it past a Republican as liberal as Sandoval, who nixed much of it with a record number of gubernatorial vetoes.

Which is why they and their accomplices arent running on a policy agenda in 2018 but are instead running against Donald Trump. Frankly, its all theyve got. And it will likely backfire on them as spectacularly as it did when they tried to do the same thing with Gingrich.

Those who fail to learn from history 
Syed Kamall is Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group and is an MEP for London.

My role in Brussels involves me wearing two hats. The first is as a Conservative MEP for London, representing my constituents and my country and helping to shape legislation..

The second role, perhaps less known in the UK, is as leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group, the third largest of the eight political groupings in the European Parliament.

Formed at the initiative of David Cameron in June 2009, many in Brussels  particularly the socialists and federalists  predicted the ECR would not survive more than a few months. However our message of reform, of better Europe not more, and of greater democracy and transparency, resonated across bloc and led to the ECR becoming the third largest group, with MEPs from 18 Member States in just five years.

Not only was this unprecedented, but it led to the ECR overtaking the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) group, much to the annoyance of its leader, Guy Verhofstadt.

Just as it is in both the UK and EUs interests for the UK to remain good neighbours, as we cease to be reluctant tenants, British Conservatives should also be seeking to maintain our links with like-minded politicians and allies at the heart of the EU. Therefore it is very much in the our interests that the ECR continues to thrive post-Brexit.

This means planning now for the departure of our Party, which remains the Groups largest single delegation. With the future in mind, this week ECR MEPs voted to change the groups constitution to establish a joint chairmanship.

As March 2019 approaches, I will be sharing some of my duties with my Polish colleague, Ryszard Legutko, and preparing the Group for life without us Brits. The message being sent to both Group members and the rest of the Parliament is that the ECR is stronger than any of its individual delegations and will continue to be a political force beyond 2019.

My priority as a London Conservative MEP will be to help the party reach out to voters as London continues to change, especially younger and BME voters. Watch this space for news of initiatives I will be launching in the Autumn.

As co-Chairman of the ECR Group, my priority will be to continue to act as a bridge between Westminster and Brussels over the next 20 months, explaining the UKs position, clearing up misunderstandings, and doing all I can to secure a Brexit deal that protects the interests of both sides.

Although negotiations between the UK and the EU have only just started, I am happy with the progress made so far. The right tone has been set and Theresa Mays has made a generous offer on EU citizens rights, while waiting for the EU to confirm how it intends to treat UK citizens remaining in EU countries.

These are initial positions. Neither side wants the talks to get bogged down early on. With a little give and take as well as the right attitude, I am sure agreement on this point is within reach.

The new pragmatic mood was obvious at last months European Council Summit in Brussels. Such was the absence of discord that the headlines were made by Donald Tusks decision to quote from the John Lennon classic Imagine. When asked if the UK could yet remain in the EU he replied: You may say Im a dreamer, but Im not the only one.

It was clearly a (no doubt rehearsed) response which achieved its aim of generating newspaper headlines. However, a more appropriate reference to the negotiations could probably be found in the earlier Beatles song: We can work it out.

This week has also marked the end of Maltas six month European Council presidency. A record 20 laws have been signed off in that time, including the long awaited removal of mobile phone roaming charges and the establishment of visa free travel with Ukraine. Significant progress has been made on several tax files, notably the reduction of VAT on e-publications, a measure Conservatives strongly support.

The mantle has now passed to Estonia, which takes over the Council presidency for the remainder of 2017.

Pressing problems remain. In the European Parliament, the ECR Group is working closely with other political groups to establish a special committee on terrorism, which hopefully will focus on how we can tackle Daesh/ISIS internationally, at the national level, and in our local communities.

Asylum and migration may have slipped from the headlines, but the people keep on coming. According to the International Organisation for Migration, 24,513 people landed in Italy in the first three months of 2017, up 30 per cent on the same period last year. About 10,000 people arrived last week alone, prompting a government threat to bar foreign ships carrying migrants from Italian ports. Shockingly, one in 30 migrants in the central Mediterranean now dies en-route.

The arrival of summer and the inevitable increase in refugees and irregular migrants attempting to reach Europe, often losing their lives in the process, reminds us that the EU has still to find a sustainable solution.

There are no easy answers, but the lack of media coverage must not see us slacken our efforts. Sadly, at a time when a constructive and cooperative approach amongst EU Member States is needed more than ever, the European Commission is determined to force upon Central and Eastern European countries a failed compulsory relocation scheme for asylum seekers, and withhold funds for countries that refuse to take their quota.

If we are to really tackle this crisis, reduce the number of irregular migrants, and help genuine asylum seekers, then we need policies which are firm but fair, and unite rather than divide us. Politicians and officials in Brussels need to admit that the policy on relocation and asylum is in danger of recreating geographical and political divisions within the EU, whilst doing little to abate the crisis.

If we are to make progress in this area, then some EU leaders must be ready to review those policies which simply are not working, rather than carrying on in an attempt to save face.

Also, while the yield on Greek government bonds have been approaching pre-2010 levels, government debt has increased. Opinion is divided over whether we are on the verge of another Greek debt crisis and yet another bail out.

But lets end on a positive note. Two new Conservative MEPs have arrived in Brussels to replace our former colleagues and freshly minted MPs Vicky Ford and Andrew Lewer. Rupert Matthews (East Midlands) and John Flack (East of England) have a big job to do and a steep learning curve ahead. Welcome both and best of luck!
Its hard to make sense of cannabis regulation.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) continues to categorize marijuana as a Schedule I drug. That means the government believes it has no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse, putting it in the same league as LSD and heroin. The Trump administration has expressly voiced skepticism of marijuanas medical benefits, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions calling them hyped. Yet, legal pot has become a multi-billion-dollar industry that stuffs the coffers of eight states where voters have approved its legal recreational use. And nearly 30 states have legalized pot for medicinal purposes so far.

This burgeoning industry has also witnessed the issuance of dozens of patents related to cannabinoids and various strains of cannabis, including ones on marijuana-laced lozenges, plant-breeding techniques and methods for making pot-spiked beverages. Some of these products contain a significant amount of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that makes people high.

As a professor who researches and teaches in the area of patent law, I have been monitoring how private companies are quietly securing these patents on cannabis-based products and methods of production, even though marijuana remains a Schedule 1 drug. An even richer irony is that the government itself has patented a method of administering a therapeutically effective amount of a cannabinoids.

This engagement with the patent system raises several interesting questions as the legal pot industry grows and medical research on cannabis advances.

Patenting living things

First of all, how can anyone or any entity obtain a patent on a living substance that grows in the wild and has been known for about 5,000 years?

In a landmark 1980 opinion, then-U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote that eligibility for patent protection does not depend on whether the substance is living or nonliving. Rather, the key question is whether the inventor has altered natures handiwork to the extent the resulting invention can be deemed a nonnaturally occurring substance.

Moreover, two federal statutes expressly recognize patent protection on plant varieties, including the 1930 Plant Protection Act, which defined the constitutional term inventor as including not only someone who created something new but also someone who is a discoverer, one who finds or finds out.

Accordingly, sexually or asexually reproduced plants  whether geraniums, strawberries or roses  enjoy patent protection. The same goes for different versions, or strains, of the naturally occurring Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica plants, both of which are better known as marijuana.

No judgment

And so why, you might ask, does the federal government issue (and own) patents on a substance it says cannot be possessed, sold or grown without breaking the law? And can the people, companies or other entities that hold those patents enforce their rights in a federal court if someone violates them?

Unlike European patent law, which prohibits patents on inventions considered contrary to public order or morality, U.S. patent law is amoral and nonjudgmental.

U.S. courts have ruled that the Patent and Trademark Office should treat the mundane  bicycles or can openers  and the controversial  such as birth-control devices, genetically altered mice and ammunition  the same way.

That is why all strains of flowering plants, be they tomatoes or cannabis, bud on the same even playing field.

However, the Patent and Trademark Office, part of the Commerce Department, and the DEA, a Justice Department agency, follow distinct rules and regulations regarding controlled substances.

Conflicting laws

No surprise here, but sometimes these federal rules and regulations over weed conflict. Say the owner of a patent on a particular strain of cannabis sues a marijuana grower in Colorado  which legalized pot for recreational use  for patent infringement in a federal court.

Patent law is exclusively federal. Therefore, the grower cannot successfully argue that patent law doesnt matter. Yet the grower can assert that the patent is unenforceable. Not because it fails to satisfy the patent laws, but because the patent covers an illegal substance.

The grower could argue that the patent owner cant stop him from doing something that a states law permits, and that federal law forbids the patent owners from doing.

The patent owner may respond that federal law gives him the right to stop others from using (or growing) their patented invention.

Therefore, a patent on a particular strain of pot may be used to stop someone from growing or selling it, even in a state that has legalized weed.

In theory, patent owners may sue to stop anyone from growing specific kinds of patented pot plants in any state or territory  whether or not pot is legal there. To date, this hasnt happened.

Prospecting for pot strains

Finally, why would anyone patent a cannabis strain knowing that their invention is an outlawed Schedule I substance?

A plausible answer is prospecting. Where there is money to be made now or in the future, entrepreneurs will take risks.

Growers are already (or soon will be) acting legally under state law in Alaska, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington  and with some limitations in the District of Columbia. Many cannabis patent applicants are positioning themselves today for what they expect to see within the foreseeable post-Trump future: marijuana being legal for recreational and medical use from coast to coast according to federal and state laws alike.

Not everybody in the cannabis industry has such high hopes (sorry), however.

Smaller breeders, scientists who alter naturally occuring marijuana plants for medicinal purposes, fear that bioagricultural companies like Monsanto and Syngenta will arm themselves with cannabis-based patents and deploy their considerable economic power to position themselves as dominant forces in a promising market.

Full legalization  slated to happen next year in Canada  is probably years away on this side of the border, given the current political climate. Yet how this looming legal battle plays out will have significant consequences for innovation and the potential for cannabis-derived drugs.
Real government will continue to be out of the parliament

There is relative calm in the inner political field of Armenia and it was expected. We are going towards problem 2018. It is when the tenure of Serzh Sargsyan will end, and Armenia will entirely enter the era of parliamentary government, and the package of the changes will entirely come true, noted political expert Ruben Mehrabyan at the meeting with journalists. According to his words, the problem is where the real government will be, as it isnt in the NA today and there are no preconditions to be, The real government will continue to be out of the parliament, and the problem is what those de facto authorities will be like, and the current authorities dont have or have, but dont give the answer to this question. The political expert also touched upon the developments in foreign politics: We witnessed another tension, which was provoked by Azerbaijan ahead of G-20, trying to increase the bets, which is impermissible. The political expert thinks that the planned meeting between the foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will take place. At the same time he notes the steps, which shouldnt be done by the Armenian side, The Armenian side shouldnt be involved in any negotiations, which are out of the Minsk Group frames. Second, the Armenian side shouldnt allow Wien agreements to remain out of the agenda and shouldnt let Azerbaijan change the agenda, noted the political expert. Ruben Mehrabyan says that Russia continues its dirty game, as Azerbaijan fires at us with the weapons of Russian production. 80 percent of Azerbaijans weapons are of Russian production, summed up political expert Ruben Mehrabyan.
Statement by the Spokesperson on the conflict resolution and reconciliation efforts

Foreign Minister of Armenia to participate in the Fifth Paris Peace Forum

Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights

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Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom

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STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

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I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

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There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments
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Partners: Verizon's Schijns Will Be Missed, But New Channel Chief Chuisano Is 'A Name Partners Trust'

Gina Narcisi

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Channel veteran Janet Schijns, executive vice president of solution and sales channels for Verizon Business Markets, is leaving the company. As the carrier reiterates its commitment to the channel, Verizon partners hope that the new channel team picks up where Schijns left off.

"Janet has done an incredible job with getting mind share for the agent channel at Verizon over the past few years. The percentage of revenue coming from the channel has grown tremendously during that time, and that is a testament to her success," said Vince Bradley, CEO of master agent World Telecom Group (WTG), a Verizon partner.

Joe Chuisano, a well-known Verizon veteran who has been managing a large portion of the carrier's channel portfolio for years, will step in as North America Verizon Business Markets channel chief. Chuisano previously served as managing director of Verizon Business Markets.

[Related: Verizon Channel Chief Schijns Out As Carrier Announces Leadership Changes]

"There's no replacing [Schijns], but for partners, this will be seamless. [Chuisano] is a face, voice and a name partners trust," a spokesperson for Verizon told CRN after confirming Schijns' departure.

During his 23-year tenure at Verizon, Chuisano headed up the launch of Verizons M2M practice, as well as the Verizon Partner Program in North America and EMEA, according to Verizon.

Master agent Intelisys, a large Verizon partner who in April acquired Kingcom, a Portland, Ore.-based Verizon-exclusive master agent, is sad to see Schijns go, but Intelisys President Jay Bradley said that Chuisano is no stranger to the responsibilities of a channel chief. Bradley said that Chuisano has been in the trenches with partners, calling the longtime Verizon executive "attentive" and "very accessible."

WTG's Bradley said that, while Schijns will be missed, Chuisano is being back by a solid team, including former XO Communications Vice President Bill Hooper and Senior Vice President of Marketing and Product Jake Heinz, who has been named CMO of Verizon Business Markets.

The carrier also announced that Lori Bonenfant, Verizon's director of channel marketing for the last three years, will now report to Heinz.

"We are confident that Verizon's commitment to the channel will not waiver and will sustain all the efforts that [Schijns] has put in," WTG's Bradley said. "[Verizon's] channel has developed nicely, and we expected to continue to do so."

Master agent Avant, a Verizon Platinum Partner, agrees that Schijns' efforts in restructuring the Verizon program for partners will be carried on by Chuisano.

"We are looking forward to working with Joe in his expanded role to further accelerate channel growth," Ian Kieninger, CEO for Chicago-based Avant, told CRN.

For some partners, the organizational changes come as a surprise. Channel chief changeups often cause some worry about the carrier's long-term channel strategy, according to one Verizon partner that asked not to be named. "This caught everyone off guard. [Schijns] was certainly a champion for the channel," the Verizon partner said.

Basking Ridge, N.J.-based Verizon said that there would be no change to its overall channel strategy or its plans for the One Program. Verizon's One Program, which will officially launch in 2018, will integrate the Verizon Partner Program, Mass Markets, and XO Channel programs.

Petaluma, Calif.-based Intelisys is "100 percent confident" that Verizon will continue to build its channel and improve its processes for working with partners, Intelisys' Bradley said.

"We have no reason to believe we'll see a dip in their attention, and all reasons to believe [Verizon] will continue to strengthen their program," he said. "Verizon is a titan in our industry, and we need it to have a good, strong program."

According to Verizon, Schijns is leaving the company in pursuit of a new opportunity outside of the industry. Her last day will be July 14.
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WASHINGTON  Chris and Jessica Curran of Ridgefield first noticed something was wrong with their now 6-year-old son, Conner, when he could not keep up with his twin brother.

A doctors visit soon changed the Currans lives forever. Conner had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy  a fatal, genetic disease that causes progressive muscle loss.

The diagnosis brought the family both heartache and financial distress  treatment would cost them $54,000 a year. The costs are covered by the family's employer-based health insurance, but Chris said he fears apparent loopholes in the GOP bill could impose caps on their coverage as Conner grows.

Conners story is one of the many that have shot into Connecticuts political spotlight over the past few weeks, as Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy seek to put names and faces to the Republican health care bills they say would hurt families facing catastrophic illness.

The senators said they hope sharing stories will sway votes and force political compromise on the Republican measures.

Possible compromise

The GOP Senate bill would trim Medicaid spending by $772 billion over 10 years, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate.

Blumenthal and Murphy return to Washington this week to continue battling the Senate bill. With Republican support ebbing, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., may have little choice but to abandon it and start negotiating with the Democratic minority.

For the Currans, the politics are personal.

We want with all our hearts not to have to worry about our insurance future but to focus on our family, medical care for Conner, advocacy and raising money to find a cure, said Chris Curran, a maintenance worker for the town of Lewisboro, N.Y. We pray that Republicans and Democrats can work together to find compromises that will benefit all Americans and protect Medicaid for the disabled.

McConnell last week said that a compromise might be necessary if he cannot round up the 50 votes needed to push the Obamacare repeal through the Senate.

No action is not an alternative, McConnell said. Weve got the insurance markets imploding all over the country.

McConnell and Republicans on Capitol Hill have long awaited their chance to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which they say is failing. With confusion in the marketplace as the battle in Washington continues, health care providers across the country are pulling out of the program, and premiums for policies in the individual market are skyrocketing. In Connecticut, Anthem and ConnectiCare requested increases of 33.8 percent and 17.5 percent respectively for 2018.

Case histories

Blumenthal said Democrats are willing to negotiate but have yet to be invited to the table. In the meantime, sharing personal stories has become a way to sway votes and change minds, he said.

The human face and voice is more powerful and eloquent than a thousand of my words or a thousand of statistics, Blumenthal said in an interview.

Blumenthal joined Democratic colleagues on the steps of the Capitol last month to protest the Republican bill, holding up a picture of Conner Curran to show who, he said, would be harmed by the proposed slashes to Medicaid.

Murphy, a few feet away, held a picture of a 20-month-old Stamford boy, Antonio Davis, with a rare genetic disorder.

The Democrats encountered some backlash for the public showings, facing accusations from opponents of exploiting sick children.

Anybody who says we are exploiting people should come to a hearing and see for themselves: People coming forward, wanting to have their stories told in Washington, wanting their faces and voices seen and heard, Blumenthal said.

Murphy has also launched a Share Your Healthcare Story initiative, where constituents can tell the senator how the ACA has benefited them, to help him illustrate exactly what passing this cruel bill will mean for families in Connecticut, according to the campaigns webpage. He also took to Twitter last week to share 21 of those stories in a series of 108 tweets.

Late last week, Murphy held a telephone town hall meeting to hear more individual stories from Connecticut residents.

I want to thank everyone who shared their stories with me, Murphy tweeted. I am going to fight this disaster of a bill with everything that Ive got.

 Cayla.harris@hearstdc.com
Statement by the Spokesperson on the conflict resolution and reconciliation efforts

Foreign Minister of Armenia to participate in the Fifth Paris Peace Forum

Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights

Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh

Google Ad

Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom

Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

Google Ad

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments
Pa. Dems could flip the House of Reps. Here's what that might mean
July 5, 2017

Comments from senior Iraqi officials after the conquest of Mosul correspond with the current assessment by Western intelligence agencies that the collapse of the Islamic State's caliphate is inevitable. While those same intelligence sources claim that the fall of Raqqa will take time, it will happen in the end. What this means is that the surviving combatants in Islamic State (IS) territory will attempt to find refuge in more distant and remote regions so that they can continue to export their global jihad, mainly against Western targets in the United States and Europe.

Given the current situation, the various players in the Middle East are preparing for the "day after" IS, when it no longer has a physical presence in the region. That could happen at any time in the next year or two. In other words, it is right around the corner.

"The new Middle East is a strange place," a senior Israeli military official familiar with the northern front told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. "The days of seeing things in black and white, of seeing groups painted as enemies versus those groups we consider allies, are over. Many of the players are now both. It all depends on the perspective, particular arena and interests of the moment.

That top official was referring, first and foremost, to Hezbollah, Iran, Russia and the Lebanese army. Israel is very worried about the attitude of the United States toward the Lebanese army and the fact that the Americans continue to arm it so vigorously. "The US sees how the Lebanese army is fighting [IS] in the northern part of the country and has marked it as a positive force  or, in other words, as part of the anti-[IS] alliance," says the official. "But that is an illusion, because the Lebanese army is becoming increasingly identified with Hezbollah, and arms that the Americans are providing to the Lebanese army in the north can later be found in the hands of the Lebanese army and Hezbollah in the south, where they can be used against us.

Israel points to recent remarks in March by Lebanese President Michel Aoun, who said that Hezbollah serves in a complementary role to the Lebanese army. One top Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer could not hide how pleased he was with this comment. He even sent Lebanon a message of his own through the commander of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon, with a special thank you to the Lebanese leader. Another senior IDF officer explained to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity: "The president's comments were, in effect, an explicit admission that Hezbollah and the Lebanese army are one and the same. What this means is that in the next war, which we hope does not break out, we will no longer need to avoid attacking Lebanese infrastructures like we did last time. Michel Aoun made a strategic error."

Meanwhile, Israel is investing most of its efforts on keeping the United States on the right side  i.e., its side  of the conflict. Israel is very concerned about the possibility that US President Donald Trump will attempt to instill order in the Middle East on the day after IS by making a special deal with the Russians, which would allow the Shiite axis stretching from Tehran to Beirut to acquire a foothold in the Golan Heights.

Another issue at the top of Israel's agenda is the fact that Iran has begun building factories in Lebanon to manufacture relatively accurate rockets and missiles. According to foreign reports, the Israeli Air Force has so far been able to strike most of the convoys leaving Damascus for Beirut with their cargoes of "tie-breaking" weapons, which could harm Israel's unchallenged aerial superiority in the region or allow Hezbollah to launch attacks on strategic targets in Tel Aviv with pinpoint accuracy. In order to get around the aerial siege attributed to Israel, the Iranians are now planning to "reduce ranges" and provide Hezbollah with the option of manufacturing these missiles themselves.

The Israeli leadership is engaged in a bitter debate as to whether such factories in Lebanon are a casus belli. In other words, do they constitute the crossing of some red line, which is unacceptable to Israel? If this approach gains the upper hand, Israel will try to attack or otherwise torpedo the construction of these factories, no matter what the price may be. It would do this even if it would require an aerial strike to destroy them, just as foreign publications claim that Israel destroyed Syria's suspected nuclear reactor in Deir ez-Zor in 2007. Since such a move would set off a huge conflagration in the Middle East, the decision to launch the attack will not be an easy one.

So far, Israel and Hezbollah are locked in a state of mutual deterrence. It is not in the interest of either of them to launch a conflict that would result in unprecedented destruction in Lebanon but cause damage to Israel too. At the same time, it is obvious to Israeli decision-makers that Hezbollah is currently in a position of weakness, having lost some 1,500 fighters in Syria, with thousands more wounded. What this means is that Hezbollah would be unable to operate effectively on another front, this one with Israel. Nevertheless, there is no Israeli leader capable of making the intelligent decision and reacting to the construction of these missile factories in Lebanon. Instead, Israel's leaders are making do with a long series of speeches and declarations by top military and political officials over the past two weeks. One high point of this was the recommendation June 21 by the outgoing commander of the Israeli air force, Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel, to the people of southern Lebanon that they hurry and flee their homes if and when war breaks out.

There are now those in Israel who confess to the sin of committing a "substantial historic mistake" in its early days by choosing to engage the Shiites in conflict rather than accepting them and forming an alliance with them, just as Israel did with the Druze. "The Shiites are a minority and are considered heretics by the Sunnis, just like the Druze and the Yazidis," a senior Israeli military official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. "They did not understand this yet in 1948 [Israels Independence War] and again in 1982 [First Lebanon War]. Instead of reaching out to the Shiite population in Lebanon and offering them some kind of arrangement, which would include mutual defense, we have turned them into our enemies. We will come to regret this for generations, because the way that the Shiites perceive the region and their status in Islam makes them much more disposed than the Sunnis to cooperate with us. We can only consider changing course once the Iranian Revolution is over." Then he added, "but no one knows when that will be."
Brexiteers are incandescent that Jeremy Corbyn is due to hold talks next week in Brussels with the EUs trade negotiator Michel Barnier.

They are convinced that despite voting in the Commons to trigger Article 50 to begin Britains withdrawal from the EU, the Labour leader secretly wishes to sabotage Brexit.

The argument runs that, by following this course, he hopes to destroy Theresa Mays government and move into No 10 himself.

Its Monsieur Barnier, of course, a former French government minister, who is a thorn in Mrs Mays side, having preposterously proclaimed that Britain will have to pay a 50billion divorce settlement.

Jeremy Corbyn voted for Britain to leave what was then the Common Market in 1975. He then opposed the Maastricht Treaty that, 25 years ago, significantly extended the power of Brussels and laid the foundations for the EU becoming a superstate as it removed sovereign powers from individual member governments

Although many Tory Brexiteers detect a conspiracy between Corbyn and Brussels bigwigs to undermine Mrs May, I believe they have badly misread the intentions of the Labour leader.

But, as some in the Tory party traitorously plot against a gravely weakened PM amid irresponsible talk of possible successors and stalking-horses, the truth is that Corbyn could well make a vital contribution to the Brexit negotiations.

Although Im not a big supporter of David Cameron, he deserves praise for being loyal to his successor by speaking out in favour of economic austerity. His dignified conduct compares well with the rank disloyalty of some former prime ministers (Edward Heath springs to mind). His backing of Theresa May is also a standing reproach to his shameless friend George Osborne, who is still fighting old battles and treacherously lobbing hand grenades daily at Mrs May. Advertisement

He is on record in recent months as having said the referendum result was a clear vote and has stressed his determination to get a good deal with Europe.

Indeed, currently the most popular politician in Britain  with a YouGov/Times poll yesterday giving Labour an eight-point lead over the Conservatives  he feels he has an increasing amount of authority to ensure Brexit happens.

There is a bigger irony here. In last months General Election, thousands of Remainers voted for Labour in the hope that if elected PM, Corbyn might overturn the referendum result or instigate a second vote.

The fact is that, at heart, Corbyn is much more critical of the EU than Theresa May  or many other members of the Cabinet.

The Labour leader has a long record of opposition to the Brussels-driven project for a European superstate.

In the 1975 referendum, like so many Left-wingers, he voted for Britain to leave what was then the Common Market. He then opposed the Maastricht Treaty that, 25 years ago, significantly extended the power of Brussels and laid the foundations for the EU becoming a superstate as it removed sovereign powers from individual member governments.

Similarly, as a backbencher, Corbyn defied his party leader Tony Blair and opposed the Lisbon Treaty which created the constitutional framework for todays EU.

Why is Blair STILL protected? A year has passed since the Chilcot report proved that Tony Blair lied through his teeth to the British people in order to justify his invasion of Iraq. So why did Sir John Chilcot come to his rescue this week by saying that Blair was emotionally truthful ahead of the war? Sir John endorsed the former PMs repeated claim that he acted in good faith, even though Chilcots report showed this was not true. Perversely, the British establishment continues to rally round Blair. Another example is how Attorney General Jeremy Wright intervened this week to shield him from private prosecution for war crimes. Blair is a very wealthy man, and thus more than capable of paying for his own defence. Advertisement

Before becoming leader, he denounced the EUs ever-limiting powers for national parliaments and an increasingly powerful common foreign and security policy.

Despite such a long and proud history of Euroscepticism, when he was elected to lead the party, he felt forced to join the Remain campaign. This was simply because he could not change the minds of the substantial majority of EU-worshipping Labour MPs. (Last year, more than 200 of the partys 231 MPs were in favour of staying in the EU.)

Even so, Corbyn was conspicuous by his low profile during the EU referendum campaign in 2016.

However, now, with the Tories in turmoil and sensing blood, Corbyn has the opportunity to make mischief, manoeuvre himself closer to No 10 and express his true reservations about the EU.

Evidence of this has been seen in the way he has ruthlessly treated Labours high-profile Remainers.

Last week he sacked three pro-European shadow ministers for defying the party whip and backing a Commons amendment by Blairite MP Chuka Umunna calling for Britain to stay in the Single Market, in direct contravention of official Labour policy.

With the menacing support of the grassroots movement Momentum, which is plotting to deselect moderate Labour MPs, Corbyn has made it clear hes willing to discipline any parliamentary rebels. In his sights are the 49 who joined the anti-Brexit Commons revolt against his leadership.

Meanwhile, in a fascinating separate development, I understand that, two weeks ago, a group of senior businessmen who met a close union ally of Corbyn in the hope of convincing him of the case for a watered-down Brexit were sent away with a flea in their ear.

Of course, the reasons why Corbyn supports Brexit are not the same as why Tory Leavers loathe the EU.

Theresa May has made a mistake in appointing BBC man Robbie Gibb as head of government communications inside 10 Downing Street. For he is well-known through Westminster as a mischief-maker. He was one of the clique working in Conservative Campaign Headquarters suspected of trying to destroy the leadership of William Hague and, later, that of Iain Duncan Smith. Gibbs modernising views are totally antipathetic to Mrs Mays vision of Conservative Britain. I strongly advise her to watch him like a hawk. Advertisement

While the latter cant wait to restore powers to Westminster, regain control of our borders, ditch the European Court of Human Rights etc, Corbyn sees the EU as a capitalist, free market organisation that discriminates against working men and women.

Also, the Labour leader fears that Brussels rules  such as those governing free markets, opposing state control and banning the seizing of private assets  could prevent him putting a socialist programme into practice if ever he became prime minister.

And so, regardless of the myriad reasons for his dislike of the EU, I believe that Corbyns support is absolutely crucial to the success of Brexit negotiations. This is particularly the case at a time the Tory Party is convulsed by a brutal battle between MPs who want a soft Brexit  with continued membership of the Single Market trading arrangements  and hard Brexiteers who believe the UK can flourish without any vestigial EU ties.

As Mrs May struggles to regain authority, it is the duty of the leader of Her Majestys Opposition to step up and do the right thing by this country.

How ironic it would be if Brexit  with this country re-established as a truly independent, self-governing nation  was achieved thanks to the influence of Jeremy Corbyn, rather than the efforts of Right-wing free-marketeers such as Boris Johnson, Liam Fox and Nigel Farage.
He may have a reputation as a brave warrior Prince  but he is also known for being unafraid to reveal his deepest emotions.

And now its believed that besotted Prince Harry has signalled to girlfriend Meghan Markle that she is his special person  by spending thousands on a painting for her called Everybody Needs Somebody To Love.

The modern piece by rising British artist Van Donna was picked up by the Prince, 32, during a visit to London gallery Walton Fine Arts.

It's a deal: Prince Harry with Michael Sakhai, the owner of the Walton Street Gallery where he reportedly bought the painting called Everybody Needs Somebody To Love

It is in two parts, called a diptych. One half features a view of a couple walking hand-in-hand, while the other half contains the title of the piece in a blue script.

A red version sold at Christies last year for 3,000.

It is not known for certain whether the acrylic, stencil and spray piece was bought for 35-year-old Meghan, or as a gift for someone else.

But the pair had started their romance by the time of the purchase last October, even if his burgeoning relationship with the American actress was still not public knowledge. Rumours had been awash about the pair all through last summer and they were finally confirmed as a couple at the end of October. The couple were pictured together for the first time the following February.

Lovebirds: In March, Meghan flew from Toronto to Jamaica on a private jet to be by Harrys side for the wedding of his close friend Tom Inskip

A well-placed source told The Mail on Sunday: We often see him in the street. One day he popped in [to the gallery] with his bodyguard and said he was looking for something for an important person in his life. He fell in love with the Van Donna diptych.

After paying for it, he said, Do you think I could split them up, keep one for myself and give the other to the important person? A few days later, he was photographed with Meghan and we realised who the special person was.

Princess Diana was 'one of the naughtiest of parents', says Harry Prince Harry has described his mother as one of the naughtiest parents  as well as the best mum in the world. He makes the comments while looking at a private photograph album with brother William in a trailer for a TV documentary commemorating the 20th anniversary of Dianas death. In one endearing moment, the princes study a picture of Diana holding her eldest son while pregnant with Harry. William jokes: Believe it or not, you and I are both in this photograph. Youre in the tummy! He adds: She was very informal and really enjoyed the laughter and the fun. Harry says it is the first time the pair have spoken publicly about Diana as a mother. Diana, Our Mother: Her Life And Legacy will be broadcast later this month on ITV. Advertisement

If the painting was a gift, it will do nothing to quell growing speculation that an engagement is imminent. Nor will reports from Canada that Meghan was last week spotted trying on bridal gowns while shopping for an evening dress in Toronto.

Harry is currently preparing to take part in his first State visit, and will host the King and Queen of Spain next week.

The Prince, who gained a B grade in his Art A-level at Eton, has grown up surrounded by some of the worlds finest art collections. Both his grandfather Prince Philip and his father Prince Charles are keen painters.

But the purchase of the Van Donna piece suggests Harry does not share their very traditional tastes. The 31-year-old British artist never gives interviews and, like street artist Banksy, hides behind a nickname  said to be styled after her heroes Van Gogh and Madonna.

She describes herself in online biographies as a working wife and mother who reconnected with art after finding she had no outlet for her creativity.

She knows the Prince has bought the work, tweeting: OMG! So excited that Harry has acquired my paintings! Yay!!!

Although she omitted Harrys surname, The Mail on Sunday has confirmed that the buyer was indeed the Prince.

Last night, neither Walton Fine Arts owner Michael Sakhai, Van Donna nor Kensington Palace would comment.
We can't go on like this. On the one hand, the NHS is so strapped for cash that we have to ration things that would dramatically improve people's lives, such as cataract surgery.

On the other, as was reported earlier this week, the NHS is spending vast sums of cash on simple painkillers such as paracetamol that patients could buy far cheaper on the High Street. It's madness.

Such drugs are hugely more expensive when issued on prescription because they have to be dispensed by a pharmacist.

Simple drugs like paracetamol cost the NHS up to 17 times more than patients can get them on the high street. GPs issue prescriptions at a cost of 3.23 a packet when the same drugs are sold for as little as 19p per packet in the local supermarket

Last year in England alone, the NHS spent more than 70 million on paracetamol, with GPs issuing more than 21,740,000 prescriptions at 3.23 per packet, even though they are sold for as little as 19p at supermarkets.

These figures emerged in response to a parliamentary question by Grahame Morris, a Labour MP.

But those in the Health Service have known about this scandal for a long time, and last year the chief executive of the NHS, Simon Stevens, suggested that basic medications that can be bought over-the-counter should be removed from the list of things doctors can prescribe.

As well as simple painkillers, this includes gluten-free foods, basic antacids such as Gaviscon or ranitidine (Zantac), ointment for eye infections, laxatives such as senna and hayfever medicines.

Some have criticised this plan as evidence of a creeping retreat by the NHS, so it provides less and less to patients. The idea is 'out to consultation'  which, given these objections, means it may never happen.

But to me, it just makes economic sense. Why should taxpayers subsidise medicines at vastly inflated cost, when a quick trip to the local chemist or supermarket means patients could pick them up 17 times cheaper?

Yet colleagues tell me that when they try to persuade people to buy their own painkillers, many flatly refuse, arguing they should never have to pay for their pills.

Even more infuriating is that several patients have told me that because they get their painkillers on repeat prescription and don't always take them, they build up a stock which they then hand out to friends and family.

This is an utter disgrace, and demonstrates everything that's wrong with the way people view the NHS  namely that it's free, so can be abused.

The NHS spent more than 70 million giving paracetamol to patients in England last year

Don't get me wrong, I am a passionate advocate for the NHS. All the evidence shows it's one of the cheapest and most efficient ways in the world for delivering healthcare. But it simply cannot provide everything for everyone, and the medicines we're talking about here are, by definition, basic ones  including cough and cold remedies, travel sickness pills and sun protection cream  all highly affordable on the High Street.

If the NHS had unlimited resources, of course people should get over-the-counter drugs free. But when we can't afford to fund cataract operations so that blind people can see, I'm afraid we have to make some tough decisions.

That means the NHS stopping prescriptions for gluten-free foods, for example, which cost the Health Service an estimated 22 million last year. This is not condemning those with coeliac disease to starvation: there are thousands of foods that are naturally gluten-free, it's just prioritising resources. Besides, it's food, not medicine. You don't get diabetic chocolate on the NHS, so why should you get gluten-free bread?

NHS England estimates that 400 million a year could be saved by instructing GPs not to hand out these kinds of 'low priority' items on prescription.

That money could make a real difference. There are now 385,000 people waiting for a cataract operation. In some areas, individuals who are effectively blind have to wait well over a year for the operation, which costs about 900.

Savings of 400 million would mean that, in one fell swoop, we could pay for every single one on the waiting list to be operated on and still have 80 million change.

What also worries me is that if the NHS is seen to waste money like this, then taxpayers will start to resent paying for it. That would be a tragedy for the poorest and most vulnerable, who would suffer disproportionately if the NHS were to collapse.

The truth is, I'd far rather an elderly woman who lives on her own has her cataracts operated on, allowing her to live an independent life safely, than someone had paracetamol or medicine for an upset stomach on the NHS, just to save them a little money.

The vast majority can afford a few pence for a painkiller or other medicine. It's scandalous that the NHS is beggaring itself in order to ensure they still get them for free.

Medicine is more elitist than ever. A study has found that in 2016, 60 per cent of senior doctors were from public school, compared with 51 per cent in 1987. This is a tragedy not only for young people who might make brilliant doctors but are from less privileged families, but also for society.

There is a sociological principle known as the Inverse Care Law  a concept which states that the availability of good medical care tends to vary inversely with the need of the population served. In short, wealthy areas tend to have more doctors than needed, while deprived areas have too few.

This is because students tend to end up in areas similar to where they were raised. A mix of doctors from different backgrounds promotes health care across the board. But no one seems to be listening.

'Agitated' dementia patients may be in pain

Alarming numbers of people with learning disabilities are being given anti-psychotic medication to help manage their behaviour, according to a new campaign.

This is despite a report last year from the Royal College of Psychiatrists that found for many of these patients the medication was 'at best not helping them'. They also carry considerable potential risks, such as diabetes and shortened life expectancy.

Patients suffering from dementia may be in pain according to new research, file photo

There are times when anti-psychotics can help. But the problem is that many of these patients rely on alternative forms of communication to express their distress or pain: what might be termed 'bad' or 'difficult' behaviour may be their way of conveying vital information. Even self harm (some people with learning disabilities bite their hand, for example) can be a result of being under-stimulated.

But too often, external, environmental issues are ignored and it's assumed that the problems occur solely because of the disability.

Unfortunately the alternative to medication is costly and takes time, involving careful assessment by specialists and psychological interventions with the patient and carers. There simply aren't the resources, so doctors reach for a chemical cosh instead.

The same happens with dementia. When I worked in this area, we would frequently be asked to see patients with 'challenging' behaviour. Nursing homes were keen for us to prescribe anti-psychotics so staff could get on with their jobs. But often a careful assessment would show an underlying problem  a tooth abscess, constipation or bed sores, or some other distressing or painful underlying problem.

A few years ago, research conducted by Kings College London, showed that painkillers were a very effective treatment for managing distress in dementia patients. Incredibly, their research showed that regular paracetamol was more effective in treating agitation and distress than anti-psychotics.

I put this into practice and was flabbergasted by the response in many of my patients  so much so that paracetamol became my first line of treatment for agitation in patients.

I think doctors SHOULD wear ties

Last week, John Bercow, the Speaker, declared that MPs no longer have to wear ties. I think this is a mistake. I'm a fan of people looking smart  and for me this means men wearing ties.

Sadly, under infection control rules, doctors are banned from wearing them, even though there's no clear evidence that ties contributed to hospital-acquired infections.

There is apparently, though, some evidence that wearing nothing at all can help reduce the risk of infection.

When I was a junior doctor, a consultant surgeon loved telling us about a group of Swedish researchers who decided to look at infection rates.

The story goes that, in true Scandinavian style, they decided to see if operating naked reduced the risk of wound infection.

Dr Max Pemberton, pictured, believes he and his male colleagues should wear a tie

The rationale was that friction from the surgical scrubs caused skin to be constantly shed during the operation  and with it, bacteria.

At this point the consultant would guffaw. I was never quite sure if the story was true, but thankfully the idea has never caught on.

Nor is it just ties. White coats have also largely been abandoned because of the risk of spreading infection. Yet in Hong Kong, where white coats are still standard, the rates of hospital-acquired infection are considerably lower than in hospitals here.

In fact, it's not the white coats that are the risk: it's the frequency and temperature of washing that are important. (White coats are designed to be washed at high temperatures  I boiled mine, whereas the work clothes I wear now would shrink if I did that, yet presumably also harbour organisms.)

There are plastic aprons you can wear, but these are next to useless in covering you up.

What's more, because they're the same as the catering staff's, it does lead to people coming up to you to ask for an extra helping of rhubarb crumble.

All this has meant that doctors no longer look 'smart' on the ward, and patients can't identify who is a doctor.

Being smart is also a sign of respect for your patients.

Of course, there's always bow ties, but the only doctor I know who wore one was a creepy surgeon when I was a student. The tie, combined with a ruddy complexion and bulbous nose, meant he looked more like he was off to entertain at a child's party than do a ward round.

Thankfully, he wasn't Swedish.
Humans are getting an upgrade, says Yuval Noah Harari, probably the most fashionable thinker on the planet right now. Were going to become cyborgs, combining organic and inorganic parts. The human brain will still be the command-and-control centre, but youll increasingly connect it more and more directly to all kinds of devices, whether its bionic arms or direct brain-computer interfaces, says the young Israeli professor, whose book Sapiens is a breathtaking history of the human race and a global bestseller. And this is not a prophecy for the future. This is already happening right now.

Yuval Noah Harari's life changed when he was persuaded to write a new course for first years, telling the story of humans

Suddenly, everyone from Bill Gates and Barack Obama to our own Chris Evans is getting excited about Harari, who has sold half a million books in this country alone and whose debut has been dominating the non-fiction top ten chart for more than a year now. His follow-up, Homo Deus, looks to the future and predicts we are only a century or two from the biggest leap forward in evolution since life began.

Im not talking about becoming like Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator  it goes much deeper than that. A whole new conception of life.

These are striking words, but Harari says them with the calm authority of a monk. This slender, shaven-headed vegan in his early 40s meditates for two hours a day and says the discipline has helped him get past all the sound and fury of the modern world to see whats really going on.

People already have bionic arms and legs that work by the power of thought. And we increasingly outsource mental and communicative activities to computers. We are merging with our smartphones. Very soon they will just be part of the body. Increasingly, our decisions will be made by the algorithms that surround us. Whenever there is a big dilemma you just ask Google what to do. And what kind of life is that?

The good news is that the superhuman cyborgs of the future will have the potential to live for ever  the bad news is that theyll be very, very scared of accidents

The good news is that the superhuman cyborgs of the future will have the potential to live for ever  the bad news is that theyll be very, very scared of accidents.

So long as no bomb shreds them to pieces or no truck runs them over they could go on living indefinitely, says Harari in Homo Deus. Which will probably make them the most anxious people in history.

Humans are going to become cyborgs, combining organic and inorganic parts

Thats a cute point and its his wry humour  added to lashings of science, history, philosophy and futurology  that has made Sapiens and now Homo Deus into international bestsellers. But just five years ago, Harari was living a quiet life as a junior academic at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem specialising in medieval history.

His life changed when he was persuaded to write a new course for first years, telling the story of humans. Harari was happy to take it on because he had been asking big questions since he was a child.

I dont know where it came from but as far back as I can remember, I was really occupied with asking big questions. What is the meaning of life? Why is there so much suffering in the world? I would read all the books and talk to teachers and none of what they told me made much sense. I was a very troubled young person.

His course notes were published in Hebrew, and to his great surprise they became a bestseller in Israel. This is where my husband came in. Hararis partner Itzik set out to find an agent and a publisher. Now hes the manager of this huge business empire.

Harari specialises in taking a cool, detached look at the way we live

The book was rejected or ignored dozens of times before Random House took a chance and published it in English in 2014. Then we realised that what had happened in Israel was now happening all over the world. Country after country, it was published and went into the bestseller lists. Our biggest market is China!

He says this with eyebrows raised. Im not a very glamorous person. I like to just sit alone in a room and read a book or meditate.

Out of that stillness comes the jaw-dropping thoughts in his books. People were happier in the Stone Age. Our biggest ever mistake was cultivating wheat  we used not to need it, now we cant live without it. Industrial farming is one of the worst crimes in history. The rise of artificial intelligence will put billions of people out of work. The rulers of the new world will be those who know about algorithms and biotechnology. And now it gets scary.

We are merging with our mobile phones. Very soon they will just be part of the body

The pendulum may swing back in favour of dictatorships, because it will become easier to process information centrally. This is something we need to think about today, not in 20 years.

His fan Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and others in Silicone Valley have all our data, so is he suggesting they will become the new dictators? Im less afraid of the geeks in Silicon Valley taking over the world. Compared to Genghis Khan or Hitler, I would definitely trust them. The greater danger is that they unwittingly create the tools with which somebody like Putin or the North Korean regime can then create a dystopian dictatorship.

What would a dictator do with those tools? They could construct a total surveillance regime that follows every individual all the time and surveys not just your phone calls and your emails and your physical movements but even whats happening inside your body. Just as today people talk about cameras being everywhere, so in 20 years there will be biometric sensors everywhere.

He actually thinks this technology may develop in his home country. Israel is the one place in the world where you see the motivation and the technology coming together. Well learn how to do it, then start selling it all over the world.

Hes worried about what our governments will do with it. And thats why he says, controversially, that were going to have to accept here in Britain that terrorists may kill a few people a year. The most dangerous thing about terrorism is the over-reaction to it. I mean, the terrorist attacks themselves are of course horrific, and I dont intend to minimise the tragedy of the people who are killed, but if you look at the big picture its a puny threat.

The most dangerous thing about terrorism is the overreaction to it. Its a puny threat

What does he mean? For every person who is killed by a terrorist in the UK there are at least 100 who die in car accidents. Nevertheless, terrorism manages to capture our imagination in a way that car accidents dont. You kill 20 people and you have 60 million people frightened that there is a terrorist behind every tree. That causes them to over-react. To do things like persecute entire communities, invade countries, go to war, change our way of life in terms of human rights and privacy, because of a tiny threat.

So what should we do? You need surveillance, you need intelligence, you need to go after the money, but you also need to realise that you cant stop it completely. We have to give up this idea that we can completely abolish terrorism and that even the tiniest attack is completely unacceptable.

The way he chooses to illustrate that will be upsetting to some people. You have domestic violence or rape and we dont say, Lets have a curfew: men are not allowed on the street after eight oclock. We know there are a few cases of rape every day or every week and we as a society are saying, Its not good, we do our best to prevent it, but thats life, tough, well handle it. If we could have such an attitude towards terrorism  OK, every year there are two, three or four incidents of terrorism, a couple of dozen people get killed, its terrible, but OK, we get on with our lives  it will be a far more effective response.

Its hard to imagine that going down well with those who lost people they loved in attacks on Manchester or London earlier this year, but Harari specialises in taking a cool, detached look at the way we live. And he comes, of course, from one of the most troubled regions on Earth.

This may also explain his extreme distaste for religion, which emerges when I ask him the biggest question of all.

The rulers of the new world will be those who know about algorithms and biotechnology

Harari puffs out his cheeks. Whats the meaning of life? OK. Well most people, when they ask this question, expect to be told a story about the cosmos and their role in the story. But my answer is that the world does not work like a story  and the sooner you understand it the better. In this sense, there is no meaning to life. When you tell people that, they become completely terrified about it. But if you just release all these attachments, because there is no story, I think this is a very deep source of liberation.

Harari admits he hasnt got there yet. To be completely released and over all these attachments to the stories that we invent, its very difficult.

Hes not just talking about religion but also capitalism, the nation states we live in, the brands we buy and the money we buy them with. All these are figments of our collective imaginations, he says in Homo Deus. Money has no objective value. You cannot eat, drink or wear a dollar bill. Yet as long as billions of people believe in its value, you can use it to buy food, beverages of clothing.

If we all stopped believing in money, those little green pieces of paper would become worthless. The irony is, of course, that Harari has a lot more money since he started saying it was a fiction. Hes sold half a million books in Britain alone, so is he now incredibly rich? Not incredibly rich. I think moderately wealthy would be right. But if the success of Yuval Noah Harari goes on evolving, he wont have to wait long for an upgrade.

Sapiens: A Brief History Of Humankind and Homo Deus: A Brief History Of Tomorrow are out in paperback (Vintage 9.99), audio and ebook
Joanna Lumleys India

Wednesday, ITV

Rating:

The Windsors

Wednesday, Channel 4

Rating:

Poldark

Sunday, BBC1

Rating:

Oh lord, another celebrity travelogue. The root of the problem is commonly laid at the feet of Michael Palin, which is fair enough. There was Alan Whicker, who preceded him, but as Whicker became a celebrity through the making of travelogues and didnt just gasp in wonder at everything the researchers happened to lay in front of him, he was a bit different, perhaps.

However, nothing will ever, ever compete with my favourite celebrity travelogue of all time, which is Telly Savalas Looks At Birmingham (1981), snippets of which, Im thrilled to say, are available on YouTube.

Joanna Lumley is charming and gracious and funny and gorgeous and adorable

Riding the elevator to the top of one of the citys highest buildings, this is the view that nearly took my breath away, he says as the camera pans out to show tower blocks and multi-storey car parks.

There are many ways to reach Birmingham, including multi-carriage highways, he adds as the camera pans out across the motorway. I do recommend a viewing and, in the unlikely instance you need further encouragement, it opens with the Kojak music.

Thats your evening sorted, right?

Where were we? OK, celebrity travelogues, and the latest addition to the canon, Joanna Lumleys India, which comes hot on the heels of Joanna Lumleys Japan. (She owns India and Japan now?) From the title, you know exactly what you are going to get and you get exactly that.

Lumley isnt the issue. Lumley is charming and gracious and funny and gorgeous and adorable. Partly, I suppose, Im deeply resentful of celebrities receiving a fee for an all-expenses-paid trip of the kind they could happily afford themselves.

If Ewan McGregor wants to motorbike with some mate, whomever that was, to Africa, I dont want to feel as if Im watching the holiday he might otherwise take anyhow but would have to pay for. (See also Stephen Fry In America, Sue Perkins travelling the Ganges, and so on.)

Does Andrew Graham-Dixon, the art historian, count as a celebrity?

Probably not, which may be why his travelogues are actually worth watching. But back to our Jo, who may well be the most delightful woman of all time, and she does have a personal connection to India. Her parents and grandparents lived there. She was born there, although left when she was one. But aside from this being the most hurried kind of tour  16 minutes in and wed already done three cities and a mountain range  the form requires her to do little more than go into raptures about everything.

Wow, look at this temple. Wow, look at this diamond. Wow, look at this wonderful street food. Wow, look at this fabulous jute mill. Fabulous? The jute mill? When all I could think was: those poor workers, toiling at machines dating from the Industrial Revolution? And: how many arms have been lost this week? And: whats that dust doing to their lungs?

I dont buy it, am fed up of being asked to buy it, and am tired of it in a way I could never tire of Telly doing Birmingham, although if I did? Theres Telly Savalas Looks At Portsmouth, which I also highly recommend. And thats tomorrow evening sorted, right?

The Windsors is the sitcom that Clement and La Frenaiss Henry IX never was. A comedy soap in the style of Dallas, it spoofs our royals with such a delicious cruelty Im still laughing now. My favourites are Beatrice and Eugenie who cant hold down a job and were, this week, scolded by Princess Anne: Ive had toilet paper thats lasted longer than you. And was more useful.

Nothing will ever, ever compete with my favourite celebrity travelogue of all time, which is Telly Savalas Looks At Birmingham

True, its not very up to date  Pippa isnt yet married, for instance  but it does introduce Meghan Markle, whom Prince Charles mistakes for the servant who has come to clean his shoes. Look, Im not simply going to repeat jokes here, even though its tempting.

I will say only that this episode ends with Camilla and Theresa May having a bitch fight in front of a Chinese delegation. Its a blast.

Lastly, our Poldark recap. Series three, episode four: it was Christmas and snowed polystyrene bits as spring flowers bloomed in the background, which was interesting.

Caroline is getting all the info she needs about Dwight from the Admiralty, which can only make you wonder why Ross bothered with that trip to France. Mad gangsta Aunt Agatha was given toads as a gift. (Hey, Im an aunt and Ive never been given toads. Its not fair!)

Sam performed shirtless washing on a clifftop, as you do, in a bad winter that may just be polystyrene bits, but even so. Morwenna did not listen when, a couple of weeks ago, I said to her, RUN, GIRL! RUN LIKE THE WIND!

And now she is paying for it. But mostly, Demelza gave birth to a daughter, and what a little miracle she is, given Demelza was only pregnant for three weeks, tops. Well done, love. Youve saved yourself eight months and a week. Excellent work.
Downton star MyAnna plays a pregnant detective in the BBCs latest crime drama. Now a new mum herself, she talks to Charlotte Pearson Methven about giving birth  on and off screen

MyAnna wears DRESS, LK Bennett. SHOES, Christian Louboutin. RING, Dior

A rotund woman in a purple coat is throwing her arms around me. I have been waiting barely ten minutes when Swedish actress MyAnna Buring  nine months pregnant with her first child  waddles into the cafe of the British Film Institute on Londons South Bank, where we have arranged to meet.

Dropping her belongings in a heap, she reclines into the seat next to me, cradling her bump and apologising profusely for her (very slight) tardiness and for the addled state she finds herself in at this advanced stage of pregnancy: I seem to be losing my words. I see why people say that creating a new life is the most extreme human experience you can have. Her son is born just days after our meeting.

MyAnna, 37, has the elfin prettiness, penetrating blue eyes and  baby bubble aside  pixie-ish frame that one might expect of a Scandi starlet. She is also warm and without airs. This authenticity is due, perhaps, to the fact that MyAnna only found fame in her 30s, when she landed back-to-back parts in two era-defining dramas: as a vampire in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (parts one and two) and as a much-hated maid in Downton Abbey. She followed these up with a starring role as a brothel owner in the BBC drama Ripper Street, set in Whitechapel during the time of Jack the Ripper (the fifth and final season is currently screening on BBC Two).

We are meeting to discuss MyAnnas upcoming part  her grittiest to date  as a pregnant police detective investigating grisly crimes in BBC Ones four-part drama In The Dark (the role required her to dye her hair, formerly a perfect Swedish blonde, mouse brown). MyAnna wasnt yet pregnant herself when playing detective Helen Weeks, who is feisty with a vulnerable side and a complicated childhood that haunts her when a case pulls her back to her home town. We see her become entangled in dangerous work, inspired to make a safer world for her unborn child. To add to the turmoil she has a complex relationship with the babys father, also a detective.

I became pregnant after we finished filming. I feel for my character as she has a difficult pregnancy, working intensively throughout it. I have barely worked during mine  just a bit of writing and recording the odd audiobook  and, apart from extreme morning sickness at the beginning [MyAnna, like the Duchess of Cambridge, suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum], its been great.

The first two episodes of In The Dark focus on the first trimester of Helens pregnancy, when we see her confronting her past, while the second two focus on the final trimester, where she explores her present and future. Pregnancy does that to you: it brings up your past and your future and makes you look at core issues of your identity. It certainly has for me.

KIMONO, Alice + Olivia, from Harvey Nichols. TOP and TROUSERS, Ganni, from Oxygen Boutique. SHOES, Christian Louboutin. EARRINGS, Mimi Wade x Vicki Sarge. RING, Dior

MyAnnas identity is not straightforward. Born in Sweden to Swedish parents, as a child she moved to the Gulf state of Oman, where her father worked as an orthopaedic surgeon. She attended international schools, before boarding at a sixth-form college in England, aged 15 (following an unsuccessful year at school in Sweden).

I didnt enjoy the school, so I dropped out. I worked briefly as a pot-scrubber then decided I might like to finish my education after all. I did some research, found the most relaxed English school [St Clares in Oxford] where they treated the students like adults, and decided that was where I wanted to go; my parents, who are very liberal, were happy to go along with it.

MyAnna went on to study drama at Bristol University and won a three-year scholarship at prestigious drama school Lamda to continue honing her craft. She now lives in Northeast London and considers England home.

People refer to me as Swedish and I find that confusing as Ive barely lived there. I first visited London when I was 13 and thought, This is my soul city. I had English friends through the expat school system in the Middle East and classes were taught in English, so it has always been my first language. [She is also fluent in Swedish.] I just get the culture here. I feel English; this is what makes me sad about Brexit  its such a step back. Hopefully, I wont get sent back to Sweden! The only thing now is to focus on local, community-level politics because thats where you can make a difference; the big picture is too depressing. I love my little neighbourhood. People think London is large and lonely, but for me, the fact that it is a cluster of small villages is the best thing about it.

MyAnna in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part Two

MyAnna is clearly in nesting mode now. She feels motherhood has come to her at the perfect time. In an ideal world, I would have given birth about a decade earlier but, aged 27, I was struggling to look after myself, so I wouldnt have been ready to look after another human being. I never thought it was a given I would have children. I also wasnt sure I would find someone I wanted to have a family with.

She will not reveal the identity of her babys father but they have been together for a few years. She cryptically mentions that, between us, we have three languages, English, Swedish and Portuguese, so this baby should be a good linguist. My partner is not a celebrity, but if you want you can say that its Daniel Radcliffe! I tend not to name him because the more people know about you, the less believable you are playing different characters on screen  and now I am described as very private, she laughs. Im not sure if thats valid. In many ways, Im very open.

What MyAnna is keen to put on the record is how lucky she feels to be with someone who is incredibly supportive. I bow down to single mothers, or to anyone with an unsupportive partner. But the good news is that people now accept that family doesnt have to be a perfect nuclear unit. You create your own support network with whoever is around you, often your friends.

TOP, Mary Katrantzou, from Harvey Nichols. JEANS, Alice + Olivia, from Harvey Nichols

MyAnnas own parents  now divorced  are fairly far flung, with her mother still in the Middle East and her father in Scotland. Will they come to see the baby? I hope so! Theres a closeness that comes when you live far from your parents. You miss each other.

Her father is still a surgeon and her mother she describes as a jack of all trades. She has worked in everything from education to tourism. She is very resourceful and has been a great role model but when it comes to my child I will make my own way. I want to be the mother that is right for my kid. My plan is not to give him chocolate or Coca-Cola. Ill let you know how that goes! I will try to cook healthy food but Im not going to break my back over it. They say you crave what your grandmother ate when youre pregnant and, sure enough, all I wanted was bland, beige Swedish food like macaroni and rice porridge. Luckily, that didnt last throughout the pregnancy.

When we catch up a few weeks after MyAnnas son has been born she tells me that, unlike her In The Dark character Helen who breathed and moaned her baby out, she positively roared my little boy into life. Nothing in the world could have stopped me making that remarkable sound  Im surprised half of London didnt show up telling me to shut up.

She is not in any hurry to return to work. I have no hard and fast rules  it will depend on what the job is, where it is, the hours, how much I want to do it and if my bills are stacking up. As with motherhood, MyAnna came to acting late  by other peoples standards  and she feels no panic about letting work drift for a while.

It was not until I came to live in England that I realised acting was an actual thing that people did as a job and that there was something called drama school. Growing up in the Middle East, there was no one who acted to look up to. I wanted to be a scientist, then an astronaut and then a dog-walker. When I came to England to study and was exposed to drama as a subject, it dawned on me that by becoming an actress I could do all of those things.

From left: MyAnna in new show In The Dark, and in British horror film Kill List

And though she has yet to play an astronaut or a dog-walker, her big breakthrough came in 2011 when she was cast as vegetarian vampire Tanya Denali in the last two Twilight movies. At the same time, she was given the female lead in the British horror film Kill List (directed by Ben Wheatley and critically acclaimed, earning her a best actress nomination).

All of a sudden I was allowed into rooms that Id never been in. I was 30 when the work changed and the better roles came along  the interesting, varied, gripping ones. We are sold this illusion that if you havent made it in your 20s youre a failure or over the hill. That couldnt be further from my experience. I think its amazing when someone young can be emotive and nuanced, but usually thats something that gets better with age. Watching an actor in their 50s or 60s  now that is interesting.

MyAnna was 33 when  fresh from her stint on The Twilight Saga  she was called to read for Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and within a week had landed the role of Edna Braithwaite, for which she is now most famous. Edna was vilified by viewers when she tried to elevate her status by making a play for widower Tom Branson after his beloved wife Lady Sybil died in childbirth.

MYANNAS MUSTS Dream party trick To be able to impersonate Dolly Parton or to breakdance. Secret celebrity crush Im in awe of Grace Savage, the UK beatbox champion. Whenever I hear her, I think Why cant I do this? Most treasured possession Its the people in my life that matter  everything else is replaceable. I think that comes from moving a lot. Travel loves I like returning to Oman to see how its developed. Im also a fan of mini breaks. I recently went to Berlin and Madrid. We are so lucky we have easy access to these places (for now). Favourite breakfast A frozen berry and yoghurt smoothie or, as a treat, coffee and croissants. Beauty secrets My skin broke out in adult acne a couple of years ago. I found a lady named Jackie in Essex who has a tiny business called Earthzest Organics making products from organic oils. Theyre brilliant and so gentle. Dream dinner party guests Debbie Harry and Maya Angelou would top the list. But Id love a dinner with all the extraordinary people who got lost in history! Signature dish I made a tom yum soup the other day  and it worked. Random fact I collect elephant trinkets. Ive lost count of how many I have. Advertisement

I would get shouted at in the street. People were confusing me with my character. Id say to them, Blame Julian! If you want to be angry, be angry with him. For her part, MyAnna felt only fondness for Edna. Its hard for women like us who have been born with opportunities to imagine what it was like for someone back then with no prospects  who woke up every morning, broke her back doing manual work, went to bed and then did it all over again, every single day. There was something admirable about Edna having the imagination to dream bigger and better.

And what of rumours of a Downton reunion? Could it be a chance to redeem poor Edna? I might be on board. I loved the cast and crew  the family atmosphere that was created from the top down was magical  but having moved around a lot as a kid, I tend to take the view that it is good for things to end, to be able to say, thats it. Then again, Take That got back together and I am thoroughly glad they did! Reunions arent bad but theyre not always necessary. We will have to wait and see.

Would she play to type and get involved in a Scandi crime drama, a genre becoming ever more popular? Absolutely. If the right one came along People have always been drawn to detective series and its brilliant that there are so many female-led ones now.

Moving forward, MyAnna is taking decisions one day at a time, partly because of the baby but also because part of the joy of acting is that element of not knowing what will come next and which characters you will become fascinated by. I could never have known I would feel such affinity with the ruthless but very human qualities of Edna, or that I would feel so compelled by playing Helen Weeks; to have that chance to follow a human being at one of the most interesting, vulnerable, life-changing moments of her life, on the cusp of becoming a mother.

A bit like MyAnna now? Yes, I feel that. Who knows where I could go from here?

In The Dark will be on BBC One from Tuesday at 9pm

Styling: Alexandria Reid. Hair: Fabio Nogueira at Frank Agency using Bumble & Bumble. Make-up: Kenneth Soh at Frank Agency using Clarins




Tensions remain high in Kashmir with India's increasingly strong hand being felt in the Valley and the July 8 death anniversary of popular rebel leader Burhan Wani looming.

In a crowded Kashmir hospital a 17-year-old student is recovering from gunshot wounds, one of thousands of civilians injured in protests against Indian rule that have exploded since the death of a popular rebel leader a year ago.

When government forces came to his village in the picturesque Himalayan region recently to raid a militant hideout, the teenager, who does not want to be named, threw himself into a hail of bullets to help the fighters escape.

Kashmiri villagers bring a resident injured by Indian security personnel to the main hospital in Srinagar on July 3, 2017

Burhan Wani and Sabzar Ahmad Bhat have both been killed by Indian security forces

Burhan Wani is considered a terrorist by India but a hero by Indian Kashmiris. He doesn't fulfil the obvious stereotype of a Mujahideen commander.

'I leapt in between a trapped militant and soldiers who were shooting and took the bullets myself,' he told AFP from his hospital bed in Srinagar, the main city in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, is one of the most heavily militarised spots on earth with a long history of conflict.

The mountainous region is home to dozens of armed groups fighting for independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan.

But since the charismatic rebel leader Burhan Wani was shot dead by security forces on July 8, civilians have played an increasingly active role in the rebellion against Indian rule.

The death of the dashing 23-year-old, who had built up a big following on social media as he posed with an AK-47, sparked a huge outpouring of grief in Kashmir.

Nearly 100 civilians were killed in mass protests in the months that followed, most shot dead by security forces.

Burhan Wani's death in July plunged Kashmir into turmoil, with it yet to emerge from the unrest

Indian Kashmiri villagers walks near the debris of houses destroyed during a gunfight between rebels and Indian government forces at Bahmnoo village in Pulwama, south of Srinagar in July

Many more were blinded by the pellet guns used by government forces in the region, further exacerbating the divide between authorities and an already alienated civilian population.

Hospital authorities in Srinagar say they have seen a steady stream of injured civilians since July and treated more than 1,000 for 'horrific' eye injuries.

'Anger and defiance'

In parts of south Kashmir - the epicentre of the renewed insurgency - villagers began intervening in anti-militant raids, throwing stones at government forces to create a distraction and give the rebels a chance to flee.

After Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was shot dead people arrive at his grave to pay their respects

'It is a direct confrontation now,' said Kashmiri historian Sidiq Wahid. 'Public anger and defiance has reached levels never seen in Kashmir before.'

Kashmir's separatist leaders - most of whom have been either confined to their homes or jailed ahead of the anniversary - have called for a week of protests from Saturday to mark Wani's death.

Authorities have begun controlling people's movements and suspended mobile internet services in some areas.

One senior officer said police stations across south Kashmir were full of motorbikes seized to stop activists moving between villages.

Burhan Wani and the Hizbul Mujahideen Kashmir-based militant outfit

An Indian paramilitary soldier uses a sling to shoot glass marbles at Kashmiri protesters

A tear gas shell fired by an Indian policeman explodes behind Kashmiri protesters during a protest in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir

India has deployed two additional army battalions - about 2,000 troops - to troubled regions in the southern Kashmir area.

But some officials say the challenge now is to deal with public anger rather than the militant threat.

'The armed militants are not much of a challenge,' one senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

'Counterinsurgency operations have been intensified and we are eliminating them. But in absence of any political forces engaging the people, they (rebels) have galvanised the public sentiment against India.'

Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state, has since 2014 been governed by the pro-India People's Democratic Party in an unpopular coalition with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Indian police try to detain supporters of Jammu and Kashmir lawmaker Sheikh Engineer during a march to protest against the deaths of civilians in Kashmir's ongoing summer unrest, in Srinagar on September 26, 2016

Masked youths carrying the Pakistani and ISIS flags in Kashmir

An Indian policeman kicks an exploded tear gas shell

Analysts say this has intensified public opposition to Indian rule in Kashmir, where nearly 100 youths joined the rebel ranks since Wanis death.

Many have taken weapons from police and paramilitary forces during patrols.

Although he is still so weak he can only speak in a whisper, the wounded teen hopes he will soon be among them.

'I am praying to find a weapon when I get out of here and join my brothers,' he said from his hospital bed.
Indian Prime Minister's highly successful visit to Israel came to an end today and was marked with a rather touching beach stroll between Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.

The beach trip came on the last day of Modi's visit to Israel, the first-ever by an Indian prime minister. They had gone to the beach to see a demonstration of a mobile water desalination unit.

It was closed to journalists, but images and video were distributed by the Israeli government showing the two men walking together into the water barefoot at Olga beach in northern Israel.

In this handout photograph released by the Indian Press Information Bureau on July 6, 2017, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk on Olga Beach in Hadera

Some on social media took Netanyahu to task for not sufficiently rolling his pant legs, with the images showing them getting wet. Others joked about a budding 'bromance'.

They later drove together in the mobile water desalination unit - which looked like a dune buggy - and sipped samples from wine glasses, even toasting before they did.

Modi and Netanyahu have sought to extend Indian-Israeli cooperation beyond the billions of dollars in defence deals between them during the three-day visit.

The two leaders presented a series of agreements for cooperation on satellite technology, water and agriculture, as well as the creation of a $40 million innovation fund.

Israel already sells India an average of $1 billion per year in military equipment. The country has also excelled at water and agriculture technology, which India has shown an interest in.

Modi's visit marks 25 years since India and Israel established diplomatic relations.

Modi wave on Israeli shores

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu today made waves online with their camaraderie as a barefoot stroll on the beach, a discussion in ankle deep water and a toast to life with desalinated water reflected the warmth in their relationship.

The bonhomie between the two leaders was on ample display as they witnessed the demonstration of sea water purification technology pioneered by Israel at a water desalination unit on the Olga Beach in north Israel.

The two leaders spent some time on the beach and had a long chat standing ankle deep in the waters with waves hitting their feet. Modi had his trousers folded up as he entered the waters while Netanyahu came smartly dressed in casuals with a polo shirt.

PM Narendra Modi greets members of the Indian contingent of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, during a visit to the World War I Indian Army cemetery, in the Israeli coastal city of Haifa

The two leaders later drove together in the mobile water desalination unit, which looked like a dune buggy, and sipped desalinated water from wine glasses, raising a toast saying - lehaim (to life) - with desalinated water.

They took a barefoot stroll along the Mediterranean shore with Netanyahu later tweeting, 'There's nothing like going to the beach with friends!' Later, Netanyahu also gifted Modi a signed picture of them strolling barefoot at the Olga beach in northern Israel with a message hailing their friendship.

'To Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with deepest friendship on your historic visit to Israel', Modi tweeted the picture gifted to him by his Israeli counterpart.

Modi and Netanyahu's camaraderie created waves online with many discussing their budding bromance.

The Israeli premier accompanied Modi almost like a shadow since Modi landed here on the first visit by an Indian premier to the Jewish state, with both of them hugging each other at every possible opportunity.

The two leaders also constantly referred to each other as my friend and used superlatives while appreciating each other.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for the German city of Hamburg on Thursday to attend the G20 Summit after wrapping up his historic three-day visit to Israel during which he discussed key issues like terrorism and economic cooperation with the top Israeli leadership.

'I thank the people and Government of Israel for their hospitality. This successful visit will add more energy to India- Israel relations', Modi said in a tweet.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi lays a wreath during a memorial ceremony at the World War I Indian Army cemetery, in the Israeli coastal city of Haifa

A historic visit, filled with many firsts and the promise of future ends as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu goes beyond protocol again to bid farewell to Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in a tweet.

As journey concludes, voyage begins. With sea of opportunities ahead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes groundbreaking visit. #IndiaIsrael- Friendship, he said in another tweet.
Amid the dissent brewing among Shiv Sena legislators and workers over their ministers' inability to take on the BJP, party chief Uddhav Thackeray is focused on finding the answer to the question: Will the BJP opt for mid-term polls?

His uneasiness over the thought of facing mid-term elections has grown since BJP president Amit Shah categorically denied the chances of early polls, during his visit to Mumbai between June 16 and 18.

Thackeray is not ready to trust Shah because he thinks the BJP president is trying to keep him in the dark and mislead him, just as he did in 2014 when he snapped ties with the Shiv Sena before the assembly elections.

Thackeray's strategy to contain the BJP's growing influence is limited to the issues of farmers.

He has asked the party cadre to beat drums in front of all district cooperative banks on July 10, pressing the government to start the implementation of its widely debated announcement of loan waiver to the farmers.

In Mumbai : Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting the farmers of Pimpalgaon Niphad, Pune and Nashik, to listen to their problems in Mumbai

At the same time, he has been meeting protesters who are opposing land acquisition for the Nagpur Mumbai Super Communication Way, popularly known as Samruddhi Corridor.

'Uddhavji believes that the BJP's winning march could be stopped in rural areas only,' says a close aid of Thackeray.

The aid claims Thackeray believes that the BJP could be cornered if the Shiv Sena mobilises farmers against it.

'His only problem is that he reacts very late. Many times he speaks up only when the issue loses its relevance.'

Kiran Tare is senior associate editor of India Today

All is not well inside his party as well. At least 10 out of 63 MLAs have opened a front against four senior ministers  Subhash Desai, Diwakar Raote, Ramdas Kadam and Deepak Sawant  for acting like the 'puppets of BJP'.

The legislators believe that they are only enjoying the ministerial perks instead of helping the party grow.

Thackeray has given Shiv Sena workers a free hand to rant against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

When Shiv Sena councillors chanted 'chor, chor' (thief, thief) countering the BJP councillors' shouts of 'Modi, Modi' at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on July 4, Thackeray, who was present at the venue, had a smile on his face.

He did not try to stop them. On the contrary, he blasted at the BJP through an editorial in Saamna, saying that the BJP should not forget that even Indira Gandhi was defeated after she had won a war against Pakistan in 1971.

Meanwhile, the BJP has caught Thackeray in an awkward position by forcing him to support its candidate Ram Nath Kovind in the presidential election.

Thackeray believes that it is his turn to repay. It will be interesting to see whether he will be able to do it.
At a time when the autonomy of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is a raging debate, especially post-demonetisation, here comes a book by former RBI governor YV Reddy, 'Advice and Dissent'.

Recounting a fascinating anecdote wherein, when asked about the institution's autonomy, he told a journalist: 'The RBI has full autonomy. I have the permission of my finance minister to tell you that.'

Remind Reddy about this incident and he says that the autonomy issue has been unnecessarily raised now and that it had been settled back.

'Jawaharlal Nehru had said that the RBI was independent  not from the government but within the system of the government,' he says, adding that today a lot more coordination is required between different agencies of the government and the RBI.

Advice and Dissent is an insider's saga on how the government and the RBI work.

But throughout, to his credit, the author has resisted the temptation of sensationalising things.

His subdued approach is evident when he narrates the RBI's crackdown on the Sahara group, despite the fact that Reddy believed his life was under threat because of this very case.

Y.V.Reddy, former Governor of RBI and chairman of 14th Finance commission, talks about his new book

'I was assured that there was no basis for such fears,' he recalls.

His matter-of-fact approach can also be seen vis-a-vis his bittersweet relations with then finance minister P Chidambaram.

So much so that Reddy, who was RBI governor between 2003 and 2008, had thought of quitting his job twice, but stayed on after the intervention of then PM Manmohan Singh.

'His (Chidambaram's) image as a reformer pushing for double-digit growth was, in his view, being dented by my caution to the extent of resisting implementation of some of his policies,' Reddy writes in Advice and Dissent, adding that Chidambaram even had to cancel a foreign visit as he could not face investors due to his 'poor' reform record.

But a decade down the line, Reddy downplays the rift.

'Don't take my resignations too seriously. Actually, in four years, I thought of resigning only twice,' says he with a smile.

'Our relationship, despite such ups and downs, was based on mutual respect; it was not antagonistic, as some of us would like to believe.'

The high point of the book, however, is when Reddy talks about his association with NT Rama Rao, calling him an honest and innovative politician.

'NTR was a charismatic man who was always in search of new ideas. But what made him stand out was his penchant for taking tough decisions.'

One gets the most incisive analysis on NTR's personality, in Advice and Dissent, when Reddy reveals how the then Andhra Pradesh CM looked at intellectuals.

'Whenever he found an intellectual whom he fancied, NTR liked to court him, but once the intellectual settled down in the harem, he would lose interest and pursue other intellectuals,' Reddy writes.

Reddy also reveals how NTR, despite his larger-than-life persona, hankered after applause on trivial issues.

He would ask the author to vindicate if he was indeed a great man and that his handwriting resembled a 'string of pearls'!

Manmohan Singh, too, gets a glowing review in the book.

Reddy rates him highly as an economist, saying his role in India's liberalisation in 1991 remains unparalleled.

'He had the advantage of being always in India, unlike many other economists. He has been a witness to successes and setbacks.'

When asked about his not-so-successful stint as PM in UPA-II, Reddy gives a one-line reply: 'Whenever he had full freedom to take decisions, he did well.'

The former RBI chief answers as much as he doesn't! But on the role of Narasimha Rao, his reply isn't ambiguous.

'There should be no confusion that Rao was the main force behind the 1991 saga.

Everyone knew by the mid-1980s that the socialist system wasn't working.

The same technocrats and bureaucrats were there, so how could they take credit.

What made the difference was the presence of Rao in that critical juncture.'

Reddy also praises PM Narendra Modi, despite being critical of his demonetisation move.

'Modi has taken a few bold steps  like GST and the one on benami properties  which the political class has been avoiding for decades.

Even his note ban move vindicates his decisiveness, though I am critical of the RBI being arm-twisted for curbing black money  if that was the objective of demonetisation  as it should instead have been done by the income tax department.'

The RBI may not be autonomous from the government, but as Nehru said, it definitely needs autonomy 'within the system ofthe government'.
Has China lost its gamble on a Himalayan ridge in Sikkim? It is too early to say, but some lessons can already be drawn from the scuffle between the Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army in Doka La, near the trijunction between Tibet (China), India and Bhutan.

The episode started when China began building a road on Bhutanese territory without informing Thimphu.

Beijing was certainly not expecting that India would come to the rescue and defend the small kingdom.

China, which dreams of becoming a 'Big Power', attempted to change the status quo south of the Doklam plateau on the Bhutan-Tibet border.

Statement

On June 29, the Royal Government of Bhutan, which had held 24 rounds of talks on the issue with China so far, explained the situation in a statement: 'On 16th June 2017, the Chinese Army started constructing a motorable road from Doka La in the Doklam area towards the Bhutan Army camp at Zompelri.

'Boundary talks are ongoing between Bhutan and China and we have written agreements of 1988 and 1998 stating that the two sides agree to maintain peace and tranquillity in their border areas pending a final settlement on the boundary question...

'The agreements also state that the two sides will refrain from taking unilateral action, or use of force, to change the status quo of the boundary.'

Bhutan conveyed to Beijing that the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory was a direct violation of the agreements and that it would affect the ongoing demarcation process.

On June 30, 2017, the MEA too issued a press communique underlining that 'the two governments had in 2012 reached agreement that the trijunction boundary points between India, China and third countries will be finalised in consultation with the concerned countries.

'Any attempt, therefore, to unilaterally determine tri-junction points is in violation of this understanding.'

Beijing was well aware that the area has been under dispute for several decades; already some 50 years ago, nasty letters were exchanged between Delhi and Beijing on the issue.

The first lesson of the present episode is that India is eons behind China in terms of communication.

Though Beijing broke its pledge to Bhutan and India, the constant threatening statements by their spokesperson made it sound as if Beijing was the aggrieved party.

In 2003, China's Central Military Commission approved the concept of 'Three Warfares', namely: (1) the coordinated use of strategic psychological operations; (2) overt and covert media manipulation; and (3) legal warfare designed to manipulate strategies, defence policies, and perceptions of target audiences abroad.

The Chinese spokespersons efficiently demonstrated how, even when wrong, you can make it appear that it is the other parties, Bhutan and India in this case, who are the culprits.

History

Take the case of the 1890 Convention between Great Britain and China relating to Sikkim and Tibet.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs' spokesperson managed to convince most of the Indian and foreign media of the importance of the treaty.

Beijing, however, forgot to mention that the two main stakeholders, Tibet and Sikkim, had not even been consulted by the then 'Great Imperial Powers'.

Tsepon WD Shakabpa, the famous historian, in his Tibet: a Political History, explained that in 1890, a convention was drawn up without consulting the government of Tibet: 'six articles related to Tibet, and since (Tibet) was not represented at the Convention, those articles were not allowed to be put into practice by the Tibetans.'

Chinese President Xi Jinping walks past Russian honour guards during a welcoming ceremony upon his arrival at Moscow's Vnukovo airport, Russia July 3, 2017 (stock photo)

Shakabpa added: 'The British were aware that China exercised no real power in Tibet at that time; but it suited their interests to deal with the Manchus, because of the advantages they gained from the Convention.'

An unequal treaty in Chinese parlance! The Manchus agreed to 'offer' Sikkim to the British as they were afraid that Tibet and Britain might enter into direct negotiations with London; therefore, they signed the treaty to forestall such a possibility.

In 1904, Capt Francis Younghusband anyway mounted a military expedition to Tibet to make the recalcitrant Tibetans sign their first agreement with the Crown.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchange greetings at the BRICS leaders' informal gathering hosted in Hamburg, Germany (stock photo)

Wedge

China has always been interested to create a wedge between India and Bhutan.

In 1966, in similar circumstances, for the same disputed place, the Dokham plateau, the Chinese government attempted to convince Delhi that Bhutan did not require India's support 'as it was an independent country'.

The Communists did not accept that Delhi could advise Bhutan; they crudely wrote: 'inheriting the mantle of British imperialism, the Indian Government has all along been pursuing an expansionist policy and bullying its neighbouring countries.'

Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G20 Summit on September 4, 2016 in Hangzhou, China (stock photo)

As at present, the Bhutanese Government had issued a press statement on October 3, 1966: 'The Government of Bhutan have, for some time, been concerned with reports received from its patrols of a number of intrusions by Tibetan grazers and Chinese troops in the Doklam pastures which are adjacent to the southern part of the Chumbi Valley.'

It concluded that the area has been traditionally part of Bhutan, and China had never disputed 'the traditional frontier which runs along recognisable natural features.'

However, later, China started claiming large strategic chunks of Bhutan's territory.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G20 Summit on September 4, 2016 in Hangzhou, China (stock photo)

Incidentally, Article 1 of the much quoted 1890 Convention placed the trijunction at Gipmochi: 'The line commences at Mount Gipmochi on the Bhutan frontier, and follows the above-mentioned water-parting to the point where it meets Nepal territory.'

According to Sikkimese records, Gipmochi is in Batang La, 5 km north of Doka La.

It means the territory south of Batang La is indeed Bhutanese, and therefore India did not 'trespass' into Tibet. So, why all this fuss?
Cyber crooks are rampantly carrying out fraudulent activities in the name of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), conning gullible customers under the garb of various central schemes.

One such incident has come forward where a Nigerian has been netted by the CBI for allegedly running a racket, whereby he impersonated PMO officials and duped people.

In April 2017, the deputy secretary of PMO wrote a complaint to the CBI alleging that a person named Manjit Singh from Himachal Pradesh claimed to have been duped by a woman named Smita Rani who introduced herself as the processing officer of the PMO Trust Fund Loan.

It is alleged that Singh was offered a loan of `1.5 crore on the pretext of a non-existent scheme.

An investigation into the alleged offence led to 34-year-old Nigerian Tiamiyu Adedamola Williams and some other unknown person who may have been operating from Pune and other places.

The scammers have been using the name of Modi's pet projects (stock photo)

According to the charge sheet, to make the act real, Williams and his gang purchased a domain in the name of trans.org.in.

An email was sent through info@pmotrust.org, to Singh who was told that he was shortlisted for a programme inaugurated by the PMO and his nomination was issued for the PMO Trust Fund and Loan Scheme.

He was sent a file number and asked to submit his valid identity as proof and the amount he wanted as a loan for the nomination.

Later, another mail was sent to Singh purporting to be from Vivek Kumar, director of the PMO Trust Fund, stating that approval has been issued by the PMO.

According to the charge sheet, Singh was told: 'The scheme was initiated by the PMO and is part of the poverty alleviation process put in place by the NDA government.

Swindlers net victims (stock photo)

'It was also informed that this scheme was initiated for the selected approved candidate to express the gratitude and support to the people of the country and to mark the 70th year of independence.

'This mode was initiated to support candidates in their business and promote the Make In India campaign.'

Singh was asked to deposit `35,000 as registration for the loan.

Singh was asked to deposit `35,000 as registration for the loan

The cyber crook did not just stop at that. Some more mails were sent to Singh with attached forms purported to be from the Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of India.

Having trapped Singh, Williams and the others allegedly sent a mail asking him to get a premium account with RBI.

For this, he was asked to pay an additional `65,000. Sensing fraud, Singh wrote a complaint to the PMO instead of making further payments.

While the CBI was successful in netting Williams, it is still in search of the other accused who are part of the scam.
When Louise King underwent surgery to fix a prolapsed vagina in 2006, she had no idea the vaginal mesh implant she received would change her life forever.

Ms King was unable to have sex with her husband again and suffered debilitating chronic pain.

She is one of 700 women who launched a class action against pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson this year, claiming to have suffered life altering complications from the vaginal mesh implant.

The class action lawsuit, which was launched in the Federal Court this week, highlighted the incredible struggles hundreds of Australian women have battled due to the implant.

Australian woman Louise King (pictured) has told of her agonising ordeal with a vaginal mesh implant after undergoing surgery to repair a prolapse in 2006

The implant had a terrible impact on her marriage, Ms King said. She was unable to be intimate with her husband and suffered debilitating pain

Ms King said she was given 'no choice' but to have the mesh implant when she suffered the prolapse 11-years ago.

'When I had a prolapse, my bowel and everything prolapsed into my vagina,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'There was no choice, I was told this was the only option.'

Ms King said she noticed something was very wrong six-weeks after her operation.

'For a long time, while I was healing, my husband and I didn't try to make love, but when we did it was agony,' she said.

'Before he even entered me I was screaming, it was agonising.

'We tried a few times but he became really scared to touch me. He got to a point where he couldn't touch me.

'I could never have sex again.'

Ms King said she was given no support when she went back to see her specialist at the hospital.

'He told me there was nothing wrong,' she said.

'He said "I can examine you with two fingers so you're big enough (to have sex)".'

Louise said her inability to make love to her husband damaged their marriage.

Many women including Carina Anderson (pictured) and Ms King have suffered life-altering side effects from the mesh

The vaginal mesh implants are thought to have been used to treat pelvic floor damage on about 8000 Australian women who have suffered life-altering complications. File photo

'When you lose that closeness in the bedroom, you also lose it out of the bedroom,' she said.

'He used to walk into the kitchen and just hug me, we were soulmates. But eventually we stopped holding hands walking down the street.'

Ms King said her husband eventually became impotent, was diagnosed with prostate and lung cancer in 2012 and died in 2014.

'It totally changed my life... I could'nt climb stairs, I couldn't drive, I couldn't get out of bed some days': Ms King has opened up about the life-altering side effects of the mesh implant

Shine Lawyers, who is defending the group of women, claims the mesh erodes into tissue and organs in the body, causing incontinence, infection and chronic pain.

Ms King said her inability to have sex was just the beginning of the suffering she would endure from the mesh implant.

'I suffer with chronic pain,' she said.

'Just yesterday I was at hospital having injections all over my body to try and ease the pain,' she said.

Ms King said the chronic pain started four years after the operation and worsened each year.

She said the pain forced her to give up her 'dream job'.

'I wasn't well enough, I couldn't climb stairs, I couldn't drive, I couldn't get out of bed some days,' she said.

'It totally changed my life.

'I've had so much bad health since that operation. There are days that I can't get out of bed and there are days that I try to do things and I just can't.

'My grandchildren don't understand the pain either  I constantly can't do things that I want to do with them.'

Ms King said it was difficult to pinpoint the pain caused by the mesh, but it reached the deepest parts of her body.

'You don't feel anything in the vaginal area, but I know I can't use any of the deep muscles in my stomach,' she said.

The grandmother also said she felt the pain down her limbs.

Ms King suffered in silence for years, not knowing there were hundreds of women also suffering.

She said her life changed when she read about a woman in the paper who also lived with the debilitating pain caused by the mesh implant.

'When I called them they told me there were hundreds like me,' she said.

'It was so good knowing that I wasn't going crazy.'

Ms King said she did not expect the class action against Johnson & Johnson to help her financially, she just wanted it to be a warning to other women.

She wants her story told to prevent others from enduring the same life-altering pain.

Ms King said she felt only anger towards the company who sold her the vaginal mesh implant, and could not believe the product was still being marketed to women.

'I'm angry, really angry,' she said.

'And they're still selling it. It's an arrogance, they just don't care.'

The Australian class action comes after more than 100,000 women launched legal action against the company in the US, the UK and Canada.

Shine Lawyers opened its case in the Federal Court in Sydney this week, with hearings expected to run for about six months.

The case continues.
Did President Donald Trump press his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, about his government's alleged hacking of the US election? Or did Trump accept Russian denials that Moscow was involved?

It depends upon whom you ask.

The White House and the Kremlin have differing versions of the two-hour sit-down between the two leaders in Germany on Friday.

Russia's foreign minister said on Friday that Trump has accepted Putin's assurances that Moscow didn't meddle in the 2016 US presidential election.

Sergey Lavrov made the claim to reporters following Trump and Putin's lengthy meeting on the sidelines of an international summit in Germany.

That account appears at odds with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's description of the meeting.

Did President Donald Trump (right) press his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin (left), about his government's alleged hacking of the US election? Or did Trump accept Russian denials that Moscow was involved? It depends upon whom you ask

The White House and the Kremlin have differing versions of the two-hour sit-down between the two leaders in Germany on Friday

Tillerson said the US and Russian presidents had a 'robust and lengthy' discussion about the interference, though Putin denied involvement.

He said the Russians have asked the US for proof and evidence of their alleged interference in the 2016 election, which Russia denies.

He said the president pressed Putin on the issue and that they'd agreed to follow-up meetings.

Tillerson said the president was 'rightly focused on how do we move forward from what may be simply an intractable disagreement at this point.'

Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov (seen far left) said on Friday that Trump has accepted Putin's assurances that Moscow didn't meddle in the 2016 US presidential election. But Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (far right) said Trump pressed Putin on the hacking issue

US intelligence officials have blamed Russia for election hacking and other efforts to influence the election to help Trump win.

Trump and Putin agreed on one aspect of Moscow's meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign: The issue has become a hindrance to better relations.

US lawmakers of both parties had demanded that Trump not shy away from the issue in his highly anticipated meeting with Putin.

Trump has avoided stating unequivocally in the past that Russia interfered, even as investigations proceed into whether his campaign colluded with Russians who sought to help him win.

Senator Mark Warner says Trump shouldn't relax any sanctions against Russia as lawmakers investigate that nation's alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

The Virginia Democrat, vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, says Trump had undermined his case on Russia interfering in the presidential race well before he met Friday with Putin.

Warner says statements by the administration that Trump pressed Putin on Russia's efforts to influence the election 'would have had much more force' if Trump hadn't previously expressed doubts about who was behind cyberattacks.

Warner says Trump also hurt his case by previously criticizing the integrity of US intelligence agencies that attributed the meddling to Russia.

House Speaker Paul Ryan says it's no surprise that Putin is assuring Trump that Moscow didn't meddle in the 2016 US presidential election.

Ryan was asked at a news conference about Putin's comments made during a meeting with Trump on Friday on the sidelines of an international summit in Germany.

Ryan says he'd expect Putin 'to deny what clearly he has done over the years, not just with the U.S. election but other elections throughout Europe.'

The Wisconsin Republican says that 'it comes as no surprise to me Vladimir Putin would deny what we know they did.'

Ryan repeated that he doesn't believe Russian interference in the presidential election affected its outcome.

But he says that 'nevertheless, they tried.'



Russia's foreign minister says that Russian military police will monitor a cease-fire in southwestern Syria, under a Russia-US deal.

Tillerson said Trump and Putin had 'positive chemistry' during their first meeting. Tillerson said the meeting was 'very constructive.' He's added that 'there was so much to talk about' that neither leader 'wanted to stop.'

The top US diplomat also says that first lady Melania Trump (seen left with Putin in Hamburg on Friday) was sent into the meeting at one point to 'see if she could get us out of there.' But Tillerson says the meeting lasted another hour after the visit, joking that 'clearly she failed'

Lavrov told reporters after talks between Putin and Trump in Germany that the lengthy talks were 'very constructive.'

He says they touched on cybersecurity, Ukraine, North Korea and other issues.

Lavrov says the cease-fire deal was brokered by Russia, the US and Jordan.

He says Moscow and Washington will ensure the cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access.

A monitoring center will be set up in Jordan, and the Russian military police will oversee its implementation

Tillerson said Trump and Putin had 'positive chemistry' during their first meeting.

Tillerson said the meeting was 'very constructive.' He's added that 'there was so much to talk about' that neither leader 'wanted to stop.'

The top US diplomat also says that first lady Melania Trump was sent into the meeting at one point to 'see if she could get us out of there.'

But Tillerson says the meeting lasted another hour after the visit, joking that 'clearly she failed.'
Facebook unveiled plans on Friday to transform its Silicon Valley headquarters into a 'mixed-use village' complete with retail shops and 1,500 homes.

Plans for the 'Willow Campus' were spurred by inadequate housing and public transit for Facebook employees, according to vice president of global facilities and real estate John Tenanes.

Tech companies in the San Francisco Bay area have long been blamed for making the area unaffordable.

But Tenanes said the company wanted to contribute to the community, and the 1,500 housing units will be available to anyone - not just employees - with 15 percent being offered at below market rates.

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Facebook unveiled plans on Friday to transform its Silicon Valley headquarters into a 'mixed-use village' (pictured, a rendering) complete with retail shops and 1,500 housing units

Plans for the 'Willow Campus' (above) were spurred by inadequate housing and public transit in the area. Facebook's John Tenanes said the company wanted to invest in the community

The 1,500 Facebook housing units will be available to anyone - not just employees - with 15 percent being offered at below market rates. Pictured, a rendering of the village

With Facebook's construction plan, the company said it wanted to invest in Menlo Park, the city about 45 miles south of San Francisco where it moved in 2011.

The proposed Willow Campus will include 1.75million square feet of office space, 125,000 square feet of retail space, and 1,500 housing units open to people outside the company.

'Working with the community, our goal for the Willow Campus is to create an integrated, mixed-use village that will provide much needed services, housing and transit solutions as well as office space,' Tenanes said in a blog post.

'Our hope is to create a physical space that supports our community and builds on our existing programs.'

Facebook will file its latest plans to the city this month, initiating a review process expected to take about two years, according to Tenanes.

Construction will follow, with the first phase projected to be completed in early 2021.

'Part of our vision is to create a neighborhood center that provides long-needed community services,' said John Tenanes (left). Pictured right, CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Pictured, the Facebook campus in Menlo Park, the city about 45 miles south of San Francisco where it moved in 2011

Menlo Park Mayor Kirsten Keith said in an interview that there were concerns about whether the Facebook plan would increase traffic, a subject the city's planning department would study.

She said, though, that Facebook's plan fits with the city's own long-term plan for development, and that the city was excited about the additional housing.

Facebook's Tenanes also said the density of the proposed development could attract spending on transit projects.

'The region's failure to continue to invest in our transportation infrastructure alongside growth has led to congestion and delay,' he said.

The growth of Facebook, Alphabet Inc's Google and other tech companies has strained neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay area that were not prepared for an influx of tens of thousands of workers during the past decade.

Tech companies have responded by providing internet-equipped buses for employees with long commutes and Facebook has offered at least $10,000 in incentives to workers who move closer to its offices.

Those steps, though, have not reduced complaints that tech companies and the influx of workers have inflated housing prices amid a shortage.

'The problem with Silicon Valley is you don't have enough supply to keep up with the demand,' said Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at real estate research firm CoreLogic.
A plane carrying Russian President Vladimir Putin made a 300 mile detour to avoid flying over Poland and the Baltic States on his way to the G20 summit, it has emerged.

It has raised questions about whether Putin feared being shot down amid heightened tensions with NATO.

According to the FlightRadar24 website, the Russian government jet flying from Moscow to Hamburg on Thursday deviated from the direct route over Belarus and Poland.

Poland and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have been particularly vocal in their criticism of Moscow since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

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Vladimir Putin, pictured arriving at the G20 summit, was on a plane which avoided flying over Poland and the Baltic States, it has emerged

Putin's plane took a 300 mile diversion to prevent flying over Poland and the Baltic States on his way to the G20 summit

The Ilyushin with the registration number RA-96022 flew over the Baltic Sea, crossing on its way territory of neutral Finland and Sweden before entering the airspace of Denmark and Germany, both NATO members.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the reasons for the detour, saying only that the president's security during trips was paramount.

'The (safety) measures which are taken are expedient measures,' he told a conference call with reporters.

The Kremlin has declined to comment on the reasons for the 300 mile detour, but said 'expedient measures' were being taken to protect the president

Russian television later showed Putin emerging from a plane with same registration in Hamburg as he arrived for the summit, where he had his first meeting with US President Donald Trump on Friday.

Putin has flown over eastern NATO states on a number of recent occasions. It was not clear why this time his jet took a longer route, which also avoided crossing the Baltic states - former Soviet republics which, like Poland, are members of NATO and the European Union.

A NATO F-16 fighter jet buzzed a plane carrying Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu as it flew over the Baltic Sea on June 21, but was seen off by a Russian Sukhoi-27 military jet, Moscow said in an account partly disputed by NATO.

The Russian president had his first meeting with US President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit

The region is a flashpoint for tensions between Russia and the Western allies, hosting U.S. and NATO troops, to Moscow's displeasure.

US-led war games were held there this year, rehearsing a scenario in which Russia might try to sever the states from the rest of the Western alliance.

In a speech in Warsaw on Thursday, Trump committed to NATO's guarantee that alliance members will defend each other.

Planes carrying Putin over the past 12 months always took direct routes when flying over EU countries, according to data on FlightRadar24. They did not fly over Ukraine, which has closed off its airspace to flights by Russian airlines.

Putin repeatedly flew over Poland during the period, including for his previous European visit in May, and passed over the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius last October.
When Maddy Jobson set up a secret camera at the care home where her mother had been resident for four years, it was, she insists, with the best intentions. She wanted to check that staff were administering prescribed medicines and turning her regularly, giving nasty bedsores a chance to heal.

However, when she watched the tape, Maddy was not only confronted with evidence of neglect but of shocking, malicious abuse against her 84-year-old mum, Freda, who has Alzheimer's. Three care workers, standing at Freda's bedside, mocked and mimicked her groans, called her a 'witch' and swore at her before removing a bandage from her bedsores and wrapping it around her head.

This week, a damning Care Quality Commission report rated one in four of the 24,000 adult social care services in England  which includes nursing homes as well as home care  as 'inadequate' or 'requires improvement' (picture posed by model)

'They had gone into her room supposedly to turn her, give her a drink and change her incontinence pad,' says Maddy. 'But they did none of those things. Instead they stood around her bed, tormenting my mum.

'It was so upsetting to watch as we'd only just installed the camera, so heaven knows how long this sickening behaviour had been going on.'

The next day, Maddy insisted her mum be moved from Keldgate Manor residential home in Beverley, East Yorkshire, to a community hospital where it was revealed the old lady weighed a pitiful 4 st, and had bedsores so deep her bones were visible.

It's hard to imagine how we, as a so-called compassionate and civilised society, could treat our elderly so appallingly. Two years later, Freda is still being cared for at the hospital, has a healthy appetite, has gained weight and her bedsores have finally healed. She's as content as a woman in her circumstances could hope to be.

But for Maddy, the torment will never truly end. 'I am acutely aware without that video evidence my mum  who ironically is a former mental health nurse  wouldn't be alive today.'

Maria Worroll, 80, a retired school canteen manager, from North London. Crime: Maria was recorded on a secret camera, put in by family who feared she was being mistreated, being attacked in her bed at Ash Court care home, Kentish Town, in 2011. She was hit in the face and stomach and slapped across the arms. Sentence: Jonathan Aquino, 30, admitted common assault and ill treatment of a vulnerable person and was jailed for 18 months. Lily Campbell, 89, from Salford, Greater Manchester, died in 2014. Crime: Staff at Laburnum Court care home in Salford failed to make regular checks on dementia sufferer Lily, leaving her alone, vomiting and in pain in the hours leading to her death in October 2014. They then changed her bedding, washed her and doctored records before calling the emergency services. Sentence: Pratima Munjal, 53, was jailed for 10 months and Abdul Khan, 22, for six months in 2015.

Diana Bramall, 84, former hairdresser from Oxspring, South Yorkshire. Crime: Diana took carer Donna White on holidays with her, even paying for cruises, before she was caught on video, set up by family, stealing cash. Between November 16, 2015 and March 19, 2016, she is estimated to have taken 3,600 from Diana. Sentence: White raided Dianas purse 64 times and was sentenced to ten months in jail for theft last October. Joan Maddison, 84, a retired social worker, from Essex. Crime: Partly paralysed Joan, who had dementia, cancer and diabetes, was attacked by three evil and ruthless care workers at the former Old Deanery care home in Braintree. It was captured by undercover Panorama reporter Alex Lee, who worked 36 shifts at the home. Sentence: Anita Ray, 45, Adeshola Adediwura, 33, and Lorna Clark, 46, were each jailed for four months in February 2016.

Her 'carers', Tracy Priestley, 41, Danielle Snowden, 25, and Sophie Hinchsliff, 24, were initially let off with cautions but later, following intervention from charity Action On Elder Abuse, charged with ill-treating/wilfully neglecting a person without capacity, under the Mental Capacity Act, and each given a 12-month community order at Hull Crown Court in April last year.

Sadly, though, this scenario is far from isolated.

This week, a damning Care Quality Commission report rated one in four of the 24,000 adult social care services in England  which includes nursing homes as well as home care  as 'inadequate' or 'requires improvement'.

Meanwhile, figures released by Action On Elder Abuse, based on academic research and information from the Office for National Statistics, estimate a shocking 464,500 people aged over 65 are mistreated  from neglect and fraud to physical and sexual assaults  in the UK each year.

That is four per cent of those above pensionable age and is, in the charity's view, a 'very conservative' estimate, as much of the abuse remains hidden and unreported.

Bridget Rees, a retired nurse from East London, died in 2014, aged 92. Crime: A hidden camera, installed by her daughter, captured Bridget being poked in the face and manhandled by carer Faderera Bello, 54, who repeatedly sneered: Shut your mouth, at NHS Mary Seacole Nursing Home in Hoxton, in 2013. Sentence: Bello was jailed for four months in July 2014 for ill-treatment/ wilful neglect of the dementia victim. Ivy Robinson, from Pontefract, West Yorkshire, died in 2013, aged 90. Crime: Ivy was hit, shaken, sworn at and dragged across the floor by two female carers, one of whom forced a syringe into her mouth, in 2012, at the Oakfoss House care home. They were caught by a camera hidden in a clock by Ivys family. Sentence: Emma Bryan, 29, was jailed for four months and Katherine Wallis, 45, was given a 12-month community order.

Betty Boylan, 77, a retired nurse, from Birmingham. Crime: Betty was being dressed by carer Bina Begum, 49, when the carer grabbed her by the back of the neck and slammed her back into the chair which rocked under the impact, all caught on a hidden camera at Perry Locks Care Home. Sentence: Begum, of Perry Barr, Birmingham, was fined and given a 12-month community order in October 2016 after admitting neglecting and mistreating Mrs Boylan. Dora Melton, 86, from Peterborough. Crime: Dora was abused by husband-and-wife carers Maurice and Deborah Campbell in her own home, where cameras had been installed by her family. They recorded Maurice slapping Mrs Meltons head, twisting her wrists and fingers and trying to ram tablets down her throat. Sentence: Maurice Campbell, 56, was jailed for two years and four months, while his wife was sentenced to 38 weeks, suspended for two years, in 2016.

More than 99 per cent of those who target older people go unpunished, according to the charity's analysis of official crime figures, meaning there were just 3,012 successful convictions in a 12-month period, between 2015 and 2016.

To deter perpetrators and secure more convictions, Action On Elder Abuse is calling for a change in the law. It wants all abuse of the elderly to be recognised as an aggravated offence, similar to hate crimes, like those where the victim is targeted because of personal characteristics, such as race, religion, sexual orientation or disability.

Gary FitzGerald, the charity's chief executive, says: 'Hundreds of thousands of older people experience physical, sexual and financial crimes, and those responsible are not being prosecuted.

'If something is classed as an aggravated crime, with racial or homophobic motives, the CPS issues guidance to the court requesting an uplift in sentencing.

'There are statutory minimum sentences that can be applied with these crimes, so defendants are more likely to receive a custodial sentence  or longer jail term.

Betty Lynch from Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, died in 2014, aged 78. Crime: Cerebral palsy sufferer Betty had developed bone cancer when her family found her a carer in 2010. Between 2011 and Bettys death, Margo Alongi, who worked for Allan-Ross Home Care, stole 43,600 from her account. Sentence: Margo Alongi, 54, was sentenced to two years in prison for fraud charges relating to Betty and another man in her care. Edith Robinson, from Brighton, a retired M&S sales assistant, died in 2010, aged 81. Crime: In 2008 the dementia sufferer had 23,000 stolen from her account by her bank manager, aided by two other staff members. In 2009, after being admitted to a care home, Edith was assaulted by a GP, who impatiently pushed her out of the door, into the snow, towards an ambulance. The GP was never prosecuted. Sentence: The bank manager received a 27-month prison sentence.

Gladys Wright, 79, from Somerset, died in 2014. Crime: Gladys was filmed being pushed, shoved and pulled by carers who joked about having sex with her and called her an aggressive bitch at Wraxalls Granary Care Home in 2012. Sentence: Three carers were sentenced for various counts of ill treatment, neglect and one count of theft. One was jailed for four months, another was given a two months suspended sentence. A third was sentenced to 180 hours of unpaid work. Freda Jobson, 84, former mental health nurse, from Beverley, East Yorkshire. Crime: Mocked, taunted and neglected by carers caught on camera in a home where she was supposedly being treated for Alzheimers disease. Sentence: Three carers were initially let off with cautions but later charged with ill-treating/wilfully neglecting a person without capacity and each given a 12-month community order.

'However, when it comes to elder abuse, perpetrators will usually either be given a fine or a suspended sentence, something that in our view does not reflect the seriousness of the crime or deter others from committing similar offences.

'Elder abuse laws exist in other countries, including many U.S. states, and being sent to prison for crimes related to elder abuse carries a stigma, just as it does when the victim is a child, which acts as an important deterrent.'

Solicitor Ian Cranfield, who has worked on many cases involving crimes against elderly people, says: 'It's widely recognised that racially-motivated offences are not only morally reprehensible but also likely to attract stronger penalties.

'And there's no reason why those who target elderly people because of their vulnerability should be treated any differently.' One significant justification for pensioners receiving special treatment in law is their frailty which means the impact of any crime is likely to be far greater.

Indeed, as our gallery confirms, many surviving relatives have been left in no doubt that the decline, and in many cases deaths, of their loved ones were hastened by the abuse they suffered.
Britain's longest fire ladder was not available on the morning of the tragedy

Firefighters' high ladder did not appear at Grenfell Tower for 30 minutes and hoses were 'hampered by low pressure'.

An investigation has identified a series of failings that hampered the efforts of firefighters to tackle the horrific blaze and rescue the building's residents.

Firefighters say they experienced low water pressure, radio problems and critical equipment was either lacking or didn't arrive on scene before the fire got out of control.

BBC's Newsnight has learned that a so-called 'aerial' or high ladder did not arrive until more than half an hour after the first fire engines were dispatched at 00.55.

An independent fire expert said having the high ladder available earlier would have given firefighters a better chance of stopping the blaze when it jumped from a fourth floor flat and began to race up the side of the building.

The London Fire Brigade said that following the Grenfell fire it had changed its procedures and an 'aerial' will now automatically be sent to a fire in a tower.

More than 200 firefighters and 40 fire engines were involved in battling the fire that engulfed the west London tower block.

An investigation has identified a series of failings that hampered the efforts of firefighters to tackle the horrific blaze and rescue the building's residents

A minute's silence was held around the country today to remember those killed in last week's Grenfell Tower blaze

Around 300 people are believed to have lived in the block. Most got out on their own. The fire brigade rescued 65 people but at least 80 people are believed to have died.

Firefighters have been told not to talk to the media but Newsnight obtained a copy of the 'incident mobilisation list', the document which details every appliance dispatched to the incident. The programme was also sent anonymous accounts from a number of men and women involved in the operation.

Firefighters have been told not to talk to the media but Newsnight obtained a copy of the 'incident mobilisation list', the document which details every appliance dispatched to the incident

The mobilisation list revealed that the 30m 'aerial', which could reach the 10th floor of Grenfell Tower, was not dispatched until 1.19 am, 24 minutes after the first crews were sent to fight a fridge fire on the fourth floor. The aerial did not arrive until 1.32 am, by which time the fire had raced up the building's cladding.

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: 'I have spoken to aerial appliance operators in London who drive and operate those appliances and who attended that incident, who think that having that on the first attendance might have made a difference, because it allows you to operate a very powerful water tower from outside the building onto the building.'

A London Fire Brigade spokesman today confirmed that the so-called 'pre determined attendance' for a tower fire  the list of appliances which are automatically dispatched  has been changed from four engines to five engines plus an aerial.

However he added that it was 'important to understand that fires in high rise buildings are nearly always dealt with internally, not usually needing an aerial appliance.'

A London Fire Brigade spokesman today confirmed that the so-called 'pre determined attendance' for a tower fire  the list of appliances which are automatically dispatched  has been changed from four engines to five engines plus an aerial

Newsnight's investigation also heard that firefighters had struggled with water pressure problems and that the fire service had to call Thames Water to ask the company to increase pressure in the area.

One firefighter said: 'The fire floors we went in were helmet meltingly hotwhen we were clearing flats it was a case of a quick look and closing doors because the water pressure wasn't up to firefighting.'

A Thames Water spokesman said: 'We've been supporting the emergency services' response in every way possibleAny suggestion there was low pressure or that Thames Water did not supply enough water to fire services during this appalling tragedy is categorically false.'

Firefighters also described problems with radio reception inside the building and said they lacked enough of the 'extended duration' breathing apparatus they needed, especially when reaching the higher floors of the building and get back to safety.

The London Fire Brigade says all its rescue units carry extended duration apparatus and 'all of the fire brigade's rescue units attended the incident'

All fire engines have basic breathing apparatus that provides firefighters with oxygen for around 30 minutes.

The extended duration apparatus enables them to breathe for a theoretical 45 minutes  but working in dense smoke and intense heat 20 stories up uses the air quicker.

The London Fire Brigade says all its rescue units carry extended duration apparatus and 'all of the fire brigade's rescue units attended the incident'.

The LFB said the police investigation into the fire would examine the brigade's response 'including all of the issues Newsnight has raised'.

Questions have also been raised about why a 42m firefighting platform had to be called in from Surrey to fight the fire at Grenfell  itself 67m high - because the London Fire Brigade does not have one of its own.

The LFB spokesman said it had never responded to a fire on the scale of Grenfell Tower before. 'The Commissioner has made clear her intention to fully review the Brigade's resources and seek funding for any additional requirements.'
Pictured: Stanley Patrick, here aged 21 in 1940, who survived the sinking of HMS Wakeful

Despite his recurring nightmares of German Stukas dropping bombs on to the beach around him, Stanley Patrick was always happy to talk about his escape from Dunkirk.

His daughter Lesley Lewis and her husband Geoff heard many times how HMS Wakeful, which had plucked him and 639 other soldiers from the beach, had been torpedoed by an E-boat and sunk in the channel on the night of May 29, 1940.

He survived only because he happened to be on deck having a cigarette and was found by another ship, but Mr Patrick and his family always assumed that many more of the Allied troops aboard had also been rescued.

That was until last Sunday evening, when Mr and Mrs Lewis sat down at their home in Kettering, Northamptonshire, to watch a Channel 4 documentary about Operation Dynamo and the Dunkirk rescue.

Historian Joshua Levine said on Dunkirk: The New Evidence: There was one soldier who had been on deck having a cigarette. He got away. All the rest were drowned.

Pictured: (L-R) Geoff Lewis, 67, Lesley Lewis, 66 (holding her fathers medal and helmet) and their son Wesley Lewis, 29, from Kettering

Pictured: Stanley Patrick, aged 19 with his soon-to-be wife Peggy (aged 17). This picture was taken sometime between 1938 and 1939

HMS Wakeful (pictured) went down after being struck by a torpedo. Of the 640 troops on board, only Stanley Patrick survived

Pictured: Stanley Patrick's commemorative medal of the battle of Dunkirk, along with his helmet

Of the 640 troops plucked from the Dunkirk beaches by HMS Wakeful that day, Mr Patrick was the only one who survived.

Mrs Lewis, 66, said: We just went cold  that lone soldier, he was my dad. He never knew that he was the only soldier to make it off that boat and live to tell the story.

Mr Patrick, then in his early twenties, was part of the 13th troop carrying company of the Royal Army Service Corps.

He had queued for hours in the shallow water with hundreds of other soldiers to embark HMS Wakeful, which was making its second trip between Dunkirk and Dover to evacuate the troops.

Pictured right and left: Newspaper cuttings reporting that Stanley Patrick was home in England after surviving the battle of Dunkirk

The exhausted soldiers  delighted to be with the Royal Navy and on their way back to England  were below deck when the destroyer was struck by the torpedo.

Wakeful, which had already suffered heavy damage from an aerial bombardment, split in half and sank within minutes.

Mr Lewis, 67, a retired motor engineer, said: Stan was up on the deck and slid right down it into the sea.

Pictured: Stanley Patrick, aged 70, in the last picture before he died

He was the only soldier rescued from the water, along with 25 of Wakefuls crew.

His son-in-law said: He was treading water for 45 minutes before he was picked up by a small boat then put on HMS Calcutta, which was on its way to Dunkirk. So he had escaped the beaches, was torpedoed and sunk, then brought right back to where he had escaped from.

But he was just glad to be alive. He thought at least 30 people had been saved. He never knew he was the only one. Mr Patrick worked as a cook in Kettering for the rest of the war, then became a construction engineer, dying in 1991, a year after his wife Peg.
Joseph Daniel Hudek IV, 23, of Tampa, Florida, appeared in US District Court, wearing a beige jail uniform and sporting a scrape or bruise below his right eye

A flight attendant broke a wine bottle over the head of a man who lunged for an exit door and fought with other passengers during a Delta Air Lines flight from Seattle to Beijing, but it didn't faze him, an FBI agent wrote in charging papers filed Friday.

Joseph Daniel Hudek IV, 23, of Tampa, Florida, appeared in US District Court, wearing a beige jail uniform and sporting a scrape or bruise below his right eye.

He was arrested Thursday night after causing the disturbance that forced the plane to return to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, authorities said.

Hudek did not speak during the hearing. His attorney, Robert Flennaugh II, declined to comment.

Hudek was charged with interfering with a flight crew, which carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

He is expected to remain in custody at least until a detention hearing on July 13.

This Friday, July 7, 2017 photo taken by the FBI and released via the US Attorney's Office in Seattle shows the aftermath of a cabin fight on Delta Flight 129 from Seattle to Beijing

One flight attendant and a passenger were taken to a hospital after suffering severe facial injuries, authorities said.

Perry Cooper, a spokesman for the Port of Seattle, described the injuries as non-life-threatening.

A probable cause statement written by FBI special agent Caryn Highley said Hudek was sitting in the first row of the Boeing 767's first-class section.

He asked a flight attendant for a beer before takeoff, and was served one, but he exhibited no sign of being intoxicated and ordered no other alcoholic drinks, the attendant told authorities.

A Delta flight to Beijing was forced to turn around and return to Seattle after a passenger tried to open an exit door about 45 minutes into the flight Thursday evening

A passenger who was on the plane said the man punched a flight attendant who tried to stop him from opening the exit latch. Above is the flight's path. It took off at 5:10pm but landed back at Seattle at 7:09pm, after having to turn back due to the unruly passenger

Police officers are seen interviewing passengers at the airport after the on-board fight

An anonymous passenger said other passengers hit the man with wine bottles in an attempt to subdue him. Above, passengers are seen waiting in the airport after the plane was forced to return to Seattle Thursday night

Dustin Jones (left) heard the scuffle unfold from the main cabin. Britteny Gardner (right) said she saw 'somebody that was working' with 'blood on their shirt'.

About an hour into the flight, while the plane was over the Pacific Ocean northwest of Vancouver Island, Hudek went into the forward restroom.

He came out quickly, asked the attendant a question, and went back in, the agent wrote.

When he came out again two minutes later, he suddenly lunged for the exit door, grabbed the handle and tried to open it, Highley wrote.

Two attendants grabbed him, but he pushed them away, and the attendants signaled for help from several passengers and notified the cockpit by telephone, the complaint said.

Hudek punched one flight attendant twice in the face and struck at least one passenger in the head with a red dessert wine bottle, it said.

As the struggle continued, a flight attendant grabbed two wine bottles and hit Hudek over the head with each - breaking at least one of them, Highley wrote.

According to one flight attendant, 'Hudek did not seem impacted by the breaking of a full liter red wine bottle over his head, and instead shouted, 'Do you know who I am?' or something to that extent,' the complaint said.

Glen Wang (pictured) said the passengers on the plane took the unexpected layover in stride

One passenger got him in a head-lock, but he broke out of it, until finally several passengers held him long enough to place zip-tie restraints on him, Highley wrote.

Even then he remained combative, she said, and it took multiple passengers to keep him restrained until the plane landed and Port of Seattle police arrested him.

Passenger Dustin Jones told KIRO-TV that he saw the man being rolled into the terminal in a wheelchair after the plane landed.

'He started yelling for help,' Jones said. 'And so he turned the wheelchair over in the middle of the airport, screaming for people to help him, just being belligerent.'

The fight was so violent, that passenger Britteny Gardner said she saw 'somebody that was working' with 'blood on their shirt'.

The flight left for Beijing later Thursday night.
Defiant: Mrs May and husband Philip in Hamburg yesterday

Tory MPs are urging David Davis to challenge Theresa May for the party leadership amid fears the election has left her too weak to deliver Brexit.

The Brexit Secretary has publicly backed the Prime Minister to stay in office and negotiate Britains departure from the EU.

Friends insisted yesterday that his loyalty was absolute and flatly denied he was on manoeuvres, but they acknowledged he was under pressure from Tory MPs, including a number of ministers, to challenge Mrs May before the party conference in October.

A senior Tory said: David is displaying a degree of integrity that is most unusual in our profession, but colleagues are beating a path to his door.

They have two primary concerns  they want a PM who can deliver Brexit and someone who can deal with Jeremy Corbyn. David scores highly on both.

Mrs May insists she will not stand down early, despite intense pressure since losing her Commons majority in last months election.

In a fresh blow, a poll gave Labour an eight-point lead over the Tories  enough to put Mr Corbyn in Downing Street. The YouGov poll for The Times put Labour on 46 per cent and the Conservatives on 38.

But talking to reporters at the G20 summit in Hamburg yesterday, Mrs May vowed to pursue a bold agenda and indicated that she wasnt going anywhere.

The Prime Minister acknowledged the election result didnt come out as it hoped I would, but added: Theres two ways the Government can react to that. We can be very timid and sit back, or we can be bold  and thats what we are going to be.

Mrs May said it had been the right decision to call last months election, despite a disastrous campaign that ended with her forced into a minority government deal with the Democratic Unionist Party.

Asked how the election campaign had affected her personally, she replied defiantly: Well, Im still Prime Minister.

Questioned on whether other world leaders were taking her seriously, she said: The 19 countries sitting around the table will be listening and will be taking us seriously and will be working with us.

Staying loyal: David Davis has insisted he is not trying to knock Mrs May out of the leadership role

Chancellor Philip Hammond yesterday urged Tory plotters to focus on government, saying: I expect the public will take the view that the Government has been elected, its formed an administration, and now we should stop navel-gazing and get on with the job in hand, deliver Brexit, get the very best deal we can for Britain.

In doing so, we will rebuild our reputation with our public, because we are a party above all else that manages, that delivers. It may not be the most passionate message, but its a very important message for people that they have a party in government that is capable, that is competent, that will get on with the job in hand and will deliver.

Doing is better than saying. What we now need to do is get on and deliver.

But some Tories have launched a new bid to persuade Mr Davis to challenge Mrs May. The Brexit Secretary helped persuade her to stay on as Prime Minister immediately after the election when she considered quitting.

Former chief whip Andrew Mitchell, a close ally of Mr Davis, said yesterday: David has been entrusted with one of the most important Cabinet jobs since the Second World War. I can tell you for a fact he is focusing on that and not on issues for the future.

Mr Davis was named the most effective Cabinet minister in a poll of Tory activists this week by the website Conservative Home. He got a net satisfaction rating of 78.4 per cent, far ahead of his nearest rivals Michael Gove and Sir Michael Fallon, both on just under 58 per cent.

Mrs May, meanwhile, endured the biggest fall in popularity ever recorded by the survey. Her approval rating fell from 89.1 per cent before the election to -26.1.
Retired appeal court judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick (pictured) has been told he should learn to 'take the heckling' from residents

The retired judge leading the Grenfell Tower inquiry was yesterday told he should get used to being shouted at.

Sir Martin Moore-Bick was heckled at a residents meeting and was forced to admit that many locals had no respect for his ability to investigate the blaze.

He was also forced to refute the idea he had been appointed to do a hatchet job. Sir Martin, 70, faced down the angry crowd as he attempted to tell residents that he would examine the matter to the very best of his ability.

Yesterday, Labour councillor Robert Atkinson, whose ward includes Grenfell Tower, made the extraordinary demand that the judge learn to take the heckling. Perhaps both sides need to understand the needs of the other side better, he told BBC News.

The judge has got to learn to take heckling from upset people. I dont think judges are used to being shouted at  and the residents have got to understand there are constraints on the timing on what the judiciary can do. Lets judge the judge by what he does in the next few weeks.

As he entered the centre, Sir Martin - who has faced calls to resign - told waiting press: 'I have been invited by the Lancaster West Residents Association'

Pictured: Sir Martin addresses the crowd as Joe Delaney, from the Grenfell Action Group, accuses him of leaving Grenfell families facing the same doubt as those involved in Hillsborough

A video of Thursdays heated meeting shows the former Appeal Court judge being heckled as he says: I cant do more than assure you that I know what it is to be impartial. I give you my word that I will look into this matter to the very best of my ability, and find the facts as I see them from the evidence.

Thats my job, thats my training. Now if I cant satisfy you because you have some preconception about me as a person thats up to you.

A spectator told Sir Martin not to get personal. He replied: Im not getting personal, you dont respect me because you say the Government has appointed me to do a hatchet job.

Joe Delaney, from the Grenfell Action Group, said to the judge: Not a hatchet job, youre going to do a Taylor Report like for Hillsborough, which was very technical but didnt deal with the wider issues and it took 30 years for people to be arrested. Sir Martin replied: This is why it is so important to get the terms of reference right and for you to tell me what you think it should cover.

How the Grenfell Tower fire alarm system was SILENT and sent signals to a private monitoring company

The fire alarm system in Grenfell Tower was silent and not designed to alert residents to a blaze.

Instead of emitting a warning tone, alarm signals were sent to a private monitoring company whose job is to determine the severity of an alert before informing the fire service.

Conventional alarms were not used in the block because of the buildings stay put policy, as well as a desire to avoid a stampede of fleeing residents, it was claimed.

The stay put policy has been criticised because it is believed that some of those who died in last months fire might have escaped if they had been advised to flee.

The Government said the results will help landlords make decisions on any further actions they may need to take to ensure their buildings are safe, three weeks after the blaze in north Kensington in which at least 80 people died

David Sibert, national safety adviser at the Fire Brigades Union, said it was normal to have silent alarms in tower blocks.

Typically, you dont need a common fire alarm system in a block because the individual flats are designed to contain a fire, he told The Times.

Generally, the fire sector advises against a common alarm system because you dont want everybody evacuating at the same time.

If we are firefighting in a block, working with a hose in the stairwell of the building, for example, sometimes it is safer for people to stay in their flats.

Mr Sibert defended the stay put policy, saying the questions we need to address are, in my view, about the use of cladding on the building and compartmentation.

The Government is conducting further tests on samples of cladding from buildings around the country. Some 190 samples from 51 local authority areas failed combustibility tests after the disaster.

Experts will now look at how different varieties of cladding insulation with different types of aluminium composite material panels react in a fire, the Department for Communities and Local Government said.

During the Lakanal House fire in Camberwell, south east London, in 2009, some of those who survived had ignored the advice to stay put and fled, while some of those who remained in their homes were consumed by the fire.

Catherine Hickman was one of the those who died in the blaze after obeying advice to stay put. She was overcome by smoke as flames licked at her door.
A major online retailer of ivory is to ban its sale, closing a major marketplace for the controversial trade.

Japanese website Rakuten said yesterday it was banning the sale of ivory on its site, shutting a major sales route in one of the world's largest legal ivory markets.

The company made the decision following mounting international criticism of the trade, a Rakuten spokesman said, with trading to be phased out over the next month.

Seized elephant ivory tusks at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound in Hong Kong earlier this month

While China has pledged to shut down its domestic ivory trade by the end of this year, ivory imported before 1989 can be legally traded in Japan, with the government denying a link to illegal poaching.

Both the government and e-commerce sellers have been tightening monitoring of sellers, who are legally required to register their stock, amid criticism from wildlife groups that not enough is being done to prevent rule breaking.

Ivory trading continues on Yahoo Japan, the country's biggest online auction site.

'We don't think that the legal ivory trade in Japan has any impact on African elephant numbers,' said a Yahoo Japan spokesman.

'It is important to recognise there are cultural differences between different countries,' he added.

Elephant numbers fell 30 percent between 2007 and 2014, according to a census funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, with illegal poaching thought to be the primary reason for the decline.

The WWF says about 415,000 African elephants remain today, compared with the 3 million to 5 million in the early 20th century. The animal is listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Millions of pounds of British aid money is to be used to pay for the insurance premiums of people living in Third World countries.

Theresa May will announce the controversial move as part of a new 228million aid package to be unveiled at the G20 summit in Hamburg today.

The Prime Minister will argue that the cash will help poverty-stricken countries deal with natural disasters, and make them less dependent on aid in the long term. But she faced a backlash last night from Tory MPs whose own constituents are struggling to get insurance.

Industry estimates suggest that about four million families in England have no home insurance, either because they cannot afford soaring premiums or because insurance companies are unwilling to offer cover to businesses and individuals in flood-hit areas.

Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to Hamburg's Mayor Olaf Scholz, pictured right, after arriving at the airport in Hamburg, northern Germany for the G20 summit

Tory MP Philip Davies, whose Shipley constituency was hit by devastating floods in 2015, said it was unjustifiable to spend taxpayers money on insuring people in other countries when families here have no insurance.

Philip Davies, the Tory MP for Shipley, is pictured speaking in the House of Commons

Many of my constituents, who have suffered horrendously as a result of flooding, will be disgusted that people in other countries appear to be a bigger priority for our government than them, he said. I have got constituents and businesses who cannot get insurance  the Government should be helping them first, rather than prioritising people in other countries. It is completely unjustifiable.

People are not just fed up with the way we spend foreign aid, they are angry. I am angry  the Government is completely and utterly out of touch on this issue.

Whitehall officials last night said that the 30million devoted to funding insurance premiums was only seed money to get the scheme started, and countries would put in their own money after the four-year start-up period.

But Tory MP Ian Liddell-Grainger, whose Somerset constituency has been hit repeatedly by flooding, said taxpayers could be on the hook for much longer. I think it sets a very dangerous precedent for us to be insuring people in other countries against calamity. It makes them dependent on us and gives their own governments no incentive to take action themselves, he warned.

MP Ian liddell-Grainger, pictured right, with former British Prime Minister David Cameron, pictured right, speaks about flood planning in Moorland, Somerset

The River Calder burst its banks, as floods devastated communities living in the Somerset area

Spending millions of pounds in this way sends the wrong message  we want to be moving countries away from dependency, not encouraging even more. Downing Street last night insisted the scheme would help countries strengthen disaster planning.

150 new staff hired to spend aid cash Britain's aid department has hired more than 150 extra staff to help spend its massive 13billion budget. The size of the workforce at the Department for International Development has gone up from 2,823 to 2,978 over the past year  growing more than 5 per cent. At the same time, the departments overall pay bill rose by 6million to a total of 166million. The figures, released in the ministrys annual report, come a week after the Mail revealed that the amount Dfid spends on staff has rocketed by 40 per cent since 2010. The report also discloses that its outgoing chief, Sir Mark Lowcock, received a pay rise of around 5,000 in his final year. He leaves with a gold-plated pension pot worth 1.2million. A spokesman for the department said Dfid was aiming to save 500million by 2020. Advertisement

Officials said insurance could help save both lives and money by ensuring a quicker response to disasters. This will reduce the need for expensive humanitarian aid, reassure private investors and help people rebuild their lives, one official said.

It will be run through a new Centre for Global Disaster Protection in London, designed to speed up the response to humanitarian disasters.

Officials believe the scheme  part of a 228million aid package aimed mainly at Africa  could eventually generate profits for London-based insurance firms.

Other initiatives in the aid package include measures to boost transport infrastructure, create jobs and integrate local stock markets with the worlds financial system.

It will be funded from the Governments main foreign aid budget, which by law must match 0.7 per cent of the national income. Speaking ahead of the announcement, the Prime Minister said: We must not forget that progress in Africa benefits the UK at home.

Our international aid work is helping to build Britains trading partners of the future, creating real alternatives to mass migration, and enhancing our security, while simultaneously ensuring we abide by our moral responsibility to meet the immediate humanitarian needs of some of the poorest people on earth.
Kelly Green, 32, (left with her husband Shane Green) moved from Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the UK to Tristan da Cunha (pictured), one of a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, in July 2013. The whole island descends from just seven families and has a population of just 138 inhabitants. It is only accessible by boat from Cape Town, South Africa, and the journey can take anywhere from a week to 15 days - depending on the weather. After going through a tough break up, Kelly travelled to the island to visit her parents in 2010 as her dad was a diplomat posted there. Kelly said she 'fell in love' with the island and it was there that she met her now husband Shane Green, 33. Shane, a carpenter who has lived on the island for his entire life, had helped Kelly carry her luggage off the raft and they soon became besotted with each other. Kelly made the move to Tristan da Cunha permanently in July 2013 and the couple now have two children together - Savannah, eight, and Seren, who is 16-months-old.
The owner of the two dogs that attacked a toddler in the NSW Blue Mountains has been revealed, as the girl undergoes surgery for life changing facial injuries.

Three-year-old Avah Gibbs was mauled by the animals, owned by Cameron Farrugia, while she was in a Hazelbrook backyard on Thursday afternoon.

She was taken to The Children's Hospital at Westmead and required stitches for facial injuries.

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Three-year-old Avah Gibbs (pictured) was mauled by the animals, owned by Cameron Farrugia, while she was in a Hazelbrook backyard on Thursday afternoon

The two dogs were owned by Cameron Farrugia (pictured)

A toddler was rushed to hospital after she was viciously attacked by two dogs (pictured)

Council rangers have seized the dogs as residents spoke of previous concerns about the animals.

'I don't let my children play out the front because the dogs have been roaming around,' one woman told the Seven Network on Friday.

NSW Police are also investigating the incident.

The child sustained multiple injuries and was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to The Children's Hospital at Westmead.

The dogs have been responsible for other attacks on animals this week, according to 9News.

Neighbour Scarlet Johnson said she had reported the dogs two weeks ago after an attack on a Labrador.

Three-year-old Avah Gibbs (pictured) was mauled by the animals

Police officers arrive at the scene where two dogs attacked a young girl

A police officer at the scene where two 'large Rottweilers' attacked a young girl

But rangers had reportedly not been able to find the animals when the complaint was made.

'It was quite alarming when I heard it attacking the dog,' Ms Johnson told The Daily Telegraph.

'The scream the dog was making was bloodcurdling  all the doors were closed, but I could hear it some way away from my house.'

A young girl was attacked by two rottweilers in the Blue Mountains

Paramedics treated the young girl at the scene before rushing her to hospital where she remains in a stable condition

Police and rangers from the Blue Mountains City Council secured the Rottweilers.

It is thought the dogs are owned by an occupant of the home- the child was visiting the family.

A police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that police would launch a joint investigation with the Blue Mountains council.
A mother has spoken of her agony at finding out her daughter secretly attempted suicide months before killing herself.

Liz de Oliveira said not knowing meant there had been a missed opportunity to help promising nursing student Lucy, 22.

She called for an end to the stigma of suicide, which may have made the undergraduate stay silent about her mental health for fear of losing her career.

An inquest in Liverpool this week heard that Lucy de Oliveira died of asphyxiation but she had also taken a fatal overdose of painkillers

Miss de Oliveira killed herself in February weeks after splitting with her junior doctor boyfriend.

She sent a final heart-breaking text to him saying she wanted it to end. Her former lover, who was working at a hospital 60 miles away, alerted Miss de Oliveiras flatmate, who went to check on her at their digs in Liverpool  but it was too late.

The student, who was on course for a first class nursing degree at Liverpool John Moores University, could not be saved.

Last night her 59-year-old mother told of her sorrow at finding out her daughter had tried to take an overdose the previous August.

Mrs de Oliveira, a criminal barrister, said the students boyfriend managed to stop her taking the pills, but no family member, doctor or social service official was told about the attempt.

I can understand that Lucy had probably begged her boyfriend not to tell anyone, but I feel like it was a missed opportunity, she said.

Lucy didnt want people to know. I can understand that it is difficult to break someones confidence but when its that serious there should be a mechanism in place, whether it is via her GP or social services.

Lucy de Oliveira's parents Barnabe and Liz de Oliveira. Liz said not knowing her daughter had secretly attempted suicide months before she killed herself meant there had been a missed opportunity to help promising nursing student Lucy, 22

The nursing student was described as a bright and caring young woman who put everybody else before herself

We only found out after finding a note on her laptop after her death. If we had known I wouldnt have let her go back to Liverpool  I would have got her the help she needed. Mrs de Oliveira added: Theres such a stigma about suicide.

Maybe Lucy was worried that if people thought she was mentally unstable then she would lose her career.

I know Prince Harry has been talking about depression recently and its good that he is speaking out because it is society that makes an issue of it.

An inquest in Liverpool this week heard that Miss de Oliveira died of asphyxiation but she had also taken a fatal overdose of painkillers.

Her mother said she was under financial pressure and had also started taking anti-depressants for a nervous jerk or twitch. This prevented her carrying out her student work placements and only added to her anxiety because she feared she was falling behind her peers.

The split from her boyfriend was the straw that broke the camels back.

The forensic pathology registrar said Lucy died of asphyxiation but had also overdosed on a large quantity of painkillers

She killed herself in February  a day after her mother drove her from the family home in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, to her student digs.

Mrs de Oliveira said: If I had thought she was suicidal I wouldnt have let her go back to university, but something must have got to her to make her take her own life.

Mrs de Oliveira, who is separated from Miss de Oliveiras Brazilian father, Barnabe, 58, added: I just hope something positive comes out of Lucys life. She was a beautiful girl to look at but she was also beautiful inside.

Coroner Anita Bhardwaj, who described Miss de Oliveira as bright and intelligent, gave a verdict of suicide.

For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a local branch or go to the website www.samaritans.org.
An acrobat who plunged to his death at a music festival just minutes before US rockers Green Day took to the stage posted a poignant message to his partner just hours before the tragedy.

Fans were horrified as Pedro Aunion Monroy, who lived in Brighton, fell 100ft to his death at the Mad Cool festival in Madrid last night.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, the 42-year-old tagged British boyfriend Michael Sell with a drawing of the couple together.

He wrote: 'I can't wait to see my beautiful boyfriend. Love, come to my arms!!!!!'

Pedro Aunion Monroy, who lived in Brighton, fell 100ft to his death at the Mad Cool festival in Madrid last night

In a Facebook post on Thursday, the 42-year-old tagged British boyfriend Michael Sell (right), writing: 'I can't wait to see my beautiful boyfriend. Love, come to my arms!!!!!'

Mr Monroy was a director of In Fact performing arts company based in Portslade, Brighton

Green Day have been criticised for performing just moments after the acrobat's death, but later issued a statement saying they were unaware he had died until they came off stage.

The horrific accident happened as the performer was descending in an illuminated box for a stunt during a break between British Band Alt-J and the US rockers.

Footage shows the acrobat falling from the box in front of 35,000 people in the crowd at the Mad Cool Festival in Spain.

Mr Monroy was a director of In Fact performing arts company based in Portslade, Brighton.

A statement from Green Day said: 'A very brave artist named Pedro lost his life here tonight in a tragic accident. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends'

One festivalgoer told MailOnline: 'The acrobat was moving inside a lit up cube which was then slowly hoisted up to roughly 100ft and he fell almost straight after it reached that height.' Pictured: Green Day in performance

In Spain his aerial dance group performed under the name Ciadehecho.

His sister confirmed on social media yesterday that the artist had lost his life after falling 100ft from a suspended cage in front of 35,000 people at the Mad Cool Festival.

'I regret to tell you he died today,' his sister Estefi Chaje posted on Facebook.

'He was doing what he loved the most... We are devastated.'

Disturbing footage shows the acrobat falling from the box in front of 35,000 people in the crowd at the Mad Cool Festival in Spain

Dozens of fans criticised festival organisers on social media for their decision to continue with the concert

Dozens of fans criticised festival organisers on social media for their decision to continue with the concert.

An official statement from the organisers Twitter feed, posted overnight, said: 'Mad Cool Festival regrets the terrible accident that an aerial dancer has suffered during the second day of the festival.

'For security reasons, the festival decided to continue with the event. We offer our sincere condolences to the dead mans family.

'Today we will pay tribute to the artist during the festival.'

Green Day responded to criticism of their decision to perform after the tragedy with a statement posted on their website which said: 'We just got off stage at Mad Cool Festival to some disturbing news.

'A very brave artist named Pedro lost his life here tonight in a tragic accident. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.'

One of the festival assistants said: 'Well yes, I saw before the Green Day performance there was an artist performing on a high crane and he fell on the main stage. We thought they would cancel the show or say some something, but nothing happened. We have put a complaint in and we are leaving.'

Another added: 'There's a band (continuing) playing at the Mad Cool as if a dead person wasn't 20 metres from the stage. This is outrageous because they didn't say anything about a man that we all saw falling to his death. It's very shocking and I can't understand how people can stay enjoying a concert when this has just happened. I don't understand.'

Madrid mayoress Manuela Carmen tweeted after learning of Pedros death: 'Pained to learn of the death of this acrobat while he was doing his job at Mad Cool.'

Jorge Gomez, who works at the festival, said: 'We saw a person on the ground who was the artist, the acrobat. We were right there in the place ten seconds after some people saw him falling and we attended him immediately.

'After ten seconds we started advanced CPR (heart-lung resuscitation). We have done everything we can, but it was impossible to save him.'

Paramedics could be seen helping the man as he lay on the floor, but it was later confirmed he died as a result of his injuries

Police consulted with festival organisers before allowing it to continue, El Mundo reported

Javier Erquiaga tweeted: 'Ashamed of you. An artist died just 20 meters from you and you still play. Worst band on the planet.'

British actor Adrian Randle wrote: 'I couldn't in good faith stay to watch Green Day perform after that. Thoughts go out to the family of the performer. '

Disturbing footage shows the acrobat plummeting to the ground in front of a screaming crowd.

One festivalgoer told MailOnline: 'It was all part of a tribute to Prince.

British actor Adrian Randle wrote: 'I couldn't in good faith stay to watch Green Day perform after that. Thoughts go out to the family of the performer'

'The acrobat was moving inside a lit up cube which was then slowly hoisted up to roughly 100ft and he fell almost straight after it reached that height.

'It was a mixture of confusion, shock and disbelief.

'There's been no attempt to clarify the situation by the organisers either.'

Paramedics could be seen helping the man as he lay on the floor, but it was later confirmed he died as a result of his injuries.

Police consulted with festival organisers before allowing it to continue, El Mundo reported.

The cause of the accident is being investigated.
Actor Donal Logue turned to social media once again on Friday to plead for his missing child to return home.

'Jade, cmon home, you sweet, beautiful, soul. We love and miss you dearly,' Logue posted on his Twitter feed underneath a picture of him and his 16-year-old transgender daughter who disappeared more than a week ago.

It was the latest in a series of heartfelt messages on social media that the actor posted since Jade Logue went missing on June 26.

Logue clarified that his daughter was not a runaway but was still missing, as the teen was last seen in New York City.

The desperate father has posted multiple times on social media, enlisting the public's help in finding his child when she didn't come home after meeting a friend.

In an update Wednesday morning, the Gotham star posted a photo of Jade posing with actor Gilles Marini and said: 'She is not back- that's why we want her back.'

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Actor Donal Logue turned to social media once again on Friday to plead for his missing child to return home

Logue is still searching for his missing transgender daughter Jade, 16, who disappeared in New York City on June 26. The Gotham actor posted a photo Wednesday of Jade with actor Gilles Marini and said: 'She is not back- that's why we want her back' (pictured)

Logue, 51, (left) clarified his daughter (right) is not a runaway but is missing. He earlier made an emotional plea to the public in the hopes of locating Jade

Logue, 51, said on Twitter that Jade didn't run away from home but was classified as a missing person.

He tweeted: 'Any info on JADE LOGUE, please call 1-800-THE-LOST. @john_walsh for LEOs, this child is MISSING-not a runaway- Special Category Missing.'

Logue went on to share a recent picture of him with Jade and French-American actor Gilles Marini.

He later clarified the photo was taken before Jade disappeared and said: 'This is an old picture (though recent) she is not back- thats why we want her back.'

Earlier in the search, Logue penned a note on Facebook to his fans asking for help in bringing Jade home.

'This is my daughter, Jade. It's one of my favorite photos of her taken from a happier time,' he wrote, along with a picture of his daughter with a frog on her nose.

'I love all people and have met tons, but honestly (I'm biased) there's never been a more loving, innocent, cuddly child than Jade.

Logue shared this picture of his daughter, which he said was one of his favorites of her 'taken from a happier time'

Donal wrote this emotional message on Facebook in the early hours of Sunday morning

'I love her and who she is and her tribe is strong (I've met many wonderful people through Jade), but there are some predators who swim among their ranks knowing they're dealing with sweet, trusting souls.

'We want you home Jade. Whoever knows where she is, whoever may be with her - clearly this thing has become big and crazy.

He continued: 'The net has been flung far and wide and luckily, I have dogged teams from the NYPD, FBI, and others involved.

'The point is, you may have had good intentions to help her, but I'm sure you realize that this situation is bigger than you could've anticipated.

'It's okay. Just drop her off. Let her get back in touch with her mother, Kasey, or me - we'll take her back, with hugs and no questions asked.'

Jade Logue was last seen wearing a green sweatshirt in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center on June 26. She is transgender and was previously known as Arlo Logue.

New York City police said there has been no updates in the case since Monday morning.

Several other celebrities, including Danny Trejo, stepped up to post notices on social media asking others to help find Jade.

The actor wrote a message to whoever may be with his daughter, reading: 'The point is, you may have had good intentions to help her, but I'm sure you realize that this situation is bigger than you could've anticipated'

Jade's mother, Kasey Smith, also posted a plea on social media, with the desperate mother sharing a video on Twitter.

'If you're watching, if you're able to be on social media - however wherever you're at -please know that we're looking for you, we want you home,' she said in the minute-long video.

'Jade's gender and her sexual orientation does not matter here. What matters here is there's a child out there, my baby and Donal's baby, out there missing.

'Jade's story is for Jade to tell, when and if she's ever ready to tell it.'

'And let that be hers. It's not yours, it's not anyone else's and it's not mine. I respect her but all I want right now is for her to be at home.'

Logue had his big breakthrough back in 2000 with his role in the Sundance hit 'The Tao of Steve,' and since that time has starred in a number of film and television roles.

The actor won a special jury price for his work in 'Tao of Steve' at Sundance that year.

He has been seen on the big screen in films including 'Just Like Heaven,' 'Ghost Rider,' and 'Zodiac,' while his television work includes five seasons of 'Grounded for Life' and two seasons on the long-running 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.'

Logue also appeared on the critically acclaimed 'Sons of Anarchy,' 'Terriers' and 'Vikings,' all for one season.

Donal Logue's daughter, Jade (pictured), remains missing after last being seen on Monday

Jade Logue was last seen in Brooklyn heading to meet a friend at the Barclays Center and a member of the NYPD confirmed she has still not been located
Through two World Wars and a plague which all but wiped its species off the face of the earth, this magnificent elm has endured everything the fates could throw at it.

Planted by the Victorians, it is not only much-loved by its neighbours but it is an entire ecosystem for an endangered species of British butterfly.

Indeed, the grand old elm on Sheffields Chelsea Road  a rare survivor of the Dutch Elm epidemic which ravaged Britain a generation back  recently won a national prize. In the Woodland Trusts latest annual contest to find Britains favourite tree, this mighty candelabra-shaped beauty came second.

Protestors demonstrating against the felling of the Elm Tree on Chelsea Road, Sheffield

Having won this arboreal Oscar, you might imagine that Sheffield would have slapped some sort of preservation order on the noble elm. After all, this is a city which prides itself on having more trees than any city in Europe.

You might expect local politicians to be queuing to shake it by the branch and have their photograph taken next to it.

Wrong. For it has now been scheduled for the chop. Despite petitions and protests by thousands of people, Sheffield City Council has earmarked the citys best-known tree for imminent destruction, arguing that its roots pose a threat to both road and pavement.

Serious decay, says the council, reeling off a list of essential works, including the removal of a branch. Utter rubbish, say the locals who have covered its lower reaches in love letters and yellow ribbons. They argue that the tree merely needs maintenance work which the council has failed to carry out for years.

What is perhaps even more astonishing, however, is that the council is now threatening injunctions against local residents  including one of its own councillors  warning of punitive legal action if they dare to protest in defence of this tree or thousands of others which have been earmarked for the chainsaw.

In one case, the jobsworths may be about to axe more than 20 healthy and much-loved trees which were planted as a war memorial.

As a result, there is now daily confrontation between the locals and the tree-choppers.

I arrive in the tree capital of Britain and Europe to find a game of cat-and-mouse between a well-organised army of residents and, on the other side, the council and the Spanish contractor recently awarded a 2.2 billion 25-year contract to maintain its roads.

In no time, I find a neighbourhood posse  ranging from a businessman to a childrens book illustrator  ambushing a chainsaw gang as they attempt to chop down a healthy lime tree. After nearly three hours of impeccably polite stand-off, the choppers retreat.

This is no mere neighbourhood spat. It is a municipal civil war.

No one has the slightest objection to the council chopping down any tree that is damaged, dying or posing any threat to anyone.

But people of all ages and backgrounds are furious that perfectly healthy trees are being pulped simply because it is easier for the road maintenance team to get out the chainsaw than to apply fresh Tarmac and a bit of common-sense whenever a root starts poking through.

After all, many cities are full of trees which grow like this.

This is a story which extends far beyond Sheffield. At issue is the delicate balance between bureaucracys obsession with box-ticking conformity and mankinds need to connect with Mother Nature.

The elm has survived Dutch Elm disease and has been voted the second favourite tree in Britain, but it's scheduled for the chop

Here we have a council prepared to chop down Britains second-favourite tree on the basis that it is causing a bump so minor that even one of those compensation-chasing fraudsters who trip over paving stones and then rush to a lawyer would be hard pushed to take a tumble.

I had set off for Chelsea Road, in the hilly Sheffield suburb of Nether Edge, expecting to find its famous elm in a dreadful state. Why else would the council want to bring it down?

Surely, it would be a gnarled old thing with gammy roots sprouting through the road and footpath, making it all but impassable to anyone with a baby buggy or wheelchair.

Not a bit of it. Standing proudly on a crossroads, it seems in excellent shape rather than a state of severe decay, as assembled campaigners are only too keen to point out.

Dr Nicky Rivers, living landscape manager from the Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust, and a team of experts have studied this tree for years. For it is home to a colony of the white-letter hairstreak butterfly, a rare species whose only foodplant is elm trees. Predictably, the damage inflicted by Dutch Elm disease has made it even more endangered. This colony will spend its entire life here without ever moving from this one tree.

What really annoys us is the councils complete lack of transparency, says Dr Rivers.

On the one hand it says the tree must come down and then it says it will cost 50,000 to put it right. But it wont say how it reached that figure or what happens if we manage to raise the sum ourselves.

The council insists it will not accept funds for individual trees and that 50,000 is the cost of raising the entire junction to comply with the Highways Act.

Completely unnecessary, says Matt Larsen-Daw of the Woodland Trust. He points out that this tree was probably planted at the same time as the handsome Victorian villa next to it.

Back in those days, Sheffield was world-famous for its steel production. But with all this industry came great pollution. With that in mind, civic elders planted trees all over the place to soak up the grime and make the city a prettier place. As a result, Sheffield has some 36,000 street trees just like this lovely elm.

Yet the council and its contractor, Amey (a subsidiary of Ferrovial, the Madrid-based giant), has decided 6,000 trees  many healthy  must go.

The council points out that every old tree will be replaced by a new one. But the campaigners believe many are being axed simply to make life easier and cheaper for the road contractors. A big old Victorian tree with roots under the road will require more attention than a flimsy young sapling.

Indeed, when the council removes an old tree, it wont always replace it with the same species. In many cases, it has chosen what some locals call lollipop trees because of their small, pert shape. Unsurprisingly, a city that prides itself on its trees as much as its steel is unhappy about seeing great old oaks, limes, planes and elms making way for glorified shrubs.

While the council uses the phrase tree replacement rather than chopping, locals say these are weasel words.

Matt Larsen-Daw says: In environmental terms, taking down this elm and replacing it with a sapling is like taking down the Royal Albert Hall and putting up a tent.

I ask the neighbours their views.

Supporters have covered it in yellow ribbons to try to show the council the support for the old tree

Not one believes the tree poses any danger and nearly all want to see it stay. Ian Fullerton, 63, used to work for the Forestry Commission and remembers the Dutch Elm saga all too well.

It did terrible damage and yet this tree survived. We should be breeding from it, not chopping it down, he says. He poo-poos any notion that the tree is a hazard to road maintenance. They dig up this road the whole time to lay cables and pipes, he says.

The council insists there are increasing safety concerns about the elm and that it will do all it can to preserve the white-letter hairstreak butterfly. According to Bryan Lodge, council cabinet member for environment, it is looking at all options to give the butterfly the best chance of migrating elsewhere.

Yet Dr Rivers points out this is virtually unheard of. Besides, the butterfly only lives in elm trees and there is no alternative nearby.

I meet Prue Phillip, 73, a retired film editor and member of the local tree campaign. Her group have tied yellow ribbons around every tree on death row and encourage people to contact them whenever they see an Amey team appear with ropes, saws and a woodchip machine. Were not a bunch of tree-huggers, she explains.

We understand that some trees have to come down. But we get angry that healthy trees are being felled just to meet some sort of quota.

By now, the jungle drums are beating. Word has spread that the hatchet-men are in nearby Rundle Road and starting to chop branches off a big lime tree. They will remove it within an hour or two.

When I arrive a few minutes later, the lumberjacks have downed tools and are eating a snack in their van. Once a member of the public steps inside the barriers erected around a tree-felling operation, then all work has to cease. The two men in the truck arent bothered. This happens on every job now, says one. Well just wait to get sent somewhere else.

He says protesters are invariably polite and sometimes offer them cups of tea. Ive only had one bloke threaten me, he says, adding that his most memorable moment was when he started chopping and resident emerged with a cello to play a funeral lament.

One protester, telecoms consultant Graham Turnbull, says hes just received a letter from the council threatening him with an injunction and a hefty fine.

Inevitably, this is a legal haystack. Earlier this year, South Yorkshire Police used trade union laws to arrest several people for attempting to hinder others from going about their work.

However, this strategy was rejected by a judge and the citys police commissioner agreed. The police have since decided that they have more important things to do.

Thwarted in its attempts to criminalise protesters, the council has decided to take the civil law route.

It has been monitoring social media and photographing protesters to draw up a list of targets, such as Graham, and is threatening them with penalties.

So far, 17 people have until next week to sign letters promising to behave or else face an injunction.

They include Alison Teal, a Green Party councillor who was arrested in February, only for charges to be dropped. Shes now seeking legal advice about the injunction warning, but is exasperated by the bovine attitude of the council on which she sits.

She says: When you talk to them about the Chelsea Road elm, they just say: An elm belongs in a forest, not in a street. 

A couple of miles away, I find another passionate campaign in Western Road.

In 1919, the local primary school  still thriving on the same site  lined the street with alternating sycamores and plane trees, one for every former pupil killed in the Great War. A plaque on the school records this act of commemoration. But now, 23 of the trees are being considered for the chop.

When someone defaces or urinates on a war memorial, they are, quite rightly, in big trouble. This is even worse  theyre destroying it, says Alan Story, a retired academic. When he followed a chainsaw gang the other day, he was photographed by contractors.

He cheerfully calls himself an old Leftie but is appalled that a Labour council should try to curtail his right to protest. Can you imagine trying to tell Jeremy Corbyn that he is not allowed to protest? he asks.

Councillor Lodge insists he supports peaceful protest but adds: Theres a clear distinction between this and direct action. The vast majority of Sheffield residents, he says, are on his side.

I walk up and down both sides of Western Road. The trees provide a glorious canopy over what would otherwise be a much duller thoroughfare. The condemned specimens have a yellow ribbon, a poppy and, in some cases the name of a dead local lad  men such as Sydney Eggington and Joseph Richmond, both killed with the Sheffield Pals at the Somme aged 21.

Certainly, some tree roots are pushing up the pavement in places. But it would not be beyond the wit of a moderately intelligent asphalt gang to smooth over the bumps.

Its home time at the primary school. The parents are unanimous that the problem has been caused by years of council neglect and that the trees should stay.

They are a precious part of the area. The council policy is very short-sighted, says teacher Kim McCurry. Eight-year-old pupil Rosa Ransford sums it up succinctly: The trees are beautiful and they are here because someone died.

There are countless similar examples to be found all over the country. For example, locals in Bristol are trying to stop an ancient oak being felled merely to allow alterations to a branch of Burger King.

Here in Sheffield, this heroic elm on Chelsea Road could, tragically, be firewood by the end of the month. This is not merely officially-sanctioned vandalism. It is utter lunacy.
A Sydney woman who sparked a social media storm after posting on Facebook and GoFundMe for help to pay her rent said she has been blown away by the support but it has been 'a learning curve'.

Lauren Hellner, 40, a medical administrator and part time actor who lives in Bondi and is studying at the University of New South Wales, appealed for help on GoFundMe after her landlord gave her an eviction notice over unpaid rent.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Ms Hellner admitted she never thought her post would cause such a stir and when she received the notice, she reacted in a state of panic.

'I am equal part embarrassed and ashamed that I have asked people for help when I am not completely desolate. And I do have a nice lifestyle that I have created for myself,' she said.

A Sydney woman who sparked a social media storm after posting on Facebook and GoFundMe for help to pay rent said she's been blown away by the support but it's been 'a learning curve'

Lauren Hellner, (pictured) a medical administrator and part time actor who lives in Bondi who is also studying, appealed for help after her landlord gave her an eviction notice

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Ms Hellner admitted she never thought her post would cause such a stir and when she received the notice, she reacted in a state of panic

She said she didn't expect her real estate agent to be so harsh. 'We had an agreement that I was paying it (the rent) off at a certain rate. I thought I was below $1,500 in my arrear payments. But apparently I wasn't'

'When I started the GoFundMe page I panicked, I got scared and I scrambled for any help. And the online community support, has been amazing. It has blown me away,' she said.

'I didnt expect my real estate agent to be so harsh with me. We had an agreement that I was paying it (the rent) off at a certain rate. I thought I was below $1,500 in my arrear payments. But apparently I wasn't.'

'That is why I panickedI got the email from the real estate agent saying I have two weeks to get out. I went home, cried to Centrelink and there was nothing they could do. My payments were cancelled.'

Describing it as 'a learning curve' she said: 'I need to get on top of my finances, which clearly I am not very good at. But just the fact that so many people have reached out and help is giving me the opportunity to do that.'

Ms Hellner started a GoFundMe page to raise the $2,900 in outstanding rent that she owed her landlord. As of Saturday at lunchtime she had raised $2,585 of her goal (pictured)

Ms Hellner (pictured in her Bondi flat) said she got the eviction notice saying she had two weeks to get out and she went home, cried to Centrelink and there was nothing they could do

She claims Centrelink told her that her Austudy payments would be cancelled as she had reached the maximum time allowed for undergraduate study

Ms Hellner has lived in her Bondi flat for the past five years with her cat and dogs while she is studying towards getting into a post graduate medical degreee

She said she was overwhelmed from many generous strangers reaching out to offer a helping hand in a time of need.

Since the post, Ms Hellner has been offered a potential job at a local cafe and will also be starting soon at a restaurant to help pay off her rent.

'A lovely girl responded on the Bondi Local Loop page and said come to the cafe I work at and I will speak to my boss and start on Sunday. It is amazing,' she said.

'I was blown away by this response. That has just been part of the positive responses that have just completely humbled me. I am just amazed that people actually care.

'I didnt think when I started the GoFundMe that I would have any response at all. I didnt think anyone would pay any attention to it. So the fact this has happened is astounding.'

Describing it as 'a learning curve' Ms Hellner said: 'I need to get on top of my finances, which clearly I am not very good at'

She said she was overwhelmed from many generous strangers reaching out to offer a helping hand in a time of need

Since the post, Ms Hellner has been offered a potential job at a local cafe and will also be starting soon at a restaurant to help pay off her rent

Ms Hellner posted her appeal on Friday, asking for help to pay $2,900 in a month to her landlord to allow her to stay in her Bondi home where she has lived for the past five years, after she was given an eviction notice.

She reached out for help after she claimed Austudy gave her a weeks notice that they were going to cut off her payments because she reached the maximum time allowed for undergraduate study.

In her post she wrote she would be happy to pay people back for their generosity by offering them walks with her dog, surfing lessons and acting lessons.

Ms Hellner said she was bombarded with comments on social media about her Bondi lifestyle after photos on her Instagram account showed she had recently bought trainers and activewear, despite asking for money after the eviction notice from her real estate agent.

Ms Hellner said: 'A lovely girl responded on the Bondi Local Loop page and said come to the cafe I work at and I will speak to my boss and start on Sunday. It is amazing'

She said: 'I was blown away by this response. That has just been part of the positive responses that have just completely humbled me. I am just amazed that people actually care'

In her GoFundMe post she wrote she would be happy to pay people back for their generosity by offering them walks with her dog (pictured) surfing lessons and acting lessons

She said most of her clothes, including her recent purchases on social media, were bought from a thrift shop near her apartment.

Ms Hellner admitted she would have had the same reaction as many did on social media if she had seen her post.

But despite the ire of social media, she said the experience had been a stark learning curve and she was overwhelmed from many generous strangers reaching out to offer a helping hand in a time of need.

Ms Hellner said in hindsight she wouldn't change her approach as you should never be ashamed of asking for help when you need it most.

'Listen I would probably think the same, ''She is an idiot, why didnt she pay her own rent and why is she asking other people,'' but what I think is really important is for people to reach out for help.

'And that it is OK to ask for help. Specifically if you dont have family, the community is there for a reason. And if this proves anything, it is that the community is willing to help.'

She said: 'I am equal part embarrassed and ashamed that I have asked people for help when I am not completely desolate. And I do have a nice lifestyle that I have created for myself'

Ms Hellner said she was bombarded with comments on social media about her Bondi lifestyle after photos on her Instagram account showed she recently bought trainers and activewear

But she told Daily Mail Australia most of her clothes, including her recent purchases on social media, were bought from a thrift shop near her apartment

Ms Hellner (pictured) admitted she would have had the same reaction as many did on social media if she had seen her post

After losing both her parents at the age of just 16-years-old and having no immediate family to turn too, she said it wasnt as simple as just moving away from her support network.

'I have lived in the area my whole life, I grew up here, and I grew up in Vaucluse. My parents died when I was really young and Ive stayed in the area with my friends and my support network.

'I am close to the beach, for my own mental health it is really important to be close to the water.'

Ms Hellner wants undertake a post graduate medical degree in the future, but is currently studying and working as a casual medical administrator to make money.

The Bondi local said she will certainly be giving back to the community following the help she has received from kind strangers.

'I will find a way I can repay this, whether it is by volunteering to do community work,' she said.

She said: 'I have lived in the area my whole life, I grew up here, and I grew up in Vaucluse. My parents died when I was really young and Ive stayed in the area with my friends and my support network'

She added: . I am close to the beach, for my own mental health it is really important to be close to the water'

The Bondi local said she will certainly be giving back to the community following the help she has received from kind strangers

Ms Hellner wants undertake a post graduate medical degree in the future, but is currently studying and working as a casual medical administrator to make money

She said she would find a way to repay people for their kindness and generosity towards her
A rescue helicopter and police vertical rescue teams winched the man to safety

The man was understood to be unconscious after suffering head injuries

Emergency services were called to Marley Heads around 7am by two fisherman

A fisherman who fell off a cliff south of Sydney on Saturday has been rescued

A fisherman has been rushed to hospital following a dramatic rescue early on Saturday morning.

The man was winched to safety from Marley Heads south of Sydney after slipping and suffering head injuries.

Emergency services were called to the location by two other fisherman around 7am.

A fisherman has been resuced who fell off a cliff south of Sydney on Saturday

The man was understood to be unconscious during the operation ,Sky News reported.

A rescue helicopter and police vertical rescue teams worked together to get the man to safety.

It is believed he fell onto rocks and has now been taken to hospital.

The man was understood to be unconscious when he was rescued after suffering head injuries
Police have arrested the boyfriend of a dismembered New Jersey woman who was found floating in Brooklyn, after her blood was reportedly found in his bathtub.

Raphael Lolos was taken into custody on Thursday on suspicion of murdering Jennifer Londono, 31, of Englewood, after she was reported missing on June 25.

Londono's torso was found floating in Brooklyn on June 27 and she was identified by her mother, who noted the Sanskrit tattoo on the woman's right hip.

Officials had been interviewing Lolos as part of their investigation and said he had been consistently using his dead girlfriend's credit cards after she disappeared.

The 40-year-old was charged on Friday with murder, stalking and desecration of human remains.

Police arrested Raphael Lolos, the boyfriend of dismembered Jennifer Londono (right), on Thursday. Lolos was charged Friday with the murder of his 31-year-old girlfriend, who was found floating in Brooklyn on June 27

Blood from the Englewood, New Jersey, woman was discovered in Lolos' bathtub. Pictured: Police recovering a severed leg from the Hudson

Authorities said Lolos dismembered Londono in her home state before tossing her remains into the Hudson River, according to PIX 11.

The news outlet reported the man had repeatedly used Londono's credit cards up until he was arrested.

After being arrested, Lolos suffered a medical episode and was taken to the hospital.

His first court appearance will be arranged after he is released from medical care.

An earlier source told the New York Post there had been some 'inconsistencies' in Lolos' story before he was arrested.

The same source claims that a search of his apartment uncovered blood which belonged to Londono in the boyfriend's bathtub.

Last week, her headless and decomposing body was found floating near the rocks off Pier 44 in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

The body was identified after police released a photo of a tattoo the corpse had on its right hip.

Londono's mother came to the 76th Precinct station house Thursday, saying her daughter had the same tattoo in the same place.

Police identified Jennifer Londono, 31, (pictured left and right) over the holiday weekend. She was reported missing on June 25

Her mother was able to identify her daughter by the tattoo on her right hip. The tattoo, a name written in Sanskrit surrounded by stars, was a tribute to the missing woman's deceased aunt

Londono's body parts were dumped into the Hudson River, with limbs found at different times

She told police the tattoo, the name 'Lily' or 'Lilyann written in Sanskrit surrounded by stars, was a tribute to her daughter's dead aunt, the New York Post reported.

A few days later, a leg was found floating in the Hudson River near the Upper West Side, near the W 79th Street Boat Basin by a passing female jogger who called the police around 12.35pm.

It had pink painted toenails and did not appear to be decomposed, New York Daily News reported.

DNA from the leg will be compared with DNA from the torso to confirm that the leg is from the same woman.

Witnesses who saw the torso in the Red Hook channel on June 27 said the 'butchered' corpse looked as though it was deliberately mutilated.

'The woman wasn't just murdered  she was butchered,' the man who found the body told the Post.

The torso had been cut at the knees and the woman's intestines were out.

He and his wife saw the dismembered and naked body floating in the water as they walked their dog at around 11am.

Last week, her headless and decomposing body was found floating near the rocks off Pier 44 in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Police are pictured at the scene in Red Hook

The torso of the missing New Jersey woman was found floating near the Hudson River last week. Police are pictured where her torso was found in Red Hook, Brooklyn, on June 27

Cops are still searching for the rest of her body, police said Monday.

Londono was last seen closing up the Luna Lounge, on Armory Street in Englewood New Jersey. She was reported missing on June 25.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said Friday: 'That young lady is from New Jersey and there's an active homicide case going right now.' The homicide case is ongoing in New Jersey.

Family and friends have posted tributes to the beautiful 31-year-old victim, and demanded justice.

Linda Kennedy wrote:'May God help find those responsible for such an atrocity', with the hashtag #justiceforjennylondono.

Londono's niece Kate added: 'My aunt that i wish i could of known better did not deserve to go the way she did #ripjenny.'

Carlos, under username twinlos4422, added: 'I can't believe u are gone. You did not deserve to leave the way you did!!! R.I.P. Jenny may u rest in peace #justiceforjennylondono.'

Others asked for prayers for Londono, who was described as being 'part of our Englewood family. '

A friend of the victim said in Spanish that her 'heart was shattered' by the loss.

'We love you so much I'm going to miss you. Rest in peace and I hope that who was able to make you pay for what you did.'
Nadia Davis Lockyer, 46, (pictured) was arrested early Thursday morning

The wife of a former California state treasurer has been arrested for alleged spousal abuse.

Nadia Davis Lockyer, 46, was arrested early Thursday morning after police were called out to a home in Twain Harte, California, on reports of an intoxicated woman throwing things.

Her husband Bill Lockyer, 76, reportedly received a minor injury, Union Democrat reports.

Nadia had a blood-alcohol level of .22 when she was arrested on misdemeanor spousal abuse charges, police say.

She has since posted her $5,000 bail.

The couple, who have had two children together, have had a tumultuous relationship since they married in 2003.

Earlier this year, cops responded to a domestic disturbance at the Lockyer's Long Beach home which named Davis as the suspect. The police report did not name a victim.

Then, earlier this week Nadia accused her husband of abusing her in a public Facebook post.

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Nadia Lockyer and her husband Bill (above) have had a tumultuous relationship since they married in 2003

'He hits, hurts me, yells and I care for my children in between,' she wrote.

But Nadia is no stranger to publicity.

Her troubles began in February 2012 when she reported being sexually assaulted by a former boyfriend at a hotel in Newark, New Jersey.

Expanding: The couple have had two children together during their marriage

The then 41-year-old, once a rising star in Northern California government who had just been elected to a seat on the Alameda Board of Supervisors, later admitted to having a long-term affair with Stephen Chikhani, whom she met while in a drug treatment program years earlier.

Bill, the state's former attorney general and at the time treasurer, helped his much younger wife with $1.6million in campaign funding when she won her supervisor seat in 2010.

She resigned from her seat in April of that year following a series of bizarre public incidents that she blamed on drug and alcohol dependency, saying she wanted to focus on her family.

The sordid details of her drug use and sex life became public when she called police to a hotel where she was staying to report that she had been assaulted by her former lover, a convicted felon whom she met in rehab for addiction.

A police investigation revealed an ongoing relationship between Nadia and Chikhani, including explicit text messages and pictures sent between the two, though he was never charged with assault.

Bad times: Nadia (2012 mugshot left) is a former county supervisor forced to resign when details of her meth-fueled affair with a man she met in rehab became public, and her husband (right) filed for divorce

Revealed: A police investigation revealed an ongoing relationship between Mrs Lockyer and construction worker Steve Chikhani (above), including explicit text messages and pictures

Bill was also reportedly sent a sex tape of his wife and her lover and Nadia revealed that they had been together for a year before she ended the relationship.

Bill filed for divorce in July of 2012, citing 'irreconcilable differences' in the legal papers and just hours after being served, Nadia ran her car off the road and hit a tree.

Police then received a tip last at that time that led them to a house where Mrs Lockyer was staying with relatives.

The woman was not home, but officers found methamphetamine and paraphernalia used for smoking it.

Later, when they found Nadia, she showed 'objective signs' of meth intoxication and she was arrested.

But charges were dropped after she completed a 180-day residential drug treatment program.

Then, in March of 2013, Mr Lockyer withdrew the divorce papers.
Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, hinted on Thursday that Donald Trump's administration retaliated against Russia for its alleged hacking of the 2016 presidential election.

During an appearance before a think tank in Warsaw on Thursday, the onetime Republican presidential candidate and Trump ally disagreed with a fellow panellist who said that the administration has taken no action against Russia for the alleged cyberattacks.

'I do think we have taken action,' Giuliani said. 'I just don't think we've announced it.'

The remarks were reported by Business Insider.

Giuliani also cited recent comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who told film director Oliver Stone 'of course one never knows' who is responsible for hacking.

Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, hinted on Thursday that Donald Trump's administration retaliated against Russia for its alleged hacking of the 2016 presidential election. He is seen in the center alongside Lech Walesa (left) in Warsaw on Thursday

In a meeting that ran longer than either side had planned, Trump and Putin discussed alleged Russian meddling in the US election on Friday but agreed to focus on better ties rather than litigating the past.

Trump, a Republican who called it an 'honor' to meet with the Russian president, drew swift criticism from Democrats at home, who accused him of dismissing US intelligence and giving Putin's denial, reiterated on Friday, of Russian interference too much weight.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters at a summit of leaders of the Group of 20 major economies in Hamburg that Trump had 'positive chemistry' with Putin during the meeting, which lasted some two hours and 15 minutes.

He opened their discussion by pressing Putin about 'the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election' and had a robust exchange, Tillerson said.

In a meeting that ran longer than either side had planned, Trump (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) discussed alleged Russian meddling in the US election on Friday but agreed to focus on better ties rather than litigating the past

The Russian president has denied any meddling in the US democratic process last year and Moscow has asked for proof that it took place.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Trump accepted Putin's assertions that the allegations, backed by US intelligence agencies, were false.

Tillerson said they both sought to move on.

'The presidents rightly focused on how do we move forward from what may be simply an intractable disagreement at this point,' Tillerson said.

That explanation did not sit well with Democrats.

'Working to compromise the integrity of our election process cannot and should not be an area where 'agree to disagree' is an acceptable conclusion,' said US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer in a statement.

On Thursday in Poland Trump gave lukewarm support to the view that Moscow interfered in the 2016 US political process.

Trump promised a rapprochement with Moscow during his campaign but has been unable to deliver because his administration has been dogged by investigations into the allegations of Russian interference in the election and ties with his campaign.

Trump says his team did not collude with Russia.

Before the get-together, some feared the US president, a political novice whose team is still developing its Russia policy, would be less prepared for the talks than Putin, a former KGB agent who has dealt with previous US presidents and scores of other world leaders.

Amid criticism of Russia's actions in Ukraine and Syria and the investigations into its role in the US campaign, Trump has come under growing pressure to take a hard line against the Kremlin.

On Thursday, Trump delivered some of his sharpest remarks about Moscow since becoming president, urging Russia to stop its 'destabilizing activities' and end its support for Syria and Iran.

But Trump stopped short on Thursday of any personal criticism of Putin and declined to say definitively whether he believed US intelligence officials' assertion that Russia had interfered in the 2016 US election.

'I think it was Russia but I think it was probably other people and/or countries, and I see nothing wrong with that statement. Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure,' Trump said on a visit to Poland.
A young woman has told of her heartbreak after missing a funeral service for her mother because her Air Canada flight was delayed and then cancelled.

Satya Piccioni had just endured the 'worst day of my life' when she arrived back in the US from Australia and informed her mother had died only for her grief to be exacerbated.

Ms Piccioni, who is studying in Melbourne and is a US resident, was then unable to fly to Italy to attend a special service for her mother, Lucia Grenna.

Satya Piccioni is pictured here with her mother Lucia Grenna (centre) and sister Ginevra (left). It was the last time Satya saw her mother

Satya Piccioni is pictured here with members of her family, including her mother Lucia Grenna, back left

Ms Grenna passed away at her home in Washington DC on June 15, the same day she was due to be reunited with her daughter in the US.

Ms Piccioni told News Corp: 'When I landed, I looked around me in the airport and couldn't find my mum. I messaged her and she didn't reply. I was shocked; she was expecting me to arrive'.

'Then in the distance I see my dad. He tells me to sit down and says "something terrible has happened".

'It was the worst day of my life.'

A funeral service was held for Ms Grenna in Washington DC, attended by Ms Piccioni, and another took place in Rieti, central Italy.

Ms Grenna, the founder of Connect4Climate, had recently visited Rieti, her hometown, and the nearby villages affected by last year's earthquake which devastated the country and was trying to find ways to help.

'She worked tirelessly to shape a better world for her children and I am devastated that I wasn't able to make it to Rieti to say my last goodbye,' Ms Piccioni told Daily Mail Australia.

Ms Piccioni had been meant to fly from Washington DC to Rome via Montreal with Air Canada to attend the Rieti service but she never made it out of the US after her flight did not leave the tarmac.

Ms Piccioni (pictured) said her mother worked tirelessly to shape a better world for her children

Ms Piccioni took to Air Canada's Facebook page to say she was 'heartbroken' after she missed her mother's funeral in Italy

She took to Air Canada's Facebook page to vent her anger at the airline, saying she waited at the airport for nine hours.

Ms Piccioni was to be in her mother's hometown six hours before the funeral service begun.

'Flight was at 4pm to Montreal, at 8pm they tell us it's cancelled (they kept us on the plane for three hours even after I'd said I have to make it in time for a funeral they wouldn't let me de-plane),' she wrote to Air Canada.

Ms Piccioni claimed she was unable to receive a refund and spent 40 minutes on the phone to customer service but accidentally hung up 40 minutes later.

'Then my suitcase went missing for an hour which was full of sentimentals - luckily found. I'm just disgusted by how unprofessional your staff was in such a difficult circumstance,' Ms Piccioni claimed in her Facebook post.

Lucia Grenna (pictured) was the founder of Connect4Climate, which worked to raise awareness about climate change

Ms Grenna is pictured here meeting the Pope at the Vatican earlier this year

Ms Grenna is pictured here with Pierce Brosnan in June, in a Twitter post uploaded just four days before she passed away

'There were so many people hugging me and trying to help me. One even offered to drive me.

'You guys should have rebooked my plane or refunded me, or offered me an alternative route instead of dismissing me back to the line - again after which nothing was resolved.

'I'm so heartbroken. Thanks guys.'

She has since made a complaint to the airline - who had offered to rebook her on a next day's flight - but said she is yet to receive a response.

Ms Grenna had met the Pope and Pierce Brosnan earlier this year as part of her work raising awareness about climate change.

Ms Piccioni said those who attended the Italian service for her mother were asked to donate for earthquake relief efforts in Rieti and Amatrice.

Daily Mail Australia contacted Air Canada for comment.
More than half of Australia's Generations Ys over the age 18 are borrowing money from their parents.

Parents are loaning money for not just home deposits and cars, but for rent, groceries and petrol, according to research from Canstar released to The Daily Telegraph.

The research found one in five people aged 18-37 were borrowing money from their folks on a weekly or monthly basis, and 30 percent were borrowing once a year.

More than half of Australia's Generations Ys over the age 18 are borrowing money from their parents (stock image)

Parents are loaning money for not just home deposits and cars, but for rent, groceries and petrol (stock image)

Canstar's group executive financial services Steve Mickenbecker said the figures were 'quite alarming'

He said both parents and children can suffer from the financial dependence, but expects the trend to continue.

'It's still a big proportion that says: 'Yep, mum and dad are there, and I will use them'. Mum and dad are that bank of last recourse,' Mr Mickenbecker said.

Social researcher Mark McCrindle told the publication young people were borrowing from their parents more in recent years because of rising house prices and living costs.

'The generations most exposed to pain of rising housing costs are the younger ones, and generation most benefiting are their parents, who are wealthier at least in a paper sense,' he said.

But he warned that this could mean parents were missing out on opportunities to invest elsewhere.
An Alaska mom has snapped a photo of Barack Obama cradling her baby after meeting him at the airport.

Jolene Jackinsky was at Anchorage International Airport on Monday when she noticed the former president waiting for his private flight.

Jackinsky, who was holding her six-month-old baby, says Obama struck up a conversation with her, asking 'Who is this pretty girl?'

Jolene Jackinsky snapped a photo of Barack Obama cradling her baby after meeting him at the airport

She says they chatted about how fast children grow while he carried baby Giselle, and she took a few pictures with the Democrat, who was wearing a blue fleece jacket and white polo shirt.

Little baby Giselle, in a ribboned hat, looked rather surprised to be in Obama's arms, but another picture shows the adorable infant grinning at the camera.

Jackinsky says when Giselle's father approached, Obama joked 'I'm taking your baby.'

The encounter was brief but Jackinsky says she'll always remember the moment.

Little baby Giselle looked rather surprised to be in Obama's arms at first

'It was only five minutes but it was a moment that will last forever,' she said.

'I think it's unreal and pretty exciting that I get to have a picture with him and my baby,' she said. 'Not a lot of people get to meet him.'

Obama, a father-of-two who has a long-documented affection for little ones, told Jackinsky he was going home from a vacation.

It is not clear where he was flying from on the layover, but the Obamas were recently spotted on vacation in Indonesia where the family had a packed schedule, from white water rafting in Bali to visiting temples on Java.

The former first couple have been enjoying themselves after eight years, jetting off to Richard Branson's private Necker Island before vacationing in Italy.

They've both scored lucrative book deals, and unveiled plans to construct the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park to train and encourage the next generation of leaders.
For the third time in less than a year, a mistrial has been declared in the case of a white former Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot his daughter's black boyfriend.

Jurors were deadlocked 6-6 after deliberating only four hours on Friday in the first-degree murder trial of Shannon Kepler, who shot and killed 19-year-old Jeremey Lake in August 2014.

Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said he was shocked that a mistrial was declared after such short jury deliberations.

'I've never encountered a dynamic like this in 25 years of practice,' Kunzweiler said after the mistrial was declared. 'In my opinion, there should be some compulsion placed on jurors to reach a verdict.'

Jurors in Kepler's previous two trials in November and February were deadlocked 11-1 and 10-2 in favor of guilt. Mistrials were declared in both.

Shannon Kepler's family cheered as they exited the courthouse. Pictured, Kepler (center) with his wife Gina (left) and attorney Richard O'Carroll (right) on Friday

A mistrial was declared for the third time this year after the jury was split 6-6 on Friday

Kepler (left in mugshot) faces a first-degree murder charge for shooting dead Jeremey Lake (right), 19, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2014. Lake was Kepler's daughter Lisa at the time

The third trial began in late June, and deliberations started on Friday after a judge ruled that jurors could consider a lesser charge of manslaughter if they could not reach a consensus regarding first-degree murder.

But the 12-member jury notified the judge that it could not reach a unanimous decision on either of the two charges.

The jury was split 6-6, and Kunzweiler said it was unclear if the breakdown was six for conviction and six for acquittal or six for murder and six for manslaughter.

Kepler's family cheered as they exited the courthouse, and lead attorney Richard O'Caroll said the hung jury was evidence the state should reconsider its decision to prosecute the retired police officer.

Kunzweiler told Tulsa World: 'I still am strongly convinced that Mr. Kepler is responsible for the death of Jeremey Lake, and I'm going to evaluate every option that's available to me.'

Authorities say Kepler, a 24-year-police veteran who retired from the force after he was charged, shot the 19-year-old Lake while he was walking with Kelper's daughter Lisa.

His attorneys said he was trying to protect his daughter, while Kepler claimed he fired in self-defense because Lake was armed.

Police didn't find a weapon on Lake or at the scene.

Lisa Kepler said she met Lake while he was volunteering at a homeless shelter where she was staying. Pictured, their Facebook relationship status the day Lake was killed

Lake offered Lisa (above) a place to stay at the home he shared with his aunt (right of left). The young couple were walking back to the home on August 5 when her father confronted them

Lisa Kepler was 18 years old when she met Lake while he was volunteering at a homeless shelter where she was staying.

She told the court her parents dropped her off at the shelter in July 2014 after she had been sneaking out at night and acting out.

Lake offered her a place to stay at the home he shared with his aunt, Kepler said, and the young couple were walking back to the home on August 5 when her father confronted them.

Kepler asked what she was doing in the neighborhood, but she couldn't remember how she responded, she testified.

Gina Kepler was arrested on a complaint of being an accessory but was never charged

Lake's aunt said her nephew was reaching out to shake Kepler's hand to introduce himself when Kepler fired.

The former Tulsa police officer then fled in his vehicle, court records show.

Kepler turned himself in the next morning along with his wife Gina Kepler, who is also a Tulsa police officer.

She was arrested with her husband on a complaint of being an accessory after the fact of murder, but was not charged because prosecutors said there wasn't evidence to support it.

Lisa told Tulsa World: 'I really hope they rot in prison for a very long time.'

On Friday, Lake's aunt Pam Wilkins expressed her frustrations with the hung jury and said: 'But I'm not giving up hope. We're believing in God and justice for Jeremey.'
Nuclear plants and other energy providers have been put on high alert after Homeland Security revealed hackers had attempted to break into their computer system.

Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation, which runs a nuclear power plant near Burlington, Kansas, was one of the hackers' targets according to a joint report by Homeland Security and the FBI last week.

The report carried an urgent amber warning, the second-highest rating for such a threat.

The department said in a statement Friday that there is no threat to public safety. The agency said hackers appear to have tried to breach the business and administrative networks of the facilities. DHS did not identify the facilities.

Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation, which runs a nuclear power plant near Burlington, Kansas, was one of the hackers' targets according to an urgent joint report by Homeland Security and the FBI

DHS and the FBI routinely advise the private sector of possible cyber threats to help officials protect potentially vulnerable networks.

The statement came amid multiple news reports that nuclear and electrical power may have been targeted by hackers. Both Reuters and The New York Times have previously reported government warnings about the hacking efforts.

The Nuclear Energy Institute said last week that no nuclear reactors were affected.

Had any facilities been impacted by a cyberattack, a publicly available report would have to be made to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Origins of the hackers are not known but the report indicates it was an 'advanced persistent threat' actor.

Fears of hackers targeting U.S. infrastructure, particularly nuclear facilities, have long persisted.

In 2008, an attack designed by the United States and Israel, hit Irans main nuclear enrichment facility, wiping out a fifth of Irans centrifuges.

Fears of hackers targeting U.S. infrastructure, particularly nuclear facilities, have long persisted (stock image)

David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer and director of the nuclear safety project at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the nuclear safety systems are generally out of the reach of hackers in analog systems.

But business and administrative systems nonetheless contain valuable information about nuclear facilities, including maintenance schedules.

Lochbaum said hackers targeting such facilities are routinely looking for easy to access systems and information and try 'to exploit (system weaknesses) and get as much information as possible.'

Among the most serious immediate risks, beyond someone using hacked information as part of a larger physical attack, is someone targeting the offsite power grid and causing an economic disruption, Lochbaum said.
Phoenix broke a 112-year record for heat on Friday.

Meteorologists for the National Weather Service said the Arizona city had a high of 117 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the previous mark for July 7 at 115 degrees.

Although experts expect for the weather to cool down thanks to an approaching monsoon, temperatures will still be in the 100 degree range for the next few days.

Phoenix has been seeing blistering temperatures since June, with cacti, mailboxes and trash bins all melting in 120F heat.

As temperatures continue to soar, so does the heat-related death count, with officials investigating more than 60 deaths.

Phoenix broke a 112-year record when temperatures reached 117F Friday. The Arizona city has seen a heat wave in the past few months and officials are investigating 60 heat-related deaths

The previous heat record for July 7 was 115F and was set back in 1905, the National Weather Service said

Phoenix has seen record-breaking temperatures for the past month and meteorologists said the normal high temperature for July 7 in Phoenix is 107 degrees.

In late June, a sweltering record-breaking temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit caused fire crews to handle a surge of heat emergencies.

The city had to open 47 cooling centers and 50 flights were canceled at Sky Harbor Airport because it was too hot to fly.

When temperatures rise above 110 degrees, the body can not cool itself down, which may result in a death stroke.

People took to social media to post photos and videos of how ridiculously hot out it was.

Trash bins were melting in the middle of the street, cacti were wilting and an once sturdy mailbox was nearly in a puddle. Some even cooked meat and eggs in the extreme heat.

So far this year, the temperature at the local Sky Harbor Airport has reached at least 110 degrees 17 times.

The heatwave caused several flights to be canceled to and from the region during the week of June 20.

Droopy: Not even a cactus can hold off against the sweltering heat that has devastated the United States southwest

It's melting! A garbage bin is hardly recognizable having melted to the point that trash got stuck in its hot plastic

At Phoenix Sky Harbor, American Airlines regional jets sit on the tarmac as the company canceled 43 flights in June because temperatures climbed record highs

American Airlines canceled more than 43 flights in Phoenix operated by regional jets because of the heat. Officials said when the temperature soars, it's harder for airplanes to take off.

Maricopa County Department of Public Health officials are now investigating heat as a possible factor in 60 deaths in metro Phoenix, according to ABC 15.

Maricopa County, the state's largest municipality, saw 130 heat deaths last year, up from 85 in 2015.

Officials are worried these rates may lead to topping last year's record, with senior citizens being the most vulnerable.

County public health officials reported a spike in heat-related emergency department visits on June 20.

Maricopa County epidemiologist Kate Goodin said since the heat wave began, twice as many people have visited emergency departments for heat-related illnesses compared to the week beforehand.

The heat wave brought 120 degree temperatures to several parts of Arizona, where it seems residents are staying in doors as the streets are empty in downtown Scottsdale (above)

Goodin said she expects emergency visits will remain above average even after temperatures dip back down because symptoms of heat-related illnesses can take up to four days to manifest.

Officials from the Arizona Burn Center said their emergency department visits also doubled last week. Dr. Kevin Foster, director of the Arizona Burn Center, said this June is the busiest the center has seen in 18 years.

Foster said the center has had 20 percent to 30 percent more patients this June compared to last.

Most suffer surface burns or heat prostration, which occurs when people's internal temperatures rise because they can't produce enough sweat.

A surgeon himself, Foster typically performs four to eight operations each day, but he's had to operate closer to eight times per day since last week.
Two US supersonic bombers conducted live-fire drills on Saturday in South Korea in a show of force after North Korea's test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The pair of B-1B Lancer strategic bombers flew from a US base on Guam and were joined by US and South Korean jet fighters to conduct the simulated destruction of an enemy ballistic missile launcher and underground facilities, the South's air force said.

North Korea announced on Tuesday it successfully test-launched an ICBM, saying the missile was capable of carrying a large and heavy nuclear warhead.

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One of the two supersonic strategic bombers, the US B-1B Lancers, (top) flies over South Korea during a joint live-fire drill with fighter jets (below) over South Korea on Saturday

The drills simulated destruction of an enemy ballistic missile launcher and underground facilities and were intended as a show of force after North Korea's successful ICBM test on Tuesday

Some experts believe the missile has the range to reach Alaska and Hawaii and the test signaled a significant advance in the North's declared intent to build a nuclear-tipped missile that can hit the US mainland.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the test indicated a quicker than expected pace of the North's ICBM program.

The B-1B bombers conducted the live-fire exercise at a range in South Korea's eastern Gangwon province, dropping weapons in a simulated attack on a missile launcher, the South Korean air force said in a statement.

South Korean and US fighter jets conducted precision strike drills aimed at attacking enemy targets hidden underground.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the bombers then flew west, hugging the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) border between the two Koreas, before leaving South Korean airspace.

The drill follows a joint artillery and missile exercise by South Korean and US forces a day after the North's ICBM test.

North Korea has hailed the ICBM test as marking the completion of is strategic weapons capability that it says includes atomic and hydrogen bombs.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a mausoleum honoring state founder Kim Il Sun on Saturday, the anniversary of his grandfather's death, the North's official KCNA news agency reported.

He was joined by military officials who contributed to the success of the ICBM test, the news agency said.

North Korea said on Tuesday it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), prompting US experts to say the device could reach Alaska

The US and South Korea also conducted a joint ballistic missile drill on Wednesday (pictured) in response to North Korea's missile launch

On the anniversary of his grandfather's death Saturday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, pictured after the country's successful ICBM test-launch Tuesday, visited a mausoleum honoring state founder Kim Il Sun

Despite the saber-rattling, the United States and South Korea have said they are committed to resolving the crisis over the North's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile peacefully.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday in Hamburg, where the leaders of G20 nations are meeting, there would not be many good options left on North Korea if the peaceful pressure campaign failed.

President Donald Trump vowed on Thursday to confront the North 'very strongly' and said Washington was considering 'severe things' for the isolated state following the ICBM test.

The United States, Japan and South Korea agreed on Friday to push for a quick UN Security Council resolution to put new sanctions on North Korea.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit, Trump, Moon and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to apply 'maximum pressure' to counter the North nuclear threat.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, US President Donald Trump, center, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, agreed to apply 'maximum pressure' to counter North Korea's nuclear threat. The three are pictured on Thursday

Before leaving the summit, Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, right. Trump has pressed Xi to help stop the US stop North Korea's development of nuclear weapons before they have the ability to threaten the US homeland. The two leaders are pictured in April when the Chinese President visited Mar-a-Lago

Before leaving the summit, Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to try to forge a consensus on how to counter North Korea's push to develop its ballistic missile and nuclear program.

The White House has tried to pressure Beijing to rein in North Korea but Trump has expressed frustration with the process.

Trump has pressed Xi to help stop the US stop North Korea's development of nuclear weapons before they have the ability to threaten the US homeland.

The administration wants China to fully enforce international sanctions intended to starve Pyongyang of revenue for its nuclear and missile programs.

Earlier in the week, Trump vented on Twitter that trade between China and North Korea had grown nearly 40 per cent at the start of 2017.

'So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!'

Trump officials said later that the president hadn't given up on the relationship.
A public appeal has been launched in a desperate bid to track down a teenager who has been missing for more than 24 hours.

Maxwell Santoro has not been seen since 11am on Friday and both police and his frantic family hold concerns for his welfare because of his age.

The 15-year-old went missing from a medical facility on Clayton Road in Clayton, Melbourne's south-east.

Police have released an image of 15-year-old Maxwell Santoro in the hope of finding him as he has been missing for more than 24 hours

Maxwell is described by police as being about 183cm in height, with a thin to medium build.

He has light-brown hair and is known to regularly visit the Hawthorn area.

That area is in Melbourne's inner-east, about 15km from where Maxwell was last seen.

Police are urging anyone who knows of Maxwell's whereabouts to contact the Prahran Police Station on 9520 5200.
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Up to one million people have gathered in London today to attend the annual Pride parade.

An estimated 26,500 people are taking part in the festivities, which promote rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) community.

London's annual march is the biggest Pride celebration in the UK and is now in its 45th year. This year's celebration marks 50 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in England and Wales.

Among those in attendance were models Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid, who held hands and wore matching rainbow hats as they walked down Oxford Street.

There was an emotional moment when a woman proposed to her British Transport Police girlfriend. The 23-year-old officer, dressed in uniform and waving a rainbow flag, nodded and put the ring on before hugging her fiancee in front of a jubilant crowd.

A video of the moment the officer, originally from Peterborough, became engaged was posted online and has been liked hundreds of times. The pair, who BTP said did not wish to be named, have been in a relationship for five years and live together in London.

It was all the more poignant as it comes in the same week that a policeman admitted he regretted proposing to his boyfriend in such a public fashion at London Pride last year.

PC Phil Adlem went down on one knee during the 2016 parade, with his partner saying yes, in a video that was shared by thousands online. Although the immediate reaction was positive, he has also received many homophobic comments.

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Thousands of revellers pack Oxford Circus and Regent Street to watch the London Pride Parade in London on Saturday afternoon

In matching rainbow hats, Bella Hadid wore ripped jeans and DMs, while Kendall Jenner opted for an all-white look as the American models joined in the Pride fun today in Oxford Street

Kendall, 21, was all smiles as she peeked out over her shades and walked along the 1.4mile route in central London

Revellers filled the streets, causing several road closures across the city centre, during the London Pride parade on Saturday

OIympic diver Tom Daley was also at the parade today with his husband Dustin Lance Black. Above, the couple on the main stage in Trafalgar Square

Daley said: 'Pride is not just to have fun, it's about making sure that we make political progress'

The diving champion added that Pride was about 'making sure that we try and get equal rights for every single person across the whole world'

A woman donning a tie-dye shirt and rainbow makeup on her legs carries an LGBT rights flag though the streets of London during Pride

An estimated 26,500 people were due to take part in the parade and there is expected to be up to one million people in attendance at the festival, which promotes rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) community

A couple kisses during the London Pride, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) parade in London, an event that aims to raise awareness for LGBT rights

A group called 'LGBTQ Muslims' takes part in the Pride of London on Saturday and walked down Oxford Street as part of the festivities

One reveller wore clothing that read 'Allah [loves] us all', with a rainbow heart in place of what would be the world 'love' as part of the event

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan marched in the Pride parade in London on Saturday and greeted hundreds of revellers on the way

Khan posed for selfies as he met with revellers at the Pride parade in London on Saturday, which celebrated the LGBT+ communities

A 23-year-old British Transport Police officer got a surprise when her girlfriend proposed during the parade. Amid much cheering, the happy couple then embraced

Other celebrities at the parade today included Olympic diver Tom Daley, who said: 'It's really important that we remember why Pride started - it's not just to have fun, it's about making sure that we make political progress, and making sure that we try and get equal rights for every single person across the whole world.'

TV presenter Gok Wan and Emmerdale stars Gemma Oaten, Scarlett Archer and Scott Walker were also among those in the crowd. Archer wrote on Twitter: 'What an unforgettable day. So proud.'

Bhasker Patel and Gaynor Faye also joined revellers while Corrie was represented by Julia Goulding, Daniel Brocklebank, Dolly Campbell and a number of other stars.

More than 100 firearms officers patrolled the parade, with police warning attendees of an increased police presence following the recent terror attacks in London and Manchester.

Crowds were dozens of people deep in Piccadilly Circus, with some people climbing the Eros Statue to get a better view of the parade

A pair of revellers walk the route. Many roads in central London were closed for the parade, including Regent Street, Pall Mall, Pall Mall East, Cockspur Street and White Hall

Emmerdale star Gemma Oaten posted this picture of her at the event, with the caption: 'Love is happening'

A man donning a white wig and a glitter-covered beard blows bubbles into a crowd during Saturday's Pride of London parade

Revellers introduce their dogs to one another during the London Pride parade in central London on Saturday afternoon

Revellers at Pride of London try to stay cool and hydrated during Saturday's Pride festivities. Temperatures hit the high 20s during the event

One multi-coloured car, pimped up with a horn, certainly received plenty of attention at the parade

Revellers gathered in Soho towards the evening as the festivities continued

As part of the annual Pride weekend, a rainbow flag has been projected on to the Palace of Westminster for the first time.

Lord Fowler, Speaker of the House of Lords, said: 'Homosexuality is still illegal in over 70 countries around the world, including many in the Commonwealth.

'None of this will be solved by a march, or a display of lights in Westminster. But these acts will demonstrate to those who are being persecuted or abused that they are supported. The lights are a symbol of our support.'

Police and fire officials joined in on the fun, wearing rainbow-themed badges and leis as they took part in Pride of London on Saturday

A reveller carries a rainbow flag and a sign depicting Simpsons twins Patty and Selma Bouvier during the Pride of London parade

Several people protested at the event, carrying signs that read 'Queer as in f*** your borders' and 'Pride is not a military recruitment show!'

One of the protesters (pictured above) fainted as she tried to disrupt the Pride of London parade and had to receive medical help

Stores and tube stations across London have been decorated with signs using the rainbow colours of the LGBT flag in celebration of Pride.

Members of the emergency services who helped in the aftermath of terrorist attacks and the Grenfell Tower fire disaster launched the march on Saturday afternoon.

Staff from the Metropolitan Police, London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade were nominated to take part after helping in response to terrorist atrocities and the Grenfell Fire disaster, organisers said.

Colleagues who were involved in the Grenfell Tower fire, the London Bridge terror attack and the Westminster terror attack were be joined by flag bearers showing flags from countries around the world.

London landmarks light up to mark Pride As part of the festivities, a rainbow flag is projected onto the Houses of Parliament for the first time. The London Eye is illuminated to mark Pride in London this evening The MI5 building on the bank of the Thames was also among the lit-up landmarks Advertisement

An attendee at the Soho after-party is given some support from a WPC this evening

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of London on Saturday afternoon to celebrate Pride at an annual parade

Dozens of the people who took part in the parade carried a long rainbow-shaped flag through the streets while representing nations from around the world

A reveller with a striking resemblance to Boris Johnson carries a rainbow flag through the Pride of London parade while wearing a Johnson-themed shirt

Revellers play volleyball in the streets as they walk through the center of London during the city's annual Pride parade on Saturday

A man dressed as Cupid - wearing a silver Speedo and wings while carrying a heart shaped arrow and bow - takes part in the Pride parade alongside members of the Terrence Higgins Trust

Some of the flags featured were from countries where it is still illegal to be LGBT+.

Revellers in the parade take a 1.4 mile (2.3km) route starting north of Oxford Circus on Regent Street. The parade culminates in a big party in Trafalgar Square.

Many roads in central London were closed for the parade, including Regent Street, Pall Mall, Pall Mall East, Cockspur Street and White Hall.

Revelers holding LGBT Pride flags take part in London Pride, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) parade in London on Saturday

The parade, which aims to raise awareness and campaign for equality on LGBT issues, is expected to have a crowd of up to a million people

Several revellers carried signs through the parade, including one that read 'All you need is love' and another reading 'Trans and proud'

A man wearing feathered wings walks past a man in a rainbow suit and others in the crowd during Saturday's Pride of London festivities

Shirtless men wearing black and gold wings pose together as they enjoy the Pride London Parade in London on Saturday afternoon

A reveller wearing a cape shaped into butterfly wings dances her way through Pride of London on Friday as others look on

Colleagues who were involved in the Grenfell Tower fire, the London Bridge terror attack and the Westminster terror attack will be joined by flag bearers showing flags from countries around the world, including countries where it is still illegal to be LGBT+

Two men pose for selfies with a police officer as revellers take part in London Pride the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) parade in London on Saturday

London Mayor Sadiq Khan attended the parade on Saturday and posed for photos with several revellers in photos he later shared to his Twitter account.

'Here in London you are free to be who you want to be and love who you want to love. Happy Pride London!!' he wrote alongside the photos.

He also spoke to the crowd of revellers while in Trafalgar Square, where he said said this year's Pride was the biggest ever.

A man wearing platform trainers and a star-covered leotard ribbon dances his way past Nelson's Column during London Pride

A man takes fills up a cup of what appears to be San Pellegrino as a pal makes a 'call me' motion with his hand to revellers during Saturday's Pride festival

Revelers on in the front row of the parade along Regents Street in London held rainbow-coloured flags as they celebrated Pride

Two men, wearing matching teal shirts, cooled off as someone sprayed them with water during Saturday's Pride parade

A man wearing a 'stop homophobia' shirt featuring a photoshopped photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin drinks with a pal as they sit on phone booths to watch the Pride parade

Revelers covered in glitter pose to take photos with a police officer as she balances a traffic cone on her head during the Pride of London parade

A man wearing a 'Some people are gay. Get over it' shirt leads a group of people wearing similar shirts as they march through the parade

A drag artist dressed as the Queen walks past the Eros Statue in Piccadilly Circus during the London Pride parade on Saturday

Parade participants carry signs asking for benefits to be cut as they walk past Nelson's column during Saturday's Pride parade

Revellers wearing Vodaphone shirts carry rainbow umbrellas and vuvuzelas as they pass Nelson's Column during Saturday's parade

Revellers from Canada - carrying signs that read 'Inclusivity happens here - marched on Saturday as part of the Pride parade in London

Mr Khan told the crowd: 'We've had a horrible last few weeks. We've had terror, we've had tragedy. You know what the best antidote to sorrow, the best antidote to sadness, to bereavement, to hatred, is Pride In London.'

Mention of the DUP, who the Conservative Government struck a deal with following the general election, drew boos from the crowd.

Mr Khan warned that the arrangement with the Northern Ireland party, which is anti-gay marriage and anti-abortion, would not change the status quo in London.

To huge applause, he said: 'You (the Government) may have done a deal with the DUP but there will be no backtracking on LGBT+ rights.

'There will be no backtracking on women's rights.'

More than 150 police officers took part in the parade and were joined by officials from other emergency services. The Met worked with Pride in London to detail a policing plan ahead of the event.

Peter Tatchell, wearing shirt representing his namesake human rights foundation, carries a sign reading 'Putin fails to act against Chechen torture of LGBTs' through the Pride parade on Saturday

Transgendered pensioner Margaret Pepper (left), 73, holds a placard 'trans and proud' as she takes part in London Pride alongside another woman holding a 'Proud to be trans' sign

A group of men carrying a black and purple flag make their way through the streets of the London Pride parade on Saturday

A float for Barclays, decorated in a rainbow-colored heart and sequined letters spelling out 'love' drives through London's Pride parade on Saturday

Members of the NHS workforce ride down Oxford street in an double-decker bus as part of the London Pride parade on Saturday

A man dressed in a spandex nun outfit and rainbow-themed glasses takes part in the Pride of London parade festivities on Saturday

A drag queen stands on a rainbow flag while other participants surround the flag with flags of nations from across the world

A drag queen, donning sneakers and a blue sequined dress with rainbow-coloured sleeves sits on a rainbow flag during Pride

As part of the parade, dozens of revellers surrounded an LGBT pride flag with flags representing nations from around the world

Night Czar Amy Lame (left), Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (third left) and Education Secretary Justine Greening (third right) during the Pride in London Parade in central London

The force said in a statement: 'We know that recent events in London and Manchester will cause people to worry. As with any large event the Met's priority is public safety and we are working closely with the organisers.'

The Metropolitan Police said officers from the police liaison team will be on the ground to engage with the organisers, and there will also be high visibility police patrols, including both armed and unarmed officers, as well as plain clothes officers.

The force said it encouraged those who wish to show their support for the LGBT+ community to come and watch the parade, and added that the current threat level remains at severe, asking all attendees to be vigilant and report anything suspicious to police or stewards.

Chief Superintendent Helen Millichap, Met spokeswoman for the event, said: 'We know that recent events in London and Manchester will cause people to worry.

'As with any large event the Met's priority is public safety and we are working closely with the organisers in the lead up to Pride to develop our policing plan.

'We want Pride to be a friendly and safe event for everyone to enjoy and, to help us, we need the public to take the usual precautions by remaining vigilant and reporting anything of concern to police officers or stewards at the event.'

London's Fire and Rescue service, the Metropolitan Police and London Ambulance service all nominated LGBT+ colleagues to officially open the parade at 1pm on Saturday, the festival said

Revellers dressed in Marie Antoinette costumes, full makeup and glitter laugh as they enjoy Pride of London on Saturday

A group of women wearing tutus and rainbow hats walking in front of the London Gay Men's Chorus during the parade on Saturday

A group of revellers from Cancer Research UK carry rainbow flags through the parade for Pride of London on Saturday afternoon

A drag queen poses in front of a rainbow flag as Pride kicks off in London on Saturday morning. London's annual march is the biggest Pride celebration in the UK and now in its 45th year

A woman from the homeless charity 'Crisis' - wearing a hat and shirt baring the charity's name - takes part in London Pride festivities

A drag queen donning a gold sequined dress and a red, white and blue boa takes part in Pride of London festivities on Saturday

A Pride attendee carries two LGBT flags in celebration of Pride ahead of the London Pride parade on Saturday afternoon

As part of the annual Pride weekend, a rainbow flag has been projected on to the Palace of Westminster for the first time

Theresa May, who is at the G20 Summit in Germany, released a message praising London for sending out a 'proud and positive message to the world' ahead of the start of Saturday's parade.

The Prime Minister reiterated the UK's pledge to encourage other countries to ensure equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation, and to take a stand against hate crime at home.

Mrs May said: 'Around the world, cruel and discriminatory laws still exist - some of them directly based on the very laws which were repealed in this country 50 years ago.

'So the UK has a responsibility to stand up for our values and to promote the rights of LGBT Plus people internationally.

'That's why we will continue to stand up for human rights, directly challenging at the highest political levels governments that criminalise homosexuality or practice violence and discrimination against LGBT Plus people.

'And here at home too, we must continue to stand up for true equality and respect for everyone, right across our United Kingdom.

Revellers dressed in Donald and Melania Trump masks make their way down a street in the capital

Children in rainbow costumes were also among those watching the fun in London this afternoon

Participants arrive for the Pride London Parade. More 26,000 people will take part in the festival, which is one of the world's biggest LGBT + celebrations

A participant draped in an LGBT rights flag makes a kissing face at the camera as a friend laughs during Pride of London on Saturday

One man opted for an all-blue look, wearing a curly wig and decorating his eyebrows and beard with blue glitter for the festivities

Revellers donning sequins, bright-colored wigs and rainbow colours stop for a photo along the parade route at Pride of London

The Met said it encouraged those who wish to show their support for the LGBT+ community to come and watch the parade, and added that the current threat level remains at severe, asking all attendees to be vigilant and report anything suspicious to police or stewards

Theresa May, who is at the G20 Summit in Germany, released a message praising London for sending out a 'proud and positive message to the world' ahead of the start of Saturday's parade

One reveller at the Pride of London Parade matched his hair to his sunglasses, as both had rainbow-coloured themes on Saturday

One man went through the effort of dying his beard the colours of the rainbow to support LGBT rights as part of Pride of London

One parade attendee used a classic RuPaul line to take a dig at Prime Minister Theresa May, saying 'Theresa May Sashay Away'

A drag artist dressed as Queen Elizabeth II poses with a St John's cycle medic as revellers take part in London Pride. The drag queen accessorised her outfit with a crown, jewelled necklace and blue sash

Three stewards pose in front of a rainbow flag as revellers take part in London Pride ahead of the Pride parade on Saturday afternoon

A couple dressed in sequinned Darth Vader and Cyberman masks take part in London Pride. The annual event aims to raise awareness and campaign for equality on LGBT issues

Revellers have dressed up for the event, with some covering their faces in glitter, while others opt for rainbow-themed clothing

Two men sit on a rainbow flag painted on the pavement at Oxford Circus as revellers take part in London Pride, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) parade in London

'We must stamp out homophobic bullying in schools, and drive down homophobic and transphobic hate crime.

'We need to do all we can to build a country which works for everyone, where people of all backgrounds are free to be themselves and fulfill their full potential.'

Many in the crowd booed when a video of her message played in Trafalgar square.

To support Pride, Wagamama is donating profits of bun sales from its Soho restaurant to the LGBT charity London Friend - every time a rainbow is spotted in the capital that day.

Championed by weather man Michael Fish, When Londoners spot a rainbow and tweet #makeitrainbow, with a picture of the rainbow, the restaurant giant will make a donation of proceeds from that day.

Andre Johnstone, from Wagamama, said: 'We have always supported our staff when it comes to Pride across the UK but we have wanted to do more publicly to support the LGBT+ community in previous years.'

The parade comes after what is believed to be the world's largest Pride festival, with more 100 events since Saturday June 24.

People representing hundreds of organistions showed up on Saturday to take part in the annual London Pride parade, which is thought to have been the biggest one yet

A reveller dressed in a powdered wing and a National Trust t-shirt takes part in the Pride of London parade on Saturday afternoon

People wearing powdered wigs, full makeup and fancy dress take part in the Pride of London festivities on Saturday afternoon

A woman with a painted face carries a rainbow flag on the escalator in Oxford Circus Station as revellers take part in London Pride on Saturday

London's annual march is the biggest Pride celebration in the UK and now in its 45th year. This year's celebration marks 50 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in England and Wales

Five stewards carry a rainbow bow flag down Regent Street to celebrate London Pride ahead of Saturday's parade festivities

police van carries rainbow balloons LGBT Pride Parade. More than 100 firearms officers will patrol the parade, with police warning attendees of an increased police presence following the recent terror attacks

A Police officer and his sniffer dog Bailey carry out checks on a bus that will take part in the parade, where there is a significant uplift in security following the recent terror attacks in London and Manchester

Since its inception in 2000, World Pride is held once every several years in major cities across the world - this year it was held in Madrid to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the first LGBT pride protest in Spain.

In a closing ceremony in central Madrid on Sunday, revellers gathered to see musical acts from across the world, including the host cities of previous parades, Jerusalem, Toronto and London.

The next World Pride will take place in New York in 2019, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall demonstrations, when members of the gay community protested against violent treatment at the hands of the police.

The first official Pride march in 1972 saw 2,000 people take part. Last year's event in London saw more than 40,000 people join in to march in front of a crowd of nearly one million.

Pride parades and festivals are taking place across the UK and the world on Saturday, including in Bristol, Barcelona, and Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt with Police officers and cadets during the Pride in London Parade in central London

Parade goers holding LGBT pride flags sit at the top of a float reading 'Party with Pride' ahead of the start of London's Pride parade

People work to create a rainbow out flag out of flowers next to a heart featuring the hashtag #shareyourlove. The official hashtag for Pride of London is #LoveHappensHere

Revellers in the parade will take a 1.4 mile (2.3km) route starting north of Oxford Circus on Regent Street. The parade will culminate in a big party in Trafalgar Square

An estimated 26,500 people are due to take part in the parade and there is expected to be one million people in attendance at the festival, which promotes rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) community

London's annual march is the biggest Pride celebration in the UK and now in its 45th year. This year's celebration marks 50 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in England and Wales

A Hackney council bin lorry with an LGBT signs takes part in London Pride, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) parade in London

One tube station decorated its escalators with rainbow-themed advertisements for Absolute vodka ahead of London Pride. Signs reading 'London is proud' lined the walls

Stores and tube stations across London have been decorated with signs using the rainbow colours of the LGBT flag in celebration of Pride

Meanwhile, at Pride in Barcelona on Saturday, participants threw rainbow-coloured powder into the air during its own celebrations

The rainbow-coloured powder left revellers in Barcelona covered in various shades as they celebrated Pride on Saturday afternoon

POLITICIANS CELEBRATE LGBT COMMUNITY AS PART OF LONDON PRIDE FESTIVAL Celebrations at the annual Pride In London event are the 'best antidote' to the terror and tragedy of recent weeks, Sadiq Khan told thousands gathered in the city. The Mayor of London said this year's Pride was the biggest ever, as he addressed revellers in Trafalgar Square. Mr Khan told the crowd: 'We've had a horrible last few weeks. We've had terror, we've had tragedy. You know what the best antidote to sorrow, the best antidote to sadness, to bereavement, to hatred, is Pride In London.' Mention of the DUP, who the Conservative Government struck a deal with following the general election, drew boos from the crowd. Mr Khan warned that the arrangement with the Northern Ireland party, which is anti-gay marriage and anti-abortion, would not change the status quo in London. Following the parade, Khan tweeted: 'Here in London you are free to be who you want to be and love who you want to love. Happy Pride London!!' The Mayor of London said this year's Pride was the biggest ever. Above, he chats with police during the colourful event To huge applause, he said: 'You (the Government) may have done a deal with the DUP but there will be no backtracking on LGBT+ rights. There will be no backtracking on women's rights.' Many in the crowd booed earlier when a video message from Theresa May was played. In it, the Prime Minister reiterated the UK's pledge to encourage other countries to ensure equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation, and to take a stand against hate crime at home. She said the UK 'will continue to stand up for human rights, directly challenging at the highest political levels governments that criminalise homosexuality or practice violence and discrimination against LGBT Plus people'. Mr Khan told the crowd: 'We've had a horrible last few weeks. We've had terror, we've had tragedy. You know what the best antidote to sorrow, the best antidote to sadness, to bereavement, to hatred, is Pride In London' She added: 'And here at home too, we must continue to stand up for true equality and respect for everyone, right across our United Kingdom. 'We must stamp out homophobic bullying in schools, and drive down homophobic and transphobic hate crime.' People from across the LGBT community should share their experiences on Pride weekend in a push to beat bigotry, the Government's equalities chief said ahead of the parade. Justine Greening, who is in a same-sex relationship, said that speaking out can help others to find the confidence to open up about their own sexuality and gender identity. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, she said: 'Often it's all of us, and our own stories, that can have the biggest impact in the push for equality. Night Czar Amy Lame (left), Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (third left) and Education Secretary Justine Greening (third right) during the Pride in London Parade in central London. Following the parade, mayor Khan (third from left in the posed group) tweeted out several photos of himself speaking to revellers at the event 'By telling those experiences and being true to who we are, we can make it that bit easier for the next person to feel confident about doing the same.' The House of Commons now has a record number of gay MPs, with 45 openly gay, lesbian or bisexual MPs elected in June. Meanwhile, north of the border, the leaders of the Tories, Ruth Davidson, and Scottish Labour, Kezia Dugdale, are openly gay. Ms Greening revealed she was in a relationship with another woman during the Pride celebrations last year. With a joke about the EU referendum campaign, which had just finished, she tweeted: 'Today's a good day to say I'm in a happy same sex relationship, I campaigned for Stronger In but sometimes you're better off out!' The Education Secretary, who is also the minister for women and equalities, joined Home Secretary Amber Rudd on Saturday in acknowledging that there is a 'long way to go' on the path to equality, despite achievements to date. 'I am proud to live in a country where we are free to be who we are. Such freedom is not something welcomed in every part of the world,' Ms Greening said. 'But although we are a world leader when it comes to equality, we still have a long way to go.' Writing for the website Pink News, Ms Rudd said she was conscious there is 'still much more cross-government work to do' to promote equality and counter 'terrible' hate crimes. 'One person experiencing hate crime is one too many', the Home Secretary said. Advertisement

Meanwhile, at other Pride events around the world...

Participants of Holi Pride are seen throwing different coloured pigments into the air during Gay Pride Week in Barcelona today

A couple have a smooch during Spain's Holi Pride, which is being held at the Port of Barcelona

At Montpellier in southern France, people have been parading in costume today
Donald Trump has said he expects a trade deal with the UK to be completed 'very, very quickly' - and said his controversial state visit to London will go ahead.

The US president hailed the 'very special relationship' he had developed with British Prime Minister Theresa May as the pair met for talks on the margins of the G20.

Mr Trump said he expected an agreement on new trading arrangements with Britain that was 'very powerful' and would be great for both countries.

But the discussions are set to anger EU chiefs, who have warned Britain about reaching agreements while it is still a member state.

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The US president hailed the 'very special relationship' he had developed with Prime Minister Theresa May, pictured above left, as the pair met for talks on the margins of the G20

The US president is set to hold one-to-one talks with Mrs May to discuss a future trade deal.

He said: 'There is no country that could possibly be closer than our countries. We are working on a trade deal - a very, very big deal, a very powerful deal, great for both countries, and I think we'll have that done very, very quickly.'

The president said he had brought with him 'all of our trade people' including Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.

Asked if his controversial visit to London would still go ahead, Trump said it would. 'I will be going to London.'

Asked when, he said: 'We'll work that out.'

The two leaders have met several times since Trump took office and collaborate on a number of issues, from security to trade.

Trump made the remarks at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, where leaders of the world's biggest economies are discussing issues as diverse as climate change and tackling terrorism.

The British Prime Minister is also set to hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Donald Trump and Theresa May are set to hold one-to-one talks, in which they are expected to discuss possible trade deals, in a move likely to anger EU chiefs

The British Prime Minister is set to hold talks with her Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe (right) during the G20 summit. The pair are pictured with Christine Lagarde (left), managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Trump said he will be going to London in spite of controversy over his proposed state visit to the UK

Any negotiations for an accord between London and Washington would further drive a wedge between Britain and the EU, which has warned London against striking any separate agreement before its divorce from the bloc was complete.

Britain cannot seal a separate trade deal with the United States until it has left the European Union in 2019.

Trump's state visit has caused huge controversy in Britain, but questions about the trip arose after it got no mention in the Queen's Speech in June, when it is customary for the monarch to list upcoming state visits.

Asked if the state visit would still go ahead, Trump indicated that they would be working on a date.

'I will be going to London,' he added.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that he is indeed planning to make an official state visit to the United Kingdom.

'I will be going to London, yes,' he vowed as he kicked off a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May.

Trump didn't say when that visit would take place, but his pledge will put to rest any speculation that the White House might call off the trip in response to fears about mass protests in the British capital.

'We'll work that out,' he said when reporters asked him about a possible timetable, 'but we'll be going to London.'

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British Prime Minister Theresa May met with U.S President Donald Trump during the G20 summit on July 8, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, shown during a service for the 12th anniversary of the 7/7 attack, said last month that Trump should stay away from his city

The G20 meeting in Hamburg, where Trump spoke briefly on Saturday, sparked protests on the streets as about 12,000 anarchists, anti-capitalists and other left-wing activists rioted and set fire to cars.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan called on the White House last month to stay away from his city, following a pair of presidential tweets that blasted him for being soft on terrorism.

'I don't think we should roll out the red carpet to the president of the USA in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for,' Khan said.

Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a major western European city, contended that Trump is an Islamophobe.

'There are many things about which Donald Trump is wrong,' he said.

Shades of things to come in London? The G20 summit in Hamburg brought rioters out of the woodwork

Protesters clashed with riot police while Trump and 19 other world leaders met a half-mile away

Before his G20 bilateral meeting with May, Trump predicted that the pair would have 'tremendous talks' and quickly reach a trade deal that could be independent of trade relationships with the rest of Europe as the UK prepares to pull the trigger on its exit from the EU.

'We have been working on a trade deal which will be a very, very big deal, a very powerful deal, great for both countries,' he said, 'and I think we will have that done very, very quickly.'

He said he had developed a 'very special' relationship with the prime minister, mirroring language often used to describe the broader historic ties between the U.S. and the UK.

Trump and Indonesia's President Joko Widodo shook hands before Widodo asked if he would be visiting Jakarta  and Trump said it's a place he'd like to visit: 'We'll get there'

'Prime Minister May and I have developed a very special relationship and I think trade will be a very big factor between our two countries,' he said.

'There is no country that could possibly be closer than our countries.'

Later, Trump met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo  who seemed intent on getting him to commit to a Jakarta visit during his presidency.

Widodo delivered a 'greeting from millions of friends in Indonesia,' telling Trump that his countrymen were 'only interested in one thing: when we can welcome you to Indonesia.'

He said Indonesians were counting on him to 'bring back some good news.'

'We'll get there,' Trump said, without explicitly promising a visit.

'We'll get there. It's a place I'd like to go.'
The Vatican's third most senior figure has been seen outside a Singapore ice cream shop on his way back to Australia to defend against allegations of historic sex charges.

This is the first time Cardinal George Pell, 76, has been seen since leaving Rome after being charged by Victoria Police.

Australia's most powerful Catholic is due to face Melbourne Magistrates Court on July 26, Nine News reported.

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Cardinal Pell (pictured, left) was spotted taking a break in Singapore on his way home to face court on July 26

It is unknown how long Cardinal Pell (pictured) will stay in Singapore before flying to Australia

Cardinal Pell, who serves as the Pope's treasurer, is the highest-ranking official to be charged in the sex abuse scandal that has dogged the Catholic Church for years.

The former Archbishop of Sydney and Melbourne has vehemently denied the charges, saying that he is innocent and looking forward to clearing his name.

'I'm looking forward finally for having my day in court. I'm innocent of these charges, they are false. The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me,' he said.

'All along I have been completely consistent and clear in my total rejection of these allegations.'

The 76-year-old cardinal (pictured, left) has been charged with alleged historic sex offences by Victoria Police

'These matters have been under investigation now for two years,' said Pell after news of the charges broke.

'There have been leaks to the media. There has been relentless character assassination. Relentless character assassination!'

It is unknown how long Cardinal Pell will remain in Singapore, and when he will arrive in Melbourne.

Victoria state police deputy commissioner Shane Patton confirmed the charges last month: 'Cardinal Pell is facing multiple charges in respect of historic sexual offences. There are multiple complainants relating to those charges.'

Cardinal Pell (pictured) has denied all of the charges, and says he is looking forward to clearing his name

'I'm innocent of these charges, they are false. The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me,' said Cardinal Pell (pictured, centre)

'Cardinal Pell has been treated the same as anyone else in this investigation. Advice was received and sought from the office of public prosecutions, however ultimately, the choice to charge Cardinal Pell was one that was made by Victoria Police.'

Victoria Police have not specified the charges and have refused to elaborate on them.

Cardinal Pell has hired top criminal barrister Robert Richter, QC, to help defend him in court, and was granted a leave of absence by the Pope to return to Australia.

Days after Cardinal Pell was charged, Pope Francis dropped the the head of the Vatican office that handles sex abuse cases.

Cardinal George Pell (pictured) is the Vatican's third most senior figure and Australia's most powerful Catholic.

After Pell (pictured) was charged, Pope Francis dropped the head of the Vatican office that handles sex abuse cases

German Cardinal Gerhard Mueller was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that processes and evaluates all cases of priests accused of sexual offences, but his mandate was not renewed.

Cardinal Mueller, who was appointed by former Pope Benedict, has clashed publicly with Pope Francis in the past.

He has been replaced by Monsignor Luis Ladaria Ferrer, a Spanish Jesuit and ally of Pope Francis.

CARDINAL PELL'S RISE THROUGH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH June 8, 1941 - Born in Ballarat, Victoria December 16, 1966 - Ordained a Catholic priest 1971-1972 - Assistant priest Swan Hill parish 1973-1983 - Assistant priest Ballarat East parish 1973 - Shared St Alipius presbytery with Gerald Ridsdale (later revealed as Australia's worst pedophile priest) and Monsignor William McMahon 1973-1984 - Episcopal Vicar for Education in Diocese of Ballarat; founding member of Catholic Education Commission of Victoria 1981-1984 - Principal of Institute of Catholic Education (now merged with Australian Catholic University) 1984 - Administrator of Bungaree parish July 16, 1987 - Ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Melbourne 1987-1996 - Parish priest Mentone, Bishop for the southern region of Melbourne 1988-1997 - Chair of Caritas Australia May 27, 1993 - Accompanies Ridsdale to his first court appearance. Later says it was a mistake to show priestly solidarity and he did not know full extent of Ridsdale's crimes June 16, 1996 - Appointed Archbishop of Melbourne by Pope John Paul II August 16, 1996 - Installed as archbishop October 1996 - Announces Melbourne Response protocol for handling sex abuse complaints in Melbourne archdiocese March 26, 2001 - Appointed Archbishop of Sydney by Pope John Paul II May 10, 2001 - Installed as archbishop April 21, 2003 - Awarded Centenary Medal by Australian government September 28, 2003 - Elevated to the Sacred College of Cardinals by John Paul II 2005 - Appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia February, 2007 - Appointed to Council of Cardinals on Organisational and Economic Problems of the Holy See April, 2013 - Appointed by Pope Francis to group of eight cardinals to advise on government of the universal Church and study plan for revising Apostolic Constitution of Roman Curia May, 2013 - Gives evidence to Victorian parliamentary inquiry into handling of abuse by religious and other organisations in Melbourne February 25, 2014 - Appointed as Prefect for the newly-created Secretariat for the Economy, Holy See March 2014 - Gives evidence to Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Sexual Abuse in Sydney August 2014 - Second royal commission appearance via videolink from the Vatican, to Melbourne hearing on the Melbourne Response February 29 - March 3, 2016 - Third royal commission appearance, via videolink from Rome hotel conference room to Sydney; hearing on church's handling of abuse allegations in Ballarat diocese and Melbourne archdiocese. June 29, 2017 - Charged with multiple, historical sex offences, set to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on July 18. Source: The Australian Associated Press Advertisement

Cardinal Pell has been defended by former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who said that his old friend is, 'a very fine man indeed.'

He has also received widespread support from senior figures within the Catholic Church.

The Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher stated: 'The George Pell I know is a man of integrity in his dealings with others, a man of faith and high ideals, a thoroughly decent man.'

The Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart echoed these sentiments, saying that Cardinal Pell deserves a fair trial.

Cardinal George Pell (pictured) has been defended by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott

Vatican insiders have cast doubts on whether Cardinal Pell (pictured) will be able to return to Rome

'The Archbishop is conscious of the Cardinal's many good works which have been acknowledged both nationally and internationally,' he said.

'It is a matter of public record that Cardinal Pell addressed the evil of sexual abuse in the Church on becoming Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996.'

However, Vatican insiders have said Cardinal Pell will not be allowed to return to the Vatican, even if he is found not guilty.

'That is the end of the road for George Pell in the Vatican, regardless of the outcome, he will be pensioned off when the court case finishes,' a Vatican insider told The Australian.

Cardinal Pell is likely to lose his high profile role as the Pope seeks to limit the damage of the charges to the Catholic Church's reputation.
One of the two Americans gored this morning at the second San Fermines run in Pamplona was boxer-turned-writer Bill Hillman, 35, from Chicago.

Hillman was gored at the same festival in 2014 but returned the following year.

He co-authored a 2014 book titled: 'Fiesta: How to Survive the Bulls of Pamplona.'

Hospital bosses have confirmed a 22-year-old American described as the most seriously injured of the 10 people hurt at today's run was a man filmed being thrown up in the air and then dragged along the ground and trampled by several bulls near Pamplona's town hall.

The 22-year-old American man was hurled into the air and trampled by half-ton bulls on live TV on the second day of Spain's annual Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona.

Pictured: Bill Hillman, who was gored during the Running of the Bulls today. In 2014 he published book titled: 'Fiesta: How to Survive the Bulls of Pamplona'

Trampled: The incident - the most dramatic of this morning's run in the Spanish city of Pamplona - ended with him lying still on the ground in a white T-shirt and chequered shorts

Pictured: Bill Hillman lying in a hospital bed showing a photo of himself that someone sent to him during a bull run a day before he was gored during San Fermin

Pictured: A bull from the Jose Escolar ranch charges against bullfighter Gonzalo Caballero during a bullfight at the San Fermin Fiestas in Pamplona

Caballero was later carried out of the ring after being injured by the beast

Run down: In gory footage, the man can be seen to be mowed down by one of the half-ton beasts before being dragged under the hooves of three and trampled by others (pictured)

A 'recortador' - a person who jumps over bulls - performs in the San Fermin festibal in Pamplona

Pictured: A recortador dodging a bull in the ring during the festival

The footage - the most dramatic of this morning's run in the Spanish city - shows the man lying motionless on the ground in a white T-shirt, chequered shorts and trainers.

More chaos erupted on the second day of the festival this morning when a runaway bull charged at people after it went the wrong way on the route through the Spanish city.

At least two people were gored with a total of ten people reported to be hospitalised, including five Americans, at the second run of this year's San Fermines festival.

Two of the five, men aged 35 and 22, were gored. The condition of the 22-year-old, who was gored in the leg near to Pamplona town hall, was described as 'serious' by hospital chiefs.

The man seen on TV being up-ended by a bull before being dragged along the ground and trampled on by others, was injured in that area - but it has not been confirmed whether or not he was the one in a 'serious' condition.

Pictured: Close calls for a recortador as he jumps over a bull's back in Pamplona

The man seen up-ended and dragged along the ground by bulls on live TV (pictured moments before, in the chequered shorts), was injured near the town hall - but it has not been confirmed whether or not he is the one in a 'serious' condition in hospital

Running the gauntlet: Some participants fall down as Jose Escolar's fighting bulls run past on the second day of the San Fermines bull run festival in Pamplona, northern Spain

A spokesman for Humane Society International said after the dramatic run: 'The injuries of Pamplona participants are regrettable, but let's not forget that these bulls are not deliberately hurting anyone.

'They are terrified, forced to run through the streets surrounded by jeering revellers, their hooves slipping on the cobbles as they are terrorised for fun.

'At the end of their ordeal they will be killed. If only we were as shocked by the needless anguish and death of these beautiful creatures as we are by the wounds of misguided tourists who put themselves in harm's way by taking part in animal cruelty.'

The other three Americans, men aged 68, 59, and 35, were taken to hospital with trauma injuries.

Other casualties included two Frenchmen, both aged 21, and three Spaniards aged 39, 33 and 27.

The injury list took the total number of people taken to hospital as a result of injuries sustained during the two morning runs so far this year to 14.

The 39-year-old Irishman hurt during yesterday's run suffered light trauma injuries to his chest.

This morning's run, broadcast live on Spanish TV, started in dramatic fashion with one runner being upended just seconds after the start.

Dangerous game: At least two people were gored with a total of ten reported to be hospitalised, including Americans, at the second run of this year's San Fermines festival

Chaos: A runaway bull charged at people after it went the wrong way on the route

Gored: The injury list took the total number of people taken to hospital as a result of injuries sustained during the two morning runs so far this year to 14

As five of the six fighting bulls sprinted along the half-mile course through the old town of the northern Spanish city of Pamplona, it became apparent the other one had turned round and headed back to its pen in a moment of confusion.

Herders had to bring out the bull - called Diputado, which means MP in English - using steers, but it soon raced in front of the animals guiding it along the course.

The animal lunged at several runners as it reached the bullring at the end of the course - by now packed with revellers who had run in front of the other five fighting bulls ahead of it.

Late arrival: The animal lunged at several runners as it reached the bullring at the end of the course - by now packed with revellers who had run in front of the other fighting bulls ahead

Injured: Today's run, involving bulls from the Jose Escolar breeding ranch in Avila, lasted just four minutes because of the animal that became separated from the rest

Matadors used capes to usher the runaway bull into a pen under the bullring, sparing onlookers serious injury.

There was no immediate word on the condition of the man thrown into the air and dragged along the ground while he was trampled by the half-ton animals.

Red Cross officials were pictured afterwards surrounding a man with a neck brace, but it was not clear if he was the one whose dice with death was filmed live on Spanish TV.

Today's run, involving bulls from the Jose Escolar breeding ranch in Avila just over an hour's drive from Madrid, lasted just four minutes because of the animal that became separated from the rest.

Bloody tradition: Sixteen people have been killed at the annual festival, made famous by the 1926 Ernest Hemingway novel 'The Sun Also Rises', since records began in 1910

It was the third time bulls from the ranch have taken part in the festival, and the third time one of the ranch's bulls has become separated from the rest of the pack in almost identical circumstances.

Sixteen people have been killed at the annual festival, made famous by the 1926 Ernest Hemingway novel 'The Sun Also Rises', since records began in 1910.

The most recent death was in 2009 when 27-year-old Daniel Jimeno, from Madrid, was gored in the neck by a bull called Capuchino.

Australians, Americans and Brits are often among the injured.

Virtually all the revellers wear red and white during the festival, which lasts nine days in total.
President Donald Trump announced Saturday that the White House will steer $50 million to a female entrepreneurship project whose launch was spearheaded by his daughter.

Trump thanked Ivanka during an appearance at the G20 summit for being 'a forceful advocate for landmark women entrepreneurs.'

But he seemed to acknowledge that his own status as a global lightning rod has raised roadblocks for her that might not be there otherwise.

'If she weren't my daughter it would be so much easier for her,' the president said. 'It might be the only bad thing she has going, if you want to know the truth.'

President Donald Trump joked Saturday during the Women's Entrepreneurship Finance event at the G20 Summit that Ivanka might find success easier to come by if she weren't his daughter

Ivanka Trump listened to World Bank President Jim Yong Kim during the Women's Entrepreneurship Finance event at the G20 leaders summit in Hamburg. Kim said governments had put $300 million into a fund to help launch female-owned businesses

Ivanka (speaking to International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde) spearheaded the creation of the fund at the White House

The $50 million contribution will be part of a pot of government money that now exceeds $300 million, three times its original goal, World Bank President Jim Kim said.

Kim predicted a 10-to-one expansion of the World Bank-managed fund from the private sector, making more than $3 billion available to subsidize women's business ventures worldwide.

Trump said the result will be the biggest initiative of its kind in history. 'I think there's really nothing even close,' he declared.

'This has been a really difficult one but once it got going  it was about women, and it just took off beyond what anybody thought,' Trump added.

The $50 million contribution from the U.S. puts America at 'the highest donor level,' according to a White House official.

The president kissed Ivanka after thanking her for being a 'champion' for women's empowerment

'With a $50 million commitment the United States will continue to lead [on] the world stage in developing policies to empower women financially in our modern economy,' he said.

The president told his Saturday morning audience that 'empowering women is a core value that binds us together,' and that he is 'very proud of my daughter.'

'She's always been great. Champion, she's a champion,' he said.

Trump said that both developed and developing countries would see an influx of new economic activity in the coming years from women who had previously been shut out of their chosen industries.

Donald Trump delivered remarks at the women's finance event, where Ivanka spoke earlier in the day

A new stream of female leaders, he said, would mean 'a lot more competition for people like me'  referring to his real estate career before he entered politics.

'That's a lot of competition,' he said. 'Talented, talented competition.'

Trump began his remarks by praising Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for doing a 'spectacular job' and thanking German Chancellor Angela Merkel for staging a 'really incredible' summit.

'Everybody loves him,' he said of the famously handsome Trudeau, 'and they love him for a reason.'

Trudeau announced a $20 million contribution from Canada to the fund.

Trump noted that 'quite a few people' had turned up for anti-capitalist protests this week in Hamburg.

'They seem to follow your G20s around,' he said.
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Iraqi security forces are set to declare victory in Mosul within 'a matter of hours' with local media reporting that Islamic State has been all but forced out of the city.

A huge onslaught has seen the jihadists' last bastion in the city fall, state TV has reported, following air strikes and artillery salvoes.

The country's state broadcaster said: 'We are seeing now the last metres (of the battle) and then victory will be announced. It's a matter of hours.'

But ISIS militants have vowed to 'fight to the death' despite claims they will imminently lose the pockets of the city they control.

Iraqi police and soldiers were today seen celebrating in the Old City of Mosul, where officials claim victory against ISIS will be declared within hours

Members of the Iraqi army's Emergency Response Division were jubilant as they celebrated what they claim is ISIS's imminent collapse

Iraqi Federal Police officers celebrated as operations against ISIS appeared to have driven the terror group into a final retreat

Flag waving Iraqi soldiers celebrated impending victory in Mosul, which has been an ISIS stronghold for the past three years

Police officers were delighted as they marked the end of ISIS's reign of terror in Mosul, but questions remain about what will happen next

A smiling army officer holds an ISIS flag as state TV announced that victory will be declared in Mosul 'within hours' this afternoon

This morning government forces killed 35 ISIS jihadis and wounded six others while advancing into the Old City neighbourhood. Pictured are members of Iraq's Counter Terrorism Service on patrol earlier this week

It is thought that just a few hundred militants remain in a confined area overlooking the Tigris River - which divides the city's east and west. Pictured is a member of Iraq's Counter Terror Service walking through rubble in Mosul

Government forces backed by the US-led coalition have been trying to drive out the terror group from the strategic city since October. Pictured is one of the Emergency Response Division's tanks

Some Iraqi soldiers celebrated, dancing with rifles and machine guns and waving the national flag as they reached their assigned targets, without waiting for a formal victory announcement to be made, a Reuters TV crew said.

More than three quarters of the remaining jihadists in Mosul are foreigners, according to Iraqi commanders who have reported a spike in suicide attacks as anti-ISIS forces close in on the Old City.

'They never surrender,' said General Abdel Ghani al-Assadi, a commander in Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service. 'Old Mosul will be their graveyard.'

A military spokesman cited by the TV station said the insurgents' defence lines were collapsing following months of fighting.

ISIS's Amaq news agency reported 'fierce fighting' around the riverside district of Maydan and said its fighters 'were holding onto their fortified positions'.

'The fighters of Islamic State are collectively pledging (to fight to the) death in Maydan,' Amaq said in another online post.

ISIS forces are holding just a small area of territory next to the Tigris River, according to commanders on the ground. The area is believed to be next to the Tigris River which runs through the centre of the town the jihadis once claimed as a stronghold

Iraqi forces have made progress, liberating eastern Mosul in January of this year - but ISIS has been rebutting with violent attacks as the group loses more ground

Government forces backed by the US-led coalition have been trying to drive out the terror group from the strategic city since October.

This morning they killed 35 ISIS jihadis and wounded six others while advancing into the Old City neighbourhood.

It is thought that just a few hundred militants remain in a confined area overlooking the Tigris River - which divides the city's east and west.

An estimated 900,000 people have fled Mosul as the Iraqi government continues to battle ISIS fighters, which was once a stronghold for the terrorist group.

Iraqi forces have made progress, liberating eastern Mosul in January of this year - but ISIS has been rebutting with violent attacks as the group loses more ground.

Despite clinging to only a sliver of territory in Mosul, desperate militants launched a counterattack yesterday reversing days of Iraqi army territorial gains in a matter of hours.

The neighbourhood's narrow roads, once passable on motorcycles, are now covered with rubble and downed power-lines

Members of Iraqi federal police carry their weapons during fighting with Islamic State militants in the Old City of Mosul earlier this month

Iraqi forces have struggled against ISIS in recent months but they finally appear to be taking control of the Old City of Mosul

The dramatic offensive began just after noon, when as many as 100 fighters began firing on units of the Iraqi army's 16th Division charged with holding the northwest frontline in Mosul's Old City neighborhood.

The attack broke through the army's first line of defense and the rest of its lines soon crumbled.

The surprise attack illustrated the resilience of the extremists who have maintained the ability to conduct both conventional military counterattacks and insurgent strikes.

Hassan, a 45-year-old soldier with the 16th Division, described the close-fought battle inside the rubble-strewn alleyways of the Old City.

Two soldiers are pictured taking shelter under a tank in the searing Iraqi heat during operations to retake Mosul

On Friday, as many as 100 ISIS fighters began firing on units of the Iraqi army's 16th Division charged with holding the northwest frontline in Mosul's Old City neighborhood. Pictures are members of Iraq's federal police force

A member of the CTS made his way into a building during the offensive to retake the city from IS

'Daesh started to attack us from everywhere. We were so close to them that we even fought with hand grenades.

'We have lots of martyrs and wounded soldiers, but we can't evacuate them. It was epic.'

The initial wave of Iraqi army casualties began arriving within an hour at a field hospital a few hundred metres from the front, carried on stretchers by medics.

The Old City has been decimated by fighting - the neighbourhood's narrow roads, once passable on motorcycles, are now covered with rubble and downed power-lines.

The footpaths that lead in and out of the Old City wind through houses, across rooftops, beside airstrike craters and down into basements

Iraqi people are pictured fleeing their homes because of the fighting between Iraqi forces and Islamic state group

A member of Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) advances in the Old City of Mosul on Wednesday

Iraqis flee from the Old City of Mosul during the Iraqi government forces' offensive to retake the city from Islamic State

The footpaths that lead in and out of the Old City wind through houses, across rooftops, beside airstrike craters and down into basements.

At least five soldiers were killed and 25 wounded, said a doctor at the field hospital.

The Iraqi military was forced to pull back about 75 metres behind a row of buildings along one of the Old City's few main roads, an Iraqi officer overseeing the operation said.

It comes following similar counterattacks in recent months by ISIS jihadis.

Iraqi forces moved to besiege the Old City before launching their attack in order to prevent ISIS fighters from fleeing to neighbouring Syria

An Iraqi Special Forces soldier stands in position in an alley as forces continue their advance against ISIS in the Old City of Mosul

Despite the setbacks, coalition spokesman US Army Col. Ryan Dillon said the counterattacks were costing the terrorist large numbers of fighters and not having an impact on the overall operation to defeat the militant group

In late June, some 200 of the caliphate's soldiers dressed in fatigues that resembled the Iraqi military's Shiite militia allies launched an offensive on two neighbourhoods along Mosul's western edge.

Iraqi army units crumbled and special forces had to be dispatched to the area along with coalition surveillance and air support.

The reallocation of resources stalled the Old City push which was then on its early days.

In mid-June more than 100 ISIS fighters launched a large-scale counterattack from the Old City's southern front on Federal Police units stationed there, killing 11 and seizing armoured vehicles and weapons.

Much of Mosul's Old City has been left ruined by the conflict with buildings reduced to rubble and vehicles destroyed

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Mosul as the Iraqi government continues to battle ISIS fighters, which was once a stronghold for the terrorist group

Despite the setbacks, coalition spokesman US Army Col. Ryan Dillon said the counterattacks were costing the terrorists large numbers of fighters and not having an impact on the overall operation to defeat the militant group.

Once Mosul is liberated, Dillon said, Iraqi security forces 'can completely focus on not just a conventional fight but also on security and holding that ground'.

The mood was less festive, however, among some of those displaced by months of fighting, many of whom are living in camps outside the city.

'If there is no rebuilding and people don't return to their homes and regain their belongings, what is the meaning of liberation?' Mohammed Haji Ahmed, an elderly clothing trader, told Reuters in the Hassan Sham camp, east of Mosul.

Exhausted civilians are pictured after evacuating from Mosul's Old City earlier this week

Stripped of Mosul, Islamic State's dominion in Iraq will be reduced to mainly rural, desert areas west and south of the city where tens of thousands of people live. The militants are expected to keep up attacks on selected targets across Iraq.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the end of Islamic State's 'state of falsehood' a week ago, after security forces took Mosul's mediaeval Grand al-Nuri mosque - although only after retreating militants blew it up.

The United Nations predicts it will cost more than $1 billion to repair basic infrastructure in Mosul.

Iraq's regional Kurdish leader said on Thursday in a Reuters interview that the Baghdad central government had failed to prepare a post-battle political, security and governance plan.
Prince Harry has found the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with and would like to pop the question to Meghan Markle before his birthday in the autumn, friends of the young royal have revealed.

Despite their busy schedules, the US soap actress and the Prince have a pact never to go longer than a month apart and speak using FaceTime on their smartphones twice a day when they are separated.

Miss Markle has made herself at home in Nottingham Cottage, Harrys Kensington Palace quarters and is so comfortable she keeps a wardrobe of clothes and a shelf of organic cookbooks in the kitchen, according to friends.

The Mail on Sunday will publish a 24-page colour magazine to mark the first anniversary of the couples relationship this weekend

Prince Harry has found the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with and would like to pop the question to Meghan Markle before his birthday in the autumn

Miss Markle has made herself at home in Nottingham Cottage, Harrys Kensington Palace quarters (pictured walking down Kensington High Street in November)

The latest confirmation of the strength and seriousness of their relationship - and suggestions they may be moving it onto a more formal basis within months - are revealed in The Mail on Sundays 24-page colour magazine to mark the first anniversary of the couples relationship this weekend.

Harry has found the girl he wants to spend the rest of his life with, one of his friends reveals. He is fuelling all the talk about the future.

Miss Markle, 35, is said to be so familiar to the gatekeepers and police patrolling the area that she doesnt need a security pass.

Theres no question they are madly in love, said another friend.

Harry is really happy, and from seeing them together Id say its just a question of when, not if, hes going to ask her to marry him.

She reportedly tried on an Augusta Jones dress with lace sleeves (left), priced at 2,195. A 2,550 midriff-baring gown made by Paloma Blanca (right), was her reported favorite - but she joked it wouldn't work for a royal wedding

Harry (pictured in Leeds on Friday) would like to propose before his 33rd birthday on September 15, according to sources close to the Prince

Miss Markle, 35, is said to be so familiar to the gatekeepers and police patrolling the area around Kensington Palace that she doesnt need a security pass

Harry would like to propose before his 33rd birthday on September 15, according to sources close to the Prince. If he does, the Invictus Games in Toronto a week later would be the perfect platform to introduce his new fiancee to the world.

As for the wedding, Harry wouldnt have such a say in the timing. As fifth in line to the throne, he would have to ask his grandmother The Queen to avoid clashes with other dates in the Royal calendar.

Our brilliant pull-out include stunning photographs of Meghan and gives a unique insight into her childhood, her first marriage and her work as a UN Womens Advocate.
Two large sharks have been filmed feeding on the carcass of a whale off the coast of Perth.

One six metre tiger shark and a large great white were filmed one kilometre off shore feeding on a dead whale off the coast of Staggie Reef in Mindarie.

The sharks were initially spotted at 3pm on Saturday afternoon, but further public reports from Surf Life Saving Western Australia suggested another shark was feeding off the carcass two-and-a-half hours later.

A large 6m tiger shark and great white were filmed feeding off a whale carcass

The two sharks were spotted one kilometre off Perth's coast

The two large sharks can be seen circling the devoured carcass and slowly feeding off the whale, in footage captured by Nine News.

Boats and divers were warned by Surf Life Saving WA of the large sharks in the area.

The two sharks were circling the dead whale and slowly feeding
A mother and her three children, aged 12, 10 and five, killed in a house fire died after a halogen heater caught alight, the family has claimed.

Aneesa Umerji, 40, her two sons Hammad, 12, and Yusuf, 10, and five-year-old daughter Khadija died after a blaze took hold of their home in Bolton, Greater Manchester on Saturday morning.

In a statement released through the Bolton Council of Mosques, the family said the fire was accidental and was caused by a halogen heater.

They added: 'We are aware that all the emergency services did everything they could to rescue the family members and we appreciate their efforts.'

The father, named locally as Zubair Umerji, remains in hospital after jumping from the first floor window and then attempting to get smash his way back into the house.

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Devastated: Grieving neighbours and friends laid floral tributes close to the Bolton property this afternoon

Sleep tight: A touching card was left at the scene today with yellow flowers

Today grieving neighbours and friends gathered outside the charred property in shock, many leaving floral tributes.

The condition of the father, who is said to have smashed windows with his fists in an attempt to save his trapped family, is stable but he remains in hospital.

The blaze is understood to have broken out in the front room and the family say it was caused by a halogen heater.

Condolences have been pouring in from across the country following the incident.

Bolton-born boxer Amir Khan retweeted the Bolton Council of Mosques, who said the family had died in the fire, and added: 'Very sad news from my home town- RIP Umerji family.'

Last night a senior firefighter described how they found father Zubair 'distraught' at the scene.

A woman and three children have died in a serious house fire in Bolton after 'an entire' family was rushed to hospital

Firefighters inspect the damage as an investigation into what caused the fire gets underway

Police forensic teams speak to firefighters after four people were killed in a blaze at a terraced house in Bolton

Tony Hunter said fire crews found the man trying to get into the small terraced house in Rosamond Street, in Bolton, at around 9am on Saturday.

He said: 'We found a man who had jumped from the first floor window, straight through the window on to concrete.

'He got up and then was smashing his hands through the glass of the ground floor window.

'He was breaking the windows with his hands. He was covered in cuts.

'He was absolutely distraught, screaming (that) his wife and children were in there.'

The children's father had tried to bash the front door down with his fists, but did not mange to break through until after firefighters arrived and helped him

Mr Hunter said it took four firefighters and specialist equipment to break the front door down. When crews got inside they found devastation.

He said: 'It was a very intense fire - the plaster had come off the walls.

'That was on the ground floor so you can imagine what it was like on the first floor.

'They made their way up in no visibility whatsoever, fighting the fire as they were going up the stairs and located the three children and mother and then had to carry them down.

'I spoke to crews when I got there - they were very emotional about it.'

Paramedics and fire crews gave the victims CPR but one of the children was pronounced dead at the scene and the woman and two other children died later in hospital.

The man, who an eyewitness describes as 'hammering' on the door of the terraced house, is being treated at a hospital and is in a stable condition.

Photographs from the scene appeared to show the house completely gutted out, with fire damage to both floors

Eyewitnesses revealed how paramedics desperately tried to resuscitate the victims in the middle of the street shortly after the blaze broke out

Mr Hunter said it would be 'some time' before the cause of the blaze was known, although Greater Manchester Police said it was not thought to be suspicious.

An eyewitness said she was alerted to a 'commotion' at around 9am on Saturday and saw a man banging on a door of one of the terraced houses.

The resident, who asked not to be named, said: 'It's terrible, absolutely terrible. I saw them bringing people out. They were doing chest compressions.

'There was just a load of hammering, banging on a door.

'When I saw him after he had his hands bandaged up and his head.'

Another eyewitness, who asked not to be named, said: 'I saw the grandmother of the kids crying once it was known they were dead.'

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Bridge, from GMP's Bolton borough, said the circumstances were 'utterly heartbreaking' and appealed for witnesses.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham tweeted: 'Dreadful news coming out of Bolton today. My thoughts are with the family, their friends & the whole community.'

Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi said: 'I'm shocked and saddened by the fatal fire in Daubhill today. My thoughts & prayers are with the relatives, friends and neighbours.'

A man managed to escape by jumping from a window of the terraced house but two boys and a girl, all under the age of 13, and a woman were still inside

Greater Manchester Police Superintendent Steve Keeley and Assistant Country Fire Officer Tony Hunter address the media after the fire

Neighbours were united in their shock and upset at the tragedy, with part-time waiter Bilal who lives nearby describing how Zubair's life would be 'ruined' by the tragedy.

He told how the father-of-three was screaming and crying and his face covered in blood from jumping out a first floor window, when he first came onto the scene on Saturday morning.

Bilal said: 'The kids play around the block all the time and I see Zubair most days. I didn't know him very well but we would always say hi.

'He's a really nice guy. He does his job and feeds his kids. He's on of those that sticks to his family and just lives a quiet life.

'No fire alarms went off, which is really ridiculous, but we just heard people start screaming 'help' and 'fire'

'The smoke was so thick that it was suffocating. I kept coughing and trying to move away.

'It's horrific. Zubair's life is going to be hell. He has lost everything he had, his wife, his kids. What is he going to have to live for?'

Wahid Iqbal, 25, who lives on Brentwood Street just around the corner from where the fire happened said it was his sister Sobia Iqbal, 31, who called the fire service.

Wahid, who is unemployed, said: 'All you could see out the windows was thick smoke coming out of the building.

'I heard a man shouting Aneesa and people screaming for help. My sister rang the fire brigade.'

The residential street in the Daubhill area of the town has been completely sealed off by police as firefighters were seen investigating the fire-damaged terrace house.

Emergency services were dispatched to the home in Rosamond Street at around 9am this morning following 999 calls from panicked neighbours.

Photographs from the scene showed the house completely gutted out, with fire damage to both floors.

Firefighters faced a difficult task to get into the home as the heat was so intense it had burnt the plaster off the downstairs walls.

Emergency services were called to the home in Rosamond Street at around 9am this morning by panicked neighbours

There is a large presence of police, paramedics and firefighters at the scene and surrounding roads have been closed off

Reports claim an 'entire family' has been taken to hospital, while a terraced street in the Daubhill area of the town has been completely sealed off

Police have confirmed a 'serious house fire' but no further details have been released as yet. The public are being urged to stay away from the area
A man is in critical condition after being stabbed in the torso with an electric drill in a ferocious attack outside a karaoke nightclub in the early hours of Saturday.

The man, aged in his 20s, also received a wound to his back during a brawl that took place at about 2.45am on Pitt Street in Sydney's CBD.

Another male adult was treated at the scene for minor injuries.

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Two men have suffered injuries after a late night brawl at a Sydney karaoke bar on Saturday

Police are now hunting for two attackers who witnesses say was last seen heading north on Pitt St, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Witnesses told the newspaper that a pool of blood and bloodied towels were seen strewn about the entrance to an apartment block located next to the bar while paramedics worked on stabilising the man before transporting him to hospital.

Police from Sydney City Local Area Command have attended and established a crime scene.

Inquiries are continuing.

A man in his 20s is in critical condition after he was stabbed with an electric drill in the torso
The public advised not to approach 'dangerous paranoid schizophrenic' Sanchez Edwards who is suspected of robbing a 92-year-old woman

A 5,000 reward is on offer for information that leads to the arrest of a 'dangerous paranoid schizophrenic' thug who battered a 92-year-old woman.

Detectives in Hackney are still hunting Sanchez Edwards, who absconded from a medium-secure mental health unit.

The public advised not to approach the 28-year-old who is suspected of robbing a 92-year-old woman.

The recently-widowed victim had just left her home to post a letter and was heading towards the Lawson Medical Centre, off Hoxton Street, when she was attacked on Tuesday June 27.

She suffered cracked ribs, bruising to her legs and a head injury.

Detective Inspector Paul Ridley, who is leading the investigation by Hackney CID, said: 'All week I have had officers conducting street searches, stopping buses and trawling transport hubs, however we have a vast area to cover and Edwards is extremely transient.

'I can assure you, we will act on any information received. Call 999, tell the operator you think you have sighted the high risk violent Hackney robber and we will respond immediately.

The recently-widowed victim had just left her home to post a letter and was heading towards the Lawson Medical Centre, off Hoxton Street, when she was attacked on Tuesday June 27

'Every Police officer is aware and alert to this case, as well as those patrolling the trains and buses.'

Edwards, who also has a history of drug abuse, tends to travel on route 25 buses, which start at Ilford and terminate at Oxford Circus.

He also uses route 38 buses, starting at Hackney Central and ending at Victoria, as well as other buses in east London.

He frequents Stratford, Ilford, Bethnal Green and regularly returns to Hackney.

Edwards is described as a dark skinned black male, 5'09, with short black hair, medium build and a black beard.

Edwards has been missing from the John Howard Centre medium secure unit in nearby Homerton since May 17

Edwards is pictured left on July 6 and right on July 7 at Mile End Underground Station at 3.30pm

From the images which have been released since Monday, 3 July he has been wearing a black jumper with a white T-shirt underneath, dark trousers and trainers.

However, the latest images of him from Mile End Underground Station at 1530hrs on Friday, 7 July show him wearing a white jumper with a zip on the front, black Addidas tracksuit bottoms and trainers

The 5,000 reward will only be available on information given directly to Crimestoppers that leads to the arrest of the individual. Information can also be reported completely anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via their online form at crimestoppers-uk.org.
Dashcam footage captured the sickening moment a moped rider somersaulted through the air and smacked face first into the road after a car pulled out in front of him in Russia.

The rider- who witnesses say survived the horrific crash- was approaching a junction when the silver car pulled forward, causing him to slam into the side of the vehicle.

He flipped over the roof of the car before hitting the ground face first in St Petersburg, northwest Russia.

Sent flying: The rider (left)- who witnesses say survived the horrific crash- was approaching a junction when the silver car pulled forward, causing him to slam into the side of the vehicle

The moment was captured by Anatoliy Belisov's dashcam as he waited in traffic.

Mr Belisov said that the moped rider, who was wearing a helmet, survived the collision. He said: 'The young dude is alive, conscious.'

Shocking footage shows the silver car turning left across the junction as the moped approaches.

The unidentified rider is thrown through the air, and his red rucksack is nearly thrown off by the force of the impact.

Nasty: The unidentified rider's red rucksack was nearly thrown off by the force of the impact in St Petersburg. He flipped over the roof of the car before hitting the ground face first

Multiple fractures: The motorist landed face first in the road, next to the wheels of a blue car which had to brake in order to avoid running him over. He was treated for injuries in hospital

He lands face first in the road, next to the wheels of a blue car which has to brake in order to avoid running him over.

An ambulance was on the scene within ten minutes and the rider was taken to hospital, where he was treated for multiple fractures and bruises.

Police also attended the scene but it is not known if they are preparing to bring a case against anyone.

Ironically the accident happened next to the office of a company that trades in the mopeds like the one involved in the accident - which led video viewers to brand the footage the 'worst advertisement ever'.
One man has died and another is in hospital after a double stabbing outside a pub.

The two victims were attacked outside the Forge Tavern in Digbeth, Birmingham at around 4.30am on Saturday, West Midlands Police said.

The force has launched a murder inquiry after one of the men, both aged in their 20s, died in hospital from his injuries.

The second man remains in hospital where he is being treated for his injuries.

Dean Martin, a nightwatchman at a neighbouring business, told the Birmingham Mail: 'It was sometime between 3am and 5am when I heard a lot of noise in the street.

The force has launched a murder inquiry after one of the men, both aged in their 20s, died in hospital from his injuries after they were stabbed outside the Forge Tavern, Birmingham

'It was girls screaming and shouting really loudly.

'I didnt think anything of it and didnt go out and just thought it was people leaving The Rainbow club.

'He said when he opened up at 9am he saw the police cars and found out what happened.'

The Forge Tavern is a stop-off point for Birmingham City fans.

During weekends, the pub is known to get increasingly busy later on in the evening - remaining open until the early hours.

Police forensic teams are still at the scene as they gather evidence following the man's death.

Detective Inspector Harry Harrison, from the force's homicide team, said: 'The investigation is in the very early stages.

'We know the incident started inside the Forge Tavern and the two men were then attacked outside.

'Both were driven to hospital, where one man unfortunately died from his injuries, despite the best efforts of the emergency services.

'A murder investigation has been launched and I am appealing for anyone who may have been at the Forge Tavern last night or early this morning and who may have seen what happened leading up to the attack to call police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.'
A thief who proposed to a woman with an engagement ring he stole from a 91-year-old during a burglary has been jailed, police said.

Steven Reid, 38, broke into the elderly woman's home in St Martin's Road, Sutton Coldfield, in Birmingham, along with Jerome Jones, 26, and raided her valuables and purse as she was trapped in her bedroom.

West Midlands Police said Reid later used a gold engagement ring to propose to a woman on Christmas Eve.

The woman then recognised the jewellery in a police appeal and tipped off detectives.

Steven Reid, 38, pictured, broke into the elderly woman's home in Sutton Coldfiel in Birmingham

Jones, of Rubery in Worcestershire, was seen on CCTV in a jewellery shop in Birmingham Road the morning after the raid.

He tried to sell items including a signet ring, watch and bracelet that belonged to the victim's late husband.

The store turned him away but his friend Christopher Rowland, 40, returned later the same day and swapped the goods for cash.

Reid's DNA was found at the scene of the burglary on a chisel he had used to prise out a glass door pane.

He was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday for four years and nine months after being found guilty of burglary, while his accomplice Jones was sentenced to four years and three months.

Rowland, of Mount View, Erdington, in Birmingham, was given a 12-month community order and a conditional discharge for handling stolen goods.

Jerome Jones, of Rubery in Worcestershire, was seen on CCTV in a jewellery shop in Birmingham Road the morning after the raid

West Midlands Police Detective Sergeant Tom Lyons, said: 'The victim was unhurt but this was clearly a shocking ordeal for her. She was awoken by a security light being activated and footsteps on the stairs and moments later they burst into her bedroom.

'She was told to stay in bed while they ransacked her home. The lady was clearly elderly and vulnerable b_' and for Reid and Jones to prey on her vulnerability is despicable.

'Members of the public were as disgusted as we were at the nature of the offence and we had a fantastic response to our public appeal for information.

'Several people called naming Reid and Jones as suspects, while the jewellers and Reid's would-be bride also called.'
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Melania Trump stunned in an eye-catching, red ensemble during her arrival to the town hall spouses program at the G20 summit on Saturday as her popularity soars in the US.

The First Lady showed off her bold style in a grey floral dress with a red coat draped over her shoulders.

Her elegant look was completed with a wide red belt and grey pumps. Melania was greeted by Hamburg's Mayor Olaf Scholz as she arrived for the spouses program.

Melania, whose favorable ratings have climbed in the past few months, took a few mintues to chat with Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, during the event.

She was also seen mingling with other first spouses as the mayor spoke throughout the program.

According to a new Fox News poll, the First Lady isn't just impressing US citizens with her elegant and bold style.

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Melania Trump stunned in an eye-catching, red ensemble as she arrived to the town hall spouses program at the G20 summit on Saturday. The First Lady showed off her bold style in a grey floral dress with a red coat draped over her shoulders

Her elegant look was completed with a wide red belt and grey pumps. Melania was greeted by Hamburg's Mayor Olaf Scholz (right) as she arrived for the spouses program

The First Lady kept a smile on her face as she prepared to meet and greet other first spouses. She's pictured with Mayor Olaf Scholz ahead of the program

First Lady Melania made a grand entrance at Hamburg's city hall as she walked ahead of the first spouses while chatting with Argentina's First Lady Juliana Awada (center)

Fifty-one per cent of voters now view her favorably. That's a 14-point jump from December and up 16 points from the first Fox News poll last summer.

At that time, only 35 per cent of voters viewed the wife of the now-President Donald Trump favorably and 40 per cent unfavorably. Twenty-four per cent couldnt rate her.

According to the poll, 28 per cent of voters view her negatively; however, she still falls short of her predecessor Michelle Obama, who had a record high 73 per cent of voters viewing her favorable during her husband's presidency.

Melania's husband are also up by a few percentage points with 47 per cent of voters viewing him favorably.

In March, the US president's favorable percentage was 44 and 38 per cent just before Novembers election.

On Friday, the First Lady had a hectic day after being trapped inside her hotel by violent rioters.

The protesters delayed her appearance at the G20 summit, but she still made a grand entrance in a dove white, frilled dress.

Sporting the shoulder-cut dress that was complimented with white stilettos, the former model wore a simple look and seemed to not be phased by the riots.

Earlier, she tweeted support to those hurt by the firebombing rioters in Germany that has left her trapped inside her hotel room.

'Thinking of those hurt in #Hamburg protests. Hope everyone stay safe! #G20,' she tweeted.

Her husband retweeted her message after his convoy was forced to take a lengthy detour around the violence.

Melania remained in her hotel room until it was safe as other leaders arrived to the G20.

Other spouses including Theresa May's husband Philip and French president Emmanuel Macron's wife Brigette were also told to stay indoors.

She took a few mintues to chate with Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, during the event

She was also seen mingling with other first spouses as the mayor spoke throughout the program

On Friday, the First Lady, whose favorable ratings have climbed in the past few months, had a hectic day after being trapped inside her hotel by violent rioters. She's pictured among other partners of G20 participants

Melania finally arrived to the G20 summit with her husband after being trapped inside her hotel by violent rioters on Friday

Wearing a dove white frilled shoulder-cut dress, the FLOTUS stood next to her husband who sported a striped navy blue and white tie with his suit

'Thinking of those hurt in #Hamburg protests. Hope everyone stay safe! #G20,' she tweeted before arriving to the summit

Police called reinforcements after tens of thousands of protesters descended on Hamburg, causing chaos for the G20 summit

A man is carried away by police as officers in riot gear clear protesters from the road ahead of the G20 summit involving world leaders in Germany today

When Melania finally made it to the G20 summit on Friday, her first task was to cut the much-anticipated meeting between her husband and Russian President Vladimir Putin short.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said officials sent the first lady in to close the meeting after it ran more than an hour but she failed ultimately, letting the meeting go on for more than another hour.

'Several times I had to remind the president, people were sticking their heads in the door.

'They even sent in the first lady at one point to see if she could get us out of there, and that didn't work either. We went another hour after she came in to see us, so clearly, she failed.'

She then meet with Putin just moments after he completed a two hour and 16 minute with Trump.

The 5-foot-11-inch former model towered over a 5-foot-six-inch Putin as they greeted each other with a warm smile.

She later sat next to Putin at dinner and Argentinia's President Mauricio Macri, and her husband was no where in sight.

Melania would then go on and greet other notables - including French first lady Brigette Macron - before posing in a photo with all the political leaders and their spouses.

Trump's face-to-face meeting with Putin was quickly followed by news the US and Russia had reached an agreement on a cease fire in Syria.

The sign of possible progress in Syria  where Russia is the primary backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad  came hours after Trump said it was 'an honor' to meet Putin.

On Thursday, Trump warned that the future of Western civilization is at stake and the West must decide if it has the 'will to survive'.

When Melania finally made it to the G20 summit on Friday, her first task was to cut the much-anticipated meeting between her husband and Russian President Vladimir Putin short. A task that she apparently failed to complete, according to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. But after the two hour meeting between Putin and Trump, Melania finally met the Russian president

The 5-foot-11-inch former model towered over a 5-foot-six-inch Putin as they greeted each other with a warm smile

Melania then went on to greet other notables, including French first lady Brigette Macron

She also posed for a photo with all the political leaders (second row center with Trump) and their spouses before the leaders met for more talks

At the start of a four-day trip to Europe, the US President said the lack of a collective resolve could doom an alliance that endured through the Cold War.

In a speech in Warsaw  ahead of the G20 meeting in Hamburg  he lashed out at hostile forces, ranging from Islamic terrorism to Russia.

Praising Poland for its resilience in the face of historic threats from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, he declared: 'Let us all fight like Poles.'

Trump was given a very warm welcome, the crowd cheering and chanting his name. Many were said to have been bussed in to ensure his reception was big and noisy.

She later sat next to Putin at dinner and Argentinia's President Mauricio Macri, and her husband was no where in sight
A plane was forced to make an emergency landing and three cabin crew were treated for smoke inhalation .

Passengers on board the Thomson flight from Manchester to Girona were escorted off and three crew members were treated for smoke inhalation.

The crew were treated for smoke inhalation, reports The Mirror, but it is not known whether they were taken to hospital.

A spokesman for Gatwick airport said: 'The flight was diverted because of smoke in the cabin.

The crew were treated for smoke inhalation, reports The Mirror, but it is not known whether they were taken to hospital

'Three cabin crew are being treated by medics.

'The passengers have all been offloaded and they are in a gateroom waiting for another plane.'

One of the passengers on board the flight, Stephen Canning, wrote: 'On plane and emergency landing in London.

'Smoke supposedly from over - two cabin crew removed for smoke inhalation.

'Passengers left on plane.'

One of the passengers on board the flight, Stephen Canning, wrote: 'On plane and emergency landing in London

A spokesman for Thomson said: 'We would like to apologise to customers travelling to Girona, Spain from Manchester on board TOM2616 as the flight was diverted to London Gatwick as a precautionary measure.

'The flight was met by emergency services in line with standard procedures and to investigate the cause of smoke in the cabin.

'The aircraft has been checked and is safe to continue on its scheduled journey this morning.

A spokesman for Thomson said: 'We would like to apologise to customers travelling to Girona, Spain from Manchester on board TOM2616 as the flight was diverted to London Gatwick as a precautionary measure

'All customers on board are also safe, and new crew members are arriving imminently to cover the flight as three of the original team are being checked over by medics as a precaution.

'We appreciate our customers' patience and understanding during this time and would like to take this opportunity to reassure everyone that the safety of our customers and crew is of paramount importance.'

It comes after a Thomson flight en route to Bristol was forced to make an emergency landing in April after the pilot's windscreen cracked at 30,00ft.
A Cornish terror group dubbed the 'Ooh R A' has claimed responsibility for firebombing Rick Stein's seaside restaurant - and claims it has a would-be suicide bomber in its ranks.

The Cornish Republican Army (CRA) says it carried out the attack last month as part of a renewed campaign to prevent the 'ethnic cleansing of the people of Kernow'.

Formerly known as the Cornish National Liberation Army (CNLA), the group has been dormant for over a decade and was believed to have been disbanded.

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The group claimed responsibility for the attack on Rick Stein's restaurant last month

But in an official blog announcing the name change, the group made a series of chilling threats - including that it has a female martyr prepared to die for the cause.

The statement said: 'Our organisation has grown and we now have one member who is prepared to pay the ultimate price in the battle for Kernow.

'She is prepared to sacrifice herself although we shall not ask for this lightly - only as a last measure.'

The posh eatery Rick Stein Porthleven was badly damaged by fire in the early hours of Monday June 12.

A lean-to bin store which housed three gas cylinders was set alight and firefighters who extinguished the blaze said it was just 15 minutes from destroying the restaurant.

Investigations into the cause of the blaze are ongoing and arson has not yet been ruled out.

A lean-to bin store which housed three gas cylinders was set alight and firefighters who extinguished the blaze said it was just 15 minutes from destroying the restaurant

But now the alleged terror group has come out of hiding to claim it carried out the attack along with two other recent fires in Truro and Penryn.

It claims to have set off a 'practice device' at the former Redruth Brewery site and had removed dozens of 'red blood flags' - believed to be a reference to the St George Cross.

The CRA statement said the group has 30 volunteers who are operating in Active Service Units (ASU) to bring about Cornish independence.

We also intend to target those authorities including the EIS police who victimise Cornish people. What have we to fear or lose - nothing The Cornish Republican Army (CRA)

It claimed that 'activities' against Stein and Jamie Oliver - who also has a restaurant in Cornwall - have now ceased.

But the group vowed to target the second homes of wealthy English people and the authorities of what it calls the 'English Imperial System' or EIS.

The statement said: 'We are also responsible for the damage to Stein's Restaurant.

'The fact that the EIS police arrested someone in Coventry is a 'red herring'. We have removed literally scores of Blood Cross flags and destroyed them.

'We have also issued warnings to owners of holiday businesses flying the blood cross flag. We have ceased activities against Stein and Oliver, but our activities against second and expensive English owned homes will continue.

'We also intend to target those authorities including the EIS police who victimise Cornish people. What have we to fear or lose - nothing.

The CRA claims to have new funding from other Celtic groups and says it changed its name because of copycats who had prompted 'many arrests'

'We note that others are damaging the English Tudor Signs and we support this action. Letters sent to the EIS are wasted efforts.

'The English have never allowed freedom to any peoples without a fight and although we understand those who believe that freedom can be won through democracy or political means, we do not accept this.

'What has really been won this past 50 years? - nothing other than an ethnic cleansing of the people of Kernow.'

The incident in Porthleven follows years of bitterness between Stein and the local community where he has taken over many businesses and angered locals with his 'arrogance.'

He spent a large part of his fortune on a string of fish and chip shops and restaurants in the port of Padstow on the north coast of Cornwall.

The incident in Porthleven follows years of bitterness between Stein and the local community where he has taken over many businesses and angered locals with his 'arrogance'

The group had previously claimed that activities against TV chef Jamie Oliver - who also has a restaurant in Cornwall - had ceased

The success of the empire in the town led to it being nicknamed 'Padstein'.

Three years ago Stein expanded further by taking over an existing restaurant in the tiny port of Porthleven on the south coast.

His move into the village angered many locals - including several fisherman - after he snubbed them despite promoting fresh food from local waters on his menu.

The CRA claims to have new funding from other Celtic groups and says it changed its name because of copycats who had prompted 'many arrests'.

And it likened its crusade to the IRA, whose former members are now part of government in Northern Ireland.

'We are in no hurry to conduct actions and so these will happen over a period of time,' she statement continued.

'Whilst we greatly admire and respect the efforts of Cornish Nationals who seek change through moderate means, we note that previous members of the IRA are now in power in the North of Ireland showing that there is a place for military action.

'Therefore we may use direct means to underline the efforts of moderate Cornish Nationals.'

The Cornish National Liberation Army first emerged in the early 2000s and claimed a number of arson attacks in the county.

Previously known as 'An Gof', the group claimed to have funding from Welsh activists responsible for burning holiday homes in Wales in the 1980s.

In 2012 a letter emerged claiming the group had a 12-year-old member - but nothing has been heard since and it was believed the organisation and ceased existence.

And despite the chilling threats, a disclaimer above the statement appears to contradict itself by claiming the group supports 'legal political activity only'.

It reads: 'While we understand and have sympathy for those Cornish people who are frustrated and angry about the English Imperialist occupation, oppression and ethnic cleansing of Kernow, foreign ownership of second homes and the uncontrolled influx of incomers into our homeland - we seek to Free Cornwall for the native indigenous Celtic Cornish folk by legal political activity only.'
A Melbourne driver has been killed after ploughing his ute into a parked bus as it picked up passengers.

The 64-year-old man was travelling south along High Street in Thomastown before slamming into the back of the stationary bus just before 9pm on Friday.

Emergency services arrived shortly after, however the driver, from Epping, died at the scene.

A Melbourne driver has been killed after ploughing his ute into a parked bus as it picked up passengers

The 64-year-old man was travelling south along High Street in Thomastown before slamming into the back of the stationary bus just before 9pm on Friday

The white ute was left severely damaged after crashing into the stationary bus in Thomastown

There were no other injuries from the accident.

'The bus was picking up passengers, the driver of the bus and the passengers who were on the bus at the time were completely uninjured,' Senior Constable Shane Biderman confirmed to Seven News.

Police have urged passengers who had alighted the bus prior to the crash to come forward.

Emergency services arrived shortly after, however the driver, from Epping, died at the scene

The white ute was travelling south along High Street and collided with the bus at this bus stop (pictured) near the Settlement Road intersection




A family has been left devastated after 21-year-old Ashleigh Gasson died after his motorbike collided with a car that burst into flames.

The car was pulling out of a slip stream at 8pm on Friday on the Neapean Highway in Brighton East, Melbourne, when the Holden sedan collided with Ashleigh Gasson's motorbike, burst into flames and spun 180 degrees.

Mr Gasson died upon impact, but the driver and another passenger from the white sedan fled the scene sparking the police to begin a manhunt.

Ashleigh Gasson, 21, (pictured) tragically died when his motorcycle collided with a car

The Holden sedan burst into flames following the collision with the motorcycle

A motorcyclist has died after a collision with a car on Neapean Highway in East Brighton, Melbourne on friday night about 8pm, that caused both vehicles to burst into flames

Detective Senior Sergeant Brad MacArthur said the people that fled the car were 'despicable'.

'Despicable really, I don't understand the thought process of people that act in this matter,' Detective MacArthur said, according to Nine News.

Investigators believe Mr Gasson was travelling south and crashed into the rear of an early model Holden sedan, which was also travelling south.

Both the motorcycle and the car burst into flames following the impact.

The two occupants who managed to get out of the Holden sedan, a man and a woman, fled the scene prior to police arrival.

The male is described as African in appearance with a slim build, while the female is Caucasian with a stocky build and both are in their late teens or early twenties.

Police are yet to locate the occupants of the car.

Anyone who witnessed the crash is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Police have identified the man who died as 21-year-old Ashleigh Gasson from Highett, who died at the scene
A North Carolina priest is catching a lot of heat after he was arrested in Florida following a road rage incident.

William Rian Adams, 35, was arrested on Wednesday in connection to the altercation where allegedly he pulled out a gun on Florida's Turnpike near Palm City, Florida, according to the Florida Highway patrol.

Adams - a priest at Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher, North Carolina - was driving his red Corvette when he attempted to brake check a blue Chevrolet Silverado pick-up that was closely tailing his vehicle.

William Rian Adams, 35, was arrested on Wednesday in connection to the altercation where allegedly he pulled out a gun on Florida's Turnpike near Palm City, Florida, according to the Florida Highway patrol

He was driving his red Corvette when he attempted to brake check a blue Chevrolet Silverado pick-up that was closely tailing his vehicle

Adams is a priest at Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher, North Carolina but he was pulled over by troopers in St. Lucie County, Florida

According to the Florida Highway Patrol report, as the driver of the pick-up attempted to go around the Corvette, Adams pointed his gun - a Glock 22.

His accusers would call the police soon after and troopers would eventually pull his vehicle over in St. Lucie County, Florida.

According to WPTV, the priest told authorities that a blue truck pulled up next to him and rolled down the window, proceeding to yell and scream at him before throwing a soda at his car.

The priest told authorities that a Chevrolet Silverado pick-up truck pulled up next to him and rolled down the window, proceeding to yell and scream at him before throwing a soda at his car

Adams continued, stating that he did not pull his gun out and it actually remained under the passenger's seat the entire time, with the magazine in the glove compartment.

A man and woman - 24 and 54 - were the occupants of the truck and hailed from St. Cloud, Florida.

Adams was eventually arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Black Lives Matter and five of its leaders are being sued by a Baton Rouge cop who blames them for 'inciting' Gavin Eugene Long's murderous rampage in the city last summer.

Long, a black military veteran, shot six officers, killing three and seriously injuring one, on July 17 last year in response to the shooting of unarmed black man Alton Sterling by white cops.

The suit, filed on Friday, says that BLM leaders 'incited violence' in retaliation for the death of black men killed by police' and its denunciations of the attacks came 'all but too late', CBS News reported.

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Blame: Protest group Black Lives Matter is being blamed for the July 17 shooting of six police officers by Gavin Long, who was angry after two white cops shot an unarmed black man

Plaintiff? It's believed Deputy Nicholas Tullier (left in uniform, right in November, recovering from being shot in the head) is behind a suit filed against BLM and five of its leaders on Friday

'Obviously, at this point talk show hosts were holding them responsible, and they were having to defend the blame and responsibility for what they had caused whether in whole or in part,' the suit says.

The officer has not been named, but his description matches that of East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Deputy Nicholas Tullier, 42, who suffered severe brain damage in the attack.

Tullier, a father of two, was shot in the head, shoulder and neck, and was left in a vegetative state.

He has since returned to consciousness, regained some motor control and can now communicate non-verbally.

His attacker, 29-year-old Long, was shot dead by a SWAT team member around ten minutes after the mass shooting began.

Shooter: Long (left and right) was killed by a SWAT team member after shooting Tullier and five others. The suit says BLM incited violence against police, leading to Long's rampage

Long had left a note before the shooting in which he said he wanted to hurt 'bad cops as well as good cops in hopes that the good cops (which are the majority) will be able to stand together and enact justice and punishment against bad cops.'

He also said in a YouTube video that he was only affiliated with 'the spirit of justice.'

'Don't affiliate me with nothing,' he said. 'Yeah, I was also a Nation of Islam member, I'm not affiliated with it They'll try to put you with ISIS or some other terrorist group - no.'

Among the five BLM members named in the suit is DeRay Mckesson, 31, a former school administrator turned civil rights activist.

The suit claims that Mckesson, who took part in nightly protests after Sterling's death on July 5, was 'in charge of' a march on July 9 that turned into a 'riot.'

It alleges that Mckesson 'did nothing to calm the crowd and, instead, he incited the violence,' that occurred that night.

When asked about the suit on Friday, Mckesson said he hadn't been made aware of it, not had he spoken to his lawyer about it. 'This is quite a world,' he said.

Last month Mckesson's lawyer told a court hearing that BLM is a movement, not an organization, and therefore cannot be sued.

The judge has not yet ruled on that claim.

Named: DeRay Mckesson (pictured) is one of the five BLM leaders named in the suit, which accuses him of encouraging riots and violence in the protests he led

Mckesson became one of the most recognizable faces from BLM last summer, and been repeatedly arrested - along with around 200 others - in protests related to the movement immediately after Sterling's death.

He was arrested again on July 9 during the protest outside police headquarters after ignoring a cop's warning to stay out of a road.

He was charged with simple obstruction of a highway of commerce. Around 100 other people were arrested, most of whom were charged with obstructing the road.

The day after the protest, Mckesson told The New York Times that 'police want protesters to be too afraid to protest, which is why they intentionally created a context of conflict, and I'll never be afraid to tell the truth.

'What we saw in Baton Rouge was a police department that chose to provoke protesters to create, like, a context of conflict they could exploit.'
Two teenagers have been arrested for throwing bottles at police after officers shut down an out-of-control birthday party held on Friday night.

Both teenagers, a boy and a girl, aged 16, were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

The girl was slapped with an additional charge of drug possession, Perth Now reports.

Two teenagers were arrested for throwing an out-of-control birthday party (stock image)

The duo had committed the offence at a home in Pelican Ramble, Yangebup, a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia at 9pm.

The arrest was sparked after police received numerous complaints from neighbours that the party was loud and that litter had spewed everywhere on the streets.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found 100 youths at the premise with some consuming liquor.

A police spokeswoman said the party was declared as an out of control gathering and youths were asked to disperse the venue immediately.

Both teenagers are expected to appear in court to face the charges at a later date.
Thomas Giglio, 39 (pictured), of Massapequa, New York, was arrested early Saturday at his home after 'discharging large professional fireworks' for his wedding party

A New York groom was arrested at his own wedding after putting on a fireworks display for his guests on Saturday.

Thomas Giglio, 39, of Massapequa, was arrested and charged with possession of fireworks after setting off professional pyrotechnics at a crowded party at his home.

Nassau County police officers responded to a home on Riverdale Avenue at about 12.13am after receiving noise complaints for 'a large loud party with fireworks'.

When they arrived at the Long Island house, they found 'a large wedding party along with large professional fireworks being discharged', according to a news release.

Giglio told the officers that the fireworks were for his wedding party, and was subsequently taken into police custody.

He is scheduled to be arraigned in the First District Court in Hempstead on Saturday. Attorney information for Giglio was not immediately available.

Police found 49 pyrotechnic mortars, a pyrotechnic display cake and numerous firecrackers when investigating the area, according to the news release, along with various other pyrotechnic displays that had already been used.

The Nassau County Arson Bomb Squad also responded to the home and secured the remaining fireworks, police said.

Fireworks are illegal in the state of New York, but some counties have opted to legalize sparklers for those who are over the age of 18.

Sparklers, as defined by Homeland Security and Emergency Services for New York, are 'ground-based or handheld devices that produce a shower of colored sparks and/or a colored flame, audible crackling or whistling noise and smoke'.

The sparklers must be handheld or be mounted on a base or spike.
A flight attendant was arrested after an international flight for grand theft in Florida.

The Delta Airlines attendant was arrested at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport when the plane landed Friday.

The arrest was not related to any on-flight activity or conduct, Delta said.

The arrest was made because of an outstanding warrant for grand theft in the third degree in Orange County, Florida.

The flight attendant, who has not been identified, was on Delta Flight 99 from Paris to Detroit.

A Delta Airlines flight attendant was arrested after landing in Detroit Metropolitan Airport, pictured in 2016, on Friday. The attendant was arrested because of an outstanding warrant for grand theft in Orange County, Florida

When the plane landed in Detroit, the attendant was 'taken into custody,' a Delta spokesperson said.

The attendant is now awaiting extradition to Florida.

'There is no indication that this action was related to crew, passenger or aircraft safety or security of this flight,' Delta said, according to ABC News.

US Customs and Border Protection also confirmed the arrest.

'Earlier today, CBP officers working at the Detroit Metro Wayne County Airport arrested a flight attendant on an active warrant for grand theft in the third degree from Orange County, Florida,' a statement from Customs and Border Control said.

'The flight attendant was turned over to the Wayne County Sheriffs Office to await extradition to Florida authorities.'

The flight left Charles de Gaulle International Airport an hour late Friday morning.

It arrived in Detroit at 2.39pm Friday, an hour and a half late from its scheduled landing time, according to FlightAware.
An American Airlines employee has been heralded as a hero after he risked his own life to leap into a runaway fuel truck at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport in a moment of heroism captured on camera.

The refueling truck was laden with flammable liquid and apparently when it began careening out of control at DFW - potentially leading to disaster.

'A fuel truck is basically a bomb. It's got a tank in the back with thousands of gallons of gasoline, very volatile,' retired airline pilot Denny Kelly told Fox 4 News.

'This guy's a hero as far as I'm concerned. That could've been a disaster.'

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Hero: American Airlines worker Darren Carbone (in red circle) is seen sprinting up to an out-of-control fuel truck in Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. He stopped the truck before it could crash

Darren Carbone, who has been an employee of American for 29 years, was guiding a plane away from the gate at Concourse C when he spotted the truck rolling away.

Without thought for his own safety, Carbone sprinted towards the vehicle and leaped on board to stop it.

The footage shows another truck almost being struck by the truck as it rolls off, a split second before Carbone stops it.

'What he did was absolutely the right thing for him to do,' Kelly said.

'And the truck - as it goes, it's building up speed. If he hadn't had stopped it, it could very easily have run into an airplane full of people.'

Carbone, who is also a musician in the DFW area, was not directly quoted by Fox 4, but told a reporter he was just doing what he had to do.

He added that he was just grateful no one was hurt in the incident.

In a statement, American Airlines said 'We applaud our team member's quick thinking and action to prevent any injury to personnel as well as damage to aircraft or other property at our largest hub.'

It said an investigation is currently underway by the fuel vendor to work out how and why the truck was set in motion without a driver.

It is unclear when the incident occurred.
A Brisbane bottle shop has been subject to a bizarre robbery as thieves armed with just a mobile phone managed to run off with hundreds of dollars.

Two men entered a bottle shop in Calamvale at 8.30pm on Friday evening and immediately began filming themselves and the shopkeeper as they looked to buy alcohol.

They then told the shopkeeper to stay calm while threatening him and ordered him to hand over the money from the register, Nine News reports.

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A Brisbane bottle shop has been subject to a bizarre robbery as thieves armed with just a mobile phone managed to run off with hundreds of dollars

Two men entered a bottle shop in Calamvale at 8.30pm on Friday evening and immediately began filming themselves and the shopkeeper as they looked to buy alcohol

One of the men (right) made attempts to distract the employee while pouring alcohol into a bottle while his accomplice continued to film

The male attendant complied with the request, handing over several hundred dollars as the men fled the shop on foot.

CCTV footage captured the incident as it appears one man made attempts to distract the employee while pouring alcohol into a bottle while his accomplice continued to film.

The off-the-wall tactics from the two men then saw one of them offer payment for alcohol before taking the money.

Police are yet to track down the alleged offenders while making attempts to find a copy of the men's video, which they believe may be on social media.
President Donald Trump assailed North Korea as a 'problem and menace' Saturday as he met with Asian allies on the sidelines of an international summit to build consensus on next steps after the North's recent test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

'Something has to be done about it,' Trump said as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a separate meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump said the two were tackling 'the problem and menace of North Korea.'

Abe, speaking through a translator, noted that the security situation in the Asia Pacific region has become 'increasingly severe' due to North Korea's push to develop its ballistic missile and nuclear program. Abe said he wanted to 'demonstrate the robust partnership as well as the bonds' between Japan and the U.S. on the issue.

North Korea's successful test launch of an ICBM was a major milestone in its long-term effort to build a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead to attack the United States.

The extensive slate of meetings with Abe, Xi, British Prime Minister Theresa May and others came on the final day of the annual Group of 20 summit, which has been marked by violent demonstrations by anti-globalization activists.

'Something has to be done about it,' Trump said as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping

In a separate meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump said the two were tackling 'the problem and menace of North Korea.'

North Korea's successful test launch of an ICBM was a major milestone in its long-term effort to build a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead to attack the United States.

North Korea has been a major topic of discussion, and the White House said earlier that the U.S., South Korea and Japan were pressing for additional measures against North Korea to demonstrate the 'serious consequences' for its latest provocations.

The three nations have been calling for 'early adoption' of a new U.N. Security Council resolution and additional sanctions to demonstrate to Pyongyang the consequences of its actions.

Bringing China on board is a key part of the plan. The White House has tried to pressure Beijing to rein in the North, a major trading partner, to halt Kim Jong Un's development of nuclear weapons before they have the ability to threaten the U.S. homeland.

The administration wants China to fully enforce international sanctions intended to starve Pyongyang of revenue for its nuclear and missile programs. But Trump has been frustrated by the amount of progress.

Earlier in the week, he vented on Twitter that trade between China and North Korea had grown nearly 40 percent at the start of 2017. 'So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!'

Trump officials said later that the president hadn't given up on the relationship.

Trade was also a key part of the discussions. The Trump administration is investigating the possibility of putting new barriers on steel imports based on national security considerations, a move that could target China, which has flooded international markets with cheap steel exports.

The White House has tried to pressure Beijing to rein in the North, a major trading partner, to halt Kim Jong Un's development of nuclear weapons

This graphic shows what the trajectory of the Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile would be. Some experts say the blast could hit Alaska and parts of Canada

Meeting with May, the British leader, Trump pointed to their 'special relationship,' and said the two countries were working on a trade agreement.

May was the first foreign leader to visit Trump at the White House and he told her he would soon 'be going to London' once details were worked out. Independent trade negotiations between the two countries are a possibility as Britain exits the European Union  a move Trump has supported.

Earlier, Trump said Saturday he had a 'tremendous meeting' with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, his first comments on the high-profile talks with the Russian leader. Trump raised the issue of Russia's meddling in the 2016 elections and discussed plans for a cease-fire agreement in Syria.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump and Putin had a 'robust and lengthy' discussion about Russian election interference but Putin denied any involvement. His Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said Trump had accepted Putin's assurances that Russia didn't meddle in the U.S. election  a characterization that the U.S. disputed.

'I think the president is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point,' said Tillerson, who took part in the meeting along with Lavrov.

The administration wants China to fully enforce international sanctions intended to starve Pyongyang of revenue for its nuclear and missile programs.

Russian officials sought to address the conflicting accounts. Asked about the discrepancies on Saturday, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov joked, 'Trust Lavrov. I don't work for Tillerson.'

Trump also joined a women's entrepreneurial finance event, a project spearheaded by his daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump.

Ivanka Trump and the World Bank rolled out a new fund that aims to help female entrepreners access capital, financing and other support. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative fund had so far raised $325 million from various governments.

Trump lauded his daughter's efforts to help female entrepreneurs, joking that 'if she weren't my daughter, it would be so much easier for her.'

Trump planned to return to Washington on Saturday evening after the conclusion of the annual G-20 meetings. He won't be stateside for long: The president is scheduled to return to Europe next week to attend Bastille Day celebrations in Paris.
Bill Maher is once again under fire for a racially-charged joke, this time taking aim at Koreans.

In response to growing tensions between the US and North Korea, the Real Time host tweeted on Friday: 'This N Korean thing is getting tense! I mean, I think it is, I'm on vaca. The ladies at my nail salon are freaking out, that's what I know!'

The comment came just a month after Maher sparked outrage when he called himself a 'house n****' on his HBO show.

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Bill Maher sent out the provocative tweet on Friday afternoon, immediately sparking outrage

The Real Time host (pictured, on the HBO Winter 2007 TCA Press Tour), 61, has come under fire for purporting a stereotype that Koreans work as nail salon staff

The tweet sparked outrage at the stereotype of Asian Americans holding jobs in nail salons.

'[Because] Koreans work at nail salons! Hahahahahaha,' wrote one user.

'This literally reads like a Trump tweet,' said another.

One Twitter user went so far as to take a screenshot of 'how to delete a Tweet' and sent it to the talk show host.

Representatives for Maher and HBO did not immediately respond to request for comment about his North Korea joke.

This is hardly the first time the comedian has been the source of controversy.

On June 2, Maher interviewed Republican Senator Ben Sasse on his show, during which Sasse invited the 61-year-old to his home state of Nebraska and joked about Maher joining him on the farming fields.

'We'd love to have you work in the fields with us,' Sasse said.

Maher hit back: 'Work in the fields? Senator, I'm a house n*****.'

Sasse was the first to apologize on the following morning, saying he should have spoken up when Maher made the comments. Soon after, HBO issued a statement slamming the TV host's 'inexcusable and tasteless' comments.

The 'offensive' tweet came one month after Maher referred to himself as a 'house n****' on his HBO show while interviewing Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska (pictured)

Maher was previously criticized for inviting Alt-Right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulous onto his show earlier this year (above)

But Maher was the last to apologize - almost 17 hours after his racial slur aired on TV.

'Friday nights are always my worst night of sleep because Im up reflecting on the things I should or shouldnt have said on my live show,' Maher said in a statement Saturday afternoon.

'Last night was a particularly long night as I regret the word I used in the banter of a live moment. The word was offensive and I regret saying it and am very sorry.'

At one point, Maher said that comedians like him 'are a trained thing that tries to get a laugh. That's what we...And sometimes we transgress a sensitivity point.'

In May, Maher was criticized for making an incest joke about Ivanka Trump and her father during his show.

He was speaking to New York magazine reporter Gabriel Sherman when he said: 'What do you make of Ivanka and her efforts to sort of humanize her father? We see all this misogyny at Fox News, we see it in Donald Trump himself. A lot of us thought, Ivanka is gonna be our saving grace.'

But the political commentator then took it a step further and mimicked Ivanka performing a sex act on her father.

'When he's about to nuke Finland or something, she's gonna walk into the bedroom and - "Daddy, DaddyDon't do it, Daddy",' Maher said.

'Is that how you see Ivanka?' Maher asked Sherman who, red-faced, replied: 'No.'
US President Donald Trump found himself alone at the G20 summit over climate change, as the other 19 members described the Paris climate accord as 'irreversible'.

Theresa May said she was dismayed about Mr Trump's decision to pull out of the international agreement although she remains hopeful the UK's close ally may rejoin the accord.

The Prime Minister said she has urged the president to rejoin the agreement and raised it with him on the sidelines of the G20 gathering in Hamburg, although it was not one of the items on the agenda in the formal meeting between the two leaders.

Theresa May meets U.S President Donald Trump during the G20 summit on July 8, 2017 in Hamburg

The German Chancellor said decisions at the summit had been difficult, but said leaders had achieved 'good results'

She said: 'Like other world leaders here, I am dismayed at the US decision to pull out of the Paris agreement and I have urged President Trump to rejoin the Paris agreement.

'The UK's own commitment to the Paris agreement and tackling global climate change is as strong as ever.'

Challenged on why she had not used her bilateral meeting with the US president to tackle him on the issue, she said: 'I did bring the issue of the climate change agreement up with President Trump, I've had a number of conversations with him over the time I have been here at the G20.

'When I brought it up with him, what I did was I encouraged him to bring the United States back into the Paris agreement.

'I continue to hope that is exactly what the United States will do.'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel today described the US position as 'regrettable'.

She told reporters at the end of the two-day meeting: 'I think it's very clear that we could not reach consensus, but the differences were not papered over, they were clearly stated.'

Merkel described the decision by Donald Trump to leave Paris agreement on climate change as 'regrettable'

Merkel said she does not agree with British Prime Minister Theresa May, who yesterday claimed Washington could decide to return to the agreement, which aims to lower emissions of greenhouse gases.

At a closing press conference, Mrs May underlined the UK's commitment to the climate change deal.

'Not only will this protect the environment for future generations, it will keep energy affordable and maintain a secure and reliable supply in order to protect the interests of businesses and consumers,' she said.

'We play a leading role internationally and we are delivering on our commitments to create a safer, more prosperous future for us all.'

Critics of the US policy highlighted the splits within the international community, saying there was now a G19 committed to the Paris deal with Mr Trump on the outside.

But conservation groups demanded faster action to end the use of fossil fuels.

Greenpeace International executive director Jennifer Morgan, said: 'The G19 held the line, defending the Paris Agreement against Trump's backward decision to withdraw, but that is not enough.

'The G19 should have committed to accelerate the transformation away from coal, oil and gas. If Paris was the starting point, Hamburg must sow the seeds of much greater ambition.

'Millions of people suffering from the impacts of climate change are demanding urgent action to end the age of coal, oil and gas. To put words into action, the G19 must now accelerate the clean energy transition and set sail from Hamburg with an agenda of change.'

Pictured: Donald Trump waving as he boards Air Force One following the G20 summit in Hamburg

WWF climate and energy spokesman Manuel Pulgar-Vidal said: 'Implementing the Paris Agreement is in the interest of each nation.

'Effective climate strategies can help unlock new business and employment opportunities, renewable energy, health benefits, and a sustainable future for all.

'As G20 leaders join cities, companies and individuals around the globe in committing toward a climate-safe future, it must be crystal clear that there is no place for fossil fuels in this scenario. We can be stronger together for climate but we need to translate ambition into action now.'

Scientists believe these are responsible for global warming.

France's President Emmanuel Macron said he has not given up on Trump changing his mind on leaving the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord.

Saying that he 'never gives up hope on convincing' others, the French leader added that 'therefore I confirm that I hope to convince him'.

Leaders of the 20 largest economies in the world, including Trump, did reach a common statement about the other contentious issue at the summit - trade.

The statement retains the G-20's longstanding rejection of protectionism.

But it also acknowledged that trade must be mutually beneficial and that countries can use 'legitimate' trade defenses to protect workers and industries against being taken advantage of by trade partners.

Merkel said discussions at the summit today had been 'difficult', but said leaders had achieved 'good results in some areas'.

She said: 'I can only call things as they are.'

She pointed to a hard-won agreement on trade, one in which she said 'every word was weighed'.
A Sudanese father who came to Australia 12 years ago on a humanitarian visa will be deported soon by the authorities for his involvement in a seven-year crime spree.

The Daily Telegraph reports that 'NHHV' was given the ultimatum from the New South Wales administration appeals tribunal on Saturday after his appeal to continue staying in Australia was rejected.

The 24-year-old father-of-three was handed down the judgement following what the judge described as an 'unrelenting crime wave' over the last several years.

A Sudanese man will soon be deported to his home country for committing numerous crimes over a period of seven years (stock image)

In that time, he father had also earned eight Apprehended Violence Orders (AVOs) to his name, with one involving his pregnant ex-partner.

Despite pleading with authorities to allow him to stay, the tribunal was firm to send the father back to his home country.

His three children will be allowed to remain in Australia.

The New South Wales tribunal has decided to deport the man back to Sudan (stock image)

In his defense, the man argued that he deserved a second chance as he was 'actually a nice guy'.

The man emigrated with his mother and siblings years ago and had based themselves in Orange, New South Wales.
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They officially tied the knot in a low-key official ceremony at the city hall on Thursday.

But today, Prince Ernst August Jr. of Hanover and his Russian fashion designer bride Ekaterina Malysheva pulled out all the stops in a lavish ceremony at Hanover Market Church.

The ceremony featured a traditional guard of honour, along with a horse-drawn carriage that looked like it had come out of a fairy tale.

The couple, who have been together for six years, enjoyed a lavish ceremony at the Hanover Market Church

There was a traditional guard of honour for the newlyweds, who both work in London. Ekaterina is a fashion designer while Ernst is a banker

The couple had 'officially' tied the knot on Thursday in a low-key civil ceremony in the town hall

However this was a chance for the couple to show off their royal regalia and tradition

Ekaterina Malysheva, who runs the popular clothing line EKAT, looked absolutely stunning in her white bridal dress, fashioned by Swiss designer Sandra Mansour

The ensuing celebrations are set to be a society event, featuring a reception and dinner held between two of the Hanover family castles in Western Germany.

The guests will first head to the castle Herrenhauser for a reception before a lavish dinner at Marienburg Castle.

Banker Prince Ernst, 33, and his 31-year-old bride Ekaterina, have been together for nearly six years and live together in London.

The bride looked absolutely stunning in her bridal gown, fashioned by Sandra Mansour, a Swiss desinger.

Ekaterina also runs her own clothing line, EKAT, which counts stars including Sienna Miller and Rita Ora among its fans.

The talented creative was born in Russia but grew up in Prague.

She moved to the UK at the age of 19 to study at the London College of Fashion before going on to start her own business.

The pair await their horse-drawn carriage outside outside Hanover Market Church in central Germany

Adoring crowds line the street to get a glimpse at their new princess, who was born in Russia but grew up in Czechslovakia

The couple will then travel to a reception and dinner held between two of the Hanover family castles in Western Germany

The fairy-tale marriage, however, was slightly marred by the refusal of Prince Ernst's father to give his blessing

The newly-weds share a loving kiss as they leave the ceremony in the horse-drawn carriage

Ekaterina waves to the cheering crowd as the newly-weds drive through the city in a horse-drawn carriage

The reported refusal of Prince Ernst-August V to give his blessing to the marriage has undoubtedly cast a shadow over the otherwise celebratory atmosphere.

The 63-year-old has refused to give the union his blessing since Prince Ernst proposed to Ekaterina during a family holiday in Greece.

The older Prince is said to want properties and titles he gifted to his son signed back over into his possession, including the iconic Marienburg castle, where the wedding dinner will be held.

The Prince heads up the royal House of Hanover, which provided monarchs to Great Britain from 1714 to 1901. His mother-in-law is the famed Hollywood icon Grace Kelly.

However the Prince also has a chequered past. In 1999 he allegedly assaulted a journalist as he returned from a charity gala. And in 2000 he caused a public row by urinating on the Turkish Pavilion at the Expo 2000 event in Hanover.

Plenty of Europe's royalty were present for the nuptials. Pictured, Prince Christian of Hanover and his fiancee Alessadra de Osma

Prince Andrea Casriraghi of Monaco along with his wife Satiana Santo Domingo daughter India Casiragh (left). Prince Georg Friedrich Ferdinand Prince of Prussia and his wife Princess Sophie of Prussia (right)

Princess Alexandra of Hanover (centre left) looks overjoyed as she exits for the wedding
The family of desperately ill Charlie Gard have posted a defiant tweet to their supporters as doctors consider new evidence saying: 'The fight is not over.'

It comes after hundreds of wellwishers urged Donald Trump to visit the boy in hospital following his tweet earlier this week backing the youngster's family.

The US President risked a diplomatic row by declaring America's support for saving Charlie Gard racking up thousands of retweets and likes within minutes of being posted.

Pope Francis also called for the parents of the baby to be allowed to 'accompany and treat their child until the end'.

Chris Gard and Connie Yates released this new picture of their son Charlie and are 'overwhelmed' after Donald Trump and the Pope offered their support

Connie Yates and Chris Gard are also expected to join supporters in delivering a petition with more than 350,000 signatures to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) on Sunday.

The family were joined by an American pastor who travelled to the UK to pray at Charlie's bedside and tweets from the campaign account suggested he had initially not been allowed on the neonatal intensive care unit, which also cares for other seriously ill infants.

But Patrick Mahoney, a pastor at the Church on the Hill in Washington DC, later said he had been able to pray 'for a miracle' alongside the parents.

Now members of the so-called Charlie's Army have said they will protest to encourage Mr Trump to go to Great Ormond Street Hospital after he revealed today that that he plans to visit the UK soon.

Ana Belen Suarez Queiro wrote on Facebook: 'He should go... absolutetly! And give him the citizenship and flight to the States and end this agony for this family!'

Chris Gard and Connie Yates are spending the last days of their ten-month-old son Charlie's life with him at hospital in London

Another, named Dan Drouin, said: 'I'm hoping he will visit them and help somehow.'

Others called for protesters to wave banners and signs at Heathrow Airport in a bid to catch the President's attention.

Earlier this week he joined the Pope in vowing to help the desperately ill baby boy as British doctors prepare to withdraw his life-support.

The Vatican said the Pope 'is following with affection and sadness the case of little Charlie Gard and expresses his closeness to his parents'.

They added: 'For this he prays that their wish to accompany and treat their child until the end is not neglected'.

Mr Gard and Miss Yates are spending the last days of their son's life with him, after being given more time before treatment is withdrawn.

If Charlie is unable to be flown across the Atlantic, US medics have said are willing to ship the vital medicine he needs to Great Ormond Street and 'advise their medical staff on administering it if they are willing to do so.'

The US President previously tweeted: 'If we can help little Charlie Gard, as per our friends in the UK and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so'

Connie and Chris paid a visit to the chapel at Great Ormond Street Hospital as they continue to hope they can take him to America for treatment

The 11-month-old has twice survived plans to end his life support  last Friday and again this Monday

On Friday, the little boy won a third dramatic reprieve as doctors bowed to global pressure and gave him another chance.

After being handed fresh evidence, the hospital asked the High Court to reopen the agonising case.

The 11-month-old has twice survived plans to end his life support  last Friday and again this Monday.

Charlie's parents Connie Yates and Chris Gard said the new evidence gave him a much higher chance of survival than previously thought.

Clinicians from the Bambino Gesu paediatric hospital's neurosciences department said tests in mice and patients with a similar, but not the same, genetic condition as Charlie had shown 'dramatic clinical improvements'.

Charlie inherited the faulty RRM2B gene from his parents, affecting the cells responsible for energy production and respiration and leaving him unable to move or breathe without a ventilator. The therapy is not a cure.

Under a High Court ruling, GOSH is forbidden from allowing Charlie to be transferred for nucleoside therapy anywhere.

GOSH also points out that the ruling calls for Charlie's artificial ventilation to be withdrawn and he should receive palliative care only.

GOSH said it will now be for the High Court to make its judgment on the facts and it is acting in Charlie's best interests.

They describe his condition as exceptionally rare, with catastrophic and irreversible brain damage.

Previous legal attempts by Charlie's parents failed as judges in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in London ruled in favour of GOSH doctors, while the European Court of Human Rights declined to hear the couple's appeal.

Charlie's case will be heard by Mr Justice Francis on Monday at 2pm, according to a High Court listing.
John Sylvester Young (pictured), 29, was sentenced to 11.5 to 23 months in jail for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old bridesmaid

A 29-year-old groomsman has been jailed for sexually assaulting the 15-year-old bridesmaid he escorted at a Pennsylvania wedding.

John Sylvester Young pleaded guilty last week to statutory sexual assault and corruption of minors.

The plea came after prosecutors dropped some of the charges against him.

Young, who was a longtime friend of the groom, and the bridesmaid were paired together at a September 2016 wedding in the Pittsburgh area, according to the Tribune-Democrat.

Police say Young gave the girl, who was related to the groom, several alcoholic drinks at the reception, kissed and touched her.

Police have not said how the girl and the groom are related.

Following the reception, the members of the wedding party returned to their hotel where they spent the night.

According to police, the girl went to Young's room around 4am the next day and they had sex.

For two weeks, the girl sent Young nude pictures of herself through Snapchat, according to the Tribune.

But once the groom found out about the incident, he confronted Young, who admitted the girl had been in his hotel room.

The groom (left in a different wedding and right) immediately told police and charges were filed against Young in January. Young was sentenced to 11.5 to 23 months in jail by an Allegheny County judge

The groom immediately told police and charges were filed against Young in January.

The family was left devastated even more once the 15-year-old was diagnosed with the STD chlamydia.

She told police that she had only had sex with Young, according to the Tribune.

Young was sentenced to 11.5 to 23 months in jail by an Allegheny County judge.

He also must register as a sex offender for life and cannot have contact with the victim.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed his first face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, saying Saturday he thinks Trump accepted his assurances that Russia didn't meddle in the U.S. presidential election and that their conversation could be a model for improving ties between the two countries.

Speaking to reporters after the two-day Group of 20 summit in Germany ended, Putin said he and Trump had a long discussion about the allegations of Russian interference in last year's election that have dogged Trump's presidency.

The Russian leader said he reiterated his 'well-known' position that 'there are no grounds' for the allegations.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a closing press conference during the G20 summit in Hamburg

Exit: President Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, waves as they board Air Force One in Hamburg en route to Washington

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump get off Marine One before prior to boarding Air Force One

'He asked many questioPresident Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump get off Marine One before prior to boarding Air Force Onens on the subject, I tried to answer them all,' Putin said. 'It seems to me that he has taken note of that and agreed, but it's better to ask him about his attitude.'

Putin said his answers were detailed and covers his discussions on the subject with representatives of the previous administration, including former President Barack Obama.

But he would not reveal details of his exchange with Trump, saying the conversation was confidential.

'He asked questions, I replied. It seemed to me that he was satisfied with the answers,' Putin said.

Face-to-face: Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump spent two hours locked in conversation on Friday at the G20 in Hamburg

Praise: Putin told reporters that he felt Donald Trump's television persona was different to the one he possessed behind closed doors

The Russian president said that a working group on cybersecurity he and Trump agreed to create should help prevent such election controversies in the future.

'What is important is that we agreed that there should be no uncertainty in that sphere,' he said.

'We agreed with the U.S. president to create a working group and work jointly on how to ensure cyberspace security, how to ensure the fulfillment of international legal norms in that sphere and prevent meddling in internal affairs of Russia and the U.S. We believe that if we work that way, and I have no reason to doubt it, there will be no such allegations.'

Putin also praised Trump as a strong negotiator who quickly grasps various issues.

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg

'As for relations on personal level, I believe we have established them,' Putin said.

'Trump's T.V. persona differs sharply from the real man. He is a very straightforward person, grasps precisely what his interlocutor says, quickly analyzes and responds to questions or new elements of the discussion.'

The Russian leader said his talks with Trump offered a model for rebuilding Russia-U.S. ties, which have plummeted to post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and other disputes.

'I think that if we develop our relations in the same way, there is every reason to believe that we would be able to at least partially restore the level of interaction that we need,' Putin said.

He particularly hailed the U.S.-Russian deal on a cease-fire in southwestern Syria announced Friday as a step toward ending the hostilities.
A photograph has emerged of a Mosul woman cradling her baby as she seemingly tries to escape the fighting that has ravaged her city.

However on further inspection it becomes apparent the Burka clad woman is also holding a detonator.

The picture was taken moments before the suicide bomber blew herself up, with her baby in her arms, as she walked past Iraqi troops.

The picture was taken moments before the suicide bomber blew herself up, with her baby in her arms

Iraqi coalition troops ride a tank through the stricken city

The woman was walking out of a newly liberated area of the city with a group of fleeing civilians holding a trigger, bags and a young infant in her arms.

She had apparently tried to detonate the explosives as she passed the soldiers, but the bomb failed to go off until she had walked some distance away, a cameraman for local al-Mawsleya TV said.

She, her child and two soldiers were killed, several civilians were also injured in the blast.

Iraqi authorities are close to announcing the defeat of ISIS in the city whose territory has been cut to just 600 square metres over the past couple of days.

Troops are currently facing off with 200 ISIS soldiers and a selection of suicide bomber wives who are currently making a last stand in the ancient city.

ISIS's Amaq news agency reported 'fierce fighting' around the riverside district of Maydan and said its fighters 'were holding onto their fortified positions'.

The neighbourhood's narrow roads, once passable on motorcycles, are now covered with rubble and downed power-lines

Government forces backed by the US-led coalition have been trying to drive out the terror group from the strategic city since October. Pictured is one of the Emergency Response Division's tanks

'The fighters of Islamic State are collectively pledging (to fight to the) death in Maydan,' Amaq said in another online post.

More than 20 female suicide bombers hiding among civilians are believed to have detonated explosives in the last two weeks.

One general claimed they were even using their own children as human shields.

'The women are fighting with their children right beside them,' Lieutenant General Sami al-Aridi said. 'It's making us hesitant to use air strikes, to advance. If it weren't for this we could be finished in just a few hours.'

Iraqi police and soldiers were today seen celebrating in the Old City of Mosul, where officials claim victory against ISIS will be declared within hours

A picture shows a general view of the damage in the old city of Mosul

Preventing the attacks has proved difficult. Iraq's socially conservative culture means soldiers do not ask women to lift up their clothes to check for explosives as they do men.

Government forces backed by the US-led coalition have been trying to drive out the terror group from the strategic city since October.

This morning they killed 35 ISIS jihadis and wounded six others while advancing into the Old City neighbourhood.

It is thought that just a few hundred militants remain in a confined area overlooking the Tigris River - which divides the city's east and west.

Iraqi authorities will imminently announce a final victory in the battle to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State group, a US general said Saturday.

'An announcement is imminent,' Baghdad-based Brigadier General Robert Sofge told AFP.

'I don't want to speculate if it's today or tomorrow but I think it's going to be very soon,' he added.
The meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin during the G20 gathering on Friday has been greeted with happiness by some in Russia's media.

The lengthy discussion, which ran for more than two hours, caught the imagination imagination of some in Russia, particularly in the wake of the Russia-unfriendly Obama administration.

The media particularly seemed to be taken by the handshakes between the pair, which one outlet described as something 'the whole world had been waiting for.'

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Russian media was fascinated by the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at G20 - but opinions differed. State media painted Trump as an eager ally of Russia

State media site RIA Novosti (pictured) said Trump had been delayed from meeting Putin due to 'anti-Russian' forces in US politics and that Trump now needed to battle them

Some sites depicted Trump as a Russia-friendly force held back by meddling US politicians.

RIA Novosti, a state-owned news agency, painted a picture of Trump as an eager ally of Russia.

It noted that it had taken six months for Trump and Putin to have their first face-to-face meeting, and claimed the half-year 'delay' in the meeting had been caused by 'pressure from the anti-Russian American establishment.'

That establishment, it said, 'groundlessly accuses Russia of meddling in the US presidential elections,' and Trump 'must now deal with' them.

Accompanied by photos of the pair clasping hands - a key image in Russian news reports on the meeting - the article made much of Trump referring to the meeting with Putin as an 'honor', quoting it twice in one paragraph.

It also quoted Russian senator Aleksey Pushkov as saying anti-Russia US politicians were getting in the way and that Trump 'should not consult with either the Congress or the Senate, much less with the media' about the return of Russian compounds.

Russians were ejected from the New York and Maryland states in December by Barack Obama as punishment for the country's meddling in the election.

News paper Moskovskiy Komsomolets was more cagey, however, saying that Trump is a crafty businessman who wants to see what he can get from a situation before he offers anything

A separate opinion piece by the site said that the meeting 'has proven the desire of the two leaders to push the relationship from the brink and brought diplomatic success on the issue of cooperation in Syria.'

However, it noted that the situation in eastern Ukraine - in which US analysts say Russia is aiding seperatist rebels - will not be easily resolved.

Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda was elated by the meeting, gushingly describing Trump and Putin's photo-op ahead of the talks.

Like many other sites, it gleefully quoted Trump's remark about it being an 'honor' to meet Putin.

Then, it said, 'to the delight of the press, he held out his hand to Putin. This was the official handshake, which the whole world had been waiting for.'

After Putin's remarks, it said, 'the presidents again made the world happy, shaking hands for the second time. Two handshakes per minute - it was reassuring.'

Many outlets focused on the handshake between the two men and Trump saying he was 'honored' to meet Putin, citing it as an important step in US-Russia relations

Daily newspaper Moskovskiy Komsomolets, meanwhile, was more cagey, painted a picture of Trump as a pragmatist, approaching political discussions from a business perspective.

Russian representative Svetlana Lukash told the site that he looked at what he could get from someone before he made offers of his own.

The site also speculated that the long meeting between Trump and Putin - which resulted in other planned meetings being rescheduled - likely caused stress for Angela Merkel.

A sarcastic write-up in Forbes Russia said that 'Trump remains Russia's hope,' and that 'all of the [Russian] Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a fan of the US president in his uneven struggle against democracy.'

However, it also noted that 'Trump lives every day like he's on an election campaign, suggesting his promises will not be fulfilled'.

Ultimately, it said, the famed handshake is just 'clearing a glade' for possible future discussions, and that it's too early to tell now what to expect.
A series of racy emails have emerged that were purportedly sent by news pundit Scottie Nell Hughes to Fox Business host Charles Payne during their three-year affair.

The emails come amid accusations by Hughes that Payne sexually harassed her and coerced her into the relationship with threats of reprisals - claims he denies.

Fox have suspended Payne in light of the allegations, but he says her claims are an 'ugly lie'.

Allegedly sent in September 2013, the emails graphically describe a sex dream Hughes supposedly had about the pair, as well as seeming innuendos, Red Alert Politics reported.

Racy emails have emerged that were purportedly sent from married analyst Scottie Nell Hughes (left) to Fox Business host Charles Payne (right) during their three-year affair

The Fox Business host (pictured with his wife) a married father, has admitted to the affair, but denies Hughes' claims that he coerced her into the relationship with threats of reprisals

The emails, obtained by the site from an unnamed source and supposedly verified by two separate sources, are all purportedly from Hughes to Payne.

The first of them was sent at 10:31 on September 3, 2013 and is titled 'RE: Another sleepless night.'

It reads: 'You are going to need every once [sic] of energy if we are ever given the chance of lots of time and no commitments'.

The second, dated six minutes later, graphically recounts a dream that Hughes supposedly has of the pair together.

'Do you know what I keep dreaming about.. You and I in the pool My legs wrapped around your waste [sic] and you have me pressed up against the wall of the pool,' it reads.

'Skin glistening and smelling of coconut You thrusting yourself deeper inside with each push And your fingers grasping each of my cheeks. Holding me to you.'

The third and final email, titled 'RE: Tell me about the problems,' is dated September 7, 2013.

It concerned interactions between the pair, according to Red Alert Politics, and read: 'That is the ideal way to start a Saturday or any day for that matter.'

In the emails, Hughes appears to tell Payne about a sexy dream in a swimming pool. The emails also appear to imply weekend sexual encounters

The website also spoke to Kristina Lee Hall, who worked with Hughes at the Tea Party Network and said Hughes was notorious for sleeping with men she thought might advance her career.

Hall said that on a visit to the Tea Party conference in October 2012, Hughes slept with a party organizer while Hall was in the room.

A month later Hall, at an election-night 'war room', she said she walked in on Hughes and a nationally syndicated radio DJ: 'his pants were undone, half of her clothes were off, his hair was disheveled.'

Red Alert Politics claimed that it spoke to six other sources who either confirmed these details or said they were not surprised by them.

Scottie Nell Hughes and her manager, Michael Sanchez, have been contacted for comment but have yet to reply.

Payne was put in the spotlight on Thursday after it emerged he had been suspended from Fox Business, where he hosts Making Money, amid sexual harassment claims.

On Friday his accuser was revealed to be Hughes, who had appeared on Fox and CNN as an unpaid analyst and, latterly, Trump supporter.

The pair - who are both married - had a three-year affair stretching from 2013-2015, which was confirmed by Payne on Wednesday.

But he referred to the claims of harassment on Twitter as 'an ugly lie I vehemently deny to my core,' adding: 'There is a mountain of proof that also proves its a lie.'

The Fox host also said he 'will fight this like a lion armed with truth. Thanks so much to all those that have reached out in support. #FightingBack.'

Their relationship was well-known within Fox News circles, ten sources told the Huffington Post.

On Friday Payne made a series of tweets in which he refuted the claims made by Hughes

He claimed they were an 'ugly lie' and said he had a 'mountain of proof' to back him up

He promised to 'fight this like a lion armed with the truth'

Hughes is best known for her pro-Trump appearances on CNN during last year, when she made a string of gaffes, including referring to Molotov cocktails as 'Mazel Tov cocktails'.

But she also worked as an unpaid guest commentator on Fox from 2013-2016 - during which time she struck up an affair with the married father, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Hughes and her husband, Chris (both pictured), have two children. She reportedly hoped her relationship with Payne would get her a permanent place on Fox

They barely hid their illicit encounters, apparently sharing a hotel room at a May 2015 company trip to the Money Show in Las Vegas, sources told The Huffington Post.

Payne, who was hosting Making Money With Charles Payne at the event, disappeared with Hughes for 'hours' at one point, the sources claimed.

And Hughes, who is also married, attended Payne's birthday party at his home in 2015, where the pair's behavior reportedly made Payne's wife uncomfortable.

Hughes now claims that she was coerced into the relationship with threats of reprisals.

But she also told her lawyer that she had stayed in the relationship because she thought he would help her land a permanent position at the network, sources told the Times.

Hughes tried to talk about the situation with former head of programming Bill Shine, who left Fox News this May - but to no avail, her lawyer says.

She eventually reported the affair to Fox's law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, when it ended in 2015, telling them of the threats she had allegedly received.

She says that led to her being blackballed from the show.

Sources say Hughes (not pictured) was blackballed after Payne's (center) wife saw them together at his birthday party and told ex-Fox exec Bill Shine of her concerns

But according to the Huffintgon Post, the channel stopped bringing her in after Payne's wife - upset by the pair's behavior at his birthday party - told Shine.

He then barred her from appearing on Fox News or Fox Business, multiple insiders said, despite her vehement support for Trump making her an ideal fit for the channels.

Hughes' lawyer is now preparing a legal complaint against Fox News and Payne.

Payne, a married father, acknowledged to the extramarital affair on Wednesday.

'I would like to extend an apology to my family and friends for having been involved in a romantic affair that ended two years ago,' he said in a statement to the National Enquirer.

However, Payne's s lawyer told the Los Angeles Times that his client 'categorically denies' any acts of sexual harassment against Hughes.

Fox Business recently renewed Payne's contract.

A spokesman for the channel said that the company takes 'issues of this nature extremely seriously and have a zero-tolerance policy for any professional misconduct.'

He added: 'This matter is being thoroughly investigated and we are taking all of the appropriate steps to reach a resolution in a timely manner.'

As well as departing Fox, Hughes was dropped from CNN in part due to her on-air slips.

Hughes claims Fox stopped hiring her not because of Payne's wife's complaints, but because of a vendetta after she reported the affair and alleged harassment to their lawyers

She is now national spokesman for the pro-Trump PAC The Committee To Defend The President.

The accusations are the latest in a series of allegations of sexual misconduct at Fox.

Popular right-wing host Billy OReilly found out he was fired from the network in April, while on vacation in Italy, after an African-American woman accused him of sexual harassment.

She said he would call her 'hot chocolate' when he walked by during the day, and would grunt at her 'like a wild boar'.

O'Reilly denies all the claims against him.

Ex-Fox News Latino Vice President Francisco Cortes and 21st Century Fox settled sexual assault allegations against him by political commentator, Tamara Holder.

But the biggest departure came last year when former boss Roger Ailes was forced to resign amid a flurry of sexual misconduct allegations.

He left Fox with a $60 million payout.
Not everyone, it seems, is troubled by the migrant crisis engulfing Sicily.

On one side, there are the ruthless criminal gangs making huge sums ferrying people across the Mediterranean  and now it emerges that the Mafia is exploiting the other end of the operation, attracted by the hundreds of millions in EU cash that has been given to Rome.

From this fund, including money from British taxpayers, those sheltering and feeding migrants receive 31 per day per person. Mainly it goes to hoteliers, or those owning buildings equipped to house large numbers.

It emerges that the Mafia is exploiting the hundreds of millions in EU cash that has been given to Rome to help migrants. Pictured: Migrants in Palermo

Never slow to wet their beaks, the mob, according to the authorities, decided it was too good an opportunity to ignore.

It is this money that has been made available to help the migrants that is attracting either the Mafia or people close to them, a senior prosecutor in western Sicily told The Mail on Sunday. We are investigating how some of it may have reached them.

The lawyer added that investigators will look at concerns that the Mafia rigged the awarding of contracts for the management of migrant centres.

Last year, prosecutors launched a probe into the disappearance of thousands of child refugees from state-run care homes in Sicily amid allegations of people smuggling by the Mafia.

Many of the migrants reaching the island arrive at the port city of Trapani. Last year each boat-load was greeted with heartfelt cries of encouragement and even applause. Sicilians are well disposed to underdogs and pride themselves on a warm welcome.

But now the island has become the frontline in the crisis, they look askance at new arrivals. Sympathy has worn thin, the prevailing mood has altered; the numbers are overwhelming.

Since the start of the year, 51,492 mainly West Africans and Bengalis have crossed the Mediterranean from Libya.

Another 35,000 made it to the Italian mainland and, with the human flow seemingly never-ending, the country has been turned into what one politician describes as a ticking time bomb.

From this fund, including money from British taxpayers, those sheltering and feeding migrants receive 31 per day per person. Pictured: Migrants rescued, in Palermo

As well as keeping a watchful eye on the Mafias involvement, there are two separate inquiries into allegations that refugee agencies are facilitating the lucrative people-smuggling trade.

Migrants are usually herded on to inflatable dinghies that have no hope of reaching Sicily  more than 300 miles north of Libya  even if they werent dangerously overloaded. It has been alleged that traffickers arrange for charity workers using large vessels to intercept the dinghies and rescue the passengers. There have also been claims that in some cases the charity workers are paying gangs to ferry migrants to their boats.

One source said investigators believe that if the switch takes place in Libyan waters, the charity vessels turn off their GPS devices to avoid detection by coastguards.

The signal disappears and then reappears about 20 minutes later  in other words, after the rescue, said the source. If questioned later by coastguards, the NGOs [non-governmental organisations] simply say there were technical difficulties.

Renato Brunetta, from Silvio Berlusconis(pictured) Forza Italia party, said the door had been slammed in Italys face after European countries rejected a plan to open their ports to rescue ships

Trapani magistrate Ambrogio Cartosio believes the charities are effectively acting as a taxi service and says their alleged involvement pushes the traffickers to load the migrants on ever more precarious vessels.

He added: They can be sure that after a few miles they will be picked up by the ships.

Charities such as Save The Children, which has rescued more than 4,000 migrants this year, deny the collusion claims and say that but for the rescue vessels many more than the 2,000 who have already drowned this year would perish. Such are the moral quandaries that Sicily has been left to wrestle with alone. For last week the EU, criticised for its muddled approach to the crisis, turned its back on Rome, rejecting a plea to provide more help.

Italy wanted its neighbours to open their ports to rescue ships so the number of migrants would be spread out across more countries on the Continent.

Germany, France, Spain and the Netherlands all refused and instead endorsed a plan to give funds to Libya. Renato Brunetta, from Silvio Berlusconis Forza Italia party, said the door had been slammed in Italys face.

He added: The invasion continues from week to week, the emergency continues, and our country is transformed ever more into a ticking time bomb.

In contrast to eastern Sicily, where migrants are housed in a vast camp, the authorities in the west of the island preferring to house them in small groups of around 150, thereby minimising tensions.

For a time the strategy worked well, but the huge surge in those arriving in recent months has left many overwhelmed.

Enough is enough, locals say.

A few miles from Trapani, the sleepy hillside town of Valderice enjoys enviable views over Cornino Bay.

It is here that 170 West African men  all under 30  are housed at the Villa St Theresa Hotel, where they are given three meals a day, the use of a bicycle each, and a debit card which they use to withdraw 2.20 a day.

Italy wanted its neighbours to open their ports to rescue ships so the number of migrants would be spread out across more countries on the Continent. Pictured: Migrants rescued by the Italian coastguard

Italian lessons are held each day and there is much focus on integration. Locals joke it has become a finishing school for young migrants. There is even a cultural mediator, a cheerful former topographer from Togo. I mainly help with translation and deal with any problems, says Djika Kossi.

One of the chief complaints from Sicilians is that many  if not the vast majority  of migrants arriving on their shores are simply seeking a better life, rather than, in the case of those from Syria, fleeing civil war.

Many residing at St Theresa scarcely bother to conceal their true intentions. Others offer reasons that they concede are met with scepticism by the authorities. A 20-year-old from Guinea, for instance, insisted he had to leave his homeland after his family disowned him when he converted from Islam to Christianity.

Friday evening in Valderices main square found many of the migrants sitting in the shade listening to music on their phones while the local youths circled them, giggling, on bicycles.

They complain of boredom, the poor food and of how they never expected to be held in limbo for so long while their cases were decided.

Crew members from the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) 'Phoenix' vessel help a man into a rescue boat after a wooden boat bound for Italy carrying more than 500 people capsized

I have been here a year and I was ordered yesterday that I have five days to leave the island, said Babacarry, 20, from The Gambia. I have no idea where I will go  I have no money and I dont plan to swim back to Libya.

Egsosa Enoruwa, 27, from Nigeria, swigs from a cheap bottle of brandy. The son of policeman and a teacher, he hoped to pursue a career in engineering in Italy.

I have been here ten months and I am giving up hope  that is why I am going to get drunk.

I have no friends here. You see, I do not like girls  I am a gay man and that is why I had to leave Nigeria. I was persecuted.

Initially, the town welcomed all the migrants, but an incident in May last year destroyed much of the goodwill.

A 57-year-old woman was struck on the back of the head by a migrant late at night and robbed of her mobile phone and 50. Valentin Omwanta, 25, who was later arrested and prosecuted, dragged her from the street and dumped her under a tree.

Many of the people in Valderice bought guard dogs or burglar alarms after that, said one female resident. There has never been crime like it here. In time the relationship with the migrants was repaired but now that they dont stop coming, people are getting concerned  concerned about what will happen to Sicily.
Monsignor John McSweeney, 75 (pictured), the head of St Matthew in Baltimore, Maryland, the largest Catholic Church in the United States says the church needs to be more accepting and welcoming

The head priest of America's largest Catholic church believes the vow of chastity should be dropped, priests should be allowed to marry and that congregations should be more accepting of LGBT parishioners.

Monsignor John McSweeney, 75, has been the head St Matthew in Baltimore, Maryland, for 18 years - and believes the church as a whole needs to take a step moving forward.

Echoing Pope Francis - the fifth pontiff to reign during McSweeney's time as a priest - he says there needs to be more hospitality and less judgment in the church.

One of the ways to so is to be more welcoming of divorced-and-remarried Catholics, of LGBTQ persons, and of others who have long felt excluded by the church, he told the Charlotte Observer.

With the Catholic population increasing worldwide, according to Vatican statistics, but a shortage in priests since World War II, McSweeney says he'd also support the church re-opening the door to married priests by making celibacy optional - as it was in the first 1,000 years of Roman Catholicism.

'Many men I was in the [Catholic] seminary with would be great priests today except for one thing,' he said, that one thing being their desire to get married.

McSweeney believes in being welcoming of divorced-and-remarried Catholics, of LGBTQ persons, and of others who have long felt excluded by the church (Pictured, St Matthew)

McSweeney also believes in allowing celibacy to be optional and allowing priests to marry as was allowed for the first 1,000 years of the church's existence. 'Many men I was in the [Catholic] seminary with would be great priests today except for one thing,' he said, that one thing being their desire to get married (Pictured, St Matthew)

McSweeney says he's 'concerned' many of the priests currently graduating from seminaries are too conservative and could try to stifle the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

Also known as Vatican II, the 1960s council embraced church reform, including expanding the role for lay Catholics and celebrating Mass in the local language rather than in Latin.

'The population that is the worshiping Catholic community have no understanding or history of pre-Vatican II,' he said. 'They weren't born [yet]. The same with these young priests.'

These young priests, McSweeney added, 'are trying to reform the reform...I don't endorse what they're doing to God's people.'

McSweeney points to the front of St Matthew's weekly bulletin, which calls the church 'a welcoming parish' no matter what the person's status with the Catholic Church, marital situation or sexual orientation.

In fact, McSweeney is one of a few priests who participates in celebrating an annual Mass for gay and lesbian Catholics in the the diocese.

And while he's not sure about letting women become ordained as priests, he does believe in female deacons who would have the authority to preach at Mass, baptize and perform weddings.

Pope Francis (pictured, in June 2017 at St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City) in a similar vein has called for a more inclusive church that welcomes who were considered 'outsiders' in the past, including divorced and remarried Catholics, single parents, gay people and unmarried straight couples who are living together

McSweeney is retiring from St Matthew (pictured) after 18 years and moving to Jamaica or Haiti, where he hopes to spend his retirement years living with and ministering to the poorest of the poor

And the monsignor said about 95 percent of his 63 staffers at St Matthew are women, including the churchs chief financial officer, its chief of facilities and most of its clinical counselors.

This is McSweeney's last year in the US after more than 40 years in the priesthood as he moves to Jamaica or Haiti, where he hopes to spend his retirement years living with and ministering to the poorest of the poor.

'I've had the privilege of being in many different roles in ministry...But I think I need now to to experience [poverty],' he said.

'I have a little motto: "You never say no to Jesus". And he keeps talking to me.'
British woman Janice Farman (pictured) was murdered in a robbery at her home in Mauritius while her young son was in the house

A British woman murdered in her Mauritius home while her ten-year-old autistic son was sleeping nearby wanted to return to Scotland, her estranged husband has said.

It is thought Janice Farman, 47, from Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, was smothered by the thieves, who stole jewellery and money and escaped in her car.

Police were called to the property in the area of Albion on the Indian Ocean island at about 1am on Friday and discovered Ms Farman's body in bed.

Her estranged husband Jean-Baptiste Moutou told local media that she had been robbed two weeks ago and wanted to return to the UK.

He said: 'I spoke to her on the phone and she was fine but she said she wanted to leave Mauritius and return to Scotland.

The British Foreign Office said it was in contact with local authorities in Mauritius about the case. Pictured, police tape outside the villa

'She asked me to help get proceedings under way.'

The couple separated last year.

He told local media he was in China two months ago when she told him she wanted to live in Albion 'because there are beautiful beaches'.

During the ordeal, her adopted son Gavin, who had been sleeping nearby, was tied up but managed to free himself.

He tried to resuscitate his mother and phoned one of her friends for help, according to local reports.

He has been passed into the care of the child development unit by police.

Ms Farman (pictured), who has lived in Mauritius since 2004, was managing director of PECS Data Services

Ms Farman was managing director of PECS Data Services in Mauritius.

Stephen Littlechild, group MD of PECS Data Services, said: 'Last night our MD in Mauritius Janice Farman was brutally murdered in her own home.

'Our thoughts are with Janice's family, friends and colleagues.'

Another colleague, who did not want to be named, said: 'She is the most kind-hearted lady I have met in my life. She would never hesitate to offer her help as and when needed.

'As a friend - she would help me every time I would be in distress.

'She always knew when something was wrong with me, so she would do her utmost possible, so we could go out on lunch or something so we can discuss everything and try to sort things out.'

Police have launched a murder investigation and are hunting three suspects.

The car has been found and is being examined by specialists.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'We are assisting the family of a British woman following her death in Mauritius and are in contact with the local authorities.'
Pressure on Theresa May to quit as Prime Minister grew last night after it emerged that former Tory Cabinet Minister Andrew Mitchell said she had lost all authority and should go.

Mr Mitchell, a close personal and political ally of Brexit Secretary David Davis  the favourite to succeed Mrs May  told a secret Commons dinner that the party needed a new leader.

A Conservative MP present at the gathering on June 26 said: Mr Mitchell effectively said she was dead in the water. He said she was weak, had lost her authority, couldnt go on and we needed a new leader. Some of us were very surprised and disagreed with him.

David Davis is a favourite to succeed Theresa May. Pictured: Mr Davis posing with two women wearing T-shirts with the slogan DD for me across their bosoms in 2005

The disclosure came amid growing reports that allies of Mr Davis have urged him to challenge Mrs May.

A sense of panic in the Tory high command grew last night as:

A kamikaze group of Right-wing Tory MPs said they are ready to risk handing power to Jeremy Corbyn. They believe ousting Mrs May will kill off moves to reverse Brexit  and say the danger of a brief dose of a Corbyn Government would end in disaster, and boost the Tories in the long term;

No 10 was forced to deny rumours that Mrs May, who suffers from Type 1 diabetes, is on the verge of resigning on health grounds;

There were reports that rebel Tory MPs are threatening to write to Mrs May urging her to resign for the sake of the party.

A kamikaze group of Right-wing Tory MPs said they are ready to risk handing power to Jeremy Corbyn. They believe ousting Theresa May (pictured) will kill off moves to reverse Brexit  and say the danger of a brief dose of a Corbyn Government would end in disaster, and boost the Tories in the long term

Mr Mitchell, who was forced to resign as Chief Whip in 2012 after swearing at a Downing Street policeman in the Plebgate scandal, did not mention Mr Davis in his comments at the One Nation Commons dining club of Tory MPs, of which he is the secretary.

Nor is there any suggestion Mr Davis himself is plotting against Mrs May, who marks a year in No 10 on Thursday. Publicly, he has said it would be a catastrophe if she stepped down, though he has not ruled out standing for the leadership if she quits.

However, well-placed sources say allies of Mr Davis are trying to gain support from Tory MPs to oust Mrs May, with a coup followed by his coronation as her successor. They hope to persuade rivals such as ambitious Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and soft Brexit Chancellor Philip Hammond not to oppose him on the grounds of unity.

Davis cheerleaders say that would avoid a divisive Tory leadership contest which could trigger another General Election  and the possibility of victory for Mr Corbyn. Labour are currently six points ahead in the polls.

If Mr Davis were to become PM, Mr Mitchell would be expected to make a return to the Cabinet.

Brexit Secretary David Davis arriving for a Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in January. Well-placed sources say allies of Mr Davis are trying to gain support from Tory MPs to oust Mrs May, with a coup followed by his coronation as her successor

Many plotters say Mr Davis, who unlike Mrs May campaigned for Britain to leave the EU, would have a much better chance of getting a good Brexit deal from Brussels. They fear that if Mrs May clings to power, Brexit will be watered down  or even reversed  as pro-Remain MPs and EU chiefs prey on her weakness.

One hardline Tory Brexiteer said: We have been campaigning for decades to leave the EU and will not stand by as it is diluted or derailed by Remainers or by a lack of leadership.

If replacing Mrs May safeguards Brexit and risks Corbyn getting in to No 10, its not as bad as losing Brexit. A brief dose of a Left-wing Government is not the end of the world. In the 1970s it spawned our greatest PM, Margaret Thatcher.

But the kamikaze plot was condemned as infantile last night by Tory MP Sir Nicholas Soames. He said: It is grossly irresponsible talk by people who regard ideological purity as more important than the national interest.

Most Conservative MPs and party members are determined to rally behind Mrs May. Any Tory who thinks electing a proto-Marxist Government is better than losing a hard Brexit is barmy.

Some pro-Brexit MPs say Mrs Mays lack of authority after the Election makes it more difficult for her to achieve the hard Brexit they want, if necessary by walking away with no deal. They say Thatcherite Mr Davis has no such issues.

Mr Mitchell, who was forced to resign as Chief Whip in 2012 after swearing at a Downing Street policeman in the Plebgate scandal, did not mention Mr Davis in his comments at the One Nation Commons dining club of Tory MPs, of which he is the secretary

Brexiteer MPs are alarmed by reports that suggest Britain could end up with a deal like Norways  leaving the European Union in name but staying in the single market and continuing to pay billions into EU coffers, though with little power to curb immigration and no say in decision-making.

The MPs say such a deal would make a mockery of last years referendum. Technically, Britain cannot reverse its decision to leave the EU in March 2019, although Brussels chiefs have indicated that if Britain had a change of heart they would co-operate.

Writing in todays Mail on Sunday, Mr Daviss former deputy Brexit Minister David Jones accused pro-EU Conservative MPs of hatching a cunning plot to stymie Brexit.

Mr Jones said their aim was to allow it to proceed but on such ludicrously pro-Brussels terms, we might as well have stayed exactly where we were. We will have left but not left. Just like the Eagles Hotel California, we can check out but we can never leave.

If such a move succeeded it would shatter Tory credibility for decades to come a prospect too nightmarish to contemplate.

Asked if he had said Mrs May should stand down, Mr Mitchell told The Mail on Sunday last night he would not comment on what I may or may not have said at a private dinner. A lot of private conversations are going on.

Yesterday, Mrs May was teased over her leadership prospects at the G20 press conference in Hamburg. Asked if she would still be Prime Minister when Donald Trump made his planned visit to the UK, she said: I am looking forward to welcoming him to the country.

He's a political bruiser, and I got the bruise to prove it

PROFILE - BY SIMON WALTERS, POLITICAL EDITOR

I have had a few run-ins with politicians over the years. But none has ever actually hit me physically, except David Davis. I had written something that irked him and as he passed me by he gave me a friendly cuff round the head. One of those friendly cuffs that nearly knocks you off your chair and leaves your ears ringing.

Ex SAS Reservist Davis, a Thatcherite and Brexiteer, revels in his image as a working-class bruiser with brains. If the Tories want to bury their posh image, making him PM should do it. Raised in a council house by a single mother and educated at a tough South London grammar school, he makes Jeremy Corbyn, growing up in a Shropshire pile, look to the manor born.

Daviss disdain for political correctness has not always served him well.

In his disastrous leadership battle with David Cameron in 2005, he crassly posed with two women wearing T-shirts with the slogan DD for me across their bosoms. Likewise he recently texted Im not blind to a pal amid reports he playfully tried to kiss Diane Abbott.

Mind you, its tame by Trump standards. And he defies stereotype. He once bragged to me that in his 1960s schooldays he single-handedly faced down a gang of bullies who tormented a gay boy. I told him I didnt believe him and would track down the gang leader. I did  and it was more or less true.

Critics maintain Davis is flawed. He is vain and when things go wrong, he blows up and walks away, said a former aide.

As Shadow Home Secretary, he resigned his safe Tory seat to fight a by-election after losing a Commons vote. Davis called it principle; detractors called it attention-seeking. The scars of being abandoned by your father at birth, as Davis was, can run deep.

But since becoming Brexit Secretary, he has confounded those who said his fighting talk would be exposed as bluster, earning plaudits for his cool handling of negotiations.

By the time Britain quits the EU in 2019, Davis will have turned 70. If Theresa May quits before then, some say the Tories should pick a younger leader like Stephen Crabb or Priti Patel, both in their 40s. But Davis supporters say let him complete Brexit as PM and he will step down selflessly so a young tyro can fight the next Election in 2022.

They all say that.

'Reversers' must not be allowed to destroy my party with their treason

COMMENT - BY DAVID JONES, FORMER BREXIT MINISTER

Parliament exists to reflect and enact the will of the people  not to subvert it. But amid the heat of high summer, it looks very much as if a plot is under way at Westminster.

A plot to stymie the clear, unequivocal wish of the British people to leave the EU, as expressed in last years referendum.

And it is, I very much regret to say, a plot that may yet succeed if MPs who truly respect that referendum result allow this conspiracy to proceed.

It is also a plot that would cause immeasurable damage to the Conservative Party for a generation, if not for ever.

Now, this may come as a shock to some of my fellow Brexiteers.

They may, naively, think that as Theresa May has already invoked Article 50  the legal trigger beginning the Brexit process  the leaving process is irreversible.

We either reach an acceptable deal by March 30, 2019, as I hope and expect, or we dont.

Either way, were out  based on legally prescribed EU procedure  on a fixed date in just under two years time.

Game, set and match, as Wimbledon umpires say.

But fanatically pro-EU MPs, both Labour and misguided Tory ones, too, have hatched a cunning plot.

Yes, we will leave the EU at that appointed time but on such ludicrously pro-Brussels terms, that we might as well have stayed exactly where we were. Still in the single market, with all the free movement of people that entails? Tick.

Still locked inside the customs union and unable to take advantage of a host of new free-trade deals with the rest of the world? Tick.

Still subject partly or wholly to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice? Tick.

And perhaps, most damagingly, of all, still having to send billions of British taxpayers pounds to Brussels each year? Tick again.

In other words, we will have left, but not left.

Just like the Hotel California, as rock group Eagles put it: We can check out, but we can never leave.

Of course, this deceit on the British people wont be done in an instant.

It will be done over the next 18 months, slowly and gradually.

We will be told that this vital interest means we must stay in the single market, or that this essential cause means the customs union must still apply.

But eventually, the Remainers in both the Commons and the House of Lords  or Referendum Reversers as they are now known  will have successfully pulled the wool over voters and defied the expressed wish of the nation.

Such a subversion of last years clear referendum result would shatter the credibility of my party for decades to come.

How could we ever promise to honour any Election pledge ever again? Who would believe us?

The consequence would be political chaos and, who knows, the sight of Jeremy Corbyn marching into Downing Street at the head of a hard-Left Labour government, with all its dire consequences for the country.

BUT even worse, by overturning the referendum result, we will have rendered the solemn expression of the nations wishes null and void. Meaningless.

At a stroke, we will have plunged a dagger into democracys heart.

Of course, such is the zeal of the Reversers for clinging to Brussels apron strings, that such a treason against the British people will be worth it. A price worth paying, in their terms.

As I said, some of my Brexiteer colleagues will find this scenario absurd. Utterly implausible.

But its very implausibility is what may bring it to pass unless right-minded MPs are alerted to the danger now.

It is a prospect too nightmarish to contemplate.

We must wake up now if we are to prevent it.

PS. Thinking of running against the DD, Boris? Then maybe it's time to smarten up your act

Even his critics concede Boris Johnson is a smart man... though that clearly only applies to his brain, not his looks.

While Theresa May is hailed for her style and David Davis is usually seen in a sharp suit, the Foreign Secretary has been pictured jogging at various times in baggy pink shorts, ridiculous beanie hat and shabby fleece. What would Lord Palmerston say?
Proud dad Scott Parker today reveals how he became the first man in Britain to have a baby.

The graphic designer, who was born female 23 years ago, gave birth to daughter Sara on April 29  almost seven weeks before Hayden Cross, who last week was reported to be the first man in Britain to give birth.

As he tenderly cradled his daughter last night, ecstatic Scott declared: She is beautiful and I feel so fortunate, and I think I am doing pretty well as a parent.

Scott has been living as a man for two years and is a patient at the gender identity clinic at Charing Cross Hospital in West London but put his transition on hold to have Sara.

Proud dad Scott Parker (above) today reveals how he became the first man in Britain to have a baby. The graphic designer, who was born female 23 years ago, gave birth to daughter Sara on April 29  almost seven weeks before Hayden Cross, who last week was reported to be the first man in Britain to give birth

He proudly showed The Mail on Sunday a 32-week scan which clearly records his gender as male and revealed how understanding staff at the hospital where he gave birth always called him dad.

Since the birth Scott has resumed life as a man and is continuing with his transition  planning to have an operation to remove his breasts next year. More surgery to transform other organs could follow.

The taxpayer-funded process costs an average of 29,000.

In an exclusive interview with the MoS, Scott explained that he had always wanted children despite realising as a child that he was born the wrong sex.

When Scott went to Royal Sussex County Hospital for his 32-week scan, the image of Sara was clearly labelled showing the proud parent-to-bes gender as male. Some details have been pixellated at his request

Scott, pictured above late into his pregnancy, said medical staff were wonderful about accommodating him as transgender

I did want to have my own children, and I had thought about how it might be possible with fertility treatment, but in the end I just wrote it off as something that is not going to happen, he said. I thought, Im a man now  I cant have children.

Now I have everything. I am the man I am meant to be and a parent. I want others to know they can do it too.

It is wonderful that attitudes are changing and people like me can celebrate being a parent. I am overjoyed for Hayden Cross too.

However, Scott still fears he could face abuse over his decision to have a baby as a man, and requested that his family name was changed in this article to disguise his identity.

Scott did not plan to get pregnant but discovered he was expecting after a drunken one-night stand with a male friend in August last year.

He has a partner who was also born female and is also transitioning to become a man and knows about the fling.

The partner asked not to be named, but said he intends to adopt Sara and become her legal parent too. The couple said the biological father does not want to be involved in the babys life.

Scott revealed how he begged to be called father on Saras birth certificate but was told by officials that this was not permitted. Instead he is listed on the document as the babys mother.

I'll tell my daughter I was once like her Scott Parker, pictured, as a little girl Born 23 years ago, Scott lived as a girl until 2015. He says hell be honest with Sara when shes older, planning to tell her: Im a girl who grew up to be a big boy. Advertisement

Scott said the unplanned pregnancy was the perfect chance for him to have a child before completing his transition.

He said: I didnt want to start the hormones and then come off them to get pregnant because there are no real studies of how this will affect the eggs you have and the health of the children you might have in the future. And I know that freezing eggs can sometimes damage them as well.

So this is pretty much the only opportunity Ill have to have a child free of medical intervention. It was the perfect chance.

He began living full-time as a man in May 2015. After making the terrifying decision, he cut his hair into a short back and sides style, began wearing mens clothes and changed his name by deed poll to Scott.

He also split with his straight boyfriend of three years and began a relationship with his current transgender partner.

In June 2016, he was placed on the NHS transition programme. At his first appointment he was psychologically assessed to confirm he was transgender and that he was mentally prepared to undergo the treatment. In October, he will be given a testosterone injection, which will set in motion irreversible physical changes.

Once the pregnancy was confirmed, Scott was referred to a midwife in Kent, who he described as fantastic in understanding his situation. But his first challenge came when he attended his 12-week scan at Ashford Hospital.

He said: When I turned up, the receptionist took one look at me and my forms which referred to me as Mr and assumed I was in the wrong place. But when they realised the situation they were nothing but professional.

Later in the pregnancy Scott and his partner moved to Brighton, where he said staff at the Royal Sussex County Hospital were also careful to refer to him as a father rather than a mother. His maternity card used the gender-neutral title Mx rather than Mr.

And at his next ultrasound appointment, at the top of the scan image of his baby daughter he was classified as a male patient. The hospital also agreed that after giving birth he would be allowed to stay in his own private room, rather than joining the women in the maternity unit.

PS: I wish Hayden and his baby well... but I beat him to it! Hayden Cross  pictured above last week in an exclusive Mail on Sunday photograph  was reported to be the first male to have given birth in Britain. But in fact he had Trinity-Leigh seven weeks after Scott had Sara. Scott said: Im overjoyed for Hayden. Advertisement

Everyone in the medical field has referred to me as dad since we moved to Brighton, Scott said. They were wonderful about me being a pregnant man and giving birth. I was the first they had come across so they were keen to learn and accommodate me. When I didnt want to go to the antenatal classes with women, my midwife discussed everything that I needed to know with me one-on-one basis. She was amazing.

During his pregnancy, Scott struggled with the changes happening to his body, but said he was able to cope because he knew they would be temporary. I knew that my chest would get bigger, but that I was going to have surgery one day and theyll be gone. And I might be having a lot of oestrogen now, but Im going to have testosterone eventually and that will be fine.

There were days when I felt uncomfortable with my body. I tried to cover my chest as much as possible and wear baggier clothes. But it helped that I had something to focus on other than myself. I had to love my body because of baby was growing inside me.

Ten days overdue, Scott went to the Royal Sussex to be induced on April 28. After a six-hour overnight labour, Sara was born in a birthing pool.

Scott said he and his partner have doted on their new daughter since taking her home to their modest flat in Brighton.

He spent five weeks chest-feeding, which is the term he prefers rather than breast-feeding, but stopped because he was uncomfortable feeding Sara in public. It got to the point that she was feeding every hour and I wasnt comfortable with having to get my boobs out anywhere, he said.

Scott said his mother, a mental health nurse, his father, a bricklayer, and his three sisters have all been supportive of his transition and his decision to go ahead with the pregnancy.

But he added that older relatives sometimes slip up.

They support me and love me, but sometimes they slip up and use the wrong name or say things like, Go back to mummy. And Im like, No.

Now that he has given birth, Scott said he was keen to get on with the transition. He is unsure if he will have any other children, but one thing of which he is certain is that he will be completely honest with his daughter about the story of her conception when she is older.

Ill tell her that I gave birth to her, he said.

Ill tell her that I was born exactly the same way you are now but Im a boy. Im a girl who grew up to be a big boy.

I want society to understand this a bit better so that when she grows up its more normal to say, Yes, my dad had me.

The first man to have a baby was Thomas Beatie, from Arizona, in 2007. Also born female, he went on to have three children using donor sperm.
An SAS soldier has sensationally lifted the lid on the elite regiments controversial shoot-to-kill policy in Afghanistan  the subject of a multi-million pound investigation by military police.

In the first media interview with any SAS member to take part in operations included in the war crimes probe, the former trooper admitted to The Mail on Sunday that illegal killings were an unwritten rule of our job but strongly defended the regiments actions.

His gripping account of top-secret night operations in Afghanistan comes after claims emerged that SAS members had killed unarmed civilians in cold blood and falsified mission reports.

Pictured: Afghan and Western Special Forces in Helmand Province Afghanistan fighting the Taliban. A former SAS soldier has admitted to The Mail on Sunday that illegal killings were 'an unwritten rule of our job' but strongly defended the regiment's actions

The shocking allegations emerged as part of an investigation by the Royal Military Police (RMP) codenamed Operation Northmoor.

The battled-hardened soldier told how the central claims levelled against the SAS were flawed. He said:

Unarmed Afghans were routinely killed but only after high-level intelligence confirmed their identity as Taliban commanders rather than civilians;

Over a single year, the SASs D and G squadrons killed more than 600 enemy fighters, some of whom could have been captured. The soldier insisted there was no point taking prisoners because they would be released days after being handed over to the Afghan police;

In exceptional circumstances SAS troops did plant weapons on the bodies of unarmed Taliban commanders who had been killed  one of the central accusations levelled at the SAS  but said it was the only way they would be believed, even after gathering huge amounts of high-tech evidence to prove they were terrorists;

The SAS has also been accused of falsifying reports to make it appear friendly Afghan troops had shot Taliban fighters, rather than Special Forces soldiers. He admitted this happened but said it was because they had been ordered to exaggerate the involvement of the Afghan National Army for political reasons.

Speaking exclusively to this newspaper on condition of anonymity, the soldier revealed how he took part in 200 night raids between 2010 and 2013, many investigated as potential war crimes by the RMP.

He also admitted civilians, including children, had died when operations went wrong but said: Our accusers say that some of the killings which took place were unlawful but we only targeted those responsible for orchestrating the campaign of violence directed towards British troops across Helmand Province.

A British commando fires at Taliban near Kajaki in the Afghan province of Helmand in 2007 (file photo)

We went in hard and I admit the tactics do sound gruesome, but these were bad men. We hunted them down only after their guilt had been established by a network of local informants as well as our various high-tech assets.

He also told how Taliban fighters went to great lengths to avoid being identified. They wouldnt be seen waving rifles around. Similarly, they wouldnt make mobile phone calls. They would employ another Afghan to make them on their behalf because they knew we were listening to what they were saying.

So when someone is that careful to cover their tracks, what do you do? Arresting them was pretty pointless because they would only be held for a few days before being released. So for me, the end justified the means.

How the Mail on Sunday led the way The Mail on Sunday exclusively revealed the investigation into claims of SAS war crimes in April. We uncovered how military detectives led a witch-hunt against Special Forces troops, using a computer program to check photos to establish if there had been repeated use of the drop weapon tactic of shooting an unarmed man and then placing a gun by his side to justify the killing. The story was reported by other newspapers only last week. Advertisement

As part of Operation Northmoor, the RMP has apparently gathered credible evidence of illegal SAS operations, including unlawful killings, false imprisonment and assault  but the MoS understands no soldiers have been formerly questioned. The 6 million inquiry had been expected to run until 2021 but the Ministry of Defence recently told investigators to finish their work this summer, raising fears the Government was seeking to cover up war crimes.

At its peak, the RMP was looking at 52 allegedly suspicious killings by United Kingdom Special Forces units. But it is understood this has been scaled down to just one incident in Helmand Province in 2011 when four members of the same family were shot dead by the SAS in a night raid on a village.

The investigation also found SAS commanders doctored official battle reports to make it look as if Afghan troops they were mentoring had shot dead the Taliban.

Video footage obtained by the RMP clearly revealed British soldiers had done the killing. By discovering this inconsistency, investigators thought they had exposed a cover-up.

But the SAS soldier told the MoS there was a political motive behind their misrepresentation of real events in the war zone. From 2010 to 2013, we were under strict instructions from the top of the MoD to do everything possible to suggest the Afghans were improving militarily and would be capable of stemming the Taliban tide after our departure, he said.

So, yes, they were given undue credit for successful operations. You would then get generals and Defence Ministers boasting about how well the Afghan forces were doing, which used to make us laugh. We knew how bad they were and we only took them along to put an Afghan face on a mission.

It is pretty rich for the RMP to accuse us of war crimes on that basis because they were as familiar with this political drive as we were. Afghan troops were to be made to look good.

The SAS soldier also acknowledged that after he and his colleagues killed unarmed Taliban, they occasionally planted weapons on the corpses. He insisted this was not part of a cover-up, but said that only by producing a pistol or rifle and placing it by the body could they convince Afghan police the dead had been actively involved in the insurgency.

He said: The RMP got the wrong idea about this. We were forced to take such steps because the Afghan police and courts didnt work on phone intercepts or fingerprints. Any high-tech evidence against the Taliban immediately went out the window. They would only access possession of a weapon or drugs as proof of guilt, or Taliban activity.

So yes, we carried weapons to give us that [legal] protection and the local police would note the serial numbers and we would think no more of it. I dont think we did wrong. We adapted our tactics to deal with the enemy.

The RMP knew at the time how we operated, so why come after us now? RMP officers attended the same briefings before missions when senior officers told us kill or capture  that was kill as a first option, capture as a second option, not the other way around. Before, when we did arrest Taliban commanders, they spent just a few days in custody being served tea before being released. We got fed up with that and got smart.

The SASs tactics led to huge numbers of Taliban being recorded as Killed In Action. The soldier said over a 12-month period, D and G Squadrons killed a combined total of more than 600. Victims included some of the Talibans leading bomb-makers, weapons smugglers and potential suicide bombers.

The soldier said: We killed two Taliban who were preparing to launch a suicide attack on a British base near Kajaki, in northern Helmand. Their suicide belts were good to go and I remember seeing piles of human hair beside them because theyd shaved themselves to prepare for their entry into the afterlife. I also saw the Afghan police uniforms they were going to wear, so British troops wouldnt have known they were enemy fighters.

These men were shot dead at close range and their bodies were dumped in the back of an Afghan pick-up truck. This vehicle, and the bodies, were discovered the following day by other British forces, who got quite a shock.

But there were occasions when missions ended in the loss of innocent lives and devastating injuries to children. The sights and sounds still haunt the SAS soldier, who like many of his colleagues later sought psychiatric help.

He said: Wed been tracking a senior Taliban guy who was gun-running either side of the Pakistan border, bringing in weapons and explosives for the roadside bombs  a major player. We watched him coming into Afghanistan with his deadly cargo and found the cache in the desert.

We requested an air strike and a bomb was dropped. There was a huge blaze as the guns and a lot of ammunition were destroyed. A few hours later, we were dropped off in the desert by helicopter and marched 12km to the target to assess what remained of the site. The area was heavily defended and we killed at least five enemy fighters on the approach to the target.

When we eventually got there, we heard screaming coming from underneath a pile of carpets. We pulled them back to see children who had been horrifically wounded.Years later, I cant get it entirely out of my head. While the incident was fully investigated by RMP and all UK personnel were cleared, it still leaves a terrible feeling.

An MoD spokesman said: Our military served with great courage and professionalism and we proudly hold them to the highest standards. Where credible allegations are raised, it is right they are effectively investigated by an independent police force like the Royal Military Police.

They have found no evidence of criminal behaviour by the Armed Forces in Afghanistan, have discontinued over 90 per cent of the 675 allegations made and less than ten investigations now remain.
The campaign to clear the name of Stephen Ward  the high-society fixer at the centre of the Profumo sex scandal  has suffered a major setback.

The Mail on Sunday has learned that the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has made a preliminary decision not to refer the case to the Court of Appeal.

In September 2013, this newspaper revealed that Geoffrey Robertson QC had presented new findings to the CCRC.

The campaign to clear the name of society osteopath Stephen Ward  the high-society fixer at the centre of the Profumo sex scandal  has suffered a major setback. He is pictured with showgirl Christine Keeler in June 1963

Many believe Ward (left) was scapegoated for the scandal which had threatened to bring down Harold Macmillans Government. It was sparked by the revelation that Secretary of State for War John Profumo (right) had an affair with Keeler while she was allegedly sleeping with a Russian naval attache

Mr Robertson and his team hoped the new evidence would lead either to the case being quashed or Ward being granted a Royal pardon.

Many believe society osteopath Ward was scapegoated for the scandal which had threatened to bring down Harold Macmillans Government.

It was sparked by the revelation that Secretary of State for War John Profumo had an affair with showgirl Christine Keeler while she was allegedly sleeping with a Russian naval attache.

Ward, who had a penchant for taking young women under his wing, introduced Profumo and Keeler at a pool party at Lord Astors house two years earlier.

He was arrested in June 1963 and charged with living off Keeler and her friend Mandy Rice-Davies immoral earnings.

Towards the end of his trial, Ward overdosed on sleeping pills and was in a coma on July 31 when he was found guilty. He died three days later.

Ward was arrested in June 1963 and charged with living off Keeler (right) and her friend Mandy Rice-Davies (left) immoral earnings

There remains a glimmer of hope for campaigners.

A CCRC spokesman said: We are still reviewing outstanding points. Once that is complete, the CCRC will reach a final decision.

Mr Robertson said last night: We provided the commission with fresh material and await its decision on whether the worst miscarriage of justice in recent British history can be corrected.

Otherwise, we must wait until 2046, the date on which the Government has decided the case files will be open.

Then the Establishment cover-up will end, after all exposed members of it are dead.
Donal Logue's missing daughter has been found, nearly two weeks after the actor launched an online campaign to find the teenager.

Representatives for the Gotham star announced that 16-year-old Jade Logue was 'safely back home with her family' on Saturday.

The teen was last seen in Brooklyn on June 26 when meeting a friend, causing parents Logue and Kasey Smith to alert authorities when she never returned home.

Logue had made several pleas over social media asking the public to help look for his transgender daughter and insisted she was missing, not a runaway.

New York Police said the teen was found nearly 400 miles away in North Carolina 'safe and sound'.

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Donal Logue's transgender daughter Jade Logue, 16, is 'safely back home', reps said Saturday. Jade had been missing since Monday, June 26 . The Gotham actor was active on social media sharing her image and asking for her return. Pictured: A recent photo of Logue and Jade with actor Gilles Marini before her disappearance

Logue, 51, (left) has maintained his daughter (right) was not a runaway but was missing. New York police said she was found 'safe and sound' in North Carolina

The 51-year-old's team added to E! News: 'Donal is incredibly thankful for everyone's support, and especially to the NYPD, FBI and Team Adam NCMEC for her safe return.'

Police told ABC News that Jade was found safe in North Carolina but didn't clarify if the teen had run away.

Just a day before Jade was located, Logue shared his last plea for his missing child to return home on Friday.

'Jade, cmon home, you sweet, beautiful, soul. We love and miss you dearly,' Logue posted on his Twitter feed underneath a picture of the father and daughter.

It was the latest post in a series of heartfelt messages on social media that the actor made since Jade went missing on June 26.

The desperate father had posted multiple times on social media, enlisting the public's help in finding his child when she didn't come home after meeting a friend.

In an update Wednesday morning, the Gotham star posted a photo of Jade posing with actor Gilles Marini and said: 'She is not back- that's why we want her back.'

A day before Jade was found, Logue turned to social media for a final time on Friday to plead for his missing child to return home

Logue and Jade's mother Kasey Smith were active on social media, spreading the word about their beloved missing child. Pictured: Smith and Jade

Logue said on Twitter that Jade didn't run away from home but was classified as a missing person.

He tweeted: 'Any info on JADE LOGUE, please call 1-800-THE-LOST. @john_walsh for LEOs, this child is MISSING-not a runaway- Special Category Missing.'

Logue went on to share a recent picture of him with Jade and French-American actor Gilles Marini.

He later clarified the photo was taken before Jade disappeared and said: 'This is an old picture (though recent) she is not back- thats why we want her back.'

Earlier in the search, Logue penned a note on Facebook to his fans asking for help in bringing Jade home.

'This is my daughter, Jade. It's one of my favorite photos of her taken from a happier time,' he wrote, along with a picture of his daughter with a frog on her nose.

'I love all people and have met tons, but honestly (I'm biased) there's never been a more loving, innocent, cuddly child than Jade.

Logue shared this picture of his daughter, which he said was one of his favorites of her 'taken from a happier time'

Donal wrote this emotional message on Facebook in the early hours of Sunday morning

'I love her and who she is and her tribe is strong (I've met many wonderful people through Jade), but there are some predators who swim among their ranks knowing they're dealing with sweet, trusting souls.

'We want you home Jade. Whoever knows where she is, whoever may be with her - clearly this thing has become big and crazy.

He continued: 'The net has been flung far and wide and luckily, I have dogged teams from the NYPD, FBI, and others involved.

'The point is, you may have had good intentions to help her, but I'm sure you realize that this situation is bigger than you could've anticipated.

'It's okay. Just drop her off. Let her get back in touch with her mother, Kasey, or me - we'll take her back, with hugs and no questions asked.'

Jade Logue was last seen wearing a green sweatshirt in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center on June 26. She is transgender and was previously known as Arlo Logue.

Several other celebrities, including Danny Trejo, stepped up to post notices on social media asking others to help find Jade.

The actor previously wrote a message to whoever may be with his daughter, reading: 'The point is, you may have had good intentions to help her, but I'm sure you realize that this situation is bigger than you could've anticipated'

Jade's mother, Kasey Smith, also posted a plea on social media, with the desperate mother sharing a video on Twitter.

'If you're watching, if you're able to be on social media - however wherever you're at -please know that we're looking for you, we want you home,' she said in the minute-long video.

'Jade's gender and her sexual orientation does not matter here. What matters here is there's a child out there, my baby and Donal's baby, out there missing.

'Jade's story is for Jade to tell, when and if she's ever ready to tell it.'

'And let that be hers. It's not yours, it's not anyone else's and it's not mine. I respect her but all I want right now is for her to be at home.'

Logue had his big breakthrough back in 2000 with his role in the Sundance hit 'The Tao of Steve,' and since that time has starred in a number of film and television roles.

The actor won a special jury price for his work in 'Tao of Steve' at Sundance that year.

He has been seen on the big screen in films including 'Just Like Heaven,' 'Ghost Rider,' and 'Zodiac,' while his television work includes five seasons of 'Grounded for Life' and two seasons on the long-running 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.'

Logue also appeared on the critically acclaimed 'Sons of Anarchy,' 'Terriers' and 'Vikings,' all for one season.
President Donald Trump has renewed his attack on 'fake news' after he was seemingly 'snubbed' by Poland's first lady earlier this week.

Trump was meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda and his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda in Warsaw on Thursday when she appeared to swerve past his extended hand to shake Melania Trump's instead.

Many took to social media to gleefully mock Trump for the awkward encounter, even though Kornhauser-Duda shook the US president's hand just moments after she greeted Melania.

Duda tried to smooth the incident over, tweeting: 'Contrary to some surprising reports my wife did shake hands with Mrs. and Mr. Trump @POTUS after a great visit. Let's FIGHT FAKE NEWS.'

Trump then chimed in on Saturday, replying: 'We will fight the #FakeNews with you!'

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Polish President Andrzej Duda tried to smooth over an incident on Thursday when his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda left Trump hanging by shaking Melania's hand first

Trump chimed in on Saturday, replying: 'We will fight the #FakeNews with you!'

This is the awkward moment when the Polish First Lady ignored Donald to shake Melania's hand first. Many took to social media to gleefully mock the US president

Kornhauser-Duda shook the US president's hand just moments after she greeted Melania

Much has been made of Trump's bizarre and aggressive handshakes, and his own wife stunned the world on their first international trip when she publicly swatted his hand away.

On Thursday, Trump faced yet another awkward encounter when Kornhauser-Duda appeared to ignore his extended hand in favor of greeting Melania first.

The Polish First Lady did shake hands with Trump just moments later, but it didn't stop people from reacting to the perceived snub on social media.

'Oh yes, that's amazing. Now he's going to nuke Poland though!!' one person jokingly tweeted.

'Trump stunned lol,' another wrote.

'Look at that little boy pout,' another user tweeted.'

'Best part is he realized it and looked abashed. Sad,' another added, mocking Trump's tweeting style.

Trump visited Warsaw, Poland, before flying to Germany for the G20 summit

Trump had already bashed the media at a press conference earlier that day, accusing CNN of 'covering me in a very, uh, very dishonest way.'

He added: 'But CNN and others - and others; I mean NBC is equally as bad... but I will say that CNN has really taken it too seriously, and I think they've hurt themselves very badly, very, very badly.

'We don't want fake news. Bad thing. Very bad for our country.'

Trump delivered a speech in front of the Warsaw Uprising Monument at Krasinski Square, on Thursday, where he heralded the values of the west and the threat of 'radical Islamic terrorism'.

Trump then flew to Hamburg, Germany, for the G20 summit, and headed back to Washington DC on Saturday.
North Korea may not only be developing missiles that can reach the American mainland, but they also could have the capacity to deliver multiple nuclear bombs while avoiding US defenses, it was reported on Saturday.

Images of the North's intercontinental Hwasong-14 ballistic missile shows a hollow cone-like 'shroud' at the tip, according to Business Insider.

An expert on nuclear-tipped missiles told Business Insider that that the 'shroud' seen on the missile is usually indicative of 'multiple reentry vehicles or added countermeasures.'

That means the missile has multiple, independent nukes for a payload, according to David Schmerler, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

Images of North Korea's intercontinental Hwasong-14 ballistic missile shows a hollow cone-like 'shroud' at the tip, which one expert believes is an indication that it has developed sophisticated countermeasures that would defeat US defenses

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reacts with scientists and technicians of the DPRK Academy of Defense Science after the test-launch of the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang on Wednesday

Schmerler cautions that there is 'no indication' that Pyongyang has the capability to fit multiple, miniaturized warheads into a single missile.

Still, the possibility exists that the North Korean missile could have countermeasures that would render missile defense systems moot.

Specifically, a shroud enables the missile to carry balloons that would serve as decoys against oncoming interceptors.

One of the balloons would carry the real warhead inside, while the other balloons would essentially serve the function of fooling the missile defense systems.

As the intercepting missile heads toward the nuclear warhead, it must then contend with a crowd of balloons, making it difficult to find the real warhead.

While the North has never publicly stated which  if any  countermeasures it installed on its missiles, the 'shroud' indicates a strong possibility they have.

One of the two supersonic strategic bombers, the US B-1B Lancers, (top) flies over South Korea during a joint live-fire drill with fighter jets (below) over South Korea on Saturday

The drills simulated destruction of an enemy ballistic missile launcher and underground facilities and were intended as a show of force after North Korea's successful ICBM test on Tuesday

'If you want to fit countermeasures, penetration aides, or chaff, you would need more space' in the tip of the warhead, said Schmerler.

North Korea announced on Tuesday it successfully test-launched an ICBM, saying the missile was capable of carrying a large and heavy nuclear warhead.

Some experts believe the missile has the range to reach Alaska and Hawaii and the test signaled a significant advance in the North's declared intent to build a nuclear-tipped missile that can hit the US mainland.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the test indicated a quicker than expected pace of the North's ICBM program.

On Saturday, two US supersonic bombers conducted live-fire drills in South Korea in a show of force after the North's test-launch.

The pair of B-1B Lancer strategic bombers flew from a US base on Guam and were joined by US and South Korean jet fighters to conduct the simulated destruction of an enemy ballistic missile launcher and underground facilities, the South's air force said.

The B-1B bombers conducted the live-fire exercise at a range in South Korea's eastern Gangwon province, dropping weapons in a simulated attack on a missile launcher, the South Korean air force said in a statement.

South Korean and US fighter jets conducted precision strike drills aimed at attacking enemy targets hidden underground.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the bombers then flew west, hugging the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) border between the two Koreas, before leaving South Korean airspace.

The drill follows a joint artillery and missile exercise by South Korean and US forces a day after the North's ICBM test.

North Korea has hailed the ICBM test as marking the completion of is strategic weapons capability that it says includes atomic and hydrogen bombs.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a mausoleum honoring state founder Kim Il Sun on Saturday, the anniversary of his grandfather's death, the North's official KCNA news agency reported.

He was joined by military officials who contributed to the success of the ICBM test, the news agency said.

North Korea said on Tuesday it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), prompting US experts to say the device could reach Alaska

The US and South Korea also conducted a joint ballistic missile drill on Wednesday (pictured) in response to North Korea's missile launch

On the anniversary of his grandfather's death Saturday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, pictured after the country's successful ICBM test-launch Tuesday, visited a mausoleum honoring state founder Kim Il Sun

Despite the saber-rattling, the United States and South Korea have said they are committed to resolving the crisis over the North's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile peacefully.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday in Hamburg, where the leaders of G20 nations are meeting, there would not be many good options left on North Korea if the peaceful pressure campaign failed.

President Donald Trump vowed on Thursday to confront the North 'very strongly' and said Washington was considering 'severe things' for the isolated state following the ICBM test.

The United States, Japan and South Korea agreed on Friday to push for a quick UN Security Council resolution to put new sanctions on North Korea.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit, Trump, Moon and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to apply 'maximum pressure' to counter the North nuclear threat.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, US President Donald Trump, center, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, agreed to apply 'maximum pressure' to counter North Korea's nuclear threat. The three are pictured on Thursday

Before leaving the summit, Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, right. Trump has pressed Xi to help stop the US stop North Korea's development of nuclear weapons before they have the ability to threaten the US homeland. The two leaders are pictured in April when the Chinese President visited Mar-a-Lago

Before leaving the summit, Trump took a conciliatory tone on Saturday at a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping where the leaders agreed to keep working on two pressing issues: the nuclear threat posed by North Korea and bilateral trade irritants.

Lately, Trump has expressed some impatience on China's role in North Korea - particularly after Pyongyang test-launched the ICBM.

His administration made new arms sales to Taiwan, imposed sanctions on two Chinese citizens and a shipping company and put China on a global human trafficking list. It also accused a Chinese bank of laundering money for Pyongyang.

But he showed none of that impatience on Saturday, when the leaders met at the invitation of Xi at the tail end of the G20 in Germany.

'It's an honor to have you as a friend,' Trump told Xi, telling him he appreciated actions he had already taken on North Korea.

'As far as North Korea is concerned, we will have, eventually, success. It may take longer than I'd like. It may take longer than you'd like. But there will be success in the end one way or the other,' Trump said.

For his part, Xi told Trump that stronger China-U.S. ties were conducive to stability and prosperity amid global conflicts, and had made 'new progress' in some areas 'despite some sensitive issues,' Xi said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
The figure is more than enough to give all public sector workers an extra one per cent pay rise at a time when there is pressure to end the austerity cap on their wages

Taxpayers have been robbed of a staggering 2.4 billion in the past year in welfare benefits through fraud and in payments made in error by officials.

The figure is more than enough to give all public sector workers an extra one per cent pay rise at a time when there is pressure to end the austerity cap on their wages.

Total overpayments by the Department for Work and Pensions in 2016-17 were 3.5 billion, according to figures released last week.

Officials clawed back 1.1 billion but that still left 2.4 billion lost to fraud and incompetence.

Last night, senior politicians blamed a farcical computer system for the scandal and called on Ministers to get a grip of the scandal.

Fraud alone totalled 2 billion before money was recovered  up by 400 million on the previous year.

The 25 per cent rise comes despite a dedicated anti-fraud unit being set up last year on the instructions of former Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.

The remaining 1.5 billion was wrongly paid out because of clerical errors.

Labour MP Frank Field, the Work and Pensions Committee chairman, said: They have no idea how much money they are losing. I believe the real figure could be even higher.

He claimed that the loss of thousands of jobs at the DWP meant that it simply does not have the staff any more to check up on claimants to see if they are genuine.

The farcical computerisation of the benefits system has been a gift to fraudsters and gangs who know how to play the system.

Fraud alone totalled 2 billion before money was recovered  up by 400 million on the previous year. The 25 per cent rise comes despite a dedicated anti-fraud unit being set up last year on the instructions of former Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith (pictured)

Dame Margaret Hodge, a former chairman of Commons spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee, said: It is an absolute scandal that at a time when they are cutting benefits and services, the Government is throwing billions of pounds away. Ministers need to get a grip.

In one extraordinary case, one benefits claimant who was given an extra 546,000 due to a computer error was granted 959 years to pay it back.

The DWP report said untimely and inaccurate reporting of income and earnings was the largest cause of fraud and error, which amounted to two per cent of all benefits payments last year.

Whitehall sources said 1.5 billion in housing benefit wrongly paid out by councils accounted for 40 per cent of overpayments. Ministers hope a new digital system, Universal Credit, will cut fraud by linking benefit claims to PAYE data.

The DWP said: We are committed to tackling fraud and error in the benefits system.
Placing disruptive pupils in isolation in a classroom is perpetuating a domination culture according to Maria Arpa (pictured), from the Centre For Peaceful Solutions

It has been a dreaded  but apparently harmless  punishment for generations of naughty children forced to stay in class after school while their friends go home.

But now detention has been branded a kind of violence by a Government-funded conflict expert  to the dismay of traditionalists.

Placing disruptive pupils in isolation in a classroom is perpetuating a domination culture according to Maria Arpa, chief executive of the Centre For Peaceful Solutions, which provides mediation services.

Ms Arpa, who made her controversial comments at a prestigious education conference, was awarded a three-year grant by the last Labour government to develop methods of resolving conflicts that she now promotes in schools and prisons.

She told the audience at the Festival of Education at Wellington College, Berkshire, that such punishments were designed to improve behaviour by telling pupils they should do the right thing because otherwise someone bigger than you will get you for it.

To the anger of other delegates, she added: What we are doing  and schools back this up when they use punishment models  we are making violence acceptable punishment models are violence dressed up by another word.

Ms Arpa said that in schools there was a power imbalance between teachers and pupils which resulted in injustice and unfairness.

She said this gave children the message if you are bigger than me and you believe you have right on your side, you can hurt me.

Ms Arpa, who has also worked as a Samaritan volunteer, a counsellor and a Reiki master, said pupils should develop a moral compass from the inside out, not the outside in. Otherwise, she warned, schools would produce nice, dead people who complied with authority but lacked independent thought.

Her views were challenged by fellow panellists, including the Governments behaviour adviser, Tom Bennett, who said: Boundaries set with love are for pupils benefit. Its not violence.

Another panellist, the headteacher of the school dubbed the strictest in the UK, was also critical.

Katharine Birbalsingh, founder of Michaela Community School in North London, said she had put misbehaving children in lunch isolation, when they were given a sandwich and fruit instead of a hot meal and made to sit alone. She added: When we imagine that helping a child correct his behaviour is to hurt him, we destroy authority.

Ms Arpa said last night that she had just visited a school that had adopted her methods, substituting mediation for punishments, and the head reported an improvement in pupil behaviour.
President Donald Trump's eldest son arranged a meeting between his father's campaign aides and a lawyer linked to the Kremlin just two weeks after he won the Republican nomination last year, it was reported on Saturday.

The Trump Tower meeting, which took place on June 9, 2016 and has never before been disclosed, was attended by then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort, the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump Jr, according to The New York Times.

This is the first confirmed meeting between Trump associates and figures tied to the Russian government, according to the Times, which cited confidential government records.

President Donald Trump's eldest son arranged a meeting between his father's campaign aides and a lawyer linked to the Kremlin, Natalia Veselnitskaya (above), just two weeks after he won the Republican nomination last year

The wife of a former deputy transportation minister, Veselnitskaya is best known for her public attacks on American sanctions legislation aimed at Russian human rights abusers

It is also the first time that Trump's son, Donald Jr, was known to be involved in a meeting of this nature.

'It was a short introductory meeting,' Donald Trump Jr told the Times.

'I asked Jared and Paul to stop by. We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up.'

The Russian attorney invited to the meeting was identified by the Times as Natalia Veselnitskaya.

It is the first time that Trump's son, Donald Jr (far right), was known to be involved in a meeting of this nature. Donald Jr is seen with President Trump (second from right), Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump in this January 11, 2017 file photo

The meeting was also attended by Paul Manafort, who was at the time Trump's campaign chairman. Manafort is seen above on July 18, 2016

The wife of a former deputy transportation minister, Veselnitskaya is best known for her public attacks on American sanctions legislation aimed at Russian human rights abusers.

The Magnitsky Act imposed visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials linked to the 2009 death in prison of Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year-old Russian whistleblower.

Russia has demanded that the US repeal the legislation since its passage in 2012.

President Vladimir Putin was so enraged by the law that he halted American adoptions of Russian children as retaliation.

WHO IS NATALIA VESELNITSKAYA? Lawyer known for waging harsh public campaign the 2012 Magnitsky Act

She is married to a former deputy transportation minister of the Moscow region

She is also the family lawyer for Denis Katsyv, the son of senior Russian government official Pyotr Katsyv

Katsyv's real-estate company Prevezon was under investigation by the Department of Justice at the time of the meeting

Prevezon allegedly laundered millions of dollars into New York City real estate

The case was settled for approximately $6 million in May Advertisement

The Times also said Veselnitskaya's clients include state-owned businesses and the son of a senior government official whose company was under investigation in the United States at the time of the meeting.

Trump promised a rapprochement with Moscow as he campaigned for president but many US lawmakers, including many of his fellow Republicans, have sought to take a tough line against Russia.

Kushner lawyer Jamie Gorelick said her client already disclosed the meeting in a revised filing of a form that requires him to list meetings with foreign agents.

'Mr. Kushner has submitted additional updates and included, out of an abundance of caution, this meeting with a Russian person, which he briefly attended at the request of his brother-in-law, Donald Trump Jr. As Mr. Kushner has consistently stated, he is eager to cooperate and share what he knows,' she said.

Unlike Kushner, Trump Jr does not serve in the administration and is not required to disclose his foreign contacts.

The newspaper reported Saturday, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, that Manafort disclosed the meeting to congressional investigators questioning his foreign contacts.

Ties between officials close to Trump and Moscow have drawn scrutiny from the FBI and Congress in light of assessments that the Russian government hacked Hillary Clinton's campaign to help sway the election.

Jared Kushner's (above) lawyer Jamie Gorelick said her client already disclosed the meeting in a revised filing of a form that requires him to list meetings with foreign agents

Former FBI director Robert Mueller is leading the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to hack the election.

Both Russia and the Trump campaign deny this.

In a meeting that ran longer than either side had planned, Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin discussed alleged Russian meddling in the US election on Friday but agreed to focus on better ties rather than litigating the past.

Trump, a Republican who called it an 'honor' to meet with the Russian president, drew swift criticism from Democrats at home, who accused him of dismissing US intelligence and giving Putin's denial, reiterated on Friday, of Russian interference too much weight.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters at a summit of leaders of the Group of 20 major economies in Hamburg that Trump had 'positive chemistry' with Putin during the meeting, which lasted some two hours and 15 minutes.

He opened their discussion by pressing Putin about 'the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election' and had a robust exchange, Tillerson said.

The Russian president has denied any meddling in the US democratic process last year and Moscow has asked for proof that it took place.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Trump accepted Putin's assertions that the allegations, backed by US intelligence agencies, were false.

Tillerson said they both sought to move on.

In a meeting that ran longer than either side had planned, Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin discussed alleged Russian meddling in the US election on Friday but agreed to focus on better ties rather than litigating the past

'The presidents rightly focused on how do we move forward from what may be simply an intractable disagreement at this point,' Tillerson said.

That explanation did not sit well with Democrats.

'Working to compromise the integrity of our election process cannot and should not be an area where 'agree to disagree' is an acceptable conclusion,' said US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer in a statement.

On Thursday in Poland Trump gave lukewarm support to the view that Moscow interfered in the 2016 US political process.
The Chinese government has been accused of spreading propaganda to British university students and schoolchildren.

The Confucius Institute, which operates in 26 UK universities, aims to help teach the Chinese language and promote culture. But critics say it is a 'Trojan horse' designed to spread the views of the communist regime.

Teaching materials show the disputed territories of Tibet and Taiwan as clearly belonging to China, while tutors say they are told to avoid discussing sensitive subjects such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

A Student of UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland writes in Mandarin

One former tutor, Sonia Zhao, 31, said: 'I wasn't comfortable at all. I should have had the freedom to tell my students what I really thought about those issues.'

The Institute, which also works in primary and secondary schools, is sponsored by the Beijing government. It has previously been expelled from universities in the US, Canada and Japan because of concerns over ties with the Communist Party.

The Mail on Sunday has found that the Confucius Institute at University College London (UCL) had provided the controversial maps for schools.

Former Minister Norman Baker said: 'The Confucius Institute is a Trojan horse to portray a version of the world favourable to the Communist Party in China. It is very disturbing that the party, through its front organisation, is peddling untrue information.'

Ellen Lees, of Students For A Free Tibet UK, called for an inquiry, describing the Institute as 'a propaganda machine [that] pushes a false version of history'.

But defenders of the Institute say there is little hard evidence to show it promotes propaganda or suppresses free speech. And UCL said last night: 'The Confucius Institute's sole focus is the development of the teaching of Chinese language in schools.'
Donald Trump helped to shore up Theresa Mays political authority yesterday by hailing their very special relationship and promising to conclude a powerful post-Brexit trade deal very quickly.

The US President used a 50-minute meeting with Mrs May at the G20 summit in Hamburg  the first gathering of world leaders since she lost her Commons majority at the Election  to declare there was no country that could possibly be closer than our countries.

Mr Trumps claim that progress was being made on a UK-US deal came after Mrs May faced demands from business leaders on Friday to retain trade ties with the EU after the March 2019 deadline for Brexit, to limit the disruption to businesses.

British Prime Minister Theresa May met with U.S President Donald Trump during the G20 summit on July 8, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany

The EU has told Britain that it is not allowed to strike trade deals with non-EU countries while still a member state.

But a bullish Mr Trump said: We have been working on a trade deal which will be a very, very big deal, a very powerful deal, great for both countries and I think we will have that done very, very quickly. I think trade will be a very big factor between our two countries.

A UK Government official said Mr Trump had told Mrs May he thought Britain would thrive outside the EU.

The meeting came after another night of riots on the streets of the German city by demonstrators angered by the presence of Mr Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The protesters set fire to vehicles, looted shops and hurled rocks at police, and at one point on Friday evening came so close to a dinner for the G20 leaders that the building was put into lockdown.

Trump visited Warsaw, Poland, before flying to Germany for the G20 summit

Mr Trump also confirmed that his planned state visit to London remained on course despite the uncertainty over Mrs Mays political future, although he declined to say when it was likely to take place.

Mrs May said that Britain had always been a great trading nation and would seize the opportunities of Brexit.

I held a number of meetings with other world leaders at this summit and have been struck by their strong desire to forge ambitious, new, bilateral trading relationships with the UK after Brexit, she said.

This is a powerful vote of confidence in British goods, British services, Britains economy and for British people and we look forward to building on these conversations.

The G20 leaders were deadlocked until yesterday afternoon over the final summit communique, with Mr Trumps rejection of the Paris agreement on climate change  and an insistence on including a reference to the continued use of fossil fuels  proving to be the main sticking point.

According to diplomatic sources, the deadlock was broken when French President Emmanuel Macron asked Mrs May to join him in private talks with Mr Trump and Australian Premier Malcolm Turnbull to agree a form of words.

During the summit, Mrs May also held talks with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss tackling the increasing numbers of Islamic State fighters leaving Syria and heading for Europe.

And she praised work done by Mr Trumps daughter Ivanka on womens rights.
Bishops are being urged to ditch their mitres by a senior Church of England cleric who calls them an unhelpful and unnecessary symbol of power.

The Rev Ian Paul, a member of the CoEs Cabinet  the Archbishops Council  said the pointed headgear was not required as part of a bishops garb.

He plans to call for reform on their use during a debate on vestments at a General Synod meeting in York tomorrow.

Bishops are being urged to ditch their mitres by a senior Church of England cleric who calls them an unhelpful and unnecessary symbol of power. Pictured: Former Bishop of London Richard Chartres in his mitre hat

In an online article that has received 15,000 responses, he said mitres were rarely worn by bishops before the last century and they had been revived because they had become more important in the visual media age.

Theology professor Rev Paul said: To most, and I would suggest especially the young, the sight of bishops in mitres puts them in a another world.

He said his proposal had been welcomed by several bishops.

But the Bishop of Newcastle, Christine Hardman, said: This is not a suggestion that would find much favour in my diocese.

'The staff and mitre are not seen as outdated trappings of office but as symbols of care and love.
She is one of the wealthiest women in the world, with a fortune of 340 million and an extensive property portfolio, not to mention a glittering collection of jewellery, paintings, porcelain and furniture.

Which poses something of a problem when kings, presidents and other heads of state visit Buckingham Palace.

Clearly they cannot arrive empty-handed, but what can they offer to a woman who already has everything?

Some of the gifts her Majesty has recieved from her 89 state visits to 117 countries and 188 official visits to Commonwealth countries, as well as the 109 state visits to Britain from the leaders of 61 nations

Queen Elizabeth II at Ladies Day, Royal Ascot late last month

That thorny conundrum is answered for the first time later this month at Buckingham Palaces summer exhibition of Royal gifts.

It showcases the colourful  and intriguing  collection of memorabilia from the Queens 89 state visits to 117 countries and 188 official visits to Commonwealth countries, as well as the 109 state visits to Britain from the leaders of 61 nations.

Curator Sally Goodsir said: One of the most universal aspects of the Queens meetings with other heads of state, both at home and abroad, is the exchange of gifts.

Porcelain Vases of The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh Presented by President of Uzbekistan

The exchange is a gesture of goodwill, and the gifts are both representative of traditional skills or of cultural significance and speak of a nation or cultures history and traditions.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is a mini totem pole featuring the mythical thunderbird Tsoona, which was believed to bring life and create thunder by flapping its wings.

Another symbolic gift is a Tree of Life, in which the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are surrounded by Westminster Abbey, palaces and guardsmen.

Prince George and Princess Charlotte would surely be beguiled by a Wayang Golek  or rod puppet  and a painted truck, which has a portrait of their great-grandparents in one of its windows. If all else fails, how about a club-shaped weapon  handy for keeping Buckingham Palace intruders at bay?

Which would you prefer? Take our fun challenge to guess which countries these gifts come from
Charlie Gard has been handed a new lifeline by US lawmakers who want to grant the terminally ill baby and his parents the right to move to America.

Congressmen in Washington DC propose to hand the Gards permanent residency so they can access potentially life-saving treatment, regardless of the decision of British courts in the controversial case.

High Court judges in London have backed doctors who want to turn off Charlies life-support machine.

Congressmen in Washington DC propose to hand the Gards permanent residency so they can access potentially life-saving treatment. Pictured: Charlie Gard

But it is believed the British court rulings banning Charlie from leaving Great Ormond Street Hospital can be overcome if the 11-month-old baby becomes an American.

Charlies family face another gruelling High Court hearing tomorrow after a team of international experts said they had fresh evidence that the boys life could be saved by an experimental new drug therapy.

Pope Francis and US President Donald Trump declared their support for Charlie last week. Now Congressmen Brad Wenstrup and Trent Franks will table a bill to the House of Representatives tomorrow to bring Charlie and his family to the US.

In a joint statement, they said: Our bill will support Charlies parents right to choose what is best for their son, by making Charlie a lawful permanent resident in the US in order for him to receive treatments that could save his life.

Chris Gard and Connie Yates released this picture of their son Charlie and said they are 'overwhelmed' after Donald Trump and the Pope offered their support

Should this little boy to be ordered to die  because a third party, overriding the wishes of his parents, believes it can conclusively determine that immediate death is what is best for him?

It comes after a proposal by Pope Francis to give Charlie a Vatican passport so he can be flown there for potentially life-saving treatment.

Connie and Chris recently paid a visit to the chapel at Great Ormond Street Hospital as they continue to hope they can take him to America for treatment

Doctors finally bowed to global pressure on Friday to give the desperately ill baby another chance. After being handed fresh evidence by seven international experts, Great Ormond Street asked the High Court to reopen the agonising case.

Charlie is bedridden, suffering from encephalomyopathic mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, a rare genetic condition considered to be terminal.

British judges have ruled there is no evidence a proposed experimental drug therapy will save his life.

But, after a worldwide media storm over the case, international experts presented Charlies family with new evidence that gave the baby a much higher chance of survival than previously thought.

It led to Charlies doctors on Friday requesting a new High Court hearing to assess whether the boys life should be spared.

Charlies parents, from Bedfont, West London, are steeling themselves for a long hearing at the High Court tomorrow.
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Photographs at the Kursaal conference centre feature a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of Dunkirk, the wartime blockbuster starring Sir Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy and Harry Styles, that hits our cinemas later this month.

When the Kursaal  an 1980s intrusion on the Belle Epoque parade of buildings behind Dunkirks beaches  was pointed out to the films location scouts, they shrugged: 'Not a problem.'

They turned it into a cement factory for various scenes.

Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, a wartime epic starring Sir Kenneth Branagh and Tom Hardy hits cinemas later this month

It was the same with East Mole, the long breakwater jutting into the harbour, where thousands of soldiers clambered aboard ships in 1940.

Only a fragment of the original structure remains, so the film crew simply built another one, as well as half a Red Cross ship  with model planes standing in for German bombers.

These fascinating facts were revealed by Onno Ottevengar, who has added film anecdotes to his local tours about Operation Dynamo  the incredible event where 338,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk, aided by the little ships from England.

Operation Dynamo ran from May 26 to June 4, 1940, and scenes from Dunkirk were filmed last year during the same period. In the town, charming houses were half-hidden by sandbags.

Street names, lights and paint colours were changed to fit the period. Director Christopher Nolan wanted everything to be as realistic as possible.

Nolan wanted everything to be as realistic as possible while filming, changing street names and paint colours in the fishing village. Pictured: the Dunkirk beach

What he couldnt control was the weather. May 1940 was fine and warm  May 2016 was not.

'Hundreds of extras were freezing. Some had hypothermia,' said Onno. 'Nolan wanted to show suffering and they didnt have to pretend!'

From a tiny plane, a four-seater Robin, I had a perfect overview of this fought-over land.

From 1,000ft up, pilot Philippe indicated the towns lighthouse, the vast sanatorium where 10,000 soldiers were treated, and the miles of sand with just a trace of a shipwreck  more show at low tide, he said.

Dunkirk may be most famous for the evacuation, but a sense of its history, from fishing village to the third-largest port in France, can be gleaned from the Port Museum.

Dunkirk is now as much a seaside resort, with pastel-coloured beach huts and a five-mile promenade lined with restaurants, many of which Nolan and his cast visited.

Once the place of Operation Dynamo, Dunkirk is now a seaside resort, with pastel beach huts and a five-mile promenade

At Le Bistrot de Plage, owner Michel Demeestre proudly shows photographs of himself with Nolan, who often ate there with his family.

The film, released on July 21, has stimulated huge activity in the town, as finishing touches are put to exhibitions and venues.

Most ambitious is the transformation of the paddle steamer Princess Elizabeth into a British-influenced restaurant. The ship, which transported soldiers in 1940, also stars in the movie.

We had a preview of the 1940s-inspired gourmet menu (cleverly priced at 39.45).

Presentation is exquisitely 21st Century, but the stress is on local ingredients.

One course is a trio of mackerel  the fish was a staple in the 1940s.

Just as important, said co-owner Jeremy Darme, is the drink paired with each course; for the mackerel that meant beer matured in bourbon casks.

Preparing for its reopening after expansion is the Dunkirk 1940 Museum.

The site is situated in the remains of fortifications built in 1886, and we were shown around by volunteers Lucien, Yves and Christian.

Operation Dynamo, the incredible event where 338,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated, ran from May 26 to June 4, 1940. Pictured: La Panne near Dunkirk after the British retreat

Poignant reminder: The Crested Eagle before it was sunk by the Germans in 1940 on Zuydcoote Beach, with huge loss of life

They pointed out arched spaces deep in the Flanders brickwork.

In one is a French motorbike with a gun-mounted sidecar. Remains of Spitfires and Lancasters line another.

Beside an array of British equipment  Webley revolver, tin hat, kilt  a German soldier dummy lies on a shopping trolley waiting to be manoeuvred into position.

Yves told us of a massive sand-encrusted block that was brought here from Bray-Dunes beach in 2009 after a child cut herself on protruding metal.

'It took 15 days of chipping away before I could see it was an engine,' he said. It was from a British lorry, one of 60,000 vehicles abandoned.

He told us, too, of shipwrecks and how, in 2015, a plaque was unveiled on one of the wrecks, Crested Eagle, which was bombed on Zuydcoote Beach, with huge loss of life.

Behind the desperate deeds on the coast were the heroic efforts of French and British soldiers inland, ordered to hold off the Germans.

A 100-strong garrison was based to the east at Fort des Dunes  now pleasingly picturesque.

But as Patrick and Eric, devoted guardians, showed us round, they told the grim story of destruction and death after a German bombing raid on June 2.

A 40-minute drive to the south is Esquelbecq, a village of cobbled streets and creeper-covered houses surrounding a 17th Century castle.

The cowshed in Esquelbecq, where about 100 British troops were killed, has been turned into a tree-lined memorial

TRAVEL FACTS An exhibition of film sets and costumes will open on August 1 at FRAC Nord-Pas-de-Calais in Dunkirk. DFDS (dfdsseaways.co.uk) offers return crossings from Dover to Dunkirk from 39 each way for a car plus nine people. Hotel Borel (hotelborel.fr) has rooms from 97 (85) a night. Operation Dynamo Flying Experience (aeroclub-dunkerque.com) offers a 20-minute flight for 120 (105) for up to three people. For more on Operation Dynamo and walking tours, visit www.dunkirk-tourism.com/What-to-see-do/Dunkirk-1940. Dunkirk 1940 Museum (dynamo-dunkerque.com/en) reopens on July 17. Advertisement

Nearby, 100 British soldiers (and one Frenchman) were captured by the SS on May 28, crammed into a cowshed and almost all were massacred.

British veterans returned in 1972 and the Association La Plaine au Bois turned it into a tree-lined memorial.

'Nolan came here,' said our guide, Ferial. 'I didnt know it was him at the time. He turned up on a bike in his shorts.'

She, like so many locals, feels a responsibility to keep memories alive and has assembled a small museum, including film of witness testimony and files of letters from families of survivors. Soon there will be a Memory Trail.

On our last evening, we walked along the beach from Bray-Dunes to Zuydcoote. It was low tide, and the wrecks were visible.

A couple with metal-detectors (forbidden, but the search continues anyway) prospected for souvenirs, and a few fishermen were prodding nets into pools inside the wrecks.

At last we found the remains of Crested Eagle, swathed in seaweed and crusted with barnacles, and the stainless- steel plaque.

We could just make out the etching of the ship and description of its fate. More than 300 people died.

It was a poignant reminder of the real story behind the film.
Initial reports from Lorde's exclusive Cocktatoo Island soiree on Thursday night implied that Karl Stefanovic had a boys night out with Nova FM's Tim Blackwell.

Now, it's been reported that while the Today co-host, 42, was happy to be pictured with the radio star, there was one person he didn't want to be snapped next to.

'(Karl) avoided any snaps with new girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough,' The Daily Telegraph claimed on Saturday.

Unhappy snaps? While Karl Stefanovic was happy to be pictured with Tim Blackwell at a Lorde concert on Thursday, it's claimed there was one person he didn't want to be snapped next to

The publication also alleged they were quick to leave the venue, and were 'whisked away' in a water taxi.

The next day Karl and his fashion designer squeeze Jasmine, 33, were spotted arriving at Gold Coast airport, where both of their mothers live.

They were seen strolling through the terminal, both wearing stylish wide-brimmed hats.

'Avoided': '(Karl) avoided any snaps with new girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough,' The Daily Telegraph claimed on Saturday

The fashionable pair appeared in good spirits as they made haste to the exit.

Earlier, it was believed unlikely synth pop fans Karl and Tim were simply choosing to kick back for a guys night out.

The duo momentarily holstered their desire to dance to pose for a backstage snap alongside Universal exec Ben Facey.

'Whisked away': The publication also alleged they were quick to leave the venue, and were 'whisked away' in a water taxi

Arrivals: The next day Karl and his fashion designer squeeze Jasmine were spotted arriving at Gold Coast airport, where both of their mothers live

The Today show star, with a noted love for booming pop vocals, wore a snug twill coat as he moved in for a group hug with his gig buddies.

Tim later took to Instagram to reveal that he was positioned front and centre in the mosh, although it wasn't clear if he was joined by Karl.
Brie Larson and her fiance Alex Greenwald landed at LAX Airport in Los Angeles on Friday following a fashion-filled trip to France.

The 27-year-old Oscar winner chose comfort over style for her 12-hour, trans-Atlantic flight wearing a grey T-shirt, faded black skinny jeans, Birkkenstocks, and an oxblood bag.

The Funny or Die funnywoman covered her luminous complexion with mirrored cat-eye sunglasses and styled her flaxen locks into a low ponytail.

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Hauling their luggage: Brie Larson and her fiance Alex Greenwald landed at LAX Airport in Los Angeles on Friday following a fashion-filled trip to France

It's been 14 months since Larson's 37-year-old musician beau - rocking large shades and a black leather jacket - popped the question after three years of dating.

Earlier that same morning, Brie (born Brianne Desaulniers) shared a bedside breakfast snap captioned: 'Au revoir Paris, you're magic.'

The California couple had attended the valentino FW/17 haute couture presentation at the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild on Wednesday.

The Kong: Skull Island stunner was 'passionately inspired' at the craftsmanship of her pink embellished tulle gown from the designer's resort 2018 collection.

Comfort over style: For her 12-hour, trans-Atlantic flight, the 27-year-old Oscar winner wore a grey T-shirt, faded black skinny jeans, Birkkenstocks, and an oxblood bag

Fully accessorized: The Funny or Die funnywoman covered her luminous complexion with mirrored cat-eye sunglasses and styled her flaxen locks into a low ponytail

Wedding soon? It's been 14 months since Larson's 37-year-old musician beau - rocking large shades and a black leather jacket - popped the question after three years of dating

'I needed to post this gown in it's glory, from top to bottom. I can't imagine the time and effort put into this gown. It is art!' Larson gushed to her 1.3M Twitter/Instagram followers.

'I've become so inspired by the people behind the clothes. Much praise must be given to #pierpaolopiccioli who not only creates the vision for these stunning creations but also leads his team through countless hours of teamwork.'

The Golden Globe winner will next play Jeannette Walls in Lionsgate's big-screen adaptation of her 2005 memoir The Glass Castle, which hits US theaters August 11 and UK theaters October 6.

Destin Daniel Cretton directed the coming-of-age drama - also starring Naomi Watts and Woody Harrelson - about a young girl surviving her dysfunctional family of nonconformist nomads.

Earlier that same morning, Brie (born Brianne Desaulniers) shared a bedside breakfast snap captioned: 'Au revoir Paris, you're magic'

Libras: The California couple had attended the valentino FW/17 haute couture presentation at the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild on Wednesday

'It is art!' The Kong: Skull Island stunner was 'passionately inspired' at the craftsmanship of her pink embellished tulle gown from the designer's resort 2018 collection

On December 9, Brie wrapped her directorial debut - the childlike comedy Unicorn Store - with Samuel L. Jackson, Joan Cusack, Bradley Whitford, and Hamish Linklater.

As for Greenwald, the I'm In Love With My Life guitarist hasn't performed with his indie-pop band PHASES since their November 13 concert in Miami.

Meanwhile, Alex's high school band Phantom Planet (which once featured Jason Schwartzman on drums) has been on hiatus since 2012.

Opposite Naomi Watts (L): The Golden Globe winner will next play Jeannette Walls in the biopic The Glass Castle, which hits US theaters August 11 and UK theaters October 6

Also plays Kit: On December 9, Brie wrapped her directorial debut - the childlike comedy Unicorn Store - with Samuel L. Jackson, Joan Cusack, Bradley Whitford, and Hamish Linklater
His contribution to Channel Seven's House Rules this year helped the renovation series secure its most successful rating season ever.

But flamboyant judge Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has hinted he won't be returning in 2018.

The 52-year-old told Confidential on Saturday: 'Just because something is good and something does well, you don't have to keep doing it.'

'I may hang up my judging wig': British design judge Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen hints to quitting House Rules to put family commitments first in interview with The Daily Telegraph's Confidential on Saturday

Laurence wrapped up filming a few weeks ago, and will watch the grand finale on Sunday night from the comfort of his home.

The British design consultant is based in England's Cotswolds with wife Jackie Bowen and has recently become a grandfather to daughter Cecile's son Albion Rex.

'For me the most important thing is my family so I need to think long and hard how it works for me to come back,' he told the publication.

'Just because something is good and something does well, you don't have to keep doing it': The English TV personality said while he was proud of the show's success, he had a difficult decision ahead of him

'For me the most important thing is my family': It's likely Laurence won't return due to his family, and young grandson, residing in England

The English TV personality said while he was proud of the show's success, he had a difficult decision ahead of him.

A Channel Seven spokesperson told the publication they're trying to make it work for Laurence to return, but he said: 'I may hang up my judging wig.'

Laurence was known for his charismatic-style and tell-it-like-it-is attitude towards the renovation reality star couples.

Cast: He appeared alongside Australia's leading architect Drew Heath, design expert and mentor Carolyn Burns-McCrave, style and design expert Wendy Moore and host Johanna Griggs

He appeared alongside Australia's leading architect Drew Heath, design expert and mentor Carolyn Burns-McCrave, style and design expert Wendy Moore and host Johanna Griggs.

Queensland's Aaron and Daniella will go head-to-head with South Australia's Kate and Harry for the $200,000 cash prize on Sunday.

House Rules grand finale airs on Sunday night from 7pm on Channel Seven
THE WANDERING HEARTS



Wild Silence (Decca)





Theres an appealing rawness to this debut. A male-female quartet with a folk-rock penchant, their harmonies will elicit comparisons with Fleetwood Mac, but the acoustic instrumentation looks more to country, with Fire And Water a lively hoedown and Burning Bridges a nostalgic ballad.


Her latest film, The Beguiled features an all-star cast.

But there was one actor in particular that Hollywood film director Sofia Coppola said she had to have in her latest movie.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph on Saturday, the 46-year-old shared her love for Australian actress Nicole Kidman.

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High demand: On Saturday, film director Sofia Coppola said she had to have Australian actress Nicole Kidman in her latest movie

'I've been a fan for many years,' the American auteur said.

'I had her in my head when I was writing the headmistress. Her gravitas and her humour, I knew would fit perfectly.'

The Civil War thriller based on the 1966 novel by Thomas P. Cullinan also stars Colin Farrell, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning.

The dream star: 'I had her in my head when I was writing the headmistress. Her gravitas and her humour, I knew would fit perfectly'

Playing matriarch headmistress Miss Martha, Nicole Kidman reciprocated her love for the director.

Speaking to Dominique Digital on the red carpet, Nicole recalls Sofia casually bringing over the script to her whilst she was in London working on a play.

'I read it and I called her the next day and said, "I'm in". But little does she know I would've been in for anything,' said Nicole.

Award winning: The Civil War thriller based on the 1966 novel by Thomas P. Cullinan also stars Colin Farrell, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning

The film that made its debut at the Cannes film festival went on to not only win Sofia Best Director, but her win also made history as she became only the second woman in the event's 70-year history to win the award.

'I just squealed with delight,' said Nicole.

'For her to win best director and for the jury at Cannes to recognise this film it was just such a gift from them.'
Pop diva Pink shared a breastfeeding snap of her six-month-old son Jameson playing with a make-up brush as she was getting made up by her glam squad Kathy Jeung and Pamela Neal on Friday.

The 37-year-old attachment parent - who boasts 60.4M social media followers - captioned her censored Instagram: 'Jameson can multitask too #workflow.'

Earlier that morning, the three-time Grammy winner was spotted emerging from her hotel in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood while rocking a camouflage coat and black jumpsuit.

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'Jameson can multitask too #workflow': Pop diva Pink shared a breastfeeding snap of her six-month-old son Jameson playing with a make-up brush as she was getting made up by her glam squad Kathy Jeung and Pamela Neal on Friday

It was a warm choice for Pink (born Alecia Moore) considering the 80-degree weather in the Big Apple.

The Pennsylvania-born beauty accessorized her casual attire with a curly updo, $175 Ray-Ban aviators, and large hoop earrings.

On Thursday, her husband of 11 years, Carey Hart, proudly shared an Instagram of their six-year-old daughter Willow sustaining a bloody nose while riding her bike at Velosolutions Pumptrack Brooklyn.

'Willz got her first bloody nose! Took a good slam at the pump track,' the 41-year-old motocross racer wrote.

Earlier that morning: The 37-year-old attachment parent was spotted emerging from her hotel in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood while rocking a camouflage coat and black jumpsuit

Clutching her morning coffee: It was a warm choice for Pink (born Alecia Moore) considering the 80-degree weather in the Big Apple

Choker: The Pennsylvania-born beauty accessorized her casual attire with a curly updo, $175 Ray-Ban aviators, and large hoop earrings

'She is hands down the toughest kid I ever met. Cried for 30 seconds, and got back on her bike and kept riding. She wouldn't stop, even when I asked. Had to bribe her with ice cream! Thanks @bell_powersports for keeping her head safe. Parent police, don't worry its called being a kid. She is safe and fine.'

It came a day after Pink shared a lazy snap of herself on her phone as the blonde princess rode around their hotel room practically naked.

The Women's Marcher sarcastically quipped: 'Yeah my kid rides her bike inside. Without clothes. And helmets. While I ignore her and look at my phone. #failingbeautifully #loveinthebigapplein2017.'

The Popstar actress will next put her three-octave mezzo-soprano pipes to use this Saturday at Canada's Festival D'Ete International de Quebec.

'She is safe and fine': On Thursday, her husband Carey Hart shared an Instagram of their six-year-old daughter Willow sustaining a bloody nose at Velosolutions Pumptrack Brooklyn

'Yeah my kid rides her bike inside. Without clothes. And helmets': It came a day after Pink shared a lazy snap of herself on her phone as the blonde princess rode around their hotel room
Stephanie Davis has launched into a public tirade over her ex-boyfriend Jeremy McConnell, accusing him of 'never paying child maintenance' and 'giving her chlamydia'.

She took aim at the father of her seven-month-old son Caben-Albi via a series of now-deleted tweets, following reports of Jeremy enjoying a night out with Love Island star Shannen Reilly McGrath in Dublin - days after their split.

The former Hollyoaks star, 24, branded the Irish model 'disgusting' - appearing to address their blazing hotel brawl that had left her with five fractured ribs, a broken nose, a black eye - as well as bruises all down her arms and legs in the pictures.

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Stephanie Davis has launched into a public tirade over her ex-boyfriend Jeremy McConnell via Twitter, accusing him of 'never paying child maintenance' and 'giving her chlamydia'

Stephanie had been arrested on suspicion of GBH on Sunday following an explosive row with Jeremy - who too appeared to suffer a multitude of injuries - in a hotel.

Following her arrest, Jeremy claimed to MailOnline that Stephanie is pregnant with their second child.

Fuelled by his appearance in Ireland with reality star Shannen, Stephanie took to Twitter to vent about her former flame, as she penned: 'How people are so narrow minded. He has NEVER paid child maintenance!! For his own son! Lived in my home RENT FREE!!

'History repeats it's self saying marks were from a deep tissue massage and out with women AGAINNNNN after announcing MY personal news.

The former Hollyoaks star, 24, branded the Irish model 'disgusting' - appearing to address their blazing hotel brawl that had left both stars with injuries

Angered: Fuelled by his appearance in Ireland with reality star Shannen, Stephanie took to Twitter to vent about her former flame, making a series of accusations about Jeremy

'Is DISGUSTING!! All I have covered for him out with the typical sl*gs fro another news article, you thought apps were following him... Pleaseeeeeeeeee it's laughable and the abuse I am getting after all I did for that lad is DISGUSSTTIINGGGGGGGFFFF.

'People may loose there family members, that doesn't give them the right to do what he has done!! Over and over! He's done NO AFTER CARE.

'After assault and revenge porn and more assault he thinks I should take it! I did EVERYTHING for that lad, he relapsed used coke.

'After ALL I have defended him. People go through MUCH worse, that doesn't give u the right to ABUSE the people u love. End off.'

Despite signing off, Stephanie continued to air her thoughts about her ex. She added: 'Now let him go out with girls he's SL*GGED and called sl*gs for press... History repeats it's self right? Can no one see this pattern??

Drama: The former Hollyoaks star appeared to reference their blazing hotel brawl where both she and Jeremy appeared to suffer injuries, along with his claims she is now pregnant

'Pregnant as , as the voice notes say, * I've got u this time no one will ever touch you with two kids I'm ok as a lad your f**ked u look like a sl*g.

'Ps any women get away from DV no matter how many children, u can't scare me anymore. I'll be a good mum unlike u as a father!

'I will NO LOMGER STAND FOR WHAT HES SAID! Him saying it's over when I should have ended it along time ago!! Now I'm STRONG! U don't destroy people you love, funny how he can put me through SO MUCH, the he snaps. MENTAL.

'I stayed with him to HELP him. And BELIEVED HIM. But the way I loved him, which was TRUE love, he wouldn't have HURT me over and over..

Scathing: Stephanie had also accused Jeremy of 'giving her chlamydia'

'As well as giving me chlamydia from some sl*g he sh*gged and gave me it when he KNEWWWWW he had it.

'And to the trolls thinking I sell things like him... imagine how MUCHHHHHHH I could have got from all he's done to me. I'm saying this to make u girls aware. IF A MAN LOVES U, HE DIESNT WANT TO HURT U Fact!

'U may love someone BUT they love them selfs more. BE HAPPY.BE FREE.

'Was pregnant alone for 9 months ALONE while he LIED AND SH*GGED & didn't pay child maintenance till this day,but has the girls sweet talked while he did me....Sickening for you. Madness these narrow minded people think. After I did EVERYTHING for that lad. #evil/sl*gcanthide.

'As long as it feeds that coke habbit right? Profile deleted. No man. Goodbye guys.'

MailOnline have contacted a representative for Stephanie. A representative for Jeremy was not available for comment.

'Was pregnant alone for nine months': She alluded back to Jeremy's cheating past in the tweets

Her tirade comes after he is said to have suffered a broken nose and fractured eye socket during their shocking brawl.

Speaking about the explosive showdown, Jeremy had claimed to MailOnline that their 'toxic relationship' is over for good with no chance of any reconciliation.

He claimed their fight began immediately after Stephanie's pregnancy announcement, saying: 'Steph then looked at my phone and saw that I was following some other woman. She just went mental at me and kicked off.

'She was going mental I had not even met this woman but was just following her. She would not listen and stormed off to go to the pub and refused to go to the scan.'

He said he followed Stephanie to a local pub near to the Royal Chase Hotel in Enfield where they were staying.

'We were in the pub and having a few drinks. I had two or three and so did Steph which I thought was off as she was pregnant. She was also smoking and I told her a pregnant woman should not drink and smoke.

'She told me it was her life and she could do as she wanted... She was screaming and shouting and being abusive. She would not listen and for five to ten minutes just kept screaming at me.'

Exes: Jeremy (pictured) has claimed Stephanie is pregnant following their shock hotel brawl. The couple share son Caben-Albi, seven months

Recalling the build-up to their brawl, he said: 'She just told me that she was pregnant. I was pretty shocked as it wasn't planned, but to be honest I was excited.

'She told me that she was going to have a scan at the hospital later that afternoon. The pregnancy was not planned and given our history together took me by surprise. I was pleased, but still in a bit of a shock.'

Stephanie was arrested and taken to Enfield Police station. She was later rushed to hospital and released at 3am on Tuesday morning after being bailed until July.

Photos of the star arriving at a friend's house showed her with scratch marks on her neck, face and nose and blood on the sleeve of her grey track suit top.

In one photo she tenderly clutched her stomach.

Over: Jeremy has now claimed their 'toxic relationship' is over for good with no chance of any reconciliation following their shock hotel room brawl

Friends claimed the row began when McConnell smashed Davis's phone which contained treasured photos of their son.

However, he insists he did not harm the former actress, explaining: 'There is no way I touched her. She was the one who attacked me. I did not punch her and touch her.'

Two months ago Stephanie had talked about having a second child with heavily tattooed Jeremy and even talked about marriage.

But since they began seeing each other having appeared on Big Brother they have been involved in a stormy relationship.

Jeremy has spent time in rehab and Stephanie has previously spoken about how drink and drugs has affected their relationship.
Home And Away fans can look ahead to seeing their favourite policewoman expecting what appears to be her first child.

Kat Chapman, played by Pia Miller, was spotted cradling what looks to be a prosthetic baby bump while on set at Palm Beach, on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old looked relaxed in character wearing a loose fitting mint green tank top and denim mini shorts.

Spolier alert! Kat Chapman, played by Pia Miller, was spotted cradling what appears to be a prosthetic baby bump while on set at Palm Beach, on Wednesday

Wearing her shiny, brunette locks down, she paired her weekend aesthetic with an Aztec print cardigan and hi-top Converse Chuck Taylors.

As she rubbed her burgeoning belly, Pia looked out to the sea.

Pia went on to film scenes on the sand with her character's love interest Martin Ashford, played by the hunky George Mason, after his surf session.

Cradling a bump: The 33-year-old looked relaxed in character wearing a loose fitting mint green tank top and denim mini shorts, as she appeared to rub her burgeoning belly

Mum-to-be? Wearing her shiny, brunette locks down, she paired her weekend aesthetic with an Aztec print cardigan and hi-top Converse Chuck Taylors

The two looked tense during their conversation, both with their hands on their hips.

However, they were soon joined by newcomer Ben Astoni, played by Rohan Nichol.

Pia Miller made her screen debut as Senior constable Katarina Chapman in 2015.

Looking tense? The two looked tense during their conversation, both with their hands on their hips

Three's a crowd! They were soon joined by newcomer Ben Astoni, played by Rohan Nichol

Pia Miller made her screen debut as Senior constable Katarina Chapman in 2015, after a successful career as a model

The Chilean-born beauty started out as a model in campaigns for Myer and Mossimo, and made her foray into acting by studying at the National Institute of Dramatic Art.

'I do understand that I've been modelling for a long time and that's always going to be in the background. I'm stoked for getting this dream job on,' she told The Daily Telegraph when she first got the soap role.

'What appealed to me about this role is that she's a cop and she is a tough chick who's serious about her job,' she added, 'I love the fact she's not written in any way as the hot chick in town.'
She's been avidly watching this year's series of Love Island and reminiscing about her own time in the villa.

And Olivia Buckland was having to put the ITV2 show on record on Friday when she headed up to Liverpool to attend the British Style Collective 2017.

The 23-year-old blonde was in high spirits as she strutted along the street, channeling Barbie in a baby pink and white ensemble.

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I'm a Barbie girl! Olivia Buckland donned a pastel pink outfit when she headed up to Liverpool on Friday to attend the British Style Collective 2017

Olivia displayed her toned legs in a thigh-skimming miniskirt, which she teamed with a simple T-shirt, worn knotted at the waist.

She carried a coordinating pink jacket in her hand and pulled her look together with a pair of matching tinted shades.

The bubbly star decided to buck the trend in a pair of pink fluffy sliders and white socks, making a bold statement.

Making a statement: Olivia displayed her toned legs in a thigh-skimming miniskirt, which she teamed with a simple T-shirt, worn knotted at the waist

Footwear fiasco: The bubbly star decided to buck the trend in a pair of pink fluffy sliders and white socks

Once inside the event, Olivia larked about at a Miss Pap meet and greet, sporting a plain white tee as a dress, still wearing her socks and sandals combo.

Also in attendance was TOWIE star Chloe Sims, who slipped into a cold-shoulder white minidress.

She gave the look a youthful twist thanks to statement earrings, a half-up top knot and a pair of trainers.

Strike a pose: Once inside the event, Olivia larked about at a Miss Pap meet and greet

Keeping it simple: Once inside the event, Olivia sported a plain white tee as a dress

While some couples in the Mallorcan villa this year have already hit the rocks, 2016 runners-up Olivia and Alex Bowen keep going from strength to strength after announcing their engagement in December.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, loved-up Olivia, 23, has revealed she has already started wedding dress shopping ahead of the big day and her 'tummy is tingling' to become a mother very soon.

Planning to wed her scaffolder beau, 24, in an Essex country manor in September 2018, Olivia said: 'If I got pregnant now, Alex said he would want me to keep it. He's ready to be a dad.'

And while the couple plan to get married first, Olivia admitted she's counting down the days until they become parents to their own little bundle of joy.

Loved up: While some couples in the Mallorcan villa this year have already hit the rocks, 2016 runners-up Olivia and Alex Bowen keep going from strength to strength after announcing their engagement in December

Fancy seeing you here! Also in attendance was Chloe Sims, who sported a white dress

Olivia added: 'Alex has always said he doesn't want to be an old dad, so I'm like "What do you mean by that, how long?".

'We spoke about it the other dad and my tummy is tingling.

'I think two years after we get married and he doesn't want to be over 30, so it's pretty soon.'

Alex popped the question to the blonde beauty on a romantic trip to New York in December 2016 after just five months of dating.

The success of Olivia and Alex has provided the template for this year's Love Island hopefuls - but Olivia believes this series is a lot harder.

Thumbs up! The TOWIE beauty was joined by unlikely pal Abz Love

Selfie time: Chloe and the Five star were happy to pose for pictures with fans

She said: 'This year it is a bit more savage - it's a bit brutal.

'It's been a lot harder, there's been a lot more thrown at them with a lot more drama involved - more temptation too so I think people have struggled to try and get into couples until now.

'Last year we were all in couples quite early so no on could come in and break our bonds - I think we were all much closer as friends.'

Say cheese! There was a long line of fans eager to pose with the pair

On trend: Chloe gave her look a youthful twist thanks to statement earrings, a half-up top knot and a pair of trainers




In the first movie he seemed to be under constant attack by rampaging dinos.

But it seems Chris Pratt's latest enemy is the ocean itself, as he and Bryce Dallas Howard struggled to clamber out of the surf on Friday while shooting Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in Oahu, Hawaii.

Chris, 38, is reclaiming his role as Owen Grady, while Bryce, 36, is reprising her role as Claire Dearing.

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Action! It seems Chris Pratt's latest enemy is the ocean itself, as he and Bryce Dallas Howard struggled to clamber out of the surf on Friday while shooting Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

During filming, the duo could be seen scrambling on their stomachs towards the beach as the ocean roils around them.

Of course the downtime between takes meant that the stars could cavort in the waves in a sillier manner, leading at one point to the pair basking in the sun together.

For the scene, Chris was clad in a navy blue shirt which sported several buttons, which was layered under a leather safari vest.

The shirt was tucked into a pair of dark wash jeans which were held up with a wide tan belt.

Almost there! During filming, the duo could be seen scrambling on their stomachs towards the beach as the ocean roils around them

Having fun? In what appeared to be an unscripted moment, the pair shared a laugh

Backstroke: Of course the downtime between takes meant that the stars could cavort in the waves in a sillier manner

Soaking up some rays: At one point the duo basked in the sun together

Beat up leather boots and a tactical wristwatch completed his action-oriented ensemble.

Bryce's outfit was also quite practical, though did show off just a bit of cleavage thanks to a skin-tight olive drab top.

She tucked that into her own pair of jeans, which were tight enough to showcase her sculpted legs.

His uniform: For the scene, Chris was clad in a navy blue shirt which sported several buttons, which was layered under a leather safari vest

He means business: Beat up leather boots and a tactical wristwatch completed his action-oriented ensemble

Ample assets: Bryce's outfit was also quite practical, though did show off just a bit of cleavage thanks to a skin-tight olive drab top

Flattering: She tucked that into her own pair of jeans, which were tight enough to showcase her sculpted legs

Utilitarian: A pair of knee-high riding boots finished off her rough-and-tumble look

A pair of knee-high riding boots finished off her rough-and-tumble look.

She tied her hair back in a loose ponytail for the scene, which served to keep her fiery locks in check as she made her way to shore.

The film's full title was only unveiled back in June by the studio, Universal Pictures.

Universal tweeted the first ever poster for the film on their social media accounts, showcasing the film's artwork.
Sofia Richie and Sarah Snyder channeled 1960s chic while starring in a photo-shoot in New York on Friday.

The model revealed the shoot was for Japanese fashion house Samantha Thavasa, as she shared an Instagram photo of herself, Sarah, and fellow model Lottis Moss eating Chick-Fil-A during some downtime.

Sofia, 18, had slipped on an eye-popping deep purple dress, contrasting it against a bright yellow purse and her polka-dotted pair of black and white stiletto boots.

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So chic: Sofia Richie and Sarah Snyder channeled 1960s chic while starring in a photo-shoot in New York on Friday

Though she occasionally got in a bit of posing in just the strapless dress, she'd also often flung on a voluminous olive green bomber jacket that featured orange lining.

Sarah, who once dated Jaden Smith, had herself worn a pleated white dress hemmed around mid-thigh.

The model had a blonde 'do so similar to her co-star's that Sofia called themselves 'Bob sisters' on Snapchat.

The 21-year-old's pale pink dress was a similar shade to that of her high-heeled shoes, and she'd wrapped herself in a large, fuzzy purple jacket with wide lapels.

The look: Sofia, 18, had slipped on an eye-popping deep purple dress, contrasting it against a bright yellow purse and her polka-dotted pair of black and white stiletto boots

Feeling chilly?: Though she occasionally got in a bit of posing in just the strapless dress, she'd also often flung on a voluminous olive green bomber jacket that featured orange lining

Her own thing: Though her legendary father Lionel Richie's been something of a clotheshorse himself over his career, Sofia's told InStyle UK she ignores his tips in this area

At one point, she was seen in a crosswalk, having swapped out her heels for white open-toe slippers, and she held her phone forward, seemingly to snap a selfie.

Lottie had got on a mesh pale pink dress that glinted under the sunlit as she hit the pavement, and she'd worn a black jacket with - like Sofia's - bright orange lining.

Sofia, Sarah and Lottie were photographed walking in a row down a New York City sidewalk alongside two other models dressed in similarly eye-catching hues.

Duo: Sarah had herself worn a pleated white dress hemmed around mid-thigh

Bundled up: The 21-year-old's pale pink dress was a similar shade to that of her high-heeled shoes, and she'd wrapped herself in a large, fuzzy purple jacket with wide lapels

Phone-happy: At one point, she was seen in a crosswalk, having swapped out her heels for white open-toe slippers, and she held her phone forward, seemingly to snap a selfie

Though her legendary father Lionel Richie's been something of a clotheshorse himself over his career, Sofia's told InStyle UK she ignores his tips in this area.

'I do not take style advice from my dad, absolutely not!' the half-sister of Nicole Richie said in February. 'I say to him: "stay in your lane, I will stay in mine."'

Sofia is Lionel's daughter by his second wife Diane Alexander, whom he was married to from 1998 until 2004 and with whom he's also got a 22-year-old son called Myles.

Downtime?: Sarah was at one point spotted sitting on the pavement, her coat on the ground

Quintet: Sofia, Sarah and Lottie Moss were photographed walking in a row down a New York City sidewalk alongside two other models dressed in similarly eye-catching hues

This May, Sofia had tweeted: 'My dad tracks my phone once a day. Awkwardly enough I get a notification every time. I think it's funny so I don't tell him I know'.

Yet 68-year-old Lionel held to USA Today early in June: 'Would I track my kids?' adding for good measure: 'Do you think I would be one of those guys?'

Per Lionel: 'I keep trying to tell them. I dont track. I dont understand,' he said, reminiscing that 'Nicole thought I had investigators following her around.'

Chowing down: The shoot was for Samantha Thavasa, as Sofia's noted on an Instagram post showing her, Sarah and fellow model Lottie Moss eating Chick-Fil-A during their downtime

Smoldering model stares: Sarah's blonde do was so similar to Sofia's the latter called them 'Bob sisters' on Snapchat

Said he: 'I keep trying to tell my kids the same thing: "I own Chicago. I own Miami. I have been around the world. So when you go through the airport, I have friends. You cannot sneak into a club. I own that club." So they think they are sneaky.'

Lionel's continued outlining the situation: 'So I get a phone call: "Hey, just want to let you know Sofia just walked in." I mean, did I call him? No. Im not tracking.'

He's also told USA Today: 'At this point now, some things are too much information. There are some things you dont want to know. "Kids have to be kids. At some point, you have to let them go do their thing.'

Hidden in plain site: Sofia's model friends had appeared in her Snapchat Story that day as well
It may be the middle of Australian winter, but things are heating up on Home and Away.

George Mason's Martin 'Ash' Ashford was spotted kissing Penny McNamee's Tori Morgan, and it looks like the secret's out.

The shirtless hunk was seen getting a verbal spray from his supposed girlfriend in Pia Miller, whose character Katarina 'Kat' Chapman is shockingly pregnant.

Does Kat know? Things are heating up on Home and Away, after George Mason's Martin 'Ash' Ashford was spotted kissing Penny McNamee's Tori Morgan at Palm Beach this week

Blonde beauty Penny and the man-bun-sporting star were witnessed enjoying a very flirty exchange on a railing by the beach.

Wearing a tight red shirt and high-waisted denim skirt, she appeared deeply engrossed with the taken man's news.

Moments later, she laughed energetically at another of George's 'bad boy' character's quips.

Flaunting his toned biceps in a tank top, he leaned in to kiss Penny, whose character obliged without a second thought.

He's got feelings! Blonde beauty Penny and the man-bun-sporting star were witnessed enjoying a very flirty exchange on a railing by the beach

And punchlines! After she looked engrossed with something he said, she laughed energetically at one George's 'bad boy' character's quips

No turning back! Flaunting his toned biceps in a tank top, he leaned in to kiss Penny, whose character obliged without a second thought

Later, stunning Penny McNamee, who plays Tori Morgan, appears to be the bearer of bad news to a now shirtless George.

She strolls up to him in a tight purple dress and is seen shoving him in a tense exchange.

Afterwards, the pair were spotted looking at something in the distance, George painted with a grim, guilty expression.

Uh oh! Later, a stunning Penny McNamee appears to be the bearer of bad news to a now shirtless George, shoving him angrily, before they both look at something in the distance

It seems that led to a fiery confrontation on the beach with his character's Chilean love interest.

Pia was seen shrugging her arms as if to question her troubled flame, who wore only board shorts, and had clearly just gone for a swim.

He put his hand on his hips and stared at the beauty with a stern expression.

Caught in the act? It seems that led to a fiery confrontation on the beach with his character's Chilean love interest Kat, played by Pia MIller

Why Ash? Pia was seen shrugging her arms as if to question her troubled flame, who wore only board shorts, and had clearly just gone for a swim

Witnesses to the chaos! Eventually, a man who was witnessing the exchange tried to step in to see what was the matter, causing both Pia and George to shoot downcast, awkward looks

Pregnant! Pia wore a patterned white and purple cardigan, and when she turned side-on, she revealed a massive surprise in the form of her pregnant belly

Pia wore a patterned white and purple cardigan and flaunted her slender legs in tiny denim short shorts.

When she turned side-on, she revealed a massive surprise in the form of her pregnant belly.

Eventually, a man who was witnessing the exchange tried to step in to see what was the matter, causing both Pia and George to shoot downcast, awkward looks.
She's the wife to actor Sam Worthington, 40, and mother to Rocket, 2, and Racer, nine-months.

And on Saturday, Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) shared some more snaps of her recent family trip to Iceland.

Posing in the Blue Lagoon water, the stunner revealed the trip was to celebrate her 30th birthday.

Stunner: On Saturday, Lara Bingle shared some more snaps of her recent family trip to Iceland

Marking the special day, '30,' she captioned the shot.

Donning a black one-piece swimsuit, Lara dressed conservatively showcasing her lean and toned physique.

The Cronulla native's hair was slicked back as she flashed her signature smile in the pristine water.

Birthday girl! Earlier in the day, Lara posted a picture of her birthday cake, captioning the shot, '#tb to last week'

Earlier in the day, Lara posted a picture of her birthday cake, captioning the shot, '#tb to last week.'

The picture showed a glimpse of the model's hair whilst in the midst of blowing out her candles.

The white based cake featured colourful icing with a number 30 candler on top and read 'Happy Birthday Lara'.

Loved up: Whilst on her vacation, Lara poked fun at her husband Sam whilst they got facials at the popular tourist destination

Whilst on her vacation, Lara poked fun at her husband Sam whilst they got facials at the popular tourist destination.

'My husbands first and last face mask. #bluelagooniceland,' she wrote.

Covered in silica mud and a white beauty product, Sam pulled a face for the selfie.
Various castmembers from Jersey Shore have been secretly filming a five-year reunion special over the last month in Point Pleasant Beach and Asbury Park.

The MTV reality series - which lasted six seasons (2009-2012) - surrounded hard-partying roommates sharing a New Jersey beach house as well as the mantra 'gym, tan, laundry.'

Jenni 'JWoww' Farley, Deena Nicole Cortese, Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, and Sammi 'Sweetheart' Giancola were last seen mysteriously dining together June 29 at STK in downtown Manhattan.

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'We're back!' Various castmembers from Jersey Shore have been secretly filming a five-year reunion special over the last month in Point Pleasant Beach and Asbury Park

Lasted six seasons (2009-2012): The MTV reality series surrounded hard-partying roommates sharing a New Jersey beach house as well as the mantra 'gym, tan, laundry.'

The ladies' night came two weeks after the guido/guidette gang reportedly brought their cameras to Jenkinson's Boardwalk where they ate and played games 'for a couple hours.'

According to the Asbury Park Press - Bright Road Productions applied for the filming permits under the title 'Roadtrip Reunion,' but an MTV spokesperson denied it was for their cable network.

Not everyone was so welcoming though as Langosta Lounge staffer Peter Mantas said the Seaside Heights establishment denied the Jersey Shore's permit application.

'They called 10 days before they wanted to film and we said no freaking way, it'll be bad publicity,' Mantas told APP.

Mysterious: Jenni 'JWoww' Farley, Deena Nicole Cortese, Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, and Sammi 'Sweetheart' Giancola were last seen dining together June 29 at STK in downtown Manhattan

Ready for a ride? The ladies' night came two weeks after the guido/guidette gang reportedly brought their cameras to Jenkinson's Boardwalk where they ate and played games

Not airing on MTV: According to the Asbury Park Press, LA-based Bright Road Productions applied for the filming permits under the title 'Roadtrip Reunion'

'It'll be bad publicity': Not everyone was so welcoming as Langosta Lounge staffer Peter Mantas said the Seaside Heights establishment denied the Jersey Shore's permit application

'Bring those meatheads to the Langosta Lounge? No way.'

29-year-old Snooki - now a married mother-of-two - teased her involvement with the reunion last month, telling E! News: 'Yes but not for a long time because I have kids. Like for a week.'

The New Celebrity Apprentice star also admitted she hasn't spoken to her castmate Michael 'The Situation' Sorrentino since 2012, which might be an indication he won't be back.

According to TMZ, the troubled 35-year-old - last seen on WE tv's Marriage Boot Camp - faces 'decades' in prison for 'tax evasion and structuring/falsifying records to avoid detection of assets.'

Now a married mother-of-two: 29-year-old Snooki (L) teased her involvement with the reunion last month, telling E! News: 'Yes but not for a long time because I have kids. Like for a week'

Trouble with the law: The New Celebrity Apprentice star also admitted she hasn't spoken to her castmate Michael 'The Situation' Sorrentino since 2012, which might be an indication he won't be back (pictured in 2014)

Last seen on Marriage Boot Camp: The troubled 35-year-old faces 'decades' in prison for 'tax evasion and structuring/falsifying records to avoid detection of assets' - according to TMZ

Polizzi confessed: 'We're not exactly friends. I don't wish harm on him or hold a grudge. I feel terrible. Nobody wants to go to jail'

'We're not exactly friends,' Polizzi confessed.

'I don't wish harm on him or hold a grudge. I feel terrible. Nobody wants to go to jail.'

Legal woes aside, The Situation and his former co-star DJ Pauly D (born DelVecchio) have both managed to maintain their defined six-pack abs thanks to their 'GTL' discipline.

It's also unclear whether Vinny Guadagnino (Vinny & Ma Eat America) and Ronnie Ortiz-Magro (Famously Single) will be making triumphant returns to the Jersey Shore.

Legal woes aside: The Situation and his former co-star DJ Pauly D (R) have both managed to maintain their defined six- pack abs thanks to their 'GTL' discipline
Tallulah Willis took to Instagram on Friday to reflect on her three-year anniversary of staying clean and sober, and the eating disorder crisis she was dealing with at the time.

The youngest daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis posted a retro shot of herself, presumably from 2014, nursing a beer with what appeared to be an unlit hand-rolled cigarette dangling from between her lips.

The 23-year-old, who successfully underwent a six week rehab stint in 2014, wrote in a post alongside the shot, '3 years ago I was a malnourished string bean with aches that echoed throughout my soul,' noting that 'the internal cries to tend [her] most blistered and deep wounds repeatedly fell on deaf ears.'

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Reflections: Tallulah Willis, 23, took to Instagram Friday to announce she's been sober for three straight years, earning kudos from her older sister Rumer, 28

She said that she was dealing with self esteem and image issues as the time, 'and as such [she] was constantly punishing for not being enough.'

Tallulah wrote that 'self annihilation fueled with medicating left [her] a shell, and the world on mute,' until she was 'hoisted from [her] hole ... on the backs of powerful human beings.'

The second-generation star was presumably referring to her six-week stint in 2014 rehabbing at Arizona's The Meadows facility. Upon her release, she told fashion website Stylelikeu.com that she had battled an eating disorder and had been 'diagnosed with body dysmorphia' at a younger age, presumably fueling her inner struggle.

She said that in regaining her sobriety and clarity - her 'life was gifted back to' her, and she's 'indebted' to those who helped her.

Tallulah, reflecting on her past problems, said she remains cautious not to fall back into earlier traps.

Close family: Rumer (L) and sister Scout were snapped at a Grammys party in February in LA

'I love the girl in this picture, I cry for her and I mourn her lost years. She is inside of me always and I must never let her slip too far,' she wrote. 'I don't push any agenda, I can only speak for my path and staying sober has been far and beyond the most important thing I've done in my wee 23 years.'

The post was reproduced by her older sister Rumer, 28, who said she was 'so incredibly proud of' her younger sister for her 'strength,' 'courage,' 'grace through all of uncomfortable moments' and 'commitment' to health.

Calling Tallulah's three years of sobriety 'a massive achievement,' the former Dancing with the Stars personality said she's inspired and 'in awe' of her sibling's turnaround.

'The way you have learned to love and accept all of the parts of yourself that you used to hide away is one of the most beautiful transformations I have had the honor to witness.'

Both of Tallulah's older sisters, Rumer and Scout, 25, announced their own sobriety anniversaries on the social media site earlier this week.

'I have never been more proud of myself in my entire life,' Rumer said as she celebrated her six-month sobriety anniversary, while Scout on Thursday said that this past June 17, she celebrated 'one year of being fully present with ma self, no filters, no chemical relaxation, no short cuts.'
She recently celebrated her 30th birthday in Iceland with her family.

And Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) has shared a rare glimpse into her glamorous life with her legions of followers.

The 30-year-old Australian stunner took to her Instagram story and uploaded snaps of the interiors of what appeared to be a luxurious cottage or bungalow at the Chateau Marmont, in West Hollywood, which can run close to $800 a night.

Stunner: Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) has shared a rare glimpse into her glamorous life to her legions of followers sharing a snaps from her 30th birthday celebrations

She posted a photo of a very homely looking living room with a marble fireplace, two couches, a giant Morrocan style rug on top of parquet floors.

The room also contained a coffee table dressed with coffee table books, and a lonely looking indoor plant.

Lara, the wife of actor Sam Worthington, 40, and mother to Rocket, 2, and Racer, nine-months, also uploaded a snap from a grand dining room with a glass table.

Her photo also shows a beautiful chandelier and three bust sculptures in front of the French windows, which she dressed with sunglasses and wine glass emoji.

Living it up! The 30-year-old Australian stunner took to her Instagram story and uploaded snaps of the interiors of what appeared to be a luxurious bungalow at the Chateau Marmont

Luxury living: She shared a snap from the dining room, showing the beautiful chandelier and three bust sculptures in front of the French windows, which she dressed with sunglasses and wine glass emojis

Keeping the youthful glow: She also shared an image of the bathroom cabinet with Chateau Marmont toiletries and products she uses

Dropping even more hints about her location shared an image of the bathroom cabinet with Chateau Marmont toiletries and products she uses.

These luxurious holiday photos come after the skincare entrepreneur, shared pictures from her recent family trip to Iceland.

Posing in Blue Lagoon water, the stunner revealed the trip was to celebrate her milestone birthday, marking the special day, '30,' she captioned the shot.

Donning a black one-piece swimsuit, Lara dressed conservatively showcasing her lean and toned physique.

Beauty: Donning a black one-piece swimsuit, Lara dressed conservatively showcasing her lean and toned physique

Loved up: Whilst on her Icelandic vacation, Lara poked fun at her husband Sam whilst they got facials at the popular tourist destination

While on vacation, she poked fun at her husband Sam whilst they got facials at the popular tourist destination.

'My husbands first and last face mask. #bluelagooniceland,' she wrote about the fun selfie.

Earlier, Lara posted a picture of her birthday cake, captioning the shot, '#tb to last week.'

The picture showed a glimpse of the model's hair whilst in the midst of blowing out her candles on a cake with colourful icing and the number 30 candle on top.
With all the second-hand research they're doing, Tim Robards and Anna Heinrich's big day is bound to be smooth sailing.

The loved-up Bachelor duo were seen in attendance at their good friend's pre-wedding drinks at Chateau Soutard in Saint-Emillion, France.

The genetically blessed pair took to Instagram to showcase their stylish outfits and picturesque surrounds.

'Not a bad setting for pre-wedding drinks': Tim and Robards were seen in attendance at their good friend's pre-wedding drinks at Chateau Soutard in Saint-Emillion, France

In an image captioned 'Not a bad setting for pre-wedding drinks,' Anna wore her go-to designer Rebecca Vallance's Ambrosia Gather Sleeve mini dress.

The Bachelor season one winner put on a leggy display in the figure-hugging pink gown, which featured dramatically flared sleeves.

She paired the outfit with a beige clutch with floral print detailing and large statement earrings.

High-profile! It's all but confirmed that the wedding will be between high-profile Wallabies star Adam Ashley Cooper and his fiancee Anna Scrimshaw, who use the nicknames

Anna posed alongside hunky personal trainer Tim, who exposed his chest in a crisp blue button-up shirt.

'Let the celebrations begin,' the beauty wrote in the caption, adding the hashtag 'the night before.'

The lovers will surely be gathering some inspiration for her own lavish wedding as she prepares to watch friends tie the knot in France.

Getting ready for the wedding! The lovers will surely be gathering some inspiration for her own lavish wedding as she prepares to watch friends tie the knot in France

On Friday, the 30-year-old took to Instagram ahead of the nuptials, using the hashtag 'swoop and scrimmy,' to describe their soon-to-be married friends.

It's all but confirmed that the wedding will be between high-profile Wallabies star Adam Ashley Cooper and his fiancee Anna Scrimshaw, who use the nicknames.

They haven't been shy in documenting their lavish European holiday, with the pair already having enjoyed the sights of Italy and Monaco.

Flaunting their lavish holiday: The pair haven't been shy in sharing snaps from their Eurotrip
Roxy Jacenko is known for her workaholic tendencies, having even admitted to working from her hospital bed just hours after giving birth.

But during her Bali vacation, the PR queen appears to be embracing fun, freedom and valuable family time.

The 37-year-old took to Instagram to share a snap of her playing Frisbee with adorable daughter Pixie, five.

Family time! During Roxy Jacenko's Bali vacation, she appears to be embracing valuable family time, taking to Instagram share a snap of her playing Frisbee with adorable daughter Pixie

Pixie was seen showcasing some impressive hand-eye coordination in the action shot.

She looked certain to effortlessly catch the Frisbee her mother had tossed to her.

In the caption, the Sweaty Betty PR founder revealed they were paying a visit to the Bali's popular Sunday's Beach Club.

This was the second adorable mother-daughter bonding moment the socialite documented on Saturday.

Blooming beauty! This was the second adorable mother-daughter bonding moment the 37-year-old documented on Saturday, flashing her stunning frame alongside the 5-year-old

Earlier, Roxy proved that she wasn't shy about showing-off the body she's worked so hard to achieve.

The beauty flashed her taut abs in a colourful ensemble,flaunting a relaxed figure in a floral-printed crop top and matching frilled floor-length skirt.

Roxy has been enjoying a well-deserved break at Bali's exclusive Alila Villas in Uluwatu with her husband Oliver Curtis and their children Pixie, five, and Hunter, three.

Family ties: Roxy appears to be enjoying her time at the exclusive Alila Villas in Uluwatu with her husband Oliver and children Pixie, five, and Hunter, three

The blonde bombshell posed alongside her daughter Pixie in the snap, as she provided a glimpse of her washboard abs and cleavage.

She accessorized her glam look with gold bangles and luxury shades, while tying her blonde locks up into a ponytail.

Roxy captioned the snap: 'Saturday breakfast in #bali'

Yummy mummy! Roxy Jacenko has also been flaunting her WASHBOARD abs in skimpy swimwear during the trip

Roxy and her family are enjoying their first vacation since Oliver's recent release from prison.

They are likely staying in the resort's biggest villa, prices for which start from $3186 per night.

Ahead of his international flight to Bali Oliver, who completed a 12-month stretch for insider trading, would most likely have had to declare his criminal conviction.

Under the terms of his release, he must be of 'good behaviour' until June 23, 2018.

First for everything! Roxy and her family are enjoying their first vacation since Oliver's recent release from prison
Rock and Roll may be long-past its chart-topping heyday.

But twenty years on, and Grinspoon, some of Australia's finest students of the genre, are back and better than ever.

The inaugural winners of Triple J's 'Unearthed' stunned the Enmore Theater crowd in Sydney on Friday night, powering through an age-defying performance.

Still got it! Grinspoon stunned the Enmore Theater crowd in Sydney on Friday night, powering through an age-defying performance to mark their 20th anniversary

Having haunted the sticky-floored halls of Sydney's most-iconic pubs since the early 90's, the audience were effectively transported back in time on Saturday.

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut record Guide to Better Living, vocalist Phil Jamieson led the charge from the front.

Throughout the high-octane set, he was seen acrobatically leaping into the air to punctuate the hooks of the epic album, which the band played cover-to-cover.

It wasn't just the crowd that was energised, with Joe Hansen getting swept up in his chugging bass-lines, eventually winding up on the stage floor.

Back to the future! Having haunted the sticky-floored halls of Sydney's most-iconic pubs since the early 90's, the audience were effectively transported back in time on Saturday

Leading the way! Celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut record Guide to Better Living, vocalist Phil Jamieson led the charge from the front

Punctuated! Throughout the high-octane set, he was seen acrobatically leaping into the air to punctuate the hooks of the epic album, which the band played cover-to-cover

Complete with guitarist Pat Davern's wide-brim hat, Phil's leather jacket and tight jeans, the band's wardrobe also showed no signs of ageing on the night.

Inaugural winners of Triple J Unearthed, Grinspoon rose to fame after releasing their debut in 1997, which hit platinum status by that year's end.

After going on hiatus in 2013, Grinspoon have reunited for a 27-date national tour and the re-release of Guide to Better Living.

Infectious! It wasn't just the crowd that was energised, with Joe Hansen getting swept up in his chugging bass-lines, eventually winding up on the stage floor.

Age-defying threads! Complete with guitarist Pat Davern's wide-brim hat, Phil's leather jacket and tight jeans, the band's wardrobe also showed no signs of ageing on the night

Back to earth! Inaugural winners of Triple J Unearthed, Grinspoon rose to fame after releasing their debut in 1997, which hit platinum status by that year's end

The band turned on a bravura performance in June's second State of Origin game, playing their 1999 hit Ready One and their 2002 track Lost Control.

Speaking to News.com.au about the reunion, drummer Kristian Hopes admitted he hadn't sat behind his kit at all, revealing that he only wanted to drum for Grinspoon.

'Ive got a couple of kids too so been taking them to school and picking them up. No music, the only music Ill ever do is this band,' he said.
She may be in Los Angeles after a romantic trip to Saint-Tropez with beau Younes Bendjema - but her heart's still in the south of France.

This Friday, the day she got back stateside, Kourtney Kardashian, 38, uploaded a steamy Instagram photo of herself in the Riviera tourist trap.

She's seen shooting a smoldering look over her shoulder as she flashes her exquisitely toned legs from the thigh-slit of her floral cocktail dress.

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Smoldering: This Friday, the day she got back stateside, Kourtney Kardashian uploaded a steamy Instagram photo of herself in Saint-Tropez

Tagging celeb makeup artist Joyce Bonelli, who'd posted the same photo to her own Instagram on Thursday, Kourtney captioned: 'When @joycebonelli calls my name...'

On Friday she was was spotted making her bold and bright return to Los Angeles.

There was no missing the 38-year-old as she jetted into LAX in her flashy orange track pants.

Orange crush! It was back to reality for Kourtney on Friday as the reality star was spotted making her bold and bright return to Los Angeles

Kourtney also sported a black sweatshirt, had a chain purse slung across her body, and a pair of white platform sneakers to top off the look.

She had her glossy raven black locks worn down sleek and in natural waves.

And she rocked a pair of trendy, retro style sunglasses.

Kourtney, who has children Mason, seven, Penelope, four, and Reign, two, with her ex Scott Disick, looked relaxed following the end of her sun-soaked trip with her toyboy Younes.

Bright and bold: Kourtney also sported a black sweatshirt, had a chain purse slung across her body, and a pair of white platform sneakers to top off the look

She's a vision: The reality star rocked a pair of trendy, retro style sunglasses

Kourtney spent the first night of her vacation at a luxury villa in Les Parcs de Saint-Tropez, a gated complex which has security around the clock

The pair then moved to the luxurious Byblos-Palace hotel in the centre of Saint-Tropez, which is only a few minutes walk from the beach.

A source told E! News: 'He loves showing her around and knows all of the best places. He really wants her to have an amazing time and she is.'

Hitting her stride: Kourtney, who has children Mason, Penelope, and Reign with her ex Scott Disick, looked relaxed following the end of her sun-soaked trip with her toyboy Younes

It comes after it was claimed Kourtney is enjoying a 'casual' romance with Younes.

A source previously told ET Online: 'Kourtney and Younes are hooking up [but] it's not serious yet. They are having a lot of fun together and it's very casual. They met through mutual friends in Los Angeles ...

'Kourtney and Younes have seen each other several times in the last week. Its been casual, but they are really getting to know each other and having fun.'
She's the busty blonde who shot to fame on Big Brother.

And Skye Wheatley has been making waves in the modelling industry of late, having posed for a local Brisbane fashion brand this week.

On Friday, the 23-year-old was seen posing in several raunchy outfits by Brisbane label Beginning Boutique, including one that featured a VERY skimpy bikini.

Need to go up a size? Skye Wheatley flaunted her artificial assets as she modeled raunchy outfits for Beginning Boutique on Instagram on Friday

Skye's artificial assets spilled out of the gold, tasseled garment, which appeared to be several sizes too small.

The social media personality- who has famously documented her plastic surgery pursuits- teamed the racy bikini with an acid wash denim jacket and matching pair of Daisy Dukes.

And while she covered up in over-sized sunglasses and a felt fedora hat, the star's signature plump pout was immediately recognisable.

Enhanced assets: Skye donned another outfit that included another gold bikini that failed to contain her generous bust

Shortly after, the stunner changed into a second racy ensemble, that included a another glittery gold bikini.

Similarly, the garment was several sizes too small, with Skye showing off a generous glimpse of underboob.

She added a pair of black briefs, a shag-pile coat and a sheer top adorned with stars.

Model material! The blonde shot to fame on Big Brother and has been in the limelight ever since

Finishing off the sexy look, Skye added a 60's twist with a pair of circular pink sunglasses.

For her third and final look, the Queensland-based bombshell covered up her enhanced assets in a tan-coloured tank top.

The part-time make-up artist famously underwent a botched Bangkok boob job and paid a Sydney surgeon $28,000 last year to fix her 'wonky' breasts.

'I'm having to fork out a lot of money to fix my boobs,' she previously told the Daily Telegraph. 'They're too big and fake and wonky.'

The star documented a recent rhinoplasty on social media, and also admitted to have lip fillers after fans quizzed her on her very plump pout.

Plastic fantastic! Skye frequently flaunts her assets on Instagram
She's the radio star who recently underwent a self-imposed 10-week alcohol detox.

And it seems that Mel Greig is ready to party again, with the blonde sharing two photos cavorting with an empty champagne glass on social media this Saturday.

Mel took to Instagram to share the busty photos - the first of which was a busty selfie with the caption: 'hurry up girls #thirsty.'

Dry argument: Mel Greig took to Instagram on Saturday to share a duo of busty photos - the first of which, on her Instagram story, egged her gal-pals on with the comment: 'hurry up girls #thirsty'

Holding the empty glass up to her face, Mel flashed a generous amount of cleavage in a low-cut beige coloured top.

Accessorising with a pair of earrings, Mel's golden locks cascaded freely to her shoulders as she waited for the party to arrive.

It seems as though Mel's gal-pals were running late as she soon followed the post with a second photo, showing Mel with a still-empty champagne glass.

Still waiting: It seems as though Mel's gal-pals were running late as she soon followed the post with a second photo, showing Mel with a still-empty champagne glass

Mel offered a sultry look in the selfie while she wore a light rose shade for her lip, a light foundation and a dark mascara to add more drama to her eyes.

'There's a problem with my champagne glass . . . It's empty. hurry up,' Mel captioned the photo.

In a candid article penned recently for Yahoo7 Be, Mel revealed that she had to part ways with alcohol as part of a self-imposed 10-week detox.

Thirsty: Mel offered a sultry look in the selfie while she wore a light rose shade for her lip, a light foundation and a dark mascara to add more drama to her eyes

'It was important because at times I had a bad relationship with alcohol,' she said of the decision.

'I would often turn to wine through my tough times to self-medicate or at the end of a hard day to make myself feel better'.

Mel wanted to make it clear in the article that she had discovered numerous benefits of kicking the booze, including not having to deal with hangovers and not worrying about the ramifications of drunk texts.

On the wagon: In a candid article penned recently for Yahoo7 Be, Mel revealed that she had to part ways with alcohol as part of a self-imposed 10-week detox

Despite this, the Wave FM host revealed there was just one thing she couldn't do sober.

'Two things but Id need to get through the first to get to the second so its irrelevant,' she joked.

'I CANT DATE SOBER. OMG. Cant Deal'.
They both suffered horrific injuries following an explosive row last Sunday, which left Stephanie with five fractured ribs, a broken nose, a black eye.

And now The Sun is claiming that Stephanie Davis and Jeremy McConnell had to be separated by police in another row just three days earlier.

The pair, who share seven-month-old baby Caben, were reportedly at a hotel in East London when the blazing argument ensued.

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'The night manager called the police': The Sun is claiming that Stephanie Davis and Jeremy McConnell had to be separated by police in another row just three days before an explosive fight which left the Hollyoaks star with five fractured ribs

An onlooker at the hotel told Sun Online: 'We were in the hotel reception and we saw this girl very distressed running out of the hotel crying.

'It was clear something had gone on and the night manager called the police'.

A spokesman told MailOnline: 'Police were called at 02:49hrs on 29 June to a disturbance between a man and a woman at the Hotel Alto in Ilford Hill, Ilford.

'Officers attended the location. No criminal allegations were made.'

'We saw this girl very distressed running out of the hotel crying': The pair, who share seven-month-old baby Caben, were reportedly at a hotel in East London when the blazing argument ensued, and reportedly had to be separated by police

This comes after Stephanie launched into a public tirade over her ex-boyfriend, accusing him of 'never paying child maintenance' and 'giving her chlamydia'.

She took aim at her former Big Brother co-star via a series of now-deleted tweets, following reports of Jeremy enjoying a night out with Love Island star Shannen Reilly McGrath in Dublin - days after their split.

The former Hollyoaks star, 24, branded the Irish model 'disgusting' - appearing to address their blazing hotel brawl that had left her with five fractured ribs, a broken nose, a black eye - as well as bruises all down her arms and legs in the pictures.

Angry: Stephanie Davis launched into a public tirade over her ex-boyfriend Jeremy McConnell via Twitter on Friday, accusing him of 'never paying child maintenance' and 'giving her chlamydia'

Stephanie had been arrested on suspicion of GBH on Sunday following an explosive row with Jeremy - who too appeared to suffer a multitude of injuries - in a hotel.

Following her arrest, Jeremy claimed to MailOnline that Stephanie is pregnant with their second child.

Fuelled by his appearance in Ireland with reality star Shannen, Stephanie took to Twitter to vent about her former flame, as she penned: 'How people are so narrow minded. He has NEVER paid child maintenance!! For his own son! Lived in my home RENT FREE!!

'History repeats it's self saying marks were from a deep tissue massage and out with women AGAINNNNN after announcing MY personal news.

Raging: The former Hollyoaks star, 24, branded the Irish model (pictured) 'disgusting' - appearing to address their blazing hotel brawl that had left both stars with injuries

Angered: Fuelled by his appearance in Ireland with reality star Shannen, Stephanie took to Twitter to vent about her former flame, making a series of accusations about Jeremy

'Is DISGUSTING!! All I have covered for him out with the typical sl*gs fro another news article, you thought apps were following him... Pleaseeeeeeeeee it's laughable and the abuse I am getting after all I did for that lad is DISGUSSTTIINGGGGGGGFFFF.

'People may loose there family members, that doesn't give them the right to do what he has done!! Over and over! He's done NO AFTER CARE.

'After assault and revenge porn and more assault he thinks I should take it! I did EVERYTHING for that lad, he relapsed used coke.

'After ALL I have defended him. People go through MUCH worse, that doesn't give u the right to ABUSE the people u love. End off.'

Despite signing off, Stephanie continued to air her thoughts about her ex. She added: 'Now let him go out with girls he's SL*GGED and called sl*gs for press... History repeats it's self right? Can no one see this pattern??

Drama: The former Hollyoaks star appeared to reference their blazing hotel brawl where both she and Jeremy appeared to suffer injuries, along with his claims she is now pregnant

'Pregnant as , as the voice notes say, * I've got u this time no one will ever touch you with two kids I'm ok as a lad your f**ked u look like a sl*g.

'Ps any women get away from DV no matter how many children, u can't scare me anymore. I'll be a good mum unlike u as a father!

'I will NO LOMGER STAND FOR WHAT HES SAID! Him saying it's over when I should have ended it along time ago!! Now I'm STRONG! U don't destroy people you love, funny how he can put me through SO MUCH, the he snaps. MENTAL.

'I stayed with him to HELP him. And BELIEVED HIM. But the way I loved him, which was TRUE love, he wouldn't have HURT me over and over..

Scathing: Stephanie had also accused Jeremy of 'giving her chlamydia'

'As well as giving me chlamydia from some sl*g he sh*gged and gave me it when he KNEWWWWW he had it.

'And to the trolls thinking I sell things like him... imagine how MUCHHHHHHH I could have got from all he's done to me. I'm saying this to make u girls aware. IF A MAN LOVES U, HE DIESNT WANT TO HURT U Fact!

'U may love someone BUT they love them selfs more. BE HAPPY.BE FREE.

'Was pregnant alone for 9 months ALONE while he LIED AND SH*GGED & didn't pay child maintenance till this day,but has the girls sweet talked while he did me....Sickening for you. Madness these narrow minded people think. After I did EVERYTHING for that lad. #evil/sl*gcanthide.

'As long as it feeds that coke habbit right? Profile deleted. No man. Goodbye guys.'

MailOnline have contacted a representative for Stephanie. A representative for Jeremy was not available for comment.

'Was pregnant alone for nine months': She alluded back to Jeremy's cheating past in the tweets

Her tirade comes after he is said to have suffered a broken nose and fractured eye socket during their shocking brawl.

Speaking about the explosive showdown, Jeremy had claimed to MailOnline that their 'toxic relationship' is over for good with no chance of any reconciliation.

He claimed their fight began immediately after Stephanie's pregnancy announcement, saying: 'Steph then looked at my phone and saw that I was following some other woman. She just went mental at me and kicked off.

'She was going mental I had not even met this woman but was just following her. She would not listen and stormed off to go to the pub and refused to go to the scan.'

He said he followed Stephanie to a local pub near to the Royal Chase Hotel in Enfield where they were staying.

'We were in the pub and having a few drinks. I had two or three and so did Steph which I thought was off as she was pregnant. She was also smoking and I told her a pregnant woman should not drink and smoke.

'She told me it was her life and she could do as she wanted... She was screaming and shouting and being abusive. She would not listen and for five to ten minutes just kept screaming at me.'

Exes: Jeremy (pictured) has claimed Stephanie is pregnant following their shock hotel brawl. The couple share son Caben-Albi, seven months

Recalling the build-up to their brawl, he said: 'She just told me that she was pregnant. I was pretty shocked as it wasn't planned, but to be honest I was excited.

'She told me that she was going to have a scan at the hospital later that afternoon. The pregnancy was not planned and given our history together took me by surprise. I was pleased, but still in a bit of a shock.'

Stephanie was arrested and taken to Enfield Police station. She was later rushed to hospital and released at 3am on Tuesday morning after being bailed until July.

Photos of the star arriving at a friend's house showed her with scratch marks on her neck, face and nose and blood on the sleeve of her grey track suit top.

In one photo she tenderly clutched her stomach.

Over: Jeremy has now claimed their 'toxic relationship' is over for good with no chance of any reconciliation following their shock hotel room brawl

Friends claimed the row began when McConnell smashed Davis's phone which contained treasured photos of their son.

However, he insists he did not harm the former actress, explaining: 'There is no way I touched her. She was the one who attacked me. I did not punch her and touch her.'

Two months ago Stephanie had talked about having a second child with heavily tattooed Jeremy and even talked about marriage.

But since they began seeing each other having appeared on Big Brother they have been involved in a stormy relationship.

Jeremy has spent time in rehab and Stephanie has previously spoken about how drink and drugs has affected their relationship.
She recently became a mother for the second time to baby Cole.

And Kimberley Walsh proved she'd had no trouble snapping back to her svelte pre-baby figure as she arrived at the British Style Collective Show in Liverpool on Friday.

The former Girls Aloud star, 35, looked resplendent in a powder blue wrap around dress with semi-sheer overlay and beige heels.

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Chic: Kimberley Walsh, 35, showed off her taut post-pregnancy figure as she arrived at the British Style Collective Show in Liverpool on Friday

Letting her blonde locks flow beyond her shoulders, a pair of elaborate brown earrings complemented the pastel colours.

With a drop cut neckline showing off her decolletage, Kimberly's hourglass figure was accentuated by a tapered midriff hugging her curves subtly.

Clutching a phone in her hand, the classic styled dress showed off her long, toned pins elegantly.

Radiant: Kimberley showcased her tiny waist in the flowing dress

Kimberley welcomed son Cole in December and welcomed their first child, Bobby, in September 2014.

The pop princess has been married to ex-boybander Justin Scott since January 2016 in a lavish Barbados ceremony having dated for 15 years.

The couple met when they were both launching their pop careers on Popstars: The Rivals.

Happy days: Cheryl and Kimberley have remained firm friends since meeting when Girls Aloud formed on pioneering talent show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002, before they disbanded in 2013

Natural beauty: Kimberley showed off a classic 1950s silhouette as she took her place on stage at the Alcatel Fashion Show

Touch of bronze: The singer added an extra retro twist with a pair of Art Deco-inspired fan earrings

Meanwhile, the experienced mum has also been supporting another new mother, her best friend and former bandmate Cheryl, 33, who welcomed baby son Bear in March.

Cheryl and Kimberley have remained firm friends since meeting when Girls Aloud formed on pioneering talent show in 2002, before they disbanded in 2013.

Cheryl was even a bridesmaid during Kimberley's stunning Caribbean wedding last year.

Chic: Kimberley wore her honeyed blonde locks in natural waves as she presented the fashion show in Liverpool

Host: Kimberley stood on stage in a pair of strappy tan heels as she read from prompt cards

In an interview on This Morning last week, and despite previously vowing to keep mum on Cheryl's new role, Kimberley said the Call My Name hitmaker had adjusted effortlessly to motherhood.

'Cheryl is really good and doing brilliantly,' she said. 'I went over the other day with the boys and they caused mayhem. We let them play together.

'It's amazing to see her doing so well. We do it all together and share the experience together'

Kimberley said she is looking forward to adding to her family in the not too distant future, as she isn't 'done' with being a mother.

She admitted: 'I personally didn't get the feeling of being done with having more children but Justin may be done. Being a mum and working as an actor is an easier thing to do.

'It's hard to go into a musical with children so young. Bobby gets on really well with his younger brother but I still don't completely trust him because he is only two.

'But he does love him. The first thing in the morning he says he wants to go see baby Cole.'

Best friends:The experienced mum has also been supporting another new mother, her best friend and former bandmate Cheryl, 33, who welcomed baby son Bear in March (pictured December 2012 in London)
She was voted out of Love Island by her fellow Islanders for being in the least compatible couple with Sam Gowland two weeks ago.

But Chloe Crowhurst sent fans into a frenzy by hinting she would be making a comeback to the villa when she touched down in Majorca on Saturday.

Scantily-clad, the golden-haired beauty, 22, looked red hot in her scarlet bikini which could barely contain her ample assets as she teased: 'It could be a lot worse - back to Majorca for filming in a beaut Villa'.

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'Can't wait to get there': Dumped Love Islander Chloe Crowhurst, 22, teased her return to show as she touched down in Majorca to film in villa on Saturday

The reality star posed up in a storm in the shot whilst she draped a flowing negligee wrap off her shoulders to bask in the sunshine.

Letting her hair down, she let her golden hair down in loosely-tousled waves when she posed up a storm in front of a villa.

And fans immediately picked up on the post, asking: 'What are you filming for bb', 'What r u doing xx', 'R u coming back lol'.

MailOnline have contacted a Love Island spokesperson for comment.

Stunning: She caused a stir on the show when she appeared on the program

Chloe hinted at her return to the sunny Spanish island when she claimed she was 'airport bound' on Instagram.

The Essex beauty put on a very leggy display in the soaring split of her tie dye blue dress.

Chloe wrote: 'Can't wait to get there airport bound.' (sic)

Adding fuel to the fire, the series three star took to Twitter to reveal she was filming at an 'incredible villa'.

She's back! Chloe hinted at her return to the sunny Spanish island when she claimed she was 'airport bound' on Instagram

Revealed: She was voted out by her fellow Islanders for being in the least compatible couple with Sam Gowland (pictured together) from Love Island two weeks ago

Chloe tweeted: 'Ohhhh...Majorca I've missed you! Filming today at an incredible villa. Keep your eyes peeled to see what's next!' (sic)

Fans of the show speculated on her returning, with one fan leading the way by directly asking: 'R u coming back?'

Others followed suit as they wrote: 'Bring @chloecrowhurst_ back.' ''What are you filming?'

Not meant to be: Chloe also enjoyed a brief dalliance with Chris Hughes on the hit ITV2 show

As for romance in the outside world, she is settling back into life outside the villa after her exit from the popular show last week, including indulging in a reunion with ex Jon Clark.

Chloe and Jon were dating before the blonde jetted off to Mallorca for the ITV2 series, with the TOWIE star blasting her for supposedly ditching him for the dating show.

She was spotted smooching Jon outside DSTRKT nightclub in London following a night out, which also saw them locked in a heated row.

On/off: Dumped Love Island star Chloe has denied she is back together with her TOWIE beau Jon Clarke

Chloe was quick to deny that she and Jon were still together when she headed to the Love Island villa, explaining her radio silence to Holly Willougby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning as:'You cant tell anyone that you're going in.'

Of the rumours they are a couple again, Chloe was adamant, explaining: 'Were not back together,' but added: 'We are speaking. There may be something to rekindle.'

Meanwhile the blonde also refused to go into detail about rumours she will join Jon on his reality series TOWIE, coyly telling Holly and Phil: 'Nothing is confirmed,' adding: Im busy and Im working on stuff which is bigger and better. Watch this space.'
His singing, dancing and acting prowess have seen him dubbed as a 'triple threat.'

And it seems that Hugh Jackman, 49, has added another talent to his formidable arsenal - selfie taker.

The Logan star took to his Instagram on Saturday to share a selfie that had all the hallmarks of an artist at work.

Hidden talent: Hugh Jackman took to his Instagram on Saturday to share a selfie that had all the hallmarks of an artist at work

Posing in front of a sandstone wall, somewhere in Italy, Hugh offered a hearty smile to the camera, but it was his perfectly positioned shadow on the wall behind that made the shot stand out.

While the photo only showed Hugh to the chest, his chiselled arm can be seen holding up his phone in the silhouette behind him.

Clearly chuffed with his photographic skills, Hugh captioned the post: 'My selfie classes are really paying off,' punctuating the comment with the hashtag #priorities.

Good student: Clearly chuffed with his photographic skills, Hugh captioned the post: 'My selfie classes are really paying off,' punctuating the comment with the hashtag #priorities

Hugh's legion of followers agreed with the star, giving the photo more than 30,000 likes in 30 minutes after posting.

'Yes they are, but how did you get the shadow to stand still long enough, lol,' one fan joked while another offered: ' You're selfie skills are epic. I know a few people who really need a master class. Maybe you can organise one.'

Another fan suggested that Hugh would soon knock the Queen of the selfies Kim Kardashian off her perch soon with: ' They sure are.. You will be giving Kim K lessons soon.'

Social star: A quick trawl of Hugh's Instagram reveals that he is no stranger to the selfie, however, his recent effort has put the previous shots to shame

A quick trawl of Hugh's Instagram reveals that he is no stranger to the selfie, however, his recent effort has put the previous shots to shame.

The selfie bug seems to have grabbed Hugh with The Greatest Showman actor taking another on Thursday while in the Italian city of Florence.

While lacking the deft composition of the previous shot, the post still drew a massive half a million likes from fans.

Ciao: The selfie bug seems to have grabbed Hugh with The Greatest Showman actor taking another on Thursday while in the Italian city of Florence

Wearing a pair of aviator-style sunglasses, a blue collard shirt and a fedora-style sun hat, Hugh again offered a grin as he posed on the street.

Hugh who has been married to Deborra-Lee Furness for 21 years recently revealed on the UK talk show Lorraine that the secret to the marriage was the fact the pair 'shared everything' and that they never pend more than two weeks apart.

'We always said wed never spend more than 2 weeks apart. Sometimes life and work does get crazy,' he said.

'But we met on my first job when she was already a big star, I was a nobody. So we have shared everything, all the ups and downs, and always will.'
They were in Australia in February to promote their series Suits.

And Rick Hoffman has revealed he keeps one VERY quirky souvenir from his Down Under trip close by.

The 47-year-old actor told The Daily Telegraph he keeps a set of kangaroo testicles gifted to him by co-star Sarah Rafferty 'in my drawer, next to my bed'.

I actually have them in my drawer, next to my bed!' Suits star Rick Hoffman reveals he keeps Kangaroo testicle present from co-star Sarah Rafferty close by

Rick, who plays highly-strung solicitor Louis Litt, joked that he treasured the prized present.

'I actually have them in my drawer, next to my bed ... thats how much luck they have brought me,' Rick said.

'Some people say prayers at night ... all I do is open the drawer, look at those roo balls and thats all I need.'

That's different: The 47-year-old actor keeps a set of kangaroo testicles gifted to him by co-star Sarah Rafferty 'in my drawer'

Rick and Sarah, who are firm friends off-screen, admit their friendly banter has served them well throughout the series.

The two are now allowed to ad lib many of their exchanges on Suits, now in its seventh season.

'When they allow us to improvise and me to act like a goofball, that usually sets off Sarah,' Rick explained.

Firm friends: Rick and Sarah, who are firm friends off-screen, admit their friendly banter has served them well throughout the series. Pictured with Gabriel Macht and Meghan Markle

Sarah, who plays office assistant Donna Paulsen, purchased the 'roo balls' for Rick during their Australian Suits promotional trip in February.

The actress revealed how she had been drawn to the quirky gift while shopping at a market.

'The first [market] kiosk I stopped in because I saw some sharks tooth necklaces to buy my daughters and then of course there were roo balls hanging there. Like a massive display,' Sarah explained to News Corp in February.
She was forced to delete her Instagram account after enraged social media fans slammed her over pictures showing her kissing married Jeremy Meeks on a yacht in Turkey last week.

And Chloe Green cut a low profile as she was spotted with her billionaire father Sir Phillip Green, 65, in St Tropez, France on Saturday.

The British heiress, 26, put on in a quiet display following the furore of the past week.

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Quiet display: Chloe Green cut a low profile as she was spotted with her billionaire father Sir Phillip Green in St Tropez, France on Saturday

Dressed in a pair of sporty Ivy Park tracksuit bottoms by Beyonce, she continued the casual display with a loose fitting grey top.

Despite the warm climate, she tied a sweater around her waist, covering her face with a pair of oversized aviator shades.

She was joined by her father, who coordinated the relaxed appearance in shorts and a t-shirt.

Low profile: The British heiress, 26, and her father, 65, put on in a quiet display following the furore of the past week

And Chloe isn't the only one who has been in the spotlight of late.

Controversial British retail tycoon Sir Philip Green, who owns Topshop and is worth an estimated $5.1 billion, has been hitting headlines frequently over the last year.

BHS went bust last spring and her father got the blame for the 571 million hole in the firms pensions pot.

Controversial: Chloe isn't the only one who has been in the spotlight of late as Sir Philip Green, who owns Topshop and is worth an estimated $5.1 billion, got the blame for the 571 million hole in the firms pensions pot after BHS went bust

However, Sir Philip agreed to pay 363 million into the pension fund in February this year.

At the beginning of July Jeremy sent the internet into overdrive when he was pictured kissing Topshop heiress Chloe Green on a luxury yacht in Turkey.

The father-of-one model faced furious backlash from fans, who accused him of disrespecting his eight-year-relationship with wife and mother-of-three Melissa Meeks, who he shares her youngest son with.

Life of luxury: Meeks continued to send tongues wagging after pictures emerged of him kissing British Topshop heiress Chloe Green on a yacht in Turkey at the beginning of the month

Meeks and Chloe, who is heir to her father Sir Philip's billions, were pictured sharing an intimate kiss over the weekend and snuggling up together as they waited to be taken back to their 112,000-a-week yacht in Bodrum, Turkey.

Their tender embrace was watched over by an entourage which had joined them on their luxury charter for a week of fun in the sun.

It came as Melissa broke her social media silence and as his legions of fans turned on him for dumping her.

On Monday, two days after the pictures emerged, Meeks's manager posted a photo of him and his client, who has 1.2million Instagram followers in Dusseldorf, Germany.

'Just the beginning': Chloe took to Instagram on Saturday, sharing a a photo with Meeks and his manager, before deleting her account due to the backlash

But fans turned on them with one user writing: 'Shame on you,' in apparent reference to the photos.

Meeks' wife, Melissa, a mother of three who has a son with the convict, appeared to respond to her husband's alleged infidelity with a sultry Instagram post of her own on Sunday.

She added: 'It's just me against the world baby,' with the hashtag 'Still I rise'.

Ignoring the revelation that her husband was cheating on her, Melissa made a point of not mentioning his adultery and instead opted to caption the picture with two hashtags - Queens are Born in July and It's My Birthday Month.

Chloe has since deleted her Instagram account shortly after posting a picture of her and Meeks together with the caption: 'Just the beginning...We appreciate all the love and the hate.'

F

Meeks too has edited his account, deleting all photographs of him and Melissa, which has not gone down with the fans who fell in love with his good looks after his California mugshot went viral in 2014.

Meanwhile Chloe's father Sir Philip said he is 'not getting involved' in his daughter's holiday romance.

The tycoon refused to be drawn when asked about it, telling the Telegraph: 'With respect, I am not getting involved in it.'

Chloe is thought to have met Jeremy when he attended at an array of star-studded events during the Cannes Film Festival last month.

Modelling for Phillip Plein, Jeremy was seen mingling with the likes of Paris Hilton and Nicki Minaj during the glitzy fest.

From in the can to in Cannes! Jeremy mingled with heiress Paris Hilton during the Cannes Film Festival in May

Rubbing shoulders with the A listers: He as spotted enjoying dinner with rapper Nicki Minaj

Meeks, whose looks have earned him a huge fanbase, made his first official modelling appearance at New York fashion week this year, and has certainly turned his life around in an impressive way since his release from prison.

However his journey to stardom hasn't been all smooth-sailing, after he was recently barred from entry to the UK after arriving at London's Heathrow airport from New York.

The California native shot to fame in 2014 when the Stockton Police Department posted his mugshot on their website, following his arrest for gang activity and a misdemeanour charge of resisting/obstructing justice.

The photo promptly went viral, with internet users dubbing him 'the hottest convict ever'.

Family man: Jeremy has been with wife and mother-of-three Melissa for eight years, and the couple are parents to her youngest son- she has remained largely quiet over the pictures

Following the furore, Jeremy returned to California to be reunited with his family.

However he didn't appear too welcome, with wife Melissa retreating to her sister's residence for Fourth Of July celebrations.

Ahead of his return on Monday, Meeks' furious sister-in-law Michelle told DailyMail.com that she is aware of his affair with Green but said she 'doesn't care' about the billionaire heiress - 'doesn't care at all'.

Devastated Melissa was too upset to speak as she left for work on Monday but changed her mind later and insisted she is still married to the hardened criminal as she made her way home.

Michelle, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was more forthright and when asked if she knew about Meeks' dalliance with Green, answered: 'Yes and I don't care. I don't care at all.'

She added: 'We have no other comment to make. None at all.'

Emotional: Melissa shared a snap of a Tupac lyric 'it's just me against the world baby' a pictures of her husband kissing another woman emerged last week
He's the famous filmmaker who has interviewed porn stars, plastic surgeons and neo-Nazis.

However, Louis Theroux has now revealed that plans for a documentary examining British jihadists and supporters of ISIS has fallen through.

In an interview published in The Daily Telegraph on Sunday, the 47-year-old star is quoted as saying: 'It had become such a hot button topic that we were competing with other crews to get access.'

'They were very wary': In an interview published in The Daily Telegraph on Sunday, Louis Theroux revealed that plans to film a documentary on British ISIS supporters fell through

Louis also added there was another reason why the documentary failed to get off the ground, citing a lack of interviewees willing to speak on camera.

'The terror supporters were so under pressure that they were very wary,' he told the publication.

Louis and his producers focused on the idea for 'a couple of months' before it was scrapped.

'The terror supporters were so under pressure that they were very wary': Louis scrapped plans for the documentary (pictured: police after the Westminster terror attack in March 2017)

'It had become such a hot button topic': Louis will now turn his attention to subjects in the US (pictured: police after the Westminster terror attack in March 2017)

The star- who is the first cousin of Jennifer Aniston's husband Justin Theroux- has now turned his attention back to the United States, where he has already filmed dozens of documentaries.

Earlier this year, BBC revealed they will screen three new films featuring Louis in the US.

The filmmaker will travel to Wisconsin to examine race relations, before he turns to Texas to tackle the subject of sex trafficking.

New documentaries: BBC revealed Louis will feature in three new films examining issues in America

The Oxford-educated star will then look at opioid addiction across America.

Speaking of the upcoming documentaries, Louis told the Telegraph, 'What I find is there are people reaching out to me to try and convey something'.

The British TV favourite married his long-term love Nancy Strang in 2012, and the couple share three sons- Albert, Walter and Frederick.
She raised eyebrows after revealing she had purchased clothes up to age 14 for her unborn daughter.

And now Yummy Mummies' star Maria DiGeronimo's partner has defended her lavish lifestyle ahead of the show's premiere on Sunday night.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Adelaide barber shop owner Carlos Vannnini argued: 'People have always been jealous of Maria.'

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'People have always been jealous of Maria': Yummy Mummies star's partner defends Adelaide mother's lavish lifestyle

Maria's partner of three years, who also has a child from a previous relationship, told the publication the pair were used to the label-loving Adelaide socialite getting plenty of attention.

'People have always been jealous of Maria. Its just the norm, so were not worried. Shes used to it and shes fine with it,' Carlos explained.

Maria added that she made no apologies for her lavish lifestyle and over the top baby shower.

'I like nice things and Im living a life that I love. I follow one person, (partner) Carlos (Vannini), on Instagram and its purely because I dont find anyones life as interesting,' Maria said.

'I like nice things and Im living a life that I love': Maria added that she made no apologies for her lavish lifestyle and over the top baby shower

'She's a fruit loop!' Yummy Mummies' Maria DiGeronimo shows off ridiculous designer wardrobe for her baby

Meanwhile in one preview for the divisive show, the Adelaide housewife shows off a walk-in wardrobe stuffed full with designer clothes, confessing she has bought items sized up to age 14 for her unborn child.

The flamboyant soon to be mum boasts of her purchases to the other Yummy Mummies stars Lorinska Merrington, Jane Scandizzo and Rachel Watts during a tour of her mansion.

'This is my favourite room,' Maria says as she escorts the other pregnant women into a walk-in wardrobe.

A quick scan shows the room is stuffed with Nike and Ralph Lauren shoes, Burberry clothes and even a Chanel handbag.

'This is my favourite room': The flamboyant soon to be mum boasts of her purchases to the other Yummy Mummies stars

No expense spared! A quick scan shows the room is stuffed with Nike and Ralph Lauren shoes, Burberry clothes and even a Chanel handbag

Beaming with pride, Maria tells the other yummy mummies she has purchased clothes up to the age of 14.

But the other soon-to-be-mums appear less than impressed with Maria's excessive spending, with Jane telling the other women: 'She's a fruit loop!'

Undeterred, Maria had her own take on their reactions, later telling producers: 'They're a bit jealous, they look jealous.'

Crazy: The other soon to be mums appear less than impressed with Maria's excessive spending

Say what: Beaming with pride, Maria tells the other yummy mummies she has purchased clothes up to the age of 14

It's not the first time Maria's over-the-top lifestyle has featured in promos for Yummy Mummies.

Earlier previews showed Maria receiving a bouquet made of 100 dollar notes and arriving at her extravagant baby shower in a horse-drawn carriage.

She also courted controversy for saying breastfeeding should be 'illegal' in one trailer.

The comment saw the Australian Breastfeeding Project start a petition to ban the show, which has now been signed by more than 23,000 people.

'They're a bit jealous': Maria had her own take on their reactions putting it down to the others being envious

Backlash: She also courted controversy for saying breastfeeding should be 'illegal' in one trailer

Maria later defended her stance on breastfeeding, telling the Adelaide Advertiser she breastfed herself but never in public.

'I didnt choose a place that was loud, rowdy, with men who could possibly even be intoxicated,' she said.

'If I would have done that, Id have covered up, but thats my opinion and personal choice.'

Since previews for Yummy Mummies first aired in May the show has attracted a vocal negative reaction from viewers.
When there's only one tight spot left in the parking lot, sometimes you have to get out and wait on the curb.

And this was even the case for supermodel Cindy Crawford, on Friday.

The 51-year-old supermodel stood by the side of her husband Rande Gerber's Bentley as he pulled up to park close to a bush in Malibu, California.

On the curb: Cindy Crawford stood by the side of her husband Rande Gerber's Bentley as he pulled up to park close to a bush in Malibu, California

The leggy beauty looked stunning as ever, in light summer flared jeans.

She showcased her lean torso and toned arms in a sleeveless cream blouse.

Simple stone coloured open-toed flat completed her simple but elegant style.

Natural beauty: She showcased her lean torso and toned arms in a sleeveless cream blouse

Her brunette tresses were as impeccably styled as ever, as she left her hair to fall loose around her striking features.

Dark glasses sealed her A-List status - as she was joined by Gerber at his restaurant Cafe Habana.

The entrepreneur seems to be taking no time to relax as he continues to build his business empire - despite netting a fortune when he sold his tequila business recently.

Stunning: Her brunette tresses were as impeccably styled as ever, as she left her hair to fall loose around her striking features

Casamigos tequila - which Gerber set up with actor George Clooney and real estate tycoon Mike Meldman was sold last month to British liquor giant Diago for $1 billion.

The price tag includes an initial payout of $700 million, plus a further potential $300 million over the next decade based on the brand's performance.

The initial $700 million payout split three ways would mean up to $233 million pretax.

The trio reportedly put in $600,000 apiece as initial investment to start up the drinks company in 2015.

Cindy has two children with Rande - 18-year-old son Presley and lookalike daughter Kaia, 15.
He's never one to be shy about his sartorially choices.

And Jaden Smith still made no apologies as he was spotted with his shirt off at an ice cream shop in Calabasas on Friday.

The 19-year-old cut a super casual figure as he enjoyed the fun outing with his girlfriend Odessa Adlon.

Too hot: Jaden Smith, 19, was spotted with his T-shirt off at a gourmet ice cream shop in Calabasas on Friday

The style icon for the new generation gave his fans a charge as he showcased his toned physique in the al fresco setting.

Daring to impress, the young thespian rocked unique paint splattered denim jeans over his lithe frame.

He recently cut off all his hair and rocked the short blond hair style with a sense of panache and flair.

During the downtime of waiting for their frozen desserts, Jaden wrapped his arm around Odessa.

Gangs all here: Jaden cut a super casual figure as he enjoyed the fun outing with his girlfriend Odessa Adlon

Loved up: During the downtime of waiting for their frozen desserts, Jaden wrapped his arm around Odessa

Getting close: At one point, Odessa leaned in for a tight hug as Jaden held on and put his hand on her back

She revealed her taut tummy in a rolled up long sleeve tee and a pair of baggy acid-washed denim.

She kept her curly auburn hair back in a loose ponytail as retro shades helped framed her youthful face.

The loved up couple held on to each other tightly as their friends gathered around the patio furniture.

Strange talk: A mysterious man in a black hat was speaking with Jaden who appeared mystified and delighted

At one point, Odessa leaned in for a tight hug as Jaden held on and put his hand on her back.

A mysterious man in a black hat was speaking with Jaden who appeared mystified and delighted.

Jaden and Odessa have been dating since April.
They are two of the most in-demand American models in the world.

And Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid proved their international appeal, as they took to the streets of London for the eagerly anticipated annual Pride Parade 2017 on Saturday.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashian star, 21, looked sensational as she flashed her impossibly flat stomach in an all-white ensemble, while sizzling brunette pal, 20, showed off her flair for fashion in an all-blue look.

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Celebrating love: Kendall Jenner, 21, and Bella Hadid, 20, took to the streets of London for the eagerly anticipated annual Pride Parade 2017 on Saturday

Kendall and Bella both looked in high spirits as they took a break from their high-profile modelling endeavours while heading down the British capital's famous Oxford Street to embrace the LGBT community.

Jenner embraced the sun-kissed weather in a figure-flattering ensemble, which served to accentuate her slender stats.

The tiny white bandeau top showed off her tiny waist, while a pair of matching bottoms put focus on her slim pins.

Kendall accessorised with a labyrinth of dainty gold necklaces and a pair of shades.

Trendy: The Keeping Up With The Kardashian star looked sensational as she flashed her impossibly flat stomach in an all-white ensemble, while sizzling brunette pal showed off her flair for fashion in an all-blue look

Showing their support: Kendall and Bella both looked in high spirits as they took a break from their high-profile modelling endeavours while heading down the British capital's famous Oxford Street to embrace the LGBT community

Style star: Jenner embraced the sun-kissed weather in a figure-flattering ensemble, which served to accentuate her slender stats

Holding her hand was her good friend Bella - who parted ways from her smouldering facial expressions for her plethora of photo shoots for relaxed, easy going smiles.

Bella also showed off her honed stomach in a sleeveless blue crop top, which she paired with heavily ripped blue jeans.

A pair of grungy black boots completed the trendy look as she basked in the fun-filled day, which is all about celebrating universal love.

Kendall and Bella both got into the spirit of things as they donned rainbow cowboys hats while marching down the street with thousands of others.

Summer chic: The tiny white bandeau top showed off her tiny waist and flawless decolletage

Fashionista: Kendall accessorised with a labyrinth of dainty gold necklaces and a pair of shades

Having fun: Holding her hand was her good friend Bella - who parted ways from her smouldering facial expressions for her plethora of photo shoots for relaxed, easy going smiles

Trendy: Bella also showed off her honed stomach in a sleeveless blue crop top, which she paired with heavily ripped blue jeans

This outing comes as welcome distraction for Kendall - who has reportedly been hit with a lawsuit, alongside sister Kylie Jenner, for unauthorised use of images of Tupac for their latest clothing line.

In legal documents obtained by the site, famed photographer Michael Miller claims that he had never given the reality stars permission to use the images in addition to selling them on their website.

The sisters issued an apology not long after the designs went live, telling fans 'These designs were not well thought out and we deeply apologise to anyone that has been upset and/or offended, especially to the families of the artists.'

Loving life: A pair of grungy black boots completed the trendy look as she basked in the fun-filled day, which is all about celebrating universal love

Festivities: Kendall and Bella both got into the spirit of things as they donned rainbow cowboys hats while marching down the street with thousands of others

Drama: This outing comes as welcome distraction for Kendall - who has reportedly been hit with a lawsuit, alongside sister Kylie Jenner, for unauthorised use of images of Tupac for their latest clothing line

Explosive: In legal documents obtained by the site, famed photographer Michael Miller claims that he had never given the reality stars permission to use the images in addition to selling them on their website

The sisters issued an apology not long after the designs went live, telling fans 'These designs were not well thought out and we deeply apologise to anyone that has been upset and/or offended, especially to the families of the artists'

Celebrations: London Pride proved to be another extravaganza of love - with the British capital's mayor Sadiq Khan saying that the celebrations provide the 'best antidote' to recent tragedies

They continued, 'We are huge fans of their music and it was not our intention to disrespect these cultural icons in anyway.'

Meanwhile, London Pride proved to be another extravaganza of love - with the British capital's mayor Sadiq Khan saying that the celebrations provide the 'best antidote' to recent tragedies.

More than 25,000 people took part in the gala parade, with up to 1 million people watching in central London.

As part of the festivities, a rainbow flag is to be projected onto the Houses of Parliament for the first time.
Her increasingly bold wardrobe choices are thanks to celebrity stylist Law Roach.

And Celine Dion made yet another eye-catching fashion statement, as she left the Royal Monceau hotel in Paris, France on Saturday.

The 49-year-old singing mega-star was in high spirits as she emerged in a chic, structured gold blazer and funky ripped jeans.

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Here she comes! Celine Dion, 49, made yet another eye-catching fashion statement, as she left the Royal Monceau hotel in Paris, France on Saturday

Clearly having nailed a sensational exit into adoring crowds, Celine stunned once again in her sartorially savvy ensemble.

The Canadian powerhouse flaunted her flair for fashion in the padded gold and white blazer, which boasted lilac bows on both sides.

Injecting a slight element of casualness into the ensemble, Celine showed off her lean legs in a pair of ripped blue jeans.

The funky pair of bottoms were rolled up at the ankles and allowed the My Heart Will Go On songstress to flaunt her gold heels as she strutted out in style.

Seriously stylish: The singing mega-star was in high spirits as she emerged in a chic, structured gold blazer and funky ripped jeans

Unique: The Canadian powerhouse flaunted her flair for fashion in the padded gold and white blazer, which boasted lilac bows on both sides

Jean-ius! Injecting a slight element of casualness into the ensemble, Celine showed off her lean legs in a pair of ripped blue jeans

The star scraped her locks into a high topknot and pair of shades complemented her low-key make-up look.

Celine proved to be in a great mood, as she took her time to mingle with her hoards of fans.

The beauty hopped onto an awaiting car - like previous days - and waved at her well-wishers before she was whisked away.

Walking the walk! The funky pair of bottoms were rolled up at the ankles and allowed the My Heart Will Go On songstress to flaunt her gold heels as she strutted out in style

Stunning: The star scraped her locks into a high topknot and pair of shades complemented her low-key make-up look

Having her moment: The beauty hopped onto an awaiting car - like previous days - and waved at her well-wishers before she was whisked away

Pleasing people: Celine proved to be in a great mood, as she took her time to mingle with her hoards of fans

The outfit is the latest in a string of bold style choices from Celine, whose flair for fashion is steadily evolving with the help of regular stylist Law Roach.

The former Americas Next Top Model judge has worked with a host of illustrious stars, including Ariana Grande, Jessie J and R&B star Brandy.

A self-styled image architect, Law has helped overhaul Celines image during her current stay in Paris  and the results have been startling.
Since touching back down in the UK, he has been inseparable from his new flame Jessica Shears.

But parting with the buxom brunette, Dom Lever was seen flying solo as he headed out in Liverpool on Saturday to put in an appearance at The British Style Collective held at the Liverpool Exhibition Centre.

Flaunting his golden glow from his weeks in the sunshine while starring on dating show Love Island, Dom cut a dapper figure in casual yet stylish ensemble.

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Flying solo: Dom Lever stepped out without his new love Jessica Shears as he attended The British Style Collective in Liverpool on Saturday

The reality star had shot to stardom on the third series of the ITV2 dating show, joining the show from the get go as an original islander.

His appearance wasn't without controversy, as early on into the series Dom had ditched his original partner Montana Brown for Jess, just days after the initial coupling.

Romance went on to blossom between himself and his glamour model squeeze, with the pair now picking up their relationship on home soil - despite claims surfacing suggesting she had slept with the pair's co-star Mike Thalassitis on her early exit frm the villa.

Jess and Mike have both denied the alleged dalliance and it hasn't seemed to have put a halt to her romance with Dom.

Dapper: He paired together distressed jeans with a printed white t-shirt and a leather bomber jacket, while sporting pristine-looking white trainers on his feet

However, tearing himself away from his new love, Dom was spotted attending the fashion event hosted by The Clothes Show.

He paired together distressed jeans with a printed white t-shirt and a leather bomber jacket, while sporting pristine-looking white trainers on his feet.

Inside, he joined fellow Love Island stars Olivia Buckland and Alex Bowen - who had starred on the show's second series - along with Ex On The Beach star Ashleigh Defty.

Ashleigh had made an appearance on the fourth series of the MTV dating show, joining as a latecomer to surprise her ex - Geordie Shore star Scotty T.

Busty display: Former Ex On The Beach star Ashleigh Defty was also in attendance

Gorgeous: The blonde beauty dazzled as she stole a look at her ample assets in a striped wrap-over blouse and form-fitting white jeans

Stylish: She teamed her getup with a pair of barely-there heels and a monochrome fedora hat

Reality roots: Ashleigh had made an appearance on the fourth series of the MTV dating show, joining as a latecomer to surprise her ex - Geordie Shore star Scotty T

The blonde beauty dazzled as she stole a look at her ample assets in a striped wrap-over blouse and form-fitting white jeans.

Ashleigh teamed her getup with a pair of barely-there heels and a monochrome fedora hat and was seen clutching onto two bags of goodies as she headed out from the venue.

Kimberley Walsh, meanwhile, was seen taking to the stage at The British Style Collective and cut an elegant figure in a demure pale blue midi dress.

Her frock had cinched in at the waist to accentuate her slender frame before billowing out into a full skirt that sat just above her ankles.

Star-studded: Kimberley Walsh, meanwhile, was seen taking to the stage at The British Style Collective and cut an elegant figure in a demure pale blue midi dress

Elegant: Her frock had cinched in at the waist to accentuate her slender frame before billowing out into a full skirt that sat just above her ankles

Like the former Girls Aloud star, Dom had also appeared on stage and appeared to be taking part in a Q&A - no doubt revealing his style tips and dishing the dirt on his time in Love Island.

His appearance on the show had come to an end in a shock re-coupling that had seen seven islanders dumped from the villa.

The original islanders had been separated into two villas and had been joined by five new girls and six new boys.

Dom had been coupled with Montana and during the re-coupling he chose not to pair with a new islander. Montana, however, did re-couple with her current flame Alex Beattie, meaning solo Dom was immediately sent packing.

Like the former Girls Aloud star, Dom had also appeared on stage and appeared to be taking part in a Q&A - no doubt revealing his style tips and dishing the dirt on his time in Love Island

Shock exit: His appearance on the show had come to an end in a shock re-coupling that had seen seven islanders dumped from the villa

Smitten: Although, it seems he hasn't been wallowing in his exit, as Jess revealed she and Dom have been making the most of their new found time together away from prying eyes

Although, it seems he hasn't been wallowing in his exit, as Jess revealed she and Dom have been making the most of their new found time together away from prying eyes.

Addressing their steamy sessions under the sheets - the duo had been the first couple to have sex on Love Island's new series - Jess told Daily Star: 'It's very grabby and rough, we're both up for experimenting...

'We're definitely not shy and being away from the cameras has meant we can do anything and everything we want without hiding under the covers.'

Whilst they may only have only known each other five weeks - and spent one of those apart when Jess was dumped first from the island - the pair confirmed that they have already been planning marriage and babies.

Dom explained: 'When you know you know. I trust her 100 percent and want this long term.'

Saucy: Gushing about their sex life, Jess revealed that the duo are 'experimental' in the bedroom, as well as 'rough and grabby'
She has been keeping a low profile ever since her new romance with married felon Jeremy Meeks came to light.

But Chloe Green appeared in high spirits as she stepped out in St Tropez with actress Michelle Rodriguez, 38, on Saturday.

Flaunting her golden glow from her sun-drenched getaways of late, the heiress, 26, was seen putting on a leggy display in a pair of thigh-grazing denim shorts, before stripping down to a scanty swimsuit that flaunted plenty of side-boob.

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Message from Meeks? Chloe Green, 26, appeared in high spirits as she stepped out in Saint Tropez on Saturday

Prior to yet another sunbathing session, Chloe made a stylish appearance in the French Riviera town in a pair of frayed denim shorts that sat high on her legs.

She teamed her flirty shorts with a leopard print pyjama blouse that came complete with a plunging neckline and turned-up sleeves and hung a pair of aviator shades from her stylish top.

The former Made In Chelsea star, who previously dated long-standing cast member Ollie Locke, slung a grey-hued handbag over one shoulder and kept her long tresses down in a sleek and straight style.

Scanty: Chloe was later seen flashing a hint of side-boob as she sported another leopard print design in the form of a revealing swimsuit

Bikini-clad: Michelle, meanwhile, chose to don a white triangle bikini that showcased her enviable frame

Star-studded pals: The heiress was joined by Fast & Furious star Michelle Rodriguez overseas

Low-key: Chloe has been keeping a low profile on holiday following the furore her affectionate display with felon turned model Jeremy Meeks at the beginning of July had caused

Chloe appeared to showcase her natural beauty by teaming her holiday attire with a subtle make-up look and appeared to be slightly distracted while out with Fast & Furious star Michelle.

Engrossed by her mobile phone, she was seen beaming from ear-to-ear as she looked down at its screen.

Michelle, meanwhile, appeared in high spirits during her outing with Chloe and their friends.

Distracted: But seeming to put the backlash from fans over their romance behind her, she appeared to be at ease as she stared into her phone while taking a stroll

Leggy display: The former Made In Chelsea star sported frayed denim shorts that grazed her thighs and a chic leopard print pyjama blouse

Smile: She cut a content figure as she ventured out with Hollywood A-lister Michelle

She was clad in white jeans and a printed bomber jacket and chose to protect her eyes from the blazing sun rays with a pair of round-framed sunglasses.

Seeming relaxed and content, Michelle appeared at ease with her pals as they larked about together in the desirable temperatures.

They had been making their way to the marina where they then boarded a luxury yacht to top up their tans in the sunshine.

Kicking back: Chloe had stripped down to a revealing swimsuit, favouring another leopard print design as she boarded a luxury yacht

Stunning: Flaunting plenty of side-boob, Chloe reclined on a plush sun-lounger as she added to her already impressive tan

Chloe had stripped down to a revealing swimsuit, favouring another leopard print design.

Her barely-there beach attire was near enough backless and featured daringly cut sides that had teased a look at her tattoo etched onto her rib cage, underneath her chest, along with her assets.

Flaunting plenty of side-boob, Chloe reclined on a plush sun-lounger as she added to her already impressive tan.

Revealing display: Michelle, meanwhile, sported a white halter-neck bikini that left her impressive frame on full display

Cooling off? She was seen taking a shower after taking a dip in the sea

Her swimsuit also stole a look at her pert derriere, thanks to its daring cut at the back and Chloe made sure to don her large shades as she enjoyed an afternoon of R&R.

She had scraped her long locks up into a topknot - no doubt wanting her mane out of her face as she worked up a sweat while sunning herself out at sea.

Michelle, meanwhile, sported a white halter-neck bikini that left her impressive frame on full display.

The two-piece paired together a triangle top - held together with gold plates at the straps - and a pair of skimpy bottoms to match.

Pert: The star stole a look at her peachy posterior as she towelled off following her shower

She was seen taking a shower to clean off, after taking to the sea on a jet ski.

Michelle demonstrated her skills when it came to the water sports as she whizzed across the ocean, before clambering back on board to continue with her sunbathing session.

She had appeared to be showing a male pal the ropes when it came to her jet ski - looking every inch the strong character, Letty, she plays in the Fast & Furious franchise.

Quenching her thirst: Michelle was seen sipping on a refreshing beverage as she flaunted her toned stomach after showering

In action: She had looked every inch the strong character she plays in the Fast & Furious franchise

At ease: Michelle looked more than comfortbale as she whizzed across the water

In the driver's seat: She appeared to be showing a male pal the ropes when it came to the water sport

Chloe's appearance with Hollywood star Michelle comes after she has been keeping a low-profile in France, while spending time overseas with her billionaire father Sir Phillip Green, 65.

The controversial British retail tycoon, who owns Topshop and is worth an estimated $5.1 billion, has been hitting headlines frequently over the last year as BHS went bust last spring and Sir Phillip got the blame for the 571 million hole in the firms pensions pot.

He agreed to pay 363 million into the pension fund in February this year.

Beauty: Chloe had scraped her long tresses up into a topknot that sat high on her head

Taking a break: She appeared to relax with a slew of friends while out at sea

Covering up: Chloe appeared to cover up when she wasn't sunbathing, wrapping a towel around her waist as she stepped out of the rays

Too much sun? The starlet had pulled the towel up and around her shoulders at one point

Chloe, meanwhile, was no doubt wanting to put the furore of the last few days behind her, after finding herself subject to an online backlash after pictures surfaced of her kissing felon turned model Jeremy.

They had been holidaying together in Bodrum, Turkey on board a luxury yacht and appeared to put on a very steamy display, as they cosied up to one another while being watched over by an entourage that had joined them on their break.

Their tender embrace, however, had left fans furious with the father-of-one model, as they accused him of disrespecting his eight-year-relationship with wife and mother-of-three Melissa Meeks, who he shares her youngest son with.

Family affair: Chloe had been joined by her billionaire father Sir Phillip Green who was sporting printed swim shorts

Soaking up the sun: Chloe was deep in conversation as she made the most of the glorious weather in St Tropez

Stylish: Michelle was clad in a pair of white skinny jeans and a floral printed bomber jacket, along with a retro pair of round-framed sunglasses prior to hitting the yacht

Larking about: The actress flashed a smile as she joked with a pal in the sunshine

Scandal: Chloe had found herself subject to an online backlash after pictures surfaced of her 'married' model Jeremy

Steamy: They had been holidaying together in Bodrum,Turkey on board a luxury yacht and appeared to put on a very touchy feely display while being watched over by an entourage

They had penned, 'shame on you', in the comments section of a photo Meeks' manager had posted of himself and Jeremy together.

It came as Melissa broke her social media silence and appeared to respond to her husband's alleged infidelity with a sultry Instagram post of her own on Sunday.

She added: 'It's just me against the world baby,' with the hashtag 'Still I rise'.

Melissa opted to caption the picture with two hashtags - Queens are Born in July and It's My Birthday Month.

'Shame on you': Their tender embrace, however, had left fans furious with the father-of-one model, as they accused him of disrespecting his eight-year-relationship with wife Melissa

'Just the beginning': Chloe took to Instagram on Saturday, sharing a photo with Meeks and his manager - appearing to confirm their romance, before deleting her account

Chloe, meanwhile, was forced to delete her Instagram account after enraging her followers on social media with her affectionate display with Meeks.

She had posted a picture of herself and the catwalk star together, shortly before choosing to come off of the photo-sharing app.

The starlet appeared to reference their relationship as she penned alongside the snap: 'Just the beginning...We appreciate all the love and the hate.'

Emotional: Meeks' wife Melissa shared a snap of a Tupac lyric 'it's just me against the world baby' as pictures of her husband kissing another woman emerged last week

Family man: Jeremy has been with wife and mother-of-three Melissa for eight years, and the couple are parents to her youngest son- she has remained largely quiet over the pictures

Meeks too has edited his account, deleting all photographs of himself and Melissa.

Meanwhile Chloe's father Sir Phillip said he is 'not getting involved' in his daughter's holiday romance.

The tycoon refused to be drawn when asked about it, telling the Telegraph: 'With respect, I am not getting involved in it.'

Chloe is thought to have met Jeremy when he attended at an array of star-studded events during the Cannes Film Festival last month and had modelled for Phillip Plein.

Meeks, whose looks have earned him a huge fan-base, made his first official modelling appearance at New York fashion week this year, and has certainly turned his life around in an impressive way since his release from prison.

Keeping out of it: Chloe's father Sir Phillip Green has said he is 'not getting involved' in his daughter's holiday romance

The California native shot to fame in 2014 when the Stockton Police Department posted his mugshot on their website, following his arrest for gang activity and a misdemeanour charge of resisting/obstructing justice.

The photo promptly went viral, with internet users dubbing him 'the hottest convict ever'.

Jeremy has since returned to California to be reunited with his family following his romantic display with Chloe, but his wife Melissa had reportedly retreated to her sister's residence for Fourth Of July celebrations.

Ahead of his return on Monday, Meeks' sister-in-law Michelle told DailyMail.com that she is aware of his display with Green but claimed she 'doesn't care' about the billionaire heiress.

When asked if she knew about Meeks' dalliance with Chloe, she answered: 'Yes and I don't care. I don't care at all. We have no other comment to make. None at all.'

Melissa, meanwhile, has insisted she is still married to the former convict.
She soared to fame as beach babe C.J Parker on Baywatch in 1992.

And Pamela Anderson - who certainly knows a thing or two about swimwear - looked absolutely incredible as she arrived at the Rock My Swim Fashion Show in Paris on Saturday.

The 50-year-old actress oozed glamour in a show-stopping glittering black gown which served to accentuate her jaw-dropping physique.

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Va va voom! Pamela Anderson, 50, looked absolutely incredible as she arrived at the Rock My Swim Fashion Show in Paris on Saturday

The blonde bombshell stole the spotlight as she worked her angles in the statement gown.

The dress teased at her busty assets, before going on to cinch in her tiny waist with its tight fit.

Adding a further element of sexiness, the garment boasted a semi-sheer element on the lower half - allowing Pamela to flash her toned pins.

The American beauty's blonde locks were glamorously styled and teased to perfection.

Glamorous: The actress oozed glamour in a show-stopping glittering black gown which served to accentuate her jaw-dropping physique

Pin-credible: Adding a further element of sexiness, the garment boasted a semi-sheer element on the lower half - allowing Pamela to flash her toned pins

Sexy style: The dress teased at her busty assets, before going on to cinch in her tiny waist with its tight fit

She also accentuated her features with a striking coat of make-up - ensuring no element of glamour was left behind.

In recent months, Pamela's love life has been put in focus after she was rumoured to be dating WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Days ago, questions arose over the nature of her relationship with Julian, as she was spotted enjoying a number of outings with sportsman Adil in the South of France.

Last Thursday, they were spotted getting decidedly cosy during a dinner date at St Tropez's La Gioa restaurant.

Adil, 31, was spotted in high spirits while in Pamela's company, staring adoringly at the star before appearing to cosy up to her - placing a hand on her upper arm.

Stunning: She also accentuated her features with a striking coat of make-up - ensuring no element of glamour was left behind

Sheer bliss: Her slinky number highlighted her gym-honed curves for the fashion event

The FROW: Pamela nabbed the best seat in the house as she witnessed the swimwear spectacle

Getting chic done: The one-shouldered garment oozed sex appeal as she soaked up the atmosphere

Golden gal: She fashionably left her golden locks loose which cascaded down her shoulders in a tousled style

Picture perfect: The Canadian beauty showcased her garment's daring low-cut back with aplomb

Iconic role: Pamela certainly knows a thing or two about swimwear as she soared to fame as beach babe C.J Parker on Baywatch in 1992

The duo's latest dinner date comes after they have been saying putting on an affectionate display with one another during their break in St Tropez.

Adil, who played for Sevilla FC as well as the the French national team, and Pamela wee first spotted stepping out together in Nice more than two weeks ago.

Pamela is thought to have met Adil in Los Angeles, and they were rumoured to have even spent the weekend together in Monaco in May.

MailOnline has previously contacted representatives for Pamela and Adil for comment.

Speculation they are now dating comes after Pamela had been romantically linked to Julian Assange, amid their unusual bond which has seen her often frequenting his exile home at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London's Knightsbridge.

Beach babes! A bevy of stunning models showed off the stunning bikini pieces as they strutted down the catwalk

Incredible display: Pops of colour and stylish prints proved to take prominence during the show

Pamela was first spotted at the embassy in September 2014 and since then, the former Dancing With The Stars contestant has become a regular guest there.

Julian, who turned 46 on Monday, has been living in self-imposed exile at the Ecuadorian Embassy since June 19 2012, believing he will be extradited to the United States for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks if he leaves.

Speaking about her relationship with Julian, Pamela has previously referred to Assange as her 'dear friend', saying she would not be surprised if people reduced their connection to 'just a sexual relationship'.

While neither he or Pamela officially confirmed their romance, she has spoken openly of her love for him and in an interview with Stellar at the end of May, Pamela insisted her relationship status with Julian is 'personal', but did admit that she 'adores' him.

Romance? In recent months, Pamela's love life has been put in focus after she was rumoured to be dating WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

'He's a great man and it would be a dream to have him reunited with his young family in France,' she said.

Back in March, she had fuelled romance rumours between the pair by sharing a poem online to her personal website, titled My Julian.

It read: 'Julian Assange is the most intelligent, interesting and informed man in existence... Yes - I think he's quite sexy.

On her blog, she has previously said about him: 'My relationship with Julian - it's no secret... he is one of my favourite people.'

The pair were initially introduced by designer Vivienne Westwood in 2014, as Pamela wanted to enlist the help of Julian to back her foundation which supports the protection of human, animal, and environmental rights.
Jill Duggar and her husband Derick Dillard welcomed their second son on Saturday.

The couple posted to their website an excited and grateful announcement after 40 hours of labor.

'We are excited to finally announce the arrival of Samuel Scott Dillard! The newest addition to our family arrived on Saturday, July 8, 2017 at 1:02pm,' they wrote.

Big news: Jill Duggar and her husband Derick Dillard welcomed their second son on Saturday

'He weighs 9lb 10oz and is 22 long,' the happy couple continued.

'After 40 of labor, he was delivered via C-section at the hospital. Thank you for your continued prayers and support!'

The duo revealed the name of their son, Samuel Scott Dillard, nearly a month before his due date.

The first boy: The beauty shows off her bump as she poses with first son Israel, aged two

'We are so excited to announce the name of Baby Dillard #2! Samuel Scott Dillard,' the stars wrote.

There was also a photo of the two of them with their son Israel, aged two.

'We cant wait to welcome him to the world and have him join our family very soon!' it was added.

Her co-star and sister: Jill with sibling Jessa as the promote Counting On

This comes after the 26-year-old beauty showed off her bump at her mother Michelle's house in late May. 'I'm so excited to have this sweet momma back in Arkansas,' wrote Michelle. Her daughter had been on a mission.

She looked several months along as she wore a black T-shirt and posed with her mother.

The couple announced in 2016 they were having a second child.

'Children really are a wonderful blessing from God,' the pair said.

Almost here: Jill, 26, showcased her blossoming baby bump to her mother Michelle, 50, in a social media post in May

'Having Israel has been such a delight to us that we know a second sweet baby will only continue to add joy to our family. We are thankful to God for this sweet child and we cannot wait to see her or him face to face!'

A new season of Counting On returns June 12 on TLC.

The family just returned to the U.S. after completing Christian mission work in Central America.

Upon their return, Jill revealed a friend was tragically kidnapped and murdered while on the mission.

She wrote on her family's website on Monday that her friend's body had been found by a river.

'We received a phone call on Monday from a friend here in Central America informing us that one of our other good friends (a fellow Christian) had been murdered the day before and that his family had found his body down by the river earlier that morning,' the young mother announced.

All together: The Duggar family seen together in NYC in 2014

'Even though we had spoke with our friend and his family about the realities of the dangers here, and especially in their area right now, we were shocked when we learned of his kidnap and murder.

'We've had them into our home three times in the past couple weeks!'

Jill and Derick have done mission work in Central America before as well.

In May, Jill revealed she and Derick had returned home to the United States.

'So grateful to be back in the States and get to go to our church this morning @crosschurch #Israeliswithgrandma #lovetheUSA,' she said in a selfie of herself and her husband.
As Captain America he lost his best friend Bucky Barnes a number of times.

But thankfully Chris Evans HAS NOT lost his other best friend, Dodger.

The 36-year-old was forced to clarify on Twitter than his dog had not died, after confusing grieving fans with a soppy post.

Dog gone: Chris Evans was forced to clarify on Twitter than his dog had not died, after confusing grieving fans with this soppy post

'Really missing this guy right now,' the Avengers star originally captioned a shot of the mutt with his eyes closed, lying on his chest.

Without further context, many fans appeared to believe his pet had passed away, forcing the actor to explain further.

'To be clear, he's alive and well, just thousands of miles away for the next couple months,' he assured followers in a follow up post.

Worried fans immediately shared their relief  including his friend Seth Rogen.

Alive: Without further context, many fans appeared to believe his pet had passed away, forcing the actor to explain further (pictured with Dodger in May)

Ohhh: 'To be clear, he's alive and well, just thousands of miles away for the next couple months,' he assured followers in a follow up post

'F*ck dude I was like crying,' his fellow actor wrote, summarizing the feelings of the majority of Evans' 6million followers.

In April, he revealed to People how he adapted the dog while filming his recent movie, Gifted.

'One of the last scenes we were filming was in a pound, a kennel,' he said. 'I foolishly walked in and I thought: "Are these actor dogs or are these real up for adoption dogs?"

'And sure enough they were, so I was walking up and down the aisles and saw this one dude and he didn't belong there. I snagged him and he's such a good dog.

Drying his eyes: Worried fans immediately shared their relief  including his friend Seth Rogen

'They aged him at about one, he acts like a puppy, he's got the energy of a puppy, he's just such a sweetheart, he's such a good boy. He loves dogs, he loves kids, he's full of love.'

He revealed the duo now play, exercise and even sleep together.

'Playing with him is exercise, he's exhausting. He's up for anything,' he said. 'God dogs, they're such great animals. I really can't say enough about dogs, I'm a dog lunatic. He sleeps on my pillow, you wake up face-to-face.'
He had set his sights on the pretty humanitarian worker from the minute he had stepped inside the Love Island villa.

And after sparking up a 'connection' with Camilla Thurlow during his time on the ITV2 reality show, Craig Lawson has revealed he is keen for romance to blossom between them off screen.

The personal trainer referred to Camilla as the 'ultimate wife' and defended his 'all guns blazing' approach when it came to wooing her on the show - even if it had prompted fans to question his motives.

Scroll down for video

'She's the ultimate wife': Love Island star Craig Lawson has suggested he would marry Camilla Thurlow in a new interview about his co-star

Craig had arrived as a latecomer to Love Island and was one of six new boys to enter the Love Island villa when the original islanders had been separated.

The male islanders had been moved into Casa Amor and were forced to live with five new girls, while a bevy of new guys replaced them in the show's original pad.

Craig had made a beeline for Camilla on his arrival, admitting he only had eyes for her after watching the show before making his debut.

He became a shoulder to cry on for Camilla, following her heartbreak over being dumped by Jonny Mitchell, but while she did seem keen on things progressing between the duo at first, she soon cooled off any prospect of romance.

Flirt: The personal trainer had left an impact on newly jilted Camilla in the Love Island villa, after 'lifting her spirits' with his compliments following her failed romance with Jonny Mitchell

Over: Jonny had decided to end things with Camilla so he could pursue Tyla Carr instead

Shortly after re-coupling with Craig, Camilla told the reality star that she was still 'hurt' over her previous failed relationship with Jonny and it was holding her back from moving on with somebody new.

But hopeful that the duo could rekindle something on the outside, Craig has revealed in a new interview with Daily Star, that he is keen to stay in touch with the blonde beauty.

He said: 'It would be a shame if there wasn't any romance. I'd love to see her and see if things could progress - she is the ultimate wife.'

Craig may have his work cut out for him, however, as Camilla has now coupled up with newcomer Jamie Jewitt, following two successful dates with the former Taking New York star.

Here come the boys: Craig (far right) entered the villa to shake things up alongside five other new boys - making a beeline for Camilla just moments after joining the show

Competition: While Craig may still be keen for a romance to form between himself and the humanitarian worker, she is currently being wooed by Calvin Klein model Jamie Jewitt

Choosing Camilla to pair with on Friday's re-coupling, Jamie had said about her: 'I came into the villa with a lot of curiosity about a certain someone. Two dates later turned into a lot more intrigue, I want to see where that might lead.'

While fans seem to be championing the pair's union, Craig was subject to a backlash for pursuing Camilla during his stint in the villa.

Viewers had dubbed him 'creepy Craig' after he was constantly seen showering Camilla with compliments, with many branding him a 'game player' and purposely going after Camilla as she is a popular contestant on the outside.

Hitting back at such claims, Craig added: 'Being accused of pretending was probably the worst thing for me. The feelings I had were real.'

Backlash: Craig failed to win over some of the viewers, who dubbed him 'creepy Craig' after he showered Camilla in compliments

'The feelings I had were real': Hitting back at being branded a 'game player', Craig insisted his decision to pursue Camilla had been completley genuine

He had previously told MailOnline: 'My feelings in there were genuine. I was pretty cut up about it when it didn't work. I wouldn't have said what I said and I wouldn't have been down about it if I wasn't genuine.

'I wore my heart on my sleeve but I'm like that. I go 100 percent in or nothing.

'My mates always take the p**s out of me because I am a bit of a sop when it comes to women. At the same time, she needed me to get over Jonny and if I made her two three days better in there better then I'm fine with that.'

While filming for the show, Craig found himself at the centre of claims he had 'ditched' his two children to appear on the dating series.

However, he has since set the record straight and insisted he had left a video for his sons to see, explaining his absence.

Video message: Craig sent his children a video message recorded from the island explaining his decision to keep the big move a secret

Craig told MailOnline: 'I was sworn to secrecy before going on the show, but I did leave a video for my kids with my mum to show the kids - telling them I wish I could've told them.

'If my ex is bitter about that I can only apologise. But at the same time I had no bad intentions, it was just something I had to do for myself.'

Talking via Facetime directly to his children, Craig says in the clip he had recorded: 'Alright boys. If you're watching this then you'll have seen I'm on Love Island now.'

'I wanted to tell you before but I couldn't everything had to be kept really quiet. But I just want you to know that I really wanted to tell you and I love you.

'Hope you see me having fun, I'm doing this for us so that we have a better future. I hope you're proud of me and you laugh and see me having fun.'

Before adding: 'I'll see you all when I get back, I love you.'

Raging: Sian claimed that Craig left three children behind who were 'excited' to see him this weekend to go into the villa

Despite his sentiments, Craig had appeared to anger his ex Sian - the mother of his children who he had been previously engaged to - and she hit out at him in a public Facebook post to claim the Essex lad had 'abandoned his children' to appear on Love Island.

Sian claimed he didn't have the 'decency' to tell her he was going into the villa or make different arrangements for his son for the upcoming weekend.

'I am fully aware that the disgrace who calls himself my son's father is going into Love Island,' she wrote.

'He is dead to me and he is dead to my son. He has not even had the decency to contact me regarding this and regarding arrangements for my son.

Former flames: A series of photos that Craig posted on his Twitter account showed that he had proposed to Sian over a candlelit dinner in 2015

'Up until last night I was under the impression that my son was going to spend the weekend with him like he does every other weekend.'

Sian, from Hampshire, added: 'He is an absolute joke of a human being. What he does with his life will no longer affect my children or myself.

'May he fall flat on his face. I hope it was all worth it.'

Sian also shut down another commenter who wrote: 'Bet the mother won't moan about the money when it comes in tho will she?'

She wrote: 'I am the mother. Some things are bigger than money. Like his children.'

Contacting MailOnline in response to Sian's claims, Craig's management- who also represent Amy Childs, said: 'We have just spoken to Craigs family and they have advised that the reason for Craigs split with her former partner is because she had an affair.'

Craig had been voted out of the villa by his fellow islander Montana Brown. In a surprise elimination, Montana was told she had to choose which boy to dump after being voted the favourite girl by the public.

She was forced to chose between Jonny and Craig as they found themselves in the bottom three boys. Nathan Joseph was immediately given the boot after being named the least popular boy by the public.
Smoke rises from buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held town of Ain Terma, in Syria's eastern Ghouta area, on July 7, 2017

Government forces carried out heavy bombardment Friday of a rebel-held district on the eastern edge of the Syrian capital in support of advancing troops, an activist and monitor said.

Ain Terma lies in Eastern Ghouta, the largest rebel enclave around Damascus, which is part of an envisioned "de-escalation zone" agreed by regional powers in May.

The neighbourhood links Eastern Ghouta to the opposition-held Damascus neighbourhood of Jobar.

"There were a number of air strikes and the regime is trying to storm Ain Terma," said Hamza Abbas, an activist inside the area.

"The houses are shaking from the intensity of the shelling and I can see smoke," he told AFP.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said at least five regime air strikes and three regime rockets hit Ain Terma.

Government troops on the ground seized the neighbourhood's marble factory and surrounding territory, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

"The government wants to capture Ain Terma to cut off Jobar from the rest of Eastern Ghouta," he told AFP.

Abdel Rahman said at least 11 regime fighters and 19 rebels had been killed in Ain Terma and Jobar since the army began escalating operations there on June 20.

Ain Terma is held by Faylaq al-Rahman, which is allied to former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front.

Activists have accused Syria's government of using chlorine as part of the assault, a claim the army has fiercely denied.

According to the United Nations, regime troops used chlorine in attacks on three Syrian villages in 2014 and 2015.
Sierra Leonean women were previously denied the right to hand down their citizenship to their chldren born abroad

Women from Sierra Leone can now pass on their nationality to their children, following the passage of what women's rights groups said Friday was a landmark change in the law for gender equality.

Until the new Citizenship Amendment Act was passed on Wednesday, Sierra Leonean women were denied the right to hand down citizenship to their children born abroad, causing problems for the diaspora community and exacerbating statelessness.

"The new law shows that Sierra Leone is gradually getting to having gender parity like other countries around the world," said Fatou Taqi of the women's rights group 50/50.

"Several Sierra Leonean women living in the diaspora married and unmarried with children had been disadvantaged over the years," she added. "We are very happy."

Just 25 countries in the world still deny women the right to pass on their citizenship, according to the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights.

Taqi said much more remained to be done to further women's rights in the poor west African nation, however.

Sierra Leone has the unwelcome distinction of the world's highest maternal mortality rate, according to the World Health Organization, along with high rates of sexual violence and an extremely high prevalence of female genital mutilation.
Huge floods engulfing parts of southern Japan have left hundreds stranded

The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in southern Japan has risen to 15, a government official said Saturday, as rescuers continued work to evacuate isolated survivors.

Raging rivers overflowing with water and mud have devastated swathes of Kyushu -- the southernmost of Japan's four main islands -- after heavy rainfall, sweeping away roads and houses and destroying schools.

Thousands of rescuers have been fighting through thick mud and battling rain to search for missing and stranded people, with more than 500 believed to still be cut off, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters early Saturday that the death toll "rose to 15" and 16 people were still missing.

Local governments announced Friday that a total of eight people have died.

"The region is expected to see a localised heavy rain today," Suga said, advising local residents to gather information from the governments and media.

Separately, three women were found dead at the sea facing Saga prefecture, near the hard-hit Fukuoka prefecture city of Asakura, NHK said, adding that they were likely the victims of the heavy rain.

Deep mud and soaked ground on steep hillsides as well as knocked-out bridges have hampered rescue work.

TV footage has shown rescuers strapping people to cables to be lifted up to helicopters and ferried to safety in evacuation shelters.

Broken trees, their bark stripped away, littered the scenic and verdant landscape like broken matchsticks as thick clouds hovered over green mountains.

Aerial TV footage on Friday showed desperate residents of one isolated area using uprooted trees to spell out "SOS" for rescuers to see.

Fallen trees smashed into houses in Asakura, which saw more than 50 centimetres (almost 20 inches) of rain in a 12-hour period to Wednesday night.

"My parents are still trapped with 16 other people in the Kurogawa area and I have absolutely no information about the situation there," Asakura resident Kayoko Ishibashi told AFP Friday, referring to a district in the city.

"So I can only wait here in the hope that they will be rescued by helicopter," she added. "It's the same for everyone here."

The government has dispatched some 12,000 police, military, firefighters and coast guard personnel for rescue operations.

Japan's Imperial Household Agency said that out of consideration for the disaster-hit region, Emperor Akihito's eldest granddaughter Princess Mako and her fiance decided to postpone Saturday's scheduled formal announcement of their engagement.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (Source: VNA)



Addressing the Vietnam-Germany Business Forum in Berlin on July 6th with nearly 600 German firms and more than 100 Vietnamese partners taking part, the PM said the two countries established a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2011. Germany is Vietnams top trade partner in the EU, with two-way trade hitting USD9 billion in 2016, or 20 percent of Vietnam-EU trade.

Major German businesses such as Siemens, Mercedes and Deutsche Bank have poured 1.8 billion USD in Vietnam. The Vietnam-Germany University (VGU) in the southern province of Binh Duong and several schools opened by German firms in Ho Chi Minh City help Vietnam improve workforce quality and deal with issues regarding energy, transport, environment resources, urban planning and sustainable development.

Since the Goethe Institute opened in Hanoi in 1997, bilateral cultural exchanges have been strengthened. More than 100,000 Vietnamese have graduated from German universities, he said.

Informing German investors about Vietnams economy, Phuc said Vietnams gross domestic product (GDP) has grown more than 6 percent for 30 consecutive years, rising 6.21 percent to USD220 billion last year. With increasing consumption and average income per capita of nearly USD2,300, Vietnams trade value of roughly USD400 billion is about 1.6 times higher than GDP.

Vietnam is home to 23,160 foreign-invested projects from 120 countries and territories worth more than USD320 billion, many of them from German corporations.

Vietnams business climate has improved, up nine places from 91st to 82nd among 190 countries worldwide in the World Banks Doing Business rankings 2016-2017.

According to the World Economic Forum, Vietnam ranked 60th out of 138 countries in competitiveness. The nation has also signed 12 free trade agreements, as part of global integration commitments.

It has also cleared barriers in many sectors, including services, telecommunications and finance-banking, by raising foreign ownership caps or selling State-owned enterprises strategic stakes.

Vietnam is working to waive licenses to open securities accounts for foreign investors and clear capital control measures which are contrary to international practices.

The domestic banking system is being restructured to meet modern banking standards in line with international practices.

Mergers and acquisitions have also been sped up in infrastructure, transport, airport, highway, seaport, electricity, telecommunications, food, agriculture and services.

The country also boasts many leading Asian trademarks such as Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Petrolimex, Vinamilk, Masan, TH Truemilk, Trung Nguyen coffee, Mobiphone and Vietcombank, among others.

The PM noted that Germanys technology and governance experience will help Vietnam during the industrial revolution 4.0.

Vietnam wished that the European country would encourage German investment in the support industry, as well as joint-ventures in renewable energy such as solar and wind energy.

German firms hoped that the Vietnamese government would continue fine-tuning laws and improving the business climate.

The German House project in Ho Chi Minh City and VGU are also expected to create a strong driving force for bilateral economic-trade ties.

In her speech, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Brigitte Zypries hailed Vietnam for its vibrant growth and large, young workforce. She affirmed that Germany will be always a trustworthy partner of Vietnam.

Both sides also vowed to lift two-way trade to USD20 billion from USD14 billion at present.

Twenty-eight cooperation documents worth over EUR1.5 billion were signed during the event.

Following the event, the leader met executives of several German corporations and banks and expressed hope that they will soon launch operations in Vietnam.

In the evening the same day, PM Phuc left Berlin for Hamburg city, starting activities within the framework of the G20 Summit./.
Australia's Michael Matthews (C) rides during the 216 km sixth stage of the 104th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, between Vesoul and Troyes, on July 6, 2017

Australian Michael Matthews says the only way to tackle a Tour de France sprint finish is to "turn your brain off" and not worry about crashes.

Two of the three flat stages in the first six Tour stages featured crashes that saw the likes of reigning champion Chris Froome taken down and losing some skin to the unforgiving tarmac.

On Tuesday, there were two crashes in the final kilometre, with Briton Mark Cavendish knocked out of the Tour with a broken shoulder blade after being elbowed into the metal barriers by Peter Sagan, who was disqualified.

There have been a few near misses too, notably featuring French rivals Arnaud Demare and Nacer Bouhanni.

But Matthews says you have to simply flip up the blinkers, turn off your thoughts and just pedal as hard as possible.

"Stop thinking!" he said when asked what a sprinter needs to do.

Britain's Mark Cavendish receives medical assistance after falling near the finish line at the end of the 207,5 km fourth stage of the 104th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, in Vittel, on July 4, 2017

"You've got to turn your brain off and go for it, especially with what happened the other day with two crashes in the final.

"You can't think that's going to happen again, you've just got to switch off."

Some have suggested that sprinters are getting wilder and taking more risks, but Matthews disagrees and insists it's all just part of the job.

"It's really hard to see on the TV how much risk people are taking," said Matthews, who's known as 'Bling' for his flashy taste and lifestyle.

"In the end it's sprinting, it's always going to be like this, it's always been like this.

"If you want to be there you've got to take risk and I've got to do the same if I want to be up with these guys."

- Spectacular crash -

Slovakia's Peter Sagan celebrates as he crosses the finish line at the end of the 212,5 km third stage of the 104th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, in Longwy, on July 3, 2017

The crash involving Cavendish and Sagan wasn't the only high profile pile up in recent memory.

Cavendish crashed out of the 2014 Tour on the first stage in his native England in the sprint finish.

He broke his collarbone that time and brought down Australian Simon Gerrans, who also fractured his collarbone and had to quit the Tour.

Perhaps the most famous crash of all at the Tour was the sprint finish on the final stage at Paris's Champs Elysees in 1991, when Uzbek Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, who was wearing the green sprinters' points jersey he was sure to win if he crossed the finish line, clipped the barriers as he burrowed forwards, head down, and went flying spectacularly over his own handlebars.

He did manage to get up and finish unaided to claim his first of three green jerseys in four years, but that spectacular crash lives long in the memory.

Sagan won the green jersey in each of the last five years but now he's out of the Tour, Matthews is one of a number of riders in the running to have a tilt at winning it this year.

Team Sunweb's Australian rider Michael Matthews says the only way to tackle a Tour de France sprint finish is to 'turn your brain off' and not worry about crashes

He also has the advantage of being more of an all-round rider than the pure sprinters like Germans Marcel Kittel and Andre Greipel.

But the green jersey isn't his priority.

"Last year I only started thinking about it in the last week," said Matthews, who's been one of the most active sprinters in the intermediate sprints on each stage.

"This year it's not taking any energy out of me to do the intermediates and you never know what happens down the road.

"Still, the main focus is the stage wins, but we've still got to see what happens in the third week, everything can change."

He's come close twice already, finishing second on Monday and third on Friday.

Matthews is currently third in the green jersey competition on 123 points, 74 points behind leader Kittel.
Children who have fled the Islamic State group bastion of Raqa drink from water taps at a camp for the displaced around 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the city on May 10, 2017

Syria's Raqa once thrived on the banks of the gushing Euphrates River, but dire shortages in the Islamic State group stronghold are forcing desperate civilians to risk their lives for water.

The northern city has been without steady running water for several weeks after damage to pipelines by heavy bombardment, including suspected strikes by the US-led coalition.

Civilians dehydrated by the blistering summer heat are venturing out to the Euphrates and makeshift wells around the city.

But as fighting between IS and advancing US-backed forces ramps up, that journey can be life-threatening.

"I went to pump water from a well in the city's south, close to the river," said Karim, an activist with the Raqqa24 network who remains inside the city.

He spoke to AFP using a pseudonym for fear of being targeted by IS, which still controls most of Raqa.

The jihadists had sealed the street between the southern district and the Euphrates, so he and other men gathered around a borehole drilled by a resident.

"We were able to get water for an hour, but then we had to run away because of artillery fire. A shell landed just 50 metres (yards) away from me," he said.

He described a hellish scene: families lugging jerry cans through Raqa's streets, suddenly scrambling for cover from incoming mortar fire and air strikes.

Civilians who managed to escape Raqa have also told AFP they came under IS sniper fire as they tried to fill up buckets from the Euphrates.

With temperatures reaching a scorching 46 degrees Celsius (114 Fahrenheit), Karim said Raqa residents are caught between their extreme thirst and the risky journey to quench it.

"The shortages are killing us. Cold water is the stuff of dreams."

- 'Dying of thirst' -

The battle for Raqa

Since IS overran Raqa in 2014, the city has become synonymous with the group's horrific practices, including public beheadings.

With help from the US-led coalition, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters called the Syrian Democratic Forces is waging a fierce assault to oust IS from the city.

Years ago, Raqa benefited from its prime location in the fertile river valley, as well as from nearby hydro-electric dams that generated power for much of Syria.

That makes the current water shortages particularly painful, said activist collective Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS).

"The deepest irony lies in the fact that this city on the bank of the bountiful Euphrates River is currently dying of thirst," said the group, whose members publish news from activists inside the city.

According to RBSS, at least 27 people have been killed by coalition air strikes in recent weeks as they tried to reach the Euphrates or nearby wells for water.

"My uncle and seven children were killed about two weeks ago as he was heading to a school near the city centre where there was a well," said RBSS co-founder Abdalaziz al-Hamza.

And those who manage to successfully draw water from the Euphrates also face health risks.

The United Nations warned earlier this month that Euphrates River water was potentially "unfit for consumption" and carried "the risk of water-borne diseases".

"Raqa's population is using the water for everything -- showers, drinking, everything," said RBSS activist Hussam Eesa.

"But it isn't clean, particularly because of all the (mortar) shells and corpses that are in it," Eesa told AFP.

RBSS says it has documented symptoms of water-borne diseases among those who are drinking the river water, including fever and loss of consciousness that the group fears could point to cholera.

The World Health Organization has also documented one child who was paralysed in Raqa by a strain of polio that originates from a vaccine carrying small amounts of weakened but live virus.

Oral polio vaccine (OPV) replicates in the gut and can be passed to others through faecal-contaminated water -- meaning it won't hurt the vaccinated individual, but could infect their neighbours in places where hygiene and immunisation levels are low.
A US Air Force B-1B Lancer at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam before conducting a mission with South Korean and Japanese fighters

US bombers carried out a rare live fire drill in South Korea Saturday, flying close to the DMZ in a show of force after Pyongyang's latest missile test, the South's defence ministry said.

The exercise by two B-1B Lancers, flown from Andersen Air Base in Guam, was part of a 10-hour mission with South Korean and Japanese fighter jets in response to a "series of increasingly escalatory actions by North Korea including the intercontinental ballistic missile" on Tuesday, US Pacific Air Forces said.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the long-range heavy bombers flew close to the tense and heavily militarised land border with the North before turning back.

The exercise aimed to "sternly respond to the series of North Korea's ballistic missile launches," the South's air force said in a statement.

Four US and South Korean jet fighters joined the live fire drill, which was conducted at a range in Yeongwol County, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the inter-Korean border, the South's air force said.

The long-range heavy aircraft each dropped a 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) laser-guided bunker-busting smart bomb, Yonhap said.

The US statement said the B-1Bs released "inert" weapons at the Pilsung Range.

The drill simulated the two US bombers destroying enemy ballistic missile batteries and South Korean jets mounting precision strikes against underground enemy command posts, the South's air force said.

North Korea major missile launches

"Through this drill, the South Korean and US air forces demonstrated strong determination to thoroughly punish the enemy for its provocative acts, and showed off their capability to pulverise enemy command posts," it said.

Lieutenant General Thomas Bergeson, US Forces Korea deputy commander, said the mission demonstrated the allies remain "prepared to use the full range of capabilities to defend and to preserve the security of the Korean peninsula and region".

En route back to Guam, the B-1Bs flew and integrated with Japanese fighter jets over the East China Sea, US Pacific Air Forces said in a press statement.

"The US-Japan alliance and the relationship between our militaries are stronger than they have ever been," said Lieutenant General Jerry P. Martinez, US Forces Japan commander.

"We continue to train with our Japanese allies to ensure we are ready to defend ourselves from attack", he said.

North Korea on Tuesday test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time, an apparent game-changer in its confrontation with Washington over its nuclear and missile programmes.

In response, US and South Korean soldiers fired ballistic missiles simultaneously in a drill Wednesday, simulating an attack on the North's leadership "as a strong message of warning," the South's military said at the time.

The US Missile Defense Agency said Friday it would soon test an anti-ballistic missile system in Alaska, days after the North demonstrated its arsenal was capable of striking parts of Alaska with the ICBM test.
Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, is one of the most heavily militarised spots on earth

India on Saturday imposed a widespread curfew, cut off all internet services and deployed thousands of troops in Kashmir as the volatile Himalayan region marked the anniversary of a hugely popular rebel leader's death.

Residents of Indian-administered Kashmir said the restrictions on movement were some of the strictest they had seen, with some villagers told they would be shot if they left their homes.

The disputed region has seen an explosion of protests against Indian rule since government forces shot and killed Burhan Wani a year ago.

The death of the dashing 23-year-old, who had built up a big following on social media, sparked an outpouring of grief and anger that spilled into the streets and led to months of clashes with security forces.

Nearly 100 people died in the months that followed and many more sustained serious eye injuries from the pellet guns used by government forces to quell the protests.

Separatist leaders -- most of whom have been either confined to their homes or jailed -- have called for a week of protests from Saturday to mark Wani's death.

As the anniversary approached, thousands of soldiers spread out across the Kashmir Valley, one of the most heavily militarised places on earth.

All roads leading to Wani's home town of Tral in south Kashmir were blocked and authorities seized thousands of motorbikes to prevent people travelling between villages in the area.

"I have never seen restrictions of this magnitude before," said one local resident who asked not to be named.

Both mobile and broadband internet services have been suspended across the Valley since Thursday night on police orders.

Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, is one of the most heavily militarised spots on earth with a long history of conflict.

The mountainous region is home to dozens of armed groups fighting for independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan.

But since Wani's death, civilians have played an increasingly active role in the rebellion against Indian rule.

In parts of south Kashmir -- the epicentre of the renewed insurgency -- villagers began intervening in anti-militant raids, throwing stones at government forces to create a distraction and give the rebels a chance to flee.

"It is a direct confrontation now," said Kashmiri historian Sidiq Wahid.

"Public anger and defiance has reached levels never seen in Kashmir before."
This photo taken in July 2015 shows Ku Klux Klan members staging a demonstration at the state house building in Columbia, South Carolina

Supporters of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday to protest the planned removal of a statue of General Robert E. Lee, who oversaw Confederate forces in the US Civil War.

The afternoon rally in this quiet university town has been authorized by officials in Virginia and stirred heated debate in America, where critics say the far right has been energized by Donald Trump's election to the presidency.

Be it the Ku Klux Klan, the alt-right or generic white supremacists, these conservatives have found a new cause in defending the Confederate flag and monuments in the US South that recall the era of slavery.

They are outdated, awful symbols of racism for many Americans, who are mobilizing to have them taken down from public places.

Anti-Klan protesters in Charlottesville got an early start overnight, throwing red paint on the bronze equestrian statue of the saber-wearing Confederate general. City workers were scrubbing the paint off early Saturday.

Watching the scene, Mason Pickett, a sixtyish retired businessman, said he regretted the decision by Charlottesville -- which he said had become an "ultraliberal city, even socialistic" -- to remove the statue.

"Statues can be good history, they can be bad history -- you may not like it and you may love it, but it's history," he said.

But Tina Young, a 49-year-old lawyer, said it was past time to remove signs of the state's Confederate past. Virginia and other Southern states had had plenty of time to do so, she said.

"In Washington D.C., they have put up a Martin Luther King statue, they have an Afro-American museum, they have a Jewish museum, they made the public space more fair and balanced," she said.

As to Robert E. Lee, she added, "he did represent slavery, he did fight a war against our government which killed thousands and thousands of soldiers, he could have chosen the better side but he didn't."

- Klan members to be armed -

The debate is taking place in many former Confederate states, from Louisiana to Georgia and the Carolinas, and even in Washington, where a stained glass window in the National Cathedral depicts a Confederate soldier. Slaves in Washington were freed only a year after the start of the Civil War.

No major battle in that 1861-1865 war was fought in Charlottesville, population 50,000. But its passions have been stirred.

A pro-Democratic town linked to the university founded in 1819 by retired president Thomas Jefferson, people in Charlottesville said they abhor the planned arrival of members of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, a small white supremacist group based in North Carolina.

Many say they plan to stay away from the park where white supremacists plan to gather.

Others plan prayer services or peaceful meetings designed to show their rejection of racial intolerance.

All around, police have put up barriers and taken positions in hopes of averting any violence.

The Charlottesville police department, run by a black man, has arranged a massive security detail to keep the peace.

"I hope it doesn't turn violent," said Young, the lawyer. "We don't need more violence in this world."

In the end, the KKK adherents who turn out might only come to a few dozen. But they have warned they will be armed -- as Virginia's "open carry" law allows -- and ready to defend themselves if attacked.

- A wounding decision -

The KKK members will not be allowed to wear the pointy white hoods so emblematic of the group. The flowing white robes that were also part of the costume associated with lynchings and cross burnings against the night sky have faded away over time.

In this town of handsome red brick buildings, the decision in February to remove the Lee statue after years of debate has left deep wounds.

And it is actually on hold: a judge suspended the town council's narrow decision for six months until a court reviews the case.

"Robert E. Lee has a lot of admirers across the South, partly because Southern education has taught that he was this noble man who was a gentleman and worked very hard after the war for reconciliation," said Kristin Szakos, the town councillor behind the drive to bring down the statue.

"For a lot of people he is also more problematic, especially in the statue where he is depicted in full battle gear, riding against the United States of America," she added.

"We have lots of ways to learn history that aren't giant statues overlooking our downtowns."

In its heyday in 1925, the KKK had as many as four million members.

These days it has from 5,000 to 8,000, mainly in the deep South, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors and studies extremism in America.
Joseph Nkaissery was appointed as Kenya's interior minister in 2014

Kenya's government on Saturday announced the death of Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery at a hospital in the capital Nairobi.

Nkaissery, 68, a retired army officer, had held the position of cabinet secretary for interior and coordination of national government since late 2014.

"It is with deep sorrow and shock that we announce the sudden passing on of Interior CS Retired General Joseph Nkaissery," said a statement from Kenya's State House.

It said Nkaissery died "at Karen Hospital in Nairobi a few hours after being admitted for a check-up" without providing further details on the cause of death.

Nkaissery was a Member of Parliament from 2002 until 2014 when President Uhuru Kenyatta named him interior minister to replace Joseph Ole Lenku who was dismissed following a spike in insecurity and terror attacks in the country.
Islamic State group fighters -- including foreign jihadists -- are mounting a desperate last stand in Iraq's Mosul, shown here on July 7, 2017

The decaying bodies of foreign jihadists are piling up among the ruins of Mosul where the last few dozen Islamic State group fighters are mounting a desperate last stand.

More than three quarters of the remaining jihadists in Mosul are foreigners, according to Iraqi commanders who have reported a spike in suicide attacks as anti-IS forces close in on the Old City.

"They never surrender," said General Abdel Ghani al-Assadi, a commander in Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service.

"Old Mosul will be their graveyard."

It was in Mosul in July 2014 that IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only public appearance, to urge Muslims worldwide to move to his "caliphate", proclaimed less than a week earlier, straddling Iraq and Syria.

Thousands of foreigners responded to his call.

According to Iraqi police and army commanders, most of the foreign IS fighters still in Mosul in recent months came from Russia, particularly Chechnya, and other former Soviet bloc countries, as well as various Arab states.

Then come Muslims from Asia -- Afghans, Pakistanis, Uighurs from China -- as well as Europeans from France, Germany, Belgium and Britain, along with Americans, the same sources said.

They are also believed to include a few dozen jihadists from other French-speaking countries.

"Most of them come from countries such as Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia," said General Abbas al-Jabouri, a commander of the police Rapid Response force.

Pale, hungry civilians who managed to escape from the Old City described the foreign fighters as cruel men who detained them in houses, many of which were bombed out.

- Iraqi jihadists flee -

An Iraqi woman carries a child as she and others flee Mosul on July 7, 2017, as jihadists -- including foreign fighters -- mount a desperate last against Iraqi forces fighting to retake the city

When Iraqi forces launched an assault on the Old City on June 18, foreigners accounted for only 20 percent of the 1,200 jihadists identified at the time, according to army officers.

But most Iraqi jihadists have fled by mingling in with the flood of civilians fleeing the Old City.

The army says many were arrested, but officers privately estimate that several hundred were able to slip through the cracks.

Foreigners though would be "arrested immediately" during exit screening, says Lieutenant Colonel Haider Hussein, instantly recognisable because of their poor grasp of Iraqi Arabic.

An Iraqi officer is more blunt: "When we see them, we kill them".

In May, the Wall Street Journal reported that France had asked Iraq to hunt down and eliminate 27 French jihadists in Mosul to prevent them returning to Europe.

France, as well as the Iraqi commanders, denied the existence of such a list.

But Assadi said: "All IS fighters who do not surrender must be killed, whatever their nationality."

According to several Iraqi officers, Western intelligence services take DNA samples from the bodies of jihadists.

At the beginning of the battle, eight months ago, the jihadists preferred ambushes, snipers and car bombs. Then, in the narrow streets of the Old City, they sent more and more suicide bombers.

In the last areas where they are now entrenched, sometimes with their families, "they wait in the houses, and when our forces enter, they open fire or blow themselves up," said Hussein.

"That's the only strategy they have left."
The Philippine military is using air strikes against snipers hidden in high rise buildings in the southern city of Marawi

Snipers in high-rise buildings are the main problem facing Philippine forces battling to crush pro-Islamic State fighters who have occupied a southern city for more than a month, a military spokesman said Saturday.

Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera said this was the reason the government was using air strikes against the militants despite the massive damage it may cause in the city of Marawi.

"If we do not use air strikes, we will incur more casualties of our troops," he told reporters in Marawi, which was overrun by hundreds of militants on May 23.

Despite more than a month of fighting with hundreds of government troops, militants flying the black flag of the Islamic State group are still entrenched in parts of the city.

The military has used jet fighters, attack planes and helicopter gunships, armed with bombs and rockets, to attack areas where the gunmen are hiding.

"We have identified key defensive positions. These are being subjected to surgical air strikes now. They are still occupying high-rise buildings. We need to take them down so we can facilitate a swift offensive of our troops," Herrera said.

"One reason we are using air assets... is this is the advantage we need to neutralise the snipers' positions," the regional military spokesman added.

"They occupy high-rise buildings so we have to be higher. So we use air strikes."

While hundreds of fighters rampaged through much of Marawi in the early days of the siege, Herrera said there were now around 80 gunmen still active in the "main battle area" comprising around 800 buildings.

"These are the tall buildings. This was the centre of commerce of Marawi City," he explained.

However the buildings also needed to be cleared of improvised bombs and other booby-traps as the troops advance, he said.

There are also about 300 civilians trapped in the area, Herrera said, adding that some were being used as hostages, bearers of supplies and even being forced to help in looting the city.

President Rodrigo Duterte last month vowed to "crush" the militants, but several deadlines have already been missed to end a conflict that has forced almost 400,000 people from their homes.

The fighting has reduced Marawi, considered the Muslim capital of the largely Catholic Philippines, to a ruined ghost town. It also prompted Duterte to declare martial law over the entire southern Philippines.

Herrera said 366 enemy fighters, 39 civilians and 87 government troops had been killed in the fighting so far.
The bowling alley in Asmara, Eritrea's capital, has an art-deco style interior with coloured glass

The people of Eritrea have long said their capital Asmara is like no other city in Africa, and on Saturday the UN agreed, designating it a World Heritage site.

The proclamation ends a long-running quest by Eritrean authorities to have the city's unique architecture, which includes an art-deco bowling alley with coloured glass windows and a petrol station built to resemble a soaring aeroplane, recognised by the UN cultural body, UNESCO.

It's also a rare example of positive world recognition for the Horn of Africa nation that is a major source of migrants fleeing across the Mediterranean to Europe due to the country's repressive policies.

"The city's recognition as a heritage site of outstanding universal value fills us with tremendous pride and joy, but also with a profound sense of responsibility and duty," said Hanna Simon, Eritrea's permanent delegate to UNESCO.

The Eritrean capital Asmara boasts a unique petrol station with soaring 18-metre (60-foot) concrete wings which was designed to look like a plane taking off

The decision was taken at a meeting of the World Heritage Committee in the Polish city of Krakow.

A former Italian colony, most of the futuristic designs of the Eritrean capital date back to the rule of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini from 1936 to 1941.

Architects whose designs were unwelcome in conservative European cities found a place in Asmara at a time when about half of the city's population was Italian and the city was known as 'Piccola Roma', or "Little Rome".

While the modernist architecture of other Eritrean cities was destroyed during a decades-long war of liberation from Ethiopia, Asmara's survived and was declared a national monument by the government in 2001, which refers to it as Africa's "City of Dream" (sic).

Once known as "Little Rome", Eritrea's capital Asmara boasts buildings unlike anywhere else in Africa, a legacy of its Italian colonial past when architects were given free reign for structures judged too avant garde back home

But efforts to restore the marble facades and Roman-style pillars of the city's theatres and cinemas have been hampered by a shortage of money and local expertise, city authorities say.
China has faced international pressure to let Liu Xiaobo (L) travel abroad to get treatment since he was transferred from prison to a hospital in June after he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer

German and US doctors visited China's cancer-stricken Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo on Saturday, the hospital where he is receiving treatment said in a statement.

"After listening to a detailed medical history of the patient and receiving a report on his diagnosis and treatment, the medical experts examined the patient in the sickroom," according to an update on the website of First Hospital of China Medical University, in the northeastern city of Shenyang.

"The American and German specialists have fully endorsed the treatment program and measures by the group of national experts" it said.

China has faced international pressure to let Liu travel abroad for treatment since he was transferred from prison to the Shenyang hospital after he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer more than a month ago.

Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison in December 2009 for "subversion" after calling for democratic reform. At the Nobel ceremony in Oslo in 2010, he was represented by an empty chair.
Member of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Partys Politburo and President of the Lao Front for National Construction Saysomphone Phomvihane (Photo: VNA)



SaysomphonePhomvihanehighly valued the role of the community in the national defence and development of Laos, while stressing the need to preserve, protect and develop the special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos at present andin the future.

He stated that the Party, State and people of Laos never forget the great sacrifice of Vietnams volunteer soldiers and people in protecting Laos revolution and leaders in the past.

Amidst the complicated developments in the region and the world, it is crucial for Vietnam and Laos to educate theirpeople, especially young generations, on the special solidarity, fighting alliance and comprehensive partnership between the two countries.

On behalf of the Vietnamese community in Laos, President of the Vietnamese Association in Laos Nguyen DuyTrung thanked the Lao Front for National Construction as well as the Party, Government and people of Laos for creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese people to settle their lives in the country.

He also pledged that the community will always unite with Lao people in developing Laos, while serving as a bridge to protect, preserve and promote the special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos./.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has come under fire for seeking to curry favour with Donald Trump by inviting him for a state visit just seven days after he took office.

US President Donald Trump said Saturday his controversial state visit to Britain will go ahead, adding that he was hoping for a "very powerful" trade deal with London "very, very quickly".

As he met with British Prime Minister Theresa May at the G20 summit in Germany, Trump predicted that trade would be "a very big factor" between the two nations.

"There is no country that could possibly be closer than our countries," he said.

"We are working on a trade deal -- a very, very big deal, a very powerful deal, great for both countries, and I think we'll have that done very, very quickly."

The president said he had brought with him "all of our trade people" including Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.

Any negotiations for such an accord would further drive a wedge between Britain and the European Union, which has warned London against striking any separate agreement before its divorce from the bloc is complete.

Back home, May has come under fire for seeking to curry favour with Trump and came in for heavy criticism in January for inviting him for a state visit just seven days after he took office.

But questions about the trip arose after it got no mention in Queen Elizabeth II's annual speech to parliament in June when it is customary for the monarch to list upcoming state visits.

- 'We'll work it out' -

Asked if the visit would still go ahead, Trump said it would. "I will be going to London," he said. Asked when, he said: "We'll work that out."

The US leader said he had developed a "very special relationship" with May, who hot-footed to Washington just days after the president's inauguration in the hope of securing the promise of future trade ties once the UK leaves the European Union.

But the planned state visit has received huge criticism at home, with a petition against it attracting more than 1.8 million signatures.

Thousands of protesters rallied outside parliament in February as MPs debated the visit, with some lawmakers calling for it to be downgraded from the regal affair represented by a state visit, to a regular visit.

Since visiting Washington in January, British Prime Minister Theresa May has suffered a chastening general election in which her Conservative Party surprisingly lost its outright majority in parliament

Since visiting Washington, May has suffered a chastening general election in which her Conservative Party surprisingly lost its outright majority in parliament, hanging on as leader thanks to a deal with small Northern Ireland party the DUP.

Britain and the EU last month agreed on the priorities and a timetable for the Brexit negotiations.

The two sides agreed to hold four further monthly rounds of talks, with the next on July 17, on the key issues of Britain's divorce from the bloc.

The aim is to make sufficient progress so that the leaders of the other 27 member states can agree to move on to talks on a future relationship with Britain, including a trade deal, the EU's top Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said.
Indian police personnel stand near the burning railway station during an indefinite strike called by separatist group Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) in Darjeeling on July 8, 2017

Fresh violence erupted in Darjeeling Saturday after a separatist group accused police of killing a supporter, prompting forces to fire tear gas as the Indian hill resort reels from weeks-long unrest.

Bouts of clashes and arson attacks have rattled the picturesque hill station for more than three weeks, causing schools and shops to shut down as thousands of mostly Indian tourists pack their bags and flee.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) -- a movement that has long called for a separate state for ethnic Gorkhas in West Bengal -- accused police of shooting dead 31-year-old Tashi Bhutia late Friday.

"(He) was shot dead by police at Sonada on the outskirts of Darjeeling town when he was returning home from a medicine shop," GJM's general secretary Roshan Giri told AFP.

But authorities, including West Bengal tourism minister Gautam Dev, have denied GJM's latest allegation, saying they were unaware of any death and that "police did not open fire".

The GJM has said it will parade Bhutia's body later on Saturday, according to the Press Trust of India.

The news of his death sparked anger among supporters who set ablaze and destroyed parts of a police station and train terminal as baton-wielding forces responded with tear gas and rubber pellets.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee deployed the army again to quell heightened tensions, which she has described as a "deep-rooted conspiracy".

The hills are famous for Darjeeling tea, the production of which is jealously guarded. It is also famed for its "toy train" -- a 78-kilometre uphill ride from New Jalpaiguri.

Tension has been mounting in the region since the government announced it was making Bengali mandatory in state schools -- angering the state's Gorkha population, who speak Nepali.

Gorkhas have been agitating for decades for a new state of "Gorkhaland" within West Bengal, claiming Bengali-speaking outsiders have exploited their resources and imposed their culture and language.

A similar uprising in 2007 saw Gorkhas granted some administrative powers.
Migrants rescued by Libya's coastguard off the town of Garabulli on July 8, 2017 walk towards a detention centre

Thirty-five migrants, including seven children, were feared drowned after their inflatable boat sank on Saturday off the Libyan coast, the coastguard said.

Eighty-five migrants, including 18 women, were rescued with the help of fishermen who alerted the coastguard, said Issa al-Zarrouk, a coastguard official in Garabulli, 60 kilometres (40 miles) east of Tripoli.

Navy spokesman Ayoub Kacem said the boat sank six nautical miles northwest of Garabulli, and 10 fishing boats took part in the rescue.

The rescued migrants were from countries including Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, the Ivory Coast and Ghana, Kacem said.

Nigerian hairdresser Vivian Effoussa described watching, horrified as fellow passengers fell into the sea.

"The boat we entered was leaking," said Effoussa, who attempted the crossing to Europe after struggling to support two children back home.

"All of a sudden... the water was (coming) inside. Everybody started shouting," she said, speaking in English.

"Gradually, gradually, we see ourselves inside the sea. Everybody, we're falling inside, dragging each other. They even pulled my hair, dragging me."

"Really, I didn't think the sea was big like this," Effousa said, adding that, had she known, she would not have come.

Human traffickers have exploited years of chaos in Libya since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi to boost their lucrative but deadly trade.

Tens of thousands of migrants have resorted to paying smugglers to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to what they hope will be a better life in Europe.

Nearly 77,000 migrants have landed in Italy since January, up 15 percent on the same period in 2016.

Altogether, at least 2,247 people have died or are missing after trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year, the IOM says.
A picture taken from the Rafah border of the southern Gaza Strip with Egypt shows smoke billowing in Egypt's North Sinai on July 8, 2017

Egyptian police said they killed 14 alleged Islamic State group members Saturday in a raid on a training camp, a day after the jihadists conducted a deadly attack on soldiers.

Funerals were held across the country for at least 21 soldiers killed in Friday's attack in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, one of deadliest against the military in years.

The interior ministry said police officers raided a desert training camp in the eastern province of Ismailiya, killing the 14 alleged militants.

At least five of them had been wanted on charges of joining IS, it said in a statement.

IS has been leading a deadly insurgency that has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the army overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and cracked down on his supporters.

The jihadists had attacked on Friday several Sinai checkpoints with car bombs and heavy gunfire in a coordinated assault, for which IS later claimed responsibility in a statement.

The military said it killed 40 of the assailants and that the attack killed or wounded 26 soldiers, without providing a death toll.

Provincial and security officials said funerals were held for at least 21 soldiers.

Groups other than IS have also carried out attacks in Egypt targeting policemen and judges.

Gunmen on Friday shot dead a National Security Service officer as he was leaving his home north of Cairo.

The militant group Hasam claimed responsibility.

On Saturday, the interior ministry said police killed two senior Hasam members in a shoot out near Cairo.
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah (R) shakes hands with his British counterpart Boris Johnson in Kuwait City on July 8, 2017

British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday urged Arab states to end their Qatar boycott, downplaying the odds of a military escalation in the worst crisis to grip the Gulf in years.

Johnson met with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah on Saturday and was scheduled to visit Qatar later in the day.

"What people need to see is de-escalation and progress towards tackling the funding of terrorism in the region, and progress toward an end to this blockade," Johnson said, voicing support for Kuwait as a mediator in the crisis.

Johnson, who also held talks in Saudi Arabia on Friday, said it was "highly unlikely" that the current standoff would descend into military conflict.

"Everybody I have talked to said the opposite. No possibility of a military confrontation," he said.

"The blockade is unwelcome and we hope there will be a de-escalation," he added.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain last month announced the severing of all diplomatic ties with Qatar over allegations the emirate bankrolled Islamist extremists and had close ties to Saudi's arch-rival Iran.

On June 22, they issued a 13-point list of demands, including downgrading ties with Iran and shutting down broadcaster Al-Jazeera, as a prerequisite to lift the sanctions, which include the closure of Qatar's only land border and suspension of all flights to and from the country.

Doha has refused to comply with the demands and denies accusations of ties to Islamist groups.

Kuwait has been leading mediation efforts to resolve the crisis that is threatening the existence of the 36-year-old Gulf Cooperation Council.

Kuwaiti officials have held talks with the foreign ministers of Germany and fellow Gulf Cooperation Council member Oman, which has not joined the Qatar boycott.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to arrive in Kuwait on Monday for talks on the Gulf crisis.
Khaltmaa Battulga of the opposition Democratic Party (DP), a 54-year-old former world champion in the Soviet martial art Sambo, had 50.6 percent of the vote with 986 ballots outstanding, according to the General Election Commission

A brash businessman with martial arts skills clinched Mongolia's first-ever presidential runoff election Saturday after his opponent conceded defeat in the scandal-plagued race to take the helm of the resource-rich but debt-laden country.

Khaltmaa Battulga of the opposition Democratic Party (DP), a 54-year-old former world champion in the Soviet martial art Sambo, had 50.6 percent of the vote with 986 ballots outstanding, according to the General Election Commission.

Parliament speaker Mieygombo Enkhbold of the Mongolian People's Party (MPP), which holds the majority in the legislature, had lagged well-behind the wrestler since early Saturday morning.

Recognising he was down for the count, he thanked his supporters in a concession speech broadcast on Facebook, saying that he would "respect and accept the presidential results."

"Although the MPP couldn't succeed in this election, the cabinet will keep working to complete our agenda of overcoming the financial crisis for the well being of our people," he said, adding that he had spoken to the sitting president about "transferring power as well as presidential stamp in the parliament house which also ends the election."

"We did this thanks to power of people," Battulga told supporters in Ulan Bator's Independence Square, promising that he would "push the government in order to complete all their work."

The new president will inherit a $5.5 billion International Monetary Fund-led bailout designed to stabilise its economy and lessen its dependence on China, which purchases 80 percent of Mongolian exports.

The former Soviet satellite's economy grew by a measly one percent last year, a stark contrast from an impressive 17 percent in 2011.

It has been hit hard by a more than 50 percent fall in the price of copper, its main export, over the past five years, while slowing growth in its biggest customer China has hobbled the economy.

Earlier in the day, Battulga, who ran on a populist, anti-China platform, told a press conference "Mongolia has won."

"I will start work straight away to resolve the economic difficulties and make Mongolians debt free as I promised," he said.

The real estate tycoon whose company funded a massive $4.1 million statue of emperor Genghis Khan, has pledged to tap the country's mining wealth to get Mongolians out of debt.

Both Battulga and Enkhbold were linked to scandals ahead of the first-round vote.

A video showed Enkhbold and two MPP officials allegedly discussing a $60 billion tugrik ($25 million) plan for selling government positions.

Battulga was haunted by reports of offshore accounts attached to his name, as well as the arrests of several of his associates by Mongolia's anti-corruption body last spring.

But in the nearly two weeks between the first round and the runoff, public opinion appeared to turn in favour of Battulga.
George Soros has come under fire in Hungary

Israel's ambassador in Budapest called on Hungary on Saturday to halt a nationwide poster campaign targeting US billionaire George Soros, which Jewish leaders say is stoking anti-Semitic feelings.

The posters show a large picture of the Hungarian-born Jewish emigre laughing, alongside the text: "Let's not leave Soros the last laugh", a reference to government claims that the 86-year-old wants to force Hungary to allow in migrants.

The campaign is the fourth media blitz by the government this year against Brussels or Soros for their alleged attacks on Hungary's hardline anti-immigration stance.

Since the latest posters appeared on billboards and at public spaces last week, several incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti daubed on them have been reported.

"It's our moral responsibility to raise a voice and call on the relevant authorities to exert their power and put an end to this cycle," Yossi Amrani, Israel's envoy in Budapest said in a statement.

"I call on those involved in the current billboard campaign and those responsible for it to reconsider the consequences.

"At the moment, beyond political criticism of a certain person, the campaign not only evokes sad memories but also sows hatred and fear."

In response to the comments, Hungary's foreign ministry said it was protecting its citizens.

"Just like Israel, Hungary too takes steps against anyone who represents a risk to the national security of the country and its citizens," it said in a statement.

Amrani's remarks follow a recent call by Hungary's largest Jewish organisation Mazsihisz to stop the campaign, saying it fuels "anti-Semitic" sentiment.

"These poisonous messages harm the whole of Hungary," said Andras Heisler, Mazsihisz head, in a letter to Prime Minister Viktor Orban published Thursday.

In a written reply to Heisler, Orban refused Friday to call off the campaign and said that his "duty is to defend our homeland and citizens" against illegal migration.

He accused the "billionaire speculator" Soros of wanting to use his wealth and civil groups that he supports to "settle a million migrants" in Hungary and the European Union.

"Illegal migration is clearly a national security question," Orban said, that will be dealt with "without regard to (anyone's) origin, religious background, or wealth".

He also asked Hungary's 100,000-strong Jewish community to help him "fight against illegal migration" which he said "imports anti-Semitism" into Europe.

Government officials repeatedly say Hungary has a policy of "zero tolerance" of anti-Semitism.

The row comes shortly before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned visit to Hungary on July 18, the first by an Israeli premier since the EU member's transition from communism in 1989.
Iraqi federal police celebrate in the Old City of Mosul as their part of the battle has been declared accomplished, while other forces continue to fight Islamic State (IS) jihadists in the city

Iraqi authorities will imminently announce a final victory in the battle to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State group, a US general said Saturday.

"An announcement is imminent," Brigadier General Robert Sofge told AFP by phone from Baghdad.

"I don't want to speculate if it's today or tomorrow but I think it's going to be very soon," he added.

The jihadists that remain in Mosul are fighting to the death in a tiny area of just two blocks of the Old City next to the Tigris River, Sofge said, and those that remain are "desperate."

Some are trying to blend in with fleeing civilians by shaving their beards and changing their clothes, others are playing dead then detonating explosive vests as Iraqi security forces come close. Women IS fighters have blown themselves up amid throngs of displaced civilians.

"They are doing as much damage as they can during these final moves," Sofge said.

The battle for Mosul first began on October 16, 2016 and the fight has seemed to grow exponentially tougher as US-backed Iraqi security forces closed in on the center of the city.

Slowing the advance toward the final holdouts, IS have placed countless booby traps and bombs in practically every structure they occupied.

"The enemy has strung IEDs all over the place, in every place, in every closet, in one case under a crib," Sofge said.

A final victory in Mosul would mark an epic milestone for the Iraqi security forces, who had crumbled in the face of an IS onslaught across Iraq in 2014.

"They deserve every bit of a celebration and pride and sense of accomplishment that a military force can feel," Sofge said, offering a "congratulations in advance in a great battle."

"This fight in Mosul is not like anything modern militaries have done in our lifetime. You have to go back to World War II to find anything that's even close."

Still, Sofge warned that IS still has "plenty of fight left" in other parts of Iraq and Syria.

The jihadists remain entrenched in several areas including Hawija, Ninevah and the Euphrates River Valley.

"The liberation of Mosul is going to cause a reaction," the general said. "We have to be on guard for the next move."

Sofge runs a combined operations center for the anti-IS coalition in Baghdad and oversees a "strike cell" that coordinates air strikes in the southern and western part of the country.
During the closing session of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey would never allow a Kurdish state in Syria

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said Turkey would never allow a Kurdish state in Syria near its border, and warned that if threatened, Ankara would not hesitate to use its right to self-defence.

"We will never remain silent or unresponsive to the backing and arming of terrorist groups, and the formation of terror islets right next to our border," Erdogan said in a speech at the closing session of the G20 summit in Hamburg.

"We will not hesitate to use our legitimate right to defence against formations that threaten our country's security."

Ankara considers the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighting in Syria to be a terrorist group and the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

But the United States sees the YPG as the most effective group on the ground in the fight against Islamic State jihadists, and is openly arming the militia force to the dismay of its NATO ally.

Ankara fears the creation of a Kurdish state in northern Syria could encourage separatism amongst its own Kurds.

Erdogan said Turkey would "never allow" a Kurdish state in northern Syria.

Turkish troops and YPG forces have repeatedly exchanged cross-border fire in recent days, and there is speculation Ankara may be planning an assault on the group in the northern Syrian town of Afrin.

Tens of thousands of people protested against Turkey in Afrin on Wednesday, chanting: "No to Turkish intervention."

Erdogan said the issue of Afrin was a "threat" for Turkey.

"As long as this threat continues, we will activate our rules of engagement and will continue to give the necessary answer to those in Afrin," he said.

The Turkish leader also hit back at the Iraqi Kurdistan region's plan to hold a referendum on independence.

"It is a troubling step for Iraq's future," he said in Hamburg.

He said Turkish concerns were conveyed to Iraqi Kurdish leader Messud Barzani, an ally of Ankara.

"We said 'this is a wrong path. Give up on this, otherwise it will be difficult for you to pay a price tomorrow.' I dont know at what stage they are right now," Erdogan said.

"I hope that they will give up holding a referendum."
Members of the Iraqi federal police force dance and wave their country's national flag in celebration in the Old City of Mosul on July 8, 2017

Iraq will announce imminently a final victory in the nearly nine-month offensive to retake Mosul from jihadists, a US general said Saturday, as celebrations broke out among police forces in the city.

The defeat would be the biggest yet for the Islamic State group three years since it seized Mosul in a lightning offensive, swept across much of the country's Sunni Arab heartland and proclaimed a "caliphate" straddling Iraq and Syria.

The Iraqi forces launched their campaign to recapture Mosul in October, and since then IS has gone from holding the entire city to being trapped between security forces and the Tigris River on its western side.

Backed by a ferocious aerial bombing campaign by a US-led international coalition, the offensive has turned much of the city to rubble and forced tens of thousands of people to flee.

Diehard jihadists have been putting up fierce resistance in recent days, but their efforts to keep the Iraqi troops at bay look to be coming to an end.

Members of the Iraqi federal police pose for a picture with an upside down Islamic State group flag in the Old City of Mosul on July 8, 2017

"An announcement is imminent," Brigadier General Robert Sofge told AFP by phone.

"I don't want to speculate if it's today or tomorrow but I think it's going to be very soon," he added.

The jihadists that remain in Mosul are fighting to the death in a tiny area of just two blocks of the Old City next to the Tigris, Sofge said, and those that remain are "desperate".

- 'Fleeing with shaven beards' -

The general said some jihadists were trying to blend in with fleeing civilians by shaving their beards and changing their clothes, others were playing dead then detonating explosive vests as Iraqi forces close in.

Women had blown themselves up amid throngs of displaced civilians.

"They are doing as much damage as they can during these final moves," Sofge said.

Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service, which has spearheaded the assault, said the jihadists now only held a band of territory 100-150 metres (yards) deep and 300 metres wide.

"The end of the battle is near, I would say two days, but it could go on," said CTS commander Abdel Ghani al-Assadi.

The battle for Mosul first began on October 17, 2016 and the fight grew tougher when Iraqi forces entered the warren of narrow alleys in the densely populated Old City.

Iraqi forces launched their campaign to recapture Mosul in October, and since then IS has gone from holding the entire city to being trapped between security forces and the Tigris River

Slowing the advance toward the final holdouts, IS fighters have placed booby traps and bombs in structures they occupied.

"The enemy has strung IEDs (improvised explosive devices) all over the place, in every place, in every closet, in one case under a crib," said Sofge.

A final victory in Mosul would mark an epic milestone for the Iraqi security forces, who had crumbled in the face of an IS onslaught across Iraq in 2014.

- 'Celebration and pride' -

"They deserve every bit of a celebration and pride and sense of accomplishment that a military force can feel," Sofge said, offering a "congratulations in advance in a great battle."

"This fight in Mosul is not like anything modern militaries have done in our life time. You have to go back to World War II to find anything that's even close."

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared on Twitter late last month that "we are seeing the end of the fake (IS) state".

That claim came after Iraqi forces retook what remained of Mosul's Great Mosque of al-Nuri and the adjacent Al-Hadba ("The Hunchback") minaret.

IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared himself "caliph" at the mosque in his only public appearance in 2014.

An Iraqi woman, who fled the fighting between government forces and Islamic State group jihadists in the Old City of Mosul, sits while being comforted by another in the city's western industrial district awaiting to be relocated, on July 8, 2017

But IS blew the two landmarks up on June 22, in what Abadi said was "an official declaration of defeat".

In Mosul on Saturday, jubilant interior ministry forces -- whose mission has been declared over -- were seen flashing V-for-victory signs and posing for selfies in front of each other holding up IS's notorious black flag upside down.

But others were not celebrating as the fighting continued, and distraught women and children emerged covered in dust and clutching what few belongings they could carry.

An AFP team saw more than 60 women and children in tears having lost loved ones in the crossfire, coalition bombing, jihadist shelling and sniper fire.

Hungry and haggard, they said they had spent months being held as human shields by the jihadists.

One group of jihadists tried to escape across the Tigris from west Mosul but were killed by the Iraqi forces, a senior commander said on Saturday.

"Some of them tried to cross to.... the far bank (of the river), but we have forces there," said Staff Lieutenant General Abdulghani al-Assadi, a senior commander in Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service.

The jihadists wanted to go back, but security forces "fired on them and killed them," he said, without specifying how many died.

Iraq's Joint Operations Command said 35 IS members were killed and six captured when they tried to escape "the advance of our forces" in Mosul's Old City.

The recapture of Mosul will not however mark the end of the threat posed by IS, which holds territory elsewhere in Iraq and is able to carry out frequent bombings in government-held areas.

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Frefighters train in June 2017 in California

The first major wildfires after the end of California's five-year drought raged across the state Saturday, as it was gripped by a record-breaking heatwave.

Some 3,000 firefighters were battling several blazes with triple-digit temperatures recorded in valleys and inland areas.

A wildfire in the Sierra Nevada foothills north of Sacramento was only two percent contained by early evening and had destroyed 10 homes, scorching 2,000 acres (800 hectares) of forest and sparking evacuations and road closures.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) said five residents and a firefighter had sustained minor injuries.

Meanwhile a blaze that forced evacuations in San Luis Obispo County tripled in size from Saturday morning to 19,000 acres by the evening. Fanned by hot, dry winds, it was just 10 percent contained, CalFire said.

Some 17 wildfires in various states of containment were burning in California Saturday, from the Six Rivers National Forest in the north to the San Bernardino Forest east of Los Angeles.

An excessive heat warning has been extended until 11:00 pm (0600 GMT) for much of southern California, with temperature records being broken across the region.

Downtown Los Angeles tied the 1954 record of 96 degrees Fahrenheit (36 Celsius) while the city's northwestern suburb of Woodland Hills reached a high of 109 degrees, breaking the record of 108 set in 2006.

"Dangerous and potentially life-threatening heat is expected through (today), when high temperatures between 100 and 110 degrees are expected for many interior sections of southwest California," the National Weather Service (NWS) said in a statement.

The weather service attributed the heat wave to a "strong upper-level high-pressure system centered over the desert southwest," adding that the heatwave could continue into Sunday.

"Hot temperatures will create a dangerous situation in which there is an increased threat of heat-related illnesses. The extended heat wave will also bring elevated fire weather conditions through the weekend," said the NWS.

California Governor Jerry Brown in April declared the official end of the state's drought that lasted more than five years.

But he kept in place water reporting requirements, as well as bans on practices like watering during or following rainfall and hosing off sidewalks.

"This drought emergency is over, but the next drought could be around the corner," Brown said in a statement.

"Conservation must remain a way of life."
Actor Shia Labeouf, pictured at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, was arrested in the US state of Georgia

US film star Shia LaBeouf was arrested in Georgia early Saturday after becoming "aggressive" towards a police officer and behaving in a "disorderly" fashion, authorities said.

According to the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, LaBeouf was arrested in the early hours after he approached a bystander and a police officer, asking for a cigarette.

He was released hours later after posting a $7,000 bond, Pete Nichols, spokesman for the Chatham County Sheriff's Department told AFP.

It is the latest in a series of arrests for "Transformers" star LaBeouf, with at least one past incident also involving "disorderly" behavior.

"When LaBeouf wasn't given a cigarette, he became disorderly, using profanities and vulgar language in front of the women and children present," the police department said in a statement.

The officer told to LaBeouf to leave the area but he refused and grew aggressive, the statement read.

When the officer attempted to place LaBeouf under arrest, he ran to a nearby hotel before eventually getting arrested in the lobby.

LaBeouf was charged with obstruction, disorderly conduct, and public drunkenness.

LaBeouf is in Georgia to film the "Peanut Butter Falcon," a movie co-starring Dakota Johnson.

Also known for films such as "Disturbia" (2007) and Lars von Trier's "Nymphomaniac" (2013), LaBeouf was arrested in January when he allegedly grabbed and pushed a man outside the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, where the film star had set up an anti-Donald Trump installation.

LaBeouf has said the charges against him were subsequently dropped.

He was also arrested in June 2014 at a Broadway musical after causing a disturbance in the theater.
US President Donald Trump (L) and National Security Advisor HR McMaster are pictured in June 2017

A ceasefire set to take effect in southwest Syria on Sunday is a US priority and an important step toward eventual peace throughout the war-torn country, President Donald Trump's national security adviser said.

"At noon local time tomorrow, a de-escalation zone in southwest Syria will begin to take effect," HR McMaster said in a statement released Saturday.

"Such zones are a priority for the United States, and we're encouraged by the progress made to reach this agreement," he said.

"The United States remains committed to defeating ISIS, helping to end the conflict in Syria, reducing suffering, and enabling people to return to their homes. This agreement is an important step toward these common goals," he said.

McMaster, who released his statement shortly after the US president and other world leaders wrapped up the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, said Trump "discussed the agreement with many world leaders at the G20 Summit," including Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The decision to impose a ceasefire zone, announced Friday at the summit by Moscow's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, was reached with the US, Russia and Jordan.

Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been engaged in talks this year with Turkey and Iran over four so-called de-escalation zones in the war-torn country.

Lavrov said the ceasefire would be supervised by Russian military police "in coordination with the Jordanians and Americans."

Syria's conflict evolved from a bloody crackdown on protests in 2011 to a devastating war that has drawn in world powers, including Russia and the US-led international coalition.

More than 320,000 people are estimated to have been killed and millions have been displaced.
Hobby Lobby, the arts-and-crafts chain whose devout Christian owners won a landmark Supreme Court ruling on religious freedom, is caught up in an antiquities-smuggling scandal that has opened the company to accusations of hypocrisy.

The Oklahoma City-based business agreed to pay a $3 million fine Wednesday over its role in what federal prosecutors said was the smuggling into the U.S. of ancient clay tablets, seals and other Iraqi archaeological objects that might have been looted from the war-torn country.

Online, many people piled on, with more than one saying things like: "I know Hobby Lobby's big on the Ten Commandments, but how about 'Thou shalt not steal'?" and "Hypocritical cretins. Preach one thing and practice another."

FILE - In this June 30, 2014, file photo, customers walk to a Hobby Lobby store in Oklahoma City. Federal prosecutors say Hobby Lobby Stores has agreed to pay a $3 million federal fine and forfeit thousands of ancient Iraqi artifacts smuggled from the Middle East that the government alleges were intentionally mislabled. Prosecutors filed a civil complaint in New York on Wednesday, July 5, 2017, in which Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby consented to the fine and forfeiture of thousands of tablets and bricks written in cuneiform, one of the earliest systems of writing, as well as other artifacts that prosecutors say were shipped without proper documentation. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

Hobby Lobby, whose president, Steve Green, has been collecting ancient artifacts since 2009 and is building an $800 million Bible museum in Washington, pleaded naivete in doing business with dealers in the Middle East.

"The company was new to the world of acquiring these items and did not fully appreciate the complexities of the acquisitions process," Hobby Lobby said in a statement. "This resulted in some regrettable mistakes."

Federal prosecutors described a scheme that involved lying and perhaps stealing. It included a number of middlemen and involved the use of phony or misleading invoices, shipping labels and other paperwork to slip the artifacts past U.S. customs agents, prosecutors said.

Among other things, cuneiform tablets were labeled "ceramic tiles," and items carried paperwork that said they came from Turkey or Israel. Also, artifacts were deliberately undervalued and shipped in small batches to multiple addresses in Oklahoma City to avoid drawing the attention of customs agents, prosecutors said.

Bob Murowchick, an associate professor in archaeology and anthropology at Boston University, cast doubt on the company's claim that it didn't know what it was doing.

"It's like that scene in 'Casablanca': 'I am shocked, shocked, that there is gambling going on here,'" Murowchick said.

Under the settlement with prosecutors, Hobby Lobby must return thousands of artifacts it brought to the U.S. in 2010 and 2011.

Hobby Lobby is a cultural powerhouse in the United States. Green doesn't open his 600 stores on Sunday so his 28,000 employees may observe the Christian Sabbath.

The privately held company successfully argued before the Supreme Court in 2014 that because of the owners' religious beliefs, it shouldn't have to supply birth control to employees under "Obamacare."

Because of widespread looting of cultural institutions and other sites in Iraq, U.S. law makes it a crime to possess or traffic in Iraqi archaeological treasures if they were illegally removed from the country since 1990, or if there are reasonable grounds to think so. Iraqi law also prohibits the export of the country's antiquities.

"Our goal is, if we can cut down on the demand or make the punishment severe enough, we will have a chain reaction and people will be unwilling to loot," Murowchick said.

According to prosecutors, Hobby Lobby agreed to buy more than 5,500 artifacts in 2010 for $1.6 million. Some shipments made it through, while others were seized.

The items included cuneiform tablets, cuneiform bricks and clay bullae, which are clay balls imprinted with a seal. Cuneiform is the wedge-shaped writing used thousands of years ago in Mesopotamia, the "Cradle of Civilization" between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now Iraq.

One shipping label listed 300 clay tiles valued at $1 each, when they were, in fact, clay bullae with a combined value of $84,120, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, Hobby Lobby was warned by its own expert that acquiring antiquities from Iraq carries "considerable risk" because so many of the artifacts in circulation are stolen. Cuneiform tablets and cylinder seals were "particularly popular on the market and likely to have been looted," the expert told the company.

In a statement, the Museum of the Bible said that none of the artifacts in the settlement were ever part of its collection and that the institution is still on track to open in November.
DOSWELL, Va. (AP) - A woman injured on a water park ride in Virginia has been hospitalized.

Local news outlets report that Christina Orebaugh was treated in Richmond for a broken foot, shoulder and collarbone after being hurt on the Tornado at Soak City inside King's Dominion amusement park Tuesday afternoon. Her husband Steve Orebaugh said in a Facebook post that she was unconscious in the water after landing on her head when the tube they had rode flipped.

Steve Orebaugh criticized King's Dominion, saying he got his wife's head above water and had to yell for help "while everyone else stood around."

A King's Dominion statement says lifeguards and medical staff immediately responded and that safety is always the top priority. King's Dominion says the ride remains closed while park officials investigate.
CHICAGO (AP) - Passengers aboard an American Airlines flight that suffered an engine failure and fire last year climbed over seats and pressured flight attendants to evacuate the plane as the second engine continued to run, according to National Transportation Safety Board documents released Thursday.

No one was killed following the engine explosion and fire on Miami-bound Flight 383 as it rolled down a runway at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Oct. 28 with 161 passengers and nine crew members. The NTSB has not determined what caused the incident, saying an investigation could go on for months.

According to the NTSB, passengers said they heard a loud bang during takeoff and the aircraft wobbled. Flames were detected almost immediately. Passengers moved from the right side of the plane to the left, shouting at flight attendants to open emergency doors as the plane came to a halt and the cabin filled with smoke. The effort to evacuate the plane was hindered by the undamaged engine still running.

One passenger told investigators he could see flames coming from the right wing and windows on that side of the aircraft began to crack. He said the crew was telling passengers to stay in their seats, and thinking that was odd because the right side of the plane was in flames.

"He stated the only thing to do was get out of the airplane fast, which he did," the NTSB reported.

The passenger said he opened a left exit hatch, climbed on the wing and tumbled down the slide, resulting in an injury. He said he stood up to get away from the plane and was blown over by the thrust of the still-running left engine.

In all, one person was seriously hurt and 20 others suffered minor injuries.

Flight attendant Beth Wheeler said she heard a loud sound, the plane began to fishtail, and she saw flames over the right wing. Passengers began screaming and jumping from their seats before the plane had stopped. Wheeler said flight attendants were trying to call the pilots to ask them to shut down the engines while passengers pleaded to get off the plane. One tried to reach around two flight attendants to open a door, she said.

Flight attendants eventually opened some doors, deploying evacuation slides before the pilot gave the order to do so. Despite instructions from flight attendants, some passengers brought bags with them during the evacuation.

The captain described hearing a "ka-boom" and felt pressure, like running over a pothole at high speed.

"We rolled about another three seconds before I subconsciously said to myself that the explosion seemed way more powerful than what I would expect as the result of a blown tire," said Anthony Paul Kochenash in a statement to investigators. When he realized it was an engine problem, he aborted the takeoff, and his co-pilot radioed the tower to say they were stopping on the runway.

An air traffic controller told the crew there was a fire. The pilots shut down the engines and discharged fire retardant into one. They could hear commotion behind them as passengers escaped the plane. Kochenash said when the pilots left the cockpit they were told by a flight attendant that everyone else was out of the plane. He said he couldn't see more than two feet because of the thick, black smoke.

Although no conclusion has been reached on why the engine failed, the NTSB determined a high-pressure turbine disk in the Boeing 767's right engine broke into four pieces, which shot out of the engine's housing. Disk pieces were found up to a half mile away.

The NTSB has identified at least three previous uncontained engine failures in commercial airliners in which a disk from the same family of GE engines broke apart - two on the ground in the United States in 2000 and 2006, and one while an Air New Zealand plane was climbing after takeoff on a flight from Australia to New Zealand in 2002. That flight was able to make an emergency landing.

The plane in Chicago was traveling at 154 mph and was seconds from lifting off when pilots slammed the brakes.

The fire was fed by a pool of jet fuel that formed under the wing when the plane came to a stop.
TOKYO (AP) - Rescue workers recovered five bodies in southern Japan on Friday, bringing the death toll from heavy rains to seven, with five people missing and feared dead and more than 20 others unaccounted for.

Troops and other rescuers were able to reach some villages that had been cut off by torrential rains and rescued more than 300 stranded residents, officials said.

Heavy rain warnings are still in place for parts of the southern island of Kyushu after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier in the week, dumping large amounts of rain that damaged homes, roads and rice fields.

Firefighters walk on the damaged road following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan, Friday, July 7, 2017. Heavy rain warnings were still in effect for some areas on the southern main island of Kyushu after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier this week, bringing disturbing rain clouds to follow. Heavy rain moved to northern Kyushu, threatening flooding there.(Ryosuke Ozawa/Kyodo News via AP)

Japan's royal family postponed the formal announcement of Princess Mako's engagement to a college classmate on Saturday out of consideration for the suffering of people in the affected areas, palace officials said. A new date has yet to be decided.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said 12,000 troops and other rescuers were focusing on remote villages where hundreds are still stranded. The operation has been slowed by mud and floodwaters, and more flooding is forecast in the country's east.

The body of an elderly woman was found washed up by a river that had overflowed in Oita, the prefectural disaster management department said. Four other bodies were retrieved earlier Friday in Asakura in Fukuoka prefecture, one of the hardest-hit areas.

Television footage showed rice fields and homes flooded after a river overflowed. Roads and bridges were damaged and dozens of vehicles and houses were destroyed. Residents of remote villages were being airlifted by military helicopters while soldiers waded through floodwaters carrying elderly people on their backs.

Japan's Meteorological Agency said Fukuoka and Oita experienced unprecedented amounts of rain.

___

Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at twitter.com/mariyamaguchi

Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/mari%20yamaguchi

Houses are collapsed and half-buried in the mud following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan, Friday, July 7, 2017. Heavy rain warnings were in effect for much of the southern main island of Kyushu after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier in the week. (Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP)

Houses are collapsed and half-buried in the mud following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan, Friday, July 7, 2017. Heavy rain warnings were in effect for much of the southern main island of Kyushu after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan earlier in the week. (Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP)

Firefighters head to their search operation, following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Toho village, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan, Friday, July 7, 2017. Troops and rescuers gained access Friday to some of the villages that were cut off by torrential rain and rescued more than a dozen stranded residents, officials said. (Kyodo News via AP)

In this Thursday, July 6, 2017 photo, a barber cleans out muddy water following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura, Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan. Troops worked Thursday to rescue hundreds of people stranded by flooding in southern Japan. (Ryosuke Ozawa/Kyodo News via AP)
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump's second official visit to Europe (all times local):

2:50 p.m.

President Donald Trump is hailing Mexico's president as his "friend" in their first face-to-face meeting.

Poland's first lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda, second right, reaches her hand to U.S. First Lady Melania Trump as U.S. President Donald Trump reaches his hand for a handshake after his speech in Krasinski Square, with Polish President Andrzej Duda standing right, in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, July 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

Trump met with President Enrique Pena Nieto on the sidelines of an international summit in Hamburg, Germany, Friday.

Pena Nieto was scheduled to be among Trump's first international White House guests but abruptly canceled the visit after a public spat over Trump's proposed border wall.

Trump maintains that he will build the border wall to keep drugs and criminals out of the U.S. - although those plans still remain unclear. He said Friday that he "absolutely" wants Mexico to pay for the wall.

Pena Nieto insists Mexico will not pay for the wall.

Trump said, "it's great to be with my friend the president of Mexico"

Pena Nieto said he hopes to continue a "flowing dialogue."

___

2:41 p.m.

President Donald Trump is holding talks with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

The leaders are meeting during an international summit taking place in Hamburg, Germany. It's their first meeting since Trump became president.

Pena Nieto had planned to be among the first leaders to visit Trump at the White House. But Pena Nieto canceled at the last minute due to disagreement over Trump's insistence that Mexico pay for a wall Trump campaigned on building along the U.S.-Mexico border to deter illegal immigration.

Pena Nieto says Mexico will not pay.

Trump has vowed to tighten border security while cracking down on undocumented workers and drug cartels. But he has been less insistent about Mexico footing the bill for the wall.

___

1:28 p.m.

Anti-globalization protesters are keeping U. S. first lady Melania Trump from joining the spouses of world leaders attending an international summit in Germany.

Mrs. Trump's spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, says Hamburg police haven't cleared the first lady to leave the government guest house where she and President Donald Trump spent the night because of the protesters.

Spouses typically get together while leaders are in meetings during international summits like these.

Friday's program for the spouses included a boat ride, lunch and a tour of a climate control center.

Mrs. Trump tweeted that she was thinking of those who were hurt during protests that began Thursday.

She says she hopes everyone stays safe.

Anti-globalization activists have set dozens of cars ablaze and tried to block leaders' delegations from entering the grounds of the Group of 20 summit. Police have said at least 111 officers were hurt during Thursday's clashes.

___

1:18 p.m.

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin's first encounter at a leaders' retreat in Hamburg, Germany was caught on tape.

The two leaders were seen shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries ahead of their planned formal, sit-down meeting in video posted to Facebook by the German Cabinet.

As officials gathered around a table, Trump outstretched his hand to Putin and then patted his elbow. Both men smiled.

Another brief video clip shows Trump casually patting Putin on the back as they stand side by side.

___

1:07 p.m.

President Donald Trump is participating in a photo-op with other world leaders at an international summit in Germany.

Trump stood in the first row as the Group of 20 world leaders posed for their official "family portrait." It's a longstanding tradition.

Trump was spotted speaking with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on his way into the event.

He later stood next to and chatted with French President Emmanuel Macron. Trump will be visiting Paris next week in honor of Bastille Day.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stood on the opposite side of the stage.

___

12:12 p.m.

President Donald Trump was spotted chatting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May as he sat down with fellow world leaders for a discussion on fighting terrorism at a German summit.

Merkel and Trump sat next to each other and exchanged pleasantries at the opening session of the Group of 20 leaders' summit Friday.

Trump also chatted with May, who was seated immediately to his left. Russian leader Vladimir Putin sat several seats away.

Trump has alienated some U.S. allies with his decision to pull the U.S. out of an international climate agreement and his tough talk on trade.

___

11:45 a.m.

The spokesman for Russian leader Vladimir Putin is shrugging off President Donald Trump's call to reduce Russia's dominance of the natural gas supply for Eastern Europe.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells reporters, "There's no energy monopoly in Europe" ahead of the planned meeting of the Russian and U.S. leaders in Hamburg, Germany.

Trump said in a speech in Poland Thursday that he wants to make sure Poland and its neighbors are "never again held hostage" to a single supplier of energy.

Peskov says: "All this will be decided by the market, it should not be decided politically."

___

11:35 a.m.

The Kremlin says that President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump have exchanged a handshake and a few words ahead of their sit-down at the G-20 summit.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin and Trump "shook hands and told each other that they will shortly have a separate meeting."

Asked about Trump's tweet that he's looking forward to meeting with Putin and they have "much to discuss," Peskov answered that the Russian president is also looking forward to the encounter.

The long-anticipated Putin-Trump meeting will be closely watched to see whether Trump brings up Russia's meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The two presidents are expected to focus on the Syrian war, the Ukrainian crisis and the fight against terrorism.

___

10:40 a.m.

President Donald Trump is joining fellow world leaders at the first session of a two-day summit in Hamburg, Germany.

The meeting of leaders of the Group of 20 global economic powers opens Friday with a discussion on fighting terrorism - one of the least contentious subjects on an agenda that also includes global trade and climate.

The G-20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, France, Britain, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Saudi Arabia's King Salman isn't attending, and his country is represented by Ibrahim al-Assaf, the minister of state.

Also attending the summit are the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Guinea, Senegal, Singapore and Vietnam.

___

10:38 a.m.

President Donald Trump is tweeting that "everyone" in Hamburg, Germany is talking about the Democrats' response to Russian election hacking ahead of his highly-anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump writes ahead of his arrival at the group of 20 summit: "Everyone here is talking about why John Podesta refused to give the DNC server to the FBI and the CIA. Disgraceful!"

Podesta was the former chair of Trump 2016 rival Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Podesta did not run the Democratic National Committee.

U.S. intelligent agencies have blamed the hacking of the DNC as well as Podesta's personal email account on the Russian government.

____

10:33 a.m.

President Donald Trump has arrived at a German convention center to join other world leaders for an annual meeting.

Trump was welcomed with a handshake from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the summit host.

Leaders of the world's rich and developing nation are discussing a variety of issues over two days of meetings, including trade and climate change.

Trump has two big meetings on his schedule apart from the formal summit agenda.

He'll meet for the first time as president with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the backdrop of Moscow's meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Trump tweeted Friday before arriving at the summit that he's looking forward to meeting Putin because they have "much to discuss."

Trump will also hold talks with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

____

9:45 a.m.

President Donald Trump is tweeting that he's looking forward to his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at an international summit in Hamburg, Germany. Trump says in the tweet there is "much to discuss."

Trump was set to arrive shortly at the Group of 20 summit. He's scheduled to meet later in the day with Putin in a highly anticipated meeting.

The encounter is coming at a pivotal time in U.S.-Russian relations. Trump will be closely watched to see if he confronts Putin over Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Other issues like Syria, the Ukraine and terrorism are expected to be discussed.

___

9:30 a.m.

After weeks of anticipation, President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are preparing to meet at an international summit in Germany.

Friday's much-anticipated encounter comes at a pivotal time in U.S.-Russian relations. Trump will be closely watched to see if he confronts Putin over Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

U.S. lawmakers and federal investigators are continuing to look into Russia's election interference, along with possible collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russian government officials.

That puts Trump under intense scrutiny over how he handles the sit-down with Putin, a former Russian intelligence agent known to come well-prepared to meetings like this.

France's President Emmanuel Macron, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump talk after the family photo on the first day of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany, Friday, July 7, 2017. The leaders of the group of 20 meet July 7 and 8. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump sit at the start of the "retreat meeting" on the first day of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany, on Friday July 7, 2017 . Leaders of the world's top economies will gather from July 7 to 8, 2017. (John MacDougall/Pool Photo via AP)

US President Donald Trump and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May sit at the start of the "retreat meeting" on the first day of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany, on Friday July 7, 2017 . Leaders of the world's top economies will gather from July 7 to 8, 2017. (John MacDougall/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, is welcomed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the first day of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany, Friday, July 7, 2017. The leaders of the group of 20 meet July 7 and 8. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, is welcomed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the first day of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany, Friday, July 7, 2017. The leaders of the group of 20 meet July 7 and 8. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, is welcomed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the first day of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany, Friday, July 7, 2017. The leaders of the group of 20 meet July 7 and 8. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

President Donald Trump meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in before the Northeast Asia Security dinner at the US Consulate General Hamburg, Thursday, July 6, 2017, in Hamburg. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks at Krasinski Square at the Royal Castle, Thursday, July 6, 2017, in Warsaw. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
ATLANTA (AP) - Psychologists and others who study cases of mothers accused of killing their children say such crimes aren't as uncommon as people might believe. Reliable statistics are difficult to come by, though, because children's deaths aren't always categorized in the same way legally.

Some cases, though, become high profile and are covered extensively by local news outlets.

Examples include:

FILE-in this Thursday, July 27, 2006 file photo, Andrea Yates walks into the courtroom for a hearing, in Houston, where she was committed to the maximum-security North Texas State Hospital in Vernon, Texas. Psychologists and others who study cases of mothers accused of killing their children say such crimes aren't as uncommon as people might believe.(AP Photo/Brett Coomer, Pool, File)

Carla Lopez-Mejia who sedated and strangled her son and daughter at home in Lake of the Hills, Illinois, in January 2017. She then hanged herself.

Carla Watford who shot her two daughters in October 2015 before setting fire to their home in Eunice, Louisiana, and taking her own life.

Jessica McCarty was sentenced to life in prison for killing her three children in March 2015. Police in Palm Bay, Florida, found McCarty holding a knife and bleeding from stab wounds when they arrived at the home.

Lashanda Armstrong who killed three of her children and herself in April 2011 by driving into the still-cold Hudson River in New York. A son managed to get out of the car before it sank and survived.

Tiffany Toribio pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and child abuse charges for the smothering death of her son at an Albuquerque, New Mexico, playground in May 2009. Toribio told police they were homeless at the time.

Michele Kalina of Reading, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in August 2011 to 20-40 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder in connection with the deaths of five newborns conceived through a long affair. Authorities said Kalina hid the newborns' bodies in a storage closet each time she gave birth.

Gigi Jordan of New York was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2015 after being found guilty of manslaughter for the 2010 death of her son. Jordan claimed she gave her eight-year-old fatal amount of drugs as an act of mercy because he was non-verbal and had autism.

Andrea Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the 2001 drowning deaths of her five children and remains committed at a state mental hospital in suburban Houston.

Christina Riggs was executed in 2000 by the state of Arkansas for smothering her son and daughter in 1997. She attempted suicide after killing the children.

Susan Smith received a life sentence for the deaths of her two sons after she rolled her car into a South Carolina lake in 1994 with the boys strapped into car seats. Smith initially claimed she was carjacked but later confessed.
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) - A court in Lithuania has found a Russian national guilty of spying and sentenced him to 10 years in prison for attempting to recruit local officials to plant listening devices at the offices of the Baltic nation's president.

The Vilnius district court said Friday that Nikolay Filipchenko was an officer with the Russian Federal Security Service and intended to spy on President Dalia Grybauskaite's office for Moscow.

Filipchenko pleaded not guilty during his trial and has 20 days to appeal the verdict. He was arrested in April 2015 at a Lithuanian-Russian border crossing while carrying a forged passport.

In recent years, Lithuania has deported several Russian nationals suspected of espionage. Lithuanians also have been convicted for spying for Belarus, which authorities say is sharing information with Russia.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A federal appeals court Friday upheld the convictions of three Orthodox rabbis for their roles in a ring that used brutal tactics to force unwilling Jewish men to divorce their wives.

A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed arguments by the rabbis that the convictions should be overturned on a number of grounds, including the right to religious freedom.

Rabbis Mendel Epstein, Jay Goldstein and Binyamin Stimler were convicted in 2015 on charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Epstein, 70, lives in Lakewood, New Jersey, while Goldstein, 61, and Stimler, 41, are from Brooklyn.

Epstein, who was accused of being the ringleader, was sentenced to 10 years. Goldstein got an eight-year term, and Stimler a three-year sentence.

The attacks were carried out from 2009 to 2013 in New Jersey, New York City and other locations. Prosecutors said the group used brutal methods and tools, including handcuffs and electric cattle prods, to torture the men into granting the religious divorces, known as gets, which their wives were seeking.

Jewish law mandates that the get be presented by a husband to a wife to make a divorce official.

During his sentencing in December 2015, Epstein told District Judge Freda Wolfson that he got caught up in his tough guy image, which he said helped him persuade men to give their wives the religious divorces. Epstein said he was helping the women out of a sense of compassion because they couldn't remarry without it.

Epstein's attorney, Peter Goldberger, argued before the appeals court in January that Wolfson erred during the trial by not allowing evidence that explained the rabbi's religious beliefs. The attorneys also argued that federal authorities didn't get a warrant to obtain private cellphone records and that the evidence against Stimler wasn't enough to justify a conviction.

The appeals court judges dismissed those claims.

___

This story has been corrected to show that the rabbis appealed in December 2015, not in January 2017.
WASHINGTON (AP) - A District of Columbia man has pleaded guilty to touching a group of teenage girls at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington.

Authorities say Devone Foote walked up to a group of 13- and 14-year-old girls from California in April and touched their buttocks as they visited a butterfly exhibit. Prosecutors say Foote also pressed his groin against one teen's buttocks. A chaperone for the girls reported the incident to a museum security office.

As the girls left the museum minutes later, they saw Foote sitting outside on a bicycle and he was arrested.

The Washington Post reports Foote is scheduled to be sentenced for attempted child sex abuse Sept. 15 in D.C. Superior Court.

___

Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - The Latest on the trial of a former Oklahoma police officer: (all times local):

7:30 p.m.

A third mistrial has been declared in the case of a white former Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot his daughter's black boyfriend.

In this Thursday, June 29, 2017, photo, former Tulsa Police officer Shannon Kepler exits the courtroom during his trial at the Tulsa County Courthouse, in Tulsa, Okla. Kepler, who accused of fatally shooting his daughter's boyfriend in 2014, is on trial this week for the third time after jurors in the first two trials couldn't decide whether he was guilty of first-degree murder. (Cory Young/Tulsa World via AP)

Jurors deadlocked 6-6 after deliberating only a few hours on Friday in the first-degree murder trial of Shannon Kepler.

Jurors in Kepler's previous two trials, in November and February, deadlocked 11-1 and 10-2 in favor of guilt and mistrials were declared in both.

The off-duty white Tulsa police officer shot 19-year-old Jeremey Lake in August 2014. Kepler told investigators he fired because he thought Lake had a gun. Police found no weapon at the scene or on Lake's body. Kepler said he was trying to protect his daughter, Lisa Kepler, because she was living in a crime-ridden neighborhood.

___

5:30 p.m.

Jurors are deliberating in the trial of a former Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot his daughter's boyfriend while off-duty.

Deliberations began Friday afternoon in the third trial of Shannon Kepler after a judge ruled that jurors could consider a lesser charge of manslaughter in addition to a charge of first-degree murder.

Manslaughter carries a sentence of between four years and life in prison.

Authorities say Kepler shot 19-year-old Jeremey Lake in 2014, as Lake was walking with Kelper's then-18-year-old daughter.

Kepler says he fired in self-defense because Lake was armed, but police didn't find a weapon on Lake or at the scene. His attorneys say Kepler was trying to protect his daughter, who was staying in a crime-ridden neighborhood.

Jurors in Kepler's first two trials couldn't reach a verdict.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Actor and comedian Faizon Love has received a suspended sentence after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge for an alleged altercation with an Ohio airport valet.

The Columbus Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/2tzS9gQ ) a municipal court judge in Franklin County found Love guilty of the first-degree misdemeanor on June 30. Love was given a 180-day suspended jail sentence and a $500 fine.

Love was arrested March 7 after authorities say he argued with and then assaulted the 24-year-old valet in the Columbus airport's baggage claim area. Authorities say Love grabbed the man behind the neck and threw him to the ground and into a desk, then pushed him down when he tried to get up.

Defense attorney John Moore has said there was a disagreement over payment.

___

Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Two U.S. bombers flew to the Korean Peninsula to join fighter jets from South Korea and Japan for a practice bombing run as part of a training mission in response to North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs, officials said Saturday.

U.S. military officials described the mission Friday as a defensive show of force and unity from the three allied nations and said it demonstrated "the ironclad U.S. commitment to our allies."

"North Korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland," Gen. Terrence O' Shaughnessy, U.S. Pacific Air Forces commander, said in a statement from Pacific Air Forces. "Let me be clear: If called upon we are trained, equipped and ready to unleash the full lethal capability of our allied air forces."

In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers, left and second from left, fly with South Korean and U.S. fighter jets over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea Saturday, July 8, 2017. Two U.S. bombers flew to the Korean Peninsula to join fighter jets from South Korea and Japan for a practice bombing run as part of a training mission in response to North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs, officials said Friday. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP)

The U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers from Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam conducted a 10-hour sequenced bilateral mission with South Korean and Japanese fighter jets, the statement said.

"U.S. bombers and Republic of Korea fighters are just two of many lethal military options at our disposal," said Lt. Gen. Thomas Bergeson, U.S. Forces Korea deputy commander. "This mission clearly demonstrates the U.S.-ROK alliance remains prepared to use the full range of capabilities to defend and to preserve the security of the Korean Peninsula and region."

When the B-1Bs reached the Korean Peninsula, they were joined by South Korean F-15 fighter jets and U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets. The B-1Bs practiced what officials called "attack capabilities" by releasing inert weapons at the Pilsung Range.

As the bombers returned to Guam, they flew over the East China Sea with F-2 fighter jets of the Koku Jieitai, or Japan Air Self-Defense Force, the statement said.

"The U.S.-Japan alliance and the relationship between our militaries are stronger than they have ever been," said Lt. Gen. Jerry P. Martinez, U.S. Forces Japan commander. "We continue to train with our Japanese allies to ensure we are ready to defend ourselves from attack."

President Donald Trump and the leaders of South Korea and Japan, who met during the G-20 summit in Germany, issued a joint statement condemning the North's recent test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile and calling it a global threat that demanded "maximum pressure" in response.

A day earlier in Poland, Trump said the U.S. was considering "some pretty severe things" in response to North Korea's actions. While he offered no specifics, he has not ruled out military action.

North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said its intercontinental ballistic missile is meant to overcome U.S. hostility and enable the North to "strike the very heart of the U.S. at any given time."

___

Associated Press writer Douglass K. Daniel in Washington contributed to this report.

In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bomber, left, drops a bomb over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea Saturday, July 8, 2017. Two U.S. bombers flew to the Korean Peninsula to join fighter jets from South Korea and Japan for a practice bombing run as part of a training mission in response to North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs, officials said Friday. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP)
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump's second official visit to Europe (all times local):

5:50 p.m.

President Donald Trump has wrapped up his second European tour by searching for consensus with Asian allies Saturday on how to counter the "menace" of North Korea. The North test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile a week ago.

President Donald Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, waves as they board Air Force One in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, July 8, 2017, en route to Washington following the G20 Summit. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump said "something has to be done about it," as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng). In a separate meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh AH'-bay), Trump said the two were tackling "the problem and menace of North Korea." The White House said after the meeting with Abe that the U.S. was "prepared to use the full range of capabilities" in defense of Japan.

___

11:40 a.m.

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin is addressing conflicting accounts of discussions between Putin and President Donald Trump over Russia's meddling in the U.S. election.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had told reporters after Friday's meeting that Trump accepted Putin's assurances that Moscow didn't meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election - an account that appeared at odds with that of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Asked about the conflict on Saturday, Dmitry Peskov joked, "Trust Lavrov. I don't work for Tillerson."

Peskov demurred when pressed by reporters about the tone and other topics discussed by the two presidents when they met the previous day.

Trump has said he believes that Russia may have hacked the emails of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton staffers, but that other countries have been involved as well.

Trump and Putin's highly anticipated meeting was scheduled to last only 30 minutes, but extended for more than two hours.

___

11:27 a.m.

President Donald Trump says he plans to do "lots of deals" with Indonesia as he sits down with the country's president.

Trump tells reporters at the start of a meeting with President Joko Widodo that the two have become friends and says: "We're going to be doing a lot of deals together."

He said the U.S. and Indonesia currently have a limited trade relationship, but says: "We will start doing a lot of trading with Indonesia."

Jokowi offered Trump "warm greetings" from his "millions of fans" in Indonesia and said they all want to know when Trump will visit.

Trump responded: "We'll get there, we'll get there. It's a place I'd like to go."

___

11:23 a.m.

Denmark's development minister Ulla Toernaes (OU-la TEUR-nes) says Danes will donate 69 million kroner ($10.6 million) over three years to the new women's entrepreneurship fund that World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim announced Saturday.

The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative has raised more than $325 million from governments including the U.S., Germany, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Toernaes says that, "support for female entrepreneurs is a major factor in promoting women's sexual and reproductive rights."

She adds that means "women can become full members of business community."

Toernaes was part of a European call to support international groups that perform abortions or provide information about abortion services after President Donald Trump cut off U.S. funding to groups that did so.

___

10:16 a.m.

President Donald Trump is praising his daughter, Ivanka, and acknowledging the challenges he's added to her life.

In a rare, self-deprecating moment, the president said Saturday during remarks in Hamburg, Germany that he's been proud of his eldest daughter from "day one."

He says, "If she weren't my daughter it would be so much easier for her," adding with a laugh: "That might be the only bad thing she has going, if you want to know the truth."

The candid aside came as Trump was speaking at the launch of a new women's entrepreneurship fund that Ivanka Trump helped bring together.

Ivanka Trump moved to Washington to work as a senior adviser to her father and has faced pressure from critics who'd hoped she'd be able to push him to adopt more moderate policies.

___

10:03 a.m.

President Donald Trump is praising a new women's entrepreneurship fund spearheaded by his daughter and the World Bank that will help women access capital, financing and other support.

Trump says that his administration is making a $50 million commitment to the effort at an event held alongside the Group of 20 world leaders' summit in Hamburg, Germany.

He says the group will help eliminate barriers for women to launch businesses and transform "millions and millions of lives."

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim announced Saturday that the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative had raised $325 million from governments including the U.S., Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Canada.

Trump says that, "Empowering women is a core value that binds us together."

___

9:45 a.m.

First Daughter Ivanka Trump and the World Bank are rolling out a new fund that aims to help female entrepreneurs access capital, financing and other support.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim says the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative fund has so far raised $325 million from various governments. He hopes to leverage that into a multibillion-dollar fund.

The money will go toward improving access to capital and markets, providing technical assistance, training and mentoring, pushing public policy and investing in projects and programs that support women and women-led businesses.

Kim says, "this is not acute little project," and says it will drive economic growth.

He's speaking at a panel on women's entrepreneurship that coincides with the meeting of Group of 20 leaders in Hamburg, Germany.

___

9:22 a.m.

President Donald Trump is meeting Britain's head of government on the sidelines of an international summit in Germany.

Trump said Saturday that he and Prime Minister Theresa May have had "tremendous talks" and developed a "special relationship."

Trump also says they are working on a trade deal that will be "great for both countries," but he provided no details.

The two leaders have met several times since Trump took office and collaborate on a number of issues, from security to trade.

Trump and May are sitting down for a meeting Saturday while attending the G-20 summit of industrialized and developed nations.

___

9:12 a.m.

President Donald Trump will meet with a long list of world leaders Saturday as he wraps up his second trip abroad.

Trump will hold meetings with British Prime Minster Theresa May, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Xi Jinping of China.

He'll also attend a women's entrepreneurship finance event and participate in various sessions with fellow Group of 20 leaders.

The second day of the summit of world leaders that has been overshadowed by violent riots between anti-globalization activists and police is expected to include talks on global trade, climate change and international terrorism.

Trump is set to return to Washington Saturday evening.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump get off Marine One before prior to boarding Air Force One in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, July 8, 2017, for a trip to Washington following the G20 Summit. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

First lady Melania Trump waves as she and President Donald Trump board Air Force One in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, July 8, 2017, as they travel to Washington following the G20 Summit. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks on a press conference after the second day of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany, Saturday, July 8, 2017, where the leaders of the group of 20 met for two days. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, gestures as he talks to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, during a working session at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany, Saturday, July 8, 2017. The leaders of the group of 20 meet July 7 and 8. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a working session at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany, Saturday, July 8, 2017. The leaders of the group of 20 meet July 7 and 8. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, pool)

President of World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, left, and the daughter and advisor of U.S. president Donald Trump, Ivanka take part in a panel discussion "Launch Event Women's Entrepreneur Finance Initiative" during the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, July 8, 2017. (Michael Kappeler/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit, Friday, July 7, 2017, in Hamburg. Trump and Putin met for more than two hours. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

United States President Donald Trump, right, has a laugh with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and European Council President Donald Tusk before the third working session at the G20 summit Saturday, July 8, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

President Donald Trump meets with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the G20 Summit, Saturday, July 8, 2017, in Hamburg, Germany. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

From left: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, World Bank Group president, Jim Yong Kim, U.S. president Donald Trump, his daughter Ivanka, German chancellor Angela Merkel and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pose for media at a panel discussion during the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, July 8, 2017. (Michael Kappeler/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with British Prime Minister Theresa May at the G20 Summit, Saturday, July 8, 2017, in Hamburg, Germany. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Ivanka Trump listens during the Women's Entrepreneurship Finance event at the G20 Summit, Saturday, July 8, 2017, in Hamburg. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks during the Women's Entrepreneurship Finance event at the G20 Summit, Saturday, July 8, 2017, in Hamburg. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

CORRECTS : WOMAN AT RIGHT IS AN UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT - - From left: the manager of Holmarcom Group, Meriem Bensalah the daughter of U.S. president Donald Trump, Ivanka, the founder of Enda inter-Arabe, Essma ben Hamida, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, the founder of Quali Health, Nthabiseng Legoete and an unidentified participant pose for media as they take part in a panel discussion "Launch Event Women's Entrepreneur Finance Initiative" during the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, July 8, 2017. (Michael Kappeler/Pool Photo via AP)
MILAN (AP) - Italian authorities have arrested a 38-year-old Chechen accused of fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria and participating in a deadly attack on foreign and Russian journalists in Chechnya, prosecutors disclosed Saturday.

Prosecutors told a news conference in the southern city of Bari that Eli Bombataliev, who had been living in nearby Foggia since 2012, was arrested three days ago on terror charges under emergency measures as he was preparing to depart for Belgium.

They said evidence indicates that he was in touch with the Islamic State network based in Belgium, where he intended to travel as soon as he received an Italian residency permit.

According to wiretaps, the man told his Russian wife that he was prepared to carry out an attack if ordered. "If tomorrow they call to offer myself up, I must do it," prosecutors quoted him as saying.

As part of the operation, authorities expelled the wife, identified as a 49-year-old Russian woman living illegally in Italy, and two Albanian brothers in their 20s who were legal residents.

According to prosecutors, Bombataliev was trying to get his wife to become a suicide bomber, which she was resisting by saying she was his second wife and the first wife should "sacrifice herself first."

Bombataliev allegedly responded that the first wife "is already ready." Authorities are investigating.

Prosecutors said evidence indicates Bombataliev participated in an attack on journalists in Grozny, Chechnya in December 2014 that left 19 dead and that he fought in Syria in 2014 and 2015.
LONDON (AP) - England made slow progress in building a commanding 216-run lead in the first test against South Africa on Saturday, with Alastair Cook's circumspect 59 not out pushing the team to 119-1 at stumps on Day 3.

Cook, England's record run-scorer, went 38 minutes without scoring at one point in his gritty innings in the Lord's sunshine and had a strike rate of 35.97.

England was going at 2.33 runs per over but was in total control of the opening match of the four-test series, with Gary Ballance, on 22, alongside Cook at the close.

England's Alastair Cook hits a shot during the first test between England and South Africa at Lord's cricket ground in London, Saturday, July 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

"To be honest, you wouldn't want anyone else for that position when you need to graft through an evening session to put us in a good position," England paceman Jimmy Anderson said of Cook, who is playing his first test since giving up the captaincy to Joe Root.

"It's probably a bit of a strange week for him because there's a new captain here and I'm sure he's going to be missing the captaincy to an extent. But at the same time it's a great opportunity for him to show people he is still happy to score runs, and we're just happy he is out there churning them out for us."

South Africa, which was dismissed for 361 just after lunch to trail by 97 runs after the first innings, toiled away but missed the workload of paceman Vernon Philander, who sustained excessive swelling to his bowling hand while batting.

Philander didn't bowl but should return to the attack on Sunday, although the Proteas already will be resigned to simply saving the test.

Left-handed opener Keaton Jennings was the only England player to depart after wafting outside off stump and nicking Morne Morkel's delivery to wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock for 33.

De Kock and Philander scored contrasting half-centuries after South Africa started Day 3 on 214-5, still 244 runs behind England's first-innings total of 458 all out.

The highlight of an otherwise slow day's play was the cameo by De Kock, who struck a 36-ball fifty - the second-fastest at Lord's - that contained 10 fours. It raised questions as to why he is batting as low as No. 7.

The wicketkeeper was out for 51, caught by a diving Ben Stokes at square cover off Anderson, the bowler who jammed Philander's right hand with a delivery that generated extra bounce. Philander threw his bat on the ground, received treatment, and looked in discomfort for the rest of his 86-ball 52.

He had an X-ray after South Africa's innings and didn't return to the field, replaced by Chris Morris. Cricket South Africa confirmed Philander didn't sustain a fracture.

Proteas overnight batsmen Kagiso Rabada (27) and Temba Bavuma (59, after resuming on 48 not out) departed in the first half hour. After lunch, Liam Dawson trapped Keshav Maharaj (9) lbw, with a not-out decision overturned on review, before Philander played onto his stumps against Moeen Ali soon after reaching his fifth test fifty.

Morkel was unbeaten on 2 and Ali finished with figures of 4-59.

"If you look at the England innings, they had one guy who went big (Root scored 190)," Bavuma said. "We had a number of guys who got in on that wicket and couldn't make anything of it. That's been the difference so far."

___

Steve Douglas is at www.twitter.com/sdouglas80

South Africa players including their captain Dean Elgar, third left, make an unsuccessful wicket appeal against England's Alastair Cook during the first test between England and South Africa at Lord's cricket ground in London, Saturday, July 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

South Africa's Vernon Philander celebrates reaching 50 runs during the first test between England and South Africa at Lord's cricket ground in London, Saturday, July 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) - Thousands of South Sudanese have been displaced and aid workers evacuated as rebels on Saturday accused government troops of advancing on their stronghold and killing civilians along the way.

Opposition spokesman William Gatjiath Deng told The Associated Press that government troops have stepped up attacks in the past week in Mathiang in Longochuck county. The rebels have kept the troops from entering the rebel stronghold of Pagak but the fighting is getting worse, he said.

"The government is killing civilians, they're burning down houses," Deng said.

The reports of an offensive come as South Sudan prepares to mark its sixth anniversary of independence on Sunday.

South Sudan's military denied the rebels' accusations, saying there were no scheduled military operations in the area and suggesting that the opposition was fighting among themselves. The government earlier this year declared a unilateral cease-fire, but reports of fighting in several parts of the country have continued.

The United Nations said at least 25 aid workers have been evacuated from the Pagak area, which was established as the opposition headquarters when civil war began in late 2013. Aid workers in Pagak have said that if it falls to government forces, the rebels' position would be weakened.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it has evacuated all staff and patients from Maiwut town and hospital. "We're concerned about the escalation of the conflict in the area and the humanitarian consequences of displacement and violence," said ICRC official Mari Mortvedt.

The U.N. also said about 50,000 civilians in the rebel-held area near the Ethiopian border have been cut off from humanitarian assistance.

___

This version corrects to say Mathiang is in Longochuck county.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Latest on state elections officials who are gathering in Indianapolis (all times local):

11:45 p.m.

California's chief elections official is puzzled by the absence of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach from a gathering of elections officials from across the U.S.

Kobach is the co-chair of a White House voter fraud commission that's investigating allegations made by the President Donald Trump without proof that there were millions of fraudulent ballots cast during last November's election.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Saturday that it's "awkward, to put it mildly" that Kobach opted against attending the National Association of Secretaries of State conference in Indianapolis this weekend.

Kobach, a Republican, sent letters last week to all 50 states requesting voter information, including dates of birth, partial Social Security numbers, addresses and voting histories.

The request drew blowback from Republicans and Democrats alike.

Padilla, a Democrat, said that if Kobach was serious about working with states to improve the integrity of U.S. elections, he would have attended the conference.

A spokeswoman for Kobach did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

___

10:50 a.m.

Illinois has joined 15 other states in refusing to provide detailed voter information to a White House commission investigating President Donald Trump's allegations of widespread voter fraud.

The Illinois State Board of Elections sent a letter on Friday declining to provide the information requested by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who is co-chairing White House commission.

Last week, Kobach sent letters to all 50 states requesting voter information, including dates of birth, partial Social Security numbers, addresses and voting histories.

The request drew blowback from Republicans and Democrats alike.

The Illinois letter comes as state elections officials from across the country are gathering in Indianapolis for conference.

___

2:00 a.m.

State election officials are gathering this weekend amid an uproar over a presidential commission investigating allegations of voter fraud and growing concern about Russian attempts to interfere with last fall's election.

The four-day meeting of the National Association of Secretaries of State in Indianapolis comes a week after President Donald Trump's commission investigating allegations of voter fraud requested detailed voter data from every state. The request includes dates of birth, partial Social Security numbers, addresses and voting histories.

Fifteen states have refused to provide the information. The others are undecided or have said they will provide only some of it.

Keeping state and local election systems secure from hackers also is expected to be a dominant topic.
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Actor Shia LaBeouf has been released from a Georgia jail after posting $7,000 bond on charges of public drunkenness.

The Chatham County Sheriff's Office says the 31-year-old was arrested in a hotel lobby at 4 a.m. Saturday by the Savannah Police Department and released.

He also faces charges of disorderly conduct and obstruction.

In this Saturday, July 8, 2017 photo released by the Chatham County Sheriff's Office, actor Shia LaBeouf poses for a booking photo, in Savannah, Ga. LaBeouf has been released from a Georgia jail after posting $7,000 bond on charges of public drunkenness. In addition to the public drunkenness charge, he also was arrested for disorderly conduct and obstruction. Further details surrounding the arrest were not immediately available. (Chatham County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Police say LaBeouf asked a bystander for a cigarette and when he was refused, he became disorderly, "using profanities and vulgar language in front of the women and children present." When he was told to leave, police say he refused and became aggressive toward an officer. He ran to a nearby hotel to avoid arrest.

LaBeouf is in the Savannah area filming his new movie, "The Peanut Butter Falcon," which also stars Dakota Johnson.
The climbs, high-speed descents and hairpin turns on tap for Stage 9 of the Tour de France will be enough to make even spectators watching at home dizzy.

Fortunately, the culinary offerings available as the race enters the Alps on Sunday are gentler on the stomach.

Starting in Nantua, near Geneva, the peloton will scale three "hors categorie" - beyond rating - climbs before concluding with a serpentine descent into the Savoie town of Chambery.

The pack rides past donkeys dressed with Yellow jersey and French flag during the eighth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 187.5 kilometers (116.5 miles) with start in Dole and finish in Station des Rousses, France, Saturday, July 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Here's a gastronomic, sporting and cultural glance at the 181.5-kilometer (113-mile) stage:

BAGUETTE AND BUTTER: Climbs with average gradients near 10 percent are fairly rare in the Tour. Yet there are three of them in this stage. First up is the Col de la Biche with its remarkable views of Mont Blanc, followed by the unprecedented and fearsome side of the Grand Colombier, known as the Directissime, which features gradients of up to 22 percent. Then only the fittest should be in contention up the Mont du Chat, which hasn't been on the Tour map since 1974.

PLAT DU JOUR: Quenelles de Brochet. Pike cakes with Nantua sauce are an integral part of lyonnaise cuisine. While recipes differ from one town and chef to the next, traditionally the cakes are made by forming a "panade" of milk, butter, egg and flour, mixing in the fish and poaching the quenelles in salted water. The cakes are then doused in Nantua sauce made of crayfish butter and baked before serving.

CULTURE: The Musilac festival in picturesque Aix-les-Bains (located on the other side of Bourget Lake from the stage route) each July is a multi-genre event ranging from rock to electro and pop to reggae.

VIN DU JOUR: AOC Roussette du Bugey. This highly aromatic white wine made with the Altesse grape variety feature flavors of citrus, herbs and even olives sometimes.

HISTORY: The origins of Mont du Chat's (Mount Cat) name are a source of debate. Theories for the naming range from a wildcat haunting the 1,504-meter (5,000-foot) summit to an animal killed by the knights of King Arthur, who obtained in exchange the estates of Chambery and Montmelian. This is the second time the climb is included in the Tour. In 1974, Raymond Poulidor took a minute off Eddy Merckx but the Belgian great caught up on the descent and went on to win in Aix-les-Bains.

STAT OF THE DAY: 4,600 meters (15,000 feet). The amount of climbing in Stage 9.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Tomorrow is going to be a monster stage." - Yellow jersey holder Chris Froome.

DIGESTIF: Genepy, or genepi. This olive-colored herbal liqueur is made throughout the French Alps and in the Italian region of Valle d'Aosta. It's the perfect drink to help digest a hearty mountain meal filled with potatoes and cheese.

NEXT ORDER: After the race's first rest day on Monday and a long transfer to southwestern France, the Tour resumes on Tuesday with a flat 178-kilometer (111-mile) leg from Perigueux to Bergerac that suits up well for sprinters. Marcel Kittel will be aiming for his fourth stage win this year.

Britain's Chris Froome, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, rides in the pack with Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang, second left from Froome, during the eighth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 187.5 kilometers (116.5 miles) with start in Dole and finish in Station des Rousses, France, Saturday, July 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Supporters cheer the riders during the eighth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 187.5 kilometers (116.5 miles) with start in Dole and finish in Station des Rousses, France, Saturday, July 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

A man performs a BMX bike stunt before the eighth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 187.5 kilometers (116.5 miles) with start in Dole and finish in Station des Rousses, France, Saturday, July 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Children play in a fountain before the eighth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 187.5 kilometers (116.5 miles) with start in Dole and finish in Station des Rousses, France, Saturday, July 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - Serbia says six of its citizens have been arrested in Greece in the investigation into the beating death of a 22-year-old Texas man on the island of Zakynthos (ZAH'-keen-thos).

Serbia's foreign ministry said Saturday that the detained Serbs were to appear before a judge.

The family of Bakari (buh-KAR'-ee) Henderson of Austin, Texas, identified him as the victim. His family said Henderson was in Greece working on a photo shoot to launch a clothing line. Bakari graduated from the University of Arizona in May with a business degree.

"Bakari loved spending time with family and friends, traveling and meeting new people," a family statement said, according to the Austin American-Statesman. "He was a big thinker and enjoyed coming up with new business ventures."

Greek police say the victim was beaten to death early Friday at a bar in Lagana. Officials haven't released a possible motive for the attack.

Greek police said Friday that a 34-year-old Greek and a 32-year-old British man of Serbian origin were arrested.

___

This story corrects the spelling to Zakynthos, not Zakinthos
Firefighters at the Sellafield nuclear site are to go on strike for the first time later this month after last ditch talks over pay broke down.

The GMB union said a meeting with the management of the facility in Cumbria aimed at resolving a long-running row lasted just 30 minutes.

Union leaders will meet on Friday to decide the date of the first strike, which will be held later this month.

Sellafield said it had already entered into commercial arrangements with a third party to make sure safety is maintained during industrial action.

Firefighters at the Sellafield nuclear site are to go on strike for the first time after talks over pay broke down - @GMB_union  Alan Jones (@AlanJonesPA) July 6, 2017

GMB members have voted two to one in favour of a series of 24-hour strikes in a dispute over pay grading, which has been going on for several years, during which time the GMB says firefighters have been performing roles above and beyond what they are paid to do, such as paramedic work.

Chris Jukes, GMB senior organiser, said: The fact that it has taken several years to get to the point where firefighters will now strike confirms this is a measure of last resort.

GMB members have been more than patient in trying to achieve the financial recognition they deserve.

Members are so angry they have given a mandate for the earliest possible strike date later this month, the first time ever that Sellafields highly trained firefighter service have gone on strike. The Sellafield strike committee will decide tomorrow the date for the first strike.

GMB remains available to meet Sellafield Management with a view to a fair resolution.

The Sellafield site in Cumbria. (Sellafield Ltd/PA)

A company statement said: Regrettably the GMB has rejected our offer of an additional task-based payment equivalent to a 5% increase in basic pay for our firefighters (which is contingent on undertaking extra training and skills). They have made a formal claim for an increase of around 12%.

Our firefighters are currently paid 43,007, inclusive of shift allowance, for working the equivalent of 37 hours a week. Civil firefighters around the UK, are paid 29,638, for a 42 hour week, with no extra pay for shifts.

The company awaits a formal response from GMB. Safety and security of the site is and will always remain our over-riding priority.

We have already entered into commercial arrangements with a third party to ensure that safety is maintained and that the public, workforce and environment are protected at all times.
Andy Murray, Johanna Konta and Heather Watson will take centre stage on Friday as the British assault on Wimbledon continues.

Watson opens proceedings on Centre Court against former world number one Victoria Azarenka looking to reach the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time.

Murray completes the schedule on Centre against talented Italian Fabio Fognini while Konta must shoulder the extra burden of being the new title favourite when she faces Maria Sakkari of Greece on Court One.

Brits at Wimbledon 2017: who's in who's out (As at 6pm July 6)

Aljaz Bedene, the fourth British singles player through to the third round, takes on 16th seed Gilles Muller in the opening match on Court Two.

It is the first time in 20 years that this many home players have reached the last 32 in singles, and you have to go back to 1975 to find the last time Britain had four representatives in the fourth round.

The odds are against a repeat, but all will fancy their chances.

Day 5 sees four Britons adorn the Third round for the first time in 20 years.



Preview: https://t.co/bulB3SoLF8#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/6O9jycaU01  Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2017

Murray is wary of Fognini, whose flashy shotmaking has earned him three wins from six previous meetings with the world number one, albeit none of them on grass.

Hes always dangerous, said Murray. Hes very solid off his forehand and backhand side, but he can also hit winners from both sides. He moves extremely well on the other surfaces. I dont know how well he moves on the grass but he certainly can play well.

Hes started the tournament well here so I expect it to be very tough. When Fabio is switched on, hes really, really tough to beat.

Watson has struck form again over the last two weeks after a difficult season, reaching the semi-finals in Eastbourne and then the third round here for the third time.

Two years ago she played a remarkable match against Serena Williams on Centre Court, coming agonisingly close to upsetting the 23-time grand slam champion.

She will hope for a similar atmosphere, saying: The thing I remember most is just the support and the crowd during that match. Thats the best atmosphere Ive ever played in in my life. I was getting goosebumps after every point.

Konta will hope for a more straightforward affair than the emotional three-hour tussle she came through against Donna Vekic to reach round three for the first time.

The 26-year-old finds herself heading the betting to win her first grand slam title after Karolina Pliskovas shock defeat by Magdalena Rybarikova.

World number one Angelique Kerber survived a tight tussle with Kirsten Flipkens while on the mens side there were wins for Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

The day was soured, though, by a horrific knee injury suffered by American Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The 32-year-old slipped coming to the net during her match against Sorana Cirstea and lay on the ground screaming in pain before being taken to hospital in an ambulance.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said the victims of the July 7 attacks will never be forgotten and recalled how the citys response inspired the world.

Friday marks 12 years since 52 people died and hundreds were injured in attacks on the capitals transport system in the single worst terrorist atrocity on British soil.

Mr Khan said Londoners always pull together, pointing out this has been evident again this year following the attacks in London Bridge, Westminster and Finsbury Park, as well as the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire.

He said: Twelve years ago, our city suffered a cowardly and barbaric terrorist attack. Four co-ordinated suicide bombings across Londons transport network killed 52 people and injured over 700.

We will never forget those who lost their lives on 7/7 - and we honour them again today and they will always remain in our hearts.

Today we remember the innocent victims who lost their lives on 7/7 and the heroic efforts of our emergency services and transport colleagues pic.twitter.com/Ku0gH6BL2Q  Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) July 7, 2017

As well as grieving those we have lost, we also pay tribute to the heroic efforts of our emergency services and transport colleagues on that darkest of days.

Our firefighters, paramedics, police and public transport staff fought to save lives in the most horrific and harrowing of circumstances. And our first responders showed tremendous bravery, running towards danger whilst directing others to safety.

The way our city stood together in the aftermath of the 7/7 attacks inspired the world. When Londoners face adversity, we always pull together.

We stand up for our values and our way of life. And we have shown this again during the difficult times our city has faced in recent months following the horrific terrorist attacks in Westminster, Finsbury Park and London Bridge, and the Grenfell Tower fire.

The best way we can honour all those who tragically lost their lives is to ensure that we always stand together as a city, uphold our values and show the world that London will never be cowed by terrorism.

A message left by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (Jonathan Brady/PA)

During a ceremony, Mr Khan laid a wreath with a note attached, which said: We must never forget those who lost their lives on 7/7. We honour them again today and they will always remain in our hearts.

He was followed by London Fire Brigade Commissioner Dany Cotton, London Underground managing director Mark Wild, and London Ambulance Service chief executive Garrett Emmerson.

Representing the police were Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, City of London Police Commissioner Ian Dyson, and British Transport Police Chief Constable Paul Crowther, who saluted in unison after laying their wreaths.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick salutes after laying flowers during the service (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Jennette Arnold, chairwoman of the London Assembly, and Peter John, deputy chairman of London Councils, also attended.

Suicide bombers Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, Hasib Hussain, 18, and Jermaine Lindsay, 19, brought horror to London on July 7 2005.

Travelling from Luton, they took a train to Kings Cross in London, hugged and separated to carry out the atrocities.

Within three minutes of 8.50am, Tanweer detonated his bomb at Aldgate, Khan set his device off at Edgware Road and Lindsay blew himself up between Kings Cross and Russell Square. Hussain detonated his device on a bus at Tavistock Square at 9.47am.
Delivery firm Deliveroo has sparked a fresh row over the status of workers in the gig economy after calling on the Government to update legislation.

The company said changes would give self-employed people greater security while maintaining the flexibility they want.

Current employment laws prevent companies from extending some of the entitlements that are open to workers without calling into question the status of its riders, who are classed as self-employed, it said.

But unions countered that there was nothing stopping Deliveroo from paying its workforce the minimum wage and guaranteeing them basic rights like holiday and sick pay.

"Only ppl who think the law's out of date are companies like Deliveroo who try to subvert it & exploit workers" legal director Maria Ludkin https://t.co/Lwrxk62SHa  GMB Union (@GMB_union) July 7, 2017

In evidence to a review by Matthew Taylor into the gig economy, Deliveroo said extending entitlements under the current law would undermine the flexibility that comes with riders being able to log in and log off at will, where they are paid according to work, not hours completed.

If riders were reclassified, they would be required to work in compulsory sessions arranged with Deliveroo in advance and to work exclusively for the company during those sessions.

Deliveroo is calling for a change in employment law that would allow it to offer new benefits to its riders, such as sick pay, insurance or shares for longstanding riders, describing it as a significant shift in UK employment practices.

Chief executive Will Shu said: I still do deliveries every week so I know better than anyone the hard work that Deliveroo riders put in every day. Its only right that theyre given the security they deserve whilst keeping the flexibility that they value.

The on-demand economy has changed the way people work and live. We want an environment in which both workers and businesses benefit from the opportunities these changes provide.

Mr Taylors review is expected to be published next week.

Francis O'Grady speaks to Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow at the 2015 TUC Congress (Rick Findler/PA)

Maria Ludkin, legal director of the GMB, said: The only people who think the law is out of date are the companies like Deliveroo, who are trying to subvert the law and exploit workers.

The law, when properly enforced, does the job of ensuring working people are paid national minimum wage and given the most basic employment rights.

TUC general secretary Frances OGrady said: This reads like special pleading. Plenty of employers are able to provide genuine flexibility and security for their workforce. Deliveroo have no excuse for not following suit.

The companys reluctance to offer benefits now is because they want to dodge wider employment and tax obligations by labelling staff as self-employed.
Theresa May has hailed the powerful vote of confidence in Britain Donald Trump and other world leaders have shown with their strong desire to strike new trade deals after Brexit.

The Prime Minister said she is optimistic and positive about a future pact with the US after the president said he believed an agreement could be reached very, very quickly.

Following talks on the margins of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Mr Trump hailed the very special relationship he had developed with the PM.

He said he expected an agreement on new trading arrangements with Britain to be very powerful. Mrs May said: We are optimistic and positive about this.

As well as talks with President Trump, Mrs May has met the premiers of China, Japan and India for one-to-one meetings during the two-day summit.

She said: Ive held a number of meetings with other world leaders at this summit and have been struck by their strong desire to forge ambitious new bilateral trading relationships with the UK after Brexit.

This is a powerful vote of confidence in British goods, British services, Britains economy and the British people and we look forward to building on these conversations in the months ahead.

Theresa May talks to Donald Trump. (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Mrs May insisted she was confident the UK would also secure a good deal with the EU because its not just about whats in the interests of the United Kingdom, its about whats in the interests of the remaining 27 members states in the European Union and I think it is in the interests of both sides to have that good trade agreement.

She added: But Im also optimistic about the opportunities that we will see in the rest of the world.

Some of the countries I have been talking to here who have shown great interest in working with us on trade arrangements in the future, the United States, Japan, China, India, these are all huge world economies.

This is an important development for the United Kingdom and I look forward to developing those trade deals as well.

Theresa May meets Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Ivanka Trump (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Mr Trump and the Prime Minister agreed in a 50-minute meeting to prioritise work on the trade deal so it can be completed as soon as possible after Brexit, a UK Government official said.

They also pledged to look at areas where trade can be deepened before Britain quits the EU. The discussions ran 20 minutes over schedule and the leaders continued to chat as they walked to another meeting at the Hamburg summit.

Japan's Shinzo Abe meets Prime Minister Theresa May (Matt Cardy/PA)

Mrs May also held a 20-minute meeting with her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, which focused on trade and North Koreas nuclear missile programme.

Japans new trade deal with the EU, signed off on Thursday, could form the basis of an agreement between London and Tokyo following Brexit, Mrs May told the Japanese premier.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi told Mrs May he wanted to see economic links with the UK deepen now and after Brexit and they agreed to work together to put a concrete plan in place, according to a UK government official.

Mrs May also held talks with President Xi on Friday over a future deal with China.
Manchester United have agreed a fee with Everton for the transfer of striker Romelu Lukaku.

The Red Devils are understood to have struck a deal worth an initial 75million with the Merseysiders for the Belgium international.

The 24-year-old scored 25 goals in the Premier League last season for the Toffees but appears set to move to Old Trafford, subject to passing a medical and agreeing personal terms.

#MUFC is delighted to announce a fee has been agreed with Everton for the transfer of Romelu Lukaku, subject to a medical & personal terms. pic.twitter.com/O7oQJWzYHo  Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 8, 2017

A statement on Uniteds website read: Manchester United is delighted to announce that it has agreed a fee with Everton for the transfer of Romelu Lukaku. A further announcement will be made in due course.

Lukaku has also been the subject of interest from former club Chelsea but United have made their move in a bid to reunite him with manager Jose Mourinho.

United are due to fly to California on Sunday to start their pre-season tour against the Los Angeles Galaxy the following weekend and Lukaku, who has been on holiday on the west coast of America, is staying in the United States for the time being.

Lukaku has been holidaying with close friend and United midfielder Paul Pogba and early on Friday morning the Red Devils 89million world-record signing posted an Instagram story of the pair training together in Los Angeles.

Reports on Friday night suggested Chelsea had matched Uniteds bid for the former Anderlecht forward, but the Premier League champions appear to have been pipped to the post.

News that a 75m transfer had been agreed for the in-demand striker broke on Thursday morning but senior Everton sources rebuffed the claims.

Now it appears a matter of when, not if, Lukaku will swap Goodison Park for pastures new in a deal that is reported to be worth around 100m in total.

Press Association Sport understands talks are also gathering pace for Wayne Rooneys return to Everton from Old Trafford.

Despite United sources initially denying Rooneys departure was linked to the Lukaku transfer, reports on Friday suggested the clubs record goalscorer will be included in the package - consisting of a 75m fee up front, 15m in add-ons and a 10m valuation of their own striker.
Owen Farrell kicked a penalty two minutes from time as the British and Irish Lions claimed a dramatic 15-15 draw against world champions New Zealand at Eden Park.

In doing so, a pulsating three-Test series ended 1-1 as both sides fought themselves to a standstill.

The All Blacks thought they had a chance to win it with just seconds left, but as Beauden Barrett lined up a kick at goal, referee Romain Poite consulted television replays and awarded a scrum to New Zealand instead for accidental offside.

Both sets of players congratulate each other after an incredible series! #NZLvBIL pic.twitter.com/D5AuNpSrsM  British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 8, 2017

New Zealand looked to have silenced the Lions roar, but they were guilty of blowing a number of gilt-edged chances that ultimately returned to haunt them.

The Lions hopes of series glory on New Zealand soil for a first time since 1971 were ultimately thwarted against an All Blacks side that made it 40 Tests unbeaten at Eden Park.

Lions head coach Warren Gatland said: The New Zealand public and fans have taken us to their hearts. Its been a great series. I think we should embrace this concept of the Lions, I think its been brilliant. Well just enjoy the next couple of days as a squad and reflect back on what this group of players have achieved. Some of these players have been on two tours now and are undefeated as Lions players. Those players who have been on two tours should be very, very proud of their achievements.

All Blacks boss Steve Hansen said: There was some really good rugby played, and maybe a drawn series was fair. We played well in the first Test, they played well in the second. We did well enough to win it in the third but they hung in there. So rugbys always had a draw and its not a World Cup final; it is a three-match series. So my own belief is probably leave it the way it is. If youre good enough to get a drawn series, both teams will get the credit that comes from it.

Tweet of the match

Moment of the match

Owen Farrells nerveless late penalty snatched the Lions a stunning and against-all-odds draw. The England star kept his cool to slot over his third three-pointer and ensure the tourists claimed a share of the spoils.

Star man  Jonathan Davies

Another sumptuous performance from the Wales centre. His two bullish hits on full-back Jordie Barrett summed up his mixture of industry and ingenuity.

An unfamiliar feeling

Captains Sam Warburton and Kieran Read had to collect the Lions series trophy jointly. Such was the oddity of the drawn series. And both skippers clearly felt awkward on accepting the trophy together.

Player ratings

Jordie Barrett 8, Israel Dagg 6, Anton Lienert-Brown 7, Ngani Laumape 7, Julian Savea 6, Beauden Barrett 8, Aaron Smith 7, Joe Moody 7, Codie Taylor 7, Owen Franks 7, Brodie Retallick 8, Sam Whitelock 7, Jerome Kaino 7, Sam Cane 8, Kieran Read 7.Aaron Cruden 6, Malakai Fekitoa 7, Ardie Savea 7, Wyatt Crockett 7, Charlie Faumuina 7, TJ Perenara 6, Nathan Harris 6, Scott Barrett 6.

Liam Williams 6, Anthony Watson 7, Jonathan Davies 9, Owen Farrell 7, Elliot Daly 8, Johnny Sexton 7, Conor Murray 8, Mako Vunipola 7, Jamie George 7, Tadhg Furlong 8, Maro Itoje 8, Alun Wyn Jones 7, Sam Warburton 8, Sean OBrien 7, Taulupe Faletau 8.Ken Owens 6, Jack McGrath 7, Kyle Sinckler 6, Courtney Lawes 6, CJ Stander 6, Rhys Webb 6, Ben Teo 6, Jack Nowell 6.
Boris Johnson is visiting Kuwait and Qatar to support efforts to end the Gulf diplomatic crisis.

Kuwait is attempting to mediate to end the dispute which has seen Qatar isolated by its neighbours.

The Foreign Secretary is meeting his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, and the countrys cabinet affairs minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah.

Mr Johnson will also travel to Qatar for meetings with the Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, along with the Gulf states prime minister and foreign minister.

The Foreign Secretary is urging all parties to get behind Kuwaits mediation efforts in an effort to resolve the dispute.

On Friday, he met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabis Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The city of Doha. (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Mr Johnson said the UK was supporting Kuwaits efforts to broker a solution to the row which has seen Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar.

At the start of his diplomatic mission, he said: Britains close and historic friendship with all of the Gulf states is becoming even more relevant and important in todays volatile world.

"The Gulfs security is our security." FS @BorisJohnson arrives in Saudi Arabia to discuss regional tensions



 https://t.co/tf2AFI71Tg pic.twitter.com/w6VJWTj8Wz  Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) July 7, 2017

As our Prime Minister has said, the Gulfs security is our security, and we remain deeply committed to the stability of the region and to working with our friends in the Gulf to keep all of our people safe.

These talks underline the UKs strong support for Kuwaits mediation efforts and I urge all parties to play a constructive role in order to restore the unity of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties and severed air, land and sea links with Qatar last month.

They issued a 13-point list of demands that included cutting ties with terrorist groups, curbing relations with Iran and shutting media outlets including Al-Jazeera.

Qatar has strenuously denied that it supports extremist groups. It is refusing to close down Al-Jazeera and views the ultimatum as an affront to its sovereignty.
McLaren executive Zak Brown believes Formula One owners Liberty Media should buy Silverstone to prevent the circuit losing the British Grand Prix.

Widespread reports have started to surface suggesting Silverstone will exercise an option to cut short its contract to host the British showpiece event after the 2019 race.

The escalating price of hosting the grand prix is likely to be the main cause of such action and speculation is rife that an announcement will come before next weekends British Grand Prix.

Zak Brown has told Formula One owners they should buy Silverstone

Liberty purchased F1 in January but has said it is unable to renegotiate existing contracts and therefore is unable to offer Silverstones current owners, the British Racing Drivers Club, a more attractive deal.

But Brown reckons there is one way to keep the British Grand Prix at the Northamptonshire circuit, which has played host to the race since 1987, for at least the duration of the current deal which is not due to expire for a decade.

My view is Liberty should buy Silverstone, he said. I think they should buy it and much like the NFLthey own their Super Bowl. I have voiced my views on that (to Liberty).

They listen and they will be quick to tell you if they disagree and they didnt disagree with the logic. But I wouldnt want to put words in their mouths that that means they are going out and buying it now because I have no idea.

The nice thing about Liberty is that you can share your views and they take them on board and you see them register. Theyve got a lot of stuff going on so its easy for me to say just go and buy it.
World powers have lined up against US president Donald Trump on climate change as they reaffirmed their support for international efforts to fight global warming.

The final statement of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, underlined that the other countries and the European Union supported the Paris climate agreement rejected by Mr Trump.

They called the deal to reduce greenhouse gases irreversible and vowed to implement it quickly and without exception.

Donald Trump and Angela Merkel at the G20 summit (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The other countries, from European powers such as Germany to emerging ones such as China and energy producers such as Saudi Arabia, dismissively took note of the US position, which was boxed off in a separate paragraph that the summit host, German chancellor Angela Merkel, made clear applied only to the United States.

She said the US position was regrettable but that the summit had achieved good results in some areas, and cited a hard-won agreement on trade that does include Mr Trump and the United States.

On trade, difficult talks yielded the preservation of the G20s condemnation of protectionism, a statement that has been a hallmark of the groups efforts to combat the global financial crisis and the after-effects of the Great Recession.

G19 holds the line on climate, but much greater ambition needed - Greenpeace statement https://t.co/IgKyGH4LFD via @Greenpeace_DE #G20 pic.twitter.com/GuIpjwzpI5  Greenpeace PressDesk (@greenpeacepress) July 8, 2017

The group added new elements, however: an acknowledgement that trade must be reciprocal and mutually advantageous and that countries could use legitimate trade defence instruments if they are being taken advantage of.

That echoes concerns raised by Mr Trump, who was attending his first G20. He has said trade must be fair as well as open and must benefit American companies and workers.

He has focused on trade relationships where other countries run large surpluses with the US, meaning they sell more to US consumers than they buy from American companies.

More broadly, concerns about trade and its impact on workers figured large in the 2016 US presidential election and in the UKs vote to leave the European Union.

Prime Minister Theresa May holds talks with US President Donald Trump on the margins of the G20 summit (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

However, pro-trade officials from the European Union pointed out that the language in the G20 statement contains no departure from the current global system of regulation, which already allows countries to take defensive measures within the rules of the World Trade Organisation.

Those can include import taxes that offset unfair practices such as government subsidies or below-cost pricing.

The EU demonstrated its willingness to move ahead with free trade despite Mr Trump by announcing a trade agreement with Japan on the eve of the summit.

On climate, summit deputies put together a three-part fudge that everyone could sign.

That meant a first section with a broad pledge to fight climate change in general; a separate paragraph carved out that acknowledged the US did not support the Paris deal; and a third paragraph in which the other 19 members reaffirmed their support for the deal.

The results of the summit are not absolutely decisive, on either the trade or the climate issue.
A convicted money launderer has been jailed after failing to pay his 5 million confiscation order.

Robert Dimmock, 60, of Doncaster, who absconded in 2010, was arrested in Bulgaria after National Crime Agency (NCA) intelligence led the countrys authorities to his hideout.

Dimmock was known by the nickname SAS Bob, something he did nothing to dispel despite never having served in the SAS. He was convicted of money laundering in 2006, and was sentenced to three and a half years.

Robert Dimmock was convicted of money laundering in 2006 (Lewis Stickley/PA)

Fugitive money launderer Robert Dimmock jailed for 7 and a half years for failing to pay his 5m confiscation order https://t.co/J0BsIOuaub pic.twitter.com/dBg0BmPwd7  National Crime Agency (NCA) (@NCA_UK) July 8, 2017

A confiscation order for almost 5 million (4,929,334.40) was made at Leeds Crown Court in 2008 to recover his ill gotten gains. A warrant was then issued for his arrest after he failed to appear at an enforcement hearing in 2010.

Bulgarias National Police Service located Dimmock at a guest house in Dolna Banya and he was arrested on a European Arrest Warrant, and brought back to the UK in June. He has now been jailed for an additional seven and a half years for failure to pay the confiscation order.

Robert Turner, financial investigator at the NCA, said: Weve pursued Dimmock for seven years, both in the UK and overseas. His 5 million absolutely needed to be removed from him as the proceeds of his crime.

The NCAs international relationships mean we will find those criminals who flee the UKs shores, no matter how long it takes or how safe they believe themselves to be.

Dimmocks default sentence was automatically activated when he returned to the UK. The amount owed still remains payable even after hes served his sentence.
Donald Trump and Americas Asian allies have sought consensus on how to counter what the US president called the menace of North Korea after its test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

As he met Chinese president Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, Mr Trump said: Something has to be done about it.

In a separate meeting with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, the US president said the two countries were tackling the problem and menace of North Korea.

Japan's Shinzo Abe greets Donald Trump (Evan Vucci/AP)

The White House said after the meeting with Mr Abe that the US was prepared to use the full range of capabilities in defence of Japan.

Mr Trump and Mr Abe had committed, the White House said, to redoubling their efforts to bring all nations together to show North Korea that there are consequences for its threatening and unlawful actions.

The Trump administration has tried to pressure Beijing to rein in North Korea, a major trading partner, to halt Kim Jong Uns development of nuclear weapons before they have the ability to threaten the US mainland.

Mr Trump has voiced his frustration in recent days that China has not done more, suggesting he may be moving on. But during his meeting, Mr Trump told Mr Xi: I appreciate the things that you have done relative to the very substantial problem that we all face in North Korea.

North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

Mr Abe noted that the security situation in the Asia Pacific region has become increasingly severe due to North Koreas push to develop its ballistic missile and nuclear programme.

The Japanese leader said he wanted to demonstrate the robust partnership as well as the bonds between Japan and the US on the issue.

North Koreas successful test launch of an ICBM was a major milestone in its long-term effort to build a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead to attack the United States.

The issue was a frequent topic of discussion at the summit, and the White House said earlier that the US, South Korea and Japan were pressing for additional measures against North Korea to demonstrate the serious consequences for its latest provocations.

The three nations have been calling for early adoption of a new UN Security Council resolution and additional sanctions to demonstrate to Pyongyang the consequences of its actions.

Bringing China on board is a key part of the plan. The administration wants China to fully enforce international sanctions intended to starve Pyongyang of revenue for its nuclear and missile programmes. But Mr Trump has been dissatisfied with Chinas response.

Earlier in the week, he said on Twitter that trade between China and North Korea had grown nearly 40% at the start of 2017, writing: So much for China working with us  but we had to give it a try!
July 7 (Reuters) - Insurers require passporting rights to sell insurance policies throughout the European Union.

Insurers in Britain have said they will need to set up EU subsidiaries if Britain loses access to the single market after Brexit.

The Bank of England has asked insurers and banks operating in Britain to outline their Brexit plans by mid-July.

Below are insurers' plans for EU subsidiaries (in alphabetical order):

ADMIRAL

British motor insurer Admiral Group said last year that it could move its European business to Ireland or another country and said in March that it was looking at a large number of locations.

AIG

U.S. insurer AIG will set up a European subsidiary in Luxembourg, in addition to its European headquarters in London, it said in March.

AVIVA

Aviva is converting its Irish life and general insurance branches to regulated subsidiaries to meet the needs of its Irish insurance customers after Brexit.

BEAZLEY

Lloyd's of London insurer Beazley said last year that it had filed an application with the Central Bank of Ireland seeking approval for its Irish reinsurance business to become a European insurance company. The firm said in February that it will hire additional staff in Ireland.

CHAUCER

Specialist insurance group Chaucer, part of Hanover Insurance Group, said the Central Bank of Ireland has approved the formation of a Dublin-based company that will trade as Chaucer Dublin to write international speciality insurance and reinsurance business. (http://bit.ly/2tXaJ2i)

CHESNARA

UK insurer Chesnara could move its headquarters to the Netherlands or Sweden if required, depending on the regulatory situation after Britain leaves the European Union, the company said.

CNA HARDY

CNA Hardy, part of CNA Financial Corp, will set up a new European subsidiary in Luxembourg to allow it to operate across the EU after Britain leaves the bloc, the specialist commercial insurer said.

EQUITABLE LIFE

British insurer Equitable Life is considering setting up a European Union subsidiary in Dublin in order to continue serving Irish and German customers after Britain leaves the bloc, its chief executive said.

FM GLOBAL

U.S. commercial property insurer FM Global is planning a European hub in Luxembourg following Britain's decision to leave the bloc, it said.

GLOBAL AEROSPACE

UK insurer Global Aerospace is setting up a European Union subsidiary in Paris to make sure it can continue to serve customers after Britain leaves the bloc, the firm's chief executive told Reuters.

HISCOX

Lloyd's of London underwriter Hiscox will establish a new subsidiary in Luxembourg to underwrite its retail business in Europe, it said in May.

IRONSHORE

Ironshore, owned by Liberty Mutual, said it would set up an office in Frankfurt for its M&A and tax insurance units to expand their European presence.

JLT

Insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group said it would continue to invest and expand on the ground in Europe so that it remains fully equipped to serve its clients.

LANCASHIRE

Lancashire said in May that it has options to write EU business out of its Bermuda headquarters or via Lloyd's of London's Brussels base. The insurer added it was in no hurry to set up an EU base and saw itself staying in Britain for the foreseeable future.

LEGAL & GENERAL

British insurer Legal & General said in May that it would move some of its investment management operations to Ireland to ensure it can continue to serve its customers after Brexit.

LIBERTY SPECIALTY MARKETS

Liberty Specialty Markets, part of Liberty Mutual Insurance , intends to headquarter its post-Brexit EU operations in Luxembourg. The firm said it would be seeking regulatory approvals to operate via an insurance company and insurance intermediary domiciled in Luxembourg.

LLOYD'S OF LONDON

Lloyd's of London, an integral part of the British business scene since the 17th century, has chosen Brussels as the site for its EU subsidiary, it said in March.

MARKEL

U.S. insurer Markel plans to apply for regulatory approval to set up a European Union subsidiary in Munich, it said in May.

MS AMLIN

Japanese-owned insurer and reinsurer MS Amlin said it would move its European business to Belgium to make sure it can continue to serve customers after Britain leaves the European Union.

NEON

Neon Underwriting could set up a Dublin business to sell insurance policies throughout the EU if Britain loses access to the single market, chief executive of the specialist Lloyd's of London insurer said in December.

QBE

QBE Insurance Group will set up a subsidiary in Brussels to preserve its ability to operate across the EU, the Australian business insurer said.

ROYAL LONDON

British life insurer Royal London Mutual Insurance Society plans to turn its Irish business into a regulated subsidiary, it said in March.

RSA

RSA is planning a subsidiary in Luxembourg to act as the headquarters of its EU operations after Britain's decision to leave the bloc. It said it chose Luxembourg because it has "multinational expertise", is "strategically located within RSAs existing EU branch network" and has an experienced regulator.

STANDARD LIFE

British insurer and asset manager Standard Life said in May that it was likely to choose Dublin for its EU hub.

XL CATLIN

Bermuda-domiciled insurer XL Catlin said its UK business XL Insurance Company SE has branches across Europe and also operates under the "Societas Europaea" structure.

(Compiled by Noor Zainab Hussain and Carolyn Cohn; editing by Jason Neely)
PARIS, July 7 (Reuters) - French prosecutors launched an investigation on Friday into suspected financial misdemeanours by a French state body when it was led by a woman who is now a minister in President Emmanuel Macron's government.

Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud is not cited as the target of the probe into the way a party promoting France at a consumer electronics fair in Las Vegas in 2016 was organised.

Macron won power in May promising to rid politics of corruption and conflicts of interest. Several members of his government have bowed out following media scrutiny of funding investigations in which their names have cropped up.

The investigation announced on Friday concerns a party for Business France at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, where Macron himself was present in his role as economy minister.

There was no open tender to organise the event and the party was put together by the Havas public relations agency. Havas has said it had an 18-month contract with the state agency which allowed for it to do the job without the need for a public tender.

Penicaud, head of Business France at the time, said she was the one who raised the alarm when an audit exposed a potential problem.

Macron has said any minister placed under formal investigation by magistrates must resign even though such investigations do not automatically lead to trial.

Penicaud, who appears to escape that obligation because she has not personally been placed under investigation, is in charge of sensitive negotiations with labour unions over Macron's plans to shake up the jobs market.

The prosecutor's office said the full-scale inquiry followed preliminary investigations opened in mid-March on the basis of information supplied by state financial inspectors. (Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry; Writing by Andrew Callus and Brian Love; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Robin Pomeroy)
BEIJING, July 8 (Reuters) - China and Britain need to seek common ground while shelving differences and respect each other's core interests, Chinese President Xi Jinping told British Prime Minister Theresa May, following a recent dispute over Hong Kong.

China said last month a joint declaration with Britain over Hong Kong, which laid the blueprint over how the city would be ruled after its return to China in 1997, was a historical document that no longer had any practical significance.

In response, Britain said the declaration remained in force and was a legally valid treaty to which it was committed to upholding.

China says no foreign country has a right to get involved with Hong Kong as it is an internal affair for China, and has also reacted angrily to six-monthly reports the British government gives to Parliament about Hong Kong.

Meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg on Friday, Xi told May that bilateral relations should be cultivated on the basis of "consolidating strategic mutual trust", China's foreign ministry said on Saturday.

"Both sides should uphold the principle of mutual respect and equality, and respect each other's core interests and major concerns," the ministry cited Xi as saying.

"Both sides must seek common ground while shelving differences."

There was no direct mention of Hong Kong in the statement.

On Wednesday, British Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field met Chinese ambassador Liu Xiaoming in London and made clear Britain's commitment to the joint declaration, Britain's Foreign Office said.

"This declaration, registered with the UN, remains in force until July 2047. As a consequence, the minister did not accept the Chinese government's position that this was purely an historical document," the Foreign Office said.

While China and Britain have a history of disputes over human rights and the future of Hong Kong, ties have warmed in the past few years and economic links have grown in what both countries call a "golden age", though Britain upset China last year by putting on hold a nuclear project it later approved.

China is high on Britain's list of countries with which to sign a free trade deal once Britain leaves the European Union.

Xi told May that the two countries should deepen cooperation in the finance and nuclear energy sectors, China's foreign ministry added, without giving details. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)
By Brian Ellsworth and Alexandra Ulmer

CARACAS, July 8 (Reuters) - Venezuela's best-known jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez was out of prison and hugging his family on Saturday after being granted house arrest following three years in jail for leading anti-government protests.

Lopez's return to his Caracas home comes as Venezuela is once again convulsed by demonstrations against socialist President Nicolas Maduro, struggling with an economic crisis and global censure for overriding the powers of the country's opposition-led congress.

Lopez, 46, a photogenic, Harvard-educated former mayor who has been barred from holding elected office, left the Ramo Verde military jail before dawn and was reunited with his wife and two young children, relatives said.

"A few days ago they had punished him with solitary confinement without light or water for three days," said his father, of the same name, in an interview with Spanish radio.

"(Now) he's hugging his children, he's with his wife ... I'm happy, he's happy of course," he added, adding that his son was wearing an electronic tag for authorities to track him.

The opposition has long called Lopez a political prisoner, and leaders around the world, including U.S. President Donald Trump, have pressed for his release.

Maduro, who for years refused to pardon Lopez, has described him as a dangerous terrorist who sought to overthrow him through street violence. Government supporters often note Lopez's role in a short-lived 2002 coup against the late former leader Hugo Chavez when he helped arrest a minister.

Venezuela's Supreme Court said Lopez had been granted house arrest due to health problems, but his family members were unable to identify what those were.

Opposition leaders applauded Lopez's return home, but said he should be granted complete freedom, along with several hundred other jailed opponents of Maduro.

The government says all imprisoned activists are being held on legitimate charges, including coup-plotting.

State ombudsman Tarek Saab said in an interview with CNN that the measure was the result of efforts by a state-backed truth commission, which he said is also studying the release of other citizens detained amid protests.

The release was aided in part by the involvement of former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who has for years maintained talks with Venezuela's government, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told reporters at the G20 meeting in Hamburg.

SUPPORTERS GATHER

The president could be seeking to ease pressure with Lopez's return to home, but there was no sign of concessions to the opposition on other fronts.

At Maduro's behest, Venezuela on July 30 will elect a legislative superbody that can rewrite the constitution and dissolve state institutions, a move the opposition calls a naked power grab meant to keep the socialists in office against the will of the people.

Dozens of supporters stood outside Lopez's home in the upscale Caracas neighborhood of Los Palos Grandes, some wearing shirts emblazoned with Lopez's face. Lopez's mother Antonieta arrived, beaming and dressed in white.

About 100 people were gathered outside the house, waving Venezuela's flag, chanting slogans and setting off fireworks to celebrate.

"I think this is the first day of the transition," said Maria Antonieta Witzka, 57, a physical therapist. "The government is realizing that we are the majority."

Lopez has faced criticism even within the opposition for at times being quick-tempered and domineering. He founded the Popular Will party after splitting with leaders of the First Justice party, which he also helped found.

Though Lopez had publicly called for peaceful resistance to Maduro in 2014 and was behind bars during most of the unrest that year which killed 43 people, prosecutors said his speeches sent subliminal messages and constituted a call to violence.

He was sentenced to nearly 14 years.

One of the prosecutors who led the case later fled the country and said the proceeding had been a mockery of justice.

The case has long been a cause celebre for opposition supporters over what they deem the Maduro government's trampling of human rights.

Lopez is the scion of wealthy families and a direct descendant of the sister of Latin American independence hero Simon Bolivar as well as of Venezuela's first president, Cristobal Mendoza.

Pro-government critics paint Lopez as a dangerous radical in the pocket of Venezuela's wealthy elite and the U.S. government.

He has ambitions to become Venezuela's president and would likely be one of the most popular opposition aspirants in any future election. (Additional reporting by Diego Ore, Eyanir Chinea, Andrew Cawthorne in Caracas; Silene Ramirez in Santiago, and Robert Hetz in Madrid; editing by Andrew Cawthorne and G Crosse)
CAIRO, July 8 (Reuters) - Egypt aims to double production of its most famous export, the silky soft cotton once known as "white gold", after a period of slumping output, an Agriculture Ministry spokesman said on Saturday. Hamed Abdel-Dayem told Reuters production should rise to 1.4 million qintar (160 kg) in the 2017-18 fiscal year that started in July from 700,000 qintar a year earlier. All the cotton will be exported.

The government aims to increase the price of the long staple cotton to more than 3000 Egyptian pounds ($168.07) per qintar, which will all be exported, the spokesman said.

Production of the cotton, used in luxury bedding, has fallen sharply since 2011, a year of political upheaval that coincided with looser regulations that degraded the quality of local cotton.

Egypt's sunny skies and superior seed help it grow a cotton known for unusually long fibres that produce a light durable fabric with an attractive sheen and soft touch.

Long-staple sells at 155 U.S. cents per lb, about twice the price of common short-staple cotton.

Its return to world markets could provide a lucrative export opportunity at a time when Egypt has a huge trade deficit and is seeking to relaunch its stagnant economy.

In 2016 Egypt banned all but the highest quality cotton seed, dramatically shrinking the area under cultivation but restoring quality, in a bid to save its historic crop.

This year Egypt grew about 220,000 acres (89,000 hectares) of long-staple cotton compared with 130,000 acres (52,600 hectares) in 2016-2107, Abdel-Dayem said.

Farmers, spinners, and exporters say the weakness of the Egyptian pound following its flotation in November and a scandal over the alleged sale of falsely labelled Egyptian cotton have increased demand for the real thing, injecting life into a historic industry on its deathbed. ($1 = 17.8500 Egyptian pounds) (Writing by Amina Ismail; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Three motorized rifle divisions that Russia has deployed near the Ukrainian borders are not intended for defense, these units clearly have offensive purposes, Viktor Muzhenko, the head of the Ukrainian General Staff and the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, has said.

"The organizational and staff structure, the weapons and military hardware that are being supplied to them indicate that these Russian divisions are essentially strike ones and are intended for offensive actions. Even their staff name contains the concept 'strike,' which makes them different from the other divisions and emphasizes their special purpose," Muzhenko said at a joint session of the Military-Scientific Council of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences.

Even the honored names of these units are aimed at exerting psychological pressure, he said. Specifically, the 144th Vinnytsia rifle division, which is now stationed in Smolensk, stormed Vinnytsia in August 1944. The 150th motorized rifle division, which is located in Novocherkassk, is called Idritsk-Berlin and it once participated in combat actions in the territory of Poland and in the storm of Berlin.

"Giving newly created divisions such names, the Russian federation tries to exert moral and psychological pressure, both on Ukraine and on the European community, and it also demonstrates its far-reaching intentions," Muzhenko said.

Muzhenko earlier said there are over 30,000 Russian military in the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions uncontrolled by Kyiv and in Crimea. He said there is still a big threat of Russia starting large-scale military action.

The Russian political and military leadership have repeatedly denied the presence of Russian troops in the territory of Ukraine.
HAMBURG, July 8 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday there was no glossing over the fact that there had been "very, very slow" progress in implementing the Minsk peace accords aimed at ending years of violence in eastern Ukraine.

Merkel said she would hold four-way telephone talks on next steps soon with the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and France following a more procedural conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Hamburg.

"We agreed to continue the process. But we also observed that progress had been very, very slow - with stagnation in some cases, relapses in others. We didn't gloss over the situation," she said. "We will stay in touch, we'll stick with the format. We don't have any other basis." (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Noah Barkin)
ROME, July 8 (Reuters) - Italian police said on Saturday they had arrested a Chechen man suspected of being a militant of Islamic State and involvement in attacks in the Chechen capital Grozny in 2014.

The 38-year-old man is accused of crimes of international terrorism and is now in prison in the south Italian town of Foggia, a police statement said.

The man, called Eli Bombataliev according to a court document, is believed to be linked with 2014 clashes in the capital of Russia's southern province of Chechnya, in which media offices and a school were burnt and which left at least 20 dead, the police said.

The investigations started out of a collaboration with Belgium, where the man was part of a network of people who recruited foreign fighters.

"The moment (he) left (Russia) he started wandering in Europe, counting on the fact that he had a refugee status... he then reached Syria where he fought between 2014 and 2015," prosecuting magistrate Giuseppe Gatti, who worked on the case, said in a televised news conference.

Some 450 people have left Belgium to fight in Syria and Iraq, the highest country contribution in Europe on a per capita basis. Returning Syria fighters have also been involved in militant attacks in Belgium, France and elsewhere in Europe.

Bombataliev, based at an Islamic cultural centre in Foggia, was involved in indoctrinating and radicalising potential new foreign fighters, the document added.

The police also expelled from the country two Albanian brothers, aged 26 and 23, and a 49-year-old Russian woman, who then later became Bombatiliev's second wife.

All three were being indoctrinated and trained by Bombataliev.

"He frequently told his wife that he could not have a family because he was ready to sacrifice himself, and was waiting for an order to do so," prosecutor Giuseppe Volpe told reporters.

The police added that the investigations were led by the country's special operations police as part of a broader effort to search for foreign fighters from Chechnya. (Reporting by Giulia Segreti; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasams logic to wear long sleeved clothes to protect school children from dengue was hilarious and worthless, Education Trade Unions claimed yesterday.

Speaking on the matter All Ceylon Teachers Union (ACTU) Secretary Joseph Stalin said Minister Kariyawasam had made no concrete suggestion to protect schoolchildren nor had he taken any action regarding it.

He alleged the spike in dengue fever among students was due to the inefficiency of the education authorities.

Mr. Stalin also said the authorities should pay more attention to fogging at schools and also implement other solutions to ensure childrens safety.

Meanwhile, Ceylon Teachers Services Union General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe said the Provincial Education ministries had not taken sufficient measures to eradicate dengue in school premises which had resulted in hundreds of students contracting the fever.

He said the country was in the middle of an epidemic but the Provincial Educational Ministries had not taken any preventive measures. He added that the authorities should immediately start a dengue prevention programme with the support of the health sector to make schools a dengue free zone.

Childrens right to education and the students themselves should be protected at any cost, Jayasinghe said. (Thilanka Kanakarathna)
Higher Education Minister Lakshman Kiriella said yesterday the government had not taken any decision to divest the Colombo and Peradeniya universities from the purview of the University Grant Commission (UGC).

He said this in response to a question asked by JVP MP Nalinda Jayatissa whether the government was planning to remove these universities from UGC administration and make them income-generating independent institutions.

The minister said the government had not even thought of such a move and rejected the allegations.

The MP said the matter had been did discussed by a committee attended by MP Ashu Marasinghe and university heads.

The minister said various proposals were made by oversight committees but they could not be considered as government proposals.

"There may have been a discussion at the oversight committee. Various proposals are made at oversight committees to enhance education. But it is not the policy of the government. Governments policy is not discussed there," he said. (Ajith Siriwardana)
Minister Mahinda Amaraweera ruled out the possibility of abandoning the Uma Oya Project because 70 per cent work had been completed already.

The minister, who is a member of the Cabinet subcommittee inquiring into this project said the controversial Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project (UMDP) was the first-ever project undertaken by Iranian contractor FARAB and the machinery used in excavating the 18-kilometer tunnel was not suitable for such work.

"The government cannot abandon this project because nearly 70% of the US$529 million project has been completed with the government meeting 15% of the cost and an US$450 million loan from the Export Development Bank of Iran. But only US$50 million has been paid because of the fall out from the US trade embargo," he said.

The minister rejecting claims that more than 7,000 houses had been damaged and a similar number of families affected said only 52 houses had been damaged.

"The government believes that the UMDP is a government-made-disaster and the cabinet sub committee has recommended that excavation work be suspended to obtain modern excavators to minimize the damage caused to the environment and to ground water resources. Norwegian experts will visit Sri Lanka shortly and there are plans to modernize the excavators as well," he said. I visited the Uma Oya project with other members of the committee -- Ministers Patali Champika Ranawaka and Wijith Vijayamuni Soyza. We met the residents, the engineers, officials and the clergy in Badulla and Bandarawela and we found that the UMDP has been launched in haphazard manner without a feasibility study or an environment impact assessment done." (Sandun A Jayasekera)
The series of raids on opposition leaders, now culminating in the CBI investigation on RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family, is par for the course. The case involving illicit transactions and huge sums of money in Bihar goes back to 2006. What is intriguing is that in the more than three years of NDA rule, and 10 years after the alleged event, the Lalu family is subjected to raids by the CBI.

Are no NDA leaders corrupt? Was it not corruption when external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje facilitated the notorious felon Lalit Modi to escape from Indian justice? What happened in this episode is as clear as day, thanks to the national and international media.

Why was urgent and stringent action not taken by the CBI then? Is the CBI His Masters Voice, as the Supreme Court indicated when it tagged the CBI as a caged parrot?

Earlier, there were politically motivated raids on former Union minister P Chidambaram and his non-political son Kartik. Even the media has not been spared.

The investigation into NDTV was another farce attacking a basic pillar of democracy, soon forgotten since it was so brazen and inept.

What takes the cake, however, is the many billions of dollars stashed away in Panama banks, as investigated by the International Consortium of Journalists (ICJ), in which some 500 Indians are accused of stashing huge amounts of black money. These include industrialists, politicians and actors.

Early names announced a year ago included legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and several industrialists. All denied any such illicit transaction. So all in India were allegedly shielded by the Modi government.

Other countries were much less lenient. The then PM of Iceland had to resign. A famous cellist, reportedly close to ruling circles in Russia, was pulled up. Relations of Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif were named.

In a country desperately in need of further resources for crop loan waivers and more investment funds, the Panama funds could be a boon. However, the Modi governments argument, according to insiders, is that the investors were guaranteed immunity from prosecution.

Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson had to quit in the wake of the Panama Papers expose. Photo: AP

Firstly, starting from the Swiss banks, international agencies have questioned, and in many cases, repudiated all such money laundering schemes. But why, after important persons from other countries have been hauled up by their governments and vigilant media, is the Modi regime so stubbornly silent?

After all, black money is a crime. PM Modi used demonetisation as a tool to root out black money. It now appears that that effort was a failure. Nonetheless, the effort itself was a political statement of intent by the government. Much has been written about that but no new policy initiative has been launched.

Why is the media so quiet about the ICJ investigation into the Panama Papers? The investigation has been summarised in the book The Panama Papers which is widely available in this country, not to speak of others. The media, for the most part, is resoundingly silent.

When I referred to this issue on a major channel, there was a stunned silence from all political party spokespersons. I have not been invited to the channel again.

Are the Panama Papers just one other of many scams? Can the ruling establishment just ignore it as just one more tax haven where industrialists, all of whom having influential connections, are just stashing relatively small amounts of money, in just millions not billions of dollars?

Firstly, black or tax evaded money is a crime. When it is hidden abroad it is a much bigger crime. The billions of dollars smuggled out of the country are a grand theft of the Indian exchequer and the vitiation of several Indian laws. Not only the huge sums of black money, but the erosion of the principles of the Indian Constitution and law are now under threat.

Ironically, some weeks before the Punjab Assembly elections, Captain Amrinder Singh was accused of stashing money abroad. Nothing came of it.

To attack a Congress leader for a relatively minor offence which was never proved, while silencing discussion on the huge Panama Papers scam, exposes the double standards in the upper echelons of the Indian elites.
Given recent developments, the jury may still be out on whether Pakistan or China can pose the biggest threat to India in the future. The unholy nexus between the two may be still more alarming for experts on defence and strategic affairs as a two-front war can spell disaster for the whole of South-East Asia.

Whatever their claims might be and however serious and frequent the cases of transgression may be, the armies of both Pakistan and China, at the end of the day, maintain a status quo. They are still at the other end of the Line of Control (LoC) and the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

But there is one enemy which has already started finishing off small, but important, chunks of Indias land mass - like what a termite does to wood. This adversary is working 24X7 and knows no limit.

Given the humongous size of India, this low-intensity war carried out by climate change may look miniscule to some but is threatening the survival of lakhs of people.

Sea level rise

According to the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), sea levels have risen on an annual average of 3.2 mm since 1993. An assessment done by the IPCC in 2013 predicted that sea levels would rise by almost a metre soon.

The retreat of glaciers in Antarctica has made the whole world stand up and take notice. Closer home, even the Himalayan glaciers have shown signs of retreating.

What India has lost already

In West Bengal, in the low-lying islands in Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage site famed for mangroves and tiger habitat, soil erosion is so rampant due to sea level rise that islands are shrinking in size and two of them - Lohachara and Suparibhanga - have been occupied forever by the giant waters. The Sundarbans is now known globally as the land of vanishing islands.

A satellite data analysis by ISRO showed that just during one decade, the Sundarbans lost 9,900 hectares of its land mass.

In the neighbouring state of Assam, Majuli, one of the worlds largest river islands, is treading the same path. The Brahmaputra is swallowing the island gradually as Majuli, steeped in Vaishnavite culture, shrunk more than half from 1,256sqkm in 1891 to 502.21sqkm in 2004.

Naysayers believe the island will be lost permanently in the next 2-3 decades.

The story doesnt end here, as in other parts of West Bengal and Assam, besides Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh, villagers living along riverbanks are steadily losing their land as rivers are swelling in some places or are changing their course, leading to permanent inundation.

Whats the next target of climate change?

Multiple scientific assessments have showed that two big Indian cities  Mumbai and Kolkata  may go under the water one day if sea levels rise dangerously in the next 100 years.

According to IPCC, Kolkata, Mumbai, Dhaka, Guangzhou and Ho Chi Minh City are the five Asian cities that will by 2070 have the largest population vulnerable to climate change-induced coastal flooding.

Sundarbans is regarded as Kolkata's only shelter against coastal ingression as the islands come in between the City of Joy and the surging Bay of Bengal.

Mumbai, on the other hand, is in the red zone simply because it is dangerously close to the sea.

A report by international body Climate Central predicts that in case of a 4 degrees Celsius rise in global temperature, 55 million people could lose their houses to the sea in India. Even if the temperature rises by 2 degrees Celsius, 20 million Indians will still become climate change refugees.

Why is climate change the gravest threat?

India hopes that the Aksai Chin region, which is now under Chinese control after the 1962 War, and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) will become part of its map once again, but the land mass which is lost to climate change is lost permanently to mankind.

The effects of global warming-led climate change are irreversible. Sea level rise is proving how Indias map can change without a war against China or Pakistan.

The elephant in the room may turn out to be bigger than China.

India is not alone

Islands across the world, particularly in Asia, are under high risk of submergence before the next century. Due to its sheer population, Bangladesh may have the worlds largest climate change refugees if all the negative predictions come true.

Former US President Barack Obamas most famous quote on climate change that "no challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change highlights how global warming is of greater global concern than even terrorism or the possibility of a next world war.

The Maldives, knowing well its future, has already started building artificial floating islands in the Indian Ocean. Other nations are scouting for funds to prepare themselves for climate change.

Is there hope?

A fight against climate change would still need the help of an army. With seedlings as weapons, an army, divided into small battalions, of citizen-soldiers has to start planting trees on a war-footing to save coastlines and riverbanks.

Our war propaganda should be environment education and outperforming the Paris Climate Change agreement of limiting global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. Reduction in greenhouse gases has to be one of the biggest priorities not just for India but all nations.

Under the Paris Agreement, which the US has already backed out of under Donald Trump's leadership, 194 countries are now on board to keep the rising global temperatures "well below" 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and "endeavour to limit" them even more to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, however, raised the bar for India when he said India will go above and beyond the 2015 Paris accord. Citing India's holy texts, Modi has said protecting "Mother Earth" was part of Indian culture.
Viktor Muzhenko, the head of the Ukrainian General Staff and the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, has said he assumed that some of the Russian troops preparing to participate in the joint training with Belarus West 2017 may stay in Belarus after the training.

"It is not ruled out that some of these troops will stay in Belarus after the training. There is a high probability of hidden weapons, military hardware and physical infrastructure storage points being deployed in the course of the training," Muzhenko said at a joint session of the Military-Scientific Council of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences.

Such actions can help the enemy considerably reduce the time needed for the creation of strike groups on the western and southwestern strategic tracks, which creates a direct threat to Ukraine's security.

"According to our information, the number of Russian troops for participation in the training has now been increased from the declared 3,000 to 5,000. Such large-scale Russian-Belarusian trainings as West 2017 may be regarded as a measure to boost the combat potential of Russia on the borders of our state, and also on the borders of Poland and the Baltic states," Muzhenko said.

The joint Russian-Belarusian training West 2017 is scheduled for September 2017.
RICHMOND  Budweiser may be the King of Beers, but its newest beer labels remind Virginians that the state motto is Thus Always to Tyrants.

Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser, this week started a marketing campaign that features new labels for its beer packaging in the 11 states where the company has breweries, including Virginia.

In those states, the Budweiser name on beer cans and bottles is being replaced temporarily by the states name, in what the company describes as a tribute to the communities that have brewed its top-selling beer for generations.

Anheuser-Busch's 1.2 million-square-foot brewery in James City County near Williamsburg opened in 1972 and has about 580 employees, with a $53 million payroll.

"Our new state bottles and cans celebrate the homes of our breweries and the communities that support them," said Ricardo Marques, vice president of Budweiser, in a statement released by the company.

Also, the Budweiser slogan "King of Beers" is being swapped on the labels with each state's motto. In Virginia, thats Thus Always to Tyrants.

The motto is printed on the beer labels in English, not in the Latin "Sic Semper Tyrannis," which is what's on the Great Seal of Virginia along with a figure of Virtus, the goddess of virtue, who holds a spear and rests her foot on the chest of a supine figure representing tyranny.

"Sic Semper Tyrannis" also is, infamously, what John Wilkes Booth is said to have shouted after he shot President Abraham Lincoln.

The special labels will be on Budweiser packaging in Virginia through September, the company said.

Other states with Budweiser breweries that will have special labels are California (where there are two breweries), Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Texas. Labels also will include other patriotic elements such as the lyrics to the National Anthem.

The new labels come as Budweiser and other major beer companies are trying different ways to attract and retain consumers and compete with a growing number of locally-owned, craft breweries that have sprung up across the nation in recent years.

While overall U.S. beer sales were flat in 2016, craft beer sales were up 6.2 percent by volume for the year, according to the Brewers Association, an organization of independent craft brewers.

The number of craft breweries in the U.S. jumped to just over 5,200 in 2016 from 2,400 in 2012. Virginia had 164 craft breweries in 2016, up from just 50 in 2012. In June, the Brewers Association announced it was introducing a new seal that craft brewers can place on their packaging if they meet the association's definition of an independent brewer.

This isn't the first campaign by Anheuser-Busch meant to inspire a sense of patriotism in beer drinkers. In 2016, the company temporarily swapped the Budweiser name on its cans and bottles with the word "America."

As part of its latest campaign, Budweiser also is planning an open house on Sept. 16 at its James City County brewery at 7801 Pocahontas Trail, which the company plans to invest $18 million this year. People interested in attending must RSVP ahead of time at www.budbrewedlocally.com.
ORANGE  Two people charged in the death of a 4-year-old who fatally shot himself at the couples Mine Run house pleaded not guilty to the charges in Orange County Circuit Court on Friday.

Heather C. Massey, 27, and Nicholas J. Stoia, 25, were arrested May 22 after a grand jury indicted the couple on multiple misdemeanors and felonies, including felony child abuse and neglect and reckless handling of a firearm.

According to the Orange County Sheriffs Office, Massey was babysitting the victim, Cole James Clark, and several other children at the time of the incident.

The victims family was in court Friday for the arraignment, and the boys mother, Kyrin Falcetti, spent most of the hearing in tears.

Massey faces five felony charges of child abuse/neglect and four misdemeanor counts of leaving loaded and unsecured firearms within reach of a child under the age of 14.

According to the sheriffs office, the additional charges are based on the fact that other children were in the home at the time of incident.

Massey pleaded not guilty to all the charges and requested a jury trial during arraignment. She is being represented by Orange attorney Amy Harper.

Orange County Commonwealths Attorney Diana OConnell said her office is working to transfer 12 to 15 hours of video footage and other related documents to the defense as part of a motion for discovery.

Masseys four-day trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 23, 2018. A pretrial motions hearing was set for Oct. 26.

Meanwhile, Stoia is being represented by Spotsylvania attorney Ghislaine M. Storr Burks. He faces a felony count of child abuse/neglect and four misdemeanor charges. He also pleaded not guilty to the charges during Fridays arraignment.

Stoia, who is Masseys fiance, also requested a jury trial.

OConnell told the court she wants the cases to be tried together. A hearing date for a motion to do so was scheduled for Sept. 14.

Stoia, a deputy recruit with the Stafford County Sheriffs Office who has been placed on administrative leave, was not home at the time of the shooting, and the weapon involved was not a department-issued firearm, according to officials.

He was given the same dates for a motions hearing and trial as Massey. However, the trial date is contingent on the judges decision on conducting a joint trial.

Stoia and Massey both are currently out on $5,000 secured bonds. During a bond hearing in May, Judge Daniel R. Bouton said hed allow Massey to stay with family in North Carolina. Her children also have been placed with her family, OConnell told the court.

Stoia is permitted to visit family in New York or his fiances family in North Carolina as part of his bond conditions. Neither Massey nor Stoia can have contact with the victims family. In addition to those conditions, Massey was ordered to have a mental health evaluation and to continue following her counseling plan and other treatments prescribed by her doctors.
RICHMOND  Lawyers for William C. Morva unsuccessfully sought to delay his execution Thursday night following the reported concerns from an expert about Ricky Grays execution by injection in January.

An article published in The Guardian on Wednesday cited a review of Grays autopsy report by Dr. Mark Edgar, associate director of bone and soft tissue pathology at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga. Edgar concluded that something appears to have gone wrong under Virginias three-drug method.

Edgar said a frothy liquid found in Grays upper airways indicated that he suffered an acute pulmonary edema and that blood found on his lips indicated that blood entered Grays lungs while he was still breathing. The Guardian reported that Edgar could not be certain about the cause of the edema, but said it would be similar to drowning.

Reached Friday, Edgar told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, I cannot know how the executioners intended or expected the drugs to work. If they expected them to cause rapid and uncomplicated death ... without the possibility of a lingering sense of panic and terror, then they did not get what they expected.

The anatomic changes described in Ricky Grays lungs are more often seen in the aftermath of a sarin gas attack than in a routine hospital autopsy. This is of concern especially given the fact that midazolam is not an anesthetic, but a sedative often used for medical procedures requiring conscious sedation and the issue that the compounded drugs used in this case may have lacked potency or been impure, he said.

Grays family obtained the official post-execution autopsy, reported The Guardian. Virginias medical examiners office conducts autopsies of executed inmates.

This way of dying is intolerable. You cant control your breathing  it is terrible, Edgar said, according to The Guardian. When it is this severe you can experience panic and terror, and if the individual was in any way aware of what was happening to them it would be unbearable.

Because of the unavailability of manufactured drugs for executions, Virginia uses compounded midazolam and compounded potassium chloride  made by an undisclosed Virginia pharmacy or pharmacies  as the first and third drugs in executions. According to lawyers for Gray and Morva, Virginia is the only state to use a combination of two compounded chemicals in lethal injections.

State law bars the disclosure of the pharmacies making the drugs.

The first drug is intended to render the inmate unconscious, the second to stop breathing and the third to stop the heart.

Rob Lee, one of Morvas lawyers, said McAuliffe was asked for a temporary reprieve at 5 p.m. Thursday, less than three hours after the governor turned down Morvas bid for clemency.

The reprieve was requested after new information came to light raising concerns that Virginias lethal injection protocol did not act as intended, and therefore had resulted in a lingering and tortuous death, Lee said in a prepared statement.

He added, We believed a reprieve was appropriate to allow time for further investigation to ensure that the Commonwealth carries out future executions  including Mr. Morvas  in a manner that avoids unnecessary pain and suffering.

A McAuliffe spokeman confirmed Friday that the governor denied the request for a temporary reprieve.

Earlier in the day he had stated his intention to allow the execution to proceed without his intervention. That statement was based on his review of the case as well as his confidence in the protocol the Department of Corrections used to carry out this sentence, said Brian Coy, the spokesman.

The Department of Corrections and other state officials have said they are confident in the purity and efficacy of the periodically tested chemicals used in executions.

Morvas 9 p.m. execution Thursday, according to the Department of Corrections, was carried out without complications and he was pronounced dead at 9:15 p.m.

After the midazolam was administered Thursday, Morva made a loud noise which sounded similar to a hiccup and there were several sharp contractions of his abdomen.

The department said Grays execution in January was complicated by difficulties in placing IV lines. The procedure, which usually takes a few minutes, took more than half an hour.

Morva was executed for killing two people during an escape in Montgomery County in 2006. Gray, who murdered seven people in seven days in Richmond in 2006, was executed for the capital murders of two young sisters.
Bank raised Rs 21,604 crore as rupee borrowing and Rs 18,800 crore as forex borrowing in the year.

Mumbai: The Export Import Bank (Exim Bank) has reported a massive 87 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 41 crore in fiscal 2017. The bank had reported a post-tax profit of Rs 316 crore in the year to March 2016 and Rs 710 crore in fiscal 2015.

The bank did not offer any reason for the steep fall in net income. The export finance institution's transfer of profit to the government also declined to a trickle at Rs 4 crore in fiscal 2017 from Rs 32 crore in 2015-16 and Rs 433 crore in 2014-15, according to a note on its official website.

In the reporting year, Exim Bank's total loan assets stood at Rs 1,02,641 crore while non-funded portfolio stood at Rs 12,231 crore. It received Rs 500 crore as capital from the government in 2016-17.

The bank raised Rs 21,604 crore as rupee borrowing and Rs 18,800 crore as forex borrowing in the year. It extended 15 lines of credit amounting to USD 2.27 billion to various countries in the year.
The issue price of Gold Bond for this tranche has been fixed at Rs 2,780 per gram of gold.

New Delhi: The Reserve Bank today fixed Rs 2,780 per gram the price of sovereign gold bonds, which will open for public subscription on Monday. The price is lower than Rs 2,901 per gram for the last round of the scheme in April this year.

The nominal value of the bond based on the simple average closing price, published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd (IBJA)], for gold of 999 purity of the week preceding the subscription period works out to Rs 2,830/gram.

However, the government, in consultation with the Reserve Bank, has decided to offer a discount of Rs 50 per gram on the nominal value of the Sovereign Gold Bond.

"Hence, the issue price of Gold Bond for this tranche has been fixed at Rs 2,780 per gram of gold," the RBI said.

The Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2017-18 - Series II will open for subscription for the period from July 10 to July 14.

The bonds will be sold through banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL), designated post offices and recognised stock exchanges namely the NSE and BSE, the finance ministry said in a statement today.

The sovereign gold bond scheme was launched in November 2015 with an objective to reduce the demand for physical gold and shift a part of the domestic savings, used for purchase of gold, into financial savings.

Under the scheme, the bonds are denominated in units of one gram of gold and multiples thereof. Minimum investment in the bonds is one gram with a maximum limit of subscription of 500 grams per person per fiscal year (April-March).

The government has so far issued eighth tranches of SGBs and mobilised Rs 5,400 crore. Investors in these bonds have been provided with the option of holding them in physical or dematerialised form. The bonds with tenure of 8 years will be tradable on stock exchanges within a fortnight of the issuance on a date as notified by the RBI.

The investors will be compensated at a fixed rate of 2.50 per cent per annum payable semi-annually on the nominal value, it said. Payment for the bonds will be through cash payment (up to a maximum of Rs 20,000) or demand draft or cheque or electronic banking.

The maximum amount subscribed by an entity will not be more than 500 grams per person per fiscal year. A self- declaration to this effect will be obtained. In case of joint holding, the investment limit of 500 grams will be applied to the first applicant only.

The bonds can be used as collateral for loans. The loan- to-value ratio is to be set equal to ordinary gold loan mandated by the Reserve Bank from time to time.

The capital gains tax arising on redemption of SGB to an individual has been exempted. The indexation benefits will be provided to long-term capital gains arising to any person on transfer of bond.
Pune: Describing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as a "game-changer tax reform", Union Minister of State for Power Piyush Goyal today sought cooperation of the business community for its effective implementation.

"This is an opportunity for all of us, so forget the past things and get associated with this new game-changer tax reform which is an honest system," said Goyal, who was here to interact with the business community on GST.

The new tax regime is system-driven so those who are doing business in fair and honest way won't be harassed by officials, but those who try to evade tax would be caught, the minister said.

"In GST there is no scope for tax evasion as the system is made in such a way that everybody in the chain will have to keep their accounts fair.

"But there are some elements everywhere...who believe in malpractices, but the traders and businessmen who believe in fair trade will have to keep such elements away from the system by becoming whistle-blowers," said Goyal.

The minister conceded that there are some genuine issues related to the new tax regime, but assured that they can be solved through dialogue.
Govinda with Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif on the sets of 'Jagga Jasoos.'

Mumbai: Ranbir Kapoor-Katrina Kaif starrer Jagga Jasoos has been in the news for the numerous delays it went through and the relationship between the ex-couple.

The couple has kept their differences aside and have been on a promotion spree, making joint appearances at the SIIMA Awards in Abu Dhabi and much more.

Another factor related to the film which has made news has been the presence or rather the absence of Govinda in the detective drama.

The film has been in the making for the 3-4 years now and according to reports Govinda was always a part of it, with a picture of the actor's bearded avatar with the leads going viral recently.

However, the director Anurag Basu later cleared the air that he had shot with Govinda for a few days, but his part has eventually not made it to the final cut of the film, with Ranbir adding that it was a big loss for them.

Govinda, perhaps unaware about the development till now, took to Twitter on Friday and expressed his views about his part being canned from the film.

The veteran actor said that he did the film only because Ranbir was his seniors (Rishi Kapoor) son and he was promised a script and a narration, post for which he shot with the team in South Africa despite being ill and without charging any money.

Though he said that it was the directors call and that he did job as an actor, he seemed upset about the negative stories for GOVINDA in the last three years.

1/5 I gave full respect to Kapoor family i did the film because he is my seniors son I was told I will get the script.  Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) July 7, 2017

2/5 I was told they will narrate the film in South Africa and I dint even charge my signing amount made no contracts.  Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) July 7, 2017

3/5 I was unwell and on drips but still I traveled to South Africa and did my shoot.  Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) July 7, 2017

4/5 There were various negative stories and negative articles only for GOVINDA and that's how the film was remembered for 3yrs.  Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) July 7, 2017

5/5 I did my job as an actor and if the director is not happy it's completely his call.  Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) July 7, 2017

It would be interesting to see if the decision of the makers to do away with the actor's part film can do any wonders for Jagga Jasoos when the film hits the screens on 14 July.
New Delhi: Kabir Khan-directorial 'Tubelight' managed to reunite the two superstars of Bollywood on the silver screen after a long time.

In a latest video released by the makers, Kabir has expressed delight in bringing Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan in one frame after so many years.

The 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' director also revealed SRK had been his senior when they both studied in Jamia Milia Islamia and often exchanged each other's notes.

"There are not too many people who can come into your film and demand attention. So I think it really needs to be Shah Rukh and Salman agreed with me and said 'yeah Shah Rukh would be a great choice.' We approached Shah Rukh and I must say that he has been very sweet about it. He has been very close to Salman and Shah Rukh and I have known each other since college days. In fact it's something not many people know but, he was my senior in film school, in Jamia and I studied from his notes."

"Not many people know that I became a filmmaker because I was studying Shah Rukh's notes," he added.

On a related note, the 'Sultan' star has returned King Khan's favour by agreeing to do a special dance number in Aanand L Rai's next.
Washington:Attention parents! You may have to take care of your kids' weight as a recent study has warned that childhood obesity can increase risk of hip diseases during adolescence. Significant hip deformities affect around 1 in 500 children and slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis (SCFE) is the most common hip disease of adolescence.

The research helps us to better understand one of the main diseases affecting the hip in childhood. The condition always requires surgery, can cause significant pain, and often leads to a hip replacement in adolescence or early adulthood.

Senior author Daniel Perry along with team examined individuals under 16-years-of-age with a diagnosis of SCFE between 1990 and 2013. Using the height and weight of children recorded in the notes at some point before the disease was diagnosed the researchers were able to identify that obese children appear at highest risk of this condition.

Children with a SCFE experience a decrease in their range of motion and are often unable to complete hip flexion or fully rotate the hip inward. Unfortunately, many cases of SCFE are misdiagnosed or overlooked, because the first symptom is knee pain, referred from the hip. The knee is often investigated and found to be normal.

Early recognition of SCFE is important as the deformity may worsen if the slip remains untreated. Daniel Perry from Alder Hey Children's Hospital in UK said, "This is the best evidence available linking this disease to childhood obesity - which makes this condition to be one of the only obesity-related disease that can cause life-long morbidity starting in childhood."

"A significant proportion of patients with SCFE are initially misdiagnosed and those presenting with knee pain are particularly at risk," Perry added. The study is published in journal of Archives of Disease in Childhood journal.
Indian Mental Health Policy, 2014, says that adequate attention of mental health consequences and provision of both medical and social welfare responses is necessary for a person affected by a disaster.

CHENNAI: Post Vardah, Chennai is now witnessing its worst ever drought. As these disasters hit the city, they can have a traumatic effect on people. Reports and research suggest that mental distress can lead to risk factors among people, following disasters. Countries like Sri Lanka, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia have a distinct budget for training the mental health workers to face the psychological health consequences of disasters. But even after being struck by many disasters such as tsunami, 2015 December floods, Vardah and now drought, the city does not seem to provide for the mental health of people. Doctors say that disasters impact mental health as they are exposed to an unbearable situation suddenly. Though treatment and physical health aid are provided, not much is done to restore the mental health.

"The loss of life, property, status or transition during disasters affects the brain of a person in a way that they get into deep distress. When an unforeseen situation arises, the mind of an individual does not get enough time for adapting to the trauma and can fall prey to mental disorders," says Dr Vivian Kapil, a psychiatrist at Meenakshi Mission Hospital.

He adds that adolescents and elderly people are more vulnerable to such situations can lead to an increase in the amount of distress and mental trauma by a large percentage. In such age groups, there can be risk factors of committing suicides, depression, anxiety, alcoholism, post-traumatic stress disorder and can affect the physical health as well.

Indian Mental Health Policy, 2014, says that adequate attention of mental health consequences and provision of both medical and social welfare responses is necessary for a person affected by a disaster. But on the ground, the public health department lacks the infrastructure of providing with mental health as a part of disaster management after a crisis," says an official from the health education department.

Medicos say that the mental health of people, following disasters, need to be addressed as per the guidelines of psychological first aid by the World Health Organisation. As per the report, psychological first aid should be provided in the form of humane, supportive and practical help to the affected people, respecting their dignity, culture and abilities. Psychological first aid should comfort the affected people by talking to them, without pressurising them to talk.
Chinese Ambassador to Cyprus Huang Xingyuan (R, front) gives out toy pandas to students at an event called "China day" in Platres village, some 80km southwest of the capital Nicosia, Cyprus on July 7, 2017. Chinese Embassy in Cyprus has offered a "Chinese ambassador scholarship" to the Cyprus Red Cross Society (RCS), Cyprus RCS president said on Friday. (Xinhua/Zhang Zhang)

NICOSIA, July 7 -- The Embassy of the People's Republic of China has offered a "Chinese ambassador scholarship" to the Cyprus Red Cross Society (RCS), Cyprus RCS president said on Friday.

The president of Cyprus RCS, Fotini Papadopoulou, the wife of the late Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos, told a ceremony marking the end of a camping at Platres village, that the Chinese Embassy had made a generous contribution towards the organization.

Chinese Ambassador Huang Xingyuan and his wife Ma Li attended the ceremony along with the Platres mayor and RCS officials.

The Chinese ambassador said "The Chinese Embassy and I personally have always been concerning about public welfare undertakings of Cyprus, I hope the 'Chinese ambassador scholarship' can help the needy students to fulfill their dreams, so they could contribute to the development of their country and the China-Cyprus friendship."

"His excellency the Ambassador Mr. Huang Xingyuan and his wife Ma Li had the gracious kindness to visit us and support the work of the Cyprus Red Cross Society," Papadopoulou said.

She added that they had also visited RCS Children's Therapy Center, offering treatment to children in the seaside city of Limassol.

"I welcome them and thank them for the presence here," Papadopoulou said.

The Cyprus Red Cross Society, mainly responds to disasters and cares for refugees and people in need as well as runs an establishment offering treatment for children up to the age of 18 with severe physical disabilities.
Revelers wearing Renaissance helmets, feathers and striped pantaloons paraded through Brussels on Friday in a tradition stretching back five centuries to the zenith of the city's cultural and political power. The annual Ommegang festival commemorates the visit of Charles V, the Flanders-born Austrian Hapsburg Holy Roman Emperor who ruled lands across Europe and the Americas, to Brussels in 1549.

Don't miss the repetition of amazing #Ommegang this evening! The parade starts soon from Place Royale to Sablon with the final event at Grand Place. Photo by @fadidalati #welovebrussels A post shared by Brussels | Bruxelles | Brussel (@welovebrussels) on Jul 7, 2017 at 10:09am PDT

Revived in its modern form in 1930 as a moment for Brussels to show off its rich history, the week-long Ommegang - Dutch for "going around" - features more than 1,400 actors, including some of Belgium's contemporary aristocracy. "The history is important and my family likes to dress with historical costumes," said Brussels resident Ludger del Bruyere, 63, who has been taking part in Ommegang for 45 years.

Jean Charles de T'Serclaes, a 62-year-old banker in Brussels, agreed. "I like the history," said T'Serclaes, who is participating in the festival with his wife Muriel. "I am reacting to what my ancestors did centuries ago."

Onlookers marveled at acrobats, stilt-walkers and the magnificent noble costumes of the age as they followed the festival procession to the Grand Place, the dramatic square in front of Brussels' Town Hall.

EMOTION #flags #funwithflags  @therealjimparsons #brussels #ommegang #belgium #grandplace #love A post shared by Mademoiselle Canaille (@mademoiselle_canaille) on Jul 7, 2017 at 4:00pm PDT

Throughout the week, locals and tourists visiting the capital of the European Union have watched jousting and crossbow tournaments outside the royal palace of current monarch King Philippe and have savored 16th-century delicacies.

#ommegang #brussels #lagrandplace #bruxelles A post shared by Nafiz () (@fizzy1983) on Jul 6, 2017 at 12:09pm PDT

Tom Hye, who plays the part of a butler to a Hungarian queen in the festival, has been participating in the Ommegang festival for 10 years. "It's crucial to remember where we are coming from," said Hye, 64. "To keep our tradition alive."
Mangaluru: Following the death of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker Sharath, who succumbed to his injuries after being stabbed, the party on Saturday demanded an impartial probe into the matter and a strict action against the perpetrators.

RSS spokesperson Rajesh Parmar said Sharath's murder was the 12th such killing in Karnataka in the last four years.

"This increasing number of murders in Karnataka and other southern states is shocking and we want the Karnataka Government to take a strict and immediate action so that the culprit is punished, law and order is maintained and a peaceful environment is provided for the social activists in Karnataka," he said.

Reminiscing the murder of another RSS worker Rudresh in Bengaluru earlier, Parmar said the probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) revealed many things.

"Even in the case of Rudresh in Bengaluru, we demanded an NIA probe. They revealed that there are so many networks related to the killings of so many RSS workers in Karnataka as well as southern states of India," he said.

RSS worker Sharath was stabbed on July 4 by unidentified assailants at Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district.

The victim succumbed to his injuries last evening.
Bengaluru: It was a literal enactment of the famous adage 'As you sow so shall you reap'. A man stabbed his wife, following a heated argument, but met with a fatal accident while trying to flee on his bike.

The incident happened at Veerabhadra Swami Nagar in HAL police station limits on Saturday morning. The deceased has been identified as Manjunath (45), an employee at a bar and a native of Hosakote, while his wife Aruna has been hospitalized.

Manjunath got into an argument with Aruna over a family dispute and later stabbed her. As he was in a hurry to flee a few minutes after the incident, Manjunath reportedly fell down from his bike near Ramesh Nagar in HAL. He sustained severe injuries and was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

Aruna, who was lying in a pool of blood at her house, was rushed to a private hospital and her condition is said to be critical. According to a police source, Aruna was the second wife of Manjunath and they had two children. Manjunath used to frequently fight with her over trivial issues. HAL police have registered a case.
According to reports, Bijay and his family were exiled from the village since 2013 for allegedly practising sorcery. (Representational image)

Bhubaneswar: Overpowered by superstition, residents of an Odisha village allegedly meted out inhuman physical torture to three members of a family and fed human excreta charging that they were practicing sorcery and thereby causing harassment to the villagers.

The incident occurred in Balighai village under Soroda police limit in Ganjam district where Bijay Bisoi, his wife and son were forced to have faeces for failing to meet the villagers condition to pay Rs 5 lakh fine. The police on Saturday arrested 15 persons in this connection and forwarded to the court.

According to reports, Bijay and his family were exiled from the village since 2013 for allegedly practising sorcery.

When his youngest son Rohit approached the villagers expressing their desire to return to the village, the villagers convened a meeting on July 1 and asked the family to pay Rs 5 lakh as fine.
Junaid's brothers- Hashim and Sakir- who were also travelling in the train with him, were injured by a mob which also allegedly hurled slurs against them. (Photo: Screengrab)

Faridabad: Four people arrested in connection with the stabbing of a Muslim boy on a Mathura-bound train have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a court in Faridabad.

Police said these accused were arrested on June 28 and were initially sent to two-day police remand.

Junaid (17) was stabbed when he, along with his brothers, was returning home in Palwal district's Khandawli village after Eid shopping in Delhi on June 22.

His brothers- Hashim and Sakir- who were also travelling in the train with him, were injured by a mob which also allegedly hurled slurs against them.

Police have so far arrested five people. Of the five, four held on June 28 are residents of Khambi village. The fifth one was held earlier.
The mob vandalized the six vehicles reportedly carrying calves and thrashed three drivers. (Photo: Representational/File)

New Delhi: At least six people were thrashed by a mob in Delhi's Baba Haridas Nagar for allegedly carrying buffalo calves.

The mob vandalized the six vehicles reportedly carrying calves and thrashed three drivers. Later, the calves were released.

One of the drivers Ali Jaan received major injuries while the rest have been discharged from the hospital.

An FIR has been registered by Ali Jaan's son against attackers.

On June 30, a man accused of carrying beef was allegedly beaten to death by a mob in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned people that killings in the name of cow protection would not be tolerated.

The Prime Minister tweeted, "Killing people in the name of gau bhakti is not acceptable. This is not something Mahatma Gandhi would approve of."

He added that no one would be allowed to take the law into their hands.
Congress MP T. Subbarami Reddy (from left), TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy, former Union ministers M.M. Pallam Raju and Jairam Ramesh share a joke at Park Hyatt Hotel in the city on Friday. The event was the launch of Mr Rameshs book, Indira Gandhi: A Life in Nature. (Photo:DC)

Hyderabad: Former prime minister Indira Gandhi loved Mother Nature more than politics, according to ex-Union minister Jairam Ramesh.

She was worried about nature, climate change and deforestation in 1970s itself, he said.

His book Indira Gandhi: A Life in Nature, which revealed a different side of Mrs Gandhi was released here on Friday evening.

Mr Ramesh said that many biographies were penned on the life of countrys first, and only, woman prime minister, but his book highlighted her love for nature, which not many knew about.

Retired Supreme Court judge Justice P. Venkatram Reddy released the book in the presence of Ms Sharmistha Mukherjee, Congress spokesperson and daughter of President Pranab Mukherjee, Rajya Sabha MP T. Subbarami Reddy and Congress leaders from both Telugu states.

Mr Ramesh said, Mrs Gandhi was born in a political family, grew up in a political atmosphere and finally became a politician. She did not love politics. She was a reluctant politician. Mrs Gandhi was a lover of nature. She loved forests, trees, rivers,wild life and bio-diversity all her life.

According to Mr Ram-esh, his book described the real Mrs Gandhi and it has more words of her than the author himself. It dwells on her letters to her father Jawaharlal Nehru when he was in jail, her messages, notes and speeches to colleagues, partymen and citizens of the country, he said.

He said the book was an unusual and unconventional biography and it touched her non-political side.

He said Mrs Gandhi was very fluent in Bengali and French languages.

Sharing his thoughts in a conversation later, Mr Ramesh said that Mrs Gandhi had denied permission to the hydel project in Silent Valley (in Kerala) in the early 70s only because it would harm nature.

Mr Ramesh said she was the first and last major politician who went all out to protecting nature, a trait which is not seen in present day leaders.

He recalled the words of Mrs Gandhi that a person who did not relate to nature was not a human being at all.
Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively to Pakistan ceasefire violation which started at around 6.30 am on Saturday (Photo: Representational Image)

Jammu: Two civilians were killed and a few others suffered injuries on Saturday when the Pakistani army violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, officials said.

The two civilians killed were husband and wife and the injured children, amid others, are of the dead couple.

The Pakistani army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from small arms, automatic weapons and mortars on Indian Army posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector from 6:30 hours, a defence spokesman said. The Indian troops retaliated effectively, he added.

The Pakistani troops rained mortar bomb shells and resorted to heavy firing, targeting civilian villages as well, a police officer said.

"Very heavy shelling is going on. So far two civilians have died in Pakistani shelling in Khadi Karmara village along the LoC," he said, adding that some other people suffered injuries.

There have been 23 incidents of ceasefire violation, an attack by Pakistan Special Forces team and two infiltration bids in June, in which four people including three jawans were killed and 12 were injured.

On June 29, two Indian Army jawans were injured when the Pakistani troops fired from small arms and shelled mortars on forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch district.

Even on Eid-ul Fitr on June 26, the Pakistani army fired small arms and automatic weapons and shelled mortars along the LoC in the Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri.

On June 22, a Pakistani Special Forces team sneaked across the LoC into Poonch under cover of heavy fire and killed two jawans - 34-year-old Naik Jadhav Sandip of Aurangabad and 24-year-old Sepoy Mane Savan Balku of Kolhapur.

One Pakistani soldier was also killed. Pakistan's Border Action Team comprises its army's special forces personnel and terrorists.
Indian troops are constantly responding to indiscriminate firing along LoC in Poonch (Representational Image)

Jammu: An Army jawan and his wife were killed and their three daughters injured when the Pakistani Army targeted forward posts and hamlets along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, police said on Saturday.

The Pakistan Army violated the ceasefire and initiated indiscriminate firing from small arms, automatic weapons and mortars from 6.30 am on Saturday on Indian Army posts along the LoC, a defence spokesperson added.

Indian troops returned the fire strongly and effectively, he said.

Sepoy Mohmmad Shaukat of the Territorial Army, who was on leave, and his wife Safia Bi were killed when a mortar shell fired by the Pakistan Army exploded near their home in Karmara, a police officer said.

The couple's three daughters, Zaida Kouser (6), Robina Kouser (12) and Nazia Bi, and another person were injured.

Pakistani troops rained mortar bomb shells and resorted to heavy firing, targeting civilian villages.

"Very heavy shelling is going on in areas like Khadi, Karmara and Guplur," he said.

The Pakistan Army is firing and shelling heavily from eight different posts on villages and forward posts along the LoC. They have fired at five to six hamlets, the officer said.

There have been 23 incidents of ceasefire violations, one BAT (Border Action Team) attack and two infiltration bids by Pakistan in June in which four people, including three jawans, have been killed and 12 injured.

On June 29, two Indian Army jawans were injured when Pakistani troops fired at forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch.

Three days earlier, on June 26, the occasion of Eid-ul Fitr, the Pakistani Army fired small arms and automatic weapons and shelled mortars along the LoC in Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri.

On June 22, in the third such attack this year, a team of Pakistani special forces sneaked 600 metres across the LoC into the Poonch sector and killed two Indian jawans and lost one BAT member in retaliatory action.

In the firefight, two Indian soldiers - 34-year-old Naik Jadhav Sandip of Aurangabad and 24-year-old Sepoy Mane Savan Balku of Kolhapur - were killed.
Puducherry bus stand wears a deserted look following a bandh called by DMK, left parties, VCK and other outfits on Saturday. (Photo: DC)

Puducherry: Normal life was disrupted in Puducherry on Saturday following a bandh called by DMK, left parties, VCK and other outfits to condemn the style of functioning of Lt Governor Kiran Bedi and to protest against the nomination of three BJP members to the territorial assembly by the Central government allegedly following the direction of Ms Bedi.

Barring a few incidents of stone pelting at buses, the bandh passed off peacefully. Most commercial establishments in urban and rural areas of Puducherry remained closed fearing backlash. Public transport facilities, including buses and autorickshaws, remained off roads. Schools and colleges too remained closed.

Miscreants pelted stones at four state owned buses and windscreens were damaged in the attack. Bandh supporters, including cadres belonging to DMK staged protests at different locations.

Police said around 300 volunteers of VCK were arrested during their protest in front of Raj Nivas shouting slogans against the Lt Governor.

Besides this DMK legislator R Siva, CPI secretary R. Viswanathan, the CPI (M) secretary R. Rajangam, leaders of various outfits were taken into custody after they staged a road roko at Orleanpet junction dema-nding cancellation of the order of Union home ministry appointing the nominated MLAs.

At the same time Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy told reporters here that the induction of three members by Bedi is a shame on the Constitution and the democratic norms and conventions.

Only the Speaker is the constitutional authority to induct any member as legislator of the House, he added. The Chief Minister said two days ago he visited the capital, and he met party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad .

He apprised them in detail about the political developments in the Union Territory and the present situation here in Puducherry. Both of them assured to take up the issue of the nominated members in Parliament, he added.

BANDH UNNECESSARY

Lt Governor Kiran Bedi said the bandh called by political parties in Puducherry was most unwanted. The bandh is against performance not against non-performance, against honesty, integrity, activism,she said.
Bengaluru: Upset with the communal tension in his constituency (Bantwal), Minister for Forests B. Ramanath Rai, who is also the district in-charge minister of Dakshina Kannada, blamed both Muslims and Hindu organisations for the tense situation in the coastal district.

He says the BJP is stoking tension with an eye on the 2018 state Assembly elections. Speaking exclusively to Deccan Chronicle from Mangaluru, Mr Rai criticised BJP leaders for turning the sensitive communal murder into a political issue and for taking protest rallies when four taluks of Dakshina Kannada district are under Section 144. Excerpts from the interview:

Why did district administration allow the BJP to conduct a protest rally when Bantwal is in the grips of communal tension?

The police did not allow BJP and RSS leaders to take out the funeral procession from Mangaluru to B.C. Road. Despite the ban orders under Section 144, they forcibly took out the procession, worsening the situation.

Being the district in-charge minister, have you not failed in containing the situation?

We had taken all precautionary measures. Both Muslims and Hindu outfits are responsible for the current situation in Bantwal taluk. Provocative speeches by senior RSS functionary Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat too aggravated the situation and the stabbing incident at Kalladka only worsened it.

The BJP is demanding a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the murder of RSS worker Sharath Madivala...

The state police are capable of investigating these murders. In the Kalladka case, the police have already taken culprits into custody. In Sharath Madivala case, they have started the investigation and soon will arrest the assailants. An NIA probe is not required.

What are the steps you have taken to contain the situation in Dakshina Kannada district?

I have decided to call a meeting of leaders of all political parties and communities. I will invite BJP MPs, MLAs, representatives of local bodies and corporations. Invitations will also be sent to Hindu and Muslim community leaders. We have to put an end to communal disharmony in the district. I seek the cooperation of all political leaders.

The BJP is accusing you of being responsible for the unrest in Bantwal taluk. They allege that the situation went out of control because of your appeasement politics...

It is not true. I have directed the police to take action against culprits from both groups. I have not favoured any community.

Why has the situation deteriorated suddenly in Bantwal taluk?

It is because of provocative speeches by RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat. The BJP wants to turn Mangaluru into Uttar Pradesh before the Assembly elections. But our police have tackled the situation well.
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday urged the political parties in the Darjeeling hills to return to the path of peace and sit with the government for talks.

"The government is ready for talks with the hill parties, but peace has to be ushered in. The government has shown enough restraint in the interest of the people of the hills. Peace has to return to the hills," she said here.

As the indefinite shutdown in the Darjeeling hills entered its 24th day on Saturday, the Army was redeployed after Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost, a toytrain station and clashed with the police at two places. Two Army columns have been deployed - one in Darjeeling and another in Sonada.

Three people were allegedly killed in police firing. The police however denied these reports. As news of the death spread, hundreds of Gorkhaland supporters came out on the streets and raised slogans against alleged "police atrocities". They clashed with the police and set on fire a police outpost at Sonada and the toytrain station of the Darjeeling- Himalayan Railways, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Banerjee hit out at the Centre on Saturday, alleging "non-cooperation" in responding to her government's request for four companies of Central forces for maintenance of law and order in the Hills.

"The violence in Darjeeling is a planned one. There are foreign links to this violence. We had sent requisitions for Central forces at least on four occasions in the last one month, but they didn't act. If we had got paramilitary forces in the right time, situation would not have aggravated and today's incident of violence would not have happened," Banerjee said.

She alleged that the Central government is not cooperating at the behest of the BJP leaders in the state.

"You have become a political government and not working for the people of the country," she said.

Appealing to the agitators to shun violence, she said, "Let the government send food and essential items and allow the children to return to schools. If you allow it, we can even call you for talks in 10-15 days."

In a statement tonight, the GJM, however, said the doors for talks with Banerjee and the state government are "closed forever". It said it was willing to holds with the Centre on the issue of Gorkhaland.
Bengaluru: Communal unrest, which was simmering in Dakshina Kannada district for the last two weeks, aggravated on Saturday as pro-Hindu organisations took out the funeral procession of RSS activist Sharath Madivala, who was stabbed by unidentified assailants on Thursday night. Sharath died at a private hospital late on Friday evening.

The procession was taken out despite ban orders under Section 144. As it reached B.C. Road, around 20 km from Mangaluru, people from a community threw stones and the police had to resort to a lathicharge to disperse the violent crowd. One person, who was injured in the caning, has been hospitalised.

Mr Ganesh Karnik, a BJP member in the Legislative Council, said, The procession from Mangaluru to B.C. Road was not planned. It was a spontaneous decision of the people. It started peacefully and we had requested the police to provide adequate security. But when it reached B.C. Road round 2.45 pm, a section of the people started throwing stones at the procession, he said.

Mr Karnik blamed district in-charge minister Ramanath Rai for the incident. From the beginning, he has not handled the communal situation well and has allowed it to aggravate. Bantwal taluk was tense for the last 3-4 days after a stabbing incident at Kalladka.

We held a protest rally on Friday at B.C. Road, and it was peaceful. But on Saturday, because of stone throwing, the entire region is tense, he said.

The police have imposed ban orders in four taluks of Dakshina Kannada district for the last one-and-a-half months. Mr Karnik defended the procession despite the ban orders, saying that the administration should not have allowed a public rally by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Mangaluru on Friday too.

Mr Karnik warned that the communally tense situation could get worse as the modus operandi behind the killing of Sharath Madivala is the same as in the murders of Rudresh and Prashanth Poojari, who were killed in Bengaluru and Moodbidre over the last two months.

BJP for NIA probe

Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje demanded a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the killing of over 30 BJP and RSS workers in Karnataka over the last four years.

Ms Karandlaje said, I called up Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and explained to him the situation in coastal Karnataka. I have also written to him seeking a NIA probe into all the murders, she said. She alleged that PFI and KFD were behind the murders of RSS and BJP workers in the state and sought a ban on these organisations. She demanded that Dakshina Kannada in-charge minister Ramanath Rai and Food and Civil Supplies minister U.T. Khader be sacked from the state cabinet for triggering communal incidents in Mangaluru. She also demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits behind Sharath Madivalas murder.
K. Srikanth who blogs at Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikalam, attributed the rains to the convection activity coupled with the weaker southwest monsoon.

Chennai: Chennaiites can enjoy pleasant weather for the next four to five days as a relatively weaker southwest monsoon has turned a boon to the city.

Apart from the state capital, the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu are expected to receive sudden bursts of rains in the coming days, say weather experts.

Rainfall has also reduced temperatures in the city. According to the officials from the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), the city (Nungambakkam station) witnessed 33 degrees, a departure of 2.9 degrees from the normal July temperature on Saturday. Meenambakkam, on the other hand noted 32.9 degrees, which is a departure of 3.3 degrees from the normal.

K. Srikanth who blogs at Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikalam, attributed the rains to the convection activity coupled with the weaker southwest monsoon. "As the monsoon is weak, the sea breeze is setting in. However, it is expected to intensify in the mid of next week," said Srikanth.

It means that a poor southwest monsoon, which brings in rainfall in Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, is a good sign for Chennai and other coastal districts. So, a stronger monsoon next week will reduce rains in the city. Chennai's Nungambakkam station has received 7mm of rainfall on Saturday, while other stations like Adirampatnam noted 33.7mm. Valparai recorded 20.6mm and Vellore noted 7.2mm.

Explaining the significance of southwest monsoon, the blogger said: "Most of the dams in Tamil Nadu are dependent on southwest monsoon. "According to weather models, parts of Sivagangai, Pudukottai and Ramanad will receive good rains and a day of modest rains is due for the delta region.
Hyderabad: The Telangana State Council for Higher Education will form anti-drugs committee in all colleges, council chairman Prof. T Papi Reddy said. Prof. Papi Reddy said the colleges would have counselling centres. Drug awareness programme will be conducted in schools and colleges and Budget will be allocated for this, he said.

Vice-Chancellors S. Ramachandram (Osmania University) and A. Venugopal Reddy, (JNTU-H) along with other officials participated in the meeting. Parents and educational institutions should closely monitor the behaviour of students, Prof. Papi Reddy said, in the backdrop of the discovery that students from several schools had fallen victim to a racket that was supplying them narcotics like LSD and MDMA. The government has taken a decision to form an anti-drug committee after a the drug racket was busted by the enforcement win of prohibition and excise department last week.
Chinese soldiers would look forward to large servings of Old Monk rum during the bilateral meetings that were usually marked by warm bonhomie. (Representational image)

New Delhi: This is a tale most of the officers and men who have served in the high-altitude areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) never tire of repeating of how the Chinese soldiers would look forward to large servings of Old Monk rum during the bilateral meetings that were usually marked by warm bonhomie.

"Old Monk Rum is a much sought after item among the Chinese soldiers. In return, they would bring their bottles of beer made from barley, although we preferred our own liquor, said a serving Army officer who was stationed near the Nathu La pass in Sikkim which is not far from the latest flashpoint where Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation that began last month.

As part of the confidence-building measures, besides about 10 border post meetings (BPMs) in a year, the two forces had regular flag meetings usually focused on specific issues and would host events to celebrate festivals and national days, where sweets and other gifts are exchanged. The BPMs would start with the hoisting of the national flags of both countries which would be saluted by all, following which the delegation leaders would make an address followed by exchange of greetings. Usually, cultural events would also be organised. It is another matter that with the latest impasse, the fate of BPMs is in a limbo as of now.

In the joint lunches, the Chinese spread is diverse. "But the Chinese army took care never to serve us beef as they know its sensitivity among Indians," said another soldier, who had attended many such meetings during his stint at the border.

For the Indian troops stationed at those icy heights, regular food would be supplied during summers, while specially made tinned food would be sent for them during winters.

"Even more than the plummeting temperatures or the lack of oxygen, it was the wind chill factor which made life very difficult. The constantly howling icy cold wind would bite into the bones," the official said.

While the patrolling parties of both armies would comprise teams of seven to 15 soldiers each, there would usually be someone who could translate. With the LAC not clearly demarcated in many areas, BPMs are a mechanism to defuse unwanted situations over frequent transgressions. The local commanders of the two armies meet at five points along the border at Daulat Beg Oldie, Spanngur Gap, Bum-La, Nathu-La and Kibithu (11,000 feet in Arunachal Pradesh).
Srinagar: Pakistan on Friday violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control in Uri sector of Kashmir, injuring a woman.

The Indian Army retaliated to the Pakistani firing.

"Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing in Gwalta area of Uri sector around 9.30 am," a police official said.

He said 45-year-old Shakeela Bano sustained splinter injuries in the action of Pakistani troops.

The injured woman has been taken to a hospital where her condition is stated to be stable.
Chennai: Despite several mishaps, school education authorities are yet to learn their safety lessons. About 28 school children studying in Gandhiji Memorial Primary School at Perambur, are endangering their lives by studying in the dilapidated building built in 1967.

And the saddest part is that the government-aided school has been severed its water connection a few months ago for non-payment of metro water charges.

Started as an evening school to cater to children it was taken over by the government two decades ago, since then there is no improvement, admit teachers.

The walls are so damp and dilapidated that any triggering factor would collapse the classroom. With the monsoon approaching, we are taking classes with a sense of fear, admitted a teacher seeking anonymity.

We buy water from tankers, pay the electricity bill and try to provide other facilities to retain the few kids studying in the school. Most of the children in the area are staying in their homes as they neither have the cash nor the interest to join this school, said another teacher.

R. Poongodi, headmistress of the school, rued that people broke the compound wall of the school to use the empty space for anti-social activities at night. Empty liquor bottles are a common sight on school campus.

Adding to the woes, every five years the school is used as an election booth. The teachers are forced to supply refreshments and pay for electricity during the period. Recently, the government also announced a special campaign for the voters on the school premises, which is going to be held on July 9 and 23. Also, a notice is sent asking the teachers to ensure proper facilities for officials.

When contacted, assistant elementary education officer M. Tamizhmani said he is initiating steps towards improvement and awareness will be spread in the area.
On Saturday morning, Yuvarani walked into the MKB Nagar police station and informed the personnel there that she had murdered her husband.

Chennai: A 24-year-old woman allegedly killed her husband while he was sleeping by smashing a grinding stone on his face at their residence in Avadi on Saturday.

The woman was irate over her husband's alcoholism and the sexual abuse which followed that, police said.

The deceased, S. Rajkumar (30) is an auto driver. He lived with his wife, S. Yuvarani and their two-year-old son at Vallivelan Nagar near Avadi.

On Saturday morning, Yuvarani walked into the MKB Nagar police station and informed the personnel there that she had murdered her husband.

The Avadi Tank factory police were alerted and a team secured the man's body from the house and moved it to the Kilpauk Medical college hospital for autopsy.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Yuvarani murdered her husband during the early hours of Saturday.

The couple had fought the previous night after the man forced himself on her turning home drunk. Police sources said the man had been doing this for the past one-year and the couple used to get into frequent fights over the same.

Avadi Tank Factory police arrested the woman. She was produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody.
MRPS activists taken away by police while on their way to participate in Kurukshetra meeting, in front of Acharya Nagarjuna University on Friday. (Photo: DC)

Guntur: The police department deployed policemen in front of the Acharya Nagarjuna University to restrain public from atte-nding Madiga Reservation Porata Samitis Kurukshetra public meeting demanding categorisation of SC reservations.

The police conducted thorough checks in bus-stands, railway stations and at the venue. The MRPS first decided to conduct Kurukshetra meeting and got permission from the court. But Mala Mahanadu, which is opposing categorisation of SC reservation, also decided to conduct a public meeting at the same place which created law and order problem and permission was denied to both meetings. But MRPS leaders claimed that they will conduct Kurukshetra meeting at the venue without caring for the restriction, which created tension.

The police stopped MRPS leaders and activists coming from Prakasam, Krishna, Kur-nool, Nellore and other districts at various police pickets and shifted them to nearest police stations. The police tightened security to the Secretariat at Velagapudi to avoid protests by the MRPS. The locals of various villages of Amaravati capital region faced severe difficulties to reach their villages due to closure of the Krishna Karkatta road providing security to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. The CM is living on the banks of the Krishna river in Undavalli on the Karakatta and the police, sensing chances of MRPS protests at the CM house, closed the Karakatta and its linking roads. The police shifted the arrested MRPS activists to Amara-vati, Nadendla, Sattena-palli and other police stations.

Meanwhile, MRPS foun-der Manda Krishna Madi-ga, who vastly campaig-ned about Kurukshetra till Thursday disappeared on Friday morning. Speaking to media over the phone, he recalled that Mr Chandrababu Naidus swearing-in programme was held in the Bible Mission grounds, YSRC plenary scheduled on July 8 and 9, Jansena founder Pawan Kalyan conducted weavers meeting there and several other meetings were held, but the TD government showed partiality by refusing to give permission to MRPS meeting. He claimed that there is no violence in the 23 years history of MRPS. He further claimed that Mr Naidu successfully completed his padayathra with the cooperation of MRPS but now forget the same and denying permission.
New Delhi: CBI and ED raids notwithstanding, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav continues to enjoy the support of Bihars Muslims and Yadavs.

This, according to sources, is why Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is finding it difficult to come out of the grand alliance and join hands with the BJP. Some of the party leaders also pointed out that even though Mr Kumar could remain in power with the support of the BJP, the JD(U) would not only lose the support of the Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) combination, but also would be at the mercy of the saffronites.

In the House of 243, the halfway mark in the Bihar Assembly is 122. The grand alliance is comfortably perched with 178 MLAs which include 80 MLAs of the RJD, 71 of JD(U) and 27 of the Congress. The BJP has 58 MLAs. If Mr Kumar takes up BJPs support, he would still remain in power with the total strength of 129 but would be hugely dependent on the saffron party.

Moreover, Mr Kumar, who proved to be more popular than the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi during the Bihar Assembly polls would be completely overshadowed by him.

The M-Y combination in Bihar is around 31 per cent, which includes nearly 17 per cent Muslims and 14 per cent Yadavs.
Mangaluru: The ruling Congress will introduce new faces in Karnataka during the next Assembly polls which would be fought on the agenda of development, general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, K C Venugopal, said on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters at Udupi after visiting Sri Krishna math along with KPCC president G Parameshwar, he said meetings were being conducted at regional level to enthuse party workers. Both leaders met Sri Vishewsha Teertha Swamiji and sought his blessings. The seer had drawn flak from a fringe Hindu outfit for organising a 'harmony feast' for Muslims during Ramzan in the ancient Krishna temple complex at Udupi on June 23. The senior pontiff had, however, defended his gesture, saying it had in no way brought insult to Hindus.

Asked about a possible cabinet reshuffle ahead of the polls, Mr Venugopal said it was the prerogative of the Chief Minister. The Congress government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had provided good governance and implemented pro-people programmes in the last four years, he said. He alleged that BJP's attempt to polarise votes by creating communal disturbances in certain areas would not be accepted by the people of the state. Commending the Iftar get together held by Vishweshateertha Swamiji, Venugopal said the seer had given a good message to the people. He said former Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee had hosted the Iftar get-together during his tenure, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not yet hosted any such meet to foster harmony and goodwill.
Guwahati: Nagaland Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu, who on Saturday tried to pass a Cabinet resolution suggesting dissolution of the state Assembly, is now facing serious rebellion in his party with more than 40 legislators of his party camping in a resort near Kaziranga and waiting for Nagaland Governor P.B. Acharya to return to Kohima.

The legislators have decided to re-elect former chief minister T.R. Zeliang as their new leader in place of present Chief Minister.

The ongoing political crisis had started precipitating soon after the decision of Mr Liezietsus to contest the bye-elections by asking his MLA son to resign and vacate seat for him.

His son Khriehu had resigned from this seat last month to enable his father to contest and be an elected member of the now 59-member Nagaland Assembly in order to continue in office.

Mr Liezietsu had won the Northern Angami-I seat in 2003 and 2008 but opted out in 2013 to make way for his son.

It was virtually an action replay of what happened before Mr Zeliang had to quit about four months back in February. A majority of NPF legislators had trooped into the same resort then.

If insiders are to be believed, former chief minister and MP Neiphiu Rio, who was camping in Kohima, has also extended his support to Mr Zeliang.

It is significant that Mr Zeliang was forced to quit because of violent protest of some civil society organisation backed by Mr Rio.

Informing that legislators of ruling Nagaland Peoples Front decided to challenge the leadership of present Chief Minister who also heads the NPF only after a formal consultation with the BJP leadership, sources said that the central BJP leadership has also thrown their weight behind Mr Zeliang.

Four BJP MLAs were camping in Kohima. When contacted BJP MLA Mhon Kikon told this newspaper, It was the internal matter of NPF. Let them settle the leadership dispute.

However, sources in the ruling party told this newspaper that Mr Rio was behind the present crisis. Mr Rio and Mr Zeliang were bitter rivals, but they have patched up after the mediation of some BJP leaders.

Earlier during the day, Mr Liezietsu in a Cabinet meeting in which only five ministers were present tried to pass a resolution recommending dissolution of the state Assembly and holding election of the state Assembly which is scheduled to take place in March 2018.

The NPF, with 47 legislators, is the dominant partner of the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland. It has the support of four MLAs of BJP and eight independents.
New Delhi has long been infested with lobbyists. They swarm all over. Their presence and clout have increased with the size and affluence of Indias economy and its growing search for armaments. In this, it is not alone. There is scarcely a capital in any country of consequence that is free from the presence of the parasitic lobbyist. Few realise that the lobbyist poses a threat not only to the probity of public life but also to democracy itself. Corrupt lobbyists cannot survive without corrupt ministers, civil servants, MPs and journalists. Several public relations firms have emerged, headed by men whom TV anchors take pride in hosting. Since they are professional peddlers of influence, it is hard to understand what disinterested opinion they can conceivably offer to the public. The identity of their clients is not secret; nor the studious care they take, in expressing their opinions aloud, to steer away from the concerns of those who generously fill their pockets.

The US provides ample warning of the dangerous impact of lobbyists, not only in the domestic sphere but also, alarmingly, in the sensitive realm of foreign affairs. Some of the tallest public figures sell their services to foreign governments and readily enlist themselves as their paid lobbyists; retained, in turn, by the professional lobbyist. American ambassadors do not hesitate to enter into questionable deals shortly after their retirement. Frank Wisner gave his services to Enron not long after he left the US embassy in New Delhi. His successor, Robert D. Blackwill, proved to be as resourceful in providing his skills to those able to pay well as he was loud in his utterances while in New Delhi; even more royalist than the king to everyones embarrassment. Led by Blackwill, the lobbying firm BGR Group became involved in the internal affairs of Iraq after the US-led invasion in 2003. It was paid $380,000 to represent Iraqs Kurdish regional government and $300,000 for giving strategic counsel to former Iraq Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. BGR Groups other recent clients have included the governments of Qatar, Serbia and Taiwan; a testimony alike to the catholicity of his taste as to his financial successors.

The American-Israel Public Affairs Committee is one of the most powerful lobbies on Capitol Hill. The government of Israel does not need to bestir itself. Why bark when you have a dog? The Indian lobby has made considerable advances. India and Pakistan fight their cold war in Washington, each with its chosen lobbying firm coupled with loyal senators and members of congress. The manner in which lobbyists promote their clients causes ought to concern us. They provide campaign donations, that is, bribes. Those paying expect to be rewarded in the legislature with votes on legislation that affects their clients interests. John Newhouse called it a uniquely American habit of sustaining the democratic process with money; they see a broad and deepening pattern of corrupt and corruptible members of Congress.

In the 1990s, Britain was rocked by the scandalous cash-for-questions affair when MPs were caught in sting operations accepting cash for tabling questions in the House of Commons. Some years earlier, one MP-placed advertisement in the Commons magazine read, Hardworking backbench Tory MP of 10 years standing seeks consultancy in order to widen his range of activities. A new phenomenon is the rise of the hybrid law firm, where some of the partners work in courts while the others act as lobbyists. Legislation has proved futile. The US Lobbying Disclosure Act, 1995, full of loopholes, for example, disclosure is required only when foreign clients represent over 20 per cent of the contracts of a lobbying firm. Banning lobbyists might violate the fundamental right to freedom of speech. But a cure must be found.

By arrangement with Dawn
Patel was sent back to the US by his employer but he travelled to Jordan instead where he was arrested and eventually deported. (Photo: Repesentational Image/AFP)

New York: An Indian-origin Muslim convert, who had voiced support for ISIS and had searched online for ways to join the terror group, has been arrested for making false statements on his applications to join the US military.

Shivam Patel, 27, of Norfolk was charged for not disclosing on his application to join the Army that he had travelled to China or Jordan.

He claimed he had not gone anywhere outside the US in the past seven years, except for a family trip to India in 2011-12, a report in The Virginian Pilot said, quoting a court affidavit.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. According to the affidavit, Patel  who converted to Islam several years ago  had travelled to China in July 2016 to teach English. While there, he had expressed displeasure to his father about how that country treated Muslims, it said.

Patel was sent back to the US by his employer but he travelled to Jordan instead where he was arrested and eventually deported.

His parents spoke with the FBI about their son after learning he was in Jordanian custody and said he had become obsessed with Islam.

An investigation of Patels room and computers disclosed evidence that he had downloaded three copies of an online magazine produced by the Islamic State and searched for how to join the group.

On one occasion, he had talked about wanting to become a martyr but suggested his jihad might not be violent. He had also praised the terrorist attacks in Paris, Nice and Orlando and expressed an admiration for Anwar al-Awlaki, a slain leader of the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

On another occasion, speaking to an undercover agent, Patel expressed desire to do something bigger, better and more purposeful, like dying for Allah, the report added.

He told the agent about his desire to see a holy war between Muslims and non-Muslims. He sang an Islamic State fight song to the source and recalled making a replica of the groups flag, which he wanted to replace his neighbours American flag with, the report said.

Patel then applied for jobs with local police and fire departments, correctional facilities and even the US Army and Air Force.

He wanted to blend into society and do something glorious, FBI Special Agent Thomas Pembroke wrote in an affidavit unsealed Thursday in US District Court.
Hamburg (Germany): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asked leaders from the G20 nations to be forthcoming on the climate change action as he emphasised the need for cooperation in the world of opposing realities.

His remarks at the G20 Summit here assumed significance amid the US deciding to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement last month.

While underlining the need for countries to be forthcoming on climate change action, the prime minister said that developing countries must have enough room to grow.

Besides, Modi proposed the idea of having an international coalition of countries that can identify technology, develop systems and build capacities, adding that India was ready to lead in this regard.

Referring to various initiatives taken by the government, Modi said Skill India, Digital India, financial inclusion are India's own initiatives in consonance with sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Modi was the lead speaker at the second working session on sustainable development, climate change and energy. Earlier in the day, Modi said it was "mandatory" to implement the consensus of the Paris agreement on climate change and asserted that India will implement the accord in "letter and spirit".

On issues of climate change and terror, he said that the role of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is "important".

President Donald Trump recently announced that the US will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, saying the deal agreed by more than 190 nations unfairly benefited countries like India and China.

Trump's decision drew sharp criticism from international leaders, business groups and green activists.
Putin said the North Korea nuclear problem is very serious. But here, one must not lose his cool (Photo: AP)

Hamburg: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday underlined the importance of staying calm in the North Korea crisis, saying nuclear-armed Pyongyang should be dealt with in a "pragmatic" manner.

"The North Korea nuclear problem is very serious. But here, one must not lose his cool, but rather act in a pragmatic and delicate manner," said Putin during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-In.

The bilateral talks came on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the northern German city of Hamburg, where leaders of the world's top economies are gathered.

The meeting has been overshadowed by a number of global crises, including fresh tensions sparked by North Korea's test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday.

Ahead of the summit, Moon called for toughened sanctions against the North at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

But he insisted Thursday he was ready to meet the North's leader Kim Jong-Un in a bid to ease tensions.

"When the conditions are met, I am prepared to meet the North Korean ruler wherever and whenever," he told an audience at a think-tank in the German capital, calling for a "long dialogue for peace and detente".

On a visit to Washington last month, Moon laid out pre-requisites for full-fledged talks for nuclear dismantlement including North Korea refraining from nuclear and missile tests and promising a nuclear freeze.
The Saudi-led bloc that has boycotted Qatar has condemned its rejection of their demands and warned of unspecified new measures against it.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain said Qatars rejection of a list of demands they set to lift sanctions on Doha reflects its intention to continue its policy, aimed at destabilising security in the region, according to a statement on the official SPA news agency.

All political, economic and legal measures will be taken in the manner and at the time deemed appropriate to preserve the four countries rights, security and stability, the statement added, without elaborating on the potential measures.

Meanwhile, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson will travel next week to Kuwait to seek a resolution to the Qatar crisis.

He is expected to meet with Kuwaiti officials who have been trying to mediate, but his presence in the region leaves open the possibility that he may try to shuttle between the neighboring countries to forge a resolution.
Washington: The Trump administration is being drawn further into the crisis engulfing Qatar and many of its Gulf Arab neighbors, a diplomatic tussle that it wanted to avoid.

Despite numerous US appeals for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt to resolve their issues with Qatar on their own, the State Department said Thursday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would visit the region next week in a bid to mediate a solution.

Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tillerson would visit Kuwait, which has been trying to broker an agreement, on Monday after stops in Ukraine and Turkey.

She said Tillerson would meet with Kuwaiti officials, but his presence in the region leaves open the possibility that he may try to shuttle between the neighboring countries to forge a resolution.

The four nations cut off diplomatic ties to Qatar a month ago, accusing the tiny nation of funding terrorism and spreading unrest. Qatar has refused to comply in whole with a list of demands from its neighbors.

The US has been supporting Kuwait's mediation efforts, but Tillerson's trip will mark a new level of US involvement in trying to broker a resolution.

Earlier Thursday, Nauert warned that the crisis over Qatar may not be quickly resolved.

"We've become increasingly concerned that that dispute is at an impasse at this point," she said. "We believe that this could potentially drag on for weeks; it could drag on for months; it could possibly even intensify."

She didn't specify what type of escalation the US fears. But she said Tillerson remains in close contact with the countries involved.
(Xinhua) 11:15, July 08, 2017

BERLIN, July 7 -- Protesters in Hamburg clashed with police, set vehicles on fire, and targeted municipal infrastructure as German Chancellor Angela Merkel officially opened the two-day G20 summit on Friday.

Hundreds of protesters attempted to forcibly enter areas cordoned-off by authorities, known as the "high security zone", to upset the schedule for the first day of meetings between international leaders.

Cars have been set ablaze at various locations throughout the city while protesters blocked an important junction at the city's harbor.

Around 19,000 police officers have been deployed to ensure the safety of the global dignitaries attending the summit. Several police helicopters are circling the skies above Hamburg and a ban on public gatherings is in place in parts of the city until the summit ends at 5:00 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) on Saturday.

Federal police have reported an arson attack on one of its stations in the Altona district where protesters threw firebombs, causing damage to three police vehicles.

According to police information, several junctions in the inner-city are being blocked. Police surrounded around 200 protesters from the group "Block G20 - Color the red zone" which seeks to block access roads to the summit and infiltrate the high security zone. The group has warned authorities of "mass, announced, public disobedience."

Police used water cannons at a sit-in protest on one of the streets designated for U.S. President Donald Trump's journey to the summit.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 individuals clad in white and purple gathered at the city's piers and shouted "Get out, get out."

Eyewitnesses said police attacked participants in the demonstration with clubs.

Clashes between 200 protesters and police were also reported in the Berliner Tor area. A member of police described the situation as "very dynamic."

Protests caused traffic congestion as trucks were unable to access the harbor. Earlier on Friday morning, there had been a temporary blockade of railway tracks leading to numerous delays until police removed the protesters from the tracks.

Friday's demonstrations marked the second day of escalating clashes between protesters and German authorities. On Thursday night, a demonstration dubbed "Welcome to Hell" caused widespread material damage in the Altona district and left 111 police officers and several protesters injured.

A total of 29 individuals were arrested, a member of police said on Friday. While she could not say exactly how many protesters were injured, the number was likely to be high and some had suffered serious injuries.

The police union GdP (Gewerkschaft der Polizei) defended the use of force by authorities at the "Welcome to Hell" demonstration. According to GdP director Oliver Malchow who spoke to German radio station Deutschlandfunk on Friday, security forces had to ensure the right to peaceful assembly and prevent individuals from committing crimes.

Also speaking to Deutschlandfunk, member of police Timo Zell said the situation had threatened to spin out of control and cited 3,500 people at the demonstration who announced their intent to use violence to get their message across.

According to Zill, police negotiated with masked protesters for 45 minutes before coming under attack from people throwing bottles, iron bars and roof tiles. Zill said he had "never witnessed anything like it" in his career, and described the subsequent police intervention as being "without alternative."

Police released a statement on Friday detailing an arson attack at a Porsche dealership in which 12 vehicles were damaged on Thursday night. Police investigations into the incident continue.
An Army jawan and his wife were killed and their three daughters injured when the Pakistani Army targeted forward posts and hamlets along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, police said today.



The Pakistan Army violated the ceasefire and initiated indiscriminate firing from small arms, automatic weapons and mortars from 6.30 am today on Indian Army posts along the LoC, a defence spokesperson added.



Indian troops returned the fire strongly and effectively, he said.



Sepoy Mohmmad Shaukat of the Territorial Army, who was on leave, and his wife Safia Bi were killed when a mortar shell fired by the Pakistan Army exploded near their home in Karmara, a police officer said.



The couple's three daughters, Zaida Kouser (6), Robina Kouser (12) and Nazia Bi, and another person were injured.



Pakistani troops rained mortar bomb shells and resorted to heavy firing, targeting civilian villages.



"Very heavy shelling is going on in areas like Khadi, Karmara and Guplur," he said.



The Pakistan Army is firing and shelling heavily from eight different posts on villages and forward posts along the LoC. They have fired at five to six hamlets, the officer said.



There have been 23 incidents of ceasefire violations, one BAT (Border Action Team) attack and two infiltration bids by Pakistan in June in which four people, including three jawans, have been killed and 12 injured.



On June 29, two Indian Army jawans were injured when Pakistani troops fired at forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch.



Three days earlier, on June 26, the occasion of Eid-ul Fitr, the Pakistani Army fired small arms and automatic weapons and shelled mortars along the LoC in Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri.



On June 22, in the third such attack this year, a team of Pakistani special forces sneaked 600 metres across the LoC into the Poonch sector and killed two Indian jawans and lost one BAT member in retaliatory action.



In the firefight, two Indian soldiers -- 34-year-old Naik Jadhav Sandip of Aurangabad and 24-year-old Sepoy Mane Savan Balku of Kolhapur - were killed.




Jammu and Kashmir government imposed curfew like restrictions across the Valley on Saturday to prevent protests and rallies on the first death anniversary of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.



However, despite restrictions, protesters clashed with security forces at several places in which more than a dozen civilians were injured due to pellet gun shots, reports said. In south Kashmir's Shopian district, ten people, including eight women, were injured after forces fired pellets to break up a protest rally.



Witnesses said that forces raided a locality in the town to stop the 'Jihadi anthem' being played on the public address system of a masjid. However, people, mostly women stopped the forces from entering the mosque. The forces, they said, fired pellets at the protesters, resulting in injuries to ten people.



Reports of clashes were received from Tral, the native town of Burhan, after police and paramilitary troopers raided the home of the slain commander where people had assembled for fateha (prayers). Witnesses said that the policemen and CRPF troopers asked Burhans father Muzaffar Wani to vacate the tent erected inside the premises of his house in five minutes.



This angered the youth who were present there and soon clashes erupted between the two sides. Reports said that six youth were also detained during the clashes.



In neighbouring Tahab and Pichul areas of Pulwama district, the army conducted a flag march to prevent pro-Burhan rallies and protests, local media reported.



Authorities had imposed curfew in areas under the jurisdiction of five police stations in old city Srinagar while restrictions were imposed in rest of the city to prevent separatists called a march. The separatists had called for a complete shutdown to mourn the death of Burhan and also asked people to march towards Tral.



Security forces had laid steel barricades and coiled razor wire on roads and intersections to cut off neighbourhoods as authorities anticipated widespread protests. In view of the prevailing situation, ongoing Amarnath yatra was suspended for a day as no pilgrim was allowed to move towards the valley from Jammu on Saturday. The intra-Kashmir train services between Baramulla and Banihal town were also suspended.



Internet services on both mobile phones and broadband connection also remain suspended for the second day on Saturday. Authorities claimed this was done to prevent the spread of propaganda by "anti-national" elements on social networking websites.



The state government has already announced a 10-day summer vacation in all educational institutions from July 6. The vacations coincide with a protest schedule issued by the separatists and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir based United Jehad Council (UJC), an umbrella of militant organisations.



22-year-old Burhan, who kept the security agencies on tenterhooks for six years, before getting killed in a brief gunfight in Kokernag, Anantnag on July 8, last year is considered a poster boy of new-age militancy in Kashmir. His killing triggered a month-long unrest that left more than 90 civilians, mostly youth, dead in action by security forces. Two cops were also killed during the protests.



Given the massive unrest triggered last year due to Burhan's killing, authorities had beefed up security to ensure that situation remains under control this time.


Activists of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) also clashed with the police at Sonada and Chawkbazar in Darjeeling as the indefinite shutdown in the hills entered its 24th day.



Two columns of the Army comprising around 100 personnel were deployed in Sonada and Darjeeling in the wake of fresh violence, defence sources said.



GNLF spokesperson Neeraj Zimba claimed that the youth Tashi Bhutia was shot dead by the security forces last night when he had gone out to purchase medicines at Sonada.



The police, however, said they did not have any report of firing.



"We don't have any report of police firing as of now. We are looking into the incident. We can give you details later," a police officer said.



Inspector General of Police (IGP) Javed Shamim, when asked about the firing, said, "It will be known only after the inquiry."



The GJM and other hill parties have lodged a police complaint accusing the police of killing the youth.



"The youth was killed by the police without any reason. His body has bullet injuries. We demand that the policemen involved be punished," GJM leader Binay Tamang said.



As news of his death spread, hundreds of Gorkhaland supporters came out on the streets and raised slogans against "police atrocities".



They clashed with the police and set on fire a police outpost at Sonada and the toy train station of the Darjeeling-Himalayan railways, a UNESCO World Heritage site.



The GJM said that it will take out a rally with the body in the Chowkbazar area of Darjeeling later in the day.



The Centre had said yesterday that it was keen on holding tripartite talks with the GJM and the West Bengal government to end the agitation.



With food supply severely hit due to the indefinite strike, the GJM and various NGOs distributed food amongst the people.



Barring medicine outlets, all shops, schools, colleges remained closed. Internet services remained suspended for the 21st day.



The police and the security forces patrolled the streets and kept a vigil on the entry and exit routes.



The Army was today redeployed in Darjeeling hills after fresh violence broke out at Sonada where Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost and a toy train station after a youth was killed in alleged police firing last night.
Three Army personnel, including a Captain, were injured when militants fired at a patrol team in Kashmir's Bandipora district, police said today.



The militants opened indiscriminate fire on the Army patrol at Hajin in Bandipora late last night, a police official said.



The militants managed to escape under the cover of darkness, he added.



The injured were admitted to the 92 Base Hospital here.


Unidentified miscreants have pelted stones at the funeral procession of RSS worker Sharath, who sccumbed to injuries at a private hospital in Mangaluru on Friday night. The incident took place Kaikamba, near BC Road, today.



In retaliation, the members of Sangh Parivar too have pelted stones at the miscreants. As a result, a few shops and vehicles were damaged. The police have resorted to mild lathi charge as to bring the situation under control



Amid tight police security, the mortal remains of Sharath was taken from hospital in Mangaluru to his native Sajipa in Bantwal taluk at 10.30 am. Thousands of Sangh Parivar workers were a part of the procession.



Sharath (28) was brutally assaulted by unidentified miscreants on July 4



RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat paid homage to the mortal remains of Sharath in front of the laundry owned by Sharath in B C Road. All the shops and business establishmentes at Thumbe, Farangipete, B C Road, Bantwal remained closed. The police have tightened security in the region.
Six persons were thrashed in an outer Delhi locality by a mob that suspected them to be ferrying cows to a slaughterhouse on Friday evening.



Trouble began when one of the six trucks carrying buffaloes to a slaughter house in east Delhi grazed a vehicle in Baba Haridas Nagar locality near Najafgarh in outer Delhi.



Soon after locals gathered on the spot and began roughing up the truckers accusing them of ferrying cattle illegally for slaughter. Police said the mob vandalised six trucks and thrashed the drivers of the vehicles.



The attack comes within a week of a stern warning from Prime Minister Narendra Modi against cow vigilantism. Killing of people in the name of gau bhakti is not acceptable. This is not something that Mahatma Gandhi would approve of, Modi had said last week during a visit to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad.



Police officials said of the six truckers attacked on Friday evening, one Ali Jaan had suffered severe injuries and was recuperating at a local hospital. Five others were discharged after administering first aid.



The mob let loose the buffaloes despite pleas from the truckers that they had valid documents to transport the animals.



The police have registered a case against unknown persons for the assault. However, no arrests have been made yet.



As many as 21 incidents of mob lynching in the name of the cow have been reported from different parts of the country this year itself.



About a fortnight back, 16-year-old Junaid Khan was beaten to death on a train from Delhi to Mathura. Last week, a man was killed in Jharkhand by a group of people who accused him of carrying beef in his car.


A BJP central team comprising party MPs Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satyapal Singh was stopped from visiting the riot-hit Basirhat in West Bengal and its members were detained today.



The three MPs, who left for Basirhat after arriving here from Delhi, were stopped by the police near Birati, close to the airport.



Later, they were detained when they tried to proceed to Basirhat after a heated exchange with the police.



Lekhi asked the police if the situation was under control in Basirhat, as claimed by the state government, why were they not allowed to go there?



"We are MPs and only we three will go there. You accompany us," she told policemen.

The police, however, refused to allow them.a


Shops and markets reopened and vehicles started plying as locals came out like other normal days. No untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the district since yesterday, a senior home department official said.



Internet services, however, remained suspended.



A large number of police personnel and paramilitary forces would continue to be deployed in the troubled areas which were peaceful since yesterday, he said.



"We'll keep the forces deployed till we are sure about the situation. We are keeping a close watch on everything," he said.

Life in riot-hit Baduria town and adjacent areas in North 24 Parganas district was fast becoming normal today after communal violence broke out over a Facebook post early this week.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and South Korean President Moon Jae-in and discussed ways to boost bilateral ties and cooperation at the global level.

The bilateral meetings took place on the sidelines of the G20 Summit here in this German port city.



Later in the day, Modi is to hold such meetings with heads of Mexico, Argentina, the UK and Vietnam.

Besides, he will participate in G20 sessions on Partnership with Africa, Migration and Health; and Digitalization, women's empowerment and employment.



After attending the concluding session later in the evening, he will leave for New Delhi. Yesterday, on the first day of the Summit, Modi held bilaterals with Japan's Shinzo Abe and Canada's Justin Trudeau.



About the meeting with Abe today, the Ministry of External Affairs said the two leaders briefly reviewed progress in bilateral relations, including in important projects, since their last meeting in Japan during Modi's visit in November 2016. Prime Minister Modi expressed satisfaction in developments in bilateral relations since then.



The prime minister said he looked forward to Prime Minister Abe's forthcoming visit to India for the next Annual Summit and hoped that it would further strengthen their cooperation.
The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs has decided to introduce a scheme to offer a financial assistance of Rs 51,000 towards the marriage of girls, who availed the ministry's scholarship for education.



"We decided in a meeting day before yesterday, like 'Shadi Mubarak' in Telangana, the girl child who does graduation by availing our scholarship, we will give Rs 51,000 as 'Shadi Shagun'," Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs (independent charge) Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here today.



"I think it will support education in a big way. Telangana is doing, but in the country, the poorer sections among minority community face lot of difficulties," he said.



The parents of the girl children say that they are not able to save money for the marriage of the girl as they have to spend considerable amount of money on education even after availing the government's scholarship, the minister said.



The Rs 51,000 assistance is aimed at helping the parents of girl children, he said.



"They say we have to spend on the education of the girl even after your scholarship. So, we are not able to save money for the marriage, for the future of the child. It results in dropouts," he said.



Naqvi said 'Gharib Nawaz Skill Development Centres' would be established in 100 districts of the country. A skill development centre is being set up here.



Besides providing various job-oriented skill development courses, the Garib Nawaz Skill Development Centre would also offer a certificate course in GST.



"After completing the three-month course in GST, the certificate holders would not only be able to help small and medium traders, but also common people," he said.



The skill development would open up job opportunities to the youth on a massive scale, he added.


Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning is berthed at the Victoria bay in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), south China, July 7, 2017. A flotilla including China's first aircraft carrier Liaoning on Friday arrived in HKSAR for a visit, during which Liaoning will, for the first time, be open for the public to visit. According to the Navy's plan, sailors of the flotilla will attend local activities to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army being stationed in the HKSAR. (Xinhua/Zeng Tao)

China's aircraft carrier Liaoning docked in Hong Kong on Friday morning for its five-day visit to the region. A total of 2,000 free tickets for visiting the aircraft carrier were snapped up by Hong Kong permanent residents.

This is the first time the Liaoning is open to the public, and Hong Kong residents will be first civilian visitors to the carrier. Friday, July 7, is the day which marks the 80th anniversary of the beginning of China's nationwide all-out war against Japanese aggression. The coincidence gives sufficient reason for the public to interpret the significance of the Liaoning's visit to Hong Kong. It is no doubt that the Liaoning's visit is a patriotic journey. Hong Kong became a British colony when China was at its weakest in history. The humiliation came to an end 20 years ago when Hong Kong was returned to China. The Liaoning visit marks a new era for Hong Kong.

It is hoped that the Liaoning docks at each coastal city of China to allow as many Chinese nationals as possible to have a chance to visit the carrier. Hong Kong is the first stop in a series of exchanges between China's aircraft carrier and the ordinary residents. This reflects that the central government attaches great value to Hong Kong. In a sense, Hong Kong is indeed at the forefront of the country's solidarity and unification and a subtle focus of China's modern governance.

Twenty years have passed since Hong Kong returned to China. The Liaoning berthed at Hong Kong, China's own city, which has been interpreted by some Western media outlets and a few Hong Kong radicals as a show of China's military might or exerting pressure on the Hong Kong society. The strange logic and thought can be seen as a relic of the history of British colonial rule over Hong Kong. The logic is rusty but has not been completely dumped into the historical trash bin where it deserves to be.

This is certainly not the only time the country's aircraft carrier will dock at Hong Kong. The arrival of the Liaoning-led flotilla is a joyful event for the city but a tiny minority might feel uncomfortable and feel being "terrorized." If they have such a feeling, let them tremble in fear.

The Liaoning is indeed not a yacht but a symbol of the nation's strength, which sees protecting the people as its responsibility. Those who stand with the masses and those who stand against the interest of the masses will have different feelings about the national strength. The Liaoning-led flotilla is the friend of Hong Kong people and the protector of their interest. In this city with a bumpy history, the residents have a chance to be close to China's strongest naval flotilla. This is a historical marvel and the Chinese people know the warmth and solemnity of the flotilla.

Hong Kong is an intersection where all types of historical and realistic feelings interweave and where Chinese and Western forces interact. People can perceive Hong Kong in many different ways. To the outside world, the Liaoning has become one of the multiple ways to observe Hong Kong.

For a long time, the patriotic feelings of people toward China have been driven by the country's profound history and their attachment to the homeland. No matter how poor the country was, we loved it. Patriotism has become a belief and even dedication. Today China has become stronger and richer and a source of our pride.

The Liaoning carrier, Chinese astronauts as well as Olympic medal winners who have visited Hong Kong have become a symbol of modern China. Today, loving our country has become a joy. We hope that the Hong Kong society and the Liaoningcarrier can enjoy a happy and memorable time together.


The feisty West Bengal Chief Minister also accused the Modi government and the BJP of trying to "disturb peace" and "destroy" the federal structure by allowing people from across the border to enter the state and vitiate the atmosphere.



Meanwhile, The Superintendent of police of the district and Inspector General of Police (South Bengal) have been transferred, while a 3-member team of BJP MPs was prevented from visiting Basirhat due to apprehension of trouble.



Internet services remained suspended to check spread of rumours which could aggravate the situation.



"We have decided to order a judicial probe into the Baduria and Basirhat riots. We want to see who were involved and the state government will provide every input to the judicial commission. Let there be an impartial probe," Banerjee told reporters.



At loggerheads with the Modi dispensation quite often, Banerjee alleged the BJP was "destroying the federal structure of the country with the sole aim of grabbing power".



"How can some people from across the border intrude and start disruptions here? Who is in charge of border security, the Centre or the state? Once again I am saying, it is the ploy of the BJP to disturb the peace of the state," she said.



Banerjee said law would take its own course and strict action would be taken against those behind the riots.



Superintendent of Police of North 24 Parganas Bhaskar Mukherjee has been removed and C Sudhakar appointed in his place. IG (South Bengal) Ajey Mukund Ranade has been shifted to CID and Sanjay Singh, Director in the Directorate of Economic Offences, will take his place.



A man was arrested from Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas district for allegedly trying to incite communal violence, police said.



Bhabatosh Chatterjee (38) of Rupnagar in Sonarpur was arrested from his residence yesterday for allegedly uploading a still photograph on social media and claiming it was an image of Baduria, a senior Kolkata Police officer said.



Banerjee also said her government would take action against two national TV channels for showing "fake" videos and "fomenting trouble".



A three-member BJP MP delegation comprising Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satypal Singh was today stopped and detained by the police at Michael Nagar near the airport when they were heading to Basirhat to take stock of the situation.



Lekhi told police that if the situation was under control in Basirhat then why were they not allowed to go there.



"We are MPs and only we three will go there. You accompany us," she told the police. However, the delegation's repeated pleas for permission was rejected.



Commenting on the attempts by political parties to visit the riot-hit areas, the chief minister said, "Where is the need to disturb the people there? Let them settle down. Trinamool MPs did not go. They could have gone also".



The state administration did not allow Congress, left and BJP teams to visit Basirhat yesterday.



Meanwhile, shops and markets reopened and vehicles started plying in the strife-torn areas. No untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the district since yesterday, a senior home department official said.



A large number of police personnel and paramilitary forces, however, remained deployed in sensitive areas.



"We'll keep the forces deployed. We are keeping a close watch on everything," he said.



West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today announced a judicial inquiry into the communal violence that rocked Baduria and Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district where life was slowly returning to normal.
Senior Uttar Pradesh minister Swami Prasad Maurya on Saturday sprung to the defence of the accused in the recent brutal killing of five people in state's Raebareilly district, about 90 kilometres from here, saying that the victims were ''hardened criminals'' and were ''punished'' by the local villagers.



Maurya's remarks were certain to embarrass chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who had, soon after the killings, announced a compensation of Rs. five lakh each to the next of the kin of the deceased, and directed the police officials to nab the culprits.



Five people, all of whom belonged to the 'Brahmin' community, were brutally killed by members of 'Yadav' community at Apta village in Raebareli last month. While three of the victims were shot dead, two others were burnt alive in their vehicle, according to the police. The incident was said to be the fall out of a political rivalry between the two groups.



The accused persons, who were supporters of the village 'pradhan' (panchayat chief) had chased the victims when they tried to escape and set their vehicle ablaze after shooting three people dead.



''All the five persons, who were killed, were professional shooters....they were hardened criminals and were punished by the villagers when they attacked them (villagers),'' Maurya said.



Maurya, who had crossed over to BJP from BSP before the March assembly polls in the state, accused former UP minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Manoj Pandey of being the "main conspirator" behind the incident.



''We need to rise above caste considerations....it is not a caste clash,'' the minister said.



The families of the victims have accused Maurya of "providing patronage" to the accused persons, a charge vehemently denied by him.



BJP leaders have expressed outrage at Maurya's remarks. ''Such remarks embarrass the government....the police are investigating the incident...they should be allowed a free hand,'' remarked a senior state BJP leader here.


India today refused to elaborate on the "range of issues" discussed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their informal conversation yesterday in Hamburg, in the backdrop of a standoff between their armies in the Sikkim sector.



"We have tweeted that the two leaders discussed a range of issues. A range of issues means a range of issues. I don't want to add anything further...I leave it to you to draw your conclusion," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.



His response came when during a briefing here he was asked if a "range of issues" discussed during the conversation between Modi and Xi ahead of the informal meeting of the BRICS leaders on the sidelines of the G20 Summit included the standoff in the Sikkim sector.



"I'm not commenting on it because we have said what we have (to say) and as to the picture, well, the old saying is that a picture speaks more than a thousand words," was Baglay's response when asked about whether the picture along with the tweet showing the two leaders smiling was indicative of any de-escalation of tension between the two countries.



The informal interaction between Modi and Xi came a day after a top Chinese foreign ministry official had said that the "atmosphere" is "not right" for a formal bilateral meeting between them in Hamburg.



The standoff between China and India in the Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction has dragged on for the past three weeks. It started after a Chinese Army's construction party attempted to build a road.



Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.



Baglay also asserted that the prime minister was here to attend the G20 summit meetings. "He participated in the proceedings and India's contribution to these discussions is the main focus for us here. At the same time, the prime minister had several bilaterals on the margins," he added.


India said today that it had "a major influence" on counter-terrorism discussions at the G20 Summit here with Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising the key issue with European leaders.



"India had a major influence on counter terrorism discussions at the G20 and also played a significant role in talks on trade and investment, migration and climate change," Arvind Panagariya, sherpa for India at the Summit, said at a media briefing.



External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said counter-terrorism measures remained in focus during all discussions prime minister Modi had with European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, at the G20 Summit.



Modi has been raising the issue of combating terrorism in all his meetings recently with European leaders in the wake of a spate of terror attacks that have struck European countries like Germany, France, the UK and Sweden recently.



Pledging a joint crackdown on the global scourge of terrorism and to check its funding sources, G20 leaders, including Modi, yesterday said all terror safe havens must be eliminated in every part of the world.



In a joint declaration on countering terrorism on the first day of the G20 Summit here, they resolved to facilitate swift and targeted exchanges of information between intelligence, law enforcement and judicial authorities on operational information-sharing, preventive measures and criminal justice response.



Refering to the declaration, Panagariya said that the G20 nations' joint statement on fighting terror was to be an annexure to the G20 declaration but India pitched for it to be a separate statement.



Modi, who was a lead speaker on the theme of terrorism at the Leaders Retreat at the G-20 Summit yesterday, had bracketed Pakistan-based terror groups like LeT and JeM with ISIS and al-Qaeda and made a strong pitch for global "deterrent" action against countries that support terrorism for their political goals.



Modi had presented a 11-point action plan to counter terror, including a ban on the entry of officials from terrorism-supporting countries into G-20 nations.
The five people killed in a political clash in Uttar Pradeshs Raebareli district are hardened criminals, senior Uttar Pradesh minister Swami Prasad Maurya said on Saturday.



The remarks have caused embarrassment to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who announced Rs 5 lakh compensation to the family of the deceased and directed the police to arrest those involved in the crime.



The victims belonged to the Brahmin community and were attacked by members of the Yadav community at Apta village in Raebareli. Police said three of the victims were shot and two were burnt alive in their vehicles.

The violence was a fallout of a political rivalry.



The perpetrators chased the five men and set fire to their vehicle after shooting three of them. They were professional shooters, Maurya said, adding, They were hardened criminals punished by villagers for attacking them.



Maurya, who crossed over to the BJP from the Bahujan Samaj Party before the elections, accused Samajwadi Party leader and former minister Manoj Pandey of masterminding the attack.



This one is not a caste clash, Maurya insisted. We need to rise above caste considerations. The minister also refuted allegations by the victims families that he backed the perpetrators.



Mauryas comments outraged BJP leaders, who said the remarks would embarrass the government. Police are investigating the incident. They should be given a free hand, a senior party leader said.
The India-China military face-off in Bhutan has started casting a shadow on the exchanges between the think tanks from the two nations.



India Foundation, a prominent think tank based in New Delhi, has called off the visit of its delegation to a university in China after the Chinese Embassy denied visas to two researchers of the institution.



The Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, however, said that it had issued visas to all the members of the India Foundation delegation.



The India Foundation has prominent leaders of the BJP as its directors, including Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar and Minister of State for Aviation Jayant Sinha.



BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, who is also one of the directors, announced India Foundations decision to call off the visit to Fudan University in Shanghai.



Madhav, however, made it clear that he was not a member of the delegation that was to make the visit.

The visit was supposed to be the fourth interaction envisaged in a bilateral agreement the think tank had signed with the university in 2014.



The delegation was to visit Shanghai and Kunming and was scheduled to discuss bilateral issues, including the controversial China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and Chinese presence in the South Asia.



The organisations decision to call off the visit to Fudan University came amid a continuing face-off between the Indian Army soldiers and Chinas Peoples Liberation Army personnel in Doklam Plateau on the disputed China-Bhutan border.



Xie Liyan, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, said that all seven members of the India Foundation delegation had got their visas in time.



Point, counterpoint



None of the visa applications was denied. The delegation will visit China as scheduled. The Chinese side always welcomes and supports the exchanges of think tanks between China and India, said Liyan.



Alok Bansal, director of India Foundation, told DH the delegates had cancelled their air tickets as they had not yet been issued the visas. But if the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi could issue the visa by Monday, they could still leave, he said.
(Xinhua) 13:06, July 08, 2017

MOSCOW, July 8 -- A Russian company has launched a special edition of a cellphone to commemorate the first meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putinand his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, media reports said.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, the two leaders held their first ever and much-anticipated sit-down discussion Friday, focusing on the situation in Ukraine and Syria, the fight against terrorism and cyber security.

The portal of Caviar phone's website displays the special edition for iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and Nokia 3310, which has gold-plated portraits of the two leaders embedded in the back of the phones.

The customized cellphone, which is made of tempered titanium, costs about 2,500 U.S. dollars for Nokia 3310, 3,000 dollars for iPhone 7 and 3,300 dollars for iPhone 7 Plus.

The company said on its website that it purposely chose to display the presidents' side profiles and they are looking in the same direction symbolizing "the common desire for progress in Russia-U.S. relations."
The Jammu and Kashmir government imposed curfew-like restrictions across the Valley on Saturday to prevent protests and rallies on the first death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.



However, despite the restrictions, protesters clashed with security forces at several places, in which more than a dozen civilians were injured by pellet gun shots, reports said.



In south Kashmirs Shopian district, 10 people, including eight women, were injured after forces fired pellets to break up a protest rally.



No Jihadi anthem



Witnesses said forces raided a locality in the town to stop the Jihadi anthem from being played on the public address system of a masjid.



However, the mob, mostly women, stopped the forces from entering the mosque. The forces, they said, fired pellets at the protesters, resulting in injuries to 10 people.



Reports of clashes were received from Tral  Wanis native town  after the police and paramilitary troopers raided the house of the slain commander, where people had assembled for fateha (prayers). This angered the youth who were present there and clashes erupted.



In neighbouring Tahab and Pichul areas of Pulwama district, the army conducted a flag march to prevent pro-Burhan rallies and protests, local media reported.



Authorities had imposed curfews in certain areas in Old City Srinagar, while restrictions were imposed in the rest of the city to prevent a separatist march.



The separatists had called for a complete shutdown to mourn Wanis death and asked people to march towards Tral. Security forces had laid steel barricades and coiled razor wires on roads and intersections to cut off neighbourhoods from each other, as authorities anticipated widespread protests.



In view of the prevailing situation, the ongoing Amarnath yatra was suspended for a day. Train services between Baramulla and Banihal town were also suspended. Internet services also remain suspended for the second day on Saturday.
The Congress is gearing up to corner the Narendra Modi government in Parliament on issues like Chinese incursions, the imperfect GST law and unleashing investigating agencies against Opposition leaders.



The monsoon session of Parliament begins on July 17, and the Opposition is expected to put up a show of unity in seeking answers from Prime Minister Modi, who, they claim, has been silent on teething issues facing the country.



Why have things changed since the inauguration of the Modi government in 2014? We had the Chinese president sharing the swing with our prime minister in Sabarmati and now we have an eyeball-to-eyeball standoff, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said here.



Sibal also hit out at the Modi government for targeting Opposition leaders with investigation by the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and other state agencies.



There is not a single state ruled by the Opposition parties where the CBI had not carried out raids or the ED has not issued notices, Sibal said.



There has not been a single raid in BJP-ruled states. Does that mean the BJP leaders are clean and we are tainted? he said when asked about the CBI raids on RJD chief Lalu Prasads properties, and the ED searches at the farmhouses of his daughter Misa Bharti and son-in-law Shailesh Kumar.
Forensic tests have confirmed that the lynch victim at Ramgarh in Jharkhand was carrying beef, the sale of which is banned in the state, the police said today.



Kishore Kaushal, Superintendent of Police, Ramgarh, told PTI today the report of the forensic laboratory was out and and it confirmed that the meat recovered from the car of Alimuddin Ansari, the lynch victim, was indeed beef.



Ansari, a meat trader, was allegedly beaten to death on June 29 by a mob at the Bazaar Tand area under Ramgarh police station on the suspicion that he was carrying beef in his car.



To a query, the SP said Ansari himself had a criminal background. He was an accused in the killing of a child and a case of theft.



Meanwhile, the police have arrested two more persons in connection with Ansari's lynching, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 12.



Phone call records revealed that one of those arrested followed Ansari for about two hours on June 29, informed two other accused about the victim's location, before intercepting him at Bazaar Tand, said the SP.



The mob, which allegedly dragged Ansari out of his car and lynched him, also torched the vehicle. The lynching came close on the heels of a mob attack against a person in Giridih district on the suspicion that he had slaughtered a cow.
The army was redeployed on Saturday after fresh violence erupted in Darjeeling hills where Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost, a toy train station, and clashed with the police at two places.



The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), spearheading the agitation for a separate state to be carved out of West Bengal, claimed that two youths were killed in police firing. The police, however, said they did not have any report of firing.



The police burst teargas shells and baton-charged activists of the GJM and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) who attacked the security personnel at Sonada and Chawkbazar in the hills. Two columns of the army comprising around 100 personnel were deployed at Sonada and Darjeeling in the wake of fresh violence, defence sources said.



Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed for peace and said that the government was ready for talks with the hill parties, but peace has to be restored first. The government has shown enough restraint in the interest of the people of the hills, she said.



The chief minister accused the Centre of deliberate and total non-cooperation and alleged that its refusal to send CRPF personnel, as demanded by the state government, had led to the current situation in the Darjeeling hills where the indefinite shutdown entered its 24th day on Saturday.



In New Delhi, Union home ministry sources said 11 companies of paramilitary force personnel were sent to Darjeeling by the Centre, including one company consisting of women. The West Bengal government has its own security forces like the Eastern Frontier Rifles and the State Armed Police and both have several battalions, they said, adding that it was not deploying these forces and instead blaming the central government. GNLF spokesperson Neeraj Zimba claimed that a youth Tashi Bhutia was shot dead by the security forces on Friday night when he had ventured out to purchase medicines at Sonada.



But a police officer said, We dont have any report of police firing as of now. We are looking into the incident. We can give you details later. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Javed Shamim, when asked about the firing, said, It will be known only after the inquiry.



The GJM and other hill parties have lodged a police complaint accusing the force of killing the youth.As news of the death spread, hundreds of Gorkhaland supporters came out on the streets and raised slogans against alleged police atrocities.



They clashed with the police and set on fire a police outpost at Sonada and the toy train station of the Darjeeling- Himalayan Railways, a UNESCO world heritage site.



GJM sources claimed that another youth identified as Suraj Sundas was killed in police firing during clashes between the police and the protesters at Chawkbazar area. The police denied the charge.




The Supreme Court has held that the Medical Council of India does not have the power to interfere in the determination of quota for NRI seats in medical colleges, run by deemed universities.



Exercise of power by an authority has to be within the contours conferred by the statute and for the purpose of promoting the objectives of the statute. There is no express power conferred on the second respondent (MCI) in the Medical Council of India Act to interfere in the allocation of quotas for sub-categories, a bench of Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao said.



The court further ruled that determination of quota for NRI seats is beyond the domain of the MCI, though the regulatory body for the medical education and profession has a duty to ensure merit-based selection in medical colleges.



The apex court declared as ultra vires and without jurisdiction a direction issued by the MCI to Manipal University, a deemed varsity, in 2005 not to make admissions in the NRI quota for 37 MBBS seats in the year 2005-2006, 37 seats for 2006-2007 and 29 seats in 2007-2008 in Kasturba Medical College, Manipal.The bench also noted that there is no dispute that this court permitted the medical colleges to admit NRI students to the extent of 15% of their quota.



There is also no dispute that the appellant, Manipal University, made admissions beyond 15% to the NRI quota of the total intake, the court said.



However, the bench said, The appellant being a deemed university is governed by the provisions of the UGC Act, and the competent authority to take any action for violation of the provisions of the act regarding maintenance of standards is the commission (UGC).
Six people were thrashed on the outskirts of Delhi by a mob that suspected them of ferrying cows to a slaughter house on Friday evening.



Trouble began when one of the six trucks carrying buffaloes to a slaughter house in east Delhi grazed a vehicle in Baba Haridas Nagar near Najafgarh on the outskirts of the national capital. Soon locals gathered at the spot and roughed up the truckers, accusing them of ferrying cattle illegally for slaughter.

Police said the mob vandalised six trucks and thrashed the drivers.



The attack comes a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned against cow vigilantism. Killing of people in the name of gau bhakti is not acceptable. This is not something that Mahatma Gandhi would approve of, Modi had said last week during a visit to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. Police said of the six truckers, one, Ali Jaan, had suffered severe injuries and was recuperating at a local hospital.





Five others were discharged after receiving first aid. The mob let loose the buffaloes despite pleas from the truckers that they had valid documents to transport the animals. The police have registered a case against unknown persons for the assault. However, no arrests have been made yet.



As many as 21 incidents of mob lynching in the name of cow protection have been reported from different parts of the country this year.



About a fortnight back, 16-year-old Junaid Khan was beaten to death on a train from Delhi to Mathura following an altercation over seats that snowballed into a fight over religion. Last week, a man was killed in Jharkhand by a mob which accused him of carrying beef in his car.
The Karnataka government opposed before the Supreme Court a plea for a CBI probe into the suicide of deputy superintendent of police M K Ganapathy on July 7, last year.



Responding to a petition filed by M K Kushalappa, father of the deceased, the state government maintained that a thorough and in-depth investigation has been carried out and no prudent and reasonable person can term the investigation as either biased or not free and fair.



A bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and U U Lalit will consider the matter on Monday.



The petitioner had contended that his son, then posted at the office of Inspector General of Police, Madikeri, was being hounded by Congress leader and Minister K J George and other senior officers.



The officer had also made allegations of harassment and ill-treatment by superior officers just before the incident. After his death, the minister had to resign. The suspected police officers were transferred on registration of an FIR on July 19 on an order by a Madekeri court. However, the CID, which investigated the case, under the supervision of the Director General of Police, filed a closure report before a trial court.



The state government defended the Karnataka High Court's order of October 19, declining a plea for the CBI probe.



Merely because the final result of the investigation is not to the liking of the petitioner, baseless and reckless allegations have been made, the state government said in its response filed by advocate Joseph Aristotle.



In view of the hue and cry raised by the opposition leaders in the Karnataka Assembly, the state government also ordered a judicial probe and appointed a Commission of Inquiry headed by former high court judge Justice Keshavanarayan. It has commenced its functions and inquiry is going on at full speed and the report from the Commission is expected very shortly, the state government said.



It also contended that the petitioners here, father and brother of the deceased, did not point out any lapse by the investigating agency before the trial court. But just two days before the filing of the investigation report, they had approached the high court.



The state government also pointed out that the Madikeri court had on April 3, this year, allowed the petitioners to continue the prosecution of the case on an application filed under Section 302 of the Criminal Procedure Code. It is necessary for the petitioners to pursue their remedy before the magistrate...the continuation of the proceedings before this court would amount to pursuing parallel remedy on the same cause of action, which is impermissible in law, said the state government, seeking direction to dismiss the petition filed by the officer's father.
In the digital age, a profile picture on Facebook or a display photograph on WhatsApp is much more than a persons identity. With search engines giving details about any person in any corner of the world, people who are conscious of their image offline are ensuring their online representation, too, is unblemished.



In a first-of-its-kind ruling, the High Court of Karnataka has allowed a persons name to be deleted from its online records, including the digital order copy. Sowmya (name changed) was kidnapped and forcibly married. There was a marriage certificate, too. Later, she lodged a complaint with the police and approached the court urging it to restrain her husband  who she said had kidnapped her with the help of two others  from claiming any marital rights over her on the basis of the marriage certificate.



The alleged kidnappers also approached the court seeking quashing of the proceedings against them. Sowmya and her so-called husband agreed to make a compromise. The suspect annulled the marriage and the certificate while Sowmya withdrew the complaint. The case was settled. But Sowmya still had apprehension about her name appearing in the high court order.



She married another person and approached the high court through her father, urging it to direct that her name be removed from its digital records in line with her right to be forgotten.



She feared the court order mentioning her name can be easily found online, affecting her relationship with her present husband and tarnishing her reputation in society. The judge accepted her request and directed the high courts registry to mask her name from the digital court records.



In a similar order, the court accepted the request of another woman to remove or mask her name in its digital orders as that had caused her embarrassment and hardship.



Advocate Amar Correa said it was a good sign that the high court was entertaining such requests as there was no legislation  expect IPC Section 228A (disclosure of identity of the victim of offences) and Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution  which could protect the privacy of a person. I am looking for an opportunity to remove the names of persons who are victims of sexual assault and minors, both in conflict with the law as well as those who need care and protection. The digital deletion also helps curb misuse of such records, he added.



According to another lawyer, if a person holding a high position in a reputable organisation is involved in an ugly divorce, the court order would mention all details of the case. In order to maintain privacy, such requests are being entertained. There have also been instances of requests being made to media houses to remove negative articles about a person that can otherwise be found using Google and Yahoo search engines, he added.
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to examine Tamil Nadus accusation that Karnataka was discharging drain water into the River Cauvery.



A bench of Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao asked the pollution control board to submit a report within six months.



The court noted that the central dispute in an original suit filed by Tamil Nadu was related to pollution.



We find that the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have fully set up the State Pollution Boards under the provisions of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. The Act casts a duty on the Central Pollution Board established under Section 3 of the said Act to coordinate the activities of state boards and resolve disputes among them, the bench said.



The court then decided to refer the draft issues as well as relevant case papers to the Central Pollution Control Board for formulating its opinion.



The Central Pollution Control Board shall hear the parties to the suit and submit a report to this court within six months from the date the parties appear before it. All the parties to the suit are directed to appear before the Central Pollution Board on August 1, the bench directed.
(Xinhua) 14:00, July 08, 2017

NANJING, July 8 -- Four people were killed while nine others were injured in a string of hit-and-runs by a car in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, local police said Saturday.

A car ploughed into several pedestrians in a neighborhood in Jingjiang city at 8:27 p.m. Friday, a police officer said. After the incident, the car did not stop but continued the rampage.

The victims were rushed to hospital where four died despite medical treatment, while the nine injured are believed to be in stable condition.

The driver was caught in nearby Taixing city. Police found that he had taken poison in an attempt to commit suicide. He is receiving emergency treatment.

The incident is under investigation.
The state government has organised a three-day international conference Reclaiming Social Justice, Revisiting Ambedkar from July 21 at GKVK campus in Bengaluru.



Organised to mark the 126th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar, around 2,000 delegates from across the globe are expected to participate. Human rights activist Martin Luther King III is scheduled to inaugurate the conference, while Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will be the chief guest. The conference is a coming together of all progressive forces committed to safeguarding the constitutional idea of India, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters.



Around 300 speakers, including academics, activists and policy-makers, will share their thoughts at the conference. Cornel West, Lord Bhikhu Parekh, Prof Samuel Myers, Lawrence Simon and Prof Ramachandra Guha are among the prominent speakers. Over a dozen Congress leaders, including Shashi Tharoor, Mallikarjun Kharge, K Raju, Jairam Ramesh and Mani Shankar Aiyar, will also speak at the conference.



He said the conference is being organised at a time when regressive forces have been systematically attacking the idea of India and destroying the pluralistic fabric of the nation. So, it is important to study why and how marginalised groups are discriminated against or excluded. The conference is a step in this direction. Efforts will also be made to form a powerful alliance of equity, he added.



Besides, he said the state government will launch what he called Bengaluru Declaration, outlining specific constitutional, institutional and policy responses to the concerns of equity, human rights, freedom and democracy on the occasion.


Upset with the suitcase culture remark by his nephew Prajwal Revanna, JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy is learnt to have told party supremo H D Deve Gowda that he cannot lead the party in the coming Assembly elections if the family members continue to make such adverse remarks.



Kumaraswamy is learnt to have told Gowda that Prajwal Revannas remarks have hurt him. Party workers will get demoralised with such remarks. Moreover, Opposition parties will make use of the remarks to attack the JD(S) in the coming days.



He is ready to step down as the state party president if necessary, Kumaraswamy is learnt to have told Gowda.



Kumaraswamy has also asked Gowda to rein in Prajwal. Prajwal had recently said that suitcase culture is prevalent in the party.



He had also said that people with wealth get front row seats in the JD(S), while those who are loyal to the party are assigned back seats, embarrassing the party leaders.



Internal squabbles

Prajwals outburst has also brought to the fore the internal squabbles within Gowdas family. Gowda had denied the accusation by his grandson and said he will take action against him.



Sources in the party said Prajwal was keen to contest from Hunsur Assembly constituency in the next Assembly elections and he had been nurturing the constituency for the past six months.



But he was upset after Gowda indicated that former Congress leader A H Vishwanath, who recently joined the JD(S), will contest from Hunsur.
Good if you keep away from pubs was an oft-heard statement from citizens whom DH spoke to, after the Supreme Court handed state governments the onus of denotifying the national highways within city limits.For some, the statement meant an advice to people to stay sober and sane instead of creating problems for themselves and others. Others made that remark to tell the authorities: Let people be. Indian culture has always been inclusive of liquor, we are no newcomers to the vice  even the epics mention its consumption, especially during special occasions.Apoorva, a 30-year-old chartered accountant puts things in perspective. He explains: Closure of pubs to deny people access to alcohol will be a failure. Earlier too, a state government attempted at going dry  it only fuelled the growth of the liquor mafia. He is clear that the limitation on the distance, like 500 metres away from a highway, is no deterrent. Addicts will find by-lanes to reach liquor. The Supreme Court's intention was noble. But people may hoard bottles of liquor in vehicles. Do we have clear data on the highways passing through our towns and cities? We need better highway patrolling, and far higher penalty, probably include imprisonment and confiscation of the driving licence. The social media could be used to advertise a case of a driver caught, suggested entrepreneur Prabhakar Valivati. The Central and the state governments should share the responsibility of handling such cases.Preferring anonymity, a marketing manager of a pub on MG Road has this to say: Although our pub does not fall within the purview of the order, business is business. We have set up shop legally, going through a lot of scrutiny. We pay our taxes on time. If location is a problem, the authorities should have considered it before giving us licence.Suneetha Sharma, a retired banker and resident of BTM Layout, however, welcomes the ban. The number of people who drink and drive is far lower than the number of sober drivers, but very often, it is the latter who pay the price for the thoughtlessness of drunk drivers, she explains.In the words of Jayashree, a resident of Koramangala, It is two to three kilometres from Koramangala till Silk Board, where we have NH 44. But the number of pubs in our area, beyond the 500-metre mark, is not small by any means. For someone driving on a highway after visiting a pub, would two kilometres be a big distance?Closure within city limits would prove ineffective if one pub is closed while another, a short distance away, is left open. This was an opinion of some Bengalureans. There have still been arguments in favour of keeping highways free from the pub menace. A regular, heavy drinker would keep stock in his or her vehicle, but it is better not to attract an occasional drinker towards liquor with an outlet on the way.Theatreperson H S Prasanna, who was in the city, spoke to DH on how their group of friends got a licensed bar in a Shivamogga village closed three years ago. Elected representatives argued that there would still be illegal sale, but that should not be a reason to permit legal sale of liquor if it proves a hazard. We took the help of police to get illegal outlets closed. No doubt, the problem resurfaced after some time, but it was an example on dealing with illegal sale. The elected representatives and the police needed to consider it more seriously, he says.Prasanna says a ban is good, but would prove effective only when you kill the problem from the roots. When you say you should ban manufacture of liquor, the question arises on the sale of hooch. Now, the onus shifts to people to help the law reach the by-lanes. There are many women who, for the sake of domestic good, oppose the opening of liquor stalls. There is a need for awareness on the ill-effects of not just drinking, but easy access to liquor too, he explains.read also: Drive away from 'high'way
A 28-year-old man was caught red-handed entering a government training institute's hostel in Banashankari, south Bengaluru, to steal valuables from students staying there.



The suspect has been identified as Pavan Singh, who sneaked into the Regional Institute of Co-operative Management in Banashankari II Stage on the night of July 31. Students on the hostel premises initially thought he too was an inmate.



Mobile phones & laptops



A few students, however, took note of his suspicious movements and informed the police.

By the time the police arrived, he was trying to steal valuables like mobile phones, vanity bags and laptops.He was caught and handed over to the police.



The Banashankari police have registered a case and are investigating.




The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palikes plan to construct an Indira Canteen on Banashankari Temple

property in Kadirenahalli is facing stiff opposition from BJP leaders.



The land, spread across one acre three guntas belongs to the Endowment Department. It is located about half-a-km away from the temple. The land was converted into a sand lorry stand by the sand mafia. Two years ago,the Bengaluru Urban district authorities took possession of the land.



S Prakash, BJP co-spokesperson, accused the government of misusing the place of worship. Government has no regard to sanctity of the place. Why cant it occupy Wakf Board property? he sought to know. A BJP leader and former corporator of Banashankari Temple ward A H Basavaraj too opposed BBMPs plan. I welcome Indira canteen project but occupying the temple land is not acceptable. Work should stop immediately. Let them identify some other land. Lakshmi, the duty officer of Bananshankari temple, said the Rs 23-crore plan was submitted to the Endowment department for construction of a convention hall and a shopping complex to generate revenue for the temple.



When contacted, Mayor G Padmavathi blamed BJP for playing petty politics on the issue. BJP is unable to see former prime minister Indira Gandhis photograph in these canteens. Their charges are politically motivated, she said.



Banashankari temple ward corporator Ansar Pasha too blamed the BJP for politicising a project that will serve the urban poor. This kind of public-oriented project should not be politicised by opposition. Canteen will not disturb the temple activities.




The seven-hour strike by Metro staff on Friday resulted in a loss of between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 30 lakh to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL).



BMRCL chief public relations officer U A Vasanth Rao told reporters on Saturday that around 91,000 commuters were put to hardship due to the strike, resulting in a huge loss.



Before the government could invoke Esma (Essential Services Maintenance Act), some good sense prevailed (on the agitating staff) and the strike was called off, said Rao.



To a question, Rao said more Karnataka State Industrial Security Force (KSISF) personnel will be deployed at Metro stations.



On Friday, Metro services came to a halt as BMRCL employees went on a strike protesting against the clash between a KSISF constable and a BMRCL employee on Thursday afternoon at the Visvesvaraya Metro station. It is learnt that the BMRCL employee had refused to undergo a regular search, which triggered an altercation and fight.




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A disgraced police officer who lives in Derbyshire turned a blind eye to criminality" and boasted to his drug-dealing friends how he hated the pigs" when referring to other officers.

Bodybuilder Gareth Golds, of Kirk Hallam, boasted openly about illegal steroid use" and offered to sell the class C drugs to other friends through a closed WhatsApp group, a court heard.

It was told that, in one message posted to the group, a friend told the others on it that he was at Gold's address raking up lines (of cocaine) on a copper's kitchen table" and that Golds was coked up". Now, the 31-year-old, who served with Nottinghamshire police, has been jailed for two years, leaving his wife to bring up their four-month son without his father.

Sending Golds to prison, Judge Peter Cooke said: You grossly breached the trust that the public placed on you as a serving police officer. You turned a blind eye to your friends' criminality, openly bragging about it on WhatsApp.

You took steroids and offered to supply them to others and this was, in my view, active engagement in criminality. At the very least, what you were doing constituted sanctioning the supply of selling controlled drugs. You called police officers 'pigs' and, by doing so, showed thorough and active contempt for the institution that employed you."

(Image: AP Photo/Patrick Sison)

Adrian Langdale, prosecuting at Derby Crown Court, said matters came to light during a different investigation when analysis of a seized mobile phone unearthed a closed WhatsApp group, which Golds, of St Norbert Drive, Kirk Hallam, was "one of the forum's busiest posters" on.

Mr Langdale said: It is a disgraceful abhorration that a serving police officer is involved in this. There were thousands of references to drugs and their supply on this forum and Mr Golds was enthusiastically engaging.

One message from another poster said 'pigs (police) have raided my weed (cannabis) grow' to which Mr Golds replied saying 'hate the pigs'. In terms of drugs supply, Mr Golds openly talks about using steroids, and selling or distributing them on a number of occasions.

This is a serving police officer boasting and encouraging others to take steroids. He was actively turning a blind eye and allowing criminality to flourish."

Mr Langdale said Golds was arrested in May 2016 and police recovered illegal anabolic steroids from his home. He gave 'no comment' answers to the questions he was asked. But he later pleaded guilty to charges of encouraging or assisting the supply of class C controlled drugs, offering to supply a class C controlled drug and misconduct in a public office.

The court heard he has since lost his job with Nottinghamshire police, where he was based at Radford Road police station. John Thomas, mitigating, said Golds had recently become a father whose son is now four months old.

He said: There is acute embarrassment for someone who finds themselves in Mr Golds' position. This is somebody that has not shied away from what he has done, he has lost his job and he has lost his income. He became involved with his childhood friends who were involved in drug dealing and he did not disclose his association with them. This is a case of misconduct through association."

A second man, Christopher Law, 44, of Wesley Street, Ilkeston, who owns the Platinum Gym, in Ilkeston, was also arrested as part of the investigation. He pleaded guilty to supplying steroids and was jailed for six months.

Speaking after sentencing, Detective Superintendent Leona Scurr said: "Nottinghamshire police expect the highest standards of behaviour from its police officers and staff.

The deliberate actions and subsequent conviction of PC Golds fundamentally undermines the trust and confidence placed in him by the force and damages public confidence in policing.

The very detailed investigation that led to the conviction of PC Golds demonstrates that the force takes any corrupt practice by its police officers extremely seriously and will deal with such criminality decisively."
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It's been a busy couple of weeks for Derby County, which has seen three players leave the club on permanent deals, four in total for the summer.

Will Hughes completed his move to Premier League side Watford in a deal initially worth 5m, rising to 9m with add-ons.

Tom Ince also moved to the Premier league by joining newly promoted Huddersfield Town in a deal believed to be worth 11.3m in total, a club record fee received for a player.

And yesterday, defender Cyrus Christie completed his move to Championship side Middlesbrough , in a move worth 2.5m.

Former Rams forward Abdoul Camara also left the club last month, after having his contract cancelled by mutual consent, and has since gone on to join French side Guingamp.

So in light of these recent departures, we've put together a quiz so you can test yourselves and find out how much you know about Derby County's history of player sales.

Have a go at our quiz below and let us know how you got on.
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A man who made more than 300k selling Kodi boxes with illegal software has been handed a suspended prison sentence.

The TV streaming boxes were imported from China by Daniel David Brown who then installed the software and sold them on.

A court was told about how much of a financial loss media companies would have lost through cancelled subscriptions and the avoidance of pay-to-view fees from people using the illegal devices.

The prosecution comes at a time when there is some confusion as to whether Kodi is legal or not.

Swansea Crown Court heard that Brown's crime was uncovered after media giant Sky made a complaint to South Wales Police about breach of copyright.

There followed a joint investigation with Swansea Council.

Brown's venture was highly successful. From his home in Llansamlet, Wales, he sold the Kodi boxes and helped his customers access subscription channels without having to pay, reports Wales Onine.

Maiz Box Ltd, Brown's business, had revenues of 371,000 between June 2014 and March 2016.

The court heard that he was of previously good character.

Lee Reynolds, prosecuting, said that Brown imported the Android boxes from China before installing the software and selling the boxes through Facebook. He also offered customers and after-sales service.

Judge Peter Heywood said Brown was "industrious but misguided in some ways" and was "clearly skilled in the use of computer technology".

He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for 24 months, and was ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work.

Brown agreed to pay Swansea Council 19,996.08 towards the cost of the prosecution so no orders were made under the Proceeds of Crime Act. He will pay the sum at a rate of 800 per month.

The general public are often unsure about the legality of Kodi boxes. The device allows people to watch pay-per-view films and sport on the cheap but there is the risk that using one illegally could land you in jail.
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,...
Egypt's parliament approved on Tuesday a decision by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to extend a nationwide state of emergency for three months, state news agency MENA reported.

In April, the chamber voted in favour of a three-month state of emergency following two church bombings that killed 47 people in Alexandria and Tanta.

The attacks were claimed by the militant group Daesh.

Under the Egyptian constitution, a state of emergency must be approved by parliament by majority vote within seven days of its declaration by the president, with renewal also requiring parliamentary approval.

The state of emergency grants authorities expanded powers including trying civilians in special courts, restricting or regulating movement in public places, and more authority to regulate media outlets.

Egypt is battling an Islamist insurgency in North Sinai, where hundreds of army and police personnel have been killed since 2013. Islamist militants have recently carried out attacks in other parts of the country against Coptic Christian civilians, killing dozens.

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Egypts army said car bombs targeted a security checkpoint near Rafah and that the army killed 40 militants in subsequent operations

Daesh (the Islamic State group) has claimed responsibility for Friday's attack that killed and injured 26 army personnel in Egypts North Sinai Peninsula, Islamist site Amaq reported late Friday.

In a statement Friday, Egypts army said car bombs targeted a security checkpoint near Rafah in North Sinai and that the army killed 40 militants in subsequent operations.

Security forces have been battling an Islamist insurgency for several years in North Sinai. Militants have killed hundreds of security personnel. Egyptian troops have also killed hundreds of militants during operations in the border region.

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France rolls out red carpet to banks, financial institutions to exit post-Brexit London

France is aggressively wooing banks and financial institutions that may consider moving out of London due to Brexit, as the government came out with proposals aimed at making Paris more appealing.

A document presented by the French prime minister, Edouard Philippe, yesterday listed reforms to see Paris become a financial powerhouse after Brexit. Paris is in competition from Dublin, Frankfurt and Luxembourg in the effort.

Under the proposals, France plans to scrap the highest bracket of a payroll tax levied on each salaried employee. France also plans to cancel plans its 0.3 per cent tax on financial transactions.

Bankers' bonuses will not be considered when labour courts decided on unfair dismissal compensation under the proposals, easing the cost of labour disputes for French financial institutions.

The document also makes it easier for EU financial regulations to be absorbed into French law and to make sure red tape is aligned with other countries so as not to hinder business.

According to commentators, of France's largest obstacles was the ease of doing business in English for international staff, a hurdle that the programme of reforms revealed yesterday would also address.

''To investors, and to those disappointed by Brexit, I want to say that we are ready to roll out the blue, white and red carpet for you," Paris regional president Valerie Pecresse said at an event announcing the plan. ''Welcome back to Europe.''

According to commentators, following Brexit, the UK might lose the "passporting rights" financial firms used to deal with clients in the rest of the EU, meaning that employees in direct contact with customers might need to be based in EU territory in the future.

Also, EU regulations required that certain positions, such as risk management workers, be located in Europe.

However, according to commentators, these measures alone are not likely to be enough to make Paris more attractive than Frankfurt or Dublin, its two main rivals.
Al-Azhar's statement comes following days of reports that Egyptian police have been rounding up Uyghur students ahead of deporting them to China

No Uyghur Muslim students have been arrested inside Al-Azhar campus or from inside any buildings associated with Al-Azhar, the Muslim Sunni institution stated in a Friday statement.

The statement comes following days of reports that Egyptian police have been rounding up Uyghur students ahead of deporting them to China.

The Uyghur are Turkic-speaking Muslims, with the majority living in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Chinas far west.

Al-Azhars statement said the institution is following up with authorities in the wake of reports on social media.

The statement also added that news being circulated regarding this issue is completely inaccurate and that the Qatari Al-Jazeeras reports that over 500 Uyghurs were arrested in Egypt aim to negatively affect Egypt and Al-Azhar.

Al-Azhar's statement underlined the right of authorities to enforce the legal status of foreign nationals where they represent no danger to the countrys national security and are not wanted for crimes committed inside or outside the country.

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Weapons and ammunition were found at their hideout, security sources said

Egypts security forces shot dead two terrorists during a shootout in 6 October city on the outskirts of Cairo, security sources told state news agency MENA.

Forces from National Security acted on information that two wanted terrorists were hiding in a residential building in the satellite city.

The forces attempted to arrest the two suspects but the suspects started firing ammunition at the forces, prompting the latter to fire back and kill the suspects, the sources said.

Weapons and ammunition were found at the terrorists hideout, the sources added.

Egypt is battling a militant insurgency that is mainly concentrated in the restive northern part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

However, militants have also struck elsewhere in the country, including the capital, often targeting police and army personnel.

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Extremists are trying to destroy Egypts security and stability at a time when the country is intensifying efforts to fight terrorism, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Saturday in his first public comments since a deadly attack on army personnel in North Sinai a day earlier.

The president ordered extreme vigilance to face such criminal plans, an official statement said, pointing out that he has already warned that attentiveness and alertness to defend Egyptians aspirations.

On Friday morning, Egypts military announced that 26 army personnel were killed or injured by car bombs that targeted a security checkpoint near Rafah in North Sinai, and that the army had killed 40 militants in the attacks.

In an official statement, presidential spokesperson Alaa Youssef said El-Sisi was briefed with a report of the attack during a meeting on Saturday with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, the interior and defence ministers, among others.

Daesh has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The military has not provided a further breakdown of casualty figures.

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(Photo: Peter Williams/WCC)Dr Agnes Abuom, WCC, will preach at an ecumenical prayer service in Hamburg on July 8, 2017. Photo: Peter Williams/WCC

Protesters at the G20 summit in Germany set a series of bonfires in the streets and stacked pavement blocks to use as projectiles during tension between demonstrators and police while in other parts Christians prayed.

Initially police held back while the protesters aggressively attacked police lines, taking a hit-and-run approach, with groups of them running up the road, throwing rocks and bottles, and quickly retreating, and also setting fire to cars and buildings CNN reported.

About 30 minutes before midnight on July 7, police moved forward, firing teargas on the mainy anti-capitalist protesters as leaders from 20 of the world's leadng economies were meeting to try to tackle global problems.

But on the evening when the leaders of the G20 states were meeting in Hamburg and discussing global economic, social, environmental and political issues, churches in Germany had invited people in the country and all over the world to a common peace prayer.

"We will bring our lament and hope before God", states the church alliance for the G20 summit, "global.gerecht.gestalten" (which translates roughly as: shaping globalization fairly; or: global  fair  redesign).

The alliance was established to accompany the summit meeting with intercession and to participate in peaceful activities before and during the summit in Northern Germany.

Its members are Christian churches in Northern Germany, Hamburg's main churches and congregations, academies, as well as the Protestant aid agency Brot fur die Welt (Bread for the World) and the Association of Protestant Churches and Missions in Germany (EMW).

Many people are looking with great concern at the G20 summit, the World Council of Churches reported.

Many of the protestor reject the meeting itself as undemocratic and criticize that too many nations are not represented, although the summit is dealing with global issues.

Others criticize that the topics on the agenda don't focus on the most important questions to make the world sustainable for the future.

And there will be also demonstrations against invited State representatives for human rights violations in their countries or their refusal to join the efforts against climate change.

The WCC reported that many people in and around Hamburg are afraid that there will be also violent groups among the registered demonstrations.

PRAYERS FOR PEACE

For this the prayer for peace includes both: that God may bless the state leaders with wisdom, prudence and courage and that He may protect the security forces and the demonstrators, that the peaceful activities will come out on top.

On Saturday morning, there will also be an ecumenical prayer service in one of the main churches in town.

Dr Agnes Abuom, the Anglican moderator of the WCC's central committee, will preach, alongside Roman Catholic Bishop Charles Jason Gordon, speaker of the Debt20 group of personalities from critically indebted countries.

Representatives of the municipality of Hamburg, of the Roman Catholic aid agency Misereor, of the Protestant aid agency Brot fur die Welt and from many other local and international initiatives will be present.

"In common singing, praying, and listening to God's Word, we set a sign for a more just world: for the chance of education, for the support of refugees, for a fair method of resolving the debt crises, for an equitable distribution of resources," the Working Group of Christian Churches in Hamburg (ACKH) stated in a press release.

The church alliance "global.gerecht.gestalten" provides on its homepage written material such as prayers, hymns, impulses for meditation and background information on the most burning global issues which can be used in the congregations.

The day before the summit began on July 7,the WCC, ACT Alliance and All Africa Conference of Churches urged G20 leaders to take action to overcome hunger and sustain justice and peace in the Horn of Africa.

With 1.4 million children at risk of dying from hunger, the G20, along with the rest of the world, must scale up efforts on local, regional, national and global levels to save lives and livelihoods in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, urged the faith-based organizations.
Egypt welcomed Saturday a purge of terrorist and extremist organisations from Libyas Benghazi after Libyan National Army (LNA) chief Khalifa Haftar declared victory Wednesday.

In an official statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry praised the role played by the LNA, which it said was able to defeat terrorism and extremism, describing the Benghazi advance as a new successful step on the path to eradicating terrorism in other Libyan cities.

On Wednesday, Haftar announced his forces "liberated" the eastern city of Benghazi after years of fighting with Islamists.

After a continuous struggle against terrorism and its agents that lasted more than three years ... we announce to you the liberation of Benghazi, Haftar said following bloody battles last week between the LNA and Islamic militants.

The statement added that Egypt trusts the capacity of the Libyan people to root out terrorism nationwide.

The foreign ministry also reiterated the necessity of joint international efforts to forge a comprehensive vision for ending terrorism funding and promotion.

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(Photo: REUTERS / Irada Humbatova)Sudanese-born telecommunications entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim addresses participants during the launch of the 2008 Ibrahim Index of African Governance in Addis Ababa, October 6, 2008. Governance has improved in almost two-thirds of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the index published on Monday. Ibrahim also gives a million leadership prize to African leaders to promote democratic principles and combat corruption.

The World Council of Churches has invited its members to join a global call to action against corruption  which impacts poor people the most.

Studies have shown that every year more than one trillion U.S. dollars go missing from the global economy through bribes, dishonest deals and tax evasion, the WCC said in statement Tuesday.

(Photo: Ecumenical News/Peter Kenny) World Council of Churches General Secretary Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit speaks at the interreligious prayer service at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva on January 21, 2013. The service was held during The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which is celebrated January 18-25.

"The WCC's concern and response to the issue of corruption is founded on God's preferential option for people in poverty," said Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, the WCC general secretary.

"Corruption is rooted in and propagated by our prevailing economic structures, cultures and value systems" which he said are driven by "greed, relentless pursuit of power, profit and material gain by corporations, political bodies, administrators and individual actors. "

The WCC is focussing on October 14 to 20, the global call to action EXPOSED 2013 will engage people around the world in raising their voices against corruption which has much greater media attention since the global financial meltdown of 2008.

Separate from the WCC campaign, Sudanese-born philanthropist Mo Ibrahim said Africa has a serious deficit in leadership and he noted that South Africa needs to step up and play a better role in the continent.

Ibrahim was delivering the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture in Pretoria on Saturday and he like many other African leaders believe that corruption stemming from within and outside Africa stifles development in one of the world's biggest, but poorest continents.

"Leadership is not about bossing people around...it is not about securing a seat in the UN Security Council on behalf of Africa, or chairing the African Union," he said.

"Leadership is true engagement with Africa. You [South Africa] have a role to play."

Problems such as climate change, transparency, tax evasion and illicit transfers of funds needed the serious voice of leadership.

Ibrahim is a communications entrepreneur and billionaire and he Ibrahim set up the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to encourage better governance in Africa, as well as creating the Mo Ibrahim Index, to evaluate nations' performances.

For his part, Tveit said that confronting systemic corruption is "a matter of upholding God's justice."

MICAH CHALLENGE

The initiative is organized by a coalition of Christian organizations known as the Micah Challenge International.

The campaign offers suggestions for positive and practical engagements of resisting corruption. It aims to hold 2000 vigils with the poor across the globe, while collecting one million signatures for the campaign and presenting a million more at the G20 meeting set to take place in Russia in November 2014.

The WCC general secretary called EXPOSED an "important effort" which he said correlates to the WCC's engagement with the churches in their struggles against economic injustice.

The WCC's programme on poverty, wealth and ecology deals with issues related to just trade, ecological debt, overcoming greed, decent work and efforts of seeking alternatives to globalization.

The meeting of the WCC's highest governing body, its assembly,from October 30 October to November 8 in Busan, South Korea will hold a special meeting on overcoming greed.

The WCC together with World Communion of Reformed Churches, Council for World Mission and the Lutheran World Federation will hold an international panel on New Financial and Economic Architecture from August 23 to 25 near Geneva.

The meeting will develop advocacy strategies on how to overcome greed while working towards a new economic and financial architecture.
(Photo: REUTERS / Michael Fiala)Lynn Hamilton attends a demonstration organized by the Peace Coalition of Monterey County to protest against possible U.S. military intervention in Syria, outside the offices of U.S. Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) in Salinas, California, September 4, 2013.

The World Council of Churches head has told the United Nations Security Council that an attack on Syria threatens every community in the nation including Christians, and that the key world powers need to talk.

"Particularly we encourage the leaders of the USA and of Russia to use the time as they meet in the coming days to agree on their contributions to a political process towards peace and justice for Syria," said Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC on Wednesday.

His call came as U.S. President Barack Obama was on his way to St. Petersburg to take part in a meeting of the G20 leading economic nations hosted by his counterpart Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The U.S. Senate's foreign relations committee approved a resolution on Wednesday authorising limited military intervention in Syria, setting the stage for a contentious debate in the full Senate next week on the use of force, Reuters news agency reported.

Obama see military action in response to a chemical attack in Syria last month as a moral responsbility while Putin says an armed strike would be an act of aggression.

In a letter sent to the Security Council on September 4, Tveit condemned all use of chemical weapons in Syria, saying, "We must do everything possible to starve the fire of war rather than feeding it with further deadly armaments."

In his letter Tveit joined the call of Pope Francis for prayers for peace in Syria, to be observed by all faiths September 7.

"The crime of using chemical weapons is to be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted.

"However, an attack from outside Syria is likely to increase suffering and the risk of more sectarian violence, threatening every community in the nation including Christians," Tveit said.

He noted, "An attack from outside Syria is likely to increase suffering and the risk of more sectarian violence, threatening every community in the nation including Christians.

"At this crucial time, the people of Syria and the Middle East need peace and not war."

Tveit said that neither weapons nor military actions could bring about peace in Syria.

There is no other way to sustainable justice and peace Syria's people than hard work from all the parties inside and outside Syria "to find a negotiated political solution."
A northern Giza Special Terrorism Circuit Court has upheld on Saturday a five-year jail sentence for two defendants convicted of protesting against an Egyptian-Saudi maritime border demarcation deal.

The court refused the pairs appeal, confirming the prison terms given to each.

In April 2016, the prosecution charged the defendants with holding an illegal demonstration in Agouza in Greater Cairo against the bilateral deal, which saw the islands of Tiran and Sanafir placed within Saudi Arabian territorial waters.

The defendants were convicted of breaching the protest law as well as possessing flyers and obstructing public transportation.

Dozens of protesters were tried for demonstrating against the deal, signed during a visit by Saudi's King Salman to Cairo.

Many have since been released after paying hefty fines.

The deal has faced a number of legal challenges from opponents; it was ratified Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi at the end of June after parliament voted to approve it.

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Nitish Kumar has said that Ram Nath Kovind is an honourable man. Knowing that the Chief Minister of Biharwhatever else he may or may not beis himself an honourable man, we take his characterisation of Kovind at his word.

The point, however, is that when the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the redoubtable Amit Shah, made the public declaration of Kovinds name as the ruling National Democratic Alliances choice for President of India, rather than emphasise Kovinds honourable nature, Shah laid stress on two other aspects, namely, Kovinds indigent background and, most of all, the fact that Kovind is a Dalit. Indeed, as many commentators have since remarked, Shah iterated this aspect of Kovinds persona more than a few times. Contrary to the professed indifference of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to facts of caste, Shah does seem to have a healthy interest in the social formations of Indias Hindus. We recall how he had, some weeks ago, characterised Gandhi as a chatur baniya.
The nomination of Ram Nath Kovind as the candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the post of President of India has provided an opportunity to the ruling party to pay lip-service to the cause of upholding the interests of the Dalits while, at the same time, continuing to ensure greater centralisation of power. The outcome of the 17 July elections is almost certain. Kovind will succeed Pranab Mukherjee since several non-NDA parties, including the Biju Janata Dal, the Janata Dal (United), and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi have already announced their support for him and he is expected to receive close to 55% of electoral college votes. While announcing his candidature, NDA chairman and BJP president Amit Shah emphasised Kovinds background describing him as an individual who was born in a poor Dalit family and who went the hard way up. This foregrounding of Kovinds identity as a Dalit has predictably attracted much attention and within days of his nomination, it was announced that former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar would be the candidate for much of the oppositionafter having dilly-dallied over the idea of persuading Gopalkrishna Gandhi to become a candidate. It seems the Congress had its way in setting up a contest between a Dalit man and a Dalit woman for the post of commander-in-chief and head of state.

There have been a number of factors at play in the nominations and the events that followed. The Narendra Modi government has faced much criticism in the recent past due to its inaction on several caste-related incidents, including the unnatural death of Rohith Vemula who was a student at the University of Hyderabad, the assault on four Dalit men by gau rakshaks in Una, Gujarat and the multiple attacks on Dalits in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Kovinds nomination is a cynical attempt to cover up the BJPs reactions to these events. His nomination also plays into several longer-term projects of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar. These include the depoliticisation of Dalit assertions and their co-option into the Sanghs monolithic version of Hinduism which subtly celebrates Brahminism, the caste system and is virulently anti-minority; the appropriation of the legacy of Ambedkar; the division of Dalits as well as the Other Backward Classes in North India to wean them away from other parties. Kovinds nomination shone a spotlight on fissures within the opposition and its ineffective political strategy that reacted only after the NDA had announced its candidate. While many have commented on his nomination in the context of identity politics and the BJPs Machiavellian realpolitik, it is important to also assess the longer-term implications of his expected victory.
An attack on a Saudi police patrol Saturday wounded two officers in the Shia-majority eastern province of Qatif, authorities said, in the third attack in the area in one week.

"The patrol was targeted by an explosive projectile when passing by a building under construction in the Al-Naserah district in Qatif," the interior ministry said in a statement published on the official SPA news agency.

Two policeman were wounded and transferred to nearby hospitals.

Authorities are treating the attack as a "terrorist crime," the statement said.

The attack occurred in the same area where a police corporal was killed in a bombing targeting a patrol on Thursday.

Another policeman had been killed and three others wounded in a bombing in Qatif on Tuesday morning.

Three people, including a police officer, were also killed last month in bombings in Qatif, where most of Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia's Shia minority lives.

The district has been rocked by unrest since 2011, when Shia protests erupted to demand equality in the Gulf kingdom.

Authorities have blamed the unrest on "terrorists" and drug traffickers.

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Ethereum can reach $1000 in a couple of years, said Aragon co-founder Luis Cuende in an interview with Sindre Hopland, the media producer at Itnig.

I thought it was expensive one year ago when it was at 13 dollars, but today when I see the possibilities created by the technology, I think it's cheap, said Cuende, as quoted by The Cointelegraph.

However, ethereum, along with the other cryptocurrencies are yet to offer a viable product and mainstream application.

Crypto hasnt achieved its promises just yet. When it achieves 10 percent of what it promised to do, I can't even imagine how crazy that will be, said Cuende.

High transaction costs a hurdle to use digital currencies

The high transaction costs linked to the use of bitcoin can be a deterrent in day to day small purchases.

The whole reason behind bitcoin isnt really there anymore, says a British bitcoin user who was charged $6 recently for a transaction of $30 worth of bitcoin. Any currency where you have to pay a huge portion of the transaction just for the privilege of using that currency is no currency, reports the Daily Reckoning.

However, this has not curbed the enthusiasm of the investors. Recently, Roberto Ponce Romay, former senior manager at consulting firm Bain & Company has launched a Crypto Assets Fund for buying popular digital currencies.

"This fund is investor driven," said Romay, who is now the director of investment banking boutique, Invermaster. "It is a simple strategy to give access," reports Coindesk.

Bitcoin cant be a currency

Sheng Songcheng, adviser to the People's Bank of China (PBOC), in an interview with financial magazine Yicai said that bitcoin doesnt have the attributes necessary to be a currency in the modern world.

"Bitcoin does not have the fundamental attributes needed to be a currency as it is a string of code generated by complex algorithms...But I do not deny that virtual currencies have technical value and are a type of asset," Sheng said.

He also added that the Chinese central bank should issue its own virtual currency that can be controlled and regulated.
Like countless others, photographer and video artist Tom Turner was taken aback when he heard television news anchor Brian Williams waxing rhapsodic over the beautiful pictures of missiles in flight during the bombing of a Syrian airfield by U.S. forces earlier this year.

Weeks earlier, historical footage of nuclear test explosions from the 1950s and 1960s had been released. With Williams comments still fresh in his mind, Turner said, I started looking at those videos more seriously after that.

For Color Atomic, his latest series, the artist altered and enhanced black-and-white footage, abstracting roiling fireballs and mushroom clouds with vivid color. It is one of three exhibits curated by Mary Mikel Stump currently on view in the Santikos Building of the Southwest School of Art.

Installed in the lobby gallery, Color Atomic sets the stage for the shows by Mexico City-based artist Victor Perez-Rul and San Antonio-based artist Esteban Delgado in the Russell Hill Rogers galleries, said Stump, former director of exhibitions. Perez-Ruls The Odds, is barren landscape with white geometric sculptural pieces that look like the skeletal remains of some alien species arranged on a bed of black sand, while Delgados Plural Forms is a series of paintings of Texas landscapes pared down into shapes and colors.

Toms work in and of itself is interesting to me because the work is minimalizing the emotional content of that imagery, Stump said. Hes not particularly interested in the source material for what it is documenting. Instead hes doing what Victor and Esteban are: Hes looking at the essential aspects of that form.

Though Turner did not set out to make a political statement, he does see how the images could bring to mind recent events.

The work feels very prescient now that North Korea is going through these nuclear test just like we did in the 50s and 60s, he said. Theyre going through these tests right now, so its heightening our fear, its heightening our awareness of the nuclear issue. Wed almost gotten to the point where the Cold War was a memory. Its all of sudden no longer a memory.

The works in the show are part of an ongoing series, The Color of Memory, in which Turner explores what he describes as the mismatch between perception and memory. Throughout the works, Turner uses color separation to reveal the passage of time and movement.

A member of the Clamp Light Artist Studios and Gallery collective, Turner, 39, moved to San Antonio in 2013. After graduating from McMurry University in Abilene and studying at the Brooks Institute of Photography in California, he worked as a photojournalist for about five years. At that point, he decided to go back to school, earning a masters degree in photography from Texas Tech University.

Turner began working on The Color of Memory shortly after moving to San Antonio. He was inspired by the work of Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, specifically his survey of the Russian Empire made between 1905 and 1915. The technology of the time required Prokudin-Gorskii to use a camera that made three sequential exposures through blue, green and red filters to produce color images.

I was fascinated with the points in which the true color didnt match up. For instance, smoke or shadows would move and there would be this weird cyan halo around something, or people or water would move and you would see the movement through color, Turner said. But as it continues, it becomes more about breaking apart our perceptions about how the world that we see and experience isnt the world that we really understand.

The Color Atomic is the sixth series within The Color of Memory. Previous series include Santa Monica Sunset, images of the sun setting over the ocean; and The Color of White, white-on-white landscapes photographed in Wyoming, Montana and Alaska.

The Color of Memory bridges a whole bunch of different ideas through this one particular style of color separations, Turner said.

All the series comprise of photographic stills and video. For Color Atomic Turner plans to visit the sites of the test explosions documented in the video he used to make pictures there. That will require travel to Nevada, Hawaii and India.

There isnt really a political message inherent within the work, but I do think there are messages there for the viewer to find, Turner said. I think that its always the job of the viewer to unpackage it. If youre willing to put the work in, good work will show you where it wants to go.

lsilva@express-news.net

Color Atomic continues through Aug. 27; The Odds and Plural Forms continue through July 16, Southwest School of Art, Navarro Campus, 210-224-1848, swschool.org.
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Theyre a feather in the cap of new San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who helped champion the preservation of their habitat just outside the city.

Strange and magnificent, they are a popular Texas draw for tourists and residents alike.

One even caused a stir at a San Antonio Spurs game, with Manu Ginobili ending its flight with a swat.

However, an upcoming global TV special, described as the Super Bowl of the natural world, may be their most illustrious stage so far.

Were talking San Antonios and Austins dramatic swarms of Mexican free-tail bats, who, right before sunset every night, emerge by the millions from Bracken Cave 20 miles north of the Alamo City.

Their flight will be featured prominently on the inaugural telecast of Earth Live.

The groundbreaking, two-hour live event will take viewers to key locations across six continents  from South America to Asia and everywhere in between.

Earth Live, which will be simulcast in real time on National Geographic channel and Nat Geo WILD in 171 countries and 45 languages, premieres at 7 p.m. Sunday.

RELATED: San Antonio TV forecaster's latest stunt an internet hit

World-renowned cinematographers will use cutting-edge technology to showcase an impressive array of wildlife  sharks, lions, whales, eagles, zebras and more.

In Texas, the cameras will capture our bats and the serpents and birds that prey on them.

Those bats are one of the largest aggregations of mammals we have on the planet, Chris Packham, a renowned British zoologist and naturalist, said in a phone chat.

Bats always have had a pretty bad reputation. People thought of them as creatures of the night  representing some sort of evil. In Europe, there were legends of bats entangling themselves in peoples hair, and of course, theres the vampire myth, made infamous by Dracula and the like.

But the people of Texas have learned to love their bats, he said. People gather on a bridge in Austin just to watch them.

Packham, who said he has a great fondness for San Antonio, particularly the Alamo, its museum and artifacts, will be the in-house commentator throughout the special.

Hosting will be actress Jane Lynch of Glee fame.

Its going to be a groundbreaking, beautiful and action-packed wildlife symposium that will help viewers from all across the world better understand the animals that live around them, Lynch said in National Geographics press release.

What attracted the networks to Bracken Cave is a very real sense of spectacle, Packham said. When these animals emerge at sunset, the sky darkens and then theres the noise. As we will illustrate, they emerge in such a significant crowd, we can see these bats on radar  thats how dense they are.

RELATED: Reality show seeks fun-loving San Antonio students from Mexico

The sensitive cameras, to be set up around the opening of the cave and above it, also will capture the millions of bats as they forage for food.

One of the species they feed on is a moth, which is a pest of cotton, an important crop of your area, Packham said. So theyre also seen as a great force for good; they assist farmers, and their economic worth has been calculated as hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Also shown, if possible, will be the actions of predators who feed on the bats  snakes that will be at the bottom of the cave waiting for the animals to injure themselves and fall, as well as aerial predators such as the red-tailed Hawk. The birds cant resist the draw of these millions of bats emerging from their cave.

But viewers will be enthralled by much more than bats, Packham said.

Well go to Alaska for humpback whales. In Oregon, were fixing a live camera on the back of a Golden Eagle.

Something called the moonlight camera, which Packham said is extraordinarily sensitive to low light levels, will record the lions in Kenya as they hunt at night.

Then, theres what many might term the piece de resistance: sharks.

For the special, the cameras will be in Fiji, where a diver will be diving with bull sharks and trying to feed them on live TV, Packham said. Along with tiger sharks and great whites, bull sharks are the most potentially dangerous in the world  known to attack humans in shallow water. Of course, our aim is not to demonize these animals but to show how fantastic they are.

Because its live TV, theres alway a chance some things wont happen. However, Packham promised there would be plenty to see no matter what.

Whats great about the Bracken bats, he said, is theyre predictable. Without fail, they emerge from the cave just before sundown and fly about 50 kilometers during the course of the night and return again.

From the TV point of view, thats really good news. We know theyre not going to stay in, take a night off, catch something on television. Theyre going to go out.

RELATED: San Antonio TV anchor welcomes first baby

Jeanne Jakles column appears Wednesdays and Sundays in mySA.

jjakle@express-news.net
AUSTIN  Its the zombies that freak everybody out.

Months ago at the Ferguson Unit, a state prison north of Huntsville long known as one of Texas tougher lockups, a convict doing 30 years for drug trafficking flipped out and started yelling and swinging wildly at correctional officers and other convicts.

His eyes was as big as my fist, recalled one veteran correctional officer who quickly summoned backup to the disturbance in the cellblock. I knew it was 2, prison lingo for K2, a synthetic marijuana that now reigns as the fastest-growing drug contraband in Texas massive prison system.

The 2 makes them crazy, and crazy strong, the officer said, speaking anonymously because prison policies prevent him from speaking publicly. It took a bunch of us to take him down. He was like a zombie. It was scary.

More and more, other prison officials confirm, that scene has become routine in Lone Star lockups as front-line corrections officers battle what they say seems like a rising tide of K2 use. Its a trend being played out nationally, as well, one that officials say endangers the safety of convicts and prison staff.

So far, no prison deaths have been attributed to K2 in Texas, authorities said, but the contraband is on the rise behind bars.

Of the 950 contraband busts in Texas prisons between January and mid-June, 477 involved illegal drugs  and 268 of those, more than half, were for possessing K2, according to state statistics.

Last year, 560 of the 1,015 drug contraband cases involved K2  just under half.

K2 is the new drug of choice, inside and outside of prison, said Bruce Toney, inspector general for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. His office is the skilled detective force that busts illegal activity inside Texas 110 state prisons  the nations largest state-run system.

State investigators both inside the prison system and out blame the growing problem with K2 on its cheap price and that routine drug screens fail to detect its presence. Its chemical makeup is routinely changed by overseas manufacturers to avoid detection, according to authorities. Its multitude of names rivals the variety of ingredients. One of its more common names is Kush.

Texas prison system conducts random drug tests on convicts and staff at a cost of about $10 each. More extensive screening tests that detect K2 can cost more than six times that, officials said.

The Legislature made K2 illegal in September 2015. Before that, authorities said it was even harder to bust anyone  even convicts  for possessing it.

But in the past two years, prison officials say they have launched a continuing series of targeted crackdowns on visitors and guards who are smuggling it to convicts and on inmates, who pay up to $500 an ounce to have it smuggled in to them.

Its cost on the street: About $20 an ounce.

Generally, K2 is a mixture of spices, herbs and shredded plant material that is sprayed with a synthetic compound that is similar to the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

It is also available in clear liquid form that, in prison, can cost from $800 to $1,000 an ounce  perhaps even more in some units. On the street, the same liquid in many areas sells for $100 or more an ounce, officials said.

By contrast, cellphones, which not so many years ago were the hottest prison contraband, sell inside Texas state lockups for $350 to $1,000 a pop.

Officials say the prisons in the Huntsville area have been a source of most of the K2 busts in the past two years, though it is turning up elsewhere. They attribute the high bust rates to the targeted crackdowns, sometimes based on snitches.

In interviews, four correctional officers at units in Huntsville, Gatesville and Abilene acknowledged the rising prevalence of K2. They blamed much of the problem on relatives and friends of convicts because they smuggle it in on visitation days. They concede that some of their fellow guards are probably sneaking it in, as well, to make extra money on the side.

In recent months, prison police say they have busted wives, cousins and children of convicts  even a grandmother  for trying to smuggle K2 into East Texas prisons. Once, prison screeners found K2 concealed in a babys diapers on a visitation day.

Toney said authorities are serious about cutting off the supply inside prisons: If youre trying to bring it in, if you throw it out on the grounds for someone else to bring it in, were gonna catch you and youre gonna be wearing matching uniforms with the person you came to see.

They also search prison employees vehicles in random parking lot sweeps.

Lance Lowry, president of a Huntsville union that represents correctional officers, recalled one shift a few years ago when he was working in a Huntsville-area prison.

Three guys went off about the same time, overdosed after smoking K2, he said. One guy was on the floor in a medical emergency. One was spaced out of his mind. The other one was fighting us and everyone else. It took eight or nine officers to get him under control.

Its crazy. And its scary.
Major industries in Texas that released 500 million pounds of pollutants into the air during maintenance and malfunctions were penalized by the state less than 3 percent of the time, according to environmental groups.

The Environmental Integrity Project and Environment Texas released a report Friday documenting pollution that occurs when petroleum refineries, chemical plants and other industrial sites undergo maintenance or breakdowns. The groups looked at air emissions across Texas from 2011 to 2016 using data from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

They found that during that time, the TCEQ fined operators $13,501,340. That adds up to only 3 cents per pound of pollution released, said Ilan Levin, the Environmental Integrity Projects associate director.

These industrial polluters have no incentive to upgrade their equipment or hire more workers, Levin said. Lax enforcement means it pays to pollute.

In an emailed statement, TCEQ officials disputed the idea that the agency allows industries to release excess amounts of air pollution. The agency is required by law to evaluate emissions events that exceed a reportable quantity, and it requires facilities to minimize emission from maintenance activities and upset events, the statement said.

In 2016 alone, the TCEQ logged 3,720 such emission events, the report states. TCEQs Region 13, centered in San Antonio, had 90 that released nearly 1.8 million pounds of pollution. The region came in fourth in the state after Midland, Houston and Beaumont-Port Arthur.

Emissions of hydrocarbon gases and volatile organic compounds can form harmful chemicals such as ozone when exposed to sunlight, said Arch Chip Carson, a doctor who practices occupational and environmental medicine with UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston.

They chemically react with almost anything they come in contact with, he said. If theyre inhaled into the body, they cause irritation and damage to lung tissue.

San Antonios top emitters in 2016 for maintenance and malfunction events were slightly different from those in other regions. While in areas such as Houston and Corpus Christi, the top emitters were refineries and chemical plants, the sources in San Antonio were pipelines and oil production sites.

A natural gas transmission line in Atascosa County under the name TexStar Field Services was the top emitter in 2016 in the San Antonio area, according to the report.

TCEQ data show that pipeline as being operated by Regency Energy Partners, which merged with Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners in 2015, according to a news release.

On March 3 last year, the pipeline had a rupture in Atascosa County, according to a TCEQ report. Gas that escaped through the leak was burned off in a field flare, depressurizing the line and allowing workers to repair it.

From 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. that day, an estimated 77,502 pounds of volatile organic compounds, 7,578 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 4,197 pounds of hydrogen sulfide escaped from the line, according to TCEQ data.

Asked to respond to the report, Energy Transfer Partners said in an email: We operate and maintain our pipelines with safety in mind. The safety of our employees, the safety of the environment and the safety of the communities in which we have assets is our top priority.

The report also mentioned four oil production sites operated by Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. near Charlotte in Atascosa County.

The facilities normally send excess gas collected during crude oil production to a nearby plant operated by Southcross Energy, Cabot spokesman George Stark said in an email.

In February 2016, an explosion that killed two workers shut down the Southcross facility in Frio County, according to TCEQ and news reports.

Cabot then began burning excess gas in flares at the four sites for nearly two months, releasing an estimated nearly 70,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds from one flare alone, according to the TCEQ. Two of the four reported use of flares at other times after shutdowns at the Southcross site.

Cabot operates in full compliance with its permits, Starks email said. If the (Southcross) facility is shut down for maintenance, we comply with the state regulations applicable to our facilities.

Asked how the TCEQ should enforce incidents like this, Levin said TCEQ staff should investigate the source of the problem.

Our review of the TCEQ reports shows that its not all that difficult to identify the root cause, and when the root cause is an avoidable or foreseeable breakdown, thats who bears the responsibility, he said in an email.

The report also recommends that the TCEQ do more air monitoring and make better notifications to the public during upset events that disrupt multiple oil and gas facilities.

bgibbons@express-news.net
Japan will host the G20 summit of leading nations in 2019, with Saudi Arabia presiding the 2020 edition, according to a statement Saturday winding up this year's event in Hamburg.

"We thank Germany for hosting a successful Hamburg summit," it said after the summit, rocked by unprecedented violence as protestors clashed with riot police outside, "and look forward to meeting again in Argentina in 2018, in Japan in 2019 and in Saudi Arabia in 2020."

Under the terms of the revolving presidency G20 hosts can set the summit agenda and Germany this year used the opportunity to focus on development partnerships with Africa.

In 2015, Turkey addressed how to tackle migration as the worst refugee crisis Europe has known since World War II threatened to overwhelm the region.

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Two companies closely affiliated with Whataburger now own 18 acres at the crossing of Loop 410 and U.S. 281, a quarter-mile from San Antonio International Airport, after buying two shopping centers there last week.

EG Tejas, a company that Whataburger President and CEO Preston Atkinson and three other executives created in June of last year, bought 11.5 acres at the southwest corner of the interchange for an undisclosed price June 30, property records show. The land includes locations for T.J. Maxx, Sears and Specs Wine, Spirits & Finer Foods.

The properties are next to 6.5 acres that another company controlled by Whataburger executives, RE Pecan, purchased in December. Atkinson is listed as a manager of both companies, as well as Whataburger Chairman Thomas Dobson, Senior Vice President and general counsel Michael Gibbs and Chief Financial Officer Ed Nelson, corporate filings show.

The acquisition is an attractive investment opportunity, said Kim Isaacson, a spokeswoman for EG Tejas, in an emailed statement. Most of the retail tenants have a number of years left on their leases, and there are no plans to terminate leases of any current tenants.

The intersection of 410 and 281 is one of the most heavily trafficked parts of San Antonio. In 2015, an average of 259,477 vehicles drove along 410 there every day, and 88,203 vehicles on 281.

EG Tejas is not involved with the operations of Whataburger restaurants, Isaacson said. The company operates as an acquisition and development company and offers business and technology services, she said. Isaacson also serves as a shareholder relations official for Whataburger, according to LinkedIn.

The address for EG Tejas is a strip mall on San Pedro Avenue near North Star Mall. The company doesnt have a website, but the domain name EGTejas.com was registered last August by Mark Dubay, who is identified on LinkedIn as a manager of business architecture and information technology at Whataburger.

The affiliates properties are slightly more than a half-mile north of Whataburgers corporate headquarters in the Concord Plaza office complex on U.S. 281. The properties span 18 acres and were assessed at $18.6 million last year by the Bexar Appraisal District.

Whataburger moved its headquarters to San Antonio from Corpus Christi in 2009. One of the main reasons for the move was to be close to San Antonios airport to ease travel to the chains locations in other states, executives said at the time.

The beloved burger chain has increased its local landholdings drastically over the last two years. In October, a partnership between Whataburger and local investment firm Milam Real Estate Capital bought the 11-story Concord Plaza office building next to its headquarters. A few months earlier, the chain bought an adjacent three-story building through a subsidiary.

The company is growing fast  it now has more than 40,000 employees and 800 restaurants, according to its website. In 2012, the company said it had more than 22,500 employees and 740 restaurants.

EG Tejas bought the 11.5 acres from local company Adlan Concourse, which had owned it since 2007.

rwebner@express-news.net

@rwebner
The government of Sudan has been using media outlets to spread false allegations against Egypt, with potentially negative repercussions for relations between these two brotherly peoples

Statements made by Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir accusing Egypt of being involved in armed engagements in Darfur represent a new and unprecedented pinnacle in the Sudanese escalation operation against Egypt.

This escalation, which has been continuing for the past few months, is conducted by one channel after another in a planned way through continuous campaigns repeating parrot-like lies and fabrications, with which the campaign is fed in order that it might continue and deepen.

The Sudanese president has participated in leading these political and media campaigns, directing them through recent statements, which he has consistently made in media interviews.

However, the most recent escalation has exceeded every ceiling and moved to a new and unprecedented stage.

At first glance, the accusations seemed to be hasty and lacking any solid basis, for El-Bashir talked about Egyptian armed vehicles found with the rebels.

This does not prove anything concrete, for these vehicles can be obtained from any source other than Egypt, especially since such military hardware is widespread in these open areas, changing hands in various ways.

However, more details were later revealed. Through statements issued by the Rapid Support Forces Advisor, shown by the Sudanese media, it transpired that the military engagements involved forces coming from the south and equipped with 64 armoured vehicles.

Approximately 90 more vehicles were involved in the battle of the Hur Valley, totaling more than 150 vehicles.

Then, to make a mountain out of a mole-hill, it transpired that six vehicles of the kind allegedly used by the Egyptian Army were found. That is less than 1 percent of the attacking force.

Worse still, these same statements asserted that this operation  codenamed "Arm-Twisting"  was planned three years ago in coordination between the forces of Mini Arko Minawi and Abdel-Wahed Nour.

So, where is Egypt in all this?

Such claims lead us to ask about the reasons for El-Bashir's rashness and eagerness in accusing Egypt.

Most likely this can be attributed to the huge tension he has been under since the American statement that his presence is not welcome at the summits held in Riyadh last month, due the allegations of the International Criminal that haunt him everywhere he goes.

What made matters worse is that the Sudanese president made statements to a Qatari newspaper just before the summit, in which he confirmed his attendance and participation and that it would be a leap forward in Sudan's foreign relations. However, what happened was the opposite.

This has burst the balloon of expectations, which was launched unwisely. It also clarified the limits of Arab Gulf support in return for participation in the ground-war in Yemen.

The military engagements in Darfur have destroyed the much-circulated notions of a national dialogue and its results, with the Darfur crisis driving the nation back to square one.

For these reasons, the intention was to press ahead with a means of escape, mobilising Sudanese public opinion against Egypt, directing attention away from the failure and deterioration on both the internal and external fronts.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry immediately denied the Sudanese accusations. This was followed by a comprehensive and definitive denial from President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, using well-controlled phrases, that implied deep significance for those who understand them.

Manipulating the relations between two brother peoples through manoeuvres of this kind brings many risks and dangers, the results of which should have been realised before statements were made without taking into account various considerations.

The writer is head of the Nile Basin Studies Department at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.

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The Kaiser Chiefs whipped the crowd up in a frenzy as they closed the first day of Cornbury Festival.

Ricky Wilson of the Kaiser Chiefs on stage at Cornbury Festival

The 'We Stay Together' hitmakers wowed with an energetic hour and a half long set as they headlined on the Friday night (07.07.17) at the Oxfordshire festival.

The band - led by frontman Ricky Wilson - opened their set with 'Everyday I Love You Less and Less' as the crowd belted out the lyrics and sang along with them.

From here, they segued into 'We Stay Together' off their latest LP, which earned huge cheers from the crowds that had gathered to watch them perform.

However, it was when the stage lighting went red and the introduction to 'Ruby' started playing that the fans really jumped into a new level of excitement, with both young and old screaming the lyrics to the iconic song.

As the band charged through some of their biggest hits including 'Hole In My Soul' and 'The Angry Mob', Ricky tried to keep his swearing to a minimum for the family friendly show but when an expletive did slip out, he told the crowd: "I'm sorry I swore; I know this is family friendly ... Close your ears kids ... S**t ... You took your hands off just as I was saying s**t! ...

"Sorry parents, I'm sorry, but they've heard worse. Like when you step on the lego in the morning or a plug."

The group had the whole crowd waving their arms in the air as they sang 'Coming Home' and disappeared off stage before returning a few minutes later to chants of 'we want more'.

For the encore, they played 'Misery Company' before ending with an amazing rendition of 'Oh My God', making sure that as the crowd left they were still singing the catchy chorus.

Cornbury Festival continues on Saturday (08.07.17), where the likes of Scouting for Girls and Keane's Tom Chaplin will perform with Bryan Adams headlining the Pleasant Valley stage. On Sunday (09.07.17), Midge Ure, Imelda May and The Pretenders will take to one of the festival's three stages before Jools Holland closes what no doubt will be a memorable Fabulous Finale weekend.
Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar and Kichcha Sudeep are two brightly shining stars of Sandalwood. The two of them being seen together in a public get-together is very rare. Either of those two will always be busy for them to come together and it will need a special occasion for their coming together.

One such rare occasion was on Friday, July 7, the century-day celebration of Raajakumara film took place in Palace Grounds, Bengaluru, when these two stalwarts came together on stage and entertained the audience.

Off late, both Puneeth Rajkumar and Kichcha Sudeep are getting close, day by day. Puneeth was often seen on the sets of Sudeep's movie very recently and Sudeep visiting Puneeth on his shooting spot; these have become common, now-a-days. It only goes to show that their bond is increasing.

Recently, in an interview, Puneeth Rajkumar had said that he loves Sudeep's voice, and if given a chance, would steal away his voice. In the same way, Kichcha Sudeep has specified to the media multiple times that he loves Puneeth Rajkumar's dancing and singing skills.

On the Zee Kannada channel's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa reality show, Sudeep had sung Puneeth Rajkumar's childhood song and told that it was his personal favourite.

There were a lot of rumours that mentioned about some wars and feuds between star actors in Kananda film industry. Despite all those falsified rumours, our stalwarts have remained close enough to prove everyone wrong, on their own face. We only hope this gesture continues till forever.
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / July 7, 2017 / Lundin Law PC, a shareholder rights firm, announces a class action lawsuit against Asanko Gold Inc. ("Asanko" or the "Company") (NYSE MKT: AKG) for possible violations of federal securities laws from October 24, 2014 through May 31, 2017 inclusive (the "Class Period"). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares during the Class Period should contact the firm prior to the July 31, 2017 lead plaintiff motion deadline.

To participate in this class action lawsuit, click here.

You can also call Brian Lundin, Esq., of Lundin Law PC, at 888-713-1033, or you can e-mail him at brian@lundinlawpc.com.

No class has been certified in the above action yet. Until a class is certified, you are not considered represented by an attorney. You may also choose to do nothing and be an absent class member.

According to the Complaint, throughout the Class Period, Asanko made false and/or misleading statements, and/or failed to disclose that: Asanko's Mineral Resource Estimates are flawed; that some of the Company's resources models show signs that they have been "smeared," which would cause estimates of their ore contents to be inflated; and that as a result, Asanko's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On May 31, 2017, research firm Muddy Waters published a report asserting, among other things, that: Asanko made investments based on flawed geology in Nkran, its satellite pits, and Esaase that Muddy Waters believes "will never be recovered;" and that there are signs that some of the Company's resources models have been "smeared," which would cause estimates of their ore contents to be inflated. When this information reached the public, Asanko shares dropped in value materially, which caused investors harm according to the Complaint.

Lundin Law PC was founded by Brian Lundin, Esq., a securities litigator located in Los Angeles dedicated to upholding the rights of shareholders.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in certain jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethics rules.

Contact:

Lundin Law PC

Brian Lundin, Esq.

Telephone: 888-713-1033

Facsimile: 888-713-1125

brian@lundinlawpc.com

http://lundinlawpc.com/

SOURCE: Lundin Law PC
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA and JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA -- (Marketwired) -- 07/07/17 -- Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (TSX: PTM)(NYSE MKT: PLG) ("Platinum Group" or the "Company") is taking steps to restructure its mining operations at the Maseve Mine in South Africa. The restructuring would involve a change in primary mining method and cost reductions to create a sustainable future for the mine. The changes are operationally driven to align costs with a more gradual ramp-up of production using more selective mining methods.

The Maseve Mine has good potential in terms of grades, underground developed access, completed infrastructure and a mill that operates in accordance with design criteria.

As a result of the anticipated restructuring process, there are a large number of employees in the service of independent contractors and staff of Maseve who could be affected. Platinum Group Metals will work closely with all its contractors, including Redpath Mining South Africa, the largest mining contractor on site, to minimize job losses while making the operation self-sustainable. It is likely that Redpath will continue to be the main contractor at the mine.

Contractors will be paid in the normal course, and the Company will honor obligations to its employees. The Company will work with all its contractors and staff under Section 189 and 189A of the Labour Relations Act in South Africa. Severance, job planning and other support will be provided. Platinum Group will also work closely with organized labor during this process.

New opportunities for contractors and employees will be created as the newly planned mining method ramps up. In the long term, the hybrid method is more labor intensive offset with better planned grade compared to bord-and-pillar mining.

"We see good potential for a sustainable mine at Maseve. The South African government and the local community have been very supportive of the Maseve Mine, and we deeply value their assistance and support," said R. Michael Jones, CEO, Platinum Group. "We will work with our contractors, employees and other stakeholders in a climate of mutual respect, as we transition through the proposed restructuring process."

The restructuring aims to reduce ongoing costs and achieve positive, sustainable cash flows as soon as possible, utilizing already-established infrastructure. A "hybrid" mining method is under consideration, which would result in a transition from the current higher volume, mechanized bord-and-pillar mining method. Hybrid mining involves mechanized access drives using the mine's current equipment as well as conventional manual methods for stoping. Both bord-and-pillar and hybrid methods were included in the mine's feasibility study.

Face grades at the Maseve mine have generally met estimates, but the fully mechanized mining method has resulted in excess dilution and therefore lower grades to the plant. The Maseve concentrator plant has performed in excess of design criteria. Completed underground conveyor infrastructure will help reduce the trucking fleet required for mining from Block 11, the target for immediate mining.

The Company has notified the Department of Mineral Resources that a restructuring is required to create a viable operation and to ensure optimal mining of the resource, and that it will comply with the applicable provisions of Section 52 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA).

As the Company develops and implements the new hybrid mining ramp-up plan, it will assess its new production guidance. Previous guidance will change. In coming months, Platinum Group will provide operational updates on the results of the hybrid mining ramp-up.

The Company has received waivers from its lenders related to working capital and production covenants to October 31, 2017. The Company will assess the new plan's ability to meet the lending covenants and loan requirements in the months ahead. The Company may require further financing in debt, equity or from asset sales.

The Company continues to work with BMO Capital Markets and Macquarie Capital to review and assess corporate and asset level strategic alternatives.

About Platinum Group Metals Ltd.

Platinum Group, based in Johannesburg, South Africa and Vancouver, Canada, has a successful track record with more than 20 years of experience in exploration, mine discovery, mine construction and mining operations.

Formed in 2002, Platinum Group holds significant mineral rights and large-scale reserves of platinum and palladium in the Bushveld Igneous Complex of South Africa, which is host to over 70% of the world's primary platinum production. The Company is currently focused on ramping up the Maseve Mine, its first near-surface platinum mine, to commercial production.

Platinum Group has delineated new low-cost, near-surface reserves on the North Limb of the Bushveld Complex on the Waterberg Project. Waterberg represents a new bulk type of large-scale, shallow low-cost platinum, palladium and gold deposit. Waterberg is one of the only large-scale dominantly palladium deposits in the world.

Qualified Person

R. Michael Jones, P.Eng., the Company's President, Chief Executive Officer and a significant shareholder of the Company, is a non-independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and is responsible for preparing the technical information contained in this news release. He has verified the data by reviewing the detailed information of the geological and engineering staff and the Independent Qualified Person reports as well as visiting the site regularly.

On behalf of the Board of Platinum Group Metals Ltd.

R. Michael Jones, President

Disclosure

The Toronto Stock Exchange and the NYSE MKT LLC have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this news release, which has been prepared by management.

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. securities laws (collectively "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, plans, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's restructuring plans, any potential reduction of Maseve Mine staff and independent contractors related to the restructuring plans, changes to the Company's primary mining method, the impact of the restructuring plans on the Company's financial condition and any future benefits of implementing the restructuring plans. Although the Company believes the forward-looking statements in this press release are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations and assumptions in such statements will prove to be correct. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including risks related to indebtedness; the Company's capital requirements may exceed its current expectations; the uncertainty of cost, operational and economic projections; the ability of the Company to negotiate and complete future funding transactions; variations in market conditions; the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located; metal prices; other prices and costs; currency exchange rates; the Company's ability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities; the Company's ability to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, or to be fully able to implement its business strategies; risks related to contractor performance and labor disruptions; and other risk factors described in the Company's Form 40-F annual report, annual information form and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities regulators, which may be viewed at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com, respectively.

Cautionary Note to U.S. and other Investors

Estimates of mineralization and other technical information included or referenced in this press release have been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101. The definitions of proven and probable reserves used in NI 43-101 differ from the definitions in SEC Industry Guide 7. Under SEC Industry Guide 7 standards, a "final" or "bankable" feasibility study is required to report reserves, the three-year historical average price is used in any reserve or cash-flow analysis to designate reserves and the primary environmental analysis or the report must be filed with the appropriate governmental authority. As a result, the reserves reported by the Company in accordance with NI 43-101 may not qualify as "reserves" under SEC standards. In addition, the terms "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" are defined in and required to be disclosed by NI 43-101; however, these terms are not defined terms under SEC Industry Guide 7 and normally are not permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves; "inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. Additionally, disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian securities laws; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measurements. Accordingly, information contained or referenced in this press release containing descriptions of the Company's mineral deposits may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Contacts:

Platinum Group Metals Ltd.

R. Michael Jones

President

(604) 899-5450 / Toll Free: (866) 899-5450



Platinum Group Metals Ltd.

Kris Begic

VP, Corporate Development

(604) 899-5450 / Toll Free: (866) 899-5450

www.platinumgroupmetals.net






BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Leaders of the Group of 20 countries other than the United States reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris climate accord on Saturday, saying that it is irreversible.



'The Leaders of the other G20 members state that the Paris Agreement is irreversible,' the G20 said in its communique released on conclusion of the two-day summit in Hamburg, Germany.



The G20 took note of the US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.



'We reaffirm our strong commitment to the Paris Agreement, moving swiftly towards its full implementation in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances and, to this end, we agree to the G20 Hamburg Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth,' the G20 communique said.



Regarding trade, the G20 communique said members will keep markets open and 'continue to fight protectionism including all unfair trade practices and recognize the role of legitimate trade defense instruments in this regard.'



German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who played host to the summit, remarked that discussions were sometimes 'very difficult'. She also noted that her meeting with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed 'deep differences'.



Meanwhile, US President Trump congratulated Merkel for hosting a 'fantasic' summit.



Trump had a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the summit.



Putin said Trump was satisfied with his denial of meddling in the US election.



The Hamburg G20 summit was marred by riots by anti-G20 protesters across the city. Clashes between the protesters and the police often turned violent.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday pressed upon his British counterpart Theresa May to ensure UK's cooperation to bring back economic offenders, amidst India working hard for the return of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya and former IPL chief Lalit Modi.

Modi reached out to his British counterpart and sought her cooperation to ensure the return of absconding economic offenders during a bilateral meet on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamaburg, Germany, reported CNN-News18.

In his meeting with British PM Theresa May in Hamburg, PM Modi asked for UK's cooperation for return of escaped Indian economic offenders.  ANI (@ANI_news) July 8, 2017

PM @narendramodi meets UK PM @theresa_may on sidelines of #G20. Asks for UK's cooprn for return of escaped Indian economic offenders pic.twitter.com/VAwIp5ySvo  Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) July 8, 2017

Among them is Vijay Mallya, who fled India in March 2016 and has been living in the UK ever since.

Asked whether India seeking cooperation from the UK was limited to Mallya or whether Lalit Modi was also mentioned, Baglay told reporters, "I don't want to get into the specifics but the phrase used in the tweet is escaped economic offenders and it is plural."

"These are the brief discussions at such forums where leaders mostly touch upon these top priority matters," he told reporters in Hamburg.

Baglay refused to comment directly on any question related to Mallya.

Mallya, 61, owes over Rs 9,000 crore to a consortium of banks led by SBI, including PNB, IDBI Bank, Bank of Baroda, Allahabad Bank, Federal Bank and Axis Bank, reported Times Now.

In April, he had been in a central London police station for his arrest and was released on conditional bail a few hours later after providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds, assuring the court of abiding by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel documents.

Mallya is currently facing a hearing before the Westminster Magistrates Court in London for his extradition case.

Lalit Modi, the former chief of Indian Premier League (IPL), is wanted by the Indian authorities with respect to a money laundering probe and he is said to be in the UK.

The former cricket administrator has maintained that he has not done any wrong in any of the IPL deals. The Enforcement Directorate had registered a money laundering case against Lalit Modi and others based on a Chennai police complaint in 2012 on charges of alleged

cheating of BCCI-IPL in granting overseas telecast rights of the T20 cricket tournament in 2009.

As per News18, India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement: Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India in October to face trial in connection with his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

The Hindu in 2016 noted that Vijay Mallya was among the list of 57 fugitives India has asked UK to send back, others including members of Sikh extremist groups.

With inputs from PTI
It was earlier reported that the makers of SS Rajamouli's war epic franchise Baahubali opted for Ramya Krishnan to play the role of Sivagami after their initial choice Sridevi allegedly demanded a high remuneration of Rs 8 crore.

Indiatimes quotes Rajamouli as saying, "Sridevi asked for 8 crores. Apart from that, she wants five business class tickets whenever she has to fly to Hyderabad and fly back. And five business suites should be booked at the biggest hotel in Hyderabad for her entourage during their stay. She even wanted a share in Hindi version of the film."

While the actor chose to remain silent initially, she struck during her promotions of Ravi Udyawar's recently released thriller MOM in Hyderabad. The same report quotes her as saying, "No filmmaker has the right to reveal the remuneration of an artiste on a public platform. Not only Baahubali, I have rejected several hit films in the past few years for my own reasons. No maker of those films has ever spoken about my rejecting their film on a public platform."

"I was shocked and hurt by his interview. Rajamouli is a calm and dignified person. I was very happy to (have got a chance to) work with him. But, the way he spoke about the issue made me feel very sad. People would have sent me packing if I was like that. I dont know if the producer wrongly told Rajamouli that I made all these demands but it is not in good taste to speak like this," the same report quotes her as saying.

Now, Rajamouli chose to respond to Sridevi. DNA quotes him as saying, "As for whose version to believe, I guess it is for people to decide. But one thing is for sure. I shouldnt have discussed the details on a public platform. Thats a mistake. And I regret it.

Now that this controversy is a thing of the past, ardent fans of both Rajamouli and Sridevi eagerly await their collaboration, of Baahubali proportions.
Mumbai: Actor Govinda, who had shot a cameo for Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif starrer Jagga Jasoos in South Africa, is upset after it emerged that his part has not been retained in the final edit of the film.

He seems to be unhappy with the makers' decision as he had shot for the film despite not being well.

Govinda took to Twitter on Friday to express disappointment and shared that he didn't charge any amount for appearing in the Anurag Basu directorial, which after going through various hurdles, is finally slated for a release on 14 July.

"I gave full respect to Kapoor family. I did the film because he (Ranbir) is my senior's son. I was told I will get the script. I was told they will narrate the film in South Africa and I didn't even charge my signing amount (and) made no contracts," Govinda tweeted.

"I was unwell and on drips, but still I travelled to South Africa and did my shoot. There were various negative stories and negative articles only for Govinda and that's how the film was remembered for three years. I did my job as an actor and if the director is not happy it's completely his call," he added.

1/5 I gave full respect to Kapoor family i did the film because he is my seniors son I was told I will get the script.  Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) July 7, 2017

2/5 I was told they will narrate the film in South Africa and I dint even charge my signing amount made no contracts.  Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) July 7, 2017

3/5 I was unwell and on drips but still I traveled to South Africa and did my shoot.  Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) July 7, 2017

4/5 There were various negative stories and negative articles only for GOVINDA and that's how the film was remembered for 3yrs.  Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) July 7, 2017

5/5 I did my job as an actor and if the director is not happy it's completely his call.  Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) July 7, 2017

A few still images from the shoot, which have been circulating over various social media platforms, show Govinda along with Katrina and Ranbir on the set.

Ranbir has also co-produced the movie along with Basu.
Being a kid is fun because there are many imaginative things you do, which you know will sound foolish when you grow up.

There are many kids who waited with bated breath to get that letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy and flicked a ruler, saying, 'Wingardium Leviosa', just to see if something would happen.

There are kids who wanted to be Pokemon Masters when they grew up. Or some who really tried hard to transform into a Super Saiyan.

Some wanted to be a mermaid like Ariel. Some believed in Shaktimaan while almost all believed in Santa Claus.

And then, there are many, many kids and young adolescents who extended their arms and touched their palm with the middle and ring finger to see if, by some miracle, web would suddenly shoot out of their wrists.

This is the kind of fandom Spider-Man has generated over the years since Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created the fictional superhero in 1962.

Spider-Man is as popular as the most iconic and famous superheroes like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. For many people, he is their favourite superhero. He is easily the most recognised Marvel character because even people who do not know much about superheroes probably know of Spider-Man.

So, what makes Spider-Man so special? And if he is indeed so popular, why did his popularity suddenly decline in the middle? After all, ever since Iron Man was released in 2008, superheroes like Iron Man and Captain America have clearly been more popular than the web-slinger in cinema.

Let's begin by answering the first question. The short answer is that Spider-Man was successful in depicting an issue which almost all other mainstream superheroes had largely ignored: Teenage problems.

Enter Peter Parker

Before Spider-Man was created, the role of teenagers in comics was largely limited to that of the sidekick. The main role of the superhero was always portrayed by someone usually a lot older.

Peter Parker broke this rule by not only being a nerdy, awkward teenaged superhero but by also not having any mentor. He, unlike Robin, did not have a Batman figure in his life to train him. He had to learn everything on his own. Of course, Spider-Man: Homecoming did portray Iron Man as a mentor to Spidey but we'll talk about that in a bit.

What separates Parker from the rest of the superhero alter-egos is that perhaps no other character allowed himself or herself to be as vulnerable as him.

In many Spider-Man comics, the readers could see pages with panels full of thought bubbles coming from Parker, talking about his feelings and difficulties. This gave the reader a feeling of being inside Parker's head.

This was also portrayed very efficiently in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man series starring Tobey Maguire as Parker. Especially in the first two films, there are many instances when Maguire's Parker breaks the fourth wall and is heard narrating his story. But that narration is more about him just thinking out loud and talking to himself about his feelings for Mary Jane Watson, dealing with Uncle Ben's death and his guilt over it, and the burden of handling his personal life while being a superhero at the same time.

And because Parker is a teenager, Spider-Man brought along the funnier, lighter side of it all successfully. Parker may be nerdy but he has always been a very sharp and witty person. He often uses his wit to take hilarious jibes at his enemies while fighting them to make them angry and more prone to make mistakes, again something which other superheroes don't engage in a lot or are unable to do as well.

For example, in the 2000 video game Spider-Man  parts of which are narrated by Stan Lee himself  there is a boss battle in which Spider-Man has to fight a giant Mysterio who is wearing a green suit and purple cape.

Following are some of the snappy, sharp and hilarious jibes Spidey comes up with:

'Hey, you've finally found a costume the size of your ego.'

'Dude, capes are out this year.'

'What? Are you colour blind? Who mixes green and purple?'

Clearly, nobody does it like your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

Personal problems part of being a superhero

Unlike the stoic Batman or the righteous Superman  who focus more on the concepts of justice and morality, order and chaos  Spider-Man showed the world that the first problem you will face if you get superpowers is yourself.

Before even thinking about what truly is justice, Spider-Man has to deal with his own life and personal problems. His teenage issues of facing bullying, loneliness, finding love, dealing with the deaths of his loved ones and the guilt because of it, and managing his education and eventually a job do not magically disappear when Peter Parker turns into Spider-Man.

Parker does not have a phone booth which magically appears when he wants to change into his costume. He is not rich and does not have a mansion to himself to which he can retreat.

While most superheroes almost completely forget their alter ego when they wear their costumes, Spider-Man still has to deal with Peter Parker's issues even when he wears his costume. This is the true meaning of 'with great power, comes great responsibility'.

And Parker is not perfect at dealing with that responsibility. There have been many times when an emotionally exhausted Parker has quit as Spider-Man.

By showing that teenage problems aren't insignificant issues which will magically disappear once you get superpowers but real difficulties which even a superhero has to deal with, Spider-Man has been able to connect with people in a way which no other superhero has managed till now.

Spider-Man is a recognition and celebration of being a teenager. Marvel's greatest success lies in the fact that they sent out a message with Spider-Man that your idiosyncrasies, weirdness, nerdiness or geekiness are not petty problems. In fact, they are the traits which make you cool.

Peter Parker is witty, charming and sensitive because he is nerdy, awkward and goofy, not despite these traits. By showing how Parker accepts his quirks and eventually overcomes his problems of bullying and loneliness, Spider-Man gives hope to countless teenagers all over the world who face the same issues.

There was finally a superhero who directly appealed to that weird and lonely kid whom nobody talked to. Spider-Man asks us all to stop obsessing over our quirks and instead focus on the unique beauty that lies within.

Redefining masculinity

While most male superheroes are relatively stoic, packed with physical strength, aggressive, rugged or invulnerable, Spider-Man shows that there is much more than that to being a man.

Even Spidey's superpowers are more about his agility and quick reflexes than super strength. Rather than having a 'genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist' image or a Hulk-like body, Spider-Man shows that it is as important, and sometimes more important, for a man to be sensitive, demonstrative and even vulnerable.

The way Spider-Man is portrayed shatters the highly sexist belief that a man should not 'whine' about his 'feelings'.

Spider-Man is one of the relatively few role models in mainstream comics who redefine masculinity and help get rid of the stereotypes associated with it.

Talking about your feelings and openly expressing pain does not make you less of a man. Men are allowed to, and in fact, should be sensitive and caring. And dealing with personal, emotional issues does not make a superhero weak.

Homecoming indeed

Now, to answer the second question, the decline in Spider-Man's popularity since Spider-Man 3 (released in 2007) has a lot to do with the fact that till the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming, the focus on Peter Parker's teenage issues went down. It was either portrayed in a cliched way which was turning into a formula, or not given enough attention.

Homecoming, however, shows a 15-year-old Peter Parker who is once again the goofy but lovable teenager we all admire.

Tom Holland's Parker is a good balance between the recklessness and awkwardness associated with Parker and the 'amazing' superpowers of Spider-Man.

Spidey's latest film is more about a teenager struggling with being a teenager  than a superhero saving the world. And even though Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark aka Iron Man is his mentor, Parker often enters into conflicts with him and does not follow him blindly, indicating that he learns more through self-discovery than through his mentor. Parker's last scene with Stark in the film especially dwells on this fact.

With Homecoming, Spider-Man is back to being more of the troubled and vulnerable teenager than the action hero doing death-defying stunts, which is exactly the way we love Spidey.

Also read on Firstpost  Marvel Cinematic Universe 101: All you need to know about the massive franchise
Whenever she has a release around the corner, Katrina Kaif is a bundle of nerves. Sans make-up, dressed in a simple yellow dress with her hair tied in a bun, I meet her in a hall in suburban Mumbai, where she is rehearsing for an upcoming awards night. I mistake her oily skin for radiance and she corrects me, No radiance is happening right now, it is only oil and cream, she laughs heartily.

I am feeling good about the film (her upcoming Jagga Jasoos releases on 14 July), I am feeling positive about it. I am trying to tap into the feeling where I teach myself that there isnt any point stressing, she says.

But why is she so stressed? Youre worried about the outcome, right? But it is going to be whatever it is going to be. Me stressing is not going to change anything, says the actress, further adding, I was nervous about the release date but I was never nervous about the shoot taking time.

Even as Jagga Jasoos has taken about three years to make, the film is looking far from jaded, and what catches our attention is Ranbir and Katrinas goofy avatar in the trailers and promos. That is honestly more of who I am. I can do glamorous roles, I can also play traditional characters but all these dont come naturally to me. Being a little bit more quirky, more off-beat, that is who I am. Those are the roles I enjoy more and do better at.

Katrina plays an investigative journalist in the film. She says about her experiences, It is the way that Dada (director Anurag Basu) has told the story, the uniqueness, the subtleties, the emotions, complexities  it is a new way of story-telling. It is a film in the same milieu as Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast, but it is not for kids. Beauty and the Beast would make me cry, it would speak to me. Jagga targets and speaks to everyone and that is what we are all hoping from the film.

In a recent interview to Firstpost, Ranbir had said that Anurag was a pain in the ass to work with because he works under extreme chaos.

Adding to that Katrina says, Dada has a certain madness in the way he works. He is always searching for some magical moment, something off-beat. He doesnt like things that come predictably or off-the-cuff."

Meanwhile, Ranbir and Katrina have constantly been bickering and goofing around ever since they have started the promotions, and one wonders if it is a planned strategy of the former lovers. I dont think there is a single soul in this world who could plan a conversation between me and Ranbir. It is impossible for any human being on this planet to duplicate and replicate these conversations. This banter between us has been happening since day one, from the time we met on the sets of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. We have a way of speaking to each other in a work sphere which amuses us," she says, adding, "There are times I tell Ranbir that he has said a bit too much and he turns around to say that he is enjoying it. I can see the amusement he is getting, so why would I want to take it away from him? There is no malice behind it. It is not a personal platform for us to project our history or equation together."

After giving about 15 hits, Katrina had had a brief lull in her career with films in the recent past not working for her. Around the release of Baar Baar Dekho, last September, she had not signed a single film, but today she has three films opposite all three Khans  Aanand L Rais untitled with Shah Rukh Khan; YRFs Thugs of Hindostan with Aamir Khan and YRFs Tiger Zinda Hai, sequel to the 2012 release Ek Tha Tiger, with Salman Khan.

There are bound to be ups and downs for every actor who has been in the industry. There will be moments when you feel insecure, or you feel very satisfied. That is part of an actors career. One day, in a space of few months you sign four films and technically in everyones eyes you are safe. We dont know the outcome of the films and we just have to try and do our best, says Katrina.

"But definitely, she continues, the social media entrance has made me more accessible to the media, which is a good learning because such a small thing for me can make such a big difference to other people. I am just having fun, sharing funny moments. But it has made people understand that I am accessible and not so shut off.

Talking about her project with Shah Rukh Khan and Rai, she says, Anand sir is one of the best filmmakers we have and it is my second film with Shah Rukh. He is one of the best people to work with. Everyone becomes a team on his film. The script is amazing. Anand Sir has been speaking to me about it for more almost two years. It was a great role and he held on to that. When he started the film the title was  Katrina Meri Jaan, so he told me that he cant make this film without me.

It may be recalled that Deepika Padukone was approached for the film but apparently things didn't work out between then. Now its Anushka Sharma reuniting with her Jab Tak Hain Jaan co-stars.

Coming to Tiger Zinda Hai, its heard that the clash between the YRF film and Sanjay Dutts biopic (with Ranbir Kapoor) has been averted, and Katrina says, I am not a producer or director so I dont know anything about it. But instinctively they are both big films and I dont think two big films should ever try and clash with each other.

Katrina signs off by saying she's still in a transition phase with her complete focus is on work. "You never know what can happen. That is the magic of life, anything can happen.
Malayalam actor Sreenivasan said that he is not aware of cases of sexual exploitation of female actors, adding that those who have been victims should provide 'evidence'. He has been part of this film industry for 40 years.

At a press meet in Ernakulam, the actor was quoted by Times of India saying, "It might be happening. It happens in society as well. Those who suggest that women face exploitation need to make the incident public so that the world knows about it. We all know that injustice takes place in society. Teachers have to sow the seeds of goodness in children's minds. Our education system has failed to develop our character. More importantly, 'Amma' has to be good for her children to be good." Later, he clarified that the 'Amma' he referenced was not the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists.

He also said that molestation and abuse cases are not the only issues which 'haunt' the society, adding that people do several things to make money, such as add chemicals to food.

This comment comes days after Innocent, actor, Lok Sabha member and president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) received flak for his remark about "bad women". "The Malayalam film industry is clean now and no such thing as casting couch exists in the industry... It is not like the yesteryear. The situation today is such that if there is any bad behaviour towards any women, the media will know immediately," he said, adding: "But if the woman is bad, maybe they will go to bed".

The Women's Collective in Cinema, headed by actress Manju Warrier, criticised him for this in their Facebook post which read, "Even though we thank Innocent for the nice words he spoke about WCC, we are forced to strongly disagree with his remark that casting couches no longer exist here. Very recently only, our own members Parvathy and Lakshmi Rai have all spoken loudly on this topic. We want the newly appointed Justice Hema Commission to study the issues of women in the film industry to look into this aspect also."

The AMMA has also been under fire for feigning ignorance about the abduction and assault case of an actress from the Malayalam film industry, as well as openly protecting Dileep, who has been questioned regarding his suspected involvement in it.
TP Senkumar, the director-general of police who just retired, has said that after actor Dileep was questioned for 13 hours in the case of the Malayalam actress who was abducted and assaulted, no evidence was found against him, reports The Telegraph.

Still, Senkumar said that he is not giving a clean chit to anyone involved in the case. "I cannot say if he is involved in the case or not. But on the day Dileep was questioned, there was no evidence against him," he clarified, adding that evidence is different from suspicion.

The ex-police chief questioned why the officer leading the probe, inspector-general of the crime branch Dinendra Kashyap, was not present during Dileep's questioning. He also asserted that the probe must not be made on suspicion.

Dileep's name was tagged in the case after it appeared in a letter written by the main accused Pulsar Suni's former cellmate in which he was asked to pay Rs 1.5 crore so that Suni would not implicate him. This cellmate, Vipin Lal, has now come forward and said that he wrote the letter due to pressure from Suni and some jail officials. "I wrote the letter under duress from Suni and some jail officials. Dileep is not involved in the case," said Lal when he produced in front of a magistrate for a hearing at the Ernakulam district court complex.

Lal and another inmate Vishnu have been accused of helping Suni to make phone calls from the Ernakulam jail. It is suspected that he made these calls to Nadirshah and Appunni. A man named Imran has been accused of supplying the phone to Vishnu, who in turn gave it to Suni.

The incident involving the Malayalam actress in question took place on 17 February. Many developments have occurred in this case including Dileep's brother Anoop and actor Dharmajan being summoned for questioning, Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) president Innocent protecting Dileep and feigning ignorance about the case, and Dileep himself claiming that he does not know Pulsar Suni but adding that the actress and Suni were 'good friends'. He even remarked that she should be careful while making friends; the actress has called these claims baseless and has said that she will approach a court if statements of such a nature are made.

Suni said that he would reveal the "big names" involved in the case. The police mentioned that it is investigating a conspiracy angle in the case, and that the probe team has listed the names of people from the Malayalam film industry who are suspects.
Hyderabad: Actor NT Rama Rao Jr is excited about making his television debut with the Telugu version of widely popular reality television show Bigg Boss. He says he sees this as an opportunity to explore himself.

Bigg Boss Telugu is slated to go on air on 16 July on Star Maa. Talking to the media here on 8 July, NT Rama Rao Jr said he accepted the show because he likes challenges. "Challenges excite me. When Star Maa approached me with the offer, I didn't think even for a minute to say yes. I was intrigued because I saw it as an opportunity to explore myself," he said.

"I don't know anything about hosting, and I see this as a challenge I would like to take head on. It's also the kind of show where the contestants can also explore themselves," he added.

The show will have 12 celebrity contestants brought together for 70 days, surrounded by 60 cameras and cut off from the outside world in one huge house.

Jr NTR said he didn't watch the show in other languages. "My cousin had once introduced me to the show. I must have watched a few minutes of one episode where Salman (Khan) was hosting. I decided not to watch the show in other languages because I didn't want to get influenced by what they (other hosts) did," he said, assuring the show has been programmed keeping in mind Telugu sensibilities and culture.

Asked if he received a fat paycheck for the new role, he said, "They have paid me enough. Honestly, I didn't worry much about remuneration. I was more excited about the challenge," he added.

While the names of the 12 contestants are being heavily guarded, the industry grapevine is that actors Posani Krishna Murali and Tejaswi Madivada are part of the show.

Bigg Boss is the Indian version of the international format Big Brother, one of the most successful reality television series ever. The Endemol-owned format has had 10 blockbuster seasons in Hindi.
In the dusty town of Ghagrawadi in Uttar Pradesh, several minority communities have co-existed for centuries with the north Indian Hindu majority. Among them is a small group of Malayalis, including the highly respected religious scholar and teacher, Pattabhi Ramagiri (Indrajith Sukumaran).

Trouble starts brewing in this peaceful habitation when land grabbers run amok at the behest of the politically well-connected, nationally renowned religious guru Bhagwan Mahashay (Murali Gopy). Take the monetary compensation offered to you or else when faced with this threat and Ramakanths might, the townsfolk begin falling like ninepins. All except Ramagiri. He refuses to sell his property, is undeterred when he and his people are sneeringly addressed as Malabaris, and does not budge even when violence is rained on him.

Meanwhile, a mysterious, larger-than-life figure (Prithviraj Sukumaran) watches the proceedings from the rocky outskirts of the town.

In another department of his life, Ramagiri is plagued by nightmares set in an era long past.

(Aside: Fans should be forewarned that though Tiyaan comes from Mollywood, it is not in Malayalam alone. It is a Malayalam-Hindi film with some Sanskrit thrown in. Thankfully, the Hindi dialogues have all been subtitled in Malayalam.)

Director Jiyen Krishnakumars Tiyaan (The Above-Mentioned) combines mythology, mysticism and contemporary reality, to provide a running commentary on the insider-vs-outsider, Hindus-vs-minorities battles tearing into Indias national fabric these days. Murali Gopys screenplay does not mince words about the points he wishes to make. By cleverly pitting two Hindu religious men against each other, he also makes a powerful  even if debatable  statement on how it is not religion but the misuse of religion that causes social strife.

(Spoiler alert) Muslims leaving Ghagrawadi, an extremist Hindu leaders cohorts gobbling a beef sandwich away from the public eye, gullible disciples mistaking sleight of hand for miracles  these potent images will resonate with anyone disturbed by the ongoing effort to polarise our society. (Spoiler alert ends)

Unfortunately, great issues are not what make great films, great stories do. And Tiyaans good intentions are clouded by the scale of its ambitions, its unwieldy storyline and its intermittently mixed messaging.

Many of DoP Satheesh Kurups shots of the UP landscape are spectacular, the production design and costumes are eyecatching, but the people in those pretty frames are barely relatable and the film lacks soul. The three male leads, in particular, feel like giant cut-outs to be viewed from a distance, not flesh-and-blood persons who become a part of our lives as we watch Tiyaan.

(Spoiler alert)

The film is big on symbolism  the casting of the Sukumaran brothers to play men of different religious backgrounds, for one, should not be lost on us. Yet the same maker seems not to have spotted the meaning conveyed by portraying a Brahmin man (note the combination: upper caste plus male) as the only one who has the courage to stand up to evil in all of Ghagrawadi. Two women do support him unflinchingly, but they are very clearly placed in the conventional women-behind-the-man slot.

Elsewhere, there is beauty in a Dalit childs refusal to stone that Brahmin in one scene when exhorted to do so to avenge all historical persecution, but when that Dalit child is shown bowing  yes, physically bowing  before a character whose Brahminhood is stressed, re-stressed and further underlined throughout Tiyaan, you have to wonder: what on earth were Krishnakumar and Gopy thinking? Or were they not thinking at all?

(Spoiler alert ends)

This is where the film crosses the line from complexity to confusion.

The other glaring problem with Tiyaan is that it is too self-conscious. In terms of writing and presentation, it comes off as too aware that it is addressing issues and too transparent in its desire to impress upon viewers that it is a big, grand project.

It is to Prithviraj and Indrajith Sukumarans credit that they seem convinced of their characters and pull off their roles without over-acting even when the film veers towards bombast. Ananya too leaves an impression with her natural performance despite the overall tone of Tiyaan.

At the end of the day, however much you may cheer a films political awareness and guts, it is impossible to be drawn into its world if it is written like a speech rather than a story. I rejoiced when a character in Tiyaan in a north Indian setting insists on addressing a crowd in Malayalam rather than Hindi, pointing out that he is doing so because this land belongs to all of us and not to any community in particular. I rejoiced because it is an undisguised snub directed at the present ruling dispensations subtle efforts to revive the old language debate. I would have truly rejoiced though, if that remark had come from a more engaging film.

For all its courage, Tiyaan left me largely unmoved and  at nearly 3 hours in length  sleepy.
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh police Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) along with Gujarat Police on Saturday arrested a man accused of smuggling arms and ammunition used in the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai, officials said.

Twenty four years after the blasts rocked India's financial capital, Qadeer Ahmed was arrested from UP's Bijnore district, the police officials said.

"TADA accused Qadeer Ahmed (a resident of Najibabad in Bijnore district) allegedly played an important role in smuggling arms and ammunition supplied by Tiger Memon (one of the prime suspects in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts) in Jamnagar, Gujarat, which were later used in the Mumbai blasts," an ATS official said.

IG, ATS, Aseem Arun, said that the arrest was made by the Uttar Pradesh Police in a joint operation with their Gujarat counterparts.

Ahmed was arrested from Bijnore's Najijabad area, he said.

"He will be produced before a magistrate and taken to Gujarat on a transit remand," Arun said.

Currently, both the UP ATS and Gujarat Police teams are interrogating Ahmed, he said.
Air India plans to expand its base in the US by adding Los Angeles and Houston into its roster, a day after launching the state-carrier's first direct flight from Delhi to Washington DC.

"We are looking at connecting two more cities - Los Angeles and either Houston or Dallas, Air India Chairman and MD Ashwani Lohani said at an event to celebrate the launch of the direct non-stop flight yesterday between the capitals of the two largest democracies of the world.

The direct flight to Los Angeles is expected to be launched by October, while the date for the flight to Houston or Dallas in Texas has not been determined yet, Lohani said. All this is part of the expansion plans of Air India, he

said. Washington DC is Air India's fifth US destination after New York, Newark, Chicago and San Francisco.

"Last year we launched four international flights from India. This year we have seven (new) international flights. New connections, brand new connections. And this is the way we are going to do it," Lohani said, adding that Air India is looking to significantly expand its operations in the US.

The three times a week flight frequency from the US capital could soon be expanded to daily based on the passenger response, he said. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said there is a huge market for people travelling between India and the Greater Washington Area, which would result in full Air India flights. "Chairman Lohani has said this was a sold out flight today. The flight returning too is a sold-out flight. So, there's a very good opportunity for us if this will go to seven days a week, if there is a continued interest," he said. The current three days a week schedule will bring over 30,000 visitors to the capital region, he said.

"It will have an economic impact of about USD 30 million for our region. This is a great deal," McAuliffe said. Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna, who was onboard the inaugural flight from New Delhi, said that the direct non-stop flight between the two capitals is symbolic of the

India-US ties which received a big boost after the recent Prime Minister Narendra Modi to America.

"I thank everybody for making this happen and making it a real landmark just 10 days after the Prime Minister's very successful visit to the United States. A lot of the things that were discussed, a lot of things that were agreed upon during the discussions between the two administrations, in turn increased connectivity and created investment," Sarna said. "And I think this flight, symbolic as it is, is also going to have a very realistic impact on our bilateral relations.

The (Virginia) Governor talked about the tremendous potential of the region, which is really realistic potential," the Indian envoy said. "If Christopher Columbus had been around today and had

landed up in America looking for India, he wouldn't have to wait for somebody else, just take the flight on Sunday, Sarna said amid laughs from the audience.

"It's going to have it easier for a lot of us, a lot of people for the government, it cuts off a day and a half of

travel. You'll find that this will contribute to the political connections, to the trade connections, to the investment connections and to the connections of the hugely successfully Indian-American community, who make it a point to go home very often," he said. Sarna said that India wants to attract foreign investment and to open up it's economy.

"Today we have very major economic reforms in progress, some of you may have read about the recently implemented tax reform of Goods and Services Tax which actually makes the entire country of 1.3 billion into a strong single market with a very simplified tax to achieve," he said. He said that the new tax regime is going to be a huge boost to the economy.
Mahindra Groups's chairman Anand Mahindra tendered a public apology over the manner in which an employee of Tech Mahindra was asked to quit. Mahindra, chief of the $19 billion group, took to social media to apologise over the incident on Friday saying the core value of the conglomerate is to "preserve the dignity of the individual":

I want to add my personal apology. Our core value is to preserve the dignity of the individual & we'll ensure this does not happen in future https://t.co/yBxAxvFZlc  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) July 7, 2017

Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani also took to social media to tender an apology:

I deeply regret the way the HR rep & employee discussion was done. We have taken the right steps to ensure it doesnt repeat in the future. pic.twitter.com/KKLt6tIBb6  CP Gurnani (@C_P_Gurnani) July 7, 2017

India Today reported that the employee was asked to resign as part of the company's cost optimisation and restructuring plans. The employee was told to quit by 10 am the next day (Friday). The report mentioned that this incident went viral since a sound clip of the employee's exit interview was uploaded to SoundCloud on Thursday.

According to Moneycontrol, in the recording, a human resources executive can be heard asking the employee to resign as his resignation was part of a corporate decision.

The HR executive said: Cost optimisation is happening at the company and your name is part of that list. If you can put in papers we will be treating it as a normal exit with June 15 as last working day, if not, we will be sending you a termination letter.

The employee attempts to reason out his resignation on such short notice, by telling the HR executive about his good performance in the past and lack of options ahead of him.

However, the executive tells him that "as part of the offer letter signed by all employees at the time of joining, the company reserves all rights to let the associates go whenever it wants, with the basic salary," as reported by Moneycontrol.

According to CNN-News 18, vice-chairman of Tech Mahindra, Vineet Nayyar said in a note: We have become aware of the incident involving a conversation between an employee and a company HR representative. We deeply regret the manner in which the discussion took place and have taken necessary corrective steps to ensure that this does not happen again in future.

India Today stated that the incident comes at a time when the IT job market in India is apparently crashing. IT firms in India are reportedly in the midst of one of the largest job cuts ever witnessed.

The number of layoffs in 2017 is set to be twice that of last year. Inability to deal with US president Donald Trump's nationalist-protectionist policies have further led to job cuts. Even more challenges are faced as acquiring work permits has been stricter in countries like the US, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand, as reported by PTI.

PTI also reported that Wipro had asked about 600 employees to leave as part of its annual "performance appraisal" earlier this year.

Deccan Herald reported that "Contrary to media reports of 56,000 IT professionals to lose jobs this year, the actual job cuts will be between 1.75 lakh and 2 lakh per year in next three years, due to under- preparedness in adapting to newer technologies."
The Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) today demanded revival of the government scheme for distribution of sanitary napkins, saying its withdrawal is a threat to menstrual hygiene.

The Nabam Tuki government had launched the scheme during 2013-14 for providing sanitary napkins for girls studying in government schools (classes VI to XII) with an outlay of Rs 200 lakh.

Under this programme, Rs 60 per month was allocated to every girl student.

The scheme was discontinued after the BJP's Pema Khandu took over.

"The programme was one of the creative initiatives by former chief minister for the welfare of the girl child and was particularly beneficial to girl students in the interior areas," party spokesman Mina Toko said.

" Ending such welfare programme showed that the government lacked ability to implement pro-people schemes and programme", Toko added.

A majority of the village women in Tirap do not use any kind of sanitary pads during their menstrual cycle. It says the girls want to use the sanitary napkins, if low cost sanitary napkins are made available for them.

The Congress has criticised BJP government for its alleged lack of ability to implement any people friendly schemes and programme. Congress has demanded for revival of the scheme to ensure menstrual hygiene among the girls and rural women.
Comments at a 4 July press conference by Andhra Pradesh excise minister KS Jawahar caused a furore within the political circles of the state. In the interview, Jawahar termed beer "a healthy drink" and said it was better than other types of alcohol.

We cannot change people's drinking habits but we can at least try to make available drinks that have less alcohol, he told the channel on 5 July.

The minister is not far off the mark as international studies support his statement, though of course in moderation and in a different context than what the minister actually stated. This is shown in a 2011 study by the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health.

More importantly, a party that hailed and imposed prohibition in its first regime in the 1990s, the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP), has no way out now but to depend on liquor revenue as a major source of income.

Denotifying highways

The Andhra Pradesh cabinets decision to denotify state and national highways in its jurisdiction into 'local roads' came in the wake of largescale opposition, allegedly sponsored by rival YSR Congress party against liquor retail outlets in residential colonies since March this year. Several liquor shops in Kadapa, Anantapur, Kurnool and coastal districts had relocated from highways to interiors of townships and villages from March onwards to escape the law. Many protests had turned violent like in Srikrishnadevarayanagar in Kadapa where police lathi charged and injured women agitators.

"Government had allowed us to operate within towns and away from highways. Where can we go now as our licenses are valid until October 2017, asked K Obul Reddy, a liquor shop license holder in Kadapa. Police stood as spectators in other towns as women agitators hurled liquor bottles at them, causing minor injuries as well. The new liquor vending licenses are due by October for a period of two years and the state government has opted for a lottery system as there were 13,500 applications for 4,000 odd shops and 1,000 bars.

In view of the highways crisscrossing the 13 districts of the state and the robust womens agitation against liquor outlets in the interiors of highway towns and cities, the government went ahead with denotifying state and national highways as local roads. The last cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 4 June, also passed strictures against naming liquor shops and bars after Hindu Gods and Goddesses (for example - Venkateswara wine shop or Padmavathi bar). "Such naming of alcohol joints has hurt the sentiments of people," said Jawahar.

States addicted to liquor money

Andhra Pradesh loves its drink and as populist welfare schemes have been heaped upon the Telugus in both states, the question of how to fund them has become a serious one. And the answer inevitably has been  liquor.

In Andhra Pradesh, excise revenue of Rs 12,739 crore was reported with a 16 percent hike over last year. Since 2018-19 is a crucial period  the election year  we project an overall 25 percent hike in excise revenue as we are looking at promotion of the retail sale of beer on par with toddy and neera," said Jawahar. But the next day, 5 July, the minister retracted his statement and said that he was misquoted for having said that "beer was a health drink". Earlier on 4 July, while briefing the media on the cabinet decisions on liquor policy, the minister had hailed beer as a healthy drink.

The Telangana prohibition and excise department earned a record Rs 12,143.88 crore in the financial year 2015-2016, a growth of 18.61 percent compared to last year. In 2014-15, of Rs 10,238.78 crore, as many as 238.62 lakh cases of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) sales were sold while beer accounted for 334.56 lakh cases. "The facilitation of permit rooms at every retail outlet, the hassle-free license and permit systems for two years had helped push revenues," said Telangana prohibition and excise commissioner RV Chandravardan.

In Andhra Pradesh, there are 4,380 liquor outlets, 1,000 bars and 45 clubs of which 3,180 liquor shops and 550 bars were on the highways. Similiarly, Telangana has 2,144 wine shops, 800 bars and 27 clubs of which nearly 1,500 outlets, 500 bars and 10 clubs were within highway definitions.

Early this year the Supreme Court had ordered a ban on all liquor shops on national as well as state highways across the country and made it clear that licenses of existing shops should not be renewed after 31 March next year. A three-judge bench headed by then chief justice TS Thakur also directed that all signages indicating the presence of liquor vends were also prohibited on national and state highways.

On 4 July, the apex court said that roads within cities can be denotified as national highways, opening a window for numerous liquor shops that were set to lose their license after a blanket ban on alcohol shops within 500 metres of all highways. "How can we stop people from buying liquor as they are queueing up at all liquor outlets, day and night?" asked the Andhra Pradesh excise minister.

Even as both the ruling parties in the states made poll promises to end the reign of alcohol, they have been substantially promoting the production, distribution and consumption of liquor. Liquor distribution is a monopoly of both states and the respective corporations procure supplies and distribute to wholesalers and retailers in a well-oiled system.

Liquor money for populism

During his first innings in 1983 TDP founder NTR had opted for populist schemes like Rs 2 per kg rice and also pioneered provision of cheap liquor to people. His government had launched a project  Varuna Vahini  aimed to provide cheap and healthy arrack  in sachets and bottles produced and supplied under government supervision. But the project did not take off as TDP lost power in 1989 polls to the Congress led by K Vijayabhaskar Reddy.

It was during his days in opposition that NTR promoted a total prohibition campaign after an all woman crusade by Rosamma of Dubgunta village in Nellore district. When he returned to power again in 1994 winning 235 of 294 seats in Assembly, he introduced total prohibition, which was scrapped by Chandrababu Naidu.

Naidu introduced IMFL sale and consumption though banned arrack and toddy. In order to provide cheaper liquor to the poor, he also allowed production and supplies of cheap liquor in IMFL category with notorious labels like Be Happy Whiskey, Dont Worry Brandy among others. Strong beer too was introduced to keep the liquor within reach of the common man and fill state coffers.

Further, the Naidu government had introduced a new concept called belt shops (golusu liquor angallu) which meant that every single shop license was allowed to set up 5-10 smaller retail outlets within his jurisdiction to increase sales. "The Andhra Pradesh government had also set targets for each retail shop to generate excise revenue from Rs 1 crore to Rs 10 crore each and hence promote belt shops," said G Prabhakar Rao, a liquor shop owner at Rajahmundry.

When Congress came to power in 2004 under YS Rajasekhar Reddy, it lifted the ban on toddy but restricted toddy sale within five kilometres of its production only. In view of the populist schemes, YSR too favoured the continuation of belt shops. What was just an excise revenue of Rs 500 crore in the 1980s had shot up to Rs 10,000 crore by 2014 and now Rs 12,000 crore in 2017, said Andhra Pradesh finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu in a reply to a question in the state Assembly during the last Budget session.

Telangana excise minister Padma Rao Goud, a toddy tapper himself, defends the government decision to promote more distilleries to increase production and distribution. "We have to spend over Rs 50,000 crore on irrigation works, from where can we get such resources?" he asked. Under its new excise policy, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) government aims to make Hyderabad into a haven for guzzlers by giving longer operating hours for bars and outlets.

After bifurcation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, both Telugu states are looking at excise revenue as a major contributor to help them wade through financial deficit. Telangana extended the sale hours to late in the night for retail outlets and up to midnight for bars. Liquor shops were also allowed to run a permit room to allow tipplers to consume liquor. On the lines of Mumbai, Telangana also has plans to promote the sale of beer in Irani tea shops and dhabas.

Andhra Pradesh which borders Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu besides 970 kilometres of coastline is vulnerable to both smuggling of liquor and also has a huge garland of national highways and state highways. In coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, beer consumption is high. "Andhra Pradesh has a high rate for beer and IMFL sales in both coastal and dry areas," said Rayala Subbarao, former president, Andhra Pradesh Wine Dealers Association.

Activists are understandably upset over the states desire for liquor income. Pasya Padma, anti-liquor campaigner and leader of Left-oriented Telangana Rythu Womens Association says that prohibition had been just an empty slogan as all governments were only keen to increase liquor revenue. "Though sloganeering against alcohol, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had given permissions to more distilleries to supply more liquor to drunkards," she said.

In Andhra Pradesh too, the focus is on increasing production and consumption. The TDP government is scouting for areas to hike excise revenue by increasing the number of bars and liquor outlets on the basis of population. "Rs 15,000 crore excise revenue is our target for 2017-18," says Andhra Pradesh excise and prohibition commissioner Mukesh Kumar Meena.
Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has welcomed the Army's development initiative in the state and said Tawang has been developed because of them.

He also said people of Arunachal Pradesh and the Army share a special bond, when Major General Ashok Dhingra, the GOC of 56 Infantry Division called on him yesterday to discuss defence-related issues in the state, an official release said here today.

Dhingra discussed defence land acquisition issue with Khandu, who assured him that all such cases will be taken care of.

He said the state government, in cooperation with the Centre, is trying the best to compensate the local people for land wherever acquired by the defence establishment.

The chief minister welcomed the decision for a Sainik School in the state and said that it will bring people of the frontier state closer to the Army and youths of the state will find new career opportunities in the defence forces.

Dhingra informed the chief minister about various development and welfare activities undertaken by the Army in the border areas.

He said the Army also plans to open schools for border people with support from local community, the release added.
Patna: The Bihar government rejected news reports that senior civil and police officials were tipped off about Friday's CBI raids at locations linked to RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family. "Its totally baseless news," an official release said.

Quoting sources, some reports said Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh and state police chief PK Thakur were alerted by CBI on Thursday night about the impending raids at the premises of Lalu Prasad and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav among others.

Some reports from New Delhi even claimed the Prime Minister's Office had informed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar prior to the raids, apprehending trouble and seeking adequate security measures to be put in place.

"Information regarding raids was given by CBI to director general of police at around 7:30 am, some time after the raids began following which the police made necessary security arrangements in view of law and order," the official statement said.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is away in Rajgir in his home district Nalanda since Thursday afternoon, reportedly due to health issues. Kumar and his party JDU have remained tight-lipped about the raids, while the Congress, another RJD ally, has backed Lalu's claim that those were part of "vendetta politics" by BJP and the Modi government.

Additional security personnel were deployed at the offices of BJP, RJD and JDU in the state capital, while raids were on.

Additional director general of police (headquarters) SK Singhal had said a general alert was sounded across the state in view of the political ramification of the raids.
Islamabad: Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday paid tributes to militant commander Burhan Wani, saying his death "infused a new spirit in the struggle for freedom" in the Valley.

Sharif in a message on the first death anniversary of Wani's killing said that India cannot suppress the voice of the people of Kashmir through use of brute force.

Wani, a commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed in an encounter with Indian security forces on 8 July in 2016.

"The blood rendered by Burhan Muzaffar Wani has infused a new spirit in the freedom movement. The Kashmiri people are steadfast to take their movement to logical conclusion," he said.

Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan's political, diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris for their right to self-determination.

He also emphasised the need for implementing the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir and asked India to accept their right of self-determination of Kashmiris.

Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa also praised the militant commander.

"Sacrifices of #BurhanWani & generations against Indian atrocities are a testimony of their resolve," Pakistan Army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor quoted General Bajwa as saying

on Twitter.
New Delhi: The Chinese Embassy on Saturday said that it has not denied visa to two researchers of a seven-member India Foundation delegation for visiting the Fudan University in Shanghai.

Spokesperson of Chinese Embassy in India Counsellor Xie Liyan denied the report and said that all seven members of India Foundation delegation to visit China got their visas in time.

There were reports that China has also put the visa of India Foundation director Alok Bansal on hold and denied visa to two researchers, following the developments the foundation on Friday called off the visit.

"As far as I know, all seven members of India Foundation delegation to visit China got their visas in time. None of the visa application was denied. The delegation will visit China as scheduled," the embassy said in a statement.

It added, "The Chinese side always welcomes and supports the exchanges of think tanks between China and India. It is not true that the source of India Foundation claims that two of its junior research members were denied visas and the visit to China of the delegation has been canceled."

On Friday, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav, who is on the Board of Directors of India Foundation, had denied media reports that he was denied visa by China but confirmed that visas of two of their researchers were rejected.

India Foundation and Fudan University held the third edition of their bilateral interaction in Delhi on 4 and 5 December last year. In continuation of this bilateral interaction agreement, a seven-member delegation of the Foundation was to visit Shanghai.

Bansal on Friday said that his visa was put on hold, and told the media: "No idea why the visa was denied. It's the discretion of the Chinese government to give visa. It's a shock because we didn't think that visa would be a problem."

The report of denial of visa to Indians comes amid rising tensions between the two countries due to a border stand-off.

Union Ministers Suresh Prabhu, Nirmala Sitharaman, Jayant Sinha and MJ Akbar are among the Board of Directors of India Foundation.
Shimla: A day after he was removed as vice president of Himachal Pradesh tourism development board, Congress leader Vijay Singh Mankotia asked Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to resign on moral grounds and save the state from further "shame and disgrace".

However, state Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri and Excise and Taxation Minister Prakash Chaudhary reacted sharply to Mankotia's remark, saying his removal indicated desperation of a person who has been "repeatedly rejected" by the people.

"No chief minister had ever shamed the state to the extent Virbhadra Singh has and it is high time that he resign to save the Congress," Mankotia said, adding that 80 percent population of the state would welcome his resignation.

Addressing mediapersons in Shimla on Saturday, he ridiculed Virbhadra Singh's claim of becoming chief minister for the seventh time, saying that on one hand he was seeking bail in courts on "health grounds" and on the other he is claiming to be fit and fine to run the government again.

Questioning his removal from the post, Mankotia said Virbhadra Singh, who has been facing criminal cases and corruption charges, should have been removed from his post.

He added that every time Virbhadra Singh became chief minister, the Congress lost the election and his claims of popularity would have gained credence had he won polls three or four times in succession like chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha and Sikkim.

Referring to poll prospects of Congress, Mankotia said the BJP was way ahead in campaign and every day some central minister, national BJP leader or BJP chief minister is in the state holding rallies, while the situation of the Congress is so dismal that the chief minister had to go from street to street in Shimla Municipal Corporation election but failed to stop the saffron party.

Quoting an article published in a popular magazine which described Virbhadra Singh as "rotten apple" while giving details of cases against him, Mankotia wondered "why he did not sue the magazine for defamation if the charges were wrong."

He urged the party high command to take prompt action by removing Virbhadra Singh to give "Congress a chance for survival" in the state.

"I am a game changer and I have demonstrated this twice in the past and now my main task would be to target the close associates of the chief minister, including political leaders and bureaucrats, who have made the chief minister captive and allegedly involved in corruption," he said.

Alleging that power brokers are running the government, Mankotia said he would "expose" these elements and rid the Congress government from their clutches.

He said the opposition should have asked the chief minister about the money being "arranged and spent on court cases" and added that the disclosures reportedly made by Tilak Raj, joint director, industries, who was arrested by CBI are startling and if the reports that he has named some big wigs close to power is true, it is a serious matter.

He said he was not joining the BJP or the AAP but would "definitely" contest the Assembly elections from Shahpur constituency irrespective of the fact if he gets the Congress ticket or not.

When asked whether he was in touch with other disgruntled leaders, Mankotia said, "Neither I have contacted any Congress MLA nor any MLA has talked to me. It is the beginning and more things will unfold in days to come as revival of the Congress under the leadership of Virbhadra Singh is not possible."

"Bringing the Congress back to power is an uphill task but not impossible as the BJP too is divided and if the Congress projects a united face, possibilities of returning to power cannot be ruled out," he said.

He also said that it was "unfortunate" that like RJD chief Lalu Yadav's family in Bihar, all family members of Virbhadra Singh are facing corruption charges in criminal cases.

State ministers Bharmouri and Chaudhary claimed that Mankotia was in a habit of making "false and unfounded" allegations against the government and the chief minister whenever elections were round the corner.

"It seems once again he is playing into the hands of the BJP and trying to mislead the people by spreading all sort of lies," they said in joint statement here.

They said that after enjoying the benefits of power, Mankotia was speaking against the chief minister and the government "which amply speaks of double standards".

"Mankotia's claim that 80 percent people want resignation of Virbhadra Singh is ridiculous. Perhaps he is issuing such malicious statements just to please the BJP leaders," they said.

As far as appointment of chief secretary is concerned, they said, it is always prerogative of the state government to appoint officer of its own choice and Mankotia has no right to raise questions about it.
New Delhi: The Congress on Friday distanced itself from the remarks of its leader Saifuddin Soz on Burhan Wani, whom the party dubbed as a terrorist who killed innocent people.

Congress spokesperson RPN Singh said the party has nothing to do with Soz's remarks, which is not the party's stated position, but questioned the PDP-BJP government why it paid compensation to Burhan Wani's family.

"The Congress party has nothing to do with Soz's remarks and distances itself from them, as it is not the party's stated position. The Congress stands by the security forces."

"Burhan Wani was a terrorist and he was killed in a shootout with security forces. He killed many innocent people and the entire country knows what is the fate of a terrorist," he said.

He, however, questioned, "We want to ask one question, why did the PDP and BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir give compensation to the family of Burhan Wani."

Soz raked up a controversy by saying had Wani been alive, he would have held a dialogue with him. "Burhani Wani should have stayed alive so that I could have had a dialogue with him. I would have explained to him that Kashmir can become a strong bridge of friendship between India and Pakistan and he (Wani) could also be of help (in achieving it). But he is dead now," he told a TV news channel.

Wani was killed by security personnel on 8 July, 2016. His killing had triggered violent protests in the Kashmir Valley that continued for months.

"Those who believe that he was a martyr can continue to believe so and those who believe he was murdered may do so. The incident has already taken place. We should try and increase friendship between India and Pakistan now and understand the pain of Kashmiris," Soz added.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has alleged that its supporter Tashi Bhutia was shot dead in Sonada, on the outskirts of Darjeeling, by police on Friday night at about 11 pm, CNN-News18 reported.

#Gorkhaland supporter Tashi Bhutia found dead in Darjeeling, locals allege he was killed #DarjeelingUnrest pic.twitter.com/MCPCLVsul9  ANI (@ANI_news) July 8, 2017

The GJM had on Monday asked the central government to initiate a dialogue on the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland, saying the current agitation was not a mere law and order problem.

Earlier on 17 June, the GJM had claimed that three of its supporters were killed in police firing during the protests that hit the hills of north Bengal. GJM had accused the police of opening fire on protesters near St Joseph's College located in Singmari, and in Ghoom, after the army was deployed due to increasing violence and stone pelting instances, The Times of India had reported.

The state administration, however, had rejected GJM's claim, and had stated that the police never opened fire on any of their supporters. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had on 18 June criticised the GJM, blaming them for the unrest.

All parties of Darjeeling hills on Thursday had decided to continue with the indefinite shutdown. Rallies and protest marches were taken out in various parts of Darjeeling in support of the demand for a separate state.

There have been several incidents of violence in the picturesque town during the strike, which started after the state government had said that Bengali would be a compulsory subject in the schools in the hills.

With inputs from PTI
By Chaitanya Mallapur

The number of rapes reported each year in Delhi has more than tripled over the last five years, registering an increase of 277 percent from 572 in 2011 to 2,155 in 2016, according to data released recently by the Delhi Police.

The year after the Delhi gangrape incidentin which a 23-year-old paramedical student was raped by a group of men in a moving bus in Delhi on 16 December, 2012saw a 132 percent spike in the number of cases reported, with a sustained 32 percent increase thereafter, from 1,636 cases in 2013 to 2,155 in 2016.

Cases pertaining to assault on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty (under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code) have increased by 473 percent from 727 in 2012 to 4,165 in 2016.

Government initiatives to ensure the safety of womensuch as this National Vehicle Security and Tracking System and setting up of womens helplineshave failed to effect a measurable drop in the number of reports of rape and other sex-related crimes.

At the same time, funds allocated for improving safety of women in public transport have been underutilised for years on end, as this ministerial reply in the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) indicates.

Continuing horror

The first five months of 2017 saw 836 rape cases being reported to the police.

The figure does not quite capture the continuing horror that women in the National Capital Region (NCR) face. In the 48 hours from 19 June, 2017, for instance, five rape incidents were recorded. In addition to these, a 24-year-old woman was raped in a car parked outside a mall in Delhi on 20 June, 2017, and another in which a 26-year-old woman was gangraped in a moving car on the outskirts of Delhi.

In 2015, the latest year for which National Crime Records Bureau data are available, the NCR region reported 3,430 rape cases, of which the Union Territory (UT) of Delhi alone reported 64 percent.

Source: National Crimes Record Bureau

The other most commonly reported crimes against women in Delhi are cruelty by the husband and the in-laws, kidnapping, and insult to the modesty of women.

Crimes covered under assault on woman with intent to outrage her modesty include relatively more serious crimes such as sexual harassment, assault or use of criminal force to women with intent to disrobe, voyeurism and stalking.

Insult to modesty of women covers sexually-motivated comments or gestures in a place of work, on public transport, and so on.

Why reporting of incidents has increased

The number of rapes reported each year in Delhi, as we said, rose 277 percent from 572 in 2011 to 2,155 in 2016, according to Delhi Police data.

Source: Delhi Police *Figures up to May 31, 2017

The rise in the number of cases does not necessarily imply an increase in the number of rapes; it can mean greater willingness on the part of survivors to approach the authorities, as well as a greater propensity among police officials to register complaints.

One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IndiaSpend that the rise in the number of reported rapes is due to advisories issued by the government and the Supreme Court of India that action would be taken against police personnel who fail to register a First Information Report (FIR) for rape and other cognisable offences.

Anant Kumar Asthana, a Delhi-based activist and lawyer, agreed: Reporting of sexual offenses against women has gone up with stricter implementation of laws like Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, and the [enactment of the] Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, obligates citizens to lodge complaints of sexual offences against children.

The Criminal Law Amendment Act, popularly known as the Nirbhaya Act, came into force on April 2, 2013, and inserted a provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure to make it mandatory for criminal complaints of a sexual nature to be recorded by women police officers, and prescribes rigorous imprisonment of between six months and two years in addition to a monetary penalty for a public servant who fails to register a complaint of a cognisable offence.

With more stringent laws being passed, public awareness being created, and the media reporting more cases of sexual assault, reporting of cases has increased, but this is still far from being representative of the number of cases that occur, Preethi Pinto, Program Coordinator on Violence against Women and Children at Mumbai-based SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action) told IndiaSpend.

Only 50 percent of all crimes are reported, and only half of these are registered as FIRs, a 2015 public survey entitled Crime Victimisation and Safety Perception conducted by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) among households in Delhi and Mumbai, found.

CHRI estimated that one in 13 cases of sexual harassment were reported in Delhi.

At the same time, a comparison of Delhi Police reports from 2014 and 2015 reveals a rising trend in the number of rape cases withdrawn, from 81 to 104, possibly indicating a lack of faith in the criminal-justice system, especially as cases fail judicial scrutiny, IndiaSpend reported on 12 August, 2016.

Conviction rate remains low

Meanwhile, the conviction rate for rape in Delhi, though better than the all-India average (see Table 2), dipped to 29.7 percent in 2015, the latest year for which data are available from the National Crime Records Bureau.

Across India, one in four rape trials leads to conviction, as IndiaSpend reported on 9 March, 2015.

Source: National Crime Records Bureau; Figures in percentage

Declining conviction rate in rape cases ordinarily means lesser number of registered cases could be proved in court and this gives rise to the suspicion that maybe false cases are also being registered, Asthana said, But it could also mean that police is not able to do good investigations or that victims are not getting quality legal representation during trial. Whatever may be the reason, declining conviction causes concern and must be examined for possible reasons.

Government initiatives falter

After the 2012 Delhi gangrape, the Delhi Police set up 161 help-desks staffed by female officers, and announced that 70% of female officers would report for over eight-hour shifts each day, according to 2014 Bureau of Police Research and Development study on national police working conditions. However, those who deal with these help-desks question their competence, IndiaSpend reported on 12 August, 2016.

In 2013, the Ministry of Finance announced it would set up a Rs 1,000-crore ($156 million) Nirbhaya Fund to drive initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety of women in the country.

Thus far an amount of Rs 3,100 crore has been allocated, according to the governments reply to the Rajya Sabha (upper house of parliament) on 6 April, 2017. As many as 16 proposals amounting to Rs 2,348.850 crore have been received, of which 15 amounting to Rs 2,047.85 crore have been approved.

Sources: Rajya Sabha; Figures in Rs Crore

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has initiated three schemes under the Nirbhaya FundOne Stop Centre (OSC) for women affected by violence, under which 84 centres are currently operational; Universalization of Women Helpline, under which 18 states and UTs have set up helplines; and Mahila Police Volunteer (MPV), whose pilots are currently running in several states.

Due to intense public scrutiny, the ministry issued a clarification on 27 January, 2017, enumerating the various schemes being run by various ministries under Nirbhaya Fund. However, it made no mention of funds utilised or spent on these schemes individually, although an overall allocation of Rs 1,530 crore and an estimated expenditure incurred of Rs 400 crore was cited.

In a 26 May, 2016, order, the Supreme Court asked the Centre to formulate a national policy for providing relief to rape survivors, saying the Nirbhaya Fund amounted to just paying a lip service.

Despite the initiatives under Nirbhaya Fund, crime against women continues unabated, amicus curiae and senior advocate Indira Jaising told the Supreme Court, The Hindu reported on 7 February, 2017. What is the purpose of having a fund when it does not reach the needy hands. It is hardly utilised and the only purpose it appears to have been used is setting up of one stop crisis centres in different states, Jaising said.

Societal attitudes must change

Crime statistics from Delhi support this contention. Yet, laws and policing alone cannot prevent crimes of a sexual nature.

Preventing sexual assault is a long-term process and the most important way to do so, is to change individuals and societys attitudes and behaviour. Stringent implementation of laws and strict policing will help, but the real change will come when abusers and rapists are consistently convicted for their crimes, survivors are not doubted, judged or shamed, Pinto said.

Pinto emphasized the need to change societal attitudes by instilling healthy notions of gender equality and masculinity among children, and removing unhealthy underpinnings of patriarchal biases among adults. This can only happen when violence against women and girls is not considered a private matter, but a public problem, with societies, public and living spaces are designed and developed for women and children as much as for men, Pinto added.

(Mallapur is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)
Hamburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the G20 Summit and reviewed progress in bilateral ties, as the two nations geared up for the Malabar naval exercise amid China's growing military assertiveness in the disputed South and East China seas.

The meeting between the two leaders comes months after the two nations inked a civil nuclear cooperation agreement. "The two leaders briefly reviewed progress in bilateral relations, including in important projects, since their last meeting in Japan during the prime minister's visit in November 2016," a statement said.

Modi also expressed satisfaction at developments in bilateral relations since then. "The Prime Minister said that he looked forward to Abe's forthcoming visit to India for the next annual summit and hoped that it would further strengthen their cooperation," the statement added.

The Malabar naval exercise involving Indian, US and Japanese navies will kick start on 10 July in the Bay of Bengal. A sizeable number of aircraft, naval ships and nuclear submarines of the navies of the three countries will be part of the annual exercise, considered a major war game in the region.

The exercise is taking place in the backdrop of a major military standoff between armies of India and China in Sikkim and with Beijing ramping up its naval presence in the South China Sea. There are disputes between China, Japan, and South Korea over the extent of their respective exclusive economic zones in the East China Sea.

The aim of the Malabar exercise is to achieve deeper military ties and greater interoperability among the navies of India, Japan and the US in the strategically-important Indo-Pacific region. India and the US have regularly conducted the annual exercise since 1992.

Beijing has been suspicious about the purpose of Malabar exercises as it feels that the annual war game is an effort to contain its influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Modi last met Abe during his visit to Japan in November 2016.
Lucknow: Former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prajapati, who is lodged in the district jail in Lucknow on charges of gangrape, has demanded facilities commensurate with the status of an ex-minister and ex-MLA.

Lucknow District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma told PTI that a surprise jail inspection was held on Friday evening during which the team also visited Prajapati's barrack.

"It was then that Prajapati demanded that he be given facilities which he should get as a former minister and former MLA. He (Prajapati) was told that he should send an application to the district administration and court through the jail authorities," Sharma said.

The DM also said the district administration will take legal advice, and after talking with jail authorities will provide facilities while staying within the framework of law.

"It would be better, if the former minister approaches the court whose decision will be followed by the district administration," Sharma said.

At present, Prajapati is living as an ordinary inmate of the jail.

"He is sleeping on the floor (using a blanket provided to him) and eating jail food. Prajapati is not getting any special facilities in the jail, and is living as an ordinary inmate," the DM said.

No suspicious material was found in the jail or in Prajapti's barrack during the search, he said.

On 15 March, Prajapati was arrested from Aashiyana area of the city after absconding for nearly a month.

Prajapati was booked on a Supreme Court directive. On 17 February, an FIR was lodged against him and six others for allegedly gang raping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter.

The apex court had asked the UP Police to submit an action taken report regarding the incidents in eight weeks.

On 27 June, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav had visited the district jail in Lucknow to meet the rape accused minister and termed him "innocent", drawing sharp criticism from the BJP.

The matter had acquired a political hue as it came at a time when electioneering was at its peak in Uttar Pradesh during the Assembly polls.

On 3 July, a special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) court deferred to 10 July framing of charges against Prajapati and his associates in connection with a gangrape case.

The court also turned down the bail pleas of three accused  Amrendra Singh alias Pintoo, Vikas Verma and Rupeshwar alias Rupesh.
The prime accused, Naresh Rakh, in the Hafiz Junaid lynching case was on Saturday arrested by Faridabad Police in Maharashtra's Dhule district, as reported by CNN-News 18.

CNN-News 18 said in a tweet that the accused will be produced in a Dhule court:

Accused will be produced in Dhule court for transit remand. We are yet to recover the murder weapon: Railway Police official to CNN-News18  News18 (@CNNnews18) July 8, 2017

PTI reported that a statement released by the GRP said that a team was sent to Dhule following on a tip-off information that the accused person was hiding there. As per a previous Firstpost article, the Haryana Police arrested four people, including two Delhi government staffers in connection with the lynching. The article stated that the two government employees, a 31-year-old health department official and a 50-year-old Delhi Jal Board employee, were hurling communal abuses at the victim, which instigated the mob. However, the prime accused had been at large all this while. Junaid's father was thankful to the media and the police:

I have just been informed that the accused has been arrested. Want to thank media and police: Junaid's father, Jalaluddin to @CNNnews18 pic.twitter.com/yPJyLCIi5x  News18 (@CNNnews18) July 8, 2017

Strongly encouraging the government to bring about an anti-lynching law, Junaid's father Jalaluddin told CNN-News 18: "I urge the government to ensure such incidents don't occur again. It was my Junaid this time. It could be anybody's Junaid next."

NDTV reported that the arrest comes days after the Haryana Police admitted they had wrongly identified the person as the main accused in the case. A cash reward of Rs 2 lakh was offered by the police for any information that could lead to the killer.

The incident had triggered a nation-wide outrage. Junaid, 17, was stabbed to death when he, along with his brothers, was returning home to Khandawli village in Ballabgarh after shopping for Eid in Delhi.

Junaid was killed while his brothers  Hashim and Sakir  were injured by a mob which also allegedly hurled slurs against them onboard the Delhi-Mathura passenger train between Ballabgarh and Mathura stations. The youth's body was dumped close to Asaoti village in Faridabad district.
Kolkata: Himachal Pradesh tourism will focus on adventure tourism and aim at eight to ten percent growth in tourist inflow this fiscal, an official said on Saturday.

"This year we are aiming at eight to ten percent growth in tourist inflows as demonitisation and GST are not impacting us much," Himachal Pradesh tourism commissioner Dinesh Malhotra told PTI.

"As the majority of Himachal hotels are in mid-budget category with hotel rate upto Rs 2500 attracting GST at only 12 percent, we are at a comfortable zone," he said.

While Himachal attracted 1.72 crores of tourists including five lakhs foreigners, West Bengal accounted for 40 lakhs of tourists in the state last year, he said.

Acknowledging shortcomings in infrastructure, he said the government was strengthening road infrastructure with four laning of the state highways and other basic amenities for the tourists.
Aizawl: India and Bangladesh have decided to construct a bridge over Mizoram's Khawthlangtuipui river to facilitate trade and improve communication between the two neighbours, an official said in Aizawl on Saturday.

"Officials of India and Bangladesh held a meeting on Friday evening at Tlabung town (Mamit district) and discussed speeding up the works for the proposed bridge between the two countries across Khawthlangtuipui river (also known as Karnaphuli river)," Mizoram Industries and Commerce Department Director J Hmingthanmawia said.

Several bilateral issues were also discussed in the meeting, he added.

Bangladeshi official Rowshan Ara Khanam, who led his country's delegation, said : "The proposed bridge would be an important linkage between India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has taken a number of steps to make it a reality."

"Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had given approval to construct the bridge and linking roads," the official added.

The Mamit district is adjacent to Khagrachari district of Chittagong hill tracts of southeast Bangladesh.

Railways advisor Dibbanjan Roy, who also attended the meeting, said that the bridge would not only improve road connectivity between the two regions but also strengthen the ties between the people of the two countries living both sides of the borders.

It has been proposed that the location of the bridge be made as closer as possible to the nearest land custom station in the Bangladesh side.

After the meeting, officials of the two countries inspected possible locations to construct the bridge.

Mizoram shares a 318 km unfenced border with Bangladesh.
An Indian-origin Muslim convert, who had voiced support for ISIS and had searched online for ways to join the terror group, has been arrested for making false statements on his applications to join the US military.

Shivam Patel, 27, of Norfolk was charged for not disclosing on his application to join the Army that he had travelled to China or Jordan. He claimed he had not gone anywhere outside the US in the past seven years, except for a family trip to India in 2011-12, a report in The Virginian Pilot said, quoting a court

affidavit. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

According to the affidavit, Patel who converted to Islam several years ago had travelled to China in July 2016 to teach English. While there, he had expressed displeasure to his father about how that country treated Muslims, it said. Patel was sent back to the US by his employer but he travelled to Jordan instead where he was arrested and eventually deported.

His parents spoke with the FBI about their son after learning he was in Jordanian custody and said he had become "obsessed with Islam." An investigation of Patel's room and computers disclosed evidence that he had downloaded three copies of an online magazine produced by the Islamic State and searched for how to join the group.

On one occasion, he had talked about wanting to become a martyr but suggested his "jihad" might not be violent. He had also praised the terrorist attacks in Paris, Nice and Orlando and expressed an admiration for Anwar al-Awlaki, a slain leader of the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

On another occasion, speaking to an undercover agent, Patel expressed desire to do something "bigger, better and more purposeful," like dying for Allah, the report added. He told the agent about his desire to see a holy war between Muslims and non-Muslims.

"He sang an Islamic State fight song to the source and recalled making a replica of the group's flag, which he wanted to replace his neighbour's American flag with," the report said.

Patel then applied for jobs with local police and fire departments, correctional facilities and even the US Army and Air Force. "He wanted to blend into society and do something 'glorious'," FBI Special Agent Thomas Pembroke wrote in an affidavit unsealed Thursday in US District Court
Kerala is witnessing a "jasmine revolution" thanks to its nursing diaspora spread across the world, whose remittances also help the consumerist state's economy to stay afloat. On Tuesday, the state capital will see some 50,000 "angels in white" marching on its seat of power demanding a decent pay.

The sisters abroad are sponsoring their transport and accommodation, besides providing emotional support to take on the state's powerful health care industry. Organisers say a few of them have also arrived to participate in the rally, demanding a minimum pay of Rs 20,000, while the traditional trade unions controlled by politicians keep away.

The nurses say they're overwhelmed by the support pouring in from abroad. Kerala has lakhs of registered nurses, and nearly half of them are working abroad, besides other Indian cities. They extend their support on social media.

"The other day, I got a call from a nurse in Botswana, expressing solidarity," said Jasminsha M, president of the United Nurses Association (UNA). UNA has called the rally in Thiruvananthapuram. "She told me 100 Kerala nurses are working in the southern African country, and they are all keenly following us online. I have received similar calls from many countries since we started the agitation last month."

UNA claims a membership base of 379,000 and nearly 18,000 of them are abroad. The members from 18 countries regularly keep themselves updated through Facebook, WhatsApp and Skype. The nurses draw support mainly from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Austria, Kuwait, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Italy, South Africa and the United States. Some of the nurses staying abroad call television channels to show their support.

"Even Rs 20,000 is not enough to meet ends. Do you think they can survive on that in Kerala when the prices are skyrocketing?" asked Dhanya, a nurse who joined a debate on News18 Kerala from Riyadh via the telephone.

"We all are keenly awaiting the outcome of the strike," she added.

The UNA volunteers are staging a sit-in before the State Secretariat after last month's talks with the government failed. Another independent union, Indian Nurses Association (INA), is on an indefinite hunger strike there.

While the nurses get a paltry sum of Rs 6,500 when they join as a trainee, which could continue for years on end, their compatriots on the same job in the Gulf and Europe draw anywhere between Rs 100,000 to Rs 400,000.

Even the corporate tertiary care hospitals receiving a lot of medical value tourists from the oil-rich countries have rejected their demand for minimum wages fixed by a Supreme Court-appointed panel last year.

"Many of the nurses who stay abroad offer us donations, which I usually discourage," Jasminsha, whose wife is a nurse in Qatar, told Firstpost. "I will be addressing their meeting in Melbourne on Saturday through Skype. They expect some 500 nurses to gather there."

UNA has also called a token strike at 322 hospitals having more than 50 beds on Tuesday. When they begin their march at 11 am, the nurses in Delhi will stage a demonstration in the national capital.

Their leaders say the government is not keen on ending the strike as it marks "the beginning of the end" of the trade union monopoly of the ruling Communists.

"Labour minister has called us for talks Monday evening. If they agree to our demand and fix the minimum salary accordingly, our protests would turn into victory marches," said Bipin Paul, UNA's treasurer.

"We are a bit skeptical about it as pro-government unions are not interested in a settlement. They fear the emergence of independent labour unions," he told Firstpost.

The Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) has decided to revise their salaries at some 320 hospitals under them, out of the state's 921 private hospitals, and has formed an 11-member panel for the purpose.

Father Thomas Vaikathuparambil, the secretary of KCBC Labour Commission who is also the director of Kochi-based Lissie Hospital, said in any case, a new salary structure would come into force in their hospitals on 1 August.

His hospital has revised its salary structure for nurses twice since the government last fixed the minimum wage in 2013. Now, a graduate nurse draws Rs 18,000 and a qualified general nurse (CGN) Rs 17,000 at the entry level.

"We will wait for the outcome of the meeting with the minister on Monday. If it fails to arrive at a consensus, we'll finalise a salary structure on our own for not only the nurses but the entire hospital staff," he told Firstpost.

"Our nurses are known for their dedication and services. The church had played a crucial role in it, and we are committed to providing them with a decent pay. We have asked the hospitals not to spend on charity without paying them properly."

The UNA and INA welcomed the decision, cautioning that they are not ready for a compromise on the minimum wages they demanded.

"We are striking work in Kannur district for the past nine days, and our relay hunger strike has entered the 11th day. If talks fail, we would abandon work statewide and stall the sector," INA president Libin Thomas told Firstpost.

"Two of our leaders, who sat on a hunger strike before the Secretariat, have been shifted to a hospital. Another one started fasting on Friday."

With the state's fabled health indicators under serious threat because of the collapse of garbage management in cities and towns leading to a fever epidemic that has already claimed more than 200 lives, an indefinite strike could hit it hard.

The nurses say in private sector a GNA, or equivalent to an assistant nurse, gets an average Rs 8,750 a month and a nursing graduate gets Rs 9,250 whereas the government nurses get Rs 32,000 and 34,000 at the entry point. However, they don't demand parity.

The UNA has emerged as a force leading many successful strikes since its inception six years back, and it also got the previous Congress-led government to sign a pact fixing the salary structure in 2013.

The state governments Minimum Wages Advisory Board early last year set their entry level salary at hospitals above 50 beds in the range of Rs 18,000 and Rs 23,000, but no one paid any heed.

Later in September, on the recommendation of the Supreme Court panel, the Union government issued an order to the state health secretaries to fix the minimum pay at Rs 20,000.

The UNA wants the hospitals to follow them into bringing parity in salaries paid to government nurses and those working in private hospitals with more than 200 beds.

The crisis has deepened since the Union government banned private agencies from recruiting nurses following the mysterious release of dozens of nurses in the captivity of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq's Mosul province two years back and the surfacing of a recruitment scam fleecing aspirants.

Six state human resource corporations in India, most of them notoriously incompetent, have now been authorised to recruit them for hospitals and have given instructions on the government's eMigrate portal.

"The hospitals in the Gulf are now increasingly turning to other easily accessible places, like the Philippines," says Vaikathuparambil.

The migration from Kerala has come down sharply from an average of 30,000 earlier. The authorised Kerala state agencies  Norka-ROOTS and Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants (ODEPC)  have together recruited only some 2,500 nurses.

While the private recruiters used to charge up to Rs 2.5 million earlier, the government has brought down the fee to around Rs 20,0000 after the scam. Others manage a visiting visa to Dubai to attend an interview there and get a job, though at an exorbitant cost.

According to 2014 estimates by the Centre for Development Studies, as compared to 100 nurses and nursing assistants in Kerala, there are 85 working outside India.

An estimated 38 percent of Keralas nurses work in the US, followed by the United Kingdom (30) Australia (15) and the Gulf (12).

Earlier the nurses were ready to work even without pay as they only wanted an experience certificate to migrate to greener pastures.

However, now they find it difficult to repay their education loan from the paltry amount they get, and the Indian Nurses' Parents' Association says 28 nurses committed suicide after receiving recovery threats from lenders.
Six people were assaulted after their truck carrying buffaloes grazed a vehicle in outer Delhi's Baba Haridas Nagar, police said on Saturday.

After the incident on Friday, locals gathered at the spot and tried to rough up the truckers, accusing them of carrying buffaloes illegally.

ANI reported that one of the victims called Ali Jaan received major injuries while the rest have been discharged from the hospital.

Policemen reached the spot and brought the situation under control.

A case has been registered against unidentified men, police said. No arrest has been made yet in this connection.

Earlier on 29 June, in possibly one of the strongest indictments till date over rampant cow vigilantism that has taken over the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had strongly condemned the incidents of violence that have been reported across India.

Delivering a speech to mark the centenary of the Sabarmati ashram in Ahmedabad and 150th birth anniversary of Shrimad Rajchandraji, a guru to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Modi had said that unleashing violence against others went against the ideals of the Father of the Nation.

Speaking in Ahmedabad, during the two-day visit to Gujarat, Modi had invoked Gandhi in calling off the alleged cow vigilantes. Modi had said, "Mahatma Gandhi would have shown us what a true gau rakshak is and he would have never approved of cow vigilantism."

With inputs from PTI
Mangaluru: An RSS activist, who was allegedly stabbed by an unidentified group at Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district, succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital in Mangaluru, prompting police to tighten security in the region.

Sarath Madivala, 28, a resident of Kandur near Bantwal, was battling for life for three days at the hospital after the attack on 4 July.

He died on Friday evening, hospital sources said.

RSS leaders and workers thronged the hospital in large numbers on hearing the news of the death.

The RSS worker was attacked on the night of 4 July when he was about to leave home after closing his laundry shop at BC Road.

After being taken to a nearby hospital by locals, he was later shifted to a private hospital in the city.

Defying prohibitory orders, Hindu organisations and the BJP had staged a protest on Friday at Bantwal protesting the attack.

BJP leaders, including MPs Nalin Kumar Kateel and Shobha Karandlaje, were arrested during the protest and later released.

Police said security has been tightened in the communally sensitive district following the worker's death.

Prohibitory orders are in force till 11 July in Puttur, Sullia, Belthangady and Bantwal in coastal Dakshina Kannada district following recent communal clashes in some areas, according to the police.

The orders were initially enforced in Bantwal from 27 May following skirmishes between two groups. Later, it was extended to the four taluks as violence spread.

The murder of a Social Democratic Party of India worker at Benjanapadavu in Bantwal on 21 June further escalated the tension forcing authorities to extend prohibitory orders.
Mumbai's monorail commuters had a close shave on Saturday evening, after two trains happened to be driving on the same track.

The two trains, moving in opposite directions, came close to a collision on the monorail platform, which moves on an elevated magnetic route. No casualties were reported.

According to media reports, the incident took place in Chembur.

Reports said it was likely to be a technical error that led to two trains moving on the same track. However, before there could be a collision, the trains halted. It is unclear how many passengers were travelling in the trains.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) said it was a "technical error". "One rake had suffered a power failure. So another was sent to tow away the affected rake," it said.

The Mumbai monorail, the first such service in the country, was inaugurated in 2014, and runs on an 8.93-kilometre route from Chembur to Wadala.

The service has already had a taste of disaster twice before its launch. In June 2011, a beam weighing 60 tonnes collapsed on workers at the construction site on RCF Road leading to the death of two workers, according to a report in The Indian Express.

Another accident occurred in July 2012, when a slab collapsed in the Shantinagar slum area in Wadala, trapping six people under the debris and killing one.

Clarification: It was later brought to our notice that the incident took place because one of the rakes suffered a power failure, and the second train was merely sent to rescue the stranded one. We apologise for the error. An updated version of incidents can be found here
WHY DONT YOU READ THESE?
Kannauj, a small town in Uttar Pradesh, is known exclusively for its fragrance-producing industry. Scientists from this town are set to kick up a storm in the Kashmir Valley by trying to come up with a unique solution to counter the relentless stone-pelting.

Scientists of the Kannauj-based Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC) have specially developed a 'stink bomb' in capsule form to counter stone-pelters in Jammu and Kashmir, according to an ANI report.

The capsule works by creating smoke having an unbearable odour. This will not affect the health of people who come in contact with the odour, the report added.

ANI reported that the capsule manufactured by the scientists, under the supervision of Shakti Vinay Shukla, principal director, FFDC and assistant director AP Singh, has been shown to the minister of state for Micro Medium and Small Industries (MSME) Giriraj Singh.

The odour producing chemicals would be put in small glass capsule. These capsules will be fired through tear guns, Shukla was quoted as saying in a report by Hindustan Times. The scientists at a defence laboratory at Gwalior would conduct the trial soon, he added.

Pellet guns, which government forces currently use to contain violence in Kashmir, have caused a huge uproar in the nation as it reportedly caused severe eye injuries to thousands of people leaving many permanently blind. While police maintains it is a non-lethal weapon, doctors treating pellet victims say it maims a person forever.

The report by Firstpost quoted Nisar Ul Hassan, medical consultantat Kashmirs main hospital, SMHS, as saying, "There are over 120 people who have are being treated for pellet injuries here and a large number of them cant see forever. Some 70-80 patients have received eye surgeries already and they may not be able to see again."

Firstpost reported last year that the Centre has appointed a committee to look for an alternative non-lethal weapon which is to submit recommendations in two months time. Details of variety of crowd control equipment are available on the net from various types of non-lethal weapons, gasses, sprays and the likes. Since 2008, Israelis have been using Skunk for crowd control  spray from a water cannon, which leaves the odor of rotten sewages wherever it falls.

Following this, these innovators from Uttar Pradesh may have a working alternative to the merciless pellet guns. According to a report by News18, after the necessary clearances and approval of Defence Research and Development Organization and the Ministry of Defence, it will be handed over to the Army. Hopefully, this 'stink bomb' would prove to be a less harmful alternative to all the innocent people caught in the pellet and stone cross-fire in Kashmir.
The number of four-year universities charging annual tuition fee over W8 million increased from 34 in 2010 to 50 this year (US$1=W1,069). Tuition at public universities rose 0.6 percent over the last year to W4.43 million, and at private universities it was up 2.29 percent to W7.69 million. Korea University's medical school charges a hefty W12.80 million.

But with 40 percent of the country's 16.7 million salaried workers earning only W1-2million a month, how many among the 3.5 million students can afford to pay such enormous fees?

Universities in Korea have raised their fees by 5 to 10 percent every year over the last decade, except during the economic crisis. Per-capita tuition was W2.41 million at public universities and W4.79 million at private universities in 2001 and has risen 60 to 84 percent over the last 10 years.

According to OECD statistics, tuition fees in Korea are the second highest among member nations after the U.S. But despite soaring fees, the student-to-teacher ratio remains at 32.7, which is twice the OECD average, while dormitories can admit only 17.3 percent of students. Universities need to be able to house at least 25 percent of their students. Naturally students are wondering where all of their money is being spent.

The high fees are the result of universities strong dependence on them. Public universities draw 40 percent of their budget from tuition fees and private universities 65 percent. School foundations should be responsible for gathering donations and contributions and investing the school's assets to generate profits, but Korean universities have an old habit of buying up land that is not immediately needed and building memorial halls and auditoriums that cost tens of billions of won, tapping into tuitions to finance them. Many universities also appropriate fees to pay for medical insurance and pensions of their employees, which should be funded by the school foundation.

Many private universities overstate their budgets and then use the figures as reasons to hike fees, only to amass the increased revenues into their accounts and repeat the process the following year. One private university in Seoul apparently amassed W40-60 billion every year between 2004 to 2008. As of 2009, 149 private universities in Korea held W6.9 trillion. As long as this practice persists, it will be impossible to lower the tuition burden and we should stop hoping for progress in university education.
Raipur: The police Saturday claimed to have arrested seven Naxals in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh.

Dantewada district superintendent of police Kamalochan Kashyap told PTI that four Naxals were arrested in a forest near Munga village in Katekalyan police station limits on Friday, while three were arrested from Kuakonda police station limits.

Police had received information that members of Katekalyan Area Committee and Military Platoon No 26 of the Naxals were active in the area and extorting money from locals, he said.

Nine teams, including District Reserve Groups and Special Task Forces of police from Dantewada, Sukma and Bastar, as well as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were sent to the area yesterday, he said.

Naxals opened fire on police near Munga forest and tried to escape when police surrounded them, he said.

Kawasi Budhram (30), Aaytu Kawasi (32), Muyaya Kawasi (22) and Hadma Kowasi (30) were nabbed during the operation, the SP said.

They were wanted in cases of attack on security forces, damaging roads, etc, he said. Elsewhere, a joint team of CRPF and police arrested three Naxals in the Badegudara Kankipar forest, he said. They were identified as Chaite Podyami (24), Hidma Muchaki (25) and Bhima Kadtami (31). Hadma Kowasi and Kawasi Budhram were carrying rewards of Rs 1 lakh each on their heads, Kashyap said.
Beijing: China has issued a safety advisory to its citizens travelling to and living in India over the worsening border row between the two countries.

"The (Chinese) embassy in India has issued a safety advisory to its people asking them to pay attention to their safety and avoid unnecessary travel," a Chinese government official told IANS.

The advisory was issued on 7 July and is for a month. No reason was given for issuing such a notice.

"They have been asked to contact local police or the Chinese embassy in Delhi," the official added.

The advisory comes as Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a stand-off in Doklam region in Sikkim sector since mid June, which has led to marked unease in ties.

Last week, the Chinese foreign ministry said depending on the security situation China could issue a travel alert to its citizens visiting India.

According to the advisory, Chinese living in India need to pay attention to the local security situation.

It says they need to carry personal identification and inform their family, colleagues, and friends in advance if travelling out of home. It also asks them to strictly comply with Indian laws and regulations and respect local and religious customs.

"The Chinese government attaches great importance to the safety and lawful rights of its citizens," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang had said last week.

"In accordance with the security condition of the relevant country, we will decide whether or not to issue a travel alert," Geng had said, answering a question if China will issue any advisory.
It would have been easier to dismiss the Opposition's bluster on the India-China standoff had the party in question not been Congress  no stranger to power and statecraft. It becomes difficult to control incredulity when Congress leaders, led by their vice-president, indulge in bravado at a time when both countries are locked in their biggest face-off since 1962 and there is an urgent need for lessening of tension so that diplomacy may be allowed to work. That we could be staring at a lengthy impasse adds to the tension.

In fact, one would have expected parties to put their partisanship and political compulsions aside and back the government on solving a treacherous and escalatory situation foisted on us by an aggressive, expansionist superpower. If not handled with care, this conflict may pose a deep threat to our sovereignty, not to speak of Bhutan's whom we are treaty-bound to protect.

By this measure, Rahul Gandhi continues to disappoint. His stubborn resistance to maturity, secretive absences, laissez-faire approach to politics and callous remarks on sensitive issues make it very difficult for others to take him seriously.

The Gandhi scion may have decided that (the reasons are unclear) now is the time for a rather muscular approach and has been hitting out at the prime minister for not being brash enough in his interactions with world leaders. Having called Modi a "weak PM" for not raising the H1B visa issue with Donald Trump (never mind that the biggest restrictions were imposed by US regimes when UPA was in power), he went ahead and asked the prime minister to speak up on China.

Why is our Prime Minister silent on China?  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) July 7, 2017

The Gandhi dynast didn't specify his demands but perhaps he wanted Modi to corner Chinese president Xi Jinping at Hamburg and ask him to back off. Or at least ask China to leave Bhutanese territory during his G20 address. It is possible that Rahul Gandhi was simply trying to turn the tables on the Modi government and prove that Manmohan Singh was more macho.

His party spokesman soon chimed in.

China & Chinese ambassador are using provocative and aggressive language vis-a-vis Indo-China standoff. Will PM tell what's our response?2/n  Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) July 7, 2017

It has often been said that Modi is the most talented politician of his generation. The truth is, he enjoys an easy run due to such glaring lack of political acumen among his rivals. Rahul Gandhi must be aware that heads of countries do not issue public comments on strategic issues, much less a border dispute. There are clearly demarcated departments. President Xi, for instance, has not commented on the standoff. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has come out with a communique in response to press briefings from the Chinese foreign ministry.

It would seem from the comments that Congress wants India to match China in rhetoric. It is difficult to think of a more childish response when India needs to show diplomatic sleight of hand. So far, India has done the right thing by refusing to buckle under Chinese pressure and pull out the troops. New Delhi is well aware of the repercussions of such a precedent. India has also done well by not engaging China in a shouting match when it is clear that China  through alternation of status quo ante on India-China-Bhutan tri-junction, incendiary comments on media and relentless pressure through foreign office and diplomats  wants to rattle us.

China feels emboldened to do so because it enjoys a huge power differential with India in terms of military and economic capability. China feels that it needs to show no deference to India and, based on that assumption, has remained incensed at India's continued diffidence. If not an equal, New Delhi considers itself a major power and a superpower-in-waiting. An understanding of this power dynamic is crucial to interpret the logic behind the moves China and India have been making so far.

The Indian political leadership and military establishment deserve to be applauded for their reticence which has pushed China into becoming shriller and shriller by the day. Beijing is rapidly ascending the escalation ladder and soon might be left without manoeuvrable diplomatic space. This is a potentially worrying development for India too, which needs to give China an escape hatch so that none of the parties appear to be "losing out" during the de-escalation process.

Towards this end, the impromptu five-to-seven minute meeting between Modi and Xi (where "a range of issues" were discussed) on the sidelines of G20 Summit on Friday and the mutually appreciative speeches during the BRICS Conclave later in the day are welcome signs.

At d BRICS leaders' informal gathering @ Hamburg hosted by China, PM @narendramodi and President Xi had a conversation on a range of issues pic.twitter.com/ervZw46PH0  Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) July 7, 2017

Friday's media statement by India's Ministry of External Affairs states: "The Prime Minister appreciated momentum in BRICS under the Chairmanship of President Xi and extended full cooperation and best wishes for the BRICS Xiamen Summit. Concluding the meeting immediately after PM's remarks, President Xi appreciated India's strong resolve against terrorism and the momentum in BRICS introduced under India's Chairmanship and through the outcomes of the Goa Summit in 2016. He also appreciated India's success in economic and social development and wished India even bigger success."

The meeting or the appreciative remarks may not immediately solve the impasse but these steps give an impression that both India and China are mature nations willing to engage with each other on multifarious issues without letting one issue hold their relationship hostage.

It also signals a willingness to let the carefully laid mechanism and channels between the two nations handle the dispute and find a way, supplemented by proactive diplomacy. India needs a tranquil, rational and firm approach from its leaders, not pantomime bravado.
New Delhi: The fight against dengue and chikungunya in Delhi goes digital as the South Delhi Municipal Corporation launches an app to check breeding of mosquitos in 16 vulnerable wards.

The new app to contain the menace of dengue and chikungunya that claimed at least 36 lives last year was launched at a time when every downpour of rain breeds fear of an outbreak of the endemic among citizens.

"It is a pilot project which can be extended to the other parts of the city later on," said BK Hazarika, Municipal Health Officer of the SDMC told Firstpost.

He said that the app uses GPS technology through the internet to track the movement of the Domestic Breeding Checkers (DBC) through various localities and avail the information about the breeding of dengue and chikungunya mosquitos in real time.

The SDMC has nearly 1,300 domestic breeding checkers who visit households in the localities assigned to them.

"The DBCs check if breeding of mosquito has happened in fresh and stagnant water in any part of the household and destroy the larvae when found. They also report higher authorities about the vulnerability status of every household for further action," said Arun Chauhan, a public health official in the Najafgarh zone of SDMC.

Dengue and chikungunya are caused by the bite of infected female aedes aegypti mosquito. These mosquitos breed in clean and stagnant water that is normally available in overhead tanks, underground tanks, air coolers, bird pot, money plant, flower pots, bamboo grass, tray, buckets and any solid waste having clean water in the households.

Rain water remaining stagnant intensifies the threat of an outbreak in the monsoons.

"But destroying mosquito larvae by the DBCs while house to house checking itself is not enough to prevent an outbreak," he said.

The health officer said that there are many reasons why a locality continues to be under threat of a possible outbreak even after the larvae is destroyed.

"Firstly once the aedes aegypti mosquito finds a place to breed, it normally spreads its breeding area upto 200 metres. Secondly, once a mosquito gets infected by the dengue or chikungunya, at least 18 generations after it continues to remain infected due to transovarian transmission," the public health officer said.

Chauhan said that immediately after the DBCs find larvae in a household a dedicated drive to eliminate the mosquito is required to be taken in a radius of 200 metre of that house.

"But that step normally used to take a week to be taken. For the data of mosquito breeding was stored manually in a register and real-time transfer of data to the concerned officials remained nearly impossible," he said.

By the time the information reaches the concerned official, the menace would go out of control.

"For it hardly takes eight to 10 days for egglings to grow to adult mosquitos and delay in launching the elimination drive by a week is enough to cause a havoc," Chauhan said.

An elimination drive normally consists of fogging, focal spray and sensitisation in the area.

The new app will do away with this problem by providing real-time data to the concerned officials.

"The domestic breeding checkers will now carry a tablet computer with the app installed in it. They will record the vulnerability status of every home they visit, which will keep the officials of the public health department updated. As soon as they record breeding of mosquitos in the home the information will flow to the concerned officials in real-time with the exact location of the house after which the elimination drive can be initiated," he said.

The SDMC has distributed 200 tablet computers among the DBCs to carry out the drive in the 16 wards.

Hazarika said that the new app will also help the SDMC authorities to keep tab of the breeding checking activities carried out by the DBCs.

There are constant complaints from the public that the DBCs do not visit many households for months, which increases the vulnerability of the localities to an outbreak.

But SDMC officials say that often DBCs find many houses locked, for which they cannot visit them.

"The work of the DBCs are distributed in such a manner that a locality is visited by them only once in an interval of one-and-half to two months. In Najafgarh zone our present strength of only 248 DBCs does not allow us to have more visits than that. If the house owner remains absent on that particular day, it is very much likely that his home may remain uncovered," said Chauhan.

Hazarika said the new app will record uncovered houses so that further action can be taken to eliminate the threat.
Kolkata: The West Bengal government Saturday said it would set up a judicial panel to look into the "communal" clashes at Baduria and Basirhat in the North 24 Parganas district following a Facebook post.

"We have decided to initiate a judicial probe into the Baduria and Basirhat riots. We want to see who were involved in them and the government will provide every input to the judicial commission. Let there be an impartial probe," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters in Kolkata.

She added that the law would take its own course and strict action would be taken against those responsible for the clashes. Banerjee also said her government would take action against "two national-level television channels" for showing "fake" videos and claiming them to be related to the clashes.

"Video clips of an incident in Comilla, Bangladesh, and a Bhojpuri film were being shown as if these incidents had taken place in Bengal," she alleged.

Banerjee congratulated the people of Baduria and Basirhat for "not falling into the BJP's trap, in spite of provocations". Hitting out at the saffron party, she alleged that it was "destroying the federal structure of the country with the sole aim of grabbing power".

"How can some people from across the border intrude and start disruptions here? Who is in-charge of border security, the Centre or the state? Once again I am saying, it is the ploy of the BJP to disturb the peace of the state," she said.

Regarding representatives of various political parties, including the BJP, attempting to visit the troubled areas Saturday, the chief minister said, "What is the need to disturb the people there? Let them settle down. Trinamool Congress MPs did not go. They could have gone there as well."

Regarding her party's stand on the 17 July presidential poll, Banerjee said "We will support the Congress nominees both in the presidential and vice-presidential elections.
Kolkata: The BJP on Saturday met West Bengal Governor KN Tripathi and demanded that the Centre should immediately impose President's Rule as the law and order situation in the state has "completely broken down".

"Today we met the governor and informed him about the grim situation in the state. The state government in collaboration with anti-national elements is directly responsible for the complete breakdown of the law and order situation. We have requested the governor to talk to the central government and send the recommendation for imposition of President's Rule in the state," state BJP president Dilip Ghosh told reporters after the meeting.

The BJP's demand follows the communal clashes in North 24 Parganas district and the ongoing turmoil in Darjeeling hills.

It also demanded that all families affected in the riots be compensated by the state government.

The BJP took out a procession from their state party office in central Kolkata during the day demanding immediate arrests of those involved in the riots and restoration of peace in Baduria and Darjeeling Hills where a movement for a separate state of Gorkhaland is on.

Ghosh rubbished allegations by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that the Centre is not cooperating with the state government.

"This is a complete lie. It was the central forces which helped her to come down from the hills when the agitation first started. The Centre has extended all help. In Baduria, the Centre wanted to send more forces but it was the state government which declined," he said.

He accused West Bengal government of pursuing "politics of appeasement" with an eye on the minority votes in the state.

"The incident at Baduria in North 24 Parganas district is a clear example of appeasement politics. The houses and other property of Hindus were burnt and looted but the police was standing as a mute spectator," Ghosh said.
New Delhi: The West Bengal government has returned an additional 400 paramilitary BSF troops sent for deployment in the riot-hit areas of North 24 Parganas district, Union home ministry sources said on Saturday.

The state government has its own security forces like the Eastern Frontier Rifles and was not deploying them, they said.

Instead, it was blaming the central government, the sources said.

Four BSF companies (comprising 100 personnel each) were sent to Basirhat and two days back, four additional companies were also dispatched, but these were returned by the state government, the ministry sources said.

The MHA's response came after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the central government has a non-cooperative attitude and the additional four companies were never sent.

Referring to Darjeeling hills which have also witnessed violence, the sources said 11 companies of paramilitary force personnel were sent by the Centre, including one company consisting of women.

The state government also conveyed to the home ministry that the all-woman company should be withdrawn, they said.

The West Bengal government has its own security forces like the Eastern Frontier Rifles and the State Armed Police and both have several battalions, they said.

However, the state government was not deploying these forces and instead blamed the central government, the sources said.

Communal clashes broke out in Baduria in Basirhat sub-division of the district on Monday following an "objectionable" Facebook post.

The situation in the riot-hit areas was limping back to normal with no incidents of violence being reported in last three days.

However, the Army was called out in Darjeeling as violence spread after the death of a youth allegedly in police firing.

The indefinite shutdown entered its 24th day. The hill parties are demanding a separate Gorkhaland state carved out of West Bengal.
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said leaders who were more concerned about vote bank politics never visited Israel, but ever since those who are concerned about India came to power, there was a move to work in the interest and development of the country.

He made the remarks during an event Lucknow to release a book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, referring to his Israel visit earlier this week.

Modi is the first prime minister of India to have visited Israel in 70 years.

"There had been a keen interest among politicians in the past to visit the US, but no one wanted to visit Israel as they were more concerned about their vote bank politics.

"But now, those who are really concerned about the country have come to power and so there is a concern for the development of the country," Adityanath said.

The chief minister also flayed those who raise charges of "saffronisation", saying "worrying about them" will not help in the progress of the country.

He also lauded the prime minister's work style and personality, describing is an "inspiration for all".

Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya termed Modi as a "powerful leader" and exuded confidence that under his leadership India will emerge as a "powerful country" at the international level.
As of today, it has been exactly a month since I arrived.

Travelling to Kashmir for the very first time, I called a friend and asked him if it was necessary to carry my passport. He laughed and told me, The time hasnt yet come for you to carry a passport to travel in your own country Nidhi. A few days ago, as I walked to a coffee shop from office, two men on a motorbike stopped me. They asked me to get onto the bike with them. When I ignored them and continued to walk ahead, they did it again. After the third time, I couldn't hold myself back and angrily asked them to leave me alone. They looked shocked. One of them got off the bike and said, "Don't think you can come here and talk the way you talk in your country."

The identity crisis goes both ways. An Indian living in Kashmir can be just as disorienting as a Kashmiri living in India.

Another evening, as I walked home, two boys, probably in their early teens, came walking towards me. As soon as they saw me, one of them pointed at me and told his friend "Dekho, dekho, black beauty aa rahi hai (Look, look here comes the black beauty)". Within seconds, I was transported back to a few years ago when I had gone home, crying to Amma about the boys in class who had teased me for being dark. I realised how unprepared I was, to react to something like this. As I grew up, boys stopped teasing me about my skin colour and instead, relocated their misogyny to my breasts. And yes, I call it misogyny even when a five-year-old boy teases a girl for her skin tone. Familial, hand-me-downs of misogyny is what it is. I wondered if it is during such times that Kashmir manages to escape the weight of war and seclusion and suddenly becomes part of a masculine whole.

Some days ago, I realised Ive stopped noticing the snow-capped mountains near the office and how the shikara walas (boat men) no longer bother me. I guess thats what it means for you and a city to start getting used to each other. My life here has finally found itself some monotony, some kind of settling in. Routine-forming in Kashmir means reading and re-reading the chapter called Paranoia until you can practice it in your sleep as well.

Last week while I was at work, my landlady's daughter called me and asked if I had applied for an ATM card. I said no. She said that our neighbour had come home to inform her that a man had come looking for me. He kept knocking on our door, till the neighbour told him that no one was there. Apparently, he asked her a lot of questions about me, why I worked here, where I was from and how long I intend to stay. The neighbour and my landlady's daughter were both very nervous about the entire episode. When I spoke about it with a Kashmiri journalist friend who now works in Delhi, he said it could have been some sort of data collection activity by the government or police or anyone getting curious about my presence in the area. He also added that this is normal and that it might happen again. That night, it got very cold. I remember being scared. The Kashmiri friends I had found my anxiety amusing while friends from other places sounded worried sick.

Here, its very hard to escape being conscious of my identity as a journalist. And it's not just me who is conscious of it; it's everyone around me as well. I'm starting to wonder if being a journalist is an identity or a feeling. Every time I write an article, I'm worried if I'm too biased, too opinionated. How do I not be biased? How do I strip myself of my sex, birth place or feelings? Im constantly confronted with the word objectivity. While talking about it with a local friend, we concluded that maybe subjectivity is juxtaposed by itself. And journalists just have to do the tight rope walk between acceptable forms of subjectivity and unacceptable forms of subjectivity.

This whole talk of objectivity scares me. Some days, I just don't want to succumb, even to acceptable levels of subjectivity. Especially not when I'm visiting a Nepali mother whose son wants to be a militant and she crumbles in tears in my arms. I came back to office that afternoon, tried to be unbiased and ignore what her eyes had told me. And as her tears dry off my sleeve, I turned into a dispassionate journalist, who sat wondering if the boy was getting paid, if the mother was faking it, if I should call a bureaucrat and get a quote about what he feels about this. What will he feel? He isn't a mother; he isn't the mother who will have to flee the land when her son picks up an AK-47. I find it terribly difficult to ignore being a woman, hold back my emotions and obliterate her evocative eyes. I remind myself that I must be a journalist, which means, all of my body can feel whatever it wants, it can cry, laugh, bang itself against the wall but it must all stop a little before my fingers. My fingers are only allowed to carry an unruffled narrative testified by a faceless body.

On most nights, as I fall asleep watching House of Cards, I find myself thinking of home. The word 'home' has started to take on so many different meanings. My sense organs trace out bits and pieces of home for me during the most bizarre times of the day. I really cherish those moments of limbo which dont last longer than a song, smell, touch or taste.
Patna: Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Saturday said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should undergo an 'agnipariksha' (trial by fire) by acting against his deputy, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, for his alleged involvement in a corruption case.

Kumar, who had earlier accepted the resignation letters of four of his ministers for their "involvement" in corruption cases, should now take the same step against his deputy, he told reporters here.

"This is the chief minister's agnipariksha," added Modi.

The CBI on Friday conducted raids in four cities in connection with a corruption case, in which RJD chief Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi are among the accused.

"Nitish Kumar had once said he would not allow a tainted minister in his cabinet and accepted the resignations of Jitan Ram Manjhi, Awadhesh Kushwaha, Ramanand Singh and Ramadhar Singh for their alleged involvement in criminal cases," said the BJP leader.

He claimed that the central probe agency lodging an FIR in a corruption case against the deputy chief minister and conducting raids at his residence reflected a "negative image" of Bihar and added that Kumar should now act against Tejashwi.

"I am waiting for the chief minister's action in this case as he and his party have maintained a silence over the issue for three months now. This is the same chief minister who has constantly been asserting his government's zero tolerance policy towards corruption," said Modi.

Within hours of taking oath as chief minister in November 2005, Kumar had made Manjhi resign due to an old vigilance case pending against him, the BJP leader added.

Ramanand Singh put in his papers in 2008 because of another vigilance case, Ramadhar Singh quit in 2011 due to a case pending against him over the Ram Janmabhoomi issue, whereas Kushwaha resigned after he was purportedly seen taking money in a sting operation during the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls, he said.

The case against Lalu, Rabri and Tejashwi is related to alleged manipulation in awarding a contract for the maintenance of two hotels run by the IRCTC when the RJD chief was the railway minister in the then UPA government.

Sushil Modi, the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, asked Prasad to come up with a reply to the charges against him and his family members, instead of repeating the "oft-quoted one-liner - political vendetta".
The portion of university students who rely on their parents for tuitions has fallen sharply over the last 10 years, while more and more humanities and social sciences majors take time out from school to prepare for viable jobs.

The Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training analyzed data from the Korea Employment Information Service on 25,987 university graduates in 2005 and 2014.

It finds that the proportion of university students who relied on their parents for tuitions fell 17.2 points from 75.3 percent in 2005 to 58.1 percent in 2014. Instead, those who relied on loans increased 11.3 points from 5.1 to 16.4 percent.


Haryana BJP leader Vijeta Malik was caught spreading fake news on social media as she shared a picture of a woman being undressed as a crowd watched on, reports India Today. The picture was actually a scene from the Bhojpuri movie Aurat Khilona Nahi, which starred BJP MP and party's Delhi unit president Manoj Tiwari. The post has now been deleted.

In her post, Malik expressed concern about the situation of Hindus in West Bengal where communal tensions are running high. She asked why no one is saying anything, why no awards are being returned and why no one is talking of leaving the country. She further said that since the Mamata Banerjee government is sitting idle, the Centre must take some strong steps.

Malik's social media profile says that she is a Haryana State Executive Member of BJP. She lists her political views as 'very liberal'.

West Bengal has been hit by communal tensions after clashes had broken out between members of two communities at Baduria in the Basirhat sub-division of North 24 Parganas district earlier this week over an "objectionable" Facebook post by a youth.

The situation in riot-hit Basirhat in North 24 Paraganas district showed signs of improvement on Friday with no untoward incident reported, even as internet services remained suspended and the police and paramilitary forces intensified their patrol.

A campaign was undertaken by the state administration for the restoration of peace in the troubled areas.

Security personnel continued to march in the riot-hit areas of the district while internet services in and around the area continued to remain suspended, a senior state government official said.

The police inspector in charge of Basirhat, Nasim Akhtar, has been transferred by the administration.

An appeal was made by the state administration to all political parties not to enter the affected areas where prohibitory orders are in force. Ignoring Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's appeal, BJP, Left and Congress delegations tried to visit the affected areas in Basirhat, about 80 km from Kolkata, but were stopped by the police.

The West Bengal government said the situation was under control in Baduria, Swarupnagar, Deganga and Basirhat, which had witnessed violence. Locals chose to stay indoors with shops, markets and schools remaining closed and the transportation badly hit.
Patna: Congress leaders on Saturday met RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav to express solidarity with him in the wake of a series of CBI raids at the premises of the former railway minister and his family members, but Nitish Kumar's JD (U) continued to maintain a silence on the issue.

After seeing off the opposition's presidential nominee, Meira Kumar, who wound up her three-day Bihar visit on Saturday at the airport, Bihar minister and state Congress chief Ashok Choudhary and Congress Legislature Party leader Sadanand Singh visited the 10, Circular Road residence of Rabri Devi to meet Prasad.

Congress ministers in the Grand Alliance government Awdesh Kumar Singh and Madan Mohan Jha also accompanied them to meet the RJD president.

Choudhary told PTI it was a "personal" visit and "not a political one."

He, however, attacked the BJP for yesterday's CBI raids at 12 premises of Lalu Prasad and his family members across the country.

"Since they (BJP) have failed to defeat us (Grand Alliance) through the people's mandate, they are now misusing the government machinery to target us," alleged Choudhary.

Earlier, talking to reporters at the Sadaquat Ashram, the state Congress chief, who is also the education minister in Nitish Kumar's cabinet, repeated Prasad's defence, which he had put forward yesterday, that Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav was a minor at the time of the allotment of license for two IRCTC hotels to the Kochhar brothers at Ranchi and Puri, allegedly in exchange for land in Patna.

He also blamed BJP president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the CBI raids.

While the Congress leaders stood with Lalu, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was yet to break his silence on the matter.

The RJD, Congress and JD(U) are partners in the Grand Alliance government in Bihar, headed by Kumar.

A report from Rajgir, where Kumar has been staying since Thursday due to health reasons, said the chief minister visited the famous tourist spot of Ghora Katora, but the media was not allowed inside during his visit.

When contacted, Bihar JD(U) chief spokesman Sanjay Singh and spokesman Neeraj Kumar refused to comment on the issue.

Meanwhile, RJD ministers and leaders kept rushing to Rabri Devi's residence in support of the party's "first family".

RJD ministers Chandrika Rai, Abdul Gafoor, state party chief Ramchandra Purbe and a host of others were seen going inside Rabri Devi's house.
Congress will introduce new faces in Karnataka for the next Assembly polls that will be fought on development agenda, AICC general secretary and state in-charge KC Venugopal said on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters at Udupi after visiting the Sri Krishna Mutt along with KPCC president G Parameshwara, he said meetings were being conducted at regional level to energise party workers. Both leaders met Paryaya Sri Vishewshateertha Swamiji and sought his blessings.

The seer had drawn flak from a fringe Hindu outfit for organising a "harmony feast" for Muslims during Ramzan in the ancient Krishna temple complex at Udupi on 23 June. The senior pontiff had, however, defended his gesture, saying it had in no way brought insult to Hindus. Asked about a possible Cabinet reshuffle ahead of the polls, Venugopal said it was the prerogative of the chief minister.

The Congress government led by Siddaramaiah had provided good governance and implemented pro-people programmes in the

last four years, he said.

He alleged that BJP's attempt to polarise votes by creating communal disturbances in certain areas would not be accepted by the people of the state.

Commending the Iftar get together held by Vishweshateertha Swamiji, Venugopal said the seer had given a good message to the people. He said former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had hosted the Iftar get-together during his tenure, but Narendra Modi had not yet hosted any such meet to foster harmony and goodwill.

Parameshwara said the two leaders had come to seek blessings from the Swamiji and had not discussed issues like the Iftar get-together at the mutt.
"Man can live about 40 days without food, three days without water, eight minutes without air... but only one second without hope," said American evangelist Hal Lindsey.

You may or may not vouch for the authenticity of Lindsey's observation, or seek a fresh clinical test. But you would certainly agree that, generally speaking, hope does help us keep alive against all odds. It eggs us on, to fight to live, to dream and to execute our plans even more aggressively.

So can you guess why Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is smarting under the onslaught of law enforcement agencies on one hand and his political adversaries on the other, has decided to fight back with all the power at his command? It's because Lalu hasn't lost hope.

The never-say-die man that he is, Lalu is used to living the life of a belligerent optimist. He turns into a political bully the moment he senses there is little to lose but a lot to gain. He doesn't care if he finds himself drowning under heaps of corruption accusations. In fact, he draws strength from the "fact" that corruption is not all that matters in politics  even more so in Bihar.

Pushed to the wall, he loves to fight back with all the power under his command. And remember, he has the proverbial nine lives of a cat. Even in the past, he has been slapped with innumerable corruption charges. He has been jailed more than once, debarred from fighting elections. So what? Nothing dampens his spirits. That way, he is a 24x7 politician who revels in launching counter-attacks on his opponents even when the chips are down. He just can't survive without politics.

Little wonder then that within 12 hours of the CBI raids on his residence and other properties, this incorrigibly audacious browbeater roared back from Ranchi where he had gone to attend a court case relating to the fodder scam. "Listen Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah I shall fight your attempts to target me and my family members. And I will not let you destroy the grand-alliance experiment in Bihar, come what may. I shall never bow down to you pressure tactics," he said.

Continuing in the same vein, he added, "All like-minded parties across India will meet in Patna on 27 August, to expose your nefarious designs. We shall see to it that you all are consigned to the dustbin of history. We won't let you do the dirty tricks against opposition parties. It's an Emergency-like situation in the country."

But this ranting and raving apart, what's the latest news from Patna, where chief minister Nitish Kumar has chosen to maintain a stoic silence over the issue? If signals emanating from the RJD office are to be taken seriously, Lalu's foot soldiers are already busy preparing for the maha-rally in August. The aim of this rally is to take the spectacularly successful "mahagathbandhan" experiment beyond Bihar and launch it on a national scale. And who knows, leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, MK Stalin, Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati etc might attend the event to show solidarity with the Opposition's cause.

Lalu is also closer now to Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati than ever before. He thinks he knows their minds. That is perhaps why he made a statement in this regard earlier this week. "There is a strong possibility that Akhilesh and Mayawati will fight the 2019 Lok Sabha elections together. If that happens, BJP will stand uprooted from power," he said.

Lalu's body language at the 21st Foundation Day ceremony of RJD had to be seen to be believed. He was at his aggressive best. Perhaps he was preparing himself for the CBI raids that followed. Who knows?

Be that as it may, Lalu's speech did instill a fresh sense of hope in the minds of his otherwise demoralised followers, who had of late been at the receiving end of their political adversaries. Already, they are flexing their muscles.

And, on our part, we are all back to square one and the perennial question that continues to beg for an answer: Is it time we wrote off Lalu once and for all? Before we reach a conclusion, let's not forget what Lord Bertrand Russell said in his Unpopular Essays: 'Extreme hopes are born of extreme misery'.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids at properties of Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family in 12 locations over alleged corruption charges (irregularities in awarding tenders for maintenance of IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri in 2006 when he was the railway minister) have revived speculations of a possible break in Bihar's grand alliance, which includes RJD, JD(U) and Congress. The BJP leaders have given the clarion call for Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to break the alliance with Lalu.

Many television presenters as well as commentators have already been upbeat that Nitish will soon announce to the world that he is set to dump Lalu and embrace the BJP.

There were similar excited speculations in the media when the Income Tax department raided 22 locations related to Lalu's family in May this year as part of its investigation into almost a dozen Benami property deals. That time too, there were many, including those in the BJP, who had urged Nitish to walk out of the three-party grand alliance and once again embrace the BJP, with which it had cohabited for 17 years before the split in 2013.

What has been the basis of such speculations? Many believe that Nitish is a rare political leader from the Indian perspective, apart from the possible exception of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who would not brook corruption of any kind just to remain in power. But the question is, if Nitish was genuinely averse to corruption, then why did he sew up the alliance with Lalu for the Assembly election in 2015?

Let us also not forget that the same Nitish had relentlessly inveighed against corruption and jungle raj of Lalu and his family for more than 15 years. But in the aftermath of the 2014 Lok Sabha election in which both the JD(U) and RJD were decimated by the BJP, Nitish had no qualms about joining hands with Lalu to keep the BJP at bay and capture power in Bihar.

If you compare the scenario then and now, between 2015 and 2017, nothing substantial has changed. True, the Income Tax and CBI raids this year have added a new dimension to the corruption charges against Lalu and his family. However, one must accept that these charges are mere allegations by the investigative agencies and have not yet been substantiated by any court of law.

However, before 2015, the indictment of Lalu in the fodder scam cases had gone through a series of court appraisals. He had spent a considerable time in jail, even prior to the apex court finally giving its stamp of approval to the corruption charges. After the Supreme Court verdict, Lalu lost his Lok Sabha seat and he was debarred from contesting elections for the next six years.

If Nitish could embrace such a tainted man in 2015 with a straight face, why would he be troubled by the IT department and the CBI, which have been carrying out raids at the properties of Lalu and his family?

Hopes have arisen in some hearts because Nitish broke ranks with the Congress and the RJD by supporting Ram Nath Kovind, NDA's presidential candidate. Nitish's decision gives them a feeling that he is gradually drifting away from Lalu and preparing the ground for a reunion with the BJP.

What adds strength to such speculation is Nitish's unstinted support to Modi government's twin controversial decisions last year, the surgical strike across the Line of Control and demonetisation.

While the Congress and the RJD were engaged in puncturing the claims made by the Union government on the outcome of the aerial raids on Pakistani targets, Nitish commended the action in no uncertain terms. Striking a discordant note with all Opposition parties, Nitish had also hailed the demonetisation move as a salutary measure to fight corruption.

Nitish has time and again asserted that he has a mind of his own and that he did not believe in herd mentality. As he has said again and again, he does not want to blindly support or oppose a policy or a person because of political associations.

Despite these assertions, he is an astute politician and knows that he has to play his cards carefully to ensure his political interests are not adversely affected by his contrarian decisions.

Let's take the case of his support for Kovind. As the governor of Bihar, Kovind had struck a cordial relationship with the Modi government. Even the BJP leaders in Bihar had expected the governor to red flag some of the draconian provisions of the liquor prohibition ordinance that the Nitish government had recommended. However, the governor refused to place any road block in putting into operation the prohibition regime.

Kovind even ensured that he had no disputes with the Nitish government  as was the case with all previous governors  on the appointment of the vice chancellors of the state universities, which comes under the exclusive purview of the governor in his capacity as the chancellor of the universities. Nitish was grateful to Kovind for not adding to his woes.

But more importantly, Nitish knew that Kovind will surely win the presidential election and the Opposition nominee will lose because of sheer numbers. Nitish must have calculated that a favourable occupant at the Rashtrapati Bhawan was in the short and medium term interest of his party, when political turbulence might propel realignments in Bihar.

However, Nitish's excuse of going against Opposition's candidate Meira Kumar that she was doomed to lose because of lack of numbers, did not carry any conviction. After all, Nitish Kumar had enthusiastically supported the candidature of the BJP nominee Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in the 2007 presidential race when the numbers were heavily stacked against him.

Nitish did so then because he was ensconced in an embrace with the BJP in Bihar and he was not looking for any alternative political platforms then. However, Nitish today is closeted in an uneasy relationship with Lalu and his RJD.

Unlike the BJP which was decidedly a junior partner of the JD(U) in the Bihar government for almost a decade, the RJD is the senior partner in the current alliance with 80 seats to its credit as against 71 of the RJD. No wonder that some RJD leaders flex their muscles from time to time and are not shy of publicly reminding Nitish about it.

Moreover, all BJP leaders of Bihar clearly played second fiddle to Nitish in the 17 years of their association. However, Lalu, though he is banished from political office now because of the circumstances, is not one to kowtow to Nitish as the BJP leadership did. After all, Lalu was Nitish's leader once. Nitish was part of the Janata Dal in Bihar in early 1990s when Lalu emerged as its unquestioned leader. Also, Lalu has more numbers now.

It is evident that Nitish  unlike the days of his cosy association with the BJP for 17 years till the Modi phenomenon wrecked it  has not been able to settle down in power in Bihar in the last 17 months because of the uneasy relationship with RJD.

That is perhaps why Nitish is exploring alternatives. If he breaks with the RJD and re-embraces BJP any time in the future  that is not likely in the immediate run  then it would not be on account of his aversion to corruption, but because he loves to exercise power without the pinpricks of an alliance partner.
Chandigarh: Meira Kumar, the opposition's presidential nominee, will be addressing Congress MLAs and MPs from Punjab in Chandigarh on 9 July.

She would meet them as part of her presidential poll campaign, A C Kaushik, office secretary of the Punjab Congress Legislature Party (CLP), said on Friday.

The meeting between Kumar and the Congress lawmakers had been convened by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who was also the leader of the Punjab CLP, he added.

At the meeting, Kumar would seek the support of the MLAs and MPs for the 17 July presidential election, said Kaushik.

While the ruling Congress has 77 MLAs in the 117-member Punjab Assembly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has 20, its ally the Lok Insaaf Party has two and the SAD-BJP coalition has 18 legislators (Shiromani Akali Dal 15, BJP three).

Among the Lok Sabha members from Punjab, four belong to the Congress, three to the SAD, two to the BJP (though the saffron party's MP from Gurdaspur, Vinod Khanna, passed away recently), four to the AAP, of whom, two have been suspended by the party.

In the Rajya Sabha, the SAD and the Congress have three members each, while the BJP has a lone representative from the state in the Upper House of Parliament.

The presidential election is scheduled for 17 July and the counting of votes will be taken up on 20 July.

On 29 June, the ruling NDA's presidential nominee and former Bihar governor, Ram Nath Kovind, had held a meeting with the SAD-BJP lawmakers from Punjab and Haryana at Panchkula, near Chandigarh.
Kolkata: A BJP central team comprising party MPs Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satyapal Singh was stopped from visiting the riot-hit Basirhat in West Bengal and its members were detained on Saturday.

The three MPs, who left for Basirhat after arriving from Delhi, were stopped by the police near Birati, close to the airport.

Later, they were detained when they tried to proceed to Basirhat after a heated exchange with the police. Lekhi asked the police if the situation was under control in Basirhat, as claimed by the state government, why were they not allowed to go there?

"We are MPs and only we three will go there. You accompany us," she told policemen.

The police, however, refused to allow them.
Amid escalating communal strife in the North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee asserted that the Centre was responsible for the riots.

With the recent events in Baduria, Swarupnagar, Deganga and Basirhat threatening to derail the state's inter-faith harmony, Banerjee said, "The Centre is behind the Basirhat riots. Non-cooperation by Centre in not sending further forces to handle crisis in Darjeeling."

Centre behind Basirhat riots. Non cooperation by Centre in not sending further forces to handle crisis in Darjeeling: Mamata  News18 (@CNNnews18) July 8, 2017

She also said that the fact that forces were not sent on time further flared up violence around the West Bengal border. The Trinamool Congress leader went on to assert that the BJP-led government was spreading morphed images from Bhojpuri movies to incite violence. These comments come after Haryana BJP leader Vijeta Malik expressed her "concern for Hindus in West Bengal" by sharing an image the Bhojpuri movie Aurat Khilona Nahi.

Mamata went on to assert that Centre was trying to impose President's Rule in West Bengal, adding, "border areas are being disturbed by foreign hands having good relations with BJP." She asserted that, "How can some people from across the border intrude and start disruptions here? Who is in charge of border security, the Centre or the state? Once again I am saying, it is the ploy of the BJP to disturb the peace of the state." She added that a judicial inquiry will be conducted into the riots in Baduria and Basirhat. "We have decided to order a judicial probe into the Baduria and Basirhat riots. We want to see who were involved and the state government will provide every input to the judicial commission. Let there be an impartial probe," Banerjee told in West Bengal.

Speaking about the Gorkhaland agitations in Darjeeling, Banerjee attempted to appease the protesters. "I appeal to Darjeeling to not resort to violence and instead make peace," she said at the press conference. "Negotiations are part of a democratic system but let peace be restored first," she added.

Negotiations are part of a democratic system but let peace be restored first: WB CM Banerjee #DarjeelingUnrest  ANI (@ANI_news) July 8, 2017

Mamata also claimed that whether it was Puducherry, Kerala or West Bengal, those who spoke up against the Centre were being "unfairly targeted as political vendetta."

Commenting on the attempts by political parties to visit the riot-hit areas, the chief minister said, "Where is the need to disturb the people there? Let them settle down. Trinamool MPs did not go. They could have gone also." PTI reports that the state administration did not allow Congress, left and BJP teams to visit Basirhat on Friday.

She went on to say that this would not stop her and that she will keep her resistance up. Training her guns on the government's recent economic policies, Mamata cried foul, saying, "From demonetisation to GST, the whole thing is a scam." The TMC leaders said that once these regulations were kept under a scanner, the skeletons would start emerging. She also pointedly attacked Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, saying that he had deviated from the original plan that had been agreed upon by the central and state governments. She called GST 'big corruption'.

This is not the first time Mamata Banerjee has accused the Centre of aggravating tensions. On 5 July, at the state secretariat, Banerjee said that BJP was misusing social media to spread rumours leading to communal riots. "The BJP has no license to incite riots. But they are doing it. They are spreading hatred among people," she said.

The chief minister added that the BJP has been hatching the "conspiracy" against her party and the government because it "failed to fight TMC politically, economically, socially and on developmental issues." According to PTI, BJP fought back against these initial remarks. The report states that BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said that the West Bengal government has "stooped to a new low" by trying to "malign" the office of the governor in order to "divert" attention from its own failures.

The situation in riot-hit Basirhat in North 24 Paraganas district had shown signs of improvement on Friday with no untoward incident being reported, an official had reportedly stated. ANI reports that ten IPS officers were transferred following the violence, with C Sudhakar being appointed new superintendent of North 24 Parganas, taking the place of SP Bhaskar Mukherjee.
New Delhi: BJP leader Piyush Goyal on Saturday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of letting the situation go out of hand in riot-hit Basirhat area to appease a community for political reasons.

Goyal, who is the minister for power, hit out at Banerjee for her "baseless and false" allegations at the central government and claimed she did so to divert attention from her administrative failure in Basirhat and strife-hit Darjeeling.

"She let the situation go out of control. A particular community was targeted. The situation was allowed to go out of hand to appease another community for political reasons," he told a press conference.

Though he did not name communities, BJP leaders have gone on record blaming Muslims for violence aimed at Hindus following an objectionable Facebook post.

"While violence continues to be reported in both the regions of West Bengal, the state government said it did need more central forces after making a request for them," he said.

Goyal also attacked the TMC government for not allowing a three-member BJP committee to visit the riot-hit area on Saturday.

"People of Bengal will not forgive her for appeasing a community for communal reasons," he said.

Asked about allegations that the saffron party was trying to benefit from communal polarisation, he claimed that it does not believe in discrimination on the basis of religion.

Asked about the state BJP's demand that the TMC government be dismissed, he said he had nothing to say on this.

Hitting out at the BJP, Banerjee had said it was stoking communal fire but people had not fallen into its trap.
"We are just a few moments away from saying to the survivors, to those impacted by nuclear weapons, that after so many decades we have managed to sow the first seeds of a world free from nuclear weapons," she said just ahead of the adoption. "We are just a few moments away from saying to our children, 'Yes, it is possible to inherit a world free from nuclear weapons.' "

The treaty will enter into force once 50 states have signed and ratified it. "This is something historic for humanity," said Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gomez of Costa Rica, president of the UN Conference that negotiated the treaty.

The treaty prohibits states that sign and ratify it from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing or otherwise acquiring, possessing or stockpiling nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. It also forbids parties from using or threatening to use nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.

The treaty -- adopted by 122 countries, with the Netherlands voting against it and Singapore abstaining -- was greeted with sustained applause and a standing ovation by delegates.

A UN conference adopted an international treaty banning nuclear weapons Friday, but the world's nine nuclear powers boycotted the proceedings, leaving its impact in doubt.

 North Korean Test

The adoption of the treaty came in the same week that nuclear tensions escalated on the Korean Peninsula, highlighting the urgency of the issue. On Tuesday, North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time, in violation of UN resolutions prohibiting it from developing nuclear and ballistic missile technology. The move brought widespread international condemnation, and states are considering whether to further sanction Pyongyang for its behavior.

The treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons complements earlier conventions banning biological and chemical weapons, land mines and cluster munitions. Despite being illegal, however, land mines still are frequently used in conflicts, chemical weapons have been used in Syria, and cluster munitions reportedly have been used in Libya, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.

The nine nations that have nuclear weapons boycotted the treaty negotiations, which began in February. They are Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel.

The UN ambassadors of Britain, France and the United States issued a joint statement after the vote, saying their governments did not intend "to sign, ratify or ever become party" to the treaty. "Therefore, there will be no change in the legal obligations on our countries with respect to nuclear weapons."

The three nuclear powers also noted that other states possessing nuclear weapons and other states relying on nuclear deterrence did not participate in the treaty negotiations.

"This treaty offers no solution to the grave threat posed by North Korea's nuclear program, nor does it address other security challenges that make nuclear deterrence necessary," the ambassadors added. "A ban treaty also risks undermining the existing international security architecture which contributes to the maintenance of international peace and security."

 Road to Elimination

"Today the international community rejected nuclear weapons and made it clear they are unacceptable," said Beatrice Fihn, the executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons [ICAN], a Geneva-based coalition of more than 450 nongovernmental groups.

Fihn said the treaty was in large part aimed at erasing the image of prestige and power that nuclear weapons convey. She said nuclear-armed countries would see it in their interest to sign on to the treaty when the stigma grew for possessing weapons that indiscriminately kill massive numbers of civilians.

"At some point they are just going to be shameful, really expensive, messy weapons that have no actual military utility," Fihn said. "We see this as really a solid treaty that will set us on a good path toward the elimination of nuclear weapons."

The treaty also provides a path for nuclear states that become signatories to eliminate their nuclear weapons, stockpiles and programs. It also requires that states assist victims of nuclear weapons use and testing, and it demands environmental remediation of contaminated areas.

The treaty will be open for signatories at a UN ceremony on Sept. 20, during the week that leaders gather at the world body for their annual meetings.


New Delhi: Police in northwestern Bangladesh have arrested a suspected key supplier of explosives in last year's attack on a Dhaka cafe that left 20 dead, including 17 foreigners.

Police say Sohel Mahfuz was arrested along with three other suspected members of the Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the 1 July 2016 attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery, but authorities blamed the domestic group.

Five militants from the banned group who stormed the cafe and took patrons hostage also died, along with two police officers.
Hamburg: Leaders from the G20 nations, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday called for concrete steps to check radicalisation, hiring and arranging of funds for terror activities through misuse of internet and social media. On the first day of their Summit, the leaders also asked private sector communication service providers to do the needful for removing hate content from the web.

Asserting that the rule of law applies online as well as offline, the G20 leaders issued a 21-point joint declaration on various steps that needed to be taken to fight terrorism. The leaders called for countering radicalisation conducive to terrorism and the use of internet for terrorist purposes.

The counter terrorism actions must continue to be part of a comprehensive approach, including combating radicalisation and recruitment, hampering terrorist movements and countering terrorist propaganda, the declaration said. To fight terrorism, the declaration said G20 nations would work with the private sector, in particular communication service providers and administrators of relevant applications.

This is to "fight exploitation of the internet and social media for terrorist purposes such as propaganda, funding and planning of terrorist acts, inciting terrorism, radicalising and recruiting to commit acts of terrorism, while fully respecting human rights," the declaration said. The G20 leaders also underlined that appropriate filtering, detecting and removal of content that incites terrorist acts is crucial.

"... we also encourage collaboration with industry to provide lawful and non-arbitrary access to available information where access is necessary for the protection of national security against terrorist threats," they said. Sending out a strong message against terror activities, the G20 leaders stressed that countering terrorism requires comprehensively addressing underlying conditions that terrorists exploit.

"It is therefore crucial to promote political and religious tolerance, economic development and social cohesion and inclusiveness, to resolve armed conflicts, and to facilitate re-integration," the declaration said. Noting that regional and national action plans can help in countering radicalisation conducive to terrorism, the leaders said knowledge on concrete measures would be shared to address threats from returning foreign terrorist fighters and home-grown radicalised individuals.

In recent times, many countries have been grappling with the problem of individuals returning from places like Iraq and Syria after terror training. "We will also share best practices on deradicalisation and re-integration programmes including with respect to prisoners," it said. Further, the G20 leaders said they would exchange best practices on preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism.
Germany: Anti-globalisation activists rioted violently for a second night as Hamburg hosted Group of 20 leaders, setting up street barricades, looting supermarkets and attacking police with slingshots and firebombs on Saturday.

Police said riots were extremely aggressive in the early hours of Saturday in the city's Schanzenviertel neighborhood, which is only a few hundred meters away from the summit grounds. Hundreds of officers went into buildings to arrest rioters wearing black masks from rooftops while being attacked with iron rods and Molotov cocktails. Thirteen activists were arrested when special units stormed one building.

About 500 people looted a supermarket in the neighborhood as well as smaller stores. Cars were torched and street fires lit as activists built barricades with garbage cans and bikes.

World leaders have come together in the northern German port city for two days to tackle contentious issues including terrorism, climate change and trade.

Most protesters expressed their opposition to the summit in peaceful ways, asking for quick action on climate change and solutions to the migration crisis. But a few thousand rioters, some of them from abroad, created havoc in the city. They've battled riot police for two consecutive days, expressing rage against capitalism and globalisation and called for open borders to let all refugees enter Europe. Their anger is not so much focused against President Donald Trump or other leaders, but directed against police as symbols of authority.

Police arrested 114 people, and 89 activists were temporarily detained. More than 200 officers have been injured since the start of the protests Thursday night.

Even one of the organisers of the more radical leftist protests distanced himself from the overnight riots in Schanzenviertel.

"We have the impression that ... some kind of militancy was taken to the streets, that people get a high on it," Andreas Blechschmidt, of the alternative culture center Rote Flora at Schanzenviertel, told public broadcaster NDR. "We think that's politically and substantially wrong."

Police called on witnesses of the riots to upload photos and video footage on their server to help with the investigation and prosecution of violent activists.

On Saturday morning, city cleaners took to the streets sweeping up rubble and using heavy construction equipment to haul away the leftovers of last night's barricades and fires, while in other parts of Hamburg, peaceful protesters started new marches holding up red balloons and dancing through the streets to live music.

Activists from the environmental Greenpeace group scaled a bridge and unfurled a banner saying, "G20: End Coal."

The group said in a statement that 65 activists participated in the protest demanding that G20 leaders act quickly to phase out coal and speed up global climate action.

Fighting global warming is one of the major issues on the G20 agenda, but negotiations are proving to be difficult since the US left the international Paris climate agreement a few weeks ago.

"The millions of people threatened by climate change or already suffering its impact expect the G-20 leaders to accelerate their efforts to reduce their emissions," Greenpeace's Susanne Neubronner said. "This can only be achieved by ending the age of coal by a phase-out."
Hamburg: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that "deep differences" remain between her and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after they met on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

She stressed however that Erdogan had engaged in the talks and that the gathering "honoured" Turkey's role in managing the migrant crisis driven by Syria's civil war and other conflicts.

Turkey's sweeping arrests of alleged state enemies after last year's coup attempt and a dispute centred on a NATO base "are developments which I of course raised that show deep differences," Merkel said. "And we didn't sweep those under the table."

Berlin-Ankara relations have been fraught, deteriorating sharply over Turkey's mass crackdown after the failed putsch against Erdogan last year and a host of other civil rights controversies.

Another dispute centres on Deniz Yucel, a German-Turkish journalist with the newspaper Die Welt who was imprisoned by Turkey on terror charges earlier this year.

Last month Germany decided to withdraw its troops who support the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria from NATO partner Turkey's Incirlik base and move them to Jordan after German lawmakers were prohibited from visiting the base.

Erdogan lashed out on the eve of the summit, warning Germany it was "committing political suicide", by refusing to let him address members of the large ethnic Turkish community in a rally during the G20. "Germany must correct this error," Erdogan said in an interview with weekly magazine Die Zeit, arguing that "he could not be silenced".
Hamburg: Japan will host the G20 summit of leading nations in 2019, with Saudi Arabia presiding the 2020 edition, according to a statement Saturday winding up this year's event in Hamburg.

"We thank Germany for hosting a successful Hamburg summit," it said after the summit, rocked by unprecedented violence as protestors clashed with riot police outside, "and look forward to meeting again in Argentina in 2018, in Japan in 2019 and in Saudi Arabia in 2020."

Under the terms of the revolving presidency G20 hosts can set the summit agenda and Germany this year used the opportunity to focus on developing partnerships with Africa.

In 2015, Turkey addressed how to tackle migration as the worst refugee crisis Europe has known since World War II threatened to overwhelm the region.
Hamburg: US president Donald Trump said Saturday his controversial state visit to Britain will go ahead, adding that he was hoping for a "very powerful" trade deal with London "very, very quickly".

At a meeting with British prime minister Theresa May at the G20 summit in Germany, Trump said they would have "tremendous talks" and reach "a very powerful deal" on trade "very, very quickly."

Any negotiations for such an accord would further drive a wedge between Britain and the European Union which has warned London against striking any separate agreement before its divorce from the bloc was complete.

Back home, May has been derided for seeking to curry favour with Trump and has come under fire for inviting him for a state visit.

But questions about the trip arose after it got no mention in Queen Elizabeth II's annual speech to Parliament in June, when it is customary for the monarch to list upcoming state visits.

Asked if the state visit would still go ahead, Trump indicated that they would be working on a date.

"I will be going to London," he added.
Hamburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Japan and Canada, Shinzo Abe and Justin Trudeau respectively, along with informal interactions with a number of world leaders on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg.

Modi also had a brief chat with many top world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.

At the BRICS leaders' gathering here, Modi held informal meetings with Brazilian President Michel Temer and South African President Jacob Zuma.

Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping also shook hands at the BRICS meet and had a conversation on a "range of issues".

The interaction between Modi and Xi took place amidst bilateral tensions over the Sikkim standoff.

He later met Abe and Trudeau and discussed a host of issues.

"Today in Hamburg, Justin Trudeau and Narendra Modi affirmed the strength of the bond between Canada and India," the office of the Canadian premier tweeted.

Today in Hamburg, PM Justin Trudeau and PM Narendra Modi affirmed the strength of the bond between Canada and India. #G20 pic.twitter.com/TVM3uExrMl  CanadianPM (@CanadianPM) July 7, 2017

A family photo of the BRICS leaders was taken earlier.

On Sunday, Modi will have bilateral meetings with head of the governments of South Korea, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, the UK and Vietnam. He will also participate in G20 sessions on -Partnership with Africa, Migration and Health and Digitalisation, Women's Empowerment and Employment.

After attending the concluding session in evening, the Indian prime minister will leave for New Delhi.
Moscow: Russia's pro-Kremlin media reacted triumphantly on Saturday to the first handshake and lengthy talks between President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump at the G20 meeting in Hamburg.

The popular tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda headlined its front page "Putin and Trump found a way to peace in Syria and Ukraine" and devoted two pages to analysis of the leaders' public handshake.

"Look at Putin's thumb. He is controlling the situation, setting its tone," the paper wrote, calling this "the handshake that the whole world was really waiting for."

Russian state television channel Rossiya 24 also hailed what it called "a meeting the whole world had been awaiting for long months."

Business daily Kommersant wrote that the leaders' talks "overshadowed the main agenda of the event."

The Moskovsky Komsomolets tabloid, which is sometimes critical of the Kremlin, compared the meeting to the historic joining of Soviet and American forces in Germany in April 1945, when US and Russian soldiers shook hands on the bridge of the River Elbe.

It headlined its story "Meeting on the Elbe", the river that flows through Hamburg.

Late Friday, the head of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian senate, Konstantin Kosachev, hailed the meeting as "a breakthrough in some sense. Definitely in the psychological sense, possibly in practical relations," speaking to Interfax news agency.

Diplomatic sources quoted by Kommersant said a meeting was now being discussed between Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and US under secretary of state Tom Shannon in St. Petersburg in the second half of the month.

Russia cancelled a meeting between Ryabkov and Shannon in the city last month in the wake of Washington's decision to reinforce sanctions over Moscow's interference in Ukraine and its occupation of Crimea.

Franz Klintsevich, deputy chairman of the senate's defence commission, said the meeting "slightly opened the tightly blocked door of Russian and American relations", in a statement quoted by Interfax.

He said the meeting answered "all the questions over the personal compatibility of the leaders."

Pro-Kremlin media and commentators also suggested that the demonstrative friendliness between Putin and Trump was a blow for the US leader's opponents at home.

NTV television reported that after the leaders smiled at each other "the liberal part of the US internet immediately exploded in outrage."

Russian senator Alexei Pushkov wrote on Twitter that "the Neocons are furious. Trump accepted Putin's words about Russia's non-interference in the US elections. He doesn't want to be stuck in a position of anti-Russian hysteria."
Washington: The US, Japan and South Korea on Friday sought additional United Nations Security Council sanctions against the North Korean regime to send a message that there would be "consequences for its destabilising" actions, the White House said.

The demand came after a meeting between US President Donald Trump, his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Hamburg, Germany, on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit.

They "decided to press for the early adoption of a new UNSC resolution with additional sanctions to demonstrate to the DPRK that there are serious consequences for its destabilising, provocative, and escalatory actions", according to a joint statement issued after the meeting of the leaders.

DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.

The leaders called on the international community to "swiftly and fully implement all UNSC resolutions and to take measures to reduce economic relations with the DPRK", said the statement said.

They also called on the countries that border North Korea to make efforts to convince the regime "to abandon its current threatening and provocative path and immediately take steps to denuclearise and halt its ballistic missile programme".

North Korea has been conducting regular missile tests. On 4 July, it tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, demonstrating the potential capability to strike Alaska.

This, they said, is a major escalation that directly violates multiple UNSC resolutions and that clearly demonstrates the growing threat the North Korea poses to the United States, South Korea, and Japan, as well as other countries around the world, the joint statement said.

"The leaders affirmed the importance of working together to counter the DPRK threat and to achieve the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner, a shared goal among the three countries," it said.

The United States, South Korea and Japan will never accept a nuclear armed North Korea, it said.
The migrants in the La Chapelle neighborhood on Paris' northern edge were taken to temporary shelters in the Paris region where they will be given medical checkups and guidance, police said. City Hall says it is the 34th such operation in the past two years.

In heavy summer heat, groups of primarily African men and a few families lined up to board buses with a mixture of relief and apprehension. "We Need Dignity" read a handwritten sign next to a mattress stretched across cobblestones and surrounded by litter.

Paris authorities evacuated nearly 2,800 migrants Friday from ever-expanding makeshift street camps in the French capital, as Europe contends with an upsurge in new arrivals crossing the Mediterranean.

Tents, sleeping bags and rudimentary cardboard structures housing migrants have sprung up on sidewalks and boulevards in the area, angering some residents even as others come to offer food and blankets.

City authorities estimate that dozens of people fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East pour in daily to Paris. Many continue on to the port of Calais to try to cross to Britain, but many stay in Paris in hopes of finding unofficial work or to seek asylum.

Such unauthorized camps "present serious risks for the security and health of their occupants as well as neighborhood residents," Paris police said in a statement.

About 350 police and 100 other officials and aid workers took part in Friday's operation. Police said the migrants will be given "proposals for orientation" to other sites scattered around France where they can try to seek legal paths to residency. Some may eventually be deported.

Arrivals have grown this summer around Europe, notably as more people are taking the risky sea journey from Libya. More than 2,000 have died. Top European officials have tried this week to agree on solutions, notably to help Italy help cope with the tens of thousands of people arriving on its shores.

European Council President Donald Tusk called Friday for UN sanctions against migrant smugglers illegally taking people to Europe -- notably in Libya, where lawlessness has allowed a lucrative trade in smuggling African migrants northward.

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said that would-be migrants should be stopped at the EU's outer borders and sent back to their homelands after being rescued and given any care needed. Kurz has previously suggested that some NGOs rescuing migrants on the high seas might be in collusion with human smugglers.

In France, a farmer has attracted nationwide attention with a video appearing to show police forcing underage migrants to go back to Italy. The national human rights watchdog urged the interior minister Friday to investigate the situation.

President Emmanuel Macron's government is expected to announce new measures to cope with the migrant crisis next week.

A center opened last year in northern Paris to help asylum seekers has provided temporary shelter for 12,000 people but is not large enough to care for everyone.
Germany: The United States and Russia struck an agreement Friday on a ceasefire in southwest Syria, crowning President Donald Trump's first meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin. It is the first US-Russian effort under Trump's presidency to stem Syria's six-year civil war.

The ceasefire goes into effect Sunday at noon Damascus time, according to US officials and the Jordanian government, which is also involved in the deal.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who accompanied Trump in his meeting with Putin, said the understanding is designed to reduce violence in an area of Syria near Jordan's border that is critical to the US ally's security.

It's a "very complicated part of the Syrian battlefield," Tillerson told reporters after the US and Russian leaders met for more than 2 hours on the sidelines of a global summit in Hamburg, Germany.

Of the agreement, he said, "I think this is our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together in Syria."

For years, the former Cold War foes have been backing opposing sides in Syria's war. Moscow has staunchly backed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, supporting Syrian forces militarily since 2015. Washington has backed rebels fighting Assad. Both the US and Russia oppose Islamic State militants and say they're focused on rooting out the extremist group.

The potential pitfalls for the ceasefire are clear  not least the challenge of enforcing it.

Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Russian military police would monitor the new truce. But Tillerson said that was still being worked out. A senior US State Department official said the two countries were close to a deal on that issue and hoped to finalise it in the coming days, raising the prospect it could take effect Sunday with no clear sense of who is policing it.

That the deal was announced before all the details were ironed out was a clear indication of how eager the US and Russia were to cast their leaders' first meeting as a success. Officials said the deal had been in the works for weeks or months, but came together in time for the meeting.

The deal marks a new level of involvement for the Trump administration in trying to resolve Syria's civil war.

Trump ordered some 60 cruise missiles to be fired at a Syrian air base in April after accusing Assad's forces of a deadly chemical weapons attack. But his top military and national security advisers pointedly said they had no intentions of intervening to oust Assad. And they stopped short of endorsing Russian-led or UN peace mediation efforts between Assad's government and rebel groups.

Israel also is part of the agreement, one US official said, who like others wasn't authorised to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity. Like Jordan, Israel shares a border with the southern part of Syria and has been concerned about a spillover of violence as well as an amassing of Iranian-aligned forces in the south of the country.

Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Momani confirmed the accord in a statement that made no reference to Israel's participation. Syrian government forces and its allies will stay on one side of an agreed demarcation line, and rebel fighters will stick to the other side. The goal is also to enable aid to reach this area of Syria, Momani told state media. US officials said the US, Russia and Jordan had only agreed on that demarcation line last week, clearing the way for a ceasefire to be worked out.

The deal is separate from an agreement that Russia, Turkey and Iran struck earlier this year to try to establish "de-escalation zones" in Syria with reduced bloodshed. The US, wary of Iran's involvement, stayed away from that effort. Follow-up talks this week in Kazakhstan were unable to produce agreement on finalizing a cease-fire in those zones.

Previous ceasefires in Syria have collapsed or failed to reduce violence for long, and it was unclear whether this deal would be any better.

Tillerson said the difference this time is Russia's interest in seeing Syria return to stability. It's an argument top US officials such as former Secretary of State John Kerry cited regularly amid his failed efforts to end a conflict that has killed as many as a half-million people, contributed to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II and allowed Islamic State to emerge as a global terror threat.

Tillerson also repeated the US position that a "long-term role for the Assad family and the Assad regime" is untenable and voiced his belief that Russia might be willing to address the future leadership of Syria, in tones reminiscent of Kerry. Up to now, Assad has rejected any proposals that would see him leave power, contributing to an impasse that has prolonged Syria's suffering.

Earlier in the week, Syria's military said it was halting combat operations in the south of Syria for four days, in advance of the new round of Russian-sponsored talks in Kazakhstan. That move covered the southern provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida. Syria's government briefly extended that unilateral ceasefire, which is now set to expire Saturday  a day before the US and Russian deal was to take effect.

The US-Russian cease-fire has no set end date, one US official said, describing it as part of broader discussions with Moscow on lowering violence in Syria.

The agreement may also reflect Iran's increasingly prominent role in Syria.

Washington has been resistant to letting Iranian forces and their proxy militias gain strength in Syria's south, a position shared by Israel and Jordan. Friday's deal could help the Trump administration retain more of a say over who fills the power vacuum left behind as the Islamic State is routed from additional territory in Syria.

In recent weeks, US forces have shot down a Syrian aircraft that got too close to American forces, as well as Iranian-made drones. A renewed government offensive against Western-backed rebels and Islamic militants in the contested province of Daraa also is sparking tensions, and Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters have shifted south to join the fight.

Israel has also struck Syrian military installations on several occasions in the past few weeks after shells landed in the Israeli-controlled side of the Golan Heights. Ahead of the deal, media reports in Israel have suggested unease at any arrangement that relies on Russia policing areas near its frontier.

Implications for Syria aside, the deal marks the biggest diplomatic achievement for the US and Russia since Trump took office. Trump's administration has approached the notoriously strained relationship by trying to identify a few limited issues on which the countries could make progress, thereby building trust for a broader repair of ties.
Hamburg: Police gained the upper hand in Hamburg early on Saturday morning after a day of running clashes with anti-capitalist protesters seeking to disrupt the city's G20 summit of global leaders.

Heavily armed police commandos moved in after activists had spent much of the day attempting to wrest control of the streets from more than 15,000 police, setting fires, looting and building barricades.

With meetings between leaders of the club of 20 largest global economies finished for the day, police stormed the last holdouts, who had gathered in the Schanzenviertel district, an area known for its left-wing activism and culture of squatting.

With two months to go before she seeks re-election, Chancellor Angela Merkel had hoped to cement Germany's growing global leadership role with a demonstration of its unwavering commitment to free speech, assembly and dissent by holding the summit in the centre of a city with a proud radical tradition.

Protesters torched cars and lorries, smashed windows in banks, looted retail stores and hurled paving slabs and other objects before police managed to restore order. Some 197 officers were injured after two days of clashes in the port city. Police made 19 arrests and detained dozens more.

Standing in a nearby falafel restaurant, Mohammad Halabi, 32, a Syrian who arrived in Germany as a refugee some 18 months before, surveyed the scene with disbelief. "They are crazy. I can't believe my eyes," he said. "They have such a beautiful country and they're destroying it."

But G20 participants said they had never seen protesters closer to such a summit than in Hamburg and praised the work of police in keeping the event safe, suggesting Merkel's gamble had paid off.

Beethoven vs Hendrix

"I have every understanding for peaceful demonstrations but violent demonstrations put human lives in danger," Merkel had said earlier.

Most of the 100,000 protesters were peaceful, hoisting signs saying the G20 leaders were not welcome, or engaging in mass bicycle processions through the city centre wearing brightly coloured uniforms.

When world leaders including US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping gathered for a Beethoven concert in the Elbphilharmonie concert hall on one side of the river, protesters blared the music of Jimi Hendrix from the other side.

But in the night's most dramatic scenes, police pursued members of the radical Black Bloc movement, which wants to overthrow capitalism, across scaffolding as they sought refuge on rooftops. Below, burning barricades billowed thick smoke. Despite the chaos that threatened to overwhelm parts of the city during much of the day, the summit, with thousands of participants from dozens of countries, was largely unaffected.

Police declined to clear US first lady Melania Trump's motorcade to leave her hotel for a tour of the historic harbour, and protests delayed buses taking visitors away from the state dinner that concluded the meetings.

The summit is due to conclude on Saturday.
Bratislava: Ireland wants to maintain open border with Britain after Brexit, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said in Bratislava after meeting his Slovak counterpart Miroslav Lajcak in Bratislava.

"We believe, that the currently virtually invisible British-Irish border will be preserved as an important instrument boosting both economy and stability in the area following Brexit," stressed Coveney on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Lajcak appreciated the Irish view on Brexit.

"Ireland and Slovakia have much in common. We're relatively smaller countries and we strive to solve problems instead of producing them. We have relatively sober views on things around us, we have practically identical views of issues and challenges that the EU is facing, as well as of global issues," said Lajcak.

The Slovak minister also said he agreed with Coveney to activate regular political dialogue between the two countries on topics including research, development, innovations and vocational education.
El-Arish (Egypt): Islamic militants attacked a remote Egyptian Army outpost in the Sinai Peninsula with a suicide car bomb and heavy machine gun fire, killing at least 23 soldiers in the deadliest attack in the turbulent region in two years.

After nightfall, the Islamic State group issued a claim of responsibility, saying in an online statement that it had carried out the attack as the Egyptian Army was preparing an assault on Islamic State positions in Sinai. The coordinated attack suggested the Sinai-based militants are among the region's most resilient, after Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, where the so-called caliphate is now witnessing its demise. And it underscored the struggles Egyptian forces face in trying to rein in the insurgency.

Egypt has for years battled militants in Sinai, where the jihadis have exploited the vast arid and underdeveloped region and its disgruntled Bedouin population as an ideal incubator for Islamic militancy even before the Islamic State affiliate has emerged at the forefront of the insurgency.

The assault began early on Friday morning, when a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a checkpoint at a military compound in the village of el-Barth, southwest of the border town of Rafah. Dozens of masked militants then descended on the site in 24 Land Cruiser SUVs and opened fire on the soldiers with machine guns, according to security officials.

The shooting lasted nearly half an hour, the officials added, speaking on condition of anonymity because of regulations. The troops at the compound were estimated to have numbered about 60. When the attack subsided, the militants apparently looted

the checkpoint, snatching weapons and ammunition before fleeing, the officials said. A number of militants were killed in the shootout, indicating the soldiers had fought back, and some of their vehicles were abandoned at the scene.

The suicide blast at the start of the attack likely disabled the checkpoint's military communications system, prompting one of the officers to use his own cellphone to record an audio message and send it to a colleague via WhatsApp, seeking help and asking for prayers. The message was later widely circulated on social media.

"This might be the last seconds in my life," a man's voice calmly says in the recording. "Quickly, oh men, anyone who knows how to reach the command center, notify them to use artillery as we are still alive." He then praises God and ends by saying, "We will either avenge them or die," referring to his fallen colleagues.

In Washington, state department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the US strongly condemns the Sinai attack and continues "to stand with Egypt as it confronts terrorism". The security officials initially put the death toll at 10 but later told AP that more bodies were pulled from under the rubble of a nearby building that was used as a rest house for troops.

According to the Islamic State statement, a second car bomber was used in the attack to strike an army convoy sent as a reinforcement to the embattled soldiers. The authenticity of the claim could not be verified but it was circulated by Islamic State supporters online and by US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites.

Earlier, Egyptian Army spokesman Tamer el-Rifai confirmed the attack on his official Facebook page, saying that 26 army

personnel were killed or wounded. He didn't provide a breakdown. He said the army foiled attacks that targeted a number of other checkpoints in the Rafah area and that 40 militants were killed. Local Sinai residents, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear for their safety, said they saw Apache helicopters carrying out airstrikes across Rafah after the attack.

On his page, Al-Rifai posted photographs of allegedly slain militants, dressed in military uniforms, typically worn by Islamic State extremists. The Defense Ministry posted a video on its official website showing aircraft taking off and striking vehicles and

positions allegedly belonging to the militants who carried out the attack.

The attacked checkpoint was set up two months ago to cut a key militant supply line between the outskirts of Rafah, where the district is known to have a heavy Islamic State presence, and central Sinai, where militants have found safe havens in the mountains, according to tribal leader Hassan Khalaf of the Swaraka, one of Sinai's largest tribes.

The security officials said some senior officers had expressed opposition to the location of the checkpoint, arguing that it provided no real cover for the troops. The nearest army compound was an hour's drive away, leaving the checkpoint with only the support of local armed tribesmen from the Tarabeen, with their own small checkpoints nearby.

The area was also the site of fierce battles in the spring between the tribesmen and militants. Despite the insurgency, Islamic State has so far not succeeded in seizing territory in Sinai but maintains a strong presence in the western and southern areas of Rafah, on the outskirts of the town of Sheikh Zuweid, and even inside the residential areas of Sinai's largest city, el-Arish.
New York: An Indian-origin Muslim convert, who had voiced support for Islamic State and had searched online for ways to join the terror group, has been arrested for making false statements on his applications to join the US military.

Shivam Patel, 27, of Norfolk was charged for not disclosing on his application to join the army that he had travelled to China or Jordan. He claimed he had not gone anywhere outside the US in the past seven years, except for a family trip to India in 2011-

12, a report in The Virginian Pilot said, quoting a court affidavit. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

According to the affidavit, Patel  who converted to Islam several years ago  had travelled to China in July 2016 to teach English. While there, he had expressed displeasure to his father about how that country treated Muslims, it said. Patel was sent back to the US by his employer but he travelled to Jordan instead where he was arrested and eventually deported.

His parents spoke with the FBI about their son after learning he was in Jordanian custody and said he had become "obsessed with Islam".

An investigation of Patel's room and computers disclosed evidence that he had downloaded three copies of an online magazine produced by the Islamic State and searched for how to join the group. On one occasion, he had talked about wanting to become a martyr but suggested his "jihad" might not be violent. He had also praised the terrorist attacks in Paris, Nice and Orlando and expressed an admiration for Anwar al-Awlaki, a slain leader of the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

On another occasion, speaking to an undercover agent, Patel expressed desire to do something "bigger, better and more purposeful", like dying for Allah, the report added.

He told the agent about his desire to see a holy war between Muslims and non-Muslims. "He sang an Islamic State fight song to the source and recalled making a replica of the group's flag, which he wanted to replace his neighbour's American flag with," the report said.

Patel then applied for jobs with local police and fire departments, correctional facilities and even the US Army and Air Force. "He wanted to blend into society and do something 'glorious'," FBI special agent Thomas Pembroke wrote in an affidavit unsealed in the US District Court on Thursday.
Tokyo: The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in southern Japan has risen to 15, media reported on Saturday, as rescuers continued work to bring out isolated survivors.

Raging rivers overflowing with water and mud have devastated swathes of Kyushu  the southernmost of Japan's four main islands  after heavy rainfall, sweeping away roads and houses and destroying schools.

Thousands of rescuers have been fighting through thick mud and battling rain to search for missing and stranded people, with more than 600 believed to still be cut off according to Jiji Press.

Jiji and public broadcaster NHK reported the death toll had risen to 15 as more bodies were discovered.

The central government on Friday announced an official death toll of seven with 22 people unaccounted for.

Deep mud and soaked ground on steep hillsides as well as knocked-out bridges have hampered rescue work.

TV footage has shown rescuers strapping people to cables to be lifted up to helicopters to be ferried to safety in evacuation shelters.

Broken trees, their bark stripped away, littered the scenic and verdant landscape like broken matchsticks as thick clouds hovered over green mountains.

Aerial TV footage on Friday showed desperate residents of one isolated area using uprooted trees to spell out "SOS" for rescuers to see.

Fallen trees smashed into houses in the hard-hit Fukuoka prefecture city of Asakura, which saw more than 50 centimetres (almost 20 inches) of rain in a 12-hour period to Wednesday night.

"My parents are still trapped with 16 other people in the Kurogawa area and I have absolutely no information about the situation there," Asakura resident Kayoko Ishibashi told AFP on Friday, referring to a district in the city.

"So I can only wait here in the hope that they will be rescued by helicopter," she added. "It's the same for everyone here."

The government has dispatched some 12,000 police, military, firefighters and coast guard personnel for rescue operations.

Japan's Imperial Household Agency said that out of consideration for the disaster-hit region, Emperor Akihito's eldest granddaughter Princess Mako and her fiancee decided to postpone Friday's scheduled formal announcement of their engagement.
Mexico City: Top US and Mexican officials have sought common ground on issues such as migration and drug trafficking, even as president Donald Trump combatively repeated his vow to make Mexico pay for his planned border wall.

US Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly struck a conciliatory tone as he wrapped up a three-day trip to Mexico on Friday.

"I cannot stress enough how valuable the US-Mexico relationship is to each of our nations," he said.

He said his visit had highlighted the neighbors' common ground on trade, migration and fighting "the scourge of illegal drugs  with special emphasis on the heroin, cocaine and fentanyl that is flooding the hemisphere and resulting in deaths in both our countries."

Kelly's comments came hours after Trump again touched a raw nerve in Mexico with his latest remark on the border wall.

Asked at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, if he still wanted Mexico to pay for the wall, Trump said: "Absolutely."

He made the comment as he headed into his first official meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who in January cancelled a visit to Washington over Trump's insistence that Mexico pay for the wall.

That was the lowest point in decades in the countries' diplomatic relations, already badly strained by Trump's attacks on Mexican immigrants as "criminals, drug dealers and rapists" and his insistence on holding tough new trade negotiations.

Mexican interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong also emphasised the countries' common ground after meeting with Kelly.

"We are exploring new forms of cooperation on issues such as fighting arms trafficking, fighting transnational organised crime" and the "dignified" repatriation of deported Mexican immigrants, he said.

During his visit, Kelly also met with Mexican troops fighting the country's powerful drug cartels and took a surveillance flight over opium poppy fields in the restive state of Guerrero.

The visit comes as the US, Mexico and Canada prepare to begin renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on 16 August.

The 1994 trade deal is a cornerstone of the Mexican economy, but Trump blames it for shipping American jobs south of the border.
London: In 2012, a Taliban gunman shot her in the head for advocating education for girls in her native Pakistan. On Friday, Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai completed her schooling in Britain, calling the achievement "bittersweet". "Today is my last day of school and my first day on @Twitter," she wrote on her newly opened account, which gained more than 134,000 followers in three hours.

Today is my last day of school and my first day on @Twitter [THREAD]  Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017

Yousafzai, who will be turning 20 this month, had been attending a school in the city of Birmingham where she was treated after the shooting in October 2012. After blogging and campaigning for girls' education in her native Swat valley, she was shot as she rode back to her village on a bus after taking an exam. Yousafzai has since become a global icon for girls' education, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. "Graduating from secondary school (high school) is bittersweet for me," she tweeted, adding: "I know that millions of girls around the world are out of school and may never get the opportunity to complete their education".

Graduating from secondary school (high school) is bittersweet for me. I'm excited about my future, but... 2/  Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017

But she said she was "excited" about her future and promised to continue "fighting for girls". Yousafzai has excelled at school and is awaiting the results of her A-level exams next month. She has been offered a place to study at Oxford University. She has chosen to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics, a prestigious course that has produced many British politicians and world leaders including late Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
After all the hype and hoopla over the Modi-Netanyahu bromance, it's time to ponder what it means for New Delhi's relations with other countries and to wonder whether Indians should lose sleep over it.

For starters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Israel visit has already raised hackles in Pakistan, Iran and Palestine. But does it really matter? And what did Modi really do in Israel?

To begin with, Israel had for long complained that India was treating it like a mistress. Like a man visiting his concubine in the cover of darkness, India had indeed taken covert advantage of Israel's defence prowess but was too apologetic about admitting to the relationship. But Modi has dramatically altered that situation now.

After signing seven agreements and exchanging innumerable hugs, Modi and Netanyahu frolicked on Olga Beach like long-lost school chums who just found each other on Facebook.

For Pakistan, and for Israel's sworn enemy Iran, all this is raising an imaginary spectre of India and Israel ganging up against the world's Muslims, notably those in Palestine and Kashmir. Reports from the two countries make that clear. And Modi's embrace of Netanyahu wouldn't amuse leaders even in Saudi Arabia, which too has visceral hatred for Israel. And it certainly has led to disappointed frowns in Palestine territories, where India was thought to be a friend for long.

But even before Modi left Israel's magnificent Mediterranean shores, there was plenty of harrumphing in Islamabad about this visit. Pakistan's leading daily Dawn, normally sober and not known for hawkish hot air, said in an editorial, "While the comparison would be anathema to New Delhi, there is a clear parallel between Israel's atrocious behaviour towards the Palestinians, and the brute force India has unleashed upon Kashmiris."

"Perhaps the Indo-Israeli embrace has provided an opportunity for Pakistan to highlight the Kashmir issue with Iran and others, in order to build world opinion against the atrocities unleashed upon both the Kashmiris and Palestinians," the paper added.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei had already begun this job of opinion-shaping. On 3 July, a day before Modi set foot on Israeli soil, Khamenei exhorted his country's judiciary to support "Muslims of Myanmar and Kashmir".

Only a week earlier, on 26 June, he mentioned Kashmir during his Eid sermon. He called on the Muslim world to support people of Bahrain, Yemen and Kashmir.

Muslim world should openly support people of #Bahrain, #Kashmir, #Yemen, etc and repudiate oppressors& tyrants who attacked ppl in #Ramadan.  Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 26, 2017

The immediate provocation for Khamenei's 26 June outburst was believed to be the decision taken by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and the Maldives to sever diplomatic relations with Qatar.

In Bahrain, and more seriously in Yemen, Shia-Muslim rebels fight their respective governments. It's no secret that Shia-majority Iran backs them to the hilt.

Khamenei's sermon was targeted not only against arch rival and Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia but also all its supporters. US president Donald Trump, whose 20-21 May visit to Riyadh led to the Saudi camp punishing Qatar, was also a target.

And by mentioning Kashmir in the same breath as he did Yemen and Bahrain, Khameini was also directing his Islamic indignation at India, which is perceived to be increasingly cosying up to both the US and Saudi Arabia. So Khamenei was trying to kill many birds with one stone. The same day on 26 June, he tweeted three times in support of Palestine.

Muslim countries are harmed by discord and benefit from #unity. #Palestine is the number one issue of the Islamic world.  Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 26, 2017

According to Islamic jurisprudence, when an enemy takes over Muslim lands, Jihad-in any form possible-becomes everyone's duty.  Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 26, 2017

Today the fight against the Zionist regime is wajib (obligatory) and necessary for Muslims. Why do some evade this duty?  Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 26, 2017

If Khamenei's 26 June sermon took in its sweep a whole bunch of countries, his latest fulmination on 3 July was essentially aimed at India alone. Myanmar was thrown in by the Shia leader to give it a touch of intra-Islam secularism: In both Myanmar and Kashmir, it's Sunni Muslims who fight the establishments.

This is the first time after 2010 that the Iranian leader is raking up the Kashmir issue. In 2010, he referred to Kashmir as a "nation".

Khamenei had never made a secret of what he thought of Jews. In 2012, he said "all Jews must be annihilated and Israel destroyed".

Khamenei can be expected to pour out his anger for some more time to come, but his threats may come to mean nothing in the end, as it has happened so often in the past. Besides, Iran needs India, and not just because of Chabahar port.

And how will Saudi Arabia react to the new India-Israel solidarity? Though Iran and Saudi Arabia detest each other, they share a pathological hatred for Israel. Riyadh is India's largest oil supplier, and during Modi's visit last year, it promised to invest generous amounts in India's infrastructure. So in the long run, the Saudis are unlikely to be greatly perturbed by Modi giving Netanyahu a hug or two.

And yet, you can trust Pakistan to use public and backdoor channels to turn not only Iran and Saudi Arabia but also the whole Muslim world against India. And Modi will need the best of his diplomatic and persuasive skills  of which he has proved he has plenty  to counter Pakistan's propaganda.

For one thing, Modi was careful not to cross the red line in Israel. In fact, the end-of-the-visit joint statement spoke little of the Palestine problem except to say that it needed a "negotiated settlement". It didn't make even an oblique reference to the two-State theory that India backs.

Modi can rightly argue, if he has to, that his visit to Israel had more to do with economics than politics. Besides, Modi made friends during his visits to UAE (August 2015), Saudi Arabia (April 2016), Iran (May 2016) and Qatar (June 2016). Important Arab nations are too busy with a host of other troubles to bother too much about Pakistan's campaigns and Khamenei's tweets on Palestine and Kashmir.

It takes a lot more than a visit by Narendra Modi to Israel for the Muslim nations to gang up against India. Pakistan must know that.
Beijing: Tibetan rights groups have criticised a United Nations cultural organisation's decision to extend world heritage status to an extensive plateau area in a heavily Tibetan area, saying it reinforces Chinese control in the region.

The groups argue the UNESCO designation will allow Chinese authorities to remove residents from the area, known as Hoh Xil in Qinghai province, and threaten its environment and nomadic culture.

"The (UNESCO) Committee ignored the reality that Tibetans, and nomads in particular, are stewards of the landscape whose role is essential to sustaining the wildlife," said Kai Mueller, executive director of the International Campaign for Tibet.

The area has an elevation of more than 4,500 metres and is home to several endemic species as well as the entire migratory route of the endangered Tibetan antelope.

The designation of protected areas does not give UNESCO any powers of enforcement, but has proved to be controversial in areas plagued by conflicting territorial claims.

On Friday, UNESCO also designated an ancient shrine in the occupied West Bank, revered by both Jews and Muslims, as a "Palestinian World Heritage Site in Danger", angering Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu who called the decision "delusional".

The Tibetan rights groups argue the UNESCO designation could accelerate Chinese efforts to move nomads into settled villages.

"UNESCO is supposed to uphold and safeguard the world's culture, but this shameful decision will do exactly the opposite and will ultimately assist China in denying Tibetans their fundamental rights," Pema Yoko, executive director of advocacy group Students for a Free Tibet, said in a statement.

At a United Nations forum in March, China was pressed by members to ease its clamp-down on Tibet, in a rare show of direct criticism from member countries. There are also large Tibetan communities in neighbouring provinces like Qinghai and Sichuan.

China's foreign ministry and UNESCO did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday.

China rejects criticism from rights groups and exiles who accuse it of trampling on the religious and cultural rights of the Tibetan people, saying its rule has brought prosperity to a once-backward region.

Chinese representatives argue the new UNESCO status is designed to help protect the area and will not impact traditional culture.

According to ICT, Chinese representatives on Friday circulated a statement saying they would "fully respect the will of the local herders and their traditional culture".

The latest decision brings China's total number of UNESCO world heritage sites to more than 50.
Washington: Nuclear and other energy providers have been advised by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that hackers may be trying to breach their computer systems.

DHS said in a statement on Friday that there is no threat to public safety. The agency said hackers appear to have tried to breach the business and administrative networks of the facilities. DHS did not identify the facilities.

DHS and the FBI routinely advise the private sector of possible cyber threats to help officials protect potentially vulnerable networks.

The statement came amid multiple news reports that nuclear and electrical power may have been targeted by hackers. Both Reuters and The New York Times have previously reported government warnings about the hacking efforts.

The Nuclear Energy Institute said last week that no nuclear reactors were affected. Had any facilities been impacted by a cyber attack, a publicly available report would have to be made to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Fears of hackers targeting United States infrastructure, particularly nuclear facilities, have long persisted.

David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer and director of the nuclear safety project at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the nuclear safety systems are generally out of the reach of hackers in analog systems. But business and administrative systems nonetheless contain valuable information about nuclear facilities, including maintenance schedules.

Lochbaum said hackers targeting such facilities are routinely looking for easy to access systems and information and try "to exploit (system weaknesses) and get as much information as possible."

Among the most serious immediate risks, beyond someone using hacked information as part of a larger physical attack, is someone targeting the offsite power grid and causing an economic disruption, Lochbaum said.
Washington: The United States plans to carry out a new test of its THAAD missile defence system against an intermediate-range ballistic missile in the coming days, two US officials told Reuters on Friday, as tensions with North Korea climb.

Despite being planned months ago, the US missile defence test will gain significance in the wake of North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on 4 July that has heightened concerns about the threat from Pyongyang.

The test will be the first of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) to defend against a simulated attack by an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), one of the officials said. The THAAD interceptors will be fired from Alaska.

The United States has THAAD interceptors in Guam that are meant to help guard against a missile attack from a country such as North Korea.

The officials who disclosed to Reuters the precise nature and timing of the upcoming test spoke on condition of anonymity.

Asked by Reuters, the US Missile Defence Agency (MDA) confirmed that it aimed to carry out a THAAD flight test "in early July."

Chris Johnson, an MDA spokesman, said the THAAD weapon system at the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska, would "detect, track and engage a target with a THAAD interceptor."

"The test is designated as Flight Test THAAD (FTT)-18," Johnson said. He did not elaborate.

Still, in recent testimony to Congress, Vice Admiral James Syring, then the director of the Missile Defence Agency, said FTT-18 would aim to demonstrate THAAD's ability to intercept a separating IRBM target.

MDA said THAAD had a 100 percent successful track record in its 13 flight tests since 2006. After previous tests, the US military has publicly disclosed the results.

South Korean Deployment

THAAD is a ground-based missile defence system designed to shoot down short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. Lockheed Martin Corp, the prime contractor for the THAAD system, said it has the ability to intercept incoming missiles both inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere.

This year's US deployment of THAAD in South Korea to guard against North Korea's shorter-range missiles has also drawn fierce criticism from China, which says the system's powerful radar can probe deep into its territory.

Earlier in July, Moscow and Beijing, in a joint statement, called on Washington to immediately halt deployment of THAAD in South Korea. The statement said Washington was using North Korea as a pretext to expand its military infrastructure in Asia and risked upsetting the strategic balance of power in the region.

THAAD's success rate in testing is far higher than the one for America's Ground-based Mid-course Defence system (GMD), the system specifically designed to shoot down an ICBM headed for the US mainland.

That GMD system has only a 55 percent success rate over the life of the program. But advocates note that the technology has improved dramatically in recent years. In a key development, the GMD system successfully shot down an incoming, simulated North Korean ICBM in a test in May. That led the Pentagon to upgrade its assessment of America's ability to defend against a small number of ICBMs, according to an internal memo.

MDA told Congress in June that it plans to deliver 52 more THAAD interceptors to the U.S. Army between October 2017 and September 2018, for a total of 210 since May 2011.

In a sign of US congressional concern about missile defence, several lawmakers filed amendments to a sweeping defence policy bill on Friday that addressed North Korea. Republican Representative Don Young, whose home state Alaska is seen as especially vulnerable to the North Korea threat, asked for more ground-based interceptors for his state, and a study of potential additional sites on the East Coast or Midwest.

Democratic Representatives John Conyers and Sheila Jackson Lee, along with Republican Walter Jones, filed an amendment to the annual National Defence Authorisation Act saying that nothing in the bill should be construed as authorising the use of force against North Korea.

The full House of Representatives is due to consider the bill, and its amendments, next week.
United States: The United States said on Friday it was reviewing ties with UNESCO after the UN cultural agency declared the Old City of Hebron to be Palestinian territory and a world heritage site.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley said the UNESCO decision was an "affront to history" and "further discredits an already highly questionable UN agency."

"Today's vote does no one any good and causes much harm," said Haley in a statement. The United States stopped funding the UN agency in 2011 after it admitted the Palestinians as a member-state, but it remains a member of UNESCO's 58-member executive board.

Haley said however that following the vote, "the United States is currently evaluating the appropriate level of its continued engagement at UNESCO."

Hebron, which is holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians, is the largest city in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank. It is home to more than 2,00,000 Palestinians and a few hundred Israeli settlers.

A committee of the UN's cultural arm voted 12 to three  with six abstentions  to give heritage status to Hebron's Old City.

The area includes the site known to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the vote as "another delusional decision" but the Palestinian foreign ministry said UNESCO had recognized the right to register "Hebron and the Ibrahimi Mosque under Palestinian sovereignty."
Seoul: US bombers carried out a rare live fire drill in South Korea on Saturday, flying close to the DMZ in a show of force after Pyongyang's latest missile test, the South's defence ministry said.

After the drill, the B-1B Lancers, deployed from the Anderson air base in Guam, flew close to the tense and heavily militarised land border with the North before turning back, the Yonhap news agency reported.

The exercise aimed to "sternly respond to the series of North Korea's ballistic missile launches," the South's military said in a statement.

Four US and South Korean jet fighters joined the live fire drill, which was conducted at a range in Yeongwol County, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the inter-Korean border, the military said.

The long-range heavy aircraft each dropped a 2,000-pound (907.1 kilos) laser-guided bunker-busting smart bomb.

The drill simulated the two US bombers destroying enemy ballistic missile batteries and South Korean jets mounting precision strikes against underground enemy command posts, it said.

"Through this drill, the South Korean and US air forces demonstrated strong determination to thoroughly punish the enemy for its provocative acts, and showed off their capability to pulverize enemy command posts," the statement said.

North Korea on Tuesday test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time, an apparent game-changer in its confrontation with Washington over its nuclear and missile programmes.

In response, US and South Korean soldiers fired ballistic missiles simultaneously in a drill Wednesday, simulating an attack on the North's leadership "as a strong message of warning," the South's military said at the time.

The US missile defense agency said Friday it would soon test an anti-ballistic missile system in Alaska, days after the North demonstrated its arsenal was capable of striking parts of Alaska with the ICBM test.
Washington: In a goof gone viral, Vice President Mike Pence touched something he should not have as he visited NASA headquarters, and his defence smacked of something his boss might do: blame somebody else.

Pence was at Cape Canaveral in Florida Thursday for a speech to employees and also took a tour.

At one point Pence was guided to piece of gear with a sign that identified it as "critical space flight hardware" and a warning in bright, red capital letters: do not touch.

Pence placed his left palm flat on it, anyway, as cameras clicked away. One of the people in the picture is Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

The rest is meme and tweet history.

Pence sent out a tweet Friday in which he said he was sorry  a blurb with a President Donald Trump-esque exclamation point at the end  and joked that he, Pence, was not really to blame for ignoring the sign, which his hand almost touches.

"Sorry @NASA ... @MarcoRubio dared me to do it!," Pence wrote.

NASA put out a tweet saying it was no big deal, that the hardware  a big piece of metal roughly the shape of a nuclear reactor cooling tower and part of a spacecraft-in-the-making called the Orion  needed to be cleaned, anyway.

And here is our statement on touching flight hardware. For more information about the @NASA_Orion spacecraft, visit: https://t.co/V2alO9n0Zk pic.twitter.com/maXQ8lri0O  NASA (@NASA) July 7, 2017

Pence put out another light-hearted tweet saying it was the not the first this happened: it featured his photo of NASA ignominy but with a porcupine  not the space gear  graced by his hand.

Okay...so this isn't exactly the first time this has happened. pic.twitter.com/6Y7b3UlJXe  Vice President Pence (@VP) July 7, 2017

Rubio also replied to the tweet saying, "In fairness, I warned @VP that you break it, you own it".

In fairness, I warned @VP that "you break it, you own it" https://t.co/X5ROcnDVCd  Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 7, 2017

Of course, the original photo went viral and many social media users were scathing in their criticism of Pence. Pence supporters said the former was making a big deal out of nothing.

"Good to know our vice president has the self-control of a sugar charged 3rd grader on a field trip," wrote someone with the handle @KentoTFH.

"Again administration blaming someone else," wrote @PatStevens2, referring to Pence's fingering of Rubio.

To wit, some of the things Trump has blamed others for: Barack Obama for not acting more forcefully against Russia's election meddling, which Trump has even not fully acknowledged; "the generals" who he said ordered a US raid in Yemen in February in which a US Navy SEAL was killed.

In the NASA flap, others recalled Pence's reputation as being famously straight-laced and conservative, to the point where he has said he would never dine alone with a woman who is not his wife.

"This is an example of why you don't eat with women, correct?," wrote @squidlace.
Hamburg: President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he expects Russian-US cooperation will improve under Donald Trump and that the American is "very different" in real life.

The comments came a day after the pair held talks in Hamburg, their first face-to-face encounter.

"The Trump that you see on TV is very different than the real Trump," Putin told reporters at the G20 Summit in Germany.

"He perfectly understands whom he is talking to and answers questions quickly. I think personal relations were established."

Putin said he was positive about repairing US-Russian relations, which plunged during the era of president Barack Obama.

"There is every reason to believe that we will be able to at least partially re-establish the level of cooperation that we need," Putin told a news conference.

"I very much hope (for an improvement in relations) and it seems to me that some basis for this has already been created," Putin said.

Putin said that in particular the US appeared to be less rigid on the war on Syria, where Moscow backs President Bashar al-Assad and Washington has sided with rebel groups.

"It seems to me that the US position (on Syria) has become more pragmatic. There is a comprehension that if we combine our efforts, we can achieve a lot," the Russian president said.

Russia and the US have agreed to a memorandum of understanding on creating a de-escalation zone in southwest Syria from midday Sunday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

Lavrov said the ceasefire set to begin on Sunday would be supervised by Russian military police "in coordination with the Jordanians and Americans".

Russian meddling in 2016 US elections

Regarding allegations that Russia meddled in the US presidential election in 2016, Putin said that Trump in their meeting had accepted the Russian's denials.

"Trump asked a lot of questions (on the issue) and I answered him. It seems to me that he acknowledged and accepted (the answers)," Putin said.

Trump has not spoken about the meeting other than to say earlier on Saturday that it was "tremendous".

According to US secretary of state Rex Tillerson, who was present in the two-and-a-quarter-hour meeting, Putin and Trump had a "very robust and lengthy exchange on the subject".

Asked as he was leaving the news conference if Trump had accepted Putin's denials, Tillerson did not answer, noting only that the two leaders "connected very quickly" and there was a "very clear positive chemistry between the two".

"There are so many issues on the table... Just about everything got touched upon... Neither one of them wanted to stop," he said.

"I believe they even sent in the (US) First Lady at one point to see if she could get us out of there, but that didn't work either... We did another hour. Clearly she failed."

Trump's wife Melania sat next to Putin at Friday's G20 Summit gala dinner, and photos gave the impression that the two appeared to hit it off.
Hamburg: Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart Donald Trump that Moscow did not meddle in the US presidential election and Trump accepted it, claimed Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.

After the two leaders emerged from a meeting in Hamburg on Friday, on the sidelines of G20 summit, that lasted over two hours - at one point, First Lady Melania Trump entered the room to hurry them along - US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump had raised the issue of Moscow's alleged cyber-meddling in the election at the start of their conversation, the Independent reported.

He said the US had talked about such attacks represented a "threat to the democratic process". An official from the White House, however, later indicated that the President (Trump) had not in fact accepted assurances from Putin that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 election.

"The President opened the meeting raising the concerns of the American people about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election," said Tillerson. "They had a very lengthy and robust conversation on this."

He said Trump pushed him on the issue and Putin stood firm in his denial.

"I think the President is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point," Tillerson said.

In his own briefing to reporters, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Trump accepted Putin's assurances that Russia did not meddle in the election.

"The (issue of cybersecurity) got a lot of attention, which is understandable," Lavrov said. "President Trump mentioned that in the US, some circles are fuelling - even though they cannot prove (anything - the allegations of Russian meddling in the US elections)."

When pressed, Lavrov said that Trump or Tillerson would likely provide further information to the press.

"In the course of the months that these allegations have been around, not a single fact has been presented, which is admitted by those in the (US) Congress who have led this movement at some point," Lavrov said. "And President Trump said that he heard President Putin stating clearly that it is not true, that the Russian government did not meddle" in the elections."

Trump left the scene of his conversation with Putin, to head to Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie, a concert that is the venue for a formal G20 dinner. He was accompanied by the First Lady Melania Trump.

Earlier, the US President had spoken to reporters as he and Putin posed for photographs before their discussions, accompanied only by their translators, Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it's going very well," said Trump. "We look forward to a lot of very positive happenings for Russia and for the United States, and for everyone concerned."

For his part, Putin said he was happy to be able to meet Trump in person.

"We spoke over the phone but phone conversations are never enough, definitely," he said. "I hope that, as you have said, our meetings will yield positive results."

The two leaders discussed a range of issues, including Russia's annexation of Crimea, a reported agreement for a cease fire in Syria, and ways to cooperate in the fight against terrorism in the world

"This is our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together in Syria," Tillerson said of the ceasefire in Syria, which was described as a potential building block to further cooperation in the war-torn country. Trump and Putin had a "lengthy discussion of other areas in Syria where we can work together".

Before the meeting between the two presidents, observers were keen to see how they would interact in person.

The two countries haven't had the greatest relationship so far in Trump's nascent presidency, and the White House has at times described the relationship with the Kremlin as at all-time lows.

The relationship became exacerbated in April when Trump ordered a missile strike on a Syrian government airbase in April to the chagrin of the Russian military.

The Russian government officially supports the embattled Syrian regime headed by Bashar al-Assad, while the US government has called for that president's ouster.

The 2017 G20 summit is the 12 meeting of the Group of Twenty, which is an assembly of some of the most powerful countries, as well as the European Union.
Sony already confirmed that it will release two flagship phones in 2017 and kill its premium standard models. Details about mid-range Sony G34XX and flagship Sony G83XX started surfacing recently. Earlier this week Sony G8441 surfaced on AnTuTu benchmark listing revealing some of specifications.

According to the listing, the Sony G8441 will be powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform, similar to the Xperia XZ Premium that was launched recently. It is expected to come with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, but it might also come in 64GB version. It also confirms Android 8.0 O that was revealed by UA Profile earlier.

Even though this shows 720p screen for the phone, UAProf revealed 1080p display for the smartphone. 8MP front and rear cameras revealed in the benchmark are also likely to be wrong.

We should know more details about the smartphone soon.

Source 1, 2
The mounting tensions with North Korea are raising concerns for the region and for leaders around the world including President Trump. But despite the concerns, investors such as Templeton Emerging Markets Executive Chairman Mark Mobius still have a stake in countries such as China and South Korea, telling the FOX Business Networks Maria Bartiromo, Its definitely a concern, theres no question about it. Because anything happening in North Korea will affect everybody and everywhere in the world in one way or the other. But we do have a lot of investments in South Korea and weve been living with this situation for a long, long time.

In general, Mobius sees a lot of opportunity for investors in emerging markets now.

You must remember, the three years before the beginning of last year, 2016, we had underperformance because the U.S. market was so strong, but Mobius says, Since the beginning of last year, then were beginning to see outperformance.

Mobius says he invested in China for a long time through Hong Kong, but there is a shift in Chinas policy is impacting foreign investors.

Now the Chinese are beginning to open up the A-share market, which was prohibited for foreigners for quite long time. And that means we can get into the small and medium-sized companies.

Mobius sees this as a great opportunity for foreign investors, saying, Now, China is going to become much more important going forward.

When Bartiromo asked if the increased aggression from North Korea was raising concerns about investing in South Korea, Mobius responded, Its worrying, but you also have to remember that the companies that were investing in in Korea are global in nature, many of them, companies like Samsung are really not Korean companies alone, theyre global, LG is global.

On the other hand, Mobius warned, Of course if there is a war all bets are off, but I dont see that happening anytime soon.
Two years ago, I critiqued Raytheon's (NYSE: RTN) decision to more than triple the size of its cybersecurity business -- at a very high price -- by buying Websense. Two years later, it looks as if Raytheon itself may be starting to rethink its move.

As Reuters reports, barely two years after completing its purchase of Websense and merging it with Raytheon's in-house cybersecurity division to create Forcepoint, Raytheon is already beginning to mull spinning off the division -- and getting out of the cybersecurity business entirely.

How Raytheon got into cybersecurity

This story begins back in 2015, when Raytheon agreed to acquire 80% of privately held cybersecurity company Websense for $1.6 billion. It was a complicated transaction, involving an intra-company loan and leaving part of the acquired company in the control of a private-equity firm. But the gist of the deal, as I wrote at the time, was this:

At the time, Raytheon's own stock cost only 1.5 times sales and 15 times earnings. Paying nearly three times its own price-to-sales ratio, therefore, and nearly five times its price-to-earnings ratio, just to get bigger and faster in cybersecurity, seemed like a risky play for Raytheon. This was especially true, I thought, with the memory still fresh of General Dynamics' recent 2013 writedown of $2 billion in negated goodwill -- a writedown that was brought about by similarly ill-considered IT acquisitions. That fiasco cost one General Dynamics executive his job and caused the company to shake up its executive ranks to prevent a recurrence.

That Raytheon would risk a similar venture into IT, so soon after General Dynamics had gotten itself burned, seemed to be tempting fate. But how has it played out in fact?

Why Raytheon may want to get out of cybersecurity

Data from S&P Global Market Intelligence shows that, before acquiring Websense, Raytheon's cyber division was doing a bit more than $100 million a year in annual revenue. Immediately after closing the acquisition in May 2015, and integrating Websense into its new Forcepoint cyber division, Raytheon's cyber revenue jumped past $100 million every quarter. So if all Raytheon hoped to accomplish by acquiring Forcepoint was to get big in cybersecurity, well -- mission accomplished.

Profits, however, were another matter. In its first full year of owning Forcepoint, 2016, Raytheon collected $566 million worth of Forcepoint revenue and reported operating profits of $51 million from the division. So the business remained profitable -- but profit margin contracted even as Raytheon grew its Forcepoint revenue significantly.

It's also noteworthy that the 9% operating profit margin at Forcepoint, although not a bad margin in and of itself, falls far short of the 14.3% profit margin for Raytheon as a whole. Given that Forcepoint is about one-third less profitable than the rest of Raytheon, it's even less clear why the company agreed to pay a price-to-sales ratio nearly three times richer than Raytheon's own, and a P/E ratio nearly five times Raytheon's own, to acquire this inferior business.

Buy the rumor, sell the Raytheon news

Raytheon management may now be coming to the same conclusion. Citing an interview with German business newspaper Boersen-Zeitung, Reuters reports that Forcepoint CEO Matthew Moynahan has been talking up the subsidiary he runs, saying Forcepoint "could thrive were it to be listed separately," in Reuters' words.

Moynahan was quick to disclaim that Raytheon is contemplating such a spinoff at this time. But his comment still has the feel of a trial balloon, being floated in hopes of attracting interest from potential acquirers. The timing of the remark also seems propitious, coming as it does just weeks after a global WannaCry ransomware cyberattack grabbed headlines around the world, and in the midst of the similar Petya ransomware that struck Russia, Ukraine, and Western Europe last week.

If Raytheon really is looking to get rid of its underperforming Forcepoint unit, I can't think of a better time to do that than now.

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Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate want to change the way in which Medicaid is funded -- the result being a huge reduction in the amount of money the federal government provides to states to insure Medicaid recipients. The problem for these Republican legislators is that Medicaid is an enormously popular program and is the most widely used benefits program in the United States.

Slashing Medicaid spending would almost certainly result in cuts to benefits that Americans depend on. Unsurprisingly, most Americans aren't very excited about this prospect.

A close look at who benefits from Medicaid, and how their benefits could be cut, shows why the majority of Americans -- in all political parties -- don't want Medicaid funding to be reduced.

Trumpcare would cut Medicaid by billions

Both the House and Senate versions of Trumpcare would cut Medicaid -- the House bill by $834 billion through 2026 and the Senate bill by $772 billion -- according to the Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan federal agency that evaluates the impact of legislation.

Cuts would come from rolling back Obamacare's Medicaid expansion, which allowed families with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level to qualify for benefits. The proposed bills would also change the way Medicaid funding works. Under Trumpcare, the federal government would provide a capped amount of funding for each enrollee, as determined by a specified growth rate formula, rather than providing funding based on the actual costs of covering Medicaid beneficiaries, as the current system does.

The public doesn't want these cuts

Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a poll of 1,205 adults after the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of Trumpcare, the American Health Care Act, with its proposed cuts to Medicaid. When asked about their support for reducing Medicaid funding, 71% of Americans surveyed -- including 90% of Democrats, 70% of independents, and 47% of Republicans -- indicated they wanted funding to continue as it is under the current system. Just 26% supported new limits to federal funding.

When asked whether the federal government should continue to provide federal funding for expanded Medicaid, 84% of respondents said it was important that the states that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare continue to receive federal funds under any replacement plan. This included 93% of Democrats, 83% of Independents, and 71% of Republicans. Even people in states that did not expand Medicaid supported the federal government's continuing to provide funds for expansion states.

While this support may seem surprising, especially among Republicans, Medicaid is a popular program because so many Americans personally benefit from it: 58% of Americans -- including 64% of Democrats, 57% of independents, and 46% of Republicans -- said Medicaid is either very or somewhat important to their families.

Cuts are unpopular because Medicaid is widely used

During the course of 2015, Medicaid provided coverage for 97 million Americans at some point throughout the year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Little wonder that more than half of Americans indicate that someone in their household relies on Medicaid.

Medicaid pays 40% of total costs for long-term care services in the United States. It also covers more than 60% of all births in some states, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Mexico. Medicaid and other public insurance policies also cover 44% of disabled children throughout the United States, and Medicaid is the sole source of health coverage for more than one-third of children with disabilities and special health needs.

With so many Americans relying on Medicaid, support for keeping the Medicaid expansions should come as no surprise. The only remaining question is whether lawmakers will listen to calls to preserve Medicaid expansions or eliminate them along with a host of other Obamacare provisions.

The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $16,122 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies.

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Bordered by a turbulent Pakistan and a resurgent China, India doesn't live in the quietest of neighborhoods. And like many folks who live in a rough neighborhood, India thinks it might rest a bit better at night if it were a bit better armed.

This is good news for two of America's biggest defense companies, Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and General Atomics, both of which stand to benefit from a recent spate of weapons buying by the Indian military. Let's quickly sketch out the developments for you, and then I'll explain what it means to investors.

Lockheed Martin's F-16 finds a new home

For decades, Fort Worth, Texas, has been the home of the F-16 Falcon fighter jet. While the F-16 remains the world's most popular jet fighter, Lockheed has been gradually moving to phase it out in favor of the new fifth-generation F-35 -- also built in Fort Worth.

It turns out, though, that the end of F-16 production in Texas may not mean the end of F-16 production, period. Last week, Lockheed confirmed that, if India is amenable, Lockheed would be willing to move F-16 production to India. The company would continue to build F-16s there in cooperation with privately held Indian industrial giant Tata. This would make India the new home of the F-16 and "the manufacturing and export base for all F-16s worldwide," says CNN.

Now, it's not 100% certain that this is how things will play out. India has been trying to upgrade its fighter jet fleet for years. This could mean a $12 billion payday for whoever gets to sell India its new fighters, but so far, the results has been suboptimal. A deal to buy 150 Rafale fighters from France's Dassault, for example, was cut short last year in a dispute over price. Currently, India is weighing switching out Dassault as its preferred provider, and hiring Lockheed or Sweden's Saab (offering its Gripen fighter) instead -- and there's still a chance that Saab will win the day.

If Lockheed does prevail, though, F-16 production, and the F-16 itself, could get a new lease on life.

Who needs piloted fighter jets, anyway?

At the same time that India is preparing to spend billions of dollars on fourth-generation piloted fighter jets based on 1970s technology, the country is also taking a step into the 21st century and seeking to spend billions of dollars more on unmanned drone aircraft from General Atomics.

Four days after news of the F-16 deal broke, Reuters reported that the Trump administration has agreed to sell India 22 SeaGuardian surveillance drones. Of course, the State Department must still sign off on the sale, and Congress must be "notified" by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) before the sale can proceed -- no such notification has been made yet. That said, once notification has been made, this sale, worth $2 billion to General Atomics, is all but guaranteed to be approved. There has never been an instance in which Congress has rejected a foreign arms sale after receiving notification of it from DSCA.

A variant of General Atomics' famous Predator drone, SeaGuardian is specially designed for naval missions, featuring "multimode maritime surface search radar" and an "automatic information system." The drone can fly for as long as 40 hours continuously at speeds up to 210 knots and altitudes in excess of 40,000 feet above sea level. Per drone, the Indian contract works out to a sales price of roughly $90.9 million each.

Although it's designed as a surveillance aircraft -- and that's the configuration in which India would be buying it -- it's worth noting that there have been cases in the past in which unarmed drones, sold to U.S. foreign allies, were later weaponized with the addition of precision munitions. In particular, in 2015, DSCA notified Congress of a pending sale of some $130 million worth of Hellfire missiles, laser guided bombs, and Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) needed to weaponize its squadron of six General Atomics MQ-9 Reapers.

So while the instant sale of SeaGuardians to India is being characterized as "unarmed," it's entirely possible that these drones will eventually be armed, which will create an even bigger revenue stream for the companies doing the arming.

10 stocks we like better than Lockheed MartinWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said it may take time to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions, but expressed confidence that Washington and Beijing could eventually do so.

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Trump for a meeting just after the G20 summit concluded. Trump has urged Xi to use China's economic leverage to pressure Pyongyang.

While Trump has expressed some impatience on the issue after North Korea's latest missile test, he showed no signs of it on Saturday.

"I appreciate the things that you have done relative to the very substantial problem that we all face in North Korea, a problem that something has to be done about," Trump told Xi.

"It may take longer than I'd like, it may take longer than you'd like," Trump said. "But there will be success in the end one way or the other."

Pyongyang last week launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that some experts believe could have the range to reach Alaska, Hawaii and perhaps the U.S. Pacific Northwest. North Korea said it could carry a large nuclear warhead.

Trump campaigned on cracking down on China for its trade practices, but he softened his tone after taking office, saying he wanted to work with China on the nuclear issue.

Trump hosted Xi at his Florida resort in April for a summit, and the leaders agreed to try to quickly ease some trade irritants within 100 days. He told Xi on Saturday that it was an "honor to have gotten to know you" and said the two leaders had "developed a wonderful relationship."

Translation for Xi's remarks was not immediately available.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Shia LaBeouf is in trouble again.

The actor was arrested for public drunkenness, disorderly conduct and obstruction early Saturday in Georgia, according to TMZ and is reportedly still in custody.

The troubled star was recently filming his new film "The Peanut Butter Falcon" in Savannah and a few weeks ago was reportedly spotting urinating in the ocean on Tybee Island in Georgia.

Sadly this is not the first time the "Transformers" star has run afoul of the law.

A few months ago he was arrested in New York after shoving a man at an anti-President Trump "He Will Not Divide Us" display at the Museum of the Moving Image.

In 2015 he was arrested in Austin, Texas for public intoxication and in March of that year he had a drunken outburst at a New York performance of "Cabaret" where he shouted and slapped star Alan Cumming's behind.

The former Disney star tussled with security and police and was accused of spitting at police as they took him into custody.
Jason Calacanis is a recognized voice in Silicon Valley. Besides being a successful entrepreneur and host of the very popular This Week in Startups, hes one of the worlds most famous angel investors.

And in his new book, Angel (available July 16) he says Silicon Valley is the only place to be if you want to be a top founder or investor.

Now, Mr. Calacanis certainly knows his stuff when it comes to making successful investments in unheard-of tech companies. Most notably he invested $25,000 in Uber when it was only worth $5 million. This was back in 2010, when Uber was only operating in one city, and only had a couple of Lincoln Town Cars. Today its worth around $70 billion in the private markets.

In Silicon-valley lore, that puts Mr. Calacanis up there with other investors who bet early and right. Two of the most famous are Andy Bechtolsheim ($100,000 in Google before it was incorporated; in 2010 it was worth $1.7 billion), and Peter Thiel ($500,000 as the first outside investment in Facebook at a $5 million valuation in 2004; he sold the majority of his shares in 2014 for more than $1 billion).

Often lost when looking at the success of companies like Facebook, Uber, and AirBnB  and the millions of dollars made by those early investors  is how many people scoffed at the ideas at the time. Seriously, you think people are going to put their personal pictures and information online? Going to get into a strangers car? Stay on a strangers couch?

Thats precisely why early-stage investors are known as angel investors, as Mr. Calacanis writes in his book: Because theyre willing to come to a founder's rescue in their hour of need - when nobody else believes in them. Angel investing is like buying a lottery ticket, he says, but unlike the normal schmucks on the street, I get to buy tickets that are in the top 1 percent of the winning pool.

The book is an engaging read, and founders across the country will hope it inspires more people to become angel investors. But where theyll rightly take issue is his insistence that the best founders and angel investors need to move to Silicon Valley. While there are dozens of great angel investors in the second-tier cities, he writes, there are more than a thousand in the Valley.

While Silicon Valley may the leader in tech investing right now  30 percent of all venture capital money being invested in the U.S. is in the Bay Area  it certainly doesnt have a monopoly on the countrys brains or money. And as people increasingly see the riches that can be made in tech, the talent and cash will follow.

Just last month PetSmart made the biggest e-commerce acquisition in history, buying the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Chewy.com for $3.35 billion. In my town of Baltimore there have been success stories from Bill Me Later (my co-founder, Mike Kott, was part of that team that was bought by PayPal for nearly $1 billion) to fitness giant UnderArmour.

Indeed from Denver to D.C. there are exciting startups and tech ecosystems growing. D.C.-based AOL founder Steve Case (now of the venture capital firm Revolution) calls this the rise of the rest. He tours the country and visits five cities in five days, investing a total of $500,000 personally in local startups. Some of the top angels Mr. Calacanis references are outside Silicon Valley, like Mark Cuban (Dallas) and Esther Dyson (NY).

An important lesson in tech investing, as Mr. Calacanis advises readers, is that first doesnt always win. Google was the 12th search engine; Facebook the 10th social network. Cities neednt be any different. And because its harder to raise funds and build companies outside of Silicon Valley, those founders are more battle-hardened for future challenges (and investors can get better deals for their money).

These sound like opportunities ripe for savvy angel investors like Mr. Calacanis. But theyre not in Silicon Valley. Then again, might it be unwise to scoff at an idea as crazy as investing in companies in other parts of the country?

I mean, whod want to get into a strangers car or sleep on a strangers couch? Crazy, right?
It was a bad week for journalists. Many in the traditional media felt besieged -- especially those who work for a place called CNN -- targeted for scorn by conservatives and for investigation even by their fellow journalists.

1. This Is CNN: This week was extra special for CNN as the network continued its crusade against the president. First, its staffers whined about Trump posting a pro wrestling video modified so Trump appeared to be fighting CNN. His opponents head had been humorously replaced with a CNN logo. And then the network targeted the anonymous poster who created the meme.

Thats where things got sticky. CNNs article made it clear they werent publishing the name of the meme creator because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology. The network added that he showed his remorse and said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again.

Then came the kicker. The article added: CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change. In other words, as long he acts in ways CNN approves of, the network wont reveal who he is and wreck his life. The term #CNNBlackmail trended on Twitter soon afterward as liberals and conservatives alike abused the network.

Andrew Kaczynski, who wrote the piece, has defended it, saying, This line is being misinterpreted. But CNNs Chris Cuomo even tweeted out the idea of outing the man with the question: Should CNN reveal name of Reddit user who made trump wrestling video? Had a lot of bigoted and hateful material on page and website.

The resulting chaos turned much of the internet against CNN. Being biased is one thing. Threatening online anonymity another. That led to even The New York Times trying to explain how such online battles evolve. Remarkably, the CNN episode has managed to unite the notoriously fractious right-wing meme community under a common cause. Posters have revealed home addresses and more from several CNN staffers in response and have claimed they will keep fighting.

The network probably wishes the whole thing would just go away. The online community isnt likely to let that happen.

2. What a trip  or stumble? The Washington Post did an examination of the trip of a lifetime -- a $135,000, 26-day, nine-country expedition. Only one rub: Those who make the journey will be accompanied on various legs by journalists from the New York Times. Its being organized and promoted by the paper. The issue isnt just the access to Times journalists. Its the six-figure price tag. The Times likes to pretend its not a publication for Americas liberal elite and then it organizes a junket for the rich and richer that could gross as much as $6.7 million.

Some Times staff probably want to distance themselves from the expedition. Its an embarrassment to have your No. 1 competitor point it out.

3. Life is precious only when journalists are forced to pay attention: The case of 11-month-old Charlie Gard is every parents nightmare. The child has a rare genetic condition that has damaged his brain and left him unable to breathe without assistance, according to Fox News. British authorities have refused to follow the parents wishes to let them transport him to the United States for experimental treatments. They didnt just give him a death sentence. They said they get to decide what happens, not his parents. ABC, CBS and NBC didnt care about the story, though American conservatives were up in arms about it. None of the three networks mentioned the case. Then a funny thing happened, the Media-Critic-in-Chief tweeted about it. Trump changed the medias mind with a mere two dozen words: If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so, he tweeted. The impact was instantaneous. All three broadcast networks covered the story that night. Just as Trump shamed the media into covering the March for Life, he once more forced uncaring journalists to care about pro-life issues. The result was amazing -- at least a half dozen mentions of the story. As CBS Evening News anchor Elaine Quijano explained, President Trump and Pope Francis are offering to help a terminally-ill baby in Britain. When journalists wonder why pro-lifers backed Trump in the election, they can point to stories like this.

4. New York Times delivers fake news: Some of the best things about the internet are the humorous takes -- The Onion, Babylon Bee and Duffel Blog on the web -- and countless Twitter accounts. One of the most awesome is DPRK News Service, which earned a new honor this week. It was so ridiculous that it fooled The New York Times, where people forgot how to smile in about 1946. Seven people contributed to a story headlined: U.S. Confirms North Korea Fired Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The article clearly shows that North Koreas combined nuclear weapons and missile technology have all the ingredients for a global crisis. Yet somehow the Times managed to quote a tweet from one of the most well-known Twitter humor accounts. DPRK posted a video of a rocket firing with the caption: Imbecilic Americans drunkenly fire missiles into East Sea of Korea, demonstrating near total ignorance of ballistic science. That led to a hilarious correction, which read in part: The North Korean government did not belittle a joint American-South Korean military exercise as demonstrating near total ignorance of ballistic science, that statement was from the DPRK News Service, a parody Twitter account. Maybe the Times shouldnt be laying off all those copy editors after all.

5. Lets Put On A Show! Nothing angers the traditional press more than President Trump tweeting. Its a double whammy. So-called neutral journalists almost always hate what he says. But more, they loathe that he says it directly to the American public. Washington pressers (and press) become less important and reporters get cut out of the equation. Journalists have protested this every way they can think of from mocking the tweets to making a scene during the press briefings. Now The Washington Post (D-Amazon) has a new tactic -- a childrens choir singing Trumps tweets. It wasnt enough for Post editor Marty Baron to turn every section into an endless rant against the president -- news, sports, style, even religion. To further befoul the papers reputation, he now uses a video of kids to underscore just how much he and owner Jeff Bezos hate Trump. The move was so juvenile that The Hills Jonathan Easley said that it, seems needlessly antagonistic and a dumb move right now. Its like Baron and Bezos want to turn the Post into a version of Saturday Night Live without the humor. On second thought, thats exactly what SNL has become. And the Post is working hard to be just like them.

Cant wait to see what next week brings!
An Omaha man has been arrested by the FBI on suspicion of making threats against Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, including that he "could kill" her.

Federal court records show Robert William Simet, 64, was arrested Friday in Omaha and charged with threatening a U.S. official.

"The safety of our elected officials is something that cannot be taken lightly," FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Randall Thysse said in a statement. "We appreciate those people who reported this to the proper authorities and for the response from our partners at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa for their swift action on this matter."

An arrest affidavit says employees of a Pacific Junction, Iowa, motorcycle shop told an FBI agent that Simet had been there Wednesday and made several statements about Ernst, including his belief that she was a member of the Islamic State.

Simet said he knew Ernst was scheduled to speak Saturday at an event at the motorcycle business. Simet is accused of telling an employee he "could kill" Ernst at the event, and told another employee that "everyone in the government needs to be killed off."

Simet is in custody and will be transported to Council Bluffs for an initial appearance in the Southern District of Iowa on Tuesday.

Ernst's office referred questions to U.S. Capitol Police, which said Friday it does not comment on ongoing investigations.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Russia President Vladimir Putin repeated his assertion Saturday that his government didnt meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, then joked about a reporters complaint that White House officials are providing no information about that topic of discussion when he met with President Trump on Friday.

We are going to punish them very strictly, very severely, Putin said at a press conference concluding the G20 summit of world leaders this weekend in Hamburg, Germany.

U.S. intelligence officials have said Russia meddled in the White House race in which Trump upset Democrat Hillary Clinton. The president appears to remain skeptical, as several investigations continue into the purported meddling and into whether Trump campaign officials colluded with Russia.

The entire ordeal has elected U.S. officials and others vowing to punish Russia for meddling.

After the Trump-Putin meeting, their first face-to-face talk, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said: The president pushed Putin on multiple occasions. Putin denied involvement, as I believe he has done in the past.

Putin on Saturday also told reporters: You should ask (Trump) how it went? We did not intervene.

He also said Trump asked questions, was genuinely interested in a number of details and that he answered Trump in detail.

Putin also said he understands there was talk with former President Barack Obama about purported meddling but that he was certainly not going to reveal the details of such conversations because that's not part of presidential protocol.

I think it would be very incorrect of me to reveal details about my conversations with President Trump in the same way, he also said. He asked me questions, I answered, I clarified. And I think he was satisfied with my answers.
President Trump is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese Presient Xi Jinping Saturday morning at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, where the topic will be trade and North Korea, senior administration officials told Fox News.

Trump is expected to be direct with Xi on Pyongyangs nuclear threat, an official said. On trade, Trump is expected to, again, push Xi to level the playing field between the U.S. and China and reduce the US trade deficit with Beijing.

Trump will be joined by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, national security adviser H.R. McMaster, National Economic Council director Gary Cohn, adviser Jared Kushner and the head of the U.S. National Security Council in Asia, Matt Pottinger.

A Pentagon spokesman says the long-range missile that North Korea test-launched Tuesday was a type not previously seen by U.S. analysts.

Following North Korea's missile launch, Trump expressed frustration with China over its expanding trade with North Korea. Trump had expressed optimism after his first meeting with China's president that the two would work together to curb North Korea's nuclear pursuits.

The president tweeted Wednesday, "Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!"

China has long resisted intensifying economic pressure on neighboring North Korea, in part out of fear of the instability that could mount on its doorstep, including the possibility of millions of North Koreans fleeing into China. China has also been concerned that a reunited, democratic Korea  dominated by South Korea  would put a U.S. ally, and possibly U.S. forces, on its border.

Tillerson, in a statement late Tuesday released as most Americans were celebrating the Fourth of July holiday, vowed stronger measures to hold the North accountable, and said: Global action is required to stop a global threat. He said any country helping North Korea militarily or economically, taking in its guest workers or falling short on Security Council resolutions is aiding and abetting a dangerous regime.

Notably, Tillersons statement did not mention China.

Fox News' John Roberts and The Associated Press contributed to this report
President Trump said he and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in their one-on-one meeting in Germany on Saturday agreed that North Korea is a menace and that the two leaders made a lot of progress on trade.

Trump and Abe met in Hamburg, Germany, during the G20 summit, an annual meeting of world leaders that focuses on international trade and finance.

"The prime minister is, I will say this, very, very focused on what is going on with respect to North Korea," Trump said at the end of their closed-door meeting.

Trump met later in the day with Chinese President Xi Jinping. They also talked about trade and North Korea's nuclear threat.

Abe through a translator thanked "Donald" for organizing the trilateral summit Thursday with Japan, the United States and South Korea and said the threat from North Korea "has become increasingly severe."

The rogue nation continues to try to develop a nuclear warhead and test missiles that could carry the weapon into other countries including the U.S.

Abe also said he hoped that he and Trump could "demonstrate a robust partnership" in the face of the threat.
President Trump, at the start of his meeting Saturday in Germany with Chinese President Xi Jinping, called the Asian nation a great trading partner and said the increasing North Korea nuclear threat will eventually be resolved one way or the other.

The much-anticipated meeting was one of several Trump and top administration officials had Saturday with world leaders at the close of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. But it was considered perhaps the most critical.

China is North Koreas largest trading partner, which gives the country considerable influence over Pyongyang and its growing threat, which includes developing a nuclear warhead and launching long-range missiles to transport them.

NORTH KOREA FIRES BALLISTIC MISSILE

Trump told Xi that putting an end to North Koreas nuclear missile testing may take longer than I'd like, it may take longer that you'd like. But there will be success in the end one way or the other."

Something has to be done, the president also said.

Xi also spoke briefly, but his comments in Chinese were not immediately translated and available.

Saturday's meeting also focused on trade between the two nations.

Trump said many things have happened that have created trade imbalances between the United States and China but were going to turn that around.

The president was flanked in the meeting room by about a dozen top administration officials including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and adviser Jared Kushner.

The meeting followed a long-range missile test launch by North Korea on Tuesday, which a Pentagon spokesman said was a type not previously seen by U.S. analysts.

Following the missile launch, Trump expressed frustration with China over its expanding trade with North Korea. Trump had expressed optimism after his first meeting with China's president that the two would work together to curb North Korea's nuclear pursuits.

The president tweeted Wednesday, "Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!"

China has long resisted intensifying economic pressure on neighboring North Korea, in part out of fear of the instability that could mount on its doorstep, including the possibility of millions of North Koreans fleeing into China. China has also been concerned that a reunited, democratic Korea -- dominated by South Korea -- would put a U.S. ally, and possibly U.S. forces, on its border.

Tillerson on Tuesday vowed stronger measures to hold North Korea accountable.

Global action is required to stop a global threat, he said.

Tillerson also said any country helping North Korea militarily or economically, taking in its guest workers or falling short on Security Council resolutions is aiding and abetting a dangerous regime.

However, his statement did not specifically mention China.

Fox News' John Roberts and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Seven members of the environmental organization Greenpeace are in custody after unfurling an anti-Trump banner at Chicago's Trump Tower.

Activists raised a "Resist and Defend" message on the south side of the Trump International Hotel & Tower.

According to a message on the official Greenpeace Facebook page, the banner was displayed to "show this administration that the people of Chicago - and people all over the country - will continue to RESIST Trump's attack on our clean air and water, and defend our communities and the planet."

Five females and two males from the group were arrested, according to the Chicago Police.

Click here for more from Fox 32 Chicago.
The city of Dallas honored the five police officers who were murdered last year by unveiling the Dallas Circle of Heroes Memorial on Friday, a stone monument detailing the sacrifice of each fallen officer.

The officers -- Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael Smith, Patrick Zamarripa and Brent Thompson -- were all targeted in an attack on law enforcement during a peaceful demonstration against police brutality on July 7, 2016.

FATHER OF OFFICER GUNNED DOWN IN DALLAS SNIPER ATTACK SUES BLACK LIVES MATTER

When the attacker, 25-year-old Micah Johnson, opened fire on the police officers, demonstrators ran for cover, while the officers protected them and ran toward the ambush. Johnson was later killed after a standoff with police.

Several ceremonies were held Friday to honor the law enforcement officers, including a prayer service to start the memorial services.

Kristy Zamarripa, who lost her husband Patrick, told CBS Dallas-Fort Worth that the citys memorial was beautiful.

Beautiful ceremony, beautiful stones, beautiful wording, she said. Its hard to believe its almost been a year.

The Circle of Heroes Memorial includes five stones with the names of the fallen officers listed on engraved plaques. The monument stands in a circle, off the Trinity Stand Trail in Dallas Design District, CBS DFW reported.

DALLAS SHOOTING VICTIM WANTS TO BRIDGE GAP OVER GUN VIOLENCE A YEAR LATER

The developer of the memorial, Jim Lakes, told CBS that it was his business partner, Mike Morgan, who came up with the idea for the memorial last year.

I said its time some of us stood up and showed our guys in blue how much we love them and how much everyday they go out and service their cities, Morgan said.

DART Police Chief James Spiller told the crowd, We struggle some days to work through our emotions and still ask why. But we continue because we know thats what our fallen brothers and friends and their families expect us to do.
A wine bottle broken on his head did not faze a man who lunged for an exit door and fought with other passengers on an international Delta Air Lines flight to Beijing, the FBI said.

Authorities said Joseph Daniel Hudek IV, 23, of Tampa, Florida forced a Seattle to Beijing flight to return to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Thursday when he tried to open an exit door before getting into a scuffle with flight attendants and other passengers.

PLANE RETURNS TO SEATTLE AFTER ASSAULT ON FLIGHT ATTENDANT

FBI special agent Caryn Highley said in a probable cause statement on Friday that during the disturbance, Hudek punched one flight attendant twice in the face and struck at least one passenger in the head with a red dessert wine bottle. As the struggle continued, a flight attendant grabbed two wine bottles and hit Hudek over the head with each  breaking at least one of them.

According to one flight attendant, "Hudek did not seem impacted by the breaking of a full liter red wine bottle over his head, and instead shouted, 'Do you know who I am?' or something to that extent," the complaint said.

Eventually several passengers were able to hold Hudek down long enough to place zip-tie restraints on him, Highley wrote.

Hudek, who appeared in U.S. District Court on Friday, wearing a beige jail uniform and sporting a scrape or bruise below his right eye, was charged with interfering with a flight crew, which carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He is expected to remain in custody at least until a detention hearing on July 13.

He did not speak during the hearing. His attorney, Robert Flennaugh II, declined to comment.

One flight attendant and a passenger were taken to a hospital after suffering severe facial injuries, authorities said. Perry Cooper, a spokesman for the Port of Seattle, described the injuries as non-life-threatening.

Highley said Hudek was sitting in the first row of the Boeing 767's first-class section. He asked a flight attendant for a beer before takeoff, and was served one, but he exhibited no sign of being intoxicated and ordered no other alcoholic drinks, the attendant told authorities.

About an hour into the flight, while the plane was over the Pacific Ocean northwest of Vancouver Island, Hudek went into the forward restroom. He came out quickly, asked the attendant a question, and went back in, the agent wrote.

When he came out again two minutes later, he suddenly lunged for the exit door, grabbed the handle and tried to open it, Highley wrote. Two attendants grabbed him, but he pushed them away, and the attendants signaled for help from several passengers and notified the cockpit by telephone, the complaint said.

It was then that Hudek punched one flight attendant and struck a passenger with wine bottle.

Hudek was put in a head-lock by a passenger before he was restrained, Highley wrote. Even then he remained combative, she said, and it took multiple passengers to keep him restrained until the plane landed and Port of Seattle police arrested him.

KATY PERRY UNDER FIRE IN AUSTRALIA FOR TELLING DOG TO CHASE SOME KOALAS IN PROMO VIDEO

Hudek had been traveling on a "dependent pass," the complaint said. Such passes allow certain relatives of Delta employees to fly standby.

Passenger Dustin Jones told KIRO-TV that he saw the man being rolled into the terminal in a wheelchair after the plane landed.

"He started yelling for help," Jones said. "And so he turned the wheelchair over in the middle of the airport, screaming for people to help him, just being belligerent."

The flight left for Beijing later Thursday night.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Panelists on Fox News's 'The Five' debated why New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio went to Germany to attend events protesting the G-20 summit, where riots have broken out.

Juan Williams asked if de Blasio was simply trying to raise his profile, perhaps even putting himself on the international stage in preparation to run against President Trump in 2020.

De Blasio's son, Dante, is spending the summer in Berlin for an internship.

"But it's terrible timing. He can't plow the streets, the subways don't run, there's homeless people everywhere, NYPD officers are turning their back to him, he's the worst mayor New York City has ever had," said Jesse Watters, adding, "But we don't have anyone running against him!"

With less than a month to go until the Democratic primary, no viable challenger with name recognition has emerged to take on the mayor.

De Blasio has already lined up at least 11 union endorsements and amassed a campaign war chest of $3.7 million as of mid-April.
The Latest on the trial of a former Oklahoma police officer: (all times local):

7:30 p.m.

A third mistrial has been declared in the case of a white former Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot his daughter's black boyfriend.

Jurors deadlocked 6-6 after deliberating only a few hours on Friday in the first-degree murder trial of Shannon Kepler.

Jurors in Kepler's previous two trials, in November and February, deadlocked 11-1 and 10-2 in favor of guilt and mistrials were declared in both.

The off-duty white Tulsa police officer shot 19-year-old Jeremey Lake in August 2014. Kepler told investigators he fired because he thought Lake had a gun. Police found no weapon at the scene or on Lake's body. Kepler said he was trying to protect his daughter, Lisa Kepler, because she was living in a crime-ridden neighborhood.

___

5:30 p.m.

Jurors are deliberating in the trial of a former Oklahoma police officer who fatally shot his daughter's boyfriend while off-duty.

Deliberations began Friday afternoon in the third trial of Shannon Kepler after a judge ruled that jurors could consider a lesser charge of manslaughter in addition to a charge of first-degree murder.

Manslaughter carries a sentence of between four years and life in prison.

Authorities say Kepler shot 19-year-old Jeremey Lake in 2014, as Lake was walking with Kelper's then-18-year-old daughter.

Kepler says he fired in self-defense because Lake was armed, but police didn't find a weapon on Lake or at the scene. His attorneys say Kepler was trying to protect his daughter, who was staying in a crime-ridden neighborhood.

Jurors in Kepler's first two trials couldn't reach a verdict.
An employee of Great American Cookies in Texas was temporarily suspended after he bought a police offers order.

The employee was working at Katy Mills Mall Sunday when an on-duty cop visited the store and completed an order. Seeing the police officers badge, the young employee decided to purchase the officers order with his own money.

After the officer thanked the employee and walked away, the family in line behind him grew angry that the employee would not buy their order after buying the cops.

100 VETERAN-FRIENDLY FRANCHISES

The employees mother shared what happened on Facebook.

The employee was told on Monday that he would have to bring all of his stuff to a meeting with the stores management Tuesday, where he was allegedly told that the upper managers want him fired.

The mother wrote that his manager refused to fire him because he was an excellent worker and did nothing wrong. But the employee was then told he would be suspended for one week following his shift.

Biju George, VKC Refreshments, the owner and operator of Great American Cookies at Katy Mills Mall, released the following statement to the Houston Chronicle:

"On behalf of Great American Cookies Katy Mills, we owe the employee an apology. It was never an issue that he purchased a brownie for a police officer, but rather the events that unfolded with another customer in line at the time. However, after further review, we realize that the employee was in fact in the right and we continue to reach out to him and his mom to issue an apology. The corrective action and suspension was reversed immediately and we hope to connect with him today."

LITTLE GIRL BUYS POLICE OFFICER DINNER FOR HEARTWARMING REASON

"Great American Cookies proudly supports Law Enforcement, First Responders and all who serve our country," David Kaiser, executive vice president at Great American Cookies, said via email to the Chronicle on Thursday. "Though our stores are independently managed and operated, when the situation first arose, we reached out to the franchisee to ensure that the situation was addressed and handled appropriately."

The mothers Facebook post argued that Great American Cookies FAILED on this one, and said Thankfully my son said he would do it again in a heartbeat.
With all eyes on Europe for President Trumps first G20 Summit this week, many Americans across the U.S. are anxiously awaiting much needed improvements here at home.

President Trump traveled to Ohio last month, as part of his planned Infrastructure Week. With the Ohio River as the backdrop, he delivered a major speech underlining his agenda, and bringing attention to the countrys crumbling locks and dams  which are critical to the countrys agricultural exports and a vital part of the presidents infrastructure revitalization.

Americas infrastructure is out of date and falling apart, particularly the internal waterways that are so vital for transporting the countrys goods, according to a White House press release.

Andy Schimpf, who has been overseeing locks on the Mississippi for 30 years as operations manager for the Army Corps of Engineers' Mississippi River Project, said hes never had more reason to be concerned about dam safety.

We have a lot of issues here, Schimpf said. We have mechanical, we have electrical issuesfoundation-type issues with the stability of the structure itself.

TRUMP'S GRAND INFRASTRUCTURE MOMENT DIMINISHES BY THE DAY

Last year, the mechanical system on Lock 25 in Winfield, Mo., malfunctioned, shutting down river traffic for a hundred miles.

Its terrible to have it down, he said. You dont know who its going to affect.

For starters, it affects 22 million tons of cargo that passes through Lock 25 every year, traveling up and down the Mississippi through St. Louis and Chicago.

Its exactly why the Trump administration is considering a $4.2 billion investment in Lock 25 and six other locks on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and wants to pour billions into upgrading locks in Ohio and Kentucky.

According to the Army Corps of Engineers, 80 percent of the nations locks are about to exceed their design life. Lock 25, for instance, was built in the 1930s and has never been updated.

OFFICIALS MAKING 'GREAT PROGRESS' ON CALIFORNIA DAM REPAIRS, REMIND RESIDENTS TO STAY VIGILANT

Schimpf fears another collapse like the one at Lockport, Illinois in 2011.

We have a number of problems out here, said Paul Rhode from the Waterways Council, the main advocate for lock investment in the Midwest.

He said the locks are not only mechanically out of date, they are also structurally unsound.

We need to keep the locks running, he said. A lot of people are dependent on the rivers for their livelihood.

Many of the countrys locks and dams were built in the early 1900s as a way to make rivers more navigable. Some rivers, like the Mississippi, were too shallow for big barges. A lock system operates in conjunction with a dam to solve the problem. The dam pools the water, while the lock acts as an escalator, lifting and lowering boats to meet the differing water levels.

We need a reliable lock and dam infrastructure in order to have reliable river transportation. More than 60 percent of our agricultural exports move on this river, Rhode said as he surveyed a broad bank of the Mississippi. A quarter of the coal we use, a quarter of the petroleum that we use in this country [moves through here.]

IF OROVILLE DAM FAILED, RESIDENTS LIKELY WOULD NOT BE ADVISED IN TIME

Rhode said older locks like 25 are simply not long enough to accommodate todays big barges.

Most of the barges are 1,200 feet, he said, pointing out that Lock 25 is only 600 feet long. It makes things move slowly.

So, he said, why not invest in the rivers?

The reality is that river transportation is a vibrant industry and really a solution to the intermodal transportation challenges that we have, he said. It's less than half the cost of moving by railIt's 90 percent cheaper than moving by truck, and it's the only mode of those three with the capacity to spare.

He said rivers could be the future answer to highway congestion,

Schimpf said broken locks make the U.S. less competitive and few people know how dependable they are.

Many people don't actually realize, Schimpf said, the connection they have and the reliability they have on the river system.

A reliability, he said, that will be in jeopardy unless the locks are repaired and updated.
The Latest on the case of a former Oklahoma police officer accused of killing his daughter's boyfriend. (all times local):

10:30 a.m.

An Oklahoma prosecutor says he will re-evaluate the case of a white former Tulsa police officer charged with shooting his daughter's black boyfriend to death after a mistrial was declared for the third time in nine months.

District Judge Sharon Holmes declared the mistrial Friday in the case of Shannon Kepler. The 57-year-old former Tulsa police officer is accused in the Aug. 5, 2014, shooting death of 19-year-old Jeremey Lake. Lake had just begun dating Kepler's daughter, Lisa Kepler.

Holmes declared the mistrial after the jury reported it was deadlocked 6-6. Attorneys involved say the jury deliberated for just 2  to three hours. Previous juries reported they were also deadlocked after deliberating for much longer.

District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler says he will re-evaluate the case but believes a jury should do its job and reach a verdict.

___

1:15 a.m.

For the third time in less than a year a jury deadlocked on Friday and forced a mistrial in the murder case of a white former Oklahoma police officer accused of killing his daughter's black boyfriend, astonishing prosecutors and frustrating the boyfriend's family.

Judge Sharon Holmes declared the mistrial over the fate of former Tulsa police officer Shannon Kepler. He was accused of fatally shooting 19-year-old Jeremey Lake in August 2014, not long after Lake started dating Kepler's then-18-year-old daughter, Lisa.

Attorneys said jurors deliberated for just 2  to three hours.

Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said he was shocked that a mistrial was declared after such short jury deliberations.

___

This story has been corrected to reflect that the attorneys say the jury deliberated for 2  to 3 hours instead of 4 hours.
In the blood-red state of Alabama, a fiery, outspoken jurist is running for U.S. Senate by standing up for what he believes.

Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore doesnt shrink from telling voters he has twice been ousted from the bench for defying federal courts over the Ten Commandments and same-sex marriage.

Instead, he wears those rejections as a badge of honor, telling Republican voters that they are akin to battle scars.

I will not only say what is right, I will do what is right, Moore said during a June forum in the east Alabama city of Oxford.

Moore is part of a crowded GOP field vying to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions old seat in the U.S. Senate. Moores iconic status in the culture wars gives him a strong GOP voter base and makes him a leading contender in the primary on August 15.

But hes also a polarizing figure. Some voters said they are voting for him because of his past fights.

Others said they want someone else for the same reasons. Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen, who filed the complaint that led to Moores removal, last year referred to him as the Ayatollah of Alabama for intertwining his personal religious beliefs and judicial responsibilities.

Incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, appointed last year by the states former governor and backed by Republican establishment, faces multiple challengers. Among them, in addition to Moore, is U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, a member of the House Freedom Caucus who has the endorsement of Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham. The race could lead to a runoff between the top two primary finishers.

The Senate Leadership Fund, which has ties to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and tries to bank candidates perceived as winnable in general elections, has put its fiscal force behind Strange.

The Republican National Committee last week authorized its Senate campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, to spend $350,000 on the Alabama Senate race, money that is expected to benefit Strange.

Moore is a West Point graduate and former military policeman during Vietnam. He became a prosecutor, circuit judge and then state chief justice.

But Alabamas judicial discipline panel twice stripped him of his chief justice duties. In 2003 he was removed for disobeying a federal judges order to remove a boulder-sized Ten Commandments monument from the state courthouse.

He re-took the chief justices office in 2012, but was suspended for the remainder of his term last year.

The suspension  not, technically, a removal  came after Moore wrote a memo telling probate judges that they remained under a state court order to deny marriage licenses to gay couples even though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled gays and lesbians have a fundamental right to marry. While he was suspended, Moore left the bench to run for Senate.

I stood up to same-sex marriage legally by pointing out active injunctions. They didnt like that. I opposed the agenda of the Supreme Court, and they came after me, Moore said in Oxford.

Thirty-nine-year-old Emily Holland said she admires Moore. He goes by what the Bible says, said Holland. He has been to war. He refused to take down the Ten Commandments.

Jean Hobson said she watched the Oxford debate to learn more about the other candidates, but knows shes not voting for Strange or Moore.

Judge Moore has been elected twice and thrown out twice, Hobson said.

Moore also discusses other issues on the campaign trail  including a call for increased military spending  but its his well-known history that appears to be driving both his support and his opposition.

For now, The Judge, as Moore is nicknamed, revels in his outsider status in a year of anti-Washington sentiment.

Washington doesnt want me, evidently, from the money they are pouring behind one of the candidates and from the message we received from Washington. Thats OK, Moore said with a slight grin as he removed his sunglasses during a sweltering June campaign stop on the Alabama Capitol steps. Im looking forward to going and representing the people of Alabama, what they stand for. What they believe in is what I believe in and Ill take it to Washington whether they like it or they dont.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Details surrounding a South Carolina inmate's sophisticated breakout plan have been emerging since he was recaptured after more than two days on the run.

Authorities say convicted kidnapper Jimmy Causey escaped on Tuesday, leaving a homemade dummy stuffed under the covers in his place. That helped him get a head start. Investigators say he cut through prison fences using cutters that they believe were flown into the prison by a drone.

He was recaptured at a Texas motel by Texas Rangers early Friday.

Authorities are in the process of extraditing Causey to South Carolina, where he'll be sent to one the prison system's most secure facilities. Officials are still probing exactly what happened leading up to and following the escape.
A great-grandmas scathing death notice that went viral after running in a small weekly North Carolina newspaper includes passages that were lifted from another mean obit.

The obit said June Miller died at 82 after a long battle with drug addiction and depression and had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life.

We speak for the majority of her family when we say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed, and there will be no lamenting over her passing, the obit said.

WTVC reported Thursday that it heard from a viewer who said those passages were not original.

After investigating the station found that much of Millers obit had been plagiarized. The original source was a California womans obit that bounced around the internet after a newspaper published it in 2008.

Millers son told the station that his sister wrote the obit and submitted it to the Cherokee Scout newspaper in Murphy for publication.

Unbelievable, Robert Miller said, according to the station. Doesnt even have the integrity to write something herself. Just goes out and steals something.

The weekly ran the obit in June. Miller died in February in Florida. She spent summers in Murphy.

The publisher of the Scout told the station that the editors desire to reject the obit was overridden by the familys will.

On Friday a new Miller obit written by the son appeared on the papers website, celebrating her life as a military wife, homemaker and church-goer.

She also made a wicked lemon pound cake, the obit said.
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Rwanda's electoral commission on Friday disqualified three candidates for next month's presidential election, including the only woman, saying they didn't fulfil requirements such as collecting enough supporting signatures.

The announcement comes as Amnesty International charged that the election will be held under a "climate of fear" and repression.

Those disqualified are Diane Shima Rwigara, Gilbert Mwenedata and Fred Sekikubo Barafinda, said Kalisa Mbanda, chief of the electoral commission. Rwigara, who was running as an independent, said last week that local leaders threatened her supporters while they collected signatures.

Rwandans go to the polls Aug. 4 and will choose among longtime President Paul Kagame, Frank Habineza of the opposition Democratic Green Party and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana. Kagame is widely expected to win.

According to electoral laws, independent presidential candidates are required to present 600 signatures, with at least 12 from each of Rwanda's 30 districts.

Rwigara was excluded from the race for submitting signatures of some people who have been long dead and others who belong to a rival political party, Mbanda said.

Amnesty International said the East African nation has seen two decades of often deadly attacks on political opponents, journalists and rights activists. The group called for serious political reforms.

"Since the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front took power 23 years ago, Rwandans have faced huge, and often deadly, obstacles to participating in public life and voicing criticism of government policy," said Muthoni Wanyeki, an Amnesty official in East Africa.

Many killings and disappearances have been blamed on the government of Kagame, who has been Rwanda's de facto leader or elected president since the end of the country's 1994 genocide.

Kagame is credited with leading Rwanda to stability and impressive economic growth, but critics say he is an authoritarian who is intolerant of legitimate opposition.
An American on a Greek island vacation after graduating from college was beaten to death by a mob and eight people have been arrested in the case, police said.

Greek police said Saturday that the arrests in the beating death of Barkari Henderson, 22, of Austin, Texas, included six Serbian nationals.

Henderson suffered fatal head injuries in the beating early Friday on the island Zakinthos.

He was at a bar with friends. The bars location is a tourist section known for frequently rowdy behavior by young foreign tourists, the Associated Press reported.

Police detained the Serbians after viewing surveillance video, Agence France-Press reported Saturday.

A Greek barman, 34, and a 32-year-old British bouncer of Serbian origin were arrested Friday, AFP reported.

The beating may have begun with an exchange of words.

A police source said the argument involved someone setting their drink down on a table occupied by a different group, Kathimerini, an English-language Athens news outlet reported.

Outside the bar, a group of Serbian patrons allegedly attacked Henderson, threw him onto the road and started punching and kicking him, the paper reported.

Zakynthos Mayor Pavlos Kolokotsas told the outlet that municipal officials and local police officers just met about clamping down on alcohol-fueled brawls.

Henderson graduated in May from the University of Arizona with a degree in business administration, KOLD-TV reported.

As you can imagine, our family is devastated by the recent loss of our beloved son Bakari Jaward Henderson, his family said in a statement, The Washington Post reported. Bakari loved spending time with family and friends, traveling, and meeting new people. He was a big thinker and enjoyed coming up with new business ventures. Bakari was an inspiration to all he met. He loved life to the fullest.

The University of Arizona also issued a statement of condolence to Henderson's family.

Our hearts and prayers are with his friends and family, the president of the college Robert C. Robbins said. I can only imagine the deep sense of loss they must be feeling at his untimely death. It is always a tragedy when a young life ends before it has really yet to begin.
Anti-globalization activists have rioted for a second night as Hamburg hosts the Group of 20 leaders, setting up street barricades, looting supermarkets and attacking police with slingshots and petrol bombs.

Police say riots were extremely violent in the early hours of Saturday in the city's Schanzenviertel neighborhood. Hundreds of officers went into buildings to arrest rioters while being attacked with iron rods and Molotov cocktails thrown from the roofs. Thirteen activists were arrested when special units stormed one building.

Some 500 people looted a supermarket in the neighborhood as well as smaller stores. Cars were torched, street fires lit as activists built barricades with garbage cans and bikes.

World leaders will come together later Saturday to tackle issues including terrorism, climate change and trade.

Dozens of police officers built moving lines in different parts of Hamburg and used water cannons to force protesters away from streets across the city.

At least 45 demonstrators were arrested, 15 were temporarily detained, and 160 police officers were injured early Friday, including three officers who were hospitalized.

Hamburgs fire department said 11 protesters were severely injured and had to be transported to hospitals after a few of them fell from a wall during confrontations with police.

The fire department said it treated 26 people and took 14 of them to the hospital. It is not immediately clear why the protesters were climbing the wall.

Earlier in the day, first lady Melania Trump was forced to cancel her participation in a climate event because of protests at the G-20 summit Friday, the White House said.

Her spokeswoman told USA TODAY that Hamburg police were unable to clear the streets enough for Mrs. Trump's delegation to head to the event.

"She was supposed to participate in the spousal program and was very much looking forward to it," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
World leaders struggled Saturday to find common ground in the fight against climate change in the wake of President Trumps decision to leave the Paris agreement.

The final statement of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, underlined that the other countries and the European Union supported the Paris climate agreement rejected by Trump. They called the deal to reduce greenhouse gases "irreversible" and vowed to implement it quickly and without exception.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the United States' position "regrettable." She said the statement also makes clear other summit leaders don't share the Trump administration's position on climate.

Trump last month did not reaffirm the Paris agreement to which former-President Barack Obama agreed in 2016.

World leaders including Trump did reach a common statement this weekend about the other contentious issue at the summit, trade.

Climate and trade were two of the most contentious issues, in part due to the assertive stance taken on both by Trump.

The president has said trade must be fair as well as open and must benefit American companies and workers.

He has focused on trade relationships where other countries run large surpluses with the U.S., meaning they sell more to U.S. consumers than they buy from American companies.

The G-20 typically denounces protectionism, or the use of unfair means to keep out foreign competitors and protect domestic workers and companies.

That stance has been kept, but it has been expanded to include references to the use of "legitimate trade defense instruments" when a country is faced with subsidized or otherwise unfair competition from a trade partner.

Defensive measures are sometimes allowed under the current global trade rules supervised by the World Trade Organization.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The United States and Russia struck an agreement Friday on a cease-fire in southwest Syria, crowning President Donald Trump's first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is the first U.S.-Russian effort under Trump's presidency to stem Syria's six-year civil war.

The cease-fire goes into effect Sunday at noon Damascus time, according to U.S. officials and the Jordanian government, which is also involved in the deal.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who accompanied Trump in his meeting with Putin, said the understanding is designed to reduce violence in an area of Syria near Jordan's border that is critical to the U.S. ally's security.

It's a "very complicated part of the Syrian battlefield," Tillerson told reporters after the U.S. and Russian leaders met for more than two hours on the sidelines of a global summit in Hamburg, Germany.

Of the agreement, he said, "I think this is our first indication of the U.S. and Russia being able to work together in Syria."

For years, the former Cold War foes have been backing opposing sides in Syria's war. Moscow has staunchly backed Syrian President Bashar Assad, supporting Syrian forces militarily since 2015. Washington has backed rebels fighting Assad. Both the U.S. and Russia oppose Islamic State militants and say they're focused on rooting out the extremist group.

The potential pitfalls for the cease-fire are clear  not least the challenge of enforcing it.

Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russian military police would monitor the new truce. But Tillerson said that was still being worked out. A senior U.S. State Department official said the two countries were close to a deal on that issue and hoped to finalize it in the coming days, raising the prospect it could take effect Sunday with no clear sense of who is policing it.

That the deal was announced before all the details were ironed out was a clear indication of how eager the U.S. and Russia were to cast their leaders' first meeting as a success. Officials said the deal had been in the works for weeks or months, but came together in time for the meeting.

The deal marks a new level of involvement for the Trump administration in trying to resolve Syria's civil war.

Trump ordered some 60 cruise missiles to be fired at a Syrian air base in April after accusing Assad's forces of a deadly chemical weapons attack. But his top military and national security advisers pointedly said they had no intentions of intervening to oust Assad. And they stopped short of endorsing Russian-led or U.N. peace mediation efforts between Assad's government and rebel groups.

Israel also is part of the agreement, one U.S. official said, who like others wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity. Like Jordan, Israel shares a border with the southern part of Syria and has been concerned about a spillover of violence as well as an amassing of Iranian-aligned forces in the south of the country.

Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Momani confirmed the accord in a statement that made no reference to Israel's participation. Syrian government forces and its allies will stay on one side of an agreed demarcation line, and rebel fighters will stick to the other side. The goal is also to enable aid to reach this area of Syria, Momani told state media. U.S. officials said the U.S., Russia and Jordan had only agreed on that demarcation line last week, clearing the way for a cease-fire to be worked out.

The deal is separate from an agreement that Russia, Turkey and Iran struck earlier this year to try to establish "de-escalation zones" in Syria with reduced bloodshed. The U.S., wary of Iran's involvement, stayed away from that effort. Follow-up talks this week in Kazakhstan were unable to produce agreement on finalizing a cease-fire in those zones.

Previous cease-fires in Syria have collapsed or failed to reduce violence for long, and it was unclear whether this deal would be any better.

Tillerson said the difference this time is Russia's interest in seeing Syria return to stability. It's an argument top U.S. officials such as former Secretary of State John Kerry cited regularly amid his failed efforts to end a conflict that has killed as many as a half-million people, contributed to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II and allowed IS to emerge as a global terror threat.

Tillerson also repeated the U.S. position that a "long-term role for the Assad family and the Assad regime" is untenable and voiced his belief that Russia might be willing to address the future leadership of Syria, in tones reminiscent of Kerry. Up to now, Assad has rejected any proposals that would see him leave power, contributing to an impasse that has prolonged Syria's suffering.

Earlier in the week, Syria's military said it was halting combat operations in the south of Syria for four days, in advance of the new round of Russian-sponsored talks in Kazakhstan. That move covered the southern provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida. Syria's government briefly extended that unilateral cease-fire, which is now set to expire Saturday  a day before the U.S. and Russian deal was to take effect.

The U.S.-Russian cease-fire has no set end date, one U.S. official said, describing it as part of broader discussions with Moscow on lowering violence in Syria.

The agreement may also reflect Iran's increasingly prominent role in Syria.

Washington has been resistant to letting Iranian forces and their proxy militias gain strength in Syria's south, a position shared by Israel and Jordan. Friday's deal could help the Trump administration retain more of a say over who fills the power vacuum left behind as the Islamic State is routed from additional territory in Syria.

In recent weeks, U.S. forces have shot down a Syrian aircraft that got too close to American forces, as well as Iranian-made drones. A renewed government offensive against Western-backed rebels and Islamic militants in the contested province of Daraa also is sparking tensions, and Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters have shifted south to join the fight.

Israel has also struck Syrian military installations on several occasions in the past few weeks after shells landed in the Israeli-controlled side of the Golan Heights. Ahead of the deal, media reports in Israel have suggested unease at any arrangement that relies on Russia policing areas near its frontier.

Implications for Syria aside, the deal marks the biggest diplomatic achievement for the U.S. and Russia since Trump took office. Trump's administration has approached the notoriously strained relationship by trying to identify a few limited issues on which the countries could make progress, thereby building trust for a broader repair of ties.

___

Lederman and Salama reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Zeina Karam in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed to this report.

___

On Twitter, reach Josh Lederman at https://twitter.com/joshledermanAP , Vivian Salama at https://twitter.com/vmsalama and Ken Thomas at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC
FREDERICKSBURG

Christ Lutheran Church, 1300 Augustine Ave., is accepting registration for the 2017-2018 school year. For more information or to schedule a tour, contact Martha Coleman at 540/373-5087 or preschool@christ-lutheran-church.org, or visit christ-lutheran-church.org/ministries/preschool.

Mars Hill Acts 17 Youth Program will hold a free event for all youth ages 12 years and older on July 15, 5-9 p.m., at Living Word Fellowship, 1500 Stafford Ave. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. for registration. The evening includes a Christian concert with light show featuring 3D Salvation, dinner, games and youth presentations. Ben SeseKhalid will speak on the Bible theme, Identity in Christ. Youth leaders are encouraged to chaperone their groups. Coordinate youth presentations or adult support by emailing MarsHill@va.metrocast.net.

Trinity Fellowship International, 181 Kings Highway #133, will host a career seminar by Skys The Limit VII that begins today at noon and runs four consecutive Saturdays, through July 29. The seminar for teens ages 12 and older teaches the importance of choosing a career and the process of applying for a job. Free. Refreshments provided. To learn more, call 540/841-9676; visit Instagram skys_thelimit7 or Twitter @skysthelimitVII.

SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY

Christ Episcopal Church, 8951 Courthouse Road, will hold Vacation Bible School July 31-Aug. 4. This years theme is The Miracles of Jesus. Classes for ages 4 through grade 5 will be held from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Classes for grades 6-12 will run from noon to 3 p.m., beginning with a brown bag lunch. Register by July 26. 540/582-5508; christchurchspotsy.com/vbs.

First New Hope Baptist Church, 4508 Dickerson Road, Partlow, will celebrate Ushers Annual Day on Sunday at 3 p.m. The Rev. Carroll Jackson, pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church, Woodford, will be the guest preacher. The choir from Macedonia will be musical guests.

Goshen Baptist Church, 9800 Gordon Road, holds meeting on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month for American Heritage Girls or Trail Life. 540/786-7500.

Little Mine Road Baptist Church, 7225 Lanes Corner Road, will host Praise in the Park on Sunday at the Spotsylvania Sunday School Park at 7560 Courthouse Road. Worship service will be held at 11:30 a.m., with Pastor Carson Jackson delivering the message. A community fellowship cookout will follow.

Olivet Methodist Church, 7664 Stubbs Bridge Road, will have a Christmas in July craft and vendor show on July 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 540/840-9982.

St. Judes Catholic Church, 10725 Courthouse Road. Christian Music Cafe will be held Friday at 7 p.m. Open-Mic format for all performers to share their talents up to three songs. Performer sign-up starts at 6:30 p.m. Free refreshments. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. For more information, contact George Evans at music@stjudechurch.us. A new season of the program Seasons of Hope, to help those persons who are grieving the loss of a spouse, will start on Aug. 8 at 10 a.m. in The Activity Center and run for six consecutive Tuesdays. Members of other parishes and faiths are welcome. For more information or to register, call 540/891-7350.

Zion United Methodist Church, 8700 Courthouse Road, will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its food pantry on July 20 from 4-6 p.m. All are welcome for food, fun and fellowship. Free. RSVP to Carolyn Messer at 540/582-8368.

STAFFORD

Berea Baptist Church, 28 Fleet Road. Wednesday night activities are suspended until July 19, when there will be Summer Family Fun Nights at 6:30 p.m. each Wednesday through August. Everyone is asked to bring side dishes and desserts and gather for hot dogs, games and fellowship. Friends and neighbors are invited. The mission project for July is collecting full-size backpacks for homeless children within the Rappahannock region through Loisanns Hope House. 540/752-4406; berea-baptist.org.

Grace United Methodist Church, 13056 Elk Ridge Road, will hold Vacation Bible School Monday through Friday at 6:30 p.m. for ages preschool-fifth grade. This year will feature the theme Hero Central: Discovering Your Strength in God. To register, call 540/752-5462 or visit myvbs.org/graceumc or graceumchartwood.net.

Hulls Memorial Baptist Church, 420 Enon Road, Indivisible, the eighth annual Patriotic Celebration, will be presented today at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. The music of the choir will be accompanied by poignant images reflecting the meaning of the words being sung. Donations will be collected for Homes for Our Troops. There is no admission charge. Refreshments follow each program. Maker Fun Factory Vacation Bible School will be held July 16-21, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Dinner, music, Bible adventures, recreation, crafts, missions and more for ages 3 to 12th grade. Free. Register at hullsbaptistorg or call 540/371-4124. Registration will be open during the week of VBS. For more information, call 540/371-4124.

Mt. Hope Baptist Church, 1653 Brooke Road, will hold Vacation Bible School on Monday through Friday from 6:45-9 p.m. Classes for all ages. This years theme is Operation Arctic. 540/659-4219.

KING GEORGE COUNTY

Salem Baptist Church, 12262 Salem Church Road, Jersey, will have Vacation Bible School on Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m. Classes will be held for children, teenagers and adults. Snacks will be provided. 540/775-2350.

CAROLINE

Jericho Baptist Church, 8435 Jericho Road, Ruther Glen, will celebrate its 140th anniversary Sunday at 3 p.m. Pastor Butler, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Fredericksburg, will be the speaker for this special occasion.

St. John Baptist Church, 17080 S. River Road, Woodford, will celebrate the 37th anniversary of Pastor and People on Sunday. The Rev. Otis Kay Sr. will speak at the 10 a.m. service. The Rev. Dr. Alonza Lawrence, Moore St. Missionary Baptist Church, Richmond, will speak at the 2 p.m. service. 804/448-3866.

ORANGE COUNTY

Abundant Life Christian Fellowship, 19103 Brick Church Road, will host its annual Vacation Bible School on Monday through Friday from 6-8:30 p.m. for age 3 and older. 540/672-9867; ALCF-Orange.com.

New Hope Baptist Church, 32250 Old Plank Road, will host its annual Vacation Bible School July 17-21 from 6-8:30 p.m. for age 3 through grade 6. It will present Lifeways Galactic Starveyors: Discovering the God of the Universe. For more information, call 540/854-4454 or email info@newhopebapt.org.

CULPEPER COUNTY

Beulah Baptist Church, 9297 Eggbornsville Road, Rixeyville, will host Vacation Bible School from July 19-21 at 6 p.m. The theme is Hero Central. Children ages pre-K to teenagers are welcome. Family & Friends Day will be held July 23 at 11 a.m. with food, fun and fellowship. At 3 p.m., the gospel group Redeeming Souls from Washington, D.C., will perform. Wear church T-shirt. For more information, contact Sister Michelle Hutcherson at 540/937-5563 or bbc9297@gmail.com. Dr. Kenneth Pitts, pastor, hosts a conference call Bible study every Wednesday from 7-7:30 p.m. Free dial-in 302/202-1118; access code 862090.

St. Stephens Episcopal Church, 115 N. East St. (parking at 120 N. Commerce St.) A blood drive will be held Tuesday from 12:30-5:30 p.m. To reserve a time, call 800/733-2767 or visit redcrossblood.org. 540/825-8786; ststephensculpeper.net.

WESTMORELAND COUNTY

New Monrovia Baptist Church, 121 New Monrovia Road, Colonial Beach, will be in Revival Sunday through Friday. Sunday service will begin at 3 p.m. and the nightly service will begin at 7:30 p.m. Sundays guest speaker will be the Rev. Michael Reed, Clarkesville Baptist Church; Monday will feature Mime Ministry: Hands of Glory and Exaltation; Tuesdays guest speaker will be the Rev. Guy Richards, Ebenezer Baptist Church; Wednesdays guest speaker will be the Rev. Richard Monroe, Macedonia Baptist Church; Thursdays guest speaker will be the Rev. Eddie Nelson, Mt. Carmel Baptist Church; and Fridays guest speaker will be the Rev. Jonathan Mercer, New Liberty Baptist Church. 804/224-0068.
The families of wounded warriors of all ranks and of active-duty military personnel E1 through E6 can get free backpacks and supplies for their children from the Operation Homefront Back-to-School Brigade.

Registration is taking place online at operationhomefront.org/event/list. Hundreds of school items will be distributed Thursday, Aug. 3, at Naval Support Facility Dahlgren. Only families who register may receive backpacks and school supplies.

Shoppers may purchase and donate school supplies for the effort at any Dollar Tree store through Aug. 10. This is the ninth year that Dollar Tree has partnered with Operation Homefront to provide school supplies to military children. Last year, Dollar Tree patrons donated more than $4.5 million of supplies nationally.
WE DONT even have pronouns for this.

Thats what accounts for the clumsy grammar of the statement parent Kori Doty issued about Dotys newborn baby, Searyl Atli Doty. For that matter, it also accounts for the clumsy grammar of the sentence you just read.

Anyway, Kori Dotys statement read: Its up to Searyl to decide how they identify, when they are old enough to develop their own gender identity. I am not going to foreclose that choice based on an arbitrary assignment of gender at birth based on an inspection of their genitals.

Of course, a baby human is not usually a they but a he or a she. Thing is, though, Kori Doty, who identifies as a nonbinary transgender personstay with me, nowhas decided that the child, born in Canada outside the medical system, will not be saddled with gender.

As reported last week by CNN, that argument apparently won over officials in Canada, who issued the baby a health cardas a civilized nation, Canada has universal health carethat does not specify gender. Gender Free ID Coalition, a group that crusades against gender identifiers on government documents, sees this as an important step toward that goal. We are told that Searyl may be the first baby in the world with a genderless government ID.

As noted, the English language is not ready for this. For all its splendors, English offers no gender-neutral singular pronoun except it. Who wants to be an it?

If the language is not ready, well, truth to tell, neither is your humble correspondent. Its a jarring realization.

I have, after all, long taken great pride in supporting LGBTQ freedom. Marriage equality, adoption rights, job protections, I have demanded them. Restroom ID laws, dont ask, dont tell and so-called religious freedom measures, I have fought them.

But in the notion of a genderless humanity, we arrive at the proverbial bridge too far. Yes, I know some people are born anatomically neither male nor female. Im not talking about them.

Nor have I any beef with the child born into a male body who feels emotionally estranged from that body and takes steps, whether surgical or cosmetic, to rectify the problem. Good for him. And her.

What I have trouble with is the idea that we somehow commit a sin against enlightenment when we identify that babys body as male in the first place. What I find problematic is the notion that we should look upon this child with his XY chromosome and a little stub of flesh between his legs that will someday be capable of producing sperm, and pretend we have no idea what he is.

Im sorry, but thats just silly.

I am reminded of those people who would end racial prejudice by having us all claim to be colorblind, i.e., pretend we dont see race. But prejudice doesnt come because we notice so-and-so is black. Rather, it comes with the assumptions we attach to that fact.

Similarly, the question here is not whether Searyl is a boy or girl. No, the question is, what will we assume that either one means?

So it seems to me the energy some are putting into denying the reality of infant genitalia would be better spent trying to assure that it means as little as possible, trying to create a society where girls who play with trucks and boys who play with dolls are as free as any other children to construct their own lives and identities according to their own design. Fight the sociologynot the biology. I tend to think Searyl would thank us for that.

The English language would, too.

Leonard Pitts Jr., winner of the Pulitzer Prize for commentary, is a columnist with the Miami Herald,. Readers may email him at lpitts@miamiherald.com.
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The political activist said the need of the hour was to bring together different energies in the country.
A former Oregon State University student admitted in court Friday to having sex with a 15-year-old girl in his dorm room in May.

Mrityunjay Saha, 21, pleaded guilty to third-degree rape, a Class C felony, and contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor, as part of a plea deal with state prosecutors.

Benton County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Donohue sentenced Saha to 60 days in jail, to be followed by three years of supervised probation. Saha must also undergo sex offender treatment and register as a sex offender, the judge ordered.

Saha could apply to be removed from the sex offender registry five years after he completes probation, his defense attorney, Brett Jaspers, said. The third-degree rape conviction will be treated as a misdemeanor conviction if Saha successfully completes probation, Jaspers said.

The victims guardian told the judge during the hearing that she reluctantly agreed to support the plea deal because she didnt want the victim to have to go through a trial.

She is suffering from a fair amount of trauma, the woman said.

Saha, who was shackled and dressed in black-and-white striped prison scrubs, spoke before the judge handed down the sentence. He said he didnt know the girls age at the time of the incident and that the sex was consensual.

I did not force this on her, Saha told the judge. I dont know how I traumatized her.

Im sorry, but I truly feel like I dont deserve this, he added.

Deputy District Attorney Andrew Jordan said Saha knew the victim was at least under 18.

After handing down the sentence, Donohue told Saha he understands his concerns but that the victim will also be affected for years to come.

According to an affidavit filed in the case, an official at the victims high school contacted police on May 17. The school official said the girl reported she was raped two days earlier by an older man, the affidavit states.

Police interviewed the victim on May 24, according to the affidavit. The girl said she met a friend of a friend while she was a runaway and that he molested her, the affidavit states.

The girl told a friend in text messages acquired by police that the man had forced her to engage in sexual activity in his dorm room, according to the affidavit.

Police interviewed Saha on May 31, the affidavit states. He said he knew the girl was under 18 but that they had had consensual sex, according to the affidavit.

At the time of the crime, Saha was an OSU student and lived in McNary Hall, the affidavit states.

Saha is no longer a registered student at OSU, Steve Clark, vice president for university relations and marketing, said Friday.
Actress, Regina Askia Officially Becomes Citizen Of The United States Of America (Photos)

xspraise at 8-07-2017 02:17 PM (5 years ago) (m)

Nollywood actress turned U.S based nurse, Regina Askia-Williams is officially a citizen of United States. The ex-beauty queen who has been in the United States for 15 years, took to Facebook to announce that shes now a green card holder after delaying it for many years, because she never felt any pressure to change status until President Trump was elected.

Nollywood actress turned U.S based nurse, Regina Askia-Williams is officially a citizen of United States. The ex-beauty queen who has been in the United States for 15 years, took to Facebook to announce that shes now a green card holder after delaying it for many years, because she never felt any pressure to change status until President Trump was elected.

However it was gathered that Regina delayed her citizenship status before now, all because she wanted to become a politician in Nigeria.



Her Facebook post about being a U.S citizen reads;







However it was gathered that Regina delayed her citizenship status before now, all because she wanted to become a politician in Nigeria.Her Facebook post about being a U.S citizen reads; Quote And so today I made it official. I took the oath and became a citizen of the United States of America. Empowered and armed for the full pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.





Post Reply I am Victor, I write reportage on sport news and latest metro happenings in Nigeria. Posted: at 8-07-2017 02:17 PM (5 years ago) | Hero

ignis99 at 8-07-2017 02:59 PM (5 years ago)

(m) What a shame, it's this news? Posted: at 8-07-2017 02:59 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac What a shame, it's this news? Reply

osayan1 at 8-07-2017 04:08 PM (5 years ago)

(m) Dem try Posted: at 8-07-2017 04:08 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac Dem try Reply

christianity at 8-07-2017 05:01 PM (5 years ago)

(m) Poster, there is no place in Nigeria constitution that stops those Nigerians with foreign passport not to contest for post in Nigerian politics as far as the person did not renounce Nigeria passport prior to the optention of the foreign one.the present Governor of Edo state has American and naija passport.and also learn that being a green card holder,and being a citizen does not mean the same thing.so stop confusing gullible Nigerian with ur grammar. Posted: at 8-07-2017 05:01 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac Poster, there is no place in Nigeria constitution that stops those Nigerians with foreign passport not to contest for post in Nigerian politics as far as the person did not renounce Nigeria passport prior to the optention of the foreign one.the present Governor of Edo state has American and naija passport.and also learn that being a green card holder,and being a citizen does not mean the same thing.so stop confusing gullible Nigerian with ur grammar. Reply

freethinker at 8-07-2017 06:23 PM (5 years ago)

(m) Quote from: ignis99 on 8-07-2017 02:59 PM What a shame, it's this news?

IF U DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY WHY NOT SHUT UP?

WHY EXHBITING IGNORANCE HERE.

DO U KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO BE US CITIZEN?

DO U THINK IT IS ZOO CITIZEN? Posted: at 8-07-2017 06:23 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac IF U DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY WHY NOT SHUT UP?WHY EXHBITING IGNORANCE HERE.DO U KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO BE US CITIZEN?DO U THINK IT IS ZOO CITIZEN? Reply

euwilliams at 8-07-2017 07:50 PM (5 years ago)

(f) Thank God Posted: at 8-07-2017 07:50 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac Thank God Reply

euwilliams at 8-07-2017 07:52 PM (5 years ago)

(f) Thank God Posted: at 8-07-2017 07:52 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac Thank God Reply
Robins AFB finishes Global Hawk work

By Tech. Sgt. Kelly Goonan, 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs / Published July 05, 2017

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFNS) -- A special ribbon-cutting ceremony, signaling the early completion of work on the first RQ-4 Global Hawk at Robins Air Force Base, was held on the base flight line here June 29, 2017.

The arrival of this unmanned aerial vehicle marked the first time an aircraft of this type has flown in to an Air Force air logistics complex.

During the ceremony, Brig. Gen. John Kubinec, the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex commander, spoke to the tremendous amount of work involved to get the Global Hawk not only on the Robins AFB ramp but to get it in the impeccable condition in which it is now.

He said, "It's nothing short of spectacular."

"Our team was motivated and excited about bringing this workload here," Kubinec said. "This is the beginning of a new chapter here at the Warner Robins ALC, but that pales in comparison to how big of a deal this is to the Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines who are in harm's way right now that rely on the products this aircraft gives them every single day.

"It's the warfighter who is the real winner here."

The airframe is in high demand due to its capabilities in support of the full spectrum of military operations from combat operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria to humanitarian missions. Even NASA is using the Global Hawk to conduct environmental research.

Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex maintenance professionals meticulously painted the aircraft to prevent corrosion. While a programmed depot maintenance requirement for Global Hawk has not been established, the Air Force recognizes that having an organic maintenance capability for Global Hawk enhances the ability to manage the fleet and keep this resource flying.

"The process started five years ago when the Air Force and Department of Defense boards were making the initial decisions about where airframe work for the Global Hawk should be performed," said Col. Darien Hammett, the Global Hawk Program Office director. "When you consider the decades of proven performance at Robins (AFB), we were not surprised when this base was chosen for that effort."

Landing the Global Hawk came with unique challenges, Hammett said. The 78th Air Base Wing constructed the first and only building-based Launch and Recovery Element, allowing the aircraft to take off and land at Robins AFB. Another challenge was addressing the Federal Aviation Agency's concerns about bringing the Global Hawk into Atlanta airspace, which is home to the nation's busiest airport.

"We've shown that we can bring a remotely piloted aircraft into a depot where there is a limitless amount of expertise," Hammett said. "I challenge the team to look beyond the paint capability and ensure we are utilizing all of the abilities that Robins (AFB) has to offer."

Col. Sarah Christ, the 78th Air Base Wing vice commander, pointed out just how unique the mission at Robins AFB was for the Global Hawk.

"Aside from its home base, it's a rarity for this aircraft to land anywhere inside the continental United States," Christ said, adding that the success of the work done here validates an organic paint and refurbishment capability for the Global Hawk at Robins AFB. It ensures that this critical asset will continue to deliver intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to combatant commanders for years to come.

Looking to the future Kubinec said that the work and repairs the air logistics complex accomplished will enable the Global Hawk to arrive on station faster where it's needed, stay longer and provide more benefit to those in harm's way.

He said, "The Global Hawk helps provide an unblinking eye that our Air Force provides to our joint partners, and the work we just did here will ensure that unblinking eye will be there when it's needed."

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US: Russia steps up spying efforts after 2016 presidential election

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 7, 2017 5:44AM

US intelligence officials believe Russian spies are increasing their intelligence-gathering efforts in the United States, amid ongoing investigations over Moscow's alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

Russian espionage has increased since the US election because Moscow feels emboldened by the lack of a significant retaliatory response from Washington, CNN reported Thursday, citing current and former US intelligence officials.

"Russians have maintained an aggressive collection posture in the US, and their success in election meddling has not deterred them," a former senior intelligence official told CNN.

Russians could also be seeking more information on the administration of President Donald Trump, according to Steve Hall, retired CIA chief of operations.

"Whenever there is a deterioration of relations between countries  the espionage and intelligence collection part becomes that much more important as they try to determine the plans and intentions of the adversarial government," Hall said.

Citing multiple current and former senior US intelligence officials, the report said that US intelligence and law enforcement agencies have identified an increase in suspected Russian intelligence officers entering the US under the guise of other business.

Officials who spoke to CNN say the Russians are believed to now have nearly 150 suspected intelligence operatives in the US and are replenishing their ranks after the administration of former President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats in December in retaliation for alleged election-meddling.

"The concerning point with Russia is the volume of people that are coming to the US. They have a lot more intelligence officers in the US" compared to what they have in other countries, one of the former intelligence officials says.

In some cases, Russian spies have tried to gain employment at places with sensitive information as part of their intelligence-gathering efforts, as well as targeting people in the US who can provide access to classified information, the sources say.

The US intelligence community believes Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordered a cyber campaign to help Trump win the 2016 presidential race and defeat his main rival Hillary Clinton.

Trump has repeatedly rejected such reports and has expressed support for improving relations with the US' former Cold War foe.

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Lithuanian Court Sentences Russian Security Official To 10 Years In Prison For Spying

July 07, 2017

A Russian security official has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Lithuanian court for attempting to recruit local officials to bug the home of the country's president.

Vilnius District Judge Regina Pociene on July 7 said Nikolai Filipchenko "worked for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), whose activities include intelligence outside of the Russian Federation."

Prosecutors said Filipchenko, 40, tried to recruit security officials "in an attempt to install special listening devices" to bug President Dalia Grybauskaite at her home and office.

Filipchenko's lawyer said his client "disagrees with the charges" but that it was "too early to say" if he would appeal. He did not testify in the case.

Filipchenko was arrested by Lithuanian authorities in April 2015 while traveling to Belarus on a train from the Kaliningrad region, the Russian enclave that borders Lithuania and Poland.

Based on AFP, AP, and The Baltic Times

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/lithuania-sentences -russian-security-official-to-10-years-in- prison-for-spying/28602125.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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USS John S. McCain Participates in TS 17, FTX-N

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170705-30

Release Date: 7/5/2017 10:50:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Joshua Mortensen, USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) Public Affairs

DARWIN, Australia (NNS) -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) participated with four Royal Australian Navy ships, the Royal Australian Air Force, and United States Marine Corps during Field Training Exercise North (FTX-N).

FTX-N is a precursor to Talisman Saber 17 (TS 17) while on patrol in the 7th Fleet area of operations.

Talisman Saber is the largest Australia-U.S. bilateral exercise. It provides a realistic and challenging training environment to practice readiness and interoperability between the two nations, while enhancing security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

FTX-N consisted of several exercises with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) including: Division Tactics (DIVTACS), Air Defense Exercises (ADEX), and a Force Protection Exercise (FPEX) with the Royal Australian Navy frigates HMAS Ballarat (FFH 155) and HMAS Melbourne (FFG 05).

FPEX consisted of McCain defending against a simulated attack from small surface crafts providing an opportunity for U.S. and RAN forces to conduct operations in a combined, joint and interagency environment.

During the FPEX, Gunner's Mate Seaman Aaron Aston had the opportunity to be part of the exercise as a gunner stationed at one of the .50 caliber machine gun stations.

"It's a rare opportunity to participate in a multi-national exercise such as this," said Aston. "It was one of the most realistic events I've ever got to participate in. I really felt like the exercise helped me to be able to respond quickly in the event an actual situation would arise."

After FPEX, McCain pulled into Darwin, Australia, and hosted local Australian media for a briefing by Capt. Bryan Parker, Exercise Director of FTX-N and Col. Kevin Norton, Commanding Officer of the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force 4.

"Exercise Talisman Saber is a major combined exercise, the largest of its type," said Parker. "It's an Australian-U.S. exercise that hones our skills in high-end medium intensity warfighting. It provides an excellent platform for us to be able to improve our collective readiness, our combat capability, and interoperability."

Cmdr. Alfredo Sanchez, McCain's commanding officer, also hosted the Northern Territories Administrator, Chief Minister, the Mayor of Darwin, and other local government officials and military officers for a ship tour and expressed gratitude in working with the Royal Australian Navy.

"The Australian-U.S. military alliance has been a model of close cooperation and trust," said Sanchez. "Australian-U.S. forces are a capable ready maritime force standing by to preserve peace and prevent conflicts in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region."

Members of the crew assisted with the tour.

"I was proud to show off the ship and what it can do," said Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Isaia Banaag. "For us to travel across the equator, to come here and show how expansive our area of operations is; showing that we are ready to go anywhere at any time."

As the tour came to an end, the visitors and crewmembers took a moment to snap a group photo in front of the ship's 5-inch gun mount before departing to attend a luncheon aboard the HMAS Ballarat.

While in port, Sailors participated in several community relation (COMREL) events, assisting with tours as guides at the Aviation Heritage Center and feeding and moving crocodiles at the Crocodylus Park. Sailors also attended tours through the Wetlands and the Marrakai Plains offered by Moral Welfare and Recreation (MWR).

McCain, assigned to destroyer squadron (DESRON) 15, is on patrol in support of security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

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Bonhomme Richard Departs Sydney

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170705-22

Release Date: 7/5/2017 10:26:00 AM

From USS Bonhomme Richard Public Affairs

SYDNEY (NNS) -- The amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) departed Sydney following a four-day port visit, July 3.

During the visit, Bonhomme Richard Sailors and Marines of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) hosted shipboard tours, participated in community service (COMSERV) projects, and took advantage of tours offered through Bonhomme Richards' Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) office.

Sailors from Bonhomme Richard visited the Sydney Children's Hospital on two separate days as part of the COMSERV projects.

"The volunteers really seemed to enjoy their time with the kids," said Religious Programs Specialist Seaman Luis Castro, a COMSERV co-coordinator. "You could see it in the eyes of the volunteers and the children we went to visit. These opportunities always give us a new perspective and are the reasons we enjoy giving back."

The crew also had the chance to experience the culture and community of Sydney through MWR tours which were designed to highlight local recreational opportunities.

"We sponsored tours all over Sydney including the Blue Mountains, a rugby game and of course the Sydney Opera House," said Ricah Quinto, Bonhomme Richard's fun boss. "Giving the Sailors and Marines an opportunity to kick back and relax, see the sites and have a great experience is what this is all about. There was a great turnout and we received positive feedback from everyone."

Sydney was the first opportunity for Bonhomme Richards' crew to enjoy a port visit since they began operating in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility in June, conducting multiple exercises, drills and training. Prior to arriving in Sydney, an at-sea ceremony was held aboard the ship, commencing the biennial exercise Talisman Saber 2017 (TS17).

"My first port visit to Sydney was everything I wanted it to be," said Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Elliot Jones. "This has been a bucket list item for me for a long time now and to finally come here, see the [Sydney] Opera House, try some new food and have fun with my friends and shipmates, it's truly an experience I'll never forget. I'll have these memories forever."

Talisman Saber is a biennial U.S.-Australia bilateral military exercise that combines a field training exercise and command post exercise to strengthen interoperability and response capabilities to uphold the tenets of the U.S.-Australian alliance.

Bonhomme Richard, flagship of the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group, is operating in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region to enhance partnerships and be a ready-response force for any type of contingency.

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Laboon Visits Wilhelmshaven, Germany

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170705-23

Release Date: 7/5/2017 10:26:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Justin R. DiNiro, USS Laboon (DDG 58) Public Affairs

WILHELMSHAVEN, Germany (NNS) -- Guided-missile destroyer USS Laboon (DDG 58) pulled into Wilhelmshaven, Germany, for a scheduled port visit, July 4.

Laboon, part of the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group (GHWBCSG), is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa.

"This port visit provides us with an opportunity to meet with the people of Wilhelmshaven, and to experience the rich history and culture of Germany," said Commanding Officer Cmdr. Jason Labott. "Port visits such as these strengthen the bonds between the U.S. and our allies and improve international relations. It's really a unique experience for the crew to get a taste of all the wonderful things Germany has to offer and enjoy much deserved liberty."

Following the scheduled port visit, Laboon will continue to operate in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations supporting maritime security operations, and increased theater security cooperation and forward naval presence as part of the GHWBCSG.

GHWBCSG is comprised of the staff of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 2, aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), the nine squadrons and staff of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 22 staff, guided-missile destroyers USS Laboon (DDG 58) and USS Truxtun (DDG 103); and Mayport-based guided-missile cruisers USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) and USS Hue City (CG 66).

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Bonhomme Richard Arrives In Sydney

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170705-03

Release Date: 7/5/2017 8:27:00 AM

From USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) Public Affairs

SYDNEY, Australia (NNS) -- The amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) arrived in Sydney for a scheduled port visit.

Bonhomme Richard departed White Beach, Okinawa at the beginning of June along with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), the amphibious transport dock USS Green Bay (LPD 20) and the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48) as the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG), and has been conducting routine operations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

Bonhomme Richard conducted multiple exercises, drills and training before commencing the biennial exercise Talisman Saber 2017 (TS17) with an at-sea ceremony prior to the ship's arrival.

"The last month has been an exciting time at sea for our blue-green team, working together daily to operating the ship, launch aircraft from deck and LCACs (landing craft air cushion) from the well, and have done it all with the highest degree of teamwork and professionalism," said Capt. Larry McCullen, Bonhomme Richard's commanding officer. "This port visit will be a great opportunity for the crew to enjoy some well-deserved liberty and experience the culture and historic sites of Sydney."

Bonhomme Richard is scheduled to host a big top reception during the visit, as well as participate in local community relation projects. The crew will also have the opportunity to see the area and learn more about the city through several Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) tours.

"I'm ecstatic about going to Sydney," said Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Elliot Jones. "It's been a bucket list item for me for a long time and I'm looking forward to going out and seeing the sites, especially the opera house, trying the food and making some incredible memories. I'm also going to do some shopping for myself and the family back home. I think it's going to be a truly amazing experience."

Talisman Saber is a biennial U.S.-Australia bilateral military exercise that combines a field training exercise and command post exercise to strengthen interoperability and response capabilities to uphold the tenets of the U.S.-Australian alliance.

Bonhomme Richard, flagship of the BHR ESG, is operating in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region to enhance partnerships and be a ready-response force for any type of contingency.

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Transcript

Presenter: Canadian Armed Forces Brigadier General D.J. Anderson, Director of Partner Force Development and Ministerial Liaison Team, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve; Captain Jeff Davis, Director, Defense Press Office July 06, 2017

Department of Defense Press Briefing by Brigadier General Anderson via Teleconference From Iraq

CAPTAIN JEFF DAVIS: So today we're joined by Canadian Armed Forces Brigadier General D.J. Anderson, who I know you've met before on this screen. General Anderson, as you'll recall, is the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve director of force -- partner force development and the ministerial liaison team, also known as the CJ7 in our -- our operational coding of assignments.

General, thank you very much for joining us, our -- our afternoon, your evening in Baghdad. And, sir, we'll turn it over to you for your opening comments.

BRIGADIER GENERAL D.J. ANDERSON: Thank you, Jeff.

And good afternoon, everyone. It's nice to be with many of you again. As Jeff mentioned, I have met some of you.

For those you who I've not spoken with before, I'm Brigadier General Dave Anderson, of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, where I work as the CJ7. And that includes both partner force development and the Canadian-led Ministerial Liaison Team, or MLT for short.

Essentially, on behalf of the commanding general, Lieutenant General Townsend, I'm responsible for staff oversight of the train and equip enterprise for our partner forces to build enduring and self-sustaining capability.

I've been with the coalition for just shy of 14 months now, and I have seen the incredible transformation of the Iraqi Security Forces and our partner forces in Syria, and how the fight against ISIS has evolved and accelerated in both countries.

Much of this progress has been possible due to our close collaboration with the government of Iraq and our international partners. Today, in my final briefing to you, I'll first provide you with a quick operational overview as what is -- of what is happening in Mosul and Raqqa, a review of our assistance to our partner forces, and then dig a little bit deeper into the efforts of the Ministerial Liaison Team. This will provide you with an overview of what we've accomplished to help defeat ISIS.

Our partner force in Raqqa, the Syrian Democratic Forces, have just completed the first month of offensive operations to defeat ISIS in their self-declared capital. The SDF have taken about 45 square kilometers of ground from ISIS in and around the city of Raqqa this past week. On Monday night, the SDF gained a foothold into the old city of Raqqa by breaching the ancient al-Rafiqa Wall, and they are now progressively pushing further into the city.

The SDF are exerting pressure on ISIS from four different fronts throughout the city. With a push to the east along the southern portion of the Euphrates River, ISIS is now completely encircled by SDF forces.

The fight in Raqqa is going well, but we know there will be tough days ahead. However, I'm confident that our partner forces are up to the task.

Moving on to Mosul, the Iraq Security Forces have pushed into the final 500-meter pocket of ISIS-held ground in the old city. Iraq forces are within sight of the Tigris River from the west, and are facing an enemy on its absolutely last legs.

The imminent liberation of Mosul rids Iraq of ISIS and sets conditions for political reconciliation. The coalition's role in preparing for what comes after ISIS is to train and equip hold forces and wide-area security forces so stabilization can occur, which leads me into the role of the Ministerial Liaison Team.

Our partner forces have done some extraordinary work by any measure. They have liberated nearly 2 million Iraqis from the yolk of a truly evil and oppressive enemy. They have taken back over 70 percent of the terrain once held by ISIS. And in the face of determined resistance, they have -- have -- they have placed relentless pressure on Daesh.

The coalition is here to support our partner forces in the defeat of ISIL. This support not only takes the form of advice and assistance and kinetic elements such as strikes and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, but also is delivered in terms of trading and equipment.

Since its inception, the coalition has trained 106,000 members of the Iraq Security Force, including 4,000 -- 40,000 Iraqi army, 15,000 police, 6,000 border guards, 21,000 Peshmerga, 14,000 from the Counter Terrorism Service, and 9,500 tribal mobilization forces. This year alone, the coalition has delivered weapons -- (inaudible), approximately 900 Humvees, and more than 1,300 support vehicles for 75,000 Iraqi troops and policemen.

In Syria, we have trained over 8,500 members of the SDF. And just this year have delivered weapons and ammunition and over 400 vehicles and personal equipment for over 40,000 troops.

This support is the essence of the by-with-and-through strategy, enabling our partner forces to defeat ISIS.

These forces have liberated more than 4 million civilians throughout Iraq and Syria. They have fought and they have sacrificed dearly, and I honor their martyrs. And I am -- and more importantly, I am confident that they will win this fight.

I have another hat, the director of the Canadian-led Ministerial Liaison Team. Our task is to provide advice, assist -- and assistance and act as a liaison in order to enable the successful execution of the campaign plan and set the conditions for an enduring and sustainable Iraqi Security Force.

Specifically, we work with the Ministries of Interior, Defense, Peshmerga and Health, as well as with the national security adviser and the prime minister's National Operations Center. This is achieved with a team of 13 colonels from eight different countries: a true coalition effort.

In January, the MLT assisted the Iraqi minister of interior in preparing a two-year plan for restoring readiness in liberated provinces. And that was successfully delivered to the Iraqi prime minister for endorsement, and we are now midway through implementing that plan.

We're also currently working on a two-year plan for the Ministry of Defense. And we continue to make great gains in the realms of intelligence, logistics, counter-IED and communications.

A recent milestone occurred just earlier this week when the MLT divested the first of 100 police-presence-in-a-box packages, which are essentially temporary stations that provide a local police force with the equipment necessary to establish themselves in areas where ISIS has destroyed their infrastructure.

The equipment from this project arrives in a shipping container, and includes a tent with a large working space, furniture, lighting, water tanks, laptops, phones, GPS, weapons storage, checkpoint equipment, and two land cruisers; in essence, everything they need to set up a visible presence. The contents can be unpacked and set up quickly to allow the police to immediate begin serving their citizens.

The delivery of the first of the 100 containers will roll out over this summer. And this initiative will be followed by a border-guard-in-a-box project that will enable a similar capability for Iraq's Border Service.

An effective and credible police and civil defense structure is imperative in order to make the transition from the current green, or army, policing to true blue policing based on the model of intelligence-led community-based policing, which is the future.

In closing, I'd like to thank our partner forces and our international partners for their incredible hard work and dedication during my tenure here.

At the same time, I need to acknowledge the professionalism and bravery of all the members of the Iraqi Security Forces and our partner forces who are taking the fight to a truly evil and increasingly desperate organization. As I've said before and will say today for the last time, it's been an absolute honor to play a small part in their effort.

Truly the transformation I've witnessed has been impressive as our partners in Iraq and Syria have achieved an astounding reversal since 2014 when ISIS seized key terrain in Syria and Iraq. I leave theater noting that the fight is not yet over, yet ISIS has been all but vanquished from its holdings and of course laying the groundwork that prevents the ISIS -- the rise of ISIS 2.0 remains of critical importance.

Thank you. I'll now take your questions.

CAPT. DAVIS: Sure. We'll start with Lita Baldor of the Associated Press.

Q: Hi, General. Thanks so much.

A couple of quick questions on Mosul.

Can you give at least an estimate of the number of civilians you think remain in the city, as well as the number of ISIS that remain in the city at this point in that small area?

And then secondly, as you look ahead to a hold force, what role is the U.S. going to play in helping the Iraqis hold the city at least for the near future?

GEN. ANDERSON: So, Lita, I'll answer your second question first, which is, what role will the U.S. play in helping the hold forces?

It's the U.S. and the entire coalition that will assist. In essence, we've already trained and equipped the hold force that's there. It's predominantly based around local police -- and by local, I mean policemen from -- from Anbar -- reinforced of course by the Iraqi army.

We will continue to provide advice and assistance as we have been doing in eastern Mosul and will do so in western Mosul as they assist in holding and establishing some sort of stability so that there's security for the citizens.

As to the specific numbers of the civilians and the military -- and military that are still in the remaining, you know, 500 square meter pocket, it's hard for me to give you the -- the exact numbers, because it's -- the pocket is shrinking so quickly.

And to be honest with you, I'm here less focused on the operational piece than I am on what got us there and what we've got to do next.

Q: And can you say how many ISIS are remaining, do you think?

GEN. ANDERSON: I actually don't know. I'm actually the wrong guy to -- wrong guy to ask. The spokesman is a great guy to ask, and as I understand it, he'll be in -- he'll be in Washington next week. No doubt by the time he's in Washington next week there'll be no ISIL remaining, because there'll be no 500 square meters still being held.

CAPT. DAVIS: OK. Kristina Wong of Breitbart?

Q: Hi, General. Thanks for doing this.

You mentioned great gains with the Iraqi forces in building their own logistics capability, ISR and -- and other things. Where exactly are they in doing that? And how long will they need coalition support, enabling support for that?

GEN. ANDERSON: Thanks, Kristina. That's a great question.

They've actually come an extraordinarily long way in their ability to self-sustain. And that does include things like, as you pointed out, logistics and -- and ISR.

They are a completely different army than they were in 2014. That's absolutely evident to anybody that works with them. Part of that is because of the great work of the coalition, in terms of training them and preparing them for this fight, this long slog in my time, Ramadi, Fallujah, and then up through Qayyarah West and into Mosul. So a lot of work is done to prepare them for that.

In that, they've had to learn to do what for them is expeditionary logistics. I had one senior Iraqi tell me that projecting logistics to Mosul is -- for us is the same thing as the Brits projecting logistics to the Falklands. That's how far away it is in terms of their normal set, because normally they do regionally based operations. They've learned quickly, they've learned well, and have been able to sustain their own forces with some assistance from us, in what has been a pretty long and grueling fight.

So, very impressed with where they've -- where they've gone with that. They do have some -- some pretty good ISR capability of their own, and increasingly, they're using it to enable their operations on top of the ISR obviously that we have for them. So on the whole, it's a good news story.

How long do we have to be here? We'll be here as long as we need to be here. Our mission is to make sure that they -- it's a self-sustaining force, and a self-sustaining force means that its able to train itself, it's able to feed itself and its able to fight by itself.

We're well on our way to achieving that -- Kristina.

Q: And then secondly, could you talk a little bit more about this police in a box -- force-in-a-box concept?

GEN. ANDERSON: Absolutely, happy to do so. So, the vast majority of the infrastructure, particularly the security infrastructure in -- in Nineveh province has been destroyed by ISIS. It's really important to the people of Mosul, the Moslawis to -- to have a sense of normalcy, and nothing says normal like a policeman. And it -- and it's important psychologically as well as in terms of actual security, but there's nowhere for them to go and set up; their buildings have been destroyed, or they need to be cleared. And so the idea was to establish -- give them the capability in all five of the liberated provinces -- or recently liberated provinces to establish a visible police presence as soon as possible.

So the idea came up during a workshop with about 70 Iraqi senior policemen, and we were talking about how to do that. Infrastructure takes a long time to build, and so we considered the idea of something that was temporary and relocatable.

So inside what is in essence a freshly painted (inudible) with "Iraqi Police" painted on the side, is everything they need to set up a police station. So that includes the barriers around the station, if required, to defend themselves, the ability to conduct checkpoints, but also a large enough tent -- that's 20 by 30 meters -- to enable them to conduct police business with separate areas for investigations, and for even the police station commander to have a place to work.

The idea is that they can get in there very quickly within a day, everything that's in the box -- everything they require is in the box. That includes power. That includes white and gray water takes, the whole nine yards. It's all there so that they can set up as quickly as possible.

I presided over the ceremonial divestiture of the first box earlier this week, and the Iraqis are very, very excited by this. It enables them to get their presence there that much quicker.

CAPT. DAVIS: Zach Biggs of Jane's Defense.

Q: Thanks.

General, so you talked quite a bit about the efforts to get the Iraqi Police force up and running in the reclaimed territory, but can you tell us what has been done in terms of training the SDF for holding and policing territory that's claimed in Syria? What -- what sort of training, what sort of equipment is being dedicated towards their ability to maintain security in the territory claimed in Syria once that process has been achieved?

GEN. ANDERSON: So, the SDF is -- in essence, the clearance force and, if you will, the hold force; it's not the police force at all. But we anticipate -- we have anticipated the requirement, and so have the SDF.

And so, for instance in the Raqqa area, we're already starting to work on something that's called the Raqqa Internal Security Force. And this will be locals that will work for the Raqqa Council. So it'll work for local governance, and they'll be ready to establish that policing function, if you will, that safety and security element.

So this is about anticipating that requirement. So that's a pretty good job of prediction.

It's a little bit more difficult in Syria, as you can imagine, than it is in Iraq, because we're not dealing with a government and established structures, and so we have to be a little bit inventive.

But this is a great idea that the SDF has come up with, and we'll assist them in the training and preparation work for what's known as the RISF, or the Raqqa Internal Security Force.

Q: Just to follow up, do you have any sense as to how many people are going to need to be trained for that Internal Raqqa Security Force?

You said there'd be 8,500 SDF that have been trained by the coalition. Is it a similar number for the number that'll be needed to police the territory for the Internal Security Force, or are we talking a smaller group?

GEN. ANDERSON: Yes, it'll be a smaller number and we're going to have to build this as we go, and that's something that we've learned. So the order of magnitude is certainly much smaller than the overall SDF.

Think in the order of tens of hundreds, is probably the best way to think of it.

CAPT. DAVIS: Sagar Engetti, Daily Caller.

Q: Thank you for doing this, general.

So, since NATO joined the anti-ISIS coalition in May, what specific contributions have you seen in the alliance towards the training effort in the fight against ISIS, and what role do you forecast for the alliance going forward?

GEN. ANDERSON: Yes, that's a -- that's a great question.

So, when NATO joined to coalition, it actually joined the grander coalition. And so if you will, they joined Special Presidential Envoy McGurk's coalition as opposed to Lieutenant General Townsend's coalition.

And that's an important distinction. Having said that here on the ground, there is a NATO training and capability building mission in Iraq that has just stood up. It's quite small and modest right now, with a focus on a few key areas, counter-I.D. training, civil military cooperation training, some help with security sector reform, civil preparedness, some very, very specific medical training, and it's for evacuation, and offered to provide some teams that can assist with instructing maintenance on former Warsaw pact vehicles.

That's a small, modest but very much required contribution. We've been working very closely with NATO to make sure that it's complimentary to what the larger coalition is doing. This is designed to be small to start with, in accordance with the mandate that NATO has provided for this mission. It may grow over time. That's NATO's decision to make. It's certainly not ours.

So far, the elements we have on the ground are having good effect, and the idea is to have a small initial footprint here and to fly over the trainers as they're required.

In fact, it's something that we're considering doing, and in fact, we will do, in the coalition, writ large, over the coming year.

Q: Just a quick follow up: How many NATO personnel are involved in this mission?

GEN. ANDERSON: Right now, that are permanently based here, it's, if I remember correctly, it's three civilians and it's four military. But those are senior guys that are -- that make sure that they're developing the right kind of capability.

So they -- NATO has conducted I believe three counter-IED courses so far and are betting ready to do the fourth one. So for that, they would bring over a training team of 10 to 15 soldiers that would be able to produce that. They deliver the training and then they go back. This is sort of an expeditionary training model, if you will.

Q: Great. Thanks.

CAPT. DAVIS: Carlo Munoz of the Washington Times.

Q: Hey, sir, thanks for doing this.

Quick question, going on your focus on local police for the hold force and to kind of foster stability in Mosul once the fight is done. I know this is a bit of apple-and-oranges, but in Afghanistan we saw the local police actually in some instances cause more trouble than actually did cause -- have a positive effect, you know, when they reverted back to either tribal, sectarian, ethnic sort of -- (inaudible), as opposed to the central government.

How are you guys attempting to address that issue, especially in a place like Nineveh province which is, from what I understand, one of the most ethnically and -- ethnically and diverse areas in northern Iraq? And I have a follow up.

GEN. ANDERSON: OK, so there's a couple of ways in which we address that.

First of all is with training. So the training that we provide for the policemen, conducted predominantly by Task Force Carabinieri, the Italian national police, but assisted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Czechs so far, is designed to teach them how to be true policemen. And we've adopted the model of community-based, intelligence-led policing.

And that is one way to make that cultural change, the idea being if you can touch a third of a police force with this kind of training, you will have affected 100 percent change. And so we continue to do that.

But another part of it is in fact that Iraq is not Afghanistan in so many ways, and I -- and I did serve in Afghanistan. It's a different problem set. And you're right, when you characterize it as apples and oranges, because it absolutely is.

What's different here is that Iraq was invaded. It was invaded by, in essence, a foreign army that seized terrain. And the Iraqi security forces have done an incredible job of pushing back what is in essence a conventional -- a conventional military threat.

So, this is liberation of their own citizens that have been under the yoke of oppression from Daesh for close to two pretty horrific years. And so that changes the mind set as well. So we're actually quite positive that we're headed in the right direction with the police.

The other thing as well is that we're not just training, as they call them, the shurta, the policemen themselves, but we're providing training in terms of leadership. And I have sensed in my dealings, and I deal a lot with the Ministry of Interior and a lot of senior policemen. But they understand the requirement -- the number one requirement for policing is respect. And that's not that the police are respected. That's that the citizens are respected by the police. And I sense that they truly understand that.

Q: Thanks, sir. And a quick followup.

When you first came on board, you said that you were still trying to kind of get your hands around the training curriculum, how much should be focused on actual sort of -- actual stability operations versus counterterrorism, counter-insurgency operations, which is where Daesh seems to be going after they lose a lot of territory in both Iraq and Syria.

Now at the tail-end of your assignment, sir, do you think you've got that balance down? And if you do, can you kind of explain how that is broken down versus how much emphasis you're putting on conventional stability versus counterterrorism, counter-insurgency?

GEN. ANDERSON: It's a fair question. So, first of all, things won't unfold in a sequential manner. There's no monolithic element of Iraq. And so in some places, there's still Daesh -- Daesh 1.0. They're holding ground. They're holding terrain and they need to be defeated in the conventional sense. In other places, they've already reverted into a terrorist-insurgent organization.

And so there's a requirement for the two types of skill sets. In the beginning 14 months ago, the work was actually to take the Iraqi army, which had been optimized for counter-insurgency and re-optimized for conventional -- conventional operations. Clearly, we did a good job of that because they have been performing spectacularly out in the field.

They have done some things that Western armies train for and talk about, but actually haven't had a chance to do, like clear a city of a million people; like conduct opposed river crossings with mechanized forces. It's been very, very, very impressive to watch.

The challenge now is to make sure that we have an opportunity to -- to ensure that they remember, or that we refine their wide-area security operations skills. And there is a plan to do that, to touch the brigades again to make sure that we're teaching that so those skills are there.

What's good to know, though, is that it's -- it's easier to go from a force optimized for conventional forces to COIN, than it is the other way around. As most Western armies have actually learned -- have learned over the last 10 to 15 years. So I think that we've developed the right -- the right kind of training.

What's also interesting is that increasingly the Iraqis are valuing training for its own self. So for the value of the training itself as a means to perhaps get better equipment. And so we are currently training a new set of brigades that will be used for follow-on operations after Mosul. And they specifically ask for more -- more advanced training, for some more leadership training, and to train together collectively at the battalion and the brigade level.

So these are all very, very positive signs.

Q: Sorry, just one really quick follow up. You mentioned as the Mosul operation kind of ramps down, you move into the stability, sort of hold phase, the coalition plans to fly in trainers as needed. Is -- do -- is it fair to understand that by flying in the trainers, there will be no more sort of regular deployments of either U.S. or coalition troops for the train, advise and assist mission?

GEN. ANDERSON: Yeah, so we're not there yet, right? So, the fall of Mosul, the inevitable and imminent fall of Mosul does not mean that Daesh is defeated. There are still some conventional battles that have to happen, specifically in Tal Afar, in Hawijah, and in western Anbar, the sequencing of which, of course, will be up to the government of Iraq.

So we're not done yet. So it's not like as soon as Mosul falls, we're downing tools and suddenly focusing on COIN. As I said, the security system is not monolithic in the different provinces. And so we have to reflect that.

We have a good -- we have a good 10-12 months worth of business just to train the next -- the next set of brigades that we're looking at; training and equipping them for follow-on operations. So we'll stay in the business in the manner that we are for a long time.

We have to look forward to how we transition from that, though. If a force is going to be self-sustaining, then the -- the industrial level and basic training needs to be done by the Iraqis themselves. We need to start adding value further up the training value chain, doing more advanced training, which you can actually do with less people.

So I'm talking about a transition that will happen over the next, sort of, six to 18 months or 12 to 18 months as we continue to test and adjust the manner in which we support our partner forces.

The thing about a by-with-and-through in a campaign in a complex theater is that you have to be as adaptable and adaptive as your partner forces and more adaptable than your -- than the threat that you're facing.

CAPT. DAVIS: OK. Elizabeth McLaughlin, ABC News?

Q: (inaudible), General.

Can you talk a little bit about the holding force in East Mosul, any resistance that they've been facing, and kind of what have been some of the issues versus the successes that you've seen there, and then how that gets replicated in West Mosul once the liberation happens?

GEN. ANDERSON: East Mosul is nothing short of a miracle. The -- it's amazing how quickly Moslawis have rebounded their vibrant market life, moving right back into their homes as soon as they were -- as soon as they were cleared. And things are -- things are cooking along really, really well there.

And the hold force has been doing a good job. It's a combination of army and local police but increasing the local police are taking the -- taking the forefront in that.

So we've very -- we've very positive with what's occurred there.

Eastern Mosul and western Mosul are very, very different. Western Mosul is different in its structure and its architecture. It's almost biblical in its architecture. It's very narrow streets. It's very old buildings. ISIS is, as it's got more desperate, has left more of a trail of destruction behind them. And so that will be a different challenge in terms of people coming back to their homes, restoring normalcy, et cetera.

But we have the right hold forces in place. The -- the Iraqis are a learning organization. So they'll take what they learned in Ramada (sic) and Fallujah and eastern Mosul and apply it to western Mosul. So I remain really positive about it.

Q: (inaudible) -- total police forces do you anticipate for the entire city?

GEN. ANDERSON: I'm sorry. Can you say that again?

Q: How many total police forces do you anticipate for the city? How many are in -- I know you said it's a combination of army and police forces. So how many, once liberation has occurred, do you anticipate it will take to hold the city total?

GEN. ANDERSON: Yeah, so if we look to the, sort of, end-state, the numbers that we've looked at, they're based on some -- some pretty detailed analysis.

The expectation is that we're going to require about a total of 25,000 police in Nineveh province in order to the job properly. And that's one of the reasons we've trained 6,000 Nineveh policemen in anticipation of that requirement to flesh it out.

Wide-area security, which is something that the Iraqis -- actually is their model for security internally, involves all the forces. So it involves the army, it involves elements of the federal police, the local police which secure the cities, elements of the CTS to conduct counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations, and of course in some of the provinces border guards, as well.

So we think we have it about right. So about 25,000 local police and we've assisted in training 6,000 extra police in order to bring their numbers up.

CAPT. DAVIS: Next to Thomas Watkins of Agence France-Presse.

Q: Hello, General. Thanks for doing this.

You mentioned earlier the Iraqi Security Force -- (inaudible) -- in 2014 and obviously the difficulties are well-documented. Nonetheless, those -- those troops, many of them had had U.S. training from 2008 to 2011. What gives you confidence that things will turn out differently three years -- four years down the road, in this instance?

Again, they've had coalition training. How can you be confident that they're not just going to -- you know, things aren't going to go awry a second time?

GEN. ANDERSON: No, it's a -- it's actually a very fair question.

So, there's a couple of things.

One is -- is that Iraq now is not the Iraq of 2008 to 2011. Had a very senior Iraqi tell me that, "We're an ancient society and a brand new country; born in 2012, we've had a near-death experience in 2014." And that's actually a good lens through which to look at it.

So it's almost unfair to compare Iraq now to Iraq pre-2012, to be -- to be honest with you.

But as -- and as I said before, the -- the Iraqi Security Forces are being optimized for a specific threat, which was to conduct counterinsurgency. Then they faced a completely different threat, which was to be invaded by -- by a massive army that holds ground.

So we've re-optimized them for that. And, as I said, we'll make sure that they still have their COIN skills for the inevitable defeat of Daesh in its 1.0 version to make sure that they can -- they can also defeat it in its 2.0 version.

Q: OK. Had just a follow-up.

At the very top -- I'm sorry, I missed it but I think you said that IS is on its very last legs. Was that a reference to just in Mosul?

GEN. ANDERSON: Well, they're certainly on their last legs on a -- in -- in Mosul. I think in -- in general, they -- they are. We -- we can feel it, the pressure has been pretty relentless on them, with Mosul about to fall, Raqqa completely isolated, with them having lost 70 percent of the terrain that they seized at their high water mark, if -- if not more, with 2 million of the people that they had under their oppression since liberated.

So I think that's -- I think that it's fair to characterize that as on their last legs.

We've certainly -- we've certainly maintained the pressure on them. The Iraqi Security Forces and our partners in Syria have been nothing short of amazing in their ability to continue to keep the pressure on -- on ISIL to the point where it's -- it's incapable of reinforcing from one side to another. The simultaneity of this has been pretty -- pretty awesome.

CAPT. DAVIS: Next to Travis Tritten of the Washington Examiner.

Q: Thank you, General.

I had a question on the police- and border-guards-in-a-box. How many total shipping containers will the -- will there be, including both police and border guards? Is this something the United States is funding? And what is the total cost of the program?

GEN. ANDERSON: Yes, great question.

So, a police-in-a-box or a border-in-a-box literally uses one box. So right now the plan is to purchase -- we have already purchased a hundred police-in-a-box and we're in the process of purchasing a hundred. In essence, what they are is purpose-built or ready -- ready-to-establish border guard posts. So it's a hundred -- hundred each. Each of them come -- come with vehicles.

The order of magnitude is about -- to -- to purchase a hundred of either variant is -- is $25 million. That has been purchased with the Iraq Train and Equip Fund, which is the same fund that we use for supporting all of our partner forces. Iraq Train and Equip Fund in Iraq and the Syrian Train and Equip Fund in Syria, now known as the Counter-ISIS Train and Equip Fund, the CTEF. And I manage that on behalf of the C.G. day to day. Nothing short of an extraordinary ability to respond very quickly to emerging demands.

So yes, it's been -- it's been U.S. funds through ITEF that will pay for the police-in-a-box and border guard-in-a-box.

Q: So that's $50 million for 200 total containers?

GEN. ANDERSON: So, I wouldn't characterize it as $50 million for 200 containers. I'd characterize it as $25 million to establish 100 police stations. And that is definitely a bargain. And $25 million is to -- $25 million to help reestablish a border between two countries, which is also pretty -- pretty substantial.

Q: Thank you.

CAPT. DAVIS: Next to Corey Dickstein, Stars and Stripes.

Q: Travis actually took most of my questions, but let me -- let me just kind of follow up on his, though. You said that the first one -- the first police station-in-a-box had been delivered. Was that in Mosul? I might have missed that.

And then the 100 for the police, are those all going to Mosul? Or are those going across different liberated areas of Iraq?

GEN. ANDERSON: Right. So, the -- the first one -- it was a ceremony of divestiture, but it's not really because we delivered it at the training institute at the Ministry of the Interior, and we have the second one at what we call Camp Dublin, which is another police training institute.

This is so we can train policemen on how to work the box. And while we're at it, it gives us an opportunity to give them some additional training on two things: how to run a local police station and the law of armed conflict. So that gives us that opportunity.

The -- the scheme of maneuver right now is 10 to each of the recently liberated provinces. And then the remaining 50 we're working with the Ministry of the Interior to determine where it fits with their priorities as the security situation unfolds. So the initial plan is 10 in each of the recently liberated provinces. So that's Nineveh, Kirkuk, Saladin, Diyala and Anbar.

Q: And then for the -- (inaudible) -- that go to the border guard, is it the same basic outfit, I guess, inside of each of these boxes? And then another question on the border guard. You said, I think, you trained 6,000. How many border guards do you -- eventually do you need trained? And are they only going to be on the Syria-Iraq border? Or are they going to deploy elsewhere?

GEN. ANDERSON: Right. So the -- the border guard or border post is slightly different. It has slightly different equipment and needs to be defensible, and so it has more defensive stores. It has a tented design -- designed to be the tent in which the platoon would live out of. The container, if you will, serves as an elevated platform for observation along the border. So that's kind of the scheme of maneuver. It still have vehicles, much like the police one does, to enable local patrolling.

And yes, we've trained 6,000 so far, trained and equipped. We're very much focused on the 2nd Division. The 2nd Division is a division of five brigades that is responsible for the Iraq and Syria border. We're about to receive the last two battalions of that division into training. Once we've done that, we will have trained and equipped that entire -- that entire division.

The -- our priority is the priority of the Iraqi government. And the government of Iraq needs to reestablish its border with Iraq and Syria. Its other borders are intact, so that's not -- that's not surprising. And we'll make sure that that's the border that they're able to reestablish and defend as soon as possible.

Just a reminder, the border guards are not responsible for defending the territorial integrity of the country. That's the army's job. The border guards' job is to in essence defend the economic integrity of the border, so countering smuggling and, of course, low-scale raids and counterinsurgent or terrorist movements.

So I think we've got them set up in the right way to do that, specifically in the -- in the terrain that has yet to be liberated along the Iraq-Syria border.

CAPT. DAVIS: OK. Jack Detch.

Q: Thank you so much, General.

One question on Turkey. It seems that Turkish President Erdogan said yesterday that he didn't have confidence that the arms supplied the SDF from the U.S. and the coalition would be returned. Have you had any discussions with the SDF or just has there been -- have there been any discussions about how that security assistance might be returned?

GEN. ANDERSON: Right. So we're focused right now, obviously, on an appropriate number for the fight. We understand the policy and the intent, and we're working to make sure that we're able to comply with that.

But the key thing is to, for now, is to enable the fighters to complete their tasks. The SDF has done some extraordinary work. They really have. And they've done it -- they've done it very, very well. They've done it quickly. They've done it with a high degree of inventiveness.

We understand the follow-on requirements. And I know that the SDF is aware of those requirements. And we'll continue to work that. This is a trusted partner force and it's trusted for a reason. They've done exactly -- every single time, they've done exactly what they said they would do.

Q: OK. And then just a quick follow up on Iraq, actually. DOD said that the Iraqi Counterterrorism Service sustained 40 percent loss in combat power in Mosul. I'm curious how the coalition might rebuild that force and what capabilities might be hardest hit.

GEN. ANDERSON: So, it's a very timely question. I just finished attending a one-day summit on the CTS and what they look like in the future and how they go through both refit and re-set. The Counterterrorism Service has done some truly extraordinary work, and they've taken the brunt of the fighting in -- in almost every single scenario.

We're well aware of the fact that there is a requirement for some -- for some refit and re-set. The mechanism is in place to assist them with training through their training pipeline. The key thing is that they're able to maintain the training pipeline without lowering their standards.

The CTS is a world-class counterterrorism service and is doing some pretty extraordinary work. Have they been bloodied? Yes, they absolutely have. But they've been doing it in a -- for a truly righteous cause and we know that, and we have managed to keep them in the fight. They have exactly the same amount of equipment now as they did when they started the fight in Mosul, which has not been easy to do, and acknowledge that they have taken an awful lot of casualties.

They're very dedicated, though, and they've made sure that they've been able to keep the fighting forces there. So we have a pretty good plan in place to assist them in refitting and re-setting themselves.

CAPT. DAVIS: OK. Next to Jeff Seldin, Voice of America.

Q: General, thanks very much.

I wanted to get back to what you were talking about with the policing and the intelligence-based policing.

What type of intelligence are you teaching these Iraqi forces to collect? And how widely is it going to be disseminated or distributed whether within Iraq or even beyond, relationships with Interpol? Any use of biometrics with any of the stuff they're collecting, given the concerns about the ongoing -- (inaudible) -- ISIS in 2.0 form?

GEN. ANDERSON: Yes, so, intelligence-led policing is something that we're all familiar with because our communities use it and our policemen use it. So the idea is that it's not just running around looking for bad guys. You're actually being targeted towards bad buys, in this case, I mean criminals.

But you -- you have teased at another -- another area, which is intelligence writ large. So, we are doing a lot of work to try and assist the Iraqis and the Iraqi security forces in developing a more synchronized intelligence system. There are different types of intelligence. There's criminal intelligence. There's national intelligence. There's domestic intelligence.

And -- and it's not even -- it's not easy even in our own countries to make sure that that's properly shared and adequately shared and that the mechanisms and the policies are in place for that. So we're working with them to make sure that that's the case.

On the criminal intelligence side, we need to make sure that criminal and technical intelligence leads to things like warrant-based counterterrorism operations by the CTS, as well as enforcement of law and order right on the street in towns around Iraq. So I think we're on the right track with this.

Q: Has there been any talk about, you know, plugging them into the Interpol system so that if there are guys who are terrorists, that try and move across borders, that they can share that information with coalition partner forces and coalition countries?

GEN. ANDERSON: Yeah, there's information sharing and intelligence sharing arrangements between Iraq and many of its partner -- partner countries that it works with, including -- including the U.S. And we are working to enable them to better manage biometric information, to reestablish some capability that was here before that no longer is.

So we're working through all of that piece. We understand that it's a transnational threat. The Iraqis understand that as well. So as we develop their capability to share internally, it does -- none of that will get in the way of their ability to share with their partners. And we have those -- we have those relationships in place.

Q: Thank you.

CAPT. DAVIS: Carlo Munoz, I think you had a follow up.

Q: Yes. I just wanted to follow up on Corey's question about the border force and this border in a box. Are there any plans to deploy any of these borders in a box to the contested areas near At-Tanf? And if so, are there any elements within the training curriculum for the border police to address the possibility of forces crossing over from Syria into Iraq?

GEN. ANDERSON: So, the entire border needs to be established, so -- reestablished, cleared and reestablished. So, right now the border guards can and do, in fact, through some recent operations, they do control both the Waleed and the Turaybil crossings. So that's good. That's a good start.

Specific training for -- for counter-border operations. I mean, the border guards are there specifically to give indications of threats and warnings to the territorial integrity of Iraq. And that's a -- that's a matter of relations between Iraq and Syria. And Prime Minister Abadi has made that pretty clear.

What we're doing is providing them with them with the capability and the capacity to fulfill their function, which is to be able to protect the in -- the economic integrity and cue forces predominately from the army that are there to defeat any threat to the territorial integrity to the country.

CAPT. DAVIS: OK. Any other questions folks? Any other thoughts?

All right, General. And with that, we appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. Do you have any final words for us, sir, before we sign off?

GEN. ANDERSON: Yes, thanks for -- thanks for putting me through the fire one more time. I now have two Pentagon press corps conferences under my belt.

But on a more -- on a more somber note, I have been incredibly moved by the passion and dedication of the senior Iraqis I've met. I've met an inordinate number of Iraqi nationals and nationalists who believe in Iraq for Iraqis. And they've caused me to believe in that too.

And I honor their martyrs and the hard work that they go through. And I wish the Iraqi Security Forces and the people of Iraq, and indeed the people of Syria, all the best.

Thanks a lot.

CAPT. DAVIS: Thank you, General. We look forward to seeing you back on this continent and having a Tim Horton's with you.

(Laughter.)

God speed to you.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1239622/

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Military Strikes Target ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, July 7, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 29 strikes consisting of 40 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 22 strikes consisting of 28 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, two strikes destroyed 14 ISIS construction items and three oil storage tanks.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, 11 strikes destroyed 35 ISIS oil refinement stills, 14 construction items, 10 oil trucks, three oil storage tanks and three wellheads.

-- Near Raqqa, nine strikes engaged nine ISIS tactical units and destroyed seven fighting positons, an ISIS headquarters and a vehicle bomb.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of 12 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Baghdad, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a supply cache.

-- Near Mosul, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units, destroyed a fighting position, damaged a fighting position, and suppressed a mortar system.

-- Near Rawah, two strikes destroyed an ISIS-held building and a tactical vehicle.

July 5 Strikes

Additionally, six strikes were conducted in Syria and Iraq on July 5 that closed within the last 24 hours:

-- On July 5 near Kisik, Iraq, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and a sniper team.

-- On July near Raqqa, Syria, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions, a sniper position and a heavy machine gun.

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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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Transcript

Presenter: Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis; United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defense Sir Michael Fallon July 07, 2017

Remarks by Secretary Mattis at an Honor Cordon Welcoming U.K. Secretary of State for Defense Fallon to the Pentagon

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JIM MATTIS: Sir Michael, Ambassador, ladies and gentlemen of the delegation, it's great to have you here. You're always welcome here, as you know. Your ideas are welcome here.

In that regard, it's good to host you so soon after the Brussels ministerial. Minister -- Secretary, as you wrote -- I loved the article that you had in the paper. You wrote so eloquently in the Daily Telegraph -- I think it -- it was only about 10 days ago that it was in there -- about the values that our nations share being not tradeable. I thought that was a very concise way to sum up so much of what we stand for, and also what we stand against.

Your people have long defended them, often against great odds, often at terrible cost, and that's from Waterloo to El Alamein and a hundred other places. And I would just say that you've fought courageously for freedom over all those years, and some things are enduring in this world.

And, ladies and gentlemen, it's hard to find a stronger bond between two nations, or one with greater significance for freedom and peace. And I would also say that the special relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. -- we're joined by 200 years in those values; 200 years of shared values, of ordered liberty, of respect for human dignity and regard for basic political freedoms.

And I would also point out that the special relationship is not a historic artifact. In fact, it's highly relevant for the times we're in. And as a member of the Security Council, Britain has shown unity in condemning the North Korean regime for its repeated violation, to show that it still plays today just as relevant as ever.

I hold enormous respect for your country, for what you've done to bring stability to the international community and for your role in providing security to Afghanistan, as you uplifted your numbers, here, in accordance with the reality on the ground.

And we in the Department Of Defense are proud to stand alongside you, shoulder to shoulder in our shared fight against threats to freedom. And close cooperation between the United Kingdom and the United States preserved freedom in the last century, and that cooperation is vital to ensuring its survival in this century.

So, today, Secretary Fallon, you and I will continue our long-running conversation, now, and we welcome your views as a trusted ally as we develop further our own national defense strategy at this time.

So, Secretary Fallon, ladies and gentlemen, Ambassador, you're welcome, we're honored to have you. And a few words, Secretary?

SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE SIR MICHAEL FALLON: Well, Secretary Mattis, a pleasure for me to return to Washington for what I believe will be our -- already our sixth meeting.

SEC. MATTIS: Yes.

SEC. FALLON: We have a huge amount to discuss this morning, but I think three areas in particular will dominate. First, the need to tackle current security threats. Our world is becoming darker. The dangers are increasing from North Korea, whose recent provocation underscored the need to impose a higher price on this rogue regime, a problem that is not just the United States' alone, but a problem for us all; Islamist terror at home and abroad, as we've seen in our own country; and Russian aggression in Eastern Europe and the increase in cyber warfare.

Second, the importance of strengthening Euro-Atlantic security: These growing dangers pile pressure on our rules-based international system, so we need to do more to strengthen NATO, the bedrock of our defense -- not just upping spending, but making the alliance more agile and more capable of tackling dangers from all directions.

And third and finally, the necessity of deepening our own defense ties. I am very conscious that it was 100 years ago that the United States entered the Great War alongside Britain. Today, we remain your strongest ally, collaborating on everything from operations to intelligence, from the nuclear deterrent to the F-35 fighter aircraft.

But an uncertain world must bind us even closer. And with our orders now for maritime patrol aircraft and Apache helicopters, and our aircraft carrier now undergoing sea trials, there are huge opportunities for further cooperation between our militaries.

Mr. Secretary, let me assure you that, post-election, Britain has a strong government and a steadfast commitment to defense. Having delivered on our promises to meet the 2 percent target and to build the new ships and planes and tanks that our armed forces require, we will continue stepping up, thinking always globally.

As America, under your new president, faces the great challenges of tomorrow, Britain will remain by your side, ceaselessly confronting aggression and relentless in the fight for peace.

Thank you.

SEC. MATTIS: Thank you, Secretary.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for coming up. Appreciate it.

Q: Quick question on North Korea for both of you.

You've seen the missile. What is your assessment on the capability of the North Koreans, on the status of their ability to put a warhead -- nuclear warhead on that missile?

SEC. MATTIS: We're still analyzing the latest tests at this time, so I don't want to speculate or mislead you at this point. Obviously they are continuing to mature a threat in violation of the United Nations, and that's the way we look at it. But right now, I can't give you a specific on that.

Thank you very much.

Q: Mr. Secretary, Mr. Secretary, do you believe that diplomacy can stop further North Korea missile testing? Or should we anticipate another test in the near future?

SEC. MATTIS: You'll have to -- as far as another test in future, you'll have to ask people in Pyongyang about that. However, this is a diplomatically led international effort to stop a worldwide threat that they are bringing to bear.

So it is led by diplomacy right now. There are United Nations efforts under way, as you're aware -- certainly, our secretary of state. And we also see economic aspects to the diplomatic effort to divert them from this wrong path.

Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen -- we've got some work to do. Thank you for coming up.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1240635/

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China opposes show of force after US bombers' S. China Sea flyover

People's Daily Online

(CNTV) 18:45, July 07, 2017

China opposes the use of freedom of navigation and overflight as an excuse to show off military muscle, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Friday, after two US bombers flew over the South China Sea.

"China resolutely opposes individual countries using the banner of freedom of navigation and overflight to flaunt military force and harm China's sovereignty and security," Geng Shuang said at a daily briefing.

Before returning to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the two US B-1Bs Lancers proceeded to the South China Sea after a joint drill with two Japanese jet fighters on Thursday night over the neighboring East China Sea.

A US Air Force statement claimed the two bombers flew over the South China Sea to "exercise the rights of freedom of navigation" which was in line with the "long-standing and well-known US freedom of navigation policies."

Two US Air Force bombers also flew over the South China Sea from Guam last month. Last week, a US warship sailed in China's territorial waters off the Xisha Islands in what the Foreign Ministry described as a "serious political and military provocation."

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Putin, Trump talk various issues in 1st first face-to-face meeting

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 7, 2017 6:27PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump have held their first meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany, and reportedly exchanged viewpoints on a host of international problems and bilateral issues.

Sitting next to Putin on the sidelines of the economic summit in the northern German city of Hamburg on Friday, Trump voiced optimism that there would be "very positive things" in store for the relations between Washington and Moscow, and that it was "an honor" to be with Putin.

"We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia and the United States," Trump said.

The US president did not provide any further details about the array of issues he and the Russian leader had conferred, simply terming them as "various things."

Putin, speaking to reporters through a translator, stated that he had discussed the foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, clashes in eastern Ukraine as well as fight against terrorism with Trump.

The Russian president went on to say that cyber security was also among topics he talked with his US counterpart.

The White House said in advance that the meeting was initially planned to last for 35 minutes, but it extended well beyond that and clocked in at two hours and 16 minutes.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were also present at the meeting.

Earlier in the day, Putin had said that face-to-face meetings between Russian and US leaders were essential in case Moscow and Washington wanted to sort out critical issues together.

"Phone conversations are never enough definitely," Putin said. "If you want to have a positive outcome in bilateral ties and be able to resolve most international policy issues, that will really need personal meetings."

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Sinai bombings kill, injure 26 Egyptian soldiers

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 7, 2017 10:16AM

Over two dozen Egyptian soldiers have been killed or wounded in attacks on two security checkpoints in the militancy-riddled Sinai Peninsula.

According to Egyptian security sources, attackers set off their explosive-laden vehicles while driving through the two checkpoints close to each other in the border city of Rafah in northern Sinai on Friday, Reuters reported.

The Egyptian military, meanwhile, said 26 soldiers, including a colonel, were killed or wounded in the two attacks, without giving a breakdown of the figure.

New agencies, however, put the number of fatalities at 10, citing security sources.

One attack, the Associated Press said, had been followed by heavy gunfire from dozens of masked militants on foot.

The Egyptian army said its forces killed at least 40 militants and destroyed six of their vehicles in an operation following the attacks.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Sinai, which is a stronghold of Daesh-affiliated militants.

Militant attacks have killed hundreds of soldiers and police in the vast desert district since 2013.Most recently, a security source said Daesh had staged a bomb attack in Sinai, killing three policemen.

Daesh's Egypt offshoot, known as Velayat Sinai, has also taken on Egypt's Coptic Christian community. About 100 Copts have been killed in its attacks in mainland Egypt since December.

The Egyptian parliament on Tuesday approved President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's decision to extend by three months a state of emergency across the country amid counterterrorism operations in Sinai.

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Putin-Trump Meeting Ends After Extending To More Than Two Hours

RFE/RL July 07, 2017

HAMBURG, Germany -- U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin wrapped up their talks on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, with the meeting extending to more than two hours from a scheduled 35 minutes.

White House officials on July 7 said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who attended the meeting along with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, will likely deliver an off-camera briefing to reporters at some point after the meeting, according to U.S. media reports.

In brief comments to the press before the meeting, Trump, sitting next to Putin, said he was looking forward to a "lot of very positive things" for Moscow and Washington.

Trump said it was "an honor" to meet with his Russian counterpart, while Putin said he was "delighted" to meet the American president.

They did not respond to questions shouted by journalists before leaving to begin their private session.

The meeting, the first face-to-face sit-down between the two men since Trump took office in January, comes amid a deepening crisis in bilateral relations over the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, as well as alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election.

"President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it's going very well," Trump said, adding that the two leaders were "going to have talks now."

The meeting also came as tensions simmered among major industrialized countries meeting in Hamburg, most notably over trade and climate change, and amid street clashes between police and anticapitalist protesters that have rocked the northern port city.

Trump said on Twitter ahead of the talks that he is looking forward to meeting with Putin and other world leaders, adding that there is "much to discuss."

Video footage showed Putin and Trump briefly shaking hands at the G20 venue earlier in the day, with both men smiling and the U.S. president patting Putin on the back.

Trump has repeatedly called for improving ties with Moscow, though his administration has continued to publicly maintain pressure on Russia -- including with sanctions -- over its seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and backing of armed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Trump's administration has also been dogged by the assessment of U.S. intelligence officials that the Kremlin ordered a hacking and propaganda campaign aimed at helping Trump win the 2016 U.S. presidential election -- an allegation the Kremlin denies.

Both the U.S. Congress and the FBI are investigating the alleged hacking and contacts between associates of the U.S. president and Russian officials.

In a speech in Warsaw on July 6 meeting with Putin, Trump called on Russia to "cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere" and stressed Washington's commitment to NATO, which Putin has long accused of stoking tensions in Eastern Europe.

But Trump also downplayed the consensus among U.S. intelligence agencies, and many Republicans and Democrats in Congress, that Moscow actively meddled in the election that he ended up winning.

"Nobody really knows for sure," Trump told a news conference in Warsaw on July 6 when asked about the allegations of Russian interference.

Sitting next to Trump before the press on July 7, Putin noted that while the two leaders had previously spoken by telephone, personal meetings were much more effective in dealing with "sensitive" global issues.

Street Clashes

Outside the G20 venue, clashes between protesters and police continued on the streets of Hamburg, where police said rioters attacked a police station, torched police cars, and attacked security at a hotel where Putin and other foreign leaders were staying.

The local fire brigade reported at least 11 protesters were seriously injured while attempting to flee police by leaping over a fence.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the violent protests aimed at disrupting the summit were "unacceptable."

Hamburg police said a demonstrator also fired a fired a flare gun at a police helicopter, narrowly missing the aircraft.

Police spokesman Andy Grote told reporters on July 7 that 45 protesters had been detained and an additional 15 taken into custody. By the earlier afternoon on July 7, Grote said 160 police officers had been injured during several days of protests -- mostly with minor injuries.

The street demonstrations and violence left U.S. First Lady Melania Trump stranded at her residence in Hamburg on July 7, preventing her from attending an event on climate change for spouses of political leaders.

"The Hamburg police could not give us clearance to leave [the residence]," Trump's spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, was quoted by AFP as saying.

About 13,000 protesters took to the streets on July 6, including about 1,000 black-clad and masked anarchists. Police expect as many as 100,000 protesters to descend on the port city during the weekend summit. Germany has deployed some 20,000 police to provide security.

Trade And Climate Tensions

Meanwhile, tensions continued to simmer among G20 leaders as the first day of the gathering came to an end.

Merkel said nearly all the leaders agreed the need for free and fair trade, but she added that some differences are making difficult the drafting of the summit's final communique.

"On the issue of trade, virtually everyone believes we need free but also fair trade," she said. "However, I can predict that as far as trade is concerned in the communique, the [political aides] have a lot of work ahead of them tonight."

After a July 6 meeting between Merkel and Trump, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said "clear differences" on climate change and trade continued to divide the two allies, though they also found "many commonalities."

"The question is whether the Americans remain convinced that the only thing that counts on global trade is whether America is the winner or not," Gabriel told public broadcaster ARD.

"Or can we manage to convince the Americans that if everyone plays by the same rules, then this will be best for everyone," he said.

The G20 leaders used to routinely issue pledges to fight protectionism, but Trump's "America First" trade policy has hampered consensus among world leaders on globalization and trade since he took office.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters on July 7 that the EU would respond should Washington decide to impose punitive tariffs on steel, although he did not give specifics.

The group appeared unlikely to be able to reach a consensus on climate change as well, as world leaders stepped up pressure on Trump in the wake of his withdrawal from the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

"We are not renegotiating the Paris agreement, that stays. But I want to see the U.S. looking for ways to rejoin it," British Prime Minister Theresa May told the BBC.

Merkel said that "it will be very interesting to see how we formulate the communique tomorrow and make clear that, of course, there are different opinions in this area because the United States of America regrettably...wants to withdraw from the Paris accord."

With reporting by RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak in Hamburg, AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters, and TASS

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/g20-hamburg-protests-riot- police-injuries-anticapitalist/28601139.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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Kosovo's Thaci Looks For 'Comprehensive' Deal With War Foe Serbia

Amra Zejneli July 07, 2017

President Hashim Thaci says that after years of talks, Kosovo and Serbia are entering a "new phase of dialogue" as they look to sign a comprehensive agreement to benefit both countries on the path of European integration.

"The new phase of dialogue foresees the definite ending of this process with a comprehensive, political agreement which will open a safe Euro-Atlantic perspective for Kosovo, so we become a part of NATO and the EU, but will as well speed up the integration process for Serbia," Thaci told RFE/RL's Balkan Service in an interview on July 6.

Thaci and his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, were in Brussels earlier this week, where they held informal meetings with European Union foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini to iron out a path to normalize relations.

Kosovo declared independence without Serbia's consent, and Belgrade and Moscow have yet to recognize it as a separate country. The United States and most of Europe are among the more than 100 countries that recognize Kosovo's independence.

A 2011 EU initiative, however, led to a cooperation framework between the two states.

Several incidents have since undermined that spirit of cooperation, including an incident in January when a train painted in Serbia's national colors and bearing the words "Kosovo is Serbia" turned back before reaching Kosovo, where special police units had been deployed to prevent it from reaching its stated destination, the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo.

Relations have been strained since June 11 elections in Kosovo, a country of 1.8 million people, 90 percent of whom are ethnic Albanian.

Two potential prime ministers, Ramush Haradinaj and Albin Kurti, have said in the past that they don't support the current format of the dialogue.

But Thaci told RFE/RL that he foresees a full normalization of relations between Pristina and Belgrade and reconciliation of their people, including the affirmation of rights of Kosovo Serbs.

"We have to be sincere; we have many open questions between Kosovo and Serbia to discuss and normalize," Thaci said, noting he could not predict how long the final stage of talks would last but saying he didn't think it would be a matter of years.

"We cannot say that we can behave with Serbia as with some other country with which we were not in war. We had a war with Serbia, there was unprecedented violence, but now we have to fix what is fixable," Thaci said. "The world also wants that normalization and reconciliation between Kosovo and Serbia. We cannot go forward with a European future with tense relations."

New Tribunal

Part of any reconciliation includes bringing to justice those accused of war crimes during the 1998-99 conflict that preceded Pristina's declaration of independence.

A new Hague tribunal, called the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, has been set up after pressure from the European Union on the government in Pristina to address alleged war crimes committed against ethnic Serbs by the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK).

The establishment of the tribunal, which will operate under Kosovar law but use international judges and prosecutors, is investigating allegations made in a Council of Europe report that senior UCK commanders ran detention centers after the Kosovo war where Serbs and other civilian captives were killed and their organs sold on the black market.

On the other side, Serbian forces were accused of massacring ethnic Albanian Kosovars in a counterinsurgency campaign before they were driven out by NATO air strikes and the UCK in 1999.

The 48-year-old Haradinaj has been tried and acquitted twice on war crimes charges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, while Thaci has also been implicated in war crimes, though he denies allegations of any wrongdoing.

Thaci told RFE/RL that Kosovo has fulfilled all its political and institutional obligations for the court and that justice should be allowed to run its course.

"I, as a former [prime minister] and former foreign affairs minister, led the process of the creation of the court with the full assurance that it will preserve and cultivate relations with the United States, NATO, and the EU," he said.

"I was aware that this was an unjust, mono-ethnic court, but we had to swallow that for the sake of the Euro-Atlantic perspective and interests of our country and our people."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kosovo-thaci- looks-for-comprehensive-deal- with-war-foe-serbia/28601966.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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Strengthening UN peacekeeping tops agenda as chiefs of defence meet in New York

7 July 2017  In the ongoing effort to improve the overall performance of United Nations peacekeeping missions, the heads of the armed forces of around 100 countries met at UN Headquarters in New York today to discuss issues such as rapid deployment, training, increasing the number of female peacekeepers, and conduct and discipline.

"Our partnership has never been more important. Across the globe, armed conflict scars countless civilians and destabilizes entire regions," Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told participants at the Chiefs of Defence Conference, via a video message.

Expressing gratitude to the men and women serving in peacekeeping, Mr. Guterres noted that UN "blue helmets" brave danger so others can enjoy safety.

He also welcomed the Conference's focus on gender, with a view to increasing the number of female peacekeepers, and integrating a gender perspective into UN peace and security actions.

"When we have greater gender balance in our forces, we boost our protection outreach  and we reduce the chances of sexual exploitation and abuse," he highlighted, urging all troop-contributing countries to deploy more women as well as to help integrate a gender-sensitive perspective in strengthening peace.

In the same vein, Jane Holl Lute, the Special Coordinator on improving UN response to sexual exploitation and abuse, also underscored the need to stand together against the individual misconduct of some troops, which she said "seriously injures the vulnerable and undermines the mission and name of the United Nations."

"Only through the continued personal leadership of the chiefs of defence forces, and others, will we effectively prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse," she said, adding: "We are in this endeavour together, and together, we can root out this scourge."

Trust of those served must not be broken

In his opening remarks, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, highlighted that recent developments  whether geostrategic shifts, emergence of new threats or large budget cuts  call for greater urgency to strengthen the performance of peace operations.

"Now, more than ever before, peacekeepers need to be up to the challenge of the mandates they are given," he said, calling for continued support for peacekeeping operations.

Stressing the need to eliminate sexual exploitation and abuse, he called for putting in place measures to ensure that only troops with impeccable backgrounds are deployed, and that rigorous and consistent measures are employed to make certain that those responsible are held accountable for their acts.

"The success of our missions depends upon the confidence and trust placed on us by the populations we serve. When this trust is broken, our credibility is indelibly damaged," he underscored.

More needs to be done to overcome the scale of challenges

Atul Khare, Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Field Support  which provides administrative, finance, logistical and technical support to peacekeeping and political missions around the world  spoke of efforts underway to improve service delivery and to produce better value for money.

In particular, he noted a new environmental strategy to guide UN efforts to deliver support in a responsible manner as well as steps to improve medical support to peacekeepers to prevent the avoidable loss of lives.

"But we need to do more together," he added. "We simply cannot accept that 30 of the 287 military medical facilities in peacekeeping missions either have not deployed or are deployed with sub-standard equipment."

In particular, Mr. Khare highlighted the need for more female participation in peacekeeping, urging the chiefs of defence to redouble their efforts to contribute female personnel to serve in missions.

He also called on them to ensure that uniformed contingents deploy rapidly and with the equipment and training required to carry out the tasks that they have been mandated.

Held under the theme Meeting the Challenges, the conference also included the participation of military representatives from the African Union, the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as well as the Force Commanders of the UN peacekeeping missions in Mali (MINUSMA), Central African Republic (MINUSCA), South Sudan (UNMISS) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).

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UN chief 'deeply sorry' as Cyprus talks conclude without agreement

7 July 2017  Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says that he is "deeply sorry" that, despite very strong commitments and the engagement of all delegations, the United Nations-facilitated Conference on Cyprus concluded without reaching an agreement.

"Unfortunately [] an agreement was not possible and the conference was closed without the possibility to bring a solution to this dramatically long-lasting problem," Mr. Guterres told the press in the early hours of Friday in the Swiss town of Crans-Montana, where the talks took place.

However, he noted that, in spite of the closure of the Conference, initiatives can still be pursued and developed in order to address the issues that were being discussed.

"The UN role is the role of a facilitator and we will always be at the disposal of the parties willing to come to an agreement, if that would be the case," he added.

The Conference had begun on 28 June in the hopes of reaching a comprehensive settlement to the conflict that has divided the Mediterranean island for more than four decades.

In his remarks, Mr. Guterres also expressed his appreciation to the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders as well as to the representatives of the guarantors  Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom  and the European Union, which served as an observer.

He also thanked the UN team, led by Espen Barth Eide, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus, for doing everything possible to bring closer together the positions of the different delegations.

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Trump Meets With Putin as G-20 Protests Rage

By Luis Ramirez July 07, 2017

President Donald Trump said Friday he and Russian President Vladimir Putin have discussed "various things" and he anticipates future developments that are beneficial to both countries.

"I look forward to a lot of positive things happening for Russia and the United States," Trump said at the beginning of his first official face-to-face meeting with Putin, a formal bilateral discussion that is overshadowing the gathering in Hamburg, Germany, of the leaders of the world's 20 largest economies.

The meeting is fraught with symbolism as Trump, still new to the world of global diplomacy, sits down with Putin, a former KGB agent, who came to power in what amounted to a Kremlin coup 17 years ago. Putin has a reputation for keeping negotiating partners off balance.

Observers are closely scrutinizing the meeting for signs of how the two leaders interact. Relations between Putin and former President Barack Obama were strained, and Trump repeatedly has said he would like to improve ties with Russia.

There is skepticism in the U.S. about Russia's intentions, primarily as a result of ongoing investigations into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia as it interfered in last November's U.S. presidential election. Trump aides said the president might bring up the election-meddling issue, but he is not likely to dwell on it.

Lawmakers in both political parties have said Trump must confront Putin over the election interference. Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee member Adam Kinzinger said this week he would "raise holy hell" if Trump does not tell Putin that Russia must stop meddling in elections in the U.S. and elsewhere.

At an earlier stop in Poland, Trump accused Moscow of engaging in destabilizing behavior.

"We urge Russia to cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere and its support for hostile regimes including Syria and Iran, and to instead join the community of responsible nations in our fight against common enemies and the defense of civilization itself," he said.

Russia denied the charges.

The U.S. leader had other meetings scheduled with the leaders of Mexico and Britain on Friday.

Trump was also to join a discussion on climate, an issue driving many of the protesters who took to the streets of Hamburg again on the first day of the summit.

Protesters aim to disrupt

Leftist demonstrators were out in force again Friday, forming human chains to block access by delegations to the summit site. Riot police moved in and used water cannons to disperse the protesters.

German officials had been anticipating big protests in the city in the run-up to the two-day gathering and have deployed 20,000 officers, including some brought in from other European countries.

Police officials said 8,000 demonstrators were already in the city, and they were expecting a second wave of demonstrations on Friday afternoon.

Officials said protests were expected to peak on Saturday, with as many as 100,000 protesters descending on the streets of the city.

Protesters have set up camps in central Hamburg where they have been sleeping in tents and lining up for free vegan meals.

Most demonstrators approached by a reporter at two camps were reluctant to be interviewed. "People are really suspicious about the media. They feel that the media is more against us than with us, that the media is more with the G-20 and not with the protests and that makes people suspicious," a demonstrator told VOA.

The protesters' aim is to disrupt the G-20 summit.Most support leftist and anarchist causes and see the grouping as a gathering of the world's wealthy elite who they blame for global economic disparities.Their target is largely President Trump, and many said they are outraged by his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord.

The demonstrators, who are largely German, also took aim at Chancellor Angela Merkel."She is representing all the connections and all the work with lobbyists, with the automobile industries, with the war industries. She is also representative for lobbyism, for capitalism," said a demonstrator.

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Colorado and Wyoming National Guard troops helping wildfire battles

By Steve Marshall | National Guard Bureau July 7, 2017

ARLINGTON, Va. -- As wildfires burned Friday in Colorado and Wyoming, National Guard troops and helicopters joined the battle to assist civilian fire crews.

In Wyoming, Gov. Matt Mead authorized two Wyoming Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crews to begin aerial firefighting measures Thursday on the Keystone Fire.

The Keystone Fire, located in the Medicine Bow National Forest south of Rob Roy Reservoir, was last recorded at 1,300 acres.

Crews are on orders for six days, but orders can be modified based on the needs of the incident commander, the Wyoming National Guard said in a news release.

"The Wyoming National Guard is committed to helping our local officials and assist in fire mitigation to preserve our communities and resources," said Col. Greg Phipps, Wyoming National Guard director of joint operations.

The last time Wyoming Army National Guard Black Hawk crews were activated by the governor to provide water bucket operations in the state was in 2012 on fires in Weston, Platte and Natrona Counties.

And in Colorado, the Peak 2 fire was blazing about 2 miles north of Breckenridge Ski Resort.

Nearly 20 Colorado Army National Guard Soldiers were mobilized on a verbal order from Gov. John Hickenlooper. They're flying two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and two CH-47 Chinook helicopters to aid fire crews.

More than 100 firefighters were battling the burn Thursday under broken clouds, steady winds and the occasional drizzle, The Denver Post reported.

The Post said no structural damages or injuries were reported.

The Peak 2 fire was first spotted just before noon Wednesday by a mountain biker roughly 4 miles north of Breckenridge. The blaze was only about 50 feet by 50 feet. But by the time firefighters reached the heavily wooded area an hour later, flames had spread to the tops of trees and were sending massive plumes of smoke into the air, The Post said.

The Colorado fire was reported at about 85 acres and evacuations were underway for people and animals.

"We're here to support our neighbors in Summit County," said the adjutant general of Colorado, U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael Loh, who commands the Colorado National Guard. "I have the utmost confidence in the readiness of our well-trained and experienced Soldiers and Airmen."

Each helicopter is equipped with an aerial water bucket, which is capable of carrying and delivering up to 500 (Black Hawk) or 2,000 (Chinook) gallons of water, or fire retardant slurry, at one time.

Contributing: The Colorado and Wyoming National Guard

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Pakistan Hails UN for Listing Jamaat-ul-Ahrar as Global Terrorist

By Ayaz Gul July 07, 2017

Pakistan has hailed a United Nations Security Council decision to declare the group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, or JuA, a global terrorist organization. The anti-state militant group has claimed responsibility for a majority of recent terrorist attacks in the country.

The group, which split from the outlawed Pakistani Taliban in 2014, is associated with Islamic State and operates out of Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province as well as Pakistan's tribal border district of Mohmand, according to information posted on the U.N. website Thursday.

The designation subjects JuA to an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.

"Pakistan welcomes the listing of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar by the U.N. Security Council.  Pakistan had proposed this listing," said a Foreign Ministry statement Friday in Islamabad.

JuA has not yet commented on the U.N. decision.

The Pakistani government banned JuA last November following a series of attacks that killed dozens of people, including members of the minority Christian community.

Authorities maintain that militants fleeing security operations have found refuge in "ungoverned" Afghan border areas where they have joined with Islamic State and launch terrorist attacks against Pakistan.

Military officials allege the Afghan intelligence agency is backing JuA extremists in plotting the violence and cross-border raids on Pakistani security forces.

The group also took credit for last year's Easter suicide bombing in the city of Lahore that killed more than 70 people, including Christians and Muslims.

Kabul rejects allegations it harbors JuA and, in turn, blames Islamabad for sheltering Taliban insurgents and the dreaded Haqqani network involved in deadly attacks in Afghanistan.

In April, the Pakistani military announced the capture of Ehsanullah Ehsan, a central leader and JuA spokesman.

The detained militant, in a video confession, said the Afghan spy agency, with the support of Indian counterparts, harbored and used fugitive militants to orchestrate terrorist activities inside Pakistan.

Kabul and New Delhi rejected the accusations.

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North Korea used a new missile: US intelligence

Iran Press TV

Wed Jul 5, 2017 5:56PM

US intelligence agencies have described the latest missile launched on Tuesday by North Korea as a new kind of missile that had not been seen before.

CNN on Wednesday cited a US intelligence official as saying the new missile is a new two-stage rocket.

The first stage of the weapon was identified as a KN-17 liquid fueled missile, which is well-known to US intelligence and was previously used by North Korea.

US satellites had detected the KN-17 missile that was being prepared for launch.

However, at some point prior to launch, the North Koreans attached a second stage atop that missile.

The focus now is on the capability of that second stage, and how it technically contributed to making Pyongyang's latest test its first ever intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch.

The second stage had a separate 30-second burn cycle, which allowed the missile to travel the extra distance to classify it as an ICBM.

North Korea announced on Tuesday it had successfully tested the missile, which Pyongyang claimed could "reach anywhere in the world."

North Korean state media said the missile reached an altitude of more than 1,741 miles, before it splashed down in the sea off the Korean Peninsula 930 kilometers (578 miles) from the launch site.

The US military, however, said on Wednesday it was capable of defending the US mainland against the "nascent" threat posed by the new ICBM.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis noted a successful test last month in which a US-based missile interceptor had knocked down a simulated incoming North Korean ICBM.

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DPRK warns U.S. against further military gambling

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 20:51, July 07, 2017

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday warned the United States against further resorting to military gambling.

A spokesman for the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee said in a statement that "the U.S. Defense Department is loudly trumpeting a military attack option" advocated by U.S. President Donald Trump to cope with the north's "provocations."

The DPRK said that the U.S. promise that it would not invade "is a whopping lie and a trick to cover up its sinister intention to put its war ambitions into practice through a surprise attack," said the spokesman.

A spokesman for the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said Friday that the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Tuesday by Pyongyang is a "victory achieved by the army and people of the DPRK in their more than half-a-century long anti-imperialist, anti-U.S. showdown."

He also said the DPRK's nuclear and missile intentions are "confined to the DPRK and the U.S." only, and the U.S. has no reason to raise any concern at the UN Security Council.

U.S. Representative to the UN Nikki Haley said Wednesday at the UN Security Council that Washington was considering using its military force to tackle the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs.

U.S. President Donald Trump Thursday also called the DPRK's launch of its first intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday a "shame" that has to be stopped, during his meeting with South Korean and Japanese leaders in Germany on the sidelines of the G20 ummit.

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US opposes Russia, China proposal to suspend S Korean drills

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 7, 2017 5:21PM

The United States has rejected a proposal from Russia and China that Washington should suspend joint military drills with Seoul in exchange for Pyongyang halting missile tests and nuclear weapons programs.

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert made the announcement at a regular briefing on Thursday, after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at the Kremlin earlier in the week and made the so-called "freeze-for-freeze" proposal to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

"These are all things that have taken place since the 1950s. So that wouldn't change," Nauert said at the briefing, describing the military exercises as lawful and longstanding.

"There's no equivalency between the United States and its activities and actions that it undertakes with its allies, including South Korea and also Japan. These are something that are lawful," she added.

"We do these kinds of exercises and have relationships like this all over the globe. If China and Russia decide to come out against that, that is not going to change our position," Nauert noted.

The spokeswoman also emphasized the role of China in pressuring North Korea to halt its missile programs, arguing that Beijing has "unique leverage" with Pyongyang because of the "strong trade relationship" between two countries.

North Korea announced on Tuesday it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which Pyongyang claimed could "reach anywhere in the world."

US intelligence agencies said the missile was most likely a new ICBM with an estimated range of 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles), capable of hitting Alaska.

Early last month, the United Nations Security Council imposed a fresh array of sanctions on North Korea in response to a number of missile tests carried out by Pyongyang this year.

Unsettled by North Korean missile and nuclear programs, the United States has adopted a war-like posture, sending a strike group and conducting joint military drills with North Korea's regional adversaries Japan and South Korea.

North Korea accuses the United States of plotting with regional allies to overthrow its government. Pyongyang says it will not relinquish its nuclear deterrence unless the United States ends its hostile policy toward North Korea and dissolves the US-led UN command in South Korea.

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Russia says North Korean missile was not ICBM, objects to US over such classification

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 7, 2017 6:56AM

Russia says a projectile recently test-fired by North Korea was not an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), as commonly believed, and has objected to the United States over describing the missile as such in a draft United Nations Security Council resolution.

Russia's permanent mission to the UN objected to the US-drafted resolution condemning the recent North Korean missile launch because it classified the missile as an ICBM, according to internal communication leaked by Reuters.

"Based on our (Ministry of Defense's) assessment we cannot confirm that the missile can be classified as an ICBM," Russia's UN mission said in an email to Security Council colleagues, Reuters reported, citing diplomats.

"Based on this information, Russia has proposed the US, as authors of the initiative, to make certain amendments to it," the email further read.

Russia not 'blocking' resolution

The office of the Russian permanent mission to the UN later confirmed the e-mail as leaked, saying it could not agree with the text classifying the projectile fired by Pyongyang earlier this week as an ICBM.

It said data provided by Russia's Defense Ministry indicated that it was likely a mid-range ballistic missile.

The mission said it would consider agreeing to the statement regarding North Korea only after the proposed amendments had been made to the US draft.

Security Council statements require the consensus of all 15 members.

The Russian mission, however, condemned the leak of the internal communication and the "misinterpretation" of Russia's stance by Reuters, saying Russia was not "blocking" the resolution, as initially reported by the news outlet.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said on Wednesday that she planned to propose new sanctions against North Korea over the missile launch in the coming days.

"The international community can cut off the major sources of hard currency to the North Korean regime. We can restrict the flow of oil to their military and their weapons programs. We can increase air and maritime restrictions. We can hold senior regime officials accountable," Haley said at a UNSC meeting.

North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

Pyongyang insists that its programs work as deterrence against potential US aggression.

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Russia Objects To U.S.-Drafted Measure Condemning North Korea At UN

RFE/RL July 07, 2017

Russia on July 6 objected to a U.S.-drafted resolution at the UN condemning North Korea's first-ever launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Russia contends that the missile was medium-range and not long-range and said it was seeking a change to the resolution being debated by the UN Security Council.

Moscow's resistance to defining Pyongyang's missile launch as long-range does not bode well for Washington's hopes of pushing through stronger sanctions on Pyongyang, which U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said she will propose soon.

Moscow believes North Korea fired an intermediate range ballistic missile on July 4. The United States agrees with North Korea's claim that it was an ICBM and represented a major leap in technology over previous missiles tested.

"We cannot confirm that the missile can be classified as an ICBM," Russia's UN mission told other council members in an e-mail. "There is no consensus on this issue."

Russia's objection effectively blocks the resolution, as a consensus is needed to approve it.

Haley lashed out at Russia's move.

"If you need any sort of intelligence to let you know that the rest of the world sees this as an ICBM, I'm happy to provide it," she said.

She called the launch "a clear and sharp military escalation" and warned that Washington was ready to use military force, "but we prefer not to have to go in that direction."

Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov warned that "any attempts to justify a military solution are inadmissible and will lead to unpredictable consequences for the region."

He also argued against tougher sanctions, saying they "will not resolve the issue."

"Attempts to economically strangle North Korea are equally unacceptable, as millions of North Koreans remain in need of humanitarian aid," he said.

Haley did not give details on what sanctions the United States would propose but outlined available options. North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic-missile and nuclear programs.

"The international community can cut off the major sources of hard currency to the North Korean regime. We can restrict the flow of oil to their military and their weapons programs. We can increase air and maritime restrictions. We can hold senior regime officials accountable," Haley said.

Diplomats said Washington proposed such options to Beijing two months ago but that China only agreed to adding some people and entities to the existing UN sanctions list.

Following a nuclear weapons test by North Korea in September, while U.S. President Barack Obama was still in office, it took the UN Security Council three months to agree on stronger sanctions.

It was not immediately clear how long U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is prepared to negotiate with China and Russia over new measures.

Trump has threatened to use trade to pressure Beijing, North Korea's biggest trading partner, to do more to rein in its ally.

The United States unilaterally sanctioned Chinese companies doing business with North Korea earlier this year, and U.S. officials said more such sanctions may target Chinese companies, especially banks, in the future.

Trump earlier on July 6 had hinted at the possibility of a "pretty severe" response from Washington to the missile launch.

"I don't like to talk about what I have planned, but I have some pretty severe things that we are thinking about," he said. "That doesn't mean we are going to do them. I don't draw red lines."

He said North Korea is "behaving in a very, very dangerous manner and something will have to be done about it."

Trump and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed on the need for "more severe measures" against Pyongyang at a dinner before the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 6.

The three leaders had a "very vivid discussion" and discussed "the necessity for China to perform an even greater role" in carrying out sanctions against North Korea, said Norio Maruyama, press secretary for Japanese Prme Minister Shinzo Abe.

With reporting by AP, AFP, dpa, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-objects-us- drafted-measure-condemning-north-korea-icbm- test-un-security-council/28600831.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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The 'Gift' That Keeps on Giving: North Korea Hints at More Missile Launches

Sputnik News

22:22 07.07.2017(updated 22:23 07.07.2017)

After the US threatened penalties for North Korea's Tuesday intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, Pyongyang on Friday alluded to more launches in the future.

The isolated nation mockingly referred to the the Hwasong-14 launch as a "gift package" for the US' Independence Day, as it took place on July 4, seemingly to reiterate its stance that the nuclear program is designed to fend off aggression from Washington.

State-owned Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) published a statement from an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesperson saying, "The US will receive more 'gift packages' of different sizes from the [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] in endless succession, as it tries harder to destroy, by means of sanctions and pressure, the overall national power and strategic position of the DPRK," according to Yonhap News Agency.

The statement also seemed to hint that South Korea won't be included in denuclearization talks after liberal President Moon Jae-in said he was willing to engage the North in discussion on a possible peace treaty, their nuclear program and other issues while he was visiting Berlin ahead of the G20 summit there.

Deutsche Welle reports that Moon described the launch as a "great threat and provocation," and called for deeper sanctions while meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

On Friday, Japan and the US joined South Korea in calling for a UN Security Council resolution applying for new sanctions against the North. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to apply "maximum pressure" to address Pyongyang's nuclear program.

The North's statement asserted that, "The issue of the DPRK's nukes and ballistic rocket is an issue confined to the DPRK and the US."

Some experts say that the trajectory of Tuesday's launch could put Alaska and possibly the Pacific Northwest within North Korea's strike range, as Pyongyang claims that the newly developed missile can carry a large nuclear warhead and is capable of striking the US mainland.

Soon afterward, South Korean and US forces conducted missile drills, riling the North, which condemned Seoul as "puppet military gangsters," saying it would be a "piece of cake" to destroy them.

North Korea also declared in the statement that until the US abandons its aggressive stance towards Pyongyang, discussions of reeling in its missile and nuclear programs won't be possible.

"The DPRK will neither put its nukes and ballistic missiles on the negotiating table in any case nor flinch even an inch from the road of bolstering its nuclear force unless the hostile policy and nuclear threat of the US against the DPRK are thoroughly eradicated," its statement read.

 Sputnik

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US, South Korea, Japan Call for Stiffer Sanctions Against North Korea

By VOA News July 07, 2017

Leaders from the United States, South Korea and Japan agreed Friday to urge the United Nations to speed up the implementation of sanctions against North Korea following the country's July 4 intercontinental missile launch.

The three leaders are asking the international community to quickly implement all United Nation's Security Council resolutions meant to punish North Korea, according to a read-out of conversations held between U.S. President Donald Trump, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany.

The leaders all re-affirmed their commitment to denuclearize North Korea, and they called on nations bordering North Korea to help convince its leadership to stop threatening other countries and halt its ballistic missile program, according to the read-out.

The meeting comes two days after U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley warned that North Korea's missile tests were "quickly closing off the possibility of a diplomatic solution" and said the U.S. would propose new U.N. sanctions against the country "in the coming days."

Among new sanctions under consideration, U.S. officials indicated, are restrictions on the flow of oil and other energy supplies to Pyongyang's military and weapons programs, tightened controls over air and maritime traffic to North Korea, and further moves to hold senior officials of the Kim Jong Un regime accountable for the country's defiance of international demands to shut down its nuclear-weapons development program.

Additionally, Haley said Washington would be willing to cut-off trade with countries that violate U.N. resolutions barring trade with North Korea.

On Tuesday, North Korea launched its first known intercontinental ballistic missile, complete with a re-entry vehicle that would allow it to be equipped with a nuclear warhead.

U.S. military officials estimate the missile had a range of 5,500 kilometers, potentially putting parts of the northwestern United States within Pyongyang's reach.

Trump, on Thursday, said he is prepared to do "some pretty severe things" to stop North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

"They are behaving in a very, very dangerous manner and something will have to be done," he said. "There are consequences for their very, very bad behavior."

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Daesh second-in-command killed in clashes with Iraqi govt. forces

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 7, 2017 3:30PM

The militant commander ranked second in the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group has reportedly been killed during fierce street battles with Iraqi government forces in the Old City of Mosul as Daesh is practically on its last breath in Iraq.

Security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Arabic-language al-Forat news agency that the top-ranked extremist, identified by the nom de guerre Abu Yahya Iraqi, was the deputy of purported Daesh leader Ibrahim al-Samarrai aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Meanwhile, a top Daesh commander, known as Abu Nasser al-Shami, has been killed in the cellar district of Mosul's Old City.

Commander of Federal Police Forces Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat also said in a statement on Friday that security personnel had killed 83 Daesh Takfiris in the Old City of Mosul.

He added that police forces have destroyed three militant hideouts, and discovered a bomb-making factory in addition to an underground tunnel and several munitions.

The Iraqi police chief underlined that government forces had evacuated 30 displaced families from combat zones in Mosul to safe areas.

Iraqi army soldiers and volunteer fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known by their Arabic name, Hashd al-Sha'abi, have made sweeping gains against Daesh since launching the Mosul operation on October 17, 2016.

The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19.

An estimated 862,000 people have been displaced from Mosul ever since the battle to retake the city began nine months ago. A total of 195,000 civilians have also returned, mainly to the liberated areas of eastern Mosul.

Daesh kills two Iraqi TV journalists south of Mosul

Separately, two Iraqi journalists working for the Arabic-language and privately owned Hona Salaheddin television network have been killed by Daesh extremists in a village south of Mosul.

The channel announced in a statement that its correspondent Harb Hazaa al-Dulaimi and cameraman Sudad al-Duri had been killed on the outskirts of the village of Imam al-Gharbi.

It added that another journalist has sustained gunshot wounds and trapped in the village with the bodies of the two slain colleagues.

Interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan said security forces are some two houses away from those trapped inside a house in Imam Gharbi, but Daesh snipers have slowed down the progress of government troops.

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IS Fighters Counterattack In Mosul, Kill Two Journalists

RFE/RL July 07, 2017

Islamic State (IS) militants launched a counterattack in the Old City of Mosul and in a village south of the city, killing several people, including two Iraqi journalists covering the battle.

An Iraqi military officer on July 7 said an IS attack along a northern edge of the Old City had pushed the Iraqi Army back some 75 meters and that the extremists were threatening to reduce government forces' gains elsewhere in the crowded neighborhood.

The officer said 50 to 100 IS fighters carried out the counterattack, with a military doctor saying at least a dozen Iraqi soldiers had been wounded.

A day earlier, Iraqi government forces reported they had broken through the IS militants' last major line of defense, squeezing the remaining 200-300 desperate fighters into a 250-meter strip of land along the Tigers River.

The extremist group also attacked the village of Imam Gharbi, some 70 kilometers south of Mosul, killing several people, including at least two Iraqi television journalists and an unknown number of other civilians, security forces said.

A statement from the United Nations said the fighting forced the UN-affiliated International Organization for Migration (IOM) to suspend a relief operation that houses about 80,000 people in a village just north of Imam Gharbi.

A Reuters news agency crew reported coalition air strikes and artillery attacks continued to pound the extremists in Mosul.

A Pentagon report, released on July 7, said that U.S.-led coalition air strikes in Iraq and Syria have killed a total of 603 civilians since the air campaign against IS was launched in 2014, about half of them in the area around Mosul.

In recent days, Iraqi and coalition officials have expressed optimism that U.S.-backed forces were nearing victory in the battle to liberate Mosul.

But the latest counterattacks appeared to indicate more bloody fighting was likely to occur before Mosul and the surrounding region can be fully liberated.

IS took Mosul in 2014 when the extremists captured large areas of territory from Iraqi and Syrian government forces, declaring an Islamic "caliphate" over land they held.

But U.S.-backed forces in Mosul and Raqqa in Syria have made major gains over IS in recent months.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iraq-islamic-state -mosul-final-push/28600959.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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Liberation of Benghazi Ruins Foreign Plans for Libya's Partition - National Army

Sputnik News

21:05 07.07.2017

Ahmed Mismari, spokesman of the Libyan National Army, stated that the victory in Benghazi was an issue of great importance for all Libyans.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The liberation of the Libyan port city of Benghazi by the Libyan National Army put an end to foreign plans of divide the country, Ahmed Mismari, the army's spokesman, told Sputnik on Friday.

On Wednesday, Commander of the Libyan National Army Gen. Khalifa Haftar said that the army had fully liberated the country's second most populous city from extremist militias.

"When we started the operation to liberate the city, we found out that we face different terrorist groups representing interests of different countries and political powers. That's why it is not a classic victory, it is a destruction of several lines [policy] lines targeting our country. We have defeated the troops of al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood [terrorist groups outlawed in Russia], which undermined the positions of Qatar. The victory has also destroyed the influence of Sudan that has strengthened recently, The plans to divide the country have been destroyed," Mismari said.

The spokesman stressed that the victory in Benghazi was an issue of great importance for all Libyans.

Libya has been in turmoil since the 2011 civil war that resulted in the overthrow of country's longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi. Different territories of the African nation are controlled by various authorities. The eastern part of the crisis-torn state is governed by its parliament, with headquarters in the city of Tobruk. The parliament is backed by the Libyan National Army. At the same time, the Government of National Accord operates in the country's west and is headquartered in Tripoli.

 Sputnik

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UN calls on Myanmar to grant citizenship to Rohingya

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 7, 2017 4:51PM

The UN refugee agency has called on Myanmar to grant citizenship to the persecuted Rohingya Muslims.

"It's important to work on granting citizenship to the Muslim community, that has been deprived of citizenship for many years," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told reporters in the Thai capital, Bangkok, on Friday.

Grandi's remarks came a day after he concluded his visit to Myanmar, where he met communities in the towns of Sittwe and Maungdaw in Rakhine state, where the Rohingya community is mainly based, as well as Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de facto leader.

The head of the UN refugee agency also highlighted the necessity of "development investments" in the region, which he described as "one of the poorest states in the Union of Myanmar."

Myanmar's troops and police are accused of killing and raping Rohingya Muslims, who are denied citizenship in Myanmar and widely viewed as outsiders by the majority Buddhists.

The more than one million Rohingya Muslims have been suffering widely-reported aggression for years in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine, which has also been under a military lockdown since October 2016. The government used a militant attack on border guards back then as a pretext to enforce the siege.

Since then, the military has banned journalists and aid workers from entering the area. Hundreds of people have been killed and more than 1,000 houses burned down. Some 75,000 Rohingya Muslims have already been forced to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

There have been numerous accounts by eyewitnesses of summary executions, rapes, and arson attacks against Muslims since the crackdown began.

The United Nations Human Rights Council agreed in March to send an international fact-finding mission to Myanmar tasked with investigating allegations of crimes by Myanmar's security forces against Rohingya Muslims.

Myanmar said it would deny entry to the members of the UN fact-finding mission.

Most recently, a mob of Rakhine Buddhists attacked Rohingya Muslims this week, leaving a man dead and six others injured.

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President Moon says 'dialog' best option for Korean crisis

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 7, 2017 6:10PM

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has said Seoul preferred to resolve the Korean crisis through dialog.

However, he warned that Pyongyang's "nuclear provocation" could open options other than dialog.

North Korea, on Tuesday, launched what was announced by local media as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the US mainland.

Moon made the comments on Friday after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg.

Moon said the Russian president could help establish a more conciliatory tone in the region needed to de-escalate the crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

Putin, for his part, warned the belligerent parties involved the Korean crisis that impulsiveness and loss of self-control could lead to tragic consequences. He urged South Korea to take "pragmatic, accurate" measures to manage the crisis and appreciate its northern neighbor's impetus for pursuing its missile program.

Russia and China, North Korea's main ally, have urged South Korea and its main ally, the United States, to refrain from any rhetoric and action that could further heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Pyongyang has described its missile and nuclear weapons development program as a deterrent against US aggression and expansionism.

North Korea announced on Tuesday that it had successfully tested the ICBM, with leader Kim Jong-un calling it a gift to the United States on July 4, America's Independence Day.

In response, the United States and South Korea launched a joint missile drill and US President Donald Trump described the test-fire of the ICBM as "very bad behavior" by North Korea.

He said he was contemplating a "severe" response and its possible "consequences."

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Putin hails 'high reliability' of Russia's new cruise missile

Iran Press TV

Thu Jul 6, 2017 9:58PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is pleased with the "high reliability" of the country's new Raduga KH-101 cruise missiles, after a number of them were successfully used against terrorist positions in Syria.

"The application of this missile showed a very high degree of reliability. This is really the most modern weapon, with high-precision and high-power, and a decent range of 4,500 kilometers," Putin said during a meeting of Russia's Commission on Military Technical Cooperation with Foreign States on Thursday.

The comments came a day after the new breed of air-launched missiles, fired from Tu-95 strategic bomber jets 1,000 kilometers away, successfully hit Daesh targets on the border between Syria's Hama and Homs provinces.

Putin said the Russian military should boost its defensive capabilities by developing more modern weapons of Kh-101's quality and, in doing so, use the country's combat experience from the ongoing anti-terror efforts in Syria.

"Russian weapons are demonstrating reliability and great opportunities during the anti-terror operation in Syria... It is necessary to carefully analyze this combat experience both for the modernization of existing systems and for the development of promising types of military products," he said.

Raduga made its combat debut in November 2015, when Tu-160 bombers fired 16 of them at Daesh targets across Syria.

The missile is capable of carrying high-explosive, penetrating or cluster warhead, while its KH-102 variant can be equipped with nuclear warheads. The missile's accuracy for moving targets is said to be less than 10 meters.

The KH-101's design coupled with its use of radar absorbing materials and other stealth technologies allow it to get past the enemy's defenses and hit targets deep inside its territory from the distance.

This means Russia is now capable of carrying out long-range precision strikes, an ability that US Air Force commanders have been long boastful about.

In mid-April, US President Donald Trump ordered US Navy warships in the Mediterranean Sea to fire around 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield in retaliation for a chemical attack that the White House claimed was carried out by the Syrian government.

Both Russia and the US have been leading military campaigns in Syria. Unlike Washington, however, Moscow only intervened upon a request from Damascus and has coordinated its airstrikes with Syrian military forces to avoid civilian casualties.

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US, Russia reach agreement on truce in southwestern Syria: Lavrov

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 7, 2017 6:28PM

The United States and Russia have reached a deal on a truce in southwestern Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

He said President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump agreed on the truce deal during talks held in a "constructive atmosphere" on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. Lavrov said the ceasefire would take effect from July 9.

Earlier, three US officials, who asked not to be named as they were not authorized to discuss the ceasefire publicly, said the truce was set to take effect Sunday at noon Damascus time. They did not elaborate on the deal and how it would be implemented.

The trio said Moscow and Washington had been discussing a potential deal for some time, but it only reached fruition in the run-up to Trump's first meeting with Putin.

Jordan state news agency Petra reported that the kingdom was also part of the ceasefire.

The agreement is separate from "de-escalation zones" that were to be created under a deal mediated by Russia, Iran and Turkey during the fourth round of peace talks in Astana in May.

Syria has been hit by deadly foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. Russia and the United States have been supporting opposing sides in the conflict in Syria with Moscow backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Washington backing militants fighting to topple the Damascus government.

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Russia wants US to clarify Syria 'no-fly zones' proposal

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 7, 2017 6:8AM

Russia says it has asked the US to provide more details about its proposal to work together with Moscow to set up "no-fly zones" in Syria.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had on Wednesday said Washington was "prepared to explore the possibility of establishing with Russia joint mechanisms for ensuring stability, including no-fly zones" in the Arab country.

A day later, his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov said, "We have asked (for information). We haven't yet received a response to the question about which no-fly zones they have in mind, because no-one was ever talking about them."

Moscow is also still waiting for the US to respond to its own proposals on Syria which were presented to Washington a few months ago, Lavrov added.

Since 2015, Russia has been conducting cruise missile strikes and aerial attacks against terrorist positions in Syria at a request from the Syrian government. The US has been leading dozens of its allies in a military mission purportedly aimed rooting out Daesh since 2014.

Russia has suspended communications with the US, which used to be carried out via a hotline set up to prevent accidents over Syrian airspace.

The suspension of the military contact came after a US warplane hit a Syrian Su-22 aircraft with a missile last month. The US claimed that it had targeted the plane "in collective self-defense of coalition-partnered forces" in the city of Taqba in northern Syria

Moscow says Washington had failed to inform it about the hit through the hotline.

Lavrov further said that despite the standing questions over Tillerson's comments, Moscow saw any willingness by the US to cooperate on Syria as a "step in the right direction."

Russia is separately pushing through with a plan alongside Iran and Turkey to set up four de-escalation zones throughout Syria, where air strikes would be halted.

The three countries have been successfully mediating talks between the Syrian government and opposition in the Kazakh capital of Astana since January.

Chemical bone of contention

Also on Thursday, the Russian foreign minister visited Paris, where he discussed the Syria crisis with his French opposite number, Jean-Yves Le Drian.

The two sides stressed the need for fighting terrorism in Syria as a common objective.

"Terrorism is our number one enemy and to fight it we have to put everything else aside," Lavrov said in a joint press conference.

Le Drian, whose country backs the militant groups fighting against the Syrian government, said Paris set a red line on the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

He further claimed, "What's at stake is to be able to dismantle the regime's chemical weapons' stocks," said the top French diplomat.

This is while the Syrian government turned over its entire chemical stockpile under a deal negotiated by Russia and the United States back in 2013. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has overseen operations to remove the chemical arsenal from Syria.

Late last month, the White House accused Syria of preparing to stage a chemical attack in the Arab country, threatening that the US would make Damascus pay "a heavy price."

On April 4, over 80 people died in an incident involving chemicals in the town of Khan Shaykhun in the western Idlib Province of Syria. Western countries blamed the Syrian government for what they said was a chemical attack, and days later, the US used it as a pretext to fire 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield in the central province of Homs. US officials claimed that the alleged Khan Shaykhun gas attack had been launched from that airfield.

Syria and Russia say Damascus had conducted a conventional airstrike on militant positions in Khan Shaykhun, which also targeted a chemical arms depot held and run by anti-Damascus militants, causing a leakage of the toxic substance and the deaths.

The head of a joint UN-OPCW investigation into the April 4 attack, meanwhile, said the panel was facing heavy political pressure as it prepared to present its findings in mid-October.

Edmond Mulet complained of a "highly politicized environment" in which unnamed "interested parties" were seeking to influence the panel.

"We do receive, unfortunately, direct and indirect messages all the time from many sides telling us how to do our work," he said. "Some of these messages are very clear in saying that if we don't do our work according to them ... then they will not accept the conclusions of our work."

"The messages are coming from everywhere," Mulet added, suggesting that Western powers were in frequent contact with the panel. He said he appealed to them to "please let us do our work" and pledged the investigators would be impartial, objective, and independent.

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UN adopts global treaty on prohibition of nuclear weapons

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 7, 2017 4:15PM

The United Nations has adopted a legally-binding treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons for the first time in the seven-decade effort to avert a nuclear war.

The document, called the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, was adopted on Friday by a vote of 122 in favor with one country - NATO member The Netherlands voting against - and Singapore abstaining.

The United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and the Israeli regime - all of which possess nuclear weapons - did not take part in the negotiations and vote.

Elayne Whyte Gomez, the president of the UN conference that negotiated the treaty, said it was the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty to be concluded in more than 20 years.

She said, "The world has been waiting for this legal norm for 70 years," since the use of the first atomic bombs on Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

According to the draft text, agreed on by 129 UN member countries, the treaty covers the full range of nuclear-weapons-related activities, prohibiting undertaking by any state party to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.

The 10-page treaty also include any undertaking to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.

It will be open for signature to all member states on 20 September 2017 during the annual General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York.

The treaty will enter into force 90 days after the 50th instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession has been deposited.

In December, UN member states overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling for negotiations on a treaty that would outlaw nuclear weapons, despite strong opposition from nuclear-armed countries and their allies who refused to participate in the talks.



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Over 120 UN Member States Adopt Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons

Sputnik News

20:50 07.07.2017

120 UN member states with the exception of all nine nuclear powers adopted a treaty to categorically prohibit nuclear weapons.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik)  More than 120 UN member states on Thursday adopted a treaty to categorically prohibit nuclear weapons although the world's nuclear powers boycotted the entire process.

"Each State Party undertakes never under any circumstances to Develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices," the treaty, approved by a 122-member majority, stated.

All nine nuclear powers did not participate in the conference, including five permanent members of the UN Security Council: Russia, the United States, China, France, and the United Kingdom. Four others known or suspected to possess nuclear weapons  Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea  also refused to partake.

Other notable countries that declined to engage in the process include Japan, which was on the receiving end of two US atomic bombs, and South Korea, which borders a recently very active nuclear state.

Netherlands, the only NATO member state to participate in the proceedings, voted against the treaty while Singapore abstained.

According to the convention, it will be open for signature by states at the United Nations in New York on September 20, 2017 and will come into force 90 days after it is ratified by 50 countries.

In March, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the United States abandoning nuclear weapons at this time would put the world at risk because of North Korea's nuclear activities.

In October 2016, the UN General Assembly voted to negotiate and conclude a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. The first negotiation session took place at the United Nations in New York City in March and lasted a week. The second session opened on June 15 and is due to close today, July 7.

 Sputnik

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Statement from UK, US, France, on ban treaty

7 July 2017

France, the United Kingdom and the United States have not taken part in the negotiation of the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. We do not intend to sign, ratify or ever become party to it. Therefore, there will be no change in the legal obligations on our countries with respect to nuclear weapons. For example, we would not accept any claim that this treaty reflects or in any way contributes to the development of customary international law. Importantly, other states possessing nuclear weapons and almost all other states relying on nuclear deterrence have also not taken part in the negotiations. This initiative clearly disregards the realities of the international security environment. Accession to the ban treaty is incompatible with the policy of nuclear deterrence, which has been essential to keeping the peace in Europe and North Asia for over 70 years.

A purported ban on nuclear weapons that does not address the security concerns that continue to make nuclear deterrence necessary cannot result in the elimination of a single nuclear weapon and will not enhance any country's security, nor international peace and security. It will do the exact opposite by creating even more divisions at a time when the world needs to remain united in the face of growing threats, including those from the DPRK's ongoing proliferation efforts.

This treaty offers no solution to the grave threat posed by North Korea's nuclear program, nor does it address other security challenges that make nuclear deterrence necessary. A ban treaty also risks undermining the existing international security architecture which contributes to the maintenance of international peace and security. We reiterate in this regard our continued commitment to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and reaffirm our determination to safeguard and further promote its authority, universality and effectiveness. Working towards the shared goal of nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament must be done in a way that promotes international peace and security, and strategic stability, based on the principle of increased and undiminished security for all. We all share a common responsibility to protect and strengthen our collective security system in order to further promote international peace, stability and security

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UN conference adopts treaty banning nuclear weapons

7 July 2017  Countries meeting at a United Nations conference in New York today adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first multilateral legally-binding instrument for nuclear disarmament to have been negotiated in 20 years.

"The treaty represents an important step and contribution towards the common aspirations of a world without nuclear weapons," the spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said following its adoption.

"The Secretary-General hopes that this new treaty will promote inclusive dialogue and renewed international cooperation aimed at achieving the long overdue objective of nuclear disarmament," Stephane Dujarric added.

The treaty  adopted by a vote of 122 in favour to one against (Netherlands), with one abstention (Singapore)  prohibits a full range of nuclear-weapon-related activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons.

"We feel emotional because we are responding to the hopes and dreams of the present and future generations," said Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gomez of Costa Rica, who serves as the President of the conference that negotiated the treaty in response to a mandate given by the UN General Assembly.

She told a news conference at UN Headquarters that with the treaty the world is "one step closer" to a total elimination of nuclear weapons.

The treaty will be open for signature to all States at UN Headquarters in New York on 20 September 2017, and enter into force 90 days after it has been ratified by at least 50 countries.

To date, however, a number of countries have stayed out of the negotiations, including the United States, Russia and other nuclear-weapon States, as well as many of their allies. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has not joined the talks either.

In a joint press statement issued today, the delegations of the United States, United Kingdom and France said they "have not taken part in the negotiation of the treaty and do not intend to sign, ratify or ever become party to it

"This initiative clearly disregards the realities of the international security environment," they said. "Accession to the ban treaty is incompatible with the policy of nuclear deterrence, which has been essential to keeping the peace in Europe and North Asia for over 70 years."

In response to questions on the joint statement, Ms. Whyte Gomez recalled that when the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was adopted decades ago, it did not enjoy a large number of accessions.

Opened for signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970. Then in 1995, the Treaty was extended indefinitely. A total of 191 States have joined the Treaty, including the five nuclear-weapon States that are the permanent members of the UN Security Council  China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In the beginning, it was unimaginable that those States would be parties to the NPT, she noted. "But the world changes and the circumstances change."

She added that the hibakusha, survivors of nuclear bombs, have been the driving force in the creation of the nuclear weapons prohibition treaty. The experiences they have been sharing "touch the human soul," she said, adding that the negotiations were a "combination of reason and heart."

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The future of the McLaren-Honda project appears to be in healthier shape this weekend in Austria.

Ahead of the FIA press conference on Friday, Mercedes' Toto Wolff was supposed to have been joined by Pirelli's Mario Isola and Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene.

But at the last minute, the Italians were replaced by McLaren's Eric Boullier and Honda chief Yusuke Hasegawa.

It fuelled speculation it could be the scene of the announcement of the McLaren-Honda split, with Wolff also present to represent McLaren's next engine supplier.

But proceedings did not pan out that way.

Instead, the McLaren rhetoric suddenly took a turn, fuelled perhaps by Boullier's confirmation that the 'step 3' Honda engine is indeed a clear step forwards.

"(We had) a little bit of a setback at the beginning of this season but I think we can see now we are back on the right path to get back to the front," said the Frenchman.

As for the rumour that McLaren could take 'a break' from Honda power next year and run for the interim with Mercedes engines, Boullier, Hasegawa and Wolff all denied it.

"I think we have a common answer -- no," said Boullier.

Hasegawa agreed: "Of course it is not our option. We don't want to do that.

"We want to keep this collaboration and at this moment there is no other story."

And Mercedes' Wolff said: "If it's not their option, it's not my option either."

(GMM)
Dr Helmut Marko has issued his latest clear "No" amid speculation Max Verstappen could be on the move for 2018.

Rumours the young Dutch driver is positioning to accept an offer from Ferrari despite his ongoing Red Bull contract have been consistently denied.

So amid the latest wave of speculation in Austria, 19-year-old Verstappen was asked by Auto Bild if he wants to drive for Ferrari.

"I want to sit in the fastest car," he replied.

As for Marko, the Red Bull driver manager has said repeatedly that Daniel Ricciardo is under contract for 2018, while Verstappen's deal even has an option for 2019.

And when asked if a Ferrari offer might be the contractual trigger for Verstappen's exit, Marko said clearly: "No."

(GMM)
Carlos Sainz says he will talk to Helmut Marko, Christian Horner and Franz Tost, after being slammed by his Red Bull bosses in Austria.

Earlier, amid rumours he has been offered a Renault seat for 2018, the young Spaniard said it was indeed "unlikely" he will stay at Toro Rosso next year.

Horner, the Red Bull boss, called Sainz "disingenuous", while Red Bull driver manager Marko was even harsher in his reaction to his comments.

"He must be confused," Auto Motor und Sport quotes the gruff Austrian as saying.

"He knows his contract situation so if he putting pressure on us, it's the wrong way. He signed a contract with us in 2018. No ifs and buts.

"I have to wonder about his behaviour," Marko added. "Normally you do not bite the hand that feeds you.

"I think he should concentrate more on his racing. In the last races, Kvyat was always in front.

"Maybe it is his father (Carlos Sainz snr) who is dreaming," he said.

Even Franz Tost, Sainz's normally fully supportive Toro Rosso chief, hit back at the 22-year-old, insisting: "Red Bull paid and financed his whole career.

"Why should Red Bull give him away to another opponent?"

When asked if he was surprised by the 'hype' that followed his original comments in Austria, Sainz replied: "I would not call it hype, that's too strong a word.

"But in my opinion, from what I said yesterday it's a bit exaggerated because I think I said nothing strange.

"I have serious sporting ambitions and I have always said my main goal is to become a driver for Red Bull Racing. I owe everything to this company," he explained.

As for whether Horner, Marko and Tost's reaction 'surprised' him, Sainz continued: "I can say that I was a little surprised, but such things can often happen in formula one.

"It's no problem, I can talk to them -- about Red Bull, my devotion to the company, about what I want to achieve. What can I say? I think my words were misinterpreted.

"What I said is a fact, because no one has driven for Toro Rosso for more than three years. It's a youth team, where drivers gain experience, so in my opinion with what they say about me, it's a little strange.

"I just called a spade a spade while expressing loyalty to Red Bull," he insisted.

(GMM)
In the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe yesterday.

The duo reviewed the progress in bilateral relation, including important projects, since their last meeting in Japan during Prime Minister's visit in November 2016.

The Prime Minister said that he looked forward to Prime Minister Abe's fourth coming visit to India for the next Annual Summit and hoped that it would further strengthen their cooperation.

Also Read:

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PM Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu pay homage to Indian soldiers at Haifa Cemetery
GREENSBORO Back in Aycock Middle School, eight years ago, Claire Hendricksons friends all wanted to play flute.

But the band director needed trumpet players. So Hendrickson chose to learn the trumpet instead.

That might have been a radical move decades ago, when far fewer females played the brass instrument.

But for Hendrickson, There was no strange reaction, she said. People were excited for me to learn an instrument.

The trumpet still attracts mostly male musicians today.

But a growing number of female musicians have discovered the challenge and appeal of creating the commanding sound that leads an orchestras brass section of trumpets, trombones, French horn and tuba.

Trumpeters say it is one of the orchestras most physically demanding instruments.

It was a challenge but a really fun challenge, and it still is, said Hendrickson, 20. You always have to have your lip muscles in shape. If you take time off, youll lose a lot of muscle.

Hendrickson studies trumpet as a rising junior at DePaul University in Chicago.

This summer, she is spending five weeks studying and performing at the Eastern Music Festival at Guilford College, just down the road from where she grew up.

Its a great summer music festival, Hendrickson said.

The classical music festival has attracted 234 students ages 14 to 23 from around the world and 78 professional faculty members to teach them. Seven students hail from Greensboro.

Among 10 trumpet students, two are female, one or two fewer than recent years.

Hendrickson grew up attending EMF concerts with her grandmother, Sylvia Meisner.

Once I started playing, I wanted to go to as many concerts as I could, Hendrickson said.

Now, she gets to perform in them.

EMF long has drawn female trumpet students and faculty members.

Karin Bliznik of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra studied there.

Bibi Black, now a soloist and recording artist, both studied and taught there. She was the first female to play second trumpet in the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Back in 1998, EMFs faculty orchestra and chamber players were the only major performance groups in the country with an all-female trumpet section: Black, Lauraine Carpenter and Judith Saxton.

Saxton has taught there for 20 years.

Bliznik was among her students. This summer, Hendrickson is among them.

For 10 years, Saxton also taught at UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, where she lives.

In high schools and middle schools, there are a lot of young gals interested in taking up the trumpet, she said.

Saxton has played principal trumpet with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Wichita Symphony Orchestra in Kansas. Now 52, she freelances as a performer worldwide.

She began playing brass in elementary school in Harrisburg, Pa. Her sister played trumpet and French horn. Her two brothers played trombone.

She remembers showing up at the schools band night with a cornet.

I probably gravitated to brass mouthpieces because thats what I had seen everybody do, Saxton said.

She switched to trumpet in high school, to play in its jazz band.

During high school and college years, Even if there was male domination, I never felt it, Saxton said. I was just doing my thing and trying to get better.

It was different for trumpeter Susan Slaughter, one of Saxtons mentors and the first female principal trumpet of a major symphony orchestra.

Slaughter played in the brass section of the St. Louis Symphony for 41 years and led it for 37.

She auditioned in the days before concerns about sexism and racism required that auditions be played behind a curtain.

When she started out in 1969, women didnt get hired to play brass instruments in symphony orchestras, Slaughter said.

She knew of only one other. Marie Speziale became the first female to play trumpet in a major symphony orchestra when the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra hired her in 1964.

I think there was a preconceived notion that a woman is not as strong as a man, and that playing the trumpet or trombone or tuba was not something a woman could do, Slaughter said from St. Louis. Also, men had a network they established over the years that women did not have.

Her experiences prompted her in 1992 to form the International Womens Brass Conference, which helps women who want to play brass instruments professionally.

Slaughter said she has seen more women as principal players in brass sections of major orchestras.

Anita Cirba plays principal trumpet for the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra. But Bliznik remains the only female principal trumpet among major orchestras.

The International Trumpet Guild has seen changes as well.

Among its 4,500 members, there is still a majority of males, said its president, Brian Evans of Australia.

But its incoming president is a woman.

We are pleased not to be a boys club,  Evans wrote in an email. We also have a conscious focus on diversity and inclusion.

Hendrickson aims to play trumpet in a professional orchestra.

In her first lesson at EMF, Saxton guided her on the opening solo of Mussorgskys Pictures at an Exhibition.

Its a really important excerpt to know to get into an orchestra, Hendrickson said.

Student and teacher discovered mutual interests.

They both list their favorite trumpeter as the late Bud Herseth, longtime principal with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

They share a love for the trumpets sound.

Its so powerful and strong and heroic and clear and beautiful and gorgeous, Saxton said. You can get people to stop and think.
July 8, 1776

A 1-ton copper-and-tin bell we now call the Liberty Bell rang out in the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, summoning citizens to the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. Four days after the declaration was adopted, when the document returned from the printer, the bell rang to announce it would be read. History.com says the bell was hung from the State House steeple in June 1753. Rung to call the Pennsylvania Assembly together and to summon people for special announcements and events, it was also rung on important occasions, such as King George IIIs 1761 ascension to the British throne and, in 1765, to call the people together to discuss Parliaments controversial Stamp Act. With the outbreak of the American Revolution in April 1775, the bell was rung to announce the battles of Lexington and Concord. Its most famous tolling, however, was on July 8, 1776, when it summoned Philadelphia citizens for the first reading of the Declaration of Independence.
GREENWICH  Competition is brewing among Greenwich Republicans for the Board of Education.

With two Republican seats up for election this fall, two candidates are officially in and two more are expected to be in the race. Whether or not the party nominates more than two, presenting the choice to voters, should be clear later this month.

Incumbent member Peter Bernstein has confirmed he will seek re-election, and Jason Auerbach, a member of the Representative Town Meeting, has officially declared his candidacy.

Board Chairman Peter Sherr has not made his decision about a third term public yet, but is considered a strong likelihood to seek a spot on the ballot. And former Board of Education member Peter von Braun has said he is seriously considering a run to get back on the panel. Von Braun was denied re-election in a three-way race for two open Republican seats on the school board in 2015.

I am grateful that the voters of Greenwich elected me four years ago and am seeking to be reelected to help see all of our hard work to fruition, Bernstein said this week. I care deeply about offering a high-quality education within the confines of our budget and want to continue my work to raise achievement for all of our students.

Bernstein also said he is running to provide continuity and support to new Superintendent Jill Gildea, who started work in Greenwich on Monday.

Auerbach, who like Bernstein and Sherr has children in the district, said Friday he has focused on a school board run for some time, having been a vocal parent and RTM member.

I am very familiar with the many issues facing student achievement, being a part of the RTMs Education Committee, Auerbach said. In May, as the Board of Education voted to lower graduation standards I seriously looked to throw my hat in the ring.

He was referring to new graduation requirements the school board approved for students who could not score up to district standards on standardized tests.

Von Braun and Sherr could not be reached for comment this week.

The Republican Town Committee will hold a party-only candidates forum Tuesday at the St. Lawrence Club in Cos Cob. Party Chairman Stephen Walko said he expected more than two candidates for the Board of Education to attend but did not say whether it would be three or four.

The RTCs Executive Committee will meet on July 19. And the party will hold its nominating meeting on July 25.

Each party has the option of nominating two to four candidates for the school board. Each side will have two seats to fill; Greenwich rules prevent any party from holding a majority on the board.

The Democratic Town Committee will have its nominating meeting on July 18. As of Friday, two Democrats, Kathleen Stowe and Meghan Olsson, are seeking spots on the board, replacing incumbents Laura Erickson and Debbie Appelbaum, who have said they will not seek new terms.

DTC Chairman Jeff Ramer said the search is ongoing for additional Board of Education candidates and potential candidates are actively under consideration.

Ramer has said it is important for the party to field more than two candidates to give voters a choice because of the partys strong opposition to a proposed charter change that has been subject of heated debate in town. It calls for the Board of Education election process to be changed, allowing for one party to claim a majority of seats and control of the board.

Advocates, mostly Republican, have argued it would guarantee voter choice and provide greater accountability. Opponents have called it a power grab by Republicans, who enjoy a significant advantage in voter registration, that would politicize a traditionally non-political board.

Charter change is expected to be a topic debated in the race. Sherr has been a vocal proponent of it and Bernstein a vocal opponent. Von Braun was on the charter change committee that came up with the proposal and Auerbach was a leading voice in favor of charter change when the idea originated in the RTM.

I cant imagine a scenario where it doesnt become part of the debate, Walko said.

Auerbach stressed his commitment to the issue.

I know it is what a majority of parents want, Auerbach said. (It is) a chance to make a choice. Two years ago I was one of the first elected officials to bring forward charter change with (RTM members) Barry Rickert and Warren Silver, neither of whom are Republicans. ... This is fundamentally about voter choice and accountability

Bernstein said he is in the race no matter how many candidates the RTC endorses.

I look forward to being on the ballot in November and ensuring that Greenwich voters truly have a choice. Board of Education members should be directly accountable to the voters, he said.

Candidates will be able to run without party endorsement, something Sherr did in 2013 when he collected enough signatures to get on the ballot as a Republican after party leaders at the time passed him over for re-election. He ended up getting the most votes of any Board of Education candidate in the general election that year.

According to town Republican Register of Voters Fred DeCaro III, any town resident looking to get onto the ballot as a petition candidate would need to get signatures amounting to one percent of the total votes from the 2015 Board of Education election. Since 11,299 ballots were cast in that race, an unaffiliated voter would need 113 validated signatures.

For a candidate to get on the ballot as a Republican without the RTCs endorsement he or she would need signatures from 5 percent of total registered Republicans in Greenwich. As of Friday, there are 12,722 registered Republicans in Greenwich.

Greenwich Democrats face a lower threshold to get on the ballot. DeCaro said only one percent of registered voters in that party are needed. Democrats numbered 9,772 prior to the November presidential election.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
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GREENWICH  It was after hours, rays from the setting sun poured through the shades at Hopscotch Salon, near the base of Greenwich Avenue, Friday night. The scissors were sheathed, floors swept, stations wiped clean.

But 24 Hopscotch employees remained, listening intently to a training session unlike any they likely envisioned at the start of their careers.

Salon professionals have a unique view into the personal lives of their clients, said Meredith Gold, director of Domestic Abuse Services at the YWCA.

A team from the Y went to the salon to teach the stylists how they could be on the front lines against domestic violence. The training was the first that the YWCA Greenwich has conducted with hair or beauty professionals.

Most women really have established a relationship with their hairdressers, said Hisao Oe, owner of Hopscotch. Many of them do talk about the intimate details of their life.

In Greenwich, domestic violence is the second most investigated crime following theft. In 2016, Greenwich Police responded to 271 domestic violence reports.

Nationally, 26 percent of women report being physically abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives, according to the YWCA.

During the hour-plus presentation, Yajaira Gonzalez, YWCA Greenwich community educator, Leslie Coplin, YWCA Greenwich Prevention and Outreach Coordinator, and Gold taught the stylists how to recognize signs of domestic violence, a pattern of behavior that one individual uses to retain control over another. Hallmarked by fear and a power imbalance, domestic violence can take many forms  physical, sexual, emotional, legal, financial or digital, they said.

The YWCA team pointed out how hairdressers are uniquely positioned to spot a problem.

Women who have been cut off from their friends and family by their abuser might still be allowed to go to the hair salon. When washing and cutting hair, stylists can feel for bumps on the clients head, look for patches where hair was ripped out or look for bruises around the neck and scalp that might normally be hidden, members of the Y team said.

Stylists can notice if a client is constantly harassed by text messages or calls from a partner, if the client needs permission to change appearance or if he or she is afraid of spending money without a partners OK.

We have heard many of the things that were explained here, many of the subtle abuses, said Oe, who has run Hopscotch in Greenwich for 24 years. We actually have seen some of the physical abuse as well.

Colorist Alexandra Umana said the training gave her a new way to look out for her clients.

Its just spreading awareness for something that is already a touchy subject, she said. Its a thing that happens every day and were not aware of it.

In 2017, a new law took effect in Illinois requiring salon workers to take one hour of training every two years to recognize the signs of abuse and assault. The law, which provides workers with a list of resources to which they can refer clients for help, governs hair stylists, nail technicians and aestheticians and is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.

In April, New York State Assembly member Linda B. Rosenthal sponsored a similar bill requiring a one-hour domestic violence and sexual assault awareness course for all professionals in New Yorks cosmetology industry.

We hope that CT will follow suit! said Gold.

She said domestic violence training could help people in any business understand what might be happening when an employees partner regularly comes to the office to check on them, an employee takes many sick days for seemingly no reason or an employee seems paranoid and distracted at work.

Anyone who works with people is working with people who are experiencing domestic violence, even if you dont know it, said Gold. And wouldnt it be great to have some baseline understanding of what to look for? You might be the only person that could help.

The YWCA Greenwich has conducted domestic violence training for staff at Greenwich Hospital, the Greenwich Police Department, the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich, Greenwich High School, Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, the Greenwich Bar Association and a few local private law firms.

We want to expand those trainings, said Mary Lee Kiernan, president and CEO of the YWCA Greenwich.




Haiti - ALERT Weather : Flood risks this weekend





Following the announcement on Friday of the National Hydrometeorological Unit (UHN) of the passage of a tropical wave, accompanied by locally stormy showers, on the evening of Saturday 8 and Sunday July 9 in the morning, the Directorate of Civil Protection (DPC) of the Ministry of the Interior initiated the mobilization of its structures across the territory, due to the precipitation forecast for this weekend.



Several departments, including the North, Northeast, Lower Artibonite, the central region of the South Peninsula and the regions of the Massif de la Hotte, are expected to receive precipitation above normal. Localized flooding is also possible in the western part of the southern peninsula and in the Nippes.



Consequently, the DPC calls on populations in risk areas to remain cautious and to apply scrupulously the safety instructions in the event of floods, landslides... Citizens living near gullies, rivers or other floodplains must make arrangements to evacuate if requested by the authorities or if water levels require it.



HL/ HaitiLibre


























Haiti - FLASH : Declaration of Public Utility of Land in Port-au-Prince





By order of the Council of Ministers on Friday June 30, 2017, several areas in downtown Port-au-Prince were declared of public utility. Information announced on 6 July by the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers.



Delineation of public utilities areas :



1.- In the North, by the Faculty of Law and Economic Sciences of the State University of Haiti;



2.- In the South, by the Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Medical Technology of the State University of Haiti;



3. In the East, by the Street Oswald Durand;



4.- To the West by the Hospital of the State University of Haiti.



On the other hand :



1.- In the North, by the street Bonne foi;



2. In the South, by the street Eden;



3.- To the East, by avenue Marie Jeanne;



4.- In the West, by Boulevard Harry Truman.



The land retained within the framework of this decree will be used for the expansion of the Hospital of the State University of Haiti and the construction of a building for the benefit of the fire brigade of the capital.



Note that as of the publication of this decree, all works, other than those undertaken in connection with the development or extension of the Hospital of the State University of Haiti (construction, drilling road, subdivision or other land use), as well as all real estate transactions or dispositions are and remain prohibited throughout the area defined above.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Justice : New DG to the UCREF more favorable to President Moise ?





To fill the position of Director General, the Central Unit of Financial Information (UCREF) left vacant by Sonel Jean-Francois, appointed in May 2016, who was at the origin of the investigation report that involved President Moise in an alleged manipulation of funds and money laundering https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20175-haiti-news-zapping-politics.html revoked by President Moise https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20919-haiti-flash-moise-replaces-the-director-general-of-the-ucref.html ; the Executive proceeded to the installation of Joseph Oldy Bellegarde as the new Director General.



Let's recall that following the dismissal of Sonel Jean-Francois, a presidential decree appointed last April, as replacement of the former Deputy Protector of Citizen Fritz Jean, however he never took office at the head of the UCREF due to strong dispute...



The new Director Joseph Oldy Bellegarde already raises objections from the Civil Society, which underlines that Bellegarde has already served under the Presidency Martelly as Director of Operations of the UCREF, questioning the objectivity of this Director, in the investigation still open on President Jovenel Moise...



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20642-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20632-haiti-news-zapping-politics.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20175-haiti-news-zapping-politics.html



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - FLASH : The CSS proposes a daily minimum wage of 335 Gourdes





On Friday in a press conference, the Superior Council of Salaries (CSS) released its report and recommendations on the minimum wage.



The CSS felt that it had done a valuable and scientific work, recalling that these proposals were based on data provided by national experts, the Haitian Institute of Statistics and Informatics and the Bank of the Republic of Haiti. Taking into account the competitiveness of Haiti relative to other countries in terms of wages, they also analyzed other data from outside.



Daily minimum wages, CSS recommendations :



The employees' salaries from subcontracting textile and other manufacturing industries for re-export, the recommended daily wage if of 335 gourdes a day, while unions demanded 800 Gdes ;



The wages of the employees of the production companies will be 350 Gdes ;



Salaries of employees of petroleum products distribution companies and security agencies: 300 Gdes ;



The salary of employees of private service companies (private vocational schools and private health institutions employing more than 10 people and offering hospital services): 300 Gdes ;



The salary of employees serving enterprises considered "growing and stable": 400 Gdes ;



The salary of employees serving enterprises considered to be "doing business": 325 Gdes ;



The salary of employees serving enterprises considered "exposed and highly vulnerable": 290 Gdes ;



Salary of Domestic Workers: 200 Gdes.



In addition to its recommendations CSS asks the Executive to grant social accompaniments to the workers of the manufacturing companies in terms of food, transport and housing and to include the costs of such support in future budgets. It also recommends that the Government reduce the cost of electricity and exempt taxes on petroleum products for the re-export manufacturing sector.



Hedouville, President of CSS wishes that these recommendations may enter into force from 1 August, if the Executive who has the final word on the amount of these salaries, decides to apply the recommendations of the Council to the letter.



Pierre Joseph Polycarpe, the Representative of the trade unions (contested by several trade unionists who found him favorable to the bosses) believed that the 800 gourdes demanded by the workers was impossible given the reality of this sector and the existence of other competitors at the level of the region.



Hugo Elien, Employer Representative said that these recommendations take into account macroeconomic indices and the exchange rate. While he acknowledged that textile workers might be disappointed with the CSS's recommendations, he felt that their demands were unrealistic from an economic point of view.



As for the leaders of the main trade unions, who demanded a minimum wage of 800 gourdes, they rejected the CSS report and confirmed their watchword to emonstrate (Port-au-Prince, Carrefour and Ouanaminthe) on Monday 12, Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 July, to force the Executive to meet their demands.



Senator Antonio Cheramy, President of the Commission for Social Affairs, urges the Head of State to think carefully before publishing his decision in the official newspaper "Le Moniteur" and to work in the interest of all citizens.



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Diaspora : Passport renewal

The Consulate General of Haiti in Miami advises you to renew your passport before its expiry date. If your passport is valid for less than 6 months, it is time to renew it. For more information, contact the Consulate by phone at (305) 859-2003 or by email at cghm.news@diplomatie.ht



Miss Teen International 2017

Faith Andris, will represent Haiti at the next Miss Teen International beauty contest in Virginia in July and August 2017. If she wins this contest, Haiti will be the first black country to win this contest.



Aggressions against voodoo followers

This week, a meeting was held between the Senate Committee "Justice, Security and National Defense" and the National Confederation of Haitian Voodoo, around the proliferation of attacks that suffer in Haiti, the adepts of the voodoo religion.



Moise looks at flooding problems

On Friday, President Jovenel Moise, accompanied by Senator Herve Fourcand and members of the Coordinating Cell of the Caravan of Change, returned to the South Department, to address among other things the flooding problems of the City of Les Cayes , as well as its communal sections.



Agriculture : portfolio review

On Wednesday, Branly Eugene, the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, chaired a portfolio review of the programs financed from external resources and cooperation to ensure the successful implementation of ongoing projects, the effectiveness of support to the agricultural sector, the identification of stakeholders and the development of new perspectives



Agenda

On Thursday, Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant received the Ambassador of China (Taiwan), HE Mr. Cheng-hao Hu;



On Thursday, Branly Eugene, Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, proceeded to the installation of Jean Elie Philogene as Director of the Department of Agriculture of the West (DDAO);



Signature on Friday of an agreement between the FAO and the Ministry for the Status of Women and Women's Rights for the implementation of the program to support the validation and implementation of the gender strategy;



The Director General of the Ministry of Public Health Laure Adrien, installed Tuesday Sauveur Chantal Junior Datus, as the new head of Maternity Isaie Jeanty;



At the beginning of the week, the General Inspectorate of the PNH (IGPNH) presented its report for the month of June, it handled 399 files during this period;



The National Coordination of Food Security (CNSA) has a new coordinator. It is Harmel Cazeau who has been installed in his functions, he replace Chrisner Roche.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















By Lily Lee | Published on 2017/07/07

Actor Song Joong-ki and actress Song Hye-kyo's surprise wedding announcement shocked every single k-drama fans across the world! As they selected October 31st as their big day, there are many people who are envious and sending negative messages but there are also many who are sending their biggest blessings and congratulating messages. For me, it is a bit saddening to see my oppa, Song Joong-ki getting married so early on in his career but so happy for this beautiful couple. Look at them, they are so in love! Also, knowing that lovely chemistry they had in the drama, "Descendants of the Sun", how can I oppose to this great news?

Advertisement

As this "Descendants of the Sun" couple, known as the Song-Song couple became official, we are all shook, but it is not entirely surprising. This couple has gotten quite a few scandals on their dating rumor since the drama and they have been denying until now but now that the news is out, everyone seems to nod their head after the shock/panic has passed. Plus, the little signs and clues indicating their relationship were there all this time!

First, Sighted dates!

From New York to Seoul, and even in Bali! This couple enjoyed their dates globally. As many witnesses and pictures surfaced from everywhere, the two cleared up the news by saying they are just good friends. However, we believe that this was the beginning of their relationship!

Second, The award acceptance speeches!

After the drama, "Descendants of the Sun", both of them received awards from KBS Drama Awards. In their award acceptance speech, actress Song Hye-kyo mentioned, "Without my Perfect Partner, Song Joong-ki, I won't be standing here".

Following that, actor Song Joong-ki also included, "I will give the entire honor to my beautiful partner Song Hye-kyo noona, who have been the biggest support on the set".

Third, Song Hye-kyo's SNS!

Unlike Actor Song Joong-ki, who doesn't use SNS (he mentioned the reason being, he is bad with technology.), actress Song Hye-kyo have an Instagram account, where she uploaded multiple pictures of her and Song Joong-ki together.

In the pictures, it is apparent that they are very comfortable and friendly with each other, showing how close they are.

Fourth, Song Joong-ki's new house!

Actor Song Joong-ki recently bought a beautiful house in Itaewon area with estimated price of W 10,000,000,000 which is about $8,660,000 U.S Dollars.

Since he is living in Banpo-dong area with his parents at the moment, when the house was purchased, people were suspicious that the house was for marriage purpose.

After the wedding announcement, it's mostly likely expected that this will be their honeymoon home.

Last, Fan meetings and Coffee Truck!

Last June, Song Hye-kyo made an appearance at Song Joong-ki's fan meeting in China! It is a bit of a travel just to attend a co-worker's fan meeting even for the friendship that they claimed was the reason.

Also, last August, Song Hye-kyo sent a complimentary coffee truck to Song Joong-ki's movie, "The Battleship Island" set for the crew.

Like the above events, the couple has been caring and supportive to each other's endeavor and was showing it, we just failed to see them at the moment!

Well, my dear Song-Song couple! I wish you all the blessings for this happy phase of your life and may your love be everlasting!

By. Lily Lee
by Andrew Walden (Orig. published 3-8-09)

When the USSR collapsed in 1991, long-secret archives of the Communist International were thrown open to western researchers for the first time. Many previously unknown details of communist history have been revealed--including the 1935 Comintern orders directing Communists to begin work in Hawaii. These were uncovered by veteran researcher Herbert Romerstein in Moscow.

The transcription is below, the pdf of the original as recovered is HERE (p 35-36).

Many of the names of the Cominterns "Anglo-American Secretariat" members meeting about Hawaii on February 17, 1935 are aliases of British, Russian, and other European communists. Some are unidentifiable. But one, Sherman, was much closer to Hawaii and in a position to begin carrying out the Comintern dictates contained in this document.

Romerstein, author of The Venona Secrets, describes Sherman as: William Schneiderman, who, in the 1930s, was an agent of the Soviet foreign spy agency NKVD, code-named Nat (Venona transcripts), with an alias of Sherman. He was later made head of the Communist Party of California, where he would come into contact with individuals as significant as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the chief scientist at the Manhattan Project. (Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel, The Venona Secrets, Washington, DC: Regnery, 2000, pp. 258-68.)

The Comintern's February, 1935 discussion was followed by a July 7, 1935 Letter to the CPUSA on Hawaii. That led to quick action on the part of American communists. Bob Krauss, in his book, Johnny Wilson, First Hawaiian Democrat (p 170) writes:

On the Honolulu docks, a tough little German-Hawaiian from Kalihi, Maxie Weisbarth, spoke for seamen as business agent for the Sailors Union of the Pacific. A six-page, free-swinging, semi-weekly newspaper called the Voice of Labor began publication on November 4, 1935. One week before this date, a rawboned young seaman named Jack Hall landed in Honolulu from the Mariposa to begin a career as a union organizer that would make him the most powerful labor leader in Hawaii. He eked out a living on less that $20 a week working for Weisbarth distributing pamphlets. Communist infiltration of labor unions apparently did not worry Johnny (Wilson), although Halls friends said Hall read nothing but Communist literature. Johnny said later, I knew as far back as 1936 that there were Communists here in Hawaii.

It was 3  months from issuance of the Cominterns Letter to the CPUSA on Hawaii to the arrival of Jack Hall in Honolulu. Koji Aiyoshi, who would go on to assist Mao Zedong as a spy in China during WW2, describes in his memoir From Kona to Yenan (p27), the beginnings of his recruitment to communism (without acknowledging it as such) in 1936 Honolulu.

Also of interest, the 1951 Congressional testimony of former ILWU Communist Jack Kawano, describing the earliest communist arrivals in Hawaii. All arrived in late 1935 and early 1936 shortly after the Comintern orders were given.

Hall would eventually lead the ILWU which was controlled by the Communist Party and which would in turn control the Democratic Party. Ariyoshi would edit the ILWUs communist-line Honolulu Record from 1948-58. Both Hall and Ariyoshi would be among the 1953 Honolulu Seven Smith Act defendants. In 1948 Communist Party member Frank Marshall Davis would arrive from Chicago and become a Honolulu Record columnist under Ariyoshi. Davis would from 1970-79 become a mentor to the young Barack Obama.

In 1954 the Democrats took control of the Territorial Legislature. Between the 1950 beginning of the Korean War and 1959 Statehood, most Hawaii Communists would leave the Party, but not necessarily leave behind Stalinist organizational methods or socialist economic ideas.

As Hawaiis first elected Democrat State Governor Jack Burns would point out later:

Every guy in the ILWU was at one time or another a member of the Communist Party of America. This is where they got their organizational information and how to organize, and how to bring groups together and how to create cells and how to make movements that are undetected by the bosses and everything elseI know what they were about. I said this was the only way they are going to organize.

The document is transcribed below. Embedded links have been inserted to provide more information about organizations and individuals named in the document. Sections in [brackets] are not visible on the original and a presumed text has been inserted when possible based on context and spacing.

See pdf of original document (pp 35-36).

*****

XXX

K/2.

CONFIDENTIAL.

No.6.

MEETING OF BUREAU, ANGLO-AMERICAN SECRETARIAT,

February 17, 1935.

Present: McIlhone (chair), Mehring, Flake, Naumann, Brown, Sherman, Levine, Bergmann, Massie, Gray, Porter, Andrews, Brigadier, Riley, Ahnstrom, Billett, Mingulin.

QUESTIONS DISCUSSED:

1. Hawaiian question.

Reporter: Flake.

Speakers: Shermann, Nehring, Mingulin, Naumann.

DECISIONS:

1. To discuss the question with the American and Japanese comrades. To draw up a document which analysis the situation and the revolutionary tasks in Hawaii.

Responsible: Commissor composed of comrades Flake, Mingulin, Porter, Sherman, representative of Eastern Secretariat.

Responsible for Commission: Com. Sherman.

Signed,

(Illegible)

* * * * *

July 7, 1935

LETTER TO THE CPUSA ON HAWAII

The growing discontent of the masses of the population in the Hawaiian Islands with the regime of colonial oppression and the exploitation of American imperialism with its policy of militarization of the Hawaiian Islands makes it essential for the CP USA to give every possible assistance to the development of the mass revolutionary movement in Hawaii, so that the foundations will be laid for the formation off a Communist party as the leader of the emancipation movement in Hawaii. Due to the altogether insufficient information at present available, it is not possible at present to completely formulate all of the tasks of the revolutionary movement, which further investigation and discussion of this question should be conducted by the American Party.

The political slogans of the Hawaiian revolutionary movement should be based on the developing of the agrarian, anti-imperialist revolution, the struggle against the yoke of American imperialism, and the bourgeois landlord system, and for a workers and farmers republic. Although the slogans of the national liberation struggle cannot be exactly predetermined and will have to grow out of the creation and development of the national liberation movement itself, it is the first and foremost task of the American party to assist this process and raise the slogan of Right of Self-determination of the Peoples of Hawaii, up to the Point of Separation, to demand the withdrawal of the US armed forces, and to expose the policy of the militarization of Hawaii as part of the war plans of American imperialism.

The CP USA should discuss with the Hawaiian comrades what are the basic tasks of the agrarian anti-imperialist revolution, especially the solution of the land question, which, according to the material available, presents itself as the task of destroying the semi-feudal remnants, the confiscation of the big plantations which predominate in Hawaii (and are mainly owned by foreign imperialists), and the division of the land among the people.

In addition to the main political slogans of the national liberation struggle, the Hawaiian revolutionary movement should consider raising the following immediate partial demands, the struggle for which should receive the full support of the CP USA:

1) Full democratic rights for the people -- against the terror; freedom of speech, press, assembly, and the right to organize and strike; full electoral rights [for] the disenfranchised masses and the American soldiers and sailors.

2) Equal rights for all [nationalities and an end to] discrimination against the coloured people (Hawaiian, [Japanese], Filipino, etc.)

3) Eight hour day for industrial and agricultural workers

4) Abolition of the con.. .. ..labour.

5) Establishment of a .. .. ..ay for

.... the coloured .. .. ..

6) [Une]mployment and .. .. ..

7) Cancellation of [the debts of small farmers] and sharecroppers.

8) Reduction or can[-cellation of re-]nt for small farmers and share-croppers.

The CP USA should [make a prior]ity of establishing a central newspaper (by [combining] the central organs publish by various groups, or making one [of the existing newspapers into the] central organ),

[balance of document was not retrieved]

* * * * *
A grandfather who became involved in a violent incident in a pet shop after his son got into a dispute about a parking space has been jailed for 18 months.

Noel Dempsey (61), of Stannaway Road, Dublin 12, initially denied charges of assault causing harm to Mark Eagers, and violent disorder.

On the second day of his trial before a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury, he asked to be re-arraigned and pleaded guilty to the charge of violent disorder at Purrrfect Pets, Long Mile Road, on February 5, 2011.

Dempsey's daughter, Vicky Dempsey (36), also of Stannaway Road, received a two-year suspended sentence in February 2015 after she also pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

The court heard she had dragged a woman backwards by the hair as her brother, Karl Dempsey (38), was attacking Mr Eagers.

Karl Dempsey, also of Stannaway Road, was jailed for 20 months in May 2015 after he also pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

The court heard Mr Eagers was left with a broken nose and a set of keys lodged in his thumb.

Judge John Aylmer described it as a savage, unprovoked and cowardly attack.

He refused to accept a submission by Keith Spencer, defending, that Noel Dempsey's only intention in going into the pet store was to prevent Vicky "losing the head".

Determination

He said the CCTV footage showed Noel Dempsey going into the store with "calm determination" to support his son as he set upon the victim.

"He assisted his son in inflicting the injuries to Mr Eagers," the judge said, while acknowledging that he played a lesser role than Karl.

He said Karl Dempsey had been the aggressor in the initial altercation with Mr Eagers in the car park but said Karl had "bit off more than he could chew".

The judge said Karl then summoned the assistance of his father and sister to accompany him into the pet shop to "seek his revenge".

Sergeant Anne Byrne told Lorcan Staines, prosecuting, that earlier in the day, as Mr Eagers parked up his car outside the pet store, he heard beeping from a Smart car driven by Karl Dempsey, who accused him of taking his space.

Dempsey drove off but returned on foot to confront Mr Eagers. A scuffle broke out between the two men. Mr Eagers received blows, while he elbowed Karl Dempsey.

Mr Eagers called gardai and was advised to go inside the shop to wait for their arrival.

While in the store Mr Eagers was looking at his phone before Karl Dempsey punched him to the back of head, causing him to fall to the ground.

His head was stamped on and he was kicked to the head before he blacked out.

Sgt Byrne said Noel Dempsey had 103 previous convictions dating back to 1970.

Mr Spencer submitted that Noel Dempsey had nothing to do with the scuffle and had gone into the pet store to prevent Vicky "losing the head", and claimed this had been his only intention.
San Antonio in Ibiza where the Irishman fell from a balcony

There are fears a young Irish holidaymaker might never walk again after he suffered a fall from a first-floor balcony into a pool on the Spanish island of Ibiza.

The 27-year-old was taken to the island hospital Can Misses before being transferred to Son Espases, on Majorca, after the plunge.

The Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed the victim is Irish. A spokesman said it was providing consular assistance. The incident took place at the Hotel Piscis in the early hours of yesterday.

Injuries

The hotel is on the party resort of San Antonio. It is feared the victim suffered life-changing spinal cord injuries.

"A 27-year-old Irishman has been transferred in a critical condition to Can Misses Hospital and subsequently Son Espases Hospital in Majorca," a local health service source said.

"He fell from a first-floor balcony into a pool."

The Piscis Hotel was the scene of tragedies involving British holidaymakers two years ago. Andrew Watson (32), from Newcastle, was found dead on the floor of his room on June 8, 2015. The death was linked to drugs at the time.

Scottish man Robert Gillespie (26) died just days before, on May 30, 2015, at the same two-star hotel after plunging from the fifth floor during a stag party.

Robert, known as Fraser, played two years for semi-professional West Lothian side Blackburn United FC, making 76 appearances for the side between August 2008 and November 2010.

In 2014 a British tourist posted a video on Facebook of a friend risking his life and injury to others by jumping from the roof of a hotel into its swimming pool. Tourists could be heard screaming as they tried to get out of his way. He is thought to have done it as part of a dare for a small amount of money.

Local authorities have been trying to stamp out the dangerous practice, known as balconing, with fines.

There is no suggestion the Irishman who is in a critical condition was engaging in that practice. The hotel is now called Hotel Piscis but in 2015, at the time of the tragedies, was known as Hotel Piscis Park.
Nearly 80 PA people have been charged for Jan. 6 riot. Three are dead.

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Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumars silence on the CBI raids against Lalu Prasad and his family indicated deepening fault lines in the states ruling alliance but it is unlikely to have any bearing on the coalition government in the immediate future.

Howsoever strained their relationship might be, rocking the boat at this stage does not suit either of them, believe political analysts. Lalu has nothing to gain by bringing down the government, a prospect many in the BJP are salivating over. Kumar has the option of switching partners but as political analyst Suhas Palshikar says, the Bihar CM who has denied harbouring Prime Ministerial ambitions will keep his options open till the 2019 general elections.

Lalu, while playing the victim card, would seek to play a bigger role nationally by cobbling up a mahagathbandhan or grand alliance of opposition parties at the Centre. His clamour of political vendetta is likely to find resonance with many parties, such as the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Samajwadi Party (SP), and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), whose leaders face probes by central agencies.

Read | Modis office tipped off Nitish about CBI raid on Lalu Prasad | HT Exclusive

On Friday, the Congress rallied behind Lalu, questioning the silence of the NDA government on the alleged irregularities for the past three years. Investigation should be done in a fair manner and without political vendetta, said Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

Lalu can only do what he does best  that is to bring together anti-BJP forces in Delhi. With all awkwardness, he and Nitish Kumar will try to convince each other of the need to be in the alliance without being friends, said Palshikar. With the CBI on Lalus tail, Kumar would be less encumbered by pulls and pressures from within the government.

The Bihar CMs decision to back the NDAs presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind against Meira Kumar, the oppositions candidate from Bihar  followed by the JD(U)s publicly expressed nostalgia about its more comfortable relationship with the BJP  triggered speculation about a political realignment in Bihar.

The debate in political circles is whether Kumar could do to the RJD what Naveen Patnaik did to the BJP in 2009. The Odisha CM snapped ties with the BJP only to emerge as a gainer in subsequent elections. Like Patnaik, Kumar enjoys a clean image, a factor that explains his attempts to distance himself from the actions of the Yadav family. With his decision to impose prohibition in the state and drives against dowry and child marriage getting popular acceptance, especially among women, Kumar has expanded his support base.

As it is, the Bihar CM has three options: to ride with Lalu, ignoring the bumps and taunts, and bide for an opportune time; to go with the BJP again, putting aside his ambitions; and, go for broke, as Patnaik did. But when it comes to Kumar, even close associates dont venture a guess.

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Basirhat of West Bengal is in the news for a continuing communal flare up that has left one person dead, dozens wounded and ties between Hindu-Muslim neighbours in tatters.

The situation is not uncommon though in the eastern state bordering Bangladesh. West Bengal has been rocked by communal violence intermittently, more so in recent months, raising fears that the state is turning into a communal tinderbox.

Bengal has not witnessed so many communal clashes over such a short span. This is the dark age and it doesnt fit into the image Bengal takes pride in, says Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay, a former principal of Presidency College. Facts bear out Mukhopadhyays argument. During the CPI(M)-led Left Fronts 34-year rule, the state witnessed communal violence that was few and far between. The past 11 months, however, have witnessed 11 communal clashes.

Hindus in certain pockets have often been at loggerheads with sections of Muslims who constitute about 27% of the states population. But critics say the situation has worsened in recent times under CM Mamata Banerjees tenure. The situation was created after Mamata Banerjee came to power for the second time in 2016 and started appeasing one community. The results are evident, alleges Jishnu Basu, south Bengal secretary of the RSS, the ideological parent of the BJP.

BJP is eyeing inroads into the state where it remains a fringe player at the moment . Commentators say it stands to gain by polarising the state and has therefore ratcheted up its rhetoric against Banerjee for partisanship. They are out to fish in troubled waters with an eye on votes, said a leader of Banerjees Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Banerjee has carefully cultivated her Muslim vote bank: she attends iftars and Muslim religious functions covering her head, has announced stipends for clerics, is known to actively promote Madrasas and is often seen sharing the stage at public functions with Muslim leaders.

Communal clashes spike since 2016 West Bengal has been rocked by communal violence intermittently, more so in the recent months, raising fears that the state is turning into a communal tinderbox. OCTOBER 2016 Jalangi in Murshidabad

Chandannagar in Hooghly

Bhagwanpur in East Midnapore

Golbazar, Kharagpur in West Midnapore

Hajinagar, Naihati in North 24 Parganas

Halisahar and Kanchrapara in North 24 Parganas DECEMBER 2016 Dhulagarh in Howrah

Sankrail in Howrah

Katwa, Jamuria, Kanksha in Burdwan JANUARY 2017 Alampur, Metiabruz in South 24 Parganas JULY 2017 Baduria, Basirhat in North 24 Parganas

Her pro-Muslim imagery has reportedly upset many in Bengal who already feel threatened by the influx of undocumented migrants from Bangladesh. Even PM Narendra Modi tapped into the fears when during the 2014 electoral campaign, he accused TMC government of turning a blind eye to the infiltration from Bangladesh, endangering the livelihood of the states people.

Though arch rivals, the CPI(M) is on the same page as Modi on this score.

Communal violence will not stop in Bengal because the government has gone into denial mode. Or else, the chief minister wouldnt have described the Basirhat violence as a minor incident, alleges CPI(M) politburo member and Lok Sabha MP Md Salim.

Banerjee denies being partisan and has asked for peace in the region. To the government, all religions are equal. We believe in communal harmony and the need of the hour is to maintain it, points out state urban development minister Firhad Hakim.

Even Muslim leaders deny the state administration is pro-Muslim. Muslims have never been appeased. They got some jobs but not as many as claimed or believed. Its true that the government built roads, provided potable water and set up hospitals in many areas. But even Hindus benefited from the projects, says Pirzada Jiauddin Siddiqui of Furfura Sharif village in Hoogly.

But her political rivals insist she is only paying lip service. The violence also saw Hindus retaliating. Failure of the police compels Hindus to protect themselves, says Devdatta Maji, general secretary of Hindu Samhati.

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Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday said he will ensure that Geeta, a 24-year-old Pakistan-returned woman with hearing and speech impairments, is married off into a suitable family.

Geeta was just seven years old when she accidentally crossed into the neighbouring country over 15 years ago. It was through sustained efforts of the ministry of external affairs that she was brought back to Indore in October 2015.

Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj announced the chief ministers intent after meeting him on Saturday. The boy, of course, will be of Geetas choice, she said, adding that Chouhan will step in to do the kanyadaan for the purpose.

Kanyadaan, a gesture akin to giving away the brides hand in marriage, is ritualistically performed by the father figure in a family.

Geeta had gone missing for four hours on Thursday over alleged differences with a family she had been living with in Indore since 2015. She later denied reports that she had left the house in a huff, stating that he had lost her way after a temple visit.

Though Geeta is not averse to marriage, she wants to reunite with her parents first. I am ready to marry a suitable person but I want to see and live with my family first, she told mediapersons in sign language.

Geetas caretaker Monica Punjabi Verma said she was happy at home. We came to Bhopal because Sushmaji wanted to meet her. This visit has nothing to do with her missing complaint, she added.

Yet another priority in Geetas life is completing her education. She is learning basic things, and her understanding is increasing by the day. However, it will take time because she is completely unaware of her language, said Verma.

Geeta, who lived at an Edhi Foundation shelter in Pakistan for 14 years, returned to India after Swaraj took up her case in 2015. Though four families  one each from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and two from Madhya Pradesh  laid claim over her, she failed to recognise any of them.

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Dangal s super success worked wonders for actor Fatima Sana Shaikh who has bagged Thugs Of Hindostan, starring Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan. Her co-star in Dangal, Sanya Malhotra, hasnt been offered a film as yet. However, she isnt complaining, and prefers to take it slow. Its very important for me to feel creatively excited about a character when Im reading a script. It should be interesting and at the same time, challenging as well, she says.

The Delhi-born actor says the only yardstick for her is the role being offered.  As an actor, whats important is what I can do with the character and how I can contribute to the script, she says.

She isnt worried about taking on similar roles, as she feels that every role is distinct from the other. If its a sequel then obviously its a whole new ball game altogether and the script would require a repeat of the character. But other than that, I feel that each character is different in its own unique way. A character that is often used in movies, whether it is a good or a bad influence, is not uncommon. Despite that, the stories of each film are distinct and I dont mind if I am repeating a role, she adds.

So does she have any roles in mind that she wants to do? No, as an actor I want to try and do any role possible. Thats the beauty of our job. We can be anything and everything, she says.

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Actor Neetu Singh married actor Rishi Kapoor in 1980 and became a Kapoor bahu at the age of 21. Known as Neetu Kapoor ever since, the actor is a proud mother to actor Ranbir Kapoor and jewellery designer Riddhima Kapoor Sahni.

It was nothing short of a fairytale when Neetu and Rishi tied the knot and their reel romance turned real. While Rishi is known to be a Twitter king for his wittiest and often sternest take on almost all topics being discussed on social media, Neetu is quite active on photo sharing platform Instagram. Be it epic family pictures of Kapoor Khandaan or adorable photos and videos of her six-year-old granddaughter Samara Sahni (Riddhimas daughter), Neetus Instagram feed is always a delight to scroll through. Just the way lot of actors from younger generation love to share pictures from their childhood, Neetu, too, is fond of posting throwback pictures, though mostly of her and Rishi or her kids when they were young.

On her 59th birthday today, heres going down memory lane and taking a look at some of the best throwback photos the veteran actor has shared. Check them out:

Two lil munchkins  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Jun 5, 2014 at 10:13pm PDT

The lil kuks !! My Love My Joy  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Oct 1, 2014 at 11:29pm PDT

Happy Birthday Rana !!! Wish u happiness n my blessings always !!! . I have been sending all your msges to RK !!! He is very touched n thanks everyone  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Sep 27, 2015 at 11:19am PDT

Killing us with Cuteness !!!  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Sep 27, 2014 at 10:57pm PDT

It's my way or the highway  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Jul 19, 2016 at 9:12am PDT

There are some things money can't buy ::: Morals Manners Integrity  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Mar 21, 2016 at 10:30am PDT

@#kapoorandsons screening  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Mar 14, 2016 at 11:51pm PDT

#vintage #riddhimakapoorsahni #love#adore#cutestbaby#  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Jan 19, 2016 at 10:15pm PST

35 years today !!!  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Jan 21, 2015 at 11:05pm PST

Classic!!!! Amitji Jayaji Shobha kapoor Rishi !!!! Beautiful times  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Dec 14, 2014 at 10:36am PST

Keep it simple !!! Uncomplicated  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Nov 21, 2014 at 12:45am PST

My mostestestest Fav lady in this world  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Sep 21, 2014 at 1:44am PDT

Kabhie kabhie climax !!!  Rishi looks like a Greek actor  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Aug 6, 2014 at 11:35pm PDT

Best years with my cutenessess !!!  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Jun 16, 2014 at 10:44pm PDT

Grumpy lil ridzuuuu  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Apr 7, 2014 at 9:16am PDT

A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Apr 3, 2014 at 8:35am PDT

Memories  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Jun 8, 2014 at 11:16pm PDT

Happy n SAFE Holi !!! (RK studio Holi pic ) Rans only interested in the laddoo  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Mar 11, 2017 at 9:06pm PST

Since the song was so popular no one noticed my outfit !!! Orange mini with brown scallops!!! Brown top with orange Pom poms also orange boots !!! What was I thinking ?????? . A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Aug 5, 2015 at 12:06am PDT

EID Ul Azha Mubarik  A post shared by neetu Kapoor. Fightingfyt (@neetu54) on Sep 12, 2016 at 10:18pm PDT

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Madhur Bhandarkars new film Indu Sarkar -- set in the backdrop of the 1975 Emergency -- has been at the centre of controversies ever since senior Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam demanded to watch the movie before it was approved for release by the censors.

Bollywood actors Kirti Kulhari, Anupam Kher, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Fililmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar during the trailer launch of Indu Sarkar. (PTI)

However, the National Award winner has said he has no agenda to promote any political ideology and he would not show the film to any political party.

Bhandarkar said that supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a great leader does not make him a (pro) BJP or anti-Congressi. My film belongs to the nation, not to any political party. People like us -- actors, filmmakers or any creative persons are admired by citizens of the country because of our work. I can talk for myself... I have no agenda to promote any specific political ideology. Rather, the film is showing the conflicts of two different ideologies on the Emergency, he said.

Just because I support Modi-ji openly as a leader does not mean I have to subscribe to the ideology of the political party that he represents. What I am trying to say is that I have friends and well wishers in Congress, Shiv Sena and BJP and I have attended their functions, Bhandarkar said.

I admire Modi-ji and Jyotiraditya Scindia (Congress leader) as individuals, but that does not make me a pro-BJP or anti-Congressi or vice verse, he added.

Indu Sarkar is based on the Emergency in India and characters in the films are inspired by the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi. The Emergency was imposed on June 25, 1975, with Indira Gandhi, citing grave threat to her government and sovereignty of the country from both internal and external forces. It lasted till March 21, 1977.

In the films trailer, actress Kirti Kulhari plays the role of a woman who rebels against her husband (Tota Roy Chowdhury) and becomes a political activist to protest against the excesses of a political leader (Neil Nitin Mukesh whose character is based on Sanjay Gandhi). Supriya Vinod plays a politician in a get-up inspired by Indira Gandhi, while Anupam Kher portrays an underground leader.

Did Bhandarkar ever imagine getting such reactions from political parties when he decided to make the film?

No, not at all. This is not the first time a creative person is doing something on Emergency. There are several books, documentaries, docu-features with individuals opinion. Why are they targeting my film? he asked.

I think the series of drama going on before the release of this film... I can make a film on that... Its an interesting subject for a filmmaker, he said.

A Congress representative has announced prize money for any person who can blacken the filmmakers face.

Setting the record straight about the films story, Bhandarkar who is known for making hard-hitting movies on the issues of the society, said: Its about a poet who rebels against the Emergency of 1975, whereas her husband is a supporter of Emergency. So basically, in the same house, how this ideological difference takes the relationship of a couple on a different journey, is the core of the story.

Bhandarkar said as part of the research for the movie, he read several books and even interacted with people who were in jail and were directly affected by the Emergency.

Indu Sarkar is set to release on July 28.

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Actor Suniel Shetty is a self-confessed protective father. His daughter Athiya, who made her acting debut in director Nikhil Advanis film Hero (2015), didnt exactly get the dream-debut every star kid wants. But Suniel reveals that his daughter wasnt affected by the films failure at the box-office. He says, I am happy with the way her career is shaping up, and the way she is shaping her career. She has chosen some good films now, and herself says, Papa, my first film wasnt such a superhit that every household would know me. I cant carry a film on my own shoulders, therefore, I need to mature a lot more and think before taking a decision.

Mubarakan time!  wearing @bibhumohapatra styled by @stylebyami @shnoy09. HMU @ayeshadevitre @shraddha.naik  #TeamA A post shared by Athiya Shetty (@athiyashetty) on Jun 20, 2017 at 10:05pm PDT

He has nothing but praise for his daughters mature stance. As a father, at first I thought she was making a mistake with this selective approach, but when I thought of it I was wowed by the confidence she has got, adds the 56-year old actor, who is currently hosting the show India Ka Asli Champion, and the videos of pranks he regularly plays on the crew of the show have gone viral.

I'm done. A post shared by Ahan Shetty (@ahan.shetty) on Mar 15, 2017 at 6:54am PDT

With his son Ahan also gearing up for films, he is concerned whether his two kids will be able to deal with the industry where fates change every Friday. He says, Its not only for star-kids, its for kids everywhere in general. As far as success goes, I know my kids will manage it, but my concern is that they will be able to handle failures and criticism?

Suniel also feels that todays social media age has affected relationships. He says, Actors of our generation had hundreds of friends rallying around them all the time, because we were peoples people. Today, kids are only worried about likes and dislikes on social media. Everybody has an opinion there and tries to run you down. The film industry, he confesses, is a harsh world, where being successful is the only way to survive. Success is everything here. If you fail, everyone will say arre yaar, bakwaas hai voh, says the actor.

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In the three decades following MGRs death, the two dominant parties in the state took turns to develop, refine, upgrade, and scale up the corruption system put in place in the early 1980s. Escalating political and electoral financing needs, the desire of political leaders and their kin for personal enrichment to levels previously unheard of in the state, and the abundance of opportunity that charisma, stardom, and mass popularity offered strong leaders in a relatively developed state with decent economic growth rates combined to make Tamil Nadus system of grand corruption what it is today, something akin to an autonomous subformation within a social formation.

Jayalalithaas last five years in office saw rule-bound scientific corruption escalate. As we have seen, she had been twice convicted and then acquitted on appeal on corruption charges, and at the time of her death she was awaiting the Supreme Court of Indias final verdict in the disproportionate assets case. But this stressful experience does not seem to have acted as a deterrent to taking grand corruption to new heights. During the states Legislative Assembly election campaign in April 2016, Amit Shah, the BJP president, accused Jayalalithaas government of being the most corrupt in the country. Five months later, soon after the Chief Minister had been hospitalized, a senior BJP minister confided in me that when it came to corruption Tamil Nadu ranked Number One in India and that this assessment was based not on hearsay or general impressions, but on concrete evidence available with the central government.

An article published in The Caravan soon after Jayalalithaas death offered an interesting explanation for how she had got away with her mode of governance:

Nothing stuck to her, neither corruption charges nor charges of being an autocrat, or for that matter, accusations of land-grabbing. This is because in her person, she reconciled popular need and state action, and to doubt her meant that one was casting aspersions on the notion of popular sovereignty itself. This explains all those defamation cases, and her unwillingness to listen to criticism, unless it appealed to hershe existed as the very source of popular legitimacy, never mind her disinterest in democracy.

This insight has wider and troubling significance for the fight against corruption in India. When a strong and charismatic leader with mass appeal and a loyal organization to support her or him makes a bold stand invoking the notion of popular sovereignty, anti-corruption campaigns rarely succeed in making a major political impact. In such cases campaigners against corruption face two difficult challenges: they need to prove corruption through robust evidence; and they need to persuade millions of voters that popular legitimacy is no defence, and the notion of popular sovereignty no argument, against proven corruption in a social environment where people believe that most politicians are corrupt.

To return to the Tamil Nadu story. It is now clear that while Jayalalithaa was hospitalized and fighting for her life, the BJP government was biding its time to strike. The opening shot was fired three days after the Chief Ministers death. Closely coordinated income tax raids unearthed a black money racket operated by J Sekhar Reddy and K Sreenivasulu, two politically connected businessmen engaged in river sand mining and construction in Tamil Nadu and allegedly enjoying a cosy relationship with senior bureaucrats and the top AIADMK leadership. With the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation moving into action, cases filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the Prevention of Corruption against the businessmen, their associates, and unnamed public servants, and several arrests made, it became clear that this was no ordinary income tax raid.

N Ram (SR Raghunathan/The Hindu)

With the trail leading straight to Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao, income tax searches were conducted at his residence, other relevant premises, and, most dramatically, his office in the State Secretariat. Moving in without informing the Chief Minister and engaging Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in the income tax raids seemed to be designed to send a tough message to the state government  we can do this to any of you and we know most of you are sitting ducks. Few, however, could disagree with the view, articulated among others by the displaced Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, that had Chief Minister Jayalalithaa been alive and in charge at Fort St George, the central government would not have dared to resort to such action.

The political situation in Tamil Nadu took a series of dramatic turns in the weeks following the death of Jayalalithaa. The ruling party, despite being able to muster a majority through dubious means on the floor of the Legislative Assembly, was riven with internal dissension, severely weakened, and in danger of losing its popular legitimacy. In early April 2017, there was more political drama following raids conducted by the income tax department in twenty-one places in Chennai and eleven elsewhere in the state belonging to Dr C Vijaya Baskar, minister for health, and his associates. The raids were based on information received on tax evasion and distribution of cash during the by-election in Chennais Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly constituency, which had fallen vacant with Jayalalithaas death. With the income tax department forwarding the incriminating information, which suggested that apart from the Health Minister, the central figure, several political leaders belonging to the ruling party were involved in a racket to distribute cash totalling 89 crore as bribes to voters in the constituency, to the Election Commission of India, the latter moved swiftly to cancel the by-election.

The fourteen-page order of the ECI44 setting out the circumstances and reasons behind the cancellation of the by-election tells a sorry story of how, despite adopting extraordinary measures, the constitutional authority could not prevail against a huge and systematic design to distribute money to voters in order to induce/bribe them to influence their voting behaviour. Nothing in the order suggests that the corrupted by-election would have been cancelled if the income tax department had not acted on the information that came fortuitously to hand. The ECI finally consoled itself with the thought that top political leaders could not feign ignorance of such illegal activities by their party candidates, especially in some states that have excelled in innovating more and more subtle ways to circumvent the statutory provisions enacted by Parliament to curb the menace of money power in elections and that the innovative ways which the political parties and their leaders at the top echelons have devised to bypass the law needed to be dealt with a heavy hand.

Read more: Jayalalithaa had a knack of creating fear: Ammas biographer Vaasanthi

What is the future of the states grand corruption system? Will it remain intact, continue to flourish, or will it prove to be soft and vulnerable and disintegrate in the face of attacks by the opposition, investigations by journalists and official agencies, judicial intervention, and, above all, the erosion of popular legitimacy?

Nobody can answer these questions with any confidence, but the opportunity beckons. Now is the time to target Tamil Nadus scientific system of political corruption, not by underhand political manipulation from the centre, not by making exaggerated claims and allegations, but with precision and detail and by marshalling anti-corruption resources and campaigning actively on the issue among the people. It may be too much to expect a grand corruption system that has been decades in the making to be dismantled any time soon but from a democratic standpoint, it would be irresponsible not to make a resourceful and well-prepared strategic charge.
American writer Dr Spencer Johnson, author of international best-sellers Who Moved My Cheese? and The One Minute Manager, died of pancreatic cancer in San Diego, US, on Monday. He was 78.

Johnson, who grew up in Los Angeles and studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland, forayed into writing in the 80s with childrens books. He co-wrote books about historical personalities like Confucious, Christopher Columbus and Winston Churchill with his first wife Ann Donegan.

At a party, he met business consultant Ken Blanchard and eventually the two decided to co-author The One Minute Manager (1982). The slim 100-page book on efficient management was first self-published. After it sold over a 1,000 copies, the two authors struck a deal with New York publisher William Morrow & Company. To-date it has sold over 15 million copies according to the Los Angeles Times.

Johnsons parable about accepting change Who Moved My Cheese? was published in 1998 and became an instant best-seller. It tells the story of two mice, Sniff and Scurry, and two people, Hem and Haw, who scavenge for cheese in a maze. It has sold 28 million copies worldwide, says The New York Times.

A doctor by education, Johnson found his calling while working for a medical device manufacturer. Using his medical expertise, he used to write short books simplifying technical information for customers. It was at this job that he discovered his love for writing and soon began writing for children.

Throughout his career and despite all the fame, the author avoided publicity. He was even against putting his pictures on his book jackets. According to the Los Angeles Times, Johnson once told his agent, When a person picks up one of my books and starts reading it, I want the relationship between them and the words to be private. A photo of me is a distraction.

Patrick Spencer Johnson was born on November 24, 1938, in Watertown, San Diego. His father was a builder and his mother, a teacher. He returned to San Diego six months back while undergoing cancer treatment.

He is survived by his sons Christian, Austin, Emerson. Another son, Constance, died in 1990. Johnsons second wife Lesley Bostridge died in 2009.
My friend, the restaurateur and food adventurer Mohit Balachandran (he calls himself Chowder Singh on social media), declared recently, on Instagram, that June 25 was Pulao Biryani Day. Pulao Biryani Day? Why had I never heard of that? How had I missed it?

It turned out I hadnt missed it, after all. When I asked Mohit for an explanation, he responded, Rather than celebrating World Peanut Butter Day or Nutella Day, we thought it would be good to celebrate a few days around Indian food.

We? Who had Mohit drafted in this effort to invent bogus/new foodie days?

It turned out that his partner in crime was another friend of mine, the food writer Rushina Ghildiyal. In March this year, Rushina explained, I came up with an idea to mark some food observance days around Indian food...

Okay. So, they just made the damn thing up. Good for them (and for us).

But talk of biryani reminded me of another recent social media initiative. Sanjay Hegde, the well-known liberal lawyer, is also a foodie. He declared, on Twitter, that biryani had to be non-vegetarian. There was, he announced, no such thing as a vegetable biryani.

There is an air of finality to Sanjays pronouncements when he delivers them on Times Now (or on my show, even) but Twitter is less inclined to treat his as the last word  especially on matters of food.

It was declared by Sanjay Hegde, the well-known lawyer and foodie, on Twitter that theres no such thing as a vegetable biryani (Shutterstock)

Many people are of the opinion that it is perfectly legitimate to make a vegetarian biryani (Getty Images)

And so a furious Twitter spat ensued. Many people argued that it was perfectly legitimate to make a vegetarian biryani. Sanjay would not budge and cited various foodies to back his claim.

Eventually one of the many people who opposed Sanjays magisterial declaration (which Sanjay might himself describe as premature adjudication) asked for my opinion. I took the easy way out: Sanjay is always right, I said. (Vir Sanghvi is biased, responded the Tweeters and the debate continued.)

In fact, I am far from sure that Sanjay was right about this one. In this, as in all other biryani-related matters, there is so much uncertainty and there exist so many grey areas, that I dont think there are any clear-cut answers.

One aspect of the Twitter debate that I found amusing was the way in which everyone was so sure what biryani really was. There was a time, a decade ago, when I shared their certitude. But the more I have learned about biryani, the less I really know.

Long time readers of this column (ie my family, mostly!) will remember The Great Biryani Hunt (from 2007 to 2009). This was the phase when I travelled around India trying biryanis in every region and reported on my adventures in these pages.

Any spiced rice dish can be called a pulao. But if you want to call it a biryani then the dish has to be assembled in layers (Photo courtesy: Jolly Nizams)

A primary objective of that quest was to try and discover the difference between biryani and pulao. The conventional wisdom at the time was that the Turks invented pilaf, which became pulao and biryani. And both were then transported to India by a variety of candidates.

One candidate is the Mughal dynasty. This cant be right because biryani was cooked in our country long before Babar got here. A second, even more absurd, theory is that the Empress Noor Jahan invented biryani to feed soldiers. (Ha!)

A third, more common, story is that Timur brought it to India. But why would Timur, when he was in the middle of plundering our treasures, stop his robbing long enough to give Indians the odd cooking tip? Would his soldiers take time off from raping and pillaging to teach interesting recipes to the local housewives?

Theres a more fundamental objection to the Timur brought biryani theory. If his army did bring it to India then biryani must have existed in some other place, right? Except that there is no record of any biryani being cooked in Central Asia or any of the primitive places that Timur and his thugs passed through on their way to India.

Even speculation about the origin of the name is usually confusing. We are told, with great authority, that biryani gets its name from birinj, which means frying before cooking. That sounds good but what is actually fried in a biryani before the cooking process begins? The onions? No, they are part of the cooking process. So, if you had to think of a name that captured the making of biryani, then birinj makes no sense.

There is a simpler explanation. Birinj is rice in Farsi, the Persian language that was used in Indian courts. So, the name comes from the word for rice. (In Iran, a rice pudding is still called Shir Birenj.)

My conclusion, at the end of The Great Biryani Hunt, was that biryani was invented in India. Certainly, nothing like it existed anywhere else in the world during the medieval era.

The kachcha biryani is one where the meat and rice are cooked together (iStock )

A pulao, on the other hand, is of Middle Eastern origin though the great Indian food historian KT Achaya found similar-sounding Tamil words and argued that pulao predated contacts with the Middle East.

A lot of effort has gone into trying to explain how Indians turned the pulao into a biryani, but Im a little hesitant to comment on the transition because there is one glaring gap in the story.

Nobody can define  to my satisfaction, at least  the difference between a pulao and a biryani.

All the existing qualifiers seem to me to be inadequate. One claim is that a pulao must reek of rice fragrance whereas a biryani has so many spices that the fragrance of the basmati vanishes.This is unsatisfactory for two reasons. First of all, great biryanis do often give out a basmati fragrance. And secondly, accepting this definition would mean that if a pulao did not reek of rice, it would not be a pulao at all, which is nonsense.

A second distinction sounds more reasonable: a pulao is drier than a biryani. But this is too vague. How wet does a pulao have to become to qualify as a biryani? If a biryani is a little dry, then does it automatically become a pulao?

A third definition is that most so-called biryanis are actually pulaos and that the only true biryani is kachcha biryani or a biryani where the meat and rice are cooked together. This is silly. Except for a few versions (some in Hyderabad) all biryani is made by assembling cooked meat with cooked rice. There is no point in using a definition that excludes most biryanis.

And all of these definitions and distinctions run up against another problem. Some of the greatest biryanis in India are actually called pulaos by the people who make them. For instance, you will be told that the two greatest biryanis in India come from Awadh (Lucknow) and Hyderabad.

But, in Lucknow, what we call an Awadhi biryani is always referred to as a pulao.

I asked Imitiaz Qureshi, the legendary chef (from Lucknow) what he thought the distinction between a pulao and a biryani was. His answer was that when he made the dish at home it was a pulao but when it was made in a big degchi to be served at restaurants and banquets, it sounded fancier to call it a biryani.

In the old (pre-ITC) days, when he was a caterer, Imitiaz recalled, he always described it to clients as a biryani because it sounded grander (and he could charge more for it) than pulao. But in the kitchen it was always referred to as a pulao.

So, as you can see, nothing about the biryani is simple or straightforward.

According to legendary chef Imitiaz Qureshi, the distinction between a pulao and a biryani is that when he made the dish at home it was a pulao but when it was made in a big degchi to be served at restaurants and banquets, it sounded fancier to call it a biryani

Eventually, when The Great Biryani Hunt was at its height, I accepted a simpler definition. Any spiced rice dish can be called a pulao. But if you want to call it a biryani then the dish has to be assembled in layers. You cook the rice and the meat (with some gravy) separately. Then you put a layer of rice in the pot. A layer of moist meat goes on top of that. Then another layer of the rice. Then, another of meat. And so on till you reach the top of the pot.

If you use that definition then Imitiazs pulao is a biryani because he layers it, puts a little stock on top for flavour, seals the pot and then steams it (dum pukht) so that the flavours mingle. But this definition is not perfect either: what about a kachcha biryani?

So back to where we started: was Sanjay right in saying a biryani had to be non-vegetarian? Well, I know of no definition that requires that meat be used. In theory, there is no reason why you cant layer the rice along with spiced vegetables.

And finally, how sensible of Mohit and Rushina to call it Pulao Biryani Day rather than just Biryani Day! They are both pros and they know, from experience, what a minefield the subject of biryani can be.

From HT Brunch, July 9, 2017

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In October last year, a few months after Aligarh released, I was surprised by a letter from British MP Stuart Andrew congratulating me for writing a thought-provoking film that makes a positive contribution to community cohesion and diversity in India and throughout the wider world. The Welsh Conservative politician also extended an invitation to host me in the UK Parliament.

Excited by the prospect of walking UKs power corridors once responsible for the archaic Section 377 that criminalises homosexuality in India, it still took me another nine months to fly to London and meet Stuart. The handsome 46-year-old MP and political whip graciously walked me through both houses of Parliament, sharing with me the inspiring story of the gay rights movement in Britain.

Later, on the terrace overlooking the river Thames, we engaged in a tete-a-tete. Heres an excerpt...

Apurva: Stuart, you are an inspiration. You are a member of Parliament and now a minister, and you happen to be gay. Does your sexuality not get in the way of how people perceive you?

Stuart: Well, in our country we have been on an interesting journey over the last 30-40 years, where it has now become totally acceptable, and is almost the norm, that somebody who identifies as LGBTI, can actually hold public office. And thats happened because people stood up and said they want equality. Equality is a big issue that the country deals with on a daily basis.

And it is right that a big important section of our society is represented, not just in Parliament, but in business and in other aspects of our daily lives. We are very proud of what we have managed to achieve here.

Apurva: What challenges did you face to push the gay marriage legislation through?

Stuart: There were challenges when we were dealing with gay marriage legislation and some people were concerned that churches would be forced to perform gay marriage. Others didnt want the term marriage to be between two of the same sex. Lots were worried about religion too

Apurva: You have the pink pound here, which means gay people contribute to the economy. That counts for something, doesnt it?

Stuart: Of course it does. Not just economically, but gay people have done an awful lot towards changing legislation, for campaigning on issues that matter and have been serious business people who have helped our economy. And there is recognition now that equal rights in society are absolutely fundamental to the British way of life.

Apurva: Are there other MPs in the UK Parliament who are gay?

Stuart: If my memory serves me correctly, this is the gayest parliament in the world. There are more MPs here who identify as gay than any other parliament in the world. So thats something that we are very proud of.

(A google search revealed that in the 2017 elections, the UK elected 45 LGBTI MPs into parliament  a world record.)

Apurva: You are aware of this law in India  Section 377, which still deems those who have homosexual leanings to be criminals. Do you have a message for my people back home who feel this law might be necessary?

Stuart: I have been a campaigner for equality for a long time. I have been campaigning for equal rights for people who identify themselves as gays (Stuart was among the campaigners responsible for the same-sex marriage legalisation in 2014), and I want to extend that to the rest of the world where people are being told that their basic human instinct  who they are as a person  is deemed a criminal offence. I think thats really quite sad.

We have been on a massive journey in this country that happened from ordinary people saying I matter. It doesnt matter that Im gay, its just the fact that Im a human being and that I matter. And they have helped create a movement that has changed laws. We started off by changing the (anti-buggery) law back in the 1960s, making sure that the people who identified as being homosexual no longer were criminals. Weve recently made sure that the people who were prosecuted under those laws have had their criminal records cleansed.

My message, to whichever country it is, is that we will stand with you shoulder to shoulder as you progress on your journey  hopefully to greater equality.

The author is a Mumbai-based filmmaker, film editor and screenwriter. He is best known for editing films like Satya, Shahid and City Lights

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Model model

Sushant Panchal, photographer

Mumbai-based, Sushant Panchal, shot a Frida photo series with a male model, Saurabh Saple. Taking a cue from her unrestricted spirit, he says, The modern Frida is not restricted by the definition of gender. Fierce and unpredictable, she taught me to stick to my vision.

Insta love

Jaishree Garg, illustrator and writer

Jaishree Garg, 26, imagined Frida to be her wild yet vulnerable friend in her Instagram project, Letters to Frida. The illustrations show Fridas impact on her life. I love her work because I find her strange like me, she says.

Finding Frida

Harnidh and Sukhnidh Kaur, poet and artist

The Kaur sisters have been inspired by Frida and in a photo series, Harnidh dressed as Frida while Sukhnidh was the photographer. Harnidh says, Unless youre true to your reality and perspective, youre dishonest to your art. Frida stands for that.

Fashion forward

Jayesh Sachdev, founder, Quirkbox

Bringing Frida to fashion stores is e-commerce portal, Quirkbox. Its founder, Jayesh Sachdev followed Fridas works and launched a line inspired by her. Fridas tenacity, solidarity and passion are the traits I find in myself and yearn for too, he says.

Bagging it

Rini Agarwal, accessory designer at OFrida

Rini Agarwal, accessory designer at OFrida Delhi-based Rini adds Fridas trademark elements to her line of accessories, for women. Rini says, Frida embodies everything I long to be  free, fearless and a fervent dreamer. My label is based on this ideology.

From HT Brunch, July 9, 2017

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Mayas Bio Date of birth: March 30 Sunsign: Aries Place of birth: Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh Hometown: Kanpur School/college: Loreto Convent Intermediate College, Lucknow Debut/First break: Chhoti Badi Baatein (1986)/Thodisi Bewafaii (1980) Low point of your life: Losing my mother at the age of 19 High point of your life: The birth of my two children, and then of my granddaughter Currently I am...Into organic farming and occasionally acting in films

Television or films, which medium do you prefer?

When I started off, television was disciplined and movies had long shoots, but now it is the other way round. Television really scares me. There is no method to their madness yet! I am open to doing films though.

One role of yours that remains your favourite...?

Majida Begum in The Sword of Tipu Sultan.

You were a doctor. How did you end up doing TV?

Before television, I was into modelling. One day, I had gone to pick up my husband (Sunil Alagh) from office when actor Dalip Tahil noticed me and asked my husband if I would like to do an ad film for him. However, I was rejected, as they wanted a lower middle-class housewife and according to them, I didnt look poor enough!

Whats the most difficult part of being a working mother?

Taking time out for my family and making sure I am always there for my daughters.

A funny memory from your shooting days:

I taught Govinda to sing Strangers in the Night on the sets of Albela (2001)! He was supposed to croon it to Aishwarya Rai in the movie.

What keeps you busy when you are not shooting?

Farming! I have a small patch of a land in Karjat. But my top priority in life now is my granddaughter. I absolutely love spending time with her.

Favourites: Actor: Akshay Kumar Designer: Sabyasachi, only when his colours are nice! Holiday destination: Paris, and anywhere in Rajasthan Book/author: An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India by Shashi Tharoor Comfort food: Dal chawal, kebabs and chilly pickle. Song: Talat Mahmoods Shaam-e Gham Ki Qasam and Louis Armstrongs What A Wonderful World

One character that you wish you could play...?

Grigori Rasputin.

What is your favourite kind of Sunday?

A Sunday when my granddaughter comes home!

One object you love to collect...?

Indian lota-shaped vases. I have 45 odd ones from across the globe.

One family heirloom that you treasure...?

My mothers pearl earrings. They are very close to my heart.

Whats the one thing you wish you could change about yourself?

I wish I had long legs like Naomi Campbell and hair like Dimple Kapadia!

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India is in talks with Canadas Teck Resources Ltd, the largest North American producer of coking coal used to make steel, for long-term purchase agreements after a cyclonic disruption in Australia cut supplies earlier this year.

India has joined top buyers China and Japan to scour new markets after a powerful cyclone hit Australia that knocked out rail lines carrying coking coal to ports for export, causing a surge in prices.

Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh will be in Canada on Sunday along with executives of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) for talks with Vancouver-based Teck over long-term, formula-based price deals, a top official in the steel ministry said, declining to be identified as the talks have not been made public.

Coking coal prices went haywire because of the natural calamity in Australia. There is every reason for India to not depend on only one source for coking coal, the official said, adding the Canadian government had called upon the Indian minister to visit the countrys mines.

SAIL and Teck may explore signing a preliminary agreement, the official said.

At present, SAIL meets a little over three-fourths of its needs from BHP Billiton,, the worlds biggest shipper of coking coal, according to a second government official.

India needs about 56 million to 57 million tonnes of coking coal every year, of which about 85 percent is imported. According to the governments newly-drafted National Steel Policy, Indias coking coal requirements will more than double by the fiscal year ending in 2031.

Executives from Teck Resources had visited India last month for preliminary discussions, said the two government officials.

Diversification is essential otherwise we are dependent on Australia and their supply sometimes becomes very volatile because of cyclones, said Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director at Indias biggest steel producer, JSW Steel.

JSW sources 60 percent of its coking coal supplies from Australia and the rest from Mozambique, the United States and Canada.

The steel ministers office and SAIL did not respond to Reuters queries for comment.

Steel plants use coking, or metallurgical, coal to fire blast furnaces and any shortfall can potentially close down production and risk damaging the furnaces. In 2016, India imported 46.7 million tonnes of coking coal, higher than Chinas 35.7 million tonnes but lower than Japans imports of 53.4 million tonnes, according to Clarksons Research.

Indias steel policy, which aims to nearly triple the countrys production capacity by fiscal year 2031, has also recommended measures to reduce the dependence on imported coking coal and develop domestic washeries.
DEHRADUN: A 56-year-old foreigner in Tehri jail has gone on a hunger strike, leaving jail officials in a fix.

For the past nine days, Serguei Razvozjaev has refused to take food in protest against his arrest. Police has not found any valid document for his Russian citizenship, which he claims. Subsequently, Serguei was admitted to the Tehri district hospital on July 4. He is protesting against his arrest and imprisonment, saying why he is being treated as a criminal, Superintendent of Police (Tehri) Sonika said.

Sources in the police intelligence said Serguei was arrested on July 1 for overstaying more than 14 years without any valid document in India. Serguei came to India on a student visa in 1999 and had been wandering across the country ever since then, the sources said.

During this tenure, Serguei stayed at Mathura and Vrindavan ashrams as he followed Iskcon - the socio-religious organisation dedicated to Lord Krishna. The Uttarkashi police said Serguei told the police that his visa expired in 2003 and was overstaying in India since then.

Although he has claimed to be a Russian citizen but we are yet get the proof as he was not carrying his passport. We have also not found any incriminating information or suspicious motive behind his overstay but a detailed report about him has been sought from the Russian embassy to verify his antecedents and bring out truth. He was staying at Damta village area for the past one month from where the police got the information about him, Superintendent of Police (Uttarkashi) Dadan Pal told Hindustan Times.

Serguei told his interrogators that he lost his passport in Vrindavan at an ashram but managed to procure World Passport provided by a Washington-based NGO but it is not valid in many countries including India. He was arrested by the Uttarkashi district police but imprisoned in Tehri as the district police has no jail of its own.

Meanwhile, Sergueis reluctance to take food for the past nine days has left the Tehri administration worried about his health. Doctors said the foreigner may develop serious kidney ailment due to deteriorating health.

All efforts to make him eat food have failed as he has refused to cooperate so far. On Friday he turned violent when out medical staff to force feed him. He runs the risk of kidney trouble. Efforts are on make him take food, Tehri chief medical officer Dr YS Thapliyal said.
Police arrested on Saturday the fugitive knifeman who stabbed 16-year-old Junaid Khan and his brothers on a Mathura-bound train on June 22 in a fatal communal attack.

The 32-year-old man was caught in Maharashtras Dhule, where he was hiding since the attack that triggered national outrage and protests as it became the latest example of growing religious intolerance in India.

I heard the news of his arrest and am told he is being brought to Faridabad. I am extremely satisfied with the polices role in dealing with this case, said Jalaludin Khan, the slain teenagers father.

According to police, the accused confessed to have stabbed Junaid and his associates inside the suburban train when they were returning to their Ballabgarh home after Eid shopping in New Delhi.

The investigators refused to share any more details other than the fact that the suspect is from Haryanas Palwal district, close to the place the Khan brothers were attacked by a lynch mob after an altercation over seats.

The man  five-feet-six-inches tall and muscular, according to the police sketch drawn from Junaids brothers account  carried a reward of Rs 2 lakh on his head. He was part of the mob that attacked Junaid, his two brothers  Mohammad Hashim and Shaqir Khan  and cousin Mobin.

They allegedly called them beef-eaters and anti-nationals, and flung their skullcaps off their heads.

Investigators made the sketch of the main suspect from Hashims description of the man.

He had a very nice built, like that of a person who goes to the gym every day. He had a heavy voice and was talking in Haryanvi, Hashim said.

He was on killer rage. He butchered my brother and then came for us. His associates held us by our arms. I can never forget his face and will identify him the moment I see him.

Police arrested five people after the attack. But pressure mounted on them to catch the main suspect amid public protests and Prime Minister Narendra Modis warning this June against mob attacks on cattle traders, beef-eaters and dairy farmers, saying killing people in the name of protecting cows is unacceptable.

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Two men whom the police had initially suspected for the murder of Junaid Khan, provided the first important clues to the police that led to the arrest of the main suspect in Dhule.

A CCTV grab from outside the Asaoti railway station, where Khan and his brothers were thrown out, showed three men leaving the station on a bike.

One of the men matched the description of the knifeman who had stabbed Junaid.

A police team traced the bikers and called them for questioning. During questioning, the two youths said they had given lift to a man in his 30s wearing a blue shirt and carrying a bag outside the Asaoti railway station. They had dropped him on the main road. Building up from the information, the police team finally managed to arrest him from Dhule in Maharashtra.

A view of Junaids village Khandawali in Faridabad (Arun Sharma/HT PHOTO)

Though the police withheld the suspects name as his test identification parade has not been conducted, officials did say that the 32-year-old alleged killer did not have a permanent job and previously worked as a security guard at a private company. He travelled regularly by this train to look for a job in Delhi.

Junaids family said they are satisfied with the arrest.

Though the incident happened in front of many passengers inside a train, police have not found any eyewitnesses, apart from Junaids brothers.

I heard the news about the arrest of the main accused from Maharashtra. I was told he is being brought to Faridabad. I am yet to be informed by the police, Junaid Khans father Jalaluddin told HT.

Jalaluddin said that after performing his sons last rites, he had met the police officers and requested them not to arrest any innocent person to bury the case.

Jalaluddin said he would accompany his son Hashim and look at the face of the man, who allegedly took away his son.

A senior officer said Junaids interrogation will help police connect the missing dots in the investigation. The main accused, described as someone with a muscular built, was the most aggressive among the mob.

Mahapanchayat

Residents of Khambi village in Palwal, from where four accused hail, held a mahapanchayat last Sunday against what they alleged is arrest of innocent youths.

Khambi villagers threatened to launch an agitation at Jantar Mantar if the main accused was not arrested and innocent youths released.

We have confidence in our youth. They cannot commit such a crime. That is why we have been urging the state government to arrest the main accused and set the innocent youth free, said Nityanand Sharma, leading the 60-member committee to protest the false arrest.
His hand tied with a rope and body pinned to the ground, 25-year-old Shokin Ali begged for two hours to be let off.

But the mob of suspected cow vigilantes were in no mood to relent and kept beating him and five other cattle traders, who were transporting buffalo calves in Jharoda village in southwest Delhi.

Those two hours on a pitch dark Friday night will be etched in his memory forever as the night when he almost lost his life.

At one point, I felt as if we will all be dead. We were only six and they were 60-70. They tied our hands and beat us with belts, sticks and whatever they could find. After two hours, the police came and rescued us. Some policemen were also roughed up but it is because of them that we are alive today, he said.

Shokin, along with his 22-year-old brother and a 15-year-old nephew, had bought 17 buffalo calves from Jhajjar, Haryana earlier in the day. They were going to take the cattle to Ghazipur to sell them.

That night Shokin and others took a detour and avoided the main road to save money as policemen allegedly asked for bribes for letting let them through.

Selling cattle is something Ali has been doing since childhood. Alis father and grandfather did the same job for decades.

I did the job for 30 years and my son has been doing it for many years now. But we have never faced this problem. I dont understand why this is happening now, said Shokins father Ali Jaan, who doesnt remember his exact age.

Recalling the horror of the night, Shokin said his vehicle was still stopped by a policeman on a bike, who asked him for some money for letting him pass.

By the time some people gathered there. I told the policeman to take us to the thana (police station) and not leave us there with the mob as I was scared. But he left, Shokin alleged.

Shokins teenage nephew distinctly remembers the expletives hurled at him and his elder brothers. Woh log chilla rahe the ki ye mulleh hai, paapi hai inko maaro (They were shouting that these are Muslims and sinners, beat them), he said.

But Shokin and his family maintain that they only transport buffalo or its calves which are sold by villagers in Haryana.

How is it a sin? If people dont sell these animals to us, then we wont buy them. People selling buffaloes to us are both Hindus and Muslims, said Ali Jaan.

Sitting on a cot in his house in a southwest Delhi slum, Shokin said he is scared but may go back to his job .

I have not done anything wrong so why should I stop. Yes, I am scared like the others. But what other option do we have? We are poor people, he said.

Shokins sentiments are echoed in many others in the area, where it is business as usual with people loading buffaloes in vehicles.

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Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday formally launched a scheme that facilitates free surgeries at private hospitals, which will be sponsored by the Delhi government, if the waiting period at its hospitals is long.

According to the scheme, if the waiting period for 52 surgeries  heart bypass, cataract and kidney stones removal,etclisted by the government is more than one month, patients would be eligible to get it done at 48 empanelled hospitals.

People from all income groups can avail of benefits of this scheme: the only eligibility criteria would be that the patient must be a Delhi resident undergoing treatment at a government hospital.

We need a healthcare system where tests can be done within hospitals and surgeries could be done within a month. Till the time such infrastructure comes up, schemes like these are necessary, Kejriwal said.

Some people need to get the tests or surgeries immediately, but sometimes in our hospitals now these get delayed because of waiting lists. The doctors are emotionally burdened when they have to say this to the patient. This step will relieve the doctors this burden, said deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.

He assured that there will be no shortage of funds from the finance department for this scheme.

The chief minister said that this was the third in the series of healthcare initiatives by the Delhi government, after providing free medicines and free medical tests at private diagnostic centres.

The government has tied up with 21 private laboratories to provide 13 expensive medical tests including CT scan and MRI to anyone coming to Delhi government hospitals, without income restrictions.

BJP slams govt

The Delhi BJP on Saturday said the free surgery scheme launched by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is only an attempt to divert peoples attention the corruption cases against the government.

According to Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari, During the last three budget presentations, AAP government had claimed to increase 50% of the budget for the health services and also to provide all the medicines free of cost. This is besides making all its hospitals super specialty hospitals like the AIIMS, said Tiwari.

The Kejriwal government has completed about half of its term. Now, this deception of providing health services through the private hospitals is complete admission of its failure to provide health services to the people, said Tiwari.

However, the chief minister, reacting to the criticism, said that it takes time to open new hospitals and the temporary arrangements have been launched till then as part of the scheme. We are ensuring that patients will not have to wait for long time to undergo surgery at government hospitals.

As per the scheme, patients getting treatment at the Delhi government-run hospitals can undergo surgery in private health institutions free of cost.

Vijender Gupta, leader of opposition in Delhi Assembly, also said that the announcement has been made in a hurry and clearly shows that the government has neither negotiated nor made any agreement with the empanelled hospitals and diagnostic centers.

The government must also clarify whether the private hospitals will provide post-surgical treatment to the patients. It should clarify if the government or private hospital will be responsible for the care of the patient after the surgery. If the patient suffers any health complication after an operation, which hospital will be responsible for it? he said.

Gupta has also questioned the AAP government about promises made in the manifesto for establishing 900 new primary health centers, addition of 30,000 beds in the government hospitals including 4,000 beds for maternity centers and providing five beds of international standards per 1,000 people.

Meanwhile, Delhi government spokesperson Nagendra Sharma said, We dont want to react to any of their allegations. They (Delhi BJP) can say anything without any knowledge of the scheme or the whole concept. People have already stopped trusting them and they have been reduced to three in Vidhan Sabha.
Catching foreign nationals for smuggling cigarettes is nothing unusual for customs officials at Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).

But few months ago, an Afghan student living in India and his two Delhi University friends were caught for allegedly smuggling cigarettes, forcing customs to keep an eye on young students coming from the Gulf.

Investigation revealed that an Afghan national offered two DU students a foreign trip and used them to smuggle cigarettes to Delhi. During their return, they were asked to keep some packets in their check-in baggage.

While scanning, we found cigarette packets in huge quantity in the baggage of two Indian nationals, one male and one female. They were unaware that the packets had cigarette boxes, said a customs official.

Inquiry revealed that all three were studying together and the Afghan offered them to take to Dubai.

They told us many of their friends often visit Dubai and they have some common Afghan friends. We suspect some gangs are using students for smuggling. In these cases, we dont make arrests since the value (of the seized contraband) is not much, the official said.

In smuggling, arrests are made only when the value of the seized item is over R 10 lakh.

Customs says there is huge demand for imported cigarettes in the city. Cigarettes such as Gudang Garam International, Pine, Davidoff and Esse worth R 50 lakh are usually seized in a year.

Usually, there is a margin of R 1,000 per packet of cigarette. If a passenger keeps even 100 such boxes in a check-in bag, it is worth R1 lakh. The amount is good enough to sponsor the trip and save some money after smuggling, the official added.

Internationally, cigarette is the most smuggled item due to the price difference. The smugglers evade excise VAT and customs duty and the vendors are also happy as they can sell it at the price they want to.

Usually, if a packet cost R 400 in the source country, it is sold in India in R 1,400, the official said.

The Delhi government also keeps a check on use of imported cigarettes and conducts raids. Customs has to destroy seized cigarettes as they come without MRP and warning, which is mandatory to sell cigarettes in India.

Initially, the customs had starting selling seized cigarettes but after the health ministry raised objections, it was decided that these would be destroyed.

The customs is also keeping vigil on gold smugglers offered to sponsor honeymoon of young couples who bring gold on return. .

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New Delhi The Supreme Court on Friday today refused to entertain a plea against a Tamil Nadu government order reserving 85% seats in MBBS and BDS courses for the state board students and only 15% for those of other boards, including the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud asked the petitioner, father of a medical aspirant, to approach the Madras High Court which is already hearing pleas against the state government order.

The apex court asked petitioner R Nakkiran, represented by senior advocate Nalini Chidambaram, to withdraw the plea and either file a fresh one or intervene in the pending matter before the Madras High Court.

We request the High Court to expedite the hearing in the case, the bench said, adding that the matter was very urgent as counselling for the admissions was about to begin.

CBSE conducts National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS and BDS courses across the country in which 85% seats are reserved for domiciles of states where medical colleges are located and the remaining seats go to students from other states.

The Tamil Nadu government, however, passed an order on June 22 saying that 85% seats in MBBS and BDS courses would be allocated to those who have passed their Class 12 examination conducted by the state board and only 15% seats would be given to those who cleared the test from other boards, including CBSE.

Chidambaram submitted that the matter needed urgent hearing as the counselling began from Friday and the government order had created a lot of problems to students who had passed Class12 examination from other boards.

Earlier, the High Court had issued notices to the health and family welfare departments secretary, medical educations additional director, the selection committees secretary and the Medical Council of India on a separate plea challenging the government order.

The high court, however, had declined to grant any interim stay on the governments order on the plea filed by one Darnish Kumar and two others.

The petitioners had submitted that the apex court had clearly stated that when admission was based on entrance examination National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) it should make no difference whether the qualifying examination was conducted by the state board or CBSE because no discrimination can be made between the schools affiliated to both the boards.

They had also stated that once a common merit list was prepared for the purpose of grant of admission to MBBS and BDS courses based on NEET results, the only permissible reservation was in favour of students who had studied in schools located within Tamil Nadu.

Therefore, it was impermissible for distribution of seats on the basis of the school board and therefore such segregation of seats would amount to discrimination among students, they had said.
Though the glass ceiling has yet to crack, more and more women the world over are being considered for top jobs and corporate boards. This is the time when they should not sit back but work hard to make it to the top rung in organisations. We speak about women in leadership roles with Professor Heather McGregor, executive dean at Edinburgh Business School, the Graduate School of Business of UK-based Heriot-Watt University. A global expert in the area of leadership, employment and diversity, she headed her own international executive search company for 15 years before joining Edinburgh Business School in September 2016. A champion of diversity in the workplace, Prof McGregor was awarded a CBE in June 2015 for services to business, with a particular focus on employment skills and diversity. She was also a co-founder of the 30% Club that campaigns to increase the number of women on company boards.

How demotivating would it be for women MBAs to know that few women are considered for corporate boards or top jobs?

Women are being considered for top jobs and corporate boards, and are being appointed in ever increasing numbers. Still not nearly as many as men, of course, but this is changing. Better to be prepared and ready to take one of those jobs, than to sit around waiting for the change to be complete  you will have missed the boat.

Given your own business and experience in running an executive search company, have you seen any changes of late in women getting to leadership positions?

About 50% of all the shortlists and 50% of all the placements I ever made as a head hunter were of women, and they absolutely are getting leadership positions at a great pace. The debate has changed from male chairmen and CEOs saying why should I appoint a woman to how can I go about finding some great female candidates for this role.

Could you tell us something about the 30% Club?

The 30% Club is a movement started by about a dozen of us in 2010, under the leadership of a remarkable woman called Helena Morrissey. She is a female CEO and was sick and tired of there being so few women on corporate boards. So we started a campaign to get chairmen to more actively look for female candidates. At the time we started, in the UK, 21 of the top 100 companies had no women at all on their boards, and the percentage of women directors across those 100 companies was 12%. Today every board has female directors, and the percentage is 30%. Of course that is just the top 100 companies, the so-called FTSE 100, and there are about 2,500 quoted companies in the UK, so we have a way to go.

The 30% Club works in conjunction with several business schools, including my own, to offer scholarships for women, in the hope that we will see many more qualified women ready for senior roles. But of course there are many other routes to the top for women  I outline the main ones in my book Careers Advice for Ambitious Women. They involve getting the right qualifications, building relationships with the right people, establishing a sensible personal profile and brand, and engaging in what I call Third Dimension activity, ie voluntary work. All of these will help build a womans career.

What needs to be changed to push more women towards top corporate roles: Changes in the way management education is imparted or changing the mindset of management of top corporates?

We need all of these. The 30% Club focuses on changing the mindset of chairmen and CEOs but management education can help too. If most MBA students are men, then surely a business school is exactly the right place to showcase the contribution of women. We make sure that all new case studies are gender balanced and reinforce the fact that women can and do make a major contribution to business. Women drive more than half of all purchasing decisions, so they are key stakeholders for any business!

But women need to change their mindset too. You cant just sit there and expect a top job to fall in your lap. Women need to make sure they are equipped with the things they need to pursue a business career  technical management skills, but also international experience and a wide network of contacts.

Given your role as executive dean - there are not many women holding top jobs in B-schools - do you face any challenges?

There are more than you think! In the UK, out of the 120 members of CABS (chartered association of business schools) there are 36 female business school leaders/deans. So 30% of my peers are women.

I face more challenges because I come from a practitioner background (ie I have run a business and worked in business) rather than an academic background, which most of my peers have done. I am having to build a whole new network and also get used to how universities do things!

Can you tell us about women opting for management studies?

Edinburgh Business School is fortunate in that 40.6% of our current student are women, which compares well with the global average of 30% (as cited by the Complete University Guide https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/mba/women-and-mbas/).

Your advice to young women aspiring to take up leadership roles in future?

Read my book! Seriously, though, it is the same advice I would give to anyone of either sex. Invest in your human and your social capital (and our new MBA is deliberately designed to do both) and build your personal brand (again, something we have decided to teach people how to do). I am hopeful that we will have strong female participation on our new on-campus MBA which specialises in entrepreneurship and where I will be taking an active role in delivering new skills and capabilities to our students.

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A lot has been said about the importance of sleep. It is believed to help you avoid junk food, and help boost physical performance and cognitive function. But an excess of sleep or too little can be harmful for your health. Heres what some recent studies done on the topic show:

Not getting enough sleep can double the chances of dying from heart disease or stroke. (Shutterstock)

1) Insufficient sleep can increase chances of death by heart failure.

Findings in the Journal of the American Heart Association says that not getting enough sleep can double the chances of dying from heart disease or stroke, particularly in people with risk factors like diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Read the full story here.

Warmer temperatures can lead to additional nights of insufficient sleep. (Shutterstock)

2) Climate change may end up disrupting your sleep pattern.

Warmer temperatures could cause six additional nights of insufficient sleep per 100 individuals by 2050 and approximately 14 extra nights per 100 by 2099, said researchers from University of California-San Diego (UCSD) in the US. They found that anomalous increases in nighttime temperature by one degree Celsius translate to three nights of insufficient sleep per 100 individuals per month.

Read the full story here.

Social jet lag occurs when one goes to bed and wakes up much later on weekends than during the week. (Shutterstock)

3) Catching up on sleep over the weekend can increase risk of heart disease.

Research by University of Arizona in the US shows that each hour of social jet lag  which occurs when one goes to bed and wakes up much later on weekends than during the week  is associated with an 11% increase in the likelihood of heart disease.

Read the full story here.

4) Want healthier, fitter sperms? Study suggests you should sleep early.

Going to bed before midnight may be key to healthier and fitter sperm, a study led by researchers from Harbin Medical University in China has showed. Late bedtimes and inadequate rest are harmful because they increase levels of anti-sperm antibody, a type of protein produced by the immune system which can destroy healthy sperm.

Read the full story here.

Use of smartphones late at night can affect sleep quality. (Shutterstock)

5) Night smartphone use may lead to poor sleep and self-esteem.

Researchers at Griffith University and Murdoch University found that use of smartphones late at night may have low sleep quality, leading to poor mental health, reduced coping and self-esteem.

Read the full story here.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more
Union minister and Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh said on Saturday that he had written to the Haryana government voicing his objections to the alleged dilution of rules in the states RERA (Real Estate Regulation Act) draft.

The MPs spokesperson said, The Gurgaon MP took up the RERA issue (alleged dilution of rules in the Haryana draft) with the state officials. He said he wants no watering down of regulations to favour the builders. Since the state is likely to issue a notification on RERA soon, he held a wide-ranging discussion over it.

The minister also said that the citys metro service will soon be made accessible to residents of Old Gurgaon.

He also met chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in Chandigarh on the day. Among the issues that came up for discussion during the meeting were the metro extension plan, removal of Kherki Daula Toll plaza and the misgivings over the states RERA draft.

Later, a statement issued by the MP stated, Residents of old Gurgaon are deprived of metro facility. We have broadly discussed the issue with the officials of Haryana town planning and Haryana urban development authority (Huda) in this regard. We hope the detailed project report (DPR) for metro extension from Huda City Centre to Gurgaon Railway station via old city would be prepared soon. The exercise is essential to expedite the process.

From Huda City Centre to Subhash Chowk, Sohna Road and Hero Honda Chowk to Sector 9, the metro route line has been decided up to Railway station. The officials have been asked to prepare the DPR for the said route. Besides that, we also discussed the metro extension plan between Dwarka and Iffco Chowk (sic), said the statement.

Read I Rao Inderjit to apprise Gadkari of progress on expressway on May 1

The citys metro expansion project has been on the anvil for the last five years.

The MP also confirmed discussing the Kherki Daula issue with the chief minister.

CM said that talks are underway between the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the concessionaire to resolve the issue (removal of Kherki Daula toll plaza), the MP said.
It has been two days since a 20-year-old paying guest from Nainital was allegedly pushed by his landlord from the fifth floor balcony of the accommodation in Gurgaons DLF Phase 3. The police, till date, have only been able to arrest two  Satish, the caretaker of the PG accommodation and Shishram, who was involved in the scuffle that led to Ramesh Bisht being allegedly shoved off the fifth floor. However, the owners sons, the main accused in the case, continue to roam free.

The PG owner, Satbir Singh, and his two sons  Rohit and Rahul  along with eight other men allegedly thrashed Ramesh and his friends on Wednesday night. Singh allegedly pushed him from the fifth floor of the building, resulting in his death.

The police have been unable to track down Singh, a resident of Nathupur village adjacent to DLF Phase 3 where the incident took place.

DLF Phase 3 chowki in-charge, sub inspector Manoj Kumar said that police teams have been formed to nab the owner and his two sons.

While their house (in DLF Phase 3) is vacant, there is no word on their whereabouts in their village as well. We are trying our best to catch Singh and his sons and hope to apprehend them soon, Kumar said.

A total of three teams have been formed to nab the trio  one from the DLF Phase 3 police post, another fom the DLF Phase 2 police station (where the FIR was filed) and a third from East districts CIA.

We are working on some leads and are also questioning their relatives on their whereabouts. They are not hardened criminals and will be arrested soon, station house officer (SHO), DLF Phase 2, said.

The two, who were arrested on Thursday, are on a two-day police remand and sources said they confessed to beating up Ramesh and his friends. However, they claimed that they didnt push Bisht and he fell on his own, police sources said.

Sources said at least 500 persons stayed in the PG accommodation, which had five floors. All the floors had at least three rooms, with five-six people staying in each of them, claimed Rameshs friends, who also took up residence at the building.

The land on which the PG accommodation was built is also under the scanner as neighbours claimed it was built illegally.

A local from the Nathupur village, on the condition of anonymity, said that Singh not only owned the PG residence, but also the adjacent one in which the inmates training was going on.

The land belongs to the same family and there are at least three PG accommodations next to each other. All of them have five-eight floors and houses hundreds of tenants, he said.

The source added that Singh had lots of money and wielded significant clout in the area.

He and his brothers have five-ten men, including bouncers, who kept the outsiders in check, the 62-year-old said.

Shocked by the incident, the PG inmates and Bishts family returned to their village Binukhatta in Nainital on Friday where the youths last rites were performed.

Read I Gurgaon: 20-year-old dies after being pushed from fifth floor by PG owner

His friends said that while a candle light vigil was held in Nainital on Friday to protest against the incident, dharnas and chakka jams are planned on Sunday.

Kishan Deopa, Bishts roommate, said that his friends will take the battle forward and ensure justice is done in the case.

A group of 50-60 protesters gathered around the Lal Kuan police post in Nainital on Saturday morning and demanded action against the culprits in Gurgaon.

The police here says that since the incident took place in Gurgaon, only the Gurgaon police can act in the case. However, the Gurgaon have only been able to arrest two of the accused so far. However, we are determined to fight on till justice is done, Rameshs father said.
Four days after the death of Ramesh Bisht, who was allegedly pushed off the fifth floor by the owner of the paying guest accommodation he stayed in, at least 10 tenants of his PG have returned to their native village in Uttarakhand, vowing never to return.

Bisht had been staying in the PG in DLF 3 with others from his village of Bindukhatta in Nainital. He was among the 15 people from Nainital who had reached Gurgaon in June under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) for a 45-day training with ILF&S to become waiters and attendants in hotels.

The incident was a stark reminder that we will always be considered outsiders, in Gurgaon and elsewhere. Earlier too, we had been threatened and abused by the owners men saying that they were locals and we were not, said Ravi Mangla, Bishts friend and one of the 10 people who returned to Uttarakhand on Friday.

A furious Kishan Deopa, Bishts roommate, said,  Yahan pe rehke mazdoori kar lenge par Gurgaon nahin jaaenge (we will work as daily wagers here, but wont return to Gurgaon).

Recalling Wednesday nights incident, he said, Ramesh kept shouting and begging for his life for 20 minutes after he was pushed from the balcony while Satbir (the owner) and his men didnt let us reach him. I havent been able to sleep properly since then and keep remembering his face.

Read I Gurgaon PG death: Protests, candlelight marches in Lal Kuan

Suraj Joshi, another of the men who refused to return to Gurgaon, said they had left their village hoping for a better life, but we didnt know we wont even have a life.

Bisht, Deopa, Mangla and Joshi were among the 15 people who had come to Gurgaon for the training. While half of them had already enrolled and started training on June 15, others, including Bisht, were to begin training in the first week of July.

Ramesh and I had reached on June 28. Our batch, which was the ninth one, was to begin training from July 6 or 7, said Deopa.

Other trainees from Uttarakhand who were staying in the PG have been shifted to Okhla in New Delhi, Mangla said.

We had been provided accommodation in Okhla earlier as that is where the training centre was. ILF&S had started training adjacent to our PG in DLF 3 recently. We dont know if they shifted the old training centre or started a new one, he added.
Faced with a brewing rebellion from its cadre in Gujarat, the Aam Aadmi Party leadership is shying away from announcing its decision on fighting the assembly elections there later this year.

A number of AAP volunteers in Gujarat are up in arms against the party high commands plan to pull out of the polls and have threatened to quit the party, sources in the Gujarat unit and Delhi confirmed.

As a result, the AAP central leadership, led by Arvind Kejriwal, has put off announcing the decision to pull out of the polls entirely or partially.

The Delhi-based leadership is no longer keen on putting up a big fight as it had originally planned in January this year, especially after the partys poor show in Punjab, Goa and the Delhi municipal elections.

Lets just say we are avoiding a decision, a source in the party working on the partys original Gujarat project said.

The Gujarat unit had given a presentation and held deliberations with party seniors, including Kejriwal, last month on poll preparations, after which they were told the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), AAPs highest decision-making body, would meet last month and take a final call. The meeting never took place.

The unit had told Kejriwal that the cadre were keen on contesting all 182 seats as they have been preparing for it since the party was formed.

The state unit had also suggested tying up with the other opposition parties, including Congress, but the suggestion was shot down by the central leadership as suicidal.

We want to focus on rebuilding our strength in Delhi and not enter another (Narendra) Modi versus Kejriwal contest, a party leader said on condition of anonymity.

Confirming that some volunteers have threatened to leave if the party does not contest the polls, state AAP leader Kanu Bhai Kalsaria said, The result may not be as good as they are expecting. Maybe at the lower levels, volunteers will leave but those who are genuinely committed to AAP will not.

Kalsaria is a three-time MLA who quit the BJP to join AAP in 2014.

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Intimidation of activists, or attempts thereof, can take many forms. It can go beyond physical and verbal abuse, to include legal harassment  as activist Nikhil Dey and his companions recently found out. It was 1998. The RTI Act was yet to be passed, but in Rajasthan, the Panchayati Raj had been amended, remembers Dey, and it was said that people could get copies of official records and documents.

Dey, along with Naurti Devi and three others, were seeking information from the sarpanch of Harmara village regarding complaints of irregularities in development work. The allegations against the sarpanch, a liquor contractor of the village, included payments for toilets, Indira Awaas houses, and labour payments for development works, that had not been made to the beneficiaries.The activists went more than 70 times to meet the sarpanch at his office, but he was not there. Finally, they got orders from the collector and the block development officer (BDO) directing the sarpanch to show the records. They went to hand over the order to the sarpanch at his house. But, the activists say, they were attacked by the sarpanch and his brothers, who were worried (if they had given the records they were likely to have been caught). They shoved and pushed the activists and threatened them with dire consequences if they persisted.

Dey and the others then went and met activist Aruna Roy who was in a nearby village. They discussed what to do and Roy wrote to the SP, the collector and the chief secretary, informing them about he incident and requesting information. A team from the Public Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) came to record the incident. They did a fact finding and the sarpanch finally gave the papers. But he also filed an FIR against Dey and the others, alleging that they had assaulted him and his family members.

A few months later, final reports were filed in the case and the activists felt the case had been closed. But a few years later the sarpanch got the case reopened in court. The activists found out when they got summons from court. They werent too worried since they thought they would be able to put out their side of the story. But the case dragged on. Dey had asked for exemption from personal appearance, but the others continued to appear in court. The court refused to see it as an RTI kind of case. The activists filed an appeal at the Information Commission. But last month the Munsif Magistrate court in Kishangarh convicted the five under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 451 (trespass in order to commit an offence punishable with imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code, and sentenced them to four months imprisonment. The activists have appealed against the conviction. But as Aruna Roy says , It sends out a warning to other information seekers on what can happen if you ask questions.

Case details told to Poulomi Banerjee by Nikhil Dey

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A joint team of Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Gujarat police arrested a man accused of supplying arms and ammunition used in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts on Saturday morning.

Officials are interrogating Qadeer Ahmed, 56, to collect details of people who are in his contact to identify sleeping modules in Bijnor, police said.

A team of UP ATS, led by inspector Vishwajit Kumar, located Qadeer in Kalhedi village and launched the operation with the Gujarat police after seeking an arrest warrant from a court there.

As many as 257 people were killed and over 700 were injured in the serial blasts in Mumbai.

Inspector general, ATS, Asim Arun, said Tiger Memon supplied arms and ammunition for the blasts, which were stored in Jamnagar (Gujarat) in which Qadeer played an important role.

Qadeer will be produced before the Bijnor court for transit remand so that he can be taken to Gujarat for further investigation, Arun added.

This is not the first time when terrorists or their supporters have been arrested from Bijnor. SIMI terrorists Amjad, Zakir, Mehboob and Salik, who were gunned down by the police in Madhya Pradesh while trying to escape after a jailbreak, had their hideout in Bijnor.

They lived in Jatan locality of Bijnor and security agencies came to know about them only after a cylinder bomb blast in September 2014.

The blast took placec while they were making a cylinder bomb. Mehboob sustained serious injuries in the blast but he and his aides managed to escape. NIA and other security agencies identified them through CCTV footage.

They were arrested from Rourkela (Odisha) in February 2016 after dodging the police for over a year.
The West Bengal government on Saturday sought army deployment as the Darjeeling hills turned restive again following the death of a Gorkhaland supporter, allegedly in police firing.

The incident sparked fresh violence in Darjeeling as angry protesters set traffic police booth on fire. Protesters also pelted stones at policemen near the Sonada railway station on Saturday. Unconfirmed reports suggested the agitators set ablaze to Sonada station and police station too.

Police fired tear gas shells to disperse the protesters, officials said.

Army was withdrawn from the hills last week, nearly a month after the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) re-launched its statehood movement that turned violent, leaving several people dead.

We have sought deployment of the army again, Darjeeling district magistrate Joyoshi Dasgupta told HT on Saturday.

Leaders of the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) alleged that Tashi Bhutia, 31, was killed in police firing in Sonada, nearly 20 km from Darjeeling, when he had gone to buy medicines.

Though state tourism minister and district Trinamool leader Gautam Deb denied it, a police officer said on the condition of anonymity that forces opened fire after their patrolling vehicle was attacked.

The police chief of Darjeeling district did not respond to telephone calls.

All deaths are sad incidents. But the police is showing utmost restraint in the hills, Deb told the media.

Bijay Tamang, assistant general secretary of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, said the state government had launched a reign of terror in the hills.

On June 17, three persons were allegedly killed in police firing in Singamari , about 2 km from Darjeeling town.

Earlier this week, the newly formed 30-member Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee decided to continue the indefinite bandh in the hills that entered 24th day on Saturday.

The government has banned Internet services in the hills since June 19.

Darjeeling hills have been witnessing arson and vandalism on government properties particularly after June 15 when the house and the office of GJM president Bimal Gurung were raided by police.

The agitation started off as protests against an alleged move by the Trinamool government to impose Bengali in schools in the hills where most people speak Nepali.

The GJM, which administers the semi-autonomous Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, revived the 110-year-old demand for a separate state after a police raid on the office of Gurung.

The GJM, an ally of the BJP, has refused to talk to the state government and insisted on tripartite negotiations on statehood.

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The nature of violence at Basirhat and Baduria in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal has left the areas Muslim leaders shocked and surprised.

Despite trying their best to pacify marauding crowds of their own community on Sunday evening, they failed to persuade the mob to retreat.

We feel shocked and ashamed. This incident is a major setback for our community and our fight against the atmosphere of intolerance perpetrated by the RSS. Muslims, who so far got sympathies, now stand accused, said Mohammad Kamruzzaman, secretary of the West Bengal Minority Youth Federation who lives close to the troubled area.

During violent protests over a blasphemous Facebook post by a class 11 student since July 2, several dozen houses and shops of Hindus were vandalised and gutted, apart from nearly a dozen police vehicles that were torched.

About two dozen people suffered injuries due to clashes between the agitators and police and also between the two communities.

Right from the beginning of the protests on Sunday, the district administration was in constant touch with Muslim community leaders such as Kamruzzaman, Abdul Matin and Abdur Kayum, who kept rushing from one place to another to help lift road blockades.

Almost all Muslim social and religious organisations worked in coordination with the administration to pacify the rioters but, for failed reasons yet unknown. The government needs to find out who organised the vandalism, Kamruzzaman said.

Matin, secretary of Islamic social organisation Sunnat Al Jamayaat, swung into action soon after he heard agitators were planning to block roads all over Baduria on Monday, the day of ulta rath yatra.

On Sunday night itself, he travelled more than 10 km to reach Baduria police station, which was under siege from a mob of estimated 5,000 people.

The mob was demanding that police bring before the crowd the class 11 student who made a blasphemous Facebook post.

Matin desperately tried to convince the mob to withdraw the blockade, urged them to give police 24 hours to arrest the culprit so that he could be prosecuted as per law.

We must abide by the Constitution and cannot take law into our own hand. Moreover, we cannot do anything that harms anyone except the culprit. The RSS is conspiring across India to fuel trouble. We must not fall in that trap. Taking law into our own hand will be nothing less than harakiri, Matin told the gathering. But the mob appeared stubborn.

Finally, after much persuasion, Matin and Abdur Kayum, who is a lecturer at Alia University, managed to send the mob back with the promise of launching a blockade if a police failed to arrest the boy.

The police nabbed the boy, who had fled by then, at 3 am on Monday. He was taken out of the area for his safety.

From early morning on Monday, Matin, Kayum and Mohammad Kamrujjaman issued statements through social media, urging people from the community to refrain from blockade of road, as the accused was already arrested and that it was the day of ulta rath yatra.

But none heeded their words. Protesters continued the vandalism demanding the accused be handed over to them.

All our efforts went in vain. In some areas, Muslims protected the rath yatra processions but at some locations even local Muslims failed to restrain the mob, which almost always comprised people from other localities, Kayum said.

Raths came under attack in areas under Baduria and Basirhat police station. Police cars outside Baduria police station were torched, as was the house where the accused boy lived.

The house stands bang opposite the village mosque, Milan Masjid. Amirul Islam, the president of the mosque committee, too, tried to pacify the mob.

The police needs to check the call list of each and every religious leader of the area to find out who fomented trouble and who organised these young and illiterate youths to launch attack on Hindu households, Matin told HT.

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The Kangra leg of opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s 21-day long Parivartan Rath Yatra concluded in Chamba on Saturday.

Union textile minister Smriti Irani was the chief guest while minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was special guest on the occasion.

Addressing a rally at the Chougan ground in Chamba town, the actor-turned-politician described former chief ministers Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal as the pillars of the party.

She counted various achievements of three-year regime of Narender Modi-led NDA government at the Centre and also took on the Congress government in the state for its alleged failures on various fronts.

The administration in Himachal is a total failure, law and order situation has deteriorated and development works have come to a grinding halt, she claimed.

The central government gave the one-rank-one pension scheme which benefited lakhs of retired soldiers of the state, she said. Prime Minister Narender Modi, Irani said, gave representation to Himachal even at the international level when he visited US and Israel.

Rathore said the Centre has taken a resolve to root out corruption from the country and demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) are the first steps in this direction.

He said the country was undergoing a change and Himachal should contribute in it by voting the BJP to power in the upcoming elections.

Kangra MP and former chief minister Shanta Kumar hit out at the state government, terming it as the most corrupt.

What could be more unfortunate than the fact that the CM had to seek bail from court over corruption charges, said Shanta.

He said the law and order situation can be gauged from the fact that a forest guard was hung upside down on a tree after murder and police are still clueless.

Leader of opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal alleged that a mafia rule prevailed under the present government in the state. While the common man is reeling under problems, employees are still awaiting their monetary benefits, he added.

State BJP president Satpal Singh Satti said the yatra covered 10,000 kilometres and 2 lakh new members joined the party during this.
The Bihar government on Saturday rejected news reports that senior civil and police officials were tipped off about Fridays CBI raids at locations linked to RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family.

Its a totally baseless news, an official release said.

Quoting sources, some reports said on Saturday that chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh and state police chief PK Thakur were alerted by the CBI on Thursday night about the impending raids at the premises of Lalu Prasad and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav among others.

Some reports from New Delhi even claimed the Prime Ministers Office had informed chief minister Nitish Kumar prior to the raids apprehending trouble and seeking adequate security measures to be put in place.

Information regarding raids was given by CBI to director general of police at around 7.30am, some time after the raids began following which the police made necessary security arrangements in view of law and order, the official statement said.

Nitish Kumar is away in Rajgir in his home district Nalanda since Thursday afternoon reportedly due to health issues.

Kumar and his party JD(U) have remained tight-lipped about the raids, while the Congress, another RJD ally, has backed Lalus claim that those were part of vendetta politics by BJP and the Modi government.

Additional security personnel were deployed at offices of the BJP, RJD and JD(U) in the state capital while the CBI raids were on.

Additional director general of police (headquarters) SK Singhal said a general alert was sounded across the state in view of the political ramification of the raids.
Congress leaders met RJD supremo Lalu Prasad on Saturday to express solidarity with him in the wake of a series of CBI raids at the premises of the former railway minister and his family members, but Nitish Kumars JD(U) continued to maintain a silence on the issue.

After seeing off the oppositions presidential nominee, Meira Kumar, who wound up her three-day Bihar visit on Saturday, at the airport, Bihar minister and state Congress chief Ashok Choudhary and Congress Legislature Party leader Sadanand Singh visited the 10, Circular Road residence of Rabri Devi to meet Prasad.

Awdesh Kumar Singh and Madan Mohan Jha, Congress ministers in the Grand Alliance government, also accompanied them to meet the RJD president.

Choudhary told PTI it was a personal visit and not a political one.

He, however, attacked the BJP for Fridays CBI raids at 12 premises of Lalu Prasad and his family members across the country.

Since they (BJP) have failed to defeat us (Grand Alliance) through the peoples mandate, they are now misusing the government machinery to target us, alleged Choudhary.

Earlier, talking to reporters at the Sadaquat Ashram, the state Congress chief, who is also the education minister in Nitish Kumars cabinet, repeated Prasads defence, which he had put forward on Friday, that deputy chief minister Tejaswi Prasad Yadav was a minor at the time of the allotment of license for two IRCTC hotels to the Kochhar brothers at Ranchi and Puri, allegedly in exchange for land in Patna.

He also blamed BJP president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the CBI raids.

While the Congress leaders stood with Lalu, chief minister Nitish Kumar was yet to break his silence on the matter.

The RJD, Congress and JD(U) are partners in the Grand Alliance government in Bihar, headed by Kumar.

A report from Rajgir, where Kumar has been staying since Thursday due to health reasons, said the chief minister visited the famous tourist spot of Ghora Katora, but the media was not allowed inside during his visit.

When contacted, Bihar JD(U) chief spokesman Sanjay Singh and spokesman Neeraj Kumar refused to comment on the issue.

Meanwhile, RJD ministers and leaders kept rushing to Rabri Devis residence in support of the partys first family.

RJD ministers Chandrika Rai, Abdul Gafoor, state party chief Ramchandra Purbe and a host of others were seen going inside Rabri Devis house.
Wary of people getting wrong information about the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Centre has embarked on a communication campaign similar to the one launched during demonetisation, to quell any confusion or resentment that may arise among the public.

Besides the ministers and MPs being tasked with the responsibility to educate the masses, the Union information and broadcasting ministry (I&B) has roped in public broadcasters All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD), which have a series of awareness programmes on the GST lined up.

Experts will participate in these shows to discuss the particulars of the single tax regime in detail and also take questions from callers enquiring about, among other things, the GSTs impact on their food/medical bills and whether business owners have to file returns multiple times in a year.

One such expert is Arun Goyal, an additional secretary in the GST Council, who will appear on AIRs shows to offer insight on the tax regime.

There are many students who want to know how GST will affect fees at educational institutions; similarly, tax payers across various slabs have unanswered queries, a ministry official explained.

The programmes, which are being relayed in 23 languages and 176 dialects, are an attempt to reach out to maximum number of people. The BJP-led government at the Centre has been up in arms against the Congress, which it accuses of misleading the public through its attempt to discredit the taxation system.

Some section of the opposition, particularly the Congress and a former finance minister (P Chidambaram) have been saying it (GST) is an imperfect system. Reforms are all about the art of possible and feasible, and never a system cast in stone, I&B minister M Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday.

No dual levy of GST on leased aircraft

The government on Saturday exempted import of aircraft, aircraft engines and other parts from integrated goods and service tax (IGST) when airlines bring these into the country on lease provided IGST on the lease rental is paid.

The decision notified on Saturday evening brings relief from double taxation to airlines who use leased aircraft.

The notification exempted the 5% IGST at the time of import of these items and clarified that a 5% IGST will be applicable only on the lease rental paid by the importer.

The relief is provided with the condition that the importer should not sell these items without permission from the authorities and that these have to be re-exported within three months of the expiry of the lease.

(With inputs from Mint)

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Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wanis first death anniversary passed off in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday without any major protest, barring a few incidents of stone-pelting and clashes in which five women were reportedly injured.

The government imposed curfew and restrictions across the Valley, and police and paramilitary personnel were deployed in high numbers. Internet services were cut off to maintain law and order, officials said.

Normal life was affected due to a strike called by separatists, while curfew was imposed in three towns, including Tral, as a precautionary measure, police said.

Wanis death in an encounter last year plunged the Kashmir valley into crisis. At least 90 people were killed and 1,000 wounded during the ensuing unrest.

Paramilitary personnel stand guard in Srinagar as the authorities imposed curfew on Saturday on the first death anniversary of Hizbul militant Burhan Wani. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo)

Residents of Wanis home village in Tral said clashes erupted between youth and police, while five women were injured when police fired tear gas shells and pellets on protesters in Shopian.

Director general of police SP Vaid told HT that protesters pelted stones at 6-7 places in south Kashmirs Shopian and Pulwama and at one place in Srinagar. The situation remained under control and no injuries were reported, he said.

Paramilitary personnel stand in Srinagar on Saturday as the authorities imposed curfew on the first death anniversary of Hizbul militant Burhan Wani. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo)

Authorities were on alert as separatists and militants called for week-long protests from July 7 to 13 with the next shutdown call on July 13 to commemorate what they called State Martyrs Day.

Thousands of police personnel and security forces dotted the roads and villages of the valley to prevent people from assembling on Wanis death anniversary. Security forces also blocked roads and laid concertina wires to prevent movement of traffic and people.

Despite the restrictions, people visited the house of the Hizbul militant at Tral.

The restrictions were very severe. Police objected to the presence of youths at Wanis home, who in turn were infuriated leading to stone-pelting. Police resorted to tear gas shelling, said a local requesting anonymity.
India said on Saturday it remains committed on the issue of climate change as per its own values and requirements, days after the US announced its decision to pull out of the landmark Paris agreement.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the focus of the Indian government is on International Solar Alliance (ISA) and other methods of renewable energy.

Arvind Panagariya, sherpa for India at the G20 Summit, said at the same media briefing that India would need more time to process completely to clean fuel.

He said the US position on climate change remained different from that of other countries as it wants inclusion of fossil fuel.

Our stand has been very very clear that what we are committed on climate change as per our own values and more importantly in terms of our own requirements, Baglay said when asked about the key takeaway for India on climate change at the summit.

Baglay said solar energy and other renewables are the areas that have been in focus of Prime Minister Narendra Modis conversation with other global leaders at the summit.

Panagariya said India would need more time to process completely to clean fuel.

On the issue of the US stance on climate change, he said there were differences but nobody was isolated, though Europeans had much stronger position.

Indias position remains that we need more time to process completely to clean fuel. US position on climate change remains different from that of other countries and it wants inclusion of fossil fuel, Panagariya said.

Prime Minister Modi, while speaking at the meeting of BRICS leaders, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit said on Friday it was mandatory to implement the consensus of the Paris agreement on climate change.

He had asserted that India will implement the accord in letter and spirit.

President Donald Trump had recently announced that the US will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, saying the deal agreed by more than 190 nations unfairly benefited countries like India and China.

The objective of the Paris Agreement is to prevent an increase in global average temperature and keep it well below 2C.

The Agreement was adopted on December 12, 2015, by 195 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), replacing its predecessor Kyoto Protocol.

It was finally ratified on November 4, 2016.
Even as the ruling Janata Dal (U) continued to maintain a studied silence on the CBI raids on RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family members, on Friday, the other partner of the ruling Grand Alliance in Bihar, the Congress, extended its fulsome support to RJD chief and family in its hour of crisis.

While chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is recuperating at Rajgir, extended his stay at the resort town and was likely to return by Sunday evening, or Monday morning, Congress leaders flocked to The RJD presidents residence, soon after opposition presidential candidate Meira Kumar left Patna for Ranchi.

We are with him in this hour of crisis, said Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president and Bihar human resource development minister Ashok Choudhary. The BJP government is targeting all those who oppose it. Everybody knows the credentials of (BJP chief) Amit Shah and PM Modi, he added.

Earlier, talking to reporters at Sadaquat Ashram, the state Congress headquarters, Choudhary backed Prasads defence that his son and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who was among those against whom the CBI had filed an FIR, was a minor when a railways hotels deal under probe happened.

Choudhary said it was true Tejashwi was a minor at the time of the allotment of licenses of lease for two IRCTC hotels (in 2006) to the Kochhar brothers, at Ranchi and Puri, allegedly in exchange for land in Patna.

Congress Legislature Party leader Sadanand Singh also visited Lalus residence, to express his solidarity.

The Congress central leadership had, in Delhi, called the CBI a captive puppet of the BJP-led NDA government and accused it of acting like its dirty tricks department, to seek revenge against political opponents of the ruling party.

The Congress backing for Lalu Prasad showed the partys compulsion to make common cause with the RJD chief ahead of the Presidential election, on July 17 and the uncertainty over the JD (U)s next move.

Amidst reports of growing chasm between the JD (U) and the Congress, following the JD (U) decision to back the NDA nominee, Ram Nath Kovind, and the JD (U)-RJD periodic skirmishes, the three grand alliance partners have not been able to make common cause over a variety of issues.

JD (U) sources said Kumar was scheduled to meet party district presidents and other office-bearers on Monday. Though the agenda of the meeting is to review membership drive and implementation of CMs seven resolves, it is expected that the current political scenario will also figure during the meeting.

Though the silence of the CM as well as other party leaders on CBI raid, is being questioned in different quarters, including by RJD leaders, JD (U) sources said, even though the alliance may look strained, it was not under any serious threat.

The JD (U) will not like to be trapped in a Shiv Sena like situation in Maharshtra after aligning with the BJP, said a senior party leader.

What may be haunting the CM even in Rajgir was how to deal with the situation when a case has been lodged against his own deputy, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.

Even though the CBI has registered a formal case against his deputy and also conducted a raid at his residence in a corruption case, the chief minister has been mysteriously silent over the issue.

What may be adding to Kumars worry is the continuous attack by BJP leaders who are now reminding him about the zero tolerance policy on corruption of his coalition government with the BJP (2005-13) and provoking him to move against the Lalu family.

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A Trinamool Congress office and a police vehicle were set afire and a world heritage site vandalised as fresh violence erupted in Darjeeling on Saturday over the loss of two lives in alleged police firing during the ongoing statehood agitation.

The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), which is leading the agitation, alleged that a third person was also shot dead on the same day. However, the authorities are yet to confirm this.

The West Bengal government called in the Army just a week after it was withdrawn from the hill districts where the Gorkhaland agitation has been raging for nearly two months. While the state government denied any instance of firing, police officers were unavailable for comment.

The GJM said that while Tashi Bhutia was shot dead at Sonada on Friday night, Suraj Sundas was killed in Darjeeling the next day. The third victim  40-year-old Samir Gurung  was allegedly killed later on Saturday.

Samir was shot in the head when he was going to pay his last respects to Suraj Sundas, who was killed in Darjeeling around noon. Gurung was probably shot by CRPF personnel. He died at Singamari, claimed Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha president Prakash Gurung, adding that the ruling party cannot thwart their agitation by firing bullets.

While the state government referred to the Sonada incident as an accident, it made no mention of the other alleged deaths.

Protesters also targeted a station of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, popularly known as the toy train, vandalising furniture and setting the waiting room on fire. This is the second time they have attacked the tourist attraction during the course of the agitation.

The same afternoon, agitators set fire to two vehicles and the official quarters of a forest range officer at Gorubathan in Kalimpong. They also tried to torch a forest range office.

The renewed violence could pose a fresh challenge for chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also battling communal violence at Basirhat in North 24 Parganas. The ruling Trinamool accuses the BJP of instigating violence in both Darjeeling and Basirhat. The BJP is an ally of the GJM.

The violence in Darjeeling is a planned one. There are foreign links to this violence, the chief minister said at a press conference in Kolkata.

Banerjee also accused the Central government of disintegrating federalism by refusing to send paramilitary forces to curb violence in Darjeeling and Basirhat. The protesters have been setting fire to government offices, police establishments and vehicles but we have exercised restraint, she said.

The hill regions of Bengal, including Darjeeling, have been on the boil since the first week of June  when the GJM launched an agitation over alleged attempts to introduce Bengali in its schools. The party later revived its 110-year old statehood demand, steadfastly refusing to hold talks with the Mamata-led government.

The indefinite shutdown in the hills completed 24 days on Saturday.

On Saturday, protesters fought pitched battles with police before setting ablaze a Trinamool office at George Bazar. They also pelted stones at the police, forcing them to respond with tear gas shells and rubber bullets.

Bijay Tamang, GJM assistant general secretary, said the state government has unleashed a reign of terror in the hills. Darjeeling BJP MP SS Ahluwalia agreed with Tamang. Mamata Banerjee is refusing to come to terms with the people. The hill parties want withdrawal of security forces from the hills for peace to return, he told HT.

On June 17, three persons were allegedly killed in police firing in Singamari , about two km from Darjeeling. Earlier this week, the newly formed 30-member Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee decided to continue the indefinite bandh. The government has banned Internet services in the hills since June 19.

Darjeeling hills have been witnessing arson and vandalism on government properties, particularly after June 15, when the house and the office of GJM president Bimal Gurung were raided by police.

The agitation started off as protests against an alleged move by the Trinamool government to impose Bengali in schools in the hills, where most people speak Nepali. The GJM used to administer the semi-autonomous Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

Meanwhile, sources said a judicial commission headed by former Calcutta high justice Saumitra Pal was likely to probe the factors that led to the communal flare-up in Basirhat on July 2, and how it eventually spread.

(With inputs from HT Correspondent in Kolkata)

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As G20 leaders continued their Summit discussions for the second day here today, US President Donald Trump today walked up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an impromptu interaction.

Arvind Panagariya, sherpa for India at the Summit, tweeted about the interaction, along with pictures of the two leaders and others just before start of the second day of working sessions of the G20 Summit ending on Saturday.

Panagariya tweeted:

In an impromptu interaction at G20 Summit, POTUS waves to the PM, walks to him, other leaders gather around. Gr8 moments pic.twitter.com/LzvLlfqaB2  Arvind Panagariya (@APanagariya) July 8, 2017

He further described the interaction as some memorable moments just before the second day of the G20 Summit begins.

Panagariya, also the vice-chairman of government think-tank Niti Aayog, is representing India in the negotiations for the leaders communique.

Besides a series of bilateral meetings, Modi had brief chats with various leaders at the summit, including with IMF chief Christine Lagarde and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the G20 Summit and reviewed progress in bilateral ties as the two nations geared up for the Malabar naval exercise amid Chinas growing military assertiveness in the disputed South and East China seas.

The meeting between the two leaders comes months after the two nations inked a civil nuclear cooperation agreement.

The two leaders briefly reviewed progress in bilateral relations, including in important projects, since their last meeting in Japan during Prime Ministers visit in November 2016, a statement said.

Modi also expressed satisfaction at developments in bilateral relations since then.

The Prime Minister said that he looked forward to Prime Minister Abes forthcoming visit to India for the next Annual Summit and hoped that it would further strengthen their cooperation, the statement added.

The Malabar naval exercise involving Indian, American and Japanese navies will kick start on July 10 in the Bay of Bengal.

A sizeable number of aircraft, naval ships and nuclear submarines of the navies of the three countries will be part of the annual exercise, considered a major war game in the region.

The exercise is taking place in the backdrop of a major military standoff between armies of India and China in the Sikkim section and Beijing ramping up its naval presence in the South China Sea.

There are disputes between China, Japan, and South Korea over the extent of their respective exclusive economic zones in the East China Sea.

The aim of the Malabar exercise is to achieve deeper military ties and greater interoperability among the navies of India, Japan and the US in the strategically-important Indo- Pacific region.

India and the US have regularly conducted the annual exercise since 1992.

Beijing has been suspicious about the purpose of Malabar exercises as it feels that the annual war game is an effort to contain its influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Modi last met Abe during his visit to Japan in November 2016.
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar wants the central government to review the 91st constitutional amendment, which puts a 15% cap on the size of the council of ministers in states.

In a communication to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CM has said that the 15% cap on the size of the cabinet was to the disadvantage of the states which have smaller legislatures. The 91st constitutional amendment was made during the rule of the BJP-led NDA in 2003.

The amendment states: The total number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers in a state shall not exceed 15% of the total number of members of the legislative assembly of that State. Provided that the number of Ministers, including Chief Minister, in a state shall not be less than twelve.

Though the letter was written by Khattar days before the Punjab and Haryana high court set aside the appointments of four chief parliamentary secretaries (CPSes) in Haryana, it is evident that the CM had an inkling of the shape of things to come. The high court had in 2016 set aside similar appointments made by the Punjab government. So it was expected to deliver a similar verdict in Haryanas case.

TACTICS TO CIRCUMVENT LAW

The parliamentary secretaries were appointed by many state governments to circumvent the 15% constitutional limit on the size of the council of ministers. In a way, the option gave the ruling parties to accommodate and appease more MLAs and strike a regional and caste balance.

Khattar, in his communication to Modi, has proposed that another constitutional amendment should be made to increase the upper limit so that states having fewer legislators were able to appoint more ministers in a rational manner.

There are approximately 50-60 departments in each state. States with bigger legislatures have the flexibility to induct more ministers while states with lesser MLAs are disadvantaged. Then, there is a condition of having a minimum of 12 members, including the chief minister, in a cabinet. This is for smaller states having 40-70 legislators, who otherwise will get only 6 to 10 ministers if the 15% cap is applied. So there is a need to rationalise, said an official.

Whatever may be the justification, the fact remains that the setting aside of appointments of parliamentary secretaries by the courts have curbed the flexibility of the state government to circumvent the Constitution and accord minister like status and perks to MLAs.

REVIEW PANEL HAD PROPOSED 10% CAP

The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC), on whose recommendation the Constitution was amended, had observed in 2002 that abnormally large councils of ministers were being constituted by various governments at the Centre and in states and this practice had to be prohibited by law.

The panel had proposed to amend the Constitution to provide that the size of the council of ministers should not be more than 10% of the strength of House or Houses concerned, whether unicameral or bicameral.

However, in case of smaller states like Sikkim, Mizoram and Goa having 32, 40 and 40 members in the legislative assemblies respectively, a minimum strength of seven ministers was proposed.

However, the NDA government, while amending the Constitution, increased the upper limit from the proposed 10% to 15% and minimum 7 ministers to 12.

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Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat said India was well prepared to meet any external or internal security threat.

Nobody should have doubts on Indias military capabilities, Gen Rawat told reporters during a brief interaction after visiting the Mahabodhi Mahavihara, a Unesco world heritage site, at Bodh Gaya, 110 km south of Patna, on Friday.

He, however, refused to comment on the face-off between Indian troops and Chinese military over a disputed area at the Sikkim tri-junction. This is not the right place or occasion to speak on the matter, he said.

I have come to the Mahabodhi temple to pray for world peace, he said after performing rituals under the Mahabodhi Tree in the presence of chief priest Bhante Chalinda.

Accompanied by his wife, Gen Rawat drove to Bodh Gaya soon after his arrival at Gaya airport on Friday afternoon. After offering prayers at the Mahabodhi temple, he left for the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Gaya.

At the OTA, he reviewed the administrative and training facilities of gentleman cadets and discussed its future plans with Lt Gen DR Soni, GOC-in chief, Training Command, Shimla, and Lt Gen RK Jagga, commandant of OTA, Gaya. He lauded the arrangements and infrastructure upgradation at the academy which was set up in 2011.

Later, Gen Rawat and members of a Myanmar delegation of military officers and senior diplomats enjoyed a cultural programme and attended an official banquet at the OTA officers mess.

The Myanmar delegation, comprising commander-in-chief, defence services, Myanmar, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, is on a three-day tour of Gaya. During their stay in Gaya, the delegation members offered prayers at Myanmar monastery and Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya and also visited Rajgir and Nalanda.

The Myanmar delegation will leave on July 10, OTA sources said.

India shares 1,643-km porous land border with Myanmar and has been stepping up defence cooperation, ranging from expansion in military visits and exercises to training and technology-sharing with it to turn the heat on Indian insurgent groups operating in the region. Myanmar is also wary of the Chinese influence in the area.

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In 2015, activist Lokesh Batra filed a Right To Information (RTI) application with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) seeking details about the appointment of the next Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). But the DoPT refused to share the information, saying that the process of appointment was still on and the information was part of cabinet papers, which are exempted from disclosure.I had in the past too filed RTIs seeking information on the appointment of the CIC and had never been refused before, says Batra. The information was finally given to Batra after he put in an appeal.

Batras RTI had followed protests and a public interest litigation (PIL) by activists in 2014-15 after the post of Chief Information Commissioner was kept vacant for a long time. The fact that a government allows the Information Commission to go headless for so long is itself an indication that the government is not very serious about making sure that people are able to access their right to information, says activist Anjali Bhardwaj.

The RTI Act was passed in 2005 and has in the past helped uncover some big scams, such as the Adarsh Housing Scam in Mumbai  where houses meant for war widows and veterans were given to politicians and bureaucrats  irregularities in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2G scam. It has also been used extensively by people as a means to access their basic rights and entitlements. About six to eight million RTI applications are filed in the country every year, says activist Nikhil Dey.

Bhardwaj agrees. Our research has shown that the poorest and the most marginalised are the primary users of the RTI, she says. There is very poor grievance redress mechanism in our country. If someone complains that he or she is not getting ration, pension, or any other basic right and entitlement, nothing happens. In such a situation people have found it useful to file an RTI application.

A Worrying Change

But earlier this year the government proposed some changes to the RTI rules, which have caused concern to activists. Once passed, the RTI Rules 2017 will replace the RTI Rules 2012. The proposed rules were put out on the DoPT website for comments from the public.

There are two particularly worrying changes. The first is the provision that proceedings pending before the commission shall abate on the death of the appellant. The second is that the commission may allow an appellant to withdraw an appeal if the matter has not been finally heard or a decision or order not been pronounced by the commission.

Activists feel both these rules make RTI users vulnerable to threats and attacks. We are using the RTI because there are things we would want to expose. The minute you say you can withdraw, the guy who is affected will be at your throat, says Dey. Dey himself was threatened by the sarpanch of a village, when he and a few others had gone to him to seek information regarding irregularities in development work. The incident took place in 1998, even before the RTI Act had been passed. The sarpanch and his family members not only roughed up and threatened Dey and his companions, but also lodged a false case against them, accusing them of assault. Ironically, a Munsif Magistrate last month sentenced Dey and his four co-accused to four months in prison in the 19-year-old case. The five have appealed against the conviction. But as activist Aruna Roy says, The conviction sends out a warning to other information seekers on what can if you ask questions.

Activists Under Attack

Attacks on RTI users are not rare. In 2015 Guru Prasad Shukla of UP was beaten to death by fellow villagers. He had sought information on development work in his village. Earlier this year activist Suhas Haldankar, who had exposed civic irregularities in Pune, was murdered.

At least 65 people have lost their lives for seeking information and exposing corruption since RTI came into force. Many have been attacked, says Dey.

In Odisha, two RTI activists have been murdered and 50 been subjected to brutal attacks, says Pradip Pradhan, state convener of Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhijan. Rolly Shivhare, an activist in Madhya Pradesh, says access to information has become more difficult in the state in the last two-three years.

In Delhi, Prakasho, a resident of Jagdamba Camp, filed an RTI application in February this year, after she stopped receiving her widow pension from the women and child development department in October last year. When she received no reply, she filed a first appeal in April. Theres been no hearing yet, but after the first appeal was filed, a member of the Satark Nagarik Sangathan (SNS) says, officials of the department came to her house and told her that she should not file RTIs and should just come to the department. They also allegedly videographed the interaction to intimidate her.

Cause Of Concern - Provisions in the new draft rules of the RTI that are troubling activists Proceedings pending before the commission shall abate on the death of the appellant The Commission may allow an appellant to withdraw an appeal, if the matter has not been finally heard or a decision or order not been pronounced already by the Commission More documents needed to file an appeal Filing of complaints made time bound

Bhardwaj believes that the only way to ensure some safety to applicants is to make the information public in case there is an attack on an applicant or he/she dies. Activist Aruna Roy feels that this needs to be done also because the intent of the law is that the information being sought is, in any case, public information.

Not just activists, even current serving members of the Central Information Commission are against these proposed rules. M Sridhar Acharyulu, a central information commissioner, in his suggestion to the DoPT on the proposed rules, has said, If an applicant is killed by a mafia about whom the information was sought, why should it not be disclosed? Will law allow the killing of the applicant, the appeal and the RTI? He is also of the opinion that the CIC should have been consulted before framing the draft rules.

Increasing Hurdles

There are other proposals in the draft rules that make access to information more difficult for common people. For example, the new rules ask for more documents and certificates to be given in support of an appeal. The appeal can be returned if all the documents are not there. Instead of simplifying the process which was already somewhat cumbersome, they have made the process even more cumbersome, says Bhardwaj.

The pendency of cases at the commission is very high. Appeals often take a long time to be heard. Take the case of Kanso Devi. A resident of Savitri Nagar in Delhi, Devi stopped getting her widow pension from the MCD in August 2014. She first filed a complaint in the department and when she received no response, filed an RTI in May 2015. She is still awaiting a response, say SNS members.

Meanwhile, most people feel, little attempt has been made to introduce positive changes to the RTI rules. Section 4 of the RTI Act mentions that the government should provide certain kinds of information suo motu. But as Acharyulu writes in his suggestions to the DoPT, The proposed Rules do not have a single rule that guides the public authorities to comply with this, which he feels will help bring down the number of RTIs.

The one good thing that has been introduced in the proposed rules, feels Bhardwaj is that it addresses the issue of non-compliance of orders of the Commission  a problem which activists say is widespread. But the problems with the draft rules outweigh the positives.

Looking Back

This is not the first time that changes have been proposed to the RTI Act or its rules. The UPA which had brought in the RTI Act had made at least three subsequent attempts to change it. There were also incidents of threats and attacks on activists under its regime and cases of delayed response or unsatisfactory information. When it comes to secrecy, every government would like to disclose as little as possible, says Venkatesh Nayak, programme coordinator of the Access to Information Programme in the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI). But under the UPA, the good thing was that there was the National Advisory Council, which had a lot of supporters of transparency, advising the government.

Nayak says that in the last two years, in some government department, even when the number of RTIs received has gone down, the number of rejections have gone up. He says that while the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats, external affairs ministry and information technology are prompt in their RTI replies, the home and defence ministries are very slow.

The UPA, at least in the end, had become a completely open government, there was no fear, you could discuss stuff. Here there is so much fear, people dont talk, they have been told not to talk to the media, to activists, says Dey. Through the RTI we were looking to bring in a culture of openness. The worst part of the NDA now is the culture of secrecy, fear, not sharing.

Then there are allegations of frivolous RTIs, says Bhardwaj, under the UPA and now. She gives the example of a tweet by minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju where he mentioned an RTI application asking about zombie attacks. Most RTI applications are serious in nature. So for a minister to tweet or write about that one RTI application is a problem, she says. Allegations of frivolous and bogus RTIs being filed are many though, and even activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal wants action against such applicants. So many times bogus applications are filed in my name, says the activist, who suggests increasing of RTI fees as one of ways to check such practices. Identity proofs should also be made compulsory with RTI applications, he says.

Meanwhile, an officer in the DoPT has confirmed that they have received suggestions from the public and are considering them. Once the final draft has been drawn, it will be sent to the minister, he said. He did not give a date by which one may expect the final rules.

Till the final list is announced there is little that one can do except wait, and hope that the new rules are not such that will make access to information even more challenging than it already is.

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The opposition YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh released on Saturday a 200-page book on chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, calling him the emperor of corruption and listing alleged corrupt deals in his three years in power.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) countered that it would soon publish a book, Emperor of Crimes, with details of criminal activities and financial frauds of YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan Reddy.

The two parties have been trading charges against each other for long. Reddys book is an updated edition of the first one released in April 2016.

In the construction of the capital city, Naidu amassed ill-gotten wealth to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore. And in the latest Visakhapatnam land scam, his son Lokesh, party leaders and he indulged in corruption of over Rs 1 lakh-crore corruption, Reddy alleged.

The YSR Congress raised the quantum of kickbacks, bribes, shares and commissions during Naidus rule from Rs 134,295 crore last year to Rs 375,000 crore.

Reddy released the books latest edition  Nara Chandrababu Naidu - The Emperor of Corruption  at the partys third plenary at Mangalagiri in Amaravati. He said the book contains documentary evidence to back the charges.

Copies were distributed among political parties and leaders, including parliamentarians. Reddy asked his party cadre to take the book to the people to unmask the real face of Naidu.

The TDP responded that the YSR Congress chief has no moral right to criticise Naidu because of the cases pending against him.

He has lost credibility among the people and is not fit to be even the opposition leader, state finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said.

Naidus party said it will allegedly explain in a counter-book, Emperor of Crimes, how Jagan indulged in economic offences using the influence of his father, the late YS Rajasekhar Reddy, and looted public money.

We will tell people with evidence how Jagan committed crimes and how he was thrown behind bars, Ramakrishnudu said.

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PATNA So, what happens to the post of deputy CM in the Nitish Kumar government in the event of incumbent Tejashwi Prasad Yadav being arrested by the CBI in connection with the land for railways hotels scam, along with his father, RJD chief Lalu Prasad?

This development appeared within the realm of possibility as both father and son have been named in FIRs filed by the CBI in the land for hotels case.

Sources said the RJD chief, along with his close aides, had finalised a Plan B, in case the CBI took action against him or his younger son. Under the plan, Lalus elder son and health minister Tej Pratap Yadav would succeed his younger brother on the deputy CMs post, in case Tejashwi was arrested by the CBI.

Tej Pratap is number three in the cabinet as per the current hierarchy, being the health minister. He can always be promoted to the number two slot in case of any exigency, said a senior party leader, seeking anonymity. He pointed out that Tej Pratap was not an accused in the land for hotels scam.

He made it clear nobody other than a member of Lalus family would be deputy CM, a post equivalent to a cabinet minister created in the GA government after the three-party alliance of RJD, JD(U) and Congress came to power in Bihar on November 8, 2015.

Two days after Tejashwi was named in an FIR registered by the CBI in connection with the hotels on lease scam, the RJD leadership also decided unanimously he would not resign from the post of deputy CM, despite the BJP putting pressure on chief minister Nitish Kumar to remove him and his brother, Tej Pratap, from his cabinet.

This was indicated by Tejashwi himself during a press conference on Friday. Other top RJD leaders confirmed this on Saturday.

RJD sources said the party had taken recourse to a wait and watch policy to see the CMs reaction to the BJPs demand for the sacking of Lalus two sons from the council of ministers.

We do not know whether the CM would demand Tejashwis resignation on the ground of the CBI filing an FIR against him. But our stand is clear. Tejashwi will not resign on his own, said an RJD leader. He pointed out Union minister Uma Bharti was chargesheeted in a criminal case and still held her ministerial post.

The RJDs firm stand on Lalus sons not quitting the Nitish ministry was likely to put the JD(U) in a tight spot in coming days, a reason why no JD(U) leader of significance has reacted so far to the CBI raids early Friday.

Interestingly, the Congress state leadership came out in open support of Lalu Prasad and family. Tejashwi was a minor when the hotels deals happened. Why was he named in the FIR? asked state Congress president and Bihar education minister Ashok Choudhary, on Saturday.

GA sources attributed strong Congress backing to the RJD to the need for the support of Lalu Prasads MPs and MLAs in the coming presidential polls on July 17. Only after the presidential elections will it be know whether the two parties are coming any closer, said a JD(U) leader.

===========================================

DILEMMA RJDs firm stand on Lalus sons not quitting the Nitish ministry is likely to put JD(U) in a tight spot in coming days

BLURB

A senior RJD leader made it clear that nobody other than a member of Lalus family would be deputy CM

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PATNA Presidential candidate of the Congress and 16 other Opposition parties, Meira Kumar, said here on Saturday her candidature represented a fight for ideology, based on the idea of equal respect for all religions.

Just days ahead of the July 17 election for the post of President of India, Kumar expressed hope the voice of conscience would prevail to translate into endorsement of her candidature, in the face of challenges she faced.

Bihar is a true representative of the age-old spirit of mutual respect for each others religion. This spirit enabled the people of the state to crush communal forces, whenever they raised their ugly head, Kumar said, while talking to newsmen at state Congress headquartersSadaquat Ashram, here on Saturday.

Kumar said she had immense faith in Bihars tradition of equal respect for all religions, an idea also close to the heart of Father of the Nation, who came to Champaran to spearhead the freedom struggle, by integrating people from all sections and religions into a common bond.

Explaining that she started her campaign from Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat to draw courage and strength to carry on the fight to re-establish Gandhijis ideology, she said, As a daughter of this illustrious land, I draw inspiration from and stand up for Gandhijis idea of India.

Kumar, who faces overwhelming odds by way of the superior numbers in support of her rival, NDAs Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind, said, I have written to all members of the electoral college to listen to the voice of their conscience and exercise their mandate.

Asked whether she would be meeting RJD chief Lalu Prasad, whose residence in Patna was raided by the CBI on Friday, before leaving for Ranchi for the next leg of her campaign, Kumar spoke of Prasads strong commitment to secularism.

Prasad, a strong votary of the ideology and principles for which we are fighting, is standing with us. Political parties may have different views, but they are one on the issue of ending communalism and casteism. Opposition unity is based on common ideology and idea, she said.

The former diplomat was diplomatic in playing down JD(U) president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumars comment that the Opposition had made her a scapegoat by making her fight what looked like a lost Presidential battle.

Standing up for an ideology is a challenging task. But fighting this battle cannot be termed as a losing proposition by any means, she said. The JD (U) chief has already announced his support to Kovind, Bihars Governor till his name was announced as NDAs Presidential candidate.

During her three-day, home state visit, Meira Kumar could not meet Nitish Kumar who left for the resort town of Rajgir, about 100 km south east of Patna, to recuperate from his illness, hours before she landed in the state capital.

On Friday, Meira Kumar had visited her native village, Chandwa, in Bhojpur district, where she garlanded the statue of her late father Babu Jagjivan Ram, a former deputy prime minister and an iconic Dalit leader.

QUOTE

Standing up for an ideology is a challenging task. But fighting this battle (Presidential poll) cannot be termed as a losing proposition by any means

Meira Kumar, Oppn Prez nominee

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Public outrage mounted on Saturday as police were still clueless in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old schoolgirl in the Kotkhai area of Shimla district.

Residents of nearby villages demanded CBI probe into the incident to get justice for the victim whose naked body was found in the woods, 100 metres from the road, near Halaila in Kotkhai, on Thursday. Her school uniform was recovered from the spot. The victim, a Class-10 student of Government Senior School, Mahasu, had gone missing on July 3 evening.

While people from surrounding villages staged demonstrations at Gumma, 50 km from Shimla, members of some social organisations and student outfits took to the streets and held a candlelight march in the capital city. Leaders from both the ruling Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not say anything on the issue.

We havent heard of such incident in Himachal Pradesh before. Things have deteriorated. The government should deal the criminal(s) with a tough hand to ensure safety of women, Shyama Sharma, a Sanjauli resident, said. Shivalika Chauhan, who lighted a candle praying for the victim, said, This incident has shook us. It means we are not safe in Himachal, the land of gods.

SFI activists staged a protest outside the deputy commissioners office in Shimla district on Saturday. (Deepak Sansta/HT Photo)

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and left-backed Student Federation of India (SFI) staged a protest and also demanded the justice for the victim.

Director general of police (DGP) Somesh Goyal directed Shimla superintendent of police (SP) DW Negi to visit the crime spot. I have directed the SP to investigate the matter, he said.

Shimla additional SP Bhajan Negi said, We will nab the culprits soon. We are investigating the matter from all angles.

The police have registered a case under Section 376 (punishment for rape), 302 (punishment for murder) and 4 (punishment for penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against unidentified person. The post-mortem report on Friday suggested that the cause of death was strangulation.

POLITICAL LEADERS CHOOSE SILENCE

Political leaders, who dont miss the single opportunity to grab the limelight, did not come forward to condemn the incident. Barring BJPs state vice president Ganesh Dutt, none of the leaders, including women, condemned it. Even social media cells of political parties also chose not to comment on the issue.
PM Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping discuss range of issues on the sidelines of G20 summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping briefly discussed a range of issues during an informal gathering of BRICS leaders in Hamburg on Friday, raising hopes of a resolution to the three-week-old standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Sikkim sector. Addressing the gathering before the interaction, Xi also called on BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries to push for peaceful settlement of regional conflicts and disputes, Chinese state media reported. External affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted a photo of the two leaders smiling and shaking hands. He said Modi and Xi had a conversation on a range of issues. Read the story here.

After Modi-Xi meet, Chinese media hits out at India over Sikkim standoff

Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping exchanged greetings at an informal meeting of BRICS leaders in Hamburg, Chinas state-run media again said Indian troops should immediately withdraw from the Donglang region as a precondition for dialogue. State-run Xinhua news agency ran commentary with the headline Immediate withdrawal is only wise move for India said India should pull back its trespassing troops as a precondition for any meaningful dialogue between the two sides. The commentary reinforced Chinas position that a resolution of the standoff is possible only if India orders its troops to withdraw. Indias argument that the Chinese construction represents a significant change of status quo with serious security implications  is unconvincing, it said. Read the story here.

CBI raids Lalu Prasads homes in land-for-hotels scam; RJD chief accuses Modi, Shah of targeting him

The CBI searched the homes and properties of Lalu Prasad and his family on Friday as part of investigations into alleged irregularities in leasing out railway hotels when the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief was the rail minister. The raids were carried out at 12 locations in five cities a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed cases against Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and son and deputy Bihar chief minister Tejashwi, among others. The searches are likely to put more pressure on the ruling coalition in Bihar already under strain over differences between chief minister Nitish Kumars Janata Dal (United) and the RJD over the choice of presidential candidate. Read the story here.

From fodder scam to properties: Lalu Prasad and his family are caught in a web of trouble

Even as RJD chief Lalu Prasad seeks to forge a grand opposition unity, he is in the middle of one of his worst political and personal crises. He and his family today face a maze of corruption charges  some old going back to the fodder scam, many new linked to land deals and alleged money laundering. For details of the allegations read the story here.

Modis office tipped off Nitish about CBI raid on Lalu Prasad | HT Exclusive

In a late night call on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modis office told Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar that federal agents were about to raid his deputy Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad over an alleged land-for-hotels scandal. Government officials said Kumar was informed after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which carried out the raids on Friday, told the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) that it feared trouble while searching the homes and properties of Lalu and his son Tejashwi. Read the story here.

Gau rakshaks followed Jharkhand trader for hours before lynching him | A blow by blow account by police

The lynching of a 45-year-old Muslim trader in Jharkhands Ramgarh last month was not a spur-of-the-moment assault but a well-planned move in which gau rakshaks allegedly followed the man for two hours before attacking him, police said on Friday. A Bajrang Dal member, Raj Kumar, first saw trader Alimuddin Ansari purchasing meat at about 7.30am. Kumar then allegedly followed Ansari  who was driving a Maruti Van  for around 15 kilometres and gave constant location updates to 10-12 more members, who gathered at one spot, ready to intercept the Muslim man. Read the story here.

Modi targets Pakistan at G20 summit, equates LeT, JeM to Islamic State, al-Qaeda

Naming Pakistan-based terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday some countries were using terror as a tool to achieve political objectives and pressed for deterrent action collectively by the G-20 members against such nations. Addressing the G20 summit in Hamburg, he equated LeT and JeM to Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda, saying their names might be different but their ideology was the same. With leaders like US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping listening, Modi regretted that the international response to terrorism was weak and said more cooperation was needed to fight the menace. Read the story here.

West Bengal violence: Peace returns to Basirhat, but public mood still volatile

At first glance, Basirhat is at peace. Shops have reopened in many places, and fear doesnt seem to stalk people on the streets anymore. But scratch the surface of this picture, and one can see a strong undercurrent of communal tension thats still capable of blowing up in the face of a wary Bengal government. In fact, police personnel barely managed to avert a number of communal clashes on Friday. While life returned to normal in places like Swarupnagar, Taki and Baduria, the mood remained tense at Sardarati, College Para and Chapapukur Road. Read the story here.

Supreme Court puts admissions to IITs and NITs on hold over bonus marks

The Supreme Court on Friday put on hold admissions to most of the countrys engineering colleges, including the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), over awarding of bonus marks in the joint entrance examination (JEE). The order, which will affect 33,000-odd students, came on a petition filed by two candidates who sought the courts direction to IIT-Madras to revise the list of successful students without giving them bonus marks. Read the story here.

G20 summit: Trump, Putin discuss election hacking, terrorism and cybersecurity

US President Donald Trump voiced optimism that there are very positive things in store for the United States and Russia as he sat down with President Vladimir Putin on Friday for an historic first meeting. Seated next to Putin in Germany, Trump said it was an honour to be with Putin. As journalists were briefly allowed in to witness part of the meeting, Trump said that he and Putin had already held very, very good talks. We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, for the United States and for everybody concerned, Trump said. Read the story here.

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai joins Twitter

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai made her debut on Twitter on Friday evening with a simple Hi. The 19-year-old joined the social media platform following her last day in school and within an hour-and-a-half had a 115,000 followers. Read the story here.

Moeen Ali achieves the double, England on top vs South Africa in Lords Test

Moeen Ali and Stuart Broads two wickets, combined with Joe Roots brilliant 190 put England in the drivers seat after the end of day 2 of the first Test against South Africa in Lords on Friday. Following Roots magnificent knock, Moeen and Broad picked up two wickets as South Africa ended the day on 214/5, still trailing the hosts by 244 runs. During the course of the day, Moeen became the fifth-quickest player in terms of matches played to do the Test double of 2,000 runs and 100 wickets. Read the story here.

Wimbledon 2017: Simona Halep, Venus Williams enter womens singles last 16

Simona Halep powered past Chinas Peng Shuai 6-4, 7-6(7) to enter womens singles last 16 at Wimbledon 2017. The second seed will now face Victoria Azarenka for a place in the quarter-finals. On the other hand, five-time champion Venus Williams beat Japans Naomi Osaka 7-6(3) 6-4 to reach the fourth round. Read the story here.
The Chinese Embassy on Saturday said that it has not denied visa to two researchers of a seven-member India Foundation delegation for visiting the Fudan University in Shanghai.

Spokesperson of Chinese Embassy in India Counsellor Xie Liyan denied the report and said that all seven members of India Foundation delegation to visit China got their visas in time.

There were reports that China has also put the visa of India Foundation Director Alok Bansal on hold and denied visa to two researchers, following the developments the foundation on Friday called off the visit.

As far as I know, all seven members of India Foundation delegation to visit China got their visas in time. None of the visa application was denied. The delegation will visit China as scheduled, the embassy said in a statement.

It added: The Chinese side always welcomes and supports the exchanges of think tanks between China and India. It is not true that the source of India Foundation claims that two of its junior research members were denied visas and the visit to China of the delegation has been cancelled.

On Friday, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav, who is on the Board of Directors of India Foundation, had denied media reports that he was denied visa by China but confirmed that visas of two of their researchers were rejected.

India Foundation and Fudan University held the third edition of their bilateral interaction in Delhi on December 4 to 5 last year. In continuation of this bilateral interaction agreement, a seven-member delegation of the Foundation was to visit Shanghai.

Bansal on Friday said that his visa was put on hold, and told the media: No idea why the visa was denied. Its the discretion of the Chinese government to give visa. Its a shock because we didnt think that visa would be a problem.

The report of denial of visa to Indians comes amid rising tensions between the two countries due to a border stand-off.

Union Ministers Suresh Prabhu, Nirmala Sitharaman, Jayant Sinha and M.J. Akbar are among the Board of Directors of India Foundation.
#first lady First lady meets with patients, workers at Cambodian hospitals First lady Kim Keon-hee visited two hospitals in Cambodia on Friday where she encouraged patients and workers and pledged to donate medical equipment, the presidential office said....

#football Players on World Cup roster bubble get mixed grades in final test Held on the eve of South Korea's announcement of their World Cup roster, the Taegeuk Warriors' friendly match against Iceland Friday night was the final test for a few players tryi...
Chief Justice of India J S Khehar on Saturday endorsed the opening up Indias legal sector to foreign players, saying that Indian lawyers will benefit from the international exposure.

I feel that Indian lawyers are no less than any lawyers in the world. Therefore, if we have any apprehensions that somebody will come from abroad and snatch our professional positions and substitute us, I dont think it is going to be like that, the Chief Justice said, quipping, I think we are going to go abroad and snatch their positions.

Foreign lawyers are barred from practicing in India under the Advocates Act. Foreign governments, through representative bodies, continue to lobby for opening Indian legal services to foreign competition. But the Bar Council of India, which regulates close to 1.2 million lawyers in the country, has been opposed to the idea.

However, last year, BCI proposed new rules to allow foreign lawyers and law firms to set up offices in India after registering with it. BCI is of the view that the professional conduct of foreign lawyers and foreign law firms will go unchecked if they are not enrolled under the Advocates Act.

Chief Justice Khehar said even though BCI has agreed in principle with the proposal to gradually open up the legal sector to foreign players, it should be done only on a reciprocal basis.

So, if some country does not allow us, then possibly it may be difficult for us to allow them or for the Bar Council of India to agree to that, Khehar said at the All India Seminar of the International Law Association in New Delhi.

But given the opportunity to go and practise abroad, I think this opportunity should never be missed, he said.

The Chief Justice also welcomed the idea of India becoming a signatory state to the Hague Convention, which deals with the issue of child custody of parents living abroad following a matrimonial discord.

India has not ratified the Hague Convention for multiple reasons, primarily because it is disadvantageous to Indian women, as there are far more cases of Indian women escaping bad marriages abroad and returning to the safety of their homes in India, than non-Indian women married to Indian men leaving India with their children.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has requested newspapers and television channels in Jammu and Kashmir to reveal the names and addresses of people involved in the violent agitations that erupted after the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter last year.

The agency has made this request in connection with its probe into the funding of subversive and anti-national activities in the Valley.

Official sources said the agency has sought articles and news items mentioning the names and addresses of those involved in stone-pelting, burning of schools, and damage to government property. At least four major newspapers that operate from Srinagar have also been asked to provide documents and photographs in this connection.

It is believed that national newspapers and channels may also be approached with a similar request in the coming days.

We had sent the letter on June 29. Responses from the news outlets are expected soon, said a senior NIA official. This is just a routine request. The items being sought will help us identify the people involved in last years violence.

Over 100 people were killed in clashes with security forces during the six-month-long agitation that followed Wanis death in a gunfight with security forces on July 8, 2016. Last month, the NIA filed an FIR against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafeez Saeed, besides organisations such as the Hizbul Mujahideen, Hurriyat Conference and the Dukhtaran-e-Millat.

The probe agency is now investigating whether the separatist groups received funds from Pakistan to organise street protests in the Valley.

A home ministry official said the NIA recovered as many as 193 digital devices in raids conducted at the residences of several separatists last month. The agency is waiting for central forensic laboratory reports on these devices. Once the NIA receives a mirror image of the devices, it will start analysing them for evidence, he told HT.

However, the process is likely to be a time-consuming one. As central forensic laboratories are short-staffed, it may take a little more time to analyse the devices. There are dozens of SIM cards, memory cards, mobile phones and laptops that need to be carefully examined, the official added.

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Pakistan summoned Indias deputy high commissioner over alleged ceasefire violations during which the senior Indian diplomat lodged strong protest over the death of two civilians in firing by Pakistani troops.

The Indian diplomat also told the Pakistani side that there have been more than 223 ceasefire violations and around 50 infiltration bids this year alone.

Deputy high commissioner JP Singh was summoned over the alleged firing by Indian forces in Chirikot and Satwal sectors, Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said in a statement.

The foreign office said that Director-General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by Indian forces.

During the meeting, Singh conveyed to Faisal that the ceasefire violations were initiated by Pakistani troops in Poonch and Krishnaghatti sectors and the Indian forces only responded appropriately, the Indian High Commission said.

A strong protest was also lodged over the death of two Indian civilians in Saturdays ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops, it said.

Indias serious concerns over attacks on civilian areas, increased movements of terrorists and infiltration attempts across LoC were also conveyed during the meeting, the Indian mission said.

Pakistan also accused India of violating the ceasefire along the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in which two persons were killed and three others injured, the Pakistan foreign office spokesperson said.

The Director-General urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC, the Pakistan Foreign Office said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said that Pakistan Army troops responded effectively to Indias unprovoked firing.

The latest clashes erupted on the death anniversary of militant commander Burhan Wani who was killed in Kashmir last year.
India refused on Saturday to elaborate on the range of issues discussed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their informal conversation, in the backdrop of a standoff between their armies in the Sikkim sector, in Hamburg on Friday.

We have tweeted that the two leaders discussed a range of issues. A range of issues means a range of issues. I dont want to add anything further...I leave it to you to draw your conclusion, external affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

His response came when he was asked if a range of issues discussed during the conversation between Modi and Xi ahead of the informal meeting of the BRICS leaders on the sidelines of the G20 Summit included the standoff in the Sikkim sector.

Im not commenting on it because we have said what we have (to say) and as to the picture, well, the old saying is that a picture speaks more than a thousand words, was Baglays response when asked about whether the picture along with the tweet showing the two leaders smiling was indicative of any de-escalation of tension between the two countries.

The informal interaction between Modi and Xi came a day after a top Chinese foreign ministry official had said the atmosphere is not right for a formal bilateral meeting between them in Hamburg.

The standoff between China and India in the Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction has dragged on for the past three weeks. It started after a Chinese Armys construction party attempted to build a road.

Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

Baglay also asserted that the prime minister was here to attend the G20 summit meetings. He participated in the proceedings and Indias contribution to these discussions is the main focus for us here. At the same time, the prime minister had several bilaterals on the margins, he added.
As India works hard to ensure return of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressed upon his British counterpart Theresa May to ensure UKs cooperation to bring back economic offenders.

Mallya has been in the UK for months, escaping arrest warrants against him, while a court in London is also hearing a case regarding his return to India.

Modi on Saturday met May during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg and sought UKs help in this regard.

Both leaders also talked about the complete range of India-UK ties.

In a tweet after the meeting, external affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the Prime Minister asked for UKs cooperation for return of escaped Indian economic offenders.

Mallya, who is wanted in India for Kingfisher Airlines default on loans worth nearly Rs 9,000 crore, has been in the UK since March, 2016.

In April, he had attended a central London police station for his arrest and was released on conditional bail a few hours later after providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds, assuring the court of abiding by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel documents.

India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement - Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India last October to face trial in connection with his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @theresa_may met and held talks on the complete range of India-UK ties, Indias PMO said in a tweet.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee appealed for calm in Basirhat, Baduria and Darjeeling on Saturday, hours after the police arrested a team of three BJP MPs comprising Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satyapal Singh while they were on the way to Basirhat.

We will ask for a judicial enquiry into incidents at Baduria, Basirhat, Banerjee said at a press conference.

Earlier in the morning, police arrested three MPs of a BJP central team - Lekhi, Mathur and Singh while they were driving to Basirhat.

The team was stopped at Michaelnagar near Dum Dum airport, the same spot where the police intercepted a state BJP team on Friday.

Police officers cited prohibitory orders in different parts of Basirhat sub-division to prevent Lekhis team from proceeding to the areas scarred by communal clashes this week.

Its strange. You are claiming that the situation is under control. Yet you are preventing us from going, Lekhi was heard telling the police officers.

Separately on Saturday, the BJP took out a protest rally in Kolkata against the violence that has rocked Basirhat.

Read more: Bengal violence: Basirhats Muslim leaders tried to pacify the rioting mob, but couldnt

We will go to Basirhat and speak to the people. We will find out the situation there and the trouble that the locals are facing, Lekhi had told the media after she landed in Kolkata.

Bashirhat, Baduria and Swarupnagar in North 24 Parganas district that border Bangladesh have been reeling under violence with mobs setting ablaze shops and buildings and clashing with police after a Facebook post by a school student angered Muslims.

Locals claim that goons from outside the affected areas were involved in the violence.

However, on Saturday morning, the situation in Basirhat was peaceful with no incidents of violence reported since Friday.

On Friday the state government did not allow teams of CPI(M) and Congress to travel to Basirhat. A day earlier chief minister Mamata Banerjee had urged opposition leaders not to visit the area till normalcy returned.
Monopoly is becoming too hot to handle for the Naga Peoples Front (NPF), the dominant partner of a coalition government in Nagaland.

Four months after TR Zeliang was forced to step down as chief minister, his successor Shurhozelie Liezietsu is facing rebellion from the very party MLAs who made him come out of retirement from electoral politics and take the hot chair.

More than 30 of the 47 NPF legislators moved into a resort near central Assams Kaziranga National Park early Saturday morning, reportedly in a bid to help Zeliang become the chief minister again.

It was virtually an action replay of what happened before Zeliang had to quit in the last week of February. A majority of NPF legislators had trooped into the same resort then.

An executive of Borgos resort confirmed the checking-in of the Nagaland MLAs. More than 30 ministers and MLAs came around 3am today (Saturday) and booked 30 rooms. There are others too, he said.

An NPF leader, declining to be quoted, did not rule out the possibility of lone Lok Sabha member and former chief minister Neiphiu Rio being behind the latest political turmoil in Nagaland.

One of the reasons behind the rebellion against Shurhozelie is said to be nepotism that saw him make his son Khriehu Leizeitsu his advisor with cabinet status and pay.

There are reports from the state that Rio and Zeliang, once his bitter rival, have patched up. The NPF had suspended Rio last year for anti-party activities, particularly against Zeliang.

Shurhozelie, however, downplayed the development. This is an internal matter and will be solved internally. I appeal to the people to maintain calm at this juncture, he said in a statement on Saturday evening.

The trigger for the rebellion against Zeliang in February was a prolonged violent protest by tribal non-government organisations (NGOs) against the quota for women in Nagalands long-overdue civic elections.

The new political development in Nagaland has come at a time when Shurhozelie, also the president of the NPF , is gearing up for the July 29 by-election from the Northern Angami-I assembly seat covering a part of state capital Kohima.

Son Khriehu had resigned from this seat last month to enable father to contest and be an elected member of the now 59-member Nagaland assembly in order to continue in office.

The NPF, with 47 legislators, is the dominant partner of the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland. It has the support of four MLAs of BJP and eight independents. The party is in power in Nagaland since 2003.

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The external affairs ministrys website will soon be available in Arabic too  after French and Spanish  in a bid to reach out to the Arab world following Prime Minister Narendra Modis celebrated visit to Israel.

The ministry has started the hunt for an agency to run its portal in Arabic. Apart the usual content of the ministry  speeches, briefings and other documents  the site will also have articles written in Arabic on India and its foreign relations.

Arab nations are of key importance to India. Over 8 million Indians work in the region and India is dependent on Gulf nations for its energy security.

Though not cast in stone in each countrys case, Gulf nations have been traditionally suspicious of Israel. Many experts believe that the current Qatar-Gulf stand-off gives Israel a rare opportunity to normalise its presence in the region and undermine the Hamas and get closer to Saudi Arabia, whose writ runs large in most of the Gulf.

Reaching out to Arab countries has remained an important aspect of the government.

Arab countries are important to us in many ways. And reaching out to the Arab world has always been an objective of the government, said an official.

He pointed out that PM Modi had visited three Gulf countries  the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and hosted the President of Palestine before visiting Israel, before adding that diplomacy cannot be a zero sum game.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, UAE, and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, was the Republic Day guest this year. Prime Minister Modi had received the crown prince at the airport.

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Continuing their strike which is underway since last month, textile traders in Surat on Saturday organised a silent march to protest the 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Prior to GST, there was no tax levied in the textiles sector.

The rally, in which over one lakh of traders took part, was taken out after the agitation - going on since June 5 - by traders of 165 markets in Surat failed to yield any result.

Earlier this week, the police resorted to lathicharge to control the protesting traders.

On Friday, Union minister of state for road and transport Mansukh Mandaviya held meeting with traders leaders and assured to take up the matter with the GST council.

At the end of the rally on Saturday, the traders submitted a memorandum of their demands to the district collector.

Some discomfort is expected in the beginning whenever a big change is introduced. And, the BJP has been in constant touch with the traders. I have also assured that I will represent their demand to the GST council, said Mandaviya.

Traders have maintained that the protest will continue until their demand is fulfilled. They have also planned to organise dharna on Monday.

The 165 textile trading markets in Surat have more than 70,000 shops, with a daily turn over of over Rs 100 crore. Surat is one of the major textile trade hubs in the country.
Seven people were killed in Kashmir in cross-border shelling by both Pakistan and India on Saturday, officials on both sides of the frontier said, as the first death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani raised tensions in the region.

The violence occurred as hundreds of militants and political activists took to the streets in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir to commemorate the death of Burhan Wani.

A Reuters witness saw protesters holding Pakistani flags and banners and shouting slogans lauding the sacrifice of Wani and others, while pledging to carry on the holy war in Kashmir.

Jihad is our path, freedom is our destination, they shouted while holding up portraits of the slain militant.

Another Reuters witness saw demonstrators wearing face masks throwing stones at police in downtown Srinagar. Police retaliated with teargas and stones thrown using slingshots.

Authorities blocked internet access in Kashmir on Friday and sealed off his home town after Wanis supporters said they would stage demonstrations to mark the anniversary.

Members of a non-governmental organisation Youth Forum for Kashmir hold posters of Burhan Wani while chanting anti-Indian slogans during a rally in Lahore, Pakistan, on Saturday. (AP Photo)

Five people died on Pakistans side of the disputed border and 10 were wounded in cross-border shelling, local police officials told Reuters.

Pakistans government said it summoned Indias deputy high commissioner JP Singh over what it called unprovoked ceasefire violations.

The Indian armys defence spokesman said two civilians were killed on its side of the frontier and two injured due to shelling by Pakistani troops. The army responded in kind to the Pakistani shelling, he said.

Militant commander leads protest

India has been struggling to restore normality in Kashmir, deploying thousands more soldiers after Wanis killing appeared to breathe new life into a 28-year armed revolt that had ebbed, with little international attention.

Syed Salahuddins, a Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant commander, whom Washington last week added to a list of global terrorists, called for a strike on Saturday to mark Wanis killing and led the protest in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

Syed Salahuddins United Jihad Council vowed to continue its struggle to liberate Kashmir and called upon Islamabad to support their efforts militarily.

Diplomatic, moral and political support will not work anymore, he said, addressing a large crowd gathered in an open space in Muzaffarabad.

He said a tripartite dialogue between India, Pakistan and the Kashmiris to resolve the dispute in accordance with UN security council resolutions, will be welcomed.
Three Indian Army jawans were injured in a militant ambush in north Kashmirs Bandipora early on Saturday, the first death anniversary of slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

The police described it as a sneak attack on the vehicles of a road opening party after which the area was cordoned off and a search operation was launched.

Curfew-like restrictions were earlier imposed in parts of Kashmir to ward off protests called by separatists to mark the anniversary of Wanis killing in a gunfight with security forces last year.

On Friday, police halted peoples movements in his hometown of Tral, in a bid to forestall gatherings and demonstrations, witnesses said.

A security alert has been enforced across the Kashmir Valley, with some preventive arrests made ahead of Saturdays anniversary.

All exams scheduled for Saturday have been cancelled by Kashmir University, which said that new dates would be announced later. Train services between Baramulla town and Bannihal town in the Jammu region will remain suspended Saturday, authorities said.

Similar restrictions were imposed in Baramulla town and will continue tomorrow as well.

All separatist leaders have been either placed under house arrest or taken into preventive custody.

Wani had become the poster boy of militancy in the Valley and no other militant commanders death evoked such mass violence in Kashmir since 1989 when the ongoing cycle of armed violence started here.

As many 94 civilian protesters lost their lives in clashes with the security forces during the unrest and violence triggered by his killing last July.

The unrest continued for 53 days during which everything from normal life, businesses, tourism, education and even routine governance came to a grinding halt in Kashmir.

With inputs from agencies

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They go phishing. Thats what most panchvi fail, or school dropouts, allegedly do in Jharkhands Jamtara district to earn a living.

This is the Indian equivalent of the Romanian town of Ramnicu Valcea, dubbed Scamville, which is the global capital for cybercriminals.

In the first six months of this year, police arrested about 100 cybercriminals from the district and many more are on the run.

Cyber fraud is said to be a household business at Jhiluwa village in Narayanpur, a largely rural block about 24km from the district headquarters, which has two schools but more than 30 shops selling mobile phones for a population of 2,000.

Almost every teenager in this village has a cell phone, said Mahendra Rajak, a shop owner.

And most of the teenagers with phones are dropouts  panchvi fail, a euphemism for those who couldnt clear lower school or Class V.

We arrested one youth every day for online fraud during my posting in Jamtara. Its amazing how these panchvi fails were conning tech-savvy people in the metros, said Manoj Kumar Singh, a former superintendent of police in the district.

Facts Jharkhand witnessed a rise of 93.5% in cybercrime from 2014 to 2015, says NCRB Number of arrests also tripled from 57 in 2014 to 172 in 2015. At least 32 cases of cybercrime lodged in Jamtara this year from January to May, 100 arrested. More than 2,000 mobile SIM cards across the country used to commit online fraud in 2015 were operated from Jamtara district.

The majority of the frauds are related to phishing, wherein the caller or mailer purporting to be from a bank or a finance company seeks personal details for online transactions and takes out money from the gullible customers account with the data.

The money is often used to recharge e-wallets, phone service packs and go big-time shopping.

Most of the districts people used to be reliant on farming, government jobs, small-time trade and budget tourism as Jamtaras cliffs, jungles and rivers draw flocks from neighbouring West Bengal.

Then around a five years ago, for no apparent reason other than the spark of twisted human genius, bored young men, mostly semi-literate, with more than a passing interest in getting rich quick realised that the unpoliced internet offered a quick route up and out of the drudgery that lay in store of them.

Palatial bungalows have sprung up now amid tumbledown rural houses in this place, about 260km from Ranchi. Luxury SUVs swoosh in and out of villages  Jhiluwa, Rampur and Dumaria.

Teenagers fiddling their smartphones and having multiple SIM cards are common sight.

A 14-year-old boy of Dumaria, whose name is withheld since he is a juvenile, boasted he committed his first fraud when he was 10. He asked the customers to follow his instructions and they ended up recharging other phones from their mobile talk-time balance.

Isnt he ashamed of this illegal work? Praveen replied hesitantly: We are at least not killing people. There are no jobs here. Education is in a shambles. What else do we do?

Mukesh Mandal, a 23-year-old out on bail after his arrest last year, said his elder siblings taught him online fraud tricks when he was 18 and his first crime was to transfer phone talk-time balance through easy recharge. The man admitted he knows no other work.

These young men make the region a popular destination for cybercrime investigators from across the country.

Ten days ago we arrested a man for duping an Odisha-based police inspectors father of Rs 2 lakh, said K Jha, the officer in-charge of Karmatand police station.

At least 50 arrests related to cybercrime were made in Karmatand block alone this year. In the district, the number of arrests has been over 100.

Data compiled by Uttar Pradesh police say more than 2,000 SIM cards issued in different part of India were used to commit online frauds in Jamtara district in 2015. The number has grown since.

How do we discourage the youth when they manage to earn lakhs through cybercrime? Even their parents are actively supporting them, which is a major concern, Jamtara superintendent of police Jaya Roy said.

Social activists like Manoranjan Kunwar have run awareness campaigns to prevent the children from joining the racket. But our efforts have mostly gone in vain.

Most villagers deny that the boys are engaged in cybercrime. But theres an unofficial bar for outsiders taking pictures of these villages.

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Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make a statement on why India was eyeball to eyeball with China after swinging with President Xi Jinping in Sabarmati.

He said the situation on the border with China was very serious and the government must spell out its policy on how to defuse the tension.

These are very sensitive and very serious issues. Who is in power, the present BJP is in power. It is for that government to tell us what they wish to do; we only know that from the jhoola at Sabarmati to the present situation there is a big gap - from swinging to being eyeball to eyeball, he said.

Now it is for the Prime Minister to make a statement which he has not made so far as to why this has happened and what the country needs to do, Sibal said.

The former Union minister said the Congress was with the government when it came to intrusion by China or Pakistan. We all stand together, he said.
With the big boys back in the squad for the one-off Twenty20 International against India, West Indies skipper Carlos Brathwaite says confidence is high with so much experience back in the team.

Confidence is always high. You dont see Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels and Chris Gayle sulking or low on confidence. They always think we can win whatever the situation and that rubs off well, Brathwaite said.

It is always nice to get the big boys back, nice vibe in the dressing room. With all the boys coming in, we have jokes around, we have fun. We always know where to draw the line. They are all mature guys. Me as the captain, am always trying to keep the dressing room as happy as I can as long as the boys express themselves at the park. Looking forward to a good performance tomorrow.

READ | Chris Gayle wants to play till ICC 2019 cricket World Cup

The West Indies skipper has a big task at hand. After India thrashed the hosts 3-1 in the ODIs, he needs to galvanise the team to restore pride in the lone T20 International.

We have to concentrate on us. It is not about them but us trying to take ourselves to the highest gear as best and as quickly as possible, he said.

Brathwaite said that the tiff with West Indies board over contracts and pay dispute is a thing of past and they signed the contract because they wanted to play for West Indies.

We signed the contract because we wanted to be here, we wanted to represent West Indies and we wanted to play. So it is just to go there and show on the field our good performance, he said.

WATCH | India top cricket team, want to entertain Jamaica fans: Chris Gayle

With many West Indians playing Indian Premier League, Brathwaite felt it could be a double-edged sword.

It can help us, it can help them as well. So wouldnt be any trade secrets lost between the two teams but yeah we are good friends off the field. But once you cross the line, you come to represent your country and friendships dont happen out on the park. We get on the park, there is war, it is country vs country.

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Upset over the UP government plan to compulsorily retire non-performing officials above the age of 50 years, employees unions have threatened to launch a stir if the order is not withdrawn.

Government employees are feeling cheated and let down by this controversial order issued by the state chief secretary. It is impractical, unjustified and amounts to exploitation. We will not allow it to be implemented and launch a stir if it is not withdrawn immediately, said Hari Kishore Tiwari, president of State Employees Joint Council (SEJC) at a press conference on Friday.

Unemployment is a big problem in the state. This diktat by the government would only exacerbate the situation. We demand that the government should take back the order forthwith, said Dinkar Kapoor, president of the UP Workers Front.

Instead of forcing them to take retirement, the state government can impart skill enhancing training to employees whose performance is not up to the mark, said Kapoor.

With the rise in population, most government departments are facing increased workload and there is a huge shortage of hands. There are at least 40% government vacancies in various departments. Instead of focusing on how to meet the shortfall, the government has come up with this arbitrary order, pointed out Tiwari of SEJC.

Both the unions have threatened to hold protest demonstration if any attempt is made to implement the order.

On Thursday, the chief secretary had issued an order to all additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries and secretaries to screen and prepare a list of incompetent employees, who had attained the age of 50 years. Those whose performance is not up to the mark would be considered for compulsorily retirement as per the government rules, said the order issued after Chief minister Yogi Adityanath called for strict adherence to compulsory retirement rule.

Read more| Perform or perish: Adityanath government to sack, retire non-performing staff

The three-month-old Adityanath government dusted the service rule book to weed out the underperformers under a provision first proposed in 1985 but rarely used. Timely disposal of work, punctuality and public image are some of the criteria the staff would be measured against. Based on the ratings, department heads would recommend names for compulsory retirement or termination.

POWER ENGINEERS TOO PROTEST MOVE

Chief secretary Rajive Kumars orders on giving compulsory retirement to inefficient government staff above 50 years has evoked a sharp reaction from the power engineers too.

Terming the orders as an attempt to scare government employees, engineers leader Shailendra Dubey on Friday urged chief minister Yogi Adityanath to ask the chief secretary to recall the controversial order immediately. Earlier a ban on strike and now threat of compulsory retirement is aimed at diverting attention from the burning issues of power engineers and other government employees, he alleged.

He said there were no objective set norms for giving compulsory retirement to employees. Instead, it was an arbitrary and unjust exercise and engineers will oppose the fresh order tooth and nail, he said.

Dubey said the high court had often set aside the compulsory retirements given on the basis of biased confidential reports.
A victim of gang rape committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance after the police allegedly tried to cover up the incident that took place in Allahabads Phulpur area on late Thursday night.

SSP Anand Kulkarni has suspended SHO Phulpur for negligence.

According to reports, two daughters of a confectionary shop owner, aged 14 and 8, went missing on Tuesday night. Hours later, they were found at a closed mobile shop in a nearby market. The police, which broke open the shop, arrested Dayaram, Chandrajeet and Amit while one more Mahanand Yadav managed to flee.

While the elder sister was found unconscious, her younger sister told police that she was raped.

However, the police tried to cover up the incident and did not register FIR against the accused on the same day.

The accused allegedly threatened the rape victim and her family at the police station.

Read more: Rape cases reported in Delhi rise by 277% in 5 years as govt initiatives falter, funds remain underutilised

On Thursday night, the rape victim consumed some poisonous substance and was admitted to the SRN hospital where she died.

SSP Anand Kulkarni said an FIR had been registered and SHO Pushkar Pratap Singh has been suspended.
IIT Kanpur has terminated sixty students from the courses they were pursuing for not performing satisfactorily despite warning.

The Dean of Academics, Dr Neeraj Misra said the termination was a normal and lawful practice. Weak students were given opportunities for improving their performance. In case, they failed to make any improvement, action is taken against them.

Forty-six undergraduate students, eight post graduates and six research scholars were among the terminated. A few of them are in the final year.

The students were given an opportunity for mercy appeal. But no concession through mercy appeal was given to the very weak students.

The institutes administration has informed the parents and the guardians of the students about their termination and has taken steps to ensure that the upset students do not take any extreme steps, sources said.
Amid talks of joining the Congress led grand alliance, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has started preparation for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

A meeting of the senior BSP leaders, zonal coordinators, divisional and district committees office bearers will be held under her chairmanship in the state unit office on Saturday. She will review the working of the party organizations and various committees.

Talking to HT, a senior party leader who did not wish to be named, said, though a year and half is left for the Lok Sabha elections, behanji (Mayawati) has directed the party leaders to start preparation. Screening of candidates has started and by the year end names will be finalized for the 80 Lok Sabha seats. After finalizing the candidates, she will collect feedback from the office bearers and loyal party workers regarding the winnability of the candidates. If the candidate is found on sticky wicket he will be replaced by a strong candidate, he said.

When asked about joining the Congress led grand alliance, the party leader said, Leaders of the opposition parties including Congress, RJD, TMC, CPI, CPI (M), SP have talked to behanji over joining the anti- BJP alliance. But the talks are yet to take a concrete shape. Behanji has directed the party leaders to start preparation for the Lok Sabha elections, he said.

After three consecutive defeats - 2012 assembly election, 2014 Lok Sabha election and 2017 assembly elections- Mayawati is striving hard to regain the lost base. The rise of Bhim Army in the West UP and inroads made by the saffron brigade in her vote bank has made the BSP camp anxious. To counter the strategy of the rival political parties, she plans to start early preparation for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Though she has extended support to UPA presidential candidate Meira Kumar, in a meeting of the party leaders held in Lucknow in June she gave an indication that she might rethink over joining the anti BJP front.

Addressing a meeting of the party leaders, she had said, rather than the BSP, the alliance partners always benefitted in the election. Recounting the experience of the 1993 alliance with Samajwadi Party (SP) and 1996 alliance with the Congress, she said both parties gained but the BSP failed to get desired seats in the assembly elections.

Mayawati has not disclosed her stand over the grand opposition rally planned by RJD chief Lalu Yadav in Patna on August 27, but her statement triggered a buzz among the party leaders that she might rethink joining the anti- BJP front.

A senior BSP leader said, even if behanji attends the Patna rally, she will give green signal to joining the anti-BJP front only after mulling over the effect the alliance on the party. In the recently concluded assembly election, though BSP bagged merely 19 seats, it polled over 20% votes. If the BSP joins alliance who will be the face of the coalition - Akhilesh, Mayawati or a Congress leader? Several issues needed to be settled before behanji joins hands.

Mayawati requires support of the SP and Congress in the re-election to Rajya Sabha when her term expires in April next year. The Rajya Sabha election might give an indication of the shape of the united opposition front against BJP, the BSP leader said.

BSP state unit president Ramachal Rajbhar said, in Saturdays meeting party Mayawati will review the working of the organization and preparation for the coming urban local bodies election.

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A day after the Maharashtra government submitted a policy to rehabilitate Victoria owners and drivers, the Bombay high court directed the state to frame a comprehensive scheme to ensure that their horses are healthy and safe.

What about the 150-odd horses? What will happen to them now that there are neither licences to ply such carriages nor licenced stables in Mumbai? the division bench of chief justice Manjula Chellur and justice Nitin Jamdar asked additional government pleader Milind More.

We are concerned about them, said the judges, directing the animal husbandry department to ensure the safety of these animals that once used to draw iconic carriages in the city.

The court was responding to a public interest litigation filed by NGO Animals and Birds Charitable Trust, which raised concerns over how the horses and carriage owners would be rehabilitated. The NGO alleged that these horses were treated cruelly and forced to ferry people on joyrides.

In June 2015, the high court had directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to ban Victorias, terming them illegal and violative of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

The court had also directed the state to frame a comprehensive policy to rehabilitate the carriage owners and drivers who would be affected by the ban.On Thursday, the Maharashtra government filed an affidavit disclosing its policy to rehabilitate Victoria owners and drivers.

Under the policy, the Victoria owners and drivers are eligible for street vending licences under provisions of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Maharashtra Scheme) Act. They will also get Rs3 lakh in financial aid.

The affidavit said the state cabinet has instructed the animal husbandry department to frame a comprehensive policy to care for the horses.
The police have obtained the CCTV footage from Byculla jail and said that they show the involvement of the jail officials booked in connection with the murder of Manjula Shetye , an inmate.

The officials were produced in the Esplanade court on Friday, where the police sought for the custody to be extended for further probe.

Public prosecutor Rajendra Suryavanshi said that the investigating team had the CCTV footage of the prison. The footage clearly shows the involvement of the accused, he said.

Crime branch sources revealed that the footage from the camera outside the barrack where Shetye was assaulted shows one of the accused dragging her towards it. The prosecution, however, contended that they still needed to investigate on the exact role of each of the accused. It said that recording the statements of the other inmates, who could become witnesses, was taking time. Suryavanshi said that the police needed to check with inmates on who saw the incident take place.

The police said that there were 291 inmates and inquiring them would require permissions from the courts where their cases for their offences were pending. The investigating officer said , We have recorded four or five statements. For many of the others, we need to approach the court for permission to question them. The process is in the pipeline.

The prosecution said that they were yet to recover the stick used to assault Shetye, which would be crucial to prove the case.

The defence lawyer, however, said that the police had been given enough time to interrogate the accused.

The accused are not cooperating. We need to question them harder to establish the role played by them, the prosecution said.

The court extended the police custody of all the six accused till July 14.

The incident occurred on June 23 around 11am when Shetye was allegedly assaulted. The incident came to light around 5.30pm when she was found unconscious in the bathroom. The police recorded a complaint on June 25.

Police arrested the six officials  jail officer Manisha Pokharkar, and constables Bindu Naikade, Waseema Shaikh, Shital Shegaonkar, Surekha Gulve and Aarti Shingne  under relevant sections of the IPC.

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CCTV camera footage depicting a 40-year-old man trapped between platform six at Borivli station and the Gujarat mail has gone viral. The man, Mahesh Atra, rolls six times before disappearing under the train and being crushed, according to the footage.

Atra, an Ahmedabad resident, came to the city to attend a business meeting in Bhiwandi. He was travelling back home on Saturday when he alighted from the train to buy a bottle of water. CCTV camera footage showed that he was carrying loose change and a water bottle.

When Atra attempted to board the train, he lost his balance and fell in the gap between the train and the platform.

Government railway police officials said his body was unrecognisable after the ordeal he had undergone.
At two, Ganesh Chauhan was diagnosed with Haemophilia  a rare genetic disorder which prevents blood from clotting. Since then, his mother has been scampering to KEM Hospital in Parel  every time he has slight injury or inflammation leading to excessive bleeding.

But her regular visits to rush Ganesh, who is seven now, to the hospital will reduce, thanks to a new line of treatment called prophylaxis therapy.

Around 50 children with haemophilia have been on prophylaxis therapy at KEM Hospital. The major advantage of the therapy is that patients do not have to be taken to the hospital every time they bleed, said a doctor at the hospital. Parents have to bring their children only twice a week for the treatment. In the coming days, doctors plan to train parents in injecting drugs at home.

Haemophilia patients do not have proteins called factors, which are essential for blood clot formation, said a doctor. These patients are taken to the hospital and are injected with blood coagulating drugs called Factor VIII or IX, on an emergency basis, every time they bleed.

In prophylaxis therapy, patients are injected with blood clotting factors twice a week, said Dr Chandrakala S, associate professor, department of clinical haematology, KEM Hospital which is the first in the city to start the therapy.

Globally, prophylaxis is the accepted standard of care for haemophilia patients as it prevents long-term damage to the joints, which is common in adult patients. However in India, it has not picked up owing to the exorbitant cost of the drugs.

Some patients who develop antibodies to these factors may need other drugs called FIBA and NovoSeven, which are even more expensive, said Dr Chandrakala added

One unit of factor costs Rs30 to the government. A patient weighing 50kg needs at least 1,000 units in one session. The drugs are supplied to KEM Hospital by the DHS and the World Haemophilia Federation and are available to patients free of cost.

The drugs are supplied to KEM Hospital by the Directorate of Health Services and the World Haemophilia Federation and are available to the patients free of cost.

At present the hospital has the therapy rolled out only for children as they are better candidates to benefit from the treatment compared to adults. As a result of uncontrolled bleeding from the muscular and bone tissues, many adult patients have already developed deformities, which in some cases are very debilitating. At KEM, we have mainly started the prophylaxis treatment for children, to prevent such long term damages in their adulthood Dr Chandrakala said.
More than 50,000kg of trash, mostly plastic, washes ashore at Juhu beach every day.

Residents of the area, fed up with the municipal corporations apathy, have decided to move the Bombay high court.

Theirs is a complaint backed by extensive research: The Juhu Citizens Welfare Group has identified seven points as the source of trash landing on the beach, and said this shows a superficial clean-up of the beach wont solve the problem. Untreated domestic and industrial waste is discharged into the sea near the beach, raising pollution levels in the water to much above the safe limit.

This means, any clean up should be at the source, not the meagre cosmetic cleaning at the beach that is just a photo opportunity, said Hansel DSouza, activist and president, Juhu Citizens Welfare Group. We want action on the ground. That is the real task of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The issue has been ignored time and again, we have no option but to approach the court.

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Weed makes a huge comeback in Mumbais college campuses after almost three decades on hiatus.

The anti-narcotics cell (ANC) raided several college campuses across Mumbai over the past two days. They found that weed or pot usage among students has increased substantially in recent times. The findings came as a surprise as psychotropic, synthetic and recreational drugs such as heroin, brown sugar or mephedrone (MD) were thought to have replaced weed in campuses since 1990.

It has been decades since we came across instances of marijuana abuse among college students, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), ANC, Shivdeep Lande told HT.

The plan to crack down on college students, code-named drug free campus, was conceived by Mumbai police commissioner Dattatreya Padsalgikar a week ago, as part of the polices drug-abuse awareness campaign, which was launched in colleges on June 26.

During the awareness drive, we received complaints that drugs were being peddled and abused within and outside colleges, sources said. Based on this information, the police commissioner ordered the top-secret crackdown.

Undercover ANC sleuths fanned across campuses and peddlers were identified. A college in Kandivli (West) was the first to be raided. On Wednesday, four drug peddlers were rounded up from there and 1.10 kg of weed recovered.

This was followed by raids near a college in Ghatkopar and another in Worli, where a kilogram of the banned substance was found and two were arrested. In the final raid, near a college in Bandra (West) on Thursday, two more peddlers were caught. Of the eight peddlers arrested, three are women.

ANC sources said peddlers at most colleges had only marijuana, while the Bandra peddlers also had 60g of heroin.

ANC veterans attribute the recent increase in weed abuse among college students to several factors.

The all-out crackdown against mephedrone  including the ANCs raids on two manufacturing units in January  led many clandestine units in Mumbai to shut in haste, said a senior ANC officer, who did not wish to be identified. The arrest of a few key members in the supply and distribution chain had spread panic among middle-rung conduits and street peddlers. Many of them are suspected to have fled to Bangkok to avoid police detection or possible arrest.

Simultaneously, the Narcotics Control Bureau and customs department have cracked down on the smuggling of synthetic drugs, such as LSD, into the city via airports and ports. This has dealt a severe blow to the supply of the imported contraband.

This has also led to a surge in the popularity of weed among students, as the drug is easily available and cheap.

DCP Lande said the cannabis seized at the college campuses had been sourced from Ganjam district in Odisha, where the contraband is available freely.

The peddlers carry small quantities of the drug, about 10g, in small polythene sachets, which are sold for Rs300 each. They deliberately carry small quantities to minimise losses and evade harsher punishment, Lande added.

Interestingly, students who tried weed for the first time told police they had mistaken the grass-like drug for herbs. Most of them were introduced to the drug [packed into cigarettes or rolled in papers] by former students, who are the key members in the supply chain , an ANC officer said.

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The Navi Mumbai polices official website was recently hacked by a few unidentified people, who were later traced to Turkey, said an official from the crime branch, who did not wish to be identified.

The website was hacked around 8 am on July 1. The official who handles the site learnt about the hacking within 10 minutes. He informed the engineers, who secured the site immediately. The hackers had access to our website for not more than 20 minutes, said Tushar Doshi, deputy commissioner police (crime).

All our data has been secured. We think the accused hacked our website for fun. They did not seem to have evil intentions, he said.

An FIR was registered against unidentified people under sections of the IT Act.

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The district magistrate on Saturday constituted a committee of officials to inquire into the collapse of a portion of the classroom ceiling, on Friday afternoon, at a government-aided girls school in Niwari that left a minor injured.

The incident was reported at Dayawati Modi Kanya Junior High School in Abupur. At the time of the incident, 19 students of class 3 were in the room when a portion of the ceiling fell. Officials said that the school is in a dilapidated condition, as it was established in 1965 and need repairs.

District magistrate (DM) Ministhy S said that a team of officials will investigate two aspects pertaining to the incident. The committee will first fix the responsibility and find out how the incident took place. The second would be for immediate repairs so that children can continue their studies without interruption. Officials will also check safety standards, funding to the school, responsibility for repairs and related aspects. A detailed analysis of the incident will be made, the DM said.

Officials will also visit the house of the injured girl and will ensure that proper medical treatment is being given to her, she said.

Officials said that Aaira sustained head injuries and was rushed to a hospital. Upon receiving the information, the administration officials rushed to the spot but the school was shut and no staff could be found, officials said.

The school management said that it didnt have funds to repair the school building, which is old. The committee constituted by the DM comprises the PWD engineer, basic education officer, district panchayati raj officer, among others. A major incident was averted as the majority of the students were sitting on the other side and escaped any injury. According to our estimates, the debris weighed 15-20kg and could have severely injured students, said Umakant Tiwari, tehsildar, Modi Nagar.

The school gets aid from the state government. The inquiry will be conducted at the earliest, as soon as the school is opened. The responsibility for repairs and maintenance rests with the school management. Prima facie, the school has no water outlets that also causes damage to the building. The plaster is also in a bad condition. Our report will highlight all such issues, Tiwari said.

The school has 200 students in total, in classes 1-8.

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In a drive against breeding of mosquitoes in the district, the health department issued notices to the Noida stadium administration, police officials and the fire department for their alleged negligence in destroying breeding grounds in their office premises.

The breeding grounds are destroyed so that mosquitoes which cause vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue and chikungunya do not breed.

The district health department officials issued notices on Friday evening to Noida authority after finding stagnant water in Noida stadium in Sector 21 and to station house officer of Sector 58 police station, in-charge of Sector 24 police chowki and fire service officer of fire office in Sector 58.

We conducted another surprise inspection in different locations in Noida and found that the Noida stadium, few police and fire stations had stagnant water on their office premises, said Rajesh Sharma, district malaria officer, health department.

This is the fourth instance in two weeks that the health department has issued notice to different bodies in Noida including Noida authority, police, district administration, residents welfare association and Uttar Pradesh State Roadways Transport Corporation.

The mentioned bodies were allegedly found negligent in doing their duty which was to destroy breeding ground for mosquitoes in their month long campaign against vector-borne diseases, the officials said.

Residents have been asked to clean their utensils, vessels, coolers, vases, pots and discarded tyres regularly to avoid water to become stagnant.The guilty bodies have been given a stipulated time of three days to destroy the breeding ground for mosquitoes. If they fail to do the task, then health department will carry the work and levy fine from them.

Sharma further said their department will also conduct inspection of the resident sectors in the district.

Anybody found guilty of negligence will be served notice and asked to destroy the breeding ground immediately, said Sharma.

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Three people tested positive for H1N1 swine flu on Saturday. The district health department received confirmatory reports from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) of the three patients who had been to Bangkok along with 10 others.

The three were found positive in samples and testing done by a private hospital. The samples were then sent for confirmatory tests to NCDC by the Ghaziabad health department.

The three Ghaziabad residents returned from a vacation in Bangkok with symptoms of cold and cough. The report of all three patients was found positive for H1N1 and Influenza A. They are under observation for 10 more days and also have been given treatment. Their family members have also been given preventive medicines and taking precautions. The patients are advised treatment in isolation, said GK Mishra, a district malaria officer.

The three patients include two boys aged 11 and 14 and a woman aged 45 years. All three were found positive for swine flu. A total of 10 samples were sent for higher testing with NCDC.

Out of ten samples, three have been found positive so far. We already have sufficient stock of medicine with us to deal with any swine flu outbreak in the district. The staff members of various health centers are also being trained about the procedure to take samples. This will help them to collect and send samples to the district health department so that we can expedite sending samples to NCDC, Mishra added.
The Greater Noida police on Saturday arrested two persons who allegedly molested and tried to rape their 20-year-old cousin.

According to police, the victim is a third year engineering student in Lucknow and had come to the city for an undergoing internship. She was residing in the housing society with the accused, who are her relatives.

Ramsen Singh, the station house officer of Dadri police station said, As per the statements of the victim, the incident took place on June 22. The victim said the boys had forced themselves on her with intention of rape. The accused had also beaten the victim. She was rescued by neighbors when she raised an alarm. The victim then went back to her home in Lucknow, he added.

On July 3, the victim approached Dadri police station and lodged a complaint against the two, the police officer said. Meanwhile the accused fled their home.

Singh said, both the accused are engineering graduates and are from Kanpur. They were living in Greater Noida and were in search of a job.

Singh said, the accused owned a flat in the society and had offered their place to the victim to stay during her internship.

Based on the victims statement, Dadri police has registered a case under IPC sections for voluntarily causing hurt, rape attempt and criminal intimidation against the accused and also launched manhunt to nab them.

On Saturday morning, the accused were arrested and produced before district court in Surajpur, from where they were sent to judicial custody, a police official said.
The bottom line of the communal flare-up in West Bengals Basirhat is that blood will hereafter be ritualistically spilled in the run-up to every election.

It is nobodys case that communal violence is new to this country. Hindus and Muslims have clashed regularly through ages, but it is now they are going for each others throats with unfailing regularity in states readying for polls.

Sporadic and scattered religious violence preceded the last elections in Assam. Ditto with Uttar Pradesh, which, barring just one day, saw at least one riot daily over four years leading up to the 2017 assembly elections.

The trigger in most cases was almost certainly one or a mix of reasons among a cocktail of emotive issues, ranging from meat found in Hindu temples to a Hindu girl eloping with a Muslim boy or vice versa. Petty disputes over parking to suspicion of cow smuggling and slaughter have also led to conflagrations.

But the pattern emerging in recent times is more disconcerting. Odisha is headed for crucial elections in 2019 and communal tensions have erupted on at least two occasions. A Facebook post sparked arson in the coastal town of Bhadrak some months ago followed by ugly skirmishes in the district of Kendrapara.

What Basirhat in North 24 Parganas of West Bengal has been witnessing over the past few days is therefore not without context. Assembly elections in the state are still a few years away, but Bengal undoubtedly is one frontier that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes to breach to expand its footprint in parts of the country it was mostly non-existent.

Parliamentary elections scheduled for 2019 provide the party with a perfect opportunity to prove its growing prowess and polarisation of voters on religious lines can certainly help its cause.

The political battle lines are, therefore, drawn in West Bengal and Basirhat is simply a collateral damage, though not entirely unintended. Religious fault lines have run deep in the state with 27% Muslim population. It has grown deeper since Mamata Banerjee took over as the chief minister. The Muslims are her impregnable vote bank and she has allowed the perception to grow that she cares for them. Her initiatives to give stipends to Imams and promote madarsas among other things have helped her political capital grow.

It has, however, left sections of Hindus to nurse a feeling of victimhood, leaving the chief minister somewhat vulnerable. Political rivals see in the situation a chance to vitiate the mood further and win over voters to their side. Lost in the slugfest is who started it all.

Since October 2016, West Bengal has witnessed 11 communal flare-ups with Basirhat being the latest but almost certainly not the last. The political contest is heating up and so is the fight between religious hotheads with an eye on votes. The battle for Bengal will be bloody.

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I remember the smell of incense sticks in that room. Attending the morning aarti with folded hands, eating besan laddoo in prasad, getting a kumkum tika and rice on my forehead was my morning ritual. Saxenas used to live next to my naanis house in Bareilly, a small town in Uttar Pradesh. For me and my siblings, summer vacation in Bareilly was a celebration-of-sorts.

During vacations, I was virtually a part of the Saxena household. The pooja room also had a black-and-white Salora television  my earliest memories of watching Mahabharat at Saxenas over tea, paratha and sweet and sour mango pickle, typical of UP.

Every year, I would ask my mother if holidays were coinciding with navratri. It would mean me becoming part of a group that was to receive goodies and Rs 11 on ashtami.

Cinema was a community activity. Voting would throw up names of three latest films which would then be watched back to back through the night Saxena courtyard on a rented VCR.

Every second day, I would cycle to buy samosa from a shop outside the chunne miyan ka mandir. The temple was named after the Muslim man who got it constructed. His real name was Fazlur Rehman.

Naani was head mistress in a government school, a rare feat those days for a Muslim woman from a conservative joint family. She was known as daadi in the neighbourhood. She passed away in 2002. She was 82.

At her cremation in the nearby cemetery, Hindu men from the neighbourhood, with handkerchiefs tied on their heads, outnumbered our relatives and family members. It was weirdthe composition of the participants left me in tears and not naanis demise.

As I graduated to college and got a job, visits to Bareilly became less occasional.

In March 2010, my cousin phoned me to ask if I would be visiting his town to cover riots. The route of Julus-e-Mohammadi (a procession taken out to mark the birthday of Prophet Mohammad) triggered tension between Hindus and Muslims. Bareilly remained under curfew for two weeks in what was the first riot for people under 30 years.

My cousin believed that the press was not giving it adequate coverage. He sounded more saddened with what he witnessed during the unrest. One of the close neighbours was involved in arson, he said; the neighbourhood mosque was torched; and it was no more possible to believe them.

When I got a chance to visit my maternal family two years after riots, I was told that which houses had become out of bounds. Good thing was that they were very few. But they were enough for my cousins to decide to relocate. I could see that any persuasion would not change their decision. We have seen what you have not, I was told.

In subsequent visits, I could see the social fabric changing for worse. Unlike earlier when we would chat about concerns of our mohalla (locality), it became more about us and them.

Following year, they relocated to a Muslim ghetto where they continue to live. That effectively means, Saxenas are no more our neighbours.

Around five years ago, I stopped receiving rakhi from my sisters in that family. In the last two trips to Bareilly, I did not visit them. Not that anyone was keen that I should.

Visits apart, I cannot undo the best years I lived in that house. No one can take that away from me. Not my family. Not the man who, collectively, becomes the lynch mob that kill Akhlaq, Pehlu Khan and Junaid. Not the ones who patronise this man. Not the leader who would want me to look inward.

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Its canine terror in Patiala as nearly 31 people were bitten daily by stray dogs during the first five months of the year as the overall figure for the five months from January to May is 4,791. At least 967 dog bite cases were reported in May only.

Last year, as many as 4,997 cases of dog bite were reported in the district.

On Monday, dogs mutilated four-year-old Harman Singh of Bishangarh village in Sanaur, and he had to undergo plastic surgery of the face. The child was attacked by a group of dogs. Two students were injured in Patran when they were attacked by dogs. They were on way to their school.

Dog bite cases in the district have increased as no measures have been taken to tame the stray dogs, which are a terror in remote areas.

The municipal corporation (MC) had planned a sterilisation drive in 2015. There was a plan to sterilise 2,000 dogs, but it was stopped after 700 dogs were sterilised.

A four-year-old victim undergoing treatment at Rajindra Hospital. (HT Photo)

The dog sterilisation plan was stopped as Union minister Maneka Gandhi objected to the selection of the steriliszation agency. However, we are again going to start the sterilisation process again, but still we are short of funds, said mayor Amarinder Singh Bajaj.

The situation is quite grim in Sanaur, Patran, Nabha, Rajpura, and some other towns. But the municipal committees have no funds to deal with the dog menace. There is no check on the dog population even in rural areas, as panchayats have no mandate or funds to carry out sterilisation drives. Several times, we had raked up the issue with the animal husbandry department and the panchyat department, but no one listens. Stray dogs have now become a terror, said Satnam Singh of Behru village.

Though there are not many dog bite cases in Patran, but there is always a fear of dog bite due to a large number of dogs there. Families prefer to keep their children indoors or elders always accompany children when they go out of theri houses, said Yogesh Kumar of Patran,

Baldev Singh, a resident of urban estate phase-2, said the problem has crossed limits, but the civic body has done nothing so far.

Groups of stray dogs could be witnessed roaming in the streets and the situation is worst during nights when most of the people fall prey to their attack, he said.

Joyeeta, a resident of Gurbakash colony said, the residents have often complained to the municipal corporation (MC) authorities about the dog menace but to no avail.

One of the dog bite victims, Randhir Singh, 56, said he had suffered a spinal bone injury after he fell down during the attack by stray dogs, while he was having a morning walk in a park.

In April, the figure was over 650 cases. The severity of the problem could be gauged from the fact that the cases of dog bites continued increasing manifold.

However, both the district administration and the Patiala municipal corporation seem to have completely turned a blind eye towards the increasing menace of stray dogs.

One of the doctors at Rajindra hospital said the situation has worsened in the past two months due to mating season of the dogs.

We are receiving 7-8 cases of dog bites on a daily basis from the city. The children and elderly are mostly among the victims, a doctor said, demanding anonymity.

These are only the cases, which were reported to government civil hospitals and dispensaries across the district. The number is much more if those who visited private hospitals and chemist shops for anti-rabies vaccination are taken into account, said Rajesh Kumar, a government doctor.

Meanwhile, the mayor Bajaj said fresh tenders have been floated for animal birth control (ABC) programme. The ABC programme will be launched soon, he added.

District epidemiologist Dr Gurmanjeet Kaur said dog bite cases increased because of rise in the stray dog population. However, she said that there is not much increase as compared to the previous year.

Our job is to provide treatment, but the problem will be resolved only if the population of dogs is put on check, which is the job of civic bodies, veterinary department and panchayat departement, she said. She said that majority are dog bite cases, but a few cases of cat and jackal bites were also reported.
As anger among the Pakistani Sikhs continues to grow after the Indian Government denied permission to Sikh Jathas to visit Pakistan for security reasons, the Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee ( PSGPC) has decided to raise the matter at the United Nations.

The Centre had denied permission to a 251-member Sikh delegation to visit Pakistan on the occasion of the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the ruler of the 19th century Sikh empire, citing security reasons, the SGPC said on Wednesday. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC)-sponsored delegation was scheduled to visit Pakistan from June 21-29.

PSGPC chief Tara Singh said the Indian governments move had angered the Sikh community in Pakistan. Hundreds of Sikhs under the aegis of the PSGPC protested against the Indian government in Lahore on Friday.

During the previous regime of Dr Manmohan Singh, Sikh jathas faced no problems. However, in the current Modi regime, Sikh pilgrims who want to visit Pakistan for pilgrimage are facing problems, he claimed.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Kirpal Singh Badungar and Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh must intervene and raise the issue with their government. We will continue our protests, he said, adding that he also appealed to Sikhs living in other nations to condemn the Indian governments move.
Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday held his predecessor Parkash Singh Badal responsible for the Behbal Kalan police firing in wake of the 2015 Bargari sacrilege incident, saying he was sure the fresh commission of inquiry probing the matter would expose the veteran Akali leader.

How can a superintendent of police order firing. He was clearly instructed to do so, Amarinder said, while addressing a select gathering at a felicitation function organised by Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) in the national capital.

On October 14, 2015, two persons were killed in a firing by Punjab Police when while they were protesting against the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in Behbal Kalan village of Faridkot district. The issue led to wide outrage among the Sikh community and finally compelled the Punjab government to transfer then director general of police Sumedh Singh Saini. A fresh commission of inquiry was ordered by Amarinder in this case after he becomes the CM.

Pointing to the spate of sacrilege incidents during the Badal government rule, the CM said the Akali tenure had witnessed 183 such incidents, of which 121 remained unsolved, in contrast to the 13 incidents reported since the Congress government took over, of which 12 had been solved.

The Akalis had always played politics with religion, using it to further their own political ends, said Amarinder, lambasting the erstwhile ruling party of ruining the states economy and creating communal unrest.

The CM said false cases registered under the Badal rule were also a matter of concern and the commission set up by his government to inquiry into those would identify the culprits and bring them to book. More than 1 lakh fake cases had been registered against innocent people by the Akali government, he said, adding that as many as 28 cases had been registered against a boy in Ajnala, clearly showing their vindictiveness.
Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh called on Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi at his residence in New Delhi on Saturday afternoon but as per indications, the much-awaited cabinet expansion may not happen anytime soon.

Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge for Punjab affairs Asha Kumari also met Rahul to discuss party affairs but no probable names for the cabinet were discussed. Later, Amarinder met Rahul separately during which he brought up the issue of cabinet expansion.

At a recent press conference at Chandigarh, Amarinder said the cabinet expansion will take place after he meets Rahul.

Party sources say the CM is in no hurry to induct more ministers. Most of the plum portfolios are still with the CM and he is keen to keep a tight leash on administration by having fewer ministers, mainly loyalists. The CM also wants to keep the ministerial berths dangling to ensure loyalty at a time when MLAs are showing signs of unease over the working of the government, mainly free hand given by the CM to his officers. He may like to keep the MLAs guessing till the municipal elections are held in the state, said sources.

The 117-member Punjab House can have 18 ministers. Nine ministers have already been sworn in along with the CM on March 16, leaving eight berths. Having won 77 assembly seats, the party also seems to be suffering from the problem of plenty.

Amarinder will have to pick and choose from among his favourites, old-timers and Rahuls young Turks. Amarinder may like to accommodate some more of his loyalists such as Rana Gurmeet Sodhi, but he cannot afford to overlook the seniority of MLAs  Ludhiana North MLA Rakesh Pandey and Amritsar Central MLA OP Soni. He may invite another controversy if he appoints Mohali MLA Balbir Sidhu who has stakes in the liquor business.

The CM also cannot ignore the claims of Rahuls young brigade of MLAs such as Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Kuljit Nagra, Vijayinder Singla and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.

Congress insiders say minister Charanjit Singh Channi is already voiced his disappointment at being allotted just the technical education and training portfolio and there are murmurs in the party against plum posts to Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and Razia Sultana. Though Amarinder has been able to deflect party and public anger against power minister Rana Gurjit Singh after his name surfaced in the sand mining auctions by ordering a judicial probe, the simmering discontent among MLAs may erupt if the CM is unable to do a balancing act between different factions, regions, caste and community.

Saying that cabinet expansion is the prerogative of the CM, Jakhar said only organisational issues were discussed during his meeting with Rahul. The party vice-president is keen to strengthen the party and boost morale of workers. He wanted to know expectations of people and if the party was able to meet them, he said.

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Leaders from the worlds leading economies broke with US President Donald Trump on climate policy at a G20 summit on Saturday, in a rare public admission of disagreement and blow to multilateral cooperation.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, keen to show off her skills as a mediator two months before a German election, achieved her primary goal at the meeting in Hamburg, convincing her fellow leaders to support a single communique with pledges on trade, finance, energy and Africa.

But the divide between Trump, elected on a pledge to put America First, and the 19 other members of the club, including countries as diverse as Japan, Saudi Arabia and Argentina, was stark.

Last month Trump announced he was pulling the United States out of a landmark international climate accord clinched two years ago in Paris.

In the end, the negotiations on climate reflect dissent  all against the United States of America, Merkel told reporters at the end of the meeting.

And the fact that negotiations on trade were extraordinarily difficult is due to specific positions that the United States has taken.

The summit, marred by violent protests that left the streets of Hamburg littered with burning cars and broken shop windows, brought together a volatile mix of leaders at a time of major change in the global geo-political landscape.

Trumps shift to a more unilateral, transactional diplomacy has left a void in global leadership, unsettling traditional allies in Europe and opening the door to rising powers like China to assume a bigger role.

Tensions between Washington and Beijing dominated the run-up to the meeting, with the Trump administration ratcheting up pressure on President Xi Jinping to rein in North Korea and threatening punitive trade measures on steel.

Trump-Putin

Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time in Hamburg, a hotly anticipated encounter after the former real estate mogul promised a rapprochement with Moscow during his campaign, only to be thwarted by accusations of Russian meddling in the vote and investigations into the Russia ties of Trump associates.

Putin said at the conclusion of the summit on Saturday that Trump had quizzed him on the alleged meddling in a meeting that lasted over two hours but seemed to have been satisfied with the Kremlin leaders denials of interference.

Trump had accused Russia of destabilising behaviour in Ukraine and Syria before the summit. But in Hamburg he struck a conciliatory tone, describing it as an honour to meet Putin and signalling, through Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, that he preferred to focus on future ties and not dwell on the past.

It was an extraordinarily important meeting, Tillerson said, describing a very clear positive chemistry between Trump and the former KGB agent.

In the final communique, the 19 other leaders took note of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord and declared it irreversible.

For its part, the United States injected a contentious line saying that it would endeavour to work closely with other countries to help them access and use fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently.

French President Emmanuel Macron led a push to soften the US language.

There is a clear consensus absent the United States, said Thomas Bernes, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. But that is a problem. Without the largest economy in the world how far can you go?

Jennifer Morgan, executive director at Greenpeace, said the G19 had held the line against Trumps backward decision to withdraw from Paris.

On trade, another sticking point, the leaders agreed they would fight protectionism including all unfair trade practices and recognise the role of legitimate trade defence instruments in this regard.

The leaders also pledged to work together to foster economic development in Africa, a priority project for Merkel.

Violent protests

Merkel chose to host the summit in Hamburg, the port city where she was born, to send a signal about Germanys openness to the world, including its tolerance of peaceful protests.

It was held only a few hundred metres from one of Germanys most potent symbols of left-wing resistance, a former theatre called the Rote Flora which was taken over by anti-capitalist squatters nearly three decades ago.

Over the three days of the summit, radicals looted shops, torched cars and lorries. More than 200 police were injured and some 143 people have been arrested and 122 taken into custody.

A man is detained by riot police in Hamburg on Saturday. (AFP)

Some of the worst damage was done as Merkel hosted other leaders at for a concert and lavish dinner at the Elbphilharmonie, a modernist glass concert hall overlooking the Elbe River.

Merkel met police and security force after the summit to thank them, and condemned the unbridled brutality of some of the protestors, but she was forced to answer tough questions about hosting the summit in Hamburg during her closing press conference.
Bangladesh police have arrested an Islamist militant over last years deadly Dhaka cafe siege, officials said on Saturday, as authorities continue to crack down on militant outfits a year after the attack.

The counter-terrorism unit arrested Sohel Mahfuz, who allegedly supplied the weapons used in the Holey Artisan Bakery attack where armed gunmen killed at least 22 people, mostly foreigners, after taking them hostage.

He was the supplier of the weapons in the Holey incident. We were hunting him way before the attack, Abdul Mannan, counter-terrorism additional commissioner, said.

Acting on a tip-off, police arrested the 33-year-old from the northwestern Chapainawabganj district along with three associates, Mannan said.

Mahfuz is the chief of the northern command of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a homegrown Islamist extremist outfit blamed for the attack.

He is also wanted in India for his alleged role in a 2014 blast in Burdwan, West Bengal, in which two people were killed and police recovered a huge cache of improvised explosives, the official said.

The arrest came within days of US-based monitoring group SITE publishing a statement of an Islamic State operative who warned of many more attacks in West Bengal, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The Islamic State claimed the Holey Artisan Bakery attack but the government has blamed homegrown JMB.

Bangladesh has been reeling from a spate of extremist violence in recent years, with dozens of foreigners, secular writers, atheist activists and members of religious minorities killed.

Since the cafe attack, security forces have gunned down nearly 70 Islamist extremists across the country and rounded up scores more.
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday to put aside distractions that have strained bilateral ties and warned that China was unwilling to compromise on Taiwan, state news agency Xinhua said.

Relations have been complicated for decades by the legacy of Japans wartime aggression.

Self-ruled Taiwan, which is claimed by China and was governed by Japan from 1895-1945, is another sensitive issue, and a maritime territorial dispute over small islands in the East China Sea has deepened mutual suspicion in recent years.

Beijing complained to Tokyo in March after a Japanese minister visited Taiwan, and China has also told Japan not to get involved in the dispute over the South China Sea.

Meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg, Xi told Abe the countries were important neighbours, and said the healthy development of relations was of importance to the rest of the world, Xinhua said.

Xi urged Japan to learn from history so as to have a better future in its ties with China, the report added.

Noting that the China-Japan ties have been distracted by complicated factors despite some positive exchanges between the two sides, the Chinese leader said there is no room for compromise on the issues related to history and Taiwan, and Japan shall honour its words in these respects, Xinhua said.

Adding to long-standing tensions, China said last month a Japanese citizen was being investigated for harming national security, following a similar case in May in which China said six Japanese were being questioned on suspicion of illegal activity.
Populist former martial arts star and businessman Khaltmaa Battulga has won Mongolias presidential run-off election, according to voter data from the general election commission released on Saturday.

The poll was seen as a referendum on the governments economic recovery plans and the role of southern neighbour China in the landlocked but resource-rich country known as the birthplace of Mongol emperor Genghis Khan.

Battulga, of the opposition Democratic Party, won with 50.6% of the vote on a 60.9% turnout, giving him the majority needed to overcome his opponent, parliament speaker Miyeegombo Enkhbold of the ruling Mongolian Peoples Party.

Election officials are still, however, waiting on a final count of votes from abroad.

The election campaign was marred by political mudslinging from all sides and the public perception that none of the candidates were fit for the job, according to Luvsanvandan Sumati, the head of polling group the Sant Maral Foundation.

The worst election in Mongolian history, said Sumati.

Enkhbolds loss was definitive. He trailed far behind Battulga with 41.2% of the vote due to the nearly 100,000 blank votes submitted in protest at the choice of candidates.

Fridays run-off was scheduled after the June 26 vote failed to result in a outright winner.

Some investors have been wary of a Battulga presidency because of his calls for more state control of some mines and his suspicions of China, Mongolias biggest trade partner.

Despite past protests, he has said he will stand behind plans to build a key railway to China from the enormous Tavan Tolgoi coal mine and has praised Chinas Belt and Road pan-Asian infrastructure initiative.

He may push projects that are politically motivated but not economically justified, said a Mongolia-focused institutional investor who asked not to be named.

Battulga rose to fame as a Mongolian wrestler. His businesses include a hotel, a Genghis Khan-themed amusement park, and food companies for baked goods and meats. He captured the attention of voters who feel Mongolia received a bad deal on investments, promising greater government control of strategic mines, such as Rio Tintos Oyu Tolgoi copper mine.

Mongolia is a parliamentary democracy. The government is run by a prime minister, but the president has powers to veto legislation and make judicial appointments.
A final statement agreed on Saturday by the leaders of the Group of 20 economic powers exposed a divide between the United States and other G20 members on the Paris climate accord aimed at combating climate change.

In a final statement agreed by all 20 economies, 19 members including Russia, China and the European Union acknowledged Trumps decision to go his own way on taking the US out of the 2015 Paris climate accord.

We take note of the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the communique read. The leaders of the other G20 members state that the Paris Agreement is irreversible.

But they also accommodated Washingtons wish to work closely with other countries to help them access and use fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently.

On trade, another sticking point during a two-day summit in Hamburg, the leaders agreed they would fight protectionism including all unfair trade practices and recognise the role of legitimate trade defence instruments in this regard.

One of the very important subjects was climate change. And here, the German presidency managed to find an optimal compromise, said Putin.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday she was pleased that all Group of 20 members besides the United States had agreed in a communique that the Paris climate accord was irreversible.

I think its very clear that we could not reach consensus, but the differences were not papered over, they were clearly stated, Merkel told reporters at the end of the two-day meeting.

She said she did not share the view of British Prime Minister Theresa May who said on Friday that she thought Washington could decide to return to the climate agreement.

Frances President Emmanuel Macron announced a summit on climate change for December 12, two years after the landmark Paris accord.

On December 12... I will organise a new summit in order to take new action for the climate, including on the issue of financing, he said after the G20 summit in Hamburg.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday promised $639 million in funding for humanitarian programmes, including $331 million to help feed starving people in four famine-hit countries - Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen.

Trumps pledge came during a working session of the G20 summit of world leaders in Hamburg, providing a godsend to the UN World Food Programme, the groups executive director, David Beasley, told Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting.

We are facing the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two, said Beasley, a Republican and former South Carolina governor who was nominated by Trump to head the worlds largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.

He said the additional funding was about a third of what the agency estimated was required this year to deal with urgent food needs in the four countries facing famine and in other areas.

The WFP estimates that 109 million people around the world will need food assistance this year, up from 80 million last year, with 10 of the 13 worst affected zones stemming from wars and man-made crises, Beasley said.

We estimated that if we didnt receive the funding we needed immediately that 400,000 to 600,000 children would be dying in the next four months, he said.

Trumps announcement came after his administration proposed sharp cuts in funding for the U.S. State Department and other humanitarian missions as part of his America First policy.

Beasley said the agency had worked hard with the White House and the U.S. government to secure the funding, but Trump would insist that other countries contributed more as well.

A WPF spokesman said Germany recently pledged an additional 200 million euros for food relief. The United States has long been the largest donor to the WFP.
For a moment at the G20 summit on Saturday the United States was represented by another Trump, when the presidents daughter Ivanka took a seat at the table of world leaders.

The 35-year-old former fashion model sat around the table with Xi Jinping, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Angela Merkel and Theresa May, diplomats and the White House confirmed.

The incident fuelled long-standing allegations of nepotism against the US leader, who has put family members in top White House positions.

Russian participant snaps Ivanka Trump next to Teresa May at G20. Sitting in for her father. https://t.co/iNK1iGMGHM  Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) July 8, 2017

A White House official told AFP that Ivanka had been at the back of the room but briefly joined the main table when the president had to step out.

That occurred when the president of the World Bank started talking as the topic involved areas such as African development -- areas that will benefit from the facility just announced by the World Bank.

The official emphasised that when other leaders stepped out, their seats were also briefly filled by others.

But Trumps already vociferous detractors were enraged.

Historian Anne Applebaum took to Twitter to denounce what she described an unelected, unqualified, unprepared New York socialite being seen as the best person to represent American national interests.

Earlier in the day Trump waxed lyrical about his daughter before a bevy of world leaders, gathered to boost a fund to encourage female entrepreneurs.

Im very proud of my daughter, Ivanka  always have been, from day one  I had to tell you that, from day one. Shes always been great, he said. A champion. Shes a champion.

Trump then prompted some nervous laughter when he mused about whether he had made her life more difficult.

If she werent my daughter, it would be so much easier for her. Might be the only bad thing she has going, if you want to know the truth.
Hi, Twitter.

It was a simple, two-word post on the popular micro-blogging site, but the response it generated in less than half a day has been staggering.

Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai joined Twitter on Friday, posting a series of messages that immediately got to the point  calling on support for educating more girls worldwide, a cause that made her a target for the Taliban. And she chose her own graduation day to set the tone.

Within hours, global leaders  from Canadian president Justin Trudeau to UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres  extended a warm welcome to the 19-year-old, in some case retweeting her too. She even got a formal welcome from Twitter.

I welcome @Malala to Twitter, where she will bring her unique dedication and inspiration on behalf of girls' education. pic.twitter.com/Vwkr9qJAnb  Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) July 7, 2017

Your bravery and commitment to education  both yours & others  is inspiring. Congratulations on graduating high school @Malala!  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) July 7, 2017

Shot by Taliban in 2012, @Malala at UN in 2013: "I raise up my voice not so that I can shout but so that those without a voice can be heard" https://t.co/KjXYhwU7ab  Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) July 7, 2017

Always, @Malala. Empowering girls is the best path to a better future, and Im with you every step of the way. https://t.co/nMnWLNVru2  Melinda Gates (@melindagates) July 7, 2017

Welcome to Twitter, @Malala! Its inspirational to see young women like you fighting to be the change we want to see in the world. pic.twitter.com/2Ywd3OzYnT  Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 7, 2017

You continue to inspire me, @Malala. Thanks to you, young women around the world can dream of a brighter future for themselves. https://t.co/PuPt6aKn8I  Bill Gates (@BillGates) July 7, 2017

In the 14 hours since she created her account, Yousafzai has followed just one account, her organisation the Malala Fund, and posted seven tweets. In the meantime, she raked over 350,000 followers.

A global icon for girls education, Yousafzai on Friday graduated from high school in Birmingham where she moved after being attacked by the Taliban in Pakistan in 2012. Two years later, she received the Nobel prize, sharing it with Indias Kailash Satyarthi.

Having finished high school, Yousafzai, who turns 20 this month, said she would continue her Girl Power Trip next week in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. She of course, posted this on Twitter.
A Delta Air Lines passenger was charged on Friday with instigating a mid-air brawl with flight attendants and other passengers who fought desperately to restrain him as he tried opening the exit door of a plane bound from Seattle to China.

Joseph Daniel Hudek IV, 23, of Tampa, Florida, was arrested on Thursday when the Delta jetliner, a Boeing 767-300 with 221 people aboard, flew back to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for an unscheduled landing two hours after takeoff.

The plane was turned around due to an in-flight altercation detailed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in an affidavit filed the next day as part of the criminal complaint against Hudek, who was a first-class passenger on the flight.

According to the FBI, the incident began when Hudek lunged for an exit door at the front of the plane, grabbed the handle and tried to open it, prompting a desperate scuffle with crew members and passengers who battled to subdue him.

In the course of the disturbance, the FBI said, Hudek repeatedly punched a flight attendant and a fellow passenger, and persisted in trying to pull open the door, even as a second flight attendant struck him over the head with two large wine bottles. Both flight attendants were women.

Hudek was finally restrained with zip ties as several passengers joined the fray, but not before he managed to pull the door lever halfway to the open position, the FBI said.

The affidavit made no mention of what might have precipitated the melee. According to the FBI, Hudek had been served a beer but showed no sign of intoxication. At one point during the scuffle, it said, he shouted, Do you know who I am?

The plane landed safely, and the two individuals punched during the struggle were treated for facial injuries, according to the affidavit.

Hudek appeared on Friday in US district court in Seattle, where he was presented the complaint charging one count of interfering with a flight crew, a felony offence punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

He was ordered to remain in federal custody without bail pending a July 13 detention hearing, according to Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the US Attorneys Office in Seattle.

The incident came weeks after a similar incident aboard an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, in which a Turkish passenger tried to force his way toward the planes cockpit, triggering a bomb scare that prompted the US military to scramble fighter jets to escort the plane to its landing.
Iraqi authorities will imminently announce a final victory in the battle to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State group, a US general said on Saturday.

An announcement is imminent, Brigadier General Robert Sofge told AFP by phone from Baghdad. I dont want to speculate if its today or tomorrow but I think its going to be very soon, he added.

The jihadists that remain in Mosul are fighting to the death in a tiny area of just two blocks of the Old City next to the Tigris River, Sofge said, and those that remain are desperate.

Some are trying to blend in with fleeing civilians by shaving their beards and changing their clothes, others are playing dead then detonating explosive vests as Iraqi security forces come close. Women IS fighters have blown themselves up amid throngs of displaced civilians.

They are doing as much damage as they can during these final moves, Sofge said.

The battle for Mosul first began on October 16, 2016 and the fight has seemed to grow exponentially tougher as US-backed Iraqi security forces closed in on the centre of the city.

Slowing the advance toward the final holdouts, IS have placed countless booby traps and bombs in practically every structure they occupied.

The enemy has strung IEDs all over the place, in every place, in every closet, in one case under a crib, Sofge said.

A final victory in Mosul would mark an epic milestone for the Iraqi security forces, who had crumbled in the face of an IS onslaught across Iraq in 2014.

They deserve every bit of a celebration and pride and sense of accomplishment that a military force can feel, Sofge said, offering a congratulation in advance in a great battle.

This fight in Mosul is not like anything modern militaries have done in our lifetime. You have to go back to World War II to find anything thats even close.

Still, Sofge warned that IS still has plenty of fight left in other parts of Iraq and Syria.

The jihadists remain entrenched in several areas including Hawija, Ninevah and the Euphrates River Valley.

The liberation of Mosul is going to cause a reaction, the general said. We have to be on guard for the next move.

Sofge runs a combined operations centre for the anti-IS coalition in Baghdad and oversees a strike cell that coordinates air strikes in the southern and western part of the country.
Pakistan has executed 465 prisoners since lifting a moratorium on death penalty in 2014, becoming the fifth most prolific executioner in the world, according to an organisation working for prisoners rights.

The use of death penalty has failed to curb crime, including terrorism, but it is exceedingly used as a political tool, sometimes even as a jail overcrowding solution, Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) has claimed in a report.

It is a high number of the executions that made Pakistan fifth most prolific executioner in the world, following China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, the report said.

A data analysis by the organisation showed a total of 465 prisoners have been executed during the last two-and-a-half- years since the country lifted moratorium on executions.

It said that the Pakistani government justifies lifting of the moratorium by claiming it is necessary to deter terrorist threat to the country.

The government is mostly hanging terrorists through military courts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and through anti- terrorism courts in Sindh, the report said.

The maximum number of executions were carried out in the eastern Punjab province which accounts for 83 per cent of the total executions, and 89 per cent of total death sentences.

JPP Executive Director Sarah Belal said: Pakistans troubling and continued use of the death penalty has continuously fallen short of meeting its international human rights commitments and fair trial standards, as well as our own domestic laws.

The death penalty is not an effective tool to curb militancy and crime, she said, adding that it is time for the stakeholders to commit to genuine reforms in criminal justice system, and until it is done, to restore the moratorium on the death penalty.

Pakistan lifted a self-imposed moratorium on death penalty in terror related cases in December 2014 after Taliban militants massacred at least 150 people, mostly students, at an army-run school in Peshawar.
Thousands of people descended on Londons streets on Saturday for the annual gay Pride march, marking the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.

Armed police and strict security measures were in place to protect revellers following a recent spate of terror attacks, with around 25,000 participants parading down Regent Street, many wearing flamboyant costumes, waving rainbow flags and holding colourful balloons.

Hundreds of thousands more were expected to party thorough the night around the Soho district.

This is the biggest Pride in Londons history and in Prides history, there are more than 1.5 million people here today, and its really important that Londoners are free to be who they want to be, free to love who they want to love, London mayor Sadiq Khan said as he joined marchers.

We have had a horrific few weeks with the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower and three terrorist attacks, and what todays about is love, he added.

Its showing that actually the best antidote to the sadness, the sorrow, the bereavement, is having a great pride in London.

The annual Pride Parade in London. (AFP Photo)

Olympic diver Tom Daley was among those at the 45th edition of the London event.

Its really important that we remember why Pride started - its not just to have fun, its about making sure that we make political progress, and making sure that we try and get equal rights for every single person across the whole world, he said.

Parliaments Palace of Westminster will also be illuminated with a rainbow flag for the first time to celebrate the event, while the multicoloured emblem also decorated tube stations and shops en route.

Revelers enjoy the Pride London Parade on Saturday. (AP Photo)

The Sexual Offences Act, approved by parliament on July 27, 1967, decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men, both of whom had to be aged at least 21.

Marking the occasion, Norman Fowler, speaker of the upper House of Lords, said: Homosexuality is still illegal in over 70 countries around the world.

None of this will be solved by a march, or a display of lights in Westminster, but these acts will demonstrate to those who are being persecuted or abused that they are supported.
Russias pro-Kremlin media reacted triumphantly on Saturday to the first handshake and lengthy talks between President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump at the G20 meeting in Hamburg.

The popular tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda headlined its front page Putin and Trump found a way to peace in Syria and Ukraine and devoted two pages to analysis of the leaders public handshake.

Look at Putins thumb. He is controlling the situation, setting its tone, the paper wrote, calling this the handshake that the whole world was really waiting for.

Russian state television channel Rossiya 24 also hailed what it called a meeting the whole world had been awaiting for long months.

Business daily Kommersant wrote that the leaders talks overshadowed the main agenda of the event.

The Moskovsky Komsomolets tabloid, which is sometimes critical of the Kremlin, compared the meeting to the historic joining of Soviet and American forces in Germany in April 1945, when US and Russian soldiers shook hands on the bridge of the River Elbe.

It headlined its story Meeting on the Elbe, the river that flows through Hamburg.

Late Friday, the head of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian senate, Konstantin Kosachev, hailed the meeting as a breakthrough in some sense. Definitely in the psychological sense, possibly in practical relations, speaking to Interfax news agency.

Diplomatic sources quoted by Kommersant said a meeting was now being discussed between Russias Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and US Under Secretary of State Tom Shannon in Saint Petersburg in the second half of the month.

Russia cancelled a meeting between Ryabkov and Shannon in the city last month in the wake of Washingtons decision to reinforce sanctions over Moscows interference in Ukraine and its occupation of Crimea.

Franz Klintsevich, deputy chairman of the senates defence commission, said the meeting slightly opened the tightly blocked door of Russian and American relations, in a statement quoted by Interfax.

He said the meeting answered all the questions over the personal compatibility of the leaders.

Pro-Kremlin media and commentators also suggested that the demonstrative friendliness between Putin and Trump was a blow for the US leaders opponents at home.

NTV television reported that after the leaders smiled at each other the liberal part of the US internet immediately exploded in outrage.

Russian senator Alexei Pushkov wrote on Twitter that the Neocons are furious. Trump accepted Putins words about Russias non-interference in the US elections. He doesnt want to be stuck in a position of anti-Russian hysteria.
The Chinese government has diplomatically been on the aggressive against India in the ongoing standoff between soldiers of the two countries near the Sikkim sector.

The reaction of Chinese citizens reactions, however, has evolved in the past two weeks  scepticism that the two countries will go to war, some anger that Indian soldiers had trespassed into Chinese territory, but primarily with a shrug, saying the impasse wasnt that important to them. As yet.

Till Friday, the Sikkim standoff topic was not among the top 10 hot topics on Weibo, Chinas version of Twitter.

Many among the online citizens sharing thoughts and views on the incident feel that India has provoked China by crossing into its territory. They feel that increasing close diplomatic and military ties between India and the US have played a part in triggering the standoff and are of the opinion that China shouldnt hesitate to go battle to protect its territory.

Chinese newspapers and websites have of course splashed the news  and the Chinese perspectives on the standoff  prominently. Cartoons and tweets have been circulated widely as well.

A blog written by Wangcha Sangey, a lawyer from Bhutan, was widely shared online after it was translated in Chinese by news websites. The tone of the blog was a hit among Chinese online users.

Bhutan is placed in a near-impossible position. China will never surrender the strategic position that she had already gained at Doklam Plateau during negotiation on international boundary with India (the state of Sikkim). And India is insisting upon Bhutan to wrest from China larger portion of Doklam Plateau that India could not get whilst negotiating with China on Sikkim-Tibet international boundary, the blog quoted by the Chinese media said.

As HT noted earlier, many Weibo users had been talking about the annexation of Sikkim by India and said a similar situation should not arise with Bhutan.

Please Xi dada (President Xi Jinping is popularly called big daddy) greatly help the people of Sikkim to restore their country. You (people in Sikkim) wont feel safe around the Indians, one Weibo user had written.

We should not allow Indias annexation of Sikkim. When I was in elementary school, Sikkim was still a country, another Weibo user said.

But the anger online against India hasnt become hatred.

At the best of times, Chinese citizens opinion and impressions of India is not entirely positive. Indias poverty levels, the problem of womens safety and the gap between the rich and poor in India are some of negative aspects that are often discussed here, often triggered by incidents.

At the same time, many Chinese are in awe of Indias cultural richness and diversity.

The Aamir Khan-starrer Dangal has also led to a renewed interest in Indian movies. The movie, which was a huge hit here and made more money than in India, has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times after it was released on the video-sharing platform of Youku.
President Donald Trump said Saturday the US would contribute $50 million to a new World Bank fund conceived by his daughter that aims to help women entrepreneurs access capital and other support.

Ivanka Trump joined World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim on the sidelines of the Group of 20 world leaders summit in Hamburg, Germany, to launch the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative.

Kim said the fund had raised more than $325 million so far for projects and programs to support women and women-led businesses by improving access to capital and markets, providing technical assistance, training and mentoring, and pushing public policy. The fund grew out of conversations between Ivanka Trump and Kim early in Trumps administration.

This is not a cute little project, Kim said during a panel discussion, arguing the effort would spur real economic growth.

President Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also spoke at the event, where Trump said the fund would help eliminate barriers for women to launch businesses, help transform millions and millions of lives, and provide new hope to these women from countless communities all across the world.

The critical investments were announcing today will help advance the economic empowerment of women around the world, he said.

The commitment comes as the Trump administration has proposed dramatic cuts to diplomatic and development funding in line with the presidents America First foreign policy doctrine. His proposal would cut money for the State Department and US Agency for International Development by more than 31 percent in the budget year beginning in October. Hes also banned federal dollars from going to international groups working on issues such as HIV, AIDS and maternal and child health if they perform abortions or even provide information on the procedure.

The president has been criticised for crude remarks hes made about women over the years, including a recent tweet focusing on a television news hosts appearance. Trumps senior staff is dominated by men, despite the considerable influence of Ivanka Trump, who serves as a senior White House adviser.

In addition to the US, Germany and Canada, the new fund has also received contributions from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Australia, China, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and South Korea.

During his 2016 campaign, Trump frequently criticized rival Hillary Clintons ties to her familys Clinton Foundation, which received millions in donations from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and several other Mideast nations for charitable work.

During an October general election debate in Las Vegas, Trump demanded that Clinton give back the money youve taken from certain countries that treat certain groups of people so terrible.

He said then: Saudi Arabia giving $25 million, Qatar, all of these countries. You talk about women and womens rights? So these are people that push gays off ... buildings. These are people that kill women and treat women horribly. And yet you take their money.

Officials stressed that Ivanka Trump will not have an operational or fundraising role with the fund, which will be run by a governing committee of contributors.

Trump also took the opportunity to praise Ivanka Trump, who at one point Saturday was spotted sitting in her fathers seat at an official G-20 event after he had left the room.

Trump said hed been proud of her since day one, and offered a rare, self-deprecating assessment of the challenges hes added to her life.

If she werent my daughter, it would be so much easier for her, he said with laugh, adding: That might be the only bad thing she has going, if you want to know the truth.

Ivanka Trump has faced sustained criticism from opponents of her father whod hoped she would be able to push him to adopt more moderate policies. Many have labeled her complicit in his agenda.
President Vladimir Putin said Saturday he expects Russian-US cooperation will improve under Donald Trump and that the American is very different in real life.

The comments came a day after the pair held talks in Hamburg, their first face-to-face encounter.

The Trump that you see on TV is very different than the real Trump, Putin told reporters at the G20 in Germany. He perfectly understands whom he is talking to and answers questions quickly. I think personal relations were established.

Putin said he was positive about repairing US-Russian relations, which plunged during the era of president Barack Obama.

There is every reason to believe that we will be able to at least partially re-establish the level of cooperation that we need, Putin told a news conference.

I very much hope (for an improvement in relations) and it seems to me that some basis for this has already been created, Putin said.

Putin said that in particular the US appeared to be less rigid on the war on Syria, where Moscow backs President Bashar al-Assad and Washington has sided with rebel groups.

It seems to me that the US position (on Syria) has become more pragmatic. There is a comprehension that if we combine our efforts, we can achieve a lot, the Russian president said.

Russia and the US have agreed to a memorandum of understanding on creating a de-escalation zone in southwest Syria from midday Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.

Lavrov said the ceasefire set to begin Sunday would be supervised by Russian military police in coordination with the Jordanians and Americans.

Meddling

Regarding allegations that Russia meddled in the US presidential election in 2016, Putin said that Trump in their meeting had accepted the Russians denials.

Trump asked a lot of questions (on the issue) and I answered him. It seems to me that he acknowledged and accepted (the answers), Putin said.

Trump has not spoken about the meeting other than to say earlier Saturday that it was tremendous.

According to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was present in the two-and-a-quarter-hour meeting, Putin and Trump had a very robust and lengthy exchange on the subject.

Asked as he was leaving the news conference if Trump had accepted Putins denials, Tillerson did not answer, noting only that the two leaders connected very quickly and there was a very clear positive chemistry between the two.

There are so many issues on the table... Just about everything got touched upon... Neither one of them wanted to stop, he said. I believe they even sent in the (US) First Lady at one point to see if she could get us out of there, but that didnt work either... We did another hour. Clearly she failed.

Trumps wife Melania sat next to Putin at Fridays G20 gala dinner, and photos gave the impression that the two appeared to hit it off.
The United States plans to carry out a new test of its THAAD missile defence system against an intermediate-range ballistic missile in the coming days, two US officials told Reuters on Friday, as tensions with North Korea climb.

Despite being planned months ago, the US missile defence test will gain significance in the wake of North Koreas launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on July 4 that has heightened concerns about the threat from Pyongyang.

The test will be the first of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) to defend against a simulated attack by an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), one of the officials said. The THAAD interceptors will be fired from Alaska.

The United States has THAAD interceptors in Guam that are meant to help guard against a missile attack from a country such as North Korea.

The officials who disclosed to Reuters the precise nature and timing of the upcoming test spoke on condition of anonymity.

Asked by Reuters, the US missile defence agency (MDA) confirmed that it aimed to carry out a THAAD flight test in early July.

Chris Johnson, an MDA spokesman, said the THAAD weapon system at the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska, would detect, track and engage a target with a THAAD interceptor.

The test is designated as Flight Test THAAD (FTT)-18, Johnson said.

In a recent testimony to Congress, Vice Admiral James Syring, then the director of the MDA, said FTT-18 would aim to demonstrate THAADs ability to intercept a separating IRBM target. MDA said THAAD had a 100% successful track record in its 13 flight tests since 2006. After previous tests, the US military has publicly disclosed the results.

This years US deployment of THAAD in South Korea to guard against North Koreas shorter-range missiles has also drawn fierce criticism from China, which says the systems powerful radar can probe deep into its territory.

Earlier this month Moscow and Beijing, in a joint statement, called on Washington to immediately halt deployment of THAAD in South Korea.

The statement said Washington was using North Korea as a pretext to expand its military infrastructure in Asia and risked upsetting the strategic balance of power in the region.
Iraqi security forces expect to take full control of Mosul in the next hours as Islamic States defensive lines collapse, state TV reported on Saturday.

Air strikes and artillery salvoes pounded the jihadists last bastion in the city as black smoke billowed over it, a Reuters TV crew said.

We are seeing now the last metres and then final victory will be announced, said a TV speaker, citing the channels correspondents embedded with security forces battling in Islamic States redoubt in the Old City of Mosul, by the Tigris river. Its a matter of hours, she said.

A military spokesman cited by the TV said the insurgents defence lines were collapsing. Iraqi commanders say the insurgents are fighting for each metre with snipers, grenades and suicide bombers, forcing security forces to fight house-to-house in the densely populated maze of narrow alleyways.

A U.S.-led international coalition is providing air and ground support to the eight-month-old offensive to wrest back Mosul, once the de facto capital of Islamic State in Iraq.

Months of urban warfare have displaced 900,000 people, about half the citys pre-war population, and killed thousands, according to aid organisations.

Mosul was by far the largest city seized by Islamic State in its offensive three years ago where the ultra-hardline group declared its caliphate over adjoining parts of Iraq and Syria.

Stripped of Mosul, Islamic States dominion in Iraq will be reduced to mainly rural, desert areas west and south of the city where tens of thousands of people live. The militants are expected to keep up attacks on selected targets across Iraq.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the end of Islamic States state of falsehood a week ago, after security forces took Mosuls mediaeval Grand al-Nuri mosque - although only after retreating militants blew it up.

The United Nations predicts it will cost more than $1 billion to repair basic infrastructure in Mosul. Iraqs regional Kurdish leader said on Thursday in a Reuters interview that the Baghdad central government had failed to prepare a post-battle political, security and governance plan.

The offensive has damaged thousands of structures in Mosuls Old City and destroyed nearly 500 buildings, satellite imagery released by the United Nations on Thursday showed.

In some of the worst affected areas, almost no buildings appear to have escaped damage and Mosuls dense construction means the extent of the devastation might be underestimated, U.N. officials said.
Stonemans Raid tested the mettle of the Unions newly formed Cavalry Corps.

Fighting Joe Hookerthe Army of the Potomacs third commander in less than two yearsspent early 1863 reorganizing and reenergizing his forces. The army had been hunkered down outside Fredericksburg, Va., on the north side of the Rappahannock River, since its demoralizing defeat the previous December. Across the river, Robert E. Lees Army of Northern Virginia dug in for the winter. When fighting resumed in the spring, Hooker was determined to steer the Union to decisive victory. May God have mercy on General Lee, he said, for I will have none.

Hookers most promising new weapon was his cavalry corps, 10,000 strong. For the first time, the Union detached its horse soldiers from the infantry, creating a single independent command under Brig. Gen. George Stoneman. Independent cavalry had proved invaluable to the Confederates. Hooker hoped his corps would sever Lees supply and communication lines, then keep the Rebels in check until the main body of the army could sweep across the Rappahannock and cut off any escape routes.

The first attempt to deploy Stonemans corps stalled during mid-Aprils torrential rains. Two weeks later, on April 28, Stoneman received new orders to divide his force into two columns and cross the Rappahannock with each trooper carrying what rations he could. A small force under Brig. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton would stay behind near Kellys Ford, where Hookers V, XI and XII corps were arriving from Fredericksburg.

The first column, led by Brig. Gen. William Averell, moved through Culpeper Court House and on to Rapidan Station, where it ran into Brig. Gen. Rooney Lees Virginia cavalry. Faulty intelligence indicating a large enemy force was nearby combined with vague orders from Stoneman to stop Averells advance. When Hooker learned on May 2 that Averell was stuck behind the Rapidan River, he angrily ordered the entire column of 3,500 troopers back to the Rappahannock.

Meanwhile, Stoneman and 3,500 men under Brig. Gen. David Gregg reached Thompsons Crossroads on the South Anna River. Hooker expected Stoneman to concentrate on Hanover Junction, where the Virginia Central Railroad met the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac, Lees lifeline to the capital. But the general had other plans.

We had dropped into that region of country like a shell, he said. I intended to burst it in every direction, expecting each piece or fragment would do as much harm and create nearly as much terror as would result from sending the whole shell.

On May 3, Stoneman sent columns out across the country to tear up tracks, destroy bridges, cut telegraph wires and generally wreak havoc. The general set up headquarters at Thompsons Crossroads with a small reserve. Colonel Percy Wyndham headed for Columbia on the James River; General Gregg moved down the South Anna. Both inflicted some damage, and both returned to headquarters by May 4.

Colonel Judson Kilpatrick burned the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac depot at Hungary Station and continued down the Chickahominy River, frightening Richmond residents into thinking the city would soon be overrun. But Kilpatrick had fewer than 500 men, and he eventually pulled away to race down the Virginia Peninsula to Gloucester Point, which was under Union control. Lt. Col. Hasbrouck Davis hit the RF&P at Ashland and the Virginia Central at Hanover Station before he too made for the Peninsula. He estimated that his troopers destroyed $1 million worth of property.

The New York Herald credited Stonemans raiders with wrecking 23 bridges, burning four supply trains, capturing hundreds of horses and mules, and breaking the railroads in seven places. It was an impressive tally, but the impact was short-lived. The railroads were running again in days.

Hooker was furious. While the cavalry was out and about, the rest of Hookers army was getting battered at Chancellorsville. The commander sacked Averell immediately and eventually replaced Stoneman with General Pleasonton.

Still, Stonemans Raid marked a significant turning point. For the first time the cavalry found themselves made useful, wrote Henry Pyne of the 1st New Jersey Cavalry. It gave our troopers self-respect, and obliged the enemy to respect them.

General Lee himself recognized the threat in a May 7 letter to President Jefferson Davis asking for more cavalry: Every expedition will augment their boldness and increase their means of doing us harm.

Christine M. Kreiser is a senior editor for Americas Civil War.

Originally published in the March 2013 issue of Americas Civil War. To subscribe, click here.
The four Arab countries which just condemned Qatar over its alleged involvement in terrorism just claimed that the country's refusal of their demands is just a proof that the allegation is true after all. Besides, because of the absence of a response from Qatar, these states vowed to enact another set of measures against it.

With the latest report and updates on the conflict among the Gulf states, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Egypt just released another joint statement telling that t list of their demand which they presented before were now void. With this, the countries pledged new economic, political, and legal steps against Qatar because of the allegation.

Moreover, Reuters reported that the four Arab States claimed that the government of Qatar disrupted the diplomatic efforts which they offered at first in order for the conflict to be resolved. Because of the country's refusal, they also said that Qatar has the interest to upset the security and stability in the Gulf region.

It can be recalled that the Arab states condemned Qatar for allegedly supporting acts of terrorism across the globe; thus, these nations presented their list of demands to the country. But Qatar already said that it will not listen to the demands but will prefer to have a diplomatic dialogue with the other Arab states instead.

The list of demands which the Arab states offered before included shutting down of the pan-Arab Al Jazeera TV channel, closing of the Turkish military in Doha, curtailing Qatar's support for Muslim Brotherhood, and downgrading its link and support for Iran. In totality, the Arab states presented 13 demands which Qatar failed to complete.

However, despite the warning from the four Arab states, Qatar made it sure that any measure which will be taken in the future will not be aimed at the people in Qatar but in its government. They also did not give any specific time or date as to when these new measures will be announced.

The previous month, the four Arab states already cut their ties with Qatar and even ordered their citizens in Qatar to leave the country. The day before the expiry of the deadline for the demands, the foreign ministers of these countries met in Cairo to discuss the matter.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Berkshire Hathaway has tentatively agreed with regulators and customer advocates to wall off Dallas-based utility Oncor from risks and debts of its parent company, a step that could help the conglomerate win approval for the $9 billion deal to acquire the largest utility in Texas and Oncor's bankrupt parent.

The move is aimed at protecting ratepayers from incurring costs not related to the distribution of electricity and ensuring that Oncor has the resources to maintain its transmission lines and the reliability of the system. Such concerns led the state Public Utility Commission to reject two earlier bids to buy Oncor and its parent, Energy Future Holdings, out of bankruptcy.

Late Thursday, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a subsidiary of billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, said it would pay $9 billion to acquire Energy Future Holdings and Oncor, which provides electricity to 10 million Texans. Oncor owns and operates the grid for most of North Texas. Energy Future Holdings has been in bankruptcy for three years as it has worked to restructure its $40 billion debt.

Berkshire said it values Oncor at $11.25 billion. Another group may bid for Oncor, Bloomberg News reported Friday, citing unnamed sources.

In a 13-page document, the PUC's executive director, a consumer advocate lawyer, the Office of Public Utility Counsel and an industrial power trade group all agreed to support Berkshire's acquisition, as long as the company agrees to their conditions. Those conditions also include maintaining a separate board of directors for Oncor and allowing Oncor to retain dividends, instead of passing them along to the parent company.

While the PUC must review the proposed deal, the agreement could bring Berkshire success where other companies failed, said Geoffrey Gay, a lawyer for the Steering Committee for Cities Served by Oncor, a group that advocates for cities and consumers. Gay signed the agreement and helped draft it.

"Fortunately for Berkshire Hathaway, they did what the prior two applicants did not do," Gay said Friday.

Brian Lloyd, the PUC's executive director, said the deal would fortify Oncor against risks that could be borne by ratepayers.

There were two earlier attempts to acquire Oncor, both rejected by the PUC. Most recently, Florida's NextEra Energy tried to acquire Oncor in an $18.4 billion deal that the PUC declared was not in the public interest because customers would have had to pay for 15 percent of NextEra's $45 billion in debt. NextEra had also asked the PUC to adjust its "ring fence" policy, which prevents transmission and distribution utilities like Oncor from owning power generation assets.

The policy is designed to protect transmission company assets and give ratepayers a buffer from financial risks, a protection that NextEra wanted to weaken, the PUC said.

In May 2016, an $18 billion deal to buy Oncor led by Dallas billionaire Ray Hunt fell apart over regulatory concerns. Next-Era lost in the original bidding process to Hunt.

Berkshire would have to agree to keep the ring fence in place if it hopes to acquire Oncor, according to the agreement drafted by the PUC staff. It also asks that Berkshire never raise Oncor's rates to help manage any expenses or debt associated with Energy Future Holdings' bankruptcy.

Berkshire is expected to seek approval from a bankruptcy court before it files a request for the PUC to approve the acquisition.

If approved, the deal will likely change little for Oncor customers, since Berkshire would be expected to keep Oncor's staff in place, Gay said.
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In the long-running political fight between drillers and farmers, chalk one up for the farmers.

The Trump administration is holding off any major shift in ethanol policy, announcing last week that it would maintain the blending mandate for ethanol and other biofuels near current levels in 2018. The oil industry in recent years has lobbied to revoke or reduce the ethanol mandate, adopted during the administration of President George W. Bush as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil when crude was in short supply and prices soared above $140 a barrel, compared with less than $50 today.

Oil and agriculture have long been at odds over ethanol, which is made from corn. The fuel slices into sales of gasoline but increases demand - and prices - for the corn grown by Midwestern farmers, and it creates thousands of jobs in rural counties.

The administration's decision to essentially keep the blending requirement the same as last year appeared a win for the ethanol industry. The administration lowered the total requirement for all biofuels by 0.2 percent to 19.24 billion gallons 2019, but those reductions come from cellulosic and advanced biofuels in part because these technologies are not growing as quickly as earlier thought, the EPA said.

Companies have struggled to commercialize a technology many once hoped would allow yard debris and other waste to be converted into fuel - as opposed to using food crops like corn and sugar cane as ethanol producers do.

The administration left the effective mandate for ethanol at 15 billion gallons, the same as 2017.

Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, which represents ethanol producers, said that by staying the course and maintaining a strong renewable fuel mandate, "consumers will continue to benefit from the policy."

The American Petroleum Institute had a mixed reaction to the administration's policy. While it "welcomed EPA's proposal to slightly lower the total biofuel volume for 2018," the group said in a statement, the plan "does not go far enough."

Most disappointed were makers of cellulosic and advanced biofuel.

"EPA's proposed advanced and cellulosic biofuel volume obligations do not reflect the full potential for these innovative fuels over the next year," said Brent Erickson, an executive vice president at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, which represents advanced biofuel producers. "The agency continues to rely on a flawed methodology formulated by the prior administration."

The Trump administration's decision on the blending requirement comes as oil and ethanol battle over legislation that would lift a longtime summer ban on gasoline with higher concentrations of ethanolAlthough most retailers sell gasoline with a 10 percent concentration of ethanol, known as E-10, an increasing number are carrying a blend with 15 percent ethanol, or E15. E15 pumps, however, are required to be shut during the peak summer driving season, under a federal law designed to reduce levels of asthma-causing ozone.

A coalition of Midwestern lawmaker have introduced a bill in the Senate to lift that ban, which could further boost the market for ethanol. That move opposed by the oil industry as well as lawmakers from Texas.
As he reached middle age, John Gambini's Sicilian roots were tugging hard.

Though a successful homebuilder, he'd long yearned to buy land to grow something, preferably something that would tie his Mediterranean ancestry to the Texas Hill Country - like a vineyard.

Except that by the time he was ready to take to the soil in 2008, the Texas vintners' scene already was pretty well established, with 162 wineries drawing tourists to tasting rooms in nearby places like Fredericksburg and New Braunfels. As he swallowed the notion that he'd come too late to Texas wine, an article on some pioneering olive growers caught his attention. The Texas olive oil scene was only starting to happen.

"I got together with my family members and said, 'Hey, this ties into our heritage,' " Gambini said. "Our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents were farmers and cooks back in Sicily, so they had to have been involved in olive oil."

Olive oil has been around for thousands of years, served on tables since 6,000 BC in Galilee.

"I really wanted to build a business that could realistically last forever," Gambini said.

Legend has it that it was the goddess Athena who delivered the olive tree to the Greeks, securing her namesake of the city of Athens. Plant scientists are hopeful that what came easily to the ancients ought to be doable across the world in Texas, but with Texas' springtime spin of temperature roulette, the jury's still out.

Industry kudos have proven that the potential is there. In 2009, Gambini transplanted some California olive trees to launch his 17-acre orchard in Dripping Springs, and a year later started pressing his oil under the Texas Hill Country Olive Co. brand. Bottles from that inaugural batch won a silver medal at the New York International Olive Oil Competition.

He's won medals every year since, this year taking home a silver medal at a competition in France.

Gambini spoke from his table at the inaugural Texas Olive Conference on June 16 in San Antonio, where he and other Texas olive growers displayed bottles of extra virgin olive oil with Texas-themed labels and $20-plus price tags.

His wasn't the only oil that has won awards and commanded a shelf space-worthy following. Southeast Texas Olive Co., a Beaumont-area operation started by an Italian petroleum engineer, has also taken home the silver from the New York competition. Texana Brands, which has a 156-acre olive orchard in Artesia Wells, is rolling out its line of extra virgin and herb-infused oils at H-E-B.

The conference provided a series of educational talks by Texas A&M University plant specialists as well as Californians who dominate the U.S. olive industry.

While Texas production is minuscule compared with California's, Texas growers boast being second in U.S. olive production and note that California has a more than 50-year head start.

Texas olive acreage documented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture census of agriculture went from zero in 2002 to 760 acres in 2012. Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension researchers now estimate there are about 1,800 acres of olive trees planted in the Lone Star state. The AgriLife team of extension agents are working with growers to learn the best olive varieties for the state and figure out how to best deal with climate challenges.

"This is our first conference as a unified olive industry in Texas," said Kerry Thornhill-Houston, a Dimmit County grower who is secretary of the Texas Association of Olive Oil. "We don't have good yield numbers, we're really kind of just growing. The more established orchards are just now coming into production.  I just had my first harvest last year."

While there are a couple of Texas orchards that are 100 acres or larger, the majority are 20 acres or less. The successful ones are in a narrow band of Texas that gets cool winter nights, but not prolonged freezes, and overall warm weather without being so hot that it withers the trees and prevents budding.

"You hate to tell someone not to plant, let's say, north of Interstate 10," she said. "You can grow olive trees anywhere, but it's certainly going to be more ornamental. And you can pick your fruit, brine it and put it in a mason jar, but that's all it will be."

Texas A&M advised against oil production in the state, saying it would be difficult to be commercially feasible, she said.

Olives are believed to have originated in Syria and Turkey at least 5,000 years ago and then spread throughout the Mediterranean region. The top olive oil producing country today is Spain, followed by Italy, Greece and other Mediterranean countries such as Turkey, Tunisia, Portugal, Syria and Morocco. Australia is having some success with olives, as are India and Argentina.

California, the only U.S. state with significant olive production, still produces less than 1 percent of the world's supply. But California has a large swath of Mediterranean climate, characterized by hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters.

Texas' climate is continental, which can bring relatively cold winters. It's more than a matter of latitude. Even North Texas gets too many frosty nights for olives.

Texas' subtropical Rio Grande Valley meanwhile is just too hot. Olive trees that might thrive near Galveston are unlikely to sustain fruit in Texas-Mexico border towns like Weslaco, where the climate is ideal for producing the state's famed red grapefruit.

One problem is the Rocky Mountains, which serve as a barrier that funnels arctic air away from California and pushes it south toward Texas, said Monte Nesbitt, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension specialist who spoke at the conference.

"Ice plays heck with with plant cells," Nesbitt said, explaining how water droplets can crystallize in the intracellular space and kill the olive plant.

There's been little published research on olives in Texas, but from being out among growers' trees scientists are learning that lack of cold may be just as detrimental. It may be similar to the way Hill Country wine grapes and peaches need a certain number of chill hours to flower, Nesbitt said. This year's warm winter knocked out about 70 percent of the Texas peach crop. In 2013, those peach trees were blossoming beautifully until a freeze hit in late March.

Paz's orchard has had a dismal year, which researchers at first attributed to a Jan. 7 freeze that knocked off about 10 percent of his leaves. But going back over the temperature data, they realized there were a lot more cold nights during January and February of 2016 winter, and last year Paz had a bumper crop.

"Olives are evergreen trees, but their fruiting mechanism is mediated by the ambient temperatures they experience in the winter, and some of those temperatures need to be cold," Nesbitt told the growers. "So here is the dilemma. We don't like too much cold, but we need cold in order to produce."

The good news for Texas producers is that many U.S. consumers are just discovering the taste of quality extra virgin olive oil, are willing to pay a premium for it, and are learning that it's a perishable product with a shelf life that declines with exposure to light and heat. That means Texas foodies and Texas visitors are likely to snap up bottles that haven't crossed the oceans and interstates under potentially damaging conditions.

"I know in Texas this is such a new industry, such a new product, that a lot of people are figuring out how to grow and develop your trees. So once you do get to the harvesting to the crushers, figure out what you need from your milling location relationship with them," Swafford said. "It will be a huge benefit to be able to have your own label because in Texas now the market is so huge that there's really not much competition for everybody.

One of the benefits we have is that Texans love Texas products, and so that's a really really good start."

Extra virgin essentially means extra pure, and by having only small amounts to press at an on-site or area mill, Texas producers can have more control over the entire process, said Joshua Swafford of the Central Texas Olive Ranch in Georgetown.

There are currently at least seven olive oil mills in Texas, to include the Sandy Oaks mill in Elmendorf, Texas Mobile Olive Mill, and Gambino's Hill County Olive Co. mill, which is part of a tourist-friendly complex that includes the orchard, a shop and bistro.

Since olives are inherently non-genetically modified and gluten-free, producers can pursue labeling features that appeal to consumers. The "Go Texan" brand available through the Texas Department of Agriculture is another marketing tool, said Mary Bolton, a marketing specialist with California Olive Ranch.

"Consumers want to know who it came from. There's a level of respect if they know that it came from a person in the U.S.. They can feel that, they can touch that," Bolton said. "As farmers, you probably don't necessarily agree with the non-GMO mentality, but it does sell."
The owner of a Houston staffing company was sentenced to three years in prison for not paying $18 million in payroll, Social Security and Medicare taxes, spending the money instead on his ranch and personal travel.

Richard Floyd Tatum Jr., 57, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett, who also ordered Tatum to repay the $18 million.

Tatum, who faced up to five years in prison, pleaded guilty to one count of failing to pay employment taxes in March.

Tatum owned Associated Marine & Industrial Staffing, a personnel firm that provided temporary workers to businesses. The company had about 1,000 employees, including internal employees who worked for the staffing firm and external employees assigned to client work sites.

Between March 2008 and December 2012, Tatum withheld $12 million in payroll taxes from his employees but did not forward the funds to the IRS, according to the Department of Justice. Tatum also failed to pay the company's portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes for that same period.

He used the money to make payments on his ranch and travel to Las Vegas, Hawaii and France, the Justice Department said.

Richard O. Ely II, the lawyer representing Tatum, said he doesn't have a way to pay the money back.

"He lost everything he had," Ely said, including property seized to pay bills. Tatum's company is out of business and has no assets.

Tatum is free on bond until he is notified where to report to begin serving his sentence, Ely said.
The information in this column is intended to provide a general understanding of the law, not as legal advice. Readers with legal problems, including those whose questions are addressed here, should consult attorneys for advice on their particular circumstances.

Q: Is there a group that offers free legal advice to veterans?

A: Yes, it is the Houston Volunteer Lawyers, a service of the Houston Bar Association.

It has weekly legal advice clinics for veterans. Every Friday, veterans can go to the Debakey VA Medical Center at 2002 Holcombe from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. for free legal advice.

There are also Saturday clinics held in surrounding counties every week or two. The next one is in Lake Jackson from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on July 15.

Veterans and the surviving spouses of deceased veterans can attend and take advantage of the programs.

Attendees should arrive early to secure a private meeting with one of the volunteer attorneys.

You must be a resident of Harris County or one of the surrounding counties, and you must have a household income of no greater than 300 percent of federal poverty guidelines.

Call 713-759-1133 or visit hba.org/veterans-legal-initiative/ for more information.

Q: My parents passed away several years ago and had a living trust, which was very helpful. If I retype the document and put my name and my son's name in the proper places, will this be a legal document?

A: Maybe, but it will probably need some major editing. There are a lot of potential problems with your idea, but the first that comes to mind is the fact that the trust was written for a married couple, and you have indicated that you are not married. If that's so, then there will be countless edits that need to be made. Estate planning attorneys have different trust forms for married and unmarried clients.

Also, the trust agreement is just the first of many documents you likely need. You should also have a pourover will, power of attorney, medical power of attorney, directive to physicians, HIPAA release, and transfer documents to fund the revocable trust.

You also haven't indicated whether you or your parents had significant estates, as that might change the planning considerably.

You may be able to pull this off without hiring an attorney, but you could also be creating a giant mess for your son.

Q: Is there a website or bulletin board where attorneys or clients can post names of deceased persons whose wills are lost? The year and city are known, but the name of the attorney is unknown.

A: There is no such website or bulletin board.
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Texans have long stored oil, natural gas and other forms of energy in underground salt caverns, so it's only natural that a Houston startup wants to store wind energy there, too.

The method is in the company's name, Apex-CAES, where CAES stands for compressed air energy storage. The company plans to use electricity at night, when it's cheap, to compress air into an underground cavern. The company then releases the air through turbines to generate electricity when the price is right.

The only thing holding back this 30-year-old technology has been the economics. The difference between the high and low prices in a 24-hour period has not been large enough to generate a reasonable return on the capital investment.

Texas' wholesale electricity market and huge nightly wind resource, though, make compressed air energy storage viable, said Jack Farley, CEO of Apex-CAES. Build enough compressed air energy storage, and Texas would never have to burn coal again, and consumers would enjoy even lower electricity prices, he told me.

"I think you could turn off all fossil-fuel generators in Texas when you wanted to," he said.

Apex-CAES is raising $500 million to build its first facility near Palestine. Located near five existing natural gas storage caverns, the compressed air would spin turbines rated at 317 megawatts, capable of generating 15,000 megawatt-hours of electricity over two days without a recharge. The company, though, would never want to release all the air.

The big opportunity for energy storage companies, whether they use batteries, compressed air or hydroelectric dams, is to keep the electric grid balanced as people turn appliances on and off and while generators ramp up and shut down. Sources of electricity that keep the system smoothed out are called ancillary services, and they earn a premium from grid operators like ERCOT, the nonprofit grid manager that supplies electricity to most of Texas.

ERCOT also pays a premium for responsive reserves, electricity that is immediately available on a moment's notice in case of an emergency. While compressed air energy can't compete with low-priced natural gas or wind in the bulk electricity market, it can compete to offer reliable ancillary services.

Compressed air has both a price and operational advantage over batteries. Salt caverns are cheaper than lithium-ion batteries, and the system can fill the cavern with air while generating electricity. You can't charge and discharge a battery at the same time.

Operators can easily and quickly adjust output to match the needs of the grid - unlike with a natural gas turbine. In many ways, compressed air storage operates like a hydroelectric dam.

"ERCOT uses a regulation product every second of every day. They deploy responsive reserves about eight times per month, every month of the year," Farley said. "We would be there for the grid 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to balance the system and keep it at 60 hertz."

The secret sauce is Texas' cheap wind power, which during the spring, fall and much of the winter is basically free at night because there is so much of it.

Texas has 19 gigawatts of installed wind turbine capacity and is expected to add another 10 gigawatts by 2020.

The only thing preventing Texas from building more wind, solar and compressed air energy storage is the low price of natural gas.

With prices averaging below $3 for a million BTUs, the electricity business is a tough place to make a profit right now.

Old attitudes are also a problem. Critics of clean energy complain about the intermittence of wind and solar power, and the high cost of lithium-ion batteries. Sure, solar is strongest during the day and wind produces the most at night, but the weather doesn't always cooperate.

The renewable energy sector, though, is maturing, and because tax credits for it are rolling off by 2020, smart people are working to solve those problems.

Farley has identified suitable salt domes and caverns across most of the U.S. Wind and solar companies are building widely dispersed assets so that when weather is bad at one location, it's probably good at another.

Americans are also waking up to the social benefits of converting to renewable energy and storage. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have calculated that shutting down coal plants and replacing them with natural gas has saved tens of thousands of lives. Getting rid of coal altogether would save tens of thousands more.

Apex will need a small amount of natural gas to heat the air it compresses to maximize turbine output. But storage facilities could limit natural gas usage to when demand peaks in the summer and winter while eliminating the need for coal completely.

The power sector is undergoing a revolution, and Americans should embrace and encourage startups like Apex-CAES. Just as innovators found a way to produce natural gas from shale rock and produce huge amounts of oil and natural gas, equally inventive innovators are working to solve the problems around clean energy. They are showing results.
Lorenzo Simonelli holds citizenship from Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Now he's moving to Houston to lead a company with pedigree that is just as diverse.

Simonelli is the chief executive of the new Baker Hughes, a GE company, created less than a week ago by a merger of the company of Howard Hughes Sr. and the oil drilling pioneer R.C. Baker, with the oil and gas division of the conglomerate founded by Thomas Edison. He now faces the task of integrating two companies with different cultures and different strengths while squeezing out $1.2 billion in cost savings and leading the world's second-largest energy services company into a fiercely competitive market where oil company clients are demanding lower costs, greater efficiencies and higher production.

Simonelli sees the new Baker Hughes selling services across the energy industry, from wellhead to refinery to power plants. But that future, he said, will grow from the foundations of innovation, risk-taking and execution built by Edison, Hughes and Baker.

"These are three iconic names in the industrialization of the United States of America, and you've just brought them together," Simonelli said. "People are excited."

Simonelli, perhaps like the new company itself, brings an unusual blend of youth and experience to his job. At 43, he has been a top executive at GE for nearly a decade, becoming the company's youngest division CEO ever at age 34. He also was one of four finalists to succeed retiring chief executive Jeff Immelt - a job that went to GE Healthcare chief John Flannery, nearly 12 years his senior.

Simonelli's consolation prize was running the $23 billion Baker Hughes, of which GE controls more than 62 percent. Simonelli, who is single, is house hunting inside the Loop. He's also looking for good Italian restaurants.

From olive to crude oil

Simonelli's Italian roots reach to his family's vineyard and estate in Tuscany, where his relatives produce and sell wine and olive oil. His father, Leonardo, however, broke from the family's agricultural traditions to pursue a career as a European banker, taking Simonelli to London when he was 9.

It was through his father's Italian and London business connections that Simonelli found his way to General Electric. One of his father's friends, former GE Vice Chairman Paolo Fresco, led him to training programs at GE.

From there, it didn't take Simonelli long to get on the fast track for global assignments from Cleveland to Budapest.

"I've been fortunate in being at places at the right time, and also taking good advice," Simonelli said.

By pure coincidence - although Simonelli jokes it was his master plan - General Electric entered the energy sector the same year Simonelli joined the company in 1994. GE acquired the equipment maker Nuovo Pignone and set up the GE Oil & Gas headquarters in Florence, near Simonelli's hometown, helping to persuade him to switch his aspirations from finance to manufacturing, energy and power.

"I always wanted to create something," Simonelli said, tracing that desire to his wine and olive oil making heritage. "There's something visible you can point to that you're delivering to others."

His passion now, he said, is running a business, in this case one with nearly 70,000 employees in 120 countries. With the merger, Baker Hughes, once a distant No. 3, surpassed archrival and one-time merger partner Halliburton in employment and revenues and now only trails industry leader Schlumberger.

The new Baker Hughes

GE and the old Baker Hughes negotiated a merger that kept the Baker Hughes name (with the addition, "a GE company") and ensured relative independence by keeping it as a separately traded company, rather than swallowing it as a GE division. Former Baker Hughes CEO Martin Craighead remains at the company as vice chairman.

The goal is to combine Baker Hughes' deep knowledge of the oil patch and expertise in drill bits and other tools with GE's global scale, strengths in deep-water equipment and leadership in technology to collect and to analyze massive amounts of data from industrial operations.

Jim Wicklund, an analyst at Credit Suisse in Dallas, said the new Baker Hughes will face inevitable growing pains and lose some entrepreneurially minded employees worried about contending with more bureaucratic layers. GE values its tried-and-true structure of subsidiaries answering to the parent company.

"Every time GE has made an acquisition, they've taken the time to convert management to the GE way of doing things," he said.

Doing so is not necessarily a bad thing because GE has made it work for decades, but the time effort and attention it requires could cost the company market share in the next 12 months or so as the company and its employees adjust, Wicklund said. But over the longer term, he added, Baker Hughes' rebirth as a larger, more technologically advanced business could lead to new markets, higher profits and greater value.

Baker Hughes' goal is to offer energy companies fully integrated services from drilling to refining to electricity generation - a strategy Simonelli describes as "molecule to the megawatt." The new Baker Hughes, for instance, can offer everything from wind turbines to oil field equipment, adding big data analytics that can predict equipment failures before they happen to avoid costly shutdowns.

A rapid rise

Simonelli emphasizes that GE isn't swallowing Baker Hughes, which will have dual headquarters in Houston and London, which is the home of GE Oil & Gas. Rather, he said, "It is a blending of the best of both."

And just as combining different grapes for a quality red wine blend is challenging, there's delicacy, and even pain, in integrating two major companies into one seamless operation. Simonelli will have to cut jobs and to close many facilities, including in the Houston area, where the company owns or leases about 40 buildings.

Baker Hughes is promising $1.2 billion in cost savings by 2020, but because the operations of Baker Hughes and GE Oil & Gas didn't overlap much, there won't be nearly as much meat-cleaver cutting that would have followed a Halliburton takeover, had it not been blocked by federal antitrust officials. Still, Simonelli acknowledged, job cuts are coming to back-office operations such as accounting and human resources.

Simonelli has made tough decisions before, winning praise and promotions. At 34, he found himself moving to Erie, Pa., to lead the GE Transportation division. He inherited a business with more than 5,000 employees and a $300 million investment in developing the world's most fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly locomotive.

"If the guy is 35, he has to be a pretty smart guy," Frank Fusco, president of the Erie plant's union, told reporters at the time. "GE doesn't move guys around who aren't."

Simonelli grew the division - including opening a Texas plant in Fort Worth - but not without difficulties. During the recession that ended in 2009, he cut 1,500 jobs at the Erie plant, froze executive pay, canceled the company Christmas party and even delayed turning on the heat in some buildings to keep the division above water.

As the economy rebounded, GE Transportation became GE's fast-growing division, with expansions in Texas, Brazil, China and Turkey. But he faced more tough decisions. After failing to get sufficient concessions from the union in contract negotiations, Simonelli shifted production from Erie to overseas plants and slashed another 1,000 jobs there in 2013. He also moved the headquarters from Erie to Chicago.

These moves led to more growth for the division as the rail industry grew outside a stagnant U.S. market.

Changed landscape

Simonelli would face more tough decisions after he took over GE Oil & Gas in 2014. It was a huge vote of confidence for the executive, then just 40, who was taking over a business in which GE had spent $11 billion to make acquisitions such as Houston-based Hydril and Vetco Gray, as well as U.K.-based Wellstream. Simonelli also was succeeding Dan Heintzelman, who had been named GE's vice chairman. Analysts saw the moves as part of preparations to groom Simonelli as Immelt's successor.

But then the oil bust hit, sending prices from more than $100 per barrel in 2014 to $26 last year. Just prior to Simonelli's promotion, GE Oil & Gas had bought Texas' Lufkin Industries for $3.3 billion in what proved to be an ill-timed investment. Simonelli had to cut 1,000 job over two years.

Looking for bargains

Still, Simonelli kept his eye on growth. In early 2016, he spoke of going on the offense during the bust, looking to buy companies at bargain prices, to launch new partnerships and to disrupt an industry undergoing change.

At the time, with Halliburton trying to complete its merger with Baker Hughes, Simonelli looked to buy some Baker Hughes business units that Halliburton planned to sell to appease regulators.

That gave him intimate knowledge of Baker Hughes and, when the Halliburton deal collapsed, he immediately reached out to Craighead, the Baker Hughes CEO.

Those talks ultimately led to the merger that has changed the landscape of the energy services industry.

"I'd say we've executed what we said we would do," Simonelli said. "We are disrupters."
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The show that consumes the Blaffer Art Museum this summer feels like a spare but elegant fever dream involving bullets, motorbikes, mysterious funeral traditions, global music and pop culture.

This heady brew represents about five years' work by the Propeller Group, the Vietnam-based collective of Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Matt Lucero and Phunam, who consider and weigh the balance between commerce and creativity.

Visitors hear jazzy music - something akin to a New Orleans funeral procession - as they enter a gallery that acts like a kind of portal, hinting at themes of ancient history, Communism and pop culture.

Then they encounter a gallery containing only a huge carved snake, the mounted skull of an ox with golden horns and a red beard, and the dusty black skeleton of a Honda Dream motorbike that has mutated into something nightmarish, like the "Mad Max" version of a silly dipping bird toy about to dunk its beak into a glass of water.

Finally, behind a curtain in a darkened room, the musicians come to life in the video "The Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music," a cinematic reflection on the passage from life to death. Its title was inspired by a Vietnamese proverb about death as a transition, not an ending.

More Information The Propeller Group When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, through Sept. 30; "AK-47 vs. M16: The Film" screens 5:15 p.m. Thursdays in July and September, 5:15 p.m. Saturdays in August Where: Blaffer Art Museum, University of Houston, 4173 Elgin Info: Free; 713-743-9521, blafferartmuseum.org See More Collapse

Shot in the Mekong Delta for the Prospect art fair in New Orleans, the video stars a fire-breathing, transgender character who at one point floats in her coffin like a pre-Raphaelite vision in a watery netherworld full of giant lily pads. The snake and the skull appear as props, and gorgeous images of the jaunty brass band accompanying the coffin fly by.

The video runs 20 minutes but could keep a viewer spellbound through repeat viewings. Except there's more to see.

Glowing vitrines in an upstairs gallery hold transparent bricks of ballistics gel into which bullets from an AK-47 and an M16 have been fired at each other. The motion of their impact is frozen into a mesmerizing, explosive effect inside the icy-looking gel, a material ballistics designers use to study trajectories.

Oddly, knowing this makes these eerily silent objects more poetic: devastating beauties, reflecting heavenly light.

A different kind of tension fills a room with the two-channel video installation "The Guerillas of Cu Chi." It's designed to make viewers feel like targets in the sights of Westerners who are gleefully playing war, in slow motion, at a shooting range playground above the Cu Chi tunnels where the Viet Cong army once operated.

Propeller's first spins

The Propeller Group's three principals were infants during the Vietnam War, which Vietnam's citizens call the American War.

They grew up in different circumstances but were drawn to Ho Chi Minh City as adults for a lot of reasons. Not least was the intoxicating, international allure of a place still widely misunderstood by Westerners who see it only through the lens of Hollywood films about a war that ended more than 40 years ago.

Tuan Andrew Nguyen was in town recently for a public talk with Blaffer curatorial fellow Javier Sanchez Martinez and University of Houston professor Duy Lap Nguyen.

The academics plowed through a lot of high-minded talk about the liminality in the Propeller Group's work - that sense of being caught between two places.

Nguyen, however, sounded like a genuine, down-to-earth kind of guy. He drew laughs, telling stories about the works on view and an important part of the collective's early practice that isn't so well documented.

In the beginning, the Propeller Group thought it would be fun to create a fake advertising production company in Vietnam. This was about seven years ago, before people embraced fake news as a valid, alternative reality.

The artists thought they might repurpose advertising to "colonize the public psyche." Without pushing their own political views, they wanted to run with the wolves for a while, so to speak, although they saw themselves as sheep in wolves' clothing.

Then, surprise: Real clients called, with real jobs.

They couldn't admit their operation was fake. That would have blown the whole point.

So they took opportunities, initially making music videos for Vietnamese pop stars and films for international art collectives that included Denmark's Superflex.

When global conglomerates invited the artists to pitch, they treated presentations as performance pieces. They could be so purposefully provocative, people would shake their heads and ask, "Who invited these guys?"

But they also needed the money. Eventually, they took proposals for clients such as Coca-Cola seriously.

"It was not a 100 percent heroic position we were taking," Nguyen said. "We had to make a living."

The collective also wanted to support San Art, an artist space they founded in Ho Chi Minh City.

Their work might be more ground-breaking if they hadn't separated church and state by establishing a for-profit entity, TPG Films, for their commercial work.

But they did test the waters: One of the Propeller Group's early projects was an "un-branding campaign" for Vietnam that would populate online search engines, designed to lead people to the sites of contemporary brand ambassadors from the country's pop culture scene.

The ad challenge

Vietnam is a complex, dynamic place, Nguyen said. Two-thirds of the country's population is younger than 30, and it's the world's third-largest consumer of online videos, after the U.S. and Korea.

The big flags in the exhibition's first gallery were made as part of the group's cheerfully bright "Television Commercial for Communism" project, which grew from the artists' fascination with the similarities between big-budget ad messaging and Communist agitprop techniques.

For that one, they collaborated with the major ad agency TBWA/Chiat Day, the company behind Apple's legendary "1984" Super Bowl commercial.

"We thought it would be great if we could end up on the Super Bowl, then found out that a 60-second spot cost $2.5 million," Nguyen said, grinning. "So we started a Kickstarter campaign. We ended up raising about $632."

Everywhere the artists looked in Ho Chi Minh City, they saw the escalating culture clash of Communism and capitalism. After the country opened up to world trade, slick ads for global brands including Coca-Cola, Honda, LG and Samsung quickly invaded space that had been dominated for decades by old-style propaganda.

By 2005, Nguyen was also noticing graffiti on the streets.

"I thought that was amazing - a resistance, a way of entering in and intervening," he said.

The Propeller Group wanted to involve those first-generation graffiti artists in one of its early projects. The idea for "Temporary Public Gallery" sounded simple enough, the kind of billboard enterprise common to cities such as Houston that welcome art in empty advertising space. (Houston even has a growing collection of more than 175 murals painted on its traffic-control boxes.)

But trying to make public art legally in Vietnam, where censors control the rules, proved to be an almost existential exercise. One of the group's images featured the hand of Matt Lucero's dad, a longtime airplane painter who as a U.S. soldier was involved in the spraying of napalm during the war.

Because his hand showed interactions with chemicals, the artists wanted the image to be seen as an apologetic gesture. But that wasn't why the censors wouldn't accept the image.

Their issue: It wasn't selling anything, so it couldn't occupy advertising space.

The Propeller Group also explores consumer culture from the perspective of upwardly mobile citizens.

That was part of the idea behind "The Dream," the project that hatched the ghostly motorbike skeleton. When the war ended, everyone in Vietnam was essentially equal, Nguyen said: Everyone rode bikes. Then the Honda Dream became a status symbol, and eventually it became so ubiquitous there was a thriving black market for parts.

The Propeller Group set up a bike one night like catnip in a Ho Chi Minh City courtyard, training a surveillance camera on it as thieves stripped the wheels, handlebars, gears, seat and every other sellable part of the bike that wasn't bolted down.

What's left is a monument to "an icon of social mobility that  collapses," Nguyen said.

Circuitous journey

Early on, many museum curators didn't know what to make of the Propeller Group. Was it an ad agency or an art collective?

The artists wisely realized it was OK to confuse people.

"It meant they were questioning something - their political stance or the way they understood the world of art practice was becoming destabilized," Nguyen said. "They didn't know. And to not know is a good place to be."

The Blaffer is screening the group's newest piece, the feature-length film "AK-47 vs. M16," once weekly during the run of the show.

A montage of clips from Hollywood movies, promotional videos, documentaries, news reportage, YouTube clips and footage by the artists, it pits the weapons popularized by the opposing forces in the Vietnam-American war as somewhat eternal rivals who are still duking it out in Africa and the Middle East.

Nguyen thinks of the spectacular narrative as a Batman-versus-Superman-type conflict. By tracing the history of the weapons in an over-the-top, make-you-throw-up kind of way, the film is the antithesis of the serene installation with the vitrines with the gel blocks.

Nguyen said he's obsessed with the exhibition's objects. Films may be the Propeller Group's primary stock in trade, but its narratives are illusory and fictional, he explained. "The moving image projected on the wall is not really there, but this object of hand-carved wood is something we can touch and take home."

He also relishes the irony of the group's circuitous journey: how they grew up as graffiti artists disenfranchised with advertising, then earned graduate art degrees, then pursued their art as advertisers, which allowed them to become - well, bigger and better artists.

These days, the flow moves both ways: Their shows at major biennials, museums and galleries around the world have also brought TPG Films more business.

They still keep the two practices separate.

"In advertising, you have to have a very specific message. Everything is boiled down to an image, and that image has to be associated with the message, like 'Nike. Just do it. Go buy it,' " Nguyen said. "Whereas art has to function the opposite, where you can unpack and expand and dimensionalize and spatialize what we've come to accept as singular messages into a more complicated and complex understanding of that phenomena."

Clearly, he can talk with the wolves when he wants to.
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Executive director and CEO Mark Hanson will leave the Houston Symphony to become the executive director of the San Francisco Symphony, just months before the start of the Houston Symphony's new season.

Hanson, 43, who has been with the Houston Symphony since 2010, will begin his new job Sept. 1. The move could be seen as a step up for the relatively young executive director, as the San Francisco Symphony boasts a larger operating budget - $78 million during 2014-15.

During his tenure, the Houston Symphony's budget grew from $25 million to $34 million, and the orchestra recruited music director Andres Orozco-Estrada.

Hanson and his wife Christina chaired the symphony's gala in May, helping raise more than $1.6 million for the education and community programming.

"He's a strong leader, and he's innovative," said Houston Symphony Board President Janet Clark. "This reflects very well in terms of all his accomplishments."

More Information Sound orchestras The Houston Symphony Orchestra does well, but how does it rank with the nation's top orchestras? If you're judging by monetary value, it's outside the top ten. Here's a list of the nation's top orchestras ranked by base pay of musicians. The data comes from the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians. 1. Los Angeles Philharmonic, $153,400 2. Chicago Symphony Orchestra, $151,320 3. San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, $150,454 4. Boston Symphony Orchestra, $142,896 5. New York Philharmonic, $141,113 6. National Symphony Orchestra, $136,136 7. Philadelphia Orchestra, $128,700 8. Cleveland Orchestra, $127,504 9. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, $107,117 10. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, $103,500 11. Minnesota Orchestra, $102,908 12. Houston Symphony Orchestra, $92,040 See More Collapse

Clark said the symphony is moving forward "with some urgency" to find a replacement. Chief Development Officer David Chambers and Chief of Strategic Initiatives Amanda Dinitz will serve as co-interim executive directors.

Hanson succeeds Brent Assink, who stepped down in March from his position at the San Francisco Symphony.

"I take very seriously the commitment to expanding the profile of the San Francisco Symphony, both internally and externally," Hanson said. "I want every single member of the Bay Area community to feel a sense of pride in what the San Francisco Symphony is doing, and I'm not yet convinced that that has been accomplished."

Hanson has spent seven years in Houston, where he has taken vigorous steps to expand the orchestra's donor and subscriber base and to broaden the orchestra's profile throughout the community. Among the initiatives of his tenure were a multiyear plan to strengthen the orchestra's financial standing, a growth in multimedia performance and outreach programs, and focused outreach efforts to the city's African-American, Hispanic and Asian communities.

"Mark is someone who is very focused and driven," said Steven Mach, the past president of the Houston Symphony board. "He's always on. You get him 24/7, 365 days a year, and he won't take no for an answer.

"Even before he came to Houston, when he wasn't even on the payroll yet, he was already working on one of our major funders to make a substantial gift."

Hanson was able to balance the goals of artistic excellence, community outreach and financial sustainability, Clark said. She pointed to various programs that involved bringing the orchestra into new communities, and bringing younger, more diverse audiences into Jones Hall.

"Our vision is to be a top 10 orchestra that's the most accessible and relevant," she said. "Mark understood competing objectives. Even through his heart is in one place, his brain is engaged."

Hanson studied cello at the Eastman School of Music but transferred to Harvard to pursue "other academic itches," he said. He earned a degree in social studies and soon discovered an interest in nonprofit management.

He enrolled in a management training program overseen by the American Symphony Orchestra League (now the League of American Orchestras), and went on to hold leadership positions with the Rockford (Ill.) Symphony Orchestra, the Knoxville (Tenn.) Symphony and the Milwaukee Symphony before being hired in Houston.

His wife, who has an MBA and a master's degree in arts administration, has worked as director of marketing at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Chicago Symphony. They are the parents of three sons, ages 11, 8 and 6.

"I hope this will be my last orchestra job - and I know that Christina and our boys are hoping that too," he said. "I'm humbled to have the opportunity to be welcomed into the San Francisco Symphony family, and I'm going to take my responsibility to help steward this organization very, very seriously."

The Houston Symphony's 104th season begins on Sept. 9 with a concert featuring mezzo-soprano Susan Graham.
A federal court settlement that requires Hobby Lobby Stores to pay a $3 million fine for illegally importing thousands of ancient Iraqi artifacts is casting a cloud over the much-anticipated Museum of the Bible associated with the store's owners just as the museum prepares to open near the National Mall.

Hobby Lobby president Steve Green also chairs the board of the Museum of the Bible, and the Green family is the museum's major funder. In a civil complaint filed Wednesday, federal prosecutors said that the craft store chain that Green leads had smuggled more than 3,000 items into the United States including clay tablets and seals - precisely the sort of item in the museum's collection, which contains many items donated by the Green family.

Though the items seized by the U.S. government were shipped to Hobby Lobby, not the museum, scholars say the federal case is a blot on the $400 million museum set to open in November.

"They put scholars in a situation where it becomes very ethically difficult for someone to engage in those collections in any way, other than to criticize them," said Donna Yates, an archaeologist who specializes in the study of antiquities trafficking and art crime. "Are they going to come to the museum, somebody who's doing significant Biblical research or linguistic research, where they're going to publish [about] material that's very likely to be stolen?"

The federal complaint described many layers of suspicion surrounding Hobby Lobby's purchase of 5,500 artifacts for $1.6 million in 2010: The company never met the dealer, and wired payments to seven different bank accounts. The items arrived in 10 packages at three different Hobby Lobby addresses, labeled only "ceramic tiles" and "clay tiles (sample)."

In a statement, Green said, "We have accepted responsibility and learned a great deal." Hobby Lobby said that the company made "some regrettable mistakes" because officials didn't understand the rules for properly bringing antiquities into the country.

The statement said that the craft store chain - widely associated with its 2014 Supreme Court victory ensuring that devout religious business owners like the Greens do not have to provide coverage for contraception for their employers - started collecting ancient artifacts in 2009. The pursuit of these items was "consistent with the Company's mission and passion for the Bible," Hobby Lobby said. The company said it planned to preserve the artifacts and offer them for scholars to study.

That project sounds much like the goal of the Museum of the Bible, where Green has promised to house more than 44,000 Biblical texts and artifacts to lure serious researchers and flashy interactive exhibits to attract tourists.

But for its part, the museum - a nonprofit organization which is not a subsidiary of the craft store company but is led by the same man - said in a statement on Thursday that the artifacts implicated in the federal case were never part of its collection.

"The Museum of the Bible was not a party to either the investigation or the settlement. None of the artifacts identified in the settlement are part of the Museum's collection, nor have they ever been. The Museum adheres to the current Association of Art Museum Directors standards on the Acquisition of Archaeological Material and Ancient Art, as well as guidelines set forth by the American Alliance of Museums," the museum's statement said.

It also said that the institution "aims to be the most technologically advanced museum in the world."

Robert Cooley, the vice chairman of the museum's board, said that the museum's ethical standards are different from the standards of Green, the chairman.

"The curators and the director of the collection department have professional standards they go by. The museum does not accept collections without full documented provenance and credibility records," he said. "Every item in the museum is documented."

Numerous other board members and staff members declined to comment on Thursday, directing a reporter to the museum's public relations representative.

Cooley, the president emeritus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, is an archaeologist by training himself who has supervised excavations in the Middle East.

"We maintain our standards at the museum. And if any collection, be it the Green family or any other family that donates, does not meet the standards that we require, then we do not take that collection," he said.

Candida Moss, the co-author of a forthcoming book on the Green family's rapid acquisition of Biblical antiquities and attempts to promote the influence of Christianity on public life, said that the museum has tried to distance itself from its chairman and his craft stores since the media began reporting on his antiquities acquisitions two years ago.

"The Greens remain very much involved. Green is still head of the board," she said. "The fact is, they're not as separate as they claim. Many of the artifacts will be on loan from the Green collection. There are other items in their collection that scholars are asking questions about."

Brent Clark, an Oklahoma lawyer also working on a manuscript about the Green family, agreed: "Steve Green is going to be in charge of that thing, come hell or high water." But Clark doesn't think the federal case will blunt tourist interest in the museum.

"Keep in mind the Greens are successful merchants to the middle class. They've always been marketing silk flowers and fake Christmas trees to the middle class, and it's made them rich," he said. "Their instincts tell them that thousands of people are going to get on buses in Cincinnati, Ohio, to go see it, and they're probably right."

It's the university researchers who are most likely to be dissuaded from coming to the museum.

"Individual scholars will have to ask themselves to what extent are they willing to be complicit," Moss said.

Yates, the art crime expert, said that many major journals of archaeology research refuse to publish articles based on artifacts whose provenance can't be proven, and researchers won't be willing to do work that they can't publish.

Several scholars, including Yates, said the federal complaint filed Wednesday left them convinced that Hobby Lobby had willfully ignored their own lawyers and other experts, not just that the company had been unaware that they might be importing looted Iraqi goods.

"Basically everyone should be suspicious of any antiquity for sale without a provable history," Yates said. "Dealers should be telling people that it's kind of an obvious thing. When we're talking about Iraq, it's even more obvious. That this stuff is dodgy, it's not news. It's a known thing in the market. If an object doesn't have a history that proves that it is legal, you just assume that it is illegal, because it probably is."

Joel Baden, Moss's co-author, said that the Green family's interest in buying thousands of ancient artifacts likely spurred bad actors in Iraq to steal the items in the first place.

"If Hobby Lobby is willing to buy them, people will be willing to loot for them because there's a market for them," he said.

The federal settlement requires Hobby Lobby to send thousands of items back to Iraq. But in many respects, the damage is already done.

"The absolute most important thing for an archaeologist is context. And that's exactly what these antiquities have lost," Yates said. "We may not be able to tell if this one came from a whole library, or this was kept in a temple, or they were individual records. We've lost absolutely all of that information. All we have are the little tattered remains of what's written on the tablets."

"It's a huge loss," she continued, "and all of us could benefit from this information, learning about ourselves and our past."
The 23-year-old who saved the world from a devastating cyberattack in May was asleep in his bed in the English seaside town of Ilfracombe after a night of partying when another online extortion campaign spread across the globe.

Around 6 p.m. on June 27, Marcus Hutchins, a self-taught computer-security researcher and avid surfer, was awakened by a phone call from a colleague telling him another attack was underway. Dreading a return of the virulent WannaCry malware that he stopped in its tracks the previous month, Hutchins logged on to his computer in the house he shares with his parents and younger brother to scan the latest reports.

By then, more than 80 Ukrainian banks, government agencies and multinational firms including shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk and Russia's biggest oil company Rosneft had been hit by a ransomware attack spreading like an electronic plague across their networks.

Within 20 minutes, Hutchins later recounted, he got hold of a sample of the malware and was relieved to see it wasn't another WannaCry, which infected hundreds of thousands of computers in more than 150 countries, but something more targeted and less virulent.

Though both attacks took advantage of flaws in Microsoft's Windows operating system to spread their payloads, WannaCry used the internet to propagate itself -- each compromised computer would scan and infect another, creating a snowball effect -- while the so-called Petya attack was confined to local networks. Petya appeared bigger at first because hackers hit Ukrainian software company M.E.Doc and used an automatic update feature to download its malware onto the computers of all users of the software, Hutchins said.

Researchers like Hutchins and his colleagues at Los Angeles-based threat-intelligence firm Kryptos Logic are akin to seismologists, scanning the internet for electronic tremors that could signal the next attack. This time he was only an observer, but on May 12 Hutchins stopped the WannaCry attack that crippled organizations from Britain's National Health Service to Deutsche Bahn in Germany and Renault factories across Europe.

With a mop of curly hair, baggy jeans, T-shirt and sneakers, Hutchins is an unlikely hero. He rarely leaves rural north Devon, where he has lived since he was 8, and hadn't traveled abroad until last year. He learned to program computers at 12 and was tracking and disrupting botnet attacks for his own enjoyment before anyone paid him to do so.

Hutchins started a blog under the pseudonym MalwareTech while still a teenager and was hired by Kryptos in 2015. He said his parents and friends didn't even know he had a job until the WannaCry attack.

Hutchins was supposed to be enjoying a week's vacation, but returning home after a lunch of burgers and cheesy chips with a friend and seeing the carnage WannaCry was inflicting, he couldn't resist jumping in.

"The fact that so many NHS trusts were being hit at the same time was pretty much unprecedented," Hutchins said in an interview a few weeks after the attack, drinking Coca-Cola in a hotel bar in Ilfracombe, a picturesque but faded tourist town. "That for me was a massive red flag, which showed that this thing was spreading on its own."

Most ransomware, which encrypts files on a target machine to force its owner to make a payment in exchange for decryption, is spread via email attachments from rogue senders that infect host computers when they're opened. Hutchins said he'd expect a handful of people to click on a mass email over a few days, not thousands of employees at scores of medical facilities at the same time.

After analyzing a sample of the malware and seeing it spread by exploiting vulnerabilities in Microsoft's network file-sharing protocols, he realized it was using a cyberweapon allegedly stolen from the U.S. National Security Agency. Known as "EternalBlue," it was part of a cache of sophisticated NSA hacking tools targeting Microsoft software that were obtained by the Shadow Brokers criminal gang last year and leaked onto the internet in April.

Hutchins also noticed a quirk buried deep in the malware code. It tested for the existence of an unregistered nonsensical domain name. He promptly registered the domain for 8.5 pounds ($11) and redirected all traffic to a server designed to capture malicious data, known as a sinkhole, which would allow him to monitor the progress of the attack.

Although he didn't realize it at the time, Hutchins had inadvertently triggered the malware's kill switch. Before infecting and encrypting a computer's hard drive, WannaCry would query the domain, and as long as it remained unregistered would proceed with the attack. Now, when the malware checked the domain and found it active, it immediately shut down. About 100 million attempts to infect computers, including more than 7 million in the U.S., have been mitigated since then, according to Kryptos data.

"At the time, we were just like 'Yay, we can track it now,' we didn't know that we'd stopped it," Hutchins said. "The minute we registered the domain we were looking at like 5,000 or 6,000 unique systems all connecting, and it went up to 200,000 within an hour. I remember thinking: Holy s---, this is really big."

Hutchins is part of a global community of online security researchers and bloggers who battle with hackers and cybercriminals from their home offices at all hours of the day and night. Given the wave of attacks in recent years, they're in high demand from governments and corporations and can command six-figure salaries while still in their early 20s.

Hutchins said he has been courted by some of the world's biggest cybersecurity firms. In 2015, he interviewed with Britain's top-secret Government Communications Headquarters but went to work for Kryptos instead after it made him an offer he said he "couldn't refuse."

"He's a natural talent," said Salim Neino, 33, Kryptos's chief executive officer, who hired Hutchins after reading his blog. "He was obviously solving hard problems and he wasn't doing it for monetary reward, and those are some of the key traits of great cyberwarriors."

Neino, a self-taught programmer who got his first computing job at 15, co-founded Kryptos nine years ago. The firm doesn't do any marketing and has no salespeople among its 25 employees.

Hutchins said he didn't ask for a raise after WannaCry because he had just been given one. He wouldn't say how much he earns, but money goes a long way in Ilfracombe, where 1 in 5 children comes from a family whose income is less than 60 percent of the national average. He said he invests his earnings in stocks and bitcoin, and made thousands of pounds shorting the British currency after the country voted to leave the European Union last year.

Given the nature of his work and his tendency to sound off on social media without much of a filter, Hutchins had kept his online and real-world lives separate.

"No one knew on either side what the other side did," he said.

WannaCry changed that forever. After registering the domain that Friday afternoon in May, Hutchins posted a link to it online so others could track the attack's progress. Within a few hours it became clear that WannaCry had stopped self-propagating, and fellow researchers started tweeting that it was @MalwareTechBlog who had saved the day. Pretty soon he was being bombarded with thousands of emails and direct messages on Twitter from journalists and security companies wanting to know whether their clients had been infected.

Hutchins knew it was only a matter of time before his identity was blown and admits feeling a little scared.

"Generally, you don't want to advertise what you're doing as you don't want to piss off the bad guys," Hutchins said. "We published the tracker not knowing we'd foiled it. Had I known that, I wouldn't have publicized that it was me. Angry criminals are the worst criminals."

For the next 72 hours, Hutchins went without sleep while fending off ever more aggressive attacks from hackers trying to take his servers offline to disable the kill switch and repropagate WannaCry.

Hutchins thinks that was mostly the work of low-level, semi-skilled hackers referred to in the industry as skids, or script kiddies. They aren't in it for the money, he said, they just like causing as much trouble as possible.

By Sunday, the British media had identified Hutchins as the man who stopped WannaCry, and the next day he had journalists camped outside his house, 170 miles from London, stuffing business cards through his letterbox and ringing the doorbell. At one point Hutchins jumped over the back wall of his yard and fled through a car park.

"When I was outed, my parents were pretty shocked and my friends still don't believe that I have a job," Hutchins said. "Being unmasked was pretty horrendous."

Hutchins claims to not like people very much, but he's affable and engaging. Several times during a walk around Ilfracombe's harbor and through its narrow streets, friends and acquaintances called out greetings. He chafes at being identified as a hero and said he doesn't have plans to move, though he did enjoy a recent trip to Copenhagen to give a speech at an industry convention.

"What we did with WannaCry was impressive in terms of the scale of what we stopped, but on a technical level all we did was register a domain," Hutchins said. "My employer was already paying me way more than I was worth, so the whole WannaCry thing didn't really change anything."

Kryptos's Neino is adamant that Hutchins deserves to be called a hero and warns that everyone should prepare for more attacks.

"We're going to see a wave of these attacks if Shadow Brokers make good on their promise to release more exploits," Neino said. "They've made good on every other threat, so there's no reason to think they won't this time."

Petya was proof of more to come. After pulling another all-nighter, Hutchins said, he just wanted to go back to bed.

---

Bloomberg's Edward Robinson contributed.
A Texas prison inmate has been charged for the second time with threatening to kill U.S. District Judge David Hittner, who dismissed the inmate's civil rights lawsuit more than 10 years ago against the prison system.

George Yarbrough  who pleaded guilty in 2014 to sending a threatening note to Hittner  sent another death threat in April to the Houston-based federal judge, according to the federal indictment.

PERFECT TIMING: Dallas teen murder suspect posts rap video same day as arrest

The latest letter was dated April 19, the anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The contents of the note were not disclosed.

Hittner, who has been a federal judge since 1986, declined to comment about the case.

The handwritten note sent in September 2014 also arrived by U.S. mail.

"I'm going to kill you whenever I make parole," it said. "You have ruined my whole life. I have lost all my loved ones."

The note also threatened to "get" Hittner's relatives.

BUSTED: 36 fugitives arrested by SWAT in Montgomery County warrant sweep

Yarbrough, now 45, had faced up to 10 years in prison for the threatening communication but was sentenced instead to 21 months. The order from Senior U.S. District Judge Nancy F. Atlas allowed him to serve the sentence in state prison alongside a 25-year sentence for burglary and a 15-year sentence for theft from Denton County on 1999 convictions.

Yarbrough was ordered to undergo mental health treatment in prison, but a federal appeals court concluded he was not given a proper chance to challenge the requirement and it was later dropped.

In a letter he sent in September 2016 to Atlas, Yarbrough accused Hittner of using "the power of his position to influence the Texas Prison System" to put him into an administrative segregation unit.

PROTEST: G20 protests in Hamburg, Germany turn violent

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has restricted his mail since 2014. The latest threat was mailed while Yarbrough was being transferred between units, spokesman Robert Hurst said Friday.

"His outgoing mail is closely monitored," Hurst said. "We are investigating how this happened."

Yarbrough is currently housed in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony in East Texas, prison officials said.

He was first sent to state prison in October 1991 for a five-year sentence for possession of cocaine in Dallas County. He was released in 1996 but sentenced again in 1999 on the Denton County charges.

In the latest case, Yarbrough is charged in federal court with mailing a threatening communication. Court records indicate he is representing himself and does not have a lawyer.

Gabrielle Banks contributed to this report.
Houston firefighters are launching a campaign to place on item on the November ballot asking voters to mandate parity in pay between corresponding firefighter and police-officer ranks.

The petition drive to amend the city charter, slated to launch Saturday morning, follows the fire union's decision last month to sue the city over stalled contract talks, alleging Mayor Sylvester Turner's administration failed to negotiate in good faith.

"I don't know what else to do. We're trying to find a fair and reasonable solution that affects 4,100 members and their families," said Marty Lancton, president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association. "Let's let the voters decide what's fair and we'll see."

The mayor's office declined comment.

Houston firefighters have been without a contract for three years. The "evergreen" terms that had governed their employment during that time lapsed last month, reverting to state law and local ordinance. City Council made the terms in that local ordinance less favorable in a unanimous vote on the same morning the union filed its lawsuit.

Turner's landmark pension reforms have further roiled the firefighters, who bitterly opposed the changes the Legislature adopted this past spring. With the reforms' July 1 effective date, firefighters joined all other city employees in effectively taking a pay cut, as they are required to put more of their paychecks toward their now-reduced retirement benefits.

The firefighters' pension board - a separate entity from the union - sued the city in hopes of blocking the reforms, but that challenge was dismissed last week.

City treatment 'disturbing'

A document provided by Lancton shows police have negotiated roughly 30 percent worth of pay raises between 2008 and 2019, while firefighters would have received raises of about 13 percent in that period.

"It's bordering on very disturbing the way the city treats firefighters," Lancton said, adding that his group's effort seeks only to return to Houston's historical parity between police and fire personnel.

A 1975 City Council motion did set the goal of achieving parity in the base pay of equivalent ranks in the public safety departments, and the topic spurred regular fights throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Typically, firefighters and their supporters on council were in the position of working to ensure their salaries kept pace with police pay, though they were not always successful.

Parity was regularly mentioned into the mid-2000s, but the late 1998 contract negotiated by the newly recognized police union began to dismantle that system, recalled Mark Clark, executive director of the Houston Police Officers Union.

That police contract, Clark said, began adjusting HPD's personnel structure so that the city could grant raises to, for example, 38 police captains without having to also boost the salaries of more than 120 fire personnel of corresponding rank.

"I know they're desperate and they're my friends, but this is a non-starter," Clark said of the firefighters' petition drive. "They've got an important job, but police and firefighters do not have the same job, and their rank structures are completely different. Just to come in and say, 'We want what they've got' - certainly I understand asking, but where in the world would the city of Houston come up with the kind of money that it would take?"

Neither fire union leaders nor the city finance department had estimates for the cost of the union's parity proposal, but data collected by fire union leaders show the base pay earned by various ranks in the department is 13 percent to 23 percent below that earned by police personnel of equivalent rank.

Using average figures for the cost of police and fire personnel without regard to rank, increasing fire base pay to match that of police would cost roughly $40 million in the current fiscal year. The city finance department projects annual budget deficits of more than $100 million for the next five years.

"There's no doubt that the fiscal note on a pay parity deal would be massive," said Texas Southern University political scientist Jay Aiyer.

'Job is different'

Aiyer served as chief of staff to former Mayor Lee Brown, who was in his first term when the 1998 police contract was enacted and whose relationship with the firefighters soured during his six years in office, in part over contract issues.

"The public recognizes the contribution first responders make, so I think if left to their own devices, the concept of, 'They put their life on the line, they should be paid at the same level as police,' I think is something that politically they could be successful in," Aiyer said. "It's problematic because the fundamental job is different than police. There's differences in pay structure, there's differences in the way they're promoted."
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EL-ARISH, Egypt - Islamic militants attacked a remote Egyptian army outpost in the Sinai Peninsula with a suicide car bomb and heavy machine gun fire Friday, killing at least 23 soldiers in the deadliest attack in the turbulent region in two years.

Though there was no immediate claim of responsibility, the strike bore all the hallmarks of the Islamic State group. At least 33 soldiers were wounded in the assault.

Egypt has for years battled militants in Sinai, where the jihadis have exploited the vast arid and underdeveloped region and its disgruntled Bedouin population as an ideal incubator for Islamic insurgency. Recently the ISIS affiliate has emerged at the forefront of the insurgency.

Suicide bomber

Friday's assault began in the early morning, when a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a checkpoint at a military compound in the village of el-Barth, southwest of the border town of Rafah.

Dozens of masked militants then descended on the site in 24 Land Cruiser SUVs and opened fire with machine guns, according to security officials.

The shooting lasted nearly half an hour, the officials added, speaking on condition of anonymity because of regulations. The troops at the compound were estimated to have numbered about 60.

When the attack subsided, the militants apparently looted the checkpoint, snatching weapons and ammunition before fleeing, the officials said. It was unclear if they also took armored vehicles.

A number of militants were killed in the shootout, and some of their vehicles were abandoned at the scene.

Alert on social media

The suicide blast at the start of the attack likely disabled the checkpoint's military communications system, prompting an officer to use his cellphone to record an audio message and send it to a colleague via WhatsApp, seeking help and asking for prayers. The message, which was later widely circulated on social media, is said to belong to one of the five officers killed in the attack, identified as Lt. Col. Ahmed el-Mansi of the special forces.

"This might be the last seconds in my life," a man's voice calmly says in the recording. "Quickly, oh men, anyone who knows how to reach the command center, notify them to use artillery as we are still alive."
J. Patric Schneider/Freelance

Houston firefighters will begin gathering petition signatures Saturday to place a measure on the November ballot asking voters to mandate parity in pay between corresponding firefighter and police officer ranks.

The move follows the fire union's decision last month to sue the city over stalled contract talks, alleging Mayor Sylvester Turner's administration failed to act in good faith during the negotiations.
AUSTIN - A federal judge on Thursday threw out a lawsuit filed by a band of University of Texas professors who'd argued the state's new campus carry law "chills" their First Amendment right to free speech.

The ruling represents a major win for gun rights advocates, who have long pushed to allow concealed handguns on campus. They cheered the ruling of U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel, who found the professors lacked standing by failing to prove an actual injury and how the alleged injury was connected to the state attorney general or UT officials - listed as defendants in the case.

"The court's ruling today is the correct outcome," Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said in an emailed statement. "The fact that a small group of professors dislike a law and speculate about a 'chilling effect' is hardly a valid basis to set the law aside."

The professors and their lawyers are all but promising to appeal the decision to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, saying they are "a bit confused" by the judge's decision and are weighing their next move.

"The fight for common-sense gun laws in Texas and the U.S. will be a long-term battle with many fronts. Hopefully, there will be additional legal attempts to stop the normalization of lethal weapons in our shared public spaces," said Mia Carter, a plaintiff and associate professor in UT's English Department.

Yeakle, an appointee of former President George W. Bush in the Western District of Texas' Austin division, wrote in his ruling that alleging a "chill" of the professors' rights is not a strong enough substitute for "objective harm or a threat of specific future harm."

"Plaintiffs cannot establish standing by 'simply claiming that they experienced a 'chilling effect' that resulted from a governmental policy that does not regulate, constrain, or compel any action on their part,'" he added.

'Deep-seated concerns'

The instructors, who teach liberal arts, English and feminist and LGBT literature, filed the suit in July 2016, less than a month before the state's campus carry law went into effect in August. The law allows concealed handguns on campuses of higher education, but only carried by people at least 21 years old.

They argued the "possibility of the presence of concealed weapons in a classroom impedes my and other professors' ability to create a daring, intellectually active, mutually supportive, and engaged community of thinkers." The professors added that they would be forced to self-censor classroom discussions based on their fear that someone there could cause harm.

"The professors' deep-seated concerns about the state compelling them to allow concealed handguns in their classrooms have not changed during the time since they filed suit a year ago. It is deeply worrying at all levels, legal included," said Renea Hicks, the professors' lawyer.

The judge's order failed to touch on other arguments in the case, said Hicks, such as the validity of the professors' concerns about the First and Second Amendments or equal-protection claims.

Hicks said he and the rest of the professors' legal team will decide over the coming weeks whether to appeal.

The law is unpopular at the flagship university in Austin, where students and professors here have protested the law on campus and outside the courthouse. They have used slogans like "Books, not bullets," and students demonstrated on campus, saying they feared the new law would bring gun violence and intimidation to the classroom. Since then, some UT graduate students have moved their office hours into local bars because guns are not allowed in establishments that serve mostly alcohol.

The issue of having guns on campus is a touchy one for the university. The campus carry law went into effect on the 50th anniversary of a murderous rampage at the school in which Charles Whitman, a 25-year-old former Marine sniper, shot 16 people and wounded 32 others from a tower at the school. It was the worst school shooting in Texas history. Civilians from frat boys to hunting enthusiasts grabbed their guns and fired back at him in the standoff, according to reports.

Texas public colleges reported only three firearm discharges on campus in the first six months after the new law took effect, according to Houston Chronicle interviews and a review of university records. One had a connection to the campus carry law.

UT reviewing the ruling

To prepare for the new law, UT leaders - including those nonplussed with the bill's passage in 2015 - assembled a task force to figure out how to implement the new law and have since established campus carry policies. Leadership at Texas A&M University, the state's second-largest university system, embraced the new law. Private universities were given the option to opt out of the campus carry law, which many did.

UT is reviewing the ruling, but declined further comment Friday.

Gun-rights advocates who fought for eight years to get the law passed said they are pleased with the ruling, but anticipate the professors will appeal.

"I don't take anything for granted," said Alice Tripp, a lobbyist for the Texas State Rifle Association, who said law-abiding gun owners deserve to have consistency on where they can take their weapon, whether it be a professor's office or the classroom.

"You're not going to stop a criminal with a sign that says you can't come in," she said.
WASHINGTON - Stepping into an increasingly complex relationship between President Donald Trump and U.S. allies in Europe, Kay Bailey Hutchison might be expected to soothe a few nerves.

Returning to the national stage as Trump's pick for ambassador to NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the former Texas Longhorn cheerleader and Houston television reporter comes with foreign policy chops developed over 20 years in the U.S. Senate, mostly in national security and military affairs posts that took her to conflicts around the globe.

Where Trump once questioned the alliance's relevance and demanded that Western European allies spend more on their common defense, Hutchison has praised it as "our most important security alliance."

Theirs, Republican analysts say, is more of a difference of style than substance.

Known for a genuine, warm presence in the Senate, Hutchison also is described by close associates as a tireless and tenacious advocate. "She's an iron fist in a velvet glove," said former Hutchison staffer David Beckwith, a retired GOP strategist in Austin.

"She's relentless, and therefore she's effective," said former Texas U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, who served with her in her early years in Washington in the 1990s.

Close observers also say a certain delicacy will be needed.

Senate confirmation is all but assured later this month. But Hutchison, 73, will be serving a president who has come under international scrutiny over his avowed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has challenged NATO interests from Ukraine to Syria.

"It comes at a very tricky time," said Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak, a former Hutchison press aide. "In terms of Russia's aggression and interest in undermining NATO, it's a bit of a delicate job."

As a candidate, Trump called NATO "obsolete." As president, he has challenged member nations to meet commitments to spend at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense.

Trump since has backed off his assertion about NATO obsolescence, but he raised eyebrows on both sides of the Atlantic in May when he gave a speech in Europe that failed to include an expected endorsement of NATO's Article 5 commitment to a common defense.

Some observers interpreted that as a weakening of U.S. commitment to the 29-nation military alliance. But Trump explicitly endorsed Article 5 in early June. Among those showing signs of relief was Hutchison, who praised Trump on Twitter the next day: "Article 5 holds together the greatest military alliance in the history of the world! @potus right to reaffirm @NATO commitment!"

The turnaround did little to reassure Trump critics on foreign policy.

"The flip-flop, from deliberate omission to eventual endorsement, reinforces the perception that Trump does not actually have deep-seated beliefs about these things and that he does not understand the implications of his own words," said former CIA analyst Paul Miller, associate director of the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

Miller was one of 122 Republican foreign policy experts who signed an open letter opposing Trump in last year's GOP presidential primaries. This week, he expressed some optimism in Hutchison's pick as a NATO emissary.

"I hope Hutchison and the other public servants in government assure our allies that the U.S. is bigger than one office, and counsel them not to view Trump as representative of the country as a whole."

She also comes with the endorsement of James Baker III, Secretary of State under President George H.W. Bush, who presided over the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

"She's always had a sharp mind, political savvy and a strong work ethic," Baker told the Chronicle. "She is an excellent choice."

The White House declined to make Hutchison available for an interview for this story.

While Hutchison hails from the old establishment wing of the Republican Party - the side that had strong reservations about Trump's candidacy - those closest to her see the makings of an effective partnership with Trump.

"She's been in government and she's not new to how things work on the world stage," said longtime friend Jeanne Phillips, who served as President George W. Bush's U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a position that comes with the rank of ambassador.

"She will be a smart and fair messenger for both points of view, leading to better understanding," said Phillips, now a top executive for Hunt Consolidated. "She understands the NATO side, and that's going to be helpful to the administration to have an experienced person there. And she will also understand the president's views, and that will be helpful to NATO."

Some see little difference between Trump's complaint about NATO countries' defense spending and what past U.S. administrations have said, albeit far less loudly.

Hutchison, as a member of Senate committees on armed services, intelligence and defense appropriations, was no stranger to the bipartisan U.S. call for a bigger European contribution to the alliance.

"She was always somebody who was very cognizant of what the allies were contributing," said David Davis, who served as a military aide and chief of staff to Hutchison. "She always has been adamant that everyone in the alliance needs to pay their fair share, and that it needs to remain a strong military alliance, not a political alliance, not a social club, but a militarily-capable alliance."

While fully committed to NATO, Hutchison also used her perch in the Senate to press the Pentagon on whether it would be more cost-effective to bring some military training and deployment functions back home, possibly even to Texas.

Hutchison earned a reputation as a tough but practical negotiator in the Senate, working both sides of the aisle. "She is a consummate team player," Gramm said. "She knows how to get things done by dealing with people. Those are exactly the skills that will be required."

She made few enemies in the Senate, a testament to a measured tone even on some of the most hot-button issues of the day. In Texas, social conservatives faulted her for a mixed record on abortion rights, an issue that then-Gov. Rick Perry - now Trump's Energy Secretary - used against her in a bitter 2010 gubernatorial primary fight.

Perry and Hutchison, now widowed and practicing law at Bracewell LLP, are believed to have patched things up. Political observers, however, will be watching to see how Hutchinson, the most senior female Republican senator by the end of her Senate tenure in 2012, will navigate the brash side of Trump.

In an MSNBC interview in April last year, Hutchison said Trump was wrong to attack Hillary Clinton on gender and needed to stay more focused on issues and experience.

"The context that he's using, personal attacks on his opponents, both Republicans as well as Democrats, is just the wrong attack right now," Hutchison said. "It is time for him to start talking substance and I thought his foreign policy speech was a step in the right direction. And I think we don't need any more of these personal, little slights."

Hutchison, an early backer of Jeb Bush for president, also said at the time that she wasn't sure if she could come to support Trump.

She eventually came around, as did much of the GOP establishment, which came to see Trump - running as a populist outsider intent on "draining the swamp" in Washington - as more conducive to Republican domestic and foreign policy goals.

Hutchison's selection as NATO ambassador in many ways is seen as a gesture of goodwill toward a skeptical establishment that questioned Trump's campaign pivots from foreign policy adventurism and isolationism.

It also is seen as a gesture to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former ExxonMobil chief who is known to have battled White House staffers for control over State Department and diplomatic posts.

Texas U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said Tillerson and Hutchison have maintained a close friendship in Texas that will play into their partnership on foreign policy. "I think that's why she got picked for this assignment," he said.

"Tillerson wants to put his own people in the State Department," McCaul said, noting that Trumpnixed Tillerson's first pick for the No. 2 job at State, Elliott Abrams, who had served Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, but had questioned Trump's fitness to be president.

Hutchison, who helped Tillerson prepare for his nomination hearings, will not be the first foreign policy hand to come from outside the Trump camp. She follows former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who supported Sen. Marco Rubio in the GOP presidential primaries. Haley is now the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Like Haley, Hutchison will be expected to translate the president's more unguarded pronouncements into the language of diplomacy, which may mean delivering messages with more persuasion than bluster.

"She will have to be the diplomatic enforcer of his policy," McCaul said. "But I can't think of a better person to do that. ... Her style is very different, obviously, from the president. He is very outspoken, says what's on his mind. Kay will be more the diplomat."
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson assures us that President Trump raised the issue of Russia's election meddling very quickly in today's meeting with Vladimir Putin. President Trump can't even acknowledge to his own people that Russia meddled in our democracy without equivocation and gratuitous attacks on our own intelligence agencies. But, we are supposed to believe Trump was tough behind closed doors. Rex Tillerson said that Trump "pressed" Putin on the election interference issue. And Vlad responded "oh, that feels so good, do it again." Click the gallery below for many more cartoons by Nick Anderson.




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One Korea

Regarding "North Korea crossed the line" Now what?" (Page A15, Friday) unfortunately Charles Krauthammer minimizes the calamitous nature of our situation with a potential nuclear-equipped-ICBM-wielding North Korea when he predicts that the " most likely ultimate outcome " is American acquiescence of the status quo.

Kim Jong Un's ego demands nothing less than Hitler's portion - appeasement. Kim's demands begin with one-on-one negotiation between himself and President Trump, followed by a total American stand down: abrogation of the U.S.-South Korean military pact, removal of U.S. land and naval forces, elimination of economic sanctions and resumption of food and fuel aid to the North.

Kim will then regroup, rebuild and set out anew on his long-term goal of reunification of the entire peninsula under his control. He sees South Korea the same way China sees Taiwan, i.e. not as another sovereign nation but as a wayward province. I can already hear the historians beginning the inevitable debate: Who lost South Korea?

Larry E. Vecera, Houston

China needed

Regarding "U.S. issues warning to N. Korea" (Page A1, Wednesday), President Trump has to realize that tough talk has absolutely no effect on North Korea. The U.S. has absolutely no leverage when it comes to North Korea. No matter what sanctions are imposed on North Korea, China will ensure that the regime survives.

Talk of military action is just that - talk - because in the event of war the first casualties will be primarily South Koreans, Japanese and Taiwanese as North Korea will lash out at everyone in the region. The negative global political implications of a preemptive strike by America are too great to ignore.

At the end of the day it is China and China only that can strong-arm North Korea. The Trump administration needs to tone down the rhetoric and resort to quiet talks with the front-line countries (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) and China.

Gonzalo Martinez, La Porte

Eating contest

Regarding "Chowdown champion boosts record to 72 hot dogs" (Page A14, Wednesday), once again Nathan's Famous had its July Fourth hot dog eating contest on who could eat the most hot dogs. The winner, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, ate 72.

With so much hunger in this country, this is so wrong! Seventy-two hungry people could have been fed (not counting the number that the other contestants consumed).

These "eating contests" need to end!

Doris Cash, Pointblank

Health insurance

Regarding "Ted Cruz says Senate health plan still not meeting his objectives" (Chron.com, Thursday), to lower premiums would mean cutting the money to the health insurers. They will never go for that. Each year they squeeze more out and into their pockets.

And us? Who cares about patients? They're sick!

Dixie Swanson, posted via Facebook
"Did she really eat broccoli?"

I can still picture the pleasantly surprised mom asking me that question when she picked up her daughter from my child care center.

And the answer was "yes." Sitting at a little table watching her best friend munch on broccoli, the little girl gave it a try, and liked it.

We didn't always perform broccoli miracles. Sometimes we simply gave children apple slices when they would have preferred cookies.

But, like other child care directors, I knew that we were playing a critical role in partnering with parents to help their child develop healthy habits and grow up at a healthy weight.

Some of those parents were able to feed their children nutritious food at home and wanted to make sure we were reinforcing their efforts. Other parents lived in neighborhoods considered "food deserts" and counted on us to provide healthy foods that were harder to serve at home.

Of course, when families were thinking about choosing our center for their children, even the most health-conscious parents rarely had the time or ability to closely analyze the nutritional content of our monthly menu.

Instead, busy parents who don't have a degree in child development or nutrition count on state policymakers to put some basic standards in place. That's why, for many years now, the state has set basic standards for nutrition and active play in child care. That lets families focus on choosing a center based on the criteria that are easier for them to evaluate, such as location, hours of operation, cost, the number of teachers in each class, recommendations from other parents, and, most importantly, if there is even an opening available.

Policymakers also provide that support to parents because research makes it increasingly clear that a child's experiences during the first few years of life have a profound influence on her - and her state and community - for the rest of her life. When it comes to health, for example, children who are overweight or obese as preschoolers are five times more likely to be overweight or obese as adults.

And we all have plenty of work to do. About one in four children age two to five is overweight or obese. If we don't get to work on this challenge, these children will face decades of health problems, and taxpayers will end up footing a lot of the bills.

Unfortunately, during the recent legislative session, our state lawmakers missed a chance to address this challenge by passing Rep. Rick Miller's HB 2664. The bill would have incentivized child care providers to follow best practices on child nutrition by giving those centers extra points in the state's Texas Rising Star child care rating system. It also would have updated the state's current guidelines for licensed or registered child care facilities, ensuring children gets nutritious food, avoid too much screen time, and have plenty of time to run, climb, and jump.

The bill fell short in a close vote on the Texas House floor. The good news is that it started a long-neglected conversation about early childhood nutrition. With the session behind us, child care providers, public health leaders, legislators, state officials who work on child care, and other Texans need to come together to build on the ideas in HB 2664 and ensure that more young Texans have an opportunity to grow up healthy.

Kofron, a former child care center director, is executive director of the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children.
Three days before going to trial, Daniel G. Campbell decided to enter a guilty plea to a 2016 murder southwest of Licking.

Campbell, who also wounded another man in the shooting, received two consecutive life sentences plus 15 years Friday during an appearance in Texas County Circuit Court, according to Texas County Prosecutor Parke Stevens Jr. Campbells case had been set for trial on a change of venue in Maries County.

Campbell, 39, admitted the felonies of second-degree murder, first-degree assault and armed criminal action on Oct. 25, 2016, near Boiling Springs when he shot his unsuspecting neighbors, Billy Bishop and William Dumboski multiple times with two different firearms. The shots killed Bishop. Dumboski survived the gunshot wounds.

Campbell shot both with 9mm and .38-caliber firearms, Stevens said.

After the shootings, Campbell eluded authorities for three days until he was apprehended without incident inside Faith and Hope Church between Success and licking. Upon questioning, he

admitted he committed the crime, Stevens said.

A grand jury later indicted Campbell. The following month, he ran out of a propped open door at the jail and was apprehended about 70 hours later. Campbell later was sent to prison on tampering with a motor vehicle charge after already being on probation.

This is an individual who has committed the most egregious crime possible and has been punished for his actions, said Stevens. Two consecutive life sentences in the Missouri Department of Corrections ensure the defendant will likely never hurt anyone else.

Circuit Judge John D. Beger presided over the guilty plea and sentencing.

Stevens expressed his sorrow for the family and friends of Bishop and Dumboski and hopes their grieving is lessened now that Campbell has been punished.

Stevens also thanked law enforcement, the judge and defense counsel.

This is an individual who has committed the most egregious crime possible and has been punished for his actions, said Texas County Prosecutor Parke Stevens.
Discussion held on environment-related issues



RECORDER REPORT



LAHORE: In order to take advantage of inputs of private stakeholders in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) formulation 2021-22 to support the environment, the forestry and fisheries sectors held consultative session on Tuesday at the Planning and Development Board.



Environmental analysts and lawyers, experts from different institutes and representatives from public departments from all over Punjab participated in the session.



The upcoming environmental and forestry policies, up-gradation, and ideas for environmental protection were discussed. Expert shared their thoughts and comments on the prevailing provincial issues of sectors with their suggested viable solutions. The key objective of the talk series was to bridge the gap between private and public sector before preparing and finalizing ADP 2021-22.



Minister for Finance Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht said that Punjab has already allocated sizeable funding for both the sectors. The productive input of all stakeholders has great importance and it will add the valuable feedback in finalization of ADP 2021-22.



Advisor to Prime Minister on Environment Malik Amin Aslam said the Punjab government must make sure the active participation of youth in this regard as they are enriched with the ideas that may contribute to the provincial and national growth.




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Money makes the world go round yet it should be the activists marching at the front of Pride.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of London Pride. The first march had just over 2,000 people in London Fields.

This year, as with previous years, the march will have a very different feel from the grassy roots from the activists in the Fields. These activists have played such a vital role in terms of sexuality and continue to do so yet they are masked by highly corporate floats at Pride.

While it is great to see companies such as Barclays and Tescos publicly supporting the LGBT+ movement and sending a very strong message to those who don't, one has to ask about their real motivations behind coming out for Pride. Pride is an enormous event and does need sponsorship, yet these major corporations have destroyed the real spirit of Pride and use it to promote their own brands. I agree that large businesses should have LGBT+ groups but one has to ask themselves where these corporations are during the fight for decriminalisation.

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Pride still needs to be a protest. While we have equal marriage and some may say there is almost equality for those LGBTers in very privileged positions, one should look much further afield to realise that not even the UK has fully made it. Despite parts of the UK ranking very high for LGBT equality, one has to look at those in less privileged positions. Mental health rates among the LGBT+ community are rocket high and suicide rates are also disproportionally higher. The Albert Kennedy Trust specifically works with LGBT homeless teenagers and often report about families who have rejected their children because of their sexuality. This raises substantial practical and emotional issues at such a pivotal time in a teenager's life. They have just come out with probably the biggest disclosure to the people they probably care about the most, to be rejected and have to find somewhere to live. The very fact that this continues to happen demonstrates that the fight for equality is far from over.

Internationally things are worse. Roughly 74 countries around the world criminalise same-sex behaviour, violating basic human rights. This creates persecutory environments for anyone who is not straight, despite this being an innate characteristic. Many of these laws initiate from the British Empire and it is therefore essential that London Pride sends a very strong message condemning this. It is hard to see Tesco taking such a strong stance on this.

I love Pride and while the event is overwhelming, I have always seen the shy closeted teenage boy trying to pluck up the courage to march, which I always find very heartwarming. For that teenager who has been rejected and estranged by his family to be able to walk 1.6 miles to have crowds of people cheering and applauding him for being who he is, is an incredible day for everyone.

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On Saturday, at our annual summer conference, Fabians will consider Labour's path to power. I've been looking at the programme for the day, and what it tells us about the challenges ahead. The good news is that they're far from insuperable for a party with the wind in its sails, a sense of its purpose, values and vision for the future, and a vast, growing and enthusiastic membership. But we need a plan to tackle them, and that's what we'll be discussing. Fabians like to be solutions-focused.

We're all delighted to be starting from a tremendous general election performance that puts a future Labour government within reach. The election campaign demonstrated Labour's, and Jeremy Corbyn's, appeal across a spectrum of longstanding, returning and new Labour voters (credit for the result is also due to Theresa May and a disastrous campaign by the Tories!). But lurking in what was a much, much stronger result than almost anyone (myself included) predicted are hints of dangers ahead to be navigated.

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The first challenge we face of course is to finish the job, winning enough seats to propel Labour to government. As the Fabians' general secretary, Andy Harrop, has written, while Labour's 2017 result reflects a very successful appeal to liberal leaning voters, we have a way to go with the more traditionally minded, socially conservative half of the country. A more-of-the-same, one-more-heave approach won't be enough to get us over the line; we have to broaden our appeal to more of those voters.

It's easy to over-simplify that challenge, to describe it as being 'about' immigration, or Brexit, or security (subjects for discussion on Saturday), or about being seen too much as a metropolitan, southern-focused party. Addressing those will of course be factors in crafting our offer to the voters we need, but who didn't vote Labour this time. But most important will be persuading them to believe that Labour stands up for them.

We'll do that not just by having a policy programme that's good for these voters, a lesson we learnt from our disappointing 2015 performance. But we do need to ensure that the policies we offer will improve their lives and serve their ambitions. Our manifesto - bold, popular, packed with Labour ideas - did that better in some ways than in others, if we're honest. To win, we need policy to be more ambitiously progressive, and to be more focused on the nitty gritty of service delivery.

We also need to turn our policy programme into a compelling story of how Labour will be better for these voters and their families. The elements of the 2017 manifesto that people could see would directly achieve that were by far the most popular on the doorstep. Free school meals, scrapping tuition fees, and a pay rise for NHS staff came up far more often than nationalising the rail network and utilities.

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The next, and very exciting, challenge is to face up to the fact that we may soon be called on to deliver our programme in government. Governing requires a different approach from campaigning. Decisions are forced on us, not necessarily of our choosing. Difficult choices have to be made and negotiated. Our programme needs to be do-able, flexible, focussed, prioritised, resilient, stress-tested and costed.

On costing, of course, Labour was streets ahead of the idle arrogance of the Conservatives, who didn't even feel they had to bother. But, as the IFS has pointed out, the assumptions that lie behind our fiscal plans might not be what happens in practice - not least because of the uncertain, and potentially disastrous, effect of Brexit.

So I'm particularly pleased that sessions at our conference will focus on Brexit, and on a new economic model for the future. Our manifesto fudge on Brexit served us well in the election, but, as last week's rebel vote for single market membership reminds us (full disclosure, I was one of the 101 MPs who voted for it), that won't add up when it comes to the negotiations. Meanwhile the session on the economy is based on work that's been led by Fabian Women's Network, and with an all-female line-up speaking at that event. I'm fascinated to hear whether an expressly female look at the future shapes a different choice of economic priorities.

Most of all though, I am looking forward to a purposeful, creative, comradely conference that's an opportunity for Fabians to do what we've done for over 100 years - contribute our best thinking to the service of the whole Labour movement. I can promise on behalf of everyone attending that we'll put in that effort this weekend. We hope that colleagues across the party will welcome our doing so.
Alisa Costa from Pittsfield's Working Cities program cited a number of examples of local residents struggling to stay employed because they can't get around on public transit.

MPO Wants Closer Look at Public Transit Options

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The MPO wants to take a much more serious look this fall at how public transportation serves its customers.

The Berkshire Metropolitan Planning Organization is in charge of prioritizing federal transportation dollars allotted to the county. That includes funding for the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority.

The issues with the BRTA haven't changed in years  a lack of funding leads to limited hours, infrequent service, and constrained geographic coverage.

The MPO wants to "think outside of the box" and find how to address some of those issues to better serve the community.

"If we want to crack some of the fundamental barriers in the region we have to think outside of the box of fixed-route transit," Berkshire Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Nathaniel Karns said.

Transportation issues touch on a lot of aspects of the area: getting workers to jobs, residents to health facilities and students to secondary and higher education institutions.

Andrea Sholler, managing director of Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, said the public transit system makes it difficult for her employees. The venue is tucked into the hills of rural Becket and, during the summer, she needs some 75 workers, mostly for minimum wage, low-skilled jobs. Often those jobs are going unfilled because she has difficulty hiring people who have access to transportation.

"We have jobs that go unfilled. For us, we would really like to have an opportunity with other employers when issues are being discussed," Sholler said.

Alisa Costa from Pittsfield's Working Cities program said single mothers have been particularly affected by the lack of transportation. She told the story of a young mother of three who had to move out of the area because she couldn't get to her job at the hours she was needed. The same issue echoes true for recent immigrants, who can find jobs but have no ways to get to them.

Costa said she's asked state Sen. Adam Hinds to include state funds for a pilot program for Pittsfield that would run shuttles from the West Side or Morningside neighborhoods to the Downing Industrial Park or Coltsville, where there are jobs available.

But overall, the Working Cities program wants to be involved in transportation planning at the early level to help ensure that those populations who need public transit the most, have some say. Costa said the program may not know all of the ins and outs of a transportation system, but it does know the ins and outs of how it needs to operate to better serve its populations.

Karns said he's heard a similar concern from Berkshire Community College. He said there are many people who decide not to attend or quit the college early on because they struggle to get to classes at the outer West Street campus. He's also heard it from those in the public health field, who say the lack of transportation restricts access to health care for many.

Steve Woelfel of the state Department of Transportation said those are exactly the conversations the local MPO members need to have not only among themselves, but by interacting more with the end-users of the system.

"These are the discussions we need to have more rigorously out here," he said. "Transportation itself is not important, it is what it unlocks."

MPO member Jim Lovejoy lives in rural Mount Washington and he understands that there are a lot of miles with low populations, making a traditional public transit system unsustainable. But, he added that there can definitely be ways to identify specific needs and react to them.

The MPO will now use the next few months to "brainstorm" about ways to better improve the system. Karns is looking for information from the BRTA on how its system matches up with other rural systems throughout the country. The group hopes to have a close relationship with both the customers of the system and the BRTA that will, in turn, help the MPO decide how to use the federal funds available.
North Adams Honored for 'Putting the Berkshires on the Map'

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  North Adams has been selected to receive 1Berkshires' 2017 Putting the Berkshires on the Map award in recognition of the substantial contribution that the community has made to the economy of the Berkshires.

This recognition will be presented at the seventh annual Celebrate the Berkshires event on Thursday, Sept. 14, at 6 p.m. at Bloom Meadows in Hancock.

"While many of the communities in our region are deserving of recognition for their progress in recent years, the national attention garnered by North Adams and the organic way in which the city, business community, [Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art], and other community stakeholders have collaborated has been an amazing thing to observe," said Jonathan Butler, CEO of 1Berkshire. "The community as a whole is a tremendous honoree for the 2017 Putting the Berkshires on the Map recognition.'

There were many reasons for the selection of North Adams said 1Bekshire officials, including that Travel & Leisure Magazine just named North Adams one of the 10 charming American towns that aren't famous yet (but will be soon) citing the fact that in the years since the 1999 opening of Mass MoCA in a converted complex of old industrial buildings, this small city has gradually reinvented itself as a cultural hub that is home to a smart set of galleries, bookshops, cafes, and live-workspaces for artists.

North Adams also was chosen this past winter as one of five finalists out of 3,300 communities nationally that were nominated by The Small Business Revolution as one of America's most inspiring small towns. Although the city was not chosen as the ultimate winner, a great buzz was created through a full week of public voting to determine the winner, during which time the city's cheerleaders and backers sought and received support on social media from celebrities like Elizabeth Banks, a Pittsfield native, and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

The opening of the massive Building 6 at Mass MoCA strengthens the community's status as a top visitor destination, playing a major role in elevating the Berkshire region to No. 1 in its class in the Arts Vibrancy Index. Building 6 is a game-changer for the community and the collaboration between local government, the business community, and MoCA has never been stronger. Nearby, a transformation of another property  the Greylock Mill  into an events space and food production facility has begun. Storefront occupancy in downtown has tripled. To help multiply the impact of the new traffic the museum expansion will bring, a new collaboration - the North Adams Exchange  has created programs to connect the museum and Main Street.

According to Mass MoCA Director, Joseph Thompson, "North Adams has pivoted, and is looking forward  measuring its prospects by what's unfolding right now, projects on the horizon and the new visitors, residents, and investors that are re-tooling the area. This feels like a generational shift and part of a new Berkshires, which includes dancing on asphalt as well as lounging on lawns, ascending Mount Greylock's challenging north side by bike, as well as birdwatching along the Housatonic, drinking local beer from pint glasses as well as fine wine from crystal flutes.

"It has been tremendously exciting and rewarding to work together as a community to tell the story of North Adams and to make the next chapter of that story be all about revitalization," said Mayor Richard Alcombright. "This award is for every business and individual who shows up every day to do all they can to make North Adams a better place to live, work and play. We are better together and as such we are making great strides. We are so honored to be recognized for our collaborative spirit by 1Berkshire, being the Putting the Berkshires on the Map honoree is truly the icing on the cake to a great year in North Adams."
Circular debt reduced by Rs189bn: Umar



NAVEED BUTT



ISLAMABAD: The Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar Tuesday said the circular debt build up for the period of July-April this fiscal year has been reduced by Rs189 billion (42 percent) as compared to the previous year.



The minister said that Pakistans circular debt build up during July-April this fiscal year was recorded at Rs260 billion against Rs449 billion reported in the same period last year, witnessing a significant decline of Rs189 billion.



Circular debt build up July-April this fiscal year is 260 billion vs 449 billion same period last year, a reduction of 189 billion. The full year circular debt build up this year is expected to be more than 100 billion LESS than the circular debt build in pml-n last year of govt!, the minister said in a series of Twitter posts, on Tuesday.



"The full year circular debt build up this year is expected to be more than 100 billion less than the circular debt build in Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) last year of government," he added. Umar further stated that the "huge improvement" in the circular debt build up as compared to the last year of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government was "achieved despite massive increase in capacity payments caused by decisions committed by PML-N govt. PMIK govt. improving performance and clearing mess inherited from PMLN in every sector."



"This improvement in energy sector performance and slow down in build up of circular debt has been the result of sustained hard work, analytical data based decision making and willingness to break the nexus between decision makers and powerful elite," he maintained.



Earlier, this month, it was reported that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) power projects were also hit by the circular debt and that the government has not been able to clear Rs188 billion due payments in breach of a bilateral energy framework agreement.



Although the outstanding payments are only 18.4 percent of the billed amount, it has started affecting the financing models of the Chinese sponsors of the Independent Power Producers (IPPs), set up under the CPEC agreement. It is also reported that Pakistan had so far paid Rs832 billion on account of power purchase price to the Chinese IPPs. The Central Power Purchase Agency Guaranteed (CPPA-G) could not clear Rs188 billion worth dues.




California Governor Brown Announces Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco in September 2018

Sacramento, California - On the eve of the G20 Summit, California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced via video message at the Global Citizen Festival in Hamburg, Germany that the State of California will convene the worlds climate leaders in San Francisco, California in September 2018 for the Global Climate Action Summit.

Its up to you and its up to me and tens of millions of other people to get it together to roll back the forces of carbonization and join together to combat the existential threat of climate change. That is why were having the Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, September 2018, said Governor Brown in his remarks. President Trump is trying to get out of the Paris Agreement, but he doesnt speak for the rest of America. We in California and in states all across America believe its time to act, its time to join together and thats why at this Climate Action Summit were going to get it done.

The Governor spoke via video message during the final hour of the Global Citizen Festival in Hamburg, Germany and was introduced by Christiana Figueres, former United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary and currently the convener of Mission 2020 and Global Ambassador for the Under2 Coalition. The Global Citizen Festival was attended by thousands of people and featured remarks from Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Argentinas President Mauricio Macri and performances from Coldplay, Shakira, Pharrell Williams, Ellie Goulding and others.

California will convene representatives from subnational governments, businesses, investors and civil society at the Global Climate Action Summit to demonstrate the groundswell of innovative, ambitious climate action from leaders around the world, highlight the economic and environmental transition already underway and spur deeper commitment from all parties, including national governments.

Todays announcement is the product of months of discussions between the Governor and Christiana Figueres, who, following the conclusion of the successful UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, encouraged the Governor to host a summit in 2018 in California to drive further climate action. Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Leon has also been a key partner and recently joined other state Senators to urge the Governor to convene the worlds climate leaders in California.

The growing threat of climate change demands an immediate and unified global response, said Senate Leader Kevin de Leon. California remains committed to a clean energy future and we welcome the responsibility to lead on Americas behalf. My colleagues in the Senate appreciate Governor Brown agreeing to hold this global summit and look forward to working with him to welcome our partners from around the world.

The summit, which will be held ahead of the 24th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 24), will mark the first time a U.S. state has hosted an international climate change conference with the direct goal of supporting the Paris Agreement.
Joint Investigation Team Report on the Downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17

Washington, DC - The United States welcomes the unanimous decision of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) granting jurisdiction for the prosecution of those responsible for the downing of flight MH17 to the Dutch courts. We have full confidence in the ability of the Dutch criminal justice system to arrive at a just and impartial decision.

As we approach the third anniversary of this tragic loss of life, we again offer our deepest condolences to the families.

The United States will continue to work with the Joint Investigation Team in its investigation. We call on other states that are in a position to assist to cooperate fully so those responsible are held accountable. We again urge all states to take steps to ensure full compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 2166, which called for a "full, thorough and independent international investigation into the incident."
Unacceptable Assault on Venezuela's National Assembly

Washington, D C - The United States condemns the July 5 attack on members of the Venezuelan National Assembly by armed supporters of the government of President Nicolas Maduro. This violence, perpetrated during the celebration of Venezuelas independence, is an assault on the democratic principles cherished by the men and women who struggled for Venezuelas independence 206 years ago today.

We call on the Venezuelan government to immediately provide for the protection of the National Assembly, ensure those injured in todays attack are able to receive medical attention, and bring the attackers to justice. We urge all sides in Venezuela to refrain from violence.

The United States deplores the Venezuelan government's increasing authoritarianism, and the convocation of a National Constituent Assembly designed to undermine Venezuelas democratic institutions, including the National Assembly. We join nations across the hemisphere and call upon the government of Venezuela to live up to commitments it made in the Vatican-facilitated dialogue process last fall to hold free, fair, and credible elections immediately, respect the constitution and the National Assembly, provide for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, and tend to the humanitarian needs of the Venezuelan people.
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My relationship with berries follows the same arc as so many relationships: ignorance, discovery, infatuation, growth, complacency and, then, happy coexistence.

Stage one (blissful ignorance) sees me growing up thinking that raspberries came in a bottle of an overly sweet cordial that youd dilute with water and drink after school. It was called mitz pettel (raspberry juice) and had never seen a fresh raspberry in its life.

Mine was by no means a fruit-deprived childhood. I grew up in Israel, surrounded by an abundance of the tree-grown sorts: fresh figs, pomegranates, lemons and dates. Apart from a glut of late-winter strawberries, though, fresh forest berries  the small fruits, like raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, born on bushes and low plants  were just not around. The hot Middle Eastern climate didnt allow it.

(Getty Images/iStockphoto (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Stages two (discovery) and three (infatuation) hit me hard during what I rather grandly called the European tour. The reality was delightfully un-grand: it was 1986 and my best schoolmate and I landed in West Germany, bought two old bikes and proceeded to cycle through the Netherlands and Belgium, to Paris.

Recommended Food prices rise at fastest pace for more than three years in June

It took us a month and, along the way, I fell in love with berries. Coming from a land of tree-borne fruit, I couldnt get enough of the delicious reality of low-lying bushes and plants offering up more fresh berries than I could possibly consume. Our paths were paved with gold, our fingers stained with purple and I was (metaphorically, thank goodness, given my position on the bike) head over heels.

Stage four was growth and learning, when I was working in my first professional kitchen at Launceston Place in London, under the tutelage of the chef Rowley Leigh. He was showing me how to make a summer pudding, and just as he had inverted the berry-filled and wine-soaked bread onto a platter to serve, he inverted everything I had thought about berries until then. For me, they were to be treated with a degree of reverence and restraint; Id grown up seeing them placed, individually, on top of the rare gateau in a few cafes in Tel Aviv.

Here, however, Rowley was doing with berries what Middle Eastern cooks do with herbs: using them in absolute abundance. They were not things you would use to garnish or finish off a dish. They were the very building blocks of the dish itself.

Once I fully understood the brilliant power of giving berries the leading role in a dessert, I just rolled along with it. In fact, I possibly went a bit overboard, creating my own berry-filled, berry-topped, berry-dotted, berry-coated, berry-everything set of puddings: white chocolate mousse with crushed frozen berries inspired by Stars restaurant in San Francisco; baked cheesecake with a light biscuit base like the ones I had growing up, now swirled through with a thick blackberry coulis; pies and turnovers stuffed to the brim with stone fruits or apples, alongside blackberries, raspberries or blueberries; and countless ice creams, parfaits, sorbets and semi-freddos, all delightfully cold, sharply sweet and berry bright.

Food and drink news Show all 35 1 /35 Food and drink news Food and drink news Healthy living makes us more inclined to binge, research suggests Gluten-free breads, dairy-free milks and other plant-based products have been some of the most favoured foods in British supermarkets this year. However, while were busy filling our shopping trolleys with gluten-free goodness, were also jamming it with junk food and alcohol, new research suggests Getty/iStock Food and drink news Growing list of Vegan celebs Making the switch to veganism is a major lifestyle choice, one that many claim can improve energy levels, lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and clear up any skin issues. Beyonce, Natalie Portman and Jessica Chastain are among the growing list of Hollywood stars who have eschewed animal products from their diets in recent years. Theres also been an increasing number of professional athletes who have gone vegan, such as boxing champions Mike Tyson and David Haye, thus debunking the myth that following a plant-based diet will leave you feeling weak and malnourished. AFP/Getty/NARAS/iHeartMedia Food and drink news McDonald's has announced the launch of a new vegan burger on its menu in Germany This will mark the first time the German franchise of the fast food chain has offered a vegan burger to its customers. The Big Vegan TS burger consists of a patty made from soy and wheat. It is served in a classic sesame seed bun, and contains salad, tomato, pickles and red onion. McDonald's Germany Food and drink news Drinking too many protein shakes could lead to an increased risk of obesity and a reduced lifespan, a new study has claimed Researchers from the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre carried out an investigation to determine the impact excessive consumption of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) has on the body. BCAA supplements are often consumed in the form of powder, which is then added to water to make a shake. Published in journal Nature Metabolism, the study found that while BCAAs help to build muscle, they can also negatively impact an individual's temperament, cause weight gain and lead to a shortened lifespan Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Britain consumes more chocolate than any other country Most people love chocolate but it turns out no one does more than the Brits  with the average Brit found to have consumed 8.4 kg of chocolate in 2017, according to new data. Chocolate consumption around the world is on the rise, according to Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), which found that in the past year alone, Easter chocolate production has risen by 23 per cent Food and drink news 'Easter eggs should be banned for children under four' Dr Becky Spelman, chief psychologist at Harley Streets Private Therapy Clinic, is calling for Easter eggs to be banned for consumption for children under the age of four, claiming that giving them the opportunity to binge on chocolate so young will give them an unhealthy relationship with food later on. "This is a nightmare situation for parents of this generation as they have no idea how to teach their children to delay their response to cravings, she said, explaining that too many young kids binge on these chocolates because their parents dont know how to stop them. "Once a child starts overeating behaviour at a young age its very hard to turn things around for them in terms of food and their eating habits moving forward, leading to obesity from at very young age," she added PA Food and drink news Pineapple overtakes avocado as the UK's fastest-selling fruit According to Tesco, pineapple has overtaken avocado as the UKs fastest-selling fruit, with sales increasing by 15 per cent in 2017. In comparison, avocado sales rose by just under 10 per cent last year. The popular supermarket says the surge in popularity comes as shoppers buying the versatile fruit are beginning to use it as a main ingredient in everything from curries and barbecues, to juices and cocktails Getty Food and drink news Marks & Spencers launches stoneless avocados Rather than the result of genetic modification, the avocados are formed by an unpollinated avocado blossom. The fruit develops without a seed which in turns stops the growth, creating a small, seedless fruit. Whats more, the skin is actually edible, unlike a regular avocado. The flesh is much like that of a normal avocado - smooth and creamy, pale in colour and rich in flavour M&S Food and drink news Office teabags contain 17 times more germs than a toilet seat, reveals study The average bacterial reading of an office teabag was 3,785, in comparison to only 220 for a toilet seat. Other pieces of kitchen equipment also stacked up highly in their findings, with the bacterial readings averaging at 2,483 on kettle handles, 1,746 on the rim of a used mug and 1,592 on a fridge door handle Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New study shows drinking more coffee leads to a longer life There is good news and a final hope for coffee addicts and lovers. You will now be able to drink coffee for longer as new study shows its can lead to a prolonged life. Scientists showed that those who drank between two and four cups of coffee a day had 18% lower risk of death compared to non-coffee drinkers. PA Food and drink news Coke Zero is replaced with Coke Zero Sugar Coca-Cola is pulling the plug on its Coke Zero. The much loved drink will be replaced with a new improved taste. The move, backed with a 10 million campaign, is said to come from Coca-Cola supporting people to reduce their sugar intake. Coca-Cola want people make this move while not sacrificing sugary taste of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola Food and drink news Starbucks introduce new avocado spread The avocado craze has grown from hipster brunch restaurants to Starbucks. Starbucks have introduced their new avocado spread earlier this year and it has the internet in debate. Some argue that it not a spread but guacamole while others question if there is any avocado in there at all. When buying the new spread you can also buy an optional toasted bagel. It is a must try for all avocado connoisseurs. Starbucks Food and drink news New Mars chocolate bar The iconic British chocolate bar is about to get its partner in crime. The new bar, named Goodness Knows, will replace the gooey caramel goodness of the mars bar with oats. It is said to be more like a Florentine biscuit with a thin dark chocolate bottom. While being moderately healthy Mars says that is has good intentions. One pack has 154 calories and will sell for about 90p. Mars Food and drink news Wine prices could increase because of Brexit Wine lovers across the UK might soon have to shell out close to a quarter more for their favourite tipple after Brexit, as a weaker pound and sluggish economy takes its toll, a new study shows Rex Food and drink news Chocolate may be good for the heart A new study, published in the British Medical Journal: Heart, found that moderate chocolate intake can be positively associated with lessening the risk of the heart arrhythmia condition Atrial Fibrillation Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Brits throw away 1.4 million bananas each year British families are throwing away 1.4 million bananas that are perfectly good to eat every day at cost of 80m a year, new figures have shown PA/Armin Weigel Food and drink news Rosemary sales spike over exam time There has been a surge a surge in sales of the herb rosemary after a recent study found it helps improve memory. According to high street health food chain Holland & Barrett, sales of the herb have increased by 187 per cent compared to the same time last year Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Gluten-free diets 'not recommended' for people without coeliac disease Avoiding wheat, barley and rye in the belief that a gluten-free diet brings health benefits may do more harm than good, according to a team of US nutrition and medicine experts Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Starbucks launches two new coffee-based drinks Starbucks is launching two new coffee-based drinks in the UK, as it strives to tap into consumers growing appetite for healthy beverages. The Cold Brew Vanilla sweet cream and the Cappuccino Freddo, will both be available in stores throughout the UK from the start of May Twitter/@SbuxCountyHall Food and drink news Cadburys Dairy Milk Tiffin is making a permanent comeback after 80 years The Cadbury Dairy Milk Tiffin, first produced in 1937, is making a permanent comeback to the UK. The raisin and biscuit-filled chocolate bar is being launched after a successful trial last summer saw 3 million chocolate treats  at the cost of 1.49 for each 95g bar- purchased by nostalgic customers Cadburys Food and drink news Pizza restaurant makes worlds cheesiest 'Scottie's Pizza Parlor' in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Facebook/Scottie's Pizza Parlor Food and drink news A pizza joint in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Why not eating before a workout could be better for your health A study published in the American Journal of Physiology by researchers at the University of Bath found you might be likely to burn more fat if you have not eaten first Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New York restaurant named best in the world A New York restaurant where an average meal for two will cost $700 has been named the best in the world. Eleven Madison Park won the accolade for the first time after debuting on the list at number 50 in 2010. The restaurant was praised for a fun sense of fine-dining, blurring the line between the kitchen and the dining room Getty Images Food and drink news Why you crave bad food when youre tired Researchers at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University in Chicago recently presented their results of a study looking into the effects of sleep deprivation upon high-calorific food consumption. Researchers found that those who were sleep-deprived had specifically enhanced brain activity to the food smells compared to when they had a good nights sleep Shutterstock Food and drink news Drinking wine engages more of your brain than solving maths problems Drinking wine is the ideal workout for your brain, engaging more parts of our grey matter than any other human behaviour, according to a leading neuroscientist. Dr Gordon Shepherd, from the Yale School of Medicine, said sniffing and analysing a wine before drinking it requires exquisite control of one of the biggest muscles in the body Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news British dessert eating surges after people ditch healthy eating in February : In heartening news for anyone feeling guilty about quitting their New Year diet, it seems lots of us have given in to our sweet tooths once again. New data from nationwide food-delivery service Deliveroo reveals there was a surge in Brits ordering desserts in February compared to the first month of 2017 Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news US congress debates definition of milk alternatives A new bill has been created that seeks to ban dairy alternatives from using the term milk. Titled the DAIRY PRIDE Act, the name is a tenuous acronym for defending against imitations and replacements of yogurt, milk, and cheese to promote regular intake of dairy every day. It argues that the dairy industry is struggling as a result of all the dairy-free alternatives on the market and the public are being duped too Getty Images Food and drink news Cadburys launches two new chocolate bars UK confectionary giant Cadbury has launched two new chocolate bars, hoping to lure those with a sweet tooth and perhaps help combat some of the challenges it faces from rising commodity prices and a post-Brexit slump in the value of the pound.The companys new products will be peanut butter and mint flavoured. They will be available in most major super markets as 120g bars, priced at 1.49, according to the company Cadburys Food and drink news You can now get a job as a professional chocolate eater The company responsible for some of your favourite chocolate brands  think Cadbury, Milks, Prince and Oreo  have officially announced an opening to join their team as a professional chocolate taster. The successful candidate will help them to test, perfect and launch new products all over the world. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news MSG additive used in Chinese food is actually good for you, scientist claims For years, weve been told MSG (the sodium salt of glutamic acid) - often associated with cheap Chinese takeaways - is awful for our health and to be avoided at all costs. But one scientist argues it should be used as a supersalt and encourages adding it to food. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Lettuce prices are rising Not only are lettuces becoming an increasingly rare commodity in supermarkets, but prices for the leafy vegetables seem to be rising too. According to the weekly report from the Governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a pair of Little Gem lettuces had an average market price of 0.86 in the week that ended on Friday, up from an average of 0.56 in the previous week  thats an almost 54 per cent increase. Getty Images Food and drink news Do-It-Yourself restaurant To encourage more people to cook and eat together, IKEA has launched The Dining Club in Shoreditch  a fully immersive Do-It-Yourself restaurant . Members of the public can book to host a brunch, lunch or dinner party for up to 20 friends and family. Supported by their very own sous chef and maitre de, the host and their guests will orchestrate an intimate dining experience where cooking together is celebrated and eating together is inspirational Mikael Buck / IKEA Food and drink news Ping Pong menu with a twist Gatwick Airport has teamed up with London dim sum restaurant Ping Pong to create a limited edition menu with a distinctly British twist; including a Full English Bao and Beef Wellington Puff, to celebrate the launch of the airports new route to Hong Kong Food and drink news Zizzi unveil the Maamgharita Unique pizza art has been created by Zizzi in celebration of the Queens 90th birthday. The pizza features the queen in an iconic pose illustrated with fresh and tasty Italian ingredients on a backdrop of the Union Jack Food and drink news Blue potatoes make a comeback Blue potatoes, once a staple part of British potato crops, are back on the menu thanks to a Cambridge scientist turned-organic farmer and Farmdrop, an online marketplace that lets people buy direct from local farms. Cambridge PhD graduate-turned farmer, Adrian Izzard has used traditional growing techniques at Wild Country Organics to produce the colourful spuds, packed with healthy cell-protecting anthocyanin, which had previously disappeared from UK plates when post-war farmers were pushed towards higher-yielding varieties

By the time I mastered berries, I also knew I wanted to become a pastry chef so I got a job at a London chain of patisseries, Maison Blanc. Alas, rather than learning the fine art of French cake-making as I thought I would, I found myself on a production line throwing raspberries onto individual creme patissiere-filled tarts. Within a very short time, my love affair with berries had entered the post-honeymoon phase: complacency. This was not what the catalogue had promised at all. Complacency did not feel right, though, so I hopped off that particular conveyor belt and moved forward.

The years that followed had a moderating effect. They brought with them a slightly more measured, less intoxicated approach. When I set up my own shop window at Ottolenghi in Londons Notting Hill area, raspberry-swirled meringues soon became part of our signature look, alongside many other fruity delights.

(Getty Images/iStockphoto) (Getty)

My relationship with berries has since kept on moving toward that happy stage of balanced coexistence. The berries are still there, of course, used in all sorts of ways in all sorts of dishes: blitzed to make a puree for icing or buttercream; kept whole in a batter, as with the blueberry cake here, or slightly crushed so the juices start to bleed; hiding inside of a roulade, waiting to be revealed; or sitting royally as they do in this pistachio tart.

The figs, dates, lemons and pomegranates are just as much there as well, splashing their colour through all that I bake, the fruits of my childhood and the fruits of my first trip away from home. It feels as if the arc has come full circle and Im allowed the best of all worlds.

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Blueberry, almond and lemon cake

Serves 8

Time: 1 hours, plus cooling

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 3 tbsps unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the pan

1 scant cup granulated or superfine sugar (caster sugar)

1 tsp lemon zest, plus 1 tsp lemon juice (or more juice as needed)

1 tsp vanilla extract (vanilla essence)

3 large eggs, beaten

2/3 cup plain flour, sifted

1  tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup almond flour (ground almonds)

1  cups fresh blueberries

2/3 cup powdered sugar (icing sugar)

Heat oven to 200C. Grease a 9- or 8-inch loaf pan with butter, line it with a parchment paper sling and butter the paper. Set the pan aside.

Place butter, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until light, then lower speed to medium. Add eggs in three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times as necessary. The mix may split a little but dont worry: itll come back together once you add the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and almond flour. With the stand mixer on low, add the dry ingredients in three additions, mixing just until no white specks remain. Fold in about 3/4 of the blueberries by hand, then scoop batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 15 minutes, then sprinkle the remaining blueberries over the top of the cake. Return to the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes, until cake is golden brown but still uncooked. Cover loosely with foil and continue to cook for another 25 to 30 minutes (less for a 9-inch pan, more for an 8-inch pan), or until risen and cooked, and a knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside in its pan to cool for 10 minutes before removing cake from pan and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

When cake is cool, make the icing: add lemon juice and icing sugar to a bowl and whisk together until smooth, adding a bit more juice if necessary, just until the icing moves when you tilt the bowl. Pour over the cake and gently spread out. The blueberries on the top of the cake may bleed into the icing a little but this will add to the look. Let icing set (about 30 minutes), slice and serve.

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Great Ormond Street Hospital has applied to the High Court for a fresh hearing in the case of sick baby Charlie Gard.

The hospital said it had done so in light of claims of new evidence relating to potential treatment for the 11-month-old, who has a genetic disease that causes progressive muscle weakness.

The European Court of Human Rights rejected an appeal from baby Charlies parents Connie Yates and Chris Gard to take him to the US for experimental treatment.

But the case has since caused an international furore, with Donald Trump and Pope Francis offering to help baby Charlie.

Two international hospitals and their researchers have communicated to us as late as the last 24 hours that they have fresh evidence about their proposed experimental treatment, said Great Ormond Street Hospital in a statement.

And we believe, in common with Charlies parents, it is right to explore this evidence.

The decision comes after researchers at the Vatican children's hospital implored doctors to reconsider allowing an experimental treatment to be used.

Clinicians from the Bambino Gesu paediatric hospital's neurosciences department said tests in mice and patients with a similar, but not the same, genetic condition had shown dramatic clinical improvements.

A spokesman for the Rome-based institution said the letter, which was posted on the charliesfight.org website hours after the boy's parents Connie Yates and Chris Gard met Great Ormond Street Hospital medics, had been sent by the hospital.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before 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Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters

Charlie, who was born on 4 August 2016, inherited the faulty RRM2B gene, which affects the cells responsible for energy production and respiration, leaving him unable to move or breath without a ventilator, from his parents.

During the original hearings, doctors said it would be kinder for him to move to an end-of-life care regime, as his condition has "deteriorated hugely" since he first came to the children's hospital.

A High Court listing says the case will be heard by Mr Justice Francis at 2pm on Monday, reported the BBC.

The hospital is currently bound by the High Court ruling that "expressly forbids us from transferring Charlie for nucleoside therapy anywhere", it said.

Our doctors have explored every medical treatment, including experimental nucleoside therapies. Independent medical experts agreed with our clinical team that this treatment would be unjustified, said the hospital.

Not only that, but they said it would be futile and would prolong Charlies suffering. This is not an issue about money or resources, but absolutely about what is right for Charlie.

Our view has not changed. We believe it is right to seek the High Courts view in light of the claimed new evidence. Our priority has always been, and will always be, the best interests of Charlie Gard.

Great Ormond Street said it respectfuly acknowledges offers of help from the White House, the Vatican and medical experts in Italy, the United States and beyond.

We would like to reassure everyone that Great Ormond Hospital will continue to care for Charlie and his family with the utmost respect and dignity through this very difficult time.
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Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has reduced the United Nations (UN) membership fees that his country contributes by $10m (7.75m).

His decision comes after the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO) decided to list the Old City of Hebron in the West Bank as an endangered Palestinian world heritage site - a move that prompted anger in Israel.

As a result the country will now pay will pay $1.7m (1.3m) to the UN out of a planned commitment of $11.7m (9.07m) , according to the Times of Israel.

Instead, the money will go to heritage projects slated for Hebron and Kiryat Arba.

The decision was taken after a Unesco vote designated the West Bank city of Hebron an endangered Palestinian world heritage site. A resolution was passed to put them on a register of sites believed in danger.

Praising the decision, the Palestinian foreign ministry said Hebron was celebrated "as part of world heritage, a value that transcends geography, religion, politics, and ideology."

It added: "This vote celebrated facts and rejected the shameless high-profile political bullying and attempts at extortion."

Israel reacted with anger at Unescos decision, saying the prime minister was "determined to present to the whole world the historical truth and the thousands of years of deep Jewish roots in Hebron."

Mr Netanyahu himself, said the motion to declare the Old City of Hebron, home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs and revered as the biblical burial place of the Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs, was delusional. He vowed to protect the site.

 Trump: Israelis and Palestinians are 'reaching for peace'

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who heads Israel's Unesco committee, said: "The Jewish connection to Hebron goes back thousands of years. Hebron, the birthplace of King David's kingdom, and the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the first Jewish purchase in Israel and resting place of our forefathers - are our people's oldest heritage sites."

Mr Bennett also called the UN agency a political tool.

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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. 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The Tomb of the Patriarchs, also known as the Ibrahimi Mosque is a sacred place for Christians, Muslims and Jews. Many believe it is the burial place of Jacob, Abraham and Isaac. Its considered the second holiest place in Judaism and the fourth in Islam.

This is the latest development in Israels ongoing rocky relationship with the UN. A security council resolution had demanded an end to Israeli settlement building on land Palestinians were proposing for an independent state, according to Reuters.

This is the fourth cut in funds, withdrawing $10 million since December 2016. In March, the Human Rights Council passed five anti-Israel resolutions. Mr Netanyahu responded by pledging to prune another $2 million.

Donald Trumps administration is also at odds with the United Nations. The US president, who has called the UN an underperformer, is proposing to cut nearly 14.7bn in contributions.
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An enormous iceberg, over 2,000 square miles in area  or nearly the size of Delaware  is poised to detach from one of the largest floating ice shelves in Antarctica, and float off in the Weddell Sea, south of the tip of South America.

Scientists have been expecting this break from the Larsen C ice shelf, monitoring the progress of a crack which extended to over 100 miles long in recent months. The latest update from scientists with NASA and the University of California found that only three remaining miles of ice continue to connect the impending iceberg to the larger shelf.

Those parts of the iceberg that have already detached have begun to move rapidly seaward, widening the rift in recent days and leaving the remaining ice strained near to breaking point, according to Adrian Luckman, a scientist monitoring Larsen C at Swansea University in Wales.

The expected event on its own will not affect global sea levels, because the ice that will detach was already afloat in the ocean. But some scientists fear that it could hasten the destabilisation of the larger Larsen C ice shelf.

The iceberg itself will be enormous  one of the most massive ever seen from Antarctica. It will be over 600 feet thick and contain roughly a trillion tons of ice, according to an analysis by the European Space Agency and Noel Gourmelen, a scientist at the University of Edinburgh.

Scientists are divided about the impact of climate change on this particular break in Antarcticas ice shelf.

Some have contended theres little proof that the break, which will reduce the size of the Larsen C more than scientists have observed previously, reflects the advance of climate change. Ice shelves do, after all, sometimes break off.

We do not need to press the panic button for Larsen C. Large calving events such as this are normal processes of a healthy ice sheet, ones that have occurred for decades, centuries, millennia  on cycles that are much longer than a human or satellite lifetime, wrote Helen Amana Fricker, an Antarctic scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

However, others disagree.

Of course this is due to climate warming in the peninsula, said Eric Rignot, a NASA and University of California Irvine expert on Antarctica.

Antarctica has seen an increase in breaks in its ice shelves in recent years. The Larsen A ice shelf, far closer to the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula  and therefore warmer latitudes  collapsed in 1995. In 2002, the same thing happened with Larsen B, its southern cousin, situated slightly closer to the South Pole.

Now Larsen C, still further toward the south pole and subject to somewhat cooler temperatures, has seen a major break. But there are big gaps in scientists knowledge about what might have disturbed the Larsen C ice shelf.

Recent studies have suggested that the ice of Larsen C has begun to flow more quickly to the sea through the shelf in recent years. The ice shelf has also been thinning and its surface has been getting lower in the water, suggesting that it might be melting from below.

But Fricker presented data to suggest that the ice shelf has since begun to thicken again.

Yes, I agree Larsen C is next in line southwards after Larsen A and B, Fricker said. However, there is actually no research showing that Larsen C is getting thinner and flowing faster. In fact, in recent years, it is the opposite.

There is a similar debate over whether this individual break will destabilise the ice shelf and lead to further disintegration.

10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke  filled with the carbon that is driving climate change  drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan

According to Rignot, Larsen C holds back around 1 centimetre of global sea level increase, in the form of glaciers feeding into the remaining ice shelf. If the ice shelf were to continue to disintegrate, this ice might flow more rapidly into the sea.

An even more pressing concern is the southward and poleward progression of ice shelf collapse, Rignot said, pointing out that farther south there are ice shelves that, by stabilising glaciers, are currently preventing vastly more sea level rise than Larsen C does.

Larsen C is among Antarcticas largest ice shelves, but it still pales in comparison to the Ross Ice Shelf and Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf. Earlier this month, scientists reported a major melt event that occurred several years ago atop the surface of the Ross Ice Shelf, accompanied by at least some rainfall, which also gave them concern.

Scientists will be watching the break closely and trying to glean lessons about what to expect from other potentially vulnerable ice shelves in Antarctica.

While it might not be caused by global warming, its at least a natural laboratory to study how breakups will occur at other ice shelves to improve the theoretical basis for our projections of future sea level rise, said NASA's Tom Wagner, who directs the agencys polar programmes.

Copyright The Washington Post
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North Korea on Tuesday reportedly launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile  a rocket capable of travelling more than 3,400 miles with a weapon on top. The feat suggests that the isolated country, one of nine nations that together wield more than 14,900 nukes, could strike Alaska.

However, the rest of the US faces a much different and shadowy nuclear threat: a terrorist-caused nuclear detonation, which is one of 15 disasters scenarios that the federal government has planned for  just in case.

"National Planning Scenario No. 1 is a 10-kiloton nuclear detonation in a modern US city," Brooke Buddemeier, a health physicist and expert on radiation at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, told Business Insider. "A 10-kiloton nuclear detonation is equivalent to 5,000 Oklahoma City bombings. Though we call it 'low yield,' it's a pretty darn big explosion."

Buddemeier couldn't say how likely such an attack might be today. But the concern isn't unfounded, since weapons-grade nuclear materials have proliferated in recent years, along with smaller, kiloton-class bombs. And while governments do their best to safeguard nuclear-weapons materials, there's no guarantee a terrorist couldn't succeed in obtaining them.

Should a nuclear blast occur near your city or town, and you somehow avoided its searing flash of light, crushing shockwaves, and incendiary fireball, take shelter immediately. You should also have a few items handy in your emergency kit.

"Would you have considered Oklahoma City a likely target?" Buddemeier said. "I think it's worthwhile for everybody to think about preparedness for any kind of event."

Buddemeier said the best plan was to round up the emergency supplies on Ready.gov, which are listed at the end of this post.

"This isn't just for the nuclear holocaust event," Buddemeier said. "This is for general emergency preparedness and making sure that you and your family can be safe in an emergency."

But if you're in a pinch, he said you should grab a few basics while you run for cover from radioactive fallout.

Why you should prepare to hunker down for 24-48 hours

A fearsome after-effect of nuclear blasts is fallout, a complex mixture of fission products (or radioisotopes) created by splitting atoms.

Many of these fission products decay rapidly and emit gamma radiation  an invisible yet highly energetic form of light. Too much exposure to this radiation in a short time can damage the body's cells and its ability to fix itself, leading to a condition called acute radiation syndrome or sickness.

"It also affects the immune system and your ability to fight infections," Buddemeier said.

Only very dense and thick materials, like many feet of dirt or inches of lead, can reliably stop the gamma radiation emitted by fallout. It's also a threat you'd be foolish to attempt to escape by driving away in a car or other vehicle.

"Your ability to know where the fallout's gonna go, and outrun it, are  well, it's very unlikely," he said, because it would be carried by high-altitude winds "often booking along at 100 miles per hour."

While rushing to a fallout shelter within the first minutes after a blast, or migrating to a better one, you'll want a few things to get through the next 24 to 48 hours  when radioactive fallout exposure risk is the greatest.

The minimum your emergency kit should have

If a full emergency-preparedness kit isn't handy  say, if you were on public transit to or from work  Buddemeier recommends trying to grab a few items, just as long as it wouldn't delay your taking shelter from fallout by more than a couple of minutes.

Item No. 1 is a radio, he said  ideally a hand-cranked type with a USB charging port that can power other devices. "If you have a cellphone, that'll work too," he said.

Buddemeier said he preferred a radio over a mobile phone because "sometimes the cell towers may be affected," either by power outages, crushing demand, or an invisible yet powerful effect of nuclear weapons called electromagnetic pulse. (The effect can disable electronics, though a ground detonation would mostly confine EMP to the blast damage zone, where you'd have much bigger problems.)

He says a radio is important because you need to receive emergency broadcasts and instructions. It's one of the simplest ways to figure out where dangerous fallout has landed, when you can leave your shelter, and where the safest routes to exit a fallout zone are.

Second, Buddemeier says, you'll want water  ideally 1 gallon per person per day, according to . In addition to drinking it, you may need it to rinse off any radioactive fallout after removing your clothes, since this can drastically reduce your radiation exposure.

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Third, Buddemeier said, "I would probably grab a breakfast bar or two to stave off the hunger a little bit." Fourth, he says to grab any essential medications or treatments you might need.

Buddemeier says there's a risk in trying to gather too much stuff, since the first minutes and hours after a blast are when radioactive fallout exposure risk is the greatest  especially outdoors.

One thing he definitely does not recommend stressing about immediately after a blast is potassium iodine pills, which wouldn't be very useful in the next 48 hours.

"Most people seem to think of the potassium iodide, or KI, pills as some type of anti-radiation drug. They are not," Buddemeier said. "They are for preventing the uptake of radioiodine, which is one radionuclide out of thousands of radionuclides that are out there."

Radioiodine is "probably like [0.2%] of the overall exposure that you may be facing if you're outdoors," he said, adding that the pills are most helpful for addressing longer-term concerns about food-supply contamination. "The most important thing is sheltering in place and not trying to seek out things like KI, because the act of trying to find your KI and get your KI may cause you to get a much higher exposure to everything else and offer very little protection in return."

Buddemeier says he hopes no one will ever have to act on his advice. But if people could find good shelters  and are able to receive broadcast instructions from emergency personnel  the blow of a catastrophe could be softened, he says.

"We may not be able to do much about the blast casualties, because where you were is where you were, and you can't really change that. But fallout casualties are entirely preventable," he said. "In a large city ... knowing what to do after an event like this can literally save hundreds of thousands of people from radiation illness or fatalities."

More-complete emergency-supply checklists from FEMA

It's smart to have a family plan as well as a few basic emergency kits to last several days, then stash them at home, work, and in your vehicles.

But the emergency-supply lists below, published by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, aren't helpful just for making it through the aftermath of a nuclear blast, but for weathering tornadoes, hurricanes, snowstorms, power outages, and other take-shelter emergencies.

FEMA recommends each of your kits have these essential items in a portable bag:

Water: 1 gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation. Food: at least a three-day supply of nonperishable food. Battery-powered or hand-crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both. Flashlight and extra batteries. First-aid kit. Whistle to signal for help. Dust mask to help filter contaminated air, and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter in place. Moist towelettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties for personal sanitation. Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities. Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food). Local maps.

If you have the space, the need, and the foresight, FEMA also recommends beefing up your basic kits with these items:

Prescription medications and glasses. Infant formula and diapers. Pet food and extra water for your pet. Important family documents, such as copies of insurance policies, identification, and bank-account records in a waterproof, portable container. Cash or traveler's checks and change. Emergency reference material such as a first-aid book or information from . Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person. Consider additional bedding if you live in a cold-weather climate. Complete change of clothing, including a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, and sturdy shoes. Consider additional clothing if you live in a cold-weather climate. Household chlorine bleach and medicine dropper: When diluted nine parts water to one part bleach, bleach can be used as a disinfectant. Or in an emergency, you can use it to treat water by using 16 drops of regular household liquid bleach per gallon of water. Do not use scented or color-safe bleaches, or those with added cleaners. Fire extinguisher. Matches in a waterproof container. Feminine supplies and personal-hygiene items. Mess kits, paper cups, plates and plastic utensils, and paper towels. Paper and pencil. Books, games, puzzles, or other activities for children.

You can access more information about how to prepare for a variety of emergency scenarios at FEMA.

Business Insider

Read more:

 Brexit is easing the UK into recession like an old man lowering himself into a hot bath

 The bidding war for Unilad is set to start next week

 Trump promises May a post-Brexit trade deal

Read the original article on Business Insider UK.  2017. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.
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How much Earth will warm in response to future greenhouse gas emissions may be one of the most fundamental questions in climate science - but it's also one of the most difficult to answer. And it's growing more controversial: In recent years, some scientists have suggested that our climate models may actually be predicting too much future warming, and that climate change will be less severe than the projections suggest.

But new research is helping to lay these suspicions to rest. A study published on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, joins a growing body of literature that suggests the models are on track after all. And while that may be worrisome for the planet, it's good news for the scientists working to understand its future.

The new study addresses a basic conflict between what the models suggest about future climate change and what we can infer from historical observations alone. Some scientists have suggested that the models may be too sensitive, pointing out that the warming they predict for the future is greater than what we would expect based only on the warming patterns we've observed since humans first began emitting greenhouse gases.

The models, for instance, suggest that if the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere were to reach double its preindustrial level, the planet would warm by anywhere from about 1.5 to 4.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit). But the warming patterns we've actually observed over the past 200 years or so would suggest that a doubling in carbon dioxide should only lead to about 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit), of warming at the most.

The discrepancy has become a major cause for concern among climate scientists in recent years, according to the new study's lead author Cristian Proistosescu, a research associate at the University of Washington who conducted the research while completing a PhD at Harvard. Even the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change acknowledged the issue in its most recent report, he said, stating that it could no longer provide a best estimate for the climate's sensitivity.

"It worried a lot of us," Proistosescu told The Washington Post. " We needed to understand why our different estimates didn't work."

The new study helps to reconcile the models with the historical record. It suggests that global warming occurs in different phases or "modes" throughout the planet, some of which happen more quickly than others. Scientists now increasingly believe that certain slow-developing climate processes will amplify warming to a greater extent in the future, putting the models in the right after all. But these processes take time, even up to several hundred years, to really take effect - and because not enough time has passed since the industrial revolution for their signal to really develop, the historical record is what's actually misleading at the moment.

This conclusion is supported by a growing body of research, which suggests that warming estimates made from the historical record alone are "potentially biassed low, for reasons we are now just beginning to understand," said Timothy Andrews, a climate scientist with the Met Office, in an email to The Washington Post. While Andrews was not involved with the new study, he's one of multiple scientists whose recent research has tackled the same issue.

The new study uses a statistical method to separate "fast" and "slow" climate modes in the models. According to Proistosescu, when greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere, a "fast" warming effect begins to take place almost immediately in certain parts of the planet, mainly over the land masses in the Northern Hemisphere. Indeed, these are the parts of Earth where the most rapid warming has been observed since the industrial revolution.

On the other hand, he said, other parts of the planet - namely, the Southern Ocean and the eastern Pacific - respond much more slowly, in part because they're just so deep and cold to begin with. But as they absorb more heat and finally start to warm up, they may produce a variety of climate feedback effects that actually enhance the global warming that's already occurring. For instance, changes in ocean temperatures can alter atmospheric patterns around the world. The models suggest that these warming ocean regions may lead to a decrease in reflective cloud cover in the future, allowing more solar radiation to make it through the atmosphere to Earth's surface.

While the impact of these processes may be profound, they can also take long periods of time to unfold, Proistosescu said - potentially up to 300 years or so. Through their statistical parsing, the researchers found that the models suggest the effects of this slow climate mode only account for about 3 percent of the human-caused warming we've seen so far. But in the future, under a scenario in which atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations double, it could account for up to half of all warming that occurs.

Since they were able to separate the fast and slow climate modes, the researchers also conducted a test to see what would happen if they only applied fast climate warming in the models. When they did so, the model predictions suddenly fell in line with the historical record - suggesting that the still-developing slow mode is the reason the two have failed to match so far.

That said, the study does beg the question of how we can be so sure the slow climate mode will actually develop as it does in the model, since humans have yet to really observe it in nature. According to Piers Forster, a University of Leeds climate scientist who has also studied climate sensitivity, the models tend to rely on certain assumptions that have not yet unfolded in real life - for instance, that the eastern Pacific will eventually warm to a greater extent than the western Pacific.

"This doesn't necessarily mean the models are wrong," he added in an emailed comment to The Washington Post. But, he said, it does suggest that "we do not yet fully understand these long term changes in the Pacific and therefore these climate change amplification effects."

10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke  filled with the carbon that is driving climate change  drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan

According to Proistosescu, some studies of Earth's ancient climate - which scientists can conduct using information from sources like ice cores and preserved sediments - do suggest that a slow climate mode does exist and has occurred in the past. And he added that the climate models rely on basic physical processes to a great extent, and "we trust that they do the basic physics correctly."

But he agreed that some caution - or at least a great deal more research on how these slow climate responses will continue to develop - is called for. In fact, identifying the uncertainties that remain about Earth's climate sensitivity is another significant outcome of the study, he suggested.

The research indicates that the models and the historical record are not so different after all, and that there are certain large-scale climate feedback processes still unfolding. How exactly those develop may still be uncertain - no one's arguing that the models are currently perfect, Proistosescu said.

"But they're close enough that you trust that there is an effect there, you just need to better quantify what that is," he added. " And that's where a lot of the work is going."

Copyright The Washington Post
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A disabled MP who has cerebral palsy cannot attend Commons debates because he "has not been able to get a seat".

After a month in his role as Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam, Mr OMara said he has not been able to attend debates in the Commons chamber as he cannot stand for longer than ten minutes.

There have been a couple of times where I have not been able to get a seat and so I have not been able to attend, he told the Disability News Service website.

The thing is with the Commons chamber, it is 650 MPs but theres not 650 seats, so for busy events theres not enough seats for everybody. Its ridiculous in this day and age.

The 35-year-old MP was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at six months old. The condition leaves him with severe fatigue and the right-hand side of his body is semi-paralysed. Mobility and standing for too long is an issue and he needs bannisters on both sides of stairs.

The disability rights campaigner, who compares himself to Forrest Gump, said: Im this slightly eccentric, little bit weird disabled guy who keeps stumbling into large achievements.

Hallam Constituency Labour Party chairman Jane Thomas said in told the Sheffield Star: Jared has a strong record of campaigning for the rights of disabled people in Sheffield and will bring experience of community involvement that few candidates can offer.

A House of Commons spokesman would not comment on the issue of seating in the Commons chamber.

However, he pointed out that step-free routes and accessible toilets and lifts in Portcullis House and the Palace of Westminster and were marked on maps in a handbook given to MPs, saying the Parliamentary Health and Wellbeing Service can also advise on accessibility issues.

He added: The House of Commons aims to provide a positive, inclusive working environment where people are valued for the skills and experience they bring to work, whilst being representative of the society they serve.

Mr OMaras victory in Sheffield Hallam was one of the biggest upsets of the general election. He beat former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to win the seat, winning 21,881 votes to Clegg's 19,756.
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Social media users moved by the tragic case of Charlie Gard should stop attacking doctors and instead read the court judgments setting out the facts of his illness, a paediatrician has said.

Dr Ranj Singh, an NHS doctor, appears regularly on This Morning and is the creator of the childrens programme Get Well Soon.

He told The Independent the care of medical staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) was the reason [Charlie] is alive and that theres no reason for them to wish ill intent towards any patient.

Charlie, aged just 11 months, has a rare genetic condition that means he has brain damage and his muscles are not developing. At least one doctor believes he is likely to be suffering, potentially at a significant level.

Successive courts have ruled his life support should be switched off due to the degenerative nature of his illness.

A hugely emotional public debate has raged over Charlies case as his parents have fought to be allowed to take him to the US for experimental treatment they believe could improve his life.

US President Donald Trump and Pope Francis have both waded into the debate around the plan. Judges have concluded the treatment, which has never been used on people, or even animals, with Charlie's particular illness, would be futile because there was so little chance it would work.

The doctor who offered it could not guarantee it would have any effect in reversing Charlie's brain damage.

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their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA

Dr Singh told The Independent: These are not judgments that have been taken lightly, or reached easily. Their job is to provide an objective assessment and decision on complicated areas like this, when mutually agreeable decisions cant be reached.

People need to go to the court transcripts and have a look at what the arguments are. This is a highly emotive case.

It will naturally get peoples emotions and opinions up, and many people will take to social media to get their information and express themselves. Unfortunately that means its jumping on a bandwagon.

People have formed opinions already. Theres a huge distrust of the medical profession around cases like this.

Thats sad, because what youve got to think about is the teams that are looking after this extremely unwell child, they do this day-in, day-out. The reason these patients are alive in the first place is because of the 24-hour care that these people provide.

Thats not because I think people are trying to be deliberately malicious. People are expressing themselves and being part of a group that thinks the same way.

If its a complex case for medical professionals to get their heads around, it must be even more complex for lay members of the public.

 Charlie Gard's father in plea to 'give my boy a chance'

Dr Singhs comments came as GOSH applied for a fresh hearing in light of claims of new evidence for a potential treatment for Charlies condition.

Dr Singh said any new evidence should be reviewed ... but that evidence needs to be good enough".

Judges in the case have also faced severe criticism as the debate has spread internationally.

But in the Court of Appeal's ruling, Lord Justice McFarlane noted the strong feelings of sympathy and respect that run like a seam throughout the judgment made previously by a family court judge.

Mr Justice Francis had called his decision my sad duty, describing it as the darkest day for Charlies parents who have done everything that they possibly can for him. He added: My heart goes out to them.

Charlies mother, Connie Yates, said she believed her son was not suffering or in pain, and that Mr Trumps intervention had given her renewed hope.

She told Good Morning Britain: We are not bad parents, we are there for him all the time, we are completely devoted to him and he's not in pain and suffering, and I promise everyone I would not sit there and watch my son in pain and suffering, I couldn't do it.

Ms Yates and Charlie's father, Chris Gard, are estimated each to have spent about 3,200 hours by the boy's side at GOSH. A High Court judge praised their absolute dedication and brave and dignified campaign on [Charlie's] behalf.

Ms Yates added: It's a one in 10 chance and in some sense people might say that's a small chance but when it comes to medicine that's a big chance.

There is potential for him to be a completely normal boy but we don't know because we just don't know until we try.

A US hospital said it would take Charlie boy in if legal hurdles could be cleared, or send the medication to GOSH pending approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.

Ms Yates said she had researched Charlie's rare mitochondrial condition non-stop and had also been told there was a chance the treatment could help Charlie, although GOSH medics argued it would not.

The Court of Appeal ruled in May: It must follow from that unanimous professional and expert evidence, that to move Charlie to America and expose him to treatment over there would be likely to expose him to continued pain, suffering and distress.

Writing for The Independent, Dr Ravi Jayaram, another paediatrician, said: As human beings we like things to be black and white, good guys versus bad guys, the establishment versus the little man.

Unfortunately medicine inevitably operates in shades of grey and there is rarely a 100 per cent 'right' thing to do. Every decision is a balance of potential benefit against potential harm.

As a result of the binary media coverage, many people have developed fixed opinions on the situation on one side or the other, which they express passionately and loudly.

The fact that people with as high a profile as the Pope and the President of the USA have become involved reflects how emotive this has become.

Read the High Court judgment here, and the Court of Appeal's judgment here. The Supreme Court's judgment can be read here.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Firefighters were reportedly sent to Grenfell Tower without the right equipment to tackle the fire.

Crews efforts to halt the spread of the fire in the 24-storey Kensington block last month were reportedly hampered by a series of failings.

A high ladder, which could have reached the 10th floor, was not dispatched until 24 minutes after emergency services arrived on scene, according to an incident mobilisation list seen by the BBCs Newsnight.

A fire expert told the programme that the 30m high ladder would have given crews a better chance of stopping the spread of the blaze from the fourth-floor flat, where a faulty fridge sparked the fire before it engulfed the entire block, killing at least 80 people.

Firefighters also cited low water pressure and reportedly had to call Thames Water to increase the pressure in the area.

The fire floors we went in were helmet-meltingly hot  When we were clearing flats, it was a case of a quick look and closing doors because the water pressure wasnt up to firefighting, one firefighter told the programme.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: Weve been supporting the emergency services response in every way possible  Any suggestion there was low pressure, or that Thames Water did not supply enough water to fire services during this appalling tragedy, is categorically false.

The London Fire Brigade said it has since changed its procedures and will send a high ladder as standard to any tower block fires.

More than 200 firefighters and 40 fire engines were dispatched to tackle the fire on 14 June.

Many emergency workers were in tears following the tragedy and could face psychological issues in the future, the London Fire Commissioner warned after the incident.

Dany Cotton said the tough conditions and shocking scenes they faced, including a child being thrown from an upper storey window, had left many traumatised.

Recommended I understand why the Grenfell Tower residents are so angry

She also told how many were forced to make decisions about who to save, as it became clear not everyone would make it out of the building alive.

Roughly 300 people are believed to have been inside the tower at the time of the incident.

The majority are thought to have escaped unaided but the fire brigade rescued 65 residents.

At least 80 people are thought to have died, with the death toll expected to rise.
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A teenager has decided whether she should marry her first cousin - a custom that has been legal in Britain for more than 400 years.

In Hiba Maroof's home town of Bradford, around 70 per cent of young people with Pakistani heritage are thought to marry their first cousins, despite medical evidence suggesting the practice leads to genetic problems for their offspring.

Now the 18-year-old is exploring whether she should make the same choice in a BBC Three documentary.

"The genetic talk scares me," she said, after meeting a friend of the family whose children are severely autistic.

Should I Marry My Cousin? is part of the channel's Sorry Not Sorry season, which explores individuality across the UK and issues affecting people aged 16 to 34.

Ms Maroof's father, Maroof, is undecided on the issue but her mother Nuzhat is set against it.

Marrying cousins is a tradition even within her own family. Her uncle, who supports the practice, has five children and four are married to their cousins.

But because all her first cousins are married, Ms Maroof would have to find a second or third cousin from Pakistan, where she travelled as part of the programme.

However, her investigations result in a firm decision.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA

"I think after meeting all the people and all the places I have been, I decided not to marry my cousin," she said. "It wouldnt be something I would be comfortable with.

"The advantages dont weigh up for me. Especially because the person who is closest to me and I know has been in a cousin marriage is my mum and that didn't work out for her."

The documentary is available to view on BBC iPlayer.
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A Muslim radio station that broadcast 25 hours of sermons by an al-Qaeda recruiter during Ramadan has been suspended.

Iman FM played a series of lectures by Anwar Al-Awlaki, an influential cleric called "the Bin Laden of the internet" before he was killed by a US missile drone strike in Yemen in 2011.

The hate preacher, who is said to have inspired terrorist atrocities such as the Charlie Hebdo massacre, could be heard calling for "holy war" on the Sheffield-based radio station on 14 June.

Ofcom suspended Iman FM's licence after receiving a complaint and concluding that Al-Awlaki's speeches "amounted to a direct call to action to members of the Muslim community to prepare for and carry out violent action against non-Muslim people".

The watchdog said that the former al-Qaeda leader's talks breached their strict rules that ban hate speech unless it is justified by context.

They have given Iman FM's chief executive Mohammad Mughal 21 days to provide an explanation for the broadcast before the station is shut down.

He told the Daily Mail: "This is very, very sad because none of us had any idea this lecture was preaching hatred. We are not just a Muslim radio station  we regularly feature Christian presenters."

US drone strike 'kills al-Qa'ida deputy leader Saeed al-Shihri' Show all 2 1 /2 US drone strike 'kills al-Qa'ida deputy leader Saeed al-Shihri' US drone strike 'kills al-Qa'ida deputy leader Saeed al-Shihri' Pg-35-arrest-ap.jpg AP US drone strike 'kills al-Qa'ida deputy leader Saeed al-Shihri' Pg-35-arrest2.jpg

Ofcom dismissed Iman FM's claims that they were unaware of Al-Awlaki's background and hadn't checked the material before broadcast as "not credible".

Among the extreme content transmitted by the station was a Youtube sermon during which the jihadi preacher said: "Prepare whatever strength you have for holy war in the cause of Allah. This is a form of worship."

In 2010 former US President Barack Obama included Al-Awlaki on a list of terrorists that the CIA were authorised to kill.

The al-Qaeda commander, who was born in New Mexico, became the first US citizen to be killed by a drone strike when he was hit in Yemen on 30 September 2011.
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Philip Hammond has said the global trade deals promised by Theresa May after Brexit will make a limited difference to the British economy, exposing cabinet splits over the European Union.

Speaking at the G20 in Hamburg yesterday, Mr Hammond said the deals touted by Brexiteers as the answer to any hit from EU withdrawal wont make any particular difference to the unusually large portion of Britains exports that come from services rather than physical goods.

The Chancellor is attending the summit with the Prime Minister who hours earlier hailed the deals that Mr Hammonds cabinet colleague Liam Fox is seeking as central to her Brexit plans.

Mr Fox, the International Trade Secretary, has said he will start trade-deal talks with the United States this month in order to make sure one is ready to go by the end of Brexit. Mr Fox said earlier this year he was also keen on a deal with Australia, while his team has made around three dozen trips abroad to sniff out new post-EU treaties.

Mr Hammond also said that a call from the Confederation of British Industry for Britain to remain in the single market and customs union after withdrawal  at odds with Brexit Secretary David Daviss approach  was helpful, though he said its request was unlikely to be politically or legally possible.

He added that taking advantage of such deals proposed by Ms May and Mr Fox would take a long time and would require a painfully slow reorientation of the British economy.

Obviously we do a large amount of trade outside the EU at the moment, so we have a trade base which works without special agreements or free trade arrangements, Mr Hammond told Bloomberg and Reuters.

Much of our trade with the world is service trade, where free trade agreements wont make any particular difference.

But clearly there is potential to expand our goods trade with the rest of the world. History teaches us, though, that this will be a process, it will not be a sudden change. We will have to negotiate agreements, those agreements will no doubt have implementation periods.

Then of course if your business is in complex goods, consumer goods, intermediate products going into supply chains, you dont just start selling on day one, you have to build the market. This is a process and it will take time.

Around 40 per cent of Britains exports are services, with 60 per cent goods  an unusually higher proportion of services than most other countries.

 Trump and Putin share handshake as G20 leaders mingle

As well as striking a different note from the Prime Minister, the Chancellors views put him at odds with leading Tory Brexiteers, who have argued that signing trade deals around the world could underpin Britains prosperity post-EU.

During the EU referendum campaign future Brexit Secretary David Davis appeared unaware of how trade deals with the EU worked  calling for a UK-Germany accord. Germany is a member of the EU, however, and does not sign individual trade deals.

Mr Hammond continued: The thing that I remind my colleagues is that if we lose access to our European markets, that will be an instant effect, overnight, and to people who are looking to us to protect jobs, economic growth, living standards, they wont thank us if we deliver them an instant hit with only a longer term, slowly building benefit to compensate. Thats the concern that we have to have in our minds.

Recommended France pledges tax cuts in bid to win Brexit jobs race

The Chancellors comments came on the first full day of the G20 summit in Hamburg, where Ms May held bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping over North Korea and steel dumping. She told leaders that not only do we have to talk the language of free and fair trade, we need to act on it too  and suggested holding a global forum on steel overproduction before the end of the year.

After a customary photo opportunity, the G20 leaders met for a working lunch where they were served smoked fished and chilled soup followed by chicken fricassee, crayfish, and black rice.

Donald Trump is said to have folded his arms and adopted a face like thunder while Xi Jinping spoke about his trade policy, according to a Western diplomat who witnessed the closed session.

Diplomats said that at one point French President Emmanuel Macron tried to explain trade policy to Mr Trump, holding up his iPhone as a prop to illustrate import and export deficits between China and the US.

The French premier ended his appeal by warning that the rise of nationalism could lead to war  an apparent reference to Marine Le Pen, who Mr Trump expressed support for.

G20 Protesters take Hamburg Show all 8 1 /8 G20 Protesters take Hamburg G20 Protesters take Hamburg German riot police use water cannons against protesters during the demonstration during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg German riot police clash with protesters during the demonstrations during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg Riot police move in through the smoke from a smoke bomb during the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg Riot police use water cannon to put of burning bins as a protester runs off after the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg Protesters throw beer bottles as they shield themselves from water cannon spray during the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg A firefighter works at the scene where a number of cars burnt down during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg The interior of a burnt down car is seen as firefighters work in the background during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg German police remove a protestor who is blocking a street at a demonstration during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS

One lighter moment apparently occurred when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau helped to fix a repeated technical failure of the translation system and headsets that leaders used to understand each other.

Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, was reportedly one of the victims of this fault  leaving him stranded on the floor while the problem was addressed. A Western diplomat present at the meeting said Mr Trudeau showed Mr Juncker which button to press to activate the system.

Mr Hammonds G20 intervention came as David Davis hosted senior figures at Chevening House in Kent to assuage business and industry fears over leaving the European Union.

Figures including the heads of the manufacturers organisation EEF and the Federation of Small Businesses were entertained at the grace-and-favour country residence which Mr Davis shares with Boris Johnson and Liam Fox.

Today at the G20 summit Ms May is expected to meet with Mr Trump himself, where the pair will address the situation in North Korea, progress on a post-Brexit trade agreement, and the Paris Agreement on climate change. Ms May is also expected to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before her planned return to the UK by RAF jet on Saturday evening.
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Donald Trump has said he expects a trade deal with the UK to be completed "very, very quickly".

The US President is due to meet Prime Minister Theresa May on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg on Saturday.

The deal would be "great for both countries," he said, but provided no details. He claimed the new trade arrangements would be "very powerful" and talked up the "very special relationship" between the US and UK.

Recommended Macron awkwardly corners Trump during G20 photo shoot

Mr Trump also said he plans to come to London. Asked when, he said: "We'll work that out."

He is due to return to Washington, DC, on Saturday evening.

There was no mention of Mr Trump's long-promised state visit to the UK in last month's Queen's Speech.

It followed the weakening of Ms May's Government in the 8 June general election.

Activists across the UK had promised huge protests if and when the visit went ahead.

When Ms May became the first leader to visit the newly-inaugurated President Trump in Washington, in January, she claimed he had made a new deal with the UK one of his "earliest priorities".

But at that point  Brexit still a long way off  Ms May was only able to discuss the principle of any new trade arrangement.

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. 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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. 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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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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

Nonetheless, Mr Trump told reporters in Hamburg on Saturday: "We have been working on a trade deal which will be a very, very big deal, a very powerful deal, great for both countries and I think we will have that done very, very quickly."

The President, who campaigned on an "America first" platform, has made "fair trade" a central theme of his foreign relations. He insists the US has been badly treated by other countries.

On Friday the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, said the global trade deals promised by Ms May would make only limited difference to the British economy, because of the large portion of UK exports that come from services rather than physical goods.

 Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meet at G20 summit

He said: "Clearly there is potential to expand our goods trade with the rest of the world. History teaches us, though, that this will be a process, it will not be a sudden change.

"We will have to negotiate agreements, those agreements will no doubt have implementation periods.

"Then of course if your business is in complex goods, consumer goods, intermediate products going into supply chains, you dont just start selling on day one, you have to build the market. This is a process and it will take time."

Additional reporting by agencies
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Ministers will today announce measures to crack down on bogus holiday sickness claims that they say are driving up the cost of taking the family abroad.

The Independent reported in April that fraudulent insurance claims of food poisoning by holidaymakers hoping to recoup the cost of all-inclusive deals are leading to such package deals being taken off the market altogether.

Lawyers have branded the practice, which is apparently fuelled by unscrupulous touts, as spinning out of control because of the emergence of claims management companies that promise holidaymakers money off their trip.

Recommended Travel industry wants Government action on fake holiday sickness claim

In response to the reports, the Government now plans to introduce a series of caps on the cost of settling sickness claims to make their costs predictable to tour operators.

A system of fixed recoverable costs already operates for claims affecting operators in England and Wales, but tour operators that sell holidays abroad are not currently covered.

If the Government is successful in extending the scheme to overseas holidays then tour operators will instead pay a prescribed sum depending on the value of the claim. The Independent understands that the Government will be launching a call for evidence on whether to proceed fully with the extension of the costs regime.

Justice Secretary David Lidington said: Our message to those who make false holiday sickness claims is clear  your actions are damaging and will not be tolerated.

We are addressing this issue, and will continue to explore further steps we can take. This Government is absolutely determined to tackle the compensation culture which has penalised the honest majority for too long.

Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Show all 8 1 /8 Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Winners: Landscape category - Jurassic Coast (Dorset, UK) by Tony Cowburn Tony Cowburn Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Winner: Icon category - Tiger's Nest (Paro Valley, Bhutan) by Kasia Nowak Kasia Nowak Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Winner: People category - Reflections (S-21 Prison, Phnom Penh, Cambodia) by Charlotte Currie Charlotte Currie Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Winner: Wildlife category - Escape! (Tanzania) by Vittorio Ricci Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Runners-up: Icon - Snow Time (Westminster Bridge, London) by Ron Tear Ron Tear Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Runner-up: Wildlife - Momentary (Bucks, UK) by Porsupah Ree Porsupah Ree Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Runner-up: Landscape - Polar Bear Landscape (Wrangel Island, Russia) by Gunther Riehle Travel Photo of the Year: The winning entries Runner-up: People - Let Sleeping Sikhs Lie (Amritsar, India) by Allan Dransfield Allan Dransfield

The new policy follows a call for action by the Government from the travel industry, reported by The Independent at the end of June.

The Foreign Office currently warns holidaymakers in Spain: 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.

The Government is set to beef up the warning to remind holidaymakers they could face years in prison for fraud if caught lying about such sickness.
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Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has flown to Kuwait and Qatar to try and bring an end to the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf region.

Several gulf states have suspended diplomatic relations with Qatar, and now Kuwait is attempting to mediate to bring an end to the dispute.

Mr Johnson has meetings with his Kuwaiti counterpart, Foreign Secretary Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, and will also travel to Qatar to meet the Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Recommended The Qatar crisis has nothing to do with Al Jazeera

Mr Johnson said the UK was supporting Kuwaits efforts to broker a solution to the row which has seen Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar.

At the start of his diplomatic mission, he said: Britains close and historic friendship with all of the Gulf states is becoming even more relevant and important in todays volatile world.

As our Prime Minister has said, the Gulf's security is our security  and we remain deeply committed to the stability of the region and to working with our friends in the Gulf to keep all of our people safe.

These talks underline the UK's strong support for Kuwaits mediation efforts, and I urge all parties to play a constructive role in order to restore the unity of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties and severed air, land and sea links with Qatar last month.

They issued a 13-point list of demands which included cutting ties with terrorist groups, curbing relations with Iran and shutting media outlets including Al-Jazeera.

Qatar has strenuously denied that it supports extremist groups. It is refusing to close down Al-Jazeera, and views the ultimatum as an affront to its sovereignty.
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"Combustible" cladding similar to the panels at the centre of the criminal investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire is not being tested by the Government, The Independent has learned.

Testing is currently being limited to panels made of aluminium composite material (ACM)  the type that is believed to have aided the unprecedented spread of the blaze at the 24-storey building last month.

At least 200 samples from high-rise blocks in 54 local authorities have failed testing, according to a Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) spokesperson, all of which were ACM.

But fire safety experts warned The Independent the tests could be the tip of the iceberg, with many other types of cladding likely to fail the Governments own standard for fire safety.

Non-ACM cladding systems CEP and Carea are not made of aluminium, but have a near identical construction to the Reynobond ACM panels used on Grenfell Tower.

Niall Rowan, COO of the Association for Specialist Fire Protection, told The Independent: If you put this cladding through government testing, it would fail, I would put money on it.

They are different materials to the Reynobond but they would all have a similar reaction to fire under the fire test.

The Governments testing scheme has been measuring cladding to a combustibility grade of A2 or better, which requires material to be of limited combustibility.

A government spokesperson said: A test failure means that the cladding does not meet the requirements for limited combustibility in current building regulations."

But Mr Rowan said the Governments own fire safety guidance  building regulations set out in Approved Document B  do not require cladding to be of A2 standard or limited combustibility.

Instead, the building regulations indicate class 0 (Euroclass B) for all external surfaces for tall buildings, a lower fire safety score.

These products are all Euroclass B (also known as Class 0), they are not looking to be limited combustibility, and youre going to find them all over the place, on lots of buildings, he said.

 Grenfell fire inquiry head heckled at residents' meeting

The Governments gone chasing after cladding and missing the bigger picture  they are saying: We want limited combustibility, but the construction industry has been reading building regulations as Euroclass B for years.

This is why we have been pushing for a review of the building regulations for years and why many in the fire sector are very angry because this should not have happened.

The Government announced last week that it would extend its testing after the 100 per cent failure rate led many to question the reliability of its methods.

Tests had previously been limited to the core of the panels and not the structure as a whole, which sources told The Independent would not form an accurate picture of how a building would react in a fire.

Six ACM cladding systems will be analysed with different varieties of insulation, including unmodified polyethylene, fire retardant polyethylene, and non-combustible mineral, a DCLG spokesperson said.

But the testing has not been extended to other types of panels.

Landlords who have sent in samples of non-ACM cladding have reportedly been told testing of these panels is not being prioritised, despite communities secretary Sajid Javid urging local authorities to send in samples as soon as possible.

In a letter to Mr Javid, Lib Peck, leader of Labour-led Lambeth Council, said: Why is this ACM testing continuing when it is clear that all will fail? Surely we need to establish whether other forms of cladding are combustible?

The testing process raises wider questions around the suitability of building regulations.

Reynobond aluminium panels are still certified by the British Board of Agrement (BBA) as fit for their intended use provided they are installed, used and maintained as set out in this certification.

Grenfell tower fire Show all 42 1 /42 Grenfell tower fire Grenfell tower fire Local residents watch as Grenfell Tower is engulfed by fire Getty Images Grenfell tower fire London Fire Brigade said there has been a number of fatalities from the blaze Rex Features Grenfell tower fire The fire was first reported in the early hours of Wednesday and continued into the morning Rex Features Grenfell tower fire A local resident sees the fire over the rooftops @Ebajgora Grenfell tower fire A firefighter reacts at the scene of the blaze Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Residents watch as the blaze continues Getty Images Grenfell tower fire More than 200 firefighters have been fighting the blaze PA Grenfell tower fire London Mayor Sadiq Khan has declared the fire a major incident Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Police and fire services attempted to evacuate the concrete block of flats Getty Images Grenfell tower fire A woman runs to assist paramedics working at the fire at the Grenfell Tower Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Smoke rises from the building after a huge fire engulfed the 24 story Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, West London in the early hours of Wednesday morning Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Fire fighters tackle the 24-storey building in West London Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Ambulances are stationed nearby Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Paramedics arrive with oxygen Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Emergency services believe it will take some time to establish the cause of the fire Grenfell tower fire Tens of people have been taken to five different hospitals across London Getty Images Grenfell tower fire A man comforts a boy after the tower block was severely damaged Reuters Grenfell tower fire Firefighters stand amid debris in a childrens playground nearby Reuters Grenfell tower fire Firefighters are stationed at the building Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Smoke engulfs Grenfell tower Rex Features Grenfell tower fire Lots of people donating water, food and clothing to St Clement's church for the residents of Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road Samuel Osborne Grenfell tower fire A man speaks to a fire fighter after a huge fire engulfed the 24 story Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, West London Getty Images Grenfell tower fire According to the London Fire Brigade (LFB), 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters are working to put out the blaze. Residents in the tower were evacuated and a number of people were treated for a range of injuries EPA Grenfell tower fire A resident of Grenfell Tower is trapped as smoke billows from the window after a fire engulfed the building Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Members of the emergency services work at the scene of a huge blaze which engulfed Grenfell Tower, a residential tower block in Latimer Road Getty Images Grenfell tower fire According to the London Fire Brigade (LFB), 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters are working to put out the blaze EPA Grenfell tower fire Fire fighters tackle the building after a huge fire engulfed the 24 story Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, West London Getty Images Grenfell tower fire The burnt facade of Grenfell Tower, the night after the fire in Latimer Road, West London REUTERS/Neil Hall Grenfell tower fire Local residents gather at a community centre near Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road REUTERS/Toby Melville Grenfell tower fire A resident in a nearby building watches smoke rise from Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road, West London AP Grenfell tower fire Police and rescue services operate near the fire at Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey apartment block in Latimer Road EPA Grenfell tower fire A man stands amid debris on the A40 after a serious fire in a tower block at Latimer Road in West London REUTERS/Toby Melville Grenfell tower fire A view of the empty A40 highway after it was closed in both directions, due to the proximity of the fire at Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road EPA Grenfell tower fire Smoke rises from the building after a huge fire engulfed the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Bodies are removed from the scene after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London Rick Findler/PA Wire Grenfell tower fire Bodies are removed from the scene after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London Rick Findler/PA Wire Grenfell tower fire Provisions on tables at the Westway Sports Centre close to the scene after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London Jack Hardy/PA Grenfell tower fire Beds are laid out in the Westway Sports Centre close to the scene after a fire engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London Jack Hardy/PA Wire Grenfell tower fire A pile of donated clothes, sleeping bags and water lie next to a police cordon near the burning the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Signs asking for donations are seen outside the Notting Hill methodist Chruch Getty Images Grenfell tower fire Smoke rises from the building after a huge fire engulfed the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London Getty Images Grenfell tower fire A man is rescued by fire fighters after a huge fire engulfed the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London Getty

The claddings approval has not been withdrawn despite manufacturer Arconic removing the panelling from the market due to concerns over its fire safety.

CEP and Carea also hold active certificates from the independent body, seen as a passport for safety in the industry.

One construction industry insider said ongoing BBA certification could be giving local authorities and private landlords undue confidence as to the safety of materials fitted to their buildings.

The BBA is able to suspend or withdraw a certificate with immediate effect.

John Albon, head of approvals at the BBA, said the body had been attempting to contact the Reynobond certificate holder and would review its position in light of any new information.

When asked about the safety of ACM systems Reynobond, alubond, vitrabond and elval colour cladding, and non-ACM systems CEP and Carea, he added: We consider that the products remain fit for purpose, provided that it is used in accordance with the terms of the certificate and with the requirements of the national building regulations.

Mr Rowan said building regulations and their enforcement needed urgent reform to create more robust fire safety practices.

The building regulations requirement for external fire spread is that external walls of the building should adequately resist spread of fire over the walls. So if youre a builder you think what does that mean? he said.

Enforcement of the regulations is not as good as it could be and that is a big problem in the construction industry. Failure to monitor the quality of construction is a systemic problem.
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The Prime Minister failed to raise the Paris climate change agreement with Donald Trump in formal sit-down bilateral talks at the G20 summit despite pledges to do so before the meeting.

A senior UK government official said there had not been time to raise climate change in the 50 minute bilateral on Saturday morning in Hamburg, despite the Government having previously briefed that the PM would take Mr Trump to task.

At the meeting, which overran by around 20 minutes, Ms May and Mr Trump discussed trade and tackling extremism, as well as the situations in Syria, North Korea and Iran.

But the Paris agreement, which Mr Trump has said he wants to pull the US out of, was not touched upon during the sit-down session. Mr Trump has previously said he believes climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese in order to hobble US domestic manufacturing.

Asked about whether the Paris accord was raised at the meeting as planned, the official said: It wasnt discussed in the meeting. They then went on together to another event, where they will carry on talking. I havent had a chance to see her since.

The official argued that the PM had made clear throughout the time weve been here what her position is on Paris and that her statements to the British media had sent a clear message to the president that she wants him to rejoin the agreement.

Asked whether Ms May had raised any difficult issues with Mr Trump face-to-face at all, the senior UK government official said: It depends on your characterisation.

Later in the day after the omission had become clear the official said Ms May had informally raised the issue with Mr Trump outside the meeting.

Shes raised Paris and said to him face-to-face that she hopes the US will re-join the Paris Agreement, the same official said.

Ahead of the G20 summit a senior UK government official had said Ms May will say that we dont see any need for renegotiation and that we support the Paris agreement because it delivers.

Speaking from north east England, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that if he had been attending the summit I would be very strongly challenging Donald Trump on his wish to walk away from the Paris Climate Change accords.

He added: They are crucial for the future of all of us and I hope he will understand that unless all the nations of the world get together to reduce emissions and try to preserve and protect our planet then the next generation are going to have more climate disasters, more extreme weather conditions and theres going to be more environmental refugees around the world.

I think these are serious times and it requires serious attention to them.

It comes amid reports that Mr Trumps US delegation has held up the agreement of a joint G20 communique over the inclusion of a line about climate change and fossil fuels.

The Paris agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions comes into force in 2020 and mandates signatories to plan to reduce their emissions and report on their progress in doing so. It has been ratified by 153 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change members and signed by 195.

Elsewhere in the bilateral talks between Ms May and Mr Trump the US President spoke of his countrys closeness with Britain and pledged a post-Brexit trade deal would be concluded very quickly after the UK left.

At the talks the two leaders agreed that they would look at areas the UK and US could deepen their trade ties before Brexit  though no specifics were discussed on what this might entail.

Ahead of the meeting Mr Trump said: There is no country that could possibly be closer than our countries.

We have been working on a trade deal which will be a very, very big deal, a very powerful deal, great for both countries and I think we will have that done very, very quickly.

G20 Protesters take Hamburg Show all 8 1 /8 G20 Protesters take Hamburg G20 Protesters take Hamburg German riot police use water cannons against protesters during the demonstration during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg German riot police clash with protesters during the demonstrations during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg Riot police move in through the smoke from a smoke bomb during the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg Riot police use water cannon to put of burning bins as a protester runs off after the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg Protesters throw beer bottles as they shield themselves from water cannon spray during the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg A firefighter works at the scene where a number of cars burnt down during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg The interior of a burnt down car is seen as firefighters work in the background during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg German police remove a protestor who is blocking a street at a demonstration during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS

He added: Prime Minister May and I have developed a very special relationship and I think trade will be a very big factor between our two countries.

There was no further visible progress on the question of Mr Trumps planned state visit to Britain  which has been dogged by the threat of mass protests. Asked about the trip the President said he will be going to London, but asked when, he replied: Well work that out.

Asked about when the visit would happen a senior UK government official could not say whether the meeting would take place days, weeks, months, or years into the future, adding: Theres no date being announced today. The official said he was not aware of any plans for a flying short-notice visit by Mr Trump in the near future.
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A flight attendant was forced to break two wine bottles over the head of a passenger who tried to open the planes exit door thousands of feet over the ocean, court documents have revealed.

The steward broke the first bottle over the head of Joseph Daniel Hudek IV, 23, who had lunged for the door and fought with other passengers during a Delta Air Lines flight from Seattle to Beijing. But it didn't faze him, an FBI agent wrote in charging papers filed on Friday.

Mr Hudek, of Tampa, Florida, appeared in US District Court, wearing a beige jail uniform and sporting a scrape or bruise below his right eye.

He was arrested on Thursday night after causing the disturbance that forced the plane to return to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, authorities said.

Mr Hudek did not speak during the hearing. His attorney, Robert Flennaugh II, declined to comment.

Mr Hudek was charged with interfering with a flight crew, which carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 (194,000) fine. He is expected to remain in custody at least until a detention hearing on Thursday.

One flight attendant and a passenger were taken to a hospital after suffering severe facial injuries, authorities said. Perry Cooper, a spokesman for the Port of Seattle, described the injuries as non-life-threatening.

A probable cause statement written by FBI special agent Caryn Highley said Mr Hudek was sitting in the first row of the Boeing 767's first-class section. He asked a flight attendant for a beer before takeoff, and was served one, but he exhibited no sign of being intoxicated and ordered no other alcoholic drinks, the attendant told authorities.

About an hour into the flight, while the plane was over the Pacific Ocean northwest of Vancouver Island, Mr Hudek went into the forward restroom. He came out quickly, asked the attendant a question, and went back in, the agent wrote.

When he came out again two minutes later, he suddenly lunged for the exit door, grabbed the handle and tried to open it, Ms Highley wrote. Two attendants grabbed him, but he pushed them away, and the attendants signalled for help from several passengers and notified the cockpit by telephone, the complaint said.

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Mr Hudek punched one flight attendant twice in the face and struck at least one passenger in the head with a red dessert wine bottle, it said.

As the struggle continued, a flight attendant grabbed two wine bottles and hit Mr Hudek over the head with each  breaking at least one of them, Ms Highley wrote.

Hudek did not seem impacted by the breaking of a full litre red wine bottle over his head, and instead shouted, 'Do you know who I am?', the complaint said.

One passenger got him in a headlock, but he broke out of it, until finally several passengers held him long enough to place zip-tie restraints on him, Ms Highley wrote. Even then he remained combative, she said, and it took multiple passengers to keep him restrained until the plane landed and Port of Seattle police arrested him.

Mr Hudek had been traveling on a dependent pass, the complaint said. Such passes allow certain relatives of Delta employees to fly standby.

Passenger Dustin Jones told KIRO-TV that he saw the man being rolled into the terminal in a wheelchair after the plane landed.

He started yelling for help, Mr Jones said. And so he turned the wheelchair over in the middle of the airport, screaming for people to help him, just being belligerent.

The flight left for Beijing later on Thursday night.

AP
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Writer Lena Dunham adopted Lamby the dog four years ago from a no-kill shelter in Brooklyn, the fulfillment of a lifelong dream the star pursued despite the canine allergies of her live-in boyfriend, musician Jack Antonoff.

The trios tumultuous relationship was well-documented by Dunham from the start  she penned a New Yorker essay on her affinity for Lamby and his affinity for late-night bark sessions. Lamby made regular appearances on her Instagram account and was the subject of many a Twitter musing, often about his mischievousness and proclivity to bite.

The dogs scruffy white mug even appeared in Dunhams 2014 Vogue cover shoot, further establishing his role as central to the actresss brand.

Then suddenly last spring, Lamby disappeared.

In late June, Dunham explained why: Lamby had gone to doggy rehab, a professional facility in Los Angeles called the Zen Dog, and had been readopted by a former trainer with experience handling troubled canines. Dunham wrote on Instagram that Lamby suffered terrible abuse as a pup that made it difficult for him to live in a traditional home.

Honesty is my jam, she said.

Now, weeks later, the Brooklyn animal shelter where Lamby first came from is contradicting the narrative Dunham delivered both in her New Yorker essay and Instagram confessional.

When she adopted the dog from us, it wasnt crazy, Robert Vazquez, a spokesman for the BARC shelter in New York, told Yahoo in an email. I have pictures of the dog loving on Lena and her mom, which is weird if the dog was abused. It wouldnt be cuddling with her or be in the bed with her boyfriend in the pages of Vogue.

Vazquez contradicted Dunhams claims that Lamby had been abused by prior owners. She wrote in the New Yorker essay that the dog had had three other homes, three other names, but now hes mine mine mine.

We checked the records for Lamby, Vazquez told Yahoo. He was owner surrendered, not enough time, so we do not know where she got multiple owners that abused the dog.

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Vazquez said he had been in charge of the dogs at BARC for more than a decade and was there for the four visits Dunham had with Lamby before adopting him.

If Lamby had a bad past or was abused, do you think BARC would have adopted him to Lena knowing shes a new star and put her  or the dog  in that situation? Vazquez said. We would have told her if the dog had issues. We are a no-kill shelter. We dont lie about the dogs histories because that gets them returned  and mentally its not good for dogs.

These accusations, if you can even call them that, are hardly crisis-inducing, but they play into the hand of Dunhams critics, who have accused her of being tone deaf or skewing facts in her personal writings. In 2016 she caught heat for writing in her newsletter that Odell Beckham Jr. ignored her at the Met Ball because she wasnt attractive enough.

Most recently, she sparked outrage when she remarked during her Women of the Hour podcast that I still havent had an abortion, but I wish I had.

She later apologized for her Beckham and abortion comments, something the fiery and unfiltered writer has had to do on several occasions since rocketing into the public eye when Girls, her wildly popular HBO show, premiered in 2012.

For Lamby, though, Dunham will not say sorry.

Its come to my attention that the staff at the shelter where I adopted Lamby have a very different account of his early life and behavioral issues than I do, Dunham wrote on Instagram late Thursday night in response to the Yahoo interview with BARC Shelter. While Im sorry to have disappointed them, I cant apologize.

Dunham said that the dog was and is one of the great loves of my life but that his aggression was unpredictable and unmanageable. She once shared a photo of her bleeding after Lamby had reportedly bitten her, and she wrote in her New Yorker essay that the dog bit her boyfriend. He ruined furniture, Dunham claimed, and sometimes even drank his own urine.

Why should this story be subject to scrutiny and anger? Dunham wrote Thursday. It is willfully misunderstanding the truth. I hope those judging can imagine the incredible pain of letting go of your favorite creature on EARTH because you know you cant help them be healthy and happy. I would never say an unkind word about the staff of BARC, what they do is amazing and life saving for these animals- but we have different accounts of Lambys behavior and they were not present in my home nor did they live with him for an extended period. They did not witness the consistent and responsible care I provided.

Dunham said that of all the micro-scandals she has experienced, this one hurts MOST.

Earlier this year, Dunham adopted two bronze-colored poodles named Karen and Susan, both of which she flaunted on a recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The actress and writer often features rescue dogs that need adopting on her Instagram page and has been a prominent advocate for animal welfare.

We are deeply grateful to Lena and Jack for finding Lamby a loving home where he can do just that, Michelle Cho, a spokeswoman for the Humane Society of the United States, told Yahoo. Lena is a wonderful advocate for dog adoption and hope she will continue to use her platform to spotlight the homeless animal crisis and urge her legions of fans to consider rescuing.

Last month, after Dunham told her fans that Lamby had gone to doggy rehab, his new owner Dani Shay posted about the situation on Instagram.

Thank you Lena, for rescuing Lamby and being a dedicated parent/angel to him, Shay wrote. Im sure you know how much he loves and appreciates you. And yes, its true, he does still drink from the golden tap now and then, but thats our weird little boy! Hes working on it.

The Washington Post
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President Donald Trump is praising his daughter, Ivanka, and acknowledging the challenges he's added to her life.

In a rare, self-deprecating moment in Hamburg, the US President said that he's been proud of his eldest daughter from "day one."

He said: "If she weren't my daughter it would be so much easier for her," adding with a laugh: "That might be the only bad thing she has going, if you want to know the truth."

The candid aside came as Trump was speaking at the launch of a new women's entrepreneurship fund that Ivanka Trump helped bring together.

Ivanka Trump moved to Washington to work as a senior adviser to her father and has faced pressure from critics who'd hoped she'd be able to push him to adopt more moderate policies.

Associated Press
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A married school teacher has been accused of repeatedly having sex with a 15-year-old student that she adopted.

Rayna Culver, from the Burlington Township in New Jersey, was arrested in May on charges of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

Her attorney Robin Lord told The Trentonian that the charges were completely fabricated and made up.

But prosecutors allege that the victim, a former student of hers at Rivera Middle School in Trenton, were very close.

The 43-year-old became the boys legal guardian in 2016 after inviting him to stay with her when he was thrown out of a relatives home, court documents stated.

The student reportedly told police their relationship turned sexual when Culver tried to fondle him before bedtime and stripped off his clothes.

She is then alleged to have performed oral sex on him and engaged in intercourse.

After that first incident, they would engage in sex often, and it was to the point where he felt that if he told her to stop she would get mad and kick him out of the house, the police complaint reads, according to South Jersey Local News.

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site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA

(The victim) told Culver via text message that he didnt want to have sex anymore, and she made it clear that she did not want it to stop.

In April, the boy reportedly gave his phone to police, in which Culvers number was allegedly saved as mom.

Culver denies all allegations.

Mr Lord said: She looks forward to these charges being dismissed. The states theory of the case is a completely fabricated recitation made up by a troubled, young man.
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An Iowa woman charged with voting twice for Donald Trump last fall has pleaded guilty to election misconduct.

Court records show Terri Lynn Rote entered a plea on 27 June to the felony charge and a district court judge in Des Moines accepted the plea. Sentencing is set for 15 August.

Rote, who is 56 and lives in Des Moines, told police she turned in two absentee ballots before the November election because she believed Trump's unsubstantiated claims that the election was rigged and that her first ballot would be changed to a vote for Hillary Clinton.

She was arrested on 21 October at a satellite voting station in Des Moines attempting to vote the second ballot.

Rote hadnt planned on voting twice but said it was a spur-of-the-moment thing when she walked by the satellite voting location, she told The Washington Post after she was charged.

I dont know what came over me, she said.

She added she has been a supporter of Donald Trump since early in his campaign, after Republican candidate Mike Huckabee dropped out of the primary race.

Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Show all 33 1 /33 Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days in office were marred by a string of scandals, many of which caught the eye of the Independent's cartoonists Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's first 100 days have seen him aggressively ramp up tensions with his nuclear rivals in North Korea Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has warned of a "major, major conflict" with the pariah nation lead by Kim Jong Un Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump dropped the "mother of all bombs" on alleged ISIS-linked militants in Afghanistan, amid an escalation of US military intervention around the globe Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been accused of falling short of the standards set by his predecessors in the Oval Office, including Franklin D Roosevelt Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The tycoon's ascension to the White House came at a time when the balance of power is shifting away from Western nations like those in the G7 group Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Western politicians, including the British Conservative party, have been accused of falling in line behind Mr Trump's proposals Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Brexit is seen to have weakened Britain, reducing still further any political will to resist American leadership Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump's leadership has been marked by sudden and unexpected shifts in global policy Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's controversial missile strike on Syria, which killed several citizens, was seen by some analysts as an attempt to distract from his policy elsewhere Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The President has also spent a large majority of his weekends golfing, rather than attending to matters of state Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Though free of gaffes, a visit from Chinese president Xi Jinping spotlighted trade tensions between the two states Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One major and unexpected setback came when Mr Trump's Healthcare Bill was struck down by members of his own party Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been a figure of fun in the media, with his approval at record lows Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A string of revelations about Mr Trump's financial indiscretions did not mar his surge to the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Outgoing President Barack Obama was accused of wiretapping Trump Tower by his successor in America's highest office Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The alleged involvement of Russian intelligence operatives in securing Mr Trump the presidency prompted harsh criticism Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The explosive resignation of Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who lied about his links to the Russian ambassador, was just one scandal to hit the President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Many scandals, such as the accusation Barack Obama was implicated in phone-hacking, first broke on Mr Trump's Twitter feed Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's election provoked mass protests in the UK, with millions signing a petition to ban him from the country Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump cited a non-existent terror attack in Sweden during a campaign rally Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump stands accused of stoking regional tensions in Eastern Asia Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons North Korea has launched a number of failed nuclear tests since Mr Trump took power Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Theresa May formally rejected the petition calling for Mr Trump to be banned from the UK Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons When Mr Trump's initial so-called Muslim ban was struck down by a federal justice, the President mocked the 69-year-old as a "ridiculous", "so-called judge" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A week after his inauguration, Theresa May met with Mr Trump at the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first days in office were marked by a hasty attempt to follow through on many of his campaign promises, including the so-called Muslim ban Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's decision to ban citizens of many majority-Muslim countries from the US sparked mass protests Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Revelations about Donald Trump's sexual improprieties were not enough to keep him from being elected President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was criticised by many in the press for cosying up to the new President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One of Mr Trump's top aides, Kelly Anne Conway, was mocked for describing mistruths as "alternative facts" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was quick to demonstrate that her political aims did not hugely differ from Mr Trump's Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's inauguration, on 20 January 2017, sparked protests both at home and abroad

Court documents show attorneys are recommending two years of probation and community service.

In addition to Rote, the Polk County Auditors Office reported two other people to police on suspicions of voter fraud, the Des Moines Register reported.

In the other two cases, those people cast mail-in ballots and also voted in person at one of the states early-voting locations, according to the paper.
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Vice President Mike Pence has let his inner child-at-a-museum out during a tour of Nasas Kennedy Space Centre.

In a photo that has gone viral online, Mr Pence is seen palming a giant metal object with a sign that says, unequivocally, not to do what the Vice President was doing.

Critical Space Flight Hardware, the sign taped to the giant metal object read. DO NOT TOUCH.

Recommended Vice President Mike Pence says climate change is an issue for the left

Touching the item doesnt appear to pose a significant risk to the technology, however. The Verge notes that it looks like it is the covering of the Orion capsule, which the space agency is building to bring humans into deep space.

Mr Pence was quickly ridiculed online, but joined in on the joke in saying that Senator Marco Rubio, who had accompanied him to his home states space centre, had encouraged him to break the rules.

Sorry @NASA @MarcoRubio dared me to do it! he tweeted.

The most incredible space images of Earth Show all 30 1 /30 The most incredible space images of Earth The most incredible space images of Earth Striking Africa Explore ESA astronaut Tim Peake's stunning photos of Earth, taken from the International Space Station during his six month mission (captions by Tom Peake) "The striking colour and texture of Africa Illizi, Algeria" The most incredible space images of Earth Favourite Reef "Every day spent living in space is a great day, but today was particularly special. I got to speak with one of my inspirational heroes Prof Stephen Hawking and his amazing daughter Lucy, who developed the Principia Space Diary to engage children with STEM subjects. As well as talking about dark matter, quantum entanglement, alien life and light beam powered nanocraft we also got to see an amazing pass over the Bahamas and this - my favourite reef smile emoticon" The most incredible space images of Earth Russia's north-east coast "Sunrise approaching Russia's frozen north-east coast" The most incredible space images of Earth Hello London "Hello London! Fancy a run? :) #LondonMarathon" The most incredible space images of Earth Bahamas "50 shades of blue: Bahamas" The most incredible space images of Earth Yinchuan "Snow on the mountains next to Yinchuan in China" The most incredible space images of Earth Rocket flames in Africa "Is it just me or do I see some rocket flames down there? These strange land features are in the Erg Iguidi desert, with its yellow stripes of sand stretching from Algeria to northern Mauritania in the Sahara" The most incredible space images of Earth Stunning colours "Sunlight reflecting the stunning colours of this Himalayan lake" The most incredible space images of Earth The real Everest "The real thing: found Everest! Last picture turned out to be third-tallest mountain Kanchengjunga" The most incredible space images of Earth Go Exomars "Go #Exomars  have a great mission. Earth has more in common with Mars than you might think #AfricaArt" The most incredible space images of Earth Tenerife "Amazingly clear view of Tenerife" The most incredible space images of Earth Midday winter sun "Some midday winter sun glinting off Greenlands snow-capped peaks" The most incredible space images of Earth Sand dunes "Great texture in these huge sand dunes, Saudi Arabia" The most incredible space images of Earth Dragon Dam "The dam makes this river look like a dragons tail. Oahe Dam north of Pierre, South Dakota in the United States. (North is to the right)" The most incredible space images of Earth Smoking volcano "Spotted volcano smoking away on Russias far east coast this morning  heat has melted snow around top" The most incredible space images of Earth New Zealand "New Zealand looking stunning in the sunshine. Mt Cook centre left with the Grand Plateau to the front and Mt Tasman (3,497m) to the right of the Grand Plateau. Fox Glacier in the middle then Franz Josef curving right. Tasman Lake (largest at front) is at the foot of the Tasman glacier which runs along the front of them. The Hooker Glacier flows out behind Mt Cook coming down to meet the Mueller Glacier on the left of the photo. The Murchison Glacier is at the front of the photo running parallel with the Tasman Glacier" The most incredible space images of Earth Plankton bloom "Another great pass over Patagonia and a swirling plankton bloom off the coast" The most incredible space images of Earth Alaska "We dont often get such clear views of Alaska" The most incredible space images of Earth Lights along the Nile "Lights along the Nile stretching into the distance from Cairo" The most incredible space images of Earth Kamchatka "The Pacific Ring of Fire clear to see amongst the volcanoes of Kamchatka, Russia" The most incredible space images of Earth Cumulonimbus "Im guessing there was an impressive storm going on under that cumulonimbus cloud" The most incredible space images of Earth Night Sahara "Night-time Sahara  you can really see how thin the Earths atmosphere is in this picture" The most incredible space images of Earth Japan "Tokyo and Japanese coast. This image shows most of Japan with the largest mass of light corresponding to Tokyo. The white lights on the left are fishing boats" The most incredible space images of Earth Morning sun volcanoes "Morning sun striking active volcanoes in Guatemala" The most incredible space images of Earth Tapajos River "The vast waters of the Tapajos river, Amazonia" The most incredible space images of Earth Patagonia "Beautiful glacial river water flowing from this Patagonian ice field Lake Viedma, West is up" The most incredible space images of Earth Dubai Palms "Minus the #Dragon photobomb this time..." The most incredible space images of Earth Sediment in Ethiopia "Sediment spilling into this mountain lake, Ethiopia" The most incredible space images of Earth Italy "We have phases of short nights on the International Space Station  sunlight is nearly always visible right now. No prizes for guessing where this is" The most incredible space images of Earth Panama Canal "From one mighty ocean to another  ships passing through the Panama canal"

Mr Rubio replied quickly.

In fairness, I warned @VP that you break it, you own it, Mr Rubio wrote, using the Vice Presidents Twitter handle to tag him.

Mr Pence was in Florida to promote the Trump administrations push to get American astronauts onto the surface of Mars and for the US to return to the Moon.

The United States is at the dawn of a new era of space exploration, Mr Pence said. We will put American boots on the face of Mars.

During a 25-minute long speech in the Kennedy Space Centres cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building, Donald Trumps right hand man stopped short of providing any sort of time frame for either of those goals, and didnt say how the US would do it.

He repeatedly called for the re-establishment of US space leadership, but didnt discuss future international partnerships or collaborations.
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Sally Yates has taken to Twitter to say Donald Trump's "refusal" to believe Russians hacked the US election mean it could happen again.

The former Deputy Attorney General, who was sacked by Mr Trump when she was Acting Attorney General, appears to be referring to the President's comments during his visit to Poland.

In a news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda, Mr Trump said: "I think it was Russia and I think it could have been other people and other countries. It could have been [that] a lot of people interfered."

He did not name any other countries that could have possibly hacked the US election, however, adding: "Nobody really knows for sure."

He also called into question a January 2017 report issued by the US intelligence community that confirmed Russian interference in the 2016 election. Original news reports said all 17 agencies had signed on to the report.

Mr Trump, in Poland, said that only "three of four" agencies had done so and called reports about it "fake news".

It is true that the main agencies that said they have "high confidence" of Russian hacking were the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the F.B.I. and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). However, the New York Times characterised the President's comments as "misleading".

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

The DNI serves as an umbrella coordinating agency for the massive, widespread US intelligence community. Also, "there is no evidence that significant uncertainty or dissent exists across the intelligence community, simply because not all 17 were involved in the assessment of Russian interference" as the newspaper reported.

However there is a simpler explanation - those four agencies were doing the work to track Russian hacking into the election while the other 13 agencies may have been doing other work or only supplementary work on the issue.

Ms Yates, who has tweeted once thus far, said the President's attitude "insults" career intelligence professionals:

Ms Yates believes she was fired early in Mr Trump's term, not because she was an appointee of Barack Obama but because she warned White House officials about then-National Security Adviser Mike Flynn's alleged ties to Russian officials.

She told them that Mr Flynn was at risk for blackmail and that he had misled senior officials including Vice President Mike Pence about his dealings with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyak before the Trump administration came into office.

Mr Trump is currently meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

There has been no set agenda communicated to the public; the White House has said the conversation will be about "whatever the president wants to talk about".

There is no indication Mr Trump will bring up the hacking or the ongoing FBI, House, Senate, and Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller's investigations into alleged ties between the Trump campaign team and Russian officials.
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Like a shark, French President Emmanuel Macron has closed in on his prey during a group photo at the G20 meeting in Hamburg.

After the world leaders assembled on a three-tiered riser for a class photo, the young French president could be seen pushing through the crowd to stand next to Donald Trump.

Protocol states that the most recently elected leaders must stand furthest from the host member in the middle  in this case Angela Merkel  yet Macron appeared to take this as an opportunity to zone in on Trump like a cruise missile. Not only did he stand by the US President, but reached out and grabbed him, before cornering him afterwards.

Recommended Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin collude on Syrian ceasefire

This came after an apparently awkward handshake between the leaders. According to reports, before the photo shoot Macron came over as Trump was talking to Merkel. The two men proceeded to engage in an aggressive "tug-of-war"-style handshake, in which Trump was able to pull Macron's hand towards his chest "in more of a hand clasp".

Mr Macrons public interactions with the American president have been picked apart by internet commenters since they first met at a NATO summit meeting in Brussels in May. Apparently aware of Mr Trumps famed handshake style  he often pulls the other individuals hand toward his body  Mr Macron held firm with his American counterpart, and forced the interaction to last longer than strictly speaking necessary.

My handshake with him wasnt innocent, he told the media afterward. It wasnt the Alpha and the Omega of politics, but a moment of truth.

Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade Show all 8 1 /8 Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AFP/Getty Images Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AFP/Getty Images Thousands march against Donald Trump in LGBT rights parade AP

In the video of the meeting, the two men seems to be clenching their jaws during a vigorous, white-knuckled handshake. Mr Macron held firm until Mr Trump pulled away first.

Macron explained why he decided to take Trump on in such a way. We must show that we wont make small concessions, even symbolic ones, but not to over publicise it either, he said. I dont believe in the diplomacy of public invectives but in my bilateral talks, I dont let anything pass, its how one gets respected.
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Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin kicked off their highly anticipated one-one-one meeting by trading disparaging comments about the reporters gathered to cover it.

At a photo op before their private G20 summit meeting, the Russian President leaned in to Mr Trump, gestured to the journalists in the room, and asked: "These are the ones hurting you?

"These are the ones. You're right about that, Mr Trump responded.

Recommended Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin collude on Syrian ceasefire

Mr Putin appeared to be commiserating with Mr Trump on complaints that the media is attacking him. The President has repeatedly accused the news media of reporting falsely on his administration, referring to them as fake news and the enemy of the American people.

The brief aside drew outcry from journalists, many of whom pointed to the Putin regimes poor track record with the media. Almost 60 journalists have been killed in Russia since 1993, according the Committee to Protect Journalists. Most of these reporters covered topics like politics, corruption, and war.

Mr Trump himself has hinted at retaliating against journalists, in increasingly violent ways.

This week, the president retweeted a gif depicting him body-slamming a man with a CNN logo superimposed on his head. He also called a female journalist 'crazy" and "dumb as a rock," and accused her of "bleeding badly from a facelift". He has also reportedly suggested jailing journalists who leak classified information.

Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has defended Mr Trump's actions by calling him a president who fights fire with fire.

"I think hes been very clear that when he gets attacked hes going to hit back," she said at a press conference.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

Just 24 hours before Fridays meeting with Mr Putin, the President mounted yet another attack on the American media, this time in a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Commenting on a recent CNN article, Mr Trump claimed that the outlet had some pretty serious problems.

They have been fake news for a long time. Theyve been covering me in a very dishonest way, he said. NBC is equally as bad, despite the fact that I made them a fortune with The Apprentice, but they forgot that.

Many felt the comments were in poor taste, especially following a speech in which Mr Trump had positioned the US as an example for the world.

Potus disparaging abroad of US media dilutes respect for American democracy & gives license to autocrats to crack down on their own media, tweeted Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations.

A trashing of the American press corps and Intel community in Eastern Europe of all places, added NBCs Chuck Todd. Could Putin have asked for anything more?
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At least 76 people have been hurt in clashes with police in the German city of Hamburg as the force used water cannons on black-clad protesters who were pelting them with water bottles.

The "Welcome to Hell" rally is one the of a number of protests against both the G20 summit taking place in the city and Donald Trump's arrival.

Police said beforehand they were expecting some 100,000 potentially violent activists from across Europe and beyond. As a result they had deployed more than 20,000 officers in the city.

The force they had repeatedly asked a group of anti-capitalist demonstrators to remove their masks and when they were ignored, they separated the group from the rest of the demonstration.

Black-hooded protesters attacked a police vehicle with bottles and bricks, breaking its window.

The violence broke out near the start of the demonstration at a riverside plaza used for Hamburg's weekly fish market.

The riots come amid mounting tensions about the conduct of local police some Hamburg residents have accused them of heavy-handed tactics.

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

On Tuesday, five people were injured when police used hi-tech water canons to disperse crowds near the conference venue on Tuesday evening.

Hamburg police chief Ralf Martin Meyer said they were expecting "not just sit-in protests but massive assaults" as anarchists from neighbouring countries are expected to make the journey to the city which has long been associated with protests and May Day rioting.

Recommended Emperor Trump visits Poland with no new clothes

Mr Trump presence, along with that of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, has provoked additional anger.

Earlier this week, rumours emerged that the US President may be planning to "sneak" into Scotland for an impromptu state visit to avoid widespread protests at his presence.

The former reality star posted the mooted visit to London last month after he reportedly told Theresa May he would not visit until the British people were ready to welcome him.

Additional reporting by agencies
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A Scottish woman killed in a robbery in Mauritius next to her autistic son was planning to return to the UK, her ex-husband has said.

Janice Farman was the victim of another robbery just a fortnight ago, said Jean-Baptiste Moutou.

Police were called after Ms Farmans son alerted friends that his mother had been attacked.

The robbers reportedly tied up Gavin, 10, as they beat his mother, then smothered her to death with a pillow. They fled in her car, having stolen jewellery and electronic devices.

Recommended Debris found in Mauritius part of missing MH370

Mr Moutou told local media that his ex-wife Ms Farman, a 47-year-old managing director of a data services company, had decided to return home after the first robbery.

He said: "I spoke to her on the phone and she was fine but she said she wanted to leave Mauritius and return to Scotland.

"She asked me to help get proceedings under way."

The couple separated last year.

Ms Farman had only recently moved to the Albion area on the west of the island because of the "beautiful beaches", Mr Moutou said.

Gavin has been handed to local social services by police officers. No arrests have yet been made in the hunt for the three suspects.

One Albion resident told the Scottish Sun: We are not used to living in fear, but what happened with this lady is scary.

There is a big problem where street lights are off or defective.

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

Ms Farman, thought to originally be from Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, was managing director of PECS Data Services in Mauritius.

The companys managing director Stephen Littlechild paid tribute to a truly wonderful woman who devoted her life to her boy.

Our thoughts are with Janices family, friends and colleagues and we would ask at this sad time that you respect the privacy of everyone close to Janice, he said.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are assisting the family of a British woman following her death in Mauritius and are in contact with the local authorities."
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Burkina Fasos president, who has ruled the West African country for 27 years, has resigned.

Blaise Compaore, who has ruled Burkina Faso since he seized power in a 1987 coup, said in a statement that he has stepped down.

A heavily armed convoy believed to be carrying Mr Compaore was seen travelling on Friday towards the countrys southern town of Po, near the border with Ghana, two diplomatic sources and local media reported.

The sighting took place as the former presidents resignation statement was announced on local media.

Mr Compaores resignation comes hours after appearing on television on Friday stating that he would head up a transitional government and remain in power until elections would be held in 12 months time.

The army dissolved Burkina Fasos government on Thursday and set up a transitional government following violent mass protests in which parliament buildings were ransacked and set on fire.

Men shout slogans in front of burning cars, near the Burkina Faso's Parliament (AFP)

Tens of thousands of protesters in the capital of Ouagadougou cheered as they were informed of the news by the army, and an army colonel appeared on television to announce Mr Compaores resignation.

The former president's statement, read on television, said: "In order to preserve the democratic gains, as well as social peace, I declare a power vacuum to allow the establishment of a transition leading to free and fair elections within a maximum of 90 days."

"For my part, I think I have fulfilled my duty."

Army chief Gen Honore Traore has taken over as head of state. He said in a statement: "In line with constitutional measures, and given the power vacuum [...] I will assume as of today my responsibilities as head of state."

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Burkina Faso calling for Mr Compaore to step down on Friday in protest against his bid to seek a fifth term in power, with demonstrators shouting: It is over for the regime and We do not want him again.

At least three protesters were shot dead and scores were wounded by security forces during the protests on Thursday.

Additional reporting by agencies.
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A South African court has ruled that artwork emblazoned with the words "F**k White People" is not racist.

Magistrate Daniel Thulare said a poster displaying the inflammatory phrase in capital black-and-white letters did not amount to hate speech because it was "within the context of protest art".

The poster, created by genderqueer artist Dean Hutton, 41, became the subject of a lawsuit after it was displayed in an exhibition called the The Art of Disruptions at the Iziko South African National Gallery in 2016.

 HK protest art guardians save the movement s works

A case was brought against the gallery by The Cape Party, which claims people in the Western Cape are being "racially and culturally oppressed" and seeks to make the province a sovereign republic.

They demanded an apology from the art gallery and 8,692 in damages, arguing that the poster was racist hate speech which violated the county's Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act.

Recommended Donald Trump met Putin for the first time and life imitated art

A court order was also sought to prevent other similar displays in the future.

Ms Hutton, a masters student in fine art, said her work was inspired by black intellectual thought and represented a demand for the complete dismantling of the systems of power that keep white people racist.

The activist, herself white, created the posters after a student was threatened with expulsion for wearing a shirt with the phrase "f**k white people" smeared on its back with black paint.

She later posed in a suit with the same words printed all over it in order to prove her claim that "white privilege" protects white people from the same sort of treatment.

Judge Thulare dismissed the lawsuit and criticised the Cape Party for having a pity-me-Im-a-victim attitude, according to South African newspaper, the Mail and Guardian.

"If there is one thing that the work has achieved, through this complaint and others to which my attention has been drawn on this matter, is to draw South Africans to a moment of self-reflection, if we are serious about building one nation, one collective with the same values and agreed principles," he said in his judgement.

For reasons I have already given, in my understanding of Hutton, I am unable to find that what they said amounts to advocacy of hatred of for White South Africans based on their race, which hatred constitutes incitement to cause harm."

ANC youth leader guilty of 'hate speech' after rape jibe Show all 1 1 /1 ANC youth leader guilty of 'hate speech' after rape jibe ANC youth leader guilty of 'hate speech' after rape jibe 336783.bin GETTY

Cape Party leader Jack Miller told the Mail and Guardian: "Its very disappointing. Were quite shocked by the decision, because its a massive setback and it sets a dangerous precedent.

Were worried about future actions against anyone, not just white people, but people of all races."

Ms Hutton said her confidence in the constitution had been strengthened, adding: "I felt like I was holding my breath since the charges were made."
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Al-Shabab extremists from neighbouring Somalia beheaded nine civilians in an early-morning attack on a village in the southeast, Kenyan officials said, as concerns grew that the group had taken up a bloody new strategy.

The attack occurred in Jima village in Lamu County, said James Ole Serian, who leads a task force of security agencies combating al-Shabab.

Beheadings by al-Shabab have been rare in Kenya, where the extremist group has carried out dozens of deadly attacks over the years. The East African country has seen an increase in attacks claimed by al-Shabab in recent weeks, posing a security threat ahead of next month's presidential election.

The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab has vowed retribution on Kenya for sending troops in 2011 to Somalia to fight the group, which last year became the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa.

Saturday's attack occurred in the Pandaguo area, where al-Shabab fighters engaged security agencies in a day-long battle three days ago.

A police report says about 15 al-Shabab fighters attacked Jima village on Saturday and seized men, killing them with knives.

Beheadings by al-Shabab are not uncommon in Somalia, where the extremists carry them out on people who are believed to be enemies. The tactic also is used to terrorise local populations.

Al-Shabab in recent months also has increased attacks in Kenya with homemade bombs, killing at least 46 in Lamu and Mandera counties.

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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Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The increase in attacks presents a huge problem for Kenya's security agencies ahead of the 8 August presidential election, said security analyst and former U.S. Marine Andrew Franklin. On election day security agencies will be strained while attempting stop any possible violence and al-Shabab could take advantage, he said.

There was no immediate government comment Saturday on the latest attack. President Uhuru Kenyatta has not issued any statement on the recent surge in al-Shabab attacks.

Kenya is among five countries contributing troops to an African Union force that is bolstering Somalia's fragile central government against al-Shabab's insurgency. Of the troop-contributing countries, Kenya has borne the brunt of retaliatory attacks from al-Shabab.

Associated Press
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Linda Sarsour, a lead organiser of the Woman's March on Washington and one of the most high-profile Muslim activists in the US, gave an impassioned speech last weekend that at first gained little attention.

Speaking to a predominately Muslim crowd at the annual Islamic Society of North America convention in suburban Chicago, Sarsour urged her fellow Muslims to speak out against oppression.

In her speech, Sarsour told a story from Islamic scripture about a man who once asked Muhammad, the founder of Islam, "What is the best form of jihad, or struggle?

"And our beloved prophet . . . said to him, 'A word of truth in front of a tyrant ruler or leader, that is the best form of jihad,'" Sarsour said.

"I hope that . . . when we stand up to those who oppress our communities, that Allah accepts from us that as a form of jihad, that we are struggling against tyrants and rulers not only abroad in the Middle East or on the other side of the world, but here in these United States of America, where you have fascists and white supremacists and Islamophobes reigning in the White House."

In an interview with The Washington Post early Friday, Sarsour said she was advocating solely for peaceful, nonviolent dissent.

But conservative media outlets accused the activist of urging Muslims to wage a holy war against the Trump administration.

"Linda Sarsour Calls for Muslims to wage 'jihad' against Trump," a Conservative Review headline said. The article called Sarsour's references to jihad "a particularly vague, yet terrifying, segment of her speech."

"Linda Sarsour Calls for 'Jihad' Against Trump Administration," Breitbart wrote. "The context of Sarsour's remarks indicate that she meant a jihad using words," Breitbart clarified in its own article. "However, the term has also been used to describe violent struggle, including terrorism, against non-Muslims or against governments described as enemies."

Sarsour vehemently rejected that interpretation. "For people to out of nowhere claim that I would be calling for some sort of violence against the president is absolutely ludicrous," Sarsour told The Post. "That's just not who I am. That's never been who I am."

Some on social media argued that by using the word "jihad" Sarsour should have known the general public would interpret it as a violent term connected to Islamic extremism.

"Jihad, while co-opted means something very specific to a lot of people," writer Yashar Ali said on Twitter. "If you want to use it. . .expect the blow back."

Once again, Sarsour was thrust into the crosshairs on social media. On Twitter, conservatives called her a "terrorist sympathiser" and claimed Sarsour should be placed on a terrorist watch list or be investigated by the Secret Service. Others threatened her and even called for her deportation. (Sarsour, a daughter of Palestinian immigrants, was born and raised in Brooklyn.)

Donald Trump Jr. re-tweeted a Fox News story and said, "Who in the @DNC will denounce this activist and democrat leader calling for Jihad against trump?"

Meanwhile, Muslims and non-Muslims alike came to Sarsour's defence. Soon the hashtags #istandwithlinda and #myjihad spread on Twitter, with many Muslims sharing their own personal interpretations of jihad.

Jihad is a central concept in Islam, and the Arabic word literally translates as "struggle" or "striving." While the word is indeed used by some to refer to a physical military struggle to defend Islam, most Muslims use it to refer to a personal, spiritual effort to follow God, live out one's faith and strive to be a better person.

Scholars and the majority of Muslims firmly reject the idea that jihad should be used to justify violence. Over the years, Muslim advocacy groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations have taken out ad campaigns and other efforts to promote a peaceful interpretation of the word jihad and denounce its connections to violent Islamic extremism.

As a controversial activist in the national spotlight, Sarsour knew her speech was public and might be heard and shared widely. But her intention in that moment was to speak directly to Muslims in an effort to motivate and encourage them, she said.

Muslim leaders, Sarsour said, should not have to feel the need to "police the ways in which they worship in this country."

"I should be able to speak to my own community, my own faith community, use my scripture and. . .not be criminalised for being a Muslim in America," Sarsour said. "I'm not going to limit who I am and how I speak because people are ignorant and racist."

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

Sarsour is accustomed to hostile messages and even death threats on social media, particularly since the Women's March. Those threats escalated this spring when the City University of New York School of Public Health selected her to give a commencement address. Protesters, including conservative media personality Milo Yiannopoulos, called for her removal as the speaker.

"It doesn't actually matter what I say. . .their blood boils at the mention of my name," Sarsour said of many far-right conservatives. "The irony of these attacks," she said, "is that the very people who claim I follow a violent religion are waging violence on me."

In the past, critics have called Sarsour anti-Semitic, tried to connect her to terrorist groups and accused her of supporting Sharia law.

The Palestinian American became a well-known activist in New York City as former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. She has advocated for criminal justice reform and has been a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. Sarsour was also involved with Sen. Bernie Sanders's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Earlier this year, she became the lead plaintiff in a CAIR lawsuit against the Trump administration travel ban "overtly" discriminatory and said it "officially broadcasts a message that the federal government disfavors the religion of Islam," The Post reported.

All this has left Sarsour and her family feeling constantly on edge. She said she has had to hire private security for appearances and events. She no longer takes public transportation, she said. "I don't feel safe in my own city."

She's even afraid to walk with her children through New York City. While accompanying her children to order takeout food recently, she avoided walking beside them, crossing to the opposite side of the street. "I don't want my kids to be in the crossfire," she said.

"There's not that many visible Muslim leaders in our country," Sarsour said. "People don't want to be this visible because they know what comes with this visibility."

Copyright The Washington Post
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A mother from Alaska is cherishing photos she snapped of her wide-eyed six-month-old baby in the arms of former US President Barack Obama.

Jolene Jackinsky was at Anchorage International Airport on Monday looking for an airline when she ended up in a waiting area for private flights, where a man she thought looked like Obama was sitting.

"As I got closer, I thought: 'Oh my God, it is Obama'," she recalled from her holiday location Newhalen , a small Alaska village, on Friday.

Obama then walked up to her and asked "Who is this pretty girl?"

They chatted about how fast children grow while Obama carried baby Giselle. Jackinsky took a few photos of a smiling Obama carrying Giselle, who was wearing a straw hat with a white ribbon.

Obama told them he was headed home from a vacation, Jackinsky said.

Airport officials were not immediately available Friday evening after work hours to confirm that Obama had stopped there.

When Giselle's father approached, Obama joked, "I'm taking your baby," Jackinsky said.

Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Show all 11 1 /11 Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama's best moments in the White House May 19, 2009 The President was leaving the State Floor after an event and found Sasha in the elevator ready to head upstairs to the private residence. He decided to ride upstairs with her before returning to the Oval Office, Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Oct. 26, 2012 President Barack Obama pretends to be caught in Spider-Man's web as he greets the son of a White House staffer in the Outer Oval Office Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House A National Security staffer, Carlton Philadelphia, brought his family to the Oval Office for a farewell photo with President Obama. Carltons son, Jacob, softly told the President he had just gotten a haircut like President Obama, and asked if he could feel the Presidents head to see if it felt the same as his. Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House March 21, 2010 The President, Vice President and senior staff applaud after watching on television the House vote on H.R. 4872 for health care reform, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Dec. 3, 2009 President Barack Obama fist-bumps custodian Lawrence Lipscomb in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building following the opening session of the White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Sept. 22, 2015 "The Obama family and Biden family greet Pope Francis as he arrives in the United States for the first time at Joint Base Andrews," Sept. 22, 2015. Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Feb. 21, 2014 President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden participate in a "Let's Move!" video taping on the Colonnade of the White House, Feb. 21, 2014 Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Feb. 18, 2016 President Barack Obama watches First Lady Michelle Obama dance with 106-Year-Old Virginia McLaurin in the Blue Room of the White House prior to a reception celebrating African American History Month, Feb. 18, 2016 Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Jan. 21, 2013 "The President and First Lady wave to supporters as they ride in the inaugural parade. I had asked the President if I could ride in the presidential limousine and the President joked, 'But Michelle and I were planning to make out," Jan. 21, 2013. Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama share a private moment in a freight elevator at an Inaugural Ball, January 2009 all pics: Pete Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama rests his hand on the bible that President Lincoln used for his swear-in, being held by his wife Michelle Obama as he is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America Rex

Giselle was calm and content during the brief encounter, Jackinsky said. "It was only five minutes but it was a moment that will last forever," she said.

She posted the photos on Facebook.

"I think it's unreal and pretty exciting that I get to have a picture with him and my baby," she said. "Not a lot of people get to meet him."

Associated Press
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A Russian official appears to have deleted an image that showed Ivanka Trump sitting in for her father at a G20 meeting of world leaders - a photograph that led people to accuse the US President of behaving like a dictator.

Svetlana Lukash, whose Twitter bio describes her as a G20 sherpa tweeted a series of images from the meetings in Hamburg. One of them read: 2nd day of #G20 Hamburg summit starts with Africa, Migration & Health. Ivanka accompanies Pres Trump.

A follow-up tweet, that showed Ms Trump sitting next to British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese President Xi Jinping, said: And replaces Pres Trump at the #G20 table as he leaves for bilateral meetings.

The image sparked widespread outcry, with people condemning Mr Trump for having his daughter sit in for him, rather than a diplomat or Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

 Ivanka Trump plays significant role standing in for Donald Trump at G20

Many said it was typical of someone who repeatedly blurred the lines between his official duties and his family.

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

Why the hell is Ivanka Trump sitting in for daddy at G20 meetings?! What are her qualifications? Who voted for her? said the writer Charles Blow.

Ms Lukash, whose official title is Deputy Chief of the Presidential Experts Directorate, appeared to have subsequently deleted the image. She did not immediately respond to inquiries.
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The reaction was immediate, horrified and not at all complimentary.

As America woke to the news that Donald Trump had dispatched his eldest daughter, Ivanka, to fill in for him at a G20 meeting with world leaders, the response of people ran from outraged to stunned, and then back to outraged.

Why the hell is Ivanka Trump sitting in for daddy at G20 meetings?! What are her qualifications? Who voted for her? the writer Charles Blow said on Twitter.

The tweet appeared to have been subsequently deleted (Twitter)

Pulitzer-winning journalist Anne Applebaum, said: Because an unelected, unqualified, unprepared New York socialite is the best person to represent American national interests.

Nicholas Kristoff, a columnist for the New York Times, said: Ivanka fills in for her dad beside Xi Jinping. To me, it feels banana-republicky for the US to be represented by an inexperienced daughter.

The outcry was sparked after a Russian official, Svetlana Lukash, posted an image of Ms Trump  later apparently deleted  sitting at a table of world leaders alongside British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

2nd day of #G20 Hamburg summit starts with Africa, Migration & Health. Ivanka accompanies Pres Trump, wrote Ms Lukash. And replaces Pres Trump at the #G20 table as he leaves for bilateral meetings.

Matthew Dowd, a political strategist who led George W Bushs reelection campaign in 2004, said there would have been outcry among supporters of Mr Trump had Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton sent in their children.

Can you imagine what the GOP/Trump fans would be saying if this was Chelsea or Malia doing this? We are a Republic, not a monarchy, he said.

Brian Katulis said: Trump running things like a corrupt Arab dictator.

A White House official later told CNN: Ivanka was sitting in the back and then briefly joined the main table when the President had to step out.

Bloomberg News said that Ms Trump had taken her fathers position at the table on at least two occasions on Saturday.

 Donald Trump: I expect to strike trade deal with UK 'very, very quickly'

A spokesman for Ms Trump told the news agency she had been sitting in the back of the room and then briefly joined the main table when the President stepped out. He said the president of the World Bank addressed the meeting, which was about African migration and health  areas that would benefit from a facility that Mr Trump and the World Bank had announced shortly before the meeting.

Mr Trump has repeatedly been accused of blurring the line between family and his official business since he entered the White House, and failed to establish a blind trust for his business interests. He also insisted on his daughter and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, joining him in the West Wing.

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

It was reported that later in the meeting where Ms Trump took her fathers chair that the First Lady, Melania Trump, also joined the US delegation.

Earlier, the Presidents daughter took part in a World Bank event on a fund for women entrepreneurs. Mr Trump praised her work on the fund at the event.

Im very proud of my daughter Ivanka, always have been from day one. I have to tell you that, from day one, he said. If she werent my daughter itd be so much easier for her. It might be the only bad thing she has going if you want to know the truth.
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One of Americas most senior diplomats has said everybody knows Russia meddled in the election in the US - and in others around the world.

Speaking in Warsaw, a day before his much-anticipated meeting with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump had appeared somewhat uncertain on the issue.

I think it very well could be Russia but I think it could very well have been other countries, he said, speaking at a press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

But Mr Trumps UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, has offered a much more forceful view, saying the US President raised the issue early on in his meeting with Mr Putin and asked him to cut it out.

[Mr Trump] wanted him to basically look him in the eye, let him know that yes, we know you meddled in our elections. Yes we know you did it, cut it out, Ms Haley said, in an interview to be broadcast on CNN.

And I think President Putin did exactly what we thought he would do, which is deny it. This is Russia trying to save face. And they cant. They cant.

She added: Everybody knows that Russia meddled in our elections. Everybody knows that theyre not just meddling in the United States election. Theyre doing this across multiple continents, and theyre doing this in a way that theyre trying to cause chaos within the countries.

 Jeremy Corbyn: I'd take on Donald Trump over environment if I was PM at G20

Both Mr Putin and Mr Trump have said the US President pressed his Russian counterpart on the issue, during their two hour meeting in Hamburg on Friday.

On Saturday, Mr Putin said he believed that Mr Trump had accepted his answers, which included a strong denial.

He started to ask pointed questions, he was really interested in particular details. I, as much as I could, answered him in a fairly detailed way, he told reporters.

I believe it would not be entirely appropriate on my part to disclose details of my discussion with Mr Trump. He asked, I answered him. He asked pointed questions, I answered them. It seemed to me that he was satisfied with those answers.

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

In another interview, Ms Haley declined to comment on what sort of consequences Russia may face for its interference in the election.

She told CBS: I think you're going to have to ask the president.

You had two men walk into the room. You had two men who knew the exact same thing, which is Russia did meddle in the elections, she added.

I think President Trump wanted to make sure that President Putin was aware that he was acknowledging it, that he knew it. I think President Putin did what we all expected him to do, which was deny it.

And I think that is what it is. President Trump still knows that they meddled. President Putin knows that they meddled, but he is never going to admit to it. And that's all that happened.
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Police have released what is believed to be the final image of a Belgian backpacker who was reportedly found dead half-eaten by lizards on a Thai island.

Authorities claim the CCTV capture shows Elise Dallemagne walking just metres from where her body was later found.

Police released the image after reopening the investigation into the 30-year-old's death on the island of Koh Tao, amid allegations of a cover up.

Seven tourists have died in mysterious circumstances on the island in the last three years and one remains missing.

Ms Dallemagne, from Brussels, was found dead in the jungle on 27 April. Local police said she killed herself several days earlier.

Police released the CCTV image as the mystery surrounding her final days continues to grow.

Her mother Michele van Egten said the woman in the CCTV image appears too big to be her daughter.

She suspects foul play and refuted the suggestion that her daughter killed herself.

She said said her daughter appeared to be in a good state of mind when they had last spoken 10 days earlier.

Police claim the CCTV capture is the last image of Elise Dallemagne before she was found dead (ViralPress ) (ViralPress)

I do not believe what the police have told us. We fear somebody else was involved, Ms van Egten told Der Farang magazine. Were more and more thinking that the police information is not the right explanation.

It comes as a hotel worker claimed Ms Dallemagne checked into a hotel under a fake name just days before her death. A fire reportedly broke out in her room the same night, causing her to flee to alternative accommodation several miles away.

The Samui Times claimed police never questioned locals on the island. It reported that they had not broadened the investigation to include Koh Phangan, where Ms Dallemange apparently lived as part of a yoga and meditation community.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

As a result, authorities on the island have been accused of keeping quiet to avoid bad publicity.

Lieutenant Colonel Chokchai Suthimek shut down allegations of a cover up, saying: "There is no sign of murder.

"They call this 'death island' non-stop. They paint it that way. We work so hard. When there is a dead body were not just sitting on it," he told The Telegraph.

The Independent has attempted to contact local police for comment but calls went unanswered.
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Nearly a third of Japanese people are entering their 30s without any sexual experience, according to research.

The country is facing a steep population decline as a growing number of youngsters abstain from sex and avoid romantic relationships.

Some men claimed they "find women scary" as a poll found that around 31% of people aged 18 to 34 from the island nation say they are virgins.

 Show off to your date at Japanese theme park by beating up bad guys

One woman, when asked why they think 64 per cent of people in the same age group are not in relationships, said she thought men "cannot be bothered" to ask the opposite sex on dates because it was easier to watch internet porn.

The number of births dropped below one million in Japan for the first time last year, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

Japan's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research predicts that the country's current population of 127 million will decline by nearly 40 million by 2065.

The fertility crisis has left politicians scratching their heads as to why youngsters are not having more sex.

Comedian Ano Matsui, 26, told the BBC: "I don't have self-confidence. I was never popular among the girls.

"Once I asked a girl out but she said no. That traumatised me.

Comedian Ano Matsui says he was "was never popular among the girls" (BBC)

"There are a lot of men like me who find women scary.

"We are afraid of being rejected. So we spend time doing hobbies like animation.

"I hate myself, but there is nothing I can do about it."

 Annual 'Steel Phallus' festival in Japan celebrates the penis

Artist Megumi Igarashi, 45, who once made a 3D image of her own vagina, said "building a relationship is not easy".

"A boy has to start from asking a girl on a date," she told the BBC.

"I think a lot of men just cannot be bothered.

"They can watch porn on the internet and get sexual satisfaction that way."

Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' Show all 15 1 /15 Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' The festival is LGBT-friendly Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' Everything is penis-related on the day of the festival Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' There are plenty of souvenirs for sale Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' There's a serious side to the festival too Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' But it has solid historical and religious roots Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' Today, the festival includes a cross-dressing group carrying this giant pink penis Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' The festival's now become part of Japan's 'wacky' identity Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' Phallic imagery abounds in Shinto Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' The Elizabeth Kaikan group carry the pink penis Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' Thousands of people attend the festival Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' The Elizabeth Kaikan group carry the pink penis Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' The Shinto religion focuses on fertility Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' There's every kind of food in phallic shape Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' The serious part of the procession Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' Participants can wear anything from loincloths to full uniforms Selena Hoy

The shrinking of the countrys population  deaths have outpaced births for several years  has been called a "demographic time bomb" and is already affecting the job and housing markets, consumer spending and long-term investment plans at businesses.

Other countries including the US, China, Denmark and Singapore have low fertility rates, but Japan's is thought to be the worst.

A nationwide survey earlier this year revealed that nearly a quarter of Japanese men at the age of 50 are yet to marry.

The report, from the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, also found one in seven Japanese women aged 50 were yet to be married.

Both figures were the highest since the census began in 1920, and represent a raise of 3.2 per cent among men and 3.4 per cent among women from the previous survey in 2010.

The growing trend was attributed to less social pressure to marry as well as financial worries.

The institute said the number of single Japanese people will likely rise, as another survey shows more young people have no intention of getting married in the future.
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Thailand is home to some of the worlds biggest crocodile farms, where tourists can see the giant reptiles lounging in the hot sun, chomping on chicken, or swarming in emerald green pools.

Some 1.2 million crocodiles are kept on more than 1,000 farms in the country, according to figures from the Thai department of fisheries. Some are equipped with slaughterhouses and tanneries to produce luxury products.

Sri Ayuthaya Crocodile Farm is one of Thailands biggest and has been operating for 35 years.

Thailand crocodile industry Show all 25 1 /25 Thailand crocodile industry Thailand crocodile industry A worker holds young crocodiles at Sri Ayuthaya Crocodile Farm Reuters Thailand crocodile industry A crocodile is seen at Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Chonburi province Reuters Thailand crocodile industry Workers feed crocodiles at Sri Ayuthaya crocodile farm Reuters Thailand crocodile industry Dyed crocodile skins are displayed at Sriracha Crocodile Farm Reuters Thailand crocodile industry A crocodile eats a chicken head at Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Chonburi province Reuters Thailand crocodile industry A crocodile is seen at Sriracha Tiger Zoo Reuters Thailand crocodile industry A crocodile is seen at Sriracha Tiger Zoo Reuters Thailand crocodile industry A zoo performer reacts as he puts his head between the jaws of a crocodile during a performance for tourists at Sriracha Tiger Zoo, in Chonburi province Reuters Thailand crocodile industry Crocodiles are seen at Sri Ayuthaya Crocodile Farm Reuters Thailand crocodile industry A worker polishes a wallet made from crocodile skin at Sri Ayuthaya Crocodile farm Reuters Thailand crocodile industry Crocodiles are seen at Sri Ayuthaya Crocodile Farm Reuters Thailand crocodile industry Dyed crocodile skin is seen at a tannery in Samut Prakan province Reuters Thailand crocodile industry A zoo worker places crocodile eggs inside a hatchery at Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Chonburi province Reuters Thailand crocodile industry A worker collects crocodile eggs at Sri Ayuthaya Crocodile Farm Reuters Thailand crocodile industry Workers catch young crocodiles and put them into sacks at Sri Ayuthaya Crocodile Farm in Ayutthaya province Reuters Thailand crocodile industry Newly-hatched crocodiles are seen in a basin at Sriracha Crocodile Farm Reuters Thailand crocodile industry A worker helps a baby crocodile out of its shell at Sriracha Crocodile Farm Reuters Thailand crocodile industry Newly-hatched crocodiles are seen at Sriracha Crocodile Farm Reuters Thailand crocodile industry Workers spray coating colour on dyed crocodile skins at a crocodile leather tannery in Samut Prakan province Reuters Thailand crocodile industry Dyed crocodile skins hang at a crocodile leather tannery in Samut Prakan province Reuters Thailand crocodile industry Chinese tourists touch a dyed crocodile skin at Sriracha Crocodile Farm Reuters Thailand crocodile industry A Chinese tourist tries on a jacket made from crocodile skin at Sriracha Crocodile Farm Reuters Thailand crocodile industry Workers process crocodile meat at a slaughterhouse on the outskirts of Bangkok Reuters Thailand crocodile industry Crocodiles are seen at Sri Ayuthaya Crocodile Farm in Ayutthaya province Reuters Thailand crocodile industry Workers prepare dyed crocodile skins at Sriracha Crocodile Farm in Chonburi province, Thailand Reuters

Were an all-in-one farm, creating jobs for the people, creating income for the country, said Wichian Rueangnet, the owner of Sri Ayuthaya, which has an estimated 150,000 crocodiles.

Sri Ayuthaya is registered with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), allowing it to legally export products made from the critically endangered Siamese freshwater crocodile, including to top buyer China.

We do everything from raising crocodiles to slaughtering, tanning and exporting crocodile products, Wichian said.

Crocodile leather products include Birkin-style handbags, which sell for up to 80,000 baht (1,815) each and crocodile leather suits, which fetch around 200,000, Wichian said.

Crocodile meat is sold for as much as 300 per kg. The bile and blood of the reptile, made into pills because they are believed to have health benefits, are worth 40,000 and 500 per kg, respectively.

The industry has been facing a setback as exports of Thai crocodile leather products fell more than 60 per cent in 2016 to 13m from 34m in 2015, commerce ministry figures show.

Reuters
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Fires burned across downtown Hamburg at the end of a second day of protests where thousands took to the streets to demonstrate against the G20 summit.

There were clashes between the protesters, many venting their anger at politics and economic inequality, and some of the 20,000 police summoned from around Germany and deployed across the city  with police chief Ralf Martin Meyer having warned that officials were expecting not just sit-in protests but massive assaults.



Around 30 demonstrations gathered across Hamburg throughout the day, and by evening, some protesters torched cars, while others blasted music or set off firecrackers with the intention of disrupting a concert for G20 leaders at the Elbphilharmonie hall.

Recommended Thousands took to streets of Hamburg as Trump expected to visit

In the tourist area of Pferdemarkt, activists faced off against police in riot gear who were unable to put out fires, with billowing thick smoke dramatically reducing visibility.

In the nearby Schanzenviertel, looters plundered a supermarket. Nearby, a cash machine was burnt out. Several police helicopters patrolled overhead. Around midnight local time heavily armed police commandos moved into the district after activists had spent much of the day attempting to wrest control of the streets

The radical Black Bloc movement, which wants to overthrow capitalism, earlier had some success in disrupting the leaders discussions despite the ring of security around them.

These activists, donning black hoods and masks, set dozens of cars ablaze and tried to block leaders delegations from entering the grounds of the G20 summit, according to police.

Officers separated these anti-capitalist protestors from the rest of the relatively peaceful demonstrators in an effort to contain the damage.

Police said at least 196 officers were injured in the clashes across the city, with 83 protesters temporarily detained and 19 taken into custody.

The protests marred a summit that German authorities had hoped would showcase the countrys commitment to free speech and assembly. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the protests unacceptable with the police unable to prevent thousands of protesters fanning out across the city after finding security around the conference area tight.

Ms Merkel said: I have every understanding for peaceful demonstrations, but violent demonstrations endanger human lives, they endanger people themselves, they put police officers and security forces in danger, put residents in danger, and so that is unacceptable.

Not all the demonstrators are there to cause violence, however. Several people are there to for a peaceful demonstration regarding Mr Trumps views on climate change and his withdrawal of the US  one of the worlds biggest polluters  from the Paris Agreement.

The accord was signed by nearly 200 countries in December 2015 in an effort to combat global warming and help poorer countries to adapt to an already-changed planet.

Greenpeace reported that some of the peaceful protesters were caught up in the violence as well.

 German police use water cannons on G20 protest

Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German finance minister, cancelled an appearance in downtown Hamburg on Friday morning due to security concerns. Police also declined to clear US first lady Melania Trumps motorcade to leave her hotel for a tour of the citys harbour, her spokeswoman said.

Thinking of those hurt in #Hamburg protests. Hope everyone stay safe! Ms Trump tweeted afterwards.

German justice minister Heiko Maas told the Bild newspaper that the violent protests were a disservice to the big crowd of overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrators.

Mr Maas characterised the violent protesters as extremist criminals, adding that whoever torches cars and injures police officers does not deserve any kind of tolerance.

As the summit was under way, Ms Merkels husband Joachim Sauer was set to host Ms Trump for a tour of the German Climate Computing Centre.

The facility, currently housed within the secure G20 venue, uses supercomputers to map climate changes effects on regions across the world.

It may have been a bid by the chemistry professor to gain some influence over Mr Trump, however the event for all of the G20 leaders spouses was eventually cancelled .

Malcolm Turnbull, the Australian Prime Minister, and Indonesian President Joko Widodo were also placed on security lockdown for some time due to the violence.

The difficulties outside venues were echoed by difficulties inside, with leaders set to meet again on Saturday to forge a consensus on trade and climate change that eluded them on the first day of their summit.

Negotiators still have a great deal of work ahead of them to formulate a passage on trade in the summits closing communique, Ms Merkel said after the first day of meetings.

She added that most participants called for free but also fair trade and underlined the significance of the World Trade Organisation, though she didnt specify which ones did not support the trade language.

The discussions are very difficult, I dont want to talk around that, Ms Merkel said.

The German leader said most summit participants backed the Paris climate accord, but there were obvious differences with the US.

It will be very interesting to see how we formulate the communique tomorrow and make clear that, of course, there are different opinions in this area because the United States of America regrettably ... wants to withdraw from the Paris accord, Ms Merkel said.
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Iraqi security forces claim they are poised to take full control of Mosul imminently as Islamic State controls just a few metres of the area, battling to retain the last few streets in a last stand.

"We are seeing now the last meters (of the battle) and then victory will be announced," said a TV speaker, "It's a matter of hours," she said, citing the channel's correspondents embedded with security forces in the Old City of Mosul, by the Tigris river.

According to a Reuters report, a military spokesman said the defence lines of Isis were crumbling. Isis fighters are putting up a fierce resistances with suicide bombers, snipers and grenades, hampering the progress of Iraqi troops. Smoke billowed above Mosul, which was battered by air strikes and artillery fire.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is expected to visit the Iraqi city to formally declare victory, with plans for a week of nationwide celebrations.

Mosul is the largest city seized by Isis and is where the Islamic extremists declared their caliphate.

A post-battle plan to rebuild the city has not yet been formulated. "Prime Minister (Haider) al-Abadi kept dragging his heels. Every time we raised this issue with him, he said, 'Let's wait until military operations are over'," said Hoshyar Zebari, a former finance and foreign minister.

"A whole city is being decimated. Look how much the government is contributing, as if they don't care."

The battle to retake Mosul has damaged thousands of buildings in the Old City and destroyed nearly 500 buildings, according to satellite imagery released by the United Nations.
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Iraqi soldiers have started celebrating their defeat of Isis in Mosul after a nine-month siege, even before the last resistance has been extinguished. An Iraqi commander called on a loudspeaker for surviving Isis fighters to surrender, but this was rejected by their commander.

It may take another two or three days, said an Iraqi observer, but the Iraqi government is right in saying that the greatest battle in its war against Isis is effectively over.

Iraqi troops were beginning to look more relaxed as they moved through the shattered streets in the centre of Mosul. Air strikes have turned every building into a jumble of broken beams and masonry. There was the sound of shooting just ahead and a civilian ambulance sped past. There had been heavy fighting the previous day in which snipers were very active and there were repeated air strikes by the US-led coalition.

This may have been a last desperate counter-attack by 50 to 100 Isis fighters which drove back three Iraqi government units that were advancing on the last Isis strongholds. Iraqi commanders now say that their forces are tens of metres away from eliminating Isis and the Joint Operations Command said our units are still continuing to advance ... Not much is left before our forces reach the river.

Iraqi military and government spokesmen have repeatedly claimed successes prematurely in the past, but there is no doubt that they are now very close to winning. It has been an epic struggle which started 265 days ago on 17 October with no expectation that Isis would be able to resist for so long in the face of superior numbers and devastating air attacks.

Isis fighters have held out and inflicted heavy losses by adopting a fluid defensive system, snipers moving quickly from house to house through holes cut in the walls and through a network of tunnels.

Air strikes and Isis snipers have killed many civilians, particularly in the last few days. Whole streets in the centre of the city have been reduced to heaps of twisted wreckage. One man, called Abdulkareem, trapped behind Isis lines and with whom The Independent has been in touch by phone over the last week, was badly injured in an air strike. Another man, who was wounded in the leg by a coalition drone strike two months ago, was shot in the back and killed by an Isis sniper when he tried to escape across the Tigris River which runs through the centre of Mosul.

The US-led air coalition has stepped up the level of its attacks during the battle for west Mosul, which has been more badly damaged than in the east of the city. A UN study based on satellite photographs shows that 5,536 buildings in the Old City have been damaged of which 490 have been destroyed. Destruction along the main streets in the city centre is almost total with enormous bomb craters at cross roads. Isis has shot any civilians trying to leave their shrinking stronghold.

East Mosul, by way of contrast, has rapidly revived with most of the people displaced to camps during the fighting last year returning to their homes. Almost all the shops are open and there is a continuous supply of electricity. Traffic is very heavy and jams frequent because many people in badly damaged west Mosul have crossed the river to the eastern part of the city. Rents for houses and apartments have tripled.

Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Show all 10 1 /10 Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis An Iraqi Christian prepares for the first Sunday Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Qaraqosh Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi priests hold the first Sunday mass Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christian soldiers attend the first Sunday mass at the Grand Immaculate Church since it was recaptured from Islamic State in Qaraqosh Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis An Iraqi Christian soldier holds his weapon during the first Sunday mass Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis An Iraqi Christian soldier lights a candle Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi priests hold the first Sunday mass at the Grand Immaculate Church since it was recaptured from Islamic State Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi priests hold the first Sunday mass Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Reuters

There are very limited signs of reconstruction with a few mechanical diggers at work, mainly replacing water mains where the pipes were broken by bombs. Only municipal and health workers are being paid by the government at the moment and there is no other employment aside from shopkeeping. There is food in the shops but no money to buy it, said one resident.

Though the Iraqi armed forces are triumphant, Isis is by no means out of business, launching serious counter-attacks outside Mosul, including one in Qayara district south of the city on 5 July in which 160 Isis fighters seized four villages. Two suicide bombers were killed at Hamam al-Alil camp for people fleeing Mosul.

Isis will have long foreseen its loss of the city and put in place sleeper cells and detachments of fighters who can carry on the war. Even now, within districts captured by Iraqi security forces there is fear of Isis members who have shaved off their beards and changed their dress so they cannot be identified. In the forecourt of one mosque, an Isis suspect was being roughly interrogated by half a dozen Iraqi security men who were shouting questions at him.

 Iraq PM Haider al-Abadi hails 'big victory' in Mosul

Among the reasons why the battle for Mosul has taken so long is that effective Iraqi government combat forces are limited in number. Most of the fighting has been carried out by the Counter-Terrorism Service, the Emergency Response Division and the Federal Police which together number less than 10,000 men. They have suffered heavy losses in the fighting in Mosul from snipers, suicide bombers, booby traps and mines.

Because the number of reliable combat troops is limited, the government has difficulty occupying and holding territory it has captured. There are few solders or police to be seen in the city away from the areas where fighting is going on. In the countryside outside, often arid and rocky semi-desert to the west, one can drive for miles without seeing any Iraqi security men. Isis has suffered a great defeat in Mosul, but it will be able to survive and fight again.
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Emmanuel Macron has announced he still hopes to convince an isolated Donald Trump to change his mind on the Paris Climate Agreement.

The US President announced his decision to withdraw from the landmark 2016 deal last month - the only world leader to do so.

The declaration was met with widespread criticism from the international community, who said it jeopardised action against global warming.

All leaders of the planet's richest 20 nations - besides Mr Trump - used the summit to declare the Paris deal "irreversible" and requiring action "swiftly".

 Ivanka Trump plays significant role standing in for Donald Trump at G20

Theresa May said she was "dismayed" by the US withdrawing from the agreement and hoped Mr Trump would change his mind.

Angela Merkel, who hosted the summit in Hamburg, said she "deplored" the decision, and thought it was unlikely the US would rejoin.

A communique, on behalf of the G20 members, singled out the US for its withdrawal, saying they "took note" of the position.

Recommended Theresa May fails to raise Paris climate change accord with Trump

The leaders of the other G20 members state that the Paris Agreement is irreversible," the document said.

"We reiterate the importance of fulfilling the UNFCCC [UN Framework Convention on Climate Change] commitment by developed countries in providing means of implementation including financial resources to assist developing countries with respect to both mitigation and adaptation actions in line with Paris outcomes and acknowledge the OECDs report 'Investing in Climate, Investing in Growth'.

"We reaffirm our strong commitment to the Paris Agreement, moving swiftly towards its full implementation in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances and, to this end, we agree to the G20 Hamburg Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth as set out in the Annex.

Ms Merkel said it was "very clear" that member states had not reached a consensus but differences were "clearly stated".

G20 Protesters take Hamburg Show all 8 1 /8 G20 Protesters take Hamburg G20 Protesters take Hamburg German riot police use water cannons against protesters during the demonstration during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg German riot police clash with protesters during the demonstrations during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg Riot police move in through the smoke from a smoke bomb during the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg Riot police use water cannon to put of burning bins as a protester runs off after the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg Protesters throw beer bottles as they shield themselves from water cannon spray during the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg A firefighter works at the scene where a number of cars burnt down during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg The interior of a burnt down car is seen as firefighters work in the background during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg German police remove a protestor who is blocking a street at a demonstration during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS

The US joined the states of Nicaragua and Syria in rejecting the Paris Climate Agreement when Mr Trump announced his decision in June.

I am elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris, he told an audience at the White House. He said the Paris deal "hamstrung" the US and endangered jobs.

International leaders decried the action, with Mr Macron responding to the action with a call to 'Make the Planet Great Again,' mocking Mr Trump's election slogan, 'Make America Great Again'.
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The G20 conference in Hamburg has left Donald Trump more isolated on the world stage than ever, as the leaders of the 19 other countries spoke with one voice on climate change  but excluded the US.

The emergence of the so-called G19 group occurred on Saturday, after Mr Trump refused to sign up to the communique pledging to implement the Paris climate accord  which the US president says he wants to scrap or totally re-work.

At a press conference to mark the end of her visit Theresa May said she was disappointed in the USs intransigence on the issue, although the Prime Minister herself had neglected to raise Paris with Mr Trump in a one-on-one 50 minute meeting earlier in the day.

The PM raised the issue informally after the session had ended, a senior UK government official at the conference said.

Like other world leaders here, I am dismayed at the US decision to pull out of the Paris agreement and I urged President Trump to rejoin the Paris agreement, Ms May said.

The UKs own commitment to the Paris agreement and tackling climate change is as strong as ever. Not only will this protect the environment for future generations, it will keep energy affordable and maintain secure and reliable supply in order to protect the interests of businesses and consumers.

Her comments were echoed by German Chancellor Angel Merkel, who said that 19 members of the Group of 20 have reaffirmed the Paris climate accord as irreversible.

She said that the summits final statement takes account of the US position rejecting the climate deal. She added that this was regrettable.

The Paris agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions comes into force in 2020, and mandates signatories to plan to reduce their emissions and report on their progress. It has been ratified by 153 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change members, and signed by 195.

 Ivanka Trump plays significant role standing in for Donald Trump at G20

But Ms May took a significantly less critical tone on Mr Trump when talking about trade, a sign that she is still relying on his support to make a success of Brexit. Elsewhere in the bilateral talks between Ms May and Mr Trump, the US President spoke of his countrys closeness with Britain, and pledged a post-Brexit trade deal would be concluded very quickly after the UK left.

I have held a number of meetings with other world leaders at this summit and have been struck by their strong desire to forge ambitious new trading relationships with the UK after Brexit, the Prime Minister told reporters at the close of the summit. This is a powerful vote of confidence in British goods, British services, Britain's economy and the British people and we look forward to building on these conversations in the months ahead.

I approach it in an optimistic way and a very positive way  weve already started talking with the Americans. The Trade Secretary was over in the US just a week or two ago talking to their trade minister about the opportunities.

French President Emmanuel Macron used the talks to announce he would host another round of follow-up Paris climate talks in December, putting him even further from the US on the issue. Mr Trump is due to visit Mr Macron for Bastille Day celebrations next week.

The decision to release a split statement came after hours of wrangling between delegations over the wording. A diplomatic source said: There was concern that not being able to agree the language on the Paris agreement could hold up the whole summit communique.

Macron asked PM May to step outside with him, Trump and Turnbull to agree a form of words which allowed the 19 to express their support for Paris in the strongest possible terms, with the US stating its own position. This was done.

The communique exempting the US from the joint G19 statement read: We take note of the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. The United States of America announced it will immediately cease the implementation of its current nationally-determined contribution and affirms its strong commitment to an approach that lowers emissions while supporting economic growth and improving energy security needs.

G20 Protesters take Hamburg Show all 8 1 /8 G20 Protesters take Hamburg G20 Protesters take Hamburg German riot police use water cannons against protesters during the demonstration during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg German riot police clash with protesters during the demonstrations during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg Riot police move in through the smoke from a smoke bomb during the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg Riot police use water cannon to put of burning bins as a protester runs off after the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg Protesters throw beer bottles as they shield themselves from water cannon spray during the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg A firefighter works at the scene where a number of cars burnt down during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg The interior of a burnt down car is seen as firefighters work in the background during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg German police remove a protestor who is blocking a street at a demonstration during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS

The United States of America states that it will endeavour to work closely with other countries to help them access and use fossil fuels more clearly and efficiently, and help deploy renewable and other clean energy sources, given the importance of energy access and security in their nationally determined contributions.

The Leaders of the other G20 members state that the Paris Agreement is irreversible.

The decision to release a split statement came after hours of wrangling between delegations over the wording. A diplomatic source said: "There was concern that not being able to agree the language on the Paris agreement could hold up the whole summit communique.

"Macron asked PM May to step outside with him, Trump and Turnbull to agree a form of words which allowed the 19 to express their support for Paris in the strongest possible terms, with the US stating its own position. This was done."



NGOs derided the USs stance, thought to be the first time a country has opted out of a joint statement.

Oxfams campaigns director Steve Price-Thomas said: With the other 19 members firmly defending the Paris Agreement as irreversible, President Trumps stubborn insistence on propping up the fossil fuel industry leaves him isolated and stuck in the past.

But he warned that the overall G20 communique had done not much to help the worlds poorest.

Christoph Schott, campaigns director of Avaaz, said: Trumps planned climate coup has failed to split the G20. He came, he saw, and he caved when he realised that the remaining 19 countries, backed by millions around the world, were not prepared to indulge his climate delusions. Planet Earth 1, Trump 0.
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The Nobel Peace Prize-winning Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo, who has terminal liver cancer, has requested treatment for his condition overseas.

He has been seen by German and American specialists in China and they confirmed he was in the final stages of the disease.

The First Hospital of China Medical University said on its website that the cancer had spread to his entire body. Mr Liu had accumulated a large amount of abdominal fluid and his condition was "quite serious," it added.

Shang Baojun, Liu's former lawyer, said the political prisoner wanted to go abroad.

"He again expressed a desire to go abroad for treatment, preferably in Germany, though the US would also be fine, and his family members said the same," Mr Shang told AP. "We sincerely hope this request will be approved."

The hospital said on Friday that they had ceased giving him cancer-fighting drugs over concerns they were further weakening his liver.

However, in recognition of his condition, Mr Lius younger and older brothers as well as their wives were being allowed to visit him.

"I think the authorities are in crisis mode. They too are not sure if Liu Xiaobo will pass away soon because his condition is quite obviously worsening," Hu Jia, a family friend, said.

Chinas treatment of one of their most renowned political prisoners and only Noble Peace Prize winner, has been condemned worldwide. There have been numerous calls for his release on account of his current condition.

The United Nations spokeswoman Liz Throssell said that the UN should be given access to Mr Liu.

Human rights attacks around the world Show all 10 1 /10 Human rights attacks around the world Human rights attacks around the world China Escalating crackdown against human rights activists including mass arrests of lawyers and a series of sweeping laws in the name of national security. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Egypt The arrest of thousands, including peaceful critics, in a ruthless crackdown in the name of national security, the prolonged detention of hundreds without charge or trial and the sentencing of hundreds of others to death. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Gambia Torture, enforced disappearances and the criminalisation of LGBTI people; and utter refusal to co-operate with the UN and regional human rights mechanisms on issues including freedom of expression, enforced disappearance and the death penalty. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Hungary Sealing off its borders to thousands of refugees in dire need; and obstructing collective regional attempts to help them. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Israel Maintaining its military blockade of Gaza and therefore collective punishment of the 1.8 million inhabitants there, as well as failing, like Palestine, to comply with a UN call to conduct credible investigations into war crimes committed during the 2014 Gaza conflict. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Kenya Extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and discrimination against refugees in its counter-terrorism operations; and attempts to undermine the International Criminal Court and its ability to pursue justice. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Pakistan The severe human rights failings of its response to the horrific Peshawar school massacre including its relentless use of the death penalty; and its policy on international NGOs giving authorities the power to monitor them and close them down if they are considered to be against the interests of the country. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Russia Repressive use of vague national security and anti-extremism legislation and its concerted attempts to silence civil society in the country; its shameful refusal to acknowledge civilian killings in Syria and its callous moves to block Security Council action on Syria. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Saudi Arabia Brutally cracking down on those who dared to advocate reform or criticise the authorities; and committing war crimes in the bombing campaign it has led in Yemen (pictured) while obstructing the establishment of a UN-led inquiry into violations by all sides in the conflict. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Syria Killing thousands of civilians in direct and indiscriminate attacks with barrel bombs and other weaponry and through acts of torture in detention; and enforcing lengthy sieges of civilian areas, blocking international aid from reaching starving civilians. Getty Images

The 61-year-old activist received an 11-year-jail sentence for advocating sweeping political reforms and inciting subversion of state power.

He also assisted in writing a petition known as Charter 08, a manifesto signed by more than 350 Chinese human rights activists and intellectuals.

It called for changes to the political system and freedom of expression. "We should end the practice of viewing words as crimes," it stated.

In Mr Lius Noble lecture in absentia, released in 2010, he wrote: Hatred can rot away at a person's intelligence and conscience.

"Enemy mentality will poison the spirit of a nation, incite cruel mortal struggles, destroy a society's tolerance and humanity, and hinder a nation's progress toward freedom and democracy.
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Melania Trump was seen laughing beside Vladimir Putin at a G20 dinner in Germany, hours after the Russian leader met her husband for the first time.

The first lady was seated next to Mr Putin at the official dinner at the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall in Hamburg after she was sent in to end the meeting between the Kremlin leader and the US President when it overran.

Mr Trump spent two and a half hours speaking with Mr Putin ahead of the dinner, in which couples were separated and not seated with their spouses.

Ms Trump, who grew up in Slovenia, may have been seated next to the Russian leader due to her knowledge of several languages, including German which Mr Putin also speaks.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Ms Trump was sent in to the meeting earlier in the day between the US and Russian leaders, which was meant to last just 30 minutes, to "see if she could get us out of there."

But he said the meeting lasted another hour after the visit, joking that "clearly she failed."

Allegations of Russian collusion in the 2016 US Presidential election have plagued Mr Trump since his inauguration.

Mr Tillerson said the meeting was "very constructive", adding that "there was so much to talk about" that neither leader "wanted to stop."

It comes after anti-globalisation protesters stopped Ms Trump from joining the spouses of world leaders attending the summit.

Ms Trump's spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said last night Hamburg police hadn't cleared the first lady to leave the government guest house where she and Mr Trump spent the night because of the protesters.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Melania Trump was sent in to end the meeting between her husband and Russian leader Vladimir Putin when it overran, but she was unable to stop the pair from talking for another hour, according to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

The First Lady "failed" in her bid to bring the face-to-face conversation to a close as the US President's team tried to get on with their schedule at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

President Trump had been due to talk to the Russian leader for 30 minutes, but spent two-hours-and-16 minutes discussing a ceasefire in southwest Syria, Ukraine, the fight against terrorism and cyber-security before the meeting ended.

 Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meet at G20 summit

Mr Tillerson told the Washington Examiner magazine: "Several times I had to remind the president, people were sticking their heads in the door. They even sent in the first lady at one point to see if she could get us out of there, and that didn't work either.

"We went another hour after she came in to see us, so clearly, she failed."

US President Donald J. Trump (L) and his wife Melania Trump (R) pose on the red carpet as they attend to a concert at the 'Elbphilharmonie' as part of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, 07 July 2017. (EPA)

Mrs Trump was pictured greeting Mr Putin with a smile following the meeting and later sat next to him at a dinner at Hamburgs Elbphilharmonie concert hall.

Earlier that day the former model had been forced to stay inside her residence and tweeted "Thinking of those hurt in #Hamburg protests. Hope everyone stay safe! #G20" as clashes broke out between riot police and anti-capitalist and anti-Trump protesters at the international conference.

Tear gas and water cannons were used to control the crowds of masked activists, who hurled rocks at officers and set fire to buildings.

Authorities said at least 15 officers were injured during the protest that some demonstrators had called "Welcome To Hell".

After the meeting, the Trump administration claimed the US President pressed Mr Putin during a very robust and lengthy exchange over Russias alleged interference in the US election.

Russia then claimed Mr Trump accepted Mr Putins denial of any election meddling - but this was later denied by a US official.

Recommended Thousands take to the streets in angry protests at G20 summit

Alongside the different versions of the much-anticipated encounter between the leaders of the worlds two most heavily armed nuclear powers, it appeared the two sides had managed to pull out something of genuine value  a ceasefire in south-west Syria that would be guaranteed by Russia, the US and Jordan.

Mr Tillerson said Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, had an interest in seeing stability there.

Though the Secretary of State said details about the ceasefire need to be worked out, Russian officials said their military police would oversee it, with a monitoring centre set up in Jordan.

G20 Protesters take Hamburg Show all 8 1 /8 G20 Protesters take Hamburg G20 Protesters take Hamburg German riot police use water cannons against protesters during the demonstration during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg German riot police clash with protesters during the demonstrations during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg Riot police move in through the smoke from a smoke bomb during the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg Riot police use water cannon to put of burning bins as a protester runs off after the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg Protesters throw beer bottles as they shield themselves from water cannon spray during the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg A firefighter works at the scene where a number of cars burnt down during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg The interior of a burnt down car is seen as firefighters work in the background during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg German police remove a protestor who is blocking a street at a demonstration during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS

Mr Tillerson said the understanding is designed to reduce violence in an area of Syria near Jordans border and which is critical to the US allys security. Jordans Petra news agency said it would go into effect on Sunday.

He called the area a very complicated part of the Syrian battlefield but said the deal is our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together in Syria.
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In a move that seems certain to inflame the cabin crew dispute, British Airways is paying staff working normally the bonuses that would have gone to their colleagues who are on strike.

Members of Mixed Fleet, who are employed on less-favourable terms than longer-serving Heathrow cabin crew, are normally paid a bonus known as My Incentive. Karen Slinger, head of inflight customer experience, has told staff that the airline is saving money as a result of not paying My Incentive within Q1 and Q2 to those Mixed Fleet crew taking strike action.

As we have, the letter continues, I want to pay this money instead to recognise those of you who continue to come to work.

As a thank you for your support to Ian [Romanis, Mixed Fleet Manager] and me  and for your commitment to our customers  we will make a further 250 one-off payment in August to all Mixed Fleet crew members who attend work throughout both strike periods in July.

In addition, staff working on flights where there are fewer cabin crew than normal can claim up to 30 for the extra effort involved.

Members of the Unite union are in the middle of a 16-day stoppage. After two days of normal working on 17 and 18 July, another two-week strike will begin. It is due to end at midnight on 1 August.

The dispute began over what the union claim is poverty pay, with earnings so low that cabin crew are sleeping in their cars at Heathrow between flights because they cannot afford the fuel to drive home.

Unite says the average Mixed Fleet crew member earns 16,000 annually. British Airways says it does not recognise this figure, and that the lowest-paid full-time member of Mixed Fleet earned over 21,000 last year.

A pay deal worth 7 per cent over three years was struck in May, and is already being paid to non-union staff. But Unite has yet to ballot members on the deal. Strikers have lost travel concessions as well as bonuses, and the July stoppages are aimed at recovering these benefits.

In pictures: British Airways disruptions Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: British Airways disruptions In pictures: British Airways disruptions A passenger looks at a British Airway plane at John F. Kennedy (JFK) international airport in New York Getty Images In pictures: British Airways disruptions British Airways planes are seen at Heathrow Terminal 5 Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions Passengers stand at the British Airways check-in desk after the London's Gatwick and Heathrow airports suffered an IT systems failure, at the 'Leonardo da Vinci' airport in Fiumicino, near Rome, Italy EPA In pictures: British Airways disruptions Arrivals notice boards are displayed at Heathrow Terminal 5 Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions People wait with their luggage at the British Airways check in desks at Heathrow Terminal 5 Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions Thousands of passengers face a second day of travel disruption after a British Airways IT failure caused the airline to cancel most of its services Getty Images In pictures: British Airways disruptions A woman covered in a blanket sleeps in Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 Getty Images In pictures: British Airways disruptions People sleep next to their luggage at Heathrow Terminal 5 Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions People sleep at Heathrow Terminal 5 in London Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions A woman sleeps on a luggage trolley at Heathrow Terminal 5 Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions People queue to enter the terminal at Gatwick Airport Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions People wait with their luggage at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 Getty In pictures: British Airways disruptions Thousands of passengers face a second day of travel disruption after a British Airways IT failure caused the airline to cancel most of its services Getty In pictures: British Airways disruptions People queue with their luggage outside Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 Getty Images In pictures: British Airways disruptions People queue for check-in at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5. Thousands of passengers face a second day of travel disruption after a British Airways IT failure caused the airline to cancel most of its services Getty Images In pictures: British Airways disruptions People sleep next to their luggage at Heathrow Terminal 5 Reuters In pictures: British Airways disruptions People wait with their luggage at Heathrow Terminal 5 Reuters

BA is offering a range of other payments to Mixed Fleet staff who are working normally.

As The Independent has revealed, non-strikers who prefer not to drive to work during the strike can claim up to 100 per trip for other forms of transport. Those who do not want to check baggage in may claim a further 35 for toiletries on trips of four days or more.

Its pure divide and rule, one striker told The Independent. When we finally go back to work the atmosphere will be toxic.

Another said: "The management is once again trying to silence us instead of looking for a solution and a fair pay deal for the whole fleet."

A spokesperson for British Airways said: The large majority of our cabin crew are working normally. We have written to them to thank them for continuing to support our customers.
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The man who recommended a third runway at Heathrow says charging people who drive to the airport 15 or more would be a popular move.

Sir Howard Davies, whose Airport Commission urged expansion at Britains busiest airport, was speaking to the Evening Standard two years after he published his report.

He said: When we looked at this, congestion charging to the airport was something that people regarded as pretty extreme. But I think now the congestion charge is hardly controversial in London any more.

The idea that you should have to pay 10 or 15 if you really want to drive to the airport and maybe you pay more if you are in a diesel car  I think that is a perfectly politically acceptable thing. Indeed I think it would be popular.

The notion of charging drivers was first proposed 15 years ago, when the then-London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, said it would follow on swiftly from the central London congestion-charge zone.

But even though Mr Livingstone said it would be relatively easy to do because of the small number of roads affected, a charge was never introduced.

The most heated aspect of the Heathrow expansion debate is emissions, a significant proportion of which are generated by motorists driving to and from the airport.

The Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, has said a third runway is contingent on being able to operate within air quality limits.

But John Stewart, the chair of HACAN, which opposes expansion at Heathrow, said: It would be a very brave politician who introduced such a tough and potentially unpopular measure.

The very fact that its even being talked about shows that people realise how difficult it will be to control air pollution at a bigger Heathrow.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 11 November 2022 City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd's of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War PA 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 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their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA

Next year the number of trains running from central London to Heathrow is set to rise, with the opening of the Elizabeth Line  the Crossrail project.

Sir Howard also revealed how pessimistic he was that his commissions unanimous report would be ignored: I was at three out of 10 while Cameron was PM.

He now rates the chances as seven out of 10 that a third runway will be built during his lifetime.

Im much more optimistic than I was when I did the report because this Prime Minister was bold and said she was in favour and the Secretary of State for Transport said he was in favour, which we did not have before the election.

Sir Howard Davies is 66 years old.
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Donald Trump paused briefly as he and the First Lady reached the top of the steps of Air Force One, gave a quick wave, and was on his way. At 6.05pm, he was heading back to the US, leaving the other members of the G20 disgruntled and defiant, but almost certainly glad he was out of there.

Until recently, the world looked to the US for leadership at such international forums. But in the six months since Trump entered the White House, that has all changed.

Now, on issues ranging from trade to climate change, on how to deal with problems such as Ukraine, the US has turned its back on the considered consensus. Even on subjects such as Article Five of Natos charter - the part that relates to mutual defence - Trump looks nothing less than wobbly.

The headlines at the end of the G20 were bad enough. The US was utterly alone on the issue of climate change, where the 19 other members agreed to push ahead with the Paris Accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the US refused. The USs position was noted in the official communique issued at the conclusion of the meeting.

Wherever there is no consensus that can be achieved, disagreement has to be made clear, said Angela Merkel, the German host, not hiding her disappointment. Unfortunately, and I deplore this, the United States of America left the climate agreement.

On trade, language was reinserted to commit the members to condemn protectionism, something that had been done after Trump had raised the prospects of tariffs, especially for steel.

 Ivanka Trump plays significant role standing in for Donald Trump at G20

French President Emmanuel Macron, who vowed to host another climate summit in December and to continue to push Trump to join, was quoted by the Washington Post as saying: Our world has never been so divided.

Yet that was just the official, written record of what happened. Observers in Hamburg said people were struck by the US delegations unwillingness to take a leadership role.

During a meeting on climate change, Trump left for his bilateral with Vladimir Putin, while if a picture was worth a thousand words, the photograph of Ivanka Trump sitting in for her father at a meeting with world leaders, was that image.

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 two major issues for the meeting were trade and climate change. It was recognised the US was not going to change its position, Thomas Bernes of Ontarios Centre for International Governance and a former IMF official, told The Independent, speaking from Hamburg.

[The countries] will not be looking to the US for leadership - they will be looking to Trudeau, Macron and Merkel. From everyone, Ive been speaking to, they dont think this is going to change.

Trump may seek to claim some success, namely the ceasefire he and Vladimir Putin discussed during their two hour meeting, though there are already questions being asked about how that ceasefire will be enforced and how long it will stick.

Likewise, before he left, Trump spoke with the leaders of China and Japan and said that something had to be done about the threat of North Korea, which recently test-fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile. There were no details on what that something might be.

We shouldnt be surprised by anyone of this. Trump famously said he was elected to represent Pittsburgh, not Paris. There will be others nations that like the idea of a less forward-leading, isolationist America. It will allow them to advance their ideas, their influence.

But at a time when there are so many pressing facing the planet, the indifference, and sometimes hostility, of the worlds only superpower, is not positive. Unfortunately, we'd better get used to it.
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Maybe someone told Donald Trump it was Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, but seeing images of Ivanka Trump wedged between the Prime Minister and the President of China at the G20 Summit is certainly arresting.

People used to say that the Trump presidency was beyond parody  which was true  but it's now gone beyond the known parameters of parody. We're barely six months in to Trump's reign: whatever next?

Still, given everything, maybe we should be grateful, pragmatically, that the First Daughter was up there at the most bigly of diplomatic top tables. She is, by all accounts, more level headed and far less insecure than Daddy, and we all know of her principled interventions on Syria.

G20 Protesters take Hamburg Show all 8 1 /8 G20 Protesters take Hamburg G20 Protesters take Hamburg German riot police use water cannons against protesters during the demonstration during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg German riot police clash with protesters during the demonstrations during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg Riot police move in through the smoke from a smoke bomb during the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg Riot police use water cannon to put of burning bins as a protester runs off after the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg Protesters throw beer bottles as they shield themselves from water cannon spray during the "Welcome to Hell" rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany AFP/Getty Images G20 Protesters take Hamburg A firefighter works at the scene where a number of cars burnt down during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg The interior of a burnt down car is seen as firefighters work in the background during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS G20 Protesters take Hamburg German police remove a protestor who is blocking a street at a demonstration during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany REUTERS

She is smart where her dad is challenged; charming where he is a boor; humane where he is heartless. It is a bit like having a Democratic advisor by proxy when Ivanka gets to have a say, or at least there's a White House where someone isn't another yes man massaging the gigantic Trump ego and nursing his insecurities.

So Ivanka is "a good thing". Maybe she'll get him to ease up on the Mexican wall, protectionism and climate change. Maybe.

Still I would concede it is constitutionally problematic. Ivanka holds an official title as an unpaid adviser to the President, but she ranks way down the order of precedence when sitting in for the President. We've really not seen a White House quite like this where the President runs things like America is just the new family business, but there are some partial precedents. Not even the Kennedy brothers were as nepotistic as this, but their absolutely loyal blood relationship was key to JFK's brief administration. Bill Clinton gave his wife health care policy to deal with, a much more outrageously unconstitutional action than Trump asking his daughter to take his place at one meeting.

Woodrow Wilson, a century ago, preferred his wife to run affairs after he had a severe and debilitating stroke, because he disliked his vice president so much he didn't want to have him take over. No one told the country though. Eleanor Roosevelt's undoubted power in the Franklin Roosevelt years, and Nancy Reagans sway over Ronnie, were maybe the closest parallels to the Ivanka situation.

 Angela Merkel eye-rolls at Vladimir Putin during conversation at G20 summit

Tragicomically, President Jimmy Carter once told the nation that his approach to geopolitics was informed by what his 12-year-old daughter Amy said to him. This did not assist his attempt at re-election.

So, first families have always mattered more than many people care to think. With a hereditary unelected head of state, families are a natural way of doing business, as when Kate Middleton took over from the Queen as patron of Wimbledon, and Prince Charles stood in for Prince Philip at the state opening of Parliament. With an elected head of state, such as President Trump or President Macron, say, the role of wives and relatives are always going to be trickier because they have a real human relationship with the politician but normally no constitutional or political standing. Filial bonds cannot be undone by legal convention. Thus, it is an untidy state of affairs that can't really be helped. Sometimes it works well, sometimes not.

On balance, Ivanka is probably a bonus for the G20. Maybe she will one day be there in such global forums in her own right as an elected president. Why not?
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After the brief moment after the election, when it seemed, again, as it seemed after the referendum last year, that Boris Johnson might be prime minister, David Mills suggested this list. He specified: The ones who looked very likely at one stage, but who we were lucky to avoid. The first requirement excluded several candidates, such as Tony Benn, who never came close enough to being prime minister; the second excluded other nominations, such as Michael Heseltine, who I think would have been a good prime minister.

1. Charles James Fox, 1789. In chronological order, starting with the Whig radical who was blocked by George III, recovering from a bout of madness just in time to stop Fox becoming prime minister under the Prince Regent. Nominated by Tim Moots and Charlie Pryor.

2. Marquess of Hartington, 1880, 1886, 1887. Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire, leader of the Liberal Party, 1875-80. Hed have been a disaster as a Liberal prime minister, said John Kenney. So out of place by then that even Queen Victoria was forced to recognise that she must send for Gladstone, said Will Cooling. Broke with Gladstone and led the Liberal Unionists, but declined twice more to serve as prime minister.

3. Lord Curzon, 1923. We have George V to thank for passing him over in favour of Baldwin, said Dan Jackson. Although it was also hard by then to have a prime minister in the House of Lords.

4. Lord Halifax, 1940. Appeasement-minded Foreign Secretary admired by George VI and many Conservative MPs. Hands down the worst of the lot, according to Scandifriend. Seconded  would have been an utter disaster  by Gerard. Also nominated by Will Tanner and John Kenney.

5. RA Butler, 1957, 1963. Liberal and intellectual, but indecisive, said Graham Kirby. Butler was identified with appeasement in the 1930s (he was Halifaxs junior minister in the Commons). Im not sure how close he really came, as informal soundings among cabinet colleagues and Tory MPs generally seemed to be against him both times.

6. Reginald Maudling, 1963, 1965-70. He and Butler both lost out to Sir Alec Douglas-Home in 1963. He also stood against Heath when Conservative MPs first elected their leader in 1965, gaining 133 votes to Heaths 150. Had he become leader of the opposition, he might have become prime minister in 1970. Left office in 1972 after a company scandal which would have brought him down as prime minister. He was also the minister who misjudged Bloody Sunday. Nominated by Geoffrey Peter, PipsFunFacts and Robert Kaye.

7. Ed Miliband, 2015. Robert Kaye. Several nominations for David Miliband were of course rejected.

8. Boris Johnson, 2016, 2017. I wonder if Johnson might have been, or might still be, a good prime minister, but I realise this is not a fashionable view. He also raises a problem for the recent end of the list, in that he might still make it  even though his stock seems to be falling fast.

9. Andrea Leadsom, 2016. She at least made it to the run-off with Tory party members against Theresa May. The only poll of them had May ahead by 63 to 31 per cent, but who knows what would have happened in a campaign had Leadsom not pulled out after her as a mother interview with The Times? Proposed by Mick Keith and Kobi Weiner.

10. Jeremy Corbyn, 2017. Nominated by the Whitehall Dandy, as Id like the 1970s to stay there thanks. According to the bookmakers, Corbyn is more likely than either Johnson or Leadsom to allow us to find out quite how bad a prime minister he would be.

Recommended Top 10 book chapter titles

Nominations for Viscount Castlereagh, Aneurin Bevan, George Brown, Keith Joseph, Michael Foot, Neil Kinnock (borderline) and Iain Duncan Smith were not accepted because they did not get close enough to being prime minister.

Further nominations for William Whitelaw and Kenneth Clarke were turned down because I think they would have been good prime ministers.

Next week: Once familiar smells, such as steam engines, cap guns and smoking carriages on trains

Coming soon: Best Debut Albums, a guest list by Andrew Sentance

The e-book of Listellany: A Miscellany of Very British Top Tens, From Politics to Pop is just 3.79. Your suggestions, and ideas for future Top 10s, in the comments please, or to me on Twitter, or by email to top10@independent.co.uk
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Donald Trump held all the cards going into his first meeting with Vladimir Putin in Hamburg. Russia has been caught red-handed trying to derail the American presidential elections, its economy has been hobbled by western sanctions for its misdeeds on the world stage  redrawing Ukraines borders, shooting down a civilian airliner  and by falling oil prices. At the G20 summit, Trump was surrounded by natural allies; Putin was the pariah at the party.

That is not how it looked though, in part because of the skill of Putin and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. They cast themselves instead as the grown-ups at the Germany summit. It was the US that was out of step  by backing out of the climate change accord and stirring the winds of trade protectionism  not Russia. Worry not, folks, Uncle Vlad is here. All will be well.

Its preposterous. But Trump has contributed to this distortion of the world order, in part by behaving the way he does. His first order of business just before his meeting with Putin was to tweet that everyone here was talking about Hillary Clintons former campaign manager, John Podesta, and his alleged failure to cooperate with the FBI in the election hacking investigation. Pardon? Does Theresa May even know who John Podesta is? Doubtful.

Nothing that happened in Hamburg should have surprised us, of course. Partly its about comparative experience. Between them, Putin and Lavrov have clocked up about 80 years in government (Macron was still at school when Lavrov was the wily Russian envoy to the United Nations). As for Trump and Tillerson, they had not quite one year under their belts.

True, the Trump-Putin parley did go on much longer than anyone expected. It was scheduled to last just 35 minutes. About 75 minutes into it, Trumps wife, Melania, wandered in to inquire if they were about wrap up. They werent. Two and a quarter hours was the final notch on the clock. An overrun like this between leaders always makes for good optics. The two men got on so well  had so much of importance to talk about  they just didnt know how to stop.

Both predictable and preposterous was the way Putin dispensed with the allegations of attempted Russian interference in the US elections by simply denying them. Actually, Putin went further, saying that America should prove it if it means to labour the issue any further. The President pressed President Putin on more than one occasion regarding Russian involvement, Tillerson insisted to reporters after the meeting. President Putin denied such involvement.

It was Trumps view, apparently, that he indeed wont press the issue further if thats going to be Russias stance. The two sides agreed to set up working groups to ensure Russias non-interference in future US elections. Wait a second. Russia is innocent, so its necessary to impanel a bunch of bureaucrats to make sure that it will be equally innocent in 2020?

Critics of Russia on Capitol Hill will be not be impressed with any of this. Even senior Republicans admonished Trump that Russia needed a proper scolding for trying to upend American democracy. But there are reasons that that is not what happened.

First, dont forget how extremely delicate the entire topic is for Trump. The investigation into the Russian meddling and whether or not his campaign colluded with it now threatens his entire presidency. Second, Trump just does have the the hots for Putin, even if he has had to moderate his expressions of awe of late precisely because of the collusion probe in Washington.

 Putin and Trump joke about journalists being hostile to them

Which brings us to the good news from their meeting. Yes, there is some. For starters, cast your minds back to how Barack Obama and George W Bush handled Putin. Abysmally. The Obama-Putin dance looked like Serbia in January. Bush said he had looked into Putins eyes and seen his soul  and never recovered from the comment. Theirs was a romance dead on arrival.

Trumps romance with Putin is well developed, even if it has, by necessity, been put on hold of late.

These men clearly share some important wiring. They see little point in taking long-term lessons from past accidents or misdeeds, but would really rather get on to what ever is coming next. Call it ethical/moral blindness if you like  I molested that woman, that country, really? Oops  or call it pragmatic politics. And of course they both draw strength from indulging their macho self-fantasies.

Back before he had to back off a bit, Trump would repeatedly mock those who said that becoming friendly with Russia again was somehow to be discouraged. Only by overcoming past squabbles could the two countries start getting creative together, get things done again on the world stage, especially on combating Isis and returning peace to Syria. He chose Tillerson as Secretary of State in part because as the former CEO of Exxon he had had warm ties with Putins Kremlin.

Maybe Trump is right. What did Obamas scornfulness of Putin yield, after all?

Usefully, the two men have now set themselves a test to prove the theory. Out of their confab in Hamburg came a plan to institute a ceasefire and de-escalation of conflict in south-west Syria that they will, with help from Jordan, attempt to oversee and enforce. There are reasons to be sceptical that any pause in hostilities will work, but lets see. Just possibly, this will prove to be start of precisely what Trump was talking about: a joint approach to end a war that has already killed 400,000 people and sent hundreds of thousands more fleeing their own country.

Trump let Putin wriggle from the hook in Hamburg. He presumably thinks this will pay off in the longer term if it means the friendship he has sought with the Kremlin can actually take root. As is often the case with Trump, we will have to wait to see if this is bonkers or brilliant, craven or clever.
Leo Varadkar has been urged to help the drive for more women in politics

Taoiseach L eo Varadkar has been urged to match crowdfunding of 56,000 euro to train 300 women to run in the local elections.

After declaring himself a feminist and setting a target of 20 female Fine Gael TDs in the next Dail, Mr Varadkar is being asked to stump up the cash.

In a letter to the Taoiseach, the Women for Election campaign group thanked him for a personal 200 euro donation but asked him to go one step further and get the Government behind the equality drive.

Chair of the volunteer group Michelle O'Donnell Keating said the additional funds raised by the public would help subsidise training for the 2019 local elections.

"We are heartened to see your support for our organisation and its mission to inspire and equip women to succeed in politics," she told the Taoiseach.

"We are pleased too to learn of your intention to increase the number of women parliamentarians within Fine Gael after the next election, and very much hope that we can work with you in achieving that."

The #MoreWomen crowdfunding campaign had set a target of 50,000 euro but surpassed it with support from 822 backers.

Ms O'Donnell Keating said the organisation, which was founded in 2012, could do more if matching funds were made available by Government.

"Our cross-party model is innovative internationally, and has been profiled numerous times at European level as an example of good practice," she said.

"We want to increase our impact in this electoral cycle, with your support.

"Fine Gael is the party in Government that has done most to promote women's political participation.

"The 2012 gender quota legislation was a game-changer, and something your party should be very proud of.

"We are asking you to build on this by providing match funding to Women for Election to deliver on our mission in the electoral cycle leading up to 2019."

Under Irish election rules, 30% of the candidates in a political party have to be women or State funding cut is halved.

Women for Election said the additional money it is asking for would be used to i ncrease the number of full scholarships, provide structured support, events and networking opportunities for elected women at council and Dail level including in-camera exchanges with international politicians and social media masterclasses.

It also said it would be used for training in universities to encourage more young women to contest elections within student unions, clubs and societies.

Half of the 194 women who secured seats in the 2014 local elections had been trained by Women for Election training.
Eight out of 10 exporters believe there is potential for future growth in the UK market post-Brexit, Bord Bia has found.

Yet almost a third of companies have little or no experience in dealing with regulations relating to exporting or importing goods from non-EU countries.

Bord Bia's Tara McCarthy said Brexit would require new skills and approaches for the food and drink industry's 4bn trade with the UK.

According to Bord Bia's Brexit Barometer, which assessed the risks of Brexit with 139 food and drinks companies, over 80pc believe there are viable alternative markets for their products. However, there will be challenges for the beef and cheddar cheese sectors.

One of the key issues highlighted was the potential impact of increased travel times due to customs issues for short shelf-life products.

"Notwithstanding the challenges ahead, I believe Brexit can be a catalyst for real, positive change within the industry and Bord Bia," said Ms McCarthy.

Exports account for 71pc of total revenue in the dairy sector, with the UK market contributing 44pc of the export value. Identifying alternative markets of scale for cheddar was a key concern. Companies in the beef sector felt there were opportunities to grow sales in the UK.

Some 22pc of lamb exports go to the UK, with 72pc destined for a diverse range of other EU countries.

Companies found the UK market was competitive and susceptible to price-based switching, but there were opportunities to build stronger links with customers.

However, they warned a hard border would impact on live exports from Northern Ireland, with 380,000 sheep exported from the North to Irish plants each year, accounting for 3-17pc of throughput.
Meath farmers are tracing their agri roots from so-called "congested districts" of Connacht to superior holdings of the Royal county as part of a new book.

The Meath Land Commission Heritage Group (MLCHG), are eager to collect stories, photographs and insights relating to the Land Commission Resettlement Programme within the county, which operated from the 1920s to the mid-1970s.

The aim of the project is to document the significant influence the Land Commission - a controversial body created in 1881 to redistribute farmland in Ireland - had on the county in terms of its agricultural, social, economic and sporting identity.

Organisers say those with a direct link to this influential period are now a "diminishing generation," as such they hope this new venture will preserve these special stories for both present and future generations.

Pat Farrelly, chief organiser of the MLCHG said it is "vital" that the experiences and stories of these families are not lost.

"We want to document the movement of our people, where they came from, the estate that they moved to, the year they arrived so we will have an archive for people for years to come.

"In 50 years times when people come to Meath to trace their heritage they will be able to access all the typical Land Commission information from that period," he said.

Over the last year the group have collected dozens of colourful stories of farm families that originated in Mayo, Kerry and west Cork.

"We heard one story of a man from Mayo who came to Drogheda to get the boat to work in the coal mines in England. When he was near Drogheda he discovered his dog was following him. He couldn't bring the dog on the boat so he had to leave him there. Three weeks later the dog landed back in Mayo," he laughed.

Based on research so far he said the vast majority of people were welcomed into the county in those early days of land reform when a 25ac farm was considered adequate to sustain a family.

"Any struggle for independence in Ireland was for the rights of the people in Ireland so they were welcomed to the county. It was the pre rural electrification period so farms were very small and people survived on very little," he said.

We've been working on this for the last year and we really want to push on with more stories. There is tremendous interest throughout the county, when you start talking to people all they want to do is to tell you more and more about their forebearers," he said.

Interested individuals can get in touch with the group by contacting meathlc@gmail.com.
Housebuilder Abbey is expected to show improved margins when it releases full-year annual results on Wednesday.

The construction group, which is listed on both the Dublin and London stock exchanges, previously announced that volume for the full year was 586 units, comprising 495 completions in the UK, 52 in Czechia and 39 in Ireland.

While the total volume for the year is down roughly 2pc, compared with its 2015-2016 financial year, and the company has flagged revenue as falling "moderately short" of last year's number, analysts are expecting 207m in revenue, according to Davy.

Exceptionally strong margins have continued through the year, according to Abbey, and Davy analysts expect operating profit to be close to last year's level.

Last year, the company had a margin of approximately 30pc on its UK house building business and it is anticipated that this will be relatively unchanged when the results are announced on Wednesday.

According to Davy, it is expected that Abbey will report a net cash figure in excess of 100m at year-end.

This represents around 5 per share in cash and further demonstrates the strength of the group's balance sheet.

"We see Abbey's net asset value per share increasing from 13.07 last year to around 14.40 in April 2017, with some headwind allowed for the weaker sterling seen this year," a spokesperson for Davy said.

"Overall, the company is trading at a discount to net asset value, which looks cheap, given the average 16pc return on equity generated on average in the last four years," Davy added.
Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon has described the public bodies exemption as a concern and said it would force her office to assess, in every case, whether a public body has private competition

There are only 320 days to go; fewer if you subtract weekends and holidays. On May 25, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation comes into effect.

This new European law, better known as the GDPR, will make fundamental changes to how our information is used and protected, giving greater rights to the individual and creating much more severe penalties for non-compliance.

This tight deadline creates severe pressures for businesses and other organisations such as charities which must completely review how they handle personal information by then.

Some are already in the process of doing this; the majority are scrambling to catch up.

Less obviously, it also puts the Irish State under significant time pressure.

Although the GDPR is a European law, parts of it require national legislation. The Department of Justice and Equality is responsible for preparing a Bill to give effect to the GDPR in Irish law.

That Bill must then pass the Dail and Seanad to put in place a new legal framework for enforcement, including a restructured Data Protection Commission. All of this must be done in good time prior to May 2018 to enable planning for the transition.

So far, the Department has produced a draft Heads of Bill, and with commendable speed the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Equality has already held three hearings examining this draft.

Most of the draft is relatively technical and uncontroversial. But the hearings have exposed aspects which could significantly undermine the position of individuals against the State.

Earlier this week Digital Rights Ireland gave evidence to the Joint Committee about two of these issues.

The first is that the draft proposes to exempt public bodies from fines for breach of the GDPR. The argument for the exemption is that these fines would be circular - that they would merely shuffle money from one public fund into another public fund.

But this ignores the experience in the United Kingdom where fines have been an important deterrent, encouraging public bodies to improve their information security.

The exemption also gives the wrong impression - that the public sector is to be held to a lower standard than others.

And it would be practically unworkable: as a matter of law, one cannot have a situation where a public body such as a hospital is given preferential treatment over its private counterparts. The Data Protection Commissioner, Helen Dixon, has described the exemption as a serious concern and pointed out that it would create a real burden for her office by forcing it to assess, in every case, whether a public body has private competition.

The second issue with the draft is that it gives the power to any Minister to make regulations in any area restricting any individual rights on the basis that this is necessary for any "important objective of general public interest".

The effect of this is to create an open-ended power to limit the rights created by the GDPR on the basis of a ministerial signature only - with no requirement for any approval from the Dail or Seanad.

There are, of course, situations where data protection rights should be restricted in the public interest. For example, the right to know what information is held about you does not apply where that would undermine a criminal investigation.

But until now those have almost always been provided for in primary legislation, subject to scrutiny by lawmakers.

An unconstrained power to make new restrictions will in practice mean government departments being the judge of what rights individuals should have against those departments and their agencies.

As with the proposed exemption from fines, the intention is that the state will receive more lenient treatment.

It is worth remembering that shortly before his retirement the last Data Protection Commissioner, Billy Hawkes, summed up his term in office by saying that public bodies had "in too many cases, shown scant regard by senior management to their duty to safeguard the personal data entrusted to them".

He said that "the state system in general is not paying sufficient attention to its responsibilities for the quantum of data it holds on all of us" and that there was a need for "system-wide action" before "an inevitable crisis" was triggered.

Given this background, and the fact that the state holds so much data on us, it should be held to a higher, not a lower standard.

Dr TJ McIntyre is a lecturer in the UCD Sutherland School of Law, chair of Digital Rights Ireland and consultant with FP Logue Solicitors.
Web services is the most profitable unit  with 12.2bn sales last year  for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Photo: Bloomberg

Internet giant Amazon is establishing an electricity trading unit in Dublin as it continues to expand its footprint in Ireland and plans a 1bn data centre complex in the capital.

It's not clear what type of electricity trading the Amazon Web Services unit, called Amazon Energy Eoraip, will engage in, but it's clearly linked to the large electricity consumption of its data centres.

The scale of power usage by data centres has become a bone of contention for objectors to plans by both Amazon and Apple for huge data centre campuses in Ireland.

Companies have favoured Ireland for data centres because the temperate climate helps to lower running costs by aiding cooling of the buildings.

Earlier this year, Amazon submitted plans to Fingal County Council to build the first phase of what could be a 1bn data centre campus in Dublin. Amazon already has about 10 large data centres in the capital.

One objector to the Amazon plan, Allan Daly, told the council that Amazon has not specified precisely how much electricity the campus would require.

He said it should not be granted permission until an assessment of Ireland's renewable energy framework, currently being undertaken by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, is completed.

Mr Daly also objected to the Apple data centre plan.

Amazon, headed by founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos, has told Fingal County Council that its Dublin campus would be powered entirely by renewable energy.

But another objector to the campus has claimed that the entire data centre complex could use as much energy as all the households in all the Dublin council areas combined.

Fingal County Council approved the first phase of the Amazon plan, but it has been appealed to An Bord Pleanala.

The ESB has also recently voiced concerns that if all the data centres planned for Ireland are constructed it would pose a challenge for the electricity network.

A typical data centre can use as much electricity as would be required to power as many as 5,000 homes.

But Amazon claims that as companies transfer data activity to the cloud and data centres, overall power usage and carbon emissions decline.

It says that large data centres are more efficient that having many companies operating their own on-site mini-data centres and servers.

Amazon Web Services has extensive data centre operations here, servicing hundreds of thousands of clients that use its cloud capabilities to conduct their own business with clients, as well as backing up critical data off site.

Amazon's Web Services unit is the group's most profitable business.

It generated net sales of $12.2bn last year, and operating income of $3.1bn.

As a group, Amazon posted net sales of $135.9bn and operating income of $4.2bn.

Amazon Web Services has a long-term commitment to achieve 100pc renewable energy usage for its global infrastructure footprint.

It aims to have 50pc of its power sourced from renewable energy by the end of this year.

Ireland plays host to a large number of data centres. Facebook is currently building a huge 200m facility in Clonee, Co Meath.

Google, Mircosoft and other companies have a number of data centres based around the capital.
Presenter Ross Kemp has said he would like to create an investigative TV documentary looking into the Grenfell Tower fire.

The Bafta-winning journalist, known for his hard-hitting Extreme World films, said he would like to focus on major UK events in a future series.

He is currently looking for a new broadcaster after it was announced Sky 1 would be dropping the show.

Kemp, 52, told the Press Association: Its an ever-changing world and there are loads of subjects I would love to do.

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There are always issues in the UK that I would like to cover the amount of stabbings weve had in London recently is off the scale and I dont think enough is being done about that, but in the light of whats happened recently, in terms of the Grenfell Tower fire and the Manchester and London terror attacks, it has been overshadowed.

Asked if he would consider looking into those subjects, he said: If Ive got a broadcaster then of course I will, but theres no point me doing it on my own because Ill just have to do it on my iPhone.

I would rather do it justice with a proper cameraman and have a platform to broadcast it on.

His sixth and final Extreme World season will begin on Sunday and the first episode will see him and his camera crew explore racial divisions and gang violence in the US.

He will meet black gang members, white supremacists, prison inmates and police officers as he looks into whether southern states such as Texas are facing the possibility of a future race war.

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You are 90% more likely to be shot dead by a policeman if you are young and black, and that is staggering, he said.

Video of the Day

Im not completely blaming the police for this, but perhaps it is a failure of society in general.

After making the film in the same week that Donald Trump was voted as US president, he suggested the new White House leaders controversial election campaign strategy could be linked to a rise in extremism.

He explained: The worrying thing is that because he is so un-presidential, so reactionary it would appear that he is in a way legitimising people with extreme views, because his views are extreme.

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We knew there had been a rise (of Trump supporters) because of the election campaigning of these extreme groups, who seemed to have been given a larger platform because of the way that Trumps campaign had been run.

Even minority groups were widening their voice because they fear what might be coming.

Other episodes in the six-part series will see him investigate vigilante culture in the West Bank, the Camorra mafia in Naples and cattle farmers terrorised by bandits in Madagascar.

Ross Kemp: Extreme World starts on Sunday July 9 at 9pm on Sky1 and Now TV.
A Dublin man caught with a glass breaker in a southside suburb had no explanation for why he had the item.

Paul Lillycrap (36) was found with the tool when he was stopped by gardai.

Judge Anne Watkin sentenced Lillycrap to one month in prison. The defendant, of Cedar Court, in Ballybrack, admitted before Dun Laoghaire District Court to possession of a glass breaker.

The incident took place at Shanganagh Road, in Ballybrack, on January 23, 2016.

The court heard the DPP had directed summary disposal of the matter in the District Court.

Garda Brian Hall said he was on mobile patrol when he came across Lillycrap. Gda Hall told the court he stopped the defendant and searched him under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

During the course of the search, Gda Hall said he found the glass breaker.

The garda said he asked Lillycrap why he had the glass breaker, but the defendant was unable to give him any reason for having it.

Lillycrap was arrested and taken back to Dun Laoghaire Garda Station. He was later charged.

The court heard Lillycrap had 83 previous convictions, dating back more than 15 years.

Theft

The defendant's convictions include more than 50 for theft-related matters.

He also has convictions for drugs, trespass, assault and possession of articles for use in a theft. The court heard Lillycrap is currently serving a six-month sentence, which was imposed in April.

Judge Watkin noted a glass breaker was an unusual object for an individual to have, and was told that it was similar to an item commonly seen on a train.

Defence solicitor Ronnie Lynam said that Lillycrap wished to apologise to the court for his behaviour. The court previously heard Lillycrap, a father-of-two, had suffered from various different addictions for most of his adult life.

Mr Lynam accepted his client had an extremely poor criminal record.

Judge Watkin said Lillycrap was not charged with any other offences but his possession of the glass breaker had to be viewed in the context of his history of offending behaviour.

Imposing a one-month sentence, Judge Watkin said she would make it concurrent to the sentence Lillycrap is currently serving.

The offence was contrary to the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act.
A garda superintendent never responded to a request from a HSE manager for a meeting to discuss an allegation of abuse against whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe, the Disclosures Tribunal has heard.

HSE social work team leader Keara McGlone said had the officer, Supt Noel Cunningham, responded to her, the allegation would not have ended up being referred to gardai.

Ms McGlone gave evidence that she wrote to the superintendent on August 15, 2013, asking for a meeting.

This was after a counsellor with the HSE's Rian counselling service, Laura Brophy, had contacted Ms McGlone's colleague Briege Tinnelly and verbally told her that an allegation had been made against Sgt McCabe by a woman known as Ms D.

Ms D alleged she had been "dry humped" by Sgt McCabe as a child during a game of hide and seek.

Ms McGlone said the HSE was aware an allegation from Ms D had been investigated six years previously and that there was no prosecution.

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However, it was her view that there still needed to be a meeting with Sgt McCabe to assess if he posed a risk to any children.

"From my point of view there was an assessment still outstanding," she said.

But she wanted to confer with gardai before taking action.

Under questioning from Diarmaid McGuinness SC, for the tribunal, Ms McGlone said she never heard back from Supt Cunningham, who had investigated the original complaint.

She said she did not take any further steps to chase it up with him as she was dealing with 230 other child abuse cases awaiting allocation.

Micheal P O'Higgins, counsel for the Garda Commissioner, told the tribunal Supt Cunningham had acknowledged he failed to respond to Ms McGlone's letter due to being on leave and a family bereavement.

Ms McGlone said a file on Sgt McCabe was opened following the verbal report by Ms Brophy. She left a note in it saying there was a "duty to notify gardai".

The tribunal heard that in addition to Ms Brophy's verbal report, she also sent a written report, containing a major error. Ms McGlone said she never saw the written report, which contained a much more serious allegation than the one which had been made by Ms D.

It included an allegation, apparently copied in error from a report relating to another woman, Ms Y, who alleged she had been the victim of digital penetration, both vaginal and anal.

The tribunal heard that on April 30 the following year a duty social worker, Laura Connolly, examined the file and initiated a garda notification, based on the details contained in the incorrect report.

She testified that she overlooked the fact two different names, those of Ms D and Ms Y, appeared in the same HSE file.
A sound engineer allegedly hacked into her ex-boyfriend's social media accounts, spread stories about their break-up on blogs and moved into his building during an alleged campaign of harassment.

Emma Butt (29), with an address at Riverside Grove, Coolock, Dublin, is accused of harassing her ex-partner between February 1 and May 30 in 2015 at various locations, a court heard.

It is alleged she accessed his social media accounts, emailed his family and his business contacts, wrote a blog about their break-up, and chased him down a road.

She also moved into a property two doors down from the complainant after their relationship ended, Dublin District Court heard.

Judge Michael Walsh heard an outline of the facts for the purpose of deciding jurisdiction and held that the case was too serious for the district court.

This means her trial will go to the Circuit Court which has tougher sentencing powers.

Garda Mark Nolan, of Sundrive Road station, told Judge Walsh that Emma Butt had been in a relationship with the complainant for seven months. After it ended, the man was subjected to a massive amount of emails and phone calls, he said.

The court heard she wrote a six-part blog about their relationship which she sent to members of his family and other people known to him.

It was alleged his Twitter account was accessed by her and his followers were sent the blog.

The court heard the man worked in the television and sound business and the blog was sent to his employer and clients.

"His Facebook account was hacked, his ex-girlfriends were contacted saying how horrible he was and that he ended the relationship, she claimed, because she was pregnant," Gda Nolan alleged.

The court heard it was alleged she sent a false photo of a pregnancy test which turned out to be a stock picture.

On one occasion, gardai were called because she was waiting outside the man's apartment but she had left by the time they arrived.

The court heard at one stage Ms Butt moved into the same apartment complex, two doors down from him and lived there for about three months.

She would be outside in the car part waiting for him and "he would be forced to literally run down the road while she chased him," Gda Nolan said.

It was alleged she contacted his father with claims about how badly she had been treated and this caused stress to his family. Her former partner did not know how she got his father's email address.

The court heard the alleged harassment involved her ex-boyfriend's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Defence solicitor Michael French told the court Ms Butt, who did not address the court, is now living in London and had travelled back to face the case.

Judge Walsh said the woman enjoys the presumption of innocence. However, he refused jurisdiction for the case to be heard in the district court saying it was not a minor offence and it was alleged every possible device was used to harass her former partner.

She was remanded on continuing bail to appear again at the district court in September when it is expected she will be served with a book of evidence and returned for trial. Legal aid was granted.
L-R Emilie Gavin aged 4 and a half and Molly Byrne aged 2, with Jane Stout, and beekeeper and Trinity SU President, Kevin Keane and Eion Dillon, Student. Photo: SHARPPIX

The exact location of Trinity College's new apiary is being kept under wraps, to protect the campus's new Royal VIP - Queen Medb.

The beehives are located on the roof of one of the buildings in the D2 college.

"I won't say which building exactly," Professor of Botany and bee expert Jane Stout said, "for security reasons, but the hives are located on one of the roofs, away from students and visitors."

The queen bee has been christened Medb after a nationwide competition which saw entries pour in from over 20 countries around the world.

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Popular suggestions included Beeyonce, Bee McBeeFace (no doubt inspired by the naming of polar research vessel 'Boaty McBoatFace' in 2016), and Honeycomb McGregor.

Queen Beelizabeth, Polly(nator), Trinibee and Beeram Stoker were also contenders. However, Queen Medb was selected by a judging panel of students, TCD staff and beekeepers, for several reasons.

"Queen Medb was a strong female leader in old Irish mythology who sends her army out into the world to conquer," Professor Stout said. "And the word means intoxication which is fitting as the Queen Bee controls her workers and drones through pheromones.

"And the name has the same roots as the English word 'mead', which is a drink made from honey."

The name 'Medb' was suggested by several different people, and Dublin resident Cormac McMullan was randomly selected as the winning entrant from those.

As his winning prize, Mr McMullan will be presented with the first jar of honey that is harvested from the Trinity hives.

The hives were first introduced to the campus in April, since then the number of bees has increased from 200 to 30,000.

Professor Stout says during the height of summer, as many as 80,000 bees will populate the hives.

"The bees are the newest additions to the college campus and will allow us to carry out essential research work, including the difference in the chemical make-up of honey from urban hives compared to rural hives."

There are 98 different types of bees in Ireland - a third of which are under threat of extinction.

"Protecting all these bee species is important as different species do things slightly differently," Professor Stout said.

"The goal of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, and the Trinity Campus Pollinator Plan, is to enable all bees and other pollinators to survive and thrive."
Computer science is set to be added to the list of choices for fifth years, on a phased basis, from September 2018, with the first State exams in the subject in 2020. Stock image: Deposit photos

Almost one-third of the marks for the proposed Leaving Cert subject of computer science will reward students for their skill in creating an app, website or anything else created by a human using a computer.

Computer science is set to be added to the list of choices for fifth years, on a phased basis, from September 2018, with the first State exams in the subject in 2020.

Students will receive 30pc of the marks in the final exams for a computing project done in school, and the other 70pc will reflect performance in the traditional June assessment.

However, apart from the timing, there will be nothing traditional about the two-and-a-half hour end-of-course exam.

For the first time in the State exams, candidates taking computer science will sit a computer-based test, rather than a written paper or a combination of written and aural.

Draft proposals for the syllabus and assessment in the subject have been published by the Government advisory body, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).

The NCCA is inviting views, both from specialists and the general public, in a consultation process running from now until September, before the final specification is agreed.

Employer bodies have long been calling for the introduction of computer science at Leaving Cert level, to give school-leavers a foundation in what is an essential skill for the modern world.

The syllabus aims to foster creativity and problem solving and develop in students an appreciation of the diverse role of computing technology in society and the environment in which they live.

Among the objectives is to teach students how to read, write, test and modify computer programs and how computers work. Students will also be helped to develop an appreciation of the ethical and social implications of computing technology and how to evaluate the accuracy and bias of online information sources.

Robotics

They will put computer science to practice in a series of five, six-week projects across the two years of senior cycle, where they will work in groups to produce computational artefacts that are personally relevant to them, their community or society. Computational artefacts include programs, digital animations, robotics and apps.

The creation of a computational artefact will form part of the final assessment, for 30pc of the marks, and students will also be required to report on the work and the process involved, including a bibliography acknowledging the source or author of any information or evidence take from someone else's work, as happens at third-level.

The State Examinations Commission will set and grade the project as it does with other Leaving Cert coursework assessments.
Declan Connolly speaks to TDs outside the Dail after their walk from Mullingar (Photo: Connolly family)

The only person in Ireland suffering from a rare vein and artery disease has asked Health Minister Simon Harris to "walk in her shoes".

Charlotte Connolly, from Mullingar, Co Westmeath, suffers from the rare Degos Disease which affects the lining of veins and arteries, resulting in vessel blockage.

Charlotte is believed to be the only known case of Degos Disease in Ireland, with only 50 cases in the world altogether.

She was diagnosed by dermatologist Dr Barnes in St James' Hospital, Dublin last year.

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Charlotte has tried for the last year to get a trial for the drug Soliris which costs 430,000 a year, but has been unable to gain access to the medication.

The drug, which is recommended by top US doctor Lee Shapiro, is manufactured by Alexion Pharmaceuticals in Blanchardstown, Dublin and bottled in Athlone only 30 minutes away from Charlotte's home.

The three-month trial that Charlotte is seeking costs 120,000, but she said that she has had no luck with the HSE or the government in getting an opportunity to try the drug.

"The HSE keep fobbing us off and pass us on to the government and the government pass us back to the HSE. You get excited when you think something is going to change but we keep going around in circles and hitting the same point. It's very disappointing," the 48-year-old told Independent.ie.

Charlotte noticed the symptoms of the disease for the first time four years ago.

She described the initial numbness she felt in her legs was as if she had "stood on a nail" and described how it soon spread up her legs. She now uses crutches and needs a full-time carer.

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Charlotte, who once worked as a merchandiser for Dunnes Stores, was forced to give up her job due to the "constant pain" of her condition which has a high mortality rate.

"From the moment I get up in the morning until I go to bed at night, I'm in constant pain. I wake up in the middle of the night with pain or if I'm sitting down my legs jump up because the nerves are jumping."

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Charlotte's husband, Declan, and her family and friends set up the Charlotte Connolly Trust and marched from Mullingar to the Dail in June 2017 where they were greeted by TDs and Senators, none of whom included the Minister for Health.

"Simon Harris was at a meeting on the day of the march. He hasn't been in contact with us. I'd like to ask him would he like to walk in my shoes for a day and go through the pain that I go through," said Charlotte.

Declan, who has been married to Charlotte for 21 years and have one 19-year-old son together, is Charlotte's carer.

He juggles this responsibility with working two days a week as a merchandiser for Dunnes Stores.

He hoped that the march would highlight Charlotte's situation and the situations of all those suffering from rare diseases in Ireland.

"People with rare diseases in Ireland are left in limbo. We are frustrated, we've been lobbying politicians and getting nowhere," added Declan.

The Charlotte Connolly Trust has raised 45,000 so far in its attempt to get a drug trial for Charlotte.

"It's a long way off the amount of money we need but we're not going to give up. All we're asking for is a three month trial. I'm positive Charlotte should be given the chance to try this drug," said Declan.

People Before Profit TD for Dublin Mid-West, Gino Kenny, brought up Charlotte's case in the Dail last week and marched with Declan from Lucan to Leinster House on the day of the march.

He thinks its "ludicrous" that Charlotte isn't being given a chance to try the drug. He also doesn't understand how it is so expensive considering it is made in the "Taoiseach's own constituency."

"Drug companies need to be compassionate. It's immoral that she's not being given access to a drug that is made in Dublin and it could give her a new lease of life. It's not the first case of exuberant drug prices and it won't be the last," said the Dublin TD.

Longford-Westmeath Fianna Fail TD, Robert Troy, has called on the government to implement their rare disease policy and show compassion.

"This lady is the only person in Ireland with the disease and we have a responsibility to ensure efforts are made to save her life but it has fallen on deaf ears so far," said Mr Troy, who also took part in the protest march for Charlotte.

"Painkillers only numb the pain," Charlotte adds and says that her condition is "getting worse."

She wants the chance to try the drug that could save her or prolong her life.

"All I'm asking for is a chance to go on the drug. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work and I'll get on with it," she said.

You can help contribute to the Charlotte Connolly Trust by visiting her GoFundMe Page.
A well-known Irish man living illegally in Boston has been deported to Ireland, over two weeks after his arrest.

John Cunningham (38) left Boston on a commercial flight Wednesday night, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Shawn Neudauer told the Boston Herald.

The Irish Independent revealed last week that there was an outstanding warrant for Cunningham in Massachusetts after he allegedly took a cheque for $1,300 (1,170) from a man to carry out electrical work at a home in March 2014.

Alleged victim Christopher Waltham claimed that he never saw or heard from Donegal-native Mr Cunningham again and he filed a police report in May of that year.

A spokesperson for West Roxbury District Court confirmed that Mr Cunningham was scheduled to appear in court on October 16, 2014 but he failed to appear.

The spokesperson confirmed that a warrant was issued for his arrest at that time and this remains outstanding.

But then Mr Cunningham was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on June 15, for "immigration violations".

His deportation has heightened concern among the sizeable community of undocumented Irish living under the Trump regime, according to the Boston Herald today.

The city's Irish community is now worried about further deportations, an advocate told the Boston Herald.

Mr Cunningham emigrated from Glencolmcille, Co Donegal, to Boston in February 2000 and had previously appeared in an RTE 'Prime Time' documentary on the undocumented Irish.

Shawn Neudauer, Public Affairs Officer for the ICE agency, previously told this publication his arrest had nothing to do with the Trump administration.

"John overstayed his visa by 15 years. Oddly, enough a lot of people are trying to tie this with the current presidential administration.

"This has always been a priority. People were arrested and removed under the prior administration going back many years," said Mr Neudauer.

The ICE representative added that if a visitor to the US stayed in excess of 90 days without the required documents then they will be subject to arrest and immediate deportation.

"There is no hearing before an immigration court, there's no judicial involvement whatsoever.

"If I was to come to Ireland and stay 100 days, Irish authorities can arrest me and keep me in jail before I get sent back.

"John will be held in custody until he will be sent back to Ireland. This will be relatively quick. He won't be kept in jail for very long and has no right to appeal," he said.
Members of the 55th Infantry Group pictured during training exercises in preparation for the deployment to the Golan Heights. Photo: Mark Condren

Irish peacekeeping troops on the Golan Heights dividing Syria and Israel were forced to take cover in bunkers several times after their camp came under fire.

Sustained fighting between rival anti-government factions outside Camp Ziouani spilled over into the peacekeepers' compound as bursts of machine gun fire landed inside.

Soldiers dived for cover in a protective operation known as groundhog and had to stay inside bunkers for several hours until the shooting subsided.

Camp Ziouani is mission headquarters for the United Nations Disengagement Observation Force (UNDOF) on the Golan and part of it is used to house the 136 troops from the Defence Forces.

The incidents involving groundhog took place over a 10-day period between June 23 and July 2 as fighting outside the compound between the local groups intensified into a lengthy firefight involving mortars and small arms.

Nobody was injured by the rounds, which hit the camp, although the firing was described as "very close".

Fighting between the groups erupts regularly between the factions in an area stretching from 1km to 3km from the camp, in what is meant to be a demilitarised zone.

The Irish are part of a UN force, which was sent to the region to monitor a ceasefire agreement between Syria and Israel, and they act as the force reserve component.

The Irish have the best armoured protection in the mission as they supply a quick reaction force (QRF), which goes out on patrol from the camp and can be called in to assist UN personnel in danger elsewhere. The QRF, a 30-strong platoon of troops, must be ready at 15 minutes' notice to respond to an incident, while the Irish also supply a specialist search team of engineers, who can be deployed to clear an area.

The groups involved in the latest fighting were not identified but were thought to be affiliates of the al-Nusra Front and the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, which is said to be linked to Isil.
A heartbroken Irish dad has claimed a "paperwork mistake" is to blame for his young adopted daughter (2) not being to visit him in Ireland.

Barry Hand and his wife Laila adopted their daughter Joudiya from an orphanage in Morocco when she was just 19 hours old in 2015.

Under Moroccan law the couple must raise their child there but they had hoped to bring her to Ireland to visit Barry's family and friends.

Barry, lives in Kingscourt, Co Cavan for six months of the year for work, and said an initial visit in December 2015 went smoothly but they have been denied permission to bring Joudiya here since.

The 48-year-old told Independent.ie: "We got a holiday visa for her and she came to Ireland, she was only seven or eight months at the time, she came for three weeks with her mammy and granny to meet her Irish relatives.

"It was lovely, we're very family-orientated people.

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"I stayed as I'm working here but we expected Laila to come again in the March of the next year (2016) and it was refused.

"I suspect it was because Laila ticked the wrong box on the form, she ticked 'Joining Family' instead of 'Visit Family'.

"I know it doesn't sound much but in the bureaucratic world it would mean that she was trying to come and live with me, it's all down to one box I think.

"We've already proven that we abide by the law by bringing her home that time, if we were going to stay then we would have then."

Laila (44) is from Morocco and has worked as a travel rep for the past decade, the couple met when Barry was on holiday there.

Even without the law ruling they must raise Joudiya in Morocco, he explained his wife still would not want to live in Ireland.

He said: "The authorities said we haven't provided significant information showing ties to Morocco but we got letters from Laila's employer, what more do they need?

"Laila is a naturalised Irish citizen and loves it, she's coming here years.

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"But when she lived here she got depressed, I watched the smile disappear from her face with the weather and everything, she doesn't want to live here."

He said that after the couple had failed to conceive their own child he thinks meeting Joudiya was their "destiny."

Barry said: "We'd been through a few years of trying to conceive, we'd had two unsuccessful fertility treatments and it left us shattered, it just didn't work for us.

"I came home after our second unsuccessful try, I was in bits about it all.

"Shortly after Laila had been at a local orphanage with her mother donating supplies and they met a woman outside who was going to abandon her newborn baby.

"We'd been years trying and this just felt like destiny, God's work, so we set about adopting her and that was it, I was literally on the plane the next week to start working through the paperwork.

"After seven months of torture we finally became her legal parents."

Barry said that he's living in Ireland while he sets up an online business, which he hopes will give him more time with his young family in the long-term but not being able to have them visit is taking a toll.

He said: "I haven't seen them in nearly five months, it's impossible, before this we hadn't been apart in over a month.

"With Laila being seasonal if she wasn't working she could come here, otherwise I'd go there, we were very close, we'd a great marriage and it worked, now it's tested to the maximum.

"They say that the first six years of a child's life are the most important and I feel I'm missing that, it's what I live for and it's been ripped away from me, it's destroying me."

An emotional Barry appealed for help to allow Joudiya to visit him and her Irish relatives again.

He said: "We abide by the law, I'm sure there's many ways we could have brought her here but we never wanted to do that, we didn't think we'd have to.

"I'm a proud Irishman and I want to fly the flag but this is ridiculous.

"I feel very angry, I'm being stopped from seeing my child because of a paperwork mistake.

"The bottom line is a two-year-old girl is caught in the middle of this, as painful as it is for us she's the one who is most affected."

A spokeswoman for the Adoption Authority of Ireland told Independent.ie that they are "not in a position to further respond to queries on individual cases."

A spokesman for the Department of Justice explained: "The Department does not generally comment on individual visa applications.

"However, it is understood in this case that applications were made in October 2016 and refused.

"It was open to appeal those decisions within two months but no appeals were made.

"It remains open to the person concerned to make a fresh visa application. The INIS website (www.inis.gov.ie) contains comprehensive guidelines to assist the applicant with the application process.

"Where an application is made by or on behalf of a child, it is important to ensure that the persons travelling with the child are authorised to have the child in their care.

"If the child is travelling with one or both of his or her parents, it is necessary to ensure that evidence of the relationship is provided.

"This is normally achieved through the provision of birth certificates and passports.

"Where the child is travelling with one parent only, it is necessary to provide evidence that the other parent agrees to the child's travel or that the parent caring for the child has sole custody of the child.

"In the case of an adopted child, evidence of "the legal adoption will be necessary."

They continued to say: "Each visa application is assessed on its own merits. Therefore, all information that the applicant wishes to have taken into consideration should be included where a visa application is submitted.

"It is strongly advised that the application fully addresses the reasons for the refusal in any new application."
Richard Satchwell, husband of missing Tina Satchwell, in Youghal Harbour near their home on Grattan Street. Photo: Kyran O'Brien

Tina Satchwell has been missing four months - something her concerned family say is completely out of character.

Days after her husband of 20 years gave a lengthy interview about her disappearance, her family say they are "very confused" by some of his claims.

They have expressed surprise at Richard Satchwell's claim she may have been in possession of a large amount of money when she disappeared.

A cousin of Ms Satchwell (45) - last seen on March 20 at her home in Youghal, Co Cork - said the family have been taken aback by coverage of Ms Satchwell's disappearance.

Sarah Howard was speaking after Ms Satchwell's husband Richard gave an interview to independent.ie earlier this week, claiming his wife may have decided she needed a "break" to address personal issues.

Describing her disappearance as "very odd", Mr Satchwell said he believed his wife may have a large quantity of cash which was stored at their Youghal home.

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"We are not getting into this - if he (Richard) wants to say things, then that is fine," Ms Howard said. "But we are not getting into this. We know the truth and that is all that matters to us."

She also expressed amazement at suggestions Ms Satchwell may have left home with a large sum of cash.

"If he (Richard) had these kind of things to say, maybe the (RTE) 'CrimeCall' programme was the best place to say them."

Ms Howard said there has been no sightings of Ms Satchwell since March 20: "There has been nothing - no sightings, no word, nothing. There is no way she would have been at an airport - she had no passport.

"We are very worried - the longer this goes on, the more we are beginning to fear the worst."

What is most baffling about the disappearance is that she had no travel documents, her mobile phone has not been used and her bank account has not been accessed since March 20.

The only thing missing from her home were two suitcases.

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This week, Mr Satchwell repeated his call for her to come home. "No one is mad at you - my arms are open," he said.

Mr Satchwell initially presumed she had travelled to visit her family nearby as even the pet dog she doted on was left behind.

"She's been very upset in recent months. She's had a few fights within her family over the past few years. I think it took its toll and that's why I think she left. She needed to get her head around things," he said.

However, her family have dismissed suggestions that being upset at a family row may have been behind her disappearance.

Ms Satchwell's family, who hail from Fermoy in north Cork, insist the disappearance is completely out of character.

Her maiden name is Dingivan. She lived with her husband for many years in Fermoy before relocating to Youghal just over a year ago. Mr Satchwell reported her disappearance to gardai on March 24.

The family said they are being kept fully informed by gardai about their investigation but that there has been no clue so far about where she is.

The last sighting was at her Youghal home when she asked her husband to go to Dungarvan to buy fish. She wasn't there when he returned two hours later.

CCTV security camera footage at Irish ports and airports has offered no indication that Ms Satchwell travelled abroad.

Garda sources said it is believed she never left Ireland - but there is mounting concern for her safety and welfare.

Gardai have appealed for anyone who may have information to contact Midleton garda station on (021) 4621550 or the Garda confidential line (1800) 666111.
Members of the Citizens Assembly accused the Government of passing the buck to the group by charging them with addressing the issue of an ageing population when a State strategy has existed for five years.

The man spoke out in a questions and answers session at the end of a full day of deliberations today ahead of a vote on pensions, employment and retirement tomorrow.

"Why have we been asked as citizens to come up with proposals for the Oireachtas...on the challenges and opportunities of the older person, when there are already policies written, which have not been implicated and should have been, ie the Positive Ageing Strategy 2013?

"If the policy makers would stop sitting on their hands and go ahead and implement instead of asking for our recommendations, wed be better off and it would show general interest on their behalf instead of lip service."

This statement received a round of applause from the Assembly and onlookers.

The National Positive Ageing Strategy was launched as a "commitment" in the Programme for Government and was published in April 2013.

The Strategy was at the time described as a "high level document outlining Irelands vision for ageing and older people and the national goals and objectives required to promote positive ageing."

It was also highlighted as a "cross-departmental policy that will be the blueprint for age related policy and service delivery across Government in the years ahead."

Other members of the Assembly speaking through a facilitator added: "We are very concerned about the lack of action when the reports are given to the various authorities."

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It was not known if this remark was in reference to the claims by Solidarity/People Before Profit TDs that Fine Gael had made attempts to ignore some of the Assemblys abortion recommendations.

Ita Mangan, chair of Age and Opportunity, a group encouraging older people to remain active, responded said: "Theres no doubt that having a champion at cabinet level means your cause is heard much better...but Im not sure which minister youd drop to have a minister for older people.

"What would be good is if the Minister of State at the Department of Health responsible for older people, actually had responsibility and he doesnt nor did his predecessors."

She stated that power for this brief would have to be devolved and so far it hasnt been.

The Assembly also heard the important role in the economy older people are currently playing.

It heard that half of Irish grandparents are acting as childcarers and almost half provide financial assistance to their grown up children.

Research from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) shows that 41pc of older people are childcarers for their grandchildren, 48pc provide financial support for their children, 51pc of the over 54s help their own surviving parents financially.

And 60pc take part in social activities weekly - a matter that helps older people maintain a better quality of life.

Christine McGarrigle, Research Director from (TILDA) said: People give to their parents, children, grandchildren and take part in their communities.

The group found that 24pc of older people had given gifts worth 5,000 or more to their children in the past 10 years.

A smaller percent - which hadnt been calculated for this report - gave 60,500 while another group donated 20,000.

And the gift-giving increased with age. The median gift transfer of 20,000 took place between 50 and 64 and this jumped to 30,000 for those over 75.

But only 9pc of older people received gifts from their children and the amounts were much smaller at around 2,350 or 1,000.

Most of the financial transfers go downwards from parents to children, this is something we recognise internationally, Ms McGarrigle said.

The research, collated every four years, also found that older people were net contributors to their families on a regular basis for smaller amounts of around 250.

Some 48pc gave financial support to their grown up children but didnt receive any support themselves. Only 3pc became net recipients.

And older people provide financial support to offspring long after theyve left home; 46pc neither give nor receive financial help from family but 48pc financially aid their children.

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The likelihood of providing financial assistance to a child is highest among the most highly educated and decreases with age, Ms McGarrigle said.

We see 60pc of those whove had a parent whos had high education gave to their children in the past two years, compared to those who just had primary education - it was 38pc, so we saw there was a disparity.

Ms McGarrigle pointed out that older people were playing a vital role in their families, especially when considering the high cost of childcare in the State.

The group found that parents with preschool age children were particularly heavily reliant on grandparents support; 41pc of grandparents provided at least one hour per week child care in the past two years and in an earlier report four years earlier, 49pc of grandparents provided this amount of care.

Between 47 and 51 per cent of adults between 54 and 74 provided childcare and only 22pc of the over 75s were helping with children.

And more women provided support - offering childcare for an average of 37 hours compared to the 33 provided by grandfathers.

The high cost of affordable childcare in Ireland often precludes mothers from returning to the workforce, therefore grandparents who provide informal childcare enable many women to remain in the labour market when they have preschool aged children, Ms McGarrigle said.

The social and economic value of this contribution spreads beyond the immediate family as it benefits the wider economy and society.

23pc of over 54s help their surviving older parents with personal care, errands and shopping. But 29pc had carried out these duties four years earlier.

Care was provided for between 13 and 23 hours a week. 43pc help parents with other activities.

TILDA noted that a possible concern was that 26pc of older adults have at least one child living abroad.

Thinking about that means given the amount of care children give to their parents, we need to consider if emigration resulting from the economy, whether or not it will reduce a pool of family carers in the future, Ms McGarrigle said.

That balance between informal care and formal care needs to be considered.

The group also carried out research showing social activity among older people - which it stated improved wellbeing.

53pc of older people volunteered, 17pc did so at least once a week, 12pc volunteered monthly, and 24pc did so a few times a year but fewer over 75s volunteered.

60pc of over 54s take part in active and social leisure activities at least once a week and 47pc participated at least once a week.

More men - 52pc too part in social activities compared to 44pc of women.

People over 50 in Ireland have quite a good quality of life peaking around 66 to 68 years of age and declining thereafter Ms McGarrigle said.

Another encouraging message to emerge is that quality of life only declines below the level it was at 50 years of age, after the age of 83 years.

This gives us a nice 34-year period where self-rated quality of life is higher than it was at the age of 50.
Leo Varadkar has been urged to help the drive for more women in politics

There is no sign of a Leo Leap as the latest opinion polls shows the appointment of Leo Varadkar as Fine Gael leader has resulted in Fine Gaels public support nose diving.

Fine Gael surged in the polls during the leadership contest but has now dropped two points to 27pc since Mr Varadkar was appointed as Taoiseach.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fail, under Micheal Martins leadership, is up three points to 24pc.

Mr Varadkars first two weeks in office were mired in controversy over the appointment of Attorney General Marie Whelan to the Courts of Appeal. The media blitz of the State visit of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week also seems to have done little for Fine Gaels standing in the polls.

Elsewhere, Sinn Fein is up three points to 18pc, the Labour Party remain unchanged at 6pc and the Independent Alliance is up one to 4pc.

The collapse of the unaligned Independent vote continues with the poll showing the grouping down six points to 8pc.

Solidary-People Before Profit is up one point and is at just 4pc despite the publicity hard-left political parties received in the wake of Jobstown trial outcome.

Renua is up two points to 3pc since it took a firm pro-life stance on the contentious abortion debate.

The Green Party is up one to 4pc, according to the Sunday Business Post/Red C opinion poll. The Social Democrats are still struggling to capture the publics imagination and have drop two points to 2pc.
Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan was "on business" when Garda HR boss John Barrett sought a copy of a controversial letter questioning if he broke the law during his probe of an alleged 'slush fund' at Templemore Training College.

The controversial letter, sent to Garda Commissioner Ms O'Sullivan by the force's head of finance Michael Culhane, referred to Mr Barrett's use of registered post to send himself documents relating to Templemore.

"Is JB (John Barrett) unwittingly guilty of a criminal offence under the Official Secrets Act?" Mr Culhane asked.

Mr Barrett only saw a full copy of the letter in recent weeks when it was provided to the Dail's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is now looking into Templemore's finances.

He also complained that a version of the letter he received after a Freedom of Information request was redacted.

Now Ms O'Sullivan is said to have been "on business" at the time of Mr Barrett's attempt to seek the letter.

A note sent to the PAC states: "The Commissioner was on business in Ireland at the time of John Barrett's request for a copy of Michael Culhane's letter referencing Mr Barrett."

Ms O'Sullivan last month told the PAC that Mr Barrett was never investigated under the Official Secrets Act.

Mr Barrett and Mr Culhane both appeared at an earlier meeting of the committee.

Mr Culhane said he had concerns at the time of his letter about how Mr Barrett was treating confidential documents and that they might be leaked to the press. Mr Barrett said he didn't go to the press and he never intended to do so.

Mr Culhane was asked by TDs if he regretted his remarks in the letter about the Official Secrets Act. He said in hindsight "it probably was not wise to make that statement". The PAC is in the process of finalising its Templemore report.
Face painters, sword swallowers and Dustin the Turkey will all attend the Laya Healthcare City Spectacular in Merrion Square, Dublin this weekend.

Twin sisters Mia and Isabelle Kenny (3) were some of the first festival goers to attend the colourful event.

Cork's comedy acrobatic duo Lords of Strut, who appeared on ITV's 'Britain's Got Talent', will perform their 1980s inspired dance routines today and tomorrow.

Dustin the Turkey will take part in a Birdbrain Quiz while the Happy Pear twins will chat about healthy food and showcase their handstand skills.

Over 250,000 people are expected to attend the festival which runs until Sunday.

The free festival then runs next weekend in Cork's Fitzgerald Park on July 15 and 16 and is expected to draw large crowds.
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John Downing Opinion New British prime minister Rishi Sunaks succession proves an important milestone in British political inclusivity

There is an old saying in British politics that goes: The right looks for converts while the left seeks out traitors. It comes to mind when one reflects upon the election of Rishi Sunak as the UKs first non-white prime minister in a party traditionally seen as most opposed to mass immigration and the dilution of national identity via multiculturalism.
They say it takes a village to raise a child. To abort one could soon be no one else's business but your own.

We girls were called to the school hall. It could only mean one of two things: rubella jabs or period talk. It was 1992 and I was a 15-year-old at a mixed gender Catholic high school in Scotland's industrial belt. Ours was a society of mixed religion, race and opportunity, marbled with the gristle of Celtic versus Rangers.

In a high school year-group of 250 pupils where girls did woodwork and boys did home economics, and PE was a maelstrom of gym pants (us) and bare torsos (them), segregation of girls and boys wasn't a thing. But on this day only the girls were filing into the hall and we didn't know why.

Three women stood at the lectern, the one used for class Masses after assembly. Their clothes were dowdy but their faces, kind, and their words intelligent and restrained. One by one they told how they had each had abortions as young women, and had lived to deeply regret the act. We listened with respect.

This was not Catholic Ireland. This was a country where abortion was legal and the contraceptive pill commonplace. Growing up, we had not been bet over the head with Catholicism or felt its undercurrent of the impurity of women.

These women were talking to girls who knew the reality of an unwanted pregnancy. They saw it every day in the ashen faces of the single mums riding on the 'schemies' and pushing buggies up the high street: having an unplanned baby would ruin both your lives.

We filed out of the hall to the common room, filled with compassion for the women who had come to lay themselves bare in the name of saving lives. We recounted how awful their experiences had been. But we thought they were daft. Abortion? We said that were we ever to find ourselves in that position, we'd drink a bottle of vodka and throw ourselves down the stairs. We could never tell our parents. Never ask for help. Never contemplate bringing up a child. If living with abortion could be a difficult thing, an unplanned pregnancy would be a living nightmare. And the only person living it, would be us.

In retrospect, I should have been enraged at the attempted manipulation of our young lives and the rampant sexism evinced in the exclusion of males from a subject in which they had crucial input. But we just shrugged and went back to class. No one in my year group (bar one boy, who bragged about it royally), went on to have a baby during our school years. If there were any abortions, I didn't hear of them.

I thought about those three women when the story broke recently of the suicidal teenager who was initially refused an abortion after she was referred to psychiatrists under the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Act of 2013. The report outlined a particularly distressing set of events and set in the spotlight Ireland's continued grappling with the topic of abortion.

Last week, the Irish Independent probed the details of the case, and the details were quite different to the initial headlines splashed.

The girl got pregnant but this wasn't diagnosed by her GP until almost six months later. The girl was deeply distressed and didn't want the baby. And at this point, it was most definitely a baby. Her mother agreed that she should have an abortion.

It was a genuine crisis pregnancy. Just a few days after being told she was pregnant, she was sent by her doctor to the regional hospital at risk of self-harm. The staff explained they weren't in a position to give her an abortion. The psychiatrist on duty assessed her and tried to get her a bed in an adolescent psychiatric facility. None was available for the weekend, so she was admitted to the hospital's antenatal unit. From here she was finally transferred to a psychiatric hospital, and the process began of determining if she could have an abortion under the Act. This was complex and medical advice was conflicted. Lawyers wrangled. An obstetrician intervened. The girl had the baby and is, to date, said to be caring for it at home.

Converse to the initial commentary on the case, what the girl's story didn't do was to prove the case for abortion in this country. It proved that the legislation in the area is such a quagmire that it is exacerbating the crisis already at the heart of a crisis pregnancy. In this case, Ireland's abortion legislation was used to sanction an abortion to take place beyond six months - something that is outlawed in Britain.

The system hadn't failed the girl. The system wasn't equipped to deal with cases like hers in the first place.

Is there any way to reach a durable consensus on abortion in Ireland? A change in the law can make abortion a more easily accessible procedure for women, and for medical staff who determine it a necessity, but it will never make it an easy choice.

I drew my conclusions on the topic early. Bottle of vodka and down the stairs. But as I have aged, and given birth to babies I didn't plan, lost babies I planned for and been offered the option to abort a baby with a syndrome incompatible with life, my thinking on the matter has changed. Getting rid of a baby is not the easy option, and I would not like to live in a society where people believe otherwise. But my conclusion remains the same: it is a choice women need to be given.

Leo Varadkar has affirmed that the country will get to vote on the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution in 2018.

The decision Ireland will make at that point will be about the sort of society it wants, the principles that it lives by and the beings it values. But on the most basic level, on that day many women of Ireland will simply ask for the right to make their own choices.

Choice are not without consequences. A woman who has an abortion will live with those consequences for the rest of her life. But we women know that already.
I refer to US President Donald Trump's speech in Warsaw this week where, in his admiration for Poland and its centuries-long fight for nationhood, he called the Poles a people "who have never, ever forgotten who they are".

In stressing Polish strength in "spirit" and "identity", making reference to the Warsaw Uprising and Pope John Paul II, Mr Trump was addressing the West's own survival in the face of what he perceived as outside threats to its civilisation.

This is in contrast to his predecessor, Barack Obama, who rejected any suggestion of a "clash of civilisations" in reference to Islam and America at a speech at the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, 2014, arguing there was no "us and them", just "us".

As evident by the enthusiastic crowd attending Mr Trump's speech, shouting his name, Poland is a conservative outlier compared to Western Europe, with its ruling party Law and Justice putting forward positions that are populist and culturally conservative.

Poland shares Mr Trump's advocacy for tighter borders, having rejected Muslim refugees, attracting the ire of the EU (albeit it did take in Ukrainian refugees).

Curiously, Poland is also an outlier when it comes to terrorism, having not experienced a single jihadi attack.

Stephen Oliver Murray

Ballsbridge, Dublin 4

Girl's case does not support Repeal

The case of the pregnant teenage girl who was detained under the Mental Health Act does not lend itself as support for those who advocate for wider availability of abortion ('Abortion order teenager gives birth at seven months', Irish Independent, July 1).

The girl was not detained in order to prevent her from obtaining an abortion, as some abortion proponents have suggested. She was detained briefly to ensure that she received necessary medical treatment. She was discharged by court order when the psychiatrists agreed that she was not suicidal.

The happy outcome of the case, with the early delivery of the baby, now reported to be living with the girl and her mother, should silence those who used the case to argue for the wider availability of abortion. If not, perhaps they will explain their position to the child when it reaches adulthood.

Daniel Donnelly

Dublin 6

Fiona nailed it on the middle class

Fiona Barry's letter (Irish Independent, July 6) outlining the characteristics of being middle class in Ireland is superb.

The four characteristics outlined could not be more correct. How many more of our young, highly educated workers are planning an escape? I agree with Fiona, it is, sadly, a badge of shame to part of middle class Ireland in 2017.

Margaret Docherty

Terenure, Dublin 6w

Sexist nature of our cancer service

An expanded National Cancer Screening programme has just been announced by the Health Minister. It is astonishing the level of discrimination on the basis of gender.

The most common type of cancer in women (breast) is screened, whereas there is no screening for the comparable cancer (prostrate) in men. Indeed, men get breast cancer also.

Imagine if the roles were reversed and there was a national screening campaign only for prostate cancer?

Brendan Chapman

Booterstown, Co Dublin

Don't ask us to join Brexit travesty

William Shortland is advocating that we in this country "demand autonomy from the EU to enable us to work out our own arrangements with the UK" (Irish Independent, Letters, July 6).

He obviously forgets that the centuries-old 'arrangements' with the UK did not work out too well and that the 'arrangements' worked out in 1922 were not great either.

Since joining the EU in 1973, we have benefited by having access to a large market - currently of 500 million people. We have also gained a net 43bn from the common policies of the EU. A UK 'think tank' is quoted recently as saying that by voting for Brexit the people of the UK have "massively damaged economic relations between the two countries".

By voting for Brexit, the UK has declared economic war on this country. Despite that, like William Shortland, that UK think tank advises that Ireland should consider leaving the EU. It is not quoted as saying we should rejoin the UK, but the implication is clear.

They want us to follow them in tearing up the agreement they signed with their fellow European citizens to join the EU. The EU represents the co-operation of nearly 30 European democracies in matters of mutual interest. It replaces centuries of imperial and totalitarian conflict in Europe and is the most advanced example of such co-operation in the world.

In contrast to Mr Shortland, all Ireland can say to the UK in reply is "No, we will not tear up that agreement" - but we should also respectfully suggest that the UK reverse what Mr Shortland called a "national disaster" for this country and what the UK's own think tank defines as the "massively damaging" Brexit decision.

A Leavy

Sutton, Dublin 13

Tips for the art of letter-writing

Please may I share some writing advice from Colum McCann's excellent book 'Letters to a Young Writer': Do not be afraid of sentiment even when others call it sentimentality. Be ready to get ripped to pieces: it happens. Do not allow your heart to harden. Have trust in the staying power of what is good. Have courage. Go somewhere nobody else has gone. Read promiscuously. Restore what has been ridiculed by others. Make justice from reality. Satisfy the appetite for seriousness and joy.

Brian McDevitt

Glenties, Co Donegal

Getting into a jam as a youth

As I drive around this time of year, I see an increasing number of young school children standing around their local shopping centre car parks.

It brings me back to the days of my youth in the 1960s, when each day we (about 20 of us) made our way on foot to Lambs' fruit farm, the Quaker jam manufacturers.

We spent the day picking berries and later walked home, handed over the money we earned, and had our dinner. Great memories.

Damien Carroll

Kingswood, Dublin 24

Taxpayer paying twice for RTE

So RTE sells a portion of its grounds that effectively belong to the taxpayer via the State. The purchasers borrow the cost from the taxpayer-backed fund. Am I going mad here? Is the citizen a bar code that's just swiped every time the establishment needs a dig-out?

John Cuffe

Dunboyne, Co Meath
A Dundalk woman is set to explore the wonders of the universe after she won a scholarship for a program at the International Space University.

Ciara Backwell, who currently works for local firm Microclean Environmental, began a nine week placement on the Space Studies program which is being hosted by Cork IT.

'It's a dream come true for me really,' Ciara told the Argus. 'Since I was little I've had a real fascination with space, so it's a real honour to have been selected for this program.'

After graduating from Dundalk Grammar School Ciara Backwell moved on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from the University of Wales, Bangor, UK.

She also completed a Master of Science in Physical Geography specializing in Natural Hazards from the University of Utrecht, in the Netherlands.

'My interest in space really came from a desite to understand the earth, and it's palce in the universe. When I was younger I absolutely loved David Attenborough's documentaries about the planet.'

Following her studies, Ciara worked within the Science and Technology sector having worked for the organising team of ESOF2012, an internationally renowned Scientific Conference and also experimented with self-employment.

More recently she lived in Calgary, Canada and returned to Ireland in 2016 where she works now as a supervising Environmental Scientist for Microclean Environmental Ltd, remediating oil spills across Ireland.

Taking a short sabbatical from her day job for the space studies programme, Ciara added:

'I like to join progressive companies and I saw Microclean as one such company located in my hometown of Dundalk. They are paving the road to better legislation for waste management in Ireland,' said Ciara.

She added that she was 'thrilled' the company are affording her the opportunity to take time out to advance her expertise.

'The Space Studies Program is run by the International Space University which has headquarters in Strasbourg, France and has bases in locations across the globe.'

She explained that the course is this year being held in Cork, hosted by Cork IT and was set to be launched by Buzz Aldrin, who had to step aside due to medical reasons. Dr Aldrin, the second man to step on the moon after Neil Armstrong from Apollo 11, was due to give the opening lecture as part of the International Space University's 30th space studies progamme, but the role eventually went Dan Tani, a former Nasa astronaut who spent more than 100 days in space and completed six space walks.

'It is a really exciting programme designed by some of the experts in space studies,' said Ciara.

'When I was applying I really didn't think I would be selected, she added, saying 'the astronaut child in me' gave her the encouragement to put herself forward.

'There are 112 participants on the program from the USA, Canada, China, Israel, Philippines, Taiwan, India, South Africa, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Uk, Ireland. The dedication to be here is real.'

The Director of the SSP17 program is a man named Omar Hatamleh - who has had a long history in NASA.

'He was the Chief Innovation Officer, Engineering at NASA Johnson Space Center responsible for empowering the organization creative thinking and develop capacity to innovate,' said Ciara.

Ciara has set up to a daily blog to details her experiences on the program, and give some fascinating insights into space studies.

Check out her blog at www.ciarabackwell.com
The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) - whose members work with over 380,000 young people nationwide - has highlighted concerns at the number of young people in Louth who are unemployed for six months or more.

New data from the Department of Social Protection, released last week, shows that the number of young people under 26 in Louth in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance or Benefit for six months or more is 895.

James Doorley, NYCI Deputy Director said: 'We are concerned at the number of young people who are unemployed in Louth, particularly those unemployed for six months or more. This disappointing figure is mirrored at the national level, where we have over 11,711 young people long-term unemployed'.

The NYCI is calling on government to develop an action plan under this scheme to reduce the number of young long term unemployed to 5,000 - more than halving long term youth unemployment by the end of 2018.

Mr Doorley said: 'It is vital we support young jobseekers into education, training and work experience and prevent the drift into long-term joblessness.

'We recommend an additional investment of 47.4m in Budget 2018 to reduce the number of young people long term unemployed by the end of 2018.

'This is the gross cost, as this investment would lead to reduced social welfare payments as more young people move into employment - saving 33.4m per annum.

'While the net financial cost would be 15m, the social, economic and community benefit of having over 6,000 more young people in gainful employment is incalculable.

'We should be much more ambitious in tackling long term unemployment in particular among young people'.
A 66 year old Dundalk taxi driver was caught up in a shocking attempted robbery as he picked up a fare in town over the weekend.

Gardai confirmed they are investigating the incident where a man was in a taxi on Park Street at around 1.15a.m on Sunday morning last, July 2nd.

The attacker was reported to have threatened the taxi driver, putting an object to his throat. The driver was physically unharmed, but described as 'very shaken' after what gardai described as an 'attempted robbery'.

A garda spokesman said they are 'following a definite line of enquiry' and are appealing for any witnesses who may have been in Park Street at that time to make contact with them on 042 93 35577 or through the garda confidential line 1800 666 111.

Meanwhile gardai carried out a total of 34 searches of people and premises under the Drugs Act.

In the most significant incident, officers uncovered an estimated 9,000 of cannabis and 1,000 in cash following the search of a house on Bellewsbridge Road.

A man and a woman were questioned in relation to the find.

Gardai responded to 17 reports of theft, including break ins to cars over the last week.

'We would like to warn people not to leave valuables behind in cars.'

The spokesman warned that thieves are taking advantage of the time of year, where people are parking up at scenic locations, and leaving items behind in their vehicle.

Gardai made just one arrest in relation to drink driving over the last week, after a 39 year old man was stopped along the Inner relief Road.

With a reduction in the number of detections for drink driving, the spokesman added: 'It is hoped the message is getting through that you should never, ever drink and drive.'

In a separate incident, gardai issued an ASBO (Anti Social Behaviour Order) to a woman in relation to begging in the town centre.
Bray's Shadowbox Theatre Company and artistic director Gemma Gallagher are back in the Mermaid Arts Centre this month for their production of 'Somethings'.

Taking place on Thursday, July 13, the production, devised by a company of performers with intellectual disability, takes the audience on a journey of the imagination entering a world where merging sounds, movements and images tells a story of frustration, loss and hope for the future.

Gemma, who is Theatre Artist in Residence at the Mermaid, is one of the founding members of Shadowbox Theatre and has directed seven of the theatre's main touring productions.

She is an experienced theatre-maker, performer and facilitator, having worked with internationally-renowned companies such as Cirque du Soleil and Punchdrunk.

She says she is 'committed to the exploration of original methods of presenting the emotional and instinctual language of our lives.

'For me, that's what theatre is. What I strive for on the stage is a commitment to quality and innovation, to honesty and inclusion,' said Gemma.

A member of Theatre Forum Ireland, Gemma said she is delighted to be working as Theatre Artist in Residence between Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray and Backstage Theatre in Longford, funded through the Arts Council of Ireland Theatre Artist Residency Scheme.

Niamh O'Donnell, artistic director at the Mermaid Arts Centre, said: 'It is important to Mermaid that the work we present reflects the rich array of creative people in our community. What working with Shadowbox represents is artistic excellence and ambition. The artists on stage are nothing short of remarkable. Engagement in Arts and Culture helps us all to expand our horizon, we learn to collaborate, empathise and problem solve but what these artists will do is share with us and in so doing they will teach us. They will teach us more than what they themselves have learned - what we will see is democracy, inclusivity and equality. It's a must-see.'

'Somethings', supported by the Arts Council, takes place on Thursday, July 13, at 8 p.m.
The problem is not that Catholic schools are excluding pupils of other faiths and none, but that there are not enough non-denominational schools out there to cater for pupils

There was much discussion this week following a Government proposal which aims to remove the so called 'baptism barrier' that applies to the school admission process.

As 90 per cent of the schools in this country are run under a Catholic ethos it is felt by many that this majority does not fit with the diverse faith and culture that is in Irish society today.

As a rural dweller, I was never aware that this was even an issue and both the schools I attended, while they were Catholic, welcomed pupils from other faiths once they were within the catchment area.

If a school is willing to accommodate a pupil who does not wish to take religious instruction, and allow them to be excused from such, then that would appear to me to be quite an agreeable compromise.

In rural areas, particularly, this system had to be put in place years ago because there simply was no other option for many.

The Educate Together model hadn't been founded and you simply attended the school closest to your home.

There is an appetite however for a greater variety of school patronage and this is not being delivered quickly enough.

The problem is not that Catholic schools are excluding pupils of other faiths and none, but that there are not enough non-denominational schools out there to cater for pupils.

In rural areas, even today, there is not likely to be an adequate population to justify opening new primary schools, so lifting the 'baptism barrier' rule certainly makes sense.

I can only imagine that non-Catholic pupils have only been refused admission if there is a Catholic child also living in the catchment area who requires that place.

It is as much about population as anything, particularly in cities where families start putting their children on school place waiting lists at the time of birth.

This is a ludicrous situation and certainly needs to be addressed.

I think that people are dwelling too much on the religious side of this issue and unfairly criticising schools with a Catholic ethos who are simply trying to deliver education with the ethos they have always had.

What we need are more options for families so that every child can be educated in an environment that is right for them and their family.
Parvovirus is one of the most serious and lethal viral infections of dogs. Epidemics of the disease have rarely been seen in recent years due to widespread vaccination of dogs, but there are concerns that there may now be an increased risk of this happening again. Many pet owners have become complacent about vaccination, and when less than 70% of a local population of dogs are unprotected against a viral disease, a new epidemic is a real threat.

Last week, amongst the callers to my radio vet spot on Newstalk's Pat Kenny Show, one lady contacted me describing how all eight of her dogs had been struck down by a serious gastro-intestinal illness. One dog had died, two had to spend several days in intensive care at the vets, and the other five had recovered after simple treatment. Initial tests for Parvovirus had come back as negative. Could it still be Parvovirus, and what should she do?

It's impossible for a radio vet to comment on detail on such incidents: the best advice is always to liaise closely with your own vet, who is aware of all of the important details around the situation.

But there are some broad facts about Parvovirus that are worth sharing. First, if a dog tests as negative initially, it does not definitely mean that Parvovirus has been definitively ruled out as the cause of an illness. The most commonly used tests for Parvovirus have "high specificity but low sensitivity": this means that when Parvovirus is identified, it's almost 100% sure that Parvovirus is the cause of the illness, but when the test comes back as negative, it still hasn't been completely ruled out.

In this case, there were other possible causes, including so-called "compost toxicity", when dogs eat rotting vegetation that can include poisonous compounds. The lady's dogs often went for walks together in woodland, and there was a chance that they could have all rummaged around in the undergrowth, eating substances that created severe gastrointestinal irritation.

But the truth was that a mini-outbreak of Parvovirus remained a possibility, and that's a worry for pet owners all over Ireland.

I heard recently about a veterinary colleague based in Australia who is currently dealing with a local epidemic of Parvovirus: the first after many years of freedom from the disease. The situation there is similar to Ireland, with many animals who have lapsed vaccinations. In her case, Parvovirus has definitely been confirmed through tests. In her small town, there have been over twenty dogs affected, and most of them (nearly 80%) have died despite the best efforts of the vets to save them. A wide range of ages of dogs have fallen ill, from pups of just eleven weeks of age through to an elderly dog of thirteen, with many of all ages in between these extremes. The one factor in common with every affected dog was that they had not been vaccinated for at least 18 months.

My Australian colleague has been using social media to keep everyone informed about the outbreak, with online maps used by all the vets in the town to show where the disease has happened. The map resembles the fall-out maps after a nuclear accident: you can see how the virus has spread from street to street, gradually crossing the town. All of the local residents now know about the epidemic, and their dogs have been fully vaccinated. The one bit of good news is that vaccination is highly effective, and this Australian epidemic is already settling down.

Canine Parvovirus was first discovered in the 1960's when it was identified as the cause of mild diarrhoea in dogs. In the 1970's the virus mutated into a new genetic variant which caused the life threatening bloody gastroenteritis that is still the hallmark of the illness. The virus is passed on by dogs licking areas that have been contaminated with dog faeces from infected dogs. The secret of the virus's success is that it is incredibly infectious: one teaspoonful of dog faeces contains fifty million infective doses of Parvovirus, and the virus remains active for up to a year in a contaminated area. Cleaning and disinfection needs to be done thoroughly, using special chemical agents proven to be effective against the virus. Even then, unvaccinated dogs should be kept away for at least a year.

When dogs get Parvovirus, intensive treatment is needed, including intravenous fluids, antibiotics, pain relief and other medications. The sadness is that even when everything possible is done, most dogs still die, and they suffer for up to a week before it finally becomes obvious that they are not going to make it. Veterinary staff find Parvovirus one of he most devastating illnesses to deal with.

The good news is that it's easy to protect dogs against Parvovirus: all puppies need a full course of vaccinations. Repeat booster vaccinations should be given one year later, then typically at 3-year intervals throughout the dog's life, in combination with other vaccinations. The precise vaccine requirements vary , depending on the vaccine brand used, and the local disease situation, so owners should always consult with their own vets to find out the safest answer for their own pets. Whatever you do, make sure that your pets are protected.
There was huge relief in Greystones last Friday as it emerged that the residents of Carraig Eden would not be evicted.

The homes of 30 clients of Tiglin have been secured through the sale of Carraig Eden. It was announced that the owners, Irish Assemblies of God, had accepted an offer from the Department of Housing and Wicklow County Council. Up until last week, the residents had been given until the end of July to find alternative accommodation. Their residency in Carraig Eden was the next phase of their recovery after completing a rehabilitation programme at Tiglin.

Tiglin CEO and Greystones resident Phil Thompson said that it was great to get a positive result after expecting eviction. He said that TDs Stephen Donnelly, John Brady and Minister Simon Harris had been instrumental in securing the facility.

'The clock was ticking,' said Mr Thompson. 'It was proving extremely difficult to secure accommodation. The residents were getting anxious and they were thrilled when we got the call from Wicklow County Council to say the offer had been accepted.'

He said that the stress and uncertainty of the situation could have posed a big threat to the sobriety of the men currently living at the Greystones house.

The sober living community is a safe place, where the residents have accountability and support through the community and staff.

'All of this going on was very distracting. There was a lot of pressure. The staff were a lot busier because people were getting stressed.'

None of the residents were having much success finding accommodation, never mind with the type of support in place that they currently have. Phil said that people tend to move on naturally when they are ready. Most of the residents are currently working or doing courses and were very worried about being forcefully moved and losing that supportive community.

'Energy can be spent rebuilding their lives in the community once again,' said Mr Thompson.

Tiglin board member, Keith Flynn said: 'The deal would not have come about without the hard work of our chairman, Aubrey McCarthy, and CEO, Phil Thompson, who have invested greatly on a personal level to make sure that this home was secured and that the future of this service is a bright one.'

The future of the residents was in jeopardy over the last number of months due to the sale of the building.

'Tiglin first tried to purchase the property over two years ago but due to an increase in the purchase price were unable to secure the necessary funds,' said Mr Thompson.

'Carraig Eden is such a lifeline to these men,' said Mr McCarthy.

'The residents have got what they truly deserve, a home and a fresh start. Tiglin look forward to seeing this service continue and grow in Carraig Eden and we are grateful for the wonderful support that came from so many people over the past 12 months.'

'I feel so relieved that a deal has been reached,' said John, a resident of Carraig Eden. 'I have a home and stability. This means the world to me and all the residents at Carraig Eden.'
On Monday 26th June, Cork County Council launched the 2017 Creative Ireland County Cork Grant Scheme. There has been great interest in this scheme to date in relation to a range of different proposals and there is likely to be many more until the official closing date of 4pm on Tuesday 18th July 2017.

The scheme itself is being financed by Cork County Council and through monies from the Department of Culture and the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government.

The grant scheme aims to support people and communities in undertaking projects and events that are in keeping with any one or many of the Creative Ireland Programme Strands as well as the County Cork Culture and Creativity Plan 2017. This covers a whole range of projects in principle, from history and heritage projects to arts and cultural festivals. Full details of the grant scheme as well as the application form itself are available online via www.corkcoco.ie/arts-heritage/creative-ireland or by requesting same via creativeireland@corkcoco.ie.

Creative Ireland is a national programme to put culture at the heart of everything we do as a people. This working together in the realm of culture can have resounding successes, such as for example, the development of wonderful walking cultural trails the length and breadth of the country.

A lot of focus nationally has been put on long walking trails and the benefits which these can have - just look at the success of Ireland's Pilgrim Paths including Cork's very own St. Finbarr's Way from Drimoleague to Gougane Barra (see www.pilgrimpath.ie for more information).

Recently the Government has invited submissions on a public consultation paper (Strategy for the Future Development of Greenways), with submissions to be received by 14th July 2017.

"The consultation paper discusses a wide range of issues surrounding the development of greenways and poses a number of questions to prompt further debate and inform the development of an overarching Strategy for the future development of Greenways".

It takes into account the main issues encountered as well as many of the benefits, for example from an economic, health, community, rural and tourism perspective. Speaking on greenways, Minister Shane Ross stated: "It is important that investment in greenways is targeted so that it delivers the most for the communities and for the country at large".

Full details of the public consultation are available on http://www.smartertravel.ie/content/greenways.

Meanwhile, many heritage groups in recent weeks and months have been busy planning their events for Heritage Week, many of which will include heritage walks. To date over 130 different events have been scheduled for County Cork and over 1,500 events are already scheduled nationally.

Heritage Week 2017 takes place between August 19th and 27th and promises to be a wonderful week. Heritage Week as always covers a great range of heritage and this year the focus will be on Natural Heritage, to help more people learn about and enjoy Ireland's nature. From urban wildlife tours to foraging walks to building bee hotels, Heritage Week 2017 is all about being active, having fun and getting involved with our natural heritage.

The website www.heritageweek.ie, run by the Heritage Council, contains up to date information on all of the events taking place as well as over 100 different ideas for undertaking a local Heritage Week Event.

Event organisers within Cork County are encouraged to register their event as soon as possible on www.heritageweek.ie to ensure inclusion in the County Cork Heritage Week Guide. This guide will be available in Libraries throughout the county and in other locations at the start of August and will feature all events registered by Monday, 14th July.

Last year a great number of heritage events took place of a commemorative nature and 2017 has already seen a number of such events with it being the 150th anniversary of the Fenian Rising / Manchester Martyrs of 1867 and the centenary of the arrival of the US Naval Service to Cork's shores in the part they played in World War One.

This weekend, Camden Fort Meagher will welcome people in their droves with the undertaking of a fun filled American themed weekend. Camden Fort Meagher, based in Crosshaven and overlooking Cork Harbour, is one of finest coastal artillery fortifications in the world and is well worth the visit.

Also on the subject of commemorations regarding the Centenary of the US Naval Service in Cork, is a wonderful conference taking place in U.C.C from Wednesday 5th to Friday 7th July. Organised by U.C.C.'s History Department, the conference is titled "Winning the Western Approaches: Unrestricted Submarine Warfare and the US Navy in Ireland, 1917-18". The conference is taking place primarily in the Geology/Geography Lecture Theatre on U.C.C.'s main Campus and all are welcome to attend. For more information, visit the Raising Awareness Section of www.corkcoco.ie/arts-heritage and to see the full conference schedule.
A man has been jailed for five years after he locked himself into his home in North Cork and set it alight with his four children inside as he attempted suicide when he realised his marriage was over.

The 50 year old man, who cant be named to protect the identity of his children, pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to arson at the two storey family home on December 18 last.

Det Garda Pat OConnell said the man was working abroad and he and his wife had grown apart as a consequence, and when he returned home on December 17, she left to go to visiting in Cork city.

The man rang his wife during the night and as a result of the conversation he went upstairs around midnight and set two fires at the family home with the couples four children all still in the building.

He came downstairs and unlocked the front door to let the four children out and they made their way to a neighbours house. The children were not physically harmed in the incident, he said.

The accused then re-entered the house and locked the building before setting a third fire downstairs but a neighbour managed to get him out through a window to safety and he was taken to hospital.

He realised his marriage was over. He said it was a suicide attempt. He explained he never intended harming his children. In fairness, he did get them out of the house, he said.

The fire caused 85,000 worth of damage to the house which remains unrepaired and the woman and her four children are living from week to week in accommodation provided by the HSE, he said.

The mans wife told, in a Victim Impact Statement, how the mans actions in burning down their family home just days before Christmas had made life a nightmare for her and their four children. I wouldnt wish my worst enemy to experience a phone call from a friend saying the father of your children has set your home on fire with your children in it, said the woman in her statement.

By burning down our family home he left my children and I with nothing only the clothes on our backs - homelessness, debt, financial burdens and much distress and trauma, she said.

The woman told the court in her Victim Impact Statement that it would be fair to say that our marriage has been over for a number of years and we lived separate lives in differentcountries.

However I always sought to be civil with him when he visited the children for their sake  I never thought that he was capable of these actions and unstable behaviour.

The couples children had been receiving counselling from the HSE but they remain highly confused upset and hurt due to the actions of their father which propelled them into turmoil overnight.

The children have repeatedly said that they dont want to see their father and are scared of him and she requested that the man would refrain from having all contact with them.

Defence barrister Donal OSullivan BL said the realisation that the marriage was over was the tipping point on the night. He is 50 and went through his life with no black mark against him.

He got the children out. He never had any intention of harming anyone except himself. This was out of character. Even the victim said she never thought he would do something like this.

Judge Sean O Donnabhain said arson was a very serious offence on any occasion but to set fire to a building knowing there were people in the building was particularly heinous.

Whatever he wanted to do himself and his future is one thing but that he should involve his children and his wife and destroy their home is another matter entirely, he said.

How he can make out he was the victim is nothing but complete bunkum  Ive read the reports but I have no idea how he managed to get to the level where he sees himself as some sort of martyr.

It was manic, reckless and dangerous, exposing his own children to a level of danger that was frightening. It is very little comfort that he took them out when the fire was started.

They are now without a house, they are put through this trauma. Thankfully, they suffered no damage physically but now they are without a house so you can hardly say they have not suffered.

Judge O Donnabhain said that the man was well educated with a good job but a probation report showed that he had no insight into the emotional harm he had done to his wife and children.

He said the probation report failed to show why the fire was set and while he lacked insight he was going for counselling and the report suggested there was only a moderate risk of re-offending.

The headline sentence for such an offence would be ten years but the man should benefit from mitigating factors such as his guilty plea and the fact that he had no previous convictions.

Judge O Donnabhain sentenced the man to seven years but suspended the final two years on condition he remain under the supervision of the probation service upon his release.
A 26 year old North Cork man has been remanded in custody after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a young Frenchwoman who he met while she was walking along the banks of the Blackwater last summer.

Patrick Tobin from Fanmore, Gould's Hill, Mallow, pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court last week to sexually assaulting the 25 year old woman at Ballyellis, Mallow, on July 2, 2016 contrary to Section 2 of the Criminal Law (Rape Amendment) Act 1990.

Garda John Horgan told the court that the young woman had decided to go for a walk in a field flanking the Blackwater, known locally as the Paddocks Field, where she saw some young men tending horses and asked them to identify the best path for a walk by the river.

Tobin volunteered to go for a walk with the young woman and they conversed as they walked but when she went to take a photograph of the river she turned around to discover Tobin had taken out his erect penis and asked her to look at it.

Garda Horgan said the young woman tried to remain calm, realising how precarious her situation had become, as they had walked a distance from the road and other people, so she decided to walk on as if nothing had happened.

Tobin walked with her and had his hand down inside his pants as he walked in an awkward manner before he again took out his penis and asked her to go with him to an even more secluded spot and have sex with him.

She decided to start walking back and was becoming increasingly anxious and, as they reached the field where the young men were tending horses, a second man who had been with the group, came over and gave her a kind of bear-hug but she managed to shake him off.

Tobin asked her for a kiss and she did not want to anger him so she pointed to her cheek but he tried to kiss her on the lips and, in the course of trying to fend him off, Horgan's erect penis touched against the young woman's bottom, which constituted a sexual assault.

The young woman managed to get back to a house where she was visiting and told the owners, who called the gardai. She subsequently travelled about in a patrol car around Mallow town with Garda Horgan and identified two men who were among the group.

Garda Horgan spoke to the men and they identified Tobin as the man who had gone for a walk along the river bank with the woman. Gardai later arrested him and while he admitted going for a walk with the woman he denied the sexual allegations.

The young woman spoke in a Victim Impact Statement about how the sexual assault had changed her life in that she had become anxious if she ever found herself in secluded places and was no longer at ease with strangers.

"I was very uncomfortable in the presence of other men, including my male friends. I am fearful and do not trust the intentions of men as a result of this incident... I am also finding it very difficult to begin and maintain relationships with men," she said.

"I no longer feel safe and secure going out on dates with men - I feel an extra need to let my family and friends know where I am at all times when on a date in the event that I need help or that they have to notify authorities if I do not return.

"Because of what this man did I have been unable to maintain romantic relationships. I crave for a relationship and, as a result of this, I have begun to compensate for the lack of company with food... and I have gained a lot of weight.

"I was an outgoing and friendly person before this crime. Since it has occurred it has changed me and made me distrust men. I am not happy about this and I worry that I will never be able to trust their intentions in the future. This is all because of what happened to me."

The court heard that Tobin had 27 previous convictions for offences including for robbery, theft, assault, criminal damage and public order but he had no previous convictions for anything of a sexual nature. He also had drink and cannabis addictions.

Judge Sean O Donnabhain described the nature of Tobin's sexual behaviour as "manic" on the day and he requested the preparation of a probation report on him before sentencing. He remanded Tobin in custody until November 7, for sentencing.
'It's hard to lose someone you love, who has been such a special part of your life and your world.'

The words, printed under a banner bearing the image of Breda and Anthony Geraghty, helps to paint a picture of a remarkable woman who touched so many lives.

Breda Geraghty from Kilsaran, and a proud Flanagan from her native Monasterboice, passed away two years ago after a battle with breast cancer.

But it was a journey of discovery and hope for those that travelled with her, even now, so many months later, her very presence and spirit still echoes around the inspirational Oncology Unit at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

Last January, her husband, Anthony, and friends, organised 'Breda's Charity Ball' in Bellingham Castle.

The aim was a fundraiser for the unit that had done so much for Breda. The tickets sold out, the sponsors were magnificent, the event was a masterclass in organisation.

A total of over 14,700 was raised and last week, the cheque was handed over to the unit.

One of the biggest prizes on the night was a signed Dundalk jersey, donated by Mary and Gerry McLoughlin, bringing in a fine sum.

But others were not found wanting, every prize you could imagine was raffled, from Drogheda to Dundalk, Dunleer to Blackrock, businesses rose to the task.

Anthony with Dolores McKeown, Niall, Sheila and Pat Kierans from Priesttown, Geraldine and Kevin Lynch, Liam and Patricia Doran and Kathy Smith from Drumcar all helped in the organisation.

As Liz Summersby accepted the cheque, she recalled the type of selfless woman Breda was, someone who left a lasting impression.

''It was never about Breda, she was that type of person,' she stated. 'She was warm and caring and very engaging. She had a difficult journey, but brought a lot of happiness and hope.'

Breda was famous for her baking skills and would feed both the staff and fellow patients! - but her primary concern was always husband Anthony and how he'd cope.

'She was very unselfish and I never met anyone quite like her before,' Liz admits.

Breda trained as an interior designer and worked as a Design Consultant with Wogans of Dunleer, Reilly Interiors, Eddie's Interiors and Murtagh Interiors in Drogheda, during her career, and as a result visited many homes right around the county.

She was diagnosed in 2010 and a year later staged her famous Mad Hatters Tea Party, bringing in thousands for the oncology service.

She would bring her own indestructible spirit with her when she visited the unit and was always immaculate in her appearance.

'She had a bond with us,' Liz adds. 'Even when her hands became sore, she'd get others to do the baking and bring in the stuff to us!'

When the idea of a charity ball came up, Anthony knew it had to happen. 'She deserved it,' he stated.

Breda's Charity Ball is booked in again for January 2018 in Castlebellingham and tickets are going to be sought after again.

'The reaction of people to the ball was incredible and just showed how people loved her,' Anthony states.

Anthony at 0862701580, Niall 0876149765, Dolores 0861626256, will all help with tickets.

Breda's anniversary mass is in Kilsaran church on July 7 at 7.30pm.
A bid to make Drogheda a 'Living City' will began with a public meeting in the Highlanes Gallery on Monday, July 10th, (7pm).

Organised by Mayor Pio Smith, the aim is to start a conversation about town centre regeneration and how the Living Cities Initiative could play a role in triggering positive change in Drogheda's town centre.

Mayor Smith said "The line up for the meeting is very interesting in that we have three very knowledgeable speakers who will put forward ideas around town regeneration.

'From Louth County Council, we have Anthony Abbot King who is the chief planner and he is currently working on a detailed plan for Narrow West Street , Trinity Street and Fair Street.

'Emmet Humphries is a local Architect who has an intimate knowledge of Drogheda Town Centre and of how our heritage can be protected and also of how bringing people back into the town centre can create new life in the town.

'Finally, Dr Ronan Lyons is a lecturer in Trinity College Dublin and is an expert on the "Living Cities Initiative" and Ronan will speak about the potential effect this could have on incentivising owners of buildings in the town centre to create new living space for townspeople. '

The Living Cities Initiative is in place in Kilkenny City, Waterford, Dublin, Galway and Cork and it has the potential to help regenerate derelict buildings and breathe new life into run down areas.

'We need this initiative in Drogheda and we need it to be included in Budget 2018 in order to kickstart a new phase in the development of Drogheda."
Accountant Ernest Levingstone is celebrating 40 years in business this week.

Enniscorthy man Ernest has been at the heart of commercial life in New Ross over the years, playing an instrumental role in several projects, from the 250m bypass and new bridge, to a planned gas pipeline for the town's large businesses. He opened E. W. Levingstone & Company in New Ross on July 1, 1977 at 60 South Street over ACC Bank, before moving to offices over a bakery on the corner of Mary Street and South Street. Ernest ran the business with his wife Rhona and was soon joined by Breda Cashin, who is the office manager. He opened a business in Gorey in 1979 and an office in Waterford two years later. 'Initially when I set up business my main clients were farmers as they had to prepare accounts due to a change in taxation rules. There is a great hinterland here so the business took off well,' Ernest said.

He said the way in which accountancy work is carried out has changed dramatically. 'With computers and emails everything has speeded up and there have been major changes with legislation. There were no deadlines 40 years ago. Today there are constant deadlines and interest and penalties occur for clients (if they miss these deadlines).'

Ernest saw first-hand the devastating effects the recession had on numerous local businesses. He said the way in which accontancy work is carried out has changed dramatically. 'With computers and emails everything has speeded up and there have been major changess with legislation. There were no deadlines 40 years ago. Today there are constant deadlines and interest and penalties occur for clients (if they miss them). Self employed people pay their tax in a lump sum in October and their preliminary tax, as well.'

Ernest saw first hand the devastating effects the recession had on numerous local businesses.

'Some retailers no longer survived. They were under pressure from the banks and sometimes from Revenue. It was a very fast recession due to the collapse of the banks in America and builders getting stuck on projects. 'I think I am very lucky to have been qualified in the career I chose as that career has survived. Other careers were not so fortunate. There have been several recessions in New Ross such as when Albatros closed.'

Today Ernest, who has amassed numerous accountancy, taxation, life assurance, pension and Credit Union qualifications over the years, has clients across the south east, many of whom have been availing of his services for decades.

Ernest and his team prepare accounts for sole traders, partnerships and companies. 'We provide clients in Waterford and Wexford with a wider package of business advice and taxation consultancy that will help them manage and grow their business,' Ernest said.

He is joined by his staff Breda Cashin, Olive Byrne, Paul Brennan, Pauline Lawlor and Triona Tyrrell. The reception is always manned by either Mary Quigley or Chris Hearn in New Ross, and by Ann Dixon in Gorey.

As with every accountancy business, the months of October, November and December are chaotic.

Apart from running a busy accountancy practice, Ernest has been involved from the start in the town's commercial life.

In 1988, one year after the Albatros fertiliser plant closed, Ernest organised a meeting in conjunction with New Ross Lions Club, which led to the formation of the John F Kennedy Trust which operates the Dunbrody Visitor Centre.

When the South Eastern Health Board closed New Ross District Hospital in 1988, Ernest got involved in the effort to reopen the facility, becoming a director on the hospital board.

He is proud of the work carried out by the community hospital committee, praising the contributions of former councillors and local doctors. He has been involved in the financial side of things and the hospital reopened in 1989.

In 1997 as president of New Ross Lions Club he was awarded an International Presidents Certificate of Appreciation.

In 2004 he was president of New Ross Chamber of Commerce, along with being involved on the Chambers trade and enterprise committee for many years.

He also lobbied consistently for a second bridge for New Ross and was delighted to attend the sod turning on the bypass in 2016. Ernest said the bypass was originally due to be completed in 2006, adding that despite the 13 year delay in its construction, it will be positive development for New Ross.

Ernest is a member of the Economic Development & Enterprise SPC of Wexford County Council and he organised a meeting with large employers in New Ross to ensure New Ross got a gas connection from Great Island.

Ernest is very grateful for his portfolio of clients and looking forward, he said his team will continue to provide a personal service to all clients and as always will be willing to help them in any way possible.
Swords native, Maria Hoey has realised a lifelong dream with the publication this July of her debut novel, The Last Lost Girl published by Poolbeg Press under their 'Crimson imprint - Fiction with an Edge' label.

Maria has also signed a three-book deal with Poolbeg with her second novel due for publication in July 2018.

Maria has been writing since she was about eight years old and as a teenager attending St Joseph's secondary school in Rush, could often be seen on the 33 bus writing her school mates' English essays in return for them doing her maths homework.

She has since had a number of short stories and poetry published in various magazines but says that, always at the back of her mind, the dream was there to write a book and have it published.

In 1997 Maria won first prize in the Swords Festival Short Story Competition which gave her confidence a boost. She went on to have a short story win runner-up in the Mslexia International Short Story Competition and was subsequently short-listed for the Michael McLaverty Short Story Award.

The Last Lost Girl tells the story of fifteen-year-old Festival Queen, Lilly Brennan, who goes missing from her Fingal home during the hot Irish summer of 1976. Many years later, Lilly's younger sister Jacqueline, haunted by the event sets out to solve the mystery of her sister's fate for once and all.

The book is inspired by Maria's fascination with the story of real-life missing women in Ireland and how their families try to reconcile themselves with the horror of not knowing what has happened to a loved one and go on living with that uncertainty. She chose to set the earlier part of the novel in the summer of 1976 because she says she remembers so well what it was like to be a teenager that summer - the heat and the smells and the music.

Maria admits that she had the Swords Fingallians festival and the carnival and marquee dances which went it, very much in mind as she was writing. As a result the book has a nostalgic feel to it. But it also has a dark underbelly.

The book is available from July 6.
Outgoing Mayor of Fingal Cllr Darragh Butler and Fingal County Council Chief Executive Paul Reid pictured with Michael Blanch, Chief Executive ofthe Committee for the Commemoration of Irish Famine Victims and Mark OBrien,Assistant Chief Officer, Irish Prison Service as well as councillors who attended the presentation of a Famine Travel Box in The Atrium at County Hall, Swords

Outgoing Mayor of Fingal Cllr Darragh Butler receives a Famine Travel Box on behalf of Fingal County Council from Michael Blanch, Chief Executive of the Committee for the Commemoration of Irish Famine Victims and Mark OBrien, Assistant Chief Officer, Irish Prison Service

The journey made by women at the Balrothery Workhouse who travelled to Australia to escape a famine-ravaged existence in the 1800s is represented by a replica 'Famine Travel Box' that will make its way across the network of local libraries after being presented to Fingal County Council.

Cllr Darragh Butler's last function as Mayor of Fingal was to receive a Famine Travel Box on behalf of Fingal County Council.

The beautifully crafted wooden box is a replica of the travel boxes which were given to women who went to Australia from workhouses all over the country to seek new opportunities.

The travel box would have contained all of the women's worldly possessions including clothing made and paid for by the Poor Law Unions.

The box is the result of collaboration between the Committee for the Commemoration of Irish Famine Victims and the Irish Prison Service.

Michael Blanch, Chief Executive of the Committee for the Commemoration of Irish Famine Victims and Mark O'Brien, Assistant Chief Officer, Irish Prison Service presented the box to the outgoing mayor at a reception in The Atrium at County Hall in Swords, held recently.

The box presented to Fingal commemorates women who travelled to Australia from Balrothery Workhouse and is an interpretation of the original travel box.

Cllr Darragh Butler said: 'It is a great honour for Fingal County Council to receive one of these unique boxes, particularly as our own tells the story of some of the women who left Balrothery Workhouse for Australia during the famine.

'It is a novel way of telling their story.'

The first box was completed in September 2015 and only six are made each year. Boxes have been presented to facilities in Ireland, Australia and America with the stipulation that they must be put on public display. A plan to display the box in Fingal's ten libraries is currently being drawn up.
The acquisition of 20 homes for people on Fingal's lengthy social housing waiting lists has been funded by the Government to the tune of some 6.5 million.

The majority of the homes are in St Werburgh's estate in Swords where 18 properties will be acquired by Tuath Housing Association and made available to Fingal County Council for people on the social housing waiting lists.

The other two homes are located on Griffith Road in Finglas, which falls inside the boundary of the local authority area covered by Fingal County Council.

Confirmation of the investment was made to Senator James Reilly who welcomed the move.

Senator Reilly said: 'I look forward to proposals soon from Fingal Co council for New Social Homes schemes on the council land banks in various parts of Fingal.

'We need to build more houses in Fingal, including direct build by Fingal County Council.'

Senator Reilly concluded: 'The Government would welcome proposals from Fingal Co Council to build homes on their land banks.'

In the latest report given by Fingal County Council on its social housing delivery, the local authority revealed it looks set to exceed its delivery targets set by the Government.

The Government mandated the council to delivery 1,376 new social housing units between 2015 and the end of this year and at the end of May, it had reached 93.6% of that target, according to council figures.

That equates to a total of 1,288 social housing units delivered in the county since the start of the latest housing strategy in 2015.

Those units were delivered by a variety of means but only a small proportion were new council builds.

The council constructed some 29 properties over the same period but there are more than 600 more units at varying stages of their development in the pipeline, in Fingal.

Another area where social housing delivery is expected to speed up as private home construction accelerates is through so-called 'Part V' provision where developers are required to reserve a percentage of a development for social housing.

Delivery has been slow in this regard, so far, with 30 units delivered under Part V but as new private housing estates begin to get going on the ground, this element of the council's social housing strategy should see some significant growth and help tackle the lengthy social housing waiting lists in the county.
Skerries Retained Fire Service has waved goodbye to 38 years of incredible local knowledge and experience as it wished fire engine driver, Pat 'Reggy' Redmond a very happy retirement.

At 65, members of the retained service must retire and so the time came for 'Reg' as he is affectionately known, to drive his beloved fire engine for the last time, last week.

For 38 years, the local man was the principal driver for Skerries Retained Fire Service and was involved in responding to countless incidents from major fires to cats stuck up a tree in his almost four decades at the wheel of the fire appliance.

According to his Station Officer, Damien Dorey, Reg's local knowledge was invaluable to the service.

He explained: 'Reg used to deliver coal locally and then he delivered oil so he knew where everyone lived. Our controller would be giving us directions to a house and Reg would just tell them to give us the name of the family living there and he would know straight away where they lived.

'It'll be a big loss to the service to lose all of that knowledge.'

That knowledge saved time and probably saved lives over his near 40 years of service in Skerries.

The retired fire engine driver, as a quiet and modest man has been dodging a retirement party from his colleagues who have vowed to 'ambush him' some night with a celebration of his long and dedicated service to the Fire Brigade.

Damien said that the retired engine driver 'took great pride' in the machines he drove, cleaning and polishing them himself.

The Skerries Station Officer explained: 'He was our anchor driver. He took great pride in his work and in his appliance. In the retained service, they don't give us new appliances very often and we tend to get the hand-me-downs and Reg took great pride in keeping it clean.

'I suppose he has been sitting in trucks all of his life. When I started here, he would arrive in the coal truck and park it up to turn out fo the Fire Brigade.'

Talking about Reg's long career, Damien said: 'He would have responded to a lot of big incidents over the years from Kingston Hardware fire in recent years and going back a bit, the Dowling's fire - there were numerous incidents. We have had another couple of drivers float in and out be he was our permanent driver and his knowledge was invaluable.'

With Reg's retirement, there are a dozen members of the retained fire service currently in Skerries with one more due to retire, this year.

The Station Officer has 29 years service under his own belt and says there is a 'great satisfaction' to be had from the work.

Damien Dorey told the Fingal Independent: 'Most boys when they are little want to go on a fire engine and I think as you grow up, you don't lose that. I still enjoy the buzz and there is great satisfaction in it.

'Of course, it's sometimes sad too when you have to go out to a serious road traffic accident or we have to go to a suicide, which we have seen a lot of in the north county, unfortunately but we have saved a lot of lives over the years too.'

It will be up to the Dublin Fire Brigade to decide if new fire officers come in to replace those retiring. The Skerries service has seen a retirement last year, and two this year, by the time the year is out.

The Skerries Station Officer wished Pat Reggy Redmond all the best in his retirement for the service and described him as a 'good steady worker' who was committed to the service.

He said that Reg's retirement will not only be a big loss for the service, but also for the area it serves.
Dublin Airport and Enterprise Ireland, have launched a competition for firms to research and develop potential new solutions to address the challenges of wildlife activity on the airfield at Dublin Airport.

Through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) open tender initiative, applicants are encouraged to look at the use of smart, low cost and innovative technology that further reduces the risk posed by wildlife on the airfield.

Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison said that the airport is committed to providing a safe environment on the airfield for passengers and airline customers as well as those who work at the airport.

Mr Harrison said: 'The aviation business is dynamic and constantly evolving and we are continually seeking solutions that are specific to our industry challenges. Like other international airports, Dublin Airport already has robust systems in place that continuously monitor wildlife activity around our airfield.

'We are delighted to work with Enterprise Ireland's SBIR initiative to see whether new technological solutions can assist us in further reducing the potential safety risk posed by birds and small animals on our airfield.'

Commenting on the initiative, Minister of State for Skills, Training, Innovation, Research & Development John Halligan said: 'I welcome the opportunity to launch this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Dublin Airport Wildlife Challenge which complements the Government's research, innovation and enterprise agenda. The process is about enabling public sector bodies to connect with innovative ideas and technologies. I am pleased that the SBIR is particularly suited to small and medium sized businesses and I welcome the further opportunities this initiative may open up for this sector.'

Julie Sinnamon, CEO, Enterprise Ireland said: 'SBIR is an internationally proven mechanism to drive partnerships between SMEs and public bodies. It facilitates SMEs with early stage ideas to access procurement opportunities in the public sector while also driving innovation. This results in solutions to identified problems and positive economic impacts that benefit all.'
The growing calls for greater Garda resources in north Fingal have been answered with news that five new officers are to join Balbriggan Garda Station.

Senator James Reilly welcomed the news that five new gardai are to be allocated to the Balbriggan District which covers a wide geographic area including Balbriggan, Rural Fingal, Skerries, Rush and Lusk.

Senator Reilly said: 'These areas are growing and will continue to grow. I will continue to press for more gardai to be allocated to the district. The area needs more Gardai to keep pace with retirement's and promotions of our local gardai to other units.'

He added: 'Templemore Garda College is full and producing New Gardai as fast as it can. It will take some time to rebuild the numbers of gardai back to a reasonable level and to cater for the increasing demands and growing population especially in the Dublin region. There is a growing demand for Garda resources especially in Balbriggan and obviously we will also need new Garda resources to man Rush Garda station if it is re-opened.'
A large industrial fire broke out at Damastown, Naul at a warehouse facility, last Tuesday morning.

It took six units of the Dublin Fire Brigade to bring the fire under control. Neighbours of the facility were asked to close their windows and doors while the fire was extinguished. It is understood the incident may have been a diesel fire.

Skerries retained fire service were among the emergency services from Dublin Fire Brigade attending the place and reported a 'huge amount of black smoke' generated by the blaze. Locals raised the alarm on seeing the fire, last Tuesday morning. Fire officers believe the blaze had been going on for some time before it was reported.
A man convicted of headbutting a prison officer because his new prison cell did not have a television said he was 'a big teddy bear at the end of the day'.

Glen Conroy (27), formerly of The Kybe, Skerries, , was found guilty by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury following a three day trial, of assaulting the prison officer causing him harm at Mountjoy Prison on March 20th, 2013.

During the trial prison officer Paul Brady told Eilis Brennan BL, prosecuting, that Conroy was moved to a new cell without a TV. Conroy asked why there was no TV and Mr Brady told him one would be brought.

He said Conroy suddenly headbutted him in the face and punched him in the head. Conroy was subdued and restrained by three other prison officers.

Aidan McCarthy BL, defending, put it to officer Brady that he had made up the incident and that had Conroy headbutted him, the accused's large size would have inflicted more serious injuries on him than he said he sustained.

'You would be knocked back into the middle of next week,' said Mr McCarthy.

Conroy told Mr McCarthy during his evidence that Mr Brady and two other prison officers had in fact launched an unprovoked attack him.

Conroy claimed that prison officer Patrick Laverty had grabbed Conroy's testicles, swept his feet from beneath him and put him face forward onto the ground during the attack Conroy claimed occurred.

Mr Laverty, giving evidence during the trial, rejected this version of events and said Conroy had headbutted Mr Brady. He said that he was able to put Conroy on the ground by catching him by the arm and using inward rotation to bring him down.

During cross-examination Conroy told Ms Brennan that he had not made a complaint about the assault he alleged had taken place that day .

'If you make a complaint, it just gets ripped up and thrown in the bin,' Conroy said. He later said that he thought the prison officers 'knew what they were up to' regarding the incident.

Ms Brennan asked Conroy if he thought it was odd Mr Brady would push him due to Conroy being much larger than him He replied that his size had little to do with things as he was 'a big teddy bear'.

Assistant-Governor Malcolm O'Sullivan, of Mountjoy Prison, told Ms Brennan he had carried out a disciplinary hearing on March 23rd 2013 regarding the incident. He said a report was read out to Conroy regarding the alleged headbutt

'Yes it is true,' said Conroy, according to Assistant-Governor O'Sullivan, and Conroy signed the report. Conroy lost his privileges in prison for a period of 56 days.

Assistant-Governor O'Sullivan told Ms Brennan during his evidence that the original report read out to Conroy could not be located and that he had never lost a report of that kind before.

Conroy said that Assistant-Governor O'Sullivan had fabricated the story and no such disciplinary hearing had taken place, a version of events which Assistant-Governor O'Sullivan denied.

Prison Chief-Officer Martin Galgey told Ms Brennan that he entered the report into the prison database on the same day Assistant-Governor O'Sullivan said the disciplinary hearing took place.

Judge Martin Nolan adjourned the case for sentencing on July 26th of this year and remanded Conroy in custody.
The head of Wexford Festival Trust Ger Lawlor has paid tribute to its former chairperson Barbara McConnell Wallace of Mulgannon who was buried last week in Our Lady's Island Cemetery following funeral Mass in the local church.

Barbara (nee Goodall) who was 81 years old, died in Kerlogue Nursing Home following an eight-year battle with dementia. Prior to her illness, she was initially involved in tourism and then enjoyed a successful career as a public relations consultant while serving as an inspirational voluntary executive in the town's international opera festival.

Mr. Lawlor said everyone connected with the Opera Festival was saddened to learn of the death of Barbara whom he described as 'our former chairman, colleague and dearest friend.'

The Wexford woman grew up in William Street and ran her parents' grocery shop for a time before joining the South East Regional Tourism Organisation and later established Barbara Wallace Public Relations which had its first office in Whites Hotel on the Main Street.

Extending sincere condolences to Barbara's immediate and extended family, he said she was a woman of immense energy, drive and enthusiasm and in an era long before social media, her skills as a public relations consultant were legendary.

The chairman said Barbara joined the board of Wexford Festival Trust (then the Council) in 1967 and served in a number of roles, including chairman from 1986 1991, during Elaine Padmore's artistic directorship, a period in which the festival underwent significant expansion.

The duration of the festival was increased incrementally from 12 to 18 days. In 1987, the former Theatre Royal (now the National Opera House) was enlarged to accommodate 550 patrons and beginning in 1986, Wexford operas were presented for four years in London's Queen Elizabeth hall.

Barbara steered the organisation through the shock of a withdrawal of Arts Council funding in 1986 and presided over the appointment of the late Jerome Hynes to the newly-created position of Chief Executive Officer in 1988, a milestone in the development of the Opera Festival, according to Mr. Lawlor.

'I have fond memories of many good times working with Barbara,' he sauid. ' Meetings could be passionate and were never routine. Things moved quickly under her chairmanship, and there was never any looking back. Once, at a civic reception for the festival volunteers, with a twinkle in her eye, Barbara compared all of us to 'little mice running on a little treadmill', and said that when one stepped off, another would always step on. This was a very accurate and I suspect somewhat mischievous way to describe the countless hours that people worked for the organisation.'

'The death of her beloved Niall McConnell was a significant blow and although Barbara has been absent from us for the past number of years due to poor health, she has always remained in our thoughts,' he said.

'She will be remembered by her colleagues past and present, in Wexford and abroad and also among our many long-time friends and visitors . It isn't a cliche to say that there will never be another like her,' he added.

Barbara was interred in Our Lady's Island cemetery alongside her second husband Niall. She is surived by her sons Brendan and Paul; her daughters Pauline and Mary; her brother John; her grandchildren Henry, Anna, Kate, Alexander, Brian, Daniel, Ronan, Conor and Gareth; her sons-in-law and daughters-in-law; nephews and nieces, and by her extended family and many friends.
Christine Doyle, retiring after 17 years at Scoil Aodan Naofa, Carnew, with her husband Eamonn and their children Laura, Pierce, John and Caoimhe

Scoil Aodan Naofa principal Kevin O' Donnell, Sister Mary Crosbie, who is retiring from the board of management, and Fr Martin Casey

The anticipation of the arrival of the school holidays was slightly muted at Scoil Aodan Naofa Carnew last week, as the pupils and staff said farewell to much loved friends.

Deputy principal Christine Doyle retired after working for a total of 21 years in Carnew NS, one spell of four years and later for 17 years. She also worked for ten years in Ballyellis NS, and also served in Knocklyon in Dublin, Boolavogue NS, and Johnstown in Arklow. She was deputy principal in Carnew for the past five years. She made enormous contributions to the school especially in the areas of special educational needs and literacy.

A special Mass held for her last week was attended by her family, friends, and the school community. Presentations were made afterwards by the staff and pupils, board of management, and Parent Association. Principal Kevin O'Donnell thanked Christine for her dedicated, unfailing service, while Christine thanked everyone for the overwhelming messages of support and goodwill.

The board of management also made a special presentation on the day to Sr Mary Crosbie who has retired from the board of management of Carnew NS after eight years of service to the school.

Sr. Mary is leaving the community of Carnew in August to take up new duties with the Daughters of Charity in Dublin.

Kevin O'Donnell said that she will be a great loss to the school and also to Carnew Community Care which she has served loyally over the past nine years.
Business leaders in Wexford have welcomed the news that a vast new tourism market is in the offing for the county following the signing of an agreement between Stena Line and Ctrip, China's largest travel agent to sell its passenger ferry tickets.

The deal will enable Stena Line to access the huge Chinese market and opens up a range of possibilities for self-drive tours using its extensive route network to the island of Ireland, including through Rosslare Europort, the gateway to this county and country.

Madeleine Quirke, the chief executive of Wexford Chamber, said what she described as an 'exciting partnership' will encourage visitors from China to visit Ireland through Rosslare.

'Wexford Chamber will work with Stena Line and VisitWexford to maximise this valuable opportunity for County Wexford,' said Madeleine.

'It is our projection that we will reach 50,000 Chinese passengers across our routes on the Irish Sea by 2018, where we already have quite a few Chinese passengers travelling with us,' said says Stena Line's CEO Niclas Martensson.

China is an exciting market for Stena Line for a number of reasons. This Autumn, the construction of four new flexible and fuel-efficient RoPax ferries will start at the Chinese shipyard AVIC on behalf of Stena Line. The vessels will be delivered during 2019 and 2020 and the plan is to locate the new vessels on Stena Line's Irish Sea routes.

'Looking ahead, we intend to continue our ambitious development plan for our business in the region and the new vessels are a part of this strategic plan", said Martensson.

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland said: Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said Stena Line had taken part in several of Tourism Ireland's sales missions to China in recent years, 'so it's really great to see the results of that hard work, including this new co-operation with Ctrip.

'Travel agents like Ctrip continue to play an important role in China, with travellers preferring to use a travel agent for a number of reasons, including convenience, language barriers, visa preparation and knowledge gaps.

'Tourism Ireland has a strong network in China, with offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu. Our team in China is working hard to establish and build relationships with influential intermediaries, including key travel trade contacts like Ctrip - highlighting our natural attractions, cities, castles and proximity to Great Britain,' he said.
As the school year came to a close last week, the pupils and staff at Bunscoil Loreto, Gorey, looked back on a busy and productive year, and celebrated the arrival of the summer holidays. However, there was a bittersweet flavour in the air.

An end of year school Mass was held at the nearby St Michael's Church in Gorey, as the pupils looked forward to the days of freedom ahead.

But the break from books is set to last longer for five dearly loved staff members as the end of term marked their retirement after many years of dedicated service to education.

Teachers Irene Mitchell, Ethna Murphy, Nora Murphy Cousins, Therese Hayden and Mary Mythen have all begun their well-deserved retirement.

'It is unsettling to watch over 170 combined years of experience walk out the door of the school, and we thank them for their enormous contribution to the Bunscoil Loreto,' said principal Aileen Kennedy. 'They have touched many, many lives in the town of Gorey and we now wish them every blessing in their retirement.'
Annie O' Hanlon (nee Heffernan), late of Tarmons and 12 St Patrick's Terrace, Tarbert, passed away peacefully at her home on Wednesday, May 31 surrounded by her family. Sadly, Annie is predeceased by her husband Tom, sons Mike and Thomas and daughter Margaret (Costelloe).

Annie, was born on the 21st September 1926, the third eldest of a family of eight children to Jack and Ellen Heffernan (nee O' Connor). She grew up in a thatched cottage in Tarmons where she had a blissful childhood with her brothers Paddy, Tommy, Jerry, John Joe, Mossie and her sisters Mary and Peggy. On several occasions Annie recounted her happy memories of this time in Tarmons. She attended Tarmons National School where her lessons in the Irish language instilled a love that would last throughout her life. She subsequently completed a Diploma in Baking which her family would happily benefit from years later.

Annie worked hard to provide for her family and it was whilst working in Tarbert that she met Tom O'Hanlon, of Loughill, Limerick, and fell instantly in love.

Their's was a love story that would endure for 41 years, where their adoration of each other was instantly evident to all who met them even at this early stage. As a young couple, Tom would take his sweetheart Annie on the bar of his bicycle to the crossroads dancing at Tarbert and Glin.

Annie and Tom married, and went on to have 10 children; seven boys, John, Mike, Paddy, Joe, Derry, Thomas and Eamon and three girls, Eileen, Margaret and Ann Marie. Annie and Tom established their long-term family home in Tarbert where Annie was utterly devoted to her family. Her children and grandchildren, and indeed in later years, her great-grandchildren were the main source of her joy.

She was never happier than when her home was full of family and friends. Annie was the ultimate hostess and each Sunday she would have several members of the family for a Sunday roast where she would cook a three course meal for up to thirty people. A number of her grandchildren would eagerly move into Annie's home during Easter, Summer and Christmas holidays where they enjoyed being spoilt by their Nan.

Annie's daily routine began each morning at 6am when she would light the range and bake her daily array of delicious breads, scones, apple pies and currant-cakes. This would be followed by her daily trip "up town" to Kelleher's Spar where she enjoyed a light-hearted chat with one-and-all. Her friendship with the Kellehers was to endure after she became housebound, with Pat continuing to visit her each Christmas Eve with chocolates and flowers.

Annie's religious devotion could also be seen in her daily routine by the prominent position of her treasured rosary beads which hung from her dresser. Several rosaries would be said each morning by Annie for the various members of her family.

Annie's commitment to her family was indeed a significant feature of her life. This was especially evident in her regular trips to London where she visited her son Joe and family for christenings, holy communions and confirmations. She also travelled to Birmingham to her brother Tommy and family, where she marked a christening, a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary and sadly the funeral of her beloved brother. In fact, no family occasion was missed by Annie despite having twenty-two grandchildren and twenty-four great-grandchildren.

Annie was an accomplished sewer, embroider and knitter. She was especially skilful in the Aran stitch and went on to knit stunning outfits for her children and grandchildren. She also proudly passed on these precious skills to her family.

Annie was immensely house-proud and its redecoration would take place at least once a year. Her love of planting flowers was evident from her colourful window boxes and hanging baskets which greeted visitors to her beautiful home. Indeed, no Saturday shopping day would be complete unless she returned home with several potted plants.

A genuine heartfelt welcome greeted every visitor to Annie's home. Whether a close family member or an utter stranger, all were welcomed at the door with the same rapturous hug and heartfelt kiss. The visitor would be treated to delicious home cooking, heartfelt conversation and went away feeling as if they were a treasured member of the family. Her kindness to all has been an inspiration to the many lives she touched.

Annie's last outing was aged eighty-seven to the Foynes Flying Boat and Maritime Museum and the following day she was taken to hospital. For three years she remained house-bound where she received devoted care at home from her children Eamon and Eileen, and her son-in-law Jimmy. She died at home peacefully surrounded by her loving family.

On the day of her funeral, Annie was shouldered by her sons, grandchildren and friends from the grotto in Tarbert to St Mary's Church where her funeral service took place. Annie is sadly missed by her sons, daughters, brother, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, sisters-in-law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, grandnephews, grandnieces, cousins, relatives and friends.

Rest in Peace Annie.
Some serious critiquing of town gets underway this week with the arrival of the International Communities in Bloom judges as they cast an eye over the streets, green areas and buildings of beautiful Listowel as part of the mother of all Tidy Towns competitions.

Ireland's Tidiest Small Town two-years-in-a-row is the Republic's sole representative in the 2017 Edition of Communities in Bloom in the 'International Challenge (small) category', competing with Castlecaulfield in the North and a trio of Canadian beauts: Jasper, Alberta; Stettler, Alberta and the Sun River Resort Community in British Columbia.

CIB judges Roger Younker - from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in Canada - and Maura Franco Paradisi -from Turin, Italy - are in town as of today (Wednesday) to evaluate its countless charms on a three-day visit.

"The Listowel Tidy Towns Group would like to remind all businesses and residents to tidy up their property before the judges arrive," a spokesperson advised this week as the stakes ramp up in all matters tidy and competitive. The results will meanwhile be announced in Ottawa/Gatineau, Canada, from September 13 to 16, 2017 during a special CIB symposium and awards ceremonies with the theme of 'Communities and Green Spaces Celebrating Canada's 150 Anniversary'.
In the 17th Century the caves around Ballyheigue Bay were renowned for their pirated treasures and it's to this end (sort of!) that Ballyheigue Inshore Rescue Service are looking to raise funds. 'The Bikers' Treasure Trail' takes place on Sunday, July 16, starting from The Ballyroe Heights Hotel when bikers will decode 21 questions using a combination of pointers and hints set up at different vantage points around north Kerry.

"This is a new venture for us and it's sure to be a fun day seeing as it's something different. Paul O'Sullivan held one in Killarney recently and it was a huge success, so we're hoping for something similar," said Sean Lucid, Chairman of Ballyheigue Inshore Rescue Service.

The organisation is nearing its 25 anniversary and while Sean admits they never really pushed in terms of fundraising in the past, they now have equipment in need of replacing to the tune of 60,000. Ballyheigue Inshore Rescue receive a small grant from Kerry County Council, but for the most part remain a self-funded organisation.

"We have around 22 people involved. We work with the Irish coastguard, Banna, Ballybunion and Shannon rescue teams. We would perform ongoing training exercises two or three times a week and we hope this event will help kick start our fundraising," Sean added. Registration for the Trail takes place on the morning of the event. For more check out the Ballyheigue Inshore Rescue Service Facebook page.
A 72-year-old Cork man who was on trial for allegedly impeding the prosecution of his son for dangerous driving causing death has been cleared of the charge on the orders of the trial judge.

Daniel 'Dan Joe' Fitzgerald of Knockeen, Kncokduff, Meelin, County Cork had been on trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

He had pleaded not guilty to the charge that he impeded the apprehension or prosecution of his son Shane Fitzgerald who had committed the offence of dangerous driving causing the death of Paudie 'Paud' O'Leary at Scrahanafadda, Gneeveguilla, on July 1, 2012.

Shane Fitzgerald was convicted of dangerous driving causing the death of Mr 'Leary in 2015. He was sentenced to six and a half years in prison with the final 18 months suspended.

Opening Mr Fitzgerald Snr's trial last week, prosecution barrister Siobhan Lankford said the state alleged that in the immediate aftermath of the fatal crash a credit card in Dan Joe Fitzgerald's name was used to pay for his son's ferry fare to the UK, a plane ticket to Australia and an Australian visa.

During legal argument on Wednesday - the third day of the trial - defence barrister Ray Boland said that the case before the jury would require them to speculate in order to reach a verdict.

On foot of the legal argument Judge Sean O Donnabhain agreed that the state had failed to show that on July 2 and 3 2012 - when the tickets and visa were arranged - Mr Fitzgerald Snr was aware that Gardai were seeking his son in relation to the fatal accident.

As such it could not be proven that the transactions were carried out with the intent of impeding his son's arrest.

Judge O Donnabhain added that there was no proof Dan Joe Fitzgerald had personally used his credit card to book the tickets or arrange his son's visa.

Judge O Donnabhain said the DPP's case was not strong enough in law to be put before a jury and as a result he was ordering the jury to find Dan Joe Fitzgerald not guilty by order of the court.

Mr Fitzgerald was told he had been found not guilty and was free to leave the court.
The shortage of priests is placing such pressure on the Diocese of Kerry that within a few short years it will be no longer possible to celebrate weekend Masses in every church or provide a priest full-time for every single parish.

This year's changes of clergy in the Catholic Diocese of Kerry see yet another parish, Knocknagoshel, losing its resident priest - the sixth parish of the diocese to fall victim to dwindling vocations.

In his statement announcing the changes, Bishop Browne described the current era as a 'great challenge' for managing the work of the Church in the diocese; calling on the faithful to continue praying for more vocations.

The pastoral area system which sees priests of a number of neighbouring parishes covering ministry in parishes without a resident parish priest is becoming ever more important for the running of the Church's duties in the county and the parts of Co Cork within the Kerry diocese.

Knocknagoshel loses its resident priest as parish priest there, Fr Eoin Mangan, retires after a lifetime's ministry. It's the sixth parish alongside Duagh, Tarbert, Ballyheigue, Allihies and Valentia to find itself without a resident priest.

"This summer sees the situation of a sixth parish, Knocknagoshel, becoming a parish without a resident priest. Within the parish and pastoral area work is in progress to plan for this situation. As I said before it means that in that pastoral area no priest is fulltime in their own parish," Bishop Browne stated.

No priest will be in a position to work full-time in their own parish within a few years, he warned: "In a short few years this will be the situation in all twelve pastoral areas."

Before long it will no longer be possible to celebrate Mass at the weekends in every church, he added: "Soon it will not be possible to have a weekend Mass in every church in the diocese. That day is not far off." Principles have already been set out to ensure that when this happens services will continue in every church, however.

Bishop Browne also remembered two of the diocese's clergy to have passed away during the year - Fr John Lucid who had been PP of Kilcummin and Fr Pat Moore who had been PP of Duagh until he became seriously ill in recent years. "They are greatly missed by their fellow priests, their many friends and by the people of Kilcummin, Duagh and Moyvane parishes. We are inspired by their lives." Bishop Browne said the laity will come to play an even more important role in the Church.
Sligo Rose Lisa Malone has always set her sights on the dome! The 24-year-old school teacher admits that 'ever since she was a little girl her dream was to take part in the Rose of Tralee festival.

The keen Gaelic supporter from Cloonacool remembers how watching the Rose of Tralee as a child struck a cord with her.

"This is something I've always wanted to do. I'm realising a childhood dream. I love everything to do with the festival," Lisa explains.

Lisa was so determined to follow this path that she already applied for the contest back in 2012 at the tender age of 18.

"I decided to go back again this year as I've more experience to bring to the table," she says.

But being a Rose contestant doesn't come cheap and Lisa has had to fundraise for her trip to Tralee. She set a figure of 2,000 and has reached her target. Just last Friday she held a cake sale in Tubbercurry which 'went fantastic.'

"The support I have got has been unreal. We had a fundraising party in Cloonacool and a cake sale. So many people baked and bought. Everyone here has rallied behind me which means so much. There are banners and posters hanging in Cloonancool already," says Lisa.

The country and western fanatic will be one of 64 roses to travel to Tralee for the week of the festival from August 13th but only 32 of those will make it to the live shows.

If she is lucky enough to make the final cut, Lisa intends to do a party piece that might put Daithi O'Shea under pressure.

"I am going to Jive. I love country music and dance. The plan is to teach Daithi a spin, put on some Derek Ryan music and dance with him," says Lisa.

To perfect her moves she recently took part in a jiving dance class in Bunninadden.

"I am really looking forward to meeting all of the other roses. They all seem like such a lovely group and it will be great to make 63 other new friends."

When Lisa was selected as the Sligo Rose on Easter Sunday last she said she could not believe it until a few days afterwards.

"I'm still on a high. Whatever happens I'll get to experience the festival regardless of the outcome. I'm very lucky to get this opportunity."

The daughter of Martina and Fintan Malone, Lisa the eldest of five, hopes to do Sligo proud.
Tubbercurry & District Credit Union officially opened its newly renovated premises on Saturday 24th at 12.00. The official opening was performed by Irish League of Credit Unions President Charles Murphy. Ciaran Bishop and Seamus Kilgannon, ILCU board also attended. Charles Murphy was presented with a crystal vase, and Ciaran Bishop with a clock for his support and dedication to the CU over the past 27 years. Elected councillors of Tubbercurry and surrounding areas, members of the public and business representatives, staff and members of the Board of Directors were there to offer their support.

President Charles Murphy and Chairperson of Tubbercurry & District CU Margaret Gormonly, cut the tape to declare the premises officially open. Margaret Gormonly in her speech said that the Credit Union continued to prosper. Loans have increased considerably in the past few years, as have shares. Tubbercurry & District Credit Union now provide an online system (CUSOP) which has given members the option to transfer money, pay bills, and access their Credit Union accounts anytime, anywhere. A Foreign Exchange service is also available through Fexco. The credit union is owned by its members and staff are available to support them, whether in terms of budgeting or saving advice. All members are reminded that shares and loans are covered by Life Savings and Loan Protection Insurance, and provide excellent value to members without any hidden fees or charges.

This refurbishment has provided extra working space for the staff with 3 cashier points and a wheel chair accessible point for members. There is also now a meeting room for people seeking loans and where other financial matters can be discussed in confidence. Margaret thanked Ian Kennedy Construction who completed the refurbishment with minimum disruption for the staff and members. The Credit Union wishes to thank all the other companies who worked with Ian and made this state of the art premises that is here today.

Despite increased regulation and amalgamations in the Credit Union sector by the Central Bank and Financial Regulator, it is hoped that in another 25 years there will still be the personal service and a smiling face of a staff member to greet members and help them to conduct their business. It is important that members have a good customer experience, and are satisfied that there are staff members available to assist them with their transactions, as well as offering an online facility.

Tubbercurry & District Credit Union is run by a volunteer Board of Directors and Board Oversight Committee. Community involvement is very important, and Tubbercurry & District Credit Union is proud to sponsor many local groups and events throughout the year.
IT Sligo last week launched the first ever degree programme in data centre facilities engineering, aimed at servicing Europe's growing and highly specialised data centre sector with skilled graduates.

The introduction of the Bachelor's Degree - 'BEng. in Data Centre Facilities Engineering (Online) - will be the first of its kind in Europe.

It was developed following 18 months of consultation and planning with data centre industry partners such as Google who provided expert input and validation of the programme's technical subject matter.

IT Sligo is a leader in the development and delivery of online educational programmes and the Data Centre facilities engineering programme marks a continuation of that pioneering work.

Recognising the need for highly specialised skills in the sector, IT Sligo developed the programme in close partnership with the main Data Centre providers including Google and Microsoft. Sligo-based engineering and technical services provider LotusWorks also contributed expertise.

The programme has been structured in order to serve the entire pan-European Data Centre services community.

All lectures will be delivered through the online medium while the practical laboratory sessions will take place at partner college Haute Ecole Louvain en Hainaut (HELHa) in Mons, Belgium.

Commenting on the programme, Una Parsons, Head of School of Engineering and Design at IT Sligo said: "This bespoke new online facilities engineering programme is designed to upskill technical staff to an extremely high standard and in the process, ensure that a pipeline of technical talent is available that meet the growing needs of Data Centres which underpin global economic activity."

Dr. Brendan McCormack, President of IT Sligo, said: "This is a tremendously exciting development for IT Sligo.

"As we will be delivering this across the EU, it is a further illustration of the adaptability and range of IT Sligo's digital education platform in meeting the upskilling needs of the workforce.

"We are proud to be helping the data centres to address a specific skill need which several of the world's leading tech companies recognise and value."
Summer is officially underway, as are the big sales that come along with it.

The summer sales got underway in a number of Sligo shops last week, with retailers thrilled with the numbers of shoppers coming in to snap up a bargain.

Sligo retailers said they were generally busier this year compared with last year's sales.

Eamonn Moran of Moffitts of Sligo told The Sligo Champion that they have been pleased with how the sale was going.

"We're very happy so far with the summer sale. The footfall is good and we feel we're offering excellent value," he said.

No need for a promotional video this year for EJ Menswear, as they have been extremely busy.

And the roadworks taking place on the street have not affected business, he added.

"It's been good so far. We've had a few strangers popping in to us and there seems to be a good few tourists around taking advantage of the sales.

"The roadworks on the street don't seem to be affecting us."

He isn't, however, concerned about Brexit or the potential implications for County Sligo.

"Brexit isn't going to happen so I'm not worried about it."

The weakened sterling can be discouraging for shoppers in the North thinking of coming to Sligo to shop, and David Bagnall of Cordner's Shoes says they have noticed fewer shoppers from the North.

"The sale has been steady since the schools finished really. It's hard to know if the roadworks are affecting us but it doesn't help.

"Because the sterling is weak we have noticed fewer Northerners down, so Brexit is a bit of a worry for us."

In Gerry McGuire's, which is busy last Tuesday afternoon with shoppers, Brendan McGuire says it's been busier than last year. Brexit, though, is having an impact on costs. "The sale has been going really well, we've been very busy, busier than other years. We'd be a lot happier of course if we were this busy all year," he mocked.

"We are worried about Brexit because a lot of our business comes out of Britain. We've seen a lot of the items we buy in the UK increasing in price already."

In Anna Fashion & Lifestyle Boutique, Anna Higgins was unsure of what to expect, with her sale starting on a Tuesday. But, she was pleasantly surprised. "Our sale just started today. So we're offering up to 50% off our Spring/Summer collections. We've been really busy all morning, I kind of didn't know what to expect when it's a Tuesday as well but it's been good so far."

The La Femme sale has been ongoing since June 19th, and they have been busy ever since. "We're very happy with the sale. There's been a great buzz about the place. We've had quite a few tourists about, particularly Northern Ireland, it's been very steady in here," said Irma Morgan.

Brian Durkin, Addam Menswear said they were expecting a busy weekend.

"The sale has just started so we have a clearance rail there. We're expecting a bigger rush at the weekend because it's payday and people will be getting paid."
Sligo's technology community congregated at a meeting of 'Sligo Tech Meetup' at the Riverside Hotel last Thursday evening.

Speakers at the event included Clive Foley, co-founder of Plynk, which raised a 25 million investment from a Swiss private equity firm and Michael Ryan who has 18 years experience as a senior IT systems & network engineer.

Sligo Tech Meetup is seeking to support people of all ages who are involved in or interested in technology. To stay informed about the next event search for "Sligo Tech Meetup" and join up for free.

Sligo town native Clive Foley, who is now based in Dublin, was only happy to come and speak at the event.

"Niall O'Connor, the organiser of the Sligo tech meet-up asked me a couple of months ago if I would help out, I said yes of course. I'm a Sligo man, I'm more than happy to help out with the event. Niall asked me if I would do a tech talk because he was telling me all about the Sligo start up scene," he told The Sligo Champion.

His company, Plynk, which he founded with Charles Dowd in 2015, has been hugely successful.

"It is an app that allows you to send text messages, pictures, videos, it also allows you to send money instantly for free. When a customer signs up to Plynk, they get a payment account. That payment account has a BIC and an IBAN, it issues you then with a prepaid mastercard. That allows you to chat with your friends, send each other money, you can spend the money online with the mastercard. You can also top up the account through the BIC and the IBAN.

"A couple of years ago I met my co-founder. Charles Dowd. Charles used to work for Facebook in the US. We met through one of the first people to invest in Plynk, a company called Delta Partners. Charles was working on Plynk from a certain angle, and I was working on it from a more technology angle. When we met it was like two people instantly clicking. When we spoke to each other very quickly we realised we had the same values and the same vision. We complimented each other's skills. It was like two halves of the brain coming together to make the product."

For start-ups, Clive says these sort of events are crucial. "Talks like this are very important, not only for the people in the room but also for the speakers. It allows everybody to meet each other, share ideas. If you take Plynk, it was hard for us to build the product from a vacuum. We had a lot of support from a lot of friends, giving us ideas, tips, advice and introductions, that sort of thing.

"As a Sligo man in Dublin I don't have a great idea about what is going on in Sligo. I have a few friends here keeping in touch but there's nothing like being here and meeting people."
Brazil and Tubbercurry - not two places that you would put together but just days ago the locations were announced side by side in world wide guide to the best festivals.

The Tubbercurry Old Fair Day Festival was chosen as top 14th festival to visit in the world by Canada's largest travel agency Flight Network.

Spokeswoman and committee member Marie Brouder shared the exciting news at the launch of the Old Fair Day Festival in Murphy's Hotel last Thursday night."It is an honour to be mentioned alongside festivals from Brazil, US, UK, Germany and Spain and reflects the international appeal of the event," she said.

The award set the scene for the packed launch which was a chance to showcase all that the Fair has done for South Sligo. Newly elected Chairman of Ballymote Tubbercurry Municipal District Jerry Lundy officially launched the Festival pointing out that the tradition in his home town spans 220 years.

"It is a particular honour for me that one of my first duties as chairman is to formally launch our local festival," he said. "This is now one of the most popular and successful fairs in the entire country. It is completley free of charge and always a festive occasion, a chance for the community to come together to celebrate with something for everyone."

And this year's line-up really does cater to all tastes. Festival Chairman Sean McDonagh said: "Our 32nd festival opens on Saturday 5th August with a Teddy Bear picnic in the Forest Walk for the kids while Sunday 6th sees Surlil's SuperValu sponsored Family Fun day with foot tasting, face-painting, a tractor pull, bouncy castles, a Coderdojo workshop and a fancy dress competition. The Chamber of Commerce will host a pride of place display on Tuesday 8th while the Fair Day will close the festival on Wednesday 10th with more than 40 heritage and craft exhibits."

Given Sligo was named as European Capital of Volunteering for 2017, it was only fitting that the hundreds of volunteers and the organising committee in particular got a very special mention.

Sligo County Council CEO Ciaran Hayes said:"I am conscious that the work of the few brings benefits to so many," while Cllr Jerry Lundy said: "I would like to pay a public tribute to the many dedicated volunteers who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make this happen." Chairman Sean McDonagh also stressed: "The planning that goes into this is phenomenal, a real community effort."

Businessman Gearoid Surlis of Supervalu summed up: "In our busy lives, the Festival allows us the time to sit down and have a cup of tea and a chat, to look back, to meet up with old friends, such a simple thing but it means so much. What the committee gives back to the community, you just can not put a price on it."
The Blessington Greenway should be in an advanced position to secure funding for phase 2 after councillors passed a Part VIII allowing for the development.

Director of services Michael Nicholson said Phase 1 had proved very successful and an application had been lodged with Failte Ireland for funding to complete the remaining part of the greenway.

'Our application is still being considered but we would like to have all our ducks lined up so we are shovel ready. There will be a lot of competition for funding and those local authorities with plans at an advanced stage will have an advantage,' added Mr Nicholson.

The council received 293 submissions regarding the Blessington Greenway, with most of those outlining their support. 15 submissions had comments to make while only two submissions were opposed to the project.

Cllr Jim Ruttle said the Greenway would prove to be a huge boost for the area: 'It's great to see so much recreational use of the lakes. In 1940, when the area was flooded, it represented to many people a total lockout of activity. Lots of people lost homes. My own family lost a farm.

'This Greenway will add greatly to economic and county development and offers an opportunity for locals to take advantage. It's an opportunity for people, especially in outlying villages, to gain something from the actual presence of the lake because it will bring visitors and will prove to be a good spin-off for the area.'

Cllr Vincent Blake said: 'it will be a real benefit to have our ducks in line so when funding does come on stream, we are confident we will be there in the mix. This will put west Wicklow and Blessington on the map.'

Cllr Gerry O'Neill stated that members of the local community who first came up with the idea of a greenway deserved praise.

'We are doing the easy job here. I see John Horan and Killian McGreal in the public gallery. Without their drive, and the drive of others, we wouldn't be where we are today.'

Cllr Tommy Cullen wanted to see the Blessington Greenway linked up with the West Wicklow Heritage Trail, which is due to be launched soon.

Wicklow County Council Cathaoirleach, Cllr Edward Timmins, paid tribute to all those involved.

Twenty-five councillors voted in favour of the Part VIII, while seven weren't present during the vote.
Barry Corcoran has been missing for two years

An appeal for information in relation to missing Wicklow town man Barry Corcoran has been renewed two years after he initially disappeared.

Mr Corcoran was last seen on the Cremona Road, Ballyfermot on the night of Monday, July 6, 2015.

Crimestoppers, along with gardai in Clondalkin, are appealing to anyone who might know what happened to the missing man to come forward.

Superintendent Brendan Connolly said: 'We are confident that someone knows what happened to Barry.

'If you are a friend or acquaintance of Barry and have any information that could help locate him please call us or Crimestoppers.'

Mr Corcoran went to the post office in Wicklow town on the morning of July 6, before taking a bus to Dublin.

He left behind his mobile phone and passport at his home in Ocean View, Wicklow town.

The 39-year-old spent some time in the north inner city before boarding the Luas Red Line to Kylemore Stop on the Naas Road.y He arrived there at 2 p.m. He was met by a friend and bought some goods in a local shop at 2.30 p.m. He returned again at 6.45 p.m.

Later on he met some friends on Cremona Road, Ballyfermot, and was last seen by them that same night.

No arrests have been made but a number of people have been interviewed in relation to Mr Corcoran's disappearance.

Searches were also carried out in West Kildare and Clondalkin without any success.

Mr Corcoran is 5'11 in height and is of thin build.

He has short grey hair and blue eyes and walks with a slight shuffle. He also has an old scar on the bridge of his nose. When last seen he was wearing a dark rain jacket, blue jeans and black Puma runners.

Family and friends remain highly concerned over the missing man's whereabouts and well-being.

People who may be able to assist the Gardai can call Crimestoppers at 1800 250025. Callers will not be required to leave their name or address.
Paddy Cooke, Rev Leonard Ruddock, Richard Burke, Archdeacon Ricky Rountree, Archbishop Michael Jackson and Fr James Prendiville as Fr Prendiville makes use of his key to St Kevins Church in Hollywood

A recent ecumenical service in St Kevin's Church in Hollywood has helped to strengthen the ties between Church of Ireland and Catholic members of the local community.

Archbishop of Dublin Michael Jackson and Archdeacon of Glendalough Ricky Rountree attended the service along with local parish priest Fr James Prendiville. Blessington Union of Parishes rector Rev Leonard Ruddock, who led the service, welcomed parishioners from both Hollywood parish and Blessington Union of Parishes.

Back in March, members of the local community met in St Kevin's Church to launch the Hollywood Tidy Towns initiative to restore the walls of the churchyard. At that time, Fr Prendiville praised the work that had been done on restoring St Kevin's Church and Rev Ruddock presented him with a key to the church, saying that he was welcome there any time.

Fr Prendiville delivered recent the sermon and spoke of members of the Church of Ireland community who had impacted his life.

'People are affected by who we are. This hasn't anything to do with religion. That doesn't matter. We have come together here as one body, one group of believers in God,' he said.

Fr Prendiville said that St Kevin's was a historic church which was dilapidated when he first saw it 20 years ago and he paid tribute to the community who had lovingly restored it.

Archbishop Jackson thanked the community for coming to the service and thanked Fr Prendiville for his words and encouragement.

The Archbishop encouraged people to read themselves into the Scriptures and see the wonderful sense of community throughout history. He praised the community of Hollywood for its positivity and for seeing what they could do together and said that Hollywood Tidy Towns was doing remarkable work.

'We had a church which was almost in ruins and now it has a new and special existence for the whole community.

'Many faith journeys began here as pilgrims made their way to Glendalough and we must build on it afresh in our own day to develop the faith,' said Archbishop Jackson.
Prince Harry in Bramley on the second day of his visit to Leeds, at the home of Oliver Rooney who has Wolf Hirschhorn Syndrom

Actress Meghan Markle attends the Annual Charity Day Hosted By Cantor Fitzgerald And BGC at the Cantor Fitzgerald Office on September 11, 2013 in New York, United States. (Photo by Janette Pellegrini/Getty Images for Cantor Fitzgerald)

A royal engagement might be closer than we think.

Meghan Markle (35) was reportedly pictured trying on wedding dresses in Canada, adding fuel to the near daily speculation of when she and Prince Harry (32) will wed. The couple have been dating for little over a year, but insiders in both camps report this is it for both of them and a proposal is all but assured by the end of the year.

And with Markle shutting down her blog and wrapping up her affairs in Toronto, where she shoots US legal drama Suits, she's expected to move to London next year.

The Sun reports that the tv star tried on wedding dresses with friends "for fun", including one particularly daring midriff-baring gown, which she joked would be too risque for Westminster Abbey.

Expand Close Prince Harry in Bramley on the second day of his visit to Leeds, at the home of Oliver Rooney who has Wolf Hirschhorn Syndrom / Facebook

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Whatsapp Prince Harry in Bramley on the second day of his visit to Leeds, at the home of Oliver Rooney who has Wolf Hirschhorn Syndrom

"She was with a couple of friends and they all thought she looked gorgeous," the source said. "The fact she's trying on dresses and thinking about their wedding shows how serious they are.'

Meghan just touched down in Canada after spending the last 10 days with Harry and in May, she also spent several days with him at Kensington Palace and they attended Pippa Middleton's wedding together.

There has been no official announcement of another royal wedding, but Markle is right - she can wed in Westminster Abbey, where Prince William and Kate Middleton exchanged vows in 2011.

Not to mention that Westminster Abbey released a statement clarifying she is eligible to wed Prince Harry there, despite the fact that she is divorced (she was previously married to Trevor Engelson from 2011 to 2013).

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"The Abbey follows the General Synod Ruling of 2002. Since then it has been possible for divorced people to be married in the Church of England," a spokesperson told the Daily Express.

His grandmother, Britain's Queen Elizabeth, is said to have approved of the budding romance early on, while his father Prince Charles and Kate and William all approve.
A young woman travelling around Europe decided to scrawl the name of each destination she visited on her prosthetic leg.

Devon Gallagher, 23, from Philadelphia, was born with a congenital bone disease and had her right leg amputated aged four. But before she set off on her month-long trip around Europe, the college graduate decided to something a bit different with her prosthetic  cover it in chalkboard spray paint.

Photos Devon later shared on Reddit show some incredible moments from her travels around Europe, from her sitting on a wall high above Barcelona, cruising on a boat in Budapest and posing by the water in Copenhagen  all with the location written visibly in a variety of brightly coloured chalk on her prosthetic. Yep, its a pretty epic photo album.

Check out some of Devons travel snaps:

Vienna

Copenhagen

Prague

Budapest

Paris

Cliffs of Moher

Dublin

Amsterdam

Brussels

Bet youre feeling pretty inspired right now? We know we are.
It can often seem as though the world has always be an unwelcoming place for the LGBTQ community, but many cultures across the world disprove that.

Though not without their problems, many African, South Asian and Native cultures have a strong history of non-differentiation between people who identify as LGBTQ and anybody else.

In Hawaii and other Pacific Islands, the term mahu describes people who embrace both the feminine and masculine traits of their personality.

Hina Wong-Kalu, a transgender educator and activist from Hawaii, explained how in native Polynesian cultures fluid gender and sexuality was and is celebrated as being part of the human experience.

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Its understood that each individual is his or her own person and their expression of themselves is just that  themselves, she said.

Hina transitioned from male to female and, though she presents as female, continues to embrace both the feminine and masculine aspects of her identity equally.

She said: What is feminine and what is masculine is a very different type of articulation amongst Western and European cultures, whereas in Polynesia it really isnt the same kind of discussion at all.

It was not necessarily uncommon for our women to be as large or sometimes larger than our men. It was not uncommon for things like body hair, facial hair and bone structure to, by Western standards, be considered a very masculine shape, she added.

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Hina explained that prior to missionaries arriving on the island the word mahu had never been written down, with Hawaii having an oral tradition.

But she suggests that this shows individuals who identify as mahu were never considered outsiders back then  despite the term being directed towards Hina in a negative manner growing up in Hawaii centuries later.

She said: You have the word mahu, but the very limited amount of publication around this tells us that it is simply an adjective and it helps to describe a more often physical aspect of the individual rather than the emotional and spiritual aspect of the person.

Any references to mahu are obscure and challenging to obtain primarily because our society did not have an issue with it.

If our society had an issue with it we would have seen a great number of writings that would have indicated that this was something morally wrong.

She added: The only time that we find anything towards saying it would be morally wrong is clearly after the introduction of Christianity.

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Hina, who has Hawaiian and Chinese heritage and says she is deeply connected to her native Hawaiian culture, is the subject of a documentary on Netflix  A Place In The Middle  where she helps another young Hawaiian come to terms with identifying as mahu.

Its something thats not always easy because while the islands native culture may have traditionally been accepting of gender fluidity, Hawaiis traditions were suppressed following the arrival of missionaries in the 1800s.

The importance of native values has only further diminished, she said.

People who have grown here have been groomed by our education system to acquiesce to the American politics and the American system of governance when, here in Hawaii, the native people of these islands, we never ever relinquished our sovereignty to the United States of America and they continue the illegal occupation of our island.

This in and of itself creates another added element to the environment or lack thereof of native culture.

It took until 2013 for same-sex marriage to be legalised in Hawaii, but with a proud history of allowing people to live authentically and the work Hina does educating young people, it might not be long until Hawaii gets back to the point where being mahu is no different from a non-mahu identifying person. Its simply who you are.
Elise Dallemagne was found dead on the Thai island of Koh Tao

Police have released what is believed to be the final image of a Belgian backpacker who was reportedly found dead half-eaten by lizards on a Thai island.

Authorities claim the CCTV capture shows Elise Dallemagne walking just metres from where her body was later found.

Police released the image after reopening the investigation into the 30-year-old's death on the island of Koh Tao, amid allegations of a cover up.

Seven tourists have died in mysterious circumstances on the island in the last three years and one remains missing.

Ms Dallemagne, from Brussels, was found dead in the jungle on 27 April. Local police said she killed herself several days earlier.

Police released the CCTV image as the mystery surrounding her final days continues to grow.

Her mother Michele van Egten said the woman in the CCTV image appears too big to be her daughter.

She suspects foul play and refuted the suggestion that her daughter killed herself.

She said said her daughter appeared to be in a good state of mind when they had last spoken 10 days earlier.

I do not believe what the police have told us. We fear somebody else was involved, Ms van Egten told Der Farang magazine. Were more and more thinking that the police information is not the right explanation.

It comes as a hotel worker claimed Ms Dallemagne checked into a hotel under a fake name just days before her death. A fire reportedly broke out in her room the same night, causing her to flee to alternative accommodation several miles away.

The Samui Times claimed police never questioned locals on the island. It reported that they had not broadened the investigation to include Koh Phangan, where Ms Dallemange apparently lived as part of a yoga and meditation community.

As a result, authorities on the island have been accused of keeping quiet to avoid bad publicity.

Lieutenant Colonel Chokchai Suthimek shut down allegations of a cover up, saying: "There is no sign of murder.

"They call this 'death island' non-stop. They paint it that way. We work so hard. When there is a dead body were not just sitting on it," he told The Telegraph.

The Independent has attempted to contact local police for comment but calls went unanswered.
The United Nations has welcomed an agreement between the United States and Russia for a cease fire in south west Syria.

It is set to go into effect at noon local time on Sunday as part of a renewed effort to stem the six-year civil war and t he UN said it would enable upcoming peace talks.

The United States and Russia struck an agreement for the cease fire as President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin met in Hamburg, Germany, during a G20 summit.

UN deputy special envoy to Syria Ramzy Ramzy said the agreement is a step in the right direction.

He said he hopes other areas in Syria will see similar agreements to reduce violence.

Mr Ramzy is in Damascus ahead of a new round of UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva on Monday.

This marks the first US-Russian effort under Mr Trump's presidency aimed at the conflict in Syria. The nation of Jordan is also involved in the agreement.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the aim is to reduce violence in an area of Syria near Jordan's border that is critical to that country's security.

Officials said the deal had been in the works for weeks or months, but came together in time for the Trump-Putin meeting.

AP
Firefighters cross a swollen river during a search operation following the flooding caused by heavy rain in Asakura (Junko Ozaki/Kyodo News via AP)

The number of fatalities from heavy rain and flooding in southern Japan rose to 15 as rescue workers reached isolated villages where at least 14 others are missing and feared dead.

Heavy rain warnings were still in place for parts of the southern island of Kyushu on Saturday, days after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan, triggering floods and mudslides that wrecked hundreds of homes, roads and rice terraces.

The fire and disaster management agency said that 12 dead have so far been found in the hardest-hit Asakura city in Fukuoka prefecture and three others in neighbouring Oita prefecture.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said 12,000 troops, firefighters and other rescuers continued searching for the missing, clearing debris off roads and delivering fresh water and food supplies for the displaced at a school gymnasium.

They have reached most of the previously inaccessible villages, he said.

Nearly 1,000 residents were rescued over the past two days, but dozens are still believed to be stranded. The operation has been slowed by mudflows and floodwaters as the rain continued.

In the hardest-hit Asakura city in Fukuoka, the bodies of a woman, her daughter and a grandson were found late on Friday on the first floor of their house that was crushed by a mudslide, Japan's public broadcaster NHK said.

Footage showed inundated rice fields and collapsed homes. Roads and bridges were damaged, covered with broken trees washed down from the mountainside.

Hundreds of people in remote villages were being airlifted by military helicopters while soldiers waded through floodwater carrying elderly people on their backs.

Japan's royal family postponed the formal announcement of Princess Mako's engagement to a college classmate on Saturday out of consideration for the suffering of people in the affected areas, palace officials said. A new date has yet to be decided.

Japan's Meteorological Agency said Fukuoka and Oita had experienced unprecedented amounts of rain.

AP
Russian president Vladimir Putin has hailed his first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump, saying he thinks the US leader accepted his assurances that Russia did not meddle in last year's American presidential election.

Mr Putin added that their conversation could serve as a model for improving ties between the two countries.

Speaking to reporters after the two-day G20 summit ended, Mr Putin said he and Mr Trump had a long discussion about the allegations of Russian interference in last year's election which have dogged the Trump presidency.

The Russian leader said he reiterated his "well-known" position that "there are no grounds" for the allegations.

"He asked many questions on the subject, I tried to answer them all," Mr Putin said.

"It seems to me that he has taken note of that and agreed, but it's better to ask him about his attitude."

Mr Putin said his answers were detailed and covered his discussions on the election meddling issue with representatives of the previous administration, including former president Barack Obama.

But he would not reveal details of his exchange with Mr Trump, saying the conversation was confidential.

"He asked questions, I replied. It seemed to me that he was satisfied with the answers," Mr Putin said.

The Russian president said that a working group on cyber security he and Mr Trump agreed to create should help prevent such election controversies in the future.

"What is important is that we agreed that there should be no uncertainty in that sphere," he said.

"We agreed with the US president to create a working group and work jointly on how to ensure cyberspace security, how to ensure the fulfilment of international legal norms in that sphere and prevent meddling in internal affairs of Russia and the US.

"We believe that if we work that way, and I have no reason to doubt it, there will be no such allegations."

Mr Putin also praised his US counterpart as a strong negotiator who quickly grasps various issues.

"As for relations on personal level, I believe we have established them," Mr Putin said.

"Trump's TV persona differs sharply from the real man. He is a very straightforward person, grasps precisely what his interlocutor says, quickly analyses and responds to questions or new elements of the discussion."

The Russian leader said his talks with Mr Trump offered a model for rebuilding Russia-US ties, which have plummeted to post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and other disputes.

"I think that if we develop our relations in the same way, there is every reason to believe that we would be able to at least partially restore the level of interaction that we need," Mr Putin said.

He particularly hailed the US-Russian deal on a cease-fire in south-western Syria announced on Friday as a step toward ending the hostilities.
Liu Xiaobo pictured in 2008, as fears grow for the political prisoner's health (AP Video via AP)

Imprisoned Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo has been seen by American and German specialists who confirmed he is in the final stages of terminal liver cancer, a hospital says.

China allowed the two doctors to travel to the north east city of Shenyang to see its most prominent political prisoner.

It follows international criticism of Beijing's handling of his illness and calls for him to be treated abroad.

The First Hospital of China Medical University said the two experts on Saturday "fully affirmed" Mr Liu's treatment plan so far but his prognosis was grim.

"The patient is suffering from advanced liver cancer that has metastasised to his entire body and is at the end stage," the hospital said.

Mr Liu has accumulated a large amount of abdominal fluid, the statement said, saying his condition is "quite serious".

The hospital said the experts were Dr Markus W Buchler, of Heidelberg University in Germany, and Dr Joseph Herman, of the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Texas.

It was impossible to independently verify the hospital's description of their views. A source familiar with the situation confirmed the experts have seen Mr Liu and spoken to his family.

The visits come as his illness has taken a turn for the worse. Chinese doctors said on Friday that they have stopped using cancer-fighting drugs so as not to overwhelm his severely weakened liver.

On Saturday, the hospital said the doctors may review MRI scans and further assess Mr Liu's liver function before deciding on whether to use radiation therapy, immunotherapy and other treatments.

"We will continue to provide nutritional support, pain relief and other forms of supportive care to improve the patient's quality of life as much as possible," the statement said.

In a sign of the seriousness of Mr Liu's decline, his younger and older brothers and their wives were allowed to see him, said Shang Baojun, his former lawyer.

At the hospital, Mr Liu has been mostly accompanied by his wife and her brother, both largely unreachable by the outside world due to restrictions by Chinese authorities.

Beijing activist Hu Jia, a family friend, said the relatives' visit was a sign that the authorities have acknowledged Mr Liu's rapid deterioration.

"I think the authorities are in crisis mode. They too are not sure if Liu Xiaobo will pass away soon because his condition is quite obviously worsening," he said.

"They don't want to bear too great a responsibility in this respect," he said. "The authorities think by doing this they could at least be accountable to the outside world and say Liu was with his loved ones at the very end."

Mr Liu's two brothers, who travelled from their homes in south and north east China, were being closely monitored by state security agents - making it difficult to maintain contact with them, Mr Hu said.

Beijing has come under criticism from Western governments for not fully releasing Mr Liu, who was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer in May.

He is serving an 11-year sentence for inciting subversion by advocating sweeping political reforms that would end one-party rule.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, the year after he was convicted and jailed by a Chinese court.

The office of the United Nations human rights chief has also expressed concern about Mr Liu's condition and said the Chinese government has provided no further information to the UN office for more than 24 hours.

Spokeswoman Liz Throssell said the UN should be granted access to Mr Liu and his wife.

China's foreign ministry had no immediate response to a request for comment.

AP
'We've been humiliated. There was no food, no water - only death. Look at the children," says 30-year-old Iraqi woman Um Akram from the Suq Al Shaarin neighbourhood of the Old City of Mosul, the epicentre of Isil's last stand in the country.

She cradles an emaciated and malnourished baby girl. Fatima, her one-year-old daughter, lies flaccid in her mother's arms, her desolate expression bearing out the horror borne by all civilians in Mosul, but especially so in the last few days and weeks, as Isil, the most violent and macabre jihadist organisation, fights to the death.

Expand Close Mohammad Talal Tawran, who lost his family in an air strike as they tried to leave the Old City. Photo: Shona Murray / Facebook

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Whatsapp Mohammad Talal Tawran, who lost his family in an air strike as they tried to leave the Old City. Photo: Shona Murray

Civilians in the Old City have been used as human shields - they're shot if caught trying to leave. "We just arrived here this morning. We haven't seen any doctors to get medicine for the baby yet," says Ms Akram at the edge of the frontline.

It is almost 10am and already close to 50C. All that remains of Isil's tyrannous reign in Iraq's ancient, once-prosperous, second largest city is the group's diminishing control in a few back alleys and winding streets in the Old City.

Ms Akram has been brought safely across the frontline after escaping from her house in the middle of the night. She is joined by six other women and their children. All of their husbands have been killed or are missing. The booming bombardment of coalition air strikes and rapid gun fire sounds loudly amid the sweltering heat and heavy tension. For several days, smouldering black smoke has darkened the sky above the last 300-500 metres of territory in the Old City which Isil still occupied.

As of today, that area has been reduced to a 50-metre strip on one side of the city and 200 metres on the other, according to the US army.

For the last few days, Isil has been burning crude oil in an effort to thwart the direction and accuracy of precision-guided smart bombs. Extolling the maximum death toll and casualty rate possible is the only lasting mark it could hope to achieve in this fight, and it is putting in great efforts to do so. Rounds and rounds of indiscriminate mortar fire are released by the flailing terror group, most of them landing on fleeing civilians, maiming and killing people as they follow the same worn paths beaten by other desperate families in a bid to stay alive.

Taking shelter in the shade of a wall close to the frontline of the battle between the Iraqi-led coalition, which receives strong US support, and around 200-300 remaining Isil fighters, Ms Akram is also emaciated and jaundiced - the result of several weeks without steady water or food. They were warned by Isil that they would face torture or execution if they tried to flee. "I haven't eaten anything in several days, but we were too frightened to eat anything. Daesh warned us if we try to leave they will shoot us," she said, using an Arabic name for Isil.

"My husband was shot and then killed by an Isil mortar 10 days ago after he tried to leave the house.

"Now I have nobody, and our three children are sick. I hope we can get to the east of the city because I have a sister there."

Moments later two men covered in dust emerge from the frontline, shouting hysterically.

"I wasn't able to save my two kids," says one of the men. "My seven-year-old son was having his breakfast. We were about to leave the house, he had his backpack on his back and was getting ready to go. In an instant, we were covered in rubble and my family is dead."

He is Mohammad Talal Hawran from Suq Al Yahud in the Old City.

"All my family is gone," he cried. "I need help to get them out of the rubble, to try to get their bodies."

He begs armed soldiers to return with him to remove them from the rubble. His pleas are impossible to grant during such intense combat.

"I saved my brother and mother, and his mother," he says, pointing to his neighbour, Dhia Ghanim. The two families were planning on making the journey together that morning. Moments later, six children and both of their wives were dead from an air strike.

In contrast to the combat zone in Mosul's Old City, hundreds of Iraqis are taking the chance to return to their homes in the east of Mosul.

The Iraqi army says it cleared the area of Isil activity, but there remains an unknown quantity of unexploded mortar bombs - some of them highly visible, with several jutting out of the roof of local schools. Isil sleeper cells are also present and special units of the army, including the counter-terrorism agency aided by bomb-disposal teams, scour houses for bombs and operatives.

Isil had long planned for the oncoming offensive and booby-trapped the whole city. Its remaining inner sanctum is so heavily laden with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) it has slowed down the final days of the offensive. Two female suicide bombers detonated their belts during the Islamic festival of Eid; one in east Mosul and one at a camp for internally displaced people outside the city, according to Kris Phelps, a co-ordinator with World Vision. He is setting up child-friendly places for children psychologically scarred by war in the east of Mosul.

In the last few days, Isil has sent out a number of female suicide bombers among civilians fleeing from the Old City, who detonated their explosives at the first point of Iraqi-army screening. Sources say the women were the wives of Isil fighters, who are joining in the final days of the fight in the hope that martyrdom will be awarded to them and their husbands. Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service (ICTS) carefully vets the trickle of people coming from behind enemy lines. Women are ordered to remove their niqabs (full face cover) and any other extra coverings. Men are ordered to stand still and remove their shirts and trousers and are thoroughly checked for explosives before their names are entered into an intelligence database to check if they are members of Isil. "We also have informers among us who are identifying the Daesh members coming through the Iraqi line from the Old City," explains Mohammad Tariq Ali, Commander of the 16th Division of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

'We're worried about more women suicide bombers," he says. "We had one of them blow herself up at the checkpoint of ICTS counter-terrorism forces two days ago. I expect that with the support from God and the ICTS forces, this will be finished in a couple of days," he says.

Other last vestiges of Isil's reign of terror are the hauntingly empty towns on the outskirts of the city. The town of Al-Hamdaniya in East Mosul, once home to thousands of Iraqi Christians, is now quite simply a ghost town. All Christians fled during the initial lightning advance of the group in June 2014 which saw it declare its Islamic caliphate from the now destroyed Al Nuri Mosque in the centre of Mosul. It was during this time the group began its genocide against the local Yazidi tribe, as well as massacring, torturing and executing all other Iraqi civilians the group accused of behaving "un-Islamic".

It was then it showed to the world the unfaltering depths to which it would go to wreak unfettered violence against anyone in its path; the only thing remaining these weeks is its unmistakable contempt for humanity.
The actor was released following his early-morning arrest in Georgia

Actor Shia LaBeouf has been released from a Georgia jail after posting a 7,000-dollar (5,400) bond on charges of public drunkenness.

The Chatham County Sheriff's Office says the 31-year-old was arrested at 4am on Saturday morning by the Savannah Police Department and released.

In addition to the public drunkenness charge, he also was arrested for disorderly conduct and obstruction.

Further details surrounding the arrest were not immediately available.

LaBeouf has faced similar charges in the past.

He is in the Savannah area filming his new movie, The Peanut Butter Falcon, which also stars Dakota Johnson.
The 22-year-old Texan man died on the Green island of Zakynthos

Six Serbian citizens have been arrested in Greece in the investigation into the killing of a Texas man on the island of Zakynthos.

Serbia's foreign ministry said that the detained Serbs were to appear before a judge.

The family of Bakari Henderson, 22, of Austin, identified him as the victim. His family said Mr Henderson was in Greece working on a photo shoot to launch a clothing line. He graduated from the University of Arizona in May with a business degree.

"Bakari loved spending time with family and friends, travelling and meeting new people," a family statement said, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

"He was a big thinker and enjoyed coming up with new business ventures."

Greek police say the victim was beaten to death early on Friday at a bar in Lagana. Officials have not released a possible motive for the attack.

On Friday a 34-year-old Greek and a 32-year-old British man of Serbian origin were arrested.

AP
US president Donald Trump and German chancellor Angela Merkel at the G20 summit in Hamburg

World powers have lined up against US president Donald Trump on climate change as they reaffirmed their support for international efforts to fight global warming.

The final statement of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, underlined that the other countries and the European Union supported the Paris climate agreement rejected by Mr Trump.

They called the deal to reduce greenhouse gases "irreversible" and vowed to implement it quickly and without exception.

The other countries, from European powers such as Germany to emerging ones such as China and energy producers such as Saudi Arabia, dismissively "took note" of the US position, which was boxed off in a separate paragraph that the summit host, German chancellor Angela Merkel, made clear applied only to the United States.

She said the US position was "regrettable" but that the summit had achieved "good results in some areas", and cited a hard-won agreement on trade that does include Mr Trump and the United States.

On trade, difficult talks yielded the preservation of the G20's condemnation of protectionism, a statement that has been a hallmark of the group's efforts to combat the global financial crisis and the after-effects of the Great Recession.

The group added new elements, however: an acknowledgment that trade must be "reciprocal and mutually advantageous" and that countries could use "legitimate trade defence instruments" if they are being taken advantage of.

That echoes concerns raised by Mr Trump, who was attending his first G20.

He has said trade must be fair as well as open and must benefit American companies and workers.

He has focused on trade relationships where other countries run large surpluses with the US, meaning they sell more to US consumers than they buy from American companies.

More broadly, concerns about trade and its impact on workers figured large in the 2016 US presidential election and in the UK's vote to leave the European Union.

However, pro-trade officials from the European Union pointed out that the language in the G20 statement contains no departure from the current global system of regulation, which already allows countries to take defensive measures within the rules of the World Trade Organisation.

Those can include import taxes that offset unfair practices such as government subsidies or below-cost pricing.

The EU demonstrated its willingness to move ahead with free trade despite Mr Trump by announcing a trade agreement with Japan on the eve of the summit.

On climate, summit deputies put together a three-part fudge that everyone could sign.

That meant a first section with a broad pledge to fight climate change in general; a separate paragraph carved out that acknowledged the US did not support the Paris deal; and a third paragraph in which the other 19 members reaffirmed their support for the deal.

The results of the summit are not absolutely decisive, on either the trade or the climate issue.

The no-protection pledge was often violated, increasingly in harder-to-detect ways such as tax breaks for home industries rather than obvious import taxes.

Meanwhile, failure to agree on climate does not stop countries from moving ahead in meeting the Paris agreement's goals, or exceed them if they want to.

Additionally, US states and private companies can pursue lower emissions on their own.

G20 agreements are statements of intent and rely on governments themselves to follow through. Still, they set the tone for global policymaking and enable peer pressure when they are not followed.

Other deals at the summit included an agreement to press internet providers to detect and remove extremist content as a way of fighting terrorist incitement and recruiting.

John Kirton, co-director of the G20 Research Group at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs, called the summit a "very solid success", pointing to broad agreement on the agenda, much of it focusing on less controversial issues.

He said that over the long term the G20 implements 70% of its promises, and has implemented 80% of them since last year's summit in Hangzhou, China.

The meetings competed for attention with rioting by anti-capitalist demonstrators outside the heavily secured Hamburg Messe convention centre.

Rioters set up street barricades, looted supermarkets and attacked police with slingshots and firebombs.

The G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union.

AP
Despite predictions of a "red wave" rolling throughout the country  one in which Republican political candidates would cruise to victory up and down the ballot on the strength of nationwide frustration with crime, inflation and dissatisfaction with the Biden administration  Tuesday's midterm election delivered more of the same for many Rhode Islanders. In addition to Democratic victories in all the major statewide races, voters in North Kingstown, Narragansett and South Kingstown skewed overwhelmingly blue in General Assembly races and all local school boards and town council races. With the results of Tuesday's midterm election all but finalized pending a few outstanding mail-in ballots and certification, it appears local boards of government in Southern Rhode Island towns will see a large number of familiar faces. With that in mind, do you believe your local town and school committee seats are held by the best representatives available in your town? Why or why not? Let us know in this week's poll question below.

You voted:
A day heavy in green Indian equity markets saw a day, heavy in green, today. Nifty 50 ended, up by 321.5 points. Sensex ended, up by 1181.34 points. Top Gainers today were HDFC, HDFC Bank, Infosys. Top Losers ... November 11, 2022 | 11-11-2022 3:43 pm

In early trade, Rupee rises 71 paise to 80.69 / $ Early on Friday, the rupee strengthened 71 paise to 80.69 against the dollar as investors' attitudes were bolstered by easing US CPI data and a decline in the dollar index. Forex traders claime... November 11, 2022 | 11-11-2022 2:24 pm

Sensex zooms over 1,100 pts; Nifty above 18,300; IT index top contributor Domestic benchmark indices in the fast lane today led by IT and Metal stocks outperforming. Both the Sensex and Nifty benchmarks were nearly 2% higher amid positive global cues. On the se... November 11, 2022 | 11-11-2022 2:00 pm

NIBE receives order of Rs11.88 crore from Goa Shipyard; Stock slips 1% Nibe Limited stocks in focus as the company announced the receipt of purchase orders. As per the regulatory filing, it has received two purchase orders dated November 08, 2022 from G... November 11, 2022 | 11-11-2022 12:53 pm

Ashoka Buildcon receives provisional certificate for NHAI road project; Stock up 2% Ashoka Buildcon Limited has informed the declaration of October 26, 2021 as the Commercial Operation Date (CoD) for its Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) Project of National Highways Authority of ... November 11, 2022 | 11-11-2022 12:26 pm
Even when people dont appreciate the fight, you have to still fight for our children, because theyre our children; if we dont stand up and fight for our children, nobody is going to do it, said Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Parks and Crump, the firm that has represented the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, among others.

Looking up to people like his childhood hero, Thurgood Marshall, Crump has created a career that revolves around justice, what he believes to be a moral responsibility not only to the community, but to mankind in general.

Im reminding everybody what Dr. King said in that letter from the Birmingham jail, We as more minded people have a moral obligation to oppose injustice when we see it, Crump states. He said we have a moral obligation to do it, so you just cant take the money and run. You cant sell out the people. What you (have) to do is stand there and fight, knowing that youre going to get (back) almost 300 years of racism and oppression.

With the ongoing violence between the police and young adults, Crump says, a change needs to happen, and in order to achieve it, there needs to be a demand for it.

Many people would much rather stand on the sideline and try to be critics versus going in there and saying, Im going to take a stand for this child and Im going to fight even if its not a popular thing to do, knowing that all the odds are against us (and that) all of the suspicions are against us. Were going to stand up and fight, That is what I think is the most important, Crump said.

Crump talked about the duties that come with being a civil rights attorney.

well the only thing we as private civil rights lawyers can do is to bring a wrongful death lawsuit, which by and large we do and make the state compensate the family for the loss based on a monetary basis. Thats the only power in our legal system that private lawyers can do, and whether its Trayvon Martin, whether its Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, you know, all these cases. We have done our job and been successful at it.

He continued to discuss how some elected officials fail to do their job when it comes to holding people accountable for taking the lives of children, and therefore it is the job of a civil rights attorney, like him, to hold people accountable for their actions.

His position sometimes puts him in the spotlight of what some consider difficult cases, but he still decides to takes a stand.

You know, a lot of my friends (ask), Crump, why do you even fight for people to go to jail? This is America; they will not send a white police officer to jail for killing Black people.  Why are you even arguing about that? I wish I could do that, but I cant do that. Its not who I am, Crump said. To sell out and say, No, no, partial justice is OK, We deserve full justice, as well.

Crump said since he was a young boy looking up to Marshall, he wanted to fight so that everyone had a chance at the American Dream.

Crump will have his work featured in an upcoming A&E mini series exploring the life of the late actor/rapper, Tupac Shakur. By showing Tupacs life, Crump hopes to use his story to present how the examples of injustice and failure to provide due process, despite being a beloved public figure, corroborates with the social justice movement taking place in the present. Series like these are important to Crump, because of their effect on audiences.

What we see (are) images. These are a certain number of images that are equipped for having an effect on our thinking and an effect on how we think about us, how Black people think about us, how the government thinks about us, Crump states. So it is very important that we are trying to speak truth to power in the biggest platforms that God has given us access to. So, I want to use all of this notoriety that I have to try to impact society  to try to make it better for our community and our people just like I shared about this 9-year-old boy who said I want to be like Thurgood Marshall, I want to try and make it better for my community, for my people.
Hollywood has often been slammed for gender pay gap and one star who has experienced the trend first hand is Emma Stone, who won this years best actress Oscar for her performance in La La Land.



The 28-year-old revealed some of her male co-actors have even taken pay cuts to make sure she gets the equal money as them.

In an interview to Out magazines Andrea Riseborough, she said, "In my career so far, Ive needed my male co-stars to take a pay cut so that I may have parity with them. And that's something they do for me because they feel its whats right and fair.

Twitter



"That's something that's also not discussed, necessarily that our getting equal pay is going to require people to selflessly say, That's whats fair."

She continued, "If my male co-star, who has a higher quote than me but believes we are equal, takes a pay cut so that I can match him, that changes my quote in the future and changes my life. And this is Billie Jeans feminism, and I love it, she is equality, man: equality, equality, equality."



The actress said her male counterparts have not done it to show that "women are this and men are that" but because they believe in equality.



"And that's really what Ive been so grateful for with male co-stars when Ive been in a similar-size role in films."
India is going all out to make Myanmar military chief's eight-day visit here a resounding success with top-level meetings, visits to defence establishments and a series of banquets, at a time when Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a continuing stand-off near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction.

AP

Commander-in-chief of Myanmar armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, is slated to meet PM Narendra Modi, defence minister Arun Jaitley and national security advisor Ajit Doval on July 14, after an extensive tour of India that began at Gaya on Friday.

Sources say India is ready to further crank up military supplies to Myanmar to counter Chinese strategic inroads into the country, as part of the overall plan to expand defence cooperation with ASEAN countries under the more action-oriented `Act East' policy.

ALSO READ: As Border Stand-Off Tensions Escalate, India Asks China To Retreat From Bhutanese Territory

India already provides 105mm light artillery guns, rocket launchers, rifles, radars, mortars, bailey bridges, communication gear, night-vision devices, war-gaming software and road construction equipment as well as naval gun-boats, sonars, acoustic domes and directing gear to Myanmar. A $37.9 million deal for supply of lightweight torpedoes was also recently finalized.

AFP

While Indian warships make regular port calls to Myanmar and undertake coordinated patrolling along the bilateral maritime boundary, Indian Army too has stepped-up cooperation with Myanmarese forces along the porous 1,643-km land border to turn the heat on Indianinsurgent groups operating in the region.

In June 2015, incidentally, Indian para-commandos conducted a "successful" cross-border raid against two insurgent camps inside Myanmar after 18 Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush in Chandel district of Manipur. It did lead to some heart-burn in Naypyidaw, but things are back on an even keel with New Delhi now.

As a special gesture to the visiting Myanmar general, Army chief General Bipin Rawat flew down to Gaya to host a banquet at the Officer's Training Academy there on Friday evening. After the Bodh Gaya and Sarnath Buddhist circuits and the Ganga Ghat in Varanasi, Gen Min Aung Hlaing will head for Ahmedabad to visit the Amul dairy and Nano car factories as well as the Army's 11 Infantry Division on Sunday.

ALSO READ: China Would Be Forced To Take Military Action If India Doesnt Listen, Warns Chinese Military Expert

AFP

From there, he proceeds to the Armoured Corps Centre and College at Ahmednagar, followed by the Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam, before finally arriving in New Delhi on July 13.

India has been slowly but steadily stepping up defence cooperation, ranging from expansion in military visits and exercises to training and technology-sharing, with Asean member-states like Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, as was reported by TOI.

India had earlier largely disregarded China's expanding footprint in Myanmar, the only Asean country with whom its shares land and maritime boundaries, but later switched gears to make amends. Since then, India has assiduously upgraded diplomatic, economic and military cooperation with Myanmar, apart from prime ministerial (Manmohan Singh and Modi) and other high-level visits to the country.

ALSO READ: China Says Sikkim Stand-Off Can Lead To A War If Not Handled Properly, Rules Out Compromise
PTI

According to reports, over 120 countries in the United Nations voted to adopt the first-ever global treaty to ban nuclear weapons, even as India and eight other nuclear - armed nations, including the US, China and Pakistan did not participate in the negotiations. Read more

Here are other top stories of the day:

1) Despite Illegally Posting Its Troops On Indian Soil, China Issues Travel Advisory To Its Citizens

bccl/representational image

As tensions escalate at the Indo-China border, Beijing has released a safety advisory to its citizens travelling to and living in India. "The (Chinese) embassy in India has issued a safety advisory to its people asking them to pay attention to their safety and avoid unnecessary travel," a Chinese government official told IANS. Read more





2) On-Leave Soldier, Wife Killed As Pakistan Continues Unprovoked Ceasefire Violation In J&K

BCCL

Pakistani Army violated the ceasefire again today, killing two people and leaving few injured. They also resorted to mortar shelling and firing at forward posts and villages along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, officials said. Read more

3) While PM Modi Met Moshe, Relatives Of Fishermen Killed By Kasab In 26/11 Attack Waited For Aid

AFP

Families of the three Gujarati fishermen, believed to be among the first victims of the 2008 terror attack for which Ajmal Kasab was hanged, have shot off a letter complaining of neglect after PM Narendra Modi greeted Moshe Holtzberg, a survivor from Chabad House, in Israel and promised him and his family long-term visas so that they could visit India anytime. Read more

4) Anand Mahindra Apologises After A Tech Mahindra Employee Was Asked To Resign Rudely By HR

AFP

Mahindra Group executive chairman Anand Mahindra, Tech Mahindra vice-chairman Vineet Nayyar and CEO C P Gurnani all individually apologised on Friday over the way an employee at Tech Mahindra was asked to resign with immediate effect after the person's recorded conversation with an HR personnel went viral online. Read more

5) Days After Modi's Warning To Gau Rakshaks, Mob Attacks Men Transporting Buffaloes In Delhi

reuters/representational image

Six men transporting buffaloes were allegedly assaulted by a mob in south-west Delhi. This is the latest incident of cow-vigilantism, coming just a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned gau rakshaks not to kill in the name of cow and not to take law in their hands. Read more
Twitter saw an unexpected activity yesterday. No one saw it coming and when she tweeted 'Hi, Twitter', tremors were felt.

She was followed by 350,000 followers in under 14 hours with her first tweet receiving 36,000 retweets! We are talking about Malala Yousafzai.

reuters

She announced her arrival with a sweet 'Hi'.

Yousafzai sent out the tweets to mark her last day of school which she called a 'bittersweet' moment. On Friday afternoon, she finally entered the world of social media with the handle @Malala.

Today is my last day of school and my first day on @Twitter [THREAD]  Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017

Graduating from secondary school (high school) is bittersweet for me. I'm excited about my future, but... 2/  Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017

She was only 11 when she began blogging about girls' education for BBC Urdu where she talked about living in Pakistan's Swat Valley under the Taliban regime in 2009. Her finishing school is bittersweet because it marked the end of a significant chapter in her life after she was shot by the Taliban in the head and brought to Britain for treatment in 2012.

reuters

In 2017, she became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

....I know that millions of girls around the world are out of school and may never get the opportunity to complete their education. 3/  Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017

Next week, I will be back on my #GirlPowerTrip to meet girls in Middle East, Africa & Latin America. 4/  Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017

Each girls story is unique  and girls' voices are our most powerful weapons in the fight for education and equality. 5/  Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017

On and off Twitter, I'm fighting for girls  will you join me?  6/  Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017

As she calls us to join her in the fight for girls' education, she plans to continue studying in the UK.
Iron Man lives in a gigantic Stark mansion near the sea. Batman in Wayne Manor and Mr Fantastic have their own penthouse suites. Its not necessary that all superheroes live in exorbitantly expensive houses. There are some who are found in the most modest homes, hidden amidst the crowd, with kindness and compassion as their superpowers. Someone exactly like was found somewhere in the central suburbs of Mumbai.

Rajendra Nair, fondly known as Rajen among friends and family, has been a photojournalist for almost two decades now, and lives in a humble apartment in Kurla East in Mumbai where he lives with his wife. On a rather humid afternoon, he is managing to make lunch for himself, and offers to make us some too!

Nair is rather chatty and seems like one of those people who gets along with every generation, never running out of topics to talk about, never running out of stories to tell. He launches himself into telling his own story and how he got about to help cancer-stricken and disabled children learn photography by surprising us a little. He surprised us by telling us that he is partially deaf himself.

Until the late 90s, Nair happened to be a businessman and had an experience of working for 15 years in an MNC. Everything was hunky-dory until he was diagnosed with a defect in his right ear for which he went through a surgery in 2000. However, things did not get better for him as he was later diagnosed with tinnitus. Tinnitus can be imagined as a constant ringing or a buzzing phenomenon in ones ear 24x7.

After going through a tough phase of depression and coping with his hearing, Nair has not allowed himself to be bogged down by it.

I have always believed in leading by example. And therefore, I decided to give a chance to writing and photography. I did a course in journalism photography from KC college in Mumbai a few years after my surgery and went on to become a freelance photojournalist, he said. And it looks like photography drew him in like a moth to a flame as he recalls the stories that he has worked on as a photojournalist.

In 2006, Nair began teaching young kids who were deaf. He also started teaching children from Dharavi in collaboration with an NGO, who would normally never be able to afford a professional photographer to teach them. Teaching the children with hearing disability went on for as long as three years on every weekend at a school for the deaf. In a matter of few years, Nair has managed to make a network of photographers globally, who he now invites to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, and European countries to teach children from the underprivileged sections of the society.

Nair calls himself a dreamer. He thinks that his example can make a lot of difference, especially with children. I always tell the children my own story and how I coped with it. Whether they are deaf, cancer-stricken or have any other disability, they get a new sense of hope and purpose. My idea has been to introduce photo therapy in their lives so they can look at brighter side of everything and become creative, Nair told us.

He has been associated with the Tata Memorial Hospital for about five years now, and his visits are looked forward to in the pediatric ward. Nair also has a group of deaf children who learn photography under him, so they can empower themselves later in life. These children usually are from poor background and do not give a thought to being creative. Photography not only inspires creativity in them, but also can serve as a tool to support them later in life, Nair expressed.

Nair believes firmly that creativity can save lives  from any disorder  whether physical or mental. I always tell my kids that the doctors will only treat them medically. But when your mind is not happy, your body wont respond well to any amount of good medicine. Being creative allows them to create a space for their own that is not just mentally satisfactory, but can be a potential career for them, he shared.

Nair is not currently working, but takes classes at the hospital regularly and is very active in helping out children in need.
Pakistani Army violated the ceasefire again today, killing two people and leaving few injured. They also resorted to mortar shelling and firing at forward posts and villages along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, officials said.

According to reports, the deceased included a soldier on leave and his wife. The injured included his two children.

BCCL

The Pakistani army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from small arms, automatic weapons and mortars on Indian Army posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector from 0630 hours, a defence spokesman said.

The Indian troops retaliated effectively, he said.

The Pakistani troops rained mortar bomb shells and resorted to heavy firing targeting civilian villages as well, a police officer said.

BCCL

"Very heavy shelling is going on. So far two civilians have died in Pakistani shelling in Khadi Karmara village along the LoC," he said, adding that some other people suffered injuries.

There have been 23 incidents of ceasefire violation, an attack by Pakistan special forces team and two infiltration bids in June, in which four people including three jawans were killed and 12 were injured.
The haters can think of removing Muslims from India, but they can't remove India from the hearts of Muslims living here. The Indian muslim community, which is the third largest anywhere in the world loves the country as much as any other. No matter how brutally Rajasthan dairy farmer, Pehlu Khan was killed by the so-called Gau Rakshak, his family has firm belief in the Indian judiciary.

Irshad Khan, son of Pehlu Khan, says he is not going anywhere. He says he is an Indian, and has no intentions of moving to Pakistan.

"We Muslims will not go and live in Pakistan. India is our motherland too," said Irshad, as he made an impassioned plea today, seeking justice for his father.

Youtube

The 24-year-old man, who was also attacked by the mob of self-styled 'gau rakshaks' in Alwar on April 1, alleged that "attempts were being made to let the accused go scot-free".

Addressing a public forum -- Agrarian Crisis, Cow Politics and Lynching -- hosted by the Bhumi Adhikar Andolan in New Dellhi, Irshad said, "Lynchings are continuing to take place as the government is not taking a strong stand".

Attempts were being made to divide the people on religion, and Muslims were often asked to leave India for Pakistan, he said. But, he added, Hindu and Muslims had always lived peacefully in the country.

"Some bad elements don't want the two communities to be in harmony, so that vote bank politics can be orchestrated. Lynchings are also happening to divide the people," he said.

PTI

A string of similar incidents has been reported in the country, the latest being that of a Muslim man killed by a mob for allegedly carrying beef in a van in Jharkhand late last month.

"Many Muslims have been assaulted or verbally abused and forced to chant a religious slogan by some outfit, who tell us (Muslims) to go to Pakistan. I say, we will not go to Pakistan. I was born here and India is also my motherland," Irshad told a packed hall at the Constitution Club in New Delhi.

55-year-old Pehlu Khan was brutally beaten after being intercepted by the vigilantes in Alwar while he and his two sons, Irshad and Arif, were travelling in a pick-up car, carrying cattle from Jaipur.

"My father had been in dairy farming for a long time. We were transporting the cattle with all the required permits, but the vigilantes threatened us then started assaulting us with belts, sticks, metal knuckle-caps. My father was punched in the eye and hit in stomach. He bled profusely, and, on April 3, he died at a hospital," said 19-year-old Arif, who still trembles recalling the incident.

PTI

Pehlu Khan's uncle Hussain Khan, who also attended the event, alleged that "pressure was being exerted" to ensure "bail for the accused".

"We want justice for Pehlu. If these accused are allowed to go scot-free, we, the family, will go to the court in Rajasthan and commit suicide there," said Hussain, as the hall fell silent.

"Our loyalty and allegiance is questioned. We are being called beef-eaters and asked to leave the country and settle in Pakistan. Why are we Muslims being forced to prove our patriotism and nationalism," Hussain asked.

His forefathers, he said, had sacrificed their lives for the country's freedom.

"This (India) is also our country, our homeland. And, we will live here," Hussain asserted.
Friday night was rather chaotic in Hamburg, Germany as thousands took to the streets in order to protest against the G20 summit taking place in the country. Protesters have gone to the extent of lighting a series of bonfires on the streets, stacked up blocks of pavements, and looting shops.

This aggression from the mod has come across as shocking, and the Hamburg police is trying its best to bring the situation under control. Here are a few pictures that speak a thousand words about the protest.

1. Participants perform during the so-called "1000 Figures" demonstration.

Reuters

2. Activists from OXFAM wear masks depicting some of the world leaders during a demonstration.

Reuters

3. A woman wears a mask depicting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Reuters

4. A giant statue depicting U.S. President Donald Trump is seen during the Greenpeace protest.

Reuters

5. A man wearing pink wig in the protest in Germany.

Reuters

6. A couple kisses each other in front of a water cannon during clashes between German police and anti-G20 protesters.

Reuters

7. Paper bags with a G20 protest slogan are pictured at a shop near Hamburg. The slogan reads: "G20 is stupid and stinks" in German.

Reuters

8. Despite the tension, a couple participating in the protest hold their hands during a demonstration.

Reuters

9. The protest also had people holding flared from top of the buildings.

Reuters

10. German special police forces walk through the Schanze district following clashes with anti G20-protesters.

Reuters

11 The riot police having a tough time with the protesters as both remain at loggerheads.

Reuters

12. Shops are being looted across Hamburg city, causing much disturbance in the civic life of residents.

Reuters

13. A protester holding a banner of 'Capital Kills' while standing in front of burning barricades.

Reuters

14. The situation worsens as German riot police officer shoots tear gas towards protesters.

Reuters

15. A shop is looted by angry protesters on the very first day of the summit.

Reuters

16. Protesters collecting bricks to prepare for the clash with riot police.

Reuters

17. While many take an aggressive stance, this protester blows bubbles next to German police.

Reuters

18. A man walks past as German police use a water cannon.

Reuters

19. A firefighter works at the scene where a number of cars were set on fire.

Reuters

20. Activists gather for a protest screaming slogans and displaying banners.

Reuters
Facebook has revealed plans of expansion of its Menlo Park headquarters in California. The social media company will be building a small village of 1,500 apartments, grocery store, retail shop, and office space. It will be called the Willow Campus.

facebook

In a release, Facebook said, "Part of our vision is to create a neighbourhood centre that provides long-needed community services. We plan to build 125,000 square feet of new retail space, including a grocery store, pharmacy and additional community-facing retail."

facebook

While the office space will be used by the company's employees only, the residential units and the retail store will be open to all tenants, reports CNET.

facebook

The first phase of the project is expected to be finished by 2021. The campus will help cut commuting time for employees and ease out traffic congestion in the area.

Also, 15% of all apartment units will be put on below-market rates to improve the housing market in the San Francisco Bay area.
Syrian war has left everything devasted over the last five years. Raqqa, which once thrived on the banks of the gushing Euphrates River, now faces an extreme shortage of water as it still remains ISIS stronghold. Now, the civilians are risking their lives for water.

According to AFP, the north Syrian city has been without steady running water for several weeks after damage to pipelines by heavy bombardment, including suspected strikes by the US-led coalition.

AFP/Representational Image

Civilians dehydrated by the blistering summer heat are venturing out to the Euphrates and makeshift wells around the city.

"I went to pump water from a well in the city's south, close to the river," said Karim, an activist with the Raqqa24 network who remains inside the city.

He spoke to AFP using a pseudonym for fear of being targeted by ISIS, which still controls most of Raqqa.

AFP/Representational Image

He described a hellish scene: families lugging jerry cans through Raqa's streets, suddenly scrambling for cover from incoming mortar fire and air strikes.

Civilians who managed to escape Raqa have also told AFP they came under IS sniper fire as they tried to fill up buckets from the Euphrates.

With temperatures reaching a scorching 46 degrees Celsius (114 Fahrenheit), Karim said Raqa residents are caught between their extreme thirst and the risky journey to quench it.

"The shortages are killing us. Cold water is the stuff of dreams."

'Dying of thirst'

Since ISIS overran Raqa in 2014, the city has become synonymous with the group's horrific practices, including public beheadings.

With help from the US-led coalition, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters called the Syrian Democratic Forces is waging a fierce assault to oust ISIS from the city.

Years ago, Raqa benefited from its prime location in the fertile river valley, as well as from nearby hydro-electric dams that generated power for much of Syria.

That makes the current water shortages particularly painful, said activist collective Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS).

AFP/Representational Image

"The deepest irony lies in the fact that this city on the bank of the bountiful Euphrates River is currently dying of thirst," said the group, whose members publish news from activists inside the city.

According to RBSS, at least 27 people have been killed by coalition air strikes in recent weeks as they tried to reach the Euphrates or nearby wells for water.

"My uncle and seven children were killed about two weeks ago as he was heading to a school near the city centre where there was a well," said RBSS co-founder Abdalaziz al-Hamza.

And those who manage to successfully draw water from the Euphrates also face health risks.

The UN warned earlier this month that Euphrates River water was potentially "unfit for consumption" and carried "the risk of water-borne diseases".

AFP/Representational Image

The World Health Organization has also documented one child who was paralysed in Raqa by a strain of polio that originates from a vaccine carrying small amounts of weakened but live virus.

Oral polio vaccine (OPV) replicates in the gut and can be passed to others through faecal-contaminated water -- meaning it won't hurt the vaccinated individual, but could infect their neighbours in places where hygiene and immunisation levels are low.
The Foolishness of Regime-Change Fantasies

By Stephen Miles

July 07, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Stop me if youve heard this one before. Theres an out-of-control regime run by a madman halfway around the world, and if the U.S. government doesnt topple it ASAP, a lot of people are going to die.

The United States has tried its hand a lot at regime change. By one count, the US tried to overthrow 72 different governments during the Cold War aloneand thats before the most recent misadventures in Iraq and Libya. Its not exactly a track record of success: the United States failed most of the time to accomplish the fundamental goal of toppling the target. And a quick glance at Iraq is enough to remind you that even when America succeeds, it often really fails.

Despite this track record, the Wall Street Journal opinion pages called for US-led regime change in North Korea and Iran on the same day. Thats the same Wall Street Journal that championed the Iraq War over and over again with tales of Saddam Husseins phantom nuclear weapons and millions of cheering Iraqis who would greet the U.S. military as liberators.

But the Journal is hardly alone in its regime-change giddiness. Calls to topple Kim Jong-un regularly emanate from news outlets like Fox News and then make their way to the right-wing echo chamber . And in Washington, champions for regime change in Tehran are as regular as a delay on the DC Metros Red Line.

Lets imagine for a second that I convinced you to let me invest $1,000 of your money. Sure, I was making some risky bets, but other serious people seemed to think I was great at investing, so you set your worries aside and gave me a chance. And then I lost every last penny you gave me. I come back to you with a surefire investment. I just need another $1,000 but this time Ill double your money. And then I lose every last penny again. If I came back and asked you for another $1,000 to try again, would you give it to me?

Of course not. Yet thats exactly what Washingtons regime-change chorus wants you to do. Trust them. This time its going to work. This time its going to be different.

Losing a few thousand dollars would be bad. These guys have lost trillions of our tax dollars on one military boondoggle after another. The deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan have sucked up $4.8 trillion alone, a price tag set to rise by trillions more when alls said and done. To put that into context, instead of 16 years of war, the U.S. government could have spent that money on providing 10 million needy children with health care, giving 10 million college students Pell grants, creating one million jobs in infrastructure and another million in clean energy jobs, and put another million teachers to work in elementary schools. And there still would have been more than $100 billion left over.

Which do you think would have been the better investment?

Of course, far more important than the costs in treasure are the ones measured in blood. By any measure of the human toll, Americas recent history of regime change is a horrific failure. The past 16 years of war have cost 6,931 Americans in uniform their lives, another 52,579 were wounded in battle, and an unknown number came home suffering the invisible wounds of war. Its difficult to know exactly how many innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan have lost their lives since 2001, but it is in the hundreds of thousands . Millions more have seen their lives upended by years of conflict as theyve become refugees or been forced to live with near constant insecurity.

The Wall Street Journal editorial page and the Washington regime-change chorus almost always neglect to mention this staggering amount of human suffering.

Yet any policy debate must entail benefits, not just costs. The costs of regime change, according to its advocates, are the price paid for U.S. security and for making the world safer. And here, beyond a shadow of a doubt, lies the moral bankruptcy of Washingtons regime-change champions. For the trillions spent, for all the lives lost, Americanot to mention Iraqis far worse off today. Terrorism is a bigger challenge today, with threats emanating from multiple terrorist organizations in a variety of countries. Iraq and Afghanistan are unstable, insecure countries that cost Americans billions of dollars, still host American soldiers, and are run by corrupt governments with deep and unresolved political divisionswith no end in sight. It would take a particular type of derangement to call this success.

And yet, the phoenix of horrible ideas rises again from the ashes. The Wall Street Journal continues to insist that regime change will work: in North Korea as in Iran. Youve got to admire the chutzpah.

As bad as Americas recent history with regime change has been, it pales in comparison to the horrors that await in North Korea and Iran. A war with Iran would be like Iraq and Afghanistan combined. A war with North Korea would be unlike anything since World War II, and thats before factoring in the potential of a mushroom cloud over Seoul, Tokyo, or Honolulu.

When proponents of regime change focus on the best-case scenario, remember what the worst case is. When they try to scare you with talk of madmen and weapons of mass destruction, remember the blood on their own hands. And when they try to tell you that, no matter how bad it went before, this time it will be different and regime change will work, remember the wise words George W. Bush couldnt :

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Stephen Miles is the director for Win Without War, a national coalition of diverse member organizations that works to advance a more progressive foreign policy for America. He has more than a decade of experience in progressive politics and grassroots campaigning and holds a M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and a B.A. from Tulane University.

See also Tony Blair 'not straight' with UK over Iraq, says Chilcot
Trump Meets With Putin



Video

It's an 'honor' and I look forward to 'positive things happening'

President Donald Trump shook hands with Russia's Vladimir Putin at the start of their much anticipated meeting Friday and said he anticipates "positive things happening."

Posted July 07, 2017

See also - Russians ask for proof of election meddling
U.S. Rabbis Just Got a Close-up Look at Occupation in the West Bank - and Its Not a Pretty Sight



Rabbis' visit comes after 50th anniversary of Israel's occupation of West Bank. What hadnt been planned, though, up was that their trip would coincide with one of the worst crises ever in relations between Israel and the U.S. Jewish community



By Judy Maltz

July 07, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Rabbi Stanley Kessler first visited Hebron in 1967, just after the Six-Day War . He returned for a second visit in 1973. This week, at age 94, he came back for his third trip and hardly recognized the city.

I have difficulty seeing what Im seeing, he says, pausing for a moment of reflection after a stroll, on a sweltering day, through what used to be the bustling center of this West Bank city. On my previous trips, the streets were swarming with people. And now, I didnt even see one single person.

Where has everyone gone? wonders Kessler, who served for 40 years as rabbi of a large Conservative congregation in Hartford, Connecticut, and had studied under Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of Americas most revered rabbis.

Kessler has been around, as they say. During World War II, he served as an aerial gunner and radio operator in the U.S. Air Force, flying 18 missions over Europe. In 1963, he was one of 18 rabbis who marched for black civil rights with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Birmingham, Alabama. In the late 1960s, he was active in the anti-Vietnam War movement.

But something about this most recent trip to Hebron  a city where the entire story of the Israeli occupation plays out in a nutshell  has shaken him deeply.

Perhaps because the last time he visited here, before Israeli settlers had set up a base in the city, he saw Palestinians moving around freely and businesses that were thriving. Perhaps because the last time he visited here, checkpoints manned by the Israel Defense Forces were not stationed at every corner. Perhaps because the last time he visited here, no streets or neighborhoods were declared off-limits to Palestinians. Or perhaps because during those visits, he was not greeted by rows upon rows of empty shops sealed shut by military order.

I am terribly sad, he says. And now, after hearing the stories of soldiers who served here, I am also infuriated.

Kessler was one of a group of about a dozen American rabbis visiting Hebron Sunday on a tour jointly sponsored by Truah, a U.S.-based organization of rabbis active in promoting human rights, and Breaking the Silence , a group of former IDF soldiers dedicated to fighting the Israeli occupation, who collect and publish personal testimonies about their military service in locations like Hebron. Several of these testimonies were read out during the tour.

Among the participants on the tour are Conservative rabbis, Reform rabbis, a representative of the Jewish Renewal movement, and even one Orthodox rabbi who describes the political orientation of his community as somewhere between AIPAC and the Zionist Organization of America  referring to the pro-Israel lobby in Washington, at one end, and one of the most right-wing Jewish organizations in the United States, at the other. Most of them are participating this summer in a special leadership program run by the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

Unlike Kessler, most of the other rabbis have never been to Hebron before. And unlike Kessler, most of them are unwilling to have their names or photos published. Their congregations back home, they explain, might not understand their decision to participate in a tour that offers a different narrative about the conflict  one that puts a human face on the other side and doesnt paint Israel in the usual rosy colors.

Most of these people have never had an opportunity to see what the Palestinians experience, says Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the executive director of Truah, in a phone call from her New York office. Nor have they had the opportunity to talk to Israeli [army] vets who have risked their lives for the country and are deeply committed to its long-term security. We believe that seeing things on the ground and bringing this to the level of human beings makes all the difference.

The group's visit comes barely a month after Israel marked the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War, when the West Bank (and Hebron along with it) was captured from Jordan. What hadnt been planned, though, when these rabbis signed up was that their trip would coincide with one of the worst crises ever in relations between Israel and the American Jewish community.

Exactly one week before they boarded a bus to Hebron to experience the Israeli occupation up close, the Israeli government  as far as the vast majority American Jews were concerned  told them, in not so many words, to get lost. Last Sunday, the cabinet voted to retract its commitment to build a new and permanent egalitarian prayer plaza at the Western Wall where non-Orthodox Jews (who represent the overwhelming majority in the United States) would have been able to hold mixed-prayer services. Later in the day, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation voted to advance legislation that would deny recognition of any conversions performed in Israel outside the Orthodox state-sanctioned system. That latter decision has since been put on hold.

These government actions have sparked an unprecedented backlash from American Jewish leaders. Might they now find the courage take a stand against other Israeli policies deemed harmful to the future of Israeli democracy  the occupation, for example? This was not a question any of these particular rabbis was ready to address on this trip, at least not on record.

As Frima (Merphie) Bubis, their 23-year-old Israeli-born guide from Breaking the Silence, said to them: Its so much easier to talk about womens rights, the Kotel (Western Wall) and egalitarian minyanim (prayer forums).

Settler mindset

Before heading into Hebron, the bus makes a short detour to the nearby settlement of Kiryat Arba. By way of introduction, Bubis points out two sites that speak volumes about the mindset of the local settler population: a park named after Meir Kahane, the racist American-born rabbi whose political party was outlawed in Israel, and the burial place of Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish-American physician who lived in town and who, on the Jewish holiday of Purim in 1994, shot dead 29 Palestinians praying in the nearby Tomb of the Patriarchs.

The rabbis can hardly conceal their shock at the words inscribed on his tombstone: His hands are clean and his heart is pure.

Hebron is the only Palestinian city in the West Bank that has an Israeli settlement located within it. A total of about 850 Israelis (including about 200 yeshiva students, who are not full-time residents) live here among 200,000 Palestinians  among them, some of the most radical and violent settlers to have emerged during a half-century of occupation. To make sure that the city's tiny Jewish population is protected, hundreds of Israeli soldiers patrol the streets here.

But even this very conspicuous military presence is not enough, as the rabbis on the tour soon learn. To avoid friction between the two hostile populations, Israel has imposed heavy restrictions on the movement of Palestinian residents in what used to be bustling downtown Hebron.

Bubis opens a map filled with a maze of different colored lines to illustrate her point. On roads delineated in purple, she points out, Palestinians cannot drive vehicles. On those marked with purple-and-gold stripes, not only are Palestinians prohibited from driving  they are not allowed to open businesses. On roads delineated in red, not only can they not drive or open businesses, they are not even permitted to walk. These red roads, the guide explains, are known in army jargon as sterile.

The situation for Palestinians has improved, Bubis acknowledges. Until just a few years ago, on streets where pedestrian movement was allowed, Palestinians were forced to walk down very narrow paths sealed off by barricades. Those barricades have since been removed. And until just a few years ago, along one of the city's main streets, they were not allowed to exit their homes through the front door. Rather, they were forced to climb up onto their roofs and jump along the roofs of their neighbors to exit through a back way. Those restrictions are no longer enforced either.

By midday, the temperatures are shooting up and it becomes difficult to stand outside in the unshaded street. So Muhanned Qafesha, a local journalist and an activist in Youth Against Settlements  a Palestinian organization that advocates nonviolent resistance against the occupation, comes to brief the rabbis in their air-conditioned bus. The walk from his office to the bus should have taken all of four minutes, but after being held up at a military checkpoint, as he explains while apologizing for the delay, the trip took four times as long.

You people dont live here in Hebron, like I do, he laments. You come from America and from Israel, but because of the occupation, ironically, you have more rights in this city than I do.

Rabbi Daniel Burg, a Conservative rabbi from Baltimore, has visited the West Bank before but had never been to Hebron. What was most eye-opening for me, he says on the trip back, was all the minutiae  how from street to street, neighborhood to neighborhood, decisions are made in various offices that have such a profound effect on the lives of individuals here.

His primary motivation for signing up for the trip, he says, was his deep curiosity about Breaking the Silence. I was intrigued to find out whether they deserve all the vitriol coming their way, Burg explains. Instinctively, I felt that they didnt, but I wanted to find out for myself.

His conclusion? If this young woman leading our group today is representative, then I would say its a very important organization.

Rabbi Michael Adam Latz, who runs a progressive congregation in Minneapolis, called the Hebron tour eye-opening and heart-wrenching. Clearly there have been terrible acts of heinous violence on both sides  Israeli and Palestinian, he says. But Israel is the occupying force here, and for me, that is deeply deeply distressing.

Missing voices

On the way back to Jerusalem, the rabbis stop at a hotel in the Palestinian town of Beit Jala, just outside the city, to collect their thoughts and share impressions. For me, says Stephanie Kramer, a Reform rabbi from Santa Rosa, California, every time I heard the term sterile used to describe a street, it was really painful. Some of the other rabbis nod their heads in agreement.

SaraLeya Schley, a rabbi and gynecologist from Berkeley, California, says she would have liked to have heard other voices as well. I found my heart continually breaking, she tells the group, but it would have been good to hear from the settlers as well  to hear from them why they are there.

Kramer responds that for her, the trip would have achieved better balance had the IDF been able to present its side as well. I would hate to hear that there are things, besides security considerations, that are guiding them, she says.

Another rabbi challenges his colleagues to step back for a moment and consider the settler claims. Doesnt a people that has returned to its homeland have a right to live where it chooses? he asks them. Isnt that a moral right?

Ending their discussion, the Orthodox rabbi wonders aloud how best to share his experiences with his community back home. Im going to have to figure out how to talk to them about the occupation without actually using that word, he says.

This article was first published by Haaretz -

 Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.
By Finian Cunningham

July 07, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The US' strategy has been to isolate Russia internationally. Evidently, it is Washington that is becoming more isolated on the global stage. This week in the run-up to the G20 summit in Germany, the reverse in fortunes could not be more glaring.

While North Korea was openly defying Washington with a breakthrough ballistic missile test, and US President Donald Trump was embroiled in his usual juvenile tweeting antics, Russia and Chinas leaders were proudly consolidating their strategic alliance for a new multipolar global order.

Western media wont acknowledge as much, but the meeting this week in Moscow between Putin and Xi Jinping was of historical importance. We are witnessing a global transition in power. And for the common good.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping bond through an apparent deep sense of mutual respect and wisdom about the political challenges facing todays world. The two leaders have met on more than 20 occasions over the past four years. President Xi referred to Russia as Chinas foremost ally and said that in a topsy-turvy world the friendship between the two was a source of countervailing stability.

On the breaking news of North Koreas successful test launch of its first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), both Putin and Xi called for calm restraint. By contrast, US President Trump took to Twitter to taunt Kim Jong-Un. Does this guy not have anything better to do with his life? said Trump in words that could apply more pertinently to the American president.

Then the US and its South Korea ally also launched their ballistic missiles in a military drill aimed as a show of strength to Pyongyang. Kim Jung-Un responded that the ICBM was a gift for the American bastards on their Fourth of July Independence Day holiday and that there would more such gifts on the way.

Rather than escalating tensions, Putin and Xi put forward the eminently reasonable proposal that North Korea should freeze its missile tests and the US should likewise halt its military exercises on the Korean peninsula. All sides must convene in negotiations with a commitment to non-violence and without preconditions to strive for a comprehensive settlement to the decades-old dispute.

The contrast in Putin and Xis dignified, intelligent response with that of Trumps petulance is clear proof of Russia and China showing real global leadership, whereas the Americans are just part of the problem.

But the Korean drama was only one illustration this week of how American ambitions of unipolar dominance have become redundant.

The G20 summit prelude of Putin hosting Xi in Moscow was followed by the Chinese president making a state visit to Germany on Wednesday two days before the gathering in Hamburg. Xi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly signed new trade deals between the worlds two leading export economies.

Relations between China and Germany are at their historic best, said Michael Clauss, Germanys ambassador to Beijing. The economic and political dynamic from a German perspective is moving toward the east.

Of significance too was news this week the European Union is preparing to finalize a major trade pact with Japan.

It is also significant that Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on China and Russia to help mediate the Korean crisis immediately following Pyongyangs ICMB test launch.

Evidently, Japan, despite being an ally of Washington, is reaching out to a multilateral solution as proposed by Moscow and Beijing.

In so many ways, therefore, whether on matters of security or trade and economy, the world appears to be moving inexorably toward a multipolar format as the most appropriate response to challenges.

Not so from the American point of view, especially under Donald Trumps leadership. All nations seem to be nothing more than a footstool for the exceptional Americans who feel entitled to hector and browbeat everyone else to get what they want.

Americas isolation in the world was glimpsed at the G7 summit earlier this year in May when the other nations awkwardly diverged from Trump on his decision to withdraw the US from the global climate accord. Two months on, the isolation of Washington is even more vivid on the world stage as G20 leaders gather in Hamburg this weekend.

A Bloomberg News headline put it succinctly: Trump risks uniting Cold War allies and foes against him.

Trumps quest for America First through trade protectionism and his narrow-minded unilateralism toward issues of global security have put America out on a limb as far as the rest of the world is concerned.

Where is the American team player, the supposed leader of the free world? All the self-proclaimed virtues are being seen for what they always were: overblown, pretentious and vainglorious bombast.

America is seen as nothing more than a selfish, hulking giant. Its trade imbalances with the rest of the world are not because of rotten deals, as Trump would have it, but rather because the American economy has ruined itself over many decades. The off-shoring of jobs by American corporations and gutting of American workers with poverty wages are part of it.

When America now talks about upholding international law and security, the rest of the world just laughs with bitter irony. The wars across the Middle East and the sponsoring of terrorism are largely US products of criminal regime-change intrigues. Who is this deluded head-case in Washington?

The same deluded head-case that has beautiful chocolate cake with Chinas president in a Florida beach resort, and then proceeds to slap sanctions on China and make provocative military incursions on its territory. Its not just Trump. Its the whole American political leadership. The American ruling class has become so blinded by hubris that it cant even see how the world it claims to dominate is collectively shutting the door on it and walking away.

Washington has no answers for todays world challenges. Because simply put, Washington is the source of many of todays problems. It has not even the modesty to acknowledge its responsibility. The only thing the US seems capable of is to make current problems fiendishly worse. The Korean crisis is an object lesson.

Presidents Putin and Xi are not scheming to usurp world domination, as Washington would have us believe. Only in Washington would a vision for a multipolar, more democratic global order be construed as something threatening and sinister. Thats because American ambitions of unipolar full spectrum dominance are actually threatening and sinister.

The world can be thankful it has genuine leaders in Putin and Xi who are forging ahead to create a multipolar global order. Fortunately, the strategic alliance between Russia and China is underpinned by a formidable military capability. Joint naval exercises this month carried out in the Baltic Sea are a vital insurance policy to back up what Moscow and Beijing are increasingly bold enough to say to the Americans.
Deception Inside Deception: The Alleged Sarin Gas Attack

By Paul Craig Roberts

July 07, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Seymour Hersh, Americas most famous investigative reporter, has become persona non grata in the American Propaganda Ministry that poses as a news media but only serves to protect the US governments war lies. Among his many triumphs Hersh exposed the American My Lai massacre in Vietnam and the Abu Ghraib torture prison run by the Americans in Iraq. Today his investigative reports have to be published in the London Review of Books or in the German Media.

From Hershs latest investigative report, we learn that President Trump makes war decisions by watching staged propaganda on TV. The White Helmets, a propaganda organization for jihadists and the Syrian opposition, found a gullible reception from the Western media for photographs and videos of alleged victims of a Syrian Army sarin gas attack on civilians in Khan Sheikhoun. Trump saw the photos on TV and despite being assured by US intelligence that there was no Syrian sarin gas attack, ordered the US military to strike a Syrian base with Tomahawk missiles. Under international law this strike was a war crime, and it was the first direct aggression against Syria by the US which previously committed aggression via proxies called the Syrian opposition.

Reporting on his sources, Hersh writes: In a series of interviews, I learned of the total disconnect between the president and many of his military advisers and intelligence officials, as well as officers on the ground in the region who had an entirely different understanding of the nature of Syrias attack on Khan Sheikhoun. I was provided with evidence of that disconnect, in the form of transcripts of real-time communications, immediately following the Syrian attack on April 4.

The belief that sarin gas was involved in the attack comes from what appears to be a gas cloud. Hersh was informed by US military experts that sarin is oderless and invisible and makes no cloud. What appears to have happened is that the explosion from the air attack on ISIS caused a series of secondary explosions that produced a toxic cloud formed by fertilizers and chlorine disinfectants that were stored in the building that was hit.

US officials spoke with Hersh, because they are distrubed that President Trump based a war decision on TV propaganda and refused to listen to the detailed counter-assessments of his intelligence and military services. A national security source told Hersh: Everyone close to him knows his proclivity for acting precipitously when he does not know the facts. He doesnt read anything and has no real historical knowledge. He wants verbal briefings and photographs. Hes a risk-taker. He can accept the consequences of a bad decision in the business world; he will just lose money. But in our world, lives will be lost and there will be long-term damage to our national security if he guesses wrong. He was told we did not have evidence of Syrian involvement and yet Trump says: Do it.

Concerns about Trumps purely emotional reaction to TV propaganda persist. Hersh reports that a senior national security adviser told him: The Salafists and jihadists got everything they wanted out of their hyped-up Syrian nerve gas ploy (the flare up of tensions between Syria, Russia and America). The issue is, what if theres another false flag sarin attack credited to hated Syria? Trump has upped the ante and painted himself into a corner with his decision to bomb. And do not think these guys are not planning the next faked attack. Trump will have no choice but to bomb again, and harder. Hes incapable of saying he made a mistake.

As we know, the White House has already released a statement predicting that Assad is preparing another chemical attack, for which, the White House promises, he will pay a heavy price. Clearly, a false flag attack is on the way.

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/06/30/washington-new-threat-against-syria-russia-iran-invitation-false-flag-operation.html

By all means, read Hershs report: https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article165905578/Trump-s-Red-Line.html It reveals a president who makes precipitious decisions likely to cause a war with Russia.

I do not doubt Sy Hershs integrity. I accept that he has accurately reported what he was told by US officials. My suspicions about this story do not have to do with Hersh. They have to do with what Hersh was told.

Hershs report puts Trump in a very bad light, and it puts the military/security complex, which we know has been trying to destroy Trump, in a very good light. Moreover, the story strikes me as inconsistent with the subsequent attack on the Syrian fighter-bomber by the US military. If the Tomahawk attack on the Syrian base was unjustified, what justified downing a Syrian war plane? Did Trump order this attack as well? If not, who did? Why?

If national security advisers gave Trump such excellent information about the alleged sarin gas attack, completely disproving any such attack, why was he given such bad advice about shooting down a Syrian war plane, or was it done outside of channels? The effect of the shootdown is to raise the chance of a confrontation with Russia, because Russias response apparently has been to declare a no-fly zone over the area of Russian and Syrian operations.

How do we know that what Hersh was told was true? What if Trump was encouraged to order the Tomahawk strike as a way of interjecting the US directly into the conflict? Both the US and Israel have powerful reasons for wanting to overthrow Assad. However, ISIS, sent to do the job, has been defeated by Russia and Syria. Unless Washington can somehow get directly involved, the war is over.

The story Hersh was given also serves to damn Trump while absolving the intelligence services. Trump takes the hit for injecting the US directly into the conflict.

Hershs story reads well, but it easily could be a false story planted on him. I am not saying that the story is false, but unless we learn more, it could be.

What we do know is that the story given to Hersh by national security officials is inconsistent with the June 26 White House announcement that the US has identified potential preparations for another chemical attack by the Assad regime. The White House does not have the capability to conduct its own foreign intelligence gathering. The White House is informed by the national security and intelligence agencies.

In the story given to Hersh, these officials are emphatic that not only were chemical weapons removed from Syria, but also that Assad would not use them or be permitted by the Russians to use them even if he had them. Moreover, Hersh reports that he was told that Russia fully informed the US of the Syrian attack on ISIS in advance. The weapon was a guided bomb that Russia had suppied to Syria. Therefore, it could not have been a chemical weapon.

As US national security officials made it clear to Hersh that they do not believe Syria did or would use any chemical weapons, what is the source for the White Houses announcement that preparations for another chemical attack by the Assad regime have been identified?

Who lined up UN ambassador Nikki Haley and the UK Defence Minister Michael Fallon to be ready with statements in support of the White House announcement? Haley says: Any further attacks done to the people of Syria will be blamed on Assad, but also on Russia & Iran who support him killing his own people. Fallon says: we will support future US action in response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

How clear does an orchestration have to be before people are capable of recognizing the orchestration?

The intelligence agencies put out the story via Hersh that there were no chemical attacks, so what attacks is Niki Haley speaking about?

A reasonable conclusion is that Washingtons plan to use ISIS to overthrow Syria and then start on Iran was derailed by Russian and Syrian military success against ISIS. The US then tried to partition Syria by occupying part of it, but were out-manuevered by the Russians and Syrians. This left direct US involvement as the only alternative to defeat. This direct US military involvement began with the US attack on the Syrian military base and was followed by shooting down a Syrian war plane. The next stage will be a US-staged false flag chemical attack or alleged chemical attack, and this false flag, as has already been announced, will be the excuse for larger scale US military action against Syria, which, unless the Russians abandon Syria, means conflict with Russia, Iran, and perhaps China.

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/us-military-put-alert-washington-waiting-excuse-attack-syria-russian-senator/ri20238

http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/06/new-wave-of-anti-syrian-provocations.html

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West , How America Was Lost , and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order .
Putins Assessment of Trump at the G-20 Will Determine Our Future

By Paul Craig Roberts

July 07, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The backdrops to the Putin/Trump meeting are the aspirations of Israel and the neoconservatives. It is these aspirations that drive US foreign policy.

What is Syria about? Why is Washington so focused on overthrowing the elected president of Syria? What explains the sudden 21st century appearance of the Muslim threat? How is Washingtons preoccupation with the Muslim threat consistent with Washingtons wars against Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi, and Assad, leaders who suppressed jihadism? What explains the sudden appearance of the Russian threat which has been hyped into dangerous Russophobia without any basis in fact?

The Muslim threat, the Russian threat, and the lies used to destroy Iraq, Libya, and parts of Syria are all orchestrations to serve Israeli and neoconservative aspirations.

The Israel Lobby in the United States, perhaps most strongly represented in Commentary, The Weekly Standard and The New York Times, used the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon to urge US President George W. Bush to begin a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from Power in Iraq. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century

See also: http://www.ihr.org/leaflets/iraqwar.shtml

Saddam Hussein was a secular leader whose job was to sit on the animosities of the Sunni and Shia and maintain a non-violent political stability in Iraq. He, Assad, and Gaddafi suppressed the extremism that leads to jihadism. Saddam had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11, and under his rule Iraq constituted a ZERO threat to the US. He had been a faithful vassal and attacked Iran for Washington, which had hopes of using Iraq to overthrow the Iranian government.

Removing secular leaders is what unleashes jihadism. Washington unleashed Muslim terrorism by regime change that murdered secular leaders and left countries in chaos.

Fomenting chaos in Iraq was the beginning for spreading chaos into Syria and then Iran. Syria and Iran support Hezbollah, the militia in southern Lebanon that has twice driven out the Israeli Army sent in to occupy southern Lebanon so that Israel could appropriate the water resources.

The neoconservatives wars against the Middle East serve to remove the governments that provide military and financial support to Hezbollah. By spreading jihadism closer to the Russian Federation, these wars coincide perfectly with the US neoconservative policy of US World Hegemony. As expressed by Paul Wolfowitz, US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy:

Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere, that poses a threat on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union. This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power.

Israel wants Syria and Iran to join Iraq and Libya in American-induced chaos so that Israel can steal the water in southern Lebanon. If Syria and Iran are in chaos like Iraq and Libya, Hezbollah will not have the military and financial support to withstand the Israeli military.

The neoconservatives have broader aims than Israels. The neoconservatives want Syria and Iran in jihadist turmoil so that the neoconservatives can send jihadism into the Russian Federation and into China. China has a Muslim province that borders Kazakhstan. By causing internal problems for Russia and China, the neoconservatives can reduce Russia and Chinas abilities to hinder US unilateralism.

That is what Syria is about. It is not about anything else.

The Muslim threat appeared suddenly with the 9/11 attack on the WTC and Pentagon. The attack was instantly blamed on Muslims. Although the US government maintained that it had no idea that such an attack was in the works, the US government knew instantly who did it. Quite clearly, it is impossible to know instantly who did an attack about which the government had no idea. In what has become the hallmark of every terrorist attack, IDs left at the scene conveniently identified the terrorists.

There are now 3,000 architects and engineers who put their reputation on the line by challenging the official story of the collapse of the WTC buildings. According to all known science, the official explanation of the destruction of the 3 highrise WTC buildings is strictly impossible. There is endless evidence online provided not by ignorant presstitutes, conspiracy theorists, and lying politicians, but by real experts. Just go to the Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth website, to the Firefighters and First responders for 9/11 Truth website, to the Pilots for 9/11 Truth website. Research what some foreign government officials have to say about the absurd story told by the US government. That any percentage of the US population believes the obvious false official 9/11 story is proof of the total failure of education in America. Much of the population is incapable of thought. People simply accept whatever the government tells them regardless of the absurdity of the explanation.

Where did the alleged Muslim threat come from? What produced it? 9/11 happened before Washington destroyed in whole or part seven Muslim countries, killing, maiming, orphaning, and displacing millions of Muslims who are now overrunning Washingtons vassal states in Europe. Such wars on innocents could produce terrorists, but 9/11 was prior to Washingtons wars against Muslims.

Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda were Washingtons allies against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda most certainly did not have the inside information and inside connections to outwit all 17 US intelligence agencies, the National Security Council, all intelligence agencies of Washingtons NATO vassals and Mossad, and airport security four times in the same hour on the same morning.

Moreover, in the last video attributed to bin Laden by independent experts, bin Laden said he had no motive for any such attack and had nothing to do with it. Generally speaking, real terrorists claim responsibility whether they did it or not in order to build the movement by showing its capability. It makes no sense that the mastermind allegedly determined to overthrow the West would disavow the greatest humiliation ever inflicted on a major power. The United States was completely humiliated by its impotence against a handful of Muslims with nothing but box cutters. This humiliation is a world record that will stand forever. It is impossible that the alleged terrorist, bin Laden, would repudiate such an accomplishment.

This fact alone proves that Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11.

Anyone who believes the official 9/11 story, like anyone who believes Oswald killed JFK, like anyone who still believes that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and Al-Qaeda connections, that Assad used chemical weapons, who believes the Gulf of Tonkin lie, who believes that Sirhan Sirhan killed RFK, that Russia invaded Ukraine, etc., is too far gone to ever be rescued from The Matrix in which they live.

I do not know if the insouciance and gullibility of peoples in the West extends into Latin American, Africa, and Asia. Some of the people in Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia, whose governments are slated for regime change by Washington, must be aware that they are not in control of their own fate. But how widely spread is awareness of Washingtons lust for world hegemony? The only signs of awareness are the initial and limited agreements between Russia and China.

To this day, not a single European government has made the connection between Washingtons wars, supported by Europe, and the millions of refugees from Washingtons wars that are overrunning Europe, intent on collecting welfare from European peoples while raping European women. We hear all sorts of complaints about the refugees, but never is a connection made between the refugees and Washingtons European supported wars.

Washington so successfully portrayed itself during the Cold War as peace, justice, and truth astriding the white horse that the world cannot see Satan sitting in the saddle.

Now that Washingtons 16 years of inhumane war against Muslim populations have destroyed the lives of millions of peoples, why arent there 9/11s every day? Instead are there only a few alleged terror attacks carried out by individuals, which appear to many to be orchestrated false flag events, such as individuals running over people with trucks in France and England, shooting up a French deli and magazine office. But nothing in the US, the Great Satan. Very suspicious.

The orchestrated event of 9/11 was the neoconservatives New Pearl Harbor that provided the excuse for wars that advanced their purpose and Israels. It was the neoconservatives themselves who said that they needed a new Pearl Harbor in order to begin their wars in the Middle East.

Why dont Americans and Europeans know this? The answer is because the US and Europe do not have independent medias. They have presstitutes.

Washington created the Russian threat when the Obama regimes frameup of Assad on his alleged use of chemical weapons failed. The UK PM David Cameron pledged Great Britains cover for Washingtons invasion of Syria, but the UK Parliament voted no. No more UK coverups for Washingtons war crimes, said the Parliament. Russia stepped in and said, no need for more war. We have an agreement with Syria. We are going to collect all chemical weapons and turn them over to the US for destruction. The US is probably using these chemical weapons turned over by naive Russians for the false flag chemical attacks in Syria.

Stymied in their war aims against Syria, the neoconservatives turned with fury against Russia. How dare the insignificent Russians get in the way of the exceptional, indispensable people! We will teach Russians a lesson! Washington unleashed on the democratically elected government of Ukraine the US-financed NGOs in the amount of $5 billion according to Assistant Secretary of State neoconservative Victoria Nuland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2fYcHLouXY

Not realizing its vulnerability, Russia was focused on the Sochi Olympics and suddenly found that Ukraine had undergone a US coup and was committing violence against the Russian populations in Ukraine. Previously in history Soviet leaders had assigned Russia provinces to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the USSR. These Russians faced with violence by the neo-Nazi government installed in Kiev by Washington demanded to be reunited with Russia from whence they had come.

Russia agreed to take back Crimea because of the Russian Black Sea Naval Base, but refused the other Russian areas, Donetsk and Luhansk. Hoping against all rationality to convince Europe that Russia was non-aggresive, Russia refused the Russian breakaway republics and left them to the mercy of the Kiev neo-Nazis that continue to attack them in violation of the agreements.

The Russian governments tolerance for provocations and insults makes the Russian government look like a weakling to the American neoconservatives, who continue to demonize Russia and its president and to press for more sanctions and more bases on Russias borders. Prior to his meeting with Putin, Trump, according to the BBC, called on Russia to stop destabilising Ukraine and other countries, and join the community of responsible nations. How is that for standing truth on its head?

The Russian desire for Western acceptance could end up compromising Russias sovereignty. Washington is figuring out how much sovereignty Russia will give up in exchange for being granted acceptance by the West.

The Russians are also endangered by their belief that Muslim terrorism is a world threat. It is a delusion for the Russian government to think they can reach an agreement with Washington to fight terrorism jointly. The Russians simply cannot accept that terrorism is Washingtons weapon directed against them.

The only reason Muslim terrorism exists is that Washington created it. Washington first used jihadism against the Soviet army in Afghanistan. Then against Gaddafi in Libya. Then when Obamas plan to invade Syria on the trumped-up chemical weapons charge was blocked by the UK Parliament and Russia, Obama sent ISIS to overthrow Assad. General Flynn, who was the director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency stated this matter-of-factly on Al Jazeera. Flynn said it was a willful decision of the Obama administration to send ISIS to overthrow Assad. This is why Russias hopes of a common front against ISIS never made any sense.

Jihadism is Washingtons best weapon with which to destabilize Russia. Why would Washington help Russia to defeat this weapon?

There is so much fake news and disinformation spread in the Western media that it even affects the Russians, perhaps even the Chinese.

Even Western analysts who reject the official Syria story still buy into the lie that Assad is a dictator.

When Putin meets with Trump, Putin will have to assess whether Trump is a real president or just another front man for the powerful interest groups that run Washingtons empire.

If Putin concludes that Trump is merely a front man, then Putin has no alternative but to prepare for war.

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West , How America Was Lost , and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order .
The Bizarre Case of Bashar

By Uri Avnery



July 07, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Conan Doyle, the creator of the legendary Sherlock Holmes, would have titled his story about this incident "The Bizarre Case of Bashar al-Assad". And bizarre it is. It concerns the evil deeds of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator, who bombed his own people with Sarin, a nerve gas, causing gruesome deaths of the victims.



Like everybody else around the world, I heard about the foul deed a few hours after it happened. Like everybody else, I was shocked. And yetAND YET, I am a professional investigative journalist. For 40 years of my life I was the editor-in-chief of an investigative weekly magazine, which exposed nearly all of Israel's major scandals during those years. I have never lost a major libel suit, indeed I have rarely been sued at all. I am mentioning this not to boast, but to lend some authority to what I am going to say.



In my time I have decided to publish thousands of investigative articles, including some which concerned the most important people in Israel. Less well known is that I have also decided not to publish many hundreds of others, which I found lacked the necessary credibility. How did I decide? Well, first of all I asked for proof. Where is the evidence? Who are the witnesses? Is there written documentation?



But there was always something which cannot be defined. Beyond witnesses and documents there is something inside the mind of an editor which tells him or her: wait, something wrong here. Something missing. Something that doesn't rhyme. It is a feeling. Call it an inner voice. A kind of intuition. A warning that tells you, the minute you hear about the case for the first time: Beware. Check it again and again.



This is what happened to me when I first heard that, on April 4, Bashar al-Assad had bombed Khan Sheikhoun with nerve gas. My inner voice whispered: wait. Something wrong. Something smells fishy.



FIRST OF ALL, it was too quick. Just a few hours after the event, everybody knew it was Bashar who did it. Of course, it was Bashar! No need for proof. No need to waste time checking. Who else but Bashar? Well, there are plenty of other candidates. The war in Syria is not two-sided. Not even three- or four-sided. It is almost impossible to count the sides.



There is Bashar, the dictator, and his close allies: the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Party of God (Hizb-Allah) in Lebanon, both Shiite. There is Russia, closely supporting. There is the US, the far-away enemy, which supports half a dozen (who is counting?) local militias. There are the Kurdish militias, And there is, of course, Daesh (or ISIS, or ISIL or IS), the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (Al-Sham is the Arabic name for Greater Syria.) This is not a neat war of one coalition against another. Everybody is fighting with everybody else against everybody else. Americans and Russians with Bashar against Daesh. Americans and Kurds against Bashar and the Russians. The "rebel" militias against each other and against Bashar and Iran. And so on. (Somewhere there is Israel, too, but hush.)



So in this bizarre battlefield, how could anyone tell within minutes of the gas attack that it was Bashar who did it?



Political logic did not point that way. Lately, Bashar has been winning. He had no reason at all to do something that would embarrass his allies, especially the Russians.



THE FIRST question Sherlock Holmes would ask is: What is the motive? Who has something to gain? Bashar had no motive at all. He could only lose by gas-bombing his citizens. Unless, of course, he is crazy. And nothing indicates that he is. On the contrary, he seems to be in full control of his senses. Even more normal than Donald Trump.



I don't like dictators. I don't like Bashar al-Assad, a dictator and the son of a dictator. (Assad, by the way, means lion.) But I understand why he is there. Until long after World War I, Lebanon was a part of the Syrian state. Both countries are a hotchpotch of sects and peoples. In Lebanon there are Christian Maronites, Melkite Greeks, Greek Catholics, Roman Catholics, Druze, Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims and diverse others. The Jews have mostly left. All these exist in Syria, too, with the addition of the Kurds and the Alawites, the followers of Ali, who may be Muslims or not (depends who is talking). Syria is also divided by the towns which hate each other: Damascus, the political and religious capital and Aleppo, the economic capital, with several cities  Homs, Hama, Latakia - in between. Most of the country is desert.



After many civil wars, the two countries found two different solutions. In Lebanon, they agreed a national covenant, according to which the president is always a Maronite, the prime minister always a Sunni Muslim, the commander of the army always a Druze and the speaker of the Parliament, a powerless job, always a Shiite. (Until Hizballah, the Shiites were on the lowest rung of the ladder.) In Syria, a much more violent place, they found a different solution: a kind of agreed-on dictatorship. The dictator was chosen from among one of the least powerful sects: the Alawis. (Bible-lovers will be reminded that when the Israelites chose their first King, they took Saul, a member of the smallest tribe.)



That's why Bashar continues to rule. The different sects and localities are afraid of each other. They need the dictator. What does Donald Trump know about these intricacies? Well, nothing. He was deeply shocked by the pictures of the victims of the gas attack. Women! Children! Beautiful Babies! So he decided on the spot to punish Bashar by bombing one of his airfields.



After making the decision, he called in his generals. They feebly objected. They knew that Bashar was not involved. In spite of being enemies, the American and Russian air forces work in Syria in close cooperation (another bizarre detail) in order to avoid incidents and start World War III. So they know about every mission.The Syrian air-force is part of this arrangement. The generals seem to be the only half-way normal people around Trump, but Trump refused to listen. So they launched their missiles to destroy a Syrian airfield.



America was enthusiastic. All the important anti-Trump newspapers, led by the New York Times and the Washington Post, hastened to express their admiration for his genius.



In comes Seymour Hersh, a world-renowned investigative reporter, the man who exposed the American massacres in Vietnam and the American torture chambers in Iraq. He investigated the incident in depth and found that there is absolutely no evidence and almost no possibility that Bashar used nerve gas in Khan Sheikhoun.



What happened next? Something incredible: all the renowned US newspapers, including the New York Times and The New Yorker, refused to publish. So did the prestigious London Review of Books. In the end, he found a refuge in the German Welt am Sonntag.



For me, that is the real story. One would like to believe that the world  and especially the "Western World" - is full of honest newspapers, which investigate thoroughly and publish the truth. That is not so. Sure, they probably do not consciously lie. But they are unconscious prisoners of lies.



Some weeks after the incident an Israeli radio station interviewed me on the phone. The interviewer, a right-wing journalist, asked me about Bashar's dastardly use of gas against his own citizens. I answered that I had seen no evidence of his responsibility.



The interviewer was audibly shocked. He speedily changed the subject. But his tone of voice betrayed his thoughts: "I always knew that Avnery was a bit crazy, but now he is completely off his rocker."



Unlike the good old Sherlock, I don't know who did it. Perhaps Bashar, after all. I only know that there is absolutely no evidence for that.
Watch John Oliver Warn of Conservative Takeover of Unbiased Local News



"With Sinclair [Broadcast Group], they're injecting Fox-worthy content into the mouths of your local news anchors," host says on 'Last Week Tonight'



By Daniel Kreps

July 07, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - John Oliver looked at the troubling conservative takeover of unbiased local news broadcasts on Last Week Tonight.

"Our main story tonight concerns the potential problems in corporate consolidation of local news, don't you dare change the channel," Oliver warned.

"Sinclair [Broadcast Group] may be the most influential media company that you've never heard of: Not only are they the largest owner of local TV stations in the country, they could soon get ever bigger," Oliver said, referring to Sinclair's $4 billion acquisition of Tribune Media's 42 local stations.

Last Week Tonight discovered that when you combine the most watched nightly newscasts on Sinclair/Tribune stations in their largest market, the average total viewership is 2.2 million households, which easily trumps any nightly news shows on Fox News.

Oliver's issue with Sinclair is that they feed their stations conservative-leaning opinion segments, including one hosted by noted lying Trump associate Boris Epshteyn.

"If the opinions were confined just to the commentary and the ad breaks, that would be one thing," Oliver said. "But Sinclair can sometimes dictate the content of the local newscast as well, and in contrast with Fox News  a basically conservative outlet where you know what you're getting  with Sinclair, they're injecting Fox-worthy content into the mouths of your local news anchors."

Oliver showed a montage of Sinclair-owned newscasts reading a company-issued script in defense of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Often, these scripts and segments  including Epshteyn and the fearmongering "Terrorist Alert Desk"  are "must-runs" that Sinclair demands make it to the broadcast.

Some of the Sinclair stations are rebelling against their parent company, like Seattle's KOMO, who air the more controversial "must-runs" in the 4 a.m. hour. However, the Tribune merger threatens to spread the company's agenda even further into more markets.

Last Week Tonight then aired a "must-run"  starring The Sopranos' Steve Schirippa  that Tribune companies can broadcast to warn their viewers of the impending Sinclair takeover. "If this becomes a Sinclair station, good luck with that shit," the actor says.

This article was first published by Rollin Stone -

 Rolling Stone 2017
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Home The Saudi-Israeli Alliance



Riyadh is in a hurry to legitimize its burgeoning relationship with Israel, and silence all critics



By Abdel Bari Atwan



July 07, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The evolving relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia is set to become a key feature of regional politics in the forthcoming phase. This goes beyond the creeping normalization of relations between the two sides and the holding of discreet contacts, to the formation of an undeclared but far-reaching alliance.



Retired Saudi general Anwar al-Eshki shed some light on this in an interview last week on the German TV channel Deutsche Welle, in which he provided insights into a number of unexplained issues: most importantly, why Saudi Arabia has been so adamant about getting the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir transferred from Egypts sovereignty to its own as quickly a possible.



The evolving relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia is set to become a key feature of regional politics in the forthcoming phase. This goes beyond the creeping normalization of relations between the two sides and the holding of discreet contacts, to the formation of an undeclared but far-reaching alliance. Retired Saudi general Anwar al-Eshki shed some light on this in an interview last week on the German TV channel Deutsche Welle, in which he provided insights into a number of unexplained issues: most importantly, why Saudi Arabia has been so adamant about getting the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir transferred from Egypts sovereignty to its own as quickly a possible.





Eshki made clear that once Saudi Arabia assumes sovereignty over the two islands, it will abide by the Camp David Accords, and that the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace deal  which cut Egypt off from the Arab world and the Palestinian cause and led to the opening of an Israeli embassy in Cairo  would cease to be a purely bilateral agreement.



The general, who has been Saudi Arabias main frontman in its normalization process with Israel, explained that the new maritime border demarcation agreement with Egypt places both islands within the kingdoms territorial waters. Egypt and Saudi Arabia will therefore share control over the Strait of Tiran through which Israeli ships pass as they sail in and out of the Gulf of Aqaba, and the kingdom will accordingly establish a relationship with Israel.



Eshki made clear that once Saudi Arabia assumes sovereignty over the two islands, it will abide by the Camp David Accords, and that the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace deal  which cut Egypt off from the Arab world and the Palestinian cause and led to the opening of an Israeli embassy in Cairo  would cease to be a purely bilateral agreement. The general, who has been Saudi Arabias main frontman in its normalization process with Israel, explained that the new maritime border demarcation agreement with Egypt places both islands within the kingdoms territorial waters. Egypt and Saudi Arabia will therefore share control over the Strait of Tiran through which Israeli ships pass as they sail in and out of the Gulf of Aqaba, and the kingdom will accordingly establish a relationship with Israel.



True, Eshki also said that normalization of Saudi relations with Israel was contingent on the latter accepting the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. But he also spoke of an Israeli peace initiative that would bypass that plan. According to him, this proposes the establishment of a confederation that would connect the occupied Palestinian territories  he did not specify how or to whom  while postponing discussion of the fate of Jerusalem.



Eshki also used the interview to confirm what Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has often reiterated: that Saudi Arabia does not consider Israel to be an enemy. He maintained that this view is shared by ordinary Saudis, and is reflected in their tweets and comments on social media which they point out that Israel never once attacked the kingdom so is not its enemy, and that these citizens support normalizing relations with Israel.



Eshki is not a policymaker but a mouthpiece. He was carefully selected for the job of saying what he is told and promoting it. To understand what his words are aimed at achieving  and the main features of the new normalization scheme that is rapidly unfolding  we need only paraphrase the statements made by the current Israeli defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman: Normalization between the Arab states and Israel should be achieved first, and then followed by a Palestinian-Israeli peace. Israel cannot accept a situation in which normalization with the Arab states is left hostage to a resolution of the Palestinian issue. After all, Israel has signed peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan without ending the Palestinian conflict.



True, Eshki also said that normalization of Saudi relations with Israel was contingent on the latter accepting the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. But he also spoke of an Israeli peace initiative that would bypass that plan. According to him, this proposes the establishment of a confederation that would connect the occupied Palestinian territories  he did not specify how or to whom  while postponing discussion of the fate of Jerusalem. Eshki also used the interview to confirm what Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has often reiterated: that Saudi Arabia does not consider Israel to be an enemy. He maintained that this view is shared by ordinary Saudis, and is reflected in their tweets and comments on social media which they point out that Israel never once attacked the kingdom so is not its enemy, and that these citizens support normalizing relations with Israel. Eshki is not a policymaker but a mouthpiece. He was carefully selected for the job of saying what he is told and promoting it. To understand what his words are aimed at achieving  and the main features of the new normalization scheme that is rapidly unfolding  we need only paraphrase the statements made by the current Israeli defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman: Normalization between the Arab states and Israel should be achieved first, and then followed by a Palestinian-Israeli peace. Israel cannot accept a situation in which normalization with the Arab states is left hostage to a resolution of the Palestinian issue. After all, Israel has signed peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan without ending the Palestinian conflict.



The point that the handover of Tiran and Sanafir would commit Saudi Arabia to the Camp David accords, and to all obligations arising from them, was also stressed by the head of the Egyptian parliaments Defence and National Security Committee, Gen. Kamal Amer.



The conclusion that can be drawn is that the main purpose of the rush to restore the two islands to Saudi sovereignty is to accelerate the pace of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia and legitimize their evolving alliance. After all, Saudi Arabia possesses countless thousands of neglected islands dotted along its Red Sea and Gulf coastlines. It has no need for two additional small, barren and uninhabited outcrops. Even if it did, it managed well enough without them for 50 years during which they were either under Israeli occupation or Egyptian protection. Had it wanted, it could have waited and postponed this thorny issue for ten, twenty, or a hundred more years, so as to avoid embarrassing the Egyptian government and angering the Egyptian people.



The Saudi governments stage-setting for normalization with the Israeli occupation state is already well underway and gaining pace. Following Eshkis academic visits to Israel and former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisals security encounters, we have now begun to see Saudi analysts appearing on Israeli TV. The next step may be for Saudi ministers and princes to do the same.



The point that the handover of Tiran and Sanafir would commit Saudi Arabia to the Camp David accords, and to all obligations arising from them, was also stressed by the head of the Egyptian parliaments Defence and National Security Committee, Gen. Kamal Amer. The conclusion that can be drawn is that the main purpose of the rush to restore the two islands to Saudi sovereignty is to accelerate the pace of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia and legitimize their evolving alliance. After all, Saudi Arabia possesses countless thousands of neglected islands dotted along its Red Sea and Gulf coastlines. It has no need for two additional small, barren and uninhabited outcrops. Even if it did, it managed well enough without them for 50 years during which they were either under Israeli occupation or Egyptian protection. Had it wanted, it could have waited and postponed this thorny issue for ten, twenty, or a hundred more years, so as to avoid embarrassing the Egyptian government and angering the Egyptian people. The Saudi governments stage-setting for normalization with the Israeli occupation state is already well underway and gaining pace. Following Eshkis academic visits to Israel and former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisals security encounters, we have now begun to see Saudi analysts appearing on Israeli TV. The next step may be for Saudi ministers and princes to do the same.



The Saudi citizens who Eshki claimed were tweeting their support for friendship with Israel on the grounds that it has never attacked their country, and who support normalizing relations with it, are soldiers in the Saudi electronic army. They number in the thousands, and work under the auspices of Saudi intelligence and police. The overwhelming majority of Saudis are opposed to any form of normalization with the occupation state, for religious, Arab nationalist, patriotic, and moral reasons. We have absolutely no doubt about that. But we can understand the pressure they are under when a single tweet expressing sympathy for Qatar or criticism of Vision 2030 can cost the tweeter 15 years in prison or a $250,000 fine.



According to Haaretz and other Israeli media outlets, Crown Prince Muhammad bin-Salman, who is leading the Saudi march towards normalization and alliance with Israel, occupation state visited occupied Jerusalem in 2015. He has also holds regular meetings with Israeli officials, most recently when during the Arab summit held in Amman in March.



Not long ago Riyadh hosted the American journalist Thomas Friedman. (Perhaps this was a reward for his comment after the 9/11 attacks that the US should have invaded Saudi Arabia  the real source of terrorism  rather than Iraq in retaliation.) Friedman met with a number of officials before being granted a lengthy audience with Muhammad bin-Salman. He reported afterwards that not once during the five-hour encounter did the prince utter the word Palestine or mention the Arab-Israeli conflict.



The Saudi citizens who Eshki claimed were tweeting their support for friendship with Israel on the grounds that it has never attacked their country, and who support normalizing relations with it, are soldiers in the Saudi electronic army. They number in the thousands, and work under the auspices of Saudi intelligence and police. The overwhelming majority of Saudis are opposed to any form of normalization with the occupation state, for religious, Arab nationalist, patriotic, and moral reasons. We have absolutely no doubt about that. But we can understand the pressure they are under when a single tweet expressing sympathy for Qatar or criticism of Vision 2030 can cost the tweeter 15 years in prison or a $250,000 fine.



According to Haaretz and other Israeli media outlets, Crown Prince Muhammad bin-Salman, who is leading the Saudi march towards normalization and alliance with Israel, occupation state visited occupied Jerusalem in 2015. He has also holds regular meetings with Israeli officials, most recently when during the Arab summit held in Amman in March.



Not long ago Riyadh hosted the American journalist Thomas Friedman. (Perhaps this was a reward for his comment after the 9/11 attacks that the US should have invaded Saudi Arabia  the real source of terrorism  rather than Iraq in retaliation.) Friedman met with a number of officials before being granted a lengthy audience with Muhammad bin-Salman. He reported afterwards that not once during the five-hour encounter did the prince utter the word Palestine or mention the Arab-Israeli conflict.



Indeed, I challenge anyone to come up with a single instance in which the up-and-coming Saudi strongman refers to Palestine in any of his televised interviews.



Meanwhile, priority has been give to silencing and countering Arab voices that confront this evolving Saudi-Israeli alliance and expose its aims, implications and likely consequences  whether in the social or conventional media. Riyadhs demand for the closure of the Al-Jazeera channel affirms that the war it is currently waging is not against terror but against critical and free media.



We, too, have been and remain on the receiving-end of that war, subject to a furious on-going assault by the Saudi electronic army and a vicious and deliberate campaign of defamation. All one can say in response is to quote the saying: the coward dies one hundred times; the brave and free just once.



Indeed, I challenge anyone to come up with a single instance in which the up-and-coming Saudi strongman refers to Palestine in any of his televised interviews. Meanwhile, priority has been give to silencing and countering Arab voices that confront this evolving Saudi-Israeli alliance and expose its aims, implications and likely consequences  whether in the social or conventional media. Riyadhs demand for the closure of the Al-Jazeera channel affirms that the war it is currently waging is not against terror but against critical and free media.



We, too, have been and remain on the receiving-end of that war, subject to a furious on-going assault by the Saudi electronic army and a vicious and deliberate campaign of defamation. All one can say in response is to quote the saying: the coward dies one hundred times; the brave and free just once.



Abdel Bari Atwan is the editor-in-chief of Rai al-Youm, an Arab world digital news and opinion website. He was the editor-in-chief of the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi from the founding of that paper in 1989 until July 2013. 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
Something Smells Rotten With This!

US, Russia Announce Syria Cease-fire After Trump-Putin Talks



By VIVIAN SALAMA, JOSH LEDERMAN and KEN THOMAS

HAMBURG, Germany (AP)  The United States and Russia struck an agreement Friday on a cease-fire in southwest Syria, crowning President Donald Trumps first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is the first U.S.-Russian effort under Trumps presidency to stem Syrias six-year civil war.

The cease-fire goes into effect Sunday at noon Damascus time, according to U.S. officials and the Jordanian government, which is also involved in the deal.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who accompanied Trump in his meeting with Putin, said the understanding is designed to reduce violence in an area of Syria near Jordans border and which is critical to the U.S. allys security.

Its a very complicated part of the Syrian battlefield, Tillerson told reporters after the U.S. and Russian leaders met for about 2 hours and 15 minutes on the sidelines of a global summit in Hamburg, Germany.

Of the agreement, he said: I think this is our first indication of the U.S. and Russia being able to work together in Syria.

For years, the former Cold War foes have been backing opposing sides in Syrias war. Moscow has staunchly backed Syrian President Bashar Assad, supporting Syrian forces militarily since 2015. Washington has backed rebels fighting Assad. Both the U.S. and Russia oppose Islamic State militants and say theyre focused on rooting out the extremist group.

Russias top diplomat, who accompanied Putin in the meeting with Trump, said Russian military police will monitor the new truce. All sides will try to ensure aid deliveries to the area, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

The deal marks a new level of involvement for the Trump administration in trying to resolve Syrias civil war.

Trump ordered some 60 cruise missiles to be fired at a Syrian air base in April after accusing Assads forces of a deadly chemical weapons attack. But his top military and national security advisers pointedly said they had no intentions of intervening to oust Assad. And they stopped short of endorsing Russian-led or U.N. peace mediation efforts between Assads government and rebel groups.

Israel also is part of the agreement, one U.S. official said, who like others wasnt authorized to speak publicly on the matter ahead of Tillersons official announcement and demanded anonymity. Like Jordan, Israel shares a border with the southern part of Syria and has been concerned about a spillover of violence as well as an amassing of Iranian-aligned forces in the south of the country.

Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Momani confirmed an accord involving his country, the U.S. and Russia. He made no reference to Israels participation. Syrian government forces and its allies will stay on one side of an agreed demarcation line, and rebel fighters will stick to the other side. The goal is also to enable aid to reach this area of Syria, Momani told state media.

The deal is separate from an agreement that Russia, Turkey and Iran struck earlier this year to try to establish de-escalation zones in Syria with reduced bloodshed. The U.S., wary of Irans involvement, stayed away from that effort. Follow-up talks this week in Kazakhstan were unable to produce agreement on finalizing a cease-fire in those zones.

Previous cease-fires in Syria have collapsed or failed to reduce violence for long, and it was unclear whether this deal would be any better.

Tillerson said the difference this time is Russias interest in seeing Syria return to stability. Its an argument top U.S. officials such as former Secretary of State John Kerry cited regularly amid his failed efforts to end a conflict that has killed as many as a half-million people, contributed to Europes worst refugee crisis since World War II and allowed IS to emerge as a global terror threat.

Tillerson also repeated the U.S. position that a long-term role for the Assad family and the Assad regime is untenable and voiced his belief that Russia might be willing to address the future leadership of Syria, in tones reminiscent of Kerry. Up to now, Assad has rejected any proposals that would see him leave power, contributing to an impasse that has prolonged Syrias suffering.

Earlier in the week, Syrias military had said it was halting combat operations in the south of Syria for four days, in advance of the new round of Russian-sponsored talks in Kazakhstan. That move covered the southern provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida. Syrias government briefly extended that unilateral cease-fire, which is now set to expire Saturday  a day before the U.S. and Russian deal was to take effect.

The U.S.-Russian cease-fire has no set end date, one U.S. official said, describing it as part of broader discussions with Moscow on lowering violence in Syria.

The agreement may also reflect Irans increasingly prominent role in Syria.

Washington has been resistant to letting Iranian forces and their proxy militias gain strength in Syrias south, a position shared by Israel and Jordan. Fridays deal could help the Trump administration retain more of a say over who fills the power vacuum left behind as the Islamic State is routed from additional territory in Syria.

In recent weeks, U.S. forces have shot down a Syrian aircraft that got too close to American forces as well as Iranian-made drones. A renewed government offensive against Western-backed rebels and Islamic militants in the contested province of Daraa also is sparking tensions, and Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters have shifted south to join the fight.

Israel has also struck Syrian military installations on several occasions in the past few weeks after shells landed into the Israeli-controlled side of the Golan Heights Golan Heights. Ahead of the deal, media reports in Israel have suggested unease at any arrangement that relies on Russia policing areas near its frontier.

Implications for Syria aside, the deal marks the biggest diplomatic achievement for the U.S. and Russia since Trump took office. Trumps administration has approached the notoriously strained relationship by trying to identify a few limited issues on which the countries could make progress, thereby building trust for a broader repair of ties.

Salama and Lederman reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Zeina Karam in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed to this report.

This article was first published by AP -
Dont Be Surprised to See Trump Bomb North Korea

By Jacob G. Hornberger

July 07, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - After the in-your-face Fourth of July gift that North Korea delivered to President Trump in the form of an intercontinental ballistic missile test, I wouldnt be at all surprised to see President Trump and the Pentagon retaliate by bombing North Korea. The reason goes not only to Trumps erratic behavior, especially when teased or taunted, but also because a bombing attack would reflect the Cold War mentality that unfortunately still holds the Pentagon in its grip.

Ill bet that most Americans today do not realize that during the Kennedy administration, the Joint Chiefs of Staff were recommending that the president initiate a surprise nuclear attack on the Soviet Union, much like the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

Why no congressional declaration of war against the Soviet Union first, as the U.S. Constitution requires?

The Pentagons reasoning was that a surprise attack was necessary to knock out the Soviet Unions nuclear first-strike capability and most of its retaliatory capability. If they were forewarned that such an attack was coming, such as with a congressional declaration of war, that would enable them to strike first with a nuclear attack on the United States.

Why was the Pentagon recommending nuclear war against the Soviet Union?

Remember: This was the Cold War, the era in which the Pentagon, the CIA, and the NSA  the three principal components of the U.S. national-security state  were telling Americans that peaceful coexistence with the communist world was impossible. This was going to be a war to the finish, they firmly believed, with only one side standing at the end.

In the early 1960s, the Pentagon knew that the United States had vast nuclear superiority over the Soviets, notwithstanding Pentagon and CIA public statements to the American people to the contrary. But they also knew that it was just a matter of time before the Soviets increased their nuclear weapons to such an extent that U.S. superiority wouldnt make any difference. After all, if 100 nuclear bombs can wipe out a nation, who cares if one side has 100 and the other side has 1,000?

The Pentagons argument was this: Since war with the Russians was going to happen anyway at some point in the future, it would be in the interests of the United States to initiate the war now, before the Soviets had time to acquire more nuclear weapons and even achieve parity. In this way, the United States could wipe out most of the Soviet nuclear capability and win the war.

The operative word was most. When President Kennedy asked the Joint Chiefs of Staff how many Soviet nuclear bombs would be likely to hit the United States in a retaliatory strike, they responded that it might be enough to kill only 40 million Americans. Since the entire Soviet Union, including all the communists in the country, would be wiped out with a nuclear carpet-bombing campaign and since the U.S. would have lost only 40 million Americans in a retaliatory strike, the U.S. would be considered the winner of the war.

As President Kennedy departed from a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in which their first-strike recommendation was discussed, he remarked indignantly to an aide, And we call ourselves the human race.

The thing that most of the mainstream media miss in the Korean crisis is the reason why North Korea has been striving for nuclear weapons. The U.S. press continues to imply that North Korea wants such missiles for offensive purposes  that is, to initiate a nuclear war against the United States.

Not so. North Korea knows that if it did that, the U.S. government would respond with the same type of carpet-bombing campaign that it waged during the Korean War, only this time with hundreds or thousands of nuclear bombs. North Korea does not wish to go out of existence, which is precisely why it has no interest in initiating a nuclear attack on the United States.

So why does North Korea want nuclear weapons, especially ones that can reach the United States? It wants them for the same reason that Cuba, another communist state, wanted nuclear weapons back in 1962  for defensive purposes.

Defense against whom?

Defense against the U.S government, of course.

Think back to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cuba had never attacked the United States or even threatened to do so. It was the CIA that had attacked Cuba. The reason? Regime change, a core principal of the U.S. national-security state since its inception after WWII. Both the Pentagon and the CIA were determined to oust Fidel Castro from power and replace him with a pro-U.S. dictator, similar to the one who Castro ousted from power, Fulgencio Batista.

That was the purpose of those Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba  not to start a nuclear war with the United States but simply to deter the U.S. government from invading Cuba again and effecting a regime-change operation there.

As we all know, even though the Cold War supposedly ended in 1989, the Pentagon and the CIA have never given up their dream of regime change in Cuba. Thats what the U.S. embargo is still all about.

By the same token, the Pentagon and the CIA have also never given up their dream of a regime change in North Korea, whose regime they believe is even more evil than the one in Cuba. North Korea knows that they have never given up that dream. It also knows that it could never defeat the United States in a war. Thus, North Korean officials know that their only chance is to acquire nuclear weapons in the hopes of deterring a U.S. regime-change operation.

After all, whatever else might be said of North Korean officials, they are not stupid. They saw the U.S. back off from regime change in Cuba when faced with nuclear weapons. They saw Saddam Hussein, who did not have nuclear weapons (despite false assurances from U.S. officials that he did), lose power (and his life) in a U.S. regime-change operation. They saw what happened to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, after the U.S. targeted him for a regime-change operation. The last thing that North Korean officials want to hear is someone like Hillary Clinton proudly exclaiming about North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un what she said after Qaddafi was killed in the Libya regime-change operation: We came, we saw, he died.

Why might Trump and the Pentagon strike now? Not just because of Trumps erraticism, but also because the Pentagon sees its hope of regime change in North Korea slipping away. If they strike now, the chances of nuclear retaliation against the United States are virtually nil. The longer they wait, the greater the chances that North Korea will improve its capability of striking the United States with a nuclear attack.

The dark irony in all this is that the only reason that North Korea wants nuclear weapons is because of the U.S. national-security states post-World War II foreign policy of empire and intervention. If the U.S. government had never intervened in Koreas civil war and if it had never engaged in regime-change operations around the world, none of this would be happening.

It is that foreign policy of empire, interventionism, and regime-change that might now lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Koreans and the tens of thousands of U.S. troops who are stationed there as a trip wire to guarantee U.S. entry into another Korean war.

At this point, the best thing Trump could ever do is simply order all U.S. troops in Korea to return home immediately and leave Korea to the Koreans. Unfortunately, however, given the Pentagons and the CIAs Cold War mindset, that is not likely to happen.

Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. He was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and received his B.A. in economics from Virginia Military Institute and his law degree from the University of Texas. He was a trial attorney for twelve years in Texas. He also was an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas, where he taught law and economics. In 1987, Mr. Hornberger left the practice of law to become director of programs at the Foundation for Economic Education.

This article was first published by FFF -
Managing Public Perception

Psywar

The real battlefield is your mind

How did the land of the free and the home of the brave arrive at a place where citizens could be manipulated with such efficiency and on such a massive scale?

Includes original interviews with a number of dissident scholars including Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Michael Parenti, Peter Phillips (Project Censored), John Stauber (PR Watch), Christopher Simpson (The Science of Coercion) and others. http://metanoia-films.org/

In case you missed it: A tale of two photos: If there is one thing this war has taught us all, it's that we can't believe what we're told. For Donald Rumsfeld these were "breathtaking". For the British Army they were "historic". For BBC Radio they were "amazing".

See also - The Century of the Self - How politicians and business learned to create and manipulate mass-consumer society.
Behind the Deepening Crisis with Iran: The Real Story Versus the Cover Story



By Mark H Gaffney



February 21, 2012 " Information Clearing House " --- Recently, President Obama imposed new sanctions on Iran which according to reports have been very effective, causing a sudden major devaluation of Iran's currency. The Iranians correctly understand that they are under attack, and have threatened to respond by closing the strait of Hormuz, through which a large percentage of oil from the Mideast flows to the global economy.



If the crisis deepens and Iran makes good on its threat to close Hormuz, there is little doubt that the US will intervene to reopen the strait. This will lead to a shooting war for which Iran will be blamed, even though the recent US sanctions were tantamount to overt aggression.



I believe the US will exploit the situation to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. But, even more importantly, the US will target Iran's conventional missiles. Indeed, I believe this is the real reason for US sanctions in the first place, and for the buildup of tensions in recent days. Despite public perceptions, and all the rhetoric about nukes, the present crisis has nothing to do with Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program. In my opinion, that is just a cover story.



The real issue is the fact that Iran has upgraded its medium range conventionally-armed missiles with GPS technology, making its missiles much more accurate. This means Iran can now target Israel's own nuclear, bio and chemical weapons stockpiles, located inside Israel, as well as the Dimona nuclear reactor.



In short, Iran has achieved a conventional deterrent to Israel. Therefor, statements by Iranian officials that Iran has no nuclear weapons program are in my view probably correct. Presently, Iran does not need nukes to deter Israel. It can do so with its GPS-guided medium range missiles. The Israelis are no doubt gnashing their teeth over this, because they now find themselves threatened by their own WMD stockpiles, and by their own nuclear reactors, especially Dimona, all of which have become targets.



A few direct hits by Iran could cause a toxic plume, killing thousands of Israelis. A worst case might signal the end of the Jewish state.



It is important to realize that Iran would never launch a pre-emptive strike on Israel because the Iranians know that the US/Israeli response would be devastating. However, if Iran comes under attack first, all bets are off. Iran will defend itself. A counter attack on Israel cannot be ruled out because Iranian leaders understand clearly (even if the American people do not) that the crisis has been manufactured, on Israel's behalf.



From the Israeli standpoint, the present Iranian deterrent (though conventional) is simply unacceptable. Israel's military strategists have always insisted on total freedom of movement. This is why Israel refused a US offer many years ago to sign a defense pact with the US. Such a treaty would have limited Israel's freedom of movement, and this was unacceptable. Israel's leaders preferred to remain independent. Israel has always insisted on the "freedom" to intimidate its neighbors, whenever and howsoever it chooses. Iran's conventional missiles now curtail that "freedom." Israeli officials probably worry, for example, that Iran's conventional missiles would limit its freedom to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon, in a future conflict. Hezbollah is closely allied with Tehran.



I believe the present crisis has been manufactured to create the pretext for a US air campaign to take out Iran's conventional missile sites. The US will also target Iran's nuclear facilities, but the primary target will be Iran's conventional missiles. The US will be doing Israel's bidding. The Zionist tail will be wagging the servile US dog.



Obviously, you can't generate public support for such a bombing campaign, on Israel's behalf. Hence the cover story about nukes and the alleged Iranian threat to wipe Israel off the map, all of which is untrue but very effective propaganda nonetheless.



The problem for the US is that depriving Iran of its conventional deterrent will not be easy to accomplish. Indeed, it will be even more difficult than taking out all of Iran's nuclear facilities. Iran's conventional missiles are probably dispersed widely. If they come under attack, the purpose of the air campaign will be transparently obvious to the Iranian leadership. Faced with the prospect of losing their deterrent, the Mullahs may well decide to fire their conventional missiles. If they do and manage some direct hits on Israel's nuclear-bio-and chemical weapons stockpiles, the ensuing disaster will prompt an Israeli response. Israel may even resort to the Samson Option, and attack Iran with nukes. Words cannot describe the horrific scale of such an outcome. Unfortunately, it is all too possible.



Early in the war, US naval forces in the Gulf will also come under attack. No mistake, Iran has enough anti-ship cruise missiles to pose a grave threat to the US naval presence in the Gulf. Thousands of US sailors are now in harm's way, and at risk.



We must rally to prevent such a war. Peace activists must now marshal every asset for peace that we possess. The American people need to know the truth. This is a phony crisis. Yet the danger is very real. Now is the time to speak out with all of our strength. Tomorrow could come too late.



Mark H Gaffneys forthcoming book, Black 9/11, will be released soon by Trineday Press. It can be ordered at www.trineday.com Sign up for our FREE Email Newsletter For Email Marketing you can trust Support Information Clearing House Monthly Subscription To Information Clearing House Option 1 : $5.00USD - monthly Option 2 : $10.00USD - monthly Option 3 : $15.00USD - monthly Option 4 : $20.00USD - monthly Option 5 : $35.00USD - monthly Option 6 : $50.00USD - monthly Option 7 : $100.00USD - monthly Search Information Clearing House In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Information Clearing House has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Information ClearingHouse endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
Let Your Life Be a Friction to Stop the Machine



This Is A Must Watch Video



A brief and crucial history of the United States



Please send this video to your contact list and tweet often, so that we send it viral. Let us remember "Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people" - John Adams - Second President - 1797 - 1801



Now is the first day of a new beginning.

Each one - Reach One- Each One - Teach One

Posted February 23, 2012 - Class War Films

Transcript

Let Your Life Be a Friction to Stop the Machine

Nightmare and insanity are akin: mysterious and involuntary states that skew and distort objective reality. One wakens from nightmare; from insanity there is no awakening.

Whether Americans live in the one state or the other is the paramount question of this era.

For two hundred years Americans have been indoctrinated with a mythology created, imposed and sustained by a manipulating cabal: the financial elite that built its absolute control on the muscle and blood, good will, ignorance and credulity, of its citizenry.

America began with the invasion of a populated continent and the genocide of its native people. Once solidly established, it grafted enslavement of another race onto that base.

With those two pillars of state firmly in place it declared itself an independent nation in a document that nobly proclaimed the equality of all mankind.

In that act of monumental hypocrisy Americas myth had its beginning.

* * *

A Constitution was written that came to be regarded as American Holy Writ. Its central purposes were to defend private property and suppress mass democracy. It has fulfilled both those mandates beyond the wildest dreams of its creators.

Once the existing oligarchy was secure in law and native people largely exterminated, the ruling class increased its wealth and power fantastically in the 19th century, using the government as its enabler, exploiting to the limit the device of chartered corporations.

With its phenomenal money power, the financial elite began to use the military to expand its sway beyond the continent. Regions, territories, islands, and whole countries were annexed, invaded, and possessed outright, their peoples crushed, suppressed, and ruled.

Because ordinary Americans, like any people, need to believe that whatever the ruling elite undertakes in their nations name must be essentially benevolent, noble in purpose and justified in fact, the myth had to be radically modified for imperial expansion.

The foundational story was that Americans had come to a howling wilderness teeming with godless savages and, through invincible strength of character and purity of purpose, had tamed the land and honorably earned the right to possess their bountiful home.

In the era of extra-territorial expansion that version was polished to justify and ennoble imperialism. The new corollary was that America could not ignore colonialist brutality but was obliged, by the Manifest Destiny that led us to civilize our own continent, to carry our mission into barbaric darkness wherever tyranny created abuse and suffering.

A national myth that absolutely binds the loyalty of a people to its government must be a subtle and powerful elixir that elevates and aggrandizes that peoples self-regard. National policy will then appear to be an extension of its superior citizenrys inchoate will, and the basis for a justified arrogance toward the lesser world.

The simple, powerful myth of Americas altruistic and heroic benevolence, shaped and maintained by the financial/political power elite, infused Americans with a deep and outrageously hubristic sense of racial superiority that, mobilized behind various imperial enterprises, has given all such adventures the character of a quasi-religious crusade. In this way insatiable imperialism acquires the apparent moral perfection of a syllogism.

* * *

With WWII, the world was reconfigured. American Capitalism emerged supreme from the horror that had virtually wrecked its capitalist partners. The Soviet Union, though, having absorbed by far the greatest devastation from Nazi Germany, had astonishingly risen above its ruin to become the leading challenger to America as a world power.

This challenge was not competitive, it was systemic: Soviet Communism was a direct threat to American hegemony in that it categorically refuted the philosophical basis of Predatory Capitalism. Grounded in Marx and Lenin, it attacked Capitalisms inherent evils, monstrous inequities and flagrant injustices that, exacerbated by speculation, exploitation and fraud, would destroy it. And it promoted world revolution to that end.

This face-off of giants in the Cold War necessitated further refinement of the American myth. Now, instead of simply intervening in situations where despotism or tyranny required America to forcefully implant our just and ethical democracy, America had to become the shield and bulwark of the sacred capitalist system in which free enterprise was magically and increasingly identified with democracy and equally to be defended.

This version prevailed through many surrogate confrontations around the globe in the era of Mutually Assured Destruction and survived even the debacle of Vietnam, lasting until the collapse of the Soviet Union, as the propaganda stream became ever more intense and pervasive. On radio and television Americans were subjected to an unrelenting barrage of hyper-patriotism in which American moral superiority was a given, and Americas self-touted courage, generosity and decency were its unchallengeable proofs.

The implosion of the Soviet Union left America, in its own terminology, the Sole Superpower in a Unipolar World. This, however, did not result in diminution of the myth. The practical effect of having no doomsday enemy--China couldnt plausibly be cast in that role then--was to supercharge it by increasing its element of pure, hubristic ego. America was no longer just called upon to defend the Free World from monstrous heresy; it was now, by virtue of its universally acknowledged, beatific exceptionalism, required to oversee and police it in the interests, and for the benefit, of lesser nations.

* * *

Power corrupts, said Lord Mahan, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

When the only rival and counterweight to American power disintegrated there was a sense within the American power elite that the opportunity existed, for the first time in history, for one country to absolutely dominate and effectively control the entire world.

This consensus was expressed in a policy statement composed by a cadre of major right-wing political players representing massive corporate capitalist interests called the Project for a New American Century. This triumphalist manifesto laid out a plan for absolute American access and control of essential resources and raw materials worldwide, to be guaranteed by the military which would enforce Full Spectrum Dominance.

The American Myth, which had seemed to have lost momentum and its animating principle in the totally unexpected so-called Cold War victory, was now re-energized with a less defensive and reactive essence, and given the glowing radiance and patina of a true and, for the first time, self-professed and articulated, imperial mission.

The attack on the Towers, an unimaginable provocation, was the trigger mechanism for the explosive launch of the effort to impose that imperial model in practice on the world.

* * *

It has been without question the most spectacular failure in the history of American misadventure. After a decade marked by the waste of trillions of dollars and tens of thousands of American lives, the stunning bankruptcy of our internally burglarized nation, and a consequent recession more fundamentally damaging than the Great One, Imperial America has nothing to show for the botched folly of its arrogant overreach but unequivocal disasters in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, with no end of madness in sight.

An impartial observer would have to say that the hypnotic hold of the American Myth on the loyalty of the people has led only to disgrace and disaster, and set a direct course to inevitable imperial decline and ruin. That would be inarguable on any rational basis, but it entirely mistakes the motive for, and the purpose of, the myth. The American Myth was never intended to serve the interests either of our country or of our people: it was created solely to buttress, shield, and exalt the ruling financial class. It has done that with astonishing and unbroken success that staggers the imagination from our earliest days.

The massive looting of Iraq/Afghanistan/Pakistan war funding to enrich the Corporate Tyrannyfor that is what it has becomeis on an unique scale of its own, without anything remotely comparable to its flagrant obscenity in the whole long history of war.

Neither the Pentagon nor any branch of the U.S. government can give any accounting whatever of the many billions of tax-generated dollars that have vanished, evaporated. There is no doubt but that beyond the outrageously inflated, no-bid contracts handed to giant corporate favorites with their preposterous guaranteed profits, much of the money was simply stolen in bulk by, through, or in spite of the military, and distributed among thieves and accomplices, some of it on huge pallets for convenience, presumably.

* * *

While this wholesale robbery was going on under the oversight of the military abroad, the Corporate Tyranny had evolved a whole set of impenetrably complex devices for the generation of money without any economically productive source or result at home.

The sole driving force and purpose of Capitalism is the realization of profit. According to that calculus, reducing production costs increases profit margin. This leads to the obvious conclusion that as production costs near zero, profit is maximized.



There is no provision for social good in Capitalist theory. Corporations, created to optimize business opportunity through efficient specialization, were originally required to operate for public benefit but that provision was quickly finessed and forgotten.

American law courts have always favored corporate concentrations of wealth since they, like the Congress, exist to serve the moneyed interests. The American Myth was created to provide cover for the financial oligarchy to exploit the country and the citizenry, and the judiciary has consistently cooperated in ruling for corporations against the people.

Indeed, without ever considering the question in law, the Supreme Court long ago endowed corporations with personhood, that is with all rights of human beings under our Constitution. The way this travesty occurred--the slipshod by-product of an obliquely related case--shows that the court preferred to incorporate this perversion of the plain intent of the 14th amendment as an unexamined assumption rather than risk an eventual test which would unquestionably have created violent public outrage.

Given the collusion of Congress and the courts in securing legal invulnerability for the Corporate Tyranny and the principle that the only duty of corporations is maximization of profit, it was not surprising that megabanks, huge brokerage houses, giant insurance conglomerates, gilded hedge funds and the credit agencies pretending to certify their work, all engaged in massive and systemic fraud and deception for just that purpose. The result was the crash of 08, the recession, and the stunning and unprecedented rescue and bailout of the biggest banks, investment houses, and insurance and credit conglomerates with taxpayer dollars. So much for the hallowed Invisible Hand of the Free Market

* * *

The last decades have seen two related megatrends in American geopolitical mechanics, both with dire effects on the power of the American Myth. First, what belief the world at large had in it has been shattered by a catastrophic series of imbecile and irretrievable military failures and disasters, which has caused erosion of its efficacy at home. Second, in response to this, the State has made increasingly crude efforts to boost the Myths waning power by the imposition of totalitarian methods of surveillance, intimidation and coercion on the American people to a degree unprecedented in scope and scale.

The whole clanking, medieval apparatus of Homeland Security that has sprouted like an enormous poison fungus since 9/11 with its brutal police state mindset; the odious Patriot Act with its flagrant subversions of the Bill of Rights; the endless, fantasy-based terror-peddling of the prostitute corporate media with its clowns and harpies churning irrational fear and anger in the uninformed: all this grim, repressive endeavor is a concerted attempt to distract Americans from the real causes of their injury, abuse, and oppression.

And yet, even with the American Myth now totally and irreparably blown full of holes and exposed demonstrably for the tissue of lies, deceptions and frauds that it has always been, it somehow keeps its phenomenal hold on the great mass of the American people. The tragic reality is that, for the majority, their own identities have been so deeply and thoroughly infused with the myth that to disbelieve it is to disbelieve in themselves.

* * *

So the American Myth is dead, and yet it lives on in its deadness, horribly masking our crapshot economy, our bankrupt debtors prison of a society, our Ghost Dance charade of kabuki democracy, while typhoons of impending social, economic and ecological disaster build their enormous, lightning-charged thunderheads above the dark future before us.

And what is it that the dead Myth still imperfectly obscures for Americans? What is outside and beyond the opaque wall of faltering, failing dishonesty and deception? What is the horror that the shoddy, tattered Myth has so long and so effectively concealed?

It is the world that has suffered unrelieved exploitation by the violence of our imperialist mania. It is the many wrecked and pillaged economies financially looted by our imposed predatory capitalist austerity regimes. It is the teeming hundreds of millions of starved, deprived and dying children sacrificed to Wall Street commodities gaming. It is the multitudes of humble, innocent, ignorant people, barely surviving in absolutist and dictatorial regimes propped up in their barbaric cruelty by our military while our banks siphon off the profits left after arming their brutal police and armies and bribing their ruling Kings, Sheikhs or Generals. It is the millions of dead and maimed in the raped populations of simple tribal people whom our indiscriminately murderous juggernaut has left in its bloody wake in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. It is the appalling legacy of hate and repulsion, disdain and fear, that America has earned with its appalling hegemonist villainy in every corner of the world.

And at home, what is it we Americans have been so complicit in hiding from ourselves in our devotion to the perverse legend that has come to inhabit our souls like a succubus?

It is the millions of us with no work and no hope in middle age whose jobs and homes have been devoured by the heartless fraud machine of Wall Street. It is the trashed and demolished weedlots of our major cities eroding in crumbling, fire-gutted ruin. It is the many towns and cities with industries shut down and factories deserted or dismantled and shipped overseas. It is our decaying, disintegrating public schools, our bankrupt states and counties, our overtaxed, antiquated public transportation systems, our obsolete, dissolving infrastructure, our bloated, irrational prisons complex, our punishing and inadequate health care disaster, and over it all, the repressive mechanism of our police state, armed and empowered, ready for use against the American people themselves.

* * *

This is where we are. The great question now is whether we as a nation can awaken from this long historic nightmare and face the terrifying and exhilarating prospect of living in the full light of reality without the false props and dishonest constructs of a hoodwinked, herded and dishonored people or, whether we have internalized the falsity and disease to such an extent that it has become an organic, overmastering form of insanity?

In 1846, Henry David Thoreau, offended to his soul by the injustice of the American governments invasion of Mexico, protested it and went to jail for his convictions. Later, in his essay On Civil Disobedience, he said this:

If injustice is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine.

To attempt to break the hold of the American Myth will be a titanic, daunting challenge. To even begin to openly rebel against the might of the National Security State will require the courage to face much more than official disapproval and denunciation. Imperial America will not respond to even the most peaceful and orderly protest with anything less than hard police repression and the level of punishment will rise in relation to the scope and seriousness of the action undertaken.

Small protests will have no effect and will be meaningless. Organized mass events, when they occur, will draw the whole fiercely and brutally motivated National Security State apparatus down upon themselves. Americans, excepting those of our underclass who have felt it, have no experience with violent police or military repression. Those who commit peaceful civil disobedience, a first and innocent tactic of serious protest, will swiftly find out to their cost how it works. In a National Security State that has excised and eradicated all defensive laws and regulations intended to prevent abuse of the public, whatever the State does is legal. To such a pass have we in America come as a result of our long historic indoctrination in serving our financial elite, our Ruling Class.

To achieve any redemption for Americans, to make possible any more just, humane and life-honoring society, will require complete abandonment of the system of Predatory Capitalism. If offers no prospect of reform or improvement and we have all been witness to the idiocy of the so-called democratic process in action for generations now.

America is nearing the greatest crisis point in its history and the terrific cataclysm, when it happens, will determine the future our country is to have. If we cannot, in dominating numbers, rise to reject the heartless, mindless, soulless machine of Imperial Predatory Capitalism, we will be condemned to a fascistic command and control horror in which human beings are mere possessions of the State, units of production or service, and then perhaps not even that, as excess population in that brave, new world nay be eliminated.

That end is not inevitable. We are not lost. We are not even defeated because to this moment we have not engaged. We have not honored our responsibility as human beings. We have not risen to defend our humanity. We have let ourselves be ruled.

All around the world the thunder of vast and immeasurable discontent can be heard and felt. In Egypt and Spain, Jordan and Greece, Iraq and Sudan, Afghanistan and Ireland, Latin America, the Far East and Africa, the legitimate anger of humanity is expressing itself against the dead and killing hand of Predatory Capitalism and its agencies of violence. And here, in America, so long trapped and encapsulated, frozen like a fly in amber in a false religion of state idolatry, the anger is deep, widespread, and growing.

It is up to those who know and care to lead. As Thomas Paine said, These are the times that try mens souls. Nothing is guaranteed us. That cant matter. We cannot be concerned with odds or outcomes. We cannot let the Machine of Injustice grind on. We must oppose it with all the moral force we own. We must act with quiet courage to confront a vicious tyrannical system that is destroying the earth, its life, and its people. We must put our lives on the line to oppose it.

The Nightmare Machine of rapacious exploitation has overthrown humanitys decency and reason and its bloody inhuman treason flourishes over us. This must be ended.

Let your life be a friction now to stop the Machine.
Home Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter Remembering Russell Means

"I Am An American Indian Patriot" "We live in a prisoner of war camp, that's why they call it a reservation" BBC Persian's Amir Payam interviewed Russell Means, American Indian Leader in January 23, 2012 at his ranch in Porcupine, Pine Ridge reservation, SD R.I.P. November 10, 1939 - October 22, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012

Remembering Russell Means



By Stephen Lendman



October 25, 2012 " Information Clearing House " - Over a year ago, he knew he had inoperable esophageal cancer. It spread to his tongue, lymph nodes and lungs. It was just a matter of time. On October 22, it took him. His journey to the spirit world began.



In August 2011, he said:



"I'm not going to argue with the Great Mystery. Lakota belief is that death is a change of worlds. And I believe like my dad believed."



"When it's my time to go, it's my time to go. I've told people after I die, I'm coming back as lightning. When it zaps the White House, they'll know it's me."



Earlier he said:



"The Universe which controls all life, has a female and male balance that is prevalent throughout our Sacred Grandmother, the Earth."



"This balance has to be acknowledged and become the determining factor in all of ones decisions, be they spiritual, social, healthful, educational or economical."



On October 24, he'll be honored in Pine Ridge, SD, the Republic of Lakota. Other gatherings will also celebrate his life and work.



Speaking for herself and children, Means' wife, Pearl Daniel Means, said the following:



"Hello our relatives. Our dad and husband, now walks among our ancestors. He began his journey to the spirit world at 4:44 am, with the Morning Star, at his home and ranch in Porcupine."



"There will be four opportunities for the people to honor his life, to be announced at a later date. Thank you for your prayers and continued support. We love you. As our dad and husband would always say, 'May the Great Mystery continue to guide and protect the paths of you and your loved ones.' "



World headlines spread the news. The New York Times said "Russell Means, Who Clashed With Law as He Fought for Indians, Is Dead at 72." He was America's "best known Indian since Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse."



In 1968, he joined the American Indian Movement (AIM). In 1970, he became its national director. In 1995, he published his autobiography titled, "Where White Men Fear to Tread."



"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" author Dee Brown said "reading Means' story is essential for any clear understanding of American Indians during the last half of the twentieth century."



New York Times writer Robert McFadden said:



Shortly before being diagnosed with inoperable throat cancer, he "cut off his braids. (It was) a gesture of mourning for his people. In Lakota lore, he explained, the hair holds memories, and mourners often cut it to release those memories, and the people in them, to the spirit world."



The Washington Post headlined "Russell Means dies at 72; American Indian activist helped lead uprising at Wounded Knee," saying:



"(S)elf-styled modern Indian warrior.forced international attention on the plight of Native Americans for more than four decades."



Reuters headlined "American Indian activist Russell Means dead at 72," saying:



He waged a "lifelong campaign (struggling for) the rights and dignity of his people."



AP called him "a modern Indian warrior. He railed against broken treaties, fought for the return of stolen land, and even took up arms against the federal government."



The Los Angeles Times said "he helped thrust the plight of Native Americans into the national spotlight."



Press TV called him "an outspoken champion of American Indian rights."



Means once said, "Every policy now the Palestinians are enduring was practiced on the American Indians."



"What the American Indian Movement says is that the American Indians are the Palestinians of the United States, and the Palestinians are the American Indians of Europe."



He called Indian lands open air concentration camps, saying:



"If you chose to stay on the reservation, you are guaranteed to be poor, unless you are part of the colonial apparatus set up by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, set up the United States."



Prisoner of conscience Leonard Peltier issued a statement, saying in part:



"I wish I was there to talk with you in person and share with you the sorrow that I feel with the passing of Russell Means, my brother, my friend, and inspiration on many levels."



"Russell Means will always be an icon whenever the American Indian Movement is spoken of and whenever people talk about the changes that took place, the changes that are taking place now for Indian people."



"We'll see you again my brother Russell, in some other time and in some other place, we will always be your friend, and we will always look forward to seeing your face. Mitakuye Oyasin (All Are Related from a traditional Lakota Sioux prayer)."



Russell Means.com said he "lived a life like few others in this century" He disliked being called a Native American. "The one thing I've always maintained is that I'm an American Indian."



"Everyone who's born in the Western Hemisphere is a Native American. We are all Native Americans."



He also said he put "American" before ethnicity. "I'm not a hyphenated African-American or Irish-American or Jewish-American or Mexican-American."



Means was born on November 10, 1939 in Wanblee, SD, on the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota Sioux Indian Reservation. With Dennis Banks and Leonard Peltier, he participated in the 1973 Wounded Knee siege and tragedy.



For 71 days, they and other AIM activists held off hundreds off FBI thugs, federal marshals, National Guard troops, and complicit Indian vigilantes. They were called "GOONS (Guardians of Our Oglala Nation)." They sold out for whatever benefits they got in return.



On February 27, Oglala Sioux activists reclaimed Wounded Knee. They wanted their 1868 treaty rights honored.



It stated that "(t)he government of the United States desires peace, and its honor is hereby pledged to keep it." It also reaffirmed all Indian rights granted under the 1851 Treaty.



From 1778 - 1871, Washington negotiated 372 treaties. All were systematically spurned.



At Wounded Knee, AIM represented over 75 Indian Nations. For nearly two and a half months, they held on. They were free. It wasn't easy. Washington cut off electricity. Food and other essential deliveries were blocked.



Activists were shot and killed. When it ended, hundreds of arrests followed. An FBI/Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) reign of terror began. It lasted three years.



Roving death squads murdered at least 342 AIM members and supporters. Hundreds more were harassed and beaten. Many more were arrested. Their crime was wanting to live free on their own land.



Leonard Peltier was victimized. He was wrongfully convicted on two first-degree murder counts. On June 1, 1977, he got two consecutive life sentences.



Despite bogus charges and prosecutorial injustice, he's been denied parole, retrial, clemency, or a pardon. Other nations, past and present congressional members, and hundreds of world dignitaries say he should be unconditionally released.



Means was more fortunate. He stayed free to remain active. In 1978, he joined The Longest Walk. Participants protested racist anti-Indian legislation at that time. It included forced sterilization of Indian women.



Earlier in 1964, Means, his father, and others occupied Alcatraz. They did so peacefully in accordance with their rights. According to broken treaty obligations, abandoned prison property belongs to Indian tribes.



On December 17, 2007, Means and other Lakota people went to Washington. They declared independence. They called it "the latest step in the longest running legal battle" in history.



It's not a cessation, they said. It's a lawful "unilateral withdrawal" from treaty obligations permitted under the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.



Means said:



"We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us."



"We offer citizenship to anyone provided they renounce their US citizenship."



"United States colonial rule is at an end."



Signed documents were delivered to the State Department. Sovereignty was declared. The Republic of Lakota was established. It's based on the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. It created the Great Lakota (Sioux) Nation. It states in part:



"The territory of the Sioux or Dahcotah Nation, commencing the mouth of the White Earth River, on the Missouri River; thence in a southwesterly direction to the forks of the Platte River; thence up the north fork of the Platte River to a point known as the Red Buts, or where the road leaves the river; thence along the range of mountains known as the Black Hills, to the head-waters of Heart River; thence down Heart River to its mouth; and thence down the Missouri River to the place of beginning."



It gave Lakota people portions of northern Nebraska, half of South Dakota, one-fourth of North Dakota, one-fifth of Montana, and 20% of Wyoming.



It didn't matter. Unilateral withdrawal from all treaties and agreements became policy. America never honored its own.



On September 29, 2012 Means reiterated what he and others declared in December 2007, saying:



"We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five state area that encompasses our country are free to join us."



He cited longstanding problems and grievances. They include land theft, resource plunder, poverty, unemployment, repression, and overall human deprivation. All of it remains out of sight and mind.



Means had three weeks to live. Lakota spokesman Salomon called his death a "great loss." It came a day after former Senator George McGovern died. He and former Senator James Abourezk tried to negotiate an equitable Wounded Knee settlement.



Commenting on Means and McGovern, Abourezk said he "lost two good friends in a matter of two to three days. I don't pretend to understand it."



Death, of course, has final say. What matters most is showing up every day and working for right over wrong. Means said he wants to be remembered as an American Indian patriot. He spent most of his adult life proving it.



Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen [at] sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html



Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour http://sjlendman.blogspot.com Scroll down to add / read comments Sign up for our FREE Email Newsletter For Email Marketing you can trust Support Information Clearing House Monthly Subscription To Information Clearing House Option 1 : $5.00USD - monthly Option 2 : $10.00USD - monthly Option 3 : $15.00USD - monthly Option 4 : $20.00USD - monthly Option 5 : $35.00USD - monthly Option 6 : $50.00USD - monthly Option 7 : $100.00USD - monthly Search Information Clearing House Please read our Comment Policy before posting -
Home Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter US Protection Racket Root of Korea Conflict



By Finian Cunningham



April 03, 2013 " Information Clearing House " -" PTV" - The best way to understand the seemingly reckless, recurring threat of nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula is this: the East Asian region is being run like a Mafia protection racket. And the criminal Mafia is the US. The conflict emanates from Washington and is perpetuated by Washington. Why? To justify what would otherwise be seen as simply outrageous US militarism in the Asia Pacific hemisphere, and in particular a criminally aggressive agenda towards the main geopolitical targets of Washington - China and Russia.



Koreas conflict is not primarily about North and South enemy states. It is, as it has been for the past 68 years since the end of World War II, about Washington using military force to criminally assert its hegemony on the global stage. But you wouldnt know this from a casual reading of the Western news media. No, we are told over and over again that the US is protecting South Korea and its other Asian allies. The military presence of the US is serving as a deterrent to aggression from a sinister North Korea. In this depiction, the US is the good guy, while North Korea is the menacing reprobate that is a scourge on everybodys well-being and security. Kim Jong-un is the embodiment of the Axis of Evil. That so-called quality news media such as the BBC, New York Times and Guardian can get away with seriously presenting this situation in terms portraying the US as a benevolent force is an astounding feat of reality inversion and brainwashed mind control. The irony is that such media implicitly mock North Korea as a Stalinist Big Brother state, where critical thought and expression are forbidden. Yet, these media display the very same habit of mental conformity that they disparage North Korea for.



As noted above, the only way of properly interpreting the recent weeks of threat and counter-threat of all-out war in Korea is to recall scenes from the classic Mafia movie, The Godfather. You know the drill. The mobster goes around the neighborhood demanding loyalty, respect and tributes for protection. If the residents dont conform to the racket, then the boss arranges self-fulfilling violence to rain down on those who dare to reject his magnanimous protection.



The exact same arrangement applies in Korea under the tutelage of the US. The Peninsula was unilaterally partitioned in 1945 by Washington into North and South statelets because the US could not abide the fact that the Korean population at that time was strongly anti-imperialist and yearning for socialist democracy. That egalitarian sentiment helped the Koreans resist the occupying Japanese imperialists prior to and during World War II.



Tellingly, in order to assert its hegemony over Korea and the Asia Pacific, the US worked the neighborhood over assiduously in order to defeat the popular movement for independence and democracy that the Korean people exhibited so boldly. Washington achieved this by installing pro-Japanese collaborators as the rulers of newly formed South Korea. Think about that one. The US fought a war allegedly to defeat fascism and imperialism, only to immediately collude with the same political forces to defeat Korean democracy. The dropping of the atomic bombs by Washington on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was part and parcel of American efforts to demarcate a postwar hegemony in the Asia Pacific to the Soviet Union and China - and this is why Korea was also fractured into two alien states that were then precipitated into war between 1950-53. That war - in which a third of the northern Korean population were exterminated by American indiscriminate carpet-bombing and napalm incineration - has never officially ended. The armistice signed in 1953 under Washingtons dictate is technically only a ceasefire. For decades, North Koreas demand for a full peace treaty has been repeatedly rejected by Washington and its South Korean client state. In other words, Washington has retained the implicit prerogative to resume its aerial bombardment of the North Korean population at any time it chooses. That constitutes a constant threat, or a policy of state terrorism by Washington.



The threat from the US towards the Korean population has and continues to include nuclear annihilation. During the Korean War, the US air force would regularly fly nuclear-capable B-52 bombers over the Peninsula. People on the ground would recognize the aircraft, but they did not know what the operational intent was. Can you imagine the terrorism that this conveyed? - barely five years after the US vaporized the civilian populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and at the same time that US military were compelling Koreans to live in caves as the only way of escaping mass destruction from conventional bombing.



This same thuggish behaviour by the US government is consistent with its authorization during this past week for the flying of nuclear-capable B-2 and B-52 bombers over the Korean Peninsula. The dropping of inert bombs by these aerial monsters has to be seen as a heinous calculation in Washington aimed at heightening the terrorism.



Yet, absurdly, the Western propaganda organs, otherwise called news, portray this American state terrorism as protection.



The New York Times, for example, quoted one so-called expert as explaining North Koreas response to the latest American provocation by saying: The North Korean populace has to be regularly reminded that their country is surrounded by scheming enemies. Otherwise, they might start asking politically dangerous questions.



The laugh about this brain-washed expert thinking, and the New York

Times promoting it, is that the people of Korea are indeed surrounded by a scheming enemy - the US - and if the wider international public and media were to start thinking about that fact then there would be politically dangerous questions such as: what gives the US the right to conduct annual military war games off and on the Korean Peninsula for the past six decades, including the deployment of nuclear annihilation?



The people of Korea, North and South, deserve and desire peace. Despite the antagonism and belligerence highlighted in the Western propaganda media, the majority of people of North and South Korea have in fact no wish for war. The consensus among ordinary Koreans is for peace and a democratic resolution to decades of conflict imposed on their homeland from outside. But they wont obtain that reasonable condition as long as Washington continues to run its protection racket.



And, unfortunately, the American government will not, cannot stop its criminal behaviour - because domination, aggression and terrorism are the hallmarks of Washingtons Mafia regime. Finian Cunningham, originally from Belfast, Ireland, was born in 1963. He is a prominent expert in international affairs. The author and media commentator was expelled from Bahrain in June 2011 for his critical journalism in which he highlighted human rights violations by the Western-backed regime. He is a Masters graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in journalism. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter For Email Marketing you can trust Support Information Clearing House Monthly Subscription To Information Clearing House Option 1 : $5.00USD - monthly Option 2 : $10.00USD - monthly Option 3 : $15.00USD - monthly Option 4 : $20.00USD - monthly Option 5 : $35.00USD - monthly Option 6 : $50.00USD - monthly Option 7 : $100.00USD - monthly Search Information Clearing House Gadgets powered by Google Please read our Comment Policy before posting - We ask readers to play a proactive role and click the "Report link [at the base of each comment] when in your opinion, comments cross the line and become purely offensive, racist or disrespectful to others.
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The Rivers State Police Command have rescued 14 passengers, who were kidnapped on Thursday by gunmen.

The rescue was said to have come less than 24 hours after they (bus passengers) were whisked away by their captors around Rumuji in Emohua Local Government Area of the state by their captors.

It will be recalled that the passengers were travelling from Warri in Delta State to Port-Harcourt on Thursday when the bus conveying them was hijacked by gunmen before they were whisked away to an unknown destination.

The victims were said to have been dragged into the bush by their captors, who later demanded for N14 million before they would be released.

But speaking to our correspondent on Friday, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, explained that the rescue was made possible by a well-meaning Nigerian, who gave information to the police on the whereabouts of the kidnap victims.

Omoni disclosed that the police swung into action immediate, combed the bush before engaging the hoodlums in a shoot-out.

During the shootout, they later abandoned the victims and as I speak with you, they have all been rescued. We were able to get information from a well-meaning Nigerian, which helped us to rescue them.

We were able to do this less than 24 hours after they (passengers) were kidnapped in Rumuji, the state police spokesman stressed.

Omoni, however, warned kidnappers and other criminals to desist from their acts or be ready to face the wrath of the law whenever they were apprehended.

Source:( Punch Newspaper )
Police Officers from the Area J Command, Ajah, Lagos has arrested a film producer identified as Olaolu Akorede, for allegedly procuring harmful herbal liquid from a native doctor for his lover, Halimat, to drink for the treatment of diabetes which later allegedly caused the death of the unborn baby in her womb and damaged her Fallopian tube, according to doctors report.

The arrest of the suspect was ordered by the Area Commander in charge of Area J Command following a petition by Halimat through her counsel in the Chamber of Bislaw Legal Practitioners.

Narrating her ordeal in the hands of the suspect to the police, Halimat said: I met the suspect in New York, United States of America in November, 2016 while both of them were on vacation and began a relationship.

When I came back to Nigeria, I noticed that I was pregnant and I called the suspect, who was still in the USA about the development and he was very happy on the phone. He begged me to keep the pregnancy till he comes back to Nigeria for us to wed. He requested for a return ticket to come back to Nigeria and I used N400,000.00 to purchase a return ticket for him.

When he came back to Nigeria, he collected the sum of N2.5 million from me to organize our wedding but instead, he went to Abeokuta, Ogun State, to meet a native doctor who prepared a herbal liquid for him which he claimed was for treatment of diabetes. He convinced me to drink from the liquid and because I did not suspect anything, I drank from it, unknown to me that it was to abort my pregnancy or kill me.

And after drinking the liquid, I began stooling blood and ended up in the hospital. Doctors later performed surgery on me and discovered that the herbal liquid had killed my unborn baby in my womb and affected my Fallopian tube. I am now appealing to the police to assist me to get justice Halima stated.

In his defense, Akorede denied almost all the allegations made by the complainant but admitted that he procured herbal liquid for her to treat her diabetes.

Akorede was arraigned before an Igbosere Magistrate Court on four-count charge of obtaining N2.5 million under false pretense, procuring unknown herbal liquid for Halimat to terminate her pregnancy and maliciously administering poison on Halimat which caused the death of unborn baby in her womb.

Police prosecutor, Inspector Okete Ejima, told the court in charge No. S/25/2017 that the accused intentionally procured the harmful liquid for the complainant to kill her and the unborn child.

He said the offences the accused committed were punishable under sections 314, 147, 243 and 216 of the criminal laws of Lagos State, 2015.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty the Magistrate, Mrs. O. O. Otitoju granted him bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum.

Otitoju adjourned the case till 12 July, 2017 for mention while the defendant was taken to Ikoyi prison, Lagos pending when he would be able to fulfill his bail conditions.

Source: ( PM News )
The Oyo State Police Command has arrested a dismissed soldier,identified as Obadiah Ayuba, for stealing his friends car in Ibadan.

Ayuba was dismissed by the Nigerian Army after a series of unprofessional actions, including robbery and absconding from duty.

The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Odude, who paraded Ayuba at the state police headquarters in Ibadan on Friday, said Ayuba fled with the car and was arrested five days after. He committed the crime a day after he was dismissed from the Nigerian Army.

The suspect was arrested by operatives of Operation Burst along the Oyo-Ibadan Expressway and handed over to the police, Odude said.

Ayuba said he had gone to a night club in Ibadan with his friend, Abubakar, on June 15, 2017 and that after he (Abubakar) told him to drop a female friend, he decided to abscond with the car.

Ayuba said, We went to a night club and left around 3am. He said he wanted to see his mechanic, who was repairing a vehicle for him.

We headed to my friends mechanic workshop and decided to sleep in the car until morning. He later left me and a female friend of his in the car while he went to see the mechanic. When the lady was complaining, I called him and explained to him that she wanted to go home.

He told me to help drop her at home and I did so. That was how I absconded with the car. I used it as taxi to earn some money. When I was arrested, some passengers were in the car. I served at the 81 Batallion, Mokola, Ibadan before I was dismissed on June 14, 2017 after a court martial.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
A sudden blackout has descended on the case of Chukwuduneme Onwuamadike a.k.a. Evans, Nigerias infamous billionaire kidnapper after weeks of media frenzy, thus fuelling speculations that hes escaped, or dead.

According to Saturday Sun,

Evans is not dead as his family now fears but has been moved from the Lagos police command headquarters cell by about 30 heavily armed men at midnight few days ago to an undisclosed destination. Some senior police officers in the know told Saturday Sun he was moved to Abuja

Indeed, in the last few days, a palpable silence seemed to have enshrouded the Evans phenomenon. Where is Evans? It is a question the police is not prepared to officially answer right now. A man who hitherto divulged the details of his criminal life to the public almost on a daily basis is suddenly no longer accessible to even the press corps.

A reporter who visited the state police command was told was that Evans is no longer allowed to talk to the press till further notice. The secrecy surrounding his whereabouts in the official quarters baffles those who have closely followed his story since his arrest.

After days of sniffing around the Lagos police formations to get information on Evans whereabouts, it was gathered that the kidnap kingpin had been moved out of the Lagos command headquarters days ago by heavily armed policemen and is yet to be returned.

Police had last week said they had got a court order to detain him for three months to give them enough time to complete their investigation. This followed two suits filed by Evans lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, at the High Court seeking his release and claiming N300m damages from the police.

Some senior police officers who spoke on condition of anonymity expressed fears that Evans might not make it to the court. They argued that he might plot his escape from prison, or get across to some of his members who are still on the run. Their concerns are not farfetched, given that several inmates in the past had reportedly committed much heinous crimes even while in prison.

Some of the officers confirmed that Evans was no longer in the police cell in Lagos. He has not been returned since he was moved out. Evans is a broken man; police cant resort to extra-judicial killings at this point. He is cooperating, and he is ready to help return all his ill-gotten wealth as soon as possible, one of the officers said.

Another reliable source at the police command told Saturday Sun Evans is not an ordinary criminal. I guess that they took him out for further investigation but I dont know why they are yet to return him to his cell. The source further assured: No one is planning to kill Evans. I believe that they will return him later. He could be in any good cell in the state for security reasons, but I can assure you that he is not dead yet. Even if anything happens to him, if he dies in custody, it will be as a result of cancer which he claims he is suffering from.

Yet another senior police officer who preferred anonymity assured that Evans is okay. He is okay and seriously cooperating with the police in its investigation. From the look of things, he might not spend up to three months in detention before hes charged to court. As for his location, I assure you that he is in a protective custody somewhere out of town. The officer who reinforced fears within the police circle, said that a criminal is always a criminal, adding that, with the number of robbery cases and kidnappings to his credit, he is well known among criminals.

Within the short period that he spent in our cell, he is already controlling inmates in the cell. They fear and respect him; we do not want to run the risk of allowing him to form another notorious group which is common amongst them.

Calls and text messages to both the Lagos Police Spokesman, Olarinde Famous-Cole and the Force PRO, Moshood Jimoh on the official position of the Police on Evans whereabouts were neither answered nor responded to as at 10pm yesterday.
A former official of the Nigerian Customs Service has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for smuggling cannabis through the Seme border to Lagos Island.

The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested an ex-Nigerian Customs official identified as Ngwoke Emmanuel, for smuggling cannabis through the Seme border to Lagos Island.

While confessing his crimes to security operatives, he told officials after his arrest that he was paid half a million naira to smuggle the drugs disguised as used clothes.

The 39-year-old suspect explained in his statement that he thought he was helping to smuggle used clothes.

I was paid N500,000 to smuggle the goods from the border to Lagos Island but when the consignment was searched by customs officers at Gbaji checking point, it turned out to be cannabis.

That was how they arrested, dismissed and transferred me to NDLEA. I was only concerned about taking care of my wife and child. I did not know what next to do, Emmanuel said.

According to a report by Punch Metro, the cannabis, which weighed 394kg, was seized by Customs officers at the Gbaji checking-point along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

The suspect was immediately transferred to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for investigation.

The NDLEA commander at the Seme border, Udotung Essien, disclosed that the estimated value of the drug is N4m, adding that the agency took custody of the suspect along with the weeds.

Investigation is ongoing and the suspect will soon be charged to court, he said.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has re-arraigned the former Jigawa governor, Sule Lamido, his two sons, and five others before Justice B.O Quadri of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Lamido, his sons, Aminu and Mustapha were re-arraigned alongside Aminu Abubakar, Batholomew Agoha and three companies on an amended charge of 43-counts bordering on money laundering and illegal diversion of public funds.

They all pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Justice Quadri admitted Lamido to bail in the sum of N100 million and two sureties in like sum while his sons and the other defendants were admitted to bail in the sum of N50 million each and two sureties each in like sum.

The sureties for Lamido must have landed property that is not encumbered and depose to an affidavit that they are willing to forfeit the property to the Federal Government should he breach his bail condition.

The sureties for the other defendants must be civil servants in any ministry from grade level 15 and above who must present their tax clearance certificate for the last three years.

They must also have more years in service and produce a letter from the heads of their various ministries that they have no criminal record and have never been indicted before.

Other conditions of the bail include that the EFCC, which is the prosecuting agency, must verify the addresses of the sureties.

The judge ordered the defendants to also deposit their international passports with the registrar of the court and must not under any circumstance, travel out of the country without the permission of the court.

Justice Quadri ordered the defendants be remanded in prison custody if they fail to perfect their bail conditions within two months from the day of arraignment.

Earlier, counsel to Lamido, Mr Offiong Offiong (SAN) had prayed the court to allow the defendants continue on the previous bail conditions granted them by Justices Gabriel Kolawale and Adeniyi Ademola.

But the prosecuting counsel, Mr Chile Okoromma objected on the grounds that the charge against the defendants was new adding that what happened before the previous judges was dead and in the past.

Lamido and his co-accused had been arraigned before Justice Evelyn Anyadike of the Federal High Court, Kano State, on July 9, 2015 for allegedly misappropriating funds belonging to Jigawa.

Their case was later transferred to the Federal High Court, Abuja, where Justice Gabriel Kolawole, a vacation judge, granted them bail, and adjourned the matter to Sept. 22, 2015.

The matter was then assigned to Justice Adeniyi Ademola but following his arrest and prosecution by the Department of State Services, the matter was transferred to Justice Quadri.

Following the acquittal of Ademola, Offiong prayed the court to transfer the matter back to Ademola on the grounds that 18 witnesses had already testified.

Okoroma objected on the grounds that the lead counsel for Lamido, Mr Joe Agi (SAN) was tried along side Ademola for corruption related offences.

He said that it would be wrong for Agi to defend a case before Ademola because the public perception would be that the judge was biased, which ever way the verdict went.

Source: ( PM News )
The Miga Local Government Council of Jigawa says it is targeting no fewer than 66,241 children immunisation against polio in the July round of polio immunisation campaign in the area.

The Information Officer of the council, Malam Abdullahi Yakubu, made this knwon to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse on Friday.

Yakubu said the council had received 70,000 doses of Oral Polio Vaccines (OPVs) to cover the targeted number of children.

He explained that the children would be immunised against polio and other child killer diseases during the five-day exercise.

The spokesperson added that UNICEF in collaboration with the State Government had provided 80 cartons of milk, 17 cartons of biscuits, 30 cartons of sweet and one carton of whistle 19 to be distributed to children during the exercise.

He also disclosed that the council had provided 20 cartons of sweets to woo children participate during the house-to-house immunisation.

According to him, the council, under the supervision of its Health Educator, Alhaji Sule Shehu, had conducted sensitisation campaign on the need for parents to present their children to be immunised against the polio virus.

Yakubu added that the council had also conducted a community dialogue in Gwari and Shumawa villages in order to address the issue of habitual noncompliance by some households.

He said that arrangements had also been made to disseminate key messages to the affected communities using town criers and through weekly sermons at Jumaat mosques.

The spokesman noted that series of advocacy visits were paid to religious leaders, traditional rulers as well as government officials to seek their support and cooperation for the successful conduct of the exercise.

NAN also reports that the polio immunisation for the month of July would be flagged off in all the 27 local government areas of the state on July 8.

Source: ( NAN )
The Lagos State Government has appealed to residents of Lagos living in flood-prone areas to relocate in the aftermath of incessant heavy rainfall within the metropolis in order to avert loss of lives and properties.

Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Samuel Adejare, in a statement also warned all residents in the State of the consequences of the continuous heavy rainfall being experienced in most parts of Lagos on lives and properties.

Adejare noted that rainfall was bound to disrupt normal activities as well as have an untoward effect on landed properties, roads and environment.

He implored all Lagosians to, as much as possible, stay indoors during rainfall, except it is important to their safety and livelihood.

You are implored as much as possible to stay indoors unless it is essential to your safety and livelihood. However, we strongly advise those who live in lowland and close to water bodies to move upland, he said.

He added that officers from the Ministry had been deployed to coastal areas and sites that were susceptible to flooding as part of efforts to protect the lives and properties of the citizens.

While pledging the preparedness of the present administration to ensuring the well-being and comfort of all citizens, Adejare implored Lagosians to call the free toll lines of 112 or 767 for necessary assistance in case of emergency.

Source: ( PM News )
According to reports, a man asked the court to dissolve his 16-year marriage because his wife dared to cook and serve pork meat to his mother.

The man identified as Mr Kolawole Adegoke, asked a customary court in Agodi, Ibadan, Oyo state, to end his 16-year marriage over a problem with his wife.

According to the fashion designer, his wife Adeyinka, had gone ahead to serve his mother pork meat, while ignoring the fact that shes a Muslim and such meat was a taboo to them.

Making his case, Adegoke said:

My lord, the major grudge I have against her is that she intentionally bought and cooked pork for my mother who is a Muslim.

Her action is disgusting; I see no reason for her to cook such meat which is forbidden for my mother, a Muslim. The court should separate us to avoid unpleasant occurrence because I can no longer stay with a woman who perpetrates such a thing.

He also mentioned that she has lost all respect for him and preferred to listen to her parents instead.

Giving his judgement, the president of the court, Chief Mukaila Balogun, said:

Parties cease to be husband and wife henceforth, and the court registrar should serve the defendant a copy of the judgment.

Na wa o!

Source: Naijaloaded
The Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose has declared that Nigerians caused the pains and suffering they are going on themselves by voting into power President Muhammadu Buhari.

Fayose who said this on Friday in Benin, while delivering the Convocation Lecture of Benson Idahosa University (BIU), also admitted that he his a controversial person because he did things other people dreaded to do because they lacked courage and are fearful.

He said Buhari had reached a stage of diminishing return when he was voted into power.

He said the time for young Nigerians to pilot the affairs of the nation was now, adding that under his watch, nobody above the age of 50 would become a Council Chairman, while the maximum age for a councillor would be 35.

You can only give your best at your best. Our President is at diminishing return as at today. I should be quoted. We cannot all sleep and face one direction. Idahosa did not do these things when he was close to his grave; he did them at his prime when he had the energy to make a difference.

How do you give laptop or ipad to a seventy-something-year-old man? How can we continue to struggle with our sons for positions meant for them?, Fayose queried.

The governor also demanded for a review of the revenue allocation formula, pointing out that a situation whereby the federal government pocketed 52 percent of the allocation was awkward because the challenges facing the country resided in the States.

He said: How will the Federal Government take 52 percent when the problems are in the States? The Federal Government must shed its weight and allow States do the works for them.

Federal Government must take 22 percent and States take 52 percent. The Federal Government has taken more than it can do, more than they can deliver.

Fayose, however, praised the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, saying he is our leader in Yorubaland, forget politics and it does not matter he is in the APC.

He revealed that the late tele-evangelist, Archbishop Benson Idahosa, got his father converted to a born-again Christian at a crusade in Ibadan, Oyo State, in 1980 and that his father later sowed the familys only car to propagate evangelism.

He charged the management of BIU to sustain the vision of the late Archbishop Idahosa, saying that the late man of God could see far beyond his peers when he was alive.

Fayose cautioned handlers of the education sector to live their words and put those concerned on the driver seat.

He said: I withdrew my sons from Olashore International School in Osun State and put them in SUBEB Schools in Ado-Ekiti. My sons attended institutions in Nigeria. Many people in the country say something and do other things.

On how he would actualise his dream of leading the country, Fayose said he would only align himself with Gods power, saying with God, nothing is impossible.

Source: ( PM News )
Nigerias top Police Inspector, Abba Kyari, who arrested billionaire kidnapper Evans with his men has debunked rumour of the kidnappers disappearance that made news headlines this morning.

According to Kyari, Evans is still in the Nigerian Police custody and in accordance with the 90 days remand order from the Federal Highcourt, investigation covering 3 countries is in progress.

Heres what he said;

Friends, I received a thousand calls this morning. Please disregard the fake news from a major newspaper today that the most notorious kidnapper in the history of Nigeria Evans in our custody, has vanished. Its a big lie. In accordance with the 90 days remand order from the Federal Highcourt, investigation covering 3 countries is in progress. Its a false headline,, we can never joke with the security of Nigerians. 
The Oyo State Police Command have confirmed the death of a suspected gang leader of some armed robbers, after they engaged policemen on patrol in a gun duel during a robbery operation in Ogbomoso, Oyo State,five others were later arrested.

While parading the suspects at the state police command in Ibadan on Friday, the state Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Odude, said that the gang invaded Ogbomoso on June 17, 2017 around 10pm.

The gang first snatched a Toyota Corolla and used the car as their operational vehicle for operations they carried out that night.

Odude said, The gang snatched the Toyota Corolla saloon car from Taiwo Ogunyemi at gunpoint and fled the scene immediate.

Similarly, another victim, Gbemiga Oladunni, was attacked by the same bandits who dispossessed him of a large sum of money and a pump action rifle. Not done, the hoodlums unleashed yet another attack on Tetra Abbey filling station where they robbed the station attendants of cash and other valuables.

However, they ran out of luck when a distress call was made to the police. Promptly, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad stationed along the Ogbomoso/Oyo axis responded. On sighting the operatives, the hoodlums opened fire prompting the SARS operatives to engage them in a shootout that lasted for some minutes. At the end of the gun duel, one of the hoodlums was hit by police bullets while another member of the gang, later identified as Ademola Ajayi (33), was arrested after sustaining gunshot injuries.

Odude added that the arrest of Ajayi led to the arrest of other members of the gang like Rotimi Awoniyi (21), Sikiru Adigun, aka Lighter (32), Abayomi Olatunji, aka Energy (35) and Femi Abolarin aka Dudu (28).

Exhibits recovered from the gang include one pump action rifle, two locally-made guns, one pistol, fifteen 9mm live ammunition, one expended cartridge, a Toyota Corolla with, HP laptop, five assorted mobile phones, a power bank and four thousand naira cash.

One of the suspects, Ajayi, said he was a driver and that an informant (Awoniyi), who was a commercial motorcyclist in Ogbomoso, brought the deal to the gang.

He told us to come and rob a man but we only found his family at home. Before we began the operation, he took two of us out to snatch a vehicle for the job which I drove.

He also took us to a bakery but it was too late and the workers had closed. Then we went to a supermarket and found nothing too. We then headed to the filling station where we were caught by the police. One of us shot at them and they shot back, injuring some of us. This is my second time of robbing with the gang, he said.

Source:( Punch Newspaper )
After watching the trailer of Alter Ego; the latest movie of Nollywood veterans, Omotola Jalade and Wale Ojo, one would be forced to wonder the reactions of their spouses, seeing them play such erotic roles together-

While Omosexy, revealed that she sought the permission of her quite understanding husband, Captain Matthew Ekeinde, Wale Ojo, although not married said he also spoke with his partner.

When GOLDEN PEARL MEDIA quizzed to know why the movie Hunk is not ready to make his partner, his wife, the Phone Swap star, said he is not ready for marriage yet.



According to him: I dont know if theres a problem with marriage, but I like been in a relationship without the pressure of marriage. Whenever I want to play sex roles in a movie, I discuss with my partner. I enjoy myself more without marriage or its pressure, he said.

Wale even confessed that all the sex scenes he played with Omotola Jalade were real and natural.

My sex scenes with Omotola are very easy. After all, I am a sexy person. I dont see it as that hard. Omotola and I are great friends, so it was very easy for us to have that chemistry and do what we had to do. It wasnt difficult at all. Our kisses were real. We grabbed each other, we were passionate, it is natural. It is real.



When asked if he felt something emotionally while the act was going on, the United Kingdom returnee said, Of course, you have to have an emotion to do this. We are good friends, so things worked out well. It wasnt that hard. I always love playing the bad guy role.

Source: Golden Pearl Media
About nine states in Nigeria have been earmarked by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu to make up the united Biafra.

Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu has revealed the states to secede with Biafra should Federal Government grant his call for referendum.

He made this known during a Channels television interview. The IPOB leader disclosed that:

1) Rivers state

2) Bayelsa state

3) Delta state

4) Anambra state

5) Imo state

6) Enugu state

7) Ebonyi state

8 ) Cross Rivers state

9) Akwa Ibom state

will make up the states to form a united Biafra should Federal Government grant the call for referendum.

On using war to achieve his aim, Kanu said, No because truth is a far more potent and deadlier weapon than bullets. No war. When I say Biafra or death, I mean I will keep pushing, either I am Alive or I die in the process. I wouldnt stop.

Had sovereign National conference been convened by the powers that be, where every ethnic Nationality comes together to say what type of country do we want? Sit down, discuss and agree. I can begin to perhaps submit to the opposition.

It is way too late. They have killed so many people. They have ruined too many lives. They have wasted too many souls. How do we bring those people back.

Revealing the states Kanu said: Rivers state, Bayelsa, Delta, Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi, Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom. Basically South East and South South without Edo state. This also includes Igede Idoma

Reacting to comment by the Rivers Sate Governor, Nyesom Wike that Rivers was not part of Biafra, the IPOB leader said, He cannot say that. It is for the people to decide.

Similarly, Kanu had declared that he is ready to lay down his life for the actualization of Biafra.
A retired British national is currently brooding over the loss of his livelihood after losing his entire retirement money to a Kenyan woman he met while on holiday. The poor old man was said to have lost his entire retirement money to a Kenyan woman identified simply as Njeri. A retired British national is currently brooding over the loss of his livelihood after losing his entire retirement money to a Kenyan woman he met while on holiday. The poor old man was said to have lost his entire retirement money to a Kenyan woman identified simply as Njeri.

The British man who gave his name as Tom Spencer was said to have come to Mombasa, Kenya, to spend his post-retirement vacation and upon meeting Njeri at a beach fell for her.

Spencer who is now very broke, is said to live in Mtwapa where he sells tea in order to make money to feed himself.

Source: ( Gossip.naij.com)
Three men have gotten themselves into more trouble than they saw coming after they staged a mock funeral for the president.

The police on Friday detained three men in Uganda for staging a mock funeral for President Yoweri Museveni in protest at a plan to remove the presidential age limit of 75 years, NAN reports.

Spokesperson, Samson Kasasira said, the police arrested the men, including two university students, parading a coffin in the south-western city of Mbarara.

Kasasira said the coffin was topped by a portrait of the president and carried the inscription: Rest in peace Museveni.

The men had gone ahead with the protest in spite of having been denied permission to stage it, Kasasira said, adding that they would be charged with sedition.

The arrests followed reports that a faction of ruling party legislators want to change the constitution to remove the presidential age limit of 75 years, which would leave Museveni, 72, ineligible to run for the presidency in the next elections in 2021.

The ruling National Resistance Movement has almost 70 percent of the seats in parliament.

Critics say Museveni, who has ruled the East African country since 1986, has become increasingly repressive of the freedom of speech.
A dismissed soldier, Obadiah Ayuba, has been arrested by the Oyo State Police Command for stealing his friends car in Ibadan.

The man was dismissed by the Nigerian Army after a series of unprofessional actions, including robbery and absconding from duty.

Parading him in public at the state police headquarters in Ibadan on Friday, the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Odude said Ayuba fled with the car and was arrested five days after. He committed the crime a day after he was dismissed from the Nigerian Army.

The suspect was arrested by operatives of Operation Burst along the Oyo-Ibadan Expressway and handed over to the police, Odude said.

Ayuba said he had gone to a night club in Ibadan with his friend, Abubakar, on June 15, 2017 and that after he (Abubakar) told him to drop a female friend, he decided to abscond with the car.

Ayuba said, We went to a night club and left around 3am. He said he wanted to see his mechanic, who was repairing a vehicle for him.

We headed to my friends mechanic workshop and decided to sleep in the car until morning. He later left me and a female friend of his in the car while he went to see the mechanic. When the lady was complaining, I called him and explained to him that she wanted to go home.

He told me to help drop her at home and I did so. That was how I absconded with the car. I used it as taxi to earn some money. When I was arrested, some passengers were in the car. I served at the 81 Batallion, Mokola, Ibadan before I was dismissed on June 14, 2017 after a court martial.
A Catholic Priest who shot his assistant with a gun for allegedly in the habit of disobeying his orders has been removed by the Bishop.

The Catholic Bishop of Okigwe Diocese, Rt. Rev. Solomon Amatu, has sacked Rev. Father Christian Amusuo for allegedly shooting his assistant, Rev Father Precious Osuji, who is the Parish priest of the Church, Eziama  Osuama, in the Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State.

According to Punch, the assistant was not spared as he was also removed from the parish. Amusuo had on June 23 at the parish house reportedly shot his former assistant after a heated argument.

Trouble started after the former parish priest reportedly accused Osuji of constantly disobeying him and flouting his orders. Amusuo was later arrested by the police for being in possession of a firearm and shooting his former assistant.

The cleric, however, had been released on bail after he was interrogated at the state Criminal and Investigations Department of the police command in Owerri, the State capital.

Confirming the sacking of the priests by Bishop Amatu, a parishioner who did not want his name to be mentioned, said that a new priest had temporarily been drafted to the parish.

The parish laity leader, Sir Jude Obi, who confirmed that the two priests had been removed by the Bishop, said that a new parish priest would be assuming duties in a full capacity on Sunday, July 9.

Obi mentioned that the immediate intervention of the Bishop by transferring the two priests prevented the youths from locking up the church. He also added that the new priest drafted to the parish celebrated Mass on July 2.
Atlanta-based self-storage developer Mequity LLC has acquired a former Moving Man storage building in New York City for $15.6 million. Mequity intends to convert the structure into a seven-story self-storage facility comprising 40,593 net rentable square feet in 1,424 climate-controlled units. Construction is expected to begin during the third quarter, with completion scheduled for the second quarter of 2018.

The property at 465 W. 150th St. in the Sugar Hill area of Manhattan is primarily surrounded by residences, as well as some parks and recreational centers, the release stated. Its also near City College of New York and Columbia University.

Jernigan Capital Inc., a merchant bank and advisory firm serving the self-storage industry, has co-invested $26.5 million in the development, its second with Mequity, according to a press release. The finished project will be managed by CubeSmart, a real estate investment trust and third-party management firm.

Pretty much all of Manhattan is very undeserved with storage, so when there is an opportunity to work on a building like this and create a new, modern storage facility in Manhattan, its an opportunity that we want to take, Mequity Principal Bill Marsh told the source.

In February, Jernigan Capital and Mequity co-invested in a Vinings, Ga., property. The project includes a building conversion and construction of an additional connected structure. The multi-story self-storage facility will comprise 103,561 net rentable square feet and is expected to be complete next year.

Jernigan Capital is a commercial real estate finance company that provides financing to private developers, operators and owners of self-storage facilities. It offers financing for acquisition, ground-up construction, major redevelopment or refinancing. The firm intends to be taxed as a real estate investment trust and is externally managed by JCap Advisors LLC.

CubeSmart owns or manages 832 self-storage facilities across the United States. Its operating portfolio comprises 55.9 million square feet.
The Charleston, W.V., Municipal Planning Commission has denied a request from real estate developers Josh Duncan and Donald Huber to rezone a residential parcel in favor of a self-storage facility. The application faced strong opposition from residents in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood, which is fronted by the Corridor G parcel, according to the source.

The commission referred to the project as a case of spot zoning, supporting the planning departments assessment that the development would be inconsistent with the citys comprehensive plan and benefit only the landowner. Adopted in 2013, the city plan recommends a gradual reduction in land zoned for commercial development, the source reported.

About 60 residents attended the meeting to speak out against the rezoning. The city also received 19 letters opposing the application. The group was represented during the meeting by attorney Kelly Elswick-Hall, who cited concerns about increased traffic and told planners that existing storage facilities in the area arent at full capacity. Elswick-Hall also indicated a company connected to Huber had been fined $340,000 for violating the Clean Water Act while developing a property in Minnesota, according to the source.

Other residential concerns included possible losses to property values and the potential for crime. The project would also require excavating a hillside that includes some homes.

Commissioner Rod Blackstone urged Duncan to examine other suitable commercial properties in the city.

The city councils planning committee will also review the rezoning application.
Proponents of transparency face new challenges as some investors grapple with the problem of too much disclosure.

This month , at an off-site meeting at a Monterey Beach hotel, the California Public Employees Retirement System will weigh the future of its private equity portfolio.

The program has been a thorn in the investment offices side for two years now. CIO Ted Eliopoulos has warned that it may be necessary to scale back CalPERSs private equity allocation if a solution cannot be found.

The problem is not subpar performance: At the funds June investment committee meeting, Eliopoulos cited the asset class as one of the funds best sources of return in an otherwise lackluster environment. The problem is transparency  or rather, the very large spotlight CalPERS has found itself under as a result of improved transparency within its private equity program.

The particular public nature and fishbowl of CalPERS may have reached a tipping point for us in private equity, Eliopoulos said.

Improving transparency within private equity investing has been a focus of lawmakers and investors like CalPERS for several years, as limited partners have sought better alignment of interests with these firms and regulators have worked to protect the retirees and other beneficiaries ultimately on the hook for the investments.

Under the leadership of former chair Mary Jo White and former enforcement director Andrew Ceresney, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made an example out of a number of the industrys biggest players, including fining Blackstone Group and KKR & Co. in late 2015 a combined $69 million for charges related to improper fee disclosures. Meanwhile, states including Illinois and Washington drafted legislation to strengthen reporting requirements on alternatives for state and local pension funds.

With the law firmly on the side of transparency, investors and, to a lesser extent, private equity firms rapidly adopted fee reporting templates like the one released by the Institutional Limited Partners Association in early 2016. In the year and a half of its existence, ILPAs version has been publicly endorsed by more than 100 organizations, Blackstone and KKR among them.

Despite the progress thats been made on the transparency front, industry experts say theres still plenty of work to be done  even as the investors that had crusaded for transparency come to terms with the new challenges that have accompanied it.

ILPA, for its part, has continued the charge, most recently turning its attention to the subscription lines of credit employed by private equity firms to bolster internal rates of return. But its unknown if Whites and Ceresneys successors at the SEC  chair Jay Clayton and enforcement co-directors Stephanie Avakian and Steven Peikin  will continue down the path of regulating the still fairly opaque private equity industry.

This month, a small number of limited partners  CalPERS among them  will sit down with the new SEC chair in a meeting organized by ILPA to discuss private equity regulation under the new regime. Still, the regulatory future remains unclear  and with increasing amounts of cash flooding into an asset class that is already bursting at the seams, the balance of power may be quietly shifting back to the general partners.

Given the hot fundraising market of the last few years, GPs have been able to work with a smaller number of prospective LPs to raise capital and have had more power to push back on some marginal requests, says Tom Cawkwell, head of private markets at alternatives consulting firm Albourne Partners.

So far his firm has not seen any meaningful reduction in access to relevant data like investment-performance metrics for serious prospective investors, Cawkwell says. GPs are proud of what they have achieved, and underlying investment operating data can be very helpful in showing, for example, how the GP made meaningful and replicable improvements in the portfolio company despite a negative sector trend or currency movement.

But while GPs may be happy to show off their underlying data to investors, this willingness to disclose investment information does not necessarily extend to the general public. Richard Carson, senior director of private investments at Cambridge Associates, says there is a huge difference between transparency within an investment partnership and transparency in the form of making proprietary investment data available to anyone with internet access or the ability to file a Freedom of Information Act request.

The public disclosure of information  that for sure can be an issue that could potentially keep a GP from admitting certain LPs as investors, he says.

This level of transparency  typically found only at public defined-benefit funds subject to disclosure laws  can be detrimental to LPs, who may find themselves locked out of attractive investment opportunities.

And other drawbacks have come with more transparency. At CalPERSs investment committee meeting in June, Eliopoulos expressed concern that the spotlight trained on the funds private equity investments may have diminished its ability to compete as an investor.

CalPERS has been, in Eliopoulos words, an industry leader in how we report private equity returns, fees, and expenses . . . in working with our peers and importantly the ILPA to work for standardization and make consistent fee and expense disclosure globally.

Publicly reporting private equity fees and expenses has come with an unfortunate side effect, however: making the public aware of exactly how much CalPERS is paying in private equity fees and expenses.

The resulting onslaught of criticism from the media and plan beneficiaries over the last two years has not only served as a harmful distraction for the funds investment and operations staff, but has actually damaged CalPERSs reputation as a private equity LP, Eliopoulos said.

Part of the price of our value of transparency and our role as a public agency is to take all the good and bad that comes with transparency, all the good and bad that comes with public comment and public attention, he said. But this sustained and repetitive attention on our staff and our private equity strategy is taking a toll on both our staff and our competitiveness in the marketplace.

Californias other state pension, the California State Teachers Retirement System, has similarly warned of the pitfalls that can come with too much transparency. Last year, when the state legislature sought to pass a bill that would have demanded stringent disclosure on alternative investments  including releasing proprietary fund information at the portfolio company level  CalSTRS was among the funds to protest the proposed requirements, arguing that private equity firms would no longer wish to partner with Californias public pensions. The resulting law, which went into effect this year, was significantly watered down to accommodate these concerns.

We feel the impact of transparency in our relative competitive position with other investors when it comes to potentially lucrative partnerships, but we understand the need for this transparency with a state-supported entity like CalSTRS, CIO Christopher Ailman said in a statement provided to Institutional Investor. In the larger scheme of things, this is just one more condition of working with a public pension investor and weve encountered a good deal of cooperative spirit from our general partners.

Cawkwell  who managed a private equity portfolio at CalSTRS before joining Albourne in 2007  similarly notes that there has been a good level of GP transparency to LPs in their funds. And at Cambridge Associates, Carson says, the primary hurdle for widespread adoption of more detailed reporting practices among GPs is not a reluctance to disclose information but simply a lack of resources at smaller firms. Ultimately, however, he says it will be more efficient in the long run for GPs to adapt their reporting processes, as large, sophisticated investors are only becoming hungrier for deeper and broader information  information that could only improve investment partnerships between LPs and GPs, he notes.

Weve assumed a leadership position in developing a reporting structure that offers a greater level of openness than ever before in the industry while protecting our interests as a private equity investor, Ailman said. After all, were in this space to maximize the return potential of the fund for the benefit of our member-educators and their beneficiaries.
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With the the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) being signed in 2015, changes in Iranian-European relations were possible, but the election of Donald Trump set the United States on a very different course of foreign policy. Now, European partners must either go along with that policy, or risk of being on the wrong side when bilateral relations deteriorate further.

Member of Parliament Bob Blackman writes in an article for Conservative Home, If these trends remain consistent over the long term, there is little doubt that the EU countries will set policy on mass. They will either enable Irans return to global prominence, in line with the initial expectations of the JCPOA, or they will recognise the persistence of Iranian misbehaviour and decide to strengthen the sanctions and diplomatic pressures that are aimed at compelling Iran toward change.

After the JCPOA was implemented, Irans intervention in the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars, led to proliferation of militant groups throughout the Middle East. The Islamic Republic has also escalated its ballistic missile program in a possible violation of a UN Security Council resolution. Irans human rights abuses continue, with some 20 executions occurring in just the first three weeks after the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to a second term. Although Rouhani made campaign promises of freedom for political prisoners, the prisons are filled with activists, journalists, and social media users who were swept up by the Revolutionary Guards and the Intelligence Ministry in the months preceding the vote, and Rouhani has taken no action on those promises.

The international community has been criticized by human rights organizations for allowing these human rights issues, which Blackman attributes its myopic attention to the nuclear issue and the prospects of new-found access to the Iranian oil economy.

And,many political and economic leaders in Europe are willing to continue to put economic incentives before democratic values and human rights.

These are the two courses of Middle East policy that Western leaders are trying to navigate between at the moment, and it is not at all clear which impulse will be the stronger one across the top of the EU, Blackman writes, adding, To be fair, it is not entirely clear which course Britain will choose either, as evidenced by the tortured relations between BP and would-be Iranian partners since the implementation of the JCPOA. But what should be clear to anyone who is concerned about Britains legacy in the Middle East is that it will be to our advantage if we do not feel constrained by the EU when we make our decision.

The lives and freedom of the Iranian people must be put ahead of the desire for Iranian oil. Blackman believes that the UK should act in unison with the United States, in terms of the imposition of new sanctions, the blacklist and isolation of hard-line institutions like the Revolutionary Guards, and the obstruction of Irans power-grab throughout the broader region.

Many British politicians made it clear that they agree, when on July 1st, they attended the annual Paris gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the opposition movement who calls for regime change as the solution to the problems of Tehrans behavior both in the country and the region.

The Free Iran rally drew at least100,000 Iranian expatriates and their supporters, and reached millions of native Iranians via social media and illegal satellite dishes.

Political dignitaries and academics from the EU nations also attended NCRIs annual rally. The British supporters of the NCRI there will hopefully convince the UK government to change course for the good of global stability and the future of the Iranian people, and the UK will be an example that others can follow, using their independence of the EU brought about by Brexit.
The brainchild of Cormac Megannety, a consultant at the Irish arm of Fortune 500 real estate firm CBRE, the ISSC had been mooted for Dublin in the past five years.

Mr Megannetys vision for Dublin suggested a shipping-related business in a cluster of integrated office buildings in Dublin city centre and Docklands area, with the potential for 3,500 jobs and millions in foreign direct investment.

The Dublin proposal is believed is have stalled in recent times and Cork stakeholders have stepped in to pitch Corks Docklands as a viable alternative.

Meetings regarding Cork as the preferred ISSC destination have been attended in recent weeks by business people from across the construction, financial, and maritime sector.

Mr Megannety, the Irish Maritime Development Organisation, and IDA Ireland attended a briefing at the Port of Cork where the proposal was explored.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney and Agriculture and Marine Minister Michael Creed have signalled their support.

Port of Cork commercial manager Michael McCarthy said he believes the ISSC was a natural fit for Cork City and harbour because of its state-of-the-art facilities.

ISSC is a concept proposal to create a world first and world-class cluster of international shipping orientated companies centred in Cork Docklands. It is also a major urban regeneration scheme led by a group of individual and well-established property developers who will provide appropriate commercial, residential, and cultural amenities within the ISSC.

He said the resources of the Port of Cork, Cork City Council, Cork Chamber, and other stakeholders could be pooled for the combined benefit of the city of Cork to make the proposal a reality.

The ISSC Cork can be viewed as the most important urban regeneration initiative in the State and an unrivalled opportunity to present Cork Docklands as a viable IT-driven home for a wide range of shipping-orientated companies and their staff in a comfortable, state-of-the-art, 21st century, work-link-play environment.

Mr McCarthy said the cluster could assist in regenerating the Docklands, currently the subject of a 1bn plan by city planners.

The ISSC concept can harness a number of resources to help regenerate an entire city quarter and Docklands of Cork for the benefit of the city, its development community, as well as its current and future population, he said.

It aspires to be an all-inclusive project, embracing commercial, residential, and cultural projects together, aimed at uplifting an entire city centre with wider impacts on our national economy. This is Corks hour.

Irelands marine economy is outperforming the general economy, according to the latest Ocean Economy Report by the Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit of NUI Galway, with shipping and maritime transport playing a key role in driving growth.

In 2016, Irelands marine economy had a turnover of 5.7bn, more than a third of which was attributable to the shipping and maritime transport sector.

The report said the direct economic value of Irelands marine economy was 1.8bn in 2016, almost 1% of GDP, which represents an increase of 20% on 2014

.
In a written Dail reply to Fianna Fail finance spokesman, Michael McGrath, Mr Donohoe said: In respect of relocations not every firm will want to make the relocation decision public for commercial and other reasons.

The numbers of firms which will eventually decide to relocate here could be much higher. The State continues to engage with a substantial number of other firms who have yet to make their final decision, he said.
Its exceptionally likely we will see an event over the next months that will seriously affect insurers.

It would only need a combination of WannaCrys wide reach and Petyas destructive force to cost cyber insurers something like $2.5bn (2.2bn), or a full year of gross premium income in the market, Graeme Newman, chief innovation officer at CFC Underwriting, said.
People at a public meeting in Carrigtwohill, 11 miles from Cork, were strongly opposed to being brought under the wing of City Hall.

Alf Smiddy, whose previous report recommending a single local authority for city and county was rejected, told the public meeting the Mackinnon report was an attempt by a weaker city administration to seize the rates and land of its more dynamic county equivalent.

The 2015 Smiddy Report had also envisaged an enlarged metropolitan district, forming one of three municipal divisions.

Before a widely supportive audience in Carrigtwohill, Mr Smiddy dismissed the Mackinnon document as a rambling, cobbled-together report, born out of political expediency and tantamount to giving two fingers to Cork County Council.

He found it bizarre that Minister Simon Coveney had welcomed his own report, before subsequently initiating the Mackinnon project.

The report, he added, had been torpedoed by co-ordinated attacks by city vested interests, including politicians and media.

It would be shocking, appalling and terrible if it was rammed through, he said, and suggested a countywide plebiscite to decide it.

More than 120 people attended the meeting in the local community hall, organised by Muintir na Tire and Carrigtwohill Community Council. The community councils Anthony Barry warned the Mackinnon proposal could dissect the Carrigtwohill area under two administrations.

Ballincollig, Blarney, Cork Airport, and possibly Cobh could also be incorporated into the metropolitan area where two local authorities are retained but with an enhanced city boundary.

A Ballincollig speaker warned of OK Corral type ramifications if Government tried to impose the recommendations on the suburb, while Cobh man Ken Curtin claimed Mr Coveney had already established structures to impose the reports recommendations, as calls for a cross-county front to fight this were applauded.

Ballycottons Christine Lane said Mackinnon representatives had shouted down Public Partnership Network concerns.
The case dated to April 10, 2008. Senior counsel John Lucey said the crash was a complicating factor but it was not something which contributed to the fatality in the original accident. He said this aspect was examined but was never the subject of proceedings.

The ambulance crash was mentioned during the ruling of the fatal case at the High Court in Cork. Alexander Alajevs, aged 36, was living at Silverbrook, Mill Rd, Corbally, Limerick.
The figure is a new high in the continuing saga which is seeing costs spiral as the centres protracted development continues.

Ms Humphreys gave the figure in a response to a query from Cork East Labour TD Sean Sherlock, who asked for an update on the centres cost.

Figures are starting to fluctuate as secrecy continues to shroud this project, Mr Sherlock warned.

Ms Humphreys said her department had allocated 12m to Cork City Council towards the cost of the centre on the site of the former Beamish & Crawford Brewery, subject to a service level agreement with the local authority to ensure compliance with all relevant requirements in relation to major capital projects.

My department recently received further correspondence from Cork City Council indicating the overall project costs has risen from 65m up to between 67m and 73m, said Ms Humphreys.

However, the council and contractor have not yet finalised the full cost due to design changes required to provide full multi-functionality for the centre.

My department is continuing to liaise with Cork City Council who have been asked to provide additional information on the cost increases.

However, Mr Sherlock said the matter now needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

We have no sight of the costs involved, he said.

The Cork public, bankrolling this venture, have no sight of the extended design requests.

The credibility of the project is being questioned and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

Uncertainty has surrounded the project for a number of years.

Following a prolonged tender process, developers BAM and multinational entertainment company Live Nation beat the late Owen OCallaghan to some 20m in state-aid for the project in December 2013.

Despite that, the sod was not turned on the site until February 2016, when then-taoiseach Enda Kenny visited Cork just days ahead of the last general election.

On the same day, the sod was turned on the regeneration of the Capitol site on Grand Parade, a development that has since been completed and opened to the public.

The Capitol building even hosted a husting as part of Fine Gael process to determine Mr Kennys successor, while the Beamish and Crawford site remains idle.

On the day of the sod turning, those behind the Event Centre said the facility would be open in 2018  a prediction they rowed back on months later as the project stalled.

In May, it emerged that BAM had requested a further 18m in public funding for the centre, on top of the 20m already committed to it.
A contractor, acting on behalf of the local authority, recently cleared a ditch of Japanese knotweed as part of works being carried out at Marina Park close to the rebuilt Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

The invasive species can penetrate roads, concrete, and paving, and experts warn only a small sample is needed for it to spread.

Homeowners have been warned not to cut any of the weed on their property, with experts advising the plant can only be controlled over a prolonged period of time by treating it with herbicides that attack the roots.

Local resident Denis ORegan said it appeared those involved dug it out with a digger and dragged it across the site.

I am a member of the Cork Environmental Forum and this is an issue that has been raised at meetings, he said. I think they have taken the wrong approach, they needed to contain this and treat it for three or four years by injecting the roots.

If they havent got this right, it will spread for years to come, after the expansion of the park and after the expensive paving has gone in.

A city council spokesperson said the local authority was confident it had taken appropriate measures to tackle the weed. The contractor has confirmed a clump of Japanese knotweed was removed yesterday and is being stored on site pending the city councils approval for appropriate disposal in line with the approved specification for Japanese knotweed disposal.

Any residue of vegetation from resprouting rhizomes at this location will be treated with the appropriate approved herbicide.

There are a number of other locations within the curtilage of Marina Park that will be treated with the appropriate approved herbicide in the autumn.
Save Cork City says it fully support the Morrisons Island design initiative, which is being organised by the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland southern region and the Cork Architectural Association with the support of the National Sculpture Factory. The area has been earmarked by the Office of Public Works (OPW) and Cork City Council for one of the first major interventions as part of its 140m Lower Lee flood relief scheme.

The impetus for the design competition is a response to the OPWs proposals, say organisers. The OPW has proposed several measures to minimise flood risk in the city, including the construction of direct defences such as raised quay walls, embankments, and tidal gates.

Save Cork City has led criticism of the OPWs reliance on direct defences, which it claims will damage the citys heritage and character. The organisers of the design competition said the OPWs scheme is based on a defensive approach to flood relief, which it said will block or reduce river views, and impact on architectural conservation areas, protected structures and historic artefacts along the quays.

It has invited registered architects, engineers, and landscape architects to propose innovative and considered solutions for the renewal of Corks quays and quayside landscape, and to: n Reimagine and renew the public space at Fr Matthew and Morrisons Quay; n Design a new pedestrian bridge to replace the existing Trinity Bridge at Morrisons Quay; n Reveal the historic beauty and material quality of the historic quays at Fr Mathew Quay and Morrisons Quay; n Enhance and develop the citys relationship with the River Lee to promote and encourage and reference river activities such as trade, tourism, community activity, sport, and leisure.

It said it hopes the competition will unlock opportunity and potential, and contribute to the citys future strategy for the quays by revealing new ideas and uses.

It also said that innovative solutions cannot be generated without informed reference to the past combined with dutiful consideration of the needs of the future, including climate change, social and economic development.

The competition organisers referenced Save Cork Citys alternative flood defence plan, which focuses on upstream river and dam management combined with a tidal barrier, which they said would remove the burden of defence from the quays and river banks.

This enables a renewal of the relationship of the city to the river and enables new relationships to be created, said the organisers.

The repair and reuse of the quayside landscape can increase amenity, encourage city life and tourism and reinforce the city as a place to live, visit and invest.

There is significant evidence that the authentic repair of the historic areas of cities can lead to substantial economic gain through tourism, increased trade and increased investment.

The winning entry will be chosen by a jury including Yvonne Farrell, of Grafton Architects, James Howley, a conservation architect with Howley Hayes Architects, Siobhan Ni Eanaigh of McGarry Ni Eanaigh Architects, Tim Lucas, a structural engineer with Price Myers Engineers, UK, and artist and sculptor Eilis OConnell.

The deadline for submissions is September 22, with the winner due to be announced a week later.

The shortlisted entries will be exhibited publicly and the winner will receive 10,000.
ACCORDING to the Introduction to this book, the history of the Catholic Church in Great Britain and Ireland is a series of adventure stories, some of which have happy endings. Roy Hattersley, however, is still an unlikely fit for the role of storyteller. Grand Old Man of British Labour Party politics, and a writer with 25 books under his belt, Hattersley is an uncompromising atheist.

Nevertheless, religion, the belief in the unbelievable, fascinates him. On balance, he believes that Catholics on these islands have been more sinned against than sinning. Theirs is a triumph of faith and a victory for the moral certainty that provides the confidence that reasonable doubt cannot provide.

I wasnt completely convinced by this argument. Moral certainty is by no means the exclusive preserve of Catholics. Totalitarian regimes, including several that despised the Church, have come and gone with no shorter a supply of moral certainty than the Vaticans. Instead, it was doctrinal, not moral, convictions  about Transubstantiation, Purgatory, intercession by the saints and the Blessed Virgin, justification by faith and, of course, the status of the Pope  that led Catholics to endure dungeon, fire and sword. Indeed, how much better things might have been if more Christians in the sixteenth century had been truly mindful of the moral certainties of their religion: thou shalt not kill, blessed are the peacemakers, and so on.

As the first chapter unfolds, the persecution and executions are running mainly in the opposite direction to the rest of the book with the Church struggling furiously to stamp out the new heresies of the Reformation. But then in 1534, on a single say in London, a monk, three priors and a vicar were executed for denying that the King was head of the Church.

Enter the first great hero of Hattersleys five-centuries-long tale: Bishop of Rochester and martyr for the faith, John Fisher. Fisher never resorted to the brutality that was endemic in society. Erasmus called him the one man of his time who was incomparable for uprightness of life, for learning and for greatness of soul. As the procession of English Catholic martyrs begins to wend its way through history, Hattersleys unbelief is no obstacle to his admiration.

The promised happy endings are slow in coming. Hattersley devotes a chapter and more to that amazing, half-forgotten episode in English history, the Pilgrimage of Grace: a revolt in the north of England against the suppression of Holy Days, the closure of local monasteries and other consequences of the Reformation, that might have toppled Henry VIII. It was a good, if hopelessly, naive fight, ending in carnage and executions. The sixty-eight year old mother of Cardinal Pole was beheaded simply for possessing a coat of arms decorated on one side by the wounds of Jesus, the symbols adopted by the Pilgrimage of Grace.

One reads with dismay of the religious and political violence which ebbed and flowed throughout the successive attempted theocracies of Henry (impartial in his inhumanity and the most unreliable and inconsistent theologian in England), his son Edward and his daughters Mary and Elizabeth. The willingness to both inflict and accept horrendous suffering is staggering.

At least, the teachings of Jesus meant Christianity had within it the means to recover from the madness of heretic burning. An anonymous letter to Bloody Bonner, Bishop of London under Queen Mary, demanded to know where prove you that Christ and his Apostles killed any man for his faith? And Catholic martyr-to-be, Edmund Campion, was able to write to his pursuers: I have no more to say but to recommend your case and mine to Almighty God, the Searcher of Hearts, who sends us His grace and sets us to accord before the day of payment, to the end we may at last be friends in Heaven, where all shall be forgotten.

Hattersley isnt afraid to slay some of Eng

lish historys sacred cows. The idea of the Glorious Revolution of civil liberties instituted when William of Orange assumed the throne is nonsense, given the vindictive, vicious anti-Catholic measures. Hattersley argues that fear of the Catholic threat, among both the English establishment and the mob, took on the character of a neurosis, never more pronounced than in the concoction of the Popish Plot of 1678-81. Although there was no plot, he writes, twenty-four plotters (seventeen of them priests) were arrested, convicted and executed. The last victim was Oliver Plunkett: hung, drawn and quartered after a show trial in Westminster Hall.

English Catholics gradually came to accept the need to learn to survive in an irrevocably Protestant nation. However, if Protestantism was irrevocable, the Catholic Church in England was invincible. Despite small numbers, and persecution and harassment stretching into centuries, it would not die. And the Irish, of course, were digging their heels in too, driven by their indomitable piety.

There is a fascinating chapter on the turmoil in nineteenth-century Liverpool, both within the Church and in wider society, about how to respond to the influx of the Irish poor. Here another hero emerges: Fr James Nugent, all-purpose reformer and friend of the destitute. We then catch a glimpse of Fr Matthew administering the temperance oath to a forty-thousand-strong ecumenical rally on Glasgow Green. Cardinal Manning of Westminster also emerges as a hero of sorts for his obsessive commitment to justice for the Irish, manual workers and the poor.

Roy Hattersley: His father was a parish priest in Nottingham, before running away with his mother. Roy was their only child. Picture: Andrew Parsons/PA

As the twentieth century rolls round and the book draws towards its conclusion, Hattersley still has his work cut out for him  perhaps more than anywhere else, as much of what he writes about is not just history, but the stuff of living memory.

The story of Ulster Catholics from partition to The Troubles makes inevitably dismal reading. There is an heroic and at least partially successful attempt to cram the story of Vatican II into fifteen pages. The Gordian Knot of the Churchs teaching on sexuality, and all its troubling ramifications, are fairly examined. Hattersley is robust in his criticism without being vindictive. The chapter on sexual abuse concentrates almost entirely on England, but there is, of course, no shortage of grim parallels with Ireland.

Specialist historians will pass judgement on the overall accuracy of Hattersleys accounts of each era and the validity of his judgements. (Hattersleys fellow peer, Lord Alton, may take him to task for his dismissal of Pius XII for an unheroic response to the rise of Nazi Germany.) Irish readers will find it easy enough to spot some factual errors in a book that is, to be fair, largely about England.

But, as a storyteller, Hattersley is excellent, blending character, event and context almost to perfection. And he has quite a story of his own to tell too. In 1973, Hattersley discovered that his own father, a local government official, who had just passed away, was also a Father.

Frederick Hattersley had been a parish priest in Nottingham when he agreed to instruct Enid Brackenbury ahead of her marriage to a Catholic collier. He then performed the wedding ceremony. Two weeks later, the priest and bride ran away together, eventually married and, for forty-five years, they lived in bliss. Roy was their only child.

The Catholics: The Church and its People in Britain and Ireland from the Reformation to the Present Day

Roy Hattersley

Chatto & Windus, 25.00
THE Koleos represents a venture into unchartered territory for Renault. Where the original Koleos was more of a compact SUV, this new second-generation model moves the nameplate into the larger D-segment, and crowns the Renault crossover range.

Unveiled at the 2016 Beijing Motor Show, the new Koleos SUV is based on the same Renault-Nissan Alliance CMF-C/D (Common Module Family) platform as the Nissan X-Trail. However, where Nissans large SUV is available with a seven-seat configuration, Renault offers the Koleos strictly as a five-seater.

Looks and image

That decision to keep the Koleos as a five-seater was  according to Renaults designers  partly made to keep the design of the SUV as stylish and upmarket as possible. While this immediately calls the old form over function debate to mind, you do have to admit that the Koleos is an attractive beast.

Designed in conjunction with the Renault Talisman  the Koleos does look every bit the high-end SUV, even if the large Renault badge that sits proudly on the SUVs nose may not traditionally be associated with such aspirations.

The cabin, on the other hand, cant quite cash the cheques that the Koleos exterior is writing. With plenty of leather and mod-cons such as heated seats and satellite navigation, it isnt a bad place to sit by any means, but there is still a noticeable amount of less-than-desirable looking plastics and surfaces throughout.

Considering prices for the Koleos start at a hefty 27,500 in the UK (no prices for Ireland), youd expect a little more bang for your buck, especially when you compare its interior with the likes of rivals such as the Peugeot 5008 and Skoda Kodiaq.

Space and practicality

As far as interior space is concerned, you wont be left wanting. Front seat passengers will find they have more than enough head and shoulder-room, while two adults will be able to sit comfortably in the back seats over longer journeys. The back seats offer a generous amount of leg and knee-room, and even with the optional sunroof specified, head-room is more than plentiful.

One area where the Koleos does fall down  especially in comparison with rivals such as the Nissan X-Trail and Skoda Kodiaq  is the fact that it isnt available with the optional third row of seats.

However, this does pay dividends (albeit small ones) in terms of boot space, as the Koleos offers 579 litres of luggage space, while the X-Trail manages just 565 litres with the rear seats in place.

Behind the wheel

Considering the Koleos shares a platform with the Nissan X-Trail, it was surprising to discover that the Renault didnt really feel as well-sorted out on the road as its Japanese counterpart. The steering set-up was not quite as direct and lacked some of the feedback provided by the X-Trail, and there was also a touch more roll through the corners.

The Koleos also wasnt as composed over bumps as its sister car  although this might have been down to the fact the roads on our test route in Finland were worse than those we tested the X-Trail on in Austria.

The Koleos large 19-inch wheels also gave way to a great deal of tyre roar at speed, and wouldve contributed to the harsher ride that we experienced.

However, the large, comfortable seats and abundant cabin space did go some way to making up for this. Opting for smaller, 18-inch alloys would certainly remedy the large amounts of road noise, and make the Koleos an incredibly comfortable long-distance cruiser.

There are two diesel engine options available with the Koleos  a 128bhp 1.6-litre unit and larger 175hp 2.0-litre power plant.

While both engines do a good job of getting the Koleos up to speed in a timely manner, the six-speed manual transmission  which is the only transmission available with the 1.6-litre unit  is rather vague and slushy in action.

Value for money

Theres no arguing with the fact that the Koleos is a rather expensive proposition in its segment  especially considering the fact that it doesnt quite offer the same levels of practicality as a few of its seven-seat rivals.

While prices are steep  standard specification is generous. Entry-level Dynamique S Nav vehicles benefit from a panoramic glass sunroof, 18-inch alloys, automatic dual-zone climate control, cup-holders that can heat or cool drinks in the front of the cabin, and Renaults seven-inch R-LINK2 infotainment system that incorporates satellite navigation, DAB radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Signature Nav models are equipped with the 1.6-litre diesel engine. This top-flight trim level adds full leather upholstery, 19-inch alloys a larger 8.7-inch touchscreen infotainment system and a powered hands-free tailgate, among other features.

Who would buy one?

The Renault Koleos is a car that will appeal to anyone in the market for a stylish, slightly left-field SUV. Its dashing looks will no doubt appeal to many, as will its comfortable and well-appointed interior.

However, there are a couple of flies in the ointment  the rather high asking price and the fact it doesnt offer seven seats.

FACTS AT A GLANCE

Model:

Renault Koleos Signature Nav dCi 130

Engine tested:

1.6-litre four-cylinder diesel

Power:

128bhp

Torque:

320Nm

Max speed:

115mph; 0-60mph: 11.2 seconds

MPG:

57.6

Emissions:

128g/km
Subscription rates of both wired and mobile broadband have increased for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which is comprised of 35 countries.

On the mobile side, the average in December 2015 was 91 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. That average increased to 99 subscriptions per 100 subscribers in December of 2016. There were 113 million new mobile subscriptions. As of December 2016, there were 1.275 billion subscriptions in a region with a population of 1.284 billion people. Eleven countries have penetration rates of more than 100 percent.

Fixed broadband subscriptions rose from 372 million to 387 million between December 2015 and 2016, which increased the penetration rate from 29.2 percent to 30.1 percent. The leading countries are Switzerland (at 50.1 percent), Denmark (42.4 percent), the Netherlands (41.9 percent), France (41.4 percent) and Norway (40.5 percent), the press release says.

Ransomware Surprisingly Small Percentage of Malware

Ransomware is a chilling form of malware that has garnered a lot of headlines during the past few months due to the WannaCry and Petya-related attacks. That level of notoriety makes it surprising that testing group AV-Test found that ransomware comprises less than 1 percent of the 600 million malicious programs that targeted Microsoft Windows last year, according to ZDNet.

Thats not to say that ransomware isnt common. The Virlock strain of ransomware did hit the top echelon, however. AV-Test reports that it was the fourth most widely spread malware family last year. The story also says that Microsoft reports that Windows gets 500 million ransomware emails quarterly.

The Rural Broadband Price Tag: $80B

Last month, President Trump promised that rural broadband will be part of the administrations $1 trillion nationwide infrastructure plan. Analysis by experts suggests, however, that the $25 billion set aside for that purpose wont be enough.

The story says that broadband is defined by the government as download speeds of at least 25 Megabits per second (Mbps). Providing that speed ubiquitously would cost $80 billion, the analysts conclude. Today, that speed is reached in only 55 percent of rural areas, while urban areas have a 94 percent level.

Broadband would be a boon to rural folks, especially if it automates functions and reduces the amount of time-consuming trips they must take:

For example, farm equipment now comes with the option of remotely troubleshooting a problem with a tractor or combine  but only if youve got the bandwidth. Farmers who lack broadband must haul their equipment to a repair shop and potentially lose days of planting or harvesting. They also cant get real-time data on soil or moisture conditions, which can lead to over-applying seeds and fertilizers, raising costs, creating environmental damage and making their farms less profitable and efficient.

It is not mentioned in the story, but fixed wireless 5G could play a major role in changing the cost equation and allowing these areas to be better served.

Gartner: Device Shipments to Decline 0.3 Percent this Year

Gartner released research predicting that shipments of PCs, tablets and smartphones will decline 0.3 percent from 2016 levels and finish this year at about 2.3 billion units shipped. There is good news for companies in this ecosystem, however: Gartner says that shipments will grow 1.6 percent in 2018.

The firm said that traditional PCs will continue to decline through 2019, while premium ultramobiles will experience sharp growth. Basic and utility ultramobiles, which are broken out as a separate category, will decline between last year and 2017 and stay almost steady through 2019. Mobile phone shipments will rise from 2016 to 2018 but fall back slightly in 2019, the firm predicts.

Dangerous Android Malware SpyDealer Identified by Palo Alto Networks

Three researchers from Palo Alto Networks have identified malware that exfiltrates  steals  data from more than 40 apps as well as messages from communications apps. The malware, which the researchers have dubbed SpyDealer, can do damage in seven ways. These are explained in the very detailed post at the Palo Alto site.

The post says that SpyDealer is not known to be distributed through the Google Play store. The authors suggest that it may be reaching phones through compromised wireless networks. It is only fully effective on versions 2.2 to 4.4 of Android (which covers about one-quarter of Android users). SpyDealer can steal data from later Android versions, though it cant take actions that require higher privileges, the post says.

Carl Weinschenk covers telecom for IT Business Edge. He writes about wireless technology, disaster recovery/business continuity, cellular services, the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications and other emerging technologies and platforms. He also covers net neutrality and related regulatory issues. Weinschenk has written about the phone companies, cable operators and related companies for decades and is senior editor of Broadband Technology Report. He can be reached at [email protected] and via twitter at @DailyMusicBrk.
A couple of Samsung Galaxy Note 8 leaks have surfaced fairly recently and they show a couple of features that will likely be found on the real thing. The most intriguing features of the Galaxy Note 8, as seen in the leaks, are the camera layout and the presence of the headphone jack.

The first leak is courtesy of a Facebook post by Tung Ha, a Vietnamese blogger. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8, according to the leak, will come with dual cameras, a feature many thought would be included in the Galaxy S8. Samsung seems to have rectified that mistake and placed dual cameras on its flagship phablet. Perhaps more interesting is Samsung's head-scratching move to keep the fingerprint scanner on the right side of the dual camera. The Korean conglomerate received some flak for the awkward location of the fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy S8. The company had the opportunity to correct this mistake as well but it seems like Samsung is sticking to its guns.

Samsung did alter the layout a bit. The Galaxy Note 8 comes with a LED flash and heart rate sensor placed between the dual camera and the fingerprint scanner. This means there's a little more space separating the two features which will keep the user from touching and smudging the camera when reaching for the fingerprint scanner.

Keeping the fingerprint scanner on the rear of the Galaxy Note 8 is highly indicative of Samsung failure to implement it on the display, as noted by GSMArena. Apple is rumored to be having a hard time with its fingerprint sensor as well. In fact, the latest report is that Apple will completely ditch the feature with the iPhone 8.

The second leak concerns a trio of photos of a case for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, according to ValueWalk. The photos of the case render, also provided by Tung Ha, parallel the layout of the dual camera and sensors at the back of the Galaxy Note 8. What's striking is the cut out on the bottom side of the case which indicates the presence of the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack on the Galaxy Note 8.
All eyes are on Samsung as the launch of its phablet is nearing. However, there is another phablet that's set to be released in the last quarter of 2017 that's primed to make an impact - the Huawei Mate 10.

The Huawei Mate 10 will supposedly come with an all-screen design which will likely be similar to what Samsung has to offer with its Galaxy Note 8. The display of the Mate 10 will have an impressive 18:9 aspect ratio on its 6-inch display with 2160 x 1080 pixel resolution. If true, the screen of the Mate 10 will be bigger and taller than that of the Mate 9 which comes in at 5.9 inches and only a 16:9 aspect ratio. The Full Active LCD display to be used by the Mae 10 will be provided by Japan Display or JDI.

Among the other rumors circling the Huawei Note 8 are the possibility of it being powered by a 10nm HiSilicon Kirin 970 processor which GSMArena described as "beastly." This will also mark the first time that Huawei will use such a chipset. Huawei's in-house processor is similar to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 chip as both are built on a 10nm process.

While there has yet to be any mention about the RAM and internal memory of the Huawei Mate 10, Phone Arena believes that it will not have a RAM lower than 4GB and at least 64GB of built-in storage. There is also a possibility that the Huawei Mate 10 will run on Android O 8.0 out of the box. The latest operating system is already in beta and there may be enough time for Huawei to wait for the final version of the Android O to be officially launched before using it on the Mate 10.

The Huawei Mate 10 is also speculated to come with a facial recognition feature as well as two dual cameras. Another rumor says the primary dual camera will have 3D sensing and iris scanning features while there's also talk that some sort of augmented reality capability may also be included.

The Chinese company is expected to launch the Mate 10 in October. This is different from the company's tradition of launching new products in November. The Huawei Mate 10 will possibly be worth higher than the Mate 9 but will be more affordable than the Note 8 and even the iPhone 8.
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LOS ANGELES  Director Luc Besson says getting Rihannas team on board for her role in the sci-fi epic Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets was a little painful at first.

Rihannas manager Jay Brown was a fan of Bessons films like The Professional and La Femme Nikita but they had to make sure they trusted Besson and his crew before they committed.

The pop superstar co-stars in Valerian, out July 21, as a burlesque dancer named Bubble who performs in a seedy club owned by Ethan Hawke. Its a relatively small part in the film starring Cara Delevingne and Dane DeHaan, an alumnus of the UNC School of the Arts previously seen in such films as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Chronicle.

But Rihannas work on the film is already being hailed by early viewers as a scene-stealing performance.

Rihanna, who wasnt available for an interview, was the directors first choice for the pivotal role and he figured it couldnt hurt to ask her.

Shed had a main role in the 2012 film Battleship and the animated Home, and cameos in This Is the End and Annie.

He was surprised at how involved her team was at the outset.

Theyre very protective of her, he said. So before you get in, you have to prove that youre honest and youre there for a good reason ... . Its a little painful at the beginning, but after a while you go, Yeah, we get it.

Once the Grammy winners team decided to move forward, Besson said Rihanna was lovely.

What was good was when she was on the set, shes 200 percent focused with you, no entourage, shes there. When shes there, shes there, Besson said.

The problem, sometimes, is to have her there, the French director added with a smile, to which his wife and producer Virginie Besson-Silla quickly jumped in and said, No, no, she was good!

She was good, Besson agreed. She was amazing and so focused. I was surprised by how much she was ready and open to the director ... She was at my service and I was surprised at the beginning. She was so generous.
The self-proclaimed "deal maker" finally got the beginnings of what could be an important diplomatic agreement in Friday's Russian-American summit in Hamburg. For a rookie, President Trump appears to have avoided mishaps that sometimes plague such great-power talks.

The importance of the meeting between presidents Trump and Putin isn't so much in the details, though the proposed cease-fire in Syria could save lives in that tragic conflict and lead to more "safe zones." It's more in the restoration of dialogue between the U.S. and Russia after a long period in which relations had deteriorated to the danger point.

For Trump, the meeting marked the fulfillment of a controversial promise he made early in the 2016 campaign to seek an improvement in relations with Moscow. Trump may claim a "win," but the greater beneficiary is probably Putin, who seized this opportunity to "come in from the cold" after the sanctions and diplomatic isolation that followed Russia's 2014 invasion of Crimea.

Trump bought the Syria deal at relatively low cost. Sanctions against Russia remain in place; the Russian diplomatic compounds that were seized Dec. 29 haven't been returned. It was widely suspected that Trump's advisers had discussed a removal of sanctions after he won the presidency; if any such agreement exists, it hasn't been disclosed.

Trump opened the meeting by raising the issue of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson; whether this was a fuzzy pro-forma statement or a real protest isn't clear. Putin is said to have denied any such interference, but his response wouldn't be credible, no matter what he said. Ex-spies aren't believable on the subject of covert actions. The decisive evidence on this subject of Russian meddling will come from special counsel Robert S. Mueller when he completes his investigation.

The Syria agreement is the most important "deliverable" from Friday's meeting. Tillerson has been working on the details for weeks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. The cease-fire in southwest Syria, negotiated with Jordan (and, unofficially, with Israel) was actually hatched about a week ago and kept on ice so that all sides could make sure it was being observed.

The stage is now set for other U.S.-Russia efforts to de-escalate the Syria conflict and begin to stabilize the country. For the Syrian opposition, Friday's most important development was Tillerson's announcement that President Bashar al-Assad will eventually leave power and that there will be a political transition away from the Assad family. Assad will probably resist, as may Iran. But if the United States and Russia are co-guarantors of this transition, as appears to be the case, it's likely to move ahead.

Friday's summit meeting also produced some useful dialogue about North Korea. Tillerson said that Trump has discussed curbing North Korea's weapons programs with both Putin and China's President Xi Jinping. There's no accord on how to pressure Pyongyang - and indeed, some obvious disagreements. But at least there's a public recognition of the seriousness of the problem - and of the shared interest of the United States, Russia and China in dealing with it.

Summits can sometimes be dangerous. Western politicians can make unwise concessions to autocratic leaders, as happened at Munich in 1938 and Yalta in 1945, with tragic consequences. Trump, embattled and unpopular though he is, doesn't appear to have made any such large mistakes at Hamburg. Instead, this was a summit meeting that reminded us of the benefits of diplomacy.

The Washington Post
It's finally happening. I'm going to be honest. I thought the idea that Obama was planning to send his opponents to concentration camps was ridiculous. It was all that sort of scrambled brain Danbones nonsense about pizza and Jewish space lizards or some shit. But after reading about Obama's latest efforts to acquire the personal information and the voting records of American citizens and calling it the "Election Integrity Commission", well that's some Orwellian shit there. Obama is clearly laying the groundwork for a massive state intrusion into people's lives which will no doubt lead to suppression and arrest.That's some scary stuff. I mean, I knew the Democrats were for big government, but I never thought they'd go this far. This is the sort of thing that galvanizes you in the support of liberty. And you guys warned us about tyrannical governments. This is it. The government is coming for you. Big brother is watching. Get your guns. I'm with you, comrades. No, that's not right. Proud boys? Super Chums? Forgive me, I don't know your forms of address.
When Bob Dylan tells the story of Bob Dylan, he often starts at a concert by rock n roll pioneer Buddy Holly in the winter of 1959.

At least, thats where he started in his recent Nobel Prize for Literature lecture.

Something mysterious about Holly filled me with conviction, said Dylan. He looked me right straight dead in the eye and he transmitted something. Something, I didnt know what. And it gave me the chills.

Days later, Holly died in a plane crash. Right after that, someone gave Dylan a recording of Cotton Fields by folk legend Leadbelly. It was like Id been walking in darkness and all of the sudden the darkness was illuminated. It was like somebody laid hands on me, said Dylan.

That story probably sounded rather strange to lots of people, said Scott Marshall, author of the new book Bob Dylan: A Spiritual Life.

What happens when somebody lays hands on you? If people dont know the Bible, then who knows what theyll think that means?  Dylan is saying he felt called to some new work, like he was being ordained. Thats just the way Dylan talks. Thats who he is.

For millions of true believers, Dylan was a prophetic voice of the 1960s and all that followed. Then his intense embrace of Christianity in the late 1970s infuriated many fans and critics. Ever since, Dylan has been surrounded by arguments often heated about the state of his soul.

The facts reveal that Dylan had God on his mind long before his gospel-rock trilogy, Slow Train Coming, Saved and Shot of Love.

One civil rights activist, the Rev. Bert Cartwright, cataloged all the religious references in Dylans 1961-78 works, before the born-again years. In all, 89 out of 246 Dylan songs or liner notes 36 percent contained Bible references. Cartwright found 190 Hebrew Bible allusions and 197 to Christian scriptures.

Also, Dylan told People magazine in 1975: I didnt consciously pursue the Bob Dylan myth. It was given to me by God.  I dont care what people expect of me. It doesnt concern me. Im doing Gods work. Thats all I know.

What does that mean? Marshall collected material from stacks of published interviews and has concluded that two words perfectly describe Dylans approach to answering these questions inscrutability and irascibility. Plus, its hard to know when Dylan is being serious, cranky or playful.

Nevertheless, faith language always plays a central role. Marshall cites waves of examples, including a time when Dylan was asked if his raucous Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 with its Everybody must get stoned chant was code for getting high. Dylan wryly noted that many critics arent familiar with the Book of Acts.

In his Nobel lecture, Dylan also stressed the role great literature has played in his life, dating back to grammar school days. Once again, there were religious themes.

Moby-Dick, for example, combined all the myths: the Judeo-Christian Bible, Hindu myths, British legends, Saint George, Perseus, Hercules theyre all whalers. All Quiet on the Western Front mixed politics, nihilism and horror, and Dylan noted that he has never read another war novel. In that book, Youre on the real iron cross, and a Roman soldiers putting a sponge of vinegar to your lips.

With The Odyssey, he said readers have to live the tale, wrestling with gods and goddesses. Some of these same things have happened to you. You too have had drugs dropped into your wine. You too have shared a bed with the wrong woman. You too have been spellbound by magical voices, sweet voices with strange melodies.

In the end, a songs impact on each person is what matters. I dont have to know what a song means. Ive written all kinds of things into my songs. And Im not going to worry about it what it all means, said Dylan.

Marshall believes one thing should be obvious: If Dylanologists want to understand Dylans life and art they will have to wrestle with all of his songs, including those drenched in Godtalk. Biblical literacy is an essential skill in that work.

The bottom line is clear, according to Hollywood director Scott Derrickson, writing in the books foreward: Dylan has never recanted a single line from a single song.

Terry Mattingly (tmatt.net) writes the nationally syndicated On Religion column for the Universal Uclick Syndicate and is Senior Fellow for Media and Religion at The Kings College in New York City.
KEARNEY  Kearney Public Schools will be asking for public input on a couple of issues Monday night during the KPS Board of Education meeting.

The board plans a public hearing to review student fees followed by a public hearing on parent involvement and Title I parent involvement policies.

According to the meeting agenda, the public hearing on student fees will be led by KPS Finance Director Chris Nelson and KPS Board Member Dave Glover will review the amount of money collected from students and use of waivers in the student fee policy.

The discussion of Title I policies and parent involvement will be led by KPS Student Services Director Carol Renner and Glover. The public hearing is required by the school district and will include an explanation of the ways the district encourages parents to become involved in their childrens educational program.

The board also will be asked during the meeting to approve the revised Kearney Public Schools Facility Use Handbook, which has some minor revisions for the 2017-2018 school year, according to the agenda.

A draft of the proposed handbook includes changes such as the addition of a $30 flat fee for use of the locker rooms and a $30-per-hour fee for the multipurpose rooms, which include the wrestling, fitness and weight rooms. There is also a proposed flat fee of $50 for use of the concession stands by outside groups.

In other news, the board will:

- Recognize the KHS boys 4-by-400 Class A state track champions.

- Hear a report on the boards special meeting.

- Reaffirm the student fee policy and the parent involvement/Title I parent involvement policy.

- Authorize the disposal of obsolete furniture, books, materials and equipment.

- Be asked to accept self-audit reports from several groups, including the PTO at Kenwood Elementary School and the KHS Band Boosters.

The board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Cope Presentation Room of Sunrise Middle School at 4611 Ave. N.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  Bill and Ila Ballou, owners of Kearneys The Solid Rock Christian bookstore, received the Jim Carlson Spirit of Excellence Award from CBA, the association for Christian retail.

The award is given annually to retailers who have shown excellence in the Christian retail industry through outstanding professionalism, including merchandising, economic sustainability, operational excellence, marketing and physical store presentation, according to a news release from CBA.

The award came around the same time the Ballous announced their retirement, a nice send off before selling their downtown Kearney store.

We certainly werent expecting it. Were very definitely pleased (that) were going out on top, for sure, Bill said. Weve just really appreciated Kearney.

The Ballous bought the store in 1974. At that time, it was Lydias Books and Crafts. The Ballous renamed it The Solid Rock in 1975 then expanded the store several times throughout their ownership. The shop sells a number of items from church supplies to resources for individuals, including books, Bibles, music, DVDs and a variety of gift items.

According to the news release, the Ballous are known for always being willing to help and for providing excellent customer service, reaching even beyond their store. The couple are very involved in the community and go above and beyond to meet needs they see around them.

Bill and Ila are examples to all of us in the Christian retail industry of the opportunity to be missionaries in our communities, CBA President Curtis Riskey said. They reach out and support their community, seeing their store as a launchpad with resources for those around them.

The award was given June 29 during an industry banquet at UNITE 2017, CBAs international convention, in Cincinnati. Riskey and CBA Board Chair Sue Smith presented the award.
SEATTLE  The suspected AK-47 Bandit was indicted Thursday in Seattle on one count of possession of a weapon in furtherance of a crime of violence.

According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation Omaha press release, Richard Gathercole, 39, of Roundup, Mont. was indicted for allegedly robbing a North Bend, Wash., bank on July 6, 2012. He is being held in Dawson County (Neb.) Jail on separate charges.

Gathercole was apprehended by the Dawson County Sheriffs Office in Nebraska after a high speed chase starting in Kansas on June 19.

A search under a federal warrant was conducted on June 24 at Gathercole s residence in Roundup by members of the FBI; the Chino Police Department; the Musselshell County Sheriffs Office; and the Rexburg, Idaho, Police Department. During the search, investigators located several pieces of evidence they believe were used in the commission of the bank robberies known as the AK-47 series.

In addition, Gathercole is known to have access to vehicles that match the description of the vehicles used to flee some of the robberies. Based on these and other factors, investigators believe that Gathercole is responsible for the bank robberies attributed to the AK-47 Bandit. The robberies are:

- Feb. 29, 2012, Bank & Trust in Chino, Calif.

- March 12, 2012, Bank of the West in Vacaville, Calif.

- July 6, 2012, Chase Bank in North Bend, Wash.

- Nov. 7, 2012, East Idaho Credit Union in Rexburg, Idaho.

- Aug. 22, 2014, First Nebraska Bank in Nebraska City.

- July 28, 2015, Heartland Community Credit Union in Mason City, Iowa.

There was also an attempted robbery on March 9, 2012, at the Tri-Cities Bank in Sacramento, Calif.

Because of the various crimes alleged and jurisdictions involved at various levels of government, investigators continue to consult with prosecutors about charges.

The investigation of the AK-47 Bandit bank robbery series is being conducted by the Chino Police Department; the Rexburg Police Department; the Musselshell County Sheriffs Department in Montana; the Seattle Safe Streets Task Force; the King County Sheriffs Office in Washington; the Vacaville, Calif., Police Department; the Sacramento, Calif., Police Department; the Nebraska City Police Department; the Greater Omaha Bank Robbery Task Force; and FBI field offices that cover each of the jurisdictions where robberies occurred  FBI Los Angeles, FBI Sacramento, FBI Seattle, FBI Omaha and FBI Salt Lake City.
A statewide college recently was recognized for its affordable, high-quality programs that support career development skills in production agriculture, agribusiness and technical trades, a high priority throughout Nebraska.

The national business magazine Forbes recently placed the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture at Curtis, one of the jewels in the University of Nebraska system, on its list of Top 30 Trade Schools in the United States.

NCTA Dean Ron Rosati said the colleges performance was based on academic quality, affordability and graduate earnings.

NCTA is gaining notice for its expanded programs in welding, irrigation technology, precision agriculture, veterinary science, animal science and experiential learning.

I have enjoyed serving on the NCTA Deans Advisory Council for 16 years, and witnessing tremendous expansion in programs and opportunities. I also have a vested interest as a tuition-providing parent of two children who attended NCTA.

Traditionally, the college provides a two-year associate degree program. More recently, it added two-semester certificates for welding and irrigation technicians.

Meanwhile, transfer options to four-year institutions have never been better, including with UNLs College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

Animal Science and Agricultural Education Division Chairman Doug Smith reports a record number (16) of NCTAs May graduates plan to complete four-year degrees, including 13 who will start fall classes at CASNR. Two are UNL-bound in veterinary medicine or technology, and there are three each in agronomy, animal science, ag business and ag education.

The two-year NCTA Agricultural Education Program helps to fill a void for FFA-agricultural education programs. Smith says three of his NCTA graduates will be teaching in Nebraska high schools this fall.

Additionally, NCTA and CASNR recently announced a bachelor of applied science program that allows NCTA graduates to take online classes through CASNR with oversight by NCTA on campus or by commuting to Curtis.

This initiative allows students to work at farms, ranches or in other agricultural careers in central or western Nebraska without setting foot in Lincoln. What an outstanding opportunity!

Certified technicians are graduating from NCTA with majors in veterinary technology, irrigation technology and welding. Nebraska has the greatest number of center pivot irrigation manufacturers and largest number of irrigated acres, so its industries have strong demand for a trained workforce in electricity, welding, and ag equipment maintenance and repairs.

NCTA launched irrigation technician training in 2013. By 2016, the college had partnered with several ag cooperatives and industries to develop an ag career track in Nebraska high schools to include classes in diversified agriculture and agricultural chemical applications.

The first two graduates of the dual-credit program at York High School this May earned NCTA certificates in agricultural chemical applications. One will enter NCTA in August with one year of college credits.

Agronomy professor Brad Ramsdale has been teaching students in agronomy and crop sciences for eight years, and established an award-winning crops judging team that repeated as national champion in 2017.

Ramsdale recently completed a two-week crops-agronomy summer program for honor students. Partnering with Educational Service Unit 11, he guided students at classes in Holdrege and a two-day camp at NCTA featuring its on-campus agronomy resources.

The day camps and dual-credit programs are among many NCTA developments in the past five years. Expanded programs include precision agriculture courses taught by Ramsdale and practical crop management courses in which students form teams to manage crops at the NCTA farm laboratory just north of the Curtis campus.

The teams decide on seeding rates, irrigation management, fertilizer applications, weed control measures, harvest management and equipment maintenance.

NCTAs ag equipment program was reinvigorated in 2013 and now includes an irrigation technology partnership with Reinke Manufacturing and a welding program that has produced its first student to be certified by the American Welding Society.

Instructor Dan Stehlik graduated from what was the University of Nebraska School of Technical Agriculture. The alum taught in Kansas ag education programs for 19 years before returning to the Curtis campus to teach ag equipment, welding and irrigation technician programs.

College alumni say they are pleased to see the welding program expand because of the high demand for welding technicians. Production enterprises also are seeking well-rounded employees with skills in crops, livestock, machinery or equipment maintenance and business.

Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District has partnered with NCTA on several annual forums, including regular tours of the Central project through the Nebraska Water Balance Alliance.

NWBA members have had opportunities to mentor and interact with NCTA students at forums that bring irrigators, farm managers, educators, vendors and the public to the campus Nebraska Agriculture Industry Education Center.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service recently conducted internal training sessions and the Unicamerals Natural Resources Committee, chaired by District 44 state Sen. Dan Hughes of Venango, will have a public hearing at NCTA in the fall.

My involvement with NCTA and its predecessor go back to when the South Platte United Chambers of Commerce advocated for keeping the school open on behalf of Nebraska agriculture. SPUCC has continually voiced strong support for the college.

NCTA has been re-accredited regionally by the Higher Learning Commission. The veterinary technology program is re-accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association.

As for affordability, fall tuition at NCTA is $127.50 per credit hour for all students, regardless of residency.

I look forward to seeing whats in store next for the hidden gem of a college in Curtis.

Tim Anderson is a public relations adviser to Holdrege-based Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District.

Editors note: Mary Crawford, external relations coordinator for NCTA, provided some information for this column.
KEARNEY  Suddenly, he remembered.

His mind thinned and tangled by dementia, a man watching the Wedding Days event at CountryHouse Residence June 30 began to remember his own wedding. Six bridesmaids, he said, his eyes pooling with tears. A flower girl. His beautiful wife.

Were creating moments of joy and bringing back memories, Susan Peterson, CountryHouse Residence director, said as she knelt down beside him.

That was the hope of Karen Harmon, CountryHouse program services director, when she invited residents families to bring in their wedding gowns and pictures for the show. Some 15 gowns were brought in, ranging from traditional white with lace and flowing trains to a classic pink suit to a salmon flapper dress from the 1920s.

The event began like a wedding. After residents and their guests were seated at tables in the main living room, Harmons tuxedo-clad husband Joel turned on traditional wedding music by Mendelssohn and Purcell on a CD player and stepped forward like a pastor at a wedding.

How many of you got married in the month of June? he asked. A few hands went up. Karen and I messed up, he confessed, grinning. We got married in July.

Karen entered, wearing the gown shed worn for their wedding in 1979. She told how temperatures soared to 102 and the church air conditioning had quit, so we changed churches the day before the ceremony, she said. Joels ring wouldnt fit, and the jeweler wasnt sure he could fix it.

Three days after the wedding, Karen ended up in the hospital. I guess I made her sick, Joel joked.

With that, the event, and residents memories, were off and running. Kylie Wolford, who heads community relations at CountryHouse, carried gowns from table to table, including a 91-year-old flapper dress, and the white suit CountryHouse resident Betty Ball wore at her wedding to Jim in her parents house on June 18, 1947.

Wolford showed her own wedding dress, worn for her nuptials 15 years ago at the eFree church in Minden. She and her husband rode in a 1940 Ford to the Minden Opera House for their reception. I danced too much at my reception and broke the strap on my dress, she said, laughing. The church steeple had toppled off prior to the wedding, too, but it was repaired for the big day.

The dress that CountryHouse resident Elsie Cafferty wore for her 1951 wedding came from a cedar chest in her attic. Cafferty was there with her daughters Marsha Nelson from Kearney and Lisa Robison from Green River, Wyo. Nelson and Robison found the dress. We dont think shed ever taken it out, Nelson said. Her sister added, We were surprised at what good condition it was in. I steamed it and it was fine.

A dress with ballooning puffed sleeves was made without a pattern for Chris Preble by her mother. Chriss father Don Schroer is a CountryHouse resident. Dons wife also made dresses for the bridesmaids and the flower girl.

For the finale, Hello Beautiful Bridal and Formal Wear at 5012 Third Ave. brought in three contemporary gowns and two tuxedos. Jenna Lukasiewicz, store manager, told a personal story, too. She said that on her wedding day eight years ago, her bridal party dressed at her house and departed for the church without her. They left me waiting at home, she said. Fortunately, she added, someone came back to get her.

Lukasiewicz told the crowd that todays bridal gowns average between $1,200 and $1,500 in central Nebraska. She said brides want bling on their gowns because brides want to sparkle as they walk down the aisle. Brides now prefer gowns in ivory, ecru, blush and light gold. The store has sold just five white wedding gowns since opening two years ago.

After the show came a traditional reception. Guests feasted on a three-tiered wedding cake created by Linda Seals and Chelsy Kearney, the owner and manager/cake designer, respectively, at K-Town Cakes at 2300 Central Ave. Festooned with garlands and white piping, it was patterned after wedding cakes of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, when many CountryHouse residents got married. The cake is white because it was expensive to get pigment back then, Seals said.

Harmon was beaming after the show. She held events like this for each of the seven years she was the activity director at Emerald Care Communities in Lincoln. She came to CountryHouse at 5605 Ave. K last October.

Here, she said, residents reminisced about their gowns as they brought them in.

One woman, her eyes sparkling, recalled how her new husband got a speeding ticket on their honeymoon. Another woman looked fondly at the bridal gown she had worn so many years ago and said, I should ask my husband if he wants to marry me again.

Harmon added: The best way to draw out memories is asking people, Do you recall your wedding? Even if they cant verbalize it, you can look into their faces and tell theyre reliving it. I am just trying to recall that moment of joy.
Each time I mention my decision to support New Jersey Gov. Chris Christies Fourth of July vacation on closed New Jersey beaches, my friends and colleagues scoff and question my sanity. Such is the territory of a relentless journalist such as myself when it comes to writing about the challenging issues of our day.

A bit of background: The good governor of New Jersey shut down the government because he didnt get his way with the state budget. I know that sounds harsh. Closing down the state government, just in time for the national holiday celebrating our freedom, sent a message that freedom isnt free. It also sent a message that nobody gets to use the state parks, including the ones that contain state beaches.

As governor, Christie gets to use a beachside residence at Island Beach State Park about half an hours drive from Atlantic City. With the state parks closed, a normal politician would cave to popular opinion and fly with lobbyists and family members to London, Paris or Mogadishu for lunch and drinks on the veranda.

Not Christie. The governor stood his ground, the very ground that speaks of rank, privilege, class and wealth.

When asked about his wealth during the 2016 presidential primary races, he said, I dont consider myself a wealthy man. Listen, wealth is defined in a whole bunch of different ways and in the end, Mary Pat and I have worked really hard, we have done well over the course of our lives, but, you know, we have four children to raise and a lot of things to do.

That said by a man worth, by some estimates, about $84 million.

I could turn this essay in a snarky direction. Instead, I should point out that almost all of our politicians are wealthy. Anyone who considers running for office should be asked, If youre so smart, why aint you rich?

Along with wealth comes rank. We constantly keep arranging our rank as a way to understand our place in society. Mix in some class; the kind of class that keeps you from sharing a public restroom with someone who uses the word aint. All of that turns into the concept of privilege, the right to expect different treatment, as in the use of a public beach closed due to a budget impasse.

Christie and others like him quickly blame the media or political pundits or aggressive shell fish for his poor treatment. We all do that. Driving 5 mph over the speed limit? Oversized tires often throw off your speedometer. Talking on your cell phone while driving? It could be a very important phone call from your boss. Stealing from your savings and loan? Well, thats so last-millennium.

Christie is rich. He expects different treatment and that aint going to change. With an approval rating of 15 percent, the experts suggest that he will explore a rating in the single digits with just members of his staff and several family members rating him as acceptable.

How does this affect Nebraska? Thankfully our borders contain very little oceanside beaches, but we do elect wealthy individuals to represent us in government. How can someone with wealth within the top 1 percent nationally understand what I need as a common citizen? Unfortunately thats when someone starts running government like a business.

And thats when we start having some serious beach problems. Aint that the truth.

Rick Brown is a Hub staff writer who aint misbehavin too much.
Marie Nordboe of Ames recently was elected by the delegates for National Interstate Council of State Boards of Cosmetology Honorary Membership.

Honorary members are either a past board member or associate member who has made a major contribution to NIC. Before being eligible for the status, the candidate must meet the criteria previously set by the council.

Nordboe was an active member of the NIC for the past 15 years, during which she served on numerous committees and accumulated far more points than required to qualify for nomination as an honorary member. Nordboe attended 18 NIC national conferences during that time.

Nordboe served on the Nebraska Board of Cosmetology, Electrology, Esthetics, Nail Technology and Body Art for 15 years. She is serving as president of the Fremont Area Cosmetology Association and is the owner of The Hair Cottage (formerly called the House of Hair) in Fremont.
Tulsa District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler addresses the media after a hung jury verdict was announced against Shannon Kepler at the Tulsa Country Courthouse on Friday, July 7, 2017, in Tulsa, Okla. A third mistrial was declared Friday in the murder case of Kepler, a white former Oklahoma police officer accused in the off-duty fatal shooting of his daughter's black boyfriend. (Ian Maule/Tulsa World via AP)
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The hammer finally fell for the Kenosha Sears store, 7630 Pershing Blvd.

The store was among those on a list of 43 Sears and Kmart locations that will lock their doors in October. This is in addition to 265 store closings Sears Holdings had announced earlier this year.

The Kenosha Kmart, 4100 52nd St., was not on the new list of closings, which included 35 Kmart locations in 21 states.

The wave of closings will reduce the total number of Sears stores to approximately 1,140. Five years ago, the chain, which was established in the 1890s, had 2,073 stores.

In a blog post, Sears Holdings CEO Eddie Lampert said, This is part of a strategy both to address losses from unprofitable stores and to reduce the square footage of other stores because many of them are simply too big for our current needs.

Shoppers at the Pershing Plaza Sears store had reported shrinking and unreplenished inventory since last Christmas. The auto center in the store seemed to keep busy, however, as its service bays and waiting room seemed to have customers and cars waiting.

Series of closings

Sears announced a round of store closings in January. Since then, the retailer has announced three rounds of store closings.

Sears had said in March that there was substantial doubt it could continue after years of bleeding money, though it has insisted that its actions to regroup should help reduce that risk. With more people shopping online, mall foot traffic has dropped.

Lampert noted Friday that Sears has opened smaller stores to attract customers and is on track to cut $1.25 billion in yearly costs.

There were 624 Kmart stores and 651 Sears stores as of the end of April.

Sears stock dipped 2.1 percent to $7.76 in afternoon trading.
Stuff reports:

The North Korean missile that soared high above the Sea of Japan was hailed by state-run television as a shining success.

But to US officials, it was a most unwelcome surprise: a weapon with intercontinental range, delivered years before most Western experts believed such a feat possible.

Hours after the apparently successful test on Monday, intelligence agencies continued to run calculations to determine precisely how the missile, dubbed the Hwasong-14, performed in its maiden flight.

But the consensus among missiles experts was that North Korea had achieved a long-sought milestone, demonstrating a capability of striking targets thousands of kilometres from its coast.
The Herald reports:

New Zealand superannuation is unaffordable and could even be called a pyramid scheme, according to a senior tax lecturer at the University of Auckland Business School, Mark Keating. Either the amount paid in superannuation will have to fall or taxes will have to be significantly increased to cover the rising costs, says Keating  adding that a universal pension is socially desirable but it is generally accepted sharply increasing costs will make it unaffordable. It should be a warning that New Zealand is now the only country still paying a universal superannuation, regardless of the asset wealth or income of the recipient, he says. All other countries have changed their system because it is simply unaffordable.

Yep we have the most generous superannuation scheme in the world  universal, linked to average wage and no income or asset testing. Raising the eligibility age helps but only a bit.

Currently, an average New Zealander will work for approximately 45 years on an average annual salary of $50,000, and will pay approximately $8000 per year in income tax. They will then retire at age 65 and receive superannuation while they live until almost 90. The problem is that average person can expect to receive more back in superannuation than they paid in income tax during their entire working life, says Keating. When doing the maths, using current tax rates and superannuation rates, an individual will pay approximately $360,000 in income tax on wages over their working life, but will receive approximately $500,000 in superannuation.

We need as many people as possible to save for their own retirement, and superannuation should just top up those who are short.

That means the Government has to fund all non-superannuation services and benefits from other sources of taxation (mainly GST, corporate tax and user-charges). A universal superannuation system is sustainable in only two circumstances: either there are significantly more workers than retired people or many taxpayers die either before reaching retirement age, or shortly after, says Keating.

The ratio of workers to retired people is dropping.

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Fallen World War I Aviator Gets Posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross

By C. Todd Lopez







Army Capt. James E. Miller served as a pilot during World War I, and was the first U.S.-trained pilot to be a combat aviation casualty of the war. The Army awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross, and presented the posthumous award to his great-grandson during a twilight tattoo event, June 14, 2017, at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va. Courtesy photo

WASHINGTON  Army Capt. James E. Miller, one of the first aviators in the U.S. military and the first U.S. aviation casualty in World War I, has been named recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross nearly 100 years after his heroic actions over France in 1918.



On the 242nd birthday of the Army, during a twilight tattoo ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Virginia, Acting Secretary of the Army Robert M. Speer presented the Distinguished Flying Cross to Miller's great-grandson, Byron Derringer.



We're very proud today to have some of the descendants from James Miller's family here and able to represent him and a lineage of what he achieved on those battlefields as the first individual who gave his life in that war in aviation," Speer said.



The presentation of the cross to a World War I soldier is significant, given that the theme for this year's Army birthday is, "Over There! A Celebration of the World War I Soldier."





America Enters World War I



The United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. On Dec. 7, 1917, the U.S. declared war on Austria-Hungary, Germanys ally.



"This is the 100th anniversary of [Americas entry into] World War I," Speer said. "And it's the 242nd birthday of our Army. But 100 years ago, there were significant changes in terms of the character of war. You had at that time, for the first time, the Army going off to war in foreign lands with our allies, fighting side-by-side with our allies, and representing the United States -- which placed the United States into a significant leadership role in the world."



Speer said several aspects of warfare changed during World War I, including the development of armor units and precision artillery. One of the most significant developments, however, was that the U.S. military had "aviation for the first time as part of the U.S. Army Air Corps," he said.



"We have a privilege today to be able to recognize not only the heraldry of our total 242 years but also that point and time, where we recognize, late, a Distinguished Flying Cross for an American hero," Speer said.





Early 20th Century Aviation Warfare



As a soldier in World War I, Miller was one of the first to make use of new aviation technology. The captain took command of the 95th Pursuit Squadron on Feb. 10, 1918 -- just 10 months after the United States declared war on Germany. The men in the squadron were the first American-trained pilots to fight in the war.



On March 9 of that year, Miller, Maj. M. F. Harmon and Maj. Davenport Johnson began the first combat patrol ever for the U.S. Army Air Services. They flew 180-horsepower, French-built SPAD XIII aircraft. The aircraft, a biplane, is named for its developer, the Societe Pour L'Aviation et ses Derives.



Harmon's plane experienced trouble early in the sortie, and so he was unable to continue on the patrol. But Miller and Johnson pressed on together and crossed into enemy territory. There, they fought off two German aircraft, but soon met more. It was then that Johnson's aircraft experienced trouble with the machine guns.





Miller Fights On



According to the DFC citation, Johnson was forced to leave Miller to continue the fight against German aviators on his own.



"Miller continued to attack the two German biplanes, fearlessly exposing himself to the enemy, until his own aircraft was severely damaged and downed behind the German lines, where he succumbed to his injuries," the citation reads. "Miller's actions are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the United States Army Air Services and the American Expeditionary Forces."



Afterward, Derringer said of both the recognition and the twilight tattoo that accompanied the recognition, "it's spectacular, I know that the family, everybody, is just honored to be here." Published July 8, 2017
By Park Si-soo



North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited Kumsusan Memorial Hall, where the body of his grandfather and founder of the regime, Kim Il-sung, is enshrined, to pay respects and mark the 23rd anniversary of his death in 1994, reported the state-run media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) Saturday.

The young ruler was also accompanied by key party and military officials who contributed to the successful launch of the Hwasong-14, the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which Pyongyang fired on Tuesday in its latest provocation in defiance of international sanctions.

The test-firing of its first ICBM has sparked fresh tensions over the Korean Peninsula and with the allies of South Korea as the North's missile capabilities are seen as growing at a faster pace than expected.

Pyongyang said that its nuclear program and missiles will not be up for negotiations unless Washington give up what it calls a hostile policy toward the North.

After he paid homage to the founder, he offered flowers at the standing statues of his grandfather and his father, Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011, according to the state media.

Kim, reported to be in his early 30s, came to power in 2012 and has since paid a visit to the memorial hall every year on key anniversaries of the founder.




By Kim Bo-eun

The first film of Korean sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War II was unveiled Wednesday.

While film of a Chinese sex slave was previously disclosed, there had only been photographic and documented records of Koreans.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government and a team led by Prof. Chung Chin-sung of Seoul National University released the 18-second black and white film showing seven sex slaves at Songshan, in China's Yunnan Province in 1944.
It's Hanbul's factory in Huzhou, China





By Kim Ji-soo

K-beauty or Korean cosmetics are popular globally, to an extent unimaginable when our mothers and grandmothers first began using these domestic products.

The ever-increasing number of Korean brands and products are simultaneously a joy and an overload for consumers. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, just several domestics brands such as AmorePacific and Hankook Cosmetics with its Jutanhak brand serviced Korean consumers..

"I remember when I was in Korea in 1987, I would use Amore or Jutanhak products and I remember that they would be lemon-scented skin products in spring, followed by all cool products for summer and then whitening products in fall and winter," said Ahn, a 46-year-old female resident of Seoul.

These brands harbor nostalgic memories of times when services were very personal and affordable and where sales ladies would visit homes and prepare facial masks using their products and eggs before they launched sales. In that vein, these former big names have an advantage with a certain segment of the consumer market that remembers their history. The success of AmorePacific, the Korean beauty giant, spurred by R&Dand innovative products, is now solid.Their brands such as Sulwhasoo are well-known throughout the world.

But Hankook Cosmetics the maker of the Jutanhak brand went on a different path in the 2000s when so-called road-shop brands offering drugstore products began springing up. Hankook Cosmetics is now attempting a rebound with more modern and trending make-up brands such as "the Saem," even amid a general slump triggered by fewer China sales after the deployment of a THAAD missile system here and Beijing's reaction to it.

The struggles of Hankook compounded when it was forced to sell off its headquarter office in Seoul 2014. But in 2016, Hankook Cosmetics posted a 15.7 billion won in operating profit with brands such as the mid-to-lower priced the Saem products. The engine behind theSaem's upsurge was the popularity of its Urban Eco's Harakeke skin products and Waratah skin items. The Saem stores also increased in number to 289 nationwide, up 49 percent from the previous year. The brand also exports to over 15 overseas markets including three East European nations, the United States, Canada and China.

The Saem most recently opened a shop in the Ginza district in Tokyo. It also has a shop in Shinjuku.

Hanbul Cosmetics merged with It's Skin and Hanbul Cosmetics changed its name to It's Hanbul. The company is also working to reclaim market share. It's Hanbul established in the late 1980s. After having hard time maintaining sales, the source for turnaround came when its affiliate It's Skin hit it big with a snail mucin item, the Prestige Cream D'escargot, which has seen huge success since going on the market in 2009.

This year, it has completed building a factory in Huzhou, China, envisioning operation by second half of the year. Measuring about 13,058 square meters, the company invested $250 million into the factory. The company forecast that annual capacity out of the factory to be at around 35 million per year.

That would mean that the company would first produce "in-China" manufacturing of its snail mucin line products and sales of it in China.Long popular, but having faced delays in getting hygiene accreditation required from the Chinese Food and Drug Administration, the products have mostly been sold through bag merchants.

The company however was cautious about an immediate rebound, saying that anticipations for better economic waters between South Korea and China with the onset of Moon Jae-in administration were already reflected through rising stock prices in early May.

"But we are going to see real figures, most probably when we hear that Chinese tourists receive visas or the news arrives that group package tour products have been sold out or we physically see increase in the number of Chinese tourists in Myeongdong," a PR official for the company said.

Coreana, another company that dominated early on with its mud-packs, is working to reclaim market share even amid the general slump of the K-beauty industry. After a few years of founding ground in China, Coreana finished building a factory there last year in Tianjin. Coreana's affiliate, Biocos, has joined hands with Songjeong to clinch a 60 billion won contract to export to China.
South Korea will no longer require foreign English teachers to test for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to land a job here, on growing criticism over its discriminatory nature, the justice ministry said on Saturday.

Under the revised rules, which took effect July 3, those who come with an E-2 visa, a permit for English teaching in Korea, will only need to get a mandatory test for drugs and syphilis should they wish to find work in the country, the Ministry of Justice said.

Calls for a change in the required HIV testing grew after a New Zealander who had worked as an English teacher at an elementary school in Korea petitioned the United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination against the regulation in 2012.












VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) trains transported more than 93,000 travelers celebrating Canada Day between June 29 and July 5, a 10% increase compared to 2016. Over seven days, the passengers travelled a cumulative distance of 40 million kilometers, the equivalent of circling the Earth 1,000 times.

Friday, June 30 was the busiest travel day of the weekend with 16,000 people taking the train. In the Quebec City  Windsor corridor, 84,500 people were on the move, mostly between Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa, where 26,000, 15,000, and 12,000 passengers were welcomed respectively over this period. From June 29 to July 1 Ottawa station welcomed 7,000 people coming to take part in the Canada 150 festivities.

Since July 1, the Canada 150 Youth Pass holders have been taking the train to discover the hidden gems of their country. Many of the Pass holders travelled to the nations capital for Canada Day.

5,000 passengers were welcomed aboard the Canadian over the course of the week of June 29 to July 5, a 47% increase compared to 2016. This spectacular increase is attributed to the many Pass holders who celebrated the 150th anniversary of Canada through a one-in-a-lifetime experience on board this iconic train. More than 1,500 trips were taken by Pass holders on the Canadian since the start of the month.

As Canadas national passenger rail carrier, we are honoured to serve more than 93,000 passengers while the Canada 150 festivities were in full force. The railway has been key to the economic development of this vast and magnificent country. It has also facilitated the establishment and expansion of its communities all over its territory and has brought Canadians together. At a time when passenger rail represents a smart choice for the many tourists, families, and business people, we are proud to continue the Canadian rail tradition and we are ready to work towards building a promising future, said Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, President and Chief Executive Officer of VIA Rail.
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Sen. Al Franken knows how to pack a book tour with dates. He's already made the rounds on TV and national radio for his new book, Giant of the Senate, and he's now in California making appearances. On Thursday, Franken spoke at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco (watch the video.) Today he was on KPCC "AirTalk" with Larry Mantle for a 24-minute segment. (Listen.)

Tonight Franken is speaking with Marc Maron at a sold-out Writers Bloc event at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. Franken must be a hot ticket because, for the first time that I've noticed, Writers Bloc has rush added a second program with Franken and Maron on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. The second book talk sold out too.

But wait, there's more. Later on Saturday, Franken will converse with Chelsea Handler on stage at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. That's a long-scheduled event for Live Talks Los Angeles at 8 p.m., and it also is sold out.

It's Democrats month at Live Talks LA, apparently: Al Gore speaks on July 29. For that matter, Writers Bloc had Bernie Sanders in May at the sold-out Saban Theatre. It's that kind of year for Democrats with books drawing crowds in Los Angeles.

Franken was also interviewed for the Jewish Journal of Southern California by Avishay Arty, in a story that went up today. Franken also spoke Thursday evening up in Berkeley.

In the interest of disclosure, I should note that both Writers Bloc and Live Talks Los Angeles have at times advertised on LA Observed. Neither organization knows about this post, and no animals were harmed in the preparation of this blog item.


PRESS RELEASE

Reagan Advisor Bandow: Time To Normalize Relations with Russia

July 7, 2017 (EIRNS)Doug Bandow, a strategic advisor to President Ronald Reagan, now with the Cato Institute, writes that President Trumps effort to improve relations with Russia may be his most important policy initiative. The column is in Forbes magazine today, coinciding with the meeting of both Presidents in Hamburg, Germany.

Bandow asserts that America and Russia have common interests in many areassuch as fighting ISIS, cyber warfareand then raises alleged "Russian interference in U.S. elections, only to up-end it, stating that while this is vital U.S. interest, "the United States itself has interfered in election processes of at least 81 nations, including Russia a few decades ago. "Before sanctioning Moscow the U.S. Congress might apologize for the many times the Americans played a similar game." Russian efforts were not needed for Hillary Clinton to lose, he adds.

Bandow says Russia is powerful, with global interests; it opposes nuclear proliferation by Iran and North Korea. Moscow could becomee a "balancer," he writes. "Mutual irritation with, if not antagonism toward, Washington has encouraged cooperation with China, but this is no World War II "Axis."

Bandow notes that Russia today spends one-ninth of what the United States does on military outlays. Russia is essentially absent from much of world: Ibero-America, Africa, and huge parts of Asia. And if Europe is so scared of Russia, why dont the European nations spend more on defense? Overall, NATO Europe devotes 1.46 of GDP to military spending; Latvia and Lithuania "whimper" more than anyone, but spend only 1.7%, and 1.77%.

Bandow calls todays meeting "overdue." Trump should make clear that interference with American elections is a red line, while pledging he will avoid political intervention or regime change with Russia. Negotiations over a cyber accord, like that reached with China, should be a priority. Putin and Trump should develop a compact on Syria, promoting political options to reach a long-term settlement, and the United States should back away its military after the defeat of ISIS.

Bandow urges the United States, Brussels, and Moscow to seek a reasonable resolution for Ukraine and lifting of sanctions. Possibilities include practical acceptance, though official non-recognition, of the annexation of Crimea; implementation of extensive autonomy for eastern Ukraine: an end to Russian support of Ukraine separatists; Kievs agreement to military neutralization; NATOs pledge not to induct Kiev, and a deepening of UKrainian economic relations to the East and West. "Clearly only Kiev can agree on its role," but, Bandow urges,

"the West should state clearly that it will not hold its relations with Moscow hostage to Kievs unrealistic hope for alliance membership and Western military aid."

Bandow concludes,
PRESS RELEASE

Trump and Putin Agree They Have Same Goals, Different Approaches

July 7, 2017 (EIRNS)The separate press briefings on the Putin/Trump summit presented by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were in total agreement on this: The two Presidents disagreed on many things, but agreed that it was more important to move forward on solutions for the future than to settle the disagreements of the past. Tillerson said,

"The two leaders, I would say, connected very quickly. There was a very clear positive chemistry between the two. The positive thing I observed, and Ive had many, many meetings with President Putin before, is that there was not a lot of relitigating of the past. I think both of the leaders feel like theres a lot in the past that both of us are unhappy about. The perspective of both of them is that this is a very important relationship, the two largest nuclear powers in this world.... We simply have to find a way to move forward."

Tillerson illustrated the strength of their commitment to a productive relationship by saying that as the meeting went beyond the 35 minutes scheduled for it, he began coaxing the President, other people came in to see what was going on, and at one point, "They sent the First Lady in.... That didnt work. We went another hour after she came in to see us, so she failed."

On Syria, Tillerson said that the military advances against ISIS had reached a point where they can make concrete arrangements for "de-escalation. Both parties agreed on a ceasefire involving a zone in Southwest Syria near the Jordanian border. The United States, Russia, and Jordan agreed to maintain that ceasefire. They agree on expanding these zones of deconfliction and on a transition to a Syrian government under the democratic control of the people of Syria. In response to a question, Tillerson said that the United States does not believe that Assad or the Assad family can long continue in power in Syria because the international community would not accept Syria as a legitimate state if that were the case. Putin retains his view that Assad is the legitimate President of Syria, and that transparent elections by the Syrian people should continue to decide on their leadership.

On Ukraine, Russia requested that a special channel be opened to resolve differences on this issue. In response, Trump has appointed Ambassador Kurt Volker to serve as the United States Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations. His appointment was announced by the State Department this morning. On July 9, he and Tillerson will travel to Kyiv, and he will collaborate with Russia, Germany, and France, the other members of the Normandy Four, who have taken responsibility for resolving that situation.

On cyber-security, both sides agreed to establish a working group to collaborate on this issue. Lavrov pointed out that this problem involves pornography and pedophilia. Tillerson referred to disruption of economic activity. When asked about Russian hacking of the election, Tillerson said that there was a lengthy discussion of this and that Trump pressed very hard on the issue, but Putin firmly denied Russias involvement. When asked if Putin asked for evidence, he said that he did, but "Im going to leave that to the intelligence community to straighten out." He said that he agreed with Trumps decision to recognize this as an area of disagreement and move forward. The translator of Lavrovs remarks said that Trump said that, in the absence of evidence, he would accept Putins word. Both sides did agree on establishing firm mutual commitments to avoid such activity in the future.

On North Korea, Putin supports the double freeze approach advanced by Xi Jingping, but Trump believes continuing sanctions are necessary. Neither Tillerson nor Lavrov mentioned the possibility of military counter-measures nor their promotion by UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Both foreign ministers stressed that although many issues were discussed, few were resolved, but that both presidents were firmly and enthusiastically committed to their resolution. Tillerson said, "By and large, our objectives are both the same. Now, how we get there, thats another issue."
Sherman Alexie keeps running into his mother on book tour, catching glimpses of the woman at the center of his new memoir, You Dont Have to Say You Love Me. He sees her in the quilt decorating his hotel in Boston, a vivid reminder of her artistry and industry. And then there are the sirens that keep going off when Alexies giving a reading, just at the moments the author finds himself getting emotional.

Lillian Alexie died in 2015. I assumed I would no longer have to deal with her and her judgment of me, Alexie says. She continues to haunt me, even more so now.

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Sherman Alexie comes to at ALOUD at the Aratani Theatre on Tuesday July 18th at 7:00 p.m. 

Sherman Alexie in 2009. (Kevin P. Casey / For the Times)

A difficult, complicated human being

Over a career spanning 25 years, Alexie has published two dozen books of fiction and poetry, along with writing and producing films and teaching at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M. All of his work is personal, even autobiographical, wrestling with ideas about indigenous identity, family, politics and pain. But You Dont Have to Say You Love Me is his most raw, vulnerable book. In chronicling his childhood on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Wash., Alexie ponders his brilliant and troubled mother, a woman he deeply loved and, at times, hated.

Lillian Alexie lived her entire life on the reservation; her character was shaped by the racism, poverty, alcoholism and sexual violence she faced, along with what her son figures was likely undiagnosed bipolar disorder (which affects Alexie himself). She was mercurial: cold, critical, withholding at some moments, rage-filled and verbally abusive at others. Alexie writes of the time Lillian hurled a soda can at his head, knocking him out. He was 10. Given his childhood history of hydrocephaly, brain surgery and seizures, this was a particularly cruel act. (In a book mostly about his relationship with his mother, his relationship with his own wayward brain is an important subplot; half a year after his mother died, still in a state of complex grief, he underwent surgery for a benign brain tumor).

One of the things I realized during this tour, as I talk about her, Alexie says, is that she was a difficult, complicated human being. And white guys have written hundreds of biographies about complicated, difficult men. You see white men reading them on airplanes all the time! His book about his mother, he says, is the same kind of book, except its about an ordinary  in heavy quotation marks  native woman from an ordinary tribe in an ordinary place, but its about her unrealized greatness as well, he says, her unappreciated greatness.

Its no surprise that a woman like that  famous on her reservation for bringing food to funerals, one of the last native speakers of her indigenous language, a pathological liar and narcissist  would manage to hang around after death to haunt her son, no matter that he doesnt believe in ghosts or an afterlife. I dont believe in magic, but I believe in interpreting coincidence exactly the way you want to, Alexie adds, laughing.

Much laughter

Talking on the phone from his home in Seattle, Alexie laughs easily. His writing often blends humor with sadness, and this wide emotional range comes through in conversation with him. In the new book, short chapters punctuate longer ones, and poems run throughout, with turns from funny to sad to funny that can stop a reader in her tracks. Its constructed, he writes, like one of his mothers quilt  an observation made by his wife, who emerges, along with his sisters, as the books hero.

I was consulting them constantly, he says. I was so unsure of writing about an indigenous woman, even though shes my mother, that I wanted to make sure that I was being fact-checked spiritually, emotionally, technically by the indigenous women in my life. I wanted to make sure that my thought process was constantly going before the jury of the Indian women I love the most.

Alexie left his reservation schools to attend a nearly all-white public high school, where he was the only Indian except for the mascot. It was the beginning of the bicultural life of an urban Indian. I might have been indigenous to the land itself, but I was a first-generation cultural immigrant to the United States, he writes, a dual status his mother, who never left the reservation, never shared. Im up there standing on a stage or signing all these books, and Im getting all this attention for these gifts I have, he says. And I just start thinking about the ways in which my mothers gifts were never recognized. Were it not for racism and sexism and classism and all the difficulties that a native woman faced in her generation, she could have expressed those gifts, she could have been legendary.

Writing about Lillian  her gifts and her curses  changed him, Alexie says: You ask the people closest to me, they would tell you theres been a small but dramatic change in who I am.

Donald Trump: More of the same

Hes always been political. Id like to think Im more pissed off in this moment but I dont think I am. I mean, Trump is horrible for the country and the world, but all presidents have been pretty equal in their horribleness for us. Hes not new to us, he says. When we look at Trump we see Andrew Jackson. But hes enthusiastic about the way our current politics could lead to a flourishing in Native American literature  a new movement of engaged, activist writers and artists springing up in the wake of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.

That focused indigenous energy is going to result in some amazing art, and I think its going to start some amazing careers, he said. Theres this younger generation of natives thats so diverse in their interests, in their approach to the world, theyre much more educated and world-aware  its going to be an Algonquin round table with actual members of the Algonquin tribe!

Brief moments of glorious connection

On an individual level, Im trying to operate without armor, Alexie says. Im going to say emotional things in the moment out of vulnerability, out of pain, things that could be wrong, things that could be wrong-headed, but I hope in doing that, that it inspires empathy in other people, not just Indians. As a writer, he continues, Ive had hundreds of brief moments of glorious connection with other human beings. And on this tour its happening in an even bigger way than it ever has before. Its making me feel human.

Just being human is a political act, he argues. One of capitalisms primary goals is to turn us all into wallets, into predictable algorithms. And Im an inconsistent, messy, dysfunctional human being. I feel like saying, I dont know, Im a mess is resistance.

At readings, Alexie speaks aloud the Spokane words that were his mothers native tongue, that he had to learn in adulthood. One is the word for wild salmon, another for the mother of a son. I talked about it with a friend, he says. I talked about using these words for the first time in public, and how inferior and inadequate I feel, and she said to learn a language all you have to do is have the courage of a child. Here his voice cracks. And so in writing this book and presenting it to the world and trying to re-embrace my mother, trying to forgive my mother, trying to forgive myself, Sherman Alexie says, Im just trying to have the courage of a child.

Tuttle is the president of the National Book Critics Circle.
MASON CITY | Despite numerous complaints to the police about people using fireworks outside the July 3-4 time frame recently set by the City Council, Mayor Eric Bookmeyer said most of the comments he received were positive.

Those who are against Mason City residents being allowed to shoot consumer fireworks have been the most vocal, according to Bookmeyer.

However, "I have heard overwhelmingly that folks in town appreciate being able to legally celebrate Independence Day in a manner consistent with the proud and long-held traditions of the United States of America," he said.

This year the Iowa Legislature passed a law allowing consumers to buy and use fireworks in the state for the first time in 75 years.

Fireworks can be sold June 1 to July 8 and Dec. 10 to Jan 3, according to the new law.

The Legislature left it up to individual counties and cities to determine when fireworks can be legally used during the sales periods.

The Mason City Council decided to permit consumer fireworks use from July 3-4 and from Dec. 31-Jan. 1.

Mason City's legal hours for fireworks during the Independence Day holiday were set from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. July 3, and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. July 4.

Police Chief Jeff Brinkley said his department received just over 200 fireworks complaints from June 23 through July 5. Around 140 of those complaints were from June 30 through July 5.

"That's a marked increase from previous years," Brinkley said.

He noted most of the complaints on July 3-4 were about people shooting fireworks outside the city-permitted hours for those days.

Officers were able to locate the people illegally shooting fireworks in about half the calls, according to Brinkley.

He said the police educated those individuals about the city's new fireworks ordinance, which was approved June 21.

However, officers didn't issue any citations.

Brinkley said the police focused more on education as it appears most of those shooting fireworks illegally were not aware of the time limits the city set for their use.

The ordinance was passed so recently that "they didn't have time to learn," he said.

Talking to people rather than citing them seemed to work since police did not receive many repeat calls about the same people using fireworks illegally, according to Brinkley.

"I'm happy it went as smoothly as it did," Brinkley said, noting no fireworks-related injuries were reported.

He said he thinks so many people were shooting fireworks this year because of the novelty of it.

"Hopefully some of the novelty was worn off," he said.

Brinkley said he understands the concerns pet owners and veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder have about the fireworks.

However, since the state is now allowing them to be sold to consumers, "we have to give people the opportunity to use them," he said.

If people continue to violate the fireworks ordinance, the police may take a different approach and start holding them accountable, Brinkley said.

Structure fires and serious injuries caused by fireworks were reported in other cities in Iowa.

The Davenport City Council acted shortly after the July 4 holiday to ban fireworks.

Other cities that decided earlier this year to allow fireworks, including Sioux City, Waterloo and Cedar Falls, are planning to reconsider that policy.

Mason City Councilman Travis Hickey, who voted in favor of allowing consumer fireworks use, told the Globe Gazette Friday that he doesn't plan on "making any changes from my current perspective."

Paul Adams was the only council member who voted against the ordinance allowing fireworks use, citing research showing most fireworks injuries occur to children 15 and under.

Adams did not return a message from the Globe Gazette Friday afternoon.

Clear Lake was one of the cities around the state that decided earlier this year to ban fireworks.

Police Chief Pete Roth said the number of fireworks complaints this year was similar to those in past years.

Police received 65 fireworks complaints from June 19 through July 5, which 49 of those calls happening from June 30 through July 5, according to Roth.

A total of eight people were cited for illegal fireworks use.

Roth said he doesn't recall any medical calls for burns.
Toward the end of the great adventure movie A High Wind in Jamaica, a gang of pirates is sentenced to hang for a murder they didnt commit.

I dont want to die innocent! a crewman cries out to his captaI in.

Zac, replies the captain, you must be guilty of something.

One could cite that line to explain the lawsuits lodged against the giant consumer company Johnson & Johnson by more than a thousand women suffering from ovarian cancer, and their families. They claim their disease was caused by dusting themselves over a lifetime with talc that the company marketed to women under brand names such as Johnsons Baby Powder and Shower to Shower and the jingle, A sprinkle a day helps keep odor away.

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Our results provide little support for any substantial association between perineal talc use and ovarian cancer risk overall.  National Nurses Health Study

State court juries in St. Louis have hit J&J with awards totaling more than $300 million in actual and punitive damages so far. (The company has said it will appeal.)

Another 2,400 lawsuits are pending around the country. Jury selection in the trial of one brought by Eva Echeverria, a 63-year-old Los Angeles resident, is scheduled to start July 17 in L.A. County Superior Court. Related lawsuits have been filed by six other Southern California women, and those trials presumably will follow.

The plaintiffs say they trusted that Johnson & Johnson wouldnt market an unsafe product, only to learn after they fell ill that research had established a link between talc and ovarian cancer years earlier, and the company had refused to place a warning label on its packaging.

Yet these cases should raise the same doubts as the other lawsuits, which we aired last year. Put simply, is the science strong enough to support judgments of this magnitude? The answer seems to be no.

Some studies have reported a link between talc and ovarian cancer. But theyre generally retrospective case control studies. These rely on their subjects to report their past experiences, which could be marred by poor recollection or biased by the desire to pinpoint a cause of disease.

On the other side of the ledger are prospective studies, which select their subjects first and then follow them over a period of years. One such study reported in 2000 by researchers at Harvard was part of the National Nurses Health Study of more than 121,000 women, including 78,630 who said they had used talc. Ovarian cancer eventually struck 307 of them. The study revealed no overall association between talc use and epithelial ovarian cancer, though there was a modest elevation in risk for one variety of the disease. That variety, invasive serous ovarian cancer, is what Echeverria is suffering from, according to court papers.

Our results provide little support for any substantial association between perineal talc use and ovarian cancer risk overall, the researchers reported.

Another prospective study performed by the University of Massachusetts followed 61,576 post-menopausal women without a history of cancer for more than 12 years. It found no association with risk of ovarian cancer.

As I observed in relation to the St. Louis jury awards last year, cases like these present an extraordinary challenge for the American jury system.

The scientific evidence is equivocal. Talcs role may well be incremental or marginal, swamped by other potential contributing factors such as obesity, genetics and other aspects of the patients medical histories.

Ovarian cancer accounts for only 1.3% of all new cancer cases in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute. But its the eighth most common cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death among women. Fewer than half of all patients survive five years after diagnosis. Still, pinpointing one factor as a cause of an individual patients disease is no simple matter.

Perhaps most important, the verdicts may reflect the decline of sciences reputation for objectivity. Some studies on the link between talc and ovarian cancer, pro and con, have financial ties to one side or another. The author of an influential paper asserting the connection has been a paid consultant for plaintiffs; but one of the more comprehensive papers debunking the link was paid for partially by a law firm representing a talc manufacturer. Its unsurprising that the public, and jurors, cant decide who to believe.

So what really underlies these lawsuits? Its quite possible that its the David-and-Goliath factor: On one side of the courtroom is a plaintiff who is undeniably sick with a terrible disease, or if she has passed away, her survivors. On the other side, Johnson & Johnson, which earned a profit of $16.5 billion last year and doesnt have an entirely spotless record of corporate integrity.

Getting across to a jury the message that Johnson & Johnson may have deliberately suppressed evidence of health risks to sell baby powder shouldnt be beyond the capability of a reasonably experienced trial lawyer. The discovery process in such litigation almost inevitably yields all sorts of seemingly incriminating paperwork: Letters, say, from Alfred Wehner, an epidemiologist working for the talc industry, acknowledging that research exists pointing to a talc-cancer connection.

In 1997, Wehner upbraided a J&J executive for dismissing the research in PR statements. Anybody who denies this, Wehner wrote, risks that the talc industry will be perceived by the public like it perceives the cigarette industry: denying the obvious in the face of all evidence to the contrary.

But Wehner wasnt arguing that theres anything to the connection. He was saying the industry had gone too far in addressing the research. The industry does have powerful, valid arguments to support its position, he wrote, but those would be undermined if it acted as though the evidence cited by its critics didnt exist at all.

Further muddying the water is the fact that some research has associated talc with cancer and other diseases but diseases of the lung, in cases where victims inhaled the mineral, especially when the talc was contaminated with asbestos. Talc marketed to the public has had to be asbestos-free since the 1970s.

Theres been very little judicial pushback against the plaintiffs claims. Last September, a New Jersey state judge, Nelson C. Johnson, threw out expert testimony promoting the ovarian cancer link from Daniel W. Cramer, a Harvard researcher who has produced the leading research indicating the link. Johnsons ruling was provided to me by representatives of Johnson & Johnson.

Johnson cited the differences between the conclusions of Cramers retrospective research and those of the prospective studies. He noted that Cramers work and other studies pointing to a link dont have conclusive descriptions why talc would cause ovarian cancer. He called the experts failure to articulate a plausible hypothesis for the biological mechanism a huge hole in the plaintiffs case. None of the plaintiffs witnesses, he said, ventured to articulate just how it is that talc in the ovaries, or what it is about talc in the ovaries, that sets off a chain of events which purportedly causes ovarian cancer.

Even if there was a statistical increase in the cases of ovarian cancer by talc users, Johnson observed, there was scant evidence that it was a causal factor for the two women bringing the New Jersey lawsuit, both of whom had other risk factors for the disease.

The assumption that a corporate behemoth such as Johnson & Johnson might be totally in the clear in high-profile product liability cases certainly cuts across the grain. Its conceivable that company officials had greater concerns about their talc products than they let on, that they knew the prudent course would have been to post a health warning on Shower to Shower, but that their hands were stayed by a calculation of what that would do to sales. But based on the scientific evidence, blaming the product for the plaintiffs illness looks way excessive.

Its tempting, as Wehner acknowledged, to draw a line from the tobacco industrys decades of denialism of the health risks of smoking, or even the fossil fuel industrys denial of climate change, and conclude that J&J must be lying.

But those industries suppression of incontrovertible scientific data doesnt prove a link between talc and ovarian cancer, since large, objective scientific studies have found no link. While it may be true, to quote the pirate captain from A High Wind in Jamaica, that Johnson & Johnson is guilty of something, this may well be a crime it didnt commit.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

Return to Michael Hiltziks blog.

UPDATES:

3:05 p.m., July 12: This post has been updated with the date for jury selection in the Echeverria case.
Since David Leans 1945 film Brief Encounter, no romantic has been able to look at a banal railway station as simply a commuter hub. Each connecting line poses new amorous possibilities; each departing train foreshadows the ending of a passion too intense for the workaday world.

British playwright Simon Stephens offers a novel variation of the old love-at-the-terminal story line in Heisenberg, a two-character play about the consequences of a chance encounter between a reserved older gentleman originally from Ireland and a rowdy middle-aged American woman living in London who slingshots herself into his life.

Directed by Mark Brokaw, this Manhattan Theatre Club production, which opened on Thursday at the Mark Taper Forum, has retained its lauded Broadway duo from last season, Mary-Louise Parker and Denis Arndt. The play, a smaller offering by the Tony-winning adapter of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (coming to the Ahmanson Theatre in August) has the feeling of a contrived acting exercise, but the experience deepens as the actors probe their characters contradictory hearts.

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Parker, playing a souped-up version of her trademark crazy-eyed waif, reprises her role as Georgie Burns, a character whose lack of a filter suggests a personality disorder in search of a diagnosis. Arndt, a veteran with a long record of unobtrusive excellence, rekindles his Tony-nominated performance as Alex Priest, a bookish butcher who doesnt know whats hit him when Georgie, a perfect stranger, plants a kiss on the back of his neck while hes minding his own business at St. Pancras station.

Georgie, an unreliable self-dramatizer, wont leave Alex alone after cold-cocking him with a smooch. Her excuse is that from the back he looked exactly like her dead husband. She tells him shes an assassin, then backpedals and says shes a waitress. Trampled by her monologue on exotic cuisine, Alex can only ask, Why are you talking to me?

Frenetic babbling turns to stalking when Georgie tracks down Alexs butcher shop and pays a visit with no intention of buying meat. Alex seems tempted to call the police, but its not every day that a woman 33 years his junior flirts with him. He stands his ground heroically in the face of her verbal torrent.

Do you find me exhausting but captivating? Georgie asks in a line that Parker, an expert in alluring eccentrics, might consider putting on her acting resume. What better way to sum up the gallery of half-cracked women who have brought her a Tony (Proof), an Emmy (Angels in America) and TV fame (Weeds)?

Staged with the audience seated on opposite sides of a long platform furnished only with a couple of chairs and tables, Heisenberg can seem both placeless and rootless in the early going. The only realism that matters here is the inner terrain of the characters. Parker doesnt see lamb chops when she stares into the invisible case of Alexs shop. Her character is working out her strategy. Part grifter, part lonely heart, Georgie clearly wants something from Alex. Dramatic suspense stems from her discovering, along with Alex, what exactly this might be.

The title of the play cant help evoking Werner Heisenbergs uncertainty principle. My library at home being woefully deficient in volumes on theoretical physics, I turned to the work of another British playwright, Michael Frayn, for guidance. Heisenberg appears as a character in Frayns Copenhagen, a drama that draws parallels between the uncertainty of particles and the uncertainty of thoughts. In a postscript, Frayn explains that the more precisely you measure one variable  the less precise your measurement of the related variable can be. Applying this undeterminedness (a better translation, in the authors view, for what Heisenberg was getting at) to psychology, he provides a new framework for understanding playwrights with an interest in the shifting and elusive play of intentions that can never be precisely established.

Part grifter, part lonely heart, Georgie wants something from Alex. Dramatic suspense stems from her discovering, along with Alex, what exactly this may be.

The originality in Stephens play lies in the beautifully observed portrayal of a man who has arrived at a kind of Heisenberg-ian wisdom through a combination of tragic disappointments, solitary contemplation and a love of the world that has intensified as he has come to accept his own ephemerality in it. What does Alex want? Hes lived long enough and pondered deeply enough to appreciate the mysterious unpredictability of the ride.

Arndt lends poignant majesty to his characters rediscovered sensuality. The strength and frailty of Alexs body, the signs of age etched in his wrinkled skin, somehow make his romance with Georgie more credible. Arndts Alex is like an old orchid that has bloomed after light unexpectedly falls one last time on its branches.

Parker, who projects Georgies abrasive oddness at full throttle, serves the function of a theatrical catalyst for two-thirds of this 80-minute, intermissionless play. Georgies company is grating, and perhaps only Parkers most hardcore fans will delight in the characterization. Clearer diction would help everyone. (Too many of Georgies words get lost in a vociferousness that at times sounds like a speech impediment.)

But Stephens purposely doesnt want us to fall too easily for Georgie. Her rebarbative qualities make Alexs forgiving nature all the more intriguing. And of course some of our frustration has to do with the impossibility of deciding whether Georgie is a con artist, a heartbroken woman, a mental case, or all of the above.

Alexs character, however, isnt the only one to undergo a sea change. Heisenberg is a study in the effects individuals can have on one another. Alex rejects the notion of fixed personalities. Self-possessed though not impermeable, he teaches Georgie through his own example a valuable lesson in the particle physics of love.

Heisenberg is perhaps most memorable, however, for the way it demonstrates how this dynamic science works on the level of performance. In an equation that operates more like a dance, Parker and Arndt prove that talent is expanded when those slippery variables of time and relativity are factored in.

         

Heisenberg

Where: Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays; ends Aug. 6 (call for exceptions)

Tickets: $25 to $95 (subject to change)

Info: (213) 628-2772 or www.centertheatregroup.org

Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes (no intermission)

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charles.mcnulty@latimes.com

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MORE THEATER:

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Have you ever slipped into a well-made piece of clothing and instantly understood the difference between designer and off-the-rack?

Its the same feeling you get stepping into the Midcentury Modern-inspired home of Eline Hissink and Scott Yasharian  and for good reason.

As a former couture designer with more than two decades of experience working for the world-renowned fashion houses of John Galliano, Alexander McQueen and Donna Karan, Dutch native Hissink has turned her talent, formidable passion and perfectionism to opening the interior design firm Midcentury Modern LA and creating a home designed to her exacting standards.

Walking in, you may not recognize that the height of the familys customized Florence Knoll dining table was raised 1 inch to accommodate increased comfort for the tall couple, or that it took a tremendous amount of searching to find a tabletop slab with perfect marbling, or that the midcentury stitch-length on a new Scimitar reading chair could have only been achieved by a vintage sewing machine located in Italy. But it was. And when its all put together, you feel it.

Named after the Turkish word for sword, the Scimitar reading chair was manufactured from original technical drawings from the 1960s, made in Denmark and stitched in Italy. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

To me, its like art, Hissink said of the Scimitar chair she commissioned using technical sketches from the original Danish designers. I had it made in Denmark, then they sent it to Italy where they still have a midcentury sewing machine to stitch the whole thing together. Then it went back to Denmark and they put it together.  While it was there the factory in Denmark was vandalized, somebody broke in and drew all over the chair with a marker, so we had to start over.

What we have needs to be functional, sturdy and well thought out, Hissink said, thats why I like modern design. It looks super simple but there is so much thought that goes into everything.

Life + style

The couple applies the same deliberate thoughtfulness to how they conduct their lives.

After leaving professional positions in design and finance (he is a principal at a financial services firm in Los Angeles), the couple took a year to travel to places like Palau, Yap, Borneo and Palawan in pursuit of a shared passion for scuba diving (with infant son Aiden in tow).

Eline Hissink and Scott Yasharian in their kitchen. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Then in 2010, intrigued by the idea of living in Los Angeles, they moved to a rental home in Santa Monica, where they searched for property to build a home and make the move permanent.

We chose this location because we wanted to be able to walk to the beach, but we needed to be near restaurants, Hissink said of their leafy neighborhood.

From the ground up

An industrial pendent light by Poul Henningsen vintage 1957 hangs above the homes steel staircase and indoor succulent garden. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

In looking for partners to help build the home Hissink envisioned, the couple clicked with Brett Woods and Joseph Dangaran, two architects who had just started their own firm, Woods + Dangaran, in Culver City.

It took a year to finalize the design and procure necessary permits. The building process took another year and a half.

Whole design

Instead of building a house then furnishing it as an afterthought, Hissink conceived the interior design simultaneously. A wall of vertical red cedar siding in the living room is a focal point. Without it, the whole living room would have been different, Hissink said.

Instead of cutting oval, three-dimensional Heath tiles in the powder room to fit the wall, the wall size was determined by the measurements required for uninterrupted, whole tiles. Hissink drew the width of the grout lines on the wall as a guide.

In the study, the quintessential Midcentury Modern Fabricius & Kastholm bo-555 writing desk had not been manufactured for more than two decades when Hissink tracked down the original technical drawings of the desk and commissioned a Danish craftsman to create the piece. In keeping with Hissinks laser-focused attention to detail, the cut of the floating walnut drawers on the desk mirrors the cut walnut used in built-in cabinetry elsewhere in the room.

In the study, the cut of the walnut drawers used to make the Fabricius & Kastholm BO-555 desk is exactly the same as the cut walnut used on nearby cabinetry. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The steel staircase in the entryway was delivered in three separate pieces by crane and final assembly was done on-site. The goal was not to have any [visual] support or pillars, said Yasharian. You have to look hard to see where it is connected to the frame.

The homes deceptively simple, minimalist style is in the details.

The lap pool, painted dark blue, is the only thing on the property that doesnt conform to midcentury protocol. Midcentury blue stood out too much, Hissink said, and we kind of like it looking more natural.

Simple pleasures

Outdoor furniture includes contour chaise lounges and a classic Petal coffee table by Richard Schultz from the 1960s. The landscape was designed by Chris Sosa. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Clutter is anathema to a home like this.

Pivoting walls of glass are framed by breezy, flowing sheaths of fabric hanging from the tall, airy ceilings to the perfectly painted concrete floors. Floating walnut shelves hold an edited selection of books; vintage lighting was carefully chosen from Danish Modern designers such as Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton and Poul Henningsen; and knickknacks are a no-no.We like a clean space, Hissink said, because we traveled so long [for work as well as pleasure], it came from everybody having only one suitcase and not needing much more.

I think you get bombarded with so much stimulus all day long, Yasharian added, that to me its a luxury to just turn it all off.

Still child-friendly

According to his parents, Aiden, now 8, is onboard with the anti-clutter aesthetic as well. Hes very good with it, Hissink said.

In his own, orderly room, Aiden has control of the decor, which centers around a map of the world dotted with pushpins (he could claim passport stamps in more than 20 countries before he turned 3) and a large photograph of an airport, scored in Germany. Its a childs room, Hissink said, he should be able to do whatever he likes.

As for the rest of the house, Hissink insists the sleek, sophisticated style is more kid-friendly than you might think. We like it to be clutter-free, Hissink said, but for everyday what we have needs to be functional and sturdy.

Admittedly, kid-friendly durability, timeless style and customized designer furnishings dont come easy  or cheap.

You go through this process and spend the money, you want to have the right emotional response to it in the end, and to me to sit here and read a book, said Yasharian of the glass-walled living room that opens onto a perfectly appointed pool area, its really peaceful.

Bonnie McCarthy contributes to the Los Angeles Times as a home and lifestyle design writer. She enjoys scouting for directional trends and reporting on whats new and next. Follow her on Twitter @ThsAmericanHome

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Photos: The swanky, sexy style of Midcentury Modern

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For nearly eight years, the slaying of prominent attorney Jeffrey Tidus has remained a mystery.

But in recent months, Los Angeles County sheriffs detectives have been running down fresh leads in the killing, which occurred outside the civil litigators upscale Rolling Hills Estates home.

On Friday, investigators named a new person of interest in the slaying: a Whittier business owner who was sued by one of Tidus clients.

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Authorities are looking to find Richard Wall, 64, who they say may have information about Tidus killing and the 2011 slaying of one of Walls former employees in Whittier.

So far, police have not been able to find Wall, who owns Welded Fixtures in Whittier, said sheriffs homicide Det. Joe Espino.

We want to speak with him, Espino said.

Detectives noticed similarities between the killings of Tidus and Juan Mendez, 35, who was shot and killed at his apartment in Whittier on Feb. 26, 2011, in front of his young daughter, Espino said.

In both execution-style killings, Espino said, robbery was not the motive. They both looked like hits done by a professional, he said.

Authorities also noticed that Tidus and Mendez had been involved in legal actions involving Wall. About a month ago, investigators served search warrants at Walls home and business, Espino said. Since then, detectives have been told that Wall is on vacation.

Were not sure where hes at, Espino said.

Mendez had settled a class-action lawsuit filed in 2009 against Walls business alleging that workers were not compensated for overtime and made to take short meal breaks or none at all, according to court records. Mendez worked for Walls company, which manufactures and designs retail display racks, from September 2007 to December 2008. Its unclear how much money was owed to Mendez.

The gunman in Mendezs killing was described as about 6 feet tall, between 170 and 180 pounds, and wearing blue jeans and a black coat with a hood, police said. The man was seen fleeing the apartment complex after the shooting.

Just over a year earlier, Tidus had walked outside his Rolling Hills Estates home to grab a laptop from his car about 8:30 p.m. when his wife, Sheryl, heard a pop, then a car driving off, officials said. When she walked outside, her husband was on the ground, shot. He died the next day.

The Dec. 7, 2009, killing shocked the wealthy community on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Tidus had worked with a number of well-known clients, including New Century Financial, Isuzu Motors, California Federal Savings and Tokai Bank. Shortly before his death, he had won a number of large settlements, his wife previously told the Los Angeles Times.

Among them was a $11.2-million judgment against a friend and business associate of Walls, a former L.A. tax attorney named Christopher Gruys.

During a pretrial deposition in the case in 2005, Gruys pulled out a camera and took a photograph of Tidus, then made what the attorney interpreted as a threat, according to court documents. Tidus subsequently obtained a restraining order against Gruys.

Tidus client attempted to collect on the judgment, but was unable to recover all of the money. The client then filed another suit against Gruys and Wall, alleging that Gruys was transferring money to Walls business to avoid paying the money he owed, according to court documents. Gruys had been the best man at Walls wedding, records say.

I think ultimately they will catch the people who murdered my brother.  Michael Tidus, whose brother Jeffrey, a prominent attorney, was slain in 2009.

In April 2007, the State Bar placed Gruys on interim suspension after he was convicted of possession of an assault weapon. He stopped practicing law that year.

Attempts by The Times to reach Wall were unsuccessful. Gruys attorney did not return a call seeking comment.

Espino said Gruys has not been excluded as a person of interest in Tidus death. In addition, authorities are looking for another man they have described as a person of interest; they released a sketch of him in May. Neither man  nor Wall  is considered a formal suspect in the killings, Espino said.

Based on new leads, detectives in April publicized a $100,000 reward for information in Tidus killing. Tidus, who had a daughter, was active within the legal community and served on several professional organizations, including the board of governors for the State Bar of California. He sometimes took on cases pro bono and was an avid runner.

His wife said Friday she has always held out hope that her husbands killers would be found. She said she didnt know Wall and cant remember her husband mentioning the man.

Its very surreal, she said.

The victims brother, Michael Tidus, said he thinks about bringing his brothers killers to justice each day and is hopeful about the recent developments in the investigation.

I think ultimately they will catch the people who murdered my brother, he said.

nicole.santacruz@latimes.com

For more news on homicide in Los Angeles County, follow me on Twitter: @nicolesantacruz

UPDATES:

8:10 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the killings and comments from Tidus wife and brother.

This article was originally published at 5:15 p.m.
Good morning. Im Paul Thornton, and it is Saturday, July 8, 2017. No, it isnt your imagination  it really is unbearably hot. Lets take a look back at the week in Opinion.

Our columnist Doyle McManus traveled to Europe recently, but in one respect his trip did not feel like much of a vacation  because he spent much of his time there explaining President Trump to bemused Brits, Italians and Germans.

The takeaway? For all their past griping over an overreaching, militaristic foreign policy and Americans lack of sophistication, Europeans saw the United States as a guarantor of the fragile world order that allowed a continent of formerly warring nations to prosper. With Trump in power now, there is concern we may no longer be on Europes side:

Brits, Italians and Germans all asked whether Trumps presidency would be over by the end of the year. I described the complexities of impeachment, and how unlikely it was that a Republican-controlled Congress would go there. I reminded them of Italys Silvio Berlusconi, who won three elections and governed for nine years despite prosecutors efforts to bring him down. Our European friends absorption in all things Trump goes beyond mere gossip, of course. They have gnawing concerns about an increasingly disorderly world  one in which the president of the United States, instead of bolstering stability, often seems to be a disruptor. It wasnt a scientific sample by any stretch. But our conversations mirrored a Pew global survey released last week which found that Trump is unpopular across much of the world and that his unpredictability has shaken confidence in the United States. For half a century, Europeans got used to thinking of the United States as a stable cornerstone of world politics  not always sophisticated in their eyes, not always right, but reliably there. Now that were less reliable, theyre more nervous. If the United States is making the world less stable instead of more stable, were all in deep ., Lalas husband Carlo said in fluent American. They know all too well that Europe  politically divided, militarily weak and economically listless  cant fill the empty role of the missing superpower. Europe could be strong if countries knew how to work together, but they dont, said Peter, a German yoga instructor. Nationalism gets in the way. Trump may have had one positive effect on continental politics, as Europes wave of nationalist populism appears to have ebbed. Trump-style anti-immigrant populists lost ground in three major elections this year: the Netherlands in March, France in May and Britain in June. In France, Trump virtually endorsed populist candidate Marine LePen; she was trounced by the Obama -style Emmanuel Macron. We have learned from your example, Liliane joked. There may be a silver lining for Americans too. Europeans who once resented our superpower status now express sympathy for our troubles  even nostalgia for American leadership. Many Europeans condemned George W. Bush for invading Iraq. Then they pouted when Barack Obama, whom they liked better, made it clear he was more interested in Asia. Now they see a president who thinks alliances are a scam and doesnt put much stock in the U.S. treaty commitment to defend Europe. >> Click here to read more

Trump wouldnt like what Chief Justice John Roberts told graduating students. For a Fourth of July corrective to Trumps juvenile Twitter feed, editorial writer Michael McGough encourages you to read or listen to a commencement speech delivered by Roberts, in which he imparted this valuable wisdom to new graduates: Dont act like you deserve your privilege, and dont celebrate the failure of others. In other words: Do not be like Donald Trump. L.A. Times

Is Trump mentally fit to serve? Three weeks ago on The Times op-ed page, Dr. Prudence L. Gourguechon  a physician, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst  evaluated the presidents leadership style and ability using the rubric provided in the U.S. Armys Field Manual 6-22 Leader Development. (Spoiler alert: It doesnt look good for Trump.) This week, Gourguechon explained her view of Trumps mental fitness in an interview with MSNBC host Lawrence ODonnell. MSNBC

Dont rush to attack North Korea, Mr. President. North Korea reportedly conducted a successful test this week of a long-range ballistic missile, an ominous development that indicates the isolated dictatorship is steadily making progress toward being capable of striking the U.S. Tempting as preemptively striking North Korea and ending the nuclear threat might be, Trump must realize that any significant military action will probably result in the deaths of thousands of people, warns The Times Editorial Board. L.A. Times

L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas is not thrilled about legalizing marijuana. Currently, all commercial cannabis is banned in the unincorporated areas of the county, Ridley-Thomas writes. And if it were up to me, Id keep it that way until I felt confident that safeguards were in place to protect our communities. L.A. Times

Amelia Earhart vanished 80 years ago this week, and weve never stopped looking for her. A recently unearthed photograph purporting to show the trailblazing American aviator along with her navigator is probably not proof that the two survived, at least for a short time, following their disappearance in 1937 during an attempt to circumnavigate the world by airplane. Whatever happened to her, Earhart deserves to be remembered for her accomplishments more than her mysterious death. L.A. Times

Reach me: paul.thornton@latimes.com
A San Diego County jury has awarded nearly $1.9 million to a former cadet who said he was sexually abused by an employee at a Carlsbad military school in 2006.

Following a two-week trial, the panel recently found that the Army and Navy Academy had been negligent in supervising Juan Munoz, a former employee who the victim said had plied him with alcohol and molested him.

An arrest warrant was issued for Munoz in 2010 after allegations involving other students came to light. Those charges were dismissed in 2012 when he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

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In the civil case, the jury found Munoz liable for sexual battery and sexual harassment, and found the academy had been negligent in retaining and supervising him, court records show.

Because he was so poorly supervised, they let the lion out of the cage, said Alex Cunny, an attorney representing the former cadet, who is now 27.

Mark Lowary, an attorney for Munoz, did not respond to requests for comment.

The academy issued a statement pointing out that it had suspended Munoz in September 2007, immediately after receiving complaints about his conduct, and began an internal investigation. He resigned shortly thereafter and ended any affiliation with the campus.

The academy declined further comment on the civil suit as part of its policy to respect the privacy of cadets and employees, past and present. The school said it has taken and will continue to take the necessary steps to protect the physical safety and emotional well-being of our cadets and Academy employees.

In the June 28 civil verdict, the jury awarded the former cadet $710,000 in actual damages to be paid by the academy and Munoz, and $25,000 in punitive damages to be paid by Munoz.

In addition, the jury awarded the ex-cadet $1.15 million for pain and suffering, with the academy responsible for 70% and Munoz 30%.

Cunny said through the verdict justice was done by the community.

Its a sad case and a case that didnt have to happen, he said. We hope this will give our client a tool to seek closure.

The verdict came days after another jury issued guilty verdicts in an unrelated criminal case also involving a former Army and Navy staffer accused of molestation.

In that case, former Army headmaster Jeff Barton was found guilty of six felony counts and faces 45 years in prison for molesting a different former cadet starting in 1999.

The victim in the Barton case also is suing Barton and the school; the civil trial is set for later this year.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

Figueroa writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
A heat wave has caused an increase in cattle deaths in recent weeks, prompting officials to take emergency actions.

In the San Joaquin Valley, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors on Thursday extended a local state of emergency originally declared June 30 because of increased livestock deaths that resulted from a heat wave, the Porterville Recorder reported.

Other counties have experienced similar problems.

Demand from Tulare and other counties for the rendering services required for disposing of the animals exceeded capacity. The problem was exacerbated when the local rendering facility had a mechanical breakdown that halted pickup and processing, a board agenda summary said.

Tulare Countys dairy industry alone has more than half a million cows.

Cow mortality, that happens every day, Tom Tucker, the county assistant agricultural commissioner, told the newspaper. Its the heat that has made it worse. It hasnt stopped. We are losing our cows, and it is at an extreme.

An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 cattle have died in the last month, Fresno County officials told KGPE-TV.
The wife of a former California attorney general and state treasurer was free on bail after being arrested in a domestic dispute, authorities said Friday.

Nadia Lockyer, 46, was released on $5,000 bail Thursday night after her arrest on suspicion of spousal abuse.

Nadia and Bill Lockyer, 76, were married in 2003  a union that made headlines over reports of her substance abuse and other concerns.

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Nadia Marie Lockyer in 2002, when she served on the Santa Ana School Board. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

In 2012, she reported being roughed up in a motel room by an ex-boyfriend she met in 2010 in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. She is also a former public official, having served as an Alameda County supervisor.

Nadia Lockyer was arrested Thursday at the vacation home where the couple were staying with their three children  a teenage boy and toddler twins  in the Sierra foothills town of Twain Harte, southeast of Sacramento.

Deputies received a call before 11 a.m. that an intoxicated woman was yelling and throwing things, Tuolumne County sheriffs Sgt. Andrea Benson said. Deputies reported that Nadia Lockyer had a blood-alcohol level of 0.22, nearly three times the legal limit.

She was jailed on suspicion of misdemeanor spousal abuse. Bill Lockyer had a minor injury, Benson said, though she would not give details.

The district attorney said no formal charges had been filed.

Nadia Lockyer did not return requests seeking comment.

Bill Lockyer, a Democrat, left office in 2015. Before serving eight years as attorney general and eight years as treasurer, he had spent 25 years in the state Legislature, rising to lead the state Senate.

This is obviously a difficult time for the family, including the children, and as they work through it they need privacy, said Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for Bill Lockyer. Bills focused on his kids well-being and his wifes health.
A former guard at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court Thursday to smuggling drugs and cellphones into the prison for bribes, the U.S. attorneys office said.

Corrections Officer Anibal Navarro, 39, admitted to being paid about $45,000 over a two-year period to bring methamphetamine, heroin and phones to inmates. He was paid by inmates and their family members and associates, according to his plea agreement.

The illicit loads would come two to four times a month, from 2014 to 2016.

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Navarro was arrested by the FBI and state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations internal affairs unit in June 2016 as he attempted to smuggle 10 ounces of meth and 4 ounces of heroin inside the prison in Otay Mesa, according to court documents.

About a month earlier, San Diego police had pulled over an inmates girlfriend and found drugs hidden in the engine compartment, plus a vacuum-sealed baggie of cellphones and $2,000 cash, according to the complaint. The police took the drugs, cited her and let her go.

A short time later, FBI agents saw her meet with Navarro in Imperial Beach and give him cellphones and $1,000, the complaint stated. He admitted in a recorded conversation the next day that he smuggled the load into the prison.

Inmate Martin Gomez is accused of recruiting Navarro. Gomez coordinated with four others on the outside to get the contraband to the officer, and then five other inmates would distribute the goods inside the prison, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors said the phones were used to plan crimes outside and inside the prison.

Gomez was moved to another prison at some point during the scheme but continued to run it by phone, prosecutors said.

Navarro, who began working at the prison in 2003, remains free on bond.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Davis writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune

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Invasive weevil spreads north, endangering Californias palms
For the third time in less than a year, a jury deadlocked and a mistrial was declared in the murder case of a white former Oklahoma police officer accused of killing his daughters black boyfriend, astonishing prosecutors and frustrating the boyfriends family.

Judge Sharon Holmes declared the mistrial on Friday in the case of former Tulsa police officer Shannon Kepler, who was accused of fatally shooting 19-year-old Jeremey Lake in August 2014, not long after Lake started dating Keplers then-18-year-old daughter, Lisa. Attorneys involved said the jurors deliberated for 2  to three hours.

Tulsa County Dist. Atty. Steve Kunzweiler said he was shocked that a mistrial was declared after such short jury deliberations.

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Ive never encountered a dynamic like this in 25 years of practice, Kunzweiler said after the mistrial was declared. In my opinion, there should be some compulsion placed on jurors to reach a verdict.

Defense attorney Richard OCarroll did not return a telephone message seeking comment.

Holmes had instructed jurors that they could convict Kepler of first-degree murder or the lesser charge of manslaughter. Manslaughter carries a sentence of four years to life in prison, while the sentence on a first-degree murder conviction is life in prison.

The jury deadlocked 6-6, but Kunzweiler said it was unclear if the breakdown was six for conviction and six for acquittal or six for murder and six for the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Kepler, who retired from the force after he was charged, was a 24-year-police veteran who said he was trying to protect his daughter, who had run away from home and was living in a crime-ridden neighborhood. Defense attorney Richard OCarroll said Lisa had been in and out of a homeless shelter after her father prohibited her from bringing men into his house.

Kepler told investigators he was acting in self-defense because Lake was armed, but police didnt find a weapon on Lake or at the scene. Lakes aunt said her nephew was reaching out to shake Keplers hand to introduce himself when Kepler fired.

Pam Wilkins, Lakes aunt, said his extended family is deeply frustrated by the third mistrial.

But Im not giving up hope, she said. Were believing in God and justice for Jeremey.

Jurors in Keplers previous two trials, in November and February, deadlocked 11-1 and 10-2 in favor of guilt, and Judge Sharon Holmes declared mistrials. Although they couldnt agree on the murder charge, jurors in the first trial convicted Kepler of recklessly using his firearm.

Lakes killing was among a series of fatal shootings of black people by Tulsa-area law enforcement officers in recent years.

On June 9, two white Tulsa County deputies and a black Tulsa police officer shot and killed Joshua Barre, a mentally ill black man who wielded two large knives as he walked down a Tulsa street. A deputy tried to subdue Barre with a stun gun just outside a convenience store, but it had no effect. Fearing for the customers safety, the deputies and police officer opened fire, killing Barre as he tried to enter the store.

A jury on May 17 found white Tulsa police officer Betty Jo Shelby not guilty of first-degree manslaughter in the Sept. 16, 2016, death of Terence Crutcher, 40, shot shortly after Shelby arrived on a street to find Crutchers SUV stopped in the middle of the road. Shelby testified that she was afraid because Crutcher didnt obey her commands and appeared to reach inside his SUV. Prosecutors told jurors that Shelby overreacted, noting that videos from a patrol car dashboard and a police helicopter showed Crutcher had his hands in the air and did not have a weapon.

In 2016, former Tulsa County volunteer sheriffs deputy Robert Bates was sentenced to four years in prison for second-degree manslaughter in the April 2015 death of Eric Harris, 44, who was unarmed and restrained. Bates, who is white, has said he confused his stun gun with his handgun. That shooting led to the temporary suspension of the reserve deputy program after a report found cronyism, poor training of the volunteer officers and a lack of oversight. Bates is appealing his conviction.

The shooting involving Kepler happened four days before a white police officer fatally shot an unarmed black teenager in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson on Aug. 9, 2014.

Michael Browns killing touched off months of protests and became a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement, which decries police violence against minorities and calls for greater transparency from law enforcement officials, especially in cases that involve officer-involved shootings.
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Welcome to a very hot July weekend, when temperatures are threatening to hit triple digits in much of the Los Angeles area. Maybe head to the farmers market when it just opens, then get somewhere cool. That might be your kitchen, where you could sample the figs that are now in season, or try some of our easy recipes for grilled fish, or one of our top recipes for June. Maybe leave the baking for when it cools off, assuming that happens anytime soon.

That cool place might be on a brewery patio, or in a restaurant in Monterey Park, where Jonathan Gold checks in on the Sichuan restaurant Hip Hot, this weeks review. If youre farther west, we have a Scouting Report on a new place in Sawtelle that serves build-your-own instant ramen bowls (you can get them with foie gras, of all things). Regardless, drink a lot of water along with those pints of Berliner weisse and plates of chile-spiked Dungeness crab.

 Amy Scattergood

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NOT A HOT POT RESTAURANT

Dungeness crab served at Hip Hot in Monterey Park. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

The Sichuan restaurant scene in the San Gabriel Valley continues to flourish. Jonathan Gold visits Hip Hot in Monterey Park, where chef Tiantian Qiu is focusing on chile-spiked seafood dishes. Jonathan considers the cooking, the ambiance, the Go games in the tables, and the impressive procession of dishes  green bean jelly, chicken wing dry pot, water-boiled fish and a Dungeness crab doused with chiles and Sichuan peppercorns.

HOW TO GRILL LIKE AN ITALIAN

While Americans tend to grill steak and burgers, Evan Kleiman, food writer and longtime host of KCRWs Good Food, says that Italians often favor grilling seafood, especially when its paired with charred slabs of bread. Her recipe for seafood bruschetta is a how-to on easy summer grilling. When your instrument is simplicity, you become attuned to each note, she writes. So, fish and bread, plus ripe tomatoes, herbs, very good olive oil  perfect ingredients for a hot July weekend.

OUTSIDE DRINKING

A selection of beers served at Ladyface Ale Companie. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Beer writer John Verive heads outdoors with his pints, finding five L.A.-area breweries, brewpubs and cafes where you can drink outside  legally, and often with some pretty great food to match with your brew. Appreciate some craft beer while you sit under the sky, maybe with your dog  a few of these places allow them  or a game of darts.

SECRET LASAGNA

In her weekly restaurant news column, Deputy Food Editor Jenn Harris gets details on a new lasagna restaurant  more specifically, a little walk-up window where you can get the stuff by the slice or the tray, open late in Chinatown. (Why is it secret? Because the word is as much of a hook as lasagna, isnt it?) Theres also a new sushi restaurant in Encino  an omakase speakeasy, also two very good words, from the folks who brought you Scratch Bar & Kitchen.

A SAUCE CULINARY SOS

Cielito Lindos avocado sauce. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Love the taquitos at Cielito Lindo on Olvera Street? Reader Jim Toomey from Reseda does, as do a lot of the rest of us  and particularly the avocado sauce that comes with the dish. So Test Kitchen Director Noelle Carter got the recipe as part of her ongoing Culinary SOS column. (Is there a recipe from a favorite restaurant that youve always wanted? Ask us and well see if we can get it for you.)

Goldbot: You can now talk to Jonathan Gold any time you want  or at least the robot version of him that lives on Facebook Messenger. You can ask Goldbot for a personal restaurant recommendation based on location, type of food or price. The bot will also deliver Jonathans latest reviews straight to your device.

The Daily Meal, the food and drink website under the editorial direction of Colman Andrews, is now one of our partners. Check out its 101 best pizzas in America and other stories, recipes and videos.

Jonathan Golds 101 Best Restaurants, the authoritative annual guide to local dining, is online for subscribers and now features his 2016 Best Restaurants. If you didnt get a copy of the booklet, you can order one online here.

Check us out on Instagram @latimesfood

Check out the thousands of recipes in our Recipe Database.

Feedback? Wed love to hear from you. Email us at food@latimes.com.
There are many reasons people may be barred from entering the state of Israel. If they present a risk of criminal or terrorist activity, for instance. If they tell lies at the border or dont cooperate with border officials. If theyre suspected of trying to immigrate illegally.

But now Israel has added a new rule  to implement a noxious law passed by the Knesset in March  requiring border authorities to refuse entry also to people who have publicly supported a boycott of the country. These visitors would be turned away not because they are suspected of a crime or pose a security risk, but because they have expressed an opinion in favor of a nonviolent protest movement that is unpopular in the country.

Frankly, this is not an attempt to combat anti-Semitism, as some claim, nor will it end what the laws backers call the delegitimization of the Jewish state. It is, rather, an attack on freedom of expression and on political dissent. It is a disappointing step backward for a country that routinely boasts of its robust democracy and presents itself up as a bastion of freedom in an unfree part of the world.

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Truly free countries tolerate peaceful dissent.

The law was passed to battle the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. The loosely organized BDS movement, begun more than a decade ago and modeled on the international boycott campaign that targeted South Africa under apartheid, calls on people and companies to boycott Israel until it ends its occupation of all Arab lands, tears down its border barrier separating Israelis from Palestinians, ensures equal legal rights for Arab citizens and acknowledges the right of Palestinian refugees to return to the former homes of their families in Israel.

Some supporters of BDS accept the two-state solution in which a secure Israel and an independent Palestine would exist side by side; others dont. Over time, alternative boycott calls have emerged: Some critics of Israels policies, for instance, call for a boycott only of goods produced in Israeli settlements; others would target all Israeli goods. The new law does not distinguish between the two.

It is not entirely clear whether the government intends to keep out only leaders of the BDS movement or whether the law could be applied equally to, say, a college student who has posted a pro-boycott message on Facebook. According to the newspaper Haaretz, Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan wants to set up a database of Israeli citizens who promote or support BDS; the government already has created an intelligence unit to gather information on BDS activists from abroad, the newspaper reported.

Refusing entry to the countrys critics isnt unprecedented; Israel has turned away travelers for political reasons in the past, including denying a visa earlier this year to a researcher from Human Rights Watch. (That decision was reversed two months later and he was granted a year-long work visa in April.) It has also restricted the foreign travel of Omar Barghouti, one of the founders of the BDS movement.

Some other governments have rallied to support Israel. In France, for instance, an appeals court upheld hate crime convictions for several supporters of BDS. In the U.S., a number of states have enacted laws barring their agencies from doing business with companies or individuals that endorse boycotts against Israel.

This page has never called for a boycott, divestment or sanctions against Israel and has been consistent for decades in supporting a two-state solution. But whether one agrees with the goals of BDS or not, the fact remains that boycotts are a form of speech, a classic tool of peaceful political expression.

Israel, a country that has faced more than its share of wars, terrorism and other violent threats, has over the years built a strong democracy marked by vigorous debate and a tolerance of alternative points of view, at least for its own citizens inside its own borders. It should not backslide.

Truly free countries tolerate peaceful dissent. The 50-year occupation of the Palestinian territories seized during the Six-Day War has gone on for too long and must eventually be brought to an end. For Israeli authorities to demonize  or exclude  those who publicly oppose it is a terrible mistake.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook

UPDATES:

2:30 p.m., July 19: This editorial was updated to note that Human Rights Watch researcher Omar Shakir was granted a year-long work visa in April.
Kamala Harris works to forge relationship with Central Valley

Sen @kamalaharris talking grapes with Fowler Packing Co president Dennis Parnagian in the fields outside metro Fresno pic.twitter.com/smVuRfbSpQ  Cathleen Decker (@cathleendecker) July 5, 2017

The drought may be over in the minds of urban Californians, quite literally washed away by huge accumulations of rain last year that filled reservoirs and left the states mountains covered with snow even now.

But the farmers and others in the Central Valley, veterans of multiple drought-and-flood cycles, know the reprieve is only temporary. On Wednesday they pressed new U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris to work to ensure a more reliable source of water for the nations most bountiful farming region.

This area is drying on the vine, Ryan Jacobsen, executive director of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, told Harris during a roundtable with Central Valley officials.

A long-term solution can only come through federal and state action to protect the areas water supply, he said.

Jason Phillips, chief executive of the Friant Water Authority, said recent rainfall had done little to stem problems caused by nearly a decade of drought.

A canal that runs from Fresno to north of Bakersfield sunk in some places as much as 2 feet in two years, he said, wreaking havoc on a system that operates on the force of gravity.

We cannot get all the water to our growers, he said.

The meeting between Harris and nearly two dozen agriculture and water officials was meant to ease what is typically a fraught relationship between the states Democratic leaders  all of whose power bases are in metropolitan areas  and the mostly Republican Central Valley powers that traditionally look at them with skepticism.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein has worked for two decades to aid the agricultural industry  at the roundtable, several nodded as Harris referred to the senior senator as an incredible warrior for the area.

But Harris predecessor, former Sen. Barbara Boxer, was allied more with environmental groups that have fought dams and other water systems. As a result, she was viewed negatively by many here.

Harris was intent Wednesday on persuading the Central Valley representatives of her interest in places beyond her base in Alameda and San Francisco counties.

They, on the other hand, worked to convince her to be more in the Feinstein mold on issues important to the area  from reliable water to immigration programs to environmental protections that take into consideration the areas needs.

President Trump was highly popular in much of the Central Valley, apart from Fresno County, which leans Democratic because of its metropolitan shadings. But some issues important to the valley cut in politically unorthodox ways.

Republicans here are more concerned than those elsewhere with passing a plan that would give legal status to immigrants, on whom agriculture depends. With undocumented workers worried about deportation, and the border tightening to those not yet here, the labor supply has already shrunk, farmers said.

Theyre out there working, being productive people, said farmer Joe Del Bosque. They work hard for us, and we have nowhere to reach.

Del Bosque said he recently held a training session for new workers. Of the 200 people who showed up, only a handful were born in the United States, he said.

Environmental regulations prized by Democrats elsewhere are often frowned on by some party members here and blamed for the areas water difficulties.

Several of the participants lobbied Harris for her support of dams that have long been under consideration by federal and state officials, particularly the Temperance Flat Dam, which would be constructed on the San Joaquin River.

Harris offered no assurances on the topic to the group on Wednesday. Afterward, speaking to reporters, she also did not take a position.

One of the things that were going to have to figure out ... is what is the right solution for that, she said of a plan to construct the Temperance Flat Dam and several others. Is it going to be about the building of dams? Is it also going to be about looking at  also looking at  other sources of renewable and sustainable reliable sources?

Both sides signaled they did not expect an alliance on all fronts. But Harris said she would serve as an advocate for farmers during the crafting of a new farm bill and other measures before the Senate.

William Bourdeau, executive vice president of the politically influential Harris Farms, told the senator he wished the majority of her supporters who reside in urban areas would have a better understanding of the risks and challenges of farming.

We need somebody to explain the symbiotic relationship we have, he said.

I agree with you completely, she replied.
President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in their first face-to-face encounter, a lengthy and amicable meeting Friday, to look beyond the controversy over Russias attempts to sway the 2016 U.S. campaign and find a way to go forward.

That was Secretary of State Rex Tillersons upbeat take on the meeting. But the two sides offered contrasting accounts of the discussion of election meddling between the leaders, injecting new controversy into a saga that has shadowed Trump and put him at the center of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Trump raised the issue at the outset of a meeting that exceeded two hours. Putin denied any Russian interference and demanded proof, both sides agreed. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who joined the presidents along with Tillerson, told reporters that Trump accepted Putins denial  an act that would have the American president taking sides against his intelligence agencies, which have unanimously concluded that Russia, and Putin himself, were behind the election interference.

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Not a single fact has been presented, Lavrov said. President Trump has said that he has heard clear declarations from Mr. Putin that Russian leadership and Russian government has not interfered in the elections.

Lavrov also said Trump called the lingering controversy strange and bizarre.

The White House did not publicly dispute Lavrovs claim, nor did aides respond to requests for clarification.

Tillerson told reporters that Trump began the discussions by raising the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in the American political process, which was followed by a robust and lengthy discussion of the matter.

Trump and Putin agreed that the controversy was a substantial hindrance in the ability to move the U.S.-Russian relationship forward, Tillerson said.

There was not a lot of re-litigating of the past, he added. I think both of the leaders feel like theres a lot of things in the past that both of us are unhappy about.

White House aides had been circumspect about the agenda leading up to Fridays formal bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 leaders summit here, acknowledging at one point that the topics would be whatever the president wants to talk about, as national security advisor H. R. McMaster put it last week.

Ultimately the conversation covered a range of other issues, officials said, including Ukraine, where Russian aggression has drawn international sanctions; Syria, where Russia and Iran prop up the Assad regime that the U.S. opposes; North Korea, where Russias economic interests make it less eager than Trump to counter Pyongyangs nuclear threats; terrorism and cybersecurity.

It was announced Friday that the two nations along with Jordan had brokered a cease-fire agreement in the southwest of Syria to take effect Sunday  an indication, Tillerson said, of what is possible when Russia and the U.S. cooperate on areas of mutual concern.

Talks went well beyond the scheduled 30 minutes  not surprising given past encounters between Putin and U.S. presidents. But it was nonetheless notable given the scrutiny on this one, taking place against the backdrop of multiple investigations by the FBI and Congress into Russian involvement in the 2016 election and potential collusion involving former and current Trump aides.

Trump and Putin had exchanged cordial if lukewarm greetings in front of reporters before launching into the meeting, which included only the two presidents, Tillerson, Lavrov and two translators. At one point, Putin, who has been implicated in the deaths of journalists in Russia, pointed to the assembled reporters to ask if they were the ones who had insulted Trump. The president nodded and laughed in agreement.

We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, and for the United States and for everybody concerned. And its an honor to be with you, Trump said at the start of the meeting.

Putin said he was delighted for the chance to meet, following multiple conversations by phone earlier this year.

If you want to have a positive outcome in bilaterals and be able to resolve most international policy issues, that will really need personal meetings, Putin said.

The two presidents decided to put together a framework to monitor cyber attacks and evaluate who should be held accountable, Tillerson said. Lavrov indicated that progress was not made on a Russian demand that the United States return two diplomatic compounds, one in Maryland and another in New York, that had been used by Russian spies and were seized in December as part of the Obama administrations sanctions for Moscows election interference.

They reached no agreement on North Korea. On Ukraine, at Putins request, Trump has appointed a special representative to engage in discussions. A day earlier, in a visit to Warsaw, Trump called publicly for Russia to cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Both presidents were driven by their national interests, and they also both understood that both countries can do this only if we search for a balance between the interests of our two countries and if we want to maintain stability, Lavrov said.

The Russian foreign minister spoke to reporters soon after the presidents meeting. Tillerson addressed U.S. reporters later, with no cameras allowed and audio released only after the briefing ended.

The Russians more public attempt to shape the narrative of the meeting came just two months after when Lavrov and the Russian ambassador to the U.S. at the time, Sergey Kislyak, visited the White House, a day after Trump had fired the FBI director out of frustration with the Russia investigation. U.S. officials were blindsided by the Russian state news agencys release of photos of the visit, which showed Trump and the Russians in jovial conversation.

Dana Perino, a former press secretary to President George W. Bush, wrote on Twitter that being the first to describe a meeting to reporters is an excellent practice after any meeting with a foreign leader and avoids distortion by the other side.

Trump has repeatedly dismissed questions over Russias role in his victory as a witch hunt to de-legitimize his election and undermine his agenda. But Trump himself has often added to the controversy with his own statements.

As world leaders prepared to meet on weighty issues of trade, climate change and energy policy, Trump wrote on Twitter that everyone at the summit was talking about former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and the investigation into his hacked emails.

Democrats condemned Trump for appearing not to challenge Putin over his reported claim of innocence in the U.S. election.

President Trump had an obligation to bring up Russias interference in our election with Putin, but he has an equal obligation to take the word of our intelligence community rather than that of the Russian president, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.

For Secretary Tillerson to say that this issue will remain unresolved is disgraceful, Schumer added. To give equal credence to the findings of the American Intelligence Community and the assertion by Mr. Putin is a grave dereliction of duty and will only encourage Russia to further interfere in our elections in the future.

The meeting was celebrated as a victory on Russian state media.

Russia is now a major consideration in world affairs and will be consulted from now on, said one commentator on the Russia One television news program. I am reminded of the meeting on the River Elbe, another commentator said, referencing the historic handshake between American and Soviet soldiers on that German river in 1945 after vanquishing Nazi German forces.

Earlier in the day Maxim Oreshkin, Russias minister for economic development, told journalists about an interaction between the two leaders prior to the two-hour meeting that included a short but pointed discussion about justice and fairness in world trade.

When the president of the Russian Federation spoke, Oreshkin said of Putin, he gave President Trump a little bit of a jab, saying that President Trump talks about justice in international trade, but what kind of justice can be said in the situation when there are financial constraints and trade restrictions?

Putins comment reflected his displeasure about U.S. and European sanctions against Russia for Moscows annexation of Crimea and aggression elsewhere in Ukraine.

Bennett reported from Hamburg and Memoli from Washington. Special correspondent Sabra Ayres contributed from Moscow.

brian.bennett@latimes.com

michael.memoli@latimes.com

For more White House coverage, follow @ByBrianBennett and @mikememoli on Twitter.

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A breakneck effort to extend the life of cap and trade, Californias signature program to combat climate change, just got more difficult  thanks to one assemblyman starting his new job.

Despite round-the-clock negotiations this week, including on the July 4 holiday, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders came up short in their bid to have a bill to reauthorize the program ready for a vote Monday, the last day that Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) would have been able to cast a vote before he is sworn into Congress on Tuesday.

Acting before Gomezs departure on a measure to extend cap and trade, which requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gas emissions, was the Brown administrations unofficial goal in hopes of retaining a reliable Democratic vote.

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The governor is seeking a two-thirds vote to guard the program against potential legal challenges. Without Gomez, Democrats have a bare supermajority of 54 votes in the Assembly; the Senate Democrats also have the exact number of votes for a two-thirds supermajority.

But on the heels of a politically fraught gas tax approved in April, powered almost entirely by the majority party, Democratic legislators have shown little appetite for a second party-line, two-thirds vote. That has left Brown with a delicate balancing act of securing enough support from Republicans and business-aligned Democrats without alienating progressive Democrats allied with environmentalists.

All the sides that are involved in cap-and-trade negotiations are so far apart, it doesnt make a difference if Im here or not, Gomez said Friday. If there was a deal that was close to getting the necessary votes, maybe me being here would make a difference. But I just dont see it.

The negotiating crunch threw a wrench into the soon-to-be congressmans schedule. Gomezs swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol is scheduled for Tuesday evening. But as of midafternoon Friday, Gomez had still not booked a plane ticket to Washington, he said.

The uncertainty was due in part to new rules approved by voters in 2016, which require legislation to be publicly available for 72 hours before a vote. To be eligible for a Monday vote, a bill must be in print by Friday. By Fridays close, no bill was submitted.

Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) said she understood why Brown was pressing for a vote while Gomez was still in the Legislature. But she noted that the expiration of the current cap-and-trade system is likely to occur in 2020, giving lawmakers more time to consider the proposal.

Id rather spend next year working on this to get it right than rush it through and have to deal with the repercussions for the next 20 years, Friedman said.

Californias climate debate heats up behind closed doors as Gov. Brown pushes to extend cap and trade 

Renewing the program does face an imminent deadline  even if its a bureaucratic one. The California Air Resources Board, which administers cap and trade, has to finish drafting regulations for the amended program by Aug. 7 to satisfy a legal requirement that the agency do so a year after the regulations are initially proposed in a state registry. The regulations were submitted last August.

If that date is missed, climate regulators would have to wait at least another 45 days to finalize the rules, which could require them to rewrite the regulations.

Dean Florez, an air resources board member and former state senator, said the agency would do whatever it needs to do to comply with the rulemaking process, but he hopes the Legislature will weigh in before Aug. 7.

Its definitely a real deadline, Florez said.

The grind of ongoing negotiations, which have been marked by several rounds of proposals and counterproposals floated by the administration, environmentalists and business interests, underscores the complexity of reauthorizing cap and trade.

Much of the back-and-forth has centered on the design of the cap-and-trade system. Industry lobbyists and environmentalists have tussled over how many free allowances  permits to pollute  businesses should receive, so that they are not at a disadvantage against competitors in other states that arent subject to cap and trade.

Businesses argue the allowances are necessary to prevent companies from moving out of state. But environmentalists have raised concerns that negotiations have contemplated an overly generous distribution of allowances that would amount to a windfall for industry.

Also controversial is the use of carbon offsets, which allow businesses to pay for environmental projects elsewhere  including outside of California  to help reduce the cost of complying with the states emissions goals. Industry leaders support offsets as a way to rein in costs, but environmentalists, particularly those concerned with local air quality, have seen offsets as a loophole that allows businesses to continue polluting in their communities.

In the current system, companies can use offsets to cover up to 8% of their emissions. Draft proposals would reduce that number, effectively slashing the amount of offsets a company could use, and would require that at least half of those offsets come from projects inside California.

Lawmakers, particularly progressive Democrats in the Assembly, are also pressing for additional measures to improve air quality, including stepping up monitoring of contaminants, increasing penalties for polluters and requiring businesses to retrofit their equipment to ensure it operates as cleanly as possible.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District voted Friday to support cap-and-trade reauthorization on the condition that it provide significant and sustained funding for local districts that would be tasked with monitoring and reducing local toxic air pollution.

This is a very significant undertaking, and the most important aspect is there is no funding for any of these programs, AQMD Executive Officer Wayne Nastri said at a public hearing Friday.

How the revenues from the cap-and-trade auctions will be spent remains a major unanswered question in the negotiations. The program currently finances environmental projects, rebates for electric cars, affordable housing and the bullet train, a priority infrastructure project for Brown.

One potential sweetener in negotiations is rolling back the states fire prevention fee, which is levied on homeowners in areas where the state has primary firefighting responsibility, largely in rural parts of the state. For years, Republicans have unsuccessfully sought to repeal the fee, which critics contend is an illegal tax.

Assemblyman Rocky Chavez (R-Oceanside) said doing away with the fire fee  and backfilling the money with revenue from the cap-and-trade auctions  has been floated in talks as a way to woo Republicans.

Look at who pays for it, Chavez said. The people who pay for the fire fee are in rural areas. Republican voters are in rural areas. Its something that directly impacts their constituents.

Theres no shortage of suggestions on additional ways to spend revenue from the cap-and-trade program. Certain industries, including agriculture and trucking, are seeking money to help upgrade equipment to comply with new regulations. Others have suggested returning the money to California residents in the form of dividends, much like a tax rebate.

Talking about how much money this program would raise and how this will be spent should be front and center in this conversation, said Danny Cullenward, an energy economist at Stanford University. And so far it hasnt been.

Times staff writers Tony Barboza in Los Angeles and Liam Dillon in Sacramento contributed to this report.

melanie.mason@latimes.com

Follow @melmason on Twitter for the latest on California politics.

California set an ambitious goal for fighting global warming. Now comes the hard part

Gov. Brown unveils plan for global climate summit, further undercutting Trumps agenda

Updates from Sacramento
Trump called him my African-American. But he has few kind words for the president. By Mark Z. Barabak (Mark Z. Barabak/Los Angeles Times) On the day that changed his life, Gregory Cheadle almost stayed in bed. He was tired  he traveled a lot in his long-shot bid for Congress  but asked himself: How often does a candidate for president come to the far reaches of Northern California? And why pass up a crowd and the chance to hand out more fliers? So Cheadle roused himself that June 2016 morning and secured a spot up close when Donald Trump swooped in for a rally at Reddings municipal airport. It was hot, the atmosphere was loose and Trumps patter seeming more stand-up comedy than campaign spiel. He went into one of those sidelong digressions, about protesters and an African American  great fan, great guy  and, by the way, whatever happened to him? It was then, Cheadle said, he raised his hand and jokingly shouted, Im here. Trump looked and pointed, his voice a throaty rumble. Look at my African-American over here! he exclaimed. Are you the greatest? In the days and weeks that followed Cheadle was attacked on social media and harassed by people who dug up his phone number and email address. For a time he stayed home, too nervous to venture outside. All, he said, because the media portrayed him as something he was not and never has been: a Trump sycophant. Read More Facebook

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Trump quietly signs Russia sanctions bill By Noah Bierman President Trump quietly signed legislation Wednesday that imposes new sanctions on Russia and limits his ability to remove them, according to two White House aides. Trump signed the bill without cameras or an immediate press release. He had opposed imposing new sanctions on Moscow but had little choice after a nearly unanimous Congress approved the bill, guaranteeing they would override a veto. The bill, which also imposes new sanctions on Iran and North Korea, prevents American companies from investing in many energy projects that are funded by Russian government interests. It also prevents Trump from unilaterally lifting the sanctions. It thus marked an unusual move by Congress to tie the presidents hands on foreign policy. Trump did not want to give up that leverage. But the vote in Congress was a strong sign that lawmakers do not trust Trump to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Trump has repeatedly praised, and the widening federal investigation into possible coordination last year between his presidential campaign and Moscow. Passage of the sanctions bill already has sparked a harsh reaction in Moscow. Putin announced last week that the United States would need to shed 755 personnel, including U.S. diplomats, from its embassy and consulates in Russia. President Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats, said to be spies, from the United States last December. A White House aide said a statement would be issued later Wednesday. Facebook

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Senior GOP senators serve notice: No action on healthcare at this point By David Lauter Trump administration officials continue to push the Senate to take another run at healthcare legislation, but on Monday senior Republican senators pushed back, making clear that theyre done with the topic for now. Theres just too much animosity and were too divided on healthcare, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), the head of the Senate Finance Committee, said in an interview with Reuters. I think we ought to acknowledge that we can come back to healthcare afterward, but we need to move ahead on tax reform, Hatch said. His remarks were quickly followed by others in GOP leadership positions. I think its time to move on to something else, Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri told CNN. If the question is do I think we should stay on healthcare until we get it done, I think its time to move on to something else. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota also chimed in. Until someone shows us how to get that elusive 50th vote, I think its over, he told reporters. The remarks seemed a coordinated effort to respond to administration officials, including budget director Mick Mulvaney and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who said over the weekend that they wanted the Senate to keep working on healthcare. Last week, the Senate defeated several different Republican plans to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act. The votes made it clear that with unified Democratic opposition to repeal, and divisions among Republicans, the campaign to overturn the law has stalled out, at least for now. Congress faces several other pressing issues that will be demanding lawmakers attention, including deadlines at the end of September to raise the federal debt ceiling and fund government agencies for the coming fiscal year. And the administration is eager to move on tax proposals, with officials rather optimistically saying they hope to see votes by November on a tax package that is not yet written. Facebook

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Good news for Atty. Gen. Sessions: Trump has 100% confidence in Cabinet By Noah Bierman To Q re Sessions, spox Sanders says Trump has 100% confidence in Cabinet. Last wk she wouldn't say if he had it in Sessions. Kelly effect?  Jackie Calmes (@jackiekcalmes) July 31, 2017 President Trump has called Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions beleaguered and even VERY weak, but Sessions seemed to get good news from the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, on Monday. Trump has 100% confidence in all of his Cabinet secretaries, Sanders said in response to a question about Sessions job status during the daily White House briefing. Last week, when speculation about Sessions was rife, Sanders repeatedly declined opportunities to provide assurances that the attorney general enjoyed the presidents full confidence. Trump himself said time will tell when he was asked last week about Sessions. The willingness to tamp down speculation about Sessions may reflect the arrival Monday of retired Gen. John F. Kelly as the new White House chief of staff. He is tasked with restoring order to the administration. Sanders also batted down reports that the White House was discussing moving Sessions to another post, as secretary of Homeland Security. That job became vacant Monday after Kelly was sworn in as Trumps new chief of staff. Sanders said the White House has had no conversations about any Cabinet members switching jobs. Republican senators have publicly opposed firing Sessions, and a couple have objected to shifting him to another post as well, given that it could appear that Trump is trying to affect the investigations of himself and his campaign in the context of Russias election interference. Trump has said publicly that his frustration with Sessions, once among his closest allies, stems from Sessions decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, an act that led to the appointment of a special counsel. Facebook

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Can Trump really cut health insurance payments for members of Congress and their staff? It would be easy By Lisa Mascaro Reeling from the failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Trump now threatens to block federal funding that lawmakers and their staff rely on to help buy health insurance. Trumps threats are not empty. The administration could simply stop the payments -- which are provided to Capitol Hill lawmakers and staff much the way many employers help pay employees monthly insurance premiums -- by dashing off new federal regulation. But the easy attack on lawmakers skims over what many say was a complicated, but fair-minded, compromise made during the Obamacare debates several years ago. Under Obamacare, if lawmakers want insurance through their employer - the federal government - they are required to buy policies through the ACA exchanges. There had been great criticism at the time, largely from opponents of the healthcare bill, that lawmakers and congressional staff should not be exempt from the law. The argument was they should have to live under it. So they did. Usually those buying individual insurance on the exchanges can apply to see if their income and geographic area allow them to qualify for a federal subsidy. For lawmakers, though, that was prohibited. Instead, they get the regular employer contribution they did before, much in the same way other workers do when their companies buy insurance. For federal workers, the government covers about 70% of the costs, about the same paid by employers in the private sector, according to Kaiser Family Foundation. The administration affirmed that federal support for lawmakers and their staffs in an Office of Personnel Management regulation issued in 2013. To cut those funds off, Trump administration could simply reverse course, and issue another regulation changing the rules. Trump appeared ready to do so in a series of weekend tweets. Why should Congress not be paying what public pays, Trump tweeted over the weekend. If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon. But such a move would likely cause an uproar in Congress. Its not just members of Congress, but also their staffs, who would have to pay full price for their insurance. Stopping Trumps action, though, seems tough. It would require Congress to pass legislation ensuring the federal payments would continue to be made. Few lawmakers would likely take up that cause. And even if Congress were able to pass a bill protecting the payments, it seems doubtful Trump at this point would sign it into law. Facebook

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U.S. hits Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with sanctions By Associated Press Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro celebrates the results of Sundays election in Caracas. (Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP/Getty Images) The Trump administration has hit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with financial sanctions. The move comes after Venezuela held a weekend election that will give Maduros ruling party virtually unlimited power in the South American country. The Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the sanctions against Maduro in a brief statement on Monday, a day after the Venezuelan vote to elect a constituent assembly that will rewrite the constitution. A longer explanation from the White House was also expected. The administration imposed sanctions on more than a dozen senior current and former Venezuelan officials last week, warning the socialist government that new penalties would come if Maduro went ahead with Sundays election for the assembly. Facebook

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Anthony Scaramucci is out as White House communications director By Brian Bennett Anthony Scaramucci, the brash New Yorker who was announced little more than a week ago as President Trumps White House communications director, was ousted Monday before he had even officially taken the job. John F. Kelly, the newly sworn-in White House chief of staff, told Scaramucci around 9:30 a.m. EDT that he was going to be replaced, according to a person close to White House. In a statement officially announcing the move, the White House said Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team. While Scaramuccis time at the center of the presidents circle was short, it was consequential, prompting the resignations of first Sean Spicer as White House press secretary and then Reince Priebus as chief of staff. The most notable firings and resignations in the Trump administration >> A former hedge fund executive on Wall Street, Scaramucci, who enjoyed media attention, also had come on strong stylistically, highlighted by a profane tirade against colleagues Priebus and Trump strategist Steve Bannon in an exchange last week with a New Yorker reporter. The abrupt shift in Scaramuccis status seemed to reflect Kellys mission to bring order to the chain of command within the chaotic administration. In getting Scaramucci to leave, Kelly was undoing Trumps own hiring decision. Scaramucci had told reporters when he was hired that he would be reporting directly to the president at Trumps request, bypassing the normal chain that would have the communications director -- like all staff -- report to the chief of staff. Scaramuccis unusually short tenure reflects a moment of extreme turbulence in the White House, which has been embroiled in infighting as it confronts low poll numbers for the president, a floundering legislative agenda and the investigations involving Russian meddling in last years presidential election. After word spread of Scaramuccis ouster, Spicer, who resigned when Scaramucci took over but was still working in the White House, walked out of his office to a throng of reporters. Is this a surprise party? he asked. UPDATE 12:15 p.m.: This story has been updated throughout with additional details and background. This article was originally published at 11:49 a.m. Facebook

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Trump swears in John Kelly, says ex-secretary of Homeland Security will do an even better job as chief of staff By Noah Bierman President Trump swore in his new chief of staff, John F. Kelly, on Monday morning, formalizing a shake-up in his top ranks that was announced Friday evening with word of the resignation of Reince Priebus. We look forward to - if its possible - an even better job as chief of staff, Trump said to Kelly, formerly the secretary of homeland security. Ill try, sir, Kelly replied. JOHN KELLY is now chief of staff. Sworn in during ceremony in Oval Office minutes ago. pic.twitter.com/dMEQ4rhpFA  Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) July 31, 2017 Trump is hoping that Kelly, a retired general, will retool and bring order to a White House that has struggled with low poll numbers, staff infighting, a faltering legislative agenda and an investigation into Russian election meddling and potential collusion and obstruction of justice. Yet Trump said the administration has done very well after a reporter asked what would be different under Kelly. He cited the unemployment rate, the thriving stock market and unnamed polls that, he said, show high business confidence. Were doing very well. We have a tremendous base, he said.The country is optimistic. And I think the general will just add to it. Trump praised Kellys performance at the Department of Homeland Security, where Kelly focused on immigration issues at the southern border, as record-shattering, with very little controversy. There was no word on whom the president might name to replace Kelly at the department. Trump reportedly has considered moving Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions there from the Justice Department, reflecting his unhappiness with the attorney general, but Republican senators preemptively have signaled their opposition to such a move. Facebook

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Risky investigation, stalled agenda  Trumps in trouble, so heres his strategy By Noah Bierman (Spencer Platt / Getty Images) Hosts of Southern Californias Morning Answer radio show were wrapping up a two-hour live broadcast from a white tent just outside the West Wing last week and marveling at their access to Cabinet secretaries and prominent administration figures. If youre a Trumpkin, host Brian Whitman told his listeners on AM 870, this is like fantasy camp. The White Houses daylong hospitality for Salem Radio Network, a nationwide chain of Christian and conservative stations, underscored President Trumps continued courtship of  and increased dependence on  core supporters as he confronts a stalled agenda and increasingly perilous investigations into whether his campaign colluded with Russia and he subsequently sought to obstruct the inquiries. Read More Facebook

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Obamacare vote isnt the only sign of GOP resistance to Trump By Noah Bierman In the year since Donald Trump won the Republican presidential nomination, party leaders have been reluctant to challenge a man who has formed a tight bond with conservative voters, even when he upset party orthodoxies and norms of presidential behavior. But that reticence is breaking down. A convergence of contentious issues, as well as embarrassing infighting and shake-ups at the White House, have a number of Republicans suddenly in open resistance to Trump on a number of fronts. Read More Facebook

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Trump ousts Reince Priebus as chief of staff in latest White House shake-up By Noah Bierman John Kelly (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump ousted his beleaguered chief of staff, Reince Priebus, naming Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly to replace him Friday in the latest White House shake-up as the administration struggles to emerge from bitter staff infighting and a stalled legislative agenda. Trump announced the abrupt reshuffle in three posts on Twitter hours after the Senate killed his latest plans to rewrite President Obamas signature healthcare law, dealing another harsh blow to the White House. The tweets, sent as Trump was returning on Air Force One with Priebus after a speech on gang violence in New York, caught Capitol Hill and others off guard even though Priebus stature in Trumps inner circle has been in sharp decline for some time. Read More Facebook

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Putins spokesman accuses U.S. of political schizophrenia By Associated Press Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting in Moscow on June 21. (Sergei Karpukhin / EPA) Russia urged the United States on Monday to show political will to mend ties even as it ordered sweeping cuts of U.S. embassy personnel unseen since Cold War times. President Vladimir Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said it will take time for the U.S. to recover from what he called political schizophrenia, but added that Russia remains interested in constructive cooperation with the U.S. We are interested in a steady development of our ties and are sorry to note that we are still far from that, he said. Peskovs statement followed Sundays televised comments by Putin, who said the U.S. would have to cut 755 of its embassy and consulate staff in Russia, a massive reduction he described as a response to new U.S. sanctions. The Russian Foreign Ministry had previously said that the U.S. should cut its embassy and consular employees to 455, the number that Russia has in the United States. Along with the caps on embassy personnel announced Friday, it also declared the closure of a U.S. recreational retreat on the outskirts of Moscow and warehouse facilities. Moscows action is the long-expected tit-for-tat response to former President Obamas move to expel 35 Russian diplomats and shut down two Russian recreational retreats in the U.S. over reports of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Facebook

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White House urged to refrain from Obamacare sabotage as Trump mulls subsidy cutoff By Laura King A pair of prominent lawmakers urged President Trump on Sunday not to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in the wake of failed Republican efforts to scrap his predecessors signature legislative achievement. But Trump urged GOP senators to try again to push through some version of repealing and replacing the law, even though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said last week it was time to move on to other matters. Trump senior advisor Kellyanne Conway said the president would decide in coming days whether to block subsidies that are a crucial component of the existing healthcare law. Hes going to make that decision this week, and thats a decision that only he can make, Conway said on Fox News Sunday. Two of the lawmakers who blocked the Senate GOP repeal plan last week, however, criticized the administrations continued efforts to overturn the law. Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who steadfastly rejected a series of GOP healthcare measures last week, blamed the Trump administration for encouraging instability in the insurance markets by continuing the uncertainty over whether the subsidies  cost-sharing payments that reduce out-of-pocket healthcare costs for poorer Americans  would continue. Im troubled by the uncertainty that has been created by the administration, Collins said on NBCs Meet the Press. She contested Trumps characterization of the payments as an insurance company bailout. Thats not what it is, she said, calling the reduction payments vital assistance to low-income Americans. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said further action on healthcare should be done in a bipartisan manner and not rushed. You cannot do major entitlement reform singlehandedly, and you wouldnt do major legislative initiatives singlehandedly, she told reporters in Alaska. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) echoed Collins criticism of Trumps threat to stop making the cost-sharing payments. You know, I really think its incomprehensible that we have a president of the United States who wants to sabotage healthcare in America, make life more difficult for millions of people who are struggling now to get the health insurance they need and to pay for that health insurance, he said on CNNs State of the Union. Prior to heading out for a day at his Virginia golf property, Trump tweeted that Republican senators should press ahead with efforts to scrap Obamacare -- a day after he tauntingly exhorted them not to be quitters in the quest for a legislative victory for him. Don't give up Republican Senators, the World is watching: Repeal & Replace...and go to 51 votes (nuke option), get Cross State Lines & more.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2017 The White House budget director, Mick Mulvaney, on CNNs State of the Union, said it was official Trump administration policy that the Senate should keep working to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, eschewing an August recess if necessary. Senators, he said, need to stay, they need to work -- they need to pass something. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, while acknowledging a responsibility to follow the law -- Obamacare -- also signaled that Trump was not accepting defeat in efforts to get rid of the measure. Our goalas well as the presidents goal, is to put in place a law, a system, that actually works for patients, he said on Meet the Press, adding, You cant do that under the current structure. Facebook

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Frustrated in defeat, Trump threatens healthcare of voters  and lawmakers By Joseph Tanfani Frustrated by the failure of the Obamacare repeal in the Senate, President Trump on Saturday threatened to end federal subsidies for healthcare insurance  for Congress as well as the rest of the country. After seven years of "talking" Repeal & Replace, the people of our great country are still being forced to live with imploding ObamaCare!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017 If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017 If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon! Trump tweeted, fuming about Congress failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which he said was imploding. Such a move could cause havoc and much higher premiums in insurance markets, since many low- and moderate-income people depend on those subsidies to help cover the cost of their policies. Through a series of administrative maneuvers by Congress and the Obama administration, members and their staffs also benefit from those subsidies. Targeting congressional healthcare might score Trump some populist points with his base, but it would likely come at a cost of poisoning his relationship with Congress. Just making the threat on Saturday highlights how far things have eroded between Trump and top GOP lawmakers. And it comes a day after Trump pushed out former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, an establishment Republican who was the GOP congressional leaderships trusted liaison in the White House. Trump actually has a jarring amount of leverage over thousands of congressional staff who depend on employer health care contribution. https://t.co/lRPmrmDIJs  Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 29, 2017 Trumps longstanding threat to let the health insurance plans fail would come with its own political price. The federal government sends about $600 million a month to insurance companies to help cover the cost, and Trump is threatening to cut that off to allow Obamacare markets to collapse. His goal is to pressure Congress to send him a repeal bill, but so far the strategy has failed. The confidence Trump has expressed that if he followed through with the threat the fallout would land not on him but on Democrats, because they created Obamacare, is not widely shared in Washington. If health care collapses, voters will blame Trump and the GOP.



That's what happens when you control the White House and Congress. pic.twitter.com/iEjEGyapAL  Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 29, 2017 Facebook

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Iran condemns new U.S. sanctions, vows to pursue missile program By Ramin Mostaghim Iran defied Washington and condemned new U.S. sanctions over its development of missiles capable of being armed with nuclear warheads. We will continue with full power our missile program, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told state television IRIB on Saturday, dismissing new sanctions passed by Congress last week as, hostile, reprehensible and unacceptable. Its ultimately an effort to weaken the nuclear deal, Ghasemi said, adding, The military and missile fields  are our domestic policies and others have no right to intervene or comment on them. Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear activities under the 2015 agreement with the U.S. and other world powers in exchange for sanctions relief. Ghasemi argued Saturday that the U.S. had violated that agreement by linking the missile program to the nuclear deal and restricting Iranian banking activities in the U.S. He argued that Irans latest missile tests dont break the agreement because the weapons are defensive. The new wave of pressure on missile projects in Iran will push the Islamic theocracy into a corner, predicted Iran analyst Hojjat Kalashi in Tehran, noting that the government of President Hassan Rouhani, who was reelected in May, is coping with an economic downturn and may step back from the compromise nuclear deal. The new Iran sanctions bill, which also targets Russia and North Korea, was passed by the House and Senate this week. It would penalize those involved in Irans ballistic missile program as well as those who do business with them, impose an arms embargo on Iran and label its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps a terrorist group. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said President Trump will sign the bill. On Friday, the U.S. was joined by Britain, France and Germany in condemning Irans recent launch of a satellite-carrying rocket and warned that it violated a United Nations resolution implementing the 2015 nuclear deal. In a joint statement, they urged Iran to stop developing missiles and rockets capable of carrying nuclear warheads that have a destabilizing impact on the region. In response to a rocket launch Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on subsidiaries of an Iranian company involved in Tehrans ballistic missile program. But Nader Karimi Juni, an analyst close to Rouhanis government, said Iranian leaders dont believe the U.N. and European powers will ultimately back the U.S., and so Iran will not compromise on missile projects and will remain defiant. Facebook

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Trump jabs U.S. mayors, who push back, calling president out of touch with cities By Kurtis Lee (Spencer Platt / Getty Images) President Trump wants police to know that he  not mayors  has their back. Ive met police that are great police that arent allowed to do their job because they have a pathetic mayor or a mayor that doesnt know whats going on, Trump said Friday in a speech before police officers in Brentwood, N.Y. The comments from Trump, who in his address highlighted crime in cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, drew applause from some in attendance. In a statement following Trumps remarks, the United States Conference of Mayors, a bipartisan group, released a statement pushing back against the president. The presidents comments today prove how out of touch he is with the realities of life in American cities. Mayors number one priority is  and always will be  the safety and protection of their residents, said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, the groups president. There is no daylight between the mayors of our cities and the uniformed officers who work tirelessly to keep us safe every single day. During the speech Trump called on police and immigration officials to be rough with suspected gang members in cities nationwide. In a recent interview with The Times, former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who recently launched a $200-million initiative to empower city governments and mayors, stressed the key to good governing is experience as a manager  something, he said, Trump was not. Bloomberg added that the mayors are much more in tune with the needs of residents than the federal government. You got to remember a mayor and the local city council are much closer to the public than the governor and the state legislature, or the president and the federal legislature. So if the public is in favor of something, the local officials know it and they get held responsible, he said. Facebook

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The growing parade of exits under Trump administration By Len de Groot A lot of people have left President Trumps early administration  Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was replaced Friday. The White House communications department has been the scene of many of the recent turnovers as it wrestles to craft a message sometimes at odds with Trumps frequent tweeting. At the National Security Council, there has been a leadership struggle since Michael Flynn resigned in the face of pressure over undisclosed contacts with Russia. One appointee was fired over comments he made at a private function. Others have been removed as Flynns successor, H.R. McMaster, has moved to add loyalists to the council. Here are the most noteworthy departures: Read More Facebook

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Trump urges officers and immigration officials to be rough on animals terrorizing U.S. neighborhoods By Barbara Demick ( (Evan Vucci / Associated Press)) President Trump on Friday called for police and immigration officials to be rough with suspected gang members in order to rid the country of animals he said are terrorizing communities. Please dont be too nice, Trump told police recruits at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood, a heavily Latino suburb of New York City. Like when you guys put somebody in the car and youre protecting their head, you know the way you put the hand  like, dont hit their head, and theyve just killed somebody?  You can take the hand away. He implied that he was satisfied with rough handling of suspects by the police. When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon  you just see them thrown in, rough, he said. Scoffing at calls for what he describes as political correctness, Trump also renewed his pledges to build a wall along the Mexican border. He accused the Obama administration of admitting criminals into the United States. Read More Facebook

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Analysis: In a Washington run by men, two overshadowed Republican women make their point on healthcare By Cathleen Decker In a Washington that has grown demonstrably more testosterone-fueled since President Trumps inauguration, it took two Republican women to secure the end of a long effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. They were the same two women  Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski  who had been excluded from the 13-member working group drafting the Republican bills. Nobodys being excluded based upon gender. Everybodys at the table, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had said of his all-white-males group. In the early hours of Friday, the duo was overshadowed by the more dramatic and unexpected no vote from Sen. John McCain of Arizona. There was reason for the attention lavished on McCain  a war hero and veteran senator returns to the Capitol days after a dire cancer diagnosis. But without both Collins and Murkowskis steadfast opposition, his vote would have been meaningless. Also largely overlooked: Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat who like McCain made an arduous trip to Washington despite her recent diagnosis of late-stage kidney cancer. Social media buzzed Friday with praise for the women senators from many fronts, including from men. But from many women, there was also a sense of familiarity at being ignored or taken for granted. Read More Facebook

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Clinton Foundation donor who was denied a visa settles leak case against the U.S. By Joseph Tanfani A billionaire Nigerian businessman and major Clinton Foundation donor banned from entering the U.S. two years ago on terrorism grounds has settled a lawsuit against the U.S. government. Gilbert Chagoury last year sued the FBI and other government agencies in U.S. District Court in Washington, saying he had been damaged by what he described as improper government leaks to the Los Angeles Times. The Times reported last year that Chagoury had been denied a visa to travel to the U.S. in 2015 on suspicion that he had provided aid to terrorist groups. One document, citing unverified information from an unnamed source, said that Chagoury  who is of Lebanese heritage  had funneled funds to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia and political group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. Chagoury, an ardent Lakers fan who for decades lived part of the year in Los Angeles, angrily denied that he ever provided funds for terrorism. He said the publicity forced him to sell his Beverly Hills mansion at a loss and caused a bank to close his account. A philanthropist, Vatican ambassador and longtime friend of Bill Clinton, Chagoury once was invited to the White House after contributing to a Democratic get-out-the-vote campaign. He donated at least $1 million to the Clinton Foundation. Emails released last year showed that a Bill Clinton aide pushed Hillary Clintons aides at the State Department to get Chagoury access to top U.S. diplomats. In the settlement filed in court on Friday, the Justice Department said Chagoury has never appeared on the list of Specially Designated Nationals, figures such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers who are generally barred from doing business in the U.S. The government did not grant Chagourys request for a court hearing to dispute the reports that led to his exclusion from the U.S. As I have often said, I have loved America my whole life because it was the land of freedom and justice, he said in a statement, adding that he hopes the agreement will help repair his reputation. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chagoury, who lives most of the time in Paris, has not applied for another visa, said his spokesman, Mark Corallo. Facebook

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Trump ousts Priebus, announces John Kelly as new chief of staff President Trump announced via Twitter on Friday that he had named retired Gen. John Kelly, head of the Department of Homeland Security, as White House chief of staff, replacing Reince Priebus. I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017 ...and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017 I would like to thank Reince Priebus for his service and dedication to his country. We accomplished a lot together and I am proud of him!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017 Read More Facebook

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Rep. John Delaney of Maryland to run for president By Associated Press Rep. John Delaney of Maryland says hes running for president, instead of governor or reelection, in 2018. Delaney, a Democrat, announced his plans in a statement Friday. The politically moderate banking entrepreneur is in his third term in Marylands 6th Congressional District, which includes western Maryland and a large section of Montgomery County, the states largest county. The 54-year-old is worth roughly $90 million and is one of the Houses wealthiest members. He spent about $2 million to help finance his first House race in 2012. His consideration of a possible Maryland gubernatorial bid months ago quickly drew interest in his House seat. Several candidates already have expressed interest in running for the seat. Facebook

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McCain set to head back to Arizona to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments By Kurtis Lee (Shawn Thew / EPA) Sen. John McCain is headed home. Hours after McCain spurned his party and voted in opposition to a GOP measure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the senators office announced Friday he will return to Arizona to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments for his recent diagnosis of brain cancer. McCain, 80, was found this month to have a brain tumor known as a glioblastoma. He is scheduled to return to Washington in September after his initial treatments. The glioblastoma  an aggressive type of cancer  was discovered when McCain had a blood clot removed from above his left eye. According to the Mayo Clinic, which is overseeing McCains treatment, glioblastoma is difficult to treat. After returning to Washington this week and voting in favor of opening Senate debate on repeal, McCain was among three Republicans early Friday morning to vote in opposition to a so-called skinny bill that would repeal the ACA, known as Obamacare. The move by McCain, who has served in the Senate since 1987, has drawn the ire of members in his own party and some in the right-wing media. Facebook

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McCains surprise vote doomed GOP healthcare bill, but did it open the door for Senate bipartisanship? By Lisa Mascaro Sen. John McCain is usually happy to spar with reporters, but he ducked into an elevator ahead of the Senate healthcare vote late Thursday without saying a word about how he would vote. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, though, already knew the answer. The Democratic leader had been talking with the Arizona Republican all week  four, five times a day  ever since McCain returned to work after being diagnosed with brain cancer. Earlier in the week, McCain had dramatically salvaged the stalled GOP bill by voting to begin debate, only to go on to deliver a blistering speech against his own party leaders partisan, closed-door process in crafting it. Weve been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle, he told them. Were getting nothing done. Schumer and McCain have been longtime colleagues, a kind of frenemies who seem like throwbacks to an earlier era of Congress. They worked together on big legislation, including the 2013 immigration overhaul  grand ideas that seem all but impossible in todays Congress. They had plenty to discuss. About the Senate, about it working again, about working together, and about how this bill was so poor for the American people, Schumer said. And he knew that, so did half his colleagues, but he had the courage to vote no. The moment stunned the Senate when McCain stepped up to cast his vote  a single down-turned finger  dooming the healthcare bill. Audible gasps filled the galleries, which were packed with onlookers. But his vote  along with no votes from Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska  did more than shelve the long campaign to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It cracked open a new divide in the Senate, which seems to be split not so much between Republicans and Democrats, but by those senators who want to work together versus those stuck in hardened partisan tribes. Read More Facebook

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U.S. hits Iran with more sanctions in response to satellite launch By Associated Press The United States is slapping Iran with new sanctions in response to its launch of a satellite-carrying rocket into space this week. The sanctions target six Iranian subsidiaries of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group. The Treasury Department says that group is central to Irans ballistic missile program. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the sanctions illustrate deep U.S. concerns about Irans missile testing and other actions. He says the U.S. will continue countering Irans ballistic missile program, including Thursdays provocative space launch. The U.S. has said that launch flouted a U.N. Security Council resolution because the technology is inherently designed to be able to carry a nuclear payload. The sanctions come as the Trump administration continues debating its Iran policy and whether to scrap the 2015 multilateral deal that limits the development of Irans nuclear capabilities. Facebook

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Political betrayal. McCain vote against Obamacare repeal draws ire from conservative writers By Kurtis Lee (Cliff Owen / AP) Though John McCain was one of three Republicans who helped Democrats squash the legislation to repeal Obamacare, conservative media is homing in on the Arizona senator for spurning his party in the healthcare vote. Here are some of todays headlines: John McCain: Traitor to the conservative cause (Washington Times) McCain, who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, has been a staunch opponent of Obamacare, but in the end he could not support the so-called skinny repeal measure put forward by his colleagues in the Senate. In this piece, Cheryl K. Chumley, jabs McCain for his vote. For American voters expecting their Republican-dominated House, Senate and White House to honor their years of repeal promises and actually, well, repeal Obamacare, McCains thumbs-down was a face-slap moment that will be remembered in history as a textbook classic case of political betrayal, she writes. McCains odd definition of leading the fight to stop Obamacare (National Review) This article is simple  its a quick compare-and-contrast of McCains recent comments versus his vote on Friday. Last year, during a tough reelection, McCains campaign ran a television ad that boasted the senator is leading the fight to stop Obamacare. But last night his office put out a statement noting the GOP Senate bill did not offer a replacement to actually reform our health care system and deliver affordable, quality health care to our citizens. The author of this piece, Jim Geraghty, concludes: Its very difficult to characterize McCains decision as leading the fight to stop Obamacare. Thats more like leading the fight to keep Obamacare in place while you continue to look for a replacement that you like better. John McCain burns Mitch McConnell sides with Democrats (American Spectator) When McConnell, the majority leader, stood on the Senate floor Friday after the bills failure, he was clearly annoyed. McCains no vote had led to applause moments earlier from Democrats. In a move thats no surprise to anyone, John McCain voted against the embarrassingly named Skinny Repeal, voted against his party (or is it his party?) and voted to keep Obamacare going as is, writes Melissa Mackenzie. Facebook

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Meet the two female GOP senators who opposed the healthcare bill from the start By Kelcey Caulder Sen. John McCain shocked Republicans and Democrats alike with his vote early Friday morning to kill the latest Republican effort to repeal Obamacare. But McCain was not the only Republican to play a role in blocking the final version of the overhaul bill. Two female Republican lawmakers, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, also voted against the bill. Collins has opposed repeal and replace efforts from the beginning, and Murkowski has also been critical of much of what the Senate Republican leadership has proposed. Collins said it would be a big mistake for Republicans to pass legislation without trying seriously to work with Democrats to reach bipartisan solutions. Instead, she called for both parties to work together to improve the healthcare system. Murkowski and Collins were the first from their party to come out against repealing the ACA without having new, replacement legislation on the table. In statements posted on Twitter, Collins, who voted against the same proposal in 2015, said she did not think it was constructive to repeal the law without a replacement, while Murkowski encouraged senators from both sides of the aisle to work together to address healthcare issues. I will vote no on the motion to proceed to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement. I voted against this same proposal in 2015. pic.twitter.com/Szuke5zYNL  Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) July 18, 2017 My recent statement on the Senate Healthcare Process: pic.twitter.com/j19Ok1KwWw  Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) July 18, 2017 The two senators were also the only Republicans to vote against opening debate on repeal of Obamacare earlier this week. Their opposition to Republican healthcare efforts has drawn a lot of criticism within the party, some of it expressed in vulgar, even violent terms. Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter said in an interview Wednesday with MSNBC: Somebody needs to go over there to that Senate and snatch a knot in their ass. A Texas congressman said the female senators narrowly avoided an Aaron Burr-style showdown with him. President Trump publicly rebuked Murkowski on Twitter for her vote. Senator @lisamurkowski of the Great State of Alaska really let the Republicans, and our country, down yesterday. Too bad!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017 Trump has not criticized Collins by name for her vote, but warned Tuesday at a rally in Ohio that any senator who votes against repeal and replace is telling America that they are fine with the Obamacare nightmare, and I predict theyll have a lot of problems. Facebook

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The current Senate GOP effort to repeal Obamacare is dead. Now what? By Noam N. Levey (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) The sudden collapse of the GOPs Senate campaign to repeal or replace the Affordable Care Act does not mean the issue disappears. Significant problems and challenges remain, particularly for Obamacare insurance marketplaces. The defeat increases the odds that Congress will begin to look at a more limited approach to shore up the current law and stabilize markets. The GOPs repeal effort may return, but in the meantime heres a look at what a temporary fix might look like: Read More Facebook

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Paul Ryan responds to the failure of the GOP healthcare bill By Associated Press House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday that hes disappointed and frustrated by the failure of Republican healthcare legislation in the Senate. But Ryan said in a statement that we should not give up after promising for years to repeal and replace Obamacare. We were sent to Washington to fulfill the pledges we made to our constituents, the statement said. While the House delivered a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, unfortunately the Senate was unable to reach a consensus. At the same time, the speaker said that overhauling the tax code is at the top of the Houses list of priorities. He pledged to pursue historic tax reform in the fall. He issued his statement as the House prepared to leave Washington for its annual August recess. The House passed legislation repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act in May. But after a failed vote early Friday in the Senate, its not clear if GOP leaders will be able to resuscitate the efforts. Facebook

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Economic growth rebounded to 2.6% annual rate in second quarter By Jim Puzzanghera The Port of Los Angeles (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) The U.S. economy rebounded this spring after a weak winter, expanding at a solid 2.6% annual rate as consumers picked up their spending pace, the Commerce Department said Friday. Total economic output, also known as gross domestic product, for the April-through-June period was in line with analyst expectations for a bounce-back based in part on pent-up demand. The economic growth rate was more than double the 1.2% pace in the first quarter. That figure was revised down Friday from an earlier estimate of 1.4%. After the winter blues, the economy has rebounded, said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at Cal State Channel Islands. Read More Facebook

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Never mind healthcare. President Trump has made slogans great again By Mark Z. Barabak ( (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)) His promise to repeal and replace Obamacare has crashed and burned. Tax reform hasnt gotten far. The White House is in disarray, and big plans to rebuild the nations infrastructure have hit a brick wall. But there is one unimpeachable triumph President Trump can point to: Hes made great again great again. The Make America Great Again 2016 campaign slogan  limned in block letters and emblazoned on countless cherry-red ball caps  has been reimagined, repurposed and cheekily appropriated for countless pitches and commercial products. Apart from the now-familiar caps, mercantile options include aprons, beanies, beer cozys, coffee mugs, hoodies, leggings, swimsuits, T-shirts, water bottles and, for the special someone, Donald Trump Make America Great Again Womens Booty Shorts. But MAGA, as the president short-hands the phrase in Twitter posts, is also popping up in places having little or nothing to do with politics: on a catwalk at New Yorks Fashion Week, high in the sky promoting classical music in Phoenix, on the menu at an Italian restaurant in Atlanta. Read More Facebook

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If Adam Schiff is Californias next U.S. senator, he might want to thank President Trump By Mark Z. Barabak (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) The road to elected office can be long and winding and is not always paved with the best of intentions. Some politicians  think of the Kennedys or the Bush family  are born to the trade. Others are borne by tragedy. Former Santa Barbara Rep. Lois Capps succeeded her husband when he died of a heart attack. Former New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy was spurred to run when her husband was killed and her son gravely wounded in a mass shooting on the Long Island Rail Road. Typically, though, the ascension is more methodical, one rung after the next, often with a pinch of right-place, right-time fortune thrown in for good measure. Lately that bit of luck has visited itself on Adam B. Schiff, in the form of Russian meddling and a president who hurls tweets like poison thunderbolts. Read More Facebook

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Kris Kobach says Trumps voter fraud panel will keep voter data secure. Some states arent buying it By Kurtis Lee (Jessica McGowan / Getty Images) After weeks of legal battles and bipartisan pushback from top election officials nationwide, President Trumps voter fraud commission has renewed a message for the states: Its safe to pass along your data about voters. Individuals voter registration records will be kept confidential and secure throughout the duration of the commissions existence, Kris Kobach, vice chairman of the commission, wrote in a letter sent late Wednesday to all 50 secretaries of state. Even so, by Thursday, much of the criticism that greeted an earlier request from the commission was repeated by election officials and activists, who have expressed concerns about privacy and have called the panel both a sham created by an insecure president and a tool to suppress votes. Trump  without evidence  has repeatedly alleged that 3 million to 5 million illegal votes were cast in last years presidential election. (Trump prevailed in the electoral college, while Democrat Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by about 3 million votes.) Read More Facebook

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President Trump said our guys are rougher than the violent gang MS-13. What did he mean? By Brian Bennett (SAUL LOEB / AFP ) When President Trump said this week his administration is going after bloodthirsty criminal gangs like the notoriously violent MS-13, he added a menacing flourish: Our guys are rougher than their guys. The comment raised concerns that Trump was instructing immigration agents to use excessive force when going after suspected gang members. Not so, Trumps top spokeswoman said on Thursday. I think the president means that our guys are going to do whatever it takes to protect Americans, protect American lives, protect our borders, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in response to a question about what Trump meant by rougher. Trump wants people to do their jobs, not go beyond the scope of what they should do, Sanders said. Trumps comment came during a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on Tuesday night. We are throwing MS-13 the hell out of here so fast, he said, boasting that his administration is liberating towns and cities from gangs. And, well, I will just tell you this, were not doing it in a politically correct fashion, Trump added. Were doing it rough. Our guys are rougher than their guys. Trumps comment was meant to boost morale among immigration officers looking to arrest and deport gang members, said one senior administration official, who would speak only without being identified to discuss the presidents thinking. As part of Trumps crackdown on immigrants in the country illegally, he has instructed the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to target a suspected gang member for deportation before that person has been convicted of a crime, said ICE director Thomas Homan. Homan joined Sanders at her daily briefing at the White House. The two spoke to preview the presidents Friday trip to Long Island, N.Y., where he will tout his administrations efforts against MS-13 and other gangs. For Trump, who grew up in Queens, recent headlines about MS-13 violence in central Long Island have hit close to home. In April, four young men were found hacked to death in a park in Central Islip, N.Y., a senior administration official told reporters Thursday night. He is a New Yorker and he knows New York, the administration official said. It is absolutely a personal issue. And he knows whats happening in New York -- and its not just Long Island -- is a tragedy and there are communities like that all across America. Facebook

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Boy Scouts chief apologizes for presidents political rhetoric at national Jamboree. Trump wont By Brian Bennett President Trump wont apologize for a surprisingly political speech this week to Boy Scouts that provoked a backlash for his attacks on his predecessor, his election rival, dissident Republicans and the news media. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered that word on Thursday, just after a top executive of the Boy Scouts of America issued an apology on behalf of the organization for allowing the political rhetoric to occur during Trumps address Monday evening at the National Scout Jamboree held in West Virginia. Michael Surbaugh, the organizations chief executive, in a statement extended his sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree. He noted that the groups invitation to the president to speak was in keeping with a long-standing tradition since 1937; eight of 11 incumbent presidents have attended. But, Surbaugh wrote, we have steadfastly remained non-partisan and refused to comment on political matters. We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the Scouting program. At the White House, however, Sanders indicated that neither she nor Trump saw any reason to apologize, or considered his remarks in any way out of line. I was at that event and I saw nothing but roughly 40,000 to 45,000 Boy Scouts cheering the president on throughout his remarks, Sanders said. I think they were pretty excited that he was there and happy to hear him speak to them, she added. Sanders said she had not seen the statement from the Boy Scouts chief. During his rambling 38-minute speech to the Scouts in Glen Jean, W.Va., Trump criticized Hillary Clinton and President Obama and singled out congressional Republicans who were not in lockstep with him on healthcare. He got much applause and supportive chants from his audience, and even credited the Scouts -- who are too young to vote -- for being among the millions who elected him. But almost immediately, the Boy Scouts organization was inundated with protests from former Scouts, parents and others angered by the presidents partisan words. Facebook

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Trumps words kind of hurtful, Sessions says, but he has no plans to resign By Joseph Tanfani President Trumps scathing criticisms have been kind of hurtful, Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions said Thursday, even as he again signaled that he wants to stay on the job. He wants all of us to do our job, and thats what I intend to do, Sessions said in an interview with Tucker Carlson of Fox News. Separately, Sessions told the Associated Press that it hasnt been my best week  for my relationship with the president. He made the comment in El Salvador, during a visit to highlight joint efforts to take on the MS-13 gang. The attorney general said he hadnt met with Trump but looked forward to talking to him about it. If he wants to make a change, he has every right, Sessions said. I serve at the pleasure of the president. Ive understood that from the day I took the job. But, he said, I believe with great confidence that I understand what is needed in the Department of Justice and what President Trump wants. I share his agenda. The comments were the first this week on the subject from Sessions, who has been subjected to harshly critical tweets from Trump for three days. The president has called him weak and said he wasnt aggressive enough in going after leakers. Last week, after Trump criticized Sessions in a New York Times interview, Sessions told reporters he planned to stay on as long as it was appropriate. Sessions has seemed to redouble his attempts this week to win back the presidents favor. He announced another crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities that dont cooperate with immigration enforcement and on Friday traveled to El Salvador to highlight arrests of MS-13 gang members, both favorite topics of the president. The Justice Department also plans to address leaks next week. Sessions said his department was stepping up leak investigations. Some people need to go to jail, he said. The president has every right to ask the DOJ to be more aggressive on that, and we intend to. On Wednesday evening, after Anthony Scaramucci , Trumps incoming communications director, falsely claimed in a tweet that hed been the victim of a leak, Sessions chief spokeswoman released a statement agreeing that leaks are undermining the government and promising to aggressively pursue leak cases wherever they may lead. Trump has made it clear that he is most angry with Sessions for recusing himself from supervising the ongoing investigation into his administrations ties with Russia. But Sessions defended that decision. I understand his feeling about it because this has been a big distraction for him, he said on Fox. Im confident I made the right decision, the decision thats consistent with the rule of law, and an attorney general who doesnt follow the law is not very effective at leading the Department of Justice, he said. In the interview, Sessions reached back to Trumps campaign slogan to praise the president as a strong leader. He is determined to move this country in the direction that he believes it needs to go to make it great again, he said. Sessions has received considerable support in recent days from conservative Republicans, including many of his former Senate colleagues. On Thursday, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) went to the Senate floor to discourage Trump from moving against Sessions, saying that the Senate would not allow the president to make a recess appointment that would bypass the normal confirmation process. A recess appointment would allow Trump to appoint a person who could serve without confirmation until the start of 2019. Such appointments can only be made if the Senate formally takes a break, which senators of both parties have said they will avoid in order to prevent Trump from avoiding confirmations. If youre thinking of making a recess appointment to push out the attorney general, forget about it, Sasse said. The presidency isnt a bull, and this country isnt a china shop. 1:55 p.m.: This post was updated with additional remarks by Sessions and remarks by Sen. Ben Sasse. 5:50: This post was updated with additional quotes from Sessions interview. Facebook

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For Trump White House, cable television becomes the venue for intramural sniping By Noah Bierman President Trump and his aides love to complain about leaks from within the White House. But on Thursday, the infighting was out in the open. The incoming communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, in a morning phone call broadcast on CNN, compared the West Wing to a fish that stinks from the head down, implying that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is responsible for at least some of the leaks. Later, Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to come to Priebuss defense and say whether Trump has full confidence in his chief of staff. Another Trump advisor, Kellyanne Conway, used a prison analogy for the broader backstabbing among aides, telling Fox News that her West Wing colleagues were using the press to shiv each other. While the knifings might suggest a new level of chaos in a White House known for it, the style is all Trump. As a businessman, he has a history of fostering rivalries among his employees. He always did sort of like competition, backstabbing, infighting kind of stuff, said Barbara Res, who spent nearly two decades as a top executive in Trumps real estate business. He set people up to do that. Trump led the charge this week, using his Twitter account and an interview with the Wall Street Journal to ridicule his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, one of Trumps first and most prominent campaign supporters. By Thursday, both Priebus and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were seeing their fates publicly debated, less than a week after Sean Spicer was forced out as press secretary after months of speculation and presidential slights. The Priebus intrigue was amplified by Scaramucci on Twitter and in the CNN interview. He blamed Priebus for leaking Scaramuccis personal financial disclosure forms -- which are publicly available -- and suggested that Trump encouraged Scaramuccis offensive in a phone conversation the two men had just before the aide dialed into CNN. When Sanders was asked about the Scaramucci-Priebus dustup, she said that the president likes healthy competition on his staff. The president likes that kind of competition and encourages it, Sanders said. The result is a White House that increasingly suggests the presidents former way of life. As the star of a reality TV show, he fomented internal competition and firings among apprentices; their cable television appearances, meanwhile, recall the confessionals familiar to reality show fans, in which characters confide directly to the camera their anger or enmity toward others on the show. The primary attribute for a successful tenure in the Trump White House is masochism, tweeted Rick Wilson, a longtime Republican operative and Trump critic. The repeated evidence of dysfunction and the high level of insecurity among Trumps core aides help explain the White Houses inability to focus on its agenda. Trumps critics voiced suspicions on Twitter that the public staff blow-up was a deliberate distraction from the struggle in Congress to pass a healthcare bill, as well as from the ongoing investigations into potential collusion between his presidential campaign and Russia and the backlash to Trumps surprise Twitter announcement on Wednesday that transgender people will be barred from military service. But those issues also were being heavily covered on cable news. The stories that were overshadowed were those Trump was trying to promote: a deal his administration helped strike with Foxconn to build a production facility in Wisconsin, possibly creating thousands of new jobs, and nascent efforts to craft a tax overhaul plan. Facebook

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Democrats criticize financial industry backgrounds of two Trump bank regulator nominees By Jim Puzzanghera Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Senate Democrats on Thursday criticized the financial industry backgrounds of President Trumps nominees for two key banking regulatory positions, arguing they would not protect the interests of average Americans. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and others sharply questioned Joseph Otting, the former chief executive of Pasadenas OneWest Bank, and investment fund manager Randal Quarles during a confirmation hearing by the Senate Banking Committee. Trump nominated Otting to be the comptroller of the currency, a powerful regulator of national banks. Quarles has been tapped to be the Federal Reserves vice chairman for supervision, who is in charge of the Feds oversight of the nations largest bank holding companies and other regulatory efforts. The two are expected to be friendlier to the banking industry than recent Democratic appointees. Read More Facebook

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Senator warns Trump there will be holy hell to pay if he fires Sessions By Joseph Tanfani A prominent Republican Senator issued a blunt warning to President Trump not to interfere with the Russia investigation, saying any effort to get rid of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters Thursday that there will be holy hell to pay if Trump fires Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, a favorite of conservatives who represented Alabama in the Senate for 20 years. Grahams warning was the sternest yet from Senate Republicans to Trump about the potential consequences of firing either Sessions or Mueller. The chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, Sen. Charles Grassley, (R-Iowa), issued his own warning in a tweet Wednesday night, saying his committee would not take up a nomination of a replacement attorney general this year, which is required before the Senate can vote to confirm. Everybody in D.C. Shld b warned that the agenda for the judiciary Comm is set for rest of 2017. Judges first subcabinet 2nd / AG no way  ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 27, 2017 Starting with an interview in the New York Times last week and continuing with a three-day barrage of critical tweets, Trump has raged at Sessions for his decision to recuse himself from supervising the investigation into the Russian attempts to influence the election, and into whether anybody involved in Trumps campaign participated in the scheme. Trump also has bitterly complained about Mueller, whom he has accused of leading a witch hunt, and Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod J. Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller and who is now supervising the probe. Justice Department regulations say that only the attorney general, or in this case Rosenstein acting in his place, can fire the special counsel. If Sessions were gone, Trump could try to appoint a replacement willing to carry out the firing. Graham said he will introduce a bill next week that would require court review if anyone tried to fire a special counsel who was investigating the president. I think Ill get all the Democrats and I hope to get a good number of Republicans, he said, adding that the enacting such a law is not just for Trump but for any future president. We need a check and balance here. Graham said Trumps campaign to marginalize and humiliate the attorney general is not going over well in the Senate or among conservatives. He also said Trump, who has called on Sessions to investigate his former rival Hillary Clinton, has gone way beyond what is acceptable in a rule of law nation. This is not draining the swamp, he said. What hes interjecting is turning democracy upside down..taking 200-year-old concepts that were a nation of laws and not men and trying to turn it upside down. Sen. Graham: "Any effort to go after Mueller could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency." https://t.co/6Pd60LrGRU pic.twitter.com/EXBOwBC35C  ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 27, 2017 Facebook

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Watch live: White House news briefing with Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders Facebook

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Trump administration threatens to retaliate against Alaska for GOP senators Obamacare repeal vote, news site reports By Noam N. Levey The Trump administration threatened to block federal aid to Alaska in an effort to bully one of the Republican senators opposed to the current Senate GOP push to roll back the Affordable Care Act, according to a report by the Alaska Dispatch News. The news site reports that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Wednesday called Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan with a warning that Murkowskis vote had put Alaskas future with the administration in jeopardy. According to the report: Sullivan said the call from Zinke heralded a troubling message. Im not going to go into the details, but I fear that the strong economic growth, pro-energy, pro-mining, pro-jobs and personnel from Alaska who are part of those policies are going to stop, Sullivan said. I tried to push back on behalf of all Alaskans.  Were facing some difficult times and theres a lot of enthusiasm for the policies that Secretary Zinke and the president have been talking about with regard to our economy. But the message was pretty clear, Sullivan said. The threat followed disparaging comments made by the president about Murkowski, including a Twitter attack Wednesday morning Senator @lisamurkowski of the Great State of Alaska really let the Republicans, and our country, down yesterday. Too bad! Trump wrote. Murkowski dismissed the presidents attacks in an interview with MSNBC. Were here to govern. Were here to legislate, she said. Were here to represent the people who sent us here. And so every day shouldnt be about campaigning. Every day shouldnt be about winning elections. How about just doing a little bit of governing around here? Thats what Im here for. Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins were the only Republicans who voted against a procedural motion Tuesday to begin debating legislation rolling back the 2010 healthcare law, often called Obamacare. Sullivan, also a Republican, voted in favor of advancing the bill. Murkowski has urged a more open process to develop the legislation, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) has put together behind closed doors without committee hearings or input from Democrats. A spokeswoman for Zinke did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Facebook

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Iran angered by report that Trump wants additional nuclear inspections By Shashank Bengali Iran responded angrily Thursday to reports that the Trump administration would push for inspections of military facilities to ensure Tehran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran will not succumb to further pressure, Hamid Reza Taraghi, a hard-line analyst who is close to Irans leadership, told The Times. Taraghi did not say whether Iran would refuse inspectors access to military facilities but insisted the Islamic Republic was complying with the agreement, which required Iran to shelve its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. President Trump has said he wants to tear up the deal and doesnt believe Iran is complying, although his administration certified it was in a report to Congress this month. The Associated Press reported Thursday that Trump was pushing for inspections of suspicious Iranian military sites, either to prove that Iran was violating the deal or force it to refuse, which could cause the agreement to collapse. Iranian officials have argued in the past that inspections of military sites would be off-limits. But under the agreement it signed with the United States and five other world powers, Iran agreed to the so-called Additional Protocol, which allows U.N. inspectors limited access to any site where illicit nuclear activity is suspected. Taraghi, a former lawmaker, said the Additional Protocol allowed for snap inspections and that international inspectors had installed closed-circuit cameras in all nuclear-related facilities. They have access to everything going on here on the ground, Taraghi said. What else do they want to know? It was not immediately clear what military sites the Trump administration was seeking to have inspected, or whether it had evidence that Iran was breaching the terms of the deal. U.N. inspectors monitoring Irans compliance had not requested access to military facilities as of July 25, according to a paper published Thursday by Mark Fitzpatrick, executive director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Washington. If US has good evidence of #Iran violations, then an inspection request is warranted, Fitzpatrick tweeted. A request designed to trap Iran into saying no isnt. Facebook

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Top U.S. general says Pentagon will not change policy on transgender troops until White House acts By W.J. Hennigan The nations senior military officer said Thursday that there will be no modifications to Pentagon policies for now despite President Trump social media posts declaring a ban on transgender troops in uniform. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in a memo to commanders and senior enlisted leaders of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines that the military will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect. Dunford said Pentagon policy on transgender troops would not change until the White House has issued Trumps directive to Secretary of Defense James Mattis through formal channels  not on Twitter  and the secretarys office issues guidance on implementation to the service chiefs. Its unclear when that might happen. The unusual memo appeared intended to calm widespread confusion and concern at the Pentagon, which was blindsided when Trump wrote Wednesday that Pentagon would not accept or allow transgender troops to serve in any capacity. The presidents posts appeared to reverse a year-old Pentagon policy that allowed transgender soldiers to openly serve for the first time, and to seek sex reassignment surgery, hormone therapy and other treatments at military hospitals. Trumps surprise announcement not only marked a retreat for the Pentagon push to bar gender-based discrimination. It also was an about-face for Trump, who had repeatedly vowed his support for the LGBT community during the campaign last year. The posts raised questions about the fate of thousands of transgender service members, including some deployed overseas, and whether they would be kicked out of the military under Trumps directive. Dunfords memo appeared to address those fears, at least for the short term. There will be no modifications to the current policy until the Presidents direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidance, he wrote. In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect, he added. As importantly, given the current fight and the challenges we face, we will all remain focused on accomplishing our assigned missions. In his tweets, Trump said he had decided to bar transgender troops because the military cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Experts said neither justification was accurate or fair since the expected medical costs were negligible and transgender troops have been openly serving for the past year without disruption. The sweeping declaration drew rebuke from war veterans and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy groups, who vowed to challenge Trump in federal court if self-identified transgender service members are forced out of the military. VoteVets, a liberal military veterans advocacy group, said Thursday it had collected more than 20,000 signatures from veterans, military families and other supporters to oppose the ban. Facebook

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Analysis: Trumps war against elites and expertise By Cathleen Decker (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images) When President Trump campaigned this spring at the Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson, one part of his predecessors approach got a special endorsement. It was during the Revolution that Jackson first confronted and defied an arrogant elite. Does that sound familiar? Trump asked to laughs from his audience. When Trump ally and National Rifle Assn. President Wayne LaPierre teed off six weeks later on Americas greatest domestic threats, he cited not homegrown terrorists but what he termed the three most dangerous voices in America: academic elites, political elites, and media elites. The rhetoric against elites came from two men who would seem to be card-carrying members of the club: LaPierre made more than $5 million in 2015, the most recent year for which his compensation was publicly released. Trump lived before his inauguration in a gold-plated home in the sky above New Yorks Fifth Avenue, a billionaires luxurious domain. Yet for Trump and his allies, a war on elites has been central to the campaign which put him in the presidency and has maintained the loyalty of his core voters. Trump has taken particular aim at entities that could counter his power, which has helped stoke the ardor of his political backers. Read More Facebook

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Top Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway says colleagues using the press to shiv each other By Noah Bierman White House staffers continued their angry campaign against leaks -- and each other -- as top advisor Kellyanne Conway used vivid language in a Fox interview Thursday to denounce colleagues who are using the press to shiv each other in the ribs. The comments came shortly after Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House communications director, delivered his own attack on leakers -- all but blaming Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff -- in an interview on CNN. If the Trump White House at times resembles a reality show, cable television has become the confessional booth where the players vent their anger at each other. That dynamic was on vivid display Thursday morning. Kellyanne Conway: "Now, there are leaks, and then there are people using the press to shiv each other in the ribs. Thats different." (Fox)  David Wright (@DavidWright_CNN) July 27, 2017 Conway largely backed Scaramucci without explicitly taking sides in his public war against Priebus, whom he publicly suggested leaked Scaramuccis financial disclosure forms to the press. The forms are public and available through a request. We just have to cut down on people thinking its cute and its popular and it somehow enhances their resume and their portfolio for later on to curry favor with folks who are more interested in covering the style and not the substance here, Conway said of those who leak to he press. Asked specifically whether she agrees with Scaramucci that Priebus leaked the financial forms, Conway passed on the opportunity to defend Priebus. Leakers are easier to figure out than many think, she said, perhaps ominously given Scaramuccis threats to fire suspects. This West Wing is a very small place. Facebook

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Warfare in the West Wing breaks into the open as Scaramucci takes aim at Priebus By Brian Bennett A knife fight for control of the West Wing broke into the open Thursday morning as President Trumps new communications director Anthony Scaramucci lashed out at White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus in a televised interview, accusing Priebus of leaking and standing in the way of Trumps agenda. The fish stinks from the head down, I can tell you two fish that dont stink, OK, and thats me and the president, Scaramucci said, calling in to CNNs morning show New Day. I dont like the activity thats going in the White House, he said. Scaramucci, who had said the day he was named to the White House job that he and Priebus were like brothers, drastically amended that in the interview, comparing the two of them to the brothers who, in the Bible, were the characters in the first murder. Some brothers are like Cain and Abel, other brothers can fight with each other and get along. I dont know if this is reparable or not  that will be up to the president, he said. Scaramucci on his relationship with Reince: "Some brothers are like Cain and Abel." Uh, Cain killed Abel. https://t.co/UQ8F9HiXLx  Dan Merica (@merica) July 27, 2017 President Trump has a track record of encouraging rivalries among people who work for him. Scaramucci said he had spoken with Trump for 15 minutes to go over what he was going to say before he called CNN, implying his warning to Priebus carried Trumps backing. Trump, Scaramucci said, has given me his full support and his full blessing. When Scaramucci was hired, Trump told him he would report directly to the president, bypassing the chief of staff, and setting up the clash that played out Thursday on national television. If you want to talk about the chief of staff, we have had odds, we have had differences. When I said we were brothers from the podium, thats because were rough on each other, Scaramucci said. The tension between Scaramucci and Priebus flared after Politico published a story Wednesday about Scaramuccis publicly available financial disclosure form showing he still stands to profit from his stake in an investment firm he founded. The disclosure form was available to the public because Scaramucci had been nominated earlier this year for a job at the Export-Import Bank of the U.S., and the forms become public 30 days after they are filed. But Scaramucci, in a tweet Wednesday night, seemed to imply Priebus had leaked the form to make him look bad, or knew who did, and called for an FBI investigation. He later deleted the tweet, apparently after being informed that the form was not leaked. Over the last five days, Scaramucci said to CNN, he has done a major amount of work interviewing assistants to the president and communications staff. He also had dinner with Trump on Wednesday night in addition to his phone conversation with the president Thursday morning. The two of them want everyone to know we have a very, very good idea of who the leakers are, who the senior leakers are, in the White House, he said. Scaramucci took aim specifically at Priebus for leaking details about internal White House discussions and maneuvers. If Reince wants to explain that hes not a leaker, let him do that, Scaramucci said. Scaramucci appears to be giving voice to Trumps frustration with people in the White House the president believes are slowing down policy efforts, even though Trump has shown a pattern of repeatedly stepping on his own efforts on healthcare, job creation and other initiatives with unplanned tweets on topics such as Russia, transgender troops and unfounded allegations of voter fraud. There are people inside this administration who think its their job to save America from this president, Scaramucci said. Its not their jobs ... to rein him in or do things to him that slow down his agenda. People in the Washington are back-stabbers, Scaramucci said. Im more of a front-stabbing person. Facebook

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Scaramucci tweets, then deletes, confusing statement that referred to information in Politico report as a leak By Colleen Shalby In a now deleted tweet, incoming White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci sent out a confusing statement Wednesday night, addressing information reported earlier by Politico as a leak. The article reported on Scaramuccis financial disclosures. According to Politico, those details had been filed with the Office of Government Ethics, so its unclear what  if anything  was leaked information. Scaramuccis tweet further confused as it ended with White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus Twitter handle. Just before those characters, he noted that he intended to contact the FBI and the Justice Department. Some speculated that Scaramucci was implying that Priebus was behind the leak. But in a new tweet roughly two hours after the original, he tweeted what appeared to be a clarification, correcting a headline of news site Axios. Wrong! Tweet was public notice to leakers that all Sr Adm officials are helping to end illegal leaks, he tweeted, ending it  once again  with Priebus handle. Wrong! Tweet was public notice to leakers that all Sr Adm officials are helping to end illegal leaks. @Reince45 pic.twitter.com/AB0reseuX1  Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 27, 2017 Five days ago, Scaramucci, responding to a question about reported tensions between him and the chief of staff, said he and Priebus are a little bit like brothers, where we rough each other up a little, which is totally normal for brothers. 10:15 p.m. PT: This post was originally published at 8:52 p.m. It was updated with information from Scaramuccis new tweet. Facebook

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Senate Judiciary chair fires off warning to Trump about Sessions By David Lauter Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, fired off an unmistakable warning to President Trump on Wednesday evening: Dont even think about trying to get a new attorney general confirmed this year. Trump has been publicly tormenting Jeff Sessions, appearing to want to push the attorney general into stepping down from his job. But in a tweet, Grassley made it clear that if Trump pushed Sessions out, he would have to live with an acting attorney general for a long time. Everybody in D.C. Shld b warned that the agenda for the judiciary Comm is set for rest of 2017. Judges first subcabinet 2nd / AG no way  ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 27, 2017 Any nominee for attorney general would have to pass through the Judiciary Committee before getting a confirmation vote, so Grassleys no way would be a formidable barrier. Grassley has been an administration loyalist on nearly all issues so far, but as a veteran senator, he has a strong independent streak and, as previous administrations have found, he can be implacable if angered. His message comes as conservative allies rally support for Sessions. Several other Republican senators have spoken out in favor of the attorney general, a former colleague who was well liked during his years as senator from Alabama. Senate Democrats already have said they would use procedural motions to prevent the Senate from formally going on a recess this summer, blocking Trump from making a recess appointment that would bypass the Senate. Republicans used similar maneuvers to block recess appointments by President Obama. If Sessions were to step down and not be replaced, Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein would become acting attorney general. Trump has been critical of Rosenstein as well as Sessions, so that option presumably would not appeal to him. Facebook

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Under fire from Trump, Sessions should stay focused on his job, White House says By Joseph Tanfani (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) In spite of a daily barrage of Twitter attacks from President Trump, the White House press secretary said Wednesday that Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions should stay focused on performing his duties as the nations top law enforcement officer. You can be disappointed in someone and still want someone to continue to do their job, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday, hours after Trump criticized Sessions for the third straight day  this time for not replacing acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. Sessions was one of Trumps earliest and most loyal supporters, but the relationship has turned icy as Trump continues to seethe about Sessions decision to step aside from supervising the investigation into alleged Russian interference with last years election. Sessions was at the White House for meetings Wednesday, the second time this week hes visited the West Wing, but once again did not see Trump, Sanders said. Sanders did not clear up the main question surrounding Trumps strategy of publicly battering the attorney general: If the president is so unhappy, why doesnt he simply fire Sessions? Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Wednesday that Trumps apparent attempt to humiliate Sessions into quitting was a sign of weakness. To me, weakness is when you play around the edges, and you dont use the power you have, Graham said in an interview on CNN. Sanders said that Trump wants Sessions to continue to lead the Department of Justice. He wants him to focus on things like immigration, leaks and a number of other issues, she said. One of Trumps public complaints has been that Sessions hasnt been aggressive enough in pursuing leakers of classified information. In fact, the Justice Department is expected to announce next week some leak prosecutions. On Tuesday, Sessions also announced new measures to cut off some federal funds to so-called sanctuary cities that dont cooperate with immigration enforcement, another favorite issue for the president. But Sanders added that, at this point, a leak investigation would not salvage Sessions standing with Trump. I dont think thats the nature of the relationship, she said. In two tweets Wednesday morning, Trump criticized Sessions for not replacing McCabe, whose wife ran for office as a Democrat in Virginia in 2015. He suggested that McCabe had a conflict of interest in his duties as deputy director of the FBI during the investigation of Hillary Clintons handling of classified emails as secretary of State, although McCabe did not move into that job until months after his wifes campaign was over. McCabe took over the bureau as acting director when Trump fired James B. Comey in May. Sanders also declined to answer a question on why Trump did not fire McCabe himself, saying only that Trump looked forward to seeing his nominee as FBI director, Christopher Wray, be confirmed by the Senate soon. Facebook

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Trump, on Twitter, announced a ban on transgender service members. Now the military has to figure out what he means By Brian Bennett (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump surprised even the Pentagon on Wednesday morning by his unexpected announcement, via Twitter, of a ban on transgender service members. The military has not had a chance to decide how to put such a ban into effect, acknowledged Trumps top spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, as she fielded numerous questions on the topic later from White House reporters. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who was on vacation, wasnt informed until Tuesday that Trump had decided to bar transgender service members from serving in any way. Sometimes you have to make a decision and once he made a decision, he didnt feel it was necessary to hold that decision, Sanders said. The president concluded, based on consultations with his national security team, that allowing transgender individuals to serve erodes military readiness and unit cohesion, she said. White House and Pentagon officials had been discussing details of medical coverage for transgender service members on active duty. But Trump went far beyond that with his series of tweets that the military will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the military. It will be up to the Defense Department to determine the specifics of the policy, including whether active-duty transgender service members will be kicked out of the military, Sanders said. Estimates of the number of current service members who are transgender range from 1,300 to about 16,000. The implementation policy is going to be something that the White House and Department of Defense will have to work together to lawfully determine, Sanders said. I would imagine the Department of Defense will be the lead on that, she added. Trumps tweets overshadowed other announcements he had planned to make Wednesday about adding manufacturing jobs to the economy and donating $100,000 of his second-quarter paycheck to the Department of Education to support science and math education. The president has expressed concerns since this Obama policy came into effect, Sanders said. She added that the president considered allowing transgender people in the ranks is a very expensive and disruptive policy. At one point, an exasp
After five years with Burbank, city spokesman Drew Sugars has decided to move on and take on the top job in public outreach at Glendale Community College.

Sugars, 52, will be leaving his post in Burbank on July 14 and will take some time off before starting his new position as the colleges director of communications and community relations in August.

The outgoing city spokesman is no stranger to community colleges. Originally from Northern California, Sugars attended Santa Rosa Junior College before going to San Francisco State University. He added that his time at Santa Rosa helped him figure out what career path to follow.

I firmly believe in the mission of community colleges, Sugars said. Whether youre trying to get into a four-year college, learning a job skill or want to brush up on something and enrich your life, [community colleges] are amazing.

Aside from having the opportunity to work with what he believes is the best community college in the region, Sugars said he chose to leave the city government position in order to spend more time with his family.

Sugars youngest son recently graduated from Burbank High School and is off to CSU Fullerton in the fall. With one daughter left in high school, Sugars said it was time for him to find a job that allows him to spend more time with her before he and his wife become empty nesters.

My daughter has three more years of high school, and it was very important for me that I set myself up so that I can be with her and enjoy these last three years, he said.

Glendale Community College will be the third public agency for which Sugars has worked as a spokesman. His first position was as a public information officer for the Santa Barbara Sheriffs Department, where he was the first civilian spokesperson for the law-enforcement agency.

However, the majority of Sugars career was spent in front of the cameras as a broadcast journalist. He was a television news anchor for 17 years, covering the cities of Erie, Pa., Bakersfield and Santa Barbara.

During his stint in broadcasting, Sugars co-anchored the news with his wife Nerissa for 14 years. She currently does marketing and business development for Hollywood Burbank Airport.

While five years may not seem like a long time, Sugars said technology has advanced in a way where it has been easier to reach out to a wider audience. He recognizes that young adults tend to use Instagram to get their news snippets, while older folks can be found talking with one another on Facebook.

Sugars added that smartphones have allowed other city departments outside of his own to film their own 30-second informational pieces rather than sending his staff out to a location with their professional video equipment.

For example, Sugars said the city used to have a 20-minute video segment on the Burbank Channel for its adopt-a-pet broadcast, in which his crew would go down to the Burbank Animal Shelter and talk about each pet up for adoption.

It was time-intensive to shoot it and edit it, Sugars said.

With smartphone cameras and software improvements over the last five years, Sugar said animal shelter employees now take 60-second video clips of each pet and send them to his office, where they are edited and posted online.

We trained them how to use their phones properly  filming horizontally and not vertically, he said.

While video production is nothing new for Burbank, Sugars said he helped the city shift its focus from only producing video pieces for the Burbank Channel  the citys government television channel  to incorporating social-media outlets to get messages across to residents.

Though he has helped the city earn two Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards and recently three Emmy nominations for the upcoming Emmy Awards on July 22, Sugars said his main goal is to convey a message to residents in a way that it makes them want to get involved in their community.

Every message that we send out needs to have some kind of call to action, he said. If youre talking about the Starlight Bowl, you want to show people how they can get tickets. If youre talking about how to save water during the drought, we have to be very specific about what they can do to put in drought-tolerant plants. Whatever it might be, there needs to be a call to action.

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio
While the goal of medical professionals and patients is to prevent a stroke, the reality is many people do experience the sometimes catastrophic event and Chapmans stroke recovery boot camp is designed to bridge some of the gaps in healthcare for people adapting to the many changes in their lives.

For 12 days twice a year, Chapman Universitys department of physical therapy holds a free boot camp offering intensive rehabilitation for patients, helping them relearn how to do daily activities as well as improve balance and mobility.

The latest camp ran from June 12 to 23 at the Rinker Health Science Campus in Irvine and included faculty, students, family members and stroke patients. It started six years ago as an annual event.

Demand and increased student helpers has allowed the program to grow to twice a year and increase the number of campers who can attend.

The program is organized by Chapman physical therapy professors Alison McKenzie and Caryn Ito, and since the start has operated on a tight budget. McKenzie said she always has gone to 99 Cents Only stores for the decor used for a variety of themed days, including Olympic and luau day.

Along with rehab for patients and support for caregivers, the camp provides training for Chapman students, with its physical therapy and marriage and family therapy programs.

They have been able to grow the program to twice a year by recruiting more students from the two programs and by having the camp added to the physical therapy curriculum at Chapman.

McKenzie said the idea for the camps came as a result of her regularly coming in contact with people pre-Affordable Care Act who had suffered a stroke. She said they are often working-age adults who lost their insurance and could no longer get proper treatment.

We wanted to meet that need for people who didnt have access to rehab, she said. They would get some at the front end but then they would have limited help when they needed it to continue.

She said one of the goals of the camp is to help people get integrated back into the community and collaborate with junior colleges and programs to help people prepare for part-time work. They act as a resource to find other resources.

Wilbert Kerr of Laguna Hills has been coming to the camp since its beginning. He said when he first showed up he couldnt walk. He demonstrated  when he did start walking  how his left foot was bent inward forcing him to walk on its side. He said it still moves inward a little, but he can walk with his foot flat now.

This session, he was working on improving movement in his right arm.

Kerr, like many of the campers, continues to practice what theyve learned after they go home and many go to the Goodwill Fitness Center in Santa Ana to keep improving.

Jim Eklund, of Lake Forest, was at the camp for the first time. He had a stroke five years ago and was looking for more intensive workouts. He had heard of the camp from his friends at the Goodwill gym, where he goes three days a week.

I love it, Eklund said, adding extra emphasis on the love.

There is individual attention and camaraderie among campers, according to the organizers. Eklund said he liked being around people who knew what he was going through.

One of the main benefits is the social interaction, McKenzie said. After a stroke, their world gets very small.

Sheri Ledbetter, interim director of Media and Public Relations at Chapman, said a common theme she hears about the program is that friendships are made and campers continue to meet up at the gym and elsewhere.

The connection and understanding doesnt stop with the campers. The event allows caregivers time to relax, discuss concerns with each other and theyre now offered mindfulness sessions themselves.

Naveen Jonathan, marriage and family therapy program director at Chapman, has been participating in the camps for three years and has offered sessions with campers and caregivers to help with the emotional aspects of living with the life changes.

Jonathan and McKenzie said the marriage and family therapy students were added after the two were talking about the whole-body approach to care. They wanted to bring in therapy students to help with the emotional side of life after a stroke for the camper and their caregiver.

We focus on how to manage burnout and prevent self-neglect, Jonathan said. We bring caregivers together and they create their own support system.

The students also focus on helping campers with anxiety and to alleviate some stress about their physical abilities, which can boost their confidence.

McKenzie said her hope is that the program will continue to grow and more people can get the help they may not be getting through their traditional health providers. She said former students have already been a part of implementing similar programs around the world.

ALICIA LOPEZ is a contributor to Times Community News.
Brett Siciliano believes American flags bring people together.

About three months ago, he began handcrafting wooden flags in a small space in the backyard of his Huntington Beach home.

Siciliano, 48, posted pictures on his Facebook page and after receiving positive comments, the hobby turned into a side business to his regular job selling real estate.

Siciliano has always been patriotic, but over the past several months, hes noticed that communities have become entangled in deep partisan conflicts stemming from divisive issues in national politics. He hopes to pull people out of the conflict.

He said the flag is a symbol of unity that shows that despite differing political beliefs, all Americans bleed red.

For Siciliano, crafting the flags is a balm after the stresses of the day.

Building is peace for me, Siciliano said. In a stressful world, I find relaxation in working with my hands.

While flags are not usually made from wood, Siciliano believes the imperfections of the material make it a good medium.

At first, he tried to hide the knots and divots in the back of the flag. But he soon learned to embrace those seemingly ugly defects as a form of beauty.

He said the indentations mirror the nations imperfections and divisions.

You can turn them into a form of beauty if you just add a little bit of love and technique, he said.

Siciliano always makes sure to add one of the most necessary ingredients: fire.

He blasts every flag with a blowtorch to provide a battle-worn look.

Siciliano used to like shiny new things, but hes learned to see the character in worn materials.

As things age and deteriorate in life, they gain wisdom, he said.

He recently sold a 7-by-4-foot, 200-pound flag to his boss. That flag took him 16 hours over four days to finish.

It looks like it was dug out of the ground during the Civil War, Siciliano said.

Patriotism runs deep in Sicilianos family.

His grandfather Isadore Greenbaum was a Marine during World War II, taking part in the D-Day invasion at Normandy. Sicilianos great uncle Louis Barnett served in the Navy during World War II and the Vietnam and Korean wars.

Siciliano said hearing war stories influenced his patriotism.

Siciliano is selling his flags in three sizes: large (7 feet by 4 feet), medium (19 inches by 36 inches) and small (13 inches by 23 inches). Prices are $500, $200 and $150, respectively.

To place an order, contact Siciliano at surfcityflags.com.

benjamin.brazil@latimes.com

Twitter:@benbrazilpilot
The Huntington Beach Planning Commission on Tuesday will consider a zoning amendment that prohibits the sale or distribution of non-medical marijuana by commercial businesses.

Proposition 64 was passed in November, allowing people 21 and older to use and cultivate non-medical marijuana, with stipulations granting local governments the ability to ban non-medical marijuana businesses and regulate cultivation, according to a city summary of the item.

The zoning amendment would also regulate the cultivation of non-medical marijuana.

The public hearing for the item is slated for July 25.

Request for new marina

A proposed marina in Huntington Harbour once denied by the commission and City Council for potential environmental issues will also be considered.

The project includes a public marina at 16926 Park Ave. with a 66-foot community docking area, a floating pedestrian ramp and a two-story building with an office, public restroom and a caretakers unit totaling 1,328 square feet, according to city documents.

The project still needs an authorized conditional use permit, coastal development permit and recirculated mitigated negative declaration, which analyzes the environmental impacts associated with the marina.

A larger form of the project was denied in 2007 by the commission and council. The commission cited a host of issues with it, including evidence that there would be a significant effect on the environment and a detrimental impact on people working or living nearby, the documents say.

The original marina office building was 2,793 square feet and three stories, the documents say.

An environmental analysis has concluded that the revised project would not pose significant environmental issues with incorporation of relevant mitigation measures, the documents say.

The commission public hearing is slated for July 25.

Review of environmental analysis for general plan update

The commission will continue its review of the environmental impact report of the general plan update, which will guide the citys development decisions through 2040.

The draft looks at potential adverse effects to the environment as part of the implementation of the general plan update. It delves into air quality, biological and cultural resources and noise, among other issues.

According to a city staff report, most of the areas that could be negatively affected in the general plan update can be mitigated through proposed policies in the plan. But there are changes that would impact air quality, cultural resources, the water supply, noise and greenhouse gas emissions deemed significant and unavoidable, the report says.

The public can review a draft of the report at hbthenextwave.org/documents.

The commissions public hearing for the EIR is slated for Aug. 15.

benjamin.brazil@latimes.com

Twitter:@benbrazilpilot
Silly me.

It seems like, in Mason City, we bully our elected officials when they're in office and we bully them when they leave.

And we wonder why some of our best citizens decline to run for public office.

It's happened many times over the years. I remember when Scott Tornquist resigned from the council two years ago and a social media blogger accused him of running away from tough decisions. Never mind that he had been on the council for 10 years of tough decisions -- and that he and his wife were moving to Indiana to be closer to their two adult children. Hardly running away.

The latest instance of unwarranted criticism is the reaction of a resident who was so appalled by the resignation of Third Ward Councilman Brett Schoneman last month that he felt compelled to whiplash him in a guest column in the Globe Gazette.

J.W. Sayles referred to Schoneman, a real estate broker, as "another young business owner failing to follow through with an elected office obligation, staying just long enough to reap some benefit from the office."

All of this is just poppycock, of course. Schoneman resigned because he and his family moved to Clear Lake, obviously making him ineligible to serve the Third Ward in Mason City. If that helps him with his business, so be it. That's his business.

He had one really avoidable bad moment on the council. Within a couple of months of being elected, Schoneman took part in a unanimous council vote to award tax credits to about 40 deserving individuals, of which Schoneman was one.

He admitted afterwards that he should have abstained and that he had applied for the credits two years before he was elected to the council. Was he guilty of high treason or making a naive, rookie mistake? Me thinks the latter.

(If you're going to try to put something over on the public, you probably wouldn't do it at a public meeting with a public vote.)

Sayles said Schoneman, who is 39, is typical of the attitude of the millennial generation in "the areas of commitment and follow-through" -- part of the "me and mine first" attitude and that he made a "selfish decision to bail out on the Third Ward."

Let's face it. There is a cultural climate in Mason City in which some people demonize anyone who doesn't fit their set of standards.

And we wonder why some of our best citizens decline to run for public office.

Sayles accuses Schoneman of using his public office for professional gain. Maybe he was referring to his "yes" vote on the Prestage deal last year with the possible opportunity for many new home buyers coming to town.

But consider this: How many citizens said to themselves, "I'll never buy a house from that guy" because of his vote in favor of Prestage? You can bet there were some.

It is one of the prices you pay for holding public office. I know of an extremely capable, civic-minded person who says he will never run for public office because of how much it would hurt his business.

I know of others who say they will never run because they don't want to put their family through it -- the "it" being the constant ridicule that seems to come with holding an elected position.

If you don't believe that's true, talk to the spouses.

And we wonder why some of our best citizens decline to run for public office.

Silly me.
A group of local animal lovers has formalized its status as the nonprofit Friends of the Newport Beach Animal Shelter.

The boosters are raising money to improve life for the would-be pets under the care of the citys animal-control division at its small, leased shelter in the Santa Ana Heights neighborhood. The funds can go toward a commercial washer and dryer for towels and blankets  or for advanced medical treatment for dogs like Daphne, a poodle mix who has diminished sight through her cloudy eyes, or Stanley, a Chihuahua mix who needs dental work and a mass removed from his shoulder.



For the record: The original version of this article incorrectly referred to the Speak Up Newport forum as being affiliated with the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce. Speak Up Newport is a separate organization.

In the long term, Friends leaders want a new building.

The organizations board is stacked with veteran civic leaders who are deeply educated about city and nonprofit operations. They include Nancy Gardner, a former mayor; Jean Watt, a former councilwoman and longtime environmentalist who co-founded Stop Polluting Our Newport; and Evelyn Hart, a two-time mayor who spearheaded the building of the Oasis Senior Center.

The city is supportive of the animals in its care, Gardner said, but some need more, and more expensive, veterinary attention to make them adoptable. She doesnt want any animals to go unadopted for lack of money.

We want to make sure those funds are there, she said.

Valerie Schomburg, Newport Beachs animal-control supervisor, said the shelter is on track to take in about 550 animals this year. About half are lost pets who get reunited with their owners.

The shelter doesnt euthanize for lack of space or because an animal is a long-timer, Schomburg said.

Most of its work is with dogs and cats. The shelter also has taken in rabbits, snakes and rodents  recently a woman brought in two tame rats that she said were darting around a Balboa Island alley, Schomburg said.

Once, there was a pigeon with a band that workers traced to owners in Iowa. And occasionally, wildlife in distress, such as a bobcat hit by a car in Newport Coast, will be held temporarily before going to specialized rescue organizations.

Schomburg knows her animals; they all have a story.

Tank, a shepherd-corgi mix with a long brindle coat, evaded animal-control officers for five months before being caught in a city public works yard.

Stanley, the Chihuahua mix, was relinquished to the city after his owner drew a six-month jail sentence. The dog has recovered from a skin condition that left him with bald patches. Hes fond of his cabin-shaped doghouse and is partial to animal crackers.

Daphne, the poodle mix, gave birth to a litter in the shelter. Her puppies have been adopted, but shes still waiting.

In the cat room, the cage closest to the door houses Curry, a chatty tortoiseshell who donated blood to injured kittens.

Bubbles, age 2 months, has lived there for two weeks since being found alone in a bush in north Newport. He playfully swats through the bars at his next-door neighbor, a pocket-size calico named Lily.

The animal shelter has shared space for about a year and a half with the nonprofit Home Free Animal Sanctuary, which has its own no-kill dog rescue at 20302 Riverside Drive.

Newport moved its animal services there after the City Council ended its agreement with the Orange County Humane Society in late 2015 amid allegations by city staff of unsanitary and inhumane conditions at that shelter in Huntington Beach.

The council voted to pay $60,000 per year to Home Free to provide shelter, care for and feed animals found in Newport Beach by animal-control officers.

Newport Beach police Lt. Tom Fischbacher, who supervises the animal-control division, said the city believes every animal is adoptable. The shelter has a good adoption rate, Fischbacher said  the Americas Family Pet Expo at the county fairgrounds a couple of months ago led to 15 placements, emptying nearly every cage.

The street the shelter is on is zoned for kennels, so a concentration of trainers nearby has helped rehabilitate animals with behavioral issues, he added.

The animals are adopted quickly because they are well-cared-for, he said, and the fundraisers can improve that.

In addition to money, the Friends could use advisory board members and more volunteers, Gardner said. Volunteers can contact the group through its website, fonbas.org.

The monthly Speak Up Newport forum on Wednesday will discuss the shelter and the Friends group. The forum will run from 6 to 7:10 p.m. in the Newport Beach Civic Center Community Room, 100 Civic Center Drive.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD
Shabab extremists from neighboring Somalia beheaded nine civilians in an early-morning attack on a village in the southeast, Kenyan officials said Saturday, as concerns grew that the group had taken up a bloody new strategy.

The attack occurred in Jima village in Lamu County, said James Ole Serian, who leads a task force of security agencies combating Shabab.

Beheadings by Shabab have been rare in Kenya, where the extremist group has carried out dozens of deadly attacks over the years.

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The Al Qaeda-linked Shabab has vowed retribution on Kenya for sending troops in 2011 to Somalia to fight the group, which last year became the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa.

Saturdays attack occurred in the Pandaguo area, where Shabab fighters engaged security agencies in a daylong battle three days ago.

A police report says about 15 Shabab fighters attacked Jima village Saturday and seized men, killing them with knives.

In recent months, Shabab also has increased attacks with homemade bombs, killing at least 46 in Lamu and Mandera counties.

The increase in attacks presents a huge problem for Kenyas security agencies ahead of the Aug. 8 presidential election, said security analyst and former U.S. Marine Andrew Franklin. On election day, security agencies will be strained while attempting to stop any possible violence, and Shabab could take advantage, he said.

Kenya is among five countries contributing troops to an African Union force that is bolstering Somalias fragile central government against Shababs insurgency. Of the troop-contributing countries, Kenya has borne the brunt of retaliatory attacks from Shabab.

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Theyre killing babies and torching villages: Who is behind the Democratic Republic of Congos ugly new war?
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen came to power 14 months ago on pledges to keep the peace with China without declaring formal independence or getting too close to Beijing.

It has been a difficult balancing act. Increasingly, Taiwanese voters are unimpressed with the results.

Tsais approval rating sank to 33% in June, down from just over 39% a month earlier. That puts her in politically dangerous territory, below even the historic low ratings that U.S. polls show for President Trump.

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Tsai has kept the peace, as promised, but relations with China have been tense, and Beijing has taken steps to undermine its Taiwanese rival. China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s, but Taiwan  with tacit U.S. support  has resisted unification.

Many Taiwanese see Tsais policy as one of inaction, not stability.

The government has taken a very negative attitude on mainland China policy, said Ku Chung-hwa, a standing board member with the Taipei-based watchdog group Citizen Congress Watch, which advocates transparency in government. Despite Beijings demands to come to the table as a unified China, he said, Tsai has nothing to say. This stalemate is typical of a cold war.

One of the biggest blows to Tsais government came last month when Panama severed formal ties with Taiwans government, formally known as the Republic of China, after more than 100 years of diplomatic recognition. That prompted critics to accuse Tsai of a failed foreign policy. The government said China lured Panama to switch allegiance to Beijing to punish Taiwan.

The Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation said its surveys show that 58% of respondents are dissatisfied with the presidents handling of China. About 60% want eventual independence. (Although Taiwan is functionally independent from China now, it exists in legal limbo and is recognized by only a few countries.)

Supporters are still numerous but just might not be satisfied.  Lee Ming-yu, a city government worker in Tainan, Taiwan

Those who prefer dialogue with China believe it could minimize the risk of conflict and extend trade and investment ties that Tsais predecessor had facilitated. Trade reached $121 billion in the year just before Tsai took office and tourist arrivals from China numbered a record 3.3 million in 2016.

Without stronger ties between Taipei and Beijing, Chinese officials will probably continue to use their global economic weight to urge other diplomatic allies to switch allegiance. One in Africa made the jump last year. Chinese naval vessels are also expected to sail near the island  which Beijing has done twice since December  and dial down tourism. Group tourist arrivals fell 18% last year.

Certainly China will continue to use the hard-line approach to make Taiwanese people uncomfortable and see what happens later on, said Andrew Yang, secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies think tank in Taiwan.

Tsai was elected in January 2016 in a landslide over the ruling Nationalist Party candidate, in what was seen as a rejection of the Nationalists overtures to Beijing. But many of her supporters are having second thoughts now.

We still have to confront the truth that Taiwan is economically reliant on China, and Tsai has to strategically manage the bilateral relationship, said Taipei schoolteacher Bernie Huang, 28, a Tsai supporter in 2016.

Apparently the bilateral relationship is not managed well, since our former ally Panama has broken up with Taiwan and established diplomatic ties with China, he said. For the Taiwanese government, it is a major defect in diplomacy.

Former President Ma Ying-jeou was seen as caving in to Beijings demand that Taiwan consider itself as part of China, which has the worlds second biggest economy and third-strongest armed forces. Tsai rejects the one-China condition.

Dissatisfaction with her performance does not necessarily mean that her supporters are abandoning her.

Supporters are still numerous but just might not be satisfied, said Lee Ming-yu, 39, a city government employee in the southern city of Tainan. Tsai just needs more time, Lee said.

Tsai, a 60-year-old law scholar and former head of the governments China policymaking body, has reduced the stagnation in Taiwan of a year ago, her office said in a written response to the opinion poll.

Compared to a year ago, with the hard work of our government and our people, every type of important economic indicator is moving in a forward direction, the statement said.

The president has played up economic policy such as infrastructure spending and time-off requirements for workers. The economy is expected to grow by about 2% this year, up half a percentage point from 2016, and manufacturing output is expected to exceed that.

Trade with China grew to $133 billion from April 2016 to April 2017, mostly under Tsais watch.

I think she will continue to hold her position, no surprises, and maintain the status quo [on China], because that is her foundation, Yang said. Even though her approval rating is getting lower, she will hold in that position as long as possible.

Jennings is a special correspondent.

ALSO

China demands that U.S. arms deal with Taiwan be canceled

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When this broadcaster makes a rare appearance, North Koreans know its serious
President Trumps tense relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel hasnt gotten any better after a two-day Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, where Trump was isolated on the other leaders climate resolution.

I cant exactly judge how things will be tomorrow or the day after, Merkel said at a news conference after the summit finished Saturday.

Trumps private meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin stole the show at the G-20. But it was Merkel who was in the hot seat as she shepherded the 19 other leaders through tricky negotiations and brushed aside speculation that Trump would upend the rest of the groups common ground on issues ranging from economic policy to development and trade.

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Violent protests outside the summit increased pressure on Merkel. She is in the middle of an election campaign and despite her comfortable lead in polls, Martin Schulz, the Social Democratic candidate who is challenging her, recently amped up his criticism of her for not standing up to Trump.

Her strained relationship with Trump was on display during the summit on her home turf  her last big international meeting before the September election. She fielded journalists questions about her relationship with Trump and his daughter Ivankas participation at a G-20 event on womens entrepreneurship  Ivanka was booed when she spoke at an event in Berlin this spring.

Merkels relationship with Trump buckled earlier this year when he complained about Germanys trade surplus with the U.S. and threatened to impose tariffs on imports from the country.

Trump praised the German chancellor on Saturday, telling her, You have been amazing, and you have done a fantastic job. But Merkel made clear that the two leaders still dont see eye to eye.

I can only take things as they are, Merkel told reporters on Saturday.

Merkel said that it was especially difficult to negotiate with Trump on trade and climate issues.

A resolution on the Group of 20s positions published at the end of the summit singles out the Trump administrations decision to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which caps emission levels. Other countries that supported the document include oil-producing countries like Saudi Arabia.

Merkel made efforts to explain after the summit that she did not broker a watered-down G-20 resolution full of concessions to Trump, even though the document mentions that his view on climate policy differs from other leaders.

Officials working at European Union institutions pushed during document negotiations to remove a sentence referencing the United States plan to help other countries use fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently, one EU official said on condition of anonymity.

Europeans did not want any mention of fossil fuels, and they were supported by a critical mass of countries, the official said on Saturday.

Government officials who did the legwork to prepare the resolution wanted to contain Trumps views on climate change as a way to alleviate any doubt that the agreement could crash without the U.S. involved. Other leaders doubled down on their pledge to cut emissions under the Paris accord.

Where there is no consensus, there has to be dissonance, Merkel said, adding that she approved of the other countries commitment to the Paris agreement.

The communique could only be agreed in the way it was agreed with the United States.

On top of Merkels delicate negotiating tactics over climate policy, she said talks with Trump on trade issues were especially hard.

The resolution includes references to fighting trade protectionism as well as an olive branch to Trump in a line mentioning the use of legitimate trade defense instruments to make trade fairer.

But Trumps relationship with European leaders is still tense.

Before meeting British Prime Minister Theresa May on the sidelines of the G-20 talks on Saturday, Trump struck a nerve.

A trade agreement between the U.S. and the U.K. will be done very, very quickly, Trump said, once the country finishes negotiations to leave the European Union, which are expected to end in 2019. Britains trade deals are a sore point for European leaders who say the U.K. cannot legally start working out new agreements until it officially leaves the 28-country bloc and stops applying its trade laws.

Those tensions will be on display again next week when Trump returns to Europe for a World War I ceremony with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron has criticized Trumps withdrawal from the Paris agreement and encouraged American climate scientists to move to France.

At a news conference at the end of the G-20, Macron said, Our world has never been so divided.

Stupp is a special correspondent.
While the Western media saw Fridays meeting between the American and Russian presidents as a policy-defining moment in Trumps White House, the Russian media and political commentators saw the global focus on the two-hour discussion as nothing less than a monumental win for Russia.

Putins Day at the G20 one headline read from Tass, the state news agency.

The most important event of the G20, Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the Federation Council, Russias upper house of parliament, was quoted as saying in state media.

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The more than two-hour meeting wasnt just a handshake or photo opportunity, she said. Instead, the two leaders raised and negotiated all of the most important global issues of today, Matviyenko told the state news agency.

I think this is a result of personal contact, a sincere commitment of the heads of state to solve global problems, she said.

Prior to the meeting, Russian state media had begun to spin its Trump coverage to paint him as an unreliable ally as the ongoing investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election persisted and dominated U.S. politics and headlines. Russias most radical television presenter, Dmitry Kiselyov, in April labeled Trump more dangerous than North Koreas Kim Jong Un in his popular weekly magazine show.

But by the time Trump and Putins Friday meeting at the G-20 had stretched into the first and then second hour, the mood among the Russian media turned victorious. Putin had received more time with the America leader than expected, and that proved the Russian leader was a global player being consulted on the worlds big issues, the media hinted throughout Friday evening.

By Saturday, newspaper headlines and state news agencies were glowing in their praise of Putins prowess in Hamburg as well as the successful negotiations between Washington and Moscow on issues such as cyber security, allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections, a Syrian cease-fire and Ukraine.

The praise came, despite differing accounts of the meeting from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. While Tillerson said the two leaders agreed they wanted to move past the U.S. intelligence communitys accusations of Russian election meddling, Lavrov told reporters after the meeting that Trump had accepted Putins narrative of events.

It was a meeting of two strategic adversaries who barely found a way to keep talking through their differences, said Vladimir Frolov, a Moscow-based political analyst. And this is the success both sides are keen on selling to the domestic audiences.

Dialogue and discussions are not policy goals, but rather a means to find solutions, Frolov said. Solutions require painful compromises on core interests.

And as to Russian-U.S. relations?

The meeting was a serious step forward, no doubt about it, Franz Klintsevich, the first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, told Tass.

Russians, or at least the audience the Kremlin state media strives to influence, were inundated with the image of Putin at the G-20 meeting with various heads of state, including China, France, Germany, Brazil, India and South Africa.

G20: Trump is looking for allies, Putin finds them said one headline from RIA Novosti, another Russian state media agency.

Some Russians, however, said they didnt pay much attention to the hype on the state news.

We dont care about all this political stuff, said Irina Klimkova, a Moscow resident who said she didnt follow the news about Putin-Trump relations. We just want Americans to know that we want peace. Tell them that we arent bad people.

I dont believe the Russian public was really fixated on the meeting or cared much about its results, said Frolov, the Moscow political analyst. Of course, the Russian TV will make sure they do, but in the process, it is building unrealistic public expectations that would be hard to meet.

Most of Russias media is heavily influenced and in many cases, controlled by the Kremlin. Putins daily movements, from meetings with ministers to visits to far-flung regions of the worlds largest country, dominate the nightly news agendas. Political talk shows are tightly controlled and typically consist of discussions focused on the decay of the West, a chaotic and corrupt Ukraine and the threat of foreign enemies on Russias borders.

Independent media does exist in Russia, but it is severely handicapped by a lack of investors willing to fund them and risk falling out of favor with the Kremlin.

Meanwhile on social media, a few Russian observers dissected and debated every handshake and body position between Trump and Putin  in particular, the hand gestures made by the two presidents during the brief media appearance ahead of the meeting. Trumps hands joined in the form of a triangle, known in some social media circles as the Merkel diamond because German Chancellor Angela Merkel frequently uses the same gesture. Conspiracy theorists added that its the same gesture used by Freemasons to signify their membership in the secret society.

sabra.ayres@latimes.com

Twitter: @sabraayres
NEW YORK, July 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Axiom Holdings, Inc. (Axiom or the Company) (OTCMKT:AIOM) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and docketed under 17-cv-04756, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Axiom securities, seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.



If you are a shareholder who purchased Axiom securities between October 14, 2016 and June 19, 2017, both dates inclusive, you have until August 21, 2017 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.

[Click here to join this class action]

Axiom Holdings, Inc. is an independent power producer and real estate developer that develops, builds, owns & operates power generation plants and hotels. Axiom continues to leverage its global partnerships with real estate owners and hydropower developers and expand its asset portfolio through acquisition and development of identified pipeline.

On October 10, 2016, Axiom Holdings, Inc. entered into a Share Exchange Agreement (the Agreement) with CJC Holdings, Ltd. (together with its subsidiaries, CJC), a Hong Kong corporation, and the two shareholders of CJC, Hu Dengyang and Yang Chuan (collectively, the CJC Shareholders). CJC, through its subsidiaries, operates and constructs hydropower electric generation stations located in China with two in operation, a third under construction and a fourth in the planning stage and slated for operation in 2019. In addition, CJC, through its subsidiaries, operates two hotels in China.

Pursuant to the Agreement, Axiom was to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of CJC from the CJC Shareholders in exchange for the issuance to the CJC Shareholders of 200,000,000 shares of the Companys common stock.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Axion lacked control over the merger process sufficient to ensure that the Agreement with CJC would be completed; (ii) accordingly, the Agreement with CJC was never completed; (iii) the Companys issuance of shares to the CJC Shareholders was thus improper; and (iv) as a result of the foregoing, Axioms public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On June 19, 2017, Axiom issued a press release disclosing that the Company had identified discrepancies related to prior news announcements in response to a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The following day, Axiom issued a second press release, advising investors that it now appears the merger was never completed and advising investors that it would rescind the shares that were issued to the CJC Shareholders in connection with the merger.

On this news, Axioms share price fell $0.44, or 37.93% over two trading days, to close at $0.72 on June 20, 2017.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com
An Allentown man was charged Friday in a crash last November that left a 23-year-old motorcyclist dead.

Orlando Marrero, 49, of the 600 block of Fawn Street, was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the Nov. 5 crash, according to the charges filed against him by Allentown police.

Marrero was driving south on Basin Street about 10 p.m. when he tried to turn left onto Auburn Street.

"According to the investigation done by the Allentown Police Department, the defendant started making the turn prior to entering the intersection and struck an oncoming motorcycle that was traveling north on Basin Street," the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office said in a news release Friday afternoon.

The motorcyclist, 23-year-old Andy Sanz-Soto, of Allentown, was thrown off and landed 79 feet from the point of impact, investigators said.

He was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Township, where he was pronounced dead of his injuries.

Marrero was arraigned Friday afternoon before District Judge Rashid Santiago on charges of homicide by vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, a turning violation and two counts of driving under the influence.

He was released on $50,000 unsecured bail and faces a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled July 27 before District Judge Michael Pochron.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
If you've got it, flaunt it.

That's what some men and women of steel did Saturday during the 2017 National Physique Committee Ultimate Physique Championships and Pennsylvania State Championships.

The National Physique Committee is an amateur physique organization founded in 1982.

The competition was held at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Allentown. The event was split into two sessions: the morning for prejudging and the afternoon, for finals.

The contests were broken down into seven categories: Men's Physique, Women's Bikini, Men's Bodybuilding, Fitness, Women's Figure, Women's Physique and Women's Bodybuilding.

The 86 competitors were judged on "total package" -- defined as a "balance of size, symmetry and muscularity."

Check out the gallery above for scenes from Saturday's competition.

Saed Hindash may be reached at shindash@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @SaedHindash. Find lehighvalleylive on Facebook.
A medical marijuana dispensary will likely open in about six months in Bethlehem Township, the dispensary's co-owner estimates.

GuadCo LLC, which will operate under the dispensary name Keystone Canna Remedies, recently received a permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Health to operate the facility.

Department of Health documents released last week listed the primary dispensary street address at 1309 Stefko Blvd., Bethlehem, but GuadCo's co-owner said the company intends to open its primary dispensary at 2467 Baglyos Circle in Bethlehem Township pending state approval. The company is currently planning to open only one dispensary.

"It's just a better location, with better access for our patients," GuadCo Co-founder Victor Guadagnino said, noting that state regulations only allow one facility per county.

As part of their application for the permit, GuadCo had to submit a timeline, which the state will hold the company to, Guadagnino said. The duration is six months and will include renovating facilities, building awareness and preparing for inspections.

Guadagnino previously told Lehighvalleylive that he anticipates opening during the first quarter of 2018.

The dispensary will be built from the ground up in the existing structure in the industrial park. The structure will be split into three areas, Guadagnino explained.

There will be an open access area, a patient access area and a restricted access area. The first will be a lobby where GuadCo hopes to hold educational and awareness seminars to provide the community with information such as what conditions can be treated by medical marijuana, how to sign up and the like.

The patient access area will be used by patients and pharmacists for consultations and accessing the medication. This area will only be accessible by medical marijuana card patients, Guadagnino said.

The restricted access area will only be made available to certain employees and will store the products in a vault-type room.

Securing a state permit for dispensing medical marijuana products requires meeting strict state standards on top of township requirements, covering seed-to-sale and site security as well as operations limited to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Mission Pennsylvania II LLC, which is also Lehigh Valley-based, was granted a permit as well. The dispensary will have the same name as the company and will operate out of 2733 W. Emmaus Ave., Allentown, the documents state.

Patients seeking a prescription must have a qualifying illness and gain approval from a state-certified physician and are prohibited from using marijuana in leaf or flower form. Rather, it must be prescribed and dispensed in forms such as fluids for vaporization, pills, absorption under the tongue and topical ointments.

"We're very excited to get to work and be part of the community in Bethlehem and provide the best service possible to our patients," Guadagnino said.

Alyssa Mursch may be reached at amursch@lehighvalleylive.com. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
UPDATE: Police: Easton man who dumped Harley to be cited



A man riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle lost control on a curve Friday night, went down and was struck by a car coming in the opposite direction on Wood Avenue in Wilson Borough, police said.

It happened as the red motorcycle was eastbound on Wood Avenue, near Hackett Avenue.

The driver's side front of the car, a Chevrolet Malibu, appeared to have struck the motorcycle. The front airbags deployed in the car.

The motorcycle rider and the adult and child in the car were taken to St Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill for treatment of what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

It wasn't immediately clear if the rider was hurt as the bike went down or as a result of the collision.

The preliminary investigation showed the driver of the car wasn't at fault, police said.

The wreck happened just after 8:15 p.m. and Wood Avenue was closed for about an hour between Hackett Avenue and the 13th Street interchange of Route 22.

Easton police provided traffic control on their side of the border and city firefighters responded to the call, too. Borough police were assisted by borough firefighters and three Easton Emergency Squad ambulances.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
NEW YORK, July 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (Booz Allen or the Company) (NYSE:BAH) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Booz Allens securities, seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.



If you are a shareholder who purchased Booz Allen securities between May 19, 2016 and June 15, 2017, both dates inclusive, you have until August 18, 2017 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased.

[Click here to join this class action]

Booz Allen is an American management consulting firm. The Company purports to provide management and technology consulting, engineering, analytics, digital, mission operations, and cyber solutions to governments, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations in the United States and internationally. At all relevant times, Booz Allen has derived substantially all of its revenues from services provided to the U.S. government.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Booz Allen engaged in improper accounting practices in its contracts with the U.S. government; (ii) consequently, the Companys revenues derived from services provided to the U.S. government were inflated and unsustainable; (iii) discovery of the foregoing conduct would subject the Company to heightened regulatory scrutiny, potential criminal sanctions, and jeopardize its business relationship with the U.S. government; and (iv) as a result of the foregoing, Booz Allens public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On June 15, 2017, post-market, Booz Allen disclosed that on June 7, 2017, the Companys subsidiary Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. was informed that the U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a civil and criminal investigation relating to certain elements of [its] cost accounting and indirect cost charging practices with the U.S. government.

On this news, Booz Allens share price fell $7.43, or 18.89%, to close at $31.90 on June 16, 2017.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com
Want to try a new glass of wine? The magazine Wine Spectator has a few recommendations of where to look.

Four Lehigh Valley restaurants earned recognition in Wine Spectator's 2017 Restaurant Awards, a survey of the best wine lists at eateries around the world. The awards were started in 1981.

Emeril's Chop House fared the best of the local spots to win notice from the magazine. Wine Spectator named the restaurant, which opened in 2009 at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, among the Best of the Award of Excellence, its second-highest honor.

Worldwide, 1,168 restaurants won this title, given to "destinations for serious wine lovers." It is granted to wine lists, usually with at least 350 options, that feature a wide variety of growing regions, a deep list of top producers, and strong presentation.

Wine Spectator said that Chop House's Californian, Bordeaux and Italian wines are its strengths.

No Lehigh Valley restaurant -- and, in fact, no restaurant in Pennsylvania -- earned the highest designation of Grand Award Winner, given to just 89 restaurants worldwide.

The Dime, 1741 on the Terrace and Molinari's all earned Awards of Excellence. The designation, shared by 2,335 restaurants, is a step below Emeril's Chop House's recognition.

1741 on the Terrace, Hotel Bethlehem's fine dining eatery, and The Dime, the restaurant that opened in 2015 in the Renaissance Allentown, were both lauded for their Californian, French and Italian selections. Italian wines are Molinari's strength, according to the magazine.

The Award of Excellence indicates that a wine list, usually with at least 90 options, has a "a well-chosen assortment of quality producers, along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style," Wine Spectator says.

The complete list of winners will be listed in Wine Spectator's August issue, available on July 18.

Andrew Doerfler may be reached at adoerfler@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @adoerfler or on Facebook.
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Almost everyone in Leicester has been to one, and you know where you are with a Wetherspoons.

With their generic menus and no-frills meals on their traditional blue-patterned plates, it's one of those British institutions everyone knows and loves.

The pub chain operates from several historical venues in the county - like the White House on Scraptoft Lane.

The pub was built in the late 1920s from stone salvaged from the 17th century Normanton Hall, in Rutland, which had fallen into disrepair and been demolished.

Unlike other venues, most people think you can rely on Wetherspoons to let large groups of people in even if you're not dressed up for the occasion.

But you'll be surprised to find that Wetherspoons DOES have a dress code.

So what, we hear you ask, is the dress code?

(Image: Matt Short)

Wetherspoons is not Malia

Twitter user Mark Wilding found out this rather unexpected answer (first picked up by the Liverpool Echo ) while searching for the dress code on the social media platform:

"Customers are requested to remain fully clothed throughout their visit. Including wearing shoes."

So, no swinging your finest Topman tee above your head chanting the bassline to The White Stripes, not if you dont want to get swiftly ejected anyway.

The official Wetherspoons website adds a little more clarity by stating: "In addition, some pubs do operate a specific dress code at all or certain times. For information on these requirements, please speak directly to the team of the pub you wish to visit.

Which essentially means if the bouncers dont feel like letting you in for whatever reason, there is nothing much you can do about it.

Realistically though, if youre doing something which stops you from getting into a Spoons, its almost definitely your fault.

What else?

Wetherspoons has a policy on dogs, in that they're not allowed in. Except registered guide dogs, which have to have 'suitable documentation to explain the dogs purpose.'
The need for funding to progress the new Endoscopy Unit at Naas General Hospital has been raised in the Dail again.

Dep Martin Heydon said this much needed project has planning permission since January 2015 and is now awaiting confirmation of funding through the Capital plan to progress.

In the Dail on Wednesday, I again raised the need for funding to allow progress on the long promised and much needed Endoscopy Unit for Naas General Hospital, he said.

There are currently over 1,600 patients waiting for Endoscopy services at Naas where Endoscopy services are currently carried out in one room of the old hospital. Plans for the new unit and extension include provision for an extended day ward increasing day ward capacity from 11 beds to 25 beds.

Naas General Hospital received planning permission in January 2015 for the development of the new unit. This Project also includes the development of the Physical Medicine (Physiotherapy & Occupational Therapy) Departments and Oncology Departments. The first phase of the enabling work is completed. Enabling works for the project, primarily consisting of an upgrade to the hospital power supply system, were undertaken between 2014-2016, at a cost of 1.5m.

While all HSE approvals have been received for the development, the next step is the allocation of capital funding. The mid term review of the Capital Plan is due soon and I wanted to emphasise to the Minister again the huge need and importance of this project for the population of Kildare and West Wicklow as well as the wider Dublin Midlands hospital group of which Naas is a part.

"The Minister assured me in his response that he and his Department officials were very aware of this project and that their departmental submission on the capital plan had already gone to the Department of Public Expenditure. I will continue to push for this important project with my next meeting due to be Minister for Public Expenditure Pascal Donohoe.
A Kildare business has agreed to pay a donation to charity after pleading guilty to a breach of the environmental pollution regulations.

At Naas District Court on July 3, Patrick Keane and Riverbower Limited, which runs the Hanged Man's licenced premises in Milltown, Newbridge, pleaded guilty to breaching the regulations by burning waste near the premises on January 7 2015.

The charge was brought by Kildare County Council.

David McEntee, solicitor for the Council, said Mr Keane had no previous convictions and had pleaded guilty to the offence.

Mr McEntee said the defendant had now fully complied with the regulations and a company had been hired to clean up the area. Mr Keanes legal representative suggested a donation to charity. Judge Zaidan said that it would have to be meaningful.

The judge was told that, along with other businesses, Mr Keane was struggling and he did not have unlimited means.

She suggested he could donate up to 1,500.

Judge Zaidan said Mr Keane had made good the wrong that that there was pollution but no long term damage. He adjourned the case until December 4 to give Mr Keane an opportunity to pay 750 to the Newbridge Day Care Centre and 1,000 to the National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street.
Car tyres are being damaged because of the bad condition of the entrance to the Coolaghknock estate and The Plains, according to Cllr Suzanne Doyle.

She raised the matter at the June meeting of the Kildare Newbridge Municpal District.

The Kildare town councillor asked for a report on the taking in charge of the estates and the schedule of works from Irish Water that need to be completed.

Officials said the developer was no longer trading and they had been working hard to try to resolve the issues so they could take over the estate.

The meeting heard there had been problems with a pumping station, which the council had repaired.

They said other work would have to be done on the system and pipes may have to be dug up and relaid.

He said there was no point in tackling the entrance if they had to go back again later and dig it up to sort out the pipes.

Irish Water will be in charge of the waste water system work, which will be done in two phases.

The officials undertook to try and progress the project so the entrance road could be tackled as quickly as possible.

Cllr Doyle asked if it would be possible to take over the front end of the estate first.

She said she had been contacted by a number of people who said they had their tyres wrecked by accessing the entrance.

The official told her; we are anxious to get it done. There is some significant remediation work to be done and it is in a very poor condition.
Our almost leader, Vince Cable is certainly getting himself noticed this week.

He had the right wing press spluttering with outrage with this comparison in a New Statesman interview:

So how did he react to his former cabinet colleague Theresa May condemning citizens of nowhere in her Conservative conference speech last year? I thought that particular phrase was quite evil. It couldve been taken out of Mein Kampf, he replies. I think thats where it came from, wasnt it? Rootless cosmopolitans? It was out of character for her.

Its not Godwins Law if its true, now, is it?

Hes been talking to Business Insider too. I was particularly interested in this turn of phrase when discussing potential coalitions. Hes holding to the line we fought the election on  no coalitions. But look at this:

We are not remotely contemplating coalition with the current Labour Party or with the Conservatives, he told BI. Were in a fundamentally different place on the biggest issues of the day of which Brexit is the most important. When youre in fundamental disagreement you cant meaningfully talk about coalition.

Note that he said the current Labour Party with no such qualification for the Conservatives.

It sounds like it might be different if the Labour Party were to rediscover its sense of internationalism and pro-Europeanism. It seems like hes slamming the door in the Tories faces and throwing away the key but where Labour are concerned, hes shoving the key at the bottom of his sock drawer just in case we should need it one day.

Those of us for whom the words centre groundcause our hearts to sink will also be pleased with this:

I hesitate around the word centre when referring to politics, he added. We are no longer dealing with the old right old left spectrum in the same way. There is a sense I think of extremes dominating and the good things in British society are being crowded out by extreme arguments  and it centres very much around the Europe issue. I think people are beginning to see that this hard Brexit option which is being promoted both by the government and the Labour Party is profoundly damaging and people are desperately trying to find a way of mitigating the damage, or indeed stopping it. Thats where we have a historically important role.

And he stated his view of the partys mission:

There is a vast opening in British politics. We are very polarised between the hard right and hard left. There are millions of people with moderate views who are looking for a party that is shaped like the Liberal Democrats but havent been supporting us. My job is to turn that potential into political support. I dont underestimate the difficulty given how the British voting system works but that is the challenge, but its also very clearly an opportunity

He touched on how we would do that when he announced his candidacy on this site.

As a socially progressive party we must build on our good policies in support of public services. The NHS, especially mental health, and social care and schools are now under severe financial pressure. Our campaigning on these issues, and others, like the environment, must be national and at community level, building on a long tradition which created the partys local government base. With a clear voice and a clear message on these issues, we can rebuild our vote share and representation nationally, in local government, the Scottish parliament and the Welsh and London assemblies

It would be good to hear more about his vision of what that Lib Dem society looks like and about how we will bring people together. Being right on the big issues of the day, as Vince often is, only gets you so far. However, his credibility will help as he talks more about the sort of society we want to see and shows us how we can get there.

He also dropped into the conversation the prospect of us not leaving the EU. Only a possibility at the moment, he said, but definitely there.

I think it is right to aim for Britain remaining in the single market and customs union and retaining all of the collaborative arrangements around research and environmental standards. They are things we should be fighting for. But it may be that at the end of it, we are faced with a stark choice between crashing out of the EU with a no deal or a very bad deal, or on the other hand going back to membership. Thats why my party argues that we should have a further vote on this. That didnt resonate with voters at this years election. We all know that. It was premature and people thought we were harking back to the last one. But in two years time when its very clear what the economic impacts are I think the public will welcome that kind of option. So he thinks Britain could end up remaining a member of the EU? Its certainly a possibility. Its not yet a probability.

Part of winning over public opinion will be setting out a vision that reassures those who feel estranged from the political process. Houses, good jobs and a feeling that somebody gets it are three vital components for any future narrative.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
Here is Deputy Leader Jo Swinsons message for Pride 2017. The text is below:

Pride is a colourful, energetic celebration of freedom, love and acceptance. Each year I am amazed as thousands of people of all sexualities take to the streets in the name of freedom and equality.

I am proud to stand with the LGBT community in the continuous fight for a more open, tolerant and united society.

This years theme Love Happens Here, reminds us that we ought to celebrate love wherever we find it and defiantly oppose the forces of bigotry, hate and division.

This is an historic year, as it marks 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK and Im thrilled that in that time we have managed to secure more LGBT rights  such as the introduction of same-sex marriage, championed by Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone.

Let us celebrate our triumphs and remind the word of the courage, strength and vibrancy of this incredible community.

Thank you to everyone that has made this years celebrations possible.
We Liberal Democrats want power. Leader Tim Farron has stated that we want to be in government again, to have power to enact our policies, and we also seek power in local government through our elected councillors.

At present though we seem all too far away from having power. The fightback after the grim 2015 General Election results seems to have petered out. Yes, numbers of council seats have been won back, and yes, we now have 12 MPs instead of 8. But highly valued MPs have lost, scores of deposits have been forfeited, and we reach only 7% in the polls. We hoped to have massive support from Remainers, now that the countrys economy is faltering and the promises of the Brexiteers being shown up, but in the highlighted clash of Mays Tories and Corbyns Labour, pro-EU voters found other priorities.

Then the vote on the amendment to the Queens Speech to stay in the EU single market and the customs union gained only 101 ayes, as the Government and the Labour Party maintained their extraordinary negative alliance. What we Lib Dems actually want is for the British people to realise that Brexit is not only harmful but need not be carried through. But it hasnt happened yet.

So we are as powerless as before. Or are we? Its interesting that a Corbyn ally, Ian Lavery, says that the Labour Party is now too broad a church, and that Momentum voices are suggesting that 50 moderate Labour MPs might like to join us. Previously, Tory commentator and former MP Matthew Parris had similarly said in a Times column that his party may be too broad a church, though he didnt go so far as to advise a breakaway movement, remarking that Liberal Democrats arent serious about government.

Maybe then we should proclaim, Now is the time to come to us, Labour and Tory doubters both  if a centre party is wanted, we are it! However, this is not a way forward that the British people necessarily want. Our party does not, sadly, inspire much public confidence at present. Our policy on Europe is only partly accepted, other policies more vaguely known and liked by some, but we are seen as too distant from political power. And if we remind people of our past taste of power in the Coalition, too many former complaints may be raised, especially with the new alluring Corbyn promises.

Yet I believe that it is power that we should be talking to people about. In fact, everybody wants a bit of power for themselves. It might be power to get enough to live on with a bit to spare, or to find a job that lasts, or a decent home to rent. It might be power to give our children a better life. Or it might be power to take back control  not in some nebulous political way, but to feel able at last to meet ones own needs and hopes.

Who can help ordinary people to gain power? That depends on why politicians want power. Will the Tories help, when so many seem to want power for personal satisfaction, or to keep in with rich and influential people? Will Labour help, since they really want to do good to people through energetic state intervention?

There are many motives. But only the Liberal Democrats care about individual power. We believe in the right of everyone to be treated with respect, to have freedom to make their own decisions about their lives, and we want to disperse power as far as possible. Through our community work we try to help individuals, and we work on policies to offer whenever we gain power, so as to achieve more along with the people we represent.

This is the point: we are already committed to these actions. What is needed is to reframe the beliefs that we hold to catch peoples attention. They are inspiring beliefs which can win hearts and minds. Put most simply, what are the Liberal Democrats for? We are for empowering individual people. That is all we need to say. It is, I believe, our golden gate to open to that future when the British people will have faith in us again.

* Katharine Pindar is a long-standing member of the Lib Dems and an activist in the West Cumbrian constituency of Copeland and Workington.
A LIMERICK TD has called for a robust garda response to deal with recurring incidents of violence in the Old Cratloe Road area, after a traumatic attack on a student outside Limerick Institute of Technology.

Mayorstone gardai are investigating the recent assault, in which two male youths saw the man and proceeded to punch and kick the student just outside LIT  close to an area that has seen a spate of similar crimes in recent weeks.

No arrests have been made in connection with this incident. The most recent attack, which was described as traumatic incident, occurred on the day Limerick City and County Council confirmed that it would install CCTV on Old Cratloe Road in the coming days.

And though Deputy Maurice Quinlivan has welcomed the addition of the cameras, he said that he realises that the gardai now agree that they need to urgently get a grip on this situation.

He said that the installation of CCTV is a first step in countering the wave of antisocial and criminal behaviour in the area.

He said that the community has been suffering at the hands of a large group of teenagers roaming around and randomly assaulting total strangers with apparent impunity.

It will take a robust garda response to bring this situation under control. The Gardai need to give this criminality the attention it deserves and bring the culprits before a court of law where hopefully the sentences will match the severity of the crimes committed.

It is not simply good enough to send around a patrol car now and again. This problem needs a properly prepared and resourced Garda plan of action that will include all of the northside of Limerick, he told the Leader.

He said that, according to his constituents, adults have suffered severe beatings, while one man had a broken nose and eye socket, and another who has been stabbed in unprovoked attacks.

In a recent incident, a young man was involved in a fight and received an injury to his back and hand, while other incidents have seen two teenagers punched in the face while walking in the area, a student suffer bruising and soft-tissue injuries when he was forcibly pulled into a car and robbed, and a student stabbed in the back near a bus stop at Old Cratloe Road earlier this year.

This is totally unacceptable that law abiding residents are being subjected to this lawlessness by a groups of roaming teenagers, a number of whom are already well known to the gardai.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael senator Kieran ODonnell has confirmed that gardai have received approval to put a specific garda operation into the Caherdavin and Old Cratloe Road areas to deal with the problem. This will include an extra sergeant and two gardai, specifically for this operation.

Gardai have appealed for any information in relation to last weeks assault, on 061-456980 or the garda confidential line at 1800-666-111.
THE inhumane practice of slopping out will end in Limerick Prison by 2020 following a 8.6m redevelopment.

An ambitious capital programme by Irish Prison Service, scheduled for up to 2021, will see the end of prisoners having to slop out in their cells, following works at both Limerick and Portlaoise prisons.

The number of prisoners without access to in-cell sanitation has decreased from 1,003 at the end of 2010 to 56 this April, according to the most recent available figures from the Irish Prison Service.

This included 19 prisoners in Limerick and 37 prisoners in Portlaoise.

The slopping out regime was condemned in 1993 by the European Committee on the Prevention of Torture, which urged it be ended as a matter of the highest priority.

The development of Limerick Prison comprises a new 103-person cell block and a facility for 58 female prisoners, which will more than double the capacity for female inmates in the Mulgrave Street jail. It also includes the modernisation and completion of the A and B wings.

The first phase of the development will comprise enabling works at a cost in excess of 8.6m, while the second phase, focusing on construction, is expected to cost several million and is expected to start in February 2018. The works are due to be completed by the end of 2020.

Last year, the first of several test cases opened in the High Court to decide if the State is liable for damages to more than 800 prisoners over slopping out.

One former prisoner claimed his human rights were violated, he experienced feelings of humiliation, degradation and worthlessness and his mental health was affected over enduring the slopping out regime in Dublins Mountjoy Prison.
VOTERS in Cappamore, Doon and Caherconlish should never have been included in the Limerick City constituency, Fine Gaels Minister of State for Finance and Public Expenditure Reform, has Patrick ODonovan declared.

And he believes Limerick County constituency should be a four-seat constituency and not a three-seater as is currently the case. He also believes Limerick City should be a three-seat and not a four seat constituency.

His comments follow from the report of the Constituency Commission which saw over 2,000 voters in the Doon West, Cappamore and Bilboa areas transferred back into the Limerick County constituency, even though in the 2016 general election, they were voting in the City constituency.

These voters, Minister ODonovan argued, have seen a lot of chopping and changing, having been part of the old Limerick East constituency, then Limerick County, before being transferred into Limerick City and now back into Limerick County.

The report also recommended transferring almost 6,000 voters in the Parteen and Westbury suburbs of the city into the Clare constituency in order to restore the integrity of the Clare county boundary. However, at the same time, the report recommended the transfer of 4,375 voters in the Newport and Birdhill areas of Co Tipperary to the Limerick City constituency.

But Minister ODonovan has said he could never understand why, when boundary changes were made in 2012, rural areas of Co Limerick were tacked on to the city.

Following the census of 2006, the old Limerick East and Limerick West constituencies were done away with. Part of West Limerick was hived off to North Kerry and two new constituencies, Limerick County and Limerick City were created. This changed again following the 2011 census, when West Limerick returned to Limerick County and Limerick City gained sections of the county.

The logical thing to do would have been to have a four-seater in the county and a three-seater in the city, Minister ODonovan said.

Places like Cappamore have more in common with other places in the county than with the city, he argued. The type of issues confronting people there, whether farming or roads or whatever, are the same in Abbeyfeale as in Cappamore.

Apart from the upheaval visited on Doon and Cappamore voters, the county constituency remains unchanged and has attracted little complaint. The biggest challenge is for City based candidates who have lost almost 6,000 voters back to Clare.

Deputies Willie ODea FF and Jan OSullivan Lab have acknowledged they would lose votes with this development. Deputy ODea however said he was looking forward to renewing links with his connections in the Newport and Birdhill areas where, he said, a lot of Limerick people were now living.
A WEST Limerick mother who has campaigned unceasingly to keep her seriously disabled son Adam in the family home has been named as Munster Mum of the Year 2017.

Rebecca Conlon, who lives in Rooska in West Limerick, was named as a winner in the Womans Way and Beko Mum of the Year competition at a special ceremony in Dublin at the weekend.

I was very surprised. There were lots of fabulous mums there, all doing amazing things. I wasnt really expecting to win, said the phone company executive and mother of three whose prize involved a 250 Beko voucher and a 500 goody bag.

But she added: The whole day was lovely. I found it nice to meet all the other mums. It is always nice when you meet other parents and a lot of the mums had special needs children. You dont feel you are all alone.

Rebeccas son Adam, now seven, has a severe form of Mowat-Wilson syndrome, an extremely rare condition that affects fewer than 150 children worldwide. When she was interviewed by the Limerick Leader in 2014, Rebecca explained that this condition means Adam has a heart murmur, suffers from epilepsy and is completely blind in one eye. His immune system is also compromised and he has had a bowel by-pass. The condition has also affected his intellectual development.

But Rebecca, whose first husband Joe died in 2011, was determined to care for Adam at home along with her two other sons, Eamon and Jake.

Adam feels comfortable being in the house here, Rebecca said. He loves this environment. He loves being with his brothers, being with me. Routine is his biggest thing. He needs everything to happen the same way.

To achieve that, however, she needed a downstairs bathroom close to Adams bedroom and a hoist to lift him. But an adaptation grant of 11,000 was a long way from the estimated 30,000 cost. And although, after a lot of cajoling and pushing, the HSE eventually agreed to pay for a hoist at a cost of 10,500, Rebecca and a group of neighbours and friends had to start a fund-raising campaign to close the gap and took part in the Adare to Survive challenge.

The adaptation is now complete, Rebecca said this week. And she is extremely happy that Adam is a pupil at the Nano Nagle school in Listowel which, she says, is fabulous.

But she added: We lost our respite, which has been gone for 18 months. That was a big loss. Part of the problem was that because Adam lives in Limerick, respite could only be given in Limerick. We are hoping we will get it back in October, said Rebecca, explaining that she had lobbied TDs on the matter and that now, a new respite bed is being provided for Adam.

At the moment also, the family gets just nine hours a week nursing care for Adam plus one night a week which puts a strain on the family and on its finances.

And because Adam has been so sick recently, Rebecca is currently on carers leave from her job but hoping, and needing, to get back to it very shortly. The lobbying for more support will continue but Rebecca is enjoying her moment in the sun.
A WHISTLEBLOWER who raised concerns over superbug fatalities at University Hospital Limerick in 2014 fears that she will be victimised if she seeks medical treatment.

In a letter penned to Minister for Health Simon Harris - copied to Colette Cowan, CEO UL Hospitals Group - Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said that a HSE employee feels she has been victimised because she highlighted what she believed to be infection control weaknesses in the hospital.

Its understood the whistleblower has been suspended for the past year. Deputy Martin told the Minister she is anxious to return to work.

UHL was the first Irish hospital to detect the potentially-lethal CPE superbug in 2009, which has been a factor in the deaths of at least three patients.

It is understood that the whistleblower made a protected disclosure to the Health Information and Quality Authority in 2014.

It is understood that, as a result of this protected disclosure, Hiqa then carried out an investigation into infection control systems at UHL.

In a lengthy protected disclosure in 2016 to Minister Harris, the whistleblower said that dirty equipments in the hospital has led to the spread of the superbug at UHL, and that the failure to isolate patients has resulted in the spread of the infection.

The whistleblower remains very concerned that the issues she highlighted in 2014 have not been dealt with adequately and she is concerned about the implications of this, Mr Martin wrote on June 22.

Minister Harris said to Mr Martin in January that the HSE was proceeding in an appropriate and reasonable manner in this case.

Deputy Niall Collins said: It is important that hospital management arent perceived as being hostile to whistleblowers. When staff and employees raise legitimate issues, they should be treated with both respect and the seriousness the issue deserves.

When contacted by the Leader, a spokesperson for the UL Hospitals Group said that, in order to protect their employees right to privacy, it was not possible to answer specific queries.

She said that the UL Hospitals Group is fully compliant with the Protected Disclosures Act.

Clinicians are ethically obliged to treat all patients who present to hospital in line with clinical best practice. Treatment of patients is not determined by their relationship with the hospital or its staff.

UHL has spent 4m on superbug treatment with 60 patients since 2015.
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Spink London auction features Great Britain stamps, proofs and essays, postal history, and much more

Jul 7, 2017, 3 PM

This May 6, 1840, first-day cover of the Penny Black stamp will be offered in the July 25 Spink London sale of Great Britain stamps and postal history.

By Michael Baadke

A May 6, 1840, first-day cover of Great Britains famous Penny Black, the worlds first postage stamp, will be offered during the July 25 public auction by Spink and Son in London, England.

The 1-penny black stamp with a vignette of Queen Victoria is described by Spink as being a gray-black shade, slightly worn plate, with good to very large margins though just touched at right. The check letters are Q-L, and the stamp is tied by a red Maltese Cross marking.

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The red May 6 London 6Ev octagonal paid datestamp on reverse can be seen in the illustration on this page, which shows the letter opened for display.

The letter is addressed to Doctors Commons (London), with a red T.P. Cornhill marking on front.

The cover is listed among the May 6 covers in Mike Jacksons 1999 survey May Dates. It was once part of the esteemed collection of philatelist Maurice Burrus (1882-1959).

The number of known Penny Black first-day covers has been described as more than 70.

The May 6 date on a Penny Black cover is valued at $165,000 in the 2017 Scott Specialized Catalogue of Stamps and Covers 1840-1940, with the figure appearing in italics to indicate such an item can be difficult to value accurately.

Spink offers an estimate of 25,000 to 30,000 for this example (roughly equivalent to $32,325 to $38,790).

The July 25 Spink London auction consists of Great Britain stamps, proofs and essays, postal history, collections, and large lots.

The range of material extends chronologically from 16th-century letters of the Corsini correspondence to modern-day material, including color trial proofs from the 1971-76 Machin definitive issue.

Another remarkable Penny Black cover on offer is coincidentally franked with another Q-L lettered stamp, but mailed March 22, 1841.

The cover is one of only two known examples bearing a Penny Black and originating from China.

The letter was written by Clem. A. Edwards on board HMS Rattlesnake on the Canton River. Markings include a black Ship Letter handstamp and red Bristol circular datestamp.

The cover is accompanied by a 2013 M. Jackson certificate and offered with an estimate of 40,000 to 50,000 ($51,700 to $64,625).

These Penny Black covers are from the Charles Hamilton collection of covers, which also includes a turned cover bearing both the Penny Black and the Two-Penny Blue, both struck with red Maltese Cross cancellations.

The auction also includes a selection of telegraph stamps, Official stamps, literature, and more.

Items in the auctions are illustrated and described at Spink's website, with online bidding options available.

Information also is available from Spink and Son, 69 Southampton Row, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 4ET, England.
Jul 7, 2017, 9 AM

Many other countries have depicted sharks on stamps, including Canada, which shows a great white shark on this 1997 45 stamp.

The five Sharks forever stamps will be issued in a pane of 20. The species depicted on the stamps are the shortfin mako shark, whale shark, pelagic thresher shark, scalloped hammerhead shark, and great white shark.

The great white shark is shown on one of five Sharks forever stamps to be issued July 26 in Newport, Ky. The full set is pictured in the next illustration.

Artist Sam Weber created the artwork for the five Sharks stamps. His portrait of Henry David Thoreau was used on the stamp issued May 23.

By Michael Baadke

Shark encounters in Kentucky are a little more commonplace than you might think, and on July 26, that state will celebrate a new set of five Sharks forever stamps.

The 121,200-square-foot Newport Aquarium in Newport, Ky., will host the first-day ceremony for the nondenominated (49) Sharks stamps.

The aquarium is situated on the Ohio River levee just south of Cincinnati, Ohio. Its salt and fresh water tanks hold 1 million gallons and include multiple shark exhibits such as Shark Tank Overlook, extending above an open-air tank display, and an acrylic tunnel exhibit called Surrounded by Sharks.

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This is a ticketed event, the Postal Service notes. Tickets are limited to a first-come, first-served basis. Please RSVP to usps.com/sharks for free tickets.

The first-day ceremony is scheduled for 8 a.m. Wednesday in the aquariums Shark Ray Bay Theater. Additional information about the aquarium can be found at www.newportaquarium.com, or by calling 800-406-3474.

The five Sharks forever stamps depict formidable examples of five different species: shortfin mako shark, whale shark, pelagic thresher shark, scalloped hammerhead shark, and great white shark.

The sharks, in artwork by Sam Weber of Brooklyn N.Y., are shown swimming.

This is Webers second U.S. stamp issue of 2017; he also created the portrait of Henry David Thoreau on the commemorative stamp issued May 23 to honor the author on his birth bicentennial (Scott 5202).

The pane of 20 Sharks stamps has a selvage design that extends across the top of the pane with an enlargement of the great white shark image that appears on the stamp, and the word SHARKS printed in blue letters.

Although each shark is identified on the stamp only by its common species name, the Postal Service provided additional details about each creature, noting that all are from Americas coastal and open-ocean waters.

An athlete of the shark world is the swift, streamlined mako shark. The stamp image depicts a shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) knifing through the water near the surface.

The most distinctive feature of the pelagic thresher shark (Alopias pelagicus) is its unique, whip-like tail fin, seen trailing in the distance of the stamp image.

The worlds largest fish is the sluggish, filter-feeding, school bus-sized whale shark (Rhincodon typus).

The scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini), featured in the hammerhead shark stamp, is one of three large hammerhead species.

The great white (Carcharodon carcharias) epitomizes sharks in many peoples minds.

The reason for that might be the fearsome great white shark that features prominently in the 1975 hit adventure film Jaws directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the novel by Peter Benchley.

The website of National Geographic points out that sharks have remained essentially unchanged for 400 million years. While they can be dangerous apex predators, they are also a key element of the oceanic food chain.

The National Aquarium, citing statistics from the International Shark Attack File, notes that there were only 10 shark-related human fatalities worldwide in 2013, but compares that figure with an estimated 100 million sharks that are killed annually.

Sharks have rarely appeared on United States stamps, and the most prominent depiction shows a reef blacktip shark. However, that shark appears only as part of the selvage design on the 2004 Pacific Coral Reef pane of 10 (Scott 3831), and not on an actual stamp.

For an actual shark encounter on a U.S. stamp, we have to look to the 2006 39 stamp showing the cover of an Aquaman comic book (Scott 4084r). Those dark figures in the distance look like sharks backing up the King of the Seven Seas.

The lack of sharks on past U.S. stamps is compensated by many other countries worldwide that have featured sharks with gusto.

Canada, for example, chose the great white shark to lead off its Salt Water Fish set of four 45 stamps issued May 30, 1997 (Scott 1641).

Along with the post office panes of 20, the U.S. Sharks set will be offered in press sheets of nine unsevered panes (180 stamps) sold at face value for $88.20.

The Postal Service has developed two pictorial postmarks for the Sharks stamps first day of issue. Both feature a right-facing shark in profile with the word SHARKS in prominent lettering. The color postmark is in shades of blue, and a black postmark also is offered.

Technical details and first-day cancel ordering information for the Sharks forever stamps are shown below.

Nondenominated (49) Sharks forever stamps

FIRST DAY July 26, 2017; city Newport, Ky., and nationwide.

DESIGN: artist Sam Weber, Brooklyn, N.Y.; designer, typographer, and art director Derry Noyes, Washington, D.C.; modelers Sandra Lane and Michelle Finn.

PRINTING: process offset with microprinting; printer and processor Banknote Corporation of America, Browns Summit, N.C.; press Alprinta 74; inks cyan, magenta, yellow, black; paper phosphor tagged, block tagging; gum self-adhesive; print quantity 40 million stamps; format panes of 20, from 180-subject cylinders; size 1.42 inches by 0.84 inches (image); 1.56 inches by 0.98 inches (overall); 7.24 inches by 8 inches (full pane); 21.97 inches by 24.25 inches (press sheet); plate numbers B followed by four single digits; marginal markings plate numbers in two corners of pane (front); 2016 USPS, USPS logo, pane position diagram, bar code 474500 in two corners, promotional text (back); USPS item No. 474504.

First-day cancel ordering information

Standard ordering instructions apply. Collectors requesting first-day cancels are encouraged to purchase their own stamps and affix them to envelopes. The first-day cover envelopes should be addressed for return (a removable label may be used), and mailed in a larger envelope addressed to FDOI-Sharks Stamps, USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services, 8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64144-9900.

Requests for first-day cancels must be postmarked by Sept. 26.

The Postal Services set of five uncacheted Sharks first-day covers is item 474516 at $4.65. USPS item numbers for stamps and FDCs also appear in Linns 2017 U.S. Stamp Program.
Federal and Alameda County arson investigators were among those trying to determine the cause of a huge blaze that destroyed a seven-story building under construction in Oakland on Friday, displacing 700 nearby residents and leading one City Council member to suggest the fire was deliberately set.

No one was injured in the predawn inferno that sent flames and smoke high above the area of downtown Oakland previously known as Auto Row.

A tall construction crane that had apparently been damaged in the fire and was swiveling out of control and in danger of collapsing caused fire officials to order the evacuation of nearby residents, many of whom were planning to spend Friday night in an emergency shelter nine blocks away.

The blaze at the Alta Waverly mixed-use building at 23rd and Valdez streets happened less than two months after an arson fire destroyed a similar development of apartments and retail space just across the Oakland border in Emeryville for the second time in a year.

Burning down housing doesnt help make #Oak housing more affordable. It only speeds up displacement of existing residents, tweeted Councilman Abel Guillen, who declined to elaborate.

Other officials, while clearly frustrated, said firefighters needed time to conduct their investigation. The Alameda County Arson Task Force and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives teamed with Oakland fire investigators to search for what caused the blaze even as firefighters were still putting out hot spots at the scene.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said the fact that recent nearby fires had been determined to be deliberately set was disconcerting.

Oakland is in the middle of a housing crisis, and the loss of these valuable units only exacerbates it, said Schaaf.

The fire broke out about 4:30 a.m. and was knocked down about three hours later, said acting Fire Chief Darin White. The high plume of smoke was clearly visible in San Francisco. White said it was too early to say what caused the fire.

While not commenting on a possible cause, Schaaf said the city would reach out to developers to make sure they have surveillance cameras and security guards keeping watch over their construction sites. She also advised the public to be vigilant and immediately report suspicious activity around such building projects.

Councilman Noel Gallo, who represents East Oakland, cautioned against early speculation on a cause.

I think more security is definitely coming, not just cameras but people guarding buildings, Gallo said.

Portions of the building at 2302 Valdez St. could be seen separating from the structure and falling to the ground as the fire raged. Firefighters arrived at the scene within five minutes of the initial report and were confronted by flames on the roof that were spreading rapidly, White said. He said a substantial amount of flames were billowing from the center of the building.

The swiveling crane, apparently moved by heat generated by the fire, caused firefighters to retreat and to employ a drone to inspect the condition of the apparatus from above.

Concerned about the stability of the crane, fire officials set up barricades around the site and will not allow even arson investigators to begin work at the scene until the crane is dismantled. Deputy Chief Erik Logan said that would probably happen over the weekend.

White said hundreds of people living in surrounding buildings, including a 22-story apartment house, were evacuated. He said some neighboring buildings were damaged by the high heat, smoke and water.

At least 80 firefighters battled the blaze. Firefighters from Berkeley, Albany and Alameda County responded to help.

Federal and county investigators were called in to hunt for clues after two fires at a $35 million mixed-use project under construction in neighboring Emeryville, the most recent one on May 13. Investigators concluded that blaze was arson and released grainy surveillance camera photographs of a man riding a bicycle near the seven-story residential and business development.

White said similar surveillance cameras were present in the area of Fridays fire.

Within hours of the first alarm, an evacuation center was set up at Christ the Light Cathedral at 2121 Harrison St., and an overnight shelter was open at the St. Vincent de Paul facility at San Pablo and Grand avenues. About 10 displaced people asked to stay at the shelter, others were staying with relatives.

In the chaos, nearby residents in pajamas and bathrobes stood on street corners, brushing ash from their hair and gazing at flames licking up the side of the building.

I was scared, said Mout Khamphou, 50, who was sitting in her car getting ready to go to work when she saw smoke coming from the building next door.

She said she drove away, thinking the fire wasnt bad. But then she turned around and went back to find the fire burning out of control.

I called my husband and I said, I saw the fire start. You have to be careful and get ready to get out. He called me and said, Oh honey, the fire started getting worse, and he asked where my passport and papers are. I was crying a lot, I worried.

Samantha Pham, 55, who lives in an apartment building next door to the construction site with her husband and 14-year-old son, managed to get out with her family and dog. Left behind were all their belongings.

What are we going to do? Im just sad. I dont know where were going to sleep tonight, she said. Where are we going to live?

According to a project website, the building known as Alta Waverly  set to be completed next spring  was to include 196 market-rate apartments and up to 31,500 square feet of retail, with parking for residents in an underground garage. The building was designed by the Oakland architectural firm Pyatok for the Wood Partners development firm.

Were still gathering facts, but there are no reports of any injuries and thats the most important thing, said Joseph Keough, the CEO of Wood Partners, based in Atlanta.

The building was part of the Broadway Valdez Specific Plan district, an area designated by the city in 2014 where developers can get speedier approval for projects if they meet certain mixed-use requirements.

A 22-year-old construction worker on the project was staying at a nearby hotel when one of his co-workers got a text from his mother alerting them to the fire. The worker, who asked that his name not be used, said, What are the chances. Its just unbelievable. Its the first big project Ive been on, and it just caught fire. My tools are inside and theyre all probably gone.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Deb Wandell contributed to this report.

Kimberly Veklerov, Sarah Ravani, Hamed Aleaziz and Steve Rubenstein are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com, kveklerov@sfchronicle.com, haleaziz@sfchronicle.com, srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Haleaziz @SarRavani, @KVeklerov, @SteveRubeSF
The federal officer whose stolen service pistol fired the bullet that killed Kate Steinle in 2015, touching off a national furor over immigration policies, has been identified in court papers as an award-winning Bureau of Land Management ranger based in Southern California.

John Woychowski, 37, has been subpoenaed by the defense to testify in the case against Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, the often-deported Mexican immigrant who is headed for trial on charges of murdering Steinle.

Woychowski, who lives in the small town of Imperial, was traveling through San Francisco on June 27, 2015, and had parked his car downtown when the Sig Sauer .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol was stolen from the vehicle, according to Bureau of Land Management officials. He was on duty the night it was stolen, and his car was locked, they said.

Steinle, 32, was shot to death four days later as she strolled along Pier 14 with her father. The lawyer for Lopez-Sanchez, 54, says his client found the gun under a bench, and when he picked it up it went off accidentally, hitting Steinle.

Lopez-Sanchez was on the street in San Francisco after Sheriffs Department officials had refused a request by federal immigration officials two months earlier to hold him for possible deportation. The refusal touched off a national debate over sanctuary city policies that continues to this day.

Bureau officials refused to comment Friday on the defense subpoena, saying they cant speak about a case in litigation. They did not say whether Woychowski had been disciplined for the theft, or if any regulatory changes resulted from the incident.

Woychowski is listed in bureau reports as based in the agencys El Centro (Imperial County) field office, which is near the Mexican border. In 2011, he was chosen by his fellow employees there as Ranger of the Year for exemplary protection of our public lands and unwavering dedication to visitor safety, according to a bureau news release at the time.

The El Centro office manager at the time, Margaret Goodro, called him a phenomenal ranger. The release praised his dedication to the (bureaus) law enforcement field training program.

Efforts to contact Woychowski were unsuccessful.

Lopez-Sanchez is due in court Friday for a hearing in which a trial date may be set for charges of second-degree murder. He is not accused of stealing the gun.

Woychowski discovered his gun had been stolen when he came back and found his car window broken, according to bureau accounts in 2015. He promptly reported the theft to his supervisor, officials said, and an incident report was filed with city police.

I can safely say the gun was not laying on the seat in the open for folks to see as they walked by, bureau spokeswoman Martha Maciel said in August 2015.

Sources familiar with the matter told The Chronicle at the time that the pistol was in a bag.

In papers filed June 29 in San Francisco Superior Court, defense attorney Matt Gonzalez called Woychowskis testimony necessary for Lopez-Sanchez to be tried fairly, echoing concerns Gonzalez aired in an opinion piece published Wednesday in The Chronicle.

In that essay, Gonzalez wrote that the Bureau of Land Management official who left his loaded weapon unsecured in a car that was burglarized has never accounted for his negligence in starting the chain of events that resulted in Steinles death.

Kevin Fagan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KevinChron
A headline-making actress tries out a look out that many Texans would not approve of.

On Wednesday, Ariel Winter posted a photo to Instagram of her wearing tiny denim shorts, cowboy boots, and a tiny lace-up bralette; But obviously, there's no way she could ride a horse in that outfit. Think of the chaffing and severe discomfort.
On this date in ...

1917: Walter Graham, a sailor from New York City, was brought before Judge John J. Brady in Albany court on charges of public intoxication and breach of the peace after starting a fight with local man Thomas Gentle, who was also arrested. Graham claimed Gentle had insulted his uniform, leading to the altercation. But Graham's story changed several times. Brady stated that other military men had recently tried to use that excuse falsely to justify their behavior, and witnesses said that Graham had actually been the one to lob an insult  at Gentle's wife. Graham was sent to jail and Gentle was released.

1967: Albany's first year-round Headstart program was about to take off, thanks to a $68,169 grant awarded by the Office of Economic Opportunity to Albany County Opportunity Inc. It would cover preschool training and provide cultural enrichment for 45 children of low-income families in Albany County and would pay salaries of nine full- and part-time workers.

1992: Unbeknown to many of the estimated 1 million to 2 million women in the United States with silicone-gel breast implants, lawyers across the country had begun filing class-action lawsuits on their behalf that could eliminate their right to file individual claims against the manufacturers of the devices. The fierce battle among lawyers to gain the national franchise to a class-action lawsuit could soon force women to either join a class-action, or specifically request to be excluded from such a lawsuit. A woman with a breast implant who did neither could lose her right to file an individual claim for damages.

Want to read more about the Capital Region's past? Have any memories or thoughts about how our history relates to today's events? See http://blog.timesunion.com/history/.
New York

A disgruntled doctor had slipped into his former workplace and was firing through the halls of Bronx Lebanon Hospital. But the staff there still had patients to take care of  like the newborn with a bowel obstruction who needed intensive care.

"It was the middle of the lockdown," said Dr. Madgy Mikhail, head of the department. But the baby was vomiting. So the doctor and a nurse shielded the infant and, with an armed SWAT team escort, went down a floor to the neonatal intensive care unit so the baby could be treated.

The team had, coincidentally, just that morning received training on how to handle an active shooter in the hospital. Hours later, Dr. Henry Bello, who resigned in 2015 in lieu of being fired over sexual harassment allegations, hid a rifle in his lab coat and opened fire inside Bronx Lebanon. He killed Dr. Tracy Sin-Yee Tam and wounded six others before killing himself.

Similar instances of bravery played out in other departments around the hospital amid the June 30 rampage:

The emergency room nurses who kept going out in the hallways to bring back blood transfusion packs;

The hospital staff members who encountered Dr. Hassan Tariq shot in the wrist, wrapped a sheet around his wound to stanch the blood and carried him down nine flights of stairs to the operating room before collapsing in tears;

The doctors who operated on their colleague Tariq while shots rang out;

The off-duty physician who raced to the hospital to help his colleagues.

"As you can see, this was an entire team effort on the part of the whole hospital," said Errol C. Schneer, hospital vice president. "Throughout this tragic incident, the hospital operated at optimal levels."

The morning presentation to obstetrics included instructions on how to operate through an emergency and a recommendation of a practice drill.

But even the presentation couldn't have prepared them for the rampage that followed.

"The hospital personal instinct is to go save," said Dr. Sridhar Chilimuri. "They really can't run away when one of their colleagues is bleeding. So they stayed. They packed the wounds. And it was actually the NYPD who had to physically extract them out. They wouldn't leave."

The six others who were injured  one patient, two medical students and three physicians  largely suffered gunshot wounds to the head, chest and abdomen.

Dr. Oluwafunmike Ojewoye, a second-year resident, was released after she was shot in the neck.

Tariq was undergoing a second wrist surgery, but doctors were confident they saved his hand. One of the medical students was about to be discharged and would return home to Ohio, Chilimuri said. The others were in stable condition.
As he unsuccessfully tried to carjack a woman at a busy mall and good Samaritans came running toward her screams, the gunman shot and wounded her - and smiled.

Still trying to snatch an SUV less than an hour later, after he had killed one of those helpers and wounded the other, he turned his gun on another woman and killed her - then grabbed some chicken and doughnuts for lunch.

Eulalio Tordil was described as a calculated, coldblooded and cowardly "serial killer" at a court hearing Friday before he received four back-to-back life sentences in a murderous Maryland shooting spree in 2016 that started with the slaying of his wife in a high school parking lot and ended a day later with the deaths of two strangers as he fled police.

"There was absolutely no reason for him to do what he did other than cowardice and selfishness," Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Sharon Burrell said before sentencing Tordil in the deaths of the strangers. "Life got too tough for him so he decided to solve his problems by killing people."

Tordil, 64, will be imprisoned without the chance of parole.

Tordil pleaded guilty in April to two counts of first-degree murder in the shootings of Malcom "Mike" Winffel, 45, and Claudina Molina, 65.

Winffel was shot as he went to the aid of the woman whom Tordil tried to carjack in the parking lot of a Montgomery County mall.

Unable to steal a vehicle at the mall, Tordil later fatally shot Molina as he tried to steal her SUV outside a grocery store where the mother had gone to buy milk.

Tordil's public defender Theresa Chernosky asked the judge to consider Tordil's life beyond the two-day shooting spree. Chernosky said that Tordil was a Catholic school choir boy, former member of the military and a devoted father who postponed retirement to help pay for his stepdaughters' college costs.

He was so proud of his daughters, Chernosky said, that he put a photo of himself and his family at a martial-arts tournament into the backpack he stocked and carried as he fled police.

"A person is not as bad as his worst deed," Chernosky said, quoting a line from the movie "Dead Man Walking." "Two horrible days do not define him."

Tordil's tear of violence that panicked the region and put businesses and schools in suburban Maryland on lockdown began on May 5, 2016, when he shot his wife, Gladys Tordil, 44, outside of High Point High School in Beltsville. Gladys Tordil was picking up her daughters when her estranged husband confronted her in the parking lot at the Prince George's County school.

After shooting his wife in front of one of his stepdaughters and shooting at a bystander who tried to intervene, Tordil, a former Federal Protective Service police officer, fled.

He wound up the next day in neighboring Montgomery County, where he killed Winffel and Molina as he tried to dodge police.

If the judge looked beyond the two days of shootings, Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said, she would see terror seeded months earlier.

Two months before the shooting, Tordil turned in a stash of guns to law enforcement under the requirement of a protective order his wife won against him, yet he kept the one weapon he would eventually use to kill three and wound three others.

A journal of Tordil's writings addressed to his wife showed he felt that the fallout of their relationship had "reached a point of no return" and asked "God and the potential victims . . . for forgiveness," McCarthy said, reciting the passages.

And Tordil said he planned to die "in a hail of bullets" via "suicide by cop," McCarthy said.

"It's not just two days," McCarthy said. "This is something that brews and simmers for weeks."

Winffel, Molina and others were lauded as heroes who fought back against Tordil. Winffel had heard a woman screaming in the mall lot and ran to help.

In his attack on Molina shortly after, she clawed at Tordil and ripped off his eyeglasses as he tried to carjack her. She was later found dead, still clutching his glasses, a last act that police later said prevented Tordil from driving far after the shootings.

"My mother fought because she was brave," Claudina Molina's daughter Melissa Molina said, directed at Tordil, at Friday's sentencing hearing. "Not like you."

She said that her mother was an immigrant and a single mother who worked two jobs to provide for her children and also struggled financially.

And she pushed back against the portrayal of Tordil as burdened by problems.

"We all have problems, but we don't go around and kill just randomly," she said.

Tordil pleaded guilty last month in Prince George's County Circuit Court in his wife's slaying and the wounding of the bystander. He is set to be sentenced in that case Sept. 6.

Tordil on Friday appeared in court wearing a dark-green prison jumpsuit.

During the two-hour hearing, he stared straight ahead, never turning to look at video slide shows featuring photos of the victims he killed or glancing at family members of the dead as the relatives spoke.

When asked if he wanted to speak, Tordil declined, although another of his attorneys, David Booth, said his client wanted to "express his complete sorrow."

His defense team said that Tordil spiraled into depression and destruction after his family suffered financial problems and his wife issued a protective order that eventually led to his suspension from work.

"He finds himself trapped in his own mind," Chernosky said.

Family members shared photo slide shows of Winffel and Molina set to soft music at the hearing. As the images of their relatives flashed by - blowing out birthday candles, cutting a wedding cake or smiling in front of Christmas trees - sniffles and tears sounded in the courtroom.

Throughout the hearing, prosecutors and the family of those slain drew several comparisons between Tordil and their loved ones. Those wounded or killed by Tordil went down fighting, preventing others from harm, they said. And though they all faced family problems or financial issues, none of the victims thought about injuring others the way Tordil did.

Tordil was a coward, they said. But Winffel, Molina and the others were heroes.

"We're not the victims, we are the victors," Norma Winffel said. "Today, we take our own lives back."

- - -

The Washington Post's Dan Morse contributed to this report.
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HALLETTSVILLE, Texas - Ronald Ridgeway was "killed" in Vietnam on Feb. 25, 1968.

The 18-year-old Marine Corps private first class fell with a bullet to the shoulder during a savage firefight with the enemy outside Khe Sanh.

Dozens of Marines, from what came to be called "the ghost patrol," perished there.

At first, Ridgeway was listed as missing in action. Back home in Texas, his old school, Sam Houston High, made an announcement over the intercom.

But his mother, Mildred, had a letter from his commanding officer saying there was little hope. And that August, she received a "deeply regret" telegram from the Marines saying he was dead.

On Sept. 10, he was buried in a national cemetery in St. Louis. A tombstone bearing his name and the names of eight others missing from the battle was erected over the grave. His mother went home with a folded American flag.

But as his comrades and family mourned, Ron Ridgeway sat in harsh North Vietnamese prisons for five years, often in solitary confinement, mentally at war with his captors and fighting for a life that was technically over.

Last month, almost 50 years after his supposed demise, Ridgeway, 68, a retired supervisor with Veterans Affairs, sat in his home here and recounted for the first time in detail one of the most remarkable stories of the Vietnam War.

As the United States marks a half-century since the height of the war in 1967 and '68, his "back-from-the-dead" saga is that of a young man's perseverance through combat, imprisonment and abuse.

He was 17 when he signed up with the Marines in 1967. He was 18 when he was captured, 19 when his funeral was held and 23 when he was released from prison in 1973.

"You have to be willing to take it a day at a time," he said. "You have to set in your mind that you're going to survive. You have to believe that they are not going to defeat you, that you're going to win."

- - -

About 9:30 on the morning of Feb. 25, Pfc. Ridgeway's four-man fireteam charged an enemy trench line.

The curving trench seemed empty when they got there. But as Ridgeway and the others made their way along it, suddenly an enemy grenade dropped in.

"We back around the curve," he recalled. "It blows up."

"We throw a couple grenades," he said. "We backed off. . . . Then we realized the firing [from Marines] behind us had almost died down to nothing."

When they stood up to look around, they saw North Vietnamese soldiers walking through the underbrush toward them. "I guess they thought we were all dead," he said.

"We cut loose on them," he recalled. "They were easy targets."

Ridgeway had been part of a platoon of about 45 men sent out from the besieged Khe Sanh combat base, in what was then northern South Vietnam, to find enemy positions, and perhaps capture a prisoner.

The enemy's noose around the Marine base had been tightening, with heavy mortar and artillery fire, and the patrol was hazardous. Six thousand Americans were surrounded by 20,000 to 40,000 North Vietnamese soldiers.

On that foggy morning, the patrol's leader, 2nd Lt. Donald Jacques, 20, strayed off course and was drawn into a deadly ambush, Jacques's company commander, Capt. Kenneth Pipes, said.

More than two dozen Marines, including Jacques, were killed.

One of the Marines in the trench with Ridgeway, James Bruder, 18, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, was cut down as the enemy returned fire, according to author Ray Stubbe's book about Khe Sanh, "Battalion of Kings."

"Stitched him across the chest and killed him," Ridgeway remembered.

The fire team leader, Charles Geller, 20, of East St. Louis, Illinois, took a peek, and a bullet creased his forehead, knocking him down.

"Everybody's dead," Geller said, according to Stubbe's book. "Everybody behind us is dead. . . . What are we going to do?"

They had to retreat. Geller left first, running back across the field where they had charged, followed by Ridgeway.

The son of a Southern Pacific railroad worker, Ridgeway came from a working-class neighborhood of Houston. He had a younger brother.

His parents were divorced. He had left high school and joined the Marines because "I wanted to get away," he recalled.

As he and Geller ran to the rear, they came upon Willie Ruff, 20, of Columbia, South Carolina, who was lying on his back with a broken arm.

"We were in a hurry," Ridgeway said. "But we stopped. He was wounded."

As Geller knelt beside Ruff, a bullet hit Geller in the face, leaving a terrible wound. Then Ridgeway was struck by a round that went through his shoulder. All three men were now down.

"All we could do was lay there and play dead," he said. "We were in the wide open."

Ridgeway said he drifted in and out of consciousness. When Geller, who was delirious, got to his knees, the enemy threw a grenade, killing him.

Ridgeway said the North Vietnamese then began shooting at Marines who had fallen in front of their trenches. "They're popping the bodies to make sure they're dead," he said.

One bullet hit the dirt near him. A second glanced off his helmet and struck him the buttock, he said.

"When that hit, it jarred the body," he said. "They figured they got me. Left me for dead and kept working their way down past me."

Ridgeway passed out again. When he woke up, it was dark and American artillery was pounding the area.

Ruff said he had been hit again and begged Ridgeway not to leave him. Ridgeway said he wouldn't. At some point that night, Ruff died.

Ridgeway was awakened the following morning by someone pulling on his arm. He thought at first it was fellow Marines.

But when he looked up, he realized it was a young North Vietnamese soldier trying to pull off his wristwatch.

- - -

After the firefight, the shattered survivors of the patrol made it back to the combat base, and the dead were left on the battlefield.

A rescue mission was deemed unwise by higher-ups, who feared losing even more men and depleting the base's defenses, according to Pipes, who is now retired and lives in California.

In a telephone interview, he said that with binoculars, he could see Marines' bodies strewn on the battlefield. "It was worse than agony," he said. No further patrols outside the combat base were immediately permitted.

"We couldn't go get them," he said. "They laid out there for six weeks."

On March 17, he wrote to Ridgeway's mother: "I am sorry that I can offer no tangible basis for hope concerning Ronald's welfare."

Finally, on April 6, the Marines were able to return to the battlefield, Pipes said.

What was left of the dead was brought back to Khe Sanh's temporary morgue, where Pipes and others went about the grisly task of identifying the dead. "There wasn't much there but bones and shoes and boots . . . [and] dog tags," he said.

In the end, of the 26 missing and presumed killed in action on Feb. 25, remains of all but nine were positively identified, according to Pipes and Stubbe.

The unassociated body parts were sent home and placed in two caskets that would be buried beneath a large tombstone bearing the nine names of those unaccounted for, Stubbe said.

The day of the funeral at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery was sunny and cool. Ridgeway's mother attended, and there were flags and solemn honors. A newspaper photographer took pictures.

Far away, in North Vietnam, the rainy season was on, and Ridgeway was in his seventh month as a POW.

- - -

As he sat alone in his windowless cell beside a wooden bed and the bucket he used for waste, Ridgeway went about creating a "make-believe" life.

There was no one to talk to, and he was only allowed out once a day to empty the bucket.

So he imagined that he was somewhere else, that he owned a pickup truck, that he had a wife and children, that he would go fishing.

It was a mental exercise, he said, and he found that spending three days in his make-believe world would take up a whole day in solitary.

Ridgeway said that by then, his captors considered him a "die-hard reactionary" and all Marines "animals."

He hadn't cooperated with his guards. He had lied to interrogators, pretended he was green kid who had never fired his rifle and gave them bogus military information.

The startled North Vietnamese soldier had locked and loaded his rifle when he realized Ridgeway was alive that morning.

Ridgeway expected to be killed. "You didn't hear about prisoners being taken," he said. But he was bandaged, fed and marched away, through Laos and into North Vietnam.

He spent time in several jungle camps, held in wooden leg stocks, and he eventually wound up in enemy prisons.

He got lice, malaria and dysentery and lost 50 pounds. He wore pink-and-gray-striped POW pajamas and rubber sandals, all of which he brought home with him when he was freed.

He was beaten with bamboo canes and tied up during interrogations.

One interrogator the Americans named "Cheese" - because he seemed to be the big cheese - was especially cruel.

He spoke English and sat up on a high chair as he questioned POWs tied on the floor. When he nodded his head, a guard would strike the prisoner with the bamboo cane.

He had a face like a rat, Ridgeway recalled, and was a "mean . . . sadistical son of a b----."

Ridgeway said he didn't dwell on the notion that people back home might think he was dead. They would be fine. His job was to survive.

In January 1973, he was in North Vietnam's notorious Hanoi Hilton prison when his captors abruptly announced that the POWs were to be freed as part of a peace agreement before the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam.

When the list of POWs being released became public, Ridgeway's name was on it.

Back in Houston, his mother banged on a neighbor's door and said, "Ronnie's alive!"

- - -

Ron Ridgeway was released on March 16, 1973. He came home, got married and went to college.

"I came back in basically one piece," he said. "I came back able to live my life. . . . We went over with a job to do. We did it to the best of our ability. We were lucky enough to come back."

Several months after his return, he and his wife, Marie, went to Jefferson Barracks to see his tombstone, which was later replaced.

"It brought back memories," he said. "The loss of life of those that I knew. It was a solemn experience."

Carved in the surface were the words "Ambushed Patrol Died in Vietnam Feb. 25, 1968."

Eight names from the top: Ronald L. Ridgeway.

- - -

The Washington Post's Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this story.

- - -

Video: Marine presumed killed in Vietnam War turned out to be a POW

Marine Ronald L. Ridgeway was presumed "killed in action" while fighting in Vietnam on Feb. 25, 1968. But Ridgeway had been captured as a prisoner of war and later released in 1973. (Maine Military Museum - and Learning Center)

Short URL: http://wapo.st/2sz9Qel

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The annual invasion of tourists was supposed to offer a financial reprieve for the biggest retailer in scenic Croatia. Instead, this summer is shaping up as another source of grief in Agrokor's spiraling crisis, which has threatened economies across the Balkans.

Agrokor needs the millions of foreigners who flock to Croatian resorts each year to spend money at its Konzum grocery stores, the group's biggest source of cash. Yet, even locals are abandoning the outlets, taking their business to competitors like Lidl, which in the past decade has built itself into a major force in the former Yugoslav country.

"I used to shop at Konzum, but now I find Lidl products to be better and cheaper," said Nebojsa Kovacevic, a plumber, before jumping on his Suzuki motorcycle and zipping toward the Lidl on the other side of a parking lot on the scrubby hills on the resort island of Krk.

His choice is emblematic of the peril facing Agrokor, once the mightiest conglomerate in the western Balkans that's now facing oblivion. If it was the arrival of rivals such as Lidl that undercut the company's finances in the first place, Agrokor's messy implosion this year has also been a turn-off for shoppers. Konzum's sales dropped 11 percent in the first five months from a year earlier, helping accelerate a skid that cut the value of Agrokor bonds more than 80 percent.

The performance of Konzum stores this summer will be paramount as Agrokor enters a crucial stretch of restructuring. For years, the chain was the main grocery destination for millions of tourists on the 5,800-kilometer (3,600 miles) coastline of Croatia's archipelago every summer, giving the parent company a robust pipeline of cash.

Now, stronger competition and bad publicity are driving customers away, while the company's ability to respond is limited as a government appointee runs the overhaul and the demands of out-of-cash creditors and suppliers take precedence.

While putting a number on the problems has been complicated by Agrokor's admission that its past financial accounts are unreliable, retail brings in the vast majority of revenue, Konzum being the key brand. As Agrokor is getting by on emergency loans during its state-managed restructuring, it can't afford to lose customers. Supply-chain difficulties could leave it especially vulnerable in the peak tourist season, though the issues are far wider, said Goranko Fizulic, a former economy minister now working as an analyst.

"Konzum can't maintain its retail model, because this model is under siege," Fizulic said. "With its high business margin, its rent costs and the number of employees, Konzum can't compete with Lidl and others and it won't be able to keep its market share. This competition is even harder in summer months, when foreign tourists will buy at the stores they are familiar with."

Ante Ramljak, Agrokor's government-appointed commissioner, acknowledged that the conglomerate will probably no longer exist in its current form once the 15-month state administration ends.

The Agrokor parent will be liquidated and its three segments -- retail, food and non-core -- sold to finance payments to bond holders sitting on near-worthless debt, banks and suppliers, Ramljak said in a June 13 interview in the boardroom once commanded by founder Ivica Todoric.

In its bid to muster support from more creditors for its restructuring plans, Agrokor extended a deadline for participation in its 530 million euro ($604 million) loan, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The original deadline expired on Friday.

At Agrokor's 21-story glass and steel headquarters in Zagreb, an entire floor is dedicated to the task of dealing with creditors' claim demands for credit.

In the meantime, the transformation is already under way. Konzum will close as many as 100 of its roughly 700 outlets in Croatia, Chief Executive Officer Slavko Ledic said June 21, according to the news website Dnevnik.hr. The retailer is adjusting its supply chain and will honor contracts, Ledic said, insisting that stores remain well-stocked.

The growth in Croatia's gross domestic product this year may be 0.8 percentage points lower in case of an Agrokor default, without taking into account spillover effects via its international network of subsidiaries, economists at Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients Monday. The bank nevertheless kept its baseline growth projection at 2.8 percent on expectations that strong tourism revenue will offset negative effects from Agrokor.

Economy Minister Martina Dalic vowed Ramljak will do "everything he can" to save jobs by redistributing employees from stores that will be closed, according to an interview with N1 TV on July 2.

Ramljak traced some of the challenges to Agrokor's beginnings as a family-owned flower stand 40 years ago, saying it was still "run more as a mom-and-pop store than a modern corporation and completely mismanaged. How do you run such a company in such a way? It's impossible," he added.

There are 143 businesses under the Agrokor umbrella in various states of financial health across the former Yugoslav countries. Selling non-core interests, including a health clinic in Zagreb and four movie theaters in Belgrade, will take priority, Ramljak said. Food producers and farming holdings will be grouped or sold separately, he said, as will the Konzum and Mercator retail chains.

"The company is so big and so important that it had a huge lobby and many decisions from politicians in the end enabled Agrokor to grow that big in the end," said Lutz Roehmeyer, who helps oversee 12 billion euros at Landesbank Berlin Investment. "I don't think Agrokor will stay in one piece. It will be splintered."

There is still debate about whether Konzum, which has a 30 percent market share in Croatia, should continue as a brand name the future, even with a new owner. Todoric himself is keeping out of sight at his castle on the slopes above Zagreb. He declined an interview request.

As government officials and creditors continue talks, residents are increasingly angry that Agrokor is receiving preferential treatment and worried they might have to pick up the tab.

For Jadranka Jakopovic, a chemical engineer who was walking out of the Lidl back on Krk, it doesn't much matter. Croatia has moved on as a capitalist country and nationalism over local brands is obsolete in a way Todoric no longer understands, she said.

"If Konzum disappeared tomorrow, it wouldn't hurt my national pride," she said. When asked whether she would be concerned for suppliers still owed money, or for the state of the economy, she said: "Only if the people have to pay the price. Citizens always pay in the end."

---

Bloomberg's Boris Cerni and Luca Casiraghi contributed.
The United States and Russia have agreed to collaborate on backing a new cease-fire in southwest Syria, to begin Sunday, according to officials from both countries.

The agreement was reached a week ago but was not announced until after President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held their first face-to-face meeting Friday in Hamburg, at the Group of 20 summit. It would mark the first collaborative operation between Washington and Moscow during the Trump administration.

Similar efforts failed under the Obama administration, as agreed cease-fires quickly fell apart. The United States and Russia are on opposing sides in Syria's civil war, which began almost six years ago.

"This is our first indication of the U.S. and Russia being able to work together in Syria," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in Hamburg with Trump, told reporters after the meeting. "We had a very lengthy discussion regarding other areas in Syria (where) we can continue to work together," he said.

A senior State Department official, who was authorized to speak to reporters only on the condition of anonymity, emphasized the deliberately modest scale of the agreement. "We made a conscious decision to focus on one part of the conflict," the official said, "a more manageable part of a very, very complicated battle space."

The cease-fire is to take place in and around the southwestern city of Daraa, in a part of Syria where the front lines are more cleanly drawn and have been relatively stabler between Russian-backed forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and U.S.-backed opposition fighters than elsewhere in the country.

At the same time, there is a lower proportion of outside actors involved in the fight in the southwest than in other parts of the complex Syrian battlefield. They include Iranian-backed militias such as Hezbollah fighting on Assad's behalf and terrorist groups such as the former Jabhat al-Nusra fighting against Assad. Those numbers have been increasing lately in Daraa province, however, providing more impetus to the cease-fire negotiations.

While it has been largely out of the public eye compared with other parts of Syria, the fighting in Darra has claimed the lives of scores of people. The Syrian air force has been pounding the area with the barrel bombs that brought the rebels to surrender in Aleppo last year. Large parts of rebel-controlled areas have been reduced to rubble.

Russian aircraft also have conducted bombing operations around Daraa in support of Syrian forces.

Daraa province lies along the western end of Syria's lengthy border with Jordan.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick set aside July 7th to honor the five law enforcement officers in Dallas who were killed in the line of duty a year ago when Micah Xavier Johnson opened fire on them.

In a statement, Patrick said, "That was a dark day for Texas and for all America. Going forward, Texas has set aside July 7 to honor those law enforcement officers and every first responder who has laid down their life to protect their community. Today, we join with their families in prayer and remembrance. We honor their service and the ultimate sacrifice they made. We will never forget."
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U.S. Marshals recently announced the arrest of a 17-year-old Dallas murder suspect in New Jersey.

Taymor Travon McIntyre, 17, was arrested June 30 without incident in Elizabeth, New Jersey while staying with a friend.

Hours after his arrest, McIntyre's posted a music video on Twitter, writing "feds can't hold me back."

SLATED: Houston serial murderer known as 'Tourniquet Killer' gets October date with death

In the music video, which contains graphic language,"Tay-K 47" raps about robbing and shooting victims while waving a handgun in front of the camera. McIntyre also raps about running from police instead of "beating the case."

McIntyre, who is charged with capital murder, was pursued by federal authorities and was described as a "violent fugitive."

He allegedly fled to San Antonio in late March after being put under house arrest in connection to the 2016 murder of a 21-year-old in Mansfield. According to the Star-Telegram, McIntyre is also a suspect in a separate San Antonio murder.

BEHIND BARS: Houston man charged with capital murder in January slaying

In a statement, the U.S. Marshals Service said "dozens of tips poured in from the entire country," aiding in the teen's apprehension.

Click through above to see recent fugitives on the run from Houston-area police.
Police are asking for the public's help in bringing a missing San Antonio teen back to his family.

Jon Zarzosa, 17, was last seen the morning of June 8 before his father left for work at 6:15 a.m., according to a Facebook post made by Bexar County Sheriff's Office. Officials said that one of Jon's siblings called their father around 11:30 a.m. to report Zarzosa was nowhere to be found.
It was a marriage proposal that stopped traffic.

Now, exactly a year later, Vidal Valladares is happily married and finally off probation for the elaborate proposal.

Valladares  who made national headlines in 2015 by shutting down a Houston freeway to propose to Michelle Wycoff  admitted responsibility and publicly apologized for his actions.

On Friday, prosecutors dismissed the case, agreeing that he had successfully completed all of the requirements, including the apology.

I apologize to everyone for all the trouble I caused, he said, after agreeing to the deal. I put myself and Michelle and all the people on the highway in danger.

He added, You mess with the law, you pay for it.

On Friday, his lawyer agreed that he had paid for his mistake.

Mr. Valladares is happily married and he is happy to get this ordeal behind him, said attorney Mark Thering.

It was a Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015, when Valladares had friends stand in front of several lanes of traffic so he could propose to Wycoff in the middle of busy Interstate 45 traffic near downtown Houston.

The Harris County district attorneys office charged Valladares with obstruction of a roadway, a Class B misdemeanor.

Completing the probation means Valladares will not have a conviction on his record.

If he had been convicted, he could have been jailed up to six months in jail and fined $2,000.
About 40 protesters were waiting for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz long before he even pulled up to a Houston hotel on Saturday for his third town hall meeting in as many days in Texas.

While the event was promoted as a "Veterans and Military Town Hall," the army of protesters that lined the streets made clear they had another topic in mind: health care.

"They don't want to fix it, they just want to give tax cuts to the wealthy," said Paula Oddo, a retired teacher who was among protesters withstanding the blazing midday sun.

Cruz has become a clear target for protesters as he remains one of the key GOP holdouts preventing passage of a health care reform bill that has so far stalled in the Senate. Cruz on Thursday said despite efforts by prominent Republicans to get him on board with the Senate plan, he said the bill still doesn't accomplish his primary objective of lowering health care premiums.

During stops near Dallas and in Austin earlier this week, Cruz has said he is hopeful a deal can be worked out but steered clear of predicting it will happen.

At a 4th of July parade in McAllen and his stops in both North Texas and Austin, Cruz has been confronted with protesters opposed to GOP plans to scrap Obamacare. Cruz has risen to national prominence partly due to his insistence of ending the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama's signature legislative accomplishment.

Cruz said in Austin that he's going to continue to push to end Obamacare.

"This law isn't working," Cruz said in Austin. "People are hurting under it."

While healthcare has come up at each of his previous stops in Texas, Cruz has tried to stay focused on veterans issues. Specifically, Cruz has been trying to bring attention to legislation he has filed to require the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to hire a chief information officer to modernize outdated software and better watch over the VA's information technology. Cruz said better systems will help get health care to veterans and combat notorious long wait times.

Cruz also used the events to express his support for giving veterans more choices in where they get health care. Cruz said veterans should have more flexibility in getting care from the private sector instead of having to rely on the traditional VA hospitals and clinics. While there is a program to allow veterans to go to private care doctors when they live more than 40 miles from a VA facility, Cruz said it is too limited and needs to be improved. He said if veterans have choices, it will force the VA to improve wait times and care, just like the post office improved when private companies began competing with it.

The town halls have been part of a series created by Concerned Veterans for America, a non-profit advocacy group that has been a vocal critic of the VA's bureaucratic system.
What does gerrymandering really look like?

Were not talking about the imbalanced maps. The silencing of minority votes. The cracking and packing of districts to achieve and preserve political hegemony. Were talking about the process of making those districts.

What does that look like if we peel back the curtain?

Emails from the creation of the 2011 Texas maps give us a glimpse  if you can stand to look. They paint an ugly picture worth keeping in mind as the latest trial in Texas redistricting saga kicks off this week in federal court here in San Antonio. Its a trial that could lead to the redrawing of districts before the 2018 election, and almost certainly will lead to yet another appeal.

Gerrymandering looks like attorney and Republican operative Eric Opiela emailing about OHRVS, short for Optimal Hispanic Republican Voting Strength.

Or, as he wrote in 2011 in a now infamous email, a measure of how Hispanic, and Republican at the same time, we can make a particular census block.

Got it? Making a census block look Hispanic enough to make potential legal challengers (which used to include the U.S. Justice Department) look away while still helping a GOP candidate win.

Gerrymandering looks like U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith wondering if he could help then-U.S. Rep. Francisco Quico Canseco, If I gave him 3k more in bexar (either GOP or hispanics) and took edwards co in exchange.

And it looks like Republican attorney Ryan Downton explaining to Smith why that would be a bad idea.

I dont think we mess with quicos district  for your sake and his, Downton wrote. His is barely performing (or not depending on your measure) right now; add Rs (which will be Anglos) and you put a neon sign on it telling the court to redraw it. Bring down your numbers and youll have a Dem opponent every time. And they wont be Lainey Melnick.

Melnick, a Democrat, challenged Smith in 2010 and received a whopping 27.9 percent of the vote.

Gerrymandering looks like representatives choosing their constituents instead of their constituents choosing their representatives.

Smith said as much in a 2011 email: There is one (precinct) which includes two condo buildings w many gop supporters and the sa country club adjacent to my dist, he wrote. Wld really like to get.

He said he thought it might help Congressional District 35, represented by Democrat Lloyd Doggett much to the ire of Republicans, pass legal muster.

Such naked truth is exactly why a federal panel of judges found Texas lawmakers intentionally discriminated against minority voters in drawing these 2011 maps.

In a 2-1 ruling in March, the panel of judges invalidated three federal congressional districts: 23, 27 and 35. The judges found state lawmakers knowingly discriminated in making these districts, which are represented by Republicans Will Hurd and Blake Farenthold, and, of course, Doggett .

Canseco, the subject of so much Republican concern in those 2011 emails, used to represent District 23.

In a subsequent ruling, the judges found the Legislature intentionally diluted the clout of minority voters in state House districts across Texas.

The question now is whether the not-so-temporary, court-ordered 2013 maps are too similar to the flawed 2011 maps.

Its a legal question, but how is it really a question? Its obvious.

A recent Associated Press analysis declared Texas GOP the nations big gerrymandering winner. The analysis found gerrymandering led to four additional Republican U.S. House seats, which was more than any other state.

By contrast, Arizona, thanks to an independent redistricting commission, had some of the most equal representation in the country. Arizonas independent commission had plenty of political drama, but it worked despite the politics surrounding it. The end product served voters, not politicians.

The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear arguments on whether gerrymandering for partisan purposes can be unconstitutional. Racial gerrymandering is already unconstitutional, which Texas has discovered after decades of legal challenges to its maps. But, in Texas, voting is so racially polarized  minorities mostly voting Democratic, whites mostly Republican  that racial vs. partisan gerrymandering is a distinction without a difference.

The point here is that gerrymandering is an invisible force that defines our political lives. Its worst manifestation is voter suppression. Thats what Opiela was championing with his email about making census blocks as Republican and Hispanic as possible. Dilute the Hispanic vote, and in turn, deny Latinos representation.

But it also fosters and fuels extreme views because gerrymandering ripples, creating super safe partisan districts.

Think of Lamar Smith, whose renowned climate denialism never costs him at the ballot box. Or think of Blake Farenthold, who shamefully pushed the debunked conspiracy theory around Seth Richs murder. If they represented more competitive districts, they just might have to moderate themselves.

As long as partisan interests shape these maps, voters will fail to get the representation they deserve.

jbrodesky@express-news.net
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The Islamic States Sinai branch launched a deadly assault on a military outpost in the northern Sinai earlier today. More than 20 Egyptian soldiers, including several officers, were killed and at least 33 others wounded.

The raid began when a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden vehicle into a checkpoint near the village of el-Barth. Other vehicles (and possibly a second suicide bomber) then swarmed the location, with dozens of jihadists engaging in a firefight with Egyptian personnel.

On his official Facebook page, Egyptian Army spokesman Colonel Tamer Mahmoud El-Refaay portrayed the incident as a thwarted attack, saying that approximately 40 jihadists were killed and six of their vehicles destroyed. Images purportedly showing a number of dead jihadists were also posted on the Facebook page.

The Egyptian military also released a video of warplanes and helicopters being dispatched to the area, with a number of targets bombed in precision strikes. The video was intended to bolster the governments claim that the incident was quickly handled.

But the Egyptian Army can hardly claim that todays events were a success. Instead, it was perhaps the deadliest operation conducted against Egyptian soldiers stationed in the Sinai in the last two years.

El-Refaay indicated that 26 soldiers were killed, while State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert and other sources said 23 died as a result.

The Islamic States Wilayah Sinai (or Sinai province) launched a large-scale offensive on security forces in the peninsula just over two years ago. The July 1, 2015 assault reportedly numerous Egyptian soldiers dead, but the precise death toll from those coordinated raids is unclear.

The self-declared caliphate released a statement claiming responsibility for todays operation on behalf of the Wilayah Sinai. The statement indicates that two suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices were used.

The jihadists forced the Egyptian state to scramble in response.

According to the Associated Press (AP), the first suicide car bombing likely disabled the checkpoints military communications system, prompting an officer to use his own cellphone to record an audio message and send it to a colleague via WhatsApp. The officer has been identified as one of the soldiers who perished while attempting to defend the outpost. This might be the last seconds in my life, the man is heard saying, according to AP. Quickly, oh men, anyone who knows how to reach the command center, notify them to use artillery as we are still alive.

The Islamic State has claimed a series of operations in the Sinai in recent weeks, repeatedly targeting senior Egyptian personnel.

On June 22, the group claimed that a Humvee, a BMP vehicle, and another Egyptian Army vehicle were destroyed by improvised explosive devices detonated east of Arish, the capital city of the northern Sinai.

On July 4, the organization claimed that an Egyptian officer and a member of the intelligence service were assassinated in Arish. Three other Egyptian soldiers were also killed by improvised explosive devices east of Arish that same day, according to Islamic States Amaq News Agency.

Two days later, on July 6, an Egyptian police officer was purportedly killed in downtown Arish.

The jihadists claims could not be immediately confirmed, but the groups statements are certainly plausible given the Islamic States operational capacity in the area.

The Islamic State has two branches in Egypt  Wilayah Sinai (the so-called Sinai province), which carried out todays attack, and another one in the heart of the country. They are led by separate commanders, according to Islamic State propaganda.

The Sinai province is headed by Muhammad al-Isawi, also known as Abu Usama al-Masri. The US State Department designated al-Isawi as a terrorist in May, saying that he has led the group since Aug. 2016. Foggy Bottom said that al-Isawi spent time in an Egyptian prison before escaping during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

Al-Isawi assumed the top spot after the previous emir, known as Abu Dua al-Ansari, was killed. He had served as the spokesman for Wilayah Sinai and its predecessor group, Ansar Jerusalem, which pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in Nov. 2014. Ansar Jerusalem was quickly rebranded as Wilayah Sinai.

Even before Ansar Jerusalem swore its fealty to Baghdadi, al-Isawi frequently lauded the Islamic State in his messages.

In Oct. 2015, the Wilayah Sinai brought down a Russian airliner leaving the southern Sinai, killing all 224 people on board.

An interview with the head of the Islamic States arm in mainland Egypt was included in the English-language Rumiyah (Rome) magazine in March. He was not identified. The emir attempted to justify the jihadists high-profile bombings at Coptic Christian Churches. [See FDDs Long War Journal report: Islamic State leader in Egypt says church bombings arent popular.]

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
United Sevens | What it truly means

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SHORT FILM | What does the no.7 shirt mean? Allow Beckham, Cantona, Robson, Ronaldo and Toone to explain...
MOUNTAIN VALLEY  More than 100 people welcomed Vernon Koony Frog Gilbert to his new home during a housewarming party Friday night.

Gilberts house was built entirely by donations and through funding from Total Action for Progress (TAP) in Roanoke. When Rick Carter started the process last summer, Gilbert, now 69, was living in a shack without electricity or water  the house in which he was born and never left.

Friday evening, Carter stood on the front porch and addressed the crowd watching from below as Gilbert stood in front of the porch, smiling shyly.

This gentleman right here before you, most everybody knows him, Vernon Gilbert, Koony Frog, Carter said.

Carter said that Gilbert sometimes helps him in his construction work, so Carter has seen his old shack many times when he had gone to pay him. He became more and more concerned about the difficulties of Gilberts living conditions.

Several trips down there it kept sticking on me, sticking on me, and really, its a lot easier to walk away from something than to deal with it, Carter said.

It all came to a head when Gilbert dislocated his collarbone, which made hauling water jugs and cutting and stacking wood for heat too difficult. Carter said it made him realize people had better get together to help him get a better place to live.

Carter applied through TAP, but a mortgage loan from that organization would fulfill just a part of the need. Land needed to be secured, and a great deal of preparation would have to be done.

Jesse and Lucille Shelton donated a parcel of land just a walk through the woods from Gilberts former home off North Fork Road. Churches took up collections, and individuals made direct donations to a dedicated bank account as well as an online funding page.

The bottom line is we could not have built this house without everybodys help, Carter said. I know whats in this area as far as cooperation and goodwill.

Construction on the house began in winter, with Carters brother, Mike Carter, as the contractor. Anybody who knows anything about construction or just finish work can take a real close look inside this house. We added a few things. My brother applied to make sure it happened, Rick Carter said.

Mike Carter, joined by others giving donations and discounts, gave the house a great many upgrades over what the TAP funding would pay for: solid wood cabinetry, a large shower with a seat, hardwood floors, large porches, upgraded doors, extra windows and more.

Because of TAPs funding, Rick Carter said, His house payments are ridiculous small compared to what you and I are used to. He has a light bill, and he doesnt have a phone other than his cell phone. He has property taxes, and he has state taxes hes got to pay. TAP is the actual lien holder on this house, and if all payments are made, TAP would release the house from the lien in 10 years.

He is now a landowner and a homeowner, Carter said. Guess what! Happy days are ahead.

The crowd applauded heavily.

For as long as he has known Gilbert, Carter said, Gilbert has taken everything in stride and not complained about his harsh living conditions.

He never asked me or anybody in this community to do this, Carter said.

Carter said Gilbert is known far and wide for being friendly and helpful. As much as hes tried to give to this community, hes always had a friendly face. You dont see him with his lip poked out.

After Carters talk, people walked through the house and looked around. The living room has a deep, cushiony black sofa facing a wide-screen television. Above the sofa is a huge photograph of his former house.

The kitchenette is supplied with a small, two-seater table. One bedroom still is empty, but the other has a double bed with a blue plaid comforter. A television hangs on one wall, and the monitor of his security system hangs on the other wall.

The security system is wireless, and from his bed Gilbert will be able to see whats going on outside, if anything, Gayle Johnson said.

Throughout the house, in a nod to his nickname, frog knick-knacks are on display. A whimsical frog sign reads Koony Frogs New Pad July 2017 at the back door, and a cheerful frog decoration hangs on the front porch rail. Frogs also decorate the mailbox.

Lucille Shelton said that Gilbert always has been helpful to others and never complained about his situation. Knowing his story really makes people realize the blessings they normally take for granted, she added.

Throughout the event, Gilbert occasionally flashed wide smiles. His smiles seemed to be a big larger and freer than they had been in the past  thanks to a new set of teeth.

Dr. Peyton Moore made and fitted him with over-dentures and implants through the Virginia Dental Associations Donated Dental Services program.

Gilbert went through Donated Dentals application process and was approved, Moore said. Nine times out of 10, it (the program) is for disabled people or people who dont have income. His income levels qualified him.

This new type of dentures uses a dental implant which replaces the root of the tooth, Moore said. Titanium screws are installed permanently into the mouth, and the dentures snap onto them. The teeth are very much like natural teeth. They only need to be taken out once a day to clean them.

When Gilbert first tried the dentures he had a terrible gag reflex, Moore said, but hes done really well with that. That dudes a survivor. He has a tremendous sense of humor.

Gilbert walked through his house Friday showing aspects of it to the visitors. In the back yard, a tent was set up over tables which held refreshments.

It feels great to be able to move into his new home, Gilbert said.

Tonight went real well, said Vance Johnson, another of the organizers of the house effort. Its been real enjoyable. People have been a real big uplift for Vernon and its made this thing real good. Its pleasing to the heart to see something like this happen for Vernon and see the outreach of the people in the neighborhood to get this thing going for him.
MARTINSVILLE  Theres a new telephone scam circulating through the area, according to the Better Business Bureau.

A man whom the BBB referred to as Robert Smith called the organization for years. Imagine his surprise when he picked up the line one day and the man on the phone claimed he was the BBB treasurer, calling on behalf of Publishers Clearing House. Immediately, Smith knew something wasnt right.

I just started laughing at him, Smith said. He asked me what was so funny and I told him he was a scam. He hung up on me pretty fast.

Smith is one of many consumers who recently have reported receiving calls from scammers pretending to be BBB officials, calling on behalf of other organizations. To receive the prize, a person must first wire a certain amount of money, they say. These callers have namedropped the IRS, federal government and various well known sweepstakes organizations. The one constant variable in the calls has been the use of the BBB name in an attempt to appear trustworthy.

On one hand it appears even scammers know folks trust the BBB name, said Julie Wheeler, president and CEO of BBB Serving Western Virginia. But we want to stress that BBB does not represent any government agency or sweepstakes lottery, and will never call you and demand payment on behalf of another organization.

In many of these scam attempts, the caller will say the BBB is involved to make sure the transaction goes through smoothly.

Thats a red flag, said Robert Fincher, Martinsville City Police Department deputy chief.

They will not call you. Phone calls are not part of their job, Fincher said. Ive heard of scammers using the BBB and other legitimate organizations, like the American Cancer Association, to namedrop, saying they need funds for research.

Scammers often use threats or tempting prizes to trick their targets into compliance. In Smiths case, it was a brand new Mercedes.

I asked him what kind of Mercedes it was. He told me he didnt want to spoil it for me, but that the interior is black, Smith said. He couldnt even tell me what model it was.

Another aspect of the call didnt add up, either. While the person on the other line claimed to be the BBB treasurer, he chose a position that didnt exist.

First of all, we dont have a treasurer, Wheeler said. Secondly, we at the BBB will not call on behalf of another organization. We solve disputes.

People attempting to scam others often use timing to their advantage. The BBB warns consumers to be wary if they are asked or pressured into acting immediately. Scammers typically try to push people into action before they have had time to think.

Legitimate organizations wont threaten an individual or make them act on impulse. Even the IRS will give a person a chance to question or appeal what they owe.

[Scammers] dont give you time to think, Wheeler said. They want you to keep it secret and act right now.

Its like high pressure sales, Fincher said. They do it to get you to act on something right away. If its real, theyre not going to pressure you to act right away.

Another sign that a call likely is fake is that a person receiving a supposed prize never even signed up for the chance to win in the first place.

If its too good to be true, it probably is, Fincher said. They might say, A friend signed you up. Most of the time, thats not the case.

Youre not going to be awarded a prize you didnt sign up for, Wheeler said. If you do win, you dont have to pay anything, even a postage stamp. There will be no upfront taxes, no registration fees.

Unfortunately, time and time again, people fall for the trick.

They try to get your attention. Some people, curiosity gets the best of them, Fincher said. They think, What if this is real?

There are a few ways to confirm the legitimacy of a call. First, Wheeler suggests asking the supposed representative to send an award notice in writing  a real company would already have a persons contact information.

If you truly have registered and won a prize, theyre going to send something via mail, where you can verify the sender, Wheeler said. Theyre not going to ask you to pay and theyre not going to ask for any information over the phone.

Fincher suggests asking the person for a return callback number, as a person may make an initial phone call from any number they wish.

That will dissuade them, Fincher said. If you call back and the lines dead, thats an indication that it was a scam.

The best practice to avoid being scammed over the phone is to not answer calls from unrecognizable numbers. If its a legitimate contact, they will leave a message. Even if a scammer leaves a message, it gives a person time to think about whats being asked of them  and an opportunity to call the BBB or police to further investigate.

If you think youve been or might be scammed, get the persons info and call us, Fincher said. Well be happy to verify who that is.

Fincher also advised that the public be cautious when exchanging money for items purchased on Craigslist or online yard sale pages. Its a good practice to make sure the item a persons selling is legitimate before sending money to a stranger.

The BBB asks those suspicious of a scam to write down the phone number of those callers violating the Do Not Call Registry and file a scam report with BBB Scam Tracker and the Federal Trade Commissions Do Not Call List.
SPRINGFIELD -- With a classic TV series to his credit and a net worth greater than that of a small nation, Jerry Seinfeld explained to the crowd that filled Symphony Hall that he was there for the same reason as them.

He had nothing better to do on a Friday night and needed to kill time.

While many say life is too short, Seinfeld quipped that he feels it is too long, which is why people busy themselves looking for some activity to fill the time.

Social interactions reveal the conflicted nature of mankind, he said.

"We like to be around people, and yet we cannot stand each other at the same time," Seinfeld said. "We prefer to be close together because it makes it easier to judge and criticize the opinion and activity of the other humans. We can't wait to wake up in the morning and start giving our questions, comments, thoughts and assertions. Sometimes we don't have an opinion, we just make it up."

Unlike the single 40-something bachelor he played on his iconic NBC television series, Seinfeld has been married for 17 years and is the father of three.

"I did not get married until I was 45," he said. "I had issues and I was enjoying those issues."

As a married man, the 63-year-old Seinfeld says he no longer has single friends because they cannot understand the dynamics of married life.

"If you don't have a wife, we have nothing to talk about. You have a girlfriend? That's Wiffle ball. You're playing a paintball war and I'm in Afghanistan with real, loaded weapons," Seinfeld said. "A single guy is sitting on a merry-ground blowing on a pinwheel. I'm driving a truck full of nitro down a dirt road."

He ridiculed his generation for being doting, overprotective parents, noting that children are taken to bowling alleys with rails that block the gutters and guarantee their ball will hit the pins.

"We have eliminated the gutter,ball -- nice preparation for life," he said. "If your kid is traumatized by a gutter ball, he is not going to make it, OK?"

Opening for Seinfeld was Pittsburgh-born comic Mario Joyner, who lampooned airline regulations and reveled in his "miraculous" feat of staying single and not fathering a child at age 55.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The wife of Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee died Thursday at age 93.

Lee and his family released a statement saying Joan Lee died peacefully Thursday morning. The couple had been married 69 years.

Lee's longtime publicist Dawn Miller confirmed the statement's authenticity when contacted by The Associated Press.

No additional details were provided, and the statement requested privacy.

Stan Lee co-created numerous Marvel Comics superheroes including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men.

The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported Joan Lee's death, recounted the couple's first meeting in a story last year. It said Lee met his future wife while trying to meet another woman for a date in New York. The couple was married in December 1947 and had two daughters, one of whom died days after being born.

The 94-year-old Lee has credited his wife with supporting him early in his career, when he was trying to create superheroes that he and others could care about.

"We lost a member of the Marvel family today and our thoughts and prayers go out to Stan and his daughter Joan in this difficult time," Marvel wrote in a statement.
BOSTON - The Metro Cab Taxi driver who injured 10 people in Boston when he crashed his car at Logan International Airport on Monday may face criminal charges, Massachusetts State Police announced in a statement Friday.

State police are seeking to charge 56-year-old Cambridge man Lutent Clenord with operating to endanger.

Clenord injured 10 other cab drivers when he crashed his vehicle into a rest area for drivers at the airport around 1:40 p.m. Monday. People at the scene described a grisly crash, with one man telling Masslive that he saw a man "pinned on the side" of the vehicle, and that he witnessed "someone's bone" protruding from their leg.

However, none of the injuries proved life-threatening though one man was seriously injured. All of the victims were taken to Boston area hospitals for treatment.

Though there were initial concerns the event might be "terror-related," an investigation of the incident by authorities led to the determination that the crash occurred because of operator error, police said.

Police said a hearing will be scheduled for East Boston District Court where a clerk magistrate will decide whether or not to issue a criminal complaint against Clenord.

Police also said that they are seeking to revoke Clenord's license and had filed a threat notification with the state's Registry of Motor Vehicles. They also stated that they had suspended Clenord's hackney license indefinitely, turning it over to Boston police.

Hackney licenses are issued to cab drivers by the Boston Police Department as part of the department's regulation of taxi and sightseeing industry.

Clenord reportedly had no known history of violations and cooperated with police over the course of their investigation.
The findings suggest that the odor of what we eat may play an important role in how the body deals with calories. If you cant smell your food, you may burn it rather than store it.

by Robert Sanders

Full Story: http://www.futurity.org/smell-food-weight-metabolism-1477972/?utm_source=Futurity+Today&utm_campaign=28ea85a397-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_07_07&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e34e8ee443-28ea85a397-203916893
ndustrial logging in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may severely disturb rainfall patterns across sub-Saharan Africa and bring about more extreme weather, including intense droughts and flash floods. In a letter (https://bit.ly/3jr9DY0) sent today to the African Union, Greenpeace Africa is calling for an urgent discussion of the consequences that plans made in Kinshasa to lift its moratorium on logging would have for Congolese and African people in general.

Renewed industrial logging in the DRC poses a risk to Indigenous People, local communities and biodiversity, as well as the whole of sub-Saharan Africa, writes Greenpeace Africas Programme Director, Melita Steele, to the Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, H.E. Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko,

Africas climate is fundamentally linked to the state of Central Africas forests and massive logging can impact the quantity of rainfall throughout the region. The Congo Basin forest is estimated (https://bit.ly/3jr9Uu0) to contribute more than half of the annual precipitation in Sub-Saharan Africa, already facing (https://bit.ly/3B3r0nN) a plethora of droughts and extreme heat waves.

Last July, Congolese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment, Eve Bazaiba, decided to lift the moratorium on new logging concessions, which has been in place since 2002. The decision was approved on 9 July by the eleventh Council of Ministers, presided by President Felix Tshisekedi. An implementation decree is believed to be imminent.

Deciding on whether to protect or destroy the rainforest may be within the DRCs sovereignty, but the consequences of its actions will be felt everywhere from Nairobi to Dakar, from Pretoria to Abjua, writes Steele on behalf of Greenpeace Africa.

Beyond direct implications for Congolese and other African people, the decision to lift the moratorium is contradicting commitments (https://bit.ly/3b2bOg4) made by the President of the Republic, Felix Tshisekedi, at President Joe Bidens Leaders Summit on Climate, to protect the forest and increase forest cover by 8%. It also undermines the African Unions 2063 Agenda (https://bit.ly/3vy1dTH) and its Sustainable Forest Management Framework (SFMF) (https://bit.ly/3GaOGdA), promising that Africa will have zero deforestation and forest degradation and its forests will be protected, sustainably managed and restored through collaborative, cross-sectoral and transformative efforts to ensure the prosperity, food security and resilience of its people.

Finally, this jeopardizes Africas credibility in climate talks in COP26, set to begin in Glasgow in ten days, and the appeal from rich nations to support vulnerable nations annually with USD 100 billion to face the climate crisis.

Serge Ngwato, Greenpeace Africa forest campaigner in Kinshasa: We cannot expect Africas claim for climate funds to be taken seriously, when our own actions make the climate crisis worse. Renewing industrial logging would pose additional risk both to us Congolese and to our neighbours  the moratorium must be extended, while management rights over the forest must be granted to its Indigenous and local communities.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Greenpeace.

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A 23-year-old Clancy man is accused of stealing a car and going on a dangerous joyride at speeds more than 50 mph over the speed limit while intoxicated.

Casey Robin Kazimi faces felony charges of criminal endangerment and theft. Authorities arrested Kazimi late Thursday night after he allegedly drove 75 mph in a 25 mph zone.

Court documents say a sheriff's deputy saw Kazimi behind the wheel of a dark-colored car that was swerving on Park Avenue. Kazimi is accused of then running a red light, nearly causing a crash.

When the deputy activated his emergency lights, Kazimi allegedly accelerated as he turned onto Helena Avenue, the documents state. Kazimi is accused of ditching the 1996 Honda Accord and trying to run from the deputy. The car was later found to have been stolen on June 3.

A search ensued. Kazimi was found trying to hide in a storage lot at 1414 N. Montana Ave., the document note. A witness turned in a bag found in the area where Kazimi had been running. A traffic ticket with his name on it was found in the bag.

Kazimi failed field sobriety tests and was determined to be under the influence of drugs. He faces misdemeanor charges of DUI, obstructing a peace officer and fleeing from a peace officer.
Considered one of the fastest growing epidemics in the world, dengue is caused by the dengue virus, that has four distinct serotypes (DV1-4) The virus can cause a range of conditions including dengue fever, hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. Dengue fever is the most common and is a mosquito borne disease predominantly occurring in the tropical and subtropical parts of the world.

Monovalent vaccine pVAX1-D1ME and bivalent vaccine pVAX1-D1ME -pVAX1-D2ME showed protective induction of D1 and D2 serotypes of dengue virus. Researchers from Capital Medical University, Beijing, had conducted the study that paves the way for the development of tetravalent DNA vaccines against all four serotypes of dengue virus in humans. The study was published in the journal, Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.

Monovalent and bivalent vaccine success in inducing immune response is indicative of the development of a tetravalent vaccine against all four serotypes of dengue viruses.

Fever, as high as 106 F (41 C)

Headaches

Muscle, bone and joint pain

Pain behind the eyes

Vaccination for Dengue

DNA vaccines

pVAX1-D1ME Monovalent vaccine and pVAX1-D1ME -pVAX1-D2ME Bivalent vaccine



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To conclude in the words of corresponding author Dr. Jing An of Capital Medical University, China, where the study was conducted, "We are developing a dengue tetravalent DNA vaccine and evaluating the immunogenicity in animal models. Finally, we try to translate the DNA vaccine candidates for further clinical application."

References :

Zheng, X., Chen, H., Wang, R., Fan, D., Feng, K., Gao, N. and An, J. (2017). Effective Protection Induced by a Monovalent DNA Vaccine against Dengue Virus (DV) Serotype 1 and a Bivalent DNA Vaccine against DV1 and DV2 in Mice. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, doi:10.3389/fcimb.2017.00175 Effective Protection Induced by a Monovalent DNA Vaccine against Dengue Virus (DV) Serotype 1 and a Bivalent DNA Vaccine against DV1 and DV2 in Mice - (http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fcimb.2017.00175/full) Source: Medindia Both monovalent and bivalent vaccines being successful in inducing protective immune response in mice lays the foundation in the process of developing a tetravalent DNA vaccine - one that will provide immunity against all four dengue virus serotypes.To conclude in the words of corresponding author Dr. Jing An of Capital Medical University, China, where the study was conducted, "We are developing a dengue tetravalent DNA vaccine and evaluating the immunogenicity in animal models. Finally, we try to translate the DNA vaccine candidates for further clinical application."Source: Medindia

Citations Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report: APA Anjali Aryamvally. (2017, July 05). Human Tetravalent DNA Vaccines Against Dengue Soon to be a Reality . Medindia. Retrieved on Nov 11, 2022 from https://www.medindia.net/news/healthinfocus/human-tetravalent-dna-vaccines-against-dengue-soon-to-be-a-reality-171432-1.htm.

MLA Anjali Aryamvally. "Human Tetravalent DNA Vaccines Against Dengue Soon to be a Reality". Medindia. Nov 11, 2022. <https://www.medindia.net/news/healthinfocus/human-tetravalent-dna-vaccines-against-dengue-soon-to-be-a-reality-171432-1.htm>.

Chicago Anjali Aryamvally. "Human Tetravalent DNA Vaccines Against Dengue Soon to be a Reality". Medindia. https://www.medindia.net/news/healthinfocus/human-tetravalent-dna-vaccines-against-dengue-soon-to-be-a-reality-171432-1.htm. (accessed Nov 11, 2022).

Harvard Anjali Aryamvally. 2021. Human Tetravalent DNA Vaccines Against Dengue Soon to be a Reality. Medindia, viewed Nov 11, 2022, https://www.medindia.net/news/healthinfocus/human-tetravalent-dna-vaccines-against-dengue-soon-to-be-a-reality-171432-1.htm.

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The symptoms may include:There is presently no specific treatment or full-proof vaccination against all serotypes of dengue virus. While the recombinant, live, attenuated,(CYD-TDV, Dengvaxia ) is the most promising, vaccination related side effects in children below the age of nine, limits its administration. However, the push for DNA vaccines is accelerating due to its many potential benefits.The development of DNA vaccines is a radically new approach to vaccination that is based on in-situ (inside the body) production of antigens. It involves the introduction of a vector, usually a plasmid which is genetically modified to contain genes that encode particular antigens and produce an immune response in the host towards that specific antigen. The means of delivery are direct and may include microinjection or electroporation. These vaccines have an added advantage of being stable, inexpensive and easy to produce when compared to traditional vaccines. Due to lack of sufficient immunogenicity in large animals, there is presently no licensed DNA vaccine for humans.The vector used for the study was. It is a unique US FDA-approved vector for developing DNA vaccines.expressing precursor of membrane protein (prM), and envelope protein (E) of dengue virus serotype, DV1, was introduced into mice via intramuscular injection (IM) and electroporation. It was observed that administration with 50 micrograms of pVAX1-D1ME via electroporation with three immunizations induced persistent humoral and cellular immune responses and effectively protected mice against lethal DV1 challenge. Bivalent vaccine with a combination of pVAX1-D1ME -pVAX1-D2ME was also successful in inducing a balanced immune response against dengue virus serotypes, DV1 and DV2. However, the end point titers ofwere lower when compared to the monovalent titers, indicating interference between the two serotypes.
It sounds incredibly enticing right now when I'm subconsciously mapping the levels of zero productivity in a day (No, Saturday has nothing to do with this behaviour), to just fly down to something called a Nap bar where you can do exactly what you wantnap.

But, two things. First, money. Second, I really doubt that if you go to a nap bar like the one in Spain. And just for your information, yes, nap bars are a real thing; at least in countries like Japan, Argentina, Belgium and now Spain, they are. A nap bar is basically a bar where you go to sleep, for however long you want. You're provided with these inexplicably comfortable beds with mattresses that feel like you're being held in the arms of God or something like that.

(c) Lonely Planet

But, anyway, I'll try not to deviate from the point I am so desperately trying to make, with repeated failure (see, I said I was unproductive today). So, there is a Nap Bar in Spain and it is called Siesta & Go. Comprende? Great! So, you know just what to do.

Spain is the next country to join the trendy nap bar bandwagon that already has countries like Japan and Argentina onboard. But, unlike what the bar's name suggests, I assure you two thingsfirst, that there is more to do at the bar than just nap, like books and coffee, for instance; and second, that you will never be able to just siesta and go' from this bar.

This Nap Bar is the answer to our Mondays. A post shared by NYTT (@nytt_label) on Apr 11, 2016 at 3:38pm PDT

I mean, it puts your damn bedroom to shame, with all your fancy technology. Anyhoo! Point is, get your lazy behind off of your chair, buy a plane ticket to Spain (maybe let's keep it a one-way ticket, no?) and head to the nap bar where you can siesta all you want. Also, go rob a bank before deciding to do that.
A Helena man is accused of speeding away from authorities who were trying to arrest him on a warrant at his home. He was later apprehended after he returned to his residence during a pursuit.

As sheriff's deputies attempted to locate Jake Ronald Weaseltail at his Helena Valley residence June 27, he allegedly ran out the door and to his vehicle. Court documents allege Weaseltail sped out of the driveway with deputies in pursuit.

Weaseltail, 22, faces a felony charge of criminal endangerment.

Authorities say Weaseltail drove in a reckless manner as he sped along Mitchell Gulch Road, which is a windy, dirt road close to homes, at about 1 a.m. One of the deputies was driving about 50 mph and was unable to catch up to Weaseltail, the documents note.

Weaseltail is accused of speeding along Spokane Creek Road, then turning off his headlights.

Authorities charged Weaseltail with the felony on Wednesday. Weaseltail also faces a misdemeanor charge on accusations he had a bong in the vehicle. He also is accused of fleeing from or eluding a peace officer and driving on a suspended license, both misdemeanors.
Greece attended the Conference in Crans-Montana determined to contribute in every possible way to resolving the Cyprus problem, and in the hope that everyone would act in such a direction.



But Turkey's conduct dashed any hopes anyone had that there would be a change in its stance. Just as Turkey abandoned the first Conference, in Geneva, it torpedoed the second.



Turkey drove the Crans-Montana conference to an impasse. A very characteristic feature of its stance was the revelations Turkey made during the dinner on 6 July, when the UN Secretary-General expressed his intention of setting down in writing the points of convergence that had been achieved. His goal was to shape a framework for agreement so that the conclusive negotiations could continue, with Greeces consent, in New York. But this was not possible, because when the critical moment was reached at the Conference, Turkey resolutely refused to allow a number of promises it had made to the Secretary-General to be set down in writing.



This was typified by the Turkish side categorically refusing to accept the abolition of the inexistent rights of intervention it invokes. An abolition that, a short while earlier, at a bilateral meeting with the UN Secretary-General, Turkey had indicated it would accept at the dinner that was to follow. And this was because Turkey was aware that all of the participants apart from Turkey itself and the Turkish Cypriots demanded their abolition.



We remind that, three days earlier, the Turkish Foreign Minister had bluntly revealed Turkey's position, according to which Ankara "needed these rights so that it can intervene throughout Cyprus whenever it deems it necessary."



The Turkish side also revealed during the dinner of 6 July that it wants to continue the violations in the name of the Treaty of Guarantee, to ensure and perpetuate its military presence in Cyprus. And all of this was in spite of promises to the contrary made to the UN Secretary-General on the afternoon of Thursday, 6 July. Promises that, in hindsight, are revealed to have been an effort to create the false impression that it was ostensibly willing to negotiate. But lies never get one very far, and the truth always finds a way to come out.



As soon as Turkey was faced with the Secretary-General's proposal for a binding written record of the potential compromises, it was forced to reveal and admit its real positions and intentions. It became evident that, throughout the duration of the multilateral negotiations, Turkey had had no intention of compromising. Moreover, it also became evident that, through its stance, Turkey sought to deceive the UN Secretary-General. Immediately after these revelatory developments, the UN Secretary-General was forced to declare, in short order, that the Conference had ended.



So the Conference ended with the revelation/confirmation of Turkey's true intentions, which run counter to international law and the resolutions of the UN.



We reiterate that Greece will continue to work relentlessly, with all means at its disposal, for a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem, in close cooperation with the Republic of Cyprus, the UN and the European Union. And it calls on all of the parties to the Conference to show responsibility, respect for international law, and self-restraint.
DECATUR

Christmas in July sale aids shelter

Gods Shelter of Love at 929 N. Union St. is having Christmas in July sale starting Monday, July 10, and running through Saturday, July 15.

Volunteers are needed for several positions testing small kitchen appliances, sorting books, toys, kitchen items and home goods, measuring fabric and linens. Packing tape, rubber bands and large boxes are also needed.

Donations to the shelter is also welcome, including food, laundry detergent, shampoo and conditioner, tampons, bus tokens or punch cards and new carpeting.

For more information, to volunteer or to donate, call (217) 422-2790 or 2791.

DECATUR

Register now for Bible study

Six-week Bible study class will be 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 18 to Aug. 22, in Resurrection Life Church, 1085 W. McKinley Ave. Topic: "A Study in Hosea." Light continental breakfast served.

For reservations, call (217) 671-9176 by Wednesday, July 12.

SHUMWAY

Pantry releases July schedule

Shumway Freedom House Food and Clothing Pantry dates for the month of July are:

4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, July 11-12

noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 19

8:30 a.m. to noon, Saturday, July 29.

PENNSYLVANIA

Rabbis' convictions upheld by court

PHILADELPHIA  A federal appeals court has upheld the convictions of three Orthodox rabbis on charges they played roles in a ring that used brutal tactics to force unwilling Jewish men to divorce their wives.

A three-judge panel from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia affirmed the convictions in a ruling issued Friday.

Rabbis Mendel Epstein, Jay Goldstein and Binyamin Stimler were convicted in 2015 on charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. They appealed their convictions in January, arguing that there had been judicial errors during the trial.

Epstein, the accused ringleader, was sentenced to 10 years. Goldstein got an eight-year term, while Stimler received a three-year sentence.

The attacks were carried out from 2009 to 2013 in New Jersey, New York City and other locations.
DECATUR  Those most at risk from the states two-year budget impasse are still trying to make heads or tails of the $36 billion budget solution state lawmakers approved last week.

The Democrat-controlled legislature forced a major tax hike into law Thursday afternoon, over Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto. Using the $5 billion in new revenue, it gives the state its first annual spending plan since 2015, when Rauner took office and settled into a two-year stalemate with leaders over taxes and economic policy.

In Macon County, the budget deadlock threatened a spectrum of social service agencies, causing Baby TALK to lay off much of its staff and jeopardizing the future of the citys only domestic violence shelter. It halted road projects and construction of Richland Community College's Student Success Center and left schools holding the bag on tens of thousands of dollars trapped in a payment backlog.

The breaking of the political logjam came amid breathless predictions from some that the new package will drive America's most financially dysfunctional state further into the abyss, and from others that it will finally stop the fiscal bleeding.

Decatur Memorial Hospital President and CEO Tim Stone said the breakthrough is welcome to providers that have been awaiting funds.

It takes uncertainty off the table," he said.

While she was happy that lawmakers passed a budget, Central A&M schools Superintendent DeAnn Heck wasnt fully ready to celebrate Friday.

Hopefully there is money, and we get the money that is promised, she said. I want to see the money first.

Supporters of the tax hike present it as responsible governance in the face of dire circumstances. In fact, the personal income tax hike  up by almost a third  actually raises the previous 3.75 percent tax to just 4.95 percent. The move means schools, state vendors and other obligations that have been shorted by the lack of a budget can start counting on their checks again. It may allow Illinois to start paying down (or at least stop adding to) its $15 billion pile of unpaid bills.

And it could convince the major rating agencies not to reduce Illinois' credit rating to junk, a historic first that was inevitably coming if the state did nothing.

Detractors point out that the new Illinois corporate tax will go from 5.25 percent to 7 percent  which, with the additional 2.5 percent personal property replacement tax that's assessed on Illinois corporations, will give the state one of the highest effective corporate tax rates in the country.

More than that, say critics, the new plan leaves in place the state's plethora of other taxes that conservatives have long complained are a drag on the economy, particularly its high property and sales taxes. Even before last week's hikes, the state was consistently listed among the top 10 in America in terms of aggregate tax burden.

And the threat of a junk rating  a key motivator in passage of the tax hike and budget  still isn't off the table. While Fitch Ratings last week lauded Illinois for concrete progress, Moodys Investors Service announced it has placed the state on review for a possible downgrade anyway, because it doesn't consider the new revenue to be enough to get of out of the hole it has dug, including $251 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.

While some negative consequences were averted at the last second, the jury was still out for many agencies working to suss out the details of the new legislation. Here are some of the stakeholders:

Schools

If Democrats and the governor have any fight left between them, a showdown awaits under a legislative trick left by House Democrats in the budget. Part of the bill language prevents the release of money for public schools without the governor signing an "evidence-based funding formula."

That has essentially left Rauner with Bunker Hill Democratic Sen. Andy Manar's landmark school funding legislation that would send more state education dollars to poorer school districts. Rauner announced after the bills passage in May that he would veto it because it directs several hundred million dollars to Chicago to shore up the city's teacher pension system.

Decatur School District Chief Operational Officer Todd Covault said the district plans to rally behind the legislation proposed by Manar, whose district includes Decatur. Republicans introduced a competing bill during the General Assembly's special session that began last month, but it did not receive a vote.

Republicans say their version of an evidence-based formula gets rid of the pension money set aside for Chicago and gives more to downstate schools. But Covault said the added money for Decatur under that plan would be offset by a provision in the Republicans bill that would have local school districts, rather than the state, contribute the employer cost of public school employee pensions.

Covault said his own prediction is that Rauner will make an amendatory veto on Manar's school funding bill, enacting the new formula but changing it to cut Chicago's pension funding.

"I think that's where you'll probably see the property tax (freeze) issue arise again and the worker's compensation issue arise again," he said, citing two issues Republicans and the governor have been tussling over with Democrats.

Covault said, as he understands it, amendatory veto or not, Manar's bill would mean an additional $2.77 million for Decatur public schools.

"It's definitely a step in the right direction," he said.

Heck, the Central A&M superintendent, said that she and school board members believe they have always been watchful of their expenses and had continued to make plans for the upcoming school year. Before the budget was passed this week, the school had funding for a year and three months, without help from the state.

We had money set aside that would have kept us open, but it was scary, Heck said.

She continues to be apprehensive about the school's financial outcome.

There are so many questions, since it is unknown territory, Heck said. But I hope we never get to this point again.

Several other Macon County school superintendents contacted for this story did not return messages seeking comment Friday.

Dove Inc.

The fate of Macon Countys only domestic violence shelter, run by Dove Inc., was threatened by the budget impasse. Dove Executive Director Christine Gregory told the Herald & Review in June that the agency would have just 60 days of funding available after July 1, when it would have exhausted its line of credit.

The state had failed to meet contracts it had signed with the agency for 2017 and was more than $500,000 behind on payments.

Two other programs  Homeward Bound, which provides supportive housing and case management for the homeless, and the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP)  also had not received state funding.

In response to questions on Friday, Gregory directed the Herald & Review to a statement on the organization's Facebook page. In it, she said that nearly 87 percent of the work for which the state had signed contracts with Dove would be paid.

Dove will take a hit of a bit over $100,000 for the year for services which we have already provided in good faith, she wrote. While this is difficult, we understand that this is a necessary part of beginning to unravel the States ongoing financial issues.

Its unclear how or when the payments will be processed for the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years, as the final budget did not include a prioritization scheme, Gregory said.

The agency has been seeking other sources of funding for the upcoming fiscal year to continue its programs.

Baby TALK

Baby TALK, which provides early education and family support to a largely low-income population, is funded through the Macon-Piatt Regional Office of Education. Executive Director Shauna Ejeh, said the state owes Macon-Piatt more than $600,000, and is also behind in payments on other Baby TALK programs.

As a result, Baby TALK has laid off 34 employees, most of them full time, and began limiting its intensive home visiting to parenting teens. It also the cut the Success Together Experiencing Play and Stimulation (STEPS) program, which provides education, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and developmental therapy for children enrolled in early intervention or Macon County Family Literacy programs.

Ejeh said the passing of a state budget is a good sign, but shes still waiting to find out exactly what it means for Baby TALKs funding.

We do know that theres been an overall increase in dollars going to early childhood, but we dont know that that means for us, Ejeh said. Even if its a 5 percent cut, we know well be getting at least a minimal level of funding.

Once the money flows, it will allow us to resume our full level of services. Weve sent a hardship letter to the comptroller and are asking legislators to call the comptroller on our behalf to get the 2017 Fiscal Year payments rolling again and paid off.

Richland Community College

Since Richland Community College President Cristobal Valdez took office last year, he has never been able to expect a reliable stream of state dollars. That finally changed Thursday with the budget passage, which also freed up money promised to the colleges $6.3 million Student Success Center.

Since its 2014 groundbreaking, construction on the center has stopped twice because of the budget impasse. While he does not have a firm date, Valdez said he thought work could begin again as early as Monday.

"We're positive we can start this soon, and it's important we won't lose any time on our construction deadline for completion," he said.

Anticipating the worst, the colleges board approved a spending plan earlier this year that did not include any revenue from the state. Valdez said he has been told by the Illinois Community College Board that Richland would receive state funds in the new budget. The total amount should be known early next week, he said.

That revenue will be used to pay down debt the college has acquired in recent years and will alleviate the need to borrow more, he said. Recent staffing decisions, including elimination of five administrative positions, 18 layoffs and 14 buyouts, will stay in place, as will Richland's plan to do a program viability study this fall.

Valdez said college leaders were extremely happy about the budget passage and the certainty it provides.

"We're pleased with our local legislators who have taken a tough vote, difficult vote, and we're glad they continue to support and advocate for higher education, he said.

Macon County

Much of the state revenue promised to Macon County has continued to arrive regularly, Auditor Carol Reed said Friday, but several departments are thankful that an agreement has finally been reached.

Among those excited were Keyria Rodgers, director of Special Projects for the Macon County States Attorneys Office. Without a budget, the countys Adult Redeploy program was set to be suspended for a second time in the past two years.

Rodgers said she received word Friday morning from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority that they will start to receive state funds, which equal about $365,000 annually.

We were so relieved to hear the news, said Rodgers.

The program works to rehabilitate nonviolent adult offenders to save costs on taxpayers who otherwise would have to pay for incarceration, Rodgers said.

Rehabilitation through Adult Redeploy Illinois costs $4,400 compared to $23,400 in incarceration costs, according to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.

The program was originally suspended in November 2015 due to the lack of state funds, but was started up again several months later after being told by ICJIA that they would be reimbursed for their cost.

The other department that can be relieved about the states budget is the Probation Department. Reed said they are owed about $600,000 for grants to provide court services for clients.

Im hoping that can get freed up here soon, Reed said.

Growing Strong Sexual Assault Center

Like many other social service agencies, Growing Strong was waiting Friday to hear how much money it could receive and when. Regardless, the news was welcome, Executive Director Cathy Byers said.

As an agency, we were thrilled to hear a budget was passed, Byers said. It was desperately needed not just for this agency but for other social service organizations in this community.

Growing Strong had experienced a 40 percent staff cut because of the impasse, but returned to full capacity in December through community support. Still, its been a struggle to pay other bills, such as utilities, she said.

Receiving state funding will help us get back on track and not looking week-to-week and month-to-month, do we need to make cuts and how are we going to sustain ourselves, Byers said.

Hospitals

Stone said the state owes DMH $54,617,367.86. He said the new budget guarantees payment of that sum, but he wasnt sure how quickly DMH would see that money.

From our perspective at DMH, this is a good thing, Stone said.

Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) has nine hospitals in Illinois, broken into two regions. Between them, they are owed more than $100 million in Medicaid and state employee health insurance.

The Central Illinois division includes St. Marys Hospital in Decatur, St. Johns Hospital in Springfield, St. Francis Hospital in Litchfield and Good Shepherd Hospital in Shelbyville. Those hospitals are are owed $44 million in Medicaid and $55 million for state employee health insurance, said Catie Sheehan, executive director of marketing, communications and advocacy for the central division.

The state owes $26 million for Medicaid and $20 million for state employee health insurance to the hospitals in its Southern Illinois division. That includes St. Anthonys Memorial Hospital in Effingham, St. Elizabeths Hospital in Belleville, St. Josephs Hospital in Breese, St. Josephs Hospital in Highland and Holy Family Hospital in Greenville.

HSHS officials could not be reached for comment about the budget Friday.

Crossing Healthcare

Crossing Healthcare is a Federally Qualified Health Center, meaning that its revenue comes from the federal government.

But the center was awarded a $3 million state capital construction grant to build its new facility at 320 Central Ave., according to Crossing Director Tanya Andricks. In early 2015, Rauner froze all state capital grants, but Crossings governing board chose to continue with the building project.

Over the last several years, Crossing has been carrying twice the debt burden as planned, Andricks said. This has caused us to delay things like cost of living increases for our staff. And weve had to reduce the number of physicians on staff and rely heavily on physicians assistants and nurse practitioners.

Passing a budget means we are closer to receiving the funding awarded to our organization, which will allow us to put more dollars toward health care, instead of interest payments.

Herald & Review reporters Donnette Beckett, Justin Conn, Claire Hettinger, Tom Lisi and Ryan Voyles contributed to this report.
One of Barack Obama's principal arguments in seeking the presidency was that his stance as an outsider uninvolved in past Washington battles would enable him to break through the capital's pervasive partisanship.

But the neophyte president actually achieved his principal legislative success by hiring experienced Washington operatives who joined with veteran congressional Democrats in passing legislation designed to produce the party's long-sought goal of health care coverage for all Americans.

After Republicans captured the House in 2010 and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell vowed to prevent Obama's re-election, gridlock reasserted itself. That helped Donald Trump, even more of an outsider than Obama, sell the notion that his nonpolitical background and business experience could make Washington work again.

But Trump has proved so unknowledgeable and inexperienced, and his White House so inept, that he is damaging rather than helping achieve the stated goals, like repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, on which most Republicans campaigned. In the process, he's giving inexperience a bad name that hopefully will lead, eventually, to a president better-equipped to do the job.

Between his impolitic comments, often antagonistic attitude toward lawmakers and inability to convey a positive sales message, Trump has undercut -- rather than reinforced -- efforts by top Republican professionals like House Speaker Paul Ryan and McConnell to achieve their mutual goals. They need help from a functioning White House, like the Democrats did, since they have small majorities, especially McConnell.

The basic problem is that the widening divide between increasingly ideological parties has made governing far more difficult. There are fewer of the pragmatists who once helped presidents like Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton form coalitions to enact major measures like tax and welfare reform.

But such office-holders do exist, especially in the Senate and many governorships. The best hope for breaking the current deadlock may lie in concentrating on fixing Obamacare's problems, rather than aiming for long-sought conservative goals like repealing it and slashing a Medicaid program that is crucial for millions of Americans.

A possible direction was suggested in some little-noticed comments by Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, a former Tennessee governor and chair of the committee that would help write the health measure under normal legislative procedure.

Alexander said he would like to draft legislation geared toward stabilizing the marketplaces and providing a temporary continuation of subsidies paid to insurance companies to offset out-of-pocket medical expenses, The New York Times reported.

That would focus on the most urgent current issues, but would require a more bipartisan approach. That's been the message of Senate Republicans like Maine's Susan Collins, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, Colorado's Cory Gardner, Louisiana's Bill Cassidy, Ohio's Rob Portman and West Virginia's Shelley Moore Capito, who played major roles in delaying McConnell's bill.

A bipartisan group of governors is pushing a similar message. As first reported by The New York Times' Alexander Burns, they have sought quietly, behind the scenes, to push lawmakers toward a bipartisan compromise and away from a partisan approach that would devastate Medicaid in their states.

Virginia Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, the chairman of the National Governors Association, and Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, vice chairman of its health and human services committee, wrote a joint letter urging McConnell to show restraint in seeking a bill.

On the very day he delayed Senate consideration of the GOP measure, Republican Gov. John Kasich of Ohio and Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado held a joint news conference to denounce it. "This bill is unacceptable," Kasich said, noting it would hurt the poor and the mentally ill and benefit "people who are already wealthy."

It's unclear if these outside efforts or the reluctance of more moderate GOP senators will keep McConnell from reaching agreement on some version of the current bill. Complicating his quest, the repeal effort, while supported by the Republican grass roots, is highly unpopular in the country as a whole. Four recent polls show its support ranging from 12 to 27 percent.

If he fails, the growing disruption of the health insurance market may force McConnell to work with the Democrats on a more pragmatic approach like Alexander suggested. That would ultimately require support from the more conservative House -- and a decision by the Trump administration to end its inconsistent attitude toward the federal payments that enable many Obamacare recipients to pay their insurance.

Meanwhile, Trump may be giving inexperience such a bad name he ultimately convinces voters the presidency is no job for a neophyte, and that a better course is someone with governing experience. Like Reagan or Clinton.

Carl P. Leubsdorf is the former Washington bureau chief of the Dallas Morning News. Email him at carl.p.leubsdorf@gmail.com.
Last week, I covered an event that was quite unique -- in my 16 years of covering news, I had never attended anything like it. It was a ribbon cutting for new restrooms at the Main Park in Sebewaing. A Michigan Department of Natural Resources $100,000 grant helped pay for this project, and the grant was funded not by taxpayer dollars, but by leasing of federal land by oil and gas companies. Village and state officials praised this park restroom project as a great benefit to the community, as the previous restrooms were more than 60 years old and were not compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.

A ribbon cutting for new bathrooms -- boy, did I have some goofy ideas for headlines for this one. While the newspaper editor makes the decision on the headline, the writers are encouraged to suggest headlines for their stories. Here are of the suggestions I had floating around in my crazy mind.

"Officials flushed with excitement about new restrooms."

"Community bowled over by new park bathrooms."

"Sebewaing has new park restrooms - here's why you should give a  well, you know."

I also thought the ribbon for the ribbon cutting would be made of toilet paper. It wasn't - it was a bit fancier than that.

All toilet-talk aside, the new park restrooms are a very cool thing. It's a project that shows how a community listens to its residents' needs and does something about it.

Two years ago, a Parks and Recreation survey was available for Sebewaing residents. The survey asked them about their top priorities for updates to the park system. The No. 1 priority -- new restrooms at the Main Park.

The village didn't just sit on these survey results. They didn't simply put it on a bucket list for someday, but who knows when. Village officials took action immediately, applying for the grant and enlisting Spicer Group for assistance in the process.

Things didn't happen overnight - but they were accomplished. The old bathrooms were demolished and the new ones constructed just in time for the Michigan Sugar Festival.

The village took the residents' wishes and made them a reality. Isn't that what living in a great community is all about?

I'm impressed by the new bathrooms. Saying they are a huge improvement is a big understatement. There's even an option for moms or dads with multiple children to manage. It's large enough to fit a stroller. Cue the "Hallelujah" chorus now!

Village officials are now looking into the No. 2 priority from the survey -- a walking path from the Main Park to the South Park. This could very well become reality before too long.

New restrooms may not seem like a smart investment to some naysayers. But think about it - when you go to any business -- a restaurant, a store, a gas station -- and nature comes a-callin', don't you appreciate it when the bathrooms are kept in good order? If they are despicably gross and stinky, that sends a smelly message to you, right? It says the business doesn't care enough to keep its restrooms nice for its customers. You can tell a few things about a business based on how well they keep up their bathrooms.

The same thing goes for park bathrooms. When you go to a park and the bathrooms are disgusting, your opinion of the community is affected by that. You might think twice about frequenting that park, especially if you have children (who commonly have a bladder the size of a pea). On the flip side, if the bathrooms are updated and clean, it gives you a good feeling that the community cares about its resources and its people.

As for the Sebewaing Main Park, I avoided the old restrooms like the plague. Those creepy things made port-a-johns look like the Grand Hotel. If I was at the park and had to go, I opted to hold it until I got home, which is relatively close. I typically could make it. Oops, did I say typically? I meant all the time. Yeah. All the time.

Now that Sebewaing has taken the plunge to create the restrooms its residents have asked for, it's time for the residents and visitors to return the favor. Please respect them and take care of them. Don't treat this community investment like yesterday's rubbish. The building itself is very well made, but like any structure, it needs ongoing TLC. So do your part to keep things squeaky clean.

A former staff writer for the Huron Daily Tribune, Traci L. Weisenbach is a freelance writer from the Upper Thumb.
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CASEVILLE  In Costa Rica, you have a better chance of being killed by a falling coconut versus an alligator attack.

At least, that's what the natives say.

For a group of Caseville High School students, they set that and all other statistics aside and turned a week-long adventure to another country into a trip full of memories.

Kaylin Ewald, Natalie Campis, Carly Simmons, Rayne Avalos, Dominic Willenberg, Cody Simmons, along with their Spanish teacher, Kristen Zagorski, traveled to Costa Rica recently to explore different types of cultures.

Ive traveled with students before, and its a good opportunity to put the language (Spanish) to use and learn a new culture, Zagorski said.

The journey to Costa Rica started two years ago when Zagorski sent out surveys to all of her Spanish students to peak some interest. Once she had a set amount of students interested in the trip, the fundraisers began.

The students set out for Costa Rica on June 19 and experienced a lot of firsts in their lives, including Campis first time on an airplane.

Coming from Caseville, the students said Costa Rica was a major culture shock in the different communities they traveled to.

It was really eye-opening on how they conserve energy, Avalos said. Theyre the only country with 100 percent renewable energy.

Although the group was able to take a touristy outlook on their trip, they were also involved in community service days where they worked on an organic coffee plantation as well as help build a sidewalk  which was hard work, but something new for each of them.

The differences in the roads, which were much smaller and narrower, gave me some fear, Carly Simmons said.

Visiting a new school setting was also something different for the Caseville students. At Centro Educativo San Pedro, the kindergarten through eighth grade school consisted of two full-time teachers and one English teacher.

I loved dancing with the children and seeing their interaction with us, Campis said.

When they werent hard at work doing community service, the students were able to enjoy some time traveling through many rainforests and jungles and hanging out at beautiful beaches made up of black, volcanic sand.

We heard monkeys screaming at each other quite a bit, Avalos said.

The journey started in San Jose, Costa Rica, and moved north to the rainforests, then toward the Pacific side of the country, before ending on the Atlantic side.

The elevation was much higher and made my ears pop quite a few times, Avalos said. One day, the temperature reached 124 degrees.

The food was much different than what they were used to in America.

Every meal had beans and rice in it, Willenberg said. I ate tongue, and it tasted like roast beef. It was better than anything Ive ever had before.

All of the juices were great and so fresh, Avalos said with a chipper smile.

And the bananas were excellent, Ewald added. I dont enjoy bananas, but these were excellent and I didnt mind eating them at all.

While visiting a coconut plantation, the students said they were told an average of 16 deaths are reported each year from falling coconuts. The deaths caused by crocodile attacks each year? One.

However, the Tribune could find no statistics backing up these claims, and "death by coconut" is a fairly old urban legend. Nevertheless, the students found it interesting.

As the crew started their way back to the Thumb, they learned one valuable lesson at the airport: You arent allowed to take shells from the island.

I got stopped at the airport and searched because I had shells in my luggage, Campis said.

Zagorski said another trip, possibly to Peru, is already in the works.

One thing they each agreed on is that, given the same opportunity, the students would quickly do it all over again.

It was a great way to experience how lucky we are back home compared to how people live there, Cody Simmons said.

"I'd like to thank everyone in the Caseville community for their continued support over the last two years in their efforts to making this possible," Zagorski said.
CASS CITY -- The proposed plan to make Cass City a dairy processing center is stalling.

When ground was broken in September 2013 for construction of the $40 million Dairy Farmers of American (DFA) processing plant at 4105 N. Division St., it was to be the first phase of a multi-phase project.

"Back when the DFA project started, the plan was to have three dairy processing facilities in Cass City," said Tuscola County Commissioner Tom Young. "That is still the hope, but a power source is needed for development of the second phase."

Because Young used to be the Michigan Department of Economic Development business development manager for the Thumb area, he has extensive knowledge about the DFA's plans.

"I knew about and was working on DFA's projects back in 2007," he explained. "For the next dairy processing phase to move forward, it needs power, and soon. DTE said it would take approximately three years to run power to the new (proposed) plant in Cass City. DFA would like to see that timeline shortened to two years. A power line would have to be run for four miles."

DTE has several projects ahead of the one for DFA.

"We asked if the power project for DFA couldn't be pushed forward, but DTE (officials) said that wasn't possible because other projects would have to be delayed in order to do that," Young said. "We even asked Thumb Electric about supplying power, but they can't go into DTE territory according to regulations. DTE is the only game in town."

In the meantime, Young is working with Tuscola County Economic Development and conferring with state officials on the issue.

"DFA officials are not happy about the wait and are looking at other possible sites in other areas of the state," he said. "A power source is the big issue. Cass City is the best location because of all of the dairy farmers in the area. It is only about a 40- to 50-mile drive to the Cass City plant for milk haulers, where it would be over 100 miles to other parts of the state."

The 33,000-square foot plant in Cass City processes about 3 million pounds of milk each day and has about 25 employees. The plant processes raw milk into condensed, whole and skim milk as well as cream.

"There are several dairy farmers in Tuscola, Huron, Sanilac and Lapeer counties that would benefit from developing the processing centers in Cass City, and there is also the jobs it would bring," Young said. "A few more jobs in Oakland County isn't a big deal, but it would be for the Thumb area that needs jobs."

In June 2016, DFA announced an expansion of the Cass City dairy facility. At the same time DFA, Foremost Farmers USA, and Michigan Milk Producers Association announced they are exploring a joint ownership and operation of a major cheese processing plant in Michigan because of the growing milk supply in the state, lack of available processing capacity within the regions, and market accessibility.

That announcement did not say where the cheese processing plant would be located.

Then, at the first of the year, DFA, Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) Foremost Farms USA and Glanbia announced they are in advanced discussions to create a standalone joint venture to build and operate a new cheese and whey production facility in Michigan, but they declined to say the exact area being considered for their joint venture.

As part of the proposed joint venture DFA, MMPA and Foremost Farms would supply the required milk for the plant while Glanbia will be responsible for all commercial, technical and operational aspects of the business.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis again pushed a diplomacy first response to North Korea's ICBM threat Friday, despite the initial reluctance of China and Russia to back the U.S. on pressuring the Kim Jong-un regime.

At the Pentagon, when asked if he expected more tests of a missile that could hit the U.S., Mattis said that "as far as another test in future, you'll have to ask people in Pyongyang about that. However, this is a diplomatically-led international effort to stop a worldwide threat that they are bringing to bear."

"So it is led by diplomacy right now. There are United Nations efforts under way, as you're aware," Mattis said, although China and Russia earlier this week blocked the effort by U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to condemn the test firing on Tuesday of an ICBM prototype and impose additional sanctions.

In Hamburg, Germany, where he was attending the G-20 nations economic summit, Trump met on the sidelines with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the growing threat from Kim Jong-un's nuclear programs and missile tests to develop an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

They later issued a statement saying they would "never accept" a North Korean regime armed with nuclear weapons and said they would continue to press "for early adoption" by the UN of additional sanctions on North Korea.

Moon has frustrated the U.S. by refusing to approve the deployment of a full battery of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system south of Seoul pending an environmental study. Only two of six of the THAAD launchers are now in place.

However, Reuters reported Friday that the U.S. now has approval to carry out a test in the coming days of the two THAAD launchers against an intermediate-range missile threat.

At the UN on Friday, the agenda was taken up by a vote on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons, which found the U.S. and North Korea in rare alignment. The U.S., North Korea and other nations with nuclear weapons boycotted the vote by the UN Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons.

To loud applause, Costa Rican Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gomez, the president of the Conference, announced the results -- 122 nations in favor, the Netherlands opposed and Singapore abstaining. "We have managed to sow the first seeds of a world free of nuclear weapons," Whyte Gomez said.

None of the nine countries known or believed to possess nuclear weapons -- the U.S., Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel -- supported the treaty. Israel's long-standing position is that it will neither confirm nor deny that it has nuclear weapons.

In a statement, Haley joined with the ambassadors of Britain and France in explaining their decision to boycott the vote. They said the treaty "clearly disregards the realities of the international security environment" and "is incompatible with the policy of nuclear deterrence, which has been essential to keeping the peace in Europe and North Asia for over 70 years."

The treaty also did not take into account "the grave threat posed by North Korea's nuclear program, nor does it address other security challenges that make nuclear deterrence necessary," the three ambassadors said.

Mattis stressed diplomacy at a Pentagon meeting with British Secretary of State for Defense Sir Michael Fallon. He said it was too early to assess whether a dummy warhead atop the North Korean missile launched Tuesday had survived re=entry into the atmosphere, which would be a major milestone for the program.

"We're still analyzing the latest tests at this time, so I don't want to speculate or mislead you at this point," Mattis said. "Obviously, they are continuing to mature a threat in violation of the United Nations, and that's the way we look at it. But right now, I can't give you a specific on that."

On Thursday, Mattis told Pentagon reporters that "I do not believe this (ICBM) capability in itself brings us close to war because the President's been very clear, and the Secretary of State's been very clear, that we are leading with diplomatic and economic efforts."

"However, the military remains ready in accordance with our alliance with Japan, with Korea,"Mattis said. "We stand ready to provide options if they are necessary."

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at richard.sisk@military.com

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Dear Dr. Roach: My resting heart rate is between 90 and 120, averaging 106 over the past week. I feel no pain or discomfort, but even mild exercise causes my heart rate to shoot up. I have had bloodwork (including thyroid levels), an electrocardiogram (Holter monitor), an echocardiogram and a treadmill stress test. All of the tests show no signs of heart problems except for tachycardia. I am taking several medications, including Fetzima and Abilify. Is it likely that one of the medications is causing my problem?

My internist says that my heart rate was in the normal range about four years ago. I started taking the Fetzima and the Abilify three years ago for depression and anxiety. I was not aware of my heart rate being over 100 till I was informed at a screening two months ago. I experience no sensation of flushing or warmth.

Before I found out about the tachycardia, I was working out 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Since then, I have been advised by my doctor not to do anything strenuous until we get my heart rate down. I am 70 years old. He says I probably shouldn't get my heart rate over about 130 during exercise. I have been using a treadmill daily. This morning my resting heart rate was 107. After 20 minutes at a very slow pace on the treadmill my heart rate was 128. Of course, I expect my heart rate to increase with exercise. But with my resting heart rate so high, that doesn't allow me to get in a good workout.

-- K.I.

A: The resting heart rate is normally between 60 and 100, so yours is definitely over the normal range. Although this is common, it does require an investigation into why it is going on, since there are some potentially serious conditions that might be causing it. Many conditions can cause it in the short term -- fever, infection, low-volume state and many others -- but this has been going on a long time for you.

Your doctor has already done much of the appropriate workup. Heart failure (a scary-sounding term that means a decrease in the mechanical ability of the heart to pump blood) is one cause; the echocardiogram is the best first test to evaluate that possibility. Electrical abnormalities in the heart are evaluated by the Holter monitor, and the stress test evaluates for blockages in the arteries, among other things. So, it sounds like a heart problem is less likely. People who don't exercise at all often will have a fast heart rate, especially if they are heavier, but you exercise regularly. I agree with your concern that your heart rate went up too high with exercise.

The timing with the medications is too suspicious to be ignored. I have never prescribed Fetzima (the generic name is levomilnacipran, normally used for depression), but when I looked it up, it does show that tachycardia is a known side effect. Aripiprazole (Abilify), another medicine used in psychiatry (sometimes for atypical depression, often for disorders with thinking), also is associated with tachycardia. It's my suspicion that one of these medicines may be the culprit, and you should discuss with whomever prescribed it whether there might be alternatives.

Great blood pressure

Dear Dr. Roach: I'm (a young) 72. My blood pressure varies between 117/70 and 125/80. Is this OK?

-- V.C.

A: Yes, those are great blood pressure numbers for just about anyone. The blood pressure normally goes up and down, so the numbers you see are within the expected range.

* * *

Questions about breast cancer and its treatment are found in the booklet on that subject. To obtain a copy, write: Dr. Roach, Book No. 1101, 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.75 with the recipient's printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.
Part of what makes any marriage work is getting to share the ho hum, day-to-day details of life with your partner. But what if your partner works in a field that demands secrecy? What if there are secrets in your marriage because he or she simply can't tell you what is happening during the day?

While most service members can talk to their spouse openly about deployment, training in the field, or what they did at the office, those who hold special security clearances can't. And the stress that secrecy causes can be overwhelming.

And then there's the uncertainty that comes with that kind of job. Military spouses at home often do not know when their service members will be called away, deployed or where they are deployed to, much less when they are coming back. Special Operations or Special Forces troops may "only" have brief deployments lasting two to three months, but they will easily rack up to ten to fifteen deployments or more throughout their careers.

Those security clearances and job requirements come with the pressure to live completely separate lives -- a work self and a home self. Spouses are rarely able to even visit the office or building their service members works in. Meeting co-workers is difficult when the common "so what do you do?" cannot be answered. Rather than be constantly frustrated, those spouses tell me they resort to not asking about their service members' days at all.

When I hear these stories from spouses in the "special" communities, I am most concerned about the disturbing or traumatic experiences and information these service members witness but have few safe places to process, other than with co-workers who hold similar clearances. That leaves the spouses at home wondering how to help and what to say.

Drinking, infidelity and adrenaline seeking behavior are on the rise and many spouses feel hopeless in their efforts to support their service members. They wonder: if they don't know what happened, how can they even practice empathy?

While the military spouse can easily get counseling using his or her benefits, the stigma is astronomical for the service member who feels they cannot be seen going near a counselor's office. Counseling is limited to chaplains, if there is one assigned to the unit, or another resource that must have the same level of clearance in order to talk openly.

So what do couples in high-level clearance or "special" communities want and need? What can you do if your marriage is a union of three -- you, your spouse and an umbrella of secrecy?

Secrets in Marriage: Find shared moments

In my work, I've found that spouses at home tend to approach the secrecy problem in two extremes. They either connect heavily within the military spouse community for extra support or disconnect from the community altogether.

Both of these reactions are not entirely unhealthy. Finding support with others that understand your lifestyle can give you a place to feel normal when your experience feels different from the average military family. And treating it as "just a job" and blending in with the civilian community can make it easier to ignore that your spouse is off doing dangerous missions or things that can't be discussed. Creating normalcy feels like the answer.

But when it comes to marriage, couples need to find creative ways to connect that do not have anything to do with the job. One spouse told me they started planning date nights that were exciting and memorable. Doing so created opportunities to destress, have fun and provide new memories that can be talked about. Another mentioned that they found an outside charity to get involved with that gave them a sense of purpose together. Either way, shared moments that are more than a movie and dinner can provide excitement, conversation and face-to-face time.

Secrets in Marriage: Find ways to communicate anyway.

Just because you can't talk about the mission or specifics doesn't mean there aren't ways to talk through the tough stuff. Service members can talk about grief, frustration and stress without going into details that violate their clearance. Practice a daily Check-In with your spouse to communicate bigger themes. Even high-level general conversations can allow decompression for both of you even though you aren't going into the details.

Clearance in the job doesn't have to rob the intimacy from your marriage. Be more intentional with your time together and the gaps in your relationship will begin to close.

Keep Up with the Ins and Outs of Military Life

For the latest military news and tips on military family benefits and more, subscribe to Military.com and have the information you need delivered directly to your inbox.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Cloudy and windy this evening, becoming partly cloudy after midnight. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 39F. Winds N at 20 to 30 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy and windy this evening, becoming partly cloudy after midnight. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 39F. Winds N at 20 to 30 mph.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan has filed a FOIA request for raid and training material documents regarding a raid on Sava's Restaurant in Ann Arbor in May.

Michael Steinberg, legal director for ACLU Michigan, said possible action will come after a review of the obtained documents.

"We want to get to the bottom of what happened," he said during a press conference through the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights Saturday, July 8, in Liberty Plaza.

"We have to continue to talk and protest, because this is not normal."

It has been more than a month and a half since Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided Sava's Restaurant in Ann Arbor and arrested three men and detained another permanent resident on suspicion them being illegal immigrants.

Since then, Jesus Ortiz Hernandez has been released into ICE's Alternatives to Detention program. Through the program, Hernandez is required to check in with Enforcement and Removal Operations officers while in the immigration hearing process.

Carlos Rivera-Ochoa, an employee at Sava's Restaurant with a permanent residency identification card, has since been fearful of being mistakenly detained again. He keeps his green card on him, in his wallet, at all times.

Sergio Cardenas Rubio and Mohamed Souman remain in custody from the May raid, with their futures unknown.

Immigration attorney Brad Thomson, representing Rubio and Rivera-Ochoa, wants to know why.

Thomson spoke to the Liberty Plaza crowd to update people on the situation with Rubio and Souman with the following message: "The official update is that there is no update."

He said each of his requests as to why one of his clients was put in handcuffs before being asked for his identification and why another was unable to contact him initially despite asking for an attorney has been ignored.

Instead, Thomson posed 10 questions to the crowd regarding ICE conduct during raids and their accountability to citizens. He asked why ICE officers are not required to wear body cameras, what their protocol was when dealing with an immigrant's Miranda rights and ICE's lack of transparency when involved in a raid.

"Deportations in Michigan and Ohio, an area served by the Detroit based ICE office, are on track to exceed last year's numbers," Thomson said. "Why is ICE choosing to deport non-criminal immigrants causing families to be torn apart in stead of using its resources to be focusing on immigrants with a serious criminal record?"

From October 1, 2016, to April 8, 2017, more than 1,400 immigrants were deported under the jurisdiction of the Detroit ICE office, Thomson said, including 759 with criminal records.

Also in attendance at the press conference were Maria Ibarra-Frayre, a local immigrant rights advocate and undocumented immigrant; William Lopez, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan who studies the effects of immigration raids on communities; and Lourdes Bautista-Salazar and her children, a family fighting to stay together amidst the threat of deportation.

Steinberg spoke of holding ICE and other policing agencies accountable for their actions. He recounted the day of the Sava's raid and the day of the round up of more than 110 Iraqi nationals in Detroit as instances of misuse and abuse of power.

"Our immigration policies should not be a death sentence," he said. "(The ACLU) has had many cases with (ICE) where they acted like cowboys. ICE is starting to round people up at places where they would never do it before."

Steinberg pointed out ICE showing up at places like courthouses as undermining the justice. Undocumented eyewitnesses or victims might be afraid to assist in solving or reporting a crime, which could in turn lead to more problems for a community.

Several speakers also raised the question of ICE styles of enforcement, which Lopez went so far as to consider "legalized racial profiling."

"There are no visible markers that someone is undocumented, so instead what ICE uses are signs of class and signs of race," he said. "(During) the Sava's raid, a single warrant for one man was used to arrest other men of color from different minority groups, including a man who was not even undocumented."

Thomson said following the press conference, he would be mailing these questions to the Detroit ICE offices.

It is unknown when the Michigan ACLU's FOIA request will be granted.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Almost fifty years after the first body was found, a new book is reexamining a series of serial killings in Washtenaw County.

On Aug. 7, 1967, Eastern Michigan University student Mary Fleszar was discovered fatally stabbed, her fingers and feet cut off.

The 19-year-old was just the first victim in one of Michigan's most infamous killing sprees.

John Norman Collins was convicted in one of the seven murders that took place in Washtenaw County between 1967 and 1970, although authorities believe he is linked to each crime.

He's currently is serving a life term in the Michigan prison system and, even after 50 years, has maintained his innocence.

Collins has been the subject of many books, movies and television shows over the years. The latest is Gregory Fournier's "Terror in Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked."

Fournier said he and a researcher spent five years scouring public documents, conducting interviews and reading old newspaper accounts in an effort "to write the most complete retelling of this regional tragedy."

The slayings are alternately remembered as the "Co-Ed Murders," since many of the victims and Collins had ties to EMU, and the "The Michigan Murders," which is the title of a popular book published by Edward Keyes in 1976, not long after Collins started his lengthy prison sentence.

Fournier said "Terror in Ypsilanti" has two big advantages over Keyes' book.

"'The Michigan Murders' was written five years after the last murder took place and does not benefit from fifty years of hindsight," Fournier said. "It was essentially a cozy mystery that changed the names of the murdered girls and their killer, obscuring the historic facts of these crimes."

Fournier has a personal connection to the case: He recalls seeing Collins around Ypsilanti while they were both attending EMU. The two were in the same English education program and Collins lived one block down the street from Fouriner, who recalls a couple of unpleasant encounters with him.

Fournier remembers recognizing Collins when his picture appeared in the newspapers following his arrest and ultimate conviction for the strangling and beating death of the final victim, Karen Sue Beineman.

It's believed Collins killed Beineman in the Ypsilanti home of his uncle, a corporal with the Michigan State Police who was vacationing at the time.

Fournier said the six other murders weren't given the same detailed treatment, because they weren't brought to trial. He hopes his book will help shed some light on some overlooked aspects of those cases.

"People in Washtenaw County who remember this case were never given a full accounting of the facts for six of the seven murders," Fournier said. "This terrible event left an indelible mark upon the psyche of people in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor at the time. There was a huge gap in the historical record, and I felt I was aptly equipped to back fill the information vacuum."

Fournier will appear at Nicola's Books in the Westgate Shopping Center, 2513 Jackson Ave, in Ann Arbor, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, to speak and sign copies of the book.
ANN ARBOR, MI - An Ann Arbor immigration attorney is calling attention to questions still unanswered with a press conference Saturday, July 8, to address federal immigration raids targeting Washtenaw County residents.

The press conference, which is open to the public and organized by immigration attorney Brad Thomson, is set for 12:30 p.m. at Liberty Plaza in Ann Arbor.

Plenty of questions remain after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across Washtenaw County on May 24 resulted in multiple men detained, one man handcuffed before being asked for his green card and another man still in custody, Thomson said.

"It's frustrating," he told The Ann Arbor News. "We need these answers. Even if they are answers I don't agree with, I just want to know what the answers are. What can we do at this point if ICE is not responding?"

Thomson currently is representing three men involved in the ICE raids: Sergio Cardenas, a Sava's Restaurant employee identified by immigration officials as Sergio Cardenas Rubio; Jose Ricardo Valle-Rodriguez, a Ypsilanti father who is still in custody, and Carlos Rivera-Ochoa, another employee of Sava's Restaurant with a permanent residency identification card.

It has been more than a month since Thomson traveled to the Detroit ICE office looking for answers as to why his client was handcuffed before being asked for his identification.

At the press conference, Thomson said he and several speakers hope to call attention to that question and the others that have piled up since like why ICE agents do not use body cameras.

Speakers could include Maria Ibarra-Frayre, a local immigrant rights advocate and undocumented immigrant; Bill Lopez, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan who studies the effects of immigration raids on communities; and Michael J. Steinberg, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.

The wives of Rivera-Ochoa and Valle-Rodriguez plan to attend the press conference, Thomson said, as their husbands are unable to be there.

The purpose of the press conference is to call attention to specific issues and the overall lack of response to Thomson's queries and those of other immigration attorneys across Michigan.

Thomson said he wants to know why Rivera-Ochoa was not asked for his permanent residency card before being placed in handcuffs, why Cardenas was not able to contact him after asking ICE agents to speak with his lawyer, and the reason for not providing a warrant associated with the ICE raid at Sava's Restaurant.

Another issue that has arisen is the lack of body cameras on ICE agents, which Thomson said would be beneficial for both parties.

"It definitely gets rid of a lot of he said, she said," Thomson said.

Since then, additional situations like the 114 Iraqi nationals in Metro Detroit taken into custody by ICE in June have continued to spark frustration with federal immigration efforts, he said.

Thomson wants better communication and direct responses from Detroit ICE Director Rebecca Adducci, whom he said has not provided specific answers on how ICE agents implement policies such as dining at places ahead of what the organization calls "targeted immigration enforcement efforts."

"Who do I turn to get these questions answered?" Thomson asked. "If we put in any requests now, they just get ignored."

It is even more frustrating for his clients, he said, who are going through these situations and now speaking out to ensure others will hopefully not have to endure the same obstacles.

Clear and consistent communication between immigration attorneys, their clients and ICE is more important than ever as Thomson said the country moves into an "era of deportations."

"There's some overall increasing tension between the immigration lawyer community and the ICE community," Thomson said.

While surprised at the lack of response, Thomson made it clear he is still searching for answers that have eluded him and his clients for weeks.

"I felt like somewhat of a duty to speak for the voices I'm hearing in the community," Thomson said. "These families are getting torn apart and it is really difficult when that's happening on top of the fact that we're trying to get answers on these procedural questions."
BANGOR TWP, MI -- The Bay City State Recreation Area could have a new name and changes to hunting and trapping areas at Tobico Marsh.

The state recreation area could be renamed to its original designation, the Bay City State Park, pending approval from the Natural Resources Commission of the Department of Natural Resources. In addition to the name change are proposed modifications to the hunting and trapping boundaries at Tobico Marsh.

Public comment on the two proposals are accepted by the DNR's Natural Resources Commission before its Thursday, July 13 meeting in Lansing.

George Lauinger, unit manager of the Bay City State Recreation Area, said those wishing to submit a public comment in person must attend the meeting.

Written comments before the meeting can be submitted to: Natural Resources Commission, P.O. Box 30028, Lansing, MI 48909 or email: nelsonc@michigan.gov. For further information, contact Cheryl Nelson at 517-284-6237 or email: nelsonc@michigan.gov.

The order is titled, "Order to Re-designate Bay City State Recreation Area to Bay City State Park; Tobico Marsh Boundaries."

Lauinger said the proposals are part of continued change at the state recreation area. He added the hunting and trapping proposal was drafted by the DNR's Wildlife Division and is a Wildlife Conservation Order amendment that increases the area where hunting and trapping is allowed in the southern Tobico area of the park.

"It's to provide hunters and trappers more recreational opportunity to pursue their activity," Lauinger said.

Lauinger said a decision could likely be made at the commission's August meeting, but public comment must be heard next week.

The manager said the popular Tobico trails are unaffected by the proposed changes and remain open all year. The only difference is the trails will be in an area open to hunting. The southern tip of the trails are in an area that requires a hunting permit.

The Bay City State Recreation Area was known as the Bay City State Park from 1923 until 1994, according to a memorandum to the Natural Resources Commission. Before its inception in 1923, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources approved and accepted a transfer from the city of Bay City of a tract of land along the shore of the Saginaw Bay with the condition that it become a state park.

In 1994, just after approximately 2,000 acres (collectively known as the Tobico Marsh) was added to the park, the memorandum states that it was re-designated the Bay City State Recreation Area. The purpose of the acquisition was to manage the area as a sanctuary or controlled hunting area for waterfowl.

In Michigan, a state park or refuge is closed to hunting and trapping unless otherwise noted in the Wildlife Conservation Order or by permit from the department.

The DNR recommends defining Tobico Marsh, where hunting and trapping has historically been allowed, and changing the marsh's boundary while implementing a seasonal rather than annual closure. The proposed changes would eliminate the all-year closure for the marsh's refuge and allow for it to be open for a long period of time.

Unofficial maps of the current state of Tobico Marsh and proposed changes can be found on the state recreation area's Facebook page.

If you take a look at the maps, the current layout shows two sections of the park closed all year to hunting and trapping -- the "Tobico Marsh Unit Refuge" and "Bay City Unit."

The proposed change would open the "Tobico Marsh Unit Refuge" to entry and hunting and trapping from Dec. 16 to Aug. 31 and be closed Sept. 1 to Dec. 15. The refuge is currently closed to entry unless the user has been issued a hunting permit, according to the memorandum.

For safety reasons, the refuge closure beginning Sept. 1 allows for limited contact between hikers, wildlife watchers and hunters, the memorandum states.

Green areas on the map indicate spots open to hunting and trapping all year long. The "Bay City Unit" would remain closed to hunting and trapping.

A small section of the marsh would be open to hunting by permit only, which is depicted in the third map. That location would be roughly the area of the east-west causeway by Tower 1, the Tobico parking lot and the acreage south of that to Killarney Beach Road, Lauinger said.

Reasons for the change are to allow more hunting and trapping opportunities without a permit, according to the memorandum. The additional acreage for hunters should be the only changed affected by the proposed boundary modifications, Lauinger said.

"We want to make sure people who come here for other reasons aren't going to fear any concerns by those who recreate here by hunting and fishing," he said.

The new boundary line between hunting and non-hunting would be Euclid Road.

"Regardless of what the decision is, we want to make sure people continue to have hunting and trapping opportunities in the park," Lauinger said. "That is an important part of Michigan's heritage and comes into the need of us to successfully manage our wildlife populations -- by hunting and trapping."

An item on an action plan drafted last year by a community task force was to re-designate the state recreation area to a state park, according to the memorandum. Community leaders believed the title was too confusing to visitors and media and would restore the state recreation area to its original roots.

"We're confusing people by calling ourselves state recreation area," Lauinger said.

Changing the name back to Bay City State Park "is expected to help draw more people to the facility, increase commerce for local tourist-related businesses, and help lessen confusion for those potential users who are seeking more information," according to the memorandum.

The proposed changes come after a new boardwalk was added to the state recreation area for easier access to the beach.
Michigan national guardsmen stood at the ready as firemen battled one of the numerous blazes in riot-torn district of Detroit in July 1967. Riots ripped the motor city following similar demonstrations in New Jersey. (AP Photo)

By Ben Solis

The debate over what to call Detroit's week of unrest in July 1967 will rage on as the Detroit Historical Society and its partners commemorate the riot-rebellion's 50th anniversary.

The Detroit Historical Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and other area institutions are planning a number of tours and exhibits in the weeks leading up to Sunday, July 23  which will mark 50 years from the first day of the infamous melee.

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Women prisoners arrested for various offenses during the rioting in Detroit, July 28, 1967, board a bus at Wayne County Jail under the watchful eyes of National Guardsmen for transfer to Eloise, a detention home for women on the edge of the city. Mass arrests of men, women and juveniles have taxed jail facilities in the city. (AP Photo)

Other events include concerts and a home movie marathon of riot footage from those who witnessed it first-hand.

Heres a look at all the ways you can learn more about what happened to Detroit in July 1967.

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A Michigan State officer searches a youth on Detroit's 12th Street, July 24, 1967, where looting was still in progress after the city's rioting. His companions lean against the wall waiting their turn. (AP Photo/file)

Riot or rebellion? - Detroit 67: Perspectives

After spending two years compiling 450 personal testimonies on the events of July 23- August 1, 1967, the Detroit Historical Museum in June opened its 'Detroit 67: Perspectives' exhibition.

The elaborate exhibit includes an artistic mix of multimedia, scenic recreation, physical artifacts and interactive displays

It is free and will be on display through 2019.

More: Detroit 1967 - riot or rebellion? Exhibit explores perspectives 50 years later

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(Arab American National Museum)

Concert of Colors: music of the rebellion

The free, long-running world music festival known as Concert of Colors is celebrating its 25th year with a timely theme: music of the rebellion, commemorating of the anniversary of the unrest of 1967.

Concert of Colors is scheduled for July 12-16 at various venues in Midtown Detroit.

This years lineup includes headliners like avant-garde Detroit jazz group Griot Galaxy and local legend Don Was with his All-Star Review.

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Doug Coombe

Was show is aptly titled Music of Rebellion, with a heavy bent toward the uprising in July 1967 and revolutions all over the globe.

His lineup also features Detroit glitterati like Motowns Dennis Coffey and Melvin Davis, John Sinclair, Sweet Pea Atkinson and many more.

For more information on the lineup and venues, visit the Concert of Colors online.

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Congressman John Conyers, Detroit Democrat, uses a bullhorn as he tried to encourage African Americans in Detroit's riot area to go home, July 23, 1967. He was met with shouts of "No, no." As Conyers stepped down a rock hit the street a few feet from him. (AP Photo)

Through the Fire bus tour

Take a ride through the streets of Detroit most affected by the riot on a bus tour hosted by the historical society and Black Scroll Network History & Tours.

The three-hour tour will give riders a glimpse of how the riot started, what happened and what areas have changed as a result of the rebellion.

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As of Friday, July 7, the tour was sold out, but the historical society was signing up people on a waitlist.

For more information on the waitlist, call 313-833-1801.

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Charles H. Wright Museum

Charting the rebellion

The Charles H. Wright Museum, located at 315 E. Warren Ave., is planning to host three events, including a two-part gallery exhibition, a concert and a rally calling for black unity and community building.

All events will take place on July 23.

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The first event is a gallery opening, titled Say It Loud: Art, History, Rebellion. The exhibit will display in two parts. Part I will present a collection of photographs and quotes detailing the events that led up to the July 1967 riot-rebellion.

Part II will show off 40 nationally recognized artists spanning multiple generations. Their work details the awe, tragedy, and potential for transformation when people rebel, according the museums website.

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Charles H. Wright Museum

A 6 p.m. concert at the museum will explore the roots of jazz and hip-hop and how it inspired a cultural revolution.

After the concert, community leaders plan to hold a rally at 8:45 p.m. by the United We Stand statue outside the museum.

For more information, visit the museum online.

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Rita Dickerson

Black art and Civil Rights

The Detroit Institute of Arts, located at 5200 Woodward Ave., will present its array of art from 1960s-70s African American collectives to highlight the buildup and aftermath of July 1967.

Art of Rebellion: Black Art of the Civil Rights Movement will feature 34 paintings, sculptures, installations and photographs produced by the collectives. Each piece explores the struggle for equality, some of which center around the rebellion in Detroit.

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Adger Cowans

The gallery will run from July 23 to Oct. 22. Admission to the museum is free for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

Adult admission is $14, $9 for seniors, $8 for college students with valid ID and $6 for kids and teenagers. Children under 5 years old get in for free.

For more information, visit the DIA online or call 313-833-7900.

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Detroit 67 Home Movie Marathon

Detroit Home Movies: Father's Day Happy Father's Day! Check out this home movie made in Detroit and Caro, MI during the early 1960s. The clip was shared by the Rokita family as part of the DIA's Detroit Film Theatre project "Detroit Home Movies," which aims to collect home movies made in the city in the 1960s. The initiative is part of "Detroit 67: Looking Back to Move Forward," a city-wide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Detroit Rebellion. The DFT will show this clip and many more during a marathon screening on July 29. As part of this event, the DFT is seeking volunteer musicians to perform eight to 10-minute pieces between film chapters. Amateur musicians of any genre are encouraged to send samples to Detroit67Film@dia.org. Posted by Detroit Institute of Arts on Sunday, June 18, 2017

The DIA will offer another look into the past with a movie marathon of loaned or found home movies showcasing scenes from everyday life in Detroit during the year 1967.

Each movie explores different aspects of Detroits diverse communities with retro flair.

The marathon is scheduled for July 29. For more information, visit the DIA's movie marathon event page.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A class project has put Amy L. Johnson's life on an unexpected trajectory.

Her work, now a published book, "Letters Lost Then Found," has her crisscrossing the state visiting stores, libraries and conferences to connect with strangers about her family's story of love and loss during World War II.

The book chronicles the extensive correspondence between her grandfather, William Raubinger, and his youngest brother, U.S. Air Force Lt. Frederick J. "Buzz Boy Pete" Raubinger, who fought in the China-Burma-India Theater and died at age 19 in a plane crash returning home in 1945.

Published by Grand Haven-based Splattered Ink Press, the book had garnered several national accolades. The most recent is the 2017 International Book Awards finalist and the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

"Unfortunately, awards do not equal sales or Amazon reviews," said Johnson, a North Muskegon resident. "I'm not discouraged yet, the best is yet to be. I am thoroughly delighting in the journey."

She began the project while earning a BFA in graphic design at Kendall College of Art & Design at Ferris State University in downtown Grand Rapids. Johnson enrolled in college after her 17-year job working as a contract graphic artist with Steelcase ended in 2007, and she found her lack of formal education kept her from being considered for jobs in her field.

Johnson was considering a different project, when her professor encouraged her to pursue the untold story of her grandfather and his youngest brother.

The project won a student Best of Show Addy award in 2014, before going on to win the prestigious Gold Addy Award in the National American Advertising Awards. Those early laurels convinced Johnson to listen to people's advice to publish the book.

She sees the book as a way to honor her grandfather, a circulation manager for The Grand Rapids Press for 30 years, and the Saginaw News for 20 years.

He didn't discuss the heartbreak of losing his youngest brother, who was 11 years his junior, in the war.

Johnson would later discover her grandfather had kept his brother's letters, along with copies of all the letters he had sent back in reply, in a file cabinet in the basement. She found them while cleaning out her grandmother's house after she died in 2001. Johnson put correspondence in a binder to share with family members, who added photos to the collection.

The letters -- handwritten and typed -- take center stage in the 202-page book. Those three years of correspondence capture what was going on the frontlines and the homefront.

Johnson's design skills give framework to the brothers' words. Brief excerpts next to each letter and 'Day in History' sections on each page offer the reader a glimpse of what was happening in World War II at the time each letter was written. She describes the ticker tape style of facts as adding context like a radio playing in the background.

The images of the correspondence, photos, telegrams and even the envelopes the letters arrived give the book the intimacy of a scrap book or a journal.

The book invites readers to "trace the penned letters with their own fingertips, in the process, be transported to a bittersweet time and space where words competed with war to inhabit the deepest chambers of the heart," wrote Tom Rademacher, former award-winning columnist for The Grand Rapids Press, in a review on the back of the book.

Another fan is Tom Brokaw, the award-winning journalist who wrote the bestselling book, "The Greatest Generation," about the Americans who fought in World War II.

After she sent him the book, Brokaw responded to her with a postcard with this encouraging message, "I see quite a lot of collections but this one stands out."

While selling a book is a never ending task, Johnson has enjoyed rubbing shoulders with other authors at book signings. She has also appreciated the keen interest from readers, who have their own letters from relatives and wonder about how to save these personal historical documents.

"This has been a blessing," Johnson said. "I have met some wonderful people. I've had wonderful conversations."

Next month, she is scheduled for an event in Saginaw, the community where her grandfather and great uncle grew up.

"It will be neat to bring the brothers home," said Johnson, of the Aug. 1 event at the Castle Museum.

The book has found a following among young history majors, and people with relatives who were stationed in the often forgotten China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. U.S. troops were sent to the Southeast Asian region to fight the Japanese.

After graduating in 2014, Johnson was invited to teach at Kendall as an adjunct professor. She continues to look for a full-time graphic arts position.

In the meantime, she is working on a sequel to her a book about the plane crash that killed her uncle. She has started a blog on her website about the research she is doing.

"I've learned a lot and that is exciting," Johnson said of about her experience as an author. "If I break even, it will be great but it's not about that."
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With reference to above subject, we hereby submit the following outcome of the Meeting of Board of Directors held on today, 07th July, 2017 at 11:00 a.m .at the Registered Office of the Company:1. Acceptance of resignation of Ms. Roshni Dharmendrabhai Shah from the post of Company Secretary & Compliance Officer of the Company.2. Appointment of Mr. Hitesh Patel, Managing Director, as a Compliance Officer of the Company.Source : BSE
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The shareholders of Bharat Financial Inclusion has approved a proposal to raise funds via non-convertible debentures or other securities. The company would raise money through these bonds within overall borrowing limit of Rs 12,500 crore, Bharat Financial Inclusion, formerly SKS Microfinance, said in a Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) filing today.

The resolution to approve issue and allotment of Non-Convertible Debentures and other debt securities on private placement basis was approved by the shareholders in annual general meeting held today, the company said.

The shareholders also approved the proposal to enhance employee stock options pool by 27,50,000 stock options and amendments in the SKS Microfinance Employee Stock Employee Option Plan 2011.

It was proposed to increase the maximum number of stock options that may be issued under the ESOP Plan 2011 from 13,50,000 stock options to 41,00,000 stock options by addition of 27,50,000 stock options to the ESOP Pool, the filing said.

The proposal to change of the companys employee stock option plan name from SKS Microfinance Employees Stock Option Plan 2011 to Bharat Financial Inclusion Employee Stock Option Plan 2011 also got shareholders' approval.
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The unceremonious sacking of a Tech Mahindra employee has created buzz on social media. While Tech Mahindra's Chief Executive Officer CP Gurnani. Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra as well as Tech Mahindra Vice-chairman Vineet Nayyar apologised on Friday for the manner in which the individual was asked to leave, the incident serves as a reminder that employees do have a right to move court to question a termination decision.

In 2016, a Chennai court had said set aside the dismissal of an employee at an IT company, terming it unlawful. This ruling has implications for IT companies as well as a few thousand employees who have been recently fired en masse on grounds of non-performance.

The earlier order was given on an industrial dispute plea filed by K Ramesha, who was dismissed as Senior Service Programmer while working for HCL Technologies.

Ramesha was fired in 2013, with the management citing poor performance as the reason. Ramesha filed a case against the company in Chennais Labor Court for wrongful termination.

HCL had argued that as Ramesha was a supervisor, the labour rules covering workman under the Industrial Disputes Act did not apply to him. But the court ruled that the job of an engineer in a software company involved skills and technical knowledge, and so Ramesha was a workman.

More importantly, the court also said that HCL Technologies could not produce any evidence to show that failure to improve performance or failure to measure up to the expectations or standing orders of the company would amount to an act of misconduct.

HCL Tech had to reinstate Ramesha and pay full back wages and all other benefits from the date of dismissal to the date of reinstatement.

Leading IT companies have sacked a few thousand people between them over the last month. But in the majority of the cases, the employees were forced to resign so that the companies did not have pay severance packages.

In the recent Tech Mahindra case, the lady official during the course of the conversation (which was recorded and shared by the employee on social media), mentions that cost optimisation is the reason why the termination decision has been taken. She also added that there will not be any review of this decision.

The Industrial Disputes Act clearly spells out conditions of retrenchment of employees in an organisation and also says that last in, first out policy is to be followed in terms of retrenchment.

The Act requires the employer to pay severance and notify the labour authorities of a retrenchment. In cases of industrial establishments having atleast 100 (300 in select states) workmen, there is a requirement to obtain prior permission of the government to terminate workmen.

Vikram Shroff, Head, Employment and HR Law at Nishith Desai Associates explained that termination for reasons of non-performance or under-performance can become highly subjective on depend on fact-specific situations.

He also said that labour departments and courts in India receive several claims of unlawful or illegal termination, where employees demand reinstatement with back wages and continuity. The employer may be required to demonstrate that there was reasonable cause for termination and that proper processes were followed.

In the recent firings at IT firms, many employees were told that their performance was not up to the mark, and so they would have to resign.

While court cases may take time to be resolved, the petitioners stand a better chance of a favourable ruling if they move the courts in groups. Here, not only can the decision to terminate one or group of employees can be challenged, but a better severance pay can also be sought.

An earlier version of this story appeared on this website on May 22, 2017.
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2017 could well be termed as the year of bloodbath for IT employees. With major players including Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Wipro and Cognizant taking decisions to sack employees citing reasons such as cost optimisation or non-performance, employees with redundant skills are no longer welcome. With costs pressure posing a hindrance for reskilling staff, online skilling firms are coming to fill the gap.

Several IT skilling institutes which Moneycontrol spoke to said that IT companies have clearly stated that they will not spend on reskilling their employees.

ALSO READ: 'Quit by 10am tomorrow or you're fired': IT employee's recording of sacking goes viral

Santanu Paul, Co-Founder & CEO, TalentSprint, which provides skilling courses for sectors like IT said that individuals are now expected to pay for learning a new skill. IT companies are facing cost pressures and they do not have the funds to train employees, he added.

Traditionally, skilling and advanced education has been partly or fully funded by the company if the employee is about four-to-five years old in the company. Further, individuals are also encouraged to take up short-time courses in management institutes sponsored by the employer. That is no longer the case.

Understandably, skills companies like TalentSprint are eyeing an opportunity. This company is now looking at having courses for IT employees who have been impacted by the recent layoffs in the industry and wish to re-skill themselves.

Niche technology skills are the most in demand. According to a study by online analytics training institute Edvancer, close to 50,000 job vacancies related to analytics are currently available in India. This is expected to rise to 80,000-100,000 in 2018.

Source: Analytics & Data Science India Jobs Study 2017

Aatash Shah, Founder & CEO, Edvancer Eduventures said that last year, there was a demand for 20,000 to 25,000 analytics professionals last year which has now risen 50,000 in this year. Shah said that they are seeing a growth of almost 200 percent every year and there has also been an increase in the number of students being trained every month.

Companies where new age skills like data mining, coding, artificial intelligence and full stack Java programming are the most in demand, human resource experts are of the view that firms want younger talent for the role. This is primarily because they do not want to spend money on upskilling.

Among niche skills, the demand for R (a software language used for data analysis) professionals is the highest among all analytics recruiters. Almost 36 percent of all advertised analytics jobs in India demand for R as a core skill. Python skills comes second at 30 percent of all analytics jobs looking for Python professionals.

Among statistical tools, open source programming tools have picked up the most in recent years, whereas among visualization tools, tableau skills are most in demand with 9 percent of analytics jobs looking for Tableau professionals.

According to a FICCI-EY report on the future of jobs and its implications on the Indian education system, India will reportedly need to create jobs for around 100 million people who enter the job market over the next decade.

An earlier version of this story appeared on this website on May 18, 2017.
Let us look at the strategic imperative playing out in Indian e-commerce market. Amazon is committed to India. The Seattle based online commerce giant has signaled that it would continue to pump money until it wins in India.

Amazons actions in India are consistent with that.

Their track record in the US in disrupting its retail market is well known. Looking at how well they have executed in India over the last three years, it is becoming clearer that everyone else in horizontal e-commerce in India needs to unite. That is the only way to stop the Amazon juggernaut.

The biggest player in the non-Amazon camp in India is Flipkart. Therefore, it is no surprise that smaller and economically unviable e-commerce start-ups are merging into it - from Myntra to Jabong to eBay and now Snapdeal which is in a discussion for a sale to the Bangalore based company.

Investors are pushing hard for the Snapdeal-Flipkart merger, because they see a strategic urgency. From Snapdeals investors perspective, in a consolidating Indian e-commerce scenario, the Gurgaon-based company stands no chance.

It is neither at number one or two spots in market share or sales. Its brand perception is not that great compared to bigger rivals.

Snapdeal does not command a loyalty from its customers and sellers, the two most critical components for winning the e-commerce battle.

Winding up a company and liquidating its assets is legally very cumbersome in India.

Merging it with Flipkart is a significantly better option, which also gives Snapdeals investors a share in the combined entity in a stock deal.

This is also the best hope for Softbank, the biggest investor in Snapdeal, which has invested close to a billion US dollars at the peak valuation of its USD 6.5 billion.

Why not offer Snapdeal to Amazon? I am sure Snapdeal's investors would love to offer it to Amazon.

However, I do not think Amazon needs Snapdeal to win in Indias growing e-commerce market.

In addition, there would be too much distraction and cultural issues in assimilating Snapdeal.

Amazon has a well-defined global playbook and they are executing it in a cold-blooded manner in India.

From the perspective of Flipkarts investors, a merger makes more sense.

In a three-way fight between Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal, it is evident that Amazon stands to gain the most.

Flipkarts investors, particularly Tiger Global, would want Snapdeal to die down.

And the best way to do that would be to embrace it and kill.

In addition, for Flipkart, having a deep-pocketed investor such as Softbank (with its USD 100 billion Vision Fund) will be useful in its fight against Amazon.

It could also open strategic options with Alibaba (also an investor in Snapdeal) down the road.

Investors from both camps want the deal to happen. The issue right now is what is the right price. Snapdeal had previously raised money at a USD 6.5 billion valuation.

But Flipkart investors are not keen to pay above a billion, because they know Snapdeal is on a fire sale.

Purely from a business standpoint, Snapdeal assets are not valuable to Flipkart.

The only value it represents is a nuisance value where it trifurcates the market just by its existence.

Acquiring it makes sense to prevent it from doing further harm in Flipkarts fight against Amazon.

At this point, negotiations are going on between both parties. Those Snapdeal investors who invested at a very high valuation and fear wipe-out are holding out. They need to be brought on board by other investors.

Internally amongst Snapdeal's major stakeholders, concessions will be made in favor of investors (who are fearing an erosion in value) to get them to say yes.

On the other hand, Flipkart investors, who have an upper hand at this point, do not want to budge. They will improve the offer but not by much.

A billion is a psychologically important price point. Snapdeal investors would want a number above that to claim a respectable exit.

On the other hand, Flipkart investors would want to close at a number significantly lower than that. Their last bid was reported to be of $550 million, which was rejected by the Snapdeal board.

This was a low-ball offer similar to how traditional negotiations happens in an offline retail outlet in India.

I think Flipkarts investors will improve the offer and the deal will close at a price point tad lower than a billion.

Whatever be the price, it is ironic to see the two largest online retail players resorting to a typical offline shopping negotiation in a deal that could be a game changer for Indian e-commerce.

I recently spoke on this topic on CNBC, which you can watch the video here:

(The author is CEO, Network18 Digital and former head of merchant and seller platform at Flipkart. Views are personal)
Meira_Kumar_President_of_India_Nominee

The presidential election is a battle of principles and ideology, opposition candidate Meira Kumar today said and dismissed remarks that she has been made a "scapegoat".

Rounding off her three-day Bihar visit, Kumar asserted that she was fighting for the poor and the downtrodden "whose voice otherwise would have gone unheard".

"Seventeen parties have chosen me unanimously as their candidate for presidential poll which is not a small thing. The opposition unity is based on principles and ideology and I am fighting for its victory," Kumar said at the Congress headquarters in Sadaquat Ashram here.

The former Lok Sabha speaker refused to comment on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's support to NDA's pick Ram Nath Kovind.

The Bihar chief minister, who had gone to Rajgir on July 6, has not returned to state capital Patna due to health issues.

With the scales tilted heavily in Kovind's favour, Meira Kumar said, "I have written to all the MPs and members of electorate college to hear voice of their conscience before casting vote."

She described RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav as a "hardcore supporter" of forces against communalism. "Laluji is steadfastly standing with the ideology of secularism despite numerous challenges."

Kumar also emphasised her strong roots with Bihar saying the state has always been special to her "because I was born, and got married here".

"The people of the state have always defeated communal forces whenever they rear their head in the country," she said.

"I have made Gandhian ideology the centre of my fight and for this reason I started my campaign from Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat," she added.
Two civilians were killed and a few others suffered injuries on Saturday when the Pakistani army violated the ceasefire and resorted to mortar shelling and firing at forward posts and villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, officials said.

The Pakistani army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from small arms, automatic weapons and mortars on Indian Army posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector from 0630 hours, a defence spokesman said.

The Indian troops retaliated effectively, he said.

The Pakistani troops rained mortar bomb shells and resorted to heavy firing targeting civilian villages as well, a police officer said.

"Very heavy shelling is going on. So far two civilians have died in Pakistani shelling in Khadi Karmara village along the LoC," he said, adding that some other people suffered injuries.

There have been 23 incidents of ceasefire violation, an attack by Pakistan special forces team and two infiltration bids in June, in which four people including three jawans were killed and 12 were injured.

On June 29, two Indian Army jawans were injured when the Pakistani troops fired from small arms and shelled mortars on forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch district.

Even on Eid-ul Fitr on June 26, the Pakistani army fired small arms and automatic weapons and shelled mortars along the LoC in the Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri.

On June 22, a Pakistani special forces team sneaked across the LoC into Poonch under cover of heavy fire and killed two jawans -- 34-year-old Naik Jadhav Sandip of Aurangabad and 24-year-old Sepoy Mane Savan Balku of Kolhapur.

One Pakistani soldier was also killed. Pakistan's Border Action Team comprises its army's special forces personnel and terrorists.
Larissa Fernand

The Collaborative Fund wrote an excellent post titled The Reasonable Formation of Unreasonable Things. The essence was to explain market bubbles without blaming greed or incompetence. While my best advice would be to read all eight pages, I would like to ponder on some nuggets of wisdom found in the copy.

Lesson I: Few things have as much impact on your lifetime investment returns as the decisions you make during bubbles.

Imagine yourself in the middle of a galloping bull run. You decide to rebalance your portfolio by offloading your profitable equity holdings. Or, you decide to throw caution to the wind and keep buying at stretched valuations fully convinced that the market will keep rising.

In the first instance, you would rake in big bucks. In the second scenario, you are treading very precariously and letting greed egg you on. Your decision could do severe damage to your portfolio.

Lets extend this to a bear market. Instead of panicking and fleeing to fixed deposits, you look for solid companies whose stocks are available at great bargains. You buy stocks trading way below their intrinsic worth.

Then you sit tight, probably for many years. Not easy. As billionaire hedge fund manager David Tepper observes: Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to do nothing.

But markets move in cycles. The inevitable rise will take place. If you bought wisely, you make a killing.

Lesson II: There is no one rational price to a stock. Investors have different goals and time horizons.

The writer throws an interesting question to the reader: How much should you have paid for Yahoo! stock in 1999?

Why Yahoo!? There is a background to this.

It was an iconic brand that ruled the internet in its early days and was the most popular starting point for web users. On April 12, 1996, Yahoo! traded publicly for the first time. At the end of its first day of trading, its stock closed at a (split-adjusted) price of $1.38.

On January 3, 2000, it closed at an all-time high of $118.75. Between these two dates, Yahoo!s stock price increased by 8,505%. That is less than 4 years!!! (Source: FT Guide to Understanding Finance: A no-nonsense companion to financial tools and techniques).

Back to the question: How much should you have paid for Yahoo! stock in 1999? The answer depends on who you are.

If you have a 30-year time horizon, the smart price to pay was a sober analysis of Yahoo!s discounted cash flows over the subsequent 30-years.

If you have a 10-year time horizon, its some analysis about the industrys potential over the next decade and whether management could execute on its vision.

If you have a 1-year time horizon, its an analysis of current product sales cycles and whether well have a bear market.

If youre a day trader, the smart price to pay is who the hell cares?, because youre just trying to squeeze a few basis points out of whatever happens between now and lunchtime, which can be accomplished at any price.

In other words, prices that look ridiculous for one person make sense to another. Because, each one is paying attention to different factors and parameters, and want something different from the stock.

People can look at Yahoo! stock in 1999 and say This is crazy! A zillion times revenue! This valuation makes no sense! But many investors who owned the stock in 1999 had time horizons so short that it made sense for them to pay a ridiculous price.

A day trader could accomplish what they need whether Yahoo! was at $5 a share or $500 a share, as long as it moved in the right direction

Lesson III: As an investor, understand and act upon your own time horizon. Other peoples goals, motives and time horizons are different from yours. And its ok.

A long-term investor should never take his cues from a short-term trader.

A highly overvalued stock may be trading at Rs 430. A day trader will have no qualms buying it because he probably anticipates the stock going to Rs 431 or Rs 432 by closing, when hed sell.

But a middle-class, salaried individual buying this stock for retirement a decade down the road could mess up substantially by picking it up at such a stretched valuation.

When momentum entices short-term investors, and short-term investors dominate market pricing and activity, the long-term investor is at risk of seeing rising prices as a signal of long-term worth.

Few things matter more in investing than understanding your own time horizon and not being persuaded by the price actions caused by people with different time horizons.

Lesson IV: Investing is 7 parts emotional, 3 parts analytical.

The emotional rollercoaster of bubbles will always be something investors struggle with.

Just remember two things. One is that that volatility has to happen for any asset to have decent long-term returns.

Secondly, volatility gets out of hand when people with short-time horizons become the dominant investors, pricing assets in ways that make no sense to long-term investors.

One of the hardest things you as an investor can do is maintain conviction on a long-term strategy despite the short-term movements. It is also the smartest. It will help you ride the roller coaster with no damage to your portfolio.

Disclaimer: The author is Editor, Morningstar India. The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
Dinesh Rohira

The word stock market is an enigma to most of people as they fail to understand a few basic principles of investment. The modern investment theory may be questioned for complex analysis & fancy terminology which is beyond the understanding of an ordinary investor. However, adhering to basic investment principles can provide anticipated results.

Coined by Benjamin Graham in his books The Intelligent Investor and later exercised by the legendary Warren Buffett, it points out that an investment manual should be on the philosophy of value investing viz buying a good stock when they are undervalued and holding them for a long period of time.

It also emphasises a prominence on companies with stronger economic moat with understandable business fundamental and consistent performance in its investment mantra.

To validate this investment strategy in India for investors with higher returns expectation, the time horizon of investment becomes an imperative consideration.

The long-term story of investment will definitely reward you with huge returns with this particular investment strategy, provided it is implemented with due diligence. However, a short-term expectation may not be favoured by this strategy.

For an investor to yield a value of compounding effect through investment, it is of utmost importance to keep it for longer tenure.

Apart from this strategy, spotting a value stock should be carried out with comprehensive study and to avoid systematic errors associated with human emotion.

If these factors are taken into consideration, then the investors in India can take advantage from the realm of emerging economy.

Learn from experience of others

A mental approach toward investment will have a higher probability of getting it right than approaching on technical front, and a sound mental approach toward market fluctuations is the yardstick of all successful investment as history suggests.

Understanding a phase of market - especially capitalising during the bear market - is an essential part of investment principle to make a coherent judgement.

A number of legendary investors and hedge fund managers have cited the importance on understanding a cycle of market and to learn from this experience.

But, I emphasise on learning from those who have failed. It makes no sense in committing a mistake and then learning from it, when those failed experiences are available in advance.

However, a few basic fundamentals to follow will always remain intact irrespective of success or failure. The investment philosophy is always penned on longer-time horizon and identifying business that suits this time horizon.

A strong fundamental and understandable business with potential for a diversified geographic omnipresent is screened out to narrow down the hunt. Further, a search is limited with company with zero or minimal debt obligation.

And finally, examining the clarity and integrity the top executive and management towards business and its future vision.

While keeping away human emotion in investment mantra, it is imperative to follow this suit to adventure our changing fundamental of Indian economy.

A guru or successful investor will guide you with hypothesis which have favoured their circumstance but the practicality of investment strategy should be built upon one's own situational context but sticking to core principle.

Advice for first-time investors:

The market has already surged by 16 percent during the first half of 2017, thus limiting an upper momentum in short-run. Those investors starting in this bull phase have little less to worry about provided their investment objective is of longer tenure.

Apart from keeping their investment objective for a longer period, it is also imperative to follow basic a investment approach.

Peter Lynch once said, Know what you own, and know why you own it, which is simply understanding the fundamental of business model and prospectus.

It gives a bigger catalogue to decide before you invest. It is also important to select those companies with minimal debt in balance sheet and higher cash from operating activities which enables them before capex investment.

Further examining the consistency in business performance also provides a horizontal picture of the company. Thus, it should be studied with utmost diligence and sincerity to succeed as investor.

Having said that, it is equally important to exit from euphoria which doesnt support the fundamental status. Booking profit at a level that signals abnormality in price will be an intelligent move.

Therefore, always stick to status quo with investment objective with capacity for adaptability at a certain phase without compromising on underlying principles.

Disclaimer: The author is Founder & CEO, 5nance.com. The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
The recent dismissal of an information technology company employee over a phone call, which has sent shock waves among people in the industry could have been handled better, experts say.

Moneycontrol was the first to report on Thursday that in a 6:45-minute long audio clip, a Tech Mahindras human resource executive was heard asking the employee to put in his papers by 10 am the next day or his services at the company will be terminated.

While Mahindra Groups executive chairman Anand Mahindra and Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani apologised for the manner of sacking on Friday, the audio clip raised several questions about the overall climate in the IT industry on layoffs.

It also brought to light the brutal manner in which an employee was asked to leave, while he tries his best to reason with the HR.

It is not the legality, but the morality of the act that is in question, said a senior IT industry executive who did not wish to be named. It is unfair to ask an employee to leave and not be flexible to his or her requests, he added.

Most companies, including IT companies, have what are known as performance improvement plans which give employees some time to improve if their performance has been unsatisfactory in the past. When followed, these programmes let both- the employer and employee assess their performance.

However, most people Moneycontrol spoke to agreed that firing an employee over a phone call, while the employee pleading with the HR about such a short notice, was in bad taste.

Finding the right communication for the employee is critical, said Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice president at industry body National Association of Software and Services Companies said. The messenger (who informs the employee of the sacking) has to be properly trained. One could do this more humanly, she added.

Sensitising the exit process teams in such scenarios is critical. Train the messenger and give them operational flexibility and operational autonomy so that the employee doesnt feel stonewalled when he asks for an alternative. Nobody can quit in a day. The IT industry was built on human skills and such messaging can have a detrimental effect on employee morale, and also encourage unionisation, said a senior HR executive at an IT firm who did not wish to be named.

Cost optimisation, like the HR in the audio clip mentions, is a harsh reality at several IT companies as the industry hoes through a period of slowing growth and increasing automation that is making employees with generic skills redundant.

Companies need to invest in reskilling these people as per need of upcoming projects if their technologies have become obsolete, instead of laying them off, said Alka Dhingra, general manager at IT staffing firm TeamLease Services.

She added that most IT companies have Uber-like apps that help them map their skills to existing projects. With more and more companies looking to reduce the bench, or a layer of employees who are not assigned to projects, and kept ready for upcoming projects, these kind of apps help them find alternatives.

Many companies also do outplacements, which means sharing a of list of people they are planning to layoff, and share it with vendors to help them getting jobs outside their organisation.

Outplacement also means calling around within your network to see if anyone is hiring, providing great job recommendations or even calling up your competitors to see if they have any openings. Here companies could also foot the bill for same, Dhingra added.

There has been speculation of mass layoffs in the IT industry this year as pressures mount. While one media report said the number of dismissals could be as high as 56,000, Nasscom and several IT companies strongly refuted any move to lay off employees.

Nasscom has said the industry will continue to hire this year, with over 1.5 lakh employees being expected to come on board.
Officers and soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army hold a flag and weapons during a training session for a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the World War Two, at a military base in Beijing, China, August 22, 2015. Troops from at least 10 countries including Russia and Kazakhstan will join an unprecedented military parade in Beijing next month to commemorate China's victory over Japan during World War Two, Chinese officials said. The parade on Sept. 3 will involve about 12,000 Chinese troops and 200 aircraft, Qi Rui, deputy director of the government office organizing the parade, told reporters in Beijing on Friday. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj - RTX1P5OK

Amid bilateral tensions over the Sikkim standoff, China today issued an advisory for its citizens travelling to India, asking them to take necessary precautions for their personal safety.

"It is not a travel alert. It is an advisory asking Chinese travellers to be careful," an official of the Chinese Foreign Ministry told PTI here.

The advisory asked Chinese people travelling to India to pay close attention to the security situation and take necessary precautions.

The advisory, which is in Chinese and has today's date on it, was issued through the country's Embassy in New Delhi.

It asked Chinese travellers to pay close attention to the local security situation, improve self-protection awareness, strengthen security, reduce unnecessary travel, pay attention to personal and property safety as well as to provide advance information to family and friends.

The Chinese travellers should pay attention to the situation, keep the communication open, carry personal identification, strictly abide by the Indian laws and regulations and respect local religious customs, the advisory states.

It also provides phone numbers of the consular section of the Embassy in case of emergency.

On July 5, China had said that it will decide on issuing a travel alert for Chinese citizens visiting India depending on the security situation, playing down reports in the official media asking Chinese investors to be on alert in view of the standoff in the Sikkim section.

China and India have been engaged in the standoff in the Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction for the past three weeks after a Chinese Army's construction party attempted to build a road. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim.
Even government agencies can't always agree on whether "soy milk" is an appropriate term.

The dairy industry wants terms like soy, almond and rice milk to vanish from supermarket shelves because it says federal regulations define "milk" as derived from cows. But emails released in response to a lawsuit show the U.S. Department of Agriculture wanted to use "soy milk" in consumer education materials in 2011. That's even though the Food and Drug Administration warned that doing so would undermine its regulatory authority.

It's not the only disagreement around language in the food industry. Here are some other examples.

JUST MAYO

Hellmann's mayonnaise maker Unilever, sued the maker of a vegan spread called Just Mayo, saying that mayonnaise is defined as having eggs under federal regulations. That lawsuit was dropped. Later, however, the maker of Just Mayo worked out an agreement with the FDA to keep its name, so long as it made some changes to its label to make clear the product does not contain eggs.

"CHEESE FOOD"

In 2002, the FDA sent a warning letter to the maker of Kraft Singles, which the agency noted contained an ingredient that was not listed in the definition for "pasteurized process cheese food." Kraft now labels the Singles as a "pasteurized prepared cheese product."

WYNGZ

In 2011, The Colbert Show called out DiGiorno's new frozen meals with pizza and boneless "wyngz." The comedian cited a page on the USDA's website that said the odd spelling could be used for a product that is "in the shape of a wing or a bite-size appetizer type product," but not made entirely from wing meat.

"No other misspellings are permitted," the page says.

STRAINING FOR YOGURT

It was a milk protein concentrate at issue in a lawsuit over Yoplait Greek.

That ingredient isn't listed in the FDA's standard of identity for yogurt. What's more, the suit said General Mills relied on the ingredient to thicken its yogurt, rather than straining it the way other Greek yogurts are made.

"Not only was it not Greek yogurt, it wasn't yogurt at all," said Brian Gudmundson, the Minnesota lawyer who filed the suit.

The case was ultimately dismissed by the judge, who said the matter would be better handled by the FDA. Gudmundson said he reached out to the agency afterward, but nothing came of it.

Yoplait Greek's maker, General Mills, says it has since made recipe changes to its yogurts and it no longer uses milk protein concentrate in Yoplait Greek. The company had also noted in legal filings that the FDA said during a seminar that milk protein concentrate could be used in yogurt.

In 2002, the presence of milk protein concentrate in Kraft Singles was also called out in a warning letter from the FDA, which noted it was not listed as an ingredient in the definition for "pasteurized process cheese food." Kraft now labels the Singles as a "pasteurized prepared cheese product."

"COUNTERFEIT BUTTER"

It's not just soy and almond milk that have drawn the ire of the dairy industry. In 1886, dairy producers supported a federal tax on margarine, which was dubbed "counterfeit butter" by representative William Price of Wisconsin, a major dairy state. In 1902, that law was amended to increase the tax on margarine dyed to look like butter, says Ai Hisano, a business historian at the Harvard Business School.

Some states went so far as to prohibit the sale of dyed margarine, which was naturally white. Hence a vintage ad that declares Parkay margarine "Golden Yellow and ready to spread!"  with an asterisk noting, "in 26 states ."

To get around state bans, Hisano said margarine makers provided yellow solution capsules so people could dye the margarine themselves.
People arrive for the G20 agriculture ministers meeting in Berlin, Germany, January 22, 2017. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke - RTSWSDN

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and South Korean President Moon Jae-in and discussed ways to boost bilateral ties and cooperation at the global level.

The bilateral meetings took place on the sidelines of the G20 Summit here in this German port city of Hmaburg.

Later in the day, Modi is to hold such meetings with heads of Mexico, Argentina, the UK and Vietnam.

Besides, he will participate in G20 sessions on Partnership with Africa, Migration and Health; and Digitalization, women's empowerment and employment.

After attending the concluding session later in the evening, he will leave for New Delhi. Yesterday, on the first day of the Summit, Modi held bilaterals with Japan's Shinzo Abe and Canada's Justin Trudeau.

About the meeting with Abe today, the Ministry of External Affairs said the two leaders briefly reviewed progress in bilateral relations, including in important projects, since their last meeting in Japan during Modi's visit in November 2016. Prime Minister Modi expressed satisfaction in developments in bilateral relations since then.

The prime minister said he looked forward to Prime Minister Abe's forthcoming visit to India for the next Annual Summit and hoped that it would further strengthen their cooperation.
US President Donald Trump "accepted" Russian leader Vladimir Putin's assurance that Moscow did not meddle in America's election, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today, after the closely scrutinised first meeting.

"President Trump said he heard clear statements from Putin that (the allegations of meddling) are not true, and that Russian authorities did not intervene, and he accepted these declarations," said Lavrov, who sat in the power meet between the US and Russia leaders.
Send items for Worship News to religion@thereporteronline.com. Address questions to Nancy March, editor, at nmarch@thereporteronline.com. Deadline is noon Thursday to appear in the Saturday Worship News and Notes. Presentation of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church has one more Sidewalk Ukrainian...
July 08, 2017

Mosul Is Liberated! My Congrats To Iraq

The people of Iraq have won the biggest battle in the very bloody fight against the nihilists of the Islamic State:

Elijah J. Magnier @ejmalrai - 11:59 AM - 8 Jul 2017 #Mosul fully liberated and #ISIS is defeated in the city. Well done #Iraq.

My congratulations to the Iraqi men and women who achieved this.

The pest shall come down on those Gulf dictators who financed the growth of the sectarian "Sunni resistance" in Iraq and Syria. The Obama administration, which intentionally let ISIS grow for its own perfidious aims, the Turkish wannabe Sultan who pampered it and the "journalists" and "experts" who hailed ISIS and alike criminals along shall join them in hell.

Islamic State remnants will continue to exits but the organization is now degraded to a mere guerilla that will no longer threaten the existence of any state. It will eventually die out.

Posted by b on July 8, 2017 at 12:54 UTC | Permalink

Comments
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This week brought news that federal bureaucrats are confused. The Department of Agriculture wanted to use the term soy milk; the Food and Drug Administration said not so fast.

Saddled with an overhaul of the health care system and a president who thinks in 140 characters, Congress has yet to provide some guidance by cracking down on companies that use dairy words to describe their non-dairy products.

Whats needed are more cheeseheads willing to milk more than just cows in defense of the sanctity of one of Wisconsins chief exports and reasons for being.

In January, Sen. Tammy Baldwin introduced the DAIRY PRIDE Act, for Defending Against Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, milk and cheese to Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday. It would allow the FDA to sanction companies that label their non-dairy products with dairy words such as cheese, yogurt and milk.

Its gained bipartisan support, including from five of Wisconsins eight House members, and Baldwins office on Thursday said shes made appeals for the bill to the president and agriculture secretary and is working to build support for it among dairy farmers nationally. But it hasnt gotten any votes yet.

Admittedly, most people dont think that almond milk, for example, comes from lactating almonds. But if the dairy-alternative industry didnt want to trade on milks good name, it wouldnt have labeled its products milk in the first place, or mounted a campaign against Baldwins bill.

As Jason Fish, president of the Madison marketing firm Pop-Dot noted, the word milk is as valuable as gold because it comes pre-packaged with a multitude of positive connotations, including images of wholesomeness, motherhood, health, and creamy sweetness.

I understand why non-dairy industries would just as passionately want to use the word, he said.

And while its true that dictionaries have been updated to include non-dairy definitions for milk, its not like thats the only dumb thing you can find in a dictionary. Overly generous dictionary authors are what led people to think utilize is a real word, and encourage college students to believe in the existence of safe spaces.

Should the dairy-alternatives industry be denied the use of dairy descriptors, it will have to find a new way to connect with consumers emotionally, Fish said. UW-Madison marketing professor Thomas OGuinn said part of its strategy should be to pursue alternative descriptors.

For some help on this front, I tapped that font of all wisdom: social media. Suggestions for replacing the milk in almond and soy milk included leachate, squeezings (or squeezins), fake milk, unmilk, yuppie fuel, milque, Californidairy, milk-lite, milk food, puree, beverage extracts, udder-free drinks and gross.

OGuinn said that if dairy words become off-limits, the dairy-alternatives industry should embrace the distinction. Call soy milk SOY or Just Soy or Aqua Soy.

Punch the brand name with marketing, not the category, he said. Emphasize Coke is it, as opposed to Sodas are it. 

Soy Squeezins could be it, too, if soy milk was ever worth drinking.
Complying with a federal judge's order, the state Department of Corrections filed its plan Friday to reduce the use of pepper spray, restraints and solitary confinements for teen inmates.

U.S. District Judge James Peterson gave the DOC two weeks to work with the attorneys representing the current and former inmates at Wisconsin's youth prison suing the department and create the plan.

In his ruling June 23, Peterson said the DOC's practices of routinely using pepper spray, shackles and solitary confinement likely violate the inmates' constitutional rights and that prison administers demonstrated "callous indifference" to the harm inflicted on the inmates because of these practices.

The plan meets Peterson's requirement that inmates not be kept in solitary confinement for more than seven days while increasing time outside of their cells while in isolation and that staff use alternates to pepper spray and evaluate an inmates need for shackles on a case-by-case basis. Some of the details, such as the implementation time frames for the new policies, could not be agreed upon by the DOC and lawyers for the inmates.

The plan states that Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake juvenile prisons will only use solitary confinement as a punishment for violent offenses. The DOC and plaintiffs could not agree on some of the details of how solitary confinement is used for inmates with mental health diagnoses -- the plaintiffs said solitary confinement should not be used under any circumstances for these inmates, according to the document.

The amount of time an inmate can be kept in solitary confinement was also debated in the document -- the DOC says seven days and the plaintiffs say only 3.

The plaintiffs also asked for more time outside of confinement each day. They wrote that inmates should have eight hours of "out time" from his or her solitary cell with six of those hours of structured activities.

The DOC asked for more leeway in "out time" for inmates to allow for staffing fluctuations. The DOC would set a minimum of two hours of "out time" per day and a minimum of 30 hours per week.

The use of chemical agents would also be limited only to "when a youth is engaging in physical harm to others or to prevent the youth causing bodily harm to another," according to the proposed plan.

Two videos of prison staff using pepper spray on inmates were released publicly Friday.

One video, from a fixed security camera in a hallway shows a guard spraying a girl who was pacing the hallway and would not enter her cell. That guard then sprayed her a second time while she was on the ground with other guards holding her.

The other video, taken on a handheld camera, showed guards spraying an inmate who was in his cell but refused to move his arms into the cell. When the inmate still refused to move his arms, the guard sprayed him a second time.

The lawyers for the inmates request that a medical staff member be present at the time when pepper spray be used whenever possible, but the DOC wrote that this having "medical staff 'present' at the moment that force is used" could be a safety concern.

The DOC and plaintiffs agreed that "there is a presumption that youth, including youth in RHU, shall not be mechanically restrained," according to the proposed plan. RHU refers to restrictive housing units, commonly known as solitary confinement.

Inmates may be restrained for up to 45 minutes with the approval of a youth counselor or a living unit supervisor, and any additional time must be approved by the superintendent, security director or their designee.

The inmates' lawyers also asked for other provisions for the proposed plan that the DOC disagreed with because they are "not narrowly drawn and are not necessary to the terms of the injunction," according to the document.

These provisions include a positive behavior management program and training, training in de-escalation techniques, strategies for working with youth with mental illness, routine tours and guidance from the facility administrator and a monthly report to the plaintiffs of each instance when solitary confinement, pepper spray or restraints are used.
Mount Pleasant, SC (29464)

Today

A shower is possible early. Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low 64F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

A shower is possible early. Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low 64F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph.
Sometimes when the door to an opportunity closes, it can open again.

Collin Sewell, president of the Sewell Family of Cos., celebrating last weeks acquisition of BMW of the Permian Basin, said he learned that lesson not too long ago.

Id always wanted this brand, he said Friday while standing in the showroom of what is now Sewell BMW of the Permian Basin at 5715 Andrews Highway. In 2004, I missed the opportunity by three days.

But late last year, the family that did acquire rights to the luxury German brand decided to exit the market and Sewell got a second chance.

BMW is the first luxury German automotive line for the Sewell Family, which entered the car-selling business in 1911 and represents Ford and Lincoln in Odessa, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC in Odessa and Toyota in Wichita Falls.

I was interested in taking care of our Midland customers, he said, estimating that 35 percent of his companys sales are to Midlanders.

Its important we represent the community and represent the brand, he said.

Sewell also said he liked having a physical presence in Midland.

Monte Gray, who is serving as general manager, said plans are to expand the facility, including expanding the lot west to Catalina Drive in order to increase the number of cars in inventory and to expand the parts department. The service department also will be expanded with additional bays.

Gray said the dealership already offers concierge service. Loaner cars are dropped off while a customers car is picked up to be serviced, or a newly purchased car is delivered at the customers convenience.

Sewell said customers who make this kind of investment want to be served.

Gray agreed.

Its not about selling cars or trucks. Its about building a relationship. If you build the right relationship with a customer, they become customers for life.

He estimated the timeline for the expansion will be 16 to 24 months.

The dealership currently employs 25, and Sewell said that staff will be added as the facility expands.

He further explained why he wants to add the luxury German line to his family of companies.

BMW is the only luxury car segment that provides complimentary maintenance for the first three years, he said. Thats a big plus. I love driving, and this is the ultimate driving machine.
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This article was first published on NerdWallet.com.

For some of the 44 million U.S. student loan borrowers, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is an incentive to pursue generally low-paying careers like teaching, firefighting and nonprofit work despite relatively high student debt. The government program offers tax-free loan forgiveness after 10 years for qualifying public servants.

But only a few hundred people are on track to get forgiveness this fall, according to data the U.S. Department of Education presented to financial aid professionals last year. October is the soonest borrowers can receive forgiveness through the program.

The program rules are complex and may lead some borrowers to make mistakes that compromise their eligibility. Common missteps include having missing or incorrect information on employment certification forms, or having ineligible loans, according to the data. Some borrowers end up working for ineligible employers without realizing their employer doesnt qualify.

Federal loan servicers, the main point of contact for loan borrowers, may not always help. Hundreds of consumers have complained that servicers block their progress toward forgiveness by providing inaccurate information, processing payments incorrectly or botching the certification forms, according to a June 2017 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report.

Borrowers can look out for these PSLF missteps to ensure they stay on track for loan forgiveness.

1. Having the wrong type of loans

Borrowers loans must be in the federal Direct Loan Program to qualify for PSLF, which is not the case for nearly 19 million people  or 44% of federal student loan borrowers  who have loans in other federal programs, according to 2017 Department of Education data. Those borrowers nondirect loans are ineligible for PSLF unless they first join the Direct Loan Program by consolidating their debt.

And, in that case, payments wont count toward PSLF until those borrowers consolidate into direct loans.

2. Misunderstanding qualifying payments

To be eligible, borrowers must work full time while making 120 qualifying monthly payments, meaning the payments were made:

After Oct. 1, 2007

Through a qualifying repayment plan (generally an income-driven plan)

For the full payment amount due

No later than 15 days after the due date

While the borrower was employed full time by a qualifying organization

To benefit from PSLF, borrowers must make at least some payments on an income-driven plan, a federal repayment plan that caps borrowers payments at a percentage of their income. If federal loan borrowers stay on the standard 10-year plan, theyll fully repay their loans by the time they qualify for forgiveness.

Only one qualifying payment counts per month, which means paying extra each billing cycle wont help borrowers achieve forgiveness faster. The payments dont need to be consecutive. They dont count if theyre made while the borrower is in school, during the loan grace period or while the loan is in deferment or forbearance.

3. Working for the wrong type of employer

Federal direct loan holders who work full time for the government, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit or an organization providing a qualifying public service may be eligible for PSLF, regardless of their job title. For instance, a full-time janitor at a public school could qualify.

Its not about what you do, says Betsy Mayotte, director of consumer outreach and compliance for the Center for Consumer Advocacy at the Boston-based nonprofit American Student Assistance. Its about who you work for.

Borrowers who are on the job hunt and considering PSLF should check that the employer qualifies before accepting an offer.

Until borrowers have made their 120 qualifying payments, they should submit employment certification forms to the Department of Education to confirm that their work qualifies.

4. Falling for fraudulent promises of forgiveness

Dozens of companies use false claims to con borrowers, a NerdWallet investigation found. They promise to reduce or eliminate loans and charge high fees to enroll people in free federal programs.

For instance, Obama student loan forgiveness is a popular scam. The term gets more than 18,000 online searches per month, but no such program exists.

Beware of companies that collect high upfront fees or charge recurring monthly amounts, two signs that an offer is likely too good to be true.

The future of Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has proposed cutting PSLF, which started in 2007 during the Bush administration. Critics of the program argue its too expensive and disproportionately benefits graduate and professional school students, many of whom have six-figure debt loads.

If the proposed cuts go into effect, loans made before July 1, 2018, would be still be eligible for the program.

Teddy Nykiel is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: teddy@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @teddynykiel.

The article Want Your Student Loans Forgiven? Avoid These 4 Mistakes originally appeared on NerdWallet.
Pennsylvania's moribund drilling industry, which has struggled with persistently low prices and a dearth of infrastructure to get its product to market, is showing signs of life.

Natural gas producers drilled 397 shale wells through the first six months of 2017, more than twice the number they sank in the same period last year. About 20 additional drilling rigs are exploring for natural gas. Fracturing crews are suddenly in short supply.

While the pace remains much slower than it was during the industry's boom years earlier this decade, when a drilling frenzy transformed sleepy towns and rural areas into economic hotbeds, 2017 has produced a modest rebound and hope of better days ahead in the Marcellus Shale, the nation's largest natural gas field.

"There's a cautious optimism out there right now," said David Spigelmyer, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a trade group.

One big reason is that natural gas prices have recovered from 20-year lows, nearly doubling since last year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Drillers had been battered by several years of rock-bottom prices caused by oversupply and inadequate pipeline capacity. The low prices were good for consumers, and businesses and manufacturers that use gas, but they cost energy companies billions and prompted some of them to stop drilling altogether.

Houston-based Southwestern Energy Co., one of the most active producers in the Marcellus, drilled only two wells through the first six months of 2016. That has ramped up to 38 so far this year.

"Markedly better prices, thus more cash flow and more capability to invest," said Jack Bergeron, Southwestern's senior vice president of operations.

Drillers have also been encouraged by the development of big pipeline projects like Rover, Mariner 2, Atlantic Sunrise and PennEast that will provide access to key markets. Power companies, meanwhile, are rushing to build new plants to take advantage of cheap Marcellus gas, providing another outlet.

The nascent turnaround hasn't extended to all corners of the vast gas field.

Drillers are narrowly focusing their efforts on areas with the richest deposits of shale gas, in Pennsylvania's extreme southwest and northeast. Three counties  Washington, Greene and Susquehanna  account for more than 60 percent of the wells drilled so far this year. Other counties remain quiet.

"We're in the first inning of a nine-inning game," said Spigelmyer, who has long complained that Pennsylvania's regulatory climate hinders growth and now worries about surging competition for investment dollars from the Permian Basin in Texas. "It's not where it needs to be long-term to grow the play significantly and to grow all of the Marcellus, not just part of it."

While the 2017 numbers are signs of an industry turning the corner, well counts and drilling rig numbers aren't the measure of financial health they once were. Drillers have greatly improved efficiency, coaxing more gas out of each well by dramatically extending the wells' horizontal lengths. That raises the economic value of the wells and reduces the number that producers need to drill to make money.

"Longer laterals dramatically improve our returns," Steve Schlotterbeck, chief executive of Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp., told investors last month.

EQT, Pennsylvania's busiest driller, recently positioned itself to become the nation's largest natural gas producer by announcing plans to acquire Rice Energy Inc. of Canonsburg, the state's No. 3 producer, for $6.7 billion.

In announcing the deal to investors, the company said it was bullish on the Marcellus, which Schlotterbeck called the "most economic natural gas basin in the country."
Two men are expected to face multiple charges early next week for armed robberies at multiple locations in the area, including a South Side Culvers restaurant last month that led to the death of a man from an apparent heart attack, Madison police said.

Nicholas A. Ivy, 35, who has no permanent address, is tentatively charged with armed robbery and felony murder for the incident at Culvers, 2102 W. Beltline, where Christ Kneubuehl, 56, of Twin Lakes, died.

Police are calling Kneubuehls death a homicide.

Ivy also is expected to be charged for an armed robbery at the Oakcrest Tavern, 5371 Old Middleton Road, during the early hours of April 25, Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said.

That incident was part of what Madison Police Chief Mike Koval called an unprecedented night of gun violence in the city that included five calls involving gunshots and two armed robberies over a period of a few hours.

Xavier Fleming, 25, of Janesville, who has been arrested on a tentative charge of armed robbery for the incident at the Oakcrest on the citys West Side, is also expected to be charged as the second suspect in the Culvers incident, DeSpain said.

Madison police also expect to link Ivy and Fleming to at least a couple of other unsolved armed robberies in the area, DeSpain said. He did not list any of the businesses or locations, but said some may be outside of Madison.

Some of the unsolved armed robberies in the area include one at a Taco Johns in Monona on June 8 where two masked men forced their way into the building after it closed for the night by displaying their handguns to an employee as he was leaving the building, according to news reports.

At the Culvers, two robbers surprised Kneubuehl, a contractor, and his three-man crew and flashed their handguns to gain entry to the building as the workers were finishing a remodeling project at the restaurant at about 3 a.m. June 27, police said.

In Madison, unsolved armed robberies listed in police incident reports that involved two masked robbers include one at a Subway at 951 S. Park St. on May 16 in which the robbers forced the manager to re-enter the store and access the safe after surprising him as he was locking up at closing time.

One of the robbers took money from the safe while the other duct taped the managers hands and feet, the incident report said.

Before the robbers fled the Oakcrest, they duct-taped the hands and feet of a bartender, whom they had surprised after closing time and held at gunpoint as they grabbed an undisclosed amount of money and alcohol from the bar, employees there said.

At the Culvers, the robbers ordered Kneubuehl to use his power tools to open the restaurants safe, family members said. He was held at gunpoint for about 45 minutes as he worked to open the safe and suffered an apparent heart attack after he rejoined his crew in another part of the restaurant, family said.

The robbers did not allow Kneubuehls crew to help him or call 911 while the robbers spent several minutes grabbing all the money from the safe and then fled the scene, police said.

Flemings criminal history is minimal. Ivy spent more than 12 years in prison after his 2004 conviction on multiple charges for a string of area armed robberies in 2002 and 2003, according to online court records.

Fleming faces charges of criminal damage to property and possession of drug paraphernalia stemming from a March 8 incident at a motel in the town of Cottage Grove, in which his girlfriend called 911 after he punched a hole in their motel room door during an argument, according to a criminal complaint. Police found a tube used for snorting cocaine while searching him, the complaint said.

A jury trial was scheduled for July 13, but Fleming did not appear for a pre-trial hearing at the Dane County Courthouse on June 26, the day before the Culvers robbery. A bench warrant was issued the next day, according to online court records.

In 2009, Fleming was found guilty of misdemeanor theft and served 10 days in jail after he was discovered searching through students backpacks and purses in the band room at Madison East High School, according to a criminal complaint. One student told police she was missing $4 from her purse and Fleming told police he took a little change from it.
The 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary got a jolt last week when Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers said he was contemplating a potential run.

The 65-year-old Plymouth native recently won his third statewide race to lead the states public schools, winning 70 percent of the vote over a Republican-supported challenger. The only Democrat elected to the governors office in the past three decades, Jim Doyle, had won three previous statewide elections as attorney general.

The superintendent position is officially nonpartisan, but Evers was backed by Democrats, making him one of only three statewide officeholders with Democratic support. The other two are U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Madison, who faces her own tough re-election bid next year, and Secretary of State Doug La Follette, who mustered less than 3 percent in the recall election Democratic primary in 2012.

There arent a lot of Democrats in Wisconsin who have run and won statewide, said Joe Zepecki, communications director for 2014 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke, who lost to Walker by almost five points. Anyone who has should be taken seriously for any other statewide office.

Former Democratic Party chairman Joe Wineke ticked off several advantages Evers could have in a primary and general election that Burke lacked, including statewide name recognition, familiarity with state policy and campaigning experience.

He could scare some people off if hes serious, Wineke said.

Meanwhile, Republicans dismissed Democratic interest in Evers as grasping at straws given the number of higher profile Democrats who have announced they wont run against Walker. The governor hasnt formally announced his campaign but is expected to do so after signing a now-late 2017-19 state budget.

Walkers campaign referred comment to the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Party spokesman Alec Zimmerman called Evers another tax-and-spend Madison liberal who would take us back to the days of big government special interest control in Madison, citing Evers opposition to 2011 Act 10, which stripped power from public sector unions and helped balance the state budget.

Republican strategist Mark Graul said Democrats will struggle against Walker, given his record turning a budget deficit into a surplus, billions of dollars in tax cuts and the states near-record low unemployment.

Evers is going to have a hard time making an argument for why he would be better than the governor on these issues, Graul said.

Evers also has experience fundraising statewide, but nothing like he would experience in a governors race. He raised about $440,000 in his recent re-election bid. Walker spent more than $36 million in 2014.

Just a few months ago, Republicans were mocking the 2018 Democratic bench for having more dropouts than opt-ins as U.S. Reps. Ron Kind and Mark Pocan, Senate and Assembly minority leaders Jennifer Shilling and Peter Barca, former state Sen. Tim Cullen and Dane and Milwaukee County executives Joe Parisi and Chris Abele all said they wouldnt run.

But the list of potential candidates has continued to grow to as many as nine names plus two lesser-known candidates who have already declared their candidacy.

In interviews last week after the Wisconsin State Journal first reported Evers interest, a few of those potential candidates welcomed Evers getting into the race while adding it wont affect their decision whether to run.

The more the merrier, said former Wisconsin Democracy Campaign executive director Mike McCabe.

McCabe said based on feedback he has received so far he plans to launch a campaign in September, though he hasnt determined whether it will be as a Democrat or independent. He said some time before September he will file the initial paperwork with the state Elections Commission.

Hes got a lot going for him, and he would fit into the race nicely, McCabe said of Evers.

He obviously would be seen as an education candidate and maybe a single-issue candidate, McCabe said.

Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, who plans to make a decision after Labor Day, declined to comment on other potential candidates, but said Evers decision wouldnt affect his own.

Whoever wins the Democratic nomination I am convinced will be able to beat Scott Walker, Soglin said.

Other potential candidates include Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma; Reps. Dana Wachs, D-Eau Claire, and Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh; Jefferson County District Attorney Susan Happ; Milwaukee businessman Andy Gronik; and former Democratic Party chairman Matt Flynn. Political unknowns Bob Harlow, of Barneveld, and Ramona Whiteaker, of Stoughton, are the only formally declared Democratic gubernatorial candidates.

Flynn welcomed a crowded primary to help strengthen the eventual nominee. He said he expects to make a decision by September, though he hasnt set a timeline for when he might announce his candidacy.

I would suspect most people who are serious about doing this would be inclined to make up their mind before Labor Day, Flynn said.

Gronik said he has tremendous respect for Evers. He said if he gets in the race he would focus on contrasting his vision for the state with Walkers.

Vinehout, who won the straw poll at the Democratic Partys state convention  which didnt even include Evers  has filed initial campaign paperwork, but hasnt declared her candidacy.

She was unavailable for an interview Friday, according to a spokeswoman. Some other potential candidates didnt respond to a request for comment.

UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden grouped Evers in with Soglin and McCabe as unexpected candidates, but added he stands out from the list of 11 names in that he has won statewide office multiple times.

Those victories dont necessarily translate automatically to a general election campaign, Burden said.
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 []
'The big truck is still on ...
A proposed ordinance would ban food carts near a bar-heavy, campus-area intersection and require food vendors in other areas Downtown to stop serving earlier due to safety concerns.

The proposal would bar food carts in two zones near the intersection of University Avenue and West Gilman and North Frances streets, an area historically associated with over-consumption of alcohol, said Madison police Central District Capt. Jason Freedman.

Two other two late-night zones for food carts  at the concrete park on State Street between Urban Outfitters and Potbelly, and on the 400 block of North Broom Street  dont elicit the same concerns, but would be required to stop serving at 3 a.m. instead of their current 4 a.m. closing time.

If approved by the City Council, the earliest the ordinance would take effect is the second week of August.

The city is still considering new late-night locations for the large carts that would be displaced from the area of University, Gilman and Frances  JDs of Wisconsin and Little Chicago in Madison.

The closing-time rush of hungry and tipsy patrons leaving area bars, such as Wandos or the Red Shed, is a boon for the two carts that set up shop on West Gilman and North Frances streets.

But the lingering crowds have become a safety issue, said Meghan Blake-Horst, the citys street vending coordinator.

When people are gathering (after bars let out), it becomes dangerous in a few different ways, Blake-Horst said. Car traffic, earlier conflicts that become stronger conflicts as the night goes on ... this has been an ongoing battle and challenge for late-night vending.

Freedman said police have been taking steps to reduce ingredients that make (the area) such a volatile stew.

Were looking at ways we can get the streets empty by 2:30 a.m., or certainly earlier than 4 a.m., Freedman said.

Those in search of a late-night bite will either have to walk to other food carts or eat at brick-and-mortar restaurants in the area, such as Ians Pizza, said Blake-Horst.

Madison has hosted late-night food vendors for at least the last 10 years, Blake-Horst said. There are currently five food carts in Madison licensed for late-night vending.

Were still having conversations about how we can solve the problem, and continue to grow, or move late-night vending, Blake-Horst said.

Blake-Horst said she is working with police in the Central District to craft creative solutions that will maximize the benefits food carts bring to community spaces, while limiting negative behavior that the carts can inadvertently foster in late-night crowds.
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The Plainview/Hale County Crime Stoppers Committee will pay a reward of up to $350 to anyone with information that will lead to the arrest and indictment of the person or persons responsible for the following crimes:

--On July 3, someone stole a 1997 GMC truck from 2200 W. 12th St.
Oltons embattled city manager, Marvin Earl Tillman, 58, was indicted Thursday by a Lamb County grand jury on felony charges of impersonating a peace officer.

Hes already free on bond on a pair of felony theft charges after being indicted in May.

The Olton Enterprise, on its Facebook page, reported Friday that the latest charge against Tillman follows an investigation by the Texas Rangers. A felony complaint alleging that Tillman impersonated a police officer was filed about the time he was arrested in May on the two felony theft charges involving city owned property and services.

The impersonation complaint, the Enterprise reports, alleges that Tillmans actions were done with the intent to induce Isidro Romo to submit to the pretend official authority of the Defendant by operating an official marked police vehicle, activating the emergency lights of said vehicle, and by operating said police vehicle behind the vehicle operated by the said Isidro Romo with the intent to cause the said Isidro Romo to slow down.

That incident reportedly occurred July 14, 2016.

In May, Tillman was indicted on two third-degree felony charges alleging theft between $2,500 and $30,000 by a public servant.

One of the indictments accuse Tillman of unlawfully appropriation by exercising control over a 72.4-acre tract of city-owned land during the past decade. Specifically, it accuses Tillman of failing to make lease payments on the city-owned property. The other felony indictment alleges the theft by a public servant of water valued between $2,500 and $30,000 from the City of Olton over the past three years. Specifically, the indictment claims Tillman failed to make a deposit payment and monthly payments.

Bond on each of the third-degree felony theft charges is $5,000, set by 154th District Court Judge Felix Klein.

Still outstanding is a misdemeanor complaint accusing Tillman of theft between $100 and $750 by unlawfully appropriating tires belonging to the City of Olton on Dec. 23, 2016.

Tillman is on paid leave from the city after receiving a 60-day suspension on May 12. That suspension is scheduled to end this week.
The Hearst Foundations have awarded $1.725 million in grants to nonprofit organizations in California to support a variety of educational, health and social service programs.

Recipients of the quarterly grants include programs for job training and vaccinations for the needy, brain research, and public broadcasting about higher education.

The grantees, announced by foundations Executive Director Paul Dinovitz, are:

Common Sense Media of San Francisco, $150,000 to expand its Digital Citizenship Program, which teaches responsible use of technology to students from kindergarten to the 12th grade.

Community Housing Partnership of San Francisco, $100,000 for its Employment Pathway program, which trains formerly homeless people for jobs in property management.

Eastside College Preparatory School of East Palo Alto, $100,000 for summer programs.

Loyola Marymount University of Los Angeles, $200,000 in scholarship aid over two years for underrepresented students in theater arts.

Marin General Hospital Foundation in Greenbrae, $50,000 for construction of a Breast Health Center.

TechSoup, in San Francisco, $250,000 for expansion and outreach of the Safe Shelter Collaborative Program for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking.

The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, $100,000 to support the Tech Studio of interactive science and technology exhibits.

Panetta Institute for Public Policy in Seaside (Monterey County), $75,000 to support congressional internships for college students.

P.S. Arts in Los Angeles, $100,000 to support a Classroom Studio program to instruct children in dance, music, theater and visual arts.

Saban Community Clinic in Los Angeles, $200,000 to support vaccinations for needy adults.

Southern California Public Radio in Pasadena (KPCC), $100,000 to help fund a reporting beat in higher education.

Ukiah Adventist Hospital, $100,000 to support faculty training in family medicine.

UC Santa Barbara, $200,000 to establish the Hearst Accelerator fund for two years of support for the universitys Brain Initiative, a study of brain function and human behavior in disciplines ranging from neuroscience and engineering to history and literature.

The awards, supported by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation and Hearst Foundation Inc., reflect the philanthropic interests of William Randolph Hearst and the goal of providing opportunities to people of all backgrounds. Hearst Corp. owns The Chronicle.
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The roller-coaster marriage of former state Treasurer Bill Lockyer and wife Nadia  whose sex and drug scandal cost her her job as an Alameda County supervisor  has taken another downward plunge.

Nadia Lockyer ,46, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of misdemeanor battery of a spouse after she allegedly went on a drunken rage inside a vacation home in the Sierra foothills town of Twain Harte, according to Tuolumne County sheriffs officials.

Bill Lockyer suffered an undisclosed minor injury in the incident, authorities said. Sheriffs officials say they received a call from the house at about 10:55 a.m. about an intoxicated woman yelling and throwing things, though they did not identify the caller.

Authorities said Nadia Lockyer had a blood alcohol level of 0.22 percent when she was arrested  well over the legal limit for driving. She was held for several hours before she was released on $5,000 bail, a Sheriffs Department spokeswoman said.

This is obviously an extremely difficult time for the family, and as they work through it, privacy is imperative, said Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for Bill Lockyer. Bill is focused on his kids well-being and his wifes health.

Nadia Lockyer resigned as an Alameda County supervisor in 2012 after a meth-fueled affair with a South Bay man, who allegedly assaulted her in a motel room and tried to blackmail her with an X-rated tape he had shot of the two.

Nadia Lockyer subsequently was in and out of drug rehab, and the couple appeared headed for certain divorce. That is, until two years ago when they reconciled and began making a new life for themselves in Southern California  capped off when Nadia Lockyer proudly announced on her Facebook page that she had given birth to twin boys. The couple have one other son.

But just a couple days before her arrest, Nadia Lockyer sent out a more ominous Facebook message  a complaint about the state of her 14-year marriage in which she declared, With a huge broken heart and bruises, Im filing for legal separation.
A U.S. Postal Service worker was shot in her delivery truck and hospitalized in East Oakland Friday afternoon, authorities said.

The letter carrier, who was not identified, was shot in the area of Avenal and Bancroft avenues around noon, said Officer Johnna Watson, a spokeswoman for the Oakland Police Department. Police found multiple shell casings around the postal workers truck.
The dragons. The lanterns. The lacquered chairs.

All gone.

In their place: a clean and bright dining room devoid of the 30-plus years of character that left the building when Hsiu Yu closed in late 2016.

Oriental Bistro opened May 26 in the storied building just inside Loop 410 on Broadway and is faced with the daunting task of attempting to escape his predecessors shadow. Its not an enviable proposition. Regardless of the quality of food coming out of the kitchen, countless San Antonians will always associate the address with their first egg roll, their first fortune cookie.

The newcomer does have some serviceable dishes, and service is attentive and eager to please. But a menu larded with plates boasting a nearly identical palate of bland brown sauces combined with a few execution foibles stand in the way of this spot earning the same kind of loyalty the previous tenants enjoyed, not to mention standing out in a city populated with several stellar competitors.

Fast facts: While Oriental Bistros menu will look familiar to anyone whos visited a Chinese restaurant, other nations do make an appearance. Check the specials board for Korean and Japanese flavors, as well.

On the menu: Appetizers ($4.25-$10.95) include hallmarks such as crab rangoon, shrimp toast and egg rolls. But both the chicken wings and squid tempura arrived deep golden on the exterior and undercooked inside  a frequent symptom of overheated oil  leaving gummy batter inside the squid and raw pink at the bone on the larger wings.

The 16-item chefs specialty lineup ($9.99-12.99) was more promising. The Bun Belly whet appetites before hitting the table, an aroma of pork and cucumber immediately grabbing attention. Bao buns arent hard to find in San Antonio, but these stood out with a profile approaching a taco thanks to a slice of tomato and avocado. The pork belly was given a crispy sear that lasted the whole meal. The buns, unfortunately, fell short of the menus soft description, and continued to toughen as they cooled.

For the dramatic performance award, look to the sizzling tofu hot plate. Triangles of deep-fried tofu and pork are wed in one iteration of the aforementioned brown sauce and sent tableside on a bubbling fajita platter. The textures and flavors of the pork and tofu held the stage nicely, but they could have used a better-seasoned set piece than a bland, brown sauce. In fact, that sauce  or a dead ringer for it  also costumed the combination lo mein plate, whose noodles and slivers of chicken, beef and pork, shrimp and strips of egg were cloaked with the stuff, muddying the flavors.

Joining the page of noodle and rice dishes ($7.95-$13.25), Oriental Bistro offers up six spins on egg foo young ($9.95-$11.95), an old school Chinese-American staple that hasnt been around quite as long as chop suey, but has been on menus since at least the 1930s. Essentially a stir fry of meats and vegetables bound in a puffy pillow of egg, this dish is customarily served with that brown sauce, but here it was served mercifully on the side. The dish was well executed, but nobody will yell at you if you opt for the fiery bottle of Sriracha instead.

If eggs arent your thing, consider instead a bowl of curry, available in red, yellow and green varieties. An order of shrimp in the creamy green option was the best of what we ordered. The broth was fragrant and fiery, with ginger and lemongrass bathing a generous quantity of not-so-great shrimp. Wed order it again with a different protein.

But Hsiu Yu fans may not.

Location: 8338 Broadway, 210-973-7798. Facebook: Oriental Bistro

Hours: 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-9:30 p.m. Saturday

pstephen@express-news.net

Twitter: @pjbites

Instagram: @pjstephen
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Back-to-school season is still weeks away, but a young San Antonio boy on the West Side is thinking ahead and putting fun aside to prepare for the new year by selling bottled waters.

Thousands of San Antonians are rallying around a boy named Jazel on social media after he became the subject of a viral Facebook post, which shows him working his one-man summertime business  sitting beneath an umbrella on a sidewalk with an ice chest by his side.

Yadi Sauceda penned the post on Wednesday and told mySA.com she had seen Jazel a few times before she decided to stop and chat with him.

RELATED: Internet loves photo of SAPD officer helping Holmes student get ready for graduation

"I couldn't help but wonder why he was out there in this heat," she said. "So I stopped and bought water and asked why he was there. He seemed a little nervous at first."

The boy told Sauceda he was just trying to "buy some things."

Sauceda said she bought a water and left, then told her family and friends to swing by and support Jazel's cause by doing the same.

She returned to his post to take a picture to rally support on Facebook when his mom appeared and revealed Jazel's reason for selling water: to pay for school supplies.

RELATED: S.A. family searching for stranger who swapped pants with graduate so he could cross the stage

"His mom came out and was saying he decided to go out there to sell water everyday and she just tries to get him in the shade," Sauceda said, adding that his mother only allows him to go outside once she's home from work.

Her post has been shared more than 2,000 times since Wednesday. Most shares are accompanied with messages from residents asking their fellow San Antonians to help out.

"It makes me happy to see that the post encourages people to share instead of the usual negative or silly posts you see everyday," Sauceda said.

mmendoza@mysa.com

Twitter: @MaddySkye
The first great social space in the United States was not Boston Common. It was an artificial river, 40 feet wide, cutting across New York state.

The Erie Canal not only established physical links across geographic regions, it also remade the social and religious lives of everyone it touched.

Albany newspapers, Genesee flour, Syracuse salt and western timber traveled on the canal alongside tourists, industrialists and religious revivalists.

Physical work on the Erie Canal began on July 4, 1817, when upstate New York was one vast wilderness in the eye of the young nation. Within three decades, this "psychic highway" cultivated the Mormons, the Adventists, followers of a revived apocalypticism and utopian communal societies.

The canal follows the only significant gap in the Appalachian mountain chain extending from Maine to Georgia, a geographical fact attributed by George Washington and his contemporaries to the goodness of "Providence." This was God's gift to the fledging nation, inspiring citizens to move west and glean benefits from the natural riches of the continental interior.

Land along the canal provided imaginative possibilities for working out one's salvation and ushering in the reign of God's kingdom on earth. Apocalyptic fever ensued, resulting in a series of self-styled prophets who believed themselves to be voices crying in the wilderness.

The global phenomenon that is Mormonism today began in the canal town of Palmyra, near where Joseph Smith had his visions and discovery of the golden plates. The first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon were printed on a press that arrived via canal boat in 1830. The next year, as Smith and his followers were driven out of town by angry fellow citizens, they got on a canal boat heading west, into frontier history.

John Humphrey Noyes responded to the imminent end of the world by establishing the utopian Oneida Community in 1848, supported through canal-based trade in agriculture and animal traps (and eventually, silverware). The group was founded on principles of "biblical communism," meaning that all things were shared equally among members, including children and spouses.

Up the interconnected Champlain Canal, a wheat-farmer-turned-Baptist minister named William Miller predicted the second coming of Jesus on specific dates in 1843, and then 1844. The failed predictions led to what would become known as the Great Disappointment. Many of Miller's followers lost faith and turned to a host of fledgling Christian sects for connection, while others regrouped in Albany and formed the Adventist tradition, a movement that is thriving today across the Southern Hemisphere.

The 19th-century canalway allowed the mingling of former slaves and abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth as they worked alongside women's rights activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in Rochester and Seneca Falls. Collectively they sought to articulate social applications for the religious roots of freedom and equality.

The 19th century's most famous preacher, Charles Finney, called this swath of territory the "Burned-over District." The term belies a deeper truth: Flowing through the ashes were currents of American faith that continue to influence us today.

S. Brent Rodriguez Plate is a visiting professor of religious studies at Hamilton College.
MEXICO CITY - Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Friday defended the Trump administration's policy of targeting immigrant families that pay to bring their children up from Central America, saying that the United States is finally "enforcing the law" on illegal immigration in that and other ways.

During an interview at the conclusion of a three-day visit to Mexico, Kelly described the migration flow, which has sent hundreds of thousands of people north to the United States in recent years, as an "overwhelmingly economic" phenomenon rather than a matter of people fleeing violence, as many in Central America insist.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have focused on detaining and deporting people with criminal records, he said, despite allegations from the Mexican government and others about a wider crackdown. But they have also begun arresting people who pay smugglers to bring their children or other young relatives into the country.

"If they do have family in the United States that then says, 'We'll take them and sponsor them,' we're going to look at the family," Kelly said of youngsters apprehended at the border. "If the family is illegal in the United States and we can make the case, which I think is very easy to make, that they were part of this human-smuggling process, then they broke the law. And we'll take the appropriate measures."

President Donald Trump's executive orders and harsh rhetoric on immigration have alarmed many immigrants and their advocates. While deportations are roughly similar to levels under the Obama administration, the number of arrests of undocumented immigrants has risen sharply under Trump.

Mexican officials have grown increasingly concerned about who is being deported from the United States and raised that issue with Kelly during his visit. The Mexican government, through its embassy in Washington, has compiled a list of deportees who may have been "subject to a violation of due process" and are looking for relief from the U.S. government, said Carlos Sada, a deputy foreign minister in charge of North American affairs.

"These cases are something where the law has been applied dramatically," Sada said in an interview.

Sada said that ICE agents are applying the law more strictly than in the past and that they should use more "flexibility," particularly in cases of immigrants who have lived for years in the United States, have children, are not violent and do not pose a threat to the country.

Kelly, in the interview, said that ICE "doesn't do sweeps, doesn't do roadblocks, doesn't do raids into places of employment where they round everyone up and check on them."

But in the course of an arrest, an agent can ask other people in the vicinity about their immigration status and detain those people, Kelly said.

"We much prefer to do these in jails, but since many jails don't cooperate with us, then we have to do this in neighborhoods," he said.

The other population of deportees, he said, consists of people who have gone through the immigration court process and been ordered to leave the country.

"These are court-ordered deportations," he said. "I get a lot of calls from members of Congress on individual cases. What I say to them is: 'I've got a court order. I can't ignore it.' "

"I'm going after the people who have broken U.S. law, in addition to being in the United States illegally," he said. "So when members of Congress and others threaten me and chastise me for not using my discretion, I am."

Kelly said that under the Trump administration, about 45,000 people of Mexican descent have been detained in the United States but that the Mexican government has called to question only a "handful" of the cases.

Before Trump's private meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the Group of 20 summit Friday in Hamburg, Germany, Trump told reporters that he "absolutely" still wants Mexico to pay for his proposed border wall. Kelly said that in his discussions with Mexican officials since Wednesday, "we didn't once talk about the wall."

Kelly - who was accompanied for parts of his visit here by CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee - held a number of meetings with top Mexican officials, including Pena Nieto and Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray.

On Thursday, Kelly met with the leaders of Mexico's army and navy at a military base in Acapulco, which has been the deadliest Mexican city for several years running. On the same morning as his visit, a prison riot in Acapulco left 28 people dead, several of them beheaded, according to Mexican officials.

Along with the Mexican military leaders, Kelly flew to the opium poppy fields of Guerrero and watched as Mexican soldiers burned crops. Guerrero produces more than half of Mexico's poppy and supplies much of the heroin consumed in the United States. Kelly described the U.S. opioid epidemic - in which some 60,000 people died last year - as a crisis that needs more attention.

"We should be ashamed of ourselves at not having gotten our arms around this problem," he said.
HAMBURG - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said that he assured President Donald Trump that Moscow had not interfered in the 2016 presidential election, and that it appeared to him that Trump had agreed with his assurances.

"It seemed to me that he took it into account, and agreed" Putin told reporters on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg. The Russian president added "you should ask him.

Russia's foreign minister's on Friday had said that Trump had "accepted" Putin's assurances that Moscow did not run a hacking and disinformation campaign to help Trump's campaign.

Putin Saturday said that Trump "asked many questions" about Russian interference in the 2016 elections. The Russian leader said he had repeated Moscow's stance that "there was no basis to believe that Russia" interfered in the elections.

"I feel as though my answers satisfied him," Putin said.

"What's important is that we agreed that there should not be a situation of uncertainty about this," Putin said, adding that the two sides had agreed to create a group to work on how to prevent interference in "the internal affairs of other countries."

Putin said that based on his talks with Trump, "there is a chance that we can at least partly restore the level of cooperation that's needed" in the U.S.-Russian relationship.

After the two presidents met Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters that Trump, after listening to Putin's denial, accepted the Kremlin leader's assurances and dismissed the U.S. investigation into Russian interference.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said at a separate news conference that Putin, along with the denials, had nonetheless agreed to bilateral talks to address preventing future interference in U.S. elections.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked about the differing accounts Saturday, said only: "You should trust Lavrov. I don't work for Tillerson."

Peskov was otherwise tight-lipped in a conference call with reporters.

On Saturday, Putin reaffirmed Russia's commitment to the Paris climate agreement, which Trump pulled the United States out of earlier this year.

"You know our stance: We honor the Paris agreement," Putin said at a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg.

The highly anticipated meeting of Trump and Putin during the G-20, eight months after a presidential election that U.S. intelligence agencies say Russia tried to sway, was unique in the annals of modern U.S. history. It pitted Trump, under fire at home for alleged collusion with Russia, against the man accused of overseeing that interference.

When Tillerson and Lavrov emerged with different accounts of how the meeting had gone, it caused a stir that overshadowed the other outcomes - a deal on a partial cease-fire in the Syrian war and an agreement to hold bilateral talks on a range of issues.

And the session offered little clarity on the question of Russian election interference, which had made this the most anticipated meeting between a U.S. president and his Russian counterpart in recent memory. Instead, both sides indicated that they wanted to move beyond the subject

Lavrov came away from the meeting saying Trump had heard out Putin's assurances that Moscow did not run a hacking and disinformation effort, and had dismissed the entire U.S. investigation into the Russian role.

"The U.S. president said that he heard clear statements from President Putin about this being untrue and that he accepted these statements," Lavrov told Russian reporters.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who also attended the 2 hour 16 minute meeting, told reporters at a separate news conference that during the session, Trump pressed Putin "on more than one occasion" on Russia's interference.

Tillerson said that "President Putin denied such involvement," but he did not say whether Trump accepted that assertion. Rather, Tillerson said Trump decided to move on because Russia would not admit blame. Tillerson said, though, that the United States wasn't dismissing Russian responsibility and that the two sides had agreed to organize talks "regarding commitments of noninterference in the affairs of the United States and our democratic process."

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Putin ordered a campaign of cyberattacks and propaganda last year aimed at undermining the presidential election and helping Trump by discrediting his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. The Justice Department has named a special counsel to investigate possible coordination between Trump's associates and Russian officials during the campaign.

U.S. lawmakers from both parties had urged Trump to raise the election meddling with Putin when the leaders met on the sidelines of the G-20. Afterward, some worried whether Trump had confronted Putin firmly enough. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., dismissed the outcome as "disgraceful."

"President Trump had an obligation to bring up Russia's interference in our election with Putin, but he has an equal obligation to take the word of our Intelligence Community rather than that of the Russian President," Schumer said in a statement.

Before the meeting, analysts in both countries said any signal from Trump that Moscow and Washington could put aside past differences and forge a new relationship would be a victory for Putin. In Moscow, political leaders were celebrating Friday night.

"In some sense it's a breakthrough," Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the foreign relations committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, told the Interfax news agency. "Absolutely definitely psychologically and possibly practically."

Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the upper house, issued a statement saying that "there is no doubt that this meeting may become a step toward the solution to the situation in which the relations between our states currently are."

The world had been waiting for the first in-person encounter between the president whose associates face an investigation into possible collusion with Russia and the Kremlin leader who allegedly intervened in Trump's favor. But the presidents seemed intent Friday on moving the relationship past that explosive issue.

Trump told Putin that members of Congress were pushing for additional sanctions against Russia over the election issue, Tillerson said. "But the two presidents, I think, rightly focused on: How do we move forward?" he added.

Trump and Putin designated top officials to collaborate on the creation of a framework that would prevent future political interference, Tillerson said, as part of a bilateral commission that would also discuss counterterrorism and the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine.

Tillerson said they also reached a "de-escalation agreement" regarding a section of Syria near the cities of Daraa and Quneitra. Jordan was also part of that agreement.

Syria's lengthy civil war has left more than 400,000 people dead and led to the exodus of hundreds of thousands more. The United States and Russia have supported opposite parties during the war. Russia has backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while the United States has supported and trained groups that oppose him.

Past cease-fires in Syria have not lasted long. Tillerson suggested he was skeptical that this cease-fire would endure, saying, "We'll see what happens."

The meeting lasted much longer than expected. At one point, Trump's wife, Melania, entered the room to see if it could wrap up soon, but it continued.

"We went another hour [after] she came in to see us, so clearly she failed," Tillerson said.
"Ms."

To Sheila Michaels, it looked like a typographical error when she saw the strange honorific, neither "Miss" for the unmarried nor "Mrs." for the wed, on a Trotskyist mailing to her New York City roommate in the early 1960s.

But it was not a typo, and the honorific had existed at least since the turn of the 20th century, although it enjoyed only limited circulation.

In 1901, a writer for a newspaper in Springfield, Massachusetts, proposed "Ms." to guard against missteps, nothing that "to call a maiden Mrs. is only a shade worse than to insult a matron with the inferior title Miss."

The term had a certain utility in business correspondence, when the martial status of a female addressee was unknown. Some early feminists found it appealing, a counterpart to the masculine "Mr." that did not betray one's private life.

When Ms. Michaels saw the word, she was in her early 20s and active in the civil rights and women's movements. Immediately she saw the egalitarian potential of those three characters. By the time of her death on June 22 at 78, she was widely credited with spurring society to make room for "Ms." - in common English usage, in the standardized forms of officialdom and in cultural attitudes toward women.

Michaels died at a hospital in New York. The cause was acute leukemia, said a second cousin, Howard Nathanson.

The word "Ms." was perhaps first introduced to a wide audience with the founding of Ms. magazine by Gloria Steinem and other feminist organizers in 1971. The title was proposed to Steinem by a friend who had reportedly heard Michaels promoting the term on "Womankind," a feminist radio show in New York.

Michaels envisioned widespread use of "Ms.," but it also served a concern of hers in particular.

"Partly because of my personal situation, partly because of my observations at large, I had a low opinion of marriage - and certainly no desire to marry," she once told the Japan Times in an interview. "I felt strongly about not 'belonging' to a man - either to my father as a Miss, or to a husband as a Mrs."

" 'Ms.' ", she said, "is me!"

Sheila Babs Michaels was born in St. Louis on May 8, 1939. Her mother was a radio writer, according to accounts of her life, and her biological father was a civil liberties lawyer. Her parents were not married, and she had several stepfathers, the result being a fluidity in her surname, the New York Times reported in an obituary.

She told the Japan Times that, during her upbringing in St. Louis, she "developed a curiosity about a woman known as Miz Noble who lived behind our house."

"I wondered whether this meant she was unmarried or a widow," Michaels said. "I liked the ambiguity."

Michaels enrolled at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where, her cousin recalled her saying, she was kicked out because administrators considered her a "troublemaker" and didn't agree with her "views."

She became deeply involved with the civil rights movement, working with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Congress of Racial Equality in the South. For periods, she earned a livelihood as a cabdriver. Later in life, she interviewed civil rights activists for oral histories housed at Columbia University.

She expressed frustration at the slow pace with which was adopted, even among her most socially minded contemporaries, although it did eventually blossom into wide use.

"No one wanted to hear about it," she once told the London Guardian. "There was no feminist movement in 1961, and so no one to listen. I couldn't just go ahead and call myself Ms. without spending every hour of every day explaining myself and being laughed at, to boot. I had to learn to be brave."

Her cousin described her as "a background person" in the social movements for which she worked, a person for whom "the cause was more important than the acclaim." But "I think it would have been nice if she had been recognized when she was alive," he added.

Michaels's marriage to Hikaru Shiki, with whom she operated a Japanese restaurant in New York, ended in divorce. Survivors include a half brother.

Michaels's cousin said that, in the 1980s, she developed an intense interest in religious studies. For two decades, she gave presentations at academic conferences, with a particular focus on women in the Bible.

The Book of Ruth - recounting the Moabite Ruth's fidelity to her Hebrew mother-in-law, Naomi, amid famine and deprivation - was among the topics Michaels found most captivating. Some feminist theologians cite it as an example of women banding together for survival.
When I moved back to Texas and started a family, I had my share of anxieties, like all new parents. Which car seat is safest? Have I sufficiently childproofed my home?

My fears have changed. Im now worried my family could be shot and killed as we drive down Texas roads and highways.

Tragically, gun violence has too often been bigger in Texas. And in the past two weeks, Texans have watched in horror as four separate road rage shootings have turned our streets deadly.

A 17-year-old in Mesquite was shot in the head, apparently after not merging fast enough.

A 19-year-old man was shot in the head and killed in Arlington after giving a hand gesture to someone who cut him off.

A San Antonio motorcyclist was shot in the stomach after getting into an argument while sitting in a traffic jam.

A 33-year-old North Richland Hills man was shot in the arm after an altercation while driving.

Simultaneously, we know that gun rights groups are hounding Gov. Greg Abbott to add the permitless carry of handguns to the special session agenda.

This past legislative session, House Bill 1911 and House Bill 375, two permitless carry bills that would have dismantled the states license to carry, or LTC, system, died before ever reaching the floor. Neither bill gained enough traction to make it to a vote because lawmakers saw how dangerous it would be to dismantle such a vital public safety measure.

Requiring a permit ensures that Texans who choose to carry hidden, loaded handguns in public complete essential safety training. These licensing and training requirements include a background check, basic handgun safety, responsible storage, and training on keeping guns out of the hands of unsupervised children.

We do not know if any of the recent road rage shootings were committed by a person who had a license to carry  you generally dont have to have a license to carry a concealed handgun in a vehicle in Texas  and we may never know. However, we do know that getting rid of our license to carry system will not prevent road rage shootings or reduce gun violence in Texas. In fact, during the past five years, nearly 10,000 Texans have had their license to carry denied or revoked because of a violent criminal record, severe mental illness or other disqualifier.

Getting rid of the LTC system would allow every one of these people to carry a hidden, loaded handgun in public unchecked  anywhere, anytime, no questions asked.

This should not be up for debate again. Too many Texans are already intimately familiar with gun violence.

Recently, two San Antonio police officers were shot in a gunfight in broad daylight while on duty  and one died.

Our families and law enforcement heroes wont be safer if we cut concealed carry permitting and training requirements. The answer lies in educating and training our fellow Texans who choose to arm themselves while preventing those who are deemed too dangerous to legally buy a gun from getting one and carrying it in public.

As a volunteer with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action, I have seen the gun violence prevention movement grow dramatically over the past few years.

We know that Texas law enforcement and 91 percent of Texans support requiring a permit to carry a handgun in public.

During this years special session, we must continue to demand that lawmakers listen to the will of Texans and the law enforcement officers who keep us safe, and protect our common-sense permitting system.

The future of our communities depends on it.

Leslie Gay Bertolino is a volunteer with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
Does anyone really know Ronald Reagan?

In his new book The Working Class Republican, a bracingly revisionist account of the 40th president, Henry Olsen answers no. One of the most astute political analysts at work today and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Olsen argues that Reagans politics bear the distinctive stamp of his origins as a New Deal Democrat.

Olsens interpretation of what he calls Reagans New Deal conservatism is open to dispute. But he undoubtedly is correct that contemporary conservative politicians do Reagan  and themselves  a disservice by remembering him as an unremitting ideologue and tactical maximalist.

As late as 1980, Reagan had still been a Democrat longer than he had been a Republican. As he put it, characteristically, in his 1984 acceptance speech, Did I leave the Democratic Party, or did the leadership of that party leave not just me but millions of patriotic Democrats who believed in the principles and philosophy of that platform?

With an eye to these sorts of voters throughout his career and with a sensibility attuned to their concerns, Reagan didnt simply replicate the let-it-all-hang-out, high-octane conservatism of Barry Goldwater.

He never contested the idea that there should be a safety net. In his famous speech promoting Goldwaters candidacy in 1964, Reagan stipulated, Were for a provision that destitution should not follow unemployment by reason of old age, and to that end we have accepted Social Security as a step toward meeting the problem.

He promoted his program not as a function of conservative purity, but of sturdy common sense. Theres no such thing as a left or a right, he said in that same 1964 speech, theres only an up or down.

He extolled the common man, the forgotten American, and his innate dignity. In his first inaugural address, Reagan hailed the men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when were sick  professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truck drivers.

He didnt support tax cuts for the rich so much as tax cuts for everyone, and didnt obsess over entrepreneurship. According to Olsen, Reagan mentioned the word entrepreneur only once in all of his major campaign and presidential speeches on the economy between November 1979 and the passage of the tax-cut bill in July 1981.

He had a pragmatic cast. In his campaign for governor of California, he noted that public officials are elected primarily for one purpose  to solve public problems. He never let the perfect be the enemy of the good enough for a working politician. Hostile to taxes, he raised them as governor of California in response to a budget crisis, and as president as part of a Social Security deal. A free-trader, he brushed back the Japanese on trade.

Reagans tone and program, coupled with his generational talent as a politician, allowed him to unlock the working-class vote in his races for governor and president. The Reagan Democrat has been part of our political vocabulary ever since. President Donald Trump is a very different man and politician, but it is telling how  not having learned the purported lessons of Reagan  he was able to go and get these voters in a way that Republican politicians bound by Reaganite truisms were not.

All that said, Reagan was hardly a friend of the welfare state. He said the ultimate source of the New Deal was Mussolinis fascism. His foundational 1964 speech attacked farm programs, government planning, welfare, the size and power of bureaucracy, and regulations that have cost us many of our constitutional safeguards. He called for adding voluntary features to Social Security, and for electing Barry Goldwater to stop the advance of socialism.

Reagan was a constitutional conservative, although an exceptionally gifted one who understood how to meet Americans where they live. In this important book, Henry Olsen reminds us how.

comments.lowry@nationalreview.com
Is there anything more emblematic of our troubled health care system than a patient receiving a surprise bill in the mail after getting emergency care?

The most egregious form of surprise medical bills, also known as balance bills, happens when an out-of-network provider bills a patient despite having delivered care at an in-network facility. Often this occurs when a patient goes to an emergency department or hospital that accepts that persons insurance, but then is seen by a physician who is not contracted with that insurance group.

As writer and physician Elizabeth Rosenthal recently wrote, Imagine if you paid for an airplane ticket and then got separate and inscrutable bills from the airline, the pilot, the co-pilot and the flight attendants. Even worse, the co-pilot could then tell you he is out of network and is going to bill you the full amount.

This practice of medical surprise out-of-network bills should be illegal. At this point, only the Legislature can solve the problem of surprise bills.

In 2009, Texas led the way by being the first state to put a mediation system in place for surprise bills. This past year, Senate Bill 507 was expanded to include mediation eligibility for bills of more than $500 from any provider type; facility bills from emergency care, including those from free-standing ERs; and to patients covered by the Teacher Retirement System, or TRS, health plan and the self-funded TRS ActiveCare program. This last change granted an estimated 680,000 additional individuals eligibility for the mediation process.

Prior to these changes, only bills from certain specialty providers were eligible for mediation, and ER facility bills were not eligible.

We should all thank our representatives for this bipartisan legislation, but it is nowhere near enough.

One indication the system is inadequate is how rarely it is used. A 2015 Consumer Reports survey found that 1 in 14 privately insured adult Texans reported getting a surprise, out-of-network bill within the previous two years, totaling about 250,000 Texans. However, according to the Department of Insurance, only 3,824 Texans have used the mediation process from its implementation in September 2009 through the end of last year.

Clearly, the system is not as accessible as it needs to be.

One major reason  it is the responsibility of the patient to start the mediation process. This puts the onus on the patient to gather information, submit paperwork, make phone calls and attend at least one formal phone meeting. And that assumes the patient recognizes the bill is eligible for the process. Senate Bill 507 now specifies that when surprise bills are sent to patients, the sender must include language indicating the bill is the balance for out-of-network services and that it may be eligible for mediation. It is possible, however, that this language will be lost in all the other fine print on the mostly indecipherable bills.

Other states have passed much stronger protections than has Texas. New York passed a law in 2015 that requires hospitals negotiate directly with the insurer for all out-of-network payments, across all health care settings. This is how it should be.

Making the problem worse for patients, emergency departments in Texas can essentially charge whatever they want for services. Prices vary without any logic or reasonable guardrails. According to a recent study, emergency physicians reading an EKG (electrocardiogram) of your heart  a mostly simple task performed many times each day  charge patients anywhere from $18 to $317, which is 20 times the rate that Medicare would pay. If the doctor who read that EKG happens not to be in your network, guess who will be billed that full $317?

The Texas Legislature should consider capping all charges at a reasonable level above Medicare-allowable fees. There would still be variation in charges, but patients would no longer be subject to extreme markups.

Texas should lead once again in protecting patients from surprise medical bills.

Christopher Moriates, M.D., is assistant dean for health care value in the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin. Victoria Valencia is the assistant director for health care value in the Dell Medical School.
The list of South Texas officials convicted of attempting to profit illegally through their jobs continues to grow at an alarming rate.

Another two names were added late last month with the convictions of former Crystal City Manager and City Attorney James Jonas and former Crystal City Mayor Ricardo Lopez in a Del Rio courtroom on public corruption charges.

Regrettably, they are unlikely to be the last criminal defendants to face prison time for roles in schemes involving public contracts in South Texas.

Most South Texas public servants, were confident, are honest and hardworking. But too much pay-to-play culture still exists and is well documented in South Texas court records. The names and jurisdictions change, but the scenarios keep repeating themselves. There are numerous former local public officials who have served time on public corruption charges residing in Bexar County.

Several local public corruptions cases await trial, and many more cases are under investigation. The case of state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, comes to mind. He has been indicted on fraud and bribery charges.

The aggressive prosecution of public corruption cases must continue. But that comes with a downside. They chip away at the public trust in government and erode confidence in public officials.

That distrust can result in voter apathy, which creates its own sets of problems when citizens become complacent and fail to hold elected officials accountable at the polls.

Changing the distasteful and questionable business cultures that have been allowed to develop in some areas of government is not going to happen overnight.

In his closing arguments in the Crystal City cases, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hulings reminded jurors of a lawless attitude that pervaded the case, the Express-News reports.

In an interview with Staff Writer John MacCormack, Hulings explained that when Jonas used the phrase Welcome to South Texas, he meant thats the way things are and always have been. Nothing has ever been investigated or prosecuted. Well get away with it.

Fortunately, in the Crystal City cases, an engineer and a lawyer  approached to participate in the bribery scheme  were willing to stand up and inform federal law enforcement officials.

Its difficult to go against a long established culture of good ol boy systems. The quality of the work being performed as a result of questionable contracting is rarely the issue. The work is performed to specifications, is on time and sometimes even under budget, making it difficult to challenge.

The problems have more to do with how the contracts are awarded and the hidden costs written in as part of the cost of doing business to take care of the officials casting the votes on the bids.

Some of the money changing hands is documented through campaign finance reports. Thats the easy stuff to track.

It is much more difficult to connect the dots when an apparent low bidder suddenly increases costs through significant change orders, members of a public officials extended family appear on contractors payroll at an inflated salary, or elected officials become frequent guests at a contractors hunting lease or condo on the coast.

Creating a culture where unethical behavior is intolerable at any level cannot be left solely to law enforcement. It requires a united effort.

Failure to speak up or expose questionable business practices only creates silent co-conspirators. No one, in and out of government service, should countenance corruption.
By Steven Rosenfeld, who covers national political issues for AlterNet, including Americas democracy and voting rights. He is the author of several books on elections and the co-author of Who Controls Our Schools: How Billionaire-Sponsored Privatization Is Destroying Democracy and the Charter School Industry (AlterNet eBook, 2016). Originally published at Alternet

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the U.S. Department of Education were hit with multiple lawsuit filings Thursday for their recent actions making it harder for students to seek legal relief for student loan debt from predatory for-profit colleges.

The highest profile lawsuit was filed by 18 state attorneys general in federal court in the District of Columbia. The suit challenges the departments decision in June to suspend new rules created during the Obama administration for easing federal loan debt for borrowers who were cheated by for-profit colleges that helped secure their loans after making fraudulent promises about careers, job opportunities and potential future salaries.

The [suspended] Rule was designed to ensure that students who are lied to and mistreated by their school get the relief they are owed, and that schools that harm students are held responsible for their behavior, the 18 states complaint said. The Rule deters institutions from engaging in predatory behavior and restores the rights of students injured by a schools misconduct to seek relief in court.

Also Thursday, two students sued the Education Department in the same federal court over the delayed rules. Both attended the New England Institute of Art, a for-profit school that ceased enrolling students in 2015. Its parent firm, Education Management Corporation, paid $95 million to settle a lawsuit over illegal payments to recruiters.

The lawsuit by the 18 states described how DeVos abruptly reversed the Departments protections for students. The pro-borrower policy was supposed to take effect on July 1, but two weeks ago the Department issued a notice postponing parts of it indefinitely. The DOEs notice said it would issue a replacement policy without soliciting, receiving, or responding to any comment from any stakeholder or member of the public, and without engaging in a public deliberative process, the lawsuit claimed, adding that such secretive action violates the federal Administrative Procedures Act on multiple counts.

The suspended rules were summarized by the lawsuit as having six main elements:

Creating standards for loan discharge and clarifying the process by which students can seek to have their federal loans discharged on the basis of their schools misconduct;

Providing students with access to consistent, clear, fair, and transparent processes to seek debt relief;

[E]mpowering the Secretary to provide debt relief to borrowers without requiring individual applications in instances of widespread misrepresentations, (October 2016 Press Release), an important accompaniment to the state enforcement process;

Protect[ing] taxpayers by requiring that financially risky institutions are prepared to take responsibility for losses to the government when their illegal conduct results in discharges of borrowers loans;

Requiring institutions with poor loan repayment outcomes to provide warnings about their loan repayment rates in plain language in advertising and promotional materials in order to help students make more informed decisions concerning their educational choices;

Prohibiting schools participating in the Direct Loan Program from using mandatory pre-dispute arbitration agreements or class action waivers to resolve claims with students.

The lawsuit named a dozen for-profit colleges that had acted fraudulently in recent years and explained their dubious business model. The institutions are Career Education Corporation (including the Sanford-Brown schools); the Career Institute, LLC; Corinthian Colleges, Inc.; DeVry University, Education Management Corporation (including the Art Institutes and Brown Mackie College); ITT Educational Services, Inc.; Kaplan Higher Education, LLC; Lincoln Technical Institute, Inc.; MalMilVentures, LLC d/b/a Associated National Medical Academy; Minnesota School of Business, Inc. and Globe University, Inc.; the Salter School; Sullivan & Cogliano Training Centers, Inc.; and Westwood College, Inc.

For-profit schools receive the vast majority of their revenue from the federal government in the form of federal student loans and grants. In 2009, the 15 publicly traded for-profit education companies received 86 percent of their revenues from taxpayer-funded loans, the complaint said. Taxpayers invested $32 billion in for-profit schools in the 2009-10 academic year, more than the annual budget of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of State during that time period.

The states said these schools prey on the most vulnerable student populations: young people who are the first in their families to attend school; often women from non-white communities, as well as veterans and the unemployed.

For-profit schools typically advertise themselves to students with modest financial resources who are eligible for federal funds in the form of grants and loans, the suit said. Many such students are the first in their families to enroll in an institution of higher education. For-profit schools have directed their marketing toward low-income and minority students, particularly low-income women of color Additionally, for-profit schools recruit people who are unemployed and thus eligible for federal workforce retraining monies, and veterans who are eligible for federal veteran benefits.

The for-profit colleges are much more expensive than public community colleges and universities, the lawsuit said. For-profit programs are typically expensive for the students who attend them. The [recent U.S.] Senate Report found that the average certificate programs at a for-profit school cost 4.5 times more than a comparable program at a community college. The tuition charged by for-profit schools is often a product of company profit goals, rather than anticipated academic and instructional expenses.

The lawsuit went on to describe how these schools spend only a fraction of their revenues on teaching: Profit goals also drive and the types of expenses incurred at for-profit schools. For-profit schools spend relatively little on education; the Senate Report found that only 17.2 percent of for-profit schools revenue was spent on instruction, less than the amount allocated for marketing, advertising, recruiting, and admissions staffing, and less than the amount allocated as profit.

Despite the high costs of for-profit programs, students attending for-profit institutions often fail to realize the returns on their investment in educationfacing high default rates on their loans and high unemployment rates after leaving school, the complaint continued. Nearly a quarter of students who attend for-profit schools default on their loans within three years of graduation, and approximately half of such students will default over the lifetime of their loans. Overall, students at for-profit schools nationally accounted for about half of all federal student loan defaults in 2009. Furthermore, students who attend for-profit schools are more likely to face unemployment after leaving their schools.

No one should be surprised that the Trump administration and DeVos are siding with the some of the most exploitive players in the private educational sector. The suit by attorneys general from mostly blue states is an attempt to draw a legal line by calling out the administration for secretively promulgating rules outside of established procedures.

While even conservative federal judges are likely to be sympathetic to the states legal argument, DeVos and the administration may eventually be able to repeal and replace the pro-borrower rules before the next presidential election. If thats the case, students and families who have been taken advantage of by these schools should follow this lawsuit closely, as the 18 states are seeking for the rules to take effect. If they succeed, that possibly opens a narrow window for students to discharge outsized debts.
The Internet Is Bugging Out Over a Drawing Beetle Creators (furzy)

Exceptionally rare pale tiger photographed in the wild Guardian. Very handsome.

Flight attendant breaks wine bottle over head of passenger lunging for exit Associated Press. A rare occasion where the flight crew did the right thing by roughing the passenger up.

Great Barrier Reef dead at 25 million The Sun (David L). Horrible.

Americas nearing a record number of weather disasters, and its not even hurricane season yet. Grist

Australia Wants Chips in $100 Bills to Stop Crime, Hoarding by Elderly Bitsonline (furzy). So the pensioners will convert the cash into more volatile stores of wealth, like gold or diamonds.

Google and Facebook Give Net Neutrality Campaign a Boost Fortune. A big deal since both have lots of clout in the Beltway.

Human faeces is shit for the environment  but is now making entrepreneurs flush The Ecologist (micael)

Drug-resistant superbug gonorrhea is emerging, WHO warns  Health CBC (martha r)

China?

North Korea

1997 Asian Crisis Lessons Lost Triple Crisis

MEPs back new tax disclosure rules for multinationals EUBusiness

Brexit

Jeremy Corbyns Labour takes eight-point poll lead over Conservatives London Evening Standard (martha r)

UK Labour leader Corbyn appoints opponents to cabinet as Blairite right wing continue to plot WSWS. Sometimes the best of bad options is to keep your enemies close.

New Cold War

Syraqistan

Imperial Collapse Watch

John McCain: The Patriotic Fighter for Sale Near Eastern Outlook (micael)

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Trump Transition

Obamacare

Democracy vouchers aim to amplify low-income voices, to conservative ire Guardian (furzy). I know I am supposed to applaud this idea but I hate it. Pumps more $ into a corrupt system, lining the pockets of feckless operatives.

The Little Democratic Strategist That Could(nt) Jacobin

Democracy vouchers aim to amplify low-income voices, to conservative ire Guardian (furzy). I know Im supposed to approve of this idea but I dont. It validates and pumps more money into our corrupt campaign financing system.

Can The DCCC Screw Up CO-06 Again? Theyre Trying As Hard As They Can DownWithTyranny!

GOP Lawmaker: Allegations Against Jane Sanders Were Hearsay Snopes (furzy)

Little-Known Challengers Seek To Unseat Bernie Sanders In 2018 Vermont Public Radio. Martha r: Really a non-story. It would take a lot more to unseat sanders in VT.

We Need to Stop This Andrew Cuomo 2020 Nonsense Immediately Slate. The fact that Zephyr Teachout spent only $250,000 and still got 34% of the vote in the primary when Cuomo spent IIRC $11 million to beat her says he has quite the glass jaw.

If it turned out that Hobby Lobby was funding ISIS with its improperly imported ancient clay artifacts, that would be Washington Post (furzy)

Our Famously Free Press

Only in America

Fed hits back at monetary policy critics Financial Times

Banks, bondholders driving the legal conflict over Flints water supply WSWS (micael)

Amazon threatened to kill its Whole Foods deal if the grocer started a bidding war recode. How could the board go along with this? Admittedly, they can always find some banker to issue a fairness opinion, but its generally considered de rigeur to put a company up for sale and encourage bids. Amazons posture comes close to an admission that it expected higher bids if word of its offer got out

Guillotine Watch

Shkrelis Ex-Compliance Officer Says He Quit Over Dodgy Deals Bloomberg

Class Warfare

Antidote du jour (Kittie Wilson via Lawrence R):

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Italian Eurofighter jets are joining Bulgarian MiG-29 fighter jets on 07 July 2017 for joint air policing of allied airspace over Bulgaria. Part of NATOs enhanced air policing measures, the mission will last until October.

A MiG - 29A Fulcrum fighter jet from the Bulgarian Air Force, standing by for NATOs Air Policing mission at Graf Ignatievo Airbase, Bulgaria. - NATO photo by Cynthia Vernat, Allied Air Command Public Affairs Office

In addition to ensuring the safety of Bulgarias skies, the joint patrols will improve the ability of Bulgarian and Italian pilots to work together. The mission is also a demonstration of Allied solidarity.

Allied aircraft regularly patrol NATOs airspace together. In the summer of 2016, for instance, American F-15 fighter jets joined the Bulgarian Airforce for a similar mission.

Bulgarias MiG-29 fighter jets have been part of NATOs Integrated Air and Missile Defence System since 2004, when Bulgaria joined NATO. The system safeguards Allied airspace and its users.
(Natural News) Modern science and Western medicine can certainly save your life in certain situations, and nobody should take for granted the fact that thousands of American doctors and surgeons save lives every day in hospitals and emergency care facilities. Without hospitals, many life-threatening situations would have much worse odds of survival, especially if you are getting broken bones mended, deep wounds sewn up, having a baby, or emergency surgery for internal bleeding. The scariest part of visiting a hospital, though, is not the problem you checked in to get fixed, but ten other life-threatening serial killers that stalk and infect their prey, often killing the poorly defended patients, who recently checked in, but may never check out again.

We like to think U.S. hospitals are the top in the world regarding technology and safety, but what if you found out that all the advanced technology and doctor expertise in the world is useless when safety gets thrown out the window, and health hazards are coming at you right and left, crippling your immunity and threatening every organ in your body? Most people believe that a hospital is where they should go to be saved from their injuries and sicknesses, but in actuality, the odds of dying in a hospital are far greater than anyone would ever think.

Here are the top 10 ways you can easily die in a hospital, other than from what you checked in to get treated for.

#1. Staph infections and superbugs (MRSA)

Bacterial staphylococcus (staph) infections from a deadly superbug called MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) are on the rise, and they are immune to nearly every antibiotic known to modern medicine. MRSA is resistant to methicillin, oxacillin, amoxicillin and penicillin. Yearly, over 100,000 MRSA infections are diagnosed and 20,000 of those infected will die. Of those 100,000 infected, half of them contracted MRSA in the hospital. How? Many doctors and nurses fail to wash their hands often enough. MRSA can even spread from dirty instruments, bed sheets and even in the food made in the horrific hospital cafeteria. Thanks to the mass overuse of antibiotics by MDs in America, penicillin is no longer the solution for superbug infections. In fact, the war on superbugs could cost $100 trillion by 2050.

#2. Pneumonia vaccine

The CDC says everybody over age 64 should get the pneumonia vaccine, even high-risk seniors who have cancer, heart disease or diabetes. But, isnt this the same CDC that recommends the mercury-loaded flu shot, even when the vaccine knowingly contains the wrong strains of the flu? This advice contradicts advice from another crony organization, the American Cancer Society, that doesnt recommend any other vaccine for cancer patients or people with weakened immune systems.

The fact is that when the immune system is not working properly, like when youre in the hospital for just about any reason, vaccines have a heightened chance of causing severe adverse effects. This is especially true for the elderly, because most vaccines contain combinations of live viruses, some of which are genetically modified and laced with formaldehyde (embalming fluid for the dead). Many surgeons recommend the pneumonia vaccine for seniors while they are recovering from major surgery, however common sense says this is really bad advice.

#3. Influenza vaccine

Did you know many hospitals force their doctors and nurses to get flu shots every year, even when the shots have been proven to be worthless? The flu shot is a huge money maker  thats why. Plus, popular influenza vaccines like Fluzone and FluLaval contain known neurotoxins mercury and formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is a pickling chemical used to preserve cadavers and is highly toxic to the nervous system. It is ranked as one of the most hazardous compounds to human health and can cause liver damage, gastrointestinal issues and respiratory distress. Yet, no doctor in America will ever blame the flu shot when you die from it in the hospital.

#4. Unnecessary surgery

Did you know that doctors and hospitals in the United States have a financial incentive to perform surgery on dying seniors because Medicare is guaranteed to pay for it? Whats worse is that most of those procedures fail to improve the patients lives at all. The stress of surgery literally adds to mortality rates. Many of those same surgeries could have simply been treated with medication and therapy.

#5. Chemotherapy

Originally derived from the deadly mustard gas that was used in chemical warfare during World War I, the oldest and most common type of chemotherapy used today are called alkylating agents, and most groups of chemotherapy fall under this umbrella term. Are you heading to the American gas chambers for some cancer treatment? All chemotherapies cause depression of the immune system, leading to a drop in white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets. Dehydration, malnutrition, frequent vomiting and diarrhea are all side effects of chemo.

#6. Radiation

Radiation therapy can go horribly wrong. Some patients develop sarcomas in connective tissues while others die of associated problems and side effects like respiratory disorders, blood clots, bowel damage, delayed healing of wounds, pulmonary embolisms and severe neuropathic pain that may never go away until you die.

#7. Stress and Depression

Any legitimate doctor will tell you that stress, depression and anxiety can exacerbate hypertension, cancer, heart attacks and strokes. False diagnoses can lead to major stress and unfortunately, they are common in many hospitals across the country.

#8. Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals wipe out your immune system

In one fell swoop, a strong dose of chemical-laden drugs can kill your good gut bacteria and destroy your best defense against infection. Thousands of doctors misdiagnose viral infections and prescribe antibiotics early on, thus crippling the patients defense. Again, no doctor has ever blamed antibiotics for their patients death in a hospital.

#9. Contracting other patients sicknesses

Most U.S. hospitals are crawling with superbugs, bacteria, parasites and pathogens. Its the antithesis of the herding theory.

#10. Complete lack of nutrition

Surely you wont find organic food and spring water at a U.S. hospital. Why? Because Western Medicine and the FDA have completely ruled out food as medicine. Instead, youll be eating processed, nutrient-void, pesticide-laden GMOs, artificial sweeteners, milk and meat  all while taking chemical-based medications that wipe out your good gut bacteria.

If you can, visit a Naturopathic physician before and after any hospital visit, and have your family bring you some organic food and spring water during your stay.

Sources include:

Vaccines.news

CDC.gov

TruthWiki.org

Newsmax.com

Truthwiki.org

HSPH.harvard

ChrisKresser.com

Physio-pedia.com

HealthWatch.org

CBC.ca

Chemocare.com
(Natural News) Retailers pulling products from their shelves is often the direct result of a confirmed contamination or people getting sick. So, it seems odd that, though no complaints have been filed, Target just removed all of Hampton Creek Inc.s non-GMO, plant-based products from its stores and website.

Since Target is responsible for one-third of Hampton Creeks product sales, the company could be in real trouble. Another major blow for the popular food startup.

A few years ago, Hampton Creek became famous for its egg-free Just Mayo. The plant-based, GMO-free Just-line products took the vegan food world by storm and remain widely popular today. Valued at more than $1 billion, the companys products are sold in over 20,000 locations, including universities, stadiums, schools, and hospitals.

Given their success and the higher demand for clean, GMO-free foods, the company has been under serious attack. Recently, the firm had to fire three executives for sabotaging the companys green mission to provide healthy foods to the people. Now, one of its biggest retail partners, Target, has pulled all products from its shelves based on false accusations. Target sells 20 Hampton Creek products, including Just Mayo, Just Dressings, Just Cookie Dough, and Just Cookies.

The mystery safety complaints only Target seems to know about

Given the fact that nobody filled a complaint, nor did the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) initiate a mandatory recall, the whole situation seems a bit fishy. Furthermore, dont you think it is a little strange that Target is the only major retailer to recall the products based on mystery allegations only they received?

A Target spokeswoman, who wants to remain anonymous, told Bloomberg that the company was notified about violations of food safety standards as well as accusations of manipulation and adulteration of the products. Though she didnt mention the source of the information, the woman said that they found certain pathogens at one of the manufacturing facilities used by Hampton Creek. She also added that certain products had tested positive for listeria and salmonella.

Though Hampton Creek noted that all their products are GMO-free and comply with the labeling regulations, other allegations involve mislabeling of some non-GMO products. Lastly, Target accused Hampton Creek of using honey, which is not listed on the label, in the Just Sweet Mustard salad dressing.

Based on these mystery claims, Target made the decision to pull Hampton Creeks products from its shelves through a voluntary market withdrawal. The retailer also said that it had informed the FDA of the unconfirmed complaints.

The allegations that our products are mislabeled and unsafe are false, San Francisco-based Hampton Creek told Fortune. We have robust food safety standards, and as such, we remain confident about the safety of all products we sell and distribute. We look forward to working with Target and the FDA to bring this to a quick resolution.

In the past, Unilever sued Hampton Creek for false advertising. According to them, Just Mayo couldnt be considered mayonnaise because it does not contain eggs. Unilever lost the case and launched a rival product shortly after. Furthermore, the firm has also been targeted by inappropriate ads from the American Egg Board who were hoping to put Just Mayo in a bad light.

Could this be another clever move by the egg or dairy industry to destroy a company that is promoting health? Though the FDA is monitoring the situation, they are not acting in any way. Also, why were the allegations only sent to Target? If there are serious health or labeling threads you would expect that the FDA would interfere and retract the products from the market. Nonetheless, Just Mayo and other Hampton Creek products remain available in every other store.

Sources include:

BLoomberg.com

NaturalNews.com

Fortune.com
(Natural News) Though most of us know the American federal government owns some land, not many people realize how much exactly is controlled by the feds. Today, they hold approximately 640 million acres of land or 28 percent of the 2.27 billion acres of land in the United States. Around 92 percent of all the federally owned acres are in the West.

According to shocking statistics published by Ballotpedia, the federal government collectively owns 47 percent of all land in 12 western states. Interestingly, states East of the Mississippi River seem to be less controlled by the feds, with only 4 percent of all land owned by the government. Given the very poor management of the government, many states are calling for a reduction in federal land ownership and more control for the states.

Did you know 84.9 percent of Nevada, 64.9 percent of Utah, 61.6 percent of Idaho, and 52.9 percent of Oregon are federally-owned? Though Nevada has the greatest percentage of land owned by the feds within a state, Alaska has the most land total owned by the federal government. A whopping 223.8 million acres (or 61.2 percent) in Alaska are owned by the feds.

Other states where the feds own a vast amount of land include Washington (28.5 percent), Montana (29.0 percent), New Mexico (34.7 percent), Colorado (35.9 percent), Arizona (38.6 percent), California (45.8 percent), and Wyoming (48.1 percent).

These numbers stand in sharp contrast to states as Connecticut and Iowa, where the federal government only possesses 0.3 percent of all land. This huge difference makes you wonder why so many acres are owned by the feds in the western states.

Federal landowners are bad neighbors

The Heritage Foundation noted that uses of federal lands include national parks, national forests, recreation areas, wildlife refuges, vast tracts of range and wasteland managed by the Bureau of Land Management, reservations held in trust for Native American tribes, military bases, and ordinary federal buildings and installations.

Though nobody will dispute the fact that the government needs a certain amount of land for national purposes, do they really need that much? If the federal government would do a good job there wouldnt be much of an issue. Unfortunately, the majority of federal land managers have an extremely bad reputation.

According to Sue Lani Madsen, frustrated local federal land managers are hindered by layers of internal regulations and restricted funding that make a timely response to weed outbreaks difficult. Since federal land is exempt from state noxious weed control laws, having a federally owned plot of land next door is bad news.

Also, due to mismanagement, wildfires tend to spread very rapidly in areas controlled by the federal government. As reported by The Economic Collapse Blog, over 2.6 million acres of land has gone up in flames in 2017 alone.

Since the feds dont care about local issues or concerns, it can be very frustrating for people living in areas where the federal government is in control of vast stretches of the state. Wouldnt it be better if the land and its natural resources were owned and managed by the people who live in the state?

Though Sue Lani Madsen quoted a study which found that it is more profitable for states to manage their own public lands, those that are against transferring ownership of federal land to the states often argue that it would be too expensive for the states to handle the extra costs.

Writing for the Economic Collapse Blog Michael Snyder noted: At the end of the day, this is just another area where we need to readjust the balance of power between the states and the federal government. Our founders intended to create a system where the states had much more power than the central government, but instead that has become totally flipped around.

Sources include:

TheEconomiCcollapseBlog.com

Ballotpedia.org

Heritage.org
Police searched Friday night for two men accused of kidnapping of a 1-year-old girl and her mother who have been found safe at a relative's house.



The kidnapping of Deleyza Ceron from Porterville, California prompted an Amber Alert. She and her mother, Maria Sanchez Palomares, were reported safe Friday night, police said.

The mother had been assaulted, but her condition was not known.

Police were searching for two men: Valentin Angel Villasenor, 20, 5-foot-6, with a thin build, black hair, mustache and brown eyes. Police are also searching for Juan Santos Martinez, 40, 5-foot-2, 140 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. They're armed and dangerous, police said.



The suspects were last seen driving a mid 1990s white Chevrolet or GMC sport utility vehicle, possibly a suburban, with an unknown Washington license plate number.



The rear window of the vehicle is broken out and covered in white tape. The left rear window is inoperative and in the down position.
A bomb threat forced evacuations late Friday at the Richmond Police Department and surrounding neighborhoods.

Police also evacuated its communications center. Nearby homes and businesses in the area of 27th Street, 2700 block of Nevin Avenue, 2700 block of Macdonald Avenue and Jetty Drive were also evacuated while police investigated the reported bomb threat.

Police gave an all clear shortly after 10 p.m.

No other information was immediately available.
Firefighters in Antioch late Friday were battling a four-alarm apartment fire, which has sent three people to the hospital with smoke inhalation.

The blaze was first reported at about 10 p.m. in the 3900 block of Delta Fair Boulevard, Contra Costa Fire Protection District Capt. George Laing said.

Four people were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and three were taken to the hospital.

The blaze may have been started by fireworks, as there were earlier reports of fireworks in the area, according to Laing.

No other information was immediately available.
Unexplained odors inside the Millennium Tower units could be evidence of a potential fire safety risk to the 58-story sinking and tilting structure, experts tell NBC Bay Area's Investigative Unit.

Its very alarming, said John Damanin, a retired San Francisco fire captain who had been in charge of the citys fire inspection detail.

He was referring to a report done late last year that details unsealed gaps around piping installed between the buildings 30th and 31st floor. Darmanin told us that the gaps could allow smoke and flames to spread from one floor to another.

I knew I had a serious issue on my hands, I feel like the building has a serious issue, said the units owner, Paula Pretlow, after she heard Darmanins concerns.

Pretlow and several other residents report having long endured unexplained odors permeating their luxury units. Then, late last year, the buildings homeowner association commissioned consultants Allana, Buick and Bers to investigate Pretlows unit.

When the experts cut open several of her walls and set off smoke bombs from the unit below, they learned that smoke was getting in through gaps surrounding pipes and ducts running through holes in the concrete floors behind Pretlows walls.

Darmanin says that such openings should have been sealed with distinctive red, fire-resistant caulking, to make sure fires are isolated on the floor where they start.

While city inspectors are supposed to check some of those floor openings for proper seals during construction, he says that the builder is responsible for assuring that all gaps are properly protected against fire. He says that didnt happen in Pretlows unit - citing the consultants findings.

There was a failure, confirmed already, that it happened in one unit, Darmanin said.

Did someone have a bad day that day? Lets hope.But if there are other units that are complaining of odors, and no one is investigating because they are afraid of what they might find out? I have a real problem with that if Im a tenant or if Im in the fire department.

High rise fire safety expert Armin Wolski agreed with Darmanins opinion. Telling us that more should be done to assess the risk throughout the high-rise.

We hope it that is not systematic, thats why I would be concerned, said Wolski, who advises high-prise designers on how to adhere to fire safety regulations.

While sprinklers should contain most high rise fires, he said, unsealed floor openings could lead to smoke damage in a small fire or help a small fire to move into the unit above.

I wouldnt live in fear, I wouldnt move out, he said, but I would want the management of the building to look into this and see if this was a widespread issue that wasnt checked during the process of construction.

Meanwhile, something else mentioned in the experts report also raised a red flag for Darmanin. The report says that building engineers boosted air pressure inside some units to keep odors at bay. Doing that, Darmanin says, could undermine another fire safety feature  pressurized stairwells that are designed to keep smoke out for safe escape.

So I would want to make sure that whatever they tweaked to solve one problem did not create another problem in the stairwells, Darmanin said.

All this comes as Pretlow says she is still waiting for someone to fix her odor issue. The test crew sealed up her walls without filling the gaps with fire rated caulking. She tells us, since she first complained to the homeowner association, the odor-transfer issue has become part of the current legal battle and is mentioned in a homeowners lawsuit filed in March.

Neither the homeowners association nor the developer would comment for our story. Association lawyer Vision Winter cited ongoing litigation and mediation as a reason for not addressing the issue.

Millennium spokesman P.J. Johnston acknowledged a small number of odor complaints but said the homeowners association was dealing with them.

The city issued a report in January that declares the building safe. But the reports notes that in December  the same month Pretlows unit was tested  inspectors found unsealed gaps around pipes on three levels of the building basement. They ordered that those gaps be filled with fire rated caulking.

William Strawn, a spokesman for the citys Department of Building Inspection, said city fire and building inspection officials did check floor openings during construction. Telling us that If they spotted any unsealed pipes, they would be fixed in the permit process.

But he acknowledged that city inspectors did find gaps around basement pipes that were not found during earlier inspections, and had recently ordered the problem remedied.

Stawn says no one in the building has ever lodged a complaint with the city about any improperly sealed openings or odors inside units. City building inspection officials have said that they dont normally act unless they receive a complaint.

In light of Darmanins concerns, Pretlow wants the city to intervene and assure her that all the units in the building are checked.

Ive always been concerned, she said, and to have an expert confirm some of my fears, its scary, frankly.
Police said Friday they were investigating whether a crime was actually committed in the suspected abduction of a 16-year-old boy, which spurred an Amber Alert for two Southern California counties.

Authorities said Friday night 31-year-old Kandice Johnson, who was named the suspected abductor, was taken into custody in San Bernardino.

Highway patrol officials issued the alert late Thursday night for the teen, who was allegedly abducted from South Los Angeles by Johnson, who they considered armed and dangerous, according to the Los Angeles Police Department 77th Division.

The search for a black Toyota Camry, which police said Johnson allegedly carjacked with the boy in the backseat, spanned numerous counties.

LAPD announced Friday night that the suspect vehicle was recovered in San Bernardino and that Johnson was in custody.

Police say they have not yet found the boy, but no longer think he was the victim of a crime, calling off the Amber Alert.

Johnson had allegedly carjacked a black 2014 Toyota Camry from the teen's mother at gunpoint around 4 p.m. Thursday at 47th and Figueroa streets.

The boy's mother alleged that Johnson, whom she knows, drove off in her car with her son inside, Los Angeles police said.

"The (mother) told the officers that she wasn't sure if the suspect actually knew that there was a child in the car because the windows are tinted very dark on the back," Los Angeles police Detective Meghan Aguilar said late Friday morning.

"So we're still not sure what her intention was, although at this time we believe her intention was to steal the car and not kidnap the child that was in the vehicle."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Police in Pelham, New Hampshire, are searching for suspects in a street fight that was caught on tape in the parking lot.

At least one of the suspects can be seen in the video with what police believe to be is a revolver.

The fight occurred on June 28 at approximately 10:30 p.m. in the parking lot of Tobacco Junction on Bridge Street.

According to a witness, the fight broke out between two males outside of Tobacco Junction. Police believe that others associated with those males quickly became involved.

In the surveillance tape taken from the store, one of the males originally involved in the fight can be seen opening his trunk and pulling out a possible firearm.

The unidentified male then shows his gun to the other people involved in the fight. Those suspects then got into a light-colored Ford Edge and took off southbound on Bridge Street.

The male with the possible firearm can then be seen motioning as if shooting the gun at the moving car.

The involved parties did not file a police report, but Pelham police are looking to identify anyone involved in the incident.
On the eve of his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump vowed Thursday to confront "new forms of aggression" targeting the West and called for Moscow to stop fomenting unrest around the world. Yet he pointedly stopped short of condemning Russia for meddling in the U.S. election.

Buoyed by an electrified crowd of thousands in Poland chanting his name, Trump sought to show he wasn't overlooking Russian actions that have elicited global consternation, especially from nearby nations in eastern and central Europe. He warned that Western interests were being tested by "propaganda, financial crimes and cyber warfare," forcing NATO to adapt.

"We urge Russia to cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere, and its support for hostile regimes including Syria and Iran, and to join the community of responsible nations in our fight against common enemies and in defense of civilization itself," Trump said in a speech in Warsaw's Krasinski Square.

It was a critique that the president did not appear to extend to Russia's actions last year during the presidential campaign. In a news conference before his speech, Trump questioned the veracity of American intelligence about foreign meddling in the U.S. election, arguing that Russia wasn't the only country that may have interfered.

"Nobody really knows for sure," Trump said.

Opening his second overseas trip as president, Trump also warned North Korea that he's considering "some pretty severe things" in response to the isolated nation's unprecedented launch of a missile capable of reaching the U.S. Though he declined to offer specifics on the U.S. response, Trump called on all nations to confront the North's "very, very bad behavior."

He also stated unequivocally that the U.S. stands "firmly behind Article 5," the NATO provision requiring the U.S. to defend other member nations if they come under attack. On his inaugural trip to Europe in May, Trump declined to affirm that commitment, to the dismay of U.S. allies who said it cast doubt on his allegiance to the alliance.

As U.S. investigations into Russia's meddling forge ahead, Trump is under intense scrutiny for how he handles his first face-to-face session with Putin. U.S. intelligence officials say the unpredictable Russia leader ordered interference into the 2016 election that brought Trump to the White House.

From Poland, Trump took a short flight to Hamburg, Germany, where he was meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and having dinner with leaders of South Korea and Japan later Thursday.

Trump and Putin plan to sit down together on Friday in Hamburg, on the sidelines of the G-20 summit of industrialized and developing economies. Asked, in Poland, whether he planned to discuss election meddling with Putin, Trump demurred.

But back in Washington, pressure was mounting from Trump's critics in Congress for him to forcefully confront Putin. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence panel, urged Trump to "have the courage" to raise the election issue directly, while several Senate Democrats insisted it would be a "severe dereliction" of Trump's duties if he doesn't.

Loath to cast a shadow on his election victory, Trump has avoided firmly blaming Moscow for campaign hacking in the past, and on Thursday, he was similarly elusive. He argued variably that it could have been Russia, probably was Russia and indeed was Russia, while insisting it could have been other countries, too, and adding: "I won't be specific."

The president sought to redirect scrutiny toward his predecessor, Barack Obama, accusing him of allowing Moscow to meddle on his watch. Though the Obama administration warned Russia publicly and privately before Election Day to stop interfering, questions have since been raised about whether he acted aggressively enough to stop the threat.

"They say he choked. Well, I don't think he choked," Trump said. "I think he thought Hillary Clinton was going to win the election, and he said, 'Let's not do anything about it.'"

Using information collected by the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency, the U.S. national intelligence director last year concluded that Moscow was behind the hack of Democratic Party email systems and attempted to influence the 2016 election to benefit Trump. The Obama administration said the effort was directed from the "highest levels" of Russia's government  a reference to Putin.

"Mistakes have been made" by U.S. intelligence, said Trump, issuing a reminder that America's spy agencies had once been confident that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, creating "one big mess" in the form of the Iraq War. Though Trump has made similar statements before, it was an extraordinary public expression of doubt about U.S. intelligence capabilities by a president while standing on foreign soil.

In his first public comments since North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile this week, Trump declined to offer specifics about what a U.S. response might entail, though he called it a "threat" and said the U.S. would "confront it very strongly." Trump said it wasn't certain he'd follow through on the severe steps he was weighing, adding that he does "not draw red lines."

"It's a shame that they're behaving this way," Trump said of North Korea's leaders. "But they are behaving in a very, very dangerous manner, and something will have to be done about it."

The U.S. has been considering a range of possible sanctions, economic measures and other steps to confront Pyongyang. The test of an ICBM marked a major technological advancement for North Korea that U.S. officials have described as intensifying the threat against the U.S. by bringing the North closer to being able to mount a nuclear warhead atop a missile that could hit American soil.

Trump used part of a joint news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda to attack several U.S. news organizations for their coverage of his presidency. That elicited some sympathy from Duda, who suggested that he, too, was covered unfairly.

"We don't want fake news," Trump said.

Before his address to the Polish people, the president joined first lady Melania Trump for a wreath-laying ceremony at a monument commemorating the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against Nazi occupation. Crowds waving U.S. and Polish flags gathered near TV screens erected in the square to broadcast the visiting American's speech.

A spokesman for the Warsaw police, Sylwester Marczak, told The Associated Press that some 15,000 people attended Trump's Krasinski Square speech.

Associated Press writers Josh Lederman, Vivian Salama and Jill Colvin contributed to this report.
The Hartford Fire Department has terminated Firefighter Jimmy Ngo following an internal investigation.

The announcement comes just days after an arrest warrant was released detailing an incident where Ngo was shot several times last April. Investigators allege it was a drug deal gone wrong.

Ngo was fired after a special hearing where city leaders met on Thursday. He spent six years employed as a Hartford firefighter, most recently working out of Engine One, Ladder Six on Main Street.

According to court documents, Ngos alleged shooter, Jesus Perez, told Connecticut State Police it was a botched drug deal to help pay off Perezs debts that led to Ngos shooting.

The shooting itself happened at the Rocky Hill industrial park back in April. Ngo was off-duty at the time and was hit four to five times in the face and back by a barrage of bullets.

Investigators said Perez told them he planned to sell $35,000-worth of drugs with Ngo. Instead, police said Perez shot and beat Ngo and took off with the drugs. Ngo fought back and investigators later found the alleged shooters blood in an abandoned car in New Britain.

Perez told troopers Ngo was shot by the alleged buyer.

The Hartford Fire Department released the following statement on the termination:

"On Wednesday, July 05, 2017, the Hartford fire department conducted an internal investigation pertaining to one of its members (Jimmy Ngo) that was allegedly involved in activity that is in violation of city and department policy. The facts obtained from this internal investigation warranted disciplinary action from the fire departments administration. As a result of the findings, the members employment with the City of Hartford has been terminated, effective immediately. The City of Hartford and Hartford Fire Department has a zero tolerance for violation of its said policies that are counterintuitive to the hard work, dedication and sacrifices made by the greater body."

NBC Connecticut has reached out to Ngos union for comment but have not heard back.

Ngo told NBC Connecticut that he has no comment.
The Mexican army says soldiers found a cache of 94 assault rifles and 30,000 rounds of ammunition in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas.

The Defense Department says a patrol detected a group of armed individuals fleeing from a house Friday. It says the soldiers found the assault rifles, three .50-caliber sniper rifles and grenade launchers at the scene.

The department says the weapons and 20 military-style uniforms belonged to a drug cartel, but did not say which one.

Nuevo Laredo has long been dominated by the Zetas drug cartel, which was formed by deserters from an elite army unit and which has long shown a preference for military-style weapons and tactics.
A photo of Vice President Mike Pence touching NASA hardware clearly marked "Do Not Touch" took off on social media Friday, inspiring scores of gags and memes.

The "Do Not Touch" signs in the vicinity at the Kennedy Space Flight Center "are there as a day-to-day reminder," but the "Critical Space Flight Hardware" in question was "absolutely okay" to touch, NASA told NBC News.

"Procedures require the hardware to be cleaned before tiles are bonded to the spacecraft, so touching the surface is absolutely okay," said NASA spokeswoman Jen Rae Wang. "Otherwise, the hardware would have had a protective cover over it like the thermal heat shield, which was nearby."

Pence played along with the viral moment, joking on Twitter that Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, "dared" him to do it.
Two U.S. B-1B bombers and American and South Korean fighter jets on Friday conducted an exercise that included practicing attack capabilities at a training range, in a show of force to North Korea days after that regime tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.



The Lancer bombers took off from an air base in Guam and "practiced attack capabilities by releasing inert weapons at the Pilsung Range," U.S. Pacific Command told NBC News.

"North Korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland," Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Terrence O Shaughnessy said in a statement. "Let me be clear, if called upon we are trained, equipped and ready to unleash the full lethal capability of our allied air forces."

Two U.S. officials told NBC News the show of force was intended to "send a clear message" to North Korea, ruled by the dictator Kim Jong Un.
A four-alarm fire early Friday gutted a partially constructed 7-story Oakland building, displacing at least 700 people who live nearby.

A caller reported seeing smoke from the structure at 2302 Valdez Street around 4:30 a.m., according to Interim Fire Chief Darin White.

Fridays blaze is the fifth major fire at an Oakland residential construction site in five years. All those fires happened at projects to build new apartments and retail space. The last four were rules suspicious or arson. Investigative Reporter Bigad Shaban has been looking into those fires, the likely causes and the many unanswered questions.

The now-destroyed building, which had been under construction for several months, is the Alta Waverly. Its architect is Oakland-based Pyatok and developer is Wood Partners of Mill Valley. Upon completion next spring, the mixed-use project was expected to feature 196 homes and up to 31,500 square feet of retail space.

Instead, flames have reduced the Alta Waverly to a charred skeleton that is unstable and missing chunks of scaffolding. Plumes of smoke not only blanketed the area, but were also visible from as far as the South Bay, and sidewalks for several blocks in all directions were littered with soot and ash. The National Weather Service of the Bay Area said a satellite detected temperatures as high as 1,145 degrees Fahrenheit from the Oakland fire.

Pyatok/Wood Partners

The first fire engine was on scene within five minutes of the initial call. Crews were forced to go on the defense immediately because flames were building at the center of the structure. In all, more than 80 firefighters battled the blistering flames with the assistance of more than two dozen fire apparatus, White said.

"We had zero injuries," he said with a smile.

But the danger has not passed.

The task of extinguishing the fire, which has since been knocked down, was made riskier as parts of the building crumbled around fire crews, while the scorching heat made a large construction crane swing, White said.

Four-Alarm Fire Engulfs Building Under Construction in Oakland

Radiant heat was felt for several blocks around the fire. That, combined with the threat of the careening crane prompted road closures and roughly 100 evacuations, according to White. People who have been uprooted were given shelter through 5 p.m. at the Cathedral of Christ the Light at 2121 Harrison Street. They can spend the night at St. Vincent De Paul at 2272 San Pablo Ave.

White was unable to specify when people will be allowed to return to their homes, citing ongoing concerns about the integrity of the crane. The evacuation order cannot be lifted until the crane, which could collapse, has been deconstructed and removed, he said. The Alameda County Sheriff's Office plans to send a drone into the scorched building to help the crane operator and Cal/OSHA determine the best way to dismantle it.

A four-alarm fire on Friday engulfed an Oakland building under construction, prompting evacuations in the area.

"I was scared," Mout Khamphou told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Khamphou said she was sitting in her car getting ready to go to work when she saw smoke coming from the building next door.

She drove away, thinking the fire wasn't bad, but called her husband who was still at home to warn him.

"I called my husband and I said, 'I saw the fire start. You have to be careful and get ready to get out.' He called me and said, 'Oh honey, the fire started getting worse and he asked where my passport and papers are. Our apartment won't be safe anymore.' I was crying a lot, I worried.''

She said she turned around and drove back to her neighborhood and found flames shooting from the building. Other evacuees told NBC Bay Area that when they went to close windows to prevent smoke from entering their homes, the glass was hot.

A four-alarm fire early Friday gutted a partially constructed 7-story Oakland building, displacing nearly 100 people who live nearby. Ian Cull reports.

According to White, it is too early to know what caused the fire because firefighters are still monitoring hot spots. It is only after structural engineers and Cal/OSHA have deemed the building safe that investigators with the Alameda County Arson Task Force can comb through the wreckage.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services is helping Oakland firefighters develop a plan to address the multiple hazards that are puting residents and first-responders at peril, White said.

A construction worker was of the opinion that someone may not have wanted more buildings along Auto Row, which is a hub for new developments. But that theory has not been corroborated by officials.

At a news conference, Mayor Libby Schaaf promised to offer "comfort and security" to those who were impacted by the fire as well as "relentlessly investigate" its cause.

"With a fire this size, it is miraculous that we have had no loss of loss, no injuries and nothing more than what appears to be cosmetic damage to any ancillary or surrounding structures, she said.

A four-alarm fire on Friday engulfed an Oakland building under construction, prompting evacuations in the area. Bob Redell, Pete Suratos and Rob Mayeda reports.

Meanwhile, city councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney, whose district includes Alta Waverly, said Oakland leaders will not take Friday's fire lightly.

"We are concerned," she said. "We will look at what the investigation will reveal in terms of whether this was human error or foul play. But I think we all have to be concerned when several hundred units of housing are taken off the market in the middle of an unprecedent housing crisis."

Schaaf agreed.

"Oakland is in the middle of a housing crisis and the loss of these valuable new units only exacerbates that problem," she said. "We are very clear that this type of development is what Oakland needs to get through this moment where rents are skyrocketing, where housing is in high demand.

"This is a loss for our city and for this region right now."

A four-alarm fire on Friday engulfed an Oakland building under construction, prompting evacuations in the area. Bob Redell reports.

The developer reportedly had a roving security patrol at Alta Waverly, and White said confirmed the presence of security cameras in the vicinity. It remains unknown what, if any, surveillance footage was captured.

Wood Partners issued a statement Friday, in which the company's CEO Joe Keough said, "Our deepest concern goes out to those impacted by this unfortunate event. We are grateful that no injuries were sustained and we are working closely with local fire officials and investigators to identify the cause of the fire."



Fire officials told NBC Bay Area that their efforts to contain the blaze ensured that it didn't reach four homes to the east of the construction site.

The Alameda County Fire Department sent mutual aid to man Oakland's fire stations, while the city's fire department focused on the fire that quickly escalated from two to three and then four alarms.

Fires have plagued Oakland in recent months.

Last October, a five-alarm fire erupted at an apartment site under construction near Lake Merritt, which is under two miles from Friday's fire.

A three-alarm fire then claimed 36 lives during a December 2016 concert at the Ghost Ship warehouse, and a four-alarm fire in a West Oakland residential building killed four people in March.

People who witnessed the fire or may have any information about it are asked to call a tip line at 510-777-3333.

NBC Bay Area's Bob Redell and Pete Suratos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Editor's Note: The Amber Alert has been cancelled, and police were investigating Friday night whether a crime was actually committed. Read the updated story here.

Authorities issued an Amber Alert Thursday night for a 16-year-old boy who was abducted from Los Angeles by a woman considered armed and dangerous.

The boy was abducted at around 4 p.m. by 31-year-old Kandice Johnson, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

He is black, with brown eyes and black hair. He is 5-feet-8 and weighs 150 pounds. Johnson is black, with red, green and black multi-colored braided hair, police said. She is 5-foot-3 and weighs 147 pounds.

She was last seen driving a 2014 black Toyota Camry, with a California license plate 7XWL023. The stolen car belongs to the teen's mother, police said.



The boy's mother identified Johnson as the woman sought in her son's disappearance, according to the LAPD. Johnson is not related to the teen, but is acquainted with his mother, police said.

The Amber Alert was in effect for Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Hot, dry winds have fanned a wildfire in Santa Barbara County that has now grown to over nine square miles and forced evacuations in the most urgent of several blazes burning throughout the baking state.

Dubbed the Alamo Fire, the blaze that broke out near Santa Maria led to the evacuations of about 300 people from homes on rural roads, county fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni said. The blaze was 10 percent contained.



Meanwhile, Southern California is under an excessive heat warning with triple-digit temps expected in valleys and inland areas.

The heat broke a 131-year-old record in Los Angeles, as the National Weather Service reported the temperature hit 96 degrees on Saturday. That temperature beat a record of 95 degrees for the date set in 1886. Other records for the day fell at the weather service office in Oxnard and nearby Camarillo, both in Ventura County.

The source of the heat is a strong upper-level high pressure system over the southwestern U.S. along with breezy northerly winds at the surface.

Those winds triggered a red flag fire danger warning for the south Santa Barbara County mountains and coast, where the gusts are known as "sundowners." Gusts up to 50 mph (80 kph) could last through Saturday morning and possibly into Sunday, forecasters said.

Another blaze burning near Oroville in the Sierra Nevada foothills north of Sacramento has destroyed 10 structures. Fire officials say the so-called Wall Fire grew to more than 1.5 square miles Saturday and was only 2 percent contained.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported that five residents and one firefighter suffered minor injuries. Residents were ordered to evacuate from several roads in the rural area as flames climbed tall trees.

Firefighters also continued their fight against a wildfire burning in the southern Sierra Nevada's Sequoia National Forest as it grew to more than 18 square miles Saturday.

The firefighting force surpassed 760 with the arrival of additional hotshot crews to work in the rugged wilderness between Schaeffer Mountain and the Kern River nearly 20 miles north of Kernville.

Helicopters and air tankers were making drops, but containment remained low at just 10 percent.
Investigators on Friday identified a man wanted in connection with the execution-style murder of a prominent Southern California attorney nearly eight years ago and another slaying.

Richard Wall, 64, was described by authorities as a second person of interest in the killing of civil litigation attorney Jeffrey Tidus, gunned down in the driveway of his Rolling Hills Estates home in December 2009. Wall, owner of a Whittier business called Welded Fixtures, also is considered a person of interest in the shooting death of Juan Mendez at the victims Whittier home in February 2011.

Mendez was an employee at Wall's business, the sheriff's department said.

No arrests have been made in the Tidus case, but authorities said Friday that "getting closer" to unraveling the mystery.

"After many years of a lengthy investigation, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department homicide detectives are getting closer to discovering the circumstances surrounding the execution-style murder of 53-year-old Jeffrey Tidus," a sheriff's department statement said.

Tidus was shot at about 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2009, outside his home after he attended a fundraiser in Redondo Beach. He had just stepped outside to get his work laptop from his vehicle, which was parked in the driveway.

He was attacked from behind, suffering a single gunshot to the head. Tidus died the following day at a hospital.

On May 31, detectives released a composite sketch of a person of interest in the killing, who was described as a black man in his 30s. It was not immediately clear whether there was a connection between Wall and the other person of interest in the case.

The sheriff's department released a sketch of that unidentified individual May 23.

In April, family members, including Tidus' wife, spoke at a news conference. Sheryl Tidus was with her husband when they arrived home on the night of his death.

"I wasn't aware that there was anybody out there that hated him to this extent, that would do such a thing," Sheryl Tidus said at the news conference.

April would have marked their 33rd wedding anniversary.

Earlier this year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved and announced a reward of $10,000 for information on the Tidus killing, and an additional $90,000 was added by the Tidus' family. The rewards were offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the killing of Tidus, and the reward also was in effect for information on the killing of Mendez, the sheriff's department reported.

Anyone with information about the case was urged to call the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
A federal appeals court on Friday dismissed Hawaii's attempt to challenge the rules created by the Trump administration for its travel ban on citizens from six majority-Muslim countries.

The state asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for an order saying the government could not omit grandparents, aunts and uncles, and other relatives of someone in the U.S. from the list of people who can still travel to the country.

A three-judge panel said the 9th Circuit does not have jurisdiction to address the issue after the state appealed a federal judge's decision to leave the government's rules in place.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson on Thursday denied Hawaii's request to clarify who is exempt, saying the question would be better posed to the Supreme Court.

Watson put President Donald Trump's revised travel ban on hold in March, and the justices partially reinstated it last month.

"Every day that passes is a day when our government is turning away human beings  from newborn children to elderly grandparents  whom the injunction requires to be admitted," attorneys for Hawaii said in their filing with the 9th Circuit.

The state attorney general's office said it was still reviewing the 9th Circuit's decision.

The Supreme Court said the president's 90-day ban on visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen could be enforced pending arguments set for October if a visitor lacks a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States."

The court's majority said a close family relationship in the U.S. was required to enter the country and a spouse or mother-in-law would clearly be permitted.

The Trump administration has said the exemption would apply to parents, spouses, sons, daughters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, fiances or siblings.

A U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman said the agency declined to comment on the 9th Circuit's decision.

The department said in a court filing that its list of people exempt from the ban "hews closely" to categories defined by Congress.

The Trump administration says the travel ban is necessary to keep Americans safe until it can review the vetting process for refugees and others.
Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez was released from prison and placed under house arrest Saturday after more than three years in military lockup, a shock reversal that fueled hopes for a broader amnesty for dozens of jailed activists as the country slides ever deeper into political turmoil.

Venezuela's government-stacked Supreme Court said in a statement that it had granted Lopez the "humanitarian measures" for health reasons and "serious signs of irregularities" in the handling of the case that it did not specify.

A euphoric Lopez briefly greeted a few dozen supporters gathered outside his home in Caracas in the afternoon. Climbing atop a wall dressed in a white shirt, he clutched and kissed a Venezuelan flag and raised his right fist in a show of defiance.

Lopez vowed that he's prepared to return to jail rather than give up his fight to remove President Nicolas Maduro.

"This is a step in the march toward freedom," Lopez said in a statement read by close ally and lawmaker Freddy Guevara. "I carry no resentment, nor will I give up my beliefs. My position against this regime is firm as are my convictions to fight for a real peace, coexistence, change and freedom."

As his backers celebrated, relatives of dozens of other jailed activists gathered at a Caracas jail in hopes that their loved ones might be released too in the coming hours.

[NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More

Speculation that Lopez's transfer may have been part of a larger deal was sparked in part by a government truth commission statement saying that as part of its work to defuse tensions, it had asked the judicial system to evaluate applying "alternative formulas" for those imprisoned for violent acts.

The opposition has been demanding the release of dozens of activists it consider political prisoners in order to initiate talks aimed at resolving a political crisis that has left more than 90 people dead and hundreds injured. But Lopez, the most prominent and defiant of those behind bars, was seen as the last person likely to leave jail in the event of any government concessions.

The 46-year-old former Caracas-area mayor was sentenced in 2015 to nearly 14 years in prison for inciting violence during anti-government protests in which three people died and dozens were wounded.

"We spoke for like 40 minutes. He's hugging his children, he's with his wife. .... I'm sure they are celebrating," Lopez's father, who shares his son's name, said from exile in Spain. He said in recent days Lopez had been isolated in his prison cell without food and attributed his son's transfer to the considerable international pressure on Maduro's government.

"He told me himself recently: Dad, it's always darkest right before the break of dawn," he added.

Venezuela has been rocked by months of near-daily protests again this year, fueled by widespread discontent over shortages of basic goods, galloping inflation and allegations that Maduro is undermining democracy in the country.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he had been informed of the news of Lopez's transfer by his predecessor, Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero, who he said played a role in the breakthrough. Zapatero has been traveling back and forth to Venezuela for months trying to broker a deal on jailed opposition leaders and jumpstart a dialogue between the government and opposition.

Zapatero's efforts were also acknowledged in the statement by the truth commission.

Colombian former President Ernesto Samper, who had been working with Zapatero, called it a "positive gesture" by the government and predicted it would open a space for dialogue across Venezuela's bitter political divide.

The Supreme Court statement pointing to possible "irregularities" in the Lopez case surprised government supporters and foes alike because the high court has not previously shown any signs of misgivings about its rulings.

Foreign governments and human rights groups have long criticized Lopez's detention as politically motivated, and one of the prosecutors on the case who later sought asylum in the United States even said that he was ordered by the government to arrest Lopez despite a lack of evidence. The judge in the case was later sanctioned by the Obama administration.

Maduro supporters said the decision in no way exonerates Lopez or the opposition from attempts to destabilize the government.

"President Maduro has always called for peace and dialogue, something the right wing always rejected. But dialogue always produces results," Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said on Twitter. "Hopefully in his new conditions Leopoldo Lopez will call on his allies and followers to reflect and abandon violence."

In early May there were reports, including from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, that Lopez had been rushed to a hospital in very serious condition. The government later denied that and released video of Lopez saying he was well.

But more recently supporters have stepped up complaints that Lopez was being tortured and punished for supporting the street protests against Maduro  claims that the government has denied. Lopez's party said he had not been allowed to see his lawyers for 90 days and had been in solitary confinement for the last 32 days.

Lopez's lawyer in Spain, Javier Cremades, said the terms of Lopez's pre-dawn transfer mean he will be allowed to serve out his sentence at home and cannot leave.

Lilian Tintori, Lopez's wife, has campaigned in Venezuela and abroad to try to win freedom for her husband and met with President Donald Trump in February. Afterward Trump tweeted a photo of the Oval Office encounter and called for Lopez to be released "immediately."

"This is a major capitulation by Venezuela's government, which just days ago allowed armed thugs to assault the National Assembly and beat up opposition lawmakers," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "It's a sign that the massive street protests  plus the calls by democratic leaders throughout Latin America to end the repression  are having an impact."

Associated Press writers Joshua Goodman in Bogota, Colombia, and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, contributed to this report.
It was a shocking discovery in the depths of the Everglades Thursday morning: A man's body was found next to a mangled plane as a gator crept nearby.

The student pilot, identified as Mark Ukaere, went on an unauthorized flight and crashed in the murky waters, officials said. It was later revealed that the plane went missing from the Dean International Flight School Saturday, but wasn't reported missing until four days later.

NBC 6 analyzed reports that reveal past problems at the aviation school. NBC 6 also obtained an exclusive radar image highlighting the deadly flight path into the Everglades.

Robert Dean runs the aviation center from Miami Executive Airport. The school houses 50 aircraft and logs 60,000 miles per year.

"The reason there's so many children, so many kids at this school is because of our safety record, because of the way we maintain the planes," Dean told NBC 6. "The pilots, the captains who fly, all send their kids. Why? Because this is one of the best schools."

However, Dean admits his school has higher instances of accidents and issues than most other schools.

NBC 6 obtained reports by the National Transportation and Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration of downed planes at Dean International. Since 2007, a total of 29 accidents or incidents have been documented, including five fatalities.

The reports reveal other issues such as failed pre-flight inspections, loss of engine power, unsatisfactory oil fluid levels and even fuel exhaustion.

"If you're operating an operation like this, 50 aircraft, 60,000 miles per year, if you take our average and another schools' average, we're in a heck of a good shape," Dean said.

Many of the incidents could have been avoided if the pilot checked the gauges, and the planes were properly maintained, according to the reports. Aviation experts say it is ultimately the operator's responsibility to maintain air worthiness.

NBC 6 also found enforcement actions taken by the FAA; the school faced corrections, warnings and fines in the past.

The cause of this week's crash is still under investigation.

A memorial in honor of Ukaere will be held Saturday at Dean International Flight School.
The Venezuelan community in Doral is in good spirits Saturday after news spread of the release of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez from prison.

Many Venezuelans living in South Florida celebrated Lopez's release at El Arepazo 2 Saturday, but remain cautiously optimistic as they say the fight for freedom in Venezuela is far from over.

"I am very happy for him and his family," Luis Felipe Martinez said. "It's only fair that he's with his wife and his kids."

Lopez was released from prison and placed under house arrest Saturday after more than three years in military lockup, a shock reversal that fueled hopes for a broader amnesty for dozens of jailed activists as the country slides ever deeper into political turmoil.

Maria Gonzalez, a Venezuelan living in Doral, it appears good that Lopez was released but it's only one step closer to justice. She says it's important that anti-government protesters keep hitting the streets.

Venezuela's government-stacked Supreme Court said in a statement that it had granted Lopez the "humanitarian measures" for health reasons and "serious signs of irregularities" in the handling of the case that it did not specify.

Local politicians in South Florida also weighed in on the situation.

"While Leopoldo Lopez was released from prison, reports indicate he is still on house arrest," Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart said. "We will continue to demand freedom for Venezuelan people and release all Venezuelan political prisoners."

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen says Leopoldo's release from prison is somewhat welcomed news.

"However, this half-measure by the Maduro regime to distract the Venezuelan people will not end the demand for Leopoldo's unconditional freedom and will not end the calls for freedom, democracy, and the respect of human rights for all Venezuelans," the congresswoman said.

While opposition groups say his release is a step in the right direction, they're still fighting for open elections and an end to the humanitarian and economic crisis in Venezuela.
Al-Shabab extremists from neighboring Somalia beheaded nine civilians in an attack on a village in Kenya's southeast early Saturday, officials said, adding to growing concerns the Islamic militant group has taken up a bloody new strategy.

The attack occurred in Jima village in Lamu County, said James Ole Serian, who leads a task force of security agencies combating the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab.

Beheadings by al-Shabab have been rare in Kenya even as the group has carried out dozens of deadly attacks over the years. Beheadings are not uncommon in Somalia, where the extremists carry them out on people who are believed to be enemies and to terrorize local populations.

This East Africa country has seen an increase in attacks claimed by al-Shabab in recent weeks, posing a security threat ahead of next month's presidential election.

Al-Shabab has vowed retribution on Kenya for sending troops in 2011 to Somalia to fight the group, which last year became the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa.

Saturday's attack occurred in the Pandaguo area, where al-Shabab fighters engaged security agencies in a daylong battle three days ago. A police report said about 15 al-Shabab fighters attacked Jima village and seized men, killing them with knives.

Al-Shabab in recent months has increased attacks in Kenya with homemade bombs, killing at least 46 people in Lamu and Mandera counties.

The increase in attacks presents a huge problem for Kenya's security agencies ahead of the Aug. 8 presidential election, said Andrew Franklin, a former U.S. Marine who is a security analyst. On election day security agencies will be strained while attempting to stop any possible violence and al-Shabab could take advantage, he said.

There was no immediate government comment on the latest attack.

Acting Interior Minister Fred Matiangi issued a dusk-to-dawn curfew for parts of Garissa, Tana River and Lamu counties. Mandera County already was under a curfew following earlier al-Shabab attacks. All are close to the Somali border.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has not issued any statement on the recent surge in al-Shabab attacks.

Kenya is among five countries contributing troops to an African Union force that is bolstering Somalia's fragile central government against al-Shabab's insurgency. Of the troop-contributing countries, Kenya has borne the brunt of retaliatory attacks from al-Shabab.
Mayor de Blasio spoke at a peaceful G-20 protest in Hamburg on Saturday, giving praise to local police who battled two days of riots.

"Our right to protest is directly related to the fact that our police protect us," de Blasio said, according to his press secretary who tweeted from the protest.

Mayor leading sustained applause for Hamburg police. "Our right to protest is directly related to the fact that our police protect us."  Eric Phillips (@EricFPhillips) July 8, 2017

De Blasio was the keynote speaker at the Hamburg Zeigt Haltung rally at Fischmarkt. A large crowd gathered at the event billed as a celebration of democracy and human rights.

"We have a phrase in America we like to use: This is what democracy looks like," de Blasio told the crowd, according to his spokesman.

On the tens of thousands of peaceful protesters in Hamburg: "We have a phrase in America we like to use: This is what democracy looks like." pic.twitter.com/WjkQWCoiId  Eric Phillips (@EricFPhillips) July 8, 2017

The gathering of the Group of 20 leaders has seen two days of violent riots, with some looting supermarkets and attacking police with slingshots and firebombs.



[NATL] 'Welcome to Hell': Anti G-20 Protests Erupt at Hamburg

De Blasio also assured the crowd that U.S. cities would pursue the climate goals of the Paris Accords, even though President Trump said he would pull out of the agreement.

"American cities are signed on to the Paris Accords. We will do it ourselves," the mayor said, according to his press secretary.

On climate change..."American cities are signed on to the Paris Accords. We will do it ourselves." https://t.co/IlLarUEhjK  Eric Phillips (@EricFPhillips) July 8, 2017

Earlier Saturday, de Blasio spoke at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg where he said the New York City subways were a metaphor for the working harmony in society.

"(You have) people of all faiths and people of all backgrounds," de Blasio said on a video of the speech posted to Twitter. "And I like it as a metaphor because it's not perfect, it's not necessarily the way you want to live to be the sardine n the sardine can. But what you notice is there is a working harmony."

De Blasio planned to drive to Berlin after the rally and return to New York City on Sunday.
What to Know Jennifer "Jenny" Londono has been missing for weeks

Police arrested her boyfriend, alleging he murdered her and dumped her remains in NYC waterways

Londono's friends gathered at her business in Englewood to remember her and support one another

The boyfriend of a New Jersey woman whose remains were found scattered in waters across New York City has been arrested for her murder, police say.

Raphael Lolos, 40, was arrested and charged with murder, desecration of human remains, hindering apprehension, credit card fraud, and stalking.

Lolos, of Bergenfield, was arrested following a joint investigation by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Unit and the NYPD.

In recent weeks, the remains of 31-year-old Jennifer "Jenny" Londono have been found in the Hudson River and Brooklyns Red Hook Channel.

Police allege Lolos murdered Londono and discarded her remains in the waterways. They say Lolos repeatedly used Londono's credit cards until the time of his arrest on Thursday.

It wasn't immediately known if Lolos had an attorney who could comment on the charges.

Friends of Londono gathered outside her Englewood business to console one another on a rainy night Friday.

"He had no right to take her away from everybody that loved her," Elsie Torres said outside the Luna Lounge, where Londono was manager.

"I'm still shocked, I'm devastated," Torres said. "I feel like Jenny was an amazing woman and this guy didn't deserve to be with her."

Earlier this week, on Monday night, friends gathered outside the business for a vigil after body parts were discovered in New York City waterways.

Authorities say a leg found in the Hudson River over the weekend and part of a torso found in Brooklyn last week belong to Londono, who has been missing since June 25.

Dozens of people came out to light candles, place flowers and demand justice for their friend. They gathered at a memorial outside the Luna Lounge in Englewood, New Jersey, where Londono was a manager.

"Personally, I won't rest until I hear who did this," Andres Giraldo, a friend of Londono, said.

A jogger discovered a woman's lower leg as she was running beside the Hudson River near West 79th Street on Saturday afternoon, according to The New York Post. Police said the leg found in the Hudson wasnt badly decomposed and that its toenails were painted pink, the Post reported.

Saturday's grisly discovery came less than a week after a headless and partially legless torso was found in Brooklyns Red Hook Channel by a couple walking by the water on Tuesday.

After the torso was recovered in Brooklyn, police released an image of a tattoo found on the body in the hopes of identifying the woman.

Last Friday, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said a New Jersey woman identified the torso as belonging to her daughter, who had a similar tattoo dedicated to her late aunt.

Londono was on the verge of making her professional dreams come true when she went missing, opening the lounge in Englewood just a month ago. She had saved her money working as a bartender and at other jobs for many years, her friends and family said.

"For the past few days, I try to close my eyes every night, just to think that this is a dream and she's gonna come back," Londono's friend, Marcela Toro, said.
WARSAW, POLAND - If you missed President Trump's speech in Poland this week, you missed hearing the President of the United States celebrate basic Western values - things that unite Poles with Americans:

We write symphonies. We pursue innovation. We celebrate our ancient heroes, embrace our timeless traditions and customs, and always seek to explore and discover brand-new frontiers.

We reward brilliance. We strive for excellence, and cherish inspiring works of art that honor God. We treasure the rule of law and protect the right to free speech and free expression.

We empower women as pillars of our society and of our success. We put faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, at the center of our lives. And we debate everything. We challenge everything. We seek to know everything so that we can better know ourselves.

And above all, we value the dignity of every human life, protect the rights of every person, and share the hope of every soul to live in freedom. That is who we are. Those are the priceless ties that bind us together as nations, as allies, and as a civilization.
In a milestone for Mayor de Blasios Vision Zero initiative, the number of traffic-related deaths in New York City has dropped to a record low in the past six months, the city reported.

There were 93 traffic-related deaths (pedestrians, vehicle occupants, cyclists) in the city over the past six months, according to the Department of Transportation. The drop is consistent with a steady decline in traffic-related deaths over the last two yearsa decline of about 16 percent. The count has dropped from 251 in 2015, to 241 in 2016, and 210 this past year.

Queens has seen the greatest decrease in traffic-related deaths within the past year: from 32 in 2016 to 23 this year, approximately a 28 percent drop.

Manhattans traffic-related death count has gone from 26 to 20, a 23 percent drop. And Staten Islands number went from 11 to 5 over the past year, a 54 percent drop.

DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said the city has taken measures to improve safety in the streets.

We have lowered the speed limit to 25 mph and weve started deploying speed cameras in school zones, she said.

Still, some residents want to reduce the number even further  the most optimistic would like the number of traffic-related deaths to hit zero.

We have made steps forward, and that is great, but there is still so much more to do, Amy Cohen said.

Cohen lost her 12-year-old son Sammy when he was hit by a van while chasing a ball in 2013.

Despite the overall decline in deaths in New York, Cohen has been working tirelessly to drive the number to zero.

Ninety-three deaths means 93 people like Sammy, she said.

Cohen wants more action from Albany, where the state legislature failed to pass a movement for more speed cameras in school zones this year.

Trotteberg vowed to remain an advocate for safer streets. She said she will continue pushing Albany to add speed cameras and more protective bike lanes.

While the citys streets have gotten safer for pedestrians, navigating intersections has still proven to be a precarious endeavor. At one of the citys most dangerous intersections  where Fourth and Atlantic avenues converge in downtown Brooklyn  there have been 11 traffic-related injuries so far this year.
A former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan has received a multimillion-dollar payment from Canada's government after a court ruling said his rights were abused, a Canadian official said Thursday.

The official confirmed that Omar Khadr has been given the money. A different official also familiar with the deal said it is for $10.5 million Canadian dollars (US$8 million). Both insisted on speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the deal publicly.

The government and Khadr's lawyers negotiated the deal last month, based on a 2010 Supreme Court of Canada ruling that Canadian officials violated his rights at Guantanamo. The deal is expected to be announced Friday. A spokesman for the public safety minister declined to confirm a settlement payment was made.

News that Khadr would receive millions first leaked earlier this week and sparked anger among many Canadians who consider him a terrorist.

The Canadian-born Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops following a firefight at a suspected al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of an American special forces medic, U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer. Khadr, who was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer, was taken to Guantanamo and ultimately charged with war crimes by a military commission.

He pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges that included murder and was sentenced to eight years plus the time he had already spent in custody. He returned to Canada two years later to serve the remainder of his sentence and was released in May 2015 pending an appeal of his guilty plea, which he said was made under duress.

Khadr spent 10 years at Guantanamo. His case received international attention after some dubbed him a child soldier. He was the youngest and last Western detainee held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada found that Canadian intelligence officials obtained evidence from Khadr under "oppressive circumstances," such as sleep deprivation, during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay in 2003, and then shared that evidence with U.S officials.

Khadr's lawyers filed a 20 million Canadian dollars wrongful imprisonment lawsuit against the Canadian government, arguing it violated international law by not protecting its own citizen and conspired with the U.S. in its abuse of Khadr.

The widow of Speer and another American soldier blinded by the grenade in Afghanistan filed a wrongful death and injury lawsuit against Khadr in 2014 fearing Khadr might get his hands on money from his wrongful imprisonment suit. A U.S. judge granted them $134.2 million in damages in 2015.

Lawyers for the Speer family and the injured soldier, Sgt. Layne Morris, filed an application in Canadian court last month with the hope that any money paid by the Canadian government to Khadr would go toward the widow and Morris. Legal experts have said the application would be unlikely to succeed.

Don Winder, the lawyer for the Speer family and Morris, didn't immediately return messages Thursday night.

After his 2015 release from prison in Alberta, Omar Khadr apologized to the families of the victims. He said he rejects violent jihad and wants a fresh start to finish his education and work in health care. The 30-year-old currently resides in an apartment in Edmonton, Alberta.

His lawyers have long said he was pushed into war by his father, Ahmed Said Khadr, whose family stayed with Osama bin Laden briefly when Omar Khadr was a boy. Khadr's Egyptian-born father was killed in 2003 when a Pakistani military helicopter shelled the house where he was staying with senior al-Qaida operatives.
A major Islamic State group counterattack Friday along the northern edge of Mosul's Old City neighborhood has pushed Iraqi Army forces back some 75 meters (82 yards) and is threatening recent gains in other Old City fronts, an Iraqi military officer said.

The officer said the attack was launched just after noon Friday and estimated it was carried out by 50 to 100 IS fighters. A doctor at a medic station said he received more than a dozen wounded Iraqi soldiers.

Both men spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Iraqi security forces have retaken almost all of Mosul  Iraq's second largest city  from ISIS militants who overran it in 2014.

In late June, ISIS counterattacks on the western edge of Mosul  neighborhoods retaken months earlier  stalled the push by Iraqi forces to go deeper into the Old City as they forced a reallocation of Iraqi ground forces, coalition surveillance and air support.

Unlike the Friday attack, the late June counterattack was launched from outside Mosul, most likely from Tal Afar, an ISIS-held town some 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Mosul.

The counterattacks underscore the extremist group's resilience in Iraq, despite significant territorial losses and months of heavy fighting with Iraqi forces backed by U.S. air power.

The pockets of ISIS-held Mosul now measure less than a square kilometer.

Also on Friday, The U.N.'s migration agency suspended operations in two camps  the Qayara air strip emergency site and the Haj Ali camp  near Mosul hosting nearly 80,000 displaced Iraqis due to sporadic violence and exchange of gunfire.

IOM spokesman Joel Millman said the security situation prevented six water-tanker trucks from entering the Haj Ali camp, where temperatures reached the low 50s Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in recent days.

Humanitarian groups have repeatedly suspended operations in and around Mosul due to security concerns since the fight to retake the city from ISIS began last October.

In April, the United Nations suspended operations in the same area due to security threats along the road south of Mosul's western half.

In February the U.N. suspended operations in eastern Mosul weeks after the area was declared fully liberated as ISIS attacks continued to inflict heavy civilian casualties.

In both instances the U.N. resumed operations within a matter of days.

Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Salar Salim in Mosul, Iraq contributed to this report.
Actor Shia LaBeouf has been released from a Georgia jail after posting $7,000 bond on charges of public drunkenness.

The Chatham County Sheriff's Office says the 31-year-old was arrested at 4 a.m. Saturday by the Savannah Police Department and released.

In addition to the public drunkenness charge, he also was arrested for disorderly conduct and obstruction. Further details surrounding the arrest were not immediately available.

LaBeouf has faced similar charges in the past. He is in the Savannah area filming his new movie, "The Peanut Butter Falcon" that also stars Dakota Johnson.

Former Real Housewives star is moving on
Tens of thousands of peaceful protesters took to the streets to demonstrate against the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg on Saturday, hours after masked rioters clashed with police, burned cars and looted businesses.

Marching on a route close to where some of the worst violence unfolded overnight, protesters chanted, sang, danced and played music as world leaders wrapped up their two-day summit in the German port city.

An eclectic crowd of families pushing baby carriages, Kurdish groups, Scottish socialists and anarchists waving flags and shouting anti-capitalist slogans progressed through the city accompanied by thousands of police officers.

Despite the mayhem late Friday and early Saturday, many officers patrolling the march removed their helmets and appeared relaxed as the huge crowds passed by. Organizers said some 78,000 demonstrators participated, while police estimated the crowds at about 50,000.

The big gathering came after aggressive riots overnight in the city's Schanzenviertel neighborhood, which is only a few hundred meters (yards) away from the summit grounds. Hundreds of special riot police went into buildings to arrest rioters wearing black masks from rooftops while being attacked with iron rods and Molotov cocktails. About 500 people looted a supermarket in the neighborhood as well as smaller stores. Cars were torched and street fires lit as activists built barricades with garbage cans and bikes.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed shock and anger about "violence and uninhibited brutality" that broke out in Hamburg.

"There is not the slightest justification for looting, arson and brutal attacks on the life of police officers," Merkel said, adding that the security forces did "excellent work and thanking them on behalf of all the summit participants.

A few thousand rioters, some of them from elsewhere in Europe, created havoc in the city. They battled riot police for two consecutive days and nights, expressing rage against capitalism and globalization and calling for open borders to let all refugees enter Europe.

Their anger was not so much focused against President Donald Trump or other leaders, but directed against police as symbols of authority.

Police arrested 143 people, and 122 activists were temporarily detained. Some 213 officers were injured since the protests started Thursday night. Police and firefighters said they did not have information about how many protesters and other civilians were hurt.

Hamburg, Germany's second-largest city, has a strong radical left scene and many critics had warned well before the summit that its dense streets would be almost impossible to control and clashes would be likely.

But, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said, "any criticism of the location of the meeting misjudges cause and effect."

"These were unbounded violent excesses out of a desire for destruction and brutality," de Maiziere said. He added that police and judicial authorities must take a tough stance against such crimes and that the arrests were appropriate.

Merkel also defended the choice of Hamburg as venue for the summit, saying a big city was needed to accommodate all the participants at hotels. She said she and her finance minister would consult with Hamburg's city government how they can help people affected by the violence repair the damage.

Many residents, however, showed frustration with the violence and destruction unleashed in their neighborhood.

Laura Zeriadtke watched the full-scale clashes unfold from her street-level apartment window and witnessed about 30 black-clad anarchists tearing down a construction fence across from her home and using it as a shield to push back riot police.

"It was a civil war," Zeriadtke said.

Ludwig Geiss, a 65-year-old long-time resident living in the same building as Zeriadtke, said that he'd gotten used to the many protests in the alternative neighborhood, but had never experienced anything like the G-20 chaos.

"I know the scene, but what happened yesterday ... puts it all in the shadows," Geiss said as he was evaluating the damage outside his apartment. "I'm not staying here another night."

Police called on witnesses of the riots to upload photos and video footage on their server to help with the investigation and prosecution of violent activists.

However, most protesters expressed their views peacefully, asking for quick action on climate change and solutions to the migration crisis.

During the protest marches on Saturday afternoon, activists of the Attac group rolled a giant globe along the road, while others carried signs with slogans such as , "Money For Bread, Not Bombs" and "We are many, you are 20."

Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report from Berlin.
Sunoco Pipeline LP resumed construction of its new underground liquid natural gas line in Chester County, Pennsylvania Saturday after it was suspended due to water contamination concerns.



Twelve residents in West Whiteland and Uwchlan townships reported problems with water coming from private wells starting Monday, a Sunoco Pipeline spokesman said Friday. Some had water service interrupted while others said water from the tap was murky. Valerie Ross, one of the residents, told NBC10 she's not only concerned about the construction but also what could come down the line.



"My biggest fear is that there will be a leak and it will be undetected for a certain amount of time and then it will be too late for the whole community," Ross said.



The energy company offered bottled water and hotel rooms to the families affected, the official said. They also tested 20 private wells for contamination and are waiting for full results.



The Mariner East 2 pipeline will carry 275,000 barrels liquid natural gas a day from Ohio and western Pennsylvania to a processing facility in Marcus Hook, Delaware County. The 20-inch pipe and a second 16-inch line cuts through 23.6 miles of land in Chester County and 11.4 miles in Delaware County, county planners say. The pipeline has been the subject of ire and protest across the state.

Crews were conducting horizontal drilling Monday when the water issue began, Sunoco said. The company resumed construction Saturday. Crews later went home in the evening.


President Donald Trump opened his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday by raising U.S. concerns about Moscow's meddling in the 2016 presidential election, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. He said Putin denied being involved.

Trump's decision to confront Putin directly over election interference fulfilled ardent demands by U.S. lawmakers of both parties that the president not shy away from the issue in his highly anticipated meeting with Putin. Trump has avoided stating unequivocally in the past that Russia interfered, even as investigations proceed into whether Trump's campaign colluded with Russians who sought to help him win.

Putin's denial of culpability notwithstanding, he and Trump agreed that the issue has become a hindrance to better relations between the two powers, said Tillerson, who attended the more-than-two-hour meeting along with Russia's foreign minister. Tillerson said the discussion about the election meddling was "robust and lengthy."

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Tillerson said the two leaders had agreed to continue the discussion, with an eye toward securing a commitment that Russia won't interfere in U.S. affairs in the future.

"I think the president is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point," Tillerson said.

In their meeting, the two also discussed a cease-fire deal deal for southwestern Syria that was reached by Russia and the United States and first reported Friday by The Associated Press. Though the U.S. and Russia have held conflicting views on Syria in the past, Tillerson said Russia had an interest in seeing the Mideast nation become a stable place.

The heavily anticipated meeting has been closely scrutinized for signs of how friendly a rapport Trump and Putin will have. Trump's predecessor, President Barack Obama, had notoriously strained ties to Putin, and Trump has expressed an interest in a better U.S.-Russia relationship.

But deep skepticism about Russia in the U.S. and ongoing investigations into whether Trump's campaign coordinated with Moscow during last year's election have made a U.S.-Russia detente politically risky for Trump.

The Putin meeting came midway through a hectic, four-day European visit for Trump, who addressed thousands of Poles in an outdoor speech in Warsaw, Poland, on Thursday. He met in Germany with Chancellor Angela Merkel, the summit host, and had dinner with two Asian allies  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in  to discuss North Korea's aggression.

Earlay in the meeting, Trump and Putin spoke to the press in short remarks. In characteristically confident fashion, Trump said he and the Russian leader were holding "very, very good talks" and said it was "an honor" to be with Putin.

"We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, for the United States and for everybody concerned," Trump said.

Trump offered no details about what issues he and the Russian leader had discussed, describing them only as "various things." Putin was similarly vague, telling reporters through a translator that they were discussing international problems and bilateral issues.

Still, Putin described the fact that they were meeting as a positive sign in itself, and he said he hoped the meeting would "yield positive results."

"Phone conversations are never enough definitely," Putin said. "If you want to have a positive outcome in bilaterals and be able to resolve most international policy issues, that will really need personal meetings."

Then the leaders shook hands firmly but briefly before reporters were escorted out of the room. Both kept their composure amid the commotion of cameras clicking and journalists lobbying questions as anxious aides moved about nearby. The U.S. leader's son, Donald Trump Jr., took to Twitter to say the noise from the cameras made it difficult to even hear the two leaders' words.

"How many pictures do you need of the same scene?" he said.

Outside the summit site, anti-globalization protesters were causing problems for first lady Melania Trump, who was kept from joining other leaders' spouses for their own program of events. Mrs. Trump's office said local police hadn't cleared her to leave the government guest house where she and Trump were staying because of the protests, in which demonstrators set dozens of cars ablaze.

AP writer Josh Lederman contributed to this report.
Seven people were arrested after climbing Trump Tower in Chicago and unfurling a "Resist" banner Friday afternoon, police said.

Charges were pending against five women and two men whose ages were not immediately known, according to Chicago police. Police said possible charges were damage to property and trespassing. Environmnetal NGO Greenpeace, who claimed responsibility for the stunt, says that only four of its activists hung the sign.

The yellow, black and white banner could be seen shortly after 2 p.m. hanging over the river from the building at 401 N. Wabash Ave. It read Resist, Defend and Greenpeace over an image of Earth. It was cut down by authorities and fell into the river shortly after it was raised.

[[433176833, C]]

"Given that the banner was picked up by the wind and caused some property damage, it could have been a large public safety hazard," said Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department.

Greenpeaces Twitter and Facebook accounts posted livestreams of the unfurling Friday afternoon.

At one point during the livestream a Chicago architectural boat tour passes by the tower as the guide describes the surrounding buildings.

[[433169993, C]]

Dario Parra, a Greenpeace spokesman, said in a statement after the unfurling that he grew up in Chicago in a community like the those he says are most adversely impacted by Trump administration policies.

Its only a few months into Trumps presidency, yet already hes managed to threaten our health and our communities and put our planets future in danger," he said.

Taylor Blevons was one of the activists who helped unfurl the banner, according to the Greenpeace statement. It is unclear if he was one of the seven arrested.

This action demonstrates that we will not accept the threats that the Trump administration poses to people here and around the world," he said. "Ignoring the science of climate change and removing us from the Paris Climate Agreement is just another indication that the billionaires who have hijacked our democracy are putting the short term profit of corporations over people and the planet."

President Donald Trump said last month the U.S. would no longer be a part of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement with 196 countries, claiming the non-binding agreement imposed unfair standards on American businesses and workers.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel signed an executive order formalizing Chicago's commitment to adopt the guidelines of the agreement on environmental protections shortly after the president's decision.

Guglielmi said there would be an increased police presence near the tower after the incident.

Trump Tower officials did not immediately respond to request for comment.
A man pleaded guilty Friday to the attempted sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History last spring.

Devone Foote, 35, was arrested April 4 for allegedly touching seven girls who were on a school trip to the museum, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. The guilty plea involved one of those girls.

A volunteer at the museums insect exhibit saw Foote watch a group of girls, approach them and take pictures, officials said. He touched the girl inappropriately, held her hair and walked away.

Not long after, he was arrested outside the museum, officials said in the statement.

Footes plea deal calls for a sentence of 18 months in prison for attempted second-degree child sex abuse.

That charge carries a maximum sentence of five years. Following his release, Foote must register as a sex offender for 10 years, officials said in the statement.
An injured hiker has been rescued after Maryland State Police dispatched a helicopter to retrieve her from the forest.

Police said the hiker, a 41-year-old woman, suffered injuries Friday in a rugged stretch of the Frederick Municipal Forest, a 7,000-acre watershed owned by the city of Frederick that sits outside city limits.

State police dispatched a helicopter after rescuers encountered treacherous conditions trying to reach the hiker from a steep slope.

The helicopter lowered a trooper to the scene and hoisted the hiker to Frederick Memorial Hospital for evaluation.

Frederick County fire and rescue personnel also participated in the rescue.
The Washington D.C. Metro has taken down advertisements for an alt-right provocateur's new book after receiving numerous complaints from riders.

Ads for Milo Yiannopoulos' book "Dangerous" went up in Metro stations within the last few days. The ads featured his photo with the words "The Most Hated Man On The Internet," or "The Kanye West Of Journalism."

Yiannopoulos was an editor at Breitbart News before he resigned in February over comments he made suggesting he condoned sex with boys as young as 13. He is also known for getting banned from Twitter after helping to lead an online harassment campaign against comedian and "SNL" star Leslie Jones.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority responded to multiple tweets on Friday calling for the ads to be taken down. Metro said it has removed the ads from all stations because they "violate" the Metro's guidelines for advertising.

Ad for Milo's book at the Braddock Rd station in DC Metro. Get this out of here @Metrorailinfo pic.twitter.com/NAzKoWMC1E  William Goodman (@goodmanw) July 5, 2017

Metro said the ad violated the following guidelines:

"Advertisements intended to influence members of the public regarding an issue on which there are varying opinions are prohibited"

"Advertisements that are intended to influence public policy are prohibited"

"Is my face a hate crime? We didn't have anything to say about issues or policy, unless you consider my face to be a political statement," Yiannopoulos said in a statement to News4. "So I have a simple question for the D.C. Metro. What advertisement could we have posted that *did not* break those policies?"

Protesters crowded Sixth Avenue in Manhattan Friday morning for a free-speech rally in support of Yiannopoulos. He said he is planning an "unavoidable" comeback.

"We believe that the removal of our billboards constitutes unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination by a government regulator in violation of the First Amendment and are preparing our response now," a spokesperson for Milo, Inc. said in a statement.

In 2015, an anti-Muslim group sued Metro after the agency refused to post ads showing the Prophet Muhammed, saying Metro violated the group's First Amendment rights.
When a Florida mom was looking to send her daughters to summer camp last year, she wanted something different than a full summer of arts and crafts.

At the time, Elizabeth Ricci was president of the Democratic Womens Club of Leon County in Floridas capital. Her daughter, Paloma Rambana, had just helped lobby the Florida legislature for more than $1 million in funding for blind children.

She decided to enroll both Paloma and her sister Belen Rambana in Camp Congress for Girls D.C., a week-long leadership program that teaches girls how to run for office.

I saw how few women leaders we have, Ricci said. I wanted to make sure my daughters knew that they could be leaders, in politics or industry.

Kimberly Mitchem-Rasmussen, founder of the Girls in Politics Initiative, started Camp Congress for Girls in 2011 and led the first week-long Camp Congress for Girls in her church. Now, Mitchem-Rasmussen, who also runs the Political Institute for Women, leads the camp's flagship program in Washington.

This summer, the Girls in Politics Initiative is offering three rounds of the D.C. camp, with the next kicking off Monday, July 31. Highlights for campers ages 10-15 include trips to Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court and a two-day campaign intensive, where girls launch their own campaign, build a donor database, develop a ground game and learn about different types of elected positions.

The Girls in Politics Initiative also runs one-day programs on Congress, the United Nations and Parliament for girls in Canada, London, Paris and about 20 U.S. cities each year. Riccis daughters also attended the group's Camp United Nations for Girls.

If we want them to grow up saying, I want to be secretary of state, we want them to know what the secretary of state is as soon as possible, Mitchem-Rasmussen said.

Instructors from the Political Institute for Women, a group that trains women to run for office, and the Girls in Politics Institute, staff the camp. They teach the same lessons from adult trainings to girls -- no watering it down.

The D.C. day camp draws about 60 percent of its campers from local neighborhoods and 40 percent from outside the D.C.-area. Ricci, her family and her daughters friend flew to D.C. specifically for the camp.

While the one-day camps around the country cater to those with varying interest in politics, the week-long session in D.C. appeals to girls with an unbounded interest in the political process. Ricci was surprised that her children were intrigued by C-SPAN, where they took a field trip during camp last summer.

We dont want Congress to be this distant, lofty thing that they cant aspire to, Mitchem-Rasmussen said. We want them to see that all our institutions are accessible to them. They do have a place; they do have opportunity.

While Mitchem-Rasmussen hasnt had any of her programs graduates run for office yet, she said many do run for student council. Paloma Rambana used her Camp Congress experience to win an election for homeroom representative in her sixth grade class.
The United States and Russia struck an agreement Friday on a cease-fire in southwest Syria, crowning President Donald Trump's first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is the first U.S.-Russian effort under Trump's presidency to stem Syria's six-year civil war.

The cease-fire goes into effect Sunday at noon Damascus time, according to U.S. officials and the Jordanian government, which is also involved in the deal.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who accompanied Trump in his meeting with Putin, said the understanding is designed to reduce violence in an area of Syria near Jordan's border that is critical to the U.S. ally's security.

It's a "very complicated part of the Syrian battlefield," Tillerson told reporters after the U.S. and Russian leaders met for more than 2 hours on the sidelines of a global summit in Hamburg, Germany.

Of the agreement, he said, "I think this is our first indication of the U.S. and Russia being able to work together in Syria."

For years, the former Cold War foes have been backing opposing sides in Syria's war. Moscow has staunchly backed Syrian President Bashar Assad, supporting Syrian forces militarily since 2015. Washington has backed rebels fighting Assad. Both the U.S. and Russia oppose Islamic State militants and say they're focused on rooting out the extremist group.

The potential pitfalls for the cease-fire are clear  not least the challenge of enforcing it.

Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russian military police would monitor the new truce. But Tillerson said that was still being worked out. A senior U.S. State Department official said the two countries were close to a deal on that issue and hoped to finalize it in the coming days, raising the prospect it could take effect Sunday with no clear sense of who is policing it.

That the deal was announced before all the details were ironed out was a clear indication of how eager the U.S. and Russia were to cast their leaders' first meeting as a success. Officials said the deal had been in the works for weeks or months, but came together in time for the meeting.

The deal marks a new level of involvement for the Trump administration in trying to resolve Syria's civil war.

Trump ordered some 60 cruise missiles to be fired at a Syrian air base in April after accusing Assad's forces of a deadly chemical weapons attack. But his top military and national security advisers pointedly said they had no intentions of intervening to oust Assad. And they stopped short of endorsing Russian-led or U.N. peace mediation efforts between Assad's government and rebel groups.

Israel also is part of the agreement, one U.S. official said, who like others wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity. Like Jordan, Israel shares a border with the southern part of Syria and has been concerned about a spillover of violence as well as an amassing of Iranian-aligned forces in the south of the country.

Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Momani confirmed the accord in a statement that made no reference to Israel's participation. Syrian government forces and its allies will stay on one side of an agreed demarcation line, and rebel fighters will stick to the other side. The goal is also to enable aid to reach this area of Syria, Momani told state media. U.S. officials said the U.S., Russia and Jordan had only agreed on that demarcation line last week, clearing the way for a cease-fire to be worked out.

The deal is separate from an agreement that Russia, Turkey and Iran struck earlier this year to try to establish "de-escalation zones" in Syria with reduced bloodshed. The U.S., wary of Iran's involvement, stayed away from that effort. Follow-up talks this week in Kazakhstan were unable to produce agreement on finalizing a cease-fire in those zones.

Previous cease-fires in Syria have collapsed or failed to reduce violence for long, and it was unclear whether this deal would be any better.

Tillerson said the difference this time is Russia's interest in seeing Syria return to stability. It's an argument top U.S. officials such as former Secretary of State John Kerry cited regularly amid his failed efforts to end a conflict that has killed as many as a half-million people, contributed to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II and allowed IS to emerge as a global terror threat.

Tillerson also repeated the U.S. position that a "long-term role for the Assad family and the Assad regime" is untenable and voiced his belief that Russia might be willing to address the future leadership of Syria, in tones reminiscent of Kerry. Up to now, Assad has rejected any proposals that would see him leave power, contributing to an impasse that has prolonged Syria's suffering.

Earlier in the week, Syria's military said it was halting combat operations in the south of Syria for four days, in advance of the new round of Russian-sponsored talks in Kazakhstan. That move covered the southern provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida. Syria's government briefly extended that unilateral cease-fire, which is now set to expire Saturday  a day before the U.S. and Russian deal was to take effect.

The U.S.-Russian cease-fire has no set end date, one U.S. official said, describing it as part of broader discussions with Moscow on lowering violence in Syria.

The agreement may also reflect Iran's increasingly prominent role in Syria.

Washington has been resistant to letting Iranian forces and their proxy militias gain strength in Syria's south, a position shared by Israel and Jordan. Friday's deal could help the Trump administration retain more of a say over who fills the power vacuum left behind as the Islamic State is routed from additional territory in Syria.

In recent weeks, U.S. forces have shot down a Syrian aircraft that got too close to American forces, as well as Iranian-made drones. A renewed government offensive against Western-backed rebels and Islamic militants in the contested province of Daraa also is sparking tensions, and Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters have shifted south to join the fight.

Israel has also struck Syrian military installations on several occasions in the past few weeks after shells landed in the Israeli-controlled side of the Golan Heights. Ahead of the deal, media reports in Israel have suggested unease at any arrangement that relies on Russia policing areas near its frontier.

Implications for Syria aside, the deal marks the biggest diplomatic achievement for the U.S. and Russia since Trump took office. Trump's administration has approached the notoriously strained relationship by trying to identify a few limited issues on which the countries could make progress, thereby building trust for a broader repair of ties.
The latest single from a Vermont pop and hip-hop music group addresses one aspect of the refugee experience, as issues of immigration and international travel policies continue making headlines.

A2VT, standing for "Africa to Vermont," is made up of performers who came to the United States as refugees from African nations that have faced war, poverty, famine, and other crises.

"The war is still on; no peace," Said Bulle, who goes by "Jilib" on-stage, said of his homeland of Somalia.

Bulle moved to the United States from a refugee camp in Kenya, after fleeing Somalia with his family. Some relatives are still in the camp, he said.

He said he once imagined the U.S. as having streets paved in gold.

But he'd discover the reality, as sung in the new single "Ghetto," is there are economic challenges here, too.

That myth of automatic wealth and prosperity is the undercurrent of the song, which features lyrics in English, Swahili, and Maay Maay, which is a Somali Bantu language.

"Nobody's different," Bulle said, describing how people all over the world confront struggles such as economic disparities. "We're all the same."

With the new single, the Vermont-born group aims to reassure immigrants that it's normal to struggle at times to adapt to life here.

"Keep your head up," Bulle said, smiling.

In its recordings and live shows, A2VT also celebrates the growing diversity of the Burlington area.

The music video for a previous track, "Winooski, My Town," shows the performers dancing and having fun with their new neighbors across the city.

Music producer David Cooper said "Ghetto" was in the works for a while, but A2VT decided to release it this summer.

"It really seemed this is the one to put out right now," Cooper told necn.

The song's release comes following months of national talk of travel restrictions from certain countries and the tightening of admissions of refugees to the United States.

In mid-February, President Donald Trump argued the merits of tightening the refugee program and restricting admissions to the U.S. from countries his administration has deemed security risks.

"We need strong programs so that people that love us and want to love our country and will end up loving our country are allowed in," President Trump said in February. "Not people that want to destroy us and destroy our country."

While President Trump has called travel and immigration restrictions an urgent national security concern, Cooper said the tone and execution has fostered a disheartening attitude toward refugees in some parts of the country.

"These so-called refugees? They're just people," Cooper said. "They're just like us. Because this is Americawe are a nation of refugees and immigrants."

Bulle said he and his fellow performers really appreciate all the hospitality they've received in Vermont, and are glad to be able to use music to add to the ongoing conversation about the refugee experience.

"I'm proud of it," Bulle said of the latest song.

For more on A2VT, visit this website.
Police intend to charge a cab driver in a crash that injured 10 fellow drivers Monday at Logan International Airport in East Boston.

Fifty-six-year-old Lutant Clenord of Cambridge, an employee of Metro Cab, remained on the scene after striking the victims at a taxi pool on Porter Street at Tomahawk Drive.

Friday, Massachusetts State Police said they would seek to charge Clenord with operating to endanger after investigators determined the crash was caused by operator error.

None of the victims' injuries were life-threatening, but one 43-year-old man was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital in serious but stable condition.

After the crash, Clenord told NBC Boston it was an accident caused by some kind of mechanical problem with his car. He said that in 23 years of driving a cab, he had never experienced anything like this, claiming that his car suddenly accelerated as he approached the taxi pool, and the brake would not work.

"When I see Im going to hit something... I thought Im going to die," Clenord recalled. "I cant stop. More spinning."

Police said Monday they did not believe the incident was deliberate.

"I tried to explain everything, what happened, not my fault, they have to find out what the problem was in the car," Clenord said Monday.

State police have filed a threat notification with the Registry of Motor Vehicles in attempt to have Clenord's license revoked. His hackney license has been suspended indefinitely and turned over to Boston Police.

It was not immediately clear if Clenord had an attorney.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is planning to hold a public town hall meeting in Pittsfield at Berkshire Community College.

Warren's office says the Massachusetts Democrat will hear from constituents and plans to "discuss her work in Washington fighting for Massachusetts families."

The public meeting comes days after Warren participated in a Senate trip to spend the Fourth of July with troops in Afghanistan. Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, led a group of senators to Pakistan and Afghanistan for the holiday weekend.

The town hall also comes as Republicans in Congress work to pass a bill aimed at repealing and replacing former President Barack Obama's health care law.

Warren has blasted the GOP bill, calling it a "monstrosity" that will cost lives.

The town hall is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.
A 17-year-old Massachusetts boy who was seriously injured Thursday when he crashed his bicycle into a moving SUV has died, according to authorities.

According to the Fitchburg Police Department, the teenager succumbed to his injuries Saturday around 3:00 a.m. at UMass Medical Center in Worcester.

The crash happened around 4 p.m. on Thursday at the intersection of Boutelle and St. Bernard streets in Fitchburg.

According to police, a preliminary investigation shows the teen ran a stop sign and crashed into an SUV. He is believed to have been on his way to a park.

The driver remained on the scene. No charges have been filed against her, but the crash remains under investigation.

"With the deepest regrets the Fitchburg Police Department announces the passing of a seventeen-year-old," said Captain Harry Hess in a statement, "Our department extends its most sincere condolences to the young man's family."
On the eve of his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump made some questionable claims about the U.S. intelligence communitys finding that Russia hacked into U.S. political organizations to interfere in the 2016 presidential election:

Trump said the computer hacking could have been other people and other countries. There is no evidence for that. U.S. intelligence has named only Russia as the culprit. A Jan. 6 report based on the work of three intelligence agencies said Putin ordered a broad influence campaign to help elect Trump.

Trump claimed former President Barack Obama did nothing from August to Nov. 8 about Russia meddling in the election. Thats wrong. Among other things, Obama spoke to Putin about the issue in September, and his administration worked with state officials from mid-August until Election Day to prevent voting systems from being hacked.

The president made his remarks during a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw on July 6. Trump made the stop in Poland on his way to a Group of 20 summit meeting in Germany, where he is scheduled to meet with Putin on July 7.

Other Countries?

Hallie Jackson of NBC News asked the president if he would once and for all, yes or no, definitively say that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. He gave a less-than-definitive answer.

Trump, July 6: I think it was Russia. And I think it could have been other people and other countries. It could have been a lot of people interfered. Ive said it very simply. I think it could very well have been Russia but I think it could very well have been other countries, and I wont be specific. But I think a lot of people interfere. I think it has been happening for a long time. It has been happening for many, many years.

There is no evidence that other countries were involved in the cyberattacks.

The Department of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a joint statement on Oct. 7, 2016, that said the U.S. intelligence community is confident that hacks into the email systems of the Democratic Party and its officials were directed by Russias senior most officials. The U.S. intelligence community includes 17 separate intelligence agencies.

Such activity is not new to Moscow  the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there, the statement said. We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russias senior-most officials could have authorized these activities.

After the election, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a declassified report on Jan. 6 that went even further. That report said that Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump and that Putin ordered an influence campaign to help Trump and damage his opponent, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

The 25-page report was drafted and coordinated among three intelligence agencies  the CIA, FBI and the National Security Agency  based on intelligence information collected and disseminated by those three agencies.

Among other things, the report said, Russian military intelligence gained access to Democratic National Committee computers from July 2015 to June 2016 and then used WikiLeaks, DCLeaks.com and Guccifer 2.0, who claimed to be an independent Romanian hacker, to publicly release hacked emails and documents. The cyberattacks and public release of hacked material were part of larger Russian propaganda efforts to hurt Clinton and help Trump, the report said.

Russias state-run propaganda machine  comprised of its domestic media apparatus, outlets targeting global audiences such as RT and Sputnik, and a network of quasi-government trolls  contributed to the influence campaign by serving as a platform for Kremlin messaging to Russian and international audiences, the report said. State-owned Russian media made increasingly favorable comments about President-elect Trump as the 2016 US general and primary election campaigns progressed while consistently offering negative coverage of Secretary Clinton.

In sworn testimony before the Senate intelligence committee on June 8, former FBI Director James Comey said there should be no confusion that Russia interfered with the election.

Comey, June 8: There should be no fuzz on this whatsoever. The Russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle. They did with purpose. They did it with sophistication. They did it with overwhelming technical efforts. It was an active measures campaign driven from the top of that government. There is no fuzz on that. It is a high confidence judgment of the entire intelligence community and the members of this committee have seen the intelligence. Its not a close call. That happened. Thats about as unfake as you can possibly get. It is very, very serious, which is why its so refreshing to see a bipartisan focus on that. This is about America, not about a particular party.

Of course, this isnt the first time that Trump has questioned U.S. intelligence on Russia. He did so before and after winning the election, sometimes in the same way as he did at his Warsaw press conference.

After the election, Trump issued a statement on Dec. 9 that compared U.S. intelligence on Russias election meddling to U.S. intelligence on Iraqs weapons of mass destruction. At his press conference in Poland, Trump again raised the issue of WMDs. He said everybody was 100 percent sure that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, but faulty intelligence led to one big mess.

And, as he did in Poland, Trump told Time magazine in a Nov. 28, 2016, interview: It could be Russia. And it could be China. And it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey.

But no evidence to date has emerged that China or any other country was involved.

Obama Did Nothing?

Even though he continues to question the U.S. intelligence communitys findings, Trump criticized Obama for doing nothing about Russias attempts to influence the election.

Trump, July 6: Now, the thing I have to mention is that Barack Obama, when he was president, found out about this in terms of if it were Russia, found out about it in August. Now the election was in November. Thats a lot of time. He did nothing about it. Why did he do nothing about it? He was told it was Russia by the CIA, as I understand it. It was well reported. And he did nothing about it. They say he choked. Well, I dont think he choked. I think what happened is he thought Hillary Clinton was going to win the election and he said, Lets not do anything about it. Had he thought the other way he would have done something about it.

Trump is referring to a Washington Post story  Obamas secret struggle to punish Russia for Putins election assault  that said Obama received a CIA report in early August that detailed Putins direct involvement in a cyber campaign to disrupt and discredit the U.S. presidential race. The story said the CIA captured Putins specific instructions on the operations audacious objectives  defeat or at least damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump.

The Post story detailed the internal debate within the Obama administration on what action to take against Russia.

Washington Post, June 23: It took time for other parts of the intelligence community to endorse the CIAs view [on Putins objectives]. Only in the administrations final weeks in office did it tell the public, in a declassified report, what officials had learned from [CIA Director John] Brennan in August  that Putin was working to elect Trump. Over that five-month interval, the Obama administration secretly debated dozens of options for deterring or punishing Russia, including cyberattacks on Russian infrastructure, the release of CIA-gathered material that might embarrass Putin and sanctions that officials said could crater the Russian economy.

It wasnt until Dec. 29 that Obama announced that he would impose sanctions on Russia for interfering in the election. At the time, Trump criticized the sanctions. Its time for our country to move on to bigger and better things, Trump said in a statement.

There are certainly Democrats who believe that Obama didnt do enough to alert the public about the extent of Russias meddling in the election. But Trump goes too far when he  repeatedly  says that Obama did nothing about it.

So, what did Obama and his administration do from early August until Election Day on Nov. 8?

Obama answered that question during a Dec. 16 press conference when he was asked about the perception that youre letting President Putin get away with interfering in the U.S. election. At the time, the president had yet to impose sanctions, which would not come for nearly two more weeks.

Obama, Dec. 16: At the beginning of the summer, were alerted to the possibility that the DNC has been hacked, and I immediately order law enforcement as well as our intelligence teams to find out everything about it, investigate it thoroughly, to brief the potential victims of this hacking, to brief on a bipartisan basis the leaders of both the House and the Senate and the relevant intelligence committees. And once we had clarity and certainty around what, in fact, had happened, we publicly announced that, in fact, Russia had hacked into the DNC.

That public announcement was made, as we said earlier, in a statement by the Department of Homeland Security and DNI on Oct. 7. But that announcement competed for public attention with other major breaking news in that same 24-hour news cycle: The Washington Post published a story and video of lewd comments that Trump made about women while talking with Billy Bush, then of Access Hollywood.

In addition to the Oct. 7 announcement, Obama also said that he confronted Putin about the hacking at a G-20 summit in September.

Obama, Dec. 16: And so in early September, when I saw President Putin in China, I felt that the most effective way to ensure that that didnt happen was to talk to him directly and tell him to cut it out, and there were going to be some serious consequences if he didnt. And, in fact, we did not see further tampering of the election process. But the leaks through WikiLeaks had already occurred.

WikiLeaks began to release hacked emails on July 22  about two weeks before Obama had been briefed by the CIA on Putins direct role in the hacking. That damage was already done, so the Obama administration turned its attention to securing the nations voting systems.

Obama said his principal goal leading up to the election was to prevent Russia from hacking into voting systems and tampering with registration rolls and ballots. That was accomplished through the Department of Homeland Security, and it started at about the time that Obama first learned in mid-August about Putins desire to help Trump win the election.

On Aug. 15, then-Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson held a conference call with members of the National Association of Secretaries of State and other election officials. A readout of the call said, While DHS is not aware of any specific or credible cybersecurity threats relating to the upcoming general election systems, Secretary Johnson reiterated that DHS, the Election Assistance Commission, NIST, and DOJ are available to offer support and assistance in protecting against cyber attacks. He also said that the department would be examining whether designating certain electoral systems as critical infrastructure would be an effective way to offer this support.

The designation of critical infrastructure would have given states priority in terms of the assistance we give on cyber security, Johnson testified at a June 21 House intelligence committee hearing on Russias meddling. Other sectors designated as critical include the defense, energy and financial sectors, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Many state officials were resisting the idea of a designation to be critical infrastructure, Johnson testified.

On Aug. 29, two weeks after Johnsons conference call with election officials, the Washington Post reported that hackers were targeting voter registration systems in Arizona and Illinois. The story said, [T]he FBI alerted Arizona officials in June that Russians were behind the assault on the election system in that state.

On Sept. 15, the Election Assistance Commission issued security tips for securing voter registration databases. A day later, Johnson issued a statement that warned about attacks on voter registration data.

In recent months we have seen cyber intrusions involving political institutions and personal communications, Johnsons statement said. We have also seen some efforts at cyber intrusions of voter registration data maintained in state election systems.

On Oct. 1, Johnson issued another statement that warned about attacks on voting-related systems, including a few successful attacks. In recent months, malicious cyber actors have been scanning a large number of state systems, which could be a preamble to attempted intrusions, the statement said. In a few cases, we have determined that malicious actors gained access to state voting-related systems. However, we are not aware at this time of any manipulation of data.

The statement urged states to seek the departments help to secure their voting data and equipment. So far, 21 states have contacted us about our services, the statement said. By Oct. 10, that number had risen to 33 states, the department said.

I can tell you for certain that, in the late summer, fall, I was very concerned about what I was seeing, and this was on my front burner all throughout the pre-election period in August, September, October, and early November  to encourage the states to come in and seek our assistance, Johnson testified. And Im glad that most of them, red and blue, did.

In the end, there was no evidence that votes were changed, Johnson told the House committee.

Trump  as Democrats have done  can question whether the Obama administration did enough. Thats an opinion. But Trump is wrong to say Obama did nothing from early August to Nov. 8. In addition to directly raising the issue with Putin, Obamas administration worked with state officials to secure voting machines and issued a statement identifying Russia as the state actor behind the cyberattacks.

FactCheck.org is a non-partisan non-profit organization that will hold candidates and key figures accountable during the 2016 presidential campaign. FactCheck.org will check facts of speeches, advertisements and more for NBC.


By Express News Service

MUMBAI: Infra lender IDFC which entered into banking late 2015 and the Piramal Group-backed financial services major Shriram Group today agreed to merge and create the largest retail-focused bank in the country.

The boards of two groups met here today and at an evening press announcement, addressed by Ajay Piramal of Piramal Enterprises, R Thyagarajan of Shriram Group and Rajiv Lall of IDFC Bank, said the managements have been given 90-day period to complete due diligence and explore merger, and if all goes well, within 12 months a formal merger will take place.

"The boards of Shriram Group and IDFC have entered into an exclusivity arrangement for 90 days to jointly explore an opportunity for a merger. No transaction has been approved by the boards.

"Now, diligence will take place, we will discuss on the valuations and the respective boards will then meet and then a proposal will be made. If more time is needed then will extend the exclusivity period by another 60 or even 90 days," Piramal said.

The proposal is subject to approvals from the RBI, Sebi, Irdai, CCI and stock exchanges, Piramal and Lall said.

"Our ambition, hope and intent is to together make the country's largest mass retail banking franchise with a universal bank at its core," Lall said.

Piramal said: "It is really a chance to create a financial conglomerate with a universal bank at the centre that we believe will become the country's largest mass retail universal bank."

They did not say what could be the name of the merged entity, but added that the brand Shriram will be retained while almost all key businesses of the Shriram Group will be merged with either IDFC Bank or IDFC.

However, later, to a journalist's question, Piramal said since IDFC already has a banking licence, they will go with the name IDFC and not Shriram.

Currently, Shriram Group has a loan book of over Rs 80,000 crore while IDFC and its banking arm IDFC Bank together have loan book of over Rs 60,000 crore. The total assets of the merged entity will cross Rs 9 trillion.

Though Piramal, chairman of Shriram Capital and Piramal Group, and Rajiv Lall, MD & CEO of IDFC Bank, did not specify the valuation or share swap ratio, analysts say that at the current share prices, the merger ratio could be around 1:40, i.e., 40 IDFC shares for one Shriram Capital share.

Shriram Capital includes listed firms Shriram Transport Finance (STFC) and Shriram City Union Finance (SCUF), and unlisted life and general insurance arms which will get merged with IDFC.

With over Rs 40,000 crore in AUM, STFC is the largest financer of commercial vehicles, SCUF is into home, auto and personal loans; and both are held by Shriram Capital which is headed by Piramal as chairman since 2015 when he invested around Rs 5,000 crore in the Chennai-based group which is owned partly by the global private equity major TPG Capital.

Other private equity majors like Apax Partners own 20.37 per cent in SCUF since 2015, while STFC has Temasek, GIC and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority among its shareholders.

IDFC owns 52.86 per cent in IDFC Bank which was launched in October 2015 in the latest round of bank licences by taking over all its parent's assets. IDFC Bank is the seventh-largest private lender in the country now. Piramal owns 20 per cent in Shriram Capital and 10 per cent each in both Shriram Transport and Shriram City Union.

Analysts pointed out that the proposed merger may not be an easy deal given RBI's stance of not allowing a corporate entity into banking, and also its norms capping promoters'

stake under 10 per cent. Another hurdle could be Piramal Group's large and successful real estate business.

"It will be very difficult for the regulator RBI to overlook these facts and approve the merger, as if done so, the central bank could be accused of ignoring its own regulations," an industry observer told PTI.

Another observer told PTI that the merger is forced by poor showing of both entities. While Shriram Capital has been struggling to grow following changes in the truck finance business in recent years, conversion of IDFC into a bank has not done anything great to the infra lender so far.

Also, given the huge under-valuation that may be forced on the shareholders of Shriram group, they are unlikely to clear the proposal, he added.

Asked about fund infusion post-merger and the need to meet the SLR requirement, Lall said, "We are not only taking into account the SLR complication, there are also other regulatory obligations... Details on how we meet will unfold in the next 90 days but we are quite confident that we will be able to meet all of them."

On the proposed contours of the merged entity, Lall said, "It will be a conglomerate. All the operating businesses of two groups, including IDFC Bank and operating businesses of Shriram Capital, notably STFC, SCUF and insurance arms will come together under IDFC Ltd."

The retail-centric business of SCUF will be absorbed directly into IDFC Bank to expand the balance sheet by Rs 20,000-25,000 crore to help the retailisation of the bank, and it will have 1,000 retail branches, Lall said.

Asked about possible allegations of making backdoor entry into banking, Piramal strongly denied any such plan, saying, "I will meet all the regulatory requirements to ensure that the deal goes through."

MUMBAI: Infra lender IDFC which entered into banking late 2015 and the Piramal Group-backed financial services major Shriram Group today agreed to merge and create the largest retail-focused bank in the country. The boards of two groups met here today and at an evening press announcement, addressed by Ajay Piramal of Piramal Enterprises, R Thyagarajan of Shriram Group and Rajiv Lall of IDFC Bank, said the managements have been given 90-day period to complete due diligence and explore merger, and if all goes well, within 12 months a formal merger will take place. "The boards of Shriram Group and IDFC have entered into an exclusivity arrangement for 90 days to jointly explore an opportunity for a merger. No transaction has been approved by the boards. "Now, diligence will take place, we will discuss on the valuations and the respective boards will then meet and then a proposal will be made. If more time is needed then will extend the exclusivity period by another 60 or even 90 days," Piramal said. The proposal is subject to approvals from the RBI, Sebi, Irdai, CCI and stock exchanges, Piramal and Lall said. "Our ambition, hope and intent is to together make the country's largest mass retail banking franchise with a universal bank at its core," Lall said. Piramal said: "It is really a chance to create a financial conglomerate with a universal bank at the centre that we believe will become the country's largest mass retail universal bank." They did not say what could be the name of the merged entity, but added that the brand Shriram will be retained while almost all key businesses of the Shriram Group will be merged with either IDFC Bank or IDFC. However, later, to a journalist's question, Piramal said since IDFC already has a banking licence, they will go with the name IDFC and not Shriram. Currently, Shriram Group has a loan book of over Rs 80,000 crore while IDFC and its banking arm IDFC Bank together have loan book of over Rs 60,000 crore. The total assets of the merged entity will cross Rs 9 trillion. Though Piramal, chairman of Shriram Capital and Piramal Group, and Rajiv Lall, MD & CEO of IDFC Bank, did not specify the valuation or share swap ratio, analysts say that at the current share prices, the merger ratio could be around 1:40, i.e., 40 IDFC shares for one Shriram Capital share. Shriram Capital includes listed firms Shriram Transport Finance (STFC) and Shriram City Union Finance (SCUF), and unlisted life and general insurance arms which will get merged with IDFC. With over Rs 40,000 crore in AUM, STFC is the largest financer of commercial vehicles, SCUF is into home, auto and personal loans; and both are held by Shriram Capital which is headed by Piramal as chairman since 2015 when he invested around Rs 5,000 crore in the Chennai-based group which is owned partly by the global private equity major TPG Capital. Other private equity majors like Apax Partners own 20.37 per cent in SCUF since 2015, while STFC has Temasek, GIC and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority among its shareholders. IDFC owns 52.86 per cent in IDFC Bank which was launched in October 2015 in the latest round of bank licences by taking over all its parent's assets. IDFC Bank is the seventh-largest private lender in the country now. Piramal owns 20 per cent in Shriram Capital and 10 per cent each in both Shriram Transport and Shriram City Union. Analysts pointed out that the proposed merger may not be an easy deal given RBI's stance of not allowing a corporate entity into banking, and also its norms capping promoters' stake under 10 per cent. Another hurdle could be Piramal Group's large and successful real estate business. "It will be very difficult for the regulator RBI to overlook these facts and approve the merger, as if done so, the central bank could be accused of ignoring its own regulations," an industry observer told PTI. Another observer told PTI that the merger is forced by poor showing of both entities. While Shriram Capital has been struggling to grow following changes in the truck finance business in recent years, conversion of IDFC into a bank has not done anything great to the infra lender so far. Also, given the huge under-valuation that may be forced on the shareholders of Shriram group, they are unlikely to clear the proposal, he added. Asked about fund infusion post-merger and the need to meet the SLR requirement, Lall said, "We are not only taking into account the SLR complication, there are also other regulatory obligations... Details on how we meet will unfold in the next 90 days but we are quite confident that we will be able to meet all of them." On the proposed contours of the merged entity, Lall said, "It will be a conglomerate. All the operating businesses of two groups, including IDFC Bank and operating businesses of Shriram Capital, notably STFC, SCUF and insurance arms will come together under IDFC Ltd." The retail-centric business of SCUF will be absorbed directly into IDFC Bank to expand the balance sheet by Rs 20,000-25,000 crore to help the retailisation of the bank, and it will have 1,000 retail branches, Lall said. Asked about possible allegations of making backdoor entry into banking, Piramal strongly denied any such plan, saying, "I will meet all the regulatory requirements to ensure that the deal goes through."
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: No tax officer can brage into the premises of traders and shopkeepers without any prior permission, warned the finance ministry on Saturday, following compliants of unofficial visits from people posing to be taxmen. The ministry clarified in a notification that any such deviation by authorities should be reported to a complaint helpline.

According to sources, the finance ministry came out with a clarification after reports suggested that some unscrupulous elements posing as GST officers have tried to fleece shopkeepers.

No officer of the department is authorised to visit the premises of traders and shopkeepers without authorisation, the ministry made it clear in a statement. The chief commissioner of GST (Delhi zone) had clarified that the tax department only wants to facilitate the process for shopkeepers and traders during the transition.

It also asked anyone facing any such problem to lodge a complaint on tax departments phone line, 011-23370115. Separately, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also launched a mobile app GST Rates Finder.

NEW DELHI: No tax officer can brage into the premises of traders and shopkeepers without any prior permission, warned the finance ministry on Saturday, following compliants of unofficial visits from people posing to be taxmen. The ministry clarified in a notification that any such deviation by authorities should be reported to a complaint helpline. According to sources, the finance ministry came out with a clarification after reports suggested that some unscrupulous elements posing as GST officers have tried to fleece shopkeepers. No officer of the department is authorised to visit the premises of traders and shopkeepers without authorisation, the ministry made it clear in a statement. The chief commissioner of GST (Delhi zone) had clarified that the tax department only wants to facilitate the process for shopkeepers and traders during the transition. It also asked anyone facing any such problem to lodge a complaint on tax departments phone line, 011-23370115. Separately, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also launched a mobile app GST Rates Finder.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: A substantial chunk of the more than 3 lakh commuters who reveled in the traffic-free travel and time saving that Namma Metro offered was a shocked and grumpy lot on Friday evening.

The downed shutters at Metro stations and lack of information were confusing for commuters from South Bengaluru, where Metros Green Line recently became operational.

The IT workforce, which has boosted the ridership, was stunned. How could they suddenly go on strike without any notice? asked Shwetha, an employee of a software firm near Baiyappanahalli. On Friday, she reached late for work by two hours. I took a cab from Uttarahalli to Nayandahalli Metro station. I was left stranded due to the strike as I could not get a cab or auto from there. I finally got a bus to Majestic and it was a pain to reach my office from there.

Commuters were left stranded at Baiyappanahalli station on Friday | nagesh polali

Ramakrishna, employed in a multinational firm on MG Road, said, The authorities did not even inform the public that the schedules were not running. How can the employees hold the public to ransom like this? Action should be taken against Metro staff who were responsible. Apart from paying an auto driver `30 above meter charge, he was late for a meeting by an hour.

Commuters said Metro authorities could have informed security personnel standing outside stations about the status of train operations. A private security staffer at Swami Vivekananda Road Metro station, Rajesh, said, We have been telling everyone since morning not to wait as the issue will take time to resolve. There was a lot of rush around 8am and then it dropped.

M C R Ramachandra, an interior decorator, told Express, Tell me exactly who is responsible for this loss of time of mine. I want to file a court case against him. I waited at Baiyappanahalli Metro station from 8.30am to 10.30 am.

H V Ananthasubba Rao, general secretary of KSRTC Staff & Workers Federation, who was stuck in traffic near K R Market station, said, Commuters were going in and then coming out of the Metro station in their vehicles after realising it was shut. It created traffic problems.

Visitors from other parts of the state who were in the city had a bad experience at Kempegowda Metro station.

Viman, Ayub Khan and Kesir, all engineering graduates from Tumakuru, came to the city for an interview at software firm ITM. We had planned to go upto Baiyappanahalli by Metro, said Viman. Worried if they would be late, the trio were seen bargaining with auto drivers.

Outstation visitor

Vinod Kumar (below), an engineering student from Vijayapura, was in the city for a KPTCL exam in K R Puram. I headed to Kempegowda Metro station as I wanted to reach Baiyappanahalli and then take a bus to KR Puram from there. But the station was shut. I checked with a few cops who said it was due to technical issues. Kumar finally took a bus to the exam centre. Since my exam was at 3 pm, I did not have any problem.

How the Metro ground to a halt

Thursday

6.10 am: Rakesh, a Metro staffer, objects to his bag being checked twice at Visvesvaraya Metro station. He argues saying he is a staffer

6.15 am: Cop Anand pursues him, has a heated argument and then slaps Rakesh. Other cops rush and separate the duo. Rakesh files a complaint with BMRCL

9 am: BMRCL employees decide to call Anand to the control room to ask him an explanation. He refuses to come

11 am: 15 Metro employees head to the entrance of the station and argue with KSISF cops. Anand makes vulgar comments. Enraged Metro staffers beat Anand up. 10 Metro officials and two KSISF men arrested

3 pm: 8 Metro staffers allowed to leave police station. Rakesh and Harish Kumar detained

11 pm: Around 350 Metro staffers, most of them Union members, meet at Byappanahalli station. Decide not to run trains the next day, but they do not inform management

Friday

2.30 am: Metro top brass realise something is amiss as phones in 24x7 Operations wing are not answered

4.30am: Staff refuse to operate trains

5 am: Commuters arrive at stations, all closed

7.43 am: Metro PR head announces operations suspended temporarily

9 am: INTUC state president, MLA A Harris, ACP Hemant Nimbalkar and top Metro officials address staff

11 am: Bail promised for two BMRCL staffers and assurance to recognise Union

11.40 am: First train leaves Byappanahalli

BENGALURU: A substantial chunk of the more than 3 lakh commuters who reveled in the traffic-free travel and time saving that Namma Metro offered was a shocked and grumpy lot on Friday evening. The downed shutters at Metro stations and lack of information were confusing for commuters from South Bengaluru, where Metros Green Line recently became operational. The IT workforce, which has boosted the ridership, was stunned. How could they suddenly go on strike without any notice? asked Shwetha, an employee of a software firm near Baiyappanahalli. On Friday, she reached late for work by two hours. I took a cab from Uttarahalli to Nayandahalli Metro station. I was left stranded due to the strike as I could not get a cab or auto from there. I finally got a bus to Majestic and it was a pain to reach my office from there. Commuters were left stranded at Baiyappanahalli station on Friday | nageshpolaliRamakrishna, employed in a multinational firm on MG Road, said, The authorities did not even inform the public that the schedules were not running. How can the employees hold the public to ransom like this? Action should be taken against Metro staff who were responsible. Apart from paying an auto driver `30 above meter charge, he was late for a meeting by an hour. Commuters said Metro authorities could have informed security personnel standing outside stations about the status of train operations. A private security staffer at Swami Vivekananda Road Metro station, Rajesh, said, We have been telling everyone since morning not to wait as the issue will take time to resolve. There was a lot of rush around 8am and then it dropped. M C R Ramachandra, an interior decorator, told Express, Tell me exactly who is responsible for this loss of time of mine. I want to file a court case against him. I waited at Baiyappanahalli Metro station from 8.30am to 10.30 am. H V Ananthasubba Rao, general secretary of KSRTC Staff & Workers Federation, who was stuck in traffic near K R Market station, said, Commuters were going in and then coming out of the Metro station in their vehicles after realising it was shut. It created traffic problems. Visitors from other parts of the state who were in the city had a bad experience at Kempegowda Metro station. Viman, Ayub Khan and Kesir, all engineering graduates from Tumakuru, came to the city for an interview at software firm ITM. We had planned to go upto Baiyappanahalli by Metro, said Viman. Worried if they would be late, the trio were seen bargaining with auto drivers. Outstation visitor Vinod Kumar (below), an engineering student from Vijayapura, was in the city for a KPTCL exam in K R Puram. I headed to Kempegowda Metro station as I wanted to reach Baiyappanahalli and then take a bus to KR Puram from there. But the station was shut. I checked with a few cops who said it was due to technical issues. Kumar finally took a bus to the exam centre. Since my exam was at 3 pm, I did not have any problem. How the Metro ground to a halt Thursday 6.10 am: Rakesh, a Metro staffer, objects to his bag being checked twice at Visvesvaraya Metro station. He argues saying he is a staffer 6.15 am: Cop Anand pursues him, has a heated argument and then slaps Rakesh. Other cops rush and separate the duo. Rakesh files a complaint with BMRCL 9 am: BMRCL employees decide to call Anand to the control room to ask him an explanation. He refuses to come 11 am: 15 Metro employees head to the entrance of the station and argue with KSISF cops. Anand makes vulgar comments. Enraged Metro staffers beat Anand up. 10 Metro officials and two KSISF men arrested 3 pm: 8 Metro staffers allowed to leave police station. Rakesh and Harish Kumar detained 11 pm: Around 350 Metro staffers, most of them Union members, meet at Byappanahalli station. Decide not to run trains the next day, but they do not inform management Friday 2.30 am: Metro top brass realise something is amiss as phones in 24x7 Operations wing are not answered 4.30am: Staff refuse to operate trains 5 am: Commuters arrive at stations, all closed 7.43 am: Metro PR head announces operations suspended temporarily 9 am: INTUC state president, MLA A Harris, ACP Hemant Nimbalkar and top Metro officials address staff 11 am: Bail promised for two BMRCL staffers and assurance to recognise Union 11.40 am: First train leaves Byappanahalli
By IANS

MUMBAI: Famous disco number "Baat ban jaye" from the film "Qurbani" will be seen in the trailer of Sidharth Malhotra's "A Gentleman: Sunder, Susheel, Risky", informed the actor.



Talking about the music of the film during media interaction at the preview of the film's trailer, Sidharth said, "We did cool song on disco recently. There is 'Baat ban jaye' song which people will hear in the trailer."



"There is another song 'Bandook' where rapping is going on so it's an entertaining album. I am pretty excited to present all the song to audience this month," he added.



Talking about the tracks of the film, the director of the film Raj Nidimoru said: "We have been always working with Sachin-Jigar. I think they always produce some whacky and interesting tracks. People who have heard the song think that it will be album of year but I hope it will be coolest album of the year."



Earlier, there were speculation that this film is a sequel of Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif starrer "Bang Bang" and it will be named as "Bang Bang 2".



But the director says that everything has been clarified.



"We clarified that it's not 'Bang Bang 2'. It was always a new film," he said.



Sidharth is seen playing two characters namely Gaurav and Rishi in the film, who are completely different from each other.



"It's an interesting take. It's a story of mistaken identity and in a film, you will see which one is susheel and which one is risky."



"If you see the film, you will realise my character is sundar (beautiful), susheel (gentle) but he is not that boring. He has many things in him and seeing that you will also think that he is bit risky as well," said Sidharth.



Actress Jacqueline Fernandez will be seen doing action in the movie. The film also stars Suniel Shetty.



The trailer will be launched July 10 while the film is set to release on August 25.

MUMBAI: Famous disco number "Baat ban jaye" from the film "Qurbani" will be seen in the trailer of Sidharth Malhotra's "A Gentleman: Sunder, Susheel, Risky", informed the actor. Talking about the music of the film during media interaction at the preview of the film's trailer, Sidharth said, "We did cool song on disco recently. There is 'Baat ban jaye' song which people will hear in the trailer." "There is another song 'Bandook' where rapping is going on so it's an entertaining album. I am pretty excited to present all the song to audience this month," he added. Talking about the tracks of the film, the director of the film Raj Nidimoru said: "We have been always working with Sachin-Jigar. I think they always produce some whacky and interesting tracks. People who have heard the song think that it will be album of year but I hope it will be coolest album of the year." Earlier, there were speculation that this film is a sequel of Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif starrer "Bang Bang" and it will be named as "Bang Bang 2". But the director says that everything has been clarified. "We clarified that it's not 'Bang Bang 2'. It was always a new film," he said. Sidharth is seen playing two characters namely Gaurav and Rishi in the film, who are completely different from each other. "It's an interesting take. It's a story of mistaken identity and in a film, you will see which one is susheel and which one is risky." "If you see the film, you will realise my character is sundar (beautiful), susheel (gentle) but he is not that boring. He has many things in him and seeing that you will also think that he is bit risky as well," said Sidharth. Actress Jacqueline Fernandez will be seen doing action in the movie. The film also stars Suniel Shetty. The trailer will be launched July 10 while the film is set to release on August 25.
By IANS

MUMBAI: Actor Govinda, who had shot a cameo for Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif starrer "Jagga Jasoos" in South Africa, is upset after it emerged that his part has not been retained in the film's final edit.



He seems to be unhappy with the makers' decision as he had shot for the film despite not being well.



Govinda took to Twitter on Friday to express disappointment and shared that he didn't charge any amount for appearing in the Anurag Basu directorial, which after going through various hurdles, is finally slated for a release on July 14.



"I gave full respect to Kapoor family. I did the film because he (Ranbir) is my senior's son. I was told I will get the script. I was told they will narrate the film in South Africa and I didn't even charge my signing amount (and) made no contracts," Govinda tweeted.

"I was unwell and on drips, but still I travelled to South Africa and did my shoot. There were various negative stories and negative articles only for Govinda and that's how the film was remembered for three years.



I did my job as an actor and if the director is not happy it's completely his call," he added.

5/5 I did my job as an actor and if the director is not happy it's completely his call.  Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) July 7, 2017





A few still images from the shoot, which have been circulating over various social media platforms, show Govinda along with Katrina and Ranbir on the set.



Ranbir has also co-produced the movie along with Basu.



MUMBAI: Actor Govinda, who had shot a cameo for Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif starrer "Jagga Jasoos" in South Africa, is upset after it emerged that his part has not been retained in the film's final edit. He seems to be unhappy with the makers' decision as he had shot for the film despite not being well. Govinda took to Twitter on Friday to express disappointment and shared that he didn't charge any amount for appearing in the Anurag Basu directorial, which after going through various hurdles, is finally slated for a release on July 14. "I gave full respect to Kapoor family. I did the film because he (Ranbir) is my senior's son. I was told I will get the script. I was told they will narrate the film in South Africa and I didn't even charge my signing amount (and) made no contracts," Govinda tweeted. "I was unwell and on drips, but still I travelled to South Africa and did my shoot. There were various negative stories and negative articles only for Govinda and that's how the film was remembered for three years. I did my job as an actor and if the director is not happy it's completely his call," he added. 5/5 I did my job as an actor and if the director is not happy it's completely his call.  Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) July 7, 2017 A few still images from the shoot, which have been circulating over various social media platforms, show Govinda along with Katrina and Ranbir on the set. Ranbir has also co-produced the movie along with Basu.
By Express News Service

Film: Tiyaan

Genre: Drama

Director: Jiyen Krishnakumar

Cast: Prithviraj,

Indrajith, Murali Gopy

The overpowering and contentious of all our systems has to be the supreme institution of religion. Here, questions are rarely asked but orders blindly taken. Faith-addled brains prostrate before logical thinking. In this system, religion reigns. Jiyen Krishnakumars Tiyaan roots on this psyche and it picks the perfect bait to nail it, the trend of god-men culture. But, has it hit the mark? Mostly yes. In this intense take on Indian realism, Murali Gopy-scripted Tiyaan takes off quite predictably, albeit smoothly, but totters towards the end, when the makers possibly decided to compromise for commercial gains.

Tiyaan is set on the barren lands of Uttar Pradesh or the heart of Hindi.

A Hindu pandit Pattabhirama Giri (Indrajith) finds his serene life and beliefs at stake when he is threatened to submit his land for setting up the ashram of self-styled godman Mahashay Bhagwan (Murali Gopy). Pattabhiraman, armed with his thorough belief in God, refuses to bow to the threats and suffers the aftermath. As he faces failure, Aslan Mohammed (Prithviraj) comes to his rescue. Together they fight the dark and manipulative side of religion.

A perennial debate topic, godman culture comes under scrutiny here. Mahashay, clad in a garish attire, runs the show. He is merciless, inhumane and has the world (read the rich men) under his feet. But, even he is super-controlled by the land mafia, who uses his magic to to mint money. Apparently, ideologies and beliefs are not at war here, rather the quest is for money. Tiyaan makes it look that simple. Remember, this happens in religion-obsessed India and we arent convinced.

But, otherwise Tiyaan has flashes of brilliance. Murali Gopys script reigns supreme here and nothing surpasses it, not even the brilliant act by the cast. The characters are layers deep and he has taken the pain to create an aura around them, especially Aslan Mohammed. Mouthing some philosophical verses, Prithviraj plays Aslan with his innate charm. Indrajith is Pattabhiraman, torn between his ideologies and realities. Murali Gopy as Mahashay steals the show as he builds around him a dark and dingy world. Cinematographer Satish Kurup has set the mood with some raw and rustic visuals and Gopi Sunders BGM perk up the tensions.

Tiyaan starts off well. It manages to expose the underbelly of godman culture and the hapless laws of the rustic Hindi land, but we wish it had been more daring. Nevertheless, Tiyaan is engaging and can keep you hooked. This one belongs to Murali Gopy.

Film: Tiyaan Genre: Drama Director: Jiyen Krishnakumar Cast: Prithviraj, Indrajith, Murali Gopy The overpowering and contentious of all our systems has to be the supreme institution of religion. Here, questions are rarely asked but orders blindly taken. Faith-addled brains prostrate before logical thinking. In this system, religion reigns. Jiyen Krishnakumars Tiyaan roots on this psyche and it picks the perfect bait to nail it, the trend of god-men culture. But, has it hit the mark? Mostly yes. In this intense take on Indian realism, Murali Gopy-scripted Tiyaan takes off quite predictably, albeit smoothly, but totters towards the end, when the makers possibly decided to compromise for commercial gains. Tiyaan is set on the barren lands of Uttar Pradesh or the heart of Hindi. A Hindu pandit Pattabhirama Giri (Indrajith) finds his serene life and beliefs at stake when he is threatened to submit his land for setting up the ashram of self-styled godman Mahashay Bhagwan (Murali Gopy). Pattabhiraman, armed with his thorough belief in God, refuses to bow to the threats and suffers the aftermath. As he faces failure, Aslan Mohammed (Prithviraj) comes to his rescue. Together they fight the dark and manipulative side of religion. A perennial debate topic, godman culture comes under scrutiny here. Mahashay, clad in a garish attire, runs the show. He is merciless, inhumane and has the world (read the rich men) under his feet. But, even he is super-controlled by the land mafia, who uses his magic to to mint money. Apparently, ideologies and beliefs are not at war here, rather the quest is for money. Tiyaan makes it look that simple. Remember, this happens in religion-obsessed India and we arent convinced. But, otherwise Tiyaan has flashes of brilliance. Murali Gopys script reigns supreme here and nothing surpasses it, not even the brilliant act by the cast. The characters are layers deep and he has taken the pain to create an aura around them, especially Aslan Mohammed. Mouthing some philosophical verses, Prithviraj plays Aslan with his innate charm. Indrajith is Pattabhiraman, torn between his ideologies and realities. Murali Gopy as Mahashay steals the show as he builds around him a dark and dingy world. Cinematographer Satish Kurup has set the mood with some raw and rustic visuals and Gopi Sunders BGM perk up the tensions. Tiyaan starts off well. It manages to expose the underbelly of godman culture and the hapless laws of the rustic Hindi land, but we wish it had been more daring. Nevertheless, Tiyaan is engaging and can keep you hooked. This one belongs to Murali Gopy.
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: An army man, who had come on a leave to spend time with his family, and his wife were killed and their two daughters are among three injured in Pakistani troops firing and mortar shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.

Defence spokesman in Jammu, Lt Colonel Manish Mehta said Pakistan Army breached the border ceasefire and resorted to indiscriminate firing from small and automatics arms on army positions and civilian areas along LoC in Poonch district from 06.30 am.

He said the Pakistani troops also resorted to heavy mortar shelling.

The army men effectively and strongly retaliated, Mehta said.

The Pakistani troops firing and mortar shelling took place in Gulpur sector in Poonch district.

A police official said some mortar shells fired by Pakistani troops in Gulpur sector landed in civilian areas.

He said a mortar shell landed near the house of Territorial Army jawan Mohammad Showkat in Karmara village near the LoC.

35-year-old army jawan Showkat, who had come on a leave to spend time with family, and his 3-year-old wife Safiya were killed after sustaining critical splinter injuries of mortar shell, the official said.

Their two daughters Rubeena Kousar and Zahida Kousar and another girl Nazia Kousar daughter of Mohammad Mushtaq were injured.

They were referred to District Hospital Poonch, where they are undergoing treatment.

Deputy Commissioner Poonch, Tariq Ahmad Zargar, told New Indian Express that the Pakistani troops firing and mortar shelling stopped at around 10.30 am.

Asked whether the administration has prepared any evacuation plan, he said the evacuation plan is ready but border people are not willing to relocate as they have got their farms and livelihood in the area.

He said they have identified the locations, where temporary shelters would be set up for border residents.

Zargar said ambulances are kept on alert mode in border areas to shift the victims of cross-LoC firing to hospitals at the earliest.

He said an exgratia relief of Rs 5 lakhs is being paid to the dead in cross-LoC firing and shelling.

Todays firing by Pakistani troops broke a near month long peace on LoC and International Border in Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, a group of militants attacked a patrol party of army at Hajin area of north Kashmirs Bandipora district in the wee hours today.

Sources said militants fired from AK-47 rifles towards the army patrol.

They said the army men returned the fire and in the brief exchange of gunfire, three army men including a Captain-rank officer were injured.

The injured army men were evacuated to army hospital in Srinagar for specialized treatment.

After the militant attack, army men laid siege around the area and conducted combing and search operation to nab the attackers.

However, no arrests were reported during the hour-long operation.

No militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The militant attack took place as troops were on high alert in Valley on first death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani today.

22-year-old Burhan was killed in an encounter with security forces in Kokernag area of south Kashmirs Anantnag district on July 8 last year. His killing had triggered over five months long unrest in the Valley during which 90 people were killed and over 13000 injured in security forces firing on protestors.

SRINAGAR: An army man, who had come on a leave to spend time with his family, and his wife were killed and their two daughters are among three injured in Pakistani troops firing and mortar shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. Defence spokesman in Jammu, Lt Colonel Manish Mehta said Pakistan Army breached the border ceasefire and resorted to indiscriminate firing from small and automatics arms on army positions and civilian areas along LoC in Poonch district from 06.30 am. He said the Pakistani troops also resorted to heavy mortar shelling. The army men effectively and strongly retaliated, Mehta said. The Pakistani troops firing and mortar shelling took place in Gulpur sector in Poonch district. A police official said some mortar shells fired by Pakistani troops in Gulpur sector landed in civilian areas. He said a mortar shell landed near the house of Territorial Army jawan Mohammad Showkat in Karmara village near the LoC. 35-year-old army jawan Showkat, who had come on a leave to spend time with family, and his 3-year-old wife Safiya were killed after sustaining critical splinter injuries of mortar shell, the official said. Their two daughters Rubeena Kousar and Zahida Kousar and another girl Nazia Kousar daughter of Mohammad Mushtaq were injured. They were referred to District Hospital Poonch, where they are undergoing treatment. Deputy Commissioner Poonch, Tariq Ahmad Zargar, told New Indian Express that the Pakistani troops firing and mortar shelling stopped at around 10.30 am. Asked whether the administration has prepared any evacuation plan, he said the evacuation plan is ready but border people are not willing to relocate as they have got their farms and livelihood in the area. He said they have identified the locations, where temporary shelters would be set up for border residents. Zargar said ambulances are kept on alert mode in border areas to shift the victims of cross-LoC firing to hospitals at the earliest. He said an exgratia relief of Rs 5 lakhs is being paid to the dead in cross-LoC firing and shelling. Todays firing by Pakistani troops broke a near month long peace on LoC and International Border in Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, a group of militants attacked a patrol party of army at Hajin area of north Kashmirs Bandipora district in the wee hours today. Sources said militants fired from AK-47 rifles towards the army patrol. They said the army men returned the fire and in the brief exchange of gunfire, three army men including a Captain-rank officer were injured. The injured army men were evacuated to army hospital in Srinagar for specialized treatment. After the militant attack, army men laid siege around the area and conducted combing and search operation to nab the attackers. However, no arrests were reported during the hour-long operation. No militant group claimed responsibility for the attack. The militant attack took place as troops were on high alert in Valley on first death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani today. 22-year-old Burhan was killed in an encounter with security forces in Kokernag area of south Kashmirs Anantnag district on July 8 last year. His killing had triggered over five months long unrest in the Valley during which 90 people were killed and over 13000 injured in security forces firing on protestors.
By PTI

DARJEELING: The Army was redeployed today after fresh violence erupted in Darjeeling hills where Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost, a toy train station and clashed with the police at two places.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), spearheading the agitation for a separate state carved out of West Bengal, claimed that two youths were killed in police firing and rejected Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's offer of talks.

The police, however, said they did not have any report of firing.

Banerjee appealed for peace and said that the government was ready for talks with the hill parties, but peace has to be restored first.

In a statement tonight, the GJM, however, said the doors for talks with Banerjee and the state government are "closed forever".

It said it was willing to holds with the Centre on the issue of Gorkhaland. "If the Centre calls for talks on Grokhaland, we will go," it said.

The GJM also said while the Basirhat riots had drawn the attention of national parties, the month-long unrest in Darjeeling had failed to attract them.

"We sincerely ask the leaders of the political parties are we in India," the statement said.

The police burst teargas shells and baton-charged activists of the GJM and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) who attacked the security personnel at Sonada and Chawkbazar in the hills.

Two columns of the Army comprising around 100 personnel were deployed at Sonada and Darjeeling in the wake of fresh violence, defence sources said.

The chief minister said, "The government has shown enough restraint in the interest of the people of the hills."

She accused the Centre of "deliberate and total noncooperation" and alleged that it's refusal to send CRPF personnel, as demanded by the state government, had led to the present situation in the Darjeeling hills where the indefinite shutdown entered its 24th day.

In New Delhi, Union home ministry sources said 11 companies of paramilitary force personnnel were sent to Darjeeling by the Centre, including one company consisting of women.

The West Bengal government has its own security forces like the Eastern Frontier Rifles and the State Armed Police and both have several battalions, they said, adding that it was not deploying these forces and instead blaming the central government.

GNLF spokesperson Neeraj Zimba claimed that a youth Tashi Bhutia was shot dead by the security forces last night when he had ventured out to purchase medicines at Sonada.

But a police officer said, "We don't have any report of police firing as of now. We are looking into the incident. We can give you details later."

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Javed Shamim, when asked about the firing said, "It will be known only after the inquiry."

The GJM and other hill parties have lodged a police complaint accusing the force of killing the youth.

"The youth was killed by the police without any reason.

His body has bullet injuries. We demand that the policemen involved be punished," GJM leader Binay Tamang said.

As news of the death spread, hundreds of Gorkhaland supporters came out on the streets and raised slogans against alleged "police atrocities".

They clashed with the police and set on fire a police outpost at Sonada and the toy train station of the DarjeelingHimalayan Railways, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

A GJM leader claimed that another youth identified as Suraj Sundas was killed in police firing during clashes between the police and the protestors at Chowkbazar area here during the day.

The police, however, denied the charge.

The GJM leader claimed that Suraj was caught in the midst of the clashes and was killed when the police fired on the protesters.

The Centre had said yesterday that it was keen to hold tripartite talks with the GJM and the West Bengal government to end the agitation.

With food supply severely hit due to the indefinite strike, the GJM and various NGOs distributed food amongst the people.

Barring medicine outlets, all shops, schools, colleges remained closed. Internet services remained suspended for the 21st day.

The police and the security forces patrolled the streets and kept a vigil on the entry and exit routes.

DARJEELING: The Army was redeployed today after fresh violence erupted in Darjeeling hills where Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost, a toy train station and clashed with the police at two places. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), spearheading the agitation for a separate state carved out of West Bengal, claimed that two youths were killed in police firing and rejected Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's offer of talks. The police, however, said they did not have any report of firing. Banerjee appealed for peace and said that the government was ready for talks with the hill parties, but peace has to be restored first. In a statement tonight, the GJM, however, said the doors for talks with Banerjee and the state government are "closed forever". It said it was willing to holds with the Centre on the issue of Gorkhaland. "If the Centre calls for talks on Grokhaland, we will go," it said. The GJM also said while the Basirhat riots had drawn the attention of national parties, the month-long unrest in Darjeeling had failed to attract them. "We sincerely ask the leaders of the political parties are we in India," the statement said. The police burst teargas shells and baton-charged activists of the GJM and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) who attacked the security personnel at Sonada and Chawkbazar in the hills. Two columns of the Army comprising around 100 personnel were deployed at Sonada and Darjeeling in the wake of fresh violence, defence sources said. The chief minister said, "The government has shown enough restraint in the interest of the people of the hills." She accused the Centre of "deliberate and total noncooperation" and alleged that it's refusal to send CRPF personnel, as demanded by the state government, had led to the present situation in the Darjeeling hills where the indefinite shutdown entered its 24th day. In New Delhi, Union home ministry sources said 11 companies of paramilitary force personnnel were sent to Darjeeling by the Centre, including one company consisting of women. The West Bengal government has its own security forces like the Eastern Frontier Rifles and the State Armed Police and both have several battalions, they said, adding that it was not deploying these forces and instead blaming the central government. GNLF spokesperson Neeraj Zimba claimed that a youth Tashi Bhutia was shot dead by the security forces last night when he had ventured out to purchase medicines at Sonada. But a police officer said, "We don't have any report of police firing as of now. We are looking into the incident. We can give you details later." Inspector General of Police (IGP) Javed Shamim, when asked about the firing said, "It will be known only after the inquiry." The GJM and other hill parties have lodged a police complaint accusing the force of killing the youth. "The youth was killed by the police without any reason. His body has bullet injuries. We demand that the policemen involved be punished," GJM leader Binay Tamang said. As news of the death spread, hundreds of Gorkhaland supporters came out on the streets and raised slogans against alleged "police atrocities". They clashed with the police and set on fire a police outpost at Sonada and the toy train station of the DarjeelingHimalayan Railways, a UNESCO World Heritage site. A GJM leader claimed that another youth identified as Suraj Sundas was killed in police firing during clashes between the police and the protestors at Chowkbazar area here during the day. The police, however, denied the charge. The GJM leader claimed that Suraj was caught in the midst of the clashes and was killed when the police fired on the protesters. The Centre had said yesterday that it was keen to hold tripartite talks with the GJM and the West Bengal government to end the agitation. With food supply severely hit due to the indefinite strike, the GJM and various NGOs distributed food amongst the people. Barring medicine outlets, all shops, schools, colleges remained closed. Internet services remained suspended for the 21st day. The police and the security forces patrolled the streets and kept a vigil on the entry and exit routes.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Railway Police arrested the main accused in the alleged lynching of 17-year-old Junaid Khan of Khandwali village in Faridabad, from Maharashtra.

Sources said that a police team was sent to Dhule after they were tipped off that the suspect was hiding there. Police claim that during initial questioning, the main accused had admitted to the crime. He will be produced before a court on Saturday.

The police are not disclosing the name of the main accused due to legal reasons and are waiting for Junaids brother Haseeb, who was injured in the incident, to identify him.

Sources said that police are yet to recover the weapon with which Junaid was murdered and his brothers were injured. The police have built the case on the basis of the information provided by the brother and two cousins of the deceased. Though the alleged murder took place at a crowded railway station, no one had come forward to serve as eye-witness.

The footage from CCTV cameras installed near Asaoti railway station showed three bike-borne men fleeing the scene soon after the incident, which helped the police to identify the accused.

Till now, the state police have arrested five people in the case which includes a 50-year-old Delhi government employee. Now with Saturdays arrest, a total of six people have been arrested. The police might arrest a few more people in the case who allegedly helped the accused.

The incident had triggered nationwide outrage. The arrest comes a few days after the Haryana police had announced an award of Rs 2 lakh for anyone who could provide information about the killers in the lynching case. I want severe punishment for all who killed my son, said 55-year-old Jallaludin, Junaids father.

Last month, Junaid was lynched and his two brothers were injured when they were returning from Delhi in a Mathura-bound train after Eid shopping.

Trouble started when the three reportedly had an argument with other passengers over sharing of seats. The mob allegedly turned violent and hurled abuses at them calling them beef eaters. Junaids body was dumped near Asaoti village in Faridabad.

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Railway Police arrested the main accused in the alleged lynching of 17-year-old Junaid Khan of Khandwali village in Faridabad, from Maharashtra. Sources said that a police team was sent to Dhule after they were tipped off that the suspect was hiding there. Police claim that during initial questioning, the main accused had admitted to the crime. He will be produced before a court on Saturday. The police are not disclosing the name of the main accused due to legal reasons and are waiting for Junaids brother Haseeb, who was injured in the incident, to identify him. Sources said that police are yet to recover the weapon with which Junaid was murdered and his brothers were injured. The police have built the case on the basis of the information provided by the brother and two cousins of the deceased. Though the alleged murder took place at a crowded railway station, no one had come forward to serve as eye-witness. The footage from CCTV cameras installed near Asaoti railway station showed three bike-borne men fleeing the scene soon after the incident, which helped the police to identify the accused. Till now, the state police have arrested five people in the case which includes a 50-year-old Delhi government employee. Now with Saturdays arrest, a total of six people have been arrested. The police might arrest a few more people in the case who allegedly helped the accused. The incident had triggered nationwide outrage. The arrest comes a few days after the Haryana police had announced an award of Rs 2 lakh for anyone who could provide information about the killers in the lynching case. I want severe punishment for all who killed my son, said 55-year-old Jallaludin, Junaids father. Last month, Junaid was lynched and his two brothers were injured when they were returning from Delhi in a Mathura-bound train after Eid shopping. Trouble started when the three reportedly had an argument with other passengers over sharing of seats. The mob allegedly turned violent and hurled abuses at them calling them beef eaters. Junaids body was dumped near Asaoti village in Faridabad.
By PTI

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today urged the political parties in the Darjeeling hills to return to the path of peace and sit with the government for talks.

"The government is ready for talks with the hill parties, but peace has to be ushered in. The government has shown enough restraint in the interest of the people of the hills.

Peace has to return to the hills," she said here. "If peace returns in the next 10-15 days, I can call the hill parties for talks. But, let us restore peace first," she added.

Banerjee said schools and colleges remained closed in Darjeeling, the people there were not getting enough food and other essential commodities and alleged that the leaders of the hill parties, however, were getting their supplies "from Sikkim and Nepal". The state government, she added, would send food to the people of the hills.

The chief minister accused the Centre of "deliberate and total non-cooperation" in the matter and alleged that its refusal to send CRPF personnel, as demanded by the West Bengal government, had led to the current situation in the Darjeeling hills, where an indefinite shutdown, called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and backed by the other political parties in the hills, entered its 24th day today.

"The Darjeeling problem had erupted on June 8 and a month has passed since. Had the CRPF personnel been sent in time, this would not have happened," she said.

Banerjee claimed that as the state police did not have enough personnel to tackle the situation in the hills, the assistance of the central forces was sought. "The Centre sent seven companies, out of which three were from the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). They have been completely inactive.

They can only wield lathis with no power," she said. Banerjee alleged that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre had "perpetrated" the problems in Kashmir and was now "trying to destabilise" the hills. "The Centre must cooperate.

The state will also. Politics and governance are different," she said. The chief minister claimed that certain decisions of the Centre such as demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) were nothing but "big corruptions". "These will be exposed once the BJP is not in power," she claimed.

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today urged the political parties in the Darjeeling hills to return to the path of peace and sit with the government for talks. "The government is ready for talks with the hill parties, but peace has to be ushered in. The government has shown enough restraint in the interest of the people of the hills. Peace has to return to the hills," she said here. "If peace returns in the next 10-15 days, I can call the hill parties for talks. But, let us restore peace first," she added. Banerjee said schools and colleges remained closed in Darjeeling, the people there were not getting enough food and other essential commodities and alleged that the leaders of the hill parties, however, were getting their supplies "from Sikkim and Nepal". The state government, she added, would send food to the people of the hills. The chief minister accused the Centre of "deliberate and total non-cooperation" in the matter and alleged that its refusal to send CRPF personnel, as demanded by the West Bengal government, had led to the current situation in the Darjeeling hills, where an indefinite shutdown, called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and backed by the other political parties in the hills, entered its 24th day today. "The Darjeeling problem had erupted on June 8 and a month has passed since. Had the CRPF personnel been sent in time, this would not have happened," she said. Banerjee claimed that as the state police did not have enough personnel to tackle the situation in the hills, the assistance of the central forces was sought. "The Centre sent seven companies, out of which three were from the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). They have been completely inactive. They can only wield lathis with no power," she said. Banerjee alleged that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre had "perpetrated" the problems in Kashmir and was now "trying to destabilise" the hills. "The Centre must cooperate. The state will also. Politics and governance are different," she said. The chief minister claimed that certain decisions of the Centre such as demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) were nothing but "big corruptions". "These will be exposed once the BJP is not in power," she claimed.
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Gujarat police in a joint operation on Saturday arrested Qadir Ahmad, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blast case, from Najibabad police station in West UPs Bijnor district.

Qadir Ahmad is believed to have been one of the point men of Tiger Memon, the prime accused and key conspirator of the Mumbai blasts, in Jamnagar where he received Menons consignment of explosives, arms and ammunition.

This consignment was later used in the mayhem which caused over 250 deaths and injured more than 750 people. According to police, a Gujarat court had decided the charges against Qadir under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA).

Qadir had been absconding for the last 24 years, said Inspector General (IG) of the ATS Aseem Arun. However, police believe that Qadir had been in touch with wanted underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. This revelation has sent alarm bells ringing for the countrys anti-terror agencies.

According to IG Aseem Arun, the charges were fixed against Qadir Ahmad in 1993 after his role in supplying arms and explosives for the blasts was confirmed. On Saturday morning, sleuths of the Uttar Pradesh ATS and the Gujarat cops rounded up Qadir in a joint operation, confirmed the IG, adding that the criminal was interrogated by the ATS for over an hour after which the Gujarat police proceeded to Bijnor district court, taking him on a transit remand.

According to police sources, the fugitive, during his interrogation is believed to have admitted to his role in supplying arms which led to the blasts. He has also disclosed that he had been in contact with Dawood and used to talk to the don, said a senior police official.

However, Inspector General Aseem Arun refused to reveal much saying that more information would be shared only after Qadir Ahmad was interrogated by his Gujarat counterparts.

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Gujarat police in a joint operation on Saturday arrested Qadir Ahmad, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blast case, from Najibabad police station in West UPs Bijnor district. Qadir Ahmad is believed to have been one of the point men of Tiger Memon, the prime accused and key conspirator of the Mumbai blasts, in Jamnagar where he received Menons consignment of explosives, arms and ammunition. This consignment was later used in the mayhem which caused over 250 deaths and injured more than 750 people. According to police, a Gujarat court had decided the charges against Qadir under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). Qadir had been absconding for the last 24 years, said Inspector General (IG) of the ATS Aseem Arun. However, police believe that Qadir had been in touch with wanted underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. This revelation has sent alarm bells ringing for the countrys anti-terror agencies. According to IG Aseem Arun, the charges were fixed against Qadir Ahmad in 1993 after his role in supplying arms and explosives for the blasts was confirmed. On Saturday morning, sleuths of the Uttar Pradesh ATS and the Gujarat cops rounded up Qadir in a joint operation, confirmed the IG, adding that the criminal was interrogated by the ATS for over an hour after which the Gujarat police proceeded to Bijnor district court, taking him on a transit remand. According to police sources, the fugitive, during his interrogation is believed to have admitted to his role in supplying arms which led to the blasts. He has also disclosed that he had been in contact with Dawood and used to talk to the don, said a senior police official. However, Inspector General Aseem Arun refused to reveal much saying that more information would be shared only after Qadir Ahmad was interrogated by his Gujarat counterparts.
By PTI

MUMBAI: Mumbai police arrested three youngsters on Friday in connection with a murder of an aspiring air hostess in Delhi, police said on Saturday.

Riya Gautam, 21, an aspiring air hostess was stabbed at a busy Delhi market on July 5. Adil Banne Khan (23), Juned Salim Ansari (19) and Fazil Raju Ansari (18) were arrested for her murder by the Mumbai crime branch from suburban Bandra late Friday night.

Adil is a resident of Delhi's Mansarovar Park, while the two other are from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh.

Following a tip-off that the trio was hiding in Bandra suburban area, Unit 9 of Mumbai crime branch launched a search operation. The accused were handed over to Delhi Police team after the arrest, police said.

Police said, Riya Gautam alias Charu, was allegedly stabbed by Adil, who was allegedly stalking her. She succumbed to her injuries the next day at a hospital in Delhi. Adil had been absconding since then.

A CCTV grab of the incident showed Adil attacking Riya and she running away from him.

Riya and Adil had a fight near her house on Thursday. The next day when she was being attacked, she rushed to a shop for help but nobody was there. Adil followed her inside the shop and stabbed her multiple times. Even though there were people around, they did not go near Adil for the fear of getting attacked, police said.

Police also said that Riya and Adil knew each other for the last one year. But she distanced herself from him and her indifference irked him.

Her family has alleged that she had filed a police complaint against Adil in April but no action was taken. Adil had got a whiff of the matter and when his house was raided, he fled to Gujarat.

MUMBAI: Mumbai police arrested three youngsters on Friday in connection with a murder of an aspiring air hostess in Delhi, police said on Saturday. Riya Gautam, 21, an aspiring air hostess was stabbed at a busy Delhi market on July 5. Adil Banne Khan (23), Juned Salim Ansari (19) and Fazil Raju Ansari (18) were arrested for her murder by the Mumbai crime branch from suburban Bandra late Friday night. Adil is a resident of Delhi's Mansarovar Park, while the two other are from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. Following a tip-off that the trio was hiding in Bandra suburban area, Unit 9 of Mumbai crime branch launched a search operation. The accused were handed over to Delhi Police team after the arrest, police said. Police said, Riya Gautam alias Charu, was allegedly stabbed by Adil, who was allegedly stalking her. She succumbed to her injuries the next day at a hospital in Delhi. Adil had been absconding since then. A CCTV grab of the incident showed Adil attacking Riya and she running away from him. Riya and Adil had a fight near her house on Thursday. The next day when she was being attacked, she rushed to a shop for help but nobody was there. Adil followed her inside the shop and stabbed her multiple times. Even though there were people around, they did not go near Adil for the fear of getting attacked, police said. Police also said that Riya and Adil knew each other for the last one year. But she distanced herself from him and her indifference irked him. Her family has alleged that she had filed a police complaint against Adil in April but no action was taken. Adil had got a whiff of the matter and when his house was raided, he fled to Gujarat.
Balbir Punj By

The big takeaway for Narendra Modi and for India from the prime ministers recent Israel visit is not the various defence and technology deals he signed with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. The visit was a heartfelt thank you to Israelis, a great people with a long history of suffering for being Jewsfirst from the Christian nations culminating in the gas chambers and concentration camps of German dictator Adolf Hitler and later from the active and combined military attacks of Muslim-Arab countries.

The political reports from Tel Aviv focus on the defence and wide-ranging technology deals, which are very relevant and useful for our country. But to Indians and to Israelis, equally important is the true friend that Israel was in Indias hour of need.



Recalling them at this juncture is necessary to measure the depth of support for India that the Jewish people showed at every critical year as against the total diplomatic untouchability that Nehrus India practised in relations with the young West Asian nation for three decades.

Pandit Nehru declared in the US in 1950s: Where freedom is attacked and injustice prevails India cannot and will not be neutral. Not neutrality, a deliberate pro-Arab leaning and action was what Nehrus government and Congress regimes followed from the 1960s to the 1990s when several Arab nations (in fact 13 of them, often led by Egypts dictator Nasser) attacked Israel from different sides in several wars, terrorist attacks and imposed diplomatic sanctions.

Asked about women and children there, Nasser proudly boasted that they would not exist to be dealt withhinting they would be eliminated after their menfolk were buried by Arab combined forces. When all this was happening and the Arab assault on Israel without any provocation from Tel Aviv was evident, the great liberal defender of freedom who was ruling India kept his silence.

While we carry a global campaign against terrorism, here is an incident which will fill us with eternal shame. A Palestinian terrorist organisation hijacked a civil aircraft in 1976 and all the Jewish passengers, women and children included, were confined in an airport in Uganda whose dictator Idi Amin gave full support to the hijacking. In a daring operation Israel rescued its people and the Congress regime in New Delhi dilly-dallied, rather than outrightly condemn the crime.

India under successive Nehruvian governments did not allow Indians to travel to Tel Aviv. Our passports were marked not valid for travel to Israel. That many travelled through other means is a tribute to the Indian people who admired the Jewish nation for standing up to the Arab-Muslim nations pariah treatment of Israel.

It was only in the 1990s when Congress had ditched Nehruvian socialism that a Congress prime ministernot from the Nehru-Gandhi familydared to end this untouchability and accord full diplomatic status to Israel. But there was not much movement forward.



The Nehruvian Congress was more interested in appeasing the Muslim minority in India rather than stand by a country that was being squeezed to extinction and a people who had suffered gas chamber massacres and concentration camps where the inmates were deliberately starved to enable a dictator to terrorise them into submission.

But a tit for tat was not the policy that Israel followed in its relations with India. In 1962 when China attacked India, Israel rushed important intelligence regarding Chinese military and political moves to India. This was done in complete secrecy; Israel did not reveal it to the world. In 1965 when Pakistan attacked India massively, Israel again rushed with military supplies. Both in 1962 and 1965, none of Nehrus great non-aligned colleagues had a word of sympathy for India.

We have to recall all these events of the past to realise the dynamism that the BJP regime under PM Modi has imparted to foreign policy lifting it out of a morass and underlining that the national interest alone serves the policy formulation and implementation. It was clear during the Congress regime, that the Muslim leadership was given a veto power over our policy issues particularly in regard to the Palestinian situation.

Today if his Israeli visit has evoked no adverse comments from either Riyadh or Abu Dhabi or even Tehran despite the Iranian regimes continuing hostility towards Israel, the reading between the lines is that the Islamic regimes in the Gulf region have begun to perceive Indo-Israel relations as not in any manner hostile to their interests.

A great difference was made in agriculture thanks to Israeli technology. Farmers in Haryana were able to cultivate 96,000 kg of tomatoes per acre against 16,000 kg earlier and 45,000 kg of cucumber per acre against 3,500 before. They were also able to achieve 65 per cent reduction in water use in farms.



Significantly Israel is unhesitatingly backing New Delhis demand that Pakistan should not let terrorists to function from its soil aimed at Indian security services and civilians. Also the product and technologies in defence that Tel Aviv is selling or getting manufactured in India in joint ventures, are all critical, enhancing Indias defences specially against terrorist infiltration.

In all these coverage of what was rightly described as historic visit what was overlooked was that it is a large number of Israeli patented ultra modern technologies that are pump-priming the American industrial progress. The Jews are an extraordinary people who could survive and prosper in the West Asia cauldron, and in the last two centuries have won many Nobel prizes.



Now India, with its most ancient creative civilisation, has linked herself with this Jewish excellence. The outcome will surely be a better world.

Balbir Punj

Former Rajya Sabha member and Delhi-based commentator on social and political issues

Email: punjbalbir@gmail.com

The big takeaway for Narendra Modi and for India from the prime ministers recent Israel visit is not the various defence and technology deals he signed with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. The visit was a heartfelt thank you to Israelis, a great people with a long history of suffering for being Jewsfirst from the Christian nations culminating in the gas chambers and concentration camps of German dictator Adolf Hitler and later from the active and combined military attacks of Muslim-Arab countries. The political reports from Tel Aviv focus on the defence and wide-ranging technology deals, which are very relevant and useful for our country. But to Indians and to Israelis, equally important is the true friend that Israel was in Indias hour of need. Recalling them at this juncture is necessary to measure the depth of support for India that the Jewish people showed at every critical year as against the total diplomatic untouchability that Nehrus India practised in relations with the young West Asian nation for three decades. Pandit Nehru declared in the US in 1950s: Where freedom is attacked and injustice prevails India cannot and will not be neutral. Not neutrality, a deliberate pro-Arab leaning and action was what Nehrus government and Congress regimes followed from the 1960s to the 1990s when several Arab nations (in fact 13 of them, often led by Egypts dictator Nasser) attacked Israel from different sides in several wars, terrorist attacks and imposed diplomatic sanctions. Asked about women and children there, Nasser proudly boasted that they would not exist to be dealt withhinting they would be eliminated after their menfolk were buried by Arab combined forces. When all this was happening and the Arab assault on Israel without any provocation from Tel Aviv was evident, the great liberal defender of freedom who was ruling India kept his silence. While we carry a global campaign against terrorism, here is an incident which will fill us with eternal shame. A Palestinian terrorist organisation hijacked a civil aircraft in 1976 and all the Jewish passengers, women and children included, were confined in an airport in Uganda whose dictator Idi Amin gave full support to the hijacking. In a daring operation Israel rescued its people and the Congress regime in New Delhi dilly-dallied, rather than outrightly condemn the crime. India under successive Nehruvian governments did not allow Indians to travel to Tel Aviv. Our passports were marked not valid for travel to Israel. That many travelled through other means is a tribute to the Indian people who admired the Jewish nation for standing up to the Arab-Muslim nations pariah treatment of Israel. It was only in the 1990s when Congress had ditched Nehruvian socialism that a Congress prime ministernot from the Nehru-Gandhi familydared to end this untouchability and accord full diplomatic status to Israel. But there was not much movement forward. The Nehruvian Congress was more interested in appeasing the Muslim minority in India rather than stand by a country that was being squeezed to extinction and a people who had suffered gas chamber massacres and concentration camps where the inmates were deliberately starved to enable a dictator to terrorise them into submission. But a tit for tat was not the policy that Israel followed in its relations with India. In 1962 when China attacked India, Israel rushed important intelligence regarding Chinese military and political moves to India. This was done in complete secrecy; Israel did not reveal it to the world. In 1965 when Pakistan attacked India massively, Israel again rushed with military supplies. Both in 1962 and 1965, none of Nehrus great non-aligned colleagues had a word of sympathy for India. We have to recall all these events of the past to realise the dynamism that the BJP regime under PM Modi has imparted to foreign policy lifting it out of a morass and underlining that the national interest alone serves the policy formulation and implementation. It was clear during the Congress regime, that the Muslim leadership was given a veto power over our policy issues particularly in regard to the Palestinian situation. Today if his Israeli visit has evoked no adverse comments from either Riyadh or Abu Dhabi or even Tehran despite the Iranian regimes continuing hostility towards Israel, the reading between the lines is that the Islamic regimes in the Gulf region have begun to perceive Indo-Israel relations as not in any manner hostile to their interests. A great difference was made in agriculture thanks to Israeli technology. Farmers in Haryana were able to cultivate 96,000 kg of tomatoes per acre against 16,000 kg earlier and 45,000 kg of cucumber per acre against 3,500 before. They were also able to achieve 65 per cent reduction in water use in farms. Significantly Israel is unhesitatingly backing New Delhis demand that Pakistan should not let terrorists to function from its soil aimed at Indian security services and civilians. Also the product and technologies in defence that Tel Aviv is selling or getting manufactured in India in joint ventures, are all critical, enhancing Indias defences specially against terrorist infiltration. In all these coverage of what was rightly described as historic visit what was overlooked was that it is a large number of Israeli patented ultra modern technologies that are pump-priming the American industrial progress. The Jews are an extraordinary people who could survive and prosper in the West Asia cauldron, and in the last two centuries have won many Nobel prizes. Now India, with its most ancient creative civilisation, has linked herself with this Jewish excellence. The outcome will surely be a better world. Balbir Punj Former Rajya Sabha member and Delhi-based commentator on social and political issues Email: punjbalbir@gmail.com
So its official: Chinese Premier Xi Jinping will not meet Indian PM Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G-20 summit which begins in Hamburg, Germany July 7, because the atmosphere was not right. Indian officials, however, shrugged off the snub, saying they had not asked for a meeting in the first place. But the Chinese action only adds to the escalating tension amid the border standoff near the Bhutan-Sikkim-Tibet tri-junction, which has been festering for the past three weeks.

Interestingly, while the Chinese foreign ministry and media have been issuing daily warnings on the issue, there has only been one statement from the Indian foreign ministry, stating its position that the Chinese attempts to build a road in the territory claimed by Bhutan, also had security implications for India.

But an intransigent China accused India of violating not just Chinese, but also Bhutanese sovereignty, and insists that no talks are possible until India withdraws its troops from the region.

Indias intention is very clear, which is to use the so-called security concern as well as protecting Bhutan ... and enter the Chinese territory of Doklam, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang.

According to Indian analysts, however, China is increasingly concerned over India rejecting Beijings grand plans for the region. Indias objection to CPEC, its refusal to attend the OBOR forum in Beijing, and of course the clear alignment with the US have not gone down well with the Chinese leadership.

In fact, many analysts believe the recent standoff is a message to New Delhi saying that the US would not come to Indias aid if there was trouble on the border with China. Others, note that the free-fall in relations erodes the earlier policy pursued by both nations which focussed on improving areas of common interest while putting contentious issues like the border on the backburner. Obviously, that policy seems to be unravelling. It is time both sides defined and adopted a fresh one.

So its official: Chinese Premier Xi Jinping will not meet Indian PM Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G-20 summit which begins in Hamburg, Germany July 7, because the atmosphere was not right. Indian officials, however, shrugged off the snub, saying they had not asked for a meeting in the first place. But the Chinese action only adds to the escalating tension amid the border standoff near the Bhutan-Sikkim-Tibet tri-junction, which has been festering for the past three weeks. Interestingly, while the Chinese foreign ministry and media have been issuing daily warnings on the issue, there has only been one statement from the Indian foreign ministry, stating its position that the Chinese attempts to build a road in the territory claimed by Bhutan, also had security implications for India. But an intransigent China accused India of violating not just Chinese, but also Bhutanese sovereignty, and insists that no talks are possible until India withdraws its troops from the region. Indias intention is very clear, which is to use the so-called security concern as well as protecting Bhutan ... and enter the Chinese territory of Doklam, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang. According to Indian analysts, however, China is increasingly concerned over India rejecting Beijings grand plans for the region. Indias objection to CPEC, its refusal to attend the OBOR forum in Beijing, and of course the clear alignment with the US have not gone down well with the Chinese leadership. In fact, many analysts believe the recent standoff is a message to New Delhi saying that the US would not come to Indias aid if there was trouble on the border with China. Others, note that the free-fall in relations erodes the earlier policy pursued by both nations which focussed on improving areas of common interest while putting contentious issues like the border on the backburner. Obviously, that policy seems to be unravelling. It is time both sides defined and adopted a fresh one.
By Express News Service

MANGALURU: Tension simmered in the coastal district of Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka as it witnessed stone pelting during the funeral procession of an RSS worker who was killed in a brutal attack by unidentified assailants on July 4.

Sharath Madivala, an RSS worker and an owner of a laundry in BC Road, died at A J Hospital on Friday. His body was taken to his hometown in Kanduru in Sajipamunnuru Grama Panchayat in Buntwal taluk on Saturday. He was reportedly attacked by three people with lethal weapons when he was closing his shop at 9.30 pm. He was admitted to the hospital in critical condition.

On Saturday, his body was taken to his hometown in a 22-kilometer procession with people gathered at street corners and intersections all along the road from AJ Hospital to BC Road. The unrest started when the procession reached BC Road and few people pelted stones at the procession from the rooftop of Sulthan Building. The police took five persons into custody for allegedly pelting stones at the procession.

The stone pelting triggered an unrest which led to the stabbing of one Riyaz at Kaikamba on BC Road, damage to seven vehicles and few buildings. An ATM and its cubicle were also damaged.

Cops step up security to prevent any untoward incident in Buntwal in the wake of the death of an RSS worker. (Ganesh Mavanji | EPS)

According to the inspector general of police (western range) Harishekaran who was camping in Buntwal along with superintendent of police Sudhir Reddy, the situation was in control and except for few stray incidents like stone pelting, there was no untoward incident.

Despite, Dakshin Kannada administration's imposition of Section 144 till July 11 after a series of stabbings and disruptive incidents, on Friday, BJP legislators and Sangh Parivar activists gathered over 6000 people to protest against the attacks on Hindu activists. On Saturday, 3000 people joined the funeral procession of Sharat Madivala.

The police have booked MPs of Mangaluru and Udupi and Chikkamagalur Nalin Kumar Kateel and Shobha Karandlaje and Sangh Parivar senior Dr Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat for violating the prohibitory orders on Friday.

MANGALURU: Tension simmered in the coastal district of Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka as it witnessed stone pelting during the funeral procession of an RSS worker who was killed in a brutal attack by unidentified assailants on July 4. Sharath Madivala, an RSS worker and an owner of a laundry in BC Road, died at A J Hospital on Friday. His body was taken to his hometown in Kanduru in Sajipamunnuru Grama Panchayat in Buntwal taluk on Saturday. He was reportedly attacked by three people with lethal weapons when he was closing his shop at 9.30 pm. He was admitted to the hospital in critical condition. On Saturday, his body was taken to his hometown in a 22-kilometer procession with people gathered at street corners and intersections all along the road from AJ Hospital to BC Road. The unrest started when the procession reached BC Road and few people pelted stones at the procession from the rooftop of Sulthan Building. The police took five persons into custody for allegedly pelting stones at the procession. The stone pelting triggered an unrest which led to the stabbing of one Riyaz at Kaikamba on BC Road, damage to seven vehicles and few buildings. An ATM and its cubicle were also damaged. Cops step up security to prevent any untoward incident in Buntwal in the wake of the death of an RSS worker. (Ganesh Mavanji | EPS) According to the inspector general of police (western range) Harishekaran who was camping in Buntwal along with superintendent of police Sudhir Reddy, the situation was in control and except for few stray incidents like stone pelting, there was no untoward incident. Despite, Dakshin Kannada administration's imposition of Section 144 till July 11 after a series of stabbings and disruptive incidents, on Friday, BJP legislators and Sangh Parivar activists gathered over 6000 people to protest against the attacks on Hindu activists. On Saturday, 3000 people joined the funeral procession of Sharat Madivala. The police have booked MPs of Mangaluru and Udupi and Chikkamagalur Nalin Kumar Kateel and Shobha Karandlaje and Sangh Parivar senior Dr Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat for violating the prohibitory orders on Friday.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Indias stature as the worlds biggest democracy has been pawned to Zionist Israel by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Leader of Opposition Ramesh hennithala. Chennithala said only those harbouring the same mindset of a country which is viewed as the global voice of genocide can make such overtures. In a statement critical of Modis state visit to Jerusalem Chennithala said the Congress had always stood by the Palestinian people.



Wiping out Palestinians from the face of Earth is the aim of Israel. Modis visit has come as a shot in the arm for Israeli goal. While mixing the allegedly venomous Sangh Parivar ideology with Zionist terrorism,Modi should realise the secular face of India is being lost, he said.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Indias stature as the worlds biggest democracy has been pawned to Zionist Israel by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Leader of Opposition Ramesh hennithala. Chennithala said only those harbouring the same mindset of a country which is viewed as the global voice of genocide can make such overtures. In a statement critical of Modis state visit to Jerusalem Chennithala said the Congress had always stood by the Palestinian people. Wiping out Palestinians from the face of Earth is the aim of Israel. Modis visit has come as a shot in the arm for Israeli goal. While mixing the allegedly venomous Sangh Parivar ideology with Zionist terrorism,Modi should realise the secular face of India is being lost, he said.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has announced an ambitious plan to make the state self-sufficient in chicken requirement. The minister unveiled his plan in the backdrop of traders allegedly jacking up the price of raw chicken despite a full tax waiver under GST. Earlier, chicken traders had to pay 14.5 per cent tax under VAT, which has been lifted under GST.

According to Isaac, the state is witnessing an unusual phenomenon in which the chicken price went up after the tax waiver. He attributed this to a nexus comprising inter-state chicken traders.

On Friday, the minister said the chicken self-sufficiency plan will be executed through KEPCO and Kudumbashree. KEPCO will supply baby chicken to Kudumbashree units across the state. Chicken will be reared by Kudumbashree members.

KEPCO will purchase mature chicken and sell them in the panchayats themselves. All panchayats will be covered under the programme.

Poultry Owners Associations

Poultry owners associations have termed the ministers directive to sell chicken at Rs 87 a kg as unviable.

All-Kerala Poultry Federation has said the price hike of chicken is natural since domestic production has come down. GST implementation does not affect traders or growers in Tamil Nadu since chicken enjoyed full tax waiver in that state even before GST.

Meanwhile, growers in Kerala have raised concern over the price fixed by the government.

Unlike Tamil Nadu, the cost of rearing is high in Kerala. The requirement for growing a chicken is 3.50 kg of feed. The price of feed is Rs 27 a kg. How can we sell chicken at the government rate, asks a farmer from Wayanad.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has announced an ambitious plan to make the state self-sufficient in chicken requirement. The minister unveiled his plan in the backdrop of traders allegedly jacking up the price of raw chicken despite a full tax waiver under GST. Earlier, chicken traders had to pay 14.5 per cent tax under VAT, which has been lifted under GST. According to Isaac, the state is witnessing an unusual phenomenon in which the chicken price went up after the tax waiver. He attributed this to a nexus comprising inter-state chicken traders. On Friday, the minister said the chicken self-sufficiency plan will be executed through KEPCO and Kudumbashree. KEPCO will supply baby chicken to Kudumbashree units across the state. Chicken will be reared by Kudumbashree members. KEPCO will purchase mature chicken and sell them in the panchayats themselves. All panchayats will be covered under the programme. Poultry Owners Associations Poultry owners associations have termed the ministers directive to sell chicken at Rs 87 a kg as unviable. All-Kerala Poultry Federation has said the price hike of chicken is natural since domestic production has come down. GST implementation does not affect traders or growers in Tamil Nadu since chicken enjoyed full tax waiver in that state even before GST. Meanwhile, growers in Kerala have raised concern over the price fixed by the government. Unlike Tamil Nadu, the cost of rearing is high in Kerala. The requirement for growing a chicken is 3.50 kg of feed. The price of feed is Rs 27 a kg. How can we sell chicken at the government rate, asks a farmer from Wayanad.
Prabhakar T By

Express News Service

COIMBATORE: TWO militants of the banned National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit) were arrested by the Sulur (Coimbatore Rural) police on Friday, based on information provided by the Directorate of Military Intelligence.

The two, K Upan Posumatri (41), section commander of NDFB(S) and N Bikram Posumatri (27), both from Assam, were booked under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and remanded till July 21. They have been lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison.

Military Intelligence officials, who had arrived in Coimbatore a week ago, were monitoring the two. After confirming their identities, they detained them on Thursday night, with the help of the Sulur police. The detenus were taken to an undisclosed location in Sulur, where they were grilled by the sleuths of the military intelligence, sources said.

They took into custody Upan Posumatri (41), his wife Protima Posumatri and their two children Ram Singh (8) and Deepika (3). They also held Bikram Posumatri, his wife Rekha Posumatri and their three children, Sathamgri Posumatri (8), Bitang Posumatri (5) and Nidan Posumatri (3).

After questioning them for an hour, the women and children were released. Upan and Bikram were later taken to the Kinathukadavu police station, where Military Intelligence officials interrogated them for nearly 12 hours, sources said.

On Friday morning, the two were taken back to the Sulur police station, where a case was registered against them under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act sections 20 (being a member of a terrorist gang or organisation) and 38 (offence related to the member of a terrorist outfit). The two were then produced in the Sulur Magistrate Court. On being remanded till July 21, they were lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison.

Upan and Bikram, who came to Coimbatore from Assam in 2014, were working in a poultry feed manufacturing unit at Sikkanaickenpalayam, near Sulur, on the outskirts of the city.

Upan was a leading armed fighter of the NDFB(S) and had provided weapons training to youth joining the separatist group. Bikram, a recruiter of labourers from Assam, used to recruit workers for the NDFB(S), the sources said.

They had attacked Army camps and security personnel in Assam in 2010, for which the Military Intelligence were searching for them. After NDFB(S) was banned, they have been on the run. The authorities have wanted them for years. As there are more than 10 cases against Upan and Bikram in Assam, Army Intelligence officials and the Assam police are expected to get a transit warrant and take them to Assam.

NDFB(S) has been waging guerilla warfare against the Indian defence forces, seeking secession from the country. The skirmishes have taken a huge toll on the nations forces.

COIMBATORE: TWO militants of the banned National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit) were arrested by the Sulur (Coimbatore Rural) police on Friday, based on information provided by the Directorate of Military Intelligence. The two, K Upan Posumatri (41), section commander of NDFB(S) and N Bikram Posumatri (27), both from Assam, were booked under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and remanded till July 21. They have been lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison. Military Intelligence officials, who had arrived in Coimbatore a week ago, were monitoring the two. After confirming their identities, they detained them on Thursday night, with the help of the Sulur police. The detenus were taken to an undisclosed location in Sulur, where they were grilled by the sleuths of the military intelligence, sources said. They took into custody Upan Posumatri (41), his wife Protima Posumatri and their two children Ram Singh (8) and Deepika (3). They also held Bikram Posumatri, his wife Rekha Posumatri and their three children, Sathamgri Posumatri (8), Bitang Posumatri (5) and Nidan Posumatri (3). After questioning them for an hour, the women and children were released. Upan and Bikram were later taken to the Kinathukadavu police station, where Military Intelligence officials interrogated them for nearly 12 hours, sources said. On Friday morning, the two were taken back to the Sulur police station, where a case was registered against them under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act sections 20 (being a member of a terrorist gang or organisation) and 38 (offence related to the member of a terrorist outfit). The two were then produced in the Sulur Magistrate Court. On being remanded till July 21, they were lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison. Upan and Bikram, who came to Coimbatore from Assam in 2014, were working in a poultry feed manufacturing unit at Sikkanaickenpalayam, near Sulur, on the outskirts of the city. Upan was a leading armed fighter of the NDFB(S) and had provided weapons training to youth joining the separatist group. Bikram, a recruiter of labourers from Assam, used to recruit workers for the NDFB(S), the sources said. They had attacked Army camps and security personnel in Assam in 2010, for which the Military Intelligence were searching for them. After NDFB(S) was banned, they have been on the run. The authorities have wanted them for years. As there are more than 10 cases against Upan and Bikram in Assam, Army Intelligence officials and the Assam police are expected to get a transit warrant and take them to Assam. NDFB(S) has been waging guerilla warfare against the Indian defence forces, seeking secession from the country. The skirmishes have taken a huge toll on the nations forces.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu will soon have a watchdog whose recommendations will be binding on the police force and keep watch on its functions. The State Security Commission, as mandated by the Supreme Court, will take shape shortly.

The Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami informed the Assembly about this on Friday while responding to the Leader of the Opposition M K Stalin who questioned the delay in constituting the body.

We have been taking steps to form the State Security Commission. We fixed the date for launching it on July 23 but it was deferred because of some other works. Soon, it will be formed, he said.

The Chief Minister will head the State Security Commission which will have the Leader of Opposition as one of its members. The recommendations of the Commission, that can lay down policy guidelines to improve the functioning of the police force, are binding on the force.

CCTV in police station

The Chief Minister told the House that all law and order police stations will be fitted with CCTV in a gradual manner. He noted that already 659 stations out of a total of 1289 had CCTV cameras and the rest would soon get the facility.

Similarly, he said, CCTV cameras were also being fitted along all the highways and public places in a gradual manner.

Marina violence

Referring to the Marina violence over the Jallikattu issue, Palaniswami assured that proper action would be taken against those who were responsible for the incidents as per the findings of the inquiry commission headed by Justice S Rajeswaran.

Steps on to nab DSP

Intervening to explain the steps taken on the involvement of certain policemen in idol smuggling, he said the Idol Wing of police had already arrested a Special Sub-inspector Subburaj (currently attached to Koyambedu station) and efforts were on to nab DSP Kader Basha, and Theertha Singh who was believed to have purchased the smuggled idols.

The Special Sub-inspector Subburaj was arrested on June 26. The Idol Wing police are taking steps to arrest the other accused, he said.

Only 10 pc vacancies in police

Seeking to downplay the issue of vacancies in police as raised by Stalin, the Chief Minister said there were only 10 per cent posts lying vacant and process for recruiting 13,183 grade-II police constables was being taken up.

He said steps were being taken to recruit 60 DSPs against the vacancy position of 118.

Better law and order

Dismissing the charge of breakdown of law and order in the State, Palaniswami said better maintenance of law and order is reflected in the investments attracted. Several entrepreneurs are flocking to Tamil Nadu and several firms have been established here because of better law and order situation compared to other states in the country.

Ammas government alone ensures safety and security of life and property of the people, he said.

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu will soon have a watchdog whose recommendations will be binding on the police force and keep watch on its functions. The State Security Commission, as mandated by the Supreme Court, will take shape shortly. The Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami informed the Assembly about this on Friday while responding to the Leader of the Opposition M K Stalin who questioned the delay in constituting the body. We have been taking steps to form the State Security Commission. We fixed the date for launching it on July 23 but it was deferred because of some other works. Soon, it will be formed, he said. The Chief Minister will head the State Security Commission which will have the Leader of Opposition as one of its members. The recommendations of the Commission, that can lay down policy guidelines to improve the functioning of the police force, are binding on the force. CCTV in police station The Chief Minister told the House that all law and order police stations will be fitted with CCTV in a gradual manner. He noted that already 659 stations out of a total of 1289 had CCTV cameras and the rest would soon get the facility. Similarly, he said, CCTV cameras were also being fitted along all the highways and public places in a gradual manner. Marina violence Referring to the Marina violence over the Jallikattu issue, Palaniswami assured that proper action would be taken against those who were responsible for the incidents as per the findings of the inquiry commission headed by Justice S Rajeswaran. Steps on to nab DSP Intervening to explain the steps taken on the involvement of certain policemen in idol smuggling, he said the Idol Wing of police had already arrested a Special Sub-inspector Subburaj (currently attached to Koyambedu station) and efforts were on to nab DSP Kader Basha, and Theertha Singh who was believed to have purchased the smuggled idols. The Special Sub-inspector Subburaj was arrested on June 26. The Idol Wing police are taking steps to arrest the other accused, he said. Only 10 pc vacancies in police Seeking to downplay the issue of vacancies in police as raised by Stalin, the Chief Minister said there were only 10 per cent posts lying vacant and process for recruiting 13,183 grade-II police constables was being taken up. He said steps were being taken to recruit 60 DSPs against the vacancy position of 118. Better law and order Dismissing the charge of breakdown of law and order in the State, Palaniswami said better maintenance of law and order is reflected in the investments attracted. Several entrepreneurs are flocking to Tamil Nadu and several firms have been established here because of better law and order situation compared to other states in the country. Ammas government alone ensures safety and security of life and property of the people, he said.
By AFP

ISTANBUL: Thousands of people joined Turkey's main opposition party in Istanbul today on a "march for justice," begun three weeks ago to protest the jailing of one of its lawmakers, as it wound its way into the city.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the People's Republican Party (CHP), has been walking since June 15 without party insignia, carrying a sign bearing the word "justice" in Turkish.

Some analysts have said Kilicdaroglu's 450-kilometre trek from Ankara to Istanbul is a significant challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan but the Turkish strongman has regarded it with disdain.

Kilicdaroglu began the march after Enis Berberoglu, a former journalist turned CHP lawmaker, was sentenced to 25 years in jail on charges of leaking classified information to a newspaper.

"Today we enter Istanbul and we are extremely happy," Kilicdaroglu said. "I am at peace because without anyone being injured, we have accomplished walking a long road".

"Together on July 9, our search for justice will continue."

Every day, more people have joined the CHP leader, including women's rights groups, on the march, which is due to end on July 9 with a mass rally outside Berberoglu's prison in the Istanbul district of Maltepe.

"This march has three important goals: firstly, Kilicdaroglu marks his status as a leader. Secondly, the CHP is connecting with the people again... and finally it unites the Turkish people," marcher Issa Agacik told AFP.

Kilicdaroglu's spokesman said some 45,000 people followed the CHP leader today with chants of "rights, law, justice".

Most marchers carried signs with the word "justice" or wore red or white T-shirts and hats emblazoned with the word.

Onlookers praised the march and those walking, some coming out of factories to show support.

In a statement to AFP, Kilicdaroglu said he was walking "for all Turkish victims of injustice".

About 50,000 people have been arrested under Turkey's state of emergency, imposed after last July's failed coup, and another 100,000 have lost their jobs, including teachers, judges, soldiers and police officers.

ISTANBUL: Thousands of people joined Turkey's main opposition party in Istanbul today on a "march for justice," begun three weeks ago to protest the jailing of one of its lawmakers, as it wound its way into the city. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the People's Republican Party (CHP), has been walking since June 15 without party insignia, carrying a sign bearing the word "justice" in Turkish. Some analysts have said Kilicdaroglu's 450-kilometre trek from Ankara to Istanbul is a significant challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan but the Turkish strongman has regarded it with disdain. Kilicdaroglu began the march after Enis Berberoglu, a former journalist turned CHP lawmaker, was sentenced to 25 years in jail on charges of leaking classified information to a newspaper. "Today we enter Istanbul and we are extremely happy," Kilicdaroglu said. "I am at peace because without anyone being injured, we have accomplished walking a long road". "Together on July 9, our search for justice will continue." Every day, more people have joined the CHP leader, including women's rights groups, on the march, which is due to end on July 9 with a mass rally outside Berberoglu's prison in the Istanbul district of Maltepe. "This march has three important goals: firstly, Kilicdaroglu marks his status as a leader. Secondly, the CHP is connecting with the people again... and finally it unites the Turkish people," marcher Issa Agacik told AFP. Kilicdaroglu's spokesman said some 45,000 people followed the CHP leader today with chants of "rights, law, justice". Most marchers carried signs with the word "justice" or wore red or white T-shirts and hats emblazoned with the word. Onlookers praised the march and those walking, some coming out of factories to show support. In a statement to AFP, Kilicdaroglu said he was walking "for all Turkish victims of injustice". About 50,000 people have been arrested under Turkey's state of emergency, imposed after last July's failed coup, and another 100,000 have lost their jobs, including teachers, judges, soldiers and police officers.
By IANS

DHAKA: Bangladesh Police on Saturday arrested a militant of the banned Neo JMB outfit who is claimed to be one of the masterminds of the Gulshan cafe terror attack and headed the JMB unit based in India's West Bengal state, media reports said.

The arrested militant Sohel Mahfuz is wanted in India for an October 2014 explosion in a house in Khagragarh in Burdwan district of West Bengal. India's National Investigation Agency has placed a Rs 10 lakh bounty on him, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit arrested Sohel Mahfuz and three of his accomplices from a mango grove in Chapainawabganj area.

Sohel alias Hatkata Mahfuz is the top explosives specialist of Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (New JMB) and a key arms and explosives supplier for the banned outfit. He had supplied the explosives for the terror attack on the Holey Artisan bakery in July last year in which over 20 people, mostly foreigners, were killed.

He is one of the five most wanted "militants" in the attack on the bakery last year, the CTTC chief said.

The other detained are Jewel alias Ismail, Hafizur Rahman alias Hasan and Mostofa Kamal alias Jamal.

Police had been looking for Mahfuz since the July 2016 attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery.

A senior counterterrorism officer said Mahfuz used the alias Nasrullah, who the Indian police identified as one of the key suspects in the Burdwan blast, which left two killed.

"He was in India from 2009 to 2014 and was the chief of the JMB unit there. He used the alias Nasrullah," Additional Deputy Commissioner Abdul Mannan told bdnews24.com. "India's National Investigation Agency identified Nasrullah as the prime suspect of the blast."

Mahfuz, who hails from the western Bangladesh district of Kushtia, used to go by several other aliases like Shahadat and Rimon, according to police.

He was also known as Hatkata Soheil after losing his right wrist.

"In 2005, he lost one of his wrists in an explosion while making bombs in Naogaon," said counterterrorism officer Mannan.

Mahfuz was an executive member of the JMB and later joined neo-JMB, according to counterterrorism unit chief Monirul Islam.

"After being off the radar for quite some time, he joined the neo-JMB about two years ago, according to our intelligence," Islam had told the media.

Mahfuz was ameer of JMB's West Bengal unit from 2009 to 2014 and he entered Bangladesh on December 2016 to devise the Gulshan cafe attack, Islam said at a press conference in the media centre of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Mahfuz is a relative of Dhaka cafe attack mastermind Marzan, who was killed in crossfire on January 6, he said.

DHAKA: Bangladesh Police on Saturday arrested a militant of the banned Neo JMB outfit who is claimed to be one of the masterminds of the Gulshan cafe terror attack and headed the JMB unit based in India's West Bengal state, media reports said. The arrested militant Sohel Mahfuz is wanted in India for an October 2014 explosion in a house in Khagragarh in Burdwan district of West Bengal. India's National Investigation Agency has placed a Rs 10 lakh bounty on him, the Dhaka Tribune reported. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit arrested Sohel Mahfuz and three of his accomplices from a mango grove in Chapainawabganj area. Sohel alias Hatkata Mahfuz is the top explosives specialist of Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (New JMB) and a key arms and explosives supplier for the banned outfit. He had supplied the explosives for the terror attack on the Holey Artisan bakery in July last year in which over 20 people, mostly foreigners, were killed. He is one of the five most wanted "militants" in the attack on the bakery last year, the CTTC chief said. The other detained are Jewel alias Ismail, Hafizur Rahman alias Hasan and Mostofa Kamal alias Jamal. Police had been looking for Mahfuz since the July 2016 attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery. A senior counterterrorism officer said Mahfuz used the alias Nasrullah, who the Indian police identified as one of the key suspects in the Burdwan blast, which left two killed. "He was in India from 2009 to 2014 and was the chief of the JMB unit there. He used the alias Nasrullah," Additional Deputy Commissioner Abdul Mannan told bdnews24.com. "India's National Investigation Agency identified Nasrullah as the prime suspect of the blast." Mahfuz, who hails from the western Bangladesh district of Kushtia, used to go by several other aliases like Shahadat and Rimon, according to police. He was also known as Hatkata Soheil after losing his right wrist. "In 2005, he lost one of his wrists in an explosion while making bombs in Naogaon," said counterterrorism officer Mannan. Mahfuz was an executive member of the JMB and later joined neo-JMB, according to counterterrorism unit chief Monirul Islam. "After being off the radar for quite some time, he joined the neo-JMB about two years ago, according to our intelligence," Islam had told the media. Mahfuz was ameer of JMB's West Bengal unit from 2009 to 2014 and he entered Bangladesh on December 2016 to devise the Gulshan cafe attack, Islam said at a press conference in the media centre of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Mahfuz is a relative of Dhaka cafe attack mastermind Marzan, who was killed in crossfire on January 6, he said.
By IANS

LONDON: A cleric has been jailed for 13 years reportedly for indecent and sexual assaults in England, the media reported on Saturday.

Mohammad Haji Saddique, an Imam at a mosque in Cardiff, used to teach Quran to children at the mosque. According to reports in the British media, he touched his female students inappropriately in front of his class and poked them with a stick as they studied.

Saddique, who had been teaching at the mosque for 30 years, was found guilty of eight counts of sexual assault and six counts of indecent assault. The assaults took place between 1996 and 2006.

A Cardiff crown court judge jailed him for 13 years and ordered him to be immediately registered as a sex offender.

An investigation was first launched against Saddique in 2006 when two girls accused him of sexual assault. However, it remained fruitless as Saddique denied the allegations. Investigation was reopened in 2016 when two more girls came forward and eventually led to his conviction.

Saddique, born in Hong Kong, would "touch the girls under their traditional loose-fitting clothing during his lessons, and rub them against his groin and legs," the Guardian reported.

Praising the girls for their bravery, the judge lamented that the imam had "no idea" of the harm he caused to his victims. He expressed the hope that more people will come forward to report sexual assaults after the conviction.

LONDON: A cleric has been jailed for 13 years reportedly for indecent and sexual assaults in England, the media reported on Saturday. Mohammad Haji Saddique, an Imam at a mosque in Cardiff, used to teach Quran to children at the mosque. According to reports in the British media, he touched his female students inappropriately in front of his class and poked them with a stick as they studied. Saddique, who had been teaching at the mosque for 30 years, was found guilty of eight counts of sexual assault and six counts of indecent assault. The assaults took place between 1996 and 2006. A Cardiff crown court judge jailed him for 13 years and ordered him to be immediately registered as a sex offender. An investigation was first launched against Saddique in 2006 when two girls accused him of sexual assault. However, it remained fruitless as Saddique denied the allegations. Investigation was reopened in 2016 when two more girls came forward and eventually led to his conviction. Saddique, born in Hong Kong, would "touch the girls under their traditional loose-fitting clothing during his lessons, and rub them against his groin and legs," the Guardian reported. Praising the girls for their bravery, the judge lamented that the imam had "no idea" of the harm he caused to his victims. He expressed the hope that more people will come forward to report sexual assaults after the conviction.
By PTI

From US First Lady Melania Trump's travails to the reserved German Chancellor Angela Merkel's facial twitches, here are some of the anecdotal moments that livened up this year's G20 summit of world leaders in Hamburg.

Bad day for Melania

US First Lady Melania Trump was due to go on a cruise tour with other spouses of G20 leaders, but was instead trapped at her residence as anti-globalisation demonstrators went on the rampage, smashing shop windows and burning cars.

She finally emerged. But her husband Donald was locked in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"There are so many issues on the table... Just about everything got touched upon... Neither one of them wanted to stop" talking, said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

"I believe they even sent in the First Lady at one point to see if she could get us out of there, but that didn't work either... We did another hour. Clearly she failed!" he added.

Macron warms up to Trump

If a video of France's President Emmanuel Macron swerving away from Trump to greet other leaders was a key image trending on social media sites during the NATO summit earlier this year, at the G20, there appears to have been a clear rapprochement between the young leader and the US property tycoon.

Macron was firmly at Trump's side at key "family photo" sessions of the leaders. He even inserted himself to the far right of the entire group at one photography session, saving the US leader from being at the edge of the picture.

At a morning session on Saturday, Macron was seen greeting Trump enthusiastically.

The French leader leaned towards the US leader at one point, sparking questions on whether he offered him a peck on the cheek.

But journalists at the scene say it was a more of a hug.

Who were they clapping for?

Trump, among the last leaders to arrive at Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie concert hall for a cultural evening, appeared to be greeted by a round of applause as he stepped out of his armoured vehicle.

The US leader gamely returned a big smile.

It turned out that the applause was for Macron, who pulled up just behind Trump, German media reported.

Merkel rolling her eyes at Putin

An animated encounter between Merkel and Putin has been making the rounds on social media, with questions abuzz about what the two leaders discussed.

Walking into the conference room, Merkel lifted a hand and traced what appeared to a movement of a projectile.

But Putin lifted a finger, appearing to then offer his version of the same gesture, prompting the usually poker-faced German chancellor to roll her eyes.

From US First Lady Melania Trump's travails to the reserved German Chancellor Angela Merkel's facial twitches, here are some of the anecdotal moments that livened up this year's G20 summit of world leaders in Hamburg. Bad day for Melania US First Lady Melania Trump was due to go on a cruise tour with other spouses of G20 leaders, but was instead trapped at her residence as anti-globalisation demonstrators went on the rampage, smashing shop windows and burning cars. She finally emerged. But her husband Donald was locked in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "There are so many issues on the table... Just about everything got touched upon... Neither one of them wanted to stop" talking, said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. "I believe they even sent in the First Lady at one point to see if she could get us out of there, but that didn't work either... We did another hour. Clearly she failed!" he added. Macron warms up to Trump If a video of France's President Emmanuel Macron swerving away from Trump to greet other leaders was a key image trending on social media sites during the NATO summit earlier this year, at the G20, there appears to have been a clear rapprochement between the young leader and the US property tycoon. Macron was firmly at Trump's side at key "family photo" sessions of the leaders. He even inserted himself to the far right of the entire group at one photography session, saving the US leader from being at the edge of the picture. At a morning session on Saturday, Macron was seen greeting Trump enthusiastically. The French leader leaned towards the US leader at one point, sparking questions on whether he offered him a peck on the cheek. But journalists at the scene say it was a more of a hug. Who were they clapping for? Trump, among the last leaders to arrive at Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie concert hall for a cultural evening, appeared to be greeted by a round of applause as he stepped out of his armoured vehicle. The US leader gamely returned a big smile. It turned out that the applause was for Macron, who pulled up just behind Trump, German media reported. Merkel rolling her eyes at Putin An animated encounter between Merkel and Putin has been making the rounds on social media, with questions abuzz about what the two leaders discussed. Walking into the conference room, Merkel lifted a hand and traced what appeared to a movement of a projectile. But Putin lifted a finger, appearing to then offer his version of the same gesture, prompting the usually poker-faced German chancellor to roll her eyes.
By PTI

DHAKA: Banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen's top explosives expert, wanted in India in the 2014 Burdwan blast case, was today arrested in Bangladesh, a year after the deadly Dhaka Cafe attack for which he allegedly supplied grenades.

Sohel Mahfuz, said to be one of the top planners of the 2016 Dhaka cafe attack, was arrested along with three other suspected members of the neo-JMB by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit from Chapainawabganj district in northern Bangladesh last night, police said.

Sohel is the top explosives specialist of Neo-JMB and a key arms and explosives supplier for the banned outfit, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

According to investigators, Mahfuz supplied explosives used in the Dhaka cafe attack. It is also believed that he is one of the founding members of the old JMB.

Mahfuz was wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for the blast at Khagragarh in Burdwan district of West Bengal on October 2, 2014, the daily said.

Police said the three others detained have been identified as neo-JMB chief coordinator Jamal alias Mustafa, its IT expert Hafizur Rahman alias Hasan and Jewel alias Ismail.

They were arrested from an orchard in Kansat under Shibganj upazila.

"Acting on a tip-off, a CTTC team was able to arrest them on Friday night, CTTC Additional Deputy Commissioner Abdul Mannan was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.

On July 1, 2016, Bangladesh witnessed the deadliest terror attack in its history as armed militants entered an upscale eatery in Dhakas diplomatic hub and killed 22 people, including 17 foreigners and two policemen.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Dhaka attack but authorities blamed JMB. Mahfuz, who lost a hand while making bombs, thereby earning him his title 'Hatkata', has managed to evade arrest for almost two decades.

Since the Dhaka attack, police and other security agencies have begun a manhunt and raided numerous places across the country.

Some 60 suspects, including some JMB commanders, have been killed in raids across Bangladesh since July 1

DHAKA: Banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen's top explosives expert, wanted in India in the 2014 Burdwan blast case, was today arrested in Bangladesh, a year after the deadly Dhaka Cafe attack for which he allegedly supplied grenades. Sohel Mahfuz, said to be one of the top planners of the 2016 Dhaka cafe attack, was arrested along with three other suspected members of the neo-JMB by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit from Chapainawabganj district in northern Bangladesh last night, police said. Sohel is the top explosives specialist of Neo-JMB and a key arms and explosives supplier for the banned outfit, the Dhaka Tribune reported. According to investigators, Mahfuz supplied explosives used in the Dhaka cafe attack. It is also believed that he is one of the founding members of the old JMB. Mahfuz was wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for the blast at Khagragarh in Burdwan district of West Bengal on October 2, 2014, the daily said. Police said the three others detained have been identified as neo-JMB chief coordinator Jamal alias Mustafa, its IT expert Hafizur Rahman alias Hasan and Jewel alias Ismail. They were arrested from an orchard in Kansat under Shibganj upazila. "Acting on a tip-off, a CTTC team was able to arrest them on Friday night, CTTC Additional Deputy Commissioner Abdul Mannan was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune. On July 1, 2016, Bangladesh witnessed the deadliest terror attack in its history as armed militants entered an upscale eatery in Dhakas diplomatic hub and killed 22 people, including 17 foreigners and two policemen. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Dhaka attack but authorities blamed JMB. Mahfuz, who lost a hand while making bombs, thereby earning him his title 'Hatkata', has managed to evade arrest for almost two decades. Since the Dhaka attack, police and other security agencies have begun a manhunt and raided numerous places across the country. Some 60 suspects, including some JMB commanders, have been killed in raids across Bangladesh since July 1
By Express News Service

The signature hug -- showered usually on counterparts from other countries -- was definitely missing when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping. But, considering the two rising superpowers of Asia are locked in the biggest standoff since a war in 1962, the cordial meeting and hearty handshake exchanged by the leaders came as a surprise.

Both countries had denied the possibility of a bilateral meeting in Hamburg.

Modi and Xi shook hands and greeted each other at an informal meeting of the BRICS nations on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg on Friday. The leaders also exchanged words of praise in their speeches and discussed several issues.

At BRICS leaders informal gathering hosted by China, PM @narendramodi and President Xi had a conversation on a range of issues, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

The Prime Minister was the lead speaker on the issue of Fighting Terrorism at the Leaders Retreat, where he presented a 11-point action plan to deal with the menace. Naming Pakistan-based terror groups, Modi said some countries were using terror as a tool to achieve political objectives and pressed for deterrent action by members.

President Xi, in response, appreciated Indias strong resolve against terrorism.

Ironically, very same China was the only nation in the 15-member United Nations Security Council to block Indias bid to impose a UN ban on Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, not once but several times. Azhar is accused of involvement in the 2016 Pathankot attack.

Xi, at the BRICS meeting, even called for peaceful settlement of regional disputes, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua. However, the agency did not elaborate on what Xi meant by regional disputes. Modi, for his part, appreciated the momentum in BRICS under the chairmanship of President Xi.

At the BRICS summit, the Prime Minister urged heads of States to show their leadership in fighting terror. He also called on the G20 to collectively crackdown on sponsors of terror.

Meanwhile, back in Beijing, statements over the standoff subdued on Friday. Beijings Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang alleged ulterior motives had prompted India to include the tri-junction with Bhutan in the Sikkim standoff. The so-called tri-junction point as the name implies is a point instead of a line or area.

Back in Hamburg, a handshake between two other leaders created bigger ripples in the international media -- US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The first meeting came hours before the duo were due to hold a blockbuster bilateral that promises to be dissected for any sign of rapprochement.

The signature hug -- showered usually on counterparts from other countries -- was definitely missing when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping. But, considering the two rising superpowers of Asia are locked in the biggest standoff since a war in 1962, the cordial meeting and hearty handshake exchanged by the leaders came as a surprise. Both countries had denied the possibility of a bilateral meeting in Hamburg. Modi and Xi shook hands and greeted each other at an informal meeting of the BRICS nations on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg on Friday. The leaders also exchanged words of praise in their speeches and discussed several issues. At BRICS leaders informal gathering hosted by China, PM @narendramodi and President Xi had a conversation on a range of issues, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. The Prime Minister was the lead speaker on the issue of Fighting Terrorism at the Leaders Retreat, where he presented a 11-point action plan to deal with the menace. Naming Pakistan-based terror groups, Modi said some countries were using terror as a tool to achieve political objectives and pressed for deterrent action by members. President Xi, in response, appreciated Indias strong resolve against terrorism. Ironically, very same China was the only nation in the 15-member United Nations Security Council to block Indias bid to impose a UN ban on Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, not once but several times. Azhar is accused of involvement in the 2016 Pathankot attack. Xi, at the BRICS meeting, even called for peaceful settlement of regional disputes, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua. However, the agency did not elaborate on what Xi meant by regional disputes. Modi, for his part, appreciated the momentum in BRICS under the chairmanship of President Xi. At the BRICS summit, the Prime Minister urged heads of States to show their leadership in fighting terror. He also called on the G20 to collectively crackdown on sponsors of terror. Meanwhile, back in Beijing, statements over the standoff subdued on Friday. Beijings Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang alleged ulterior motives had prompted India to include the tri-junction with Bhutan in the Sikkim standoff. The so-called tri-junction point as the name implies is a point instead of a line or area. Back in Hamburg, a handshake between two other leaders created bigger ripples in the international media -- US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The first meeting came hours before the duo were due to hold a blockbuster bilateral that promises to be dissected for any sign of rapprochement.
By AFP

RAMALLAH: The Palestinians hailed a UNESCO decision Friday to add the heart of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron to the endangered world heritage list, but Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu called it "delusional".

"This vote is a success for the diplomatic battle fought by Palestine on all fronts, in the face of Israeli and American pressure on member states," the Palestinian foreign ministry said.

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, hailed the decision as an "affirmation of our full rights in Hebron and all Palestinian land".

UNESCO's heritage committee voted 12 to three -- with six abstentions -- to give heritage status to the Old City in the centre of Hebron, where a few hundred Jewish settlers live under heavy Israeli military protection in the midst of more than 200,000 Palestinians.

"Despite a frantic Israeli campaign spreading lies and distorting the facts about the Palestinian rights, the world has recognised our right to register Hebron and the Ibrahimi Mosque under Palestinian sovereignty," the statement added.

The Ibrahimi Mosque, known to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs, is holy to both faiths and has long been a flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Old Testament figures including Abraham are believed to be buried there.

In 1994, Israeli-American Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Muslims praying at the site, killing 29, before being beaten to death by survivors.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the vote "another delusional decision by UNESCO."

"This time they ruled the Tomb of the Patriarchs is a Palestinian site, meaning not a Jewish site, and it is in danger."

In May he slammed a UNESCO vote on Jerusalem as "absurd."

On Friday Netanyahu also decided to slash his country's contribution to the United Nations by $1 million (877,000 euros), according to an Israeli official.

Israel has now reduced its funding to the world body four times in the past year, taking its contribution to $2.7 million from $11 million.

Its foreign ministry labelled the Friday's vote on Hebron a "moral blot" on the United Nations, saying it denied the Jewish history of the city.

"The @UNESCO decision on Hebron & Tomb of Patriarchs is a moral blot. This irrelevant organisation promotes FAKE HISTORY. Shame on @UNESCO," foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted shortly after the vote.

The YESHA council, which represents settlers across the occupied West Bank, called the resolution anti-Semitic.

"Hebron is Judaism's second holiest site, denying 4,000 years of Jewish history is pure anti-Semitism," it said in a statement.

RAMALLAH: The Palestinians hailed a UNESCO decision Friday to add the heart of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron to the endangered world heritage list, but Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu called it "delusional". "This vote is a success for the diplomatic battle fought by Palestine on all fronts, in the face of Israeli and American pressure on member states," the Palestinian foreign ministry said. The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, hailed the decision as an "affirmation of our full rights in Hebron and all Palestinian land". UNESCO's heritage committee voted 12 to three -- with six abstentions -- to give heritage status to the Old City in the centre of Hebron, where a few hundred Jewish settlers live under heavy Israeli military protection in the midst of more than 200,000 Palestinians. "Despite a frantic Israeli campaign spreading lies and distorting the facts about the Palestinian rights, the world has recognised our right to register Hebron and the Ibrahimi Mosque under Palestinian sovereignty," the statement added. The Ibrahimi Mosque, known to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs, is holy to both faiths and has long been a flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Old Testament figures including Abraham are believed to be buried there. In 1994, Israeli-American Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Muslims praying at the site, killing 29, before being beaten to death by survivors. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the vote "another delusional decision by UNESCO." "This time they ruled the Tomb of the Patriarchs is a Palestinian site, meaning not a Jewish site, and it is in danger." In May he slammed a UNESCO vote on Jerusalem as "absurd." On Friday Netanyahu also decided to slash his country's contribution to the United Nations by $1 million (877,000 euros), according to an Israeli official. Israel has now reduced its funding to the world body four times in the past year, taking its contribution to $2.7 million from $11 million. Its foreign ministry labelled the Friday's vote on Hebron a "moral blot" on the United Nations, saying it denied the Jewish history of the city. "The @UNESCO decision on Hebron & Tomb of Patriarchs is a moral blot. This irrelevant organisation promotes FAKE HISTORY. Shame on @UNESCO," foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted shortly after the vote. The YESHA council, which represents settlers across the occupied West Bank, called the resolution anti-Semitic. "Hebron is Judaism's second holiest site, denying 4,000 years of Jewish history is pure anti-Semitism," it said in a statement.
By AFP

ROME: Pope Francis said Saturday that the G20 summit in Germany "worries" him because of the potential for "very dangerous alliances" among world leaders, with particularly dire consequences for migrants.

"I worry about very dangerous alliances between powers which have a distorted vision of the world: America and Russia, China and North Korea, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and (Syria's Bashar al-) Assad over the war in Syria," the pope said in an interview with Italy's La Repubblica newspaper.

"The danger concerns immigration. Our main and unfortunately growing problem in the world today is that of the poor, the weak, the excluded, which includes migrants," he said, pointing to countries which "fear an invasion of migrants."

"This is why the G20 worries me: It mainly hits immigrants," he said.

Concerning Europe, the "richest continent in the whole world" which has faced an influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees since 2015, the pope warned its leaders not to fall prey to the illusion that it is possible to seal its borders.

On Friday, Francis had urged G20 leaders to work toward "more inclusive and sustainable global economic growth," while also highlighting the plight of some 30 million people trapped in conflict and famine, especially in Africa and Yemen.

ROME: Pope Francis said Saturday that the G20 summit in Germany "worries" him because of the potential for "very dangerous alliances" among world leaders, with particularly dire consequences for migrants. "I worry about very dangerous alliances between powers which have a distorted vision of the world: America and Russia, China and North Korea, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and (Syria's Bashar al-) Assad over the war in Syria," the pope said in an interview with Italy's La Repubblica newspaper. "The danger concerns immigration. Our main and unfortunately growing problem in the world today is that of the poor, the weak, the excluded, which includes migrants," he said, pointing to countries which "fear an invasion of migrants." "This is why the G20 worries me: It mainly hits immigrants," he said. Concerning Europe, the "richest continent in the whole world" which has faced an influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees since 2015, the pope warned its leaders not to fall prey to the illusion that it is possible to seal its borders. On Friday, Francis had urged G20 leaders to work toward "more inclusive and sustainable global economic growth," while also highlighting the plight of some 30 million people trapped in conflict and famine, especially in Africa and Yemen.
By ANI

LONDON: US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin flagged off their first meeting by lashing out at the reporters present to cover the highly-anticipated one-on-one entourage.



As the meeting progressed, it appeared as if Putin was sympathetic towards the scenario, as he was perceived to be defending Trump against attacks from the media, reports the Independent.



Ahead of their meeting of the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, the Russian President during the Photo op gushed to Trump saying "These are the ones hurting you? while pointing towards the journalists at the venue.



Responding to this, Trump said, "These are the ones. You're right about that.



The same was tweeted by CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto with a video captioned these are the ones who insulted you? Putin to Trump as he points to reporters.

"   ?":        pic.twitter.com/cWZQA8HjSC    (@dimsmirnov175) July 7, 2017

President Trump, in the recent past, has time and again launched scathing attacks at the media for misquoting him, referring to them as fake news and the enemy of the American people.



On Friday, President Trump slammed mainstream media for not writing accurately about him and covering him negativel but said he will fight for his country's interests.

ALSO READ: Angela Merkel 'eye-rolling' to Putin's 'mansplaining' takes social media by storm

Trump tweeted, "I will represent our country well and fight for its interests! Fake News Media will never cover me accurately but who cares! We will #MAGA!"

Adding to his string of attacks launched against the media, he recently posted a GIF depicting him body-slamming a man with a CNN logo superimposed on his head. He also called a female journalist 'crazy" and "dumb as a rock," and accused her of "bleeding badly from a facelift". He has also reportedly suggested jailing journalists who leak classified information.



President Trump had called on Putin to discuss the prevailing situation of Syria, in their first face-to-face meeting.



US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informed the media persons before departing for the G20 summit that Russia has been given the major role to solve Syrian crisis and decide the fate of Syrian President Bashar al -Assad.



The United States and Russia have already achieved progress in establishing de-confliction zones in Syria that have prevented mutual collateral damage.



"The United States is prepared to explore the possibility of establishing with Russia joint mechanisms for ensuring stability, including no-fly zones, on the ground ceasefire observers, and coordinated delivery of humanitarian assistance. If our two countries work together to establish stability on the ground, it will lay a foundation for progress on the settlement of Syria's political future," Tillerson stated.

LONDON: US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin flagged off their first meeting by lashing out at the reporters present to cover the highly-anticipated one-on-one entourage. As the meeting progressed, it appeared as if Putin was sympathetic towards the scenario, as he was perceived to be defending Trump against attacks from the media, reports the Independent. Ahead of their meeting of the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, the Russian President during the Photo op gushed to Trump saying "These are the ones hurting you? while pointing towards the journalists at the venue. Responding to this, Trump said, "These are the ones. You're right about that. The same was tweeted by CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto with a video captioned these are the ones who insulted you? Putin to Trump as he points to reporters. "   ?":        pic.twitter.com/cWZQA8HjSC    (@dimsmirnov175) July 7, 2017 President Trump, in the recent past, has time and again launched scathing attacks at the media for misquoting him, referring to them as fake news and the enemy of the American people. On Friday, President Trump slammed mainstream media for not writing accurately about him and covering him negativel but said he will fight for his country's interests. ALSO READ: Angela Merkel 'eye-rolling' to Putin's 'mansplaining' takes social media by storm Trump tweeted, "I will represent our country well and fight for its interests! Fake News Media will never cover me accurately but who cares! We will #MAGA!" Adding to his string of attacks launched against the media, he recently posted a GIF depicting him body-slamming a man with a CNN logo superimposed on his head. He also called a female journalist 'crazy" and "dumb as a rock," and accused her of "bleeding badly from a facelift". He has also reportedly suggested jailing journalists who leak classified information. President Trump had called on Putin to discuss the prevailing situation of Syria, in their first face-to-face meeting. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informed the media persons before departing for the G20 summit that Russia has been given the major role to solve Syrian crisis and decide the fate of Syrian President Bashar al -Assad. The United States and Russia have already achieved progress in establishing de-confliction zones in Syria that have prevented mutual collateral damage. "The United States is prepared to explore the possibility of establishing with Russia joint mechanisms for ensuring stability, including no-fly zones, on the ground ceasefire observers, and coordinated delivery of humanitarian assistance. If our two countries work together to establish stability on the ground, it will lay a foundation for progress on the settlement of Syria's political future," Tillerson stated.
By ANI

DOHA: Expressing regret over the recent remark of the Saudi-led Arab states, Qatar said that the accusations levelled against it of supporting terrorism are false and baseless.

A press release from Qatar's Foreign Ministry read, "The State of Qatar expressed regret over the content of the two statements issued in Cairo and Jeddah by the four siege countries and the false accusations included in them that amount to defamation in contradiction with the established foundations of international relations," reported Anadolu.

The letter further stated that Qatar was an active member committed to international conventions in combating terrorism.

"A senior Foreign Ministry source described the statements' claims about the State of Qatar's interference in internal affairs of countries and financing terrorism as baseless allegations, noting that the State of Qatar's position on terrorism is consistent and known for its rejection and condemnation of all forms of terrorism whatever the causes and motives are," the statement added.

Earlier, four Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, said they would continue their diplomatic and economic blockade of Qatar after the nation gave a "negative" response to their list of demands.

READ MORE: Key demands that would resolve Qatar crisis

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain severed their ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism.



On 22 June, the four nations put forth a 13-point list of demands - including ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing of al-Jazeera, a reduction in diplomatic ties with Iran, and the halting of a Turkish military base in Qatar -and gave Qatar 10 days to comply.



That deadline was extended by 48 hours on Sunday, when Qatar responded to their demands.



Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Qatar's answers were "overall negative and lacked any substance."



"This position shows the lack of awareness of how dangerous the situation is," CNN quoted Shoukry as saying.



Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the four nations would consult and soon decide on the future steps at the right time



Qatar's foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said his nation won't comply with any demands that it considers a violation of international law.



"If you are looking at the demands -- there are accusations that Qatar is supporting terrorism -- they are shutting free speech, shutting the media outlets, expelling people. ... So there are a lot of demands which are against the international law," CNN quoted him as saying.

DOHA: Expressing regret over the recent remark of the Saudi-led Arab states, Qatar said that the accusations levelled against it of supporting terrorism are false and baseless. A press release from Qatar's Foreign Ministry read, "The State of Qatar expressed regret over the content of the two statements issued in Cairo and Jeddah by the four siege countries and the false accusations included in them that amount to defamation in contradiction with the established foundations of international relations," reported Anadolu. The letter further stated that Qatar was an active member committed to international conventions in combating terrorism. "A senior Foreign Ministry source described the statements' claims about the State of Qatar's interference in internal affairs of countries and financing terrorism as baseless allegations, noting that the State of Qatar's position on terrorism is consistent and known for its rejection and condemnation of all forms of terrorism whatever the causes and motives are," the statement added. Earlier, four Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, said they would continue their diplomatic and economic blockade of Qatar after the nation gave a "negative" response to their list of demands. READ MORE: Key demands that would resolve Qatar crisis On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain severed their ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism. On 22 June, the four nations put forth a 13-point list of demands - including ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing of al-Jazeera, a reduction in diplomatic ties with Iran, and the halting of a Turkish military base in Qatar -and gave Qatar 10 days to comply. That deadline was extended by 48 hours on Sunday, when Qatar responded to their demands. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Qatar's answers were "overall negative and lacked any substance." "This position shows the lack of awareness of how dangerous the situation is," CNN quoted Shoukry as saying. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the four nations would consult and soon decide on the future steps at the right time Qatar's foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said his nation won't comply with any demands that it considers a violation of international law. "If you are looking at the demands -- there are accusations that Qatar is supporting terrorism -- they are shutting free speech, shutting the media outlets, expelling people. ... So there are a lot of demands which are against the international law," CNN quoted him as saying.
By AFP

ISLAMABAD: A 25-year-old woman suffering from cancer in Pakistan has urged External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to help her visit India for treatment after her visa application was reportedly rejected by the Indian embassy here.

Faiza Tanveer, 25, is suffering from a recurrent ameloblastoma, an oral tumour which is aggressive in nature.

She plans to visit the Inderprastha Dental College and Hospital (IDCH) in Ghaziabad and has paid Rs 1 million in advance for treatment, according to a Pakistani media report.

But the Indian High Commission in Islamabad rejected her medical visa application. Her mother claimed Tanveer's application was rejected because of deteriorating ties between the two countries.

That forced Tanveer to take to social media to move Indian authorities.

Tanveer has in several tweets over the past couple of days urged Swaraj to intervene. She has posted her photo and a video that showed her tumour.

In one of the tweets, she said, "Please help me save my life mam plz (sic)," and tagged Swaraj in the tweet. In another tweet, Tanveer said, "Sushma g please help me (sic)."

Last month, an ailing child from Pakistan and his parents were issued a visa for an emergency heart treatment after the family sought Swaraj's help.

ISLAMABAD: A 25-year-old woman suffering from cancer in Pakistan has urged External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to help her visit India for treatment after her visa application was reportedly rejected by the Indian embassy here. Faiza Tanveer, 25, is suffering from a recurrent ameloblastoma, an oral tumour which is aggressive in nature. She plans to visit the Inderprastha Dental College and Hospital (IDCH) in Ghaziabad and has paid Rs 1 million in advance for treatment, according to a Pakistani media report. But the Indian High Commission in Islamabad rejected her medical visa application. Her mother claimed Tanveer's application was rejected because of deteriorating ties between the two countries. That forced Tanveer to take to social media to move Indian authorities. Tanveer has in several tweets over the past couple of days urged Swaraj to intervene. She has posted her photo and a video that showed her tumour. In one of the tweets, she said, "Please help me save my life mam plz (sic)," and tagged Swaraj in the tweet. In another tweet, Tanveer said, "Sushma g please help me (sic)." Last month, an ailing child from Pakistan and his parents were issued a visa for an emergency heart treatment after the family sought Swaraj's help.
What's next for Chase Marina? RIDEM has received plenty of proposals

Bob Ballou, assistant to the director of RIDEM, spoke about the goal of establishing a state port in Tiverton similar to Newports State Pier #9.
Reporter

Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
Hamburg: G20 leaders on Saturday adopted a World Bank funding plan of up to USD 1 billion for women entrepreneurs in developing nations, an initiative championed by US President Donald Trumps daughter Ivanka.



The initiative was launched here by World Bank President Jim Yong Kim in the presence of Ivanka Trump and her father as also G20 host Angela Merkel and other world leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and IMF chief Christine Lagarde.



The G20 said women entrepreneurs play a critical role in economic development by creating jobs and boosting growth, but women face numerous challenges. These include access to capital, lack of networks and knowledge resources, as well as legal and policy obstacles to business ownership and development, it added.



We, the G20 leaders, building upon our long-standing engagement in women's empowerment, welcome the launch the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, it said.



For the facility, the World Bank serves as trustee to improve women's access to capital, provide technical assistance and invest in other projects and programs that support women entrepreneurs and women owned SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) in World Bank client countries.



The facility is expected to raise up to USD 1 billion of financing to support women entrepreneurs. An initial grant financing of around USD 200 million from G20 and non-G20 donors aims to leverage an additional USD 800 million in commercial as well as international financial institution funding.



It would comprise a private sector and a public sector window. The private sector window is designed to improve access to capital and related critical services, provide technical assistance and invest in other projects and programmes to support women entrepreneurs. To be established at the World Bank Group, the facility would become operational this year itself.
New Delhi: The prime accused in the Junaid lynching case was on Saturday arrested by Faridabad Police in Maharashtra's Dhule district.



Sixteen-year-old Junaid was stabbed multiple times by a mob on a Delhi-Mathura train in Ballabgarh, Haryana, on June 24. He succumbed to his injuries after nobody helped him reach a hospital, according to his brother Haseeb.



Haseeb also said that his skull cap was flung, his beard pulled, while the crowd hurled abuses at them.



Station House Officer (SHO), Government Railway Police (GRP), told CNN-News18 that the accused, Naresh Rakh, will be produced in Dhule Court for a transit remand. "We are yet to recover the murder weapon. Senior officers will conduct a press conference tomorrow afternoon," he said.



A statement released by the GRP said that a team was sent to Dhule following a tip-off that the accused was hiding there. Earlier, the police had arrested several people, including a 50-year-old Delhi government employee, in connection with the murder.



Junaid's father Jalaluddin told CNN-News18 that he had just come to know of arrest and the police were bringing the accused back to Delhi. "I thank the media for continuously covering this story and the police for their pursuit of the murderer," he said, adding that everybody who was behind his son's killing should be arrested as soon as possible.



Exhorting the government to bring an anti-lynching law, Jalaluddin said: "I urge the government to ensure such incidents don't occur again. It was my Junaid this time. It could be anybody's Junaid next."



The incident occurred after a scuffle broke out between Junaid and a group of people over a seat. Junaid, along with his brothers, had gone to Delhi to buy new clothes on the occasion of Eid.



Junaid's brothers had told reporters earlier that the attackers taunted and repeatedly called them "anti-nationals" and "beef eaters".






New Delhi: The past 365 days, since Hizbul militant Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter, have tested the resolve of everyone in Kashmir and that includes the security forces posted there. For the security forces, 2016 and 2017 so far, have been especially hurtful for two reasons. First due to the number of fatalities incurred  a total of 88 security personnel died in 2016, which is the highest number in the last eight years. This year alone, 40 personnel have lost their lives.



Second challenge is the changing nature of the conflict. As a senior police officer told News18, one notable difference in violence seen during post July 2016-17 period was the involvement of local people. "People earlier used to run away hearing gunshots. Now we have situations when we have to prevent people from running towards the gunshots towards the site of the encounter to pelt stones at us and help militants escape."



To understand this increasingly dangerous scenario for the forces deployed in J&K, News18 reached out to two CRPF personnel who have been posted in Kashmir for years and have seen a lot of action, and therefore understand the changing nature of the conflict.



Head constable Manish Kumar from CRPFs 180 battalion, has spent a lot of time in Kashmir, having been deployed back in 2010.



Right now he has been deployed in what perhaps is the most dangerous location in Kashmir  Tral. This is the birthplace of Hizbul militant commander Burhan Wani and his potential successor Sabzar Bhat, and for this reason has seen severe clashes between locals and security forces. Both these militants were gunned down last year.



Before Burhan Wanis death, in 2016, we never saw the sort of stone-pelting that we are witnessing these days. There has been a marked increase in the incidents of stone-pelting here. A lot of local boys have joined militancy, Kumar says.



Between 2010 and 2016 the paramilitary forces didnt carry out as many encounters as they are doing right now. From 2016 the encounters have picked up substantially. We also have achieved a lot of success, Kumar says.



But the difference between earlier encounters with militants and security forces is the presence of civilians near the encounter sites, says Kumar.



See the militants charge at us with an intention of killing us or getting killed. So we know that with them its a straight gun battle. But then we see locals rallying support for the militants and helping them escape. Our problem is that we have been trained to fight the militants not the public.



Having spent so much time in Kashmir, Kumar has come to understand the locals better, he says.



Just last week an army jeep overturned not far away from where I was posted. But before we could reach and help the army officers out, the locals rushed to them and helped the officers and put the vehicle back on track. And I have seen locals behave like this earlier several times also, so I wasnt really surprised, he says.



When asked about the security force excesses in dealing with public, Kumar says, This is a wrong notion. When we are hit by stones, all we can do is fire in self-defence.



Do people at his house, back in Rajasthans Jhunjhunu district, fear about Kumars life often?



"Ghabraate to hain magar hausla bhi dete hain. [They are anxious at times but also reassuring and inspiring me.]"



CRPF Sub Inspector Sandeep, from the 45th battalion, was quite surprised when he was posted from Jharkhand, where he was part of anti-Naxal operations, to Kashmir.



There we had intel on Naxals and used to carry out operations in jungles for days together. But here in Kashmir the conflict is very different. On one side you find yourself aiming and shooting at the militants and ducking their bullets, but on the other side you suddenly find yourself being pelted with stones, Sandeep says.



Being usually part of the outer cordon in an anti-militant operation, the innermost cordon being armys, CRPF faces the greatest brunt of stone-pelting from locals.



A lot of my colleagues have been injured. My commanding officer was injured in a recent operation we conducted at Hajin, so was my constable. One has to divert his attention constantly from one side to the other, and its not easy in such stressful conditions. Unke gusse ko hum sehen bhi karte hain aur kabhi kabhi force bhi use karni padti hai.



Militancy is increasing on ground, he says. But such phases have come and gone in Kashmir earlier also, he adds. This too shall pass, he says, hoping for better times in the valley.
Kolkata: A BJP worker was killed and two more were injured as supporters clashed with TMC members at a rally in North Dinajpur district in Bengal on Saturday.



District BJP secretary, Sankar Chakraborty, said their activist Haren Singh (35) was killed after Trinamool Congress activists fired at them while they were holding a meeting at Chatragach. He succumbed to a bullet wound on his way to the hospital.



The BJP leader also claimed that two of their supporters were injured in the incident. He said they have been admitted to a hospital and are in a serious condition.



Trinamool Congress, however, denied the BJP allegations. Local TMC leader Hamidur Rehman instead alleged that BJP workers attacked the TMC activists when they were holding a meeting at Chatragach.



In order to bring the situation under control, cops and RAF have been rushed to the spot. However, news agency ANI reported that no official confirmation was made by the police yet. These clashes took place in the wake of the ongoing communal flare-up in Baduria and Basirhat in North 24 Parganas.
This 86-year-old UK Man Wants to Rent a Garden to Frolic Around Naked
New Delhi: The Army was redeployed in West Bengal's Darjeeling hills after fresh violence broke out following the death a youth allegedly in police firing.



Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost and a toy train station after a youth was killed om Friday night.



PTI reported that activists of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) also clashed with the police at Sonada and Chawkbazar in Darjeeling as the indefinite shutdown in the hills entered its 24th day.



Two columns of the Army comprising around 100 personnel were deployed in Sonada and Darjeeling in the wake of fresh violence, defence sources said.



Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked political parties in the Darjeeling hills to return to the path of peace and sit with the government for talks.



"The government is ready for talks with the hill parties, but peace has to be ushered in. The government has shown enough restraint in the interest of the people of the hills. Peace has to return to the hills," she said at a press conference, as Quoted by PTI. She said that if peace returns to the hills in the next 15 days, she would call the hill parties for talks.



Banerjee also hit out at the Centre for "deliberate and total non-cooperation" on the Darjeeling situation. She said, They are showing total non-cooperation in the Hills. The Darjeeling problem had erupted on June 8 and a month has passed since. Had the CRPF personnel been sent in time, this would not have happened.



GNLF spokesperson Neeraj Zimba claimed that the youth Tashi Bhutia was shot dead by the security forces when he had gone out to purchase medicines at Sonada. The police, however, said they did not have any report of firing.



"We don't have any report of police firing as of now. We are looking into the incident. We can give you details later," a police officer said.



Inspector General of Police (IGP) Javed Shamim, when asked about the firing, said, "It will be known only after the inquiry."



The GJM and other hill parties have lodged a police complaint accusing the police of killing the youth.



"The youth was killed by the police without any reason. His body has bullet injuries. We demand that the policemen involved be punished," GJM leader Binay Tamang said.



As news of his death spread, hundreds of Gorkhaland supporters came out on the streets and raised slogans against "police atrocities".



They clashed with the police and set on fire a police outpost at Sonada and the toy train station of the

Darjeeling-Himalayan railways, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The GJM said that it will take out a rally with the body in the Chowkbazar area of Darjeeling later in the day.



The Centre had said on Friday that it was keen on holding tripartite talks with the GJM and the West Bengal

government to end the agitation. With food supply severely hit due to the indefinite strike, the GJM and various NGOs distributed food amongst the people.



Barring medicine outlets, all shops, schools, colleges remained closed. Internet services remained suspended for the 21st day. The police and the security forces patrolled the streets and kept a vigil on the entry and exit routes.



(With PTI inputs)
The Chinese Embassy in India has issued a safety alert for its citizens in India cautioning them to pay close attention to their personal safety and local security situation. The advisory comes as the armies of the two countries continue to be engaged in a standoff in the Doklam area.

Stay tuned for live updates:

Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here.
Hamburg: As the US was left isolated on key agenda of climate change at the G20 Summit, Indian Sherpa Arvind Panagariya on Saturday quipped that discussions were cordial in this "closed group of friends" and objects didn't fly in the room.



"We had cordial but tough discussions. It is a closed group and we all are friends here. But, that doesn't mean that being friends you will sacrifice national interest," he said on last day of the summit. "There was no flying of objects in the room," Panagariya quipped.



To a question on the US being isolated as 19 members of this group of 20 asserted that the Paris Agreement was irreversible, he said there were differences but it is not about someone getting isolated but the Europeans certainly had a much stronger position.



Panagariya also said India maintained its position on climate change that it needs time to progress eventually to fully clean fuel.



According to him, India had a major influence on counter terrorism declaration, and also on discussions about trade and investment, migration and various other key issues at the G20 Summit.



Originally, there was a plan to put an annexure to joint statement for counter terrorism but India made a strong pitch

for this being a stand alone document and named as a leaders statement, Panagariya said.



Except for the climate change issue where the US had a different position than others, Panagariya said there was a broad consensus on all other key issues among the G20 leaders, including on ways to revive global growth in an inclusive manner.



On international financial architecture also, the leaders resolved to make necessary quota reforms and to ensure proper representation, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Tapan Ray said.



The issue of international cooperation on financial matters also got strong support and India contributed in a strong way on this agenda, said Ray, who led the Indian side on finance track of the G20 proceedings.



Panagariya said the negotiations on final communique took almost four times longer this time around, which may also be attributed to the change in governments in the US and some other member countries.



Besides, there were differences on some issues that took time to be ironed out, he added.



Panagariya, who is also the vice chairman of government think tank Niti Aayog, said negotiations took a lot of time on issues like climate change, trade and investment and migration.



The communique this time also talks about reciprocity and non-discrimination when it comes to trade liberalisation, he noted.



Ray said there was a broad consensus among the G20 members on revival of global growth and the communique emphasises on structural reforms, inclusive growth and job creation.



Further, he said the G20 leaders agreed on implementation of the IMF quota reforms and of bringing a new quota formula by 2019 besides, stressing upon the international cooperation on tax matters and financial information.


Kolkata: Sending a strong message to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) on Saturday turned down her offer for a fresh dialogue to ensure peace in the Hills.



In an official statement, GJM said, We strongly condemn the killings of innocent people by the police. It is unfortunate that a single incident in Basirhat attracted the national parties's attention, but within a month, so many people have been killed in the Hills, and no political party ever condemned it. We would like to ask the political parties and the leaders if we are also a part India.



Today, we have taken a decision that we are not going to sit for any talks with the Bengal government. Our talk with the state chief minister is closed forever. Talks will only happen if the Centre calls for it, and that too on Gorkhaland issue, GJM spokesperson Binoy Tamang said, adding that the chairman of Khambu Rai Development Board, Mangal Singh Rai, has resigned due to the atrocities of police on the people of Hills.



The West Bengal Khambu Rai Development Board was constituted on February 10, 2016. It was formed to undertake necessary activities for the protection, promotion and safeguarding the Rai language, tradition and culture.



Binoy claimed that within 17 hours, four GJM supporters were killed by the police. Those who were killed are Tashi Bhutia, Suraj Sundas, Asha Kumar and Sameer Subba. We condemn this killing, he said.



Meanwhile, tensions escalated once again in the Hills following Tashi Bhutias death. His body with bullet mark was found in Sonada town in Darjeeling district.



Bhutia  a GJM supporter - was actively involved in a separate Gorkhaland movement. He was shot dead last night when he had gone out to buy some medicine, a GJM source said.



An FIR has been lodged at Sonada police station and GJM has demanded a stern action against the police officer involved in the killing.



Following the incident, a large number of GJM supporters gathered in front of Sonada police station, raising slogans against the state government for misusing the administration.



Two columns of the Army have been deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incident.



In the morning, local people took out a protest rally with the body. Some of the protestors hurled stones at Sonada police station which prompted the police to fire teargas to disperse crowds. There are allegations that police used rubber bullets to injure the GJM leaders.



The protesters also torched the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway toy train station and a Trinamool Congress office at George Bazar in protest against the killing.



West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday appealed people in the Hills for peace. We are willing to talk. I would like to appeal to everybody to renounce violence and restore peace in Darjeeling. The Central Government is showing total non-cooperation in the Hills, she said.



Gautam Deb, minister and Trinamool Congress chief of Darjeeling district, said, Police did not open fire on anyone. The local administration is investigating how he was killed. The indefinite shutdown called by the GJM will enter its 25th day on Sunday.


The past 365 days were unlike anything that Kashmir has lived through, in a very long time. Since the day Hizbul militant Burhan Wani was killed by security forces, on July 8, the valley has practically been on the edge. It has been witness to some very grotesque violence - the abduction and murder of a local army officer, mob lynching of a senior police officer. Kashmir has also seen some ruthless means of crowd control  hundreds being blinded by pellet guns and a local being tied to an army jeep for over five hours being cases in point.Pakistan reportedly orchestrated a cross-border attack that left 18 Indian army soldiers dead. India in return carried out 'surgical strikes' across the border. Representatives of both sides engaged in an intense diplomatic tug-of-war, while militants in Kashmiri hinterland kept the fires burning.To try and understand this free fall that Kashmir has been in for the last one year, we have tried to sketch a timeline of a few significant dates beginning fromlast year. In these dates one may find clues to explain Kashmirs present and foretell its future.This is the month when full-scale protests, the scale of which was last seen only back in 2008 and 2010, were launched after the death of militant commander Burhan Wani. This was also when after their shelters were attacked, Kashmiri Pandits fled the valley.On, based on a tip-off a team of Rashtriya Rifles, CRPF and local police, cordoned off a village in South Kashmirs Kokernag area. Three militants were holed in it, all of who were killed within minutes.It was while they were trying to identify the slain militants that the forces realised that one of those whom they had gunned down, was Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.He had carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head and reportedly coming down from the forests of Tral for Eid celebrations.(Image credits: Getty Images)The overwhelming turnout at his funeral in Tral was often compared to the dismal turnout at the then Chief Minsiter Mufti Mohammed Syeds funeral meet held in January.Reports of Wanis death triggered protests across the Valley. Several rounds of funeral prayers were held for him in-absentia across the valley.On, one policeman died when a mob attacked and pushed his mobile bunker into the waters of Jhelum river.On, close to 200300 Kashmiri Pandits fled transit camps in Kashmir after being attacked by protesters.Cut to, curfew was imposed in all districts of Kashmir and mobile phone networks were suspended. Separatists called for shutdown till July 18.(Image credits: Getty Images)By, the law and order situation got better and curfew was lifted, except in Anantnag. Three days later, on July 29, violent clashes broke out in various parts of Kashmir. Over 130 people were reported injured.This was a month marked by several attacks on political leaders and ground workers. As a result of which a lot of members, especially of PDP, fled to the state capital Srinagar, for safety.On, the house of state education minister Naeem Akhtar residence was bombarded with petrol bombs. It was to be the first of many attacks on political leaders and ground level political workers in months to come.On the same, cavalcade of Law and Rural Development minister Abdul Haq was attacked with stones. On the same day, mobs pelted the vehicle of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Ramban with stones and set it ablaze on the national highway near Lethpora. Two protesters were killed in defence by a Personal Security Officer of the ADC.(Image credits: Getty Images)As the Valley continued to boil, separatists declared curfew on. Three people were killed and over 670 injured that day.On, protestors hoisted Pakistan flags at various places in Kashmir. The very next day, five protesters were killed in firing by a security personnel.A youth was killed onafter being hit by a teargas shell in Srinagar while over 70 people were injured in protests across the region. Massive rallies against India were held in several regions of South Kashmir.Three days later, another youth died after being injured in clashes with security forces, while 9 policemen were injured when a grenade was lobbed at them from a crowd of protesters in Pulwama.On, a police quarters and Rajya Sabha member of PDP, Nazir Ahmad Laways house were set on fire by protesters in Hanad Chawalgam of Kulgam district.This is the month when tensions between the two neighbouring countries rose to feverish pitch. Attacks on army base were retaliated with surgical strikes, pitched clashes were fought between protesters and forces, and reports of schools being mysteriously burnt started to appear.(Image credits: Getty Images)Oncurfew was reimposed in including Srinagar, Badgam, Ganderbal, Bandipora and Handwara.On, over 600 people were reported injured in a clash between security forces and locals. A day later, another youth who was injured previously succumbed to his injuries. Protests erupted after that too and the shutdown was repeatedly extended by the separatists into October.On, another protester who was injured succumbed to death while 50 others were injured in Dooru village Sopore.The worst time was around Eid-al-Adha when for the first time in 26 years, congregations were also barred from being held at the Eidgah and Hazratbal Shrine.On, the pellet-ridden body of an 11-year-old boy, who went missing in protests a day before in Harwan, was found near a stream at Dachigam National Park and had been hit by pellets.Two days later, a 19-year-old girl reportedly died of cardiac arrest during clashes in Shopian district. A school in Vehil village too was burnt under mysterious circumstances. A school in Anantnag was also burnt under mysterious circumstances.On, in one of the deadliest attack on Indian army, 19 soldiers were killed by militants at armys base camp in Uri. India alleged that Pakistan had monitored and closely coordinated the attacks.Almost 10 days later on, Indian army conducted surgical strikes against militant launch pads across the LOC. It was a claim that Pakistanis were to vehemently deny.Special Indian forces destroyed several terror launchpads and inflicted significant casualties on terrorists and those supporting them across the Line of Control.Army shot dead three militants who were allegedly trying to enter an army camp in north Kashmir.After months of shutdown calls by separatists and a more-or-less peaceful law and order situation, towards the end of the month, a clash between security forces and protestors led to the death of 3 civilians and 20 others were injured.This month was marked by a historically low voter turn-out, of civilian killings on election day and by a man Farooq Dar being tied to a jeep for five hours and taken around several villages.A by-election for Srinagar Lok Sabha seat was held. Amid calls of a boycott, voters turned up but not before clashes, on, led to 8 civilian deaths and over 170 injuries.A video, said to be shot on April 9, showed a thickset man sporting a beard, identified as Farooq Dar, been picked up by an Army contingent that wanted to enter Beerwah village with polling staff.Dar claimed he was tied to a jeep and taken around 10-12 villages at the head of the convoy, which included vehicles with security personnel and polling staff, before being let off.Clashes erupted between security forces and students after they took out a protest march against the alleged highhandedness of security personnel at a college in Pulwama in south Kashmir, the police said.This was perhaps the most eventful month of the year. Elections were for the first time in many years cancelled, a local army officer was abducted and killed, and Hizb militant Burhan Wanis close aide Sabzar Bhat was killed in an encounter.On, for the first time in several decades, the state election commission, after a long deliberation with the Union Home Ministry, decided to cancel bypoll in South Kashmirs Anantnag district.On, Lt Ummer Fayaz Parry, a resident of Kulgam, was picked up by four militants from to Herman Shopian and later taken Chowk where he was shot.Days later, on, Hizbul militant Burhan Wanis aide Sabzar Bhat was gunned down. He was reportedly being considered as a replacement for Zakir Musa who had reneged from the Hizbul ranks. This was a big blow for local militancy in Kashmir.OnDSP Ayub Pandith was lynched by a mob late on Thursday after he opened fire on a group of people who caught him clicking pictures near a mosque in Nowhatta area of Srinagar.The incident reportedly occurred while separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was offering prayers at the Jamia Masjid and was to make a speech later.Two militants holed up in DPS Srinagar school were killed onafter a 14-hour encounter with security forces. Two army men were also injured in the shootout.(Image credits: Getty Images)The militants had killed a CRPF jawan and injured a constable a day before, following which a gun battle broke out at Pantha Chowk.Security forces launched a search operation in Bahmnoo area of Pulwama onfollowing information about presence of militants there. Three militants, including wanted Let commander, Bashir Lashkir were killed.
Kolkata: The West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Saturday that the state government will order a judicial inquiry into the communal clashes that occurred in Baduria and Basirhat in North 24-Parganas district.



We will conduct a judicial enquiry on Basirhat incident. Action will be taken for spreading fake pics/videos. Law will take its course. I congratulate the people of Bengal for not getting trapped by those spreading rumours and communal hatred. Peace restored, she said, during a press conference here.



We want to see who were involved in them and the government will provide every input to the judicial commission. Let there be an impartial probe, she added.



Banerjee also hit out at the Centre over the Darjeeling situation. She said, They are showing total non-cooperation in the Hills. I am open to talks with all. Reject violence, restore peace in Darjeeling.



The Basirhat clashes had triggered an unprecedented spat between the Chief Minister and Governor K N Tripathi, whom she accused of acting like "a BJP block president" and "threatening" her.



Banerjee also said her government would take action against "two national-level television channels" for showing "fake" videos and claiming them to be related to the clashes. "Video clips of an incident in Comilla, Bangladesh and a Bhojpuri film were being shown as if these incidents had taken place in Bengal," she alleged.



Hitting out at the BJP, she alleged that it was "destroying the federal structure of the country with the sole aim of grabbing power".



Meanwhile, a central team of BJP was detained near Barasat after they tried to visit the riot-hit areas in Basirhat in Bengals North 24-Parganas district.



The BJP MPs comprising Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur, Satyapal Singh were stopped by the police.



For the last one week, Basirhat and Baduria witnessed violent clash over an objectionable Facebook Post by a student. Fresh tension was reported on Friday night forcing the police to use tear gas to control.



An official said four companies of paramilitary forces (around 400 personnel) already present in Baduria are "enough" to maintain law and order situation there. Few shops and markets reopened today and bus services resumed in some parts. However, Internet services continued to be disrupted.
Mumbai/New Delhi: Two persons have been arrested and a juvenile was apprehended for allegedly stabbing to death Riya Gautam, who was pursuing an air hostess training course, in full public view recently in Delhi, police said on Saturday.



Adil Banne Khan (23), Juned Salim Ansari (19) were arrested and a juvenile apprehended by the Mumbai Crime branch from suburban Bandra late last night, they said.



While Khan, the main accused, is a resident of Delhi's Mansarovar Park, the two others belong to Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. "Khan and one of his associates have been arrested, while another associate, who is a juvenile, has been apprehended from Bandra," Sanjay Saxena, the Joint Commissioner of Mumbai Police (Crime), told PTI.



All the accused were handed over to a team of the Delhi Police, Saxena said.



Yesterday, Unit-9 of the Mumbai Crime Branch received information that Khan and two of his associates were hiding somewhere in Bandra East, a police official said.



Subsequently, a search operation was conducted in the area and the police caught hold of the three accused, he said. Eyewitnesses and the place where the crime took place were examined and the route taken by the accused was analysed through CCTV cameras and technical surveillance, said Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police (Shahdara) Nupur Prasad.



It was found that Khan had also taken away the mobile phone of victim after killing her.



Ten special teams, headed by Assistant Commissioner of Delhi Police (Seemapuri) Hareshwar V Swami, were constituted to catch the accused.



Sources said Khan had planned the crime in detail and had discussed the plan with Ansari and the juvenile.



He had visited Ansari and the juvenile in Aligarh where they stay and brought them to Delhi, sources said.



They purchased a knife from Chhota Bazaar in Shahdara. Khan tasked his associates with conducting a recee of the area and informing him whenever she comes out of her house. After killing the woman, the trio boarded a bus to Aligarh and got down two kilometres away from Delhi and took another bus to Mathura, the sources said. From Mathura, they boarded a bus to Mumbai. At Baroda, which was one of the stops in their journey, Khan switched on Gautam's phone that gave police a vital clue.



The Delhi Police was in touch with their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai and Gujarat to track down the accused. During interrogation, Khan said he was friends with Gautam for the last three years. Over the last few days, she had started avoiding him, said the officer.



Police sources said he also suspected her of being friends with other men and that irked him. He discussed about Gautam's behaviour with his associates who told him that she had ditched him and a plan was hatched to kill her.



Gautam (21), a resident of Ramnagar area in Mansarovar Park, was stabbed multiple times on July 5 by Khan in a busy market. She succumbed to her injuries the next day at a hospital in Delhi.



An offence of murder was registered against Khan at the Mansarovar Park Police Station after Gautam's death. Her family had alleged that she had filed a police complaint against the accused in April but no action was taken.


Hamburg: India on Saturday refused to elaborate on the "range of issues" discussed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their informal conversation on Saturday in Hamburg, in the backdrop of a standoff between their armies in the Sikkim sector.



"We have tweeted that the two leaders discussed a range of issues. A range of issues means a range of issues. I don't want to add anything further...I leave it to you to draw your conclusion," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.



His response came when during a briefing here he was asked if a "range of issues" discussed during the conversation between Modi and Xi ahead of the informal meeting of the BRICS leaders on the sidelines of the G20 Summit included the standoff in the Sikkim sector.



"I'm not commenting on it because we have said what we have (to say) and as to the picture, well, the old saying is that a picture speaks more than a thousand words," was Baglay's response when asked about whether the picture along with the tweet showing the two leaders smiling was indicative of any de-escalation of tension between the two countries.



The informal interaction between Modi and Xi came a day after a top Chinese foreign ministry official had said that the "atmosphere" is "not right" for a formal bilateral meeting between them in Hamburg.



The standoff between China and India in the Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction has dragged on for the past three weeks. It started after a Chinese Army's construction party attempted to build a road.



Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.



Baglay also asserted that the prime minister was here to attend the G20 summit meetings. "He participated in the proceedings and India's contribution to these discussions is the main focus for us here. At the same time, the prime minister had several bilaterals on the margins," he added.


Hamburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday pressed upon his British counterpart Theresa May to ensure UK's cooperation to bring back economic offenders, amidst India working hard for the return of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya and former IPL chief Lalit Modi.



Mallya has been in the UK for months, escaping arrest warrants against him, while a court in London is also hearing a case regarding his return to India. Modi on Saturday met May during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit here and sought UK's help in this regard.



Both leaders also talked about the complete range of India-UK ties. In a tweet after the meeting, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the Prime Minister asked for UK's "cooperation for return of escaped Indian economic offenders".



Asked whether India seeking cooperation from the UK was limited to Mallya or whether Lalit Modi was also mentioned,

MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay told reporters, "I don't want to get into the specifics but the phrase used in the tweet is escaped economic offenders and it is plural."



"These are the brief discussions at such forums where leaders mostly touch upon these top priority matters," he told reporters here. Baglay refused to comment directly on any question related to Mallya.



Mallya, who is wanted in India for Kingfisher Airlines' default on loans worth nearly Rs 9,000 crore, has been in the UK since March 2016.



In April, he had attended a central London police station for his arrest and was released on conditional bail a few hours later after providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds, assuring the court of abiding by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel documents.



India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement - Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel,who was sent back to India last October to face trial in connection with his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.



"Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @theresa_may met and held talks on the complete range of India-UK ties," India's PMO said in a tweet.
New Delhi: Chief Justice of India J S Khehar on Saturday said he supported opening up India's legal sector to foreign players and will improve the system. Speaking at a seminar here, the CJI said that Indian lawyers should shed their apprehensions and lap up this opportunity instead.



"International exchange of lawyers will improve the system. If anybody thinks foreign lawyers will come to India and snatch the business, its not correct. Indian lawyers are no less than them," said the CJI.



He emphasized that letting foreign lawyers and law firms gain entry into India on a "reciprocal basis" will help Indian lawyers practise in foreign courts and get immense exposure.



"In fact, I think when our lawyers appear in foreign courts, they will take away a lot of business of foreign lawyers," said Justice Khehar. He said that such a move will be in the interest of competitiveness. "I impress upon all the stakeholders to have a debate on this," added the CJI.



Entry of foreign lawyers has been a contentious issue of around two decades now with India's lawyer groups opposing it.



Opposed to the view that is that in the era of global integration, legal services should not remain closed for foreign lawyers, Bar Council of India has argued in the Supreme Court that foreign lawyers cannot be allowed even to chip in for seminars and conferences, let alone be allowing their firms to advise clients or participate in arbitration proceedings or as BPOs and LPOs (legal process outsourcing companies.



Later, the BCI sought to revise its position months government's asking it agreed "in principle" with the government's proposal to gradually open up the legal sector to foreign players but insist that this should be on a reciprocal basis. A draft legislation was also prepared last year by the BCI but there has been no movement ever since.
In the latest faceoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Doklam area, the role and place of Bhutan has been easily overlooked. It is the Bhutanese after all that are contending with Chinese over the area and it is they who invited the Indians to take up cudgels on their behalf against the Chinese.



Bhutan is, in many respects, probably Indias only genuine ally in the region and this too, is largely the result of that countrys unique political history and development. The Bhutanese monarchy has played a key role in nurturing a close and beneficial relationship with India and India has in large measure reciprocated. While a tiny country, Bhutan has always been favoured with fairly senior and always competent Indian ambassadors in its capital and maintains the Indian Military Training Team in support of the Bhutanese army. Also worth remembering is the fact that it was to Bhutan that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first official foreign visit after taking office.



That said, India should simply count itself lucky that it has managed to maintain a special place for itself in Bhutans international affairs for such a long time despite the vagaries of international politics.



It is clear that the Chinese are exerting their might to end this exceptionalism. The Doklam incident is a case in point.



After 24 rounds of Sino-Bhutanese boundary negotiations, there appears to be a public perception gaining ground in Bhutan to settle the boundary dispute with China independently of India. And since settlement might involve compromises, the most likely one would be of foregoing claims in their west, i.e., the Doklam area in return for claims in the north  which are more significant for the Bhutanese themselves from cultural and religious points of view. So far however, the tacit agreement between India and Bhutan that they will settle their boundary disputes with China together, has held.



Meanwhile, China has continuously exerted pressure on Thimphu to open formal diplomatic relations. Its failure thus far has often led its analysts and diplomats to derisively refer to the smaller country as a protectorate of India. A recent Global Times editorial, in fact, takes pot shots at Bhutans happiness index and criticizes its policies on its Nepalese population  part of a broader pattern of the Chinese states opportunistic criticism of countries it has problems with.



Naturally, Bhutan  including both the government and the public  itself is acutely sensitive to criticism that imputes it is less than completely sovereign. It is perhaps for this reason that it has also not infrequently tried to assert its voice in international affairs independently of and differently from India. Consider for instance, the Bhutanese parliaments stalling earlier this year, of the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal motor vehicles agreement that India had strongly pushed.



In this context, comparisons with Nepal are not entirely out of place. The differences between the monarchy in Nepal and the Indian government at various stages over the decades eventually culminated in its kings playing the China card frequently against India and this practice has continued into the post-monarchy political dispensation as well. Indeed, in the space of just over a decade in Nepal, China has managed to firmly entrench itself as an influential player in Nepal and a pole in nearly all Nepalese political parties around which those opposed to India gather.



Such a situation does not yet exist in Bhutan but as an electoral democracy  parliamentary elections are due next year  it is only a matter of time before concerns about India, valid or otherwise, will lead to the coalescing of forces that articulate them more cogently, frequently and openly.



And China is helping this process along through its public diplomacy as well as through economic means. For instance, under the Chinese governments tourism programmes  widely used as a weapon of statecraft  Chinese tourists contribute significant numbers and revenue to Bhutan. Chinese economic leverages are likely only to increase in Bhutan and with these, also political influence.



It is against this reality that the Doklam incident must be evaluated. In fact, in many ways, it might be argued that the Chinese have achieved a more important political objective of putting pressure on the India-Bhutan relationship.



If India sees Chinese proximity to the narrow Siliguri corridor as a military threat, it cannot but be the case that a cooling of relations between India and Bhutan, if not an accretion of Chinese influence in the smaller country, performs much the same function and perhaps, even better. While India tried to preempt such possibilities with the renegotiation of the 1949 treaty with Bhutan in 2007, conditions have remained dynamic and India has not been able to prepare adequately for, leave alone preempt, Chinas increasing assertiveness in South Asia.



Jabin T. Jacob is a PhD is Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi. His Twitter handle is @jabinjacobt. Views are personal
Islamabad: Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday paid tributes to militant commander Burhan Wani, saying his death "infused a new spirit in the struggle for freedom" in the Valley.



Sharif in a message on the first death anniversary of Wani's killing said that India cannot suppress the voice of the people of Kashmir through use of brute force.



Wani, a commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed in an encounter with Indian security forces on this day last year.



"The blood rendered by Burhan Muzaffar Wani has infused a new spirit in the freedom movement. The Kashmiri people are steadfast to take their movement to logical conclusion," he said.



Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan's political, diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris for their right to self- determination.



He also emphasised the need for implementing the United Nation resolutions on Kashmir and asked India to accept their right of self-determination of Kashmiris.




Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday summoned Indias deputy high commissioner in Islamabad over alleged firing along the Line of Control that killed two persons and injured three others.



Earlier, Pakistan accused India of violating the ceasefire along the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in which two persons were killed and three others injured, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson said in a statement.



Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh was summoned over the alleged firing by Indian forces in Chirikot and Satwal sectors, the statement said.



The firing allegedly resulted in killing two civilians, including a woman. Three other people were injured. Pakistans Foreign Office said that Director-General (South Asia & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces".



The Director-General urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC," the Foreign Office said.



In response, India told the Pakistan DG that the ceasefire violations were initiated by Pakistani troops in Poonch and Krishnaghati sectors and the Indian forces only responded appropriately. A strong protest was also lodged over the death of two Indian civilians in Saturdays ceasefire violations.



Further, a serious concerns over attacks on civilian areas, increased movement of terrorists and infiltration attempts across LOC were conveyed to Pakistan. They were also informed that there have been more than 223 ceasefire violations and around 50 infiltration attempts by terrorist from Pakistani side this year alone.



Meanwhile, army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said that "Pakistan Army troops responded effectively to Indian unprovoked firing". The latest clashes erupted on the death anniversary of militant commander Burhan Wani who was killed in Kashmir last year.
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Finance Minister Dr TM Thomas Isaac has asked poultry traders in the state to sell chicken at Rs 87 a kg or face action.



The minister called on traders to reduce the price of chicken as it came under the zero tax bracket with the rollout of GST on July 1. Kerala was the only state which levied a tax on chicken at 14.5%.



Isaac hit upon the figure of Rs 87 because chicken cost Rs 103 when GST was implemented. Traders, however, disagree.



The government had stepped in when chicken prices soared post the implementation of GST, with restaurants still collecting the entire tax from customers.



Poultry traders say the government went about it unilaterally and that it is not possible for them to sell chicken at Rs 87/kg when they get it from farms at Rs 115/kg.



"We get chicken from the farm for Rs 115, we sell it to retailers for Rs 125 and they sell for Rs 142. If we get chicken for Rs 60 or 70 we can sell it for Rs 87, said Abdul Jabbar, state secretary of the farmers and traders association.



Jabbar also pointed out that the rise in price was not due to GST, but because the supply from Tamil Nadu was down. Due to water shortage, production is less. One chicken requires one litre of water per day. Production will soon increase as they have started receiving rains, he added.



Most traders said they couldnt figure out the finance minister's math and are set to meet soon and decide on further cause of action.
Hamburg: United States President Donald Trump on Saturday walked up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "an impromptu interaction", on the sidelines the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany.



Arvind Panagariya, sherpa for India at the Summit, tweeted about the "interaction", along with pictures of the two leaders and others just before start of the second day of working sessions of the G20 Summit ending on Saturday.



"In an impromptu interaction at the G20 Summit, POTUS (President of the US) waves to the PM, walks to him, other leaders gather around. Gr8 moments," Panagariya tweeted.



Panagariya further described the interaction as "some memorable moments just before the second day of the G20 Summit begins".



Panagariya, also the vice-chairman of government think-tank Niti Aayog, is representing India in the negotiations for the leaders' communique.



Besides a series of bilateral meetings, Modi had brief chats with various leaders at the Summit, including with IMF chief Christine Lagarde and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently paid a visit to the US where the two leaders stressed the need for fighting terrorism which they delineated as a global scourge.




Two civilians were killed and three injured in an unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops early on Saturday.The Pakistani army resorted to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars at 6:30am in Poonch sector along the Line of Control (LoC), an army spokesperson said, adding that the Indian army was retaliating strongly and effectively.The Pakistani troops rained mortar bomb shells and resorted to heavy firing targeting civilian villages as well, PTI quoted a police officer as saying. "Very heavy shelling is going on. So far two civilians have died in Pakistani shelling in Khadi Karmara village along the LoC," he said, adding that some other people suffered injuries.In a separate incident, three jawans were injured when an Army patrol party was attacked in Bandipora area.There have been 23 incidents of ceasefire violation, an attack by Pakistan special forces team and two infiltration bids in June, in which four people including three jawans were killed and 12 were injured.On June 29, two Indian Army jawans were injured when the Pakistani troops fired from small arms and shelled mortars on forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch district.Even on Eid-ul Fitr on June 26, the Pakistani army fired small arms and automatic weapons and shelled mortars along the LoC in the Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri.On June 22, a Pakistani special forces team sneaked across the LoC into Poonch under cover of heavy fire and killed two jawans  34-year-old Naik Jadhav Sandip of Aurangabad and 24-year-old Sepoy Mane Savan Balku of Kolhapur. One Pakistani soldier was also killed. Pakistan's Border Action Team comprises its army's special forces personnel and terrorists.
The man who investigated the fodder scam for more than two decades is again in the thick of action with the CBI filing cases against Lalu Prasad Yadav and family Rakesh Asthana was Superintendent of Police in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 1994 and posted in Bihar when he was entrusted with investigating the famous chaara ghotala. The chargesheet was filed in 1996 and he arrested Lalu a year later. Asthana was part of fodder scam investigations till 2001.It is again the same Rakesh Asthana who is investigating Lalu Prasad Yadav and family. However, this time the case relates to a hotel deal when he was the railway minister during the UPAs tenure.Asthana has climbed to a senior position in the CBI and today occupies the position of Additional Director. The man who investigated the famous fodder scam briefed the media on Lalus hotel ghotala.The fresh FIR is based on some of the allegations that have been leveled by BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi in the last two months. The case, pertaining to Lalu allegedly giving favour to hoteliers Vinay Kochhar and Vijay Kochhar, was referred to the CBI after the Income Tax Department shared details of the raids it had conducted earlier.After registering a Preliminary Enquiry, the CBI lodged an FIR on July 5 and raided 12 locations in Delhi, Patna, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar and Gurugram. The FIR says that Lalu, as railway minister, rigged the tender with the help of the then managing director of the IRCTC, PK Goel, and favoured the Kochhars.Asthana himself addressed a press conference at the CBI headquarters in New Delhi within hours of the agency raiding 12 locations in Delhi and Patna. For an agency which prefers to communicate with the media through matter-of-fact press releases, it came as surprise.There have also been reports in a section of the media that the Bihar administration was informed well in advance by the Centre of the impending raids to prepare for any law and order situation, especially protests against the raiding teams.The CBI has alleged that the company Sujata Hotels did not initially qualify for the bidding under existing tender conditions. It further said that Lalu colluded with PK Goel and got the terms and conditions altered to ensure the participation of the company.Interestingly, out of the 17 companies that had initially bought the bid documents for BNR Hotel, the Ranchi and Puri details of only Sujata Hotels and Dinanath Hotels were available with the IRCTC. The bid document of Dinanath Hotels is also missing from the files of the IRCTC. Similarly, the nearest competitive bidder for BNR Hotel in Bhubaneswar (Kesari Hotels) was given low marking on technical grounds to favour the Kochhars.The trouble for Lalu may mount if the CBI can establish final beneficiary in the case.The CBI claims that Lalu was given almost three acres of prime land in return of the favour passed on to the Kochhars. The land was initially given at a throwaway price to a company named Delight Marketing. The company was owned by Sarla Gupta, the wife of Lalus confidant Prem Chand Gupta and was allegedly a front for Lalu.Over the years, the value of the land appreciated and now the biggest mall in Patna is being constructed on the same. The CBI claims that the value of the land was at least Rs 32 crore according to the circle rate and the market rate was much higher. However, Sarla Gupta transferred the equity of the company (along with the land) for a mere Rs 65 lakh to Rabri Devi and her son Tejaswi Yadav, the current deputy chief minister of Bihar.The CBI alleges that Delight Marketing was just a front to corner the benefits from the deal. The company Delight Marketing has been renamed as LARA Projects LLP, an acronym for Lalu and Rabri.
Hamburg: The US was on Saturday isolated at the G20 Summit after India and 18 other members of the grouping termed the Paris climate deal as "irreversible" and threw their weight behind the landmark agreement from which Washington has decided to pull out.



The two-day G20 Summit saw the Indian side making "significant contributions" on the resolve to counter terrorism and boost global trade and investment.



The Summit, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with top world leaders including host German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump, however, came under the shadow of unprecedented violent protests in this German port city where thousands of anti-capitalism protesters clashed with police.



Unfortunately, the US stand remains against the Paris pact but all other members have shown strong support on climate change, Merkel said.



She said the communique clearly mentioned the US dissent and the position of all other members. "Obviously it could not be a fully common position," Merkel told reporters.



"All G20 members except the US agree that the Paris agreement is irreversible," she said.



While taking "note" of the US decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the G20 communique said, "The Leaders of the other G20 members agree that the Paris Agreement is irreversible."



In the G20 communique, the leaders also said they remain committed to fighting corruption, including through international cooperation and technical assistance.



"As an important tool in our fight against corruption, tax evasion, terrorist financing and money laundering, we will advance the effective implementation of the international standards on transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and legal arrangements, including the availability of information in the domestic and cross-border context," the communique said.



The leaders also called for completion of the IMF quota reforms and a new quota formula by 2019. They acknowledged that the malicious use of information and communications technologies can endanger financial stability.



The leaders said that the digitisation offered an opportunity for creating new jobs but there was a need to impart necessary skills for the future of work.



They also called for the removal of market distorting subsidies and sought global cooperation to tackle excess capacity in industrial sectors.



The leaders recognised the role of legitimate trade defence instruments and vowed to promote favourable environment for trade and investment.



They also committed to keep markets open and focus on reciprocity, non-discrimination, fight protectionism and unfair trade practices.



The focus of the Summit, however, remained the issue of climate change as the US was isolated with the other 19 member states strongly backing the Paris accord.



The G20 group asserted the importance of fulfilling the UNFCCC commitment by developed countries in providing means of implementation of the accord, including financial resources, to assist developing countries with respect to both mitigation and adaptation actions in line with the Paris outcomes.



"We reaffirm our strong commitment to the Paris Agreement, moving swiftly towards its full implementation in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.



"In the light of different national circumstances and, to this end, we agree to the G20 Hamburg Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth," the communique said.



Trump in June announced that the US will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, saying the deal agreed by more than 190 nations unfairly benefited countries like India and China.



Trump's decision had drawn sharp criticism from international leaders, business groups and green activists. The objective of the Paris Agreement is to prevent an increase in global average temperature and keep it well below 2C.



The Agreement was adopted on December 12, 2015, by 195 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), replacing its predecessor Kyoto Protocol.



It was finally ratified on November 4, 2016. The grouping agreed to meet next in Argentina in 2018, followed by Japan in 2019 and in Saudi Arabia in 2020.
New Delhi: China said on Saturday that it has not denied visas to members of a delegation of the India Foundation, a think tank with links to the BJP, which was to travel to Fudan University in Shanghai next week.



Xie Liyan, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, said the delegation will visit China as scheduled and reports that two of foundation's junior researchers were denied visas and the visit has been cancelled were "not true".



"As far as I know, all seven members of the India Foundation delegation to visit China got their visas in time. None of the visa application was denied. The delegation will visit China as scheduled.



"The Chinese side always welcomes and supports the exchanges of think tanks between China and India," Xie said in a statement put out on the embassy's website.



India Foundation Director and BJP general secretary Ram Madhav had yesterday said visa to two researchers were denied by China.



His announcement came amid the standoff between the Indian and the Chinese armies near Sikkim sector.



"I was not in the delegation. It was supposed to be an academic delegation. After the denial of visa to two researchers, Foundation called off the visit," Madhav had tweeted on Friday.


Eccentric, quirky, out-of-the-box, unconventional, these are just a few words that define actor Ranveer Singh's fashion choices.The 32-year-old star, who is a non-conformist when it comes to making fashion statements, makes sure his sartorial selections seem more like an extended part of his personality and less like he is trying to make an effort.And besides his acting, the one thing that Ranveer certainly can do with great panache is make a style statement.The actor recently turned heads at GQ India's prestigious event 50 Most Influential Young Indians of 2017, which took place in in the capital. The Bajirao Mastani actor was snapped wearing trousers and jacketed-kilt by Rajesh Pratap Singh, jumper courtesy Dan & Dean Caten, leather belt by Armani and dress boots by none other than Christian Louboutin.When asked about how does it feel to be called an influencer, Ranveer, told News18.com in an exclusive interview, "It feels good. I do what I do and if it has some kind of a positive influence on even one person, I feel good, it's great."About his style statement, Ranveer said, "A skirt! The high priest of androgynous fashion Vijendra (Bhardwaj) has really pulled one out of the bag this time and I feel like a million bucks."Talking about the must haves in his wardrobe, Ranveer said "a lot of Jack and Jones. They really hook me up and I really appreciate it, I love their stuff. I am really enjoying wearing their stuff right now." Anything else? "Well, a "lungi, chaddi (underwear) and a baniyan (vest)," he said jokingly.When asked about the one gadget he is presently tripping over, Ranveer, who was holding his boombox in one hand, said, he wouldn't leave his house with it.Yes, Ranveer Singh's style is inimitable. And these pictures of him flaunting a skirt without any inhibitions is proof that he is the God of quirky fashion:(Photo: Actor Ranveer Singh at GQ India's 50 Most Influential Young Indians of 2017 Awards night/Yogen Shah)




Mumbai: Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani wonders why Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam has penned a letter to the CBFC demanding that Madhur Bhandarkar's Indu Sarkar -- on the Emergency period -- be screened for the party ahead of its release to "ensure that our leaders are not shown in a bad light".



"Why is he asking the CBFC to show him the film? It is not our property for us to show it to him. He should ask the producer or director," Nihalani said.



The letter emerged in the media on Tuesday.



"It seems the media got the letter addressed to me from Mr Nirupam before I did. Before I read the letter to me, it was out in the press. If, as he says, the film is likely to tarnish his leaders, why is he giving the film publicity by releasing the letter to the media?" said Nihalani.



The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chairperson sees no reason to react to the letter.



"We get such letters from any number of individuals and organisations asking us to stop a film from release. We are not obligated to respond."






London: Actor Kit Harington says he is happy to step away from his Game of Thrones character Jon Snow, but would like to continue exploring his career on the small screen.



The actor also said that he supports the idea of having prequel series that HBO is developing.



"I think that makes a lot of sense to start with a new set of characters," ew.com quoted Harington as saying.



He added: "There's so much scope for this story that's been going for thousands of years. I'm happy to step away from Jon Snow, though I'm still interested in TV."



He also said that fans can expect some tension between his character and his onscreen sister Sansa Stark, played by Sophie Turner, in the forthcoming seventh season.



He said: "There is definite tension between them right from the first scene. There are the same problems - she questions his decisions and command; he doesn't listen to her. But as far as where that goes or takes them or how dark it can get, we'll see. It gets past sibling squabbling, it gets into two people power struggling."



The seventh season will debut on July 16 in the US. It will premiere in India on Star World and Star World HD on July 18.


Mumbai: Actress Swara Bhaskar has launched an online campaign against mob lynching on Change.org, demanding a ban on cow vigilante groups. The actress made an appeal to lawmakers for the enactment of a Manav Suraksha Kanoon (MASUKA) to stop such crimes.



In her petition, Swara stated, "I am an actress in the Indian Film Industry. But as a conscientious citizen of India, cannot allow these lynchings to take place... I, along with thousands of young Indians, stood up against this public menace in protests that were recently held across 20 cities in the world."



"We, together, said #NotInMyName, to such violence. Next day, PM Modi issued a statement condemning the killings in the name of gau raksha (cow protection). But even after vigilante

violence has continued."



The actress concluded her appeal, saying it was time for Prime Minister Modi to walk his talk as the youth of this a nation has elected the first PM born after independence. "We want him to preserve our social independence," she added.
Kolkata: Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the situation in communal violence-hit Basirhat, North 24-Parganas district.



Accusing Banerjee of exploiting the situation, the BJP leader said, Mamata ji is trying to run from responsibility by hurling against us.



Mamata will have to reply, why is she trying to instigate the situation, he added.



Refuting allegations that the Centre had not given the state enough central forces to deal with the situation, Goyal said, Mamata ji has also said that the situation is under control and she doesn't need central forces. She should deploy the forces in a proper way to maintain the peace in the state.



Just to make a set of people happy, Mamata government did not try to improve the situation, he alleged.



A central team of the BJP was detained near Barasat on Friday after they tried to visit the riot-hit areas in Basirhat in Bengals North 24-Parganas district.



A team of BJP MPs comprising Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satyapal Singh were stopped by the police.



Lekhi also stepped up her attack on state government on Saturday, saying, Hindus are being targeted in West Bengal. Hindus are being forced to leave areas which are near the Bangladesh border. If things were fine we would have been allowed to visit those areas.



For the last one week, Basirhat and Baduria witnessed violent clash over an objectionable Facebook Post by a student. Fresh tension was reported on Friday night forcing the police to use tear gas to control the crowd.



An official said four companies of paramilitary forces (around 400 personnel) already present in Baduria are "enough" to maintain law and order situation there. Few shops and markets reopened today and bus services resumed in some parts. However, Internet services continue to be disrupted.


Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said leaders who were more concerned about vote bank politics never visited Israel, but ever since those who are concerned about India came to power, there was a move to work in the interest and development of the country. He made the remarks during an event here to release a book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, referring to his Israel visit earlier this week.



Modi is the first prime minister of India to have visited Israel in 70 years. "There had been a keen interest among politicians in the past to visit the US, but no one wanted to visit Israel as they were more concerned about their vote bank politics.



"But now, those who are really concerned about the country have come to power and so there is a concern for the development of the country," Adityanath said.



The chief minister also flayed those who raise charges of "saffronisation", saying "worrying about them" will not help in the progress of the country. He also lauded the prime minister's work style and personality, describing is an "inspiration for all".



Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya termed Modi as a "powerful leader" and exuded confidence that under his leadership India will emerge as a "powerful country" at the international level.


I want to add my personal apology. Our core value is to preserve the dignity of the individual & we'll ensure this does not happen in future https://t.co/yBxAxvFZlc  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) July 7, 2017

I deeply regret the way the HR rep & employee discussion was done. We have taken the right steps to ensure it doesnt repeat in the future. pic.twitter.com/KKLt6tIBb6  CP Gurnani (@C_P_Gurnani) July 7, 2017

Mahindra Groups Chairman Anand Mahindra on Friday tendered a public apology over the manner in which an employee of Tech Mahindra was asked to quit, PTI reported.Tech Mahindra top brass also apologised after an audio clip went viral, which purportedly involved a conversation of an HR executive of the company asking an employee to put in his papers by next morning, as part of corporate decision.In the audio clip, a copy of which was accessed by Moneycontrol.com , the HR executive can be purportedly heard telling the employee to resign by 10am, failing which his services would be terminated.Anand Mahindra, chief of the $19 billion group, took to social media to apologise over the incident saying the core value of the conglomerate is to preserve the dignity of the individual.I want to add my personal apology. Our core value is to preserve the dignity of the individual and we will ensure this does not happen in future, he tweeted.We have become aware of the incident involving a conversation between an employee and a company HR representative. We deeply regret the manner in which the discussion took place and have taken necessary corrective steps to ensure that this does not happen again in future, Vineet Nayyar, Vice Chairman, Tech Mahindra said in a note.He said that the company continues to implement strategies to meet the changing demands of business in the current global economic environment and align workforce with its strategic priorities and requirements of clients.This, however, will be done in a manner that befits our Rise philosophy and our group's core values, Nayyar said. The note was tweeted by CP Gurnani, Tech Mahindras CEO.Echoing similar sentiments, Gurnani tweeted: I deeply regret the way HR Rep (sic) & employee discussion was done. We have taken the right steps to ensure it doesnt repeat in future.Tech Mahindra ranks fifth in the tally of Indian IT firms by revenues. At the end of December 2016, the company had over 1.17 lakh employees.The audio clip surfaces at a time when Indian IT firms are facing challenges in the business environment and stricter work permit regime in countries like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.(With PTI inputs)
Facebook and Google have decided to participate in the 'Internet-wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality' protest scheduled for July 12 in the US. Being organised by advocacy groups Fight for the Future, Free Press, and Demand Progress, the 'Day of Action' has already received support from Amazon, Netflix and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), among others. "The protest is being organised against the US Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) recent regulatory behaviour (or lack thereof) that open internet advocates fear could roll back years of legislative progress," Fortune reported on Saturday."The participation of Google and Facebook could be a game-changer because their sites are visited by hundreds of millions and a message from them could rally new opposition to the FCC plan," the report added. The July 12 campaign is reminiscent of another day in 2012 when the tech industry rebelled against a controversial copyright bill known as SOPA by altering or even blacking out their websites. The resulting uproar resulted in Congress withdrawing the bill, the report noted.President Donald Trump had appointed India-origin Ajit Pai to head the powerful FCC, the US communications regulatory agency. The advocacy groups are urging tech companies and others to oppose Pai's plan to gut the net neutrality order which was issued in 2015. It reclassifies broadband as a utility service and imposed several common carrier regulations -- including prohibitions on throttling or blocking content and on charging companies higher fees for prioritised delivery.
After moving into a 430,000 sq.ft sprawling facility in Menlo Park, California, two years ago, Facebook is ready to expand its office space with building "an integrated, mixed-use village". To be called "Willow Campus", the new facility will provide 125,000 sq.ft of new retail space, including a grocery store, pharmacy and additional community-facing retail. "Working with the community, our goal for the Willow Campus' is to create an integrated, mixed-use village that will provide much needed services, housing and transit solutions as well as office space," John Tenanes, Vice President, Global Facilities and Real Estate at Facebook, wrote in a blog post late on Friday. "Part of our vision is to create a neighbourhood center that provides long-needed community services," he added.



Facebook envisions that construction will follow in phases, with the first to include the grocery, retail, housing and office completed in early 2021, and subsequent phases will take two years each to complete. According to the company, "Willow Campus" will be an opportunity to catalyse regional transit investment by providing planned density sufficient to support new east-west connections and a future transit centre. "We're investing tens of millions of dollars to improve US101," Tenanes said. US Route 101 is a north-south highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon and Washington on the west coast.



The new campus will be in addition to the existing headquarters and will not replace it. "Our hope is to create a physical space that supports our community and builds on our existing programmes," the post added.


Seattle: A flight attendant broke a wine bottle over the head of a man who lunged for an exit door and fought with other passengers during a Delta Air Lines flight from Seattle to Beijing, but it didn't faze him, an FBI agent has written in charging papers filed.



Joseph Daniel Hudek IV, 23, of Tampa, Florida, appeared in US District Court, wearing a beige jail uniform and sporting a scrape or bruise below his right eye. He was arrested Thursday night after causing the disturbance that forced the plane to return to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, authorities said.



Hudek did not speak during the hearing. His attorney, Robert Flennaugh II, declined to comment. Hudek was charged with interfering with a flight crew, which carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine. He is expected to remain in custody at least until a detention hearing on July 13.



One flight attendant and a passenger were taken to a hospital after suffering severe facial injuries, authorities said. Perry Cooper, a spokesman for the Port of Seattle, described the injuries as non-life-threatening.



A probable cause statement written by FBI special agent Caryn Highley said Hudek was sitting in the first row of the Boeing 767's first-class section. He asked a flight attendant for a beer before takeoff, and was served one, but he exhibited no sign of being intoxicated and ordered no other alcoholic drinks, the attendant told authorities.



About an hour into the flight, while the plane was over the Pacific Ocean northwest of Vancouver Island, Hudek went into the forward restroom. He came out quickly, asked the attendant a question, and went back in, the agent wrote.



When he came out again two minutes later, he suddenly lunged for the exit door, grabbed the handle and tried to open it, Highley wrote. Two attendants grabbed him, but he pushed them away, and the attendants signalled for help from several passengers and notified the cockpit by telephone, the complaint said.



Hudek punched one flight attendant twice in the face and struck at least one passenger in the head with a red dessert wine bottle, it said. As the struggle continued, a flight attendant grabbed two wine bottles and hit Hudek over the head with each  breaking at least one of them, Highley wrote.



According to one flight attendant, "Hudek did not seem impacted by the breaking of a full liter red wine bottle over his head, and instead shouted, 'Do you know who I am?' or something to that extent," the complaint said.



One passenger got him in a head-lock, but he broke out of it, until finally several passengers held him long enough to place zip-tie restraints on him, Highley wrote. Even then he remained combative, she said, and it took multiple passengers to keep him restrained until the plane landed and Port of Seattle police arrested him.



Passenger Dustin Jones told KIRO-TV that he saw the man being rolled into the terminal in a wheelchair after the plane landed.



"He started yelling for help," Jones said. "And so he turned the wheelchair over in the middle of the airport, screaming for people to help him, just being belligerent." The flight left for Beijing later Thursday night.
On the second and final day of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany world leaders are set to discuss partnerships with Africa, migration, health, digitalisation, womens empowerment and employment. Day 1 of the summit saw some high profile meetings between leaders, like Prime Minister Narendra Modi  Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The major topic of discussion on Day 1 was terrorism.

Stay tuned for live updates:

Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here.
New York: An Indian-origin man, who had voiced support for ISIS and had searched online for ways to join the terror group, has been arrested for making false claims on his application to join the US military.



Shivam Patel, 27, who had converted to Islam several years ago, was charged for not disclosing on his application to join the Army that he had travelled to China or Jordan.



He claimed he had not gone anywhere outside the US in the past seven years, except for a family trip to India in 2011-12, a report in The Virginian Pilot said, quoting a court affidavit.



The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.



According to the affidavit, Patel, of Norfolk, had travelled to China in July 2016 to teach English. While there, he had expressed displeasure to his father about how that country treated Muslims, it said.



Patel was sent back to the US by his employer but he travelled to Jordan instead where he was arrested and eventually deported.



His parents spoke with the FBI about their son after learning he was in Jordanian custody and said he had become "obsessed with Islam."



An investigation of Patel's room and computers disclosed evidence that he had downloaded three copies of an online magazine produced by the Islamic State and searched for how to join the group, PTI quoted from the report.



On one occasion, he had talked about wanting to become a martyr but suggested his "jihad" might not be violent. He had also praised the terrorist attacks in Paris, Nice and Orlando and expressed an admiration for Anwar al-Awlaki, a slain leader of the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.



On another occasion, speaking to an undercover agent, Patel expressed desire to do something "bigger, better and more purposeful," like dying for Allah, the report added. He told the agent about his desire to see a holy war between Muslims and non-Muslims.



"He sang an Islamic State fight song to the source and recalled making a replica of the group's flag, which he wanted to replace his neighbour's American flag with," the report said.



Patel then applied for jobs with local police and fire departments, correctional facilities and even the US Army and Air Force.



"He wanted to blend into society and do something 'glorious'," FBI Special Agent Thomas Pembroke wrote in an affidavit unsealed Thursday in US District Court.



(With PTI inputs)
Milan: Pope Francis warned leaders of the world's top 20 economies meeting in Hamburg against forming dangerous and distorting alliances that could harm the poor and migrants, in an article in Italian daily la Repubblica on Saturday. "The G20 worries me, it hits migrants in countries in half of the world and it hits them even more as time goes by," the Pope was quoted as saying in a conversation with the paper's founder Eugenio Scalfari.



Francis, the first non-European pope in 1,300 years, said he was afraid of "very dangerous alliances among (foreign) powers that have a distorted vision of the world: America and Russia, China and North Korea, (Vladimir) Putin and (Bashar al-)Assad in the war in Syria".



He said the greatest danger concerned immigration, with "the poor, the weak, the excluded and the marginalised" juxtaposed with "those who... fear the invasion of migrants".



European Union states are at odds over how to cope with a huge influx of migrants, many fleeing war and poverty in countries Syria, Afghanistan and other countries.



On top of resolving the differences over trade and climate change Angela Merkel, chancellor of G20 host nation Germany, is expected to lead discussions on this issue.



Pope Francis was also quoted as saying Europe should adopt a federal structure as soon as possible or "it won't count for anything in the world"



In May the 79-year old Argentine urged Europe not to see migrants as criminals.
Kuwait City: British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday urged Arab states to end their Qatar boycott, downplaying the odds of a military escalation in the worst crisis to grip the Gulf in years.



Johnson met with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah on Saturday and was scheduled to visit Qatar later in the day.



What people need to see is de-escalation and progress towards tackling the funding of terrorism in the region, and progress toward an end to this blockade, Johnson said, voicing support for Kuwait as a mediator in the crisis.



Johnson, who also held talks in Saudi Arabia on Friday, said it was highly unlikely that the current standoff would descend into military conflict. Everybody I have talked to said the opposite. No

possibility of a military confrontation, he said.



The blockade is unwelcome and we hope there will be a de-escalation, he added.



Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain last month announced the severing of all diplomatic ties with Qatar over allegations the emirate bankrolled Islamist extremists and had close ties to Saudi's arch-rival Iran.



On June 22, they issued a 13-point list of demands, including downgrading ties with Iran and shutting down broadcaster Al-Jazeera, as a prerequisite to lift the sanctions, which include the closure of Qatar's only land border and suspension of all flights to and from the country.



Doha has refused to comply with the demands and denies accusations of ties to Islamist groups. Kuwait has been leading mediation efforts to resolve the crisis that is threatening the existence of the 36-year-old

Gulf Cooperation Council.



Kuwaiti officials have held talks with the foreign ministers of Germany and fellow Gulf Cooperation Council member Oman, which has not joined the Qatar boycott. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to arrive in Kuwait on Monday for talks on the Gulf crisis.
Washington: The US Missile Defense Agency has said that it would soon test an anti-ballistic missile system, days after North Korea demonstrated its arsenal was capable of striking parts of Alaska. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to be tested is designed to intercept and destroy short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles during their final phase of flight.



The MDA on Saturday said the test against a ballistic missile target would be conducted at the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska. THAAD "will detect, track and engage a target with a THAAD interceptor" rocket in "early July," the MDA said in a statement.



Though such exercises are planned months in advance, it comes after North Korea on Tuesday for the first time test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching parts of the United States including Alaska.



THAAD is not designed to stop an ICBM  that job is left primarily to the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor system.



The US military this year began deploying THAAD to South Korea, a move that infuriated China, which has argued the deployment would further destabilize the situation on the Korean peninsula. US THAAD batteries are also installed in Guam and Hawaii, designed to stop an intermediate-range missile from North Korea.


AMHERST  A baby gives a mother something to love/

Something to hold on to, something to hug  

A group of about eight kids on the stage hummed and sang out the short lyrical lines theyd just crafted. Still perhaps just a bit uneven as they captured the melody and how the words fit in, they edged closer to perfecting the rhyme.

And when the baby cries, her mom holds her tight/

And protects her from the storms, day and night  

Nearby, a painting of a woman embracing a slumbering child  the work of a local artist in Amherst  inspired the kids as they penned their song about a mothers love.

It was the latest composition driven by childrens creativity developed through the musical and lyrical savvy of Paul Reisler, a veteran songwriter who has made creative summer camps part of his wide repertoire.

Reisler runs Kid Pan Alley, a program that travels to communities around the country teaching young people how to tap into their talents in writing and music and how they intersect in artistic ways.

The program recently spent a week at Amhersts Second Stage, teaching kids the ins and outs of songwriting. With every heartfelt lyric, Reisler hopes they each learned a little more about how to tie melody and language together.

For Reisler, whose compositions written with kids number more than 2,700, drawing out young peoples talents has become a practiced art.

Lets have focus, he encouraged camp-goers as they neared completion of their ode to mothers devotion. OK, we need to write one more verse. What a beautiful song.

Sometimes they needed just a little nudge. Wheres my idea factory? Reisler would ask, and in not too long, the next line went up on a dry-erase board.

During a break at Second Stage near the end of camp, Reisler called the songwriting tutorials a success.

Its been a lot of fun, he said. Its really great to see the creativity.

Reisler said the camps mission is to inspire children to be creative in an era when so much learning is geared toward teaching to the test. We do it through songwriting as the means, he said.

Kid Pan Alley lets the children pick which works of visual art are used to inspire their songs. They also later select what kind of music to use.

Maryellen Barron, an arts teacher at Amherst County High School, painted the artwork that inspired the mothers love song. Barron said she believes in the mission of Kid Pan Alley and what it can do for children.

I think it gives them a chance to see the correlation between music and visual art, she said.

This years Amherst program had 16 campers ages 5 to 14 split into older and younger groups. They held a concert on the Friday evening capping the week to put their endeavors on display.

Some campers said they got a lot out of learning how to create songs.

Its been really fun, said Caroline Cockerham, 11, a student at Amherst Middle School. The people are nice, and I really enjoy writing songs. The camp has encouraged her to share her creative ideas with people, she said.

Thomas Gay, 8, of Northern Virginia, who attended the Amherst camp on the way back from visiting North Carolina, said the songwriting was fun, and I learned how to act on the stage better.

Reisler said the camp will keep coming back to Amherst, and he also plans to continue an Altavista camp.

Hosting the kids camp also has expanded the reach of the Amherst facility, located on Second Street, into new artistic areas.

Suny Monk, president of the Second Stage board, said a childrens arts camp has marked a departure from the usual projects such as civic discussions, and enhances what the venue has to offer.

Second Stage is all about just creating a gathering place for people to come together, she said. This program is an effort on our part to have a gathering place, an experience, for kids.

Monk said lyrics for the new songs flowed easily through Reislers synergy with the camp participants all week long. Thats Pauls genius, she said. He can just pull a song out.
No One Will

Ever Smash

Stuff Quite

Like He Did
In the Deep South, a predilection for proper manners often means the temptation to tell someone off is replaced with a "Bless your heart." But an obituary that appeared last month in a North Carolina newspaper flouted politeness, and at least one family member isn't happy, KDVR reports. The death notice for Cornelia June Rogers Miller, who died in February, ran in Murphy's Cherokee Scout newspaper, and it wasn't a flattering depiction of the great-grandmother, who "died alone after a long battle with drug addiction and depression." "Drugs were a major love in her life as June had no hobbies, made no contribution to society, and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life," the obituary says. "We speak for the majority of her family when we say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed, and there will be no lamenting over her passing."

All of which has her son, Robert Miller, fumingand he thinks he knows who placed the obituary. "It's unbelievable that my sisters would write this," he tells WTVC, noting his mom was a "loving, generous woman." WTVC managed to track down one of his two sisters, and she tells the station she didn't write the obituary, calling it "tragic." To make matters worse, it appears parts of the obituary may have been plagiarized from one written for someone in California in 2008. "[She] doesn't even have the integrity to write something for herself," Miller says, apparently referring to the sister he thinks trashed their mom. The Cherokee Scout publisher says the paper scans all submitted obituaries but notes they won't change anything unless there's a solid reason. "The family's will overrode the editor," he says. Miller says he sent in a new obituary to replace the printed one. (It's not the first scathing obituary.)
Rumor has it Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy may be considering retirement, and in a piece in the New York Times, director/writer/producer/actor Carl Reiner asks him not to. Yes, Kennedy is almost 81, and Reinerwho is 95says he understands "the problems that come" at a certain age. "But these are not ordinary times, and you, sir, are anything but an ordinary man," he writes. "The country needs justices like you who decide each case with fairness and humanity, and whose allegiance is to the Constitution of the United States of America, not to a party line. You have always voted your conscience, and defended the rights and liberties of all our citizens."

He envisions what Kennedy's daily life must be like now, then asks Kennedy to imagine what it might be like should he retire: What if, one "carefree" day, he finds out Roe v. Wade has been overturned? "Do you see how this could ruin a good meal? A good life? A great country?" Reiner asks Kennedy to consider the fact that, even at 81, he may be just about to enter the best part of his career. Reiner says the last five years of his life have been his "most prolific, productive" so far, and Kennedy could have that same experience. "You have important and fulfilling work ahead of you." Click for Reiner's full piece. (Read more Anthony Kennedy stories.)
In the latest turn in the Charlie Gard saga, a London hospital says it will not turn off life support for the brain-damaged baby as it seeks a new court opinion, the New York Times reports. The about-face came Friday after the hospital received "claims of fresh evidence" for an experimental treatment. Two international hospitals approached 11-month-old Charlie's doctors to propose a new therapy "and we believe  it is right to explore this evidence," Great Ormond Street Hospital says. Charlie's parents say an experimental treatment in the US could help the infant, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder with no cure. The London high court that approved unplugging Charlie and forbade his transfer will reconsider the case on Monday, per the BBC. The hospital's decision came even as doctors there still believe the boy has "catastrophic" brain damage and that treatment would be "futile."

Great Ormond did not identify the hospitals, but one in New York CityNew York Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Centeroffered to treat the child after his parents' pleas went global. The Vatican and President Trump also pledged support. Charlie's parents pinned their hopes to an unidentified US neurologist who proposed trying nucleoside therapy, which helped a boy with a less severe form of the same disease. It has never been tried in someone with Charlie's form of TK2 syndrome, and even the doctor who pitched it concedes its efficacy in Charlie's case was only "theoretical" and the results unknown, per the Times. "Theres around a 10% chance of this working for Charlie," mom Connie Yates says, without citing evidence. (Read more Charlie Yates stories.)
An American was beaten to death by a group of 10 men in a bar fight on the Greek island of Zakynthos, CNN reports. Bakari Henderson, 22, was out with friends on Friday night when a man approached him and a fight broke out, state news agency ANA-MPA reports via CNN. After the bar's security asked the men to leave, the fight spilled into a brawl on the street. Police arrested a 32-year-old British man of Serbian origin and a 34-year-old Greek. They were to appear before a prosecutor on murder charges, per the AP. Police were searching for others who may be involved. It was not immediately clear why the fight broke out.

Henderson, a recent graduate of the University of Arizona, was in Greece working on a photo shoot for a new clothing line, his family tells KXAN via CNN. Henderson's Linkedin profile says he studied business finance and entrepreneurship. "Bakari loved spending time with family and friends, traveling, and meeting new people," his family says in a statement. "He was a big thinker and enjoyed coming up with new business ventures." University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins extended his sympathies to the family in a statement. (Read more Bakari Henderson stories.)
President Trump continued his one-on-one meetings at the G-20 summit in Germany on Saturday, this time with British Prime Minister Theresa May. The two had "tremendous talks" on trade, declared Trump, who also spoke of the "very special relationship" he has developed with May since becoming president. He promised that a trade deal between the two nations is coming "very quickly," though the New York Times notes that couldn't happen until after Britain leaves the European Union. As for rumors that his planned trip to London was on ice, Trump was clear: "I will be going to London," he said, adding that all the details will be worked out later.

Also on Saturday, the last day of the summit, Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Indonesia President Joko Widodo, and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Trump also attended a finance event focused on female entrepreneurs, a project led by daughter Ivanka, reports the AP. "If she weren't my daughter, it would be so much easier for her," the president joked. Trump's biggest event of the summit came Friday, when he met face-to-face with Vladimir Putin. (Read more President Trump stories.)
/

How Did Trump Do vs. Putin? Here's What Media Are Saying

Praise from CNN's Gergen but NYT's Kristof muses if Putin 'had Trump for lunch'
When it came time for lights out at Lieber Correctional Institution on the evening of July Fourth, officers at the maximum-security South Carolina prison thought they had all 1,300 inmates accounted for. But convicted kidnapper Jimmy Causey wasn't in his bunk, a homemade dummy stuffed under the covers in his place. By the time prison officials realized Causey was missing, he'd already been gone for nearly a full day. Authorities gave new details of his plot following his capture early Friday after more than two days on the run, the AP reports. Aided by wire cutters that authorities believe were flown in by a drone, Causey made it out of his cell, exited the dorm and cut through a series of metal fences. Authorities haven't said if he had a getaway car waiting for him. But Causey got away, and fast. By the time officials confirmed he was gone, Causey had an 18-hour head start on law enforcement. He made it 1,200 miles to Austin, Texas, where he was captured.

When authorities nabbed Causey early Friday morning as he slept in a motel, he had a pistol, a shotgun, four cellphones and $47,000 in cash. Authorities are in the process of extraditing Causey to South Carolina, where he'll be sent to one of the prison system's most secure facilities. Officials are still probing exactly what happened leading up to and following the escape. State Corrections Director Bryan Stirling wouldn't say if staff errors contributed to Causey's escape, but he told reporters Friday that one officer would have been on duty in the area near Causey's cell around when he got out. Later Friday, Corrections officials told the AP one Lieber employee had been fired in connection with Causey's escape. CBS News reports that a smuggled-in cellphone was used by Causey to coordinate the delivery of the tools that would help him break out, which are believed to have been flown in by drone. Causey previously escaped from a different South Carolina prison in 2005, and was on the run for three days. (Read more escaped criminal stories.)
Guests watching a fireworks display after a New York wedding were cheering the bride, groom, and booms when police arrivedand the groom ended up under arrest, the AP reports. Nassau County cops say they were called to a Massapequa home early Saturdaythe New York Post pegs the time at just after midnightand found a big party with professional-level pyrotechnics in the backyard. Police say the 39-year-old homeowner, Thomas Giglio, explained he was setting them off to celebrate his wedding.

Police say they found nearly 50 pyrotechnic mortars, a fireworks display cake, and a bunch of other fireworks (both already used and those waiting to be set off) in the backyard. Per CBS New York, the police department's bomb squad confiscated what was left of the stash. Giglio was arrested on a fireworks possession charge and is awaiting arraignment. (Read more weird crimes stories.)
Shia LaBeouf was arrested at 4am Saturday for allegedly getting out of control while intoxicated in Georgia, TMZ reports. LaBeouf, who was subsequently released from jail on bond, was booked on charges of disorderly conduct, obstruction, and public drunkenness. The actor has been previously arrested for drunk driving (2008) and "drunken behavior" (2014).
President Donald Trump assailed North Korea as a "problem and menace" Saturday as he met with Asian allies on the sidelines of an international summit to find consensus on next steps after Pyongyang's recent test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. "Something has to be done about it," Trump said as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the AP reports. In a separate meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump said the two were tackling "the problem and menace of North Korea." Abe, speaking through a translator, noted that the security situation in the Asia Pacific region has become "increasingly severe" due to North Korea's push to develop its ballistic missile and nuclear program. Abe said he wanted to "demonstrate the robust partnership as well as the bonds" between Japan and the US on the issue.

North Korea's successful test launch of an ICBM was a major milestone in its long-term effort to build a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead to attack the United States. The extensive slate of meetings with Abe, Xi, British Prime Minister Theresa May and others came on the final day of the annual Group of 20 summit, which has been marked by violent demonstrations by anti-globalization activists. North Korea has been dominant topic of discussion, and the White House said earlier that the US, South Korea, and Japan were pressing for additional measures against North Korea to demonstrate the "serious consequences" for its latest provocations. The three nations have been calling for "early adoption" of a new UN Security Council resolution and additional sanctions to demonstrate to Pyongyang the consequences of its actions. Bringing China on board is a key part of the plan. Click for more on Trump's meetings with Xi and others. (Read more G-20 stories.)
A judge in Texas who was put on unpaid leave in May after officials discovered she wasn't a US citizen has become a citizen. Corpus Christi Municipal Court Judge Young Min Burkett was sworn in as a citizen on Friday, which makes her eligible to vote and serve as a judge, the AP reports. The oath was administered by a federal judge. Burkett is from South Korea and had been a permanent legal resident. Per USA Today, she was removed from the bench in May after city officials discovered her status. Although Corpus Christi rules require municipal judges to be US citizens, the job application Burkett filled out only asked if she was eligible for employment in Texas. She says she never tried to deceive or misrepresent her background.

Burkett applied for expedited review of her US citizenship request after being removed from the bench, which helped her become a citizen in just 51 days (she had 90 days to do so). "I'm very grateful it was processed in a short period of time," she tells USA Today. To become a US citizen, Burkett gave up her South Korean citizenship (the two countries don't allow dual citizenship). "It was hard for me to give up my [Korean] citizenship, but I always wanted to be a US citizen," she says. The Corpus Christi City Council will decide whether Burkett should be reinstated as a judge, and one of the council members tells KRISTV that Burkett may need to jump through some hoops to get her job back. "We need to ... have her reapply, along with whomever else wants to seek that position," he says. "With Ms. Burkett being out, other judges have had to step in and take on some of that workload." (Read more judge stories.)
A blistering heat wave has broken a 131-year-old record in Los Angeles. The National Weather Service reports that the temperature hit 96 degrees Saturday in downtown Los Angeles, beating a record of 95 degrees for the date set in 1886, the AP reports. Other records for the day fell at the weather service office in Oxnard and nearby Camarillo, both in Ventura County. Southern California is under an "excessive heat warning," as posted by the National Weather Service, with triple-digit temps expected in valleys and inland areas. The NWS, which calls the conditions "dangerous and potentially life-threatening," says the "elderly, children, outdoor workers, and those without access to air conditioning" are especially vulnerable.

The heat has been especially hard on the dairy industry, which has had to deal with livestock deaths, and the hot, dry winds have also exacerbated wildfires in the region. A wildfire burning in Oroville, in the Sierra Nevada foothills north of Sacramento, had destroyed 10 structures as of noon EDT Saturday, with five residents and one firefighter suffering minor injuries. Meanwhile, a wildfire that forced evacuations in Santa Barbara County doubled in size overnight amid high temperatures, low humidity, and gusty winds, burning more than 9 square miles outside Santa Maria as of late morning on Saturday. More than 1,000 firefighters were deployed to that blaze, which sent plumes over northern Santa Barbara County and southern San Luis Obispo County and led to evacuation orders for about 300 residents. (Read more Los Angeles stories.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at G20 Summit

Hamburg : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called for strong action by BRICS nations and the G20 against terror financing and providing support and safe haven to terrorists, as Chinese President Xi Jinping heard the Indian leader making a veiled attack on its ally Pakistan.

"The role of the BRICS leadership is needed in the global fight against climate change and terrorism," Modi said while addressing an informal meeting of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) leaders on the sidelines of the 12th G20 Summit here.

"Strong action should be taken against terror financing, and providing support and safe haven to terrorists," he said.

Modi said that BRICS has been a strong voice and needs to show leadership on terrorism and global economy. He stressed that the G20 should collectively oppose terrorism financing, franchises, safe havens, support and sponsors.

The Prime Minister also described as dangerous the situation in West Asia - a reference to Syria and Iraq - and Afghanistan.

"Current developments in the Gulf and North Korea and East Asia as a whole are a cause of concern," he said.

It was an apparent reference to the four nations led by Saudi Arabia cutting off diplomatic ties with Qatar, India's largest supplier of gas, on allegations of supporting terrorism and interfering in other countries' affairs and North Korea's firing of a missile that landed in a special economic zone of Japan.

He also said that India would implement the Paris climate agreement "in letter and spirit" and described its implementation globally as essential to fighting climate change. This assumes significance as US President Donald Trump has pulled his country out of the agreement saying that India and China stood to gain "billions and billions and billions of dollars".

Modi also said that the five-nation BRICS has an important role to play in the global economic recovery.

Stating that the GDP of India was growing at a rate of over 7 per cent, he said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rolled out at the beginning of this month was the biggest tax reform ever implemented in the country.

Referring to reforms in India, including the recent introduction of GST, Modi said that it was necessary to work together for sustained global economic recovery.

He advocated collective voice against the practices of protectionism, especially in the spheres of trade and movement of knowledge and professionals.

He called for expeditious action to establish BRICS rating agency and stated that cooperation on development of Africa should be a priority. He also called for greater people-to-people exchanges.

In their interventions, the leaders discussed preparations and priorities for the forthcoming Xiamen BRICS Summit.
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New Delhi:

If you are waiting to get into IIT Bombay than do not wait as not a single seat out of 266 vacant seats are available in IIT. In the first round itself 929 seats of the institute have been taken. Now, only 68 seats remain vacant in 23 institutes for the remaining rounds - 131 seats got confirmed in the second round.

There were barely 14 seats left in IIT-B so they were bound to be taken over in the second round. Our academic session for the new batch will begin from July 20, saya a professor from IIT-B.

It was only after two seat allotment, the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) on Friday has released statistics of seat vacancy in IITs, NationalInstitutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and other Government Funded Technical Institutes (GFTIs).

A total of 10,988 seats were up for grabs in 23 IITs, including the Indian School of Mines-Dhanbad (ISM-Dhanbad).

According to media report, there are just two seats left in IIT Delhi, six in IIT Kharagpur, 16 in IIT (BHU) Varanasi, IITs in Goa and Jammu have two and three seats vacant.

Hopefully not a single seat will go vacant in IITs as well as other institutes this year, said an official from JoSAA.

As JoSAA will conduct seven rounds of admission to all these institutes this year.
Mumbai:

After the death of an aspiring air hostess Riya Gautam, who was stabbed in full public view this week in Delhi, two people have been arrested and a juvenile apprehended for the murder, police said on Saturday.

Adil Banne Khan (23), Juned Salim Ansari (19) were arrested and a juvenile apprehended by Mumbai Crime branch from suburban Bandra late Friday night, they said.

While Khan, the main accused, is a resident of Delhi's Mansarovar Park, the two others belong to Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh.

"Adil and one of his associates have been arrested, while another associate, who is a juvenile, has been apprehended from Bandra", Sanjay Saxena, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) told PTI.

All the accused were handed over to a team of Delhi Police, Saxena said.

Read more: Sonika Chauhan death: Vikram Chatterjee ARRESTED in Kolkata

On Friday, Unit-9 of Mumbai Crime Branch received information that Khan and two of his associates were hiding somewhere in Bandra East, a police official said.

Subsequently, a search operation was carried out in the area and all the three accused were arrested, he said.

According to police, Riya Gautam alias Charu (21), was stabbed multiple times on July 5 by Khan, who was allegedly stalking her. She succumbed to her injuries the next day at a hospital in Delhi.

An offence of murder was registered against Khan at Mansarovar Police Station after Riya's death but the accused was absconding since then.

Her family has alleged that she had filed a police complaint against the accused in April but no action was taken.

The woman, a resident of Ramnagar area in Mansarovar Park, was attacked by Khan in a busy market.

A CCTV grab of the incident shows the accused attacking the woman and she running away from him. After some time, the accused can be seen fleeing from the spot, a police official said.

The victim and Khan had a fight near her house that day following which she was attacked. In an attempt to save herself, she rushed to a shop for help but nobody was present there, police said.

Khan followed her inside the shop and stabbed her multiple times. Even though there were some people, they did not go near Khan for the fear of getting attacked.

She was later rushed to a hospital.

Read more: Gujarat Dalits threaten to convert to Buddhism over custodial death

According to police, the victim and the accused were known to each other for the last one year. However, after sometime, she distanced herself from him and her indifference irked him.

She approached the police with a complaint against the accused in April but he got a whiff of the matter and when his house was raided, it was found that he had fled to Gujarat.

Khan had allegedly been harassing her and would often ask her to talk to him. When she was returning from a shop, the accused stopped her and tried to engage in a conversation but when she ignored him, he attacked her, eyewitnesses had told the police.

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Kolkata:

The West Bengal government on Saturday said it would set up a judicial panel to look into the communal clashes at Baduria and Basirhat in the North 24 Parganas district following a Facebook post.



We have decided to initiate a judicial probe into the Baduria and Basirhat riots. We want to see who were involved in them and the government will provide every input to the judicial commission. Let there be an impartial probe, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters in Kolkata.



She added that the law would take its own course and strict action would be taken against those responsible for the clashes.



Banerjee also said her government would take action against two national-level television channels for showing fake videos and claiming them to be related to the clashes.



Video clips of an incident in Comilla, Bangladesh and a Bhojpuri film were being shown as if these incidents had taken place in Bengal, she alleged.



Banerjee congratulated the people of Baduria and Basirhat for not falling into the BJPs trap, in spite of provocations.



Hitting out at the saffron party, she alleged that it was destroying the federal structure of the country with the sole aim of grabbing power.



How can some people from across the border intrude and start disruptions here? Who is in-charge of border security, the Centre or the state? Once again I am saying, it is the ploy of the BJP to disturb the peace of the state, she said.



Regarding representatives of various political parties, including the BJP, attempting to visit the troubled areas today, the chief minister said, What is the need to disturb the people there? Let them settle down. Trinamool Congress MPs did not go. They could have gone there as well.



Regarding her partys stand on the July 17 presidential poll, Banerjee said We will support the Congress nominees both in the presidential and vice-presidential elections.

Suggested read: Basirhat riot: Banerjee blames Centre for non-cooperation; MHA hits back, asks 'Why WB not using forces provided'

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New Delhi:

On the Burhan Wanis death anniversary, the Indian Army reviewed security situation in the valley. Army troops have been deployed and top commanders visited different places to take stock of the situation.

Citing security reasons on Wanis anniversary, the Amarnath Yatra was suspended from Jammu. So far, over 1.15 lakh pilgrims have paid obeisance at ice lingum of Lord Shiva at the 3,880-metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir himalayas.

Earlier on Friday, Armys Northern Command chief Lt. Gen D Anbu, accompanied by Chinar Corps Commander Lt. Gen J S Sandhu, visited areas in North and South Kashmir to review the security situation and measures put in place for ensuring peace and calm in the Valley, a defence spokesperson said here.

He said Lt. Gen Anbu interacted with the troops on ground and complimented them for their dedication and highest standard of professionalism.

The two officers also called on Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and briefed her about the prevailing security situation in the Valley.

Authorities have imposed restrictions in parts of Kashmir to maintain law and order as the Valley braces for Wanis first death anniversary on Saturday.

In Srinagar, restrictions have been imposed on movement of people in five police station areas, officials said.

They said the curbs have been imposed in the police station areas of Nowhatta, M R Gunj, Rainawari, Khanyar and Safakadal.

The officials said similar restrictions have been imposed in Anantnag town in south Kashmir.

Curbs on the assembly of people under Section 144 CrPc have been imposed in Pulwama and Shopian districts in south Kashmir and in Baramulla district in north, they said.

The officials said the restrictions in these areas have been imposed as a precautionary measure to avoid any untoward incident.

They however, said life was going on normally in the rest of the valley.

Wanis killing in an encounter with security forces on July 8 last year, triggered massive protests and prolonged period of curfews and shutdowns across the Valley.

As many as 85 persons were killed and thousands others were injured in daily clashes between security forces and protesters for a period of over four months.

Separatist groups have called for a strike on Saturday.

With PTI inputs

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Srinagar:

Authorities on Saturday clamped curfew in three towns and imposed severe restrictions in the rest of Kashmir to foil a plan by separatists to hold a rally to mark the first anniversary of the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani.

Police and paramilitary personnel were deployed in strength across Kashmir and Internet services snapped to maintain law and order, officials said.

Normal life came to a standstill in the Valley due to a strike call, given by the separatists and the curfew-like restrictions imposed by the authorities.

Curfew was imposed in Tral, Wanis hometown in Pulwama district, as a precautionary measure, a senior police official said.

The joint separatist camp, including Hurriyat Conference factions led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and the Yasin Malik-led JKLF, has asked the people to march to Tral, about 36 kms from here, to pay tribute to Wani, who was killed in an encounter with security forces on this day last year.

The official said curfew had also been imposed in Shopian town of South Kashmir and Trehgam in North Kashmirs Kupwara district. Elsewhere in the valley, restrictions on the movement of people are being strictly enforced, he added.

TRENDING NOW: Sikkim standoff | India will suffer worse losses than 1962 if it incites border clash: State-run Chinese media

In view of the prevailing situation in the Valley, the Amarnath pilgrimage has been suspended from the Bhagwati Nagar base?camp in Jammu till further orders.

The yatra, however, continued from Pahalgam and Baltal base camps in Kashmir. From Jammu, the pilgrims reach Pahalgam or Baltal base camp, before proceeding to the cave shrine.

All university examinations scheduled for Saturday have been postponed. Schools were closed earlier in the week.

Shops and business establishments remained closed while vehicles remained off the roads, the official said, adding that the situation was peaceful so far.

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New Delhi:

A three-year-old girl in Hyderabad has been detected with Hematidrosis, which is an extremely rare condition wherein blood comes out of body in the form of tears or sweat. This condition is so rare that many people dont even about its existence.



Ahana, when cries, blood come out of her eyes. This unusual thing terrified her parents and they took her to a hospital. Dr. Sirisha, who is treating her said that she is suffering from Hematidrosis, which means sweating and even crying fluid mixed blood. However, the doctor further said that after the treatment, bleeding has reduced.

When I ask doctors for a permanent cure,they don't have an answer. I request CM KC Rao and Modi ji for help: Mohd Afzal,father of Ahana pic.twitter.com/2SRFE9OLwh  ANI (@ANI_news) July 8, 2017



Mohd Afzal, father of Ahana has appealed to the Chief Minister KC Rao and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for help. Afzal said that when he asked the doctors for a permanent cure, they didn't give him an answer.

ALSO READ | Need to be careful against zoonotic diseases like rabies: Doctors

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New Delhi:

India is looking to strengthen its Act East Policy by strategically inviting ASEAN nations for the Republic Day celebrations in 2018. As per sources close to the matter, the "commemorative event is under works."

This decision of the government comes at a time when India and China are engaged in a stand-off at the tri-junction with Bhutan in Doklam area, this move assumes eves greater significance.

At present some ASEAN countries are themselves engaged in a row with China over territorial claims in South China Sea. China claims that virtually all of the strategically vital sea even those approaching the coasts of South-east Asian nations like Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia and Vietnam belong to it.

Philippines dragged China to the International tribunal in The Hague over the dispute. The court ruled against China in July last year. The China Daily, touted as a government mouthpiece, called the decision "outrageously one-sided". China had even refused to participate in the proceedings.

According to the Government of India, the country hopes to forge stronger ties with ASEAN countries with the hope that it creates "an interface between North East India including the state of Arunachal Pradesh and the ASEAN region".

Arunachal Pradesh too has seen Chinese aggression with many blaming the slow pace of infrastructure development in the border areas vis-a-vis the rapid pace of development on the Chinese side. Hence, this attempt by India to ramp up work in the state is crucial keeping in view the boundary dispute with China.

India planned to bolster its engagement with the South East Asian countries to Act East. There was a clear intent to engage with the ten ASEAN countries not just to promote economic cooperation and cultural ties but also to develop a strategic relationship with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, according to MoS, External Affairs VK Singh in his reply to Parliament in 2015.

In the same reply, Ministry of External Affairs highlighted that India had also invited ASEAN member states to participate in the International Solar Alliance which it had co-launched with France on 30 November, 2015 at COP-21.

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Mumbai:

Maharashtra Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil on Saturday said the party workers may hit the streets if the upcoming Bollywood film Indu Sarkar, set in the Emergency period, is found to be maligning its leaders.



We have sought chief minister Devendra Fadnavis intervention over the release of the film as there is talk that history has been distorted. The film is based on the lives of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly said here.



If our apprehension that history has been distorted is found to be true, it will hurt peoples sentiments. If an attempt has been made to malign the image of Congress leaders, party workers may hit the streets in protest, he added.



The CM should intervene to prevent untoward incidents and maintain law and order, Vikhe-Patil said.



Indu Sarkar, directed by Madhur Bhandarkar, is slated to release on July 28.



Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam had written to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) recently, expressing concern about portrayal Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi and other Congress leaders in the film.



There should be a screening of the film for Congress leaders ahead of its release, Nirupam had demanded.



Bhandarkar however refused to screen the film for anybody before the censor cleared it, and stated that it doesnt talk about any individual leader but uses the Emergencyimposed by the Indira Gandhi-led government in 1975 -- as the backdrop.

Read | Will not screen Indu Sarkar for Congress or any political party: Madhur Bhandarkar

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New Delhi:

In a major breakthrough in the recent Junaid Khan killing incident, police on Saturday have arrested the main accused from Dhule district of Maharashtra.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) in its statement said that a team was sent to Dhule after it received a tip-off that the accused was hiding there.

We have arrested a person from Sakri in Dhule district of Maharashtra, SP, GRP, Kamaldeep Goyal said.

The GRP also claimed that during the interrogation the accused had confessed his crime and accepted that he stabbed Junaid Khan.

The identity of the accused was not disclosed keeping in mind the legal process, the GRP statement said.

Suggested Read: Lynching, rape, murder incidents increased under BJP rule: Congress

The police has earlier arrested five persons including a Delhi government employee in connection with the killing of Junaid between Ballabgarh and Mathura stations onboard a Delhi-Mathura passenger train.

Junaid was stabbed to death when he, along with his brothers, was returning home to Khandawali village in Ballabgarh after shopping for Eid in Delhi. Before killing Junaid, the mob taunted them by shouting anti-nationals and beef eaters.

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New Delhi:

Pakistan on Saturday violated ceasefire in Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Indian Army is retaliating strongly to the indiscriminate firing. Two civilians were killed and a few others suffered injuries when the Pakistani army violated the ceasefire.

Pakistan violated ceasefire at Chaka Da Bagh and Kharri Karmara areas.

Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of Small arms, automatics and mortars from 06:30 AM in Poonch sector along the Line of Control (LC). There are reports of exchange of mortar firing as well.

Territorial army jawan and wife killed in Pakistani mortar shelling along LoC in Poonch. The Soldier Md Shaukat of Territorial Army was on leave and an en shell landed on his house in civil area resulting in demise of the Soldier and his wife.

The Pakistani army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from small arms, automatic weapons and mortars on Indian Army posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector from 0630 hours, a defence spokesman said.

The Indian troops retaliated effectively, he said.

The Pakistani troops rained mortar bomb shells and resorted to heavy firing targeting civilian villages as well, a police officer said.

Very heavy shelling is going on. So far two civilians have died in Pakistani shelling in Khadi Karmara village along the LoC, he said, adding that some other people suffered injuries.

Also read: Pakistan violates ceasefire along LoC in Uri sector of Kashmir, one woman injured

Also read: J&K: Pakistan violates ceasefire for 3rd consecutive day along LoC



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Hamburg:

At the G20 summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday named Pakistan-based groups LeT and JeM among major terror outfits alongside the Al-Qaeda and ISIS and called for a concerted global crackdown on nations supporting terrorism for their political goals.

As the G20 leaders put their heads together for a solution on issues like terrorism, climate change and open trade, Modi delivered a strong message against terrorism and also pitched for ban on the entry of officials from terrorism-supporting countries into G-20 nations.

As the summit got underway in this German port city amid violent protests, German Chancellor and host Angela Merkel even favoured a compromise solution if there was no consensus on contentious issues while India appeared on the majority side of the countries seeking decisive action in fight against global warming, protectionism and terror financing.

At the venue, police had to resort to water canon, tear gas and pepper spray to deal with the anti-globalisation protesters.

In the evening, the G20 leaders pledged to crackdown on terror safe havens and curb radicalisation through the internet and social media.

The declaration also found mention of various issues raised by Modi in his statement at the leaders retreat earlier in the morning.

On the sidelines of the Summit, Modi had an interaction with Chinese President Xi Jinping even as tensions remain high between India and China in the Sikkim section.

Both leaders had a conversation on a range of issues at an informal meeting of BRICS leaders.

In a tweet, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said Modi and Xi discussed a range of issues at the BRICS leaders informal gathering in Hamburg hosted by China. He did not elaborate on the issues discussed.

Later, in an address to BRICS leaders, Modi appreciated momentum in the bloc under the Chinese chairmanship and extended full cooperation for the groupings upcoming summit in China. He also extended full cooperation and best wishes to China for the next BRICS summit in Xiamen later this year.

Under Xis chairmanship, the progress and positive momentum of BRICS has further deepened our cooperation, Modi said.

Modi said BRICS has been a strong voice and needs to show leadership on terrorism and global economy, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

It quoted Modi as saying that G20 nations should also collectively oppose terrorism financing, franchises, safe havens, support and sponsors.

In his speech, Xi also appreciated the momentum witnessed at the BRICS bloc during Indias chairmanship before it was passed on to China, and praised Indias strong resolve against terrorism, the press release said.

It quoted Xi as saying he appreciates Indias success in economic and social development and wishes India even bigger success.

Stressing that there should be no safe spaces for terrorist financing anywhere in the world, the G20 nations expressed their commitment to intensify capacity building and technical assistance, especially in relation to terrorist financing hot-spots.

We will advance the effective implementation of the international standards on transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and legal arrangements for the purposes of countering financing terrorism, they said in the joint declaration.

At the G20 meet, Modi said that it was mandatory to implement the consensus of the Paris agreement on climate change and asserted that India would implement the accord in letter and spirit.

He also asked leaders from the G20 nations to be forthcoming on the climate change action as he emphasised the need for cooperation in the world of opposing realities.

The statement came against the backdrop of the US pulling out of the Paris climate change pact last month.

Modi held bilateral meetings with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with informal interactions with a number of world leaders on the sidelines of the Summit.

The Prime Minister also had a brief chat with US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and other top leaders.

At the BRICS leaders gathering here, Modi held informal meetings with Brazilian President Michel Temer and South African President Jacob Zuma.

A briefing by India was cancelled.

Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Summit.

Later in the evening, the leaders attended a musical concert at the citys newly opened Elbphilharmonie concert house, where Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra played the European Unions unofficial anthem, The Ode to Joy from Beethovens 9th Symphony.

After the concert, Merkel was to host dinner for the leaders and their partners. At that time, the government heads are expected to have informal discussions on various issues that may have a bearing on the final communique.

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Mangaluru:

An RSS activist was allegedly stabbed by an unidentified group at Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district. He has succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital in Mangaluru. The case has prompted the police to tighten security in the region.

Sarath Madivala, 28, a resident of Kandur near Bantwal, was battling for life for three days at the hospital after the attack on July 4.

He died on Friday, hospital sources said.

RSS leaders and workers thronged the hospital in large numbers on hearing the news of the death.

The RSS worker was attacked on the night of July 4 when he was about to leave home after closing his laundry shop at BC Road.

After being taken to a nearby hospital by locals, he was later shifted to a private hospital in the city.

Defying prohibitory orders, Hindu organisations and the BJP had on Friday staged a protest at Bantwal protesting the attack.

BJP leaders, including MPs Nalin Kumar Kateel and Shobha Karandlaje, were arrested during the protest and later released.

Police said security has been tightened in the communally sensitive district following the workers death.

Prohibitory orders are in force till July 11 in Puttur, Sullia, Belthangady and Bantwal in coastal Dakshina Kannada district following recent communal clashes in some areas, according to the police.

The orders were initially enforced in Bantwal from May 27 following skirmishes between two groups. Later, it was extended to the four taluks as violence spread.

The murder of a Social Democratic Party of India worker at Benjanapadavu in Bantwal on June 21 further escalated the tension forcing authorities to extend prohibitory orders.

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New Delhi:

Twitter is buzzing with news alerts from India and rest of the world. Here are the latest updates from the micro-blogging site in one scroll:

#10:39 PM

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Two monorails came on the same track at Chembur after one of the monorails developed technical problem- ANI

#9:50 PM

ICC Women's World Cup 2017: South Africa defeat India by 115 runs

#9:42 PM

A

Government school damaged in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in J&K's Poonch, earlier today pic.twitter.com/QiAht3Kohj a ANI (@ANI_news) July 8, 2017

A

#9:38 PM

Assam floods: 17 districts including Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Karimganj affected. 25 people have lost their lives so far.- ANI

#9:20 PM

India win bronze medal in women's 4x100 relay at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar- ANI

#9:12 PM

India's Jabir MP won bronze medal in men's 400m hurdles at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar- ANI



#8:47 PM

India's Anu Raghavan won silver medal in women's 400m hurdles at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar- ANI

#7:56 PM

Putin says thinks US 'more pragmatic' on Syria- AFP

#7:54 PM

Merkel says 'deep differences' with Erdogan remain- AFP

#7:49 PM

Putin upbeat on US-Russia 'cooperation' after Trump talks- AFP

#7:42 PM

France's Macron announces climate summit for December 12- AFP

#7:41 PM

Trump tells Xi 'something has to be done' on North Korea- AFP



#7:35 PM

Bidar (Karnataka): 1 dead & 6 injured in a collision b/w Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation's bus and a truck near Humnabad Taluk- ANI

#7:27 PM

Kerala Women's Commission to probe alleged anti-women remarks made by Malayalam actor and Lok Sabha MP Innocent- PTI

#7:04 PM

Railway Police Haryana has arrested the main accused in BallabhgarhA train lynching case from Maharastra's Dhule- ANI



#6:45 PM

India's Sudha Singh wins gold medal in women's 3000-meter steeplechase event at 22nd Asian Athletics Championships- PTI

#6:18 PM

Merger to see one of the largest retail focused banks;IDFC Bank, Shriram have 90 days to explore merger, get regulatory nods:Ajay Piramal- PTI

#6:06 PM

Meeting of Members of Parliament of National Democratic Alliance parties to be held on 16 July at 5 pm; PM Modi to address the meeting- ANI

#5:46 PM

Balance of jurisdiction in roles of office-bearers & cooling of period for apex council will be reviewed: BCCI Acting Secy after meeting- ANI

#5:45 PM

Have reservations on 4 points which are cooling off period & one state-one vote: BCCI Acting Secy A Choudhary after today's BCCI meeting- ANI



#5:13 PM

35 migrants missing off Libya after boat sinks: coastguard- AFP

#5:08 PM

Govt & Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan call all party meet on 16 July at 11 am & 7 pm respectively, ahead of Parliament's monsoon session- ANI

#4:51 PM

Venezuelan opposition leader Lopez freed from jail, under house arrest: Spanish lawyer- AFP

#4:51 PM

Leader of Opposition in Maha Assembly R Vikhe Patil writes letter to CM demanding his intervention into controversy over movie Indu Sarkar- ANI

#4:44 PM

Mangalore, Karnataka: Thousands of RSS workers attend funeral of RSS worker Sharath who was stabbed on July 4 & later succumbed to injuries- ANI

#4:30 PM

Chhattisgarh: Dantewada Police arrest 7 Naxals from Bade Gudra Kanki Para and Marjum- ANI

#4:18 PM

PM Modi invited Italy's participation in World Food India- food processing exhibition to be held in India in November this year.- ANI

#4:12 PM

Prime Minister Modi invited President Moon to visit India at an early date. The invitation was accepted.- ANI

#4:12 PM

West Bengal: Army requisitioned in Darjeeling following incidents of violence. Two columns deployed in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Sonada- ANI

#4:11 PM

PM Modi extended felicitations in person to President of South Korea Moon Jae-in for his victory in the Presidential elections.- ANI

#4:08 PM

4 BSF companies sent to Basirhat; 4 additional companies which were sent two days ago were sent back by the state govt: MHA sources- ANI

#3:41 PM

German, US doctors visit ill Chinese Nobel winner: hospital- AFP

#3:40 PM

China issues 'safety alert' for its citizens travelling to India: PTI

#3:34 PM

Negotiations are part of a democratic system but let peace be restored first: WB CM Banerjee- ANI

#3:07 PM

Darjeeling: Two army columns have been deployed, one each in Darjeeling and Sonada, where toy train railway station was set on fire.- ANI

#3:04 PM

West Bengal: North 24 Parganas SP Bhaskar Mukherjee removed. #Basirhat-ANI

#3:04 PM

Germany: PM Narendra Modi met Argentinian President Mauricio Macri on sidelines of #G20Summit in Hamburg pic.twitter.com/DRDwC83cUD a ANI (@ANI_news) July 8, 2017

#2:03 PM

Malaysia's appeal, over disqualification of its athlete Khairul, rejected. Team Manager says "not satisfied, wll tk up mattr to highr level"-ANI

#2:02 PM

Germany: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Norwegian PM Erna Solberg on the sidelines of G-20 Summit in Hamburg pic.twitter.com/dwFRCynU02 a ANI (@ANI_news) July 8, 2017

#1:59 PM

Person seen stabbing a 21-year-old woman to death on CCTV footage in Delhi's Shahdara, arrested from Mumbai-ANI

#1:56 PM

Sindhudurg (Maharashtra): Additional Commissioner(Fisheries) has filed FIR against Congress MLA Nitesh Rane for assaulting him in his office-ANI

#1:44 PM

We have informed the regulator. There was no damage to the window panes of any aircraft: SpiceJet statement.- ANI

#1:36 PM

Germany: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Italian PM Paolo Gentiloni on the sidelines of G-20 Summit in Hamburg- ANI

#1:35 PM

Patna: Security enhanced outside BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi's residence following CBI raids on Lalu Prasad Yadav.- ANI

#1:27 PM

Too early to say if incident caused by outside object/jet blast of aircraft/bus violated vehicular movement lane/any other reason: SpiceJet- ANI

#1:18 PM

WB violence: BJP MPs Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satyapal Singh detained and taken to police station- ANI

#1:14 PM

Despite public opposition, Trump says UK visit to go ahead- AFP

#1:07 PM

Germany: Bilateral talks between India and South Korea on the sidelines of G-20 Summit in Hamburg.- ANI

#12:55 PM

Madhya Pradesh: Forest department officials rescued a leopard that fell into a 70-feet deep well in Khargone - ANI

#12:52 PM

Congress leaders Ashok Chaudhary, Awadhesh Narain Singh, Madan Mohan Jha and Sadanand Singh met Lalu Prasad Yadav at his residence in Patna. - ANI

#12:45 PM

Why does PM Modi have such a two faced policy: Mani Shankar Aiyar, Congress - ANI

#12:45 PM

If PM ready to meet Chinese Pres Xi Jinping & Naga leaders, why doesnat he talk to Geelani in J&K and Maoists in Bastar?: Mani Shankar Aiyar- ANI

#12:41 PM

Bijnor (UP): A man named Qadir Ahmad arrested by Gujarat and UP ATS from Najibabad, in connection with 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. - ANI

#12:27 PM

Odisha has been neglected by all govt. But, PM Modi has a great dream for Odisha and all eastern India: Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan- ANI

#12:13 PM

The flight departed from Delhi after ensuring all passengers had been given assistance. This matter is being investigated: IndiGo statement - ANI

#12:11 PM

5 passengers seated in the bus received minor injuries, were taken to airport clinic and given medical assistance: IndiGo statement- ANI

#11:48 AM

Malaysia's Athletics team manager Salim Parlan have lodged an appeal asking reason of disqualification & a re-run, paid 100 USD for appeal.- ANI

#11:45 AM

Jet #blast shatters #IndiGo plane's window, five injured. - PTI

#11:48 AM

Malaysia's Athletics team manager Salim Parlan have lodged an appeal asking reason of disqualification & a re-run, paid 100 USD for appeal.- ANI

#11:48 AM

Malaysia objects disqualification of its athlete Khairul in men's 100 m final at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar.- ANI

#11:14 AM

Six people thrashed by a mob in Delhi's Baba Haridas Nagar for carrying buffalo calves, vehicles vandalized. FIR registered against attackers- ANI

#10:27 AM

Woman allegedly gangraped by five people including brother in law in Etah's Malawan. Police register case - ANI

#10:25 AM

#India emerging as front-runner in fight against #climatechange: #WorldBank.- PTI

#9:52 AM

ED raid on Misa Bharti: Raids underway at 3 locations in Delhi- ANI

#9:50 AM

Muzaffarnagar BJP MLA Umesh Malik threatens education dept official,warns of jailing him.Malik was meeting teachers sitting on dharna- ANI

#9:48 AM

All seven members of India Foundation delegation to visit China got their visas on time, says Chinese embassy. - ANI

#9:48 AM

ED raids Misa Bharti's residence in Delhi's Sainik farms in an ongoing case - ANI

#9:40 AM

Uttarakhand: A Russian national, lodged in Tehri jail for living in India without a passport, goes on hunger strike. Admitted to hospital. - ANI

#9:33 AM

Puducherry: Congress, DMK, VCK call for a bandh in protest against Lt.Governor Kiran Bedi- ANI

#9:18 AM

Delhi: One person killed after a wall collapsed in Sriniwaspuri area, earlier today. - ANI

#9:07 AM

#Gorkhaland supporter Tashi Bhutia found dead in Darjeeling, locals allege he was killed #DarjeelingUnrestA - ANI

#8:59 AM

Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh to meet Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, today in Delhi. - ANI

#8:53 AM

Two of a family killed in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in J&K's Poonch. - ANI

#8:40 AM

#Curfew imposed in Hizbul commander #BurhanWani's native town of Tral in #JK on his 1st death anniv,restrictions in rest of Valley: Police. - ANI

#8:35 AM

Three of a family test positive for swine flu in Ghaziabad's Ashok Nagar - ANI

#8:03 AM

Still early stage,it is a sort of capsule which will burst and emit smoke with bad odour: Shakti Shukla, principal director,FFDC - ANI

#8:00 AM

Kannauj-based Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC) has developed a 'stink bomb' to tackle stone pelters in Kashmir - ANI

#7:49 AM

When I ask doctors for a permanent cure,they don't have an answer. I request CM KC Rao and Modi ji for help: Mohd Afzal,father of Ahana - ANI

#7:45 AM

She is suffering from Hematidrosis, which means sweating and even crying fluid mixed blood. After treatment bleeding has reduced:Dr.Sirisha - ANI

#7:42 AM

Hyderabad: Three-year-old Ahana cries tears of blood,terrifies parents and doctors - ANI

#7:36 AM

Rise in water level of Ganga in Varanasi due to incessant rains - ANI

#7:21 AM

J&K: Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Poonch sector,Indian Army retaliating - ANI

#6:36 AM

15 year old girl allegedly gangraped in Mumbai.Police arrest three accused,search on for fourth. Three sent to police custody till July 12 - ANI

#6:03 AM

J&K: Two army jawans injured in a terror attack in Hajin area of Bandipora. More detail awaited - ANI

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

The tension continued to simmer in the Basirhat and Baduria regions of West Bengal. On Saturday, a BJP central team comprising party MPs Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satyapal Singh was stopped from visiting the riot-hit Basirhat in West Bengal and its members were detained.



The three MPs were detained after a heated exchange with the police near Birati.



Lekhi asked the police if the situation was under control in Basirhat, as claimed by the state government, why were they not allowed to go there? We are MPs and only we three will go there. You accompany us, she told policemen. The police, however, refused to allow them.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee pleaded people to maintain peace and calm, "I appeal to Darjeeling to not resort to violence and instead make peace."



Banerjee also cracked down on the Centre for its unwelcome intervention in the state matters. "Centre has a non-cooperative attitude, border areas are being disturbed with foreign hands having good relations with BJP," she claimed in a press conference on Saturday in Kolkata.



The chief minister has asked for a judicial inquiry into incidents at Baduria and Basirhat.



Meanwhile, North 24 Parganas SP Bhaskar Mukherjee was removed from his post. C Sudhakar has been appointed in his place. Nine other IPS officers have also been transferred.



Two army columns have been deployed, one each in Darjeeling and Sonada, where toy train railway station was set on fire.

#WATCH: Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) Toy train station torched by a group of people in Sonada, #Darjeeling. pic.twitter.com/EkpGvdWC11  ANI (@ANI_news) July 8, 2017

LIVE Updates

#6:50 PM: Union Min condemns WB CM for politicisng violence



- I criticise West Bengal state government in most stern words: Union Minister Piyush Goyal

-I especially condemn WB Cm Mamta Banerjee for using the situation for her political benefit: Goyal

#6:00 PM: BJP demands Prez rule in state



The BJP met West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi and demanded that the Centre should immediately impose Presidents rule as the law and order situation in the state has completely broken down.



Today we met the governor and informed him about the grim situation in the state. The state government in collaboration with anti-national elements is directly responsible for the complete breakdown of the law and order situation. We have requested the governor to talk to the central government and send the recommendation for imposition of Presidents rule in the state, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh told reporters after the meeting.



#Judicial panel to probe riots (Read full story here)

The West Bengal government has said it would set up a judicial panel to look into the communal clashes at Baduria and Basirhat in the North 24 Parganas district following a Facebook post. We have decided to initiate a judicial probe into the Baduria and Basirhat riots. We want to see who were involved in them and the government will provide every input to the judicial commission. Let there be an impartial probe, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters in Kolkata.



She added that the law would take its own course and strict action would be taken against those responsible for the clashes.



Banerjee also said her government would take action against two national-level television channels for showing fake videos and claiming them to be related to the clashes. Video clips of an incident in Comilla, Bangladesh and a Bhojpuri film were being shown as if these incidents had taken place in Bengal, she alleged.



#5:00 PM: West Bengal BJP submits memorandum to WB Governor demanding imposition of President's Rule

#4:30 PM: Reports requested by Central Govt to facilitate review in Darjeeling and Basirhat are being delayed by West Bengal Govt : MHA Sources

4:00 PM: MHA sources slam Mamata Banerjee for blaming Centre for incorporation:

"4 BSF companies sent to Bashirhat 4 additional companies which were sent two days back were sent back by State Govt. Now she is saying companies not sent!"



"In so far as Darjeeling is concerned 11 companies deployed by Centre 1 ladies company they want us to withdraw! Their own East Bengal Rifles and Bengal Armed Police - several battalions are there. Why are they not deploying them instead of blaming Centre?"

#4:00 PM: Army called out in Darjeeling as violence spread after death of a youth allegedly in police firing: Army sources

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Kolkata:

Leaders from various parties on Friday slammed the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) government for preventing them from visiting riot-hit Basirhat with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) politicos saying they would meet the governor on Saturday to demand President's Rule in WestBengal.

"We wanted to go and meet the people there to restore peace, but the TMC government did not allow our leaders. The state government does not want the cooperation of opposition parties," state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said.

He said the BJP would organise a rally in Kolkata on Saturday to condemn the role of the state government. "We will also meet Governor K.N Tripathi and demand in writing the imposition of President's Rule in the state," he said.

He said the state government should take the help of the Centre to restore law and order in Basirhat and alleged that'jehadi' elements were fomenting trouble there. The state BJP chief claimed one person was killed in the riot and demanded that the state government give a compensation of Rs 10 lakh and a job to the family of the victim.

Also Read: BJP, CPM delegations stopped from entering Basirhat

TMC leader and minister Jyotipriya Mullick said that the state administration was trying to restore peace and all should cooperate when the chief minister has appealed for it. "Why are the opposition parties in a hurry? They can gothere later," he said. State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury, who was also stopped from visiting Basirhat, said, "The main intention of our visit was to tell the people there to live together in peace".

CPI-M MP Md Salim, who too was stopped from visiting Basirhat with a left delegation, alleged the police hasfailed to control the riots. "They are stopping peace lovers and not those fomentingriots," he alleged and said "instead of controlling riots,the chief minister was busy quarrelling with the Governor."

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Islamabad:

A 25-year-old woman cancer patient from Pakistan has requested External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to help her visit India for treatment after her visa application was reportedly rejected by the Indian embassy in Islamabad.

Faiza Tanveer, 25, is suffering from a recurrent ameloblastoma, an oral tumour which is aggressive in nature.

She plans to visit the Inderprastha Dental College and Hospital (IDCH) in Ghaziabad and has paid Rs 1 million in advance for treatment, according to a Pakistani media report.

But the Indian High Commission in Islamabad rejected her medical visa application. Her mother claimed Tanveers application was rejected because of deteriorating ties between the two countries.

That forced Tanveer to take to social media to move Indian authorities.

Tanveer has in several tweets over the past couple of days urged Swaraj to intervene. She has posted her photo and a video that showed her tumour.

In one of the tweets, she said, Please help me save my life mam plz (sic), and tagged Swaraj in the tweet. In another tweet, Tanveer said, Sushma g please help me (sic).

In June, an ailing child from Pakistan and his parents were issued visa for an emergency heart treatment after the family sought Swarajs help.

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New Delhi:

Guru Purnima is one of the most the celebrated days of the Hindu calender to honour 'guru' or teachers. It is observed on the full moon day which also marks the first day in the peak of the lunar cycle.

While people are marking the celebartion of this auspicious day by talking about its significance, and sharing insights and thoughts on social media.

But what comes as pleasant surprise amidst this jollification is a tweet by NASA Moon, NASA's official account about the earth's moon about Guru Purnima 2017.

Read more: Guru Purnima 2017: Know Vyasa Purnima puja shubh muhurat here

NASA Moon talks about the many names given to the full moon this weekend, including Guru Purnima. Other synonyms for Guru Purnima include Hay Moon, Mead Moon, Ripe Corn Moon and Thunder Moon.

Full moon this weekend - called Guru Purnima, Hay Moon, Mead Moon, Ripe Corn Moon, Buck Moon, or our favorite, ai THUNDER MOON ai pic.twitter.com/XLufAdoDEQ  NASA Moon (@NASAmoon) July 7, 2017

The tweet has been 'retweeted' over 1,000 times. Amongst those who retweeted it is also NASA's official handle.

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New Delhi:

Young and talented visionaries from Delhi made India proud on international pedestal. In a US-based Mars Society's international "Student Mars Art (SMArt) Contest 2017", four students from the capital acquired second and third positions, where they presented a vision of humanity's future on the planet Mars.

Over 140 students from the age group of 8-18 from across the world participated in this competition. The contest was divided into three categories: Upper Elementary (grades 4-6), Junior High (grades 7-9), and High School (Grades 10-12).



The art included still images, composed by traditional methods, such as pencil, charcoal, watercolours or paint, or by computerised means and was submitted by the students via a special online form on May 31.

Devina Manchanda, a class three student, from GD Goenka Public School, Model Town, who won the second prize, stated, "My painting is a depiction of the possibility of new life on Mars. This is the only planet after Earth which can be tested for evolution of life forms and hence we should definitely give it a good try".

Read more: Toxic mars soil may be harmful for aliens to live there: Study

While Manchanda earned a cash prize of $500 in the category of elementary school, the third place was a tie between Arna Kakkar, Gaurish Anand and Gopika Chawla, also from the same school, who received a cash prize of $250 in the same category.

Japman Singh from KR Mangalam World School, Aditya Prakash from Bal Bharati Public School, Pitampura, Anvi Gaur and Rachit Birman from Sri Venkateshwar International School, Dwarka and Yash from Indraprastha International School, Dwarka, received an honourable mention and a certificate.

These students are members of a curriculum based academic educational programme called "Universe In The School Programme" of New Delhi-based Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) organisation.

Mars Society web site will post these vicotrious works of arts and may also be published as part of a special book about Mars art.

Read more: Lunar robots land on 'Mount Etna', most active volcano of Europe

Adding up to the happiness of the winners, the students have also received a special invitation to join the "2017 International Mars Society Convention" at the University of California, Irvine from September 7-10, where their artwork will be exhibited.

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

The Chinese embassy on Saturday said that all seven members of the India Foundation delegation to visit China got their visas on time.



On Friday, the Foundation had cancelled a visit of its delegation to China after two of its junior research members were denied visas.



Foundation Director and BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav dismissed reports that he was part of the delegation.



I was not in the delegation. It was supposed to be an academic delegation. After the denial of visa to two researchers, Foundation called off the visit, he tweeted.



Priyang Pandey, senior research fellow at the Foundation, said Madhav holds a valid Chinese visa till November this year. The delegation was to visit Fudan university in Shanghai next week.



The development comes amid the stand-off between India and China armies near Sikkim.

With PTI inputs.

ALSO READ: Ulterior motives prompted India to include tri-junction in Sikkim standoff, says China

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New Delhi:

Amid the growing border tensions over Sikkim standoff, China on Saturday issued a safety advisory for its citizens travelling to India. However, it was not a travel alert but China has asked Chinese travellers to be more careful while visiting India.

It is not a travel alert. It is an advisory asking Chinese travellers to be careful, PTI quoted an official of the Chinese Foreign Ministry as saying.

The advisory issued by Chinese Embassy in New Delhi in the Chinese language was dated on Saturday.

It asked Chinese travellers to pay close attention to the local security situation, improve self-protection awareness, strengthen security, reduce unnecessary travel, pay attention to personal and property safety as well as to provide advance information to family and friends.

Earlier this week, the Beijing had issued a statement saying "the Chinese government attaches great importance to the safety and lawful rights of Chinese citizens" and any travel alert would be issued depending on the security situation.

Suggested Read: India to invite ASEAN nations for 2018 Republic Day celebrations to strengthen Act East Policy, counter China

China and India have been engaged in the standoff in the Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction for the past three weeks after a Chinese Armys construction party attempted to build a road. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

(With PTI Inputs)

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Beijing:

China on Friday accused India of holding ulterior motives in including the tri-junction with Bhutan in the Sikkim standoff. China also vowed that Delhis acceptance of the 1890 Sino-British treaty on the boundaries in the area should not change with the passage of time.

The so-called tri-junction point as the name implies is a point instead of a line or an area, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing in Beijing.

Asked about Indias assertion that China is violating the agreement reached by the Special Representatives on the boundary in 2012 over the tri-junction, Geng said the road being built by China has nothing to do with it.

Geng said the convention between Great Britain and China relating to Sikkim in 1890 stated that the Sikkim section of the boundary commences from the east of Mount Gipmochi.

The illegal trespass by the Indian troops took place at the Sikkim section of the India-China boundary, 2,000 metres away from the Mount Gipmochi, he said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson asserted that that the issue has nothing to do with tri-junction point and China had not breached the 2012 agreement.

Asked to provide exact coordinates of the tri-junction, he said he had no information on it.

Geng also sought to justify Chinas road building, saying that it is not part of the Doklam area.

Geng questioned Indias stand that Doklam is part of the strategic tri-junction also known as the Chickens Neck, which is the key corridor connecting India with its north-eastern states.

In disregard of the boundary convention, the Indian side takes entire Doklam area as part of the tri-junction. That is out of ulterior motives, Geng said.

The Indian side introduced the idea of the tri-junction point into the incident in an attempt to enlarge the point into an area that is absurd and has ulterior motives, he claimed.

He also sought to dismiss the perception that the 1962 India-China war changed the past alignment of the boundary as China occupied areas like Aksai Chin, which continues to be in its possession.

The Indian government has repeatedly recognised the effectiveness of the 1890 convention, Geng said.

The boundary between Xizang (Chinese name for Tibet) of China and Sikkim was defined by this convention. Once the convention has been signed, the changes of the government will not affect the effectiveness of the convention. So it has nothing to do with the passing of the time, he said.

The treaty has nothing to do with the 1962 war, Geng asserted.

It has already been recognised by the Indian side. Once it has been recognised, the convention has been effective and it has nothing to do with the passing of time nor the change of the regime or the government, he said.

The Indian troops intervened on June 16 on behalf of Bhutan to stop the road construction by the Chinese.

China and India have been engaged in the standoff in the Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction for the past three weeks after a Chinese Armys construction party attempted to build a road. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

Gengs remarks come days after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement, had asserted that India had underlined that the two governments had in 2012 reached an agreement that tri-junction boundary points among India, China and third countries would be finalised in consultation with the countries concerned.

Any attempt, therefore, to unilaterally determine tri-junction points is in violation of this understanding, it had said.

India argues that since it is a tri-junction involving the three countries, it also has a say in the issue, specially in the backdrop of 2012 agreement between Special Representatives of the two countries, that have till now held 19 rounds of talks.

Bhutan, which does not have diplomatic ties with China, deals with Beijing through its Embassy in New Delhi.

As a close friend and neighbour, Bhutan enjoys diplomatic and military support from India.

Geng asserted that there was no breach or violation from the Chinese side in the incident.

We always believe that the tri-junction is a point not a line or an area, he said, adding that equating a point with the areas is an introduction of a new concept.

When asked about the protest lodged by Bhutan over the issue, Geng reiterated that China and Bhutan reached consensus during their 24 rounds of boundary talks.

Also read: Sikkim standoff: 'Atmosphere not right' for Xi Jinping-Modi meet in G-20 Summit, says China

Also read: India trespassed, we are within our sovereign rights in Dokalam, says Chinese Embassy



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Hamburg:

Three US officials on Friday said that the United States and Russia have reached agreement on a cease-fire in southwest Syria as President Donald Trump held his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The deal marks a new level of involvement for the Trump administration in trying to resolve Syrias civil war.

Although details about the agreement and how it will be implemented werent immediately available, the cease-fire is set to take effect Sunday at noon Damascus time, said the officials, who werent authorised to discuss the cease-fire publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Jordan and Israel also are part of the agreement, one of the officials said. The two US allies both share a border with the southern part of Syria and have been concerned about violence from Syrias civil war spilling over the border.

The deal is separate from an agreement that Russia, Turkey and Iran struck earlier this year to try to establish de-escalation zones in Syria where violence would be reduced. The US, wary of Irans involvement, was not a part of that deal. Follow-up talks this week in Astana, Kazakhstan, failed to reach agreement on how to finalize a cease-fire in those zones.

Previous cease-fires in Syria have collapsed or failed to reduce violence for long, and it was unclear whether this deal would be any better.

Earlier in the week, Syrias military had said it was halting combat operations in the south of Syria for four days, in advance of a new round of Russian-sponsored talks in Astana. That move covered southern provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida. Syrias government briefly extended that unilateral cease-fire, which is now set to expire Saturday a day before the US and Russian deal would take effect.

The new agreement to be announced today will be open-ended, with no set end date, one US official said, describing it as part of broader US discussions with Russia on trying to lower violence in the war-ravaged country. Officials said the US and Russia were still working out the details as Trump and Putin concluded their more than two-hour meeting today.

Implications for Syria aside, the deal marks the biggest diplomatic achievement for the US and Russia since Trump took office. Trumps administration has approached the notoriously strained relationship by trying to identify a few limited issues on which the countries could make progress, thereby building trust for a broader repair of ties.

For years, the US and Russia have been backing opposing sides in Syrias war, with Moscow supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad and Washington supporting rebels who have been fighting Assad. Both the US and Russia oppose the Islamic State group in Syria.

Also read: Syria: 18 killed as car bombers strike capital city Damascus

Also read: Islamic State group no longer a part of Syrias Aleppo province: monitor



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Scottish singer-songwriter Rab Noakes dies aged 75 Scottish singer-songwriter Rab Noakes has died aged 75.







U.S. stops taking student debt forgiveness applications after ruling The United States government has stopped taking applications for student debt relief, after a federal judge blocked President Joe Biden's loan forgiveness plan,...







Watermelon-smashing comedian Gallagher dies aged 76 Gallagher  the long-haired comedian who left a trail of laughter, anger and shattered watermelons over a decades-long career  has died aged 76.







'We are worthy people': Albanians smuggled into UK say they are 'excited for the future' Five days after being smuggled into the UK in a lorry, Albanian Iva Memaj dialled the Home Office's freephone number to claim asylum.







His music 'brings people together': Takeoff fans gather to celebrate life of killed rapper Fans have gathered to celebrate the life of killed rapper Takeoff at an arena close to his family home in Atlanta.







'An act of hate': Noose found at Obama Presidential Centre construction site A noose has been found at the Obama Presidential Center construction site in Chicago, bringing a temporary halt to the building work.







Remains of US soldier Tommie Hanks identified after 72 years Tommie Hanks was 27 years old when he was reported missing in action during the Korean War in 1950.







Coastal dwellers 'not warned of sea level risk and property prices skewed' People living on Britain's coast are not being warned of the serious risks they face from rising sea levels, a world expert has told Sky News.







Emma Thompson Felt Half Alive After Learning of Ex-Husband Kenneth Branaghs Affair With Helena Bonham Carter Reflecting on a dark time. Emma Thompson opened up about her split from ex-husband Kenneth Branagh, who had an affair with Helena Bonham Carter during their...







Catflap burglar snared after homeowner watched break-in live on her phone and called police A frightened homeowner witnessed a serial burglar breaking into her home live on her phone after he stole the keys through a cat flap.







France and Italy row over who should take rescued migrants A diplomatic row has erupted between France and Italy over the fate of 230 people on board a maritime rescue ship which docked in southern France.







Lettuce fans tossed by soaring prices, leading to expensive salads, substitutions A look at the prices in Canada's grocery stores can be a turnoff recently, and that's especially the case when it comes to lettuce. Experts say the spike in...







Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy dies aged 66 Conroy voiced Batman in animated TV shows, feature films and video games for nearly 30 years.







Warmest UK Remembrance Day ever recorded - and high temperatures are set to continue The UK has recorded its highest Armistice Day temperature ever, and the warm weather is expected to continue into the weekend.







Zelenskyy says Ukrainian special military units in Kherson MYKOLAIV, Ukraine (AP)  Ukraines president said Friday that special military units have entered the city of Kherson. In a video address hours after...







Newquay hotel asylum seekers are to be 'moved within weeks' They have already been through the initial stage of the application process to establish their right to claim asylum and 'security screening'







Two transplant patients died of infection linked to contaminated water Two women who underwent double lung transplants died after contracting a bacterial infection linked to a contaminated water supply at a hospital, an inquest...







Raab 'values' civil servants, MoJ insists amid bullying claims Dominic Raab "values" civil servants in his department, the Ministry of Justice has insisted, after bullying claims have emerged against him.







Famed Painting 'The Scream' Targeted By Climate Activists Watch Video Norwegian police said two climate activists tried in vain Friday to glue themselves to Edvard Munchs 1893 masterpiece The Scream at...







Staff offered route out after Raab reappointed to Cabinet role  reports Senior staff were offered a route out of Dominic Raabs department when he was reinstated as Justice Secretary amid concerns over his past behaviour in...







Family of terminally ill dad fear they won't be able to afford bills and end-of-life care Jonathan's family want him to be at home with his daughter for his end-of-life care, but they fear they may not be able to afford it







Royal Navy destroyer sailors rescue crew of yacht sinking off the Isle of Wight Royal Navy sailors from an air defence destroyer have rescued four people after their yacht began to sink off the Isle of Wight.







Sudbury, Ont., man says he knows where his stolen laptop is, but police won't retrieve it A Sudbury, Ont., man says police wouldn't obtain a search warrant to retrieve his missing laptop even after he gave them evidence of its location, which he...







FTX files for bankruptcy, CEO Bankman-Fried resigns FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. after a week that rocked the crypto world and is putting new pressure on investors and likely regulators.







Biden apologises for US pulling out of the Paris climate agreement President Joe Biden has apologised for the United States pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement.







Burglar who grabbed house keys through cat flap jailed for three years A burglar who grabbed house keys through a cat flap has been jailed for three years.







'Poorly executed': Council sorry over error-riddled COVID tribute plaque A council has been criticised for an error-strewn plaque that was supposed to pay tribute to key workers during the COVID pandemic.







Climate activists arrested for targeting Edvard Munch masterpiece The Scream Three women have been arrested after climate activists targeted Edvard Munch's world-famous masterpiece, The Scream, at a museum in Oslo on Friday, police said.




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DANBURY - A downtown developer plans to buy the News-Times headquarters building on Main Street and convert it into a 150-apartment complex.

Developer Daniel Bertrams $13 million plan is to transform the building into high-end studios and apartments, across the street from the recently completed 275-apartment Kennedy Flats complex.

This is part of an ongoing process for the gentrification of the downtown, Bertram said. This is an exciting next step.

The 50,000-square-foot News-Times building at 333 Main St. was put on the market recently by Hearst Connecticut Media Group, which has consolidated most of its business offices at Merritt 7 in Norwalk while maintaining local editorial offices at each of its five daily news outlets in Fairfield County - the Connecticut Post based in Bridgeport, The Norwalk Hour, the Stamford Advocate and Greenwich Time, in addition to The News-Times.

Hearst Connecticut Media Group Publisher Paul Barbetta confirmed on Wednesday that the two sides were close to a deal, and said The News-Times intends to move into new office space in downtown Danbury.

We believe in keeping our employees in the communities that they serve, Barbetta said on Wednesday. We are in the process of finding a new space in Danbury that better fits our needs.

Mayor Mark Boughton said the city will consider granting Bertram a 7-year deferral of taxes on improvements to the building. The city granted the same tax deferral to Bertram when he developed the nearby 115-apartment Brookview Commons on Crosby Street.

The city also deferred taxes on improvements made by Kennedy Flats developer Greystar.

This is a significant investment of private money in our downtown, Boughton said. This is going to bring people to Main Street with discretionary money to spend.

The developers application for a tax deferral was expected to be discussed by the City Council at its Thursday night meeting.
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Advocates say a new state law is a good first step in helping gifted and talented students, but without support and funding for gifted services not much will change.

The law, which took effect July 1, requires the state Department of Education to designate an employee to assist schools and parents with gifted and talented students.

By July 1, 2018, the department also must create a guide detailing the best practices for tackling these childrens needs.

Gifted and talented students academic and social emotional needs have long been neglected by our state, said Bianka Kortlan-Cox, a vice president of the Connecticut Association for the Gifted. This law, putting gifted and talented education on the legislative map, will hopefully with time, level the playing field for all gifted throughout the state.

Aside from requiring schools to identify talented and gifted students, she said, Connecticut is one of the few states in the nation that does not mandate services for these children.

Danbury Superintendent Sal Pascarella said he doubts the law will be effective because the state hasnt budgeted any money to pay for improved services.

Were already doing it and we dont need this type of support, Pascarella said. We need funding. Theres no funding.

The law would not have passed if it had cost the state money, said Kortlan-Cox, whose group advocates for gifted students.

Im very hopeful that once the state budget could be more healthy, that we could maybe go to the next step and have a law passed that would mandate some services for gifted children, she said. But I believe that even without that mandate, this law will still be effective.

This is because Department of Education Commissioner Dianna Wentzell is committed to gifted and talented students, Kortlan-Cox said.

After a similar law failed to pass the Legislature two years ago, Wentzell enacted it in spirit, Kortlan-Cox said. Wentzell appointed a representative, Gilbert Andrada, to oversee gifted and talented services. The new law ensures the representative cannot be cut from the budget.

Right now his position is safe, because hes in the law, Kortlan-Cox said.

More than required

New Milford Superintendent Joshua Smith said more funding would always be appreciated, but that the district already follows national guidelines.

My instinct is the program we have should match up with where state guidelines will end up, Smith said.

New Milford has two full-time enrichment teachers serving the 105 students who meet the state definition of gifted and talented, in addition to other excelling students, he said.

We dont draw any lines in the sand, so we try to create enrichment opportunities for all students based on what their interests are, what their needs are, whether they be in math or science or language and literature or the arts.

Newtown Superintendent Joseph Erardi Jr. also said the districts services are better than what the state requires. The district expanded its program in 2014, offering two full-time gifted and talented teachers in the four elementary schools and two part-time teachers for the intermediate schools, in addition to advanced placement classes at the high school.

Erardi said Newtowns program can be a model for other districts.

Im pleased the legislation is in place for districts who have yet to realize.there is a need for like learners to be in the same setting at times during the day, he said. For the highly capable student to feel that theres an extraordinary learning challenge is a terrific day and thats what our gifted and talented program does.

ZIP codes count

While 10 percent of all students nationwide fall into the gifted category, nearly one-third of Connecticut school districts fail to report any talented and gifted students, despite a state law requiring them to do so, Kortlan-Cox said.

Moreover, a majority of the states 166 school districts have no gifted programs or activities. Districts in wealthier places, such as Fairfield County, often have better services, she said.

Giftedness should not be a function of your income or your ZIP code, Kortlan-Cox said.

Danbury reported a little more than 2 percent of its students were gifted in 2013-14, according to the Connecticut Association for the Gifted.

At one time, Danbury was on the verge of having first-tier services for gifted students, Kortlan-Cox said. But budget cuts forced the district to eliminate its program.

The district now offers some in-school enrichment, a limited after-school program and other pay-to-participate services, Pascarella said.

Kortlan-Cox said it is common for gifted programs to fall on the chopping block when budgets are cut, but she hopes the law will make districts realize the necessity for these services.

Gifted education and the practices that are appropriate for gifted students don't have to cost any money, she said. Why? Because gifted best practices are best practices period. There is no magic to it.

The Connecticut Association for the Gifted plans to advocate for better ways to identify students.

Most tests are analytically based, which are not as effective as non-verbal tests, especially for children from minority backgrounds, she said.

Yet, identifying students is key, Kortlan-Cox said.

Teachers need to realize the child who may come off as rude or a smart aleck might be gifted, she said.

Otherwise, gifted students often drop out of school or break the law, she said. On the other hand, when talented and gifted students are provided opportunities to demonstrate how their minds work, they shine, Kortlan-Cox said.

Kids can move the family out of poverty, out of neighborhoods that are troubled neighborhoods, she said. They can also contribute to the economy in the end. So not paying attention to those kids is a very short-sighted policy of the state and its been the policy of the state since forever, until (last) week.
After the arrest of Sohel from a mango orchard of Shibganj in northern upazila of Chapainawabganj district on Saturday, he was brought to Dhaka by Counter Terrorism Unit of Police.

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: Bangladesh Police has claimed that Sohel Mahfouz, who was one of the planners and grenade suppliers of the Gulshan cafe attack, was the head of JMB's India branch. They claimed Khagragarh blast suspect Nasrallah is Bangladesh's Sohel Mahfouz.

After the arrest of Sohel from a mango orchard of Shibganj in northern upazila of Chapainawabganj district on Saturday, he was brought to Dhaka by Counter Terrorism Unit of Police.

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The police were looking for him after suspecting him of being involved in last year's attack on Holey Artisan Bakery.

On the other hand, he was also suspected to have been involved in the blast in Khagragarh in India's Burdwan, three years ago.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of the Counter Terrorism Unit of police, Abdul Mannan claimed that Nasrullah is the arrested Sohel Mahfuz of Bangladesh.

"From 2009 to 2014 he was staying in India and was in charge of JMB as Ameer (leader). His name then was Nasrallah. Nasrallah was suspected of Khagragarh blast incident by India's intelligence agency NIA," he said.

Sohel is the son of Rezaul Karim of Sadipur Kabalipara of Kumarkhali upazila of Kushtia. He is also known as Shahadat, Rimon and other names besides Nasrallah, police said. Because he did not have one hand, he is also known as 'Hatkata Sohel'.

"One hand of Sohel was blown away while making bombs with Bangla Bhai in Atrai area of Naogaon district in 2005," police officer Mannan said.

Head of Counter Terrorism Unit, Monirul Islam, earlier said that Sohel Mahfouz was identified as militant before the Gulshan attack. He is a Shura member during the establishment of the JMB.

"The detectives have received information that Sohel, who has been a fugitive for a long time, joined the NEO JMB two years ago," Islam said.

Police officials said during that time, Sohel was in India. In January 2014, at least two people were killed in a blast at Khagragarh in West Bengal, that was a militant JMB's den.

After that incident, Sohel escaped and joined the new JMB in Bangladesh.

"He (Sohel) is now one of the leading members of the new JMB. The NEO JMB Nurul Islam Marjan is related to his close relatives," Mannan said. "He has a kinship with JMB's top leader Nurul Islam. His in-laws' houses are in Shibganj of Chapainawabganj and in Ghoraghat of Dinajpur. His two father-in-laws are also JMB supporters."

--- ENDS ---
on Wednesday

Teodorin Obiang, who's the Vice President of Equatorial Guinea and the eldest son of President Teodoro Obiang denied the charges of laundering embezzled public funds. He is being tried in absentia.

The French authorities investigating the possibly illicit purchases of French assets by African leaders, estimate that Teodorins collection of cars, real estate, and other items are worth more than 100 million (about $115 million). The prosecutor is also seeking a 30 million fine for Teodorin.

The Prosecutors allege that Teodorin stole at least $115 million from the country while serving as agriculture minister for his father, who first took power in 1979.

Among the acquisitions at the centre of the trial are a large property bought for 25 million euros ($28.31 million)in 2005 on Paris's upmarket Avenue Foch, with gymnasium, steam room, hairdressing studio and a discotheque with cinema screen.

In addition, prosecutors say Obiang built up an exceptional collection of costly cars, which along with clothes, jewels and real estate took the value of all his assets to around 100 million euros.

According to Reuters, the case is the first of several to reach court in a broader judicial investigation into allegations of illicit acquisitions in France by long-time leaders and family relatives in several African countries including Gabon and the Congo Republic.

The court's ruling is expected to come at a later date.

Over the past few years, European authorities have seized some of Obiangs properties including a $120 million 76-meter yacht, called Ebony Ice, and a fleet of some of the worlds rarest cars, and a mansion in Paris, complete with a club, gold-plated bathrooms, and original paintings by Degas and Renoir.

In a previous settlement with US authorities, Obiang handed over more than $30 million in assets, including a villa in Malibu, California and luxury cars. He was able to keep Michael Jackson collectors items including a crystal glove Jackson once wore.

A French public prosecutorasked a court to sentence the son of Equatorial Guinea's president to three years in jail on charges of embezzling $115 million from his country to buy Parisian luxury properties and exotic cars.




US President, Donald Trump, on Saturday pledged to donate $639million in aid to feed people facing starvation because of drought and conflict in North-East Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.Trumps pledge came during a working session of the G20 summit of world leaders in Hamburg, Germany, the UN World Food Programme (WFP), Executive Director, David Beasley, said on the sidelines of the meeting, according to Reuters.Acting Head, Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Rob Jenkins, confirmed that Nigeria will get $121million from the money.Similarly, more than $191million would go to Yemen, $199million to South Sudan and nearly $126million for Somalia.With this new assistance, the United States is providing additional emergency food and nutrition assistance, life-saving medical care, improved sanitation, emergency shelter and protection for those who have been affected by conflict, USAID said in a statementJenkins said conflicts in the four countries, had made it difficult to reach some communities in need of food.Were in a dire situation right now. The situation in southern Ethiopia fortunately does not rise to the dire situation of the other four, but the situation is deteriorating and might very well be catastrophic without additional interventions, he said




The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo has said that the Federal Government believes in the principle of free elections as a factor that will lead to the stability of Nigeria.He made the disclosure yesterday during a visit by a delegation of ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commission led by its chairman, Professor Mahmud Yakubu at the State House in Abuja.Osinbajo called for the entrenchment of free and fair elections in Nigeria, stressing that the right to freely elect leaders should not be only by word of mouth but should be adhered to in practice.He said: We believe in the fundamental principles of free elections and we believe that the only way to ensure stability in the society is to ensure that people have the right to elect their leaderships, but not just a right on paper but a right in practice and the only way by which that right can be manifested in practice is by free and fair elections.On his part, Professor Yakubu, who is also the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) emphasised the importance of a good voter register, which he described as crucial to achieving credible elections.
Recall in April, we reported the news of Pastor Aloysius Bugingo of House of Prayer Ministries in Uganda, who allegedly burnt thousands of holy bible in his claims that they were misleading his members.

Now a lawsuit has been filed against him in Nabweru court for violating Christians freedom of worship by burning several versions of the Holy Bible.

In the lawsuit, some pastors representing over 200 Christians are seeking a court declaration that Bugingos acts or omissions of burning and destroying the Holy Bibles are illegal and unlawful, as it injures their religious feelings.

The pastors also contend that Bugingos actions are an attack and insult to all Christians who believe in the Bible.

They want the court to issue a permanent injunction, restraining Bugingo and his servants from further burning and destroying Bibles of several versions and making utterances, speeches, sermons or statements concerning the Holy Bible in a way that attacks, violets or insults their faith or religion.

The pastors also want the court to award them damages at a rate of 25 percent from the date of judgment until payment is done and costs of the suit.

In the court document sighted by New Vision, it was stated that on April 4, 2016 (Easter Sunday ), Bugingo collected or gathered several Holy Bibles of different versions, translations, and languages with the word Holy Ghost or missing scriptures and advised his flock or followers who are not strong to burn or destroy it.

Nabweru court chief magistrate, Esther Nasambu who will preside over the case, has given Bugingo 15 days to file his defence on allegations of violating Christians freedom of worship by burning several versions of the Holy Bible.
According to a report by Saturday Sun, billionaire kidnapper, Evans has vanished from police custody and taken to an unknown location. Read...

According to a report by Saturday Sun, billionaire kidnapper, Evans has vanished from police custody and taken to an unknown location. Read their report below...

Saturday Sun has gathered that Evans is not dead as his family now fears but has been moved from the Lagos police command headquarters cell by about 30 heavily armed men at midnight few days ago to an undisclosed destination. Some senior police officers in the know told Saturday Sun he was moved to Abuja Indeed, in the last few days, a palpable silence seemed to have enshrouded the Evans phenomenon.

Where is Evans? It is a question the police is not prepared to officially answer right now. A man who hitherto divulged the details of his criminal life to the public almost on a daily basis is suddenly no longer accessible to even the press corps. All a Saturday Sun reporter who visited the state police command was told was that Evans is no longer allowed to talk to the press till further notice.

The secrecy surrounding his whereabouts in the official quarters baffles those who have closely followed his story since his arrest.

After days of sniffing around the Lagos police formations to get information on Evans whereabouts, it was gathered that the kidnap kingpin had been moved out of the Lagos command headquarters days ago by heavily armed policemen and is yet to be returned.

Police had last week said they had got a court order to detain him for three months to give them enough time to complete their investigation. This followed two suits filed by Evans lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, at the High Court seeking his release and claiming N300m damages from the police. Some senior police officers who spoke to Saturday Sun on condition of anonymity expressed fears that Evans might not make it to the court.

They argued that he might plot his escape from prison, or get across to some of his members who are still on the run. Their concerns are not farfetched, given that several inmates in the past had reportedly committed much heinous crimes even while in prison.

Some of the officers confirmed that Evans was no longer in the police cell in Lagos. He has not been returned since he was moved out. Evans is a broken man; police cant resort to extra-judicial killings at this point. He is cooperating, and he is ready to help return all his ill-gotten wealth as soon as possible, one of the officers said.

Another reliable source at the police command told Saturday Sun Evans is not an ordinary criminal. I guess that they took him out for further investigation but I dont know why they are yet to return him to his cell. The source further assured: No one is planning to kill Evans. I believe that they will return him later. He could be in any good cell in the state for security reasons, but I can assure you that he is not dead yet. Even if anything happens to him, if he dies in custody, it will be as a result of cancer which he claims he is suffering from.

The Police high command has dismissed report of alleged disappearance or death of billionaire kidnapper, Chukwuduneme Onwuamadike, alias Evans, in its custody. (read HERE

UPDATE:
Tragedy struck in the early hours of Saturday when a cargo truck popularly called Container fell on a fully loaded commercial bus p...

Tragedy struck in the early hours of Saturday when a cargo truck popularly called Container fell on a fully loaded commercial bus popularly known as Danfo in the Ojota area of Lagos State, killing no fewer than eight people.According to an eyewitness account, 3 passengers were rescued alive by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA).As at the time of filing this report, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency officials are still on ground as rescue operations continue.
Dani Alves will have his medical in a matter of days as his switch to Manchester City from Juventus nears completion.Alves is due in Manchester at the start of next week to tie up his free transfer to the Etihad.He will sign a two-year deal and re-unite with his former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola.The terms of the deal have already been agreed, according to Mirror.Alves, 34, has completed his holiday and will begin pre-season training with Manchester City next weekend.The Brazilian will then jet off a week later with his new team-mates on their pre-season tour of the United States.
The Emir of Keffi, Dr. Shehu Yamusa, on Saturday warned Nigerians to desist from things that will lead to the disintegration of the country.Yamusa, who made reference to the agitation for Biafra and the quit notice to the Igbo by some northern youths, said the agitators were ignorant of the challenges of 1966-1970 civil in Nigeria.The monarch told the News Agency of Nigeria in Keffi that agitations and threats for some groups to leave the North were not necessary, adding that the country belongs to everyone.According to him, the northerners had always been their brothers keepers, adding that they should live happily to improve on the commercial transactions in their domains for economic prosperity rather than quit notice.The Ibos and Northerners fought for the Nigerian independence and having secured it, it must be enjoyed by all because we are one, the monarch said.On the clamour for the restructuring of Nigeria, the emir said the problem would not be resolved through restructuring, adding that the leaders and the people should exercise discipline and observe the rule of law on the issue.With discipline and commitment, Nigeria would be a better place.On why the economic recession was yet to be abated in spite Federal Governments effort, the traditional ruler called on the government to invest more in farming.He further urged that such investment should not be on paper work, radio and television, but by going to the rural areas and joining hands with the community leaders to ensure improved farming.The diversification of the economy is very important because it will assist in raising the revenue generation benchmark as well as the creation of expertise in different fields.Nigeria is highly endowed, especially with natural resources, with so many deposits in different states of the federation.All that is needed is the commitment of the natural resources to be developed for revenue and less reliance on federal allocation.Speaking on corruption, Yamusa noted that it had remained the bane of Nigerias development.He called for the reintroduction of the War Against Indiscipline (WAI), saying that charity should begin at home, especially for the children.NAN reports that General Muahmmadu Buhari introduced WAI to instill discipline in the people when he was the Head of State in the 80s.According to the emir, if that is done, children will grow with discipline, adding that it would also go a long way to further check corruption in Nigeria.The monarch commended the present administration for wining war against insecurity in the country but called on the people to see security as a collective responsibility.He urged the people to give useful information to security agencies on any suspected movement in their areas to boost the success so far recorded against crime and criminality in the country.
By PTI: Muzaffarnagar (UP), Jul 8 (PTI) The police today seized 750 cartons of illicit liquor, worth Rs 25 lakh, near the Uttar Pradesh-Haryana border in Shamli district.

"A police team, led by Station House Officer Bhagat Singh, intercepted a truck coming from Haryana at the Billi checkpost and seized 750 cartons of liquor," said Superintendent of Police (SP) Ajay Pal Sharma.

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The truck driver, Pala Singh, was arrested and he confessed that the liquor was being smuggled from Haryana to Lucknow, the SP said. PTI CORR HMB MIN RC

--- ENDS ---
The son-in-law of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Prince Goodwill Edward, was on Friday shot by unknown gunmen in Calabar. Edward was r...



The son-in-law of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Prince Goodwill Edward, was on Friday shot by unknown gunmen in Calabar. Edward was reportedly shot in his State Housing Estate residence.





Edward, who is from Abi LGA of the state, got married Jonathans daughter in a very lavish and publicised wedding in 2014. When contacted by Punchng, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa, said the matter had yet to be reported officially to the police.



He said from records, it was not the first time that Edward had been attacked. Inuwa said, They attempted him. This was the third or fourth time that this thing is happening.



Do you know that as at now Im talking to you there is no official report about it? We are not going to wait until the matter is reported. We are the police we know our responsibility.



Even if they have a reason for not reporting which we are not going to sit down until the matter is reported, we have the responsibility to investigate and by the grace of God we will go after those responsible."
Lionel Messi will not go to prison despite being found guilty of tax fraud.The Barcelona star, who has been on probation since he and his father Jorge were found guilty of three counts of defrauding the Spanish tax authority in July 2016, will instead pay an increased fine.Payment of the fine will see the remainder of Messi's sentence scrapped, meaning there is no chance of the already unlikely possibility that he could have spent time behind bars.Messi and his father were found guilty of defrauding the tax man out of 3.59million by hiding earnings from image rights in offshore accounts in both Uruguay and Belize from 2007 to 2009.The Argentina international and five-time Ballon d'Or winner was given a 21-month prison sentence in 2016, but didn't face jail time.Spanish law dictates that first-time offenders are given suspended sentences - meaning they can serve it under probation - if the term is under two years.Messi attempted to appeal against the sentence in May, but failed. His father on the other hand had his sentence reduced to 15 months.The 30-year-old will now pay 221,000 while Jorge will pay 160,000.
Akin Oyebode, Professor of International law and jurisprudence, has warned Igbo leaders to call Nnamdi Kanu to order over his agitation for...

Akin Oyebode, Professor of International law and jurisprudence, has warned Igbo leaders to call Nnamdi Kanu to order over his agitation for Biafra.

The Don, who insisted that independence must be fought for and won, dared Nnamdi Kanu to confront the Nigerian military first, then theres question of recognition.

He was reacting to demand by the IPOB leader, for referendum for South East before the forthcoming Anambra and 2019 elections.

Oyebode warned that Kanu was provoking the federal government and taking his luck too far.

Nnamdi Kanu is an opportunist. People have said who put you to power? Who are you to speak for Ndigbo? I read something online where Anambra people said count us out of your Biafra whatever, boycott of November 2017 Anambra governorship election.

Whats referendum, that Igbo should not vote? We are going to vote. You got away with sit at home protest but this time we are part of Nigeria or you want us to lose out or for soldiers to take over our state?.

Why I said Nnamdi Kanu is being opportunistic is that the concept of self determination is a valid concept in colonial situations when you have the metropolitan power and the people subjugated by the colonial power.

Self determination is to poll inhabitants of the colonized territory whether they want independence or they dont. After independence, it is no longer a matter of self determination. It becomes one of right to development. Nigerians exercised their right of self determination on the 1st of October, 1960.

So that has been met and in fact a distinguished professor of international law, my late friend Prof Orji Umezuruike, defended a PhD in Oxford on self determination. People should read. So after independence, the only way you bring change about is not by way of referendum.

You have to change the facts on the ground militarily. You defeat the federal government militarily. So you have a new state like that of Bangladesh in 1971, like that of Eritrea in 1979, like that of South Sudan four years ago.

So militarily, you have to confront the federal government and defeat them and then declare your independence. Then theres question of recognition. So thats the only way you change the boundaries in Africa.
The United Kingdom has denied insinuation that it is in support of any agitation for the break-up of Nigeria.The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Paul Thomas Arkwright, said on Friday that the British government was not supporting those calling for the secession in Nigeria.The UK said it would always support Nigerias unity and ensure the progress of the country as usual.Arkwright spoke in Ilorin, Kwara State when he paid a courtesy visit to the state House of Assembly where he met with the Speaker, Dr. Ali Ahmed and other principal officers of the House.In a word, no, we dont have anything to do with anyone agitating for the break-up of Nigeria.Were strongly in support of the unity of Nigeria and the Federal Government of Nigeria. And thats what the British government has consistently supported and we dont have an interest or support anyone agitating for the break- up of Nigeria.For anyone to say the British government is involved in any way in the break-up of Nigeria is completely wrong, he said.He described Nigerias democratic situation as delicate but commended efforts at upholding democratic tenets and keeping the flame of democracy alive.France, an ally of defunct Biafra in 1967, had similarly denounced any further step to actualise the secession of South East from Nigeria.The country said that such a move had been overtaken by events and no longer in support of break-up of any part of Nigeria.Frances Ambassador to Nigeria, Denys Gauer, said his country would not in any way work with any group agitating for the dismemberment of Nigeria.He said France was working with Nigeria and supporting it as a country.He spoke against the backdrop of Frances previous support for Biafra during Nigerias civil war.Gauer pointed out that Nigeria has evolved since the civil war.France has been cooperating with the country to overcome its challenges, especially the fight against the insurgency.
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has advised Nigerians to eschew violence and threats, especially to elders, warning that such won...

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has advised Nigerians to eschew violence and threats, especially to elders, warning that such wont quell separatism.The Ex-Vice President gave the advise following the recent hate speeches and threats to some regions and especially, allegedly, to some high individuals like to the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, by some persons in the country. It is of note that in the last few months, some hate speeches have been emanating from different quarters, beginning with the quit notice issued some Nigerians of Igbo extraction by some Arewa youths who said Ndigbo must leave the northern region before October 1st or face physical attacks.Similarly, the overall leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who has been released on bail from jail has also, recently, been quoted as making a hate speech against Obasanjo after the Former President said he had no apology but has explanation to give while the recent separatist movements in the country ought to stop.According to Obasanjo, What lesson can we learn? The lesson we can learn is that we have had enough tragedies in this country. So far, since 1999, it seems that we have got it right. Let us hope that we continue to get it right and learn that Nigeria has had enough of bloodshed, enough of sacrifices by those victims, that Nigeria deserves peace, unity and progress.Maimalari was a man who was very interested in the welfare of his men during a peacekeeping mission in Congo, a situation that led to him having issues with some few. He was a soldiers soldier. If Maimalari had lived to head the Nigerian Army, to the best of my own knowledge, Nigeria would have been better for it. Lesson to be learnt from Maimalaris death- this country had had trained officers who would have been of benefit to this country, but cut out at the prime of their lives, and our lesson should be that this should never happen again.I have no apology but I have explanation. Its because its necessary to stop this sort of things that took the life of your father prematurely, that we had to take the decision that all those who have tasted power, that they should never have tasted, of political office that we should ease them out of the Army so that we can have an Army that is free from political aberration.And since 1999, I think we have got it right, let us hope that we have got it right and learn the right lessons. Nigeria has had enough bloodshed, sacrifices and Nigeria deserves peace, unity and progress. And may be the sacrifices of the like of Brigadier General Maimalari be sufficient to give this country peace, development, unity and progress, said Obasanjo. However, addressing his co-Biafran supporters in one of their gatherings, Mazi Kanu was quoted to have used derogatory words and even threats on the ex-President. But Atiku Abubakar, while condemning the hate and threats generally said, Its important for Nigerians to respect leaders who played defining roles in Nigerias development.Threats of violence help no ones cause! He also said that Violence and threats wont quell separatism. The more Nigeria moves towards social justice, the more Nigeria shifts away from separation. Also in one of his writeups, Atiku advised that, The number one problem plaguing Nigeria is not corruption or even the absence of regular power.The number one problem militating against the progress of Nigeria is her lack of unity. If we can fix this problem, Nigeria will herself be fixed.
HAMILTON TWP. -- A Florida man has been arrested in connection with a stabbing at an Atlantic County blueberry farm, authorities said.

Obner Sales-Luis has been charged with stabbing a man on a Hammonton blueberry farm, authorities said. (Hamilton Township Police Department)

Obner Sales-Luis, 20, was charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, Hamilton Township Police said.

On June 24 around 8:30 a.m., officers were called to the Atlantic Blueberry Farm on Weymouth Road to investigate a report of a fight.

When police arrived they found a 27-year-old man with "multiple, large" cuts to his upper left arm that authorities said he received from being stabbed during a fight.

The victim, also a resident of Florida, was taken to AtlantiCare Medical Center's City Division.

On July 5 investigators found the suspect in the stabbing, Sales-Luis, on a farm in Hammonton, where he was taken into custody without incident, police said.

After being charged he was taken to the Atlantic County Jail in Mays Landing.

The Hammonton Police Department assisted in the investigation, authorities said.

There was no word on what sparked the fight that resulted in the stabbing.

Bill Gallo Jr. may be reached at bgallo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Bill Gallo Jr. on Twitter @bgallojr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
HACKENSACK-- A 40-year-old Bergenfield man has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend, a club manager from Edgewater who disappeared late last month, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said in a statement Friday.

Jennifer Londono (File photo)

Raphael Lolos has also been charged with desecration of human remains, hindering apprehension, stalking and credit card fraud following the murder of Jenny Londono, 31.

On June 27, Londono's partial remains were found in Brooklyn. Londono, who was reportedly last seen two days earlier in Union City, was identified through a distinctive Sanskrit-language tattoo below her right hip.

The New York Police Department contacted Bergen County authorities after learning Londono was last seen in New Jersey and carried out a joint investigation.

Authorities say Lolos killed and dismembered Londono in New Jersey and threw her remains in the Hudson River. Lolos allegedly used Londono's credit cards up until his arrest Thursday in Linden.

Raphael Lolos (Bergen County Prosecutor's Office)

Following his arrest, Lolos suffered what authorities described as a "medical episode." He was hospitalized at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
BURLINGTON CITY-- More than a dozen people were arrested June 30 as part of a program sponsored by the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office that allows individual communities to call on other agencies for help targeting crime, the prosecutor's office and Burlington City police said Friday.

The Enough is Enough Safe Streets Initiative, which targeted the New Yorkshire neighborhood and involved personnel from the prosecutor's office as well as police from Evesham and Westampton, is funded through criminal-forfeiture proceeds. Burlington City was the first community in the county to apply for the program, which was launched in May.

"The City of Burlington Police Department will continue to work alongside our law enforcement and community partners to allow our residents to enjoy a peaceful environment," said Burlington City Police Chief Alan Snow. "We will not rest and must remain committed to continuing our pro-active initiatives to deter violent crime in Burlington City."

"We are pleased that Burlington City police have taken advantage of this opportunity to increase their presence and secure a safe environment for the residents under their watch," Prosecutor Scott Coffina said.

"The arrests in Burlington City demonstrate the effectiveness of this initiative in addressing specific problems that contribute to violent crimes and other behavior that poses a threat to the residents of our communities. This was the first of what we anticipate will be many successful operations that will improve the quality of life for the law-abiding citizens of Burlington County."

Among those arrested were Terrence Brown, 44, of Burlington City, was taken into custody on a violation of parole warrant out of North Carolina.

Also arrested, on outstanding warrants and drug possession, were Tyree Fryar, 20, of Burlington City; Maurice Harris, 43, of Burlington City; and Henry Mobley, 41, of Edgewater Park.

Four of the arrests were for warrants issued by the Burlington County Sheriff's Department for failure to pay child support, including: Jarvis Cephas, 34, Burlington City; Darnell Hawkins, 43, Burlington City; Marcus Hubbard, 44, Edgewater Park; and Isreal Molina, 37, Burlington City.

Other defendants were arrested on outstanding municipal court warrants, including Lazelle Betts, 37, of Willingboro; DaJaquan Cole, 20, of Burlington City; Treyvon Howard, 19, of Union; Tykwon Royal, 22, of Burlington City; Leonard Starling, 37, of Burlington City; Jamal Taylor, 46, of Burlington City; Andre Washington, 35, of Burlington City; and Korey Williams, 34, of Burlington City.

Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
NEWARK -- Two Brooklyn men were charged with having false documents when one of them tried to rent a car at Newark Liberty International Airport, authorities said Saturday.

Jeorge Echevarria, 40, and Jonathan Vinas, 25, were each charged with conspiracy, forgery, false government documents, credit card theft and hindering apprehension of one self after they were arrested at the Hertz Car Rental site at the airport Thursday night, said Joseph Pentangelo, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department.

Pentangelo said Hertz staff became suspicious and called police when Echevarria tried to use a credit card with no hologram while he was trying to rent and upgrade a rental car there at 10 p.m.

While interviewing Echevarria, police found he had on him a Florida's driver's license that had the same name on it as the one on the fake credit card, Pentangelo said. He said Echevarria told police the name on the credit card was not his and he gave police a New York State license with his actual name.

Staff also became suspicious when Echevarria was speaking on the cell phone during the rental process, he said. He said it became clear that the person he was talking to on the phone was conspiring with Echevarria, Pentangelo said.

After police arrested him and searched him, they found on him a second credit card with the fake name used on the Florida's driver's license.

Police arrested Vinas in the Hertz lot, Pentangelo said. He said Vinas had on him three credit cards matching the name of the bogus driver's license that Echevarria had, he said.

He said Echevarria filled out a rental agreement using the forged credit card and the fake driver's license.

MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
By PTI: Gorakhpur (UP), Jul 8 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today lamented the countrys "poor performance" in the field of science and technology despite being the largest democracy.

"Despite being the largest democracy and market, India is lagging behind in the field of technology...we have lost our place in the field of science...those who used to follow us are being followed by us today," he said at a function here.

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"We will have to bring a change in our mindset according to the changing times," he said.

He said it was a matter of concern that none of the cities in eastern UP had featured in the Centres Smart Cities list.

Stressing on the need for reviving sugar mills in the region through new techniques, the chief minister asked the research institutes to do the needful in this direction.

He said research done for meeting local requirements was more important than that for international needs.

On the deteriorating standard of education, the priest-turned-politician said there were some 660 private engineering colleges in the state, but these were hardly getting any admission.

He said the college owners were now converting the institutes into marriage halls and malls.

"It is a matter of concern that the standard of education is falling," he added. PTI CORR SAB SRY

--- ENDS ---
Anny Divya always wanted to be a pilot. She followed her dreams and now, she is the world's youngest woman commander to fly a Boeing 777.

Apart from flying, Anny enjoys writing poetry. She has written more than 30 poems in Urdu.

By Mayuresh Ganapatye: If you follow your dreams till your grow tired, you will someday make it through.

Anny Divya, now the world's youngest woman commander to fly Boeing 777, reaffirms this quote as true.

Born in Pathankot, Punjab, Anny wanted to become a pilot since childhood. And like in the most cases, even her journey wasn't an easy one.

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HOW IT BEGAN FOR DIVYA

"When I was in school, my mother told me about this career. From then, I decided to pursue it, said Anny.

But not everyone was understanding of her choice. In school, when she shared with her friends her dream of becoming a commercial pilot some day, her friends would laugh her choice.

Even then, engineering and medical were considered the best career options. And so, it drove Anny to attend an engineering college for a while.

"I didn't enjoy studying engineering, as I would continuously think about flying," said Anny. "My parents supported and helped me pursue my dream."

Anny Divya with her mother Padmini

THE STRUGGLE SHE ENDURED

Making her dream come true wasn't always easy for Anny and her family.

After finishing school, Anny got into Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA), the flying school in Uttar Pradesh.

"The cost of the course was not small, but my family took a loan for me, so that I could achieve my dream," she said.

"During my initial flying days, I faced lot of problems due to my English," she said. But Anny, eventually, overcame that problem as well.

"Language shouldn't be barrier. When I went to Spain for my training, I met lot of people and became friends with them. They didn't understand English and Spanish was new language for me. But we connected with each other nonetheless," she said.

FLIGHT OF ANNY

Anny completed her training at the age of 19. After she was done with her training, she got her first job with Air India.

While she loves and enjoys her work, Anny accepts that for such a demanding career, lifestyle adjustments have to be made.

"We would be asked to fly at any given time as per our schedules, which is why we need to adjust our sleep and food timings accordingly," she said.

Apart from flying, Anny enjoys writing poetry. She has written more than 30 poems in Urdu.

She also has a post graduation degree in law.

"My mantra in life is simple: do things perfectly and differently, so that people will recognise your work," she said.

--- ENDS ---

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Jerry Foxhoven, the new director of the Iowa Department of Human Services, called the Glenwood Resource Center essential during a visit to the campus Thursday and said he doesnt see the state closing it down anytime soon.

I cant imagine that we will ever not need it to exist, Foxhoven said. The services were providing here, the reason were providing them is there isnt anybody else to do it. Its a proper role, in my mind, for government to serve those people who dont have another resource to go to.

He also said he expects to announce a new director for GRC in a matter of weeks.

Glenwood Mayor Brian Tackett was glad to hear of Foxhovens comments.

I think its great news that thats the current directors perspective, he said. Weve got a lot of families that get their incomes from that institution.

The resource center employs about 770 people and has more than 200 residents.

With the state closing mental health facilities in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant last year, city leaders have been nervous, Tackett said. Of course, even if the threat has subsided, the community will work on diversifying its economic base, he said.

Foxhoven, 64, of Clive was appointed by Gov. Kim Reynolds in June and started the position on June 15. Former Director Chuck Palmer announced his retirement at the end of May and left June 16.

While at GRC, Foxhoven met with leadership, then with care staff and clients at several cottages, according to Amy Lorentzen McCoy, DHS public information officer. He also met with a parent group representative.

Ive always imparted that the people who do the work day to day can tell us more about how to fix things than the people at the top, Foxhoven said. I want to hear from them, whats getting in your way of success?

Also, it gives me a chance to work on morale, he said. Part of my challenge is just to get out there and say youve had a calling to do this kind of work.

Foxhoven acknowledged that hes taking over at a challenging time, given problems at state institutions, failures in the child welfare system and Medicaids bumpy transition to managed care.

Criminal charges have been filed against six former GRC staff members in connection with allegations of client abuse and neglect. Two adopted Iowa teens died of neglect during the past nine months, and some Medicaid subscribers and providers have come up short on services or payments since the program was privatized effective April 1.

However, Foxhoven seemed undaunted by the task ahead of him.

Im a person who likes change, he said. I always think we can do things better.

Foxhoven practiced law from 1977 to 2000, focusing on criminal and civil law with extensive involvement in juvenile and family law. In 2000, he became administrator for the Iowa Child Advocacy Board. During this period, he was also director of two separate child welfare advocacy programs: Court Appointed Special Advocate and Iowa Citizen Foster Care Review Board.

In 2006, he became director of the Joan & Lyle Middleton Center for Childrens Rights, a state and national advocacy center focusing on childrens rights issues. Around the same time, he joined Drake Law School as a clinical professor. He instructed juvenile law for third-year law students in a clinical setting, supervising students in juvenile court proceedings and in the Legislative Practice Program as they drafted bills and lobbied for passage of bills pertaining to issues involving youth.

Most recently, he served as executive director of Clinical Programs and Professor of Law at Drake Universitys School of Law.

Foxhoven has been appointed to various state committees and councils by governors of both parties.
By India Today Web Desk: According to latest reports, Bigg Boss 10 winner Manveer Gurjar and Shakti actress Kamya Panjabi are in a relationship. Kamya, who is currently seen as Prito in the Colors show, recently took to social media site Instagram to "thank a very special someone" after she won the Zee Gold Awards for the Best Negative character on television.

A big thank you to each one of you who voted for me n a very special thanks to very special someone @imanveergurjar ??love you guys... #preeto #gratitude #shakti #goldawards A post shared by Kamya Panjabi (@panjabikamya) on Jul 4, 2017 at 10:41pm PDT

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Here's the post that Kamya shared:

Now this got everyone thinking whether Manveer and Kamya are actually seeing each other, as the actress had shared another picture of the two of them together having dinner not too long ago.

Kamya has finally broken her silence on the subject.

"We are great friends and nothing else. While he was in the house, I supported him and appealed to my fans to vote for him. We met after he won Bigg Boss and formed a great rapport. From the time I got nominated for Gold Award, he has been constantly appealing for votes and got so many of his friends to vote for me. Thus when I won, I thought of thanking him. He is really sweet and very special to me," she told The Indian Express.

When asked whether there is at all a possibility of romance between the two, Kamya said, "Not at all. In bold letters, we are only FRIENDS, so do not read more to that. It's solely a mutual admiration club between me and Manveer."

While Kamya divorced Bunty Negi in 2013, Manveer has previously been linked to BB10 contestant Nitibha Kaul.

Also read: Bigg Boss 9 star Mandana Karimi says quitting work on her husband's behest was her biggest mistake

--- ENDS ---
Theresa Greenfield of Des Moines has announced she will seek the 3rd Congressional District seat in Iowa.

Greenfield, 53, becomes the fourth candidate in the Democratic primary. U.S. Rep. David Young, a Republican, currently holds the seat.

Im running for Congress because Iowans know it will take Iowa values  mixed with a heavy dose of can-do common sense  to overcome the problems we face here and in Washington, Greenfield said in a statement released by her campaign.

Greenfield worked for more than a decade as an urban planner before becoming the president of developer Rottlund Homes of Iowa in 2007, her campaign said. Today she is the president of Colby Interests, a Des Moines real estate firm.

Greenfield grew up on a farm in Minnesota near the Iowa state line. Her campaign said she attended Iowa Lakes Community College, Iowa State University and Mankato State University in Minnesota. Greenfield said shed fight for workers and their families, working to provide opportunities and well-paying jobs, along with health care that is available and affordable.

For farmers, their families and small-town Iowa, that means opposing misguided policies that would crush agriculture and weaken Iowas economy, she said. For future generations, that means a real commitment to world-class, lifelong education and to protecting the environment.

Greenfield joins a primary field that includes others involved in Democratic causes in years past: businesswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines, writer and web series host Heather Ryan of Des Moines and psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner Paul Knupp of Des Moines.

Pete DAlessandro, who ran Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign in Iowa, is also exploring a run.

The Democratic primary for the seat is scheduled for June 5, 2018. The 3rd District covers the southwestern quadrant of Iowa, including Pottawattamie, Mills, Fremont, Page, Montgomery and Cass counties.

There are 163,722 active registered Democrats in the district, 175,348 active registered Republicans and 166,385 active voters with no party affiliation, according to the Iowa Secretary of States Office.

No Republicans have announced their candidacy for the primary yet.
Wesley Correa-Carmenaty, charged with first-degree murder in the May 1 shooting death of Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office Deputy Mark Burbridge and the attempted murder of Deputy Pat Morgan and an Omaha man, is now scheduled to go to trial in Council Bluffs on Aug. 15.

Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber said on Thursday that Correa-Carmenaty, 24, had not waived his right to a speedy trial and has not requested that the trial to be moved from Council Bluffs to Sioux City.

As of Wednesday thats what weve learned, so were planning on picking a jury in August, Wilber said.

Sioux City attorney Greg Jones, who is representing Correa-Carmenaty, said it is possible his client could waive his speedy trial right before Aug. 15. He declined to comment on how likely that possibility was.

August is the date weve agreed on, and it could still be in Council Bluffs, Jones said.

Both attorneys said the trial could be moved by the judge. Wilber said if an impartial jury cannot be selected, the judge could declare a mistrial and then relocate to Sioux City.

As of yet, there hasnt been a motion to move, Wilber said.

Correa-Carmenatys trial was initially set for July 25 but was continued.

He is accused of attacking Burbridge and Morgan after he had been taken back to the Pottawattamie County Jail after being convicted earlier that morning of voluntary manslaughter for a botched robbery in 2016 that left Anthony Walker dead. Correa-Carmenaty was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

Authorities said Correa-Carmenaty fought with the deputies and grabbed one of their guns, mortally wounding Burbridge and wounding Morgan before stealing the jail van and crashing through the closed garage door. At a nearby intersection, he is accused of trying to carjack an Omaha mans vehicle and shooting him. Both Morgan and the man have made full recoveries since.

Authorities said Correa-Carmenaty then got back in the van, eventually carjacking a woman and forcing her at gunpoint to drive him to Omaha. She was not injured. Correa-Carmenaty was eventually captured by officers in Omaha near the Interstate 480 entrance ramp and Cuming Street.

Correa-Carmenaty is currently being held at the Woodbury County Jail in Sioux City.

He faces charges of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder, second-degree kidnapping, three counts of first-degree robbery, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, two counts of felon in possession of a firearm, escape and first-degree criminal mischief.
Two columns of the Army have been deployed in the Darjeeling hills after a GNLF worker was allegedly killed in police firing. Authorities said they received no reports of any such firing.

GJM supporters take out a mass rally to demand for separate state Gorkhaland during a protest in Mirik near Darjeeling earlier this week (PTI photo)

By India Today Web Desk: At least two columns of the Indian Army have been deployed in the Darjeeling hills where a continuing indefinite strike where the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha entered its 24th day.

The deployment came hours after a youth was killed in alleged police firing in Sonada early today morning, further depending tensions. Gorkhaland supporters claimed that GNLF worker Tashi Bhutia died after being shot by the police.

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Following the youth's death Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost and a toy train station while activists of the GJM and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) also clashed with the police at Sonada and Chawkbazar in Darjeeling.

Two columns of the Army comprising around 100 personnel were deployed in Sonada and Darjeeling in the wake of fresh violence.

The Gorkha National Liberation Front said Bhutia was one of their workers and today morning slammed Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress West Bengal government over his death.

The GJM and GNLF also took out a rally today with Bhutia's body even as authorities denied getting any reports of such an incident.

"We don't have any reports of police firing as of now. We are looking into the incident. We can give you details in the afternoon," an unnamed police officer told news agency PTI.

The GJM and other hill parties have lodged a police complaint accusing the police of killing the youth.

"The youth was killed by police without any reason. His body has bullet injuries. We demand that the policemen involved be punished," GJM leader Binay Tamang was quoted as saying by PTI.

As news of his death spread, hundreds of Gorkhaland supporters came out on the streets and raised slogans against "police atrocities".

The Centre had said on Friday that it was keen on holding tripartite talks with the GJM and the West Bengal government to end the agitation.

With food supply severely hit due to the indefinite strike, the GJM and various NGOs distributed food amongst the people.

Barring medicine outlets, all shops, schools, colleges remained closed. Internet services remained suspended for the 21st day.

Police and security forces patrolled the streets and kept vigil on the entry and exit routes.

(With inputs from Indrajit Kundu in West Bengal and PTI)

ALSO READ | GJM protests in Darjeeling: Hundreds of stranded tourists escorted to safety

ALSO READ | Nepali vs Bangla in Darjeeling: Demand for Gorkhaland leaves Queen of Hills boiling again

ALSO WATCH | Several tourists stranded as GJM protests in Darjeeling continue

--- ENDS ---

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Four people have been arrested following a raid by armed police.

Nottinghamshire Police carried out the operation in Shelford Road, Radcliffe-on-Trent, on Saturday afternoon.

A helicopter was also called to help at the scene.

Police helicopter hovering over Radcliffe on Trent for around 20 minutes now. #Nottingham pic.twitter.com/qOor9IctYN  Paul Gordon (@pauladamgordon) July 8, 2017

Two men and a woman were arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm without the correct documents.

Another woman was arrested for breaching the peace.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said: "Four people have been arrested in Radcliffe-on-Trent in connection with firearms offences. Armed officers carried out a warrant just after 2pm in Shelford Road as part of a planned operation.

"Two men and a woman were taken into custody on suspicion of possession of a firearm without certificate. Another woman was arrested for breach of peace. They remain in police custody.

"We'd like to reassure local residents that there is no ongoing threat to them and that officers will remain in the area for the next day or so."

Residents have told the Post of the worrying scenes in the village, with armed police officers, a dog unit and a battering ram on the streets.

Charles Livingston, of nearby Birkin Avenue, said: "I got home at about 2.20pm and I couldn't get down the street because it was blocked by this big blue van.

"I went to speak to the driver and that's when I saw all the police officers. They had a battering ram, riot shields and were armed. There was a police dog too.

"I could hear them shouting and the helicopter was hovering above us. There were about five police officers up by the house and another three stopping people from going up the alley."

He has lived in the street since 1970 with his wife Christine, who said she has never known anything like it happen in the area.

"It's really quiet around here," she said. "You never expect something like this to happen here."

Another resident, who lives on Shelford Road, said police officers had visited her during the operation.

"There were lots of policemen with guns, and they came round and told us to lock our doors and close our windows," she added.
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The heartbroken family of a driver who died on Trent Bridge have hailed him a hero for safely controlling his car while having a heart attack.

Stephan Cooke, 72, was taken ill at the wheel on Thursday morning while on his way to the shop with his wife Sandra.

Emergency services were called to the scene at around 11.30am and the St Ann's resident was taken to Queen's Medical Centre but were unable to save the great granddad.

The Post has received dozens of messages of support since the incident.

Daughter Kelly Brady, 40, of Thorneywood, said: "I'm overwhelmed that you all are thinking of him.

"I'm heartbroken to say that our dad did pass away from a sudden heart attack at the wheel.

"He was totally fine an hour before. For all their efforts they were unable to bring him back to us.

"My mum was so brave and myself and my siblings were with her as fast as we could be.

"But it was too late, my darling dad had gone.

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"He was a hero to stop his car from preventing injury to my mum and other road users.

"Hold your loved ones close things like this are never expected."

Mr Cooke had recently celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary and enjoyed a family holiday three weeks ago to Gran Canaria.

The family would like to thank the emergency services and members of the public who helped at the scene.

A special thank you was also mentioned for the staff and customers at Trent Bridge Inn.

Mrs Brady added: "They supported my devastated mum in the minutes it took us to get to there.

"We are truly grateful. Its such a shock my dad was fine a hour before, I had just spoke to him as they left to nip to ASDA.

"We feel so cheated."

Emergency services had closed the road off to traffic after Stephan took ill, and the bridge remained closed off for more than two hours.

Nottinghamshire Police said at the time following a report of a driver being "taken unwell in their vehicle" they were directing traffic and advised motorists to avoid the area.

Inspector Paul Hennessy said: "We were very sorry to hear that Mr Cooke had passed away.

"Officers passing in the area saw the medical incident and did everything they could to help him before paramedics arrived.

"Our thoughts are with his family at this time."

An East Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We received a call from Nottinghamshire Police to ask for our attendance at an incident on Trent Bridge near West Bridgford, Nottingham.

"Police had been alerted to an unconscious patient and we sent an ambulance crew and doctor to the scene. The patient was taken to Queen's Medical Centre. "
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A former Nottinghamshire Police officer who has been jailed after pleading guilty to his role in supplying drugs 'boasted openly about illegal steroid abuse', a court heard.

Bodybuilder Gareth Golds, who was based as Radford Road police station, offered to sell the class C drugs through a closed WhatsApp group, Derby Crown Court was told.

The former PC, of Kirk Hallam, 'turned a blind eye to criminality' and boasted to his drug-dealing friends how he "hated the pigs" when referring to other officers, the Derby Telegraph reports .

It was told that, in one message posted to the group, a friend told the others on it that he was at Gold's address "raking up lines (of cocaine) on a copper's kitchen table" and that Golds was "coked up". Now, the 31-year-old has been jailed for two years, leaving his wife to bring up their four-month son without his father.

Sending Golds, Judge Peter Cooke said: "You grossly breached the trust that the public placed on you as a serving police officer. You turned a blind eye to your friends' criminality, openly bragging about it on WhatsApp.

"You took steroids and offered to supply them to others and this was, in my view, active engagement in criminality. At the very least, what you were doing constituted sanctioning the supply of selling controlled drugs.

"You called police officers 'pigs' and, by doing so, showed thorough and active contempt for the institution that employed you."

Adrian Langdale, prosecuting, said matters came to light during a different investigation when analysis of a seized mobile phone unearthed a closed WhatsApp group, which Golds, of St Norbert Drive, Kirk Hallam, near Ilkeston, was "one of the forum's busiest posters" on.

Mr Langdale said: "It is a disgraceful abhorration that a serving police officer is involved in this. There were thousands of references to drugs and their supply on this forum and Mr Golds was enthusiastically engaging.

"One message from another poster said 'pigs (police) have raided my weed (cannabis) grow' to which Mr Golds replied saying 'hate the pigs'. In terms of drugs supply, Mr Golds openly talks about using steroids, and selling or distributing them on a number of occasions.

"This is a serving police officer boasting and encouraging others to take steroids. He was actively turning a blind eye and allowing criminality to flourish."

Mr Langdale said Golds was arrested in May 2016 and police recovered illegal anabolic steroids from his home. He gave "no comment" answers to the questions he was asked. But he later pleaded guilty to charges of encouraging or assisting the supply of class C controlled drugs, offering to supply a class C controlled drug and misconduct in a public office.

The court heard he has since lost his job with the force. John Thomas, mitigating, said Golds had recently become a father whose son is now four months old.

He said: "There is acute embarrassment for someone who finds themselves in Mr Golds' position. This is somebody that has not shied away from what he has done, he has lost his job and he has lost his income.

"He became involved with his childhood friends who were involved in drug dealing and he did not disclose his association with them. This is a case of misconduct through association."

A second man, Christopher Law, 44, of Wesley Street, Ilkeston, who owns the Platinum Gym, in Ilkeston, was also arrested as part of the investigation. He pleaded guilty to supplying steroids and was jailed for six months.

Speaking after sentencing, Detective Superintendent Leona Scurr said: "Nottinghamshire Police expect the highest standards of behaviour from its police officers and staff.

"The deliberate actions and subsequent conviction of PC Golds fundamentally undermines the trust and confidence placed in him by the force and damages public confidence in policing.

"The very detailed investigation that led to the conviction of PC Golds demonstrates that the force takes any corrupt practice by its police officers extremely seriously and will deal with such criminality decisively."
An enjoyable event for kids, adults alike

Planning for the Vacation Bible School at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church is bubbling over. The results can be enjoyed by young and old from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday.

Wende Carson, principal of the church school, said, This year, we hope to reach children throughout the community with our VBS. Were hoping to share this special time with children from every neighborhood of North Platte. We especially hope that children who have no church home will join us.

There will be special classes and activities for preschoolers, ages 3, 4 and 5. Also, there will be classes and activities for children from kindergarten through grade 6.

Carson said, Our VBS will be a lot like going to church camp. There will be opportunities to sing and hear about Jesus. There will be plenty of activities to make each evening fun and interesting.

Speaking of singing, Jennie Williamson, a Christian song writer and recording artist from Nashville, will share her talents each night.

Williamson has a wonderful Gospel message that she shares with her audience, Carson said. She has a real talent for teaching her songs to her audience, and soon everyone is singing about Gods greatness and love.

Williamson will perform a full concert at 6 p.m. Sunday. The concert will be in the gym in the family life center.

Williamson will also sing at the beginning (6 p.m.) and end (about 7:45 p.m.) of each VBS session.

VBS will close Thursday with a short concert by Williamson.

For all who attend, there will be a free meal served each day at 5 p.m.

Carson said plans are to accommodate 100 children and hope the group grows as the week goes on.

It sounds like everything is coming together in a special way.

As we planned and had ideas, everything fit together miraculously, Carson said. From gaining support to asking for help, from inviting Jennie Williamson, every piece fell into place with surprising ease. Every person who was asked to help has stepped up to serve.

Carson explained, We knew VBS would work if we could get 10 people to make large monetary gifts. In record time, those people were found, the gifts collected, and the planning began.

Carson continued with her story: We asked groups within our church if they would be willing to host a meal. Soon we had meals. We needed supplies, within a week, someone pledged all the supplies. We decided to have plenty of bottled water on hand for our guests. Again, we were blessed with a bounty of water. In addition, we found people to provide services to advertise this event.

Besides traditional advertising the media, they have put up banners and posters, and given personal invitations. Families from the church have been encouraged to invite their neighbors and families to take part.

Carson said the most important message of the Bible school is that God loves us. He uses people to spread His message. He even uses children. Everyone has special work to do for God, she said.
LEXINGTON  A Montana man suspected of robbing banks in several states appeared in Dawson County Court Thursday, but not on those charges.

Richard Lee Gathercole, 39, is charged in Dawson County with two counts of possessing a stolen firearm and one count of theft by receiving stolen property (a vehicle) valued at over $5,000. All three charges are Class IIA felonies, each with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Also Thursday, a federal grand jury brought the first bank robbery and weapons charges against Gathercole. The indictment filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle accuses Gathercole of using an AK-47 rifle to steal $15,000 in North Bend, Washington, in 2012.

That is one of at least six banks Gathercole is suspected of robbing since 2012.

Gathercole was arrested by Dawson County sheriffs deputies early June 20 at Nebraskaland Truck Stop. He was with a green 2005 Ford F150 pickup that had been reported stolen at gunpoint from Kansas. Three Ruger 9mm guns were located in the vehicle, officials said.

Earlier in the day, a suspect matching Gathercoles description had fired multiple AK-47 shots at a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper who had attempted to pull him over near Goodland, Kansas. At that time Gathercole was driving a black Toyota Camry. The trooper was not injured.

Gathercole entered the courtroom Thursday with his hands bound and feet shackled. During the proceedings, Gathercole waived his right to a preliminary hearing, meaning the state, represented by Chief Deputy County Attorney Kurt McBride, did not need to offer any evidence related to the charges.

It was noted that the state had amended its original complaint to reflect Gathercoles correct middle name of Lee, not the initial C.

The case was bound over to Dawson County District Court and Gathercoles next court appearance was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. July 24.

In another matter, a request made by Sherman County, Kansas, authorities for Gathercole to be extradited to Kansas to face charges, Wightman noted that Gathercole had appeared in court without counsel on June 23 and that Corey Burns had since been appointed to be his attorney.

He understands that a waiver of extradition would not be an admission of guilt in any way, said Burns, before Gathercole signed the waiver. The action means Gathercole will voluntarily return to Kansas when authorities there come to get him.

Judge Jeffrey Wightman said Nebraska would conclude its case before anything was done in Kansas.

According to court documents, Gathercoles charges in Kansas are attempted capital murder of a law enforcement officer, fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, aggravated assault and a traffic infraction of covering a license plate with a plastic-like material.

Gathercole is suspected of robbing six banks since 2012 in California, Washington, Idaho, Nebraska and Iowa.

In the first incident, a holdup at a California Bank & Trust in Chino, California, the bank robber shot and seriously wounded a police officer.

A recorded phone conversation at the Dawson County Jail between Gathercole and his mother led to a search of his Roundup, Montana, home on June 24. Bomb-making materials, guns and other items were seized.
A yellow brick road led up to the Walk with the Stars camp at Memorial Park on Friday night. Ruby slippers sat at the edge of the pathway, both fitting into this years Relay For Life theme, Theres No Place Like Hope, based off of The Wizard of Oz.

The Walk with the Stars team was made up of members of the local chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. One of them was dressed like Dorothy, another like the Wicked Witch.

Weve talked about doing Relay for I dont know how many years, said Samantha McCrea, a past worthy matron. McCrea currently holds the office of Martha, representing a heroine from the Gospels of Luke and John.

McCrea said the event was a way for members of the chapter to get more involved in the community.

Everybody knows somebody affected by cancer, said Desiree Russell, part of the Walk with the Stars team.

Thats one of the things that Cristy Thompson, North Region community development manager for the American Cancer Society, believes makes Relay so important. She said its an opportunity for survivors, those fighting the disease and caregivers to connect and support one another.

I feel like people can come here and find hope and they know theyre not alone in the fight. Thompson said.

Patients, survivors and caregivers also had the opportunity to share their story with members of the American Cancer Societys Cancer Action Network. According to Matt Prokop, Nebraska Grassroots manager, ACS-CAN is an advocacy arm of the American Cancer Society. They bring the stories that are shared with them to legislators on all levels to encourage federal funding of cancer research and laws that benefit and protect patients.

Prokop said that the American Cancer Society is the countrys largest private funding source for cancer resource. He explained that its enough to get researchers started, but federal funding is often needed to keep the researching moving forward, which is why lobbying is so important.

During Relay, a luminaria ceremony honored those fighting and those who passed away from cancer. In September, a similar ceremony will take place at the Lincoln Memorial, Prokop said. Lights of Hope luminarias are available for $10, which includes a membership to ACS-CAN. They can be decorated before they are taken to Washington, D.C.

For more information, contact Nan Hynes at 308-568-7499 or hynesn@gphealth.org.
India will play host to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 69th Republic Day next year.

By India Today Web Desk: While standoff between India and China over shared borders with Bhutan continues, reports suggest that Modi government is planning to host all Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 69th Republic Day next year.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, while speaking at the ninth edition of India-ASEAN Delhi Dialogue on Wednesday, had said that the efforts were being taken to strengthen the ties with ASEAN.

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"We place ASEAN at the heart of our Act East Policy and centre of our dream of an Asian century. ASEAN and India are natural partners that share geographical, historical and civilisational ties," Sushma Swaraj had said.

"We have enhanced our engagement in South-East Asia. This was reflected in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks in 2014 at the India-ASEAN Summit in Myanmar where he declared that India's 'Look East Policy' has become 'Act East Policy'," Swaraj added.

Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are the members of ASEAN.

Talking about the recently launched Goods and Services Tax, Swaraj lauded India's fast growing economy, and stressed on the areas that needs to be worked upon to build the relations between India and ASEAN.

This year marks 25 years of dialogue relationship, 15 years of summit level relations and five years of strategic partnership between India and ASEAN.

Also Read

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--- ENDS ---
Indiana ranked worst in the nation in a recent study of long-term care for seniors and people with disabilities.

The Hoosier state came in 51st among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the Long-Term Services & Supports State Scorecard, which was conducted by AARP, the Commonwealth Fund and the Scan Foundation.

The study looked at affordability and access, choice of setting and provider, quality of life and quality of care, support for family caregivers and effective transitions.

"One of the things that's really clear is that change needs to happen quickly," said Kristen LaEace, CEO of the Indiana Association of Area Agencies on Aging.

"It would appear one of the reasons why we haven't made improvements is other states are changing and adapting faster than we are. It doesn't necessarily mean we haven't made improvements. It means other states are outpacing us."

In the study's subcategories, Indiana did best in the percentages of nursing home residents with low-care needs (11th), who successfully transitioned back to the community (17th) and who received an antipsychotic medication (19th).

The state fared worst in the percentage of people first receiving services in the community (50th), number of people with disabilities directing their own services (49th), percentage of home health patients with a hospital admission (48th), and percentage of new nursing home stays that lasted 100 days or more (48th).

The report indicates that Indiana lacks community-based long-term care services.

"We know that 90 percent of Hoosiers want to age in their homes and community," said Sarah Waddle, state director for AARP Indiana.

"In order to do that, there has to be a wide variety of services and supports in the community to help people stay at home: home care, adult day care, support for caregivers. Nursing homes are very important ... but a lot of times people are still able to live in their homes and communities, and often it's cheaper to do so."

New law may help

She noted that a new law, House Bill 1493, directs the state's Division of Aging to develop a plan to expand the state's community- and home-based services for seniors and people with disabilities.

State Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, said many lawmakers brag about the state's roughly $2 billion budget reserve yet don't provide adequate resources for long-term care and public health in general.

"We are saving taxpayers money, but we are endangering the (lives) of our most fragile citizens," he said.

LaEace said Indiana could benefit from, like some other states, having a long-term care czar or commission to oversee all these issues. Right now, long-term care is managed by a variety of state agencies  the Indiana State Department of Health, Department of Insurance, and Family and Social Services Administration  making policies harder to change, she said.

She said the state also could better fund its long-term care personnel and home care workforce, both of which are understaffed, and provide a tax credit to caregivers who tend to loved ones.

She also noted that the U.S. Senate's plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is projected to cut funds to Medicaid, which pays for most of the long-term care services in the state.

"That could set Indiana back years," she said.

The study found that if Indiana improved its performance to the average of the top five states, about 159,000 more affordable housing units would be available for long-term care; roughly 110,000 more people would receive help with daily activities; about 29,000 more home health and personal care aides would be staffed; around 26,000 more adults with disabilities would get Medicaid coverage; and more than $1 trillion would go to community-based services rather than nursing homes.

Indiana had ranked 47th in the last two scorecards, done in 2014 and 2011. In the latest report, bordering states ranked 22nd (Michigan), 30th (Illinois), 34th (Ohio) and 50th (Kentucky).
MICHIGAN CITY  Indiana's often been termed a "fly over state," not a destination.

And, said a local couple, Northwest Indiana, between the state lines of Illinois and Michigan, is considered by some as a drive-through region, with people hopping on the interstate and not giving a second, or even first, look at the some 45 miles between the two borders.

Mike and Rudy Conner, Realtors by trade, are hoping to change that.

They, along with their children, have launched Dunes Highway Apparel Co., to promote the heritage, beauty and future potential of the diverse roadway that runs through the Region's industrial areas on the west and heavily forested areas on the east, including the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

Rudy Conner said the idea was sparked eight or 10 years ago as they wondered how to pique people's interest in Northwest Indiana, in particular how to combat the marketing efforts made by neighboring Michigan aimed at folks in Illinois.

"Michigan is romanticized. Indiana is challenged with its industry. We just decided to embrace that," she said, adding they not only want to promote the road's history and natural beauty, but also its past and its part in development along the Lake Michigan shore.

The idea, they said, is not only to get the travelers from Illinois, Michigan and elsewhere to stop and take a look at what's located along the Dunes Highway, but to also encourage local residents to be proud of their Region.

"We want to show people how rich our area is," said their daughter Devon Carlson, who is working on the company's social media campaign. "I've always been really proud of where I live. I've always been interested in changing people's minds about the area. Summer in Northwest Indiana is magical."

The 45.16 miles of the Dunes Highway, which runs concurrent with U.S. 12, U.S. 20, U.S. 41 and Ind. 912 through the Region, was one of the first important roadways constructed here. It follows the path of Native American trails, which were later developed as a primary Chicago-to-Detroit roadway. Before becoming the Dunes Highway, from 1900 to 1910, the route was called the Old Chicago Road. In 1919 it was designated State Road 43. In 1922, the roadway was rebuilt, one of the first constructed of concrete.

Carlson said she learned through research, that during the Dunes Highway's heyday, up to 30,000 vehicles traveled at least part of the stretch each day. The number has dwindled to about 3,000 today.

Then came U.S. 20 and finally Interstate 94, both de-emphasizing the use and importance of the Dunes Highway.

In addition, said Carlson, who was inspired by the recent documentary "Shifting Sands On the Path to Sustainability," they wanted to educate people about the unique natural resource and one of the most biodiversity ecological systems that lay along the highway.

"We wanted to embrace the beauty and the grit," Carlson said.

Three months ago, said Rudy Conner, the family put their idea in motion.

"I've been trying to sell Indiana for 15 years," said Mike Conner, adding it has been a difficult task because of perceptions. They saw a need to improve marketing.

"People who move the needle are entrepreneurs and developers," he said, likening what they are trying to do with Samuel Insull, who used the South Shore poster marketing concept to lure people to Northwest Indiana on his Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad.

They met with the Save the Dunes organization because they wanted a "give back" component associated with the company, Rudy Conner said.

On June 3, they debuted their line of Dunes Highway apparel, including T-shirts, sweatshirts and ball camps sporting a U.S. 12 logo or "46.16," "Dunes Warrior" and "#Love Every Mile" slogans at the Jammin with Save the Dunes Festival.

"We had the opportunity to meet the folks at Dunes Highway Apparel Co. and were excited to hear they have created a company that will highlight this unique and beautiful landscape we are so lucky to have in our backyard," said Scott Kosik, president of Save the Dunes, adding the company donated a portion of the sales at the event to the organization.

That's something the family said they want to continue and are working on a formal partnership with Save the Dunes.

Mike Conner said they not only hope to expand the company, but also hope to launch events, from a music festival to a film festival, that will highlight the Dunes Highway, its heritage, potential and the communities along its path. They are reaching out to those communities and are hoping to form additional partnerships.

"You never know if you have something until you present it to the public," he said.
VALPARAISO  For Aco Sikoski, it is all about students and their community.

"What matters is that I can make a difference to the student's life. We can provide them with the best education and training without them relocating," said Sikoski, who was appointed the new chancellor at Ivy Tech Community College's Valparaiso campus following restructuring of the institution. He'll officially move from his present position as campus president to chancellor in the fall.

Sikoski said the restructuring of Ivy Tech from 32 campuses in 14 regions to 19 campuses and 26 educational sites was completed to operate more efficiently and better address needs of students and their communities.

"They are going to notice even better services to the students, communities. No programs will be cut. We are just making the process more efficient," he said.

As incoming chancellor of the Valparaiso campus, Sikoski said he will continue to work to form strong, direct partnerships with area high schools, four-year universities and the business community.

The goal, he said, is to provide students with the best education possible, at home and at a lower cost; to provide those students with skills needed in the Northwest Indiana job market; to train students to meet marketplace needs; and to help make the community a stronger, more desirable place to live and work.

"We are enhancing partnerships with local high schools and career centers by not only offering dual credits, but early college degrees," he said, pointing to the partnership with Valparaiso Community Schools that allows advanced placement students there to not only receive a high school diploma but also an associate degree in business administration by the time they graduate from high school.

He said they are working with other high schools to expand that type of partnership and let students, parents and area educators get better acquainted with Ivy Tech's programs, including credit transfer opportunities.

They also will continue to partner with four-year universities such as Valparaiso University, Purdue University and Purdue North Central to align courses in which students can take their first two years of courses at Ivy Tech and transfer credits to complete their degrees at the universities.

He said another goal is to continue to build partnerships with the business community to learn what they need in the way of workforce development and skills. Doing so, they can build that into the curriculum and provide training to students that will put them into the workforce when they complete a certification or degree.

"I am honored," he said, "blessed for the opportunity to work with the faculty and staff to offer better opportunities to improve the quality of life for our communities."
Six people were beaten up by the mob as they were spotted with a van full of buffalo calves.

By India Today Web Desk: Six people were reportedly thrashed by people in Delhi's Baba Haridas Nagar on Saturday.

They were beaten up after they were spotted with a pickup van full of buffalo calves.

People stopped the van and pushed them out and later beat them up. The angry locals also vandalise the van.

Later the calves were released by the locals.

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A man identified as Ali Jaan, who was one of the persons in the van, suffered severe injuries.

All six were rushed to the nearest hospital, however, five of them have been discharged.

Following the incident, Jaan's son filed an FIR with the police. Sources said that there were about 85 calves in the van.

(Inputs from Tanseem Haider)

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--- ENDS ---
Fern Eddy Schultz was just two years out of high school when she took a job at the Kingsbury Ordnance Plant in 1949.

By then, the KOP was part of the rural community's landscape, spread over some 13,000 acres. It had provided good jobs for more than 20,000 people at the height of its operation during World War II and attracted people from as far as Alabama, Colorado, New York and South Dakota to work at the facility.

Subdivisions in LaPorte County, including Kingsford Heights and Maple Terrace, and Parkview in Starke County popped up nearly overnight to house the new workers.

For Schultz, who had been working at the Indiana State Prison, it was just a chance to better herself. She went to work in Building 2128 as the secretary for the superintendent of loading.

"I was still in grade school when it opened and I didn't give it much thought then. But for a lot of people it was a job and for some, it signaled we were going to war," said Schultz, now the LaPorte County historian.

WWII

Government men began looking around the small village of Kingsbury as early as 1937, looking for a safe place to build an ordnance plant, according to "A Venture in Teamwork," a book published in 1946 by Todd and Brown Inc. of New York. The company had been contracted by the federal government to build the facility and supervise its operation.

They looked here, according to the book, because of the need for security and land. A plant had to be at least 250 miles inland to protect it from aerial bombing. KOP was the fourth authorized plant.

"It was nothing but farmland," Schultz said. "People didn't realize they would lose their homes or land. Some fought it. They had to take prime farmland."

Construction began on the facility in 1940. They built eight production lines  each one mile apart in case of an explosion  with barracks, bomb shelters, clock towers and office facilities. On Oct. 13, 1941, the first shell, a 60 mm, was loaded, according to the book, which chronicled the construction and operation of the facility until the end of WWII.

Workers, many taking hourlong bus rides to reach the sprawling facility, worked with TNT, pentolite, tetryl and smokeless powder. In a day's operation, they could make 180,000 point-detonating fuzes, 46,671 40 mm shells and 500,000 rounds of 20 mm ammunition.

Schultz recalls the people who worked with tetryl, even after the plant reinstated its operations during the Korean War.

"People's bodies turned orange. I always wondered what kind of affect that had on their bodies," she said.

On May 23, 1942, KOP's labor force reached a peak of 20,785 people, of which 45 percent were women, according to the book.

After the war

As WWII wound to an end, so did the need for the massive amounts of ammunition. KOP was one of two plants put on "nucleus reserve," according to the book. It and a sister plant in Iowa, were rendered safe, but equipped to be able to ramp up operations within four to six months.

"A big share of the people went back home. Some stayed. A lot of them were women whose husbands were in the military," Schultz said of the workforce. "Kingsford Heights didn't become what they thought it would be. At the end of WWII they sold some of the houses at a low cost for people to move them."

KOP ramped up operations again in 1949, in preparation for the Korean War, which was declared in 1950 and lasted until 1953.

"It was a different kind of operation," Schultz recalled. "A lot of it was rehabbing materials. Not all the lines were in full operation."

She worked for the man who supervised the No. 2 line, which made 20 mm shells. While she worked in the office, she recalls going to the production line a time or two and seeing workers who had to change from their street clothes to cotton static-free clothing in fear a spark could set off an explosion.

"People were paid more to mix the powder, because that was more dangerous," she said.

Schultz said security was tight. She had a badge and a pass, had to pass through a main gate and then a second guarded gate. Had she worked on a production line, she said, there was yet another guard shack employees would pass through as they clocked in and out each day. She had classified security clearance.

KOP's legacy

The operation was shuttered in 1960, throwing Schultz and others out of a job. She eventually got another one.

"It was a job. I didn't really give it a thought. I met all kinds of people because they came from all over the country," she said.

Eventually, the land was parceled off. In 1965, the federal government deeded 7,280 acres to Indiana and it is now the home of the Kingsbury Fish and Wildlife Area.

Other parts turned back into farmland and some is home to the Kingsbury Industrial Park.

"Many of the buildings are gone. I drive through there once in a while reminiscing. Building 2128 is gone. The clock house is gone," she said, adding some of the structures, including bunkers, are still visible from the roadway.

Schultz said KOP isn't only part of her history, but is an important piece of LaPorte County's history.

"So many people don't even know it existed or its importance in the war effort," she said. "It was so unique and we will never have another one because we don't fight wars like that anymore."
HAMMOND  City Court Judge Amy Jorgensen said she doesn't desire to legally challenge the City Council's decision to close the court, but believes she is "entitled to a voice" in the transition process.

The council in January approved by a 6-3 vote an ordinance that will phase out the court totally by Dec. 31, 2018. The Police Department almost immediately began filing misdemeanor criminal cases with the Lake County Superior Court. Then last month, Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. announced local traffic infractions would be filed with the county court system after discussions with the county.

Cases that were already pending continue to be heard at the city court.

Jorgensen indicated she has not really been included in these discussions despite her attempts to be involved and hiring the Indianapolis law firm of Ice Miller LLP to help in the process. She said she has met with the mayor's chief of staff and made requests of the mayor and others with the city to be involved with discussions, but that "none of these contacts resulted in any meaningful conversations."

The law firm she hired last month sent a draft complaint to City Attorney Kristina Kantar that listed Jorgensen as the plaintiff and the council, McDermott and Clerk Robert J. Golec as defendants. While it was never filed, it speaks of asking a Lake County Court to find the ordinance violates the Indiana Constitution and calls for it not to be implemented.

McDermott's office in the past week passed out copies of the draft complaint to council members with a handwritten note on the front that states: "This is what Ice Miller did with the $5,000 claim that they received from Hammond. They took Hammond taxpayer money (given to them by Judge Jorgensen) & prepared a lawsuit naming all of us as defendants."

Jorgensen said the copies given to the council members did not include the text of the email that occupied the lawsuit when it was sent to Kantar by attorney Thomas John.

In that email, John writes they have "still not heard any more from you or the Mayors office in response to our requests for meetings and discussions regarding the wind down of the Hammond City Court. As I have articulated, Judge Jorgensen has a right and a duty as the presiding judge of the court to ensure that this process is done consistent with justice and good administration of justice. To that end, if we are not able to engage in meaningful discussions in the very near future with your office, we will be compelled to file the attached complaint. To litigate over this issue is not our goal, but we are very comfortable we will prevail if forced."

Kantar and McDermott did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Jorgensen said it was explained in the cover email "that meaningful dialogue was preferred over litigation. But so far, the mayor's office has refused to engage in that dialogue. The only other avenue to address these issues is litigation."

She said the purpose of the draft complaint was to show the strength of the legal argument "if the mayor's office insists that litigation is the only avenue to resolve these issues."

Jorgensen said the law firm was paid a $15,000 flat fee to review applicable ordinances, research other statutory and constitutional issues, provide advice on potential courses of action and assist in negotiations in regard to the transition process.

On Friday, Jorgensen also sent correspondence to Lake Superior Court judges and other county officials suggesting a working group that would include Chief Judge John Pera, McDermott and others in how best to transition cases from the city court to the Lake County courts.
HAMMOND  A homeowner was cited for inhumane care of animals after two dozen cocker spaniel dogs were seized Thursday by Hammond Animal Control, police said.

Animal control authorities went to the womans home at about 11:45 a.m. Thursday in the 1200 block of Indiana Street after receiving a complaint about excessive animals being housed there, Hammond police Lt. Steven Kellogg said.

A total of 16 cocker spaniels were discovered in cages inside the home, he said. Eight others were found in the womans van, he said.

A number of cats were also on the front porch, but a person took them instead of animal control seizing the cats, Kellogg said.

The woman told authorities she was getting ready to leave in the van with the eight dogs when authorities arrived and obtained consent to search the home for additional pets.

Authorities deemed the conditions as inhumane, noting feces were everywhere and some of the dogs appeared thin and not eating well, Kellogg said.

The woman told authorities that the dogs belonged to her mother, who lives in Elgin, Illinois, and frequents dogs shows, Kellogg said.

It was not clear why the daughter had the cocker spaniels in her temporary custody in Hammond, Kellogg said.

Animal control officials said they will not authorize the release of the animals unless they are returned to the dogs original owner in Elgin, Kellogg said.

They also ordered that the dogs could not be maintained on the Hammond property, he said.
Two people were sent to the hospital following a three-vehicle crash involving a Porter County Sheriff's officer Saturday morning in Westchester Township, according to a news release from Indiana State Police.

The crash occurred when a pick-up truck was following too closely, setting off a chain of events that injured two people on U.S. 20 eastbound at Brummitt Road in northern Porter County, the release stated.

Master Trooper Jeff Council responded to the crash at approximately 7:55 a.m., the release stated.

Council's preliminary investigation revealed a fully marked Porter County Sheriff's vehicle  a 2016 Ford Explorer  driven by officer Jared Underhill, 33, was eastbound on U.S. 20 and was stopped in the left lane to turn north on Brummitt Road at the time of the incident.

A 2012 Kia Sportage driven by Andrea Somodi, 53, of Palos Heights, Illinois, was also eastbound and stopped behind the Explorer when a 1993 Dodge Dakota driven by Bruce Kahn, 32, of Michigan City, failed to stop and hit the rear of the Kia, according to the release. The Kia was pushed to the right lane facing northeast as the Dakota continued eastbound and hit the rear of the Explorer.

Officer Underhill and his K-9 partner were not injured in the crash, but Somodi and her passenger, John Somodi, 59, of Palos Heights, were taken to Franciscan Health in Chesterton for complaints of pain, according to the release. Kahn was uninjured and cited for following too closely.

Assisting on the scene were the Porter County Sheriff's Department, Chesterton EMS and Cloverleaf Towing.
CROWN POINT  The city's Beacon Hill commercial development between the northwest corner of 109th Avenue and Delaware Parkway and the southeast corner of Broadway and Summit Street continues to move forward.

Approval was given during a recent Plan Commission meeting for a phase in the project consisting of three lots spread over five acres on the southeast corner of Broadway and Summit.

Jeff Ban, of DVG Inc., project managers for the development, said it marks the last development areas on Broadway on both sides of that street between 109th and Summit.

"This is the beginning of implementing a very long-discussed thoroughfare plan specifically extending Summit east of Broadway and also extends Delaware Parkway north of 109th Avenue," Ban said.

Eventual plans call for Delaware Parkway to connect to Community Stroke and Rehabilitation Hospital at 10215 Broadway, a project currently in development that eventually could become a 60-acre medical campus.

Summit will also be extended about 600 feet east of Broadway in the current Beacon Hill phase, eliminating the "T" stop and making it a four-way intersection. The extension of Summit will be curbed, guttered and paved with sidewalks added. Sidewalks would also be added along Broadway in front of the development.

The site plan also includes the extension of a current north/south private roadway that connects to 107th Avenue near the traffic signal that was installed at 107th and Broadway several years ago.

That road will extend north to the new extension on Summit that will be a traffic circle similar in size to the new roundabout at 93rd Avenue and Chase Street in the city.

A couple of stormwater ponds are planned for the development and, as the Summit extension eventually pushes closer to Delaware Parkway, there could be a bridge-like feature that would add a visual amenity to the area.

Part of the project includes coordination with the Indiana Department of Transportation because Broadway is a state highway. A new northbound dedicated right-turn lane onto Summit will be added as well as a southbound left-turn lane on Broadway for turns onto Summit.

The corridor is expected to attract light industrial, retail and commercial businesses. The city's Board of Works in March approved a tax increment financing agreement for 11 parcels in the corridor to help spur development.
Police are looking for a man they say fatally shot another man in Manhattan.

Authorities say the suspect, seen here, shot 25-year-old Andrew Walcott in the head in Harlem.

Officers responded to calls of an assault around 5:30 a.m. Friday near West 131st Street and Amsterdam Avenue.

After finding Walcott nearby, they rushed him to St. Luke's Hospital where he died.

Police say a 28-year-old man at the scene suffered a graze wound to his face and refused medical help.

The suspect is believed to be around 5-feet-10-inches tall and 150 pounds.

He was last seen wearing a black t-shirt, black shorts, and blue Croc style slippers.

Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.
About a dozen incidents of communal violence have been reported since Mamata Banerjee took oath as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the second time last year.

By Prabhash K Dutta: Riding on the emotional wave generated by Singur and Nandigram movements, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in 2011 routed the Left Front government of West Bengal which was ruling over the stat for 34 long years. This was a magical moment in mercurial and maverick Mamata Banerjee's political career.

Mamata Banerjee's TMC won 184 of 294 seats in the West Bengal Assembly. Five years later, Mamata Banerjee bettered her performance. The TMC bagged 211 seats in 2016.

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Mamata Banerjee declared, West Bengal is a "corruption-less state". The facts would prove her wrong. But, since 2016 reelection, Mamata Banerjee seems to have lost the plot in West Bengal.

Her promises of land reforms are unfulfilled. Promised jobs have not come. Darjeeling is on boil as Mamata Banerjee tried to impose Bangla over Nepali speaking people while administration has looked incapable in handling the situation. Allegations of corruption are abundant. And, there has been a series of communal violence over the past one year.

SCAMS AND SCANDALS

Just before the 2016 West Bengal Assembly election, an under-construction flyover collapsed in Kolkata. The corruption charges flew thick and fast over the incident, which became a talking point in the election campaign.

Besides this, there were three serious scams and scandals relating to corruption under the nose of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee - Saradha chit fund scam, Rose Valley scam and Narada sting operation throwing bribery taint on TMC leaders. All three cases are under various stages of investigation and judicial trial.

Saradha scam is a major financial bungling of around Rs 2,500 crore by a consortium of over 200 private companies. Over 17 lakh small investors were allegedly duped in a chit fund. Three big TMC leaders were caught in the net. Madan Mitra - the then minister in Mamata cabinet - was arrested in December 2014. Rajya Sabha MP Srinjoy Bose and TMC vice-president Rajat Majumdar were questioned by CBI.

In Rose Valley scam investors from across 10 states were cheated of Rs 17,000 crore by the real estate company. Most of the investors were low income group earners, who had been promised exaggerated returns. Lok Sabha MPs Tapas Paul and Sudip Bandyopadhyay were arrested in the case.

But more than the corruption charges, it is the worsening law and order and communal riots that have put question mark on Mamata Banerjee's leadership in West Bengal.

COMMUNAL CLASHES UNDER MAMATA 2.0

Nearly a dozen serious communal clashes have happened in West Bengal since Mamata Banerjee took oath as the Chief Minister of the state for the second consecutive times. Some of the bigger incidents could be listed as under:

SPURT IN COMMUNAL CLASHES IN OCTOBER, 2016

Jhalangi in Murshidabad

Chandan Nagar in Hooghly

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Bhagwanpur in East Midnapore

Golbazar, Kharagpur in West Midnapore

Hajinagar, Naihati in North 24 Parganas

Halisahar, Kanchrapara in North 24 Parganas

MORE CLASHES IN DECEMBER, 2016

Dhulagarh in Howrah

Sankrail in Howrah

Katwa, Jamuria, Kanksha in Burdwan

JANUARY 2017

Alampur in South 24 Parganas

Metiabruz in South 24 Parganas

JULY, 2017

Communal clashes started at Baduria in Basirhat sub-division of North 24 Parganas district over a Facebook post.Communal tension spread to Baduria's adjoining areas, including Keosha market, Banshtala, Ramchandrapur and Tentulia in the district.

The entire district is witnessing communal flare up. Mamata Banerjee has blamed the Centre, which, in turn, has put the onus back on the state government.

HOW IT HAPPENED AT BASIRHAT

First report of communal violence from Basirhat came on June 30. Violence erupted over an objectionable post on Facebook by a 17-year-old - who reportedly has pleaded innocence. The photograph and the text of the post were bad in taste hurting sentiments of Muslims.

The next day a violent mob blocked roads, attacked the members of other community, destroyed shops, attacked police station and the home of the boy was attacked. Centre rushed 400 paramilitary personnel to West Bengal.

On July 3, train services in several areas were affected. Barasat-Hasnabad and Barasat-Bongaon sections were worst affected. Public property was damaged at various places. Clashes between two communities reported from some places.

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On July 4, West Bengal Governor Kesari Nath Tripathi spoke to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who claimed that she was "threatened". She also said that the Governor spoke like a "BJP block president". The Governor's office rejected the allegations. Communal violence continued.

Rumour mongers from both sides continued to put up misleading posts adding to the already fragile communal equation. The state government responded by temporarily suspending internet services in four police station areas of Basirhat, Baduria, Swarupnagar and Deganga.

Meanwhile, a person died of stab wounds yesterday while the clashes continue to rock Basirhat. Today, Mamata Banerjee accused the Centre of sending delayed help to the riot-hit area allowing the communal tension to flare up.

MAMATA TO BLAME?

The Opposition has blamed Mamata Banerjee for mishandling of the situation. The BJP has accused Mamata Banerjee of indulging in "appeasement" policy.

Muslims constitute about 27 per cent population of West Bengal and about 30 per cent of the voters. Mamata Banerjee is said to have worked hard to make herself acceptable among Muslims. She regularly attends iftars during Ramazan.

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Mamata Banerjee has been seen covering her head during Muslim religious functions and sharing stage with Muslims leaders. She has announced stipends for clerics. Mamata Banerjee has actively promoted Madrasas in West Bengal. This has, observes believe, won her Muslim votes.

Mamata Banerjee's pro-Muslim optics has been portrayed by the BJP as appeasing politics. The party has cashed in on the sentiments of many in West Bengal, who feel threatened by the illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

The BJP has support of the CPM on this count. The entire politics has resulted into what could be said a neglect of basic administrative function that requires prompt action against any unlawful activity.

ALSO READ | Basirhat violence: BJP delegation meets Bengal governor, demands imposition of President's rule

ALSO READ | Army deployed in Darjeeling after GJM rally with body of youth killed in police firing

ALSO READ | BJP's multi-pronged strategy to corner Mamata Banerjee and wrest power from Trinamool in West Bengal

ALSO WATCH | Basirhat violence: BJP demands Mamata Banerjee's resignation

--- ENDS ---
By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: Bangladesh police have arrested four members of militant outfit neo-JMB along with JMB (Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh) commander Sohel Mahfuz alias Hathkata Mahfouz, planner of the militant attack on Holey Artisan Bakery from Shibganj in Chapainawabganj, the northern district at India-Bangladesh border.

A local journalist Mohammad al-Mahmud confirmed the news to India Today. Police sources have said that they were arrested on Saturday early Morning. The other three arrested are Neo JMB IT Specialist Hafizur Rahman Hafez, arms Supplier Jewel and Rajshahi, Chapai and Natore Coordinator Jamal.

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According to police's statement, Sohel Mahfouz had provided the grenade of Gulshan attack, said journalist Mahmud. Chapainawabganj's Superintendent of Police Mujahidul Islam told the media that on Saturday early Morning, four JMBs, including JMB commander Sohel Mahfuz, were arrested, according to the news source that the neo JMB members were meeting in a 'Local Tea Stall' in a mango orchard in Shibganj. Mujahidul Islam said that Sohel Mahfouz is the leader of the neo JMB top level. Police has been looking for him for a long time. Prior to that, he got out of the law by dodging the eyes of the law.

Police Super said, Sohel Mahfuz was involved in the Gulshan attack, so he has been sent to Counter Terrorism unit in Dhaka. And the remaining three are accused in Chapainawabganj's cases, so they will be sent to the local court showing the arrest.

A source in the police said, the name of Sohel Mahfuz came as a supplier of arms and grenade while investigating Gulshan attack case. Even one of the accused inthe case, Jahangir Alam alias Rajiv Gandhi, in his deposition in the court, told that the grenades used in the Gulshan attack were made at the Shewrapara den inDhaka.

Mahibul Islam Khan, deputy commissioner of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit, told the media that the arrested Sohel Mahfouz is involved in the planning of the attack on Gulshan besides an arms and grenade suppliers. He is being brought to Dhaka. Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit will interrogate him for detailed information.

Police officials said that the 'charge sheet' of Gulshan attack case has been stuck due to absconding of fugitive five including arrested Sohail. Out of these five, it is important to think that except Sohail, Rashedul Islam alias Rash and Basharuzzaman alias Chocolate are exceptionally important.

Monirul Islam, head of the Counter Terrorism Unit of the Gulshan attack investigation, said that the Sohel Mahfouz was identified as militant before the Gulshan attack. He is a founding Shura member of the JMB. The detectives got information that Sohail, who had gone underground for a long time, joined the neo JMB two years ago.

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Expatriate Tamim Chowdhury, who was killed in police raid, developed the neo-JMB, police said. Militant organization Neo JMB lead to carry out the Gulshan attack,police confirmed.

On July 1, last year, 20 foreign nationals and two police officers were killed in a deadly terrorist attack at local Holey Artisan Bakery of Gulshan area in the capital.

ALSO READ:

Dhaka terror attack: Police hand over Holey Artisan Bakery to owner

Bangladesh: Dhaka Police arrests main arms supplier of Gulshan Cafe terror attack

--- ENDS ---
BJP leaders Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satyapal Singh were taken to the police station after they arrived in Kolkata today.

By India Today Web Desk: Kolkata Police today detained BJP leaders who were on their way to Basirhat in North-24 Parganas district of West Bengal. This is the second day in a row when politicians were prevented from visiting the riot-hit region.

BJP leaders Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satyapal Singh were taken to the police station after they arrived in Kolkata today. They were detained about 100 kilometres from Kolkata.

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The three leaders were tasked by BJP president Amit Shah yesterday to visit the trouble torn area of West Bengal, which is under the grip of communal tension.

Following the detention, Lekhi questioned the impostion of section 144 of CrPC in the affected areas. News agency ANI reported that Lekhi and other leaders were taken to the airport police station.

Earlier, BJP leader Rupa Ganguly , Congress leader Adhir Chowdhary and some CPM workers too were detained by the West Bengal Police.

The BJP that has been hitting out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ever since the violence broke out at Basirhat, is also planning to to submit a memorandum to Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi demanding imposition of President's Rule in the state.

Baduria and North-24 Paraganas witnessed violence after a 17-year-old boy allegedly shared an objectionable post on Facebook. Soon the situation got out of control and several companies of BSF were deployed to quell the riots.

On Thursday night, fresh clashes were reported from the region and a person identifed as Kartik Gosh died in police firing.

Meanwhile, the Cheif Minister has slammed BJP, RSS and other fringe elements for stoking violence in the state.

Also Read:

West Bengal violence: BJP, CPM delegations stopped from entering Basirhat

Basirhat violence: Opposition teams flock to the riot-torn suburb

Communal violence in Basirhat: Fresh violence, protests on. Amit Shah to send team of MPs

WATCH | West Bengal: Basirhat remains tense after teenager's controversial Facebook post

--- ENDS ---
BJP general secretary Kailash Vijaivargya is himself camping in Kolkata for last few days and if BJP sources are to be believed, a high-level central delegation would make an attempt to reach ground zero Basirhat Saturday.

The police vans that were burnt down by a mob a few days ago in Baduria after clashes broke out.

By Anindya Banerjee: The burning smell of the charred police jeep parked outside the Baduria police station is still raw even after three days of the incident, but politics has clearly taken over.

It seems every political party wants to milk the Basirhat riot. No wonder three opposition parties of Bengal took out political delegations for the riot-torn suburb. BJP's state-level delegation was led by veteran actor and BJP leader Roopa Ganguly. It also had Locket Chatterjee that started from Kolkata Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Airport but was shortly stopped at Madhyamgram by police.

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Before leaving the airport, the BJP Rajya Sabha MP told India Today TV, "We are going to seek answers from the police on its inaction as the mob went berserk that night." As she along with others were stopped at Madhyamgram, there followed a verbal altercation to the extent she took to wheels and tried to drive past the barricades.

"Why would it affect the law and order situation in Basirhat if we go there? Do you see us carrying weapons or bamboo sticks," asks Roopa when asked on her insistence ongoing ahead.

Finally, police had to place all of them under arrest and take them to Bidhannagar Commissionrate on a bus, amid high drama and occasional chants of "Bharat Mata ki Jai".

The CPI(M) chose its politburo member and Muslim face Mohd Salim to lead the delegation. Rather than taking it out from Kolkata, they quietly took it out from their party office in Barasat but were finally stopped some 50 km off Basirhat.

In a politically loaded comment, Salim said, "In Mamata's Bengal, police can be seen where they are not needed (to stop protesters) but can't be seen where they are needed (Baduria)."

Meanwhile, the already-divided state Congress made a half-baked attempt of following others. A delegation led by state president Adhir R Choudhury was also stopped by the cops after which they returned without creating much fuss.

BJP general secretary Kailash Vijaivargya is himself camping in Kolkata for last few days and if BJP sources are to be believed, a high-level central delegation would make an attempt to reach ground zero Basirhat Saturday.

The delegation will comprise Om Mathur, MP Meenakshi Lekhi and Satyapal Singh. This can clearly be seen as an attempt by the BJP to keep the heat on Mamata and exploit the narrative of victim-hood of a community that BJP wants to appropriate.

Away from the subtle political calculations in Kolkata and Delhi, the Baduria sub-division even on Friday witnessed scattered incidents of sporadic violence. Three cars were burnt at one place and the house of the area, MLA Dibyendu Biswas who also hails from ruling Trinamool Congress, was attacked on Thursday night by a mob.

Also Read:

West Bengal violence: BJP, CPM delegations stopped from entering Basirhat

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Communal violence in Basirhat: Fresh violence, protests on. Amit Shah to send team of MPs

Also Watch:

West Bengal violence: BJP, CPI-M leaders stopped by security forces

--- ENDS ---
A delegation of BJP state members today met Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi demanding the removal of the state government and imposition of President's rule

By India Today Web Desk: A delegation of BJP state members today met Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi demanding the removal of the state government and imposition of President's rule in its place. BJP's demand comes in the wake of escalating violence in Basirhat in West Bengal.

Blaming the Mamata Banerjee led state government, the delegation demanded that Article 356 of the Constitution be enforced. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Baneerjee, on the other hand, has aimed her gun at the Centre. Continuing her tirade against the Centre, Banerjee on Saturday held the 'uncooperative' government responsible for the Baduria and Basirhat violence which had turned the entire state into chaos.

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The Centre has hit back saying that four BSF companies sent to Basirhat two days back were returned by the state government. MHA sources have said that Banerjee is crying foul and her claims pertaining to extra-security deployment were false.

As per sources, four companies of the BSF, comprising 400 personnel, were sent initially to assist the state police in containing the communal outbreak in Basirhat and Baduria. The West Bengal government had returned the nearly 400 central troops without citing any reason for its decision, sources told India Today.

Banerjee has said that she would demand for a judicial enquiry into the violence that occurred over a Facebook post.

"We will conduct a judicial enquiry on the Basirhat incident. Action will be taken for spreading fake pictures and videos. The law will take its own course," shesaid, while addressing a press conference here.

"There is 'Fakebook' happening in the name of Facebook. I respect Facebook but not 'Fakebook'."

"The Centre has a non-cooperative attitude; the border areas are being disturbed by foreign hands having good relations with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)," she added.

Meanwhile, the North 24 Parganas Superintendent of Police (SP) Bhaskar Mukherjee has been removed and C. Sudharkar Rao will take over the post. Yesterday, the BJP, Left and the Congress delegations were prevented from visiting riot-hit areas in Basirhat by the police.

Earlier on Thursday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee requested the Opposition to refrain from reaching the communal-sensitive areas of North 24 Parganas . Violent clashes erupted in the Basirhat area of the district after a Class X student updated a controversial picture on Facebook.

The boy was later detained by police, but the violence hasn't abated. Fresh tension was reported in Basirhat area yesterday forcing the police to lob tear gas shells and resort to baton charge even as the state government decided to ban some organisations for allegedly instigating people.

The State government has temporarily suspended internet services in four police station areas of Basirhat, Baduria, Swarupnagar and Deganga to check the spread of rumours through social networking sites.

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ALSO READ:

Communal violence in Basirhat: Fresh violence, protests on. Amit Shah to send team of MPs

Uneasy calm in Bengal's Basirhat hit by communal violence

WATCH | West Bengal: Basirhat remains tense after teenager's controversial Facebook post

--- ENDS ---
LINCOLN  Mary Cohan came within hours of having a jury decide a lawsuit against her doctors alleging that they had misdiagnosed the cancerous lump in her left breast.

But before jurors could deliberate a case that had taken five years to reach the trial stage, Douglas County District Judge James Gleason ruled in the doctors favor. The judge decided that Cohan had failed to prove damage or causation and that there was no reason to continue the trial.

On Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court reversed that ruling and sent the case back for a second trial.

A unanimous court said the district judge improperly granted whats called a directed verdict for the doctors. Directed verdicts are permitted only when reasonable minds cannot differ and can draw but one conclusion from the evidence.

That was not the case with the evidence presented by attorneys for Cohan and her husband, Terry, said the high court in an opinion written by Judge Max Kelch.

Considering the jurys role as the fact finder and the evidence as a whole, we conclude that the Cohans presented evidence that could have sustained a finding for Mary on the issue of damages, Kelch stated.

Mary Cohans ordeal with cancer started in 2008 when she felt small lumps in her breast and underwent a mammogram and ultrasound test at CHI Health Midlands hospital in Papillion. The tests revealed no abnormalities.

A year later, she asked a physicians assistant at Bellevue Obstetrics and Gynecology Associates to examine the lumps during an annual physical exam. That led to another screening, this time at Medical Imaging Consultants in Omaha, where a doctor said there was no evidence of cancer.

Finally in 2010, her annual mammogram revealed malignancy and Cohan underwent chemotherapy and a double mastectomy.

She filed the lawsuit in 2011. Although the court earlier dismissed her claims against the Papillion hospital, her allegations remained against Medical Imaging and Bellevue Obstetrics.

During the 2016 trial, Cohan put a medical expert on the stand who said the 2009 mammogram showed an abnormality and additional testing should have been ordered by her physician. Such testing likely would have revealed the cancer, the expert testified.

A second expert told jurors that the tumor likely would have measured 3.5 centimeters in 2009 and spread to three nearby lymph nodes. By the time it was surgically removed in 2010, the tumor measured 7.1 centimeters and had spread to 19 lymph nodes.

The second expert also said that if the tumor had been diagnosed in 2009, Cohans 10-year risk of recurrence would have been 30 percent. But the delayed diagnosis raised her risk to at least 75 percent, the expert testified.

In a cross appeal, lawyers for the defendants argued that the district court should have excluded the expert testimony related to Cohans risk of recurrence. They argued at the time of the trial that Cohan had survived nearly six years since her treatment, which meant her risk of recurrence over the remaining four years had dropped to 30 percent.

The Supreme Court rejected the argument, saying that plaintiffs are entitled to recover for all damages resulting from an act of negligence. The courts opinion noted Cohans testimony about the pain, suffering, fear and anxiety she experienced in the years since her diagnosis.

Phone messages left with lawyers for the medical offices were not immediately returned Friday.
COUNCIL BLUFFS  Theresa Greenfield of Des Moines has announced she will seek the 3rd Congressional District seat in Iowa.

Greenfield, 53, becomes the fourth candidate in the Democratic primary. Rep. David Young, a Republican, currently holds the seat.

Im running for Congress because Iowans know it will take Iowa values  mixed with a heavy dose of can-do common sense  to overcome the problems we face here and in Washington, Greenfield said in a statement.

Greenfield worked for more than a decade as an urban planner before becoming the president of developer Rottlund Homes of Iowa in 2007, her campaign said. She is now the president of Colby Interests, a Des Moines real estate firm.

Greenfield grew up on a farm in Minnesota near the Iowa border. She attended Iowa Lakes Community College, Iowa State University and Mankato State University in Minnesota. Greenfield said she would fight for workers and their families, working to provide opportunities and well-paying jobs, along with health care that is available and affordable.

Greenfield joins a primary field that includes others involved in Democratic causes in years past: businesswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines, writer and web series host Heather Ryan of Des Moines, and psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner Paul Knupp of Des Moines.

The Democratic primary for the seat is scheduled for June 5, 2018. The 3rd District covers the southwestern quadrant of Iowa, including Pottawattamie, Mills, Fremont, Page, Montgomery and Cass counties.
By Mayuresh Ganapatye: To reduce the weight of school bags on BMC school students and give them a handy digital instrument with their syllabus, Aditya Thackeray came up with an idea of distributing Android tablets to students.

A total 9,200 tabs was purchased by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in year 2015 -16 for price of Rs 6,850 per tab. But in 2016-17 same numbers of tabs was purchased by paying Rs 1,300 extra per tab.

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According to information obtained under RTI by activist Jeetendra Ghadge the extra cost of Rs 1,300 was paid to load the syllabus in the tabs.

"This case proves that BMC officials and contractor upgrade their skills and talent on par with latest technology. Whether it is E-Tender or Android OS they always find a way to manipulate the process and trouble the taxpayers of Mumbai. When it comes to corruption, BMC is Unstoppable." Said Ghadge.

"How can BMC give Rs1,300 per tab when syllabus is the same, android platform is the same and most of the syllabus e-books are available in PDF format at free of cost on Ebalbharti.com and other private websites," added Ghadge.

CLEAR CASE OF CORRUPTION

Further the activist alleged that the BMC instead of paying for the Android application at once has paid the contractor for installing the same application in each tab. This is classic case of corruption to benefit the contractor. Till today BMC has spent a whooping amount of Rs 1.19 crore to the contractor which could had cost them in some lakhs.

"It does not stop here, since the BMC is buying tab each year the contractor will get benefitted every year. How come BMC Officials are quite on the that's more surprising to me," said Ghadge.

Another issue of irregularities in overall purchase of tabs was also raised in upper house of Maharashtra Assembly by NCP in last session. In reply Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis told that no truth were found in the case related to Tabs.

ALSO READ:

Mumbai: Shiv Sena, BJP corporators clash during BMC function

Preacher Zakir Naik's Islamic International School in Mumbai illegal, says BMC

ALSO WATCH:

Mumbai: Director of international school booked for sexually abusing 3-year-old

--- ENDS ---
Not taking any chances with law and order, security agencies and district administration imposed heavy restrictions through the day.

Protestors throwing stones on security forces amid bursting tear gas shell during clashes on the first death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in Srinagar on Saturday. Photo: PTI

By Pooja Shali: Jammu and Kashmir marked a year since Burhan Wani, the militant commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, was gunned down by security forces in an encounter. Strict curfew was imposed in his hometown Tral, including heightened police deployment.

Not taking any chances with law and order, security agencies and district administration imposed heavy restrictions through the day. Internet services were snapped across the valley through the day, as a precautionary measure against large scale planned protests.

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Desolate streets, diverted routes, closed shops were a common sight across Srinagar city through Saturday. Downtown, which witnesses regular widespread protests, remained particularly under lockdown. India Today proceeded into the interiors of downtown, where areas under five police stations faced curfew-like-situation with absolutely negligible traffic movement. The Jamia mosque, specifically, was barricaded from all quarters and residents living in proximity were denied moving out.

Senior police officers from the JKP and CRPF were seen patrolling respective jurisdictions through the afternoon.

DIG CRPF, Srinagar (North), Narinder Paul spoke exclusively to India Today outside the Jamia mosque, stating, "A shutdown has been called by militants and hence security forces have been deployed at all sensitive locations. No large gathering is to be permitted and instructions for same were already sent out. Objective is for the day to pass off peacefully and even peace-loving Kashmiri people want the same."

Security personnel patrolling the city during strict curfew imposed on the first death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in Srinagar on Saturday. Photo: PTI

Ahead of the visit of DIG CRPF, even Inspector General of Jammu Kashmir police Muneer Ahmed Khan patrolled the area, which remains most sensitive since a cop Mohd. Ayub Pandith was lynched by a crowd at its doorstep on June 23. The street where the policemen was killed, specifically saw heightened deployment of uniformed men.

Restrictions through the day also caused inconvenience to many local residents. Though medical facilities remained accessible in most areas as hospital and chemist shops operated around Rainawari, ambulances crossing Lal Chowk were permitted to drive through only diverted routes.

Responding to this specific concern, the DIG added, "The restrictions are not for a long period. This is keeping in mind security measures and we are allowing the sick and elderly to reach hospital. Restrictions are for miscreants and not against common residents."

Sources close to senior officials maintain if Saturday passes off smooth, services will be resumed the next day. Separatist leadership remained under preventive custody, for now.

While no violence was reported from Srinagar, an attack took place at the army patrol party in Bandipora district's Hajin, resulting in injuries to three army jawans. The forces carried out a search and cordon operation in the area. The early morning attack meant the forces could not let the guard down at any given point through the next few days.

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After Wani was neutralised last year, unrest had followed for about five months in and around Kashmir valley. Several were killed and many teenagers received grievous pellet and bullet injuries sparking outrage. Police force also reported casualties and faced threats from terrorists. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and the alliance of BJP-PDP had to face severe criticism. This weekend remains a test for the state government and a possibility to bring back normalcy, after a year of continued violence and bloodshed.

Also Read:

On Burhan Wani's first death anniversary, his father appeals for peace in Valley

Anti-Burhan Wani slogans resound in Jammu, protestors demand arrest of Separatists

How Burhan Wani was killed in encounter on July 8 last year: An exclusive account

Watch Video: Burhan Wani's death anniversary: Why should schools, shops be shut, common man suffer?

--- ENDS ---
June 27 Public Pulse writer Katlyn Martin (Senate should reject health care bill) is an excellent example of why our country is so deeply divided. We seem to have different ideas on just how government should function.

I dont recall any constitutional right to health care. Some in Congress got the bright idea that everyone should have health care. Its a worthy but bad idea. They didnt bother to figure out how much it would cost and just who would pay for it.

The Democrats wrote the Affordable Care Act without any support from Republicans. It turned out to be a disaster and didnt live up to expectations and promises. Costs were not contained.

Now the Republicans are attempting to fix the legislation, but instead of Democrats helping to make the legislation work, they only find fault.

This is not the American way. Congress seems to have lost its mission. It is not about partisanship, it should be about helping Americans improve health care.

On the other hand, we are not supposed to be a socialist country  do we really need to improve the system? Those who want free health care can probably find it in Sweden, China or Russia.

Max C. Meier, Papillion
By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: This 8th July marks the first death anniversary of Burhan Wani, the poster boy of Hizbul Mujahideen. Before the Jammu and Kashmir plummeted into a state of chaos lasting 7 months, with the state government having to face the wrath of people who came in support of the chocolate-faced militant. Known for his penchant for videos which went viral on social media sites, he even recruited 100 Kashmiri youth.

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Security forces were finding it difficult to locate Wani as he gave them slip many a times. On June 8, 2016, police and the 42 Rashtriya Rifles cordoned-off a school in Lurgam where Burhan Wani was said to be hiding. Wani managed to give a slip to the security forces allegedly using civilians as shields leaving the building.

THE THEORIES

After 8th July, several stories were concocted, many spreading like wild fire. Rumours were afloat how Hizbul Mujahideen commander had been betrayed, poisoned by an uncle Farooq Wani to how he was unconscious when bullets were pumped in to his body. That a local woman had tied a red band outside the window of the house to indicate presence of militants, tipping off security forces.

Another theory was of a custodial killing. The fact is that the entire encounter beginning at 4pm concluded in 15 minutes. The encounter took place in small village of Bamdoora in the apple orchards of an influential businessman Khurram Safi Mir. The house, which was within the orchard, later faced the brunt of the mob ire and was destroyed.

But, very few know of what transpired within few hours before Burhan Wani's death.Just hours before Burhan's killing, the first information came in from Srinagar Intelligence Bureau office on July 7th-8th intervening night.

The technical intelligence was immediately shared with the top police officers. The information was further developed by 19 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) deployed in the same area. Till Burhan was killed with two other associates Sartaj Ahmad Sheikh and Pervaiz Ahmad, the said 19 RR had not got much success, and were desperate to get a few kills (of terrorist in counter terror operations), said an officer, who had served in the area.

Based on primary information, a skeletal cordon was laid by 19 RR along with SOG. IB information was that Sartaj (Hizbul terrorist) was meeting his uncle Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh ( mother's elder brother). Based on the primary information, SOG developed human intelligence making discreet inquiries.

They got a breakthrough with a local source who spoke to the butcher in the vicinity. The butcher confirmed that there was a "dawat" in the house of the uncle and he had important guests. It was found that meat delicacies in a sizeable quantity had been asked for the Kokernag residence in the midst of apple orchards.

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A phone call of the uncle to another relative confirmed that Sartaj had come with a "museebat" (trouble in reference to Wani). As the cordon tightened and news spread, the uncle was tipped-off by a local that the cordon was being laid. Worried about his house being blown up into pieces and an eventual death, he told Burhan, Sartaj and Parvez of the imminent military action.

He suggested perhaps breaking the cordon would have better chances of survival since they had given forces slip earlier also. Sartaj, sources said disagreed, but Burhan agreed. He wanted to take a chance, since it was early cordon, while forces were still gathering momentum.

These were perhaps the last words. As Sartaj and Burhan left, they rolled out in swift movement firing indiscriminately, but got caught in immediate retaliatory firing. Burhan got killed in the first volley of bullets and was first to succumb to gunfire.

Burhan's luck had got over. The side was covered by an Army jeep with CO's technical man with wireless set and a weapon along with the driver. Major Sandeep Kumar led the crack team following "actionable" intelligence while action was done by Sepoy Arvind Singh and Capt Manik Sharma. All three of them were given Sena Medals for their heroic act. They noticed a suspicious movement and fired. An officer even joked that " It was very unlike the killing of a top terrorist, he was perhaps killed by a non combatant."

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The Jammu and Kashmir Police SSP Jabbar, who was in constant touch with SOG, came in from an unexpected route, chancing upon the terrorist. Though later, Jabbar refused to take credit for the encounter, he played an active part, firing at the terrorist.

The encounter ended, but it took them some time to be 100 per cent sure that they had the right man this time. On confirmation, the body was whisked away. But, eventually it was this very encounter after which state dived into an abyss.

Senior officers confided that Burhan would have been yet another terrorist if the government had not issued contradictory statements. While the government including Mehbooba Mufti and Deputy CM said they were not aware of the operations. Many within the forces feel that it was government's mishandling which pushed the state into crisis. The rest is history.

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Also Read:

--- ENDS ---
A year since Burhan Wani: Bring it on, we are ever ready says Indian Army

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

It has been a year since the Indian forces in a very successful operation gunned down Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist, Burhan Wani in Kashmir. A lot has changed in the Valley since then.

While many in the media attributed the uprising in the Valley to the death of Wani, the fact of the matter is that this was something that was planned six months in advance and his death only became a trigger.

It would not be wrong to say that the security forces were caught on the backfoot at first. The Valley erupted and this was largely due to the poor manner in which the announcement of Wani's death was handled. Many said that the death was declared before the state could get the security arrangements in place.

The stone pelters came out in large numbers and all the Kashmir separatists who in reality do not see eye to eye stood united and they had plenty to gain. The death of Wani saw many youth in Kashmir joining the ranks of the Hizbul.

Wani in fact had created a scenario where taking up guns had become a fashion statement. He was more of a social media terrorist who shot more selfies than bullets.

There was a lot of talk that the government should engage with the separatists. While the government came under plenty of criticism, the thinking in South block was something different. Said a senior official in the Prime Minister's office, " they do not want to speak within the ambit of the Constitution. How can a democratically elected government speak on such a condition?"

Increasingly as the violence grew, the government took a tougher stance in the Valley. " Let them pelt stones, let us not get bogged down. They will tire out. Appeasement is not the way to go," became the motto of the government. To put it simply, it was the Ajit Doval doctrine that was in force.

After General Bipin Rawat took over as the Chief of the Army, the scenario changed dramatically. The government decided to give the Army a free hand in the Valley and the results are there to be seen. 92 militants gunned down in the past six months.

The Kashmir battle is not over as yet and the Army has given a six month deadline to bring the Valley back to normal. The war today is being fought against both bullets and ideology. Both will be finished in good time says the government.

There would be attempts no doubt to fuel the violence further. A batch of 200 militants are currently being trained in Gilgit-Baltistan to launch a fresh offensive. Is the government ready? Bring it on say the security forces.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, July 8, 2017, 5:45 [IST]
Army redeployed in Darjeeling amidst sporadic clashes between protestors and security forces

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Darjeeing, July 8, 2017: Army was deployed with Darjeeling Hills once again on the boil on Saturday over the death of a person in Sonada. A person was also killed in the Darjeeling Chowk Bazar as violence spilled over from Sonada.

Sporadic incidents of violence, vandalizing and arson gripped Sonada and Darjeeling. The world heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railway station at Sonada was also torched.

Incidentally on June 8 the Army had been deployed in Darjeeling owing to clashes between security forces and GJM supporters. However on June 19th the Army was withdrawn with the situation improving considerably.

Trouble started with the death of one Tashi Bhutia allegedly in CRPF firing on Friday night at Sonada, 16 km from Darjeeling town. According to Bhutia's family members Tashi had gone out at around 11:30 pm on Friday to get medicine for his elder brother who had fallen sick. Tashi had bumped into a CRPF contingent conducting raids and was allegedly shot by the CRPF at point blank range, claimed family members.

The family members have lodged a FIR at the Sondada police station. GNLF leaders including President Mann Ghising visited Tashi's house in the morning. "Tashi was our supporters. He had gone out to buy medicine but was shot down by the CRPF. We demand a judicial inquiry of the killing" stated Ghising.

At around 10:30pm, a rally accompanying the dead body decided to gherao the Sonada police station. As they started marching towards the police station, tear gas shells were burst by the police. Angry mobs went bout vandalizing the police station and the adjacent police barracks.

A large police contingent arrived from Darjeeling led by ADG Javed Shamim and Darjeeling SP Akhilesh Chaturvedi. The police appealed to the protestors to maintain restraint, peace and return home. However the mob continues with torching the waiting room and office of the DHR station at Sonada. A traffic police kiosk was adjacent to the station was also torched.

Police resorted to baton charge, bursting tear gas shells and even firing rubber bullets while the protestors rained stones on the police. The scuffle between the protestors and the police went on for many hours.

As Tashi's dead body reached Darjeeling, unrest broke out in the Hill town. A police vehicle was vandalised and overturned. GJM supporters and the police locked horns at Chowk Bazar. The Deputy Superintendent of Police office along with Food and Supply office at Chowk Bazar was vanadlised.

Here too police resorted to baton charge, burst tear gas shells and allegedly fired rubber bullets. One Suraj Sundas was allegedly killed in police firing in the Chowk Bazar. The office and residence of Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) located at Kakjhora was vandalised and torched. Traffic kiosks were set on fire in Darjeeling.

At around 4:30pm the army was called in. "We have called in the army" stated Joyoshi Das Gupta, District Magistrate, Darjeeling. The army has been deployed in Darjeeling and Sonada. Police personnel were also injured in Saturday's standoff.

"The State Government has unleashed a reign of terror in the Hills. Along Bhutia and Sundas, tow others have been killed in police firing. They are Asha Kumar and Sameer Subba. Many others are injured" claimed Binay Tamang, Assistant Secretary, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM.) The GJM has been demanding Centre's intervention in the Darjeeling impasse.

Late in the evening the forest office and staff quarters of the Neora Range in the Kalimpong district was torched along with a forest department vehicles.

"I am willing to sit in talks with Hill parties. Let us all work together. Let them allow the Government to take food supplies to the Hills. If the parties maintain peace we can hold dialogues" stated CM Mamata Banerjee in a press conference in Kolkata.

She appealed to the protestors to maintain restraint. "I have asked the police to maintain restraint. Government offices, vehicles and even fire engines have been torched yet the police have maintained restraint" claimed Banerjee.

Dubbing Bhutia's death as an "accident" Banerjee stated "We will conduct an inquiry into the matter. It was dark and we will have to find out what happened. I have heard that the police party had been attacked."

Banerjee took a hand at the Union Government stating "If they would have provided additional CRPF then the situation would not have come to this."

The GJM has negated the CM's appeals for talks. "We will not sit for talks with the State Government. We will sit in a dialogue with Centre only that too for Gorkhaland only" stated Binay Tamang.

OneIndia News
Prashant Kishor claims Nitish Kumar in touch with BJP says don't be surprised if he joins hands with it again

Before the CBI raids on Lalu, here is what the PMO told Nitish Kumar

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Central Bureau of Investigation was ready and it had been decided that raids would be conducted at 12 locations including the residence of Lalu Prasad Yadav. The Chief Minister of Bihar had to be kept in the loop since raids were about to take place at the residence of his deputy, Tejashwi Prasad as well.

Normally there is no such prior notice or information given before a raid. However the CBI had told officials in the Prime Minister's Office that there would be a law and order situation.

The PMO then decided to inform Nitish Kumar about the same. A call was made on Thursday night itself to Kumar who was informed about the raids. Kumar on the other hand spoke to his top officials to ensure that there is no law and order problem when the raid is on. Sources in the PMO told OneIndia that this step was necessary to avoid any trouble for the raiding party.

The top officials in the Bihar police stepped up security across the state. Barring the top officials, none in the lower ranks were aware of why they were told to stay on stand by.

Interestingly Nitish Kumar was away in Rajgir on Thursday. He was away to recover from a bout of illness, but his office gave no official reason. Sources however say that Kumar may have been away from Patna to either avoid meeting the opposition's presidential candidate Meira Kumar or he must have had prior information about the raid.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, July 8, 2017, 7:48 [IST]
Centre in collusion with external hands, says CM Mamata Banerjee

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

In an unprecedented attack on the Centre, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday blamed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for colluding with 'foreign hands' to disturb peace in border areas of the state.

Communal violence in Basirhat and agitation in hill city Darjeeling for separate Gorkhaland have posed law and order challenges to the incumbent Trinamool Congress government.

'Centre has a non-cooperative attitude, border areas are being disturbed with foreign hands having good relations with BJP,' said Mamata. Speaking to media she assured judicial 'inquiry into Beduria and Basirhat communal violence in North 24 Paraganas district'.

We will ask for judicial inquiry into incidents at #Baduria and #Basirhat : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee pic.twitter.com/JfV8owkXYZ  ANI (@ANI_news) July 8, 2017

She added that the law would take its own course and strict action would be taken against those responsible for the clashes.

Banerjee also said her government would take action against "two national-level television channels" for showing "fake" videos and claiming them to be related to the clashes. "Video clips of an incident in Comilla, Bangladesh and a Bhojpuri film were being shown as if these incidents had taken place in Bengal," she alleged.

Regarding representatives of various political parties, including the BJP, attempting to visit the troubled areas today, the chief minister said, "What is the need to disturb the people there? Let them settle down. Trinamool Congress MPs did not go. They could have gone there as well."

She appealed Gorkhas not to choose violence for their cause and urged them to make peace instead. 'Negotiations are part of a democratic system but let peace be restored first,' she said.

BSF sent to Basirhat:

Four Border Security Force (BSF) companies have rushed to riot-hit Basirhat after four additional companies which were sent two days ago were sent back by the state govt, said Ministry of Home Affairs sources.

Reports requested by Central Government to facilitate review in hill city Darjeeling and Basirhat in North 24 Paraganas district are being delayed by West Bengal government, alleged MHA.

OneIndia News
Explained: Why has a public health emergency been declared in Puducherry's Karaikal

Puducherry budget: Here are the key highlights

Puducherry schools to remain shut for a week due to viral fever

Puducherry: Congress stages protest against Kiran Bedi

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Puducherry, July 8: Congress party members staged a protest against state Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi outside the Raj Bhavan here on Saturday.

The DMK, VCK and two other communist parties had called for a shutdown protest here on Saturday against Bedi's style of functioning.

The protestors were shouting slogans against the nomination of three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members to the legislature.

Some public transport buses plying to Tamil Nadu were damaged by protesters.

Meanwhile, Bedi has termed the protest as unnecessary as it would result in loss of several crore of revenue.

IANS
Tuesday is now No Meeting Day in Haryana and officers to be with people on Friday

30 per cent down: How Haryana aced the decrease in stubble burning

Haryana panchayat polls: Public holiday in several districts on Nov 9 and 12

Haryana: Eight killed in road accident

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Chandigarh, July 8: Eight members of a family were killed when their vehicle collided head-on with a truck in Haryana's Jhajjar district, police said on Saturday.

The accident took place late Friday night near Mataur village, around 75 km from Delhi.

The police said that seven people died on the spot while one person succumbed to injuries at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak.

The victims were travelling in a Mahindra Xylo multi-utility vehicle when the truck collided with it. Police said that both vehicles seemed to be travelling at high speed.

The truck driver fled from the spot. The impact of the accident was such that the Xylo, which was badly damaged, fell into fields along the highway.

The victims were travelling from Bahadurgarh town near Rohtak towards Dadri town.

IANS
Food crisis hits Darjeeling hard, locals allegedly loot shops

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Darjeeling, July 8: These are desperate times for the people of Darjeeling as an indefinite bandh has paralysed life in the hills. On Saturday, the indefinite bandh--called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morch (GJM) and other pro-Gorkhaland parties, who are demanding a separate state of Gorkhaland--in Darjeeling and adjoining areas entered the 24th day.

The worst impact of the ongoing bandh is the food crisis that has hit the hills hard. With shops selling essential items observing the bandh in toto, the people of Darjeeling are running short of food materials like rice, oil, lentils, biscuits and noodles, to name a few items.

Reports of people "looting" shops for food materials have emerged in the last few days. According to The Times of India, the locals during the night hours come out on the streets in search of food.

Many of them indulge in looting of shops as several shopkeepers have kept a stock of food items but are not selling them due to the strike. Many shopkeepers maintain that they too are running short of supply of groceries as trucks carrying essential items from the plains are not being allowed to enter Darjeeling.

The locals say that they support Gorkhaland movement, but the bandh needs to end soon. "Otherwise people will lose their patience. They might resort to violence and start anti-Gorkhaland protest, which would prove counterproductive," said a resident on condition of anonymity.

The policemen patrolling the roads of Darjeeling admitted that in the last few days they too have encountered men and women with covered faces knocking on the doors of shops in search of food late in the night.

The cops maintain that nobody has been arrested for loot till now, but shopkeepers are definitely being bullied to part away with their stocked materials.

"Yes, people don't have enough supply of food and vegetables. It has become difficult to keep kitchen running in most of the houses. In such circumstances people are forcefully taking away whatever little the shopkeepers have with them. However, most of the people are paying money to the shopkeepers. But many shopkeepers have refused to take money as they too are left with no supply of food and vegetable items," said a police official.

The latest crisis in the hills began after the Mamata Banerjee government announced the decision to make Bengali language compulsory in all schools. The anti-Bengali protest soon metamorphosed into pro-Gorkhaland agitation. Last month, three supporters of the GJM were allegedly killed in a police firing during a protest rally.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, July 8, 2017, 8:40 [IST]
Hindus not safe in West Bengal says BJP, MLA

India

oi-Anusha

As the West Bengal continues to remain on the boil owing to communal clashes, a BJP MLA has said that Hindus are no longer safe in the state. The BJP MLA from Telangana said that the WB government is responsible for this state of affairs.

In a video, he is heard saying that, Hindus are not safe in Bengal today because the government has allowed people who traditionally engage in riots to run free.

The MLA has been in the news earlier for his controversial comments.

The statement comes even as communal violence continues to mar normal life in Bengal. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has come under severe fire for failing to handle the situation effectively. She was even engaged in a war of words with the Governor, K N Tripathi who had sought a response from her on the law and order situation in the state.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, July 8, 2017, 15:52 [IST]
International news brief: Floods trap many in Florida; Royal Mint unveils first coins and more

Will govts helpline numbers prove beneficial for flood-hit people of Assam?

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Guwahati, July 8: The government's response towards the flood-affected people of Assam has always been poor. Like previous state governments, the current ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has miserably failed the people of Assam as the state is under the grip of floods.

According to the latest reports, around 4.5 lakh people have been directly affected by floods in the 17 districts of the state. The death toll in the current spate of floods in Assam mounted to 22 on Friday.

The locals fear the number of human casualties could be more as the government is yet to take stoke of the exact damage and destruction caused by the floods.

On Friday, the Sarbananda Sonowal government has decided to activate two toll-free helpline numbers--1070 and 1079--for the flood-affected people of the state. The latest step of the government is nothing less than pitching in at the last moment when the situation has gone beyond its hand.

While making the announcement of starting of helpline numbers, minister of state for revenue and disaster management Pallab Lochan Das said, "The people can pass on any information related to floods through these helpline numbers like inadequate distribution of relief materials."

Das added that the chief minister asked his cabinet colleagues to rush to the affected areas to take stock of the situation and personally monitor relief and rescue operations.

The intent of the government behind starting the toll free numbers might be noble. But the question is if someone is marooned in his/her village, where the telephone connectivity is mostly bad (natural calamity adds to the woes of telecom operators), how would one seek help?

As per the latest report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person each got drowned in Nalbari, Karimganj and South Salmara districts and the toll reached 22.

Of the 35 districts in the state, 17 were affected by the flood, while 4.5 lakh people were hit, it said.

The affected districts included Lakhimpur, Bongaigaon, Jorhat, Golaghat, Cachar, Dhemaji, Biswanath, Karimganj, Sonitpur, Majuli, Barpeta, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Morigaon, Hailakandi and Chirang.

The report said Karimganj in Barak Valley is the worst hit district with 1.61 lakh people affected, followed by Lakhimpur in Brahmaputa Valley with 77,974 flood-hit people.

A total of 1,037 villages in 52 Revenue Circles are affected, it said, adding that 181 relief camps and centres have been set up in 11 districts for the succour of over 20,000 inmates.

The Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger mark in Jorhat, Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri districts.

The other rivers flowing above the red mark are Desang in Sivasagar, Dhansiri in Golaghat, Jia Bharali in Sonitpur and Kushiyara in Karimganj district, the ASDMA report said.

Rhino habitats Kaziranga National Park in upper Assam and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in central Assam are under water due to overflowing of the Brahmaputra, Forest Department sources said.

Nearly one lakh big and small animals besides poultry are affected by the floods across the state.

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Meet Major DP Singh, a living example of the phoenix that a soldier truly is

"I'll either come back after raising the Tricolour or wrapped in it:" Remembering Captain Batra

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Who can ever forget, 'Ye dil maange more.' This is what late Captain Vikram Batra said to his commander at the base during the Kargil War. Captain Batra referred to as Sher Shah by the Army was martyred on July 7 1999 in combat with Pakistan.

Five weeks into the war on June 19 1999, Captain Batra, a Lieutenant at that was ordered to recapture Point 5140. He ensured a decisive victory despite being at a disadvantage as the enemy were perched higher up.

The capture of this point led to the fall of Tiger Hill. Captain Batra undertook one of the toughest mountain warfare operations at eighty degree steep and 17,000 feet high Point 4875. Captain Batra and his men advanced despite unfavourable weather conditions.

Captain Batra was heavily wounded while he tried to rescue another injured officer. The enemy launched a counterattack and Captain Batra fought till his last breath despite being injured severely.

On the morning of July 8, India had annihilated the enemy and also recaptured

Point 4875. While it was a great victory, India had lost Captain Batra. At this moment we as a nation must also recall what Captain Batra said before the operation. " I will either come back after raising the Indian Flag or wrapped in it."

Captain Batra was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra on January 26, 2000 and till date he is the last soldier whose achievements have been immortalised with India's highest military honor.

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OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, July 8, 2017, 6:02 [IST]
On the death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani today, parts of Jammu woke up to protests against Separatists, Pakistan and militants like Burhan Wani.

By Ashwini Kumar: An year ago this day, Hizbul Mujahideen's top Kashmir commander Burhan Wani was gunned down by security forces in Tral area that also became a flashpoint of violent uprising in the disputed territory.

On the anniversary of the encounter today, parts in Jammu are aloud with cries of anti-Burhan Wani and arrest-Separatists slogans.

The protestors are also burning effigies of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, terror agent Syed Salahuddin and Separatists in spite against their anti-India agenda.

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Agitators are sloganeering against Pakistan as well, while demanding that the security cover provided to Separatist leaders be shelved. Separatist leaders seem to be the eye sore for Jammu protestors who have resounded a clarion call for the arrest of all Separatist leaders and be booked under the Public Safety Act.

President of Jammu west Constituency Development Committee Sunil Dimple said,"J-K Government should not allow Kashmiri Separatists leaders to celebrate Burhan Wani week on his death anniversary. Burhan Wani was a terrorist and he should be treated like one."

The protests also find mention of the Army soldier and his wife who were killed today morning in heavy shelling by Pakistan along LoC in a Poonch district village.

--- ENDS ---
Indo-China standoff: Dragon's shadow on the Chicken neck

India

oi-Amitava

By Amitava

Darjeeling, July 7, 2017: With the Dragon breathing down land locked Sikkim's neck and unrest in the Hills of North Bengal, it is double trouble for India. Both the problems have cast a long shadow on the Chicken neck - a thin strip of land of immense strategic importance connecting the North Eastern states with the rest of India.

On the Sikkim front it all started in June with China expanding a road in the territory known as the Dokolam plateau - a tri-junction between India, Bhutan and China bordering Sikkim near the Nathula pass (14400 ft) region. While India calls this 89 sq km pasture land- Dokola, Bhutan refers to it as Dokolam and China as Donglang.

China already has a road near Dokola and is trying to extend it southward towards Gamochen which is controlled by Indian troops. Interestingly Gamochen is the area from where the Jampheri ridge starts. Located at an elevation it is a very important strategic vantage point for the Indian Army.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Royal Government of Bhutan release recently stated "On 16th June 2017, the Chinese Army started constructing a motorable road from Dokola in the Doklam area towards the Bhutan Army camp at Zompelri."

Boundary talks are ongoing between Bhutan and China. The release claims that Bhutan has written agreements of 1988 and 1998 stating that the two sides (Bhutan and China) agree to maintain peace and tranquility in their border areas pending a final settlement on the boundary question, and to maintain status quo on the boundary as before March 1959. The agreements also state that the two sides will refrain from taking unilateral action, or use of force, to change the status quo of the boundary.

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"Bhutan has conveyed to the Chinese side, both on the ground and through the diplomatic channel, that the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory is a direct violation of the agreements and affects the process of demarcating the boundary between our two countries. Bhutan hopes that the status quo in the Dokolam area will be maintained as before 16 June 2017" stated the release.

India supporting Bhutan's stand asked China to halt all construction work. Chinese troops instead told India to remove two bunkers that were set up in 2012 at Lalten in the Dokolam region. On June 6 night the Indian bunkers were destroyed by Chinese Bulldozers.

A standoff ensued with troop buildup by both the Peoples' Liberation Army and Indian Army. Conditions still remain the same with tension mounting. While the two armies are on eyeball to eyeball contact, China has resorted to sabre-rattling.

Rejecting Bhutan's claims, China has stated that the Dokolam area has always been a traditional pasture for Chinese cattle grazers over which it has always exercised complete control.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang talking to media persons in Beijing stated "The Dokolam area is an integral part of Chinese territory and we are exercising complete and comprehensive administration over this region. Our border troops and the residents around the border have been herding cattle since ages. The construction is being carried out in Chinese land."

The Dragon has preferred to play the Sikkim and Bhutan card to mount pressure on India. The Chinese official media has given a call for Sikkim's independence and separation from India. The state-controlled media has asked Chinese citizens to spark pro-independence movements in Sikkim thereby reversing India's "brutal" annexation of the state.

Sikkim was an independent kingdom until it merged with India in 1975 following a decisive referendum. Interestingly China also recognizes Sikkim as an Indian state since 2003.

The Chinese media has further suggested that China should build up a global consensus for the abolition of unfair treaties of sovereignty and defense that India has allegedly forced Bhutan to sign.

The state of Sikkim borders China in the north and east; Bhutan in the east; Nepal in the west and the state of West Bengal in the South. It shares a 220 km border with China; 32 km border with Bhutan. The region is also in close proximity to the Chicken neck.

Defence analysts are of the opinion that if China desires to inflict a strong blow to India it has to take control of the Chicken neck. The road that China is constructing in the Dokolam plateau will bring it closer to the Chicken's neck. In case it manages to suffocate the Chicken neck it will be able to effectively cut off the North East states of India including vital defense installations, military formations, reinforcements and supplies.

A Chinese military advance of less than 130 km would cut off Bhutan, part of West Bengal and the whole of North East. Such a situation arose during the Indo-China war in 1962.

The Chicken neck or Siliguri corridor is 200 km long and 60 km wide strip of land connecting North East states with the rest of India. Through this corridor runs the rail road network to the North East. There is the presence of 3 vital military formations in the North East near the Chinese border namely Dibrugarh in Upper Assam; Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and Dimapur in Nagaland. The Siliguri corridor also provides important logistic support to Sikkim.

China has been building up its asset base and upgrading infrastructure in the Dokolam plateau. It has upgraded the road from Lhasa to Yadong (7 hour journey.) China has already started extension work of the Beijing-Lhasa railway line to Yadong. Located in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) Yadong is 3 and a half hours drive from the Sikkim capital Gangtok.

Though the tri-junction impasse is the longest stand off between the two countries, in the past also there have many numerous instances of aggression in the Sikkim sector, specially the "Finger Tip" area of North Sikkim.

The "finger" located in the valley known as Sora Funnel, lies north of Giagong enroute to Gurudongmar lake ( a famous high altitude lake located at 17,100 feet) very near to the International Border. Giagong is located 180 kms from the Gangtok. There have been numerous instances of intrusions by the PLA in the past, claiming that the "finger" area belongs to China.

At present India has strategic advantage. In case a war breaks out Indian military presence inside Bhutan, stationed at Ha, will allow it to attack the Chumbi valley (A dagger like strip of land pointing at the Chicken neck) from two sides, potentially cutting off Chinese troops stationed facing Sikkim, claim defence analysts.

On the Military front, the Mountain Strike Corps designated as 17 Corps raised in 2013 is meant to guard the northern borders. Trained in high altitude warfare the Mountain Strike Corps was raised to be deployed in mountainous terrain from Arunachal Pradesh in the East to Ladakh in the North.

A new 72 Infantry Division of the Mountain Strike Corps is being raised and is expected to be fully operational in the next two to three years. In 2013 there were plans to build a composite aviation base under the Army Aviation Corps in Jalapiguri district (also part of the Siliguri corridor) of West Bengal.

Pegged at Rs. 1322 Crores the proposed project would be the largest in the country and would emerge as a major muscle power for the Strike Corps. Plans included stationing of fixed winged aircrafts, helicopters and even drones in this base. However the project is still under the wraps.

On the political front the recent unrest in the Darjeeling Hills has spilled over to the Chicken neck thereby affecting the region. There has been an indefinite bandh clamped by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) in support of the separate state of Gorkhaland since June 15.

The National Highway 10, the arterial road from Siliguri to Gangtok has been blocked despite a standing order by the Supreme Court. Vehicles plying on the NH10 have been vandalised and torched also.

In 2008 the Supreme Court had directed the Union, Sikkim and West Bengal Governments and others to ensure that the NH31A (now named the NH10) is kept open and outside the purview of all bandhs. Even Siliguri has witnessed numerous flashpoints with vehicles from Sikkim attacked and vandalized.

Commenting on the catch 22 situation, caught between the Chinese standoff and the Gorkhaland agitation, Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling stated "Given Sikkim's geographical location, having international boundaries with three countries, the potential threat to national security is a matter of supreme importance. The only access to the rest of the country is through the state of West Bengal. Due to the agitation, the law and order situation, Sikkim is sandwiched. The Government of India and all concerned authorities should safeguard the interest of Sikkim from these hazards and constraints. We fully support the Government of India's efforts in addressing the national security concerns in the best interest of the country."

However there hasn't been much effort on the part of the Union Government to defuse the ongoing political unrest in the Darjeeling Hills despite the prolonged bandh which hit the 23 day mark on Wednesday, feel political observers.

The geo-political location of this region with four international borders namely Nepal, Bhutan, China and Bangladesh makes it highly vulnerable. In the past there have been ISI operatives and North East insurgent outfit operatives arrested from this region. Owing to its strategic importance the Chicken neck is also on the radar of all major intelligence agencies of the world.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, July 8, 2017, 8:38 [IST]
Five youth get one-month jail for ticketless travel and creating nuisance

Constable sentenced to life for instigating minor to suicide after sexual abuse

'Kantara' leads to debate on if 'Bhootha Kola' ritual part of Hindu culture

Karnataka: RSS cadre succumbs to injuries in Mangalore

India

oi-Staff

By Staff

An RSS cadre, who was wounded in a knife attack, succumbed to his injuries on Saturday at AJ hospital in Mangalore.

Sharat Madivaal, 28, was attacked on July 4 by unidentified assailants on Mangalore's BC road while he was going home.

According to reports, one person was injured as his funeral procession came under stone pelting by a mob in the city. The body is being taken to his home town Bantwal. Hundreds of RSS cadres have joined the funeral procession as the city is gripped in tension.

Mangalore, Karnataka: Thousands of RSS workers attend funeral of RSS worker Sharath who was stabbed on July 4 & later succumbed to injuries. pic.twitter.com/W69hmhao7U  ANI (@ANI_news) July 8, 2017

Over 2000 police personnel have deployed in the district to maintain law and order. CRPF have been deployed in Bantwal taluk.

Earlier, Pro-Hindutva organisations and BJP workers protested demanding arrest of culprits involved in the attack. Secuity has been beefed up in sensitive areas of the district.

OneIndia News
Key accused in 1993 Gosabara RDX landing case arrested

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

An accused in the 1993 Gosabara RDX landing case has been nabbed by the Gujarat ATS. The accused Kadir was nabbed following a tip off. He is currently being questioned by the ATS and sleuths of the Intelligence Bureau.

This is the second arrest in one year in the same case. In 2016 the Mumbai ATS had arrested Abdulsattar Batliwala from Khar. He was later taken to Ahmedabad for questioning.

Dawood Ibrahim had sent a huge cache of RDX and arms, including AK-47 rifles to Gujarat from Karachi via sea route in 1993. The objective was to take revenge for the Babri masjid demolition.

The contraband landed on Gosabara coast in Porbandar district of Gujarat in 1993, and was distributed to Dawood's associates and other conspirators in Mumbai, Surat and Uttar Pradesh, it said.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, July 8, 2017, 13:01 [IST]
No more pellet guns, now sound will shoo away stone pelters in Kashmir

Stones were pelted, but forces didnt fire back in Srinagar says MHA

Two Metro stations in Delhi closed after pro, anti CAA protesters pelt stones at each others

Now, stink bomb to control stone pelters in Kashmir

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Srinagar, July 8: The security forces are desperately looking for an alternative to pellet guns to deal with stone pelters in Kashmir.

In April, the Centre told the Supreme Court it was exploring a crowd control option that is akin to rubber bullets but not as lethal as pellet guns that are being used as a last resort to quell violence in the Kashmir Valley.

Now, the Kannauj-based Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC) has developed a "stink bomb" to tackle stone pelters in the Valley, reported ANI.

Kannauj-based Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC) has developed a 'stink bomb' to tackle stone pelters in Kashmir pic.twitter.com/IOCNasywCq  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 8, 2017

"It (stink bomb) is still in the early stage. It is a sort of capsule which will burst and emit smoke with bad odour," Shakti Shukla, principal director, FFDC, told ANI.

As the use of pellet guns by the security personnel against protesters in Kashmir has created a lot of controversy after it left hundreds blind and severely injured, the Centre is forced to come up with an alternative.

The Centre, on its part, has examined other alternatives to pellet guns like skunk water, laser dazzler and chilli-filled pava shells which are found to be "not so successful" like the controversial pellet guns.

Along with Kashmiris, several international human rights organisations too have demanded ban on use of pellet guns.

Thus, if the "stink bomb"--once it starts getting used by the security forces--prove successful, it will work as a "good" measure to control violent mob in the Valley without causing much damage.

However, the FFDC is yet to reveal if the use of stink bomb would prove harmful to the health of persons against whom it is used.

A sample of the stink bomb has been shown to the minister of state for Micro Medium and Small Industries (MSME) Giriraj Singh.

Recently, Singh wrote a letter to the Defence Ministry regarding its features following which instructions were given for the trial of the capsule in the Special Research Branch of the Ministry of Defence.

The capsule will be included as a weapon in the Indian Army following necessary clearance and approval from the Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Union Ministry for Defence, reported ANI.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, July 8, 2017, 9:46 [IST]
Watch: Car in flames after it rams into gate of Russian embassy

Jaishankar says 'buying Russian oil is to India's advantage, we will keep that going'

Russian national on hunger strike in Uttarakhand jail

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

A Russian national, who is on a hunger strike in Uttarakhand's Tehri jail, threatened the jail authorites with suicide if he was force-fed.

He was imprisoned in Tehri jail for living in India without a passport. He has been admitted to hospital. So far, his identity and pupose of a visit to India are not known.

Uttarakhand: A Russian national, lodged in Tehri jail, goes on hunger strike, threatens to commit suicide if force-fed. pic.twitter.com/cUSSgAYkvW  ANI (@ANI_news) July 8, 2017

According to The Passport Act, 1967 [Act No. 15 of 1967 dated 24th. June, 1967], a person shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees or with both.

OneIndia News
Terrorist or martyr? Making of the legend of Burhan Wani in Kashmir

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Who was Burhan Wani? The answer depends on which side of the fence you are and how you look at the entire Kashmir issue. If you are someone in the national capital, you would call the former Hizbul Mujhadeen commander, killed in an encounter by the security forces last year, a "terrorist".

Or, if you are a regular college-going teenager in the Valley, you would call him a "martyr". The answer to the question is not an easy one. Perhaps that is why even the Indian media is yet to decide on whether to call Burhan a "terrorist" or a "militant".

While newspapers like The Hindu addresses Burhan and his likes (the local men/boys from Kashmir who have taken up guns to fight for their freedom) as "militants", other mainstream media outlets call him a dreaded "terrorist" who was killed by the army for the greater good of the nation.

In such a conflicting atmosphere, the locals of Kashmir with alleged support from the Pakistani-sponsored terrorists are marking the first death anniversary of Burhan on Saturday. Burhan was killed by security personnel on July 8 last year.

Fearing the situation to turn hostile on the death anniversary of the Hizbul commander, curfew has been imposed in Tral region of the state. Burhan was a native of Tral.

The rest of the valley faces restrictions on movement, J&K police has said, according to PTI.

Section 144 of the CrPc has been imposed in Shopian and Pulwama in south and in Baramulla of north Kashmir. Under this rule, people cannot assemble at public places in large groups. Separatists have called for demonstrations across the Valley for a week to mark the death anniversary.

After Burhan's death, clashes between the civilians and security forces broke out immediately. The situation across the Valley remained tensed for almost six months last year, resulting in the death of around 100 civilians and three security men.

More than a thousand Kashmiris were severely injured, which included blinding of several due to the excessive use of lethal pellet guns by the army.

Observers say death of Burhan, who was called the poster boy of militancy in the Valley, had a large following among the masses. The 22-year-old had succeeded in capturing the imagination of the Kashmiris, especially the youth, by his excessive use of social media.

Probably, Burhan was the first homegrown militant in Kashmir who made such "good" use of social media to spread his "message".

The entire phenomenon of rise of Burhan, who joined militancy at a young age of 15, showcases how children are being inspired to take up guns in the name of freedom in Kashmir.

Moreover, Burhan was the total antithesis of what terrorism experts generally proclaim. He was the son of a well-to-do family and it was not money that attracted him to take up gun. Many in Kashmir literally "worship" Burhan.

According to them, the deceased militant gave away a comfortable life for the freedom of his people--an act seen as a supreme sacrifice in major parts of the Valley.

It was for all these reasons (perhaps more, we don't know), when Burhan died, Kashmiris called him a "martyr". They came out on the streets to take part in his funeral and since that day Kashmir "changed forever".

Along with violent clashes between the stone pelters and jawans, militancy once again spread like a fire in the Valley. Reports suggest that post Burhan's death more and more youths have either joined militant groups or are planning to do so.

According to the state police department, militancy has seen a resurgence in several parts of south Kashmir where there wasn't any militant presence for almost a decade now. The most worrying factor is that similar trend has been observed by security forces in north and central Kashmir.

The number of local youths joining militancy in Kashmir since a fresh agitation erupted in July last year has shown an alarming increase with security agencies putting the figure at nearly 250 till March this year.

After Burhan's death, youngsters of Kashmir look determined to continue with their struggle. Be it curfew or ban on internet, Kashmiris these days are showing their will to find alternative measures to bypass all restrictions imposed on them.

Since social media has given the youth a "new voice", whenever there is a ban on internet, the "smart kids" in Kashmir use "alternative" social media platforms like-KashBook.

The KashBook, developed by local youth, is a social media platform dedicated especially to the people of the state. Apart from joining this website, hundreds of Kashmiris figured out ways of accessing other websites using VPNs during ban period.

Such defiance on part of the Kashmiris has become a major headache for the political and security establishments in the state. The PDP-BJP rule government in the state looks clueless as what is happening in the Valley.

If on one hand the number of attacks by Pakistani-sponsored terrorists have increased manifold (most of these attacks are against the Indian Army), on the other the civilians including teenage girls and boys are regularly seen on the streets pelting stones against jawans.

While peaceniks feel that the Kashmir cauldron could be resolved by dialogue and decreasing the presence of force, the Indian Army as per the instructions of the Narendra Modi government has decided to take a tough stand against anyone found involved in "anti-national" activities.

The hardline stance adopted by the Centre seems to have backfired, especially in cases like the use of a Kashmiri man as a human shield by the army, which was widely criticised at various international platforms. However, as far as Kashmir policy is concerned, the Centre seems firm on following the "law of retaliation".

On a day when the Kashmiris are mourning the death of their "hero", two civilians lost their lives after Pakistani army violated the ceasefire and resorted to mortar shelling and firing at border posts and villages along the Line of Control in Poonch district.

Since the death of Burhan, probably not a single day has gone when Kashmiris have not witnessed any violence. Violence has become so endemic in the Valley that even those who are sitting in various parts of the country could imagine Kashmir only as a "burning" land which has lost all its natural glory.

Like Kashmir, the lives of Kashmiris are complicated, full of contradiction and one constant reality--the scourge of violence which has become more pronounced after the death of Burhan.

OneIndia News
Sonia tells Lalu, Nitish to meet her again after Cong gets new president

The fall and fall of Lalu Prasad Yadav and fly

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Lalu Prasad Yadav today faces one of his toughest battles. He is embroiled in a host of cases. The raids on his residence in connection with the irregularities in the IRCTC on Friday by the CBI added yet another case to his bio-data.

Going back to the fodder scam, Lalu and his family are trapped in a maze of cases. While legally his troubles do not seem to end, on the political front too he finds himself on a sticky wicket. His coalition partner, the JD(U) in Bihar is largely silent on the raids. The BJP led by the Sushil Kumar Modi in Bihar has only added to Lalu's misery by upping the ante and exposing one scam after another.

How Lalu's family bagged a Rs 90 crore plot for a throw away sum of Rs 62 lakh

The fall of Lalu:

Lalu has been convicted in the fodder scam. He continues to face legal troubles. One of the five fodder scam cases has reopened and the Supreme Court has ordered that the trial be completed in nine months. Lalu has had to travel to Jharkhand to appear before the concerned court on a weekly basis.

In addition to this, Lalu's family members too face a host of cases.

The Income Tax department raided 22 locations in New Delhi and adjoining places, related to land and farm houses owned by Lalu's daughter, Misa Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar. The Enforcement Directorate too has begun investigations into the matter.

His son Tejashwi Yadav who is also the deputy chief minister of Bihar faces cases.He allegedly holds heavy stakes in a company that promotes Bihar's biggest mall in the state capital worth Rs 750 crore. His other son Tej Pratap is accused of holding large tracts of land. A petrol pump owned by him also landed in trouble after its holding was cancelled. This order has however been stayed.

Misa, Hema and Ragini, daughters of Lalu are accused of being directors in many shell companies. Central to all these allegations are Lalu whose position was misused to amass wealth and assets.

The Lalu kingdom:

AB Holdings Pvt Ltd

Allegation: Company owned by Tejaswi and sister Chanda, posesssing property in Delhi, accused of money laundering.

KHK Holding Pvt Ltd

Company owned by Misa and Shailesh, with property in Delhi's Sainik Farms, accused of money laundering and benaami assets.

IT has provisionally attached the land and construction has stopped.

AK Infosystem Pvt Ltd

Allegations: Company, owned by Rabri, Tejaswi, and other family members, with property in Patna's 3 prime areas, accused of owning benaami assets and money laundering.

IT has provisionally attached the properties.

Delight Marketing Company Pvt Ltd

Allegation: Firm, initially owned by RJD MP Prem Gupta, was transferred to Lalu's wife and son, who allegedly got prime land in Patna from industrialist Harsh Kochar against allotment of two hotels in Ranchi and Puri during Lalu's stint as railway minister.

IT has provisionally attached the property, CBI conducted raids

Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt Ltd

Allegation: Company owned by Lalu's elder daughter Misa and her husband Shailesh, accused of money laundering.

IT has questioned Misa and Shailesh. ED has also arrested Misa's chartered accountant Rajesh Agrawal.

Fairgrow Holding Pvt Ltd

Allegation: Owned by Lalu's family, possessing property worth Rs 76 lakh, accused of money laundering.

Probe sought.

OneIndia News
Who will win if India-China go to war: Here is how military might stacks up

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Amidst the stand off between India and China, it would be interesting to note which country has a stronger military. While several sources indicate that war is not an option for both countries as the economies will collapse, the stand off is expected to continue for some more time.

In this context it would be interesting to see which country has more military might. In terms of manpower China has 1.6 million active troops in comparison to the 1.3 India has.

Global Fire Power a military data website says that the PLA has 6,457 tanks as opposed to the 44.26 India has. India leads in the case of Armoured Fighting Vehicles. India owns 6,704 AFVs while China has 4,788 AFVs. In the case of Self propelled artillery, India has 290 while China has 1,710. In the towered artillery department, India has 7,414 while China has 6,246.

Air Force

In this department China is a stronger force. It has 1,271 aircrafts when compared to the 676 that India possesses. In the case of transport aircraft India has more than China with 857. China has 782.

China has over 1,100 helicopters, with 206 attack helicopters, India has 666 helicopters and just 16 attack choppers.

Navy:

China has 283 surface combatant warships. This is four times more than what India possesses says an analysis done by IndiaSpend. India incidentally was first in Asia to possess an aircraft carrier.

According to IndiaSpend, "In April 2017, China launched a new aircraft carrier, its second after the Liaoning, but the first to be indigenously manufactured. The Chinese aircraft carrier is scheduled to be operational by 2020."

China also had the Liaoning, a Soviet-era warship it purchased from Ukraine and commissioned in 2012 following refit.

On the other hand the Indian finalised the specifications for the construction of INS Vishal, an indigenous successor to INS Vikrant. The Vishal will be nuclear-powered, weigh 65,000-tonne and carry more aircraft than Vikrant and Vikramaditya.

OneIndia News
With an eye on China, India gives Myanmar Army chief the 'king's treatment'

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

With an eye on China, the chief of the Myanmar Army is getting the king's treatment in India. During his visit he will meet with all the big-wigs and sources tell OneIndia that India may crank up military supplies to Myanmar as well. This is a move by India with a firm eye on China, the country with which India is involved in a long stand off.

Commander-in-chief of Myanmar armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing will meet with the Prime Minister, Defence Minister, Arun Jaitley and National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval. He is also being given an extensive tour of the country that began at Gaya on Friday. To make the visit even more grand, Indian Army Chief, Bipin Rawat flew down to Gaya to hosot a banquet at the Officer's Training Academy.

India will boost the military supplies to Myanmar. This is being seen as a move that would largely increase, defence cooperation with Myanmar. This is also the overall plan to expand defence cooperation with the ASEAN countries. India expects that this would send out a strong message to China.

Currently India provides Myanmar with 105mm light artillery guns, rocket launchers, rifles, radars, mortars, bailey bridges, communication gear, night-vision devices, war-gaming software and road construction equipment as well as naval gun-boats, sonars, acoustic domes and directing gear. India also makes regular port calls to Myanmar apart from taking part in coordinated patrolling exercises along with the bilateral maritime boundary.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, July 8, 2017, 13:08 [IST]
G-20 Summit to be hosted in Jammu and Kashmir next year

International news brief: Two planes collide mid-air in California, Putin, Xi Jinping to attend G20 Summit

Will Biden-Xi meet at G20 summit halt slide in US-China ties?

G20: India to assume presidency in Dec 2022; will host 200 meetings

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend G-20 summit in Bali

G20: Modi says real growth not possible without women empowerment

International

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Emphasising that real growth will not be possible without empowering women, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a strong pitch gender equality.

Speaking at the fourth session of the G20 summit at Hamburg on Digitalisation, Women's Empowerment and Employment, Modi said borderless digital world represents opportunities as well as risks.

He said that India's journey to low-cost world-class technology highlights adoption of integrated approach under National Cyber Security Policy.

Modi also proposed a three-point agenda to the G20 nations aimed at improving manpower utilisation.

Following are the steps proposed by the PM:

Create a strong partnership for skilling and up-skilling including exchange of best practices.

Encourage manpower mobility that brings net value to host and source nations.

Promote digitalisation for strengthening labour markets, improving delivery of services.

Modi concluded the session by saying that primary endeavour should be to connect growth to jobs.

Modi earlier met his UK counterpart Theresa May on the side-lines of the summit and cooperation for return of escaped Indian economic offenders.

Prime Minister Modi is in Hamburg, Germany, to attend the G20 summit. He met several world leaders on the sidelines of the summit including Italy's Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Norway's PM Erna Solberg, South Korea President Moon Jae among others.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, July 8, 2017, 21:13 [IST]
Corruption taint is back on the political sleeves of Lalu Prasad Yadav family. The CBI and ED have conducted separate raids on the properties belonging to the Yadav family. But, Nitish Kumar is unlikely to part ways with Lalu Prasad Yadav over the issue of corruption. Here is why:

By Prabhash K Dutta: Since Narendra Modi led the BJP to an emphatic victory in the Lok Sabha polls in 2014, only two leaders have managed to put brakes on the winning chariot of the saffron brigade. JD-U president Nitish Kumar engineered a defeat of the BJP in Bihar and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal did the same in Delhi.

Arvind Kejriwal, somehow, could not become an integral part of the mainstream Opposition. Whenever there was talk of a united Opposition, Nitish Kumar emerged as the symbol of that ever elusive political bloc.

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The presidential election made it clear that Nitish Kumar, too, may not be the pivotal force for Opposition unity. Soon, Lalu Prasad Yadav was seen propping up the idea of a united Opposition comprising the BSP and the SP but the RJD chief did not name JD-U or Nitish Kumar in his new formula.

Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav are said to be having uncomfortable relationship for over a year now. Nitish was seen drifting towards his old ally the BJP on several occasions. He seems to have buried 'ideological' differences with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Raids by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members including Bihar deputy chief minister Tejasvi Yadav have given Nitish Kumar an opportunity to put an end to the uncomfortable relation with his senior partner in the grand alliance. But, Nitish is unlikely to part ways with Lalu Prasad Yadav.

ARITHMETIC OF BIHAR ASSEMBLY

In 2015, JD-U, RJD and Congress formed what was called the Mahagathbandhan or the grand alliance. The performance of the grand alliance - essentially meaning coming together of two biggest adversarial forces of Bihar politics - led by Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav stunned the BJP's alliance.

The RJD emerged as the single largest party with 80 seats followed by 71 of JD-U. The BJP could win only one-third of the total seats contested. It won 53 of 157 seats it contested. The BJP-led NDA won 58 of 224 Assembly constituencies. On the other hand, the Mahagathbandhan won 178 of the seats.

The BJP, powered by a hurricane campaign by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was routed in Bihar much against the anticipation of many poll pundits.

Nitish Kumar once again became the Chief Minister of Bihar despite being the junior partner in alliance. The last time, it was the BJP which propelled Nitish Kumar to the chair in 2005.

While, Nitish is said to have enjoyed a free hand during his alliance with the BJP, the equation is different with RJD boss Lalu Prasad Yadav, who seems to be taking more interest in governance and political affairs of Bihar.

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Many observers feel that to keep Lalu Prasad Yadav in check Nitish Kumar has drifted towards the BJP.

WHEN NITISH DRIFTED TOWARDS BJP

Surgical strike after the Uri terror attack was the first occasion when Nitish Kumar came out in open support of the Narendra Modi government. When the Congress and AAP indirectly demanded proof of the Indian forces crossing the Line of Control to destroy terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Nitish Kumar backed the Modi government's decision to cross the LoC.

After demonetisation was announced, Nitish broke ranks with the Opposition parties to praise Narendra Modi for taking concrete step against corruption and black money. Nitish attracted ire of the Opposition parties for siding with Modi government. Only much later, Nitish would question implementation of note ban still maintaining that demonetisation was a good move.

Nitish Kumar shared dais with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Patna during the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. The two leaders were seen sporting saffron turban and sharing a few laughs on the stage. Both exchanged lavish praise for each other in public.

Just recently, Nitish Kumar 'deserted' the Opposition camp to announce support to BJP's pick for presidential election. Nitish Kumar announced his party's support to Ram Nath Kovind saying he is the right choice for the post. He was again at the receiving end from the Opposition camp.

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RJD leaders including Lalu Prasad Yadav and Congress leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad criticised Nitish Kumar for supporting Kovind. Nitish, in turn, blamed Congress for breaking Opposition unity while justifying his decision to support the BJP candidate in the presidential election.

Nitish Kumar, however, has made it clear that his party may vote for a common Opposition candidate in the vice-presidential election. This policy of shifting goalposts seems to be a calculated political game plan of Nitish Kumar.

The key to understand Nitish Kumar's stand perhaps lies in the voters' profile in Bihar.

ELECTION PROFILE IN BIHAR

There goes a saying in Bihar that people don't cast their vote, they vote their caste. Both Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar have worked hard to create their own political constituencies. Lalu Prasad formed successive governments in Bihar banking on his MY - Muslim Yadav formula.

Nitish Kumar carved out a distinct constituency of women voters in Bihar. Nitish has been more popular among women voters in Bihar than men. His prohibition order in the state has to do a lot with his promise to women voters in the 2015 Assembly election.

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Nitish ensured more representation of women at panchayat levels. He has reserved 50 per cent seats in judicial services for women and 35 per cent quota in PDS shop allocation and all non-gazetted jobs in the state.

The results are also showing up. The gap between voting by men and women in 2000 Assembly election was 16.3 per cent. But, by the time Nitish went to seek his first re-election in 2010, women's turnout surpassed men's. The trend continued in 2014 Lok Sabha elections and 2015 Bihar Assembly poll. In 2015, 60 per cent women voters cast their votes against only 56 per cent by men.

MUSLIM AND YADAV VOTERS

Muslims constitute about 16.8 per cent of Bihar. They are believed to have voted en bloc for the grand alliance in 2015. Nitish would not risk antagonizing Muslim voters by deserting RJD-Congress by switching sides to NDA led by the BJP.

This shift would also mean loss of support of Yadav voters, who are 14 per cent in Bihar. The RJD's improved performance in the 2015 Assembly polls despite Lalu Prasad Yadav being convicted in corruption cases was interpreted as his hold over Yadav votes.

Nitish knows he would put the support base of about 31 per cent of voters by walking out of the grand alliance in Bihar and joins hands with the BJP. Though, mathematically, Nitish Kumar can continue to be the Bihar Chief Minister with BJP's support like old days but this will make him 'political subsidiary' of PM Narendra Modi. Nitish Kumar would rather keep playing the waiting game and be his own man in Indian politics.

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--- ENDS ---
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India's deputy high commissioner summoned by Pak ceasefire violation

International

pti-PTI

Islamabad, Jul 8: Pakistan on Saturday summoned India's deputy high commissioner over alleged ceasefire violations during which the senior Indian diplomat lodged a strong protest over the death of two civilians in firing by Pakistani troops.

The Indian diplomat also told the Pakistani side that there have been more than 223 ceasefire violations and around 50 infiltration bids this year alone. Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh was summoned over the alleged firing by Indian forces in Chirikot and Satwal sectors, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said in a statement.

The Foreign Office said that Director-General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations" by Indian forces.

During the meeting, Singh conveyed to Faisal that the ceasefire violations were initiated by Pakistani troops in Poonch and Krishnaghatti sectors today and the Indian forces only responded appropriately, the Indian High Commission here said.

A strong protest was also lodged over the death of two Indian civilians in today's ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops, it said. India's serious concerns over attacks on civilian areas, increased movements of terrorists and infiltartion attempts across LoC were also conveyed during the meeting, the Indian mission said. Pakistan also accused India of violating the ceasefire along the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in which two persons were killed and three others injured, the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson said.

"The Director-General urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC," the Pakistan Foreign Office said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said that "Pakistan Army troops responded effectively to India's unprovoked firing". The latest clashes erupted on the death anniversary of militant commander Burhan Wani who was killed in Kashmir last year.

PTI
Indian origin convert who praised ISIS arrested in US

International

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

An Indian origin man who have converted to Islam and voiced his support for the Islamic State has been arrested. He was arrested after he made false claims on his application to join the US military.

On his application form, the authorities learnt that he had not disclosed details about his visits to China and Jordan. Shivam Patel, 27 said in his application that he had not gone anywhere outside the US in the past seven years. He only spoke about a trip he made to India in 2011-2012 said a report in the Virginia Pilot which quoted a court affidavit.

If proven guilty he stares at 5 years in jail. Patel, of Norfolk, had travelled to China in July 2016 to teach English. While there, he had expressed displeasure to his father about how that country treated Muslims, the affidavit said.

Patel was sent back to the US by his employer but he travelled to Jordan instead where he was arrested and eventually deported.

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Story first published: Saturday, July 8, 2017, 12:44 [IST]
Talented, driven and great potential: President Putin is all praise for India and Indians

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India's acceptance of the 1890 Sino-British should not change says China

International

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

India has ulterior motives and this prompted the inclusion of the tri-junction with Bhutan in the Sikkim standoff, China has said. New Delhi's acceptance of the 1890 Sino-British treaty on the boundaries in the area should not change with the passage of time, China further said.

"The so-called tri-junction point as the name implies is a point instead of a line or an area," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

Asked about India's assertion that China is violating the agreement reached by the Special Representatives on the boundary in 2012 over the tri-junction, Geng said the road being built by China has nothing to do with it.

Geng said the convention between Great Britain and China relating to Sikkim in 1890 stated that the Sikkim section of the boundary commences from the east of Mount Gipmochi.

"The illegal trespass by the Indian troops took place at the Sikkim section of the India-China boundary, 2,000 metres away from the Mount Gipmochi," he said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson asserted that that the issue has "nothing to do with tri-junction point" and China had not breached the 2012 agreement.

Asked to provide exact coordinates of the tri-junction, he said he had no information on it. Geng also sought to justify China's road building, saying that it is not part of the Doklam area.

Geng questioned India's stand that Doklam is part of the strategic tri-junction also known as the Chicken's Neck, which is the key corridor connecting India with its north-eastern states.

"In disregard of the boundary convention, the Indian side takes entire Doklam area as part of the tri-junction. That is out of ulterior motives," Geng said.

"The Indian side introduced the idea of the tri-junction point into the incident in an attempt to enlarge the point into an area that is absurd and has ulterior motives," he claimed.

He also sought to dismiss the perception that the 1962 India-China war changed the past alignment of the boundary as China occupied areas like Aksai Chin, which continues to be in its possession.

The Indian government has repeatedly recognised the effectiveness of the 1890 convention, Geng said. "The boundary between Xizang (Chinese name for Tibet) of China and Sikkim was defined by this convention. Once the convention has been signed, the changes of the government will not affect the effectiveness of the convention. So it has nothing to do with the passing of the time," he said.

The treaty has "nothing to do with the 1962 war", Geng asserted. "It has already been recognised by the Indian side. Once it has been recognised, the convention has been effective and it has nothing to do with neither the passing of time nor the change of the regime or the government," he said.

The Indian troops intervened on June 16 on behalf of Bhutan to stop the road construction by the Chinese.

China and India have been engaged in the standoff in the Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction for the past three weeks after a Chinese Army's construction party attempted to build a road.

Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

Geng's remarks come days after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement, had asserted that India had underlined that the two governments had in 2012 reached an agreement that tri-junction boundary points among India, China and third countries would be finalised in consultation with the countries concerned.

"Any attempt, therefore, to unilaterally determine tri-junction points is in violation of this understanding," it had said.

India argues that since it is a tri-junction involving the three countries, it also has a say in the issue, specially in the backdrop of 2012 agreement between Special Representatives of the two countries, that have till now held 19 rounds of talks.

Bhutan, which does not have diplomatic ties with China, deals with Beijing through its Embassy in New Delhi.

As a close friend and neighbour, Bhutan enjoys diplomatic and military support from India. Geng asserted that there was no breach or violation from the Chinese side in the incident.

"We always believe that the tri-junction is a point not a line or an area," he said, adding that "equating a point with the areas is an introduction of a new concept."

When asked about the protest lodged by Bhutan over the issue, Geng reiterated that China and Bhutan reached consensus during their 24 rounds of boundary talks.

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Story first published: Saturday, July 8, 2017, 5:50 [IST]
We cannot wait longer now: SC to hear Vijay Mallyas contempt case in January for final disposal

Vijay Mallya can be evicted from London home over unpaid loan, UK court orders

Mallyas London home to be held on by family

Mallya extradition: PM seeks UK help to bring back economic offenders

International

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

In an apparent refence to absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a meeting with his British counterpart Theresa May in Hamburg, on Saturday sought UK's cooperation for return of escaped Indian economic offenders.

Modi met May on the sidelines of G20 summit in Hamburg.

PM @narendramodi meets UK PM @theresa_may on sidelines of #G20. Asks for UK's cooprn for return of escaped Indian economic offenders pic.twitter.com/VAwIp5ySvo  Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) July 8, 2017

Mallya, who in the United Kingdon at present, is wanted in a number of case including a loan default case to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore.

The trial to extradite Mallya is underway in London's Westminister court.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had recently filed a supplementary charge-sheet against Mallya's outstanding payments and his dealings with the banks.

India has filed more than 10 extradition requests to the United Kingdom. On the basis of the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK, authorities had in February formally requested for the extradition of the embattled tycoon.

Prime Minister Modi is in Hamburg, Germany, to attend the G20 summit. He met several world leaders on the sidelines of the summit including Italy's Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Norway's PM Erna Solberg, South Korea President Moon Jae among others.

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Modi arrives in India after successful trips to Israel and Germany

International

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday arrived in India after attending G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

During the two-day summit, Modi interacted with G20 leaders and put forth his views on a range of issues.

On Friday, the Prime Minister minced no words to condemn terrorism and called for unity among G20 to tackle the menace.

He also proposed a 11-point agenda to fight terrorism which focused to eliminating safe havens for terrorism and strangling the sources of funds for terror activities.

The G20 leaders, in statement, vowed to take stringent action against terrorism and share information about their activities with other nations. They also pledged to take action against sources of funds being used to finance terror activities.

On Saturday, Modi called for a debate on dealing with 'forced external migration' and said it must be distinguished from legal migration.

He also laid emphasis on women empowerment and said real development will not be possible unless women are empowered.

OneIndia News
Slip of Tongue in Pak Parliament: Speaker pronounces Nawaz Sharif's name instead of Shehbaz Sharif

Nawaz Sharif says Burhan Wani infused a new spirit in Kashmir struggle

International

pti-PTI

Islamabad, Jul 8: Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday paid tributes to militant commander Burhan Wani, saying his death "infused a new spirit in the struggle for freedom" in the Valley.

Sharif in a message on the first death anniversary of Wani's killing said that India cannot suppress the voice of the people of Kashmir through use of brute force.

Wani, a commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed in an encounter with Indian security forces on this day last year.

"The blood rendered by Burhan Muzaffar Wani has infused a new spirit in the freedom movement. The Kashmiri people are steadfast to take their movement to logical conclusion," he said.

Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan's political, diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris for their right to self- determination. He also emphasised the need for implementing the United Nation resolutions on Kashmir and asked India to accept their right of self-determination of Kashmiris.

PTI
Paris climate agreement is irreversible, assert G20 leaders

International

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Hamburg, July 8: Virtually snubbing the US, the G20 Summit on Saturday said the Paris Agreement on climate change is irreversible.

"The leaders of the other G20 members agree that the Paris Agreement is irreversible. We reiterate the importance of fulfilling the UNFCCC commitment by developed countries in providing means of implementation, including financial resources to assist developing countries with respect to both mitigation and adaption actions in line with Paris outcomes...," the Summit declaration said.

The Hamburg Action Plan noted the decision of the US to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.

"It was unfortunate that the US has left us. But the other 19 heads of government have agreed that the Paris accord is irreversible and the conditions in the agreement need to be implemented. We have agreed on the Hamburg Action Plan on climate change and energy," host German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the post-Summit briefing.

"We reaffirm our strong commitment to the Paris Agreement, moving swiftly towards its full implementation in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances and, to this end, we agree to the G20 Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth as set out in the Annex," the declaration said.

IANS
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An army soldier who was on leave along with his were killed in shelling by Pakistan in Kashmir's Poonch sector today.

By Ashwini Kumar: Pakistan Army today violated ceasefire along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir killing an Army soldier and his wife.

The Pakistan Army resorted to heavy mortar shelling and targeted Indian posts and villages in Chakka da bagh and Kharri Karmara areas.

Indian troops are giving a befitting reply to the indiscriminate firing. Army sources said that Pakistani troops are using 82 mm and 120 mm mortar shells.

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According to reports, even the ambulance is unable to reach the village to collect the bodies due to heavy firing from the Pakistan side.

The soldier has been identified as Mohammad Showkat.

The soldier has been identified as Mohammad Showkat and his wife as Safiya Bi from Khaari border village.

Pakistan wants to send terrorists to the other side of the border using cover fire, according to intelligence sources.

Defence spokesman, Lt Col Manish Mehta said that the Pakistan Army initiated the unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars at 6:30 am.

Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively.

#WATCH: Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in J&K's Poonch, two civilians killed. pic.twitter.com/r6kC3uTbp2- ANI (@ANI_news) July 8, 2017

Also Read:

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Pakistan violates ceasefire in Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu, India hits back

WATCH | Jammu and Kashmir: Soldier on leave killed along with wife in shelling by Pakistan in Poonch

--- ENDS ---
by  Graham Pierrepoint



Its been a hugely dramatic year for the UK  as the country not only voted in the majority to leave the European Union last year, but current Prime Minister Theresa May has also seen her own share of drama having experienced a loss of majority for her Conservative Party after calling an election to extend it. The UK election results saw significant gains for the Labour Party and the divisive Jeremy Corbyn, while the overall result saw a hung parliament announced the day after the polls closed. This has led to May seeking support from the DUP, based in Northern Ireland, which has in itself brought with it a whole new set of controversies.

Beyond this, May has been keen to proceed with Brexit  with Minister David Davis having taken part in much of the talks so far  but MPs in parliament continue to sit uneasy about the future of the current government. Mays majority is still unstable  with several Conservative MPs opposing a number of measures she has discussed since the fallout from the election. Despite this, May is pushing to stay in charge of the country to see Brexit through to the finish  stating that she will be playing her full part during leaving negotiations and that she would be ensuring that the issues we are discussing are important.

Mays comments come as her critics continue to judge her power in light of a reduced presence in parliament. May had chosen to call an early election, it is believed, in an effort to monopolize on a strong lead in polls ahead of Jeremy Corbyn  and having ended up with a reduction in seats, it remains to be seen whether or not the leader can turn around public opinion, and those of her peers in parliament, on her leadership. Faith in May has been shaken greatly  and polls show that Labour are holding a considerable lead in opinion polls after a reversal of fortune.

The Brexit process has under two years to complete  with the UK in talks to drum up a deal with the European Union up to March 2019. Whether or not May will get the deal that she has fought for over the past few months remains to be seen  its the grayest of gray areas, and we will likely learn more soon enough.
"Ajit Jogi is not a tribal." The ruling by the Chhattisgarh tribal welfare department's high-powered committee (HPC) is raising political temperatures in the state. It is also bound to have other consequences for the state's politics, with the former chief minister's new party-the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC)-making tribal identity its central electoral plank in keeping with Jogi's identification with the community.

Acting on the HPC's report, the Chhattisgarh government has cancelled Jogi's ST certificate. Jogi says the ruling is "politically motivated", and is using the Raman Singh government's move to claim that his party, and not the Congress, is the ruling BJP's main adversary in the state. Jogi says he plans to challenge the state government's decision in court.

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The issue of Jogi's tribal identity has been pending a resolution since the mid-'80s, some years after he quit the IAS to enter politics. At various stages, there have been hearings at the Jabalpur and Indore benches of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the Bilaspur bench of the Chhattisgarh High Court and the Supreme Court.

Notably, Jogi never took advantage of his 'tribal' (reserved) status when appearing for the civil services examinations, though he has always contested elections from constituencies reserved for tribals. His rivals and detractors insist Jogi belongs to the Satnami community, which is classified as Scheduled Caste and not Scheduled Tribe. Satnamis now constitute a significant chunk of the JCC's support base in Chhattisgarh.

The late Dilip Singh Bhuria, a prominent tribal leader and chairman of the National Scheduled Castes & Tribes Commission, had first ruled that Jogi wasn't a tribal in October 2001, but the decision was set aside by the high court in 2006. This was challenged immediately in the Supreme Court by the Chhattisgarh government and BJP leaders Nand Kumar Sai and Sant Kumar Netam, following which, in 2011, the apex court permitted the state government to examine Jogi's ST certificate.

For his part, Jogi claims he's from the Kanwar tribal community. He says the gram sabha, which is the competent authority to certify his ancestry, had declared that he was of the Kanwar community (certificate issued on June 6, 1967, by the tehsildar's office, Pendra Road, Bilaspur district, and verified many times since). In fact, Jogi says every court decision so far has been in his favour.

Incidentally, the HPC ruling has no immediate impact on Jogi, who is neither an MLA nor member of any house. Local Congressmen, though, have demanded that an FIR be registered against him. If upheld in court, the committee's ruling could spell trouble for his son, Amit, an MLA from Marwahi, a seat that is reserved for STs.

--- ENDS ---
by  Graham Pierrepoint



This week, the first meeting between two of the most polarizing figures in world politics finally occurred  with Russias Vladimir Putin and the US Donald Trump sharing in a well-publicized handshake which has captured headlines all over the world. Critics of Trump and Putin will of course allege that the pair may have had contact before  this is little other than conjecture while investigations reverberate over Trumps teams alleged links with Russia. For supporters of Trump  and of Putin  their meeting ahead of the G20 summit in Germany made for a momentous occasion. For everyone else, however, it will still have been a moment being watched with concerned interest.

To mark the occasion, a Russian customization firm have taken a handset from Nokia  who have recently been resurging into the cellphone market with plans to break into smartphones  to really push the boat out. The device, technically one of the relaunched Nokia 3310 handsets, comes emblazoned with a gold, embedded plaque of Trump and Putin  along with a date marking the duos first meeting in Hamburg, Germany. Further to this, its thought to be made with tempered titanium  and the decidedly odd creation is thought to cost the equivalent of $2500  meaning that its likely youll have to be truly invested in either of the divisive figureheads to want to bling out with this gold-encrusted creation. Regardless of where you stand politically, however, it really is an eye-catching device  but theres far more affordable ways for you to play Snake in the modern age!

Nokia 3310 Trump/Putin smartphone marking the occasion of the first meeting between the world leaders at the 2017 G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany

Trump and Putins meeting is momentous  there has been considerable interest in just how closely-linked the two parties are following the FBI launching an investigation into Trumps teams supposed connections and discussions with Russian operatives leading up to 2016s US General Election. This investigation has added fuel to fires started by conspiracy theories over Putins role in Trump being elected  and though the US President is holding his own  and while neither figurehead have publicly met in the flesh before  satire and allegations alike have proposed otherwise.

Want to mark the meeting between Trump and Putin in a unique and flashy way? Dig deep for $2500 and you can carry around a gold-plated effigy of the pair to your ear on a daily basis  stranger things have sold!
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Sumathi received severe head injury and died on the way to the hospital.

By Pramod Madhav: Sumathi, a government employee died in an accident at Koyambedu bus terminus near Chennai on Friday. Sumathi worked with the revenue department in Perambalur and was traveling to Chennai along with her relatives for medical treatment.

The accident took place as the bus entered Koyambedu bus terminus and sped on the speed breaker. Passengers including Sumathi who was sitting in the second last row, were thrown out of their seats.

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Sumathi and another passenger Kandhan received severe head injuries. An ambulance was called immediately but the woman died on the way to the hospital. Kandhan is undergoing treatment.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that the speed breaker that was partly responsible for Sumathi's death was constructed above the permitted level of height. As per law, a speed bump is to have a height of 4 inches but the one at the entrance of Koyambedu bus terminus was 12 inches.

Though the driver pleaded innocence, other drivers claimed that it was a routine practice to rush over the speed breaker in front of the Koyambedu bus terminus as passengers attempt to get down near the gate forcing the driver to slow the vehicle down which leads to traffic chaos.

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Bangladesh: 17 people killed in road accident in Rangpur

--- ENDS ---
David Beckham has urged Cristiano Ronaldo not to leave Manchester United this summer.

The former Red Devils star made this known in a chat with Sky Sports, where he said that the Portuguese international still has a lot to contribute to the team.

With new manager, Erik ten Hag coming this summer, Ronaldo could leave the club despite having a year left on his contract.

Obviously, Cristiano is one of the best players over the last 15 years with Leo [Messi]. To see him hopefully staying on at United is important for the fans and important for him. We know how much United means to him.

And he is still doing what he does best. Scoring goals and creating, and thats what Cristiano does.

Even at his age to be doing what he is doing is incredible. Hopefully it continues and hopefully he stays for another year or two.

Manchester united are stumbling towards the end of the campaign under interim boss Ralf Rangnick, losing three out of their last five matches, including Saturdays 4-0 thrashing by Brighton.

Theres changes to be made and changes that are happening, said Beckham, who made 394 appearances for the club between 1992 and 2003.

Its a tough end to the season, but it is the end of the season and Im sure a lot of the fans are thankful of that because its been a tough one full of ups downs.

The players have done what they can do best and so has the manager as well. But you still turn up at the stadium. I was there a few months back and every seat was filled.

The fans still believe and still support and will always turn up for the team, because thats what United fans do.

Theres not many teams that have gone through what United has the last few years and still selling out their stadium. So it says a lot about the fans and what they believe in.

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Two policemen have been killed by gunmen who attacked a police checkpoint at Gariki, MTD area in Enugu South Local Government Area of the state capital.

Gunmen Attack Police Checkpoint In Enugu

Punch quoted a source saying, there is shooting at Gariki, MTD area and that two policemen and some other persons have been killed on Thursday morning.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of Enugu command, Daniel Ndukwe, who confirmed the incident in a statement, said the operatives were on stop-and-search when they were attacked.

He said; There was an attack on Policemen on stop and search duty this morning, along Agbani Road, close to Enugu/Port-Harcourt Expressway, by yet-to-be-identified hoodlums.

However, details of the incident are still sketchy, while Commands Tactical/Operational Operatives have been mobilized and are on the trail of the miscreants. Further development will be communicated, please.

The statement was silent on the number of casualties, but sources in the area confirmed that at least two policemen were feared killed during the attack.

KanyiDaily had recently reported how the police killed two gunmen enforcing sit-at-home along the Umunze Road, Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra state.
News

Buhari congratulates Nigerian-Americans on victory at U.S. midterm poll

Webby - November 10, 2022

President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated eight Nigerian-Americans on their victory in the U.S. midterm elections. In Georgia, Segun Adeyina, Gabe
The advisory, posted in Chinese and dated July 7 on the Embassy's website, tells Chinese citizens in India to pay close attention to the local security situation.

By Ananth Krishnan: China has issued an advisory to its nationals in India telling them to "pay close attention to their safety" amid the on-going stand-off in Doklam near the Sikkim section of the border.

The advisory, which is not a travel advisory but aimed at Chinese nationals in India, is valid until August 7, and it was posted in Chinese and dated July 7 on the Chinese Embassy's website.

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The advisory tells Chinese citizens in India to "to pay close attention to the local security situation, improve awareness of protecting themselves, strengthen security, reduce unnecessary travel, and in advance inform family, colleagues and friends of their travel".

It also called on citizens to carry personal identification and follow "strict compliance with Indian laws and regulations" and "respect for local religious customs and customs, with local law enforcement officers to check".

The advisory is the latest move by Beijing to ratchet up pressure over the stand-off.

The advisory has been widely published by State media in China, underlining domestically how China is keen to keep up pressure on India over the stand-off.

On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said it would "issue relevant security alert in accordance with the security situation in relevant country" and that it "highly values the security and legal interests and rights of the overseas Chinese nationals."

There have been no reports of any safety incidents involving Chinese nationals amid the on-going stand-off.

Advisories, have, however also become a means for governments to ratchet up diplomatic pressure, as has happened in past instances.

China, for instance, did not issue any advisory last month even after two citizens were abducted and reportedly killed in Balochistan in an attack claimed by the Islamic State.

Also Read:

Why China will mend ways to defuse border tension and not boast of 1962

Doklam dispute: China says 'nothing to do with 1962', India has 'ulterior motives'

ALSO WATCH | China's public statements on border situation a sign of bullying?

--- ENDS ---
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Residents of the communities in Bashar District in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau have cried out against the incessant attacks by kidnappers and bandits in the area.

They complained that the criminal elements were terrorising their communities and giving them sleepless nights.

The people made the complaint on Thursday, when the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on Wanton Killings in Wase visited the area.

The Village Head of Kampani Zurak Community, Dahiru Adamu, described their condition as unfortunate and sad.

He said that the kidnappers usually operated on Fridays and would always ask for half a million naira ransom or more.

Sir, the issue of kidnapping and banditry is a serious challenge to us here.

I escaped narrowly when they once came after me and so our people are not safe.

We are having sleepless nights and now live in perpetual fear.

We cant travel freely. I nearly aborted my plans to attend this meeting because of fear of the unknown.

Our commmunities are becoming ghost towns because our people are moving to safer places, Adamu said.

Another resident, Abubakar Yusuf, said that the situation had affected farming activities in the area.

According to him, farmers are no longer safe in their farms and this situation can lead to famine, if not checkmated.

He said the people had so far lost 300 cows to their assailants.

He further said that the unfortunate development had further impovershed their people.

Yusuf also said that their attackers recently killed five soldiers in the community.

He, therefore, called on the goverment to intensify efforts toward tackling the menace.

Earlier, the Chairman of the committee, Rep. Fulata Abubakar, said they were in the area to investigate the remote and immediate causes of recent attacks in the communities.

Abubakar further said that the committee was in the state to get first hand information from the affected communities to enable it make necessary recommendations to the National Assembly.

As we all know, the fundamental duty of every government is the protection of lives and property.

We are concerned about the wanton killings in Plateau and this made the House of Representatives to raise a motion, which led to this committees assignment.

So, it is in that context that we are mandated to come and interact with you and other stakeholders and make recommendations to the Federal Government.

We are here to listen to you and by the special grace of God, we shall make recommendations that will restore lasting peace in wll the embattled communities of the Plateau in general, Abubakar said.
Around 5,000 men imparting education in the force could be turned into deadly warriors in the cyberspace.

The Army Education Corps should be closed over the next five years and its existing manpower should be reoriented to form part of the cyber warriors. - Shekatkar Committee's recommendation

By Ajit Kumar Dubey: In a world with real and virtual dangers, the Army needs more personnel who can do than those who can teach. So, around 5,000 men imparting education in the force could be turned into deadly warriors in the cyberspace or used for flying surveillance drones along the borders with Pakistan or China.

The three services are considering a proposal in this regard by a government panel.

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The recommendation has come from a committee formed under retired Lt Gen DB Shekatkar, which feels that the closure of the Army Education Corps can help in "saving of approximately 5,000 personnel including 370 officers who can be redeployed for futuristic core activities of the combat units."

"The AEC should be closed as a Corps over the next five years and its existing manpower should be re-oriented and re-skilled to form part of the cyber warriors, various electronic surveillance and intelligence as well as electronic warfare unit or trained as Unmanned Aerial vehicle operators," the committee has recommended in its report to the government.

NEW CYBER AGENCY

Mail Today reported in March that the defence ministry is working towards establishing a new cyber agency to tackle attempts by Chinese and Pakistani hackers to break into its systems and networks in a bid to enhance India's combat capabilities in the virtual domain.

The Shekatkar committee has also told the government that the existing facilities of the Army Education Corps with its centre at tourist destination Panchmarhi and the other infrastructure can be utilised optimally by the force for carrying out other activities.

The AEC has been involved in tasks such as managing human resources, regional language training, school administration, map craft, library, personality development, enhancement of educational qualification of Army soldiers and English language training for military personnel from friendly foreign countries.

The Shekatkar committee was formed by the Modi government in May 2016 to suggest ways of "Enhancing Combat Capability and Rebalancing Defence Expenditure" as a need was felt by the government for more integration among the services.

THE ELEVEN-MEMBER PANEL

The eleven-member panel had retired officers including former DGMOs who went through all the existing organisations of the three services and, after interacting with them, submitted its report to the defence ministry in December last year.

The ministry has now cleared most of the recommendations and sent them to the services to study them before implementation and the three chiefs have met under chairman of the chiefs of staff committee Admiral Sunil Lanba to discuss the issue.

On the reasons behind the proposal of disbanding the education corps, an Army official said when the AEC was formed during the British times almost 100 years ago, most of the soldiers joining from rural areas were not educated adequately and needed to be taught. Now there is no such requirement as all the recruits come after proper schooling and passing class 12.

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"Nowadays, if you need to educate your personnel on some topic or course, that can be outsourced to private or public sector agencies," the official added.

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

In the recent past, for teaching Mandarin to its troops, the Army tied up with renowned institutions such as the Shantiniketan in West Bengal and is also using software for this purpose, said the official.

The other major recommendations of the Shektakar committee include the formation of a new four-star officer for handling tri-services issues, increasing the retirement age of jawans in combat units, integration in the field of gathering military intelligence and combined use of logistics facilities. Around Rs 25,000 crore is expected to be saved if the panel's proposals to revamp military expenditure are implemented.

The committee has also suggested the establishment of a joint services war college for training middle level officers.

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Also Read:

Pakistan tests Nasr, army chief Bajwa says missile puts cold water on India's Cold Start

Self defence technique Krav Maga helping Indian armed forces thwart terror

--- ENDS ---
Spokesman of the Command, DSP Sanusi Abubakar, who disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, June 30, said illicit drugs and some deadly weapons were recovered from the suspects.

The arrested suspects

Three suspected thugs planning to unleash mayhem against citizens before, during, and after the current political campaign season have been apprehended by the Sokoto State Police Command.

Spokesman of the Command, DSP Sanusi Abubakar, who disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, June 30, said illicit drugs and some deadly weapons were recovered from the suspects.

In a move to prevent vulnerable youths from being radicalized and used as political thugs ahead of electioneering campaigns and snatching of ballot boxes, the police conducted an intelligence-led operation on the 29th of June 2022 which resulted in the arrest of the following insecurity elements for being in possession of illicit drugs and some deadly weapon while rehearsing to employ unprovoked violent actions on unsuspecting people in the state, the statement read.

The suspects are: 1. Mansur Yusuf Alias Hakki 2. Abdulwahid Zakariya and 3. Bashiru Aliyu alias Mahaluki.

This police action is the product of a sustained round-the-clock patrol by strategic commanders in the state as directed by the CP.

It is in the light of the foregoing that the state commissioner of police, CP Muhammed Usaini Gumel FIPMA, psc is advising politicians to warn their followers to always respect the law and refrain from engaging in acts that could endanger human lives or escalate acts likely to cause destruction of property

Therefore the police command is determined to to take decisive actions and ensure appropriate punishment of potential offenders according to extant laws and provisions of the constitution.

The police commissioner further reiterated that this is the beginning of a new dawn in Sokoto state as all potential criminal elements are advised to change for better or face the full wrath of the law as the Command will not relent in its efforts to combat crimes in all ramifications

The command is therefore using this medium to appeal to members of the public to be watchful on their childrens behavior and prepare them as advocate of peace.
Atiku Abubakar

Atiku Abubakar, the flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Friday described Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state as the Jagaban of the party.

Atiku said he holds Wike in high esteem, stressing that he is a man of revolution.

He disclosed this through the spokesperson of his presidential campaign, Segun Sowunmi, on Arise Television.

He stressed that the Rivers State governor is a straightforward person who says things as they are.

Wike is our own Jagaban; how do you explain a governor being able to keep other governors in line? One thing you cant deny him is that he has the ability to say it as it is. He will not bend or colour things.

Atiku holds Wike in high esteem, time and space may not bring them together, but he does. Wike is a man of revolution; he is one of the totems of PDP, he said.

There are claims of crisis within the PDP following Atikus selection of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate.

Fillers have it that Wike and some PDP members are aggrieved that Atiku picked Okowa ahead of Wike, who came second during the partys presidential candidate.


Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has alleged that the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, sold properties belonging to the State, including gas turbines, Olympia hotel and transfered $50 million from the States account when he was governor in Rivers.

The Governor, who spoke during a Thanksgiving service at St. Pauls Anglican Cathedral in Port Harcourt on Sunday, alleged that an All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship aspirant in the State, Tonye Cole is a business partner of the Minister.

He accused the former governor of plotting to bring his business partner to become governor of the State as a means of turning Rivers into his personal property.

You (Amaechi) think you can sell this State? The former governor thinks that he can bring his business partner, after you have sold all our gas turbines, Olympia hotel, collected our $50million cash.

He (Cole) must account for the $50 million they took from our account. Whoever knows him should tell him. $50 million was taken from Rivers State Access Bank account and transferred to Sahara Energy account.

And I asked them what is the job you people did for Rivers State? Can I see the contract paper, did you people loan us money? He queried.
By Supriya Bhardwaj: When BJP demanded sacking of Tejashwi and Tej Pratap - ministers Yadav in Bihar government, Congress - in support of RJD - counter questioned that why Union Minister Uma Bharti who has been chargesheeted still not asked to step down.

On question of resignation of Lalu's son , Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkalur said, " If Uma Bharti a Union Minister who is chargesheeted is still a Union Minister and hasn't been sacked then how come these two ministers, who doesn't have a charge sheet against them, be sacked? The issue is that the probe is on and no charges have been framed against Tejasvi and Tejpratap."

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"Law of the land must take its own course in an impartial and just manner. However, when law enforcing agencies like CBI and ED become 'captive puppets' of BJP government, acting as 'Dirty Tricks Department' to seek revenge against political opponents, it doesn't bode well for democracy," said Congress communication department head Randeep Surjewala while slamming the BJP.

HERE ARE THE CONCERNS RAISED BY THE CONGRESS Matter, as per CBI, dates back to the year 2004 while FIR is lodged in the year 2017. Why this inordinate delay and particular silence maintained by BJP for last 3 years? As BJP government waivers and failures are exposed, be it on the front of farmers, rampant unemployment, silence on corruption, failure on economic front or the nationwide protests against GST, which has made the opposition parties come together to raise the voice of people, sudden vendetta and spate of criminal cases is unleashed against opposition leaders. Does it not establish the malintent of the Govt? Further, allegation is that the so called lease was given through a tender in 2004. Question that any reasonable man would ask is, what action has the Railway taken so far? Answer is none. Has the lease been cancelled? Has the property been taken in possession by Railways? Has the Railway filed a criminal complaint to CBI? What was the anomaly in tender process or how was it wrong? Why has the Railway not cancelled everything for 14 years? In absence thereof, doubts certainly arise on the bonafides of CBI and BJP government? While justice must be done, BJP or any other party has no right to give certificates of innocence or guilt today until the matter is adjudicated by courts? Also, BJP, which keeps asking questions, must answer on its own policy of 'zero tolerance on corruption'. Why no action against Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Chauhan, Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje and Chattisgarh CM Dr. Raman Singh.

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ED raids properties of Lalu Yadav's daughter Misa Bharati in Delhi

--- ENDS ---
Alexandre Lacazette

Alexandre Lacazette has won Arsenals Player of the Year award, winning 35 per cent of the votes cast by the London clubs supporters.

The Gunners announced the French strikers triumph on Friday morning, the day after he scored two goals in their 3-1 Europa League semi-final first leg victory over Valencia.

It brought his total on the season to 18 in all competitions, to go along with nine assists for Unai Emerys squad this term.

His goals and assists in big games have enabled Arsenal to maintain a top-four challenge in the Premier League as well as competing for the Europe League title and the clubs announcement paid tribute to the vital nature of the strikers contributions this year.

If the mark of an elite forward is to make the difference when their team needs it most, then take a quick glance at Lacas campaign, the statement reads .

Goals against Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Valencia only tell half the story, as do his assists against Manchester United both home and away.

For while they underline Lacas status as a big-game player, it is perhaps more telling to look at when the majority of his 18 goals have been scored to understand just how important he has been.

Of his 18 goals this season, 11 have given us the lead in the match  and weve gone on to win 10 of those matches. The outlier was the 1-1 draw with Liverpool at the Emirates in November when his tenacity, composure and clinical finishing sealed a very hard-earned point.

The club also hailed the 27-year-olds other contributions, and his ability to enjoy the game, despite its high-pressure nature.

It is also down to the force of his personality, his ability to lift the team and the crowd with a simple chase back to win the ball, lung-busting run at goal or threading of an eye-of-the-needle pass. Or the fact that he simply appears to be having so much fun, whether thats in shooting practice on the training ground or doing an UnClassic commentary with [Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang].

Football may be a serious business, but that doesnt mean you cant have fun. And Laca has fun, lots of it  but he remains a serious talent, and a deserved winner of our Player of the Season for 2018-19.

Arsenal host Brighton and visit Burnley in their final two Premier League games of the season as they try to close the two point gap to rivals Chelsea for fourth place.

However, they can still qualify for the Champions League with a Europa League crown, and will play the second leg in Spain next Thursday, with a possible final against Chelsea or Eintracht Frankfurt to take place May 29 in Baku.
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Global Electric Propulsion System Market By Manufacturers, Countries, Type And Application, Forecast To 2022

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"Electric Propulsion (EP) is a class of space propulsion which makes use of electrical power to accelerate a propellant by different possible electrical and/or magnetic means.An electrically powered spacecraft propulsion system uses electrical energy to change the velocity of a spacecraft. Most of these kinds of spacecraft propulsion systems work by electrically expelling propellant at high speed."Get Sample Copy of Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Electric Propulsion System in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversAerospace CorporationSITAELBellatrix AerospaceBusek Co. Inc.Accion Systems Inc.Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversGridded Ion Engine (GIE)Hall Effect Thruster (HET)High Efficiency Multistage Plasma Thruster (HEMPT)Pulsed Plasma Thruster (PPT)OtherMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoNano SatelliteMicrosatelliteBrowse Complete Report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Electric Propulsion System market.Chapter 1, to describe Electric Propulsion System Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Electric Propulsion System, with sales, revenue, and price of Electric Propulsion System, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Electric Propulsion System, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Electric Propulsion System market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Electric Propulsion System sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceIf you have any special requirements, please let us know @About us:Research Trades has team of experts who works on providing exhaustive analysis pertaining to market research on a global basis. This comprehensive analysis is obtained by a thorough research and study of the ongoing trends and provides predictive data regarding the future estimations, which can be utilized by various organizations for growth purposes.We distribute customized reports that focus on meeting the clients specific requirement. Our database consists of a large collection of high-quality reports obtained using a customer-centric approach, thus providing valuable research insights.Contact Us:Email: sales@researchtrades.comCall us: +1 6269994607+91 7507349866Skype ID: researchtradesconWeb:
Saudi Arabia Airport Privatization To Transform Regional Civil aviation Sector

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Saudi Arabia Airport Privatization Opportunity Outlook 2022 report highlights:* Saudi Arabia Aviation Industry Overview* Privatization in Saudi Arabia* Investment and Expansion Opportunities for International Investors* Civil Aviation Laws and Policies Framework* Ongoing Privatization Projects* Privatization Build - Operateandndash;Transfer (BOT) Business ModelFor Report Sample Contact: neeraj@kuickresearch.com or +91-11-47067990Download Report:Report Table of ContentsSaudi Arabia Aviation Industry OverviewPrivatization in Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority3.1 General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA)3.2 International Air Transport AssociationSaudi Arabia: General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) Initiatives4.1 GACAs Role4.2 Airport City4.3 Privatization Strategy4.4 Security, Safety and Air Transport4.5 Watani Hub Program4.6 Cargo Village at King Fahd International Airport4.7 Airport Expansion Plans4.8 Domestic Cap FaresSaudi Arabia Airport Sector: Investment and Expansion Opportunities for International InvestorsSaudi Arabia Civil Aviation Laws and Policies Framework6.1 Privatization Methods and Regulations6.1.1 Methods of Privatization6.1.2 Rules for the privatization of public establishments and projects6.2 Basic issues to be Dealt with in the Privatization process6.2.1 Regulatory framework for privatized sectors6.2.2 Fees for providing service6.3 Preparing and Restructuring the Sectors and Public Enterprises to be Privatized6.3.1 Strategic partners6.4 Criteria for Setting Priorities and Continued Implementation of the Privatization Program6.4.1 Criteria for determining priorities in Selecting Enterprises to be Privatized6.4.2 Continued in Implementation of Privatization ProcessSaudi Arabia: Ongoing Projects Privatization Projects7.1 King Khalid International Airport Project, Riyadh7.2 Prince Mohammad Bin Abdul Aziz International Airport Project, MedinaSaudi Arabia New Airport Projects8.1 King Abdul Aziz International Airport Project, Jeddah8.2 King Fahd International Airport Project, Dammam8.3 Abha Airport Project8.4 Taif International Project,Saudi Arabia Airport Privatization Build - Operateandndash;Transfer (BOT) Business ModelSaudi Arabia Airport Privatization: PEST Analysis10.1 Political Environment10.2 Economic Environment10.3 Social Environment10.4 Technological EnvironmentSaudi Arabia Airport Privatization Sector Favorable Factors11.1 Increasing Air Traffic11.2 Government Support and Regulatory Framework11.3 Strengthening Saudi Economy11.4 Benefits to Saudi Tourism11.5 Transition from PetrodollarSaudi Arabia Airport Privatization Sector Challenges12.1 Financial Problems on Domestic Routes12.2 Airlines Withholding Capacity12.3 Lack of InvestmentSaudi Arabia Airport Privatization Sector Future Forecast14. Competitive LandscapeKuick Research is a market research and analytics company that provides targeted information for critical decisions at business, product and service levels. We are quick, predictive and known by the recommendations we have made in the past. Our result-oriented research methodology offers understanding of multiple issues in a short period of time and gives us the capability to keep you full with loads of practical ideas. By translating research answers into strategic insight and direction, we not only rate the success potential of your products and/or services, but also help you identify the opportunities for growth in new demographies and find ways to beat competition.Neeraj Chawlaneeraj@kuickresearch.comKuicK ResearchAvanta Business Center 4th Floor,Statesman House Barakhamba Road,Connaught Place New Delhi  110 001, India+91-11-47067990
Sri Lanka Mutual Fund Sector preforming Health Growth Of 10% In Recent Years

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Sri Lanka Mutual Fund Sector Opportunity Outlook 2022 report highlights:* Sri Lanka Financial Sector Overview* Sri Lanka Unit Trust/Mutual Fund Market Overview* Types of Unit Trusts/ Mutual Funds* Funds and Fund Managers* Rules for Unit Trust/ Mutual Fund CompaniesFor Report Sample Contact: neeraj@kuickresearch.com or +91-11-47067990Download Report:Report Table of ContentsWhat are Unit Trusts (Mutual Fund)?Types of Unit Trusts (Mutual Funds) in Sri Lanka2.1 Types of Funds2.1.1 Open Ended Funds2.1.2 Closed Ended Funds2.2 Types of Trust Units2.2.1 Gilt Edged Funds2.2.2 Indexed Funds2.2.3 Income Funds or High Yield Funds2.2.4 Balanced Funds2.2.5 Growth Funds2.2.6 Money Market Fund2.2.7 Sector Funds2.2.8 Sharia FundsSri Lanka Financial Sector OverviewSri Lanka Unit Trust Market Overview4.1 Current Market Scenario4.2 Market IndicatorsFunds and Fund Managers in Sri Lanka Unit Trust Market5.1 Ceylon Asset Management Company Limited5.2 Com Trust Asset Management (Private) LimitedForeign Investment in Sri Lanka Unit Trust (Mutual Fund) Market7. Sri Lanka Unit Trust Market Regulatory Authorities7.1 Security and Exchange Commission7.2 Unit Trust Association of Sri Lanka7.3 Central Bank of Sri LankaRules for Unit Trust/ Mutual Fund Companies in Sri LankaSri Lanka Unit Trust Market Dynamics9.1 Improved Economy9.2 Government initiatives to the develop the industry9.3 Demographic Factor9.4 Digital RevolutionSri Lanka Unit Trust Market ChallengesSri Lanka Unit Trust Market PEST Analysis11.1 Political Environment11.2 Economic Environment11.3 Social Environment11.4 Technological EnvironmentSri Lanka Unit Trust Market Future Forecasts 2022Competitive Landscape13.1 Ceylon Asset Management13.2 Comtrust Asset Management (Pvt.) Limited13.3 NDB Wealth Management Limited13.4 Ceybank Asset Management (Pvt.) Limited13.5 National Asset Management Limited13.6 First Capital Asset Management Limited13.7 Capital Alliance Limited13.8 Candor Asset Management Pvt. Limited13.9 Asset Trust Management13.10 Guardian Acuity Asset management (Pvt.) LimitedLicensed Finance Companies and Specialized Leasing Companies Statistics14.1 Indicators14.1.1 Capital Adequacy Ratio14.1.2 Asset Quality14.1.3 Profitability14.1.4 Liquidity14.2 Assets, Liabilities and Capital14.2.1 Earnings and ProfitsKuick Research is a market research and analytics company that provides targeted information for critical decisions at business, product and service levels. We are quick, predictive and known by the recommendations we have made in the past. Our result-oriented research methodology offers understanding of multiple issues in a short period of time and gives us the capability to keep you full with loads of practical ideas. By translating research answers into strategic insight and direction, we not only rate the success potential of your products and/or services, but also help you identify the opportunities for growth in new demographies and find ways to beat competition.Neeraj Chawlaneeraj@kuickresearch.comKuicK ResearchAvanta Business Center 4th Floor,Statesman House Barakhamba Road,Connaught Place New Delhi  110 001, India+91-11-47067990
Providence Health & Services, Oregon's largest private-sector employer, is preparing an aggressive cost-cutting campaign that will include layoffs.

The move is clearest sign to date that hospitals face a difficult, uncertain future.

Providence saw its financial position deteriorate markedly in 2016, posting an operating loss of more than $255 million, filings show. Though its annual revenue topped $22 billion and, as a non-profit, it pays no income taxes, Providence is looking to cut costs across its seven-state network, multiple sources say. David Underriner, chief executive of the medical provider's Oregon operation, would not disclose numbers or locations, but did say, "there will be an impact on people."

Providence has already cut back in Oregon. Last year, it closed its open-heart surgery program at Providence Portland Medical Center and consolidated that work at St. Vincent's Medical Center on the city's westside, Underriner said.

Providence is not alone. St. Charles Health System in Bend has also scaled back spending as its own bottom line suffered in 2016. Oregon Health & Sciences University in Southwest Portland announced a hiring freeze in March.

The new financial weakness comes at a time of high anxiety in health care. A bill to foist a new multi-million-dollar provider tax on hospitalswhich would help fund the state's contribution to Medicaid -- was signed into law this week. In Washington, D.C., meanwhile, Senate Republicans continue their efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a move that Providence's Underriner and many other hospital executives oppose.

Strangely enough, the hospitals contend that one of their chief problems is Medicaid, the massive federal health care program for the poor. Reimbursement rates are low and Medicaid patients tend to be in need of more intense care, a combination that has been hard on some hospitals' bottom lines.

Providence's 50 hospitals handled more than 1 million Medicaid patient visits in 2016. The Renton, Washington-based company was forced to subsidize the unfunded portion of Medicaid at a cost exceeding $1 billion, said Providence spokeswoman Colleen Wadden.

The current year is bringing more of the same, she said.

This is all a dramatic contrast to 2014 and 2015, when many large hospitals enjoyed windfall profits, in large part because Medicaid eligibility was loosened and millions of Americans joined the program. Oregon alone added more than 400,000 to the Medicaid rolls, and many flocked to hospitals for long-delayed treatment.

As the ranks of the uninsured plummeted, many large Oregon hospitals saw their charity care plunge and their bottom lines surge.

As much as hospital executives criticize Medicaid, the possible repeal of Obamacare and the radical downsizing of Medicaid envisioned by congressional Republicans poses a whole different set of problems. In its analysis of an earlier version of the Obamacare repeal put forth by House Republicans, the American Hospital Association estimated that Providence's Oregon operation would suffer a $1.5 billion cut in revenue over the next 10 years if the Medicaid expansion is rolled back.

For Providence as a whole, "the loss would be more than $9.5 billion, risking our health system's ability to adequately meet the needs of our communities," Wadden said.

Providence's problems are not solely due to Medicaid. It has expanded aggressively in recent years and launched initiatives far afield from the meat-and-potatoes of health care.

Providence bought hospitals and clinics in Seattle, the Tri-Cities area and Southern California. The expansion campaign culminated last summer in Providence's merger with Saint Joseph Health, a 16-hospital system based in Irvine, California.

As its revenue topped $20 billion-a-year, Providence hired away a former Amazon executive to head its own $150 million venture capital fund. It formed an in-house digital innovation group to focus on software and other technology that could serve patients and clinicians. It launched its own business incubator for consumer-focused health startups.

In just two years, Providence added 15,000 new employees and now has 111,000 on its payroll. In Oregon, Providence and chipmaker Intel Corp. have vied for the title of Oregon's largest private-sector employer. Providence Oregon currently has 21,500 employees, up from 19,000 two years ago.

As the economy heated up, so did the competition for skilled doctors, nurses and technicians. The company struggled to find enough bodies. It increasingly turned to high-cost staffing agencies for nurses. Total compensation jumped $820 million in a single year between 2015 and 2016.

Hospitals across Oregon are facing many of the same issues. St. Charles in Bend has seen its operating profit margin decline from 7 percent to 0.7 percent in the space of two years.

Jen Welander, St. Charles' chief financial officer, said the company has instituted its own set of cost controls. It is thinking twice before filling any opening in hopes it can cut costs by attrition rather than have to resort to layoffs. It scaled back the size of a building expansion.

"There's no end in sight to this," Welander said. "It's clear that health care in its present state is not sustainable."

-- Jeff Manning

jmanning@oregonian.com, 971-263-5164
Oregon State University headed into the 2017 legislative session with hopes of supercharging its budding campus in Central Oregon.

The state's largest university requested some $69 million in bonds, part of a package that would've helped OSU build a second academic building and student union, as well as prepare a 46-acre pumice mine next to the existing three-building campus for the next wave of growth.

Instead, lawmakers approved just $9 million in state bonds for OSU-Cascades on Friday.

School officials and Central Oregon business leaders aren't hiding their disappointment.

The state's newest four-year university has just 1,114 students, but school officials had hoped to have a concrete path forward that would allow enrollment to expand to as much as 5,000. But that will have to wait.

"There aren't too many four-year campuses that have three buildings," OSU President Ed Ray, the dean of Oregon public university leaders, said in an interview Friday.

For the past year, Ray has been saying that OSU-Cascades should be treated like the state's eighth public university by the Legislature when it considers bonding projects.

Though Ray said he heard support for the campus from lawmakers during the session, he would like assurances the campus will be a priority in Salem in the future.

"I sure wish I could get someone to tell me, 'We're going to do this,'" he said.

The 2017 Legislature approved dozens of big-ticket items for capital construction. Lawmakers signed off on $367 million in projects on 14 university campuses and at 15 community colleges. The University of Oregon took home $50 million for a new science complex, backed by Nike co-founder Phil Knight.

Portland State landed $45 million in state bonding support for a new building in downtown Portland that will house its education program, a city bureau, Portland Community College dental program and the new Oregon Health & Science University-PSU School of Public Health.

OSU did not walk away penniless. It secured $9 million for a new fermentation and beverage center in Corvallis, and received roughly $500,000 to help remodel a graduate student building in Bend.

But Ray said he plans to return in future sessions and ask for more support. The state needs to step up to help Bend build, he said, because a previous legislature committed in 2001 to building a full-service four-year campus in Central Oregon.

Ray also is disappointed in the state because the university had already secured $8.75 million in gifts, some from anonymous donors, to build the second academic building. Cascades students also pledged to raise $5 million from student fees to pay for the proposed student success center.

"That's all on hold," Ray said. "We're really disappointed."

Katy Brooks, president of Bend's Chamber of Commerce, said her organization was also "extremely disappointed" in the Legislature's decision.

The Bend business group rallied in Salem and talked to lawmakers about the importance of helping the campus grow. "Our expectation was much greater," she said, noting that Gov. Kate Brown's recommended budget called for $20 million for the campus.

Oregon set the stage for a new college campus in the early 2000s, a nod to the region's explosive growth and lack of comparable education services. Bend boomed, then busted, and has since grown considerably since OSU won the right to open a branch campus.

In 2013, lawmakers approved $16 million for the first Bend buildings.

Bend's growth has returned at a torrid pace. According to U.S. Census figures, Bend's population has grown 4.9 percent since last year. It now has 91,122 residents and is the nation's sixth fastest-growing city with a population exceeding 50,000.

One out of every five Bend residents has moved there since 2010, according to census figures.

Employers have a hard time finding workers, Brooks said, and it costs a lot of money to bring in people from outside the community.

Bend's startup culture is growing and needs more support. The economy overall needs a thriving workforce

"We can't do that if we don't have a viable university," she said.

Brooks said she's telling Bend businesses "today is the first day of lobbying for the next time around."

-- Andrew Theen

UPDATE: An earlier version of this story stated OSU-Cascades had raised nearly $10 million from anonymous donors. Some of the money was from named-donors.

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen
Portland's new school board got off to an ungraceful start with its first meeting Friday.

In what appeared to be a violation of Oregon's open meeting law, the school board took a break from Friday's meeting to allow board members to privately discuss an agenda item.

The meeting's purpose was to select board leadership. Julia Brim-Edwards was easily elected chair, but members then disagreed who should serve as vice chair. In an effort to compromise, Brim-Edwards suggested both nominees  Rita Moore and Julie Esparza Brown  do the job as co-vice chairs.

Amy Kohnstamm, vice chair of the previous board who presided Monday, asked aloud how that would work and Brim-Edwards offered a brief public explanation and suggested a recess.

"Why don't we recess for five minutes to allow for any discussion on this amendment?" Kohnstamm said before gaveling the meeting closed, at which point the video recording of the meeting stopped.

Board members then talked among themselves in small clusters and medium-sized clusters in public view, but out of earshot.

After the break, the board voted unanimously to have two vice co-chairs.

District General Counsel Jim Harris, who started work in June, told the board he felt the conversation should have happened in public. Harris, who moved to Portland from Pittsburgh to became the district's top lawyer, said he didn't feel the board violated the open meeting law.

"Technically I don't think you were in violation if there was no decision actually made during the discussion," he told the board.

The Oregon Attorney General's public records and meetings manual is clear that governing bodies must deliberate on, as well as decide, government business in public.

Certain limited exceptions, such as hiring a superintendent or selling real estate, can be discussed privately. Choosing board leaders is not among them.

"The Oregon form of government requires an informed public aware of the deliberations and decisions of governing bodies and the information upon which such decisions were made. It is the intent of (the law) that decisions of governing bodies be arrived at openly," the manual says.

Board members asked if they should try and remedy the flub by reconvening and recreating their conversations in public, but Harris pointed out that created an additional snag, as the meeting had ended and a new meeting wouldn't be properly noticed.

Brim-Edwards said she sprung the idea on the board and wanted to give Moore and Esparza Brown a chance to consider whether they wanted share the job with another person, then gracefully explain in private if they didn't want to.

She noted that the school board plans to undergo public records and open meeting law training.

"I need some refreshers," she said. "We've got two new board members. I don't think the training happened for the board members before. We'll get better."

 Bethany Barnes

Got a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email Bethany: bbarnes@oregonian.com
Docks are the epicenter of leisure. Just try to have a serious discussion while being distracted by action on the water. Don't fight it. Jump in.

In this week's real estate gallery, we look at homes on the market or recently sold with private docks.

The ultimate platforms: There's space for a yacht and a plane on a dock on the Willamette River at 11000 SW Riverwood Road in Portland. Topping that: A private tram takes passengers down to a boathouse and dock, which is part of the 0.83-acre property at 2493 Southshore Blvd. in Lake Oswego.

How's this for easy? Places like 330 N Lotus Isle Dr. in Portland have a shared dock. And there are many floating homes with inviting water launching pads.

-- Janet Eastman



jeastman@oregonian.com

503-799-8739

@janeteastman




It appeared as if Putin was sympathetic and he was perceived to be defending Trump against attacks from the media.

By Asian News International: US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin flagged off their first meeting by lashing out at the reporters present to cover the 'highly-anticipated' one-on-one entourage.

As the meeting progressed, it appeared as if Putin was sympathetic towards the scenario, as he was perceived to be defending Trump against attacks from the media, reports the Independent.

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Ahead of their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, the Russian President during the Photo op gushed to Trump saying "These are the ones hurting you?" while pointing towards the journalists at the venue.

Responding to this, Trump said, "These are the ones. You're right about that."

The same was tweeted by CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto, with a video captioned "these are the ones who insulted you?" Putin to Trump as he points to reporters.

"These are the ones who insulted you?" Putin to Trump as he points to reporters https://t.co/vxx8qcDkRp- Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) July 7, 2017

President Trump, in the recent past, has time and again launched scathing attacks at the media for misquoting him, referring to them as "fake news" and "the enemy of the American people".

On Friday, President Trump slammed mainstream media for not writing accurately about him and covering him negatively, but said he will fight for his country's interests.

Trump tweeted, "I will represent our country well and fight for its interests! Fake News Media will never cover me accurately but who cares! We will MAGA!"

I will represent our country well and fight for its interests! Fake News Media will never cover me accurately but who cares! We will #MAGA!- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 7, 2017

Adding to his string of attacks launched against the media, he recently posted a GIF depicting him body-slamming a man with a CNN logo superimposed on his head. He also called a female journalist 'crazy" and "dumb as a rock," and accused her of "bleeding badly from a facelift". He has also reportedly suggested jailing journalists who leak classified information.

President Trump had called on Putin to discuss the prevailing situation of Syria, in their first face-to-face meeting.

US Department of State Rex Tillerson informed the media persons before departing for the G20 summit that Russia has been given the major role to solve Syrian crisis and decide the fate of Syrian President Bashar al - Assad.

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The United States and Russia have already achieved progress in establishing de-confliction zones in Syria that have prevented mutual collateral damage.

"The United States is prepared to explore the possibility of establishing with Russia joint mechanisms for ensuring stability, including no-fly zones, on the ground ceasefire observers, and coordinated delivery of humanitarian assistance. If our two countries work together to establish stability on the ground, it will lay a foundation for progress on the settlement of Syria's political future," Tillerson stated.

ALSO READ:

Russia did not meddle in US election: Putin to Trump at G20 summit

Modi at G20: Counter-terrorism, economic growth on PM's agenda

ALSO WATCH:

Donald Trump and the Russia connections: Influence of Vladimir Putin

--- ENDS ---
I bought my house in Palo Alto, California 25 years ago for $295,000. It's now worth $2.2 million. Oregonians are upset about an invasion of foreigners driving up housing prices? Cry me a river!

For every Oregonian who is wailing about the influx from California, there are five others who are wringing their hands with glee over the prices they are getting for their properties. That's what happened here.

There should be laws restricting purchase of property by foreign nationals. If that had been the case, you wouldn't have people needing to flee California. But until we, as a society, decide that the Golden Rule is better than Gold Rules, Californians are going to be snapping up properties in Oregon until there are enough of them residing there that the haters will have to back off.

With any luck, with enough former California voters, the Oregon corporate tax rate will get bumped up and you all will get a halfway decent public school system.

Deb Goldeen, Palo Alto, California
Lawmakers passed a controversial series of health care and hospital taxes this session expected to raise $550 million needed to balance the budget.

The money was sorely needed, mostly because Democratic leadership failed in yet another legislative session to land more sustainable revenue or to rein in future Medicaid and PERS costs. Three Republican lawmakers already have begun the process to refer parts of the health care taxes to the ballot for voters to chime in.

That's a risk Democrats can't afford. And a bill passed Thursday shows how they're willing to protect that new revenue at all cost - even hijacking the referendum process at the core of Oregon's identity.

Senate Bill 229, which awaits Gov. Kate Brown's signature, requires the issue be considered in a special election in late January, instead of the November 2018 election as current law requires.

Democrats argue a November election is too long to wait to address the financial hole created if the tax was put on hold. Instead of working harder to reach a compromise, lawmakers chose to shift the election. Moving the election to January, their argument goes, allows them to quickly dive back in to the budget during the short February session.

It's a costly decision. Scheduling a statewide election in addition to the two already required by law will cost around $3.3 million, according to Secretary of State Dennis Richardson. That's just a drop in the budgetary bucket, of course. But it's one that cannot be ignored when Democratic lawmakers have regularly complained about a lack of money.

Worse, however, the bill tosses aside the usual process requiring impartial groups to describe the measure on the ballot and in the voter's pamphlet. Instead, SB 229 gives all that power to a committee made up of four Democrats and two Republicans.

Typically, the attorney general writes the ballot title. A committee selected by the Secretary of State writes a lengthier explanation. And a group of state leaders pens the expected financial impact. Each of the pieces then goes through a review and appeal process. Ultimately, most of those pieces receive a final review by the Oregon Supreme Court for impartiality.

But the new bill alters that process, limiting the public's input and the Supreme Court's review. And while current law caps the word count for the blurbs, SB 229 eliminates the limit. Lawmakers can go on and on and on. They also get to write the first entry on the issue in the voter's pamphlet.

Take the wording for what became Measure 95 in 2016, another time lawmakers usurped the process. The ballot caption read: "Allows investments in equities by public universities to reduce financial risk and increase investments to benefit students."

Sounds good, huh? But of course investing in equities does not lower an institution's risk. It may be impartial, but it's a bit how a headline can leave the wrong impression if a reader doesn't dig in to read the story.

This all may seem a bit wonky, especially if you're not an avid reader of voter pamphlets and ballot statements. Yet these words are important and the conflict of interest is clear. And politicos of all stripes say ballot information written by either supporters or opponents often deliver their intended outcome.

To make this all very clear, Secretary of State Dennis Richardson should use the power he's been assigned by law to add a few words of his own to the voter pamphlet, so we know the ballot title's author.

"This message was brought to you by the lawmakers who really hope you don't take away one of the few revenue options they could pass this session."

Or something like that.

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board

Oregonian editorials

Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom.

Members of the editorial board are Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung, Mark Katches and John Maher.

To respond to this editorial:

Post your comment below, submit

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If you have questions about the opinion section, contact Laura Gunderson, editorial pages editor, at 503-221-8378 or lgunderson@oregonian.com.
By PTI: babus

Lucknow, Jul 8 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh State Employees Joint Council will meet the states chief secretary to oppose the governments decision to review the performance of its employees who are aged above 50 and retire those not up to the mark.

"Government employees are feeling cheated and let down by this controversial order issued by the state government. We are planning to meet Chief Secretary Rajive Kumar on Monday to put forward our views," council general secretary Shivbaran Singh Yadav told PTI.

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He said the move might affect a large number of state government employees. "It will boost nepotism as officials and politicians may try to take advantage out of it by pushing their relatives into various departments."

According to an order issued by the chief secretary, additional chief secretaries and secretaries of all departments have been asked to review the performance of the staff till July 31.

The directive cites the finance handbook rules, which states that the appointing authority, at any given time, can retire the staff without giving any reason by a three months notice and government orders issued in this connection from time to time.

A government spokesperson said there was nothing new in the order as there was already a provision for reviewing the performance of all staff members who crossed 50 years.

The three-month-old Adityanath government has dusted the service rulebook to weed out the under-performers under a provision first proposed in 1985 but rarely used.

The spokesperson said some departments were not carrying out this exercise on a regular basis and the order was aimed at ensuring it.

The department heads have been asked to give to the personnel department a list of those who are to be given compulsory retirement, he said. PTI NAV SMN

--- ENDS ---
The G20 came into existence as early as 1999. Its meetings were held at the level of finance ministers and governors of respective central banks. But, in the wake of financial crisis of 2008, it was upgraded to summit level meeting.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives the opening speech during the first working session on the first day of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo: AP)

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Germany where G20 summit is underway. Today is the final day of the meeting of 20 most developed nations of the world.

On the first day, the G20 leaders pledged a joint crackdown on the global scourge of terrorism and to check its funding sources. In a 21-point joint declaration, the leaders said all terror safe havens must be eliminated in every part of the world.

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To understand why this declaration assumes significance, it important to know what the G20 is and what it stands for.

WHAT IS THE G20?

The Group of Twenty (G20) is the central forum for international cooperation on financial and economic issues.

The G20 countries account for more than four-fifths of gross world product and three-quarters of global trade, and are home to almost two-thirds of the world's population. Its decisions are influential and help to bring about reform at national and multinational levels.

WHO BELONGS TO THE G20?

The G20 comprises 19 countries plus the EU. These countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (US).

International organisations also participate regularly in the G20 summits. These organisations are the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations (UN).

Furthermore, each Presidency can invite other countries, regional organisations and international organisations to the summit.

WHY WAS THE G20 CREATED?

The meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors was expanded to the G20 format for the first time in 1999.

This meeting was prompted by the turbulence on the international financial markets during the Asian crisis. In the face of the financial crisis in 2008, the G20 meeting was raised to the level of heads of state and government.

HOW DOES THE G20 WORK

The G20 is not an international organisation, but rather what is known as an informal forum. This means it does not adopt decisions that have a direct legal impact. The G20 does not have an administrative council with a permanent secretariat or a permanent delegation of its members. This is why the Presidency, which rotates on an annual basis, plays a particularly important role.

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In the dramatic early days of the financial crisis in 2008, it quickly became apparent that the necessary crisis coordination would only be possible at the highest political level. As a result, the meetings of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors were raised to the level of heads of state and government.

Since then, the G20 leaders have met regularly, and the G20 has become the central forum for international economic cooperation.

WHAT IS DISCUSSED AT THE G20 MEETINGS?

The G20 heads of state and government traditionally focus on issues concerning global economic growth, international trade and financial market regulation. They endeavour in particular to strengthen the global financial system and to improve the supervision and regulation of financial market participants, including what is known as the shadow banking system.

The aim is to ensure that no financial market, financial market participant or financial product remains unsupervised. Taxpayers should not have to foot the bill again for bailing out financial market participants.

Furthermore, the G20 constantly addresses ways to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced global economic growth and to boost employment.

Since the first G20 summit in Washington DC in 2008, trade has also been an item on the G20's permanent agenda, as growth and employment are dependent on free global trade. The G20, therefore, regularly sends clear messages against protectionism and in favour of fair terms of competition.

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Other issues of global significance are often closely linked to economic questions. Examples include climate change, development policy, labour market and employment policy, the spread of digital technology and, currently, refugee policy issues and counter-terrorism. That is why ministerial meetings are held in addition to the summit at the invitation of the respective host country.

PREVIOUS G20 SUMMITS

The group has met annually at Head of State and Government level since 2008. The G20 Summits have been held in the following places:

Washington, US, in 2008

London, UK, in 2009

Pittsburgh, US, in 2009

Toronto, Canada, in 2010

Seoul, South Korea, in 2010

Cannes, France, in 2011

Los Cabos, Mexico, in 2012

St Petersburg, Russia, in 2013

Brisbane, Australia, 2014

Antalya, Turkey, in 2015

Hangzhou, China, in 2016

G20 ACHIEVEMENTS

The decisions made by the G20, as a major informal forum for international cooperation in the economic sphere, have had considerable influence on countries' policies through voluntary commitments and can provide significant impetus for binding agreements.

The first two G20 summits (2008 and 2009) took place against the backdrop of a looming global recession whose dimensions were impossible to forecast.

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At that time, the G20 agreed on immediate economic measures worth over four trillion US dollars. It thus launched almost 90 per cent of the global economic measures and calmed the markets. The meetings confirmed that only joint coordinated action can prevent a global economic crisis.

The G20 has been successful in regulating the international financial market. At the first summit in Washington DC (2008), the G20 heads of state and government adopted a 47-point plan containing a host of measures aimed at tackling and preventing financial crises. The G20 agreed on measures to reform and regulate the financial markets and to support national banking systems in order to normalise lending.

The summit in London (2009) agreed to raise capital requirements for banks and to cap bank managers' pay. The Seoul summit (2010) saw the launch of Basel III, with a higher level of capital for banks and national bank regulation.

At the summit in Antalya (2015), the G20 agreed on additional total loss-absorbing capacities for systemically important banks in order to prevent taxpayers having to foot the bill if a bank collapses. The G20 is constantly working to further improve the international financial market architecture.

The G20 has been instrumental in combating tax evasion. The G20 has also proven successful in the sphere of combating harmful tax competition between countries and aggressive tax policies adopted by international firms.

In Antalya in 2015, the G20 agreed on a 15-point Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan, which it reaffirmed at its 2016 summit in Hangzhou.

The exchange of information between the G20 members is a crucial aspect when it comes to combating profit shifting into tax havens. The G20 has committed to launching this type of automatic exchange of tax-related information by the end of 2017 or 2018.

(Source: www.g20.org)

ALSO READ |

After Modi speaks on terrorism, G20 leaders vow to cut terror financing, fight internet propaganda

On G20 sidelines, PM Narendra Modi, President Xi Jinping praise each other, talk on range of issues

ALSO WATCH: On G20 sidelines, PM Modi, President Xi Jinping praise each other, talk on range of issues

--- ENDS ---
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Amy Robbins was a young child 20 years ago when she started going to Gladwin's Country Corner Bulk Foods with her grandmother. Each time she remembers chiming, "I want, I want, I want" for the many chocolate and colorful candies.

Robbins said she still visits the store, which is turning 30 and serves as a cozy staple in the community. The building's creaky wood floor along with many vintage canisters and memorabilia lend to the old-time feel. Her store visits also provoke some of the best memories from her childhood.

Patty and Barry Carlson opened the bulk food store on July 4, 1987 at 446 E. Cedar Ave. and are celebrating the store's 30-year anniversary from July 10 to 15,

Patty said they are giving away ten $30 gift cards and offering many sales during the event. The couple hope their regular customers and first-timers will come to the event.

"I can't believe it's been 30 years," Patty said. "It's kind of like your first kid graduating. Where did the time go?"

Patty and Barry were living in Grayling when they decided to open a bulk food store. They wanted to move to Gladwin as Barry's parents and other relatives lived there. There was no bulk food store in the county so they bought the store in October 1986 and readied it for the July 4 opening.

"When we opened," Patty said, "we still had barrels that said, 'Will be filled, soon.'"

Patty said they started off small, first only using a section of the store. As time went on, the couple expanded the business to include an area for pet and bird food and a spice room.

"Little by little, we kept expanding," Barry said.

With more than 150 spices, Barry said people can buy enough for a special recipe or a whole bottle. He said the old-time candy section was also expanded over the years, noting sweets are a big seller. Spices include some rare finds, such as summer savory, fenugreek, coriander, star anise, cream of tartar, hot mustard and a large variety of fajita seasonings.

In addition, the store carries pet treats, pet food and bird food. They also have a large selection of baking products, dry fruits, candies, nuts, essential oils and, they say, the largest supply of sugar-free candy in the county.

Another "huge" seller are the gummies by Albanese. The store carries gummy worms, bears, butterflies and miniature butterflies. While checking out, shoppers find their inner-child tempted by items such as Nik L Nip's juice-filled wax bottles, candy cigarettes and rock candy on a stick.

Barry and Patty agree it is heartwarming to see people who came in as children now grown up and bringing their children.

"Some were just babies when we opened and now they are coming in with their children," Patty said.

Robbins, now 25 and living in Coleman, recalls those trips to County Corner as a special part of her childhood.

"There were so many candies and they were colorful," Robbins remembers. "I loved when my grandmother would say she needed to go get flour or some spice, because I knew it meant I was getting candy. She always let me pick a few things out, because it was so difficult for me to choose just one.

"My grandmother wasn't any better," Robbins recalls. "She would go the bulk store for one or two things and leave with 10 or 15 items."

Store regular Diane Ross said she loves the chocolate-covered peanuts.

"I even drive for them," said Ross of Beaverton.

After 30 years at the same corner, newbies still meander in.

"We still get that today," said Barry. "People come in who have never been here before. Even with Gladwin being small."

First-time customers Jeff and Stephanie Nelkie, of Whittemore, had driven by the store many times and always wanted to go in. But they were either short on time or it was after business hours. They finally got to see what the inside looked like on June 22.

"It's got an old-fashioned feel to it," said Jeff. "It is awesome in here."

After shopping, with their goodies in a bag, the Nelkies said they plan to return, citing the great selections, low prices and comfortable feel of the store.

"I'm impressed," Jeff said.

Patty said regulars represent an estimated 80 percent of the customers.

In addition to Gladwin County, regulars come from cities including Midland, Freeland, Frankenmuth, Taylor, Jackson, Canton, Dearborn and Holland.

Ken and Mary Frey, of Concord, visit the store at least twice a year. The couple said they are fans of the bulk food store.

"Thirty years later it's still working," Barry said of the store. "It's hard to believe we've been open that long. But, you never think of going out of business or you wouldn't open a business in the first place."

Patty agrees, noting that through the good and the bad, she would do it all over again.

"I wouldn't change a thing about having a business," she said. "I love the customers."

County Corner Bulk Foods is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Information, www.countrycornerbulkfoods.com
The Morning Rotary Club of Midland hosted a new annual event in the community called Claire's Day.

Claire's Day was created in 2002 in Ohio in honor of Claire Lynsey Rubini, who died July 6, 2000, as a result of a heart condition. Claire's parents, Brad and Julie Rubini, wanted to pay tribute to their daughter who loved reading, storytelling and music; so they started Claire's Day to celebrate reading.

As the first celebration of Claire's Day in the Great Lakes Bay Region, the Rotarians of the Midland Morning Club chose to honor a second-grade student in every classroom in Midland County with a CARE Award (Claire's Award for Reading Excellence). CARE recognizes students who demonstrated significant improvement in their reading skills over the course of the school year. Second-grade teachers in all public and private schools in the county were asked to nominate a student from their classroom to receive the award.

The Morning Rotary Club realizes that students don't improve their reading skills or develop a passion for reading without the benefit of extraordinary teachers. For this reason the club honored a teacher from each elementary building who inspires and motivates students with the Inspirational Teacher Award. The recipients were nominated by their building principals.

The celebration occurred at 2 p.m. May 6 at the Captured Community Building at 711 Ashman St. in the second floor Captured Community Room. Wally Mayton was the event's master of ceremonies. Special guests also included Cheryl and Larry Levy who performed for the entire crowd involving all the participant in their stories.

"It spoke to my heart so I was so excited that I got to see it unfold. It was very lovely," said Kristin Gall from Barnes & Noble, who attended the event.

For more information about Claire's Day or the Club of Midland Morning Rotary, email midlandmorningrotary@gmail.com

Inspirational Teacher Award recipients: Maureen Becker, Melissa Brinkman, Stacie Capua, Lisa Filhart, Rhonda Leasher, Nancy Metz and Jamie Moses

Second grade CARE Award recipients: Natashja Aalbers, Elijah Briston, Delilah Cameron, Cameron Dryer, Heidie Lynn Fix, Ivy Maciag, Miranda Malloy, Nathalia Pires, Brendan Schalk, Joseph VanSickle, Sayuri Skymm, Isabel Storer, Chance Welchner and Rylee Young
BLOOMINGTON  The daughter of an East Peoria woman whose body was found Sunday near a trail at the Funks Grove Nature Preserve and a man have been charged with the woman's death.

Murder charges were filed Friday against Christine E. Roush, 22, of Washington, and Matthew Isbell, 20, of Marquette Heights, in connection with the death of Teresa A. Poehlman.

According to a statement late Friday afternoon from McLean County State's Attorney Jason Chambers and Sheriff Jon Sandage, Roush is the biological daughter of the victim.

Both suspects were arrested Friday in Bloomington, said the statement, after a nearly weeklong investigation by the sheriff's department's criminal investigations division, the state's attorney's office and the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Services.

Sandage said the investigation is continuing and more arrests are possible. The sheriff said search warrants were served at several places in McLean County over the past few days.

Authorities have declined to answer questions about how Poehlman was killed.

A bond hearing is set for Saturday where the state will provide probable cause for the murder charges.
In November last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally explained to visiting British PM Theresa May why it was important that Mallya be returned to India

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met his British counterpart Theresa May and asked for UK's cooperation in extradition of escaped Indian economic offenders. The leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 summit which is underway in Hamburg, Germany. The move could give a fillip to India's long-pending request of extraditing defaulters like Vijay Mallya.

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Mallya, who owes Indian banks Rs 6,963 crore (Rs 9,000 crore with interest), is wanted in India for cases relating to foreign exchange violation, debt recovery and embezzlement.

He fled India for the United Kingdom in March last year and was officially declared an absconder by a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court in November last year.

The 61-year-old Mallya, known for leading a flamboyant lifestyle, has been fighting an extradition case in the UK. In April this year, London's Scotland Yard,acting upon India's request, formally arrested Mallya on an extraction warrant. He was taken to a local court, which granted him bail.

He is next set to appear in front of the British court on May 17. India has been pushing for Mallya's extradition, with even the Prime Minister's Office getting involved.

In November last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally explained to visiting British PM Theresa May why it was important that Mallya be returned to India.

India had asked Britain to hand over 57 wanted people, including Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Agusta Westland helicopter deal.The Enforcement Directorate has already sought issuance of an Interpol red corner notice against Mallya in connection with its money laundering probe against him.

ALSO READ

Vijay Mallya arrested in London, gets bail; usual Indian media hype, he says

Vijay Mallya's extradition case hearing at London court today

ALSO WATCH: PM Modi meets British PM Theresa May, raises issue of fugitive Vijay Mallya

--- ENDS ---
BLOOMINGTON  The state has a budget, but Illinois public school districts arent quite out of the woods.

A lot of folks think the budget is done and were in the clear. Thats not the case for K-12 education, said Barry Reilly, Bloomington District 87 superintendent.

The $36 billion spending plan passed by legislators Thursday earmarks an additional $350 million in basic state aid to K-12 public schools, but that money can only be distributed through a new evidence-based funding model.

Until the evidence-based funding model becomes law, that money will not be released, said Reilly.

An evidence-based funding model would set a target for adequate educational resources for each district based on a predetermined formula. Individual financial need is then calculated and then would be met by local, state and federal payments.

If there is a gap between funding and the adequacy target, the state would have to fill the gap, distributing money to needier districts first.

State Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, in March proposed Senate Bill 1, which includes this evidence-based funding model.

The bill recently passed through the General Assembly and awaits Gov. Bruce Rauners signature. Rauner has said he will veto the bill, calling it a bailout for Chicago Public Schools.

State Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, recently presented a similar bill with less money for Chicago schools, but it hasnt received any votes.

While Reilly said he would prefer to see a bill that distributes funding more fairly, he said the bill with more traction is a better formula than what is used today for school funding.

I hope the governor enacts it (Senate Bill 1). If he vetoes the bill and the General Assembly doesnt have the ability to override it, we have a problem, said Reilly. The timing is not good as were heading into the middle of July. If something doesnt get enacted, schools will miss out on initial payments in August.

Marty Hickman, business manager with McLean County Unit 5, said the Normal-based district is encouraged to see additional funding for K-12 education in the budget, although payments cannot be made without further action in Springfield.

We look forward to an evidence-based funding formula getting signed into law, said Hickman.

Data from www.fundingilfuture.org, which includes more information on Senate Bill 1, shows nearly all Pantagraph-area school districts receiving more funding under the proposed legislation.

Its the right thing to do for kids. Its important to get something done, regardless of the impact it will have on District 87, Reilly said.

Reilly said the additional step needed from Rauner means residents should continue to reach out to legislators who arent supportive of Senate Bill 1 and ask them to move in that direction.
A brutal lesson is being learned by citizens of Illinois and the entire country: Theres great risk in giving responsibility for leading a state or nation to someone whos never held public office.

Ill leave it to pundits with a wider view to dissect how President Trumps lack of government experience and his ideological unpredictability have strangled the legislative process and imperiled international relations.

Gov. Bruce Rauner, on the other hand, presents crystal clear ideology, rarely straying from his stubborn message that basic structural changes are required to restore Illinois economic vitality and financial strength.

Hes absolutely right about the need for term limits to diminish the power special interests accrue through campaign contributions, and to bring fresh ideas and perspective to a political process that has clearly failed.

Hes right about the need to change how political maps are drawn, ending a situation where  as Rauner puts it  our politicians pick the voters, our voters dont pick the politicians.

And hes right about other priorities in his turnaround agenda, widely described by critics as pro-business and anti-union.

Yet the ugly fact is that Illinois is in much worse shape today than 29 months ago when Rauner became governor, his first elected office. His wealth of Im-the-boss-do-as-I-say experience in the business world and paucity of government experience have not served the state well.

The acumen, judgment and negotiating talents that made him a billionaire did not transfer to being chief executive of state government  a job that requires political skills, cooperation and compromise with a legislature and its entrenched leadership.

In short, Rauner has been a failure as governor  a leader with few true followers at a time when Illinois desperately needed to be led out of a financial quagmire not of his making, but of his deepening.

Thats why he should decide now  and announce now  that he will not seek re-election next year.

Illinois would be better off today if any of Rauners 2014 opponents in the Republican primary  Bloomingtons Bill Brady, Hinsdales Kirk Dillard or Pontiac's Dan Rutherford  had won the governorship.

Yes, they, too, would have had to contend with Democrat Michael Madigan. As House speaker for all but two of the past 34 years, Madigan is arguably more responsible for the states financial morass than any single person. All three of Rauners GOP opponents possess legislative experience and political savvy Rauner lacks, and would have had a better chance of steering Illinois onto a healthier path.

Now were left with a significant tax increase and business as usual. Oh, theres talk of reforms, but they wont occur. Not with this governor, not with an election 16 months away. But at least schools will open, funds will flow to social service agencies, road work can resume, the state might avoid a junk bond rating and begin paying down a mountain of overdue bills.

A governor with legislative experience and more political adeptness might have simultaneously generated policy changes leading to better ways and better days.

This is not to say one must be a career politician to be an effective governor or president. But some governmental seasoning seems essential. And if youre wealthy, as both Trump and Rauner are, lack of government service might deny you appropriate appreciation for the social services safety net so vital to the millions who are non-millionaires.

Note to readers

I joke that I like writing this weekly column because it helps a retiree like me keep track of what day of the week it is. But calendar pages seem to be turning more quickly, even surprising myself when I discovered the first of these efforts appeared five years ago today.

So, Ive decided my July 29 column (No. 264) will be my last, hopefully affording me time to complete some longer-form writing and do other things Ive been putting aside.
100 years ago

July 8, 1917: The Saybrook school board thought it had hired Thomas Brew of Winslow as superintendent. But he never returned his contract. So now the board has hired Emmett Wheeler of Granville. Wheeler has been at Granville two years and has also served in Lexington.

75 years ago

July 8, 1942: A major squawk is developing over the alleged refusal of the Illinois State Police to put out a broadcast on a load of 100 stolen chickens. Sheriff Nierstheimer is trying to get to the bottom of it. (A few days later he did. He found the theft was in fact broadcast.)

50 years ago

July 8, 1967: Two new ministers are poised to lead their congregations. The Rev. Joseph White will be installed Sunday at the First EUB Church. And the Rev. Peter Whitten has been chosen to pastor the newly organized Evangelical Free Church.

25 years ago

July 8, 1992: Barneys Fine Foods, 2445 S. Main St., has closed without much explanation. Barneys was part of Bloomingtons fine dining scene since 1955, and well-known for its steaks. Barney was Bernard Goetz, who died in 1973.
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Ive always resisted the widespread notion that art isnt really Art, that theater isnt Theatre, unless its been Recognized in New York, and that we must genuflect to Manhattan as our cultural capital.

I savor and, to the limited extent that I can, try to support regional literature, regional art, regional publishers, regional drama, and regional cuisine.

Ive always gotten a kick out of the response to overweening New York pride from Larry McMurtry, whose writing has won the Pulitzer Prize, the Golden Globe, the Emmy, and the Oscar but who lives and works in Texas. McMurtry was once spotted wearing a tee-shirt bearing this description of him by some New York publication or other: Important regional novelist.

My question is, Why is Texas a region but New York City isnt?

Was Flannery OConnor a merely regional writer?

Was William Faulkner merely a regional novelist? He won a Nobel Prize, of course, but can that possibly outweigh the fact that he lived most of his life and set most of his fiction in Mississippi. How about John Steinbeck, who lived in and wrote about areas in and around Monterey and Salinas, California? Was he no more than a regional novelist?

Unfortunately, neither Shakespeare (or, if youre so inclined, the Edward de Vere, the seventeenth Earl of Oxford) nor Milton nor Goethe nor Dante nor Virgil nor Sophocles nor Homer enjoyed the privilege of owning a flat in Manhattan.

Still, although I feel that I had to mention such arrogance-on-the-Hudson, Im happy to see this development:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865684235/The-future-of-Mormon-art-Scholars-and-artists-gather-in-New-York-to-explore-the-possibilities.html

Salt Lake City certainly isnt a world cultural center in many eyes or in most regards, and this museum should give Mormonism and Mormon art and artists greater visibility not only in New York but on the east coast generally and beyond.
Patna: Just a couple of days after Deputy Chief Minister and son of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav said that he was not worried about a CBI raid because he grew up in an environment where CBI raid on his family was quite normal, the CBI on Friday raided a dozen locations of Yadav and his family members and filed an FIR against the father-son duo and RJD chief's wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi accusing them of corruption under various criminal acts.

The raid lasted for nearly 10 hours during which officials reportedly have gathered some very incriminating against a number of family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav that could have strong political implications in the state.

FIRs were also filed against RJD leader Premchand Gupta's wife Sarla Gupta, former Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) former Managing Director P K Goel, Vijay Kochar, the Director of Hotel Chanakya in Patna, his brother and Director of Sujata Hotels Vinay Kochar, and Lara Projects LLP, a company in which both Lalu Prasad Yadav (La) and Rabri Devi (Ra) have stakes in.

Yadav has been accused of acquiring properties in quid pro quo deals where he, as the Railway Minister of India, did favor to hoteliers and other businessmen in lieu of high-value properties.

The RJD chief also faces charges of acquiring 'benami' properties in Bihar and several other states, money laundering, and tax evasion, reports said.

According to Rakesh Asthana, Additional Director of the CBI, the former Railway Minister allegedly received three acres of land through fixed tenders awarded to the owners of Hotel Chanakya and Hotel Sujata.

"The tender was specifically worded to favor Delight Marketing Private Limited, a company that had agreed to provide three acres of land to Lalu Prasad Yadav, the then Railway Minister, in Western Patna. Sarla Gupta, the wife of RJD leader Premchand Gupta, was the Managing Director of this company.

It was the tender process that was purposely dodgy to favour a particular company, the CBI alleged. And in exchange for receiving the tender, a company owned by Lalu's close aides got a payoff in the form of three acres of land, said Asthana adding the eight persons were charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988.

"Eventually, this land was transferred to Lara Projects which is owned by Lalu's family between 2010 and 2014 at a substantially low price. While this land was valued at Rs, 32 crore, it was transferred to Lalu Prasad Yadav for a small fraction of it at Rs. 54 lakhs," Asthana said.

With RJD leaders expressing their anger over today's raid calling it a witch hunt against the Lalu family, it is believed that the district administration in Patna was aware of the upcoming raid and so was Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who, in a pre-calculated move, hiding behind the excuse of being sick, left Patna for Rajgir to avoid obvious embarrassment that would have been caused due to today's 10-hour raid.

A defiant Yadav, who returned to Patna from Ranchi after the raid was conducted, called the whole exercise a conspiracy hatched against him by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"I am not going to surrender before these people who want to finish me off because they know I will destroy them and wipe them from the face of this earth," an extremely agitated Lalu said.

Saying the BJP was scared to death about the RJD's upcoming rally on August 27, Yadav said that by sending CBI goons to his house, they were hoping to derail the rally.

"I am not afraid to go to jail but I promise to destroy BJP once and for all because it has crossed now all limits of decency," Yadav, who remains out on bail in the multi-crore rupees fodder scam, said.

RJD state President Ramchandra Purvey said Lalu Prasad Yadav was too big of a politician to be intimidated by BJP or any other force.

"He is the messiah of the poor and no one can destroy him," he said.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders in Bihar hailed the raids at Lalu's various properties.

"Those who are corrupt have no prayers under the NDA rule that is determined to root out corruption from the nation," former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said.

So far no reaction from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who is said to be recuperating from some illness at his favorite resort in Rajgir.
Iran Arrests Alleged ISIS Terrorists

07/07/17

Source: RFE/RL

Iranian judicial officials say security forces have arrested 21 alleged Islamic State (IS) extremists in the northeastern city of Mashhad. Mashhad's Deputy Prosecutor-General Hassan Heidari says some of those arrested are Iranians and others are Afghans who entered Iran with "fake documents."



Reaction of Iranians to terro incidents

(satire by Iranian daily Ghanoon)



Heidari was quoted by Iranian media on July 7 as saying that some detainees participated in "terrorist actions and operations" outside Iran.



The arrests follow deadly attacks on June 7 against Iran's parliament and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic.



IS claimed responsibility for those attacks.



In recent weeks, Iranian authorities have said that dozens of "terrorists" with links to IS and other groups have been arrested.



Based on reporting by Press TV, Khorasan daily and RFE/RL's Radio Farda
The deceased Tashi Bhuttia was allegedly shot dead at around 11 pm.

By Indrajit Kundu: Exactly one month after Darjeeling unrest began on June 9, Darjeeling is once again tense today after a Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) member died, allegedly in police firing last night.

Angry pro-Gorkhaland supporters set a police outpost on fire, and vandalised the Sonada police station.

According to GJM workers, the deceased identified as Tashi Bhuttia was allegedly shot dead at around 11 pm when he was returning from a medical shop.

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GJM even went on to release a picture of the deceased which is yet to be verified. However, the police are yet to confirm the incident.

Meanwhile, reports have emerged that people of various age groups are roaming the streets of Darjeeling and raiding houses of shop owners.

The motley groups are also targeting cars reportedly in quest of food. Residents have allegedly started looting shop.

The GJM on Thursday announced that it has extended its indefinite strike till July 18.

(With inputs from Indrajit Kundu)

ALSO READ:

Making sense of Gorkhaland agitation, a storm brewing in Darjeeling hills

Nepali vs Bangla in Darjeeling: Demand for Gorkhaland leaves Queen of Hills boiling again

ALSO WATCH:

Communal clashes in Baduria; support for separate Gorkhaland gains ground

--- ENDS ---
Afghans Stage Rare Anti-Iran Rally, Denounce Iran's President Rouhani

07/08/17

By Ayaz Gul, VOA



Preparations for the inauguration of the Salma Dam,

referred to as the Afghanistan India Friendship Dam.

(June 4, 2016 file photo by bjp.org)

Residents and civil society activists staged a protest Friday in southern Afghanistan to denounce neighboring Iran's President Hassan Rouhani for criticizing Afghan water management and dam projects.



Hundreds of demonstrators peacefully marched through the streets of Lashkargah, capital of Helmand province near the Iranian border. They chanted, "Death to Hassan Rouhani" and "Death to enemies of Afghanistan."



The protesters called on President Ashraf Ghani's government to not be deterred by the Iranian warning and to implement water management and storage projects along Afghan rivers.



At an international conference on sandstorms and environmental issues in Tehran on Monday, the Iranian leader warned that construction of several dams in Afghanistan could destroy "civilizations" in Iranian border provinces, forcing people to abandon their homes.



"We cannot remain indifferent to the issue, which is apparently damaging our environment," the Iranian leader said before an audience that included Afghan delegates.



Rouhani was referring to Afghan dams such as Kajaki, Kamal Khan, Bakhshabad and Salma in provinces that border Iran.



Headline of Iranian daily Sobh No: "Hamoun lake cannot stop crying"

Hamoun is the wetlands in Sistan Basin on the Iran-Afghan border. (map)



Afghan politicians also have been criticizing the Iranian president for his comments, which they say amount to direct interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.



Afghan media have also expressed outrage through special commentaries and editorials.



"We can continue living brotherly, but the use of the things that belong to us is our immediate right. We need our waters; we need electricity, irrigation and greenery. Thus, we should be the first ones that use our rivers," English daily Afghanistan Times wrote in an editorial published Friday.



The paper went on to say that 80 percent of Afghan water flowed to Iran and neighboring Pakistan without being used inside Afghanistan.



Tehran has not commented on the criticism Rouhani's comments provoked in Afghanistan.



Afghanistan and Iran signed a water-sharing treaty in 1973, stipulating that Iran not make claims to water from the Helmand River in excess of the amount agreed upon in the treaty, "even if additional water" becomes available in the future.



President Ghani has recently noted that Iran continues to receive its fair share of water from the river and that the country cannot claim more than what has been agreed upon.



"We want domestic production...We will manage our water and control it," Ghani said.



After assuming office in 2014, the Afghan president vowed to construct 21 new dams, calling them key to efforts to boost the troubled economy and produce jobs for unemployed youth.



The controversy over the construction of new dams comes as Kabul accuses Iran of increasing contacts with the Taliban fighting the Afghan government and international forces.



Provincial officials and politicians have alleged that Iranian security forces are arming and providing medical assistance to insurgents, allegations Tehran denies.



Afghan officials say Iran wants to bolster the Taliban to prevent Islamic State militants from threatening Iranian territory.
The Embassy of Italy to Ghana has congratulated the Government of Ghana, the Italian Oil & Gas company, ENI, oil trading company, VITOL and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) for the first oil extracted from the OCTP project well ahead of schedule.



Ghana took a major step towards the attainment of energy and power security when it signed an agreement for the development of the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) integrated oil and gas project under the previous John Dramani Mahama administration.



The $7 billion project, was to be undertaken by Italy's largest oil company, Eni Spa, in collaboration with Vitol Energy, to see to the development of the Sankofa and Gye Nyame fields for the provision of substantial gas to operate Ghanas thermal power plants for 20 years.



On Thursday 6th July 2017, a ceremony was held at the Takoradi offshore base to officially announce the first oil from the ENI Sankofa-Gye Nyame field. Key personalities present at the event included the President, H.E Nana Akuffo Addo, Former President John Agyekum Kuffuor, Mr. De Scalzi, Chief Executive Officer of ENI, the Chief Operations Officer of Vitol, Mr Taylor and Dr Kofi Kodua Sarpong, the Chief Executive Officer of GNPC.



Commenting on the project, the Charge dAffaires of the Embassy, Mr. Lorenzo Pinelli, on behalf of his Ambassador Mr. Giovanni Favilli, said the OCTP project makes the bilateral relations between Ghana and Italy even stronger. It perfectly fits in a long trail blazed by the first Italians who arrived in Ghana more than 100 years ago in order to build the first roads, railways and mines of this beautiful country.



Our shared and long-standing history continues with many other infrastructural achievements, such as the construction of the Akosombo dam by Impregilo Salini and the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) by AGIP/ENI which is currently in this country again with the OCTP project, cementing a long-term partnership between Ghana, Italy, ENI, Vitol, and the GNPC.



Mr. Pinelli further stated that even more laudable is the fact that the gas from this field will be commercialized locally in order to drive and promote the development of this country and to put a definitive end to the much hated dumsor. The cost of this kind of energy will be significantly economical for the people of Ghana and an added advantage for Small and Medium Enterprises as they further create a larger industrial sector capable of providing thousands of jobs every year.



The field is estimated to produce 80,000 barrels of oil per day after the start of commercial production and will also start producing gas in the second quarter of 2018. The project will deliver 170 million cubic feet of gas per day and it is expected to generate an additional 1,100 megawatts of power for Ghana.



Gas will be processed and transported via a dedicated pipeline to onshore gas-receiving facilities located near Sanzule, a coastal village in the Western Region. The gas will also be compressed and injected into the Western Corridor Gas Pipeline for transportation to industrial customers in Ghana Crude oil will also be stored in the FPSO and offloaded to tankers for sale on the international market.



Considered as one of the global super-majors, ENI is currently operating in 73 countries and Africa provides over half of ENIs total production of oil and natural gas, confirming the company as the leading international producer across the continent. The Italian Government owns a 30.303% golden share in ENI.

Source: Chris Koney









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The Management of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has apologised to consumers in the Ashanti Region for the intermittent water supply experienced lately.



The most affected areas are within the low pressure zones of Atasomanso, Sokoban, Daban, Atonsu Bukro, Buokrom, and New Suame.



According to the GWCL, the intermittent supply is due to the reduction in production at the Barekese Treatment Plant.



The low production level is as a result of raw water quality challenges currently being experienced on the treatment plant following the recent heavy downpour, a statement from the company said.



The GWCL said every effort is being made to address the production challenges within the shortest possible time in order to resume full production.

Source: classfmonline.com









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Details are emerging about how Kingsley Awuah-Darko, former Managing Director (MD) of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Company Limited and his management team transferred over GH40 million to the presidency under the previous Mahama administration in a very bizarre manner.



It is unclear into which accounts the huge payments were made, but DAILY GUIDE understands that about GH40,500,000 was transferred secretly from BOST between August 2015 and early January, this year.



The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Majority in Parliament had dropped the hint that Awuah-Darko led a corrupt administration that allegedly siphoned money to the Flagstaff House.



The NPP said at a press conference that there were massive rotten deals under Mr Kwame Awuah Darko, with the office of the then President, John Mahama and his Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, purportedly siphoning huge amounts of money  between GH2.5 million and GH3.5 million at the end of every two weeks from 2015 under the guise of security transfers, amounting to about GH40.5 million.



The particulars for the transactions indicated transfer of funds accrued from security fees.



Heated Debate



The revelation is coming at a time when there is heated debate over the release of large quantities of contaminated fuel (dirty oil) to private companies by BOSTs current management, headed by Alfred Obeng Boateng.



Strangely, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), which is pushing for the suspension of Mr Obeng Boateng, supervised the distribution of about 12 million litres of the same contaminated fuel when it was in office last year, excluding several others.



The NDC held a news conference last week to claim that the BOST boss had sold the contaminated fuel to an unlicensed company; but it has emerged that the contaminated products were regular phenomena at BOST under the leadership of then MD Kingsley Kwame Awuah-Darko, who is said to be currently cooling off in the United States.



Shady Transfers



On August 28, 2015, BOST transferred GH3.5 million; released GH3 million on October 2, the same year and another GH3 million on November 12, 2015 while on December 23 same year, GH20 million was transferred.



On February 05, March 15, April 15, and May 13  all in 2016  GH2.5 million on each occasion was transferred by BOST while on June 09, July 15 and August 24, in the same year, GH3 million each was transferred from BOST.



Later on September 29 and November 17, 2016, GH3.5 million each was transferred by BOST while on January 03, 2017  when it was left with just three days for the Mahama-led government to leave office  BOST transferred GH3 million.



Unlicensed Entities



During the tenure of Mr. Awuah-Darko, BOST sold contaminated fuel to about 36 unlicensed entities and individuals and records showed that between March 05, 2015 and August 04, 2015, the previous BOST management sold 8,190,000 litres of contaminated fuel to 24 companies that were all unlicensed, as well as another 12,400.000 litres sold to another 25 unlicensed companies between January 16, 2016 and November 30, 2016.



DAILY GUIDE has learnt that the price per litre sold by BOST under the then NDC government was lower than what was sold to the private entities under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.



The issue took a political dimension when the minority NDC in Parliament held a news conference asking that Mr Obeng Boateng be sacked by the government.



But the NPP majority has hit back, calling for a high-profile forensic investigation into the operations of BOST, saying that that should go beyond the short tenure of Mr. Obeng Boateng.



The majority accused the NDC of coming out with cooked information on the BOST contaminated fuel saga.



The NPP had insisted that the motive of the NDC was principally to cover up its massive corruption at BOST under the stewardship of Mr. Awuah-Darko.



Mr Alfred Obeng Boateng has been accused of selling about 5 million litres of the contaminated fuel to companies, some of which are said to be unlicensed for the business; but he has continuously denied any wrongdoing.



Workers of BOST have backed the MD to call the bluff of all those who are asking him to vacate his post.



The MP for Odotobri, Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi, who addressed the majoritys press conference on Friday, said the recent contamination of five million litres of fuel was detected on January 18, 2017 when the former MD, Kwame Awuah Darko, was still at post; but it was attributed to human error, resulting in the interdiction of four members of staff who were in-charge of operations at the time.



Mr. Gyamfi explained that apart from the current contamination by four workers at the time, several other fuel contaminations happened under the NDC government since 2014, which ought to be fully investigated because of the manner in which they occurred.



The truth of the matter is that under the NDC, similar contaminations occurred. In 2014 another contamination occurred and the quantity involved was 4.6 million litres; in 2015 there was another contamination and the quantity involved was 9.9 million litres and in 2016, the mother of all contaminations occurred and the quantity involved was 12 million litres, Mr Gyamfi revealed.



The Ministry of Energy has already set up an 8-member ministerial committee to investigate the circumstances under which large quantities of contaminated oil were released by BOST to private companies for distribution.



According to the release signed by the sector minister, Boakye Agyarko, the committee, whose timeframe for the investigation was not given, is expected to determine the circumstances that created the off-spec product, review the procedures undertaken by BOST to evacuate the product, as well as ascertain the quality and remaining quantity of the product.



The committee has also been tasked to determine if the product can be corrected; if not, determine the alternative use for the product and review the transaction after which it is expected to advise the ministry on the necessary technical, administrative and legal actions to be taken.



BOST has always insisted that not a single drop of the alleged dirty oil has found its way onto the market, although Senyo Hosi, CEO of Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, claimed it had been distributed and even warned the public on social media platform  Facebook  against the contaminated fuel, which he said was being sold around Kpone in the Tema enclave of the Greater Accra Region.

Source: Daily Guide









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Acting General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. John Boadu has disclosed that the party will soon address some issues raised by the Assin Central Member of Parliament, Hon. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong.



Speaking on Okay FM's Ade Akye Ebia's Programme, he explained that though Kennedy Agyapong's issue may be legitimate, he may also have flouted some party rules and they will need to sit down to address all those issue he is complaining about.



"It is not that we are quiet as a party but we will act appropriately in due course and have all grievances addressed".



Background



The Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong last week threatened to release full details of how the New Patriotic Party (NPP) won the elections if he is continuously undermined by some individuals in the party.



He has vowed to bring down the party, before he is disgraced.



According to him, some persons planning his downfall have consistently asked him to shut up before he can get contracts in the Nana Akufo-Addo's administration, warning that he will never kowtow to them.



Speaking on Accra-based Oman FM, the maverick politician said "If you are not careful with people who helped you or us to come to power and give them this reward there is this boy called Siriboe whose father is a council of state member. How much did his father pay? You are there undermining him.NPP boy.



I mean those NPP people who have vowed to collapse my business saying they will bring me downIf they joke the things I will say in Ghanathe way we won the elections. We did not win the elections on fair grounds. I am warning them for the last time. If they say they will bring me down, I will be the first to bring the NPP down before I am disgraced."





SIX MONTHS IN OFFICE



John Boadu added that with just six months in office, the NPP has already started fulfilling its promises.



He said as a listening government, the NPP will continue to make the lives of Ghanaians comfortable.



"The NPP government is a listening government and as today marks 6 months in office, we will continue to assure Ghanaians that the party will continue to deliver Ghanaians from the bad governance of the NDC and let them be in perpetual opposition. Ghanaians can attest to the fact that the new patriotic party has begun honouring its campaign promises like 1 district 1 factory, 1 million dollars for each constituency amongst others" he noted.

Source: Isaac Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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Featured Video
Weve all got a favourite sappy Simpsons moment. Maybe its the iconic You are Lisa Simpson; maybe its the ending of Marge Be Not Proud (love that putting challenge); maybe its anything to do with Bleedin Gums Murphy.

For me, its the B-Sharps. (Dont judge me  a Beatles origin story AND barbershop music? Whats not to love?!)

Which is why we should all be thrilled about this latest jewel that the internets tossed up from its otherwise ruinous gullet: a very sweet-sounding bunch of Irish lads, doing Baby On Board on a Dublin pub roof (okay, balcony).

Sure, theyre not a barbershop quartet (technically theyre actually a chamber choir, which is almost better), but aint that a nice instalment in the series of Simpsonsscenescomingto-life weve been copping lately. Now do We Put The Spring In Springfield!

Source: Independent.

Image: Facebook / The Ramparts.
David Lynch was never going to make things easy on us, but even by his standards, Twin Peaks: The Return is a wild and woolly trip. In the space of eight episodes, weve had a horrifying talking tree, a drugged-out Amanda Seyfried, a nuclear explosion that may or may not have given birth to Killer Bob, and a catatonic Agent Dale Cooper shuffling around Las Vegas, seemingly unable to remember his own name after getting spat out by the Black Lodge.

The beauty of Twin Peaks is that it doesnt really need to make any kind of logical sense. As I watch it, Im resisting the temptation to try and figure out where the hell the new episodes are going or what it all means  at this point, Im just happy to be along for the ride that Im probably too dense to fully understand.

Nonetheless, if youre hoping that the shows various plot threads will actually come together into something meaningful, then Kyle MacLachlan  who plays the good Dale, the bad Dale and the hapless Dougie Jones  says that things are definitely moving in that direction. Youre going to have to wait patiently to get there, though.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, MacLachlan was asked about the fan reaction to the chunk of the new season that has aired so far, which ranges from rapt approval to deep irritation at the fact that nothing seems to be happening. He replied that it has been really fun to see people responding to it as it airs, and added:

I think we all knew it was going to be a challenging journey for the audience, simply because it is 18 parts of one giant piece, and its sequential, so people really have to stay with it. And also that Davids storytelling is filled with imagery and different perspectives and characters and things that may initially be confusing to people, but ultimately everything will come back together and make sense. It will be clear. But its challenging, you know? The other part of that is there has been a real, complete love from a large part of the audience for this new direction of Twin Peaks. No one has ever seen anything like this on television before. Thats some of the excitement, I think.

Those who were expecting a return to the quirkier side of the original Twin Peaks  cherry pies, damn good coffee and the elusive Audrey Horne  have been disappointed that so little of the new season takes place in the actual town of Twin Peaks itself. To this, MacLachlan says:

I knew that the audience was excited, just based on social media, for the return of the Cooper that they remembered. I couldnt say anything about that  that there was a process that had to happen before the ship could right itself, lets say. I also like to say were basically  my take on it is that the world is out of balance, and were trying to take it back into balance now. We have 18 hours to do that. But I knew it would be difficult for people. Many people wanted the nostalgic return to the Twin Peaks that they remembered. And thats not what were representing here. There are a lot of new stories going forward.

You can read the rest of the interview here for more of Kyle MacLachlans thoughts on returning to his most iconic role (sorry, Trey MacDougal) 25 years on.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter.

Photo: Showtime.
WILLIAMSPORT-Two boys, one 15 and the other 14, have been charged with the early Friday armed robbery of the clerk at a Turkey Hill Minit Mart in Williamsport.

The older of the two, Jamie Tyreek Jones, has been charged as an adult and committed to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $150,000 bail. The younger boy will be petitioned into juvenile court, city police said.

A police affidavit states the two admitted robbing the clerk in the store in the 700 block of Washington Boulevard about 4:20 a.m. Jones lives about a block away.

The two were taken into custody a short distance from the store and police said they found in bushes nearby two black hooded jackets and two weapons.

The store clerk told investigators two males brandishing weapons and wearing jackets similar to those found in the bushes entered the store with hoodies cinched up over their faces.

They ordered him "to get to the register and get all the money," he told police. They took about $95. That was the exact amount found in a pocket of Jones' jeans, police said.

When interviewed at police headquarters with their parents present, the two admitted walking from the Jones residence with the intent of robbing the store, the affidavit states.

Jones admitted displaying a two-handed paintball pistol and the 14-year-old said he had pellet pistol, the document states.

Jones, a Philadelphia native, told District Judge Allen P. Page III at his arraignment he is scheduled to enter 10th grade at Williamsport Area High School in the fall.

He is charged with robbery, conspiracy, possession of an instrument of crime, simple assault and theft.
By PTI: governor: Kovind

Bhopal, Jul 8 (PTI) The NDAs presidential pick Ram Nath Kovind today said he had discharged his duties as the governor of Bihar with a belief that "everyone was equal, irrespective of religion, caste and region," and which is why he got support from the state.

Kovind was apparently referring to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who broke ranks with the opposition, to support the formers candidature for the top constitutional post.

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"For us, people of all religions, caste and regions are equal and on that basis, I have only discharged my duties as the Governor of Bihar. That is why we have got support from Bihar also," a BJP release quoted Kovind as saying.

Kovind had resigned as Bihar Governor on June 20, a day after he was picked as NDAs presidential candidate.

He said although he was born in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh was his place of work.

"Therefore, I have come here not to garner support, but to seek blessings so that I maintain the dignity of the presidents post as maintained by my predecessors like Dr Rajendra Prasad, Radhakrishnan and APJ Abdul Kalam," he said.

Kovind was addressing BJP MPs and MLAs at the chief ministers residence.

Union minister Sushma Swaraj, who was also present during the meeting, said the country has four top posts --President, Vice President, Prime Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker.

"Out of these four, the BJP has so far occupied three posts. Now that happy moment is coming when we will see our worker occupy the countrys highest post. The country will celebrate Diwali on July 25," the External Affairs Minister said.

Describing Kovind as an able worker, Swaraj said he was selected for the top post because of his abilities and qualifications and not because he was a Dalit.

"The politics being played out in the name of Dalit versus Dalit pains me a lot. He (Kovind) was selected for the government job through UPSC, but he had declined the offer as he was destined to offer a letter of appointment to a prime minister and become the supreme commander of the three forces," she was quoted as saying in the release.

Union ministers Thawar Chand Gehlot, Narendra Singh Tomar and Faggan Singh Kulaste, Madhya Pradesh BJP in-charge and partys national vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and others were present on the occasion.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Sahasrabuddhe also addressed the meeting highlighting the numerous achievements of Kovind during his stints at various positions.

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Meanwhile, three independent MLAs -- Kalsingh Bhabar, Sudesh Rai and Dinesh Munmun -- have also extended support to the NDAs presidential candidate.

Kovind, who landed at the Raja Bhoj airport here in a special flight in the afternoon, was accorded a warm welcome by the ruling BJP at the states dedicated hangar at the airport.

Madhya Pradesh Congress, however, criticised the BJP for using airport premises for according welcome to Kovind.

The chief minister, along with his ministerial colleagues and senior party leaders, welcomed Kovind.

Speaking at the airport, Chouhan heaped praises on Kovind, describing him as the "most able candidate" for the post.

The CM recalled that Union minister Thawar Chand Gehlot and he himself were present at the BJPs parliamentary board meeting where Kovind was unanimously selected as the candidate for the highest constitutional office.

"Later, when party president Amit Shah informed other NDA partners about it, they all open-heartedly supported the decision," Chouhan said.

State Congress chief Arun Yadav slammed the BJP for using airport premises for welcoming Kovind.

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"After the Goa airport incident, the BJP now erected a tent and dome for welcoming Kovid, which amounts to misuse of public money," Yadav said in a statement.

Last Saturday, BJP president Amit Shah had addressed a party meeting at Goas Dabolim International Airport premises

Shah, who was on a two-day visit to the coastal state, was accorded a warm welcome outside the airport, where he addressed party workers. Congress had demanded a probe into the meeting, terming it "illegal" and "gross abuse of power". PTI MAS LAL NP NM SRY

--- ENDS ---
An order of Catholic nuns behind an outdoor chapel in the Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline's path stood firm Friday despite a judge's ruling that the gas company could remove it.

"[The nuns] believe that having this structure on their land, for however long, gives tangible witness to the sacredness of Earth," read a statement issued Friday by the Adorers of the Blood of Christ.

Earlier this year, the nuns allowed the Lancaster Against Pipelines group to build the chapel in a cornfield on its land in West Hempfield Township, near a retirement community operated by the order.

It will be dedicated in a public ceremony on Sunday.

The chapel, comprised of a wooden arbor and pews surrounded by rows of corn, is in the path of a pipeline that will transport 1.7 billion cubic feet of gas per day from shale fields to the north and west across central Pennsylvania.

Lancaster Against Pipeline has built other structures in the pipeline's path, in preparation of a possible encampment to block construction, similar to efforts to block the Dakota Access Pipeline last year.

Williams, the company behind the Atlantic Sunrise, has sought to take immediate possession of an easement to allow construction on a stretch of the Catholic order's property.

According to a LancasterOnline report, a Williams attorney told U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Schmehl that the chapel would cause "irreparable harm" to the pipeline project during a hearing Thursday.

On Friday, Schmehl ruled that Williams had the right to seize the land via eminent domain but he held off that process until a hearing scheduled July 17 can take place.

The Catholic order, in responding to Friday's decision, wrote that they have a "land ethic" that guides its opposition. That means that the nuns honor the sacredness of creation, reveres Earth as a sanctuary for all life and treasures land as a "gift of beauty and sustenance and legacy for future generations."

Those guiding principles led the nuns to allow the construction of the chapel.

"The hope is that the structure can draw people to prayer and reflection about just and holy uses of land," the order's statement read.

Williams spokesman Christopher Stockton told Lancaster Online earlier this week that the company respects the rights of protesters but "we view this simply as another blatant attempt to impede pipeline construction."

Chapel built on nuns' land sits in the way of Atlantic Sunrise pipeline; Builders take it to court https://t.co/cJVgrp6j3E #LNPinsider pic.twitter.com/97pVwF7uyS  LNP | LancasterOnline (@LancasterOnline) July 3, 2017

In addition to the roughly 200 miles of new pipeline, the Atlantic Sunrise project calls for the creation of two new compressor stations and various other infrastructure components to help push gas from the Marcellus Shale fields to markets along the eastern seaboard.

Once complete, newly extracted gas would flow into Williams' existing 10,500-mile Transco pipeline that runs from New York to the Gulf of Mexico.

While opponents decry the possible environmental and public health consequences of such pipelines, supporters say they're necessary in order to allow for the continued growth of the natural gas industry that has fueled the local economy.

Williams plans to begin construction this fall. The Lancaster Against Pipeline group, meanwhile, plans to hold a prayer vigil at the chapel when construction begins.

Sunday's dedication ceremony will take place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the chapel at 3939 Laurel Run, Columbia, Pa., 17512. Visitors can enter the property via Cedar Bluff Park.

The map below shows the location of the outdoor chapel.
By Eugene Robinson

"A little learning is a dangerous thing," wrote the poet Alexander Pope. Three centuries later, Pope's aphorism perfectly -- and dangerously -- describes President Donald Trump's understanding of history as a zero-sum clash of civilizations in which "the West" can triumph by imposing its will.

Eugene Robinson (PennLive file)

The speech Trump delivered Thursday in Warsaw's Krasinski Square might have been appropriate when Britannia ruled the waves and Europe's great powers held dominion over "lesser" peoples around the globe. It had nothing useful to say about today's interconnected world in which goods, people and ideas have contempt for borders.

"The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive," the president said. "Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?"

Trump added what he probably thought of as a Churchillian flourish: "I declare today for the world to hear that the West will never, ever be broken. Our values will prevail. Our people will thrive. And our civilization will triumph."

Triumph over whom? Trump mentioned "radical Islamic terrorism" as one of the enemies posing "dire threats to our security and to our way of life," but he didn't stop there. He went on to add Russia and -- weirdly -- "the steady creep of government bureaucracy" to the list. It is appalling that the president would describe patriotic public servants as a kind of fifth column that "drains the vitality and wealth of the people," and I guess some precious bodily fluids as well.

But what does Trump mean when he speaks of "the West" and its civilization? "Americans, Poles and the nations of Europe value individual freedom and sovereignty," he said. "We must work together to confront forces, whether they come from inside or out, from the South or the East, that threaten over time to undermine these values and to erase the bonds of culture, faith and tradition that make us who we are. . . . We write symphonies. We pursue innovation. We celebrate our ancient heroes, embrace our timeless traditions and customs, and always seek to explore and discover brand-new frontiers."

That's what I mean about a little learning. If the president read a few history books, he'd know that for most of the past 2,000 years, China and India were the world's leading economic powers and Europe was a relatively primitive backwater. He'd know that Europe rose to dominance not by erecting walls but by opening itself to the rest of the world -- its resources, products and people.

There is nothing pure about Western civilization. Its ability to absorb and incorporate outside influences has proved a great strength, not a weakness. Imagine Italy without tomato sauce, a gift from the New World -- or the United States without the high-tech companies founded by immigrants, gifts from the Old.

Of course Trump is right to call for a united front against terrorism. But the solution, in a globalized world, cannot be to hunker behind walls, however big and beautiful those walls might be. Industrial supply chains cross borders and span oceans. Words and images flash around the globe at the speed of light. Global issues, such as nuclear proliferation and climate change, demand global solutions. Like it or not, we are all in this together.

The correct response to the terrorism threat, which is real, is to isolate it as an abomination that is as much a grievous insult to Islam as to any other faith -- and that has taken the lives of far more Muslims than non-Muslims. The wrong response is to posit that "the West" is besieged by, and therefore at war with, a hostile civilization. That's a fight in which everyone loses.

Trump did finally make clear that the United States remains fully committed to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which states that an attack on one member of the alliance is tantamount to an attack on all. He was tougher on Russia than in the past, and he cited "propaganda, financial crimes and cyberwarfare" as "new forms of aggression" that must be countered.

But viewing the fight against terrorism as some kind of civilizational Armageddon is wrong. Trump seems to view himself as the West's defender against 1.6 billion Muslims, almost all of whom want only to live in peace. We need a capable president, not a crusader in chief.

Eugene Robinson is a columnist for The Washington Post. His work appears on Saturdays on PennLive.
By PTI: scenes

Mumbai, Jul 8 (PTI) Govinda is upset with director Anurag Basu for editing out his scenes from Ranbir Kapoor-starrer "Jagga Jasoos".

Basu recently revealed that due to the changes made in the storyline, Govindas role could not make it to the final cut of the movie.

"I did my job as an actor and if the director is not happy its completely his call," Govinda wrote in a tweet.

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The 53-year-old actor said he took up the cameo in the film and shot for it in South Africa out of respect for Ranbirs father Rishi Kapoor.

"I gave full respect to Kapoor family. I did the film because he is my seniors son. I was told I will get the script. I was told they will narrate the film in South Africa and I didnt even charge my signing amount, made no contracts.

"I was unwell and on drips but still I travelled to South Africa and did my shoot."

There were also reports of Govindas unprofessional behaviour during the shooting of the film.

Reacting to it, the actor said, "

There were various negative stories and negative articles only for Govinda and thats how the film was remembered for three years." PTI JCH BK

--- ENDS ---
Michel Cadotte is shown at the court house in Montreal on Friday, July 7, 2017. A Montreal man charged with murdering his wife in a suspected compassion killing was granted bail Friday. Michel Cadotte, who is in his mid-50s, was charged in February with second-degree murder, one day after his wife, Jocelyne Lizotte, was discovered in cardiac arrest at a long-term care facility. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giuseppe Valiante
Sunoco Pipeline LP has suspended installation of its contentious Mariner East 2 underground pipeline near Exton after about a dozen Chester County households complained that the water from their private wells was interrupted or had become cloudy.

The Newtown Square company put five families up in a local hotel Wednesday and provided bottled water to a dozen families near Township Line Road in West Whiteland and Uwchlan Townships, Sunoco spokesman Jeff Shields said. Two to three of the families remained in hotels, he said Friday evening.

"We have notified the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the townships, and all appropriate agencies, and will do everything in our power to minimize the impacts to homeowners," Shields said.

State environmental regulators say there is no confirmed impact on any public water supplies. "DEP has been notified of potential private water-supply impacts and is currently investigating," said Neil Shader, a department spokesman.

Sunoco has tested 23 water wells in the area where its contractor is conducting horizontal-drilling operations about 190 feet below the surface to install the Mariner East 2 pipeline.

"Drilling has been suspended as we await test results, which will help determine whether the well problems are related to drilling and, if so, help us resolve the issues," Shields said.

The problems were first reported to authorities Monday, he said.

The drilling involved the second of three pipelines through which Sunoco is delivering natural-gas liquids such as propane from the Western Pennsylvania shale fields to its terminal in Marcus Hook. Political, business, and labor leaders have touted the $2.5 billion Mariner East project as a major economic boost, but it has also generated fierce resistance from some nearby property owners and environmental activists opposed to fossil-fuel development.

Local officials suspect that nontoxic bentonite clay used as a lubricant during the horizontal-drilling process may have migrated into private wells. Bentonite drilling mud is the same material used in cat litter.

In a September report citing "technical deficiencies" in Sunoco's pipeline application, DEP singled out geologic formations near Exton and East Whiteland Township as presenting an "additional risk" of contamination or "inadvertent returns" during horizontal drilling. It asked Sunoco to provide "a detailed assessment of measures to reduce the risk of drilling" in the area.

Sunoco, in its February response to DEP, said it had worked with the public water supplier in the area, Aqua Pennsylvania, to step up groundwater-monitoring efforts, including the installation of a monitoring well near Aqua's two Hillside water wells, which are about 300 feet from the pipeline route.

Donna Alston, a spokeswoman for the Bryn Mawr water company, said Aqua had been monitoring water quality on its system during the pipeline construction. "We have not seen any impact on our wells," she said Friday.
Camden authorities are seeking this man as a person of interest in the Friday, July 7, 2017, fatal shooting of a man in a vehicle at the Crestbury Apartments on South 8th Street. Read more

Camden authorities are seeking the public's help finding whoever shot a 22-year-old man to death in the city early Friday.

At about 12:15 a.m., police responded to a report of a shooting at the Crestbury Apartments complex on the 2500 block of South Eighth Street. They found the victim, Ahmid Murray, of Sicklerville, inside his vehicle suffering from several gunshot wounds. He was taken to Cooper University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:36.

The Camden County Prosecutor's Office released a video of a man walking on the grounds of the apartment complex around the time of the shooting. Authorities have not described him as a suspect, but say they want to question him.

No arrests have been reported, and the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Prosecutor's Office Detective Mike Rhoads at 856-225-8561 or Camden County Police Detective Mark Lee at 856-757-7420.
By PTI: Dhamra/Bhubaneswar, Jul 8 (PTI) Ground breaking ceremony of the Rs 6,000 crore LNG Terminal was held at Dhamra port in Odishas Bhadrak district today.

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan performed the Bhumi Pujan in the absence of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The 5 MMTPA capacity LNG terminal would play a major role in accelerating the process of development and economic growth in eastern India, Pradhan said.

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Construction of the LNG import terminal would involve an investment of Rs 6,000 crore, while a 2539 km long network of pipeline to transport gas would be laid at a cost of Rs 13,000 crore, the petroleum minister said.

The network would connect 13 districts of Odisha and states like Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, Pradhan said.

Stating that the country now has only one gas terminal in Gujarat, Pradhan said that natural gas would now be brought to Bhadrak from countries like America, Canada and Qatar.

The natural gas from the terminal would also be supplied to various city gas distribution networks in the eastern India.

While households in various cities would get piped gas, motor vehicles and industries would get cheaper and clean fuel, the Petroleum Minister said adding it would create vast employment opportunities for the the youth of Odisha.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who was supposed to perform "Bhumi Pujan", skipped the programme. So did the BJD MP and MLAs from the area. In Patnaiks absence, Pradhan conducted the "Bhumi Pujan".

Pradhan said the chief minister had been invited to the function but it was learnt last night that he would not be attending it.

Since the gas infrastructure project is set to boost economic growth in Odisha and the entire eastern region, the chief ministers presence would have been proper, Pradhan said.

BJD spokesperson and MP Pratap Keshari Deb said the chief minister had given consent to attend the function as it was a government programme. However, he decided to stay away when it was understood that it would become a political event. PTI SKN NN LNS

--- ENDS ---
Charmaine Pfender, who was 18 when she shot a man she says was attempting to rape her. Read more

In 1982, when Judge Armand Della Porta sentenced Orlando Stewart to spend the rest of his life in prison, he did it with apparent regret. "This is the best example of how wrong mandatory sentencing is," he said.

Stewart was the last of 10 West Philadelphia teenagers sentenced in the 1981 death of University of Pennsylvania graduate student Douglas Huffman. They'd gone out in a pack, looking for someone to rob. One teen hit Huffman, knocking him to the pavement where he hit his head hard enough to fracture his skull. Huffman declined medical treatment, and was found dead in his bed two days later.

Seven of the teens served short sentences, some as little as a year. Ronald Saunders, who orchestrated the attack, was sentenced to life. But he was made eligible for parole this March after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that drew on evolving brain science to conclude juveniles are less culpable than adults, and cannot be doomed to life without parole under mandatory sentencing rules. Charles Manor, the teen who knocked Huffman to the ground, was also made eligible for parole.

But Stewart, who never touched Huffman, won't get a new sentence. That's because two months and 10 days before the crime, Stewart turned 18. Those two months were the difference between kid and adult under the law  and between the "hope for some years of life outside prison walls" promised in that 2016 Supreme Court decision and the certainty of death in prison.

Now, appeals by 18-, 19-, and 20-year-old lifers like Stewart have begun to reach Pennsylvania's highest court. One was filed in June by Charmaine Pfender, who was 18 when she shot a man she says was attempting to rape her at knifepoint, killing him. Such petitions argue that the same immaturity and impulsivity that diminish younger teens' culpability continue well into the 20s, as a person's brain continues to develop.

If successful, the appeals could have sweeping implications: More than half of Pennsylvania's lifers entered the state prison system between age 18 and 25. That's 2,763 inmates.

These arguments appear to be gaining traction elsewhere. An Illinois appeals court in December granted a new sentencing hearing to Antonio House, who was 19 when he participated in a gang-related killing. And a federal judge has agreed to hear arguments in the Connecticut case of Luis Noel Cruz, who was 18 when he participated in a murder.

Laurence Steinberg, a Temple University psychologist specializing in brain development, says such arguments have a scientific basis. His research shows that, while cognitive abilities mature by age 16, other parts of the brain mature later. Areas that influence criminal culpability, like impulsiveness, risk-aversion, and resistance to peer pressure, continue maturing well into the 20s.

"The science would certainly say there's significant brain maturation that continues to go on at least until age 21, if not beyond," he said. "The legal question is harder than the scientific question."

After all, he added, "We have lots of age boundaries we draw in society that don't make any sense from a scientific point of view. Why on earth would we let people drive when they're 16, but not see sexy movies until they're 17? Driving is a much more dangerous thing to do. Why do we have different ages for purchasing tobacco and purchasing alcohol, if we believe those are both harmful things for young people?"

In light of evolving neuroscience, some jurisdictions have begun to set up young-adult courts, targeting those between 18 and 25 for consideration that is somewhere between juvenile and adult proceedings. San Francisco, Brooklyn, and Chicago have all launched such initiatives.

But in a string of U.S. Supreme Court cases, beginning with Roper v. Simmons, the 2005 case that abolished the juvenile death penalty, the court determined "a line must be drawn." Age 18 seemed a conventional choice.

This line has led to perplexing moments in the courtroom over the last year and a half, as Pennsylvania judges have worked to resentence some 500 juvenile lifers  the largest such population in the nation. Their sentences were deemed illegal under Miller vs. Alabama, a 2012 case, but it took a second case, Montgomery v. Louisiana, to get Pennsylvania courts to apply the ruling retroactively.

At least a half-dozen lifers who sought new sentences in Philadelphia waited for months while lawyers tracked down birth certificates from the 1950s, '60s, or '70s to determine whether they were on the right side of 18 at the time of the crime. One, Steven Drake  the only 18-year-old in a group of 11 youths charged in a 1971 stabbing in West Philadelphia  was 23 days too old to make the cut, according to the date of birth on his court docket.

To Bret Grote, "Arbitrarily drawing this line and hunting down birth certificates, it points to the fundamental unfairness."

Grote, a Pittsburgh-based anti-incarceration activist who cofounded the nonprofit Abolitionist Law Center, is representing Pfender and two others who argue the Miller ruling should apply to them. One is Arthur Johnson, who spent 37 years in solitary confinement until Grote sued and won his release into the general population last September. More than 100 lifers who were just a few months or years over 18 at the time of their crimes have written to him seeking representation.

Pfender's appeal is the first to reach the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, according to Grote. The court has not yet determined whether it will take the case.

"I think as a legal question, Ms. Pfender meets the requirement of Miller v. Alabama of having diminished culpability," he said.

Pfender, he said, suffered years of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse by her father, and began drinking alcohol regularly at age 8 to cope.

Donna Hill, her mother, believes those traumatic memories were triggered at the time of the murder. "It was self-defense. She didn't want to be raped again," she said.

Hill said that these days her daughter is a civic leader in prison who's developed programs for mothers and children. She's the type of person who plays Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny during visiting-room holidays.

"I would think people would look at their own histories and think, 'Wow, when I was that age, I really didn't have an adult brain. I really didn't think the way I do now,' " she said.

The trouble is, pinning down just what makes an adult brain is tricky.

"There is no number that anyone would agree, 'Oh, this is adulthood,' " said Beatriz Luna, a University of Pittsburgh neuroscientist who studies how neural processes develop.

"We have never found that by 18 any of these processes are mature," she said. "Now we have extended our studies up to the age of 30. Certainly, we have results that show that by 20, things are beginning to stabilize."

Steinberg said few studies have focused on 18- to 24-year-olds, so more research is needed.

But whatever that science yields might not make a difference in court.

"You could argue late adolescents are still less mature than adults  nobody in the scientific community would dispute that," Steinberg said. "On the other side, you could say, 'Yes, but they're mature enough.' "
Gov. Wolf has until the end of Monday to decide what to do about the nearly $32 billion spending plan the GOP-controlled legislature sent him last week. Read more

HARRISBURG  Pennsylvania lawmakers will return to the Capitol for a rare weekend session as negotiators continue to try for an agreement on how to pay for this year's nearly $32 billion budget.

Both the House and Senate will convene Saturday as they race to figure out how to raise more than $2 billion in new revenue to cover the biggest budget shortfall since the end of the recession.

Last week, with hours to spare before the July 1 start of the new fiscal year, the Republican-controlled legislature sent Gov. Wolf a $31.99 billion spending bill  lacking the supporting legislation that spells out how to pay for it.

Wolf, a Democrat, has until the end of Monday to sign or veto the spending bill, or allow it to lapse into law without his signature. He has not said what he would do if no agreement is reached on a revenue package.

"I'm going to stay away from speculation," Wolf said Friday. "I'm continuing to negotiate, I continue to feel good about the way things are going, and I'm hoping we will have a budget very soon."

Saturday's session was forced after budget negotiators failed to reach an agreement during talks. "You are not going to have an agreement on anything until you have an agreement on everything," House Majority Leader Dave Reed (R., Indiana) said after Friday's session.

Gambling expansion remains a major sticking point. Republicans in the House and Senate have been mired in disagreement over whether to legalize up to 40,000 slots-style machines called video gaming terminals (VGTs).

Many House GOP lawmakers support allowing them in bars, taverns, restaurants, and other establishments with a liquor license, but a number of Republican senators have cited concerns over the scope of such an expansion. They have also said they worry it would cut into business at casinos, which send millions of dollars in tax revenue on their earnings into state coffers.

Wolf has not taken a position on legalizing VGTs. He has said only that he cannot support a proposal that would cannibalize the revenue stream from casinos or impact existing jobs.

Budget negotiators have also been discussing borrowing up to $1.5 billion to cover the budget shortfall in the fiscal year that just ended. The plan would call for paying back the loan using money that flows annually into a state fund set up after the landmark 2001 settlement with tobacco companies.

Among other things, the settlement fund supports tobacco use prevention and cessation programs, health research, health care insurance for the uninsured, and home and community-based services for older Pennsylvanians, according to a description by the Office of the Budget.

Another option on the negotiating table is further privatizing alcohol sales, including one proposal to allow beer distributors to sell wine and liquor.

Hanging over budget talks Friday was the warning issued Thursday by Standard & Poor's, which said it was placing Pennsylvania on a negative "credit watch" that reflects the state's "eroding financial position and our view that there is a significant likelihood that the commonwealth will not enact a structurally balanced budget for fiscal 2018," according to a statement by the credit rating agency. A credit downgrade for Pennsylvania would raise the cost of borrowing money.

Karen Langley and Liz Navratil of the Harrisburg bureau contributed to this article.
As police continued on Friday to hunt for the perpetrators of drive-by paintball attacks in West Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations was responding to several transgender victims who reported that they had been targets of other recent incidents of harassment.

Four transgender women were sitting on the porch of a residence in the 5000 block of Woodland Avenue late Thursday afternoon when they were fired on with a paintball gun from the driver's side of a passing dark-colored Hyundai Azera, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives. Believing the shots were gunfire, the women dove for cover. One was hit in the body twice, a second was hit in the body once, and a third was hit with paint spray.

The women told police later that someone had thrown an M-80 firecracker that exploded near their feet on Wednesday. On Tuesday, a person who works at the house was waiting at a nearby trolley stop when someone threw firecrackers at her.

Walker said the Human Relations Commission will assess what has been going on involving the residents of the house and the neighborhood in the last few months, and will work to improve understanding in the community.

Police initially believed the vehicle in the attacks was an Infiniti, but new video surveillance showed the vehicle to be an Azera, Walker said. Police believe there were four occupants in the vehicle.

The first victims of the drive-by paintball attacks were a man and woman at 42nd Street and Baltimore Avenue shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday. They were not hit directly, but the woman was hit by paint spray.

Those victims then saw the occupants of the Hyundai fire at two other people.

After the attack at the house on Woodland, the Hyundai made a U-turn and then the shooter fired at two more people about 100 yards from the house, Walker said.
Muzaffar Ahmad Wani said that he did not want any untoward incident or killing in the Valley but want peace and harmony.

By India Today Web Desk: While Separatists across the Valley are observing the death anniversary of slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, his father today appealed for peace and harmony in the region.

Muzaffar Ahmad Wani said that he did not want any untoward incident or killing in the Valley. He appealed to all to maintain peace and harmony.

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Anticipating trouble in the Valley on the first death anniversary of Burhan Wani, curfew has been imposed in several areas in the Kashmir Valley. The measure has been taken to ward off possible protests and incidents of violence.

Curfew has also been clamped in native town of Burhan Wani, Tral of Pulwama district, Shopian, Anantnag, Kulgam, Baramulla and Sopore among others.

SPECIAL SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS

Security has been beefed up to prevent terrorists from holding events marking the anniversary. Earlier, separatists and other outfits announced that they will observe the day marking Buhan Wani's killing.

Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Nirmal Singh today confirmed that the security had been beefed and that the forces were vigilant. He said that the situation was normal in most parts of the Valley.

Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin too had called for a shutdown to mark a week-long protest.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called a high-level meeting to review the security situation in the Valley.

Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter by security forces in Anantnag of Jammu and Kashmir on July 8 last year.

Following the killing, the Kashmir Valley witnessed widespread violence. Curfew was imposed for over 50 days. More than 75 people including two police officials were killed in the clashes between protesters and security forces.

Also Read:

How Burhan Wani was killed in encounter on July 8 last year: An exclusive account

Burhan Wani's family approached police to make him surrender: MHA official to India Today

WATCH | Will ensure people's security, says MoS Hansraj Ahir ahead of Burhan Wani's death anniversary

--- ENDS ---
Indian Sherpa Arvind Panagariya, who is responsible for negotiating the agenda for G20 with representatives of other countries, said discussions during the summit were "cordial".

By India Today Web Desk: India played a major role in getting the Group of Twenty (G20) to release a separate, standalone statement on terrorism, Indian Sherpa Arvind Panagariya said today.

Panagariya, who in his capacity as Sherpa is responsible for negotiating the agenda for G20 with representatives of other countries, also said discussions during the two-day summit were "cordial".

"There was no flying of objects in the room," Panagariya quipped, before saying, "We had cordial but tough discussions. It is a closed group and we all are friends here. But, that doesn't mean that being friends you will sacrifice national interest."

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On the subject of the statement on counter terrorism, which was issued on Friday, Panagariya said that it was India who strongly pitched for a separate, standalone statement on terrorism.

Originally, there was a plan to put an annexure on counter terrorism to final G20 joint statement but India made a strong pitch for it being a standalone document and being named as a Leaders' Statement, Panagariya said.

According to Panagariya, also the vice chairman of government think tank Niti Aayog, India also had a major influence on discussions about trade and investment, migration and among other key issues at the G20 Summit.

US ISOLATED

Panagariya brushed away questions about how the United States seemed to have been left isolated on climate change but said that India had reiterated its position that it will need time to eventually shift to fully clean fuel.

On US, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was more blunt, saying, "In the end, the negotiations on climate reflect dissent - all against the United States of America."

Under President Donald Trump, the US recently withdrew from the historic Paris Climate Accord, a move sharply criticised by the rest of the world.

Other countries, including those at G20 Summit, have said the Paris agreement is irreversible.

BROAD CONSENSUS, OTHERWISE

Except for the climate change issue where the US had a different position than others, Indian Sherpa Arvind Panagariya said there was a broad consensus on all other key issues among the G20 leaders, including on ways to revive global growth in an inclusive manner.

On international financial architecture also, the leaders resolved to make necessary quota reforms and to ensure proper representation, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Tapan Ray said.

The issue of international cooperation on financial matters also got strong support and India contributed in a strong way on this agenda, said Ray, who led the Indian side on finance track of the G20 proceedings.

Panagariya said the negotiations on final communique took almost four times longer this time around, which may also be attributed to the change in governments in the US and some other member countries.

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Besides, there were differences on some issues that took time to be ironed out, he added.

Panagariya said negotiations took a lot of time on issues like climate change, trade and investment and migration.

The communique this time also talks about reciprocity and non-discrimination when it comes to trade liberalisation, he noted.

Ray said there was a broad consensus among the G20 members on revival of global growth and the communique emphasises on structural reforms, inclusive growth and job creation.

Further, he said the G20 leaders agreed on implementation of the IMF quota reforms and of bringing a new quota formula by 2019 besides, stressing upon the international cooperation on tax matters and financial information.

(With inputs from PTI and Reuters)

ALSO READ:

PM Narenda Modi in Hamburg to attend G20 Summit: All you need to know

India responds to Chinese claim: There was no Modi-Xi meeting planned at G20

ALSO WATCH: G20 summit begins in Hamburg

--- ENDS ---
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Greggs has finally opened in Plymouth city centre and here is your first look inside inside its latest branch.

The shop offers savouries and sandwiches, freshly prepared throughout the day, as well as a range of confectionery products and a range of hot drinks.

(Image: John Allen)

Earlier this week, Greggs also opened a branch inside the petrol station on Forder Valley Road.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel Play now

Store manager, Matthew Rich, said: "I'm very proud to be managing this new shop and the shop team are looking forward to hearing what the local community think."

When we popped in this morning the new store was doing a brisk trade with the baked goods making an impression on new customers.

We spoke to customers about what they thought.

Benn Moulder, 19

Ben said: "I'm waiting to meet my Nan and Grandad but I went in earlier. I didn't realise that it had just opened.

"It was nice actually. I got a few different things. I think I will go in again, it was much better than where I usually go. Better prices as well."

Olivia Stanger, 14, and Sofia Johnston, 13

Oliva and Sofia were very excited to hear that Greggs had come to town.

Olivia said: "I love a sausage roll and crisps."

Sofia said: "We go all the time we love it. I want a sausage roll."

Sofia's mum Sharon, 50, told The Herald: "I'm from Liverpool but we live in Plymouth now. Greggs is nice. Whenever we go back to Liverpool we usually go."

She added: "I like their cheese pasties."

Sherelle Puertas, 26, and Nicola Price, 25

Sherelle said: "I heard that it was opening but I didn't know it was today.

"I've been into Greggs before but I don't eat pastry anymore so I might not go."

Nicola, who has never been to Greggs, said: "I will probably go in at some point. It is worth giving it a try."

Stephen Nightingale, 46

Stephen said: "I didn't know it was opening but I have just noticed it.

"I've been in there and I think I will be going in. Normally we just get cakes and pastries."

He added: "It's nice that they have come it is better than nothing  an empty shop  it is good."
Photo: POLICE File

As a father of two children, one of which was in high school and unsure of her own career path, Geoffrey DeCesari, then a sex crimes detective with the San Diego Police Department, knew it was on him to set an example. He wanted to be sure that his daughter understood the importance of continually learning and the value of an advanced degree.

But shift work and on-call weekends complicated his quest for higher learning. DeCesari knew educational flexibility would be a must if it were to fit into the demands of his job. "I was working investigations at the time, and frequently on call, so sitting in a classroom was not an option," he says.

He also knew the education had to come from an accredited university with an excellent reputation. He explains his alma mater for his undergraduate degree was having accreditation issues at the time, and for this reason he wanted to be sure he received a master's degree from a "university he could be proud of."

Originally, he planned to attend a master's degree program with the University of Colorado (USC), but he then learned the nearby University of San Diego (USD) offered a top-notch online degree program in his chosen field of study.

Twenty months later, DeCesari counted himself among the USD degree program's first graduates as he received his master's degree in Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership. The now sergeant with the San Diego PD says juggling work, home, and school was well worth the effort. "My responsibilities have dramatically increased; they started to increase even before I had my degree," he says. "But advancing my career is not the reason I returned to school. It wasn't even among my top three reasons for going back to school. I did this for myself."

DeCesari is among the thousands of law enforcement professionals who return to college every year for undergraduate and graduate degrees. But as this San Diego officer learned firsthand, working irregular hours and balancing work and family with school presents more than a few obstacles. Fortunately, there is a sea of educational options available to today's law enforcement professionals. The difficulty arises, however, in choosing an option that fits each individual student's situation.

Learning Online

As executive director of the Northwestern University Center for Public Safety, David Bradford needs to be aware of the types of education law enforcers need and the best ways to deliver that programming. Though he's careful not to place online education over traditional classroom learning, he does note that distance learning often fits nicely into the varied hours of police work.

"[For this reason,] we design classes for the individual student who may be in a small law enforcement department, where getting away from work for 10 weeks is going to be a burden on the administration and on the individual," he says.

Online education is an option that also fits well with student's home lives. The reality is that many law enforcement professionals are also balancing full-time careers, families, volunteer responsibilities, and more. "The option to enroll in online courses and work at their own pace gives officers the flexibility they need to pursue their degrees on their own time," says Jacob Harris, director of marketing for Columbia Southern University (CSU).

As the associate vice chancellor for Online Learning at the University of Illinois-Springfield, Ray Schroeder has studied and written about the benefits of online education, and is a huge believer in the format. Developments in the technology used to present coursework online have advanced and as such so have student outcomes. Schroeder points out that U.S. Department of Education studies have found that learning outcomes in online education are as good as or better than in the classroom. He cites the flexibility and control this type of learning affords students as a primary reason why. "They can do their online learning in the morning or at 2 a.m. after their shift, and they can repeat the materials over and over until they know it. They just back it up and play it again."

Online is Not for Everyone

Though the benefits to online ed for law enforcers can be somewhat obvious, DeCesari cautions that this type of education isn't for everyone.

"The primary disadvantage to online education is the type of learner that you are," he says. "If you are a tactile learner, you will have problems with online education. These classes are based on lectures, speeches, videos, reading, and online discussions with other students. While my style of learning fit well with this programming, if you need to touch things to learn, then classroom education might be a better fit. You also need to have some personal drive to meet deadlines and work at home."

Bradford concurs, "One thing we have found is that sometimes people come into an online program thinking it's not going to be as academically vigorous as a classroom program, and these individuals are surprised at how much effort it takes for them to do a class online. We occasionally have people who drop out because they cannot keep up."

Jason Lemon, dean of Professional and Continuing Education at SDU, asserts that certain personalities are better suited to an online format vs. a classroom experience, and vice versa. Though online learning appears to work well for law enforcers because it offers scheduling flexibility, he says "goal and action-oriented people" thrive in this space because there is no time wasted in "driving, parking, waiting around for other students or the instructor, and dealing with administrative things (like roll call). Every moment spent in an online course can be an active and engaged learning time. But students who need the physical structure of being at a certain place, at a certain time, in order to get their assignments and learn the material will appreciate an on-ground course more than an online course."

Schroeder emphasizes that students need to seek out educational opportunities that hit a variety of learning stylesall programs (whether in a classroom or online) are not created equal. The best programs, he says, present material in a variety of ways. Programs that utilize video, audio, text, case studies, simulations, and other forms of interactive study meet the needs of a variety of learning styles.

Success in either type of program requires discipline. DeCesari says he entered his online program with the thought that he would study on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, but that went out the window in short order as he found his studies disrupted by calls for service. He says he had to learn to look ahead and turn in work early when he knew he'd be on call. Fortunately, professors provided a comprehensive overview of the work and when it was due well in advance. "I generally had four days to plan ahead, so if I knew I was on-call or would be working a holiday weekend, where a sex crimes detective would likely be called out, I could plan for it," he says. "If this program had been self-paced, I would probably still be in my second semester. I had to be very regimented and look ahead."

Tom Hardiman is the associate vice president of Business Development, Law Enforcement at the FBI National Academy, and serves as the director of the Law Enforcement Strategic Relationships Team at American Military University (AMU). He has seen some AMU students thrive in an online setting and others fail. Successful outcomes hinge on a student's learning style and self-discipline, especially in the online setting. "If you didn't do your homework, and you are attending a night class, you can kind of sit in the back of the classroom and slink down in your chair," he says. "But with online education, students are expected to participate every week, and it becomes impossible to skate by on a busy week where you didn't get to your reading."

Whatever type of programming students ultimately select, they need to be mindful of whether or not they possess a strong support system, on the job, in the home, and at school. "CSU believes if students have a strong support system, they can achieve anything, so we provide a dedicated support team to help students along the way," Harris says. "Whether it's pulling transcripts or uploading their first assignment to Blackboard, or assisting students with math and writing, someone is available to help them."

Harris advises students to work with their academic advisors throughout their enrollment to help them with issues concerning degree programs, course selection, academic decisions, and so on. "This helps them stay on track in order to meet their academic goals," he says.

Network with Your Peers

Students must be prepared to interact within the classroom setting, be it virtual or on the ground. Schroeder warns, however, that a classroom setting can be difficult for some students who are slower to speak up. "Studies show that teachers wait no more than three seconds to call on a student after posing a question," he says. "Some students process a question longer than others before responding, so in a classroom setting you often have the same students responding over and over, while those with English as a second language or those who are deeper thinkers, never get a chance to talk. In an online setting, the instructor poses a question then looks for responses from everyone by a certain date, and every student gets a chance to respond and read the responses from the other students."

"Online and on-campus programs require intellectual curiosity along with note-taking ability and solid verbal and written communication skills," says Lemon. "Because online degree programs generally require more writingboth in the weekly written assignments and in ongoing discussion forums with fellow students and instructorsofficers will be constantly challenged to sharpen their ability to create logical, compelling, written arguments to express their ideas."

NUCPS' Bradford states that every class the university offers is available online or in the classroom. He notes that when students spend 10 weeks in a classroom with others, they develop a peer network within the class. One of the biggest worries they had when transitioning to online was losing that network. "We found that more networks are developed online and the networks are stronger and more active after the class closes than they were on the ground," he says. "People who go through a class online tend to maintain contact at a lot higher rate than those who go to class on the ground."

He theorizes that this is due to the fact that students have already exchanged contact information in an online program, and students are already in the habit of connecting in an online format.

"Behavior psychologists tell us it takes 21 days to establish a habit so that it becomes part of your routine," he says. "Students have that online habit going by the time they are done."

The networking aspect of the online format is one of the things DeCesari says he liked best. "I now know law enforcement officials from Florida to California," he says.

Whatever the format, DeCesari advises potential students to take on the challenge today. Advanced education touches on important topics such as drone polices or extracting intelligence from a cell phone or using social media as an investigation tool, which helps law enforcement professionals evolve and be more forward thinking. "When I considered going back to school, I thought 20 months seemed like a long time," he says. "But I just finished and looking back it wasn't really that long at all. It is possible to balance work, home, and school; you just need to go back and do it."

Ronnie Garrett is a freelance writer based in Fort Atkinson, WI. Garrett specializes in writing about law enforcement and criminal justice topics.
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Former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta told MSNBCs Hardball with Chris Matthews that he believes that the pressure from the Russia investigation is causing Trump to strike out and say things with no concern for whether or not they are true.

Video:

John Podesta to @hardball: 'How can you imagine sitting there, preparing for one of the most important meetingsand be tweeting about me?' pic.twitter.com/9klfHeucm8  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 7, 2017

John Podesta said, How can you imagine sitting there, preparing for one of the most important meetings youll have on the world stage both with the bilateral with Putin and more particularly at the G20 summit and be staring at his phone and be tweeting about me, and all of it wrong?

Podesta later offered his own explanation for Trumps bizarre tweets, In my opinion, hes under so much pressure from the Russia investigations that when hes in a corner, all he does is he strikes back, and he doesnt care about whether anything is true or not.

The pressure from the Russia investigations is so intense that Trump is irrationally lashing out in a desperate attempt to try and take the heat off of himself, Podestas opinion makes a ton of sense. Donald Trump has never been deep, intelligent, or rational. Trumps MO has always been to overwhelm with outrageous statements and lies.

His tweet about Podesta is a sign that the investigation is getting close to him, because every time that Trump feels threatened, he tries to change the subject or blame someone else. Before he met Putin, Trump tried to change the subject to Podesta.

Trumps tricks are easy to spot and are wearing thin. Podesta was right. The pressure is getting to Trump, and each strange tweet is another sign that this president is cracking up.
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Four more Republican Senators all from rural states are withholding support for the Republican health care bill due to the damage it would do to rural hospitals. If McConnell brings this bill to the floor for a vote, Trump will be humiliatingly defeated by his own party.

The New York Times reported, Senator John Hoeven, Republican of North Dakota, signaled this week that he would not vote for the bill as written, following negative remarks from other senators with large poor and rural populations. That was the 10th defection. Three other Republican senators, Bob Corker of Tennessee, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and John Boozman of Arkansas, have withheld their support, although they have not declared their opposition, and others have largely remained silent.

The problem for McConnell is that he doesnt have enough money to rob Peter to pay Paul in the legislative sense. Moderates want Medicaid funded, the rural Senators want rural hospitals not to lose funding, and Sens. Collins and Murkowski are weighing teaming up on an amendment that would restore Planned Parenthood funding.

There is a larger more underlying issue that may doom the healthcare bill. There are a series of differing ideologies within the Senate Republican caucus for what the healthcare bill should do. Far right Republican Senators want Obamacare repealed and replaced with nothing; there is a faction that wants Obamacare repealed with some popular provisions kept and a moderate faction that basically wants to keep the Affordable Care Act with changes.

McConnell has no margin for error since he is trying to pass this legislation with only Republican votes, but each concession that he makes to gain votes from one faction loses votes from another.

If the Republicans want a health care bill to pass, they are going to need Democratic votes. The only way that they are going to get Democratic votes is by dropping the Obamacare repeal.

It is looking more and more likely that McConnell will bring the Republican bill to the floor for a vote, it will be defeated, and then work will begin on a bipartisan bill that keeps Obamacare.

Trump vow to repeal the ACA will go down in flames, and he will suffer defeat in the most humiliating way possible from his own party.
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Simply because India is seeing a smartphone boom and almost everybody is hooked onto the social media. The alarming fact is that social media is being used to spread hate, divisive agenda and incite social unrest.

By Arindam De: The German parliament has voted in favour of a law that includes the provision to levy fines of up to 50 million euro from popular social media companies such as Facebook and YouTube if they fail to remove hateful posts in a time-bound manner.

The law, comes into effect in October and affects sites with more than 2 million users nationally. It requires social media platforms to trace and delete posts containing abusive material within 24 hours to avoid being penalised.

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Theresa May has suggested introducing similar measures in the UK. Just before the polls, the Conservative manifesto said internet firms could face a levy that would go towards funding efforts to counter crime online.

Facebook has introduced a tool in Germany that lets users flag suspicious content, and it will be monitored by a team of 700 new employees in Berlin.

Why do we need to look at these legislations -- enacted and proposed? Simply because India is seeing a smartphone boom and almost everybody is hooked onto the social media. The alarming fact is that social media is being used to spread hate, divisive agenda and incite social unrest.

The valley has seen people taking to the social media to spread rumours that help fuel violence. Obviously this is a page taken out of the operational styles of global terror organisations. Whenever security forces corner a terrorist or a group, hundreds come out to pelt stones on security forces to facilitate their escape. A large part of this mobilisation happens via social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and even Twitter.

Terror groups like IS and al-Qaeda use social media platforms to radicalise and recruit. Overground workers of terror organisations coordinate via social media platforms. On the domestic front, fake social media videos and posts help fan riots. Like at least one video that was in circulation just before the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013 -- a video that was probably two years old and was shot somewhere in a tribal area of Pakistan.

Similarly, a video showing a man being hacked to death -- supposedly somewhere in Nawada was in reality a video from Bangladesh. In a more recent case, at least a couple of videos showing people celebrating Pakistan's Champions Trophy victory are fake -- one is a Pakistani video and another an old one from Gujarat. Similarly a video showing a girl being beaten and burnt to death, supposedly somewhere in a southern Indian state is actually an old one from Guatemala.

On the other hand, it is a known fact that cow vigilantes operate almost exclusively through WhatsApp -- simply because once a post has been seeded it is impossible to trace it back to the point of origin because of the encryption involved. The aim behind circulating these fake videos is to project a negative image of a community or individual. Almost always coinciding with burning political issues of the day. The intent is clear. So, we think it is time that the government steps in and ensures that social media platforms actively help trace out and delete such malicious contents.

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The idea of sharing what Germany did was just a pointer to the fact that if there is enough political will and resolve then any government can step in and push through legislations to counter newer threats to the harmony and integrity of the country.

ALSO READ:

G20 seeks curbs on radicalisation via internet, social media

Facebook deletes 66,000 posts a week in anti-hate campaign

--- ENDS ---
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

A shower is possible early. Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 64F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

A shower is possible early. Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 64F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph.
Airbnb rentals in outstate Minnesota have grown at twice the rate they have in the Twin Cities metro, the company says.

But that growth angers longtime bed and breakfast owners who say they follow tax and permitting rules that some Airbnb hosts skirt.

There are 600 Airbnb hosts throughout rural Minnesota, the company says, offering for rent everything from a spare bedroom to an entire house. The online home-sharing and hospitality service says hosts greeted 19,000 guests and pocketed $2.2 million from June 1, 2016, through May 31 of this year.

Airbnb said listings outside the metro tend to be near lakes and along the North Shore.

Laura Spanjian, the company's public policy director, said in some parts of the state hosts provide lodging where there are few options.

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Airbnb says these Minnesota hosts are earning an average of $4,000 per year. The company takes a fee from each rental amounting to about a tenth of the price.

Tami Schluter, of Faribault, is among Airbnb's hosts. She runs a bed and breakfast in her 1892 Queen Anne Victorian house, painted periwinkle blue with bright pink trim.

"It think it's a really great way to get information into the traveling public's hands about staying at my property," Schluter said, noting she also uses her own website to draw customers.

But Schluter complains that Airbnb and similar home-sharing services aren't subject to the same regulations, standards and scrutiny that she is.

For instance, her bed and breakfast must be licensed by the state and permitted by the city. The health department has to inspect it annually.

As executive director of the Minnesota Bed and Breakfast Association, Schluter said her concerns about regulations, costs and competitiveness are widely shared by the 120 or so licensed B&Bs in the state.

She recommends a fix: "All these properties that are on Airbnb, Home Away, VRBO would be licensed and regulated by the city that they are involved with or by the state."

Local and state taxes add 10.375 percent to a customer's bill.

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Schluter said it's only fair that everyone renting out rooms collects and remits those taxes. When she spots an Airbnb or similar listing nearby, she calls city officials to give them a heads-up, urging them to make sure taxes are paid. The city did not respond to a request for comment.

A recent check showed there were 36 Faribault listings on Airbnb, as well as seven listings on VRBO.

Airbnb says it urges hosts to comply with local regulations and remit taxes. The company automatically collects taxes for about 300 state and local governments, and it is working on tax and regulatory issues with more entities, including the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

"We're very happy to work with cities on regulations that are fair, easy to understand," said Spanjian. "If it's a registration system, make the registration as easy as possible, make the fees low so that people do it. And then once the law passes, we really try to work with our hosts to comply with the law."

The League of Minnesota Cities reports steady inquiries from communities that are considering some regulation.

Grand Marias Mayor Jay Arrowsmith-DeCoux said the community allows short-term rentals only in commercial or mixed-use districts. He estimates there may be a dozen or so Airbnb hosts within the city limits. They're not allowed in residential neighborhoods.

"There were some people that the city had to inform they were in violation of the ordinance," Arrowsmith-DeCoux said. "And that caused a little bit of pushback in the community. Some people were counting on that as part of their income."

The idea is to preserve the relatively short supply of housing for permanent residents, he said.

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"If more and more of those houses are taken out of the housing stock so they can be put into seasonal vacation rental, then it would just exacerbate the problem that we're having," Arrowsmith-DeCoux said.

The southeastern Minnesota bluff country destination of Lanesboro prohibits short-term rentals in some parts of town.

Deputy clerk Darla Taylor said a lodging license from the state and city is required. She knows of at least one property that has jumped through those hoops recently. Taylor said there also are a couple of properties outside the city limits. That puts them beyond the city's jurisdiction and oversight.
A book about marketing or managing employees might be the last thing small business owners want to read on vacation. But some say they've found insight they can apply to their companies from the subjects of books they cracked just for the joy of reading  Abraham Lincoln, Harry Potter or a young woman in an alternative universe.

Some of their recommendations:

BOOK:"Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

RECOMMENDED BY:Corey Nelson, owner of 4C Global Logistics LLC.

COMPANY PROFILE:4C Global Logistics, founded in 2012 and based in Lakeville, is involved in the distribution of chemical and agricultural products.

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WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT:"Team of Rivals," published in 2005, details how U.S. President Abraham Lincoln put together a Cabinet that included politicians such as Secretary of State William H. Seward and Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, whom Lincoln had defeated for the Republican presidential nomination. Lincoln encouraged his team to put aside their animosity toward him and each other while the Civil War was being waged.

WHY NELSON RECOMMENDS IT TO BUSINESS OWNERS:"Building and running a business is about relationships and bringing great minds together from all different backgrounds to be successful. Lincoln listened to people; he understood their motives and genuinely cared. He had passion in everything he did and always refused to quit regardless of others' actions."

HOW IT HAS HELPED HIM IN BUSINESS:"When times get tough, which they always do as a business owner, that book helps to keep me going and realize if I stick to the course and treat all people well, good things will come in the end."

BOOK:"The Handmaid's Tale," by Margaret Atwood.

RECOMMENDED BY:Serafina Palandech, co-owner of Hip Chicks Farms.

COMPANY PROFILE:Hip Chicks Farms, founded in 2011 and based in Sebastopol, Calif., manufactures organic poultry products.

WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT:"The Handmaid's Tale," published in 1985, is set in a society where women are subjugated and placed in classes. The main character is in a class called Handmaids, forced to bear children for infertile couples.

WHY PALANDECH RECOMMENDS IT TO BUSINESS OWNERS:"The fact that it is set in a dystopian world where women are trophy wives, servants or of breeding stock provides anyone reading it with a powerful feminist message. I think this message is particularly important to women entrepreneurs, founders and business owners who have daughters."

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HOW IT HAS HELPED HER IN BUSINESS:"It helps me in business to recognize that my experience and my voice are relevant and important. I might not be saying things the way business folks in my industry are saying them, but that can still be a real asset."

BOOK:"The Martian," by Andy Weir.

RECOMMENDED BY:Vernon Tirey, CEO of LeaseQ.

COMPANY PROFILE:LeaseQ, founded in 2011 and based in Burlington, Mass., is an equipment leasing and financing company.

WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT:"The Martian," published in 2011, is about Mark Watney, an astronaut stranded on Mars, and the mental and physical processes he goes through to survive and get back to his fellow space travelers.

WHY TIREY RECOMMENDS IT TO BUSINESS OWNERS:"It makes you think about who you've got in your corner, who you can depend on when things get tight  if there are changes in your industry, who's going to sit down, not get panicky and get things done."

HOW IT HAS HELPED HIM IN BUSINESS:"Our company was stuck in a small business no man's land where we had to hang on long enough to show investors that we have a powerful business model with significant potential. In 'The Martian,' Watney took help wherever he could find it and had his crew, NASA and even the Chinese space program lend a hand. So I thought, 'what the heck' and followed suit by inviting employees, angel investors and partners to lend a hand."

BOOK:"Man's Search for Meaning," by Viktor E. Frankl.

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RECOMMENDED BY:Christine King, owner of YourBestFit.

COMPANY PROFILE:YourBestFit, founded in 1996 and based in Boynton Beach, Fla., provides health, wellness and fitness services to individuals, organizations and companies.

WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT:Published in 1946, "Man's Search for Meaning" is about Frankl's experiences in the Auschwitz death camp during World War II and his belief that life has meaning even in the worst circumstances.

WHY KING RECOMMENDS IT TO BUSINESS OWNERS:"Frankl's message is incredible for overcoming any obstacle, whether personal or in business."

HOW IT HAS HELPED HER IN BUSINESS:"One low I had was losing a big account. That could have been a litigious situation," King says. "Frankl says, 'OK, envision the future and what you want it to be.' I could go to court and the lawyers would make money, or I could just go ahead and (run my business) and make more money."

BOOKS:The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

RECOMMENDED BY:Paul Finch and Rayan Jawad, owners of Growth Studio.

COMPANY PROFILE:Growth Studio, founded in 2016 and based in London, analyzes companies' data to help them develop new marketing, sales and other strategies.

WHAT THE BOOKS ARE ABOUT:The books, the first of which was published in 1997, follow the adventures of the young wizard in training Harry Potter and his friends, Hermione and Ron, as they battle evil and make their way through childhood and adolescence.

WHY FINCH AND JAWAD RECOMMEND IT TO BUSINESS OWNERS:"The three friends get taken through some pretty nasty things, but they overcome the obstacles because they're together  when you've got a partnership or other people working with you, there's a lot more strength, a lot more success," Finch says.

HOW IT HAS HELPED THEM IN BUSINESS:"When Harry first meets Sirius Black, his godfather who is in the form of a dog, he's scared of him, but Harry realizes he's innocent," Jawad says. "He reminded us of a client who used to be horrific, used to challenge us and we used to think of him as one of the nastiest clients  but it dawned on us, he always had our best interest at heart."

BOOK:"Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany," by Donald L. Miller.

RECOMMENDED BY:Bryan Mattimore, co-owner of The Growth Engine.

COMPANY PROFILE:The Growth Engine, founded in 1999 and based in Norwalk, Conn., is a consulting business helping companies become more innovative and creative.

WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT:"Masters of the Air," published in 2006, is a history of the U.S. Eighth Air Force that bombed Nazi Germany during World War II.

WHY MATTIMORE RECOMMENDS IT TO BUSINESS OWNERS:"For the small businessperson dealing with the sometimes-depressing uncertainties and challenges of building a successful business, this book certainly has a way of putting things in perspective."

HOW IT HAS HELPED HIM IN BUSINESS:"We had done a bunch of proposals, always competing against other companies large and small and came in second in all of them," Mattimore says. "Listening to that book (on audiobooks), I realized, these are such small challenges relative to what these guys were going through."

BOOK:"Fight Club," by Chuck Palahniuk.

RECOMMENDED BY:Zach Holmquist, co-owner of Teem.

COMPANY PROFILE:Teem, founded in 2013 and based in Salt Lake City, creates software to help companies handle administrative tasks such as checking in visitors and booking meeting space.

WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT:"Fight Club," published in 1996, is about dysfunctional men who form a club where members fight; the club evolves into an organization that plans to try to bring down modern civilization through violence including bombings.

WHY HOLMQUIST RECOMMENDS IT TO BUSINESS OWNERS:"'Fight Club' makes you think about the words you choose  are they empowering or subtly disempowering? That's a huge part of the book as I read it."

HOW IT HAS HELPED HIM IN BUSINESS:"It shows the power of an idea, the impact that one individual can have and when you get more people on board," Holmquist says. "I have to be careful of the words I choose and the ideas. They can be toxic and can destroy a whole company, or they can be profound, magical and meaning."

BOOK:"The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin."

RECOMMENDED BY:Tobias Glienke, co-owner of Munk Pack.

COMPANY PROFILE:Munk Pack, founded in 2013 and based in Greenwich, Conn., manufactures organic fruit snacks and cookies.

WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT:The Founding Father, author, publisher, inventor, diplomat, postmaster and scientist began writing his the story of his life in 1771, but it wasn't published until after his death in 1790.

WHY GLIENKE RECOMMENDS IT TO BUSINESS OWNERS:"Franklin was self-taught. You have to self-teach to work with a small business  there are not enough resources to cover each role so each employee must wear many hats and learn new skills."

HOW IT HAS HELPED HIM IN BUSINESS:"He was very big on self-improvement and would grade himself every day," Glienke says. "I can apply that to myself and to our products, making sure that we are really creating products that our customers appreciate."
New research from the Pew Charitable Trusts shows that small- to medium-sized businesses  those with five to 250 employees  are least likely to offer retirement-savings plans.

Just over half  53 percent  of the small and midsize American employers surveyed offer a retirement plan to workers, Pew said in a report released in June.

Ninety-three percent of employers surveyed said they believe their employees would prefer higher salaries over better retirement benefits, which may be why many companies put a greater priority on pay, paid time off and health plans, the report said.

Pew researchers surveyed more than 1,600 businesses nationwide in 2016, contacting owners, top executives and human-resources managers in an effort to identify the obstacles to, and motivations for, offering retirement plans. The report, one of the few centered on retirement plans since the Great Recession, surveyed employers that both do and do not offer such plans.

Why don't these businesses offer plans? The survey found, to no surprise, that business owners are afraid of high costs. Thirty-seven percent of employers that do not offer retirement plans pointed to such barriers as the financial cost, and 22 percent said the organizational resources needed to start a plan proved to be a challenge. About 17 percent said they do not offer retirement plans because their employees aren't interested.

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Why, then, do some businesses offer plans? Employers said they want to help workers save and also to attract and retain talent. Most who offer plans also match some contributions, which boosts employee participation and helps build savings more quickly.

Relatively few employers use other savings sweeteners, Pew found. For example, just 32 percent use automatic enrollment, while only 14 percent use automatic escalation of contributions.

"Five states are now looking at implementing auto-deduction IRAs, including California, Oregon, Illinois, Connecticut and Maryland," said John Scott, director of the Retirement Savings Project at Pew. "Oregon will likely be first out of the gate this fall."

Though most employers surveyed were at least somewhat familiar with 401(k) plans, far fewer knew about other options, such as simplified employee pension plans, savings incentive match plan for employees IRAs or myRAs, all of which are designed for small firms or individuals.

About 92 percent of employers that provide retirement benefits said they offer a defined contribution plan, such as a 401(k), a SIMPLE plan or a profit-sharing plan. Twenty-three percent said their business offers a defined benefit plan, such as a traditional pension, while 22 percent said they offer a hybrid plan that includes both a defined contribution and a defined benefit plan. Thirty-five percent reported their business offers more than one retirement-plan type.

Most companies without plans said tax credits to offset startup expenses would improve the likelihood of their offering retirement plans.

Businesses in the South and the West are about half as likely to offer plans as those in the Northeast, Scott said. That mirrors Pew's analysis of state-by-state access to employer-sponsored retirement plans, which showed that full-time, full-year employees in Florida, New Mexico and Texas reported the lowest rates of access to retirement plans.
By PTI: Mumbai Jul 8 (PTI) Actor Sidharth Malhotra said his co- star Jacqueline Fernandez never seemed stressed out on sets of "A Gentleman", even when they shot some real tough scenes for the film.

"It was lovely and easy to work with her. She makes everyone comfortable. The moment you meet Jacqueline there is no ice breaker moment required as she is warm and friendly person.

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"We did tough and hectic schedules for this film but she was never stressed out I envy that. I wish I had that magic," Sidharth told reporters here at promotional event of the film.

The "Kick" actress too was all praises for Sidharth.

"This is our second film together after Brothers but we just had one scene together. This is the first time we share screen space together. It was great fun working with him, we got along well. Its not that I am happy all the time. I am happy as I work with a good team.

"For the first time I worked with guns, it was exciting but it is very difficult. Action is my favourite genre and girls usually dont get a chance to dabble into it." PTI KKP SSN

--- ENDS ---
My love for picking and collecting started with stamps, 45 records, perfume bottles and other collectibles folks may have called "junk." My passion for finding various items was helped by my mother, who loved to find salvageable items.

My interest increased when I got married and started sewing, teaching and writing articles about antiques and collectibles for newspapers and magazines, along with my appraisal workshops with adults and enthusiastic kid audiences.

I love offering tips on collecting, sorting through flea market items, asking about family heirlooms, and much, much more. In the process, I have found that small kids have open minds and love to do research and collect whatever may appeal to them. My sons and I would just have fun dumpster diving and finding bikes, computer games and more at garage sales.

Sometimes a hobby of collecting can come from a parent's love of something or just come from cleaning out the basement or attic, field trips or summer vacations. Parents shouldn't tell a child what to collect, but let it happen and can assist along the way.

Make it fun

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Get down on your knees with your child, since cool treasures can be found digging in boxes and crawling under tables in antique shops, garage and estate sales and other places vintage items are sold. You are never too young, too old, too rich, or too poor to rummage around for treasures.

Looking for fun cool stuff, from a whistle to a vintage "Star Wars" item can provide a great educational experience. A trip to an antique shop is like a field trip to a museum, as treasures are everywhere.

What are they collecting?

During my trip to St. John's Lutheran School, in Nodine, I found the first- and second-graders are already starting to collect items. These were some of their comments.

Colton Larter: "I like toy tractors of any kind I have about 25 or more, because they are fun to collect."

Carter Crabtree: "I like to collect different kinds of rocks, and they are easy to collect and find by beaches. I also collect books."

Addison Wunnecka: "I also likes to collect items by the beach, like seashells from the Mississippi River and other beaches."

Shelby Erdmann: "I like to read so, I collect June B. Jones books, I have about 12 of them by Barbara Park. I like them because they are hilarious!"

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Isabel Erdmann: "I collect quarters so I think I will have a fun time with the coin folders for the National Parks quarters."

Rianna Buegesaid, "I also collect Sacagawea coins since I saw my grandma's coins and started collecting."

Karlie Bauer: "I have a marker collection." Today markers in various colors, depending on the kind from Crayola to Sharpie to Prismacolar can be in a price range up to a little over $100.

Elijah Wieser, Alivia Flahertyand Lilly Klawitercollect stuffed animals so depending on the kind of stuffed animals, these little stuffed toys can go up in value depending how well they store them on the shelf in their room or in the closet.

Addie Schaper: "I have five 5 dolls that are not American Girl dolls, but are antique dolls from my Grandma I got on my birthdays. I'm not sure if they are all from a set but they are the fancy ones that stand with a little stand to keep them upright."

Do your research

Purchase and study reference guides, as many publishers have kids books on collecting various items, such as "Let's Go Rock Collecting" by Roma Gans. Another fun book that parents and teachers can use at home or in the classroom is "Collecting Children's Books" by Lauren Zittle and Noah Fleisher.

There are also and helpful books on vintage toys by Krause Publications, such as those on collecting LEGOs and Star Wars action figures.

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Teacher Laura Schapersaid, "A book that I have found helpful is "Collecting with Kids" by Pamela Wiggins."

Happy hunting, as some collectible items are right before your eyes and some treasures may lead you on a long search far from home to distant treasure haunts.
Tuesday of last week lived up to the forecast, with rains starting out the morning, so I planned to catch up on some tasks at home. But, when the clouds partially broke, I remembered someone had told me the cliff swallows that had had been illegally evicted from the now-boarded-up Dick's Sporting Goods last year were back.

So, I decided to head across town to check it out, but just as I was about the go out the door, I thought maybe I should call my exploring friend, Paul Julsrud. He and I had wanted to go to rural Stewartville and see if we could find Pilot Grove, and Dick's was more than halfway to Stewartville for me.

Paul agreed we'd meet at Dick's, then on to Stewartville. Unfortunately, the swallow story was not very accurate, as we weren't greeted by hundreds of the birds, but instead saw the spikes that had been put under the overhang to keep them away. It only made me feel slightly better to see the place boarded up.

A bit disappointed, we headed to Stewartville to look for the Pilot Grove farm. Our reason for looking for Pilot Grove was related an earlier column on Pilot Mound. After writing about that prominent outcrop between Chatfield and Rushford, I had gotten quite a bit of feedback about the history of the Pilot Mound, as well as the nearby village named after it.

But most interesting was the story that came from Rochester real estate agent Joel Raygor, about settlers crossing the country to head to the promised land. As the story was told to me, many in boats were pulled by rope across the Mississippi at Trempeleau, Wis., and then headed to Nodine, where guides had gone ahead and lit a smoky fire to guide them.

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Many of you have seen the Nodine sign on Interstate 90 when heading east near La Crosse, Wis. The settlers could sleep at Nodine, but there was no food, thus the name Nodine, which sounded like a joke to me, but I was told it was true.

From Nodine, the guides directed travelers to Pilot Mound, one of the highest points in the area. But it was how they supposedly got to their next destination that really floored me. Supposedly, while at Pilot Mound, possibly camping on top of the half-mile-long outcrop, they would look west for their next day's journey by spotting a guide's lantern in the distance. Thus the name of the lantern site, Pilot Grove.

Before we heard this story, Paul and I had gone to Pilot Mound just to look for its prairie wildflowers. While on top, we gazed in all directions and thought that on a good day we might be able to see out 25 miles over thousands of acres of farmland. So, when we heard the story about seeing a lantern from Pilot Grove, we were amazed, as on maps the two sites are closer to 35 miles apart.

We soon had visions of one of us swinging a lantern some night at Pilot Grove, while the other was on Pilot Mound looking westward. To make a long story short, after stopping for directions at three farmsteads, we found the Pilot Grove farm, where Bruce Schroeder shared that he knew about settlers coming to his farm area, but he hadn't heard about the lantern-guiding story.

He did, however, tell us the slight rise in his cornfield was probably the highest point in Mower County. So, we went to there and looked east toward Pilot Mound, and decided if not for some distant groves of trees, we could probably see 35 miles. Since those trees would not have been found on the historic prairies of the area, we decided we had solved the puzzle, even though Paul said his grandkids would be disappointed they couldn't swing the lantern with him.
CANNON FALLS  A Cannon Falls woman was injured Thursday night when her vehicle rolled over.

Angela Lee, 49, of Cannon Falls was southbound on Minnesota Highway 20 and Holiday Avenue when her car rear-ended a vehicle driven by Kyle Paulson, 56, of Cannon Falls. The collision caused Paulson's car to roll, according to the Minnesota State Patrol report. The crash was reported at 6:46 p.m.

Lee was reportedly not injured during the crash. However, Paulson suffered non-life threatening injuries and was transported to the Mayo Clinic Health System in Cannon Falls.

The Cannon Falls Police Department, and the Cannon Falls Fire Department and Ambulance, all assisted on scene.
President Trumps superb speech in Poland has been praised by most observers, including Paul. On the Left, however, Trumps speech has been criticized for its principal virtue, the presidents spirited defense of Western civilization. Here are some of the many such instances.

Amanda Marcotte writes at Salon: Trumps alt-right Poland speech: Time to call his white nationalist rhetoric what it is.

Trump argued that Western (read: white) nations are the fastest and the greatest community and the world has never known anything like our community of nations. He crowed about how Westerners (read: white people) write symphonies, pursue innovation and always seek to explore and discover brand-new frontiers, as if these were unique qualities to white-dominated nations, instead of universal truths of the human race across all cultures.

Why, exactly, should we read white people? Trump said not a word about race in his speech. While the peoples that developed Western culture were of course predominantly white, Western civilization is not limited to one race. Just ask, say, Thomas Sowell or Yo-Yo Ma. The obsession with race is the Lefts, not Trumps.

He also portrayed this Western civilization as under assault from forces from the South or the East that threaten over time to undermine these values and to erase the bonds of culture, faith and tradition that make us who we are.

***

And yet, even though Trump was fairly begging to be labeled a fascist with his speech painting the purity of white civilization as under threat from racialized foreigners.

But wait! Doesnt the threat from the East come from Russia? And arent Russians white? On the Left, facts are always secondary, at best, to the Narrative. Finally, this howler:

Breitbart gushed about how Trump was calling for protecting our borders and preserving Western civilization, and bizarrely compared the speech to Ronald Reagans tear down this wall speech, even though the Berlin Wall is the gold standard in the kind of border security and cultural preservation that Trump has made his political career calling for.

Great point, Amanda! Just like Trumps wall on the southern border, the East Germans built the Berlin Wall to keep out the throngs of West Berliners that were trying to get in illegally.

Next, Sarah Wildman at Vox: Trumps speech in Poland sounded like an alt-right manifesto.

In his address, Trump cast the West, including the United States and Europe, on the side of civilization. With an undercurrent of bellicosity, he spoke of protecting borders, casting himself as a defender not just of territory but of Western values. And, using the phrase he had avoided on his trip to Saudi Arabia, he insisted that in the fight against radical Islamic terrorism, the West will prevail.

Is this what is meant by alt-right? I am so old, I can remember when 95% of Americans would have thought that such propositions verged on the self-evident.

Common Dreams (Breaking News & Views For the Progressive Community): Disturbing Undertones Detected in Trumps Bizarre Poland Speech.

Honing in on Trumps repeated emphasis on the will and his declaration that our civilization will triumph, many made connections between the speech and an infamous 1935 Nazi propaganda film titled Triumph of the Will, which was directed by Leni Riefenstahl and based on the 1934 Nuremberg Rally.

You cant make this stuff up.

Peter Beinart in The Atlantic:

In his speech in Poland on Thursday, Donald Trump referred 10 times to the West and five times to our civilization. His white nationalist supporters will understand exactly what he means. Its important that other Americans do, too.

***

The West is a racial and religious term. To be considered Western, a country must be largely Christian (preferably Protestant or Catholic) and largely white.

But Israel is pretty universally regarded as Western, and Western values derive largely from Jewish history and culture.

The most shocking sentence in Trumps speechperhaps the most shocking sentence in any presidential speech delivered on foreign soil in my lifetimewas his claim that The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive.  Trumps sentence only makes sense as a statement of racial and religious paranoia.  A direct line connects Trumps assault on Barack Obamas citizenship to his speech in Poland. In Trump and Bannons view, America is at its core Western: meaning white and Christian (or at least Judeo-Christian). The implication is that anyone in the United States who is not white and Christian may not truly be American but rather than an imposter and a threat.

Like Trumps daughter and son-in-law? Beinarts rant verges on the insane.

Jonathan Capehart in the Washington Post: Trumps white-nationalist dog whistles in Warsaw.

This is the same crowd that brays about the superiority of Western civilization and its contributions in the history of the world conveniently ignores (or perhaps is just plain ignorant about) what weve adopted from Muslims and the Middle East. Those symphonies Trump says We write (ahem) would be real lame without the influence of the Middle East and Muslims. According to Salim al-Hassani, chairman of the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilization and editor of 1001 Inventions, which chronicles the enduring legacy of Muslim civilization, told CNN years ago that the lute, musical scales and the ancestor of the violin are all part of that legacy.

Carlyn Reichel, former speechwriter for Joe Biden, in Foreign Policy: Trump Has Reshaped Presidential Rhetoric Into an Unrecognizable Grotesque.

Like staring into a fun-house mirror, the trappings of an American president delivering a landmark speech abroad were there  certainly there were deliberate echoes of President John F. Kennedys historic speech in Berlin  but it was all reshaped into an unrecognizable grotesque. With each paragraph, strong statements about defending freedom and standing against the forces of oppression were replaced by a narrow vision of the world rooted in an even narrower ideology. For Trump, the boundaries of civilization only extend to those who share his definition of God and family  that is, a Judeo-Christian worldview and power structures that continue to be dominated by white men.

So you cant celebrate or defend Western civilization without being denounced by liberals as a white nationalist, a fascist, and so on. It is good to know where they stand.
Last weekend, Linda Sarsour, the radical activist who helped organize the Womans March against Trump in January, created a stir by talking about a jihad in the context of opposing President Trump. A careful (I hope) reading of Sarsours speech (which you can listen to here) shows that she did not call for violence or unlawfulness. But the speech is disturbing nonetheless.

Sansour introduced jihad into her speech by quoting Mohammeds response to the question: What is the best form of jihad or struggle? His answer, according to Sansour was: A word of truth in front of a tyrant ruler or leader, that is the best form of jihad.

Sansour then said:

I hope that we  when we stand up to those who oppress our communities  that Allah accepts from us that as a form of jihad.

From these statements, and from her speech as a whole, it seems clear that Sansour was not advocating violence against the Trump administration. Rather, she was calling for standard-issue mass protests and denunciations of Trump  the kind on display at the Womens March she helped organize.

To be sure, Sansour didnt have to use the word jihad. Lee Smith argues that, in doing so, Sansour was trying to have it both ways  get lots of attention for having done something sensational, and then play the role of victim when some of the attention invariably turned critical. He also says Sarsour raise[d] the ante and the stakesby putting it in the context of Arab political discourse.

Smith may well be right. However, we should remember that Sarsour was speaking to the annual Islamic Society of North America convention. Her discussion of jihad can be read as explaining how non-violent protest is consistent with that concept (she hopes and believes Allah will accept words of truth addressed to tyrants as a form of jihad).

(The audience reaction at the end of Sarsours speech was mixed. Some, mostly women it seemed, gave her a standing ovation. Others gave her only tepid applause. The internal politics of an outfit like the Islamic Society of North Americamust be fascinating, but I dont begin to understand what they are).

What disturbed me about Sarsours speech was not her use of the word jihad, but rather her discussion of assimilation. She declared:

Our number-one and top priority is to protect and defend our community. It is not to assimilate and to please any other people in authority. Our obligation is to our young people and to protect our women in our community. And our top priority even higher than all those other priorities is to please Allah. And only Allah.

This is a clear call for Muslims to reject the primacy of American law in favor of Sharia law. It also brings the possibility of violence into play. Mohammed may have thought that a word of truth is the best form of jihad, but he certainly didnt rule out violence as a way to please Allah.

Given the inherent tension between Islam and the American way of life, the assimilation of Muslims is difficult enough without leaders like Sarsour belittling the idea and demanding that Muslims please Allah and only Allah.

We see in countries like France and Belgium the consequences of a large, poorly assimilated Muslim population. The European experience, coupled with the anti-assimilation rhetoric leaders like Sarsour, should inform U.S. immigration policy.

Europeans felt they needed Muslims to fill out the workforce in the context of declining native populations. The U.S. does not need Muslims for this purpose. If we need more workers (a debatable proposition), there are millions of Central Americans who are eager to immigrate here. Their values and their religion are quite compatible with those of the United States, far more so than Muslims from the Middle East, especially to the extent they are susceptible to firebrands like Sarsour.

The U.S. limits legal immigration. If one person is granted legal status, typically it is at the expense of someone else who wanted it, at least in theory.

Ive never understood how it is in Americas interest to grant legal status to Muslims immigrants instead of non-Muslims with similar skills. Listening to Sarsours remarks convinces me that doing so is not in our interest.
Govinda shared a series of tweets expressing his disappointment against the makers for cutting out his cameo from Jagga Jasoos.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Govinda, who had shot a cameo for Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif-starrer Jagga Jasoos in South Africa, is upset after it emerged that his part has not been retained in the film's final edit.

He seems to be unhappy with the makers' decision as he had shot for the film despite not being well.

Govinda took to Twitter on Friday to express disappointment and said that he didn't charge any amount for appearing in the Anurag Basu directorial, which after going through various hurdles, is finally slated for a release on July 14.

1/5 I gave full respect to Kapoor family i did the film because he is my seniors son I was told I will get the script.- Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) 7 July 2017

2/5 I was told they will narrate the film in South Africa and I dint even charge my signing amount made no contracts.

- Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) 7 July 2017

3/5 I was unwell and on drips but still I traveled to South Africa and did my shoot.- Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) 7 July 2017

4/5 There were various negative stories and negative articles only for GOVINDA and that's how the film was remembered for 3yrs.

- Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) 7 July 2017

5/5 I did my job as an actor and if the director is not happy it's completely his call.- Govinda (@Govinda_HeroNo1) 7 July 2017

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"I gave full respect to Kapoor family. I did the film because he (Ranbir) is my senior's son. I was told I will get the script. I was told they will narrate the film in South Africa and I didn't even charge my signing amount (and) made no contracts," Govinda tweeted.

"I was unwell and on drips, but still I travelled to South Africa and did my shoot. There were various negative stories and negative articles only for Govinda and that's how the film was remembered for three years," said the Aa Gaya Hero actor.

"I did my job as an actor and if the director is not happy it's completely his call," he added.

A few still images from the shoot, which have been circulating over various social media platforms, show Govinda along with Katrina and Ranbir on the set.

Ranbir Kapoor has also co-produced Jagga Jasoos along with Anurag Basu.

ALSO READ | Jagga Jasoos: Govinda's cameo chopped off from Ranbir-Katrina's film?

ALSO READ | Govinda no longer in Jagga Jasoos, says he's thankful to Anurag Basu for clarifying

ALSO WATCH | Ranbir-Katrina's awkward Jagga Jasoos press meet

--- ENDS ---
Przepraszamy!

Ogoszenie na stanowisku:

Analytical Biochemist



wygaso z dniem 2017-07-20



Ta propozycja bya zozona przez SIRE Life Sciences

Mozliwe przyczyny wygasniecia ogoszenia to:

propozycja zozona przez pracodawce zostaa wycofana z naszych zasobow

zleceniodawca zakonczy proces rekrutacji uzyskujac odpowiednia ilosc zgoszen

zleceniodawca zmodyfikowa tresc ogoszenia i jest ono dostepne pod innym adresem WWW

dostawca tresci usuna ogoszenie z bazy danych

nieprawidowy adres url ogoszenia

Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w branzy Zdrowie / Medycyna / Farmacja, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Zdrowie / Medycyna / Farmacja

Jezeli poszukujesz pracy na stanowisku Analytical Biochemist, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Analytical Biochemist

Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w miescie: Netherlands, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Netherlands



Pamietaj, ze mozesz takze rozpoczac poszukiwanie pracy od strony gownej, kliknij tutaj.

Inne oferty, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan:
By PTI: Dhaka, Jul 8 (PTI) Banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideens top explosives expert, wanted in India in the 2014 Burdwan blast case, was today arrested in Bangladesh, a year after the deadly Dhaka Cafe attack for which he allegedly supplied grenades.

Sohel Mahfuz, said to be one of the top planners of the 2016 Dhaka cafe attack, was arrested along with three other suspected members of the neo-JMB by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit from Chapainawabganj district in northern Bangladesh last night, police said.

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Sohel is the top explosives specialist of Neo-JMB and a key arms and explosives supplier for the banned outfit, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

According to investigators, Mahfuz supplied explosives used in the Dhaka cafe attack. It is also believed that he is one of the founding members of the old JMB.

Mahfuz was wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for the blast at Khagragarh in Burdwan district of West Bengal on October 2, 2014, the daily said.

Police said the three others detained have been identified as neo-JMB chief coordinator Jamal alias Mustafa, its IT expert Hafizur Rahman alias Hasan and Jewel alias Ismail.

They were arrested from an orchard in Kansat under Shibganj upazila.

"Acting on a tip-off, a CTTC team was able to arrest them on Friday night,? CTTC Additional Deputy Commissioner Abdul Mannan was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.

On July 1, 2016, Bangladesh witnessed the deadliest terror attack in its history as armed militants entered an upscale eatery in Dhaka?s diplomatic hub and killed 22 people, including 17 foreigners and two policemen.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Dhaka attack but authorities blamed JMB. Mahfuz, who lost a hand while making bombs, thereby earning him his title Hatkata, has managed to evade arrest for almost two decades.

Since the Dhaka attack, police and other security agencies have begun a manhunt and raided numerous places across the country.

Some 60 suspects, including some JMB commanders, have been killed in raids across Bangladesh since July 1. PTI PMS

--- ENDS ---
( Read 6302 Times)

Source :

Udaipur. BJP's National Vice President Om Mathur said that Congress was always running away from discussions on GST, which is why Congress could not implement GST at any time during its tenure. Om Mathur said that the BJP will create its own governments in all the states of the country and in the upcoming Himachal and Gujarat elections this year, they will form a government by winning stroke.BJP National Vice President and Rajya Sabha MP Om Mathur visited Udaipur on Thursday. After visiting Tripura Sundari in Banswara, he went to the house to meet former MP and senior BJP leader Bhanukumar Shastri. Talking to reporters on the occasion, Om Mathur said that. GST is a very simple law.Mathur said that the BJP organized meetings before implementing it. in 18 states and will be implemented in J & KMathur said that the Congress had never discussed GST openly, that was the reason for the protest. Of Modi. If Congress was counseling all the political parties then consent could also be made during that time.Rajya Sabha MP Om Mathur said that this year there is an election in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and in both of these states the BJP will make its own governments with record votes. Mathur said that gradually the BJP will wield all the states in all the states.Answering a question he said that only after becoming the Prime Minister of Narendra Modi, India's pride has increased in the world..He denied to coment on state BJP in fighting he however said that state leadership should start dialogue with leaders like Tiwari ,who are not satisfied with state functioning .Shastri recites memoirs to MathurOn this occasion, senior BJP leader Bhanu Kumar Shastri shared his memoirs to Om Mathur. Regarding Bherion singh Sekhawat and Mohanlal sukhadiaOn this occasion, a number of workers including senior leaders Dharmanarayan Joshi, Vijay Prakash Vipalvi, Bhupendra Paliw al, Bhairulal Nandwana, Pradeep Shrimali, Deepak Dangi, Nemichand Acharya were present.
Sadhna Singh had just completed crisis violence training to become a member of Atlantic Countys domestic violence and sexual response teams when she got her first call to a local hospital where a victim was waiting.

A young woman  still a teenager  from Atlantic City was sitting up on a hospital bed. When she turned around, Singh saw her eyes were red, not from crying, but from the vessels bursting. It wasnt until the end of her visit that Singh realized the woman had been strangled.

Volunteer response team members encounter some of the most horrific, gruesome circumstances that result from domestic violence and sexual assault.

While they cannot arrest or prosecute abusers, or entirely rescue or protect victims from harm, they become a rock for victims in the chaos of tragedy, sometimes at a personal cost.

Almost all New Jersey counties have domestic violence response teams, made up of volunteers who respond to police stations and hospitals in the immediate aftermath of a domestic violence incident or sexual assault. They provide victims with emotional support and information on restraining orders, shelters and other options.

Since we dont meet them again, I pray and hope that God be with them and that things will get better for them, Singh said. Our job is to leave them more informed than when they came in.

Most of the cases Singh and other volunteers handle in Atlantic County take place in Atlantic City, which had 834 domestic violence-related incidents in 2015. It was more than any other municipality in southeastern New Jersey, according to data from State Police.

Donna DAndrea, coordinator of the Atlantic County team, which is organized through the Womens Center, said because Atlantic City is a transient area, sometimes victims are not from the area. In these cases, DAndrea said, volunteers and advocates make sure to connect them with resources back home.

In the most complicated situations, sometimes a volunteers job is just trying to convince a victim they need help, even when they dont see it themselves.

I had one call I went on where a woman got her head hit on a large aquarium and refused medical treatment, she said. She needed to get her face checked out and was intoxicated at the time, which was the only reason she wasnt feeling pain. I spent an entire hour convincing her to get on a gurney to go to the hospital, and she went. Sometimes, thats all an advocate is able to do.

The Womens Center holds training about twice a year for people who wish to become part of the domestic violence and sexual assault response team. It currently has about 15 members who sign up to be on call for eight-hour shifts, every day, all day.

Training helps people learn what domestic violence can look like and who can be affected. More than 40 hours of crisis response education and other work are required for volunteers to learn how to respond to people who may be physically, emotionally and psychologically abused.

Its not as simple as talking to a victim about his or her options, Singh said. Victims may have financial constraints, children may be involved and other things can prevent people from leaving their abusers.

Sometimes, people are in denial that their boyfriend, spouse, parent, child or other is an abuser and that they are a victim at all. Sometimes, victims lie to volunteers about what happened or their circumstances, which can lead to frustration, Singh said.

Ive had people say, Hes a really great guy, just not when hes drinking, or, He is a good father and he loves us, he just gets angry sometimes, she said.

The job can be draining, emotionally and mentally, experts said.

Gina Ridge, associate vice president at Center for Family Services and coordinator of Cumberland Countys response teams, warned upcoming volunteers at a training session in April that the situations they respond to could be overwhelming, so volunteers need to make sure to find ways to decompress and take care of themselves, too.

We have new staff who havent seen someone severely injured, and I always tell people we react differently when we see visuals. Were more impacted when we see a battered face, DeAndrea said. No matter how well I can prepare someone, I cant fully prepare them for the first time they will see these things.

But most of the time, Singh said, she walks away from cases knowing she provided victims with the best support and information she could. She said she always learns something new that can help her become a better advocate, and she cant picture herself doing anything else.

Its actually life-changing, Singh said. I grew up in a sheltered, beautiful life, and had the pleasure of never experiencing any of this. But this work has been life-changing. I say, you always walk away with something more than what you give up. As volunteers, that keeps it alive and purposeful for us.
By PTI: Faridabad/Mumbai, Jul 8 (PTI) The prime accused in the killing of Muslim youth Junaid Khan on-board a Mathura-bound train was today arrested from Dhule district of Maharashtra, the police said.

The killing on June 22 had triggered a nationwide outrage.

Inspector Ramdas Patil of Sakri police station said the police questioned a relative of Naresh Indrajit Jaat with whom he was in touch on the phone.

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Jaats mobile tower location indicated he was somewhere in Dhule. The investigators arrived in the district this morning along with his relative. They asked him to call the accused and pursuade him to reveal his whereabouts, Patil said.

"This led the investigators to Sakri village. Jaat had come to the village only yesterday, and was staying at a temple on its outskirts. He was looking for a job. The GRP team arrested him from the temple at around 12.30 pm,"he said.

A statement released by the Government Railway Police (GRP) said that a team was sent to Dhule following on a tip- off that the accused was hiding there.

He was arrested and would be produced before a court tomorrow, it said. The name of the accused was not given in the statement.

"We have arrested a person from Maharashtra," SP, GRP, Kamaldeep Goyal said.

The GRP claimed in the statement that during interrogation, the accused had "confessed" to having killed 17-year-old Junaid Khan.

The police had earlier arrested five persons including a Delhi government employee in connection with the killing of Junaid between Ballabgarh and Mathura stations onboard a Delhi-Mathura passenger train.

Junaid was stabbed to death while his brothers, Hashim and Sakir, were injured by a mob which also allegedly hurled communal slurs against them.

His brothers said the attackers had taunted and repeatedly called them "anti-nationals" and "beef eaters".

A reward of Rs two lakh had also been announced for information on identity of those involved in the killing.

Junaid was stabbed to death when he, along with his brothers, was returning home to Khandawli village in Ballabgarh after shopping for Eid in Delhi.

The youths body was dumped close to Asaoti village in Faridabad district. PTI CORR CHS VJ DC KRK GVS

--- ENDS ---
Atlantic City casinos could be forced to shut down this weekend if the state Legislature and Gov. Chris Christie fail to pass a budget and reopen the state government.

The move could cost the industry millions of dollars and hit at the heart of the summer, when most tourists visit the Jersey Shore.

It would be sad if it happens, said Francisco Obnial, a 23-year employee at Caesars Atlantic City. People have been on edge since the (Trump Taj Mahal) closed, and a lot of people have been talking about the casinos closing this weekend.

Obnial said he worked as a dealer during the 2006 government shutdown, which closed casinos in Atlantic City for three days.

That shutdown cost the state roughly $4 million in gambling revenue.

David Rebuck, director of the state Division of Gaming Enforcement, which is part of the state Attorney Generals Office, said a casino shutdown would be a very tough blow to a city just now showing signs of recovering from five casino closings.

This is a market thats very sensitive to external forces, and weve been on a nice little uptick here. Rebuck said. You could lose everything youve gained over the last year in a very short period of time.

During 2006, the casinos were shut down because state gaming inspectors were not considered essential to the health and safety of state residents and without the inspectors, the casinos were not allowed to operate.

In 2008, Gov. Jon Corzine signed a law sponsored by Sen. Jim Whelan that allows the casinos to stay open in the event of a state shutdown.

But the law only lets the casinos stay open for seven days after the initial shutdown.

Now, Whelan and Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo, D-Atlantic, are introducing legislation that would change the law and let the casinos stay open indefinitely.

Weve had enough casinos shutting down over the past few years; we dont need anymore, Mazzeo said. I want to see this budget pass because there are a lot of good things in it. ... But I dont like how this is going.

If passed, the bill would slightly amend the 2008 law to let the casinos stay open.

But several lawmakers question whether the amendment is needed.

In 2010, Christie signed an executive order that deemed employees at the Casino Control Commission essential.

Essential employees are not affected by the state shutdown.

Still, the governor said Sunday that, through the first reading of the 2008 law, he believed the casinos and racetracks around the state were scheduled to close.

But he said the state attorney general is reviewing the matter.

Whether there are exceptions that could be made through executive order or some other action by the governor ... (the attorney general) is looking into that, Christie said.

On Monday, Christies spokesman, Brian Murray, said the status on the attorney generals review of the 2008 law and the 2010 executive order remained open.

Meanwhile, passing the Mazzeo/Whelan bill would not be an easy feat.

Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto would have to take down the budget bill and post the Mazzeo/Whelan bill. It would have to be passed by the Assembly and Senate and then signed by Christie.

All of this could be avoided if the Legislature passes a budget and reopens the government.

The sticking point remains a bill Christie wants that would allow the state to force Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, a nonprofit insurance company with 3.8 million policyholders and a $2.4 billion reserve fund, to contribute on public-health initiatives.

Without the Horizon bill, Christie says he will use his line-item veto to cut $320 million that Democrats added to his budget proposal  a threat that has created deadlock between Democrats with no solution in sight.

As of Monday, the vote was deadlocked 28-25, with 24 abstentions.

Prieto previously said the vote will remain open until those 24 abstentions change their minds.

Mazzeo, despite agreeing with the budget, has abstained from voting.

Assemblymen John Burzichelli and Adam Taliaferro, D-Salem, Gloucester, Cumberland, both abstained from the vote.

Assemblyman Bruce Land, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, voted no on the budget.

Assemblyman Chris Brown, R-Atlantic, voted yes on the budget because it doesnt raise taxes and increases school funding, he said.

Brown accused Mazzeo of political posturing by introducing a bill that may not be needed.

Watching Mazzeo play footsie with Christie, as Yogi Berra said, is like deja vu all over again because, just like other schemes concocted by Mazzeo and this governor, either Mazzeo doesnt understand the harm the schemes are causing or he is doubling down for the governor by once again misleading local families on the need for this bill, Brown said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
With school out for the summer, children living in or visiting shore towns are getting a different kind of education: learning the skills it takes to be a first responder.

On Saturday morning in Sea Isle City, 200 kids ages 4 to 8 gathered at the 44th Street beach for the final day of the Capt. Thomas P. McCann Mascot School.

Its basically an educational water-safety program for kids ages 4 to 8, said Beach Patrol Lt. Mike McCormick, who coordinates the camp. Lifeguards sitting on the stand all day tend to bond with the little kids on their beach. This gave them an outlet to make it more official. Young kids take a lot of pride in calling themselves a mascot.

The school teaches basic lifeguard skills and culminates in a scaled-down version of lifeguard races, a summer tradition in Jersey Shore towns.

McCormick said the program helps the kids identify with a job many of them pursue when they are older.

This shapes kind of who they become, he said.

Kim Corcoran, 21, of Sea Isle City, participated in the mascot school, as well as the citys junior lifeguard camp. She has worked on the Beach Patrol for the past four years.

We still enforce the same rules that I learned when I was 4 years old, she said.

On Friday in Atlantic City, 35 children wrapped a two-week Junior Police Academy.

The academy is run by the local police to teach children the aspects of being a police officer, including physical training, marching and cadence, SWAT demonstrations and criminal investigations.

Sgt. Monica Coursey, who coordinates the academy, said the community response was especially strong this year.

The departments desire was to connect with the youth in the community and instruct the youth on making positive good choices for themselves, the power in making a positive choice, how to interact with police, what we do, Coursey said.

Many children said they wanted to participate because they aspire to be a police officer.

I want to rescue lives and show them you can be anything you want to be if you put your mind to it, said Alianna Dorsey, 11, of Atlantic City.

Feedback like that is just what Coursey likes to hear. She said many of the children later join the Police Explorers and ROTC.

The Ocean City Fire Departments annual Junior Firefighter program gives kids ages 9 to 12 a glimpse of what its like to be a firefighter. The camp starts Monday.

Deputy Fire Chief Vito DiMarco said he recently ran into a former junior firefighter who is 19 and a firefighter elsewhere.

You see the camp has an impact on how kids view what they want to do with their futures. To be able to invest and instill things, its wonderful. Its a great feeling, DiMarco said.
Government helped family with health crises

Like many others in America, my family has faced mental health and health crises, which would have brought us to financial disaster without the safety net of the Affordable Care Act. Improvement to mental health services should be the next focus. Instead, the ACHA would give states the option of slashing or doing away with mental health services.

My college-educated brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 23. He has needed services his entire life. Without the ACA, he struggled to pay his premiums. My son had a psychotic break at 41 after completing graduate school. My brother and son needed mental health services that were not affordable and/or available. Over the years mental health services have been severely reduced and/or eliminated, yet the need has increased exponentially.

In 2016, I suffered a brain aneurysm. Medicare saved my life and provided me with the comprehensive care that I required to resume a productive life. I returned home with minimal bills. I didnt lose my house, sink into debt or lose my way of life.

Research and testimony of seniors supports the premise that a single payer system is the most effective way to deliver care, save lives and provide affordable health care for Americans.

ACHA would allow seniors to be charged premiums five times higher than those of younger insured members. After paying taxes their entire lives, seniors would be rewarded with premiums they cant afford.

Joan Curran

Cape May

Trump vs. middle class

With all the rhetoric that is being used to denounce the proposed health care revision promoted by many Republicans, the phrase anti- middle class has been missing. This is exactly what this devious proposal by Republicans is. It is an assault on the middle class.

Trumps bold and blatant agenda is to decimate the middle class. This proposal is just one more example.

Stephen Gring

Ocean City

Wildwood roads rough

New Jersey recently increased the tax on gasoline, supposedly to generate sufficient funds to keep the roads and highways in the state in proper repair. If that is the case, why are the streets of Wildwood in such sad shape?

Driving in that city is hazardous to the health of a vehicle due to potholes and poorly repaired areas that remind me of roads traveled in Vietnam many years ago. Drivers deserve better roads.

Donald Miller

Wildwood Crest
Try and get over how sensual Kareena Kapoor Khan looks in this black gown.

By Shivani Chhabra: The woman of unparalleled natural beauty, and class apart style-sense, Kareena Kapoor Khan is miraculous at everything she chooses to do. Flaunting her baby bump adorning the most stylish attires, and setting some major fashion goals, she made heads turns during her much talked-about pregnancy--and she hasn't stopped since.

The mother of an adorable, little baby boy, Kareena Kapoor Khan has been hitting the gym post her delivery, and her well-toned body can vouch for her unswerving determination to get back in shape.

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The ravishing beauty was in Malaysia for a store launch event, and looked phenomenal in a flattering ensemble that fit her beautiful body like a marvel--we're clearly love-struck again.

Picture courtesy: Instagram/poonamdamania

Bebo slayed the event in a beige-black, body-hugging number by Poem, and we cannot think of a more gorgeous outfit for her. The fish-cut gown accentuated her figure at all the right places, while the colour of the outfit, black only made it more sensual.

Picture courtesy: Instagram/poonamdamania

Also Read: Kareena Kapoor Khan proves she's royalty in this classy blue attire

The cold-shoulder design looked spectacular on her with a well-deserved display of her chiselled, collar-bones. The shimmery-beige, sweetheart neckline showed just the right amount of cleavage, and we haven't really seen someone look as sultry in the longest of time. The gown had slit sleeves that complimented the fish-cut bodice of the ensemble really well--it couldn't really be any better than this.

Picture courtesy: Instagram/mohitrai Picture courtesy: Instagram/mohitrai

Also Read: After Sonam and Twinkle, Taapsee Pannu tries her hand at an off-beat saree

Bebo stuck to her usual classy self, and kept the accessories minimal with statement studs that were just the right pick for the attire. She had minimal makeup on with light-smokey eyes, and left her wavy locks loose on one shoulder--yes, this is how ethereally perfect she looked.

From her on-fleek attire to the grace with which she carried it, Kareena was beyond magnificent at the event.

--- ENDS ---
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The President of the Association for Civil Society Development in Azerbaijan, Elkhan Suleymanv, has issued a statement criticising the "indifference of the international community" in the wake of the deaths of a grandmother and her 18-months-old grandchild, who were killed as a result of shelling by Armenian armed forces that took place on July 4th in the border region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Suleymanov, who is also an Azerbaijani MP, noted that the crimes against Azerbaijani civilians have been committed systematically by Armenian forces over the past quarter century. "Therefore the international community should stop its indifference and protection of Armenia and take real measures to stop this occupation."

The Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding provinces were occupied by Armenia during the post-Soviet power vacuum in the early 1990s, resulting in about 30,000 deaths and nearly one million refugees and internally displaced people. Many international bodies, including the United Nations, European Parliament, OSCE and most recently the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have called for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from the Azerbaijani territories.

In his statement, Suleymanov recalled previous attacks that killed Azerbaijani children, including Shahmaliyeva Aygun Ziraddin, a 14-year-old who died in 2012 as a result of an explosion of a stuffed animal toy and of 9-year-old Fariz Badalov, who was killed by a sniper in 2011.

He also questioned the timing of the Armenian attack, coming shortly after the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - the mediating body consisting of the United States, Russia and France - visited the region. "Whenever negotiations intensify or important results are expected before, during or after an OSCE visit, as a rule the Armenian side violates the ceasefire," Suleymanov said. "It illustrates that they are simply not interested in putting an end to the occupation."

The Armenian shelling earlier this week was widely condemned by the international community, including the Vice President of the European Parliament Ryszard Czarnecki, who released a joint statement with some of his colleagues, calling the attack a "grave, heinous crime."

Meanwhile Thierry Mariani, an Honorary Member of the French National Assembly urged the Minsk Group to "put an end to these inhuman acts committed by Armenia against civilians."

ACSDA (http://www.avciya.az)

SOURCE ACSDA
HOUSTON, July 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- General Mike Ryan, Vice President Government Relations and Board Member of Commercial Hydrogen, Inc. officially welcomes Mr. Troy Bohlke to Commercial Hydrogen as Vice President Special Projects and full member of the Board of Directors.

Commercial Hydrogen is a Texas based company dedicated to improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions for commercial trucks. Utilizing a proprietary "Hydrogen On-Demand" technology, the company retrofits diesel engines to produce remarkable results.

Energy Visionary welcomed by a former General to join the Commercial Hydrogen Board of Directors for trending alternative energy technology.

Troy Bohlke is a seasoned marketing professional and head of 10 Day Media, an award-winning media/marketing company in Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Bohlke is also founder and head of New Business Funders, a private money lender to new and small businesses. An experienced entrepreneur, Troy Bohlke is able to obtain national recognition for his clients, resulting in increased brand recognition and customer acquisition.

Commercial Hydrogen addresses two important issues facing the trucking industry. Due to increasing competition, profit margins are experiencing severe downward pressure. On top of this, there is increased concern for environmental responsibility.

This unique retrofit technology injects hydrogen directly into the combustion chamber which increases energy. Additional benefits are a significant decrease in wear and tear related repairs. The technology creates hydrogen on the spot. There is an endless supply. Commercial Hydrogen's two unique products accommodate most 10-15L pre-2011 non-EPA rated vehicles, up to the newest EPA rated models of 2017.

Engine performance is incredibly efficient, consistent, and stable. The process not only improves the combustion process, but lessens the amount of residual build-up in the engine. There is up to 50-70% reduction in CO2 and NOX particulates, bringing levels well below EPA guidelines.

Commercial Hydrogen's technology can have tremendous impact on fleet operations, but it also gives the independent driver a way to compete in the marketplace. Further, it is estimated that the cost of the retro-fit can be paid for in operational cost savings in less than a year.

These benefits can be applied to all areas of many industries. The application of this system to a diesel engine can be utilized for everything from the Individual Owner-Operator to Commercial Logistics Enterprises. Even most military vehicles can be fitted. "The future is bright for Commercial Hydrogen as both market and environmental forces converge," claims Fowler. "We are poised to expand our business as this billion-dollar industry achieves increased momentum."

For more information on Commercial Hydrogen, Inc. go to http://www.CHydrogen.com.

Media Contact: Troy Bohlke (480.584.2909)

SOURCE Commercial Hydrogen
VANCOUVER, July 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated (NYSE and TSX: RBA) has published its June 2017 auction metrics on the company's website. This information can be accessed at the following link: https://investor.ritchiebros.com/historical-auction-metrics

Highlights to the Monthly Auction Results:

Gross Auction Proceeds [1] (GAP), including Iron Planet, totalled $556 million for the month of June  a 3% increase from the prior year.

(GAP), including Iron Planet, totalled for the month of June  a 3% increase from the prior year. Iron Planet contributed approximately $77 million to June GAP representing 14% of the combined proceeds.

to June GAP representing 14% of the combined proceeds. Year on year GAP results for Ritchie Bros without including IronPlanet results are down 11% from June 2016 .

without including IronPlanet results are down 11% from . Both Ritchie Bros . and IronPlanet GAP faced macro conditions resulting in a reduction in the volume of equipment transacting in 2017 versus 2016 with IronPlanet Q2 2017 GAP results being 18% lower than Q2 2016.

. and IronPlanet GAP faced macro conditions resulting in a reduction in the volume of equipment transacting in 2017 versus 2016 with IronPlanet Q2 2017 GAP results being 18% lower than Q2 2016. IronPlanet's GAP numbers were impacted by difficulty in hiring sales talent ahead of the certainty that the transaction with Ritchie Bros . would be closed. We expect the impact to be mitigated with the integration of the combined sales force post closing of the transaction on June 1st .

. would be closed. We expect the impact to be mitigated with the integration of the combined sales force post closing of the transaction on . Historical Auction Metrics for Consignors, Lots, Registrants and Buyers represents statistics for Ritchie Brothers Auctions only as the metrics are not directly applicable to the IronPlanet business.

Monthly auction metrics should not be considered indicative of quarterly, annual or future performance. Auction metrics and corporate performance vary considerably month-to-month, due to the number of auctions held each month and seasonal factors. Ritchie Bros.' actual results could differ materially from those implied by this monthly auction disclosure. Investors are encouraged to review Ritchie Bros.' performance on a 12-month rolling or annual basis before making investing decisions.

[1] Current month results are preliminary and subject to adjustment in the subsequent month as final results are processed. NOTE: Gross Auction Proceeds for 2014 onwards include GTV (Gross transaction value) for EquipmentOne. From June 1, 2017 also includes IronPlanet.

About Ritchie Bros.

Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is a global asset management and disposition company, offering customers end-to-end solutions for buying and selling used heavy equipment, trucks and other assets. Operating in a multitude of sectors, including construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, oil and gas, mining, and forestry, the company's selling channels include: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world's largest industrial auctioneer offers live auction events with online bidding; IronPlanet, an online marketplace with featured weekly auctions and providing its exclusive IronClad Assurance equipment condition certification; EquipmentOne, an online auction marketplace; Mascus, a leading European online equipment listing service; and Ritchie Bros. Private Treaty, offering privately negotiated sales. The company also offers sector-specific solutions including GovPlanet, TruckPlanet, and Kruse Energy Auctioneers, plus equipment financing and leasing through Ritchie Bros. Financial Services. For more information about the unprecedented choice provided by Ritchie Bros., visit RitchieBros.com.

SOURCE Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers

Related Links

http://www.rbauction.com


"The bake sale was a community project that I started seven years ago," Hayley said. "However, I have involved the school to a much bigger extent in the last few years through the club I started  Wounded Veterans Strong. I decided to support Wounded Warrior Project because I was inspired by my father. And Wounded Warrior Project's mission and goals really moved me."

Hayley's father is a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force. After she approached him about her desire to give back, he told her about WWP and explained the struggles many wounded veterans face on their return to civilian life.

"I believe it is very important for students and young people to give back to veterans because the selfless sacrifices veterans make every single day are truly amazing," Hayley said. "These wounded veterans put their lives on the line, without question, so all U.S. citizens can enjoy their freedoms. It's something not every country on Earth can enjoy  and we should do all we can for veterans and their families. That starts with ordinary people taking the time and effort to make a difference and supporting organizations like Wounded Warrior Project."

Support from Student Ambassadors like Hayley ensures WWP can connect warriors with one another, their families, and communities. Through programs and services targeting mental and physical health, career and benefits counseling, and support for the most severely wounded, WWP empowers warriors to mentor other veterans and live life on their terms.

To learn more about the Student Ambassadors program, visit https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/give-back/students. And to see more how WWP's programs and services connect, serve, and empower wounded warriors, visit http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org, and click on multimedia.

About Wounded Warrior Project

Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) connects, serves, and empowers wounded warriors. Read more at http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/about-us.

SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project

Related Links

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org


WASHINGTON, July 8, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

JULY 8: HAWAII

Profile America  Saturday, July 8th. This week in 1898, the United States. began absorbing an island paradise en route to making it a treasured part of the nation. President William McKinley signed a resolution annexing the Hawaiian Islands, then an independent republic. A short time later, Congress made Hawaii an incorporated territory of the United States, which it remained until achieving statehood in 1959, giving us 50 stars on the flag. For most Americans on the mainland, Hawaii is the ultimate vacation, with its lovely scenery and an average annual temperature of around 75 degrees. Tourism, defense, and raising sugar cane and pineapples are the mainstays of the economy. More than 1.4 million Americans call Hawaii home  about half of them Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.

Sources:

Annexation/accessed 4/20/2017: https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=54

Temperature/accessed 4/20/2017: http://coolweather.net/statetemperature/hawaii_temperature.htm

Hawaiian population and profile: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045216/15,00

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

Related Links

http://www.census.gov


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Name : libdb

Product : Fedora 26

Version : 5.3.28

Release : 24.fc26

URL : http://www.oracle.com/database/berkeley-db/

Summary : The Berkeley DB database library for C

Description :

The Berkeley Database (Berkeley DB) is a programmatic toolkit that

provides embedded database support for both traditional and

client/server applications. The Berkeley DB includes B+tree, Extended

Linear Hashing, Fixed and Variable-length record access methods,

transactions, locking, logging, shared memory caching, and database

recovery. The Berkeley DB supports C, C++, Java, and Perl APIs. It is

used by many applications, including Python and Perl, so this should

be installed on all systems.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-

Update Information:



Security fix for DB_CONFIG parsing when db_home is not set. This update also

introduces modified fixes for rhbz#1394862 once again and additionally fixes

ppc

specific hangs described in rhbz#1460003. Please be aware that this update is

expected to cause **DB_VERSION_MISMATCH** errors during installation if you are

still running an older release of libdb. These errors are a result of packages

calling rpm commands during installation and have so far been found harmless.

You can also run into issues with dnf plugins that do the same. As these

plugins

are run after the rpm transaction has already gone through successfully they

should also be harmless. However, in this case a rebuild of rpmdb's

environment

will be needed. Detailed information on how to achieve this can be found in the

links below. For more information please take a look at:

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F26_bugs#upgrade-libdb

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F26_bugs#libdb-rebuilddb

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-

References:



[ 1 ] Bug #1464032 - libdb: Reads DB_CONFIG from the current working

directory

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1464032

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-



This update can be installed with the "dnf" update program. Use

su -c 'dnf upgrade libdb' at the command line.

For more information, refer to the dnf documentation available at

http://dnf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/command_ref.html#upgrade-command-label



All packages are signed with the Fedora Project GPG key. More details on the

GPG keys used by the Fedora Project can be found at

https://fedoraproject.org/keys

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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package-announce mailing list -- package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org

To unsubscribe send an email to package-announce-leave@lists.fedoraproject.org


The Navbharat Times earlier reported the DCP of South Delhi, Ishwar Singh, as saying that the practice of hosting ladies' nights hampers law and order in the area.

By Shalini Lobo: Hours after reports broke that the Delhi Police is considering stopping ladies' nights at pubs and bars in Delhi's Hauz Khas Village, a popular spot among youngsters, authorities claimed the action is about general security.

The Navbharat Times earlier reported the DCP of South Delhi, Ishwar Singh, as saying that the practice of hosting ladies' nights hampers law and order in the area.

advertisement

The move was seen as a reactionary measure to a recent Twitter thread by a woman that recounted a horrifying episode of how a group of men tried to abduct women leaving one of the many Hauz Khas pubs.

After the Twitter thread went viral, several other women wrote about how they believe Hauz Khas to be a generally unsafe location for girls.

Delhi Police, however, has now claimed that they are simply concerned with security as Hauz Khas Village welcomes a large number of foreigners everyday who visit for fine dining and arts/craft experience.

The Delhi South District Police put out a statement saying they are upping security "in view of recent incidents of terror attacks on foreign tourists in various European countries".

NO LADIES' NIGHT

Interestingly, the official statement made no mention of the Delhi Police's verbal plea to pubs and restobars across Delhi, primarily in Hauz Khas Village, to desist from holding ladies' nights at least until Independence Day.

On being asked on the issue, the police maintained that it is not about ladies' nights but is about ensuring security in crowded areas.

The Delhi Police believes that ladies' nights gather the highest amount of footfalls in areas crowded with bars and pubs and said that they have beefed up security in many parts of the national capital that see such crowds.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police said they are also undertaking a drive to check under-age drinking and drunk driving.

The Delhi government's Excise Department has been asked to curb instances of alcohol being served to those under the age of 25 years, while the Delhi Traffic Police will put up security barriers to check drunk driving.

Also Read:

Fear of fire in nightlife hub of Delhi

Hauz Khas village under scanner! Officials raise red flag over illegal bars and fire safety

Watch Video: Delhi's Hauz Khas Village on terror radar, security stepped up

--- ENDS ---
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
New Delhi, July 4 : Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel a "complete turning point", senior CPI-M leader Prakash Karat on Tuesday said it was a part of an overall Hindutva ideology which was coming into play both domestically and in terms of foreign policy.

The former Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary also added that Modi's visit was also an open declaration that India doesn't stand by the Palestinian cause anymore.

"What the Modi government is doing within India, this foreign policy is an extension of that," said Karat at a public meeting organised by the Palestine Solidarity Committee, stressing there was a need to oppose this direction of foreign policy as well as the strategic alliance between India and Israel "which betrays the Palestinian cause".

Calling Modi and the BJP "ideological soulmates" of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party, Karat said that it was under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government that then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited India "and now fittingly it is a BJP Prime Minister who is visiting Israel for the first time".

Modi on Tuesday embarked on a three-day visit to Israel -- the first by an Indian Prime Minister.

The visit coincides with India and Israel marking 25 years of their diplomatic relations and 50 years of occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Karat said the visit would lead to "total identification" of the Indian government -- and through that of India -- with the Israeli occupying state and would "legitimise all atrocities" and the occupation of Palestinian territories by Israel.

"This is a complete reversal from India's long-held traditional stand the centre of which was Palestinian fight for independence.

"From (Mahatma) Gandhi's time till the 1980s, India stood firm with Palestinian struggle for freedom. And today that is completely abandoned.

"This visit is an open declaration that we do not stand by the Palestinian cause anymore even though lip service is still paid by the Modi government to the creation of an independent Palestinian state," said Karat.

He added that Modi's visit was more than symbolic as it marks culmination of relationship which has been developing between Israel and India.

"We have reached a stage where there is now open strategic alliance based on military and security collaboration."

During the meeting, RJD leader Manoj Jha said that while Palestine was never a "Muslim cause" when he was growing up, but it "suddenly" seemed to have become one.

"We have lost the cause of Palestine and we have failed Palestine."

Jha said that there was a different rhetoric in media today involving "complete silencing of the Palestine like it doesn't exist".

Achin Vanaik from the Palestine Solidarity Committee said Modi's visit would legitimize the "brutality" of Israeli forces.

Latest updates on Gandhi Jayanti 2019
Washington, July 5 : US President Donald Trump will hold an official bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, the White House confirmed on Tuesday.

Citing remarks by US National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton, CNN reported that the first in-person meeting between Trump and Putin and the first official US-Russian bilateral meeting in almost two years will occur on July 7.

However, the exact agenda for the bilateral meeting had yet to be set.

The first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders will come as the US and Russia hold differences on a slew of issues, including the Syrian conflict, the Ukrainian crisis and the alleged Russian meddling in the US presidential election.

In April, Trump said the US was "not getting along with Russia at all" and the relations between the two countries "may be at an all-time low."

Meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Washington in mid-May, Trump expressed his desire to build a better relationship between the two countries.

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US is working to stabilise its relationship with Russia, which is "at an all-time low."
New Delhi : Mumbais Colaba is well known for its art deco buildings, the Gateway of India, swish pubs and restaurants, and the pleasant promenade of Marine Drive. It houses the state assembly, the Vidhan Bhavan, and the state secretariat, Mantralaya.

However, this high-profile ward recorded the third-highest incidence of malnourishment (69 per cent) among government school children in Mumbai in 2015-16, according to a report by the non-profit Praja Foundation.

How can such a dire situation exist in one of the poshest parts of a city that generates more money than any other in India, ranking 17th among the 20 richest cities of the world?

Slums are not easy to spot in Colaba, where real estate prices go up to Rs 100,000 per square foot. However, towards the tapering edge of the island city, bordering the defence forces' area of Navy Nagar, lies Geeta Nagar, with a population of 6,000 . Between the ramshackle houses, one can glimpse the sea, and the high tide brings seawater into people's homes.

"Most of the community here is of migrants from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Most mothers work as domestic help in homes nearby and fathers work as security men or drivers," Velankani Joseph, a social worker who lives here, told IndiaSpend. "Since mothers can cook only one meal [at home] in a day, the kids here eat biscuits, chips and fried snacks between meals."

As many as 49 per cent boys and 59 per cent girls were malnourished in Colaba Ward, in which Geeta Nagar lies, in 2015-16, according the Praja Foundation report. The total number of malnourished children rose from 244 in 2014-15 to 2,768 in 2015-16, the report found.

The Mumbai civic body, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), conducts a yearly health assessment of all children studying in its schools. Praja accessed this data through Right to Information filings, and concluded from analysing this data that younger children were more likely to be malnourished - 73 per cent of malnourished children in 2015-16 studied between Grades I to V.

Mumbai's high malnutrition figures are despite the fact that 83 per cent of government and aided schools in Mumbai city and 95.1 per cent in its suburbs, respectively, have a mid-day meal programme.

The BMC, the richest municipal corporation in the country, denies Praja's contention that malnutrition has increased four-fold. "There has been a misunderstanding by Praja Foundation. Before 2014, we only measured weight for age. Since 2014, we also measure height, weight for age and also waist circumference," Padmaja Keskar, Executive Health Officer, BMC, told IndiaSpend. "Also, underweight does not mean malnourished."

Praja Foundation terms these "excuses," emphasising that the BMC should be trying to find solutions instead. "If the BMC had not been measuring height along with weight of the child before 2014, it is a gross negligence on their part because even a basic body mass index, requires height measurement," said Milind Mhaske, Project Coordinator, Praja Foundation.

Even accounting for the BMC's argument about change of methodology of assessment after 2014, the data shows that 36 per cent of children studying in BMC schools are malnourished.

Mhaske says this points to failure of the Integrated Child Development Scheme, which seeks to provide nutrition and pre-school education to children under six; the public distribution system of the central government which aims to make available food and non-food items to the poor; and the mid-day meal programme run by respective state governments to provide free meals to primary and upper primary school children.

The WHO considers malnourishment to cover two kinds of conditions: Under-nutrition which leads to stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height), low weight (for age), and micronutrient deficiencies on the one hand, and obesity and related problems on the other.

Government data has also shown up worrying statistics pertaining to childhood malnutrition.

Among children under the age of five, 21.3 per cent are stunted, 20.3 per cent wasted, and a total of 28.9 per cent children are underweight, according to the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16) for Mumbai Suburban, which has thrice the size and population of Mumbai city and extends up to Dahisar in the north and Mulund in the east.

NFHS-4 numbers are worse for Mumbai city (which consists of South Bombay from Colaba to Sion and is also known as the Island City), with one among four children under five years of age being stunted (25.5 per cent), wasted (25.8 per cent) and underweight (22.7 per cent).

Mumbai's glittering skyline hides inequities that impact people's access to healthcare, sanitation and government services. Nowhere is this more visible in Mumbai's slums, where 41.3 per cent of its population lives.

Nearly 60 per cent of Mumbai's slum population lives on eight per cent of land in the city, jostling not just for space but also basic facilities -- fewer slum households have access to a drinking water source within the premises than other urban areas, a bathroom, covered drainage, clean cooking fuel such as LPG or a latrine, according to the 2015 Save the Children report "Forgotten Voices: The World of Urban Children in India."

Mumbai's problem is emblematic of the challenge facing the entire country in the years to come. Yet, the Indian government allocates to its urban citizens only one-sixth the per capita spending allocated for rural citizens and one-tenth of what is allocated for the rural poor.

"The urban health system is still evolving, there is an urgent need for decentralisation of health services and in its current state perhaps it [urban health system] is not at par with this increasing demand of health care among the urban poor," said Suvarna Ghosh Jerath, Additional Professor, Public Health Foundation of India, Delhi. "Perhaps due to their low visibility among general urban population, the magnitude of the problems of the urban poor isn't well known."

(In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform, with whom Swagata Yadavar is principal correspondent. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. Feedback at respond@indiaspend.org)
New Delhi : In May 2017, Pakistan and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding through which China will fund and build a cascade of five dams on northern Indus, costing $50 billion, for 22,320MW of hydel power (Diamer-Bhasha 4,500MW; Patan 2,400MW; Thakot 4,000MW; Bunji 7,100MW; Dasu 4,320MW). The first of the five proposed dams, Diamer-Bhasha, is to be completed in nine years. The full cascade would take even longer -- despite emergent energy needs.

The true cost and completion dates of the cascade, however, are illusive.

"We find that even before accounting for negative impacts on human society and environment, the actual construction costs of large dams are too high to yield a positive return," concluded a research paper from Oxford scholars, published in Energy Policy in June 2014. The study, based on 245 large dams across 65 countries, also concludes that, on average, large dams suffer from cost overruns by 96 per cent and completion schedule delays by 44 per cent.

This implies the likelihood of the cascade actually costing around $98 billion, and taking 20 years or so to complete. In other words, Pakistan's taxpayers will borrow $98 billion (principal only), accumulating at the rate of almost $5 billion per year. So, when it comes to debt servicing after 20 years, the principal would have already ballooned close to $130 billion because of accumulated yearly mark-ups on loan instalments since the start of the project.

This ballooned principal would then be returned with its own mark-up when debt servicing starts. It can be safely assumed that taxpayers will end up paying in the tune of $200 billion for getting 22,320MW, or $9 per watt - three- to four-fold higher than the luring price tag currently on the display. And the much-needed electricity will not be at hand any earlier than 15 years, at best.

Padraig Belton reported in May 2017 in BBC's Business News that in the year 2016 alone, China has added 34,000 MW of solar power to the grid. India's Rajasthan province will be adding 8,000 MW for $800 million into the national grid through various solar and wind projects jointly funded by Clean Energy Fund, Asian Development Bank, and Government of India. This project costs India just $0.1 per watt. Compare it with $9 at Indus Cascade.

Even if there are no cost overruns and completion delays, the Indus Cascade will cost the taxpayers more than $3 per watt - 30 times higher than what solar costs today, not to mention project completion time.

Pakistan's solar potential is as good as that of India or China. If China can supply itself with 34,000 MW in one year through solar, why can't it ask them to help with 22,320 MW of solar in eight months -- at a fraction of cascade's cost?

The unfeasible economics of this hydel project, however, are marginal compared to the risks and threats such a cascade of construction will pose -- sitting as it does in the middle of fast-eroding, highly-unstable, and seismically-active mountains at the junction of three tectonic plates. Recent volatile examples are the Attabad landslide in 2010 and the 2005 earthquake.

Dam-lakes in the mountains are prone to mega-tsunamis due to landslides, intensified by Venturi-effect in narrow valleys, overtopping (or even toppling) a dam with unimaginable destructive power. In 1963, a massive landslide crashed in the lake of Italy's Vajont Dam causing an 820 feet high mega-tsunami wave, overtopping the dam, killing 1,910 people, and completely wiping out many towns and villages below the dam.

A landslide like Attabad crashing in to one of the cascade's lakes could trigger a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions. In the unstable mountains of Karakoram, a moderate seismic tremor could be enough to trigger such a catastrophe.

And then there's an even bigger threat in this volatile geology -- magnitude 8.0 or higher earthquakes. Scientific American in August 2015 had highlighted the risk of an inevitable disaster when a magnitude 8.0 or higher earthquake would hit the region because none of the existing dams, mostly built in India and China, had been designed to withstand it.

The region is lucky not to have had that big an earthquake since the large-dam construction era began, but the possibility of a massive tremor, more powerful than the 2005 earthquake which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale, lurks over the horizon. Collapse of cascade under such circumstances would multiply the catastrophe beyond imagination -- resulting in the complete annihilation of civilization along the course of the Indus river down to its delta, when the cascade of dams collapses like dominos.

Overtopping or collapsing of the cascade, however, may not be attributed only to natural events. The region has a volatile history of armed conflicts too. By building a cascade of dams -- like dangerously positioned dominos -- Pakistan would be gifting India a bomb bigger than a nuke in case of heightened tensions.

A few thousand tonnes of trinitrotoluene exploded to cause a glacial burst within Indian controlled Kashmir would be enough to create a deadly wave of water, ice and rocks to overtop the cascading dams and wash half of Pakistan into the Arabian Sea. Even if this scenario is very remote, should Pakistan's defence planners allow such a strategic advantage to India?

Given the terrible economics, the possible dangers caused by natural disasters, and the security threat due to a possible war with India, it makes little sense that Pakistan is still going ahead with this project.

(In arrangement with thethirdpole.net>. Hassan Abbas holds a PhD in Hydrology and Water Resources from Michigan State University. Views expressed are those of thethirdpole.net. Feedback at information@thethirdpole.net)
New Delhi, July 6 : Fashion choreographer Marc Robinson has been in the glamour industry for over two decades, mentoring aspiring models at model hunt contests. He believes that basic education is a must before pursuing any profession.

Robinson will be mentoring the models at the fourth edition of Max Elite Model Look in India 2017.

The 53-year-old says fitness and nutrition are key aspects that need to be kept in mind for being in the modelling field as it not just makes the person look good, but even lends a feel good experience.

"Fitness and nutrition are very important aspects of this career not just to help you look good but also feel good from within. Lastly it is important to keep your parents in the loop and do take their advice. In fact, when we audition young talent from across the nation and call the selected ones to Mumbai, we make sure one of their parent travels too.

"It's important for parents to feel secure about their child's choice of profession," Robinson told IANS in an email interview.

"I have always believed and taught to all the aspiring models that come what may -- basic education is a must. I have kids too and I stress on the fact that it is important to pursue your basic education and then look at modelling or any other profession as your career," he added.

Robinson has been a part of a lot of key fashion galas like Lakme Fashion Week, Femina Miss India beauty pageant, Dubai Fashion Week, Ford Super Model of the World and is also the project head for Max India Fashion Icon.

What aspects are considered when he directs fashion shows?

"Firstly, it is important to have the aesthetics in place. It should be in line with the theme for the night, location, date and music. When I finally look at the product, the final show, it's important to spot out fresh talent, fresh faces. It's not just important to be good looking. When we judge, we look at a different personality, someone who can manage to stand out and not just look good," Robinson said.

There are a lot of perceptions that people have about the glamour industry. Robinson says unlike what common people believe, anorexic behaviour is not encouraged in the industry.

"No one is perfect, and models are no exception to this. They too have their bad days with pimples, bad hair days and weight issues. But we do not encourage anorexic behaviour. We do not ignore it either, we offer help. Being healthy and fit is vital and that's what we train the models tO be," he said.

The standard and presentation level of fashion shows in India are always compared to those on foreign shores. What really can be learnt from that side of the globe?

"International fashion shows are exhausting and expensive! Their production value is huge as there is a lot of investment the organisers receive. Even technically, the sound, lights, etc... India is far behind in it. But let me be honest, when it comes to designers, we have fabulous world class designers who create different looks as per the occasion. Our bridal looks are a global hit."

"Where we do lack is in the production part which can be solved if we have investors who are willing to see the larger picture and believe in the power of fashion integration," added Robinson, who has worked with ace Indian and international designers and brands like Tarun Tahiliani, Rohit Bal, JJ Vallaya, Manish Malhotra, Manish Arora, Valentino, Ferre and Zegna.

(Kishori Sud can be contacted at kishori.s@ians.in)
Mumbai, July 6 : Laying out norms for limiting customer liability in online banking frauds, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday directed banks to credit the amount involved in the unauthorised electronic transaction within 10 working days to the account holder.

"With the increased thrust on financial inclusion and customer protection and considering the recent surge in customer grievances relating to unauthorised transactions resulting in debits to their accounts/cards, the criteria for determining the customer liability in these circumstances have been reviewed," RBI said in a notification here.

In cases of zero and limited liability of the customer "on being notified by the customer, the bank shall credit the amount involved in the unauthorised electronic transaction to the customer's account within 10 working days from the date of such notification by the customer (without waiting for settlement of insurance claim, if any)", it said.

Banks may also at their discretion decide to waive off any customer liability in case of unauthorised electronic banking transactions even in cases of customer negligence, the notification said.

RBI also said that banks need to ask their customers to mandatorily register for SMS alerts and e-mail alerts for electronic banking transactions.

"The SMS alerts shall mandatorily be sent to the customers, while email alerts may be sent, wherever registered. The customers must be advised to notify their bank of any unauthorised electronic banking transaction at the earliest after the occurrence of such transaction, and informed that the longer the time taken to notify the bank, the higher will be the risk of loss to the bank/customer," it said.

Further, banks shall ensure that the resolution of a customer complaint does not exceed 90 days from the date of receipt of the complaint, and the customer is compensated as per provisions.

"In case of debit card/bank account, the customer does not suffer loss of interest, and in case of credit card, the customer does not bear any additional burden of interest," it said.

RBI also noted that the customer should not delay in reporting of the fraud beyond seven days. "If the delay in reporting is beyond seven working days, the customer liability shall be determined as per the bank's Board approved policy."

Zero Liability of a Customer:

A customer's entitlement to zero liability shall arise where the unauthorised transaction occurs due to negligence/deficiency on the part of the bank (irrespective of whether or not the transaction is reported by the customer).

Third party breach where the deficiency lies neither with the bank nor with the customer but lies elsewhere in the system, and the customer notifies the bank within three working days of receiving the communication from the bank regarding the unauthorised transaction.

Limited Liability of a Customer:

A customer shall be liable for the loss occurring due to unauthorised transactions in cases where the loss is due to negligence by a customer, such as where he has shared the payment credentials, the customer will bear the entire loss until he reports the unauthorised transaction to the bank.

"Any loss occurring after the reporting of the unauthorised transaction shall be borne by the bank.

"In cases where the responsibility for the unauthorised electronic banking transaction lies neither with the bank nor with the customer, but lies elsewhere in the system and when there is a delay (of four to seven working days after receiving the communication from the bank) on the part of the customer in notifying the bank of such a transaction, the per transaction liability of the customer shall be limited to the transaction value or the amount mentioned, whichever is lower," it said.
Srinagar, July 7 : High alert has been sounded throughout the Kashmir Valley on Friday and unprecedented security arrangements put in place to maintain law and order ahead of slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani's first death anniversary on Saturday.

All exams scheduled for Saturdday have been cancelled by Kashmir University, which said that new dates would be announced later.

Train services between Baramulla town and Bannihal town in the Jammu region will remain suspended Saturday, authorities said.

Curfew-like restrictions imposed in old city areas of Srinagar on Friday will continue on Saturday, said police.

Similar restrictions were imposed in Baramulla town and will continue tomorrow as well.

An definite curfew has been imposed in Pulwama's Tral town, the hometown of Wani who was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Kokernag area of Anantnag district on July 8 last year.

Sources in state police said authorities were likely to impose restrictions in Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian, Sopore, Bandipora, Kupwara, Ganderbal and some other towns of the Valley to ward off protests called by the separatists on Saturday.

All separatist leaders have been either placed under house arrest or taken into preventive custody.

Burhan Wani had become the poster boy of militancy in the Valley and no other militant commander's death evoked such mass violence in Kashmir since 1989 when the ongoing cycle of armed violence started here.

As many 94 civilian protesters lost their lives in clashes with the security forces during the unrest and violence triggered by his killing last July.

Over 200 other civilians lost vision either partially or completely because of pellets fired by the security forces to contain unruly mobs.

The unrest continued for 53 days during which everything from normal life, businesses, tourism, education and even routine governance came to a grinding halt in Kashmir.

Alarmed by the events of last year, the Union Home Ministry has sent over 20,000 additional central armed forces to augment the existing security set-up in the Valley.

To keep the militants at bay, a multi-layered security set-up drawn from the army, the Central Reserve Police Force, the Sashastra Seema Bal, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the state police is manning the 286-km-long Jammu-Srinagar national highway which is the lifeline of supplies to the Valley and the only road link used by the pilgrims of the ongoing Amarnath Yatra.

People deserted streets earlier than usual on Friday in uptown Srinagar and other district headquarters as public transport also disappeared from roads while security forces were present in force on traffic crossings, outside sensitive installations and other law and order vulnerable places.
Hamburg, July 7 : US President Donald Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday face-to-face for the first time on the sidelines of the G20 Summit here and wished for "positive results" from the meeting, media reports said.

"President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it's going very well," the New York Times quoted Trump as saying. "We look forward to a lot of very positive happenings for Russia and for the United States, and for everyone concerned."

For his part, Putin said he was happy to have the chance to meet Trump in person. "We spoke over the phone," he said, "but phone conversations are never enough, definitely."

He added: "I hope that, as you have said, our meetings will yield positive results."

Only six people attended the meeting -- Trump and his Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson; Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov; and two interpreters.

Announcing the meeting on Tuesday, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said it would be a very important meeting "and everybody has been waiting for it". He added that the meeting "will be particularly important for ensuring global stability".

The White House had assured that no formal agenda had been set out for the talks between the two heads of state, though Trump was said to want to promote cooperation in dealing with the North Korean threat, Syria or the campaign against the Islamic State terror organisation.
Bratislava, July 8 : Ireland wants to maintain open border with Britain after Brexit, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said here after meeting his Slovak counterpart Miroslav Lajcak in Bratislava.

"We believe, that the currently virtually invisible British-Irish border will be preserved as an important instrument boosting both economy and stability in the area following Brexit," stressed Coveney on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Lajcak appreciated the Irish view on Brexit.

"Ireland and Slovakia have much in common. We're relatively smaller countries and we strive to solve problems instead of producing them. We have relatively sober views on things around us, we have practically identical views of issues and challenges that the EU is facing, as well as of global issues," said Lajcak.

The Slovak minister also said he agreed with Coveney to activate regular political dialogue between the two countries on topics including research, development, innovations and vocational education.
There's something sinister under way in Maharashtra's prisons. On the night of June 23, Manjula Shetye, a to-be-released murder convict, was killed - allegedly beaten to death by six prison officers inside the women's jail in Byculla (Mumbai). Assigned breakfast duty, Shetye was reportedly assaulted after she complained about eggs and bread loaves going missing from the jail canteen.

All six officers were arrested by the Mumbai police crime branch on June 30 after a post-mortem revealed that Shetye's death had resulted from physical torture. However, the report, which noted multiple injuries on her stomach and head, ruled out sexual abuse as claimed by a section of the media.

advertisement

The victim's brother, Anant Shetye, alleges his sister was murdered for complaining against corruption in the prison. Anil Gote, BJP MLA from Dhule who has spent four years in Pune's Yerwada Jail, concurs: "Maharashtra's prisons could be the most corrupt (in the country)."

Maharashtra IGP (prisons) Bhushankumar Upadhyay says "serious note" has been taken of Shetye's death. The state's prisons have been making news for all the wrong reasons. Last month, the Bombay High Court questioned the early release of actor Sanjay Dutt from Yerwada Jail; in 2012, Indian Mujahideen operative Qateel Siddiqui was murdered inside Taloja Jail. A senior state police officer says custodial torture in jails and police lock-ups has been on the rise since the death in custody of Khwaja Yunus, an accused in the 2003 Ghatkopar bomb blast case, in 2004. The accused officers are yet to be punished. Also, the state government refused sanction to prosecute police officers accused of torturing 2008 Malegaon bombing accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh. Are jail and police officials in the state losing regard for the law?

--- ENDS ---
Hamburg, July 8 : Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart Donald Trump that Moscow did not meddle in the US presidential election and Trump accepted it, claimed Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

After the two leaders emerged from a meeting in Hamburg on Friday, on the sidelines of G20 summit, that lasted over two hours -- at one point, First Lady Melania Trump entered the room to hurry them along -- US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump had raised the issue of Moscow's alleged cyber-meddling in the election at the start of their conversation, the Independent reported.

He said the US had talked about such attacks represented a "threat to the democratic process". An official from the White House, however, later indicated that the President (Trump) had not in fact accepted assurances from Putin that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 election.

"The President opened the meeting raising the concerns of the American people about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election," said Tillerson. "They had a very lengthy and robust conversation on this."

He said Trump pushed him on the issue and Putin stood firm in his denial.

"I think the President is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point," Tillerson said.

In his own briefing to reporters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Trump accepted Putin's assurances that Russia did not meddle in the election.

"The (issue of cybersecurity) got a lot of attention, which is understandable," Lavrov said. "President Trump mentioned that in the US, some circles are fuelling -- even though they cannot prove (anything -- the allegations of Russian meddling in the US elections)."

When pressed, Lavrov said that Trump or Tillerson would likely provide further information to the press.

"In the course of the months that these allegations have been around, not a single fact has been presented, which is admitted by those in the (US) Congress who have led this movement at some point," Lavrov said. "And President Trump said that he heard President Putin stating clearly that it is not true, that the Russian government did not meddle" in the elections."

Trump left the scene of his conversation with Putin, to head to Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie, a concert that is the venue for a formal G20 dinner. He was accompanied by the First Lady Melania Trump.

Earlier, the US President had spoken to reporters as he and Putin posed for photographs before their discussions, accompanied only by their translators, Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it's going very well," said Mr Trump. "We look forward to a lot of very positive happenings for Russia and for the United States, and for everyone concerned."

For his part, Putin said he was happy to be able to meet Trump in person.

"We spoke over the phone but phone conversations are never enough, definitely," he said. "I hope that, as you have said, our meetings will yield positive results."

The two leaders discussed a range of issues, including Russia's annexation of Crimea, a reported agreement for a cease fire in Syria, and ways to cooperate in the fight against terrorism in the world

"This is our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together in Syria," Tillerson said of the ceasefire in Syria, which was described as a potential building block to further cooperation in the war-torn country. Trump and Putin had a "lengthy discussion of other areas in Syria where we can work together".

Before the meeting between the two presidents, observers were keen to see how they would interact in person.

The two countries haven't had the greatest relationship so far in Trump's nascent presidency, and the White House has at times described the relationship with the Kremlin as at all-time lows.

The relationship became exacerbated in April when Trump ordered a missile strike on a Syrian government airbase in April to the chagrin of the Russian military.

The Russian government officially supports the embattled Syrian regime headed by Bashar al-Assad, while the US government has called for that president's ouster.

The 2017 G20 summit is the 12 meeting of the Group of Twenty, which is an assembly of some of the most powerful countries, as well as the European Union.
Washington, July 8 : Two US B-1 bombers flew over disputed waters in the East and South China Seas, conducting a joint military operation with Japanese fighter jets, the media reported.

The bombers were joined by two Japanese F-15 fighters on Thursday night and carried out a cooperative mission over an area both Japan and China claim as their own, US defence officials told CNN on Friday.

This mission marked the first time US B-1 bombers from the Pacific Command have carried out an operation of this kind with Japanese fighters at night, according to a statement from US Pacific Air Forces.

"Flying and training at night with our allies in a safe, effective manner is an important capability shared between the US and Japan," said Major Ryan Simpson, Pacific Air Forces chief of bomber operations.

"This is a clear demonstration of our ability to conduct seamless operations with all of our allies," he added.

The Japanese Air Self Defence Force claims that the mission was not intended to send a message to any specific country despite previous face-offs in the East China Sea with Chinese ships and warplanes.

This mission came ahead of President Donald Trump's meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the ongoing G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

Earlier this year, US Defence Secretary James Mattis reaffirmed US commitment to defending Japan and its disputed islands, reports CNN.

The US has routinely challenged Beijing's claims to sovereignty in the South China Sea and the issue has put a strain on relations between the two powerful nations for years.

On July 2, a US Navy destroyer sailed within 12 miles of a disputed island in the South China Sea.

China called the action "a serious political and military provocation".
Washington, July 8 : The US Missile Defence Agency plans to conduct a long-planned flight test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (Thaad) missile system within the next few days, the media reported.

The exact date of the planned test is not being disclosed until it has taken place. The THAAD is based at the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska, a Department of Defence official told CNN late Friday.

According to the official, the test is not related to North Korea's recent intercontinental ballistic missile launch.

The Thaad is designed to shoot down short, medium and intermediate ballistic missiles with shorter ranges than the inter-continental ballistic missile that North Korea launched on Tuesday.

The test will involve the Thaad seeking to detect, track and engage a target with an interceptor missile, CNN quoted the official as saying.

Each Thaad system has five major components: interceptors, launchers, a radar, a fire control unit and support equipment, according to Lockheed Martin, the security and aerospace company that serves as the prime contractor for the equipment.

The radar first detects an incoming missile, those manning the system identify the threat then a launcher mounted to a truck fires a projectile, which Lockheed Martin calls an "interceptor", at the ballistic missile in the hopes of destroying it using kinetic energy.
Washington, July 8 : The "Gray Lady of Manhattan" billed it as the "Donnie and Vlad: A Love Story" overshadowing the summit of the world's 20 rich and powerful nations.

The "failing New York Times", as the POTUS loves to call it, was confident that their first pow-wow would be "a sure winner for Russia" with a sceptic Donald Trump loathe to raise Moscow's meddling in the 2016 election with Vladimir Putin.

Other pundits prophesied that Putin, the former KGB agent, would eat The Donald, the once reality TV star, like a sandwich with a bit of flattery at their short and sweet meeting that was supposed to last just half an hour with no agenda.

The Friday encounter turned in Hamburg out to be a "blockbuster". With not a fly on the wall privy to the inside story, the meeting dragged for all of two hours and 16 agonising minutes for anxious reporters waiting outside.

And even FLOTUS Melania peeking through the door could not hurry them along, as Trump's top diplomat Rex Tillerson would tell afterwards.

Defying pundits, the POTUS raised the Russian hacking issue off the bat, claimed Tillerson, who along with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made the foursome besides the two interpreters.

"Nyet, Nyet," asserted Putin and demanded proof, but nevertheless agreed to organise talks "regarding commitments of non-interference" in Uncle Sam's affairs.

As the Russian spy and the proud American author of "The Art of the Deal" focused on how to move forward, they reached their first pact on a partial Syrian ceasefire.

Tillerson also saw "a level of commitment" on the part of Russia to "transition away from the Assad family" after the defeat of ISIS.

With Lavrov having a slightly different take suggesting Trump had accepted Putin's "clear statements" about Russian meddling "being untrue" critics quickly latched on to the "differing narratives".

Without the ever-present leakers, the hacks of the media variety were left speculating about what transpired behind closed doors after Trump greeted Putin calling it "an honour" and the Russian responded with a "delighted to meet you".

The professionals were apparently kept out of the Hamburg tango as part of what the influential Politico called Trump's "stealthy operation to smoke out leakers" with a crackdown that has sent "chills through national security world".

Trump also muddied the waters before the Putin meeting by telling reporters in Poland that "it could very well have been Russia" behind the election hacks or "it could well have been other countries".

"Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure," Trump declared even as he chided his predecessor Barack Obama for "choking" while questioning his spooks' assessment about Moscow's role.

Then he fired another tweet missile claiming "Everyone here is talking about why (Clinton campaign chairman) John Podesta refused" to give the Democratic Party's server to the FBI and the CIA, and proclaiming it "Disgraceful!"

This sent the pundits on another wild goose chase with a nitpicking hack at the Washington Post churning out a long winded "Analysis" of "one of President Trump's most bizarre tweets yet".

And the Times was quick to brand Democratic mayor De Blasio's "sudden trip" to join G-20 protests against the global political and economic system as "Trump Protests".

It was left to a company named Caviar Royal Gift to celebrate the historic summit with a $2,500 special edition Putin-Trump Nokia phone.

The special Nokia 3310 features a tiny replica plaque on the back of the phone and "hardened titanium with a pattern of 'Damascus steel' to represent the 'principle and hardness necessary for the protection of justice'."

Ahead of the summit, keeping up his tirade against "the dishonest media", Trump posted a mock video of him pummelling a man in a business suit -- his face obscured by the CNN logo -- outside a wrestling ring with the message: "#FraudNewsCNN #FNN."

By all accounts, the Trump-Putin tango was a substantive affair with even CNN conceding that "Trump exceeded expectations". Yet a Times columnist wondered: "Did Putin Have Trump for Lunch?"

And given Trump's "past comments", the Post found "it difficult to believe that he confronted Putin with much vigour".

No wonder POTUS keeps complaining, "Fake News Media will never cover me accurately but who cares!"

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
Patna, July 8 : Congress-led opposition Presidential nominee Meira Kumar on Saturday said her fight is for ideology and she strongly believes in the age-old Indian tradition of respecting one's own religion and other religions with the same zeal.

"Yeh vichardhara ki ladai hai, mere liye yehi hai," Meira Kumar told media at Sadaqat Ashram, the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters in Patna on the final day of her three-days visit to Bihar to seek support for her candidature.

Before leaving for Ranchi to campaign, she said that in India since ancient times people used to respect their own religion and at the same time respect other religions. "It is an age-old tradition of our country."

She said that Bihar is her birthplace. "Yehi meri janambhumi hai, I am proud of it."

In reply to a question, Meira said opposition unity is based on ideology and ideas.

She reiterated that the Presidential vote should be decided on the basis of inner voice. "I have appealed to all to vote as per their inner voice," Kumar said while downplaying Bihar Chief Minister and JD-U President Nitish Kumar's decision to support NDA's Presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind.

Earlier, she visited her native village Chandwa in Bhojpur district on Friday where she garlanded the statue of her father Babu Jagjivan Ram, an iconic Dalit leader.
Hamburg, July 8 : US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he expects a "powerful" trade deal with the UK to be completed "very quickly", the media reported.

He made the remarks after he began one-to-one talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May on the sidelines of the ongoing G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, reports the BBC.

"There is no country that could possibly be closer than our countries," he told the media.

"We have been working on a trade deal which will be a very, very big deal, a very powerful deal, great for both countries and I think we will have that done very, very quickly."

Trump also said he will visit London soon.

Besides a post-Brexit trade deal, May and Trump will also discuss North Korea, and raise the question of the US decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement, reports the Guardian.

Ahead of their meeting, Trump hailed the "very special relationship" he had developed with May.

"Prime Minister May and I have developed a very special relationship and I think trade will be a very big factor between our two countries."

Besides Trump, May is also scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Turkish President Recep Tayipp Erdogan and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
San Francisco, July 8 : With Amazon Echo and Google Home dominating the voice-activated device game, iPhone users are now showing more interest in Apples newly-launched wireless home speaker Homepod, a survey has revealed.

According to US-based wealth management firm Raymond James, 14 per cent of iPhone users are interested in purchasing Apple Homepod which debuted last month at the tech giant's WWDC event.

"If we combine with those that intend to own a Beats wireless speaker, [Homepod ownership intent] exceeds the ownership interest in both speech-enabled speaker leader Amazon and Bluetooth speaker leader, Bose," Raymond James analysts Tavis McCourt and Mike Koban were quoted as saying in geomarketing.com late on Friday.

"Initial interest in HomePod seems better than the tepid media reaction would suggest," they added.

The Apple wireless speaker delivers amazing audio quality and uses spatial awareness to sense its location in a room and automatically adjust the audio.

Designed to work with an Apple Music subscription for access to over 40 million songs, "HomePod" provides deep knowledge of personal music preferences and tastes and helps users discover new music.

"HomePod" will be available starting in December, initially in Australia, Britain and the US.

"HomePod" comes with A8 microprocessor chip, the same power engine in iPhones and iPads.

It is deemed a more expensive competitor of Amazon Echo, which was released two years ago.
Kolkata, July 8 : The army was deployed in West Bengal's Darjeeling hills on Saturday following a fresh outbreak of violence.

"Two army columns have been deployed - one in Darjeeling, one in Sonada, where one railway station was set afire," a Defence Ministry spokesman said here.
Lucknow, July 8 : A man accused in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts was arrested on Saturday from Bijnore in Uttar Pradesh by a state Special Task Force (STF) team and Gujarat Police.

After a tip-off, Qadeer Ahmad was arrested by a team led by officers N.L. Dehai and N.K. Brahmabhatt, a senior official told IANS.

The 55-year-old was accused of supplying explosives for the blasts in Mumbai.

He has been charged under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act, since repealed, and was on the run. He had briefly stayed in Mumbai but was later holed up in a Gujarat village before he took shelter in Bijnore.

A Jamnagar court in Gujarat had issued a warrant against him. Police officials say Ahmad had close but "silent" ties with underworld dons Tiger Memon and Dawood Ibrahim.

Senior police officer Atul Sharma said Ahmad will be taken on transit remand and produced in the Gujarat court.
Tehran, July 8 : Iran's Valfajr Shipping Company is planning to establish a direct marine route from the Iranian port of Bushehr to Qatar in the next two weeks, the media reported on Saturday.

The move is aimed at "expansion of non-oil trade" to the Persian Gulf Arab state, Xinhua news agency quoted an official with Bushehr Ports and Maritime Organisation, Abolqasem Mohammadzadeh, as saying.

Mohammadzadeh said his institution will use refrigerated containers for shipments to Qatar.

Iran has been exporting food to Qatar via dhow boats and planes after Saudi Arabia and its allies cut all links with the gas-rich country over Doha's alleged support for terrorism. Qatar denies the accusations.
According to doctors, some of the pins that were removed had rust which means it must have been in his body for more than six months.

By Priyanka Sharma: Badrilal, 56, is still not aware of the mystery behind how he gulped more than 150 pins and needles.

Over the years, he was doing well, but suddenly, one day, he started facing difficulty in having food, walking, sitting and in other daily activities. Badrilal, a resident of Kota of Rajasthan, an employee of Indian Railways was declined surgery by a number of specialty hospitals across India keeping in the view the challenges it posed in retrieving the pins from his body.

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Besides, being diabetic, it also triggered other medical threats. His family brought him to Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, Faridabad, where doctors diagnosed him with some kind of mental illness.

They called it one of the challenging surgical procedures after successfully retrieving 91 pins from his body. Dr Lalit Mohan Parashar, director, ENT, Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, told Mail Today, "When Badrilal came to us, he was in a very serious condition. Fragile, unable to talk or eat, the chances of his survival were bleak. But we decided to go ahead and accept this unique challenging case.

CHANCES OF SURVIVAL WERE BLEAK

"At first, we carried out a CT scan besides an endoscopic procedure for proper diagnosis and we were astonished to discover that he had more than 150 pins pierced in different parts of his body. Majority of the pins were pricked in the neck. The most challenging task was to remove those pins which were pierced in the vital nerves, arteries and organs like respiratory and food pipe, esophagus and the carotid artery (which supplies blood to our brain)."

According to doctors, some of the pins that we removed had rust which means it must have been in his body for more than six months. Health experts said such patients have suffered with the problem due to multiple factors - social, environmental, genetic and biological. Even the most educated person can face this problem and harm self.

The condition is triggered by neuro-chemical substance imbalance inside the brain that can lead to schizoaffective disorder, which he suffered. For now, Badrilal has started improving with pharmacotherapy and treatment for mental illness, said a doctor.

SURGICAL PROCEDURE

The entire surgical procedure took around six hours and the doctors were able to retrieve 91 pins from the neck of the patient which posed one of the greatest threats to his life. "The medical team was extra cautious while removing the pins from the carotid artery and vocal cord as a small error would have led him to coma, said Dr Parashar .

Another major challenge that this surgical procedure offered was the use of anesthesia in Badrilal's case. Dr Adil Rizwi, cardiac surgeon, Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, said: "In this case, we used tracheostomy procedure and ensured that the pins be removed with great precision because our neck is very complex as vital nerves pass through it. These nerves continuously supply blood to our brain and oxygen to other parts of the body. If the flow is disrupted, it can be fatal."

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Post surgery, Badrilal is normal like other human beings, but still under medical observation.

His son Rajender Meena said, "Strangely, we are also unaware how so many pins have been found pierced inside my father's body. We all came to know when my father started having discomfort in daily activities."

Also Read:

Six mental disorders you should know about for the sake of your mental health

Thanks to these celebs, we are finally talking about mental health

--- ENDS ---
London, July 8 : A cleric has been jailed for 13 years reportedly for indecent and sexual assaults in England, the media reported on Saturday.

Mohammad Haji Saddique, an Imam at a mosque in Cardiff, used to teach Quran to children at the mosque. According to reports in the British media, he touched his female students inappropriately in front of his class and poked them with a stick as they studied.

Saddique, who had been teaching at the mosque for 30 years, was found guilty of eight counts of sexual assault and six counts of indecent assault. The assaults took place between 1996 and 2006.

A Cardiff crown court judge jailed him for 13 years and ordered him to be immediately registered as a sex offender.

An investigation was first launched against Saddique in 2006 when two girls accused him of sexual assault. However, it remained fruitless as Saddique denied the allegations. Investigation was reopened in 2016 when two more girls came forward and eventually led to his conviction.

Saddique, born in Hong Kong, would "touch the girls under their traditional loose-fitting clothing during his lessons, and rub them against his groin and legs," the Guardian reported.

Praising the girls for their bravery, the judge lamented that the imam had "no idea" of the harm he caused to his victims. He expressed the hope that more people will come forward to report sexual assaults after the conviction.
Srinagar, July 8 : Clashes took place at over a dozen places between protesters and security forces on Saturday on the first death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahedin militant Burhan Wani, but no major incident of violence was reported from the Kashmir Valley that was under total security clampdown with internet services blocked.

Authorities had imposed curfew in old city area of Srinagar and in Burhan Wani's native town Tral, while restrictions were also imposed in almost all the district headquarters in the Valley where the paramilitary CRPF and police in full riot gear patrolled the areas.

Clashes between stone pelters and security forces broke out in Mehjoor Nagar of Srinagar, Shopian town, Palhalan town in Baramulla district and in Tral in Pulwama.

Over two dozen stone pelters were arrested by security forces. No report of any serious injury to any stone pelter or security personnel was reported form anywhere in the Valley.

Three soldiers were injured in Hajin area of Bandipora district in the morning when militants attacked a patrol vehicle of the army.

The area was surrounded for searches and the injured soldiers were shifted to hospital.

There was complete shutdown across the Valley as shops, other businesses and public transport remained shut.

Even private transport remained off the roads in Srinagar and other district headquarters.

Internet services on both mobile and fixed landline remained suspended for the second day while broadband speed was curbed.

All separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, were placed under house arrest. JKLF chief Yasin Malik remained under preventive detention in Srinagar Central Jail. He was arrested three days ago.

The Amarnath Yatra was also suspended.

Train services between Baramulla and Bannihal town were suspended.

All exams scheduled for Saturday by the University of Kashmir were cancelled.

Given the massive unrest triggered last year due to Wani's killing, authorities had beefed up security to ensure that the situation remains under control.

Nearly 100 civilian protesters were killed and over 200 lost vision partially or completely due to pellets fired by the security forces during the 2016 unrest.
Kohima, July 8 : Nagaland appeared headed for a fresh bout of political crisis with majority of the ruling Naga People's Front legislators gunning for the ouster of Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu and return of his predecessor T.R. Zeliang, who quit four months ago.

Zeliang, on Saturday wrote to Governor P.B.Acharya saying that he has the support of 41 legislators and staked claimed to form the new government.

"The legislators also urged the present Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu, who is a non-legislator, to resign and pave way for me (Zeliang) to take over as the Chief Minister," he said in his letter.

Claiming support of 34 (including himself( out of the 47 NPF legislators, he also told Acharya that seven Independent legislators have also affirmed their support in his favour.

In the letter, Zeliang said that the legislators wanted him to continue as leader of NPF legislature party and also authorised him to stake claim top form a new NPF-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland government.

Zeliang, who is camping with his party legislators and Independent legislators at a resort in Assam's Kaziranga National Park, meanwhile resigned as the Advisor (Finance).The Nagaland government had issued a notification terminating his appointment to the post.

The rebellion within the legislature party erupted accusing Liezietsu of indulging in "nepotism" by appointing his son Khriehu Liezietsu as his advisor with cabinet status and pay.

Khriehu had resigned from his Northern Angami-I assembly seat last month to enable his father to contest and become an elected assembly member in order to continue as Chief Minister.

Liezietsu however voiced confidence that the crisis within the NPF would be resolved at the earliest.

Liezietsu, who is also the NPF president, was sworn in as Chief Minister on February 22 this year after Zeliang resigned following violent protest by tribal groups who were opposed to his move to hold civic polls with 33 per cent reservation for women.

The fresh political instability has come at a time when Liezietsu is gearing up for the July 29 by-election from the Northern Angami-I assembly constituency.

In an e-mailed statement, the Chief Minister said that he was deeply pained by the recent disturbing developments affecting the normal functioning of the government.

"The current issue is within the NPF party and will be resolved at the earliest to bring about normalcy in the state. The mandate of the people will be respected and the present crisis will be resolved in the larger interest of the people of the state," he said.

In the truncated 59-member assembly, the ruling coalition comprises 47 NPF legislators, four Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members and eight Independents.

Interestingly, Zeliang had even warmed up with his once bitter rival Neiphiu Rio, a three-time Chief Minister and currently the lone Lok Sabha member from Nagaland, but suspended a couple of years back for "anti-party activities", particularly against Zeliang.
In 2007, using a vending machine at public schools meant chips and candy. Thats when the team at Star Food went to government officials and decision makers and laid groundwork in 2007 that changed how vending could serve healthy, USDA compliant, reimbursable meals in schools across the country.

Today, a decade later, due in large part to the efforts of school nutritionists, parents, and the team at Star Food Healthy Express, more than 5 million reimbursable meals are being served each school year through more than 500 Star Food reimbursable meal vending machines.

In 36 states, and growing, it takes less than 20 seconds for a student to punch in their student number and receive a USDA compliant, multi-component meal, some designed by top Chefs. Star Food can serve free or reduced cost breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks  all managed by the foodservice professionals at the schools.

Its just the beginning, there are kids who are eligible for reimbursable meals and looking for a good meal and working with our school partners, were going to make sure they get fed, said Joe Gilbert, VP/GM of VE South, the parent company of Star Food Healthy Express.

The latest research shows that the one-time cost of a single Star Food machine can be paid off in the first school year as the volume of reimbursable meals goes up 25 to 30%.

The average Star Food machine feeds 50 or more meals during each daypart, each day of the school calendar year.

Were feeding more kids healthy food, increasing the revenue for the school and not increasing labor costs, said Gilbert.

Our experience with adding Star Food machines in cafeterias in our district was that many of the students who got their reimbursable meals from the machines were students who had not been coming to the cafeteria before. The increase in meals served was incremental right from the first day the machines were installed, said Art Dunham, now retired director of Food Service, Pinellas County, FL where he was responsible for feeding more than 104,000 students daily.

Over the years we added more machines in more schools and kept seeing the same results; students who chose not come eat the cafeterias due to long lines or time constraints were now able to get their lunches quickly and easily. Grab and go salads, sandwiches with fresh fruits and dairy products became popular through vending. We saw students eating with us that had never done so before, said Dunham.

Research findings on how to feed more kids:



Kids will eat if they have access

Near the bus stop

Close to sporting venues

In congregation areas

Visual, appetizing, high-tech and easy all attract kids to reimbursable meal vending machines

Top reasons schools choose vending:



Schools increase revenue when more kids eat

Cashless systems work with POS and avoid vandalism issues

Grades improve, absenteeism declines

Many community organizations, local chefs, farmers, and food producers want to help.

VE South has established a nonprofit to help donors and schools come together. Feed More Kids is a 501 3C organization, registered with the IRS and located in the State of Florida.

http://www.ReimbursableMeals.com has a list of grants available to help schools feed more kids

ABOUT STAR FOOD

Star Food Healthy Express, which began in 2007, is the leader in reimbursable meal machines in the United States.

Parent company VE South is based in Fort Lauderdale Florida at 4800 NW 15th Avenue, Suite B, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309. Contact information: 877-857-3663 x1 and starfoodhealthyexpress.com.
Recent Bridge Loan Transactions at US Capital Partners US Capital Partners has a history of success when it comes to offering clients reliable and timely commercial bridge loans.  Jeffrey Sweeney

US Capital Partners Inc. announced today that it has further expanded its range of custom bridge finance solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. US Capital Partners is a private investment bank that makes direct debt investments, participates in debt facilities, and has wide distribution for debt and equity private placements for small and medium-sized businesses.

US Capital Partners has a history of success when it comes to offering clients reliable and timely commercial bridge loans, said Jeffrey Sweeney, Chairman and CEO at US Capital Partners. Bridge loans generally fund in 13 weeks, which is a lot sooner than other types of financing, making them appealing for businesses waiting for more traditional financing or looking to take immediate advantage of an attractive commercial opportunity. At US Capital Partners we now provide bridge loan amounts up to $50 million for smaller businesses with assets.

A bridge business loan is a temporary facility that provides short-term capital until a more permanent financing event occurs, or until the companys financial obligation is removed. Bridge loans are commonly used to secure additional working capital, repay debt, or purchase or develop commercial real estate.

Bridge Loan Criteria at US Capital Partners



Loan size: $500,000 to $50,000,000

Lending area: National and international

Collateral: All assets

Amortization: Interest only

LTV: Up to 90% or advance on eligible revenue model

Closing time: 5 days to 20 days

To learn more about how your business can secure the financing it needs, email Jeffrey Sweeney, Chairman and CEO, at jsweeney(at)uscapitalpartners(dot)net or call (415) 889-1010.
Vighter's CEO, President, and COO cut the ceremonial ribbon to officially open the new headquarters office in San Antonio, TX The decision to relocate was based largely on Vighters significant growth over the past year. Financial results from 2016 showed revenues more than doubled compared to the previous year, with growth occurring in all business sectors.

Vighter Medical Group, a healthcare staffing and medical services company with global operations, has relocated its corporate headquarters from Winona, Minnesota to San Antonio, Texas. The company held a ribbon cutting ceremony on July 1, 2017 to celebrate the event with friends and families at the new office located at 11324 Sir Winston Street.

The decision to relocate was based largely on Vighters significant growth over the past year. Financial results from 2016 showed revenues more than doubled compared to the previous year, with growth occurring in all business sectors.

Jeremy Calvert, COO of Vighter, commented: Relocating to San Antonio provides significant benefits to the company as we will be able to build stronger relationships with strategic clients in the area while tapping into a very strong labor pool of healthcare professionals to support current and future business.

The move positions Vighters senior management team closer to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) worksites located throughout the southern United States. Vighter has several contracts with Federal agencies in the State of Texas so the ability to easily travel to worksites is highly beneficial.

Additionally, the San Antonio Military Health System is located in close proximity to the new office, which allows for increased interaction with Department of Defense (DOD) clients and personnel. Vighter has identified the DOD market as key to sustaining growth over the next five years.

San Antonio is also home to The University of Texas Health Science Center and many other healthcare-related training programs. With so many schools and universities focused on health-related academics, San Antonio has an abundance of qualified healthcare professionals. Vighters recruiting team looks forward to interacting with medical professionals seeking employment in the San Antonio area.

About Vighter Medical Group

Vighter provides Unconventional Medical Solutions around the world. Our laser focus on customer service and high standards for quality has earned Vighter an excellent reputation over the past decade. Whether clients require healthcare staffing services in the United States or special operations tactical support in austere environments abroad, Vighter is there to help.

Vighter is an ISO 9001:2008 registered Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) firm verified by the Center for Veterans Enterprise. It received The Joint Commission certification in Health Care Staffing Services (HCSS) and is also accredited by the National Accreditation Alliance Medical Transport Applications (NAAMTA). Vighter is also ANSI/ASIS PSC.1-2012 certified. In 2016 the company was listed at #310 on Inc. 5000s list of fastest growing private companies.
We Buy Houses Fresno

The founder of Valley Prestige, Chris Hurtado has been helping California homeowners avoid the painful process of foreclosure for awhile now. Recently the California market for houses has been flooded with significantly under priced homes, but prices are on the rise. This leaves many people asking themselves, should we buy houses now or wait? According to California real estate experts, the number of people who are suffering the effects of foreclosures in California are amongst the highest numbers of people negatively affected in the nation by the ongoing crisis. Fresno, CA neighborhood homeowners are still struggling to make ends meet or get out from under lenders that are threatening to foreclose on their home.

To protect family and home, a lot of educated individuals say it stands to reason that now is the time when we buy houses. Fresno housing experts recommend that all potential owners who are missing or late on mortgage payments become familiar with the foreclosure process in California and the California foreclosure laws. This task can be monumentally huge to homeowners who are facing the stressful levels of financial hardship. The recent housing "bubble" burst in 2007-2010 still has the nations economy struggling to recover and because of this, there are fewer people that feel it's best that we buy houses now. California homeowners find themselves "underwater" when it comes to the value-to-debt ratio of their home and are at a higher percentage rate than those who own homes in most other states. Often the end result is that a financially troubled homeowner ends up thinking "I need to sell my house fast Fresno or I'm in trouble."

When Obama was president, he announced a proposal to lower lending rates, making it possible for millions of borrowers who have not been able to get out from under bloated mortgages to refinance their homes. His plan also proposed to offer hope to those who want to purchase a home. Many agreed with Obama who stated that "It is wrong for anyone to suggest that the only option for struggling homeowners is to sit around and wait for the real estate market to hit rock bottom." Now many people are thinking, "Why should we buy houses?" California is no different.

The company Valley Prestige sponsors highly educated, locally focused team members who care about your family and have plenty of experience dealing with foreclosure. Rather than sit and wait for someone to spontaneously buy houses in your area, this company has been able to reduce any hassle related to timelines or costs required by a realtor. They understand how much is at stake for you as a homeowner. Valley Prestige adheres to the same standards as the Better Business Bureau. The message that they are trying to get out is that "We Buy Houses Fresno!" and they are committed to bringing California home owners solutions for their foreclosure problems in writing with no hidden fees or commissions required. Contact Chris Hurtado for further information via email at fresnocash4houses(at)valleyprestige(dot)com or call to speak directly with our resident real estate solutions specialist, Chris at 559-325-4698. You can also visit them at http://www.valleyprestige.net
Churchview Supportive Living, a Gardant affordable assisted living community, will host an Ice Cream Social from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on July 13.

The community, which is located at 2626 W. 63rd St. in Chicago, serves low-income older adults, including those on Medicaid, who need some help to maintain their independence.

The Churchview staff will serve scoops of ice cream and make sundaes and banana split. Guests can also play Family Feud for a chance to win prizes.

For more information, call 773-471-4444.

Churchview is certified to operate through the Illinois Supportive Living program and managed by Gardant Management Solutions, the largest provider of assisted living in Illinois.

"We provide older adults with a wonderful alternative to a nursing home or to struggling alone at home," says Churchview Director of Marketing Elizabeth Clippard said.

The community combines residential apartment-home living and the availability of personal assistance, help with medications and a variety of convenience and support services.

Residents live in private apartments that feature a kitchenette, spacious bathroom with shower and grab bars, individually-controlled heating and air conditioning, and an emergency alert system.

Certified nursing assistants, working under the direction of a licensed nurse, are on-duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All three meals each day, housekeeping and laundry are among the included services.

"Residents also benefit from all of the opportunities that are available to socialize with friends and neighbors and to participate in activities and special programs," says Clippard.

Based in Bradley, Illinois, Gardant Management Solutions operates more than 50 assisted living, senior living and memory care communities. The company ranks as the 12th largest assisted living provider in the country.

"Our focus," says Rod Burkett, CEO of Gardant, "is to provide residents with the love, compassion and dignity that they deserve and the help and assistance that they need. Our emphasis is on helping each resident achieve and maintain as much independence as possible for as long as possible."

Communities managed by Gardant include the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living community in Batavia, Bolingbrook, Chicago, Gurnee. Manteno, McHenry, Plainfield and Yorkville, Illinois.

Gardant also manages New City Supportive Living and Montclare Supportive Living in Chicago.

For more information on Gardant Management Solutions and the assisted living, senior living and memory care communities that the company operates, visit http://www.gardant.com or call 1-877-882-1495 toll-free.
Heritage Woods of Watseka, a Gardant affordable assisted living community, is partnering with the East Central Illinois Blood Bank to host a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on July 28.

The community, which is located at 577 Martin Ave. in Watseka, Illinois, serves older adults of all incomes, including those on Medicaid, who need some help to maintain their independence.

For more information about the blood drive or Heritage Woods, call 815-432-4560.

The Heritage Woods of Watseka affordable assisted living community combines residential apartment home living with the availability of personal assistance, help with medications and a variety of convenience and support services.

We provide a wonderful alternative to a nursing home or to struggling alone at home, says Administrator Robin Meurer.

Residents live in private apartments that they furnish and decorate to their tastes. Each of the studio and one-bedroom floor plans includes a kitchenette, spacious bathroom with shower and grab bars, individually-controlled heating and air conditioning, and emergency alert system.

Certified nursing assistants, working under the direction of a licensed nurse, are on-duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Meals, housekeeping and laundry are among the included services.

Residents also benefit from all of the opportunities that are available to socialize with friends and neighbors and participate in activities and special programs, says Meurer.

Heritage Woods of Watseka is the only community in Iroquois County that is certified to operate through the Illinois Supportive Living program. The affordable assisted living community is managed by Gardant Management Solutions,. of Bradley, Illinois.

Gardant is the largest provider of assisted living in Illinois.

Our focus is to provide the residents of Heritage Woods of Watseka with the love, compassion and dignity they deserve and the help and assistance they need, says Rod Burkett, CEO of Gardant. Our emphasis is on helping each resident to achieve and maintain as much independence as possible for as long as possible.

Communities managed by Gardant include the Bowman Estates affordable assisted living community in Danville, the Eagle Ridge affordable assisted living community in Decatur, the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living communities in Charleston and Manteno, and the Prairie Winds affordable assisted living community in Urbana.

For more information about Gardant Management olutions, the assisted living, senior living and memory care communities that Gardant manages; and the companys management, development and consulting services, visit http://www.gardant.com or call 1-877-882-1495 toll-free.
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19-year-old boy was arrested on Friday by Manchester Police force on suspicion of terrorism offenses.

People attend a vigil for the victims of Manchester attack at Manchester Arena (Photo:Reuters)

By AP: British police say they have arrested a 19-year-old man over the Manchester concert bombing, as the hunt continues for accomplices of attacker Salman Abedi.

The Greater Manchester Police force says the man was arrested on Friday at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport on suspicion of terrorism offenses. He is being held in custody.

Twenty-two people were killed on May 22 when Abedi, a Briton of Libyan heritage, detonated a homemade knapsack bomb as crowds were leaving an Ariana Grande concert.

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In the days after the attack, police arrested 22 people on suspicion of terrorism offenses, but all were subsequently released without charge.

Counter-terrorism police chief Russ Jackson said Thursday that Abedi wasn't part of a large network, but police suspect others "were either aware or complicit in the knowledge of this attack."

ALSO READ:

Manchester blast: Worst terror attack in Britain since 2005 London bombings UK: At least 19 killed in bomb blast at Ariana Grande concert in Manchester

Manchester blast: This is how Sikhs are helping the injured after the terror attack

ALSO WATCH:

UK: Explosion at Ariana Grande concert in Manchester claims 19 lives

--- ENDS ---
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Home Regional News East
She was hasty to give adoration to God for the miracle of a pregnancy at her age. She is now 47.

Gifty Anti gave this testimony during the 9th anniversary of her stellar television program, The Standpoint, during the annual Women Praise Concert dubbed Women called to Worship.

READ MORE: 5 times Gifty Anti indirectly announced her pregnancy on social media

The programme dwelled on the intriguing testimonies of popular female Gospel artists like Ohemaa Mercy, Becky Bonnie, Cynthia McColley among others.

She confessed during the program that she was not expectant of a pregnancy in her marriage.

"My husband and I had a long conversation about the possibility of pregnancy before we married and he was content with the fact that we may never have children she said.

She added that she was under no pressure from the family of his husband to forcefully get pregnant.

"I thank God for the family of my husband for their immense understanding through it all. I never had to go through the agony other people went through she thankfully acknowledged," she said.

Anti, who got married to Nana Ansa Kwau IV, the chief of Akwamu Adumasa, recounted the distress she had been through at the hands of people who had ridiculed her through the years as a barren woman.

Latest of such unkind words hurled at her, she recalled, was by an unanimous group accusing her of making a fuss of her pregnancy while some of her colleagues already had grandchildren.

That very comment really got to me but the wise words of some friends calmed me down she said.

The rumors of Antis pregnancy went viral on social media Friday. Pulse.com.gh can confirm that the woman who has championed excellence on Ghanaian television is seven months pregnant.

The host of Standpoint is also the founder of the Girl in need foundation a Non governmental organization that aims at uplifting young girls in abject poverty in deprived communities.
By PTI: Imphal, Jul 8 (PTI) Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh today visited flood relief camps and directed officials to ensure rehabilitation of affected people at the earliest.

Priority will be given to those whose kachcha houses were destroyed during last weeks flash flood that hit several parts of Imphal valley, Biren said at relief camps in Thoubal and Imphal East district.

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Torrential rains that led to flash floods late last week have stopped two days ago but several low lying areas were still inundated.

Pumps were pressed into service to flush out water from those areas, the chief minister said.

Over 5000 people have taken shelter in various relief camps as waters of Imphal, Nambul and other rivers entered various localities of Imphal, official sources said.

A vast farm land area was inundated by the flash flood while around 3000 livestock perished.

Incessant rainfall also damaged several sections of highways in Kangpokpi district and Ukhrul district. PTI COR NN LNS

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He acknowledges cheers and greetings as we walk down a one lane road used by vehicles heading in the opposite direction.

His fans affectionately call him the great Maazi Okoro.

He is a very popular and imposing figure in this community where parents sending their wards to school is now gaining root.

In 2015, he mooted the idea of establishing an organization to encourage reading in his community. The group would later expand to communities such as Mamobi and Newtown. His friends bought into the idea and the Success Book Club was formed.

Since then, the book club has held successive meetings in Nima, Mamobi and Newtown, all predominantly Muslim communities.

Mohammed says the club aims to eradicate illiteracy completely from our midst.

He tells me it is not going to be easy to eradicate it but it is a vision.

A vision must be scary enough to push you to be able to do things, he said.

Formed on July 1, 2015, the book reading club has about 120 members and it holds rotational meetings in the three communities (Nima, Mamobi and Newtown).

He is the Executive Secretary of the club but every month, a member of the group is selected to spearhead the activities of the group.

READ MORE: Why parliament failed to pass the Bill to change the election date

According to him, the move is to do away with cult, a practice where one man is the lifeline of the group and when he is not available, the group collapses.

Quoting Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Mohammed says We must eradicate illiteracy completely from our midst. We must do away with extravagant[AM1] , bureaucracy and similar manifestations in our communities.

So, we took a queue from that, adding that one of the reasons the book club was formed is that we realized that the ignorant cannot be compared to the learned person.

The learned person understands the ignorant because he was once ignorant himself. Two, we realized that the more you read, the more you learn, and the more you learn the more enlarge the lens in which you focus the world.

The reader sees the world differently than the way other people see it.

The life stories of some influential and powerful people in the world also played a big role in the formation of the Success Book Club.

For instance, how Dr Ben Carson, a former US Republican Presidential hopeful, a surgeon, transformed from being a dunderhead to a brilliant student in class, influence the clubs formation.

He also tells me of how the rich and powerful, amidst tight working schedules, find time to read.

If you follow Bill Gate, Warren Buffett, they are telling us that we are not reading enough. These are the people we think are the busiest people on earth because they are the richest. But you follow Warren Buffett and he tells you reading is his secret. You follow Bill Gate he tells you reading is his secret.

Every year, he gives the books that that at the end of the year every human being should read. These are the people that are making strides, positive strides in the world.

Nima is a Muslim dominated community in the Greater Accra Region.

President Nana Akufo-Addos home is located in Nima and the area is beginning to see some improved road networks, Mohammed brags about that as we walk in the Nima market.

In 2011, he completed Accra Polytechnic and is currently pursuing a degree in Marketing at the University for Professional Studies in Accra.

In 2014, he run for assembly elections in his community but lost.

Nima is one of the difficult areas a child can grow up due to the level development. It is often counted among Accras slum areas.

The Akufo-Addo administration plans to establish a Zongo Development Fund to ease some of the pressure Nima faces.

Mohammed acknowledges Nima is a difficult community when he says: The community is not where we want it to be and ignorance plays a very cardinal factor to the situation we find ourselves in.

A lot of youth have gone astray because of the people they grew up to see in their home. People grow up to see, excuse me to say, elder brothers who have not done anything with their lives, who have not read, theyve not had any light and as I said earlier, the light you see is the light youll appreciate.

To impact the community, the club organizes seminars, symposia and forums. He is convinced the war turf must not be lost to people who organize musical concert at the heart of Nima because the sight you see is what you appreciate.

All is not rosy for the book club, Mohammed reflects on the challenges.

He says majority of the members are secondary and tertiary students who have limited sources of income.

Financing and sustaining the group has been daunting especially when he himself has no regular source of income.

Since the book reading club was formed two years ago, they have read 10 books instead of 24 books at close of 2016.

The books we read are quite expensive and it takes time for majority of our members to acquire them, he says.

They have read and discussed books such as: Think Big, Goals, How To Achieve Everything You Want Faster Than You Ever Thought Of, Who Will Cry When You Die, Western Civilization Through Muslim Eye, The Autobiography of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, The Civilization of Virtues, The Magic of Thinking Big, The Autobiography of Malcom X and The Arrow of God.

Despite the challenges, the club holds it regular monthly meetings, sometimes with invited guests.

Asked about the greatest book he has ever read, Mohammed paused, then blurted out: The Greatness Guide written by Robin Sharma.

In 2011, the Ghana Education Service released a report indicating that about 64 percent of pupils across the country cannot read and write.

Records also show that more and more book shops are closing across Accra where the reading culture is said to be high.

He points to that and say his community is a reflection of the dying reading culture.

He says, for all you know, the shopping malls, there are no book shops. Accra Mall there is no bookshop, [Kotoka International] Airport there is no bookshop.

READ MORE: Why parliament failed to pass the Bill to change the election date

If you go to other places in the world, the first thing youll meet at the airport is a bookshop. It tells you how serious that country is. It tells you what the country is about.

Mohammed is a fierce writer. He owns a blog and often highlight challenges in his community as well as Ghana.

In an article titled Welcome to Nima, he sought to challenge the negative narrative people have about the community.

He wrote: Some unscrupulous persons did wrong sometime ago and Nima as a whole was black-labeled. Labeled as Notorious.
This is in response to earlier reports by The Sun news in a compilation released on Saturday, July 8, 2017.

He insisted that the suspect is still in the safekeeping of the police and has not vanished as rumoured.

Evans is intact in police custody," Jimoh told the Premium Times news.

He admitted that the suspect was moved from Lagos to Abuja but only to further investigation which has grown more intense.

There are reports that some of his gang members are trying to speed up his trial in order to prevent against their arrest by the police.

Confirming his relocation, Jimoh who is a Police Superintendent said, We moved him from Lagos to Abuja this week."

This will allow us to properly interrogate him," he added.

Finally, the SP submitted that the idea that Evans had vanished from the nest of the police is unfounded and should be disregarded.

But the notion that he had somehow disappeared from custody or that police were not willing to give updates about his whereabouts is simply absurd," said Jimoh.
The premier of the movie, which saw actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde return from a three-year acting hiatus, was held at the InterContinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Some of the guests who attended the premiere are Stephanie Linus, comedian, Woli Arole, ex #BBNaija housemate, Kemen and many more.

A steaming trailer depicted Jalade-Ekeinde in a hot sex scene with cast mate, Wale Ojo, who brought on his game in the film.

The actress played the role of Ada, a successful law attorney who has an unrelenting passion for prosecuting sex offenders.

Her noble character however has an inordinate urge for sex as a weakness.

A factor that birthed some of the sex scenes in the movie.

"Alter Ego" is a work filled with intrigue, an intelligent script compilation and a strong storyline.

No wonder it gained the attention of Jalade-Ekeinde, who mentioned in an interview with Hip TV that she is now choosy about the movies she features in based on her international brand.
The women are Margaret Mensah alias Akua, 25, and Samira Abdul-Kadir, 30.

The arrest was made with the assistance of officials of the Food and Drugs Authority after a search in their shops.

Addressing the media, the Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Juliana Obeng, warned the public against buying unapproved drugs.

Prohibited drugs such as Pharmadol 225mg, Ibupru Plu, Devagra 150mg, Black Cobra 150mg and other liquids in plastic bottles locally called Awinchi were found in their shops.

ASP Obeng told the media: The names of these suspects are given as Margaret Mensah alias Akua, 25, and Samira Abdul-Kadir, 30, andthese two persons are Ghanaians.

"An inspection in their shop revealed quantities of suspected assorted drugs. When examined by officials from the FDA, they were found not to be registered drugs.

Some of the prohibited drugs found in their shops were Pharmadol 225mg, Ibupru Plu, Devagra 150mg, Black Cobra 150mg and other liquids in plastic bottles locally called Awinchi which in Hausa language means Wash Your Heart.

The suspects alleged that the liquid substance is supplied to them by one Zakari [Yahu] who is part of these suspects. We also found other drugs that had the inscription in Chinese language.

"Two suspects, Margaret and Samira have admitted to having sold the drugs to the seven suspects and have also mentioned that they imported the drugs from neighbouring Togo to Ghana to sell to the general public.

She further said the suspects are in police custody assisting with investigations.

All suspects are in police custody to assist with investigations whilst the drugs are being sent for forensic analysis.
The FDA has begun clamping down on fake drugs after it has been repeatedly accused of sleeping on it mandate.

It was recently accused of allowing plastic rice into the market.

Ashanti Regional FDA Principal Regulatory Officer, Nora Nakie Tei Larbi, says most of the buttocks, penis and breast enlargement drugs are not registered.

She further said the drugs are labeled in languages that are difficult to read and understand.

Many of the enlargement drugs come in the form pills and creams.

But Mrs Larbi says the enlargement can be done through surgery.
The statement also commended the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency for its support in the satellite launch.

READ MORE: Benefits Ghana could derive from space science

In his broadcast message, relayed to the Space Station by Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister for Communications, the President, on behalf of the Government and people of Ghana, expressed gratitude to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Birds Project Management Team for their support in Ghanas quest to becoming a space faring nation," the statement said.

He noted that the benefits for humankind played a major role in the socio-economic development of every country and today, Ghana is proud of the young Ghanaian engineers namely: Benjamin Bonsu (Project Manager), Ernest Matey and Joseph Quansah for this feat.

The launched happened in the US state of Florida on the June 3, 2017.

It was released to start its operation in orbit on June7, 2017.

The GhanaSat-1 was developed by students at the All Nations University College with support from JAXA.

Costing $500,000, the satellite will be used to monitor the nations coastline for mapping purposes, and to build capacity in space science and technology, the technical engineer of the GhanaSat-1 satellite, Ernest Matey, told Radio Ghana.

Hundreds of students gathered on the ANUC campus to witness the launch.

READ MORE: Ghana launches first space satellite into orbit

Project coordinator, Dr Richard Damoah, says it will open the door for other space activities.

He told the BBC that it could be used in the monitoring of illegal mining.

He said: It has opened the door for us to do a lot of activities from space.

[It would] also help us train the upcoming generation on how to apply satellites in different activities around our region.
The GhanaSat-1 was developed by students at the All Nations University College (ANUC) in the Eastern Region with support from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The project is valued at $500,000.

READ MORE: Ghana launches first space satellite into orbit

Benefits to Ghana?

Technical engineer of GhanaSat-1 satellite, Ernest Matey, says space science has diverse impact on the nations economy, education and technology.

He told Radio Ghana on Friday: First, I believe for the pride of it that Ghana has also entered into space. It is enough heritage for the country.

He also noted that it opens the doors for more technological exploit.

Space science opens for more technological exploit for which we believe that this first satellite will open doors for it, he said.

Matey said another benefit Ghana could get from space science is capacity building in satellite building.

He further says it will bring to the educational system that value of science and technology which student will be trained on how to build satellite.

We hope that from today onward, a group of engineers will be trained and groomed to build the GhanaSat-2, he said.

READ MORE: Satellite surfing ready to take off

GhanaSat-1 will be used to monitor the nations coastline for mapping purposes, and to build capacity in space science and technology, he said.
Police in Accra have launched a search for a woman who was with the deceased at the hotel prior to his death.

The Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police Command, ASP Efia Tenge told Accra-based Citi FM: The Police, yesterday around 7pm, received a complaint from the management of a hotel operating in Dansoman that a man checked in with a lady whose name has only been given as Sarah, in the evening, but later found the man dead in his hotel room after the lady had checked out an hour after.
The launched happened in the US state of Florida on the June 3, 2017.

It was released to start its operation in orbit on June7, 2017.

READ MORE: Scientist find space object believed to be alien power station

The GhanaSat-1 was developed by students at the All Nations University College (ANUC) in the Eastern Region with support from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Costing $500,000, the satellite will be used to monitor the nations coastline for mapping purposes, and to build capacity in space science and technology, the technical engineer of the GhanaSat-1 satellite, Ernest Martey, told Radio Ghana.

Hundreds of students gathered on the ANUC campus to witness the launch.

Project coordinator, Dr Richard Damoah, says it will open the door for other space activities.

He told the BBC that it could be used in the monitoring of illegal mining.

He said: It has opened the door for us to do a lot of activities from space.

[It would] also help us train the upcoming generation on how to apply satellites in different activities around our region.
Referring to China in the context of GST, Tiwari said it was troubled by the economic reform in India and the tension on border was an outcome of China's frustration.

By Mail Today Bureau: Here's yet another call to boycott Chinese goods in India, this time from the ruling BJP. In the wake of escalating tension along the India-China border, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari on Friday appealed to Delhi's traders to refuse selling Chinese products as that will be a big blow to the Chinese economy.

He said, notwithstanding China's military, its economy was largely dependent on Indian markets and traders here should boycott selling their products to teach the neighbour a lesson. Tiwari was interacting with traders of Khan Market and Hauz Khas Village on Friday evening, regarding their concerns on the roll out of GST.

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Traders' association of Khan Market said it would ask traders not to sell Chinese goods during the upcoming festive season. "We will write to the traders of Khan Market to boycott Chinese goods. After all it is in the national interest," said Sanjiv Mehra, President of Khan Market Traders' Association.

CHINA FRUSTRATED: TIWARI

Referring to China in the context of GST, Tiwari said it was troubled by the economic reform in India and the tension on border was an outcome of China's frustration.

"China is acting like a goonda. It is disturbed by India's growing economic and strategic power. Since India is the biggest market of Chinese goods, we must stop using them. This will affect China's economy the most," Tiwari said.

Last year, too, there came up a campaign to boycott Chinese goods in the wake of "Make in India", which escalated after the Uri attack, ahead of Diwali. However, Tiwari noted that last year traders had already stocked large quantities of Chinese products such as firecrackers and lights, and hence feared heavy losses.

"This year you (traders) should rethink purchasing Chinese products ahead of the festive season," he appealed.

Another trader of Khan Market said that he supported the call for boycotting Chinese goods, but sought from the government a hassle-free trading environment within the country so that their business was not affected. He also suggested that awareness should be created among the public about the benefits of GST.

About the concerns over GST, Tiwari assured the traders that government would not harass citizens. He said the grievances will be addressed soon.

Also Read:

Why China will mend ways to defuse border tension and not boast of 1962

Doklam dispute: China says 'nothing to do with 1962', India has 'ulterior motives'

Also Watch:

China shuts down Nathu La pass in Sikkim: All you need to know

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It comes after the Minister for Procurement and Deputy Majority Leader told her local party officials that she lobbied the World Bank for one of the 23 community day schools it was sponsoring under the Mahama administration to be built in her constituency.

The National Democratic Congress Chairman in her constituency has called Ms a big liar.

She didnt even come to the commissioning of the school, she is a big liar. She is serial liar, she has done it before and we dont doubt she will continue, but well expose her, he said.

Meanwhile, the Dome Kwabenya MP is being severely trolled on social media over the matter.
He said that he would fight for the youth of this country he promised jobs to the death.

READ ALSO: Kennedy Agyapong shows off his dancing skills in a rather hilarious video

He said if it was the NPPs plan to collapse his business because he is criticizing the party over current happenings then he was ready for whatever.

Agyapong revealed in an interview that Nigerians are getting jobs in the country at his expense.

According to the estranged Kennedy Agyapong, he was went out seeking funds for the party whilst other members laid back.

He also revealed that he did not understand how the NPP awards contracts to Nigerians and NDC members worth 150 million and he is ignored.

The NPP stalwart told Adom FM that he had the evidence to back his claim and if he was dared he will mention names.

I Kennedy Agyapong have said it that they are giving contracts to NDC members. Dont give me signs to stop because when I was spending my cash you never gave me signs. If I want to reveal things about the party now you will leave for your home, he disclosed.

READ ALSO: Kennedy Agyapong says he warned BOST boss against accepting position
"It is not that we are quiet as a party but we will act appropriately in due course and have all grievances addressed," John Boadu said on Accra-based Okay FM.

He also suggested that Mr Agyapong may be in conflict with the party's constitution with his claims against the party, officials and the government.

He has threatened to release full details of how the New Patriotic Party (NPP) won the elections if he is continuously undermined by some individuals in the party.

He has also vowed to bring down the party, before he is disgraced.

According to him, some persons planning his downfall have consistently asked him to shut up before he can get contracts in the Nana Akufo-Addo's administration warning that he will never kowtow to them.

READ MORE:Member of Parliament swears to retrieve all his money invested in the NPP

He said: "If you are not careful with people who helped you or us to come to power and give them this reward there is this boy called Siriboe whose father is a council of state member. How much did his father pay? You are there undermining him.NPP boy.
In the summer of 2015, Penn State's endowment invested $50 million in Pershing Square Capital, a high-profile hedge fund run by New York City billionaire Bill Ackman.

The endowment, one of the largest held by a university, invested as the fund was coming off years of stellar performance. Two years later, the fund has had a reversal of fortune. The Pershing Square International fund reported a loss of 16.6% in 2015 and a loss of 10.2% last year. The fund gained 1.83% through mid-June of this year.

At those rates, a $50 million investment in 2015 would be worth about $38 million now. That doesn't include annual fees, of about 1.5% of the assets (about $750,000 on the initial amount), paid to the hedge fund.

Pershing Square and the endowment, when asked by Business Insider, declined to specify what the value of Penn State's investment had become. The endowment also declined to say whether it planned to stay invested in Ackman's fund.

Relatively speaking, Penn State's investment is tiny. The endowment oversees $3.6 billion. The university also invested in Pershing Square at a particularly unfortunate time; the hedge fund estimates that investors who have backed Ackman since January 2004 have seen annualized returns of about 15% after fees.

But the Penn State-Pershing Square situation highlights a turning point for the hedge fund industry. Once a cottage industry financed by the rich, hedge funds are now largely funded by public universities and pensions, which oversee the retirement money of the nation's teachers, firefighters, and police officers.

The arrangement has been a lucrative bet for the money managers, all men who regularly rank as some of this country's wealthiest, thanks to those fees. The funds typically take 20% of any profits, but they also bill about 2% of assets regardless of whether they make any money.

And lately, many are not doing so well.

"The managers of the hedge funds are getting paid huge fees even if they're underperforming," said Leland Faust, who previously advised wealthy clients at his mutual fund firm CSI Capital and has since taken up researching the topic. "Who is being harmed are the beneficiaries of the pensions or endowments who earn less money for their retirement or educational or charitable work."

About one-third of assets in the $3.2 trillion hedge fund industry come from public pensions and endowments, according to the data tracker Preqin. That's equal to about $1 trillion, and it suggests the public pensions and endowments could be paying as much as $20 billion a year in management fees alone.

At the same time, research shows that pensions, for instance, would have been better off parking their money in cash than in hedge funds, while endowments would have been better off investing in index funds over the past decade or so.

Hedge funds "have underperformed, costing us millions," New York City's public advocate, Letitia James, told board members when the city's largest pension divested from hedge funds last year. "Let them sell their summer homes and jets and return those fees to their investors."

Pershing Square isn't the only high-profile fund to lose its footing. Money managers more generally are struggling to generate the high-flying returns they once did. Some, like Eton Park and Perry Capital, recently shut down.

The industry as a whole hasn't put up double-digit returns for its investors since 2010, all while the stock market has continued its steady eight-year rise.

Hedge funds gained about 7% from 2013 to 2016, according to the data tracker HFR. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index, by comparison, rose by about 21% during that time.

That's a big gap, considering it's almost free to invest in the S&P 500.

The phrase "hedge fund" covers a wide range of possible investment strategies. They might bet for and against stocks and bonds, or perhaps they take outsize positions in companies and try to change management from within. They can invest in real estate, or currencies and commodities. Some strategies are so secretive that even clients don't really know how their money is invested.

The common trait is that they charge investors high fees. They weren't always havens for public money.

The first hedge funds are thought to have emerged in the late 1940s, and wealthy people, often with ties to Wall Street, were the first adopters. They often sat on private university boards and led those schools  like Harvard and Yale  into hedge fund investing.

Legendary investor Stan Druckenmiller, for instance, who at the time ran investments at Soros Fund Management, sat on Bowdoin College's board and helped move 12% of the endowment's money into hedge funds in the 1990s, the trade publication Plan Sponsor reported in 1996.

The funds generally were identifiable by the fact that they hedged  placing short bets against longs  and that they were not accessible to mom-and-pop investors.

If the industry comes off as secretive today, it was much more so back then. Investors tended to find hedge funds, the handful that existed, by word of mouth.

"The first institutions probably kept it very quiet because you didn't want to spread the news that you were going into something that was maybe too risky or wasn't going to work out for you," said John Griswold, the executive director of Commonfund  a $24 billion firm founded 1971 that manages money for endowments, public pensions, and other institutional investors.

"They offered good returns in the mid-teens, partly because there were so few hedge funds and a lot of opportunities," Griswold said.

In 1990, the industry managed just $39 billion. That figure has ballooned to about $3 trillion, according to HFR's data. A lot of that massive growth can be attributed to big institutional investors like pensions and endowments.

Things started to change in the 1990s.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the National Securities Markets Improvement Act.

That law expanded the number of clients hedge funds could handle to 2,000 "qualified purchasers" from 99  basically people or institutions with enough money that the government deemed less likely to be hurt by a risky investment than the average investor, according to Steve Nadel, an attorney at Seward & Kissel.

It opened the floodgates. By 2000, the hedge fund industry had grown to manage $491 billion, more than 10 times the amount from a decade earlier, according to HFR data.

Then the tech-stock bubble burst, leaving investors seeking ways to diversify away from the equity market and looking at the success of hedge funds in offering that diversification.

"Everyone saw Yale's and Stanford's returns, primarily Yale's, having survived that bear market," said Griswold, the longtime executive director for Commonfund, which advised endowments.

Among the first pension adopters were CalPERS, Pennsylvania's SERS, and Ontario Teachers'. The public pensions allocate only a tiny portion of their assets  about 1.3% on average last year  in hedge funds, according to data provided by the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service. But that's still a huge amount of capital. They are now the biggest investors in hedge funds, making up about $660 billion of assets, nearly a quarter of capital in the $3 trillion industry, according to Preqin.

The middlemen who peddled hedge funds

As pensions and endowments started investing in hedge funds, they needed advice, and that often came from middlemen called investment consultants.

Consultants recommend funds and provide services like due diligence  in theory, to make sure investment managers aren't frauds.

Consultants have had huge sway in the funneling of public money to Wall Street; they are estimated to advise on as much as 82% of public assets, according to one study.

It has also been lucrative. The more complicated the investment strategies are, the more the need for consultants  in turn producing more fees that the end clients have to pay up, according to researcher Jay Youngdahl, a Harvard University fellow who wrote a 2013 research report examining consultants.

Only a few independent studies exist on consultants' performance, but they do not rate it highly.

A UK regulator found last year that investment consultants weren't better at guiding their clients to choosing better-performing funds. They also hadn't been able to get them better rates or drive fee competition.

And though consultants say they can avoid bad or potentially fraudulent investments, they don't find everything.

Youngdahl, the researcher, is one of the few who have criticized the consulting industry  which, he says, made him the target for personal attacks by consultants and their Wall Street supporters.

"Investment consultants are really the only link in the financial chain that has the ability to protect trustees of funds and endowments, who play a crucial role in protecting the pensions and healthcare of Americans," he said in an interview with Business Insider.

"They've utterly failed  What they've claimed to provide, they've been unable to provide."

There are also funds of funds, which choose a range of hedge fund managers to allocate to and take a cut. Investors often use them when they don't have enough staff in-house to choose managers.

But funds of funds make investing in hedge funds even more expensive because they charge an extra layer of fees on top of the fees the underlying hedge funds charge.

Their performance has been terrible of late. Among comparable hedge fund investors, funds of funds were the worst at picking funds, a Deutsche Bank study found this year.

Who invests in these funds of funds? Often public money.

Public pensions tend to be the biggest buyers of funds of funds, according to a 2013 study. That is often because they don't have the in-house knowledge to figure out how to choose funds on their own.

Endowments tend to invest in hedge funds directly, outperforming funds chosen by middlemen, the study found.

How has this money fared?

Pensions, both public and corporate, would have been better off investing in cash than in hedge funds, according to a CEM Benchmarking study released last year. A large part of that was due to the high fees that investors pay to invest in the funds, which essentially erode any gains.

"The problem is they charge 2 and 20," said Alex Beath, one of CEM's researchers, referring to the 2% management and 20% performance fees that the most elite hedge funds often charge. "If you're trying to make back that 2%, our research shows that it's basically impossible, for a completely average fund."

CEM found that small public pensions tended to underperform because of their investments in hedge funds and other expensive endeavors like private equity. The study blamed that underperformance, in part, on the use of expensive funds of funds and their extra layer of fees.

But the consulting industry has put out its own studies, and in a rebuttal featured in the trade publication Pensions & Investments last year, the CEO of one criticized the CEM study's methodology.

"Most people that study this tend to work for hedge funds so there's a natural conflict there," Beath told Business Insider about the difficulty in finding clean data.

Endowments, meanwhile, haven't done well with hedge funds over the past few years.

A Deutsche Bank study found that hedge funds missed endowments' and foundations' expectations for the past three years  that goes for all types of investors, by the way  there weren't any winners.

Last year, endowments underperformed simple stock indexes, too. And smaller endowments, which invested primarily in cheap, passive funds over hedge funds, beat their Ivy League rivals, which have historically been big hedge fund backers, The New York Times reported.

Over the past 10 fiscal years, according to NACUBO-Commonfund data, endowments of all sizes have lost to popular stock indexes like the S&P 500 and the Russell 3000, which can be invested in on the cheap.

Within this mix, you'll find some hedge fund clients that are still happy with their decisions to invest  that could be due to timing and to choosing the few hedge funds that have done fabulously well. Detractors would deem this just pure luck.

Hedge fund backers question much of the criticism out there, too.

For one, hedge funds, which comprise a range of investment strategies, aren't supposed to be correlated to stock markets and often don't invest in stocks, so comparing to the S&P 500 is unfair, they say. They're supposed to diversify an investor's portfolio.

Hedge funds also outperformed the S&P 500 during the past financial crisis.

It's "great" to have had passive equity exposure "when you've had a market that's been up for the past eight years  but not so good in 2008," said Michelle Noyes, a spokeswoman at AIMA, an industry group.

Some public pensions have opted to pull out of hedge funds, notably California's CalPERS and New York City's largest public pension fund, the New York City Employees Retirement System.

Others, like the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, a mammoth pension that pioneered hedge fund investing, has swayed managers to move to a 1-and-30 pay model. That basically means the pension will be paying less on management fees overall (this is crucial in years when the fund underperforms) but more when the fund performs well.

Hedge fund backers say this means the interests of the public pensions and the hedge funds are better aligned.

Still other big hedge fund backers have defended their use of expensive managers like hedge funds. Yale University's endowment, which is run by David Swensen, recently said that investing in purely passive funds would have diminished its net returns overall. Yale attributes its success to having the in-house resources to be able to source active managers  something it says a "substantial majority of endowments and foundations" lack.

The fee question is undoubtedly a touchy subject. At least 30 colleges, including the eight Ivy League schools, refused to say how much they paid Wall Street investment firms when asked by the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees, according to a tally earlier this year by Bloomberg News.

At a New York conference earlier this month at Bloomberg headquarters, pension heads aired their concerns to a crowd of hedge fund managers.

One panelist was Marc Levine, a chairman for the Illinois State Board of Investment, which, citing high fees, recently culled its hedge funds to 17 from 81. Levine said funds needed to offer their clients fair deals  for instance, by shifting fees so investors would pay more for actual outperformance and by moving away from the 2% guaranteed management fees, what he called a "heavy tax."

Levine added: "It's not in anybody's best interest to have these mediocre hedge funds, mediocre active managers, around."
This means the presence of some of the richest people in the world and their families. These are the top schools in Africas major cities who cater to the children of the high and mighty.

Africa Leadership Academy, South Africa -$30,000

This private high school considers itself a Pan-African institution and runs an innovative curriculum, which merges academics with courses in Entrepreneurial Leadership and African Studies

International School of Kenya - $26,000

A collaboration between the governments of the United States and Canada, this school is one of the most sought after on the continent.

Lincoln Community School ,Ghana - $24,000

This Accra-based school prides itself on its ability to send its graduates to some of the best schools of higher education around the world.

Cairo American College, Egypt - $24,000

The school of choice for Cairos elite and its expatriate community.

Malvern College, Egypt -$19,000

The Egypt franchise of the famous school might be new in Cairo bit is definitely finding space with the elite.

Hilton College, South Africa - $18,000

The very definition of traditional, this all boys boarding school is one of the oldest schools in Africa.

Roedean School, South Africa -$17,000

Situated in Johannesburg, this is a school that caters exclusively to the daughters of the rich and powerful.

American International School, Nigeria - $17,000

Has catered to Lagoss rich since 1964.

Nairobi Rosslyn Academy ,Kenya - $15,000
MAURICE, Iowa  The congressman who has represented northwest Iowa for 15 years once suggested that Mexican immigrants had "calves the size of cantaloupes" from smuggling drugs across the border. He has been seen with a Confederate flag on his desk (though Iowa supported the Union Army), and he tweeted in March that the US "can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies."

He even built a model of a border wall on the floor of Congress in 2006  nearly a decade before Donald Trump adopted the cause.

But on the farms that fill Steve King's district, his constituents have more nuanced, complicated politics than the Republican congressman's rhetoric might suggest.

Thousands of immigrants have moved to northwest Iowa in recent decades, attracted by farms and meat producers in need of workers willing to raise pigs, milk cows, or butcher animals. Between 2000 and 2015, the Latino population in Sioux Center, one of the larger cities in the district, more than tripled. According to the census, King's district is now home to nearly 50,000 people who consider themselves Hispanic or Latino  about 6% of the area's population.

That means that even some of King's supporters  he took 61% of the vote in November  are being forced to reconcile their conservative politics with a business reality that has taken on a moral weight. They rely on immigrants, and some will go to extraordinary lengths to support them.

Theyve done everything as a citizen should

Maassen Dairy sits on a rural, unpaved road in Maurice, Iowa, less than half an hour from the South Dakota border. The Maassen family started producing milk on the land with about 15 cows during the 1920s. Five generations later, that number has grown to more than 1,300, and the animals spend their days in a covered, open-air barn, a pile of food easily reachable through a metal gate.

Lee Maassen grew up on the farm and started working there full-time soon after he got married at age 20. He now runs the operation with his sons.

On nearly every issue, Maassen is a reliably conservative voter. He supported King and Trump in the latest election. He agrees with King's positions on limiting environmental regulation, he said, and on what Maassen refers to as "morality issues" like abortion.

But on immigration, they diverge. For the past 30 years, the Maassen family has been hiring more and more immigrant workers  of the 26 employees currently at Maassen Dairy, 16 are immigrants, mostly from Mexico. The family has even sponsored many to apply for citizenship. Often, that involved accompanying the workers on the more than two-hour drive to the Mexican consulate in Omaha, Nebraska, since there isn't one in Iowa.

Maassen estimates his family has successfully helped half a dozen immigrant workers become citizens since they hired their first Mexican employee in 1985.

"All of our workers, they've paid their full amount of federal income tax, full amount of state tax. They've done everything as a citizen should," he told Business Insider. "So why shouldn't they be granted that? That's why we need some reform."

Maassen knows, however, that his idea of reform doesn't align with the one espoused by King and other Republican politicians  especially since Trump's election.

"The stance is sometimes really negative: Anybody that's not classified, an immigrant, we're going to send them all back, we're going to close down the border, whatever," he said of those with hardline stances on immigration. "But I'm thinking, do you really understand what the full impact of that would be?"

Immigrants or robots

Farmers are fairly accustomed to occupying a unique, complicated place in American politics.

They make up less than 2% of the US population, but their work has a dramatically disproportionate effect on the country's economy. Environmental regulations affect them heavily, yet a changing climate can threaten their livelihoods. They generally vote Republican, but plenty of crop farmers utilize government insurance subsidies, and many in the industry are wary of big business and increasing consolidation.

Plus, free trade has proved a boon for agriculture  the value of US dairy-product exports more than quadrupled from 2004 to 2014, and pork exports have increased nearly elevenfold since 2000  but farmers were left in a lurch after both Democrats and Republicans came out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the 2016 election.

However, nowhere is farmers' complex political position clearer than on immigration.

The Department of Agriculture estimated that only about 22% of the country's crop farm workers in 2013 and 2014 were born in the US. Immigrants also permeate many other agricultural sectors that get less attention. Dairy workers aren't employed seasonally. They don't toil in fields picking delicate fruit like grapes or strawberries. And many don't work anywhere near the Mexico-US border.

No nationally gathered statistics are available about laborers in livestock industries. But in a report put together for the National Milk Producers Federation in 2015 based on a survey of 1,000 dairy farms around the country, responses indicated that immigrants accounted for 51% of all dairy labor in the US, and that dairies employing immigrants produced 79% of the country's total milk supply.

It's the physical nature of dairy farming, Maassen said, that has made it almost impossible to fill positions with Iowa natives.

"We can't find enough employees to fulfill the job role," he said. "We need immigrant labor in order to do that."

A crackdown on immigration would dramatically affect Maassen's business  and the dairy industry overall. The NMPF report estimated that eliminating immigrant labor would cause the total number of dairy farms in the US to drop by over 7,000 and retail milk prices to increase by 90%.

"We've thought about that and considered what's our disaster program if that would happen," Maassen said of that worst-case scenario. "It would affect us greatly. We'd have to make some adjustments to how we'd hire the labor in order to do it. We'd have to switch over to all robots."

Some dairy farms around the US have installed robotic milking machines to eliminate the problems that come from labor shortages and employee management. But for now, Maassen is sticking with his workers.

What more could one want, right?

The cows at Maassen Dairy get milked three times a day, seven days a week. There are shifts around the clock.

Pilar Garrido spends her eight-hour shift in the farm's milking parlor with two other employees, Mexican radio playing as groups of well-trained cows file onto elevated platforms. Garrido and her colleagues walk by each cow and coat her udders with a disinfecting cleaner, which stimulates the cow to let her milk down, the same way a nuzzling calf might.

After the cows have been cleaned and wiped, the workers attach milking tubes to each teat. The tubes pop off when the supply of milk is exhausted, and then the workers clean the udders once more before the cows leave and a new group is herded in.

"It's hard because you're working the whole eight hours, moving your feet, arms, the whole body," Garrido, who emigrated to the US from Pachuca, Mexico, 15 years ago, told Business Insider in Spanish while the cows were being milked. "You arrive [home] wanting to bathe and go to sleep and not think about anything."

Garrido and the others who do this work must power-wash the parlor several times per day. Other workers must also replenish the cows' food and push it back into accessible piles. A few are in charge of herding the groups into the milking parlor. And then there are the cows ready for artificial insemination, since dairy cows are kept in a nearly permanent postpartum state. And there are the inevitable calves that need tending to.

Garrido said she grew up in a humble, country family and enjoys being with animals. But the work was all new to Mirza Salazar, who shares a shift with Garrido.

"I had an office career," Salazar said in Spanish as Garrido tended to the cows behind her. She moved from Mexico City to Iowa in 2005, she said, because she had family in the area.

"Here, I learned to milk, about the outdoors, about maternity, I learned all of this," said. "It's very different. It's tough. It's simple, but it's also humble, and it's a job."

Salazar and Garrido both fled abusive husbands  Salazar left hers in Mexico, and Garrido separated from hers in Chicago. Each is now raising kids solo. Garrido earns $11.25 an hour and manages to send money back to her parents in Mexico every month or two on top of providing for her kids.

"What more could one want, right? To improve and continue moving forward," she said. "This is a lovely job, very honorable, and I like it."

Fear, dialogue, and compromise

Step off Maassen's farm, and there's more fear. Garrido said she respected Trump and his decisions but had heard of many in the immigrant community losing hope.

"It causes a lot of remorse to go out into the street, and you don't know if you're going to return," she said. "It's almost as if you're like, 'Oh God, help me to get to work, and God help me to return home.'"

Maassen knows his employees have a heightened awareness of immigration politics since the presidential election. He, too, worries about Trump's and King's positions on the issue.

"I had some fear," he said of King's anti-immigrant rhetoric. "That's why we met with Steve King a number of times, just to say, 'Do you realize?'"

Maassen Dairy is part of an industry group called the Western Iowa Dairy Alliance, which has organized discussions between the state's dairy farmers and their political representatives. Through those efforts, Maassen attempted to explain his situation to King a couple of years ago. He has also met with Republican Sen. Charles Grassley.

King did not return Business Insider's request for comment on those meetings, and WIDA representatives said they didn't believe the conversations led to any noticeable changes in King's position. But Maassen believes the group did have some success in conveying to King what the consequences of an immigration crackdown would be for his voters. He thinks Trump, too, has been tempered since the campaign.

"Even from a conservative approach, there's compromise being done already on that as we're working through it, working for an alternative," Maassen said.

He might be right  Trump told farmers at a roundtable in May that he would make sure his tough immigration-enforcement policies wouldn't harm the agriculture industry. And despite King's years of inflammatory comments, the congressman hasn't succeeded in enacting many laws that have changed how Maassen goes about his business or his hiring.
NSC informed the public on Wednesday, June 28, 2017, of its plan to auction seized and contraband items through a technology driven process for transparency.

After the end of the 48 hours electronic bidding which started on July 1, 2017, NSC has hinted the public of another bidding round to start on July 10.

This disclosure was made by Mr Joseph Attah, the Public Relation Officer of NCS during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday, July 6, 2017, in Abuja.

Every batch lasts for 48 hours, the first 48 hours lapsed at noon on Wednesday. The system completely locked everybody out, and then presented a report and automatically sent emails to all the winners.

He also said 43 winners emerged at the end of the first batch of the process while stating that the service hopes to increase items for bidding and participation of commercial banks.

The next batch of bidding will begin on Monday, July 10, for another round of 48 hours bidding.

The next batch will be better as other hitches earlier experienced in the first batch would have been addressed. Hopefully, more banks would have been on board by Monday, Mr Attah said.

This shows about 27.8% of the interested were able to make a bid. The challenge was adduced to technical issues with the participating commercial banks.

According to NAN, Some Nigerians interested in participating in the e-auction complained of difficulty in accessing the platform since July 3, when it was inaugurated.
Thanks for signing up for our daily insight on the African economy. We bring you daily editor picks from the best Business Insider news content so you can stay updated on the latest topics and conversations on the African market, leaders, careers and lifestyle. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
"I'm very proud of my daughter, Ivanka," Trump said in a speech aired on CNN, announcing the launch of a new World Bank fund to support female entrepreneurs called the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative.

"She's a champion. If she weren't my daughter it would be so much easier for her," he continued. "Might be the only bad thing she has going."

Ivanka Trump, as an unpaid advisor to the president, has made supporting women-owned businesses one of her top areas of focus. Trump thanked Ivanka for the work she has done on the subject, as well as "all the work you've done over the last few weeks and months to help everybody" in the creation of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative.
By India Today Web Desk: After a gap of five years, Sridevi is back to the silver screen with the revenge thriller Mom. The film, which hit the screens on Friday, has opened to exceptional response from critics and fans. The lead actors- Sridevi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui were highly praised for their stellar performances. As per initial trade reports, Mom witnessed 25 per cent occupancy and raked in Rs 2.90 crore on the first day.

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It must be noted that Sridevi's English Vinglish, which released in 2012, had collected Rs 2.5 crore on its opening day. However, due to positive word of mouth, the film went on to nett Rs 40 crore worldwide. Released in over 1350 screens in India and 456 screens in overseas, Mom is expected to earn more moolah during the weekend.

Mom is the story of Devki (Sridevi), who has a seemingly perfect family, with a loving husband and two daughters. However, all is not well between her and her elder daughter Arya, and an unfortunate incident further drives a wedge between them. It comes to a point where she has to make a choice between what is wrong and very wrong.

Produced by Boney Kapoor, Mom has music by Academy Award-winning composer AR Rahman. Directed by Ravi Udyawar, Mom also stars Adnan Siddiqui, Sajal Ali and Akshaye Khanna in pivotal roles. ALSO READ: Mom Movie Review

ALSO READ: This is how Jhanvi Kapoor reacted after watching mom Sridevi's Mom

ALSO READ: 5 reasons to watch Sridevi's Mom

ALSO WATCH: The Sridevi-Boney Kapoor love story

--- ENDS ---
In the small forest village of Guingouine, in the west of Ivory Coast, Camara runs a team of 10 geologists and labourers who are probing the soil for gold deposits.

She readily wades into a mucky pond to help take laboratory samples.

"When I was a model, I showed off for the jewellers. They have licences in Africa to provide their precious stones," says Camara amid a swarm of gnats, still youthful and trim in her 40s.

She does not recall any macho male resistance to her rise in an industry almost devoid of women, though bemused men have been prompted on occasion to ask whose assistant she might be.

"When it got too much one day, I had to produce my CEO's ID badge!" she protests mildly.

Camara says that modelling for jewellery firms "roused my curiosity. I started to ask myself questions. What if African men or women took charge of business in the mining sector?"

"I'm the answer to that question," declares the entrepreneur, who has been ranked by France's weekly Jeune Afrique among the 50 most influential businesswomen of Francophone Africa.

Inspired to join forces, she and a number of other women last year created an association of Women in the Mining Network of Ivory Coast (Femici by its French acronym), while Camara is also seen as an example to village girls.

'We lack everything'

Camara had to dig deep into savings -- earned on runways for big international fashion labels and jewellery brands and in promoting the wares of luxury design houses -- to launch her Tigui Mining Group in 2010 and acquire two licences to prospect for gold in her homeland.

Then last year she followed up with a mining concession to look for gold in Ivory Coast, which she has turned into "my base in west Africa".

"I'm the owner of a mining company that belongs to me 100 percent," says Tigui's founder, stressing that she is a continental rarity, "apart from South Africa, where there are other women bosses, but mostly in partnerships."

In Guingouine, inhabitants have started to dream of the big changes that could benefit the village if the site proves to be rich in gold and a mine is opened.

"Guingouine means happiness (in the local Yacouba language), but we lack everything," says village chief Alphonse Doh, clad in his traditional blue and white robe.

"The school of six classes is a shed without electricity. Women in labour have to be taken in wheelbarrows 10 kilometres (six miles) to the nearest health centre," Doh explains.

For the chief, opening a mine could transform the lives of thousands of people. Apart from the potential economic gains, he also hopes that Tiguidanke Camara may serve as a successful role model in a region where more than 80 percent of girls are illiterate.

In the meantime, the "mining lady" has encouraged the women of the village to form a cooperative, providing them with agricultural equipment and two solar panels.

"We are very pleased with this cooperation," says Elise Kpan, who runs the Women of Guingouine association. The cooperative has enabled villagers "to place their farming produce on the market easily and to make money".

'Future growth sector'

The mining sector, dominated by the production of manganese (two mines) and gold (five mines) has been growing for a decade in Ivory Coast.

Current activity accounts for five percent of the gross domestic product of the country, which also has diamonds, iron, nickel, bauxite and copper.

Women are poorly represented in Ivorian mining, where they account for just 112 of some 6,000 jobs directly involved in the sector and about 400 of the 30,000 connected secondary jobs.

Concerned women have bonded to improve this state of affairs. The newly launched Femici association pools the resources of women professionals as diverse as geologists, drivers of heavy industrial vehicles, lawyers and environmental specialists.

"Mining activity is a future growth sector that will attract many women," says Christine Logbo-Kossi, director of the Professional Group of Mines in Ivory Coast, the only employers' organisation in the industry, founded in 2008.

"If I flourish in the mining sector, it's because I have benefitted from the welcome that men gave me," Camara says.
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
Taking place from the 9th to the 15th of July in Lagos, the mission of LEAD Camp is to inspire and empower young girls to become high-achieving women leaders.

The LEAD Camp addresses Social Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender equality and empowerment of women and girls. Participants are taken through series of leadership workshops administered by HOD Consulting Inc., and are exposed to and mentored by leading women from the private and public sectors in Nigeria.

To be eligible, beneficiaries must have previously participated in JANs flagship Company Program, which provides training in the different facets of setting up and running a business. As indicated in the name, LEAD Camp will consist of activities in leadership, empowerment, achievement and development.

Mrs. Simi Nwogugu

Mr. Emeka Emuwa, CEO Union Bank, stated, "Developing and grooming young talent is a key focus area for Union Bank especially as we celebrate our 100th anniversary this year with a theme Celebrate, Impact, Lead. The LEAD Camp provides an opportunity for us to nurture and encourage an entrepreneurial mindset in these 50 young women who we hope will be the corporate leaders of tomorrow.

Also speaking about the programme, Mrs. Lola Cardoso, Head Group Corporate Strategy Union Bank said, "Following the success of the 2016 LEAD Camp, we are happy to partner with JAN again to implement LEAD Camp 2017. Considering the calibre of young girls that participate in the LEAD Camp, we developed the One Girl, One Mentor scheme which affords each girl to be mentored by a member of our internal women's network, WEHub, immediately after the program and beyond.

There are several LEAD Camp alumni doing amazing things to make the world a better place. JAN are grateful to Union Bank for continuing to partner with them to make this life-changing impact on their most outstanding girls.
The Sun news reported that the suspect was relocated to an unknown site, stirring up rumours of escape which is hardly uncommon for high profile criminals.

It is feared that Evans, whose kidnapping activities helped him amass great wealth might be able to use his resources to negotiate his freedom.

Yes! The use of bribery for such bid to materialize is not out of the question or being ruled out as a possibility.

The story of another notorious kidnapper, Henry Chibueze a.k.a Vampire, now deceased, brings to recall an instance of meddling by service men who aided the escape of criminals.

Chukwuma Agim, who was attached to the Nigeria Prisons Service, Owerri, Imo State, helped the dead criminal in his plans to escape from prison in February 2016.

Though the police have stated that the removal of Evans, who is feared and respected by other criminals from his Lagos cell is to guard against raising up a gang like Vampire's, the reverse might just be the case.

A police officer who spoke to The Sun News said, Within the short period that he spent in our cell, he is already controlling inmates in the cell.

"They fear and respect him; we do not want to run the risk of allowing him to form another notorious group which is common amongst them."

But this is not a debate concerning the credibility of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

Popular opinion and even history is enough testimony that a flash of substantial cash can earn you your heart desire with NPF officers in most cases, so it will be a wasted effort to bother touching on that.

The concern for security conscious Nigerians, particularly the families of victims that have been dealt with by Evans is that will this man be brought to justice?

Another issue for me personally is the way some police officers commended the kidnap kingpin for his cooperation, almost as if they were idolizing him.

Is he 2Face Idibia or something? Why should Evans' show of remorse suggest sympathy from the police?

We are talking about a man who brought torture to quite a number of people.

Who, if not for his arrest, might still be engaging in his illicit activities of wreaking havoc and fear in the minds of the populace.

Whether he is taken to the abyss of the earth for his protection, the important thing is that Chukwuduneme Onwuamadike be made to serve time in a prison for his crimes.
The Senior Special Assistant to Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje on Social Interventions Programme, Hajiya Aisha Jafar-Yusuf, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Saturday.

Jafar-Yusuf said the state was able to record the success following the establishment of more than 10 registration centres by the State Government, registering applicants free of charge.

She listed the location of the centres as Saadatu Rimi College of Education, Kumbotso, Kano University of Science and Technology (KUST), Wudil, Aminu Kano College of Islamic and Legal Studies, Kano and the Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano, among others.

During the previous N-Power registration, only 23, 000 youths were able to register but with the governments support, more than 60,000 youths have so far registered.

So, we are expecting a great number of applicants this time around, because we have been able to mobilise our youths, the senior special assistant said.

She also said that the home-grown school feeding programme of the federal government would soon commence in the state, as all the necessary arrangements had almost been completed.
Adeosun made this known while speaking on the newly launched Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS).

She said" Many Nigerians have lost assets in the course of trying to conceal them from the authorities. Such losses typically occur in the event of death or an urgent need to liquidate assets when required documentation and proof of ownership cannot be provided.

"The global focus on illicit financial flows is such that global regulations will only become tighter with time, thus this opportunity to regularise ownership of assets should be seized as proper declaration allows assets to be legally and formally held by the true owner.

Those taking advantage of the Scheme by declaring honestly and fully will be free from prosecution and will qualify for forgiveness of penalties and interest.

Explaining in details what the scheme is all about, Adeosun said the scheme is a credible platform put in place for defaulting Nigerian taxpayers to work out a flexible way to pay their outstanding tax liabilities due from them relating to the last six relevant tax years, regularize their tax transactions and obtain genuine tax clearance certificate for all the relevant years without fear of criminal prosecution for tax offences and with the benefit of forgiveness of interest and penalties.

ALSO READ: Tunde Fowler says agency generates N3.30trn revenue

Speaking further, Adeosun said: The Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme is specifically targeted at taxpayers who have not been fully declaring their taxable income/assets; have not been paying the tax due at all; have been underpaying or under remitting; are under a process of tax audits or investigations with the Relevant Tax Authority; are engaged in tax disputes with the Relevant Tax Authority but are prepared to settle the tax dispute out of court; are new taxpayers who are yet to register with the tax authorities; and are existing registered taxpayers who have new disclosures to make.

It does not matter whether the relevant tax default arose from undeclared assets within or outside the country. If tax should have been paid, the Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme is providing a once in a lifetime opportunity to declare the tax outstanding and resolve it definitively.
A statement by the Ministrys Acting Spokesperson, Mrs Jane Adams, expressed dismay on the incident said to have been occasioned by alleged non-payment of taxes on fishing activities.

The ministry has instructed the Nigerian Missions in Yaounde and Buea, to investigate the report with a view to confirming their veracity and inform Headquarters immediately.

The ministry appeals to the Cameroonian authorities to exercise their duty of care and protection over the people of Bakassi, including other Nigerian citizens in the area, the statement said.

A report on Friday had stated that no fewer than 97 Nigerians were killed when Cameroon Gendarmes allegedly attacked residents of Bakassi over failure to pay a N100,000 boat levy.

The report stated that the attackers sacked mainly Nigerians from Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Ondo state.

Many others were however said to have escaped at midnight with their fishing boats and arrived at Ikang in Bakassi and Ibaka in Akwa Ibom.

ALSO READ:Bakassi Strike Force lay down arms

The killing and sacking of Nigerians in former Bakassi is believed to be a violation of the 2005 Green Tree Agreement (GTA) by the Nigeria-Cameroon Mixed Commission.

The Agreement stipulated that the Bakassi returnees must be properly resettled to their natural habitat so that they can have a meaningful living.
Sushil Modi has attacked Nitish Kumar for his studied silence over the CBI raids conducted at RJD boss Lalu Prasad's house on Saturday.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: BJP leader Sushil Modi has attacked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his studied silence over the CBI raids conducted at RJD boss Lalu Prasad's house on Saturday. The raids were a fallout of FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) against Lalu, wife Rabri Devi and son, deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav.

Modi questioned the chief minister's silence on Tejaswi Yadav's future after lodging of FIR.

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"Nitish himself and his party spokespersons are all silent. He is in Rajgir at the moment and I am expecting that once he returns, he will sack Tejaswi from his cabinet," said Sushil Modi, senior BJP leader.

Citing the examples of how Nitish in the past has taken resignation of Jitan Ram Manjhi, Ram Nandan Singh, Awdhesh Kushwaha, Jamshed Ashraf and Ramadhar Singh -- all ministers in his cabinet in his first two tenure as CM, once corruption charges were leveled against them, Modi said it was the "agni pariksha" for the Bihar CM in the case of Tejaswi.

" After becoming Bihar CM, Nitish has sacked ministers on charges of corruption. He lost no time in doing so. When Nitish can take resignation from Ministers, what is holding him back from taking Tejaswi's resignation? Its agni-pariksha for the Chief Minister now," commented the former deputy CM.

Meanwhile, the security cover of Modi has been heightened after CBI raids took place at Lalu's residence. Though, he maintained that he did not require any extra security cover, he has been provided one after reviewing the threat perception on him.

"When I was not afraid of Lalu in 1996 when I exposed the fodder scam, times have changed now. Lalu is much weaker person now. I do not need security for myself," said Sushil Modi.

ALSO READ:

Despite CBI, ED raids and corruption taint, Nitish Kumar unlikely to break ties with Lalu Prasad Yadav

After CBI raids on Lalu Prasad Yadav, ED searches farms of Misa Bharti, husband Shailesh in Delhi

--- ENDS ---
You will recall that constituents from Melayes constituency petitioned INEC to start the process of his recall.

According to Daily Post, INEC said the process will begin on Monday, July 10, 2017.

Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, in a ruling on Melayes ex-parte motion, asked all parties concerned to maintain status-quo.

Reports say a top INEC official said As at the close of work, we were not served any order, ruling or a process from the Federal High Court.

Even if we had received any order from the court, our legal unit will still advise us on what the status quo means. We cannot act in vacuum.
According to Daily Post, the acting EFCC boss said this in Kano state while speaking at a stakeholders meeting.

Magu told participants at the meeting that President Buhari and Acting President Yemi Osinbajo are behind the fight against corruption.

He said Corruption is a threat to the unity of this country and we must fight, despite the stumblingly blocks.

Agitations of restructuring the nation, Biafra and even Boko Haram are being financed by looters of the country.

The looters are ready to continue sponsoring all these violence against the state just to create confusion to distract attention against them. But that will not succeed.

I can assure you that the President and the Vice President are committed to the fight against corruption and we have this political will in our leaders. We would not be deterred; we will continue fighting the war against corruption in this country.

Again, those looting our wealth in this country are not more than 10,000 people and I dont think there is any way the will of these people will prevail upon over the 150 million people of Nigeria.
The activists repeated the call at the 19 anniversary of the death of Abiola, at a programme organised by Women Arise for Change Initiative (WA), held at his graveside in Ikeja.

They also urged the government to give the late business mogul and politician a post-humous recognition as the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election.

Many regard the election as the freest and fairest presidential election in the history of Nigeria.

Abiola, after the annulment of the election by the military regime of President Ibrahim Babangida, insisted on his mandate and declared himself president a year later, leading to his arrest by the then military government of the late Gen. Sani Abacha.

He died four years later in custody on the verge of being released by Abachas successor, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar.

Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, President of WA, said 19 years after his death, Nigerians want his post-humous recognition as president of Nigeria for his portrait to be displayed among past Nigerian presidents and Heads of State.

We also demand the gazette of June 12 election results as belatedly declared by .

We demand the incumbent administration to immediately consider the immortalization of Abiola by renaming a key national Institution or infrastructure in his name.

We demand a judicial commission of inquiry to unravel how the high treason was carried out in custody.

Finally, we demand the immediate restructuring of Nigeria into proper federation to douse the agitations that have engulfed the country following the escalation of the nationality question occasioned by the annulment, Okei-Odumakin said.

A former military governor of Imo and Lagos States, Rear Adm. Ndubuisi Kanu (rtd), also called for the immortalization of Abiola and the restructuring of Nigeria into a proper federation.

Let us all know that 19 years after, Abiolas spirit still lives and is very active; Abiola should be immortalized, Kanu said.

Abdulmumini Abiola, the youngest son of Abiola, urged Nigerians to take their destiny in their hands.

My father tried his best and today here he is lying dead; why do we continue to listen to the people that put us in this state that we are right now?

Nineteen years after my fathers death, they are not better off. We need a paradigm change in this country and that is why we must take our destiny into our hands, he said.

Mr Emeka Ugoji, President concerned Nigeria and Professional Forum, described Abiola as an entrepreneur with a social conscience.

Abiola was an entrepreneur with a social conscience; 19 years after, we remember that he was the greatest entrepreneur Nigeria ever produced. Other entrepreneurs should emulate him, Ugoji said.

Other speakers at the event include Mr Rasheed Owonifari, Head of Finance and Administration for Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND) and Mr Abdul Usman Bako, President Campaign for Democracy.

NAN recalls that former President Goodluck Jonathan, while in office had in 2012 renamed the University of Lagos after Abiola, but the change was met with protests by the students and alumni of the institution.
AVM Sale Shinkafi, Chief Medical Officer, Nigeria Air Force, made the disclosure at the inauguration of the exercise at NAF medical centre in Maiduguri.

He explained that patients were drawn from Dalori and Bama IDPs camps, adding that the exercise was part of the NAF medical interventions designed to alleviate the surgical condition of IDPs in Borno.

About 100 IDPs with special cases are selected each from three camps to benefit from the exercise.

This is part of a comprehensive intervention toward improving the health status of the IDPs.

Shinkafi listed some of the ailments to include cataract, eye impaired vision and hernia.

According to him, the NAF had conducted extended medical outreach to Maiduguri, Banki, Gwoza, Benisheik, Mainok and Jakana since 2015.

Shinkafi said that service had also establish and equip two clinics at Dalori and Bama IDPs camps, adding that the clinics have modern gadgets, laboratories, wards, antenatal, dental and eye care centres.

The chief medical officer disclosed that some 150 eye surgeries were conducted in Maiduguri in 2016 while over 35, 000 IDPs received free medical treatment in the area in the past two years.

ALSO READ:Suicide bomber killed at IDP transit camp

More than 10, 000 IDPs were also treated at the NAF emergency centre in Bama.

We are also providing psycho-social therapy to traumatized IDPs and cancer screening services, he said.
He said Kanu has decided to hold Nigeria hostage, adding that he will be reported to the International Court of Justice.

Shettima said We will go as far to ensure that we take him to the international court of justice. We will internationalise his case and ensure that this young man is declared a terrorist. He cant be allowed to go just like that.

To us, we are seeing what he is doing as a business venture. So, as far as we are concerned, a country should not be run as a banana republic where somebody can do anything and get away with it, without respect for the rule of law.

ALSO READ: How Nnamdi Kanu became the new face of Biafra

He also commended Ohanaeze Nidi-Igbo for openly condemning Kanus actions and utterances.

Shettima also said What the Ohanaeze and other organisations that came out to denounce the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are doing is commendable.

We are also reviewing our own situation. We are going to have a meeting soon with other leaders of the coalition and come out with a clear position of things and what we intend to do in order to move forward.
Osinbajo made the pledge when the leadership of the ECONEC led by its president, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, visited him in the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Friday.

It is one of those initiatives that we should be proud of and must support, and I can assure you that the government of Nigeria will fully support your efforts.

In the past, as you pointed out Prof, we have supported several of our brothers in the sub-region and we intend to continue to do so because we believe in the fundamental principles of free elections.

And we believe that the only way to ensure stability in society is to ensure that people have a right to elect their leadership but not just a right on paper but a right in practice.

And the only way by which that right can be manifested in practice is by free and fair elections," he said.

He congratulated Mahmud Yakubu on his election as ECONEC President and thanked all members of the network for giving (Yakubu) him the opportunity to serve them.

Osinbajo also thanked the members for giving Nigeria the honour to host the secretariat of the ECONEC permanently.

He said: you said it was unanimous and Im glad to know it was unanimous because who would have been able to resolve the electoral conflict.

Again, I must congratulate you and thank all of the members of the network for giving Prof. Yakubu an opportunity to serve and thank you for giving Nigeria the honour to host the secretariat of the ECONEC permanently.

We promise (to provide) all the support that will be required by the secretariat and will be required by the officials of the Secretariat.

The acting president expressed the hope that the ECONEC would be able to bequeath to coming generations strong nations that would be led by the rule of law and democratic principles.

According to him, this is the only way African countries can be stable as well as assure generations yet unborn of stability and progress and abundance in the sub-region.

In his remarks, Yakubu, who narrated the history of ECONEC, said the sub-regional electoral body was formed to ensure the conduct of free, fair and peaceful elections through exchange and sharing of ideas and experience.

The purpose is to come together and assist one another in the areas of experience sharing, peer review and any other support that we can render in ensuring credible elections.

At the moment and the first time in the history of the sub-region, all 15 countries in ECOWAS are democracies.

Gone are the days in some countries you had one government in the capital another in the bush. All the governments are in the capital now.

So, this is a great moment for us.

And in the last one year or one and a half, we have had violence free, successful elections in the Niger Republic, Benin Republic, the Gambia, Ghana and the Republic of Cape Verde and the results were accepted and celebrated.

The ECONEC President added that Senegal also conducted a successful constitutional referendum while parliamentary and local elections were also conducted successfully.

He announced that ECONEC Steering Committee would soon undertake needs assessment visits to Liberia and Sierra Leone where elections would be held on Oct. 10 and March 2018 respectively.

For Liberia and Sierra Leone, Your Excellency, these are countries that have emerged not too long ago from very unhappy developments.

And it is very good that now that we have all democracies, we should come together to see how we can assist and ensure free and fair credible elections within the sub-region.

Our belief, (Your Excellency) is that it is better to deploy ECONEC than to come back to you later to deploy ECOMOG.

So, this weekend, we will leave for Sierra Leone and Liberia, he said.

Yakubu stated that the outcome of their missions to Liberia and Sierra Leone would be communicated to the ECOWAS Commission.
Fayose said this with speaking at the 13th convocation lecture at the Benson Idahosa University in Benin, Edo state.

The Governor said I am the man to watch in this generation. So, I am controversial because I am doing things other men like me cannot do. They are scared. They are afraid; they dont have courage.

What I am saying to you is that controversy is necessary for democracy. We must have our voice.

I am not an APC member and I will never be. But remember the fact that our leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a courageous man in his own right, our leader in Yoruba land, forget about politics, if they give Asiwaju appointment, he will give a Yoruba man. Whether he is in the APC does not matter.

And I came out strongly; I defended him. I am not defending politics. I am defending the truth. Our politics must have where we would stop it and say the truth as may be necessary.

Some people chose to be under the table; they dont want to die. They are afraid.

But remember that the Bible says that those who want to gain their life will lose it and those that lose their life will gain it.

My strength lies in God Almighty. If you put me inside running water, the water will become still. If you put me the den of lions, the teeth, the claws will go inside; you can find that in the Bible too," he added.

ALSO READ: FG plotting to arrest Fayose for treason

Quoting Joshua 1:6-7, 9 and 17, Fayose said: I draw my power from those things (Bible passages). When I wake up, I lie down in my bathroom and say.

Lord, many are the afflictions of the righteous. But the Lord God will deliver him from them all."

Lord, many are the afflictions of the righteous. But the Lord God will deliver him from them all, he added.
This was made known in a statement by Boade Akinola, Director, Media and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health, on Friday in Abuja.

Akino last said the suspension was a result of various allegations and petitions against him.

The Minister also directed the setting up of an investigative committee to look into the various allegations in accordance with the Public Service Rules.

Akinola said the suspension was also to allow for an uninterrupted investigation.

He said that Yusuf was directed to hand over to the next most senior General Manager in the agency.
The Governor said this while delivering a convocation lecture at the Benson Idahosa University (BIU) in Benin-City, Edo state.

According to The Sun, Fayose, described himself as a controversial figure, adding that he does things that most people are scared to do.

The Governor also said that he will ensure that nobody above the age of 50 will become a council chairman under his watch.

He said You can only give your best at your best. Our president is at diminishing returns as at today. I should be quoted.

We cannot all sleep and face one direction. Idahosa did not do these things when he was close to his grave; he did them at his prime when he had the energy to make a difference.

How do you give laptop or ipad to seventy-something years man? How can we continue to struggle with our sons for positions meant for them?
In separate messages, Pakistan Army chief Qamar Bajwa and PM Nawaz Sharif hailed Burhan Wani, killed on this day last year, and said that India must accept the right of self-determination of Kashmiris.

By India Today Web Desk: Pakistan today used the death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani to raise the Kashmir issue and slam 'Indian atrocities' in the state.

Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that Kashmiris have a right to self-determination and that Burhan Wani had made a sacrifice that is "testimony" of his and his generation's "resolve" against "Indian atrocities."

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"Kashmiris hv (have) rt (right) of self determination.Sacrifices of #BurhanWani & generations agst (against) Indian atrocities are a testimony of their resolve," Bajwa was quoted as saying as Major General Asif Ghafoor, the spokesperson for Pakistan's military.

Burhan Wani, a dreaded Hizbul Mujahideen commander who had become a poster boy for the militant group, was killed on this day last year by security forces in Kashmir's Anantnag. His killing led to months-long chaos and violence in which dozens of civilians were killed in clashes with security forces.

Not just Bajwa, even Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif commented on Wani, saying in a message that "the blood rendered by Burhan Muzaffar Wani has infused a new spirit in the freedom movement."

Sharif said Wani's "martyrdom" is a "is a testimony of the fact that Kashmiris have completely rejected the Indian occupation."

The Pakistani PM went on to reiterate Pakistan's stand that India must accept the "right of self-determination of Kashmiris" and reaffirmed his country's political, diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris for their right to self-determination.

General Bajwa's statement raising Kashmir on Wani's death anniversary is not the first time Pakistan has slammed India while commenting on incidents in Kashmir.

In May this year, the Pakistan foreign office commented on the death of Sabzar Bhat, Wani's successor who was killed in an encounter with security forces in Kashmir's Tral on May 27, and called Bhat a "martyr".

The foreign office used Bhat's death to say that India was killing "defenceless Kashmiris". In their desperation to hide the reality of the indigenous uprising of young Kashmiris, including by tens of thousands of girls and boys, India is trying to equate it with terrorism," the statement had said.

ALSO READ | On Burhan Wani's first death anniversary, his father appeals for peace in Valley

ALSO WATCH | Audio of Burhan Wani's conversation with Hafiz Saeed emerges

--- ENDS ---
Yakubu gave the advice at the swearing-in of 14 new RECs at INEC headquarters on Friday in Abuja.

He said that as election managers, their credibility depended on their openness and transparency, which must be borne out of courage to strictly adhere to the provisions of the law and other guidelines.

He urged them to use their appointments, coming barely 19 months to 2019 general elections, to demonstrate that the success of 2015 election was not a fluke but a systematic progression in the maturity of Nigerias democracy.

Yakubu said that INECs commitment to Nigerians was to make the 2019 general elections better than previous elections, and assured that it was achievable.

As Resident Electoral Commissioners, you will be posted to the states. Bear in mind that you can be posted to any part of the country but none of you will serve in his state of origin.

You will be responsible for managing personnel, processes and resources in your states of posting.

You will also interact with partisan actors. Some of them will like to forge an unsavoury relationship with you and your staff. You must resist such overtures.

Always bear in mind that INEC is not a political party. INEC has no candidate in any election.

You must demonstrate transparency, impartiality, courage and balanced interaction with all stakeholders, he stated.

He charged them to be conversant with existing electoral legal framework, the commissions plan and procedures, especially the Strategic Plan, the Election Project Plan and Communication Plan.

Where you are in doubt seek guidance or clarification from the commission either by directly liaising with the headquarters or through the quarterly consultative meetings between the headquarters and the states.

You will be held responsible for what transpires in your states of posting, ranging from the discipline of staff to the prudent management of resources.

Responding on behalf of the new RECs, Prof. Godwill Obioma commended the Federal Government, the National Assembly and INEC for given them the grace to serve the country.

Obioma said that they were aware of their responsibilities and pledged to serve in accordance to the set rules and regulations, adding that above all, we will serve with the spirit of commitment and integrity.

The new RECs are Hussaini Pai (FCT), Godwill Obioma (Abia), James Apam (Benue), Nwachukwu Orji (Ebonyi), Iloh Chuks (Enugu), Nentawe Yilwatda (Plateau), Umar Ibrahim (Taraba) and Emeka Joseph (Imo).
Adeleke said this while casting his vote at Unit 9 Ward 2 at Sagba- Abogunde area of Ede, around 8:35am, Punch reports.

Reports say that many voters defied the rains to cast their votes for their preferred candidate.

According to Adeleke, There was rain this morning and that rain is a shower of blessing.

The process is going on well and I am very optimistic that with God on my side, I shall be victorious .
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PDP faction in the state, led by Mr Moshood Salvador, had announced its alliance with LP for the poll.

Salvador had said that the alliance was a temporary arrangement to enable the factions candidates to participate in the election, as it was not recognised by the Lagos State Electoral Commission (LASEIC) for the poll.

LASIEC recognised Mr Segun Adewale, who is loyal to the Ali-Modu Sheriff leadership of the party, as state chairman based on the Appeal Court judgment affirming Sheriff as National Chairman of PDP.

However, the uneasy calm the purported alliance had generated in the Labour Party has reared its ugly head as the party secretary in the state, Mr Bolaji Oshinowo, says its Acting Chairman, Mr Abiodun Popoola, has been removed over the issue.

Oshinowo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Saturday that Popoola was removed at the partys congress on Friday after a resolution by all members.

He said party members did not sanction the anti-party alliance Popoola entered with the PDP faction hence, his removal at the congress and replacement with Mr Femi Enofe.

Oshinowo said Popoola had portrayed the party in bad light and put its participation in the polls in jeopardy with the purported alliance.

Yes, the party has removed Mr Popoola as the acting Chairman of the party in the state.

Popoola was removed at a special congress attended by all the party Chairmen in the state on Friday for a number of infractions in line with Article, 18,and 20(2a) ,(3)of the partys constitution.

Chief among the infractions was the anti-party activities of Popoola with his open collision with members of the Makarfi-faction to shut our members out of the council polls by lining up card carrying members of the faction as candidates of our party against the constitution.

He was also removed for being high handed, open ridiculing and humiliation of our members and fragrant violations of the partys constitution, he said.

The Party secretary said letters of Popoolas removal has been sent to the National Leadership of the party in Abuja.

Reacting, Popoola described his alleged removal as a ruse.

He said the congress as constituted by Oshinowo and others did not have the power to remove him as Acting Chairman, but he would not make further comments until the national leadership of the party made pronouncements on the issue.

Popoola said his concentration now was on how to ensure the party performed well at the election and not distraction

What removal are they talking about? The constitution is clear about issues like this. They did not have that power.

However, I will not make further comments on the issue until the national leadership makes pronouncements. I refer you to seek clarification on the issue from the national leadership he said.

Meanwhile, Adewale has condemned the purported alliance between the Salvador-led group and Labour Party.

Adewale, who condemned the pact at a news conference on Thursday, described the action by Salvador as anti-party.

He made a clarification that the PDP was not divided in the state and that the party had no alliance with Labour for the polls.

Adewale urged the electorate to vote only the PDP for the council election and ignore whatever anybody was saying about an alliance with the party.
According to Premium Times, the police said the hoodlums attacked voters with machetes at Igbokiti unit, ward 10, Okinni at Egbedore Local Government Area.

Speaking to newsmen, the Osun state Commissioner of Police, Fimihan Adeoye confirmed the incident and announced that it has been contained.

Adeoye also said that his men are prepared to deal with any person or group that plans to disrupt the election.

The Osun police boss said It is true we arrested three suspected thugs in Egbedore and their case is currently under investigation.

With our vigilance and commitment to ensure peaceful conduct of the exercise, we are very happy that there is peace and there is no significant case and we will sustain the peace and effective security till the end and even after the entire electoral process.
NAN correspondents monitoring the election across the 10 concerned local governments report that the exercise was being conducted in an orderly and peaceful manner.

NAN reports that in Ede South and North Local Government Areas, INEC ad hoc staff arrived before 8 am while the process commenced on schedule.

The National Conscience Party (NCP) agent at Alajue 1, Ward 4, Unit 10, Mr Abdullai Adewale, commended INEC for arriving at the polling unit on time.

Adewale said the process had been peaceful and smooth.

 For now, the process is free and fair and I hope it will continue till the end of the day.

At Abogunde Unit 9, Ward 2 in Ede North Local Government Area, where the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Ademola Adeleke, voted at 8.34 am, accreditation and voting also commenced on a peaceful note.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) agent at the polling unit, Murano Taofeek, who spoke to NAN, said the electoral process was free and fair.

The PDP agent, Bikenny Akanji, also described the process as smooth.

NAN also reports that the turn out of the electorate was impressive in some of the polling units visited.

Voters in Odeomu, Ayedade Local Government, also turned out for accreditation and voting.

At Polling unit 16, Ward five, the INEC presiding officer, Ms Precious Agbor, said the card reader machines were working well.

Agbor said the electoral process was going on smoothly, adding that no incident of violence had been recorded.

The agent of the APC, Isa Jimoh, and his PDP counterpart, Muhamed Abdulmaleek, confirmed that the process had been smooth.

Two police officers and one NSCDC officer were seen some metres away monitoring the exercise.

Security was also beefed up on major roads in the affected local government areas where the election was taking place.

The election did not affect Osogbo, the state capital, and shops as well as markets were open for business activities.

The election was prompted by the death of Sen. Isiaka Adeleke, who was representing the district at the Senate on April 23.

Although 12 political parties are contesting in the bye- election, the two major contenders are the PDP and APC.
With maybe a broad smile on her face and a spring in her steps.

She would emerge from the national assembly complex, a bag of tears.

And according to her, it was all Speaker Yakubu Dogaras fault.

Actually, according to a friend of hers who accompanied Mato to the three arms zone, Dogara is as unreasonable as they come.

We all came in anticipation of the swearing-in, but they kept dilly-dallying, said Maureen Acka, a Benue State lawmaker who took questions from the media on Matos behalf, because Mato was choking in too much tears to speak for herself.

They asked us to wait that they were coming and we all waited patiently, only for them to come out and nothing happened. Papers have been filled, and she has done all the things required of her. This is really strange I just pray and hope that this is not some kind of a game because it will not be right. We know the law.

Im a member of the APC. I was in ACN before she (Mato) is an honourable person

On June 23, 2017, the supreme court declared Mato the legitimate winner of the Vandikwa/Konshisha parliamentary election which held two years prior.

By handing the Benue legislative seat to Mato, the supreme court was sacking Herman Hembe who has been representing his constituency like forever.

The apex court also ordered Hembe to refund all salaries and allowances he has accumulated as a lawmaker in a span of two years.

It was on the strength of this verdict that Mato and her friend marched to the national assembly on a sun drenched Abuja afternoon.

ALSO READ:

Disappointed and dejected, they accused the speaker of snubbing Mato only because shes a lady.

This issue of womens gender equality, empowerment and all of that, you intimidate us but we survived. We managed to swim across, when we swam, we got victory at the court, you now want to shove us back to drown? asked Acka.

We have come to the right quarters where victory is to be sealed We are trusting that the Speaker and every other person involved will do the right thing. What is the problem here today? There is no tangible reason that has been given.

Spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Abdulrazak Namdas, denied that the Speaker, in snubbing Mato, was playing the gender card.

Its not true that the speaker has refused to swear her in because she is a woman, offered Namdas.

A colleague of mine from Adamawa State lost his seat after a court of appeal ruling. He was replaced by a woman named Talatu, she was sworn in immediately.

So, you can see it is not an issue of gender bias. I know, as a matter of fact, that if there is any pronouncement by the court, there are also some processes you have to undergo in the house before you are sworn in.

Im not aware that that has been done. I have to look at it well. If all the necessary things have been done, I dont think there is any reason that she will not be sworn in.

Its been 48 hours since Mato and her friend broke down in tears on the steps of the national assembly. In that time, theres been no reasonable explanation from the Speaker or his office.

If Namdas says Mato has to go through some processes to be sworn in, what in Gods name, are those processes? What does the law say about swearing-in?

The public needs to know and Dogara should speak up.

To make a grown ass woman cry without an explanation that makes sense, was really tactless from the leadership of the House of Representatives.
It is a happy time for the students of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) as the Senate finally grants their wishes to participate in National Youth Service Corps scheme and Law School programs.

The NOUN graduates, who have not been participating in these national programs since the establishment of their school now have the opportunity to serve their fatherland through NYSC schemes.

The non-accommodation of NOUN graduates in the Law School and NYSC programs is one of the reasons many consider the school and its students inferior to their counterparts in the conventional universities.

This is because the law that first established the university in 1982 made it an Open and Distance Learning institution and as such the university graduates are disqualified from participating in the one year National Youth Service Corps Scheme.

A lot of Nigerians believe the open university is only open to those who want to juggle livelihood and university education, even though the institution was envisioned to deliver university education to the door steps of every interested Nigerian.

This belief is given more credence as the motto of the university, which is "work and learn" strongly suggests the institution is established for the gainfully employed who wish to have a degree certificate.

However, a lot of secondary school leavers who have repeatedly failed to gain admission into the conventional universities have run to the open arms of NOUN for university education.

That makes NOUN a suitable school not only for working people but also for admission seekers who have tried and are tired of writing the Joint Admission and Matriculation Examinations.

Often time, the mode of operation of this university and the disqualification of its graduates from National graduate compulsory programs have caused a lot of disparities between NOUN graduates and their counterparts in other universities.

An average undergraduate of a federal, state and private university in Nigeria believes NOUN students are inferior to those in other universities because they are viewed as part-time students who would never have the privilege of serving their fatherland in NYSC kits.

This disparity is further accentuated by employers.

One of the criteria for landing a job in Nigeria is to have an NYSC certificate, which the Open University graduates through the Act that established their school are denied.

This seems to make the NOUN graduate less-qualified for any job even though they are qualified in other areas.

ALSO READ: NOUN Law students petition NJC over Law School

This discrimination continued for everyone who has his education and degree in the National Open University until Thursday, June 6, when the Senate made effort to put an end to the discrimination and declared NOUN graduates worthy of NYSC and Law School programs.

Following an amendment to the act establishing the National Open University of Nigeria, (NOUN) the Senate approved Law school and NYSC scheme for the university graduates .

Expectedly, the beneficiaries of the lawmakers' decisions -students of the university- have been reacting to what most of them believe is a good news.

Pulse reached out to some of the students to seek their reactions to the development and it is not surprising that everyone seems to be enthusiastic about the news.

The coordinator of HORLLERCH, a NOUN accredited tutorial centre, Abdur-Rasheed Sulaimon said the news is a good thing for the school and the undergraduates.

"It is a nice development, a very interesting one as well. This is an awaiting development by the student and the public right now. Majority of the students who are still within NYSC eligibility age can now sleep and rest very well and with this, the institute will get more recognition in the labour market"

Sulaimon who is also a graduate of the school believes that the development would add more values to the university.

"'As we know, a working class who enrols in an institution needs the certificate either to improve himself or upgrade his position in office. So, all student are very happy (about the news) because it adds to the value of their institute"'.

Elizabeth Joseph, a 300L student of the school said she was expecting the development.

''I am not surprised because I know they have no choice than to approve it. Since it is applicable to other institutions, why not NOUN" she quarried.

Another student of the school, simply identified as M. Bello said "It is an addition for those who appreciate the idea of NYSC"

She said further, "to an extent, I want to believe that apart from serving the country, NYSC certificate has become a means of gaining employment, which has become an avid requirement. This means that NOUN students have the same opportunities as those from other universities. This also extends the hand of equality with other Tertiary Institutions as in many cases, NOUN certificates are considered "Inferior" compared to other tertiary institutions".

However, while many NOUN students are excited to serve the nation under the sun or in the rain as NYSC wants them to, a 300L student, Jeff Ani, whose views about the development represent the gainfully employed students of the University thinks going for NYSC for a whole year is a waste of time.

"As an Entrepreneurship & Business Management student and a business owner, I think my time would be better utilised".

Speaking on the importance of NYSC, Ani believes the scheme has lost its relevance.

"Who NYSC don epp?, In my opinion, it has since lost its purpose given the corruption that has seeped into the process, to those to whom it is good for, good for them. As for me and others like myself, we'll pass. Ani said.

ALSO READ: Prison Inmate to enroll for Ph.D in NOUN

However, the report of the committee which eventually led to the Senate approval of NYSC and Law School programs for NOUN graduates states that the move was meant to bring the institution at par with the regular universities in the country.

The committee chaired by Senator Jibrin Barau also submitted that the objective of the bill was first to amend the existing legislation with a view to removing the perception of the public that the school is not a full-time university.

The second objective as stated in the report was to include Information and Communication Technology as another means of providing tuition towards the advancement of learning throughout Nigeria since NOUN as currently run, depends critically on virtual learning and students individual research.

While the bulk of the students of NOUN see the good side of their qualification for NYSC and Law school, others like Ani believe the Law School program is good for Law graduates while the NYSC scheme is a share waste of everybody's time.

The Senate has ostensibly answered the prayers of the greater percentage of the students of the open university, especially those who chose NOUN out of admission frustration.

Since the open university is no longer for the work and learn clique, who are above the NYSC required age, it only makes sense to allow the young NOUN graduates to have NYSC experience provided the scheme still has the feel it was known for when the seven-over-seven kit used to be a uniform of pride.
"They never surrender," said General Abdel Ghani al-Assadi, a commander in Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service.

"Old Mosul will be their graveyard."

It was in Mosul in July 2014 that IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only public appearance, to urge Muslims worldwide to move to his "caliphate", proclaimed less than a week earlier, straddling Iraq and Syria.

Thousands of foreigners responded to his call.

According to Iraqi police and army commanders, most of the foreign IS fighters still in Mosul in recent months came from Russia, particularly Chechnya, and other former Soviet bloc countries, as well as various Arab states.

Then come Muslims from Asia -- Afghans, Pakistanis, Uighurs from China -- as well as Europeans from France, Germany, Belgium and Britain, along with Americans, the same sources said.

They are also believed to include a few dozen jihadists from other French-speaking countries.

"Most of them come from countries such as Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia," said General Abbas al-Jabouri, a commander of the police Rapid Response force.

Pale, hungry civilians who managed to escape from the Old City described the foreign fighters as cruel men who detained them in houses, many of which were bombed out.

Iraqi jihadists flee

When Iraqi forces launched an assault on the Old City on June 18, foreigners accounted for only 20 percent of the 1,200 jihadists identified at the time, according to army officers.

But most Iraqi jihadists have fled by mingling in with the flood of civilians fleeing the Old City.

The army says many were arrested, but officers privately estimate that several hundred were able to slip through the cracks.

Foreigners though would be "arrested immediately" during exit screening, says Lieutenant Colonel Haider Hussein, instantly recognisable because of their poor grasp of Iraqi Arabic.

An Iraqi officer is more blunt: "When we see them, we kill them".

In May, the Wall Street Journal reported that France had asked Iraq to hunt down and eliminate 27 French jihadists in Mosul to prevent them returning to Europe.

France, as well as the Iraqi commanders, denied the existence of such a list.

But Assadi said: "All IS fighters who do not surrender must be killed, whatever their nationality."

According to several Iraqi officers, Western intelligence services take DNA samples from the bodies of jihadists.

At the beginning of the battle, eight months ago, the jihadists preferred ambushes, snipers and car bombs. Then, in the narrow streets of the Old City, they sent more and more suicide bombers.

In the last areas where they are now entrenched, sometimes with their families, "they wait in the houses, and when our forces enter, they open fire or blow themselves up," said Hussein.
Kids can learn to swim this summer at BHC

The next session of Swim School for youths ages 4-15 begins July 17 at Black Hawk College in Moline.

Daily summer classes meet Monday-Thursday for two weeks. Choose from 9:15 to 10 a.m., 10:15 to 11 a.m., 11:15 a.m. to noon, 4:15 to 5 p.m. or 5:15 to 6 p.m. Cost is $60.

To register, call 309-796-5601. For more information, visit bhc.edu/swim.

Youth can learn horsemanship skills at BHC this summer

Calling all riders ages 10-18: Black Hawk College is offering two, full-day horsemanship classes at the East Campus near Kewanee.

The Youth Western Horsemanship School is for youths who want to gain skills in horsemanship, showmanship, trail and the fundamentals of reining.

Students will work with their own horse under the supervision of BHC equine instructor Rebekah Irish, a former Intercollegiate Horse Show Association national champion.

Choose either July 15 or Aug. 12 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost is $95 per day and includes a stall, two bags of shavings, the use of a wheelbarrow and pitchfork and lunch.

To register, call BHC Professional and Continuing Education at 309-796-8223.

Take beginner computer classes in EM, RI

Black Hawk College has beginner computer classes in East Moline and Rock Island.

Coming up at the colleges Adult Learning Center in Rock Island is Getting Started with Your Computer Workshop (Windows 7) on July 31 from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Cost is $49.

Coming up at the colleges Outreach Center in East Moline is Computer Basics (Windows 10) on Thursdays, Aug. 3-24, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Cost is $85.

For class details, visit bhc.edu/computers.

To register, call 309-796-8223.

Register now for fall BHC classes

Registration for fall classes is underway at Black Hawk College. Classes begin Aug. 21.

The fall class schedule is available at bhc.edu/schedules.

New students are encouraged to work in person with a Black Hawk College advisor.

For more information, call 309-796-5300.
The report says that among the national parties, the BJP collected the maximum funds amounting to Rs 131.72 crore.

By Arindam De: Association for Democratic Reforms has come up with a report that says that political parties spent more money than they collected during assembly elections in five states last year, spending more than Rs 573 crore although they had raised only Rs 355 crore.

National parties collected almost Rs 288 crore and spend just over Rs 188 crore during 2016 and for the same period regional parties collected just over Rs 67 crore while they spend almost Rs 214 crore! While national parties have some cash carried over, the regional ones had an overdraft of Rs 147 crore .

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Incidentally, the report says that among the national parties, BJP collected the maximum funds amounting to Rs 131.72 crore, Congress collected more than Rs 94 crore. Among the regional parties , SP collected the maximum funds, while BSP collected no funds!

CASH LIMIT SLASHED

The Finance Minister is aware of the poll funding demon. He slashed the cash limit to political parties to the tenth of the earlier limit of Rs 20,000. He had also announced the introduction of electoral bonds in his Budget speech. He said that next up on the government's agenda is a clean up of political funding.

The Election Commission has always spoken about transparency in poll fundings and in June 2017 EC had written to the Law ministry, listing its objection to the amendments in the Representation of the People Act and the Companies Act, which exempt political parties from disclosing donations received via electoral bonds and removing the cap on corporate contribution to political parties.

The main concern of the EC was that such amendments could lead to the possibility of shell companies being set up simply to 'fund' political parties.

When clarity is the buzzword, political parties should take it upon themselves to ensure transparency in political funding. If you want to project an idea of a truly transforming India that would be one key step.

The sad fact is that even political parties who came to power on the plank of non-corruptibility have turned out to be just like the old order. The voter, who is more connected and keyed in today than ever before feels cheated.

The idea of state funding of polls may have its time - but not today, not here. It must be understood that political parties with shady practices cannot provide clean government or governance. Bringing political parties under the ambit of the RTI might be a good place to start.

ALSO READ: EC speaking in two voices over use of VVPAT in Gujarat elections

Supreme Court warns of intervention if law for Election Commission appointments is not made

ALSO WATCH: Former CEC also said AAP the most transparent party: Party leader Sanjay Singh tries to row in troubled waters

--- ENDS ---

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The Punjab Police has booked five and arrested one person for sedition, criminal conspiracy and promoting enmity over hoardings of 2020 referendum on Punjab's independence from the Indian State.

By Manjeet Sehgal: Mohali Police arrested one out of five persons booked for sedition, promoting enmity and criminal conspiracy after provocative hoarding demanding a referendum for Khalistan surfaced at 40 locations in Punjab last week.

The arrested person has been identified as Gurpreet Singh, who owns a printing press and is a resident of phase 5, industrial area in Mohali.

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The co-accused are Khalistani activists of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Jagdeep Singh and Jagjeet Singh from New York.

The fifth accused- Harpunit Singh is from Jammu's Nanak Nagar.

All have been booked on the orders of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh who has termed the act as 'not worthy of consideration'.

BJP WELCOMES MOVE

"The 2020 referendum posters put up by the Sikh Justice Forum across the state are not worthy of consideration. No such feelings prevailed among the people of Punjab," Captain Amarinder Singh said.

Captain's orders came after BJP complained and termed the act as a 'deliberate attempt to vitiate state's atmosphere'.

BJP has welcomed the crackdown and said the campaign was launched at the behest of Pakistan's ISI which is hell bent to disturb public tranquility in Punjab.

"Acts like this are likely to cause fear of insecurity among members of different communities. We welcome the state government's move to book the persons involved in the anti-national camp. We are not afraid of anybody who is speaking the language of Pakistan," Secretary ,BJP, Vineet Joshi who was threatened by SFJ of dire consequences said to India Today.

--- ENDS ---
Indiana's Lew Wallace led a grand life, negotiating with Billy the Kid in New Mexico, serving as America's ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and, of course, authoring Ben-Hur, one of the most popular novels of all time. But the most dramatic chapter of Wallace's story took place 150 years ago on July 9 when his bravery in a little-known Civil War battle saved our nation's capital.

The rise of his military career had been stratospheric, progressing from colonel to major general in a year, but by the summer of 1862, Wallace was home in Crawfordsville, wondering if he would ever see action again. Just months prior, a miscommunication with Gen. Ulysses S. Grant delayed the arrival of Wallace's division at the Battle of Shiloh. Though a Union victory, the carnage of the conflict, which left over 20,000 dead, appalled many in the North. Wallace, a convenient scapegoat, was removed from command.

A reprieve of sorts arrived in the spring of 1864 when President Abraham Lincoln designated him military administrator of the Mid-Atlantic states. It was in this capacity that on July 2 Wallace received an anxious visit from John W. Garrett, president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, who brought word that Confederate troops were moving toward Washington, D.C., poorly defended and vulnerable with Union forces busy besieging Gen. Robert E. Lee in Petersburg.
If Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's readout of Donald Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin is a preview of the Trump administration's approach to Russia, it's going to be a rough three and a half years. In a diplomatic depantsing that will have repercussions far beyond Russia, Tillerson's comments did more to further Russia's interests than Russian propaganda outlets could have possibly hoped to accomplish themselves.Tillerson told reporters that Trump and Putin acknowledged the challenges of cyber threats and interference in the democratic processes of the United States and other countries. Well then.Vladimir Putin acknowledged generic challenges of unspecified cyber threats related to U.S. elections and those in other countries? Who cares? What Putin wouldn't acknowledge was far more important: The Russians were the source of the cyber threats.
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When Anand Pal Singh, Rajasthan's most dreaded gangster, was finally shot dead in a midnight encounter with the state police's Special Operations Group (SOG) on June 24, it brought an end to a year of hot pursuit.

SOG IG Dinesh M.N., who has spent seven years in jail for his alleged role in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, meticulously tracked Singh for a whole year before his team caught up with the gangster at Malasar in Churu district. It was a dangerous enterprise. Singh, 43, had attained high notoriety and a reputation of invincibility, having made a daring escape from police custody in Nagaur in 2015 and subsequently shooting dead a police constable who challenged him during an encounter.

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Putting together a team of personnel from various districts, Dinesh relentlessly pursued Singh. As many as 80 gang members had been arrested and benami property worth an estimated Rs 100 crore attached before the SOG team zeroed in on the gangster. Hours before Singh was killed, the police picked up two of his brothers in Sirsa, Haryana.

The gangster's family has since refused to cremate him, insisting Singh was killed in a fake encounter. Jaipur-based lawyer Goverdhan Singh, who has known the family, claims guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court for police encounters had not been followed. Amid the stand-off, Rajput mobs have indulged in arson and violence at several places in Rajasthan, forcing the authorities to suspend internet and mobile phone services in the affected areas. Sanward village, where Singh's body lies at his family home, is heavily guarded by the police.

A Ravana Rajput himself, Singh emerged as a Robin Hood-like figure among Rajputs due to the complex social rivalry between the erstwhile ruling caste and Jat peasants. Aligning with the Congress after Independence, the Jats gained power in the panchayat bodies and the government, particularly after getting OBC status in 1999. The caste rivalry spilled over to caste-based gangs, engaged in liquor smuggling, land-grab and extortion.

Singh emerged as a fearless 'protector' of the Rajputs when he won the panchayat samiti polls in 2000. By 2006, when his father and brother also won panchayat polls, he had killed two notorious Jat gangsters, launched several murderous assaults on others, and been in and out of jail a few times. Arrested from Jaipur in 2012, after two more murders, with a big cache of arms, he continued to orchestrate gang wars. In July 2014, he narrowly survived an assassination attempt inside Bikaner jail, in which a Jat police officer and a Jat former Congress MP were suspected to have been involved.

The SOG claims it had won over a close associate of Singh, who helped track the gangster for a month before the encounter. Singh apparently spurned several offers to surrender. His relatives and sympathisers, however, claim the police drew Singh, armed with two AK-47s, out of hiding by threatening to kill his brothers arrested in Sirsa.

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Singh's killing has sparked off another face-off between the Rajputs and Jats. Some Rajputs and their self-styled outfits, such as the Karni Sena, are angry while the Jats are jubilant. All this has chief minister Vasundhara Raje in a fix. Supported by both communities in successive elections, she cannot afford to be seen taking sides.

--- ENDS ---
'Breaking out of the corner into which China has painted itself would be a feat.'

'Whether Xi is able to pull it off will be known in the coming days,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant and member of the Joint Intelligence Committee at the time of China's invasion of India.

In the background of the brouhaha boiling over in both China and India following their face-off on the Bhutan-China border, the bonhomie exhibited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS meeting at Hamburg is something unbelievable.

Not only did they shake hands with beaming smiles, but they were effusive in praising each other for their stewardship of the organisation.

Narendra Modi appreciated the momentum BRICS had achieved under China's chairmanship and extended India's full cooperation for the upcoming summit to be hosted by Beijing.

Xi, on his part, recalled the successful BRICS summit hosted by India in Goa in 2016. He appreciated India for its total commitment to combating terrorism and lauded the country's achievements in the economic and social fields.

In the case of countries other than China, I would have taken this camaraderie as a salutary example to leaders of countries all over the world and as a convincing demonstration that it is possible to maintain good relations between countries whatever the nature of the events that temporarily create tensions.

Both Modi and XI could have built on this display of warmth, and the many informal opportunities they will have of talking to each other in the course of the G-20 meeting, by agreeing between themselves to a mutually accommodating formula whereby India would agree to recall its troops on condition of China also agreeing to pull out of the territory and stop using it for any of its purposes until the dispute is resolved by negotiation, while recognising India's locus standi with reference to Bhutan.

Unfortunately, though, I remember standing by Jawaharlal Nehru's side when, with tear-bedimmed eyes, he confessed to a media conference at Vigyan Bhavan in November 1962 that he had begun to live in a world of make-believe in regard to China.

Arun Shourie, in his book, Self-Deception: India's China Policies: Origins, Premises, Lessonshas extensively documented how China deliberately and knowingly led Nehru down the primrose path, making sweet and soothing promises on settling the border and ultimately ditching him.

In the matter of managing the present ugly contretemps at the Bhutan-China border, it must be said to India's credit that its official agencies and its media never indulged in the use of unbecoming language against China and generally kept their cool.

The utmost that India, at a high official level, permitted itself to say was in the form of statements by the chief of the army staff, General Bipin Rawat, ministry of external affairs and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley.

General Rawat's statement that India is ready for a 'two-and-a-half front war' was more by way of creating public confidence in its preparedness to meet any threats from Pakistan, China and insurgent and terrorist elements, and it was not specifically directed at China.

The ministry of external affairs contented itself with saying that India was 'deeply concerned at the recent Chinese actions and has conveyed to the Chinese government that such construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India.'

Arun Jaitley's reaction to China's provocation to the effect that the India of 2017 was not the India of 1962, when China over-ran large chunks of territory in north-eastern India and then withdrew on its own, did not also exceed the bounds of dignity and decency.

The Indian media too observed restraint, some sections of it even giving the benefit of doubt to China with reference to its claims of legitimacy of its actions on the Doklam plateau.

As against all this, both high Chinese officials and its media, especially the Global Times, which were nothing but the echo of the official voice, went to town in some sort of a volcanic eruption spewing out an unceasing lava of frenzy and fury.

They talked of 'kicking out' Indian troops, warning of far greater losses than in 1962.

Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui was undiplomatically blunt in asserting that there was no scope for a 'compromise' in the military standoff with India unless the Indian troops 'immediately' pulled back.

Luo put the onus on New Delhi to resolve the 'grave situation'.

Asked about the possibility of the conflict leading to a 'war', Luo said: 'There has been talk about this option, that option. It is up to your government policy (whether to exercise military option...'

'As for the so=called 'security concerns' of the Indian side, India has crossed a delimited boundary into other country's territory in the name of security concerns... which will not be acceptable to any sovereign State.'

Luo went so far as to rubbish India's special relationship with Bhutan, saying it had no right to 'interfere' with the China-Bhutan boundary talks, or to make territorial claims on Bhutan's behalf.

The Global Times brazenly sought in an editorial to subvert the territorial sovereignty and integrity of India.

It accused India of 'bullying tiny Himalayan countries' and oppressing Bhutan.

It called on China to take the lead 'in restoring Bhutan's diplomatic and defence sovereignty', doing away with 'unfair treaties between India and Bhutan that severely violate the will of the Bhutanese people' and putting 'more efforts into establishing diplomatic ties with Bhutan at an earlier date'.

Capping these virulent and insolent outbursts, it wrote: 'Beijing should reconsider its stance over the Sikkim issue.'

'Although China recognised India's annexation of Sikkim in 2003, it can readjust its stance on the matter.'

'There are those in Sikkim that cherish its history as a separate state, and they are sensitive to how the outside world views the Sikkim issue.'

'As long as there are voices in Chinese society supporting Sikkim's independence, the voices will spread and fuel pro-independence appeals in Sikkim.'

These sulphurous fulminations could not have emanated from Beijing side without Xi Jinping's approval and knowledge.

Breaking out of the corner into which China has painted itself would be a feat. Whether Xi is able to pull it off will be known in the coming days.

Meanwhile, of the 'lessons of history' which China is asking India to remember, the most important is China's infinite capacity for unlimited prevarications, tergiversations and prestidigitations when it comes to its self-indulgent pursuit of its fixations.

B S Raghavan is a former member of the Indian Administrative Service, and currently Patron of the Chennai Centre for China Studies.

He plays an active role in the Indo-Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and is a frequent commentator on national and international affairs.

He was a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee at the time of China's invasion of India.

The views expressed are personal.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS leaders' informal gathering on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. Photograph: @MEAIndia/Twitter
'Modi is not being consistent with his past record of caution.'

'Has something changed in the way Modi does things?' asks T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not an impulsive man.

He weighs his options and their political costs and benefits fully before proceeding with anything.

Three of his recent decisions have to be judged with this in mind.

The first is the demonetisation of high denomination currency notes in November 2016.

The second, more recently, is the restrictions on cattle slaughter.

And the third is the CBI's search of Prannoy Roy's house.

Mr Roy is the promoter of NDTV, which is a low-on-viewership, long-on-fuss English news channel.

It is, if you will, Indian TV's equivalent of the New York Review of Books.

Mr Modi must have worked out the pros and cons of the three actions very carefully.

Or if not, has something changed in the way he does things?

In the case of demonetisation, his political instinct was absolutely correct.

He won the assembly elections of 2017 in UP -- widely regarded as being critical for him and his party -- by a massive margin in spite of the hardships that demonetisation imposed on voters.

But as the new data suggests, the cost to the economy has been massive.

Depending on your political preferences, there are two views on this.

One was spelt out succinctly by R Jagannathan in a recent article in Swarajya magazine. This is that the current slowdown started in the second quarter of 2016.

The Chief Statistician of India has also said that it would be wrong to ascribe the slowdown solely to demonetisation.

Another view says that even if the slowdown had begun in April 2016, demonetisation has only worsened the situation.

Nothing can convince the holders of this view to the contrary.

That said, both views are correct. This happens with data.

Long ago, I enunciated a theorem for it -- for every piece of data, there is an equal and opposite piece of data.

That could be why Mr Modi didn't worry too much about the possibility of a slowdown.

So the question arises: Was he advised properly?

Given his way of doing things, it seems unlikely he acted without checking.

That leads to the question: Who did he ask? We will never know for sure.

But one thing does seem clear. He is not being consistent with his past record of caution.

How now, holy cow?

We find the same thing in the cattle ban.

It is most unlikely that he was not briefed on the impact on the rural economy generally, and farmers particularly, regardless of their religion.

So here we have to ask why is he willing to annoy Hindu farmers who are a major part of his party's political base.

I can think of only one reason: The ban is designed to destroy the illegal slaughter business which is controlled mostly by Muslims, some of whom may have been providing funds to some political parties and/or politicians.

But if that is the case then, like demonetisation, the PR has been handled very badly.

The government has emerged looking insensitive to farmers' needs and to the notion of freedom.

Since both demonetisation and the cattle ban have seriously dislocated India's rural economy by reducing incomes in it, we must ask: What is the offset Mr Modi thinks he has?

In UP it was his credibility.

But will it last till 2019? He seems to have convinced himself that it will.

Time will tell.

The Roy ripple

If demonetisation and the cattle ban are huge decisions, the decision to raid Mr Roy is at the other end of the scale -- so tiny that one wonders why Mr Modi bothered.

I don't agree with the theory that the media is being muzzled.

Mr Modi doesn't care a damn about it.

He more-or-less said it in as many words when he was launching the Ahmedabad edition of the Hindu Business Line in May 2013. You can find his speech on Youtube.

For me, he said, Facebook and Twitter are far more important.

Meanwhile, the case against Mr Roy seems very fragile and is unlikely to come to court, which leaves the question of his reputation. It is highly unlikely that it has been damaged.

Nor, one must remember, was the reputation of Ram Nath Goenka diminished when Rajiv Gandhi launched his bureaucratic Bofors at the Express Group in 1987.

The Rahejas, who had got the sharp of the stick from the Vajpayee government in 2002, also didn't suffer any diminution in reputation.

Indeed, if anything, their reputations were enhanced in Westernised social circles. The non-Westernised ones don't care anyway.
'The bloodthirsty rhetoric of chicken-hawk TV anchors are the worst contributors to Kashmiri alienation.'

'If this implacable hatred is the authentic voice of India, Kashmiris argue, who can hope for peace?' asks Mihir S Sharma.

Troubles in the Kashmir valley have taken a new and distressing turn -- witness the shocking murder by a mob of a member of the Jammu and Kashmir police on duty in downtown Srinagar.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohammed Ayub Pandith was beaten to death by a mob of 200 to 300 right outside Srinagar's Jamia Masjid; no more explicit indication of anarchy and alienation exists than the open murder of a policeman.

It is important to stress that this murder differs from other killings of officials of the state in Kashmir.

First, this was not an attack by militants against a planned target.

Second, this was a senior officer in the state police force.

Third, it happened in full public view.

The Jammu and Kashmir police occupy a specific niche in the valley. Naturally, they are supposed to be guardians of the Indian Constitution, just like any other police force.

But they have also been, historically, a crucial halfway house between ordinary Kashmiris and the paramilitaries and army that are seen as instruments of 'Delhi'.

Being raised from among Kashmiris, and living among them, as well as carrying out the ordinary day-to-day policing activity essential to society, they were not usually the primary targets of anti-Delhi anger or violence.

In the past years, this has changed.

Police families have been ostracised and individuals attacked -- culminating in this horrific murder.

This indicates the changing character of the violence in the valley.

Since the killing of Burhan Wani and the ill-advised coalition between the Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, resistance in Kashmir has increasingly become to appear like a popular revolt and less like a stage-managed guerrilla war.

It is unwise for us to imagine that Kashmir in 2017 has the same character as it did in 1991, 2008 or even 2014.

The crowds of civilians that emerge to stand between paramilitary squads and holed-up militants would have been an unusual event in earlier times.

What has happened to bring us to this pass?

The answer to this question is complicated.

Yet one thing is certain: The current upsurge is a product of a far more widespread anger at Delhi and disillusionment with local leadership than was earlier the case.

Older Kashmiris have complained that they are no longer able to 'control' the young and the angry.

I have been told that senior security officials have even said, in despair, that it is difficult to fight "an entire people".

If so, this is a shocking admission of failure.

The Indian State has been unable to demonstrate to a generation of young Kashmiris that there is hope in something other than active resistance.

Seeing themselves as having been denied their rights as Indians, they are now seeking them as Kashmiris.

We will need a different approach to the Kashmir problem if we are to emerge from this impasse.

What is aggravating the problem?

Well, first, the fact is that the state government has lost all credibility.

It lost much of it through the very composition of the coalition: The PDP ran a campaign to keep out the BJP, the BJP ran to keep out the PDP, and when the two joined hands afterwards it seemed to legitimise the primary accusation against 'pro-India' politicians in the valley -- namely, that they have no principles whatsoever.

But the state government's behaviour since then has made matters worse; the chief minister seems to have gone almost completely silent.

The central government has been as silent.

The BJP is a constituent of the government in Srinagar, but its government in Delhi seems to have forgotten that.

No calming words have emerged from the central leadership, not a single phrase that Kashmiris could view as conciliatory.

Even elements within the army have abandoned that institution's long-cherished principles, particularly in its response to the widely-shared video of military men using a human shield.

Compare this to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who famously said that a common humanity was the base upon which the Kashmir dispute would be settled.

Today's BJP views Kashmir only as a way to win votes in Uttar Pradesh and a stop on the way to Amarnath.

And, if you listen to increasingly loud whispers from its foot soldiers, eventually as a location for settlements of 'real' Indians.

Given the central government's cynical silence, the voices of 'India' that Kashmir hears are on TV.

The bloodthirsty, dehumanising, rhetoric of chicken-hawk TV anchors and the ex-soldiers they con into appearing on their shows are among the worst contributors to Kashmiri alienation.

If this implacable hatred is the authentic voice of India, Kashmiris argue, who can hope for peace?

IMAGE: Clashes erupted in Srinagar this Eid, June 26, 2017. Photograph: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com
The army was redeployed on Saturday after fresh violence erupted in Darjeeling hills where Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost, a toytrain station and clashed with the police at two places.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, spearheading the agitation for a separate state carved out of West Bengal, claimed that two youths were killed in police firing.

The police, however, said they did not have any report of firing.

The police burst teargas shells and baton-charged activists of the GJM and the Gorkha National Liberation Front who attacked the security personnel at Sonada and Chawkbazar in the hills.

Two columns of the army comprising around 100 personnel were deployed at Sonada and Darjeeling in the wake of fresh violence, defence sources said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed for peace and said that the government was ready for talks with the hill parties, but peace has to be restored first.

"The government has shown enough restraint in the interest of the people of the hills," she said.

The chief minister accused the Centre of "deliberate and total non-cooperation" and alleged that it's refusal to send CRPF personnel, as demanded by the state government, had led to the current situation in the Darjeeling hills where the indefinite shutdown entered its 24th day on Saturday.

In New Delhi, Union home ministry sources said 11 companies of paramilitary force personnnel were sent to Darjeeling by the Centre, including one company consisting of women.

The West Bengal government has its own security forces like the Eastern Frontier Rifles and the State Armed Police and both have several battalions, they said, adding that it was not deploying these forces and instead blaming the central government.

GNLF spokesperson Neeraj Zimba claimed that a youth Tashi Bhutia was shot dead by the security forces last night when he had ventured out to purchase medicines at Sonada.

But a police officer said, "We don't have any report of police firing as of now. We are looking into the incident. We can give you details later."

Inspector General of Police Javed Shamim, when asked about the firing said, "It will be known only after the inquiry."

The GJM and other hill parties have lodged a police complaint accusing the force of killing the youth.

"The youth was killed by the police without any reason. His body has bullet injuries. We demand that the policemen involved be punished," GJM leader Binay Tamang said.

As news of the death spread, hundreds of Gorkhaland supporters came out on the streets and raised slogans against alleged "police atrocities".

They clashed with the police and set on fire a police outpost at Sonada and the toytrain station of the Darjeeling- Himalayan Railways, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

GJM sources claimed that another youth identified as Suraj Sundas was killed in police firing during clashes between the police and the protestors at Chowkbazar area here during the day.

The police denied the charge.

The GJM sources claimed that Suraj was caught in the midst of the clashes and was killed when the police fired on the protesters.

The Centre had said yesterday that it was keen to hold tripartite talks with the GJM and the West Bengal government to end the agitation.

With food supply severely hit due to the indefinite strike, the GJM and various NGOs distributed food amongst the people.

Barring medicine outlets, all shops, schools, colleges remained closed. Internet services remained suspended for the 21st day.

The police and the security forces patrolled the streets and kept a vigil on the entry and exit routes.
The Sri Lankan government on Thursday imposed a ban on trawler fishing, and close to 500 boats in Rameshwaram are involved in bottom trawling and it is their main livelihood.

By Akshaya Nath: Hundreds of women have become widows, those women who were lucky to have their men back found that they were no longer the men they knew but were broken. Every day when the men from Rameshwaram step on to their boats a silent prayer is said not just to get a good catch but also for protection of the divine to ensure that they come home alive. Fishermen in the island of Rameshwaram have been struggling to protect their traditional occupation - fishing. With the threat of being arrested by the Sri Lankan navy many fishermen have stopped going to the sea.

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The new legislation on fishing restriction by the Sri Lankan government has caused a lot of unrest in Rameshwaram. The Sri Lankan government on Thursday imposed a ban on trawler fishing - a form of fishing that has been considered destructive. The island nation in its new legislation states that the violators will serve two years imprisonment and a fine of LKR 50,000 (nearly Rs 20,000). This legislation will have a huge negative impact for the fishermen in India who are mainly involved in bottom trawling. Close to 500 boats in Rameshwaram are involved in bottom trawling and this is the main livelihood for more than a lakh people on the island.

"This is our traditional occupation and we have grown up doing it and now we don't have Katchatheevu which was our traditional fishing zone and if this law is not stopped then all that we can do is start a new livelihood," said leader of the fishermen, Jesudas.

Sri Lanka and the Rameshwaram harbour are at a distance of 21 nautical miles but within the first nine nautical miles the international maritime border is present and the fishermen complain that their catch starts only after that. Irrespective of this downfall most fishermen fish within the Indian borders and the few that drift into the Sri Lankan territory face serious consequences. There are more than 150 Indian boats in Sri Lankan custody and more than 60 fishermen in their custody.

"There have been so many widows in Rameshwaram because of this fishermen issue. Our lives are dependent on this and all that the government does is write empty letters. No action has been taken for our sake or for our protection," said Rose Mary, from Rameshwaram.

GOVERNMENT'S LUKEWARM RESPONSE

Edappadi K Palanisawami, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, in a letter to the Prime Minister had said, "It would be fitting for the Government of India to register its strongest disapproval of such a move, and must organise an effective defence of the rights of our fishermen in the Palk Bay."

In the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Finance and Fisheries Minister Jayakumar was questioned on the fishermen crisis and the action taken for solving their problem. Jayakumar mocking the DMK said, "Unlike the DMK working president Karunanithi we are not calling the fishermen 'greedy'. The External Affairs Ministry has been approached and briefed on the issue and unlike in the DMK regime, the attack on fishermen have been reduced. During the DMK regime 16 men were killed but only one shooting incident has happened in this regime."

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Strongly opposing the legislation, fishermen in Rameshwaram have decided to go on an indefinite strike outside government offices from July 9, and a few have also threatened to immolate themselves outside the Collector's office on July 14.

CM Edapadi Palaniswami has called the new bill passed by the Sri Lankan Parliament as a retrograde step that will hamper the steps taken by the two governments to solve the fishermen issue and will have severe setback between the two countries.

"The current inhumane strategy of Government of Sri Lanka has already been inflicting huge pecuniary losses to the fishermen of Tamil Nadu. The new legislation will further aggravate the situation. The move by the Government of Sri Lanka has caused great disquiet and anguish to the fishing community in Tamil Nadu," he stated.

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Whether the demands of the fishermen and the letter to the Prime Minister will make any difference to the present situation, is a question that will be answered by time. The unfortunate scenario is that even after conducting a week long protest over the shooting of a young fishermen Bridjo in March and after a series of promises from Union Ministers Pon Radhakrishnan and Nirmala Sitharaman, there is no change and all the promises remain unfulfilled.

Also Read:

Chennai: Sri Lankan Navy arrests 6 more fishermen

Lanka Navy arrests 17 Indian fishermen

8 Indian fishermen arrested by SL Navy, TN govt fumes

Watch Video: Sri Lankan Navy arrests six Indian fishermen

--- ENDS ---
The crisis will strengthen Nitish Kumar's position as Lalu's troubles erodes his bargaining power within the ruling coalition in Bihar.

Archis Mohan and Satyavrat Mishra report from New Delhi/Patna.

In a balancing act, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is neither willing to hurt the coalition government that he leads in the state nor be seen as supporting ally Lalu Prasad in a fresh case of alleged corruption the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and his family face.



While concerned about his image and his party, the Janata Dal-United, Nitish Kumar's government plans to brazen out the controversy soon as it would take two months for a chargesheet to be filed, followed by a protracted court case.



Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav -- Lalu's son -- has been named in the Central Bureau of Investigation First Information Report, along with his parents and others, including Sarla Gupta, wife of Lalu's confidant and former Union minister Prem Chand Gupta, former IRCTC managing director P K Goel and directors of Sujata Hotels, Vijay Koccher and Vinay Koccher.



The JD-U has prepared its defence for the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand that Nitish Kumar sack Tejaswi.

The JD-U is likely to argue that if Uma Bharti can continue as a minister in the Narendra Modi Cabinet despite being chargesheeted in the Babri Masjid demolition case, so can Tejaswi, unless he is convicted by a court of law.



It could, however, put pressure on the Grand Alliance if Modi asks Bharti to quit.



On Friday, July 7, the CBI raided a dozen premises across the country, including Lalu's home in Patna in connection with alleged irregularities in leasing two railway hotels to a private company when he was the Union railway minister in the UPA-I government.



Simultaneous raids were conducted at Delhi, Ranchi, Puri and Gurugram.

Nitish Kumar and party leaders maintained an inscrutable silence on the issue,/strong>.

A JD-U spokesperson said there was a gag order from the top leadership to not comment on the issue.



The Congress also did not issue any statement, but Nationalist Congress Party leader Tariq Anwar accused the Modi government of a strategy to harass the Opposition by using central agencies to frame its leaders in false cases.



In Patna, Lalu said: 'It's a conspiracy of Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) against me and my family.'

Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu rejected accusations of political vendetta. 'Where is the BJP in this? The CBI is doing its duty,' Naidu said.

Party sources said the challenge before Nitish Kumar was to ensure that his image of an honest politician wasn't blotted and the Grand Alliance in Bihar was not broken, being looked as a model to be replicated across the country, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, to defeat the BJP in 2019.

Lalu had announced a unity rally of the Opposition in Patna on August 27.

Some JD-U and Bihar BJP leaders pointed out the crisis would only strengthen Nitish Kumar's position as Lalu's fresh troubles would erode his bargaining power within the coalition.

JD-U sources also pointed out the Grand Alliance between Lalu and Nitish Kumar had come in 2015 when the RJD chief had already been convicted in the fodder scam case.



Bihar has a 243-member assembly. The RJD is the largest partner in the alliance with 80 seats, followed by the JD-U)'s 71 and the Congress' 27.

IMAGE: A policeman stands guard outside RJD chief Lalu Prasads 10, Circular Road, Patna, home during the CBI raids, July 7, 2017. Photograph: PTI Photo
By PTI: Chandigarh, Jul 8 (PTI) Haryanas main opposition party INLD today said it would not allow vehicles from Punjab to enter the state, even if it has to "face bullets and lathis", during its protest on Monday over the the Sutlej- Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue.

The party has sought an immediate announcement on the construction of the canal from the Centre and the state government and has warned that "otherwise the situation may turn bad".

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"We will not allow any vehicle or even a cycle from Punjab to enter Haryana even if we are lathi charged or bullets are sprayed on us. We will block the roads and we do not care about bullets. We will not hesitate to sacrifice our lives," INLD general secretary Abhay Singh Chautala told reporters here.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly said emergency vehicles such as ambulances will not be stopped and asserted that their protest will be "peaceful".

Lashing out at the BJP-led Haryana government for trying to "scare" its workers by calling paramilitary forces to deal with the law and order situation, the INLD accused Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and his cabinet of maintaining "stoic silence" over the issue.

The INLD leader toughened his partys stand on the SYL issue a day after home secretaries, DGPs and senior officers from the states met here to prepare a strategy to thwart any untoward situation on July 10.

"The DGP and the home secretary were deputed to address the media but our chief minister and ministers are not making statements," Chautala said.

The Haryana government had yesterday sought around 1,000 paramilitary personnel from the Centre to deal with any law and order problems in view of the INLDs protest over the SYL issue.

"Our DGP says paramilitary forces have been called and our home secretary says law and order will be maintained at any cost. We are not assembling for the purpose of disturbing peace and we will not take law into our hands... They are trying to scare us," said Chautala.

He had earlier said that INLD workers "will not allow vehicles from Punjab to enter Haryana" if the central government failed to implement the Supreme Courts order on the SYL canal issue by July 9.

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has chosen several inter-state roads to put up blockades.

Chautala said he will lead the protest at the Shambhu barrier on the Ambala-Rajpura road on the Haryana-Punjab border.

Vehicles coming from Malout in Bathinda and other areas will be stopped at Dabwali and INLD workers will also stop traffic near Tohana, Khanauri and other areas, he said.

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"We are holding it (the protest) so that the central government takes an immediate decision on the SYL matter, and the Haryana government also takes up the matter with the Centre to get the canal constructed. Otherwise the situation in Haryana will turn bad," he said.

Chautala said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi assures that the construction of the canal will be given to an agency, then the party shall suspend its protest.

The INLD leader claimed that 60 per cent area in the state had turned into a "dark zone" as the government was not giving permission for new tube well connections.

"New tube wells are not being allowed and the canal is not being constructed. Sixty per cent of land in our area will become infertile. In that case, our famers will have to move to other states," he said.

The INLD also accused the Centre of doing "injustice" with Haryana by not taking appropriate steps for the construction of the canal.

"We request the Prime Minister, who had said Haryana was his second home, to implement the Supreme Courts order in the SYL canal issue," he said.

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In February, several INLD leaders, including Chautala, were stopped from marching into Punjab to undertake the digging of the canal.

Punjab has been maintaining that it does not have surplus water to share with Haryana. PTI CHS VJ ANB MIN ANB

--- ENDS ---
Body cameras for the Mooresville Police Department have arrived. Find out when they will be used.
By PTI: Kolkata, Jul 7 (PTI) The situation in riot-hit Basirhat in North 24-Paragana district showed signs of improvement today with no untoward incident reported, even as the Internet services remained suspended and the police and para-military forces intensified their patrol.

A campaign was undertaken by the state administration for restoration of peace in the troubled areas.

Security personnel continued to march in the riot-hit areas of the district while Internet services in and around the area continued to remain suspended, a senior state government official said.

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The police inspector in charge of Basirhat, Nasim Akhtar, has been transferred by the administration.

An appeal was made by the state administration to all political parties not to enter the affected areas where prohibitory orders are in force.

The West Bengal government said the situation was under control in Baduria, Swarupnagar, Deganga and Basirhat, which had witnessed violence.

Locals chose to stay indoors with shops, markets and schools remaining closed and the transportation badly hit.

In New Delhi, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu described the communal violence in Basirhat as "unfortunate" and requested the state government to take effective steps to protect all people - "whether minority or majority".

Ignoring Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees appeal, BJP, Left and Congress delegations tried to visit the affected areas in Basirhat, about 80 km from here, but were stopped by the police.

"The situation is still tense, that is why we have not allowed any political party to go there as it might create problems. We did not want to take any chance so they were stopped from going there (Basirhat)," a senior police officer said.

The BJP delegation, led by MP Roopa Ganguly, which was heading towards the riot-hit Baduria, was detained by police at Michael Nagar near the NSC Bose International airport area, the police said.

When they tried to break the cordon, they were detained by the police.

"We told the BJP leaders that they will not be allowed to go as per the decision of the administration. The situation is still tense. But they were adamant and said either they will court arrest or proceed towards the affected area. So we had to detain them," a senior police officer of Bidhanagar police Commissionerate said.

They were subsequently brought to the nearby airport police station.

Earlier in the day, the police also prevented the Left and Congress leaders from proceeding towards the riot-hit areas citing law and order situation.

"We have been stopped near Ashoknagar area on the grounds that it might create law and order problem. But we were not going there with any political motive. We were going there to meet the people affected in riots," Left Front legislative party leader Sujan Chakraborty said.

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The Congress team, led by WBPCC chief Adhir Chowdhury, was also stopped at Barasat citing the same reason.

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said his party would organise a rally here tomorrow to condemn the role of the state government.

"We will also meet Governor K N Tripathi and demand in writing the imposition of Presidents Rule in the state," he said.

Clashes broke out between members of two communities at Baduria in the Basirhat sub-division of North 24-Parganas district earlier this week over an "objectionable" Facebook post by a youth. PTI SCH PNT AKB SUN MD SRY

--- ENDS ---
Kyaw Min Swe (C), editor-in-chief of the independent Myanmar newspaper The Voice Daily, leaves Bahan township court after his sixth bail hearing in Yangon, June 7, 2017.

A court in Myanmars commercial capital Yangon on Friday rejected the sixth bail request by an editor charged with defamation of the military under a widely challenged section of the countrys Telecommunications Law, his lawyer said.

Bahan township court rejected the request of Kyaw Min Swe, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper The Voice Daily, citing a lack of sufficient facts, his lawyer Khin Maung Myint told RFAs Myanmar Service.

We asked the judge what documents we need to submit, Khin Maung Min said. We can say that it is the medical document, but we know that the prison department cant do that, he said.

In mid-June, the court denied another bail request by Kyaw Min Swe, who suffers from stomach and liver ailments, because it said his lawyer had submitted an unofficial medical certificate from a private clinic instead of a formal document from a state medical facility.

Kyaw Min Swe was forced to get the certificate from an outside clinic because officials at Insein prison on the outskirts of Yangon where he is being held would not issue a medical document, Kyaw Min Swe said.

Lieutenant Colonel Lin Tun, who filed the defamation lawsuit against Kyaw Min Swe, testified at todays hearing as he has done previously, and will testify at his next bail hearing on July 14.

Kyaw Min Swe and the papers satire columnist Kyaw Zwa Naing, who goes by the pen name British Ko Maung, were detained on June 2 and charged with defamation under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law after the armed forces complained about a piece they had published that mocked a military propaganda film.

On June 16, the same court released Kyaw Zwa Naing after Kyaw Min Swe testified that he was solely responsible for posting on social media the article that allegedly insulted the armed forces.

Myanmar journalists and rights groups have called for the repeal of Section 66(d) which prohibits the use of the telecom network to defame people and carries a jail sentence of up to three years and a fine for those found guilty of violating it.

They say that government and military officials are increasingly using the article to silence their critics, thereby threatening freedom of the press.

Reported by Thant Sin Oo for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Egyptian police moved this week to round up and deport Uyghur students living in Cairo, detaining some in restaurants or at their homes and seizing others at airports as they tried to flee the country, sources in the Egyptian capital said.



At least 200 have been detained since July 4, including 30 seized by police at the Eslem Uyghur restaurant located in Cairos 7th District, one female student told RFAs Uyghur Service on Thursday.



All of them are students here, the young woman said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



I know one of the students who was taken away. His name is Masjid Musa, she said. He has the legal papers he needs to stay in Egypt, but they dont care if your papers are in order or not.



If you are a Uyghur, you will be immediately detained, she said.



Another detainee, named Abdughappar, was taken from an airplane as he was leaving for Turkey, the young woman said.



He is a student at Al-Azhar University and has a family, a wife and two children. They were running away from Egypt because everyone who went back to China in the past few months has disappeared without a trace.



Anyone deported back to China will definitely be jailed, she said.



I have heard that Uyghurs are being held at the Cairo airport, and that armed Chinese security officers have been seen there, another Uyghur student said, also on condition he not be named.



We call on Uyghur leaders [in exile] to contact the Turkish government and international human rights organizations and ask them to help us.



Speaking from the airport, another Uyghur student said that Egyptian police had taken his passport and were holding him and other detainees together in a hall.



There is also another group here who were brought back from their flight, so we have more than 20 Uyghur students here altogether, he said. The police are watching us and telling us we will be deported back to China.



Another 80 were meanwhile being held at an airport in Alexandria, another source said, while a further 24 were reported detained there on Friday while waiting for a 3:00 p.m. flight to Turkey.



On the run



Students who have evaded detention are hiding in malls, in mosques, and in nearby fields, one Uyghur mother said, adding that she is now on the run with two young students given to her by their mother for protection.



When we were leaving, I spotted some people watching the area where we were staying. They were in a black, ugly-looking car with tinted windows, and after we left they detained the Uyghur students who were living at our house.



They were all Uyghurs, and Im sure they were sent by the Chinese government, she added.



One Uyghur student now in hiding said that his brother, a PhD student at Al-Azhar, had also been detained.



I am now on the run with his wife and three children, he said. My brother called me from the detention center and said that he saw about 200 Uyghur students being held there.



It has been several days now that we have been running on empty stomachs, another student said.



We have valid visas and passports, but we cant go to the airports, and we cant go the markets for food or get gas for our cars. The Egyptian people have been told that were criminals, and they inform the police if they see us.



Forced to sign



Another student said that a friend in detention had told him that police were forcing them to sign documents stating they had participated in Uyghur separatist organizations based outside of China.



Some did not sign the document, because older students warned them not to, he said.



Police took fingerprints of all their fingers.



Also speaking to RFA, an Uzbek national living in Egypt said that he and his family were dining at one of Cairos Uyghur restaurants when police suddenly arrived.



There were 10 to 20 Uyghurs there, chefs and so on, and the police took all of them away.



There were Kyrgyz and Uzbek people at the restaurant, too, but they werent touched at all. Police asked everyones ethnicity and took away all the people who said they were Uyghur.



Reached for comment, a staff member at the Egyptian embassy in Washington D.C. said only that she had heard media reports of the detentions. Since I am not authorized to speak on this matter, I cannot say anything more about it, she added.



Calls to the embassys press office rang unanswered on Friday.



Rebiya Kadeer, president of the Munich-based exile World Uyghur Congress, meanwhile called on the international community to prevent the forced return of Uyghurs from Egypt to China, adding, We have been following this issue closely for the past two or three months.



I ask all Uyghur organizations to do their best to help the Uyghurs detained in Egypt.



'Extremely concerning'



International law requires that people living in foreign countries not be returned to situations in which they are likely to face persecution, Sophie RichardsonChina director for Human Rights Watchsaid in an interview.



"It's extremely concerning if the Egyptian government is somehow being complicit in a legally baseless Chinese effort to force people back to China," Richardson said.



On July 6, as at least 36 Uyghur students detained in Egypt were being sent back against their will to China, a Beijing-sponsored troupe of Uyghur dancers and musicians performed at Cairos Opera House in a production showcasing Xinjiangs colorful Uyghur culture, Chinese state media reported.



The performance and an accompanying exhibit of musical instruments and photos of ethnic costumes was backed by support at the highest level from Chinas Central Party Political Bureau, Chinas state-controlled news agency Xinhua said.



Reported by Gulchehra Hoja and Kurban Niyaz for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by Mamatjan Juma and Alim Seytoff. Written in English by Richard Finney.




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JAMESTOWN  Bill Kelso has spent more than two decades peeling back the layers of Historic Jamestowne  the site of the first permanent English settlement in America  including leading the team that uncovered the location of the original fort that sheltered often-starving settlers.

This is the origin of our modern legacy, said Kelso, director of archaeology for Jamestown Rediscovery, speaking a few yards from the spot where Pocahontas, the famous favored daughter of the Powhatan chief, married tobacco planter John Rolfe in 1614. This is really the beginning. Thats why its a national treasure.

Yet Kelso and others see a major threat to what they regard as a priceless spot in Dominion Energys proposed 500-kilovolt transmission line crossing the James River downriver from the settlement.

Though it will not be visible from the site of the fort, the transmission line from Surry to Skiffes Creek will include 17 towers as high as 295 feet across the river in a spot that has been largely unchanged since Captain John Smith and other early explorers traversed it centuries ago.

We get close to 220,000 people that visit here, so they know how important this place is, Kelso said. They want to come to the place thats untouched, thats like it was 400 years ago and get that feeling and access these three-dimensional representations of all these American ideas.

The transmission line, which the utility contends is crucial to its ability to provide reliable electric service to the Peninsula as it closes coal-fired generation units at the Yorktown Power Station, has been in the works for more than five years. It has steadily cleared a string of regulatory hurdles, the last of which is a vote Tuesday night before the James City County Board of Supervisors, which is weighing Dominions request for a permit for a switching station and a height waiver for a pair of structures associated with the line.

The State Corporation Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality have all signed off on respective portions of the project, and opponents see the Board of Supervisors meeting as among the last shots to check the controversial proposal.

Its the last sort of permitting process that remains, said Sharee Williamson, associate general counsel with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has fought the transmission line. This is one of the last opportunities for peoples opinions to be heard on this issue. If people feel strongly that the James River in Jamestown is worth saving, theres an opportunity to show up to speak or write a note to the Board of Supervisors.

Le-Ha Anderson, a Dominion spokeswoman, said Dominion remains committed to constructing the power line regardless of the vote.

We are hopeful the supervisors will approve the location for the switching station. It is property Dominion Energy purchased back in the 1970s, Anderson said. It would be beneficial to James City County because it would mean the addition of $400,000 a year in new tax revenue for the county and potentially reduce the length of the line in the county.

***

Only two of the five members of the Board of Supervisors responded to requests for an interview Friday. Neither would say how they intend to vote.

I think its reasonable to at least listen to the presentation of both sides of the public hearing process, said John J. McGlennon, whose district includes the proposed switching station site.

But McGlennon did say he had several concerns about the plan, including existing congestion in the area, which is along U.S. Route 60 in the eastern part of the county, and the proximity to lower- to middle-income neighborhoods, railroad lines, an elementary school, nursing home, regional jail, juvenile detention center and the Skiffes Creek Reservoir.

We already have serious problems with emergency vehicles being able to access this area, he said.

He added that Dominion has spent an enormous amount of money on a telephone survey of 12,000 primary voters on the Peninsula, with the goal of directing people to a website to support the project.

Ive never quite seen as much money and pressure being exerted on a land-use decision as were seeing on this particular one, he said.

Anderson, the Dominion spokeswoman, would not say how much the survey cost, but noted shareholders, not ratepayers, picked up the tab.

As is typical of many energy companies, we routinely do research to learn about issues that are important to our customers and how to best provide them with information, she said. Customer outreach is a part of doing business and keeping connected with our customers. I dont see the relevance of sharing that cost, especially when it is not passed along to ratepayers.

Sue Sadler, another member of the Board of Supervisors, also would not reveal her stance on the switching station, but said most of her constituents either dont really care or have been in favor of it. She stressed that the board will vote only on approvals related to the switching station, not the line itself.

As of right now, Im still waiting to hear all the information that might come out of the meeting. I like to hear everything thats being proposed, she said. Were getting inundated, I must say, with lots of people with opinions on both sides of the issue. Quite frankly, I think it will be nice to have July 11 behind us.

In 2012, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution opposing the overhead crossing of the James, and it participated in the State Corporation Commission proceedings that eventually wound up authorizing the transmission line.

The SCC also found that the switching station would be included in that approval, though that piece of the decision was later overturned by the Virginia Supreme Court after an appeal by the county, BASF Corp.  whose property will be crossed by the line  and several other groups, including the James River Association. The county argued that the switching station should be subject to local zoning, and the justices agreed.

The countys Planning Commission has recommended denying Dominions request to build the switching station, finding that the station was not consistent with James Citys comprehensive plan for the area.

Their concern was based on the sense that this particular facility was not well-suited to that parcel of land, McGlennon said.

***

No matter how the vote goes Tuesday night, opponents of the transmission line may not be ready to give up. They contend the Army Corps of Engineers did not adequately evaluate other options for meeting the Peninsulas power demands or sufficiently weigh the detrimental effects on area historic resources, including Carters Grove Plantation and the Captain John Smith National Historic Trail.

Were certainly exploring all of our options moving forward, said Williamson, the lawyer with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The trust  along with former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and former NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis  says the corps should have prepared an environmental impact statement for the Surry-Skiffes Creek project, rather than the less rigorous environmental assessment it conducted.

They prepared a much more abbreviated review of the project than what we believe is necessary and is required under federal law, Williamson said. The impacts of this project are going to be so significant that the hard, close look that you would get through an EIS is required. ... The main change is the degree of review and particularly the focus on reviewing alternatives.

A report commissioned by the trust offered what it claimed were an array of less expensive options to meet the power needs, including upgrading existing transmission lines, reconfiguring the electrical system, or building new transmission lines in existing rights of way.

Dominion, the SCC and the corps determined they were unworkable, but critics say they never got a fair shake.

Theyre not really giving alternatives the same level of consideration that Dominions preferred project has gotten, said Jamie Brunkow, lower James riverkeeper for the James River Association, which opposes the project.

Dominion disagrees.

We believe the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has done a diligent and thorough review, Dominion spokeswoman Bonita Harris said last week after the corps issued a final permit to build the transmission line.

Dominion has also pledged $90 million in mitigation money for land acquisition; natural and cultural resource restoration or preservation, property or landscape enhancements; and to improve the overall integrity, most notably the setting and feeling, of the identified properties and the broader historic district, according to a memorandum of agreement signed by the company, the corps, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

Those areas include Jamestown Island, Hog Island Wildlife Management Area, the Captain John Smith National Historic Trail, Carters Grove, the Colonial Parkway and nearby American Indian settlements.

But for opponents, no amount of money can make up for what the transmission line would mar.
Shraddha Kapoor talks about her experience of playing the underworld godmother Haseena Parkar in the biopic of the same name.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Shraddha Kapoor is trying to break her girl-next-door image with her next film Haseena Parkar. She hopes people will see her conscious effort of playing something different on screen.

"I think it's one of the most difficult roles of my career so far for sure because I think I have played more positive characters, and this is the first character which is more grey shaded. I hope people can see (my) conscious effort of playing something different," Shraddha told IANS.

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Haseena Parkar is a biopic, where Shraddha is essaying the role of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's sister Haseena Parkar. The film is directed by Apoorva Lakhia. Shraddha's brother Siddhanth Kapoor will play the notorious gangster Dawood Ibrahim in the biopic.

Shraddha, who has also been roped in to play badminton champion Saina Nehwal in a biopic, says that project too is a part of her pursuit to maintain a variety in her filmography.

"I just wanted to do something different. I felt like I wanted to venture into new kinds of films, and be a part of different kind of characters. That's why I decided to be a part of films like Haseena Parkar and the Saina Nehwal biopic," she added.

Giving more details about the biopic, she said: "I think it's a very big opportunity for me to play a sportswoman who has been a former champion. It's a huge responsibility, so I really hope that once the movie is out, people get inspired when they watch it."

"We have not started shooting for it and I am still preparing for the role. There is a long way to go. I hope I can do justice to her," she added.

The actress, who made her Bollywood debut in 2010 with Teen Patti, went on to do roles in films like Aashiqui 2, Ek Villain and Haider.

Asked about her evolution as an actor, Shraddha said: "That is something that the audience has to decide... How they see my progress. I just like to try and do better than what I have done before."

The actress said she is not affected by the ups and downs of life as she feels it is a "part of every kind of profession".

"But you keep doing what you are passionate about," said Baaghi actor.

Haseena Parkar is set to hit theatres on August 18 this year.

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ALSO WATCH | Aditya Roy Kapur spills OK Jaanu co-star Shraddha Kapoor's secrets

--- ENDS ---
An man wanted in connection with an armed robbery on Friday in Hopewell was captured on video entering a vehicle.

Hopewell Police Department said it's seeking help from the public to identify the suspect.

A man allegedly approached a woman about to exit her car and placed a gun against the back of her head. Then, he demanded money, before running away, police said.

The video captured a suspect entering a maroon Chevrolet Impala with temporary license plates. Police said the model year was between 2005 and 2011.

The Impala's driver remains unknown, said police.

Police described the suspect as a black male with a medium complexion, short haircut and facial hair. He was estimated to be 18-25 years old, stand 5-foot-11 to 6-foot-2 and weigh 180-210 pounds.

The suspect was wearing ripped or patched designer jeans, a white tank top and a sleeveless vest with a large patch on the back.

The armed robbery reportedly occurred at 10:17 a.m. in the 500 block of Hill Avenue.

The Hopewell Police Department's Criminal Investigations Unit's investigation is ongoing.

The police department asks that anyone who may have witnessed the incident or have any information to provide regarding the suspect or the vehicle contact Hopewell Detective David Hirn at (804) 541-2284.
Richmonds newly formed Monument Avenue Commission is set to hold its first two public meetings in August and September.

The first is slated for Wednesday, Aug. 9, and the second for Wednesday, Sept. 13. Both will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Virginia Historical Society, 428 N. Boulevard.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced the creation of the 10-member commission last month, promising two meetings would be held prior to the end of September.

Stoney said Monument Avenue told an incomplete story through the Confederate monuments, but he stopped short of calling for them to be removed.

Its our responsibility to set the historical record straight, he said.

Stoney said the commission will make recommendations to the mayors office based on public input as the city adds context to the statues.
STAFFORD  A Stafford County man has been charged with reckless driving and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle in a three-vehicle crash near Stafford Hospital that injured a deputy.

About 10:46 a.m. Thursday, Stafford deputy R.T. Kulbeth was traveling south on U.S. 1 with lights and siren activated when George Lee Murdock, 57, crossed the path of the cruiser while making a U-turn in a Ford van.

The force of the collision caused Kulbeths cruiser to overturn and slam into a power pole, snapping it in half and dropping power lines across the highway.

Murdocks van spun and flipped onto its side. Its front axle and passenger-side tire detached and crashed into the windshield of a third vehicle.
Three Cheers for Edjumacation: When National Public Radio tweeted out the full text of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, some Trump fans didnt recognize the quotations and thought references to a Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant and so forth referred to the president. Why, thats downright un-American!

Three Cheers for Jernamalism: The same day, in a story about North Koreas missile program, The New York Times reported as genuine a tweet from DPRK News Service, a parody account, about a joint U.S.-South Korea military exercise: Imbecilic Americans drunkenly fire missiles into East Sea of Korea, demonstrating near total ignorance of ballistic science.

But hey, how could The Times possibly have known the account was fake? Well, other recent tweets from the same account include: (1) Top Gun 2 is upcoming western film concerning aging pilots quest for hip replacement from corrupt United States veterans health care, (2) Indian president Narendra Modi proves himself a drunken sot and disgrace to his nation by vomiting profusely during visit with Donald Trump, and  alongside a now-infamous picture of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie sunning himself at an otherwise empty beach  (3) Refugees created by US Politics and Incompetence often left stranded and homeless in international tragedy.

The Virginia Historical Society will host a BrewHaHa craft beer festival featuring beer made from historical recipes. Central Virginia has become quite a craft-beer mecca in recent years, but the states history of potent potables goes back a long way. For a time, George Washingtons whiskey distillery at Mount Vernon was the largest in the United States; it produced 11,000 gallons in 1799.

For comparisons sake, thats even more than Gov. Terry McAuliffe could put away.

This afternoon the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan are expected to hold a rally in, of all places, Justice Park in Charlottesville. Clergy and other city leaders have organized a variety of events to counter the Klans. Good. Simply ignoring swivel-eyed yahoos is one strategy, but these days voices of tolerance and respect need to push back against the resurgence of bigotry and venom.
WASHINGTON

Across 25 years and five administrations, we have kicked the North Korean can down the road. We are now out of road.

On July 4, North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile apparently capable of hitting the United States. As yet, only Alaska. Soon, every American city.

Moreover, Pyongyang claims to have already fitted miniaturized nuclear warheads on intermediate range missiles. Soon, on ICBMs.

Secretary of State Rex Tillersons initial reaction to this game changer was not encouraging. Global action is required to stop a global threat, he declared.

This, in diplo-speak, is a cry for (multilateral) help. Alas, there will be none. Because, while this is indeed a global threat, there is no such thing as global interests. There are individual national interests and they diverge. In this case, radically.

Take Russia and China. If theres to be external pressure on North Korea, it would come from them. Will it? On Tuesday, they issued a joint statement proposing a deal: North Korea freezes nuclear and missile testing in return for America abandoning large-scale joint exercises with South Korea.

This is a total nonstarter. The exercises have been the backbone of the U.S.-South Korea alliance for half a century. Abandonment would signal the end of an enduring relationship that stabilizes the region and guarantees South Korean independence. In exchange for what?

A testing freeze? The offer doesnt even pretend to dismantle North Koreas nuclear program, which has to be our minimal objective. Moreover, weve negotiated multiple freezes over the years with Pyongyang. It has violated every one.

The fact that Russia and China would, amid a burning crisis, propose such a dead-on-arrival proposal demonstrates that their real interest is not denuclearization. Their real interest is cutting America down to size by breaking our South Korean alliance and weakening our influence in the Pacific Rim.

These are going to be our partners in solving the crisis?

And yet, relying on Chinas good graces appeared to be Donald Trumps first resort for solving North Korea. Until he declared two weeks ago (by tweet, of course) that China had failed. At least I know China tried! he added.

They did? Trump himself tweeted out on Wednesday that Chinese trade with North Korea increased by almost 40 percent in the first quarter, forcing him to acknowledge that the Chinese havent been helping.

Indeed not. The latest North Korean missile is menacing not just because of its 4,000-mile range, but because it is road mobile. And the transporter comes from China.

In the calculus of nuclear deterrence, mobility guarantees inviolability. (The enemy cannot find, and therefore cannot pre-empt, a mobile missile.) Its a huge step forward for Pyongyang. Supplied by Beijing.

How many times must we be taught that Beijing does not share our view of denuclearizing North Korea? It prefers a divided peninsula, i.e., sustaining its client state as a guarantee against a unified Korea (possibly nuclear) allied with the West and sitting on its border.

Nukes assure regime survival. Thats why the Kims have so single-mindedly pursued them. The lessons are clear. Saddam Hussein, no nukes: hanged. Moammar Gadhafi, gave up his nuclear program: killed by his own people. The Kim dynasty, possessing an arsenal of 10-16 bombs: untouched, soon untouchable.

What are our choices? Trump has threatened that if China doesnt help well have to go it alone. If so, the choice is binary: acquiescence or war.

War is almost unthinkable, given the proximity of the Demilitarized Zone to the 10 million people of Seoul. A mere conventional war would be devastating. And could rapidly go nuclear.

Acquiescence is not unthinkable. After all, we did it when China went nuclear under Mao Zedong, whose regime promptly went insane under the Cultural Revolution.

The hope for a third alternative, getting China to do the dirty work, is mostly wishful thinking. Theres talk of sanctioning other Chinese banks. Will that really change Chinas strategic thinking? Bourgeois democracies believe that economics supersedes geostrategy. Maybe for us. But for dictatorships? Rarely.

If we want to decisively alter the strategic balance, we could return U.S. tactical nukes (withdrawn in 1991) to South Korea. Or we could encourage Japan to build a nuclear deterrent of its own. Nothing would get more quick attention from the Chinese. They would face a radically new strategic dilemma: Is preserving North Korea worth a nuclear Japan?

We do have powerful alternatives. But each is dangerous and highly unpredictable. Which is why the most likely ultimate outcome, by far, is acquiescence.
By PTI: Shimla, Jul 7 (PTI) A day after he was removed as Vice President of Himachal Pradesh Tourism development Board, Congress leader Vijay Singh Mankotia asked Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to resign on moral grounds and save the state from further "shame and disgrace".

However, state Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri and Excise and Taxation Minister Prakash Chaudhary reacted sharply to Mankotias remark, saying his removal indicated desperation of a person who has been "repeatedly rejected" by the people.

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"No chief minister had ever shamed the state to the extent Virbhadra Singh has and it is high time that he resign to save the Congress," Mankotia said, adding that 80 per cent population of the state would welcome his resignation.

Addressing mediapersons here today, he ridiculed Virbhadra Singhs claim of becoming chief minister for the seventh time, saying that on one hand he was seeking bail in courts on "health grounds" and on the other he is claiming to be fit and fine to run the government again.

Questioning his removal from the post, Mankotia said Virbhadra Singh, who has been facing criminal cases and corruption charges, should have been removed from his post.

He added that every time Virbhadra Singh became chief minister, the Congress lost the election and his claims of popularity would have gained credence had he won polls three or four times in succession like chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha and Sikkim.

Referring to poll prospects of Congress, Mankotia said the BJP was way ahead in campaign and every day some central minister, national BJP leader or BJP chief minister is in the state holding rallies, while the situation of the Congress is so dismal that the chief minister had to go from street to street in Shimla Municipal Corporation election but failed to stop the saffron party.

Quoting an article published in a popular magazine which described Virbhadra Singh as "rotten apple" while giving details of cases against him, Mankotia wondered "why he did not sue the magazine for defamation if the charges were wrong."

He urged the party high command to take prompt action by removing Virbhadra Singh to give "Congress a chance for survival" in the state.

"I am a game changer and I have demonstrated this twice in the past and now my main task would be to target the close associates of the chief minister, including political leaders and bureaucrats, who have made the chief minister captive and allegedly involved in corruption," he said.

Alleging that power brokers are running the government, Mankotia said he would "expose" these elements and rid the Congress government from their clutches.

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He said the opposition should have asked the chief minister about the money being "arranged and spent on court cases" and added that the disclosures reportedly made by Tilak Raj, joint director, industries, who was arrested by CBI are startling and if the reports that he has named some big wigs close to power is true, it is a serious matter.

He said he was not joining the BJP or the AAP but would "definitely" contest the Assembly elections from Shahpur constituency irrespective of the fact if he gets the Congress ticket or not.

When asked whether he was in touch with other disgruntled leaders, Mankotia said, "Neither I have contacted any Congress MLA nor any MLA has talked to me. It is the beginning and more things will unfold in days to come as revival of the Congress under the leadership of Virbhadra Singh is not possible."

"Bringing the Congress back to power is an uphill task but not impossible as the BJP too is divided and if the Congress projects a united face, possibilities of returning to power cannot be ruled out," he said.

He also said that it was "unfortunate" that like RJD chief Lalu Yadavs family in Bihar, all family members of Virbhadra Singh are facing corruption charges in criminal cases.

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State ministers Bharmouri and Chaudhary claimed that Mankotia was in a habit of making "false and unfounded" allegations against the government and the chief minister whenever elections were round the corner.

"It seems once again he is playing into the hands of the BJP and trying to mislead the people by spreading all sort of lies," they said in joint statement here.

They said that after enjoying the benefits of power, Mankotia was speaking against the chief minister and the government "which amply speaks of double standards".

"Mankotias claim that 80 per cent people want resignation of Virbhadra Singh is ridiculous. Perhaps he is issuing such malicious statements just to please the BJP leaders," they said.

As far as appointment of chief secretary is concerned, they said, it is always prerogative of the state government to appoint officer of its own choice and Mankotia has no right to raise questions about it. PTI PCL KIS KIS

--- ENDS ---
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Budweiser may be the King of Beers, but its newest beer labels remind Virginians that the state motto is Thus Always to Tyrants.

Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser, this week started a marketing campaign that features new labels for its beer packaging in the 11 states where the company has breweries, including Virginia.

In those states, the Budweiser name on beer cans and bottles is being replaced temporarily by the states name, in what the company describes as a tribute to the communities that have brewed its top-selling beer for generations.

Anheuser-Buschs 1.2 million-square-foot brewery in James City County near Williamsburg opened in 1972 and has about 580 employees, with a $53 million payroll.

Our new state bottles and cans celebrate the homes of our breweries and the communities that support them, said Ricardo Marques, vice president of Budweiser, in a statement released by the company.

Also, the Budweiser slogan King of Beers is being swapped on the labels with each states motto. In Virginia, thats Thus Always to Tyrants.

The motto is printed on the beer labels in English, not the Latin Sic Semper Tyrannis, which is whats on the Great Seal of Virginia along with a figure of Virtus, the goddess of virtue, who holds a spear and rests her foot on the chest of a supine figure representing tyranny.

Sic Semper Tyrannis also is, infamously, what John Wilkes Booth is said to have shouted after he shot President Abraham Lincoln.

The special labels will be on Budweiser packaging in Virginia through September, the company said.

Other states with Budweiser breweries that will have special labels are California (where there are two breweries), Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Texas. Labels also will include other patriotic elements such as the lyrics to the National Anthem.

The new labels come as Budweiser and other major beer companies try different ways to attract and retain consumers and compete with a growing number of locally owned craft breweries that have sprung up recently across the nation.

While overall U.S. beer sales were flat in 2016, craft beer sales were up 6.2 percent by volume for the year, according to the Brewers Association, an organization of independent craft brewers.

The number of craft breweries in the U.S. jumped to just over 5,200 in 2016 from 2,400 in 2012.

Virginia had 164 craft breweries in 2016, up from just 50 in 2012.

In June, the Brewers Association announced it was introducing a new seal that craft brewers can place on their packaging if they meet the associations definition of an independent brewer.

This isnt the first campaign by Anheuser-Busch meant to inspire a sense of patriotism in beer drinkers. In 2016, the company temporarily swapped the Budweiser name on its cans and bottles with the word America.

As part of its latest campaign, Budweiser also is planning an open house on Sept. 16 at its James City brewery at 7801 Pocahontas Trail, which the company plans to invest $18 million this year. People interested in attending must register ahead of time at www.budbrewedlocally.com.
BEDFORD  A felony bad check charge against a Bedford pastor who ran a now-defunct homeless shelter has been dismissed in court.

Joshua M. Ball, 30, has said he tried to pay an electric bill of $270.01 to the town of Bedford for service to the financially strapped facility, believing some recent donations had been deposited in the bank account. Instead the check bounced for insufficient funds.

Because the check was written for more than $200, Ball was charged with a felony when the town reported the returned check to police.

Bedford General District Judge Randy Krantz dismissed the charge for lack of probable cause during a preliminary hearing Friday.

Chief Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Stacey Gardner said because Ball testified he believed there were funds in the shelters account to cover the check, the judge found no evidence of intent to defraud, which would be required to certify the charge.

The homeless shelter, run by Grace House Community Church, closed in February.

Frankly the charge was baseless and never should have been filed by the Town, said Rick Boyer, attorney with Lynchburg-based Relevant Law, who represented Ball in the case, in an email Friday. Mr. Ball had explained what had happened and attempted to pay with cash before the Town decided to charge him. Clearly Mr. Ball never intended to write a bad check, as the utility checks for all the churchs other rented units cleared just fine.

Also Friday, prosecutors dropped an unrelated misdemeanor charge against Ball of assault and battery, saying they could not reach the alleged victim.
RUSTBURG  A Lynchburg man pleaded guilty Thursday to drunken-driving charges stemming from a November wreck that killed a 77-year-old Halifax woman.

Anthony Terrelle Chambers, 49, faces up to 17 years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 21 on charges filed as a result of a head-on collision.

On one charge, related to injuring another woman in the crash, Chambers entered an Alford plea, which means he maintains his innocence but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to secure conviction.

Chambers was found guilty in Campbell County Circuit Court of involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence and driving while intoxicated maiming. He was also found guilty of two misdemeanors: second DWI within five to 10 years and driving with a suspended license.

Prosecutors blame Chambers for the Nov. 25 wreck, saying while trying to pass another vehicle on a two-lane road, he struck another vehicle head-on.

Virginia State Police said the crash occurred at 5:15 p.m. on U.S. 501 at Volunteer Road in Campbell County.

When the Toyota Highlander driven by Chambers crossed the center line, it struck a Honda Odyssey driven by Charlie Smith, of Halifax. His wife, Mary Smith, was a passenger.

Doris Chappell, of Halifax, another passenger in the Honda, later died at Lynchburg General Hospital. Charlie and Mary Smith were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Chambers and his four passengers were treated for minor to serious injuries at the same hospital.

Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Jason Todd said in court Thursday the medical examiners office found Chappell died of blunt injuries to her chest.

Todd said the maiming charge stemmed from Mary Smith suffering a tibia fracture that has required multiple surgeries and plates in her leg.

After police arrived, Chambers failed multiple field sobriety tests, and he later registered .13 blood-alcohol content, Todd said.

Scott DeBruin, Chambers defense lawyer, said in court his client wanted to enter an Alford plea on the maiming charge to avoid a trial.
Terrorists attacked an army convoy in Bandipora in Jammu and Kashmir.

By Ashraf Wani: Three jawans were seriously injured in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora today.

An army convoy was attacked by militants in Hajin area of Bandipora early in the morning. The attack takes place on the death anniversary of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani.

More details are awaited.

Also Read:

J-K cop injured as terrorists open fire at police team deployed for Amarnath Yatra security

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Srinagar: 2 terrorists killed in DPS encounter, 3 Army personnel injured

--- ENDS ---
US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) confirmed that it aimed to carry out a THAAD flight test to help guard against a missile attack from North Korea.

A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched during a successful intercept test, in this undated handout photo provided by the US Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency (Photo:Reuters)

By Reuters: The United States plans to carry out a new test of its THAAD missile defense system against an intermediate-range ballistic missile in the coming days, two US officials told Reuters on Friday, as tensions with North Korea climb.

Despite being planned months ago, the US missile defense test will gain significance in the wake of North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on July 4 that has heightened concerns about the threat from Pyongyang.

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The test will be the first of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) to defend against a simulated attack by an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), one of the officials said. The THAAD interceptors will be fired from Alaska.

The United States has THAAD interceptors in Guam that are meant to help guard against a missile attack from a country such as North Korea.

The officials who disclosed to Reuters the precise nature and timing of the upcoming test spoke on condition of anonymity.

Asked by Reuters, the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) confirmed that it aimed to carry out a THAAD flight test "in early July."

Chris Johnson, an MDA spokesman, said the THAAD weapon system at the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska, would "detect, track and engage a target with a THAAD interceptor."

"The test is designated as Flight Test THAAD (FTT)-18," Johnson said. He did not elaborate.

Still, in recent testimony to Congress, Vice Admiral James Syring, then the director of the Missile Defense Agency, said FTT-18 would aim to demonstrate THAAD's ability to intercept a separating IRBM target.

MDA said THAAD had a 100 percent successful track record in its 13 flight tests since 2006. After previous tests, the US military has publicly disclosed the results.

SOUTH KOREAN DEPLOYMENT

THAAD is a ground-based missile defense system designed to shoot down short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

Lockheed Martin Corp, the prime contractor for the THAAD system, said it has the ability to intercept incoming missiles both inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere.

This year's US deployment of THAAD in South Korea to guard against North Korea's shorter-range missiles has also drawn fierce criticism from China, which says the system's powerful radar can probe deep into its territory.

Earlier this month Moscow and Beijing, in a joint statement, called on Washington to immediately halt deployment of THAAD in South Korea.

The statement said Washington was using North Korea as a pretext to expand its military infrastructure in Asia and risked upsetting the strategic balance of power in the region.

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THAAD's success rate in testing is far higher than the one for America's Ground-based Midcourse Defense system (GMD), the system specifically designed to shoot down an ICBM headed for the US mainland.

That GMD system has only a 55 percent success rate over the life of the program. But advocates note that the technology has improved dramatically in recent years.

In a key development, the GMD system successfully shot down an incoming, simulated North Korean ICBM in a test in May.

That led the Pentagon to upgrade its assessment of America's ability to defend against a small number of ICBMs, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

MDA told Congress in June that it plans to deliver 52 more THAAD interceptors to US Army between October 2017 and September 2018, for a total of 210 delivered since May 2011.

ALSO READ:

India asks North Korea to refrain from nuclear and ballistic missile programmes

While world powers are divided on ICBM, North Korea warns of heavy blows to US, South Korea

US moves THAAD anti-missile to South Korean site, sparking protests

--- ENDS ---
Rod Stewart has kicked off his current tour with a stop in Florida. The run features co-headliner Cyndi Lauper and the pair started things off in Hollywood, Florida. The run will include 18 dates total and will wrap in Houston on August 12.

The set included many of Stewart's most beloved hits including "Maggie Mae," "Forever Young," "Have I Told You Lately," and "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" The run serves as a mere warm up for Stewart who will take his show to Vegas' Caesars Palace between August 18 and September 3.

Rod Stewart Set List, Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, 7/6/17

"Infatuation"

"Love Train"

"Some Guys Have All the Luck"

"Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)"

"You Wear It Well"

"Forever Young"

"Can't Stop Me Now"

"Young Turks"

"Rhythm of My Heart"

"Downtown Train"

"The First Cut Is the Deepest"

"Reason to Believe"

"You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)"

"Have I Told You Lately"

"Maggie May"

"Hot Legs"

"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"

"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)"

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Entertainment News
By PTI: (Eds: Dropping name of one accused)

Mumbai, Jul 8 (PTI) Two people have been arrested here and a juvenile apprehended for the murder of an aspiring air hostess Riya Gautam, who was stabbed in full public view this week in Delhi, police said today.

Adil Banne Khan (23), Juned Salim Ansari (19) were arrested and a juvenile apprehended by Mumbai Crime branch from suburban Bandra late last night, they said.

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While Khan, the main accused, is a resident of Delhis Mansarovar Park, the two others belong to Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh.

"Adil and one of his associates have been arrested, while another associate, who is a juvenile, has been apprehended from Bandra," Sanjay Saxena, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) told PTI.

All the accused were handed over to a team of Delhi Police, Saxena said.

Yesterday, Unit-9 of Mumbai Crime Branch received information that Khan and two of his associates were hiding somewhere in Bandra East, a police official said.

Subsequently, a search operation was carried out in the area and all the three accused were arrested, he said.

According to police, Riya Gautam alias Charu (21), was stabbed multiple times on July 5 by Khan, who was allegedly stalking her. She succumbed to her injuries the next day at a hospital in Delhi.

An offence of murder was registered against Khan at Mansarovar Police Station after Riyas death but the accused was absconding since then.

Her family has alleged that she had filed a police complaint against the accused in April but no action was taken.

The woman, a resident of Ramnagar area in Mansarovar Park, was attacked by Khan in a busy market.

A CCTV grab of the incident shows the accused attacking the woman and she running away from him. After some time, the accused can be seen fleeing from the spot, a police official said.

The victim and Khan had a fight near her house that day following which she was attacked. In an attempt to save herself, she rushed to a shop for help but nobody was present there, police said.

Khan followed her inside the shop and stabbed her multiple times. Even though there were some people, they did not go near Khan for the fear of getting attacked.

She was later rushed to a hospital.

According to police, the victim and the accused were known to each other for the last one year. However, after some time, she distanced herself from him and her indifference irked him.

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She approached the police with a complaint against the accused in April but he got a whiff of the matter and when his house was raided, it was found that he had fled to Gujarat.

Khan had allegedly been harassing her and would often ask her to talk to him. When she was returning from a shop, the accused stopped her and tried to engage in a conversation but when she ignored him, he attacked her, eyewitnesses had told the police. PTI DC DK SLB IKA MIN IKA

--- ENDS ---
By India Today Web Desk: Things have not been going well for comedy king Kapil Sharma. The host of The Kapil Sharma Show recently fainted on the sets of the show due to fatigue, and had to be taken to a hospital, according to a report in The Times of India.

Kapil, who has been simultaneously shooting for The Kapil Sharma Show and his upcoming film Firangi, had been feeling unwell for a while. Kapil was supposed to shoot with Shah Rukh Khan and Imtiaz Ali as they wanted to promote their upcoming movie Jab Harry Met Sejal on his show, but SRK had to leave the sets of the show after Kapil was rushed to a hospital.

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Comedian and team member Kiku Sharda told TOI, "Yes, Shah Rukh Khan was shooting in the Film City vicinity for some promo shoot last night. By the time he came on the sets, Kapil had already left for a checkup.He was feeling uneasy and the doctors advised him to get admitted. Kapil is still in the hospital and his family is with him. Now our regular shooting is on 11th and 13th July, but I don't know which film's star cast will be visiting our sets."

Also read: This is how Kapil Sharma feels about Salman Khan skipping his show for Sunil Grover

--- ENDS ---
Amidst a chill in ties over their border row, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met here on Friday, and had a conversation on a range of issues on the sidelines of a BRICS leaders meeting.

At BRICS leaders informal gathering at Hamburg hosted by China, PM Nnarendra Modi and President Xi had a conversation on a range of issues, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson tweeted.

At the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) leaders meeting, Modi and Xi also complimented each others nations roles in furthering the objectives of the grouping and the fight against terrorism.

The two leaders were not scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Beijing citing that the bilateral atmosphere is not good due to the face-off between their armies in Doklam region in the Sikkim sector.

During their meeting here, however, both leaders were seen smiling and shaking hands.

The two leaders last met in Kazakhstan capital Astana last month during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

Addressing the meeting, Modi appreciated the momentum in BRICS under the chairmanship of President Xi and extended full cooperation and best wishes for the BRICS Summit at Xiamen in China in September this year.

Concluding the meeting immediately after Modis remarks, President Xi appreciated Indias strong resolve against terrorism and the momentum in BRICS introduced under Indias chairmanship and through the outcomes of the Goa Summit in 2016.

He also appreciated Indias success in economic and social development and wished India even bigger success.
The ED on Saturday conducted raids at three different properties owned by his daughter Misa Bharti in connection with an over Rs 1,000-crore benami (proxy) land deals case. Previously the CBI carried out raids at over 12 places of RJD chief Lalu Prasad.

"We have conducted raids at three places including Ghitorani, Sainik Farms and Bijwasan belonging to Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar," an ED official said.

ED officials refuted that they had questioned Bharti at her residence here.

The ED is investigating a 'benami' land deals case allegedly involving family members of Lalu Prasad on the basis of an Income Tax department case.

On Friday, the CBI carried out raids at the residences of Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri and son Tejashwi Yadav, who is also Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, for allegedly receiving a three-acre plot of land as a pay-off in leasing two railway hotels to a private company when he was the Railways Minister.

On June 21, Income Tax (IT) officials interrogated Bharti for five hours in connection with the benami land case.

Earlier, the department attached over 12 properties of her relatives, including husband Shailesh Kumar, and brothers Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav - both ministers in the Bihar cabinet -- under the Benami Transactions Act, 1988.

On May 22, the ED arrested a chartered accountant, Rajesh Kumar Agrawal, allegedly linked to Bharti, from Delhi.
In a response from American Samoas Deputy Treasurer, Keith Gebauer, who is currently overseeing Customs in the Territory, we have a sensible response to what was fast escalating into a blame game.

Mr Gebauer is calling upon Customs and Border Control of the two Samoas to work together.

The situation arose when a package from American Samoa went through the scanning machine at Fagalii Airport and Customs found methamphetamine (ice) in the package.

Both Samoa and American Samoa are said to have scanning machines at their airports.

Later, two men who came to pick up the package from Fagalii were arrested and have been charged with unlawful possession of the drugs.

In the meantime however, there had been unfair finger pointing at the airline which had carried the package

There also appears to have been a lack of information sharing between American Samoa and Samoa which is surprising and general confusion over who and how the contraband should have been detected before it reached its destination.

No one is under any illusion that this is the first time drugs or other illegal goods for that matter have crossed our borders into Samoa from American Samoa or vice versa.

How else have the many illegal, unlicensed and unregistered firearms turned up on our shores and been discovered during assaults and drug raids?

So to infer anything different, is just plain silly.

And to then criticize procedures in one or other of the two island nations, is also unhelpful and counterproductive.

The General Manager of Talofa Air, Taua Fatu Tielu, has said that they simply transport the cargo through and it is the responsibility of Customs and Border Control to check.

All the airline can do, said Taua, is ask what is inside the package after which they must rely on peoples honesty.

The fact is, there is always a certain amount of trust involved when people travel from one country to another. This can be seen in the forms and declarations travellers are required to fill out, much of which would be impossible to thoroughly check without causing long delays

So what can be done?

Obviously clear travel guidelines for everyone and greater cooperation between the responsible organizations of Customs and Border Controls in American Samoa and Samoa as well as all the airlines which fly in and out of our countries.

And as for us, we need to obey the law by accepting that drugs are illegal and that our declarations, either verbal or written, should be honest.
"President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it's going very well," said Donald Trump.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg (Photo: Reuters)

By Indo-Asian News Service: Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart Donald Trump that Moscow did not meddle in the US presidential election and Trump accepted it, claimed Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

After the two leaders emerged from a meeting in Hamburg on Friday, on the sidelines of G20 summit, that lasted over two hours -- at one point, First Lady Melania Trump entered the room to hurry them along -- US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump had raised the issue of Moscow's alleged cyber-meddling in the election at the start of their conversation, the Independent reported.

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He said the US had talked about such attacks represented a "threat to the democratic process". An official from the White House, however, later indicated that the President (Trump) had not in fact accepted assurances from Putin that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 election.

"The President opened the meeting raising the concerns of the American people about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election," said Tillerson. "They had a very lengthy and robust conversation on this."

He said Trump pushed him on the issue and Putin stood firm in his denial.

"I think the President is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point," Tillerson said.

In his own briefing to reporters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Trump accepted Putin's assurances that Russia did not meddle in the election.

"The (issue of cybersecurity) got a lot of attention, which is understandable," Lavrov said. "President Trump mentioned that in the US, some circles are fuelling -- even though they cannot prove (anything -- the allegations of Russian meddling in the US elections)."

When pressed, Lavrov said that Trump or Tillerson would likely provide further information to the press.

"In the course of the months that these allegations have been around, not a single fact has been presented, which is admitted by those in the (US) Congress who have led this movement at some point," Lavrov said. "And President Trump said that he heard President Putin stating clearly that it is not true, that the Russian government did not meddle" in the elections."

WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE MEETING:

Trump left the scene of his conversation with Putin, to head to Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie, a concert that is the venue for a formal G20 dinner. He was accompanied by the First Lady Melania Trump.

Earlier, the US President had spoken to reporters as he and Putin posed for photographs before their discussions, accompanied only by their translators, Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it's going very well," said Mr Trump. "We look forward to a lot of very positive happenings for Russia and for the United States, and for everyone concerned."

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For his part, Putin said he was happy to be able to meet Trump in person.

"We spoke over the phone but phone conversations are never enough, definitely," he said. "I hope that, as you have said, our meetings will yield positive results."

The two leaders discussed a range of issues, including Russia's annexation of Crimea, a reported agreement for a cease fire in Syria, and ways to cooperate in the fight against terrorism in the world

"This is our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together in Syria," Tillerson said of the ceasefire in Syria, which was described as a potential building block to further cooperation in the war-torn country. Trump and Putin had a "lengthy discussion of other areas in Syria where we can work together".

Before the meeting between the two presidents, observers were keen to see how they would interact in person.

The two countries haven't had the greatest relationship so far in Trump's nascent presidency, and the White House has at times described the relationship with the Kremlin as at all-time lows.

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The relationship became exacerbated in April when Trump ordered a missile strike on a Syrian government airbase in April to the chagrin of the Russian military.

The Russian government officially supports the embattled Syrian regime headed by Bashar al-Assad, while the US government has called for that president's ouster.

The 2017 G20 summit is the 12 meeting of the Group of Twenty, which is an assembly of some of the most powerful countries, as well as the European Union.

ALSO READ:

All eyes on Trump-Putin dynamics as they meet for the first time at G20

Day before meeting Putin, Trump says Russia could have interfered in presidential elections

Putin denies having compromising information on Donald Trump

ALSO WATCH:

Trump show: Donald Trump accepts nomination; slams Hillary, Obama

--- ENDS ---
Dear Editor

Re: Mother struggles to feed her 10 children

Why is she struggling to feed her 10 children. I grew up in a family of 12 siblings I am the youngest but we never complained about not having enough food. Our mother worked from morning till dawn of the land with the help of our old brothers and sisters to make sure we had enough food and money to pay our school fees.

My dad passed away when I was only 4 years old.

We were lucky because we have our own land to plant taro, bananas and vegetables and fruits. If Samoan people complain about they cant feed their kids then they are either lazy or whinge too much.

I think this generation is getting too lazy and reliant to families overseas for help. The other thing is our old traditional way of life should be limited.

I am referring to the faalavelave especially donations to churches and money donates to pay pastors salaries, electricity and so on.

I find out growing up that almost all the pastors children are well educated while the children from the church community are struggling to educate their own because they donate so much money to the church while they are struggling.

Benjamin Meyer
The American Samoas Deputy Treasurer who is overseeing Customs, Keith Gebauer is calling on Customs and Border Control to work together to combat the smuggling of drugs between the two Samoas.

He also made it clear the American Samoa Customs Officers do not inspect outbound cargos.

Mr Gebauers response was sent in an email to Samoa Observer following the methamphetamine or ice package that was intercepted at the Fagalii Airport.

Last week, Acting Assistant Police Commissioner, Salaa Moananu Salaa, told the Samoa Observer that a package from American Samoa went through the scanning machine and Customs found methamphetamine (ice) in the package.

Two men in their 40s have been arrested and charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamine.

Mr Gebauer told Samoa Observer its not general policy to comment on media reports before any pending investigations have been completed.

As of this email, I am unaware of any official inquiry from the Samoa Police Department to the American Samoa Department of Treasury, Customs Division. As such, it would be inappropriate to comment on what appears to be an open case.

While we were aware of the comments attributed to the Samoa Police Department's spokesperson, it would be inadvisable and unproductive to offer any comments without having all the relevant facts and information, especially, given the serious nature of the alleged criminal activity, explained Mr Gebauer.

He further noted that American Samoa Customs Division does not normally inspect outbound passengers or cargo. However all inbound passengers and cargo are subject to review and searches as prescribed by our local laws.

Mr Gebauer congratulated the Fagali'i Airport Customs/Border agents and their use of the scanning equipment for a job well done.

The American Samoa Customs Division recently launched its own scanning unit to aid in our own border security efforts.

Ideally, this is an area that we can learn from one another. Improving enforcement of border security measures and the intercepting of illegal drugs and contraband are in both our countries best interest.

We would all be better served working collaboratively together to address these issues that can do great harm to our communities.

We are ready to assist in any manner possible and we look forward to working with the appropriate Samoa Departments and Agencies to combat this joint problem, said Mr Gebauer.

Assistant Police Commissioner said the methamphetamine baggies weighed up to 5.9grammes. The men were arrested when they turned up to collect the package. They are scheduled to appear in the Supreme Court on 17 July 2017.

Salaa said they are still investigating how the package got through Customs in American Samoa. Something is not right with this picture and there are many questions at the moment.

This is a very serious offence, he said adding that the Police will ensure lawbreakers are dealt with as harshly as possible under the law.

The Police also confirmed that one of the two men, a 42-year-old accused has previous drug-related convictions.
There is no real assurance for hundreds of Yazaki Samoa employees to get real jobs as they set to close later this year.

This was confirmed by General Manager, Funefeai Oliva Vaai in an interview with the Samoa Observer.

There is no real assurance at this stage, but we can only do our best to make sure that people who are unskilled get a chance to get a job. he said.

We are looking at every opportunity where we can work with other existing employers to try and make the transition easier.

Last year Cabinet confirmed the end of production date for the Yazaki EDS Samoa Ltd. in Samoa on the 25th of August.

And since then Yazaki has launched trades training for its employees.

The focus by Yazaki is for employees to gain skills or find new employment when the company closes.

As of today, more than 200 employees of Yazaki Samoa will be retained through to October and then between 60 to 90 will continue working through to November 2017.

A previous interview shows that job creation is on the mind of the Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, as the government prepares for life after Yazaki Company closes.

He said that the government is looking at ways to minimise the impact of the closure of Samoas biggest private employer.

I think in two or three years we will be able to provide for them, he said.

Obviously there is the investment in the Submarine Cable and the sorts of opportunity that will come in terms of connectivity."

There are also ongoing discussions with some fishing companies who are expressing interest in investing here and looking at expanding on what they are doing.

Minister Sili said there is no need to panic. Rather the government wants to firm up those negotiations so that it would have a better plan when the company closes.

In tourism, if it works well, there will be another area where there will be more opportunities for people to work in."

Away from tourism, Sili encouraged people to continue to work their land.

People should work to utilise the resources that are available to them, he said.

People can encourage others, who are basically living in the same village and you know life in villages are not too bad, rather than staying in town and causing trouble and creating all sorts of problems.

Last year, Y.E.S. Branding Division Manager in Japan, Yoko Yamada, said the closure is due to the car manufacturing industry in Australia winding up.

He said the latest developments in the market there have had a knock on impact here, forcing the company to re-evaluate the viability of their operation in Samoa.

Mr. Yamada said the company fully understands this is a difficult situation for their employees and their families.

But they are committed to provide support where they can to make the transition smooth.
Savaii Koko owners, Saleimoa (Sale) and Rosy Vaai harvest cocoa beans from their family plantation and collect cocoa produced by neighbouring smallholding farmers from the western Savaii area and beyond.

The beans then go through the fermenting and drying stages at the Savaii Koko farm, before being stored, packed and sent to Whittakers chocolate producers in New Zealand. Savaii Koko, located in Asau, Savaii is one of the main exporters of cocoa beans in Samoa. It provides local communities with employment opportunities and invests resources in the development of cocoa beans for export.

The Savaii Koko and Whittakers partnership led to the development of the Samoa Cocoa Export Improvement Programme (S.C.E.I.P.) aimed at increasing production of cocoa by sharing experiences with growers, providing planting materials, training and the equipment.

The main goal of the programme is to increase the vitality, financial returns and resilience of the smallholding farmers and households with vulnerable youth. However, cocoa farming and processing is a labour intensive and time consuming job.

Many farmers would increase their production if they were provided with simple equipment like a dry house to protect cocoa beans from the rain and save farmers their time and effort.

To address this, the Samoa One U.N.-Youth Employment Project (Y.E.P.) provided funding of WST$60 000 for the construction of 10 dry houses in 8 villages at the beginning of 2017. Construction work was completed in May 2017, making it possible for the first ten smallholding farmers to increase cocoa production, and contribute towards improving the standard of living of their families as well as engaging vulnerable youths.

The Samoa One U.N.-Y.E.P. is a unique project because it targets the youth and women and thats the future of Samoa, said Sale Vaai. The men do the heavy work with the assistance of youth, but the women do the last part of the process, especially the drying: harvesting cocoa beans involves the whole family unit.

Our idea was to help families with the drying process. If they have a dry house, they can just leave cocoa beans there and attend to other family responsibilities. We selected families who have received dry houses from our most regular suppliers who are committed to developing koko plantations. Its the commitment what matters.

Mr. Vaai also shared his concerns and plans on the future development of the district and the community: When seasonal workers, who earned NZD$12 per hour in New Zealand return home, they dont want to do the same job for a minimum wage that Samoa can offer.

Our plan is to teach them how to plant and farm a cocoa plantation and provide them with plants so that when they return from New Zealand, they can continue working on their own land, instead of looking for employment with other farmers or being unemployed. Koko planting is a long term investment: plant a koko tree, go away for 6 months, come back and just maintain it, and put the experience and skills you got in New Zealand in your own farm. This is a more sustainable way forward.

During a recent visit to Savaii the Samoa One UN-YEP team met with many participants of the Savaii Koko programme including church leaders, business owners, members of youth groups, farmers and their families.

All of them have a role to play in farming and processing cocoa beans of the finest quality, according to representatives of Whittakers, who visit Savaii Koko on a regular basis to oversee the processing of beans, and share experience and resources. More than 150 youths are now involved in the program, which is equipping them with knowledge and skills in cocoa farming and processing that they can benefit from in the future.

Ms. Lizbeth Cullity, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative co-led the Samoa One UN-YEP team during this visit together with Mr. Nanai Savala, ACEO of the Economic Division of the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development (MWCSD).

She saluted Savaii Kokos on-going efforts to engage more youth and give their families a chance to prosper: These young people, if they are motivated enough, can start their own koko processing farms. Families, who grow cocoa beans can get approximately 400 tala per week with their current harvests.

Having a dry house is one step towards significantly increasing their production and opening better business opportunities. It is great that SavaiI Koko is leading in this region and sharing their wealth of knowledge with communities, she said. This can be a big game-changer, with more small farms producing more cocoa and ultimately making more money.

The Savaii Koko initiative is an excellent example of families and communities working together. It is also an example where the Government, the UN and the private sector have joined forces to work with communities willing to work the land and invest in their future. It demonstrates the kind of partnership which can set an example of how to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and leaving no one behind.

The Samoa One UN-YEP is an economic empowerment program assisting individuals and groups interested in new opportunities and building skills to develop livelihoods and improve their standard of living. The Samoa One UN-YEP Program is a partnership between the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development (MWSCD) and five United Nations agencies (UNDP, FAO, ILO, UNESCO and UNV).
The Samoa Land Corporation is going ahead with their plans to lease out the Malifa Lodge despite Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaois recommendation to reconsider their decision.

The Corporation is still going ahead and as of today, we have a number of bidders who have expressed their interest and we hope that the selected one will generate more income for the Corporation, said an official who refused to be named.

Prime Minister Tuilaepas comments followed the decision by the S.L.C. to put the building up for lease in May.

But this is just a recommendation (fautuaga) for them to look into their decision before further action, Tuilaepa said.

However, in the S.L.C annual report of 2014/2015 it was noted that the contribution of the newly-established Lodge with its initial collection totalled $161,310 for the period.

But during an interview with the General Manager of S.L.C., Ulugia Kavesi Petelo, he refused to confirm or deny that returns from the Lodge had dropped since it was first opened.

All I can say is that this is the nature of businesses like hotels, there are high and low seasons. Ulugia said.

So the Samoa Land Corporation is looking at other ways to generate more returns from the Lodge.

That is why we have advertised the Lodge, so we are giving a chance to the private sector or interested parties to express interest in developing or investing in the lease of the 1/2acre of land and the existing two-storey building.

Just three years ago, at the official opening of the Lodge, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, congratulated the Corporations management for their perseverance.

Tuilaepa said such establishments were vital for the development of Samoa.

We hope that this new project will be able to grow and prosper in the future, Tuilaepa said.

He said these developments not only earned the country much needed revenue, they also provided employment opportunities for members of the community.

However the Malifa Lodge, like the empty S.L.C building at Tuanaimato which cost 4.4 million tala, is now seeking tenants.
My life will never be same, said Ben Gillespie a high school student at Wyong Christian Community School based on the Central Coast of New South Wales.

Ben is one of the 10 students here on a 10 day mission and they are staying in Faleseela. Their goal is to offer the word of God to the young children in Samoa with the hope it would change their lives.

But, for Ben it is his life that has been changed.

I always took life for granted I grew up with everything that a teenager could ask for and I never really appreciated it, until I came to Samoa.

According to Ben, the Schools mission to Samoa has been ongoing since 2008 and they have established a strong bond and a healthy relationship with the Village Council of Faleseela.

We took part in plantation work, something Ive never experienced before.

I enjoyed the work and putting extra effort into getting something done, probably was the highlight of my day, each time we worked on the plantation, said Ben.

Another highlight of the trip for Ben was working with primary school students at Faleseela.

Coming here, I see how the children enjoy the little they have.... they enjoy what is available to them and they make the best of it, said Ben.

Also it was amazing to see how children enjoyed interacting with other kids, the friendship and just sharing. What they had to eat whether it was a ripe banana, or anything, they shared, said Ben.

The high school student told Samoa Observer, he is definitely coming back to Samoa. I love the culture, the respect that everyone has for one another.

The respect the brother and sister have for another, its just overwhelming. I want to be a part of this and I want to come back, said Ben.

The young man said aside from the beautiful people, Samoa is just so green. The waterfalls are to die for and the friendliness of the Samoan people, is what makes Samoa unique. I just love it here, I want to come back, said Ben.

The students left Samoa last night.
With a pile of bills not to mention obligations and a family to feed, the increase in the cost of living is making life a little harder to cope with.

According to Levi Atioka, aged 31 from the village of Vailuutai and Salimu Savaii, the high cost of living is a problem.

The only issue I can think of in our everyday life is how expensive the cost of living is right now, he told the Village Voice.

The prices for all the things in the shop have been raised and the pay people receive is not enough to cover everyones basic needs.

We need money for almost everything; the water bills, to pay for electricity and food for every day. Peoples pay and the cost of living do not match.

The father of three is a farmer while his wife is a pre-school teacher in their village.

Its all right for families with more than three people with jobs but with us we have got only one breadwinner to care for our elderly parents and kids.

The one lucky thing we have is a plantation. I mean without a plantation what could we do?

But with Samoas family values being very strong, fighting the high cost of living is made easier for some families.

As you can see, I just got back from my plantation with taro and some cucumbers, Levi said.

A family who works together is a happy family and thats what I believe.

Heres the way we do things. My wife gets to pay all the bills in our family while I provide the food. Her pay covers all our family expenses while I try and put food on the table.

But when its a family faalavelave we both share in it. Thats how my family is and were used to it.

Levi says he is grateful for the help his wife provides through her job.

I couldnt have done anything without my wife. The children and I are lucky to have her in our lives.

One area of concern he has is with the quality of care provided at the Leulumoega Hospital.

This is the only problem here, he said.

The service is so slow and to be honest my parents have to wait for hours before seeing the doctor.

This is why I want to humbly ask the Government to please prioritise hospitals in rural areas just like how they prioritise the main hospital in town.

This is the only hospital near our village and we cant guarantee rushing to Apia if something happens to our families.
The Ministry of Police has issued a stern warning to the public to be vigilant following a fraudulent scam that successfully targeted two local churches to the tune of $200,000.

Acting Assistant Police Commissioner, Salaa Moananu Salaa told the Sunday Samoan, a man who goes by the names of Jeremy Bulu or Michael Toki, allegedly stole the money from two local Pentecostal churches.

He said professional scammers will do and say anything to milk money from people.

He said this case is currently being investigated by the local Police and the Transnational Crime Unit investigation.

According to Salaa the man claimed he was from New Caledonia. He further noted the incident came to light when the church leaders lodged a complaint with the Police.

This man met with the leaders of the two Samoan Pentecostal churches, and convinced them the money would be for a community assistance programme for the low income families.

The church leaders were informed the payment was for the registration process for the programme.

However when he came back asking for more money, thats when the church leaders started to realize this was a scam. After that, when they could not locate the alleged scammer, the church leaders lodged their criminal complaint with police, explained Salaa.

The Assistant Police Commissioner told the Sunday Samoan, that an immigration manifest shows the accused had since left Samoa.

The Police are now working together with the Transnational Crime Unit investigating this matter, said Salaa.

Salaa reiterated the need for members of the public to think things thorough carefully before giving out money to a total stranger.

Once they take the money, thats it, you wont hear from them.

He further noted these people travel the world conducting fraudulent scams and by the time its reported to the Police, they have usually left the country.

So be careful, he warned.

Be alert, and dont let anyone take your hard-earned money.... when its looks too good to be true, you always have to consider your options. Dont fall for lies, he said.

Samoa residents are also being urged to share this information with anyone vulnerable, including the elderly. Its not just these people who come into our country.

If anyone comes knocking on your door, check their bonafides and their identification, he said.

Find out where they are from and phone the company to check. If youre still not sure, phone us and we will investigate for you, Salaa told the Sunday Samoan.

Sala pointed out that some scammers use email and he laid out some simple steps that should be put in place to protect yourself.

You need to scrutinize new requests for any payment and have a clearly defined process for verifying and paying accounts and invoices.

With the advancement of technology, we have to be cautious with everything, not just the scammers who come to your house or phone you, but also the ones who will email you. Be alert and report anything suspicious to the Police, said Salaa.
A North County jury has awarded nearly $1.9 million to a former cadet who said he was sexually abused by an employee at a Carlsbad military school in 2006.

Following a two-week trial, the panel found last week that the Army and Navy Academy had been negligent in supervising Juan Munoz, a former employee who the victim said had plied him with alcohol then molested him.

An arrest warrant was issued for Munoz in 2010 after allegations involving other students came to light. Those charges were dismissed in 2012 when he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

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In the civil case, the jury found Munoz liable for sexual battery and sexual harassment, and found the academy had been negligent in retaining and supervising him, court records show.

Because he was so poorly supervised, they let the lion out of the cage, said Alex Cunny, an attorney representing the former cadet, who is now 27.

Mark Lowary, an attorney for Munoz, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The academy issued a statement this week pointing out it suspended Munoz in September 2007, immediately after receiving complaints about his conduct, and began an internal investigation. He resigned shortly thereafter and ended any affiliation with the campus.

The academy declined further comment on the civil suit as part of its policy to respect the privacy of cadets and employees, past and present. The school said it has taken and will continue to take the necessary steps to protect the physical safety and emotional well-being of our cadets and Academy employees.

In the June 28 civil verdict, the jury awarded the former cadet $710,000 in actual damages to be paid by the academy and Munoz, and another $25,000 in punitive damages to be paid by Munoz.

In addition, the jury awarded the ex-cadet $1.15 million for pain and suffering, with the academy responsible for 70 percent and Munoz, 30 percent.

Cunny said through the verdict justice was done by the community.

Its a sad case and a case that didnt have to happen, he said. We hope this will give our client a tool to seek closure.

The verdict came days after another jury issued guilty verdicts in an unrelated criminal case also involving a former Army and Navy staffer accused of molestation. In that case, former Army headmaster Jeff Barton was found guilty of six felony counts, and faces 45 years in prison for molesting a different former cadet starting in 1999.

The victim in the Barton case is also suing Barton and the school; the civil trial is set for later this year.

The cadets in the two suits are both represented by the same firm.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
Like Hemmingways famous fisherman in The Old Man and the Sea, Guy Skinner could have faced a similar challenge when he connected with a 250-pound bluefin tuna in the waters southwest of San Diego.

Skinners challenge was more complicated, however, because he wasnt even in a boat.

The Encinitas resident was spearfishing in the waters west of Mexicos Coronado Islands and had just speared the monster tuna. While most spearfishermen would call this recreation, Skinner, who owns JBL Spearguns, calls this research and development.

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His company employs about 20 and is the worlds largest maker of spearguns. Skinner purchased it 13 years ago and moved from Orange to Oceanside.

Ive always considered myself an outdoor person, and this isnt work for me. Its something I love, he said.

Skinner and three buddies headed out to hunt for fish at a point known as 371, an underwater ridge about 16 miles west of the tiny Mexican islands, just south of the U.S. border.

We spotted the tuna feeding on red crab, so we moved the boat into position and slipped into the water, Skinner said.

Like any big game, large tuna are spooked with sudden movements, so the divers approached slowly. What helped a bit was the fact the water was slightly cloudy that day.

When they entered the water, they spotted a huge school of maybe 300 large tuna.

You have to be stealthy, calm your heart rate down, and thats hard to do when you see a Buick-sized fish coming at you, Skinner said.

They approached the large school of several hundred fish, and his buddy, Chad Freeman from Valley Center, made the first shot and connected with a smaller tuna.

I waited for a bigger fish and was trying to relax, Skinner said.

As the school quickly scattered, Skinner spotted a huge fish at the end of the line. He took a shot and connected. Thats when the adventure began.

The spear is attached to a 33-liter inflated float and a strong, 100-foot stretch line that can expand to 200 feet.

He took off and headed down with my float tube. Ive shot a lot of tuna, but Ive never had one take my float down like that, Skinner said. This was a very powerful fish.

About 10 minutes later the float popped to the surface and the fight was on again.

Ive fought a lot of tuna, but this guy was so strong. The others were toys compared to this one, Skinner said.

Imagine a man in the water against a fish that weighed more and is a lot stronger than he is. This is also a very dangerous situation. A fish that size could quickly warp a diver in the line and take him down.

I was still in the water and hes pulling me down. Im trying to keep all the slack so when he dives I can hold on and not lose ground, Skinner said. Its a lot like a fisherman working a big fish with rod and reel, only more complicated because both are in the water.

It took him about 40 minutes, but he was eventually able to get the huge fish to the boat. What was even more exciting was the fact that all four men on the boat successfully landed fish that day.

It was a magic day. There were four of us in the water and we all shot 200-pound-plus tuna that day, Skinner said.

So what happened to the fish?

Everybody becomes your friend when you come in with a big fish like this, Skinner said. They are really good eating, so I did give a lot of it away.

When interviewed for this story, Skinner was putting the plug in his boat at Oceanside Harbor and headed out to the kelp beds off La Jolla for another grueling day of research and development.

Email ernie@packtrain.com or visit erniesoutdoors.blogspot.com.
Shrestha Thakur, of the 2012 Provincial Police Service batch, was the officer responsible for evicting squatters from government land in Siana tehsil in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district. Posted as circle officer in Siana during the previous Samajwadi Party government, the young, no-nonsense police officer launched a campaign against the land mafia and battled vested political interests to eventually free up large areas of illegally occupied land. She got kudos for her good work.

But all that changed under the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government. Thakur has now effectively been punished for doing her job. During a routine check of vehicles at Siana's main market on June 21, the officer made the mistake of booking Pramod Kumar, a local BJP leader riding a motorcycle without valid documents. She also charged the BJP leader with obstructing a government official from performing her duty.

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Things moved pretty quickly after that. Kumar called Siana BJP chief Mukesh Bhardwaj, who in turn informed local BJP MLA Devendra Singh about the police officer. Singh called the chief minister to complain against Thakur. On July 1, the officer was given her marching orders-to a suitably insignificant charge in Bahraich district.

This is not the first instance where a police officer in UP has suffered for taking on BJP leaders. On April 20, barely a month after the new government had assumed office, the party's Saharanpur MP, Raghav Lakhanpal, and his supporters surrounded the official residence of district senior superintendent of police Luv Kumar. Lakhanpal and his men held Kumar's family hostage for several hours and also vandalised the premises. All this to vent their ire after police stopped a procession of BJP workers on B.R. Ambedkar's birth anniversary. As it did in Thakur's case, Adityanath's government posted Kumar out of Saharanpur.

However, there is one instance in which Adityanath stood with the police. On May 7, BJP legislator Radha Mohan Das Agarwal publicly admonished Charu Nigam, a woman IPS officer posted in the CM's home district of Gorakhpur, for ordering a baton charge on women protesting the opening of liquor shops in the district. Images of the humiliated officer breaking down and weeping went viral on social media. The CM turned down Agarwal's demand to transfer Nigam.

Keshav Prasad Maurya, BJP's state president and deputy CM in the Adityanath government, says these face-offs featuring partymen and police officers are exaggerated in the media. Police officials disagree with his contention. S.R. Darapuri, a retired inspector general, claims police morale in UP is down since the BJP assumed power. This, police officers say, is reflected in the rising crime in UP-a 26 per cent jump from March to May compared to the same period last year.

--- ENDS ---
Instagram and Facebook photos showing hikers standing on Potato Chip Rock, a strikingly thin piece of granite extended eerily over a backcountry expanse, has led to an explosion in popularity at the Mount Woodson trail near Ramona and what officials say is a dangerous parking problem along state Route 67.

Hundreds of cars line the busy four-lane road on weekends and holidays, as hikers dash across the highway or walk along its shoulder to reach the unofficial trail, which is actually a paved access road that leads to the top of the mountain.

The speed limit is 55 mph on that stretch of the 67, a curvy highway that has seen more than its share of fatal crashes. Adding pedestrians to the mix is a recipe for disaster, some have said.

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Worried about what could happen, state, county and San Diego officials will meet next week to discuss possible solutions, including building a parking lot on county-owned land near the trail head.

The situation is way out of control ... because there isnt any parking, said Dan Scherer, the chairman of the Ramona Community Planning Group, which first suggested the all-hands meeting. Its just a matter of time until there is a bad accident with a possible fatality.

There are several county parcels that could accommodate a parking lot, but other agencies would need to grant easements.

One big hurdle to clear, said Supervisor Dianne Jacob, is the city of San Diego, which owns a large part of Mount Woodson and has millions of dollars worth of communications equipment at the peak.

The access road used by hikers leads to that equipment. Its gated, but visitors  estimated at thousands each week  simply go around the gate.

Jacob said last year she and some of the countys Parks and Recreation Department staff began meeting with the city and suggested a solution to the parking mess:

If they would officially designate the trail, the county would build a parking lot, if the city would operate and maintain it, Jacob said. Were looking for partnership and we have been for years.

The city balked at that idea because of cost and there has been little discussion since then, Jacob said. Thursdays meeting will bring all the players together in the same room for the first time, she said.

Ownership of the mountain spans three jurisdictions with Poway controlling the west side, San Diego the top, and the county to the east.

San Diego City Councilman Scott Sherman and members of the the citys parks staff will be at the meeting Thursday, but Sherman declined to comment this week, saying it was premature to discuss the issue before hearing what everybody has to say.

Representatives from Cal Fire will also attend the meeting. The agency has serious concerns about the parking problem because the road that leads to and from the Mount Woodson fire station connects with state Route 67 in the same area, and firefighters often have to wait for hikers who are blocking the path

Battalion Chief Randy Scales said Cal Fire would be fine with a parking lot near the station, as long as access would be from Mount Woodson Road, not the stations driveway, and as long as it was paved and separated from the station by a fence.

Paving a new parking lot could also be an issue, because a water line runs underneath the county land where the lot would most likely be built, he said.

The Ramona Planning Group has suggested building a 177-parking space lot behind the fire station, but hasnt proposed definitive funding options. The countys proposal was for a much smaller lot nearby.

Jacob said Caltrans would also need to step up and post signs forbidding parking on the shoulders of the highway in most spots and the CHP would then have to enforce the ban.

The alternative that nobody wants to talk about is to simply block hikers from using the access road, which would then force them to access the mountain from an official  but much longer  dirt trail that begins at Lake Poway.

That could infuriate many, including some nearby residents who hike the road regularly for exercise.

The Lake Poway trail has also seen a huge influx of hikers in recent years, so much so that the city of Poway recently increased the number of parking spaces at the lake to accommodate them.

A similar parking problem once plagued Poways Iron Mountain trailhead along state Route 67 at Poway Road, where a 100-space parking lot was built seven years ago to address similar concerns. At times as many as 200 cars had been parking along the highway at Iron Mountain with many people running across all the lanes.

The parking lot, which was increased in size recently by 20 spots, has kept the highway parking down to a minimum, although there is still overflow at peak times.

Jacob said she is hopeful Thursdays meeting will spur action, or at least begin a process that will lead to a solution.

Well see if we cant get something done, she said. Were looking for willing partners who share the same goals.

She also said that while government works toward an answer, people need to be smarter.

The public needs to be more responsible and to be careful because their lives are at risk until we can come up with a solution, she said.

RELATED

Helix Flume Trail with San Diego River Conservance

jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones
Heres a new twist on the old local-brewery-sells-out story:

Modern Times, a four-year-old brewery based in Loma Portal, Friday announced its sale  to its staff, becoming San Diegos first employee-owned brewery.

This is my single proudest achievement as founder & CEO of Modern Times, majority owner Jacob McKean said in a prepared statement. Im supremely excited for our deserving employees, who have shown an almost perverse degree of dedication. ... Now, they will benefit directly from the companys success as co-owners.

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Employee-owned breweries are rare in the United States, although this small group includes notables like New Belgium in Fort Collins, Colo., Deschutes in Bend, Ore.; and Harpoon in Boston.

I think they are the only employee-owned brewery in California, let alone San Diego, said Jill Davidson, president of the San Diego Brewers Guild. It is amazing to see a local brand grow so fiercely and give back so much to its employees.

Modern Times is one of San Diegos fastest growing breweries. In 2016, a year of modest growth for most breweries, Modern Times production rose 82 percent to 40,500 barrels. (A barrel of beer is 31 gallons.)

The sale is only partially complete. About 30 percent of the companys shares are now held by employees, McKean said, adding that his goal is to eventually have employees buy the remaining 70 percent.

Modern Times, which now employs 114, operates a tasting room in North Park as well as its original brewery. There are also plans for Modern Times outposts in Los Angeles and Anaheim.

McKean had been a vocal critic of Saint Archer and Ballast Point, two San Diego breweries that in 2015 sold to outside corporations  the former to MillerCoors, the latter to New York-based Constellation Brands.

Modern Times is proof that a start-up brewery can compete and win in the craft beer market without selling out, McKean said Friday, all the while taking outstanding care of our employees and rewarding our investors.
Bogus beggars, plunderous nuns, cops on the take, gamblers on the make: The fine people of Guys and Dolls work so many angles you have to plot their progress with a protractor.

And thats just in the opening scene  a splashy tableau of gleeful street grifting thats staged with plenty of midcentury-Manhattan grit and wit in the Old Globes crackling new revival of the musical favorite.

Such is the credo of full-time hustling that when a couple of two-bit touts witness the fervent Christian reformer Sarah Brown march through all the sordid goings-on, one of them is flummoxed by the prospects for flimflam in what he calls the missionary dodge.

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So, in that spirit of genial, cheeky curiosity: Whats the Old Globes angle in putting up this show  for the first time ever? After all, this is a major regional theater that, when it comes to musicals, mostly launches new ones rather than trots out well-trod classics.

And Guys and Dolls is a classic that these days never gets done except by every high school and midlevel community troupe in America.

One answer was obvious on opening night at the Globe: Audiences adore this show. And for good reason: Its got those cant-miss Frank Loesser songs (Luck Be a Lady, Sit Down, Youre Rockin the Boat, Sue Me) and a zippy book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, based on Damon Runyons sharp-tongued, street-wise stories.

But another rationale is also clear: The wisdom of keeping director-choreographer Josh Rhodes in the Globe fold.

Rhodes, who previously choreographed Bright Star (the Globe-bred musical by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell that went on to Broadway) and directed the theaters world premiere of Ken Ludwigs Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Story, is a rising talent with a great feel for both individual character and polished, eye-popping spectacle.

He previously staged Guys and Dolls at Floridas Asolo Rep, the Globes production partner on the show, and now puts up an almost entirely new cast for the Globe version  an effort that, while it doesnt redefine the piece, certainly makes a case for this full-scale revival of the 1950 musical.

One cast returnee: The mighty (and mighty amusing) Audrey Cardwell, who unleashes crystalline, operatic vocals  and, eventually, some impressive dance chops  as Sarah, the shows would-be soul-saver.

Sarah winds up losing her heart to Sky Masterson, the high-roller played here with an appealingly urbane verve by Terence Archie, previously seen at the Globe in Twelfth Night.

J. Bernard Calloway, the resident Grinch in the Globes annual holiday show, is a funny and flustered wonder as the tireless gambler Nathan Detroit, whos harried and unmarried  just ask his fiancee of 14 years, Miss Adelaide.

Speaking of whom: Veronica J. Kuehn seems absolutely made for that role of the sweet and squeaky-voiced Hot Box show gal whose epic marital limbo with Nathan has given her a permanent case of the sniffles. She earns some of the shows best laughs, particularly on the Act 2 numbers Adelaides Second Lament and Sue Me.

And for dedicated local theatergoers, one of the biggest treats is seeing a quartet of excellent San Diego actors make their Old Globe debuts: Lance Carter, pitch-perfect as the excitable Brooklyn hustler Harry the Horse; Ed Hollingsworth, in comically cranky mode as the cop Lt. Brannigan; Ralph Johnson, nailing a sweet solo vocal as the mission veteran Arvide on More I Cannot Wish You; and Linda Libby, a winning presence as the stern mission boss Gen. Cartwright.

Rhodes ensemble choreography on the Havana and Crapshooters Dance sequences is particularly rousing, boosted by the rich orchestral textures of music director Sinai Tabaks band and Kevin Kennedys sound design. Brian C. Hemesaths costumes  featuring a riot of plaid  are a visual feast, complemented by Paul Millers lighting on Lee Savages neon-mad set.

One of the few off notes to the show is the uneven way some cast members handle the mouthy, Runyon-inspired New Yahwk patois. That, and the occasionally cringe-inducing sexual politics that Rhodes and Co. can only do so much to dance around.

But as familiar as Guys and Dolls may be by now, the Globes take proves a fun trip back to the piece  from just about any angle.

Guys and Dolls

When: 7 p.m. Tuesdays-Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Through Aug. 13.

Where: Old Globes Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage, Balboa Park.

Tickets: $40 and up

Phone: (619) 234-5623

Online: theoldglobe.org

jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @jimhebert
It became San Diegos feel-good story of the Spring, the kindness of strangers on steroids. And now theres a happy epilogue.

In April, Yesenia Del Valle lost a $676 money order that was supposed to go to the state for taxes. Sergio Juarez, an unemployed custodian living in a Motel 6 with his family, found the money order wedged under the tire of his van. It had her address on it.

He returned it to Del Valle, who was so touched by Juarez kindness that she started a GoFundMe campaign to help his family get back on their feet. She contacted a local radio station, Magic 92.5, and put an item on Facebook. She was hoping to raise $1,000.

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The story spread via social media, TV stations, the Union-Tribune, CNN. And what started as a $1,000 campaign became $5,000 and then $10,000 and then $20,000. All in about a week.

Its still hard to believe, Juarez said Friday, how fast things turned around.

He was talking while he sat in the living room of the familys new home, a rented three-bedroom, three-bath condominium in San Ysidro. He was wearing a dress shirt and slacks, preparing to go off to a physical as part of starting a new custodial job at a hospital. Two of his sons were nearby, recounting how instead of missing their high school senior prom, theyd not only gone, but been treated to tuxes and a limo ride.

There are good people in this country, and they reached into their own pockets to give their hard-earned dollars to my family, Juarez said. There are no words for that.

And then he found some: It changed our lives.

It changed Del Valles life, too. The real estate agent said shes starting a non-profit organization to assist other families who are down on their luck. She wants to call it Rise and Shine San Diego.

What I realized, she said, is that my purpose in life is to help other people.

A ripple effect

Juarez still doesnt believe he did anything special. Born in Rosarito Beach, raised by his grandmother in Fresno and then Imperial Beach, he said he was taught certain values. Returning the money order, he said, was simply the right thing to do.

Del Valle gave him $40 as a reward that day. It was all she had on her. She told him to take his family to Dennys.

He told her that sounded nice, but hed need to use the money to put gas in the van. I was happy to have it, he said.

Del Valle said she couldnt sleep that night, thinking about Juarez and his family. How hed lost his 15-year job as a custodian. How his wife, Gladys, had lost her 25-year job as an administrative assistant. How theyd lost their home in Otay Mesa.

She headlined the GoFundMe campaign We rise by lifting others and she thinks it struck a chord with people because it started with one stranger helping another, and then it spread from stranger to stranger. There was a ripple effect.

More than 600 people eventually donated, some as much as $500 but most under $50. As the story moved around the Internet, it reached people all across America, and beyond. One of the contributions came from Lebanon.

Most of the money went for the rented condominium, Del Valle said. The family paid for several months in advance, to give themselves breathing room as they get back on track. They had some back taxes and overdue bills to pay, too.

What meant almost as much to them as the money were the comments people wrote with their GoFundMe donations, Juarez said. Things like You are an inspiration and If only there were more people like you in the world and Honesty should be rewarded.

When his family lost their home, they lived first in a friends garage and then in various motels, Juarez said. They slept occasionally in the van. His wife found another job, and his oldest son worked as a security guard, but money was still tight.

He said his children got so dispirited that they would come home from school or work and just sit in the motel room and watch TV. With the lights off.

The hardest part was coming home after wrestling practice and I was hungry and there wasnt much food to eat, Joshua Juarez, 17, said. And then getting up the next day and doing it all again.

His father got so despondent he thought about killing himself. Youre done, Sergio Juarez told himself. Youre nothing. Your kids are going to wind up on the street and be drug addicts. Your wife is going to leave you.

He went to a hill near Olympian High School in Chula Vista, where his children attended. There was a place where he could leap headfirst onto some rocks. For about 30 seconds I was going to do it. But then, he said, his faith in God took over.

Now, if people take nothing else from his story, he said, he wants them to remember this: You cant give up.

Meant to be?

Del Valle always considered herself lucky. She once won a car on The Price is Right. She won $1,000 in a radio station contest. Her father was 54 when she was born, and hes lived long enough to see her get married and have three kids.

So it felt unusual to her on that day in April, when she lost the money order. She said she isnt usually followed around by a cloud of misfortune.

But now it feels to her like it was all meant to be.

She noted that she and Juarez both went to the same Nestor high school, Southwest, although not at the same time.

After the GoFundMe windfall, when she was trying to help the Juarez family find a place to live, they kept getting turned down. Their recent employment and rental histories worked against them. Then Del Valle heard from someone she went to school with, who said the condominium across the street had just been vacated. The guy who owned the condo  he went to school with them, too. The Juarezes got in.

So now what Del Valle thinks is shed like to do this kind of thing again.

Her non-profit is still in the planning stages. What she envisions is an organization with a board of directors that would invite submissions from people in need. One family a month would be selected for assistance. Private donations would fund it.

She said she understands there is a lot of polarization in the country right now, a lot of hate and distrust in the air. But her experience with the Juarez family has taught her something else.

Kindness wins, she said.

john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com
Spearheaded by the high-tech flagship America, a flotilla of warships toting aircraft and Marine infantry sailed out of San Diego on Friday, bound for the Middle East.

The San Diego-based America Amphibious Ready Group includes the warships San Diego and Pearl Harbor, plus the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the Wildcards of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23 and detachments of assault craft, beachmasters, surgical teams and tactical air controllers.

Camp Pendletons 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, the Greyhawks of Marine Medium Tilt-rotor Squadron 161 and Combat Logistics Battalion 15 form the core of the flotillas assault force.

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Still, the star on Friday morning was the $3 billion America, which was beginning its first overseas patrol as the newest and most lethal class of amphibious warships built.

Delivered to the Navy in 2014, the America was specially designed to act as an aircraft carrier, capable of supporting everything from the Marines V-22 Ospreys and helicopter gunships to the stealthy F-35B Joint Strike Fighter.

Engineers did that by scrapping the warships hangar-like well deck at the water line, which similar vessels flood to allow assault craft to float out, and instead filling that area with aviation bays.

We have greater aviation repair capabilities, said Navy Capt. Joe Olson, the Americas commanding officer. We take a greater amount of aviation fuel. We have greater storage for aviation equipment and parts.

By focusing on bringing Marines to shore with Ospreys and other aircraft and less on landing craft, warships like the America can stay farther away from an enemys coastline, avoiding missiles and mines. The America also was built on a modular concept, allowing technicians to quickly switch out its high-tech electronic warfare and command and control equipment and software.

All of thats key to how the Navy and Marine Corps expeditionary forces plan to dominate what military strategists call the five dimensions  or domains  of warfare: attacking an enemy on the sea, in the air, onto land, way up in space and in the information realm, with a strong focus on cyber space.

Thats a change for me, personally, said Marine Col. Joseph Clearfield, skipper of the 15th MEU. But I feel like were really well-equipped to operate in that environment.

Clearfield, a career infantry officer with years of combat experience, said the changes made to the America and the flagships task force are necessary because the days of uncontested operations for us are long gone.

So were prepared to be contested in every environment, but cyber is probably one that were most challenged in, he said.

The Navy and Marine Corps have long pointed to the versatility of the Ready groups on a globe that has 70 percent of its surface covered by water. The flotilla will protect the worlds busiest sea lanes, which are traversed daily by more than 23,000 ships. Those vessels carry 95 percent of Earths commercial cargo and half of its oil.

A lot of that didnt matter to Carrie Gesford, who traveled from the tiny town of Colmesneil, Texas, to see off her son, Marine Lance Cpl. Tyler Gesford, 21, an armorer with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines. Its his second overseas deployment.

Her other son, Pvt. 1st Class Zachary Gesford, is a landing support specialist stationed on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

Its very emotional, but I dont want to start crying, she said. I knew when my boys joined that this was going to happen, you know? But its very hard. Communications are going to be off and on. But Im very, very, very proud of them.

My boys are third-generation Marines. Ever since they were young, it always was that they were going to be Marines, not Navy, not Army. Always Marines.

Military Videos  On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France  at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal

cprine@sduniontribune.com
Navy Yeoman 3rd Class Shingo Alexander Douglass  one of seven sailors who drowned in the destroyer Fitzgerald after it collided with a commercial vessel on June 17  was buried with full military honors on Friday.

Services for his shipmate Fire Controlman 2nd Class Carlos Victor Ganzon Hitch Sibayan are slated for today at 10 a.m. at Corpus Christi Parishs chapel in Bonita. A Roman Catholic funeral Mass will be celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop John Dolanm, with Rev. Efrain Bautista, the pastor at Corpus Christi, delivering the homily.

The Mass is set to be transmitted on Facebook Live for people who cant attend, including relatives in the Philippines, according to coordinators of the service. To watch the service, go to the parishs Facebook page  @CorpusChristiCatholicChurch.

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Sibayan is scheduled to be buried afterward at Glen Abbey Memorial Park in Bonita, with a Navy honor guard providing full military honors. He was 23.

Relatives of Douglass, 25, had requested privacy during the graveside services at Miramar National Cemetery on Friday afternoon.

Born at the naval hospital in Okinawa and fluent in Japanese, Douglass enlisted in the Navy in 2014 and came aboard The Fitz in 2015, following entry-level training at Naval Station Great Lakes and in Mississippi.

Born in the Philippines, Sibayan joined the Navy in 2013 and reported to the destroyer the following year. Am avid sketch artist and video game player, he was described in a statement from relatives as kind and loving and a favorite among family and friends alike.

He is survived by his father, career Navy sailor Victor Sibyan; mother, Carmen; and younger brothers Vince and Luke.

Several multinational investigations continue to probe the cause of the early morning crash between the Fitzgerald and the ACX Crystal, a Philippine-flagged container ship thats nearly four times the destroyers size when fully loaded.

With a deep gash below the waterline, the Fitzgerald limped across 64 miles of the Philippine Sea to reach port in Japan, where its awaiting major repairs.

Military Videos  On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France  at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal

cprine@sduniontribune.com
Peter Seidler hit a home run with the Nice Guys of San Diego.

The largest stakeholder and managing partner of the Padres holding company will be introduced as the 2017 Nice Guy of the Year at a July 12 press conference, then honored at the nonprofits gala on Oct. 28 at the Marriott Marquis.

The do-gooder group annually shines its spotlight on someone who has helped less fortunate San Diegans on the brink of hard times.

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With Seidler, the recognition is two-fold because the Padres have stressed community outreach and building a fan-friendly experience. Plus, Seidler with his wife, Sheel, has supported numerous causes, especially related to homelessness and health care, mindful of his own recent battle against non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

The nephew and namesake of former Dodgers owner Peter OMalley hasnt been in San Diego for long. He moved to La Jolla after becoming a part owner of the team in 2012, but has quickly immersed himself in local causes, having met recently with Mayor Kevin Faulconer to address needs of the homeless. Although a relative newcomer, by various accounts, he has been a habitually nice guy.

Functional fashion: Who would have thought that stretchy pony tail bands would land a local entrepreneur on the Red Herring top 100 list for most promising private ventures in North America in 2017?

Every year, the Red Herring global media giant identifies its top innovative technology start-ups. Two other San Diego firms made he list: StemoniX, which manufactures skin cells to aid big pharma drug testing, and eSub Construction Software, which helps manage building projects. They are more typical honorees.

But entering the high tech arena of functional fashion is bracelet manufacturer Maria Shireen, founded by Shireen Maria Thor of La Jolla.

Her husband, Arni, an engineer, provided the inspiration. He was concerned because she often slipped her elastic hairbands around her wrist, cutting off circulation. So, as a surprise, he designed a cuff bracelet with a center channel in which she could insert her stretchy hair tie. It was both functional and fashionable  and far healthier.

She took the idea and ran with it, designing affordable bracelets in silver, rose gold and gold finishes with a variety of straight, fluted and decorative edges. One of her designs has a charitable tie-in with a percentage of the average $45 sales price going to a womans health or wellness cause. And she added a less expensive plastic design for teens and kids.

The problem was the elastic band was an eye sore and it left a dent around my wrist, Thor explained. Having started her company only two years ago, she quickly became a promotional whirlwind in getting rid of the ties that bind.

Her bracelets have been touted by TVs Meredith Vieira as Whats Hot Now and by Kathy Ireland on Modern Living. Theyve been featured as affordable gifts on ABC News and as a fabulous find in Essence. Self magazine featured the cuffs as bridesmaids gifts, U.S.News & World Report as Mothers Day presents and Allure as a solution to the one accessory (a hair band) that ruins any party outfit. The bracelets already are being marketed in 45 countries and the company reported $6 million in sales last year.

Red Herring analysts look beyond an attractive start-up idea. They examine such factors as business growth rate, market maturity, revenue and global impact.

Maria Shireen is clearly in prestigious company. Past Red Herring selectees include Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Skype, eBay and YouTube.

Water world: San Diegos boating community received a double whammy last month, ironically, just as the Americas Cup competition was underway.

In addition to the passing of racing yacht designer Doug Peterson, a 2017 inductee into the Americas Cup Hall of Fame, San Diego lost another prominent maritime figure.

Hugo Carver, longtime co-owner of the Knight & Carver Yacht Center, died last month at age 72, 18 months after his diagnosis with Lou Gehrigs disease.

For more than 40 years, he and business partner John Knight built at least 100 custom luxury yachts and repaired as many as 40,000 boats.

In 1992 and 1995, Knight & Carvers Mission Bay marina served as home base for seven Americas Cup syndicates, including that of Russia, whose boat was never finished due to financial difficulties. Knight & Carver later donated the Age of Russia hull to the Maritime Museum of San Diego.

Drawing on his marine roots, Carver memorialized his failing health in a poem which he titled Slipping the Anchor Chain, symbolic of a sailors passing.

Link by link my anchor chain pays out, sometimes one link, sometimes two or more.  With ALS, your winch is broken forever and your priorities change. ... It is then best to help others to live a fuller life so they stay well anchored rather than wasting away, not really loving life. ...

A July 16 memorial is planned at the Silver Gate Yacht Club.

diane.bell@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1518

Twitter: @dianebellSD

Facebook: dianebell.news
The thugs were egged on by government indifference. Thats all they needed to have a holiday of riot.

They smashed windows. They burned. They attacked opponents and sent bystanders scurrying in fear. And the police stood by. And the authorities that had the power to discipline them quailed in their offices.

The ideas the goons rioted to suppress had to slink away unheard. A victory for the bad guys, if we can play loose with the term.

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That happened in Berlin, Germany in 1937, right?

Similar things, yes, but this particular travesty happened at UC Berkeley in 2017.

It did not turn into a book-burning because the Nazis had made that tactic unfashionable, so it was off the table.

Think Im being overly dramatic? Maybe we shrug in disbelief because it couldnt happen here.

Well, it did, and for an un-American reason: A provocative, conservative speaker had been invited to address a campus club in February, and leftist extremists, mainly students, decided they had to suppress hate speech by any means available  including clubs and fire.

This happened to be left attacking right, but it could have been reversed. Once that beast leaves its cage, it can turn on its minders, and they themselves are at risk coaxing it back in.

*

For almost a thousand years, western universities have been where free speech and ideas have flourished, and occasionally went to hide.

Now, however, leading universities  Berkeley, Yale, UCLA and others  have bent the knee to groups who are a small percentage of student bodies and allowed them to trash free speech, the most sacred precept of higher education.

(The ultimate values at any university should be free thought and free speech.  leftist scholar Camille Paglia)

It all comes back to the students. They are the ones responsible for the violence to property, people and ideas. Only a relative handful do it, of course, but others encourage or ignore it. They are partners by indifference.

What has so transformed todays students that this could happen? The question is given to Jean M. Twenge, Ph.D., professor of psychology at San Diego State University who has studied this ugliness.

Twenge (pronounced Twangy) is 45 and lives in Rancho Penasquitos with her husband and their three daughters.

She is a calm, methodical scholar who makes it clear she is a defender of the right to peaceful protest and carries water for neither right nor left. That makes her scholarship more valuable by not having a dog in the fight.

She also does not claim that her findings supply the complete answer for campus intolerance.

Next month, she will release a book that relates to the subject. Its title: iGen.

It explores why todays college youths have become emotionally reliant on safety.

iGen is her term for those born after 1994  neat choice. She studies those who are suckled by electronics from an early age. Her subtitle, which requires a couple of breaths to read, gives her point of view:

iGen: Why Todays Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy  and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood  and What That Means for the Rest of Us.

Using the term of perhaps an earlier day, todays youths are pampered, and Twenge said research shows its happening across all races, ethnicities and regions.

I ask if some of this is due to children being fewer, thus more precious? And then, how about the guilt of mothers working away from the home?

She says, If that were the case, I think these changes would have started in the 70s, but they didnt. They started much more recently.

The job of what a parent is supposed to do has really changed. Theres now this idea that as a parent you are supposed to carefully nurture the child.

That entails more up-close guidance, more security and protection of all kinds, including against ideas that confuse or threaten.

But how does the conclusion in Twenges subtitle tie in with the violence against those of differing opinions? More tolerant doesnt seem a precursor for rage.

Twenge makes the point that when students leave home to attend college and mommy and daddy are no longer there to prop them up, the job is inherited by college administrators and teachers, and it seems they assume the role without objection, at least openly.

She says, Over the last 5 to 10 years, administrators and faculty have come to realize that students come to campus with less experience and less independence, so the umbilical cord isnt cut when they go away to college. It just gets longer.

Students insist on not just physical safety, but also on something that they call emotional safety from ideas that differ from their protected childhoods, or from classroom lectures that dont steer clear of unwanted ideas.

Twenge says adolescence is not about risk as much as it used to be. iGen thinks that risk is dangerous, that it might be dangerous to their futures, that it might be dangerous to their emotions, that it might be dangerous to their bodies. They are very, very risk-averse.

It seems strange that a sheltered childhood could lead to shouting down speakers. However, if a minority of students believe some intellectual outsider is challenging their safe and sound ideas, and the university is willing to stand back and allow them to run amok, then it becomes a short step to rioting or bullying in the name of right ideas against those who would destroy those ideas.

When the adults in charge of the school step aside and do nothing, predisposed students see that as permission to tear things up with no consequences.

Also, when those 20-year-old juices start percolating, it might be kind of a rush.

The Berkeley riot earlier this year was against the scheduled appearance of Milo Yiannopoulos, a gay conservative provocateur. The speech was canceled. Following that, outspoken conservative Ann Coulter had a scheduled campus speech canceled because of the threat of violence.

There have been multiple widespread campus disruptions in recent months, all involving the appearance of conservative speakers.

Twenge says so-called elite Williams College in Massachusetts recently disinvited a conservative speaker because it might have caused students emotional injury.

*

Things dont happen in a vacuum; certainly, riots dont.

In some cases, protesting students are egged on by some professors who in class have drumbeated vilification of politicians and writers who dont believe the right things. They also dont teach alternative viewpoints.

Other faculty members bury their heads in books and want it all to go away. But nowhere, it seems, are there scholars who will stand up and say: This is wrong! This is not what we stand for.

In April, SDSU president Elliot Hirshman was surrounded by students and not allowed to leave for two hours because of a minor incident that he had nothing to do with. He stood there and tried to placate his captors.

I ask Twenge what would have happened if Hirshman had said, You have falsely imprisoned me. Stand aside or I will have you arrested.

He would probably have been fired, she said.

As she knows, he has since resigned to take another job, so the point is moot. But you get the idea.

However, the bluff can be called. There is a Youtube video of a recent sit-in for something or other in the administration office of Ohio State University. A spokesman comes out of the presidents office and gives the students a deadline for leaving the building or theyll be arrested and expelled.

The protesters grab their backpacks and scurry out the door.

(President Barack Obama in 2015 strongly opposed the banning from campus of speakers holding objectionable opinions. I dont agree that students have to be coddled and protected from different points of view, he said.)

*

So, how does the faculty adjust to this?

Twenge says, In psychology, for example, we teach the research on cultural differences. We teach research on gender differences. We teach research on racial differences. These are classic areas of inquiry.

There are many students now who think that we shouldnt even discuss those issues. Anything about differences among people, they dont want us to discuss it.

My impression is that some teachers bite their tongues and dont speak of material they believe they should teach.

Thats a difficult position to be in as a faculty member because you want them to get the education and learn about the field, yet you live in fear of a student who is offended going to the administration.

Isnt that what tenure is supposed to protect against?

We have a lot of un-tenured folks who are teaching classes who should be able to discuss scientific research in their fields without the fear of being fired.

Its a tough position to be in because if you want an open discussion of ideas in class, you need to have students give their opinions. Todays students are often reluctant to do so because theyre afraid of offending someone.

Faculty are often reluctant to use the Socratic method  you know, back-and-forth questioning, because a lot of todays students are scared of that, and it is next to impossible these days to play devils advocate and say, Look I dont believe this, but lets make this argument.

I should think all of this would lead to frustration and even depression for teachers.

Frustration for sure, but its a difficult thing because, I mean, how would faculty rebel? If they do rebel and they, say, use that technique of free discussion, if theyre un-tenured, they could get fired. If they are tenured, their student evaluations will suffer.

Where are the other students who might speak up and complain, saying, Hey, come on! I want to discuss this idea?

She says, The majority of students would welcome a free and open discussion, but the minority rules in this case because all it takes is one person out of 200 to cause trouble and shut down the entire discussion.

My sense is that many of the objectors have learned that administrators and faculty are not psychologically equipped to fight back. Theyre scholars, not fighters.

I think thats fair, yeah.

In other words, administrators are pushovers, so we can push them.

Right. I mean, I think for administrators its all about keeping their jobs. For faculty, often its to keep their jobs or to get good student evaluations. For some faculty, its simply that they just dont want to spend the emotional energy or time fighting the types of accusations they would get.

Going along to get along.

When we do (teach dangerously), we wait with bated breath for someone to protest, and sometimes it happens, and sometimes it doesnt. You are playing with fire when youre teaching.

When you teach (fearlessly), you wont know that day if youve offended someone. Youll know in a week or two when your chair or dean tells you, Oh, I heard that this happened in your class.

So its all done after the fact. The student will almost never come to you directly. Its all done through administrators.

I personally think we need administrators to stand up and put a stop to all this. They are the only ones who have the power.

It has to be administrators backing up faculty who are teaching their curriculum. You know, the thing is, if people want to protest, they should protest (the right way). I mean, I am not against protest.

The cure for speech that you dont like isnt to shut it down. Its more speech, and thats what is not happening with the victim idea of, Lets go have an administrator intervene.

So, how does the university recover? How do we get back to universities of a thousand-year-old tradition of open ideas?

You might have seen this past fall the University of Chicago issued a statement that said, We do not disinvite speakers and we encourage free debate and free discussion on our campus, Twenge says.

I thought that was excellent. They actually said we are going to insist on free and open discussion. That is what a university is about.

But which other college presidents are going to make that happen?

Theyre afraid theyll get fired. Given recent history, thats a valid fear.

*

In terms of coddling their kids, parents have to do what they think is right. But there is no excuse for college administrators who have their ranks larded over with associate directors of this and assistant deans of that to allow a handful of students to cry havoc and attack free speech.

Journalists, too, have to speak more loudly on this issue. If these student censors and their mentors would have their way, journalists would be at the front of the line to be fitted for muzzles.

A few years after the blood drained out of the French Revolution, many of its most fierce-eyed followers slinked away and feigned ignorance about cheering as the guillotine blade grew dull by overuse.

Perhaps college administrators and professors will react the same when later asked if they defended free speech as that most sacred tenet of their profession was ravaged.

Fred Dickeys home page is freddickey.net. He believes every life is an adventure and welcomes ideas at freddickey1@gmail.com.
A man accused of breaking into a Del Cerro home and holding two women at knifepoint, killing one of them, pleaded guilty Friday to murder and sex-crime charges.

As a condition of his plea, Eduardo Jose Torres, 21, agreed to be sentenced later to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Michael Smyth scheduled the sentencing hearing for Aug. 4.

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It took a while on Friday for Torres to commit to changing his original plea of not guilty to charges including murder, assault and torture. In the morning, when the judge tried to go over the details with the defendant in open court, Torres balked.

At one point, he told the judge: No, your honor, I cannot go on.

The judge ordered the attorneys and the defendant to return to court in the afternoon. Thats when Torres lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Peter Will, said his client was ready to proceed.

The break-in happened the night of June 12, 2016, when Torres entered a house on Mill Peak Road.

The homeowner was asleep in bed when he was awakened by a loud noise, likely the sound of a sliding-glass door breaking.

Around the same time, neighbors knocked on the homeowners door to tell him they had just chased away an intruder. The homeowner opened the door to his neighbors and became locked out of his house.

Torres, who was inside the home, gathered the two women  the homeowners 74-year-old mother, Ut Nguyen, and a 50-year-old woman who was visiting from out of town  into a bedroom. Torres then forced the younger woman to commit a sex act on him.

He stabbed Nguyen in the neck as SWAT officers stormed the bedroom, according to testimony a previous hearing.

On Friday, Torres pleaded guilty to two felony charges and admitted several allegations including torture and use of a deadly weapon.

Because of special-circumstance allegations, such as murder during the commission of a burglary, Torres could have faced the death penalty if his case had gone to trial.

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @danalittlefield
The San Diego Unified School District on Friday sued the College Board in hopes of getting it to reinstate the invalidated Advance Placement tests taken by more than 500 Scripps Ranch High School students.

Trustees on Thursday night voted 4-0, with board member John Lee Evans absent, to take legal action after the College Board rejected 847 tests taken in May by 540 students.

Educational Testing Services, which administers the test for the College Board, notified the district last week that it had invalidated the tests because of seating irregularities when students took the tests. Irregularities included placing partitions between students and seating them at 6-foot rather than 8-foot tables.

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The school was following procedures previously allowed by Educational Testing Services, but the rules were changed two years ago.

Educational Testing Services requested the seating chart after the school reported a student had been caught trying to cheat on the test, That student was removed from the room, but none of the students whose tests were invalidated because of the seating arrangements were accused of cheating.

District general counsel Andra Donovan said after Thursday nights vote that the district would file an injunction to prevent the College Board from destroying the test scores and a complaint to compel it to reinstate the tests because of the hardship invalidating them would cause students.

She said the complaint could go before a federal judge as early as next week.

Students usually study for months before taking AP tests, and high scores can mean college credit in certain subjects, potentially saving thousands of dollars in tuition and even leading to earlier graduations.

The College Board is offering make-up tests in July and August, and the district is offering refresher sessions to help students prepare for them.

Many students have told district officials and trustees that they will be traveling on vacation or at work during the upcoming testing times. Superintendent Cindy Marten said the district is working at creating a way for students to submit claims to be reimbursed any expense they faced in re-taking the tests.

Even those who will be able to take the tests again have expressed outrage to the board. Many have said they will not do as well on the makeup tests as on they did in May. About 600 parents and students filled an auditorium at Marshall Middle School on Wednesday to discuss the issue with district officials, and about a dozen appeared before the board went into closed session Thursday to urge them to sue the College Board.

Trustee Kevin Beiser, whose district includes Scripps Ranch, said he was thrilled that the district was going to fight the College Board in court because he believes its reaction to the seating irregularities was too severe, and some kind of sanction against the school or district would have been more appropriate.

Still, after the vote, Beiser and Marten urged students to sign up for the make-up tests by the July 7 deadline. They also are urging students to take advantage of the refresher sessions Scripps Ranch High is offering.

The district originally was not going to fight the College Boards decision because case history showed other challenges had been unsuccessful.

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gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

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By PTI: Kolkata, Jul 8 (PTI) The West Bengal government today said it would set up a judicial panel to look into the "communal" clashes at Baduria and Basirhat in the North 24 Parganas district following a Facebook post.

"We have decided to initiate a judicial probe into the Baduria and Basirhat riots. We want to see who were involved in them and the government will provide every input to the judicial commission. Let there be an impartial probe," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters here.

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She added that the law would take its own course and strict action would be taken against those responsible for the clashes.

Banerjee also said her government would take action against "two national-level television channels" for showing "fake" videos and claiming them to be related to the clashes.

"Video clips of an incident in Comilla, Bangladesh and a Bhojpuri film were being shown as if these incidents had taken place in Bengal," she alleged.

Banerjee congratulated the people of Baduria and Basirhat for "not falling into the BJPs trap, in spite of provocations".

Hitting out at the saffron party, she alleged that it was "destroying the federal structure of the country with the sole aim of grabbing power".

"How can some people from across the border intrude and start disruptions here? Who is in-charge of border security, the Centre or the state? Once again I am saying, it is the ploy of the BJP to disturb the peace of the state," she said.

Regarding representatives of various political parties, including the BJP, attempting to visit the troubled areas today, the chief minister said, "What is the need to disturb the people there? Let them settle down. Trinamool Congress MPs did not go. They could have gone there as well."

Regarding her partys stand on the July 17 presidential poll, Banerjee said "We will support the Congress nominees both in the presidential and vice-presidential elections. PTI DC RG KK RC

--- ENDS ---
California could get wetter  not drier  in coming decades, according to a UC Riverside study that upends some conventions about climate change.

The study, by climatology professor Robert Allen and graduate student Rainer Luptowitz, was published Thursday in the scientific journal Nature Communications. It ran climate forecasts through a suite of models, and projected that California will get 12 percent more rain through the end of this century than it did in the last two decades of the 20th century.

That conclusion runs counter to most previous climate forecasts, which show the state growing increasingly hot and arid. Instead, the UCR study states, California could experience what amounts to ongoing El Nino conditions, with warm, wet winters becoming the norm.

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My study kind of goes against prior studies, Allen said. Its kind of the first study that suggests California might get wetter.

Precipitation, however, probably wont increase across the board, the authors noted. By their calculations, Northern California would get 14.1 percent more precipitation and Central California would get 15.2 percent more, but Southern California would see a slight decrease of 3.3 percent.

Nonetheless, all regions would get more water in the winter  in some cases much more. During the states typical rainy months of December, January and February, precipitation would climb by about a third in Northern and Central California would, while Southern California would see a surge of 11 percent, Allen said. Other months of the year could become drier.

Predicting Californias future climate is tricky, Allen said, because the state straddles the temperate zone, which is expected to become wetter in coming year, and the subtropics, which are likely to dry out. Hence the divide between the northern and southern parts of the state.

To study statewide precipitation, Allen and Luptowitz analyzed 38 climate models and selected about a dozen that most accurately simulate current California climatology. When they applied those to future climate conditions, their results were surprising. The models projected warming in the tropical eastern Pacific, which would shift the jet stream southward, steering storms toward California.

Allen said he plans to run newer climate models next year, to see if they produce the same findings. And he noted that there are questions his research cant yet answer. The study analyzed only average precipitation, not rainfall patterns. So it doesnt account for year-to-year variation such as long-term drought, or powerful atmospheric rivers.

Alexander Gershunov, a research meteorologist for Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, said that weather may get somewhat wetter, but his own research with fellow climate researcher Dan Cayan suggests that it will also be more severe, with dry periods punctuated by powerful storms.

When you look at daily precipitation, we see two competing signals  a decrease in frequency of precipitation and increase in frequency of the most extreme events, Gershunov said. It means... more opportunity for drought and more opportunity for floods.

The UCR study also didnt analyze whether precipitation will come as rain or snow, either, Allen said, but rising temperatures tip the scale toward rain. That has profound implications for water use and storage, because the state mostly relies on winter snowpack to store and slowly release runoff.

I did not distinguish liquid versus frozen precipitation, but these conclusions feature a lot of warming for the state, he said. Although theres an increase in precipitation, its most likely going to be in the form of liquid rather than snow. And even if it falls as snow, its not likely to last as long as it currently does. We may need to rethink some of our water storage structures, our aqueducts, our reservoirs.

And although the study projects more water for the Central Valley and other agricultural regions, its not all good news for farmers, he said. The benefits of extra rainfall could, literally, evaporate to increased heat, he warned.

With a warming state, you would expect enhanced evaporation of soil moisture, he said. So even though theres increase in precipitation based on my study, is that enough to offset the increased evaporative demand in a warmer world? And I dont know the answer to that.

deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan
For the first time, residents and businesses up and down the state can buy electricity plans touted as 100 percent green in their quest to fight climate change or simply be more environmentally friendly.

They can enroll in these programs through Californias three major investor-owned utilities  San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric  or through the growing number of cities and counties that offer alternative power programs called community choice aggregation, or CCA.

Does this mean all the electricity flowing into those customers homes and offices is created with renewable energy? No.

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When residents pay a roughly $5 to $10 premium on top of the average monthly bill to get a 100 percent green plan, the provider buys a corresponding amount of renewable energy on their behalf. Almost all of that green power comes from existing inventory, which is mixed with electricity generated from fossil fuels, and the situation isnt expected to undergo a transformation until far more people enroll in 100 percent plans. Whether that explosion in demand takes years or decades to realize remains to be seen.

It doesnt mean that when a customer signs up for 100 percent green, theres a crew overnight wailing away and putting together another 6 kilowatts of solar somewhere. Its an administrative process, said Bill Powers of San Diego, an electrical engineering consultant and a consumer advocate.

CCA supporters note that some of their programs are starting to channel revenue into a number of projects exclusively serving all-green clients  and are expanding the total amount of clean energy produced on the market. Those projects are tiny when compared to the total electricity supply, but their backers said its evidence that the business model is valid.

The race to offer 100 percent green packages to more Californians marks the latest battle in a years-long war between traditional utilities and CCAs, which are public-energy programs that rose to prominence in the San Francisco Bay Area in the past decade and have gained a foothold in Southern California in recent years.

The outcome of the struggle between CCAs and utilities could influence not only how much of a power providers sourcing portfolio comes from renewable energy  CCA advocates envision eliminating any reliance on coal and natural gas  but also where that renewable energy is created.

Major utilities have emphasized economies of scale, consistently building extensive infrastructure to distribute electricity generated in remote locations. CCA architects emphasize ultra-local generation, meaning solar panels on the roofs and yards of homes and office buildings.

Its not clear whether this conflict has resonated with the public, but advocates of CCA programs hope to raise the profile of their concept of hyper-local power generation.

Most folks that sign up for these 100 percent green programs dont insist that because of me signing up, some increment of renewables gets built locally, Powers said. But thats really the way it should be. Its real and you can touch it.

Utility officials have said centralized renewable energy is important to keeping costs down, but that they too are making efforts to promote development of small-scale renewable resources. For example, revenues from SDG&Es 100 percent renewable option, called EcoChoice, will help build such renewable projects in the future, said Allison Torres, spokeswoman for the utility.

EcoChoice makes it possible for our customers to buy clean, renewable energy at an affordable price to help support the environment and promote the growth of local renewable energy sources, she said in an email.

One that most experts agree on: The proliferation of CCAs has accelerated the offering of plans with more renewable energy than whats required by the state, all the way up to the 100 percent label.

Under community choice, a utility still operates the poles and wires needed to deliver energy, but elected officials control the buying and selling of power for their jurisdiction. If a city or county votes to form or join such a program, ratepayers can opt out if they would rather have the rates offered by their local utility.

There are eight community-choice programs across much of the state, serving hundreds of thousands of people in communities from Humboldt to Lancaster.

The advent of CCAs, regardless of what you think of them, has spurred competition  lowering prices, increasing the level of carbon-free content in our power supply, said Shawn Marshall, executive director of LEAN Energy U.S., a nonprofit membership organization that promotes use of renewable energy and community choice aggregation.

More than half a dozen CCA programs are slated to launch next year and many other communities throughout the state are considering the option. On average, CCA programs have offered customers more green energy for slightly lower prices than the traditional utilities rates.

For example, the county of Los Angeles is set to roll out a massive CCA in the unincorporated areas of that region, which could eventually pull in cities such as Long Beach and Torrance.

The city of San Diego, which has committed to using 100 percent green energy by 2035, is set to release a study this coming week that outlines the feasibility of launching its own community choice program. Meanwhile, Solana Beach has taken official steps toward adopting a CCA, and several North County cities  including Encinitas, Del Mar and Carlsbad  are looking into the idea.

In California, CCA proponents have focused on the need to better tackle global warming by reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, which are linked to coal, natural gas and other fossil fuels.

The reality is, if you want to make measurable progress on a climate action plan, you really have to consider your energy source, said Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear.

In general, the CCA business model calls for using ratepayer money to boost the amount of renewable energy purchased on the electrical grid. But power contracts often involve large amounts of energy and can span decades, so companies in charge of buying and selling electricity dont ink new deals the instant someone decides to pays more for an all-green plan. At the same time, power providers routinely look to adjust their portfolios every six months to a year so they can reflect the latest customer-purchasing trends.

In the big picture, the competition between utilities and CCA programs is fueled by a changing energy sourcing and consumption environment.

As nuclear and fossil-fuel power plants retire and more aspects of peoples daily lives become electrified, from ovens to cars, the race to fill that demand with renewable energy has made strides in California. Investor-owned utilities are fast approaching, or have already exceeded, a state mandate to offer at least a third of all power they provide as renewable by 2020. And CCAs are outpacing those companies, in some cases offering as much as 55 percent green power to their customers.

We have increased the amount of renewable energy being delivered to customers in California, said Robert Freehling, an energy consultant who has done work for nonprofit groups, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and the Imperial Irrigation District. If you put a kilowatt hour of wind or solar on the grid, then what will ordinarily happen, up to a point anyway, is that flexible fossil (fuel) generators will turn down their output.

The following is a comparison of electricity plans offered by the states leading CCA program, Marin Clean Energy, and its rival utility, Pacific Gas & Electric:

Marin Clean Energy

MCE Light Green

55 percent renewable energy.

$97.76 average monthly residential bill*.

MCE Deep Green

100 percent renewable energy**.

$102.21 average monthly residential bill (a penny more per kilowatt hour than the standard plan).

More than 2 percent of customers participate in this program.

Local Sol 100%

Under development.

The project is capped at 300 customers and links ratepayers to a specific solar project in their neighborhood.

*Based on a typical usage of 445 kWh a month.

**Half of all premiums paid on the MCE Deep Green go into a local renewable development fund, which pays for the development of renewable energy projects in its service territory. The rest of revenue from Deep Green customers is used to buy renewable energy, adjusted annually.

Pacific Gas & Electric

PG&E traditional service

33 percent renewable energy.

$98.03 average monthly residential bill*.

Solar Choice

50 percent renewable energy, $103.84 average monthly residential bill**.

100 percent renewable energy, $109.65 average monthly residential bill.

Less than 0.2 percent of customers participate in this program.

Regional Renewable Choice Program

Under development.

Will facilitate an agreement between a customer and a local developer of renewable energy. The arrangement is used to offset the consumers bill, similar to the installation of rooftop solar.

*Based on a typical usage of 445 kWh a month.

**Premiums paid by Solar Choice customers go toward funding thats paying for development of new solar program in PG&E service territory. When the project are completed, they will offer about 53 megawatts of power. Solar Choice customers currently account for 16 megawatts of electricity, which is being serviced by previously procured clean energy.

Twitter: @jemersmith

Phone: (619) 293-2234

Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com
Desperate to obtain legal immigration status in the United States, people across the country relied on Hardev Panesar and Rafael Rafa Hastie to make it a reality, prosecutors said.

The men would flash a U.S. Department of Homeland Security credential, give the people immigration forms to fill out and even take their fingerprints, authorities said. In exchange, the clients would pay thousands of dollars in fees.

San Diego federal prosecutors allege it was all a fraud.

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Panesar, Hastie and a third man, Gurdev Singh  none of whom have ever worked for DHS  are accused of scamming more than 150 people in this way and pocketing $6 million.

Panesar allegedly ran the operation largely ran out of his El Cajon home. He is a Sikh born in Kenya who speaks five languages and holds an advanced engineering degree in England, according to information presented at his detention hearing. He uses aliases, and his full name is Hardev Singh Mohan Singh Panesar.

He and his co-defendants have pleaded not guilty. Panesars defense attorney declined to discuss the case with a reporter.

The FBI believes others were likely scammed and are asking other victims to come forward  a tricky proposition considering the aggressive push under the Trump administration to deport unauthorized immigrants. Most potential victims likely do not have legal immigration status and probably fear drawing attention to themselves.

The U.S. Attorneys Office could agree to shield victim witnesses from criminal immigration charges, but that would not prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from deporting witnesses under civil immigration law.

In some situations, victims of crime who cooperate with authorities can apply for a U visa, allowing them to stay legally in the United States for four years and eventually apply for a green card.

The FBI has created an online reporting form encouraging victims to share their names, contact information and experiences with the suspects as far back as 2000.

After the case first became public, more than 30 additional potential victims have come forward, the FBI said.

According to the indictment unsealed June 7, Panesar, 69, and Hastie, 47, of Tijuana, falsely claimed to be DHS agents since at least 2014. They frequently charged exorbitant fees, typically $20,000 to $40,000 or more, and would then demand more money to speed up the process or guarantee the documents by a certain date, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Young.

Victims came from all over, including California, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Mexico, authorities said. Singh, 56, of Bakersfield, is accused of helping recruit victims.

For instance, in 2014 Panesar is accused of offering to obtain a green card for an unauthorized immigrant for $45,000. The defendants collected thousands of dollars from the man and his wife, using threats, according to the indictment.

Panesar is accused of telling another client in 2016 that he was currently sitting with the person who would stop the clients deportation proceedings as soon as $2,250 was sent, the indictment says.

When some victims began to challenge Panesar about the whereabouts of their documents and demanded their money back, he would threaten physical violence, including at least once threatening beheadings, Young said.

Some of the funds were wired to Nigeria, while others were deposited into banks in amounts of less than $10,000 to avoid reporting requirements by banks, prosecutors said.

Young argued to a San Diego judge that both Panesar and Hastie should remain in custody, noting the significant evidence obtained during the FBIs yearlong covert wiretap investigation. The prosecutor also argued that Panesar was a chronic liar, even telling someone that he had met then-President Barack Obama, who gave him a jacket.

In his last post on Twitter, in June 2015, Panesar insulted then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, telling Mexicans to boycott his businesses.

When Panesar and Hastie were arrested June 7, both initially claimed that they were National Security Agency agents, Young said.

The judge ruled against the prosecutors arguments and granted bail for both.

This wouldnt be Panesars first tangle with immigration fraud.

In the 1980s he was charged in connection with an elaborate scheme in the Seattle area to smuggle East Indians into the United States. Part of the scam involved paying American women to marry the men for green cards.

According to a 1986 news article, Panesar was one of three men who met with a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service agent pretending to be corrupt in a Renton, Wash., park. The trio paid the agent $20,000 for Panesars immigration file, which they then burned, prosecutors in Seattle said. Investigators recorded the encounter as part of the undercover sting operation.

The scheme aimed to trick immigration agents into granting immediate-relative status to East Indian nationals and allow them to be permanent residents, bypassing the usual process that puts annual quotas on immigrants from various countries, the U.S. Attorneys Office told UPI at the time.

Panesar, who lived in La Mesa at the time, pleaded guilty in the case, although further details were not available.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
A man and a woman were arrested on suspicion of smuggling $250,000 worth of methamphetamine in a smart car that was pulled over by Border Patrol agents in San Clemente Wednesday, authorities said.

The yellow 2008 Mercedes car was stopped on Interstate 5 three miles or so north of the Border Patrol checkpoint in San Clemente about 8:45 p.m. During the traffic stop, a Border Patrol dog reacted to the car, which was searched.

Agents found 75 bundles of meth that weighed about 75 pounds and two packages of an unknown substance in the cargo area of the car, Border Patrol officials said.

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The meth has an estimated street value of $256,000, officials said. The 5 pounds of the unidentified material was sent to a laboratory to be analyzed.

The male driver, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen, and his passenger, a 60-year-old woman, were arrested on suspicion of narcotics smuggling. Both of them were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Breaking News

Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
Donald Trumps long history of refusing to accept facts he doesnt like matters infinitely more now that he is president. After losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes, Trump tweeted that this was a result of millions of people who voted illegally. When he specifically cited California in November, Secretary of State Alex Padilla  the state official responsible for voting  immediately wrote the president-elect to ask for any evidence he had. In an interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board, Padilla said he was eager to follow up because he wanted to do all he could to maintain public faith in the integrity of elections. But Trump never responded to anyone who asked for evidence  because he has none.

This lack of evidence didnt prevent Trump from issuing an executive order to create the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. When Trump chose Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to lead the commission, that raised new questions given Kobachs history of restricting voting. These questions hung over his extraordinary June 28 request that every state provide him with the full names of all voter registrants, their addresses, dates of birth and political party, the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, their recent voting history and information about felony convictions, registration in other states and more.

At least 44 states have partly or completely rejected Kobachs request for a variety of overlapping reasons: state privacy laws, more general privacy concerns, a refusal to pretend that mass voter fraud is real or as a way of signaling animus to the president. This rejection was very much a bipartisan affair. Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, memorably said that Trumps commission can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico.

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In a normal era, opposition from Republican and Democratic officials in nearly every state to a presidential request for information would translate into a public consensus that the White House was guilty of overreach. But in an era in which 89 percent of Republicans in one recent SurveyMonkey poll said the president was more trustworthy than CNN, the opposition becomes more fuel for Trumps voter conspiracy theories  which he encouraged with tweets about states refusal to cooperate that wondered what do they have to hide?

Kobach also encouraged the anti-media conspiratorialists, but from a different angle. He blasted as fake news the claim that 44 states werent fully cooperating because 36 were at least partly cooperating. In a normal era, a reasonable person would find Kobachs parsing to be a weak attempt at spin, given that Kansas is among the 44 that arent cooperating fully with his request. Instead, his claims were played up on pro-Trump media.

This editorial board refuses to buy the gloomy idea that the president is pushing America to the abyss. In our view, the checks and balances built into government by the Constitution have kept Trumps excesses in check, and will keep doing so.

But when a presidents needy ego can lead to the farce that is the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity  and that farce is widely defended  then may our children forgive us.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion
The San Diego Union-Tribune recently ran an editorial (Killing Californias single-payer health care bill was right call, June 28) applauding Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendons decision to pull the plug on a bill that would create a single-payer health care system in California. However, the U-T Editorial Board missed important points in its commentary.

First, the editorial said his decision sparked an outcry from progressive activists, a term that is dismissive and alienates the many, many other California residents who support the bill.

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Second, the editorial calls the bill a fantasy, though there is an independent financial analysis explaining the comprehensive savings of the bill for people, businesses and the state.

Third, the number $400 billion keeps coming up as the number the state must finance. This is misleading at best. Due to federal monies, waste reduction and price negotiations, the amount that must be financed to cover every single resident of California is easily covered through a very modest 2.3 percent sales tax on nonessential items and a 2.3 percent tax on business gross receipts for businesses with sales over $2 million. Lets also keep in mind that all premiums, deductibles, co-pays and caps go away. To say SB562 is a fantasy, silly and woefully incomplete is simply disingenuous.

Letters and commentary policy

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Speaker Rendons action unnecessarily stalled Californias opportunity to create comprehensive guaranteed health care for state residents, yet another disappointing move by someone in a position to help countless American citizens in need of health care. The time for political posturing is long over and Rendons actions do not deserve applause.

Mia Taylor is a member of the Healthy California steering committee.

Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.
A man who uploaded a still image from a Bhojpuri film to depict the situation in Basirhat-Baduria has been arrested for allegedly inciting communal violence. The same photo, interestingly, was separately shared by Haryana BJP leader Vijeta Malik in a similar context.

By India Today Web Desk: A 38-year-old man from West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district has been arrested for allegedly inciting communal violence as Basirhat remained on the boil.

The man - identified as Bhabatosh Chatterjee from Rupnagar, Sonarpur - had uploaded a photo on Facebook that he claimed depicted what was truly happening in Basirhat and Baduria, which have seen communal clashes over a photoshop image that denigrated Islam.

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The picture actually was a Bhopuri movie still that showed a man disrobing a woman. Interestingly, the same image (not Chatterjee's post) was shared by Haryana BJP's Vijeta Malik, who also commented on the how the state of affairs in Bengal is a 'worrying issue' for Hindus.

Meanwhile, parts of the North 24 Parganas district remain on the boil after communal clashes first erupted in Baduria in this week. The clashes were over a Facbeook photo allegedly put by a Class XI boy.

The photo showed Prophet and Kaaba Sharif in Mecca in an 'objectionable' manner. The boy was later detained and has denied uploading the photo.

As clashes erupted in Baduria and Basirhat, another image (pictured above) started doing the rounds with some claiming that this was what was actually happening in Basirhat. However, that photo was completely unconnected to the communal clashes in West Bengal.

That picture was actually a movie still from one of Manoj Tiwar's Bhojpuri films called 'Aurat Khilona Nahi'. The still was from a scene in which a man forcibly disrobes a woman.

Bhabatosh Chatterjee uploaded the photo on Facebook on July 5, however it appeared to have been pulled down later.

His arrested was announced by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has come under fire from the BJP over the clashes, today at a general press conference.

During his arrest, Kolkata police seized a mobile phone and a laptop. Chatterjee will remain in police custody until July 11.

(With inputs from Indrajit Kundu in Kolkata)

ALSO READ | Basirhat violence: How Mamata Banerjee lost the plot in her second term

ALSO READ | Basirhat violence: BJP delegation meets Bengal governor, demands imposition of President's rule

ALSO WATCH | Basirhat violence: BJP demands Mamata Banerjee's resignation

--- ENDS ---
Lightly edited comments from our online coverage.

Regarding Right is vague on just what Obama did wrong (July 4): Vague? Obama destroyed the work ethic for many lower-income voters in this country. Freebies provided by the government were highlighted by advertising: Free Obama phone program (rife with fraud it has been learned). Free health care, food stamp rolls grew, welfare rolls skyrocketed. He did all of this while saying higher-income Americans were selfish and needed to pay their fair share. There is nothing vague about where conservatives fault Obama. At the end of the day, the differences between conservatives and libs can be broken down to differing views over personal responsibility and individual freedom versus everything being viewed through the lens of a social obligation.

e_cccc

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Joined March 9, 2017

Obama phone has nothing to do with Obama. If you call it Obama phone, you might as well call it Bush phone.

yusit00000

Joined July 5, 2017

Dont listen to the hate-filled, close-minded, uneducated right wingers posting on this board. The majority of us know President Obama was one of the greatest presidents we ever had. We all miss him every day. He was a true progressive president who believed in moving the country forward. It is so sad that now we have a con man posing as president who is full of hate and backwards thinking.

16521w

Joined April 16, 201616

What Obama did wrong was make the Archie Bunker crowd uncomfortable. He did not appeal to the fears, prejudices and resentments of those who feel left behind.

asl3676

Joined July 5, 2017

Regarding Playboy Playmates arrested by Mexican immigration officials (July 5): Okay, we surrender! Well do a prisoner exchange. Give us the playmates and you can have your nine million Mexicans back.

JAD555

April 29, 2016

Are you saying Mexican authorities arrest people who are not authorized to work there? Wow, what a concept.

Werock51

Joined Sept. 12, 2016

Regarding Climate change expected to fuel larger forest fires  if it hasnt already (July 4): Republicans: The vast majority of the worlds climate scientists are in a huge conspiracy to lie about climate change, but Big Oil and other polluters who profit from deregulation by the deniers are all honest and know more about the Earths climate than the scientists.

mattparker619

Joined Feb. 27, 2017

0

Letters and commentary policy

The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below.

What climate change? This article is yet one more doomsday prediction by the climatistas that has not and will not come true. Americans are so glad Trump is scientific about the environment and not religious, or else even more non-critical thinkers would be buying alarmist pap like this.

alrava

Joined July 5, 2017

Regarding Trump vs. the media: Who does the public support? (July 5): Sacred pillar? The press? LOL! They deserve whatever dirt Trump can dump on them. Biased hypocrites.

rayswebb

Joined Feb. 3, 2017

Yeah, that horrible media keeps reporting those annoying facts. Cant have that. God forbid we have an informed electorate. We have the most dishonest president in history and you blame the media. Hilarious. And the guy only works with Breitbart and Fox, the most biased media thats ever been. Wonder if hell ever do a press conference again and speak directly to the American people. Such a coward.

john.poe95

Joined April 19, 2016

Regarding Student caught cheating led to AP investigation at Scripps Ranch (July 5): One student was caught cheating. His test paper was confiscated. Justice has been served. Do not penalize everyone else for a minor technicality in room layout  there is no evidence anyone else cheated.

j.eldon

Joined June 21, 2016

Kids are just following the failing examples of educational union bureaucrats who cheat taxpayers every day. Doing little to nothing for the educational process, just sitting on their fat butts and coasting to retirement, a fat union pension. Laughable.

voyager2k

Joined July 6, 2017

Regarding Illinois at the brink: Parallel should give Californians pause (July 6): Not to worry. Our benevolent leaders are going to make us a sanctuary state. That should fix the pension mess. Part of the law will disband counties and rename areas of the state as sectors. I believe San Diego County will become part of Sector 9. Each year a few lucky non-government-employed citizens from each sector will be granted a government pension upon winning the sector games.

gonzoman1128

Joined April 25, 2016

This is a debt state taxpayers cannot escape. Wrong. They can move. The Illinois Constitution specifically guarantees that pension benefits can never be reduced or go unpaid. Irrelevant. If there is no money, there is no money. No amount of hand-wringing or words on pieces of paper can change that. What cannot be paid, will not be paid.

John Oliver1

Joined May. 19, 2

Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.
Undersheriff Bill Gore was appointed San Diego County sheriff Tuesday, after a two-hour hearing in which two career department lawmen urged the Board of Supervisors not to name a successor who is also running for sheriff.

Four of the five supervisors embraced Gore, the longtime FBI official who was recommended by Sheriff Bill Kolender to take over the department after he retires July 2.

The appointment was hardly a surprise; three of the supervisors had previously endorsed the undersheriff for the top job. Supervisor Bill Horn referred to Gore as Sheriff Gore in the middle of the hearing.

Bill Gore is in the best position to carry on for Sheriff Kolender, Supervisor Greg Cox said after the votes were recorded.

Gore takes over a department with approximately 2,400 sworn officers, 1,600 professional staff and a $580 million budget on July 3.

Formerly a top official with the FBI, Gore was recruited to the Sheriff's Department directly by Kolender, who was close friends with Gore's father, a former San Diego Police Department official.

Kolender, who is 72 and served as the San Diego police chief before being elected sheriff in 1994, was re-elected in 2006 and pledged to serve all four years of his fourth term.

This spring, however, he announced he would step down on July 2 due to his wife's health.

Five people applied for the appointment, including two longtime Sherifff's Department officials who urged the Board of Supervisors not to name anyone to the job who is running in the 2010 race for sheriff.

The citizens do not deserve a sheriff who for the next year and a half is distracted by the election, said Randall Dibb, one of the two retired lawmen who promised not to seek election if appointed to the interim job. The other was Gregory Reynolds.

Gore will face re-election less than a year into his appointment.

The election next June comes barely 11 months after Gore assumes command of the department, although he has been running day-to-day operations for many months.

I'm not a grandstander. I don't believe in making a big splash, although I would like to make a difference in San Diego County, Gore said during the interview process. I want to make San Diego County the safest urban county in the United States  bar none.

The current undersheriff lined up support from a host of local officials beyond his boss, the retiring Kolender who showed up to tout Gore before the board.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders urged the Board of Supervisors to name Gore to the job. District Attorney Bonie Dumanis had a letter of support read into the public record, as did Lemon Grove Mayor Mary Sessom.

One speaker, identified as business owner Guy Winston, complained that Gore intimidated a department critic several years ago by calling the person at home.

Are you going to appoint a bully as sheriff of San Diego County? he asked. Winston also complained that Gore was a supervising agent at Ruby Ridge, when federal agents shot a woman to death.

In addition to Gore, the other candidates in 2010 are former San Diego Police Chief David Bejarano, former Deputy Sheriffs' Association President Jim Duffy, former undersheriff and Assemblyman Jay La Suer and former sheriff's Sgt. Bruce Ruff.
Kenyas internal security minister was killed with five other people when the police helicopter they were traveling in crashed in a forest near Kenyas capital, officials said. An anti-corruption crusader said the incident calls into question the governments procurement of airplanes and helicopters for its security forces.

Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and his deputy, Orwa Ojode, were among the six killed in the Sunday crash, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said. Two pilots and two bodyguards also died in the crash, officials said.

Kenyas government declared three days of mourning for the crash victims.

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The death of Saitoti is a great tragedy that has befallen our country at this time as we are making elaborate preparations to hold peaceful elections, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said at the scene of the crash, a forest in the citys outskirts.

It was not immediately clear what caused the accident. Kenyan police cordoned off the scene of the crash and said they were investigating. Rescue officials collected the charred and scattered remains of those killed.

As we speak now, nobody knows the cause of the accident, Odinga said. Nobody knows, and thats why the experts are going to carry out investigations. He said that Saitoti and Ojode were on their way to a political event in western Kenya.

Saitoti, an American-trained economist and mathematician, was one of the most visible figures in Kenyan politics. For over a decade he was a deputy to former President Daniel arap Moi.

As security minister he was the governments spokesman on security matters, including Kenyas decision to send troops to Somalia last year. Analysts say he played a key role in that decision. Saitoti appeared often on national television to reassure the public in the aftermath of deadly attacks blamed on the Somali militant group al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab, in a message sent from its official Twitter account, welcomed the death of the evil minister, saying Saitoti was Better off dead! The militant group blamed him for the suffering of Muslims in Somalia and Kenya.

Saitoti played a prominent role in overseeing the abduction, torture and imprisonment of hundreds of innocent Muslims in his war against Islam, al-Shabab tweeted.

Johnnie Carson, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said during a visit to Kenya on Sunday that Kenya has lost one of its most outstanding public servants. He called the loss a great tragedy and said the U.S. extended its condolences.

Saitoti announced last year that he would seek the Kenyan presidency in 2013.

Odinga said that four years ago on the very same day, two Kenyan Cabinet ministers who were his close allies died in a plane crash.

Anti-Corruption crusader Mwalimu Mati said the crash should make the country focus on the history of bogus government purchases for the Kenya Police Air wing. Mati runs the corruption watchdog Mars Group, which has done several reports on the governments purchase of police helicopters and their maintenance. It has called the purchases questionable, and pointed out that they have cost the country millions of dollars since 1999.

Corruption in public procurement can come back to bite you, Mati said.

Mati said Saitoti will leave a controversial legacy. He said Saitoti will be remembered for his role when a financial scandal almost destroyed Kenyas economy. Saitoti faced allegations of being involved in Kenyas largest financial scam in the 1990s when he served as vice president and finance minister under Moi.

Saitoti resigned as education minister in February 2006, but was re-appointed months after a constitutional court ruled that an inquiry that investigated the 1990s scandal, called Goldenberg after the company at its center, wrongly concluded that Saitoti needed to be further investigated for his alleged role.

The court also ruled that any reference to Saitoti should be removed from the report.

At the time of the ruling, Saitoti said that he felt vindicated and a burden he had carried for more than a decade had been lifted. The government said it would appeal the ruling, but it did not do so.

The scandal began as a ploy to get export credits for gold and diamond jewelry but evolved into a complex web of financial dealings in which the government lost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Sgt. Jessie Quintanilla, a Camp Pendleton Marine on death row for killing a superior in 1996, will now have the possibility of parole after an odyssey of appeals and a finding that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

Quintanilla gunned down Lt. Col. Daniel Kidd and tried to kill two other Marines when he went on a rampage in the offices of a Camp Pendleton air squadron.

The then-29 year old was the first base Marine in decades to be sentenced to death, though there were four Marines on death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., at the time.

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In 2006, military appellate courts set aside the death ruling and remanded the case for a new sentencing hearing, said 2nd Lt. Maureen Dooley, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing spokeswoman.

The appeals court ruled that the trial judge had acted improperly when he allowed the prosecution to eliminate an enlisted Marine from the jury pool because of an allegedly inflexible attitude against capital punishment, she said.

Then, the new sentencing hearing was delayed because military doctors diagnosed Quintanilla with paranoid schizophrenia and determined he was unable to assist in his own defense.

After treatment and medication, Quintanilla, now 42, was found competent.

Earlier this month, a military judge changed the sentence to life in prison, with the possibility of parole.

In exchange for the removal of the death penalty, Quintanilla waived his right to further appeals of the conviction, Dooley said.

Until his resentencing, Quintanilla had been one of nine service members awaiting execution, most of them at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth. The last Marine execution was in 1817.
Russell Forester is best known as a modernist architect with a successful practice in La Jolla. He designed numerous acclaimed residences as well as the first Jack in the Box restaurant in 1951.

But Russells heart was always in the arts. For years, he juggled his passion for fine art with his career as an architect.

Russell Forester, pictured in the early 1990s. Christine Forester (Christine Forester)

He always wanted to paint and sculpt. Those two were magnets for him, said Christine Forester, Russells widow and a champion of his art.

As a disciple of the Bauhaus movement, which stemmed from his studies at the Institute of Design in Chicago, Russell embraced the idea of applying all the arts to his work. The result: His architectural designs are artistic, and his art is influenced by the geometry of architecture.

Space, Structure, Light: The Art of Russell Forester When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday Where: Oceanside Museum of Art, 704 Pier View Way, Oceanside Tickets: $8 general admission; $5 for 65 and older; free for 18 and younger. Military and students free with ID. Phone: (760) 435-3720 Online: oma-online.org

The Oceanside Museum of Art has opened an exhibit, Space, Structure, Light: The Art of Russell Forester, which focuses exclusively on Russells work as an artist. The retrospective traces the evolution of his art from early pieces produced in the 1950s to a series of tree paintings done two years before his death in 2002.

A prolific creator who dedicated himself to his art full time starting in the mid-70s, Russell experimented with a variety of materials, layers and colors, but he never strayed from his use of lines, dot and light.

Typical of abstraction, he was exploring, said Peter Frank, an art historian and art critic who curated the exhibit in collaboration with Christine.

Whether using colorful squares, lines or the alphabet, Russells works produces order out of chaos through repetition and layers. As in architecture, empty spaces are as important as what envelops them.

Many of his early ink drawings are contained in a circle.

He needed the rules and regulations that come with architecture, Christine said. These self-imposed rules eventually became looser.

The basis of his formal thinking was squares and lines; gridded thinking. But there was opportunity to play along the way, Frank said.

And play he did.

Russell experimented with the lines and dots of an industrial sewing machine, the subtle layers and muted tones of gauze as well as embossed lead. His richly colored acrylics always began with a white canvas and often contained hundreds of square and rectangles, all individually hand-painted. Later he worked with LED lights and neon bulbs using electricity and the play of light in installations set in rooms he built. (These works are not part of the exhibit because they are too fragile for display, but can be seen on video.)

Handmade Lafranca paper from Switzerland inspired a series of collages where white-on-white paper pieces create lines and edges with shifting shadows. I was surprised by them. They are very elegant, light in spirit, but profound in structure, said Frank, who called Russell a playful geometrist.

Russell was influenced by American abstract expressionist Mark Tobey, whom he eventually met in Basel, Switzerland, where Tobey lived, and the Swiss-born expressionist and cubist Paul Klee.

His connection to Switzerland came from Christine, a native of Geneva. Both architects, Russell and Christine met on a mutual project and were married in 1968. Russell, who was born in 1920, was 23 years older than Christine, but she said: He really was Peter Pan. He was so much younger than I ever was.

We worked side by side 24/7 and just loved it, Christine said of the practice they had together. They collaborated on a home in La Jolla where Christine still lives. At that time, Russell concentrated on his artwork in his spare time, as a hobby.

With Christines encouragement and the support of prominent people in the art world, such as New York art dealer and gallery owner Marian Willard Johnson and Guggenheim Museum director Thomas Messer, who both exhibited his work, Russell began to devote all his time to fine art while Christine continued the practice.

He was a very profound man, she said. There are always things to discover with him and his work.

And while Russell would have preferred to become an artist rather than an architect from the start, his profession contributed greatly to his art.

Russell moved to La Jolla from Salmon, Idaho, with his mother and younger brother at the age 5. His architect father had abandoned the family. Russells talent as an artist was recognized in school. Christine said he nearly failed a science class at La Jolla High School until his teacher realized that he excelled in art. Russell was then allowed to draw his answers, which saved his grade. After graduating in 1938, he became a draftsman to support his family.

During World War II, Russell enlisted and served with the Army Corps of Engineers until 1946, using his drafting skills to help build barracks in the South Pacific. After the war, he was back in La Jolla. He opened his architectural design business in 1948 and started building homes, including one with his first wife, Eleanor, an interior designer, whom he met while working as a draftsman.

His only formal architectural training was at Chicagos Institute of Design, which he attended with financing through the GI Bill for two years.

There he discovered himself as someone who can create, Christine said. He became an architect through the back door. He taught himself. Russell obtained his license in 1960. In 1995, he was named Fellow of the American Institute of Architects for his contribution to architecture as well as the visual arts.

His thinking is metered; its about rhythm, Frank said.

The artworks repetitive, often playful themes can be viewed as visual music. The Oceanside show displays about 140 pieces, mainly from Christines collection and the Forester estate, some of which have never been on display. While some of his pieces are named, many are untitled to let viewers come to their own conclusions.

I want people to just experience the work, Christine said.

Schimitschek is a freelance writer.
If Mamata Banerjee has her way, university and college elections will no longer be the raucous, sometimes violent occasions they are in West Bengal. The chief minister is seriously considering a ban on student wings of political parties participating directly in elections to student bodies.

State education minister Partha Chatterjee says all government-run and government-aided institutions will henceforth emulate St Xavier's University's 'apolitical' model for student council elections. Xavier's, like other reputed institutions, including Lady Brabourne College, Loreto College, IIT Kharagpur and Shibpur's Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, doesn't permit elections among student political organisations. Polls are contested between student societies like the Bengali Literary Society, Hindi Literary Society and Theatrical Society.

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It's a drastic shift in Bengal, where the student wing of the party in power has traditionally controlled the student unions. Through the years of Left Front rule, over 80 per cent of student bodies were held by the Students Federation of India (SFI) and other left outfits. With the Trinamool Congress at the helm, 450 of the 478 student bodies are controlled by the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP).

The high-decibel student polls each year are invariably marred by violence, with political parties often entering the fray through local councillors and leaders. "They (political parties) pump in money, muscle power and fear," says a student of Kolkata's Ashutosh College, claiming that the "elections are neither free nor fair".

In 2012, violence during elections at Harimohan Ghose College in Kolkata caused the death of a policeman. He was shot by goons reportedly close to the local TMC councillor. The councillor was arrested and student polls were banned for two years. But violence returned once elections resumed. Now, with the TMCP in power in most college unions and student councils, Mamata and many of her colleagues feel the violence is earning the party a bad name. The SFI, though, is strongly opposed to Mamata's move. "College politics is a basic step in the education of young minds, in making them conscious and helping them align with the political ideology of their choice," says SFI joint secretary Mayukh Biswas.

Many in the TMC and TMCP, too, are unhappy. A Calcutta University student leader argues that the TMCP, which has expanded its membership significantly, will suffer the most if the ban really comes into force.

--- ENDS ---
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By Peggy Kelly

Santa Paula News

The famed Moreton Bay Fig Tree was the inspiration for a mural at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Clara Valley Harvard Boulevard Clubhouse where history became intertwined with other Santa Paula centric themes.

The mural, according to Club Executive Director Jan Marholin, was the Capstones project for California State University Channel Islands graduate students Phillip Alexander and Vanessa Gomez, whose faculty advisor was CSUCI Professor Marianne McGrath.

The Capstone Project is a 3-unit course designed to be the culmination of the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Liberal Studies. In this course, students apply the knowledge obtained through their general education, core coursework, and program of study to a project completed with a faculty advisor. Students complete their Capstones Projects during one of their last two semesters prior to graduation from CSUCI.

Both Phillip and Vanessa were Studio Arts majors and Marholin said, Marianne connected them and they wanted to do a mural. When they discussed locations our name came up.

A bonus was the two artists involved Club Kids in the project that took about 50 hours over weeks to finish.

The mural, said Marholin, Is just gorgeous  they left a legacy at the club!

Capstones, said McGrath, Is a wonderful project that the university does that emphasizes students own idea of giving back to the community.

My family has been involved in the club a long time, with generations of family members serving on the Board of Directors.

And Phillip and Vanessa, noted McGrath, Were wonderful, wonderful young people, I was excited to be their teacher.

Studio Arts said Vanessa, is a multifaceted spin on creativity.

With Fine Art you usually have an emphasis on fine, classical painting. With Studio Arts you have a mixture, such as hers that includes painting, photography, sculpturing and screen-printing.

Capstones she added, involves giving back to the community in some ways and Alexander and I were asked to be creative. We decided to collaborate on a mural, as both would have enjoyed a mural class but the university did not offer a course.

Murals, said Vanessa, Was one of the things that drove me to be an artist. I came from a small town known for its murals, Exeter, California where since 1994 more than 30 murals depicting history, culture and folklore have been created.

As conceptualizing what we wanted to do we visited the murals, in Santa Paula and were particularly struck by the mural showing artists and architects located on the southwest corner of 10th and Santa Barbara streets  and behind the citys famous Moreton Bay Fig Tree, planted on July 4th 137 years ago.

We wanted to give back to the community but more so to the younger communitythey dont know much about the history of the Moreton Bay Fig, and as well the history conveyed by the murals.
By Peggy Kelly

Santa Paula News

A plan for the old Ventura County fire station at 8th and Santa Barbara streets was presented to the City Council Monday.

America in Bloom President Gary Nasalroad told the council he wanted to emphasize how the restoration Has become a very collaborative, effort, including AIB, the Santa Paula Murals Committee and the Santa Paula Fire Department.

The project grew from an effort that occurred more than a year ago when AIB cleaned and landscaped the corner where the building sits.

The landscaping seemed to emphasize the cosmetic needs of the building and Nasalroad said when he approached then Fire Chief Rick Araiza  now the Interim City Manager  about painting the old station, he agreed and said SPFD personnel would likely help.

Then, noted Nasalroad, I thought if we paint it we should do something about the four bays, you could stick your arm through the doors they are so dilapidated. And, if we replaced the doors maybe we should have some pictures up there.

Historian and gallery owner John Nichols provided a circa 1930s photo of the station showing engines parked in the bays, and the image prompted an idea.

After discussing it with the Santa Paula Murals Committee members Howard Bolton, Doug Nelson and Nichols, Nasalroad said it was decided to use the building for public art.

The bays are being prepared for murals, and as luck would have it, Nasalroad said Nelson, an architect, brought along the plans he did 20 years ago for the entire Railroad Corridor, a project that was partially completed by the city.

The plan now includes a Firefighter Memorial Park west of the station.
An ancient and extinct crocodile-like predator from the middle Jurassic Period has been discovered to have had enormous teeth similar to a Tyrannosaurus rex (T-rex). According to the scientists, the animal was a top land predator even during the time of the dinosaurs.

CNN has reported that the fossil of the animal, found in Madagascar, had serrated teeth even larger than those of a T-rex and massive jawbones that indicated that it fed on hard tissue such as tendon and bone just like the T-rex. The anatomical features of the fossil led the scientists to categorize it as a Jurassic notosuchian. It was a predator close to the South American sebecids and baurusuchids that were highly skilled in terrestrial habits. However, these predators were different from modern crocodiles in having powerful erect limbs and a deep skull.

Scientists have classified the crocodile-like predator as Razanandrongobe sakalavae, literally translating to giant lizard ancestor from Sakalava region. Dubbed as Razana, the predator is believed to be the most ancient and probably the largest representative of Notosuchians -- a group of crocodile-like animals.

Razana also had some chisel-like incisor front teeth that could clean off meat from the bones. This particular feature has led the research team to believe that the predator was a scavenger and a hunter. Moreover, though it might not have been a fast runner, it would be good at ambushing and scavenging quite like the present-day lions and hyenas. The predator could also walk on dry land as easily as it could swim across rivers.

Like these and other gigantic crocs from the Cretaceous, Razana could outcompete even theropod dinosaurs, at the top of the food chain, researcher Cristiano Dal Sasso said, as per The Indian Express. In actual fact, it contributes to filling in a gap in the groups evolution, which contains a long ghost lineage in the Jurassic."
Americans often complain about how far Washington debates seem to be removed from the lives of real people.

But Washington's health care debate and the nation's opioid crisis became quite real to me in new ways after a city councilman in the Ohio town where I grew up made national news by raising a provocative question: Does the city have to respond to calls from repeat opiate overdose patients?

Morality aside -- and that's pushing a lot aside -- that's a good question, especially in a town whose local government is struggling to make ends meet.

Middletown, Ohio, my old hometown, is faced with that challenge. The once-thriving factory town that I recall has become a textbook case of postindustrial job loss. With that, it has one of the highest opioids overdose rates in a state whose overdose rate currently ranks fourth nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The city of about 50,000 has already seen almost 600 overdoses so far this year. That's more than all of 2016. Ambulance crews say they're responding to as many as four or five calls a day.

And the cost is soaring. Addiction treatment programs cost more than $2 million, or 10 percent of the city's annual tax revenue, spokesmen say.

Fearing a fiscal train wreck, Councilman Dan Picard has asked the city's law department to investigate whether the city has a legal obligation to respond with ambulance service to repeat opiate overdose patients.

If it does not, Picard's has informally suggested a three-strikes policy: The first two times that people overdose, they would have to pay the city back for the cost by performing community service. If they overdose a third time without having repaid their debts from the first two, no ambulance would come.

That's pretty drastic. The thought of barring ambulance crews from an overdose patient who hasn't paid all of his or her fees reminds me of another unsettling story. Back in 2010, network news showed firefighters in rural Obion County, Tenn., who were ordered to stand aside and let a home burn to the ground. The homeowner hadn't paid a $75 fee to receive fire coverage provided by the nearby town of South Fulton.

But Picard's suggestion quickly went viral, attracting "hate mail, national news coverage and overloaded voice mail and email in-boxes," wrote city manager Doug Adkins in his blog.

Except, Adkins went on to point out, "nothing has changed ... at all ... whatsoever. We are responding to every call and rendering aid as needed. We give Narcan where it is appropriate. Period." Narcan, also known by the generic name Naloxone, blocks the effects of opioids in overdose patients.

Yet one of the reasons why Picard's idea went viral is that it coincided with the Senate considering a Republican-backed measure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

In his quest to secure 51 votes, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell added $45 billion in additional funding to combat the opioid crisis. The move aimed to attract the votes of moderate Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.

The initial version of the bill provided only $2 billion in state grants to address the crisis. But both Portman and Capito were even more concerned about the deep cuts that original legislation would make to Medicaid, cuts that the Congressional Budget Office estimates would take $772 billion from Medicaid and coverage away from 15 million people.

Ohio's Republican Gov. John Kasich said last week that he warned Portman that even the $45 billion wouldn't come close to making up for the damage caused by the Medicaid cuts in the bill.

An earlier analysis by Richard Frank and Sherry Glied of New York University also estimated that the Senate Republican bill would cost 2.8 million Americans help with their drug use disorders and almost 1.3 million with serious mental disorders, if those Obamacare benefits were not restored.

That puts Congress in a position not unlike leaders back in Middletown and other towns in similar predicaments. Both have to make life or death decisions about their resources in the face of an opioid crisis, except the local folks happen to live and work closer to those who need the help.
SINCE THE RAPTURE OCCURS BEFORE THE FUTURE 7 YR TREATY IS SIGNED, I WONT BE AROUND TO HAVE THE ACTUAL TREATY SIGNING. BUT UNTIL THEN THIS SITE IS DEDICATED TO THE BEGININGS OF THE ISRAELI / ARAB PEACE PROCESS. AND AS CLOSE TO THE 7 YEAR SIGNING THAT WE GET BEFORE THE RAPTURE OF THE SAVED TO HEAVEN. UNTIL WE MEET JESUS IN THE CLOUDS BODILY, AND COME TO EARTH 7 YRS LATER.
Angara: Proposed tax reform exempts farmers, fisherfolk, sari-sari stores, carinderias, tricycle drivers from income tax

Senator Sonny Angara has welcomed the part of the proposed comprehensive tax reform package that seeks to exempt micro businesses and marginal income earners from income tax.

"Malaking ginhawa po para sa ating ordinaryong mamamayan na hindi na bubuwisan ang mga maliliit na negosyo. Sa pamamagitan nito, mas mabibigyan natin sila ng tyansa na lumago ang kanilang negosyo na magreresulta naman sa paglikha ng mga trabaho," said Angara, chairman of the ways and means committee.

Under present tax regulations, marginal income earners are self-employed individuals deriving gross sales or receipts not exceeding P100,000.

Among them are farmers and fisherfolk selling directly to consumers, small sari-sari stores, small carinderias or turo-turos, and drivers or operators of a single unit tricycle.

Currently, marginal income earners are exempted from paying business taxes such as VAT and percentage tax but are still subject to income tax.

Micro businesses with assets below P3 million may be exempt from income tax, pursuant to the existing Barangay Micro Business Enterprise law, but they need to register first at the City Office of the Treasurer in their area.

"By automatically exempting, in effect, marginal income earners and micro businesses from income tax, we would finally afford them equal protection and benefits that the minimum wage earners have long been enjoying," the lawmaker said.

Under the bill approved by the House of Representatives, a distinction has been made between compensation income earners and the self-employed or professionals in the proposed new income tax regime.

According to the Department of Finance, it seeks to impose a one-time flat tax to self-employed and professionals so as to encourage these hard-to-tax individuals to voluntarily and timely comply with their tax obligations.

"Ang importante dito ay gawing simple at mas madali ang sistema ng pagbubuwis upang matulungan ang ating mamamayan na magbayad ng tamang buwis. Dahil talagang nahihirapan ang karamihan lalo ng ang ating mga maliliit na negosyante sa kumplikadong sistema sa kasalukuyan," the senator stressed.

Angara said he will study carefully the various proposals on how to reform the tax regime for self-employed and professionals so it would ultimately benefit the small businesses.
Press Release

July 7, 2017 Sen. Bam to PNP: Stop sending delinquent cops to Mindanao A senator seconded the Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana's appeal, urging the Philippine National Police (PNP) to rethink its policy of deploying erring policemen to Mindanao, saying the move will reduce public trust in the police further. "Filipinos deserve an upstanding police force. Delinquent cops should be fired, not just reassigned and sent to Mindanao," said Sen. Bam Aquino. "Napakahalaga na may tiwala ang tao sa pulis, lalong lalo na sa Mindanao kung saan may Martial Law at banta ng terorismo. We should send our best and brightest, not those who abuse their power," added Sen. Bam. Sen. Bam made the statement after the PNP shipped to Marawi two Mandaluyong policemen who were caught in video hitting using a "yantok" nightstick the two men they arrested for drinking on the sidewalk. "Ang mga pulis na nang-aagrabyado ng taumbayan at gumagawa ng katiwalian ay dapat managot at matanggal sa puwesto. Marami sa mga pulis na nagtatrabaho nang maayos ang nadadamay sa kanilang ginagawang kapalpakan," stressed Sen. Bam. In the 17th Congress, Sen. Bam filed a bill that aims to strengthen the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) of the PNP to instill better discipline and performance among policemen. "The PNP must clamp down on crime and corruption while fully abiding by the law and respecting basic human rights," Sen. Bam said in Senate Bill No. 1285 or the PNP Internal Affairs Service Modernization Act. The bill was endorsed by the IAS and was subsequently filed by Sen. Aquino to help the PNP's efforts to get rid of bad eggs in the organization. The measure seeks to strengthen the IAS with provisions for autonomy and independence in its administration and operations and empowering it to instill discipline and enhance the performance of personnel and units of the PNP at all levels of its command. "The bill expands the motu-propio investigation powers of the IAS to cover all acts and omissions by PNP officers which might discredit them or hinder them from rendering their services effectively," said Sen. Bam. In addition, the measure mandates the prioritization of IAS functions, which promote character building, and carry out inspections, audits, intelligence operations and rehabilitation among officers. By increasing the authority and mandate of the IAS within every branch of the PNP, Sen. Bam hopes the police will better protect the public and honor their duties.
Press Release

July 7, 2017 Legarda Vows Continued Support for PH Higher Education Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, has committed its full support for the country's public higher education institutions (HEIs) primarily by providing adequate funds. Speaking at the 50th Philippine Association of State Colleges and Universities (PASUC) General Assembly, Legarda underscored how important tertiary education is in today's highly competitive and technology-based world. "We need to promote a culture of innovation to encourage creative thinking and knowledge creation and dissemination towards expanding and maintaining economic competitiveness. But in order to create an innovation ecosystem, we need to invest in higher education," she said. Legarda said that the Philippines used to have the enviable status of being the second most progressive nation in Asia during the 1950s and early 1960s. It was a model of development, second only to Japan, and was envied as an industrial powerhouse and served as a manufacturing hub for many products - from consumer goods to medical products; cement; textile and fertilizers; automobiles, televisions, and home appliances; as well as steel, for shipbuilding. Today, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation classifies the Philippines as an "innovation follower", which means it does not contribute significantly to the global innovation system. "It also means we underinvest in scientific research, and are not willing to embrace needed reforms that could bolster our innovation potential. Being a mere follower is simply unacceptable, especially that the Filipino talent has contributed a number of game changing solutions to the world," she said. Legarda underscored the need to invest in higher education in order to create an innovation ecosystem. "Our state universities and colleges (SUCs) need significant support, especially from the government, in conducting researches and projects that can keep pace with the best in the world, and we must not hesitate in investing in institutions that can in fact lead in research and development (R&D)." As Chair of the Committee on Finance, Legarda has made significant strides to improve both access to and quality of higher education through increased funding for SUCs. Under the 2016 national budget, all SUCs received additional funding for academic buildings, equipment and the Tulong Dunong Program. Under the 2017 national budget, the government has subsidized tuition fees for all SUCs to allow everyone the chance to earn a college degree. "We aim to institutionalize this through the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Bill, already approved by the Senate." Legarda also encouraged enrolment in Science, Technology, Education, Agri-fisheries and Mathematics or STEAM programs by supporting the grant of scholarships to students enrolled in priority courses in all SUCs, since all progressive nations have put science and technology as a centerpiece of their development policy. "Prioritizing the provision of state funds to scholars taking up STEAM courses, and other key growth areas such as electronics, business process outsourcing, tourism, general infrastructure and other priority manufacturing industries, will be vital in our effort to build a knowledge-based and innovation economy. I have always believed that giving the necessary financial support to SUCs will help produce a workforce that will support our industries and companies which, in turn, propel the country to inclusive growth and global competitiveness," she stressed. For the 2018 budget, the Senator vowed to continue supporting our SUCs the best way she can. "Our actions must be immediate and our efforts must be doubled for we are dealing with the future not only of our youth but of our nation," Legarda concluded.
Buck named to Saint Mary's College dean's list

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Saint Mary's College named Leah Buck, Mattoon, to the dean's list for the spring 2017 semester.

To earn academic honors at Saint Mary's, a student must achieve a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.6 on a 4.0 scale, have at least 12 graded credit hours, no incompletes, and no grades lower than a C.

University of Kentucky Announces spring 2017 dean's list

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The University of Kentucky has announced that Robyn Blood of Mattoon, Kasey Considine of Mattoon, and Julia Bolinger of Shelbyville have been named to the dean's list for the spring 2017 semester.

To make a deans list in one of the UK colleges, a student must earn a grade point average of 3.6 or higher and must have earned 12 credits or more in that semester, excluding credits earned in pass-fail classes. Some UK colleges require a 3.5 GPA to make the deans list.

Student named to Augustana College's spring term dean's list

ROCK ISLAND -- Augustana College announced 977 students were named to the dean's list for the 2017 spring term. Students who have earned this academic honor have maintained a grade-point average of 3.5 or higher on a four-point scale for courses taken during the term.

Those from the area named to the dean's list are:

Rachel Miller of Charleston, a senior majoring in Psychology and English.

Natalie Staton of Charleston, a junior majoring in Pre-Medicine, Biochemistry and Psychology.

Courtney Brewer of Tuscola, a sophomore majoring in Liberal Arts.

Taylor Campbell of Tuscola, a sophomore majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders and Environmental Studies.

Founded in 1860, Augustana College is a selective four-year residential college of the liberal arts and sciences. The college is recognized for the innovative program Augie Choice, which provides each student up to $2,000 to pursue a high-impact learning experience such as study abroad, an internship or research with a professor.
SEATTLE  Sean Manaea labored through the first few innings Friday at Safeco Field, then snapped into a much more effective form his last three innings.

By then, though, the Mariners had taken the lead and they  well, mostly Nelson Cruz  went on to a 7-2 win over the As, halting their four-game losing streak and eight-game home skid as well as Oaklands three-game winning streak.

Cruz, tied for the major-league lead with 68 RBIs, drove in five runs, three of them on a homer in the eighth off Liam Hendriks, No. 300 of Cruzs career. He took a curtain call after the crowd bellowed Cruuuz!

Twenty six of Cruzs homers have come against Oakland. Hes 11-for-28 against the As this year with four homers and 16 RBIs, and hes 6-for-11 versus Manaea lifetime with two homers, six RBIs and four walks.

Hes pretty scary in the box, Manaea said. Hes really, really big and, career-number wise, hes doing pretty well off me. Ill take that into account. At the end of the day thats all up to me, and I have to be better about being aggressive to some guys and attacking them instead of hoping I get them out. Thats on me.

Through four innings, Manaea threw 81 pitches, giving up seven hits and three runs. In his final three innings, he threw 22 pitches and gave up one infield single.

Ill tell you what, he gave us seven innings when it didnt look like he might give us four, and he really should have given up one run, manager Bob Melvin said, referring to a flubbed potential double play in the third that extended the inning before Cruzs RBI single. There are times he looks like he doesnt have his good stuff and he ends up pitching like that. For a young kid, hes come a long way in how hes able to battle. He pitched well enough to win that game, for sure.

Cruz provided an RBI single for the Mariners in the first and another in the third.

Kyle Seagers flyball to center in the third put Seattle ahead when Rajai Davis did not immediately throw the ball in. Robinson Cano took off for home and scored on the sacrifice fly. Melvin said that Davis thought that was the third out of the inning.

Davis, whose playing time has tailed off substantially since rookie Jaycob Brugman arrived, walked and scored on Marcus Semiens two-out, two-run double in the third. The As didnt get another man in scoring position and recorded just three hits in all.

If the As had another backup center fielder, Davis might have joined Stephen Vogt and Trevor Plouffe in the designated-for-assignment category. Davis has a 29-game streak without an RBI, which is the longest of his career and the longest streak by an Oakland player since Allen Battle went 31 games without an RBI from April 19-Aug. 14, 1996.

Hendriks allowed a double to Mitch Haniger before departing, and Haniger scored on another sacrifice fly by Seager. The As bullpen has allowed at least one run in each of the past 12 games, their longest such streak since May 7-20, 2005, when they also went 12 in a row.

After missing more than a week with a knee infection that required hospitalization, rookie third baseman Matt Chapman is 1 for his past 18 with nine strikeouts. He struck out in all three of his at-bats Friday.

Hes probably just trying a little too hard right now, Melvin said. Its not an easy thing to do, sit for a while like that and a couple of days later youre in the big leagues. Once he gets a couple of hits, hell be fine. His timing just might be off a little bit right now.

Catcher Ryan Lavarnway made his first appearance with the As while Josh Phegley was away on paternity leave. Phegley will be back Saturday.

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sslusser@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susanslusser
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Scattered around Ed Minasians feet were copies of Bat Girl, Wonder Woman and Spider-Man  just a few of the comics he had snatched from boxes haphazardly spread throughout the San Francisco library donation center in Potrero Hill.

After examining each one, hed glance at a printed spreadsheet to check and see which comics he already owned.

Ive been a collector since I was a little kid, the 50-year-old San Jose resident said.

Minasian was one of the dozens of comic lovers who lined up outside the donation center at 10 a.m. for Saturdays Friends of the San Francisco Public Librarys comic book sale, with proceeds going to the library.

For those like Minasian, the event was a collectors dream, a chance to search for the missing book that would complete a series. And at 25 cents per book, most considered the opportunity a steal.

For the less earnest collectors, like 24-year-old June Park, the book sale was a chance to peruse tens of thousands of comic books for inspiration.

The San Francisco resident stood toward the back of the center, thumbing through Marvels Civil War II: Kingpin.

Park, a sketch artist, said her main interest was Japanese anime, but she had come to snag books that would influence her art.

I think Im picking them out on a design and arts point of view, Park said, patting the 10 or so comics she had set aside for purchase.

In front of her, people were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, frantically rifling through the boxes of unsorted comics in silence.

Some had filled empty boxes with comics to take home with them.

Alan Bernstein, a 24-year-old San Francisco resident, lugged his box of chosen comics throughout the row of tables as he searched for more.

He said when he first arrived, he heard that one persons box of books had been stolen. Bernstein kept his box close, placing his hand on it whenever another person came close to touching it.

Nearby, one child had escaped the herd of excited people by sitting under the tables of books with a comic in hand. Other children were sprawled on the floor, looking at the books their parents had picked out.

Brenda Salguero, the manager of volunteer services for the book sale, said it wasnt long ago that serious literature readers turned up their noses at comic books.

But Salguero, a comic book fan herself, said comics are the perfect gateway to reading.

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Comics arent just about fighting bad guys and pictures, she said. They also addresses social issues, including gay marriage and diversity.

Its been very amazing and inspiring to see better representation of people of color, Salguero said.

From Marvels Muslim Pakistani American superhero, Dust, who debuted in 2014, to the upcoming movie release of Black Panther in February 2018, Salguero said she really appreciates Marvels commitment to bring diverse stories to the forefront.

As the hours ticked by at the donation center, the energy to search for more books hadnt dwindled. Minasian had filled his black tote bag, which had Comics Conspiracy and Batmans mask printed on the front.

But he was going back for more, though he said his wife would groan at the sight of more comic books, which included a copy of Superman vs. Muhammad Ali and two copies of Harley Quinn.

Ill get in trouble when I get home, Minasian said, who works in corporate finance. Its my little pastime to get out of the grind of Silicon Valley.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
The murals in Coit Tower, which vividly depict California life during the 1930s, are seen by thousands of people a year. But when they were created, these artworks were so controversial that Coit Tower was padlocked and its windows painted over for more than three months.

It may have been the worlds first and only fresco-driven red scare.

The murals were funded by a federal program called the Public Works of Art Project. Its mission was to provide employment during the Great Depression to thousands of American artists, while beautifying public buildings and spaces.

In December 1933, the head of the de Young Museum, Walter Heil, and other officials chose 25 artists who would be paid $25 to $45 a week to create murals at the soon-to-open Coit Tower depicting aspects of life in California. Many of the artists admired Diego Rivera, the Mexican artist who had recently created two frescoes in San Francisco. And at least four of them  Bernard Zakheim, Clifford Wight, Victor Arnautoff and John Langley Howard  shared his left-wing politics. They would be at the center of the controversy that was about to erupt.

Gordon Peters / The Chronicle

A premonition of that uproar took place just a few weeks after the Coit Tower muralists started working. Rivera had been commissioned to create a fresco in Rockefeller Center in New York and had painted a large portrait of Lenin in it, along with a depiction of John D. Rockefeller drinking a martini with a harlot. Nelson Rockefeller asked him to remove it. When Rivera refused, Nelson Rockefeller had the mural destroyed.

Several of the Coit Tower artists incorporated the incident into their work. In his Library mural, for example, Zakheim depicted fellow muralist Ralph Stackpole reading a newspaper with the headlines Destruction of Rivera Fresco and Local Artists Protest. But the events that sparked the biggest controversy over the murals took place after most had completed their pieces.

Throughout the spring, San Franciscos longshoremen had been locked in a conflict with the Waterfront Employers Union. On May 9, 1934, negotiations broke down and longshoremen along the West Coast went out on strike, joined by Teamsters and other workers.

With the Port of San Francisco closed, tensions mounted. Shipping companies blamed the strike on communist agitators. As Robert W. Cherny notes in Victor Arnautoff and the Politics of Art, By late May, local and federal government officials, a few union leaders, and the press were echoing that refrain. This red scare played a crucial role in the uproar that was about to engulf the murals.

Two images in the murals ignited the controversy. The first was by Wight. Accompanying his twin fresco panels of Surveyor and Ironworker, Wight painted three small frescoes depicting the competing economic systems of the day: capitalism, the New Deal and communism. In the communism panel, Wight painted a hammer and sickle with the caption Workers of the World Unite.

The other image was in Howards California Industrial Scenes fresco, which showed a mass of workers beneath a banner of the communist publication Western Worker.

On June 23, Herbert Fleishhacker, a conservative banker who was the most powerful member of the committee responsible for allocating Public Works of Art Project funds, learned about Wights mural and asked Heil to scrutinize all the art. Heil telegraphed Washington that some artists had incorporated details ... and certain symbols which might be interpreted as communistic propaganda, and noted that the editors of influential papers ... have warned us that they would take hostile attitude towards whole project unless those details be removed.

Alarmed, Fleishhacker ordered Coit Tower closed and whitewashed the windows to prevent anyone from seeing inside. The towers official opening date of July 7 was canceled.

The press, smelling scandal, dove in. On July 3, The Chronicle ran a story headlined, Is This Red Propaganda? Murals on Coit Shaft Hint Plot for Red Cause. The story opened, Perspiration has begun to bead the brows of members of the Park Commission and Art Commission, who are sore put to decide whether the daubings on the interior of the Coit Memorial Tower are art or whether they are merely a grotesque rebellion of starved souls against the existing order.

The Examiner took the red-baiting to the next level. On July 5, it ran an image of Wights hammer and sickle superimposed above Zakheims work, giving the false impression that Zakheim had crowned his mural with the Soviet emblem.

That same day, violence erupted on the waterfront as police and strikers clashed. Two men were killed and dozens wounded in what would become infamous as Bloody Thursday.

Heils colleague Harold Mack bemoaned the fact that 3,600 square feet of fine painting are condemned because of two square feet of symbols, and called the uproar all rot. Nonetheless, officials in Washington decided that the offending murals would have to be painted over.

Wight refused to remove the hammer and sickle, and the newly formed Artists and Writers Union picketed Coit Tower. But, as Cherny points out, most of the muralists ultimately chose having their art seen by the public over supporting Wight: Sixteen of them signed a statement saying they were opposed to the symbol and that it has no place in the subject matter assigned.

In the end, only the hammer and sickle and the Western Worker banner in Howards mural were covered. Arnautoffs City Life mural, which had ludicrously come under attack because it depicted a newsstand that did not include the conservative Chronicle, emerged unscathed, as did Zakheims Library.

More from the Archive The Vault Home of the San Francisco Chronicle's archive and more than 150 years of journalism covering the Bay Area and beyond.

Coit Tower finally opened on Oct. 12, 1934. Letters excoriating the murals appeared in The Chronicle for the next year. A typical missive read, The very fact that there is a continuous controversy about the Coit Tower murals would show that there is something wrong with them. ... The humble writers shrewd guess is that the next generation will have these daubs painted out in a delicate light green by a union house painter.

The writers guess proved more humble than shrewd. The Coit Tower murals, now beautifully restored, remain one of the citys crowning artistic glories.

Chronicle staff writer Jon Golinger assisted in the research for this story.

Gary Kamiya is the author of the best-selling book Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco, awarded the Northern California Book Award in creative nonfiction. All the material in Portals of the Past is original for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: metro@sfchronicle.com

Trivia time

Previous trivia question: Where is the tallest sundial in San Francisco?

Answer: Atop Hilltop Park in the Bayview.

This weeks trivia question: What was the Ham and Eggs fire?

Editors note

Every corner in San Francisco has an astonishing story to tell. Gary Kamiyas Portals of the Past tells those lost stories, using a specific location to illuminate San Franciscos extraordinary history  from the days when giant mammoths wandered through what is now North Beach to the Gold Rush delirium, the dot-com madness and beyond. His column appears every other Saturday, alternating with Peter Hartlaubs OurSF.
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Julius Castle, the long-dormant Telegraph Hill landmark where generations of San Francisco families celebrated wedding anniversaries and graduations, will get a new lease on life after the Planning Commission voted Thursday to allow the restaurant to reopen.

The vote was 7-0 despite a litany of complaints from Telegraph Hill residents who said the reopening would create a sleep-disrupting horror of traffic congestion, idling Ubers, noisy garbage trucks and drunken revelers.

That is city life, said Commissioner Kathrin Moore. We are not living in the suburbs, where everything has to be quiet 24/7. This is the reactivation of something that has been here longer than any of us have been alive.

Italian restaurateur Julius Roz opened the hillside restaurant at 302 Greenwich St. in 1924. He created a fanciful Gothic revival structure with pointed arched windows, medieval-style battlements and interior wood paneling from the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The words Julius Castle were spelled out in redwood at the entrance.

When Roz died in 1943, the property passed through several owners, until it was closed in 2007. Current owner Paul Scott, a Telegraph Hill resident, bought the property in 2012 and has been working since then to reopen it as a restaurant.

Scott said he has agreed to mitigation measures in relation to traffic, parking and noise requested by the Telegraph Hill Dwellers neighborhood association. The Planning Commission approval includes an agreement that Scott will limit trash pickup to after 6:30 a.m. and delivery hours to between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

There is no debate there will be an increase in traffic when you open a restaurant on a residential street, I understand that, Scott said. We have a plan in place to address the concerns that people have raised, and I am willing to abide by those conditions.

John Lee, who lives at 1406 Montgomery St., said the Planning Department report on the project understates the severity of noise and traffic problem this project would create.

Robert Bigler, who owns five properties clustered around the restaurant, said that the closure of Julius Castle created a beautiful quiet neighborhood.

But resident Ashley Simmons said Julius Castle is an important part of city history  a place where her grandparents celebrated milestones and where her parents held their engagement party.

Yes, occasionally youll have a speeding cab or some loud voices, she said. That is part of what it means to live in a city.

Commissioner Rich Hillis said historic places like Julius Castle make San Francisco special.

It gives those of us who dont have the luxury of living on Telegraph Hill an opportunity to go up there and have a meal, he said.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
Mark Weidick thought it had to be some kind of mistake.

In late May, the CEO of HiQ Labs, a data analytics startup in San Francisco, received a letter from LinkedIn, ordering his company to stop using data from user profiles. LinkedIn, the Sunnyvale professional networking company now owned by Microsoft, might as well have told Weidick to just fold up HiQ, because the startup relies on that information in its algorithm to help businesses identify and retain talent.

I thought we were on good terms, Weidick told me, noting that LinkedIn employees even attended a recent conference organized by HiQ. They knew perfectly well what we are doing. We were doing it in the broad light of day.

Without that data, we are in deep trouble, he said.

HiQs situation is only the latest example of how Silicon Valley stalwarts have been cracking down on firms they suspect of data scraping, the practice of extracting user data from social media accounts or websites like Yelp or Wikipedia for business purposes. Companies like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook view scraping of the data generated by their users not just as theft  they sometimes charge to license data  but a violation of their users privacy, because some information can be limited so not all users can view it.

In 2009, Facebook successfully sued Power Ventures for copying updates and profile information from its pages. And for years, LinkedIn, which charges recruiters, salespeople and job hunters for higher levels of access to profile data, has gone after makers of software bots that scraped information off user profiles.

Our members control the information that they make available to others on LinkedIn, the company said. We are confident the court will support the actions we take to stop unlawful scraping of our members profile data.

Data scraping sounds nefarious, but such information is often public  just not formatted in a way that computer programs find easy to process. Wikipedia, for example, makes pages from the free online encylopedia available for some uses.

Last month, after HiQ requested that a judge grant it a temporary restraining order, LinkedIn agreed to continue providing data for the time being.

HiQs situation is not merely a dispute between two companies. Though early, the case could well end up in the U.S. Supreme Court. A decision would ultimately guide courts on how to meld high-minded ideas about freedom forged in the 18th century with the 21st century digital economy.

But dont take my word for it.

The case could very well establish a lasting precedent on applying constitutional principles to social media, famed Harvard law Professor Laurence Tribe told me.

As constitutional scholars go, Tribe is perhaps the nations most preeminent authority on the subject. As you can imagine, Tribe is in high demand these days: He has argued and won more than 30 cases before the Supreme Court and has taught or mentored people like former President Barack Obama and U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts.

Paul Chinn/The Chronicle

Tribe tells me he accepts probably 1 in 100 requests for his help on cases. He is advising HiQ because of the important constitutional and economic issues the case poses.

For a long time, this has been a central concern for me, Tribe said. Today, social media is the new equivalent of the public square. (LinkedIns actions present) a serious challenge to free expression in the modern world.

Freedom of speech is not just about flag burning, he said. Its about how you use information in the digital economy. Data is the new form of capital in creating products and services.

In other words, the case doesnt merely concern itself with abstract principles argued by law students in classrooms. Data analytics  a general term describing companies using powerful software to collect and analyze information in order to spot patterns and made predictions has become a crucial industry for Silicon Valley.

Research firm IDC predicts that global revenue from data analytics will reach $150.8 billion this year, an increase of 12.4 percent over 2016. The company expects the market to grow at an annual rate of 11.9 percent through 2020.

Data analytics can be just about anything, from retail sales information to the performance of components in an industrial plant. Many of the software tools created to manipulate and analyze information on such a huge scale, though, originated at tech companies like Google, Facebook and LinkedIn, which collect data generated by billions of Internet users. LinkedIn engineers even created a tool called  Im not making this up  Gobblin. Its designed to ingest massive amounts of data from internal and external sources.

Thats why its not surprising that companies like LinkedIn, which harbors plans for its own data analytics business, want to control that information.

It seems like the crux of the dispute is a business decision on LinkedIns part about building out their analytics functionality, and they view HiQ as a competitor (or) threat, Scott Shackelford, chairman of the cybersecurity program at Indiana University in Bloomington, wrote in an email. Im all for protecting the privacy of users who demand it, but it seems like the question here is how (far) ... can firms go to guard against data scraping of public profiles.

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What particularly irks free speech advocates is the way LinkedIn is trying to do so.

LinkedIn argues that HiQs actions violate two federal laws: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Nate Cardozo, a senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco, said copyright law doesnt apply to this case because information from LinkedIn profiles, like when someone worked at a particular company, are facts, not creative works like music or films.

But the use of the fraud act, a law meant to prevent hacking, is especially galling, Cardozo said. HiQ, LinkedIn argues, is stealing information from people even though users have already made the data available for all to see.

I think its BS, Cardozo said.

Even worse, LinkedIns theory cynically distorts the laws intention: to prevent outside parties with malicious intent from illegally accessing computer systems, Tribe said.

They are perverting the whole point of the statute, he said. They are using a blunt instrument of the law to try to cordon off the information marketplace from competitors.

Cardozo said the case is still in its early stages. But should it advance through the courts, the foundation, too, plans to weigh in because of its impact on Silicon Valley and the broader economy.

Thomas Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: tlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByTomLee

This story has been updated to clarify the status of HiQs request for a temporary restraining order.
A federal appeals court has upheld the securities fraud convictions and prison sentence of more than eight years for the former chief credit officer of United Commercial Bank in San Francisco, found guilty of trying to conceal the banks losses before it collapsed in 2009.

However, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the sentencing judges order that Ebrahim Shabudin reimburse the government for the nearly $1 billion in payments made by federal agencies that covered the banks losses. The court said Wednesday that Shabudins crimes were not the sole cause of the banks failure.

Shabudin, of Moraga, was convicted in 2015 of seven felony charges involving a conspiracy by bank officials to falsify records that would have revealed millions of dollars in losses in 2008 and 2009.

United Commercial failed about a year after its parent company, UCBH Holdings, received almost $300 million from the U.S. Treasurys Troubled Asset Relief Program. The programs inspector general later found that United Commercial Bank executives, while seeking federal help after accumulating overdue loans, had tried to hide the banks deteriorating financial condition.

After the bank failed, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. transferred its deposits to East West Bank of Pasadena, which agreed to share the losses with the FDIC.

Shabudin was the banks chief operating officer in 2008 and 2009 and served from September 2008 until April 2009 as its chief credit officer, responsible for credit assessments of the banks loans. The banks senior financial officer, Craig On, and a senior vice president, Thomas Yu, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and testified against Shabudin.

In Wednesdays ruling, the appeals court said that U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White may have given jurors a faulty instruction about Shabudins responsibility for his co-conspirators actions, but any such error would not have affected the verdict.

The evidence heard by the jury amply supported its finding that Shabudin was guilty of each of the fraud charges, the court said.

The three-judge panel also said Whites finding that Shabudin profited from his crimes by $348,000  his salary for that year  supported his 97-month prison sentence, and an order to forfeit that amount to the government.

But the court said Whites restitution order of $946 million was excessive. There were other causes of the banks collapse, the panel said, including the nationwide economic recession that hit banks hard, as well as some bad real estate loans, approved earlier, that caused particular harm to UCB.

The court told White to try to determine Shabudins share of the blame, and, if that proves impossible, to consider eliminating the restitution order.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
On a typical Sunday, while other kids might be playing Rock Band in the basement, 11-year-old vocalist Nico Chou grabs his water bottle and meets with his own band  the real thing, not the virtual kind.

The band, called the Black Stripes, has eight members  Chou, along with three guitarists, a bass player, drummer and two young musicians who rotate between playing the piano and keyboard. The elementary and middle schoolers have even performed at a coffee house on Stanford Universitys campus. And in a twist that puts this somewhere between School of Rock and HBOs Silicon Valley, several of the members have parents in the technology industry, and two professional rockers guide the childrens endeavors.

They can tell us what a real band would do, said Chou, who aspires to be a pop star  a different career from his father, who works at LinkedIn, and his mother, a part-time lecturer at Stanford.

The teachers, Mike Hoffman and Joey Hassid, perform for the San Francisco band Panic Is Perfect, which has opened a few times for Death Cab for Cutie. They teach students how to play musical instruments as a side business. Within the tech industry, they have developed a reputation for cultivating kid bands. The duo have overseen the creation of three such bands, and a fourth is on the way.

Were trying to create little bands that really feel like it is their own (band), Hoffman said. It is not a class or a camp.

In 2014, Hoffman and Hassid began teaching two brothers, Liam and Jude Kelly. Eventually that grew into the formation of the Black Stripes  a play on the name of the former rock duo White Stripes. Their band typically meets in the basement of the Kelly brothers home.

Hoffman and Hassid each charge $90 an hour for individual lessons in some cases, plus $45 a week per pupil for band practice.

Nine-year-old Jude Kelly (who is named after the famous Beatles song) said he enjoys being in a band: I am actually part of whats making the sound and I can hear myself and how it affects the song.

You are part of a bigger thing, adds his father, Doug Kelly, a general partner at Alloy Ventures of Palo Alto as well as a doctor and musician.

At the end of the day, everybody wants to be a rock star, said the senior Kelly, who has his own band  with some of whose members are drawn from the technology sector. It doesnt matter what you do.

Like adult bands, kid bands have to work through their differences. In the Black Stripes, members have disagreed over what songs to perform. The band was nearly called Fat Santa, but that name lost in a close vote.

Lydia Mazzie, who works in business development at Google, said she wasnt into music growing up, but that changed after a trip to Italy when her and her husband noticed that John Legend was playing at a town square. On a whim, they bought seats near the front of the performance. Since then, she has taken her kids to concerts by U2, Twenty One Pilots and Imagine Dragons.

One day her son Lucca asked her to name a life regret. Mazzie said she didnt really have regrets, but if she had to name one, she wished she traveled more before she had kids. Her sons regret was he wished he could go back in time, so he would know more of the lyrics at a Twenty One Pilots concert they attended months before.

I am hoping this is his only regret in life, said Mazzie, who has enjoyed watching her sons passion for music develop.

Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle

Last week, Lucca and his friends performed two songs with their band called Good Stuff in the Mazzies backyard.

Parents want those memories and connections with their kids, and they are not getting them when they give an iPad, said Maryellen Mullin, CEO of San Francisco Family Therapy. They are getting it when they show up to their kids rock band concert.

Parents who use Hoffman and Hassids services said they like how the bands have formed largely among groups of friends, with known talents.

Bryna Chang, Nico Chous mother, said Nicos younger brother went to a rock band camp but didnt want to go return to it.

He was frustrated that one of the other kids couldnt really sing, and a band camp takes all comers, Chang said. Here, its different.

The Black Stripes have taken time off for the summer and will pick up practice again in the fall. Nico Chou treasures the experience of performing in a band. Right before his first time singing with the Black Stripes, he was nervous. Those jitters quickly transformed into excitement after the show.

I joined it and loved it, Chou said. I now know to try new things.

Wendy Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thewendylee
For the first time in more than a year, the attorney for the man accused of fatally shooting Kate Steinle has hinted at his likely trial strategy: It was all a terrible accident, and the oft-deported Mexican immigrant who held the gun when it went off was more a homeless victim of lifelong poverty than a murderous monster.

In an opinion piece published in The Chronicle this week, attorney Matt Gonzalez of the San Francisco Public Defenders Office said congressional legislation prompted by Steinles death, and the national attention it is attracting, is making it harder for his client, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, to receive a fair trial.

The facts of this case are largely unknown to the public, Gonzalez wrote.

Prosecutors say the facts are clear enough: Lopez-Sanchez, 54, killed Steinle on July 1, 2015, as she walked along Pier 14 in San Francisco with her father  and he was aiming a stolen gun at her when he fired.

A single shot hit Steinle, 32, in the back and went through her heart. Forensics analysts determined the bullet ricocheted off the ground before it struck her.

Lopez-Sanchez is a Mexican citizen who was bound for his sixth deportation for felony re-entry into the United States when he was brought to San Francisco in March 2015 on a 20-year-old warrant for marijuana charges. The charges were dropped, and he was released from jail under San Franciscos sanctuary city policies despite a federal request to hold him for deportation.

Steinles death spurred a nationwide debate over sanctuary city policies, and Donald Trump  then a candidate on his way to winning the presidency  used it as an argument for building a wall on the Mexican border. The killing also inspired Kates Law, a bill that proposes stiffening prison time for people who repeatedly enter the United States illegally. The House approved the bill June 29 and sent it to the Senate.

All that has happened before Lopez-Sanchez has come to trial. He pleaded not guilty in 2015 to one count of second-degree murder and is set to return to court Friday for a hearing at which a trial date could be scheduled.

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Police investigators are expected to testify that Lopez-Sanchez told them he had found the gun that fired the fatal bullet under a bench and that he had shot at a seal or a black fish. They have said Lopez-Sanchez then threw the gun in the bay and fled.

Gonzalezs defense is that the shooting was accidental, at least partially caused by the nature of the pistol, which had been stolen four days earlier from a federal Bureau of Land Management agents car.

In this weeks opinion piece, Gonzalez wrote that the Sig Sauer .40-caliber automatic pistol, known for having a hair trigger, is documented in hundreds of accidental discharges.

The manual for the pistol  a Sig Sauer P239 model, built for .40-caliber ammunition  warns that if dropped, the pistol may fire, and it gives handling instructions to prevent accidental discharge through misuse. It also includes a warning from the Massachusetts attorney general that hundreds of people die from accidental discharges of firearms, although that warning does not specifically refer to the P239.

Three firearms experts contacted by The Chronicle said Sig Sauer .40-caliber pistols  which come only in semiautomatic form, not automatic  are difficult to fire accidentally. Most said that if the one that killed Steinle went off unintentionally it was probably through negligent use, not mechanical failure.

The pistol has whats known as a double-action trigger pull, requiring 10 pounds of pressure for the first round, they said. Its the second shot that could resemble a hair trigger, experts said, since after the first round is fired, it takes only 4.4 pounds of pressure to pull the trigger for subsequent shots.

However, court evidence in the Steinle case indicated that only one shot was fired.

If you had your finger on the trigger, sure, it could go off. But accidentally? Give me a break, said Scott Jackson, owner of Bay Area Firearms Training in Burlingame. The first pull on that gun is a long, long, long pull. ... Its as obvious as sunlight that it cant go off accidentally.

There is one possible wrinkle to the fail-safe nature of the pistol which the defense presented in a 2015 preliminary hearing.

If the gun was left cocked and ready to fire  something no responsible gun user would do  it would be in the second-round position, forensics expert Jim Norris told the court. And if that were the case, jostling could set it off.

If stowed correctly, no, it wont go off accidentally, Norris, a retired director of the San Francisco Police Department forensics division, said in an interview. But lets say the Sig was cocked and ready to go. ... Youd be amazed at how easy that is to go off.

In response to requests for comment, Gonzalezs office sent The Chronicle an email with links to hundreds of reports and articles about unintentional discharges of firearms, many of which were varying types of mishaps involving Sig Sauer pistols. We intend to prove at trial that Sig Sauer firearms have accidentally discharged hundreds of times, the email said.

In his opinion piece, the lawyer noted that Lopez-Sanchez contended in an interview with KGO-TV shortly after his arrest that he had found the gun in a T-shirt and that it discharged while he handled it.

In that 40-plus-minute interview, Lopez-Sanchez frequently contradicted himself in both Spanish and broken English. At one point, he appeared to say he didnt remember what had happened, and at another he said had picked up the gun and heard boom boom, three times.

In his opinion piece, Gonzalez suggested that Lopez-Sanchez was no schemer. He is a simple man with a second-grade education who has survived many hardships, Gonzalez wrote. He came to the U.S. repeatedly because extreme poverty is the norm in many parts of Mexico. He risked going to jail so that he could perform a menial job that could feed him.

Sources close to both the defense and prosecution  speaking on background because they were not authorized to go on the record  said Lopez-Sanchez appears to have mental difficulties and may have challenges representing his version of what happened.

Kevin Fagan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KevinChron
A 50 year-old Pittsburg woman confessed Friday to killing her parents, police said.

Menique Lashon was behind bars in Contra Costa County jail Saturday, a day after calling police to her home around 10:30 a.m. on the 4200 block of Diehl Way. When officers arrived at the house, they found Lashons parents dead with multiple stab wounds.

It appeared that the victims, a 67-year-old woman and 73-year-old man whose names have not been released, had been dead for several days. Lashon, who lived with them, had tried to clean up the scene before calling the police, said Capt. Rathnesh Raman of the Pittsburg Police Department.

She also tried to stage the scene as though her mother and father had been fighting, Raman said, without offering further details.

Lashon is being held on murder charges. Officers in Pittsburg are investigating the incident.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
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Residents of one apartment building evacuated due to the massive fire in Oakland on Friday were allowed to return their homes late Saturday after crews toppled a giant fire-wrecked construction crane, officials said.

Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Erik Logan announced the reopening of the Grand Apartments at 100 Grand Ave. shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday.

In the event the removal of the crane is successful you will be able to return to your homes today, management of the Grand Apartments at 100 Grand Ave wrote in a letter to residents earlier in the day.

Residents of 100 Grand Ave. were back inside by 10 p.m., several said on Twitter.

On Sunday, Oakland Fire Department officials expect to enter the burnt-out husk of what was supposed to be the Alta Waverly apartment complex 196 market-rate units with ground floor retail.

They will be joined Monday by federal investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is dispatching personnel from around the country to help.

On Saturday, fire crews continued to shoot water at hot spots in the charred wreckage of the building, which caught fire around 4:30 a.m. Friday, sending flames and smoke above downtown Oakland before being contained a few hours later. No one was injured.

Workers knocked down much of the scaffolding surrounding the building as people watched from nearby streets.

The teetering crane, which was damaged in the fire and in danger of collapsing, caused fire officials to order the evacuation of residents in the surrounding areas. Officials worked Saturday morning on plans to remove the crane.

The developers of the burned building, along with their contractor, rotated the crane and pulled it down into an empty parking lot on Valdez Street on Saturday evening, according to Oakland Fire Department officials. Though the plan had been designed to avoid hitting any buildings, police officers went through the evacuated buildings to make sure all civilians were out of the buildings Saturday afternoon, officials said.

The crane was toppled safely shortly after 7:30 p.m.

City inspectors had not been able to enter nearby buildings to evaluate whether they remained structurally sound Saturday, said Sean Maher, a spokesman for the city of Oakland. Once the crane was removed, the plan was to fast-track those inspections.

Our goal is to return residents to their homes as swiftly as possible, but only once we've conducted these inspections to confirm it is safe for them to do so, he said.

Some neighboring buildings were damaged by the high heat, smoke and water, according to fire officials.

Residents such as Hernan Carrillo, a 50-year-old AT&T technician who lives in an apartment building next door to the charred construction site on Waverly Street with his wife and young son, are staying with friends as work at the fire site continues.

Carrillo was able to return to his apartment for a few minutes Friday night to gather belongings and assess the damage.

The roof has a bunch of holes, theres water damage in the bedrooms  our bed is ruined, he said.

I was lucky to have a friend who had a space, he said. Otherwise Id be really worried about the housing situation. I wouldnt be able to afford anything at this time.

Carrillo has lived in his rent-controlled apartment for 12 years.

The seven-story Alta Waverly development was set to open next spring at 23rd and Valdez streets, according to a project website.

The Oakland architectural firm Pyatok designed the building for the Wood Partners development firm, and the construction was being done by Andersen Construction.

A group of displaced residents met with Angela Robinson Pinon, a spokeswoman with the Oakland Fire Department, at the St. Vincent de Paul center Saturday afternoon to discuss future assistance and when they could potentially return to their homes. The center opened as a shelter for those who had been evacuated.

Samantha Pham, 55, was part of the group watching Pinon on Saturday afternoon. Pham lives in an apartment building next door to the construction site with her husband and 14-year-old son. They had stayed at a motel Friday night, but their future housing plans were unclear.

I dont know whats coming next or where Im going to go, she said. Where do I stay? I have no answer.

Chronicle staff writer Rachel Swan contributed to this report.

Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Haleaziz
Art Talk Tuesday set at Flourishes

SHELBYVILLE -- Local artists of all skill levels are welcome to join the free sessions at Art Talk Tuesday at Flourishes Gallery & Studios, located at 140 1/2 E. Main.

Sessions begin at 3 p.m. on Tuesdays. This week's topic will be creating with cool colors; bring medium of your choice.

There is no cost or registration needed. For more information, call 217-827-5690.

WCTU to hold meeting

MATTOON -- Women members and men honorees of the East Central Illinois Woman's Christian Temperance Union will meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Coles County Airport Steakhouse.

Devotions and songs will be led by Marjorie Miller and Laura Ayers of Sidney. Roll call will be answered with joys and concerns. Visitors are welcome. For more information, call 217-234-9827.

ERBA looking to assist with skills training

CHARLESTON -- The Embarrass River Basin Agency is looking to assist income eligible individuals with training for employment opportunities. The skills training program assists with truck driver traning (CDL), Certified Nursing Assistance Training (CNA), Basic Welding Certificate and CNC Operator Certificate.

ERBA can also assist with textbook and licensing fees. All other expenses should be covered by the applicant.

If you are interested in this opportunity and and would like to obtain employment in one of these fields, contact your local ERBA office at 217-345-4840.
It was supremely ironic. President Donald Trump stood in front of a monument to the Warsaw uprising, the Polish underground resistance army's catastrophic, failed attempt to overthrow Nazi rule at the end of World War II. The uprising was a national tragedy: 200,000 of the country's best-educated and most patriotic young people, the men and women who would have been its leaders, died. The capital was burned to the ground. And in large part, the disaster was caused by the fact that none of the other allies - not Britain, obviously not the Soviet Union, and certainly not the United States - came to Poland's defense, even though the resistance army believed they would.

In front of this monument to unfulfilled expectations of distant allies, this memorial to the horrors of a Europe riven by brutal nationalist struggle, Trump offered his support to a Polish government that is both the most nationalist in Europe and now the most isolated in Europe. He made lengthy remarks about the uprising, complete with the now familiar references to "the blood of patriots," and at the same time offered his support for Poland in carefully delineated terms.

In essence, Trump called on Poland to help the United States in the struggle of Western civilization against Islamist terrorism - though at times he made it sound as if the real enemy were cultural, not political. He didn't talk about the democratic values that would unite the West in this struggle, but of the ties of "God" and "family," language designed to appeal to nationalist-Catholic Poles, but not to the whole country. He made only one allusion to Russia, speaking of its "destabilization" of Ukraine (in fact it was an invasion) even though Russia poses a far greater threat to Poland than Islamist terrorism. Russia will hold major military exercises on Poland's borders in September. A previous version of these exercises included a simulated nuclear attack.

In failing to focus on Russia, Trump broke with precedent. By comparison, President Barack Obama, at a speech in Estonia in 2014, declared clearly that "Russia's aggression against Ukraine" was a threat to "a Europe that is whole and free and at peace." Trump also broke with precedent, but in a different way: He barely mentioned democracy. And he alluded mostly negatively to the rest of Europe, speaking (misleadlingly) of the "billions and billions of dollars" that Europeans are now supposedly paying into NATO, as if it were a protection racket. When he lauded the military equipment and the gas that the United States will sell to Poland, he joked about needing to charge more.

He did - after refusing to do so on his last trip - finally refer to Article 5, the part of the NATO treaty that says an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all. But earlier, at a news conference, he told journalists that he had not discussed military "guarantees" with Poland's president. And after his speech, the American president known for his mendaciousness and untrustworthiness left Warsaw for his meeting with the Russian president.

In truth, Poland, like its neighbors, will only ever be "safe" from Russian military intervention or political interference if the country is deeply integrated into a strong, cohesive, unified and democratic Europe. It will only be safe if its own democratic institutions are strong enough to withstand outside meddling. But right now, Poland is run by a political party, Law and Justice, that has launched an assault on the country's democratic institutions and has, by doing so, managed to alienate all of its most important European neighbors.

The free press is under attack in Poland, along with the independence of the judiciary. The current defense minister has even begun to undermine the professionalism and apolitical character of the military. These policies have alienated Poland from the rest of Europe and also led to a deep schism inside the country. The crowd at Trump's speech, supporters bused in from around the country, booed and shouted insults at opposition politicians, among them Lech Walesa, the anti-communist hero, despite the fact that this was a solemn, national, military and diplomatic occasion.

In giving such a speech in such a place, Trump has confirmed Poland's nationalist government in its isolationist and anti-democratic course. He also encouraged Poles to be "brave," as in the past, when they fought alone, and encouraged them once again to place their faith in distant allies. Let's hope that faith never has to be tested.
Kate Steinles name keeps getting invoked in the immigration debate.

This needs to stop, out of respect for the family of the 32-year-old who was fatally wounded while strolling with her father on the San Francisco waterfront on July 1, 2015. The man accused of firing the fatal shots was a seven-time felon who had been deported five times and had just been released from the local jail without the notification of federal immigration officials, who wanted to send him back to Mexico once again.

As a candidate and now as president, Donald Trump has routinely cited Kates death in calling for legislation (known as Kates Law) to impose strict mandatory minimum sentences on deportees who re-enter the country and another bill to punish sanctuary cities that refuse to fully cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Her family members do not want her name to be in the center of a political controversy. They want room to grieve, and to reflect on and honor her life in their own ways.

I dont know who coined Kates Law, Jim Steinle, her father, told me Friday. It certainly wasnt us.

In fact, the Steinles views on immigration policy are far more nuanced than the debates that dominate the screamfests on cable news. As they explained in an interview with me in September 2015, the Steinles are not opposed to sanctuary cities. They recognize the value of allowing otherwise law-abiding immigrants to report crimes or go to a hospital without fear of deportation.

Their issue was with then-Sheriff Ross Mirkarimis recklessly absolutist interpretation of the policy that effectively prohibited any communication with federal immigration officials.

As for Kates Law, her father said he supports it on the chance it could save even one life. But he would much prefer to keep his daughters name out of it. He especially bristled last week at an Open Forum piece by Matt Gonzalez, the attorney representing suspect Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez. The piece was as callous as it was disingenuous. Its callousness was in the way it portrayed the defendant as a hapless victim who picked up a pistol that discharged accidentally. Its disingenuousness was in its dubious claim that Kates Law would not have kept him in prison  the laws treatment of repeat offenders would have seriously curtailed his chance of release  and its highly refuted characterization of the weapons alleged hair trigger tendencies.

Gonzalez, who expressed not a word of sympathy for Kate or the Steinle family in the piece, had no right to suggest that Kates Law would in no way honor her memory.

Jim Steinle made plain that he has no interest in doing further interviews, or otherwise seeing his daughters name raised by either side in such a charged and often vitriolic debate.

You just hope it ends someday, he said. I dont know when.

Where did Talbot go?

Readers John and Vail Palomino of Oakland write:

We have missed David Talbots column for a while now. We did not find any notice in The Chronicle about his disappearance from the Chronicle pages. We miss him.

Ive received a number of similar inquiries. Ill let David answer it himself. From his Facebook post:

I originally signed with the Chronicle for a 6-month gig, and in June my time was up. The newspaper offered to keep me on as a weekly columnist on a freelance basis, but I felt the offer was too low. So I decided to move on, and to start work on a new book that I hope youll find as fascinating as I do. I enjoyed my run at The Chronicle, and was frankly grateful that they gave a platform to a bomb-thrower like me. Daily newspapers need crusading progressive voices  not just because speaking truth to power is what journalism should be all about, but because its good publishing strategy.

None dare say his name

Reader Charlotte Hatch of San Francisco suggests:

I want to suggest that the president has been manipulating the media since he began his campaign and has received more coverage than any other public servant. By setting adversarial relationships with mainstream media outlets, he assures that his name will dominate above the fold every day. What if these outlets stopped coverage of his outlandish tweets? Or, when covering them, the media could refer to him as The President without mentioning his name. When he actually does something worthy of a president the media could reward good behavior by mentioning his name. What do you think of this idea?

I certainly agree with Charlotte that President Trump has been quite skillful at drawing media attention from the day he announced his candidacy. His tweets are indeed often outlandish, but they also are reflective of his priorities  or, in many cases, his obsessions  and his temperament.

I dont think they can or should be ignored, especially when @realDonaldTrump has 33.5 million followers.

As for refusing to include his name, I dont think that would compel him to change, even if someone could persuade the nations news media to agree on a strategy to modify the presidents behavior instead of reporting on it. And that would not be an easy task.

It seems the best hope for change would be for the president to recognize that his efforts to sway the public with juvenile tweets and intimidation of the news media is not working. His sinking approval rating, the lowest in modern times, would suggest that Charlotte is not alone in her dismay.

John Diaz is The San Francisco Chronicles editorial page editor. Email: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnDiazChron
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We love the Coast Guard, President Trump pronounced from the South Lawn on the Fourth of July. Nice words, but the president needs to show the service some love. He could advocate for more funding for the Coast Guards growing drug interdiction, immigration enforcement and coastal defense activities.

Instead, the Trump administrations proposed budget reduces Coast Guard funding by 2.4 percent in order to accomplish the presidents No. 1 campaign promise  building a border wall. Better to invest more in the Coast Guard, which last year seized more cocaine than all other law enforcement agencies combined and intercepts on average 17 unauthorized migrants a day. Trumps secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly, told Congress that the most effective way to keep out illegal drugs is to stop them at maritime borders.
Gov. Jerry Brown assumed the mantle of Americas leader on climate change again on Thursday, announcing that California will host a global warming summit in September 2018.

The governors office said that the idea behind the summit, which will be held in San Francisco, is to galvanize action from both world leaders and influential organizations ahead of the U.N. Climate Conference in 2018.

The purpose of the United Nations December 2018 conference is to decide implementation strategies for the Paris agreement on climate change.

For many different reasons, the United States should have been a leader at this conference. The Obama administration played a crucial role in negotiating the Paris agreement; the country that leads the negotiations of the agreements implementation will play a critical role in global affairs for decades to come.

But with President Trumps announcement that the United States will pull out of the Paris agreement, the U.S. may be missing in action at the 2018 conference and beyond.

Browns announcement makes it clear that California intends to remain at the table, no matter whats happening in Washington.

Its a great idea to host a climate change conference in San Francisco ahead of the United Nations important global conference.

Doing so will strengthen Californias ties with our current climate partners abroad, and possibly enable the state to forge further partnerships.

Itll also give the Bay Areas scientists, climate change organizations and Silicon Valley innovators the opportunity to participate in this moment of global change and consensus.

Finally, it may provide support and guidance to the many U.S. cities that pledged to continue honoring the Paris agreement despite Trumps announcement.

All of these potential outcomes would be positive for both California and the planet.

Still, Brown cant forget to focus on climate change at home.

In 2015, the governor signed legislation requiring California to generate half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Brown is also determined to reduce petroleum use in vehicles by as much as 50 percent in the next 15 years.

Those are worthy, aggressive goals, and Sacramento was brave to set them.

But the path to achieving them is still strewn with obstacles.

Proposed deadlines for an extension of Californias groundbreaking cap and trade program have come and gone. The state Legislature  as well as the states environmental and industry groups  remains deeply divided on how to do it.

Reducing petroleum use will almost certainly require some sacrifice from drivers. Yet theres been little effort to increase buy-in from voters. The recent gas tax package, passed to fund transportation projects, is wildly unpopular, and one Republican Assemblyman has already pledged to put a repeal on the statewide ballot.

With less than two years left on his final term, Brown must remember to shore up support for climate change at home  as well as abroad.
Nestled in an unassuming building constructed in 1944 as a dry goods storage facility inside the Alameda Naval Air Station, a new business making malted grains has taken root.

Locally, Admiral Maltings is the first of its kind  not just in Alameda, but in all of California. It is the new project from well-known Bay Area brewers Ron Silberstein (Thirsty Bear) and Dave McLean (Magnolia), with investment from Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman.

Their goal: to create a local alternative to the industrial malt used by the Bay Areas breweries and distilleries. Admiral Maltings plans to start its first batch of malt toward the end of July, with an attached pub to open in the fall.

Already, the team has partnered with family-owned farms in the Sacramento Valley and other parts of California to grow grain that will meet the needs of craft brewers in the Bay Area. As they put it, it will be a malt designed by people in the local beer industry, for people making beer and whiskey professionally.

Most beer consists of four core ingredients: grain (usually malted), hops, yeast and water. In recent years, the craft beer world  and its consumers  have come to understand the importance and intricacies of hops and yeast in special brews, be it an India pale ale with fresh hops or a saison with proprietary yeast strains.

Malt has often been overshadowed, because it has been industrialized and obtained through only a few facilities.

Currently, craft brewers do not have local, unique choices (for malt), says Silberstein. Its to beer what grapes are to wine.

John Martin, co-owner of Drakes Brewing Company in San Leandro, describes the difference in taste to be akin to how superior the flavor of freshly roasted coffee is to months-old coffee.

Working directly with a small and local raw materials company is very important to us, as well as the opportunity to support and work with small local farmers that will grow the barley we will be using, says Martin. This will be truly going from grain to glass  thats almost unheard in craft brewing today.

Carl D. Walsh/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images

The process of malting involves soaking and germinating the grain. This, in turn, creates enzymes that break down proteins and starches in the brewing process into simple sugars, which the yeast consumes and turns into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Its important work  no malt, no enzymes, no beer.

Industrial malting is typically done in large, stainless-steel tanks that hold hundreds of tons of grain; the walls are several feet thick and its all aerated with an auger and forced air.

On the other hand, floor-malting is the traditional way of malting. It is a slower and gentler technique wherein the soaked grain is spread out onto a special floor to a depth of four to six inches thick, and then allowed to sprout, all while its carefully raked and turned by hand. Few places in the country still implement this labor-intensive method, which is said to produce deeper, richer flavor.

The scarcity of floor-malting facilities also make it difficult for first-timers to learn the method, says Curtis Davenport, who is heading up the malting operations at Admiral Maltings.

A former farmer, he previously experimented malting his organic grain in 2011 in the Santa Barbara area. To learn the craft, he visited all the floor-malting facilities he could, which turned out to be four: Valley Malt in Massachusetts, River Bend in North Carolina, Colorado Maltings in Colorado and Rebel Malt in Nevada.

Not too long ago, Silberstein reached out to Davenport about buying his malted barley for his Thirsty Bear brewery, but by chance, that initial call sprouted a plan for them to open a brand-new floor malting facility in Alameda.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

The potential of a local malt supply is intriguing, because for years, the brewing industry has put a premium on consistency over regional and seasonal variations in flavor. The result is that brewing ingredients are broadly homogenized. Like hops, malt can be more than just some interchangeable ingredient in beer  there are differences in flavor that most consumers have never considered.

Malt, grown in different places will have different characteristics, and all of that malt is blended together and sold that way so that its really consistent, says Jesse Friedman of Almanac Beer Co., which will open a brewery and taproom next door to Admiral Maltings in October.

But sometimes, we dont want super consistent; we want unique and interesting, and that sense of terroir. So, for us, to get small-batch malt grown in California is really, really interesting.

Admiral Maltings plans to begin by malting barley, rye, wheat, oats and corn. Down the line, there are considerations of ancient and alternative grain experiments as well.

By focusing on developing the flavors and terroir from the grain through the floor-malting and roasting, Admiral Maltings hopes to maintain the unique identity of the grain variety and farm. Not surprisingly, sourcing the grain will be a very large part of the operations, so all the grain they use will be either organic or grown no-till. (No-till refers to a technique that minimally disturbs the soil, better trapping carbon from the atmosphere in the soil.)

The malt wont be for beer only, either. At St. George Spirits, also in Alameda, master distiller Lance Winters plans to create a uniquely Californian malt whiskey. The floor-malting process, coupled with access to a variety of local grains, offers him more choices  and the ability to create a spirit with an identifiable sense of place.

If youve got more variety available out there, youve got more ways to express your individual thumbprint, says Winters. Its really about being able to have a deeper color palette.

The question of how these malts will make their way into the product lines of local breweries remains to be seen. For many brewers, simply swapping out their base grain for Admiral Maltings grain may not work; it wont be as simple as substitutions in a recipe.

There is also concern about availability; John Martin of Drakes is planning on using Admiral Maltings with small, one-off batches to start. Yet Drakes uses hundreds of tons of grain a year, so Admiral Maltings will be only be used as a small part of the lineup.

From an industrial production standpoint, they are going to be a very small malt house, so my expectations are that we will be very limited on the amount of malt that we can get from them, says Almanacs Friedman. Well probably start doing some really clean experiments that showcase (the malt), so we can do a baseline.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada is one of the few brewers who has been making a grower-producer beer. Sierra Nevada has farmed its own barley and hops for many years, using its crops to make an organic Estate Ale. For Grossman, Admiral Maltings solves an old problem: having to send the barley out of state to be malted.

When I started up in 1980, I used to drive my old 57 Chevy flatbed down to San Francisco to pick up my own malt each month at the Bauer Schweitzer Malting company, which was located by Fishermans Wharf, says Grossman.

I sold the truck, but hopefully I will soon be able to make that trek again and pick up a load of malt for a batch of beer.

Lou Bustamante is a Bay Area writer and author of The Complete Cocktail Manual. Email: food@sfchronicle.com Twitter: thevillagedrunk

The Floor Malting Process

The total time for the process, from soaking to finished malt, is about eight days, depending on the type and variety of grain. Grain will arrive to Admiral Maltings in 1-ton tote bags, with site capacity for 300 tons of grain at a time.

Steeping

The grain goes into a soaking tank that holds 10 tons of grain and 8,000 gallons of water. Over the course of 36 hours, the tank will be emptied and filled with water three separate times to get the grain very well hydrated. The drained water gets treated on site, passing through a reverse osmosis water filtration system so it can be reused for soaking.

Germination

After soaking, the barley is spread on one of the two malting floors, about four to six inches deep, spread and turned by hand. Turning the grain is important to aerate, but also keep the rootlets from tangling together into a mat. The germination will generate heat, which needs to be regulated. Poor temperature control, where the process is too warm, results in uneven germination and modification. To control temperature, Admiral Maltings has a radiant cooling system built in to the malting floor.

Kilning

After the grain has germinated and the roots are almost the same length as the grain itself, the grain is put into the kiln, where hot air will roast it. Temperature ranges from 100 to 190 degrees, depending on the style, from light Pilsner to dark Munich. After a 24-hour roasting period, the rootlets are removed and the grain is polished and cleaned.
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Scattered around Ed Minasians feet were copies of Bat Girl, Wonder Woman and Spider-Man  just a few of the comics he had snatched from boxes haphazardly spread throughout the San Francisco library donation center in Potrero Hill.

After examining each one, hed glance at a printed spreadsheet to check and see which comics he already owned.

Ive been a collector since I was a little kid, the 50-year-old San Jose resident said.

Minasian was one of the dozens of comic lovers who lined up outside the donation center at 10 a.m. for Saturdays Friends of the San Francisco Public Librarys comic book sale, with proceeds going to the library.

For those like Minasian, the event was a collectors dream, a chance to search for the missing book that would complete a series. And at 25 cents per book, most considered the opportunity a steal.

For the less earnest collectors, like 24-year-old June Park, the book sale was a chance to peruse tens of thousands of comic books for inspiration.

The San Francisco resident stood toward the back of the center, thumbing through Marvels Civil War II: Kingpin.

Park, a sketch artist, said her main interest was Japanese anime, but she had come to snag books that would influence her art.

I think Im picking them out on a design and arts point of view, Park said, patting the 10 or so comics she had set aside for purchase.

In front of her, people were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, frantically rifling through the boxes of unsorted comics in silence.

Some had filled empty boxes with comics to take home with them.

Alan Bernstein, a 24-year-old San Francisco resident, lugged his box of chosen comics throughout the row of tables as he searched for more.

He said when he first arrived, he heard that one persons box of books had been stolen. Bernstein kept his box close, placing his hand on it whenever another person came close to touching it.

Nearby, one child had escaped the herd of excited people by sitting under the tables of books with a comic in hand. Other children were sprawled on the floor, looking at the books their parents had picked out.

Brenda Salguero, the manager of volunteer services for the book sale, said it wasnt long ago that serious literature readers turned up their noses at comic books.

But Salguero, a comic book fan herself, said comics are the perfect gateway to reading.

Comics arent just about fighting bad guys and pictures, she said. They also addresses social issues, including gay marriage and diversity.

Its been very amazing and inspiring to see better representation of people of color, Salguero said.

From Marvels Muslim Pakistani American superhero, Dust, who debuted in 2014, to the upcoming movie release of Black Panther in February 2018, Salguero said she really appreciates Marvels commitment to bring diverse stories to the forefront.

As the hours ticked by at the donation center, the energy to search for more books hadnt dwindled. Minasian had filled his black tote bag, which had Comics Conspiracy and Batmans mask printed on the front.

But he was going back for more, though he said his wife would groan at the sight of more comic books, which included a copy of Superman vs. Muhammad Ali and two copies of Harley Quinn.

Ill get in trouble when I get home, Minasian said, who works in corporate finance. Its my little pastime to get out of the grind of Silicon Valley.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
OROVILLE, Calif. (KCRA)  Crews are battling a 1,500- to 2,000-acre wildfire in Butte County near the community of Bangor.

At least 10 structures, including homes, have been destroyed in the fire, Cal Fire officials said. Crews have not determined what kind of structures were burned.

Evacuations have been ordered for residents in parts of Bangor, officials said. An evacuation center and animal center have opened for the residents affected.

Six people were injured by the blaze. Five civilians and 1 crew member suffered minor injuries, Cal Fire said.

The fire sparked about 3 p.m. off Chinese Wall Road, officials said. The fire is burning about 15 miles southeast of Oroville.

As of Saturday morning, the fire was 2 percent contained.

EVACUATIONS

Evacuations are in place for:

Hurleton Swedes Flat Road from Grand Oak Drive to Swedes Flat Road. All connecting roads in the area have also been evacuated.

Swedes Flat Road from Chinese Wall Road to Robinson Mill Road. All connecting roads in the area have also been evacuated.

Area south of Swedes Flat Road from Oro Bangor Hwy to Robinson Mill Road South to Laporte Road.

Black Bart Road and all connecting roads.

Robinson Mill Road and all connecting roads.

Forbestown Road from Upper to Lower Hurleton Road.

Forbestown Road from Hurleton Road to Old Forbestown Road. All connecting roads in the area have been also evacuated.



EVACUATION SHELTERS

An evacuation shelter opened Friday at the Church of the Nazarene in Oroville at 2238 Monte Vista Avenue. Residents can call 530-538-7826 for information.

All of Swedes Flat Road and Hurleton Swedes Flat Road are closed, Cal Fire officials said. Officials advised the public to use alternate routes.

A small animal shelter opened for those evacuating from the Wall Fire at the Old County Hospital at 2279 Del Oro And Mono, Suite E. A large animal shelter is set up at Camelot at 1985 Clark Road.

The Salvation Army served meals to the evacuated residents Friday night at the Butte County evacuation center.
The world faces the prospect of more tension with China over trade, security and human rights after Xi Jinping awarded himself another five-year term as leader of the ruling Communist Party and called for self-reliance in technology, a stronger military and protection of core interests abroad. At a party congress, Xi gave no sign of plans to change the "zero-COVID strategy that has frustrated Chinas public and disrupted business and trade. He called for faster military development and announced no change in policies that strain relations with Washington and Asian neighbors. Xi is tightening control at home and trying to use Chinas economic heft to increase its influence abroad.
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A fire that ignited near a petroleum refinery in Rodeo charred 370 acres of hillside by Saturday night and was largely contained. It was among roughly a dozen wildfires that spread throughout the state Saturday, fed by hot weather, gusty winds and tinder-dry grassland.

Firefighters from agencies throughout Contra Costa, the East Bay Regional Park District, and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection had the blaze about 75 percent contained at 10 p.m. There was no indication that the Phillips 66 refinery was in danger.

The fire started at about 2:30 p.m. at Willow Avenue near Interstate 80, according a spokeswoman for the Rodeo-Hercules Fire District.

The weather conditions were ripe for fire when three blazes flared up at 2:20 a.m. in rural Contra Costa County. They grew throughout the arid, wind-whipped night, engulfing 250 acres by noon.

One fire began near the intersection of Deer Valley and Balfour Roads, just outside of Brentwood. The others flared up on Marsh Creek Road near Round Valley Regional Park.

Temperatures in the area inched up to about 100 degrees as firefighters from several agencies  including East Bay Parks, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and just about every fire department in Contra Costa County  battled the flames. They had the blazes almost completely under control by noon Saturday, according to Cal Fire spokesman Jim Crawford.

There were no reported injuries or structures lost, he said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

With the heat and high fire danger, Crawford warned residents of rural Contra Costa County to drink plenty of water and not to operate heavy machinery in dry areas.

Wildfires also raged elsewhere in the state. A blaze in Butte County had charred 2,700 acres by 7:30 p.m. Saturday, burning 10 homes and injuring six people, including one firefighter. Evacuation orders were in place along scores of roads.

A fire along Highway 28 near Winters in Yolo County had burned 2,269 acres and was about 75 percent contained by 1 p.m.

In San Luis Obispo County, the Alamo Fire swept through 19,000 acres off Highway 166 near Twitchell Reservoir, forcing home evacuations in the Tepusquet Blazing Saddles area. About 1,000 firefighters struggled against steep hillsides and canyons where brush and other vegetation grows thick, said Cal Fire spokesman Chris Elms.

By Saturday afternoon the fire was about 10 percent contained. Officials converted the Miami Center in Santa Maria into an evacuation center.

A fire at Highway 3 and Fay Lane in Siskiyou County was mostly under control by late Saturday morning, after burning 469 acres.

And in San Bernardino County, a wildfire on Highway 38 was mostly under control on Saturday afternoon, after burning 74 acres of land.

The National Weather Service had issued a heat advisory until 9 p.m. Saturday throughout the Bay Area, with a red flag warning for scorching heat, dry air and northwesterly winds in the East Bay hills.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelSwan
Police in San Francisco last week arrested a man in connection with a sexual assault case.

Marvin Sotorizo, 36, was arrested June 27 on suspicion of five counts of sexual assault, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

On June 27 at 1 p.m., a man walked into the police department's Bayview Station and reported he was a victim of sexual assault, police said.

Investigators from the police department's Special Victims Unit responded and learned the suspect assaulted a second victim.

The suspect, identified as Sotorizo, was located at 25th Street and Potrero Avenue later that evening, and he was taken into custody without incident, according to police.

Police said it is believed Sotorizo works as a volunteer in charge of a youth program at a church in the Mission District.
Waymo, the autonomous vehicle business that operates under Googles parent company, dropped several patent claims against Uber on Friday, pulling back some of its major allegations in a bitter lawsuit over driverless technology.

In a federal court filing, Waymo said it was dropping three of its four claims over Uber violating its patents related to light detection and ranging sensor technology, or lidar. Lidar is a vital component in driverless car technology, helping the vehicle detect its surroundings to navigate roads.

The case, an acrimonious battle between Waymo and Uber, spotlights the arms race surrounding autonomous vehicle talent and technology. It is especially significant for the Google unit  now Waymo  that spent years working on driverless car technology before other tech companies took an interest. But as Waymo searches for a way to make money from self-driving cars, many of its best engineers have left for potential competitors, carrying valuable knowledge of its technology with them.

The case with Uber, the ride-hailing company, began when Waymo filed suit in February, claiming Uber was using intellectual property stolen by one of Googles former project leaders in its driverless vehicles. That set off months of wrangling, eventually leading Uber to fire the former Google project leader, Anthony Levandowski. The case is scheduled for trial in October, with the thrust of it centered on Uber misappropriating Waymos trade secrets.

Waymos dropping of three patent claims against Uber weakens its original argument for bringing the suit. Still, each side called the latest legal move a victory.

Waymo said it agreed to scale back its patent claims because Uber had halted work on a lidar design that violated Waymos patents and is proceeding with a different design. Waymo is permitted to reassert its claims if Uber returns to the design that Waymo challenged. The company said Ubers current lidar design still violates one of its original patents.

We continue to pursue a patent claim against Ubers current generation device and our trade secret claims, which are not at all affected by this stipulated dismissal, Waymo said. We look forward to trial.

Uber said the dropping of the three claims was yet another sign of Waymo overreaching and not delivering on its claims.

Last month, Waymo received a signal from federal court that the patent claims were not its strongest legal argument in the case. Judge William Alsup of U.S. District Court in San Francisco, who is overseeing the case, urged the companys lawyers at a hearing June 7 to drop the patent claims because youre going to lose on all these patent claims unless you pull some rabbit out of a hat.

Uber, meanwhile, has been trying to distance itself from the actions of Levandowski, who joined Uber last year.

Waymo has said that Levandowski worked with Uber to steal proprietary information from Google before joining Uber. Waymo said Uber was aware that Levandowski had stolen files.

Uber said it expressly told Levandowski not to bring any stolen documents to the company or apply any of Waymos intellectual property to Ubers autonomous vehicle efforts. The company said Waymos lawyers have not found the stolen documents in Ubers possession, despite extensive discovery.

The matter has been complicated by Levandowski asserting his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. Uber said it urged him to cooperate with Waymos lawyers and fired him when he continued to refuse.

In a separate filing Friday, Uber said Levandowski, before invoking his Fifth Amendment right, told Travis Kalanick, then Ubers CEO, that he had downloaded the documents from Google because he was worried that he might not receive full payment of a $120 million bonus owed to him. Uber said this indicated that his actions were unrelated to his work at Uber.

Daisuke Wakabayashi is a New York Times writer.
A federal appeals court on Friday reinstated a lawsuit against Bay Area pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences by two former employees who accused the company of concealing flawed test results for anti-HIV drugs before gaining government approval and reaping billions of dollars.

One of the plaintiffs, Jeffrey Campie, Gileads former director of global quality assurance, said he was fired in 2009 for objecting to the companys practices and threatening to inform the government. His wife and co-plaintiff, Sherilyn Campie, was a quality control manager for Gilead, which is based in Foster City.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the Campies allegations of fraud were specific enough to allow them to proceed with the suit and try to prove the company deceived the government into approving the active ingredient for three antiretroviral medications widely used to combat the AIDS virus.

The drugs are Atripla, Truvada and Emtiva. Federal agencies paid more than $5 billion for patients use of them in 2008-09 alone, the court said.

The court also allowed Jeffrey Campie to proceed with his claim of illegal retaliation. The federal government filed arguments in support of the Campies, who would be entitled to a portion of any damages paid to the government.

The suit did not allege that the drugs are currently unsafe  Gilead has changed its supply source for the contested ingredient, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has maintained its approval of each drug. But the Campies said the company had concealed the previous source of the ingredient in 2008, and gained FDA approval in 2010 by misrepresenting test results.

According to the lawsuit, Gilead told the FDA that it obtained the active ingredient, known as FTC, from government-registered facilities in the United States, Canada and other countries. In fact, the suit alleged, the company had contracted with a firm called Synthetics China as early as 2006 to manufacture FTC for lower prices at unregistered Chinese facilities.

After initially misrepresenting the source, the Campies said, Gilead sought FDA approval for FTC from Synthetics China in October 2008, and obtained it in 2010, while misrepresenting its test results. The suit said the product had actually failed two of three quality tests, and that one test showed contamination from microbes, arsenic, chromium and nickel.

Gilead stopped using FTC from the Chinese firm in October 2011 because of recurring contamination, the suit said.

The company denied defrauding the government and noted that the FDA had continued to approve the drug after learning of contamination in some Synthetics China ingredients. A federal judge cited the FDAs approval in dismissing the suit in 2015 and also said the Campies had not accused Gilead of misleading the federal agencies that paid for the drugs.

But the appeals court said those payments were based on FDA approval.

Although the Campies must prove that the approval was due to deception, dismissing their suit would allow Gilead to use the allegedly fraudulently obtained FDA approval as a shield against liability for fraud, Daniel Molloy, a federal judge from Montana temporarily assigned to the court, said in Fridays 3-0 ruling. He said the allegations state a plausible claim of fraud.

Gilead indicated it would appeal.

We are disappointed with todays ruling and intend to challenge this outcome and vigorously defend against these allegations, the company said in a statement.

The Campies are very pleased by the ruling, said their lawyer, Ingrid Evans.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
Advertising Feature | SPOTLIGHT STORY

Alex & Aris explores the four years that a young Macedonian princesoon to become Alexander the Greatspent under the tutelage of one of the greatest minds the world has ever known: the philosopher Aristotle. Very little is written by the great historians about this time in the life of both men. However, it was just after this moment of connection that each embarked on their earth-shattering, world-changing trajectory.

In this fictional telling of what might have been, our two heroes meet at critical points in their lives:

Alexander, a 14-year-old boy, already showing flashes of defiance and greatness. He was to inherit one of the strongest kingdoms and the most experienced army in the world, poised to launch his father's Panhellenic Project to lead Greece in the conquest of Persia.

Aristotle, middle-age, approximately 20 years after Plato died and devastated Aristotle by leaving his position in Athens to another. Still reeling from this loss, he was summoned by King Philip II of Macedonia to tutor his son, holding this post for the next seven years, until Alexander ascended to the throne and began his famous conquests.

This play is for all of us who have had a teacher that we loved and hated and in hindsight made us who we areand for all of us who have taught a young person. Imagine being in any of these shoes:

"Do you keep a journal?": A simple question launched one of the most famous friendships in world literature. Ralph Waldo Emerson took a young Henry David Thoreau under his tutelage and care. Emerson even owned the cabin where Thoreau wrote 'Walden', his masterpiece.

At age 15, Leonardo da Vinci became an apprentice to Andrea del Verrocchio, the greatest painter and sculptor of his time. Leonardo began as a simple errand boy and ended, years later, in charge of the studio, when del Verrocchio, recognizing Leonardo's talents, stepped down.

Oprah Winfrey describes her 30-year friendship with writer and civil rights icon Maya Angelou as that of a "mentor-mother-sister-friend." Angelou's mentorship changed her worldview and helped her become one of the most influential woman of our time.

See that relationship unfold onstage when Alex & Aris take the stage at ACT Theatre, Jul 14Aug 6.

Tickets and information: http://www.acttheatre.org/Tickets/OnStage/AlexAris
LOS ANGELES  Californias emergency services director has fired off a sharply worded letter to the U.S. Forest Service that says the agency had stiffed local governments $18 million for fighting wildfires on federal lands last year and raised the prospect the state may stop protecting national forests during blazes.

I cannot continue to support the deployment of resources to protect federal land that ultimately may bankrupt our local governments, Emergency Services Director Mark Ghilarducci said in the letter sent last week to Forest Service Chief Thomas Tidwell.
In January 1969, I went to Honduras to write the economic feasibility portion of the study for the Central Highway of Honduras. Project manager said I was to pick my assistants from applicants lining up for the job.

One of the applicants was Adalberto Cordova Turcios, who was a graduate of Moscow university, the top university reserved for the brightest students studying in Russia. Most of the foreign students went to Patrice Lumumba University where the applicant was not fluent in Russian. Adalberto was fluent in Russian and we communicated in Spanish.

I reported to the project manager that Adalberto was the most competent but did not know if the US Embassy would accept him as USAID was financing the study. To my surprise, the project manager said the US Embassy wanted him to be one of my two assistants and told me Maris Inez was to be my other assistant.

We had a great relationship and I took Adalberto with me on trips to Olancho and neighboring El Salvador. Adlaberto could see poverty and inequity quickly and I learned from others that his mother was a daughter of the Honduran renowned poet, Turcios, who gave all the money from his royalties to Cesar Augusts Sandino to buy weapons for his army of peasants in Nicaragua. Sandino planned his battles with the US Marines occupying Nicaragua that was under the rule of Debayle Somoza.

Sandino humbled the US Maines and they were forced to evacuate. Now the reason the US Marines were in Nicaragua (which was before WW I) was to keep the Germans and Japanese from building a sea level canal through Nicaragua that would compete with the Panama Canal started by the French engineer De Lessops, who built the Suez Canal but went broke trying to build a canal in Panama. But it is to show there was a policy of Anglo-American geo-political influence in effect before WW I. So I stayed on in Honduras and proposed a Central American Railway (which is much needed now) where it would come from the Bay of Colon to the Gulf of Fonseca in Honduras and connect with all the Central American capitals. Good for the image of America but opposed by the Pentagon.

As the Central Highway did not exist, Adalberto and Maria Inez worked on the GDP of the 18 Departamento (state) and I calculated the amount of cultivable land that would be put into production between the two largest cities of Honduras with better grades and a much shorter route than the north highway.

We then did the GDP per worker by economic activity for each Departamento and it showed where to put the money for the most good and most return on the investment.

After the project closed, Adalberto was offered a teaching job with the San Pedro Campus of the University of Honduras and so I lost track of him. I heard he had a girlfriend and they were living together. Not uncommon in Latin America as divorce is frowned on but love is to be expected.

I often thought of Adalberto and wondered what happened, as after I left things turned for the worse as the Israeli Mossad was working all over Latin America where Jews fleeing the Inquisition fled as well as Jews fleeing Europe such as Monica Lewinskys family. The Mossad chief there was transferred to Honduras and he was under Col. Make Harrari in Panama, the chief of all Mossad Operations in Central America. The Honduran head was in charge of Hitler's messerschmidt factory in Vienna, Austria, and everyone in the factory was a Jew and he protected them. While the Messerschnidt took honors at the 1939 air show in Switzerland that shook the British up, it never improved on its performance as a result.

But back to Adalberto. I was looking to see if he was still alive. I got my answer when an Espinal died in 2008 who had attended Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow. Adalberto disappeared in the horrors of the 1980s of murders and mass graves under the Ambassadorship of John Dimitri Negroponte, who said he never knew what happened to 32 nuns that fled El Salvador and took refuge in a house just two blocks from the US Embassy. Negropontes record is smeared with blood and he was appointed White House adviser under George W. Bush. Honduras Departamento de Investigasion Nacional arrested the nuns, took them to DIN where they were raped and tortured. El Salvador sent American helicopters to pick them up and they were thrown from the helicopters into the Pacific Ocean on their return to Ilopango Air base in El Salvador.

As for Adalberto, he would never think of killing anyone, destroying the life of anyone, or hurting anyone. He was a man you would like for a friend and he was my friend. Who killed him? It could have been General Martinez and his Battalian 318 or thugs who got higher pay for killing. Or it could have been the Contras under Ollie North who used the drug air strip in the jungle of Gracias a Dios that I pinpointed for the Mosad agent working under Mike Harrari. But thats another story.
SAN DIEGO  Ali Said fled war-torn Somalia two decades ago after his right leg was blown off by a grenade. Last year, the father of seven was shot in his other leg by robbers while living in a Kenyan refugee camp.

Said rolled his wheelchair up to a desk in an office hours after arriving in California from Kenya, saying he felt unbelievably lucky: He and his family are among the last refugees allowed into the United States before the Trump administrations latest travel ban rules kick in.

Until this moment, in this interview, I still dont believe that Im in the United States, Said told the Associated Press through an interpreter Thursday at the International Rescue Committees office in San Diego, smiling while his two sons hung at the back of his wheelchair.

So during the flight, we all were saying that we are in a dream and its not true yet until we finally landed at LAX, and we all said to each other: Yeah, were finally here. We made it, he said.

The U.S. refugee program will be suspended Wednesday when a cap of 50,000 refugee admissions for the fiscal year  the lowest in a decade  was expected to be reached, according to the U.S. State Department.

Once the cap is hit, only refugees who have a relationship with an immediate family member or ties to a business in the United States will be eligible for admission during the 120-day suspension, State Department guidelines say.

Those guidelines come after the Supreme Court partially reinstated President Trumps executive order banning citizens of six mainly Muslim countries and refugees from coming into the U.S.

The high courts ruling allowed for an exemption: Those with a bona fide relationship to the United States. Under State Department guidelines, that connection was defined as an immediate family member such as a parent, spouse, child, sibling or a business.

Said is aware of the difference a week could have made. He, his wife and children, ages 2 to 15, have no ties to the U.S. beyond the refugee resettlement agency, which the U.S. government says is not sufficient.

I was afraid our case would be closed, he said. It would have been a rough life.

He said refugees at the Kakuma refugee camp where he lived have talked every day about the travel ban since it was first issued in January.

It was blocked several times by U.S. courts before the Supreme Court partially reinstated it in June. The Trump administration says the travel ban is necessary to keep Americans safe and to allow the federal government to review the vetting process for refugees and others.

Advocates say the ban will close the doors on many of the most vulnerable.

A record 65 million people are displaced by war and persecution worldwide, according to the U.N. refugee agency. It selects the most at-risk refugees to be recommended to governments for resettlement, typically including victims of gender-based violence, LGBT refugees, members of political opposition groups and people with medical issues.

But the new requirements could mean many of those refugees could be passed over for those who have an immediate family member already in the United States.

This is part of the disconnect now, said David Murphy, executive director of the International Rescue Committees San Diego office. We identify families based upon need and now they have to have a U.S. tie.

Said, who spent eight years being vetted for refugee resettlement, had feared he would never leave Kakuma, a 25-year-old camp that is home to about 172,000 refugees.

About a year ago, robbers broke into his home at the camp and tried to rape his wife, he said.

Said, who was on crutches after losing his right leg to a grenade explosion in 1993, was shot in his good leg while fighting off the men. A neighbor who came to their aid shot one of the robbers to death. Saids children were home at the time.

The shooting left him with a fractured hip, and it still has not healed. He plans to get medical help now that he is in the United States.

They will spend the next three months working closely with the International Rescue Committee, taking English classes, getting adjusted culturally and finding an apartment.

The family will get $10,125 in one-time federal assistance to cover the costs of rent, food and other expenses for nine people to get settled  though they must start paying back their airfare to the U.S. government within six months after their arrival.

Said says he looks forward to his future now.

On his first night in his new country, Said and his family said they slept peacefully in a San Diego motel. But the feelings of happiness and relief are tinged with sadness, too.

I dont like it that others like me wont be able to make it here, he said. The life there is so hard. No matter how hard you work, you dont have enough to meet your basic needs.

Julie Watson is an Associated Press writer.
Six months may have passed since readers last got their say in this space, but nothing during that time has mellowed their views of this effort, the words they use to explain those views and some of their more colorful suggestions on where they think I should store my ink pens.

For example, a March column outlining how Congresss first effort to reform the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, would impact rural America wasnt well received by Kevin B. Just got done reading your rubbish on rural health care. Your left-leaning ignorance is shining thru again! his email began.

His solution to my (and, later, the Congressional Budget Offices) deep concerns about the first House rewrite was as simple as it was straightforward: Dont you worry your little pouty head off; the adults, the Republicans,  are running the Country now

Another late winter column, this one on the proposed (now approved) merger between three upper Midwest Farm Credit lenders, brought emails, editorials, and telephone calls from Delaware to Nebraska. Many began like one letter to the editor published in the March 21 Delmarva Farmer:

I am writing in response to Alan Gueberts poorly researched column regarding Farm Credit, wrote a boss at MidAtlantic Farm Credit. Guebert, he claimed, has gotten all his facts from two people who are paid to propagate false facts about the Farm Credit System to eliminate us as a competitor in local markets.

If true, those two paid propagators are even worse at their jobs than I am at mine because the Farm Credit System  despite all our false propagating  is one of the fastest-growing lenders in the world. In 2013, FCS reported $247.5 billion in assets. In 2016, its listed assets were $320.1 billion, a $72.5 billion jump in just three years.

Another published letter to the editor in another newspaper not only offered me two cents worth of professional advice, it also offered my oldest brother and me some career advice.

Maybe its time the Guebert Boys retired, noted the letter writer, taking me to task for a late January column and, coincidentally, a missive that my brother, a state farm group officeholder, had written that was published the same week in the same newspaper.

Two brothers publishing separate columns in the same newspaper the same week get one letter that objects to both them and their columns has to be some sort of record, right?

A mid-June column that took exception to President Donald J. Trumps withdrawal from the Paris climate accord brought more than a few warmly worded emails from readers. One opened with Mr. Guebert, are you so foolish to buy into the biggest sham in all of history? and ended, Surely you are smarter than to be taken in by this.

Another, in part, read, Id like to tell you what I really think of your (Paris) column but I cannot without my blood pressure rising.

At least not all the mail was written with one eye on the woodshed. Most arrived carrying kind praise and warm compliments.

One letter, written in print so small and so perfect that, at first glance, it appeared mechanical, begins Dear Alan, and quickly adds, I hope it is OK to say Dear Alan instead of Mr. Guebert  I feel like you are a neighbor after reading many of your writings in our newspaper.

Sure, its OK, neighbor; and its an honor.

One Nebraska emailer, like many others over the years, wondered how a member of the LCMS  Lutheran Church Missouri Synod  can have the political views that you express in your columns. I was wondering, are you still a member of the LCMS?

Yes, of course, brother; and, oh, go in peace.

Before you go, though, keep those cards, letters and emails coming.
LOS ANGELES  The wife of Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee died Thursday at age 93.

Lee and his family released a statement saying Joan Lee died peacefully Thursday morning. The couple had been married 69 years.

Dawn Miller, Lees longtime publicist, confirmed the statements authenticity.

No additional details were provided, and the statement requested privacy.

Stan Lee co-created numerous Marvel Comics superheroes including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men.

The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported Mrs. Lees death, recounted the couples first meeting in a story last year. It said Lee met his future wife while trying to meet another woman for a date in New York. The couple were married in December 1947 and had two daughters, one of whom died days after being born.

The 94-year-old Lee has credited his wife with supporting him early in his career, when he was trying to create superheroes that he and others could care about.

We lost a member of the Marvel family today and our thoughts and prayers go out to Stan and his daughter Joan in this difficult time, Marvel wrote in a statement.
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NEW YORK (AP)  Polarizing right-wing writer Milo Yiannopoulos filed a $10 million lawsuit against a New York publishing company on Friday over a canceled book deal.

Yiannopoulos resigned from the conservative website Breitbart News this year after comments he made about sexual relationships between boys and men. In video clips, he appeared to defend sexual relationships between men and boys as young as 13.

In February, protests erupted at the University of California-Berkeley when he attempted to give a speech there.

He had planned a memoir titled "Dangerous" and had a deal with Simon & Schuster to publish it, but the company dumped the book after the comments surfaced.

Yiannopoulos' lawsuit claims the publishing company breached its contract and bowed to "false and misleading reports."

"Because of political pressure ... in the space of 24 hours they suddenly decided that the book was unfit for publication," Yiannopoulos told reporters outside Simon & Schuster's Manhattan offices. "Well that's unacceptable. They don't get to break the deal on what I believe is a false pretext because they caved to political pressure. So they have to pay."

The publisher dismissed the lawsuit as a publicity stunt. "Simon & Schuster will vigorously defend itself against any such action, and fully expects to prevail in court," the company said in a statement to the Daily News.

A vocal supporter of Republican President Donald Trump, Yiannopoulos has made vicious comments about Muslims, women and others. His harassment campaign last summer against "Ghostbusters" star Leslie Jones led to his banishment from Twitter.
The names of middle three of the five movements very well could have been Frank, Roger and Douglas.

The new piece of music  a collaboration between musicians Chris Varga, Tom Larson and Hans Sturm which will enjoy its premiere Friday night at the Meadowlark Music Festival  is a tribute to their late fathers, after all.

But the trio, who once performed together as the rhythm section of the faculty jazz ensemble at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2011-15), knew the proper way to honor their dads was to make the piece  Our Fathers  more encompassing.

Especially since all three dads prided themselves of putting others before self.

So thats why the middle three movements bear the names Artist, Builder and Social Justice.

Frank Varga was a photographer.

Roger Larson was a philanthropist.

And Douglas Sturm taught ethics as a college professor.

Its a tribute to our fathers and we acknowledge that, but the idea philosophically is bigger than that, said Sturm, Meadowlark Music Festival executive director and UNL music professor. These three men had different paths. They never met each other, but their sons came together. So its an idea about fathers generally. Its also not necessarily about fathers. Its about people and what they generally do.

The 40-minute work, credited to Larson, who also is a UNL music professor, will anchor the festivals second concert, set for Kimball Recital Hall. It will feature a jazz piano trio, string quartet and three soloists: vibraphone, trumpet and vocalist.

Larson (piano) and Sturm (double bass) will perform with the jazz trio, while Varga, who recently earned a doctorate in music from UNL, is flying in from his current base in Seoul, Korea, to play vibraphone.

The way I look at it is that we are sort of proxies for our fathers in the performance of it, Larson said.

The piece is the first commissioned by Meadowlark since its founding in 2001.

I felt like this needed to happen, Sturm said. It fits very nicely with Meadowlarks mission (to make classical music a component of The Good Life) in a musical context.

The idea to compose a work for their fathers took root in May 2014, about six weeks after Douglas Sturm had passed away. Roger Larson died in October 2013, and Frank Varga followed in January 2014.

I said to Tom Hey, what would you think about writing something, a piece of music that would be performed somewhere?, Sturm said. There wasnt anything more concrete than that.

It was Larsons idea to include Varga on the project.

It occurred to me that Chris father also had died recently, Larson said. I contacted him, saying we have this crazy idea. We dont know what it is yet, but would you like to be involved. He very enthusiastically said yes.

In an email from Seoul, Varga said he was thrilled to be asked.

First, its very satisfying and humbling to collaborate with Tom and Hans, both as a composer and a performer, Varga wrote. Theyve both done a tremendous amount of work to bring the project to life.

Secondly, on a personal level it was important for me to create a musical tribute to, and celebration of, not only own fathers life, but also to the fathers of two men that I respect and admire.

With three musicians bringing different backgrounds and abilities to the table, Our Fathers, naturally, features a variety of music genres, ranging from Swedish folk tunes to jazz to traditional classical music. It runs the gamut.

What resulted is a work that is as varied as the lives of the men that inspired it, Larson said. ... And somehow it all works.
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SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A petition to rename San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza in honor of poet and former San Francisco Municipal Railway driver Maya Angelou has collected more than 9,000 signatures.

San Francisco resident Julie Mastrine, 25, said she launched the petition after learning that Justin Herman, who was executive director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency in the 1960s, led efforts to demolish thousands of black-owned homes and businesses in the Fillmore District in the name of redevelopment.

"He was responsible for bulldozing much of the historically black Fillmore District, causing mass displacement of black residents," the petition states.

The idea to rename the plaza is not a new one, but it is one that has struggled to gain traction.

A previous petition launched in 2015 by Brett and Michelle Harris-Anderson collected just over 300 signatures, while a 2001 effort by Supervisor Chris Daly to introduce a resolution calling for Herman's name to be removed from the plaza failed to win support.

More recently, several supervisors have voiced support in the media for the idea, but none have so far introduced legislation to make the change.

"It's never gone very far," Mastrine said, noting that she was considering a fundraiser to help cover the costs of changing the park's name.

The petition can be found at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/124/230/177/rename-san-franciscos-justin-herman-plaza/.
A company that won a share of Nebraska's state Medicaid managed care business donated at least $23,500 to Gov. Pete Ricketts' campaign fund between 2014 and this year.

Nebraska Total Care, which is part of St. Louis-based Centene Corp., was one of three companies to win the Heritage Health managed care contract for a share of 230,000 Medicaid clients. UnitedHealthcare and WellCare of Nebraska began operating managed care with Nebraska Total Care in January.

Those other contractors have also contributed to the governor's campaign committee, according to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, but not as much. UnitedHealth Group contributed a total of $12,000 in 2015 and 2016. WellCare Health Plans contributed about $2,000 total to Ricketts in 2016 and 2017, according to reports.

Aetna Inc., which originally was tapped to be a contractor but was later replaced, contributed about $10,000 to Ricketts in 2014 and 2015, and gave $10,000 to gubernatorial candidate Bryan Slone in 2014.

The contractors also have contributed money to lawmakers, and thousands of dollars to the Nebraska Republican Party. Their support for politicians extends across the country.

In Nebraska, Ricketts spokesman Taylor Gage says the governors office doesn't play a role in selecting vendors for Heritage Health, the name for the state's Medicaid managed care program, or managing their performance. The Department of Health and Human Services oversees the program.

"HHS is tasked with choosing the best vendors to deliver services for their customers, Gage said.

Heritage Health is a health care delivery system that combines Nebraskas physical health, behavioral health, and pharmacy programs into a single comprehensive and coordinated system for Nebraskas Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance clients. Each client chooses and enrolls in one of the networks.

Just five months after it began operations, Centene's Nebraska Total Care, with nearly 76,000 members, received a notice of serious deficiencies from the state Medicaid division because specific concerns of providers were not adequately addressed, including not paying them in a timely manner.

Attempts to reach Ryan Sadler, CEO and plan president at Nebraska Total Care, were unsuccessful.

Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Kathie Osterman said the division has received a corrective action plan from the company and is reviewing it.

Centene, a Fortune 500 firm, has a simple business model for its booming future based on cost control, according to a 2012 article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Save the states between 5 percent and 8 percent of the cost to care for their poorest, sickest and youngest patients  and pocket a piece of the difference."

To help get those deals with states, the article said, Centene fields an army of lobbyists with a war chest for political and charitable donations.

Because of concerns by Medicaid providers, voiced at a recent hearing of the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee, Lincoln Sen. Kate Bolz sent a letter July 5 to Ricketts, members of the Legislature and state Interim Medicaid Director Rocky Thompson asking for information on several of those complaints.

"I have heard numerous concerns from both constituents and health care providers regarding unpaid claims, network adequacy and service denials," wrote Bolz, who is also the executive director of the Nebraska Association of Service Providers.

Since the hearing on June 27, she has gotten even more phone calls and emails raising concerns about the state's Heritage Health program, she said.

She is asking what expectations the federal Medicaid program has for the network and for the most recent analysis or data being used to monitor, track or assess Heritage Health. She also wants to know what strategies and reforms are ensuring appropriate and timely reimbursement of providers, and how unpaid claims are being addressed.

Bolz also asked about grievance procedures and data for service denials, including denials concerning medications and therapies.

After the hearing, Sen. Sue Crawford of Bellevue said it was clear that the problems within Heritage Health go beyond what should be expected and have become a serious threat to the state's health care coverage.

While Nebraska Total Care has been singled out for deficiencies, all three managed care contractors have had troubles in Nebraska and elsewhere.

WellCare Health Plans, based in Tampa, Florida, paid $137.5 million to the federal government to settle claims that it overcharged for its Medicare and Medicaid programs.

California imposed $173 million in penalties in 2014 against United Healthcare and the federal government issued a $2.5 million civil penalty against that company this year for not complying with certain Medicare rules that resulted in higher out-of-pocket costs to beneficiaries and denials and delays in accessing services, according to reports.

Crawford, who is on the Health and Human Services Committee, said she was going to talk with Chairman Merv Riepe to see if the quarterly oversight meetings could be arranged to enable the committee to ask Thompson and the managed care organizations follow up questions after talking with citizens and providers. That could help get more answers on the public record, she said.
A federal judge in Lincoln sentenced a former Nebraska Health and Human Services supervisor to five years in prison Friday for possessing child pornography.

Brian Farrar, 49, of Kearney, pleaded guilty in April.

U.S. District Judge John Gerrard sentenced him to the prison time, plus five years of supervised release, and allowed him to turn himself in Sept. 13.

Federal officials say a tip in late 2015 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicated Farrar had uploaded 50 images to his email account in 2015. Of the 50 images, 30 were determined to be child pornography. Prosecutors say a search of Farrar's Kearney home turned up another 10 images of child porn on his desktop computer.

Farrar was working as a security supervisor in the HHS Children and Family Services' division until the indictment was unsealed last September.
An Omaha motorcyclist was arrested after leading authorities on a high-speed chase from Lincoln to Iowa on Friday, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.

After the multi-state pursuit, the Iowa State Patrol arrested 22-year-old Devon Brogdon on suspicion of fleeing to avoid arrest and reckless driving, among other charges.

The chase began just before 5:30 p.m. when a Nebraska trooper clocked Brogdon's motocycle traveling 90 mph in 65 mph zone on eastbound Interstate 80 outside of Lincoln, according to a release.

The trooper attempted to pull Brogdon over near mile marker 397, but Brogdon didn't comply and instead accelerated to more than 100 mph.

A State Patrol helicopter tracked Brogdon, who was driving more than 90 mph and using the inner shoulder to pass traffic between Lincoln and Omaha.

Iowa State Patrol troopers picked up the chase when Brogdon entered Iowa and eventually forced his motorcycle to stop.

Brogdon was arrested after a short foot chase and was turned over to the Nebraska State Patrol. He is lodged in the Lancaster County Jail.
OMAHA  An Omaha man was arrested on suspicion of making threats against Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa.

The FBI's Omaha office says in a news release that the 64-year-old man was arrested Friday by FBI agents in Omaha.

The man's case did not appear Friday in federal online court records. The release says he will be taken to Council Bluffs, Iowa, for an initial court appearance.

An FBI spokesman in Omaha did not respond to questions about the nature of the threats. A news release from the Iowa office of the FBI says no other information or comments about the case will be made until court documents are filed.

Ernst's office referred questions to U.S. Capitol Police, which said Friday it does not comment on ongoing investigations.
BEIJING  American and German specialists saw imprisoned Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo on Saturday and confirmed that he is in the final stages of terminal liver cancer, the hospital treating him said.

China allowed the two doctors to travel to the city of Shenyang to see the countrys most prominent political prisoner following international criticism of Beijings handling of Lius illness.

The First Hospital of China Medical University said in a statement that the two foreign experts fully affirmed Lius treatment plan so far, but that Lius prognosis was grim.

The patient is suffering from advanced liver cancer that has metastasized to his entire body and is at the end stage, the hospital said.

The hospital said the experts were Dr. Markus Buchler of Heidelberg University in Germany and Dr. Joseph Herman of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.

It was impossible to independently verify the hospitals description of Buchlers and Hermans views on Lius illness. A source familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that the American and German experts had seen Liu and spoken to his family.

Shang Baojun, Lius former lawyer and a close friend, said that during the consultation with the foreign experts, Liu was clear-headed and communicated smoothly, and could even speak English.

The experts visit comes as Lius illness has taken a turn for the worse. Chinese doctors said Friday that they have stopped using cancer-fighting drugs so as not to overwhelm his severely weakened liver.

Beijing has come under criticism from Western governments for not fully releasing Liu, who was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer in May while serving an 11-year sentence for inciting subversion by advocating sweeping political reforms. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, the year after he was convicted and jailed.

Gillian Wong is an Associated Press writer.
1 Female entrepreneurs: President Trump said Saturday the U.S. will contribute $50 million to a new World Bank fund conceived by his daughter that intends to help female entrepreneurs access capital and other support. Ivanka Trump joined World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim on the sidelines of the Group of 20 world leaders summit in Hamburg, Germany, to launch the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative. Kim said the fund has raised more than $325 million so far for projects and programs to support women and women-led businesses.

2 Hunger aid: The United States has announced more than $630 million in aid for Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria, where conflict has helped to cause what the United Nations calls the worlds largest humanitarian crisis in more than 70 years. Saturdays statement says the total U.S. humanitarian assistance to the four countries is now more than $1.8 billion this fiscal year. Tens of millions of people in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria face hunger amid conflict.
WARSAW President Trump said Thursday that Western civilization was at risk of decline, bringing a message about radical Islamic terrorism and the creep of government bureaucracy to the one European capital he views as most hospitable to his nationalist message.

Trump, who broke with tradition by attacking U.S. leaders and institutions while abroad, delivered his message in a speech to a friendly Polish crowd before a two-day summit meeting of Group of 20 leaders in Germany. Hours later, he flew to the German city of Hamburg.

Trump roused his Polish hosts by recounting the countrys history of resistance to invaders, including Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. But he said nothing about the right-wing governments crackdown on judges and journalists and its refusal to accept more refugees, policies that have upset European Union leaders. He instead praised Poland as a defender of liberty in the face of existential threats.

The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive, he said. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?

Pressed at an earlier news conference about Russian interference in the U.S. election, he said that nobody really knows if other countries might have been involved. He blamed President Barack Obama for not responding publicly after Obama learned about reports of possible election meddling last summer.

Trump delivered a mixed message on Russia.

He urged Russia to cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere and its support for hostile regimes, including Syria and Iran.

But he also said he was not entirely convinced that Russia was solely responsible for interference in the 2016 election.

Glenn Thrush and Julie Hirschfeld Davis are New York Times writers.
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HAMBURG, Germany  Wrapping up his second European tour, U.S. President Trump and Asian allies searched for consensus Saturday on how to counter what the president called the menace of North Korea after its test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Something has to be done about it, Trump said as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a separate meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump said the two were tackling the problem and menace of North Korea.

The White House said after the meeting with Abe that the U.S. was prepared to use the full range of capabilities in defense of Japan. Trump and Abe committed, the White House said, to redoubling their efforts to bring all nations together to show North Korea that there are consequences for its threatening and unlawful actions.

The Trump administration has tried to pressure Beijing to rein in North Korea, a major trading partner, to halt Kim Jong Uns development of nuclear weapons before they have the ability to threaten the U.S. homeland. Trump has voiced his frustration in recent days that China hasnt done more.

But during his meeting, Trump told Xi, I appreciate the things that you have done relative to the very substantial problem that we all face in North Korea.

Trumps extensive slate of meetings with Abe, Xi, British Prime Minister Theresa May and others came on the final day of the annual Group of 20 summit, which has been marked by violent demonstrations by anti-globalization activists. Trump also had a brief, unscheduled meeting with Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the situation in Syria.

North Koreas successful test launch of an ICBM was a major milestone in its long-term effort to build a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead to attack the United States.

The issue was a frequent topic of discussion at the summit, and the White House said earlier that the U.S., South Korea and Japan were pressing for additional measures against North Korea to demonstrate the serious consequences for its latest provocations.

Bringing China on board is a key part of the plan. The administration wants China to fully enforce international sanctions intended to starve Pyongyang of revenue for its nuclear and missile programs. But Trump has been dissatisfied with Chinas response.

Trade was also a key part of the summit discussions. The Trump administration is investigating the possibility of putting new barriers on steel imports based on national security considerations, a move that could target China, which has flooded international markets with cheap steel exports.

Meeting with May, the British leader, Trump pointed to their special relationship, and said the two countries were working on a trade agreement.

May was the first foreign leader to visit Trump at the White House and he told her he would soon be going to London once details were worked out. Independent trade negotiations between the two countries are a possibility as Britain exits the European Union.

Ken Thomas and Darlene Superville are Associated Press writers.
DAMASCUS, Syria  The United Nations on Saturday welcomed the agreement struck between the United States and Russia for a cease-fire in southwestern Syria, saying it would support upcoming peace talks.

The U.N.s deputy special envoy to Syria, Ramzy Ramzy, said he hopes the agreement announced a day earlier in Hamburg, Germany, will lead to similar arrangements elsewhere in Syria to reduce the violence.

The UN is always seeking to reduce tension and escalation in fighting and I think this is a step in the right direction, he said in Damascus. All this is obviously support for the political process.

The cease-fire goes into effect Sunday at noon, Damascus time, with no end date, according to U.S. officials and the Jordanian government, which is also involved in the deal. Russian officials said Russian military police would monitor the new truce, but U.S. officials say the details are still under discussion.

Earlier last week, Syrias military said it was halting combat operations in the southern provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida for four days, in advance of a new round of Russian-sponsored talks in Kazakhstan. The Syrian government extended the unilateral cease-fire, which was set to expire Saturday.

Syrian opposition activists reported low-level violence in Daraa on Saturday, following weeks of intense fighting in the divided province. Nabaa media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a woman was killed when government helicopters dropped barrel bombs on a village in northeastern Daraa. The Observatory said a total of 16 such bombs were dropped in the area, wounding several.

Previous cease-fires in Syria have collapsed or failed to reduce violence for long, and it was unclear whether the latest deal would fare any better.

The deal is separate from an agreement that Russia, Turkey and Iran struck earlier this year to try to establish de-escalation zones in Syria. The U.S., wary of Irans involvement, stayed away from that effort. Follow-up talks last week in Kazakhstan were unable to produce agreement on finalizing a cease-fire in those zones.

A new round of U.N.-sponsored peace talks is to be held in Geneva on Monday.
SEOUL  Two U.S. bombers flew to the Korean Peninsula to join fighter jets from South Korea and Japan for a practice bombing run as part of a training mission in response to North Koreas ballistic missile and nuclear programs, officials said Saturday.

U.S. military officials described the mission Friday as a defensive show of force and unity from the three allied nations and said it demonstrated the ironclad U.S. commitment to our allies.
HAMBURG, Germany  World powers lined up against U.S. President Trump on climate change, reaffirming their support for international efforts to fight global warming.

The Group of 20 summit that ended Saturday in Hamburg also showed the tensions on trade, as the U.S. administration and international partners forged a deal that endorsed open markets but acknowledged countries had a right to put up barriers to block unfair practices

The summits final statement made clear that the other countries and the European Union unanimously supported the Paris climate agreement rejected by Trump. They called the deal to reduce greenhouse gases irreversible and vowed to implement it swiftly and without exception.

The other countries, from European powers such as Germany to emerging ones such as China and energy producers such as Saudi Arabia, merely took note of the U.S. position, which was boxed off in a separate paragraph that the summit host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, made clear applied only to the United States.

She said the U.S. position was regrettable but that the summit had achieved good results in some areas, and cited a hard-won agreement on trade that included Trump and the United States but did not erase the differences over the issue. She said the talks had been at times difficult.

Trumps chief economic adviser played down tensions between the U.S. and other nations as the president headed home from his first G-20 summit. Gary Cohn told reporters aboard Air Force One that there was nothing unexpected about seeing a diversity of opinions in a group of 20.

To get 20 of your friends to agree to have dinner tonight is pretty hard, Cohn said.

On trade, the talks preserved the G-20s condemnation of protectionism, a statement that has been a hallmark of the groups efforts to combat the global financial crisis and the lingering effects of the Great Recession.

The group added new elements, however: an acknowledgment that trade must be reciprocal and mutually advantageous and that countries could use legitimate trade defense instruments if they are being taken advantage of.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. pushed to include the phrasing about reciprocal trade.

The wording echoes concerns voiced by Trump, who has said trade must be fair as well as open and must benefit American companies and workers. He has focused on trade relationships where other countries run large surpluses with the U.S.

David McHugh and Geir Moulson are Associated Press writers.
The Meaning of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo The essence of Buddhism is the conviction that we have within us at each moment the ability to overcome any problem or difficulty that we may encounter in life; a capacity to transform any suffering. Our lives possess this power because they are inseparable from the fundamental law that underlies the workings of all life and the universe. Read more
In southwest Lincoln, the Willard Community Center just completed raising nearly $2 million to completely renovate and enlarge the old Willard Elementary School.

Somehow the community center and schools namesake has been largely forgotten along the way, though there is a strong tie to Nebraska Wesleyan, a Lincoln mayor and gubernatorial candidate, a school in York, as well as her own great national fame.

Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard was born in New York in 1839. From 1880 through 1894, she went on eight speaking tours in Nebraska and stopped frequently to visit cousins by marriage, Harvey Hardy and T.E. Calvert. In 1889, seven Nebraska Wesleyan women formed the Willard Sorority, naming it for Frances as a symbol of perfect womanhood. The Willard Sorority still exists, with its house at 5110 Madison Ave., and is known as the oldest and largest local sorority in the U.S.

After graduating from what would become Northwestern University, Willard earned graduate degrees from Syracuse and Ohio Wesleyan universities. Willard went on to chair the Populist Partys first convention, then was elected its president; became one of the founders and 19-year president of the W.C.T.U.; founded the National Council of Women with Susan B. Anthony; was Dean of Women at Northwestern University and president of Evanston College; had a U. S. postage stamp issued in her honor; was instrumental in the passage of the 19th Amendment (womens suffrage); was a prime mover in the 18th Amendment (prohibition) and is the only woman to be represented in the U.S. capitols Statuary Hall.

In the 1890s, residents in the West A Street area of Lincoln began lobbying for a grade school. Five years later, 1.7 acres of land at McBride and Folsom streets were purchased at the optimistic intersection of Highland Park, Elmwood and Reed & Blanchards additions. There, in 1895, West A Street School supposedly opened, though in what building is unclear. Three years later, the neighborhood had not developed and Mr. Lyman, who lived in the area, proposed driving the few students to Park School by covered wagon at the rate of $1 per day. The Lincoln school board accepted the offer and discontinued the West A Street School.

In 1903, the erection of schoolhouses at Ninth and Z (Charleston) streets and on West A Street were considered and a bond issue approved. The following year, George A. Wilsons construction bid for a one-story frame school on the West A property, to cost $3,170, was approved and the building was completed.

School board minutes seem to list the school only intermittently with no comment until the school year 1909-10, when it was noted that the school had no principal and that all Lincoln public schools had had two drinking fountains installed except West A Street School which (was) not provided with city water.

By 1913, West A Street School reported 66 students in grades 1-5, two teachers and again, no principal. In 1915, the schools name was changed to the Willard School in honor of Frances Willard, and the student population was said to have reached 70.

In late summer of 1916, just before fall classes resumed, the building was completely destroyed by fire. Plans for a new school began in 1917 while the school board applied to the U. S. War Industries Board to release necessary materials. The following year, the extant building, still listed as being at McBride and Folsom streets, was completed by contractor E.M. Atterbury.

Population growth around Willard did not meet expectations. In 1945, the school, designed for 146 students, had an enrollment of only 59, with two rooms sitting vacant. A detailed report in 1947 showed the prognosis is not favorable with the building rated low in flexibility, condition, auditorium, physical education, library, cafeteria, kindergarten, offices, janitors rooms and electricity.

In 1969, Willard School was closed.

In the 1970s, the building was acquired by the city of Lincoln and operated by the Parks & Recreation Department until 1980, when the building and playground were repurposed as the Willard Community Center. The nonprofit community center purchased the property from the city in 2013 and the propertys zoning changed from public to residential.

A $1.7 million campaign was launched to completely rejuvenate the existing building and add a three-story, 2,320-square-foot addition that culminated in a completely successful fundraising with groundbreaking ceremonies held last May.
As offensive as it may sound to today's sensitive ears, it was only 11 years ago that a young, rising United States senator wrote the following about immigration:

"When I see Mexican flags waved at pro-immigration demonstrations, I sometimes feel a flush of patriotic resentment. When I'm forced to use a translator to communicate with the guy fixing my car, I feel a certain frustration."

That senator was Democrat Barack Obama from Illinois.

The quote comes from his 2006 autobiography, "The Audacity of Hope." After getting our attention with that blunt description of his feelings, Obama goes on to argue against following those feelings as some people do, to justify denial of "rights and opportunities" to immigrants to become Americans.

I had forgotten about that quote until I ran across it in an important essay posted by liberal analyst Peter Beinart in The Atlantic this past week, as Democrats tried in vain to win a couple of congressional seats in traditionally red districts in Georgia and South Carolina.

Titled "How the Democrats Lost Their Way on Immigration," Beinart's piece describes a Democratic Party trying to recover from President Donald Trump's upset victory, yet too hung up on the culture wars commonly known as "political correctness."

Of course, one could just as easily say the same about the Trump era's Grand Old Party, too gridlocked, so far, by its own internal right-vs.-far-right conflicts to pass major legislation, despite its control of both houses of Congress.

Still, Republican gridlock is thin consolation for the Democrats' long losing streak in President Obama's years. His two presidential victories distract us from Democratic losses of more than a thousand state legislative seats and governorships and two-thirds of the country's legislative chambers.

In some ways, I think Beinart is too hard on the Democrats in accounting for such losses. I trace the collapse of compromise on immigration to 2008 when I saw Arizona Sen. John McCain, on his way to winning the GOP presidential nomination, booed at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) convention for advocating comprehensive immigration reform. He later abandoned that cause, and efforts by both parties to revive it have failed.

Yet let's give credit where it is due. Republicans were singing the blues in similar fashion when Obama's elections in 2008 and 2012 and other Democratic victories threatened the long-term future of the Republicans as a national party. Instead, grassroots groups like the tea party movement scored victories at the state and local level that led to the GOP's current dominance.

Which brings me back to how Obama's quote illustrates how he managed to win twice what Hillary Clinton twice lost, the presidency. His feelings of "patriotic resentment" sound like an honest description of a concern that many people share. It is through expressing such sincerely held feelings, even at the risk of being called "racist," that honest dialogue can begin and, one hopes, lead to useful compromise.

In the best of all possible political worlds, candidates from both parties calm such irrational fears by educating voters with facts, not just alarm. Unfortunately we do not live in that best political world these days. Instead, we are treated to Trump's craven slander of undocumented immigrants as an invading tide of "murderers" and "rapists."

Yet, if you don't allow candid discussion of real issues, phony hot-button issues will take center stage. Think of the difference it would have made if Hillary Clinton had expressed, as her husband used to say in his 1992 presidential bid, how "I feel your pain."

Today's post-Trump Democrats are divided. One side says they must abandon "identity politics" that appeal to every left-out group but working-class and middle-class whites, who feel left behind by economic and cultural change.

The other side says, no, giving voice to traditionally left-out women and minorities is a core belief and essential to the turnout the party needs to win elections -- especially when they don't have a big draw like Obama on the ballot.

I think both sides of that debate are right. Democrats have been most successful when they have given voice to bread-and-butter working-class concerns, regardless of race or tribe. They can do it again, if they really want to win.
RACINE  The new owner of the old Nelsons Variety Store in West Racine is raring to start the interior remodeling that will precede getting the next business into that space.

Jim Spangenberg, co-owner of Johnsons Home Furnishings, 3219 Washington Ave., now also owns the adjacent former Nelsons, 3223 Washington Ave. The interior demolition is complete, Spangenberg has his contractors lined up, and on Thursday the Downtown Area Design Review Committee unanimously approved his application for a $20,000 White Box grant to help pay for the build-out.

Meanwhile, Spangenberg said he has also been talking to two potential restaurant operators for the 4,900-square-foot space. Bringing a restaurant to West Racine is still Spangenbergs top goal  although certainly not the only possible use for the building.

Nelsons Variety could house future restaurant RACINE  West Racine stakeholders often identify a full-service restaurant as one of the bus

On Friday, Spangenberg voiced some frustration about the White Box grant process that currently has him twiddling his thumbs on the project. The Redevelopment Authority must also approve his grant application, and the RDA may not meet again until July 20. Spangenberg cant turn his contractors loose until the application has been finalized.

Just give me permission to get started, he said with some exasperation. I think thats a flaw in the program.

They must have the electrical wiring redone, there is plaster to patch, theyre adding a handicapped-accessible bathroom, and the original maple floor will be refinished. In all, Spangenberg expects his costs for the building to approach $200,000.

The interior demolition uncovered the tin ceilings that had been hidden above a drop ceiling. That ceiling is in pretty good condition, Spangenberg said. Some tiles that need replacing will be replaced from the back, he said.

Another discovery above the old drop ceiling was that the ductwork must all be replaced, Spangenberg said. Because the new ductwork will be visible, what he and his wife, Beth, install will be decorative, he said.

Theyll also add schoolhouse lamps to keep the buildings old-time feel, Spangenberg said.

He hopes to get all the work accomplished within three months of starting.

Open to ideas

Spangenberg said both people hes been talking to about opening a restaurant there have experience in that industry, but he said someone would need solid financing before he would take them as a tenant. At this point, he thinks theres about a 50-50 chance that a restaurant will go into the space.

If not, he plans to cut an opening between his two buildings and expand his furniture store.

Asked if there was a third possibility, for a different type of tenant, Spangenberg said, Ill listen to any good idea.
MADISON  A Dover couple who refused entry to an assessor should have been allowed to challenge their property assessment anyhow, the state Supreme Court has found.

In 5-2 decision released Friday, the impact of which will reach far beyond the rural homesteads of Racine County, the justices ruled that state statutes requiring homeowners to let assessors inside before they can challenge their property taxes are unconstitutional.

Couple sues Town of Dover for allegedly violating constitutional rights RACINE COUNTY  A Town of Dover couple contend their property was reassessed at a pricier va

Vincent Milewski and Morganne MacDonald sued the Town of Dover, its Board of Review and the company that provides the towns assessor services, alleging their constitutional rights were violated when they refused to let an assessor into their home in 2013 and then were not allowed to challenge the resulting assessment. They also contended their property was reassessed at a pricier value in retaliation for their refusal to let the assessor inside.

Couple: Refusal to admit assessor to home led to retaliation WALWORTH COUNTY  A judge here has dismissed the complaint of a Dover couple who contend the

The town maintained that the interior inspection of the couples property was not a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, and that even if such a viewing did constitute a search, it was reasonable given the need for the town to accurately assess properties and fairly allocate the tax burden.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a nonprofit law firm that advocates against what it sees as government overreach, filed the lawsuit in July 2014 on the couples behalf. WILL argued that the law could be read to mean that simply viewing the outside of the property fulfills the viewing requirement.

The case was dismissed in May 2015 by Walworth County Circuit Judge Phillip Koss, who stated that viewing applied to the propertys interior as well, and that the owners gave up their ability to challenge the assessment by not letting the assessor into their home. Koss had been assigned the case to avoid a potential conflict of interest because MacDonald is an attorney who practices in Racine County.

Under current state law, anyone who refuses an assessors request to view their property forfeits their right to contest the assessment to local review boards.

Wis. Supreme Court to hear Dover assessment case RACINE COUNTY  The Wisconsin Supreme Court is slated to hear arguments early next year in t

The couple appealed the case to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, which in May 2016 supported the Circuit Courts decision arguing that the law was constitutional because homeowners can choose to exercise their Fourth Amendment right to refuse to consent to a government search, with the understanding that such a choice could lead to them being stuck with the same assessment.

After hearing arguments in the case earlier this year, the Supreme Court, in an opinion penned by Justice Daniel Kelly, reversed the appellate court decision, deciding that the couple  or any homeowner  shouldnt have to give up that Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches in order to challenge their assessment.

Dover couple's court battle prompts legislation on assessments DOVER  With a local couples assessment lawsuit in front of the state Supreme Court, a stat

We agree with the town that the Milewskis must be prepared to offer evidence sufficient to overcome the assessors conclusion if they hope to change the propertys valuation, the opinion states. We express no opinion on whether the Milewskis will be able to carry their burden of proof upon the contest of the propertys value, but that has nothing to do with whether they have the right to hazard the attempt. The Milewskis may not be denied due process with respect to the revaluation of their property.

In a press release issued Friday, WILL called the decision a victory for private property rights.

State Sen. David Craig, a Waukesha County Republican who introduced a bill this spring that would allow people who deny an assessor access to their homes the right to appeal their assessment, said the decision is a clear affirmation of individual property rights and due process. Craigs district includes the village and town of Waterford in Racine County.

Attempts to reach the representatives from the Town of Dover and their attorneys were unsuccessful Friday afternoon.
First daughter Ivanka Trump took the stage at the G20 summit Saturday, joining World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on a panel to formally roll out the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative ("We-Fi"), a World Bank facility focused on promoting women's entrepreneurship in developing countries.

The billion-plus-dollar We-Fi will provide both financial and non-financial World Bank resources, including loans, technical assistance and guidance, mentorship opportunities, and policy reform to eliminate barriers for women in developing nations. Funding for the facility comes from both the public and private sectors, including international financial organizations, commercial financing foundations, private equity firms, and individuals.

President Donald Trump, speaking during the panel, joked about his daughter.

"If she weren't my daughter it would be so much easier for her," Trump said. "Might be the only bad thing she has going, if you want to know the truth."

"I am very proud of my daughter Ivanka," he said. "Always have been, from day one, I have to tell you that, from day one, she has always been great."

The President also said the US will commit $50 million to the program.

We-Fi was first announced by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Women-20 summit in Berlin this spring, which Ivanka Trump attended on behalf of the administration.

Though Ivanka Trump will be an advocate for We-Fi moving forward, the White House has said she will play no operational, administrative or fund-raising role in the initiative.

"This incredible facility will have a significant impact on women's economic development around the world," the President said in a statement. "It will help increase opportunities and economic growth while addressing unique barriers women entrepreneurs face. I am proud the United States is helping to lead support of this unprecedented initiative."

Ivanka Trump has experience as a female entrepreneur herself. In addition to a career in real estate, she created a successful apparel and accessory business. She took a formal leave of absence from her eponymous brand in January, but kept her ownership stake and moved the assets into a trust.

But many women looking to start their own businesses have far less access to capital and other financial resources, technology, markets or extensive mentorship connections. Those challenges are particularly prevalent for women in developing countries.

The creation of the facility was Ivanka Trump's idea as she held meetings on the topic of women's empowerment during the beginning of her father's administration, including one with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, who shepherded the facility's creation.

A World Bank source told CNN in May that Ivanka Trump played an "instrumental" role advocating for the facility. She was in communication with Kim as the facility passed through its working stage phase, praising his leadership on social media.

"Thank you World Bank President Jim Yong Kim for your ongoing leadership in support of women's economic empowerment and for joining me today in a meaningful discussion with Saudi Arabian women entrepreneurs and elected officials," Ivanka Trump posted on Facebook following a discussion on the President's first foreign trip.

CNN's Dan Merica contributed to this report from Hamburg.
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"We did not meddle in the U.S. either, why would we need to create some problems here too? We have good relations with Germany. It is our biggest trade and economic partner in Europe," Putin said. He added that the Western media "is constantly meddling in Russia's domestic affairs but Moscow is taking this in its stride."
Domino's Pizza franchisees say a new campaign promoting a no-questions-asked guarantee has led to a spike in unfounded complaints.

The campaign, introduced in May, is aimed at raising the quality of pizzas and promoting the company's 100 per cent money back guarantee which is printed on the side of each pizza box.

Complaints which aren't resolved with a store directly can attract a fee of between $5 and $30 which the franchisee pays to Domino's head office. Franchisees say they are being stung twice  forced to pay for replacement dishes or refunds, and the fee.
Most of the things political staffers say in private cannot be repeated in a newspaper, but one printable thing you do hear is the old saying, "With friends like these, who needs enemies?" That saying came to mind this week, courtesy of a front-page story in Sydney's The Daily Telegraph, which pretended to be reporting back to us from two years in the future on Bill Shorten's first 100 days as Prime Minister. Workers laid off, higher taxes, cost-of-living hikes: the whole unmitigated horror of it was laid out before us.

In the corridors of News Limited, where I spent more than a decade, this sort of thing is referred to as "cheeky" - an in-house euphemism for "infantile". If I was Shorten or his team, I wouldn't be worried, because, as the saying goes, with friends like these, Malcolm Turnbull really doesn't need enemies.

The "cheeky" attacks on Labor by the Tele, in the 2013 and 2016 federal election campaigns, probably cost the Coalition votes, particularly last year in western Sydney.

People don't like being told what to think, including through childish Photoshop do-ups. And despite a common assumption in tabloid newsrooms, they probably don't long for a daily dose of character assassination, such as Julia Gillard copped in 2013.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: The High Court overturned Cardinal George Pell's conviction for historic child sex offences in a judgment handed down April 7, 2020. In a unanimous decision all seven High Court judges found Victoria's Court of Appeal should not have upheld Pell's conviction It found the evidence could not support a guilty verdict.

Cardinal George Pell is to have his day in court. The Left pools its rotten tomatoes.The Establishment mobilises in the cardinal's defence, frantically crowdfunding as though it were pauperism that threatened him, not criminal charges; as though an outpouring of alms might sway the outcome, orisons to the almighty.

In this way the long-awaited indictment of George Pell has ballooned well beyond itself, eclipsing the mere man to become a key skirmish in atheism's War on God. "See?" say my friends. "That's why religion has to go." But is that really what's going on here? Is this really an argument about religion? Or is it something else entirely?

Weirdly, for a holy war, the battle credos don't mention theology, or anything remotely spiritual. Nor do they go to law or morality. Few of us, after all, can know Pell's guilt or innocence: fewer still would deny the man his right to a fair trial. No, the Pell Palaver is all about politics. And, as ever in Australia, that means it's tribal, rusted-on and largely impervious to reason. All take sides.
Australia is set to become the world's largest exporter of gas but its level of resource tax transparency falls behind Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Mongolia, a new global report has found, as the country forfeits billions of dollars in tax to multinational mining giants.



A Senate hearing into the Callaghan review of the petroleum resource rent tax this week heard just how murky our tax data is, with only opaque disclosures from the companies themselves giving us an indication of how much tax they pay.

Australia is set to eclipse Qatar as the largest exporter of gas in the world by 2020 but will receive just a fraction of the revenue, $800 million compared to Qatar's $26.6 billion.

The resource governance index found countries that receive Australian aid funding for programs aimed at improving their resource sectors outperformed Australia on revenue management.

Australia, ranking 32nd, scored lower than Botswana, Niger and the Ivory Coast, according the report from the global Natural Resources Governance Institute.
Paris: France will do "everything necessary" to keep its end of the bargain and deliver Australia 12 new submarines at a cost of $50 billion, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday.

And Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has suggested an Australia-EU free trade agreement could be struck as soon as the end of 2019.

In a joint media statement at the Elysee Palace on Saturday evening, Mr Macron and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull noted how Australia's support for free trade and its commitment to the Paris climate change agreement was drawing the nation closer to France and the other nations of Europe, even as the United States under Donald Trump pulls away.

Mr Turnbull and his wife Lucy had earlier joined Mr Macron and his wife Brigitte on the French leader's private plane after the G20 summit in Hamburg ended.
Principals are increasingly forced to adjudicate spats on social media that involve "destructive comments" and "electronic abuse" that is hurled between students and parents, who use online forums to attack teachers or complain about their school.

Parents take to Facebook, WhatsApp or use email groups to voice their complaints or discuss issues with other parents about what is happening in classrooms, leaving principals to deal with the fall out, some of which could be defamatory.

Principals are spending more time dealing with complaints from parents on social media.

While principals say social media can be an effective way for the school to communicate with parents and the community, lawyers also warn that parents could face legal action if they make disparaging comments about a specific principal or teacher.

The relieving principal of Jindabyne Central School, Steve Cooper, told parents in a newsletter that he was spending more time sorting out social media problems.
From tired demountables to old brick walls and even toilet blocks. Once drab Sydney schools are being transformed into works of art.

Classically trained French artist Hugues Sineux has spent much of his career restoring the paintwork of churches and historic buildings throughout Europe. But after moving to Australia with his family six years ago, the artist has been using his expertise to liven up school yards.

French mural artist Hugues Sineux with his latest mural at Epping Heights Public School. Credit:James Brickwood

Mr Sineux has been commissioned by more than 10 Sydney public schools to paint huge murals across a range of buildings, from libraries to toilet blocks.

Using a technique called trompe l'oeil, where the images create an optical illusion that they are three dimensional, his murals are as diverse as an imaginary ferry on the toilet block at Warrawee Public to a grand theatre stage, 14 metres high, on a brick wall at Roseville Public.
In a move to protect Australia's waterways and wildlife from algal blooms, the environment pressure group DoSomething today launches a campaign to ban phosphates in automatic dishwasher detergents.

All manufacturers have removed the chemical from tablets and powders sold in the US and Europe. However, many products have yet to clean up their act by introducing the phosphate-free formula in Australia.

Blue-green algae bloom on Lake Tuggeranong. Credit:Jay Cronan

Jon Dee co-founder of DoSomething won a campaign in 2011 to convince detergent companies to eradicate phosphates in laundry products. He says dishwasher tablets contain much higher concentrations of phosphates and is calling on key brands to phase out phosphates within two years. The new campaign Going Phosphate-Free in the Dishwasher is launched today. The report states that the majority of phosphates used in Australian dishwashers come from Finish, the market-leader.

The government's Department of Environment website says blue-green algae toxins can in severe cases cause damage to the liver and nervous system. It states: "Exposure to algal toxins has been linked to fatalities of livestock, wildlife and pets." Affected waterways include the Murray River, Lostock Dam in NSW and Lake Eppalock in regional Victoria.
Somehow, a second handwritten parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence wound up not in the United States, but in England.

Two Harvard researchers, who had announced the finding in April, now say it has to do with Thomas Paine, one of the Founding Fathers of the US.

County ties: First US president George Washington's ancestors lived in Sussex. Credit:Hulton Archive

Emily Sneff and Danielle Allen's current theory as to how the copy ended up in England is that this second copy, known as the Sussex Declaration, was originally held by Charles, the Third Duke of Richmond. Measuring 60 by 75 centimetres, the Sussex Declaration is the same size as the first copy of the Declaration of Independence, but oriented horizontally.

Charles was known as the "Radical Duke" because he once supported the colonies' independence.
The odd mix of roasted coffee and motor oil is the first thing you will probably notice at Rising Sun Workshop, in the heart of Newtown in Sydney's Inner West.

The two-year-old workshop, hidden in a back street that joins the main drag in King Street, is quickly becoming a motorbike haven.

Rising Sun Workshop in Newtown. Sydney's first communal motorcycle workshop that provides space, tools, storage and expert advice for members to work on their motorcycles. Matt Laxton working on his Ducati and in the background Peter Whitfield working on his BMW GS. Credit:James Brickwood

Four bike lifts form the heart of this busy workshop with a difference: "members" pay an annual fee to rent the workshop space, and work on their bikes themselves with the help of a trained mechanic and a room full of tools.

Jo-Ann McEwan, 30, a resident of Summer Hill, is tinkering with her 1969 Honda CL350.
Hamburg: Climate proved the main sticking point at the G20 summit in Germany, with a final joint statement stalling over US demands to include a reference to 'clean' fossil fuels.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced an agreement had been reached on Saturday afternoon after aides for the 20 leaders had worked until 2am the night before to finalise a communique.

After overcoming differences on trade  with US officials agreeing to language on fighting protectionism  talks stalled on climate.

The section that needed to be resolved related to US insistence that there be a reference to 'clean' fossil fuels, a European Union official familiar with the negotiations said.
Hamburg: For days, protesters seethed. They marched. They chanted. They took over public parks. They refused to obey police commands to disperse. They filled this northern German port city with signs condemning global trade as world leaders descended for the G20 economic summit.

Then, late on Friday, violence erupted as far-left militants ravaged parts of Hamburg, setting cars on fire, smashing store windows and looting.

The turmoil created difficult questions for activists who continued to rally on Saturday as some made a point of disavowing radical tactics. It also renewed concerns about whether Hamburg - whose more than 1.7 million residents make it the second-largest city in Germany, a country with federal elections several months away - was a wise location for a summit bringing together many divisive heads of state. All together, all at once, in a moment of global unease, were President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Antipathy toward Trump was a particular rallying point in demonstrations that otherwise lacked a unifying theme. Protesters railed variously against capitalism, climate change and national borders, among many other grievances.
New York: The United States has given China a draft United Nations Security Council resolution that would impose new sanctions on North Korea over Pyongyang's intercontinental ballistic missile launch, UN diplomats said.

The US, China, Russia, Britain and France are the Security Council's permanent veto-wielding powers. The United States, Japan and South Korea agreed on Friday to push for a quick Security Council resolution.

People walk in front of a TV image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shown on a large screen after a missile landed in the waters of Japan's economic zone. Credit:Eugene Hoshiko

Traditionally, the US and China have negotiated new sanctions on North Korea before formally involving other council members. Diplomats said the US would informally keep Britain and France in the loop, while China was likely talking to Russia.

On Wednesday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said she would propose new sanctions to the 15-member council in coming days, though Russia has said further sanctions would not resolve the issue.
Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he assured President Trump that Moscow had not interfered in the 2016 presidential election, and that it appeared to him that Trump had agreed with his assurances.

"It seemed to me that he took it into account, and agreed" Putin told reporters on Saturday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg. The Russian president added "you should ask him".

Speaking at the end of a G20 summit in Germany where the two leaders met face-to-face for the first time, Putin said he believed he had been able to establish a personal relationship with Trump, and that the initial groundwork had been laid for an improvement in US-Russian ties.

Their meeting was subject to intense scrutiny, following allegations that Moscow had tried to help Trump win the White House, and a Washington investigation into the Russia ties of Trump associates.
Washington: As much as they complain about so-called fake news, both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are known dabblers in that dark art. So whatever either of the leaders, and their armies of spin doctors, say about their Friday encounter in Hamburg should be taken with a grain of salt.

That their scheduled 45-minute meeting stretched to more than two hours, with Melania Trump being sent in at one stage to break the bromance, was instructive on their capacity to engage.

Although they agreed to a partial ceasefire in a part of Syria, they were unable to close deals on economic sanctions imposed on Moscow over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea; on the return of Moscow's two diplomatic compounds near Washington, which were shuttered by the Obama administration as punishment for Moscow's meddling in the 2016 US election; and on the North Korea crisis.

Meeting on the sidelines of a G20 summit at which Trump finds himself isolated on issues ranging from the Paris Agreement on climate change to trade, the election meddling became the prism through which their encounter was judged.
Washington: A ceasefire of sorts is to begin at noon on Sunday in Syria after and agreement between the United States, Russia and Jordan on Friday.

The agreement which hinges on a boundary line set by the three countries, was announced by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson after the first face-to-face meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Hamburg.

It came after months of negotiations and multiple failed attempts to end the six-year civil war that has killed and displaced millions of people.

A senior US State Department official who was involved in the talks said important pieces of the deal remained to be hammered out in the coming days, including who would monitor and enforce the pause in violence.
World leaders forged a fragile compromise at a summit in Germany that failed to conceal the reality that Donald Trump's America is increasingly going its own way.

The Group of 20 nations meeting in Hamburg agreed to fight protectionism while tacitly recognising Trump's concerns about excess steel capacity and what he says are unfair trade practices. On climate change, the US was again isolated, with all 19 other members agreeing that the Paris accord on cutting emissions was "irreversible."

"I always said that this wouldn't be easy and that we shouldn't hide areas of discord," Chancellor Angela Merkel, the summit host, told reporters on Saturday at the end of two days of talks. "The communique has to reflect those areas where there is no consensus."

As anti-globalisation protesters clashed with police across Hamburg, burning cars and looting shops, G-20 officials struggled to bridge their differences. The difficulty in reaching a form of language acceptable to all hints at the fallout to come from the Trump administration's breach with the postwar order and his turn toward an America First stance.
Jerusalem: UNESCO, the United Nations cultural organisation, has declared the ancient and hotly contested core of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a Palestinian World Heritage site in danger, despite a concerted diplomatic effort by Israel and the United States to scuttle the decision.

The Palestinian Authority administers most of Hebron, a predominantly Palestinian city, under the Oslo peace accords of the 1990s. But an enclave around the historic core remains under full Israeli military control and is also home to several hundred ultra-Orthodox Jewish settlers.

Israeli border police stand guard on the site known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs, and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque, in Hebron. Credit:AP

The area designated as a heritage site on Friday includes the Cave of the Patriarchs, an ancient shrine revered by Jews, Muslims and Christians as the burial place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs. Muslims refer to the imposing stone structure as the Ibrahimi Mosque, using the Arabic name for Abraham, who, according to the Bible, purchased the cave as a burial plot for his wife, Sarah. He is considered a prophet in Islam.

The UNESCO decision, made by secret ballot, was welcomed by Palestinians, who have lobbied for the move for years. But it was widely criticised by Israel and its allies, who accused UNESCO of failing its mandate to foster cultural cooperation.
WILLEMSTAD:--- The Minister of Health of Curacao Suzy Camelia Romer appointed Jan Huurman as the Inspector General of Curacao. The appointment was made on Friday. Dr. Jan Huurman is expected to take up his new position on August 1st, 2017. Huurman is not a licensed specialist but holds a license as Medical Doctor with some experience in occupational health. Jan Huurman was given a two-year contract. It is not known why Gersji Pereira was not appointed since he has been working as Inspector of Health the past two and half years in Curacao.

According to background checks, Huurman worked for one year as an Inspector of Health in Curacao in 2013 where he made lots of enemies with doctors, specialists and also medical institutions. SMN News learned that while Huurman is known in Curacao to be controversial he managed to garner friendships with politicians in Curacao who lobbied a signature drive for his contract to be renewed in 2013 when the Board of Medical Specialists ensured his contract was not renewed due to his character and bad relationships he created amongst Curacao medical professionals.

Despite the efforts of public and mainly politicians, the government of Curacao did not renew Huurmans contract. He even applied in Aruba and he was not hired due to his controversial way of working while he is known to look for publicity with the media. He later moved back to the Netherlands.

As word spread in Curacao on Friday afternoon about the appointment of Jan Huurman several doctors, specialists and medical institutions contacted SMN News about the appointment and also expressing their concerns on the working behavior of Dr. Jan Huurman since 2013. When Huurman takes up his post he will be tasked with setting up and the executionn of execution legislation and also the re-organization of the Inspectorate of Health in Curacao.
PHILIPSBURG:-- On Friday morning at approximately 2.00 am, a call came into the police central dispatch about an armed robbery taking place at the Princess Casino located in Cole Bay. Patrols were immediately dispatched to the scene. Upon their arrival, it was learned that 4 masked men dressed in dark clothing, three of which were armed with handguns stormed the establishment. Of the three robbers, two remained at the entrance as lookouts while the third headed inside to the cashier. During the robbery, a patron at the casino attempted to hamper the robbers by throwing objects at them. Unfortunately for his brave efforts, he was shot. Thankfully his injury turned out not to be life-threatening. After having committed their criminal act, the robbers fled the scene in white Suzuki Grand Vitara. This vehicle was later found abandoned by patrols. It has been confiscated for further investigation. During the robbery, an undisclosed amount of money was stolen. The investigation is ongoing.

KPSM Press Release
SEO For Bloggers: Here?s What You Need to Know

Posted by Publisher Telecommunication

If you?re serious about growing your blog audience, you?ll want to get to know search engine optimization (SEO): the art of getting your blog to appear higher up in search results.

1. Data helps you make smart decisions

Your SEO isn?t just chance. There is plenty of data available to guide your decisions, and part of mastering the art of SEO is interpreting and learning from the data available to you. Google Analytics is your first port of call, giving you valuable insights into how people are using your blog: how much time they spend on your site, where they?re from, and what keywords they?re using to find you. You?ll also be able to gather data on your competitors? websites, and Google Search Console gives you detail on the technical side of your site?s performance showing you how many pages are included in Google?s search results and whether there are any that need to be fixed.

2. Know your site structure

For search engines to rank websites in helpful way, they need to understand your site and what it?s about. Technical SEO deals with the things that affect how easily search engines can crawl (read) and index (include in results) your site, and your site structure is one of its fundamental components. Improve your SEO by locating and fixing site errors and uploading an XML sitemap, a readable ?map? of your site for search engines.

3. Be fast and mobile-friendly

Smartphones have overtaken desktops, so it?s more important than ever to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and quick to load. It gives your visitors a better experience, yes, but from an SEO perspective, mobile-friendly sites perform better in Google search results.

4. Speak your audience?s language

SEO revolves around ?keywords?  the words and phrases people type into search engines to find what they are looking for. Harnessing keywords gives you the power to reach the right people, and learning how to do keyword research helps you gather the data you need to understand your audience and market demand.

5. Build the best content to stand out

?Content is king? is a cliched phrase, but it became a cliche for a reason: it?s essential to create content that provides value to people if you want to get your website ranking well in search engines. Understanding what your target audience values is crucial to creating content that will get read, shared and linked to.

6. On-page optimization helps mark content as relevant

On-page optimization is the process of optimizing the individual pages on your website so search engines drive them relevant traffic. Keywords play a big part in SEO, and you can target them, including them throughout your website?s pages to help make each page more relevant for certain searches. Your title tags and meta descriptions are a good place to start. Deploying keywords effectively in your title tags will help algorithms understand what searches your site should rank for, while your meta descriptions are your first chance to attract visitors by showing them your content answers their search query, giving them a reason to click onto your blog.

7. Local SEO has its own rules and tactics

If you?re trying to get your website or blog in front of an audience of local people, there are a few added considerations for location-specific SEO. While these tend to be more relevant to local businesses, like restaurants or shops, our local SEO tips will also be useful if your blog?s audience is people in a particular area. Including the name of the city in the title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, alt attributes, and page URLs would be a good start!

8. Build natural backlinks

One of the most important ranking factors for search engines is the number and quality of backlinks to your site  that is, other sites that link to you. Links from trusted websites are worth more; a link from the BBC would be worth far more than one from a brand new blog. You can earn these backlinks by creating content that people want to link to, and by promoting your work the old-fashioned way  marketing and PR.

9. Forget shortcuts

Gone are the days when you could take shortcuts to cheat search engines into giving you top rankings. These days, algorithms are much more sophisticated, and SEO is something you?ll have to work at over the long term to get results. Create great content and keep trying to get your name out there to stand the best chance of SEO success.

The relationship between better ranking and the new top-level domains was proved by a study of Searchmetrics for Berlin-domains. Websites with Berlin-Domains frequently place better than websites with .de domains and .com domains in regional searches with Google. The result of the study by Searchmetrics can be summarized as follows:

42% of searches show that .berlin domains rank better locally .

The study of Total Websites in Houston shows that the results by Searchmetrics can be generalized to all new top level domains, including the Blog-Domains: It was proved that Google uses the domain endings of the New Top Level Domains as a key element for the assessment of domains. Total Websites draws as a conclusion:

It is clear that the new top-level domains improve the ranking in search engines. 

It may sound a lot, but SEO basics don?t require a lot of technical know-how  and we?re here to help!

Hans-Peter Oswald

http://www.domainregistry.de/blog-domain.html (English)

http://www.domainregistry.de/blog-domains.html (German)
The threatening email indicated the sender "didn't care about living or anybody else," according to the superintendent.
'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever': What to know before you see it
Hearing on Bharatpur ballot row on Monday

The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday rescheduled the final hearing on a writ petition against Election Commission (EC)s decision to hold re-polling in Bharatpur Metropolis-19 for Monday, citing time constraints.
Police say they took a considerable amount of time before intervening in Schanzenviertel because they feared an ambush was waiting in Schulterblatt, the street where much of the rioting took place. It was only after special forces, who had been providing protection to world leaders at the Elphilharmonie concert, became available again that the autorities were able to regain the upper hand in Schanzenviertel. "The police had a sophisticated plan for protecting the politicians," says one experienced police official. "But they don't appear to have had a real plan for protecting the population."

Ultimately, even the massive deployment of 15,000 police officers proved insufficient. Police officers have reported that many had to do double shifts and were given few breaks. Among police, images are circulating of colleagues lying on the ground, completely drained.

On Friday morning at 8:47 a.m., the Hamburg police asked police departments across the entire country to send reinforcements because the city was experiencing a "large number of crimes" and "threats to life and limb," as the urgent message read. Helicopters flew riot-control units to the city. "Anyone who can walk is being moved," one official said. Security forces in Hamburg, though felt no initial tangible relief.

A Massive Mobilization

The police were needed to respond to a massive mobilization of radical leftists. The authorities say that protesters with the autonomous movement traveled to Hamburg from as far away as Italy, Switzerland, Greece and the Netherlands -- and that they came by the thousands. They were also joined by what officials call the "experience-oriented" -- violent groups of hooligans, apolitical petty criminals, the frustrated, drunks and the drug-addicted. Essentially young men looking for a kick. It's almost impossible to differentiate them from the extremists.

The police also appear to have been lacked a plan for dealing with the thousands of onlookers who turned up on Friday night just to see what was going on. Police appealed to them, tried to gently push them back and even issued threats, but they didn't succeed in reducing the crowd of rubberneckers. This enabled the autonomists to repeatedly hide in the crowds -- with devastating results.
It is completely legitimate to protest in Hamburg against the dark side of globalization, against the climate-damaging policies of many G-20 countries or more broadly against the summit's format. Doing so does not put such legitimate protesters in the same camp as those who are only interested in violence. Whether doing so is potentially dangerous following the violence of the past two days is a separate question entirely.

Peaceful protest must be more than just a slogan. Those who find the presence of police officers at demonstrations to be a provocation should rethink their attitudes to the state. The state accords its citizens many freedoms and rights. And the state is also in charge of guaranteeing order and control. Those who have a problem with that should expect no sympathy.
And then there was Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Given the current tensions between Germany and Turkey, there were concerns that he could use the climate passage in the final declaration as a way to embarrass Merkel. In the end, he elected to support the final declaration, saving his bombshell for after the closing of the summit, when he indicated that Ankara might not ratify Paris after all.

Despite Erdogan's late change of heart, he and all the rest ultimately followed Merkel when it came to isolating Trump on the climate. The largest industrial nations in the world, aside from the U.S., have said they intend to move "swiftly" toward full implementation of the historic agreement. The declaration also includes a clear rejection of Trump's desire to renegotiate the deal, saying the Paris Agreement is "irreversible." That doesn't necessarily mean that the climate deal will survive in the long term, but it is alive for now.
Yet even those involved are showing caution with their initial assessment of the project. Claudia Grosse-Leege, of the Union of Female Entrepreneurs in Germany and also active in the W-20, says she welcomes the fund, but adds that there are still questions regarding how the money will actually be used. It is more important, she said, to promote structures that already exist. The G-20, she noted, had long been "gender blind," but this year's summit paid much more attention to women's rights issues than even just one year ago.

But the so-called Ivanka Fund isn't just helpful for the women who will ultimately benefit, it also provides a boost to the G-20 hostess Angela Merkel. Amid the extremely difficult negotiations with the U.S. president on other issues addressed by the summit, the joint project announced on Saturday served to lighten the mood. It was a bright spot for which Merkel was more than willing to accept a joint appearance with Trump and his daughter. It is, however, nevertheless the kind of event that will do little to counter accusations that the G-20 summit has little to do with democracy .
It's easy to criticize it all: the summit's theatrics, the photo ops, the massive security effort and all the lip service. It's far too expensive, it's insufficiently concrete and it provides nothing but symbols. It's too undemocratic, too elaborate and too nonbinding. And then there are the participants: Why this one, and why not that one? All this criticism is justified. When thousands of delegates congregate each year for a G-20 summit that ends with a verbose closing statement that is short on substance, it invariably raises the question of what the point of it all is? Is the whole thing unnecessary? Should we get rid of it? After all, world leaders already come together on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly each autumn.
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DANBURY  Allison Vas, a recent Western Connecticut State University graduate, has eight weeks to learn Estonian.

In early September, Vas will teach English to children in Tallinn, capital of the Baltic nation of Estonia, as a Fulbright Scholar, which she was awarded in March. She picked Estonia because its educational model is based on Finlands widely lauded system.

Vas said she doesnt know why she was picked for the scholarship, but her resume offers a hint. She graduated from WestConn with a 3.94 GPA, majoring in elementary education with a concentration in English.

Shes at Indiana University in Bloomington this summer learning the language  a Finnic tongue similar to Hungarian.

Its coming along, she said, though I have no Estonian background whatsoever.

Vas, 23, will be in Tallin for the next school year. She doesnt yet know what age group she will teach, but is excited to see a different educational model. She he knows the local model very well, having graduated from Danbury High School in 2012.

During her senior year, she student taught in a fifth-grade classroom in Danburys Ellsworth School.

Danbury inspired her love of travel, she said.

Its a very diverse city, and I loved growing up there, she said. She saw glimpses of other cultures in the Hat City and was inspired to see how other people lived in their home countries.

As a WestConn student, she was a member of the Education Club and the Newman Club and traveled with the clubs to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. She also made a trip to Louisiana with Habitat for Humanity.

The Fulbright Scholarship, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, is the largest United States international exchange program for students, scholars and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide, according to a WestConn news release.

Vas follows earlier WestConn students who got the scholarship and studied the church organ in France, sociopolitical issues in Haiti, and folk music and social entrepreneurship in Estonia, the release said.

blytton@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3411; @bglytton
Ministry asks for Rs20b to boost NACs capital

The Tourism Ministry has sought Rs20 billion from the government to raise the paid-up capital of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) to support its financial restructuring plan. The NAC board recently decided to boost the investment capital of Rs370 million which has remained unchanged since its establishment in 1958.
A despicable thief proposed to a woman with an engagement ring he stole from a 91-year-old during a burglary.

Steven Reid, 38, has been jailed after he and Jerome Jones, 26, broke into the elderly woman's home in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham.

In what police described as a "shocking ordeal", they burst into her bedroom and demanded she stay in bed while they ransacked her home, stealing her valuables and purse.

West Midlands Police said Reid, of Sutton Coldfield, then used a gold engagement ring to propose to a woman on Christmas Eve.

The woman later recognised the jewellery in a police appeal and tipped off detectives.

CCTV footage taken at a jewellery shop of Jerome Jones / PA

Jones, of Rubery in Worcestershire, was seen on CCTV in a jewellery shop in Birmingham Road the morning after the raid, which happened on December 19 last year

He tried to sell items including a signet ring, watch and bracelet that belonged to the victim's late husband.

The store turned him away but his friend Christopher Rowland, 40, returned later the same day and swapped the goods for cash.

Reid's DNA was found at the scene of the burglary on a chisel he had used to prise out a glass door pane.

He was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday for four years and nine months after being found guilty of burglary, while his accomplice Jones was sentenced to four years and three months.

Rowland, from Birmingham, was given a 12-month community order and a conditional discharge for handling stolen goods.

West Midlands Police Detective Sergeant Tom Lyons, said: "The victim was unhurt but this was clearly a shocking ordeal for her. She was awoken by a security light being activated and footsteps on the stairs and moments later they burst into her bedroom.

"She was told to stay in bed while they ransacked her home. The lady was clearly elderly and vulnerable and for Reid and Jones to prey on her vulnerability is despicable.

"Members of the public were as disgusted as we were at the nature of the offence and we had a fantastic response to our public appeal for information.

"Several people called naming Reid and Jones as suspects, while the jewellers and Reid's would-be bride also called."
A thief was chased down by a heroic pet dog after the thug swiped a womans mobile and tried to cycle off in north London.

The teenager, 15, was arrested after the pet, named Tyson, pursued him when he swiped the womans phone in Finsbury Park.

Members of the public detained the boy after the dog scared him off his bike and he come to a grinding halt on Wednesday evening.

Police then arrived and arrested him.

Roger Sahota, a councillor for the local authority, said he saw the dog had cornered the thief in Stroud Green Road at about 8.40pm.

He told the Islington Gazette: I was coming home having been swimming and there was a bit of a commotion in Albert Road.

I then saw Tyson and his owner had cornered this young lad, who had been chased down the road by the victim, a young woman, who had her phone snatched.

Unluckily for them Tyson was doing his rounds and had chased one of them and snapped at his heels, making him jump off his bike.

He said the teenager was visibly terrified of Tyson.

The councillor added: He got his just deserts and Tyson was the hero. His owner was gushing with pride. Im sure he got an even bigger T-Bone steak than normal.

Police were still trying to trace another boy in connection to theft, after he made off from the scene.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Officers attended and found a member of the public had detained a suspect. The 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of theft and taken into custody at a north London police station.

"Enquiries are ongoing to identify and trace the second suspect."
T erminally ill baby Charlie Gards parents have said the fight is not over ahead of a fresh court battle over his treatment.

Connie Yates and Chris Gard are expected to join supporters delivering a 350,000-signature-strong petition to the hospital he is being treated in on Sunday.

The couple, both in their 30s and from Bedfont, west London, want Charlie to undergo experimental treatment in the US.

But they lost a lengthy legal battle after judges ruled in favour of Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) doctors who said the therapy would not improve the babys quality of life.

Ms Yates has said her son was "not in pain or suffering" and she had been given hope by international attempts to come to Charlie's aid, including from the Pope and President Donald Trump.

Chris Gard and Connie, Charlie's parents / PA

GOSH said it will now be for the High Court to make its judgment on the facts and it is acting in Charlie's best interests. They describe his condition as exceptionally rare, with catastrophic and irreversible brain damage.

The hospital said on Friday its view that the treatment would be "futile" and could prolong the boy's suffering had not changed.

Previous legal attempts by Charlie's parents failed as judges in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in London ruled in favour of GOSH doctors, while the European Court of Human Rights declined to hear the couple's appeal.

Charlie's case will be heard by Mr Justice Francis on Monday at 2pm, according to a High Court listing.

People gather in support of continued medical treatment for Charlie Gard / AFP/Getty Images

In the first of a series of tweets on the Charlies fight Twitter campaign account on Saturday, the parents thanked supporters for sharing the story of their 11-month-old son worldwide.

It comes after GOSH said on Friday it had applied to the High Court for a fresh hearing "in light of claims of new evidence relating to potential treatment for his condition".

The decision was prompted by claims of "new information" from researchers at the Vatican's children's hospital.

Clinicians from the Bambino Gesu paediatric hospital's neurosciences department said tests in mice and patients with a similar, but not the same, genetic condition as Charlie had shown "dramatic clinical improvements".

Charlie inherited the faulty RRM2B gene from his parents, affecting the cells responsible for energy production and respiration and leaving him unable to move or breathe without a ventilator. The therapy is not a cure.

GOSH describes experimental nucleoside therapies as "unjustified" but its decision comes after two international hospitals and their researchers contacted them "as late as the last 24 hours" to say they have "fresh evidence about their proposed experimental treatment".

Under a High Court ruling, GOSH is forbidden from allowing Charlie to be transferred for nucleoside therapy anywhere.

The hospital also pointed out that the ruling calls for Charlie's artificial ventilation to be withdrawn and he should receive palliative care only.


T housands of people will descend on London on Saturday for the annual Pride parade.

The march, now in its 45th year, will begin at 1pm at Portland Place, passing through Oxford Circus and Regent Street, before ending at Whitehall.

Marking 50 years since homosexuality was legalised in the UK, the theme in 2017 is Love Happens Here.

Pride organisers said they are more than ever promoting a message of hope, acceptance, activism and love, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan adding: Here in London, you're free to love whoever you want to love and be whoever you want to be.

London prepares for Pride 2017 - In pictures 1 /13 London prepares for Pride 2017 - In pictures An Underground station sign for Oxford Circus is decorated with the Pride flag colours Getty Images A woman rides a tube escalator decorated with the Pride flag colours Getty Images People ride a tube escalator decorated with the Pride flag colours Getty Images A man rides a tube escalator decorated with the Pride flag colours Getty Images People walk past a shop window decorated with the Pride flag colours Getty Images People walk past a shop front decorated with the Pride flag colour Getty Images A Costa coffee shop logo is decorated with the Pride flag colours Getty Images People walk past a shop front decorated with the Pride flag colours Getty Images A man walks past a shop window decorated with the Pride flag colours Getty Images People walk past a shop front decorated with the Pride flag colours Getty Images

A rainbow flag will be projected on to the Palace of Westminster for the first time in celebration of the event.

The rainbow illumination of Parliament is our signal of support for equality, said John Bercow, the Commons Speaker.

Lord Fowler, the Speaker in the Upper House, added: I hope that photographs of this Parliament turned into a beacon for equality will give encouragement to people who are being persecuted in other countries.

Meanwhile some of the transport networks busiest stations have been adorned with the colourful design for the campaign that champions the rights of the LGBT+ community.

High street shops and pavements have been splashed with the same pattern as Londoners celebrate half a century since homosexuality was legalised in the UK.

Posters carrying the message Love is Love have been pasted above entrances to the busy Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road Tube stations.

Pride Parade 2017 around the world - In pictures 1 /45 Pride Parade 2017 around the world - In pictures A man takes a selfie with a costumed dancer during the Pride Parade in Toronto AFP/Getty Images A person makes a peace sign with their fingers during the Pride parade in Toronto AP A group of marchers walk during the Pride parade in San Francisco AP Participants dance during the New York City Pride Parade AP A reveler holds his dog as he takes part in Mexico City's gay pride parade AP Member of Resist, a foundation that supports people's movements for justice and liberation. protest President Donald Trump as they march during the New York City Pride Parade AP Parade-goers make their way down 5th Avenue during the NYC Pride March AFP/Getty Images People take part in the annual Gay Pride parade, being protected by riot police in Kiev, Ukraine AP Indian members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community take part in a pride parade, calling for freedom from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, in Chennai AFP/Getty Images Participants pose for a photograph as they take part in the annual Gay Pride parade in Paris, France REUTERS People participate in the first Gay Pride Parade in Beersheba, Israel AP Revelers take part in the annual gay pride parade in Guatemala City's historical centre AP Members of the Caribbean pride pause during the New York City Pride Parade AP Two male participants kiss during the annual New York LGBT Pride March on Fifth Avenue in New York, EPA A man dressed in rainbow colors walks during the annual New York LGBT Pride March in New York EPA A reveler poses for a picture during the annual Gay Pride Parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil AP People march in the Oklahoma City Pride Parade in Oklahoma City AP Members and supporters of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community take part in the Mediterranean Pride parade in Naples, Italy AP A reveler in costume pauses for a portrait during Mexico City's gay pride parade AP Member of the Stonewall Veterans participate in the New York City Pride Parade AP Crowds line the street as they watch the Chicago Pride Parade AP Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, right, and their children Ella-Grace and Xavier walk in the Pride parade in Toronto AP A parade marcher holds a rainbow flag while wearing a rainbow skirt during the Pride parade in Toronto AP A motorcyclist rides in the Seattle Pride Parade AP Confetti falls over SF Balloon Magic marchers during the Pride parade in San Francisco AP Revelers take part in Mexico City's gay pride parade AP Thousands of participants march during the annual Gay Pride Parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil AP A participant in costume poses during the annual New York LGBT Pride March in New York EPA People participate in a LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and/or intersex) Pride Parade in San Salvador, El Salvador EPA Members and supporters of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community take part in the fifteenth Milan Pride parade EPA Revelers take part in the Gay Pride Parade in San Jose AFP/Getty Images A participant poses for the camera during the LGBT Pride Parade in Valencia, Spain REUTERS Supporters of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) take part on the annual Gay Pride parade in Marikina city, east of Manila, Philippines EPA A man dances on a chariot during the 39th edition of the LGBT pride march in Mexico City, Mexico EPA

It comes amid heightened security at the event following recent terror attacks in the capital, with armed police on patrol through central London and concrete roadblocks in place to guard against a London Bridge-style attack.

More than 150 police officers will take part in the parade, alongside representatives from the London Ambulance Service, London Fire Brigade and British Transport Police.

The Met said it had been working closely with Pride in London and a detailed policing plan had been put in place.

Chief Superintendent Helen Millichap said: "We know that recent events in London and Manchester will cause people to worry.

As with any large event the Met's priority is public safety and we are working closely with the organisers in the lead up to Pride to develop our policing plan.

"We want Pride to be a friendly and safe event for everyone to enjoy and, to help us, we need the public to take the usual precautions by remaining vigilant and reporting anything of concern to police officers or stewards at the event."

Plain clothes officers are also set to patrol the event, with the Met having worked with organisers over the past few months to prepare security measures.

Met Commisioner Cressida Dick said the celebrations would look and feel a bit different this year.

Last years parade drew about one million people to the capitals streets, with 40,000 partaking in the official parade.

The first official march in 1972 saw 2,000 men and women take part.
S team trains are set to depart from Waterloo station this weekend to mark the 50th anniversary since they were permanently replaced with electric engines.

On July 9, 1967, the curtains closed on Londons steam era following the electrification of almost all the railway lines south of the Thames.

The route from London to Southampton, Bournemouth and Weymouth was the last to see steam-hauled express and stopping trains in the UK.

To mark the golden anniversary, rail tour operators have organised a series of commemorative trips departing from Waterloo.

Historic: Clan Line passes through Weybridge after departing Waterloo on Wednesday in the first commemorative tour (Paul Blowfield / MLNPS) / Paul Blowfield / MNLPS

On Sunday, Clan Line  the only locomotive active until the final week of steam that is still operational  will haul passengers to Yeovil and back.

Built in 1948, Clan Line was purchased by the Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society (MNLPS) weeks after the end of steam. It is still owned and maintained by the volunteer-run group today, and has just returned to its home in Battersea after a major overhaul.

Clan Line pictured passing through Clapham Junction more than 50 years ago / MNLPS

Paul Blowfield, of the MNLPS, told the Standard: Fifty years ago this week, when myself and many others witnessed Clan Line and her remaining sister locomotives haul the UKs last steam-hauled express trains in and out of Waterloo we collectively thought wed never see the like again. How wonderful to be proved so wrong.

The Waterloo Sunset tour, organised by UK Railtours, will see passengers depart Waterloo at 10.41am and return from Yeovil via Salisbury.

Clan Line steams through Wandsworth in south west London / MLNPS

On Saturday, a different locomotive, Braunton, will also take passengers to Yeovil and then back via Bournemouth and Weymouth. The End of Southern Steam tour is organised by The Railway Touring company.

The first of the commemorative tours took place on Wednesday, when the Bournemouth Belle - a famous luxury rail tour  was recreated to mark the anniversary. Some of the Pullman cars used were among those used for the original Bournemouth Belle in the 1950s and 1960s.

Another tour featuring Clan Line will take place on September 23, titled 'The Atlantic Coast Express'. It will take passengers from Waterloo to Exeter and back.
S adiq Khan's crackdown on air pollution could see London Fire Brigade charged 31,000 a month, it has been claimed.

London Fire Brigades (LFB) engines will violate City Halls restrictions for the planned ultra-low emission zone, which will be introduced in April 2019.

Conservative politicians at the Greater London Authority also claimed the brigade will face charges for attending emergencies.

LFB is currently working to upgrade its fleet so that it meets pollution standards, but the new engines will not be ready until a year after the restrictions come into effect.

A spokeswoman for the Mayor dismissed the claims the brigade would be charged for attending emergencies as absolute nonsense and accused the Conservatives of deliberately misleading Londoners.

Sadiq Khan has announced plans to introduce an ultra-low emissions zone in central London / Getty

The Standard reported in April that emergency services are having to spend millions on replacing their vehicles because of the charge.

The GLA Tories have claimed costs would spiral from 670,000 to 2.3 million if LFB was forced to bring forward its upgrades to 2019.

Tory London Assembly member Gareth Bacon said: LFB should rightly upgrade its engines but it already has a timeline in place. It is unnecessary and unwise to charge the service half a million pounds for non-compliance in the interim.

In blocking requests for exemptions, the Mayor is blindly sticking to his guns despite common sense staring him in the face. Londons fire engines should not be fined for saving lives. End of story.

The ULEZ, which is due to start on April 8, 2019, will see a 12.50 charge per vehicle on top of the weekday congestion charge.

LFB has said it is working to upgrade its fleet by 2020 / Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

The zone will cover the same central London area as the congestion charge but operate 24/7.

LFB and the Fire Bridages Union said it was working with the Mayors Office to work out how it can comply with the regulations by 2019.

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: It is absolute nonsense to suggest that London Fire engines  or any of Londons emergency service vehicles  will be fined for attending emergencies.

This is yet another example of the Tories opposing plans to clean up the citys filthy air and save lives, which are supported by environment and medical experts, business and Londoners.

They should throw their weight behind tackling the citys dangerous air pollution instead of deliberately misleading Londoners.

City Hall has already been criticised by for exempting black cabs from the round-the-clock charge.

More than 150,000 Londoners with the most polluting cars are expected to be hit with the daily charge to drive inside the North and South circulars from 2021.

A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: Air pollution is a serious issue and we are actively looking at how we can reduce our impact on air quality in London.

We are on schedule to replace all of our fleet by 2020 with the exception of a small number of specialist vehicles.

We are currently in discussions with TfL to identify how we can comply with the earlier implementation of the Mayors deadline in a way which will minimise the impact on the Brigades budget while complying with the requirements of the zone.

A spokesman for the Fire Brigades Union said: We are working with the mayor and fire authority to ensure a satisfactory solution which delivers improvements to air quality while ensuring no detriment to the operations of the London Fire Brigade.
D onald Trump has confirmed he will be coming to London as he said he expects the US to complete a trade deal with Britain very quickly.

The US President made the comments at the G20 summit in Hamburg where he met Theresa May for talks on Saturday morning.

Mr Trump hailed the "very special relationship" he had developed with Theresa May as the pair met for talks on the margins of the G20.

And he said he expected an agreement on new trading arrangements with Britain that was "very powerful" and would be great for both countries.

Mr Trump said: "There is no country that could possibly be closer than our countries.

"We have been working on a trade deal which will be a very, very big deal, a very powerful deal, great for both countries and I think we will have that done very, very quickly."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the G20 talks as "difficult" amid disagreements with Donald Trump / AP

He added: "Prime Minister May and I have developed a very special relationship and I think trade will be a very big factor between our two countries."

Mr Trump said he "will be going to London". Asked when, he replied: "We'll work that out."

In a 50 minute meeting, Mr Trump and the Prime Minister agreed to prioritise work on the trade deal so it can be completed "as soon as possible" after Brexit, a UK Government official said.

They also pledged to look at areas where trade can be deepened before Britain quits the EU.

Mr Trump made it clear he believes Britain will "thrive" once it has left the bloc.

The discussions ran 20 minutes over schedule and the leaders continued to chat as they walked to another meeting at the Hamburg summit.

A "significant" amount of time was spent on trade and the discussion was entirely "positive", the official said.

No date will be set out today for Mr Trump to visit the UK.

Mrs May also held a 20 minute meeting with her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, which focused on trade and North Korea's nuclear missile programme.

Japan's new trade deal with the EU, signed off on Thursday, "could form the basis" of an agreement between London and Tokyo following Brexit, Mrs May told the Prime Minister.

Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin at G20 - In pictures 1 /12 Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin at G20 - In pictures US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany AFP/Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, German Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany Reuters US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany Carlos Barria/Reuters Russia's President Vladimir Putin talks to U.S. President Donald Trump during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany Reuters US President Donald J. Trump shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the retreat at the opening day of the G20 summit in Hamburg, German EPA US President Donald J. Trump shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the retreat at the opening day of the G20 summit in Hamburg, German EPA

Despite Mr Trump's comments, experts warned a deal could not be reached as quickly as the President suggested.

Former permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, Sir Simon Fraser, told the BBC: "The point is we can't negotiate with them or anyone else until we've left the European Union.

"And the Americans and others will not negotiate with us until they know what our relationship with the EU is going to be because the access we have in Europe is hugely important for the advantages that they can get from their relations with us."
T heresa May was booed as her speech at Pride in London was played to crowds weeks after she struck a deal with the DUP.

Some revellers appeared disgruntled while the Prime Ministers message was read, thought to be over her deal with the Northern Irish party.

The DUP has been widely critised for its right-wing stance on social issues including gay rights.

In footage from the Pride event, which champions the rights of the LGBT+ community, crowds could be heard booing over the Prime Minister.

Mrs May said in a statement to the thousands who descended on the capital that the UK will continue to stand up for the rights of LGBT+ people.

Pride in London 2017 1 /20 Pride in London 2017 Londoners join Pride in what is thought to be the biggest celebration in its 45-year history PA Londoners join Pride in what is thought to be the biggest celebration in its 45-year history PA Londoners join Pride in what is thought to be the biggest celebration in its 45-year history PA Londoners join Pride in what is thought to be the biggest celebration in its 45-year history PA Londoners join Pride in what is thought to be the biggest celebration in its 45-year history PA Londoners join Pride in what is thought to be the biggest celebration in its 45-year history PA Londoners join Pride in what is thought to be the biggest celebration in its 45-year history PA Londoners join Pride in what is thought to be the biggest celebration in its 45-year history PA Londoners join Pride in what is thought to be the biggest celebration in its 45-year history PA Londoners join Pride in what is thought to be the biggest celebration in its 45-year history PA Police officers at London Pride PA Londoners join Pride in what is thought to be the biggest celebration in its 45-year history PA Londoners join Pride in what is thought to be the biggest celebration in its 45-year history PA Londoners join Pride in what is thought to be the biggest celebration in its 45-year history PA Londoners join Pride in what is thought to be the biggest celebration in its 45-year history PA

She said: [The UK] will continue to stand up for human rights, directly challenging at the highest political levels governments that criminalise homosexuality or practice violence and discrimination against LGBT Plus people".

She added: "And here at home too, we must continue to stand up for true equality and respect for everyone, right across our United Kingdom.

"We must stamp out homophobic bullying in schools, and drive down homophobic and transphobic hate crime."

Her speech was read while she attended the G20 summit.

Theresa May wishes LGBT community a "wonderful" Pride

The Prime Minister signed a deal with the DUP to prop up her minority government after a catastrophic election result for her Conservative party.

Founded on the evangelical principles of the late Ian Paisley's Free Presbyterian church, Northern Ireland's largest political party has often been at odds with the region's LGBT community.

Paisleys son, Ian Paisley Jr, a vocal member of the party and a leading Brexit campaigner, previously said he is pretty repulsed by gay and lesbianism.

More than 26,000 people are estimated to have taken part in the parade which began north of Oxford Circus on Regent Street, watched by a crowd expected to number around one million.
PM begins consultation with parties to pass amendment bill

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has begun consultations with political parties with an objective of passing the constitution amendment bill registered in the Parliament.
A ngela Merkel made her feelings toward Vladimir Putin clear when the two talked at the G20 Summit in Hamburg.

The German Chancellor appeared to ask Russia's President a question as they walked together during the meeting of global leaders.

But when he responded by shaking his head, Ms Merkel rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth as Mr Putin continued talking.

The internet was awash with speculation the reaction came because Mr Putin was indulging in some "mansplaining".

The pair have not enjoyed a comfortable relationship in the past. At a meeting in 2007, Mr Putin reportedly brought his dog into the room despite Ms Merkel's fear of the animals after being bitten in 1995.

She said after the incident: "I understand why he has to do thisto prove hes a man.

"Hes afraid of his own weakness. Russia has nothing, no successful politics or economy. All they have is this."
T his is the shocking moment a man was hurled into the air and trampled by bulls on live television during Spains Running of the Bulls festival.

Dramatic footage shows the man being dragged briefly along the ground after being rammed by one of the bulls during the annual run in Pamplona.

He lays motionless while the herd continue to charge through the Spanish citys streets, trampling over him as they go, on the second day of the event on Saturday.

It comes after two Americans and a Spaniard were gored during the first running on Friday.

Pamplona: The man was rammed by the bulls before being trampled on / REUTERS

All three were rushed to hospital and treated for not life-threatening injuries.

Televised images show a bull thrusting its horn into a mans bottom before tossing him into the street.

Another mans arm was impaled and he was dragged before the bull flings him off.

The nine-day San Fermin fiesta attracts tens of thousands of partygoers from Spain and all over the world.

It was made famous by Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises."
U S Vice-President Mike Pence jokingly apologised to Nasa after a photo of him touching a piece of space equipment inches from a do not touch sign went viral.

Mr Pence was visiting Kennedy Space Center on Thursday when he was photographed placing his left hand on a cover for the Orion spacecraft, next to a warning saying critical space flight hardware.

He later apologised to Nasa on Twitter, saying Florida Senator Marco Rubio "dared" him to do it.

Nasa responded by assuring Mr Pence it was OK to touch the equipment, adding they were going to clean it anyway.

Meanwhile Mr Rubio also replied, saying: "In fairness, I warned @VP that you break it, you own it."

The image has sparked a social media storm, with many people taking to Twitter to mock Mr Pence.

Even Mr Pence got in on the action by posting a photoshopped imaged with the Nasa hardware replaced by a porcupine.

The Vice-President is heading up a newly revived National Space Council and Mr Pence was in Florida to promote the Trump administrations push to get American astronauts onto the surface of Mars and for the US to return to the Moon.

It was his second Nasa stop in as many months, after he visited Johnson Space Center in Houston to help introduce America's newest astronauts.
Beckhams Z Tam and driver Ricky Macomber Jr. made a clean sweep of the second round of Indiana Sires Stakes action after they captured the $75,000 final for three-year-old pacing colts and geldings at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Friday, July 7.

With a final time of 1:50.3, Beckhams Z Tam notched his third consecutive victory at Hoosier Park and became the sports newest $100,000 earner after the victory.

Leaving from post two in a talented field of 10, Beckhams Z Tam was unhurried from the gate and settled along the rail in fifth. Ronnie Wrenn Jr. had Meadowbrook Tiger pointed to the front from post six to get the first call through a snappy opening panel in :25.4. Limited Edition and Todd Warren benefitted from a pocket trip while Dave and Dennis and Brandon Bates were next in line, third.

Macomber Jr. gave Beckhams Z Tam the go-ahead and he quickly marched to the front to grab command just before the half in :54.2. Unable to wait any longer, Trace Tetrick also gave Rock N Tony the green light down the backside and he began his long first-over journey to the front.

Reaching the three-quarter clocking in 1:22.1, Rock N Tony was able to reach the leaders wheel as the field tightened and turned for home. Rock N Tony began to feel the long first-over mile just as Beckhams Z Tam found another gear. Utilizing a :28.2 final quarter, Beckhams Z Tam kicked home to win by a two and a half lengths over Rock N Tony. Meadowbrook Tiger held on for third-place honours.

As the heavy betting favourite, Beckhams Z Tam returned $4.80 to his supporters at the betting windows.

Trained by Hoosier Parks leading trainer, Jamie Macomber, Beckhams Z Tam recorded his seventh victory from eight seasonal starts and seventh lifetime win from 14 outings. The 1:50.3 clocking established a new lifetime mark for the three-year-old son of Always A Virgin-Saras Lucky Charm. Owned by the Z Tam Stables LLC, Beckhams Z Tam pushed his lifetime bankroll to $115,861 with the victory.

Live racing at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino will continue on Saturday, July 8 with a 12-race card featuring the $75,000 Indiana Sires Stakes Final for three-year-old pacing fillies. First race post time is 6:30 p.m.

(Hoosier Park)
With the biennial event quickly approaching, now is the ideal time to make travel plans for the signature event at the Huron County oval, Clinton Raceway's 2017 Legends Day. Transportation via coach buses, which have washrooms, will be available from four locations in southwestern Ontario, providing race fans a hassle-free way of attending the July 30 event.

The cost to hop on any of the three buses is $25/person and includes a dinner ticket for the Pineridge Chicken BBQ happening on-site following the live race card as well as program and commemorative book highlighting the career of the industrys richest driver, John Campbell. Campbell will be driving in not only his final Legends Day Trot, but his final career drive.

Buses and schedules, along with contact information are as follows:

Mohawk Racetrack, departing 11:30 a.m., returning from Clinton 6:00 p.m. Contact Cathy Boughton at 905.854.2672

The Raceway in the Western Fair District, departing 12:00 p.m., returning 6:00 p.m. Contact Amy OToole at 519.281.2092 or [email protected]

Ailsa Craig, departing 12:00 p.m., returning 6:00 p.m. Contact Jo-Ann McLinchey by email at [email protected]

Wingham Legion, departing 12:30 p.m, returning 6:00 p.m. Contact the Wingham Legion at 519.357.2126 or Dennis Jewitt at 519.357.5559

All buses will be on a first-come, first-serve basis and spots must be held with full payment of $25.

(with files from Clinton)
PM positive about breaking Nawalparasi into 2 districts

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has given positive assurances about breaking Nawalparasi district into two districts.
Poll count ongoing in four local levels

Out of 334 local levels that saw elections take place in the second phase of local level elections on June 28, results of only four levels are awaited.
Budweiser may be the King of Beers, but its newest beer labels remind Virginians that the state motto is Thus Always to Tyrants.

Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser, this week started a marketing campaign that features new labels for its beer packaging in the 11 states where the company has breweries, including Virginia.

In those states, the Budweiser name on beer cans and bottles is being replaced temporarily by the states name, in what the company describes as a tribute to the communities that have brewed its top-selling beer for generations.

Anheuser-Buschs 1.2 million-square-foot brewery in James City County near Williamsburg opened in 1972 and has about 580 employees, with a $53 million payroll.

Our new state bottles and cans celebrate the homes of our breweries and the communities that support them, said Ricardo Marques, vice president of Budweiser, in a statement released by the company.

Also, the Budweiser slogan King of Beers is being swapped on the labels with each states motto. In Virginia, thats Thus Always to Tyrants.

The motto is printed on the beer labels in English, not in the Latin Sic Semper Tyrannis, which is whats on the Great Seal of Virginia along with a figure of Virtus, the goddess of virtue, who holds a spear and rests her foot on the chest of a supine figure representing tyranny.

Sic Semper Tyrannis also is, infamously, what John Wilkes Booth is said to have shouted after he shot President Abraham Lincoln.

The special labels will be on Budweiser packaging in Virginia through September, the company said.

Other states with Budweiser breweries that will have special labels are California (where there are two breweries), Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Texas. Labels also will include other patriotic elements such as the lyrics to the National Anthem.

The new labels come as Budweiser and other major beer companies are trying different ways to attract and retain consumers and compete with a growing number of locally owned craft breweries that have sprung up across the nation in recent years.

While overall U.S. beer sales were flat in 2016, craft beer sales were up 6.2 percent by volume for the year, according to the Brewers Association, an organization of independent craft brewers.

The number of craft breweries in the U.S. jumped to just over 5,200 in 2016 from 2,400 in 2012. Virginia had 164 craft breweries in 2016, up from just 50 in 2012. In June, the Brewers Association announced it was introducing a new seal that craft brewers can place on their packaging if they meet the associations definition of an independent brewer.

This isnt the first campaign by Anheuser-Busch meant to inspire a sense of patriotism in beer drinkers. In 2016, the company temporarily swapped the Budweiser name on its cans and bottles with the word America.

As part of its latest campaign, Budweiser also is planning an open house on Sept. 16 at its James City brewery at 7801 Pocahontas Trail, which the company plans to invest $18 million this year. People interested in attending must RSVP ahead of time at www.budbrewedlocally.com.
Experts bring community members two days of wildlife surveys this weekend at the Bioblitz at the Wildcat Hills Nature Center.

The Bioblitz is a citizen science event where members of the public team up with experts. "Basically, the main agenda is how many species can we find in this area?" said Amber Schiltz, the Nebraska wildlife education coordinator for the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Its like a species inventory.

Enter the Star-Herald's Biggest Fish Contest Submit your photos of fish caught from the Nebraska Panhandle or eastern Wyoming (North Platte River system), as well as Lake McConaughy, between April 15 and Sept.15, 2017. Click here for details.

According to Schiltz, the Bioblitz has been going on for a few years but this is the first year it has been located in the Wildcat Hills. Last year, the Bioblitz was at Chadron State Park and at the Oliver Reservoir years prior.

With 13 different sessions throughout Friday afternoon and Saturday, the Bioblitz is open to everyone who wants to attend. Those who attend are only required to sign in before the free sessions and bring comfortable walking shoes.

The Bioblitz was funded by the Nebraska Environmental Trust with sponsorship by both the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies and Nebraska Games and Parks Commission. Schiltz said that the hardest part of setting up the Bioblitz was simply communicating with the different agencies to find her experts. Most of the experts are local, but there is one pollinator expert coming from Lincoln.

While the experts and community members survey trees, reptiles, birds, wildflowers and more, all of the species they encounter are being documented through the website inaturalist.org.

Anyone interested in discovering the unique wildlife that the Wildcat Hills provides can look at their species logs or attend a future Bioblitz.

Its designed to get families, kids, and other members of the public outdoors, learning from experts in the natural resources field and involved in the scientific process, Schiltz said. Were definitely going to one every year here because its a really fun event.
Nine-year-old Zane Keller knows about the eclipse on Aug. 21, but he was amazed at the show in the traveling planetarium that visited Gering on Friday.

Visitors got to see a show, 25 at a time, in an inflatable dome. Inside the five meter diameter, full-dome planetarium, a video system equipped with a fish-eye lens projected images, to the delight of the crowd. When the lights went down and the stars came out, audible oohs and ahhs could be heard.

The show began with how the sky looked at the current time, followed by Friday evening July 7 and then on to the eclipse.

Dan Glomski, longtime amateur astronomer and self-proclaimed mad scientist presented the planetarium show from the Edgerton Explorit Center in Aurora. Visitors learned about the stars, constellations, planets, moon, sun and even dinosaurs.

Glomski has been looking at the stars since he was three. One of those is Merak, a part of the Big Dipper and the constellation Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear.

The Big Dipper forms the back of the bear, Glomski said. Its not really hard to see the bear once you learn what to look for.

Another star, Deneb, is more than 3,000 light years away. The light from Deneb takes that long to reach the Earth.

If you want to time travel, look up, he said. Thats because youre looking at the star as it appeared in the past.

Deneb is a powerhouse star. It puts out as much light in one minute as our sun does in a year.

Glomski warned visitors to never look at the sun without special glasses. His show, however, allowed everyone to see what happens during a solar eclipse. He sped up time to show how the total solar eclipse will occur. As the moon began to cover the sun, someone shouted, Somebody ate the sun.

Not much changes until about five minutes before totality. The sky becomes darker as the shadow of the moon travels from the west at about 1,500 miles per hour.

The eclipse continues until the diamond ring and Bailys Beads, both of which are visible just before totality, are seen and then the full eclipse occurs. Once the diamond ring passes away, it is safe to take your glasses off, he said.

The diamond ring is a bright flash and Bailys Beads are where the sun peeks out between the mountains and valleys on the moon.

When the Bailys Beads disappear, thats the sight that people travel thousands of miles to see, Glomski said.

The glow around the sun is not just a ring of light. There is more to it. Its the suns outer atmosphere.

Its just amazing, Glomski said. You cant reproduce it in any video. It has to be seen to appreciate it.

Visitors also received a pair of viewing glasses to look at the real sun when the show was over.

Glomski visited Alliance on Thursday, July 6 to share the show. Gerings show was booked with a waiting list, while Alliance sold hundreds of tickets.

Libraries arent usually in the business of making money, but these projects are expensive to bring here, said Stephanie OConnor, Alliance Library director. The response to the show has been fantastic and weve had good feedback.

After the Gering show, Keller said he had a lot of fun and enjoyed Glomskis explanations, which he found easy to follow.

He explained things really well, Keller said. He helped me understand it all.

Keller said he thought if Glomski had just talked and didnt show any pictures or videos, he didnt think he would have understood the science as well.

This way it was super easy to understand, Keller said.

From start to finish, the eclipse on Aug. 21 is expected to take about three hours.

Partial eclipses occur on average of one every four years. A total solar eclipse is a big deal, he said. The last time Gering had a total solar eclipse was in 1834. The last time Grand Island had one was in 1194.

When we say once in a lifetime, were not kidding, Glomski said. Its not just media hype.
A 33-year-old Kimball woman was killed in an accident in the community Saturday morning.

A Nebraska State Patrol dispatcher said that Erin Aerni, 33, of Kimball, died after being struck by a vehicle at about 9:40 a.m.

Aerni had been running westbound on the shoulder of the road when she was struck by a vehicle driven by Caroljo Nagel, 62, of Kimball, according to a Nebraska State Patrol dispatcher. The dispatcher said that Aerni had run into the roadway.

The accident occurred about a half-mile west of Kimball on Highway 30 near mile marker 20.

The Kimball County Sheriffs Department also assisted, notifying next of kin and acting as coroners, Sheriff Harry Gillway said.

Aerni had been a teacher at Kimball High School until May 2016, but continued to be involved with school activities. Counselors are on hand at Kimball High School until 8 p.m. according to an alert to Kimball faculty, staff and students' families.
ASH HOLLOW  Join the Friends of Ash Hollow State Historical Park as it celebrates the 150th anniversary of Nebraska and all the brave men and women who left everything they knew behind and helped shape the Cornhusker State. During the Convergence on Sacred Ground event on July 21-23, everyone can experience a day in the life of a pioneer on the Oregon/California Trail and a homesteader on the Nebraska prairie by participating in a wide variety of fun and interactive activities.
WASHINGTON D.C.  Congressman Adrian Smith is currently accepting applications for the 2017-2018 Third District Youth Advisory Council and encourages rising juniors and seniors to submit their applications by July 15.

The Third District Youth Advisory Council is a forum for high school juniors and seniors to share opinions, thoughts, and concerns with Congressman Smith about local and federal issues throughout the school year. This group provides students the opportunity to discuss the concerns of young Nebraskans and give their input on issues facing our country.

Members must be able to serve for one school year  August 2017 to June 2018.

To download an application, visit AdrianSmith.house.gov/YouthAdvisoryCouncil.

For more information about the Youth Advisory Council, interested students and educators can contact Smiths Grand Island office at 308-384-3900 or his Scottsbluff office at 308-633-6333.
Single farm to grow Rs50m worth of apples

An apple orchard in the western mountainous Nepali district of Manang is waiting for a bumper harvest this year, with sales revenue expected to hit a whopping Rs50 million.
When life gives you lemons

Every morning, Suresh Suwal finds his first customer of the day, Bhuwan Shrestha, waiting for him to roll up the shutters to his store. Shrestha, who is an ENT staff at Bir Hospital, has unfailingly arrived at Sureshs Ranjana Soda Centre every day for the last twenty years.
UPDATES with information on GoFundMe account created

ST. LOUIS  Someone made off with the personal items of members of the Texas-based band Austin Meade while they stopped to get a bite to eat.

One of the first stops the band made Friday when they arrived in St. Louis was the iconic Gateway Arch. They posted a photo of themselves - all smiles - in front of the beaming monument to social media with a call for St. Louisans to come rock out with them at Off Broadway music venue later that night.

After the Arch the group stopped at a restaurant near St. Louis University, said bass guitarist Brenton Kim.

When they left, they discovered their van had been broken into around 2:50 p.m, Kim said. He said the van was visible through the restaurant windows, but the thieves were quick.

"These guys popped our rear door lock and got away with quite a bit of our stuff," the group posted to Facebook on Friday.

The stolen items include a laptop, cash, glasses and all songs the band has written over the last couple years. The group filed a police report.

Kim and his bandmates remained optimistic despite the incident.

"There was a silver lining," he said. "Thankfully, we were able to put on the show."

The band opened for Cody Canada and the Departed.

Kim said while the crime was unfortunate, he realizes, "not everyone is bad."

By Monday, a GoFundMe account had been created with the goal of helping the band recoup their losses, which were estimated at about $5,000.

The band will continue their tour, heading south to Texarkana, Texas, for a show Saturday.

In August, the metal band Black Crown Initiate had money, clothing, passports and electronics stolen from their van. The band received thousands of dollars in donations to recoup their loss.

Thieves stole the belongings of high school students and chaperones traveling through St. Louis from Oklahoma in May.
ST. LOUIS  St. Louis County Executive Steve Stengers request for two seemingly minor changes to the countys pension system appeared in a letter near the end of a 58-page agenda packet. The County Council approved it with no debate in November.

Now, some council members say they had no idea that they voted for a bill designed to substantially raise retirement benefits for one employee: St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch  a key political ally of Stenger, a fellow Democrat.

One of the changes allows McCulloch, 66, to draw full state and county pensions. If he chooses to retire at the end of his current term in 2018, hell collect roughly $170,000 per year, according to calculations using formulas in county ordinances and state law. Thats likely about $40,000 more annually than he would receive without the changes, and $10,000 above his current salary.

The legislation, which the council passed unanimously, also changes the rules to allow employees with gaps of two or more years in their county work history to count all their years of service toward their pension.

That, too, would apply to McCulloch, who worked as an assistant county prosecutor for seven years from 1978 to 1985 before going into private practice, according to his biography on St. Louis Countys website. He was elected county prosecutor in 1991.

The Post-Dispatch asked the county to confirm McCullochs retirement pay. Stengers administration declined to respond to questions about specific numbers or identify other employees who would benefit from the changes.

Assuming that McCulloch made roughly $35,000 annually as an assistant prosecutor, the changes to the countys pension could provide McCulloch as much as an additional $40,000 per year, based on formulas in county ordinances and state law.

Stenger defended the move as a deserved reward for McCulloch.

Amending Prosecutor McCullochs pension was, in my mind, an act of fairness and appreciation for a lifetime of faithful service to the public, Stenger said in a statement.

McCulloch initially could not be reached for comment last week. After a version of this story was published Saturday, he wrote an email saying his pension wouldnt be as high as the newspaper reported.

Your numbers are way off the mark, his email said. However, he provided no alternate figures. He did not respond to follow-up questions.

In his email, McCulloch further said that he had asked the County Council for one of the two changes that led to his pension increase, the measure to allow him to draw full state and county pensions. McCulloch said the other change, involving years of service before a break in county employment, would not apply to him. He did not explain why.

County Council Chairman Sam Page, a Democrat who is leading a council majority that has opposed Stenger on key issues, said that when he voted on the changes, he didnt realize they would benefit McCulloch. He said he discovered the pension changes as he was reviewing more recent legislation requested by the St. Louis County Retirement Board of Trustees addressing ballooning pension obligations.

The council has delayed a vote on that proposal so it can have a hearing. Page said he also wants an explanation for why pension rules were changed to benefit McCulloch.

Council member Mark Harder, a Republican, said he also didnt realize he had voted to increase McCullochs benefits.

I dont recall it even being talked about back then , Harder said. We get so many of these different things ... hundreds of pieces of legislation, and changes to legislation. This was an existing rule, and they changed a few words.

While Stengers letter to the council mentioned the county prosecutor, his request for pension modifications wasnt accompanied with a cost estimate. It didnt say who else would benefit.

Stenger said in his statement that eliminating the break-in-service rule brings St. Louis County into alignment with pension plans operated by many counties and local governments in Missouri. He said the changes would have a negligible fiscal impact, and they would help recruit previous county employees who had gained valuable experience in the private sector after departing.

Stenger declined to answer a question about how many former employees the county has been able to recruit since it eliminated the rule.

That proposal was first made in 2014, but the council rejected it on the advice of the St. Louis County Retirement Board. In a letter dated Feb. 27, 2015, board chair Thomas Wright wrote that 31 employees would benefit from that change, which would have a $1.5 million cost.

When Stenger wrote to the council last year asking for both retirement system changes, he told them that he was acting on the recommendation of the retirement board. He did not tell the council that he had suggested the idea to the retirement board in the first place.

Stengers recent request to improve benefits came as the board was looking for ways to keep the countys pension plan from becoming chronically underfunded like others across the nation.

I have to admit that it was a bit surprising that on the one hand we hadnt acted on that, but on the other, we were looking to make benefit plan improvements, too, said Kirk McCarley, the countys former personnel director who retired a few months ago. I had a lot of questions about that.

Forging an alliance

Three years ago, McCullochs endorsement helped hoist Stenger to victory over County Executive Charlie Dooley in the Democratic primary in August 2014.

During the campaign, McCulloch attacked Dooley, claiming the incumbent had surrounded himself with self-interested political advisers who were fleecing taxpayers.

This kind of corruption is a disgrace, McCulloch said in one ad.

He told a radio show host that Stenger, a certified public accountant, would be a real watchdog.

He has a financial background, so he understands the numbers game, the money game, McCulloch said.

A few days after Stenger won the primary, Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old African-American, was fatally shot by a Ferguson police officer. The streets swelled with protesters who called for McCulloch to recuse himself from the case. McCullochs father was a police officer who died after being shot by an African-American.

As McCulloch forged ahead with the investigation, he turned into a liability for Stenger in the general election that November. Still, Stenger stood by McCulloch.

County Councilwoman Hazel Erby, a Democrat, helped form a coalition of North County African-American voters who supported Stengers opponent, Republican Rick Stream.

Stenger narrowly defeated Stream. In that election cycle, McCullochs campaign committee gave Stengers campaign more than $100,000, mostly in in-kind contributions, according to reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Erby also voted to increase McCullochs pension benefits. Like other council members, Erby insists she didnt know the changes would benefit McCulloch.

Theres always some hidden agenda, Erby said of Stengers administration. Theres nobody you can go to for straight answer ... This is why we need our own attorney.

Prosecutor gets 2 pensions

Soon after Stenger was elected, the retirement board grew increasingly concerned about its ability to meet its future obligations.

And yet in July 2016, board member Thomas Curran, who also is Stengers director of constituent services, informed fellow board members of a request to eliminate a longtime limit on the future pension payments for the top prosecutor, according to meeting minutes.

Upon retirement, McCulloch is eligible to receive benefits equal to half his pay from the states Prosecuting Attorneys and Circuit Attorneys Retirement System  which is partly funded by a $4 surcharge on criminal cases, including traffic citations, a flashpoint of the Ferguson protests.

But the countys rules at the time reduced the prosecuting attorneys county retirement benefit by one-third if the retiree also receives a state pension.

The request is that the county not offset the Prosecuting Attorneys benefit, so that the person should receive a full pension from St. Louis Countys Retirement Plan, in addition to the person receiving a partial to full benefit from the states pension plan, Curran told the retirement board, according to the minutes.

Curran justified the change by telling the board that the prosecutor could not accrue sick days or receive vacation payouts like other county employees, according to the minutes.

Not mentioned in the minutes: the fact that the prosecutor, like all elected officials, has no limit on sick and vacation days.

In September, as the retirement board reviewed its options to safeguard the pension, Curran made an additional request on Stengers behalf, to reconsider the proposal that bridged the gap in employees work history. The board wanted to study the issue.

One month later, at a board meeting on Oct. 27, a county lawyer handed the board a draft ordinance containing both changes. Stenger was asking the board to make a recommendation to the council on the ordinance.

The Board discussed various aspects of the proposed revisions and commented that the revisions should help recruit returning employees, according to the meeting minutes.

At the time, county officials were choosing not to fill vacant positions, citing a hiring freeze.

Wright made the motion to recommend the ordinance with the two changes  one of which Wright himself had urged the council to reject 18 months earlier. Four days later, Stenger distributed his letter to the council, highlighting the retirement boards recommendation.

The timing was critical. A new council would be seated in January. Stenger would lose majority support.

The bill cruised through the legislative process. Although it was read aloud at three meetings, the prosecutor was not specifically mentioned, according to videos of the meetings posted online.

In his statement to the Post-Dispatch, Stenger emphasized that the measure received two public votes, like every other ordinance. The County Council is always free to question any member of County government before voting on legislation, Stenger said.

Page said he planned to exercise that freedom a lot more often now.

When this bill passed, the county executive was rushing through as many bills as he could before losing a supportive majority on the council, Page said in a statement. The council gave him the benefit of the doubt, but weve learned our lesson.

On March 31, the retirement board gave Stenger a plan to save the pension system $28 million over 10 years by reducing benefits for future employees. Stenger forwarded that plan to the council about six weeks later.

While the county hasnt identified the 31 employees whose retirement will be boosted by eliminating the two-year limit on interrupted service, at least one of Stengers close confidants would appear to benefit.

According to his online resume, Jeff Wagener served on the St. Louis County Council from 1997 to 2001. He then worked for County Executive George R. Buzz Westfall for two years before leaving county employment.

After a 14-year gap, Wagener returned to the county in January 2015 to join Stengers administration, at a salary of $130,000 per year.

His title: chief of policy.
ARNOLD  Arnold is moving forward with plans for the Jim Edwards Archery Park at 1110 Telegraph Road near the Meramec River.

Edwards served as a councilman from 1997 to 2007 and was elected again in 2010. He died in 2011.

Plans for the 2.9-acre park include year-round targets for bow use, benches, restrooms and a parking lot.

The City Council on Thursday night approved a contract with Spencer Contracting Co. of Arnold for $97,332 for construction of the shooting range and with McCann Concrete Products of Dorsey, Ill., for $61,735 to build an ADA-accessible restroom facility.

Earlier this year, the Missouri Department of Conservation agreed to provide a grant of up to $130,000 for development of the park.

Also Thursday, the council approved a preliminary plat for The Enclave at Strawberry Ridge, a residential development to include eight, two-family duplexes on 7.36 acres at the end of Strawberry Ridge Drive.
1. Yes. Taxpayers are funding its operation; they should have a voice in the naming process.

2. Yes. The city should operate with a spirit of inclusivity. Residents will be responsive.

3. No. Public input can be problematic; rejection of suggestions can be divisive for residents.

4. No. Residents elect council members to make decisions on their behalf. No input is needed.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether public input would be more of a benefit or a hindrance.

Vote

View Results
Cllr Collin Hayfield, Warwickshire County Council portfolio holder for education, Angela Joyce, principal of Warwickshire College, Romy Dixon, head of supportive learning, Louise Ball, director of schools re-engagement and special educational needs and disability (SEND), along with students Dan Perez-Mourin, Amy Knight, Ben Muir, Ryan Bowley, Josh Dove, Luca Webster and Marc Chappell, front right, who, along with Luca, gave a welcoming speech at the ceremony. Photo: Mark Williamson (M13/6/17/4641A)

A TRADITIONAL farm house in the grounds of Moreton Morrell College has been transformed into a place where students with special educational needs can learn to live independently.

The White House was officially opened yesterday by Angela Joyce, Warwickshire College principal and chief executive, and Cllr Colin Hayfield, the portfolio holder for education and learning on Warwickshire County Council, which has funded the work.

The council made 292,375 available to renovate and convert the existing farm buildings at Moreton Morrell College as an independent living and learning resource to teach life skills for supported living, employment skills, health and wellbeing and social inclusion.

It was designed as a hub to bring together the key agencies involved in successful transition for students from school to college, and from further education to wider opportunities in adulthood.

Supported learning students from Leamington and Moreton Morrell will use the White House to learn about budgeting, shopping, healthy lifestyle choices, and independent living skills.

The kitchen is adapted with adjustable worktops, a sink and cooker hob, laundry room, bathroom/ wet room with a hoist, and the doors have all been widened and wheelchair accessible slopes built.

There is a dining room and living room/bed sitting room to develop communal living skills, and upstairs there are two bedrooms equipped to allow students to practice household management.

There are also conferencing facilities and extra classrooms to facilitate a wider curriculum, such as enterprise and work skills.

Romy Dixon, head of supported learning at the college, said: The house is set up to give a real experience of domestic life but with some very special features and facilities to create a flexible learning environment that is accessible and structured around experiential learning.

It is a fantastic place to learn and the students love it here.

Cllr Hayfield added: The council is committed to exploring and extending opportunities for learning to our most vulnerable residents.

The facilities at the White House are now outstanding and the county council was pleased to support the excellent work that is taking place there.
At least 28 inmates were killed when a brutal fight broke out in a prison in the Mexican Pacific resort of Acapulco on Thursday, one of the worst outbreaks of violence in the country's prisons in recent years.

Acapulco is the biggest city in Guerrero, one of Mexico's most lawless states and a center of opium poppy production that has been a major concern to US officials.

The prison carnage was particularly embarrassing to Mexico as it came the same day US Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly was visiting Guerrero, in Mexico's southwest.

Guerrero state security official Roberto Alvarez told reporters the fight broke out between rival gangs in the maximum-security wing of the prison. In addition to the 28 who died, three people were injured, he said.

Authorities found bodies throughout the wing, inside and outside the kitchen, as well as the area for conjugal visits, he said. A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters four of the dead had been decapitated.

Alvarez told Reuters that the prison was close to 30 percent over capacity. It was built for 1,624 inmates but had 1,951 men and 110 women behind its walls, he said.

Despite reports of gunfire in the prison, all the casualties were due to wounds from sharp instruments, such as the improvised weapons that are fashioned by inmates, Alvarez said.

Violent crime in Mexico has jumped in recent months, and 2017 is on track to be one of its bloodiest on record.

The number of murder cases in the first five months of 2017 jumped nearly 30 percent and murder investigations hit a record high in May.

Drug gangs have been battling for control amid a power vacuum following the January deportation of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the United States.

The past week has been particularly bloody in Mexico. On Wednesday, at least 14 people were killed in a shootout in the northern state of Chihuahua, while 17 suspected gang members were shot dead by police late on Friday near Mazatlan in Guzman's home state of Sinaloa.

Thursday's fight is the worst outbreak of violence inside a Mexican prison since 49 people died early last year in a battle between members of the feared Zetas drug cartel and rivals at a prison in the northern industrial city of Monterrey.
English Tea Shop acquires Joes Tea Company View(s):

Two of the UKs leading premium organic independent tea brands are joining forces to better capitalise on the organic and speciality tea boom. English Tea Shop, a leading independent speciality tea company, announced the acquisition of Joes Tea Company, a premium lifestyle tea brand based in East London.

English Tea Shop UK Ltd, owned by Amazon Teas which is a Sri Lankan tea manufacturer and marketer, has been a British success story and after launching in 2010, rapidly entered 50 markets worldwide. In the UK, the companys range of 100 per cent organic teas and tisanes is available in retail and foodservice outlets including Selfridges, Debenhams and hotels such as The Grange, Strand Palace, and Wesley. The acquisition allows English Tea Shop, and its parent company Amazon Trading Ltd., to grow its audience among a new segment of the organic market, the company said in a media release.

Joes Tea Companys range of premium organic blends has already racked up an impressive 19 Great Taste Awards, as well as listings in prestigious retailers, hotels, restaurants and cafes including M&S, Selfridges, Gordon Ramsay restaurants, Sea Containers and The Breakfast Club.

Joes Tea Company will now be able to take its range of organic tea blends and infusions to a wider pool of stockists and consumers, while enhancing the offerings. In response to swelling consumer demand, Joe and his team are launching ranges of new blends and accessories, with further exciting new product development planned for 2018.

The founders of Joes Tea Company and English Tea Shop have a close and long-standing working and personal relationship spanning eight years. Since its foundation in 2012, Joes Tea Company has sourced its premium organic Sri Lankan tea from English Tea Shops parent company Amazon Trading Ltd.

Joe Kinch, Founder of Joes Tea Company says: Weve always enjoyed a fantastic relationship with English Tea Shop and in our view, theres no better business to work with. The new arrangement will allow us to consolidate our core business, but also to look at new options for sustainable growth. Joes Tea Company will continue to operate on its own terms, and offer the same  if not better  amazing quality taste and experience.

Suranga Herath, CEO of English Tea Shop says: Were delighted to have further strengthened our relationship with Joe and his brilliant company. The organic speciality tea market is getting a lot of attention at the moment  and rightly so  and we, alongside Joe, are excited about what the future holds.
HSBC marks 125 years of banking in Sri Lanka View(s):

HSBC Sri Lanka celebrated a milestone 125 years of banking in the country on July 1, having begun its operations in the country in 1892, just 27 years after its first offices were established in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

A special ceremony to mark the 125th year anniversary was held on Monday with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at its heritage Head Office building in Fort by Matthew Lobner, Head of International and Head of Strategy and Planning, HSBC Asia Pacific and Mark Prothero, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives together with senior management and employees of the bank.

In a media release, the bank said that its main Head Office building, built in 1922, remains a proud testament to HSBCs 125-year presence in the country and commitment to Sri Lanka. Following a complete renovation project that lasted over two years, the building is the first of its age in the country to achieve a LEED GOLD rating for energy efficiency under which 98 per cent of the structural elements of the building were retained, the carbon footprint was reduced by 20 per cent, including a 40per cent water saving and 26per cent energy saving.

On the same day, clients were later invited to share in the celebrations at a special event held at the Galle Face Hotel with Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka, in attendance.

While offering congratulations on the anniversary, he said HSBC is the largest foreign bank in the island and has played a key role in bridging financial intermediation requirements of the economy. Mark Prothero, CEO of HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives stated, For 125 years, HSBC has grown together with Sri Lanka and as Sri Lankan companies become globally successful, HSBC will continue to be a committed banking partner in serving our customers in and out of the country. We thank all our customers and our alumni who have supported us through this long journey.
Dont let that mossie get you By Kumudini Hettiarachchi and Shaadya Ismail Prevent bites through a few simple measures, advises dengue expert View(s): View(s):

Try and avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes  this is the urgent emergency measure that a dengue expert is advocating to the public to bring down the numbers affected by this disease.

Take immediate steps to prevent mosquito bites, urges Consultant Paediatrician Dr. LakKumar Fernando who was instrumental in setting up the Dengue Unit at the Negombo Hospital. This is while other preventive measures such as elimination of breeding areas to kill off the eggs and larvae and fumigation and eradication of adult mosquitoes kick in to place to bring about a source reduction.

Make a promise to yourself that I will not allow myself or my child to be bitten by mosquitoes and there will be an immediate reduction in numbers, says Dr. Fernando, detailing small precautions that will go a long way:

Wear protective clothing such as long-sleeved shirts or tops and trousers

Use a mosquito-repellent

Be conscious of the time-segments when the dengue mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, are most active  from around 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from about 4 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.

Through years of experience in handling dengue, Dr. Fernando says that it may be easier to fumigate the interiors of homes to kill off the resting mosquitoes rather than outside in the garden when they may be hiding under leaves which could give them protection.

His suggestion about wearing protective clothing comes from the experiences in 2011 in the Pakistani epidemic. There had been a major difference in the ratio of males to females being affected by dengue. There was no rationale for the higher number of men falling victim, except that women were fully covered and thus not providing chances for the mosquitoes to take a bite to spread the virus.

Before giving an overview of the current dengue crisis, Dr. Fernando tells the Sunday Times how on Wednesday early morning all political parties and religious leaders of Negombo, the town which has the highest incidence of dengue in the whole country, gathered at the Dalupotha Church, rising above petty differences, to muster all forces and launch an all-out war on dengue. The campaign was launched with house-to-house visits for fumigation and checking and elimination of breeding spots.

The two-week clean-up programme in the Western Province, meanwhile, ended yesterday, the Dengue Control Units Consultant Community Physician Dr. Preshila Samaraweera said, adding that 5,000 teams consisting the Tri-Forces, Police and health, local government and Divisional Secretariat officials took part in fogging and the collection of non-degradable items such as containers which are potential breeding places. More than 185,000 premises were inspected, 7,500 notices issued and legal action is to be taken against 1,627 people.

Paying tribute not only to his colleagues but also junior doctors, nurses and minor staff, Dr. LakKumar Fernando added that on any given day the Negombo Hospital is handling very high numbers  700 patients. There are 250 dengue patients in the male medical ward, another 250 in the female medical ward, 200 in the paediatric ward and 17 of the very bad cases in the Dengue Unit. (See box)

The Sunday Times sees first-hand the large number of patients in the Outpatients Department (OPD) at the Negombo Hospital and triaging being performed close by at the Thammita Church, where with the help of the army blood tests are being done, the results issued in about 15 minutes and a doctor screens people to determine whether they need admission or could be sent home with advice and strict instructions when to come back for re-assessment.

The number of people hit by dengue across the country, according to Dr. Fernando, could well be more than 100,000, as some may be taking blood tests and awaiting a change in their condition at home, some may be seeking treatment from General Practitioners or private hospitals and even in government hospitals, bursting at the seams with patients, notification of numbers will not be a priority as opposed to treating patients. As such, the official figure of 80,000 may be due to under-reporting.

The Herculean effort made to save lives at the Negombo Hospital under trying conditions is reflected in a number of hospitals across the country. It is these good clinical management efforts in the health sector that have made it possible to keep the death toll down to about 240.

With the Colombo district being the worst affected by dengue, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (Infectious Diseases Hospital) in Angoda has seen more than 4,000 patients being admitted here last month, with a similar trend this month as well.

Its Senior Consultant Physician Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama told the Sunday Times that the hospital has added 30 more beds, but they are still grappling with inadequate space. A request has been made to the Health Ministry and a temporary ward is to be constructed. This is while a Special Dengue Unit is already under construction, which will take at least two months to complete.

The hospital has been assigned temporary Medical Laboratory Technicians (MLTs) who perform blood tests etc., by the Health Ministry and are working 24 hours, while the triage system is also functioning, preventing unnecessary admissions.

The Colombo South Teaching Hospital in Kalubowila has had 1,500 dengue patients in June and as of this week another 400. Its Director, Dr. Asela Gunawardena, said that the maximum bed capacity in a ward, including those along corridors, is 45 and they are unable to add more beds. With a heavy flood of patients, this has resulted in two to three patients being on one bed. A High Dependency Unit (HDU) is under construction and is to be completed in two weeks.

When asked whether they have adequate numbers of MLTs, he said that the hospital has only two permanent recruits but has received four temporary MLTs from the Health Ministry. There is a problem as the OPD laboratory works only till 3 p.m. and tests thereafter have to be sent to the main laboratory, with results being issued only a hour or two later.

This has affected triaging after 3 p.m., said Dr. Gunawardena, adding that they require at least six MLTs to enable the functioning of the OPD laboratory overnight.

The Colombo North Teaching Hospital, Ragama, had 4,433 dengue patients in June of which 1,441 were confirmed as those with Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever. Its Director, Dr. Shelton Perera, said that new units are being built and as a temporary measure there has been re-allocation of beds in wards to give priority to dengue patients.

While the Ragama Hospital has implemented the triaging system this week, the hospital has received eight MLTs from the Medical Research Institute (MRI) and they are functioning throughout the day and the night on a shift basis, he said.

The Kiribathgoda Base Hospital is also overcrowded, with 80 beds but 137 patients, while they have received 10 more beds from the NHSL. There are about 50 to 60 floor patients, a source said, adding that there are two MLTs, but need at least two more. The triaging is functioning well under specific admission guidelines. Thus they have managed to reduce the rush.

Moving away from Colombo, the Sunday Times found that at the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital in the past two to three weeks, the number of patients increased to 270 a day. However, now there seems to be a decline, said Director Dr. Chandana Kandangamuwa, explaining that 70 beds from other wards have been added as a temporary measure and the corridors converted to wards.

Pointing out that the triage system is only in place during a disaster and they have not implemented it during this dengue epidemic, he said that they have 34 MLTs, but need five more. To get the work done in the face of this shortage, the MLTs work overtime.

Asked whether foreigners have been admitted to hospital, Dr. Kandangamuwa said that about five to 10 Chinese engineers employed at construction sites have been in hospital due to dengue.

The Gampaha District General Hospital had 3,540 patients with dengue last month, in the first week of July 248 admissions and on Thursday alone 173 admission. They had used all beds in the medical wards for dengue patients except those in the Bhikku ward and 17 beds in the medical ward which were kept for other illnesses.

The triaging system is functioning efficiently, said Director Dr. Priyantha Tennakoon, however, lamenting that there was a dearth of MLTs. The Gampaha Hospital requires seven or eight MLTs. Currently more than 3,000 investigations are being handled by one MLT and they work after their usual duty hours.

Close to 1,500 patients have been admitted to the Kandy Teaching Hospital in the first week of July, said Director Dr. R.M.S.K. Ratnayake, with at least 50 admissions for dengue every day. The medical wards have 381 beds and they have allocated 89 extra beds, while there are about 150 floor patients. They have requested the Health Ministry for another 270 extra beds.

According to Dr. Ratnayake the hospital has 36 MLTs, who are working all 24 hours of the day on a shift basis. They need 19 more to fulfil the hospitals cadre requirement, while they are also facing a dearth of other staff in the form of 224 nurses and 301 minor staff.

The triaging system has enabled the control of the rush at the hospital to some extent. However, due to the lack of space, they had to send back 30 patients from the OPD and there is a possibility of a higher rate of re-admission, he added.

The number of patients is on the rise each day and with triaging they have been able to function smoothly, said the Director of the Kegalle Hospital Dr. Wasantha Dissanayaka, pointing out that there are about 20 admissions daily. They are accommodating the excess patients in the Bhikku and orthopaedic wards. The hospital has 21 MLTs, with no dearth and four MLTs work the night shift.

Large numbers seeking treatment was the story repeated by the Kalutara General Hospital Director Dr. Pradeep Wijesinghe, according to whom on Thursday alone there were 62 dengue patients in the ward. Approval has been obtained to construct an HDU and currently the hospital is using beds in other wards to accommodate dengue patients.

There seems to be a gradual reduction in the number of dengue patients seeking treatment at the Kalmunai North Hospital due to there being two other base hospitals within 3kms, a source said, adding that the triage system is in place and the MLTs are working efficiently.

Meanwhile, private hospitals too are facing challenging times with the dengue epidemic. The Group Director for Clinical Excellence of Hemas Hospital, Dr. P.A. Gooneratne, told the Sunday Times that 177 dengue patients were admitted last month and up to Friday of this month there were 32.

Private hospitals, unlike state hospitals, do not have the capacity to provide additional beds as the set-up is organized in rooms, he said, adding that small adjustments have been made such as putting in an extra bed to a room if two patients from the same family need admission. About 50 to 60% are definite dengue patients and the MLTs work all 24 hours.

Among the patients have been three foreigners, admitted to the Hemas Hospital in Galle, he added.

The Nawaloka Hospital, meanwhile, has even converted its auditorium, office area and lecture halls into wards, said Medical Superintendent Dr. Uthpala Malawalarachchi, adding that more than 100 beds have been allocated and extra staff and machines are being utilised. About 700 dengue patients including 50 foreigners were admitted to the hospital in Colombo in June.

Ward 33 at NHSL solely for dengue patients The National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) will open a 50-bed ward dedicated to dengue patients tomorrow, to deal with the current epidemic. Ward 33 will be solely for dengue patients, NHSL Director Dr. Anil Jasinghe told the Sunday Times.

The NHSL has been beefing up facilities to meet the dengue epidemic and we are open for admissions. The number of internal medical beds was increased by 100 from 764 to 864 to accommodate dengue as well as other medical health issues, he said. In the last month (June) the NHSL had 2,388 dengue patients.

We implemented a triage system about a month ago which allows us to screen patients and prevent unnecessary admissions, Dr. Jasinghe said, while introducing an automated analyzer two weeks ago to obtain the Full Blood Count (FBC) within five to 10 minutes.

Saved from death against all odds Amidst the fear of death and disease brought on by this virulent dengue epidemic, many men, women and children have been pulled from the brink of death by dedicated health staff in hospitals across the country. Consultant and junior doctors, senior and junior nurses and minor staff have dedicated their time and energy, without thinking of how tired or overstretched they are to serve their countrymen. On a bed in the Dengue Unit of the Negombo Hospital is just one such case of being saved against all odds. Tiny seven-month-old Huzaifi is in deep sleep, sometimes a smile curling around his tiny lips, while his mother is at his bedside. Rushed to a private hospital in the area from Periyamulla when he got fits due to high fever, it was on Monday that there had been a frantic call to the Negombo Hospital to send someone to save this babys life. The Consultant Paediatrician Dr. Wijesinghe had rushed there only to find that the little one was inert  there was no pulse, he was not breathing and almost dead. Labouring to get intravenous access, they had intubated Huzaifi who had bi-lateral pleural effusions and rushed him to the Dengue Unit while hand-ventilating him. Putting him on the bed next to the one occupied by the units Head Nurse W.A. Lalitha Ranjanie who has also been struck down by Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever, the staff recall how she attempted to get off her sick bed  with platelets down to 45,000, the saline drip on and fluid leakage occurring within her body  to help put in a cannula for Huzaifi. It is a similar tale with a 17-year-old brought in with massive bleeding from three gastric ulcers, a haematocrit count of 63% and prolonged shock and how the state system works and responds with essential drugs, all free of charge, to save lives.He had been given three vials of Factor 7 which cost close to a million rupees and eight pints of blood, it is learnt. Each and every day, life-and-death battles waged and men, women and children pulled out from the very jaws of death not only at Negombo but across Sri Lanka.
Pouring rain forecast for Sunday may be ease by the time protestors take to Katikati streets on Sunday morning, but they will be there rain or shine says co-ordinator Meremaihi Aloua.

The march is a continuation of the harbour protest on June 17, when a flotilla of small crafts blocked the Tauranga Harbour entrance in protest at the government handing Bay of Plenty property rights to Waikato iwi, without consultation.

Its carrying on, we are just bringing wet weather gears and tents and everything, says Meremaihi.

The Hauraki collective is claiming redress through Treaty of Waitangi claims over two areas in Tauranga Moana.

One of them is Katikati, which is why we are doing our march, and the other is Te Puna which we will be rolling the following Sunday.

They have never ever lived here. For generations and generations we have been physically here. They have got interests, but those are relationship interests  not rights.

The Katikati protest March begins at the Uretara Domain at 10.30am, and advances along the main street of Katikati to Diggleman Park.

Tauranga Moana iwi are fighting a plan by the Office of Treaty Settlements to sign a deal that will give rights in Tauranga to a collection of Hauraki iwi.

Ngai Te Rangi chairman Charlie Tawhaio previously told SunLive the Hauraki iwi are using dubious history to establish ownership rights where they have only ever had interests through some shared histories, marriages, previous individual residences. Since 1840 there has been no presence on an iwi basis, says Charlie.

Its a gambit that has succeeded for Hauraki in Auckland and Whangarei, with the result that the number of iwi given rights in Auckland expanded from five to 19.

Each of the additional iwi are free to require cultural assessments of planned property developments, at the cost of the applicant.

When the Hauraki group first set up in Auckland they found 3600 new sites of cultural interest in Auckland that had not been known previously, say Ngai te Rangi.

Ngarimu Blair from Auckland iwi Ngati Whatua Orakei will be in Tauranga next week speaking with community leaders about the negative impact the deal with Hauraki has had in Auckland.
New Zealand is into the depths of winter now with moisture meeting the cold next week creating heavy snow in both islands.

Southland and Otago may see snow falling as low as around Dunedin and near/around Invercargill.

At this early stage WeatherWatch.co.nz believes the snow wont be reaching sea level, or at least not settling there and causing issues.

However the low level and heaviness of this snow may cause travel problems through the South Island and central North Island and, depending on timing, there is certainly the risk snow cause transport issues in Dunedin, even to sea level (again, timing will be key for that).

Tuesdays Future Rain/Snow Radar shows a low hugging the Antarctic coastline and sending a cold front into the lower South Island, eventually reaching the North Island Weds/Thurs (at this stage).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is happening and when?

On Tuesday a deep low a few thousand kilometres south of the South Island will send a burst of moisture and cold air from over the Southern Ocean into the South Island. This will push snow to very low levels in the lower half of the South Island and produce widespread heavy snow above 200m.

It will spread into the North Island on Wednesday and Thursday where it will push into a low centred over the North Island bringing moisture rich air from just north of the country back down and into the colder air. This rain will be fed in via an easterly quarter flow, placing the Hawkes Bay ranges and Central Plateau areas at risk of heavy snow for a couple of days where the southerly meets.

Where will the snow fall?

Please note snow may be brief and not even settle for some, for others it may be heavier and settle for days. Just like with rain and showers, snow can be patchy and therefore heavier for some while others nearby may completely miss out. This is not a major storm - but it is possibly the lowest snow fall of the year so far. Snow at higher altitudes (ie above 200 or 300m) may be quite widespread in the South Island and above 400 or 500m in the North Island.

Which main centres will get snow?

At this stage WeatherWatch.co.nz believes the following main centres may get snow for a time on Tuesday: South Island: Dunedin, Gore, Alexandra, Queenstown, Cromwell, Arrowtown, Wanaka and possibly Ashburton overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday AM. (We may not have listed all towns, but if you live in the area no doubt you get the idea).

Christchurch - at this stage - is unlikely to get snow, but well monitor it. Snow in Canterbury may be down to 200m but again, like rain, amounts and snow levels will vary across regions due to the mountains and ranges, coastal conditions and wind/air flows at the time...and timing will matter too, overnight has a higher chance of pushing snow down to lower levels.

North Island: Waiouru, Ohakune, Taihape are all highly likely to receive snow, so too National Park. Stratfordand Eketahuna both have some chance. Taupo is not expected to get snow but it will be nearby and low on Mt Tauhara and surrounding plateau/hills.

Which highways may be affected?

Many South Island highways will be affected around Southland, Otago, Canterbury and through/over the Southern Alps for a time.

ALL ALPINE HIGHWAYS are likely to get snow at some point and some may be closed. State Highways and side roads in Dunedin may be impacted for a time but its unclear how heavy it will be and at what altitude - we will really need to wait until Monday to lock that in. Dunedin, being coastal and hilly is always a tricky place to lock in for these borderline sea-level snow events (and this is borderline for sea level by about a degree or two).

In the North Island SH2 over the Rimutaka Ranges is likely to be impacted, perhaps on Wednesday night.

SH1 the Desert Road is HIGHLY LIKELY to receive snow, as too are ALL HIGHWAYS AROUND MT RUAPEHU. If snow closes the Central Plateau highways lengthy detours will go via Hawkes Bay or Taranaki. SH5 from Napier to Taupo will also likely be impacted by snow on Wednesday or Thursday with snow expected to fall down to Rangitaiki.

Which airports may be impacted?

Hard to say as airlines, airports and pilots make decisions on whether they will fly or not, but its fair to say the weather could impact flights/airports at Dunedin, Invercargill and Queenstown. This may therefore impact some other flights/airports anywhere in NZ, especially if snow grounds any planes at an airport.

Which ski fields will get snow?

Every single one of them! Oh, with the exception of Aucklands indoors Snow Planet :)

How far north will the snow fall?

The Gisborne ranges and probably the Coromandel Peninsula and Kaimai Range peaks.

Is it a storm?

No it is not. In the South Island its a fairly straight forward snowy/cold period of weather for July. Its definitely worth warning about though, especially for farmers and those who need to use the highways and airports. However as the cold change moves into the North Islands things get far more complicated due to a large low expected there mid-next week. This low will be pulling in winds north of the country for a time, this will add moisture (and warmth) into the rain over the North Island - but there will be a line where the colder southerly moves into this moisture and therefore snow could be quite heavy in the North Island ranges and mountains for a couple of days. One to monitor as this is a bit unpredictable, especially 4 or 5 days out.

Whats the timing of it again?

Starts Tuesday AM in Southland and Otago. - Reaches Canterbury into Tuesday PM and Wednesday AM. - Wednesday PM, across Thursday and early Friday AM for the North Island ranges and Central Plateau.
Morning, SunLive readers, and welcome to another July Sunday.

According to the MetService, this mornings heavy rain is likely to clear by this afternoon, making it an ideal day to sleep in.

However, for those of you who just cant bear lying in bed doing nothing, theres still plenty on to keep you entertained.

Tauranga City Council is teaming up with Western Bay Wander Dogs to bring dog lovers from across the sub-region together on a fun, friendly and relaxed dog walk this morning.

The one-hour walk will depart at 10am from the Waipuna Park carpark, along Johnson Reserve and loop back to the carpark. There will be opportunities to get advice from animal services staff, as well as the chance to get to know other dog lovers, while having fun with your dog outdoors. The Coffee Wagon is also expected be there serving hot and cold drinks.

According to the dog walk event page on Facebook, most dogs love the water, meaning this mornings downpour shouldnt affect proceedings.

If youre not keen on going outside for long periods of time, thats fine too. The Papamoa Art Collective is holding an exhibition at Papamoa Plaza, open daily from 9.30am to 4.30pm, July 8-23. You can find them next to Eves Realty at the shopping centre.

Check out todays other great events below:

WHATS ON  Sunday, July 9:

A Course In Miracles

Loving solutions for unloving situations. Join a spirited discussion on the application of Miracle principles. Backbenches Room, Grindz Cafe, 50 First Ave. 12:30pm Coffee and chat. 1pm Discussion: Eft. Healing The Body By Healing The Mind. Trans religious.Donation appreciated.

Bay Bible Fellowship/Lords Day

Join us for our Worship & Communion service at Welcome Bay Primary School Hall, 309 Welcome Bay road. 10.00am. 1 Peter 3:18-22. Preacher: Richard Roodt. All welcome. Visit us at www.bbf.net.nz

Bible Seminars

Sunday 1:45pm at Greerton Senior Citizens Hall, Maitland St, Greerton. Title: The Bible Gods message to us Interactive, Q & A. All welcome. Refreshments provided. Vic 543 0504

BOP Orchid Society

Birthday Auction: 12 noon at Te Puke Lodge Hall, Oxford Street, Te Puke. Fun Auction with plants and all sorts.

Croquet

Every Sun, Tues & Fri at Tauranga Domain, Cameron Rd 12.45pm. Beginners welcome. Peter 571 0633

Czech and Slovak Club Tauranga

Czech School & Playgroup. Guests welcome! Tauranga Boys College, 10am - 12noon, Devonport Rd, More info: https://www.csclubtauranga.nz/en/

Dog Walk

Join us for a dog walk. Meet at Waipuna Park carpark, 10am. Bring dog, leash and bags. 577 7000

Matariki Messy Church

St Johns, 94 Bureta Rd, Otumoetai 4-6pm. For families and children of all ages. Join us for activities, celebration and food. Entry by koha.

Papamoa Lions Club Market

Gordon Spratt Reserve, Parton Rd, Papamoa. Gates open 7am for stall holder entry. Wayne 027 974 5699

Quakers in Tauranga

In hall behind Brain Watkins House, cnr Elizabeth St/Cameron Rd 10am for an hour of mainly silent worship followed by tea/coffee & talk. 544 0448 www.quaker.org.nz

Radio Controlled Model Yachts

Meet Sun 1.30pm & Thurs 1.30pm at pond behind 24 Montego Drive, Papamoa to sail Electron & similar 3ft long yachts, for fun. Adult beginners welcome. Graham 572 5419

Sunday Funday

Games & activities for the whole family at Greerton Aquatic & Leisure Centre 12-3pm. Parents & caregivers are welcome & encouraged to participate. BBQ hire $15.

Tauranga Theosophical Society.

Join us for a brief look at Ancient Maya and their tools for astronomy. Tauranga Yoga Center, 2pm. All welcome, entry by donation. 577 6042

Toastmasters Corkers Club

Meets once a month 3rd Sunday 2pm at Zone Cafe, Bayfair join our happy group Phone text 021 044 5 654
Chinese handset company OPPO Mobile retains its position as the leading upper midrange handset vendor by a large margin -- enough for the brand to still be second most profilic phone seller in the Philippines currently

the popular OPPO F3 has emerged as the Philippines' No.1 smartphone in the Php 15,000 to Php 20,000 price bracket with an overwhelming 48.5% market share

Despite stiff competition coming from other international smartphone brands,Based on a study done byduring the earlier part of this year (the results of which were published on the research agency's May 2017 report),The upper midrange model OPPO F3 became an instant success when 22,000 unit of which were sold within the first three days of its availability last May 2017.Hot on the heels of' overwhelming market performance in 2016 and earlier this year, OPPO F3 was able to likewise capture the fancy of Pinoy consumers with its selfie-centric features, great design, more than decent set of internal hardware, and fairly affordable price tag.According to- OPPO Philippines Brand Marketing Manager,With the success of OPPO F3 and the stellar sales of the company's other handset models, OPPO was able to remain as the Philippines #2 best-selling smartphone brand for the first half of 2017.Last June 16, 2017, the Chinese handset maker released the OPPO F3 Black edition, which catered to the taste of consumers who are looking for other 'elegant yet subdued' color options.The OPPO F3 is available at all OPPO Concept Stores and Partner Retail Outlets across the Philippines for a special discounted price ofvia the brand's generous Back-to-School Promo, which will run until July 31, 2017. Retail units come with a pre-installed screen protector as well as a soft-transparent jelly case.
There's a new trend on the rise and as with many below-the-belt trends, it is both attention-grabbing and potentially hazardous. Vaginal glitter bombs are apparently the new product to try, and gynecologists are quick to point out the product's safety hazards.

Glitter Capsules

Pretty Woman Inc. is the company that sells these glitter capsules for the nether regions. Simply put, the glitter capsules were made to be inserted into the vagina an hour before doing the deed to make lovemaking more fun, enjoyable, and apparently, sparkly.

The product is basically a glitter bomb for the nether regions. The product description states that the capsule will eventually dissolve during lovemaking and that its main purpose is simply for fun as it adds a little sparkle and sweetness to the experience.

It is said to be made from FDA-approved ingredients such as vegetable stearate and starch-based edible glitter.

Questions And Answers

Naturally, doctors were concerned about this product and were quick to raise questions regarding its safety specifically when it comes to placing glitters into the nether regions.

Particularly, San Francisco-based ob-gyn, Dr. Jen Gunter, warns that glitter is made of plastic, so its presence in the vagina could lead to a quick infection development. Further, she mentions that even if the glitters were made of sugar or even just has sugar, which is another red flag when it comes to vaginal health as sugar can yet again lead to infection.

The above-mentioned points are concerns shared by Dr. Shazia Malik, an Ob-gyn, and Dr. Vanessa Mackay of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Further, Dr. Gunter points out that an item may be edible, but it doesn't mean that it is safe to be inserted into the vagina.

On its website, Pretty Woman is pretty fierce when it comes to defending its product. In fact, it has already provided answers to many anticipated questions.

For instance, the company was quick to point out that gynecologists would likely warn people not to place things in their vagina. It did not exactly negate this statement, but the company pointed out that even items such as condoms and tampons pose a risk when being inserted into the vagina.

What's more, Pretty Woman also pointed out that the edible glitters are round in shape, so they have no sharp edges, and that there are probably more harmful glitters in cosmetic products such as lip gloss.

The company also said that it is "sure" that the cases of yeast infections are not caused by the glitter and that they "just happen sometimes."

Pretty Woman, however, suggests people with hyper-sensitive vaginas to exercise caution and "common sense" when deciding whether or not to use the product. Similarly, it also warns that the glitter particles could possibly trigger asthma attacks when ingested.

As always, exercising caution is important when it comes to trying out trends, especially when it involves placing an object inside a body cavity, whether we're talking about glitter capsules, healing jade eggs, or wasp nests. Yes, wasp nests.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Scientists from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) have announced that the Large Hadron Collider (LHCb) finally detected a new particle that physicists have been searching for in the past few years.

According to the team of scientists who made the successful observation, the new particle is composed of two heavy quarks and is nearly four times heavier in mass than the proton, the most commonly known baryon.

Physicists have dubbed the new subatomic particle "Xi cc++."

Discovering The New Particle

Physicists have long theorized that such a particle combination exists but have failed to detect any signs of a doubly heavy particle before this observation. What makes this discovery more exciting is that the new particle was detected unambiguously, removing any doubt of human error.

"We have seen 313 interactions in data collected in 2016 and 113 interactions in data collected in 2012. Our observation has a [high] statistical significance ... and is unambiguously real," Patrick Spradlin confirms. Spradlin is one of the lead scientists in the collaboration.

As a bit of disclaimer, the new particle does not really have a long life and was not detected in its complete state. Rather, the heavy particle was identified from its remains  or the particles which it broke down into.

However, since physicists usually target a statistical significance of 5 sigma with particle discoveries and the Xi cc++ discovery has a 7 sigma significance, so we can only assume the detection was valid.

"Finding a doubly heavy-quark baryon is of great interest as it will provide a unique tool to further probe quantum chromodynamics ... Such particles will thus help us improve the predictive power of our theories," LHCb collaboration spokesperson Giovanni Passaleva said.

Opening Up New Worlds

The Xi cc++ discovery is definitely a major discovery that would allow scientist to gain more knowledge on how the world around us works.

In the Standard Model, scientists theorize that the basic building blocks of matter incorporate four fundamental forces: electromagnetism, strong interaction, weak interaction, and gravity. However, most observable things in the universe leave out gravity in their interaction, so scientists theorized that the missing force may be observed in heavier particles.

If anyone is wondering how the new particle differs from standard three-quark models, the doubly heavy particle now puts gravity into play. This is because scientists expect to observe a binary star system-like interaction among the quarks.

"[A] doubly heavy baryon is expected to act like a planetary system, where the two heavy quarks play the role of heavy stars orbiting one around the other," former LHCb collaboration spokesperson Guy Wilkinson reveals.

Of course, that means the lighter quarks would orbit around the heavier ones, mimicking a planetary system orbit.

Since the existence of doubly heavy quarks has finally been confirmed, physicists will now look into detecting other heavy baryons with the help of the LHCb facility.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Almost a dozen teenagers from Indiana have been hospitalized over a reported case of consuming drug-laced gummy bears. Local authorities conducting an investigation call the incident a wake-up call for parents and teenagers.

911 Call

The teenager who called 911 on late evening of July 6, Thursday, was waiting at the side of the road when local authorities in LaPorte, Indiana, responded to the call. The 19-year-old then admitted to the police that he felt sick after ingesting an unknown drug and would like to go to the emergency room.

The teen was experiencing hallucinations, pain in his leg, rapid heart rate, and blurred vision, and informed the police that he had peers in the same area who had also taken the drug. Police then found ten other teenagers experiencing the same symptoms in a nearby residence.

The emergency responders were not immediately aware of what the teens consumed, but the teens admitted to sharing six gummy bears, with each individual eating half of the candy.

"You know I'll tell you that in 31 years on the job I've never seen that many people affected by eating a gummy bear," said Captain Mike Kellems of the LaPorte County Sheriff's Department.

The 11 teens were admitted to a local hospital where their heartrates were found to be over 200 and their laboratory results showed extremely high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is an active ingredient commonly found in marijuana.

The 11 teenagers, six of whom are male and five were female, were treated and released by Friday morning, July 7.

Wake-Up Call

Captain Kellems states their confidence that the teenagers were aware that they were not consuming regular gummy bears, as the candies were of larger size and were pre-induced with the drug. As such, he is calling this incident a wake-up call to both parents and teenagers, especially since they were likely unaware of the severity of what they were getting into.

Further, he stated that the gummy bears in question were probably induced with another drug apart from the high dose of THC and were likely to have been bought out of state. The half gummy bear left uneaten has already been sent to the laboratory for testing.

As of now, it is unclear if anyone will face any criminal charges.

What Is THC?

THC is the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis and is responsible for the pleasurable intoxication or "high." Because of its similarity in structure to the brain chemical anandamide, THC is recognized by the body, allowing it to alter normal brain function and communication.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
"The dialogue and negotiation of Venezuela found at the Paris Forum for Peace three friends, the governments of France, Argentina and the Republic of Colombia," said the president... | Read More
After a contentious exit from LSU, former Tigers band director Roy King has accepted a position as the band leader for Tate High School in Cantonment, Florida.

King, who was named national band director of the year in 2014, was announced as the choice to lead Tate's "Showband of the South" on Thursday. He led LSU's band from 2010-'16. He had most recently worked at Pine Forest High School in Pensacola.

King, who was in Tiger Band as a student and had worked at LSU since 1998, claimed he was fired in violation of his First Amendment rights and his due process rights. He also accused the university of defamation, libel and slander.

King's termination letter accused him of, among other things, circumventing management directives by awarding scholarships to members of the Golden Girls dance team and flag girls of the color guard without proper approval.

King filed a lawsuit against the school, which was settled in June. Both King and the university said in statements that they were pleased with the outcome of lawsuit.

Without any admission of fault or liability, LSU paid $110,000 to settle the suit.

LSU agreed to pay the former Golden Band from Tigerland director $10,000 for lost wages and $63,333 for personal and bodily injuries.

LSU spokesman Ernie Ballard said the settlement represents a year's salary that King was entitled to pursuant to university policy.

The school paid another $36,666 to King's lawyer, Jill Craft, for attorney's fees.
Attorneys for one of the officers wounded in a lone gunman's deadly ambush on Baton Rouge law enforcement last July claim the national Black Lives Matter protest movement and five of its most prominent activists are to blame for the attack.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in Baton Rouge federal court, the attorneys allege DeRay Mckesson, Johnetta "Netta" Elzie, who have emerged as leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement, along with others "incited violence against police" and claim the activists' criticism of law enforcement led directly to 29-year-old Gavin Long's July 17 attack that left three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers dead.

The Black Lives Matter movement began around 2013 to protest the fatal shootings of black people, primarily by police.

The officer represented in the suit, who isn't named but whose injuries are described in detail, is East Baton Rouge sheriff's deputy Nick Tullier, who was permanently disabled after being shot three times in the July 17 attack and remains hospitalized.

Donna Grodner, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit, said she wasn't authorized to comment publicly on it. James Tullier, the deputy's father, didn't respond to a message Friday.

The 28-page lawsuit describes a number of protests over fatal police shootings in cities across the country  beginning with demonstrations over the 2014 death of Michael Brown in the St. Louis, Missouri, suburb of Ferguson  as violent and centrally organized "riots." Black Lives Matter activists, the suit alleges, "declared a virtual war on police."

The complaint lists dozens of protests tied to Black Lives Matter across the country while highlighting reports of violence or property damage  including several in Long's hometown of Kansas City, Missouri  but doesn't tie Long to the demonstrations. It also alleges that 11 officers have been killed and nine more wounded in shootings by "BLM protestors, activists and/or supporters."

Long's attack came less than two weeks after Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was fatally shot during a struggle with two white Baton Rouge policemen outside a North Foster Drive convenience store where he sold CDs and DVDs. The officers were responding to an anonymous 911 caller who said a man matching Sterling's description threatened him with a gun.

Sterling's controversial death on July 5, captured on two cellphone videos that were released publicly shortly afterward, sparked protests in Baton Rouge and across the country.

Roughly 190 people, including Mckesson, were arrested during demonstrations in the Capital City the following weekend. East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III declined to charge 98 of the arrested protesters, including Mckesson. Local law enforcement agencies and the city agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by Mckesson and other protesters over their arrests.

Without citing specific comments or quoting Mckesson or Elzie, Tullier's lawsuit claims the two activists came to Baton Rouge not only to protest but "to incite others to violence against police and other law enforcement officers."

The lawsuit, which seeks at least $75,000 in damages, doesn't cite any direct connections between Long, the gunman, and Mckesson or the other activists named in the suit. But it accuses the Black Lives Matter activists of negligence and claims they're responsible for Long's attack because they "knew or should have known that violently mentally disturbed persons would be aroused by their call to violence and retribution to police for the deaths of black men."

Long's Sunday morning ambush killed three  Baton Rouge police officers Montrell Jackson and Matthew Gerald and East Baton Rouge Sheriff's deputy Brad Garafola  and left three others wounded.

Tullier, a father of two, was shot in the head, shoulder and stomach during the attack and nearly died. After months of intensive treatment at Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center, Tullier moved in November to a rehabilitation hospital in Houston, where doctors say he's regained very limited body movement and can respond to some questions by moving his head.

Long, who was killed by Baton Rouge police officers responding to the attack, left a lengthy trail of rambling online posts and videos that expressed growing rage over fatal shootings of black men by police. In a three-page handwritten suicide note left in his car, he wrote of an "unseen and concealed war with America's police force between Good cops and Bad cops."

An ex-Marine from Kansas City, Missouri, Long drove through the night to Dallas, Texas, just after a gunman there killed five police officers during what had been a peaceful demonstration downtown days after Sterling's death. A friend Long visited in Dallas told the Kansas City Star newspaper that Long obsessed over the videos of Sterling's death and appeared to praise the Dallas gunman.

Yet Long's note, online postings and videos also suggest a disdain for demonstrations. A lengthy investigation into Long's attack, led by Louisiana State Police detectives, uncovered nothing to suggest the gunman joined in any of the protests in Baton Rouge or elsewhere. Moore, the East Baton Rouge district attorney, said at a June 30 press conference, at which those findings were released, that Long "believes that protests are worthless and that action needs to be taken."

In a video Long recorded as he drove around north Baton Rouge in the days before the attack, the soon-to-be killer can be heard talking to people he meets about his dislike of "crackers," referencing Black Panther Party co-founder Huey Newton and rambling about his own idiosyncratic spiritual beliefs. But he tells those he encounters he's "not really into protesting."

Mckesson condemned Long's attack within hours, telling the New York Times that the Black Lives Matter movement "began as a call to end violence. That call remains." But the lawsuit calls such denunciations by Mckesson and other activists as coming "all but too late."

"Obviously, at this point talk show hosts were holding them responsible," the suit says, referring to the leaders of the movement, "and they were having to defend the blame and responsibility for what they had caused whether in whole or in part."

"This is quite a world," Mckesson told a reporter for the Associated Press on Friday when informed of Tullier's lawsuit. He declined to comment when contacted by The Advocate, saying he was still reviewing the lawsuit. Elzie and the other activists named in the suit couldn't be reached for comment.

Grodner, one of the attorneys representing Tullier, previously filed another lawsuit against Black Lives Matter and Mckesson that leveled similar accusations on behalf of an unnamed Baton Rouge policeman allegedly injured during the protests. Billy Gibbens, a New Orleans attorney representing Mckesson, asked a federal judge to toss out the suit, calling its allegations baseless speculation and arguing that Black Lives Matter is a loose social movement and not an organization that can be sued.

Grodner acknowledged during a March court hearing that it wasn't clear who threw a chunk of concrete at her client but, as in Friday's lawsuit, accused Mckesson of controlling the protesters and directing their actions.

The judge has not issued a decision yet on whether to dismiss that suit.

Mckesson arrived in Baton Rouge on July 8, several days after protests began, and streamed his arrest the next evening live on Twitter. He was booked into Parish Prison on a count of simple obstruction of a highway, a crime he disputes.

The July 9 protests near Baton Rouge police headquarters "turned into a riot" as Mckesson "incited violence," the lawsuit claims, and demonstrators, described as "members" of Black Lives Matter, "began to loot a Circle K" convenience store.

A Baton Rouge police spokesman said Friday that the agency received no reports of looting or theft at the shop.
Scores of protesters arrested last summer following Alton Sterling's fatal shooting were treated "like animals" and humiliated inside the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison, according to a scathing new report that describes the lockup's conditions as so bad as to be unconstitutional.

The demonstrators, most of whom were booked on counts of obstructing a highway, were subjected to excessive force, including the indiscriminate use of pepper spray by guards, and spent hours or days locked in overcrowded cells "caked with grime and blood," according to the report, prepared by The Promise of Justice Initiative, a New Orleans-based advocacy group.

The report, to be released Monday, accuses guards of retaliating against protesters for participating in demonstrations that went on for days following the fatal shooting of Sterling in a confrontation with police outside a convenience store.

But the report alleges the mistreatment of the protesters reflects a more systemic oppression inmates endure at the jail on a daily basis. Moreover, the report claims, the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office "appears to encourage or at least tolerate abusive and humiliating conduct of guards."

"The arrest and detention of approximately 180 individuals protesting the police killing of Alton Sterling provided a distressing window into the actual conditions of East Baton Rouge Parish Prison," the report says. "Unfortunately, this report reflects the treatment of detainees in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison when the whole world was watching."

The jail's warden, Dennis Grimes, defended the actions of his guards as "appropriate, professional and well within constitutional standards," adding they "at all times acted appropriately."

"The claims of the protesters are without merit," Grimes said.

The report, based on interviews with more than a dozen protesters, echos several contemporaneous accounts of the protesters' time behind bars published last summer by The Advocate and other news outlets. But it offers a more detailed window into what the report describes as the "unconstitutional hardship" the protesters endured, including the repeated denial of medical treatment inside the jail, whether for injuries sustained during arrest or some other pre-existing condition.

"How we treat the people we incarcerate defines us, and when we take people who are protesting racism and violence and treat them with brute force, it divides our communities, undermines our confidence in the justice system and demeans all of us," said G. Ben Cohen, an attorney with The Promise of Justice Initiative. "We owe folks a better system."

Thousands of protesters descended on the Capital City following Sterling's death, clashing with police in a series of run-ins along Airline Highway and Goodwood Avenue  near the Baton Rouge Police Department headquarters  and a march on Government Street that culminated in another confrontation. Hundreds of police officers, some donning riot gear, drew a hard line in their efforts to maintain traffic on the city's critical thoroughfares.

Many of those arrested were accused of illegally stepping into the roadway, a misdemeanor count that, in many cases, prosecutors quickly declined to pursue. At least three journalists were taken into custody, as was a prominent Black Lives Matters activist, DeRay Mckesson.

The arrests prompted a series of civil-rights lawsuits, including a class-action complaint that recently resulted in a proposed settlement  pending the approval of a federal judge  in which some 80 protesters would receive cash payments between $500 and $1,000 and have their arrest records expunged.

While the litigation surrounding the arrests has largely focused on the actions of the city police, the report from the Promise of Justice Initiative examined the protesters' plight after they were booked into Parish Prison.

Erica Navalance, the report's lead author, said the "two most disturbing aspects of our investigation were that those detained for minor infractions were forced to endure threats of brutal force and humiliation, and that it might actually be worse for those regularly arrested in East Baton Rouge on minor offenses."

One of those arrested, Jenna Finkle, "spent her night in prison surrounded by strangers and guards she could not see" because the authorities would not return her eyeglasses to her. The report says she was crammed into a cell meant for 10 people that was holding between 17 and 24. "The cell was so tight that women sat on the ground right next to the toilets, which had to be used without any privacy," the report says.

Virtually all of the protesters were denied a free phone call upon being booked, the report found, and they were deprived of drinking water and "basic supplies, including tampons, soap, running water and toothbrushes."

At least seven protesters described "large groups of inmates being pepper-sprayed for various reasons, none of which included threats to officer or prison safety, in violation of the law and established policies."

"The chemical spray was so intense that detainees down the hall were coughing, choking and had burning eyes," the report says. "Even officers had to step outside to get fresh air because of the excessive spray."

Guards were "openly racist," the report said, and one even referred to an inmate housing unit as a "slave plantation," the report alleges. The protesters, some of whom began singing in the jail, claimed they were threatened with the loss of their court date if they did not be quiet.

"When one woman rhetorically asked out loud, 'How many people are going to be killed before we wake up?,' an officer responded by staring at her threateningly and responding 'As many as needed,'" the report says.

While he defended his guards, Grimes, the warden, acknowledged that the parish prison is "old and outdated."

"Efforts have been made by the city-parish for a tax to provide the parish with a new facility; however, the voters in the parish have not approved taxes for financing a new prison," he said. "Unfortunately, the parish prison is limited and it is the only facility for all arrestees within the parish regardless of the crime charged whether a misdemeanor or felony."
The failure of efforts to boost state aid for roads and bridges means key projects statewide will be slowed, Louisiana's transportation chief said Friday.

"My struggle is without funds we probably don't need to be advancing all these projects to the next stage," said Shawn Wilson, secretary for the state Department of Transportation and Development.

The list includes preliminary work on a new bridge across the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge; upgrading the Loyola Drive interchange near Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and widening Interstate 10 between Williams Boulevard and Veterans Highway in Jefferson Parish.

Wilson said more than half a dozen major projects are pending in the New Orleans area, all needing between $40 million and $100 million each to finish.

"And that is just in New Orleans," he said. "That doesn't include what is happening in Baton Rouge, what is happening in Lafayette."

Wilson also said that, without any injection of new dollars on the horizon, highway and bridge preservation will be the priority.

A push to increase state aid for roads and bridges by about $500 million per year by boosting the state gas tax 17 cents per gallon died during the regular legislative session, which ended on June 8.

Critics said that, despite complaints from motorists in Baton Rouge and elsewhere, voters were unwilling to pay higher taxes in hopes of easing daily backups.

The lack of any action leaves standing Louisiana's $13 billion backlog of road and bridge needs, and a separate list of "mega" projects, including a new bridge in Baton Rouge.

Wilson said an environmental study for a new bridge is underway. But he said the review will get to a point where a funding commitment is needed to continue the planning.

Wilson said federal officials will eventually be unwilling to continue preliminary work if the project is going to sit on a shelf.

"We expect to have something in late '18, early '19, but before we finish that we have to have a plan on how to finance the project," he said.

A new bridge would cost at least $1 billion.

Other New Orleans-area projects with funding questions include a new interchange at the Lake Pontchartrian Causeway and Earhart Expressway; replacement of the Almonaster Avenue Bridge and replacement of the Belle Chase Tunnel.

Wilson said in February that, without new aid, the state could see its first loss of federal aid for roads and bridges. Louisiana typically gets between $650 million and $700 million per year. Wilson said then that the state, as early as next year, could lose $150 million in federal aid in the first year and $300 in the second.

In addition, state officials this week closed Louisiana's 28th rural bridge this year because of deteriorating conditions.

Report criticizes condition of rural Louisiana roads and bridges Rural road conditions in Louisiana are the 17th poorest in the nation and the state has the 

In June a report by the national transportation group TRIP said Louisiana has the ninth most structurally deficient bridges in the nation.

One project that is on schedule will widen Interstate 10 from Highland Road in Baton Rouge to La. Hwy. 73 in suburban Ascension Parish, a 7-mile stretch. Wilson said the contract is set to be signed on Aug. 10, with work beginning near the end of the year .

After the contract is signed Wilson said motorists may notice preliminary work, including installation of barriers.

The I-10 widening will expand the corridor from four lanes to six lanes and take up to 2 1/2 years to finish.
Misty Wood was booked Thursday in connection with allegations that she stole $116,000 from the Louisiana Supreme Court. (OPSO)
Vast swathes of land in the ACT, earmarked for high speed rail tracks, are to be kept locked down and beyond the reach of housing developers, the ACT government says.

The declaration follows warnings on Friday that the rapid sprawl of housing on the fringes of Sydney and Melbourne threatens to blow the nation's chance of a very fast train network by building over vital corridors for the long-awaited transport project.

Infrastructure Australia published a report on Friday saying fast trains could be running between Canberra and Sydney as early as 2032 but warned the NSW and Victorian governments that they must act now to protect the rail corridor from the rapid sprawl on the edges of their capital cities.

In the ACT, where a very fast train has been seen since the 1980s as a potential economic game-changer for the territory's economy, the Labor government says the land needed for the Canberra leg of a high speed rail route is safely out of the clutches of the house builders.
A team of researchers in the United States might have just cracked one of the biggest mysteries in economics. It's why young men are vanishing, in Australia as well as overseas.

A decade or so back we had a good idea of where they were. Of the Australian men aged 15 to 24 who weren't in school or higher education, an impressive 85 per cent were working.

That was back in May 2007. By May this year it had fallen to 78.6 per cent. That's one in every five young men not in education now not working, up from one in every seven a few years back. An extra 51,000 young men have "gone dark", slipped under the statistical radar.

And hardly any women. Young women not in education are about as likely to work as they used to be.
Before the days of iPads and car seat DVD players, most families played "I spy" to kill time on a driving holiday.

But not the family of retiring NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe. Instead they played "spot the illegal 'no refunds' sign".

NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe and his beloved collection of fossils. Credit:Michele Mossop

It's an anecdote that sums up nicely Mr Stowe's 40 years as a public servant, almost solely dedicated to consumer affairs.

From Nigerian money scams to dodgy builders and shonky real estate agents; in his six years as the Fair Trading Commissioner Mr Stowe has just about seen it all.
Domestic and global politics are ordinarily two discrete spheres. But thanks to an astonishing piece of synchronicity  rarer than a supermoon lunar eclipse  the central question occupying world leaders in Hamburg this weekend is exactly the same as the one furrowing Malcolm Turnbull's brow domestically, viz: What can you possibly do about a maniacal adversary who is determined to blow you up, and doesn't appear to have any natural limits on how far he's prepared to go?

On one front, Turnbull is grappling with the trigger-happy leader of a hermit kingdom cut off from most accepted versions of reality, constructing its own wildly revisionist account of history and operating in its own time zone with very limited access to modern technology.

And on the other, of course, there's North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. World leaders touching down in Hamburg on Friday for the meeting of the G20  in the shadow of Kim's worrying launch of a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile earlier in the week - were understandably ginger.

For the host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the gathering is an Olympic-class modern pentathlon in the art of being hospitable to a bunch of blokes who have variously called her a weakling and a terrorist-harbourer, refused to shake her hand or are busily cyberhacking her approaching federal election.
The Sunday Age has long commended the state government's agenda of supporting and commissioning major infrastructure projects.

The level crossing removal project will do much to free up Melbourne's congested suburban roads. Upgrades to regional rail will help Victorians who live outside the capital, and who have long wanted for better public transport. But it's the $10.9 billion Melbourne Metro Rail Project, and its tunnel and new stations for Melbourne, that is the jewel in the state government's infrastructure crown.

Work begins on the the new CBD North Station. Credit:Paul Jeffers

Heading into next year's election, Premier Dan Andrews is keen to be seen as the leader of a "can do" government, and one that can get the job done.

Labor is hoping to build those credentials on the back of projects such as Melbourne Metro. While the government should be commended for tackling such a major project, especially when the Baillieu and Napthine governments baulked at major infrastructure projects, it's not to say the plan is without its flaws.
The sun had not even risen when the British public began to converge on Crystal Palace. By breakfast, there was hardly space to move on the streets surrounding Hyde Park. Many in the waiting crowd made straight for the Koh-i-Noor, sitting on a bolt of rich red velvet inside a gilded iron cage. Policemen, charged with keeping the crowds at bay, were almost lifted off their feet by the surge. But by the close of the first day, it became clear that something was very wrong with the Koh-i-Noor. Visitors who had managed to get near the exhibit left grumbling. The Illustrated London News, which had been one of the more excitable publications in the run-up to the event, expressed the disappointment of many: "A diamond is generally colourless, and the finest are quite free from any speck or flaw of any kind, resembling a drop of the purest water. The Koh-i-Noor is not cut in the best form for exhibiting its purity and lustre, and will therefore disappoint many, if not all, of those who so anxiously press forward to see it." The Koh-i-Noor had appeared dull in its captivity, and the bad publicity it was generating threatened to take the gleam off Prince Albert's finest moment. In a matter of days, he ordered gas lamps to be placed around the gem to help it shine for the visitors, but these failed to make much difference. Before long, visitors began turning their backs on the Koh-i-Noor, avoiding the exhibit altogether. Disappointed and determined to change their minds, Prince Albert ordered work to begin on a new display setting. While visitors squeezed past, men worked behind screens, creating a lattice of gas lamps and angled mirrors around the cage. Though such efforts helped, praise for the Koh-i-Noor remained lukewarm. More tinkering was needed. On June 14, a dramatic new display was revealed to the public, one which Prince Albert was sure would save its reputation. To signify its importance, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their two eldest sons attended the reunveiling of the freshened-up exhibit. A wooden cabin now surrounded the diamond, blocking out all the natural light that streamed through the glass roof and windows of the Crystal Palace. This enabled the gas lamps and mirrors to do their work more efficiently. The original bolt of deep-red cloth which had been arranged beneath the diamond was now substituted with more vibrantly coloured velvet.

The Koh-I-Noor at the Great Exhibition in 1951. Credit:Historical Outside the heavily guarded Haymarket workshop, a steady trickle of onlookers waited, like a crowd of concerned relatives outside an operating theatre. Reporters bickered over its unusual shade, describing it as anything from shocking pink to imperial violet. No other exhibit had received so much attention from the organisers, and early press coverage suggested their efforts hadn't been in vain: "One of the most extraordinary metamorphosis [sic] is the change that has come over the Koh-i-Noor diamond. The doubts that have been thrown upon its value and authenticity and the difficulty of fully appreciating its brilliancy in the broad glare of day, have led to the enveloping of the cage and its contents in massive folds of crimson drapery, and showing its splendour by artificial light. The diamond has stood the test wonderfully, and has fully redeemed its character." The reconfigured display made the diamond tantalisingly difficult to get to: "You pass in singly  the cage, with the exception of about an eighth of its circumference, is enveloped in pink bolts of cloth; half a dozen jets of gas are arranged behind it, and the light from these is again reflected by more than a dozen small mirrors upon the diamond." The difficulty of access restored some of the lost mystery to the diamond. Newspapers also polished archive copy, reminding readers of the gem's exotic provenance and potent symbolism. The display and the diamond's mount became a metaphor for British supremacy.

The security for the Koh-i-Noor was substantial and carried the name of Chubb. Since his 1817 "detector lock", Jeremiah Chubb had gained a reputation for making unbreakable locks. His Koh-i-Noor safe was seen as his best work to date: "One of the peculiarities of Mr Chubb's wonderful safe is said to be that the moment the surrounding glass shade is touched, the diamond, like a sensitive plant, shrinks from the too near approach of a profane hand, and descends into its adamantine fastness," reported London's Evening Standard. In reality, the diamond would not so much withdraw like a sensitive plant, but instead plop through a small trap door into a thick walled safe if anyone attempted to reach for it. Although the celebrated changes drew fresh crowds, enthusiasm quickly evaporated, thanks to the unbearable temperatures inside the cabin. Gas lamps, mirrors and heavy fabric turned the display into a sauna, causing visitors to swoon after only a few minutes. The press began to blame the Koh-i-Noor for being difficult, as if it were some kind of contrary and disappointing child: "There appears to be something impracticable about the gem, for the more it is lighted up, the less it is disposed to display its splendour," noted the Standard. In October, The Great Exhibition ended; the Koh-i-Noor was finally liberated from its iron cage and the withering estimation of the public. Spared any further public humiliation, the diamond was taken back to the vaults. The Koh-i-Noor, before re-cutting. Credit:Hulton Archive In Calcutta, James Andrew Braun-Ramsay, the Earl of Dalhousie and Governor-General of India, had been following the Koh-i-Noor's debut with a mixture of disappointment and irritation. He had always described the gem in superlatives, and now stood accused of exaggeration as well as arrogance. He joined the choir of criticism, reproaching the diamond itself for its failed public debut: "[It] is badly cut: it is rose- not brilliant-cut, and of course won't sparkle like the latter." Though Dalhousie did not dare name him, he also seemed to blame Prince Albert for the diamond's humiliation: "It should not have been shown in a huge space. In the Toshakhana [a Lahore treasure house owned by the East India Company where the diamond was held after its acquisition by the British], Dr John Login [a company official] used to show it on a table covered with black velvet cloth, the diamond alone, appearing through a hole in the cloth, and relieved by the dark colour all around."

Albert, too, became preoccupied with the diamond's failure, and decided to do something about it. Summoning scientists and jewellers, he demanded to know what could be done to improve its appearance. The eminent physicist David Brewster was one of the most noteworthy men to be consulted on the matter. Known as the father of modern experimental optics, Brewster had invented the kaleidoscope and had pushed at the boundaries of mineral analysis and the physics of light polarisation. After studying the Koh-i-Noor closely, Brewster came up with a damning verdict. The diamond was flawed at its very heart. Yellow flecks ran through a plane at its centre, one of which was large and marred its ability to refract light. If it had to be cut, the risk of destroying it in the process was high. At the very least, the diamond would lose a great deal of its mass if the flaws were to be dealt with adequately. This was not the answer Prince Albert had wanted to hear, so he sent his expert's analysis to Messrs Garrard of London, jewellers to the queen, hoping for a more encouraging assessment. The Garrard family summoned the finest diamond-cutters in the world to give their opinion. Dutch craftsmen working for Mozes Coster, Holland's largest and most famous firm of diamond merchants, studied the scientific data and confirmed Brewster's opinion about its flaws. Unlike the scientist, however, they were sure they could cut the Koh-i-Noor. Not only would they make it glitter, they assured the prince, they would also preserve the diamond's majestic size. The royal couple ordered work on the Koh-i-Noor to begin. Re-cutting the Koh-I-Noor diamond in 1852. Credit:Universal History Archive A specially designed workshop was constructed at 25 Haymarket, in London's Piccadilly. Garrard hired Coster's two best diamond-cutters, Levie Benjamin Voorzanger and Herman Feder, who travelled from Amsterdam to England. The men were provided with a steam engine, designed by Maudslay, Sons and Field, a firm of respected British marine engineers. The engine powered fast-spinning grinders, vital precision-cutting tools used by the Dutch team.

As engineers prepared for the cutting, under the supervision of the queen's mineralogist, James Tennant, the Koh-i-Noor and its failings made their way into the headlines again: "The precious stone, which was the cynosure of the world's exhibition of 1851, attracted from the multitudes who last year gazed upon it, disappointment at the somewhat dim radiance of its lustre  [and failed to fulfil] the expectations entertained from the highflown descriptions which have given the Mountain of Light a title many beholders held to be a misnomer." Though there was little to see outside the heavily guarded Haymarket workshop, a steady trickle of onlookers started to arrive by the first week of July. Content merely to listen to the banging and whirring going on inside, they waited, like a crowd of concerned relatives outside an operating theatre. Finally, after weeks of anticipation, on July 16, 1852, the "patient" was brought forth from the Tower of London and presented to the Dutch craftsmen. Though the sight of the Koh-i-Noor's full military escort was impressive enough, spectators refused to leave even after the diamond had disappeared behind the gates of the workshop. Rumours, fanned by the British press, had taken hold of the crowd. If they waited long enough, they were sure to be rewarded. According to reports, the "Iron Duke", no less than Wellington himself, hero of Waterloo and scourge of Napoleon, would inaugurate the cutting process. Some reports even suggested that his own battle-calloused hands would cut the Koh-i-Noor. The chance of seeing two legends meet, one diamond and one iron, was irresistible. The crowd did not have long to wait. On July 17, the 83-year-old Wellington arrived on horseback to loud cheers. Adulation always caused the duke to feel uncomfortable, and he made his way stiffly through the guarded doors of the workshop with barely a nod to his admirers. Thanks to his distinctive profile, the duke was affectionately referred to as "Old Nosey", and people sang songs about his exploits in public houses up and down the realm. Small boys, rich and poor, played out his 1815 victory at Waterloo with tin soldiers. Though 37 years had passed since he had vanquished Napoleon, that victory remained vivid to patriotic Britons. Most would have been baffled by the great warrior's interest in a piece of jewellery.

To Wellington, however, the Koh-i-Noor was so much more. The diamond was India, and India had been the making of him. In May 1796, when a young Arthur Wellesley's 33rd Regiment arrived in Calcutta, the British had been embroiled in a vicious struggle against the sultan of Mysore for more than three decades. Seringapatam, a town 14 kilometres from Mysore, was the centre of hostilities. In August 1798, with Wellesley leading from the front, the 33rd fought valiantly, forcing Tipu Sultan's army into retreat. The following year, Wellesley was ordered to take part in a final push on Seringapatam. Under the command of General George Harris, a combined force of 50,000 native and British soldiers, including Wellesley and his regiment, pounded the fortress town. During subsequent fighting in the citadel, Tipu Sultan was killed. Wellesley went on to distinguish himself further in India, serving, in due course, as the governor of Mysore. The recognition he received here put him in the front line of battle against Napoleon's army years later. His success against the French gave him the title of Duke of Wellington. Without India, he might never have had the chance to shine  and awareness of his debt to India perhaps added to his fascination with its most infamous diamond. The idea, though, that he might have some part in the reshaping of the gem seemed fanciful. The Dutch jewellers spent weeks trying to come up with a way for the octogenarian to cut the first facet without wrecking the diamond. In the end, they embedded the entire Koh-i-Noor in lead, "with the exception of one small salient angle intended to be first submitted to the cutting operation", noted contemporary essayist John Wilson Croker. "His Grace placed the gem upon the scaife  a horizontal wheel revolving with almost incalculable velocity  whereby the exposed angle was removed by friction and the first facet of the new cutting was effected," reported the Morning Chronicle. Having performed his duty, the duke walked out of the workshop, remounted his ageing white horse and rode away, barely acknowledging the near-hysteria outside.

Inaugural cut complete, the Dutch masters were allowed to continue with their work. The crowds dwindled and eventually disappeared, and infrequent updates about the Koh-i-Noor made it to the back pages of the papers. The Iron Duke himself never lived to see the completed Koh-i-Noor. On September 14, 1852, eight weeks and four days after he had cut its face, he suffered a fatal stroke, and died a day later. The diamond was finished days after Wellington's death. The bill for the recutting came to 8000  the equivalent of more than $1.6 million in today's money. Despite all the assurances from Coster and Garrard, the Koh-i-Noor did not retain its size. Instead, what was left was unrecognisable. The cut had practically halved the Koh-i-Noor's 190.3 metric carats to 93 metric carats. It now sparkled brilliantly, but could lie meekly in the palm of a hand. News of the reduction left Prince Albert devastated and he braced himself for savage criticism from the press and public. In the event, however, and perhaps because the diamond had been so poorly received in its original form, Prince Albert got off lightly. All but a few newspapers praised the new and improved Koh-i-Noor. It was flatter than its original egg shape, cut into what jewellers called an "oval stellar brilliant". Traditionally such diamonds were given 33 facets on top in "the table" of the gem, and 25 facets below, "in the pavilion". However, the cutters had given the Koh-i-Noor perfect symmetry with 33 facets both on top and underneath. In the pale light of the English sun, the Koh-i-Noor had at last learnt to shine. As news of its beauty spread, for the first time since its arrival in Britain the diamond seemed to have been cut free of its bad luck. Instead of the curse being mentioned in the same breath as the diamond, the name Koh-i-Noor began to be associated with good fortune. Ships were christened Koh-i-Noor. Newspaper advertisements encouraged students to buy "Kohinoor lead pencils" for their exams. In May 1853, the Cheshire Stakes, a popular and lucrative fixture in the flat-racing calendar, was won by a horse called Koh-i-Noor. Fictional works like Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone, where a cursed Indian diamond is given to an innocent English girl who is, as a result, then pursued by angry Hindu priests, and Benjamin Disraeli's Lothair, where the plot follows a bag of uncut diamonds once belonging to an Indian maharaja, became hugely successful. The diamond was now a celebrity in its own right, and had been set free of its foreignness. It was a British jewel for a British queen. Few thought about the grieving maharajah, Duleep Singh, who had once owned it. If they did, they would have known that Singh had also been "recut". He had, by now, been in the care of the Logins for three years and was becoming more Anglicised by the day. In time, he cut his long hair and, in March 1853, converted to Christianity. From afar, Queen Victoria rejoiced at the salvation of his soul.

The crown for Queen Elizabeth, consort of King George VI, to wear at the 1937 Coronation, featuring the Koh-i-Noor diamond, set in the front middle cross-pattee. Credit:Illustrated London News Ltd/Mar JEWEL IN THE CROWN Unambiguous early references to the Koh-i-Noor are almost suspiciously thin on the ground. Persian historian Muhammad Kazim Marvi makes what seems to be the first, extant, named reference to the stone in his 1740s history of the Persian warlord Nadir Shah's invasion of India in 1739. According to Marvi, the Koh-i-Noor was then attached to the head of one of the peacocks on emperor Shah Jahan's Peacock Throne  alleged to be the most spectacular jewelled object ever made  in Delhi's Red Fort. Only when the gem went into exile  looted from Delhi by the Persian warlord Nader Shah in 1739, taken to Iran and then Afghanistan  did it became notorious. Today, tourists who see it in the Tower of London in the crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (above) are often surprised by its small size, especially when compared to the two much larger Cullinan diamonds kept in the same showcase beside it. At present, the Koh-i-Noor is only the 90th-biggest diamond in the world.  William Dalrymple
The faux monarch, who is a close cousin of the Queen, would like his castles returned as well as property and gifts that were bequeathed to his London-based son between 2004 and 2006.

Prince Ernst-August V of Hanover, who is married to Princess Caroline of Monaco, wants his castles back. Credit:Pierre Villard

The simmering tensions inside the now-deposed royal house of Hanover boiled over recently on the eve of Prince Ernst-August jnr's wedding when his father, Prince Ernst-August V, announced a formal opposition to the nuptials.

Speaking to a German newspaper, Handelsblatt, the 63-year-old, reportedly worth more than $300 million, said his decision to go public with his disapproval "was not easy for me, because it concerns my son. But I am forced to do so in order to preserve the interests of the House of Hanover and the property, including cultural property, which has been its property for centuries.

"I continue to hope that my son will eventually think of the best interests of our family and yield. I am ready for discussion and reconciliation."

That didn't happen.

Despite not having his father's blessing, last week Prince Ernst-August jnr, 33, married 31-year-old Russian fashion designer Ekaterina Malysheva in a civil ceremony at Hanover City Hall, a city west of Berlin that, in 1946, was a short-lived state within the British zone of Allied-occupied Germany. It latest 92 days.

The low-key ceremony, which Prince Ernst-August V didn't attend, was just the start of the 10-day wedding extravaganza. There is expected to be a reception and a few dinners held at two of the Hanover family castles.
Students from three low-performing Sydney high schools will soon be able to get into university without having to sit HSC exams or get an ATAR under special agreements with a growing number of universities around Australia.

School and university leaders have championed a portfolio-based program that is being offered as an alternative to HSC subjects at Liverpool Boys High School, St John's Park High School and Sydney Secondary College Balmain Campus as a way to help disadvantaged students do better in high school and at university.

Liverpool Boys High School students Jamiel Yasin, 15, and Jacky Zhu, 14, are doing the portfolio-based Big Picture program instead of traditional year 9 and 10 classes. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Under the program, which was developed by international non-profit firm Big Picture Education, students choose an area of interest in year 11 and do a weekly internship, write a senior thesis, exhibit work at the end of year 12 and write an 80-page autobiography.

"Now they don't need to sit the HSC because standardised exams aren't what we think education should be about," said Angelina Bea, who coordinates the program at Liverpool Boys High School, where it will be offered to year 11 students from next year.
So in addition to figuring out the correct time frame of consumption, also consider what foods are more likely to be contaminated. Such items include leafy greens, culinary herbs, melons with textured surfaces like cantaloupe, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, jalapeno peppers, nut butters, shellfish, frozen peas, cheese and ice-cream. Also suspicious are any foods left out for several hours, like the classic potato salad at the family picnic or fried rice at a Chinese buffet.

Restaurant food tends to be riskier in general not only because more hands are involved in the preparation but also because the ingredients are ordered in bulk. "A fast-food hamburger could have meat from a hundred different cows," Fisher said, and it takes only one with a pathogen to make you sick. "The eggs in your two-egg omelet were poured out of a carton so it could have come from 50 different chickens," she said.

Similarly suspect are freshly made juices and smoothies which are extracted from kilograms of produce. Just one speck of contaminated dirt in your detox drink could upend your gut. And think of all the hands that necessarily touched the produce from the time it was picked in the field to when it was chopped and crammed into the Vitamix.

Let's not forget about germs on your own hands if you're not diligent about washing them with soap and water (hand sanitisers don't kill some of the bugs that make your stomach sick). Did you eat or otherwise put your fingers in your mouth after gripping the pole on the subway or after throwing a slobbery ball for your dog? Did you put your mobile phone down on the table at a coffee shop or on top of the toilet-paper dispenser in a public restroom and then put it up to your mouth to take a call? Germs that make it into your digestive tract don't always come from food.

And sometimes your gut distress isn't caused by a germ at all. It could be an overdose of fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols, known in public health circles as Fodmaps. These are essentially carbohydrates that, eaten in excess, are not well absorbed in the small intestine and then make their way into your colon to cause all kinds of trouble. They include myriad things we're encouraged to eat including broccoli, brussels sprouts, radicchio, asparagus, avocados, mushrooms, peaches, whole grains and legumes.
Thousands of passengers have been left stranded at airports across the country thanks to the fog which descended upon Brisbane Airport on Friday night, affecting more than 100 flights.

Airlines were left scrambling to clear the backlog on Saturday, with the plans of frustrated flyers put in jeopardy, which included attending weddings, funerals and meeting loved ones on other flights.

Brisbane Airport passengers were left stranded by fog. Credit:Tracey Monk (Supplied)

Townsville resident Tracey Monk was meant to fly from Brisbane to Melbourne at 6.40am on Saturday to attend a funeral.

However, the fog meant that her flight was delayed until 2.20pm but during the delay Ms Monk heard the stories of other disappointed passengers.
Samantha Bulmer and daughter River. Credit:Jorge Branco Out of that small number, only four in every 100 suffer a haemorrhage, bringing with it a 15-20 per cent risk of stroke and 30 per cent chance of brain death, with 10 per cent proving fatal. University of Queensland neurologist Dr Alex Lehn says the location in the body is critical for the impact of an arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Samantha Bulmer and daughter River are still in hospital because of her shock paralysis. Credit:Jorge Branco He says the problem can often go undetected for years and come and go with little or no consequence but can also be catastrophic.

"AVMs are still rare, and troublesome AVMs, the big ones, AVMs that rupture, are very rare," he says. Sam's case is one of those. As her womb grew larger, it began to pressure an artery, blocking blood flow and creating a pressure build up, which eventually burst, she says, remembering the series of violent incidents she felt in the lead-up to River's caesarean birth. "I felt like I'd been shot and I completely collapsed on the floor," she says, describing the second of five attacks. "I was screaming."

The British-born bar staffer, who's been in Australia for 10 years, was terrified something had happened to River and relieved "in the extreme" when she was given the all-clear. She says it was the third such incident that left her paralysed, blood vessels bursting and causing swelling around her spine, robbing her of her ability to walk. "It's started to go away but I'm not getting any feeling so it's most likely the damage is done," she says. "When they spoke to me about the results from the MRI he was telling me you're not likely to walk again but there's a chance you can. "...If I can walk again, I promise I will walk again."

Sam thought she and partner Elliot Harlen would have moved into their new house by now. Instead, she's still in the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, living for Saturdays when the 33-year-old logistics worker comes to visit. "We bath River together and just do as much with her together as we can and then we just watch a movie. It's just like being at home," she says, her face lighting up. "I forget sometimes that anything's going on. You're chatting with each other watching the tele and it's easy to forget the reality around you. "I just go back to normal when Elliot's here."

Sam says it's a 40-minute drive each way from Browns Plains after a 12-hour workday for Elliot so a brief Wednesday evening and the extended Saturday are all they can manage. Hair pulled back, lying back in a pink jumper, Sam is remarkably matter-of-fact, determined, when she talks about her physio, the battle to be able to walk again and care for River. It's only when she thinks about what happens if the feeling and movement in her legs never come back that emotion overwhelms her briefly. "I feel like I can face this and deal with it in my mind temporarily," she says, eyes shining with tears on the verge of spilling over. "If it was like one year and you're going to get better, I feel like I can deal with it.
Parents are being reminded to monitor their children's internet activity after police in Queensland charged an alleged child groomer following an online sting.

Flight attendant Samuel Terrence Rova, 37, is accused of trying to procure a 14-year-old girl for sex via social media, however he was communicating with an undercover detective and was charged when he arrived in Brisbane on Thursday afternoon.

Queensland parents have been warned to scrutinise who their children talk to online after the arrest of a suspected child groomer. Credit:Phil Carrick

The 37-year-old, who is from the Solomon Islands, was granted conditional bail on Friday and ordered to stay off social media.

Following Rova's court appearance, Acting Detective Superintendent Garry Watts said parents needed to be vigilant with children's internet activity.
It was the sort of photo that screamed 'caption competition', and the internet was happy to oblige.

During a visit to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US vice president Mike Pence solemnly reached out and touched the Orion spacecraft's titanium forward bay cover, placing his full palm just below a sign that read: "Critical Space Flight Hardware 'DO NOT TOUCH.' "

Mike Brown, a photographer for Reuters, captured the moment and his photo was soon devoured by the internet - eventually forcing NASA to release a statement saying that it was alright for Pence to touch the space hardware and prompting the vice president to post a self-deprecating response in which he blamed former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio.
High-profile state government MP Jane Garrett faces a backlash at next year's Victorian election over one of Labor's most challenging issues: logging in native forests.

New polling in Ms Garrett's inner-city seat of Brunswick suggests almost half her electorate believe the government is not doing enough to protect wildlife from logging  but more than 60 per cent of voters would be more likely to re-elect the MP if this improved.

Brunswick MP Jane Garrett faces a backlash over timber logging in her inner city seat. Credit:Josh Robenstone

The research comes only days after the Andrews government announced a contentious multi-million-dollar deal to buy out the ailing Heyfield timber mill in Gippsland.

However, the issue is particularly delicate for Ms Garrett, who is under threat of losing Brunswick to the Greens, but is also close to the CFMEU and pledged her support for timber workers long before this week's bail-out announcement.
In Richmond, 34 people died of a drug overdose last year. Credit:Charlotte Grieve "What I saw in the first 2 years is what I see every week now," she continues. "That's the level [to which] it has escalated. I can't even get my head around it." The precinct, which is within walking distance of some of Melbourne's biggest public drawcards, including the MCG and expansive parkland, has become a hot spot for heroin use and associated crime, attracting drug users and dealers from across the city. Over the past seven years, the City of Yarra has consistently ranked as the municipality with Victoria's highest frequency of heroin overdose deaths. Last year, 34 people died from an overdose in Richmond out of the 172 deaths statewide. Seven in 10 of these occurred in a public place. The conversation about Richmond's drug problem, and its potential remedies, is not a new one. Debate has ebbed and flowed since the height of the heroin glut in the mid-1990s.

At the end of that decade, establishing injecting room trials across multiple suburbs was a signature policy of the just-elected Bracks Labor government. "The very first thing they did was a U-turn on that policy," says Yarra councillor Steven Jolly. "Eighteen years later, we're still in the same boat." Health policy advocates made another concerted push for a safe injecting room in 2011, but this was met with a backlash from the local traders' association and was ultimately knocked back by the Baillieu Liberal government on fears that establishing such a facility would "normalise" drug use. Six years on, a new community campaign that has galvanised support among local residents and health workers, and even the traders, hopes to bring the issue again to the fore. The campaign, Victoria Street Drug Solutions, led by education worker and local resident Judy Ryan, has one goal: to establish a medically supervised injecting centre (MSIC) in North Richmond.

"The thing is that there are people dying next to our homes," says Mrs Ryan. "These are not no ones. These are people's kids, friends, neighbours  it is so not acceptable." While a number of local health centres across Melbourne provide services to encourage safer drug taking, including North Richmond Community Health, many of the 70,000 or so sterilised needles handed out each month end up discarded on neighbourhood streets. One disposal worker says a private company contracted by the City of Yarra collects up to 200 used needles a day. "It's very easy to fill up a yellow bucket in a couple of hours," he says. "There are new spots that are popping up all the time. It's a real ongoing problem."

Adds Ms West: "All of my neighbours have the syringe hotline saved to our phones. I call it at least two or three times a week." "We're getting it half right," says Mrs Ryan, for whom the issue of addiction and overdose is personal: she has lost two family members to heroin, including, in 2003, her nephew, who was found dead by a staff member in the toilets of a Richmond McDonald's. "There are so many repercussions to this story. Imagine that kid, going home to his parents and telling them he found someone dead in the toilets today," she says. Award-winning researcher and academic Dr Monica Barratt insists deaths like these are preventable. Dr Barratt, who has spent the past three years focusing on harm-reduction policies, describes the establishment of a supervised injecting centre in North Richmond as a "no-brainer".

"The evidence is overwhelming," she says. "Safe injecting centres are safe. If we look at Sydney, there has not been one death [from overdose] in the Kings Cross injecting centre." Danny Hill, of Ambulance Employees Australia, which represents emergency service workers, agrees. He says that medically speaking, there is "no reason" anyone should die from heroin. "The effects of the drug are completely reversible if they're treated in time. If someone does die from a heroin overdose it's because we haven't been able to get to them quickly enough." For Mr Hill, preventing heroin-related deaths is just one reason he supports the establishment of a supervised injecting room. "The safety aspect for our paramedics who attend heroin overdoses is a massive concern, it's not uncommon that paramedics get assaulted," he says.

"They [paramedics] get to them once they've been out of oxygen for a couple of hours so when the crews wake them up with the drug Narcan they can actually come out swinging. It can be pretty violent. "We've had many paramedics with needle-stick injuries where they get stabbed with a used needle. Then they have to go through a number of treatments to fight off infections like hep C. It's traumatic for the paramedics, and risky." The building local support for an injecting centre adds to a national discussion triggered by the tabling in Parliament by Sex Party MP Fiona Patten of a proposal for an 18-month trial, after Victorian Coroner Jacqui Hawkins' recommendation for an injecting room in North Richmond in the wake of the overdose death of a 24-year-old woman. The bill has a large supporter base, including among others the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Medical Association, the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, the Public Health Association and Yarra Council. "Visit a facility, talk to a real addict; to obtain some real facts before dismissing the proposal," former AFP commissioner Mick Palmer said.

"The reality is the facts speak for themselves and the huge success of Sydney's [injecting centre] cannot be ignored, with major benefits and minimal negatives identified in a dozen independent evaluations and reviews." However, a decision on establishing an injecting centre ultimately rests with the state government, with Premier Daniel Andrews having consistently rejected the idea of a trial. "You can have all these reports, statistics and recommendations but, in the end, the only thing that moves politicians is votes and the only way they will get the votes is through the voice of the local people," says Mrs Ryan. The group is targeting local residents by printing and distributing flyers outlining 10 little-known facts about supervised injecting centres. "Usually, if people don't support the injecting centre, it's because they've got the wrong information," says Mrs Ryan. "They're told that if we set up a [centre] there will be a honey-pot effect. On the evidence in Sydney, Europe, Canada ... there's been no honey-pot effect.

"If nothing, [think of] the cost. Having a centre would save us so much money in paramedics, police paperwork, pharmacists: it's Economics 101." Mr Hill, who has worked in the emergency services industry for more than a decade and as a paramedic for seven of those years, says: "Economically, it's a no-brainer. If someone is lying on the ground choking on their own vomit for three or four hours, it can be hard to bring them out of that without brain damage. "If you think of the cost in keeping someone in an intensive care unit for a couple of weeks while they're in a coma, 24-hour care from senior nurses  economically the cost is very high there. Compared to if they were given the Narcan [opiate antidote] in a safe injecting room, they could walk away and go home that same day." The campaign also plans to raise awareness by placing billboards in strategic locations across the precinct. The funding has been secured, yet the designs have been criticised by some as "too confronting". "This is the great irony of this whole problem. Everyone knows it's an issue but they don't want to be confronted with it, to talk about it," says Mrs Ryan. "They've suggested we modify the message. We think the message is benign."
A fresh battle looms in the Victorian Liberal Party, with Opposition Leader Matthew Guy facing internal divisions over his election plan to scrap the Safe Schools program.

Twelve months after Mr Guy announced he would replace Safe Schools with a "genuine" anti-bullying initiative if he wins government next year, some Liberals are angered there has been no policy work on an alternative to help LGBTI students.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy faces internal divisions over Safe Schools. Credit:Paul Jeffers

The issue has become such a sensitive topic within sections of the party that a new Liberal Pride gay group  headed by federal Minister Christopher Pyne's adviser, Rory Grant  recently met with state education spokesman Nick Wakeling to raise concerns.

But at the same time, conservative Liberals are holding "information forums" to attack Safe Schools and drum up further opposition among community and ethnic groups in the lead up to next year's state election.
London: A wave of untreatable "super-gonorrhoea" is spreading across the world as the disease becomes resistant to antibiotics, health chiefs have warned.

Scientists have described the outlook for combating the sexually-transmitted condition as "pretty grim", as it emerges that oral sex and a decline in condom use is fuelling a rise in hard-to-treat cases.

Glaxo scientists have spent more than a decade tinkering with chemical compounds to fight the rise of superbugs that risk killing an extra 10 million people every year by 2050. Credit:Bloomberg

Around 35,000 new infections are diagnosed in England each year, with the disease more prevalent in Britain than in any other OECD country.

Experts at the World Health Organisation said new data from 77 countries showed gonorrhoea's resistance to drugs is becoming widespread. In the case of three patients - in France, Spain and Japan - the infection was completely untreatable.
The Dalmore reveals Vintage Port Collection

Emperador's The Dalmore has released a limited edition, three-bottle collection of whiskies, each matured in vintage port casks.

In the year that The Dalmores master distiller Richard Paterson celebrates his 50th year in the whisky industry, The Vintage Port Collection is the latest in a long line of releases from the whisky producer.

Crafted using aged port pipes from winemakers W&J Grahams, Patersons knowledge of the cask maturation process has been applied in creating a collection of port-finished vintages from 1996, 1998 and 2001.

The Dalmore Vintage Port Collection is matured in American white oak ex-Bourbon casks.

Tawny Port pipes from Grahams vineyard in Douro, Portugal add the finishing touches to the collection, using pipes reserved exclusively for The Dalmore. Grahams port palate matches the depth and quality of The Dalmores new make spirit, enabling the spirit to be matured for longer in a greater variety of casks.

The collection will be available to purchase from selected whisky retailers.

Richard Paterson, master distiller at The Dalmore adds: For me, port and whisky complement each other perfectly, with port providing a fruitier palate to The Dalmores deep and complex new make spirit. Being able to finish these new releases in pipes of Grahams port, which are some of the finest quality, during my anniversary year is incredibly exciting. Im delighted to be able to continue our founders vision of creating new expressions that push the boundaries of whats possible in the luxury single malt category.

8 July 2017 - Sam Coyne The Drinks Report, news editor
Law enforcement officials throughout the Brazos Valley paused Friday morning in honor of fallen officers on the one-year anniversary of a deadly ambush in Dallas that left five police officers dead.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for law enforcement statewide to honor the fallen officers, and at 10 a.m., authorities who were not on a service call gathered in parking lots at their respective departments and flashed their patrol lights for one minute.

"Today we had time to reflect on the officers who are still here, as well as those who have fallen," said Brazos County Sheriff's Office Lt. John Pollock, who has served in Brazos County for 25 years. "It makes you appreciate the life that we have, the career we have, the job that we do. Our community is not exempt from [danger], but we have a good community that supports us."

Having lived in the area for so long, Pollock was acquainted with most Brazos Valley officers who have lost their lives in recent years, including Brazos County Constable Brian Bachmann, Bryan Police Deparment Officer Mark D. Hiatt and Burleson County Sheriff's Deputy Adam Sowders.

"When it hits closer to home like when Bachmann was killed here... I was on duty that day and we were told there was an active shooter," Pollock recalled. "A lot of us responded. I remember standing in a group and another officer came over to us and told us [Bachmann] had been killed. I can remember the phone call I got from Burleson County about Adam Sowders. When it's close to home, when you know the officer, it's different. But, in general, when you get any alert about a death, that's still a fellow law enforcement officer and that has a great impact."

Officer Troy Preston with the Texas A&M University Police Department hasn't been on the force for long, but remembers feeling disheartened when he first heard the news of the Dallas slayings. The dangers of being a officer still sit in the back of Preston's mind on a daily basis, but that doesn't dissuade him from protecting Texas A&M students and faculty.

"Now I'm more determined when I go out and serve my community," he said. "I'm more vigilant now, but I'm still here to do my job and serve."

Color guard officers from every department in Brazos County also attended the memorial service for recently slain San Antonio police officer Miguel Moreno on Friday morning at a church in San Antonio. Moreno was killed June 29 while investigating vehicle burglaries in the city. Moreno's partner was also wounded in the attack.

"I just want all those guys down in San Antonio to know, we're here," Preston said. "We stand with them, and we have their back."
New documents surrounding former Hearne police Sgt. Stephen Yohner have been released, including three complaints about the former officer that detailed a culture of harassment and complaints about the leadership structure of the police department.

Among the documents that were released is an all-purpose personnel action form, which confirms Yohner was placed on paid administrative leave, as well as a letter from Yohner's attorney, Brett Charles. Three letters are included, all of which were written in March and April. The three letters were written by two former officers and one who is currently a part of the Hearne department.

Yohner left the Hearne PD in April after six years with the department. While he has not worked in law enforcement since, his personal information file released by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement shows he completed a course qualifying him to be a firearms instructor in May.

In the first letter, a former officer -- who was not identified in the complaint -- said Yohner made inappropriate sexual remarks to women on the job. The second letter, which was also written by a former officer, detailed a warped chain of command in which Yohner and another officer in the department took charge of all other officers. The second letter detailed bullying and verbal harassment and states Yohner made sexual remarks toward female staff members.

"His constant remarks about women in general, and directly to women at the police department, is degrading," the former officer wrote.

In the second letter, the officer wrote he had intended to stay with the Hearne Police Department for at least two years, but left early because he felt bullied.

The last of the three letters was written by a current officer who was not identified in the documents. The third letter stated Chief Thomas Williams was frequently absent from the department and a culture of bullying and harassment existed.

The current officer wrote that leadership at Hearne PD is lacking and that new officers are not properly overseen and some equipment is never updated. The third officer included screenshots of text message exchanges with Yohner that included sexual comments.

Williams could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon. A letter from Yohner's attorney to the city written when Yohner was first placed on administrative leave said the "allegations of the misconduct alleged in the March 30, 2017, letter are unfounded, and, at best, a misguided decision."

In a statement to The Eagle, City Manager John Naron said he and the mayor contacted the Department of Public Safety Texas Rangers and asked them to look into the department.

"The City of Hearne received several complaints," he wrote. "We have handled the more obvious violations and have decided that it would be best to have an outside source look into this matter. The mayor and I contacted the [Department of Public Safety] Texas Rangers and asked them to look into the department. The Rangers have not shared their findings and it would be inappropriate for us to comment based on speculation. Sgt. Yohner resigned and is no longer working for the Hearne Police Department."
Shuidong town is home to a network of ivory trafficking syndicates whose reach extends to East and West Africa, including the elephant poaching hotspots of Tanzania and Mozambique.

One syndicate member told undercover investigators that Shuidong is the destination for a staggering 80 per cent of all poached ivory smuggled into China from Africa.

A new report, The Shuidong Connection: Exposing the global hub of the illegal ivory trade, by the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is the culmination of almost three years of painstaking undercover work during which investigators infiltrated one of the leading syndicates. This involved tracking a shipment of more than two tonnes of tusks from northern Mozambique to Shuidong, providing unique insights into the workings of an active ivory smuggling gang.

EIA first encountered the Shuidong smugglers in September 2014 whilst investigating the catastrophic poaching of elephants in Tanzania. In Zanzibar, the main gateway for shipments of tusks flowing out of Tanzania, EIA met with a sea cucumber trader from Shuidong who revealed that a community of his compatriots in Zanzibar was behind the smuggling, with a single group sending out 20 shipments to China in just one year.

They form part of an international network of people from Shuidong supplying the booming Chinese market for sea cucumbers and so with their knowledge of working in Africa and supply routes to China, their presence in strategic coastal towns and their business cover, the Shuidong traders in East and West Africa were ideally positioned to move into the illegal ivory trade.

In April 2016, EIA investigators travelled to Mozambique to ground-truth rumours that ivory traffickers were switching their focus from Tanzania as a result of improved enforcement efforts and prosecutions. In the port town of Pemba, they encountered a group of three Chinese nationals who were conspicuous because of their unique dialect - they were all from Shuidong.

Posing as potential ivory traders and logistics specialists, the investigators gradually gained the trust of the syndicate partners; over the course of more than a year and through multiple meetings, they were able to piece together a detailed picture of the enormous scale and nature scale of the operations, which involves:

engagement of trusted Africa-based fixers to consolidate shipments of poached ivory in secure locations

key Chinese syndicate players travelling to Africa to inspect tusks for quality and, subsequently, to African ports to remotely observe loading onto vessels

bribing key customs and border enforcement personnel as well as freight agents

concealing tusks in innocuous-looking shipments of plastic pellets

using historically secure smuggling routes dotted with accomplices at every stage, known as owning the road'

obscuring the origin of shipping containers of ivory by sending them to be reloaded in transit countries such as South Korea

the ability to swiftly diversify into other illegal wildlife products such as pangolin scales, totoaba fish maw and rhino horn as demand and supplies varied

continuously re-investing criminal profits into new ivory and other wildlife shipments.

Despite the Chinese Government's laudable decision to close its domestic ivory market, leading to a fall in price for ivory tusks in the country, the smuggling group was still active as of late June 2017, extending its operations to West Africa to source lucrative tusks poached from forest elephants.

Mary Rice, EIA Executive Director, says: "The Chinese Government's decision to shut its domestic ivory market by the end of 2017 is an admirable response to mounting international pressure to end the industrial-scale slaughter of Africa's elephants.

"What EIA discovered in Shuidong, however, clearly shows transnational criminal networks are operating with near-total impunity. It is vital that enforcement agencies in Africa and China put these criminals out of business immediately."

Julian Newman, EIA Campaigns Director, adds: "EIA has shared, in confidence, the detailed intelligence unearthed during the course of the Shuidong investigation with relevant Government departments and enforcement agencies and looks to them to use it. Action is needed to end this huge criminal enterprise which is devastating Africa's elephant populations."

www.eia-international.org
The GOP's red wave foundered nationally, but it swept away Democrats in Iowa

Republican operatives credit Gov. Kim Reynolds with generating enough enthusiasm to help pull down-ballot candidates across the finish line in Iowa.
As major players on the global stage, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump could counterbalance the forces of globalism which seek to destroy all sovereign nations

Can we trust Russia? Should we trust Russia? Should we trust Trump on Russia?

The buzz word of Barack Obamas Presidential Election Campaign, oh so many eons ago, was change. What Americans want, we were told, was change. Now, after the sun has set on the Obama-Nation, we find ourselves moving forward with a new leader of a very different ilk at the helm. America, it seems, will certainly have change, though not perhaps in the manner which Mr. Obama and the Clintons envisaged. Will it be change for the better or for the worse? A trump of triumph or a trump of doom?

Much depends on how President Trump manages Americas relationship with the wider world, a world which has certainly changed seismically in recent years. What will be the relationship of Trumps America with a European Union which seems to be in meltdown? What will be its relationship with post-Brexit Britain? And what of the colossus which is China? Or the colossal threat of Islamic terrorism? Or the even more colossal threat of globalism? And what about the rise of Russia, or what might even be called its resurrection under Vladimir Putin?

With regard to the last of these crucial questions, there is no doubt that relations between Russia and the United States would have been strained to breaking point had Hillary Clinton been elected. Mr. Obama and the Clintons seem to have an irrational hatred of Russia. They hate Mr. Putin to such a degree that they were even happy to support neo-Nazis in the Ukraine, rather than explore sane alternatives to the crisis in the area. They hate Mr. Putin so much that they were happy to back the forces of Islamist extremism in Syria rather than find ways to join forces with Russia against it.

If Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would rather have Nazis and jihadist terrorists as bedfellows than a relationship of friendship with Russia, it is of little surprise that one of Mr. Obamas last acts in the White House was to attempt to raise tensions between the United States and Russia by expelling alleged Russian spies. His hope, no doubt, was that Mr. Putin would respond in kind by expelling US diplomats as spies, thereby presenting Donald Trump with a political crisis as he began his presidency. Thankfully, Mr. Putin refused to play the Cold War game and refrained from responding, as no doubt Mr. Obama had hoped, with an act of kneejerk reactionary retaliation. Incidentally, isnt it ironic that it is the Democrats who are now the anti-Russian hawks seeking conflict with Russia, spurning all talk of peace and reconciliation, or what used to be called detente?

Happily, Mr. Obama is now largely irrelevant. What he thinks or feels about Russia is of little concern. But what of President Trump? Will he seek friendship with Russia and not enmity, or, to employ the hippy jargon of a previous generation, will he want to give peace a chance? Is there any possibility of Russia and the United States forging a fruitful alliance, transcending the stereotypes of the Cold War which Obama, Clinton, and Co. seem intent on rekindling? As major players on the global stage, Mr. Putin and President Trump could counterbalance the forces of globalism which seek to destroy all sovereign nations, large and small. The problem is that President Trump and Mr. Putin have both built their reputations as being no-nonsense strong men who will not be intimidated by opponents. This is dangerous. If the two men work together, forming and forging a friendship, much good could be done. If, on the other hand, they square off, one big man looking the other in the eye in the spirit of belligerent intransigence, we will all be in big trouble. Lets hope that there is still hope for friendship between Russia and America, which is at least possible under President Trump whereas it would have been unthinkable under the hawkish Hillary. For that lingering hope, at least, and for that possibility, we can be grateful.

Books on the topic of this essay may be found in The Imaginative Conservative Bookstore. This essay first appeared on Intellectual Takeout (January 2017). The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politicswe approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.
A hearty Saturday Salute goes this week to the students in the advanced leadership class at Central City High School who played such an integral role in the success of Lone Tree Days.

The community festival is traditionally held in conjunction with the Fourth of July and Kiki Fasbender of the Central City Area Chamber of Commerce wanted to expand the activities offered to people coming for the celebration, so she turned to the school for help.

The 16 advanced leadership students went to work and decided to plan a variety of events for Monday, July 3, when there werent a lot of activities already scheduled.

They found that, even though Monday was a day when a lot of people would be working, if you plan events, people will come. For the rib cookoff, they served close to 300 meals and ran out of food.

They also set up an arts and crafts fair with about 15 vendors participating.

Games were also a big part as Justin Garman and his father, Bret, built two octagon-shaped pits for people to play gaga ball and the pits were in use all day. Now the pits will be donated to the school.

There was also a hot dog-eating contest and a kickball tournament.

To show how dedicated the students were, five of them showed up to help even though theyve already graduated. Maddie Moser, Ethan Nelson, Vincent Ohlman, Will Wagner and Edie Erickson picked up their diplomas in May.

Proceeds from Mondays activities were to go to the Giveback program, a charity the class has supported that gives aid to families in need within the school and community.

Patriotism reigned supreme

We also salute Stuhr Museum as it once again carried out such a great patriotic celebration on Independence Day.

From the parade to the three-legged races and watermelon eating, it was a trip back to a simpler time as well as a celebration of the freedom that our country provides to its citizens.

Liebsacks fight for freedom important for all to remember

A big salute also goes to 98-year-old Rudy Liebsack, who shared his memories of fighting for freedom during World War II in The Independent last Monday.

Drafted in 1941 before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Liebsack became part of a crew that flew missions over Japan. Though the memories are tough, and he remembers them vividly, he said hes thankful for his time in the service. He said the military took the boy in him and made a man.

Liebsack said the Fourth of July means a lot to him, since he fought for freedom. He said freedom is what many others sacrificed their lives for.

We have lost so many of our World War II veterans now, but we are grateful that there are veterans who can remind us of the cost of our freedom and the need to continue to preserve it.
HASTINGS  A coyote was put down Friday night after a city resident wounded it with a handgun.

At about 9 p.m. Friday a 51-year-old Hastings man shot a coyote in the 1700 block of West Apache Avenue, Hastings Police Sgt. Mark Hinrichs said.

Hinrichs said according to the report, the coyote was near the backyard fence of the mans house, taunting his dogs. The man shot and wounded the coyote, causing it to run from the scene.

He said hes not aware of other people being around during the incident, other than the neighbor. Hastings Police tracked the coyote and put it down.

Hastings has had many sightings of coyotes in town for the past few weeks. On Tuesday night, a 1-year-old boy was bitten by a coyote in the 500 block of South Boston Avenue, near the Adams County Fairgrounds. The boy was taken to get a tetanus shot and a series of rabies shots, but will be fine. The coyote from Fridays incident was shot two and a half miles away from the bite incident, not far from the Hastings Municipal Airport.

Its illegal to discharge a firearm in city limits. However, Hinrichs said a decision was made to not charge the man who shot the coyote Friday at this time.
Grand Island Northwest business manager Sharon Placke will give the school board a preliminary overview of several funds in the 2017-18 budget when it meets at 8 p.m. Monday at the high school.

Placke said she will talk about the districts building fund, its bond fund and the qualified capital purpose undertaking fund, but will not talk about the districts general fund, which pays for the school systems day-to-day operations.

Placke and Superintendent Matt Fisher both know how much money the district will receive from the state of Nebraska for the coming school year.

However, they do not yet know the valuation of the school district, which covers parts of Hall, Howard and Merrick counties. The Northwest districts valuation is one of the important pieces of information school officials must know in setting the districts property tax rate for the coming year.

Placke said administrators and board members will discuss the budget in much more detail during an Aug. 23 work session. The board will not take any formal vote during that work session, but the discussion usually provides enough guidance for Placke to put the budget in final form for action at a later board meeting.

In recent years, the budget has been a contentious issue with some Northwest farmers saying they are paying too much in property taxes, especially at a time when commodity prices have dropped dramatically.

In other action, the board also will have a discussion about a leech field at District 1-R. The leech field is not on District 1-R property, which is a situation that must be rectified by the school district.

Fisher will talk about a Nebraska attorney generals opinion saying that the district did not violate the states open meeting law during its February meeting. A complaint filed by Northwest district patrons Randy Stueven and Matt Hudnall said that an agenda item was not specific enough, and contended that was a violation of the law because it did not give the public enough notice of the action the board intended to take at that meeting. The agenda item said, Consider repurposing the Chapman building as a K-5 elementary attendance site and an alternative education site.

Fisher said the attorney general said that was not a violation because the motion during the February board meeting was almost identical to what was listed on the agenda.

But in a a telephone interview with The Independent, Stueven said there are other parts of the attorney generals opinion that should be addressed by the school board.

The school board also is set to review and revise section 9000 of school district policies. Section 9000 specifically covers school board policies for the district. Fisher said many revisions, which include a number of small deletions as well as additions, are being made to conform with existing district practice. For example, the policy will delete the line that says the board president countersign all warrants of the secretary of the county treasurer.

Another change is to have board meetings start at 7:30 p.m. on the second Monday of each month. That same section is eliminating the following line: In each odd-numbered year, the January meeting will be held on or after the first Thursday after the first Tuesday. That board policy is a remnant when Northwest was still a Class I-VI school structure system.

Another revision says that policies and rules may be suspended unless in conflict with state law by a majority vote of all board members in attendance at any regular or special meeting. That policy previously said such an action needed a unanimous board vote.

Fisher said all the other proposed policy revisions on Monday nights agenda are also minor in nature.
Much of the discussion around health care reform has centered on Medicaid. I wonder how federal Medicaid cuts to the states could affect the elderly in nursing homes dependent on Medicaid. After two years in skilled care, my 98-year-old mother was recently accepted for Medicaid.

I have discovered the monthly cost of nursing home care in Grand Island is around $5,500 to $9,000. Some nursing homes dont accept Medicaid or have a limited number of Medicaid beds.

My research shows that nationwide over 60 percent of nursing home residents are covered by Medicaid. The elderly are 6 percent of enrollees but long-term care services account for over 40 percent of total Medicaid spending. Federal funding covers more than half of state Medicaid spending. The House and Senate health care bills would change Medicaid funding to a per capita allotment and begin limiting growth in 2020. Baby boomers will soon reach an age to begin entering nursing homes, increasing the numbers.

If Nebraska received fewer federal dollars or funds didnt keep up with need, the state would need to make hard decisions such as cutting rates to providers. What might that mean for nursing homes? Stop accepting Medicaid patients or offering fewer beds? Cut staff to absorb the lost revenue? Reduce quality of necessities for residents? When your family member is affected, none of these options are acceptable.

Typical of their generation, my parents were hard working and frugal ,but my fathers years in skilled care reduced their financial resources, and now my mother needs nursing care. Im grateful for the care she receives and the Medicaid funds that allow her to live with dignity. We need to look to the future and decide what kind of life we want for our oldest citizens, then be vigilant that quality services are protected.
Hansen Meat Co., a third generation family business, opened its third location at 1059 Century Drive in Edwardsville on Saturday.

Beth Hansen-Arrowsmith, her brother, Ryan Hansen and Andrew Bagley are the current owners, but the Hansen Meat Co. is rich in family history covering over six decades. Grandpa started it so this is third generation, Hansen-Arrowsmith explained. Then our dad, David Hansen, bought it from our grandpa. And then Ryan and I are in the process of buying our dad out.

Hansen Meat Company originally opened in Jerseyville in 1952. And it's still going strong there. We still do custom slaughter so it's still old school, Hansen-Arrowsmith noted.

Their second location, in Alton, just celebrated its third anniversary in June.

The brother-sister duo, who are originally from Jerseyville but both live in Godfrey, noted that they chose to expand into Edwardsville because of the residents and the growing community.

Edwardsville is booming. There's just so much here. I love it here, Hansen-Arrowsmith said. I just think it's a great market.

Edwardsville has just been a big growing community, and it really feels like whenever businesses move here, it seems like the local residents really support the new businesses when they come into town, Hansen added.

Hansen Meat Co. carries a wide variety of chicken, pork, beef, lamb and seafood. Much, of which Hansen-Arrowsmith emphasized, is pretty much home-made. We're known for our brats. We have a ton of different flavors, she pointed out.

Thirty-five different varieties, Hansen added.

Our grand champion brat won in the state of Illinois three different times, Hansen-Arrowsmith said. We also own H & B Ham company, originally out of Brighton, that, again, has been an award-winning ham as well.

Hansen-Arrowsmith stressed that they offer a variety of meats already marinated and ready for the grill or oven.

If you're wanting something different for your barbecue grill, we have it. We have kabobs already made up. We have marinated chicken breasts and hamburger patties already made up for you and then we have obviously our meat case, she said. Our head meat cutter, Mike, marinates chicken, marinates pork chops and we have seasoned pork steaks. So half of the work is done for everyone.

She emphasized that their goal is to make dinner plans easy.

Basically you just grab something out of the case and throw it right on the grill or in the oven because the marinating is already done for you. Makes life much simpler when half the work is done for you, Hansen-Arrowsmith noted.

Hansen-Arrowsmith also pointed out that they will carry fish as well. We actually get it from Alaska, she said.

We met the fisherman. He lives six months in Carbondale and then goes to Alaska for six months and does the fishing. So they catch it, clean it and vac-pack it right on the boat so there's no middle man.

Hansen Meat Co. plans to offer wild-caught salmon, Pacific white cod, and halibut. The quality is amazing, she added.

It's frozen  vac-packed - but still it takes no time to thaw out. It's awesome. So, yes, we'll carry fish, and we also have shrimp and other things that people can grab.

Those in the market for half or whole fresh cut hogs or front, hind or full sides of beef can simply call Hansen Meat Co. at 618-692-5266 to place an order. The meat is processed in Jerseyville, usually within a day or two, and then delivered to the Edwardsville location for pick-up.

Their meat bundles provide customers with larger quantities of meat at a discount. We do have monthly bundles, but these people can order at any time. Everything is cut fresh and we customize it. So if you have just two in your family, we'll wrap it just two per pack so you're not cooking more than you need, Hansen-Arrowsmith said.

Basically you're paying 10 percent less than retail if you're buying a meat bundle. Mike will cut everything fresh, and then we wrap it and put it in the freezer for you. It's just kind of nice to have a freezer full of meat, especially when you're busy, running errands, have kids and all that jazz  you're constantly on the go.

Those interested in grass-fed beef will be happy to learn that Hansen Meat Co is collaborating with Red Barn Farm to offer its grass-fed beef.

We're also going to carry ground lamb and bison meat, too, which is awesome. Bison is awesome because it's 99 percent lean and it's grass-fed too, Hansen-Arrowsmith pointed out.

It's hard to find bison but we will carry ground buffalo and then buffalo patties as well. We sell a lot of that in Alton just because it's heart healthy. It seems like we have a lot of couples who come in and say well, we just came from the doctor and we can't have red meat, but the doctor will let them have that because it's 99 percent lean.

Unique to the Edwardsville location will be a beer and wine selection.

We'll be carrying craft beers and wine as well. That will be nice so people can grab a steak and a bottle of wine and then that way you can go next door and grab your dessert (at The Cup) as well and kind of knock it all out, Hansen-Arrowsmith said.

I have a 5 and 3 year old so I know what it's like to go into one place and try to knock it all out. Being a parent you're just busy and then running around with errands you just kind of want to grab and go. We're all about that.

Hansen Meat Co. will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. Visit their website at www.HansenMeatCo.com for more information or follow them on Facebook at Hansen Meat Co-Edwardsville for promotions, deals and the monthly bundle.

We're so excited to be here. Honestly everybody has been really awesome, Hansen-Arrowsmith noted. Everyone has been really, really welcoming, so we're excited.
On Sept. 15, Kimberly Richey will be leaving for a three-week mission trip to Africa. Its her first trip to the continent. She will be joining 40 American volunteers along with Tom and Jocelyn Logan, who founded Marion Medical Mission, whose goal is to work in remote villages of Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania to provide them with fresh water sources.

The organization has been taking volunteers on such trips since 1985. They have built more than 25,000 wells, and by the end of this year they hope to have installed 2,800 more.

Richey, who is from Belleville, is also MMMs development director. She has been speaking with past volunteers and searching the Internet to learn more about Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania.

MMM sends a mission team each fall. This year they will have two teams of 20 volunteers, each of which will spend three weeks there. Past volunteers have told her that she will spend the first day in a populated area, where they will receive instructions and some training. Then they will be paired with a colleague and the two will spread out into the remote villages.

The group covers a 55,000 square mile territory. They will stay in a guesthouse and work in that area during the day, Richey said. They will celebrate and dedicate a well, pray over it and talk to the people about why we are here, and move on to the next one.

UNICEF reports that in sub-Saharan Africa, one in five children die before their fifth birthday, because they lack potable water. Around 663 million people around the world rely on ponds, streams and other exposed and untreated sources for their drinking water.

Ill actually be meeting with the villages, some of them so rural that we may be the first white people theyve ever experienced, Richey said.

The children are usually afraid of us; they dont know what to expect.

At the end of the three weeks, the entire group will meet up to share stories.

To prepare for the trip, Richey will continue to do a lot of hiking and step climbing.

We will be very physically challenged through the trip, but I think it will just be wonderful, she said.

Lately, Richey has been talking to churches, civic organizations and local groups.

She will continue to give talks and presentations when she returns, she said.

Kimberly Richey can be reached through www.mmmwater.org, by calling her cell phone at (618) 980-2267, or by sending an email to Kimberly@mmmwater.org.
The American Red Cross must collect nearly 14,000 blood donations every day for patients at approximately 2,600 hospitals across the country to fill the need for patient emergencies, including accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant procedures as well as patients receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell disease.

But every summer around July 1, blood donations in the United States drop off significantly resulting in limited blood supply, and unfortunately, this year is no exception. According to the American Red Cross, blood donations have fallen short of expectations for the past two months, resulting in about 61,000 fewer donations than what is needed and a significant depletion of the Red Cross blood supply. The shortfall is the equivalent of the Red Cross not collecting any blood donations for more than four days.

As a result, the American Red Cross has issued an emergency call for eligible blood and platelet donors of all blood types.

Joe Zydlo, External Communications Manager of the American Red Cross Missouri-Illinois Blood Services Region, explained why blood donations decrease in the summer months every year. It's typical this time of year. It always is, he said. It's just a fact that people go on vacation and aren't thinking about appointments.

Zydlo also noted that part of the problem in the summer is that there are fewer volunteer-hosted blood drives at places of work, worship or community gatherings. In fact, 20 percent of American Red Cross blood drives are hosted by schools which are closed in the summer months. We do a lot at high schools, and those high schools are out. It impacts us. It really does, Zydlo stressed. People just don't think about it (donating). It's summer and people are thinking about getting out of town.

While the blood donations decrease during the summer, the demand for it does not.

Over the summer we need to make sure that we keep all of our products and replenish that blood supply because the hospitals we serve in the area, their patients aren't going to get a break, Zydlo noted.

If you're a cancer patient or someone that needs a regular blood transfusion, you need those products. You're not going to get a break.

Fortunately there are several upcoming opportunities within Madison County to attend blood drives and donate. They include:

Bethalto  July 19 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Bethalto Senior Citizens Center, 100 E Central St.

Collinsville  July 18 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Collinsville Memorial Public Library, 408 West Main

Edwardsville

July 16 from 7:30 a.m. to noon at Eden Church, 903 N. Second Street

July 24 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Culver's, 6724 Old Troy Rd

Glen Carbon  July 17 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Meridian Village, 27 Auerbach

Godfrey- July 12 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Alton Wood River Sportsmen's Club, 3109 Godfrey Rd.

Granite City

July 18 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Knights of Columbus Council 1098, 4225 Old Alton Rd

July 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Gateway Regional Medical Center, 2100 Madison Ave.

Hamel  July 17 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Hamel Community Building, 10 Park Ave.

Highland

July 10 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Highland Hope UMC, 12846 Daiber

July 17 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Korte Recreation Center, 1 Nagel Dr.

Wood River  July 6 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Abundant Life Community Church, 781 N 9th Street

Those wishing to expedite the donation process can download the American Red Cross Donor Rapid Pass App on their smartphone and set up a profile which Zydlo pointed out takes about two minutes of time.

From the app, users can make a blood donation appointment and enter background information and answer background screening questions that would normally be done prior to making a blood donation at the blood drive.

That's one of the first things you do when you go to a blood drive is that you'll go through the screening, he said. That usually takes about 15 minutes, but you can do that at home.

After answering the screening questions, the app will prompt the user to printout a sheet with a barcode on it.

Then you bring that printout into the screening, they zap the barcode and you verify that the information is correct, Zydlo explained.

They prick your finger, check your iron count and if you're good to go, they get you right in line for a bed to do your donation. So Rapid Pass will save you about 15 minutes. It's another way to save time.

Those wishing to organize a blood drive are encouraged to call 1-800-REDCROSS or go to www.redcrossblood.org.

There's information online about hosting a blood drive or if people just want to volunteer, we're always looking for volunteers to come help us at blood drives, Zydlo said.

Its crucial that people donate now to meet the needs of patients every day and to be prepared for emergencies that require significant volumes of donated blood, Zydlo added.

Every day, blood and platelet donors can help save lives, and right now these heroes are needed to give as soon as possible.
The Village of Glen Carbon reached an agreement with the Policemans Benevolent Labor Union on a four-year contract with the village police and dispatchers.

Village Labor Attorney Tom Berry said the four-year contract is retroactive to March, 2015.

Im very pleased to announce that the bargaining unit has reviewed the agreement and voted to approve it, Berry said.

Under the new agreement, police and dispatchers will see annual pay increases over the course of the labor contract.

Employees will have receive a 3 percent pay increase for the first two years of the contract and 3.25 percent increases in the final two years of the contract.

Another change to the union contract is the introduction of a probationary rate.

The union agreed for the first time to a probationary rate for the first year of service to the village, Berry said.

Once the employee has completed their probationary training period they will begin with the base pay rate.

Berry also highlighted the fact that shift differentials have been eliminated since all employees now work 12-hour shifts.

Shift differential refers to the extra compensation a staff member receives for hours worked that are outside the hours of a Monday to Friday work day.

The Union and the Village also agreed there would be no changes to the longevity bonuses.

In addition to employees annual base wages, employees shall receive longevity pay based upon completed years of full-time continuous service.

Dispatchers receive $600 after two-years of service and a maximum of $2,700 at 20 years. Police officers receive $600 after two years and a maximum of $3,700 at 20 years.

Trustees voted unanimously to approve the labor contract.
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Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 8, 2017 06:45 1953 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a81adfe 1 Business LRT,Greater-Jakarta,land-acquisition,Cibubur,Bekasi Free

The government needs to acquire two plots of land in Cibubur, East Jakarta and Bekasi, West Java worth Rp 1.6 trillion (US$119.3 million) to serve as locations for train depots for the Greater Jakarta light rail transit (LRT) project, an official has said.

The government needs to acquire a 0.45-hectare plot of land in Cibubur and another 5-hectare plot of land in Bekasi for the project, Transportation Ministrys railway transportation directorate general Prasetyo Boeditjahjono on Friday.

He said that In Bekasi, the government needed 10 hectares of land, but that LRT contractor state construction firm Adhi Karya already owned another 5 hectares of land.

The plots of land will be procured through LMAN [national asset management], Prasetyo said, referring to the special public service (BLU) under the Finance Ministry.

He said that LMAN would propose that the fund be included in the 2017 revised state budget.

The transportation project will connect Jakarta and its neighboring cities in West JavaBogor, Depok and Bekasi.

Initially, the project was expected to be completed in 2018 as it was to be used to transport athletes and spectators for the 2017 Asian Games. But a financial shortage in the state budget has forced the government to find alternative funds and extend the deadline of the project. (bbn)
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Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 8, 2017 10:15 1952 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a82185b 1 Business LRT,Greater-Jakarta,light-rail-transit,finance-ministry,LMAN,State-Asset-Management-Agency Free

The government has pledged to procure land in Cibubur, East Jakarta, and East Bekasi, West Java, for construction of the depot for the light rail transit (LRT) system in Greater Jakarta.

The amount of land to be procured in Cibubur is around 0.45 hectares, while the land in East Bekasi is around 10 ha, 5 ha of which is owned by LRT contractor state construction firm Adhi Karya.

The land will be procured through the LMAN [State Asset Management Agency], Transportation Ministry director general for rail transportation Prasetyo Boeditjahjono said on Friday, referring to the special public service (BLU) unit under the Finance Ministry.

Prasetyo further said that the government had estimated that Rp 1.6 trillion (US$119.3 million) was required for the land procurement.

The LMAN will propose the budget and then acquire the money in the 2017 revised state budget, he said. (ebf)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 8 2017

The Jakarta administration plans to hold various competitions to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of Indonesias independence in August. The competitions and events will be centered around the citys signature childrens parks.

There will be 16 kinds of competitions held in children parks across the city, Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat told reporters at City Hall on Friday.

Indonesians across the country participate in locally-held competitions as part of Independence Day celebrations.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 8, 2017 14:15 1952 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a82642c 1 World Jokowi,Joko-Widodo,Spain,Mariano-Rajoy,Mariano-Rajoy-Brey,G20-meeting,G-20,#G20Leaders,Hamburg,Germany Free

President Joko Jokowi Widodo met with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Brey during the G20 Leaders Retreat on Friday. The two leaders discussed ways to improve future trade relations between the two countries.

I want to emphasize the importance to us to work against the negative trends in Indonesia-Spain trade values, which have declined by 5.76 percent each year over the last five years, Jokowi told Brey.

With the Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA), Jokowi said Indonesia was ready to improve trading relationships with European countries, including Spain.

"We expect support from Your Honor [Brey] to help accelerate the completion of the IEU-CEPA negotiations, the President said.

Jokowi also expects Spain to treat Indonesian palm oil products fairly amid rampant negative campaigns directed at the products in the European market.

I hope Spain will help us ensure that the partnership model for the standardization of wood and timber products through the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade [FLEGT] agreement can be implemented for palm oil as well, Jokowi said.

In the meeting, Jokowi expressed his appreciation to Airbus Defense and Space, which has chosen Bandung as its assembly center for the Asia Pacific market.

At the end of their meeting, Prime Minister Brey restated Spains support for the nomination of Indonesia as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the period 2019-2020. (yon/ebf)
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Linkedin Grace D. Amianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 8, 2017 19:41 1952 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a82c367 1 Business foreign-reserve,June-2017,bank-indonesia,liquidity Free

Indonesias foreign exchange reserves declined in June by US$1.86 billion compared to in the previous month because of higher liquidity demand in the domestic banking market, according to the central bank.

The country recorded foreign reserves of $123.09 billion in June, a decrease from $124.95 billion in May. The figure was equal to eight and a half months of imports and the governments external debt payments and is still sufficient to support the countrys external endurance and future economic growth, Bank Indonesia (BI) said.

The decline in foreign exchange reserves in June 2017 was mainly caused by rising demand for foreign exchange liquidity in banks during the long holiday of Idul Fitri, the central bank wrote in a statement on Friday evening.

The central bank considered that the decline was temporary as the banks rising demand was only to support its cash buffers. As it continues its monitoring, BI was convinced that the global financial markets would further support stronger foreign reserves with exports remaining a good prospect.

The domestic economy also retained a positive perception following the countrys rating upgrade to investment grade from S&P Global Ratings, the central bank said. (ags)
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Linkedin Jon Afrizal (The Jakarta Post) Jambi  Sat, July 8, 2017 17:31 1952 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a8299c5 1 National radical-group,radicalism,radical-movement,Jambi,Kerinci-Police,Facebook,jihad Free

Mobile Detective Unit (Buser) officers from the Kerinci Police in Jambi arrested on Friday evening a 38-year-old resident of Lempur Danau in Keliling Danau district, Kerinci regency, for his alleged involvement in a radical group.

Kerinci Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Dwi Mulyanto said the man, only identified as WRS, who has lately worked as a farmer, had once lived in Malaysia as an Indonesian migrant worker. He was arrested for having posted calls for jihad on his Facebook account.

On his Facebook posts, he also attached a photo emblazoned with a message that read La Ilaha IllAllah' [There is no god but Allah]. There is also a man carrying a long rifle and writing that reads a call for jihad in the photo, Dwi said on Saturday.

The police chief explained that WRS had returned to Indonesia from Malaysia about one year ago. He lived alone in his house as his parents had passed away, he added. He has been divorced from his wife, Dwi said.

Following his arrest, Kerinci Police officers searched WRS house. They confiscated several of his personal belongings as evidence. They included two sharp weapons, a shawl emblazoned with the word "HAMAS" and a picture of Palestines national flag. Other evidence consisted of an air gun, a small notebook, binoculars, a cellphone and a wallet.

We will carry out a further investigations, said Dwi. He said the police needed to take further steps to get proof on whether WRS was involved in a radical group. (ebf)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 8, 2017 07:00 1953 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a81b1fa 1 National KPK,House,inquiry Free

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has inaugurated Budi Santoso, Muhammad Tsani Annafari and Sarwono Sutikno as its advisors for the 2017-2021 period.

The inauguration was led by KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo at the KPK offices in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Thursday.

Agus said the new advisors had to comply with KPK regulations, adding that he would conduct a meeting with other KPK commissioners to discuss the compensation of the new advisors.

Read also: Inquiry not suitable' for us: KPK

At the inauguration, the three advisors promised to assume their roles under the KPKs ethics code.

"If we break our promises, we are ready to receive sanctions, either administrative sanctions or prison time under the existing regulations," they said, as quoted by kompas.com.

The KPK is facing a tough phase as the House of Representative aims to put pressure on the antigraft body by launching an inquiry in relation to the KPKs investigation of corruption related to the procurement of electronic identity cards, which allegedly involved several lawmakers. Experts said the inquiry could lead to the antigraft body being dismantled. (yon)

Topics : KPK House inquiry
Only nine of 20 former and active legislators summoned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrived at the commissions headquarters for questioning this week, as KPK investigators stepped up their probe into the alleged involvement of politicians in the e-ID case.

The KPK has said the focus of its investigation into the case has shifted to politicians, who are alleged to have received millions of dollars from businessmen to approve the Rp 5.9 trillion budget for the e-ID project.

The planned questioning of the politicians comes as the House of Representatives special committee on the KPK begins hunting for evidence to prove allegations that the commission breached the rights of people that it prosecuted, including more than 80 former legislators.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 8, 2017 19:39 1952 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a82bf3b 1 Business Pakuwon-Jati,rating-agency,Moodys-Investors-Service Free

Moodys Investors Service has upgraded publicly listed property firm PT Pakuwon Jatis corporate rating from Ba3 to Ba2 with a stable outlook. The same upgrade has also been applied to the firms subsidiary Pakuwon Prima.

Jacintha Poh, Moodys vice president and senior analyst, said the upgrade reflected Surabaya-based Pakuwon Jati's continued growth in scale and its maintenance of a strong financial and liquidity profile.

Despite the lackluster demand for property, Pakuwon Jatis revenues for the 12 months ending on March 31 increased by 6 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 5 trillion (US$373.21 million). Moodys attributed the revenue growth to a 9 percent increase in recurring revenues and a 2 percent increase in development revenues.

Moodys expects Pakuwon Jatis revenues to grow about 10 percent, with 50 percent of the revenues coming from recurring income from its investment properties, as well as its ongoing financial discipline.

Pakuwon Jatis high quality investment properties portfolio comprising mostly retail malls provides a stable and recurring income, mitigating the volatility in cash flow from its cyclical property development business, said Poh.

In the first quarter of 2017, Pakuwon Jati booked Rp 654 billion in marketing sales, which Moodys said put Pakuwon Jati on track to meet its sales target of Rp 2.7 trillion this year. (mrc/ags)
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Linkedin Panca Nugraha (The Jakarta Post) Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara  Sat, July 8, 2017 19:00 1952 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a82b87a 1 National haj,haj-pilgrimage,haj-pilgrims,haj-pilgrim-departure,Lombok-international-airport,Lombok-airport,NTB,West-Nusa-Tenggara Free

The Religious Affairs Ministrys West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) office is prepared to dispatch more than 4,000 pilgrims to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, during the upcoming haj season, a senior official at the office said.

NTB Religious Affairs Agency head Nasaruddin said the number of haj pilgrims from the province in 2017 was to be 4,476.

With Indonesian Haj Management Committee [PPIH] officials, the number of haj delegation members from NTB will be 4,564 people, said Nasaruddin on Friday.

He said the dispatch of the NTB haj pilgrims would start on Aug. 12, when they would be clustered into 12 flight groups that would depart via Lombok International Airport.

NTB deputy governor Muhammad Amin said he hoped all PPIH officials would give their best service to the haj pilgrims during their pilgrimage to Mecca.

PPIH officials must be able to serve the NTB haj pilgrims wholeheartedly. Prime services based on sincerity and responsibility will give great motivation to the pilgrims to perform the pilgrimage as good as possible, said Amin.

According to the Religious Affairs Ministry, the number of Indonesian haj pilgrims this year is to be 221,000 from 34 provinces. The dispatch of Indonesian haj pilgrims will begin on July 28 and their return from Saudi Arabia is scheduled to start on Sept. 6.

The ministrys Haj and Umrah Management Directorate general secretary, Hasan Faozi, said that every year the government had carried out improvements to haj services.

We are striving as best as possible to provide quality haj services for all Indonesian people, he said. (ebf)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 8, 2017 13:40 1952 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a82574e 1 City airport-security,soekarno-hatta-airport Free

Following an assault on an airport security official by the wife of a police general in Manado, North Sulawesi, a similar incident has occurred at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten.

A military man, identified as AG, 56, slapped an airport security official on Friday after the latter tried to conduct a body search on AG.

The light of the body scanner at a security checkpoint turned on when AG passed through it, prompting an official to ask his permission to conduct the search.

The airport security official was slapped [after asking him], said airport police spokesperson Second Insp. Prayogo as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The police are still investigating the case.

(Read also: Soldier who allegedly attacked airport officer faces internal probe)

A police general's wife received harsh criticism on social media after she was taped assaulting a security officer at Sam Ratulangi Airport in Manado.

The woman has been identified as Joice Waraouw.



She was later questioned by the Jakarta Police over the incident. (yon/wit)
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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Hamburg, Germany  Sat, July 8, 2017

Tax and terror, those were the main issues highlighted by Indonesia at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, on Friday, with President Joko Jokowi Widodo calling for a new soft power strategy to fight terrorism and a hard power strategy to fight global tax fraud.

Despite experiencing a few hiccups on the way to the G20 summit venue due to massive demonstrations on Friday, Jokowi was given the opportunity to speak in front of the leaders of G20 member countries and used his time to encourage the worlds biggest economies to unite to maximize counterterrorism efforts.

He emphasized that a new balance is needed between soft power and hard power in the battle against terrorism, citing the success of Indonesias de-radicalization programs in discouraging former terrorists from committing further acts of radicalism-fueled carnage.

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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Hamburg, Germany  Sat, July 8 2017

Tax and terror, those were the main issues highlighted by Indonesia at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, on Friday, with President Joko Jokowi Widodo calling for a new soft power strategy to fight terrorism and a hard power strategy to fight global tax fraud.

Despite experiencing a few hiccups on the way to the G20 summit venue due to massive demonstrations on Friday, Jokowi was given the opportunity to speak in front of the leaders of G20 member countries and used his time to encourage the worlds biggest economies to unite to maximize counterterrorism efforts.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 8, 2017 18:48 1952 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a82a8bb 1 City crime,Depok Free

Depok Police have arrested a man for kidnapping his former girlfriend for 10 hours and stealing from her.

Depok Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Rahmaningtyas said the police caught the accused, Febranata Alexander Titaley, 20, at his uncles house in Medan, North Sumatra, on Wednesday after hunting for him for more than a month.

Febranata, who is a university student, allegedly held his former girlfriend, NN, at a rented apartment on Jl. Margonda for 10 hours in May after she refused to return to him. The 20-year-old was set free when police stormed the building.

The woman's captor ran away from the scene, taking her bracelet with him.

Rahmaningtyas said the police are slapping multiple charges on the student, including for kidnapping and stealing with violence. He would also be charged with the Pornography Law and the the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law for allegedly distributing intimate photos of him and NN through her social media accounts.

"Investigators are still looking for evidence related to the pornography and ITE Law offenses, she said on Friday as quoted by tribunnews.com.

When police went to arrest Febranata in Medan, he allegedly denied he was the man they were hunting. Police claim he hid in a bathroom and said that his name was Bram. (wit)

Topics : crime Depok
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 8, 2017 11:30 1952 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a82383c 1 National IdulFitri,Idul-Fitri,Idul-Fitri-2017,idul-fitri-exodus,traffic-accident,BudiKaryaSumadi,Budi-Karya-Sumadi,National-Police,National-Police-Traffic-Corps,Korlantas Free

The National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas) has reported a drop in traffic accidents during this years Idul Fitri holiday, in which at least 5 million people hit the nation's main roads from June 18 through July 2.

The traffic accident rate decreased 30.39 percent to 3,168 cases, as motorcyclists were prohibited from using the main routes of the Idul Fitri exodus, said Korlantas chief Brig. Gen. Royke Lumowa.

"In future, we will find a better way to reduce the number of motorbikes during the exodus. It is not a safe transportation mode [for long trips]," Royke said during a press conference at the Presidential Office Jakarta on Thursday.

Motorcycle accidents account for 75 percent of total traffic accidents in Indonesia annually.

Royke added that the number of casualties during the exodus also dropped significantly by 41.16 percent to 742 deaths from the 1,261 fatalities during the previous years Idul Fitri holiday as police officers in the field had enforced road discipline.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said the government had worked with state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private companies to provide free rides for motorcyclists during the exodus while their motorcycles were carried by train.

"The program facilitated 19,148 motorcycles and 299,178 people," he said. (ags)
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Linkedin Simon Sturdee and Hui Min Neo (AFP) Hamburg, Germany  Sat, July 8, 2017 08:15 1952 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a81e254 2 World DonaldTrump,Donald-Trump,Vladimir-Putin,Russia-meddling,G20-meeting,#G20Leaders,Hamburg,Germany,US-election Free

US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin engaged in a "very robust exchange" over claims Moscow meddled in America's elections, during their first face-to-face talks Friday at a fractious G20 summit marred by violent street protests.

From the outset of the blockbuster encounter, the US property tycoon fired the key question that has weighed on his presidency, pressing the ex-KGB agent "on more than one occasion" on the vote interference claims, said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was in the meeting.

But Tillerson's counterpart Sergei Lavrov quickly added that Trump "accepted" Putin's denial of Moscow's role in propelling him to the White House, after hearing the Russian out.

Over the course of two hours and 15 minutes of talks that covered not only the damaging claims but also a slew of global crises including the Syrian war, the two leaders clearly engaged, said Tillerson.

"Let me characterise: the meeting was very constructive, the two leaders I would say, connected very quickly," said Tillerson, adding "there was a very clear positive chemistry between the two".

"There are so many issues on the table... Just about everything got touched upon... Neither one of them wanted to stop," he said.

"I believe they even sent in the (US) First Lady at one point to see if she could get us out of there, but that didn't work either... We did another hour. Clearly she failed!"

- Growing rift -

On the presidential election campaign trail last year, Trump said he hoped relations with Putin could be rebuilt after Russia's acrimonious ties with his predecessor Barack Obama.

But the billionaire had faced increasing pressure to take a tough line on Russia after allegations it interfered in the vote.

In the talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Trump pressed Putin on the issue, "and then... felt like at this point, let's talk about how do we go forward," said Tillerson.

"I think that was the right place to spend our time, rather than spending a lot of time having a disagreement that everybody knows we have a disagreement," added the secretary of state.

But Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer ripped into Tillerson over the case.

"For Secretary Tillerson to say that this issue will remain unresolved is disgraceful -- to give equal credence to the findings of the American intelligence community and the assertion by Mr. Putin is a grave dereliction of duty and will only encourage Russia to further interfere in our elections in the future," he warned.

- Climate deal 'irreversible' -

Friday's encounter could have an impact on issues ranging from the North Korean crisis and conflicts in Syria and Ukraine to US-Russian disarmament treaties, world trade and global warming, analysts say.

How the "contrasting styles of machismo interact... will likely be the defining feature of their relationship," noted Derek Chollet from think-tank German Marshall Fund.

But if Trump and Putin have established a rapport, the distance between the US leader and America's long-standing allies have appeared to widen with his climate-sceptic opinions and "America First" policy.

The growing rift has turned this year's G20 summit -- normally a ripple-free event in the diplomatic calendar -- into one of the stormiest in the forum's history.

"We are not going to paper over the differences but rather, we will call discord discord," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

A draft communique seen by AFP Friday appeared to reflect the 19-versus-one stance on climate.

The draft underlines that the 2015 Paris climate accord is "irreversible" and affirms that other G20 nations are committed to the deal while taking note of Washington's decision to quit the agreement.

- Not given up hope -

Meanwhile, North Korea's successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile this week also casts a dark shadow over the US leader's first G20 summit.

Trump had warned Thursday that Pyongyang's military sabre-rattling would bear "consequences", saying he was considering a "severe" response to its "very, very bad behaviour".

After repeatedly urging Beijing to ratchet up the economic pressure on North Korea, Trump will hold what promises to be a testy meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the G20s sidelines on Saturday.

Tillerson said the US will continue to press China to do more to rein in Pyongyang.

"Our engagement is unchanged with China and our expectations are unchanged. We have not given up hope," he added.

- Unacceptable violence -

Meanwhile, outside the heavily guarded G20 conference hall, protesters wreaked havoc, engaging in running battles with police in the all day as the rattle of helicopters was heard overhead.

The activists blocked US First Lady Melania Trump at her residence for hours as they torched cars, smashed shop windows, fired flares at police helicopters and even slashed tyres on vehicles belonging to the Canadian delegation.

The violence forced Hamburg police to call in reinforcements from other German states, and G20 organisers to drastically curtail an official programme for spouses of visiting dignitaries.

G20 host Merkel condemned the violence, saying she could understand peaceful protests, but demonstrations that "put peoples' lives in danger, put the protesters' own lives in danger... are unacceptable". (**)
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Linkedin News Desk (AFP) Hamburg, Germany  Sat, July 8, 2017 08:45 1952 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a81e84a 2 World US,Russia,Syria,#Syria,#SyriaWar,G20-meeting,G-20,#G20Leaders,Hamburg,Germany Free

Russia and the United States have agreed to a ceasefire in southwest Syria starting from midday on Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced Friday.

"Today in Amman Russian, American and Jordanian experts... agreed on a memorandum of understanding to create a de-escalation zone" in the regions of Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida, Lavrov said.

"There will be a ceasefire in this zone from midday Damascus time on July 9."

Lavrov was speaking at the G20 summit in Hamburg where he sat in on talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin -- their first face-to-face meeting.

The agreement includes areas that have seen Israel retaliate for stray fire into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from recent clashes between Syrian regime forces and rebel fighters.

Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been engaged in talks this year with Turkey and Iran over four so-called de-escalation zones in the war-torn country.

Negotiations in Astana this week failed to reach an agreement on the policing and precise borders of the zones, however.

Lavrov said the ceasefire set to begin Sunday would be supervised by Russian military police "in coordination with the Jordanians and Americans".

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed the agreement.

Tillerson said it showed the United States and Russia were able to work together in Syria and that they would continue to do so.

"We had a very lengthy discussion regarding other areas in Syria that we can continue to work together on to de-escalate the areas and the violence, once we defeat ISIS," he said using an acronym for the Islamic State group.

Tillerson said they would also "work together towards a political process that will secure the future of the Syrian people".

In Washington, a senior State Department official briefed reporters about the ceasefire, saying the impulse for the move came from Washington and from Moscow.

"If there's going to be a resolution of the conflict in Syria, we both need to somehow be involved in it," the official said.

"The Russians are heavily invested in the conflict. We have an interest in finding an end to it - in ending the misery, in ending the violence, in ending the refugee flows and the radicalization that emerges from it."

- Britain sceptical -

The United States has led a multi-national coalition since 2014 battling IS jihadists in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

Jordan said it was party to what it called a "tripartite agreement" together with Russia and the United States.

"A ceasefire will take place along a line of contact agreed upon between the Syrian government forces and associated troops on one side and rebels on the other," government spokesman Mohammed Momani said.

"The three nations voiced their commitment to working on a political solution" based on UN-backed talks in Geneva and UN Security Council Resolution 2254, he said, quoted by the official Petra news agency.

Asked about the ceasefire, British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon was sceptical it would hold given the string of failures in the past.

"We welcome any ceasefire, but let's see it, let's see the results on where these safety zones are proposed," Fallon told a Washington think-tank.

"Let's not have the civilian population misled.

"If they can be properly enforced then they are thoroughly welcome, and can then get in the United Nations humanitarian aid that was promised," said Fallon.

The Syrian army had announced on Monday a unilateral ceasefire to halt fighting in Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida.

These areas form one of the four de-escalation zones agreed under peace talks in Kazakhstan brokered by rebel backer Turkey and regime allies Russia and Iran.

The Syrian army's unilateral ceasefire was to have expired at midnight on Thursday.

Syria's conflict evolved from a bloody crackdown on protests in 2011 to a devastating war that has drawn in world powers, including Russia and the US-led international coalition.

More than 320,000 people are estimated to have been killed and millions have been displaced. (**)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 8, 2017 15:18 1952 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a827d3b 1 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,antique,Pekanbaru Free

During a recent get-together with National Science Olympics (OSN) 2017 Contingent in Pekanbaru, Riau governor Arsyadjuliandi Rachman went up to the stage and made a pitching for Pasar Bawah (Down Market).

I feel the need to introduce you to Pasar Bawah which is now known widely as a tourist market. This market has been nominated for an Indonesian Tourism Award (API) by the Tourism Ministry, said Rachman.

Read also: Reminiscing the good old days at Triwindu Market, Surakarta

Pasar Bawah is a must-visit location when exploring Riau. It is the market in Pekanbaru located on the riverside of Siak River and the port. The market itself is unique because instead of selling fruit and vegetables, this place sells antique goods and knick-knacks from local areas and overseas.

You will find products from Malaysia, Singapore and Italia as well as second-hand electronics in affordable price.

The place also sells local products from Riau such as Riau batik, Riau tenun (Riau-style woven fabrics), Malay traditional clothing and local food like lempuk durian, dodol kedondong, ikan salai (smoked fish) and ikan asin (salted fish). (asw)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 8, 2017 11:09 1952 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a8225e5 1 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,tourism-promotion,10-new-bali,Spain,investment,investment-coordinating-board Free

The head of the Indonesian investment promotion in London, Nurul Ichwan traveled to Zaragoza, Spain on July 4 to attend a business forum that aims to increase the trade value between ASEAN and Spain and to attract Spanish investors to ASEAN countries.

Ichwan explained that in 2011, the Spanish investment value in Indonesia was US$1.09 million. In 2012 the number increased slightly to $3.15 million but down to $2.89 million in 2013. In 2014, the number jumped up to $15.69 million and increased 300 percent to $56.59 million in 2015.

The number decreased once again in 2016 with $50.09 million, The total of investment from 2010 to 2016 has only reached $168 million for 237 projects; that puts Spain in the 27th spot for top foreign investors, said Ichwan.

Read also: A truly Spanish experience in Madrid

Ichwan also presented the implementation of One Stop Service (OSS) center by The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) in 34 provinces across Indonesia and financial projections for toursim ministrys 10 priority destinations which are also known as "the new Balis". The destinations encompass Lake Toba, Belitung, Tanjung Lesung, Thousand Islands, Borobudur temple, Mount Bromo, Mandalika, Komodo Island, Wakatobi National Park and Morotai.

Spains investment in Indonesia keeps on increasing with the biggest contribution from Airbus Defense & Space (EADS  CASA) that has been operating in Indonesia since 1976. We have to attract Spanish investors to invest in our maritime sector to make up for the number of investment the Spain made to Indonesia in 2016 that was down $ 6 million [from the previous year], said Indonesian Ambassador to Spain Yuli Mumpuni.

The Spanish government allocates 450 million euro every year to support the globalization initiative for Spanish companies that includes expanding to Vietnam and Indonesia. (asw)
(lead article, Socialist Workers Party statement)

NY subway derailment shows crisis of capitalism

Expand public transit, fight for workers power!

TWU Local 100

The mounting horrors that working people face as we use New York mass transit  from being trapped in packed, sweltering, stalled subway cars in dark tunnels, to risk of serious injury or death in derailments like the one that occurred on the A train in Manhattan June 27  show the propertied rulers disregard for our needs and safety. They show what is more and more in store for workers as a result of the normal workings of the dog-eat-dog capitalist system mired in a deepening economic, social and political crisis.

Transit workers face attacks on their safety, wages, health care and pensions, and riders see mounting fares while never knowing what theyll face each day

The deteriorating conditions in the New York transit system reflect the catastrophic impact of this decadeslong capitalist crisis on our lives, from long-term joblessness for millions, to increasing deaths from opioid drugs, and the impact on working people at home and abroad of Washingtons unending wars in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Paying the interest on the MTAs skyrocketing $37.5 billion debt to wealthy bondholders comes first under capitalism, and the bosses and their government demand that workers foot the bills.

Workers in Puerto Rico  as well as the Virgin Islands and other U.S. territories  who live under the boot of Washingtons colonial domination, know through their own bitter experience how the capitalist system of debt bondage works. Under the dictates of a U.S.-imposed fiscal board, the Puerto Rican government has slashed pensions, wages for government workers, and closed schools and hospitals to pay bondholders on Puerto Ricos $74 billion debt.

Working people in the U.S. are looking for a way to end the social devastation they face and to drain the swamp of bourgeois politics. They no longer have confidence in the two capitalist party shell game and are looking for a road to act politically in their own interests.

The Socialist Workers Party says unequivocally that low cost, safe, efficient, comfortable, mass public transit is a basic necessity for working people, here and around the country.

And transit workers must win workers control over conditions on the job to protect themselves and transit riders alike.

Workers need to organize and fight for a massive, government-funded public works program to expand mass public transit nationwide; rebuild aging infrastructure such as roads and bridges; and bring the New York and other subway, bus and commuter rail systems to safe, reliable and comfortable operation  a program that would put millions of unemployed workers to work at union rates of pay.

Working people need their own political party, the Socialist Workers Party. This means fighting to build a movement millions strong with the power and leadership capable of replacing the political power of the capitalist rulers with workers power. Along this road we can begin to reverse the social catastrophe our class faces and force concessions from the propertied ruling families.

Join the Socialist Workers Party in backing workers wherever they take up the fight against the bosses attacks, from Spectrum and AT&T workers here to food processing workers in California and striking silver miners in Idaho. Join the Socialist Workers Party!





Related articles:

Bondholders line pockets as mass transit crumbles





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Bondholders line pockets as mass transit crumbles

NEW YORK  The growing frustration and anger of working people with the dramatic increase in delays, breakdowns and daily abuse in the subway system here shifted to concern for passenger safety with the derailment of two cars on the A train during morning rush hour June 27 that injured 34 people, sending 17 to hospital.

Deteriorating conditions  coupled with increasing fares  in one of the largest subway systems in the world, has reached crisis proportions, reflecting the disregard of the bosses and their politicians for the lives of working people.

Im not going to use the MTA again, 31-year-old Harlem resident Sheena Tucker, a homemaker with two children who suffered a back injury in the derailment, said at a June 29 press conference.

This was a serious derailment, with quite a bit of damage to signals and some structural damage to the walls, said Tony Utano, vice president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union. Our members worked as fast and safely as possible to bring the system back to normal.

The problem for working people is that the daily normal in the subway and commuter transit system, managed by highly paid Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials and their Democratic and Republican political masters in the state and city governments, is the crisis conditions.

The MTA, a state-run agency that operates the city subways and buses, the Long Island and Metro-North railroads and area bridges and tunnels, carries one-third of all mass transit users in the country. The 112-year-old system has been deteriorating for decades. Worsening service and safety problems are accompanied by countless other indignities  lack of adequate seating on station platforms, no escalators at most stations, oppressive heat and lack of air, and near constant unannounced changes in routes and schedules.

As the transit bosses try to keep up with aging cars, signals and tracks, capitalist politicians in Washington, Albany and New York have cut funding. The burden  directly and indirectly  falls more and more squarely on working people.

The systems capital budget is hermetically sealed from its operating budget, which covers the wages, health care and pensions for 67,000 workers and, increasingly, the cost of the soaring bond debt to Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and other banks and profiteers. This accounting scheme lets the bosses claim that the debt can only be paid for by cuts to workers jobs and wages, and fare increases.

The alternatives they propose all hike costs for workers  from a congestion fee on drivers who come to Manhattan and tolls on East River bridges to increased taxes on gas.

The MTA bond debt load is now greater than that of 30 countries  a whopping $35.7 billion. Interest payments to the bondholders eat up 16 percent of the operating budget, and the percentage is growing. Meanwhile, the system degrades daily.

What is needed today, immediately, is more financial resources for regular, ongoing maintenance to ensure that the system can handle todays record ridership, Local 100 President John Samuelsen said.

In 1990 ridership was 4 million a day, today its 6 million. But in that period the fleet of subway cars has only increased by 27. Total track mileage has been reduced by five miles. On-time performance for almost all 24 lines has fallen dramatically. Today there are more than 70,000 delays a month, up from 28,000 in 2012.

The horse-and-buggy signal system that keeps the trains running was installed in the 1930s. Ten years ago the signals were checked every month, management has now cut signal checks to four times a year.

Over the past 25 years capitalist politicians have diverted billions of dollars from maintenance of the system into unnecessary and costly pet megaprojects, such as a $10.8 billion tunnel to connect Long Island Rail Road trains to the Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan that will serve as few as 162,000 riders a day. A much ballyhooed extension of the No. 7 line from Times Square a handful of blocks to the west costs $2.4 billion and carries less than 25 percent of the projected 32,000 daily riders.

State and city officials are battling to shift blame for the indignities and dangers back and forth, and each claims the other should pay more. Two days after the June 27 derailment, in response to the rising anger of working people, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is unofficially campaigning to be the Democratic Partys 2020 presidential candidate, suddenly declared the subways face a state of emergency and need billions in new funding. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio took a well publicized subway ride June 15, his first in two months, saying if Cuomos MTA cant fix the problem, Id rather have the city of New York run it.
(front page)

UK elections reveal depth of rulers parties political crisis

LONDON  The results of the general parliamentary elections have thrown a spotlight on the political crisis of the propertied rulers in the U.K. and their parties.

The Conservatives  who had drooled over poll results promising a sweeping majority just weeks earlier  were punished, losing their majority. As the incumbent governing party, they were held most responsible by some workers and others for the devastating effects of the rulers grinding assaults on working people and some middle-class layers, and the broader social crisis. Declining real wages, growing job insecurity, lack of affordable housing and a burgeoning health care crisis saw millions vote in protest or stay home.

Political developments  from the Brexit vote to this one  have caused a deepening crisis for all political parties in the U.K. And they raise fears in the British ruling class, who see behind the votes growing working-class anger and labor battles to come.

Prime Minister Theresa Mays authority is shattered. Former Conservative Chancellor George Osborne called her a dead woman walking. Events since the vote, most notably the social catastrophe resulting from the Grenfell Tower fire and the start of Brexit negotiations, deepen the factional divisions between and within the rulers parties.

The new Conservative government is proposing just eight substantive laws  all focused on Brexit  stretched out over two years, so as to avoid a vote next year on what would surely be a no confidence motion. May has secured an arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland for their support in such votes. But while the DUP deal allows the Conservatives to form a government, it threatens to add to the political crisis by undermining Northern Ireland devolution  the ongoing transfer of powers from London to the assembly in Belfast  to which the Conservative Party is committed. By associating the U.K. government with a Unionist party, they endanger alienating Republicans upon whose willing consent the Northern Ireland executive depends.

May clings to office

To cling to office, May says she will try to work with anyone in any party. One proposal is to bind Labour into the Brexit negotiations by offering Keir Starmer, their shadow Brexit minister, a Privy Council place. Starmer would be drawn into government discussions on negotiations with the European Union, but bound to secrecy.

The government will also look for cross-party agreement on new anti-terror measures. Already  with bipartisan support  armed police in Manchester have started routinely stopping and searching cars, claiming to act as a deterrent and reassurance. The Labour Party campaign was marked by leader Jeremy Corbyns call for adding 10,000 new cops to Britains forces.

The Scottish National Party, the governing party in the Scottish Parliament, was also punished in the poll, losing 21 of its 56 Members of Parliament. The Scottish Conservatives won 14 seats, up from one before the election. But this is a potential Trojan horse for instability. Scottish Conservatives have their own agenda, and leader Ruth Davidson is touted by some as a replacement for May.

The UK Independence Party saw its electoral support hammered. Its vote collapsed from 13 percent in the 2015 election to 2 percent. With the Brexit vote, UKIP lost its central demand, and with May leading the negotiations, the party switched to a crude anti-Muslim agenda, resulting in hemorrhaging of its working-class support.

Political crisis deepens

The Corbyn-led Labour Party received 41 percent, just two points behind the Conservatives. Corbyn campaigned around the slogan for the many, not the few, presenting himself as a radical outsider  both anti-Tory and outside the Labour Party old guard.

The Conservative Party leadership and much of the media ran an anti-Corbyn campaign, accusing him of being a Marxist for advocating some nationalizations and tax increases on those with higher incomes and being soft on terrorism. His prospects improved with each attack.

The soft on terrorism allegation especially backfired. Corbyn turned the tables, condemning the government for cutting police and competing with May in a bidding war over curtailing political rights, glorifying the rulers cops and spy agencies. He called for expanding Prevent, a central pillar of the governments anti-terrorism strategy, that obliges civil servants, teachers and others to inform on anyone they think voices extremist views.

The Corbyn leadership tastes blood and is demanding a new election. But Labours own factional crisis, which last year saw mass resignations from the shadow cabinet, remains.

The shift to Corbyn was strongest among middle class layers, and especially among student youth whose aspirations for well-paying jobs in the U.K. and Europe are being dashed by the capitalist economic crisis and declining university standards. Corbyn made campaign pledges to end tuition fees and relieve the financial burdens on indebted students.

A layer of younger workers also voted for Labour. On average they are earning 8,000 ($10,350) less in their 20s than their parents did, while the number living with their folks has sky-rocketed.

Overall, working-class votes were evenly divided between Conservatives and Labour. May competed for working-class support, with a parallel pledge to govern for the majority, not the privileged few. Conservative MP Robert Halfon proposed renaming the party the Conservative Workers Party. Workers who favor Brexit and dont trust Labour to deliver it also voted Conservative.

The election registered that party loyalty, especially along class lines, is over. The Labour Party is today more like the Democratic Party in the U.S., no longer a social democratic party looked to by working people as theirs  whatever misgivings they may have had about its program and leadership.

Voter volatility is the expression of the deep-seated anger among workers and sections of the middle class. It is beginning to scare the rulers. Theresa May called it a quiet revolution.

The anger contributed to the successful campaign for the Communist League. Workers are open to discussing a communist perspective  whether they ended up voting Conservative, Labour or not voting, said Peter Clifford, the Leagues candidate in Manchester Gorton.

Beneath the political crisis is the U.K.s weakness in the face of world capitalisms growing disorder, and Londons disproportionate decline in relation to its imperialist rivals. British capital is stagnant, trailing its rivals in productive business investment and labor productivity. The British rulers army has been reduced to 78,000, and plans are afoot to cut it to 65,000, making impossible the sort of commitment of 46,000 soldiers London sent to back Washington at the peak of the Iraq war.

The political crisis isnt going away.





Related articles:

Marchers at London rally protest Grenfell catastrophe







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Join new Socialist Workers Party branch campaigning in Albany

ALBANY, N.Y.  Were meeting workers every day who are affected by the bosses deepening crisis, are fed up with the capitalist parties and are giving the Socialist Workers Partys communist program a hearing, Maggie Trowe, SWP candidate for mayor here, told supporters July 1 as they prepared to head out and talk to working people in the area. We say workers must act on the rulers crisis by building a movement that transforms millions of workers as we defend our class and become capable of ending the dictatorship of capital.

Trowe and supporters of the SWP campaign knocked on doors in working-class neighborhoods over the weekend in Albany and a couple of nearby towns, winning several new subscribers to the Militant, and selling books like The Clintons Anti-Working-Class Record, Are They Rich Because Theyre Smart? and Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power, by SWP National Secretary Jack Barnes, and Is Socialist Revolution in the US Possible? by SWP leader Mary-Alice Waters.

On July 11 we will step up campaigning and begin collecting signatures to put the party on the November ballot as we knock on workers doors all over the city, sell dozens of books and Militant subscriptions and win new campaigners, the candidate said. Were inviting anyone who wants to help get out the ideas of the Socialist Workers Party to come and join in.

Trowe joined retired railroad unionist Jon Flanders to speak at a June 26 meeting organized by Albany Cuba Solidarity, describing their recent experiences in Cuba marching with hundreds of thousands of workers on May Day. Trowe also took part in the 12th May Day International Brigade of 300 workers and youth from 29 countries, did voluntary labor on Cuban farms, and participated in a seminar in Guantanamo, Cuba, calling for Washington to end its over 100-year illegal occupation of Cuban territory there.

Flanders explained the historic ties between revolutionary Cuba and the fight against U.S. colonial domination of Puerto Rico. The Cuban and Puerto Rican people are like two wings of the same bird, Flanders said. He contrasted the conditions working people face in the two countries. The Zika virus is rampant in Puerto Rico, while there have been only a few cases in Cuba, where the revolutionary government organized house-by-house spraying that has kept incidents of the disease to a handful, he said.

I went to Cuba for two reasons, Trowe said, to show solidarity with the Cuban Revolution and get ammunition to better defend it, and because I believe a socialist revolution in the U.S. is possible and I want to deepen my understanding of how workers and farmers made a revolution and have maintained it since 1959. Then I can use this as an example for working people here to emulate.

Both speakers and participants in the discussion spoke against recent moves by the administration of President Donald Trump to make travel to Cuba more difficult.

This is the 12th consecutive administration in Washington seeking a way to overthrow the Cuban Revolution, Trowe said. Remember how President Barack Obama explained, when diplomatic relations were re-established in 2014, that new tactics to overthrow the Cuban Revolution were required after doing the same thing for over five decades had failed.

I like what you say about the working class and Id like to learn more about the Cuban Revolution, Adonist Barber, who works in a foster care home, told Trowe when she knocked on his door in nearby Scotia July 1. Trowe said she would send him information about the October Footsteps of Che Guevara Brigade going to Cuba Oct. 1-15.

Albany campaigners, joined by volunteers from New York and Philadelphia, campaigned throughout the region July 1-2 and enjoyed a potluck dinner and party Saturday evening.

As campaigners gathered at a McDonalds before spreading out to talk about the capitalist social and political crisis today, one person eating there called out to Young Socialist Sergio Zambrana, Hey, Sergio, its good to see you!

C.J. Turner, a worker from a sharecropper family in Mississippi, had talked with Zambrana on his porch steps the week before and said he liked the SWP program and wanted to meet the candidate. Ill talk to my wife Lori and set a time for you to come over.

Workers and young people from Albany and beyond are invited to join young socialists and the SWP in the campaign and ballot drive July 11-Aug. 15, Trowe said. The campaign will hold a public rally at 5:30 p.m. Sat., July 15, at 405 Washington Ave. in Albany, followed by a dinner and social. Call (518) 903-0781 or email albanyswp@gmail.com to join the campaign.





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Canada tour builds support for Cuban Revolution

VANCOUVER, British Columbia  Luis Morlote Rivas, first vice president of the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC) and a member of the Cuban National Assembly, and Sandra Ramirez and Yamil Martinez, both directors of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), spoke to several hundred people on a tour of Canada at the beginning of June. The Cuban revolutionaries spoke in Toronto, Niagara Falls, Winnipeg and Vancouver.

Since Dec. 17, 2014, [when U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro moved to establish diplomatic relations] the U.S. government has imposed fines on 11 institutions  seven U.S. and four foreign  of over $2.8 billion. There is an economic war against our country, Ramirez told a public meeting of over 60 here June 10. The U.S. government continues to routinely sanction businesses maintaining even remote relations with Cuba.

Referring to Guantanamo, the U.S.-occupied Cuban territory where the U.S. runs a notorious prison for people Washington accuses of supporting terrorism, she said, Guantanamo is more than a prison. Its a province in Cuba. The best part of the harbor belongs to the U.S. Cuban fishermen dream of being able to fish there. The Canadian Network on Cuba conference attended by the Cuban representatives June 3-4 in Toronto voted to demand Washingtons immediate withdrawal from Guantanamo and an end to the economic blockade.

Urging participants to organize actions across the continent in October to coincide with the annual United Nations vote on the continuing U.S. assault on the Cuban Revolution, Ramirez said, I dont know what Trump will do but I know what Cuba will continue to do  building socialism, defending our social conquests.

Cuba is showing how to build a new society, a better society, said Martinez, from the Canada desk of ICAP, where the workers are heard, where the interests of the working class are put at stake.

Cuba must do whats possible to be self-sufficient in food. We need to increase exports and decrease imports. We remember the Special Period when the Soviet Union collapsed and the challenges and difficult times our people faced, he said. But nothing shook the peoples political support for the government. As long as there is a socialist revolution in Cuba, these conquests will remain.

Morlote Rivas was the featured speaker at a public meeting June 3 in Toronto, held during the 8th convention of the Canadian Network on Cuba.

One participant in the meeting expressed concern for the effects of the constant barrage of U.S. propaganda aimed at the Cuban people. We dont censor anything coming from the U.S., Morlote said. The way forward is to deepen the revolution.

Those interested in learning firsthand about the Cuban Revolution can sign up for the volunteer In Ches Footsteps international brigade October 1-15. Contacting ICAP at alatina.csur@icap.cu, or call (778) 879-2759 in Vancouver or the Chicago Cuba Coalition at (312) 952-2618 in the U.S.





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It seems that the Planet of the Apes franchise just gets better and better. War for the Planet of the Apes is easily the best of the Apes trilogy, boasting a fantastic narrative, multi-layered characters, complexity and emotional depth.

Right from the offset, War for the Planet of the Apes grabs you and doesnt let go until the very end. Director Matt Reeves excels in taking War one notch higher after the success of Dawn, bringing a level of raw emotion and unpredictability that just isnt common in block buster movies.

Following on from the events of Dawn, the Apes, led by Caesar (Andy Serkis), have been at war with the humans, and continue to suffer heavy losses. The war becomes a personal battle for Caesar as he channels his darker side to directly confront The Colonel (Woody Harrelson).

While each film in the Apes trilogy was undoubtedly made with the intention of the audience having greatest sympathy for the Apes over humans, War leaves no room for uncertainty about where loyalties lie, as the entirety of the narrative is carried by the experiences and actions of the Apes.

The familial and emotional intricacies of the Apes is witnessed on a deeply personal level which make the stakes so much higher during the war as we are gripped by the close bonds so early on.

Herein lies another of the films great strengths. While the films title suggests all-out warfare, meaning a mostly predictable narrative, the nature of this war is not as you would imagine, and instead of repetitive battle sequences, Reeves leaves room for exploration of more delicate aspects of the narrative. For the large part, the nature of the war is more characteristic of guerrilla warfare (pardon the pun).

Because of this attention to detail, nothing in the narrative is rushed. And this detail can also be seen in the homages to classic films such as Apocalypse Now and The Great Escape. With the film featuring a journey of self discovery into the heart of darkness, discovering a leader figure who has taken matters into his own hands, very much mirroring Marlon Brandos Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse now, War sets itself aside as a unique war film in the same way Apocalypse Now did. And with an absolutely enthralling prison sequence, the references to The Great Escape are self-explanatory.

Moreover, throughout the film, new aspects of the narrative are gradually revealed, keeping it thoroughly gripping throughout. However, The Colonels spotlight scene manages to all too conveniently explain the over-arching plot which has been partly a mystery to viewers. And while The Colonels manipulative nature does make you question your loyalties and beliefs about the films back story, there was potential to do so much more with this scene.

This, along with Woody Harrelsons performance is a let down, with Harrelson being limited in his villain persona. With the acting ability that man has, there was so much more potential to portray The Colonel as an erratic, unpredictable and genuinely terrifying villain. But this script and performance didnt quite cut it for him.

Similarly, a few scenes did feel slightly off, with the emotional tone it aimed for not being authentic and feeling slightly forced. Nevertheless, the emotion is still present throughout, aided by the raw and powerful performance of Andy Serkis.

Enhanced also by an authoritative score which puts fear, dread and anticipation in the pit of your stomach, this is not simply background music.

War for the Planet of the Apes is an outstanding addition to the Apes franchise, bringing with it so many fantastic qualities which make the film unpredictable, moving, and totally enthralling.

War for the Planet of the Apes is out Tuesday 11th July, distributed through 20th Century Fox.
post a sign

Not only will this sign be part of a new feature on campus, but the name of James K. Vardaman, a white supremacist and former governor and senator in the early 1920s, will be stripped from one of the buildings. The acknowledgement of its historical background comes after changes started to be made in 2014, with the university administration having already planned to add a plaque featuring information on slavery and the Civil War to a statue of a Confederate soldier. In fact, all eight of the Mississippi's universities now refuse to fly the state flag due to the inclusion of the Confederate battle emblem, seen by many as the last racist state flag in the US. These changes are a sign of much-needed progress, with university leaders expressing an effort to make the university safe and welcoming for its diverse student body and to highlight historical truths.
The worlds first panda-inspired power plant has been connected to the grid, providing China with a new source of green energy.

The 248-acre solar station in Datong, Shanxi, will be able to provide 3.2 billion kWh of green electricity in 25 years when its full 100MW capacity is connected.

This is the equivalent of saving 1 million tonnes of coal, or reducing 2.74 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

(Panda Green Energy Group)

Panda Green Energy launched the project to create the animal-shaped power station alongside the United Nations Development Program last September, and construction began in November.

The energy station marks the start of Panda Green Energys larger efforts to promote green energy globally, with plans to roll out the solar farms in other countries in the future.
A crowdfunding drive from a Muslim community in Tower Hamlets is raising funds to deliver food hampers to fire stations in the capital.

Dr Monir Miah, a GP from Tower Hamlets is building on an idea from Muslim women in the immediate wake of the Grenfell fire, which left hundreds homeless and an as yet unknown number dead, to provide Londons firefighters with a little treat in the form of food hampers.

(Rick Findler/PA)

Over 200 firefighters responded to the blaze, which started in the early hours of June 14.

At the time, London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton told reporters: This is an unprecedented incident. In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never ever seen anything of this scale.

The campaign is raising money to deliver hampers to four London fire stations, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and North Chingford.

Each of the hampers will include healthy food (Monir is a GP, after all) and a note with a verse from the Koran.

(Screengrab/JustGiving)

The message will read: Thank you for all you did, we know you tried your absolute best. The Quran says and whoever saves it [a person], it is as if he saved the whole of mankind (Sura al -Maidah 5:32).

Everything you have done, and continue to do is recognised and valued sincerely. We hope you enjoy our small token of gratitude to you. Muslim community  UK

Firefighters view tributes after observing a minutes silence at Latymer Community Centre (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Monir said of the campaign: Its a gesture of compassion, community cohesion and solidarity and that we appreciate what our firefighters do on a day-to-day basis.

He said the campaign has done fantastically well, with Muslims and non-Muslims contributing funds. Whats more, it has 20 days left to raise more cash.
This natural phenomenon is my contribution to an important statistic. Because I have a penis I am more likely to commit sexual assault. Statistics tell us that women are more likely to be the victims of sexual assault, and common sense tells us that sexual assault is bad for the victim. Therefore I am part of a group which is socially, morally, and ethically dangerous, and which makes the world an unpleasant place for women. Bravalla, Swedens largest music festival, was due to be cancelled next year after it emerged that twenty-seven people were sexually assaulted, with four of those reported as rape, at this years event. The festival experienced similar violations last year and so the decision was taken to end the whole show, because, as the organisers phrased it, certain men apparently cannot behave.In response, alleged comedian and radio presentersent out the following Tweet: "What do you think about putting together a really cool festival where only non-men are welcome, that we'll run until ALL men have learned how to behave themselves?" This idea proved popular and, soon afterwards, Ms Kynckare confirmed that "Sweden's first man-free rock festival will see the light next summer." There we have it. Everyones happy. Except that were not, actually. I dont care for festivals but I do very much care about hypocrisy. The rape of reason is a crime of kind, too. Sweden has taken the cause of anti-discrimination to absurd and damaging heights. It is no stranger sexual assaults at festivals, as well as other places of revelry. You might recall the organised mass-assault perpetrated against women in Cologne on New Years Eve, and the revelation that the German authorities had deliberately underreported the number of these attacks and tried to withhold certain information about the alleged perpetrators. You might not remember that the same thing happened in Sweden.In 2014 and 2015, large groups of men, apparently in concert, assaulted and molested revellers at the We Are Stockholm festival. Yet again, the numbers were played down (if reported at all), and another bit of salient information was withheld from the press. That information pertained to the identity of the gang of criminals,as so-called refugee youths, specifically from Afghanistan. The official police report made no mention of the assaults, nor the identity of the attackers. The same thing is alleged to have happened in Malmo on New Years Eve, and the same information withheld. The same thing happened in Cologne, and the same information was withheld until police eventually admitted that almost all of the suspects were people with an immigrant background. I can hear the howls already. How dare I draw a link, or appear to draw one, between immigrants and sexual assault? Thats racist. Its discriminatory. Well, thats half right. It is discriminatory to point out, as Ivar Arpi has in The Spectator, that the practice of organised molestation and assault by gangs of young men is so common in parts of the Arab world that it has a name  Taharrush gamea. And Roger Ticoalu, head of events at the Stockholm city administration, revealed that the Swedish authorities had been aware of the phenomena in 2014, telling The Guardian that "[it] was a modus operandi that we had never seen before: large groups of young men who surround girls and molest them In the cases where we were able to apprehend suspects, they were with a foreign background, newly arrived refugees aged 17-20." It is discriminatory to point this out because it discriminates between bystander and participant, and separates those who are liable to commit such crimes from those who are not (I will offer myself as someone unlikely to take part in Taharrush gamea, as I am a reasonably decent person. Im also not straight, and think women are overrated. So its really not my thing). It might be racist if I said that Taharrush gamea was something all immigrants, by virtue of being foreign, engaged in or support. I categorically do not say that, so spare me the usual tripe about the vast majority of immigrants respecting our laws and women. That is self-evidently true, and no sane person would deny it. But it is discriminatory, and rightly so, to say that Taharrush gamea is a subcultural phenomenon, and that said phenomenon has most definitely been imported from a part of the world which does not afford women the rights and freedoms enjoyed by Swedes or Germans. It is discriminatory to point out that Swedish and German men have no equivalent of Taharrush gamea. Such discrimination is vital if we are to properly counter the crime. The line taken by Ms Kynckare is the intellectual equivalent of nuking Israel to take out Hamas. This kind of thorough discrimination is invited by the statement, from the organisers of Bravalla, that certain men apparently cannot behave. A sensible person takes from that a mandate to identify which men, and why. A silly person, like Ms Kynckare, who really thinks that virtuous anti-racism is more important than the safety of women and of society, will ban all men and make victims out of the blameless. They will discriminate badly but apparently, thats alright. (Not to worry though, chaps. The new festival is open to people who identify as non-male, which is very easy to do.) In closing, I will amend and repeat my opening paragraph. If you disagree with it, then you disagree with Kynckare and her non-discriminatory discrimination. I am a Muslim immigrant. My citizenship status and my religious affiliation, Im told, are my contribution to a very important statistic. Because I am a Muslim immigrant I am more likely to commit sex crimes, such as the gang-rape of women at music festivals. Therefore I, being a Muslim immigrant, am part of a group which is socially, morally, and ethically dangerous. Therefore I should be banned from all festivals and public celebrations.
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Watertown landowners will be involved in new Corps flood-control study

After 30 years, a new flood control feasibility study will include the input of landowners and supply a multitude of options other than a dry dam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called for strong action by BRICS nations and the G20 against terror financing and providing support and safe haven to terrorists, as Chinese President Xi Jinping heard the Indian leader making a veiled attack on its ally Pakistan.

"The role of the BRICS leadership is needed in the global fight against climate change and terrorism," Modi said while addressing an informal meeting of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) leaders on the sidelines of the 12th G20 Summit here.

"Strong action should be taken against terror financing, and providing support and safe haven to terrorists," he said.

He said that the real face of terrorism is many names and one thought process.

"In the Middle East, it is Daesh (as the Islamic State is known in the Arab world) and Al Qaeda, in South Asia, it is Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Haqqani Network."

"But the basic ideology is the samehatred and massacre," he said.

The groups in South Asia that Modi named are all based in Pakistan.

He said that terrorists were using cyber space for radicalising and recruiting youth.

Without naming Pakistan, the prime minister said that some countries were using terrorism as a means to attain political objectives.

Stating that terrorists were more networked while nations were less networked in terms of response, he said: "The scope of our actions (against terrorism) has mainly been national in nature."

Modi said that BRICS has been a strong voice and needs to show leadership on terrorism and global economy. He stressed that the G20 should collectively oppose terrorism financing, franchises, safe havens, support and sponsors.

The Prime Minister also described as dangerous the situation in West Asiaa reference to Syria and Iraqand Afghanistan.

"Current developments in the Gulf and North Korea and East Asia as a whole are a cause of concern," he said in a apparent reference to the four nations led by Saudi Arabia cutting off diplomatic ties with Qatar, India's largest supplier of gas, on allegations of supporting terrorism and interfering in other countries' affairs and North Korea's firing of a missile that landed in a special economic zone of Japan.

He also said that India would implement the Paris climate agreement "in letter and spirit" and described its implementation globally as essential to fighting climate change. This assumes significance as US President Donald Trump has pulled his country out of the agreement saying that India and China stood to gain "billions and billions and billions of dollars" out of this.

Modi also said that the five-nation BRICS has an important role to play in the global economic recovery.

Stressing it was necessary to work together for sustained global economic recovery, he advocated collective voice against the practices of protectionism, especially in the spheres of trade and movement of knowledge and professionals.

Modi also called for expeditious action to establish a BRICS rating agency and stated that cooperation on development of Africa should be a priority. He also called for greater people-to-people exchanges.

In their interventions, the leaders discussed preparations and priorities for the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China, in September.
Deaf-mute girl Geeta, who was brought back from Pakistan in 2015 and kept in Indore with an NGO, has reportedly expressed desire to marry a good boy and settle. Geeta briefly went missing on Friday from the Children Home meant for the deaf and mute.

According to sources, Monika Punjabi, director of Mook-Badhir Sangathanthe voluntary organization looking after Geetahas written a letter to social welfare department saying that Geeta is not interested in studies and repeatedly asks to visit Viashno Devi shrine. In the letter, she said that Geeta has expressed desire to look for an educated and employed man whom she could settle down with. She has even started troubling her caretaker Phoolmati with her demands.

On Friday, high alert was sounded at three police stations of Indore after Geeta went missing. Leter, she was traced at Ranjit Hanuman Mandir area where she had gone without informing her caretaker.

Geeta has been in the custody of Mook-Badhir Sangathan since October 26, 2015 when she was brought back to India after her 14 years of stay in Pakistan. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had made Geeta stay in Indore until his parents were located.

During her stay in Indore, Geeta was not allowed to meet any stranger or media. She was taught Hindi in the school specially meant for deaf-dumb children.

Geeta was found by Pakistani Rangers from Samjhouta Express when she was seven-years-old and lost her way. She was then taken care of by Pakistan's charitable organisation, Edhi Foundation. It was the efforts of the foundation and willingness of Swaraj that Geeta was handed back to India. More than 15 couples have so far come forward claiming Geeta to be their daughter. However, none of them could prove that Geeta is their biological child.

Geeta is still waiting for her true parents and living in the deaf-mute home at Scehme 71 area in Indore. The home has around 375 day scholars and 300 wards, and classes are held as per the academic session.

Punjabi told media that Geeta usually goes to temple every day along with two-three people. This time she ventured a little ahead. She is accompanied by 2-3 tutors twenty-four hours so there is no question of her not being busy. Seeing many parents coming to drop their children at school might have made her depressed, said Punjabi.

Meanwhile no government official was ready to speak on the subject as the matter is directly being monitored by external affairs ministry. The entire episode of Geeta and claims of parents have been kept under a veil of secrecy as the administration does not allow anybody to meet her.

However, Additional District Magistrate of Indore Ajay Sharma, in a written order, has asked the NGO to facilitate counseling of Geeta and organise extra activities which she likes.
Seven people were killed in Kashmir in cross-border shelling by both Pakistan and India on Saturday, officials on both sides of the frontier said, as the anniversary of a militant's killing raised tensions in the region.

The violence occurred as hundreds of militants and political activists took to the streets in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir to commemorate the death of Burhan Wani, a militant killed by the army after urging the region's mainly Muslim population to rise up against Indian forces.

A Reuters witness saw protesters holding Pakistani flags and banners and shouting slogans lauding the sacrifice of Wani and others, while pledging to carry on the holy war in Kashmir.

"Jihad is our path, freedom is our destination," they shouted while holding up portraits of the slain militant.

Another Reuters witness saw demonstrators wearing face masks throwing stones at police in downtown Srinagar, the region's summer capital. Police retaliated with teargas and stones thrown using slingshots.

Authorities blocked internet access in Kashmir on Friday and sealed off his home town after Wani's supporters said they would stage demonstrations to mark the anniversary.Five people died on Pakistan's side of the disputed border and 10 were wounded in cross-border shelling, local police officials told Reuters.

Pakistan's government said it summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh over what it called "unprovoked ceasefire violations".

The Indian army's defence spokesman said two civilians were killed on its side of the frontier and two injured due to shelling by Pakistani troops. The army responded in kind to the Pakistani shelling, he said.

Militant commander leads protest

The South Asian neighbours have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Muslim-majority Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.

India blames Pakistan for pushing in militants from its part of Kashmir to carry out attacks, a charge denied by Islamabad.

India has been struggling to restore normality in Kashmir, deploying thousands more soldiers after Wani's killing appeared to breathe new life into a 28-year armed revolt that had ebbed, with little international attention.

A Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant commander, who Washington last week added to a list of global terrorists, called for a strike on Saturday to mark Wani's killing and led the protest in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

Syed Salahuddin's United Jihad Council, an umbrella body of anti-India militants based in Pakistan-held Kashmir, vowed to continue its struggle to liberate Kashmir and called upon Islamabad to support their efforts "militarily."

"Diplomatic, moral and political support will not work anymore," he said, addressing a large crowd gathered in an open space in Muzaffarabad.

He said a tripartite dialogue between India, Pakistan and the Kashmiris to resolve the dispute in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions, would be welcomed.
Two civilians were killed and two others injured on Saturday as Pakistani troops shelled and fired along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Punj district, police said.

"The victims comprised an off-duty soldier and his wife. The couple's two children were injured when a shell fired from across the border hit their house on the LoC in Gulpur area," the police said.

Earlier on Saturday, Pakistan Army began indiscriminate firing and shelling on Indian positions in Gulpur, according to defence sources.

"The firing which started from 6.30 a.m., is ongoing and our forces are effectively retaliating," Defence Ministry spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Manish Mehta told IANS.
US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin flagged off their first meeting by lashing out at the reporters present to cover the 'highly-anticipated' one-on-one entourage.

As the meeting progressed, it appeared as if Putin was sympathetic towards the scenario, as he was perceived to be defending Trump against attacks from the media, reports the Independent.

Ahead of their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, the Russian president, during the photo-op, gushed to Trump, saying, "These are the ones hurting you?" while pointing towards the journalists at the venue.

Responding to this, Trump said, "These are the ones. You're right about that."

The same was tweeted by CNN chief national security Correspondent Jim Sciutto, with a video.

President Trump, in the recent past, has time and again launched scathing attacks at the media for misquoting him, referring to them as "fake news" and "the enemy of the American people".

On Friday, President Trump slammed mainstream media for not writing accurately about him and covering him negatively, but said he will fight for his country's interests.

Trump tweeted, "I will represent our country well and fight for its interests! Fake News Media will never cover me accurately but who cares! We will #MAGA!"

Adding to his string of attacks launched against the media, he recently posted a GIF depicting him body-slamming a man with a CNN logo superimposed on his head. He also called a female journalist "crazy" and "dumb as a rock," and accused her of "bleeding badly from a facelift". He has also reportedly suggested jailing journalists who leak classified information.

President Trump had called on Putin to discuss the prevailing situation of Syria, in their first face-to-face meeting.

US secretary of state Rex Tillerson informed the media persons before departing for the G20 summit that Russia has been given the major role to solve Syrian crisis and decide the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The United States and Russia have already achieved progress in establishing de-confliction zones in Syria that have prevented mutual collateral damage.

"The United States is prepared to explore the possibility of establishing with Russia joint mechanisms for ensuring stability, including no-fly zones, on the ground ceasefire observers, and coordinated delivery of humanitarian assistance. If our two countries work together to establish stability on the ground, it will lay a foundation for progress on the settlement of Syria's political future," Tillerson stated.
A senior Facebook official met with Pakistan's interior minister on Friday to discuss a demand the company prevent blasphemous content or be blocked.

The meeting comes after a Pakistani counter-terrorism court sentenced a 30-year-old man to death for making blasphemous comments on Facebook, part of a wider crackdown.

Joel Kaplan, Facebook's vice president of public policy, met Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan, who offered to approve a Facebook office in Pakistan, which has 33 million users of the network.

Khan said Pakistan believes in freedom of expression, but that does not include insulting Islam or stoking religious tensions.

We cannot allow anyone to misuse social media for hurting religious sentiments, Khan said.

Facebook called the meeting constructive.

Facebook met with Pakistan officials to express the company's deep commitment to protecting the rights of the people who use its service, and to enabling people to express themselves freely and safely, the company said in an email.

It was an important and constructive meeting in which we raised our concerns over the recent court cases and made it clear we apply a strict legal process to any government request for data or content restrictions.

Pakistan's social media crackdown is officially aimed at weeding out blasphemy and shutting down accounts promoting terrorism, but civil rights activists say it has also swept up writers and bloggers who criticise the government or military.

One of five prominent writers and activists, who disappeared for nearly three weeks this year, later told a UN human rights event in March that Pakistan's intelligence agencies had kidnapped him and tortured him in custody.

Others' families said right-wing and Islamist parties had filed blasphemy accusations against them to punish them for critical writings.

Anything deemed insulting to Islam or the Prophet Muhammad carries a death penalty in Pakistan, and sometimes a mere allegation can lead to mob violence and lynchings. Right groups say the law is frequently abused to settle personal scores.

In April, a Pakistani university student, Mashal Khan, was beaten to death by a mob after being accused of blasphemous content on Facebook. Police arrested 57 people accused in the attack and said they had found no evidence Khan committed blasphemy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart Donald Trump that Moscow did not meddle in the US presidential election and Trump accepted it, claimed Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

After the two leaders emerged from a meeting in Hamburg on Friday, on the sidelines of G20 summit, that lasted over two hours (at one point, First Lady Melania Trump entered the room to hurry them along), US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump raised the issue of Moscow's alleged cyber-meddling in the election at the start of their conversation, the Independent reported.

He said the US had talked about such attacks represented a "threat to the democratic process". An official from the White House, however, later indicated that Trump had no accepted assurances from Putin that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 election.

"The president opened the meeting raising the concerns of the American people about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election," said Tillerson. "They had a very lengthy and robust conversation on this."

He said Trump pushed him on the issue and Putin stood firm in his denial.

"I think the president is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point," Tillerson said.

In his own briefing to reporters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Trump accepted Putin's assurances that Russia did not meddle in the election.

"The issue of cybersecurity got a lot of attention, which is understandable," Lavrov said. "President Trump mentioned that in the US, some circles are fuellingeven though they cannot provethe allegations of Russian meddling in the US elections)."

When pressed, Lavrov said that Trump or Tillerson would likely provide further information to the press.

"In the course of the months that these allegations have been around, not a single fact has been presented, which is admitted by those in the (US) Congress who have led this movement at some point," Lavrov said. "And President Trump said that he heard President Putin stating clearly that it is not true, that the Russian government did not meddle" in the elections."

Trump left the scene of his conversation with Putin to head to Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie, a concert that is the venue for a formal G20 dinner. He was accompanied by the First Lady Melania Trump.

Earlier, the US President had spoken to reporters as he and Putin posed for photographs before their discussions, accompanied only by their translators, Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it's going very well," said Mr Trump. "We look forward to a lot of very positive happenings for Russia and for the United States, and for everyone concerned."

For his part, Putin said he was happy to be able to meet Trump in person.

"We spoke over the phone but phone conversations are never enough, definitely," he said. "I hope that, as you have said, our meetings will yield positive results."

The two leaders discussed a range of issues, including Russia's annexation of Crimea, a reported agreement for a cease fire in Syria, and ways to cooperate in the fight against terrorism in the world

"This is our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together in Syria," Tillerson said of the ceasefire in Syria, which was described as a potential building block to further cooperation in the war-torn country. Trump and Putin had a "lengthy discussion of other areas in Syria where they could work together".

Before the meeting between the two presidents, observers were keen to see how they would interact in person.

The two countries haven't had the greatest relationship so far in Trump's nascent presidency, and the White House has at times described the relationship with the Kremlin as at all-time lows.

The relationship became exacerbated in April when Trump ordered a missile strike on a Syrian government airbase in April to the chagrin of the Russian military.

The Russian government officially supports the embattled Syrian regime headed by Bashar al-Assad, while the US government has called for that president's ouster.

The 2017 G20 summit is the 12 meeting of the Group of Twenty, which is an assembly of some of the most powerful countries, as well as the European Union.
Two US B-1 bombers flew over disputed waters in the East and South China Seas, conducting a joint military operation with Japanese fighter jets, the media reported.

The bombers were joined by two Japanese F-15 fighters on Thursday night, and carried out a cooperative mission over an area both Japan and China claim as their own, US defence officials told CNN on Friday.

This mission marked the first time US B-1 bombers from the Pacific Command carried out an operation of this kind with Japanese fighters at night, according to a statement from US Pacific Air Forces.

Flying and training at night with our allies in a safe, effective manner is an important capability shared between the US and Japan, said Major Ryan Simpson, Pacific Air Forces chief of bomber operations.

This is a clear demonstration of our ability to conduct seamless operations with all of our allies, he added.

The Japanese Air Self Defence Force claims that the mission was not intended to send a message to any specific country despite previous face-offs in the East China Sea with Chinese ships and warplanes.

This mission came ahead of President Donald Trump's meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the ongoing G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

Earlier this year, US Defence Secretary James Mattis reaffirmed US commitment to defending Japan and its disputed islands, reports CNN.

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On July 2, a US Navy destroyer sailed within 12 miles of a disputed island in the South China Sea.

China called the action a serious political and military provocation.
Long before he became Mahatma, M.K. Gandhi faced a spiritual crisis in South Africa. His Christian and Muslim friends were pressing him to convert to their faiths. Gandhi wrote about his dilemma to his friend and mentora jeweller and diamond merchant in Bombay, whom he had met in 1891 upon his return from England.

Gandhi sent him 27 questions, and all the answers came promptly in a letter. The answers helped Gandhi resolve his doubts, and restore his faith in Hinduism.

The mentor was a Gujarati mystic, poet and philosopher named Shrimad Rajchandra, whom Gandhi mentions as Raychandbhai in his autobiography, The Story Of My Experiments with Truth. Raychandbhai was under 25 years old when Gandhi was introduced to him.

He was a connoisseur of pearls and diamonds. No knotty business problem was too difficult for him, Gandhi wrote. But all these things were not the centre round which his life revolved. That centre was the passion to see God face to face. I have since met many a religious leader or teacher. I have tried to meet the heads of various faiths, and I must say that no one else has ever made on me the impression that Raychandbhai did. His words went straight home to me. In my moments of spiritual crisis, therefore, he was my refuge. Though I could not place Raychandbhai on the throne of my heart as Guru, he was, on many occasions, my guide and helper. Three moderns have left a deep impress on my life, and captivated me: Raychandbhai by his living contact; [Leo] Tolstoy by his book, The Kingdom of God is Within You; and [John] Ruskin by his Unto this Last.

On June 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a commemorative stamp and coin in the honour of Gandhis spiritual guide. Modi had mentioned the mystic-poet in his Independence Day speech last year.Gujaratis, especially the Jains, revere Rajchandra (born 1867) and are celebrating his 150th birth anniversary.

Rajchandra attained self-realisation at the age of 23 and composed Shri Atmasiddhi Shastra, a compilation of 142 verses, which deeply influenced Gandhi. He was also known as a Shatavadhani (one having the faculty of remembering or attending to a hundred things simultaneously).... I exhausted my vocabulary of all the European tongues I knew, and asked the poet to repeat the words. He did so in the precise order in which I had given them. I envied his gift without, however, coming under its spell. The thing that did cast its spell over me I came to know afterwards. This was his wide knowledge of the scriptures, his spotless character, and his burning passion for self-realisation. I saw later that this last was the only thing for which he lived.

Today, many institutions in Gujarat are spreading the teachings of Rajchandra. Prominent among them is the Shrimad Rajchandra Mission, founded by Jain scholar Rakesh Jhaveri, a modern-day mystic. He has followers across continents and is famous for his enlightening discourses. Dharampur is a beautiful town in the tribal belt of south Gujarat. This former princely state is home to the Missions international headquarters. The serene ashram stands on a plot of 223 acres in the Mohangadh hillock.

Mohangadh was not on the first list of sites chosen for the ashram. One day, Rakeshbhai was visiting some of the shortlisted sites. Suddenly, he pointed to the hill and inquired about the place. He felt an intrinsic attraction, said Abhay Jasani, president of the Mission in Dharampur. We later discovered that Rajchandraji had spent 35 days in solitude here in 1900. He meditated at a crematorium and in the surrounding jungle, immersed in spiritual bliss. The Mission runs a school, a college, a 60-bed hospital, a Mahila Gruh Udyog project, a skill development centre for school dropouts, a centre for the disabled and an early intervention centre, said Rakshit Shah, who has dedicated his life to the mission. He gave up a job at Tata Motors and took a vow of celibacy. Now he is known as Atmarpit Rakshit.

There are many like him at the ashramdoctors, engineers, lawyers and teachers. Their day begins at 5am ends at 9.30pm. The daily schedule includes yoga, meditation, prayers and rituals. The school and college, on the banks of the Man river, are surrounded by lush greenery. Dharampur is known as Cherrapunjee of Gujarat; it gets nearly 150 inches of rainfall every year, said Samir Ajmeri, principal of Shrimad Rajchandra Gurukul. Our school has 350 students studying in class 9 to 12. Till class 8 they study in state-run schools. All students are enrolled after entrance tests. Ajmeri recalled going house to house to enrol students when the gurukul was started in 2011. We promised to pay for their education and other needs, he said. Many parents were reluctant, as they did not want to lose farmhands. We finally got 23 students in class 9 and 30 in class 11.Shrimad Rajchandra Vidyalaya, the college, has more than 200 students. It is the only science college for students from about 250 villages in Dharampur and Vansda tehsils.

The skill development centre conducts six-month certificate courses in mobile phone repairing, computer science and nursing for school dropouts.

The Mission provides employment to 50 tribal women from villages around Dharampur. Some of them earn up to Rs 10,000 a month. The Mahila Gruha Udyog unit makes snacks and incense sticks.The hospital is most sought-after. It attracts patients from Maharashtras tribal areas, too. Take the case of Sai Shaktikumar Bachchav, a three-year-old afflicted by cerebral palsy. Once while going to Nashik for the treatment, a truck driver told us about this hospital, said his mother, Bharati. After we got him admitted at the Early Intervention Centre here, Sai can sit without losing his balance. Dr Girij Hood, who heads the Centre, said, The day Sai managed to sit, his mother was in tears. Malnutrition is a big issue here and that can often result in congenital defects and development disorders.

Dr Hood said the Mission was planning a 200-bed multi-specialty hospital in Dharampur as we have to treat everything from snakebites and malnutrition to cancer, diabetes and hypertension, which are rising among tribals.

What better way to connect with Him than providing succour to the ailing and the needy?
Populist former martial arts star and businessman Khaltmaa Battulga has won Mongolia\s presidential run-off election, according to voter data from the General Election Commission released on Saturday.

The poll was seen as a referendum on the government\s economic recovery plans and the role of southern neighbor China in the landlocked but resource-rich country known as the birthplace of Mongol emperor Genghis Khan.

Battulga, of the opposition Democratic Party, won with 50.6 percent of the vote on a 60.9 percent turnout, giving him the majority needed to overcome his opponent, parliament speaker Miyeegombo Enkhbold of the ruling Mongolian People\s Party.

Election officials are still, however, waiting on a final count of votes from abroad.

The election campaign was marred by political mudslinging from all sides and the public perception that none of the candidates were fit for the job, according to Luvsanvandan Sumati, the head of polling group the Sant Maral Foundation.

"The worst election in Mongolian history," said Sumati.

Enkhbold\s loss was definitive. He trailed far behind Battulga with 41.2 percent of the vote due to the nearly 100,000 blank votes submitted in protest at the choice of candidates.

Friday\s run-off was scheduled after the June 26 vote failed to result in a outright winner.

Some investors have been wary of a Battulga presidency because of his calls for more state control of some mines and his suspicions of China, Mongolia\s biggest trade partner.

Despite past protests, he has said he will stand behind plans to build a key railway to China from the enormous Tavan Tolgoi coal mine and has praised China\s Belt and Road pan-Asian infrastructure initiative.

"He may push projects that are politically motivated but not economically justified," said a Mongolia-focused institutional investor who asked not to be named.

Battulga rose to fame as a Mongolian wrestler. His businesses include a hotel, a Genghis Khan-themed amusement park, and food companies for baked goods and meats.

Tsakhia Elbegdorj will step down as president after finishing his second and final term.

Battulga\s opponent Enkhbold has stood behind the current government and prime minister, pledging to stay the course for economic recovery following a $5.5 billion rescue package from the International Monetary Fund and partners in May.

Battulga captured the attention of voters who feel Mongolia received a bad deal on investments, promising greater government control of strategic mines, such as Rio Tinto\s,, Oyu Tolgoi copper mine.

Mongolia is a parliamentary democracy. The government is run by a prime minister, but the president has powers to veto legislation and make judicial appointments.

SOURCE. REUTERS
Thousands of residents in the interior of Western Canada\s British Columbia province have evacuated their homes because of two rapidly spreading wildfires as high temperatures, heavy winds and dry conditions made it tough for authorities to control the blazes.

Fires in the Cariboo, a region some 300 kilometers (186 miles) northeast of Vancouver, spread across some 15 square kilometers as about 3,600 residents were evacuated from the area, CTV Vancouver said.

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The Cariboo Regional District Emergency Operations Centre warned residents that the situation had been aggravated by lightening strikes.

"Fires are being reported faster than they can be written down  all over the Cariboo," the center said on its Facebook page. "If you are told to evacuate from your property, please leave immediately. These fires are extremely volatile."

Evacuations were also ordered around Ashcroft, some 100 kilometers south of the fires in the Cariboo.

A blaze discovered in that region on Thursday had spread to over 7 square kilometers, prompting a local state of emergency, CTV reported.

SOURCE: REUTERS
The United States and Russia struck an agreement Friday on a cease-fire in southwest Syria, crowning President Donald Trump\s first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is the first U.S.-Russian effort under Trump\s presidency to stem Syria\s six-year civil war.

The cease-fire goes into effect Sunday at noon Damascus time, according to U.S. officials and the Jordanian government, which is also involved in the deal.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who accompanied Trump in his meeting with Putin, said the understanding is designed to reduce violence in an area of Syria near Jordan\s border that is critical to the U.S. ally\s security.

It\s a "very complicated part of the Syrian battlefield," Tillerson told reporters after the U.S. and Russian leaders met for more than 2 hours on the sidelines of a global summit in Hamburg, Germany.

Of the agreement, he said, "I think this is our first indication of the U.S. and Russia being able to work together in Syria."

For years, the former Cold War foes have been backing opposing sides in Syria\s war. Moscow has staunchly backed Syrian President Bashar Assad, supporting Syrian forces militarily since 2015. Washington has backed rebels fighting Assad. Both the U.S. and Russia oppose Islamic State militants and say they\re focused on rooting out the extremist group.

The potential pitfalls for the cease-fire are clear  not least the challenge of enforcing it.

Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russian military police would monitor the new truce. But Tillerson said that was still being worked out. A senior U.S. State Department official said the two countries were close to a deal on that issue and hoped to finalize it in the coming days, raising the prospect it could take effect Sunday with no clear sense of who is policing it.

That the deal was announced before all the details were ironed out was a clear indication of how eager the U.S. and Russia were to cast their leaders\ first meeting as a success. Officials said the deal had been in the works for weeks or months, but came together in time for the meeting.

The deal marks a new level of involvement for the Trump administration in trying to resolve Syria\s civil war.

Trump ordered some 60 cruise missiles to be fired at a Syrian air base in April after accusing Assad\s forces of a deadly chemical weapons attack. But his top military and national security advisers pointedly said they had no intentions of intervening to oust Assad. And they stopped short of endorsing Russian-led or U.N. peace mediation efforts between Assad\s government and rebel groups.

Israel also is part of the agreement, one U.S. official said, who like others wasn\t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity. Like Jordan, Israel shares a border with the southern part of Syria and has been concerned about a spillover of violence as well as an amassing of Iranian-aligned forces in the south of the country.

Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Momani confirmed the accord in a statement that made no reference to Israel\s participation. Syrian government forces and its allies will stay on one side of an agreed demarcation line, and rebel fighters will stick to the other side. The goal is also to enable aid to reach this area of Syria, Momani told state media. U.S. officials said the U.S., Russia and Jordan had only agreed on that demarcation line last week, clearing the way for a cease-fire to be worked out.

The deal is separate from an agreement that Russia, Turkey and Iran struck earlier this year to try to establish "de-escalation zones" in Syria with reduced bloodshed. The U.S., wary of Iran\s involvement, stayed away from that effort. Follow-up talks this week in Kazakhstan were unable to produce agreement on finalizing a cease-fire in those zones.

Previous cease-fires in Syria have collapsed or failed to reduce violence for long, and it was unclear whether this deal would be any better.

Tillerson said the difference this time is Russia\s interest in seeing Syria return to stability. It\s an argument top U.S. officials such as former Secretary of State John Kerry cited regularly amid his failed efforts to end a conflict that has killed as many as a half-million people, contributed to Europe\s worst refugee crisis since World War II and allowed IS to emerge as a global terror threat.

Tillerson also repeated the U.S. position that a "long-term role for the Assad family and the Assad regime" is untenable and voiced his belief that Russia might be willing to address the future leadership of Syria, in tones reminiscent of Kerry. Up to now, Assad has rejected any proposals that would see him leave power, contributing to an impasse that has prolonged Syria\s suffering.

Earlier in the week, Syria\s military said it was halting combat operations in the south of Syria for four days, in advance of the new round of Russian-sponsored talks in Kazakhstan. That move covered the southern provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida. Syria\s government briefly extended that unilateral cease-fire, which is now set to expire Saturday  a day before the U.S. and Russian deal was to take effect.

The U.S.-Russian cease-fire has no set end date, one U.S. official said, describing it as part of broader discussions with Moscow on lowering violence in Syria.

The agreement may also reflect Iran\s increasingly prominent role in Syria.

Washington has been resistant to letting Iranian forces and their proxy militias gain strength in Syria\s south, a position shared by Israel and Jordan. Friday\s deal could help the Trump administration retain more of a say over who fills the power vacuum left behind as the Islamic State is routed from additional territory in Syria.

In recent weeks, U.S. forces have shot down a Syrian aircraft that got too close to American forces, as well as Iranian-made drones. A renewed government offensive against Western-backed rebels and Islamic militants in the contested province of Daraa also is sparking tensions, and Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters have shifted south to join the fight.

Israel has also struck Syrian military installations on several occasions in the past few weeks after shells landed in the Israeli-controlled side of the Golan Heights. Ahead of the deal, media reports in Israel have suggested unease at any arrangement that relies on Russia policing areas near its frontier.

Implications for Syria aside, the deal marks the biggest diplomatic achievement for the U.S. and Russia since Trump took office. Trump\s administration has approached the notoriously strained relationship by trying to identify a few limited issues on which the countries could make progress, thereby building trust for a broader repair of ties.

SOURCE: Associated Press
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Troy City Council President Carmella Mantello is demanding an immediate public meeting on the city's role in massive sewage discharges into the Hudson River in late June and early July.

The spill was detailed in a Times Union story that outlined the unsafe level of sewage that entered the river from both Troy and Albany, starting June 23 and continuing on a number of days until July 2.

A notice filed by the state by the city of Albany said 10 separate spills totaling 4 million gallons went into the Hudson from a pipe north of the Port of Albany.

Troy had not filed its sewage spill notice with the Department of Environmental Conservation by Friday evening and there were no details about the dates, times or amounts of the spills by Friday evening.

Both cities apparently violated state law by failing to report the spills -- blamed on torrential rains -- for days to either the DEC or the general public. Both cities blamed the incidents on worker vacations where reporting responsibility wasn't reassigned properly.

The maximum penalty for violating the law is up to $37,500 per day.

Mantello said on Saturday she was surprised to learn about the issue in the Times Union report.

"To date, the City of Troy had not filed a sewage spill notice," she said. "Not only was this a violation of state law, but put Troy residents and others at risk."

John Salka, spokesman for Mayor Patrick Madden, told the Times Union Friday that the city's failure to report was because of a shortage of sewer workers over the Independence Day holiday.

Mantello said she will ask the chairperson of the City Council Public Utilities Committee to immediately hold a public meeting with the administration to discuss the violation.

"The public has a right to know why they were not notified of this potential hazard. Additionally, to my knowledge, no one on the City Council was advised of this violation even though the administration had recently received approval from the council of over $27 million in bonding authorization regarding the city's sewage system."
GHENT -- A Schenectady man is accused of a sexual crime against a child between the ages of 7 and 9, Columbia County Sheriff David P. Bartlett said Saturday.

Logan Burnett, 20, is charged with first-degree criminal sexual act after deputies began an investigation on May 31 into a reported sexual offense in the town of Ghent between 2011 and 2014.The alleged abuse was reported by a family member.
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Albany

The owner of a landmark Lark Street business on Friday said two employees described as members of a controversial alt-right group no longer work there.

As of today, the individuals named in that article are no longer employed by, nor affiliated with, Lark Street Tattoo, according to a statement put out by the business owners.

Lark Street Tattoo stands for diversity, supports equal rights of all people and denounces any group or individual that does not do the same thing.

The statement came out two days after a website, Love and Rage, reported that two employees of the parlor were members of Proud Boys, an alt-right organization that critics say has been involved in street violence.

To say that were blindsided by the allegations is an understatement, reads part of the press release.

The Times Union on Friday quoted Tom T-Bone Martin as saying the online piece had a rapid, and negative impact, with customers cancelling appointments and giving the shop negative online reviews.

Martin co-owns the shop with Bruce Kaplan and theyve operated it since 1993, he said.

They added, If anyone had felt that they were discriminated against while in our business we implore you to contact us. Our shop has no place for hate.
The Constituency Commission giveth - and the Constituency Commission taketh away. That would seem to be the outcome to last week's Dail constituency changes which see Lower Ormond back in Tipperary but Newport and Birdhill going to Limerick.

The changes will bring mixed fortunes for Tipperary's Dail hopefuls, with Fine Gael and Michael Lowry the likely winners in Lower Ormond and Labour looking at a possible setback.

Roughly 4,000 votes will go to Limerick, and Deputy Alan Kelly topped the poll in the Newport electoral area in 2016, a major factor in him holding on to his seat.

The party also holds its only seat on Tipperary County Council out of Newport, with Cllr Fiona Bonfield being elected there in 2014.

Deputy Kelly will, however, hope that the large swathes around Nenagh and its hinterland that come back to Tipperary will more than make up for any loss.

Fine Gael and Deputy Lowry lost out when approximately 10,000 votes switched to Offaly in 2016, prompting Independent Cllr Joe Hannigan to throw his hat into the ring.

It's great to back in Tipperary, was Cllr Hannigan's reaction to the new boundary. However there is a new dynamic for Tipperary again with parts going to Limerick

He said it was a bit of a conundrum for people to get used to having their councillors in one area and their TDs in another. They are now in the same dilemma and I sympathise with them he said of those voters who must switch allegiances to Limerick.

Cllr Hannigan said that, though the Commission was an independent body, the council had made a substantial submission by way of a motion to have Lower Ormond reattached to Tipperary.

On the possibility of running for the Dail again, Cllr Hannigan said: I haven't even thought about it. Offaly was good to me with 1,100 votes.

All told, he picked up over 4,000 votes and said: I stood to make a statement, to give people an opportunity, who otherwise would not have voted, the chance to vote.

Cllr Hannigan said that he would have to think about all the scenarios, but you don't know which way the cat is going to jump.

Meanwhile, Cllr Michael O'Meara welcomed the news, saying the Offaly TDs didn't seem to have the heart for Lower Ormond. We didn't see too many of them and very little came our way. Being back in Tipp is to our advantage, he said.

The Lowry Team councillor said that putting parts of Tipperary in Limerick was not good for Newport or Birdhill. Limerick will be a different kettle of fish with different dynamics when it comes to housing and other issues.

In the meantime, he said Deputy Michael Lowry would be happy that the 3,000 votes he lost last time will now come back to him. He also felt it would be good for Fianna Fail, saying Lower Ormond was always an FF stronghold.
[July 07, 2017] SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Reminds Shareholders With Losses on Their Investment in Eco Science Solutions, Inc. of Class Action Lawsuit and Upcoming Deadline - ESSI

Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Eco Science Solutions, Inc. ("Eco Science" or the "Company") (OTCQB: ESSI) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, District of New Jersey, and docketed under 17-cv-03760, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Eco Science securities, seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants' violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. If you are a shareholder who purchased Eco Science securities between May 1, 2017 and May 19, 2017, both dates inclusive, you have until July 24, 2017 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased. [Click here to join this class action]



Eco Science Solutions, Inc. is a technology-focused company that provides solutions for the health and wellness industry. The Company provides enterprise software solutions and services including consumer apps, localized communication platforms between consumers and businesses, educational content, e-commerce platforms, and social networking services. The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the Company's plan for strategic acquisitions lacked veracity; and (ii) as a result, Defendants' statements about the Company's business, operations and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable bases at all relevant times.

On May 19, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued an order of suspension of trading, halting trading of the Company's securities. To date, trading the Company's securities remains halted, rending the Company's securities illiquid and virtually worthless, thereby damaging investors. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170707005709/en/

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[July 07, 2017] SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Reminds Shareholders with Losses on their Investment in Snap, Inc. of Class Action Lawsuit and Upcoming Deadline - SNAP

Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Snap, Inc. ("Snap" or the "Company") (NYSE:SNAP) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Central District of California, and docketed under 17-cv-03679, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Snap securities, seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants' violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. If you are a shareholder who purchased Snap securities or otherwise acquired Snap securities: (1) pursuant and/or traceable to Snap's false and misleading Registration Statement and Prospectus, issued in connection with the Company's initial public offering on or about March 2, 2017 (the "IPO" or the "Offering"); and/or (2) on the open market between March 2, 2017 and May 15, 2017, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), you have until July 17, 2017 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased. [Click here to join this class action]



Snap Inc. is a camera company that provides technology and social media services. The Company develops mobile camera application products and services that allow users to send and receive photos, drawings, text, and videos. Snap serves customers worldwide. On or about March 3, 2017, the Company completed its IPO, issuing 200,000,000 shares and raising net proceeds of approximately $3.91 billion.

Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Snap's reported user growth was materially false and misleading; and (ii) as a result, Snap's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On May 10, 2017, post-market, Snap issued its first quarterly report as a public company, disclosing disappointing user growth at the Company's Snapchat messaging platform. For the quarter, Snap reported 166 million daily users, only 8 million more than in the previous period and only 44 million more than the same period in the prior year-Snapchat's slowest year-to-year growth rate in at least two years. On this news, Snap's share price fell $4.93, or 21.45%, to close at $18.05 on May 11, 2017. On May 16, 2017, Bloomberg (News - Alert) reported that a former Snap employee, Anthony Pompliano, had filed a lawsuit against Snap, "claim[ing] he was fired after three weeks on the job for raising questions about allegedly false growth metrics [and] seeking whistleblower protection against retaliation by [the] company." On this news, Snap's share price fell $0.02, or 0.1%, to close at $20.72 on May 16, 2017. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170707005714/en/

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[July 08, 2017] Commercial Hydrogen Announces New Board Member

HOUSTON, July 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- General Mike Ryan, Vice President Government Relations and Board Member of Commercial Hydrogen, Inc. officially welcomes Mr. Troy Bohlke to Commercial Hydrogen as Vice President Special Projects and full member of the Board of Directors. Commercial Hydrogen is a Texas based company dedicated to improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions for commercial trucks. Utilizing a proprietary "Hydrogen On-Demand" technology, the company retrofits diesel engines to produce remarkable results. Troy Bohlke is a seasoned marketing professional and head of 10 Day Media, an award-winning media/marketing company in Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Bohlke is also founder and head of New Business Funders, a private money lender to new and small businesses. An experienced entrepreneur, Troy Bohlke is able to obtain national recognition for his clients, resulting in increased brand recognition and customer acquisition. Commercial Hydrogen addresses two important issues facing the trucking industry. Due to increasing competition, profit margins are experiencng severe downward pressure. On top of this, there is increased concern for environmental responsibility.



This unique retrofit technology injects hydrogen directly into the combustion chamber which increases energy. Additional benefits are a significant decrease in wear and tear related repairs. The technology creates hydrogen on the spot. There is an endless supply. Commercial Hydrogen's two unique products accommodate most 10-15L pre-2011 non-EPA rated vehicles, up to the newest EPA rated models of 2017. Engine performance is incredibly efficient, consistent, and stable. The process not only improves the combustion process, but lessens the amount of residual build-up in the engine. There is up to 50-70% reduction in CO2 and NOX particulates, bringing levels well below EPA guidelines.

Commercial Hydrogen's technology can have tremendous impact on fleet operations, but it also gives the independent driver a way to compete in the marketplace. Further, it is estimated that the cost of the retro-fit can be paid for in operational cost savings in less than a year. These benefits can be applied to all areas of many industries. The application of this system to a diesel engine can be utilized for everything from the Individual Owner-Operator to Commercial Logistics Enterprises. Even most military vehicles can be fitted. "The future is bright for Commercial Hydrogen as both market and environmental forces converge," claims Fowler. "We are poised to expand our business as this billion-dollar industry achieves increased momentum." For more information on Commercial Hydrogen, Inc. go to http://www.CHydrogen.com. Media Contact: Troy Bohlke (480.584.2909) To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/commercial-hydrogen-announces-new-board-member-300484910.html SOURCE Commercial Hydrogen

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[July 08, 2017] Foresters Financial, KaBOOM! and Volunteers Create More Ways for Kids to Play at Cascade View Community Park

The Tukwila community was revitalized today thanks to a new playground built at Cascade View Community Park. In less than eight hours, more than 200 volunteers from Foresters FinancialTM, the City of Tukwila and non-profit KaBOOM! created the new playspace, which will serve more than 1,200 children and their families in the local community for years to come. "We believe in enriching lives and building strong communities - that's our purpose," said Tony Garcia, President and CEO, Foresters Financial. "Playgrounds are important because they provide a public space where children can play safely, families can spend quality time and the community can come together. An investment in a playground is an investment in community, and we are happy to provide the Tukwila community with a place that families can enjoy for years to come." The design for the new playground is based on drawings created by neighborhood children at a special Design Day event held in May when community members met with organizers from KaBOOM! and Foresters Financial to design their dream playground. The drawings inspired the final playground design. Foresters Financial, an international financial services provider, helps families reach their financial goals, protect themselves and make a lasting difference in their communities. Since 2006, Foresters has invested more than $13 million with KaBOOM! to build more than 140 playgrounds across the US and Canada by the end of 2017. Over their 15-year lifespan, these playgrounds will help to strengthen the community and provide more than 5 million children and their families with an opportunity to spend quality time together. "Tukwila's Parks and Recreation Department strives to create safe places that enhance the quality of life for those that live, work, and play in the City," says Parks and Recreation Director, Rick Still. "Parks and playgrounds, such as Cascade View Community Park, serve Tukwila's diverse community with a gathering and play space that promotes social interaction, exercise opportunities and amazing play equipment that entertains and positively challenges children. We are grateful to KaBOOM!, Foresters Financial, and the many volunteers that made the new expanded playground possible." Green spaces and safe play structures where children and families can enjoy and spend time together are sparse in many high density communities. Playing outdoors is an imporant part of every child's healthy development and the creation of this new playground will allow thousands of children to play safely and be active in their community.



Foresters Financial is a KaBOOM! Founding Partner and National Partner. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has been dedicated to ensuring that all kids get the balance and active play they need to thrive. About City of Tukwila

Tukwila was incorporated as a city in 1908 and has over 19,000 people that reside in the City today. Tukwila's location is at the crossroads of trails, highways and railroads making the city a destiny for commerce. A daytime population of 150,000 people helps support flourishing retail, warehousing, distribution of goods and manufacturing. Parks and recreation, police, fire and other essential City services ensure residents of the City enjoy small town warmth and caring, while having the benefits of quality services and goods associated with larger cities. For more information, visit: www.tukwilawa.gov

About Foresters Financial

Foresters Financial is an international financial services provider with more than three million clients and members in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and total funds under management of $44 billion.1 With a history of more than 140 years, we provide life insurance, savings, retirement and investment solutions that help families achieve their financial goals, protect their families and improve their communities. For more information, visit foresters.com. Foresters Financial and Foresters are trade names and trademarks of The Independent Order of Foresters (a fraternal benefit society, 789 Don Mills Road, Toronto, Canada M3C 1T9) and its subsidiaries. Products offered vary by country. Not all products are available for distribution in all jurisdictions. In the United States, products are offered by The Independent Order of Foresters and its subsidiaries, including Foresters Financial Services, Inc. a registered broker-dealer. Securities, life insurance and annuity products are offered through Foresters Financial Services, Inc. or independent producers. Insurance products are issued by Foresters Life Insurance and Annuity Company, New York, or The Independent Order of Foresters. Investment advisory products and services are offered through Foresters Advisory Services, LLC, a registered investment adviser. 1 in Canadian dollars as of December 31, 2016 KaBOOM!

KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to bringing balanced and active play into the daily lives of all kids, particularly those growing up in poverty in America. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has collaborated with partners to build, open or improve nearly 16,700 playgrounds, engaged more than one million volunteers and served 8.5 million children. KaBOOM! creates great places to play, inspires communities to promote and support play, and works to drive the national discussion about the importance of play in fostering healthy lives and communities. To learn why #playmatters: visit kaboom.org or join the conversation at twitter.com/kaboom or facebook.com/kaboom. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170708005009/en/

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Indiana soldier reflects on Veterans Day from Kosovo

Sgt. Chris Griesinger is among about 300 Indiana National Guard members who deployed to Kosovo from Camp Atterbury, which is south of Indianapolis.
CONGRESSMAN YODER STRIKES BACK WITH ANOTHER EPIC FUNDRAISING HAUL AGAINST NO-NAME FAKE NEWS COMPETITION!!!

Yoder for Congress Announces Another Record-Setting Quarter

Nearly Half-Million Dollars Raised, Campaign Has Almost $1.1 Million Cash on Hand

National media and social media spammers see opportunity in Johnson County and they're focused on clipping the congressional seat.To wit . . .It's not that we agree with Congressman Yoder about much but there's no denying that he's generally well-liked in within his district and he does a bitter job than most of avoiding rhetorical bomb-throwing and focusing on core issues for his community.In a more practical sense, the push against him is coming straight from the DNC with very little grassroots support and backed up only by meaningless social media echo chamber buzz.And so, this display of his cash totals is an important show of strength and fact check despite so much fake news about middle-class discontent in the heart of Johnson County.Checkit:Overland Park, KS -- Yoder for Congress announced today that it broke the record for the most second-quarter contributions to a House candidate's campaign in Kansas history.Yoder for Congress, the committee to re-elect Kevin Yoder, raised nearly $470,000 in the second quarter, bringing its cash on hand to nearly $1.1 million. The Q2 total was a 13% increase over Q1 and a 22.5% increase over Q2 from last cycle, showing continued momentum in support for Kevin Yoder's reelection bid.No candidate for Congress has ever raised this much money at this point in an election cycle in Kansas history."The outpouring of financial support by Kansans across the Third District is a direct response to Washington Democrats targeting Kevin Yoder," said Jennifer Dreiling, Yoder for Congress Finance Director. "The constituents of the Third District elected Kevin Yoder to represent them in Congress and that is what he is working every day to do, despite constant attempts by the far left to obstruct and disrupt. Yoder for Congress is ready and prepared to defend Kansas values against Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats in 2018."Thank you for your support of Kevin," Dreiling continued. "As we saw last cycle, and in the special elections across the country over the last few months, Democrats will stop at nothing and spend untold millions trying to make Nancy Pelosi speaker again. Every single one of Kevin's potential opponents want to help them do it, and that's why so many Kansans are getting behind our campaign so early in the cycle."###
Kansas City police responded to East 40th Terrace and Topping Avenue for a shooting Friday night. Police tell KCTV5 they found two people injured when they arrived in the neighborhood, and one of them is critically injured. Stay with KCTV5 for updates on this developing story.
Women in the Brookside, Waldo area on alert after reports of a flasher KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A flasher targeting women joggers in the Brookside and Waldo neighborhoods in Kansas City, has women concerned about their safety. The flasher was spotted recently near 59th Street and Pennsylvania and 56 Street and Linden.

Communities have united in this part of Kansas City to hunt for an alleged perv assaulting local ladies. Take a look at this story that hopes to bring an anti-climax to the efforts of this local masturbating dude:
Clay's Kansas City Coverage

Virginia-Based Activist Clay Chastain Campaigns For New Kansas City Transit Plan Longtime Kansas City transit activist Clay Chastain on Friday launched another campaign for a ballot initiative to create what he called an all-electric, "state-of-the-art transit system." Question No.

Always Running In KCK

'It was just strictly escape:' Man who served time for running from police shares thought process KANSAS CITY, Kan. - A police chase involving an alleged stolen car on Friday ended with three people facing charges, including two juveniles. Previous story: Deputies arrest 3 suspects after high speed chase in Jackson County The chase began around 1:30 p.m.

Golden Ghetto Water Trouble

New law prompts closure of Roeland Park water slide until aquatic center gets inspection and permit ROELAND PARK, Kan. -- A new state law in Kansas means new regulations for municipal pools with water slides. The Kansas Amusement Ride Act considers pool slides 15-feet tall and above as amusement rides. The slide at the Roeland Park Aquatic Center will remain closed until an inspector can come out and all the paperwork is finished to get the proper permits.

Joco Car Crime Spree

Overland Park police warn of increase in car burglaries OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - It's another busy weekend in the metro, but when you're out and about you may be a prime target for thieves. Police in Overland Park are gearing up to protect apartments and hotels in the 435 Corridor. Hawthorne Apartments near 119th and Nall has been a hot spot for car burglaries.

Tragic Find As Family Mourns

Body of man who went missing in June found in Missouri River The body of Matthew Johnson, who went missing on June 18 of this year, has been found in the Missouri River in Carroll County. According to a Facebook posting on the Carroll County Sheriff's Office's page, an unidentified man's body was found in the river on July 3.

Hottieinspires this weekend update and a quick peek at all the important Kansas City links for right now. Take a look: Coldplay - A L I E N S is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . .
Southwest Airlines' Plan B: leave KCI, and build new terminal in Gardner Ks! Financed with local Airport Revenue Bonds Behind the scenes, Southwest Airlines may pull a Love Field strategy in metro KC. Land their planes in Johnson County, and forget all about MCI in KCMO. (Southwest does not fly out of Dallas/Ft Worth's "main" airport, they have Love Field. Nor do they fly out of O'Hare in Chicago.

From our favorite lady blogging in the Golden Ghetto, an interesting theory on the fate of the new airport and the future of Kansas City's rich neighbors to the West:
After Greitens' veto, how will KC pay another $48 million for downtown arts campus? Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens' veto of legislation to fund half the cost of an ambitious University of Missouri-Kansas City downtown arts campus has raised a giant question. Now what? How does Kansas City move forward with a world-class project intended to create the "Juilliard of the West"?

On the bright side, creating a "cowtown Julliard" might not be the best use of big time donor money. You decide:
Once you go there you will know why the mythical hero did everything he could to return

When Odysseus set off for glorious days in Troy, his beloved wife, Penelope, was left alone to unwittingly excite the appetite of men for a gorgeous queen. Before long, the palace was brimful of odious suitors who would flirt with the queen persistently. What is more, they made Penelope promise she would marry one of them. To keep them at bay, she came up with a devise: she promised she would come to a wedding with the best of them when she would have finished weaving a shroud. So, she spent the daytime weaving it and the nighttime unweaving it. Thus doing, she managed to stay clear of the suitors for 20 whole years, until Odysseus returned to Ithaca.

Keep Ithaca always in your mind. Arriving there is what you are destined for

Cavafy, Ithaca, translated by Edmund Keely/Philip Sherrard

Worldwide famous as the home of Odysseus, Ithaca symbolises the return to the haven,the discovery and the fulfillment. Despite its proximity to Kefalonia (Cephalonia) (2km northeast) it is much more peaceful, quiet and undiscovered from it, thus being an ideal place for alternative activities and a holiday living up to the standards of the most demanding ones amongst us. With its 27-kilometre long and 6.5-kilometre large mountainous surface, it boasts plenty of hiking as well as mountain bike trails in a sequence of blue and green alongside the coast and through olive, cypress, pine, oak, arbutus and carob trees up on the hills.

Scuba diving and sea kayaking are some of the options too, while the Cave of the Nymphwill give you the chance to combine an exciting visit with a myth: Odysseus had hidden there the gifts he had brought along from the land of the Phaeacians.

Beaches

The beach lovers will take pleasure in a multitude of choices covering all tastes, from sand to pebbles, from rocky to green-clad backgrounds, from peaceful to busy ones. Some of them are: Lootsa, Filiatro, Sarakinniko, Dexa, Minnimata, Yidaki, Aetos, Aspros Yalos, Afales, Kourvoolia.

Villages

The 3.000-odd inhabitants of the island reside in some of the following villages:

Vathy: Marked by the features of the local architecture, it is the capital of the island and home to the Maritime and Folkloric Museum as well as to the Archaeological Museum of Ithaca. Vathy is built on a bay the center of which is decorated by the tiny little island of Lazaretto, a former sanatorium and prison.

Perahori: A gorgeous scenic little village with a breathtaking view over the island. Built at the edge of the Afentikos Logos forest, it is the perfect starting point for walks by medieval ruins in the oaks.

Stavros: Situated on the north of the island, this village hosts another Archaeological Museum, known for the clay mask of the 1st century A.C. writing   (= a wish for Odysseus in Ancient Greek).

Anoyi: A must of a visit thanks to the upright stones of the area (menhirs) the tallest of which goes as high as 8 metres.

Gastronomy

It might be difficult to date the local dishes back to the ancient era; still their taste is mythical all the same. Try codpie, tomatoballs, savoro fish (fish fillet fried in vinegar, raisins, rosemary and garlic) tserepato (red meat of chicken charcoal-grilled in a clay pot) and, as a desert, rovani (ground rice with honey).

Getting to Ithaca

The island is connected by boat to the islands of Kefalonia andLefkada, and to the ports of Patras, Killini and Astakos on the mainland. Kefalonia is accessible by plane too.

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

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Michael W. Pendergrass License: CC-BY-SA

Source: visitgreece.gr
Greek Alternate Economy Minister Alexis Charitsis met on Wednesday with European Investment Bank (EIB) President Werner Hoyer in Luxembourg, with the latter committing to greater involvement and support of the EIB towards Greece. Mr. Charitsis stressed that the EIB essentially supports the efforts to fund Greeces economy and realize all those investments required for Greeces economy to return to sustainable growth.

This cooperation has already produced significant results, said the Greek Minister: in 2016 Greece entered into agreements with the EIB for a 2.4 billion euro funding; this amount is expected to rise significantly in 2017, thus ensuring new funds for crucial infrastructure projects throughout Greece, such as line 4 of Athens Metro, development projects in municipalities and local communities, as well as small and medium-sized companies creating thousands of new jobs.

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

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Palauenc05 License: CC-BY-SA

Source: int.ert.gr
A mortal Spartan and a Greek Goddess were married at the Ayia Napa City Hall in Cyprus, protothema.gr reports and adds: Richard and Roxanne are from Lebanon (both of whom have Greek roots) decided to marry in Cyprus, which is the closest Greek destination from their country. The two tied the knot at the Agia Napa municipal hall. The city council issued a statement saying the groom is of Greek descent from his father while the bride from her mother. The couple expressed their hope that the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite would protect their union.

The newlyweds explained the reasons that led them to chose ancient Greek attires on their wedding day was the fact that Greece was a country with a great history of love, beauty and strength and that they were married on the island Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty.

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

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: AyianapaProtaras License: CC-BY-SA

Source: protothema.gr
The planned initial public offering (IPO) of Saudi Aramco, the worlds biggest oil company, on local and international stock markets is the most notable feature of the kingdoms transformation and will help generate sustainable growth and quality jobs for citizens, reported Arab News, citing Minister of Energy Khalid Al Falih.

In his message unveiling Aramcos 2016 annual review on Thursday, Al Falih, who is also chairman of the oil giant, said the IPO - which is set to value Aramco at $2 trillion and scheduled for late next year - would elevate the international visibility of the companys decision making and governance, and building confidence in its long-term strategy.

According to him, this is a major move aimed at helping reduce its dependence on oil revenue under its Vision 2030 plan.

"The Vision, which aims to diversify the national economy beyond oil and build a thriving private sector, will enable Saudi Aramco to expand its global presence," explained Al Falih.

Concurrently with the Vision, the company will enlarge its supply chain and improve business reliability through a local network of suppliers and manufacturers while increasing the competitiveness of Saudi Arabias energy sector, he noted.

In 2016, which Al-Falih said was a challenging year, Aramco reached an all-time record for production of crude oil, pumping an average of 10.5 million barrels a day (mbd)  the biggest daily figure of any oil company in history.

Late in the year, Saudi Arabia led the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) initiative to cap oil production in the face of falling prices, which Al Falih said has set the stage for an improved business environment in 2017.

According to him, 2016 has been a turning point for Aramco, Saudi Arabia and the global oil industry.

Saudi Arabia, he stated, ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016, just before the US signaled it was to leave the global pact to protect the environment.

"The role of oil and gas in the global energy mix will remain significant for decades to come," he added.
The United States and Russia have struck an agreement on a cease-fire in southwest Syria, crowning President Donald Trumps first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It is the first US-Russian effort under Trumps presidency to stem Syrias six-year civil war, reported Associated Press.

The cease-fire goes into effect from tomorrow (July 8) at noon Damascus time, citing US officials and the Jordanian government, which is also involved in the deal.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who accompanied Trump in his meeting with Putin, said the understanding is designed to reduce violence in an area of Syria near Jordans border that is critical to the US allys security.

Its a very complicated part of the Syrian battlefield, Tillerson told reporters after the US and Russian leaders met for more than 2 hours on the sidelines of a global summit in Hamburg, Germany.

Of the agreement, he said, I think this is our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together in Syria.

For years, the former Cold War foes have been backing opposing sides in Syrias war. Moscow has staunchly backed Syrian President Bashar Assad, supporting Syrian forces militarily since 2015, reported AP.

Washington has backed rebels fighting Assad. Both the US and Russia oppose Daesh militants and say theyre focused on rooting out the extremist group.

Trump ordered some 60 cruise missiles to be fired at a Syrian air base in April after accusing Assads forces of a deadly chemical weapons attack. But his top military and national security advisers pointedly said they had no intentions of intervening to oust Assad.

The potential pitfalls for the cease-fire are clear  not least the challenge of enforcing it, said the report.

Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russian military police would monitor the new truce. But Tillerson said that was still being worked out, it stated.

A senior US State Department official said the two countries were close to a deal on that issue and hoped to finalize it in the coming days, raising the prospect it could take effect Sunday with no clear sense of who is policing it.

That the deal was announced before all the details were ironed out was a clear indication of how eager the US and Russia were to cast their leaders first meeting as a success, according to the report.

Officials said the deal had been in the works for weeks or months, but came together in time for the meeting, it stated.

The deal marks a new level of involvement for the Trump administration in trying to resolve Syrias civil war, th e report added.
Qatar Airways is to press on with plans to build a stake of up to 4.75 per cent in American Airlines in the near future, despite the "categorical" opposition of the US company's management, said a report.



The move by Qatar Airways would expand its investments to North America at a time when Qatar is embroiled in the region's worst diplomatic crisis in years and is locked in an airspace rights row with three other Gulf states, reported Reuters.



The state-owned carrier had notified American Airlines last month that it was interested in buying up to 10 per cent of its shares but would not exceed 4.75 percent without the approval of American's board, stated the report, citing its top official.



"We will be able to start buying shares in the open market soon, depending of course on what is the share value," Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker told reporters in Dublin, where he was launching a new Qatar Airways route.



However, American said in a regulatory filing dated June 22 that company rules prohibit anyone "from acquiring 4.75 percent or more" of the company's shares in issue without prior board approval.



Shares in American were up 1.88 per cent at $53.03 on Friday, valuing the company at over $25 billion, it added.
Satinder Pal Singh

Dera Bassi, July 8

The Civil Hospital in Dera Bassi was upgraded to the status of a subdivisional hospital in 2010 but in the absence of a proper building, shortage of doctors and poor infrastructure, the change in status failed to bring any respite for patients.

A visit to the hospital reveals that a lot needs to be done to provide better health care facilities. With no ENT, chest and TB specialists, patients are often being referred to hospitals in Chandigarh and Panchkula.

Of 15 sanctioned posts of doctor, five are lying vacant for the past several months. Sources said due to it the staff nurses at the hospital have been forced to work 12 hours a day. Notably, there are only six nurses taking of care of patients while the sanctioned strength is 10. Four of them have been sent on deputation to other cities. Similarly, two posts of OT assistant and one gynaecologist have been lying vacant for several months.

As many as 300-350 patients visit the OPD daily. As per the official data, 9,802 patients visited the hospital in January 2017 while the number reached 10,290 in February. As many as 12,589 patients visited the hospital in March followed by 11,143 in April and 12,940 in May.

The staff crunch has also burdened the doctors. We deploy the hospital staff at hospital entrance so that patients could be sent in one by one but people often quarrel with each other and the employees, said a doctor.

Meanwhile, patients expressed resentment over a lack of seating arrangements at the hospital. One can find patients and their attendants standing in queues for hours, waiting for their turn.

Apart from this, vehicles parked haphazardly on the hospital premises have become a major cause for concern. Ambulances rushing critically injured to the hospital have to park through haphazardly parked vehicles near the emergency unit.

Sources in the hospital added that though the infrastructure for a blood bank was provided in 2016, it could not be started in the absence of a pathologist. One of the doctors said, Though the post was filled some time ago, no one joined here. Now, a pathologist has been posted but she too went on maternity leave. Moreover, the hospital lacks facilities to tackle dengue patients.

Though the hospital authorities are preparing to observe July as Dengue Awareness Month, the irony is that it lacks a cell counter machine to check the platelet count of patients.

Sangeeta Jain, SMO, Dera Bassi, said, The higher authorities have already been informed about the situation. Efforts are being made to provide proper facilities to every patient.

No Ultrasound facility at Dhakoli CHC

Patients have been left in the lurch owing to the absence of an ultrasound facility at the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Dhakoli. Patients coming to the emergency wards, including expecting women, are suffering the most.
New York, July 8

An Indian-origin Muslim convert, who had voiced support for ISIS and had searched online for ways to join the terror group, has been arrested for making false statements on his applications to join the US military.

Shivam Patel, 27, of Norfolk was charged for not disclosing on his application to join the Army that he had travelled to China or Jordan.

He claimed he had not gone anywhere outside the US in the past seven years, except for a family trip to India in 2011-12, a report in The Virginian Pilot said, quoting a court affidavit.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years.

According to the affidavit, Patelwho converted to Islam several years agohad travelled to China in July 2016 to teach English. While there, he had expressed displeasure to his father about how that country treated Muslims, it said.

Patel was sent back to the US by his employer but he travelled to Jordan instead where he was arrested and eventually deported.

His parents spoke with the FBI about their son after learning he was in Jordanian custody and said he had become obsessed with Islam.

An investigation of Patels room and computers disclosed evidence that he had downloaded three copies of an online magazine produced by the Islamic State and searched for how to join the group.

On one occasion, he had talked about wanting to become a martyr but suggested his jihad might not be violent. He had also praised the terrorist attacks in Paris, Nice and Orlando and expressed an admiration for Anwar al-Awlaki, a slain leader of the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

On another occasion, speaking to an undercover agent, Patel expressed desire to do something bigger, better and more purposeful, like dying for Allah, the report added.

He told the agent about his desire to see a holy war between Muslims and non-Muslims.

He sang an Islamic State fight song to the source and recalled making a replica of the groups flag, which he wanted to replace his neighbours American flag with, the report said.

Patel then applied for jobs with local police and fire departments, correctional facilities and even the US Army and Air Force.

He wanted to blend into society and do something glorious, FBI Special Agent Thomas Pembroke wrote in an affidavit unsealed Thursday in US District Court. PTI
Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, July 8

The Government Railway Police (GRP) today claimed to have cracked the Junaid murder case with the arrest of the main accused. The arrest was made from Dhule in Maharashtra.

It was reported that the accused, who was yet to be identified, hailed from Bhamrola village in the Hathin subdivision of Palwal district.

A spokesperson disclosed that the main accused had been nabbed 16 days after the lynching incident, in which Junaid Khan (16) was killed and two of his brothers injured. He said the identity of the main accused was not revealed due to some legal hurdles.

He said the suspect, who had admitted to having stabbed Junaid and his kin on June 22 on the train, would be produced in court tomorrow.

It was revealed that the police had been on a hunt to nab the main accused, who was found to be riding a motorcycle in the CCTV footage collected from the site of the stabbing incident.

The GRP had already arrested five persons, identified as Ramesh Kumar, Chander, Gaurav, Pradeep and Rameshwar, all hailing from Khambi village in Palwal district, in this connection.

The police had announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh for information about the main accused. It was unclear how and when the police got information about the accused, who had reportedly fled to Maharashtra.

The delay in the arrest of the main accused had put pressure on the police. Junaids mother had threatened to go on fast in case the police were unable to arrest the main accused. Several teams had been set up to raid and comb various places during the past several days.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 8

Abhay Singh Chautala, Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, today reiterated the decision of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) to block the entry of vehicles coming to the state from Punjab on July 10. He said it was up to the Central government to get the Supreme Courts order on the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal implemented. However, he added that the protest would be peaceful.

We have been organising protests from the beginning of the year to press for the implementation of the Supreme Courts order on the SYL canal. The BJP government in the state, however, has been trying to obstruct our protests. The deployment of paramilitary forces for our July 10 protest shows that the government does not support the SYL cause, Abhay said while addressing mediapersons here today.

He added traffic coming from Punjab would be stopped at five places throughout the state. Party president Ashok Arora and I will be at the Chandigarh-Lalru border while INLD MP Dushyant Chautala and others will at the Ambala-Shambhu border. INLD Jind unit president Krishan Rathi and all four MLAs from Jind will be at the Narwana-Dhanauri border while former MLA Nishan Singh and others will be on the Ratia-Budlahada road (Jakhal point) in Fathehabad, he said

INLD MP Charanjit Singh Rori, Digvijay Chautala and all MLAs from Sirsa would be at Dabwali border with Punjab, he added.

Abhay said he would visit the five places by helicopter. Except ambulances and fire engines, we will stop all types of vehicles from entering Haryana from the Punjab side. During our protest from 9 am to 3 pm, the drivers of vehicles coming from Punjab will be stopped and given flowers. They will be asked to convey to the Punjab government to give Haryana its share of waters and sent back, he added. The protest would be peaceful and there was no need to deploy paramilitary forces.

Abhay rued that 60 per cent of Haryana was in the dark zone and 37,000 tubewell connections were pending. Let the Prime Minister assure us that the SYL canal will be made and let the Haryana Chief Minister say that we will get our share of water. Only then will we call off our protest. All political parties, which care for the states interest, should come forward and support us on July 10, he said.
Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 8

Political parties and student federations today took to streets, demanding immediate arrest of the person involved in the alleged rape and murder of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in Kotkhai.

The police have constituted three teams to probe the matter and questioned a number of persons, including her classmates and relatives, but the accused is yet to be arrested. The post-mortem report has stated that the girl was raped and strangled. The police have registered a case.

The victim did not return from school on July 4, following which her family members launched a search and informed the police. Two days later, her body was recovered from the nearby Haliala jungle.

Comparing the brutal murder with Nirbhaya, the BJP demanded immediate action against the accused. Student organisations, including the ABVP, the SFI and the NSUI, lodged their protest and took out a candlelight march from the Deputy Commissioners office to Sher-e-Punjab, demanding justice for the victim. The girl belonged to Theog and was staying in her uncles house in Kotkhai.
Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chamba, July 8

While BJP leaders from the state targeted Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on corruption charges, national leaders highlighted the achievements of the Modi government on the conclusion of the Parivartan Rally at Chaugan ground here today.

Union ministers Smriti Irani and Rajyavardhan Rathore said it was historic time for the country when a government had taken a resolve to root out corruption from the country. Historic steps such as demonetisation and GST would pave the way for its progress.

State leaders Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal termed the present Congress government in the state as the most corrupt.

BJP MP from Kangra Shanta Kumar said it was unprecedented that the Chief Minister and his entire family were facing corruption charges and had to seek bail from court. Shanta said the law and order situation could be illustrated from the fact that a forest guard was murdered and his body was found hanging from a tree. The police were still clueless in the case.

Dhumal said Parivartan yatras had received a good response from the people. The Congress government had looted the people.

Smriti Irani, praised Shanta and Dhumal for being the pillars of the party. She said the Himachal government got Rs 28,450 crore under the 14th Finance Commission recommendations. It was the Modi government that executed one rank, one pension.

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, said the BJP was working for the progress of the country. There were many soldiers in the Army from Himachal. It was considered Dev Bhoomi. Narendra Modi attacked corruption and black money in the country through demonetisation. GST could also be implemented only by the government that wanted to uproot corruption from the country. Himachal should join the mainstream and vote the BJP to power in the coming election, he said.

State president of the BJP Satpal Satti said party workers had covered 10,000 km in Parivartan Rally. Similar rallies in tribal areas would be held in August, he said.

The BJP managed an impressive rally at Chaugan ground that was attended by over 10,000 people. Most of the BJP workers who participated in the rally were from Chamba district.
Tribune News Service

Mandi, July 8

The Deputy Director, Education, and Principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Jahalma, Lahaul and Spiti, have been suspended on the charge of dereliction of duty.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh ordered their suspension from the dais of a public meeting at Keylong. According to sources, the Chief Minister was scheduled to visit the school. But due to some reasons, he got delayed and when the CM reached the school, it was closed.

Virbhadra said, I am the Chief Minister and Education Minister. If an officer doesn't follow the order of the state head, he or she has no right to remain on the post.

The school building was in a dilapidated condition and was posing a threat to students. The residents of the area had asked the Chief Minister to visit the school premises. Apart from this, people were complaining about the school staff.

Lahaul Spiti MLA Ravi Thakur said the people of region had requested the Chief Minister to visit the school premises and direct the authorities to demolish the dilapidated school building. Apart from this, construction work of a new school building was going on and the Chief Minister was to inspect the progress of the work.

He said, The Deputy Director, Education, and the Principal of the school was already informed about the tour but when we arrived, the school was closed and they left the school premises, which irked the Chief Minister.
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 8

With curfew in three towns and restrictions at other places, Kashmir was put under virtual lockdown on the death anniversary of Burhan Wani. Barring a few incidents, the day passed off peacefully in Kashmir.

Before the sunrise on tense Saturday, militants attacked an Army patrol in north Kashmir that left three soldiers wounded. As the day proceeded, clashes erupted between protesters and security forces at least half a dozen places in Kashmir which left over 15 persons, including four women, injured.

Burhans native town, Tral, was sealed off by the forces for the second day and no one was allowed to enter it. However, there were reports of clashes from some parts of Tral. A small group of people tried to take a march towards Burhans grave, from his home, which was disallowed.

Shops, business establishments, fuel stations and private offices remained closed while public transport was off the roads in Srinagar. Train services from Baramulla in north Kashmir via Srinagar, Anantnag, Qazigund sections up to the Banihal junction in the Jammu region remained suspended today.

The authorities had clamped curfew in three towns  Tral, Shopian and Trehgam Kupwara. The Internet services were partially restored this evening. However, in the wee hours on Saturday, three soldiers, including a Captain of Armys counter-insurgency unit, were injured in a militant ambush in Bandipora.

Yatra suspended

Jammu: Taking precautionary measures, the state administration suspended the Amarnath yatra on Saturday. The yatra was suspended from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu due to law and order situation in the Kashmir valley, said a senior police officer. tns

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Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 8

At least three Army men were injured in the wee hours of Saturday in a militant ambush in north Kashmir's Bandipora district.

The ambush took place at a time when the entire Kashmir was on a high alert on the death anniversary of militant commander Burhan Wani.

The ambush was carried out at Hajin, some 32 km from Srinagar, around 3 am when the Army jawans were going for patrolling in the area.

Three Army men, including a Captain-rank officer got injured in the ambush. All of them are stable.

Sources said that the militants took advantage of the darkness and congested the locality and fled from the spot.

Soon after the shooting, the area was cordoned and searches were being carried to trace the militants involved in the attack.
Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 8

Jammu traders have threatened to launch protest if the government does not abolish toll tax at Lakhanpur checkpost after the extension of the GST in the state with the issuance of the Presidential Order.

The Traders Federation Warehouse, Nehru Market, Jammu, said the state government must abolish toll tax at Lakhanpur as traders and the common man could not face the brunt of double taxation in the state.

In case of non-abolition of toll tax, the trading community will be forced to come to the roads, said Rajesh Gupta, president, Traders Federation Warehouse.

The Chamber of Traders Federation, Jammu, also expressed surprise that the imposition of toll tax after the extension of the GST, violated the widely acclaimed objective of one nation, one tax.

We had totally supported the J&K Government draft on the GST with all special powers intact only on the assumption that toll tax on goods shall be kept away from the purview of powers enjoyed under Section 5 of the J&Ks Constitution. But our hopes have been belied, said Neeraj Anand, president, Chamber of Traders Federation.

Needless to say, this undesirable step shall not only not remove the existing nuisance being faced by the traders and transporters but shall adversely impact the consumers also, he added.
Mumbai, July 8

Three people have been arrested here in connection with the murder of an aspiring airhostess Riya Gautam, who was stabbed in full public view this week in Delhi, police said on Saturday.

Adil Banne Khan (23), Juned Salim Ansari (19) and Fazil Raju Ansari (18) were arrested by Mumbai Crime branch from suburban Bandra on Friday night, they said.

While Khan, the main accused, is a resident of Delhis Mansarovar Park, the two others belong to Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh.

We have arrested an accused named by Adil and two of his associates from Bandra who were wanted by Delhi Police in a murder case, Sanjay Saxena, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) told PTI.

All the arrested accused were handed over to a team of Delhi Police, Saxena said.

On Friday, Unit 9 of Mumbai Crime Branch received information that Khan and two of his associates were hiding somewhere in Bandra East, a police official said.

Subsequently, a search operation was carried out in the area and all the three accused were arrested, he said.

According to police, Riya Gautam alias Charu (21), was stabbed multiple times on July 5 by Khan, who was allegedly stalking her. She succumbed to her injuries the next day at a hospital in Delhi.

An offence of murder was registered against Khan at Mansarovar Police Station after Riyas death but the accused was absconding since then.

Her family has alleged that she had filed a police complaint against the accused in April but no action was taken.

The woman, a resident of Ramnagar area in Mansarovar Park, was attacked by Khan in a busy market.

A CCTV grab of the incident shows the accused attacking the woman and she running away from him. After some time, the accused can be seen fleeing from the spot, a police official said.

The victim and Khan had a fight near her house that day following which she was attacked. In an attempt to save herself, she rushed to a shop for help but nobody was present there, police said.

Khan followed her inside the shop and stabbed her multiple times. Though there were some people, they did not go near Khan for fear of getting attacked.

She was later rushed to a hospital.

According to police, the victim and the accused were known to each other for the last one year. However, after some time, she distanced herself from him and her indifference irked him.

She approached the police with a complaint against the accused in April but he got a whiff of the matter and when his house was raided, it was found that he had fled to Gujarat.

Khan had allegedly been harassing her and would often ask her to talk to him. When she was returning from a shop, the accused stopped her and tried to engage in a conversation but when she ignored him, he attacked her, eyewitnesses had told the police. PTI
Kolkata, July 8

A BJP central team comprising party MPs Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satyapal Singh was stopped from visiting the riot-hit Basirhat in West Bengal and its members were detained on Saturday.

The three MPs, who left for Basirhat after arriving here from Delhi, were stopped by the police near Birati, close to the airport.

#WATCH: Argument between BJP delegation and police after the delegation was stopped from entering #Basirhat, West Bengal. pic.twitter.com/PuyzlroSkz  ANI (@ANI_news) July 8, 2017

Later, they were detained when they tried to proceed to Basirhat after a heated exchange with the police.

Lekhi asked the police if the situation was under control in Basirhat, as claimed by the state government, why were they not allowed to go there?

"We are MPs and only we three will go there. You accompany us," she told policemen.

The police, however, refused to allow them. PTI
Washington, July 8

Air India on Saturday said it planned to expand its base in the US by adding Los Angeles and Houston as new destinations, a day after launching the state-carriers first direct flight from Delhi to Washington DC.

We are looking at connecting two more citiesLos Angeles and either Houston or Dallas, Air India Chairman and MD Ashwani Lohani said at an event to celebrate the launch of the direct non-stop flight on Friday between the capitals of the two largest democracies of the world.

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The direct flight to Los Angeles is expected to be launched by October, while the date for the flight to Houston or Dallas in Texas had not been determined yet, Lohani said.

All this is part of the expansion plans of Air India, he said.

Washington DC is Air Indias fifth US destination after New York, Newark, Chicago and San Francisco.

Last year, we launched four international flights from India. This year, we have seven (new) international flights. New connections, brand new connections. And this is the way we are going to do it, Lohani said, adding that Air India is looking to significantly expand its operations in the US.

The thrice-a-week flight frequency from the US capital could soon be expanded to daily based on passengers response, he said.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said there is a huge market for people travelling between India and the Greater Washington Area, which would result in full Air India flights.

Chairman Lohani has said this was a sold-out flight today. The flight returning too is a sold-out flight. So, theres a very good opportunity for us if this will go to seven days a week, if there is a continued interest, he said.

The current three-days-a-week schedule will bring over 30,000 visitors to the capital region, he said.

It will have an economic impact of about USD 30 million for our region. This is a great deal, McAuliffe said.

Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna, who was on board the inaugural flight from New Delhi, said the direct non-stop flight between the two capitals is symbolic of the India-US ties which received a big boost after the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to America.

I thank everybody for making this happen and making it a real landmark just 10 days after the Prime Ministers very successful visit to the US. A lot of things that were discussed, a lot of things that were agreed upon during the discussions between the two administrations, in turn increased connectivity and created investment, Sarna said.

I think this flight, symbolic as it is, is also going to have a very realistic impact on our bilateral relations. The (Virginia) Governor talked about the tremendous potential of the region, which is really realistic potential, he said.

If Christopher Columbus had been around today and had landed up in America looking for India, he wouldnt have to wait for somebody else, just take the flight on Sunday, Sarna said amid laughs from the audience.

Its going to have it easier for a lot of us, a lot of people for the government, it cuts off a day and a half of travel. Youll find that this will contribute to the political connections, to the trade connections, to the investment connections and to the connections of the hugely successfully Indian-American community, who make it a point to go home very often, he said.

Sarna said India wanted to attract foreign investment and to open up its economy.

Today, we have very major economic reforms in progress, some of you may have read about the recently implemented tax reform of Goods and Services Tax which actually makes the entire country of 1.3 billion into a strong single market with a very simplified tax to achieve, he said.

He said the new tax regime is going to be a huge boost to the economy. PTI
Bijay Sankar Bora

Tribune News Service

Guwahati, July 8

The mortal remains of Wing Commander Mandeep Singh Dhillon, the pilot of IAF helicopter that crashed in Arunachal Pradesh jungles on July 4 while on a flood-relief mission, were cremated with full military honours at Tezpur in Sonitpur district of Assam this afternoon.

Pilots six-year-old son performed the last rites in the presence of officers wife, daughter and parents besides top IAF and Army officials of the Tezpur base as also the district administration. Dhillon, considered among the best pilots in the country, belonged to Patiala.

The IAF helicopter had evacuated 169 people from Sagalee in Papum Pare district and Dambuk areas of Arunachal Pradesh before it went down. Dambuk in Lower Dibang Valley district is 350 km east of the state capital Itanagar.

A defence communique on Saturday said India had lost one of its finest helicopter pilots. He was the Commanding Officer of the 115 Helicopter Unit at Tezpur.

The Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) took off at 3.50 pm from Pilputu helipad near Sagalee for the heliport at Naharlagun, about 13 km from Itanagar, on its sixth sortie to rescue flood victims.

Dhillon had over 18 years of flying experience in varied terrain, from icy mountains of Ladakh to the jungles of the North-East.

Wing Commander Dhillon came from an Air Force family, with his father having retired as a Squadron Leader. He had completed his schooling from RIMC Dehradun and gone on to join the National Defence Academy (NDA) at Khadakwasla, Pune, as an Air Force cadet.
Jitendra Shrivastava & Syed Ali Ahmed

Patna/New Delhi, July 7

The CBI today carried out raids on the residences of RJD leader Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejaswi Yadav, Bihar's Deputy CM, after registering a fresh case for manipulation in allotting the contract for the maintenance and operation of two hotels run by a subsidiary of the Indian Railways  IRCTC  when Lalu was Railway Minister.

The searches, which began at 7 am and included Rabri Devi's Circular Road residence in Patna, were spread across 12 locations in Patna, Ranchi, Gurugram and Bhubaneswar.

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The premises of Lalu confidant Prem Chand Gupta, whose wife Sarla Gupta is listed as an accused in the FIR, were raided too.

An angry Lalu trained his guns at PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah as he arrived in Patna from Ranchi, claiming the BJP would be rooted out even if I am hanged.

He alleged the BJP had been trying to create cracks in the grand alliance, but would not succeed. Lalu was in Ranchi to appear before a CBI court when the raids were carried out.

During the 10-hour raid at Lalus 10 Circular Road residence, CBI officials allegedly seized some documents and gathered electronic evidences against Lalus family. They are said to have quizzed Rabri Devi and her son Tejaswi and recorded their statements.

Lalu is alleged to have committed irregularities in awarding the tender for maintenance of hotels, including BNR in Ranchi and Puri, when he was Railway Minister (2004-09). The tender was allegedly allotted to Sujata Hotel Pvt Limited owned by Vinay and Vijay Kochhar after receiving a bribe in the form of prime land in Patna through a benami company owned by Sarla Gupta. Bihars biggest mall was being constructed on this land.

It is alleged that Vinay Kochhar on February 25, 2005, sold commercial property in the form of three acres of land in Patna through 10 sale deeds for Rs 1.47 crore to Delight Marketing, in which Sarla Gupta was a director as a benami holder on behalf of Lalu. The land was sold much below the market rate. The plot was shown as agriculture land to evade stamp duty.

CBI Additional Director Rakesh Asthan said the conspiracy spanned 2004-14 during which the tender process was rigged in favour of Sujata Hotels. In return, the owners of Sujata Hotel gave three acres of land in Patna to Delight Marketing at a low rate. Subsequently, the land was transferred to another company, Lara Projects, owned by Lalus family members, he said.

The CBI has rgistered a case under Section 120-B and 420 of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act against Sarla Gupta, Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar (both directors of Sujata Hotels), Delight Marketing Company, now known as Lara Projects, and the then IRCTC MD, PK Goel.


Sanjeev Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 8



Consumers can now ascertain the correct rate of Goods and Services (GST) on different items to check if they have been charged correctly through a mobile app launched by the government.

The Central Board of Excise of Customs unveiled a mobile app GST Rates Finder. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched the mobile app which is now available on android platform and will soon be available

on iOS platform as well.

For example, any person who has been billed by a hotel or a restaurant or for footwear can verify the correctness of the rate of GST charged.

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An official statement said these initiatives are aimed to serve as a ready reckoner on GST rates. This will empower not only the taxpayers, but every citizen of the nation, to ascertain the correct GST rate on goods and services.

The user can determine the GST rate for a good or a service by entering the name or chapter heading of the commodity or service. The search result will list all the Goods and Services containing the name

which was typed in the Search Box.

The government said the process had started of issuing of registration certificate, called Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN), to taxpayers who have already been issued provisional ID for registration (PID) as well as to the new taxpayers.

Any person who has been granted PID and who opts for composition scheme, should submit an intimation of option in a prescribed form on GSTN on or before July 21.

Any person who has PID may submit the required documents on GSTN for getting the certificate of registration. It is clarified that a period of three months is allowed to complete this procedure, that is, the formalities can be completed on or before September 22. In the interim, they can issue tax invoice using the PID already allotted to them.

A person seeking fresh registration can apply for registration within 30 days from the date on which he becomes liable for registration. They can also opt for composition scheme at the time of filing of registration form.

The applicant for grant of new registration can issue a bill of supply for supplying goods or services during the period from the date of liability to obtain registration till date of issuance of the registration certificate, if he has applied for registration within 30 days from the date he has become liable for registration. On grant of certificate of registration, he can issue revised tax invoices for the supplies made during this period.

Chief Commissioner of GST (Delhi Zone) has clarified that no officer of the department is authorised to visit the premises of the traders and shopkeepers without authorisation.

Reacting to reports that some unscrupulous elements posing as GST officers have tried to fleece the shopkeepers and customers in the name of GST, it has been clarified by the Office of the Chief

Commissioner of GST (Delhi Zone) that the department only wants to facilitate the shopkeepers and traders during the transition period.






New Delhi, July 8

The Chinese Embassy on Saturday said that it has not denied visa to two researchers of a seven-member India Foundation delegation for visiting the Fudan University in Shanghai.

Spokesperson of Chinese Embassy in India Counsellor Xie Liyan denied the report and said that all seven members of India Foundation delegation to visit China got their visas in time.

There were reports that China has also put the visa of India Foundation Director Alok Bansal on hold and denied visa to two researchers, following the developments the foundation on Friday called off the visit.

"As far as I know, all seven members of India Foundation delegation to visit China got their visas in time. None of the visa application was denied. The delegation will visit China as scheduled," the embassy said in a statement.

It added: "The Chinese side always welcomes and supports the exchanges of think tanks between China and India. It is not true that the source of India Foundation claims that two of its junior research members were denied visas and the visit to China of the delegation has been canceled."

On Friday, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav, who is on the Board of Directors of India Foundation, had denied media reports that he was denied visa by China but confirmed that visas of two of their researchers were rejected.

India Foundation and Fudan University held the third edition of their bilateral interaction in Delhi on December 4 to 5 last year. In continuation of this bilateral interaction agreement, a seven-member delegation of the Foundation was to visit Shanghai.

Bansal on Friday said that his visa was put on hold, and told the media: "No idea why the visa was denied. It's the discretion of the Chinese government to give visa. It's a shock because we didn't think that visa would be a problem." The report of denial of visa to Indians comes amid rising tensions between the two countries due to a border stand-off.

Union Ministers Suresh Prabhu, Nirmala Sitharaman, Jayant Sinha and MJ Akbar are among the Board of Directors of India Foundation.

IANS
Islamabad, July 9

A woman suffering from cancer in Pakistan has urged External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to help her visit India for treatment after her visa application was reportedly rejected by the Indian embassy here.

Faiza Tanveer, 25, is suffering from a recurrent ameloblastoma, an oral tumour which is aggressive in nature. She plans to visit the Inderprastha Dental College and Hospital in Ghaziabad and has paid Rs 1 million in advance for treatment, according to a Pakistani media report.

But the Indian High Commission in Islamabad rejected her medical visa application. Her mother claimed Tanveer's application was rejected because of deteriorating ties between the two countries. This forced Tanveer to take to social media to move the Indian authorities.

Tanveer has in several tweets over the past couple of days urged Swaraj to intervene. She has posted her photo and a video that showed her tumour.  PTI
Islamabad, July 8

Pakistan on Saturday summoned Indias deputy high commissioner in Islamabad over alleged firing along the Line of Control that killed two persons and injured three others.

Earlier, Pakistan accused India of violating the ceasefire along the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in which two persons were killed and three others injured, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson said in a statement.

Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh was summoned over the alleged firing by Indian forces in Chirikot and Satwal sectors, the statement said.

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The firing allegedly resulted in killing two civilians, including a woman. Three other people were injured.

The Foreign Office said that Director-General (South Asia & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces.

The Director-General urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC, the Foreign Office said.

Meanwhile, army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said, Pakistan Army troops responded effectively to Indian unprovoked firing. PTI
Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 8

The expansion of Punjab cabinet may not take place in immediate future. It appeared so after a meeting Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had with Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi here on Sunday.

The expansion could well be kept on hold not until after the conclusion of Municipal Corporation elections due in September and the Lok Sabha bypoll of Gurdaspur, the seat which fell vacant after the death of sitting BJP MP Vinod Khanna.

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Congress sources said discussions on Cabinet expansion took place between Singh and Gandhi today but a view emerged that the move could wait until after impending local body and the parliamentary byelection.

The meeting held in the afternoon at the residence of Gandhi was also attended by Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar.

Gandhi earlier met AICC incharge for Punjab Asha Kumari.

It was expected that the expansion could accommodate younger leaders like Vijayinder Singla and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring besides other seniors who were left behind in the initial swearing-in of Capt Amarinder Singhs cabinet.

Singh and Jakhar were also learnt to be vetting with Gandhi the list of boards chairmen and other major Punjab appointments.

The cabinet expansion will take care of regional representation with MLAs from Jalandhar and Ludhiana getting in and also of caste representation with new faces being inducted.
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 8

The parents of a city lad, Lovepreet Singh, 19, are on tenterhooks ever since they came to know about the Turkey Governments claim of having found a body with their sons Aadhaar card.

His father Swarn Singh, a tailor by profession, said:The Turkish authorities claim that the body was fished out of the sea on June 26 and it had remained in water for at least 10 days. This is not possible as we had a chat with Lovepreet on Whatsapp on June 18, he said.

The boys mother Inderjit Kaur said the kara (iron bracelet worn by Sikhs) despatched by the Turkish authorities was not her sons.

Lovepreets parents, along with their family friend Shaminder Singh and his wife Navdeep Kaur, have applied for visa to travel to Istanbul to see the body.

Shaminder said Lovepreet was sent to Girne American University in Lithuania. The travel agent had sent him to Turkey on transit visa for some three months. It was intriguing how Lovepreet came to stay there for a longer period, he added.

The 19-year-old had flown to Istanbul on September 21 last year. His parents claimed to have taken Rs 8-lakh loan to send their son abroad and a sum of Rs 5.50 lakh was paid to the travel agent.
Tolerance, intolerance: are these becoming interchangeable terms to describe the Other? In the last few weeks, we have seen a strange war of words over whose tolerance is greater and who is more intolerant. While the right-leaning Hindus declare their religion to be the epitome of religious tolerance, citing examples from history, the Vedas and Upanishads to bolster their claim, the left-liberals brand them the most intolerant group of people. Unhappy with this trading of insults, a huge Not in My Name rally was held recently at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere in the country, where people from across social and religious classes came together to protest the crimes committed by the lunatic fringe in the name of a religion.

No civilised member of the Hindu community can ever condone the disgusting behaviour of mobs that lynch innocent members of a minority community in the name of gau raksha. Yet, while the ordinary citizen feels it is her moral duty to protest such crimes where are our breast-beating politicians who swear by secularism and the right of all citizens to live as they wish to? The opposition to the rise of this ugly Hindu fascist group needs a leader, someone who can channelise these multiple threads of protest into a common movement against uncivil behaviour. History shows us that our most important social movements were created by strong leaders who took the wave at its peak and rode it to success. Think of Gandhiji and his Salt Satyagraha, Jaiprakash Narayan and his Jan Andolan against the Emergency or VP Singh and his steerage of the Mandal agitation that unseated Rajeev Gandhis government.

It often puzzles me why, despite our lofty claims of plurality and diversity, our country has failed to assure its citizens that we are all equal. The greatest irony is that every community  from the majority to the smallest minority  suffers from a sense of victimhood. There is universal anger against the politics of appeasement, but the truth is that Hindus as the largest community must rise above the rest to show the way to inclusion and tolerance. It is the lesson that Gandhiji put above all and the hardest to learn. So whether it is forms of worship or food preferences, the right to life is fundamental. There can be no excuse for killing people in the name of religion and all vigilante groups must be declared criminals. Playing favourites to subvert law is the lowest form of political power: so is justifying one wrong in the name of another. A wrong is a wrong, no matter who commits it.

To turn to a more cheerful matter is something I noticed during our recent trip to Kumaon. This was a visible rise in the level of prosperity in rural Kumaon and the huge change that the distribution of gas cylinders has made in the lives of villagers who had to spend hours in search of firewood. The hills are now greener, the little chai shops no longer the smoky, miserable shacks, and the smallest village shop now better stocked than ever before. Many villagers have taken the advantage of eco-tourism schemes to provide home-stays for trekkers and budget travellers and this has  to a certain extent  halted the migration of young men to the plains. Subsistence agriculture is now on the wane and instead, every household has discovered an alternative business.

Kumaon has always had a high rate of literacy. Its women have never suffered from the patriarchal constraints that women in, say, Haryana or Rajasthan have had to. The veil was abandoned several decades ago and some of the most revolutionary movements (such as Chipko) were spearheaded by women. It made me proud to see girls walk fearlessly, heads held high because they are secure in the knowledge that no man can dare to intimidate them. In village after village, there are self-help groups run by women who take care of anganwadis and learn about safe contraception or mother and child care. This only underlined the fact that if we wish to truly help our marginalised communities then educating our girls must become a priority.

If only the government were to make women take charge of central schemes such as cleaning rivers, safe disposal of garbage, water management and be care-givers to the elderly (a job they do without any recognition), or even if they were to be given a small salary for the back-breaking work they do  we would see a quantum leap in the landscape of our darkest villages.

Sadly, the area of womens welfare has always been less important to successive governments than the welfare of religious or caste minorities. Does it make sense to ignore them and focus on those who have only specialised in killing and bullying to assert their power? Look around and you will find that every family has one person that everyone looks up. In nine cases out of ten, it is a woman.
Dinesh Manhotra in Pahalgam

We have a certain liking for finding our gods in the inaccessible hilly terrains. Testing physical fitness is one way to be with your god. Thats why thousands of men and women strain their muscles to walk to one of most sacred and arduous pilgrimages to the snow-clad cave shrine of Lord Shiva. Every year over four lakh pilgrims visit the cave shrine, situated at an altitude of 3,880 meters atop the hill in South Kashmir.

The annual Amarnath Yatra is meant to be fun with only one wish: to be able to see the sacred Ice Lingam. And how about the thrill of passing through the Chanani-Nashri tunnel  the countrys longest tunnel inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 2!

Over the years the yatra itself has become news, and with terrorism and militancy, it has brought into focus the need for safety and security of the pilgrims. So, this year, the yatra is witnessing advanced technology being employed by the authorities for pilgrims safety. For the first time, drones, satellite tracking systems and jammers are being used to monitor tracks as well as base camps of the yatra.

The first batch of the annual pilgrimage, which is facing a terror threat according to intelligence inputs, was officially flagged off from Jammu on June 28. As of now more than 1.25 lakh people have had the darshan of the Ice Lingam. The 40-day pilgrimage will culminate with the taking of Chhari Mubarak of Lord Shiva to the holy cave on Shrawan Purnima coinciding with Raksha Bandhan on August 7 from its abode, Dashnami Akhara Srinagar.

Highest-ever security

For SN Shrivastava, special director general CRPF, the the the annual yatra is a big challenge and calls for elaborate security arrangements. This Amarnath yatra will have the highest-ever security setup, Shrivastava said before the yatra began.

The government has mobilized at least 35,000-troops drawn from the police, Army, BSF and the CRPF. In addition to the existing CRPF strength in the state, the Centre has provided over 250 companies (25,000 personnel) of paramilitary forces to the state government along the two routes  the traditional 46 km from Pahalgam in Anantnag district and the shorter 14 km Baltal track in Ganderbal district.

Rajnesh Ahlawat, CRPF Commandant, is security in-charge from Jawahar tunnel up to holy cave from Pahalgam route. He says the threat perception has been clearly understood and additional forces deployed. Anti-terror Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) Mountain Rescue Teams (MRTs) of the state police along with rescue teams of various security forces have been pressed into service along with firefighting teams at pre-determined points.

Pilgrims keep faith

Three college students  Savita, Ranjana and Anila  are from Ranchi. They dont see any reason to be scared about in Pahalgam. No, there is no fear among us. Such threats are not going to dampen our spirit. We have an unflinching faith in Lord Shiva. And security arrangements made by the authorities have given us enough confidence, said Savita, 24. These young girls are well aware of the volatile situation in the South Kashmir since July 8, 2016 since the killing of Hizbul Mujahidin militant Burhan Wani. For Reena, a devotee from Rajasthan, no one can change destiny. We are followers of Lord Shiva and believe in destiny so no one can terrorize us.

Yatra routes & lodging

Baltal is a shorter route, but is a steeper trek which passes via Domial, Barari and Sangam. The 14 km route allows people to take a round trip in a couple of days. This Yatra route is considered more favourable for the return journey from the shrine than on the way up as the steep slope is said to cause serious health problems for those who have not been acclimatized.

Longer but traditional route is generally preferred by most devotees. The length of the route is 48 km from Pahalgam. The route passes through Pahalagam-Chandanwari-Pissu Top-Sheshnag and Panchtarni before finally reaching the holy cave. Pahalgam is located on the banks of the Lidder. The yatra on foot begins from Chandanwari on this route.

Nearly 135 community kitchens (langars) are set up for the pilgrims from Lakhanpur, the gateway of J&K, to the last destination on both Baltal and Pahalgam routes of the yatra. These community kitchens are providing a big relief to the pilgrims. Without these langars, performing the pilgrimage is impossible. But unlike traditional langars, where simple food is the order of the day, these langars provide desserts. As devotees from across country reach here, organizers provide food of all regions and sub-regions, be in South Indian or Gujarati, Rajansthani or Bengali sweets.

One of the most interesting features of the yatra is that it offers a unique opportunity to labourers to earn some extra. Labourers, workers and the business community of the areas surrounding Pahalgam and Ganderbal anxiously await the pilgrims. Hoteliers, big and small shopkeepers, Pitthu and Palkiwallas add to their income during the yatra.
Ajay Banerjee in New Delhi

For almost a century beginning 1815, imperial Britain ruling India and czarist Russia expanded their empires. Historians say this was the time when Great Game treaties were inked to create buffers zones. Tibet was one such buffer, along with Afghanistan, Kashmir and Xinjiang. Ironically, all remain trouble spots.

The stand-off at Doklam, the trijunction of India-Bhutan-China is the outcome of one such legacy involving Britain-Tibet-China-Bhutan (1890 and 1914). In 1890, Britain-China demarcated the 220-km boundary between Sikkim and Tibet. In 1910, Bhutan became a British protectorate and the India-China boundary drawn by Henry McMahon in 1914 included the northern and western limits of Bhutan. For the 89 sq km on Doklam plateau, Thimpu contends that Britain and China did not consult it when signing the 1890 treaty or the one in 1906 to give away the Chumbi valley  the wedge between Sikkim and Bhutan  to Tibet.

The Indian position

At the core of the India-China row is a 3,488 km un-demarcated frontier which India shared with Tibet, until China invaded it in 1950. The de facto border is known as Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Militarily, Chinas control over the Doklam plateau can make its Army reach the Jampheri ridge, to get an unrestricted view of the Siliguri Corridor  the narrow strip that links the mainland with Indias North-East.

Article VI of the 1890 Sikkim-Tibet boundary treaty says Mount Gipmochi (at 14,300-ft) shall be the point where Tibet and Sikkim territories converge. After the 1906 treaty of Tibet getting the Chumbi valley, China assumes Mount Gipmochi as the trijunction. India considers Batang La to be the tri-junction, around 6.5 km north. Bhutan and China have failed to sort it out despite 24 negotiations since 1984.

China is indulging in brinkmanship and is just testing the waters to see how ready we are to stand by Bhutan. Its the same they did in 2007 at the same spot, says Maj Gen BK Sharma (retd) who heads the Centre for Strategic Studies at the United Services Institution, a Ministry of Defence-backed think-tank in Delhi.

Beijing knows that it cannot move troops as India dominates the heights from three sides of Doklam, says Maj Gen Sharma.

The chessboard

Experts say the two Asian giants, both nuclear armed and leading economies, need to break away from a dispute stemming from British policies. The India-China boundary, including the 220 km settled border in Sikkim, is an outcome of fluctuations of the British forward policy.

PM Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping have met 11 times in three years (including at Hamburg on July 7), indicating that New Delhi and Beijing are talking. In 2014 Modi suggested LAC demarcation, but China was seen less enthusiastic.

Maj Gen BK Sharma (retd) says: As of now, the time is not right to suggest LAC demarcation. China is not interested till it resolves the Tibetan issue.

As a result 14 core disputes remain along the LAC as perception of location on ground varies. India and China fought a war in 1962. The two had an armed skirmish in 1967 at Nathu La and an eight-month stand-off at Sumdrong Chu in north-western Arunachal Pradesh in 1986.

Chinas & five fingers

Chinas undeclared policy was made public in the early 1950s. Mao Zedong, the first chairman-cum-President of China, declared Tibet to be the palm of China. Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and North East Frontier Agency (NEFA, modern Indian province of Arunachal Pradesh) are its five fingers, said Mao, asserting that it is Chinas responsibility to liberate them all.

Beijing is seen to be following the ancient Chinese scholar, Sun Zi, written as Sun Tsu in the West. The scholar in his book The Art of War talks about the philosophy of winning without fighting.

So, China in 1960 bizarrely expanded its claim on another 5,100 sq km of territory in eastern Ladakh. To put it in perspective: the state of Goa is 3,702 square km. In March this year, it made another bizarre suggestion asking India to cede its own territory in Tawang tract in Arunachal and eastern Ladakh.

The Chinese have made inroads in Nepal with sops and freebies. They have been arguing with Bhutan over small territory and have kept India under pressure. A white paper released by the Chinese Ministry of Defence in 2015 outlines a strategic guideline for active defense and building of Chinese armed forces. This includes rapid mobility.

Managing peace along line of actual control

Since 1993: The time, incidentally, coincides with the economic rise of India and China. The two countries have had a few key treaties to ensure peace along the LAC. A series of agreements dictating the conduct of soldiers and also a committee with members from both sides sort matters out. Here is what happens at the LAC:

Banner drill: Soldiers from both sides when facing each other unfurl a banner at each other. This is accordance with an agreement inked in 2005. The troops are supposed to back off from the current patrol positions. Annually some 400 such banner drills take place.

Keeping peace: The Border Defence Cooperation Agreement inked in 2013 says both sides have to inform each other about military drills and overflying aircraft. The two sides shall not follow or tail patrols of the other side in areas where there is no common understanding of the LAC.

Five meeting points: The two countries have five meeting points along the boundary where military commanders meet. These are at DBO and Spanngur gap in eastern Ladakh; Nathu La in Sikkim, Bumla and Kibithoo in western part of Arunachal Pradesh and eastern part of Arunachal Pradesh.

High-level group: In January 2012, the two sides established a Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination. This has representatives of the Ministry of External Affairs and also the Ministry of Defence of either side.

Def Min-level: The Indian defence secretary and his counterpart hold annual talks. The Defence Ministers meet regularly. The two armies have been engaged in joint military exercises. The Navies too have been cooperating in anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden.

 By Ajay Banerjee

Tryst with trijunctions
Hamburg, July 8

The US was today isolated at the G20 Summit after India and 18 other members of the grouping termed the Paris climate deal as irreversible and threw their weight behind the landmark agreement from which Washington has decided to pull out.

The two-day G20 summit saw the Indian side making significant contributions on the resolve to counter terrorism and boost global trade and investment.

The summit, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with top world leaders including host German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump, however, came under the shadow of unprecedented violent protests in this German port city where thousands of anti-capitalism protesters clashed with police.

Unfortunately, the US stand remains against the Paris pact but all other members have shown strong support on climate change, Merkel said.

She said the communique clearly mentioned the US dissent and the position of all other members. Obviously it could not be a fully common position, Merkel said. All G20 members except the US agree that the Paris agreement is irreversible, she said.

While taking note of the US decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the G20 communique said, The Leaders of the other G20 members agree that the Paris Agreement is irreversible.

In the G20 communique, the leaders also said they remain committed to fighting corruption, including through international cooperation and technical assistance.

As an important tool in our fight against corruption, tax evasion, terrorist financing and money laundering, we will advance the effective implementation of the international standards on transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and legal arrangements, including the availability of information in the domestic and cross-border context, the communique said. The leaders also called for completion of the IMF quota reforms and a new quota formula by 2019.

They acknowledged that the malicious use of information and communications technologies can endanger financial stability. The leaders said that the digitalisation offered an opportunity for creating new jobs but there was a need to impart necessary skills for the future of work.

They also called for the removal of market distorting subsidies and sought global cooperation to tackle excess capacity in industrial sectors.

The leaders recognised the role of legitimate trade defence instruments and vowed to promote favourable environment for trade and investment.

They also committed to keep markets open and focus on reciprocity, non-discrimination, fight protectionism and unfair trade practices.

The focus of the Summit, however, remained the issue of climate change as the US was isolated with the other 19 member states strongly backing the Paris accord. The objective of the Paris Agreement is to prevent an increase in global average temperature and keep it well below 2C.

The grouping agreed to meet next in Argentina in 2018, followed by Japan in 2019 and in Saudi Arabia in 2020.  PTI

Macron to host climate summit in Paris on Dec 12

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday Paris will host a summit on December 12 to make further progress on the 2015 Paris climate agreement and to address its financing issues. On Dec. 12, two years after the Paris (climate) agreement, I will therefore convene a summit to take further action on climate, notably on the financial front, Macron told journalists.

Leaders vow to fight protectionism

The G20 leaders on Saturday vowed to fight protectionism, including all unfair trade practices, and promote greater inclusiveness in global economic growth. Emphasising the importance of transparency for predictable and mutually beneficial trade relations, the leaders said they would strive to ensure a level playing field. The communique said the nations would continue to fight protectionism, including all unfair trade practices and recognise the role of legitimate trade defence instruments in this regard. The assertion also comes against the backdrop of rising concerns over alleged protectionist measures in some countries, including plans to restrict entry of skilled overseas workers
Hamburg, July 8

For a moment at the G20 summit today the United States was represented by another Trump, when the presidents daughter Ivanka took a seat at the table of world leaders.

The 35-year-old former fashion model sat around the table with Xi Jinping, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Angela Merkel and Theresa May, diplomats and the White House confirmed.

The incident fuelled long-standing allegations of nepotism against the US leader, who has put family members in top White House positions.

A White House official told AFP that Ivanka had been at the back of the room but briefly joined the main table when the President had to step out.

That occurred when the president of the World Bank started talking as the topic involved areas such as African developmentareas that will benefit from the facility just announced by the World Bank.

The official emphasised that when other leaders stepped out, their seats were also briefly filled by others. But Trumps already vociferous detractors were enraged.

Historian Anne Applebaum took to Twitter to denounce what she described an unelected, unqualified, unprepared New York socialite being seen as the best person to represent American national interests. Earlier in the day Trump waxed lyrical about his daughter before a bevy of world leaders, gathered to boost a fund to encourage female entrepreneurs.

Im very proud of my daughter, Ivanka  always have been, from day one  I had to tell you that, from day one. Shes always been great, he said. A champion. Shes a champion.  AFP
Islamabad, July 8

Pakistans oil and gas regulator on Friday ordered a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell to pay about 257 million rupees ($2.4 million) in damages and compensation for a tanker explosion that killed more than 200 people.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has held Shell Pakistan Ltd (SPL) responsible for the blast in Punjab province on June 25 after the tanker carrying gasoline for the company rolled over, and villagers rushed to collect leaking fuel.

The road accident was caused by non-professional driving/vehicle being lesser than required specs, the authority said in a report seen by Reuters.

The report shows that they have completely ignored the safety standards of the vehicles procured from the contractors, OGRA spokesman Imran Ghaznavi told Reuters, referring to Shell Pakistan.

Shell Pakistan said in an email the company was reviewing the report, adding we respect the role of the regulator and will consider the report as we cooperate with investigations by authorities and as we conduct our own investigation.

Shell Pakistan has said the tanker was owned by a contractor it hired to transport its fuel.

At least 217 people were killed in the explosion and 61 were injured, according to Amir Mehmood, spokesman for Victoria Hospital in nearby Bahawalpur city.

The energy regulator ordered Shell Pakistan to pay a penalty of 10 million rupees ($95,000).

In addition, the regulator ordered the company to pay one million rupees ($9,400) in compensation to the families of each of those killed and half a million ($4,700) for each person injured.

The regulator also ordered the company to upgrade its infrastructure in line with its standards.

The company has the right to appeal against the fine and compensation demand, he said.

The regulator also criticised police and highway authorities for failing to cordon off the accident site.

A separate government inquiry into police conduct was being carried out, said Punjab provincial government spokesman Malik Muhammed Ahmed Khan.

The chairwoman of the OGRA, Uzma Adil Khan, said many fuel companies were not meeting safety requirements introduced in 2009, and the regulatory body had been slow to enforce them.

This incident is certainly a wake-up call for all of us, she said.

The vice chairman of the Pakistans oil tankers association, Zaman Khan, said the accident last month was an anomaly.

Tankers meet international standards, he said. Reuters
As piston-churning aircraft soared overhead, Jack Randal stood below, ramping up exposure for his planned transformation of an old east Tulsa landing strip.

He held a news conference Friday to detail his proposed purchase and $10 million expansion of Harvey Young Airport.

Im extremely confident that we can pull this off, Randal said before a gaggle of reporters began to gather in the dewy morning grass. Were not new to this. (Developer-broker) Nick (Lombardi) is not new to property development. Im not new to airfield reconstruction.

 We have a lot of people throughout the industry that are extremely excited about this, and everybody wants to get in and put hands on the wagon and push it forward.

The 76-year-old Harvey Young Airport, 1500 S. 135th East Ave., reportedly is being bought by Randals DMA Inc., which plans to raze it and rename it Douglas Memorial Airfield after the old Douglas aircraft plant in Tulsa that made World War II planes. Randal said he is scheduled to close on the purchase of the main property Aviation Management Group LLC at the end of the month, he said.

The outpouring of support that weve gotten from the aviation community has been astounding, Lombardi said. Im not an aviation guy. I have no involvement with anything, and Ive been welcomed with open arms, high fives.

There are dozens, if not hundreds of people, who want this to happen. You dont start off flying jets. You dont start learning to drive by going to the Indy 500. This is how you keep people in aviation. This is how you keep Tulsa an aviation hub.

Randals project is said to include a new FBO (fixed-based operator), four hangars, security walls and gates and a new entrance from 21st Street, he said. The FBO, which will be able to hold 150 guest for special events, will be fashioned after the 1940 Air Terminal Museum, which is housed in the original art deco Houston Municipal Airport building at present-day William P. Hobby Airport in Houston. Long-term plans include a hotel, restaurant and facilities for the restoration and maintenance of vintage aircraft.

Randal was asked about preliminary plans to lengthen the runway from about 2,600 to 4,500 feet, an expansion that would affect property owners.

There are conversations in place, he said. Some people are probably going to be happier than othersThere are overlying easements that are in place that can allow for expansion. The other part, if we are going to wind up encroaching, we will be having those conversations with them. We had to secure this property first to be able to be able to go forward with that.

Joel Howard, vice president of the Experimental Aircraft Association chapter in Owasso, flew into Fridays event in his 1947 Funk.

This aircraft has a lot of Tulsa history, he said. There are two of them in the Tulsa area and both of them stay in my hangar.

With me being 30, Im very excited for it. This is my future. You wont see anybody else younger out here than me. Its a way for me to make future friends whenever my other friends get tired and cant stay on the ground anymore. Its a big deal for me.

With hangar space at a premium and Tulsa a stopover for many cross-country, transient flights, Randal believes his project is ripe with potential.

For small guys, its harder to find places to go. What were interested in is this type of aviation  stick and rudder, seat-of-the-pants, cables-and-pulleys-type of aviation, which is why we buy such old aircraft. You can still smell the glue drying on the wings and whatnot when you get up in the morning.
After being escorted out of the hospital, the man got into his vehicle and rammed into a security vehicle. He then sped toward the security officers, attempting to hit them, and the officers "fired one shot each at the vehicle in self-defense," Saint Francis said in a press statement.
On any given day this summer, about 4,000 Boy Scouts can be found hiking in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico during their stay at the largest youth camp on earth.

Philmont Scout Ranch is 140,000 acres (about 220 square miles) of mountain wilderness, and it all came from Tulsa oilman Waite Phillips.

We tell the story of Waite Phillips and Philmont to every person that comes here, said Mark Anderson, Philmont Scout Ranch program director. It is a story that every kid on a trek hears at a campfire before they go out on the trails. It is a story told through exhibits at Villa Philmonte. It is our story, and were very proud of it.

The donation of Philmont was such a huge gift that Tulsan Bob LaFortune, who has served on the Philmont Ranch Committee for four decades, simply said, It is now worth billions.

To put it in perspective, that would put Phillips in the same league with modern-day philanthropists such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.

It has been said that Waite Phillips made and gave away three fortunes, said LaFortune. He was a big believer that the best things in life are the things you give away.

Waite was not a very outgoing person. He was not a very open person. So not many people really knew him, but he was incredibly generous. He gave away his home (Philbrook) and his ranch (Philmont) and several fortunes of money.

Philbrook and Philmont have grown into major institutions: one for the arts and the other for adventure.

It is hard to envision you could even build a Philmont these days, said LaFortune. The logistics and climate would make it very difficult.

Nearly 22,000 Boy Scouts will hike through the mountain wilderness this summer, just like theyve done at Philmont for nearly 80 years. Reserved slots for the treks are sold out two years in advance.

Philmont is the greatest youth camp in the world, said LaFortune. Nothing even comes close.

Indian Nations Council Scout Executive/CEO Bill Haines said: It may be the greatest adventure in the world for youth. It is simply a great trip, something to remember for a lifetime.

Philmont is about as close to heaven as it gets in the world of Boy Scouts. Every day during the summer, 400 Scouts arrive at base camp at the same time 400 others are leaving. In groups of 10 to 15, they go through an orientation and have a ranger assigned to them for a few days to make sure they are of sufficient skills and physical preparedness for what is not a leisurely walk in the park.

Philmont, originally called Philturn Rockymountain Scoutcamp, is rugged mountain terrain ranging in elevation from 6,500 feet to 12,441 feet (Baldy Mountain). The Tooth of Time (9,003 feet) is a 500-foot granite monolith that looms over base camp and is the camps most recognizable landmark.

Hiking and camping have not gone out of style for kids today, said Anderson, a native of Fayetteville, Arkansas, who has been at Philmont for 19 years. Part of that is the legacy. They are going to meet so many people that have done Philmont. They will be tripping over the same stone that many others before them have tripped over.

It is a totally unique environment. It is a shared experience. It is the same kind of adventure it has been for Boy Scouts over the last 80 years.

Many former Philmont campers continue to hold onto their Arrowhead Badge, given to those who complete the trek, for decades.

It is an experience that no one forgets, said Haines. Thats why it is such a legacy thing for us. Fathers want their sons to experience what they did in those mountains.

It is such a challenge. Every day on the trail is a new adventure. It literally changes people.

Phillips, who allowed Boy Scout troops to hike through his ranch in the 1930s, decided to donate 35,000 acres to the Boy Scouts in 1938.

He wanted to make sure the Boy Scouts used the land properly, that it would remain a place for high adventure and character building, said LaFortune. Once he saw what was happening and how the Boy Scouts were treating the land, he continued to gift more land and facilities.

Within three years, his gift grew to 130,000 acres, including Villa Philmonte, the mansion on the ranch that now houses a museum and a leadership center. Villa Philmonte was the 28,400-square-foot summer home of the Phillips family. The ranch originally covered nearly 300,000 acres.

The Boy Scouts also were given Philtower in downtown Tulsa, which the organization sold in 1977 to fund a Philmont endowment.

It continues to fund so much of what were doing out here, Anderson said.

There may be Boy Scout camps all across the nation, Haines said, but there can be no mistaking  Philmont is the flagship. It has become a generational thing. It is a legacy camp.

Grandfathers and fathers have passed it down to their children and grandchildren. It is an experience of a lifetime. It is where young boys become young men.

Philmont recently celebrated its 1 millionth trekker, and it isnt slowing down. If anything, it is bigger, better and growing with each summer.

In recent years, Philmont has reached agreements with adjoining landowners such as billionaire media mogul Ted Turner and Oklahoma City businessman Bob Funk to lease additional land for hiking. More than 200,000 acres are now available for various activities at Philmont.

In addition, Philmont has expanded to leadership and family-type adventures, which draw about 5,000 people a year to the training center for seminars, workshops and camps.

What began as a place to hike and fish has evolved into so much more.

I think Waite would be amazed, said LaFortune. It has just developed into so much more over the years. It still follows the general outline for what it was intended. It is still very much wilderness.  It is about following all of the traditions of camping in the mountains. It is still about hiking, camping, fishing, cooking, climbing and watching out for bears. It is still a mountain adventure.

Philmont is big business for the Boy Scouts of America.

It takes a permanent staff of about 22 to run the ranch. Plus, every summer about 1,100 temporary staffers come to Philmont to be rangers, cooks, trading post staffers, historians, camp supervisors and teachers.

Historical spots all over Philmont serve as reminders of the man who made it all possible. Fish Camp, the favorite fishing spot for Phillips, is a popular overnight camp for most treks. Another camp, Hunting Lodge, has been preserved complete with wood-burning stoves, oil lamps and period furniture.

Philmont is just a marvelous place, said LaFortune. It is a special place. This was a great gift from Waite Phillips to the world.
Surrounded by attorneys, family members and supporters, former Tulsa Police Officer Shannon Kepler walked out of the Tulsa County Courthouse on Friday evening after a third mistrial in his murder case. The jury had announced that it was deadlocked 6-6.

The six-man, six-woman jury deliberated for only about 2 hours and asked at least three questions before notifying District Judge Sharon Holmes that it could not reach a unanimous decision on either a first-degree murder charge or a lesser offense of first-degree manslaughter.

Kepler, 57, remains charged but free on bond in the Aug. 5, 2014, shooting death of 19-year-old Jeremey Lake, who had just begun dating Keplers daughter, Lisa Kepler.

Trial proceedings began June 27, with both sides resting their cases Thursday. Kepler took the stand in his own defense that evening and told the jury he fatally shot Lake in self-defense in the 200 block of North Maybelle Avenue because he saw the teen carrying a gun.

However, multiple witnesses and officers involved in the investigation testified that they did not see a gun on or near Lakes body, nor was one recovered from the shooting scene.

Lakes father and another family member werent able to arrive in Holmes courtroom in time to hear news of the mistrial. Journalists were not allowed entrance to the courtroom either for information about the deadlock or for observations about what Holmes wrote back to jurors when they submitted questions to her.

Keplers attorneys and family members could be heard cheering loudly in an elevator as they left the courthouse.

Lead defense attorney Richard OCarroll said the split decision after the jurors expressed their desire for more evidence is proof that the state should reconsider its decision to prosecute his client.

Earlier Friday, Holmes had said jurors could consider first-degree manslaughter in the heat of passion as an option to murder, citing evidence that could show that Kepler shot Lake in the heat of passion because he said he was afraid.

Were going to re-evaluate this case. I still am strongly convinced that Mr. Kepler is responsible for the death of Jeremey Lake, and Im going to evaluate every option thats available to me, District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler told reporters Friday night.

He said it wasnt clear whether the 6-6 jury split was between a conviction and an acquittal for both offenses or whether six jurors determined that Kepler was guilty of murder and the others believed he committed manslaughter.

Kunzweiler said a situation such as this has never happened to his knowledge in his more than 25 years as an attorney, and he expressed frustration at his belief that the jurors did not fully consider the facts before them. He said he has never before seen the judge read a deadlocked-jury instruction to the group and ask them if it changed any of their minds without sending the jury back to deliberate more.

We asked this jury to listen to the evidence and to deliberate and do their job, and I think that takes a little bit of effort, Kunzweiler said. They may have their reasons for why they felt like 2 hours was enough time, but for a trial that lasted (two) weeks, my hope would be that I would have a jury that would go through every piece of evidence. And Im not quite convinced that they examined everything.

OCarroll said he believes that the jurors were conscientious and honest about what they knew about the case from outside sources before being selected to join the panel. He said he will continue to defend Kepler if prosecutors opt to try his client a fourth time.

Kepler faced earlier trials in November and February, but District Judge Sharon Holmes declared mistrials on the murder count due to hung juries. Those juries were not given the option of considering first-degree manslaughter as a lesser-included charge.

Kunzweiler said a hung jury is not justice for Lake or for Kepler because there is no verdict, and he took exception to what he said was the defense hooting and hollering after leaving the courtroom.

I want a jury to do their job and deliver a verdict, thumbs-up or thumbs-down, he said.

During closing arguments, Kunzweiler cautioned the jurors against allowing themselves to be led astray by speculation about Lakes past or insinuations about the testimony offered by Kepler  who was a major prosecution witness  and Lakes brother, Michael Hamilton, who saw the shooting occur.

He didnt shoot him by accident, Kunzweiler said of Shannon Kepler. That guy mowed him down. Mowed him down. Murdered him.

Kunzweiler and Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray emphasized evidence that they said showed Shannon Kepler left the scene of the shooting without either notifying a superior officer that he had shot someone off-duty, calling 911 or checking on Lisa Kepler, who had been staying with Lake after the Kepler family kicked her out of their house the week before.

OCarroll said the circumstances of the case dont make sense in supporting either a conviction for murder or manslaughter. He also suggested multiple times to jurors that they should not ignore their values or change their decisions simply because other jurors have made a decision, and said the inclusion of first-degree manslaughter is indicative of the cases weakness.

The state wants you to compromise your conscience. They have no confidence in you, OCarroll said of the case, which he said was about a father trying to get his daughter.

Shannon Kepler testified Thursday about his belief his daughter was in danger with Lake, which was based on information he learned about Lake from a search of an internal Tulsa police database. But Gray said the move was a violation of department policy, telling jurors the database is not a personal playground for a police officer to look up private citizens.

He additionally questioned Keplers behavior after he shot Lake, as Keplers own testimony indicated he did not try to figure out Lisa Keplers whereabouts before driving off.

(Fathers) prioritize their little girls. They dont prioritize their own skin, Gray said. Of Keplers assertions that Lake had a gun that somehow was taken from the scene, the prosecutor asked, How many people do you have to have take the stand to say (there was) no gun?

OCarroll said it was unfair of the state to cast doubt on his client when he opted not to turn himself in to police until he obtained legal counsel. Kunzweiler and Gray argued Keplers choice to leave the shooting scene without telling anyone but his wife constituted a move to avoid arrest.
Reports seem to claim that Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 could be the first handset to be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 836 chipset. Although the flagship mobile device will most likely rolled out in mid-August, Galaxy Note 8's range of cases has been revealed, with images showing the flagship phone in full view.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 836 will come along with a 2.5GHz octa-core processor as well as a 740MHz GPU. Samsung's upcoming handset will mark the mobile device's debut with Qualcomm's processor, which is said to be the most powerful one.

Tech fans and experts are eagerly awaiting the launch of Samsung's all-new Note 8 phablet, and now, they might have the ultimate view of this highly anticipated flagship device. Tech website Mobile Fun has just revealed Galaxy Note 8's range of cases, with images showing the full view of the device. Although the legitimacy of the images has not been confirmed, but the pictures do match many of the current reports about the upcoming handset, Express reported.

As the South Korean tech company has yet to unveil the Galaxy Note 8, tech experts are anticipating that the company is taking its time to launch the device, ensuring that there is no hitch or faults. But, the upcoming Samsung device is expected to come along with a 6.4-inch dual edge curved display and a 13MP dual lens camera setup.

The Galaxy Note 8 runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box, and it is expected to have a $900 price tag. Tech fans are expecting the device to feature a 3,300mAh battery, S Pen stylus and its design will be rather similar to the Galaxy S8.

The tech company is reportedly geared up to offer significantly more internal storage options for tech fans. The Galaxy Note 8 will be released in two major models, a 64GB and 128GB internal storage options, Value Walk reported.

Watch The Video Here:
(WNDU) Police in LaPorte County are investigating after a group of teenagers ate drug-infused gummy bears.

Police were called out to the 5200 block of County Road 325 West.

When they arrived they found a 19-year-old male along the road.

He told a sheriffs deputy that he ingested an unknown drug and was sick and wanted to go to the emergency room.

He told police he was in the area with friends who had also ingested the drugs.

Police were able to locate a home in the area where they believe the incident occurred. Inside the home, police found ten other teenagers who had also taken the drugs.

They complained of rapid heart rate, pain in the legs and blurred vision. Several were also suffering from hallucinations.

Police determined that the teens had each ingested one half of a gummy bear that supposedly contained THC.

THC is the street term for tetrahydrocannabinol, which is an active ingredient found in marijuana.

Eleven 18- and 19-year-olds were taken to local hospitals. Police say six of the teens are male, and five are female.

Police are still trying to determine where the gummy bears came from.

Investigators are working to determine whether multiple drugs were present in the gummy bears.

-----

From the La Porte County Sheriffs Office:

The La Porte County Sheriffs Office is investigating an incident that occurred just prior to midnight on Thursday July 7, 2017 involving several teens and narcotics. Sheriffs deputies were dispatched to the 5200 N block of CR 325 W regarding a person that had called 911 and was requesting medical assistance. Deputy Justin Phillips was the first to arrive and found a 19-year-old male along the road. The male told Deputy Phillips that he had ingested an unknown type drug and was ill and wanted to go to the emergency room. He further related that he was in the area camping with friends and that they too had ingested the drug however because he was not from the area wasnt sure where his friends were although he believed that they were in a home nearby.

As other sheriffs deputies arrived to assist they were able to locate a home in the 5200 N block of CR 325 W where this is believed to have occurred. In the residence they found ten other teenagers all of whom had ingested an unknown narcotic that was making them ill. All complained of rapid heart rate, pain in their legs and blurred vision; several were suffering from hallucinations. Deputy Phillips was able to determine that the teens had each ingested one half of a gummy bear that supposedly contained THC. THC is the street term for tetrahydrocannabinol which is an active ingredient found in marijuana.

La Porte County Emergency Medical Service was called to the scene and responded with three ambulances and transported 11 patients to two area hospitals. Four were taken to Franciscan St. Anthonys in Michigan City and seven were transported to La Porte Hospital. All of the teens were from Fishers, Indiana and believed to have been staying at a residence of a relative of one of the teens. Nine of the teens are 18-years-old and two were 19-years-old; six were males and five were females. Two of the patients were tested and were found to have high levels of THC in their system.

The origin of the narcotic infused gummy bears is not known however La Porte County Drug Task Force investigators have been notified and are actively pursuing leads in the case. The matter will be reviewed by the La Porte County Prosecutors Office to determine if any criminal charges will apply.


EnduroCross, the toughest and most extreme indoor off-road race in the world, returns to Orleans Arena on Saturday, Aug. 19. The nations top motorcycle racers will compete on a custom track filled with obstacles, including rocks, boulders, logs, sand, mud, giant tires and a water crossing (Pictured: World Champion Colton Haaker).

This year, riders must endure the challenges of the new No Joke Lane to be eligible to win the race. Also new this year is expert riders will hold free riding lessons for kids ages 9-11 on a special riding pit zone on Saturday, Aug. 19 from 10 a.m.  3 p.mm. Kids who participate in the free riding experience will also receive a free childs ticket to the evening race.

The thrilling, high-energy race will feature top riders, including World Champion Colton Haaker, two-time Series Champion Cody Webb, 2014 EnduroCross Champion Lexi Pechout, X Games Medalist Chantelle Bykerk and X Games Medalist Tarah Gieger.
From afar, the mountain resembles a citadel wall made up of rocks of diverse sizes and patterns. At the very top of the mountain a light house and a national flag stand tall.

Thoi Loi is the first stop on any tour of Ly Son. The road to the summit is winding and zigzagged, so electric car is the most popular method to get to there. Some visitors, however, take motorbikes, so they can pause on the way to take beautiful images.

Around the mountain are many scenic spots including Cave Pagoda, the National Flag Pole, the Light House, and a fresh water lake. After passing through the tough path to get to the top of the mountain, visitors will be overwhelmed by the spectacular view of sea, mountain, and sky.

The National Flag Pole is 20 meters high and looks out to Hoang Sa (Paracel) island. The ordinate of Ly Son is written on the main side of the pole and the stand is painted red to match the color of the flag as a symbol of Vietnams maritime sovereignty.

Nguyen Quoc Phong, a visitor from Phu Yen province said I have always dreamed of visiting Ly Son island, the front island of the nation. Moreover, it is a beautiful tourist place.

Traces of volcanic eruption still remain on Thoi Loi mountain, at Cave pagoda, Cau Cave, and particularly the fresh water lake. Part of the lake was created by the building of a huge dam in 2012. The lake is the major water supplier for farms on the mountain. Beneath Thoi Loi are garlic fields comparable to colorful chessboards.

Tran Dinh Truoc, a local tour guide said I was born and grown up in Ly Son island. Visitors to the island enjoy the beautiful landscape of the mountain and the sea and will feel even more proud of the homeland.

Standing on the highest tower of Thoi Loi light house, visitors can experience a panoramic view of Ly Son island, the villages and garlic fields, and the vast sea.
Greenpeace activists protest on a boat with a giant figure featuring US President Donald Trump in Hamburg, northern Germany where leaders of the world's top economies gather for a G20 summit. (Photo: AFP/Boris Roessler)

The draft underlines that the 2015 Paris climate accord is "irreversible" and affirms that other G20 nations are committed to the deal while taking note of Washington's decision to quit the agreement.

Ahead of the summit, a key concern among Western allies was whether they would be able to convince G20 members to stand firm on the Paris agreement on combating global warming.

If the draft is confirmed in the final statement due to be published Saturday afternoon, it would reflect the 19-versus-the-US split over the issue.

British Prime Minister Theresa May meanwhile said world leaders will redouble efforts to persuade Trump to rejoin the Paris deal.

"I believe the collective message that will be given to President Trump around this table will be the importance of America coming back into that agreement, and I hope we will be able to work to ensure that can happen," she told the BBC.
China produces around half the world's steel supply. (Photo: AFP/STR)

"We are already hearing that some parties are considering introducing protective measures against steel imports in the near future. If this does happen, the European Union will know how to respond appropriately," European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said before talks began on Friday.

US President Donald Trump has vowed to slap tariffs on steel imports to protect American industry, and Washington could start levying the charges as soon as Jul 13.

Customs duties on certain steel pipes alone would affect imports to the US worth US$152.6 million last year.

Germany (US$38.8 million) and China (US$29.4 million) accounted for the biggest shares, followed by Switzerland, India, South Korea and Italy.

For its part, the EU has taken measures against some Chinese steel products, arguing that the government is providing unfair subsidies to manufacturers and distorting the market.

REVENGE ON THE ROCKS?

Washington's steel threats have raised hackles in Europe, pushing trade disputes to the top of the agenda as heads of government from leading industrialised and emerging countries gather for the Germany-hosted G20.

The event usually ends with a joint communique setting out how leaders will cooperate on issues including global free trade, but details of the wording remained under intense negotiation Friday.

"Europe can't be placed on the same level with unfair competition practices we don't engage in" like China's, the French president's office said, vowing a "very speedy" reaction if the US targets the Old Continent's exports.

EU leaders have quickly cobbled together a list of American products they could strike back at with sanctions, ranging from Kentucky bourbon to orange juice and dairy products, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

Commission chief Juncker would not confirm the details, but insisted that Brussels was on high alert and would take only "days" to react to US measures.

China, which produces around half the world's steel supply, has been less talkative on the subject in Hamburg.

But Beijing raged against the European sanctions last month, accusing Brussels of failing to understand its loan system.

"It is biased and unfair for Europe to blame China for its own industrial issues," said Wang Hejun, a senior official at the Chinese trade ministry.

GUESSING GAME

Whatever text the G20 can agree on will come under a magnifying glass, as the steel row is only the most acute of a long list of complaints about trade.

At last year's summit in Hangzhou, China, leaders agreed that "excess capacity in steel and other industries is a global issue which requires collective responses," setting up a mechanism for "increased information sharing and cooperation" to try and address the problem.

Nevertheless, "the Chinese haven't really shared all the information" others were hoping for, a source close to the negotiations told AFP recently.

"The signal we have been giving is that we are absolutely ready to work with the US" to target Chinese steel, a senior EU official told the Financial Times on Friday.

However, "it will be very hard politically to cooperate on those issues if we are not excluded" from the Americans' sanctions, they added.

US acceptance of language supporting free trade at a G7 summit in Taormina, Italy earlier this year stoked observers' hopes that agreement could be found.

But Trump has since returned to the protectionist "America First" rhetoric that carried him into the White House. He has especially targeted Germany, whose massive trade surplus he argues is "very bad for the United States".

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday called for a "multilateral" solution faced with a global steel glut. "Otherwise the likelihood of bilateral measures will simply be greater," she said.
More than 100 people gathered on July 7 to plant flamboyant trees alongside the roads of Qui Duc commune in Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City. The activity affirms KPMGs commitment to protect the environment and make a positive impact on society.

Lam Thi Ngoc Hao, deputy director of KPMG Vietnam, said that the company is one of the largest professional services firms in Vietnam.

"On our annual community day, KPMG employees will stop work to participate in a range of activities to give back to our communities and demonstrate one of our most important core valueswe are committed to our communities," she said.

Qui Duc is in the process of building a new countryside during 2016-2020. Therefore, environmental protection is important to the development of the commune.

By planting trees we not only create green spaces for the community, but also contribute to environmental conversation on sustainable development, Hao noted.

In addition to planting trees in Binh Chanh, KPMG staff also dedicate time and effort to build bridges, renovate libraries, and work with orphans and school children in seven cities and provinces across Vietnam.

The firm has joined forces with non-governmental organisations like SOS Childrens Villages, Christina Noble Childrens Foundation (CNCF), Sat Canh Cung Gia Dinh Viet programme (VOH), and Vietnam Clean and Green to make a difference in society and "inspire a brighter community."

As a company with over 1,000 staff in Vietnam and Cambodia, we are passionate about strengthening our relationship with local communities, explained Warrick Cleine, KPMG Vietnam CEO. This is our 5th Community Day in Vietnam. What you see when we spend the day volunteering is our teams commitment to the firms values and corporate social responsibility.

KPMG teams from three offices in Vietnam and Cambodia took part in KPMG Community Day 2017. Altogether 918 KPMG employees from the two countries contributed over 6,000 volunteer hours at 15 projects. On top of this, KPMG donated approximately $24,000 towards community day activities and their 12 local community partners in the two countries.

We were so pleased to receive KPMGs donation to renovating our school, and welcome the work of 50 staff who came to spend a day with us to do some of the repairs and painting of the school, as well as building a library today, said Le Thi Thanh Thuy, principal of Tan Hanh C Primary School.

Of the 918 staff in Vietnam and Cambodia, 140 new faces participated in KPMG Community Day. Today, as a proud new member of the team, I hope to inspire others to volunteer with a local community group and give back to society, said Nguyen Thi Tuyet Nhung, a new graduate who recently joined KPMGs Ho Chi Minh City office.
The Hoa Lac High-Tech Park investment promotion conference successfully reeled in two new Korean investors thanks to the new incentives

At the investment promotion conference on July 7 in Hanoi for Korean businesses in Hoa Lac High-tech Park (HHTP), two new projects from DT&C and CVI Cosmetic and Pharmaceutical Co., JSC were licensed, raising the park's total number of projects to 80, with the total pledged capital of VND61.3 trillion ($2.78 billion).

The park is expected to attract more projects in the coming time thanks to Decree 74 which was approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in late June 2017, offering special investment incentives for HHTP, Nguyen Trung Quynh, vice chairman of the HHTP Management Board, told VIR .

"The decree, which will take effect on August 5, 2017, will help us attract more private investment, thus reducing reliance on state funds," he added.

The new incentives are becoming a major selling point for Hoa Lac High-tech Park

Japan's Nidec is planning to invest around $500 million in energy-saving motor and actuator research and manufacturing at HHTP. If everything goes smoothly, the work will start in early 2018.

Another new investor is South Korean Hanwha Techwin, which will get an investment certificate in the coming days to invest $200 million in airplane spare parts and gas turbine components manufacturing to supply big clients, including Rolls Royce, GE, and Pratt & Whitney.

"This is our first project in HHTP. We selected the park as our operations focus on high-tech applications to increase our product quality. In addition, projects in HHTP are enjoying more tax and investment incentives," Phan Van Hieu, chairman of CVI Cosmetics & Pharmaceutical Co., JSC.

Under Decree 74, domestic and foreign investors who implement new projects worth at least VND4 trillion ($176 million) at HHTP will enjoy a corporate income tax of 10 per cent for 30 years.

Organisations and individuals will receive incentives on tax, land rental and land use fees if they develop housing projects for labourers working at the park, the decree stated.

Besides this, the Hanoi Peoples Committee will prioritise the allocation of sufficient land funds for housing projects for the parks workers, it added.

According to the parks management board, HHTP is estimated to attract around $700 million in the first half of 2017.

HHTP is located in the two districts of Thach That and Quoc Oai in suburban Hanoi, spanning a total area of 1,586 hectares. It is set to become a city of science, attracting investors in the fields of research and development, training and incubation, and manufacturing high-tech products in the fields of biotechnology, ICT, new materials, and automation.
US officials have announced charges against a former manager with Audi - a high-end brand in the Volkswagen group -- who directed employees to design software to cheat US emission tests. (Photo: AFP/SAUL LOEB)

Giovanni Pamio, 60, an Italian citizen, is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud, and violation of the Clean Air Act, the US Department of Justice said in a criminal complaint Thursday.

Volkswagen, the world's largest car maker, admitted in September 2015 to using so-called "defeat device" software to cheat regulatory nitrogen oxides emissions tests in some 11 million cars worldwide.

The devices allowed the cars to spew up to 40 times the permissible limits of nitrogen oxide during normal driving, but this was hidden during emissions testing.

Volkswagen faces an array of legal challenges in Germany and worldwide relating to the software installed mainly in own-brand vehicles but also in cars made by Audi, Skoda and Seat, among its stable of 12 brands.

Pamio, who formerly headed a division within Audi's diesel engine department in Germany, led a team of engineers responsible for designing emissions control systems for diesel vehicles in the United States between 2006 and late 2015.

According to the statement, "Pamio directed Audi employees to design and implement software functions to cheat the standard US emissions tests.

"Pamio and co-conspirators deliberately failed to disclose the software functions, and they knowingly misrepresented that the vehicles complied" with US emissions standards.

In total, Volkswagen has agreed to some $23 billion in payments in the US to compensate some 600,000 US car owners.

Volkswagen previously pleaded guilty to three felony counts connected to the cheating scandal, and in April was ordered to pay a $2.8 billion fine.

US authorities made their first indictment of a Volkswagen employee in the "dieselgate" scandal in September 2016. The accused US engineer pleaded guilty to avoid a lawsuit.

Six other company executives have since been implicated, one of which was arrested in January in Miami.
The Pentagon holds pretrial hearings in the death penalty case against five alleged Sept. 11 terror attack plotters at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.
President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit Friday in Hamburg, Germany. Trump and Putins meeting exceeded two hours.
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
We, the Leaders of the G20, strongly condemn all terrorist attacks worldwide and stand united and firm in the fight against terrorism and its financing. These atrocious acts have strengthened our resolve to cooperate to enhance our security and protect our citizens. Terrorism is a global scourge that must be fought and terrorist safe havens eliminated in every part of the world.

We reaffirm that all measures on countering terrorism need to be implemented in accordance with the UN Charter and all obligations under international law, including international human rights law.

Implementing international commitments and enhancing cooperation

We call for the implementation of existing international commitments on countering terrorism, including the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, and compliance with relevant resolutions and targeted sanctions by the UN Security Council relating to terrorism. We commit to continue to support UN efforts to prevent and counter terrorism.

We will address the evolving threat of returning foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) from conflict zones such as Iraq and Syria and remain committed to preventing FTFs from establishing a foothold in other countries and regions around the world. We recall UN Security Council Resolution 2178 (2014), which requires a range of actions to better tackle the foreign terrorist fighter threat.

We will facilitate swift and targeted exchanges of information between intelligence and law enforcement and judicial authorities on operational information-sharing, preventive measures and criminal justice response, while ensuring the necessary balance between security and data protection aspects, in accordance with national laws. We will ensure that terrorists are brought to justice.

We will work to improve the existing international information architecture in the areas of security, travel and migration, including INTERPOL, ensuring the necessary balance between security and data protection aspects. In particular, we encourage all members to make full use of relevant information sharing mechanisms, in particular INTERPOLs information sharing functions.

We call upon our border agencies to strengthen cooperation to detect travel for terrorist purposes, including by identifying priority transit and destination countries of terrorists. We will support capacity building efforts in these countries in areas such as border management, information sharing and watch-list capability to manage the threat upstream. We will promote greater use of customs security programs, including where appropriate, the World Customs Organizations (WCO) Security Programme and Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which focus on strengthening Customs administrations capacity to deal with security related issues and managing the cross-border flows of goods, people and means of transport to ensure they comply with the law.

We will address in close coordination the evolving threats and potential vulnerabilities in aviation security systems and exchange information on risk assessments. We recall the UN Security Councils Resolution 2309 (2016) which urges closer collaboration to ensure security of global air services and the prevention of terrorist attacks. We will promote full implementation of effective and proportionate aviation security measures established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in partnership with all its contracting states as necessary. We call to urgently address vulnerabilities in airport security related measures, such as access control and screening, covered by the Chicago Convention and will act jointly to ensure that international security standards are reviewed, updated, adapted and put in place based on current risks.

We highlight the importance of providing appropriate support to the victims of terrorist acts and will enhance our cooperation and exchange of best practices to this end.

Fighting terrorism finance

We underline our resolve to make the international financial system entirely hostile to terrorist financing and commit to deepening international cooperation and exchange of information, including working with the private sector, which has a critical role in global efforts to counter terrorism financing. We reaffirm our commitment to tackle all sources, techniques and channels of terrorist financing and our call for swift and effective implementation of UNSCR and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards worldwide. We call for strengthening measures against the financing of international terrorist organisations in particular ISIL/ISIS/Daesh, Al Qaida and their affiliates.

There should be no safe spaces for terrorist financing anywhere in the world. However, inconsistent and weak implementation of the UN and FATF standards allows them to persist. In order to eliminate all such safe spaces, we commit to intensify capacity building and technical assistance, especially in relation to terrorist financing hot-spots, and we support the FATF in its efforts to strengthen its traction capacity and the effectiveness of FATF and FATF-style regional bodies.

We welcome the reforms agreed by the FATF Plenary in June and support the ongoing work to strengthen the governance of the FATF. We also welcome the FATF intention to further explore its transformation into a legal person, which recognises that the FATF has evolved from a temporary forum to a sustained public and political commitment to tackle AML/CFT threats. We also appreciate FATF commencing the membership process for Indonesia that will broaden its geographic representation and global engagement. We ask the FATF to provide an update by the first G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in 2018. We call on all member states to ensure that the FATF has the necessary resources and support to effectively fulfil its mandate.

We welcome that countering terrorist finance remains the highest priority of FATF, and look forward to FATFs planned outreach to legal authorities, which will contribute to enhanced international cooperation and increased effectiveness in the application of FATFs standards.

We will advance the effective implementation of the international standards on transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and legal arrangements for the purposes of countering financing terrorism.

Low cost attacks by small cells and individuals funded by small amounts of money transferred through a wide range of payment means are an increasing challenge. We call on the private sector to continue to strengthen their efforts to identify and tackle terrorism financing. We ask our Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to work with FATF, FSB, the financial sector, Financial Intelligence Units, law enforcement and FinTech firms to develop new tools such as guidance and indicators, to harness new technologies to better track terrorist finance transactions, and to work together with law enforcement authorities to bridge the intelligence gap and improve the use of financial information in counter-terrorism investigations.

We call upon countries to address all alternative sources of financing of terrorism, including dismantling connections, where they exist, between terrorism and transnational organized crime, such as the diversion of weapons including weapons of mass destruction, looting and smuggling of antiquities, kidnapping for ransom, drugs and human trafficking.

Countering radicalization conducive to terrorism and the use of internet for terrorist purposes

Our counterterrorism actions must continue to be part of a comprehensive approach, including combatting radicalization and recruitment, hampering terrorist movements and countering terrorist propaganda. We will exchange best practices on preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism, national strategies and deradicalisation and disengagement programmes, and the promotion of strategic communications as well as robust and positive narratives to counter terrorist propaganda.

We stress that countering terrorism requires comprehensively addressing underlying conditions that terrorists exploit. It is therefore crucial to promote political and religious tolerance, economic development and social cohesion and inclusiveness, to resolve armed conflicts, and to facilitate reintegration. We acknowledge that regional and national action plans can contribute to countering radicalisation conducive to terrorism.

We will share knowledge on concrete measures to address threats from returning foreign terrorist fighters and home-grown radicalised individuals. We will also share best practices on deradicalisation and reintegration programmes including with respect to prisoners.

We will work with the private sector, in particular communication service providers and administrators of relevant applications, to fight exploitation of the internet and social media for terrorist purposes such as propaganda, funding and planning of terrorist acts, inciting terrorism, radicalizing and recruiting to commit acts of terrorism, while fully respecting human rights. Appropriate filtering, detecting and removing of content that incites terrorist acts is crucial in this respect. We encourage industry to continue investing in technology and human capital to aid in the detection as well as swift and permanent removal of terrorist content. In line with the expectations of our peoples we also encourage collaboration with industry to provide lawful and non-arbitrary access to available information where access is necessary for the protection of national security against terrorist threats. We affirm that the rule of law applies online as well as it does offline.

We also stress the important role of the media, civil society, religious groups, the business community and educational institutions in fostering an environment which is conducive to the prevention of radicalisation and terrorism.
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival

Sadly, you probably wont get to see John Cho just straight-up kicking the devils ass on the upcoming second season of The Exorcist, but John Cho battling the devil for a childs immortal soul is a great consolation prize. According to Deadline, the Columbus actor will join the second season of the spooky Fox drama as Andrew Kim, a former child psychologist who runs a group home for five at-risk foster children on a secluded private island off the coast of Seattle. You only have to read the words children, secluded, and Seattle to know that the devils come all the way from Georgia to plague one of the kids for his own foul and/or annoying purposes. The seriess Father Ortega and Father Keane, portrayed by Alfonso Herrera and Ben Daniels, respectively, must come to the aid of Kim and his charges. All of which is to say, we dont know for sure that John Cho wont kick the devil right in the ass, a hope you can cling to in your darkest hour, or at least until the show returns on Friday, September 29.
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella

Lorde has no desire to address petty internet rumors about whether or not she shaded her ride or die, Taylor Swift, but in the interest of protecting the friendship she will kindly shut down your speculation about it. In a recent interview with an Australian news outlet, Lorde was asked how she dealt with being surrounded by very famous new friends and having access to her musical inspirations after Pure Heroine made her part of the pop-royalty set. Her response was, The second you think too hard about it you just go insane, so its best to be like Were in Wonderland, and thats just what happens around here. Also, like, I dont hang out with these people at all. Naturally, to the internet, that was code for Lorde does not hang out with Taylor Swift because they are not real friends, an assertion that annoyed Lorde enough to elicit a response from her on Twitter that is a textbook guide for how to be gently salty with people online.

If you had any further questions for Lorde, stop typing. Your opinions are irrelevant. Its Lorde season, and Lorde has spoken. What actually happened was, after Lordes Wonderland remark, the interviewer exaggeratedly said, Hang on! Youre part of Taylors squad! All the magazines tell us, to which Lorde replied, You make friends in different places, but I think for the most part Im not like calling up my idols for advice, necessarily. So there you have it. The fires of non-drama have been extinguished, and in regards to Taylor, Lorde remains faithfully her person. Enjoy that walk, everyone.
Photo: Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images

The popular rap trio Migos was reportedly on the receiving end of some ill-treatment from Delta on Friday evening. Per Variety, the group was traveling from Atlanta, Georgia, to Des Moines, Iowa, for a concert, and all three of them fell asleep in their first-class seats before the plane took off. One of the groups members, Takeoff, was reportedly asked to stow his large carry-on bag in an overhead bin by a flight attendant, but since he was asleep, he didnt hear the request. When the plane made it to the runway, the bag was still on the ground with Takeoff snoozing, and thus the pilot decided to abort takeoff and take the plane back to the gate. Its then that Delta removed Takeoff from the flight, with fellow members Quavo and Offset, and their manager, following in solidarity. Delta later rebooked them for a later flight, and they eventually made it to their concert on time.

Now the groups manager and the airline are disputing what exactly occurred on the plane. Delta flight 1532 from Atlanta to Des Moines returned to the gate, prior to departure, to deplane several customers seated in the First Class cabin who repeatedly refused to follow crew member instructions to buckle their seatbelts and stow carry-on items in the overhead bins, Delta said in a statement to Variety. The groups manager, meanwhile, has told TMZ that this was a clear case of racial profiling and provided a video of a conversation between the group and Delta employees after they were kicked off the plane.

Per Migos Instagram, Delta ended up giving the group a whole plane to take to Des Moines.
Photo: @SharknadoSyFy/Twitter

Unlike Discovers Shark Week, SyFys Sharknado Week isnt overly interested in providing actual scientific information, like whether or not Michael Phelps can actually swim faster than a shark. Instead, the network has wisely doubled down on its original Sharknado franchise, and then doubled down again, doubling down faster and faster until the sheer force of it doubling-down creates a sharknado in and of itself. EW posted the full six-movie schedule of environmentally dubious films, which you can see below. SyFy is kicking off the festivities with the fairly self-explanatory film 5-Headed Shark Attack on Sunday, July 30, and ending with the exquisitely named Sharknado 5: Global Swarming on August 6. All six films premiere at 8 p.m. EST. Only two of them feature Tara Reid, but were betting the network can get those numbers up by next year. Heck, if Sharknado Week proves to be a continuous success, Discover and SyFy can team up on Michael Phelpsnado Week, and the cycle will be complete. (Note: The cycle is also a cyclone made out of flying sharks.)

5-Headed Shark Attack

Sunday, July 30

Shaped like a demented starfish, a monster five-headed shark terrorizes the open ocean before invading the beaches of Puerto Rico, endangering the once peaceful island paradise.

Mississippi River Sharks

Monday, July 31

Sharks attack a fish rodeo on the Mississippi River, and it is up to a group of locals to stop them.

Trailer Park Shark

Wednesday, August 2

A tropical storm floods Soggy Meadows trailer park and forces a hungry shark upriver. Even more important, Trailer Park Shark features Sharknado star Tara Reid.

Toxic Shark

Thursday, August 3

A tropical singles retreat takes a terrifying turn when guests realize a poisonous shark is infesting the surrounding water. Not only will this toxic shark rip apart its victims, but it also uses projectile acid to hunt  in and out of the water!

Empire of the Sharks

Saturday, August 5

Set in a future where most of Earth is covered by water and the only land left is controlled by a warlord who rules with an army of hyperintelligent sharks, unlucky humans are used as shark food. But when two friends risk their lives to rescue a trapped prisoner, those imprisoned decide to rise against their captor and his legion of bloodthirsty sharks.

Sharknado 5: Global Swarming

Sunday, August 6

As shark-infested storms grow stronger and more complex, the world braces for the inevitable  a global sharknado. This year, the mission gets personal for chainsaw-wielding leader Fin Shepard (Ian Ziering) and his bionic wife, April (Tara Reid), when their young son gets trapped in a sharknado and is transported all over the world. Cameos include Olivia Newton-John and daughter Chloe Lattanzi as brilliant scientists, Fabio as the Pope, Charo as the Queen of England, Porsha Williams as an archeologist, Bret Michaels, Clay Aiken, Chris Kattan, and more.

Fabio. As. The. Pope.
Waco Childrens Theatre will present the final two performances of its teen camp musical Grease at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Lee Lockwood Library and Museum, 2801 W. Waco Drive.

Tickets cost $12 for adults or $8 for children and will be available at the door one hour before each show.

For more information, call Linda Haskett at 776-0707.

Shirley Caesar concert

Shirley Caesar, a Grammy-winning gospel artist, will be in concert at 7 p.m. Saturday at Second Missionary Baptist Church, 2001 Dallas St.

Also performing will be Vonzell Baucham Jr., Royce Montgomery and the Gospel Sons of Waco.

Tickets cost $25. For tickets, call 495-1030.

Exhibit closing reception

To celebrate the successful run of its temporary exhibit, Century of Bridal Dresses, the History of West Museum, 112 E. Oak St. in West, will have a One Last Look coffee and kolache reception from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

The exhibit features bridal dresses, wedding stories and souvenirs. The oldest dress, of about 25 on display, dates back to 1896.

In addition to the free coffee and kolaches, a drawing for a $25 gift certificate to Czech American will be held at 3 p.m.

Pro-Life Waco

Pro-Life Waco will meet from 1 to 2 p.m. Sunday in the Parish Hall at St. Marys Church, 1401 Washington Ave.

The meeting will feature a short video about the international 40 Days for Life prayer vigil outreach, which started in Bryan in 2004. Pro-Life Waco is organizing a 40 Days for Life for Central Texas program that will start Sept. 27.

An Italian lunch will be served at noon. Lunch cost is $3 for adults and is free for children and first-time attendees.

For more information, email prolifewaco@gmail.com or call John Pisciotta at 644-0407

.

Select volleyball tryouts

Texas Legends Volleyball will conduct tryouts for the Waco region Sunday at Lorena High School, 1 Leopard Lane.

The organization is open to ages 11 to 18.

Cost is $40 per player.

For registration information and a schedule, call 855-7332 or visit www.texaslegendsvb.com.
The Jubilee Food Market at North 15th Street and Colcord Avenue, a nonprofit grocery store Mission Waco opened in a long-abandoned Safeway building, will start issuing Oasis Loyalty Cards to residents living near the store.

The cards will make good on a promise Mission Waco executive director Jimmy Dorrell made when the grocery store opened around Thanksgiving last year.

Residents living in an area bounded by North Fourth Street, North 26th Street, Lyle Avenue and Mary Avenue may qualify.

The card is free, and customers can register between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The first 500 households to meet guidelines for receiving the card also will get a free pint of Blue Bell ice cream.

Those using the card will have $5 added to its value each time they spend $25. They also will have $5 added on their first visit if they complete a short survey, according to information provided by Mission Waco.

Jubilee Food Market sells fresh meat and produce, canned goods, cookies, soft drinks and snack items seven days a week, closing at 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday. It tries to remain competitive on prices but lacks the buying power of large grocery chains, so it tries to entice customers with specials, according to management.

Bubbas benefit for officers

Bubbas 33, which specializes in pizza, burgers, salads and beer and operates a location at South Valley Mills Drive and Interstate 35, is promoting a statewide fundraiser for the families of five police officers and two civilians killed during an ambush in downtown Dallas last year, according to a Bubbas 33 press release.

On Wednesday, 10 percent of all food sales at all six Bubbas locations in Texas will go to the Assist the Officer Foundation, established for the relatives of those who lost their lives on July 7, 2016, according to the press release.

Chamber to Cincinnati

The Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce is having another InterCity Leadership Visit, this one to Cincinnati, Ohio, on Sept. 20-22.

According to a chamber press release, the purpose of the visit is to expose local leaders to innovative community and economic development ideas, programs, initiatives and best practices, which may be adopted and implemented in the Greater Waco area, and to engage in high-level networking among community leaders.

The Waco chamber said Cincinnati is experiencing new projects, developments and convention wins that collectively make this one of the most progressive, game-changing eras in the regions history.

Forbes magazine in 2016 named Cincinnati one of the top 20 best cities for young people and described it as a hotbed for entreprenurial growth. USA Today in 2017 ranked the city among the 100 best places to live, and Site Selection magazine placed it in the top 10 metro areas for new and expanding business, according to information provided by the chamber.

Registration deadline for the trip is Aug. 15, and those with questions should contact the chambers Linda Beasley at 757-5601.

An all-inclusive package that includes a three-night hotel stay, meals and conference materials costs $1,250, while a two-night all-inclusive package runs $1,050. Spouses get the full-service treatment for $640.

The chamber encourages participants to make airline reservations as quickly as possible to secure the best rate.

In recent years, local leaders have made trips to Chattanooga, Tennessee; Portland, Oregon; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Greenville, South Carolina; Branson, Missouri; Fort Worth; and Oklahoma City, among other locations.

Rick Vela Clothing

Rick Vela has left John Wiley & Sons Publishing, formerly Profiles International, to resurrect his custom tailoring business called Rick Vela Clothing, which he operates out of his home on Austin Avenue, according to a press release and emailed response to questions.

I may be the only tailor in Central Texas providing true custom clothing made in Italy, Vela wrote. We take measurements, build patterns (blueprints/blue pencil) and use hot-water shrunk canvases for jackets, truly old school.

As you know, most guys would rather have a root canal than buy clothing. I try to make it as painless as possible. My customer can make an appointment, have a drink/glass of wine. I can have lunch brought in at the noon hour, and the customer can select from hundreds of fabrics, linings, buttons and more. I can also bring in ready-to-wear garments, which will land in Waco in seven to 10 days.

He said ready-to-wear tailored suits open at $335 and top out at $1,050, while bench-made custom suits start at $795, with a four-to-six-week delivery, and reach $4,500, depending on cloth and amount of hand work.

Vela said he is scouting for a permanent location in downtown Waco.
Authorities shot out two tires of a fleeing car and arrested a San Antonio man who led about 35 officers on a high-speed chase that went through McLennan County on Monday morning, Sheriff Parnell McNamara said.

David Deberry, 28, was arrested after he led officers on a high-speed chase from Garland, in northeast Dallas County, into McLennan County after he allegedly stole a Chryster 300 from a Walmart parking lot in Garland early Monday morning, McNamara said.

Speeds reached more than 100 mph on Interstate 35 as Deberry entered McLennan County shortly after 9:45 a.m.

They were tracking it with a cellphone that was left in the car by the owner and were tracking that phone when they got a ping off the phone, McNamara said. The car started getting into McLennan County, so our guys sat up on it.

Swerved around spikes

Deberry continued to flee from officers, driving at speeds exceeding 100 mph, McNamara said. Pursuing officers attempted to lay down spike strips four times to disable the car, but Deberry swerved around them each time, the sheriff said.

Troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety were able to get alongside the car and shot out the right front and rear tires near Hewitt.

They were able to disable the car, and so he went a long way on two wheels, McNamara said. He was still (driving) over 70 mph on two wheels and, of course, the tires disintegrated.

During the pursuit, Deberry tried to ram the car into a troopers patrol vehicle. No one was injured, and officers were able to detain the driver near the McLennan-Bell County line, close to the 311 mile marker.

Inside the car there was about $2,000 in cash, a weapon and what we believe to be methamphetamine and marijuana, McNamara said.

Officers arrested Deberry and took him to McLennan County Jail. He remained in custody Monday on a state jail felony charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a state jail felony charge of evading arrest, a second-degree felony charge of possession of methamphetamine, a state jail felony charge of possession of cocaine and a Class B misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana, according to jail records.

No bond information was listed Monday evening.
Tanda Panjaitan, a researcher from the farming technology bureau of Indonesia's Agriculture Ministry, said leucaena (known locally as lamtoro) had also been introduced in Indonesia in the 1980s during the Suharto era. Muin is a corn farmer from Indonesia. Credit:Amilia Rosa "But the project then failed when it was ruined by the insect pest kutu loncat (leucaena psyllid)," Dr Panjaitan says. "They tried other plants to replace it after that but none was successful. After that, people just forgot about it and went back to what they were used to  grass." Dr Panjaitan says the cattle fattening project introduced a variety of leucaena resistant to leucaena psyllid. But the farmers had to be re-educated about the benefits of using forage tree legumes as fodder. "It wasn't easy, they simply didn't believe us," he said. Legume trees are part of a drive to fatten Indonesian cattle Credit:Amilia Rosa

Muin, a corn farmer from Senayan village in West Sumbawa, admits to being sceptical. "I only joined in 2013, I had doubts about it," he said. "A few years ago we were told to plant rumput gajah (elephant grass) but it was useless, so we stopped it all. When I was told about lamtoro, I was still scarred from the elephant grass." Legume trees are part of a drive to fatten Indonesian cattle Credit:Amilia Rosa When Muin introduced the forage tree legume as fodder he owned nine cows and cared for six others (splitting the profit with the owner). "I planted six hectares with lamtoro, six hectares of the worst land I own. To plant lamtoro doesn't require any of the productive land I own to grow corn." Now Muin owns 27 cows.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop said the project aimed to help villagers. Credit:MICK TSIKAS "I can earn more than 30 million rupiah ($3000) a year - that's more than what I earn from planting corn," he says. "I plan on expanding soon. I will plant more lamtoro so I can feed more cows. Now I regret joining late, I wish I could turn back time to a younger me and join earlier so I can care for more cows." Unanticipated benefits Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the project, which has been trialled in 30 villages, "aims to improve incomes and food security for low-income small landholders in Indonesia". It has demonstrated that growing and feeding leucaena can halve the amount of labour needed to look after cattle and double live weight gains. Legume trees are part of a drive to fatten Indonesian cattle Credit:Amilia Rosa

There have also been other unanticipated benefits. In North Lombok, villagers have moved their cows from next to their homes, where they would typically graze, into communal barns. Here, the farmers attend lessons on nutrition for their cows. The barns have also solved the villages' cow dung dilemma. Country program manager for the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research, Dr Peter Horne, says villagers had previously complained they were too embarrassed to have friends visit their village because of the cow manure everywhere. "An unexpected outcome of keeping the cattle together in one place is that, not only do the farmers learn improved methods of raising cattle from each other but now the manure is located in one place," he says. The once loathed cow dung has become a communal asset, which the cattle farmers now sell to vegetable growers in neighbouring villages. Another unexpected benefit came through marketing. Farmers in Lombok typically did not sell their own cows, handing them over to a middleman at the market gate.

"There was little transparency and the farmers couldn't participate in negotiations," Dr Horne says. Great results However now the cattle are being held in communal barns, traders now come to the villages and buy directly from the farmers. "This is an outstanding and unexpected positive result," Dr Horne says. "It wouldn't have mattered for the farmers if they were able to improve productivity unless they could make a profit from it." Dr Horne says the next step is to increase the scale of the program, rolling it out across Sumbawa and even South Kalimantan. He acknowledges the model developed in North Lombok cannot be "photocopied" but believes the principles can be adapted to different conditions.

Australia Indonesia Business Council president Debnath Guharoy says that for 30 years Indonesia has pleaded with Australia to assist it with developing the local cattle industry. "The more it happens, the better for the (bilateral) relationship," he says. "I would like to see Australian companies in the cattle business invest locally." Murdah, the motorbike taxi driver who was so resistant to cows, now owns four to six every season. He estimates prior to the cattle fattening project he could have earned 3 million rupiah ($300) every two years for a calf - if it survived. Now he says the figure is more like 750,000 to 1.5 million rupiah ($75 to $150) every month. He works one to two hours every morning feeding the forage tree legumes to his cows and still drives a motorcycle taxi on the side. Loading
Not far from Hamburg's heavily guarded Messe und Congress, the convention centre where much of the business of the G20 summit will be done, is an abandoned theatre, the Rote Flora, now a graffiti-covered squat where the blazing red banners of anti-G20 activists this week are proclaiming: "Welcome to Hell."

A focus for the protests of those who believe that G20 policies are responsible "for hellish conditions like hunger, war and the climate disaster", the banners of the Rota Flora are urging the leaders of the world's largest economies, accounting for 85 per cent of global GDP, to "make the planet great again".

Illustration: Joe Benke

Most Australians have never seen, or felt, the effects of hunger and conflict, heard the awful sound of approaching gunfire or the absolute silence of a starving child, so find it hard to imagine this hell on earth, but believe me it exists, as I have witnessed the human horror in all too many areas of our planet.

If you are from Syria, which has been consumed by war for the past six years; or the Iraqi city of Mosul, from which people are now emerging with hurt and haunted eyes; or South Sudan, the young democracy that has plunged into terrifying violence; or Somaliland or Yemen, where drought tips into famine; or the Democratic Republic of Congo, where unrest tips into bloodshed, it's not that hard.
Chinese animal activists have rescued more than 1000 dogs and cats from a truck headed to slaughterhouses in southern Guangdong province.

About 100 activists took part in the rescue in Guangzhou last month, confronting the driver and stopping the truck, Humane Society International reports.

Some of the dogs on the truck that was intercepted by Chinese activists in Guangzhou. Credit:Humane Society International

The truck reportedly originated in southern Gansu province, an area that has long been associated with dog theft, and had apparently travelled about 1950 kilometres before reaching Guangzhou.

Among the first to arrive were activists from one of HSI's almost 40 Chinese partner groups.
Sitting in the hairdresser's chair I look at the depressing reflection looking back. The bounce I'd requested in my blow dry is reminiscent of a 60's icon. The shaggy look I was imagining is more 'dragged through bush backwards' than 'just got out of bed sex'.

"Do you like it?", the hairdresser asks, running her fingers through my mop. I'm assuming she's doing this to attempt to make it look better. "I love it," I nod, a forced smile plastered across my face.

If you don't like it, be honest but include a suggestion to resolve it. Credit:Stocksy

I pay the exorbitant amount requested and leave the salon. The minute I'm out of view I tie my hair back.

It's not the first time I've lied about being happy. Simply put, I hate complaining. I don't want to feel like I'm being 'that' person or causing someone else potential upset. I'd rather be unhappy with a service or outcome myself, than dare to speak up.
A meeting of the NSW Greens' peak decision-making body is predicted to be a "love-in" for under-fire Senator Lee Rhiannon as the state division prepares to hit back at her suspension from the federal party room.

The meeting comes as supporters of Senator Rhiannon say the stoush with her federal colleagues has delivered her "a much higher national profile, with a growing national supporter base".

The State Delegates Council meeting on Saturday and Sunday is expected to be dominated by the suspension, which followed Senator Rhiannon's opposition to the Turnbull government's Gonski 2.0 school funding package.

Senator Rhiannon was "excluded from party room discussions and decisions on contentious government legislation" until the NSW Greens end the practice of binding their senators and MPs to vote a particular way.
Police were forced to break up a 16th birthday party in Perth's south after youths hurled bottles and projectiles at officers and a Transperth bus.

Around 9pm, police received numerous noise complaints regarding loud music and glass being smashed at a home in Pelican Ramble in Yangebup.

Police were forced to break up a wild party in Yangebup. Credit:Marina Neil/Fairfax Media

When police officers arrived at the house they found around 100 youths, some of whom were drinking.

Smashed glass and litter was also found strewn across the streets.
Police are investigating the death of a 27-year-old man in a Mandurah suburb on Saturday morning.

A section of Leighton Road in Halls Head has been closed off following a incident around 5am.

Detectives and forensic officers are investigating after a man was left with serious injuries after a fight. Credit:Kate Hedley, Mandurah Mail

Two people are currently assisting police with their investigation.

Forensic police were at the crime scene early Saturday morning, with homicide detectives arriving shortly after.
Washington: As the world examined the first face-to-face encounter between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 summit, the internet turned its attention to a different interaction between two world leaders.

Cameras captured a candid exchange between Mr Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel - one that is as humourous as it is fleeting. Mr Putin, with one hand in his pocket and the other emphatically gesturing, appears to be discussing a topic that Mrs Merkel seems to find less than riveting based on her reaction.

One thing that we can't assume is that the two were speaking German, a language that Mr Putin, a former KGB spy who lived in East Germany from 1985 to 1990, speaks fluently. Dr Merkel also speaks Russian.

The internet wasted no time in guessing the conversation topic that prompted Mrs Merkel's eye roll.
Rio de Janeiro: The Brazilian Federal Police has announced it will shut down an anti-corruption taskforce responsible for jailing dozens of politicians, drawing a rebuke from prosecutors who warned that the move could throttle investigations that have exposed systemic corruption among the country's political and business elites.

The decision comes as President Michel Temer, who is among the politicians facing criminal charges stemming from the unit's work, is scrambling to shore up support among lawmakers to avoid trial over bribery allegations.

Brazilian President Michel Temer stands in front of Australia's Finance Minister Mathias Corman at a working session of the G20 summit in Hamburg on Friday. Credit:Getty Images

The Federal Police, which announced the shift on Thursday, characterised it as a bureaucratic reshuffling of personnel and resources that would increase efficiency. In a statement, it said that members of the team known as the Lava Jato, or Car Wash, taskforce would be absorbed into the organisation's main anti-corruption division to more effectively "fight against corruption and money laundering and facilitate the exchange of information".

Members of the taskforce, the country's national association of prosecutors and the federation of Federal Police officers scoffed at that rationale.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 31F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 31F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.
Four region teams look to advance tonight in football playoffs
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Jul. 08, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 08, 2017 | 12:21 PM | PADUCAH, KY

A standoff with police at a Paducah hotel ended peacefully.



According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Department, deputies were called to the Best Western on Husband Road just before 7 am Saturday because a man was holding a handgun to his head.



Deputies say they began talking to the man out in the parking lot in front of the hotel. They commanded the man to drop the gun, but he refused. A negotiator with the sheriff's department arrived and began trying to talk the man into surrendering.



The standoff came to an end about 90 minutes after it started, when deputies say the man finally agreed to put the gun down onto the ground and move away from the weapon. As deputies began getting closer to the man, he allegedly began resisting the deputies, and a taser was used to take him into custody.



The man is now undergoing a psychological evaluation by medical services.




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Tusen takk to everyone connected with History Alive projects

The Westby History Alive Project, Inc. volunteers and their two Westby Area High School Social Studies teacher mentors would like to thank everyone for another successful Norwegian heritage enrichment studies project with the 2017 Freshman class. The idea of creating this entire customized curriculum, taught in 32 separate 90-minute block classes, started in the summer of 2014, when volunteers Dave and Ruth Amundson and then one mentor, Brian Huebner, worked on selected and prioritized topics and activities, all aimed to teach students about our areas rich Norwegian immigrant history.

In 2015, Andy Hulst, freshman Social Studies teacher mentor was welcomed aboard. Throughout the school year, the Amundsons, Huebner and Hulst guided students in the importance of learning and appreciating the area heritage through critical thinking and detective skills as they interpreted and retrieved data from photo images, researched the changes over time using the WHS Librarys archives set of old yearbooks, visited Country Coon Prairie Cemetery to gather and use information as to early settlers buried there, and exhibited their exit projects during our annual, Syttende Mai weekend in the former Westby Bakery facility.

The 2016-17 class project was continually amended, improved on, and expanded. This summer all program mentors will focus on evaluating what went well (the Westby Downtown Then and Now  tour was a favorite); what areas need improvement (increased publicity); and starting more long range ideas to include expanded new ways to use student Chrome books. David Amundson said the group plans to add the wow factor for the 2017-18 project aligning with the groups mission to promote and to preserve our areas history in continued innovative ways.

Tusen takk to the entire Westby High School Freshmen (now Sophomore) class and their terrifically supportive parents; Dorothy Robson of the Westby Times; La Crosse Tribune; WAHS Superintendent Charles Norton; WASD Board members; WHS Principal Karl Stoker; WHS Librarian Mrs. Tryggestad; Steve and Barb Rudie; Betty Stoleson; Jana and Dave Dregne; Kris Erickson and Deb Easterday; Elaine Lund; Roy Jefson; Pepsico of La Crosse; the WCP Church staff including Pastors Dan and Julie Wollman and Michelle Engh; Sarah Berger; the staff at the Livsreise Norwegian Heritage Center in Stoughton for the continual support and guidance; the Wisconsin State Historical Societys Historical Preservation Conference chairpersons; and everyone who continues to support this worthwhile program designed to keep History Aive.

Dave and Ruth Amundson HAP Volunteers,

Brian Huebner/Andy Hulst, WAHS Social Studies Teachers
BANGOR  Harlan B. Hoff, 88, of Bangor died Wednesday, June 28, 2017, at his home. Memorial services followed by military honors will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, at Bells Coulee Lutheran Church, rural Bangor. A visitation will be 10 a.m. until the time of service Monday at the church. Jandt-Fredrickson Funeral Homes and Crematory, Jostad Chapel, West Salem, is in charge of arrangements.
John J. Boldt died peacefully July 2, 2017, in La Crosse. This is a reminder that Monday July 10, 2017, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 4141 Mormon Coulee Road, La Crosse, will host a family visitation at 10 a.m., a remembrance service at 11 a.m. and a lunch to follow. Please see Wednesdays La Crosse Tribune for the full obituary, and leave online condolences at Jandt-Frederickson.com.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 07/07/2017 (1953 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Of all the things I thought I would take away from the Winnipeg Folk Festival this year, a borscht recipe was not one of them.

But, the Folk School hosted a workshop Friday afternoon all about the beet-based soup, led by DakhaBrakha, a folk-punk quartet known for their energetic amalgamation of Ukrainian folk and world music.

This was not a stereotypical DakhaBrakha performance.

First of all, the three women in the group were set up on stage as a vocal trio, while the lone male, Marko Halanevych, was off to the side explaining all things borscht  from the ingredients to the order in which one should prepare them. A translator was on hand to help out, though by the amount of Ukrainian shoutouts from the crowd at Birds Hill Provincial Park, it seemed the majority of people in attendance were well-versed in the language.

The women performed traditional Ukrainian songs, the first few having to do with a summer solstice holiday that happens to land on July 7, the same day as the workshop. The volume and power of their voices, both individually and combined, was almost startling (they did not need the microphones set up for them); its aggressive and in your face, but also beautiful and full of meaning and history.

So it went on, flip-flopping between a cooking show and a concert until it was time to do a taste test of the borscht sitting in a literal bucket on a table. Yes, it was delicious.

(DakhaBrakha was scheduled to close out Fridays main stage lineup, but their performance started well after the Free Presss print deadline.)

Earlier in the afternoon, Green Ash stage was pretty much at max capacity for the Colours, Color & Couleur workshop featuring Friday headliner City and Colour (Dallas Green) as host, as well as John K. Samson, Damien Jurado and Charlotte Cardin.

Out of all the artists on stage, Cardin was probably the least well-known, generally speaking, but after only one song, her jazzy, smoky vocals made her a crowd favourite, with even the other musicians on stage giving her props.

Anybody else just want to sit here and listen to Charlotte? joked Green. I guess the sad guys with acoustic guitars will have to do until its her turn again Heres a song about dying.

JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Dallas Green of City and Colour performs a stripped-down solo show for crowds Friday evening on the Main Stage at Folk Fest.

The bulk of attendees were trickling to their tarps when soulful dream-rock songstress Esme Patterson started the evenings music with a snappy, high-energy set on the main stage.

There are hints of blues, Americana, classic rock and pop in Pattersons songs, but its her raspy, emotive vocals that are the shining star of her live performance.

The Denver native was one of just two non-Canadians in a headlining slot Friday night; following her performance was a CanCon trio of epic proportions, starting with iconic folk-rocker Bruce Cockburn.

Cockburn took the stage solo, rocking a kind of adorable-grandpa-singing-around-the-campfire vibe with his acoustic guitar, bright orange shirt and sensible khakis.

And thats not meant to be a slight in any way, because at 72, Cockburn still knows how to throw it down on stage. His voice, despite having hosted a workshop a couple hours earlier, was in fine form while crooning through classics such as Lovers in a Dangerous Time and If I Had a Rocket Launcher, the latter featuring an absolute ripper of a guitar solo.

All of the songs in Cockburns set showcased his superior guitar skills  hes precise and delicate, but also has a very specific bounce in his pluck that makes the acoustic versions more affecting than the full-band, album versions.

Cockburn is a legend for a reason; his music has stood the test of time, and, as evidenced by the enthusiastic sing-along to Wondering Where the Lions Are and the standing ovation that followed, his fans are always happy to have him back.

Up next on the dudes-with-guitars roster was Samson and his band, the Winter Wheat. Samson, previously part of the Weakerthans, has long been a local favourite, and was ushered on stage with a rowdy welcome.

Were a leftist soft-rock band from right here in Winnipeg and thank you for having us over, chuckled Samson after set-opener Select All Delete.

JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Folk Fest veteran Bruce Cockburn performs on the Main Stage Friday evening.

A good chunk of the set was material off Samsons newest record, Winter Wheat, including the boppy Fellow Traveller, title track Winter Wheat and 17th Street Treatment Centre, but he couldnt leave out his most famous tune, Winnipegs unofficial anthem, One Great City!, from his former bands back catalogue.

A brief, but wonderful, tweener set by Old Man Luedecke led into City and Colour, the music project of Dallas Green, former guitarist for screamo band Alexisonfire.

As City and Colour, Green has surpassed his success in Alexisonfire  he has five albums and three Juno Awards to his name, and has quickly become one of the most popular performers in the country.

Taking a cue from Cockburn, Green, too, took the acoustic route, his rolled-up sleeves showing off his tattoo-covered arms as he earnestly strummed through the first few songs, which included the beautiful ballad Friends and Like Knives.

At press time, Green was about 20 minutes into his hour-long set; his vocals sounded strong, full and completely on-point, but his music, while touching, felt a little too low-key for a later main stage performance after a long day in the sun.

Its the kind of music you fall asleep to, not the kind that gets you amped-up for the next act.

Todays headlining acts include Cecile Doo-Kingue, Jonah Blacksmith, Daniel Lanois, Feist and Mbongwana Star, in order of appearance.

Daytime performances start at 11 a.m., and main stage music begins at 6 p.m.

Visit winnipegfolkfestival.ca for the full schedule.

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @NireRabel

JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS John K. Samson performs with the Winter Wheat on the Main Stage Friday at Folk Fest.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/07/2017 (1952 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba grand chief applauds a retail companys decision to add Indigenous translations to signs at its grocery stores in the north.

Sheila North Wilson of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents northern reserves, said she would like to see even more translations used.

I think thats pretty cool theyre making an effort in the communities that they serve, she said on Friday.

Last month, the North West Company announced it would provide Indigenous translations on shelf labels and signs on more than 80 food categories. The company said it would put QR codes on labels so smartphones users could hear how to pronounce the words properly. The company will collaborate with schools to do the audio translations.

In a statement, North West president and CEO Edward Kennedy called the companys initiative an ambitious translation project with more than 150 communities participating and 32 different languages or dialects and counting.

It recognizes the importance of language to sustaining culture around the world and especially within the Indigenous communities that we serve across Canada, Alaska and other regions.

Garrison Settee, vice-principal of Mikisew Middle School in Pimicikamak Cree Nation, said in a statement, the translation project is a great way for our elders and youth to work together on something that will benefit the entire community.

North Wilson said shed like to see the use of Indigenous languages expanded.

It should be used for airlines, too, she said. Everything up north should have that for sure. Even hotels and other public places where people can see, visualize and hear the languages.

Not too long ago, we were made to feel ashamed of our languages. This is a complete turnaround and it should continue.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/07/2017 (1952 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As Ontario moves forward in its plan to offer a gender-neutral option on birth certificates, most Canadians, and prairie folk in particular, say theyre against such a change.

A new poll from Angus Reid Institute shows 58 per cent of Canadians oppose the issuance of gender neutral birth certificates upon request, a number that goes up to 65 in Manitoba. The province is second only to Saskatchewan (75 per cent) in its opposition of the idea.

The poll also found 55 per cent of Manitobans surveyed believe a different option, allowing gender identification for those who want it, is a bad thing and it should be stopped. Canada-wide, 51 per cent of people indicated the same thing.

ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Ontario plans to offer a gender-neutral option on birth certificates.

The poll found 10 per cent of Manitobans strongly support a gender-neutral option, the second-lowest rate per region.

Pride Winnipeg president Jonathan Niemczak supports getting away from the male/female binary, but doesnt know if offering an other or X option is the right way to go because it plays into the idea non-binary people are outsiders.

Youre an other, youre an it, youre different in a negative connotation, he said.

Niemczak and Pride Winnipeg dont take a stance on the best route to go, but Niemczak maintains the designation of male or female seems kind of arbitrary as its not used for many purposes.

In Canada, statistical researchers track girls and boys based on whats marked on their birth certificates. The certificates designation is also used in acquiring identification documents, such as passports.

Even if it has some utility, has some benefits, it does a lot of harm as well, he said. Niemczak pointed to people who are interrogated or discriminated against when using their birth certificate because their appearance doesnt line up with the traditional look of the gender on their card.

He indicated it also does psychological damage for people who dont identify with the markers on the documents that define them.

Basically, from birth being assigned this identity that you had no choosing of, and then you have to work quite a bit of your later life on changing, said Niemczak.

Older Canadians are among the biggest skeptics. About 71 per cent of Canadians over 55 oppose genderless birth certificates in their province.

Its not surprising that older Canadians are against the option. If you go back 35 years ago, non-binary was a non-existent term. And even to this day, its still very misunderstood, said Niemczak. Non-binary refers to any gender that is not exclusively male or female.

A spokesperson for the province said Manitobas government will see how the change goes in Ontario and consider the results.

stefanie.lasuik@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/07/2017 (1952 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A special citizenship ceremony kicked off this years Newcomer Family Fair Saturday, where 30 peoples lives were changed forever as they officially became Canadians.

One of those people is 30-year-old Hargobinder Khokhar, who as a young man in India knew he wanted to one day become a Canadian citizen.

I knew to fulfil my every dream I could only do that in Canada, said Khokhar. So its a very great day for me to become a Canadian citizen. Im very happy and its a very grateful day for me.

RYAN THORPE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Hargobinder Khokhar became a Canadian today, five years after moving to Winnipeg from India.

Khokhar has lived here for the past five years and is currently saving up money to not only put himself through university, but also to help fund the rest of his familys move to Canada.

He moved here alone, leaving his mother, father, three sisters and two brothers back home.

Trained as a mechanical engineer in India, he didnt realize his degree wouldnt be recognized when he arrived.

I applied to many places but they told me I have to upgrade my degree, said Khokhar. So as first I started work in a factory, but now Im truck driving and collecting fees to become a mechanical engineer in Canada.

The special citizenship ceremony led into the Newcomer Family Fair, which was organized by Immigration Partnership Winnipeg and the citys Citizen Equity Committee. The purpose of the fair is to not only welcome newcomers, but also help them transition into their new life.

More than 12 booths from the city, the province and various community agencies were set up in order to help newcomers sign up for services they may not have been aware of.

Its about how can the City of Winnipeg help the newcomers to become integrated citizens and figure out daily life, said Maria Morrison, spokeswoman for the Citizen Equity Committee.

Its about things like how to ride the bus, getting used to being here and living in a city, getting a library card. But we also wanted to make it a fun day.

Last years fair, the first time the event was held, focused on the Syrian refugees which Canada had recently resettled. This year, however, the organizers decided to open the fair up to all newcomers, including internally displaced people from northern Indigenous communities.

RYAN THORPE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Bomber mascots Buzz and Boomer and Wab Kinew, dressed in traditional powwow regalia, join the fair's master of ceremonies, local musician Bubba B the MC.

A number of local restaurants donated food and bouncy castles and games were set up for children. At the booths, volunteers who spoke a variety of languages helped sign up newcomers for programs and services.

Local Member of the Legislative Assembly Wab Kinew and Councillor Mike Pagtakhan were both in attendance.

I think its really important to welcome newcomers to the community and into the Canadian family, said Kinew, who was dressed in traditional powwow regalia and performed a dance. Particularly important to me is also sharing indigenous culture with the newcomers.

Although attendance fell short of the 2,000 people it was expected the event would draw out, organizers hope to grow the fair in the coming years.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/07/2017 (1952 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police responded to a report of suspicious circumstances in the area of Kind Edward Street and Jefferson Avenue around 3:15 p.m. Friday, but have since said the report was unfounded.

They arrived in the area just before 4 p.m. and considerable resources were deployed according to a police spokesman.

Southbound traffic along King Edward Street was stopped and police said they expected to be in the area for the rest of the evening and potentially into Saturday morning.

JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Police closed off the area surrounding the intersection of Kind Edward Street and Jefferson Avenue.

Police have not released any other details.
The Onalaska Care Center has been awarded a Safe Resident Assistance Endowment Grant from West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. and LeadingAge Wisconsin to be used toward the purchase of equipment offering safe transfer assistance to the residents.

West Bend has awarded over $100,000 in grants to long-term care facilities across Wisconsin since 2014.

LeadingAge Wisconsin applauds West Bends commitment to improving the quality care to our States nursing home residents, said John Sauer, LeadingAge Wisconsins President/CEO.

Marissa Janke, administrator of Onalaska Care Center, says the facility will use the grant to purchase an ArjoHuntleigh Sara 3000, a standing and raising aid.

The equipment will provide a safe, efficient way to move residents, minimizing risk of injury to both our residents and caregivers, Janke said.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/07/2017 (1952 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An equine viral disease once known as swamp fever has resurfaced in Manitoba and horse owners are scrambling to get their animals tested.

Equine infectious anemia has returned to Manitoba  several horses with the disease were recently discovered in the RM of St. Clements, northeast of Winnipeg, along with one case in the RM of Armstrong in the Interlake.

Most cases of the viral disease have been found in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia in the past two decades.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES The majority of horses carrying the virus are undiagnosed.

There is no cure.

The sad thing is that a horse can be infected and the horse can look fine but ultimately its a death sentence, said John Savard, executive director of the Manitoba Horse Council.

A horse found to have the disease must either be quarantined or put down, with the latter being a more foolproof way of preventing the diseases spread.

You cant just have a horse and put it in solitary confinement for the rest of its life, Savard said.

The only solution is putting it down and thats an absolute heartbreaker.

The disease is caused by a virus that produces symptoms in horses and donkeys such as weight loss, bleeding and swelling of the legs and chest, jaundice, miscarriage and colic, although horses may not show any symptoms.

The majority of horses carrying the virus are undiagnosed.

Its a virus that mutates so its doubtful theyll ever find a vaccine that solves the problem, Savard said.

The virus is spread through the blood by horse and deer flies but is not a danger to humans.

A mosquito does not draw enough blood to spread the virus.

It looks to be isolated at this time, said Dr. Chris Bell, a veterinarian with the Elder Equine Veterinary Service.

As we get more test results we may find more infested than this group, Bell said.

Bell expects more cases but not an outbreak where hundreds of horses have to be put down, although there is always that potential if precautions arent taken.

Veterinarians such as Bell are being kept very busy visiting farms and administering a blood test called the Coggins test, which detects antibodies to the disease.

It takes about 12 hours to detect in the blood and costs $50 to $100.

Veterinarians visit horse farms and the blood samples are sent to a laboratory.

Testing is not mandatory but is already in place for major horse shows such as the Manitoba Horse Council Equestrian Centre in Birds Hill Provincial Park, which has nearly 20 shows a year.

Areas of horse traffic like rodeos and public barns are at greatest risk for exposure.

The Western College of Veterinary Medicine recommends screening all horses for the infection at least once every spring before fly season begins.

Horses should also be tested before purchasing.

If your horse frequently travels to shows or other high equine traffic areas where negative test certificates are not required, consider additional testing twice a year.

The virus can be spread in blood-contaminated objects such as needles or surgical tools used on more than one animal. It can also be transmitted via semen from an infected stallion.

Manitoba had the first recorded case in Canada in 1881 when it went by the name swamp fever.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/07/2017 (1952 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The past two years has witnessed an immense shift in Canada relative to our moral view as a nation and how we see and practise medicine. There has been a recent flurry of opinion articles, the majority of which expressed disappointment, if not outrage, over St. Boniface Hospitals decision to deny the act of medical assistance in dying (MAID) within its facility. Although I am not a member of the St. Boniface Hospital Board, I wish to respond to these articles by addressing the three general objections raised.

First objection

Some reports have falsely said St. Boniface Hospital bans MAID in the name of redemptive suffering, and this is intolerable in a pluralistic society. Several articles describe redemptive suffering as an outdated belief that idealizes suffering as a way of getting close to God and is beneficial for the community  a sort of virtue. Such an interpretation is highly inaccurate and has nothing to do with St. Boniface Hospitals decision against MAID. In fact, it is a strawman used to advance acceptance of this procedure by falsely characterizing the Catholic health-care position.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The St. Boniface Hospital board decided to deny the practice of medically assisted dying within its facility.

To Christians, the only redemptive suffering that counts is the redemptive suffering, death and resurrection of Christ, which brings salvation to the human race. Jesus can rightly be called the wounded healer who identifies with all those who suffer.

Christians believe that Christ is encountered in service to the poor and suffering and this has led to a long and faithful history of compassionate health care. Suffering is something to be relieved and healed  to hold that Christians are not compassionate toward the sick because they cannot accept suicide and euthanasia is simply wrong.

Modern person-centred palliative care has its roots in the Christian experience of compassionate care for the dying. If a Christian person believes that because of Christs closeness to the sufferer they can spiritually join their own suffering to Christ as a prayer for oneself or others, what relevance is that to MAID or its proponents?

Furthermore, a claim has been made that the Carter decision stated that MAID is no different than palliative sedation. A thorough reading reveals that this, too, is inaccurate. In fact, the Supreme Court made no comment on this in terms of the legal or clinical distinctions between the two. Furthermore, regarding opioids, according to the trial judge, the weight of evidence is that the proper use of opioids in palliative care does not cause death.

Second objection

Some commenters have said no brick and mortar institution should be given the same conscience rights as individual doctors.

What is a brick-and-mortar institution? Faith-based health care exists because of the people who founded it and work in it. If there was some sort of societal calamity in which the hospital building was no longer usable, what would happen to faith-based health care? It would probably revert to a field hospital in a tent or some such thing, with the same mission to patients!

If you visit any important gathering of the St. Boniface Hospital community, you will hear not about bricks and mortar but about women  religious women, who brought health care to this province more than 150 years ago and who continue to inspire us as a living legacy. There is a human reality to these institutions that have served people regardless of race or belief, and the new lay structures are still doing the same.

Third objection

Some people have argued faith-based health-care facilities receive government money, and therefore they should compromise on their ethics. Lets be clear, government money is tax money and a good portion of those taxes come from Christian pockets or pockets of other believers who object to MAID, or pockets of people of no organized faith who find MAID difficult to accept.

Furthermore, there are many private donors who support St. Boniface Hospital with millions of dollars outside of taxes.

Are we saying that in Canada there should only be freedom of worship, and not freedom of religion? The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms says otherwise. Freedom of religion means the freedom to be a Christian doctor who acts publicly as such or the freedom to operate a health facility based on Christian ethics including the Fifth Commandment (in the Catholic numbering).

In the end, our young country is a plurality of peoples, cultures and beliefs. St. Boniface Hospital is in partnership with other health-care organizations in Manitoba and, as the minister of health recently stated: It is important to note that not all services are available in all hospitals in Manitoba.

Rev. Richard Gagnon is Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Winnipeg.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/07/2017 (1952 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

American bastards would be not very happy with this gift sent on the July 4 anniversary, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said about his countrys first successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Wednesday. And indeed, Americans are not happy about it, although it would be overstating the case to say panic is sweeping the United States at the news that North Koreas ICBMs can now reach America.

One reason for the lack of public panic is that Alaska is not a central concern for most Americans, and Alaska is the only part of the U.S. that North Koreas Hwasong-14 missile can reach.

Another reason is that U.S. authorities insist North Koreas nuclear weapons are too big and heavy to fit on its ICBMs. (Its not clear whether they have intelligence that confirms this, or are just whistling in the dark.)

KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES North Koreas purported launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile Tuesday.

And a third reason might be that Americans are secretly embarrassed by the sheer hypocrisy of their own governments position in this affair.

Well, no, not really. The vast majority of Americans are blissfully unaware there is any hypocrisy involved in demanding that North Korea refrain from getting what the U.S. has had for the past 72 years. So is the U.S. government.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was being entirely sincere when he said that North Koreas ICBM test represents a new escalation of the threat to the United States, our allies and partners, the region and the world. Wrong, but entirely sincere.

He is obviously aware the U.S. has had nuclear weapons since 1945, and has even dropped them on Asian cities. He knows that his country has had ICBMs since the 1950s, and still has hundreds ready to launch on short notice. How is the American posture different from the one that North Korea aspires to?

Two differences, really. One is that the United States has at least 100 times as many nuclear weapons as North Korea, and delivery vehicles at least two technological generations further down the road.

Another is that the U.S. has a clearly stated policy that says it might use nuclear weapons first in a conflict. Weirdly, this just makes American ICBMs sound more dangerous than North Koreas.

Thats not really true.

The U.S. used its first nuclear weapons as soon as it got them in 1945, but despite all the wars it has waged in the 72 years since then, it has never used them again.

Nuclear weapons are so terrifying that they force the people who possess them to think seriously about the consequences of using them.

Pyongyang has obviously been thinking hard about the grave implications of nuclear weapons, too, because it never actually threatens to use North Koreas nukes in a first strike. Its always about deterring a nuclear attack on North Korea. And though the North Korean regime lies and blusters a lot, you can believe it about this.

North Korea will probably have ICBMs that can reach big American cities in three to five years if it keeps up the current pace of development and testing. That would buy North Korea a limited degree of safety from an American nuclear attack, because one or more of its missiles might survive a U.S. first strike and be able to carry out a revenge from the grave. That is how nuclear deterrence works, at least in theory.

But even full-range nuclear-tipped ICBMs would not give the North Korean regime the ability to launch a nuclear attack on America (or Japan or South Korea) without being exterminated in an immediate, massive nuclear counter-strike. So you can probably trust the North Korean regime not to do anything so terminally stupid  unless people such as Kim Jung Un are literally crazy.

Thats why American diplomats work so hard to convince everybody else that the North Koreans really are frothing mad, impervious to logic, and not even interested in self-preservation. Only then can they argue that the North Koreans should be denied nuclear weapons, although Americans, Russians, Chinese, British, French, Israelis, Indians and Pakistanis can be trusted with them.

There is no evidence the North Koreans really are crazy. In the 64 years since the end of the Korean War they have never risked a war, and they are extremely unlikely to do so now. And while there is a rather erratic leader in Washington at the moment, there are probably enough grownups around him to avoid any fatal mistakes on the American side either.

So North Korea will probably get its nuclear deterrent in the end, and we will all learn to live with it  like we learned to live with mutual U.S.-Russian nuclear deterrence, mutual U.S.-Chinese nuclear deterrence, and mutual Indian-Pakistani nuclear deterrence.

Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.
STILLWATER, Minn. (AP)  A dying man in Minnesota can cross something off his bucket list: crossing a new bridge into Wisconsin.

Jack Bohmert crossed the new St. Croix River bridge Thursday.

The 82-year-old suffers from congestive heart failure and a massive blood clot. Doctors told him he has only days or weeks to live.

Bohmert made a bucket list of things he wants to do before he dies after receiving the news. At the top of his list was crossing the new bridge near his condominium.

The bridge wont be open to the public until after a Aug. 2 ribbon-cutting, but the Minnesota Department of Transportation made an exception for Bohmert. Bohmert, a navy veteran and retired truck driver, wore a neon-yellow reflective vest and hard hat as he crossed the bridge with some family members.

Oh man, I cant believe this! This is beautiful, said Bohmert, who is legally blind. I cant see too good, but its beautiful. This is great!

About 50 people gathered in Oak Park Heights to celebrate the occasion, including color guard units from the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10818 in New Richmond, Wisconsin, and the American Legion in Bayport.

The final goal on Bohmerts list is living until his 83rd birthday on July 17.
Winona

Thursday

9:12 a.m.  A woman on the 400 block of Chatfield Street reported a billfold missing from her home.

12:44 p.m.  Walmart reported that from June 6 to July 4 a counterfeit $50, a $20 and two $10 bills were taken.

3:46 p.m.  Charges of felony theft and possession of burglary tools were referred against Adrian Juan Briones, 26, La Crosse, after shoplifting electronics by removing the security tags with a device. He had been at several other Targets and is charged with taking $1,119.93 worth of goods.

4:03 p.m.  A man at Fleet Farm reported damage to the front of his vehicle but wasnt sure when it happened.

4:41 p.m.  Matthew Dillon Flowers, 33, Winona, was cited for no Minnesota drivers license and leaving the scene of a property damage accident in the parking lot of Kwik Trip at Huff and Sarnia streets.

8:25 p.m.  Charges of domestic abuse (causing fear and harm) were referred against an 11-year-old Winona girl.

Friday

1:22 a.m.  Charges of fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance and driving after revocation were referred against Julie Ann Bilicki, 42, Winona, after a traffic stop near Mark and Center streets.

Winona County

Thursday

7:30 a.m.  Lewiston Fire and Ambulance and Winona County Sheriffs deputies responded to a car on fire on private property on County Road 12. There were no injuries.

4:37 p.m.  The sheriffs office along with the Southeast Violent Crimes Task Force raided a house on County Road 25 south of Lewiston as part of an ongoing investigation and removed 100 suspected marijuana plants. No charges have been filed and the investigation is continuing.

5:44 p.m.  Zachary Steven Sinclair Kidd, 30, Lewiston, was cited for speeding and careless driving after swerving into oncoming traffic multiple times on Hwy. 14 in Lewiston.

Friday 3:57 a.m.  A 16-year-old Winona boy was cited for careless driving after driving into a ditch on Old Homer Road near County Road 15.
AmeriCorps will retain its strong presence around Winona after the state of Minnesota received more than $36 million to fund an array of projects and services in communities across the state.

ServeMinnesota, the states commission on community service, announced on Thursday that it had received those dollars from the federal government. Winona County, which is home to four AmeriCorps programs focused on education and the environment, will receive about $170,000.

Whether its Winona, St. Charles or Rose Creek, there are children in every school who need our services, said Tanya Goretzki, program manager for Reading Corps and Math Corps in southeastern Minnesota. Teachers are busy, and our volunteers can help a student catch up and work on things they might have missed the first time.

Winona County offers AmeriCorps programs in reading, math and school readiness, as well as a GreenCorps program that promotes environmental stewardship and the development of young environmental professionals.

John Otis, who tutored students in reading last year at Jefferson Elementary, said he saw the benefits of AmeriCorps through the growth of his students. Five days a week, Otis worked with students one-on-one, helping them master concepts theyd learned in the classroom.

I like all of the time I get to spend with kids, helping them become better students, said Otis, who graduated from Winona State University in 2016 and plans to tutor at Jefferson for one more year. Seeing their faces after they make progress, its truly rewarding.

Reading Corps is a crucial program, he said, because it creates a foundation on which students build their knowledge of everything else.

Through third grade, a lot of their education is learning to read, he said. After third grade, theyre reading to learn.

Goretzki said the number of schools that have expressed interested in Reading Corps and Math Corps far out number the schools that AmeriCorps can actually serve.

But with all this money coming in  Minnesota received the second-most AmeriCorps dollars of any state  theres an opportunity to expand, she said.

Caledonia Elementary, for instance, is offering Reading Corps for the first time next school year.

Statewide, AmeriCorps programs focus on education, youth mentoring, environmental stewardship and home rehabilitation.

A bulk of the states AmeriCorps dollars is devoted to stipends for volunteers.

Whether its Winona, St. Charles or Rose Creek, there are children in every school who need our services. Tanya Goretzki, program manager for Reading Corps and Math Corps
Submit an event for Around Town by emailing calendar information to bnr-news@wiscnews.com at least three business days before the event date.

Today

Barbecue: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Democratic Party of Sauk County, Steinhorst Park Shelter, 1700 Parkgate Drive, Baraboo. Fired Up For Tammy, a family-friendly event to celebrate U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwins re-election campaign. Bring a dish to share. Soda, water and grill provided. No pets allowed. Live music by Mark Tully and The Hoot Owls. Special guest state Rep. Dave Considine.

Grief camp: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Home Health United, Ochsner Park, 903 Park St., Baraboo. Camp GLOW, a grief support day camp for children ages 6-14 will be staffed by Home Health United spiritual and grief counselors and specially trained volunteers to give kids the opportunity to share their grief in a safe space through activities. Lunch, drinks and snacks throughout the day are provided. For more information and to check availability, visit homehealthunited.org, call 877-356-4514, or email info@hhuvns.org.

Nature presentation: 10 a.m., Baraboo Public Library, Aldo Leopold Center, E13701 Levee Road, Baraboo. Kids in grades 4k-5 are invited with an adult caregiver to attend a program about trees and their growth rings along with a tour of the shack and farm. This program is free. For more information, call 608-356-6166 or visit baraboopubliclibrary.org.

Ice cream social: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Baraboo Senior Center, Walmart, 920 Highway 12, Baraboo. Ice cream social and root beer float sale will benefit activities at the senior center. For more information, call Diane Pillsbury at 608-356-8464.

Circus celebration: 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Circus World Museum, 550 Water St., Baraboo. Christmas in July celebration will take place at the Big Top Circus performances with visits from Santa Claus and a chance to win an eight-foot stocking filled with toys. Admission to the Big Top Circus is $19.95 for adults, $17.95 for seniors, $ 9.95 for children ages 5-11 and free for children four and younger. For more information, call 608-356-8341 or visit circusworldbaraboo.org.

Archery event: 12:30-3 p.m., Devils Lake State Park. Certified instructors will assist kids of all ages with target practice. Meet at the north shore boat launch. For more information, call 608-356-8301.

Bingo: 6 p.m., St. Joseph School, 310 Second St., Baraboo. Bingo fundraiser for People Helping People with doors opening at 5 p.m. A concession stand run by People Helping People will offer brats, hot dogs and more. A raffle will also take place. For more information, call St. Joseph at 608-356-4773 or People Helping People at 608-434-0002.

Boating event: 8:30-10:30 p.m., Devils Lake State Park. The Guided Full Moon Paddle will explore the lake with free glow sticks decorating the boats. Bring a kayak, canoe or boat to participate. Call to preregister at 608-356-8301 ext. 140. Meet at the North Shore boat launch.

Sunday

Buffet breakfast: 8 a.m. to noon, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1916 and the Auxiliary at VFW Hall, 200 Veterans Drive, Reedsburg. The menu includes scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, French toast, biscuits and gravy, and made-to-order omelets. Cost is $8 for adults, $3 for children ages 4-11, free for children aged 4 and younger.

Circus celebration: 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Circus World Museum, 550 Water St., Baraboo. Christmas in July celebration will take place at the Big Top Circus performances with visits from Santa Claus and a chance to win an eight-foot stocking filled with toys. Admission to the Big Top Circus is $19.95 for adults, $17.95 for seniors, $9.95 for children ages 5-11 and free for children four and younger. For more information, call 608-356-8341 or visit circusworldbaraboo.org.

Archery event: 12:30-3 p.m., Devils Lake State Park. Certified instructors will assist kids of all ages with some target practice. Meet at the north shore boat launch. For more information, call 608-356-8301.

Organ concert: 2 p.m., Zion Lutheran Stone Church, E6787 Stone Church Road, Rock Springs. Concert highlighting the historic 1895 pipe organ featuring organist Joe Menard, soloists Eden Evans and Bill Hentges, and violinist Jordan Schuette. Free-will offering will be accepted. Refreshments will be served.

Zen workshop: 4-5:30 p.m., White Conch Dharma Center, Its All About You, Yoga and More, The Green Vine, 102 Fourth Ave. Moving Along the Path: Becoming (Being) a Healing Presence in the World will explore the training path of the bodhisattva, the paramitas and the Six Perfections.

Monday

Blood drive: 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., American Red Cross, Ho-Chunk Casino, Hotel and Convention Center, S3214 Highway 12, Baraboo. To make an appointment or for more information, call 800-RED-CROSS (800-733-2767) or visit redcrossblood.org.

Senior Android workshop: 12:30-3:30 p.m., Baraboo Area Senior Center, 124 Second St., Room 24, Baraboo. Cell Plus Device Specialist, Gene Rolland, will lead the workshop which includes a class booklet, instruction about calls, messaging, email, apps, settings and more. There is no charge. For more information call Diane Pillsbury at 608-356-8464.

Concert: 1 p.m., Ruth Culver Community Library, 540 Water St., Prairie du Sac. Duke Otherwise will perform. For more information, call 608-643-8318 or visit pdslibrary.org.

Movie: 5 p.m., Sauk City Public Library, 515 Water St., Sauk City. Teens will watch a video about working at NASA in the 1960s. Rated PG; 2 hours 5 minutes. Popcorn and bottled water will be served.

Open House: 6-7 p.m., Sauk City Public Library, 515 Water St., Sauk City. Open house to honor the 106 years of combined service from the library trustees.

Concert: 7:30 p.m., Rural Musician Forum, Taliesins Hillside Theatre, 6604 Highway 23, Spring Green. Finnegans Wake will perform with concertina, mountain dulcimer, hurdy-gurdy and jingle bells. No admission fee; free-will donation taken. For more information, visit ruralmusiciansforum.org.

Tuesday

Author visit: 10 a.m., Reedsburg Public Library, 370 vine St., Reedsburg. Wisconsin author Christine DeSmets of the Fudge Shop Mysteries will discuss her mystery series, other creative projects, recipes in the books, insights, and tips on the writing and publishing process. For more information, call 608-768-READ (7323).

LEGO workshop: 4 p.m., Baraboo Public Library, 230 Fourth Ave., Baraboo. Teens who have completed grades 6-12 are invited to use their creativity to make LEGO structures. This free program is free. For more information, call 608-356-6166 or visit baraboopubliclibrary.org.

Senior presentation: 4:30 p.m., Aging and Disability Resource Center of Eagle Country  Baraboo/Sauk County, Sauk County West Square Building, Room B30, 505 Broadway St., Baraboo. Im Medicare Eligible/Turning 65: Now What? will be presented free of charge. Tailored to people considering retirement, turning 65 or starting Medicare. For more information, call 608-355-3289 or visit co.sauk.wi.us/adrc.

Movie: 6:30 p.m., Sauk City Public Library, 515 Water St., Sauk City. View a free showing of the documentary Green Fire showcasing the conservation efforts of Aldo Leopold. There will be a raffle to win tour passes to the Leopold Foundation outside of Baraboo and free popcorn for all attendees.

Teen Tuesday: 6:30 p.m., Ruth Culver Community Library, 540 Water St., Prairie du Sac. Fruit Favorites for teens with recipes, sour patch grapes, chocolate-dipped bananas and more will be available. Suited for grades 6-12. For more information, call 608-643-8318 or visit pdslibrary.org.

Wednesday

Nature hike: 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Devils Lake State Park. A Hike Back in Time. Join retired Park Naturalist Ken Lange on a geologic exploration of Devils Lake. See boulders transported by glaciers, a glacial lake bed, potholes, Devils Doorway and much more. This hike is approximately 3.5 miles, with some steep sections. Wear proper footwear and bring plenty of water. Meet at the Steinke Basin parking lot. For more information, call 608-356-8301.

Public farm meeting: 1-3 p.m., U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency, Sauk County FSA office, 505 Broadway St., Baraboo. Open house regarding the 2017 County committee election process. Producers, including minority, women and new farmers, are encouraged to attend the meeting and participate in the 2017 election. For more information, call Curt Norgard at 608-355-4420, ext. 2.

Storyteller: 1 p.m., Sauk City Public Library, 515 Water St., Sauk City. Bilingual storyteller Kay Elmsley Weeden will share tales, in English and Spanish, with children and adults. Doors open at 12:50 p.m. and tickets are not needed. For more information, call Amy at 643-8346 or visit saukcitylibrary.org.

Concert: 6:30 p.m., Reedsburg Area Chamber of Commerce, Concert in the Park series at City Park. Coulee Region Steel Band will perform. Bring a lawn chair or blanket; food, refreshments and Farmers Market products will be available; no vehicles or pets allowed in park. For more information, call 608-524-2850. In case of inclement weather, signs will be posted indicating a new location.

Ferry seminar: 6:30 p.m., Lake Wisconsin Alliance, Merrimac Ferry Wayside. The third educational seminar for 2017 is a free event that will feature stories old and new on the Merrimac Ferry and the Merrimac Scoop will provide ice cream to those in attendance.

Thursday

Fishing program: 9-11 a.m., Devils Lake State Park. Learn to Fish program will teach the basics of fishing. Those 16 and older will need a fishing license to participate. All supplies and bait will be provided. Meet at the North Shore boat launch. For more information, call 608-356-8301.

Worm races: 10 a.m., Baraboo Public Library, 230 Fourth Ave., Baraboo. Kids in grades 4k-5 are invited to compete in worm races. Library Board President Mary Grant will serve as judge and emcee through the qualifying heats. Bring your own worm or adopt one from the library. This program is free. For more information, call 608-356-6166 or visit baraboopubliclibrary.org.

Book club: 6:45 p.m., Ruth Culver Community Library, 540 Water St. in Prairie du Sac. Mystery Book Club will discuss mysteries by William Kent Krueger. New members are always welcome. For more information, call June at 643-8318 or visit pdslibrary.org.

Radio Club: 7 p.m., Yellow Thunder Amateur Radio club, City Services Building, 450 Roundhouse Court, Baraboo. Discussion will be on the Field Day operation. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Those interested in amateur radio or electronics are welcome.

Concert: 7 p.m., Sauk County Courthouse lawn, 515 Oak St., Baraboo. Concerts on the Square concert series will present Madison Brass Band  in the British tradition. The Al. Ringling Theatre will serve as the rain site. For more information, visit barabooconcertsonthesquare.com.

Friday

Fair event: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sauk County Association for Home & Community Education, Sauk County Fairgrounds, Baraboo. Taste of Sauk County will be featured in the Open Class Building No. 1. Some of the products featured for sale will be honey, maple syrup, garlic, lavender, soaps, homemade pies and more. For more information, call Sylvia at 608-356-7096.

Canoe event: Noon to dusk, Devils Lake State Park. Paddle a 28-foot Voyageur canoe anytime from noon to dusk presented by Fox of the River Voyageur Canoe LLC. Learn about the Voyageur way of life from guides Jean Paul Pauquette and Jacques Largillier. This free event is sponsored by the Friends of Devils Lake. Meet at the North Shore boat launch. For more information, call 608-356-8301.

Concert: 6-10 p.m., Full Throttle Night, FloodZone Bar & Grill, 109 W. Broadway, Rock Springs. Performance is by Altered Ego. All proceeds go to the Wisconsin Big Cat Rescue to help care for the animals. In addition to live music, there will be classic cars, trucks, motorcycles, food, arts and crafts vendors, 50/50 raffles and prizes. For more information, call Jeff Kozlowski at 608-697-8643 or email jeff@wisconsinbigcats.org.

Poetry reading: 7:30 p.m., The Village Booksmith, 526 Oak St., Baraboo. Second Friday Poetry will feature readings by Bear Clan Elder Sherman Funmaker who will share stories from his upcoming book about growing up in a Ho-Chunk family among 10 siblings. Open stage will follow where readers can share their own work or the work of others. For more information, call 608-355-1001 or visit villagebooksmith.com.

Night hike: 8:30-10 p.m., Devils Lake State Park. Explore the world of nocturnal animals. Thermal imagers and trail cameras will be used to discover the secrets of the night. Meet at the Steinke Basin parking lot. For more information, call 608-356-8301.
Irene Bell

Irene Bell, 96, moved peacefully to heaven July 5, 2017, to be with the love of her life, her husband Jim.

She was born Jan. 11, 1921, in Racine, to Michael and Eleanor (Hanifl) Roraff. She grew up in a Catholic family in La Crosse, graduating from St. Thomas Aquinas High School. She moved to Waupun and there met the man of her dreams. She and Jim (Wallie) Bell were married at Holy Trinity Church in La Crosse May 2, 1942. They were blessed with four children and 50 years of marriage. The family learned by example what a wonderful and happy marriage looked like.

Irene worked hard throughout her life, doing factory work in Waupun and at Weyenberg Shoe Factory in Beaver Dam, waiting tables at the Legion Bar and at Club 33 Rose Bowl with her dear friend Arlyne Hollnagel. She was a fabulous and proud wife, mother and homemaker. She had a strong faith and was active in the Christian Women organizations at St. Peters and St. Patricks churches. She was a member of Annunciation Parish in Fox Lake. She was a top-notch cook, chef and baker, and made her signature deviled eggs for funeral dinners and potlucks. She had a natural ability in the musical field, recently singing with the Third Street Band at the senior center. Her love of travel took her many places with her sister Alice and her daughters on their annual Momster weekends. Never being one to like cold weather, she and Jim lived in Avon Park, Florida, for several winters to avoid any temperatures below 75 degrees.

She is survived by her four children and their families: son, Jim (Karen) of Fort Myers, Florida; son, Jerry (Lois) of Beaver Dam; daughter, Judy (Greg) Hein of Beaver Dam; and daughter, Jan (Allen) Bellherron of Richmond, Virginia; her grandchildren, Jim (Sandy) Bell of Boynton Beach, Florida, Jeff (Luz) Bell of Kissimee, Florida, Greg Hein of Beaver Dam, and Travis (Crystal) Hein of Appleton; her great-grandchildren, Jessica and Jason Bell of Florida, Abigail Hein of Beaver Dam, and Preston Hein of Appleton. Her surviving relatives include her sister-in-law, Delores Bell, and her many nieces and nephews.

Illinois nephews Don and Dan made many visits to her. She will also be watching over her many loyal friends, including her very special hugger Sheri Born. Her sparkle and vitality will live on at Hillside Manor where she received excellent care from her family of angels including CNAs, LPNs, RNs, MAAs, Dr. Buswell-Cleary, PAs, NPs, food service workers, housekeeping, laundry, social workers, administration, activities department (Marjorie, how do we ever thank you for the past four years?).

Preceding her to heaven were her loving husband, Jim (Wallie) in 1992; her sister, Alice Watters in 2014; her parents, Michael in 1983 and Eleanor Roraff in 1997; other relatives, and many friends.

Irenes family will greet friends July 19, from 5 until 8 p.m. at Koepsell-Murray Funeral Home, N7199 N. Crystal Lake Road, Beaver Dam, and July 20, at Annunciation Catholic Parish, 305 W. Green St., Fox Lake from 10 a.m. until her celebration of life mass at 11 a.m. The Revs. John Radetski and John and Jim Bergin will concelebrate the Mass.

In lieu of flowers or plants, direct any memorials to the family as per Irenes request. To honor moms wishes, the funds will be disbursed to organizations she requested, including Beaver Dam Area Community Theatre and Hillside Manor Activities Department.

Mom, what you were the best at was making people feel important, valued, and loved. If anyone ever needed a hug, you were there to give the warmest, most sincere embrace. You had a sparkle in your eye, a spring in your step, and a gift of making people laugh. You lived a life full of deep love for others and it showed. You brought such joy into this world and your spirit will remain forever. We will do our best to live the life of love you did so well. Give Dad, the worlds biggest leprechaun, great big hugs for us. Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene, Ill see you in my dreams.

Koepsell-Murray Funeral Home in Beaver Dam is serving the family. Online condolences may be made at koepsellfh.com.
COLUMBUS  As Tax Increment Finance District No. 4 on Columbus west side continues to grow, the city is making plans to extend Hall Road from Highway 16 to Columbus-Fall River Road and to apply for a state grant to help pay for the project.

At a meeting Thursday night, the City Council passed a resolution supporting the submission of a Wisconsin Department of Transportation Facilities for Economic Assistance Grant Application, commonly known as a TEA Grant, and approved a contract with Ruekert Mielke to prepare the application.

The city will work on the project with Drexel Building Supply and Fromm Family Foods, both of which are building on property in the TIF that is adjacent to the proposed road extension.

TEA grants provide funding for transportation improvements that are needed for economic development projects that create and retain jobs in Wisconsin and will cover up to 50 percent of the costs.

The city will pay Ruekert Mielke $12,962 for its services in preparing the grant, which will include providing an opinion of the probable cost for the project, developing necessary drawings, creating a schedule for the project and its related business development, coordinating with government agencies, coordinating with a historical/archaeological firm to facilitate the completion of necessary reviews and completing the application.

Applications can be submitted at any time, but the city wants to begin the process as soon as possible, in order to accommodate Drexel Building Supply, which hopes to have its new store and lumber yard up and operating within a year.

In other business:

The council approved a plan to add streetlights on Maple Avenue from Dix Street to Highway 151. Four lights will be added to existing electrical distribution poles and three other new streetlight-only poles will be installed. The Water and Light Department will reuse poles, LED fixtures and arms that were taken down from James Street, so costs are expected to be minimal.

The council agreed to allow the Fire Department to accept donations for the construction of a training tower at the site of the future fire station on James Street.

The council approved the appointment of William Reece to the Community Development Authority.
The Columbus Elementary and Columbus Middle Schools will be getting some much needed updates, including new equipment and new surfacing. The project will be completed in two phases. Phase 1 will happen this summer when old and outdated equipment at the elementary school will be removed early in July and replaced with updated facilities that address the schools increasing need for fully accessible playground equipment. The new equipment will be purchased and installed by Miller & Associates Inc. of Sauk Prairie. The equipment includes a new climbing structure complete with ramps allowing students in wheelchairs to play and interact more with their fellow classmates, and replacement of the current surface with a combination of wood chips and poured rubber. The surface of the middle school will also be improved with a combination of wood chips and poured rubber.

Installation is scheduled to begin July 17 and be completed by Aug. 3. During the installation process the playgrounds of both schools will be fenced off and unavailable for play. Please respect these boundaries as any damage may prolong the installation process.

The improvements are being financed through school funds and a $50,000 donation to the school from the K-8 Columbus PTO. The PTO was able to raise the funds with the help and participation of parents and students in a series of fundraisers over the last few years including merchandise sales, track and field events, the Sock Hop and Spring Carnival, penny war, the Sentry Round-Up Program and through private donations. Several area businesses have been instrumental in raising these funds including Cardinal Embroidery, Columbus Storage, Ed Schellin State Farm, Cardinal Comics, Sentry Grocery Store and Starritt-Meister Realty.

Phase 3, which is scheduled to happen the summer of 2018, will include an addition to the primary climbing structure installed in the summer of 2017, more handicap accessible play equipment and more poured rubber surfacing at the Elementary School. These additions will cost an estimated $20,000. The PTO will continue its fundraising efforts to raise these funds.
I ran the Firecracker 4-Mile Race on July 1. There were more than 400 runners, and I came in first. That is, I came in first in my age division.

My age division is 75 to Dead. Full disclosure: I was the only runner in my age division.

But my strategy is working. About 20 years ago, I was focusing on getting faster. I worked hard. Result: No medals. I needed to change my focus. Instead of focusing on getting faster, I focused on getting older. Its working. I earn a medal almost every time. This time, I also received a $15 gift certificate. Sometimes, you need to change your focus.

The U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops needs to change its focus. (Yes, I apologize for the way I got here, but Tribune reporter Mike Tighe often gets by with this approach in his columns.)

For the past five years, the USCCB has focused on religious liberty. It has asked all U.S. Catholics to participate in various activities to promote Fortnight for Freedom, the 14 days between June 21 and July 4. Its purpose is to highlight the importance of religious freedom.

The response has been underwhelming.

Many bishops dont push it. Most pastors condemn it with the faint praise of a simple bulletin announcement. Most Catholics arent even aware of it. Many of the highly committed Catholics who are aware do not take it seriously. For them, the language is hyperbolic and exaggerated.

The federal requirement that businesses cover contraceptives in their health insurance is called by U.S. bishops alarming, unconscionable and waging war on religion.

To be clear: Every bishop needs to be concerned about religious liberty. There are serious concerns about laws that call the pastoral care done by churches, temples, mosques and synagogues as harboring undocumented immigrants. Yet Michael Sean Winters, commentator in the National Catholic Reporter, thinks Baltimore Archbishop William Lori goes too far when he states the federal contraceptive mandate is a heavy burden on our ministries. Religious institutions have been offered an exemption from the mandate. Winter says: Many of us cant see how filling out a form constitutes a heavy burden.

However, the focus is changing. Although the Catholic Health Association, led by Sister Carol Keehan, supported Obamacare, the bishops did not because of its contraceptive mandate. Now the bishops are speaking out against Trumpcare because of estimates that it would throw about 22 million people off health insurance.

Leaders in the refocusing efforts of USCCB are Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago and Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, N.J. Attending its conference has produced a series of yawns for many reporters the past five years, but not anymore.

Now Cupich and Tobin, both recently named cardinals by Pope Francis, are bringing the popes agenda of poverty, health insurance, climate change and immigration to the meeting. Cupich said after the meeting, I was very pleased with the robust and mature discussion of complex issues like immigration, health care and religious liberty. There is a growing consensus on these issues as people are willing to grapple with their complexity.

At the meeting on June 15-16, Cupich said that proposed cuts to Medicaid were about the same amount as the tax cuts for the rich. He encouraged the formation of an action plan to mobilize our people to support health care for poor people. He said the bishops need to call on religious women  who have done so much to establish Catholic health care  for help, saying they have credibility with our people.

There seems to be more refocusing in the future. On July 2, Pope Francis replaced Cardinal Gerhard Muller with Archbishop Luis Ladaria, a Spanish Jesuit theologian, as head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. Ladaria also is president of the new papal commission on the possibility of women deacons in the church.

Concerning women deacons, Muller said in a May interview on EWTN that it is not possible for women to be ordained deacons and that female deacons will not come. Now it is not possible for the deposed Muller to have power over the decision about women deacons that may come.

Refocusing is possible at any age. Keep watching Pope Francis. And hes in an age division older than mine.




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Bradley Gignac, 17, of Blackstone, wheelchair bound since the age of 3 after a boating accident, which also claimed the life of his father, in 2003, is looking forward to get a more modern wheelchair thanks to a GoFundMe campaign. He is pictured with his grandmother Celeste Gignac, of Blackstone, who is hoping for a miracle in that they achieve their goal. Another goal Bradley has is to one day be on the Ellen show, a longtime favorite of his. Said Celeste, "One dream at a time."
Wider Consultation Needed to Assess Educational Provision at Three Primary Schools

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Jul 8th, 2017

Wrexham Council could launch their second consultation with residents over the provision of Welsh language education in Glyn Ceiriog.

In December 2016, members of the Executive Board approved the start of consultation on changing the language medium at Ysgol Cynddelw, Glyn Ceiriog, from dual English/Welsh medium to solely Welsh medium.

There are currently 98 pupils accessing education at Ysgol Cynddelw. There are currently a number of year groups that have no pupils accessing the English medium.

The consultation, which was requested by the Board of Governors at Ysgol Cynddelw, took place from January, and involved a public meeting with stakeholders at the school towards the end of February.

Having received a number of responses from consultees, the Executive Board will next week discuss proposals to re-examine provision across all three schools within the Glyn Ceiriog federation: Ysgol Cynddelw, Ysgol Pontfadog and Ysgol Llanarmon.

If approved by the board, the new consultation will ask stakeholders and parents for their views on three following options:

 Retain the status quo with all three schools remaining as they are currently.

 Change language designation at Ysgol Cynddelw to Welsh medium.

 Propose closure of Ysgol Pontfadog and re-locate pupils to the Cynddelw dual stream site.

Cllr Phil Wynn, Lead Member for Education, said: Having gone through the first round of consultation on Ysgol Cynddelw in particular and having examined the views of consultees, we believe that a wider consultation is needed so as to properly assess educational provision within the area.

Current arrangements dont make the best use of resources within the federation, while an increase in numbers at Ysgol Pontfadog  if it were to take more English medium pupils  would improve efficiency in terms of resources.

The new round of consultation, if approved by the Board, will provide us with more detailed findings, which will support improved school provision in Glyn Ceiriog in the future.

The report will go before the Executive Board at 10am on Tuesday 11th July. Those who cannot attend the meeting can watch it live on the Wrexham Council website.
Amazon.com, Inc., which employs over 340,000 workers internationally, has become particularly entrenched within the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore region. As the mega-corporation rakes in billions of dollars from state and federal services, grants and tax breaks, thousands of its regional employees face grueling work conditions and low pay.

Amazon workers in the Washington and Baltimore area spoke to reporters from the International Amazon Workers Voice on conditions at their workplace and their communities.

Last week, the level of outbound work went up, and I am required to work 11-hour shifts, said a Virginia worker to the IAWV under the condition of anonymity. Sixty-hour work weeks, mandatory overtime [MOT]. There is lots of turnover in outbound and its not surprising due to the strenuous pace of work, they said.

The management often tells us that they can work with us if we are unable to do a mandatory overtime shift, but what that means is that they will move our MOT to a different day of the week. The worker suspected this sort of manipulation would become increasingly regular, because Ive seen that we can become backed up quite easily.

Last year it was announced that Amazon would be constructing a new 1 million-square-foot distribution center in Frederick County, Virginia. Virginias Democratic governor Terry McAuliffe touted the deal, declaring: Virginia [was] selected for its business climate, infrastructure, strong workforce, and global competitiveness, McAuliffe beamed.

Thats because the government gave Amazon millions of dollars for free. The company received a Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit, as well as state funding and resources for employee training via the Virginia Jobs Investment Program. In nearby Fairfax County, a recently-announced data center will receive a $7,000 economic development grant for each employee the new facility hires.

In the fulfillment centers that have been built, workers explain exhausting conditions: Management at the factory has a tendency to micromanage and push rates a lot, emphasizing that company bosses were very big on rates.

The higher-ups in the company are the really ruthless ones, the worker said. Everyone is hired as a temp. After five months a worker will be graduated to full time, although at this facility that probation period can last for up to a year. At the end of that probation period, if you are kept on, you can obtain benefits such as health care. The worker noted that the five month probation period was several months longer than the usual 90 days probation period given to workers at most businesses.

Reporters for the IAWV spoke to Amazon employees at a distribution center in Baltimore, Maryland. The 1 million-square-foot distribution center opened in 2015 after the city provided a whopping $43 million in taxpayer handoutswhat the government and companies call incentives. The facility is located on the same spot that was once occupied by a General Motors plant that had operated there since 1934 and at one time employed 7,000 workers. The plant was shuttered in 2005, eliminating over 1,100 jobs.

Our rent is about $1,300 a month, stated an Amazon worker at the facility of his financial situation, adding we paid rent, but didnt pay the car payment for August, September, or October. Once we got an eviction notice, we had to pay that bill. With the late fees, youve got to pay even more.

Today, the Amazon facility employs 3,000 people working in staggered 10-hour, four-day-a-week shifts, 24-hours a day. Workers are paid around $12.50 as the facility moves as many as 12,500 packages in an hour. Many of the workers have to take on multiple jobs to make ends meet.

When asked for their thoughts about the International Amazon Workers Voice, the worker said Im glad you are reporting the conditions of workers at Amazon; there is a need for on-the-ground exposures today.

A lot of people my age are starting to see capitalism for what it is: a system where the wealth flows upward, the worker added.

In addition to logistics, food service and retail distribution centers, the Washington D.C. area is home to Amazons internet cloud service. Northern Virginia is one of the primary battlegrounds in the cloud war between web technology giants Microsoft, Google, Oracle and Amazon, states datacenterfrontier.com. Its of major strategic importance to Amazon Web Services (AWS), whose Amazon US East region spans more than 25 data centers across Loudoun and Prince William counties. Nearly 71 percent of AWSs total internet capacity, worth $10 billion in yearly revenue, flows through its northern Virginia facilities.

A considerable portion of AWSs cloud goes to housing the web technology of US intelligence agencies. The Corporate Office Properties Trust, a firm which constructs the offices for numerous national security-related agencies, has leased over 1.3 million square feet of data center space to Amazon since 2013.
The trade union-backed New Democratic Party (NDP) has been tasked with forming the government in British Columbia, Canadas third most populous province, after NDP and Green Party legislators combined to vote non-confidence in Christy Clarks Liberal government last week.

On May 29, some three weeks after a provincial election had resulted in a hung parliament, the NDP and Greens struck a deal to replace BCs 16-year-old Liberal government with a Green-backed, minority NDP government.

Clark maneuvered for the next month in the hopes of hanging on to power. She delayed the recall of the legislature to late June, presented a Throne Speech which included some NDP and Green campaign promises, and, following the defeat of her government, tried to prevail on Lieutenant-Governor Judy Guichon to call a new election.

Although there is no Canadian precedent for dissolving a legislature so soon after its election, Clark claimed this was called for because the NDP-Green combination will be incapable of providing stable government. The NDP took 41 seats in the May 9 provincial election and the Greens 3, meaning that combined they have 44 seats to the Liberals 43. However, once a Speaker is supplied, the Green-backed, NDP government will have exactly the same number of seats as the Official Opposition Liberals. The Speaker is mandated to break tie votes, but according to convention is not supposed to change the status quo, which will make it difficult for the NDP to adopt all but money bills without Liberal support.

The Lieutenant Governor heard Clark out at an audience on June 29. But she then promptly called on NDP leader John Horgan to form the government. He is expected to be sworn in as premier in the latter part of July.

There is no doubt Guichon was carrying out the wishes of big business when she handed the reins of power to Horgan and his NDP. To do otherwise would have broken with parliamentary tradition and drawn attention to the sweeping arbitrary powers invested in the monarch and her representatives, the Governor General and provincial Lieutenant Governors. These powers have been retained in the hands of an unelected and unaccountable institution, so as to provide the ruling class with a fail-safe means of imposing its authority in a major crisis, not to save the career of one of its political hirelings.

Moreover, big business in BC and across Canada has long experience with the NDP, which like social-democratic parties the world over has renounced any commitment to social reform and supports austerity and war.

BCs first minority government in over six decades, the Horgan-led NDP will make at most minimal and mainly cosmetic changes to the austerity agenda of their Liberal predecessors. During the election campaign, Horgan boasted that his platform was based on the budget plan adopted by the Liberals, who for 16 years slashed public services, cut workers real wages, and gave big business and the rich massive tax handouts.

The confidence and supply agreement hammered out between the NDP and Greens confirmed this. Many NDP election promises, including to build 114,000 housing units over the next decade and raise corporate taxes by a minuscule 1 percent, were either scaled back or totally abandoned. Horgans pledges to do more to tackle the opioid crisis and to combat poverty are simply not credible given his commitment to a balanced budget for at least the first three years of NDP rule and to otherwise work within the reactionary fiscal framework laid down by the Liberals.

No doubt the NDP will point to pressure from the Greens to justify abandoning other promises. After Horgan made a speech vowing to make it easier for unions to win certification, Green leader Andrew Weaver said his party would ally with the Liberals to ensure the measure doesnt pass. During the election campaign, Weaver criticized the NDPs modest spending proposals as lavish and irresponsible and boasted about his ability to work closely with Clark and her Liberals. Following the election, the Greens signaled they would be willing to keep the Liberals in office under a deal similar to that they ultimately struck with the NDP, but backed down when they realized it would cost them much of their popular support.

Wherever the Greens have held power or propped up governments internationally, they have pursued reactionary pro-business policies. In Germany, the Greens participated in a coalition with the Social Democrats from 1998 to 2005 which gutted much of the countrys social welfare system through a series of labour law reforms, creating one of the largest low-wage sectors in Europe. The SPD-Green government also led Germany into its first foreign military intervention since World War II, the NATO war on Yugoslavia. In Australia, the Greens helped prop up a pro-austerity and pro-war Labor government, including giving support to brutal, anti-refugee policies that have confined asylum-seekers to remote islands in the Pacific.

Anyone still harbouring illusions in the character of the incoming government would do well to examine the response of big business, which has been broadly supportive of the NDPs policy changes. Greg DAvignon of the British Columbia Business Council has lauded the NDP-Green accords call for an emerging economy task force, which will develop business strategies including protectionist made in BC regulations for government contracts, and for an innovation task force for the technology sector. Opposition, such as there is, from the business community has come from sections of the ruling elite, including in finance and energy, who fear the NDP-Green de facto coalition will make good on its promises to do everything in its power to block the expansion of the Kinder-Morgan oil-bitumen pipeline, fracking, and other environmentally destructive resource development projects like the Site C dam.

Whether the NDP-Green opposition to some or all these projects will continue remains to be seen. The Alberta NDP came to power in May 2015 as an avowed opponent of unrestricted pipeline and oil tar-sands development, including the Keystone XL project. Two years later, Premier Rachel Notley regularly argues in favour of pipelines, including during a trip to Washington earlier this year to lobby for the approval of the Keystone XL project. She has pledged to work closely with Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in forcing through the Kinder Morgan expansion over popular opposition. Angered by the BC NDPs stance, Notley barred Alberta NDP staffers from campaigning for the party in the BC elections.

Within hours of his being tasked with forming BCs government, Horgan held a friendly phone chat with Trudeau, the two men having apparently agreed to set aside discussion of the pipeline issue until they meet later this summer. Following their discussion, Horgan stressed his government will cooperate with Ottawa, including on the softwood lumber dispute with the United States.

Predictably, the trade unions and other so-called left organizations are doing their utmost to dress the incoming government in progressive colours. Time and again during the 16 years of Liberal rule, the unions scuttled militant strikes that had widespread popular support and the potential to spearhead a working-class offensive aimed at driving the Liberals from power.

The BC Federation of Labour, which poured vast sums into the NDPs election campaign, is hailing the creation of a fair wage commission as a great step forward and claiming that this will lead to the adoption of a $15 minimum wage. As a matter of fact, the NDP-Green agreement provides no commitment to adopt such a measure. The commission is merely tasked with examining the possibility of introducing a $15 minimum wage by 2021. Even if this were enacted, it would do little for working people struggling to make ends meet in cities with exorbitant housing, food and other living costs, like Vancouver and Victoria.

In announcing its critical support for the NDP ahead of Mays election, the International Socialists, who are aligned with the ISO in the United States, enthused that the BC NDP was trying to move with the leftward swing in politics around the world.

In truth, the NDP, like its social democratic counterparts around the world, has moved so far to the right that it is virtually indistinguishable from the big business Liberals and Conservatives.

The enthusiasm of the unions and pseudo-left for the new government is bound up with their own privileged interests, which are separated by a vast social gulf from the concerns of working people. As well as offering BCs unions the opportunity to broaden their corporatist ties to big business and the state, including through positions on new committees and other consultative bodies, the NDPs assumption of power opens up career prospects for some of their leading personnel.

Horgan has appointed as his chief of staff Jeff Meggs, who was a prominent member of the Stalinist Communist Party of Canada (CPC) for over a decade. After breaking with the Stalinists in the late 1980s, Meggs became an NDP staffer. Later he helped initiate political cooperation between the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE), a left Vancouver municipal coalition with heavy CPC influence, and rightwing modernizing figures like current Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson as part of the Vision Vancouver alliance.
Factional conflicts within the Australian Greens have intensified over the past several days, with tensions growing between the national organisation and the New South Wales (NSW) state branch.

The disputes immediate trigger was Greens Senator Lee Rhiannons alignment with the opposition Labor Party and the teacher trade unions against school funding legislation proposed by the federal Liberal-National Coalition government. Rhiannon, the partys only federal senator from NSW, claimed she was obliged by state branch policy to take the stance she did.

Her intervention, however, stymied moves by the Greens parliamentary leadership to negotiate a deal with the government to pass its bill through the Senatethe upper house of the Australian parliament. Unable to rely on the Greens votes, the Coalition passed the education measures with the assistance of other third party senators.

The majority of the 10-member Greens parliamentary group, headed by leader Richard Di Natale, reacted with fury to being sidelined from negotiations on key legislation. In an unprecedented action, they banned Rhiannon from party-room discussions on contentious topics. They said she would be excluded until the NSW branch repudiates its constitutional stipulation that parliamentary representatives adhere to the decisions of the state-based party.

Underlying the divisions is the fact that the Greens have evolved over the past two decades into the party of green business. While it appeals for support on the basis of environmental and identity politics issues that concern sections of the middle class and a layer of youth, its primary objective is to develop and advocate policies that benefit its corporate backers.

The 2016 election underscored the Greens class character. Di Natale openly called for a Labor-Greens coalition. The partys highest votes were in the wealthiest inner-city electorates of Sydney and Melbourne, including once-safe Liberal Party seats. In working-class electorates, its vote did not rise above single-figure percentages.

While the Greens made no gains, the election saw an unprecedented number of third parties win Senate seats. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbulls Coalition government held office with only a one-seat majority in the lower house. It now has just 29 of 76 seats in the Senate, leaving it relying on either the Greens or other cross-bench senators to pass any legislation that Labor opposes.

Di Natale and the Greens majority have since sent out the signal that they intend to be a responsible party, prepared to compromise and strike deals with the government of the day.

As well as Di Natale, other parliamentary Greens personify this perspective. The partys treasury spokesman, Peter Whish-Wilson, is a millionaire ex-investment banker who has called for the elimination of workers weekend penalty wages. Senator Nick Mckim is a former advertising executive who, as education minister in a Labor-Green coalition government in the state of Tasmania, sought to impose budget cuts that would have closed dozens of public schools.

The majoritys orientation has encountered open opposition from a NSW party faction centred around Rhiannon, a figure with longstanding relations with the trade unions and the pseudo-left Socialist Alliance. This factions concern is that the right-wing trajectory of the Greens will further discredit the organisation when there are clear signs of a shift to the left among broad sections of the working class and youth.

Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporations Insiders program last Sunday, Rhiannon declared she was disappointed in Di Natales leadership. She stated: You look around the world at the moment, mass movements are on the rise around the world  there is a change in how politics works  it is many people who see capitalism isnt working. She continued: I dont think there is anything wrong with young members who join the party who want to talk about socialism.

Rhiannon was referring to a Greens grouping formed late last year called Left Renewal, which declared it would advocate anti-capitalist and socialist policies. While Rhiannon does not formally belong to the faction, there is little doubt she has influence within it.

Rhiannon proceeded to hail the example of Jeremy Corbyn, who won the British Labour Party leadership in 2015 against a vicious right-wing campaign by appealing to widespread hostility to the militarist and pro-business policies associated with Tony Blair and his successors.

Rhiannon also lauds Bernie Sanders in the US. She is due to address a public forum in Sydney next month on Sanders and Democratic and ecological socialism in the US. Posting the event to her Facebook page, Rhiannon asked: How did a democratic socialist become the most popular politician in the United States?

The differences over orientation are coming to a head with Rhiannons suspension. The NSW Greens executive has condemned the ban on her and denounced the national leaderships demands for constitutional changes as unconstitutional. The tensions could result in a formal split and the establishment of a new self-styled left formation.

Rhiannons repeated invocations of Corbyn and Sanders shows in advance that the real character of such an organisation would be pro-capitalist and hostile to the interests of the working class.

In Britain, Corbyn has betrayed the promises he has made to his supporters. He has capitulated to the Labour Party right wing on issues such as continuing Britains nuclear weapons program, participating in the US-led war in Syria and supporting austerity policies.

In the US, Sanders won 13 million votes in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2016 US presidential election by denouncing his rival Hillary Clinton and the Wall Street banks, and calling for a political revolution. He proceeded to endorse Clintonthe favoured candidate of the corporate elite and the military-intelligence apparatus. Since the election, Sanders has declared support for the nationalist and protectionist economic policies of Donald Trump.

Rhiannon has previously lauded the Syriza-led government in Greece, which won office in 2015 with false promises it would end budget austerity. Within monthsas was entirely predictable given its pro-capitalist programSyriza utterly betrayed the Greek working class and has imposed far deeper cuts to social spending than the parties it replaced.

Rhiannons own political history testifies to the thoroughly conformist and bourgeois character of her perspective, and that of those who support her. She comfortably served in the de-facto Labor-Green coalition from 2010 to 2013, during which time the Greens assisted the minority Gillard Labor government to introduce reactionary policies aimed at privatising health and disability services and attacking tertiary education and welfare.

Most significantly, the Greens collaborated with Labors alignment of Australia with the US pivot to Asia against China in 2011. Over the years since, this alignment has resulted in a massive increase in military spending at the expense of social services and the expansion of American military basing arrangements in the country.

Behind all its left and democratic posturing, the Rhiannon wing of the Greens is an Australian expression of the international efforts to preventhowever temporarilythe development of a genuine socialist movement against the political establishment and the capitalist system it defends.
Last week, more than 30 inmates of the Adelanto Detention Facility in California began a hunger strike protesting the lack of medical care and demanding their release pending their immigration court dates. This is the fourth hunger strike since June 12 at the for-profit facility, located in the desert town of Adelanto in San Bernardino County, which is used to jail immigrants awaiting deportation. The jail can hold 1,900 inmates and was at near capacity in March, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

There has been conflicting information from authorities as well as from friends and relatives of the hunger strikers who are in direct communication with them. Adelanto officials have made it virtually impossible for journalists and others to determine exactly what is going on at the camp, how many have been on strike and for how long.

Reports suggest the strike began one morning when nine men, most of whom were asylum seekers from El Salvador, refused to go back to their cells after breakfast until they could see someone about their concerns. They were then pepper sprayed and forced back into their cells, according to ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice and Tristan Call, a spokesman for the detainees.

Some of the detainees were slammed against the wall and one detainee was beaten so severely that he had a dental crown knocked out. The guards then forced them to take hot showers, worsening the pain from the pepper spray, and humiliated them with verbal insults. ICE and GEO Group, the private prison company that runs the jail, promised the hunger strikers that they would investigate the incident and punish the guilty parties.

The men filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Securitys Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which said that in addition to the beatings they were denied medical treatment and access to their lawyers. ICE spokeswoman Kice wrote, The claim the men involved in this disturbance were beaten is a gross and regrettable exaggeration.

The hunger strikers demanded that they be immediately released on their own recognizance (since we do not have the resources to pay inflated bond amounts) and good faith negotiation from ICE with our entire group of hunger strikers and a lawyer of our choosing present.

According to the strikers, bond rates are kept at unreasonably high amounts to deny detainees release, and ICE lied to them about their role in the issue. Isaac Lopez Castillo, a spokesman for the group, told activists by telephone, ICE lied to us, because with the bond issue, we believed that [what ICE told us] was true, that only a judge can decide. But now we realize thats not true, that these bonds are given by ICE. ICE can do something to lower the bonds ... they can parole us without bond. We feel that they tricked us, and we are going to continue because we arent anyones toys.

In another statement the group declared, We are from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. We ask for your attention, because Adelanto is one of the prisons which exists for those who are seeking political asylum, and in reality our records are clean, none of us have prior criminal records. The bail is set impossibly high, and its a humiliating joke because we are poor, we dont have that kind of money.

Reportedly, a group of Haitian immigrant detainees have joined their Central American comrades on hunger strike.

The group has also protested against the lack of Spanish-language paperwork, unclean food that is only given to them once a day, used underwear worn by other inmates, belongings of detainees thrown away, and short religious services.

The Adelanto hunger strikers had planned to refuse meals for a minimum of 72 hours until their demands were met. Rallies have been held in their defense outside of the Adelanto jail and outside of the Los Angeles ICE office. Another hunger strike had broken out at the same time in Tacoma, Washington, by 35 immigrant women detained at the Northwest Detention Center, which is also run by the same private prison company, GEO Group.

On June 14, a hunger strike led by 30 women at the Adelanto jail refused food for 24 hours until they received medical care, basic respect from guards, lower bond rates, and to be returned to their families. The strike ended the next day when many of the women received medical care.

At least six people have died at the Adelanto jail in the last five years, three of them since March 22, making it the deadliest immigration detention center in the country. In April, Nicaraguan national Osmar Epifanio Gonzalez-Gadba died from injuries after attempting suicide by hanging a week prior. He had been held in solitary confinement in a one-man room when guards reportedly discovered him.

In a 2012 internal investigation of the jail, ICE found numerous health care requests denied, little record keeping, and failure to report sexual assaults.

Another report from 2015 documented how 44-year old Raul Ernesto Morales-Ramos had died from liver and kidney failure after waiting more than a year to see a doctor. The high turnover of medical staff and the lack of medical supplies led to even more delays. Medical experts from Human Rights Watch concluded that Morales-Ramos was most likely dying from cancer.

The conditions at Adelanto were so notorious that a dozen members of Congress wrote a letter to ICE stating their opposition to the expansion of the jail because of the abuses.

Immigrants can wait months, if not years, in the for-profit jails run by ICE and built by Democratic and Republican administrations. According to the Department of Justice and Syracuse Universitys TRAC research center, there are 326 immigration judges handling 600,000 pending cases. Even if there were a moratorium on new cases, it would take more than two years to go through all the remainder.

While immigration cases are pending ICE can decide whether to hold a person indefinitely if they are determined to be a potential flight risk. At least half, and in some years up to two-thirds, of detainees in ICE custody are awaiting DHS to proceed with a court hearing with the median bail set at $8,000. One in five immigrants stay in jail because they cant afford to post bail.

At least 41,000 immigrants have been arrested since Donald Trump took office, inaugurating a wave of repression against working class immigrants. The number arrested is up 38 percent from the same period last year, with more than 10,000 labeled non-criminal immigrants, an increase of 150 percent from a year before.

In his March budget proposal, President Trump plans to spend an additional $1.5 billion on expanded detention, transportation, and removal of illegal immigrants.
Asia

Hong Kong newspaper journalists protest

Journalists from the Hong Kong-based tabloid Apple Daily, published by Next Media, demonstrated outside the companys Tseung Kwan O headquarters on July 5 over management cost cutting plans. The action followed the sacking of two long-serving staff members in the finance section without notice on June 29.

Apple Daily told workers it planned to dismiss editorial employees and rehire them as freelancers and contractors. Several employees from the newspaper were asked to leave the company by the end of last month and become contractors or freelancers under contracts lasting from six to 12 months. Some departments and teams were also encouraged to form their own companies to work for Next Media under a sub-contracting system.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association, in anticipation of making a deal with management, urged members not to accept the outsourcing arrangement, at this stage.

Taiwan railway workers demonstrate

About 20 members of the Taiwan Railway Union protested outside the ministry of labour in Taipei on June 30 to demand the minister stop railway workers from being disciplined for taking what they claimed was a legal holiday over the Lunar New Year. Over 330 workers are affected.

A union spokesman said they were being wrongly disciplined by the Taiwan Railway Authority for not complying with a shift schedule which the union considered illegal. If we do not have any right to reject overtime, we are slaves, not workers, he said.

India: Kerala government hospital nurses on strike

Nurses from state government hospitals in Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Malappuram and Kozhikode have been on strike since June 28 for a wage rise. The monthly minimum wage for nurses was set in 2013 at 9,500 rupees ($US148). Nurses claimed that most hospitals are paying below the minimum wage, which they want increased to 20,000 rupees.

The Indian Nurses Association (INA) and United Nurses Association (UNA) said a state-wide one-day strike is planned for July 11 involving 80,000 nurses, who will march to the government secretariat with their demands. Some nurses from the INA are already on a hunger strike. A UNA spokesperson said private hospital nurses would soon join the strike.

UNA members from 40 private hospitals in Thrissur district walked out on June 19 demanding minimum pay on par with government hospital nurses. They complained that some hospitals keep them as trainees indefinitely with a stipend of 6,500 rupees a month.

A striking nurse told the media We have no option now. Even if we starve to death we have decided that we will fight this to the end because we cannot survive on this meagre salary in todays world. The Kerala industrial relations committee is to decide on the nurses demands on July 20.

Tamil Nadu auto parts factory workers protest

A group of Pricol auto-parts manufacturing workers in Chennai demonstrated at the companys Chepauk plant on June 30 to oppose disciplinary action imposed on 840 employees. Pricol withheld eight days pay from each worker for participating in a one-day strike in April in support of demands by local farmers.

Twenty-two workers began a hunger strike on June 25 over the issue with six still continuing the protest. The June 30 demonstration was supported by several workers and farmers organisations. A protest outside the state secretariat in Chennai was moved to Chepauk after police intervened and began arresting demonstrators.

Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health workers protest

Lady Health Workers (LHW) in Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province demonstrated outside the district health office on Monday to demand a conveyance allowance and distribution of unpaid salaries. The LHW program provides essential health services throughout rural Pakistan and poorer areas of cities where proper health facilities are not available.

Workers said their job required a lot of travel for which they received no compensation. They also complained that their monthly salary was just 7,000 rupees ($US64.75) and demanded the payment of arrears outstanding since their jobs were made permanent following a court order in 2012.

The protest was called off after the district health officer agreed to take their demands to the provincial government.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa salt mine workers strike again

Salt and gypsum mine workers in Karak district walked off the job on Monday to demand compensation for the death of a co-worker and another who was seriously injured in a mining accident. Workers said frequent accidents have cost many lives and serious injuries. They complained that while the mine owners and government avoid paying compensation they repeatedly ignore workers demands for adequate safety equipment.

Their action followed a 24-hour strike in May over the same issues. They also called for marriage and death grants for workers sons and daughters, accurate identity records of workers on duty in the mines, frequent mine inspections and age benefit cards. Workers also struck in December over the same issues.

A long-standing complaint was that there were no ambulance facilities at the Karak mines and that access roads were in disrepair, causing delays in getting injured workers to hospital.

Punjab hospital workers protest

Medical staff, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and others at the DHQ Teaching Hospital in Sahiwal, Punjab province demonstrated at the hospital for several days this week over the suspension of 72 staff for taking leave during Eid holidays. The suspension order impacted eight doctors, 14 nurses and 50 other workers. Workers also protested against late night inspections of the female doctors hostel and advanced other long-pending demands.

Hospital authorities have frequently used administrative measures to intimidate health workers who have been constantly demanding a service structure, allowances and permanent jobs. The protest was organised by a joint action committee comprising the Young Doctors Association (YDA), Young Nurses Association, Pakistan Paramedical Staff Association and Sahiwal Paramedical Staff Association.

A YDA spokesman said the protesters were also demanding a better teaching environment, proper facilities in the emergency, pathology, pharmacy and radiology departments, additional staff to cope with increasing numbers of patients, an end to oppressive behaviour by management, especially against female doctors, and improvement in security.

Bangladeshi garment workers demonstrated

Several hundred workers from SHB Garments in Khilgaon Chowdhury Para, Dhaka protested outside the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Associations office on Monday over the sudden closure of their factory. Workers said they returned from Eid vacation to find their factory shuttered and a management notice on the gate saying the plant was closed for renovations.

Workers demanded their legal termination entitlements and back pay or that the factory be reopened. Some workers had been at the factory for ten years. A recent media report claimed that over 2,800 workers in Bangladeshs readymade garments sector were terminated in the first three months of 2017.

Australia and the Pacific

Victoria: Locked out CHH plywood mill workers forced onto inferior pay deal

The ten-week company lockout of workers at the Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) plywood mill at Myrtleford was lifted on July 2 after a majority of the companys 200 workforce accepted a management enterprise agreement. A previous vote in early June rejected the same wage deal, 97 to 86. Last Saturdays ballot voted 111 yes to 70 no on the same offer.

The workers, consisting of Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), Electrical Trades Union of Australia (ETU) and Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) members and 56 non-union employees, accepted 2 percent annual pay increases over three years back-dated to April last year.

The workers were locked out on April 19 after planning to take limited industrial action, including rolling stoppages and overtime bans. The unions original claim was for 3 percent annual pay increases, one weeks annual leave allowable in the Christmas holiday period and better access to income protection insurance.

The locked out workers who were maintaining a picket outside the Myrtleford plant were isolated by the unions, whose members at CHH mills at Tumut and Morwell remained working. Last week the unions told the company that they would drop their claim for a 3 percent annual pay increase over three years and accept the companys 2 percent offer, and reduce back-pay claims.

Western Australian university workers protest

Over 100 Murdoch University employees demonstrated outside the Fair Work Commission (FWC) in Perth on Tuesday over an application by the university to tear up its existing enterprise agreement covering over 3,500 academic and administration staff. The FWC began hearing the universitys case on Tuesday.

If successful the university could legally justify cuts to superannuation, annual leave, redundancy agreements and employer-provided parental leave, and future salaries with some wages slashed by up to 39 percent.

Murdoch Universitys existing agreement expired on 30 June 2016. The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and university have been in negotiations over a new agreement since April last year.

The university made an application to the FWC in December for termination of the existing agreement and force workers onto the inferior industry award.

The NTEU responded with a half-day walkout and rally and a so-called Murdoch Fighting Fund. No further industrial action has been organised. Instead, the NTEU has called on the university to resume negotiations and indicated its willingness to do a deal. A union representative has said that the union has agreed to 12 of the claims demanded by university management and is willing to negotiate on 13 others.

Victorian grain-handlers vote on industrial action

Australian Workers Union (AWU) members in Victoria have begun voting on what form of industrial action they will take in their dispute over a proposed enterprise agreement with GrainCorp. The ballot asks workers to agree to a series of stoppages of varying duration and some bans on overtime, the spread of hours worked and staggered lunch breaks.

An AWU spokesman alleged that GrainCorp management, after demanding a pay freeze, is now offering increases of 1.8 percent a year combined with removal of a provision banning forced redundancies and wants to pay casuals and labour hire workers less than the permanent workforce.

The grain-handlers are employed at sites in the Western District, Central Victoria, the North East, the Southern Mallee and the Wimmera.

Spanish diplomatic staff in Sydney on strike

Eight workers at the Spanish consulate-general in Sydney walked off the job last month after the Spanish government refused to pass on a 3.3 percent pay increase ordered by the Fair Work Commission as an increase to Australia's minimum wage. Workers said their wages have been frozen for nine years.

The workers, who are permanent residents in Australia, met with the director of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Sydney during the week seeking assistance. Most services at the consulate-general have been halted as a result of the strike.

Similar strikes are occurring at Spains embassy in Argentina and at embassies, consulates and trade commissions in North America and Europe.

New Caledonian nickel smelter workers end strike

Seventy union members at the SLN smelting plant in New Caledonias capital Noumea, ended a week-long strike on Monday. They walked out on June 26 demanding transparency in the companys performance plans and reinstatement of six fellow workers sacked allegedly for serious misbehaviour. Details of the agreement to end the dispute have not been released.
The events of this weeks G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany reveal the two basic conflicts tearing apart contemporary capitalist society. There is the intensifying struggle between rival national cliques of bankers and billionaires and the growing struggle of the international working class against all of them.

While the rulers of the worlds 20 leading economies gathered in Hamburg to fight amongst one another over the division of the loot extracted from the working class, they were completely united behind the violent suppression of popular opposition to their attacks on living standards and democratic rights.

On Thursday, as 100,000 people began to assemble for Shut Down Capitalism protests, police assaulted a central march of 12,000 people, arresting many and attacking others with tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and water cannons.

At least 11 protesters were hospitalized with serious injuries, as tens of thousands of police turned downtown Hamburg into a war zone patrolled by SWAT teams with automatic weapons. Protesters traveling from Switzerland, the Netherlands and France were branded left extremists and turned back by authorities at the German border.

The brutal crackdown was escalated on Friday.

Police officials justify the police state operation by pointing to the actions of rioters. But given the well documented infiltration of political organizations by German police agencies, one can safely assume that any rioting that occurred was carried out with the involvement of police provocateurs assigned the task of creating a pretext for a massive show of force. The great majority of protestors remained peaceful.

Authorities in Germany and across the European Union fear the growth of social anger and a rising revolutionary mood among the youth. Over half of young Europeans told an EU-sponsored poll this year that they would join a large-scale uprising against the political system. The German authorities aim to terrorize not only protesters who are still gathering in Hamburg, but the expanding ranks of people around the world who oppose the capitalist system.

The police operation in Hamburg exposes the political and class content of the opposition of the EU, Berlin and Paris to the Trump administration. While posing as enlightened, anti-nationalist supporters of democracy and the environment, the European leaders oversee a vicious assault on demonstrators protesting social inequality. The suppression of opposition from below is central to their bid to challenge the United States for imperialist supremacy.

The fact that the Hamburg crackdown takes place in a city run by the Social Democrats and the Greens simply underscores that this is the policy not of a faction of the ruling elite, but of the entire capitalist class and all of its political servants.

The heads of state assembled at the G20 personify an entrenched capitalist oligarchy that is driving the world to disaster. All of themincluding Rothschild banker-turned French president Emmanuel Macron; the representatives of the oligarchs who emerged from capitalist restoration in Russia and China, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping; the Saudi oil sheikhs; and the multi-billionaire US presidentare yes-men of Wall Street, the City of London and the stock exchanges of Frankfurt and Paris.

The billionaire financial elite has enriched itself massively since the 2008 Wall Street crash, when their criminal speculation in the US housing market sank the world economy, plunging it into its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. With contempt for rising social distress and popular anger, they funneled trillions of dollars and euros from the public coffers into the banks, the stock exchanges and their own pockets.

The major powers launched the G20 summit in 2009 to show their supposed unity and celebrate their success in handling the crash via these bank bailouts. In the communique from its 2009 Pittsburgh summit, the G20 hailed the transfer of massive sums to the super-rich, declaring: It worked Our forceful response helped stop the dangerous, sharp decline in global activity and stabilize financial markets.

Faced with the exposure of corporate criminality that had impoverished billions of people worldwide, bourgeois politicians held up the bailouts and the establishment of the G20 as proof of capitalisms historic viability. The crisis of financial capitalism is not the crisis of capitalism The crisis of capitalism calls for its moralization, not its destruction, then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy proclaimed, while former French Socialist Party Prime Minister Michel Rocard hailed capitalism as the most democracy-compatible social system.

The wars and financial eruptions of the last decade have given the lie to the defenders of capitalism. The bailouts did not halt the industrial collapse or prevent future financial crises. Rather, they consolidated an international aristocracy whose privileges are based on staggering levels of social inequality. In 2017, the wealth of the worlds eight richest billionaires surpasses that of half of the worlds population.

Over the same period, the struggle among the ruling classes over the division of the worlds wealth has escalated to the point of all-out global conflict. With political and geo-strategic conflicts openly pitting the major powerswhether enemies or alliesagainst one another, the Hamburg summit is on the verge of concluding without reaching an agreement on a final communique. The current debacle may very well be the last such gathering.

In the run-up to the summit, Washington reiterated its rejection of the Paris climate accord in the face of protests by European and Asian officials, while Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping mounted dueling tours of Europe. Trump gave a speech in Warsaw to back Polands far-right, anti-EU regime even as Xi held talks in Berlin to consolidate growing EU-China economic ties.

On Friday, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held an inconclusive meeting, agreeing to another shaky cease-fire in southern Syria, where NATO and Russian forces have on several occasions nearly clashed. However, they failed to reach any agreement on the US military stand-off with nuclear-armed North Korea, which borders Russia and China. After the two met, US press commentary soon focused on incendiary allegations of Russian hacking of the American elections.

Explosive conflicts between the G20 powers exist in virtually every corner of the globe, including the current face-off between Indian and Chinese troops over territory in the Himalayas claimed by both China and the Kingdom of Bhutan. Perhaps the most destabilizing conflicts, however, are the growing threats of trade war between the imperialist states at the heart of the world financial system.

After Trump threatened the EU with tariffs on its steel exports to the United States, EU officials indicated that they are preparing a list of retaliatory tariffs on US goods. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker commented, We are ready to take up arms if need be.

Bitter experiences like the Hamburg protests are driving the working class, across Europe and internationally, onto the road of world socialist revolution. The financial oligarchy is beyond reform. The only way forward is a genuinely revolutionary policy, mobilizing the working class in struggle for a direct assault on the capitalist class, with the aim of confiscating its obscene fortunes, seizing control of the major banks and corporations, and placing them under the democratic control of working people.
Missouris Republican-controlled legislature passed a law that will go into effect on August 28 reversing the city of St. Louiss 2015 wage increase; lowering it back to the states standard.

The minimum wage rate in St. Louis will fall from $10 per hour to a miserly $7.70, a 23 percent decrease. Missouris minimum wage is only slightly higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25, which has not seen an increase in 10 years.

The citys new minimum wage went into effect in May and was set to bump up to $11 in January 2018. However, the increase still left the minimum wage lower in real terms than it had been in 1968, nearly half a century ago. A report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that if the minimum wage had kept pace with the growth in worker productivity it would have reached $21.72 an hour by 2012.

The ordinance passed by the city of St. Louis in 2015 led to a legal battle between the city and local business groups that reached the Missouri Supreme Court.

The city won the battle which allowed the minimum wage in the city to increase only two months ago; however, the Missouri General Assembly passed a new law earlier this year that prohibits local governments from setting a higher minimum wage than what the state requires. Even if the minimum wage were to remain at $10 an hour it would place an individual worker without children or dependents near the poverty line.

The rollback of St. Louiss minimum wage could serve as a precedent for other states passing similar laws to override city legislation. At least 17 US states have enacted preemption laws such as the one in Missouri. One of these is Alabama, where Birmingham had passed legislation increasing the minimum wage to $10.10.

The Democratic Party nationally has used the minimum wage issue as a means of bolstering support in election years with several other city councils approving nominal increases to be phased in over a number of years.

Most recently, Minneapolis approved a $15 minimum wage increase which will be phased in by 2019 for large employers but not until 2021 for businesses with fewer than 100 employees.

As of July 1, many workers across the country got raises depending on the cities in which they live. Chicago went to $11, Los Angeles went to $12, San Francisco went to $14, and Washington D.C. went to $12.50 an hour. The states of Oregon and Maryland also saw increases in their minimum wages$10.25 and $9.25 respectively. The state of California is planning to raise its minimum wage to $15 by 2022.

While Republicans argue that the solution to unemployment is for workers to be paid poverty wages and the Democrats call for derisory increases as means of staving off social opposition, both parties agree that workers in the US do not have the right to a living wage.

St. Louiss Democratic mayor, Lyda Krewson has absurdly postured as a defender of low wage workers, criticizing the new state law a setback for working families. The state has preempted cities from enacting laws on many issues, including guns, cold medicine, and now our minimum wage.

Meanwhile Missouris Republican governor, Eric Greitens, responded to such comments by stating that raising the minimum wage will kill jobs and take money out of peoples pockets.

Greitens cited a recent study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research based on Seattle, where the minimum wage will gradually reach $15 an hour based on legislation passed in 2014. The report shows that the wage increase may be hurting low-wage workers. The report found that such workers made $125 less each month on average, due to the lowering of their hours. Liberals have questioned the studys veracity and its results remain contested in the political arena.

Another report published in 2016 by the National Employment Law Project showed that historically, since 1938, year-over-year employment increased 68 percent of the time after each federal minimum wage increase. Additionally, those industries most affected by minimum wagenamely, retail and hospitalitysaw an increase in employment 82 percent of the time. The authors of this report insist that there is no correlation between federal minimum-wage increases and lower employment levels. This would mean that other factors besides minimum wage could be driving the Seattle study cited by Greitens.

Despite his open opposition to increasing the minimum wage Greitens refused to sign the new bill into law, stating, I disapprove of the way politicians handled this. He complained that politicians dragged their feet for months which in turn led to many different wage levels across the state. Thats why I wont be signing my name to their bill. However, according to state law, the bill will pass even without his signature.

It is impossible to determine at this point how many employers will actually slash pay back down to the lower level or what sort of effect it will have on the abysmal social conditions which prevail in the once heavily industrialized city.

A 2015 study showed that St. Louis ranked sixth in a list of large US cities with high poverty levels. It came behind Detroit, Cleveland, Fresno, Memphis, and Milwaukee with a rate of 28.5 percent.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for more than two hours Friday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, amid the growing threat of a military clash between the worlds two biggest nuclear powers, whether in Syria or Eastern Europe. After the meeting, which lasted far longer than the half-hour that had been planned, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in separate statements announced an agreement on a ceasefire and establishment of a so-called de-escalation zone in southwestern Syria.

Lavrov said the ceasefire was set to take effect at noon Damascus time on July 9. Tillerson called it a defined agreement and added that the two leaders had a lengthy discussion of other areas in Syria where we can work together.

At a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe following his meeting with Trump, Putin said other topics the two discussed included Ukraine, cybersecurity and fighting terrorism.

On North Korea, Tillerson acknowledged there was no agreement, telling reporters, The Russians see it a little differently than we do, so were going to continue those discussions and ask them to do more. But he described Trump and Putin as having positive chemistry in their first meeting, and said their discussions had been very constructive.

The US secretary of state said that Trump opened the meeting by raising the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US election. Trump, he said, returned to the question several times and pressed it robustly. But after Putin repeated his previous denials of any Russian meddling, the two agreed to move on. I think what the two presidents, I think rightly, focused on is how do we move forward, Tillerson said.

This outcome of the meeting, upon which the American media has been fixated for days, will only exacerbate the political warfare within the American ruling class and state over US policy toward Russia. The internecine conflict that has been raging for nearly a year is centered on divergent but equally reactionary and war-mongering positions on US imperialist policy.

Trump speaks for a faction that wants to wean Russia away from China and Iran in order to focus US aggression on China. His opponents, the dominant sections of the intelligence apparatus, in alliance with the Democratic Party and a section of Republicans, want to escalate the confrontation with Russia in both Syria and Eastern Europe. It sees neutralizing Russia as an essential precondition for settling accounts with US imperialisms most serious rival, China.

The Democrats, working hand in glove with the CIA, have been conducting an hysterical campaign on the basis of concocted allegations that the Russian government intervened in the US election in favor of Trump, whose campaign supposedly colluded with Moscow. An indication of its response to Fridays meeting between Trump and Putin was provided by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (Democrat of New York). Schumer called the meeting disgraceful. He said in a statement, President Trump had an obligation to bring up Russias interference in our election with Putin, but he has an equal obligation to take the word of our Intelligence Community rather than that of the Russian president.

Nicholas Kristof, whose specialty on the New York Times editorial board is authoring propaganda pieces that seek to cloak US imperialist wars in the garb of human rights, published a McCarthyite-style column following the meeting that began with a grab bag of longstanding, largely unsubstantiated allegations against Putin:

In Hamburg, Germany, President Trump is thundering against the free press that covers him, while getting lovey-dovey with the leader of a country that attacked American and French elections, that invaded Ukraine, that helped slaughter civilians in Syria, that was involved in shooting down a civilian airliner over Ukraine, that murders critics, and that brutalizes gay people in Chechnya.

The renewed frenzy in the media and among Democrats directed against Trumps supposed softness toward Russiaand Syrian President Bashar al-Assadactually began on Thursday, following Trumps joint press conference in Warsaw with Polish President Andrzej Duda. While Trumps subsequent speech at the monument to the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 against German occupationa fascistic rant that presented Islam as a threat to Western civilization and praised god, country and the will to survivereceived generally positive reviews in the US media, Trumps press conference was roundly condemned.

This is because Trump again questioned the claims of US intelligence agenciesasserted without any factual substantiationthat the Russian government had hacked the emails of the Democratic Party and the Hillary Clinton campaign and leaked damaging information to WikiLeaks in order to tip the election toward Trump.

In response to a question from NBC correspondent Hallie Jackson, Trump said, I think it was Russia, but I think it was probably other people and/or countries, and I see nothing wrong with that statement. Nobody really knows.

But what particularly enraged the White Houses establishment critics was the fact that Trump raised the example of the false intelligence reports on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that were used to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

This prompted a parade of Democrats and media pundits to appear on the cable news networks on Thursday denouncing Trump for undermining the US intelligence agencies while on foreign soil.

Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, declared, The presidents comments today, again casting doubt on whether Russia was behind the blatant interference in our election and suggestinghis own intelligence agencies to the contrarythat nobody really knows, continue to directly undermine US interests.

CNN interviewed the former director of national intelligence, James Clapper, who said the intelligence agencies saw no evidence whatsoever that it was anyone involved in this other than the Russians. Clapper denounced Trump for failing to take a hard line on Russia, saying it encouraged Putin to keep doing what hes doing.

CNN published an article Thursday, timed for the eve of Trumps meeting with Putin, headlined Russia steps up spying efforts after election. The article, in typical fashion, cited, with one exception, unnamed current and former US officials, who made vague assertions about increased Russian spying that were not only devoid of substantiation, but lacking in specific facts. This obviously planted propaganda piece argued for a more aggressive policy toward Russia, hinting at military action.

The officials say they believe one of the biggest US adversaries feels emboldened by the lack of a significant retaliatory response from both the Trump and Obama administrations, CNN wrote. This article was cited throughout the day as authoritative proof that Trumps coddling of Putin was threatening American democracy and undermining US interests around the world.
In a further calculated provocation on the eve of talks between US President Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, two US B1-B strategic bombers flew over the South China Sea on Thursday. Trump and Xi are due to meet today on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany, where the US is expected to demand tough sanctions to compel North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs.

Japanese fighters joined the American bombers for a night exercise over the East China Sea, where Japan is engaged in an intensifying dispute with China over rocky outcrops known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. The US aircraft then flew south over the South China Sea to conduct a freedom of navigation operation to challenge Chinese territorial claims.

The bomber flight came less than a week after a US guided-missile destroyer deliberately intruded within the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit claimed by China around Triton Island in the Paracel Islands. Beijing reacted by condemning that incursion as a serious political and military provocation.

Asked about yesterdays flight by US bombers, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said there was no problem with freedom of navigation or overflight for the East and South China Seas. However, he added: China resolutely opposes individual countries using the banner of freedom of navigation and overflight to flaunt military force and harm Chinas sovereignty and security.

Two US officials told Reuters yesterday the US planned a test of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system in the coming days. China and Russia have both opposed the installation of a THAAD battery in South Korea, pointing out that its powerful X-band radar can spy on military installations deep within their territory. While the THAAD test will take place in Alaska, it can add to the tensions with Beijing and Moscow.

Xi will meet Trump after the US seized on a North Korean test on Tuesday of a purported intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The US called a UN Security Council emergency session on Wednesday where US ambassador Nikki Haley demanded that all countries, particularly China, impose crippling sanctions on Pyongyang. She warned that the US was prepared to use its considerable military forces against North Korea if that failed.

Yesterday, the US handed China a draft of the resolution it intends to place before the UN Security Council, a resolution likely to include punitive sanctions on finance and the sale of oil to Pyongyang. China and Russia have both opposed sanctions that will strangle the North Korean economy and any US attempt at regime-change or military action against North Korea.

In a bitter attack in the UN Security Council on Russia and China, Haley declared: To sit there and oppose sanctions or to sit there and go in defiance of a new resolution, means youre holding the hands of [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-un. She warned that the US was prepared to impose secondary sanctions on countries that failed to implement US demands. Last week the US Treasury placed bans on two Chinese companies for doing business with North Korea.

In a bid to completely cut off North Korea from the global financial system, US prosecutors have obtained warrants to seize funds that involve eight of the worlds largest banks. According to legal filings unsealed this week, five major US banks, including Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup, along with three European banks are accused of processing more than $700 million of prohibited transactions linked to North Korean entities banned under US sanctions. The legal moves are clearly a broader warning aimed at choking off Pyongyangs access to international finance.

The Trump administration is not only exploiting this weeks missile launch by North Korea to put pressure on China and Russia. Amid growing schisms with Europe, the White House is trying to haul European allies back into line. The tensions over North Korea are a sharp manifestation at the G20 summit of the deepening crisis of global capitalism that is fueling geo-political tensions, threats of trade war and the growing danger of military conflict.

In the immediate lead-up to the Xi-Trump meeting today, the Trump administration backed away from statements that its efforts to enlist Chinas help on North Korea had failed. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared yesterday that the US had not given up hope in persuading Beijing to do more in what he called the peaceful pressure campaign against North Korea.

Tillerson said China had taken significant action but had paused and failed to go further. He referred to the US imposition of secondary sanctions on Chinese firms, implying it was prepared to inflict more. In another barely veiled threat of military action, he added: This is a campaign to lead us to peaceful resolution because if this fails we dont have very many good options left.

Tillerson echoed Trumps remarks yesterday that he would never give up when asked whether he no longer had faith in President Xi. The comment was clearly at odds with previous remarks by Trump that Chinese efforts to force North Korea to bow to US demands had not worked out. In fact, just before leaving Washington for the G20 summit, Trump accused China of boosting trade with North Korea by 40 percent. So much for China working with usbut we had to give it a try! he tweeted.

This tweet suggests that Trumps meeting with Xi is a last-ditch effort to force China to impose crushing penalties on North Korea to compel it to give up its nuclear arsenal. The flight by B1-B bombers along with last Sundays naval intrusion into Chinese-claimed waters, a major arms sale to Taiwan and sanctions on Chinese companies are clear warnings of what China will face if it defies US demands.

The US threats against China demonstrate that the alleged threat posed by small, impoverished North Korea is simply a convenient pretext for a confrontation with Beijing, which Washington regards as the chief obstacle to ensuring its dominance in Asia.
Portlanders love the outdoors. If you need proof, just go onto ReserveAmerica.com right now and try to book a camping spot for July. Chances are you'll be directed someplace like Lake Owyhee State Park, a short seven-and-a-half hour drive to the high desert of Eastern Oregon, where July temperatures top out at 112 degrees and bottom out just above freezing.

But like so many things in Portlandapartments, jobs, swimming holesthere are semi-secret spots that locals who know the angles use to enjoy our forests at their peak. Here are a few to get you started.

Lost Lake

Lost Lake isn't exactly a secret, but it's here just in case you're unaware of this gem. For those who want a quick getaway to a postcard-worthy spot in the Hoodland, this little lake on the north face of the mountain is ideal in almost every way. First, because it's beautifulin fact, every bit the equal of the south-side lakes that have been booked up since Valentine's Day. Second, because it's big148 campsites, only a few of which can be reserved in advance. Third, because there's a lodge with a well-stocked camp store that assures you won't run out of beer and marshmallows by Saturday afternoon. They'll rent you boats to take out onto that lake, too. For Portlanders who aren't planners, this is the spot. MARTIN CIZMAR.

Take Interstate 84 east to Exit 62. Turn right at Cascade Avenue, then right onto Country Club Road, then left onto Barrett Drive. After 1.2 miles, go right onto Tucker Road, then go two miles and right onto Dee Highway for 6.3 miles. Take a right onto Lost Lake Road and follow twists and turns until you see signs for the resort.

Dispersed camping anywhere in Mount Hood National Forest

Sure, the forest has all sorts of public campsites with useless luxuries like "running water" and "plumbing," but smart locals have known for years that basically every plot of land in the national forest is pretty much fair game for a 14-day span. If you find free spots near a public-use area with restrooms, smart campers might just pay the day-use/parking fee and make use of the facilities there. U.S. Forest Service spokesman Chris Bentley says you're not allowed to wander into nearby campsites and use their showers, but also says it's unlikely that people will chase you down if you're a bad citizen who likes to cheat the Forest Service. There are, however, some simple rules to dispersed camping in the forest, and you should expect a friendly visit from a ranger who tracks such things, including the license plate on your car. But it's pretty simple not to screw it up: Don't light a fire except in a fire pit, and not unless you have a two-gallon bucket, shovel and ax. (The ranger will probably ask to see them, so make sure you have them.) You may not pitch your tent nor drop your personal dookie closer than 100 feet from any trail or 200 feet from any river. And they ask that you pack out every damn thing you pack in, including toilet paper. MATTHEW KORFHAGE.

NF-57/Oak Grove Fork

Follow Oregon 224the Clackamas Highwayalong the river, and mostly what you'll find is a pile of campsites that have already been staked out on the Internet. But it's cool. All you have to do is keep driving, until you hit the end of the road altogether. Take the NF-57 fork at the end of Oregon 224, and you'll begin to discover, on your left toward the river, little untended campsites. These don't have potable water. And they don't have power. And they don't have a restroom. But if you get there early enough (go Thursday night), they are all yours, hugged right up against the Oak Grove Fork tributary of the Clackamas, with the sound of the water lulling you to sleep so you can wake up early and drink beer. MATTHEW KORFHAGE

Green Canyon

Most campgrounds on the west side of Mount Hood are reserved long in advance. Of the exceptions, Green Canyon is your top pick. From U.S. 26 you'll follow a tunnel of moss and pine along a rushing creek, past the 742A trailhead and a tall, black rock face that's popular with climbers. The campground itself is nicely spaced, with 15 sites and two pit toilets. Can't land in the campground or want an even more picturesque spot without water and toilets? Go farther down the road for some well-trod primitive spots. Before you get to the cement bridge there's a pull-off by a handful of unofficial spots near a deep bend in the creek that has its own little sand beach. The ground is flat and soft, with a decomposing pine providing a natural sleeping mat that's very plush. Strike out there, too? Just over the bridge there are a few more spots on the left, by the creek. MARTIN CIZMAR.

Go east on U.S. 26 to Zigzag. Go south on NF-2618 (E Salmon River Road), which is about a mile past the town of Wemme. Follow the road south for approximately four miles. Campground is on your right.

McNeil Campground

The best part of McNeil is the smell: that hot, brittle, high-desert pine scent, like it's about to catch fire at any moment. In the summer, that may or may not appeal to you, but it's what this 34-spot, reservation-free campground along the Sandy River has to offer. There's a smattering of tall pines that don't provide much shade and ground covered in low-set shrubs. There are also stunning views of Hood, and you're near the trailhead for spectacular Ramona Falls, which is an excellent, seven-mile-round-trip hike. MARTIN CIZMAR.

Go east on U.S. 26 to Zigzag. Go north on Lolo Pass Road, Forest Route 18. Follow 18 northeast across to Forest Road 1825, which starts at the right fork onto a bridge. Follow 1825 east to the campground.

Beacon Rock/Reed Island

You can't get around Western Oregon's camping-spot shortage just by crossing the Columbia River. There are only seven state parks on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge and only two have campgrounds not on the reservation system. If you have a boat and don't mind roughing it, consider Reed Island, which sits in the Columbia just east of Vancouver. The 512-acre island has two primitive campsites and there is very little competition for them. A more realistic option is Beacon Rock, which sits in the shadow of the 848-foot basalt monolith that offers some of the region's best traditional rock climbing. The park has 26 forested tent sites that are all first-come. MARTIN CIZMAR.

Take I-84 east to Exit 44 for the Bridge of the Gods. Cross the bridge and turn left to go west on Washington State Route 14, the Evergreen Highway.

Clackamas County Parks

Those who don't want to risk getting shut out of a first-come campsite should remember the three campgrounds in the Clackamas County Parks system (clackamas.us/parks). They do take reservations, but fewer people think to use them. The spot is 116-acre Barton Park, which sits on the Clackamas River near Boring. The park has an impressive 102 campsites, some shaded by old-growth trees, with water and electric hookups, plus another seven primitive sites. There's also Metzler, five miles south of Estacada, which has 60 sites with water and electric hookups and another 15 primitive sites with water nearby. Then there's the jewel of the Clackamas parks system, Feyrer Park, just south of Molalla on the Molalla River. It's heavily wooded and the river has some of the better swimming holes you'll find near a park with toilets. These campgrounds take reservations but the system won't allow you to see available sites if your arrival date is within the next three days, so you should call to ask about a last-minute reservation. If you're trying to find a site this weekend, call 742-4414. Good luckyou'll need it. MARTIN CIZMAR.

9 Hikes Around Hood | Swimming Holes and Hot Springs | Camping Without Reservations

Paddling and Canoeing | Rock Climbing | Steeper, Harder, and Faster

Portland Outdoor Shops | Mt. Hood Pit Stops | Photo Contest





WWeek 2015
Islamic State's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is definitely dead, Iran's state news agency quoted a representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying on Thursday.

"Terrorist Baghdadi is definitely dead," cleric Ali Shirazi, who is representative to the Quds force, told IRNA without elaborating.

The secretive Islamic State leader has frequently been reported killed or wounded since he declared a caliphate to rule over all Muslims from a mosque in Mosul in 2014, after his fighters seized large areas of northern Iraq.
The revolution is already taking place. Heads are rolling, identities are being replaced, clothes are changing. The post-Haredism era is underway. You cant feel the change because the revolution isnt reflected in the media and in politics, but the ultra-Orthodox society is falling apart. Its going out to work, its shedding the Ashkenazi clothing it adopted from the gentiles and moving to jeans, and it can no longer let everyone sit down and study. There is nothing like it in the Jewish people, there has never been anything like it among Jews or gentiles.

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Beneath the radar, the number of IDF recruits and college students is growing. They are becoming more Israeli and less Haredi. Whats happening there is different from our image of them, and from their image of themselves. This column, for example, will be read by many Haredi, despite the immodest pictures in the newspaper. They listen to the radio, decode kosher phones to surf the Web or own another phone. They own a television openly or in the closet.

I know this is happening because the place I live in is located within a Haredi Bermuda triangle, between Beit Shemesh, Beitar Illit and Jerusalem. The revolution is there, and its big.

Haredi Jews pray at the Western Wall. The Ultra-Orthodox parties expressed an official protest against the plan, but were okay with it (Photo: AFP)

The two reasons for what is taking place in the past decade are completely secular: The housing market and the knowledge market. The apartments which can no longer be purchased as a dowry for marriage require another source of income. The Internet makes it possible to reach forbidden places like Wikipedia. Whoever reads online about the conversion of the Iturea and Edom people in the Hasmonean era (without a rabbinate, in one night), the womens gallery in the Temple (where men and women gathered), the Theory of Evolution or Spinozas biblical criticism, will find himself asking philosophical questions. Money threatens the existence; knowledge threatens the spirit.

Revolutions are usually accompanied by a bitter battle, adamant gatekeepers and a street operating without a leader. This is reflected in the politics of 2017. The Western Wall or conversion crisis. The weekly Torah portion or any other dispute on state and religion issues.

Until the Haredi tweeters arrived

The plan for an egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall was finalized a year and a half ago. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was married to a convert through the Conservative movement, was familiar with the US Jewrys distress. Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett, who comes from a family which is partly Conservative, is even more familiar with their distress. Liberal Orthodoxy in Israel is identical to the Conservatives. The branding is different. Bennett is a younger and friendlier version of Netanyahu. They both have enough donors and supporters in the Diaspora.

In those distant days, everyone agreed. The Haredi parties expressed an official protest, but were okay with it. Bennett implemented the decision and built the Israeli plaza. The Reform Jews, by the way, didnt show up in droves. It was all agreed and signed, and the land rested for four months, until the Haredi tweeters arrived.

Allegedly, the Haredim dont surf the Internet and are not exposed to Twitter. Their phones are kosher. In practice, an entire Haredi world exists in social mediaa world which sometimes creates crises like the ones concerning Shabbat or the US Jewry. This creates pressure on the Haredi parties, and then on Netanyahu, to cancel the Western Wall plan and approve the Chief Rabbinates Conversion Bill. Not a major strategy, just a small tweet.

Haredi public activists are stressed out about the opening of the kashrut market, about the opening of Religious Zionist conversion courts and about the Chief Rabbinates loss of power. Reform Jews scare them from afar, like an Indonesian is afraid of Jews although he has never seen any in his life. The revolution at home is more concerning because its part of life.

The absurdity is that Netanyahu, who understands politics very well and understands America just as much, fell into the trap. The original Western Wall plan included three clauses. The most important one was an egalitarian prayer space in the southern Kotel. The conclusions were already implemented during Bennetts term as the minister in charge. The prayer space has been opened and its not about to be closed. On the contrary. The other two clauses, the entrance point and the sites management are not important enough and could be settled through a compromise.

Israels responsiility

The Conversion Bill is a different and more absurd story. The Chief Rabbinate (which has a monopoly over conversions, according to the new law), refused to recognize conversions performed by Ivanka Trumps rabbiuntil her father became president of the United States.

The day after the governments decision, a series of apologists rushed to defend the decision to cancel the mixed plaza, although it wasnt even cancelled. Someone missed the point in order to defend Netanyahu. One day too late, following harsh statements from the US Jewry, Bennett woke up as minister of Diaspora affairs and began doing some damage control in a bid to repair the damage that he had helped create too. He met with leaders of the Jewish Federations and was criticized by the Haredim. He spoke about compromises, while Netanyahu was half silent and half spoke.

That same confusion of roles could be seen in the cornerstone ceremony for the Ariel Universitys new medical school. Bennett sat next to Sheldon Adelson in the festive dinner, while Netanyahu decided to skip the dinner (he only attended the official ceremony), and instead met with Holocaust survivors at the Knesset. Adelson, by the way, is just one of many Jews who dont exactly belong to the Orthodox community.

Bennett (L) and Netanyahu. Confusion of roles (Photo: Moti Milrod)

The main problem at the background of this Jewish tale is that in all surveys conducted in recent years, young American Jews are drifting away from us, assimilating and disappearing. Its a huge failure of the US Jewry and of the Reform movement, which is the biggest movement there. Its our failure too.

The arguments made against the Diaspora Jewry are correct. Its time for them to stop whining, and if they want to make a difference, they should make aliyah.

Considering the fact that they dont listen to my advice, and that the leaders of the State of Israel are afraid to tell rich Jews to make aliyah, the responsibility remains with us. Its true that they have an important part in the relations between the countries. One day, Donald Trump wont be president, and their great fearand I hear this in every meeting I have with leaders of Jewish organizationsis that we will turn into one partys interest. Todays Israel is affiliated with Trump. The Democrats hate him so much, that we may become a rebound.

Its true that they donate a lot of money, but that isnt the story either.

We talk so much about sovereignty, yet we think like a shtetl in the Diaspora. Its the State of Israel which has to contain the internal struggles in the Haredi society, the politics of the tweeters and the rabbis against what is happening on the street. Its the State of Israels responsibility to find a reasonable solution for the Diaspora Jews.

After years in which they have been our rich uncle in America, we are responsible for them too. Neither Reform Jews nor Haredi Jews are the original Judaism. They are a historic development of the past 200 years. Zionism is a continuation of the Hasmoneans and the days of the Kingdom of David. Jewish sovereignty and responsibility.

This is the Jewish peoples nation state. Whoever believes that cant treat millions of Jews like a problem of some tweeter and a political deal.
The Syria cease-fire that the United States and Russia have agreed upon goes into effect Sunday at noon Damascus time.

That's according to US officials and the Jordanian government, which is also involved in the deal. The US officials weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley came out Friday against a decision by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to recognize the West Bank city of Hebron as a Palestinian heritage site, with only a passing mention of its significance to the Jewish faith.

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"UNESCO has voted to designate the Old City of Hebron and the Tomb of the Patriarchs as part of Palestinian territory and a World Heritage site despite protests by the United States, Israel, and other countries," read Haley's statement.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley (Photo: EPA)

"The UNESCO vote on Hebron is tragic on several levels. It represents an affront to history. It undermines the trust that is needed for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process to be successful. And it further discredits an already highly questionable UN agency. Todays vote does no one any good and causes much harm."

Haley's statement also stressed that the decision such as these are influencing its deliberation, on whether it wishes to remain a member of this UN body. "In 2011, in compliance with statutory funding restrictions, the United States stopped funding UNESCO after it admitted the Palestinians as a Member State. While the United States is still on the 58-member UNESCO Executive Board, it no longer has voting rights in the UNESCO General Conference. The United States is currently evaluating the appropriate level of its continued engagement at UNESCO."

Netanahu (Photo: EPA)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued his own, video statement in response to UNESCO's decision. "This is another delusional UNESCO decision. This time they decided that the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron is a Palestinian site, meaning that it is not Jewish, and that the site is in danger. Not a Jewish site? Who is buried there? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leahour patriarchs and matriarchs! And the site is in danger? It is only in those places where Israel is, such as Hebron, that freedom of religion for all is ensured.

In the Middle East, mosques, churches and synagogues in every other place, are being bombedin places that are not Israel. We will continue to protect the Tomb of the Patriarchs, freedom of religion for all and the truth."

Netanyahu also responded by declaring that following the UNESCO decision, Israel will be cutting $1 million from the money is transfers to the UN, and allocating it instead to founding a museum of Jewish heritage at Kiryat Arba and Hebron, in addition to others heritage projects connected to Hebron.

Israel and the US tried in vain to prevent the UNESCO vote's decision. "We've done all we could and beyond that," Israel's Ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-Hacohen said after the vote, visibly upset. "The Poles reneged on our agreement with them and sold us out to benefit the Arab gang."

Speaking before the UNESCO assembly following its vote, Shama-Hacohen also said a phone call he had just received from his plumber was more important than the "disgraceful" decision UNESCO made.

Carmel Shama-Hacohen speaking before the UNESCO assembly following its vote on Hebron (: UNESCO)

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"I'm sure the Israeli government will consider how to respond, including sticks and carrots to the relevant bodies, to ensure Jewish life and heritage in Hebron will not only not suffer, but prosper," he added.

Shama-Hacohen also lashed out against the UN body's decision to invite the mayor of Hebron to the vote, reminding member states that the mayor was a convicted terrorist with Israeli blood on his hands.

The Cave of the Partiarchs in Hebron (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

While Israel and the US strongly protested the decision, Palestinian officials called it a "success" for Palestinian diplomacy.

"This vote is a success for the diplomatic battle fought by Palestine on all fronts, in the face of Israeli and American pressure on member states," the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said.

"Despite a frantic Israeli campaign spreading lies and distorting the facts about the Palestinian rights, the world has recognized our right to register Hebron and the Ibrahimi Mosque under Palestinian sovereignty. The Israeli occupation of our country does not grant it sovereignty over any part of our land," the statement added.

Rula Maayah, the Palestinian Minister of Tourism, said in a statement the decision was a "historical development because it stressed that Hebron" and its historic mosque "historically belong to the Palestinian people."

Hebron claims to be one of the oldest cities in the world, dating from the Chalcolithic period or more than 3,000 years BC, the UNESCO resolution said.

At various times it has been conquered by Romans, Jews, Crusaders and Mamluks.

The city is home to the imposing Tomb of the Patriarchs, the resting place of key Biblical figures Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and one of the most important religious sites to Muslims and Jews alike.

The Cave of the Patriarchs, known to the Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque, is holy to both faiths and has long been a flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel and Hamas are reportedly close to finishing up an intel exchange over the bodies of Israeli soldiers and living Israelis held in the Gaza Strip, as part of a two-stage prisoners exchange deal, according to an Arab reporter at Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar, known to be close to the terrorist organization.

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The deal is reported to include the bodies of Lt. Hadar Goldin and Sgt. Oron Shaul, believed by Israel to have been killed during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, and three living Israelis who had entered Gaza over the past few years: Abera Mengistu, Hisham al-Sayed and Juma Ibrahim Abu Ganima.

According to said reporter, the first part of the dealwhich is supposed to take place in three monthswill resemble the Israel-Hamas deal for IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, from 2009, in which a video of Shalit was first released by Hamas, in exchange for the release of 25 female Palestinian prisoners.

L to R: Goldin and Shaul, beleived to be dead, and Mengistu, believed to be alive

Hamas is demanding as an initial stage that all Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, who were released as part of the Gilad Shalit deal and then arrested once more by Israel, be freed. Further, the terror group is also demanding that women, teenagers and Palestinian parliamentarians imprisoned in Israel be released as well.

In a rather cryptic statement, sources within Hamas further claim that "in addition to the two soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, the organization holds something that could bring to the release all the prisoners held in Israeli prisons."

In exchange, Hamas said it will be willing to release information on the fate of Israelis held in Gaza.

It should be noted that while Israel does not believe that Shaul and Goldin are still alive, Hamas has insisted over the years the two survived the battles in which they were individually captured.

The Gaza border and tje Israeli ID of Abu Ganima (Photos: Roee Idan)

If the deal is struck, its first stage is expected to be implimented within the next three months. Russia, Egypt and UN Envoy to the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov are all believed to have served as go-betweens during the deal's negotiations.

According to the Arab reporter who broke the story, while Israel has voiced its agreement on the first part of the deal, which includes handing over information on the Israelis held in Gaza, it is reticent to sign off on the second past of the deal, which reportedly carries a heavy price. Hamas believes that having agreed to the first stage, Israel will eventually agree to the deal in its entirety.

One point of contention is the release of 53 Palestinian prisoners who were released by Israel as part of the Shalit deal but imprisoned again after once more standing trial. Though Israel has agreed to release all other Palestinian prisoners, it is insisting that the 53 who are held for new offenses remain in prison, at least during the first prisoners exchange. Hamas, however, is insisting that they, too, be released during the first stage.

Last April, then-leader Khaled Mashal issued a statement saying Hamas will not negotiate over the release of Israelis held by it until all Palestinians imprisoned after being released during the Shalit deal be released once more. "One of the obstacles standing in the way of a new deal is Israel ignoring of its responsibilities," he added.

Zehava Shaul with the Golani brigade commander at a memorial for Oron

Hamas sources further stated that any future deals between the organization and Israel will include the release of convicted terrorist and Hamas leader Marwan Barghouti, who was recently caught on tape breaking a hunger strike he helped lead.

Ahmad Sa'adat, a leader of terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, is also stated to be included in any and all future prisoner release deals. Hamas sources added that it is also working on the release of prisoners from east Jerusalem and Israeli Arab citizens.

A source in the Prime Minister's Office declined to comment on the matter, while other inside sources denied the report. According to those inside sources, there has been progress in talks recently, but it was not a significant one and negotiations are still far from a breakthrough. The sources added that a deal would not include the release of prisoners for information only.

Members of Oron Shaul's family responded to reports of an impending prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, saying, "We were made aware of developments only through the media, and we have no idea if the information is correct."

Protest tent outside of the Prime Minister's Residence (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

Family members added that in the coming weeks, Israelis will mark three years since Operation Protective Edge, "but for us, the operation has not ended since our lives became hell. We are begging the prime minister: don't leave Sgt. Oron Shaul, a Golani fighter, in Hamas captivity. Just as you knew to send him on an armored personnel carrier to protect Israeli citizens, you should also know how to bring him home."

Hadar Goldin's family also commented on the reports, saying, "During the past three years, we have known a great deal of suffering and disappointment regarding the return of our son and brother Hadar back to Israel, to the family. We continue our efforts to convince the Israeli government to change the equation and make the holding of IDF soldiers and Israeli citizens a liability to Hamas, instead of an asset."
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for attacking a remote Egyptian army outpost in the Sinai Peninsula with a suicide car bomb and heavy machine gun fire. The assault killed at least 23 soldiers in the deadliest attack in the turbulent region in two years.

The IS made the claim after nightfall Friday, saying in an online statement that it had carried out the attack as the Egyptian army was preparing an assault on IS positions in Sinai. The coordinated attack suggested the Sinai-based militants are among the region's most resilient, after IS in Iraq and Syria, where the so-called caliphate is now witnessing its demise. And it underscored the struggles Egyptian forces face in trying to rein in the insurgency.

Egypt has for years battled militants in Sinai, where the jihadis have exploited the vast arid and underdeveloped region and its disgruntled Bedouin population as an ideal incubator for Islamic militancy even before the IS affiliate has emerged at the forefront of the insurgency.
A Syria ceasefire agreed upon the United States and Russia goes into effect Sunday at noon Damascus time. This according to US officials and the Jordanian government, which is also involved in the deal. The US officials were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity. A spokesperson for the Jordanian government confirmed the ceasefire, with another source telling the Associated Press that Israel briefed on the developing deal by the US.

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Ever since civil war broke out in Syria, there have been repeated spillovers of mortar fire and other forms of ammunition from Syria into Israel, as recent as last week, with Israel then retaliating.

Trump and Putin shake hands, with a Syiran battle in the background (Photo: AFP)

The former Cold War foes have been backing opposing sides in Syria's war. Moscow has staunchly backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, supporting Syrian forces militarily since 2015. Washington has backed rebels fighting Assad. Sunday's truce would also prevent further advances by forces under Iran's command, including Lebanon's Hezbollah militia.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the cease-fire in southwest Syria is designed to reduce violence in an area near Jordan's border that is critical to that US ally's security.

Trump and Putin (: )

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Tillerson stated the agreement with Russia on a cease-fire in Syria is "our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together" there. He discussed the nearly two-and-a-half hour meeting Friday between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, saying they talked about the current nature of relations between the two countries as well as the future of that relationship.

A Syrian battle near the Israeli Golan Heights (Photo: EPA)

The area covered by the ceasefire affects Jordan's security and what Tillerson calls a very complicated part of the Syrian battlefield.

Photo: AFP

Tillerson expressed his hopes that the ceasefire will be expanded to other regions in Syria. He stressed that the US still posits that Assad has no place leading Syria in the long run, and that as some point he and his family will have to give up their rule.

The ceasefire is an unusually pro-active step for the US, whose past attempts to bring about an end to the bloodshed in Syria focused more on backing the rebel forces attempting to take down Assad's army. Previous agreements aimed at a ceasefire were led by turkey, Iran and Russia, with the latter being a consistent supporter of Assad's regime. Both the US and Russia oppose the Islamic State group's presence in Syria.

Putin and Trump (Photo: AP)

The truce is to be monitored through satellite and drone images as well as observers on the ground, a senior Jordanian official said Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details with reporters. Syria ally Russia is to deploy military police in the area. Israel is expected to watch for truce violations.

Israel has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to set up a permanent presence in Syria. Israel has carried out a number of airstrikes in Syria against suspected shipments of "game-changing" weapons bound for Hezbollah.

"The question and concern is of course if it will be exploited by the Syrian regime, Hezbollah and Iran to create new facts on the ground," said Chagai Tzuriel, the director general of Israel's Intelligence Ministry.

Ahead of Friday's truce announcement, Jordanian and Israeli officials expressed concerns about Iranian ambitions.

The Jordanian official said the international community, regional powers and Jordan would not tolerate the creation of a "land line all the way from Tehran to Beirut."

Such a "Shiite crescent" would disrupt the regional balance and be considered a "super red line," he said, referring to rival Sunni and Shiite Muslim political camps led by Saudi Arabia and Iran, respectively.

Jordan previously raised concerns about Iran in talks with Russia, the official said. The Assad government surely received the message, he said, adding that it's unclear how much influence the Syrian president has over his allies.

A successful truce could pave the way for talks about Syria retaking control of border crossings with Jordan that it lost to rebels during the war, the Jordanian official said.

In comments earlier this week, Tzuriel raised three points of concern, including the Hezbollah presence near the Golan and efforts by Iran in Lebanon to build what he said is an "indigenous missile production and upgrade capability."

He also noted last month's linkup of forces belonging to the Iranian axis, including Shiite militias, coming from both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi border, near Jordan. This raises concern that control of parts of the border will allow Tehran "to realize its strategic aim of completing an overland continuum from Iran through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon," he said.

"These are threats which should concern all parties who are interested in stabilizing Syria and the region, including the United States and Russia," he said.

The truce deal, the first such agreement between the Trump administration and Russia, could help the US retain more of a say over who fills the power vacuum left behind as Islamic State is routed from additional territory in Syria.

Washington has been resistant to letting Iranian forces and their proxies gain strength in Syria's south. In recent weeks, US forces have shot down a Syrian aircraft that got too close to American forces as well as Iranian-made drones.

The British ambassador to Jordan, Edward Oakden, said Russia has an important role to play.

"It's obviously incumbent on the Russians to bring pressure to bear on both the (Syrian) regime and the Iranians, and on the regime's Hezbollah allies, to respect the spirit and the letter of this cease-fire and to contribute actively to the establishment of a de-escalation zone, rather than, as it appears, seeking to undermine it," he said in an interview Friday.

Analyst Ahmad Majidyar, who monitors news sites linked to Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said it seems Iran will only deepen its presence.

The Iranians and their proxies "have increased their activities in southern Syria," said Majidyar, director of the Iran Observed Project at the Middle East Institute, a Washington think tank.

Objectives include carving out the land corridor from Tehran to the Mediterranean, challenging the military presence of the US and its allies and opening a new front against Israel once the fight against Islamic State is over, he said.

Earlier this week, the British Times reported that Israel has been pleading with the US and Russia to erect a demilitarized zone in southern Lebanon, without the presence of Hezbollah or other Shiite militias. Israeli officials were later quoted as saying that Israel will not allow Iran or Hezbollah and its affiliates to situate themselves along its northern border.
Fresh from his lengthy head-to-head encounter with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump on Saturday dove into discussions on trade and North Korea in a packed agenda with world leaders at an international summit.

Wrapping up his second trip overseas, Trump was meeting later in the day with President Xi Jinping of China as the US sought to forge a consensus on how to counter North Korea's push to develop its ballistic missile and nuclear program. The White House has tried to pressure Beijing to rein in North Korea but Trump has expressed frustration with the process.

Trump said he had a "tremendous meeting" with Putin as he sat alongside British Prime Minister Theresa May on the sidelines of an international summit in Germany. It marked Trump's first comments on his high-profile talks with Putin in which he raised the issue of Russia's meddling in the 2016 elections and discussed plans for a cease-fire agreement in Syria.
The Thailand army raided local, Israeli-owned businesses on Saturday in the city of Koh Samui, arresting Nati Hadad, the manager of Koh Samui Search and Rescue medical center known to many Israelis, on suspicion of weapons possession. Israeli Consulate to Thailand Orit Shani has already contacted local police and is looking into the matter.

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Hadad's clinic and the Chabad House in Koh Samui were among the businesses raided. According to reports, Thai police were looking for weapons and ammunition. They reportedly found weapons at Hadad's clinic, which was what led to his arrest.

The Thai police raid

X

The moment of Hadad's arrest

Hadad's clinic, which catered to the needs of many of the Israelis visiting Thailand, was due to reopen in a month, and a nightclub of his called Rosa Bar was supposed to celebrate its official reopening the on the night of his arrest.

A week prior to his arrest, Hadad posted that "the clinic was closed because of a few jealous people who reported that I was helping Israelis without a permit at my store. It should be noted that the place was registered as a store and not a clinic and that because of those jealous people, I was exposed to a fine, which was why I decided to close those places and not take a risk. The clinic will open soon in a 24-hour capacity."
UNESCO's recent decision to declare the Cave of the Patriarchs a Palestinian World Heritage Site is only one in a long line of controversial decisions the organization has taken against Israel in the 72 years of its existence.

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UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has 195 member states. Under the title "Building peace in the minds of men and women," the organization leads international cooperation in the fields of education, science and culture. Its stated goal is to contribute to peace and security.

UNESCO (Photo: AP)

UNESCO has a long history with Israel, which officially joined the organization in 1949 and was expelled in 1974 because of archaeological excavations it carried out on the Temple Mount which were seen as unacceptable by the UN.

Five years later, Israel returned to being a member of UNESCO after the United States threatened to stop its funding of the organization.

A History of confrontations

In 2010, the organization determined that Rachel's Tomb was a mosque and called upon the Israeli government to remove the site along with the Tomb of the Patriarchs from the list of national heritage sites.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said at the time, "The attempt to sever the Jewish people from its heritage is absurd. If the places where the fathers and mothers of the Jewish people were buried thousands of years ago are not part of the heritage of the Jewish people, then what is a heritage site?"

Photo: GPO

Following UNESCO's decision, Israel suspended its ties with the organization.

In October 2011, the Palestinian Authority was accepted as a full member of UNESCO by a majority of 107 countries, while 14 opposed and 52 abstained. In light of the vote, Israel announced that it would reconsider its membership in the organization, and even sped up settlement construction in Jerusalem, but none of this prevented the Palestinian flag from being raised at UNESCO headquarters in Paris two months later.

The Palestinian flag raised at UNESCO (Photo: Reuters)

Three years later, the Palestinians failed to pass two resolutions condemning Israel for deliberately killing children during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 and attempting to take control of the Temple Mount and infringing the freedom of worship at the site, as there was little to no evidence for either claim.

Yesterday's decision concerning the Tomb of the Patriarchs was not the first to be adopted by UNESCO on the subject of the holy site.

In October 2015, the organization's executive committee condemned what it called "Israeli aggression" and "illegal measures against freedom of religion and access of Muslims to the Al-Aqsa Mosque."

In addition, the organization called for recognition of Rachel's tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs as part of Palestine and as sacred Islamic sites.

In 2016, the Paris Executive Council adopted a Palestinian proposal that questioned the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall in Jerusalem. 24 countries supported the resolution, in which there is no mention of the Jewish connection to the holy sites, which they call the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Haram al-Sharif. Six states opposed, 26 abstained, and two representatives were absent.

Israel was defined in the resolution 15 times as "the occupying power."

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon tried to quench the flames and made it clear that the Temple Mount was also sacred to Jews.

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova (Photo: AP)

"The theater of absurdity continues," said Netanyahu in response at the time. "I decided to invite our ambassador to UNESCO to Israel for consultations and we will decide what to do, and what will be the continuation of our relations with this organization."

On the last Independence Day, the crisis between Israel and the organization came to a head, when on the very day the state was celebrating its independence, a vote was passed calling for the revocation of Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem. The decision was passed with 22 countries supporting it, while 10 opposed, 22 abstained and three were absent.

Despite the outrageous decision, Israel declared a diplomatic achievement, as Netanyahu noted that after speaking with the leaders and foreign ministers about the vote, many of them changed their minds, as initiallyjust one year ago32 of them supported it, but at the end only 22 voted to pass it.

Finally, the decision yesterday on the Tomb of the Patriarchs has already stirred up a storm, as UN Ambassador Nicky Hailey, speaking on behalf of the US, announced that it would once again reconsider their funding of the organization.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the Group of 20 summit achieved "good results in some areas" despite a logjam with the United States over climate change.

Merkel said discussions at the summit that ended Saturday had at times been "difficult" and that "I can only call things as they are."

She pointed to a hard-won agreement on trade, one in which she said "every word was weighed."

The trade language keeps the G-20's longstanding condemnation of protectionism, but includes themes that echo Trump's position that trade must be balanced and fair as well as free.

The countries agreed that trade needs to be "reciprocal and mutually advantageous" and that countries could use "legitimate trade defense instruments" to protect their markets.

Nineteen members agreed to support the Paris climate agreement, leaving the US out in a separate paragraph that merely "takes note" of the US rejection.
President Donald Trump assailed North Korea as a "problem and menace" Saturday as he met with Asian allies on the sidelines of an international summit to build consensus on next steps after the North's recent test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

"Something has to be done about it," Trump said as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a separate meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump said the two were tackling "the problem and menace of North Korea."

Abe, speaking through a translator, noted that the security situation in the Asia Pacific region has become "increasingly severe" due to North Korea's push to develop its ballistic missile and nuclear program. Abe said he wanted to "demonstrate the robust partnership as well as the bonds" between Japan and the US on the issue.
The Ministry of Strategic Affairs will allocate NIS 4 million to ten fairs in the United States and Europe allowing farmers from the Jordan Valley to sell their peppers, spices and grapes to pro-Israel consumers despite a European boycott.

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The creative solution comes as a welcome relief to farmers in the area who have been suffering economically for years as a result of boycott efforts initiated by BDS and others. Products from the valley that are targeted for boycott include peppers, grapes, spices, figs and dates.

Israeli farmers (Photo: Boaz Rabinovitch)

The economic damage from such activities is significant, with farmers suffering damages totaling roughly NIS 100 million every year.

Residents of the Jordan Valley have previously complained that the Israeli government is burying its head in the sand and not doing anything to protect them. However, for the first time, the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, headed by Minister Gilad Erdan, has decided to allocate NIS 4 million to help the Jordan Valley Regional Council.

The budget will be used to organize 10 international events in the US and Europe, where farmers from the area will be able to display their quality produce and proudly say, "Our produce is legally produced and we provide a livelihood for 6,000 Palestinians who are not cared for by the Palestinian Authority."

In addition to the events to be hosted in the US and Europe, the ministry is set to bring five delegations of foreign journalists to the Jordan Valley to highlight the effects of the boycott on produce.

This is not the first time that the idea was discussed.

Farmers protesting government inaction

In June 2016 a pilot was conducted in which the farmers from the Jordan Valley presented their produce in an 'Israel pavilion' in Moscow, getting 20,000 visitors. Additionally, in September this year, the ministry presented produce from the West Bank at an Israel advocacy conference in Washington.

"The struggle against boycott organizations is preventing damage to the country, but one of the important areas still at risk is Israeli agriculture, which is harmed by the lies spread against it," said Erdan in an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth. "It is very important to promote and showcase its quality and to protect it, and that is the essence of cooperation with the Jordan Valley."

David Elhiani, head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, said that in England and Western Europe, with an emphasis on Scandinavia, products from the Jordan Valley are treated as contaminated goods.

However, Elhiani expressed hope with the plan, saying, "The fairs can save agriculture in the Jordan Valley and expose us to new markets. We hope to reach Asia and the US as well."
Hundreds of demonstrators protested on Saturday in Petah Tikva near the home of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, for his hesitant and slow conduct, according to their claims, in the investigations of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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This is the 32nd demonstration in a row on this issue, with protestors gathering every Saturday near the AG's home. Similar demonstrations are being held this evening in several locations around the country.

Photo: Yuval Hen

The demonstrators were heard shouting "government of the corrupt" and "Netanyahu resign!," waving posters reading "free us from corruption," "Family Advisor to the Government," and "Netanyahu is a disaster."

One of the demonstrators, Aliza Hershkowitz, said, "I am a grandmother and I decided that I would not sit still as long as I see the corruption around us. I work in education and think that this is not the education I want to convey to my children and grandchildren.

"If there is such corruption, then you have to go out into the streets and educate everyone on democracy. The number of demonstrators has grown and we feel that we are doing something instead of sitting at home and complaining.

"Netanyahu divides our country and the wonderful people, and now everyone has is fighting each other. That's how the worst leaders in history acted."

Photo: Yuval Hen

Another demonstrator, Yehezkel Baghdadi, said, "I have been demonstrating here since day one, driving around with a sign on my car that says 'Bibi (Netanyahu) the Prime Minister of Thieves'.

"If (Opposition leader Isaac) Herzog did what Bibi did, a million people would have come out to the streets. Bibi would call on the people and they would kick Herzog out, but here the left is filled with bleeding heart liberals.

"Bibi destroyed this country, destroyed the pensions. The cost of housing and food is too expensive. We will slowly bring the people out (to the streets), we will multiply and become thousands."

At first the demonstrations against Mandelblit took place in front of the AG's house, but the protesters were removed from the vicinity by police and in recent weeks they demonstrated in Goren Square.

The demonstration took place without a permit from police, but the police allowed it to take place as long as the peace was maintained, sending officers to ensure it on each and every Saturday.

Photo: Yuval Hen

Last week, Mandelblit spoke about the PM's investigations and said that the police should be allowed to carry out their work.

"I am aware of the importance of completing the investigation within a short period of time, but alongside the importance of acting quickly, it is important to clarify the suspicions in the best possible manner and to collect evidence in a proper and professional manner," Mandelblit said.

The AG noted that "the investigation is proceeding with great vigor," adding that "as soon as the investigation is over, we will make a decision."
Rabbi Shlomo Erez Helbrans, 55, leader of the "Lev Tahor" ("Pure Heart") ultra-Orthodox sect, was found drowned in a river in the Mexican state of Chiapas on Friday, according to local media.

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying the reports were being looked into by the Israeli embassy in Mexico.

Sect leader Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans

According to local media, Helbrans' body was pulled from the river by rescue forces on Friday afternoon after the rabbi was swept away by strong currents while swimming before Shabbat.

Rabbi Helbrans was the head of a group of forty ultra-Orthodox families who entered the state of Chiapas about three weeks ago, after crossing the border from Guatemala.

From Israel to the US, Canada, Guatemala and finally Mexico

Helbrans was born Shlomo Elbarnes into a secular family in Jerusalem, only becoming religious as a young man. He studied at the Itri Yeshiva in Jerusalem before founding the Lev Tahor sect in the 1980s.

Lev Tahor is an ultra-Orthodox sect comprised of predominantly Israeli Haredi extremists who leave their families behind in Israel as part of a wider boycott of Zionism. The group is widely considered to be a cult for its extreme conduct which adheres to the strict word of Jewish scripture.

Lev Tahor in Guatemala

In the 1990s, the movement was under investigation by Israeli authorities for allegedly collaborating with Islamist elements against state security. Helbrans fled to the United States along with several students who were smuggled out of Israel with fake passports. As such, an additional investigation into Helbrans for kidnapping was launched.

Whilst in the United States, Helbrans was arrested and served two years in prison for kidnapping after assisting a 13-year-old boy go into hiding from his secular mother.

After his release from prison in the US, Helbrans was to be deported to Israel, but instead fled to Canada where he was granted refugee status after claiming persecution in Israel for his religious and political beliefs.

Underage marriage, beatings and psychiatric drugs

According to estimates, the sect numbers about 230 people, of whom about 150 are children.

About three and a half years ago, Canadian authorities blocked the group from transferring underage members to Guatemala after Canadian courts issued a decree requiring some children to be transferred to foster families after being found to have been severely abused.

Welfare officials in Ontario and Quebec claimed that they had evidence of abuse involving beatings, underage marriage, and illegal education. However, the sect succeeded in transferring a number of the children to Guatemala giving rise to a legal battle over the last few years to expel them back to Canada.

In September 2016, at the request of Israeli authorities, Guatemalan law enforcement raided the Lev Tahor compound and arrested its leaders on suspicion of child abuse. The raid prompted its members to leave the site to a new location in eastern Guatemala, and complain that they were being persecuted due of their faith.

Helbrans and the group had crossed the Guatemalan border into the Mexican state of Chiapas several weeks ago.
World powers lined up against US President Donald Trump on climate change, reaffirming their support for international efforts to fight global warming.

The Group of 20 summit that ended Saturday in Hamburg also revealed tensions on trade, as the US administration and international partners forged a deal that endorsed open markets but acknowledged countries had a right to put up barriers to block unfair practices

The summit's final statement made clear that the other countries and the European Union unanimously supported the Paris climate agreement rejected by Trump. They called the deal to reduce greenhouse gases "irreversible" and vowed to implement it "swiftly" and without exception.

The other countries, from European powers such as Germany to emerging ones such as China and energy producers such as Saudi Arabia, merely "took note" of the US position, which was boxed off in a separate paragraph that the summit host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, made clear applied only to the United States.

She said the US position was "regrettable" but that the summit had achieved "good results in some areas," and cited a hard-won agreement on trade that included Trump and the United States but did not erase the ifferences over the issue. She said the talks had been at times "difficult."
YORK  At first Bill Kimbrell thought the portion of a knee joint he found in Beaver Creek was bovine. It did not, however, come from a domestic cow.

Confirmation that the bone is actually from a bison that lived perhaps 10,000 years ago in this area was made Monday, July 3 by no less authority than Nebraska Paleontologist and York native Shane Tucker.

Kimbrell said he was walking the creek bank when he came upon some kids fishing. Taking a step back, Kimbrell felt his heel make contact with something hard.

The kids said, Throw it in the water, but thankfully his did not take their advice.

Kimbrell brought the round artifact to Kent Bedient at the local museum. Bedient knew of Tucker and his paleontological chops so he called in the expert.

Kimbrell and Tucker met downstream from the spillway near Harrison Park the day before the Fourth of July, but were unable to find more bones.

Tucker opined that the bone might have eroded out of the bank or perhaps was washed in during a flood.

Tucker said this area is a fossil dead-zone compared to most areas of the state where he goes when highway or other road excavations reveal possible fossils.

Most of a mammoth was discovered just that way near Lexington years ago. The big machines were called off and the dig site became an education center for the volunteers of all ages who gently exhumed the beast.

Tucker cited the most important find near York to be when an Ice Age animal bearing characteristics of both modern elk and moose was found in 1912 not far from Bradshaw.

That ancient beast, he explained, had the body of an elk with palmate antlers common to todays various moose species.

Kimbrell donated his find to the Anna Bemis Palmer Museum so it will remain where it was discovered.
YORK -- On Friday, July 14, the York County Health Coalition (YCHC) will host a relaunch event from 10 a.m. to noon at the Holthus Convention Center in York.

First Lady Susanne Shore will be on hand to announce how York County will be part of a larger statewide prevention initiative and be part of a listening session as stakeholders will discuss York Countys well-being data and the coalitions priorities for improvement.

State Senator Mark Kolterman will also be attending the event to show his support for the coalition.

York County Health Coalition believes that strong community partnerships are the key to safe, healthy, and successful lives for all people in the York area. Thats why the coalition is committed to raising awareness and understanding, improving access to resources, and building relationships within communities of York County.

The public is invited to this event to get up to speed on York Countys community well-being data, talk about collective impact and take a deeper look at community involvement.

YCHC began in 1996 with the goal of improving the health status and quality of life for all people in York County. Out of the YCHC, Four Corners Health was developed. In 2008, a service array was undertaken which showed that York County statistics were worse than the state average in 4 out of the 10 indicators for child well-being (infant deaths, births to teen moms, rate of juvenile arrests, and foster care rates). Recently the YCHC merged with the York Service Array to share resources. The coalition today works to:

 Build networks to find innovative solutions to improve the lives of children and families by coordinating efforts around clearly defined goals;

 Encourage long-term commitments by a group of community leaders from different sectors to a common agenda for solving specific problems;

 Create a collaborative structure that includes backbone support to guide the vision and strategy, to support and align activities, to establish shared measurement practices and to build public will that advances policy and mobilizes resources;

 Coordinate work across agencies and programs to move outcomes, not specific programs.

The larger statewide prevention initiative, with Nebraskas First Lady as its champion, promotes local community partnerships to keep children safe, support strong parents, and help families address challenges before they become a crisis. Among the partners of this initiative are Nebraska Division of Children and Family Services, Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, Casey Family Programs, Prevent Child Abuse Nebraska and The Sherwood Foundation.

The First Lady and her state and local partners are encouraging communities to bring together the best individuals, resources and strategies to support children and families by:

 Coordinating state and local services and funding to better identify and address family needs;

 Reducing involvement in the child welfare, criminal justice and behavioral health systems;

 Supporting and respecting parents as they raise healthy and resilient children, increase self-sufficiency and well-being;

 Recognizing each communitys unique needs, strengths and resources; and

 Sharing the latest data and evidence about what interventions work best.

There is no cost to attend this event, but it is asked that people register at: https://nebraskachildrenorg.presencehost.net/stay-current/event-calendar.html/event/2017/07/14/york-county-health-coalition-relaunch-event/164579
Mexico City: Mexico and the United States are seeking to forge closer ties to fight arms trafficking and organised crime, Mexico`s interior minister said on Friday, as he and US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly vowed to redouble efforts to battle drug cartels.

"We`re looking at new forms of cooperation on issues like arms trafficking ... and obviously combating international criminal organizations dedicated to drug trafficking," Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong told a news conference.

Osorio Chong did not provide details as he spoke alongside Kelly, who was coming to the end of a three-day visit to Mexico.

Kelly, who on Thursday travelled to one of Mexico`s most lawless regions to discuss the military`s efforts to battle drug traffickers and observe opium poppy eradication, said the two sides aimed to strengthen joint security cooperation.

"We are also working together to defeat the scourge of illegal drugs, with special emphasis on the heroin, cocaine and fentanyl that is flooding the hemisphere and resulting in deaths in both of our countries," Kelly said.

U.S. deaths from opiates including fentanyl and heroin have risen sharply in the last few years, putting the issue at centre stage in efforts to strengthen cooperation on security matters between Mexico and the United States.

Kelly said U.S. President Donald Trump aimed to create "stronger, durable bonds" between the two neighbours, which have been at starkly at odds on some areas of policy under Trump, particularly the Republican leader`s plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Hamburg: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday there would not be many good options left on North Korea if the peaceful pressure campaign the United States has been pushing to curb Pyongyang`s nuclear and missile programs failed.

"We have not given up hope," Tillerson told reporters after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on the sidelines of a G20 summit, just days after North Korea conducted what it said was its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Tillerson said the U.S. approach of stepping up pressure on North Korea through sanctions required patience.

"I call it the peaceful pressure campaign ... This is a campaign to lead us to a peaceful resolution because if this fails, we don`t have very many good options left," he said. "It`s one that requires calculated increases in pressure, allow the regime to respond to that pressure, and it takes a little time to let these things happen."

The United States, Japan and South Korea agreed on Friday to push for a quick U.N. Security Council resolution to apply new sanctions on North Korea. U.N. diplomats said the United States had given China a draft sanctions resolution.

But Washington faces an uphill struggle to convince Russia and China to give quick backing to new U.N. sanctions.

Experts say North Korea`s ICBM launch on Tuesday was a major step forward in its declared intent to create nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States. Some U.S. experts say the missile appeared to have the range to hit Alaska, Hawaii and parts of the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

Washington has warned it is ready to use force if need be to stop North Korea`s weapons programs but the consequences of that could be catastrophic and it prefers global diplomatic action.

Russia has said further sanctions will not resolve the issue and on Thursday objected to a U.N. Security Council condemnation of North Korea`s launch because the U.S.-drafted statement labeled it an ICBM, a designation Moscow disagrees with. Diplomats said on Friday that negotiations on the statement had stalled.

Tillerson said Trump and Putin held differing views on how to deal with North Korea but that Washington would continue to press Moscow to help.

"We`re going to continue those discussions and ask them to do more. Russia does have economic activity with North Korea," he said.

TRUMP TO MEET CHINESE LEADER

Trump is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose country is North Korea`s main trading partner, on the sidelines of the G20 on Saturday. Trump has warned Beijing it could face U.S. economic and trade pressure unless it does more to rein in North Korea.

Tillerson said China`s responses to U.S. calls for it step up pressure on North Korea had been uneven.

"China has taken significant action and then I think for a lot of different reasons, theyve paused and didnt take additional action," he said.

Referring to a U.S. decision last week to impose unilateral sanctions on two Chinese individuals and a shipping firm and to accuse a Chinese bank of money laundering, he said:

"We`ve continued to make that clear to China that we would prefer they take the action themselves and we`re still calling upon them to do that."

Tillerson said a Chinese and Russian proposal for the United States and South Korea to suspend joint military exercises in return for a freeze in North Korean weapons testing was unacceptable as it would freeze North Korea`s programs at too high a level of capability.

"We`re asking North Korea to be prepared to come to the table with an understanding that these talks are going to be about how do we help you chart a course to cease and roll back your nuclear program. That`s what we want to talk about.

"We`re not interested in talking about how do we have you stop where you are today."

North Korea on Friday described Tuesday`s missile test as a "gift package" and vowed to deliver more.

The U.S. will receive more gift packages of different sizes from the DPRK (North Korea) in endless succession, as it tries harder to destroy, by means of sanctions and pressure, the overall national power and strategic position of the DPRK which have been drastically boosted, the official KCNA news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said on Wednesday she would propose new sanctions to the 15-member U.N. Security Council in coming days.

Traditionally, the United States and China have negotiated new sanctions on North Korea before formally involving other council members.

Following a nuclear weapons test by North Korea in September it took the U.N. Security Council three months to agree strengthened sanctions.
Hamburg: Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart Donald Trump that Moscow did not meddle in the US presidential election and Trump accepted it, claimed Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

After the two leaders emerged from a meeting in Hamburg on Friday, on the sidelines of G20 summit, that lasted over two hours -- at one point, First Lady Melania Trump entered the room to hurry them along -- US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump had raised the issue of Moscow's alleged cyber-meddling in the election at the start of their conversation, the Independent reported.

He said the US had talked about such attacks represented a "threat to the democratic process".

An official from the White House, however, later indicated that the President (Trump) had not in fact accepted assurances from Putin that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 election.

"The President opened the meeting raising the concerns of the American people about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election," said Tillerson. "They had a very lengthy and robust conversation on this."

He said Trump pushed him on the issue and Putin stood firm in his denial.

"I think the President is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point," Tillerson said.

In his own briefing to reporters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Trump accepted Putin's assurances that Russia did not meddle in the election.

"The (issue of cybersecurity) got a lot of attention, which is understandable," Lavrov said.

"President Trump mentioned that in the US, some circles are fuelling -- even though they cannot prove (anything -- the allegations of Russian meddling in the US elections)."

When pressed, Lavrov said that Trump or Tillerson would likely provide further information to the press.

"In the course of the months that these allegations have been around, not a single fact has been presented, which is admitted by those in the (US) Congress who have led this movement at some point," Lavrov said.

"And President Trump said that he heard President Putin stating clearly that it is not true, that the Russian government did not meddle" in the elections."

Trump left the scene of his conversation with Putin, to head to Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie, a concert that is the venue for a formal G20 dinner.

He was accompanied by the First Lady Melania Trump.

Earlier, the US President had spoken to reporters as he and Putin posed for photographs before their discussions, accompanied only by their translators, Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it's going very well," said Mr Trump.

"We look forward to a lot of very positive happenings for Russia and for the United States, and for everyone concerned."

For his part, Putin said he was happy to be able to meet Trump in person.

"We spoke over the phone but phone conversations are never enough, definitely," he said.

"I hope that, as you have said, our meetings will yield positive results."

The two leaders discussed a range of issues, including Russia's annexation of Crimea, a reported agreement for a cease fire in Syria, and ways to cooperate in the fight against terrorism in the world

"This is our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together in Syria," Tillerson said of the ceasefire in Syria, which was described as a potential building block to further cooperation in the war-torn country.

Trump and Putin had a "lengthy discussion of other areas in Syria where we can work together".

Before the meeting between the two presidents, observers were keen to see how they would interact in person.

The two countries haven't had the greatest relationship so far in Trump's nascent presidency, and the White House has at times described the relationship with the Kremlin as at all-time lows.

The relationship became exacerbated in April when Trump ordered a missile strike on a Syrian government airbase in April to the chagrin of the Russian military.

The Russian government officially supports the embattled Syrian regime headed by Bashar al-Assad, while the US government has called for that president's ouster.

The 2017 G20 summit is the 12 meeting of the Group of Twenty, which is an assembly of some of the most powerful countries, as well as the European Union.
New Delhi: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) India's biggest tax reform since independence -- came into force on July 1 2017, after 17 tumultuous years of debate, unifying more than a dozen central and state levies but doubts remained if the transition to a national sales tax will be without any glitch.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the new levy as "good and simple tax" that marks economic integration of India.

For some businesses, the GST is complex with four broad tax categories of 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent, and myriad exceptions, as opposed to a simpler, flatter and broader sales taxes in other countries.

Given a lot of confusions and queries over different rate slabs, Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has launched a mobile app to clear doubts about the different rates of GST.

You can find the app on google store, just click this link.

Minister of electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad has tweeted:

Now find out the correct rate of #GST on goods & services through a mobile app launched by @FinMinIndia https://t.co/khOIb6a2Y4 pic.twitter.com/slMOd6a3jL  Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) July 8, 2017

The app called GST Rates Finder is currently available on android platform and will soon be rolled out on iOS. Ministry of Finance has tweeted:

Mobile app GST Rates Finder is available on android platform and will soon be available on iOS platform. July 7, 2017

Over 1,200 items, from shampoo to tea to automobiles, have been put in four broad tax categories.

Unbranded food staples including vegetables, milk, eggs and flour will be exempt from GST, along with health and education services. Tea, edible oils, sugar, textiles and baby formula will attract a 5 percent tax.
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday paid tributes to militant commander Burhan Wani, saying his death "infused a new spirit in the struggle for freedom" in the Kashmir Valley.

Sharif in a message on the first anniversary of Wani's death said that India cannot suppress the voice of the people of Kashmir through brute force.

Wani was the commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, responsible for several attacks against security personnel in Kashmir.

"The blood rendered by Burhan Muzaffar Wani has infused a new spirit in the freedom movement. The Kashmiri people are steadfast to take their movement to logical conclusion," Sharif said.

He reiterated Pakistan's political, diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris for their right to self-determination.

He also emphasised the need for implementing the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir and asked India to accept their right of self-determination of Kashmiris.

Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa also praised the militant commander.

"Sacrifices of #BurhanWani & generations against Indian atrocities are a testimony of their resolve," Pakistan Army spokesperson Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor quoted Gen Bajwa as saying on Twitter.
Patna: The Bihar government on Saturday rejected news reports that senior civil and police officials were tipped off about yesterday's CBI raids at locations linked to RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family.



"Its a totally baseless news," an official release said.



Quoting sources, some reports today said Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh and state police chief P K Thakur were alerted by CBI on Thursday night about the impending raids at the premises of Lalu Prasad and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav among others.



Some reports from New Delhi even claimed the Prime Minister's Office had informed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar prior to the raids apprehending trouble and seeking adequate security measures to be put in place.



"Information regarding raids was given by CBI to director general of police at around 7:30 AM, some time after the raids began following which the police made necessary security arrangements in view of law and order," the official statement said.



Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is away in Rajgir in his home district Nalanda since Thursday afternoon reportedly due to health issues.



Kumar and his party JD(U) have remained tight-lipped about the raids, while the Congress, another RJD ally, has backed Lalu's claim that those were part of "vendetta politics" by BJP and the Modi government.



Additional security personnel were deployed at offices of BJP, RJD and JD(U) in the state capital while raids were on yesterday.



Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) S K Singhal had said a general alert was sounded across the state in view of the political ramification of the raids.
Mumbai: Famous disco number "Baat ban jaye" from the film "Qurbani" will be seen in the trailer of Sidharth Malhotra's "A Gentleman: Sunder, Susheel, Risky", informed the actor.

Talking about the music of the film during media interaction at the preview of the film's trailer, Sidharth said, "We did cool song on disco recently. There is 'Baat ban jaye' song which people will hear in the trailer."

"There is another song 'Bandook' where rapping is going on so it's an entertaining album. I am pretty excited to present all the song to audience this month," he added.

Talking about the tracks of the film, the director of the film Raj Nidimoru said: "We have been always working with Sachin-Jigar. I think they always produce some whacky and interesting tracks. People who have heard the song think that it will be album of year but I hope it will be coolest album of the year."

Earlier, there were speculation that this film is a sequel of Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif starrer "Bang Bang" and it will be named as "Bang Bang 2".

But the director says that everything has been clarified.

"We clarified that it's not 'Bang Bang 2'. It was always a new film," he said.

Sidharth is seen playing two characters namely Gaurav and Rishi in the film, who are completely different from each other.

"It's an interesting take. It's a story of mistaken identity and in a film, you will see which one is susheel and which one is risky."

"If you see the film, you will realize my character is sundar (beautiful), susheel (gentle) but he is not that boring. He has many things in him and seeing that you will also think that he is bit risky as well," said Sidharth.

Actress Jacqueline Fernandez will be seen doing action in the movie. The film also stars Suniel Shetty.

The trailer will be launched July 10 while the film is set to release on August 25.
New Delhi: Following the incident of a few men trying to molest and abduct a girl near Hauz Khas Village, the Delhi Police is likely to put a ban on the ladies' night parties till August 15.

The ladies' night parties at various bars and pubs in HKV offer free drinks which according to the police disturbs the law and order situation in the city.

Reportedly, the police will shortly decide upon which bars and pubs to be exempted from this ban.

Also, the SHO of the concerned police station has been given instructions regarding the ban, reported India Today.
New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is expected to announce the results of National Defence Academy (NDA) and NA (Indian Naval Academy) examination shortly.

Once declared, the aspirants can check their results at the commission's official website upsc.gov.in.

The exam was held on April 23. It consisted of objective type questions on mathematics and general ability.

The NDA/NA examination is conducted for admission into army, navy and air force wings of the National Defence Academy and Indian Naval Academy Course (INAC).

How to check UPSC NDA/NA Results 2017:

- Visit upsc.gov.in

- Click on the relevant link under 'What's New'

The roll numbers of the successful candidates will appear in a PDF file released by UPSC.

The aspirants are suggested to take a print out of the same for future reference.
Marius Husby first came to the United State in 1995 as a foreign exchange student from Norway. During his stay he lived with Forrest and Linda Dowling of rural Westby. Since that time Husby and the Dowling family have stayed in touch, with increased connectivity thanks to Facebook.

Marius and his family are a part of our family. I love when they visit, Linda said.

Marius, along with his wife, Bente, and their three children, Sondre (age 10), Adne (age 7) and Oliver (age 5) love visiting America. The Husbys have made the long trip across the ocean four times since he was a teenager and went to school in Westby. In 2015, they traveled to Westby to celebrate Syttende Mai (Norwegian Independence Day) and were honored to return this year to help celebrate July 4 (Americas Indendence Day).

The Husby children had a great time at the Westby-Christiana Fire Station. Ande and Oliver thought the dunk tank rocked and Sondre loved playing the inflatable games. The trio all agreed though that the water balloon game was awesome and Americans know how to have fun.
Hamburg: The US was today isolated at the G20 Summit after India and 18 other members of the grouping termed the Paris climate deal as "irreversible" and threw their weight behind the landmark agreement from which Washington has decided to pull out.

The two-day G20 Summit saw the Indian side making "significant contributions" on the resolve to counter terrorism and boost global trade and investment.

The Summit, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with top world leaders including host German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump, however, came under the shadow of unprecedented violent protests in this German port city where thousands of anti-capitalism protesters clashed with police.

Unfortunately, the US stand remains against the Paris pact but all other members have shown strong support on climate change, Merkel said.

She said the communique clearly mentioned the US dissent and the position of all other members.

"Obviously it could not be a fully common position," Merkel told reporters.

"All G20 members except the US agree that the Paris agreement is irreversible," she said.

While taking "note" of the US' decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the G20 communique said, "The Leaders of the other G20 members agree that the Paris Agreement is irreversible."

In the G20 communique, the leaders also said they remain committed to fighting corruption, including through international cooperation and technical assistance.

"As an important tool in our fight against corruption, tax evasion, terrorist financing and money laundering, we will advance the effective implementation of the international standards on transparency and beneficial ownership of legal persons and legal arrangements, including the availability of information in the domestic and cross-border context," the communique said.

The leaders also called for completion of the IMF quota reforms and a new quota formula by 2019.

They acknowledged that the malicious use of information and communications technologies can endanger financial stability.

The leaders said that the digitalisation offered an opportunity for creating new jobs but there was a need to impart necessary skills for the future of work.

They also called for the removal of market distorting subsidies and sought global cooperation to tackle excess capacity in industrial sectors.

The leaders recognised the role of legitimate trade defence instruments and vowed to promote favourable environment for trade and investment.

They also committed to keep markets open and focus on reciprocity, non-discrimination, fight protectionism and unfair trade practices.

The focus of the Summit, however, remained the issue of climate change as the US was isolated with the other 19 member states strongly backing the Paris accord.

The G20 group asserted the importance of fulfilling the UNFCCC commitment by developed countries in providing means of implementation of the accord, including financial resources, to assist developing countries with respect to both mitigation and adaptation actions in line with the Paris outcomes.

"We reaffirm our strong commitment to the Paris Agreement, moving swiftly towards its full implementation in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.

"In the light of differentnational circumstances and, to this end, we agree to the G20 Hamburg Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth," the communique said.

Trump in June announced that the US will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, saying the deal agreed by more than 190 nations unfairly benefited countries like India and China.

Trump's decision had drawn sharp criticism from international leaders, business groups and green activists.

The objective of the Paris Agreement is to prevent an increase in global average temperature and keep it well below 2?C.

The Agreement was adopted on December 12, 2015, by 195 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), replacing its predecessor Kyoto Protocol.

It was finally ratified on November 4, 2016.

The grouping agreed to meet next in Argentina in 2018, followed by Japan in 2019 and in Saudi Arabia in 2020.
Rome: Italian police said on Saturday they had arrested a Chechen man suspected of being a militant of Islamic State and involvement in attacks in the Chechen capital Grozny in 2014.



The 38-year-old man is accused of crimes of international terrorism and is now in prison in the southern town of Foggia, a police statement said.



The investigations started out of a collaboration with Belgium, where the man was part of a network of people who recruited foreign fighters.



Some 450 people have left Belgium to fight in Syria and Iraq, the highest country contribution in Europe on a per capita basis. Returning Syria fighters have also been involved in militant attacks in Belgium, France and elsewhere in Europe.



The man, whose name was not made public, is believed to be linked with 2014 clashes in the capital of Russia`s southern province of Chechnya, in which media offices and a school were burnt and which left at least 20 dead, the police said.



The statement added that the investigations were led by the country`s special operations police and is part of a broader effort to search for foreign fighters from Chechnya.
Hamburg: US First lady Melania Trump on Friday was sent in to end the meeting between her husband President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin after it ran overtime, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

Tillerson explained that President Trump and Russian leader Putin had such fine chemistry that they didn't want to stop talking even after their scheduled time over.

"It didn't work," Tillerson told reporters. The meeting between duo went on for another an hour after that, and lasted more than two hours in full, reports NBC.

Yesterday, Melania Trump was stuck inside a hotel the entire day in Hamburg on Friday due to anti-G-20 protests.

Melania Trump and other spouses of world leaders were to attend a series of events in the northern German city, which had to be severely curtailed because of the demonstrations.

"The Hamburg Police could not give us clearance to leave (the residence)," Trump's spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said.

"First lady Melania Trump is unable to participate in events with G20 spouses due to protests," her spokesperson said.

Earlier, huge sit-in demonstrations were held by protestors as G-20 summit kicked off in the city.

The protestors blocked a road in Hamburg on Friday morning. The police tried to disperse the protestors peacefully, but then deployed water cannons to clear the road.

45 people have been detained and 159 police officers wounded in clashes, according to the police, as cited by the German media.

The Berlin and Baden-Wurttemberg police units were deployed in addition to the 20,000 or so already providing security during the G20 summit, Russia Today reported.
Hamburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called on G20 nations to do more to encourage manpower mobility to bring net value to host and source nations.



Modi while speaking at a session on Digitalisation, Women's Empowerment& Employment:Borderless digital world represents opportunities but also risks, highlighted India's journey to the low-cost world-class technology.



He also asked the member nations to promote digitisation for strengthening labour markets and improving delivery of services.



The Prime Minister expressed strong personal conviction for gender empowerment and said that there was no real growth without empowering women, External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Gopal Baglay said.



At the end of the session, he also asked the G20 nations to create a strong partnership for skilling, including exchange of best practices.
London: Police in Britain say a thief who robbed a 91-year-old woman of her jewelry and then used her wedding ring to make a marriage proposal has been jailed.

West Midlands Police said today that 38-year-old Steven Reid and an accomplice broke into the woman's home. Police say Reid used a gold wedding ring to propose to a woman several days later.

That woman later recognized the ring in a police appeal for the return of stolen jewelry and contacted police. Reid received a four-year, nine-month sentence at Birmingham Crown Court for burglary.

Accomplice Jerome Jones received a slightly shorter sentence.

Police did not say if the wedding proposal had been accepted.
Hamburg: The United States, Russia and Jordan have reached a ceasefire and "de-escalation agreement" in southwestern Syria, one of the combat zones in a six-year-old civil war, Washington and Moscow said on Friday.

The ceasefire will go into effect on Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Jordan's Petra news agency said.

The deal was announced after a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit of major economies in the German city of Hamburg.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the area covered by the ceasefire affects Jordans security and is a very complicated part of the Syrian battlefield.

Russia and Iran are the main international backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while Washington supports some of the rebel groups fighting for his ouster.

I think this is our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together in Syria, and as a result of that we had a very lengthy discussion regarding other areas in Syria that we can continue to work together on to de-escalate the areas," Tillerson said.

The Syrian conflict has killed nearly half a million people, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, destroyed cities and forced millions of others to flee the country.

Backed by Russian air power, Assad has regained ground in the last year or so that he lost to the mostly Sunni Muslim rebels earlier in the war.

The Syria deal appeared to be the main point of agreement at the first meeting between Trump and Putin, who also discussed Moscow's alleged interference in the US 2016 presidential election and North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

GOALS IN SYRIA

Lavrov said the accord includes "securing humanitarian access and setting up contacts between the opposition in the region and a monitoring centre that is being established in Jordan's capital."

Tillerson said that by and large the objectives of the United States and Russia in Syria "are exactly the same."

But Washington and Moscow have long been at odds over Syria.

The United States has often called for the removal of Assad, who it blames for the shooting of protesters at the start of the conflict and, more recently, for launching chemical weapons attacks on civilians.

Russia and Iran strongly back the Syrian leader, who gives both countries a strategic foothold in the Mediterranean Sea.

Despite the ceasefire deal, Tillerson said that the United States still sees "no long-term role for the Assad family or the Assad regime. And we have made this clear to everyone. We certainly made it clear in our discussions with Russia."

It was not immediately clear exactly which areas of southwestern Syria would be covered by the upcoming ceasefire but earlier talks between the United States and Russia about a de-escalation zone covered Deraa province, on the border with Jordan, and Quneitra, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said that while he welcomed any ceasefire in Syria he wanted to see results on the ground.

"The recent history of the Syrian civil war is littered with ceasefires and it would be nice one day to have a ceasefire," Fallon said at an event in Washington.

"None of these have turned out to be ceasefires, they have been broken persistently, broken by the regime and indeed broken by Russian activity itself. So we welcome any ceasefire, but let's see it, let's see the results on the ground," he said.
Ahmedabad: Former BJP minister Maya Kodnani, an accused in the Naroda Gam riots case, did not visit the site of violence on February 28, 2002, her husband Surendra Kodnani told a special court here.



Appearing as a defence witness yesterday, Kodnani told special judge P B Desai that his wife, a gynaecologist, who was also the Women and Child Development Minister in the BJP government, had gone to the state assembly to attend a session on February 28 morning.



"From there, she went to Sola Civil Hospital, where the bodies of Godhra train burning victims were brought," he said.



"Thereafter, Maya went to her hospital- Shivam Maternity and Surgical Nursing Home- to attend to a patient named Ilaben and help her deliver the baby as her fellow doctor was not free," he told the court.



Kodnani also produced the birth certificate of the boy born at her hospital and countered the prosecution's claim that the hospital was run full time by Dr Dhaval Shah.



He told the court that Dr Shah was a working partner in the clinic, who took care of the hospital as Maya was busy being a legislator.



"From her hospital, located in Saijpur, she headed home to Shahibaug in the evening and stayed there for the rest of the time," he said.



Kodnani will be further examined on Monday.



Naroda Gam massacre is one of the nine major riots cases investigated by the SIT. Eleven persons belonging to the minority community were killed in Naroda Gam on February 28 in 2002 riots during a bandh call given to protest the Godhra train burning incident.



Eighty two people, including Maya Kodnani, are facing trial in the case. The Supreme Court had in September last year given the special court six months time to conclude the trial.
New Delhi: The Haryana Railway Police on Saturday arrested the main accused in Ballabhgarh train lynching case from Maharastra's Dhule area.

A statement released by the Government Railway Police said that a team was sent to Dhule following on a tip-off information that the accused person was hiding there.

The main accused was arrested and would be produced before a court on Sunday, the GRP said. The name of the accused was not given in the statement.

A senior police officer of GRP said that the identification of the accused will be revealed after all legal formalities are completed.

Earlier, the police had arrested several persons including a 50-year-old Delhi government employee in connection with the murder, but the prime accused continued to be on the run.

On July 4, the Government Railway Police had announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh to anyone providing information about the identity of the accused.

The incident had triggered a nation-wide outrage.

17-year-old Junaid was stabbed to death when he, along with his brothers, was returning home to Khandawli village in Ballabgarh after shopping for Eid in Delhi.

Junaid was killed while his brothers - Hashim and Sakir - were injured by a mob which also allegedly hurled slurs against them onboard the Delhi-Mathura passenger train between Ballabgarh and Mathura stations.

The youth's body was dumped close to Asaoti village in Faridabad district.
New Delhi: Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday shook hands and had a conversation on a "range of issues" during the BRICS leaders' informal meeting, Chinas state-run media again hit out saying India should immediately pull back its "trespassing troops" from Dokalam area.

Amid a stand-off between the armies of the two countries in the Sikkim section, both PM Modi and President Xi had a conversation on the sidelines of the G20 Summit that began in Germany's Hamburg on Friday.

A commentary in the official Xinhua news agency read: "Indian troops should immediately withdraw to the Indian side of the border as a precondition for any meaningful dialogue between the two countries."

It says India has tried to justify its incursion in the name of protecting Bhutan, arguing that Doklam is Bhutanese territory.

Also Read: Chinese media says Beijing should rethink stance on Sikkim's 'independence'

It, however, maintains that according to the Convention between Great Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet (1890), Doklam belongs to China.

However, according to the Convention between Great Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet (1890), Doklam undoubtedly belongs to China. The agreement was inherited by India after its independence and has been repeatedly confirmed in writing by successive governments of the former British colony, the report published in Xinhua further said.

China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan tri-junction for past 19 days after a Chinese Army's construction party attempted to build a road. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

India has said Beijing's action to "unilaterally determine tri-junction points" is in violation of a 2012 India-China agreement. According to the agreement, the boundary will be decided by consulting all the concerned parties.

Also Read - Sikkim stand-off: India of 2017 different from India of 1962, Arun Jaitley reminds China

The two countries share a little over 200 km of border in the Sikkim sector.

China's state-run media on Wednesday had quoted Chinese analysts as saying that Beijing would be forced to use a "military way" to end the standoff in the Sikkim sector if India refuses to listen to the "historical lessons" being offered by it.
New Delhi: A 22-year-old man who had stabbed aspiring air-hostess to death here has been arrested by a joint team of Delhi Police and Mumbai Police Crime Branch late Friday night. Identified as Adil Khan, the accused was arrested from his relatives' house in Bandra, Mumbai.

Earlier on Wednesday, Riya Gautam, the aspiring air hostess was stabbed barely 100 meters from her house in Ramnagar area of Shahdara in east Delhi around 5.30 p.m. She had earlier complained to police that the Adil had been stalking her. Talking to news agency IANS, deceased's father Girwan Singh said that Ria had gone to buy Maggi noodles from a nearby bakery when she was attacked. Singh said Adil stabbed his daughter six or seven times before fleeing from the spot.

A neighbour, Piyush Sharma, 12, said he saw Adil attacking the woman. "She was coming back with Maggi when he came from behind and stabbed her in the neck," said Sharma, who had come out to fly kites with two of his friends at the time.

He said the woman ran into a nearby photo studio for help but there was no one inside and Adil followed her into the shop. "We ran to help her and saw the attacker running past us in the opposite direction," the neighbour said. "He had a big knife and his hands were drenched in blood." He said the victim's fingers were cut as she tried to save herself from the attacker.

She was taken to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries on Thursday.

(With inputs from agencies)
Hello Tomah. June of 2017 is now behind us, and I wanted to touch base on a few things. As we all know in Tomah June means tractor pull. Once again pullers from across the nation  and a few from other countries as well  gathered in Tomah for the competition. This event represents a great opportunity for Tomah to showcase itself to the rest of the country. The pull is recorded and televised nationwide and truly puts Tomah on the map. I want to extend my appreciation to all the pullers, their teams and family members for another memorable pull. I would also thank all the members of the Monroe County Agricultural Society for their hard work and dedication. I would be remiss if I did not give a shout out to Tomah Parks and Recreation, Public Works, Ambulance as well as the Police and Fire departments. Without the professionalism of these departments, this pull simply could not happen. My position allows for me to see well behind the scenes of this event and it is staggering to see how much preparation and commitment all these organizations put into making this the premiere event that it is. My sincerest appreciation and a heartfelt job well done.

Also in June we presented the newly renovated former Department of Natural Resources ranger station as the new permanent home for the Tomah Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau. I cannot put into words how well this project turned out. I am even more pleased that since the official opening, the building has continued to draw visitors who wish to tour the facility and see a true part of Tomah and Wisconsin history. This building heralds back to a time in our nation when people banded together to withstand the rigors of depression and the specter of world war. To see it restored to be used to promote tourism and prosperity is only fitting. I know director Tina Thompson and her staff are very proud of their new home. It is a standing monument to the rich history that makes Tomah such an amazing community to call home.

I want to update everyone on the various projects happening around the city. The Grain Avenue expansion is going very well. Our crews have completed all requirements at the Mill Haven site, and as soon as they have completed their build, we will be ready to pave the road and entry street for them to begin production. We at the city are in communication with 3rd Gen LLC on the proposed reconstruction of the vacant lot across from city hall. They have given us a tentative start date of mid-September and presented some concept designs for the building. While we wait for the final design layout, I can assure everyone that this project is being well thought out and will bring much needed retail space as well as a local restaurant. The future home for the south side visitors center and public restroom is moving forward also. We have decided to allow for construction to take place over the winter to allow local contractors a more favorable window to bid into. Our thoughts are to allow for local business owners, who would traditionally be slow in the winter months, to bid the project and provide local labor. This continues to be a project with community at the heart of it.

Lastly we take a look at the Tomah Memorial Hospital project. This is on track and on time to begin yet this year. The city, in anticipation, has begun the process of bringing the necessary water and sewer to the sight. As we finish the work on McLean Avenue, we will continue to the south west and meet up with the future site to provide necessary infrastructure and keep TMH on its timeline as well. We are also beginning to assess the road and prepare for upgrade and improvement upon project completion. This will be a long construction process, but we are taking all aspects into account and plan to be adaptable to situations if or when they should arise. The hospital is a key component of our city and should they require assistance, as long as it is allowable under ordinance and statute, we are more than willing to provide it.

Before I close I would like to extend my personal thank you to the Tomah Chamber of Commerce for a wonderful 4th of July parade. Every year I help line up parade entries on the route, and this year had an excellent turnout. I enjoyed being out talking with citizens and viewing the great floats. I also would take a moment to thank the Parks and Recreation Department as well as Tomah Fire and Police for providing an excellent fireworks display in honor of our nations birthday. It was a great show, and it came off without injury or incident. Well done crews.

I close by saying that it is my honor to be your city administrator, and I remind everyone that my office is always open to anyone with concerns or comments to improve our great city. Enjoy the summer and stay safe Tomah.

Roger A. Gorius is the city administrator for the city of Tomah.
New Delhi: In the wake of an army face-off and chill in ties over Dokalam stand-off, China has issued a safety advisory to its citizens travelling to and living in India.

"It is not a travel alert. It is advisory asking Chinese travellers to be careful," an official of the Foreign Ministry here told PTI.

The Chinese embassy in the national capital issued the adviseory.

China and India have been engaged in the standoff in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan tri-junction for the past three weeks after a Chinese Army's construction party attempted to build a road. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

India has said Beijing's action to "unilaterally determine tri-junction points" violated a 2012 India-China pact which says the boundary would be decided by consulting all the concerned parties.

Modi, Xi discuss 'range of issues'

In the wake of an army face-off and chill in ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shook hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping here on Friday, and discussed "a range of issues" that possibly included their three-week-old border row.

Also Read: 'Former British colony India should pull back its trespassing troops from Dokalam'

The two leaders came face to face for the first time after their armies were involved in a face-off in the Doklam area in the Sikkim sector, that has heightened tensions between the two countries, including war-mongering by the Chinese media.

The meeting assumes significance as it comes a day after a top Chinese official said the "atmosphere" is "not right" for a bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.
New Delhi: Trouble seems to be brewing for RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducting raids at three farm houses of Misa Bharti, her husband and a firm linked in connection with an alleged money laundering case.

The ED officials conducted searches on the farmhouses in Ghitorni, Bijwasan and Sainik Farms areas.

The farmhouses are linked to Bharti, her husband Shailesh Kumar and M/s Mishail Printers and Packers Private Limited.

Earlier, the ED had arrested the chartered accountant of Misa Bharti. Rajesh Agrawal was arrested from Delhi for his involvement in money laundering and the black money racket.

Agrawal was accused of converting black money into legal source of income through dubious transactions with the help of Surendra Kumar Jain and his brother Virendra Jain -- known as Jain brothers. The ED arrested the Jain brothers on March 20.

On June 21, Income Tax (IT) officials had interrogated Bharti for five hours in connection with the case.



Bharti's appearance before the IT officials after the department attached over 12 properties of her relatives, including husband Shailesh Kumar, brothers Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav under the Benami Transactions Act, 1988.

The RJD supremo on Friday sank into deeper trouble with the CBI conducting raids across four cities in a corruption case in which his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi are among the accused.

The case relates to alleged manipulation in award of contract for maintenance of two hotels run by a subsidiary of the Indian Railways--IRCTC-- when the RJD chief was railway minister in the UPA government.
Hamburg: India had a major influence on counter terrorism, trade and investment discussions at the G20 Summit, Indian Sherpa Arvind Panagariya said on the concluding day of the conference on Saturday.

Originally, there was a plan to put an annexure to joint statement for counter terrorism but India made a strong pitch for this being a stand alone document and named as a leaders statement, Panagariya said.

The discussions were cordial in this "closed group of friends" and objects didn't fly in the room, he quipped.

"We had cordial but tough discussions. It is a closed group and we all are friends here. But, that doesn't mean that being friends you will sacrifice national interest," PTI quoted him as saying.

To a question on the US being isolated as 19 members of this group of 20 asserted that the Paris Agreement was irreversible, Panagariya said there were differences but it is not about someone getting isolated but the Europeans certainly had a much stronger position.

Panagariya also said India maintained its position on climate change that it needs time to progress eventually to fully clean fuel.

Except for the climate change issue where the US had a different position than others, Panagariya said there was a broad consensus on all other key issues among the G20 leaders, including on ways to revive global growth in an inclusive manner.

On international financial architecture also, the leaders resolved to make necessary quota reforms and to ensure proper representation, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Tapan Ray said.

The issue of international cooperation on financial matters also got strong support and India contributed in a strong way on this agenda, said Ray, who led the Indian side on finance track of the G20 proceedings.

Panagariya said the negotiations on final communique took almost four times longer this time around, which may also be attributed to the change in governments in the US and some other member countries.

Besides, there were differences on some issues that took time to be ironed out, he added.

Panagariya, who is also the vice chairman of government think tank Niti Aayog, said negotiations took a lot of time on issues like climate change, trade and investment and migration.

The communique this time also talks about reciprocity and non-discrimination when it comes to trade liberalisation, he noted.

Ray said there was a broad consensus among the G20 members on revival of global growth and the communique emphasises on structural reforms, inclusive growth and job creation.

Further, he said the G20 leaders agreed on implementation of the IMF quota reforms and of bringing a new quota formula by 2019 besides, stressing upon the international cooperation on tax matters and financial information.

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: The Indian government on Saturday lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over the death of two Indian civilians in ceasefire violations by its troops along the Line of Control, Indian High Commission said.

"In response to Pakistan Foreign Office press release of today on the summoning of Indian Deputy High Commissioner over alleged ceasefire violations across LoC, it was conveyed to DG South Asia that the ceasefire violations were initiated by Pak troops in Poonch and Krishnaghatti sectors today and the Indian forces only responded appropriately.

A strong protest was also lodged over the death of 2 Indian civilians in today's ceasefire violations by Pak troops.

Further, our serious concerns over attacks on civilian areas, increased movement of terrorists and infiltration attempts across LoC were conveyed. Pak side was informed that there have been more than 223 ceasefire violations and around 50 infiltration attempts by terrorists from Pakistani side this year alone," a statement from the Indian High Commission said.

Response to Pak Foreign Office statement of today on ceasefire violations across LoC. pic.twitter.com/QY7eGYj6B9  India in Pakistan (@IndiainPakistan) July 8, 2017

Earlier today, an Army jawan and his wife were killed and their three daughters were injured as Pakistan violated ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. According to the reports, the Pak Army targeted Indian posts and villages in Chakka da bagh and Kharri Karmara areas.

"Sepoy Mohammad Shaukat of the Territorial Army, who was on leave, and his wife Safia Bi were killed when a mortar shell fired by the Pakistan Army exploded near their home in Karmara. The couple's three daughters, Zaida Kouser (6), Robina Kouser (12) and Nazia Bi, and another person were injured," a police officer told PTI.

The ceasefire violation comes on the day when unprecedented security arrangements have been put in place to maintain law and order on the first death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.
New Delhi: Three Army jawans were left injured on Saturday when terrorists attacked their convoy in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir. As per the latest reports, the terrorists targeted the convoy in Hajin area of the district.

J&K: Two army jawans injured in a terror attack in Hajin area of Bandipora. More detail awaited  ANI (@ANI_news) 8 July 2017

Meanwhile, unprecedented security arrangements has been put in place to maintain law and order on the first death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

Earlier on Friday, police had said that curfew-like restrictions were imposed in old city areas of Srinagar and Baramulla town and will continue today as well. An definite curfew has been imposed in Pulwama's Tral town, the hometown of Wani who was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Kokernag area of Anantnag district on July 8 last year.

Sources in state police said authorities were likely to impose restrictions in Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian, Sopore, Bandipora, Kupwara, Ganderbal and some other towns of the Valley to ward off protests called by the separatists today.
New Delhi: The Chinese Embassy on Saturday said that it has not denied visa to two researchers of a seven-member India Foundation delegation for visiting the Fudan University in Shanghai.

Spokesperson of Chinese Embassy in India Counsellor Xie Liyan denied the report and said that all seven members of India Foundation delegation to visit China got their visas in time.

There were reports that China has also put the visa of India Foundation Director Alok Bansal on hold and denied visa to two researchers, following the developments the foundation on Friday called off the visit.

"As far as I know, all seven members of India Foundation delegation to visit China got their visas in time. None of the visa application was denied. The delegation will visit China as scheduled," the embassy said in a statement.

It added: "The Chinese side always welcomes and supports the exchanges of think tanks between China and India. It is not true that the source of India Foundation claims that two of its junior research members were denied visas and the visit to China of the delegation has been canceled."

On Friday, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav, who is on the Board of Directors of India Foundation, had denied media reports that he was denied visa by China but confirmed that visas of two of their researchers were rejected.

India Foundation and Fudan University held the third edition of their bilateral interaction in Delhi on December 4 to 5 last year. In continuation of this bilateral interaction agreement, a seven-member delegation of the Foundation was to visit Shanghai.

Bansal on Friday said that his visa was put on hold, and told the media: "No idea why the visa was denied. It's the discretion of the Chinese government to give visa. It's a shock because we didn't think that visa would be a problem."

The report of denial of visa to Indians comes amid rising tensions between the two countries due to a border stand-off.

Union Ministers Suresh Prabhu, Nirmala Sitharaman, Jayant Sinha and M.J. Akbar are among the Board of Directors of India Foundation.
Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday summoned India's deputy high commissioner in Islamabad over alleged firing along the Line of Control that killed two persons and injured three others.

Earlier, Pakistan accused India of violating the ceasefire along the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in which two persons were killed and three others injured, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson said in a statement. Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh was summoned over the alleged firing by Indian forces in Chirikot and Satwal sectors, the statement said.

The firing allegedly resulted in killing two civilians, including a woman. Three other people were injured. The Foreign Office said that Director-General (South Asia & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces".

"The Director-General urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC," the Foreign Office said. Meanwhile, army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said that "Pakistan Army troops responded effectively to Indian unprovoked firing".

The latest clashes erupted on the death anniversary of militant commander Burhan Wani who was killed in Kashmir last year.
Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday summoned India's deputy high commissioner in Islamabad over alleged firing along the Line of Control that killed two persons and injured three others.

Earlier, Pakistan accused India of violating the ceasefire along the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in which two persons were killed and three others injured, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson said in a statement.

Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh was summoned over the alleged firing by Indian forces in Chirikot and Satwal sectors, the statement said.

The firing allegedly resulted in killing two civilians, including a woman. Three other people were injured.

The Foreign Office said that Director-General (South Asia & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces".

"The Director-General urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC," the Foreign Office said.

Meanwhile, army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said that "Pakistan Army troops responded effectively to Indian unprovoked firing".

The latest clashes erupted on the death anniversary of militant commander Burhan Wani who was killed in Kashmir last year.
Srinagar: An Army jawan and his wife were killed and their three daughters were injured on Saturday as Pakistan violated ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. According to the reports, the Pak Army targeted Indian posts and villages in Chakka da bagh and Kharri Karmara areas.

#UPDATE: Two of a family killed in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in J&K's Poonch. pic.twitter.com/7lXB6lx5G1  ANI (@ANI_news) 8 July 2017

Talking to PTI, a police officer said,"Sepoy Mohmmad Shaukat of the Territorial Army, who was on leave, and his wife Safia Bi were killed when a mortar shell fired by the Pakistan Army exploded near their home in Karmara." The couple's three daughters, Zaida Kouser (6), Robina Kouser (12) and Nazia Bi, and another person were injured."

Pakistan Army began indiscriminate firing and shelling on our positions on the LoC in Gulpur area at around 6:30 AM. The firing is ongoing and our forces are effectively retaliating," the sources said.

The ceasefire violation comes on the day when unprecedented security arrangements has been put in place to maintain law and order on the first death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

Earlier in the day, two army jawans were injured when terrorists attacked their convoy in Bandipora district.

There have been 23 incidents of ceasefire violations, one BAT(Border Action Team) attack and two infiltration bids by Pakistan in June in which four people, including three jawans, have been killed and 12 injured.

On June 29, two Indian Army jawans were injured when Pakistani troops fired at forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch.

Three days earlier, on June 26, the occasion of Eid-ul Fitr, the Pakistani Army fired small arms and automatic weapons and shelled mortars along the LoC in Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri.

On June 22, in the third such attack this year, a team of? Pakistani special forces sneaked 600 metres across the LoC into the Poonch sector and killed two Indian jawans and lost one BAT member in retaliatory action.

In the firefight, two Indian soldiers -- 34-year-old Naik Jadhav Sandip of Aurangabad and 24-year-old Sepoy Mane Savan Balku of Kolhapur - were killed.

(With the inputs from PTI)
New Delhi: The Defence Ministry today cleared a Rs 2,400 crore proposal for upgrading the Army's armoured fighting vehicles to make them capable of undertaking night operations.

The decision to give a go-ahead to the project was taken at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the ministry's highest decision-making body on procurement, defence ministry sources said.

The modernisation of the armoured vehicles will enhance their overall performance besides enabling them to fully operate at night.

The DAC, chaired by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, also approved procurement of 'carrier command post vehicles' for the Army at a total cost of Rs 406 crore, they said.

Command post vehicles act as centralised command facilities, equipped with electronic command and control systems to ensure precision firing.

The modernisation of the armoured fighting vehicles will be carried out by the state-run Ordnance Factory at Medak in in Telangana. The army has nearly 2,500 such vehicles.

The carrier command post vehicles will also be supplied to the Army by the Medak Ordnance Factory.

The sources said the DAC also deliberated on a number of other procurement cases and issued directions to ensure smooth progress in the acquisition process.
New Delhi: India is expected to invite all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for 2018 Republic Day celebrations in 2018, reports said on Saturday.

New Delhi's move comes at a time when China and India are engaged in a standoff in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan tri-junction for past few days after a Chinese Army's construction party attempted to build a road.

Notably, some ASEAN nations are not in good terms with the 'Dragon' over territorial claims in South China Sea.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, through which about USD 5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes each year, a stance contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Commenting on India's relations with the other ASEAN countries, a MEA official on Wednesday said New Delhi was scaling "new heights" in its ties with ASEAN countries and was set for a "defining partnership" with the south-east Asian multi-nation group.

India's trade with the ASEAN countries increased by USD 5 billion to USD 70 billion in the last one year, Preeti Saran, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, said in her keynote address to a session of Delhi Dialogue IX -- an annual conference of Indian and south-east Asian political and business leaders, academics and others.

Dokalam stand-off

Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

India has said Beijing's action to "unilaterally determine tri-junction points" is in violation of a 2012 India-China agreement. According to the agreement, the boundary will be decided by consulting all the concerned parties.

The two countries share a little over 200 km of border in the Sikkim sector.

China's state-run media on Wednesday had quoted Chinese analysts as saying that Beijing would be forced to use a "military way" to end the standoff in the Sikkim sector if India refuses to listen to the "historical lessons" being offered by it.
Srinagar: Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Nirmal Singh on Saturday assured that stern action would be taken against Pakistan for creating an atmosphere of terror in the valley.

"We have been giving befitting reply to Pakistan because it understands that language only. Pakistan will not get success in its attempt of creating an atmosphere of terror in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan will break down one day," Singh told ANI.

His statement comes hours after some civilians and army personnel were killed and injured in Pakistan firing in the state.

Two civilians belonging to the same family were killed in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Poonch Sector along the Line of Control (LoC).

According to reports, the mother and father have been killed while their two children have been injured after the Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars in the wee hours of Saturday.

Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively to the ceasefire violation which took place around 6:30 a.m.

Earlier in the day, two army jawans were injured in a terror attack in Hajin area of Bandipora.
New Delhi: US Vice President Mike Pence got a first-hand look at the public-private partnerships at America's multi-user spaceport on Thursday, July 6, during a visit to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Pence commenced his visit at Shuttle Landing Facility, the former space shuttle landing strip now leased and operated by Space Florida.

However, his visit didn't go down well with Twitter users who have slammed the Vice President for touching a piece of NASA's space flight equipment when a sign next to it clearly instructs the visitor to not touch it.

The image showed Pence with his hand on part of a spacecraft-in-the-making called the Orion, despite a large sign with red lettering telling people not to touch the "critical space flight hardware", the Guardian reported on Saturday.

The photo that was circulated widely on social media on Friday, kicked off several jokes and memes on Pence.

While some posts politely reminded Pence to maintain decorum, others were not so forgiving and some even offered reasons for the vice president's personal proclivities.

"Good to know our Vice President has the self control of a sugar-charged third grader on a field trip," wrote a Twitter user.

"After six months at Trump's side, Mike Pence quietly envies the capsule for its journey to the cold, tranquil emptiness of space," said another user .

A few users even compared the image to the now-infamous photo of President Donald Trump putting his hands on a glowing orb in Saudi Arabia, the report said.

However, the Vice President apologised to NASA on Twitter, while joking that Florida Senator Marco Rubio, had dared him to do so.

NASA clarified that it was actually "OK" for him to touch the spacecraft hardware.

"The 'do not touch' signs are there as a day-to-day reminder, including the one visible on the titanium Forward Bay Cover for the Orion spacecraft," the agency said in statement.

"Procedures require the hardware to be cleaned before tiles are bonded to the spacecraft, so touching the surface is okay. Otherwise, the hardware would have had a protective cover over it like the thermal heat shield, which was nearby."

Pence also spoke to NASA employees thanking them for their commitment to the US' continued leadership in the space frontier.

(With IANS inputs)
New Delhi: Ace comedian Kapil Sharma has been in the news on and off. The busy comedian-cum-actor is running a packed schedule as he is juggling between his next film 'Firangi' and 'The Kapil Sharma Show' shoot.

According to TimesOfIndia.com, Kapil's health has taken a toll owing to his hectic schedule. And recently the ace comedian fell sick while shooting an episode of his show.

The report mentions that superstar Shah Rukh Khan and director Imtiaz Ali were supposed to shoot an episode with Kapil promoting 'Jab Harry Met Sejal' but on the last minute, the shoot had to be cancelled. Kapil started feeling uneasy and was rushed to a nearby hospital.

The report quotes Kiku Sharda, who is an integral part of 'The Kapil Sharma Show' as saying, Yes, Shah Rukh Khan was shooting in the Film City vicinity for some promo shoot last night. By the time he came on the sets, Kapil had already left for a checkup. He was feeling uneasy and the doctors advised him to get admitted. Kapil is still in the hospital and his family is with him. Now our regular shooting is on 11th and 13th July, but I don't know which film's star cast will be visiting our sets."

Earlier, Kapil complained of low sugar and BP issues after which he was hospitalised for some time.

Here's wishing Kapil a speedy recovery!
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh State Employees Joint Council will meet the state's chief secretary to oppose the government's decision to review the performance of its employees who are aged above 50 and retire those not up to the mark.

"Government employees are feeling cheated and let down by this controversial order issued by the state government. We are planning to meet Chief Secretary Rajive Kumar on Monday to put forward our views," council general secretary Shivbaran Singh Yadav told PTI.

He said the move might affect a large number of state government employees.

"It will boost nepotism as officials and politicians may try to take advantage out of it by pushing their relatives into various departments."

According to an order issued by the chief secretary, additional chief secretaries and secretaries of all departments have been asked to review the performance of the staff till July 31.

The directive cites the finance handbook rules, which states that the appointing authority, at any given time, can retire the staff without giving any reason by a three months' notice and government orders issued in this connection from time to time.

A government spokesperson said there was nothing new in the order as there was already a provision for reviewing the performance of all staff members who crossed 50 years.

The three-month-old Adityanath government has dusted the service rulebook to weed out the under-performers under a provision first proposed in 1985 but rarely used.

The spokesperson said some departments were not carrying out this exercise on a regular basis and the order was aimed at ensuring it.

The department heads have been asked to give to the personnel department a list of those who are to be given compulsory retirement, he said.
Ghaziabad: The city police on Saturday claimed to have solved a robbery case in which a petrol pump owner was looted on gun point with the arrest of seven robbers.

The robbers have been arrested while cash seized from them, along with a newly purchased car and weapons, police said.

On a tip-off late last night, a police team from Sahibabad intercepted a car and two motorcycles near Sikanderpur village trisection at Loni road.

On search, the policemen recovered Rs 4.50 lakh, five country-made pistols and 10 cartridges from them, Senior Superintendent of Police H N Singh said.

Those arrested have been identified as Deepak, Akhilesh, Rahul, Maksood, Deepak, Ravinder and Udaiveer.

One of them, Ravinder, used to sell car polish on a temporary stall at the fuel pump.

On June 12, fuel pump owner Ravinder Chauhan, a native of Karhera village, was looted at gun-point while he was going to deposit Rs 12.76 lakh in bank.

The robbers waylaid his car and broke opened the driving side window with the help of a brick before taking him at gun point. They then snatched the bag containing cash and fled the spot, police said.

The accused have confessed that from the looted amount they purchased a car and two motorcycles, police claimed.
Kolkata: As the communal clashes in North 24 Paraganas district of West Bengal, that broke out over an objectionable Facebook post, refuse to die down even after days, the Centre on Saturday sent four Border Security Force (BSF) companies to violence-hit areas to assist the state police in containing the communal outbreak.

According to MHA sources, the Mamata Banerjee-run West Bengal government had earlier returned the nearly 400 central troops sent to it two days ago without citing any reason for its decision.

As per sources, four companies of the BSF, comprising 400 personnel, were sent initially to assist the state police in containing the communal outbreak in Basirhat and Baduria.

On Darjeeling violence, the home ministry sources claimed that enough forces had been sent. Of the 1,100 troops sent so far, the state recently asked for around 100 women CRPF personnel to be withdrawn. It also asked SSB battalions deployed there to be replaced with CRPF.

The violence between two communities at Baduria under Basirhat sub-division in the district started over a Facebook post following which a young man was arrested, the police said today.

Following an outrage on social media, violent mob put up road blockades at several places and attacked members of other community, besides destroying many shops, they said.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal Chief Minister while speaking to media today said that the state government will soon set up a judicial inquiry to probe Baduria-Basirhat riots in North 24 Parganas district.

"We will conduct a judicial enquiry into the Basirhat incident. Action will be taken for spreading fake pictures and videos. The law will take its own course," she said, while addressing a press conference here.

"There is Fakebook happening in the name of Facebook. I respect Facebook but not Fakebook," she said.

Earlier on Thursday, Mamata had requested the Opposition to refrain from reaching the communal-sensitive areas of North 24 Paraganas.

The State Government has temporarily suspended internet services in four police station areas of Basirhat, Baduria, Swarupnagar and Deganga to check the spread of rumours through social networking sites.

On the other hand, the state government has removed North 24 Parganas Superintendent of Police (SP) Bhaskar Mukherjee and has appointed C. Sudhakar Rao to take over the post. This apart, nine other IPS officers were transferred across the state braving multiple protests in Darjeeling too.

The action by the state government came in the wake of mounting pressure from the opposition parties for stern action against accused persons of the communal violence that left several injured, shops vandalised and houses burnt.
Darjeeling: A BJP central team comprising of Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satyapal Singh was on Saturday stopped and detained by the West Bengal police from visiting the riot-hit Basirhat in the state.

West Bengal's Basirhat has been barricaded to keep out political parties after clashes broke out between members of two communities at Baduria in the Basirhat sub-division of North 24-Parganas earlier this week over an objectionable Facebook post by a Class XI student who has been arrested.

The West Bengal government said the situation was under control in Baduria, Swarupnagar, Deganga and Basirhat, which had witnessed violence. Prohibitory orders are in force there.

On Thursday BJP chief Amit Shah constituted a team, comprising Om Mathur, Meenakshi Lekhi, Satyapal Singh, to visit the town and submit a report to the party president.

The police cordoned off the area yesterday, thus denying access BJP, Left and Congress delegations that were stopped at various points, such as Asoknagar, Deganga and Michael Nagar.

The police took the prohibitory step a day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee appealed to political parties to stay away from Basirhat before normality returned to the area.
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today urged the political parties in the Darjeeling hills to return to the path of peace and sit with the government for talks.



"The government is ready for talks with the hill parties, but peace has to be ushered in. The government has shown enough restraint in the interest of the people of the hills. Peace has to return to the hills," she said here.



"If peace returns in the next 10-15 days, I can call the hill parties for talks. But, let us restore peace first," she added.



Banerjee said schools and colleges remained closed in Darjeeling, the people there were not getting enough food and other essential commodities and alleged that the leaders of the hill parties, however, were getting their supplies "from Sikkim and Nepal".



The state government, she added, would send food to the people of the hills.



The chief minister accused the Centre of "deliberate and total non-cooperation" in the matter and alleged that its refusal to send CRPF personnel, as demanded by the West Bengal government, had led to the current situation in the Darjeeling hills, where an indefinite shutdown, called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and backed by the other political parties in the hills, entered its 24th day today.



"The Darjeeling problem had erupted on June 8 and a month has passed since. Had the CRPF personnel been sent in time, this would not have happened," she said.



Banerjee claimed that as the state police did not have enough personnel to tackle the situation in the hills, the assistance of the central forces was sought.



"The Centre sent seven companies, out of which three were from the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). They have been completely inactive. They can only wield lathis with no power," she said.



Banerjee alleged that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre had "perpetrated" the problems in Kashmir and was now "trying to destabilise" the hills.



"The Centre must cooperate. The state will also. Politics and governance are different," she said.



The chief minister claimed that certain decisions of the Centre such as demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) were nothing but "big corruptions".



"These will be exposed once the BJP is not in power," she claimed.
Darjeeling: The army was deployed in north West Bengal`s hills on Saturday after three persons died and a policeman sustained injuries in a sudden escalation of violence with pro-Gorkhaland activists engaging in widespread arson and vandalism targeting a railway station, police outposts and government offices.



"Three persons have died, one on Friday night, two on Saturday," said a Darjeeling district official.



As the situation continued to deteriorate through the day, the government decided to call in the army - the second time in exactly a month after Darjeeling turned restive.



"Two army columns have been deployed - one in Darjeeling, one in Sonada, where one railway station was set afire," a Defence Ministry spokesman said in Kolkata.. One army column comprises 43 personnel.



Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed for peace and said she was open to holding a dialogue with protestors in the next 10-15 days if they eschewed violence and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh if he so desired.



The situation in Darjeeling district, already on the boil for a month after the principal hill party Gorkha Janmukti Morcha renewed the movement for a Gorkhaland state, deteriorated abruptly over allegations that 30-year-old Tasi Bhutia died in police firing during a disturbance at Sonada on Friday night.



Police denied it was to blame.



Claiming that Bhutia was its active member, the pro-Gorkhaland Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) leader Neeraj Zimba said: "An innocent Gorkhaland supporter has been shot dead... We are deeply hurt and shaken to the core."



The GJM claimed that Bhutia was its supporter.



"Yet another person has died in the hills," GJM Assistant General Secretary Binay Tamang said, as the indefinite shutdown to press for Gorkhaland entered the 24th day on Saturday.



A police complaint lodged at Sonada police outpost by the victim`s family alleged that Bhutia was shot by police while he was on his way to buy medicines.



Backing police, state Tourism Minister Gautam Deb said: "The allegation that Bhutia died in police firing is completely false."



But a district official said the police had to fire in self-defence after Bhutia attacked with a `khukri`.



The incident triggered a fresh flare up on Saturday as GJM and GNLF activists torched the Sonada railway station and a traffic police booth and attacked the Sonada police outpost. One policeman was injured.



Protest demonstrations and blockades were on at several places and the offices of the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Town and the Food and Supply Department were vandalised in Darjeeling.



As the day wore on, the situation worsened, as agitators set afire the Neora Range office quarter and two vehicles at Gorubathan in Kalimpong district, and a police check post near Thurbo Tea Factory, Mirik in Darjeeling district. Police blamed the GJM, but the latter denied.



GJM sources alleged that one of their supporters died in police firing near the Darjeeling motor stand. Another death was also reported from the town during the violence.



Meanwhile, the Central Committee of Dooars GJM deceided to go on hunger strike from Wednesday.



The Chief Minister, who met the media at the state secretariat Nabanna, blamed "foreign forces" close to the BJP for playing a part in the recent flare-up in the hills.



She accused the central government of "non-cooperation", and claimed the crisis could have been averted through timely deployment of central forces.



Asked whether she wanted to talk to Rajnath Singh, Banerjee responded: "I have talked to him six times. If he wants to talk, we have no problem in discussing."



Holding out a proposal for dialogue, she urged the pro-Gorkhaland agitators not to take the law in their own hands.



"Allow the government to supply food and serve minimum services to the people of Darjeeling and eschew violence. This is my appeal. If you agree to my appeal, we can have a meeting within 10-15 days," she said.



Countering Banerjee, Union Minister Piyush Goyal accused the state government of returning forces sent by the Centre.



"We condemn Mamata Banerjee`s politics... Home Minister Rajnath Singh called her (Banerjee) twice and asked her to normalise the situation in Darjeeling. We were sending forces, but Mamata Banerjee`s Principal Secretary stopped them (forces)," Goyal told a press conference in New Delhi.



Home Ministry sources in Delhi said that West Bengal sent back four companies of the Border Security Force (BSF) and four companies of additional paramilitary forces.
New Delhi: Her simple greeting 'Hi' on Twitter has garnered over 3,50,000 followers in no more than 14 hours.

Youngest-ever Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai has joined Twitter on Friday. It has barely been a day and as of now, her Twitter handle has accumulated nearly 4,69,000 followers.

Yousafzai's first Twitter post has assembled nearly 2,01,000 likes and 42,000 retweets. So far, all her posts have garnered likes and retweets in thousands.

Having completed high school on the same day, Yousafzai, a global icon for girls'education, will resume her 'Girl Power Trip' and meet girls in Middle East, Africa and Latin America, the next week.

Each girls story is unique - and girls' voices are our most powerful weapons in the fight for education and equality, reads one of Malala's tweets.

Ever since she created her Twitter account, Yousafzai has posted seven tweets and followed only one account, her organisation the 'Malala Fund'.
Washington: Iraqi authorities will imminently announce a final victory in the battle to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State group, a US general said today.



"An announcement is imminent," Brigadier General Robert Sofge told AFP by phone from Baghdad.



"I don't want to speculate if it's today or tomorrow but I think it's going to be very soon," he added.



The jihadists that remain in Mosul are fighting to the death in a tiny area of just two blocks of the Old City next to the Tigris River, Sofge said, and those that remain are "desperate."



Some are trying to blend in with fleeing civilians by shaving their beards and changing their clothes, others are playing dead then detonating explosive vests as Iraqi security forces come close. Women IS fighters have blown themselves up amid throngs of displaced civilians.



"They are doing as much damage as they can during these final moves," Sofge said.



The battle for Mosul first began on October 16, 2016 and the fight has seemed to grow exponentially tougher as US- backed Iraqi security forces closed in on the center of the city.



Slowing the advance toward the final holdouts, IS have placed countless booby traps and bombs in practically every structure they occupied.



"The enemy has strung IEDs all over the place, in every place, in every closet, in one case under a crib," Sofge said.



A final victory in Mosul would mark an epic milestone for the Iraqi security forces, who had crumbled in the face of an IS onslaught across Iraq in 2014.



"They deserve every bit of a celebration and pride and sense of accomplishment that a military force can feel," Sofge said, offering a "congratulations in advance in a great battle."



"This fight in Mosul is not like anything modern militaries have done in our life time. You have to go back to World War II to find anything that's even close."
Rome: Pope Francis said on Saturday that the G20 summit in Germany "worries" him because of the potential for "very dangerous alliances" among world leaders, with particularly dire consequences for migrants.

"I worry about very dangerous alliances between powers which have a distorted vision of the world: America and Russia, China and North Korea, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and (Syria's Bashar al-) Assad over the war in Syria," the pope said in an interview with Italy's La Repubblica newspaper.

"The danger concerns immigration. Our main and unfortunately growing problem in the world today is that of the poor, the weak, the excluded, which includes migrants," he said, pointing to countries which "fear an invasion of migrants."

"This is why the G20 worries me: It mainly hits immigrants," he said.

Concerning Europe, the "richest continent in the whole world" which has faced an influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees since 2015, the pope warned its leaders not to fall prey to the illusion that it is possible to seal its borders.

On Friday, Francis had urged G20 leaders to work toward "more inclusive and sustainable global economic growth," while also highlighting the plight of some 30 million people trapped in conflict and famine, especially in Africa and Yemen.
Mombasa: Suspected Islamist militants beheaded nine men in an overnight attack on a village in the Kenyan coastal district of Lamu, police said, days after Somali militants killed three policemen in an attack on a nearby village.

Police said there were nine bodies. A witness, who asked not to be named, confirmed the death toll.

"They raided Jima and Poromoko villages and killed nine men. They were slaughtered like chickens, using knives," said the witness.

Villagers said a group of heavily armed attackers, many of whom appeared to be ethnic Somalis, attacked the villagers at 11:00 pm. They went house to house searching for non-Muslim men and gathered their victims together before beheading them.

Residents had called police to report suspected al Shabaab militants in the area earlier on Friday.

The attack is close to the village of Pandanguo, where al Shabaab attackers killed three police officers on Friday. Al Shabaab has frequently mounted deadly cross-border attacks on Kenyan soil.

The al Qaeda-linked militant group wants to overthrow the weak U.N.-backed government and impose a strict form of Islamic law in Somalia. They have intensified attacks in Kenya since Kenya sent troops into Somalia.
Hamburg: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday underlined the importance of staying calm in the North Korea crisis, saying nuclear-armed Pyongyang should be dealt with in a "pragmatic" manner.

"The North Korea nuclear problem is very serious. But here, one must not lose his cool, but rather act in a pragmatic and delicate manner," said Putin during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-In.

The bilateral talks came on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the northern German city of Hamburg, where leaders of the world's top economies are gathered.

The meeting has been overshadowed by a number of global crises, including fresh tensions sparked by North Korea's test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday.

Ahead of the summit, Moon called for toughened sanctions against the North at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

But he insisted Thursday he was ready to meet the North's leader Kim Jong-Un in a bid to ease tensions.

"When the conditions are met, I am prepared to meet the North Korean ruler wherever and whenever," he told an audience at a think-tank in the German capital, calling for a "long dialogue for peace and detente".

On a visit to Washington last month, Moon laid out pre-requisites for full-fledged talks for nuclear dismantlement including North Korea refraining from nuclear and missile tests and promising a nuclear freeze.
YEREVAN, JULY 5, ARMENPRESS. Dilyana Gaytandzhieva, a Bulgarian journalist, who published a scandalous report on Azerbaijans supply of weapons for terrorists, gave an exclusive interview to ARMENPRESS.

-Is there any other information or another link about Azerbaijans illegal weapon distribution that you have not shared yet? And if there is more information related to that issue, are you going to publish them too?

-I have fact checked and published all the information that was leaked to me from the Azerbaijani Embassy to Bulgaria in my investigation. I have not spared anything or anybody. As a war correspondent, I have learned from my experience that the first victim of every war - this is the truth. I have not hidden or I am not going to hide or distort any fact related not only to Azerbaijan (in this particular investigation) but to all participants in the weapons supply to terrorists around the world. I saw on the ground in Syria many civilians dying before my eyes by the very same rockets distributed to the terrorists, as it turned out, on diplomatic flights. The world must know the truth. This is not only dirty business for money  this is business with the death of children and innocent people and it must stop immediately.

-How would you comment on these actions undertaken by Azerbaijani authorities towards transportation of illegal weapon in order to boost terrorist acts throughout the world?

-When I saw the leaked documents, I was shocked. I could not believe it is possible to happen  a state-run company to transport weapons under the cover of diplomatic flights, apparently with the assistance of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The documents implicate Azerbaijan in international weapons supply for war conflicts around the world. This scheme has been working for at least three years now with the knowledge and assistance of Azerbaijans authorities which is appalling and shocking. It is not just one company, it is a whole state involved in international transport of weapons under the cover of at least 350 diplomatic flights, as the documents reveal, for the last three years.

-What do you think how should the international community and media as well respond to these documents and facts which certainly show Azerbaijani authorities eager participation in weapon proliferation?

-I urge the international community, the UN Security Council, the media organizations around the world to take immediate actions and investigate those facts. They are easily proven and if the great powers are honest and do want to fight terrorism, they must stop supplying weapons to the very same terrorists they claim to fight. This is the hypocrisy of the US and Saudi Arabia I am talking about  they are the main users of Azerbaijans diplomatic flights for weapons supplies.

-And what do you think about the possibility to impose sanctions against such illegal policy of Azerbaijan having an aim to prevent other activity similar to this in further?

-The UN must impose sanctions on every country involved in helping terrorism. The sad truth is that some permanent UN Security Council members themselves are involved in assisting terrorism. They call it aid for the moderate opposition. I have reported on the war in Syria since its beginning and since 2014 I have not seen moderate opposition on the ground there. How can an opposition be moderate when it is heavily armed and beheads people?!

Interview by Davit Mamyan
YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. The 26th annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is being held in Minsk from July 5 to 9 with participation of more than 300 lawmakers from all member states.

Armenias delegation including MPs Hermine Naghdalyan (head of the delegation), Tigran Urikhanyan and Ararat Mirozyan is taking part in the session, press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry told Armenpress.

The session agenda includes issues relating to fight against corruption, climate change, flight against illegal migration, human rights. The delegates will also discuss the Ukrainian crisis, as well as other conflicts in the OSCE area.
YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. Herbert Salber, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, has arrived in Armenia on official visit.

During the meetings with Armenias high-ranking officials Armenia-EU relations and further cooperation development prospects, as well as the process of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the recent developments in the NK conflict zone were discussed.

Herbert Salber gave an interview to Armenpress over the recent escalation of the situation in the NK conflict zone.

-Mr. Salber , how would you assess the situation in the region and in Nagorno Karabakh in particular in view of the fact that Azerbaijan has been explicitly escalating the tension?

-Given the frequent ceasefire violations and casualties reported, we consider the situation around the Nagorno Karabakh conflict to be very volatile. Tragic incidents, like the most recent one that happened on July 4 and led to civilian casualties, are unacceptable. Violence must stop. This is a matter of serious concern, given the security risks that it entails for the region and the suffering for the people. The European Union has consistently been calling on the sides to strictly respect the ceasefire regime, avoid provocations and confrontational rhetoric, and engage in meaningful negotiations. There is a clear need to create an atmosphere of mutual trust to enable progress toward the desired political settlement at the earliest opportunity.

-The OSCE MG Co-Chairs were in Yerevan, Stepanakert and Baku and in this period Azerbaijan again violated the ceasefire, which resulted in human casualties. Recently the statements of the Co-Chairs had an "addressee" as not only does Azerbaijan violate the ceasefire, but also refuses to engage in negotiations and introduce investigation mechanisms. Don't you think that concrete actions should be taken to restrain the aggressor? What kind of restraint measures can the EU use to prevent aggression?

-The European Union has been urging the parties to the conflict to show restraint, stick to the ceasefire and pursue a political settlement. This is something I also always recall in my contacts with the leaderships here as well as in Baku. We also urged the sides to move forward on the implementation of the agreements reached by the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Vienna and St. Petersburg last year. Expanding the OSCE Monitoring Mission and introducing an investigation mechanism could be useful instruments to establish the much needed trust between the sides. In parallel, engaging in exchanges and comprehensive negotiations to resolve the conflict on the basis of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs' proposals on the negotiation table would also be important. We fully support the efforts of the Co-Chairs in this regard.

-The AGBU Europe Office has launched a petition on change.org entitled "We Want Europe in Nagorno Karabakh". It called on the EU to implement social programs aimed at improving living conditions for local residents in Karabakh. Some MEPs, scientists, human rights campaigners, diplomats and others joined the petition. What is your opinion about such actions? Don't you think that NK people too like others deserve to have opportunities? What prospects do you see in the NK in terms of greater EU involvement?

-In addition to its political support for the Co-Chairs, the EU is complementing their efforts through its support for civil society peacebuilding activities. Already for several years, the EU has been funding an important people-to-people project entitled "The European Partnership for the Peaceful Settlement of the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh" ("EPNK"). It is geared towards conflict transformation and peace-building. Through this project, which has recently entered its third phase, we aim at creating and maintaining contacts and exchanges between civil society actors across the conflict divide. As such, it also involves civil society participants from Nagorno Karabakh. EU's further involvement is contingent on progress in the conflict settlement and agreements reached in the course of this process spearheaded by the OSCE Minsk Group and its Co-Chairs. Once a peace settlement is reached, the EU will of course be ready to contribute to its implementation.

Interview by Syuzi Muradyan
YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS. President Serzh Sargsyan sent a congratulatory message to Peoples Artist of Russia, filmmaker Karen Shahnazarov on his 65th birthday, wishing him robust health and new creative achievements, the presidents office told ARMENPRESS.

You are one of the greatest masters of cinema, a famous filmmaker and producer, whose films are highly appreciated by both the audience and film critics. Created with the same artistic hand, your films wrote a vivid chapter in the chronicle of the Soviet and Russian cinematographic art.

Your art is loved and expected in Armenia, while your public activity, including the efforts aimed at strengthening the Armenian-Russian cultural ties, deserve praise and appreciation, the Presidents congratulatory message reads.
YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS. Armenias minister of economic development and investments Suren Karayan held a meeting on July 7 with Ambassador of Belarus H.E. Igor Nazaruk.

The Ambassador congratulated the minister on his reappointment to office, as well as the adoption of the governments action plan, the ministry told ARMENPRESS.

The sides discussed issues related to increasing the commercial turnover between the countries. The Ambassador underscored that a tendency of growth exists, and the Belarusian side is willing to boost trade turnover with all efficient measures. The minister and the Ambassador exchanged ideas on the implementation of the export substitution policy within the Eurasian Economic Union.

The sides also talked about the organizational issues of the Armenian-Belarusian intergovernmental commissions session.

They agreed to hold the session in early autumn of 2017. The involvement of the business community in this context was also discussed. Minister Karayan underscored that business interactions and cooperation of the two countries are extremely important, as well as exchange of necessary experience.
YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS. The situation in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact is relatively calm, Armenian defense ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan told ARMENPRESS.

Ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan happened, but few, Hovhannisyan said

Since early morning of July 7, Azerbaijani forces were violating the ceasefire regime in the line of contact with Artsakh, firing both small arms as well as D-30 and D-44 cannons, various caliber mortars and grenade launchers.

The Azerbaijani shelling left three soldiers of Artsakh wounded.

The Artsakh military is taking countermeasures to suppress the Azerbaijani attacks.
YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS. One of the three soldiers of Artsakh who were wounded when Azerbaijani forces opened artillery fire on July 7, remains in critical condition. The soldier was wounded to the head by shrapnel.

The other soldier who was wounded in the leg is in normal state, while the 3rd soldier is seriously wounded.

All three are breathing through the artificial respiration system, Stepanakerts military hospital said.

Since early morning of July 7, Azerbaijani forces were violating the ceasefire regime in the line of contact with Artsakh, firing both small arms as well as D-30 and D-44 cannons, various caliber mortars and grenade launchers.

The Azerbaijani shelling left three soldiers of Artsakh wounded.
YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS. A number of US Congressman suggested to amend the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, and block US sale of weapons to Turkey (ranging from handguns to fighter jets), over an attack on protesters outside the Turkish ambassadors residence in Washington two months ago by Turkeys Presidential security detail.

Rep. David Cicilline, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee has made the proposal, DefenseNews reports. The lawmaker is also a member of the Congressional Armenian Caucus.

Cicilline seeks to block the supply of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.

Earlier several Congressman had called on the State Department to drop the idea on selling 1,2-million-dollar worth of semi-automatic handguns to Turkeys presidential security detail.
YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh released a statement on the situation in the line of contact.

The statement says that in the period of 2 July  8 July an escalation was observed in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact. Overall, Azerbaijani forces made more than 300 ceasefire violations: using 60mm, 82mm and 120mm mortars, D-44 cannons and grenade launchers in various sections of the frontline, in addition to firearms. It is noteworthy that for the first time since the military operations of April 2016, Azerbaijani forces fired 122mm D-30 howitzer artillery and TR-107 multiple rocket launchers on July 4  targeting Artsakhi positions.

Azerbaijani military deployed the abovementioned multiple rocket launchers near the Alkhanlu village, and as usually, sheltered behind the civilian population and used the latter as a live shield  in an apparent gross violation of international rights norms.

Being fully entitled to self-defense, the Defense Army of Artsakh was forced to take countermeasures for suppressing the Azerbaijani firing positions, which were deployed near the peaceful settlement.

The Defense Army of Artsakh remains in full control of the situation along the entire line of contact.
YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS. On 8 July President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan took part in the opening ceremony of a monument commemorating the fallen paramilitary troops in Martakert regions Vank village, the NKR presidents office said.

In his speech Bako Sahakyan noted that the people of Vank actively fought in different fronts of Artsakh as brave fighters, and this monument would become  pilgrimage center both for the village residents and the visitors.

The President expressed gratitude to the "Ata Vank Les" company and Russian entrepreneur of Armenian origin Sassoun Hakobyan for realizing this patriotic initiative.

President Sahakyan awarded a group of paramilitary fighters from the Vank village with "For Service in Battle" medal for personal bravery shown during the Four Day April War of 2016.
YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS. During the ongoing sitting in Minsk, the General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution criticizing Azerbaijan, which was initiated by a Swedish lawmaker, RIA Novosti reported.

The resolution criticizes the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Azerbaijan, as well as expresses concern over worsening democratic development, continuous and growing human rights abuses, as well as violations of rights of the political opposition, civil society, reporters and other activists for freedom.

Upon presenting the draft resolution, its author Christian Holm-Barenfeld mentioned that it is about issues regarding democracy in a country where human rights are constantly violated.

31 delegates voted in favor, 17 against, and 17 abstained.
YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS-ARTSAKHPRESS. A three storey apartment building is being constructed in Artsakhs Jartar town, financed by the Development Foundation of Armenian Villages.

Edgar Vardapetyan, deputy director of the foundation said construction began in 2016.

Vardapetyan said the building will have 9 apartments, and it will be commissioned in 2018.

According to the deputy director, the apartments will be donated to socially vulnerable locals.
YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS. The Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Azerbaijan urged its citizens to avoid traveling to Azerbaijan for leisure.

According to Saudi media, the Embassy said Azerbaijani travel agencies are often involved in various fraud and improper operations, they even sometimes fail to pick up arriving tourists at the airport and accommodate them in much lower ranking hotels than the tourists have paid for.

The Embassys statement comes amid numerous complaints from Arab tourists.
For most professors, the quest for tenure is an all-consuming obsession. It confers security against job loss and cements your position at the college or university. With tenure, you've "made it" in the academic world.Tenure, however, does have its critics in the professorial ranks. Among them is University of Chicago economics professor Steven Levitt (best known for his book Freakonomics) who argues on his blog thatAnother critic of tenure is James Wetherbe, the Richard Schulze Distinguished Professor in Texas Tech University's Rawls College of Business. He has not only expressed his opposition to tenure in principle, but has actually given it up.Wetherbe, who teaches about business and entrepreneurship, writes And referring to the namesake of his chair at Texas Tech, Richard Schulze who founded the firm Best Buy, Wetherbe says,To drive the point home, Wetherbe quotes statements he has heard from some of his colleagues, such asBut Wetherbe kept running into a credibility problem when he would speak about the importance of entrepreneurship and the creative destruction it brings to the economy. People would say,Realizing that such questioners had a good point, Wetherbe decided that the principled thing for him to do was to resign from tenure.He first did so more than twenty years ago while at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Business, after holding tenure there for 13 years. During a faculty meeting devoted to how the school could improve its national ranking, Wetherbe said that the school would move up immediately if the school were the first in the country to abandon tenure. No one else did so.At each subsequent university where he has taught, he has done the same thing. Instead of seeking tenure, Wetherbe now negotiates one-year rolling contracts with his school.he declares.In 2012, Wetherbe took his current position at Texas Tech, again with a contractual agreement that he would hold a faculty chair, but without tenure. But that seemingly harmless contract stuck in the craw of the university's provost, Bob Smith. As Wetherbe explains in this piece , when Smith learned about his no-tenure contract, he declared it "illegal" and said,Smith somehow managed to conclude that if professors could resign from tenure, that wouldSmith was not content merely to disagree with Wetherbe-he used his authority to block him from being considered for the deanship of the business school and withdrew his name from the list of candidates for a Horn Professorship, which is the highest faculty honor at Texas Tech. Finally, Smith demanded that Wetherbe either return to having tenure, or lose his position altogether.Provost Smith's actions led Wetherbe to file a lawsuit in 2012 against the university and its administrators. He maintained that they violated his First Amendment rights by retaliating against him for his public criticisms of the tenure system. Since the Supreme Court has often held that the First Amendment protects individuals' freedom to speak out on an almost unlimited array of topics against governmental interference (and Texas Tech is a state institution), it seemed that Wetherbe's case had merit.The trial court, however, disagreed, granting the university's motion to dismiss the case. The judge's ruling was based on his opinion that academic tenure is not a matter of public concern and therefore the First Amendment did not apply. Also, he ruled that Wetherbe's writings about tenure were not protected because that was work done in the course of his job.That decision was just overturned on appeal by the Fifth Circuit. The three-judge panel unanimously found the trial judge's view that tenure was not a matter of public concern to be erroneous. In its decision , the court stated,Moreover, the court noted, the fact that Wetherbe has often been approached by the media for comments on the topicAs for the notion that his articles criticizing tenure published in Harvard Business Review, the Financial Times, and elsewhere werethe court rebuffed it, saying thatThe court also ruled that the university itself is immune from suit, but not the individual administrators. Therefore the case can now proceed against them for their actions that impinged upon Wetherbe's constitutional rights.Quoted in this article , Wetherbe's lawyer, Fernando Bustos, said,That's an important question and the Fifth Circuit's decision to remand the case offers strong reason to think that will be the outcome. Perhaps Professor Wetherbe's view that tenure is unnecessary won't catch on, but his fight for the freedom to speak out for his beliefs may have lasting importance for all non-tenured faculty.
If one looks closely, without being brainwashed by the Fake News, you notice that when the Polish Prime Minister's wife approaches the Trumps, the President is already engaged with her husband, and she makes eye contact with America's First Lady, who also hails from Eastern Europe, and greets her without making her wait, and then quickly turns to the President, who was done (by just a few seconds) with his greeting of the Polish leader: Below. If you look in the right hand corner of the video, you will see that this Fake News was provided by the Washington Post.

In regards to the Russia Election Tampering matter: Is President Trump being treated fairly by core Democrats and the Mainstream Media? Yes, the new president is guilty until proven innocent. No, President Trump's treatment is dictated by the usual Democrat double standard. Don't care; there are more important issues facing America. 103 total vote(s) What's your Opinion?



The Fake News has lost it, but is, nonetheless, unbowed, and more than ready to defend their unprincipled behavior.I tuned into CNN/Fake News last night, and all they could talk about was Trump, and how he admonished them as Fake News while he was on foreign soil, as if that is verboten; an affront to the the "Free Press" provision of the 1st Amendment, even repeatedly called the president a liar (can one imagine CNN calling Obama a liar for ObamaCare or Benghazi, just to name a few of the real big issues that he continuously lied about?) for telling the truth on them, a truth that would be most essentially true.Well, note to the dumbasses that create the Fake News: The President's 1st Amendment right to express himself "trump's" the 1st Amendment right for the Fake News to espouse Fake News , as is their unprincipled right to do so as per the U.S. Constitution (the Constitution does not govern the principled /unprincipled behavior of journalists).President Trump doing this "on foreign soil" does not detract from the Free Press right of all U.S. citizens, because the Fake News segment of the Free Press only occupies some of its space. While the Fake News of MSNBC and CNN does have a dwindling corner of the Free Press space, and is being lessened each day; rightly, more principled, far more intelligent information purveyors are taking their space.So, the Fake News has had its day, and fewer people now take them seriously, and to that extent, the law of supply and demand is working. This is still America, where some of us practice also Free Will.Continued note to the unprincipled hypocrites of Fake News: Stop promoting "fake news" like the hyperbolic lie of the 'snubbed handshake between Poland's First Lady' and your President.This is a perfect example of what Fake News looks like: An innocent exchange that did flow as the Hypocrites expected, so they edit the video for effect. Keep this up, and rest assured that we Patriots will do the same.The Fake News of CNN and MSNBC has had its time, and while it is you constitutional right to continue to express the Fake News, your incredulity when you are called for it is wearing thin for the rest of us.
By Emmanuel Jarry PARIS (Reuters) - France's foreign intelligence service is bolstering recruitment to counter Islamist militants and cyber criminals, but it is looking for computer wizards and linguists not would-be James Bonds. Top of the vacancy list at France's DGSE, the equivalent of America's CIA or Britain's MI6, are posts for young information technology gurus and linguists who master the finer points of Russian, Chinese or Farsi, widely used in Iran and Afghanistan. While publicity is not usually a priority of the foreign spy service (the Direction Generale de la Securite Exterieure, or DGSE), its head of administration said recruitment pressures are changing things. "All kinds of telecoms and IT profiles interest us, from crypto-mathematicians to super geeks," Charles Moreau, head of DGSE administration, told Reuters during an interview at the agency's northeastern Paris headquarters - nicknamed "La Piscine" (The Pool). The DGSE hiring target is 500-600 recruits a year to bring its numbers up to 7,100 by 2019, but the skills required are not those of amphibious frogmen or secret agents of the kind incarnated by the fictional British character James Bond. Today the foreign spy service is recruiting in an increasingly open and competitive marketplace where it has to vie with big industrial groups, start-ups and other top-end recruiters to attract high-fliers, says Moreau, whose remit covers oversight of hiring. Ironically, the focus on young communications and technology wizards, the super geeks Moreau spoke of, is not totally new. When militants flew planes into the New York World Trade Centre in 2001, prompting the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in pursuit of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, U.S. intelligence services stood accused of having expanded internet surveillance at the expense of old-fashioned feet-on-the-ground spies. Recent cyber attacks that disrupted business operations and hospital services in many countries across the world have, however, increased fears that assailants motivated by money or ideology could cripple even more strategic targets such as power and water networks. Finding new-era intelligence services personnel is not the behind-the-scenes affair it used to be but one where recruiters scout for talent just like the rest, said Moreau. "We can no longer sit on our hands and wait for them to come to us, it's an intensely competitive marketplace," he said. One difficulty was finding language experts, notably with mastery of Russian and Chinese, the languages of two countries whose increasingly central role has shaken up an old world order dominated by U.S. military might. Beyond that, France's military intervention abroad, against the Islamic State militant group in the Middle East and also in northern Mali, requires niche language skills. "It wasn't easy with Arabic and Farsi but it's another ball game with dialects like Tamachek (spoken by the Tuareg tribe in Mali and other parts of Africa)," said Moreau. (Writing by Brian Love; Editing by Andrew Callus and Susan Fenton)
Omar Khadr hopes an apology from the federal government will help restore his reputation, but is sorry that the apology or monetary settlement could cause pain for the family of the soldier he is accused of killing.

"I think it restores a little bit my reputation here in Canada, and I think that's the biggest thing for me," Khadr, now 30, said during a feature interview with CBC's Power & Politics host Rosemary Barton.

The Liberal government confirmed today it has apologized to Khadr and awarded him a settlement as part of the wrongful imprisonment civil suit his lawyers launched against Ottawa. The government said Friday that details of the settlement are confidential, but sources told CBC News that amount totalled $10.5 million.

"I can't say anything about that one way or the other," Khadr said in an interview. "It's part of the agreement that I don't talk about those things."

News of the impending deal drew sharp criticism among those who believe Khadr is a terrorist who killed an American soldier during a firefight in Afghanistan and does not deserve compensation.

The Toronto-born Khadr moved with his family back to the Middle East when he was 10 years old. His father, Ahmed Khadr, ended up as a money man for Osama Bin Laden and directed his children to support al-Qaeda.

On July 27, 2002, when Omar was 15 years old, he was captured by American soldiers during a firefight at a suspected al-Qaeda compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of Sgt. Christopher Speer. Khadr was seriously wounded in the firefight.

Khadr was taken to notorious prisons in Bagram, Afghanistan, and U.S.-controlled Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and tortured, which contravened two UN Conventions that Canada had signed  those against torture and the rights of the child. The latter convention says signatories should treat child soldiers as victims and "accord to these persons all appropriate assistance for their physical and psychological recovery and their social reintegration."

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Canadian intelligence officials obtained evidence from Khadr under "oppressive circumstances," such as sleep deprivation, during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay in 2003, and then shared that evidence with U.S. officials, said the Supreme Court of Canada in a 2010 ruling.

After 10 years, mostly in Guantanamo, Khadr signed an agreement that would allow him to return to Canada in 2012 to serve the remainder of his sentence. He pleaded guilty to five war-crime charges and received an eight-year sentence from a U.S. military commission.

While other countries repatriated their prisoners from Guantanamo, critics argue the Conservative government under Stephen Harper did little to hasten Khadr's return, despite pleas from his lawyers and civil rights groups.

Khadr was released in May 2015 pending an appeal of his war crime convictions, of which he argued that his admissions of guilt were made under duress.

Lawyers for Khadr, who now lives in an apartment in Edmonton, had been seeking $20 million in a wrongful imprisonment civil suit against Ottawa.

"I never was angry or upset about what happened. It's been hard you know, finding jobs or going to school and stuff with my past reputation," he said. "So this is going to help me move forward."

Khadr said he doesn't believe the apology will make people forget his past, but will help them think "that maybe there's more to what happened and maybe look more into it and understand more of what happened."

He said there have been a couple of occasions where job applications have been rejected because of his controversial history.

"They come back and they don't want to do it for no good reason. Sometimes they say people are not comfortable with your past, and I understand people's livelihood. But I would also like to be able to move forward without having that."

"I think it would make it easier for them with this apology to hire me or consider hiring me."

Although Khadr would not comment on reports of the settlement, he said that "this is not a time for celebration" but a time for "reconciliation, remembrance, healing."

"I really hope that the talk about settlement or the apology does not cause people pain and if it does, you know, I'm really sorry for the pain."

Asked if he was talking about the Speer family, Khadr said yes, and that he was "really sorry for their pain" and that causing them pain "is not my intention."

The lawyer for the widow of Speer had said Tuesday an application has been filed so that any money paid by the Canadian government to Khadr will go toward the widow and another U.S. soldier, Sgt. Layne Morris, who lost an eye, during that firefight in Afghanistan.

A wrongful death and injury lawsuit against Khadr in 2014 was uncontested by Khadr or his representatives. In 2015, a U.S. judge granted Speer and Morris $134.2 million US in damages.

Khadr said he's still in contact with members of his family, who are controversial for their extremist views.

He said he's "very different" from them, and that you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family.

"Sometimes maybe it's my responsibility to have a good influence on them, because everybody is worried that they're going to have a bad influence on me. But that's my contribution to have a positive influence on them."

Khadr said he has no ill feelings toward those Canadians who have strong negative opinions about him, but that it's easy to make conclusions about someone without knowing them.

"All I ask is for them to make an informed opinion about me. But take the time, get to know me personally and then whatever you choose, whatever opinion you want to make of me, I will respect that."

Khadr also told CBC News that he just wants "to be a normal person" and finish his nursing program and work in hard-to-serve communities, where he'd like to specialize in relieving people from pain.

"I have a lot of experience with pain, and I have an appreciation of pain," he said.

He said his goal is to concentrate on the future  he doesn't want to forget the past so much as not dwell on it, because he can't change it.

"This is how I survived," he said. "I try to focus on the things I can change."
A 39-year-old Laval man appeared in court in Montreal Friday to face four charges related to his alleged behaviour on a flight bound for Cuba Thursday which led to fighter jets accompanying the plane back to Montreal.

Charalabos Nassios was taken into custody by Montreal police when the Sunwing Airlines flight landed at Pierre Trudeau Airport Thursday evening.

Nassios is charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft, uttering threats, assault, and obstructing or interfering with the lawful use of an airplane. He is set to appear in court again Monday for a bail hearing.

An airline spokesperson said flight WG604 had departed for Cayo Coco but turned around due to an "unruly customer" making "non-specific threats.''

"The flight arrived back around 7:25 p.m., and the disruptive customer was taken into police custody,'' said Rachel Goldrick in an email to The Canadian Press, adding that other passengers were given accommodation for the night, as well as meal vouchers.

"The person was uttering threats toward the staff. He was intimidating other passengers, so the decision was made to turn around," said Montreal police spokesperson Const. Raphael Bergeron.

Nassios faces charges of public mischief and uttering threats, among other possible charges, Bergeron said.

"There was no threats about terrorism or anything like that  it was more like behaviour that was aggressive."

Charles-Edouard Goyer, who works at the airport as a ramp agent, saw the plane upon its return to Montreal.

"There were about 20 police cruisers (from) border services, airport security and Montreal police," he told CBC. "I saw the passenger baggage being removed."

Fighters scrambled

NORAD spokesperson Lt. Commander Joe Nawrocki said a pair of U.S. Air Force F-15 jets were dispatched from Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts and intercepted the aircraft near Albany, N.Y.

Canadian CF-18s were also reportedly scrambled from Quebec but did not take part in the operation. They "monitored from a distance, ready to respond quickly if required," MaryAnna Clemons, another NORAD spokesperson, told CBC.

Story continues

Clemons added that two F-16s were also scrambled from Atlantic City, N.J., and were in the air but never intercepted the commercial flight.

She said the fact both countries were able to collaborate was due to "the unique binational relationship [that] allows for that cross border support between the U.S. and Canadian air forces."

How do fighter jets get involved?

NORAD Major Jennifer Stadnyck said a "domestic events network" was created in the wake of 9/11 to streamline communications between security agencies.

She said many factors can influence the network's decision to send fighter jets to intercept a plane.

"They can vary from lack of communication from the aircraft or the aircraft changing directions, or any other thing that seems concerning," she said.

"It's better to launch and have eyes on the aircraft in the sky than to not have eyes on the aircraft."

The jet pilots look out for anything strange happening with the plane they are following, such as a change in direction or flight pattern.

Typically, she said, the fighter pilots remain in constant communication with the plane they are watching.

"There are multiple courses of action that we can take.... We don't really talk about them because it would reveal some of our tactics and techniques."
TOKYO: Police have charged a former gang boss on death row with the murder of a man in 1996, his second indictment for murder since the finalization of his conviction over a fatal shooting rampage in 2003, police sources said.





Osamu Yano, the 68-year-old former head of a group affiliated with the Sumiyoshikai crime syndicate, was indicted in May on suspicion of murdering a business owner in 1998, after his death sentence was finalized in 2014.





According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Yano and three members of the yakuza group murdered Shizuo Tsugawa, a 60-year-old real estate worker from Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture, in a car in August 1996.





A senior member of the group instructed another ranked member to kill Tsugawa, who was involved in a land ownership dispute with the gang, and a subordinate member is suspected of having actually carried out the murder.





Yano allegedly ordered the three gang members, all of whom are now dead, to dump the body immediately after the killing, suggesting his involvement in the murder plan, although Yano has denied the allegations.





Tsugawa's family reported him missing to the Kanagawa prefectural police after he answered the door to one of the gang members dressed as a delivery man.





After Yano sent two letters indicating his involvement in the murder to the Shibuya Police Station between May and June 2015, the Tokyo police searched a mountain in Isehara and discovered the body in April last year.





Tsugawa was apparently taken to the site by car immediately after leaving home. The body was in the same clothes that Tsugawa was wearing when he was last seen.





Yano was sentenced to death over the rampage in which a rival gangster and three customers were killed at a bar in Maebashi, north of Tokyo, in January 2003.





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LAHORE: A data analysis by Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), a non-government organisation working for prisoners rights, shows a total of 465 prisoners have been executed since the country lifted moratorium on the executions in December 2014. The organisation regretted that such a high number of the executions has made Pakistan fifth most prolific executioner in the world, following China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.





The research shows the use of death penalty has failed to curb crime, including terrorism, but it is exceedingly used as a political tool, sometimes even as a jail overcrowding solution. Punjab has emerged as a major practitioner of death penalty, accounting for 83 percent of the executions, and 89pc of death sentences in Pakistan. However, it has also witnessed only a 9.7pc drop in murder rate from 2015 to 2016.





Sindh, on the other hand, has registered a drop of nearly 25pc in the same time period  even though it carried out only 18 executions compared to Punjabs 382.





The analysis says murder rate in Pakistan was already in decline before the moratorium was lifted, casting even more doubt on the already dubious relationship between the death penalty and crime reduction. Yearly trends of executions show that anti-terrorism courts accounted for only 16pc of the executions. In 2015, 65 people tried by ATCs were hanged, but only 8 were executed from Jan 2016 to May 2017. A majority of death sentences that have been carried out during the period were handed down by sessions courts, which do not have jurisdiction over terrorism cases.





The JPP states the government sought to justify lifting of the moratorium for all 27 death-eligible crimes by claiming it is necessary to deter terrorist threat to Pakistan. But the data indicates that the government is mostly hanging terrorists through military courts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and through ATCs in Sindh.





The research claims that executions are being used as a means to make room in prisons that are facing overcrowding. Currently, 25 of the 27 prisons in the province are significantly over the capacity and the highest number of executions takes place in the most overcrowded prisons. A statement issued by the JPP says Pakistan is heading for its first UN review under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on July 11 that obligates it to uphold and respect the right to life for all its citizens.





It says Pakistans return to an executing state has been taken up in the list of issues framed by the Human Rights Council committee. It further says that more and more cases of wrongful executions were surfacing since lifting of the moratorium. In October last year, the Supreme Court acquitted two brothers languishing in Bahawalpur jail for 11 years on death row, only to find they had already been executed a year ago. Another prisoner was found innocent a year after he had been found dead in his cell.





JPP Executive Director Sarah Belal says Pakistans troubling and continued use of the death penalty has continuously fallen short of meeting its international human rights commitments and fair trial standards, as well as our own domestic laws. She believes the death penalty is not an effective tool to curb militancy and crime.





She says it is time for the stakeholders to commit to genuine reforms in criminal justice system, and until it is done, to restore the moratorium on the death penalty.

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The United States strongly condemns North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Testing an ICBM represents a new escalation of the threat to the United States, our allies and partners, the region, and the world, said U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Global action is required to stop a global threat."

Global action is required to stop a global threat. Any country that hosts North Korean guest workers, provides any economic or military benefits, or fails to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions is aiding and abetting a dangerous regime, said Secretary Tillerson. All nations should publicly demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences to their pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, criticized the North Korean launch. This action is yet another brazen violation of Security Council resolutions and constitutes a dangerous escalation of the situation, he said in a statement. Mr. Guterres called on North Korea to cease further provocative actions and comply fully with its international obligations.

On July 5, during an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley stated,

In the coming days, we will bring before the Security Council a resolution that raises the international response in a way that is proportionate to North Koreas new escalation.

In the meantime, the Department of Defense made clear that the United States remains prepared to defend itself and its allies using the full range of capabilities at its disposal against the growing threat from North Korea. Indeed, the U.S. followed up the ICBM launch with a joint military exercise with South Korea in which United States and South Korean forces fired ballistic missiles in the waters along the Korean Peninsulas east coast.

In a written statement, Chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said, "Our commitment to the defense of our allies, the Republic of Korea and Japan, in the face of these threats, remains ironclad."

The United States seeks only the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the end of threatening actions by North Korea. As we, along with others, have made clear, said Secretary Tillerson, we will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 8

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:

While the whole world has been horrified by photos of a little Azerbaijani girl killed by the Armenian armed forces, it was rather discouraging to see the general approach in the OSCE Minsk Groups statement, which contained condolences to the victims of Armenian aggression and appeals to both sides of the conflict to refrain from further escalation.

However, three days later, the mediators suddenly made a rather tough statement, in which they called Armenias shelling of Azerbaijans Alkhanly village a provocation aimed at undermining the negotiations.

This absolutely transparent message is clear to everyone, Armenia really doesnt shun anything, including the murders of civilians, in order to delay the adoption of decisions aimed at changing the status quo.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the only justification for the former Karabakh generals led by Serzh Sargsyan to stay in power.

As soon as the conflict is resolved, Sargsyan and his companions will leave their posts, and this means that they give orders to prolong the occupation for years to come.

Yerevans reluctance to start active participation in the negotiations has forced all international institutions and mediators to unanimously urge Yerevan to hold substantive, that is, concrete talks, and not the protocol meetings profitable for Yerevan.

But why did the mediators suddenly call Armenias behavior a provocation? The case is that killing a child is always something more than simply the death of civilians, although, all these events are terrible, of course.

However, it was the death of a little girl that made the world finally get enraged by the arbitrariness of the occupying Armenian troops in the Azerbaijani territories, while the intermediaries continue to peaceably and sluggishly urge the conflict sides to negotiate.

The multiple statements from the most influential international institutions and politicians, the publications in the foreign press and the protests of people around the world against the Armenians military crime against civilians, made the OSCE Minsk Group realize that it will not able, at this time, to retreat into generalities, as the whole world has already determined the true culprit.

The fact that Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk visited the site of the Armenian shelling, a group of military attaches accredited in Azerbaijan and representatives of foreign media visited the Alkhanli village, also played its role. All this certainly had influence on the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to finally deliver a fair verdict to the aggressor, calling its actions a provocation.

Unfortunately, while the international community does not take real action and make Yerevan withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani territories, clashes and bloodshed will continue. But until this happens, on the Azerbaijani side, ordinary people will continue to live near the line of contact and the military will be stationed on the Armenian side that will continue to shoot at civilians, including children, each time Sargsyan is afraid to lose his seat.

---

Elmira Tariverdiyeva is the head of Trend Agencys Russian news service, follow her on Twitter:@EmmaTariver
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 8

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:

The main goal of the Armenian political power is to prevent the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and the latest incident proved it, Arye Gut, head of the Baku International Multiculturalism Center in Israel, wrote in an article published on The Jerusalem Post website.

On July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled the Alkhanly village of Azerbaijans Fuzuli district.

As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sahiba Allahverdiyeva, 50, and Zahra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Salminaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on.

This bloody incident once again proved an importance of changing the status quo, the article said. The world community should not turn a blind eye to the killing of innocent people... The world should require justice for Zahra...

In April 2016, the Azerbaijan army while suppressing an Armenian armed provocation, conducted a successful counter-offensive operation and liberated thousands of hectares of Azerbaijani land from Armenia, according to the article.

It is obvious that if the UN Security Council resolutions on the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict are not implemented, there will continue to be civilian casualties in the region of South Caucasus, Gut wrote in his article.

It is unforgivable that civilians lost their lives and the heartbreaking news is that the little girl was the latest victim in Azerbaijans Fuzuli district, according to the article.

There are numerous resolutions of the UN and they should be observed, the article said. It remains to answer the question of how to implement these resolutions; otherwise, it is inevitable that there will be more victims that are innocent. This leads to the question of how seriously the parties involved are interested in resolving this conflict in accordance with international law.

Full responsibility for military provocation in the border of Azerbaijan occupied territories lies entirely on political military leadership of Armenia, the author added.

I apply to the civilized world, which likes to speech about human rights and democracy, Gut said in the article. Zahra was simply a beautiful little girl in every aspect of the word. What was the fault of the 2-year-old Azerbaijani girl who was just beginning to live, doing her first steps, starting to learn how to talk? She wanted to play toys, enjoy life, hug her father and mother, to be happy with parents, go to kindergarten and then to school The Armenian fascists and terrorists cut short her life, they killed Zahra. The only fault of Zahra was that she was Azerbaijani...

All the latest statements and real actions of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, including the brutal murder of Azerbaijan girl Zahra and her grandmother, once again prove that Sargsyan is an absolutely irresponsible and short-sighted politician, according to the article.

He remained the same terrorist who accidentally fell on the wave of Karabakh separatism to the forefront of Armenias political life, the author wrote.

In all his speeches far from diplomacy, Sargsyan is trying to justify the aggressive and occupational policy of his country, according to the article.

In fact, with his policy he once again confirms that he remained the same Sargsyan for whom diplomacy and international relations are completely remote concepts, which once again confirms his low level of political culture, said the article.

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.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 8

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

The current status-quo of a longer-than-20-year occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the surrounding districts by Armenia with the devastating consequences for the internally displaced people is no longer bearable, Marco Wanderwitz, a German MP, said in his response to an enquiry by the Berlin office of The European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS).

On July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled the Alkhanly village of Azerbaijans Fuzuli district.

As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sahiba Allahverdiyeva, 50, and Zahra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Salminaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on.

The United Nations Security Council has already several times demanded the withdrawal of the Armenian troops [from Azerbaijans occupied lands], he said. These resolutions have to be finally followed through in order to avoid any more victims and to establish peace in the South Caucasus, said Wanderwitz.

This week innocent civilians have sadly become - yet again - victims of the ongoing conflict around the Nagorno-Karabakh region, he noted.

We are very worried by this news about a further escalation of the conflict, he added. Only negotiations can lead to a long-term solution. For that, any attacks on the civilian population have to end immediately.

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.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 8

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

The international community has never done anything to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Russian TV presenter Maxim Shevchenko told Trend July 8.

He was commenting on the recent Armenian provocation on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, as a result of which Azerbaijani civilians were killed.

I am afraid that, unfortunately, the conflict will, sometime after, be resolved only on the battlefield. And the international community has never undertaken anything and is not going to do anything to resolve it, Shevchenko said.

He noted that now it is necessary to withdraw troops from the contact line and start direct talks between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia to break the deadlock in the conflict settlement.

Such negotiations are possible to be organized under the mediation of Moscow, according to Shevchenko.

The Russian president has already repeatedly helped in the organization of such talks, and the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents have been holding constructive negotiations together in the presence of the Russian head of state, Shevchenko said.

He expressed hope that constructive talks will be organized after the return of Russias President Vladimir Putin from the G20 summit in Hamburg.

It should be noted that on July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces again violated ceasefire and, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled Azerbaijani positions and territories where the civilian population lives, namely the Alkhanli village of the countrys Fuzuli district, thereby grossly violating the requirements of international law, the Azerbaijani defense ministry said earlier.

As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sahiba Allahverdiyeva, 50, and Zahra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Salminaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on.

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.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 8

Trend:

French journal Opinion Internationale published an article about the Armenian provocation against the civilians of the Alkhanli village in Azerbaijans Fuzuli district, as a result of which Azerbaijani civilians were killed.

The article reviews the role of France as the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair in resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It was also pointed out that the Nagorno-Karabakh region is an integral part of Azerbaijan, which is recognized by the international community.

The letter, where current and former officials of France urged the countrys President Emmanuel Macron to exert pressure on Armenia, was also included in the article.

The full text of the letter can be found here.

It should be noted that on July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces again violated ceasefire and, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled Azerbaijani positions and territories where the civilian population lives, namely the Alkhanli village of the countrys Fuzuli district, thereby grossly violating the requirements of international law, the Azerbaijani defense ministry said earlier.

As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sahiba Allahverdiyeva, 50, and Zahra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Salminaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on.

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.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 8

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

Armenias attack on Azerbaijani civilians is against the UN and European Parliament resolutions, Member of the European Parliament Ramona Nicole Manescu told Trend July 8.

I strongly condemn the recent attack, which happened in Alkhanli village of Fuzuli region of Azerbaijan, by the armed forces of Armenia with mortars and heavy grenade launchers. This attack came totally against the multiple UN and European Parliament Resolutions, which all call upon the withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied territories, she said.

It is even more worrying, considering that the place where all happened is not the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region but other territories of Azerbaijan, Manescu said.

It is inadmissible, under any international or national legislation, for the peaceful citizens of one country to be killed in their own homeland by the armed forces of another country. It is a direct attack on the sovereignty of the state.

The MEP noted that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is already a huge instability factor for the whole Caucasus region, bringing more trouble and losses to all the parts involved.

Its extension to new, yet uncontaminated areas is too much, she added.

It should be noted that on July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces again violated ceasefire and, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled Azerbaijani positions and territories where the civilian population lives, namely the Alkhanli village of the countrys Fuzuli district. As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sahiba Allahverdiyeva, 50, and Zahra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Salminaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on.

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.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 8

Trend:

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry officials inspected the level of combat readiness of the military units stationed on the frontline, the Defense Ministrys press service said July 8.

Azerbaijani Defense Minister, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov visited the military units located on the forefront and inquired about the readiness of military personnel, combat equipment and other military means.

In line with instructions of Commander-in-Chief of Azerbaijans Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev, the Defense Ministry officials inspected the site in the Alkhanli village of the Fuzuli district, which Armenian armed forces shelled on July 4, and offered condolences to the relatives of those killed as a result of the Armenian shelling.

Moreover, the Defense Ministry officials informed the villagers that additional measures had been taken to ensure the safety of civilians.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 8

By Anvar Mammadov  Trend:

In January-June 2017, investment company Unicapital led the ranking of brokers in the Azerbaijani market of public and corporate securities, said the Baku Stock Exchange.

The investment company provided brokerage services worth 2.42 billion manats during the reporting period.

PASHA Capital took second place with the rendered services worth 1.13 billion manats.

PASHA Capital is followed by InvestAZ, which rendered services worth 1.1 billion manats in January-June 2017.

Below is the ranking of brokers in Azerbaijans securities market in terms of services rendered in January-June 2017:

Brokers name Value of brokerage services (AZN) Brokers current place in terms of services volume Unicapital 2,419,755,097.72 1 PASHA Capital 1,128,138,882.17 2 InvestAZ 1,100,677,834.41 3 AzFinance 787,057,069.52 4 PSG-Capital 105,302,034.76 5 Capital Management 47,805,709.07 6

(1.7022 AZN = 1 USD on July 8)
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, July 8

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has made personnel appointments in the countrys government, the Turkmen Altyn Asyr TV channel reported July 8.

Muhammetguly Muhammedov left the post of Turkmen finance minister due to his transfer to another job.

Gochmyrat Myradov, who previously served as Turkmen deputy finance minister, has been appointed the countrys finance minister.

Chary Atayev has been dismissed from the post of minister of construction and architecture for serious shortcomings in his work.

Turkmen Deputy Minister of Construction and Architecture Charyyar Ahmedov has been appointed acting minister of construction and architecture.

In addition, Alladurdy Ataev, due to his retirement, has left the post of chairman of the National Space Agency under the President of Turkmenistan.

Ashyr Garaev, who previously served as Turkmen deputy minister of communications, has been appointed chairman of the National Space Agency under the President of Turkmenistan.
Iran's deputy minister of Petroleum Amir-Hossein Zamaninia says the contract for development of phase 11 of South Pars is sign of overcoming the sanctions barrier, IRNA reported.

Zamaninia said signing such a deal, Total showed that the risk of return of sanctions is minor and unlikely and such a feeling motivated it to invest in Iran.

He said after the JCPOA, Iran is following international engagement under normal conditions.

Conclusion of the deal with Total and CNPCI proved the fact that we are under normal conditions and recourse of sanctions is unlikely, he added.

He said, Under present circumstances, Iran should compete with other countries to attract investment. Foreign capital is limited and Iran is among countries having the highest advantage of huge oil and gas reserves.

Naturally, Iran can compete with other countries in terms of attraction of investment.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 8

By Dalga Khatinoglu  Trend:

Iran has prioritized gas export to neighbours and India, an Iranian top official said.

"Europe is not Irans option for gas export in mid-term, because it has been oversupplied," Amir Hossein Zamani-Nia, Deputy of Oil Minister for International Affairs and Commerce told IRNA July 7.

He added that Iran would increase gas output to 1 billion cubic meters per day (bcm/d) by the end of current fiscal year (March 20, 2018) and based on 6th National Development Plan (2017-2022), the country should export 80 bcm/yr of gas, of which 50 bcm/yr is projected to be delivered to neighbours.

Zamani-Nia said that the remained surplus gas (30 bcm/yr) can be exported to Europe in long-term.

Currently, Iran has agreements with Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq and Oman to supply 46 bcm/yr of gas to these countries. During last year, Iran exported 8.5 bcm of gas to Turkey, but it started to export gas to Iraq in restricted volume last month as well.

Irans gross gas output reached 285 bcm last fiscal year (ended March 20), of which 226 bcm was commercial gas. It plans to increase this volume to above 400 bcm/yr by 2022 by commissioning all 24 phases of South Pars gas field. Last year the field produced 155 bcm/yr, but it is projected to reach 260 bcm/yr in four years.

According to Irans Parliament Research Centers report, released in June, the gas export to far markets (with more than 3,000 km distance from South Pars gas field), especially Europe is unprofitable, because the net profit of exporting gas will be at most $0.08/mcm and zero in most cases.

According to European Commissions estimation, up to 2020, the consumption of gas in Europe is expected to remain stable at around 430 bcm in gross inland terms. Post 2020, a slight decrease in gross inland consumption of gas (412 bcm in 2030) is projected, as well as further reductions in indigenous production of gas.

Net import dependency of natural gas registers an increase as domestic gas production continues its downward trend. The imported volumes of gas are projected to increase between 2015 and 2040 and then to stabilise in the long term, 15% above the 2010 net import level (from 309 bcm in 2010 to 369 bcm in 2050).

Charles Ellinas, CEO of the Cyprus-based energy consultancy e-CNHC, told Trend May 23 that gas prices in Europe are too low to make gas export prospects for Iran commercially viable.

Ellinas, who is also a non-resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council and has over 35 years of experience in the oil and gas sector, added that right now gas prices in Europe are under $5/British Thermal Unit (mmBTU) and are forecast to remain in the range between of $5/mmBTU and $6/mmBTU in the long term.

Meanwhile, the price of Iranian gas supplied to Turkey was $5.8/mmBTU in 2016, Ellinas said.

"At such price by the time it reaches Europe it will be over $7/mmBTU, which would be too high to attract buyers," the analyst said.

Iran should firstly construct a 1,800-km pipeline (Igat9) with 17 compressors and raise at least $6-8 billion worth of investment to connect the South Pars field to its north-western regions to be able to export gas to the EU through the Southern Gas Corridor, or a new pipeline.

Coming to exporting LNG, Iran has an LNG project, half done, with 10.4 million tons per year capacity, but it needs at least $6-9 billion of investment to become operational.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 8



By Fatih Karimov Trend:



Iran is working on a home-version of US-made Phalanx, a close-in weapon system (CIWS) for defense against anti-ship missiles, deputy commander of Iranian Navy, Rear Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi said.



The system is still under test and general evaluation and has not been delivered to the navy, Mousavi said, Tasnim news agency reported July 8.



Consisting of a radar-guided 20 mm Vulcan cannon mounted on a swiveling base, the Phalanx has been used by multiple navies around the world, notably by the US Navy on every class of surface combat ship.



In 2015, Irans Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari unveiled plans for manufacturing an Iranian version of the Phalanx system.



The Islamic Republic says it that has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems in recent years.



Iran has manufactured its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles, radars, boats, submarines and fighter planes since 1992. Iran also unveiled its first domestically-manufactured long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in 2010.
The visits of US President Donald Trump to Poland and the Group of 20 (G20) international summit in Germany were very "productive," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Saturday, Sputnik reported.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Trump visited Poland where he discussed with the country's leadership a number of security and economic issues. The US leader also took part in the Three Seas Conference.

"@POTUS and @FLOTUS head back to @WhiteHouse after a very productive trip to Poland & #G20Summit," Spicer said in a Twitter message.

On Friday, Trump took part in the two-day G20 summit in Hamburg, which gathered world leaders for discussion of the world economy challenges, global trade, climate change and fight against terrorism. US president held a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the event, including a first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Egyptian security forces have killed 14 militants in a special operation in the north-east province of Ismailia, situated on the west bank from the Suez Canal, Sputnik reported citing local media.

The militants were found at their training base after escaping from the northern part of the Sinai peninsula where they were likely involved in terrorist attacks on police and military forces, the Youm7 news outlet reported.

On Friday, 23 Egyptian soldiers died and 33 others were injured after Daesh (Islamic State or IS) terrorists attacked a military base in North Sinai. Security forces managed to kill over 40 terrorists in clashes.

Egypt has been fighting a jihadist insurgency in the Sinai desert after the army overthrew then-President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Police and security forces have since been the target of deadly attacks by Islamists in the area.
The Unites States and Turkey are "in close touch" regarding military intentions in Syria, a top U.S. diplomat said late Friday, Anadolu reported.

The main focus in the war-torn country "continues to be defeating Daesh and ensuring that it does not pose a threat any longer to the United States, to Turkey, to Europe, or to other parts of the world, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey John Bass told reporters after he delivered a speech at an Independence Day reception in the Turkish capital.

"We continue to believe strongly that Turkey has a right to defend itself. And we do not support the use by any organization of Syrian territory to launch or plan attacks against Turkey, he said.

Bass said there has been "strong daily contact, communication and cooperation between the U.S and Turkey, and the other nations in the ant-Dash coalition  a process he expects to continue

He warned, however, that as the situation on the ground evolves, it is "important for all of the members of the coalition to continue to put the focus on eliminating Daesh's last strongholds.

"Now obviously as the campaign continues, and the territory that Daesh holds get smaller, there is greater opportunity for miscalculation by the many different military forces that are operating there, he said.

Bass remarks come one week before Turkey marks one year since a deadly coup attempt was beat back by government forces with the support of Turks who demonstrated in the streets against the overthrow plot.

He said the U.S. supports the governments efforts to bring to justice those responsible because it was the right thing to do.

"And that is clearly a desire of everyone in this society to see those who committed these crimes to suffer the consequences and to face the appropriate penalties from the judiciary, he said.

Turkey accuses the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its leader, Fetullah Gulen, of having staged the coup attempt as well as being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

Since the foiled coup, operations have been ongoing in the military, police and judiciary, as well as in other state institutions to arrest suspects with links to FETO.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump Saturday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, Anadolu reported.

The two leaders held a nearly half hour meeting before the closing session of the G20 summit, Turkish officials have said without giving more details.

Erdogan also had a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday morning; the two leaders discussed the conflict in Syria and other regional issues.

The two-day summit of worlds 20 major economies (G20) will end later on Saturday. President Erdogan is expected to hold a news conference at the end of the summit.

The summit hosted by Germanys Chancellor Angela Merkel had focused on global economy, climate change and the fight against terrorism.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday emphasized the need for global action against terrorism saying that no region was safe from terror threats, Anadolu reported.

Speaking after the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, Erdogan said the international community needed to share the burden in the fight against terrorism.

[At the G20 summit] We have emphasized on showing a principled, consistent and stable stance in the fight against globalized terrorism, Erdogan said.

"I hope that this meeting will be a breaking point for our position of accepting [to deisgnate] terror targets without regards for religion, ethnicity or language," he added.

He also spoke against the U.S. arming PYD/YPG terror groups in Syria in order to combat Daesh in Raqqah.

We will never keep silent when support and arms are provided to terrorist organizations near our borders, Erdogan said.

The PKK/PYD is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) involved in the plan to capture Raqqah and has been supplied with U.S. arms.

Iraq unity

Ankara views the PKK/PYD, which is the Syrian branch of the PKK, as a terrorist group and fears weapons supplied to the PKK/PYD for the operation to oust Daesh from Syria's Raqqah will end up in the hands of PKK terrorists fighting Turkish security forces.

More than 1,200 people, including security force personnel and civilians, have lost their lives since the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU -- resumed its decades-long armed campaign in July 2015.

Erdogan also vowed that Turkey would not tolerate a Kurdish state in northern Syria and said he supported the unity of both Iraq and Syria.

Iraq will be a strong country as long as it protects its unity, Erdogan added.

He also addressed the western countries' stance regarding the Fetullah terrorist Organization (FETO), an illegal network accused of orchestrating last years coup attempt in Turkey.

"Militants of the terror group who organized a deadly coup attempt on July 15 last year in my country and martyred 250 of my citizen and left 2,193 other wounded are seeing the Western countries as a safe harbor," he added.

According to the government, the coup on July 15, 2016, was organized by followers of U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, who is accused of pursuing a long-running campaign to overthrow the government through supporters within the Turkish state, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
KYODO NEWS - Jul 8, 2017 - 19:20 | World, All

A former martial arts star claimed victory Saturday over a career politician in Mongolia's presidential runoff election, as many voters are tired of the resource-dependent economy being mired in an extended slump.

Khaltmaa Battulga of the main opposition Democratic Part was quoted by local media as saying he will immediately work hard toward his pledge of overcoming the difficulties facing the country.

Battulga, a 54-year-old business tycoon and a former world champion in the Soviet combat sport Sambo, led the counting with 50.7 percent of the votes with about 87 percent counted so far, the General Election Commission said.

Miyegombo Enkhbold of the Mongolian People's Party had received 41 percent of the votes in the election seen as a referendum on the government's policy of implementing austerity measures as the country of 3 million, landlocked between China and Russia, struggles to pull its economy out of crisis.

Mongolia formerly enjoyed robust growth, with its gross domestic product growth peaking at 17.5 percent in 2011. But following a sharp fall in global commodity prices, it is now saddled with heavy debt and its economy grew only 1 percent last year.

The government has rolled out fiscal belt-tightening measures in exchange for securing earlier this year a $5.5 billion International Monetary Fund-led bailout package.

The winner of Mongolia's first ever runoff will succeed President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj of the Democratic Party, whose second and final four-year term in office ends this month.

Voter turnout for the runoff, which took place Friday, stood at 60.41 percent with about 1.2 million votes cast, the commission said, adding about 8.3 percent of the counted ballots were blank, a protest by some voters over the choice of candidates.

The commission said completion of the counting has been delayed as a flight carrying ballot papers from Europe is not expected to arrive in Ulan Bator until around midnight.

Battulga, a resource nationalist who has criticized the government's spending cuts and Mongolia's economic overdependence on China, garnered the most votes in the first round of the presidential election last week, but there was no definitive winner as no candidate secured the required majority.

Enkhbold finished a close second in the three-horse race on June 26, although his party won a sweeping victory in a parliamentary election about a year ago.

Enkhbold, the 52-year-old chief of the ruling party, parliament speaker and former prime minister, was tipped as the frontrunner before the election. But he struggled to connect with voters as allegations of corrupt land reforms during his time as mayor of Ulan Bator, the capital city, hung over the campaign's final weeks.
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(2) Aug 30 (2) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (2) Aug 25 (2) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (2) Aug 12 (2) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (2) Aug 09 (2) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (2) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (2) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (2) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (2) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (2) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (2) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (2) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (2) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (2) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (2) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (2) Jul 03 (2) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (2) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (2) Jun 16 (2) Jun 15 (2) Jun 14 (2) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (2) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (2) May 19 (2) May 18 (4) May 17 (7) May 16 (2) May 15 (2) May 14 (4) May 13 (3) May 12 (4) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (3) May 08 (2) May 07 (2) May 06 (2) May 05 (1) May 04 (2) May 03 (4) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (2) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (2) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (2) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (2) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (2) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (2) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (2) Mar 15 (1) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (2) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (2) Mar 08 (1) Mar 07 (1) Mar 04 (2) Mar 02 (2) Feb 28 (1) Feb 24 (1) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (3) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (2) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (4) Oct 16 (3) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (5) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (3) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (3) Jul 01 (6) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (5) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (5) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (4) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (4) May 19 (3) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (1) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (3) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (3) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (3) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (3) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (3) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (3) Mar 07 (3) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (3) Mar 01 (3) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (3) Feb 25 (3) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (3) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (3) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (4) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (5) Jan 17 (4) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (3) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (2) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (2) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (5) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (2) Oct 11 (2) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (2) Oct 07 (2) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (2) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (2) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (2) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (1) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 17 (2) Sep 16 (1) Sep 15 (2) Sep 14 (2) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 11 (2) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (1) Sep 02 (1) Sep 01 (1) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (1) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 24 (1) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (2) Aug 19 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (5) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (6) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (6) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (4) May 30 (4) May 29 (4) May 28 (5) May 27 (5) May 26 (5) May 25 (4) May 24 (5) May 23 (4) May 22 (4) May 21 (3) May 20 (6) May 19 (4) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (3) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (3) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (3) May 06 (3) May 05 (3) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (4) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (5) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (4) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (6) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (5) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (5) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (5) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (7) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (4) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (7) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (8) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (3) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (6) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (6) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (5) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (4) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (6) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (7) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (6) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (5) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (5) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (2) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (4) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (3) Sep 09 (3) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (6) Sep 04 (5) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (2) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (4) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (4) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (8) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (2) Jun 21 (1) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (7) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (5) Jun 11 (4) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (4) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (3) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (3) May 25 (4) May 24 (2) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (2) May 20 (3) May 19 (2) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (2) May 14 (6) May 13 (4) May 12 (2) May 11 (3) May 10 (2) May 09 (3) May 08 (4) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (3) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (4) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (2) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (2) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (2) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (2) Apr 14 (4) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (5) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (4) Mar 28 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Amazons $42 per share offer for Whole Foods wasnt the first CEO Jeff Bezos made, according to a recent SEC filing detailing the deals timeframe.

The filing also revealed the online retailer beat out six other suitors for the Whole Foods deal, four private equity firms and two unknown companies, referred as Company X and Company Y.

Heres a breakdown of how the Amazon-Whole Foods deal went down:

Whole Foods initially received a written offer from Amazon of $41 per share on May 23. At the same time Amazon threatened Whole Foods that it would end discussions of the deal if there were any leaks or rumors about its interest in the grocer.

Read: Amazon Whole Foods Acquisition: Will People Actually Buy Groceries Online?

The SEC filing said:

In its letter, Amazon.com expressed its belief that the offer represented compelling and certain value for the Companys shareholders, considered its interest in the Company to be highly sensitive, and said that it reserved the right to terminate discussions if there was any leak or rumor of its interest in acquiring the Company. The letter also indicated that Amazon.com viewed the proposed transaction as a strategic investment for Amazon.com.

However, $41 per share offer wasnt enough for Whole Foods, so it tried to raise the price to $45 a share. The grocery chains price was communicated to Goldman Sachs, which was acting as Amazons financial advisor (Evercore advised Whole Foods), and the bankers were not happy about it.

Goldman Sachs representatives expressed their disappointment at the price specified in the Companys counter proposal, the filing said, Amazon.com believed that it had made a very strong bid.

Amazon then said that as a last stretch it was willing to offer $42 per share, but emphasized multiple times it was the companys best and final offer. Goldman Sachs representatives also told Evercore that Amazon would kill the deal if the $42 price was not accepted.

The representatives from Goldman Sachs also made it clear again to the representatives from Evercore that Amazon.com would disengage from its efforts to acquire the Company and pursue other alternatives and initiatives if the $42.00 per share price were not accepted, the filing said.

Story continues

Amazon also said it expected Whole Foods would not approach other potential bidders while both companies negotiated.

Read: Amazon Prime Alexa-Based Sign-Up Gets $20 Off Membership As Prime Day Approaches

The grocer ended up accepting the $42 per share price and Amazon announced last month it will buy Whole Foods for $13.7 billion.

"Millions of people love Whole Foods Market because they offer the best natural and organic foods, and they make it fun to eat healthy," Bezos said when the acquisition was announced. "Whole Foods Market has been satisfying, delighting and nourishing customers for nearly four decades  theyre doing an amazing job and we want that to continue."

If the deal is terminated Whole Foods would have to pay a $400 million fee.

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Larry Page

The more Uber's CEO heard rumors about Google's plans for its self-driving cars, the more he begged to get a meeting with Larry Page.

New emails disclosed in a court filing on Thursday show Travis Kalanick's suspicions and reaction as it became clear that Google  an early investor in Uber  was exploring launching a competing ride-sharing service using the self-driving cars it was developing.

The two companies are bitter enemies today, with each racing to develop competing self-driving-car technology. Google's self-driving-car spin-out, Waymo, has also sued Uber, alleging theft of intellectual property and patent violations.

Before all the bad blood, though, Kalanick, who resigned last month, sought to partner with Google on self-driving cars instead of competing, according to the emails, dating from 2015. A high-ranking Google executive appeared to see the value of a partnership as well.

'I hope I'm wrong here'

But Kalanick's distrust and fears about Google's motives were inflamed as he suspected Page  a Google cofounder and the CEO of its parent company, Alphabet  was purposefully avoiding him and that Google was secretly plotting to move into his turf.

"A meeting with Larry could calm this down if it's not true but he has been avoiding any meeting with me since last fall," Kalanick wrote in an email in March 2015.

"Without any dialogue we get pushed into the assumption that Google is competing in the short term and has probably been planning to do so for quite a bit longer than has been let on," Kalanick continued. "I hope I'm wrong here, just need to do a meeting with Larry ASAP to get clarity and a mutual understanding of how to do a proper partnership here."

The emails document how the relationship between the two tech giants unraveled, and how the brewing sense of mistrust and betrayal ultimately led to an acrimonious legal feud that has captivated Silicon Valley.

Story continues

Here's one of the emails in Thursday's filing:

Google waymo emails

Kalanick's emails were sent to David Drummond, Google's head of business and an Uber board member at the time. Drummond agreed that the "value of a partnership now far outweighs concerns about an uncertain future."

A Google Calendar invite, also in the court filing, shows that Page, Drummond, Kalanick, and Emil Michael, who was then Uber's head of business, met for lunch three days later at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California.

What happened next, though, is what Uber wants to question Page about in a legal deposition. In the company's argument for why it should be able to depose Page, Uber said that not only did the Alphabet CEO attend the lunch meeting to discuss the idea of a partnership, but he "has knowledge about why Waymo rejected that avenue and instead chose to compete with Uber."

"Any such competitive business decisions are relevant to the issues in and motivations behind this lawsuit, and to damages," Uber's attorneys said. Now it's up the judge to decide whether Page has to answer Uber's questions about why the partnership was falling apart from the beginning.

The lawsuit revolves around Waymo's allegations that one of its former engineers downloaded 14,000 company files relating to self-driving car technology and took them with him when he joined Uber.

An Uber spokesperson sent Business Insider the following statement about the latest emails:

"There is no substitute for these depositions, which would resolve some key unanswered questions. For instance: why, after Google learned of the alleged downloading of 14,000 files, did Mr. Page not alert Uber's then-CEO to that fact when they spoke? Simultaneously, Google was rejecting a partnership with Uber, choosing instead to compete. Thisand the lack of evidence supporting Waymo's casebegs the obvious question: was this lawsuit actually motivated by the downloading of the files, or was it an attempt to slow down a competitor?"

Waymo did not respond to a request for comment.

NOW WATCH: Travis Kalanicks resignation as CEO of Uber comes after a firestorm of scandals

Related:





More From Business Insider


Ivanka Trump sat in as a replacement for President Trump at a G-20 Summit working session  putting the first daughter alongside heads of state such as Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Typically a government minister would stand in for a head of state if they were unable to attend such an event, the Washington Post reported.

However, Russia's summit representative tweeted that when President Trump was out of the room for bilateral meetings, the first daughter sat in a replacement.



And replaces Pres Trump at the #G20 table as he leaves for bilateral meetings pic.twitter.com/Hf1zfGQeIP

 Svetlana Lukash (@LanaLukash) July 8, 2017

In the photo, Ivanka sat next to Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May on her left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on her right.

A representative for Ivanka Trump told the Washington Post that she had "briefly joined the main table when the President had to step out" of the working session on "Partnership with Africa, Migration and Health."

The first daughter, who serves as an official unpaid advisor to the president, has also participated in other events at the summit.

On Thursday, she and her husband, presidential advisor Jared Kushner, attended a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel alongside President Trump, according to the Post. And, also on Saturday, Ivanka and the president participated in the launch of a World Bank fund for female entrepreneurs.

Story continues

NOW WATCH: Trump's history with WWE explains a lot about his persona





More From Business Insider
A small nuclear bomb set off by a terrorist is one of 15 disaster scenarios the US government plans for.

Radioactive fallout is the biggest danger for those who survive the initial blast.

Sheltering indoors is important to lower radiation exposure, but you'll want a few items to help you make it through the first 24-48 hours.

You should have a radio, water, essential medications, and food handy.

FEMA has more-complete supply lists for emergency-preparedness kits, which it recommends every American family assemble.

North Korea on Tuesday reportedly launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile  a rocket capable of traveling more than 3,400 miles with a weapon on top. The feat suggests that the isolated country, one of nine nations that together wield more than 14,900 nukes, could strike Alaska.

However, the rest of the US faces a much different and shadowy nuclear threat: a terrorist-caused nuclear detonation, which is one of 15 disasters scenarios that the federal government has planned for  just in case.

"National Planning Scenario No. 1 is a 10-kiloton nuclear detonation in a modern US city," Brooke Buddemeier, a health physicist and expert on radiation at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, told Business Insider. "A 10-kiloton nuclear detonation is equivalent to 5,000 Oklahoma City bombings. Though we call it 'low yield,' it's a pretty darn big explosion."

nuclear bomb explosion blast city shutterstock_639638614

Buddemeier couldn't say how likely such an attack might be today. But the concern isn't unfounded, since weapons-grade nuclear materials have proliferated in recent years, along with smaller, kiloton-class bombs. And while governments do their best to safeguard nuclear-weapons materials, there's no guarantee a terrorist couldn't succeed in obtaining them.

Should a nuclear blast occur near your city or town, and you somehow avoided its searing flash of light, crushing shockwaves, and incendiary fireball, take shelter immediately (read our full fallout survival guide here). You should also have a few items handy in your emergency kit.

Story continues

"Would you have considered Oklahoma City a likely target?" Buddemeier said. "I think it's worthwhile for everybody to think about preparedness for any kind of event."

Buddemeier said the best plan was to round up the emergency supplies on Ready.gov, which are listed at the end of this post.

"This isn't just for the nuclear holocaust event," Buddemeier said. "This is for general emergency preparedness and making sure that you and your family can be safe in an emergency."

But if you're in a pinch, he said you should grab a few basics while you run for cover from radioactive fallout.

Why you should prepare to hunker down for 24-48 hours

nuclear explosion fallout radiation danger zones decay bruce buddemeier llnl

A fearsome aftereffect of nuclear blasts is fallout, a complex mixture of fission products (or radioisotopes) created by splitting atoms.

Many of these fission products decay rapidly and emit gamma radiation  an invisible yet highly energetic form of light. Too much exposure to this radiation in a short time can damage the body's cells and its ability to fix itself, leading to a condition called acute radiation syndrome or sickness.

"It also affects the immune system and your ability to fight infections," Buddemeier said.

Only very dense and thick materials, like many feet of dirt or inches of lead, can reliably stop the gamma radiation emitted by fallout. It's also a threat you'd be foolish to attempt to escape by driving away in a car or other vehicle.

"Your ability to know where the fallout's gonna go, and outrun it, are  well, it's very unlikely," he said, because it would be carried by high-altitude winds "often booking along at 100 miles per hour."

While rushing to a fallout shelter within the first minutes after a blast, or migrating to a better one, you'll want a few things to get through the next 24 to 48 hours  when radioactive fallout exposure risk is the greatest.

The minimum your emergency kit should have

If a full emergency-preparedness kit isn't handy  say, if you were on public transit to or from work  Buddemeier recommends trying to grab a few items, just as long as it wouldn't delay your taking shelter from fallout by more than a couple of minutes.

Item No. 1 is a radio, he said  ideally a hand-cranked type with a USB charging port that can power other devices. "If you have a cellphone, that'll work too," he said.

Buddemeier said he preferred a radio over a mobile phone because "sometimes the cell towers may be affected," either by power outages, crushing demand, or an invisible yet powerful effect of nuclear weapons called electromagnetic pulse. (The effect can disable electronics, though a ground detonation would mostly confine EMP to the blast damage zone, where you'd have much bigger problems.)

He says a radio is important because you need to receive emergency broadcasts and instructions. It's one of the simplest ways to figure out where dangerous fallout has landed, when you can leave your shelter, and where the safest routes to exit a fallout zone are.

apartment building house radioactive fallout shelter protection quality level llnl brooke buddemeier

Second, Buddemeier says, you'll want water  ideally 1 gallon per person per day, according to Ready.gov. In addition to drinking it, you may need it to rinse off any radioactive fallout after removing your clothes, since this can drastically reduce your radiation exposure.

Third, Buddemeier said, "I would probably grab a breakfast bar or two to stave off the hunger a little bit." Fourth, he says to grab any essential medications or treatments you might need.

Buddemeier says there's a risk in trying to gather too much stuff, since the first minutes and hours after a blast are when radioactive fallout exposure risk is the greatest  especially outdoors.

One thing he definitely does not recommend stressing about immediately after a blast is potassium iodine pills, which wouldn't be very useful in the next 48 hours.

"Most people seem to think of the potassium iodide, or KI, pills as some type of anti-radiation drug. They are not," Buddemeier said. "They are for preventing the uptake of radioiodine, which is one radionuclide out of thousands of radionuclides that are out there."

Radioiodine is "probably like [0.2%] of the overall exposure that you may be facing if you're outdoors," he said, adding that the pills are most helpful for addressing longer-term concerns about food-supply contamination. "The most important thing is sheltering in place and not trying to seek out things like KI, because the act of trying to find your KI and get your KI may cause you to get a much higher exposure to everything else and offer very little protection in return."

Buddemeier says he hopes no one will ever have to act on his advice. But if people could find good shelters  and are able to receive broadcast instructions from emergency personnel  the blow of a catastrophe could be softened, he says.

"We may not be able to do much about the blast casualties, because where you were is where you were, and you can't really change that. But fallout casualties are entirely preventable," he said. "In a large city ... knowing what to do after an event like this can literally save hundreds of thousands of people from radiation illness or fatalities."

More-complete emergency-supply checklists from FEMA

It's smart to have a family plan as well as a few basic emergency kits to last several days, then stash them at home, work, and in your vehicles.

emergency preparedness supply kit shutterstock_222250729

But the emergency-supply lists below, published by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, aren't helpful just for making it through the aftermath of a nuclear blast, but for weathering tornadoes, hurricanes, snowstorms, power outages, and other take-shelter emergencies.

FEMA recommends each of your kits have these essential items in a portable bag:

Water: 1 gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation. Food: at least a three-day supply of nonperishable food. Battery-powered or hand-crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both. Flashlight and extra batteries. First-aid kit. Whistle to signal for help. Dust mask to help filter contaminated air, and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter in place. Moist towelettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties for personal sanitation. Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities. Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food). Local maps.

If you have the space, the need, and the foresight, FEMA also recommends beefing up your basic kits with these items:

Prescription medications and glasses. Infant formula and diapers. Pet food and extra water for your pet. Important family documents, such as copies of insurance policies, identification, and bank-account records in a waterproof, portable container. Cash or traveler's checks and change. Emergency reference material such as a first-aid book or information from Ready.gov. Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person. Consider additional bedding if you live in a cold-weather climate. Complete change of clothing, including a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, and sturdy shoes. Consider additional clothing if you live in a cold-weather climate. Household chlorine bleach and medicine dropper: When diluted nine parts water to one part bleach, bleach can be used as a disinfectant. Or in an emergency, you can use it to treat water by using 16 drops of regular household liquid bleach per gallon of water. Do not use scented or color-safe bleaches, or those with added cleaners. Fire extinguisher. Matches in a waterproof container. Feminine supplies and personal-hygiene items. Mess kits, paper cups, plates and plastic utensils, and paper towels. Paper and pencil. Books, games, puzzles, or other activities for children.

You can access more information about how to prepare for a variety of emergency scenarios at FEMA.

NOW WATCH: This Cold War-era technology could safely power the world for millions of years





More From Business Insider
Sears Holdings (SHLD) on Friday announced plans to shutter more of its stores.

The department store chain, which operates the struggling Sears and Kmart nameplates, said on Friday it will close eight more Sears locations and 35 unprofitable Kmart stores, as the company "continue[s] to focus on [its] best stores and return to profitability."

Sears stock was down more than 3 percent Friday afternoon after the news.

"This is part of a strategy both to address losses from unprofitable stores and to reduce the square footage of other stores because many of them are simply too big for our current needs," CEO Eddie Lampert wrote in a statement.

The latest stores deemed unprofitable by Sears will be shuttered by early October, the company said. Additionally, eligible associates will receive severance and will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at local Kmart or Sears stores.

"We have fought hard for many years to return unprofitable stores to a competitive position and to preserve jobs," Lampert said.

"[W]e don't make decisions to close stores lightly," he added, saying his goal as chief executive is to make Sears Holdings "more relevant and more competitive for our members and other constituents."

In his Friday blog post on the company's website, Lampert updated readers on Sears' restructuring program. The company has said it wants to achieve $1.25 billion in annualized cost savings this year, as well as reduce the retailer's debt and improve its liquidity.

Lampert said Sears is "well on track" to meet its goals.

Later Friday evening, Sears announced it has entered into an amendment to an existing credit facility, which will provide the retailer an "uncommitted line" of credit, moving forward.

"This facility is intended to provide the Company with the flexibility to generate additional liquidity on an as-needed basis," Sears Holdings CFO Rob Riecker said in a statement.

"This adjustment to our capital structure demonstrates that Sears Holdings will continue to take actions to generate liquidity and manage our business while meeting all of our financial obligations," Riecker said.

Story continues

Sears also revealed that in June it closed on more than $200 million of real-estate transactions, which helped the company pay down an April 2016 loan, from $500 million to $347 million. Additional net proceeds of $57 million reduced an outstanding balance on Sears' revolving credit facility, the company said.

Some of Sears vendors, meanwhile, have been seen as looking to jump ship and terminate deals with the retailer as rumors of a looming Sears bankruptcy filing continue to swirl. Key vendors, such as Craftsman supplier Western Forge, fear never being repaid.

"As I have said before, the level of support we have from our vendors is an important factor in defining the size of our business and the number of stores we can operate responsibly going forward," Lampert said Friday in regard to this issue.

He said that in the past 12 months Sears has "reached the point" where some of its vendors have trimmed support, and this is thereby putting "additional pressure" on the company.

"Despite this challenge, we have been working and fighting hard to improve our operational performance and streamline our organization," Lampert added.

In June, Sears announced it's trying a new store concept in Texas  a store that only sells mattresses and appliances. The company said it expects to open more smaller-format stores while shrinking its large, less-competitive ones.

It's a rare spot of optimism for the troubled retailer, which warned earlier this year in an annual filing with the SEC that there were doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern.

Read Sears' latest closure list to find out if your store is one being impacted.





More From CNBC


Tesla Is About to Unveil Something Elon Musk Called 'Seriously Next Level'

News that Tesla Motors was on track to release its lower-cost Model 3 sedan starting in late July wasnt enough to stop an extended sell off.

Tesla shares fell 3.5% in early trading Thursday, dethroning the company from its position of most valuable automaker by market capitalization. They continued to lose ground during the day and closed Thursday down 5.6% at a six-week low. By the close, the company was valued at about $50.7 billion, slightly below General Motors $52.6 billion market cap.

Tesla first became the most valuable American automaker in April. That happened in part due to excitement over the Model 3, a $35,000 car that the companys supporters hope could revolutionize the automotive industry.

The stocks recent plunge came despite news Sunday that the first batch of Model 3 vehicles would reach customers on July 28. Investors were initially pleased with the news, with the stock jumping about 2%.

But a less bullish update a day later helped spark the selloff. On Monday, Tesla said it had delivered 22,000 vehicles in the second quarter of 2017, just barely meeting its estimates. No stranger to production woes, the company blamed the miss on a shortfall of battery packs.

Goldman Sachs helped nudge the stock down further Wednesday, arguing that that Tesla shares would fall to $180 within the next six months, because the Model 3s launch schedule implied weaker results than what Teslas overall production targets stated. The stock is currently trading at about $317. Goldman has maintained its sell rating on the company.

Still, Tesla could reclaim its mantle as the most valuable U.S. car company if it manages to stay on track with its Model 3 schedule.

But the stock remains highly volatile, in part because its considered a growth company. That means its valuation is based on what investors are betting it will be worth in the future, rather than a reflection of its present performance. So any bit of good news could add billions to the companys valuation, while any roadblocks  like a mishap with Model 3 estimates  could sent the company back down to earth.

Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly described Teslas market position in April. It became the most valuable automaker in the United States that month, not the most valuable in the world. The story has also been updated with closing stock price information.
merkel putin

Throughout their relationship as world leaders, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin have shared an understanding. After all, Putin served as a KGB officer in Germany from 1985 to 1990.

"When Putin and Merkel meet, they sometimes speak in German (hes better in her language than she is in his), and Putin corrects his own interpreter to let Merkel know that nothing is lost on him," George Packer of The New Yorker wrote in a profile of Merkel.

"Putins brand of macho elicits in Merkel a kind of scientific empathy."

The profile shows how tensions between the two leaders have been brewing for several years, most recently with Russia's incursions into Ukraine.

During discussions about energy supplies at Putin's home in Sochi back in 2007, the Russian president called his black lab, Koni, into the room with Merkel. From The New Yorker (emphasis added):

"As the dog approached and sniffed her, Merkel froze, visibly frightened. She'd been bitten once, in 1995, and her fear of dogs couldn't have escaped Putin, who sat back and enjoyed the moment, legs spread wide. 'I'm sure it will behave itself,' he said. Merkel had the presence of mind to reply, in Russian, 'It doesnt eat journalists, after all.' ..."

"Later, Merkel interpreted Putin's behavior. 'I understand why he has to do this  to prove he's a man,' she told a group of reporters. 'He's afraid of his own weakness. Russia has nothing, no successful politics or economy. All they have is this.'"

Vladimir Putin dog

The Kremlin has used animals to antagonize world leaders before. Putin once played the "my dog is bigger than your dog" game with then-President George W. Bush. The incident actually served as inspiration for one of Bush's paintings.

The Russian president, who filmed his own instructional jiu-jitsu video, makes no secret of his physical prowess. Through various propaganda events portraying his manliness, Putin markets himself as a tough guy running an even tougher country.

Story continues

Christina Sterbenz contributed to this story.





More From Business Insider


It's been several weeks since Amazon announced it would be buying Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, and it seems as if the dust has finally settled.

Amazon wants to buy Whole Foods for $42 a share in cash. A curious thing happened right after news of the offer  the stock price rose above $42.

Buying Whole Foods stock for, say, $43 a share when Amazon had a deal to pay $42 in cash only makes sense if you think another bidder is lurking. If that bid never comes and Amazon pays what it always said it would  well anyone who paid more than $42 is losing money.



Those hopes have since (mostly) come out of the shares. Walmart was seen by investors as a major potential bidder but was said to not be interested according to Reuters. As time as passed, no rival bidder has appeared, and investors have lost hope.



Traders buying the stock now still only profit if it moves well above the $42 offer price but on Thursday, the stock was trading at $42.02 and was below $42 for a minute.



The shares closed Wednesday just one cent lower than Amazon's bid at $41.99  the lowest close since the deal was announced.



Click here to see Whole Foods' stock move in real time ...

Screen_Shot_2017 07 06_at_1_34_41_PM

NOW WATCH: An economist explains what could happen if Trump pulls the US out of NAFTA





More From Business Insider


New court filings in the Waymo v. Uber lawsuit document the breakdown between the two companies' cooperation and potential partnership. The filings contain a series of emails between former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Google senior VP David Drummond, who at the time was also an Uber board member. The exchange, which happened in early 2015, show Kalanick becoming increasingly concerned over rumors that Google was looking to start its own ride-sharing service with the self-driving cars it was developing. From the emails, it appears that Uber was looking to partner with Google in its autonomous vehicle efforts and Kalanick, worried about the rumors, repeatedly sought a meeting with Alphabet CEO Larry Page.

In one email from March of 2015, Kalanick reached out to Drummond after receiving information that Google would be launching a self-driving service in a few months. In it, Kalanick said, "We get stuff like this more than I would like. A meeting with Larry could calm this down if it's not true but he has been avoiding any meeting with me since last fall. Without any dialogue we get pushed into the assumption that Google is competing in the short term and has probably been planning to do so for quite a bit longer than has been let on. I hope I'm wrong here, just need to do a meeting with Larry ASAP to get clarity and a mutual understanding of how to do a proper partnership here."

Kalanick did get his meeting with Page, but it's what happened after the meeting that Uber's attorneys want to depose Page about and why Uber filed the emails with the court. They claim that Page attended that meeting to discuss a potential partnership with Uber but later decided to compete with them instead. In their argument for a Page deposition, Uber's attorneys said, "Any such competitive business decisions are relevant to the issues in and motivations behind this lawsuit, and to damages."

In a statement about the emails, a Waymo spokesperson highlighted that this case is about stolen technology, saying, "Uber continues to mischaracterize our claims in order to distract people from the bottom line: that Uber is using stolen Waymo trade secrets in their technology. We look forward to presenting our evidence at trial and respectfully await the Court's ruling on Uber's deposition requests."

An Uber spokesperson said, "There is no substitute for these depositions, which would resolve some key unanswered questions. For instance: why, after Google learned of the alleged downloading of 14,000 files, did Mr. Page not alert Uber's then-CEO to that fact when they spoke? Simultaneously, Google was rejecting a partnership with Uber, choosing instead to compete. This  and the lack of evidence supporting Waymo's case  begs the obvious question: was this lawsuit actually motivated by the downloading of the files, or was it an attempt to slow down a competitor?"
A Whole Foods Market is pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. June 16, 2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

By Carl O'Donnell and Lauren Hirsch

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) told Whole Foods Market Inc (WFM.O) it would not engage in a sale process for the U.S. grocer that involved other bidders, a regulatory filing showed on Friday, shedding new light on the $13.7 billion acquisition.

The previously undisclosed details on the negotiations show how Amazon used its deep pockets and brand as leverage to convince Whole Foods to accept a sale process that would not result in a bidding war.

Whole Food shares traded above Amazon's $42-per-share deal price for the first few days after the agreement was announced on June 16, on investor expectations of a higher bid. They have since traded slightly below that price, as such hopes dampened.

The regulatory filing shows that Whole Foods agreed to forgo an auction process after it received expressions of interest from two other companies and four private equity firms.

None of these parties are identified by name. The filing refers to a 'company X,' which proposed a merger of equals that valued Whole Foods at between $35 and $40 per share. U.S. supermarket chain owner Albertsons LLC is company X, a source familiar with the matter said. Albertsons did not respond to a request for comment.

Nevertheless, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods agreed not to pursue this, or solicit any other bids, in part because Amazon was "very sensitive with respect to confidentiality" and did not want to compete in a broader sale process, the filing said.

Whole Foods said in the filing it sought $45 per share from Amazon but settled for $42 per share, which the ecommerce giant called its "best and final offer." Amazon had offered $41 in May, according to the filing.

Amazon had also told Whole Foods it was considering other opportunities in case its final offer was turned down. The filing added that Amazon reserved the right to terminate the talks if there was any leak or rumor of its interest in Whole Foods.

The other company that expressed interest in Whole Foods, referred to in the filing as 'company Y,' had an interest in exploring a commercial relationship, such as a supply arrangement, and did not discuss any merger or acquisition, according to the filing.

Whole Foods' management, under pressure from activist hedge fund Jana Partners LLC to explore a sale of the company, decided not to solicit proposals from the four private equity firms as the price proposed by Amazon likely exceeded the amount a private equity buyer could be expected to pay, according to the filing.

(Reporting by Carl O'Donnell and Laurne Hirsch in New York; Additional reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Steve Orlofsky)
A couple questions as I plan out my application process [ #permalink

Thank you--that is very helpful! I'll definitely apply in 2019, then.



I have one additional question, and it's a tricky one. I am trying to figure out if I should apply to Columbia Early Decision, and although I have a couple years to decide, I would greatly appreciate your input on this as well. I see a number of pros and cons to going ED:



1. I believe there's a good chance that applying ED will boost my chances of admission to Columbia. If I have a weak interview or some other part of my application (such as work experience) is lacking from the adcoms' perspective, the ED choice could make up for that. The results for recent years indicate that your chances of admission at Columbia may be much higher in the early acceptance round, though the applicant pools may also be different.



2. I also think that Columbia could be more likely to give me some scholarship $$$ if I go ED, although I know there's a lot of debate about this.



3. Really not as important, but it would be nice to be done with MBA applications if I find out early that I got admitted there; it would make the rest of the year much less stressful!



4. Submitting the application early (in June or July 2019, for example) would give me more time to work on my other applications. Columbia would be a Round 0.5 of sorts. I know I could also apply early for ED too and just get it out of the way, even if I won't hear back for a while.



5. Columbia' Loan Assistance Program would potentially allow me to pay back much less debt in the long run. If I'm $100,000 in debt when I graduate, but work for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (which is my plan anyway) and get approved for the program, Columbia could pay off $10,000 in loan money a year for 10 years, which would ultimately be a lot more valuable than a $20,000 scholarship. I know that some other programs offer this as well, and many of them are also on my list of prospective schools.



6. Columbia is, in my mind, tied for "first choice" along with Harvard, UPenn, and Yale. I would be overjoyed to attend any of those schools. So I can say with a straight face that Columbia is "a" first choice school for me.





The disadvantages:



1. If I'm admitted, I won't be able to compare the scholarship/aid packages that any other schools offer me. If I get a substantial scholarship (or a full ride--I can dream, right?) to another school on my list, I won't be able to accept it.



Along with Yale, Columbia, Harvard, and UPenn (my top four choices), I'm also planning to apply to Duke and Cornell in Round 1. If I don't get in to any of those schools, I would plan to apply to Michigan, UNC, Virginia, and Georgetown in Round 2. (All of these are subject to change, of course!) So if one of those schools gives me a much better deal than Columbia, it doesn't matter, and I probably wouldn't ever know anyway.



2. Columbia's Loan Assistance Program looks great, and I think I'll have a good shot at benefiting from it, but I know that it's not an entitlement--so I might not receive money from it after all, or potentially a lot less than I'd expect. If I'm making less than $80,000 (which is quite possible given that I'm most drawn to the social services sector), I could be in rough shape financially for a decade. (This will be a potential problem regardless of what round I apply in, of course.)





What are your thoughts? I know that I have a good shot at getting into Columbia during regular decision as well, but I don't want to take anything for granted, and it seems that going ED could boost my chances. Oh, and declining the ED admissions offer is not an option for me.



And I suppose I have one more question: if applying ED makes sense, what might my chances be at getting in if I apply in 2018? (As you can see, part of me is still inclined in that direction--perhaps out of impulsivity.)
The Story

Although there is no record of poet Edmund Spensers parentage, we do know that as a youth Spenser attended the Merchant Tailors School in London for a period between 1560 and 1570

Wonder what the school has to do with parentage. Lets see 

Records from this time indicate that the Merchant Tailors Guild then had only three members named Spenser: Robert Spenser, listed as a gentleman; Nicholas Spenser, elected the Guilds Warden in 1568; and John Spenser, listed as a journeyman cloth-maker.

1. A gentlemen

2. The Guilds warden

3. A journeyman cloth-maker

I dont see a connection with Spensers parentage yet. These three weird titles dont even mean much to me. Lets read on 



Of these, the last was likely the least affluent of the threeand most likely Edmunds father, since school accounting records list Edmund as a scholar who attended the school at a reduced fee.

No basis given for this. Perhaps gentlemen and wardens were typically more affluent than journeymen cloth-makers.

Authors logic:

(main point)

(basis)

1. In the time period when Edmund attended MTS, Only three Spensers were members of the schools Guild:

 a gentleman

 a warden

 a journeymen cloth-maker (John) 2. John was probably the least affluent of the three

3. Edmund had a partial scholarship and paid a reduced fee.

Gap(s) in logic:

1. Were parents of all the students attending the MTS members of the MT Guild?

a. Were parents of all students attending the MTS, Merchant Tailors?

b. Were all Merchant Tailors members of the MT Guild?

The author seems to have somehow already decided that Edmund Spensers father was one of the three Spensers listed in the MT Guild. If Spensers father was not even a Merchant Tailor, or at least if somehow he was not listed in the Merchant Tailor Guild, it would not make sense for the author to pursue an argument along the lines that Edmunds father is one of the three Spensers listed in the Guild.

2. Couldnt scholarships be granted to kids of affluent parents as well? Perhaps a merit-based scholarship.

3. Couldnt gentlemen and wardens be not-affluent? Were journeymen cloth-makers typically less affluent than wardens and gentlemen?

Question Stem

Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

1. Support the argument

2. Be necessary for the argument. i.e., the arguments logic should break down if the answer choice were not true (negation).

1. All the students who attended MTS had a parent who was a member of the MT Guild.

2. Scholarships were typically granted based only on financial need.

3. Journeymen cloth-makers were typically less affluent than gentlemen and wardens.

Answer choice analysis

A. Anybody in sixteenth century London who made clothing professionally would have had to be a member of the Merchant Tailors' Guild.

Incorrect.

B . The fact that Edmund Spenser attended the Merchant Tailors' School did not necessarily mean that he planned to become a tailor.



Incorrect.

C . No member of the Guild could become Guild warden in sixteenth century London unless he was a gentleman.



Incorrect.

D. Most of those whose fathers were members of the Merchant Tailors' Guild were students at the Merchant Tailors' School.



Incorrect.

E. The Merchant Tailors' School did not reduce its fees for the children of the more affluent Guild members.



Correct.

 There is no record of who Spensers parents were. We know the school he attended as a youth, though. ( Records indicate that the schools Guild has three members named Spenser in the time period when Edmund attended the school.The three Spensers: John, the journeyman cloth-maker, was probably the least affluent Spenser.John was most probably Edmunds father.Why?Because Edmund was listed as a scholar who paid a reduced fee, according to the schools accounting records.John was probably Edmunds fatherBecauseEdmund on partial scholarship + John likely the least affluent Spencer in the Guild ==> John was most likely Edmunds father.The argument seems pretty weak.A standard assumptions question. Were looking for an assumption that is required for the argument. So, the correct answer choice should:Each of the gaps weve discussed is linked with an assumption. e.g.:We are talking about cloth-makers and Merchant Tailors. So, if all clothing professionals in that time period were members of the MT Guild, my confidence does go up marginally in the argument. I do believe more then that perhaps Edmunds father would have been a part of the Guild.However, while for the argument, it is necessary that all students of MTS had a parent as a member of the Guild, is it necessary that all professional cloth-makers were members of the Guild in 16th century London?No, it isnt.Even if some professional cloth-makers were not members of the guild (negation), the argument doesnt break down. As long as those cloth-makers with children who were students of the MTS (subset of all cloth-makers) were members of the Guild, the argument still remains valid.We are given that Edmund became a poet later. So, yes, the fact that Edmund Spenser attended the Merchant Tailors School did not necessarily mean that he planned to become a tailor.This statement seems true in general. But that is irrelevant. We need to check whether the answer choice is an assumption.What Edmunds plans were with regard to his career, is irrelevant to the argument about who was likely Edmunds father. The statement has no impact on the argument. Moreover, the argument doesnt depend on Edmunds career aspirations and intentions while he attended MTS.The answer choice is basically stating that all Guild wardens were gentlemen.There is nothing mentioned in the passage about the affluence of gentlemen. So even if all Guild wardens were gentlemen, I dont learn anything about whether they were more affluent than journeymen cloth-makers. The statement has no impact on the argument.Since the statement doesnt strengthen the argument, we can already safely reject it.To be doubly sure, lets check what happens to the argument when we negate this answer choice and add to the argument. Negation: Members of the Guild could become Guild wardens in the sixteenth century London even if they were not gentlemen.So, even if some wardens were not gentlemen, wardens and gentlemen could still be likely more affluent than journeymen cloth-makers. The negation does not breakdown the argument.This answer choice is tempting.However, it is actually the reverse of what we need.We need: all students had a parent who was a member of the Guild.What the answer choice is talking about: Most children with fathers in the Guild attended MTS.So, all students need a parent to be a member of the Guild. But that doesnt mean that most fathers in the Guild had children who attended MTS.Say, 5,000 students attended MTS in the given time period. Now, for the argument, those 5,000 students need their fathers to be members of the Guild.On the flip side, say the Guild had 20,000 members who had children. Did most of these children need to be students at the MTS? No.The statement has practically no impact on the argument. Moreover, is it necessary that most of the people whos fathers were Guild members were MTS students? It isnt.The Guild could very well have a lot of members whose children did not attend MTS.In the following official question too, one of the answer choices (B) links the right things, but from the wrong direction. Official question for additional practice: Technically a given category of insurance policy is underpriced.Aha! This one is in line with one of the predictions we made initially.The authors logic is that John is likely the least affluent Spenser in the Guild and Edmund studied at a reduced fee (scholarship), thats why John is most likely Edmunds father.If the MTS reduced the fees for children of the more affluent Guild members as well (negation), then Edmunds father could have been one of the other two more affluent Spensers. Thus, the authors logic falls flat._________________
As the topic says. Just wondering what the toughest or interesting question you've had so far. Not after an interview review, looking for anecdotal experiences and how you handled the question.



Probably the toughest question i had so far, was from HKUST -

Can't remember the exact question but it goes along the lines of :-



"You're 33 with no financial background so unlikely to be recruited by i-banks, can't speak Mandarin so are competing against people who can for marketing, consulting and management jobs, what type of career opportunities do you think you have in Hong Kong?"



Was a toughie due to its negative slant. I talked about my international experience and the globalisation of companies.



Most Interesting was from NUS -

"Economically, how do you see India and China in 30 years time?"



I focused on China and it's historical GDP in terms of ratio to world GDP. Then brought in the opium wars and cultural revolution to explain the downturn, and how the upturn in GDP should allow it to eventually reach its historical ratio based on the premise of political stability and improved infrastructure and population. I also transferred the last 3 criteria to explain that India also has the same potential.



Probably should have cited post-second world war Japan as an example of a country which developed quickly to become an economic superpower. In fact 19th century Japan is a good example as it was closed off to the world for over 100 hundred years, thereby missing the industrial revolution in the west. After it's ports were re-opened by the Americans for trade, they advanced so quickly to become a military superpower in the region.
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
America is expected to face a shortage of workers in some jobs.

Some lawmakers, however, are worried that not enough people are being trained to be able to do the work.

For example, in 2024, America will need 9.2 million wind turbine workers -- twice as many as in 2014.

The United States also will need millions of additional health workers. People are needed to do the work of physical therapists, home health aides and nurse practitioners.

The information about Americas future job needs comes from a recent report by the United States Labor Department. It was a desire to prepare people to fill these high-demand jobs that led the House of Representatives to pass a bill to update a 1984 law.

The 33-year-old law sets federal policy for education that prepares people for jobs, many of which require technical skills.

The new bill gives Americas 50 state governments more freedom on how they can use federal money to prepare people for jobs.

Supporters of the legislation say it encourages states to work more closely with local business leaders. The goal is to set up classes and programs that better prepare people for jobs in which demand for workers is expected to be highest.

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx is a Republican from the southern U.S. state of North Carolina. She also is chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Foxx said about 6 million jobs are now going unfilled because they require technical skills and knowledge most people looking for work do not have.

If we want to help participants move from government assistance and hold a job, then we must set them on a path toward jobs and industries that are currently and will remain competitive, Foxx said.

Bill passes House, but needs Senate approval

The House of Representatives passed the bill, called the Accelerating Individuals into the Workforce Act, by a vote of 377 to 34. The bill now must pass the Senate before it can go to the White House for President Donald Trumps approval or veto.

Some Democrats said the bill is helpful. But they say it does not do enough to prepare people for technical and health jobs.

Congressman Lloyd Doggett is a Democrat from the American southwestern state of Texas. He said, This one very modest bill that does not add one new dollar to address the challenges that those who want to rise from welfare to work need.

The bill sets aside $100 million from a current job training program for one year, Doggett said.

At a House hearing in February, some people suggested that students are not being encouraged to sign up for job training programs offered by two-year colleges. Instead, most students are encouraged to enter four-year colleges that often do not provide technical job training.

Mike Rowe heads mikeroweWORKS Foundation, an organization that helps people seeking job skills. He also is a host of the television shows Dirty Jobs and Somebodys Gotta Do It. He spoke about his own career training during a February hearing of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education.

A four-year school would have been a huge mistake at that point in my life. I was 17-years-old. I had no money and I had no idea what I wanted to do. The local community college offered hundreds of courses in my price range, so thats where I went. And that experience opened doors, I didnt even know existed...

The Labor Department reported that employers are expected to increase hiring in health care, including eye and ear care.

Other high-demand jobs include truck drivers, personal finance advisors and internet developers.

I'm Bruce Alpert.

Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page. Do you think your education is helping prepare you for a job once you graduate?

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

wind turbine - n. a tall structure that has large blades attached to an engine and that is used to produce electricity

physical therapist - n. a worker whose job it is to help people with physical pain or health needs

nurse practitioner - n. a nurse who is trained to do some of the things a doctor does -- such as give physical exams or order certain medical tests

encourage - v. to make someone more determined, hopeful, or confident

participant - n. a person who is involved in an activity or event

accelerate - v. to move faster

modest - adj. not very large in effect or impact

challenges - n. to test the ability, skill, or strength of someone

welfare - n. a program that provides financial assistance to very poor people
The last couple days we did something extra-special and played "tourist" in our own backyard, staying at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.We've been in the lobby and two of the restaurants numerous times, but it was such a treat to actually spend the night! I've been to Orlando three times and had forgotten just how much fun it is to stay at a Disney resort, where the amenities are extra-nice and all the guests are in a happy and festive mood.Everywhere you turn at the hotel there's something interesting to see, from inviting conversation corners......to the swimming pools......and I wished I could take some of the art home with me!We had the good fortune to pay a visit to the Craftsman's Club on the concierge level......where complimentary treats are laid out for guests throughout the day.The hotel has its own entrance to Disney California Adventure!We spent Thursday afternoon and Friday morning in the park.We had a fantastic experience watching the World of Color water show from the hotel's sixth floor Paradise View Terrace. Other than a few of the water projections, we could see and hear everything clearly. It was a real treat enjoying the show so easily.Then we went to the other side of the hotel and watched Disneyland's Remember...Dreams Come True fireworks show from a balcony, complete with the accompanying music and narration piped in to the hotel.This morning we were up bright and early for the Extra Magic Hour available to hotel guests. Just after 7:00 a.m. I took my very first ride on the Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT! ride (formerly the Tower of Terror). What a way to start the day!I must admit they did a better job with the ride theming than I expected, although I still strongly feel the building's new "look" completely clashes with Buena Vista Street. The audioanimatronic Rocket in the ride pre-show was particularly impressive.After a couple more rides and breakfast, we headed to Downtown Disney to see CARS 3 (2017), which I'll be reviewing here in the near future. ( Here is the review!) Then it was time to head for home after a fantastic 24 hours!There's lots more Disney ahead next weekend, with the fifth D23 Expo July 14th-16th. I'll have more about that here next week.
President Donald Trump raised concerns about possible Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election during his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Fridays meeting began with Trump pressing Putin on the issue. Tillerson spoke to reporters after the meeting in Hamburg, Germany, where Trump and Putin are attending the G-20 summit.

He said Putin denied any involvement in efforts to influence the presidential election. The Russian side also asked the U.S. to provide evidence of any alleged interference, according to Tillerson.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave his own description of the talks on election interference. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, he said Trump had accepted Putin's denial that Moscow was not involved.

Putin has repeatedly denied the Russian government took steps to interfere in the election. During an interview last month, he did say it was possible that Russian "patriots" with no ties to the government might have been involved.

A U.S. intelligence community report concluded in January that Putin had ordered an influence campaign to target the U.S. election. The report said Russia - through hacks and other measures - sought to harm candidate Hillary Clinton's chances of winning against Trump.

The FBI and several congressional committees are currently investigating the issue. The investigations are exploring whether Trump, or any of his team, may have worked with Russian intelligence officials during the presidential campaign.

Trump has denied any contacts between his campaign and Russian officials and dismissed the claims as "fake news."

Tillerson said Trump was now rightly focused on how do we move forward from what may be simply an intractable disagreement at this point.

The United States and Russia also announced Friday a cease-fire agreement to take effect July 9 in southwest Syria.

Lavrov said the two leaders held very constructive talks on other issues, including cybersecurity, Ukraine and North Korea.

The talks were expected to go 30 minutes, but ended up lasting more than two hours. Tillerson also described the meeting as very constructive and said the two leaders connected very quickly.

In the past, the United States and Russia have held conflicting views on Syria. But Tillerson said Russia now has an interest in seeing a stable peace in the war-torn nation. The Jordanian government was also involved in the cease-fire agreement.

Trump also met with Mexican president

Trump also met face-to-face for the first time in Hamburg with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. It's great to be with my friend the president of Mexico, he told reporters before the meeting.

A planned meeting between the two presidents was canceled in January after a Twitter dispute over Trumps proposal to build a wall on the southern U.S. border to keep out illegal immigrants.

Trump repeated Friday a demand made many times before that Mexico should pay for the wall. When asked to comment on the issue, Trump said he absolutely still wants Mexico to pay for the wall.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the Associated Press and Reuters. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

alleged  adj. said to have happened, but not yet proven

patriot  n. person who loves and strongly supports his or her country

intractable  adj. not easily managed or solved

absolutely  adj. completely, totally
Dubai is the commercial capital of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates in the Persian Gulf. But officials want to turn it into the worlds smartest city.

Earlier this year, Dubai announced plans to be the worlds first city to use self-flying taxis. In June, it placed the first robot police officer at shopping centers and places popular with visitors.

Dubai police officials now say they plan to deploy self-driving vehicles to patrol city streets by the end of the year.

Dubai will be the first in the world to deploy the O-R3 vehicle, according to the Singapore company that builds it. The company, OTSAW Digital, recently signed an agreement with the Dubai Police force to supply the driverless robots.

The vehicles look a lot like most other automobiles, but are much smaller. They are equipped with cameras, machine learning tools and 3D technology to help them operate independently. The robots automatically charge themselves when power gets low.

The vehicles cameras can scan faces and record registration information to check for criminals and possible illegal activity. A police official said the robot can recognize people in any area. It will be used to identify suspicious objects and follow suspects.

We seek to augment operations with the help of technology such as robots, said Dubais police chief. We always search for the best technology to serve our police work for a safer and smarter city.

The O-R3 can communicate with computers at police centers in different locations. The patrolling robot is able to send data and video to the centers, where operators can control the vehicle remotely.

The vehicles can also work together with drones that can be launched from the back of the robot. The drones can then follow the vehicle and provide support from the air.

The CEO of OTSAW Digital, Ting Ming Ling, says the use of such vehicles is designed to help humans with their jobs, not replace them.

Ultimately, robots exist to improve the quality of human lives - where men take on high value jobs while robots perform the low skilled ones, he said.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on information from Dubai Police, Gulf News and other sources. Hai Do was the editor.

Do you think driverless vehicles can help police do their jobs? Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

patrol  v. drive or walk through an area

scan  v. look around an area to find a person or thing

suspicious  adj. not trusting someone

augment  v. increase or add to

remotely  n. from a distance or another location

drone  n. kind of aircraft that does not carry a pilot or passengers

ultimately  adv. at the end of a process


Only one in five people in 37 nations are confident President Donald Trump will do the right thing when it comes to international issues.

But the United States president enjoys strong support from people in five countries  the Philippines, Vietnam, Nigeria, Israel and Russia.

The information comes from a recent poll of over 40,000 people living in 37 countries by the Pew Research Center of Washington D.C.

In the Philippines, 69 percent of people said they are confident Trump would do the right thing when it comes to international issues. In Vietnam and Nigeria, the percentage is 58 percent. Former President Barack Obama had the confidence of even higher majorities in the three countries.

Trump also has the confidence of a majority of people in Russia and Israel.

In Russia, the percentage of people who believe Trump will do the right thing on international issues is 53 percent. That is up from 11 percent for Obama during his final years in office. In Israel, the percentage is 56 percent, up from 49 percent for Obama.

The median percentage of people having confidence in Trump for all 37 nations surveyed is 22 percent, Pew reported. By median, Pew means there are equal percentages of people falling above or below the median percentage.

Most support in Philippines

It is in the Philippines that people gave Trump the highest confidence ratings.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Trump have enjoyed good relations. Both are known for strongly criticizing political opponents, even when doing so is controversial.

In an April telephone discussion, Trump praised Duterte for doing an "unbelievable job on the drug problem," according to a Philippine government report of the discussion.

Duterte is accused by international human rights groups of supporting a campaign of killing drug suspects in the Philippines. His government has denied the charges. But Reuters reported that almost 9,000 people were killed in the Philippines since Duterte took office on June 30, 2016. Many of them were small-time drug users and dealers,

While a large majority of Filipinos has confidence in Trumps ability on international issues, Pew said 68 percent disagreed with Trumps decision to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement.

Vietnamese people show confidence in Trump

People in Vietnam also show confidence in President Trump.

Communist Vietnam has gone from being a Cold War enemy to an important ally to the U.S. in Southeast Asia. Both countries have shared concerns about Chinas increased influence in the region.

Vietnam and China have competing claims over the South China Sea, but the disputes have grown worse in recent years. The U.S. has no territorial claims in the area. But the Trump administration has continued to send warships to protect freedom of navigation in the area.

On May 31, Trump met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the White House. The two leaders announced new trade deals between the two countries.

Vietnam's government also reported that Trump and Phuc agreed to increase defense ties and discussed the possibility of U.S. vessels, including aircraft carriers, visiting Vietnamese ports.

Sale of U.S. planes to Nigeria

Nigeria, like the Philippines, has also been known for strong, powerful leaders.

Unlike previous presidents, Trump has rejected critics who charge Nigerias security forces with human rights violations. A few months ago, the Trump administration announced plans to sell high-tech airplanes to Nigeria for its campaign against Boko Haram Islamic extremists.

Im Bruce Alpert.

Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

confident - adj. having a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something

poll - n. an activity in which several or many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to get information about what most people think about something

according - preposition, as stated, reported, or recorded by someone

controversial - adj. relating to or causing much discussion, disagreement, or argument

high-tech - adj. relating to or using new electronic devices and technology

drill - v. to make a hole in something with a drill to pull out resources such as oil and natural gas

aircraft carrier - n. a ship big enough for airplanes to land and takeoff from its deck


Officials in Myanmar arrested three reporters late last month after they attended a drug burning ceremony.

The event marked the observance of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The Ta'ang National Liberation Army had held the ceremony in northern Shan State. The army, an ethnic militia, has been officially described as an illegal group.

The three journalists were charged under the Unlawful Associations Act. The military has used this law to cut off support for rebels and to frighten media organizations that operated in exile before the move to democratic rule.

At a press event Thursday, Myanmars leader Aung San Suu Kyi spoke about the journalists. The Nobel Prize winner said their arrests should not be seen as a problem between the media and the military. Instead, she said, the situation should be seen as a question of whether existing laws are just and democratic.

Aung San Suu Kyi said that if existing laws are not helpful to justice and democracy, then the judiciary should try to change them. But, she said, the administration cannot intervene in judicial issues.

Rule of law means they have to be, first of all, just laws, she said.

The journalists are set to go on trial July 10. Each could get three years in prison if found guilty.

Rights activists say the Unlawful Associations Act is one of many laws used to stop political opposition, especially by ethnic minority groups.

During years of military rule, the government used the act to detain people linked to rebel groups. The law continues to be used to jail those accused of contact with rebel forces in states facing ethnic separatist civil war.

Officially, Myanmar ended press censorship in 2012. But the reality for the media has been quite different.

In 2015, for example, the military warned the media not to broadcast statements made by the rebel Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army. Those doing so would "face action under the law," it said.

In 2014, journalist Ko Par Gyi was reporting on clashes in Mon State when he was detained and killed while being held by the military.

The recent arrests come as Myanmar reporters and rights groups urge the government to remove another law often used against journalists: Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Act.

Article 66(d) bans the use of telecommunications to insult people. Violators could be fined and receive a sentence of up to three years in prison.

Journalists and rights groups accuse military officers and government officials of using this measure against people who write about them on social media.

Aung San Suu Kyi told reporters on Thursday the national parliament has begun to work on changes to Article 66(d).

I'm Alice Bryant.

This story contains information from reports by VOA News and Radio Free Asia. Alice Bryant adapted them for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

illicit - adj. unlawful of illegal

trafficking - n (gerund). the act or business of illegally buying something and selling it especially in another country

censorship - n. the act of policy of limiting freedom of speech

judiciary - n. judges; courts of law
Our story today is called "The Last Leaf." It was written by O. Henry. Here is Barbara Klein with the story.

Many artists lived in the Greenwich Village area of New York. Two young women named Sue and Johnsy shared a studio apartment at the top of a three-story building. Johnsy's real name was Joanna.

In November, a cold, unseen stranger came to visit the city. This disease, pneumonia, killed many people. Johnsy lay on her bed, hardly moving. She looked through the small window. She could see the side of the brick house next to her building.

One morning, a doctor examined Johnsy and took her temperature. Then he spoke with Sue in another room.

"She has one chance in -- let us say ten," he said. "And that chance is for her to want to live. Your friend has made up her mind that she is not going to get well. Has she anything on her mind?"

"She -- she wanted to paint the Bay of Naples in Italy some day," said Sue.

"Paint?" said the doctor. "Bosh! Has she anything on her mind worth thinking twice -- a man for example?"

"A man?" said Sue. "Is a man worth -- but, no, doctor; there is nothing of the kind."

"I will do all that science can do," said the doctor. "But whenever my patient begins to count the carriages at her funeral, I take away fifty percent from the curative power of medicines."

After the doctor had gone, Sue went into the workroom and cried. Then she went to Johnsy's room with her drawing board, whistling ragtime.

Johnsy lay with her face toward the window. Sue stopped whistling, thinking she was asleep. She began making a pen and ink drawing for a story in a magazine. Young artists must work their way to "Art" by making pictures for magazine stories. Sue heard a low sound, several times repeated. She went quickly to the bedside.

Johnsy's eyes were open wide. She was looking out the window and counting -- counting backward. "Twelve," she said, and a little later "eleven"; and then "ten" and "nine;" and then "eight" and "seven," almost together.

Sue looked out the window. What was there to count? There was only an empty yard and the blank side of the house seven meters away. An old ivy vine, going bad at the roots, climbed half way up the wall. The cold breath of autumn had stricken leaves from the plant until its branches, almost bare, hung on the bricks.

"What is it, dear?" asked Sue.

"Six," said Johnsy, quietly. "They're falling faster now. Three days ago there were almost a hundred. It made my head hurt to count them. But now it's easy. There goes another one. There are only five left now."

"Five what, dear?" asked Sue.

"Leaves. On the plant. When the last one falls I must go, too. I've known that for three days. Didn't the doctor tell you?"

"Oh, I never heard of such a thing," said Sue. "What have old ivy leaves to do with your getting well? And you used to love that vine. Don't be silly. Why, the doctor told me this morning that your chances for getting well real soon were -- let's see exactly what he said  he said the chances were ten to one! Try to eat some soup now. And, let me go back to my drawing, so I can sell it to the magazine and buy food and wine for us."

"You needn't get any more wine," said Johnsy, keeping her eyes fixed out the window. "There goes another one. No, I don't want any soup. That leaves just four. I want to see the last one fall before it gets dark. Then I'll go, too."

"Johnsy, dear," said Sue, "will you promise me to keep your eyes closed, and not look out the window until I am done working? I must hand those drawings in by tomorrow."

"Tell me as soon as you have finished," said Johnsy, closing her eyes and lying white and still as a fallen statue. "I want to see the last one fall. I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of thinking. I want to turn loose my hold on everything, and go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves."

"Try to sleep," said Sue. "I must call Mister Behrman up to be my model for my drawing of an old miner. Don't try to move until I come back."

Old Behrman was a painter who lived on the ground floor of the apartment building. Behrman was a failure in art. For years, he had always been planning to paint a work of art, but had never yet begun it. He earned a little money by serving as a model to artists who could not pay for a professional model. He was a fierce, little, old man who protected the two young women in the studio apartment above him.

Sue found Behrman in his room. In one area was a blank canvas that had been waiting twenty-five years for the first line of paint. Sue told him about Johnsy and how she feared that her friend would float away like a leaf.

Old Behrman was angered at such an idea. "Are there people in the world with the foolishness to die because leaves drop off a vine? Why do you let that silly business come in her brain?"

"She is very sick and weak," said Sue, "and the disease has left her mind full of strange ideas."

"This is not any place in which one so good as Miss Johnsy shall lie sick," yelled Behrman. "Some day I will paint a masterpiece, and we shall all go away."

Johnsy was sleeping when they went upstairs. Sue pulled the shade down to cover the window. She and Behrman went into the other room. They looked out a window fearfully at the ivy vine. Then they looked at each other without speaking. A cold rain was falling, mixed with snow. Behrman sat and posed as the miner.

The next morning, Sue awoke after an hour's sleep. She found Johnsy with wide-open eyes staring at the covered window.

"Pull up the shade; I want to see," she ordered, quietly.

Sue obeyed.

After the beating rain and fierce wind that blew through the night, there yet stood against the wall one ivy leaf. It was the last one on the vine. It was still dark green at the center. But its edges were colored with the yellow. It hung bravely from the branch about seven meters above the ground.

"It is the last one," said Johnsy. "I thought it would surely fall during the night. I heard the wind. It will fall today and I shall die at the same time."

"Dear, dear!" said Sue, leaning her worn face down toward the bed. "Think of me, if you won't think of yourself. What would I do?"

But Johnsy did not answer.

The next morning, when it was light, Johnsy demanded that the window shade be raised. The ivy leaf was still there. Johnsy lay for a long time, looking at it. And then she called to Sue, who was preparing chicken soup.

"I've been a bad girl," said Johnsy. "Something has made that last leaf stay there to show me how bad I was. It is wrong to want to die. You may bring me a little soup now."

An hour later she said: "Someday I hope to paint the Bay of Naples."

Later in the day, the doctor came, and Sue talked to him in the hallway.

"Even chances," said the doctor. "With good care, you'll win. And now I must see another case I have in your building. Behrman, his name is -- some kind of an artist, I believe. Pneumonia, too. He is an old, weak man and his case is severe. There is no hope for him; but he goes to the hospital today to ease his pain."

The next day, the doctor said to Sue: "She's out of danger. You won. Nutrition and care now -- that's all."

Later that day, Sue came to the bed where Johnsy lay, and put one arm around her.

"I have something to tell you, white mouse," she said. "Mister Behrman died of pneumonia today in the hospital. He was sick only two days. They found him the morning of the first day in his room downstairs helpless with pain. His shoes and clothing were completely wet and icy cold. They could not imagine where he had been on such a terrible night.

And then they found a lantern, still lighted. And they found a ladder that had been moved from its place. And art supplies and a painting board with green and yellow colors mixed on it.

And look out the window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the wall. Didn't you wonder why it never moved when the wind blew? Ah, darling, it is Behrman's masterpiece  he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell."

To download a lesson plan to accompany this part of the story, click here.

Now it's your turn to use the words in this story. How much would you risk to help another person? Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

apartment  n. a usually rented room or set of rooms that is part of a building and is used as a place to live

pneumonia  n. a serious disease that affects the lungs and makes it difficult to breathe

carriage  n. a large vehicle with four wheels that is pulled by a horse and that carries people

drawing  n. a picture, image, etc., that is made by making lines on a surface with a pencil, pen, marker, chalk, but usually not with paint

leaf  n. one of the flat and typically green parts of a plant that grow from a stem or twig

ladder  n. a device used for climbing that has two long pieces of wood, metal, or rope with a series of steps or rungs between them
BBM is in discussions with mobile operators in South Africa regarding subsidised data for its messaging application.

This is part of its drive to partner with operators to offer better services for consumers, the CEO of Creative Media Works, Matthew Talbot, told MyBroadband.

Creative Media Works, a division of PT Elang Mahkota Teknologi, bought the rights to operate BBM on non-BlackBerry devices in June 2016.

Talbot said they hope to create packages for BBM that are similar to the deals BlackBerry had for its devices in South Africa.

Deals with operators may comprise subsidised data for messaging, content, and chat bots, but not voice or video calling, said Talbot.

This comes after BBM stated it has 2.1 million monthly active users in South Africa (excluding those on BlackBerry OS devices).

BBM has launched several new products in South Africa this year, including STAGE360 Music, DiscoverTV, BBM News, and Rewards.

The company stated that South Africa is a key growth market for the service, and it sees massive potential in the country.

South Africa has always been a key market for us and we have a loyal and engaged user base here which we intend to grow significantly over the next few years, Adam Pattison, VP for EMEA at BBM, told MyBroadband earlier in the year.

Now read: How many South Africans use BBM
Van Gogh's painting sold for a record $117 million

Gentiloni: EU countries have accumulated enough gas to get through the coming winter

Several dozen activists detained at protest rally in Baku: They chant slogans 'Freedom!', 'Resign!'

Princess Haya seeks asylum in Wales

Pashinyan: Iran is concerned about the presence of other actors in our region, which are not in the territory of Armenia

Pashinyan: Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan listened to presented proposals

Volvo reveals its flagship EX90 electric crossover

Pashinyan: Yerevan supports Russia's proposals for Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement

Pashinyan: Russia cannot withdraw from Karabakh unless it creates additional guarantees for peacekeeping mission

Pashinyan: We will do everything to Armenia-Azerbaijan sign peace treaty by end of year

Russia bans entry of Biden's family and White House press secretary

Pashinyan: We believe there should be a dialogue between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh

Pashinyan says positions voiced by some member countries of CSTO are unacceptable

19 countries that use euro currency will slide into recession over winter

Pashinyan to Baku: If 1991 border is mutually recognized, what are your troops doing near Jermuk?

Pashinyan: If the Karabakh issue is solved, why is Azerbaijani Armed Forces shooting at Karabakh residents?

Pashinyan: Russia should say whether their version of peace settlement is still circulating?

Pashinyan: Maybe Azerbaijan doesn't want Armenia to receive revenues?

Pashinyan: Azerbaijan must withdraw its troops from Armenia

Pashinyan: My yesterday's speech served its purpose, Azerbaijani MFA no longer uses 'corridor' term

Microsoft founder Paul Allen's collection of world masterpieces sold for $1.6 billion

Public TV of Armenia hosts Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan

China shows drone killer

Armenian FM meets his French counterpart

Rishi Sunak decides to close hole in British budget through austerity

Delegation of Russian MPs visits Jermuk resort town

Lavrov and Mirzoyan discuss regional agenda

Harut Sasunyan: The best way to achieve peace is to be prepared for war

Turkish prosecutor demands court to ban Istanbul mayor from political activities

German business leaders warn against leaving China

Sasunyan: Russia and US pursue their own interests in South Caucasus

British economy shrinks in three months, foretelling prolonged recession

Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan summoned to Foreign Ministry

Euro rises above dollar for first time in long time

Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister calls Council of Turkic States 'forum of peace' and praises Turkey

EU embargo on Russian oil will be a boon for OPEC

Armenia defense minister receives China ambassador, military attache

Lemkin Institute condemns Azerbaijan president's genocidal rhetoric

Dollar goes up, euro rises sharply in Armenia

U.S. warns Europe that conflict over Taiwan will cause massive global economic shock

EU calls on Armenia, Azerbaijan to moderate their rhetoric

Erdogan says Turkey has been waiting at door of EU for 52 years and will give answer when time comes

U.S. fears that European support for Ukrainian strategy will begin to weaken

Armenia, Iran emphasize need to quickly implement agreements reached (PHOTOS)

Armenia soldier wounded by Azerbaijan shooting undergoes surgery

Gas over morality: Hungary guards Azerbaijan's interests

U.S. quietly seeks concessions from Saudi Arabia after Mohammed bin Salman humiliated Biden

Italy's Ambassador to Armenia visits Gyumri

Russian Armed Forces complete redeployment of grouping from right bank of Dnieper

IRGC: Adversaries are frightened and on alert

Armenia appoints ambassador to Sri Lanka

Kremlin doesn't consider leaving Kherson 'humiliating'

Israeli president thinks the world is concerned about Netanyahu's far-right coalition partner

Chinese MFA: China is not distancing itself from Russia, as Biden believes

Ukraine will seek help from its foreign partners in financing Starlink satellite internet systems

Erdogan: Situation in South Caucasus remains fragile

Marukyan: Azerbaijans Aliyev admitted that his country started 2nd Karabakh war, despite previously insisting opposite

Azerbaijan blackmailing Armenia through Lachin corridor

Turkish-occupied northern part of Cyprus becomes observer in Organization of Turkic States

Armenia PM: In his latest speech Aliyev flagrantly violated agreement on refraining from threat or use of force

World Bank official: Armenia is one of best countries in terms of credit portfolio performance

Azerbaijan president makes repeated accusations, threats against Armenia

Iran citizens injured in Armenia road accident

China reveals new giant drone that could point to the future of air warfare

US embassy in Armenia closed today

Karabakh MOD: Defense Army did not fire at Azerbaijan positions located in occupied territories

Israel and U.S. counter threat of hypersonic missiles together

U.S. and EU plan to publish new roadmap on artificial intelligence

Armenia ombudsperson meets with Belgium colleagues

Newspaper: Armenia parliament opposition seats to no longer be empty

Newspaper: Armenia parliament committee of inquiry into 2020 war circumstances is inactive

U.S. will no longer consider Russia a country with a market economy

US intends to protect Azerbaijan from threats of Iran

Aliyev, Erdogan discuss results of tripartite meeting in Russias Sochi

Azerbaijan army fires at Armenia positions, uses mortars as well

UAE is going to launch flying cabs from airports

Volvo Cars expects to introduce electric SUV by 2024

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
Democratic lawmaker from Rhode Island David Cicilline seeks to block the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey over an incident at Turkish ambassadors residence in Washington.

David Cicilline has proposed an amendment to the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act. The House is expected to vote on the bill and deal with amendments next week, defensenews.com reported.

Turkey plans to purchase over 100 of the F-35A fighters with the first to be received in 2018,

Earlier Rep. Dave Trott proposed amendment to ban the sale of semi-automatic handguns to Turkey, while Rep. Don Beyer proposed a visa ban on those involved in the attack.

Washington D.C. Police Department named 18 individuals who have been charged or are facing charges in the attack on peaceful protesters in front of the Turkish Ambassadors residence in the US capital city. Nine of them are security officers, and threeTurkish police.
STEPANAKERT.  Increase in tension was registered at the line of contact between Karabakh and Azerbaijan armed forces from July 2 to 8, Karabakh Defense Army said in a statement.

Overall, Azerbaijani side violated ceasefire over 300 times using 60, 82 and 120 mm mortars as well as D44 guns along the line of contact.

On July 4 Azerbaijani armed forces used 122 mm howitzer D30 and TR-107 reactive rocket propelled howitzers in the southern direction for the first time since four-day war in April.

By deploying howitzers in the vicinity of the village of Alkhanlu, Azerbaijani armed forces intended as usual to hide behind the civilian population as a human shield, thereby grossly violating the norms of international law.

Taking advantage of its right for full-fledged defense, the advanced units of the NKR Defense Army were forced to resort to retaliatory actions to suppress the enemy's firing points located near settlements.

The Defense Army monitors the situation along the entire line of contact and carries out the combat mission confidently.
YEREVAN. - The cassation appeal of the attorney of Garnik Harutyunyan, an Armenian driver sentenced to 4,5 years in prison for a traffic accident in Tula, will be considered on July 21.

Harutyunyans attorney, Ruben Kirakosyan, told Armenian News  NEWS.am that it isnt ruled out that the court will deliver a judgment on the same day. He expressed hope that the Cassation Court will mitigate the punishment.

No civil lawsuit has been filed against Garnik Harutyunyan. It is also yet unknown where Garnik Harutyunyan will serve his punishment.

The passenger bus, which was traveling from Moscow to Yerevan, had the accident on November 3 last year, in the Uzlovsky District in Tula Oblast (province), Russia.

There were over 60 passengers on the bus, all of them Armenian citizens. Consequently, 9 people died and 46 sustained injuries.
The General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions of the OSCE PA approved the draft resolution that criticizes the situation with human rights and freedoms in Azerbaijan, Russia and Belarus, the Belarusian media reported.

The draft resolution on the situation in Eastern Europe expresses concern about the deterioration of democracy development, the continuing and increasing violations of human rights, as well as the plight of political opposition, civil society, journalists and other defenders of freedom in Russia, Belarus and Azerbaijan.

Representing the resolution, its author, Swedish deputy Christian Holm Barenfeld noted that the document expressed concern about the deteriorating democratic situation in Azerbaijan, Belarus and Russia.

This resolution was criticized by the representatives of Azerbaijan, Russia and Switzerland. The representative of Switzerland criticized the document, calling for an unbiased analysis covering the entire Eastern Europe as a whole, not focusing on two selected states plus the Russian Federation. She was also supported by the representative of Azerbaijan, who stated that he completely shared the views of his Swiss colleague, adding that Eastern Europe is not only composed of three countries.

Christian Holm Barenfeld for his part said that while drafting the resolution it was not about the coverage of the whole world.

It's not about double standards, it's about the problems with democracy in these three countries, where human rights are constantly being violated, he added.
STEPANAKERT. - The losses among the civilian population favor the ruling regime in Azerbaijan, Spokesperson for the President of the Artsakh Republic (Nagorno-Karabakh/NKR) David Babayan said in an interview with The Associated Press.

On his Facebook page he posted an excerpt from the interview, which reads as follows:

A spokesman for Nagorno-Karabakhs leader blamed Azerbaijan for the increased tensions, saying the mortars that hit Alkhanli were fired in response to Azerbaijani shelling.

In fact, the losses among the civilian population favor the ruling regime in Azerbaijan. Thus, they try to distract the population from internal problems, intoxicate, aggravate the image of the hated enemy, David Babayan told The Associated Press.
YEREVAN. - A tragic incident occurred in Yerevan on Saturday. A middle-aged man jumped off the Davtashen bridge of the capital city.

The Operations Management Center of Yerevan city Police Department was informed that a man jumped off the bridge at about 5:30 pm.

The police found the body of the 40-45-year-old man under the bridge, Shamshyan.com reports. Keys, money and several other objects, which according to the witnesses belonged to the deceased, were found on the bridge.

A message found in the mobile of the man read: Forgive me, Mum.

The police and the Investigative Department are ascertaining the identity of the man.
Ashleys Que Grill & Bistro is expected to open within the next two weeks at the food court in the Eleven25 at the Pabst complex, 1125 N. 9th St.

The restaurant, an offshoot of the popular Ashley's Bar-B-Que at 1501 W. Center St., will be located in the unit formerly occupied by Upper Crust Pizza. Other restaurants in the space include Gouda Girls, Huan Xi Express, Tokyo Express and Bread House and Meat on the Street.

Darnell Ashley, who owns the restaurant with his son, Jazzmon Hughes, says theyve streamlined the menu to accommodate the new space.

Ashleys will serve some barbecue at the new location, he says, primarily pulled pork and beef brisket. But there will also be sandwiches, including a shrimp poboy and the popular Prince sandwich, featuring steak, lamb, cucumber sauce, mixed peppers, mayonnaise, fried onions and shredded cheese. They will also serve up the "Wholedamnfarm burger," featuring a beef patty with pulled pork, bacon, a fried egg and lettuce and tomato.

A mainstay at the location will be a soul food buffet with fried chicken and pork chops, smothered pork chops, greens, macaroni and cheese, yams, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy. Cost for the buffet will be $12.49 for two meats and two sides.

Its a great move for the barbeque restaurant, which has been in operation since 1961. Started by former A. O. Smith employee Thomas Ashley, the barbecue Ashleys Bar-B-Que started out at a location near Haymarket Square before moving to 34th Street and then to the restaurants current location on Center Street. And Hughes, who represents the third-generation of family ownership, says he's eager to carry on the barbeque tradition and introduce it to a new audience.

"Were excited to be able to serve our food to more people," notes Hughes. "The location presents a whole different demographic. There are graduate students living right in the building. Plus, theres so much excitement with the new Pabst Brewery and the arena being built. Its a really exciting place to be."

More locations on the way?

The good news comes in the wake of months of tough luck for the longtime Milwaukee barbecue restaurant. First, it was a drug-related accident. Over Labor Day weekend, a car drove straight through the cinderblock at the Center Street location, causing $37,000 worth of damage to the east side of the restaurant.

"We were so blessed," notes Ashley. "The City of Milwaukee broke their backs to help us. They allowed us to put up a temporary wall to get us back in business. So we were only closed for three days."

Two fires followed. In October, fire broke out at the Center Street location, forcing the restaurant to close for six months before reopening in March. In February, Ashleys Que, 124 W. National Ave., was the victim of a two-alarm fire, which forced the location to close indefinitely.

Hughes says theyd love to reopen at the Walkers Point location; however theres quite a bit of uncertainty about whether or not that will be possible.

In the meantime, Ashley says theyre actively scouting for locations where they can re-establish a full-service bar and restaurant.

"I cannot wait to open another bar and restaurant," says Ashley. "It really has always been my dream. Making people happy with the art of food is really gratifying. And being able to give people the full experience is something we really enjoy."

"Here [at Center Street] the day to day is more transactional," adds Hughes. "But when you have a restaurant space, theres an opportunity to develop relationships. That interaction with people, our ability to host meetings for organizations, thats something we really miss."

In the meantime, you can get your barbecue fix at Ashley's Bar-B-Que on Center, or have it delivered to your doorstep via UberEats. Hours are Tuesday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight and Sunday from noon to 7 p.m.
G20 nations launched an unprecedented initiative Saturday at the group's summit in Germany to fight poverty in Africa, but critics called the plan half-hearted. Under German Chancellor Angela Merkel's "Investment Compacts", an initial seven African countries would pledge reforms and receive technical support in order to attract new private investment. More than half of Africans are under 25 years old and the population is set to double by mid-century, making economic growth and jobs essential for the young to stop them from leaving, Merkel has said. Germany's partner nations are Ghana, Ivory Coast and Tunisia, while Ethiopia, Morocco, Rwanda and Senegal are also taking part. Far poorer nations such as Niger or Somalia are so far not on the list. "We are ready to help interested African countries and call on other partners to join the initiative," said the G20 in their final communique. The plan, as well as multinational initiatives on helping girls, rural youths and promoting renewable energy, would help "to address poverty and inequality as root causes of migration". Some 100,000 people, most of them sub-Saharan Africans, have made the dangerous journey to Europe across the Mediterranean in rickety boats this year as the migration crisis shows no sign of abating. Anti-poverty group ONE said that the investment compacts "promised much, but too many G20 partners missed the memo and failed to contribute. "The flimsy foundations must now be firmed up, follow through and improved, especially for Africa's more fragile states." The group's Jamie Drummond said that "this will be the African century and Chancellor Merkel wanted the G20 to get on the right side of history, but internal strife and division scattered the G20 away from this visionary path." Oxfam judged that the plan "rests on the dangerously naive assumption that boosting private investment will automatically help the poorest in the continent. "If left unchecked, the Compact might simply line the pockets of wealthy foreign investors."
By Andrea Shalal HAMBURG (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday promised $639 million in aid to feed people left starving because of drought and conflict in Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen. Trump's pledge came during a working session of the G20 summit of world leaders in Hamburg, providing a "godsend" to the United Nations' World Food Programme, the group's executive director, David Beasley, told Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting. "We're facing the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two," said Beasley, a Republican and former South Carolina governor who was nominated by Trump to head the U.N. agency fighting hunger worldwide. The new funding brings to over $1.8 billion aid promised by the United States for fiscal year 2017 for the crises in the four countries, where the United Nations has estimated more than 30 million people need urgent food assistance. "With this new assistance, the United States is providing additional emergency food and nutrition assistance, life-saving medical care, improved sanitation, emergency shelter and protection for those who have been affected by conflict," USAID said in a statement. Rob Jenkins, acting head of the USAID's bureau of democracy, conflict and humanitarian assistance, said of the funding, over $191 million would go to Yemen, $199 million to South Sudan, $121 million to Nigeria and almost $126 million for Somalia. Conflict in all four countries had made it difficult to reach some communities in need of food, he noted. "We're in a dire situation right now," said Jenkins, adding that USAID was also concerned with the situation in southern Ethiopia. "The situation in southern Ethiopia fortunately does not rise to the dire situation of the other four, but the situation is deteriorating and might very well be catastrophic without additional interventions," he said, adding that Washington had already provided some $252 million this year to Ethiopia, "but the needs continue to grow." Beasley said the U.S. funding was about a third of what the WFP estimated was required this year to deal with urgent food needs in the four countries in crisis as well as in other areas. The WFP estimates that 109 million people around the world will need food assistance this year, up from 80 million last year, with 10 of the 13 worst-affected zones stemming from wars and "man-made" crises, Beasley said. "We estimated that if we didn't receive the funding we needed immediately that 400,000 to 600,000 children would be dying in the next four months," he said. Trump's announcement came after his administration proposed sharp cuts in funding for the U.S. State Department and other humanitarian missions as part of his "America First" policy. Beasley said the agency had worked hard with the White House and the U.S. government to secure the funding, but Trump would insist that other countries contributed more as well. A WFP spokesman said Germany recently pledged an additional 200 million euros for food relief. (Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Washington; editing by John Stonestreet)
Now that Colombia's leftist FARC rebels have laid down their weapons under a peace accord ending 50 years of war, the country has one last guerrilla group that is still active, the National Liberation Army, or ELN. It is in peace talks with the government and its chief negotiator says a temporary bilateral ceasefire is possible before Pope Francis visits Colombia in September. In an interview with AFP at a Jesuit compound in Ecuador where the two sides have been meeting for the past four months, ELN chief negotiator Pablo Beltran, 63, also said he hopes to meet with the pontiff when he visits. AFP: The government and the ELN have said they are seeking a bilateral ceasefire before the Pope arrives. Beltran: We are close to a temporary bilateral ceasefire. There is no set date, but we want it to be around that time, before his holiness comes. We plan to finalize the accord in July and August. AFP: What would this agreement consist of? Beltran: There will be a definitive ceasefire in the final agreement. But this is a different kind, one that coincides with the early stages of the negotiations. It is a ceasefire between both sides, but we are also going to reach agreements of a humanitarian nature that make life easier for the non-combatant population. We are asking that there be an end to attacks against and persecution of social, environmental and human rights leaders. AFP: But the government says a bilateral ceasefire is contingent on the ELN's stopping kidnapping people. Beltran: Yes. When the ceasefire is reached, offensive operations stop. Defensive ones continue. In ELN territory, we will have to capture any strangers that wander in, as a security precaution. During this time we would only stop deprivations of freedom with economic purposes. This would be like a test. If it works, we will see about extending it. AFP: How many people is the ELN holding? Beltran: Very few, if you compare the number of deprivations of freedom that we do with the number of killings of social leaders that there have been this year. There have already been more than 50 such killings, and the deprivations of freedom that we have carried out do not reach even 10 percent of those 50. - Pope comes 'every 20 years'- AFP: Do you expect to meet with Pope Francis? Beltran: That is our expectation. The cities he is going to visit include Villavicencio (in central Colombia). In that city there is going to be a special reconciliation ceremony and we hope to be present there. AFP: To be present or be received? Beltran: Both. A pope comes to Colombia every 20 years and if he is coming to encourage the peace process we would like to greet His Holiness. We would ask him to accompany the search for peace in Colombia and the rest of the continent. AFP: If an agreement is signed with the ELN, will Colombia have "complete peace," as the government has stated after the accord with the FARC? Beltran: Point 5 of the agenda we are discussing says we are going to remove violence from politics. There are two sides to that coin. On one hand it means the rebels stop trying to take power through the use of weapons. But at the same time it means the regime must stop trying to remain in power with weapons. That is the big challenge. AFP: The ELN has been accused of financing itself at least in part with money from drug trafficking. Beltran: In all parts of Colombia where the ELN is present, medium- and large-scale producers pay a tax in one form or another: livestock, palm oil, coca leaves. It is one thing to charge that security tax. It is another thing altogether to get involved in drug trafficking.
Transport network vehicle service (TNVS) drivers and operators on Friday appealed to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to issue an amnesty that would allow them to operate.

During a press conference, Bobby Coronel, founder of TNVS group TopSpeed, noted that the LTFRB order that suspends the acceptance of new applicants for provisional authority (PA) will turn one year this month.

TNVS Signature Campaign

The groups that are affected with the suspension order on Friday started a signature campaign/petition to request the transport agency to issue an amnesty to their drivers.

Nicolas said that there are a lot of TNVS drivers that are being slapped with fines and even have their vehicles impounded.

Fiona Nicolas, Government and Communications Manager of Grab Philippines, said that the TNVS drivers and operators are planning to forward the petition/signature campaign to the LTFRB on the suspension orders birthday, which is on July 21.

Nicolas said that the TNVS drivers have already given the proper documents requested by the LTFRB, but many have yet to receive the PA.

Coronel said that they are now appealing to the LTFRB officials, saying that they have always wanted to fully comply with the regulations set by the government but the applications were either not processed judiciously or did not make the cut as result of the suspension.

According to Coronel, the amnesty would provide them the opportunity to rightfully conform with the legalities and to make things right with the government.

Further, the TNVS groups that joined the signature campaign on Friday also sought for the immediate accreditation of transport network company Grab, whose accreditation expired last July 3.

Based on the petition, the signatories believe that there are colorum TNVS drivers. But all of us have gone through required training of TNCs as well as the process of submitting numerous requirements to operate legitimately. While we deserve to be given provisional authority, we were left hanging considering the huge backlog, the petition stated.

Story continues

Many of us were unemployed, some are retirees. We were given the chance to be productive by becoming partners of Transport Network Companies (TNC). Most of us are also private and government employees, teachers, police and professionals. TNCs help us augment our meager salaries through its platform, and we were able to give our families more comfortable lives, the petition stated further.

With amnesty, we will be able to make amends and start anew. With the lifting of suspension, we will be able to operate legally, it added.

TNVS Signature Campaign

Meanwhile, LTFRB board member Aileen Lizada said that they will discuss the request of the drivers following the hearing on colorum TNCs on July 11.

The transport regulatory board member said that at around 3,700 registered TNVs driver/operators with the LTFRB as opposed to the estimated 50,000 active driver/operators as claimed by Coronel.

Story and photos by Ruben Manahan IV

The post TNVS Drivers/Operators to LTFRB: Allow Us to Operate appeared first on Carmudi Philippines.
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - A ceasefire deal agreed for southwestern Syria is a positive development that could help prop up the political process aimed at ending the country's six-year war, the U.N. Deputy Special Envoy for Syria said on Saturday. "This is a step in the right direction," Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy told reporters in Damascus. The United States, Russia and Jordan reached a ceasefire and "de-escalation agreement" for southwestern Syria set to take effect on Sunday. The announcement came after a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit of major economies. Previous ceasefires have failed to hold for long and it was not clear how much the actual combatants in the area - Syrian government forces and the main rebel groups in the southwest - are committed to this latest effort. "All of this leads to supporting the political process," Ramzy said after meeting with government officials about U.N.-based peace talks that open in Geneva next week. "This development helps create the appropriate environment for the talks," he added, expressing hope that agreements would be reached for other parts of Syria as well. Among other issues, the latest round of U.N. peace talks, due to start on Monday, will include "continuing technical negotiations about the constitutional and legal matters related to the political process," Ramzy said. (Reporting by Firas Makdesi in Damascus; editing by John Stonestreet and Stephen Powell)
Advance Auto Parts, Inc. provides automotive replacement parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items for domestic and imported cars, vans, sport utility vehicles, and light and heavy duty trucks. The company offers battery accessories; belts and hoses; brakes and brake pads; chassis and climate control parts; clutches and drive shafts; engines and engine parts; exhaust systems and parts; hub assemblies; ignition components and wires; radiators and cooling parts; starters and alternators; and steering and alignment parts. It also offers air conditioning chemicals and accessories; air fresheners; antifreeze and washer fluids; electrical wires and fuses; electronics; floor mats, seat covers, and interior accessories; hand and specialty tools; lighting products; performance parts; sealants, adhesives and compounds; tire repair accessories; vent shades, mirrors and exterior accessories; washes, waxes and cleaning supplies; and wiper blades. In addition, the company offers air filters; fuel and oil additives; fuel filters; grease and lubricants; motor oils; oil filters, part cleaners and treatments; and transmission fluids for engine maintenance. Further, it offers battery and wiper installation; engine light scanning and checking; electrical system testing; video clinic; oil and battery recycling; and loaner tool program services. Additionally, the company sells its products through its website. It serves professional installers and do-it-yourself customers. The company operates stores under the Advance Auto Parts, Autopart International, and Carquest brands, as well as branches under the Worldpac name. As of April 23, 2022, it operated 4,687 stores and 311 branches in the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Canada; and served 1,318 independently owned Carquest branded stores in Mexico, Grand Cayman, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and the British Virgin Islands. The company was founded in 1929 and is based in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Baxter International Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops and provides a portfolio of healthcare products worldwide. The company offers peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis, and additional dialysis therapies and services; intravenous therapies, infusion pumps, administration sets, and drug reconstitution devices; remixed and oncology drug platforms, inhaled anesthesia and critical care products and pharmacy compounding services; parenteral nutrition therapies and related products; biological products and medical devices used in surgical procedures for hemostasis, tissue sealing and adhesion prevention; and continuous renal replacement therapies and other organ support therapies focused in the intensive care unit. It also provides connected care solutions, including devices, software, communications, and integration technologies; integrated patient monitoring and diagnostic technologies to help diagnose, treat, and manage a various illness and diseases, including respiratory therapy, cardiology, vision screening, and physical assessment; surgical video technologies, tables, lights, pendants, precision positioning devices and other accessories. In addition, the company offers contracted services to various pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies. Its products are used in hospitals, kidney dialysis centers, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, doctors' offices, and patients at home under physician supervision. The company sells its products through direct sales force, as well as through independent distributors, drug wholesalers, and specialty pharmacy or other alternate site providers in approximately 100 countries. It has an agreement with Celerity Pharmaceutical, LLC to develop acute care generic injectable premix and oncolytic molecules. Baxter International Inc. was incorporated in 1931 and is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois.
LEXINGTON  State. Sen. Matt Williams stopped by the Orthman Community YMCA on Thursday, June 29, to present the non-profit organization with a special gift, a United States flag.

Orthman YMCA Executive Director Riley Gruntorad said he is grateful for Sen. Williams donation of a flag to the YMCA, and they are now seeking donations for a flag pole.

I truly believe that we should have a flag and flag pole at our YMCA to represent our veterans and current service members who make Lexington, our state and our nation great, Gruntorad said. Also, I believe it is fitting with what the YMCA stands for and coincides with our mission and core values.

Gruntorad said Orthman YMCA Associate Executive Director Amy Adams contacted Sen. Williams after learning about other states flying the American flag over their state capitols and then donating them to organizations. While Nebraska does not have such a program, Sen. Williams purchased a flag on his own, flew it over the Nebraska State Capitol and donated it to the Orthman YMCA.

Williams made a personal stop at the YMCA on June 29 to present the flag and an official certificate proving that the flag was flown over the state capitol building on June 5 in honor of the Orthman Community YMCA. He then spent some time visiting with Orthman YMCA members.

We thought it was an amazing gesture and were so blessed that Sen. Williams made this happen for us, Gruntorad said.

Sen. Williams said he was excited to make the first donation to the flag pole project at the Y.

The Y in Lexington provides many services to area residents, Sen. Williams said. With more than 1,500 memberships that represent nearly 4,000 people, you can see what an impact the Y has on people. It's more than just a place to exercise. It's a meeting place for people.

Sen. Williams encourages others to support the flag project at the Y.

Gruntorad said he hopes to install a flag pole at the front entrance of the YMCA near the bench that was donated by the Lexington High School Class of 1966. He estimated that a flag pole costs about $500, and he is seeking donations toward that project. If anyone is interested in donating, contact Gruntorad at 308- 324-1970 or rgruntorad@orthmanymca.org.

The YMCA is dedicated to strengthening the community through programs focused on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. For more information about the Y, visit www.orthmanymca.org or call at 308- 324-1970.
FLEETCOR Technologies, Inc. provides digital payment solutions for businesses to control purchases and make payments. It offers corporate payments solutions, such as accounts payable automation; Virtual Card, which provides a single-use card number for a specific amount usable within a defined timeframe; Cross-Border that is used by its customers to pay international vendors, foreign office and personnel expenses, capital expenditures, and profit repatriation and dividends; and purchasing cards and travel and entertainment cards for its customers to analyze and manage their corporate spending. The company also provides employee expense management solutions, including fuel solutions to businesses and government entities that operate vehicle fleets, as well as to oil and leasing companies, and fuel marketers; lodging solutions to businesses that have employees who travel overnight for work purposes, as well as to airlines and cruise lines to accommodate traveling crews and stranded passengers; and electronic toll payments solutions to businesses and consumers in the form of radio frequency identification tags affixed to vehicles' windshields. In addition, it offers gift card program management and processing services in plastic and digital forms that include card design, production and packaging, delivery and fulfillment, card and account management, transaction processing, promotion development and management, website design and hosting, program analytics, and card distribution channel management. Further, it provides other products consisting of payroll cards, vehicle maintenance service solution, long-haul transportation solution, prepaid food vouchers or cards, and prepaid transportation cards and vouchers. The company serves business, merchant, consumer, and payment network customers in North America, Brazil, and Internationally. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
The following companies are subsidiares of Vodafone Group Public: 360 Connect S.A., 3@ Telecom, A-ccelerator B.V., A-ccelerator Holding B.V, AAA (Euro) Limited, AAA (MCR) Limited, AAA (UK) Limited, Acorn Communications Limited, Africonnect (Zambia) Limited, Ag Mercantile Company Private Limited, Al-Amin Investments Limited, Amsterdamse Beheer- en Consultingmaatschappij B.V., Apollo Submarine Cable System Limited, Array Holdings Limited, Asian Telecommunication Investments (Mauritius) Limited, Aspective Limited, Astec Communications Limited, Autoconnex Limited, Aztec Limited, BelCompany BV, Bluefish Apac Communications Pte. Ltd, Bluefish Communications, Bluefish Communications Limited, Business Serve Limited, C&W Worldwide Nigeria Limited, C.S.P. Solutions Limited, CCII (Mauritius) Inc., CGP India Investments Ltd., CGP Investments (Holdings) Limited, COOP Mobil s.r.o, CT Networks Limited, CWGNL S.A., CWW Operations Limited, Cable & Wireless Access Limited, Cable & Wireless Americas Systems Inc., Cable & Wireless Aspac Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless CIS Services Limited, Cable & Wireless CIS Svyaz LLC, Cable & Wireless Capital Limited , Cable & Wireless Communications Data Network Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Communications Starclass Limited, Cable & Wireless Communications Technical Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd (Beijing Branch), Cable & Wireless Europe Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless GN Limited, Cable & Wireless Global (India) Private Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Business Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Holding Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Telecommunication Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Holdco Limited, Cable & Wireless Networks India Private Limited, Cable & Wireless Trade Mark Management Limited, Cable & Wireless UK Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless UK Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Waterside Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Pension Trustee Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Voice Messaging Limited, Cable & Wireless a-Services Inc, Cable & Wireless a-Services Limited, Cable and Wireless (India) Limited, Cable and Wireless (India) Limited Indian Branch Office, Cable and Wireless Nominee Limited, Cable and Wireless Worldwide South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cavalry Holdings Ltd, Celfocus  Solucoes Informaticas Para Telecomunicacoes S.A, Cellops Limited, Cellular Operations Limited, Central Communications Group Limited, Central Telecom (Northern) Limited, Centurion GSM Limited, Chelys Limited, City Cable (Holdings) Limited, Cobra do Brasil Servicos de Telematica ltda., Commnet Cellular Inc., Complete Network Technology, Connect (India) Mobile Technologies Private Limited, Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited, Dataroam Limited , Device Insight, Digital Island (UK) Ltd, Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited, East Africa Investment (Mauritius) Limited, Emtel Europe Limited, Energis (Ireland) Limited, Energis Communications Limited, Energis Holdings Limited, Energis Local Access Limited, Energis Management Limited, Energis Squared Limited, Erudite Systems Limited, Esprit Telecom B.V., Eudokia Limited, Euro Pacific Securities Ltd., Eurocall Holdings Limited, Europolitan Holdings AB (now Europolitan Vodafone AB), FB Holdings Limited, FM Associates (UK) Limited, FinCo Partner 1 B.V., FireFly Networks Limited, Flexphone Limited, GS Telecom (Pty) Limited, Gateway Communications Africa (UK) Limited, Gateway Communications Tanzania Limited, General Mobile Corporation, Generation Telecom Limited, Ghana Telecommunications, Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited, Global Cellular Rental Limited, Globe Limited, GrandCentrix GmbH, Grupo Corporativo ONO S.A.U., H3ga Properties (No 3) Pty Limited, HBO Nederland Cooperatief U.A., HBO Netherlands Channels sro, HBO Netherlands Distribution B.V., Hellas Online, How2 Telecom Limited, Hutchison Essar Ltd, Indus Towers Limited, Intercell Communications Limited, Internet Network Services Limited, Invitation Digital Limited, Ipergy Communications NV, Isis Telecommunications Management Limited, Jaguar Communications Limited, Jaykay Finholding (India) Private Limited, Jupicol (Proprietary) Limited, KABELCOM Braunschweig Gesellschaft Fur BreitbandkabelKommunikation Mit Beschrankter Haftung, KABELCOM Wolfsburg Gesellschaft Fur BreitbandkabelKommunikation Mit Beschrankter Haftung, Kabel Deutschland, Kabel Deutschland Holding, Kabel Deutschland Holding Erste Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Holding Zweite Beteilgungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Neunte Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Siebte Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabelfernsehen Munchen Servicenter GmbH & Co. KG, LG Financing Partnership, LGE HoldCo V B.V., LGE HoldCo VI B.V., LGE HoldCo VIII B.V., LGE Holdco VII B.V., LLC Vodafone Enterprise Ukraine, Le Bunt Holdings Limited, Legend Communications Limited, Liberty Global, Liberty Global Content Netherlands B.V., London Hydraulic Power Company, M-PESA Foundation, M-PESA Holding Co. Limited, ML Integration Group Limited, ML Integration Limited, ML Integration Services Limited, MV Healthcare Services Private Limited, Mannesmann AG, MetroHoldings Limited, Mezzanine Ware Proprietary Limited (RF), Mirambo Limited, Misrfone Trading Company LLC, MobiFon S.A., Mobile Commerce Solutions Limited, Mobile Phone Centre Limited, Mobile Wallet VM1, Mobile Wallet VM2, Mobile by Sainsburys Limited, Mobiles 4 Business.com Limited, Mobileworld Communications Pty Limited, Mobileworld Operating Pty Ltd, Mobilvest, Motifpros 1 (Proprietary) Limited, Multi Risk Indemnity Company Limited, Multi Risk Limited, ND Callus Info Services Private Limited, Nadal Trading Company Private Limited, Nat Comm Air Limited, National Communications Backbone Company Limited, Navtrak Ltd, Netforce Group Limited, Netgrid Telecom SRL, Number Portability Company (Proprietary) Limited, ONO, Omega Telecom Holdings Private Limited, Oni Way  Infocomunicacoes S.A, Oskar Mobil S.R.O., Oxygen Solutions Limited, P.C.P. (North West) Limited, PPL Pty Limited, PT Network Services Limited, PTI Telecom Limited, Peoples Phone Limited, Pinnacle Cellular Group Limited, Pinnacle Cellular Limited, Plex Limited, Plustech Mercantile Company Private Limited, Prime Metals Ltd., Project Telecom Holdings Limited, Quickcomm Software Solutions, Radio Opt GmbH, Rian Mobile Limited, SBC SMART CITY 1517 B.V., SMMS Investments Pvt Limited, Safaricom Limited, Safenet N.P A., Sarmady Communications, Scarlet Ibis Investments 23 (Pty) Limited, Scorpios Beverages Pvt. Ltd, Silver Stream Investments Limited, Singlepoint (4U) Limited, Singlepoint (4U) Ltd., Singlepoint Payment Services Limited, Siro Limited, Spar Aerospace (Nigeria) Limited, Sport TV Portugal S.A, Starnet, Stentor Communications Limited, Stentor Limited, Storage Technology Services (Pty) Limited, T.W. Telecom Limited, T3 Telecommunications Limited, TKS Telepost Kabel-Service Kaiserslautern Beteiligungs GmbH, TKS Telepost Kabel-Service Kaiserslautern GmbH & Co. KG, TNAS Limited, TSM NZ Limited, Talkland Airtime Services Limited, Talkland Australia Pty Limited, Talkland Communications Limited, Talkland International Limited, Talkland Midlands Limited, Talkmobile Limited, Tele2 Italia SPA, Tele2 Spain, Telecom Investments India Private Limited, Telecommunications Europe Limited, Ternhill Communications Limited, The Cobra Group, The Eastern Leasing Company Limited, The Old Telecom Sales Co. Limited, Thus Group Holdings Limited, Thus Group Limited, Thus Limited, Thus Profit Sharing Trustees Limited, TnT Expense Management LLC, Tomorrow Street GP S.a r.l., Tomorrow Street SCA, Torenspits II B.V., Townley Communications Limited, Trans Crystal Ltd., UMT Investments Limited, UPC Nederland Holding I B.V., UPC Nederland Holding II B.V., UPC Nederland Holding III B.V., Unified Communications, Uniqueair Limited, Urbana Teleunion Rostock GmbH & Co.KG, Usha Martin Telematics Limited, VAPL No. 2 Pty Limited, VBA (Mauritius) Limited, VBA Holdings Limited, VBA International (SL) Limited, VBA International Limited, VEI S.r.l., VM SA, VND S.p.A, VSSB Vodafone Shared Services Budapest Private Limited Company, Verwaltung Urbana Teleunion Rostock GmbH, Victus Networks S.A., Vizzavi Finance Limited, Vizzavi Limited, Voda Limited, Vodacall Limited, Vodacash s.p.r.l., Vodacom (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Business (Angola) Limitada, Vodacom Business (Ghana) Limited, Vodacom Business (Kenya) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa (Nigeria) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa Group (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa Group Services Limited, Vodacom Business Cameroon SA, Vodacom Business Cote Divoire S.A.R.L., Vodacom Congo (RDC) SA, Vodacom Financial Services (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Group Limited, Vodacom Insurance Administration Company (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Insurance Company (RF) Limited, Vodacom International Holdings (Pty) Limited, Vodacom International Limited, Vodacom Lesotho (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Life Assurance Company (RF) Limited, Vodacom Payment Services (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Properties No 1 (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Properties No.2 (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Tanzania Limited Zanzibar, Vodacom Tanzania Public Limited Company, Vodacom UK Limited, Vodafone (NI) Limited, Vodafone (New Zealand) Hedging Limited, Vodafone (Scotland) Limited, Vodafone 2, Vodafone 4 UK, Vodafone 5 Limited, Vodafone 5 UK, Vodafone 6 UK, Vodafone Albania Sh.A, Vodafone Alternatif Telekom Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Americas 4, Vodafone Americas Virginia Inc., Vodafone And Qatar Foundation L.L.C, Vodafone Asset Management Services S.a r.l., Vodafone Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Automotive Deutschland GmbH, Vodafone Automotive Electronic Systems S.r.L, Vodafone Automotive France S.A.S, Vodafone Automotive Iberia S.L, Vodafone Automotive Italia S.p.A, Vodafone Automotive Japan K.K, Vodafone Automotive Korea Limited, Vodafone Automotive SpA, Vodafone Automotive Technologies (Beijing) Co Ltd, Vodafone Automotive Telematics Development S.A.S, Vodafone Automotive Telematics S.A, Vodafone Automotive UK Limited, Vodafone Belgium SA/NV, Vodafone Benelux Limited, Vodafone Bilgi Ve Iletisim Hizmetleri AS, Vodafone Business Services Limited, Vodafone Business Solutions Limited, Vodafone Canada Inc, Vodafone Cellular Limited, Vodafone Central Services Limited, Vodafone China Limited (China), Vodafone China Limited (Hong Kong), Vodafone Connect 2 Limited, Vodafone Connect Limited, Vodafone Consolidated Holdings Limited, Vodafone Corporate Limited, Vodafone Corporate Secretaries Limited, Vodafone Czech Republic A.S., Vodafone DC Pension Trustee Company Limited, Vodafone Dagitim Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Data, Vodafone Distribution Holdings Limited, Vodafone Egypt Telecommunications S.A.E., Vodafone Elektronik Para Ve Odeme Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Empresa Brasil Telecomunicacoes Ltda, Vodafone Empresa Mexico S.de R.L. de C.V., Vodafone Enabler Espana S.L., Vodafone Enterprise Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Austria GmbH, Vodafone Enterprise Bahrain W.L.L., Vodafone Enterprise Bulgaria EOOD, Vodafone Enterprise Chile SA, Vodafone Enterprise Communications Technical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Corporate Secretaries Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Denmark A/S, Vodafone Enterprise Equipment Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited  Czech Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited  DubaiI Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Finland OY, Vodafone Enterprise France SAS, Vodafone Enterprise Germany GmbH, Vodafone Enterprise Global Businesses S.a r.l., Vodafone Enterprise Global Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Global Network HK Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Global Network Pte. Ltd., Vodafone Enterprise Hong Kong Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Italy S.r.L, Vodafone Enterprise Korea Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Luxembourg S.A., Vodafone Enterprise Netherlands BV, Vodafone Enterprise Norway AS, Vodafone Enterprise Regional Business Singapore Pte.Ltd., Vodafone Enterprise Singapore Pte.Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Spain S.L.U.  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The game finished after 30 minutes.

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Lucia Kapicakova is only ten years old but she is already a Champion of the EU in playing chess. She challenged President Andrej Kiska to play chess with her.

I know I will lose, said the President at the beginning of the meeting, adding that the bets were not about who was going to win, but if he would lose in 10, 15 or 30 minutes.

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The President gave up after about 30 minutes, adding that it was an honour for him to play chess with her.
A member of the 5th Special Operations Regiment directly contributed to preserving the security and safety of hundreds of soldiers from a number of countries stationed at Camp Integrity in Afghanistan.

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A member of the 5th Special Operations Regiment received a medal for valour for his prompt response to a determined attack on Camp Integrity in Afghanistan on the night of August 7-8.

He directly contributed to preserving the security and safety of hundreds of soldiers from a number of countries stationed there. US Ambassador to Slovakia Adam Sterling recognised this act of courage at the official ceremony in Polomka held on June 1, the TASR newswire reported.

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It was a peaceful Friday evening, when a huge explosion shook the camp, said the decorated soldier, who was on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan and was the only Slovak present at the time of the attack, as quoted by TASR.

A suicide bomber blew himself up by the gate, throwing a vehicle into the air. Some five or six insurgents breached the perimeter of the Special Operations Command camp, intent on wreaking as much havoc as possible. The group of soldiers was outside, so they grabbed weapons, vests and helmets and instantly rushed to deal with the situation.

Before they reached the place, they did not know how many enemies were there and what kind of force was around them.

Shooting erupted inside the camp, the soldier said, as quoted by TASR. It took the entire night, from 22:00 until six in the morning, for us to clear the entire camp and sound the all-clear.

The timing of the medal presentation only serves to accentuate the alliance between the USA and Slovakia, which goes back a considerable time, the ambassador said. The purpose of the Resolute Support operation is to train the Afghan armed forces to serve their own country and protect it, Sterling pointed out.
The language of programming 28 Jun, 2017

I remember learning my first programming language. As a part of the required informatics class in the second grade, we had to study some dialect of BASIC. Slouched at our desks under dim fluorescent lights, we were throwing impatient glances at whirring IBM PCs placed along the walls of a stuffy classroom. The year was 1997, Russia. None of us had a computer at home. On a chalk-smeared blackboard, the teacher wrote:

SCREEN 15, 0 PSET (100, 100) DRAW "R20 D20 L20 U20" END

Joined by twenty pairs of bewildered eyes, my eight-year-old self stared at the presented cryptogram in incredulity. Dont feel intimidated  declared the teacher in her soft-spoken, reassuring voice. Shed had us drawing flowcharts for several weeks leading to this lesson. We could already design detailed algorithms for peeling potatoes and assembling Legos. Still, the Latin characters glowering back at us from the chalkboard were foreign.

The teacher proceeded to decipher the program line by line. Avoiding English translation altogether, she assigned each lexeme a meaning and encouraged us to memorize them. After a while, wed look at the program above and interpret it as if it was written in emoji.

  100  100  " 20  20  20  20" 

I still often think about this approach to teaching programming and how it bypasses the natural language link altogether. Its amazing how a series of simple commands meant to be self-descriptive to an English speaker presents a serious coding challenge for everyone else. And coders we were. Twenty-something little compilers.

Abstract programming

Fast-forward ten years, Im an undergrad studying algorithms and data structures. Were writing C/C++, and every one of us knows English to some degree. Yet, all of our textbooks are in Russian, and again, the standard library function names are introduced without any hints at their English meanings. At the introductory lecture, the professor was presenting Hello, World! and other simple programs in C. He enunciated each function name slowly as he wrote it on the whiteboard. In his interpretation, getch() was pronounced ghat-che and clrscr()  ke-le-er-es-khe-er. Seems unbelievable now, but it would be a while before it clicked and I saw get character and clear screen. Id then share my observations with fellow students, and theyd be as surprised as I was.

In hindsight, I can see how missing out on this natural language connection deprived us of some helpful context. And yet, this method of learning a programming language is compelling, because its so close to abstract math. It encouraged us to think of char *strstr(const char *haystack, const char *needle) as (x,y) . Even if a function had a confusing name, none of us would notice, because it wasnt that much different from any other random lexeme we had to memorize. When you program this way, documentation is king and names are just links to underlying concepts.

Speaking of naming, in our own programs, wed use mathematical notation mixed with Latinized Russian words. Due to the terse appearance and overall inscrutability of such code, professional programmers in Russia label it govnokod, which, translated, literally means shitty code. Yet, this is how programs built in academia often look like. And, to the angst of professionals, they work just as well as clean code does.

An example of govnokod I wrote in circa 2006.

Some of my college friends who ended up in the software industry scorn the way programming is taught in Russian schools. Having had to learn to name their programming abstractions in proper English, theyre often full of angst towards the English-agnostic attitude to programming inculcated by the academia. This position interests me for two reasons:

Learning a foreign language is hard. Contrary to popular belief, English is not easy to learn.

Programmings bond to naming is unusually strong even in comparison to other knowledge work fields.

Lets review each point separately.

English is hard

In a blog post titled English has been my pain for 15 years the creator of Redis, Salvatore Sanfilippo talks about his decades-long struggle with expressing his thoughts in English. This is written by someone who built one of the cornerstones of the modern web stack:

we were doing new TCP/IP attacks but we were not able to freaking write a post about it in English. It was 1998 and I already felt extremely limited by the fact I was not able to communicate, I was not able to read technical documentation written in English without putting too much efforts in the process of reading itself, so my brain was using like 50% of its energy to just read, and less was left to actually understand what I was reading.

For better or worse, we must agree that English has won the worlds common tongue competition. Fluent English reading is practically a requirement for doing any serious programming work. However, writing in a foreign language is even more challenging. On the one hand, a typical programming task doesnt take a vocabulary youd need to complete a passable short story. On the other, youll want pithiness and unambiguity in your names, and those dont come naturally unless youre proficient in the language.

Id speculate that, on average, a relatively large API designed by a native English speaker will be more expressive than a similar API put together by a foreigner speaking intermediate English. This became particularly evident to me when I first came to Clojure. Rich Hickey is known for his deliberate use of vocabulary. In Clojure, simple is not easy, collections are not sequences, and functions with names like reify or transduce are commonplace.

Even armed with thesaurus or a reverse dictionary, a foreign speaker will struggle to match Richs semantic craftmanship. Still, reality proves that Google Translate and naming conventions get you far enough, and occasional blunders like isHided , visibles , unexisting are not critical to ones star count on GitHub.

In general, a foreign speaker will do a fine job naming things in English, but struggle to describe a particular quality of an object, or distinctly label a certain kind of interaction. Think about young kids learning to speak. Theyre much more likely to name a bunch of things around the house than to use words like juxtapose or intersperse to describe a complex action, or call something that randomly goes on and off intermittent (did I get it right?).

Names everywhere

The hackneyed old saying goes: there are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things. Its not difficult to see why finding a good name can be challenging. Programs often deal with complex abstract data structures that dont project well onto the real world.

Programmers can be incredibly creative when it comes to naming things. Chef, a configuration management framework, uses a whole set of cooking-related metaphors: cookbook, kitchen, knife, etc. Storm, a real-time computation system, operates on such entities as streams, spouts, and bolts. On a less practical side, Heroku entertains everyone with generated server hostnames like flexile-sentry.heroku.com. Theres an on-going debate about whether metaphors and funny names improve developers experience or just obscure the underlying concepts, but it falls outside the scope of this article. The point is, developers spend a lot of time naming all sorts of things. Sometimes, Id argue, to the point of detriment to their productivity.

Occasionally, I get a good look at my wifes computer screen when shes working on a massive vector image in Illustrator or a web page mock-up in Sketch. Almost every advanced graphics editor has this little window listing all of the layers and figures in the current document. If you were to read the official manual to Illustrator, they sure recommend that you consciously name every element of the image.

From the How to use layers in Illustrator tutorial.

And yet, when Julia is at work, this window looks nothing like the tutorials. She primarily relies on generated layer names and seems to navigate even rather complex illustrations without difficulty.

Julia is working on an illustration.

Illustrator doesnt ask you to name your file upfront, neither it yells at you for having two layers with the same name. Get started with generated names, rename things as needed. Now compare this experience to bootstraping a fresh Ruby on Rails app. The required name argument is used for the application module, the session key, and inserted in the generated templates.

$ rails new experiment-2 ... $ grep -r -i experiment . ./app/views/layouts/application.html.erb: <title>Experiment2</title> ./config/application.rb:module Experiment2 ./config/initializers/session_store.rb:Rails.application.config.session_store :cookie_store, key: '_experiment-2_session'

If you later decide to rename experiment-2 into SpaceElevator, youre on your own. Even the most advanced Ruby IDE, RubyMine cannot pull off a trick as (seemingly) simple as renaming the project. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you think that diamonds are forever, you never explained a 10-year-old database schema to a new hire. Your worst names never stop to haunt you.

So, here we have it: naming is still hard. Even harder in a foreign language. Worse, changing names later is often difficult or practically impossible. How can we overcome these difficulties? Particularly, Im interested in solving two problems:

Enabling domain experts to use programming to advance their fields. Bridging the gap between the code produced by native speakers of different languages.

Fewer names = less naming

Ive already mentioned Clojure above, picking on it for sophisticated, almost elitist approach to names. However, theres a different side to it. Functional programming languages tend to require fewer unique names to get by. Several different concepts contribute to this:

Function composition. Shorthand syntax for lambda functions. Naming conventions and mathematical notation.

Look at a Clojure snippet below. Here I introduce a function that returns only the terms (words) that occur more than a specified number of times in a given string.

( defn frequent-terms "Split s into a sequence of lower-case terms, remove articles and punctuation, return only terms that occur more than n times." [ s n ] ( ->> s clojure.string/lower-case ( re-seq # "\w+" ) ( remove # { "a" "an" "the" }) frequencies ( keep # ( when ( > ( val % ) n ) ( key % ))))) ( frequent-terms "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. As much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood." 3 ) ; => ("woodchuck" "wood")

To implement this rather complex function, I only had to think of one name: the function name. I named the input string s , because this is the convention used by all string functions in Clojure, and, following another common convention, n denotes the only number accepted by the function. By composing several higher order functions, I avoid explicit iteration and its byproducts: indices and temporary variables. Even when I introduce a lambda function ( #(when (> (val %) n) (key %))) ), Clojures syntax doesnt require me to name its argument, allowing its reference via the % character (multiple arguments can be accessed as %1 , %2 , etc.).

Not every function composition will have a good name. Again, mathematicians have avoided this problem by incorporating the Greek alphabet into their standard notation. While I wouldnt recommend comprising your APIs out of Greek letters, a function-local helper can often be denoted as f or g without much harm, like in the example below.

( letfn [( f [ x ] ( Math/pow ( Math/sin x ) 2 ))] ( f ( transduce ( map f ) + [ 1 2 3 4 5 ])))

WTF is x?

While I do think that Clojure strikes an almost perfect balance between conciseness and expressiveness, I must admit Ive been confused by these mathematical names on multiple occasions. Until you familiarized yourself with Clojures naming idioms, making sense of a function declaration can be a struggle. Id still trade s, n, and f for string , min-occurrences , and squared-sine any day of the week, but for the sake of this experiment lets explore other ways to improve readability without retreating to handcrafted names for everything.

The obvious answer is we could provide meta-information. Going back to the Illustrator example, the generated layer names still distinguish between different kinds of objects. For programming languages, this role can (to some degree) be played by type declarations and annotations. Lets look at the following program written in Haskell:

repeat n x | n > 0 = x : repeat ( n - 1 ) x | otherwise = []

The repeat function accepts a number n and a value x and returns a list comprised of n copies of x. Haskell doesnt usually require you to specify types, but you may choose to add type information to declare your assumptions to the compiler and other people reading your code. A type declaration for the repeat function could look like this:

; n x ( return value ) repeat :: Int -> a -> [ a ]

This type signature informs the reader that n is an integer, x is a value of any type a, and the return value is a list of values of type a. While there is an infinite number of different implementations of repeat matching this type signature (e.g., returning n + k repetitions of a where k  ), the Haskell compiler can already catch a fair number of invalid implementations. For example, given a string x, the function wont be able to produce a list of tuples or return a random value (or read the return value from a file). All of this is verified before the program is even launched. On the surface, this may appear like a win-win situation, but the reality is never black and white.

In theory, the stronger the languages type system is, the more information is available statically, and thus the more powerful refactoring and code inspection tools can be made for that language. Sure, Java, Scala, and C# instrumentation built into IDEA and Visual Studio are more reliable than their Rubys counterparts. At the same time, there is also a paradox when Haskell developers tend to abstain from using any tooling except for the compiler, while the lispers reap many of the same benefits (and some others) by having their editors connected to an interactive environment (REPL).

While an improvement over just names, a type system alone doesnt magically make the code in mathematical notation self-documenting. For example, compare the following declarations of the strstr C function that searches for the occurrences of one string within another:

# 1. char * strstr ( const char * a , const char * b ); # 2. char * strstr ( const char * haystack , const char * needle )

Number #2 makes the order of the arguments immediately clear to any English speaker familiar with the needle in a haystack idiom. At the same time, this again brings us to the problem where #1 and #2 are equivalently baffling to somebody who is not fluent in English.

The limits of plain text

Where does this leave us? Functional programming and advanced type systems sure reduce the number of names we have to memorize and invent to produce useful programs. But there are always going to be functions like strstr that are inscrutable without either understanding the context supplied through the natural language semantics or perusing documentation. Now, an English speaker might wonder why those poor foreigners wont just build programming languages based on their own vocabulary and alphabets? They do exist, but such attempts are destined to isolation in a field that has been built on the integration of ideas.

Instead, let me give you another example. On a screenshot below, a spreadsheet is being edited in a Russian localization of Microsoft Excel. The curious thing about the Russian Excel is that its built-in function library has also been internationalized, so you type the function names using Cyrillic.

Cyrillic function names in MS Excel formulas

I wont lie, this looks outrageous even to me. But not to my Dad, who is a civil engineer and doesnt speak a word of English. He is dangerously fluent in Excels formulas, which he uses extensively in those hundred-sheet documents bristling with filters, conditionals, and pivot tables. Then the roads and bridges are getting built based on those calculations. He doesnt know what IF means, but he uses  all the time. Whats amazing is that if he emailed you one of his spreadsheets and you happened to open it in your real deal MS Excel, every formula would appear in English, but work just as he intended.

Now imagine receiving a thousand line long piece of govnokod I demonstrated above. Youll probably get it to compile, but good luck making sense of the API comprised of Latinized Russian words and Greek alphabet. I dont know how we get to the level of cosmopolitanism exhibited by Excel on a scale of a real programming language. Whats apparent is that this is one of the cases where limitations of plain text as a primary medium for writing and distributing programs come to the fore. Excel can do this because they control both the format and the development environment.

Some programmers become extremely defensive when it comes to discussing alternatives to plain text. The bible of many contemporary programmers, The Pragmatic Programmer, which I read and reviewed on this blog, dedicates an entire section to describing the plain text as a shuriken of pragmatic programmers. Still, with increasing proliferation of advanced IDEs (which already obscure some implementation details) and wider adoption of non-textual programming environments (e.g., MIT Scratch or Unreal Blueprints), it seems more and more plausible that theres something on the horizon that will combine all these ideas and yield a practical programming tool for everyone.

Recap

This post was born out of my frustration with names as identifiers, and in particular, the rigidness of once chosen names in a field as malleable as software development. I occasionally find myself stuck choosing a descriptive moniker for a new project, function or variable. In part, this is because naming is hard, in part  because English isnt my native language. But there remains an area where the difficulty in naming is induced by our current programming tools and techniques.

Functional programming reduces the number of unique names in a program. Type declarations provide an extra layer of meaning and allow the use of mathematical notation without a hit to readability. Static type verification and stricter compilers make it easier to build more advanced refactoring tools, which allow bad names to be changed later. In this post I tried to demonstrate how these trends and other ideas can help bridge the gap between different cultures through universal computing.

Perhaps, the greatest improvements in this area lie in going beyond traditional programming tools (e.g., text editors and CLI) towards purely visual, interactive environments. As absurd as it sounds, in order for programming to become the tool for thought its been promulgated as, it must learn the lessons of Excel and Illustrator, it must remain open to new ideas and not outright discard them as impractical. In other words, our computers have to learn the universal language: empathy.
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SEATTLE  A federal grand jury has brought the first bank robbery and weapons charges against a man being held in the Dawson County Jail.

According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI, on July 6, 2017 a federal grand jury in Seattle indicted Richard Lee Gathercole, 39, the suspected AK-47 Bandit," on one count of bank robbery and one count of possession of a weapon in furtherance of a crime of violence, related to the July 6, 2012 robbery of a bank in North Bend, Wash.

Gathercole, of Roundup, Mont., was apprehended by the Dawson County Sheriffs Office in Nebraska after a high speed chase starting in Kansas on June 19, 2017.

A federal search warrant was conducted on June 24, 2017 at Gathercole s residence in Roundup, Mont., by members of the FBI; the Chino Police Department; the Musselshell County Sheriffs Office; and the Rexburg, Idaho Police Department.

During the search, investigators located several pieces of evidence they believe were used in the commission of the various bank robberies related to the AK-47 series. In addition, Gathercole is known to have access to vehicles that match the description of the vehicles used to flee some of the robberies.

Based on these and other factors, investigators believe that Gathercole is responsible for the bank robberies attributed to the AK-47 Bandit series: Feb. 29, 2012 in Chino, Calif. (California Bank & Trust); March 12, 2012 in Vacaville, Calif. (Bank of the West); July 6, 2012 in North Bend, Wash. (Chase Bank); Nov. 7, 2012 in Rexburg, Idaho (East Idaho Credit Union); Aug. 22, 2014 in Nebraska City, Neb. (First Nebraska Bank); and July 28, 2015 in Mason City, Iowa (Heartland Community Credit Union). There was also an attempted robbery on March 9, 2012 in Sacramento, Calif. at the Tri-Cities Bank.

Due to the various crimes alleged and jurisdictions involved at various levels of government, investigators continue to consult with prosecutors regarding applicable charges.

The investigation of the AK-47 Bandit bank robbery series is being conducted by the Chino Police Department; the Rexburg Police Department; the Musselshell County Sheriff's Department in Montana; the Seattle Safe Streets Task Force; the King County Sheriffs Office in Washington; the Vacaville Police Department; the Sacramento Police Department; the Nebraska City Police Department; the Greater Omaha Bank Robbery Task Force; as well as FBI Field Offices that cover each of the jurisdictions where robberies occurred (FBI Los Angeles; FBI Sacramento; FBI Seattle; FBI Omaha and FBI Salt Lake City).
(This July 7 story was refiled to correct typographical error in quote in paragraph 7) By Emma Farge BANJUL (Reuters) - Chinese and French companies are bidding to help Gambia build up its Atlantic port Banjul to be what industry sources say could be a rival to neighbouring Senegal's Dakar. It would be one of the first major structural changes in Gambia following the end of President Yahya Jammeh's more than 20-year rule in January. State-owned China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) <601800.SS> says one of its subsidiaries has made a bid for a 140 million euro ($159.91 million) contract Gambia has launched to redevelop the port. France's Bollore Group has also submitted an offer to develop the port for hundreds of millions of dollars, sources told Reuters, and was part of a recent delegation of French investors to the country. The port was run by a state agency during Jammeh's rule. It is considered to have strategic potential thanks to its easy access to Atlantic shipping lanes. Abdoulie Tambedou, managing director of the Gambia Ports Authority said there had already been several offers. "The Chinese are interested in investing in the infrastructure for an overall envelope of 140 million euros," he told Reuters in an interview. "We hope to agree the financing in the next six months." An official at CCCC confirmed that one of its subsidiaries was bidding for the contract, without specifying which. In a sign of their interest, a witness saw a Chinese delegation visiting the port last week. Tambedou confirmed Bollore's offer, without giving the price, and said this included both infrastructure costs and the rental concession. Chinese interest in the project follows China's resumption of diplomatic ties with former Taiwan ally Gambia last year under the "one China" policy, which states that self-ruled Taiwan is part of China. President Adama Barrow's new government reaffirmed that position in February. China is also a major market for Gambia's exports, which globally are mainly peanuts, wood, cashews, fish and fruit. Upgrading the port will take 30-36 months to complete, Tambedou said. STRUGGLING Gambia is poor. It ranks 173 out of 189 countries on the U.N. Human Development Index, below Haiti. It is badly in need of key infrastructure development. There is not a single bridge across its eponymous 1,120 km (695 mile)-long river that wiggles up the length of the country, for example. People and goods have to be shipped across on ferries - or go around. Gambia is nonetheless seen as a key transit country for reaching remote areas of Guinea, Mali and Senegal that are easier to access from Banjul than from the countries' own ports and capitals. Space constraints at the port, however, mean that arriving cargo ships often have to wait at anchorage before entering. Since the departure of Jammeh, Tambedou said that trade was picking up, with shippers sending imports such as sugar in bigger volumes than before. (Additional reporting by Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Aaron Ross and Jeremy Gaunt)
By Cindy Silviana and Eveline Danubrata JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian state firms are courting foreign pension funds by offering a share in future revenue from toll roads, power stations and other infrastructure projects, as part of a presidential drive to secure $10 billion (7.76 billion pounds) in additional inflows. The state budget is not enough to fund President Joko Widodo's ambitious plan to expand infrastructure in Southeast Asia's biggest economy, a sprawling archipelago where the costs of moving goods around are among Asia's highest. Widodo told Reuters this week that he had instructed ministers to market the country aggressively to investors, capitalising on Standard & Poor's May 19 upgrade of its credit rating to investment grade. Indonesia is hoping to attract the likes of Canada Pension Plan, Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) and other institutional investors, Thomas Lembong, chairman of Indonesia's investment coordinating board, told Reuters. "We can't just sit back and wait for people to come because competition to attract capital flows is ferocious," Lembong said. "Everything from toll roads to power plants to airports to ports should be securitised to capital markets." Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati told Reuters ahead of the G20 summit in Hamburg on Thursday that the government plans to securitise projects that are "already active and revenue-generating". That way, pension funds will not be involved in "the nitty-gritty of the new project or a project already being built so they can see the risk in a much better way," she said. Under a securitisation model, a company typically issues a trust-like investment structure that is backed by future revenue from a project or an asset, with investors earning a certain rate of return. POSITIVE INITIAL RESPONSE Indonesia's biggest toll road operator, PT Jasa Marga Tbk , has begun working to securitise about half of the 4 trillion rupiah ($298.4 million) in revenue expected over five years from a road linking Jakarta to cities in West Java province. The securities - expected to offer annual returns of 8-9 percent over five years - have received a positive initial response from potential investors including pension funds, said Donny Arsal, Jasa Marga's finance director. State-controlled electricity firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) is issuing securities backed by the projected five-year income of 10 trillion rupiah from a power plant operated by its unit. PLN [PLNEG.UL] decided on this new investment structure as it had already raised funds from bonds, bank loans and other sources, finance director Sarwono Sudarto said. "There is already a limit to the existing models of funding," Sudarto said, adding that under asset securitisation, there is no transfer of ownership of its physical asset. There's no guarantee the securitisation plans will succeed. Andre Varian, a portfolio manager at BNI Asset Management, said the securities issued by state firms are relatively new in Indonesia and their returns are not much higher than those offered by other fixed-income assets. The lack of liquidity in the domestic market may also deter foreign investors, Varian said. "Foreign demand would be very limited since there is no liquidity." Varian added, however, that liquidity may be boosted over time partly because domestic pension funds and insurance firms are required to have a certain portion of investments in government bonds or infrastructure-linked securities. (Additional reporting by Thomas Escritt in Hamburg, John Chalmers and Fransiska Nangoy in Jakarta; Editing by Richard Borsuk and Jon Boyle)
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain and Norway plan to lift a ban on offshore flights using two types of Super Puma helicopters, 17 months after a fatal crash in Norway. Britain's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said on Friday both countries intended to lift national restrictions that remained in place after European authorities declared the helicopters safe to fly last October. Europe grounded the H225LP and AS332L2 helicopters, built by Airbus Helicopters , after 13 passengers and crew were killed when the rotors flew off their aircraft in April last year. The decision to extend the safety clearance to Britain and Norway follows "extensive investigation, testing and changes to the helicopter and its maintenance," the CAA said in a statement. Flights will not resume immediately, however. "A plan of checks, modifications and inspections needs to be undertaken before any flights take place," the CAA said. "It will also be for operators and their customers to decide whether they wish to re-introduce the helicopters to service" Norwegian oil company Statoil said in December it would stop using H225 Super Puma helicopters for good. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Mark Potter)
Doctors have been left baffled after finding 150 PINS lodged in the body of a man who claimed he has no idea how they got there.

Badrilal Meena, from Kota in Northern India, has undergone three surgeries to remove the foreign bodies lodged in his arms, feet and neck.

So far, 91 have been removed  some so rusty doctors think they must have been there for over six months.

But Mr Meena, 56, insists he didnt insert them himself and claims he has no idea how they got into his body.

The doctor who operated on him said it is miraculous he has not suffered any long-term damage, with some of the pins lodged in his wind pipe and even his carotid artery.

Baffling  Badrilal Meena says he has no idea how the pins got into his body (Pictures: SWNS)

Mr Meena first attended a private hospital in Kota in March, complaining of foot ache and diabetes, and doctors were stunned to find 75 pins lodged in various parts of his body.

He has since visited six different hospitals and lost over 30kg while trying to find a surgeon willing to remove them.

MORE: Bradley Lowery, the six-year-old who touched a nations heart, dies after long illness

MORE: Charlie Gard has 10 per cent chance of surviving, claims his mother

His case was finally taken on by the Asian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) in Faridabad, where doctors found a further 75 pins.

Surgeons have so far extracted a total of 91 pins from Mr Meenas body over three different surgeries.

Complex surgery  doctors have so far extracted 91 pins from Mr Meenas body

Dr Lalit Mohan Parashar, director at AIMS, said: When Badrilal came to use, he was in a very serious condition.

Fragile, unable to talk or eat, the chances of his survival were bleak  but we decided to go ahead and accept this unique, challenging case.

The most challenging task was to remove those pins which were pierced in the vital nerves, arteries and organs, like the esophagus and the carotid artery which supplies blood to the brain.

Despite claims that Mr Meena suffers from mental health problems, he and his family insist he had not been piercing himself.

Nobody would pierce pins in his own body, he said.

Story continues

And his son Rajendra Meena added: I dont know what curse has befallen our family.

For the past four months, we have been running from one hospital to another, hoping that my father will be cured of the bizarre condition.

The latest revelation that the number of pins in his body has increased is really scary.

Hospital authorities have recommended psychiatric evaluation after recovery.
By Joyce Lee SEOUL (Reuters) - Police raided the headquarters of Korean Air Lines Co Ltd on Friday as part of an investigation into allegations that company funds were used to pay for construction work at the home of Chairman Cho Yang-ho. The firm is suspected of masking interior decoration costs at Cho's private home as expenses associated with the construction of a new hotel between May 2013 and August 2014, police said in a statement. No suspects had been named, a police official told Reuters. A Korean Air spokesman said the airline was cooperating with police. Cho could not be reached for comment. The firm's shares extended losses on the news to be down 2.2 percent, while Hanjinkal, the airline's largest shareholder, also fell 2.2 percent as of Friday's close. Cho's daughter, Heather, gained international notoriety in 2014 when, as an executive of the airline, she forced a steward off one of its planes in New York because she was unhappy about the way she had been served macadamia nuts. She served nearly five months in jail in Korea for violating plane safety. The raids on Korean Air Lines are the first to target a major family-run conglomerate, or chaebol, since President Moon Jae-in came to power in May on the back of promises to reform the opaque business empires which dominate South Korea's economy. Moon was elected after a bribery scandal which led to the ouster of his predecessor, Park Geun-hye, and the arrest of Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee. (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Stephen Coates)
This website is inclusive of tolerant people of all faiths, without exception. Neither anti-Semitism nor Islamophobia nor homophobia should ever be acceptable to anyone. We must all strive to live in peace and harmony with each other, regardless of religious affiliations, or none. Intolerance is the mother of strife and conflict.   Mark Alexander

We Britons are Europeans!Wir Briten sind Europaer! Nous, les Britanniques, sommes europeens !  Mark AlexanderEmail me at:markalexander.librabunda@gmail.com
SANTA FE  A Santa Fe woman allegedly owes the state a lot of money for allegedly evading taxes for four years.

Cynthia Canyon, 58, has been indicted on 48 counts of attempting to evade or defeat tax payments from July 2012 to June 2016 for a grand total over $1.5 million. The indictment, filed in District Court by the state Taxation and Revenue Department, charges Canyon for violations on the last day of every month for the four-year period. She faces up to 72 years in prison.

Ben Cloutier, a Tax and Revenue spokesman, didnt provide additional details on Canyons alleged crimes. The indictments dont say what kind of tax Canyon is accused of evading. Canyon, who doesnt have a criminal history in New Mexico, is scheduled to be arraigned in front of Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer Friday.

A woman named Cynthia Canyon owns and publishes Santa Fe-based Trend magazine, a quarterly publication about art, design, architecture and food. She could not be reached by phone for comment Friday.
SANTA FE  For traditional Navajo weaver Joyce Begay Foss, her work isnt just a craft. It represents the tribes history of stamina and perseverance.

Some of her tribes earliest textile materials, she said, trace back to times of the Long Walk of the Navajo  the forced evacuations from their native lands to the Bosque Redondo in eastern New Mexico  in the 1860s, showing their strength in times of oppression.

This cultural relevance is something being lost as others profit off Native American culture with knockoff art, Begay Foss told U.S. Sen. Tom Udall at a hearing Friday on the negative impacts of counterfeit Indian art and how improve the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act.

Theyre taking our designs and abusing them, said Begay Foss, who said she knows artisans who are no longer able to live off their work because theyre competing with cheaper counterfeits. She said weaved baskets displayed behind Udall Friday at the Santa Fe Indian School were fakes.

Stricter punishments, better consumer and police education programs and additional resources to patrol growing e-commerce were just some of the requests from seven panelists  government officials and Native artists  to modernize and amend the IACA.

The act, created in 1990 and updated in 2010, prohibits the sale of products as Native-made when theyre not and allows for criminal and civil action against offenders. According to Udall, the vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, fakes make up as much as 80 percent of the Indian arts market, and only two officers within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are tasked with monitoring the violations.

Fake Indian arts and crafts are flooding the markets right here in Santa Fe and across the country. Its having an effect of destabilizing the Native art market, its forcing many to quit their crafts and devalues Native American art, said Udall in a news conference following the meeting. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, like Udall a New Mexico Democrat, joined him for the first half of the hearing.

Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement Chief Bill Woody, one of Udalls witnesses whose department has overseen IACA enforcement since 2012, cited the indictment of six people, including several New Mexico residents, with violating the federal law in 2015 for allegedly importing items made in the Philippines and claiming it was authentic Native art.

Galleries in Gallup, Albuquerque and Santa Fe were raided. The accused are still awaiting trial. Federal officers have confiscated about 200,000 pieces with a declared value of $11 million coming into the U.S. According to Indian Arts and Crafts Board executive director Meredith Stanton, retail sales of the faked items could easily double the declared value. The scope of the problem is larger than we expected, Woody said.

Udall spoke with other witnesses about possibly adding a counterfeiture clause to the federal law, which New Mexicos former U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez said would allow for seizing proceeds earned from counterfeit art. Udall and witnesses also discussed the need for state-tribal task forces to better educate law enforcement about existing laws, resources for monitoring online markets like Ebay and Amazon, or giving certifications of authenticity to online retailers, and mandating country of origin stamps.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

Inmates cannot legally consent to sex with jail guards, and accused corrections officers cannot use consent as a defense in rape trials, a District Court judge ruled in a recent order.

Prosecutors raised the question of consent ahead of a retrial for Enock Arvizo, a former corrections officer accused of raping a handcuffed and shackled inmate in a courthouse elevator.

Second Judicial District Judge Briana Zamora ruled June 29 that jurors in Arvizos retrial will not be asked to consider whether the alleged encounter was consensual.

Zamora quoted the state Supreme Court, which wrote in a civil case that the power disparity between guards and inmates not only facilitates sexual assault but makes meaningful voluntary consent an unrealistic inquiry.

As a matter of law, an inmate victim of sexual assault by a corrections officer cannot give consent, Zamora wrote.

A jury in May acquitted Arvizo of one of two counts of criminal sexual penetration but could not reach an agreement on the second count. Arvizos retrial on the remaining count was reset for mid-September to allow the court ample time to address the consent question.

He also is facing additional rape charges involving a second inmate and assault charges involving a third.

At issue in Arvizos case is one particular instruction to be read to jurors before deliberation. It requires the jury to find, based on trial testimony, that the alleged encounter happened without consent and with the intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire.

The same instruction specifies that the penetration must not have been part of regular custodial care; for example, a body cavity search.

In the second trial, the words without consent will be eliminated from that instruction, Zamora ordered. That means jurors wont have the choice to decide whether the sex was consensual.

Arvizos attorney, Stephen Lane, had argued that only two sets of victims are, by law, statutorily incapable of giving consent  children and patients victimized by a psychotherapist.

Lane did not respond to a request for comment.

Zamora wrote that state law criminalizes sex acts perpetrated on people without their consent, or in the case of children and other vulnerable victims who cant consent. While the plain language of the statute doesnt list inmates as vulnerable victims, she wrote, the state Supreme Court has recognized that they are.

She referred to a state Supreme Court case in which justices said the control a guard exerts over an inmate extends into virtually every facet of the inmates life.

A spokesman for the Attorney Generals Office, which is prosecuting the case, said he could not comment.
From claims of Russian interference to the long-standing allegations of home-grown fraud where the dead come out to vote, there is little question that many Americans view our elections process with a certain degree of skepticism, if not outright suspicion. Not that most people think results are necessarily changed by various illegal practices and shenanigans, but that they do occur.

Currently, Democrats are focused on the Russians and their alleged collusion with the Trump campaign, while President Donald Trump has kept up a drumbeat that millions voted illegally  either because they were in the country illegally or voted in multiple states, etc.

And this debate isnt new. The state-by-state fight over voter ID shows no signs of abating, with 33 states having adopted some form of voter ID law as of June 6. It is a position pushed by many Republicans, and many of the laws require presentation of an ID at the polls. New Mexico has no such law  essentially working on the honor system. So even though you have to present an ID to stay at a hotel (Homeland Security rules), you dont have to in order to vote.

Given these claims and endless political fights, it would make sense to have a national commission actually look at data from every state, do some cross tabs and perhaps put all this to rest. Enter Donald Trumps Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, which has sent letters to all 50 secretaries of state asking for voter data.

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver announced her refusal to cooperate even before getting the letter. And she isnt alone. Colleagues from Connecticut to Mississippi, and from both political parties, have taken the same position. The stated reasons vary, from the federal government should mind its own business to its a waste of taxpayer money. And these are politicians, after all, so politics is a factor. Toulouse Oliver, whose Team Maggie has already put out a political piece touting her refusal and asking for support, says, I will not release any  voter information like names, addresses and voting history unless I am convinced the information wont be used for nefarious or unlawful purposes. Further, she says certain information is protected by law, and for good measure tosses in the notion that all this could be used for voter suppression.

The last argument is a nice political talking point but the most specious. Data is data. If people are voting who arent entitled to  and thats voter suppression  so be it.

As for the protected information claim, most of this data is considered public in New Mexico and is available for purchase by any political operative. Buyers do have to sign a statement that they wont use if for reasons unrelated to research or elections. The secretary of state would like you to think she is going to the mat to protect the privacy of your voting history (when you voted, not whom you voted for), but if you believe that youre wrong. Its already for sale.

As for personal identifier information, state law says your year of birth is public. Social Security numbers are not, but surely there is a way to allow for some uniform reporting of, for example, the last four digits. Toulouse Oliver and her colleagues say they have nothing to hide, but they sure act like it.

A 2012 study by the nonprofit Pew Center for the States concluded more than 24 million voter registration records nationally  one in eight  were inaccurate or out of date. Nearly 2.8 million voters were registered in more than one state. Trumps critics should remember he won key states like Wisconsin by margins so thin there were recounts.

So instead of turning up the political rhetoric, address the concerns once and for all. Our secretary of state and others should acknowledge the nation would benefit from having them cooperate and provide data that is already public. If thats insufficient, then work with the commission and find a way to provide the data needed to put this question to rest.

editorials

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.
Straight from the thats-not-news department: Daniel Castro is an excellent defensive infielder.

Castro leads the Albuquerque Isotopes and all regular Pacific Coast League shortstops in fielding percentage. Coming into Fridays game against visiting Las Vegas, hed made two errors in 232 fielding chances for a .991 mark.

Castro played flawless defense once again in the Isotopes 6-4 victory over the 51s on Friday night.

The 24-year-old from Guaymas, Mexico, has earned a slick-fielding reputation in the major leagues, too. In 72 games with the Atlanta Braves over the past two seasons, Castro committed just one error while splitting time between second base, shortstop and third.

He makes really difficult plays, makes them repeatedly, Isotopes starting pitcher Barry Enright said, and makes them look so effortless.

Now for the surprising news: Castro is the Isotopes leading hitter this season.

Except for Ryan McMahon (.380) and Tom Murphy (.325), who have played in fewer than half of the Topes 86 games between them, Castros .324 average leads the club. His 33 RBIs rank third.

Not bad for a guy who hit .217 in his two stints in Atlanta.

Does playing in hitter-friendly Albuquerque make that big a difference?

Its different because I can hit a home run here, Castro said through an interpreter. I like this ballpark.

But Castro, who has three long balls this season, has another explanation for his overall offensive surge. Its a product of signing with the Colorado Rockies as a free agent last offseason.

In the past I always had a big leg kick, Castro said. The Rockies got rid of it, now Im hitting much better.

Castros hot bat can only bolster his chances of getting called up to the majors for a third straight season, but Castro will always consider his hitting to be a bonus.

My career is based on defense, he said. I take more pride in that.

Isotopes pitchers have been delighted to know Castro has their backs.

My last couple outings hes made some amazing plays, said left-hander Ryan Carpenter. You love a guy like that. He gets us back in the dugout on defense and hes been tearing it up at the plate.

Enright has also come to appreciate Castros contributions, though such was not always the case.

I played against him in winter ball in Mexico, Enright said, and he always seemed to make plays to take runs away from us. Its so nice to see it from the other side.

Enright is not overly shocked to see Castro collecting big hits either.

I know in the past he struggled a little with hitting, Enright said, but he always gave me fits. I definitely knew he was capable.

Castro said his goal now is to keep his hitting stroke consistent. The leg kick, it seems, is a thing of the past.

No mas! he said with a grin.
HAMBURG, Germany  A cease-fire is set to go into effect Sunday for southwest Syria as part of a renewed effort to stem the six-year civil war in the Arab nation.

The United States and Russia struck an agreement for the cease-fire as President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Hamburg, Germany. Its the first U.S.-Russian effort under Trumps presidency aimed at the conflict in Syria.

The nation of Jordan is also involved in the agreement. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the aim is to reduce violence in an area of Syria near Jordans border that is critical to Jordans security.

Officials say the deal had been in the works for weeks or months, but came together in time for the Trump-Putin meeting.
The New Mexico National Guard has a new leader.

Brig. Gen. Kenneth Nava was installed as adjutant general as hundreds of military personnel and onlookers, joined by Gov. Susana Martinez, gathered at Kirtland Air Force Bases Hardin Field Saturday for the Guards change of command ceremony.

Todays a special day for the men and women of the New Mexico National Guard, Martinez said before a large formation of uniformed personnel.

The ceremony also inducted Jerry Garcia as incoming command sergeant major.

The governor called Nava a natural leader with a keen understanding of the National Guards strengths and challenges.

Im looking forward to continuing to work with him to lead and support the men, women and their families that serve our state and country, Martinez said, while recognizing his predecessor, Brig. Gen. Andrew Salas, for his decades of service.

Salas will move on to a new assignment with the U.S. Air Force, according to the Governors Office.

Nava had served as deputy adjutant general, overseeing all Army National Guard matters in the state and serving as principal liaison to various officials from senior military to local government. As adjutant general, he serves as the senior military adviser to the governor and assumes responsibility for over 4,000 soldiers and airmen and more than $96 million in state and federal funding.

Im grateful for Governor Martinezs leadership and her continuing support, Nava said. Im humbled to have the opportunity to continue to work with her to lead the men and women who give so much to keep us here in New Mexico safe.

Nava, a University of New Mexico alum, enlisted in the New Mexico Army National Guard in 1988 and, over the course of his career, has commanded units at the battery, battalion and brigade levels.

Incoming Command Sgt. Maj. Garcia said he is looking forward to serving all members of the New Mexico National Guard.

I graciously accept this assignment that Ive been blessed with, he said. I plan to do everything I can to make things better to move our organization forward.

Garcia joined the National Guard in 1989, serving tours in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Hurricane Katrina and Operation Noble Eagle. Garcia has been decorated with the Bronze Star Medal and Meritorious Service Medal, among others.

During her speech, Martinez expressed gratitude toward New Mexico National Guard members, past and present.

I thank you for what you do every single day and that you are ready when you are called, she said. You are New Mexicos heroes and my heroes.
Some 165 YouTube creators composing the Internet Creators Guild have reiterated their support for net neutrality in an open letter urging the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to keep current rules that safeguard the open internet. The letter, signed by several content creators on the popular video sharing platform, stresses that any move to repeal the net neutrality protections established during the Obama administration could have an adverse impact on smaller content creators in favor of the large media companies who have the resources to pay for such service.

For starters, the current net neutrality rules classify broadband internet as a utility, thus requiring equal treatment for all data on the part of the internet service providers. Title II is put in place to prevent internet service providers from offering special services that would give customers a quicker access to specific websites. But the new FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, announced the commissions plans in April of this year to repeal the current rules. A month later, the FCC kicked off its plan to overturn the existing net neutrality protections and remove the Title II classification of Internet services in the country. The proposed revision aims to change the classification of broadband internet to Title I, therefore easing the existing regulations. However, in May of this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the FCCs request to revise the current net neutrality rules, describing the commissions proposal as ambiguous.

But the courts ruling is not likely to stop the FCC from finding other avenues to have the Obama-era net neutrality rules changed. Pai has been known to dislike the existing rules so much that he even described it as a mistake during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year. Now the Internet Creators Guild cautions that any alteration to the current net neutrality rules would jeopardize the livelihood of many smaller content creators and tip the playing field. The letter urges the FCC chairman to help defend net neutrality in order to maintain fair play. Nonetheless, Pai also asked the internet service providers not to throttle customers access to other websites in an attempt to convince consumers to buy premium packages for internet access. Updates on the FCCs next move to overturn net neutrality could come in the coming months.
SUV

Sure, this isn't a set of 911 spyshots, but there's nothing wrong with starting our description at the posterior of the Porscha. Especially since, if we judge by the camo covering the middle section of the tailgate, it looks like the third-generation Cayenne will get full-width taillights.Nods to past Zuffenhausen icons aside, we've already seen this feature on contemporary production Porsches (2017 Panamera), concept cars (Mission E), as well as prototypes ( 2019 Neunelfer and 2018/2019 Macan ). As such, it seems only natural for the next Cayenne to display such a styling feature.The other novelty shown by the test car we're looking at is also related to the styling department, as we can now check out the production front grille. The LED daytime running lights are still missing, though - here's another prototype that gives us an idea of how this element might look.You shouldn't be surprised to find out that the 2018 Cayenne will be both sportier and cozier than the car it replaces.On the go-fast side, it's enough to mention the new Turbo S E-Hybrid flagship, with the German automaker having already confirmed that thewill borrow the 680 hp gas-electric powertrain of the Panamera range-topper.As for the comfort, the mid-cycle revamp for the outgoing Cayenne saw Porsche introducing features such as softer seats and the let's-spoil-the-occupants treatment will be given a significant boost for the all-new model.The new MLB platform of the VW Group provides plenty of room for adjustment (it will end up serving models ranging from the VW Touareg to the Lamborghini Urus , remember?) and we can't wait to see how Porsche tweaks the architecture for its high-riding model.The 2018 Porsche Cayenne is expected to land in September, at the Frankfurt Motor Show and we'll certainly get deeper under its skin by then.
We decided to start by using the perspective of the guy behind the wheel of the 1989 Carrera you see in the piece of Ring footage below, simply because the way things look from the other side of the accident has "embarrassing" written all over it.To be more precise, the driver of the Honda Civic went through a terminal understeer episode. And we won't start a rear-wheel-drive vs. front-wheel-drive discussion. Instead, we'll mention that this Kallenhard episode was all a matter of judging one's entry speed, so the guy behind the wheel of the compact could've easily avoided the accidents.Yes, we said "accidents", since the Honda also got to meet the protection element on the other side of the track. You see, after the said 911 ka-bang, the drivers got out of their cars to discuss the matter. And while the video doesn't show how the Civic started rolling to the other side the track, we can assume that the combination of the camber of the bend and the owner failing to secure the car did the job.As such, the two drivers ended up jogging across the track, in pursuit of the runaway Honda, with a rolling helmet coming as an irony bonus.Wasn't this dangerous for the men? Of course it was - as other Kallenhard accidents have shown , it doesn't take all that much for a spinning car to reach the part of the track where the two were standing at the end of the incident. Fortunately, though, three impacts were enough.
The House and Senate versions of the FAA reauthorization bill, while they famously differ on whether to privatize the national airspace system, agree that the FAA should study its current prohibition on supersonic flight in U.S. civil airspace. Supersonic flight by civil aircraft is only permitted in the United States either over water or in military operations areas (MOAs)and in MOAs only with the permission of the controlling military authority. Although the bills differ, both will require reports to Congress on the feasibility of liberalizing supersonic flight.

These congressional requests from the FAA are likely spurred by those who believe the U.S. is on the cusp of a renaissance for civil supersonic flight. Boom and Aerion are both developing supersonic civil aircraft they expect to bring to market in the next decade. Both companies are promising radically lower noise signatures than that produced by the Concorde, which proved to be much too loud for operation over populated areas. NASA, together with contractor Lockheed Martin, is also making headway with a low-boom supersonic demonstration project.
Malcolm Gladwell ("The Tipping Point") to NBC's Willie Geist on tomorrow's "Sunday Today," on change in America:

"We take one step forward and then we take two steps back. That doesn't happen in the same way in [Gladwell's native] Canada or in other parts where I'm most familiar with. It's a very American kind of thing. And I wonder whether we aren't at the beginning of an extended period of backlash in this country, which is a very typical American period ...

"[I]n the face of overwhelming amounts of change in a very small time, what people basically do is they say, 'Stop. Enough. Let's process through this.' So there's this angry, vicious backlash. But when change happens in a hurry, ... people ... have to find some way to make sense of it. ... I feel like maybe we are on the cusp of something similar." See the video.
President Trump attacked the U.S. mainstream media ("fake news" as he called it) during his Thursday press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda. He even asked President Duda during the presser whether he deals with "fake news" too. After the G20 Summit ended today, Trump tweeted a pledge to Duda that they will fight fake news together:
President Trump has tried using economic leverage over China as a way to coerce them into helping the U.S. with North Korea. It hasn't worked well so far, but Trump's optimism on securing China's help seemed to come back today when he tweeted about his "excellent meeting on trade & North Korea" with China's President Xi Jinping.

But Trump's tone on China changes month to month, and there's been a clear difference in his views on Twitter compared to what he says to President Xi in person.

Why it matters: Axios' Jonathan Swan points out Trump tried his charm on Xi  lavishing him in hospitality at Mar-a-Lago  but has already discovered that Xi cannot, or is unwilling to, do what's required to stop North Korea's rush to develop nukes  so now he's getting tough on trade with Xi. But his ever-changing tone could discourage Xi from cooperating.

Today during their meeting at the G20 Summit, Trump told President Xi:

"We are developing, and have developed, a wonderful relationship. I appreciate the things that you have done relevant to the very substantial problem that we all face in North Korea  a problem that something has to be done about. And I'm sure whether it's on trade or whether it's on North Korea ... we will come to a successful conclusion. ... And I know that China in particular, which is a very great trading partner, we will be able to do something that is equitable and reciprocal."

Just this week he tweet-shamed China about their trade with North Korea: "Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!"

In June, Trump's view on China wasn't great: "While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!"

In April, Trump said things were "tremendous": "It was a great honor to have President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan of China as our guests in the United States. Tremendous..."

But later that same month, he changed his tone, a few times: "North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A."

"Had a very good call last night with the President of China concerning the menace of North Korea."

"Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem? We will see what happens!"

"I have great confidence that China will properly deal with North Korea. If they are unable to do so, the U.S., with its allies, will! U.S.A."

And he used economic leverage against them: "I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!"

In March, Trump insisted China wasn't doing enough:

"North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been "playing" the United States for years. China has done little to help!"

In January, Trump tweeted: "China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice!"

Programming note: In the official White House readout of their meeting, it referred to Xi as the leader of the "Republic of China," which is actually Taiwan. Xi is the leader of the People's Republic of China.
Two U.S. bombers flew over the South China Sea on Thursday, challenging China's claims to the waterway and "asserting the right to treat the region as international territory," Per Reuters.

The context: China has three military bases in the South China Sea that the U.S. says are intended to "extend its strategic reach." President Trump has had an up-and-down relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping so far, and this reflects his new, more aggressive approach.

Geng Shuang, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said there was "no problem" with overflight, but that "China resolutely opposes individual countries using the banner of freedom of navigation and overflight to flaunt military force and harm China's sovereignty and security."
8 July 2017 10:32 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Azerbaijan may open trading houses in Europe and Asia in the future, Azerbaijani Deputy Economy Minister Sahil Babayev told reporters in Baku July 7.

Negotiations are currently underway regarding the opening of Azerbaijans trading houses in Russia and Ukraine, the deputy minister said. We receive a great number of requests from European and Asian countries. We evaluate these proposals, and we may gradually expand our network of trading houses and promotion of the Azerbaijani products.

Babayev added that new trade representatives of Azerbaijan will be appointed after analyzing the results of the activity of the first three trade representatives of Azerbaijan in Russia, the UAE and China [appointed in 2017].

First of all, it was planned to appoint trade representatives to three countries, and we did this, Babayev said. We will analyze the results of their activity, and if the effectiveness of this mechanism is proved, the number of trade representatives will be increased in the future if needed.

---

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8 July 2017 10:46 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Financial Monitoring Service of Azerbaijans Financial Market Supervisory Authority has removed three Algerian citizens (Ahmad Zerfaoui, Dhou El-Aich and Hacene Allane) due to their death from the list of persons subject to international sanctions for their support of terrorism, said a report of the service posted on its website.

They were wanted for their support of the Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) terrorist group, according to the report.

This is the 16th change made to the list in 2017. The list is updated in accordance with the UN Security Councils decisions and the information received from regional organizations.

According to an order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan, the international list is approved and updated by the Financial Monitoring Service based on the information received from the countrys Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Financial Monitoring Service of Azerbaijan was established Feb. 23, 2009.

---

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8 July 2017 12:50 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The Azerbaijani business sector has been already using BotBox Artificial Intelligence, head of the BotBox project Elmir Aliyev told Trend.

Aliyev added that currently, customers are already testing the system, which will be officially presented to the public in the coming week.

"At present, we are focused on the orders, he said. We are working with two companies, which are already testing BotBox, namely an insurance company and a catering company."

BotBox can be used by banks, financial organizations, small and medium-sized businesses.

Earlier, Aliyev said that business activity is built on automation of interaction with the end user. If the user is interested in receiving information about the products offered by the company, the user can do it through BotBox artificial intelligence.

For example, the user will be able to enter the Facebook page of the bank and order a credit card through messenger. In the future, it is also possible to pay for an order through a messenger.

This innovative technology will save time for business and improve the quality of services rendered to the users.

---

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8 July 2017 10:05 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The death of Azerbaijani civilians this week as a result of shelling of Armenian armed forces once again proves that the peace talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict need to advance, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta told reporters in Baku July 7.

He said that the US Department of State and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs have repeatedly stated this, and the US remains committed to these statements.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has no military solution, he added.

Cekuta noted that the US is ready to help the parties of the conflict to find a peaceful solution.

"I think you have seen that you have seen the statements that we have made, the state department made, the co-chairs have made, other governments have made in terms of the situation in Nagorno Karabakh. And I would like to stress the importance of moving towards the negotiated settlement" he said.

He noted that this is something the US is committed to both bilaterally and as a co-chair of the Minsk Group and I think the terrific events that happened over the last couple of days again underline the importance of moving towards the negotiated settlement.

"One thing that we have to remember here there is no military solution to this problem. The solution has to be found in terms of parties coming together to negotiation and working to achieve a negotiated settlement" Cekuta added.

"So the Minsk group has been trying to help the parties to find their way forward. The solution is something that has to be found by the parties themselves. We are determined to assist, we are trying to assist, but that the solution has to be found by the parties themselves coming together to achieve peaceful settlement", he said.

Robert Cekuta noted that the two countries have had 25 years of diplomatic relations. What is important for the US and I think for Azerbaijan - we are looking for the same thing - Azerbaijan as a strong, stable, prosperous, democratic and independent.

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8 July 2017 10:20 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Despite objections of the Armenian delegation, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has adopted another important proposal of the assemblys Vice President Azay Guliyev.

A draft resolution on enhancing mutual trust and cooperation for peace and prosperity in the OSCE region was discussed at a meeting of the OSCE PA General Committee on Political Affairs and Security held July 7 in Minsk.

According to the amendment introduced to paragraph 24 of the resolution at the suggestion of Azay Guliyev, the OSCE PA, speaking with deep regret at the lack of progress in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, urges the parties to immediately start substantive negotiations on finding a lasting solution to the conflict as soon as possible, and calls on the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to double efforts to this end.

In his speech, Guliyev noted that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the OSCE Minsk Group, but it is regrettable that this institution has not yet achieved any results.

OSCE PA Annual Session will continue its work until July 9.

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.

---

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8 July 2017 10:54 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The killing of the Azerbaijani civilians by the Armenian armed forces on July 4 proves once again the terrorist nature of the state of Armenia, Nurit Greenger, an Israeli reporter, wrote in an article published by the NewsBlaze newspaper.

The conflict between Armenia  a war seeker  and Azerbaijan  a peace seeker  has a long and ugly history, according to the article.

Armenia has been systematically and deliberately targeting Azerbaijani civilian population, residing in the densely populated areas adjacent to the frontline between the two countries, the author wrote.

Armenias resorting to nefarious provocations aimed at killing civilians, including children, is a war crime, the article said.

These ongoing deliberate attacks against the Azerbaijani civilian population and civilian property constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, the author wrote. To no avail, Azerbaijan has repeatedly brought the facts of this conflict to the attention of the international community. The unlawful presence of Armenian armed forces in Armenia occupied territories of Azerbaijan is the primary reason for the tension and warfare incidents on the frontline of these two countries.

The documents adopted by international organizations regarding this Nagorno-Karabakh region occupation have not been implemented, the article said.

Inspired by the absence of any difference between occupant and the occupied side and the fact that no sanctions are imposed on it for its occupation policy, Armenia continues to commit bloody crimes against ethnic Azerbaijanis, the author wrote. In this case, the international organizations act as defenders of the aggressor, Armenia, and provide de-facto support it.

The killing of 18-month-old baby, Zahra, is one shameful case Armenia and its international community supporters need to stand trial for, said the article. Decent nations, members of the international community, should stop being indifferent to Armenias plight. They should take real measures to stop the Armenian occupation and bring peace to the region.

Endless innocent blood spilling conflicts have no place in a civilized world, the author wrote.

On July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled the Alkhanly village of Azerbaijans Fuzuli district.

As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sahiba Allahverdiyeva, 50, and Zahra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Salminaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on.

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.

---

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8 July 2017 18:03 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Spanish newspaper La Razon published an article about the Armenian provocation, as a result of which civilians were killed in the Alkhanli village of Azerbaijans Fuzuli district.

The article states that the Armenian armed forces shelled the Alkhanli village, killing civilians Sahiba Allahverdiyeva and her two-year-old granddaughter Zahra Guliyeva.

Citing a statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys press service, the article authors noted that this provocation of Armenia is an act of vandalism and it once again shows the terrorist nature of the Armenian state.

The article states that the Armenian armed forces deliberate attacks on the civilian Azerbaijani population, living along the line of contact, are systematic and they grossly violate international humanitarian law and human rights.

While after visiting the region, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and international organizations called for changing the status quo via substantive and serious negotiations, the Armenian side resorted to a vile provocation, aimed at killing Azerbaijani civilians, including children, said the article.

It should be noted that on July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces again violated ceasefire and, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled Azerbaijani positions and territories where the civilian population lives, namely the Alkhanli village of the countrys Fuzuli district. As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sahiba Allahverdiyeva, 50, and Zahra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Salminaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on.

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.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
8 July 2017 11:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The US has been supporting the development of democracy in Azerbaijan for already 25 years, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta told reporters in Baku July 7 at the celebration of the US Independence Day.

It should be noted that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and the US.

Cekuta said that on the Independence Day, the people of the US celebrate the triumph of democracy. However, the diplomat noted that democracy is not a complete process, it is constantly evolving, and this happens in every society.

Democracy is necessary for stability, prosperity and success, the ambassador said.

"The two countries have had 25 years of diplomatic relations. What is important for the US and I think for Azerbaijan -we are looking for the same thing - Azerbaijan as a strong, stable, prosperous, democratic and independent" - he said..

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8 July 2017 11:04 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The methanol plant acquired by Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR cost 810 million manat, according to a consolidated financial statement for 2016 posted on SOCAR's website.

The consolidated financial statement was audited by Ernst & Young LLP.

According to the report, SOCAR signed an agreement on the acquisition of assets for the production of the methanol plant in the amount of 810 million manat.

According to the agreement, SOCAR made an advance payment in the amount of 394 million manat.

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).

The annual capacity of the methanol plant, earlier owned by AzMeCo, is 720,000 tons.

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8 July 2017 11:11 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Oil prices fell more than 3 percent on Friday after data showed U.S. production rose last week just as OPEC exports hit a 2017 high, casting doubt over efforts by producers to curb global oversupply, Reuters reported.

Benchmark Brent futures LCOc1 were down $1.55, or 3.2 percent, at $46.56 a barrel at 11:50 a.m. EDT (1550 GMT), after falling to $46.28, the cheapest in more than a week.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 traded at $44.05 a barrel, down $1.47 or 3.2 percent, also the lowest in over a week.

Both benchmarks were set for weekly drops of more than 2 percent.

"The stream of relentless supply continues," said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at Clipperdata.

He noted OPEC exports were 2 million barrels a day higher in June than in 2016, despite a May extension of a 1.8 million barrel production cut led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

"Weve seen exports last month from OPEC much stronger than they were in April and May, seemingly indifferent to the OPEC production cut deal," Smith said.

Reuters oil data showed OPEC production is now at the highest level this year.

Russia, which is cooperating with OPEC in a deal to stem production, said on Friday it was ready to consider revising the parameters of the deal if need be.

A group of oil producing countries monitoring the output deal will meet on July 24 in Russia, when they could recommend adjusting the pact.

OPEC sources welcomed Russia's comments on Friday, saying they provided a good basis for discussions on deepening production cuts.

Weekly U.S. government data showed on Thursday that U.S. oil production C-OUT-T-EIA rose 1 percent to 9.34 million barrels per day (bpd), correcting a drop in the previous week that was due to one-off maintenance work and hurricane shutdowns.

"U.S. producers continue to find economic and cost-efficient ways to put oil on the market," said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

At 1 p.m. EDT energy services company Baker Hughes will release rig count data from U.S. drillers.

The market largely ignored news from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) that U.S. crude inventories USOILC=ECI fell by 6.3 million barrels in the week to June 30 to 502.9 million barrels, the lowest since January.

Morgan Stanley said WTI prices need to be "in the low $40s" for U.S. output to fall significantly.

The U.S. bank said it expected WTI to remain below $50 until mid-2018.

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8 July 2017 12:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump had a brief chat Friday at the G20 summit, Anadolu reported.

Erdogan and Trump were seen chatting at the beginning of a working session on global trade and development as reporters were allowed in briefly for the start of the meeting.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu joined the discussion between the two leaders.

British Prime Minister Theresa May, who was sitting beside Erdogan, was later also seen in a brief chat with the Turkish president.

Their words were not audible to reporters and officials did not comment on the content of their discussion.

Erdogan is expected to hold a bilateral meeting Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The leaders of worlds 20 major economies are holding the two-day summit in Hamburg where they will discuss the global economy, climate change, the fight against terrorism and other international issues.

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Christian Aid slams Theresa May's Africa aid package, says it 'ignores real needs'

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May announced a major aid package for African countries yesterday aimed at helping them insure against the costs of natural disasters such as drought  but charities accused her of ignoring the real needs of the world's poorest people.

Britain will spend around 30 million over four years buying premiums with British insurance companies. The aim is to shift the financial burden of responding to humanitarian need on to insurance companies rather than using Britain's aid budget.

The companies would be able to continue working directly with African countries after the end of the scheme, enabling them to make a profit.

The scheme was laid out at the G20 summit in Hamburg yesterday. 'We must not forget that progress in Africa benefits the UK at home,' Mrs May said. 'Our international aid work is helping to build Britain's trading partners of the future, creating real alternatives to mass migration, and enhancing our security.'

However, charities criticised the move for focusing on the economy rather than on people's material needs.

Max Lawson of Oxfam told The Guardian stimulating growth could help the fight against poverty. 'But it is important to recognise that growing economies will not automatically provide people with enough food to eat or life-saving medicines  especially as Africa is home to some of the most unequal countries on Earth,' he said. 'We urge the government to set out in practical terms how it will ensure those who most need our help will reap the benefits of this initiative.'

Christian Aid said the announcement 'ignores the real demands of Africans' and accused May of 'pandering' to the US on climate change.

Spokesman Mohamed Adow said: 'Theresa May's announcement of major funds for industrialising Africa is badly flawed because it makes no mention of climate change.

'When G20 leaders were focused on showing a united front on climate change against Donald Trump, Theresa May has let the side down. The UK seems to be deliberately editing climate change out of her statements for fear of losing Trump's approval. This kind of pandering to the USA does nothing for Britain's standing in the world.'

He continued: 'Today's announcement from the UK may look like a generous offer, but unless it helps develop clean jobs that the poorest can access, it will not truly help Africa. All future jobs and infrastructure need to be adapted to climate change  this should have been at the heart of the UK's announcement.'
Four more Christians sentenced by Iran for 'missionary activities'

Iran has sentenced four more Christians to jail for 'missionary activities', according to World Watch Monitor.

The sentence is the second to target Christians after three men were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment earlier this week.

One Iranian and three Azerbaijanis have been found guilty of 'missionary activities' and 'actions against national security'. The Azerbaijanis  Eldar Gurbanov, Yusif Farhadov and Bahram Nasibov  left Iran in November last year and will not be forced to return to serve their sentences.

However, the Iranian  Naser Navard Gol-Tapeh, a convert from a Muslim background  remains in Iran and will have to serve his sentence unless successful with his appeal, World Watch Monitor says.

The four men were arrested in June last year after security agents raided a wedding party in Tehran. They spent four months in prison, but were released on bail in October.

They were sentenced in May, but were only told of the verdict in mid-June.

Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said: 'We are deeply concerned for Mr Gol-Tapeh in particular, who [being in Iran] is likely to bear the brunt of a sentence that was clearly issued on a punitive rather than on a legal basis.'

After the men's release on bail their families released a statement saying they hoped the Iranian regime would 'treat all prisoners with dignity and justice; that people will no longer be penalised on account of their faith or religious activities'.
Trump accused of dismissing Russian election interference after 'positive chemistry' with Putin

In a meeting that ran longer than either side had planned, US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin discussed alleged Russian meddling in the US election on Friday but agreed to focus on better ties rather than litigating the past.

Trump, who called it an 'honour' to meet with the Russian president, drew swift criticism from Democrats at home, who accused him of dismissing US intelligence and giving Putin's denial, reiterated on Friday, of Russian interference too much weight.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters at a summit of leaders of the Group of 20 major economies in Hamburg that Trump had 'positive chemistry' with Putin during the meeting, which lasted some two hours and 15 minutes.

He opened their discussion by pressing Putin about 'the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election' and had a robust exchange, Tillerson said.

The Russian president has denied any meddling in the US democratic process last year and Moscow has asked for proof that it took place. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Trump accepted Putin's assertions that the allegations, backed by US intelligence agencies, were false.

Tillerson said they both sought to move on.

'The presidents rightly focused on how do we move forward from what may be simply an intractable disagreement at this point,' Tillerson said.

That explanation did not sit well with Democrats.

'Working to compromise the integrity of our election process cannot and should not be an area where 'agree to disagree' is an acceptable conclusion,' said US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer in a statement.

On Thursday in Poland Trump gave lukewarm support to the view that Moscow interfered in the 2016 US political process.

Trump promised a rapprochement with Moscow during his campaign but has been unable to deliver because his administration has been dogged by investigations into the allegations of Russian interference in the election and ties with his campaign.

Trump says his team did not collude with Russia.

Tillerson said they agreed to work on commitments of 'non-interference in the affairs of the United States and our democratic process as well as those in other countries'.

Andrew Weiss, a former National Security Council official responsible for Russia, said Trump had sent the wrong signal with upbeat body language and by not pushing Putin harder on alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election.

'The atmospherics were chummy,' said Weiss, who is now at Washington's Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank in Washington. 'The clear push from Trump to normalise US-Russian relations was on display in the meeting.'

'Going very well'

The two leaders spent a lot of time discussing Syria, and after their meeting an agreement between the United States, Russia and Jordan on a ceasefire in southwestern Syria was announced.

The face-to-face encounter was one of the most eagerly anticipated meetings between two leaders in years.

Trump and Putin spoke through translators with their respective foreign ministers present for six minutes before reporters were allowed into the room for their statements. Afterwards the reporters were ushered out and the meeting continued.

'President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it's going very well,' Trump told reporters, sitting alongside the Russian leader.

'We've had some very, very good talks. ...We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, for the United States and for everybody concerned. And it's an honour to be with you.'

Putin, through a translator, said: 'We spoke over the phone with you several times,' adding: 'A phone conversation is never enough.'

'I am delighted to be able to meet you personally, Mr President,' he said, noting that he hoped the meeting would yield results.

Both men sat with legs splayed. Trump listened intently as Putin spoke.

The encounter went longer than expected, and first lady Melania Trump came in at one point to urge them to conclude, Tillerson said. The two men later joined other G20 leaders at a concert. Mrs. Trump sat next to Putin at dinner.

Before the get-together, some feared the US president, a political novice whose team is still developing its Russia policy, would be less prepared for the talks than Putin, a former KGB agent who has dealt with previous US presidents and scores of other world leaders.

Amid criticism of Russia's actions in Ukraine and Syria and the investigations into its role in the US campaign, Trump has come under growing pressure to take a hard line against the Kremlin.

On Thursday, Trump delivered some of his sharpest remarks about Moscow since becoming president, urging Russia to stop its 'destabilising activities' and end its support for Syria and Iran.

But Trump stopped short on Thursday of any personal criticism of Putin and declined to say definitively whether he believed US intelligence officials' assertion that Russia had interfered in the 2016 US election.

'I think it was Russia but I think it was probably other people and/or countries, and I see nothing wrong with that statement. Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure,' Trump said on a visit to Poland.
The Allstate Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty, and other insurance products in the United States and Canada. The company operates through Allstate Protection; Protection Services; Allstate Health and Benefits; and Run-off Property-Liability segments. The Allstate Protection segment offers private passenger auto and homeowners insurance; specialty auto products, including motorcycle, trailer, motor home, and off-road vehicle insurance; other personal lines products, such as renter, condominium, landlord, boat, umbrella, and manufactured home and stand-alone scheduled personal property; and commercial lines products under the Allstate and Encompass brand names. The Protection Services segment provides consumer product protection plans and related technical support for mobile phones, consumer electronics, furniture, and appliances; finance and insurance products, including vehicle service contracts, guaranteed asset protection waivers, road hazard tire and wheel, and paint and fabric protection; roadside assistance; device and mobile data collection services; data and analytic solutions using automotive telematics information; and identity protection services. This segment offers its products under various brands including Allstate Protection Plans, Allstate Dealer Services, Allstate Roadside Services, Arity, and Allstate Identity Protection. The Allstate Health and Benefits provides life, accident, critical illness, short-term disability, and other health insurance products. The Run-off Property-Liability offers property and casualty insurance. It sells its products through call centers, agencies, financial specialists, independent agents, brokers, wholesale partners, and affinity groups, as well as through online and mobile applications. The Allstate Corporation was founded in 1931 and is based in Northbrook, Illinois.
Fidessa group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides trading, investment, and information solutions to the financial community worldwide. The company offers access to the trading community of buy-side and sell-side professionals ranging from institutions and investment banks to boutique brokers, and niche hedge funds. It operates in two business units, Sell-side and Buy-side. The Buy-side business unit offers systems to cover stages of the investment process for various asset classes. The Sell-side business unit provides solutions and tools to support the trading of cash equities and derivatives. The company also provides connectivity network and management services that connect counterparties across financial markets; and market data services tuned for trading and powering the buy-side and sell-side throughout the trading life cycle. In addition, it offers post-trade services; and open and bespoke training courses covering various aspects of product sets for the buy-side and sell-side. The company was formerly known as Royalblue group plc and changed its name to Fidessa group plc in May 2007. Fidessa group plc was founded in 1981 and is based in Woking, the United Kingdom.
Core Laboratories N.V. provides reservoir description and production enhancement services and products to the oil and gas industry in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through Reservoir Description and Production Enhancement segments. The Reservoir Description segment includes the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock, reservoir fluid, and gas samples to enhance production and improve recovery of oil and gas from its clients' reservoirs. It offers laboratory-based analytical and field services to characterize properties of crude oil and oil delivered products; and proprietary and joint industry studies. The Production Enhancement segment provides services and products relating to reservoir well completions, perforations, stimulations, and production. It offers integrated diagnostic services to evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of well completions and to develop solutions to improve the effectiveness of enhanced oil recovery projects. In addition, the company markets and sells its products through a combination of sales representatives, technical seminars, trade shows, and print advertising, as well as through distributors. It operates approximately in 50 countries. The company was founded in 1936 and is based in Amstelveen, the Netherlands.
M/I Homes, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a builder of single-family homes in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The company operates through Northern Homebuilding, Southern Homebuilding, and Financial Services segments. It designs, constructs, markets, and sells single-family homes and attached townhomes to first-time, millennial, move-up, empty-nester, and luxury buyers under the M/I Homes brand name. The company also purchases undeveloped land to develop into developed lots for the construction of single-family homes, as well as for sale to others. In addition, it originates and sells mortgages; and serves as a title insurance agent by providing title insurance policies, examination, and closing services to purchasers of its homes. The company was formerly known as M/I Schottenstein Homes, Inc. and changed its name to M/I Homes, Inc. in January 2004. M/I Homes, Inc. was founded in 1976 and is based in Columbus, Ohio.
Rockwell Automation, Inc. provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments, Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. Its solutions include hardware and software products, and services. The Intelligent Devices segment offers drives, motion, safety, sensing, industrial components, and configured-to-order products. The Software & Control segment provides control and visualization software and hardware, information software, digital twin and simulation software, and network and security infrastructure solutions. The Lifecycle Services segment provides consulting, professional services and solutions, and connected and maintenance services. The company sells its solutions primarily through independent distributors in relation with its direct sales force. It serves discrete end markets, including automotive, semiconductor, warehousing and logistics, and other discrete markets, as well as general industries comprising printing and publishing, marine, glass, fiber and textiles, airports, and aerospace; hybrid end markets, such as food and beverage, life sciences, household and personal care, and tire, as well as eco industrial, including water/wastewater, waste management, mass transit, and renewable energy; and process end markets comprising oil and gas, mining, metals, chemicals, pulp and paper, and others. Rockwell Automation, Inc. was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
At the conclusion of this years contentious G-20 summit, the countries released a communique on climate that placed Donald Trump starkly at odds with every other nation present. The communique noted that every country aside from the U.S. recognizes that the Paris agreement is irreversible, reaffirmed their strong commitment and will move swiftly towards its full implementation in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.

Trade was another major point of contention as the countries tussled over conflicting visions for the future of trade policy. The resulting communique on trade did not mention the need to change trade policies to align with climate objectives. Instead, Trump announced plans for a very big trade deal with the United Kingdom to be done very, very quickly.

The 19 nationsArgentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the European Unionrepresent the majority of the worlds economic output and population. The G-20 was Trumps first major international summit since announcing that he would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement.

Donald Trump is learning the hard way that he cannot thwart the entire world on climate change and expect to continue with business as usual. Trumps historically irresponsible decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement has left the U.S. isolated on the world stage.

The other 19 leaders of the worlds largest economies stood shoulder to shoulder in unified support for the Paris agreement. Given the choice between following Trump or standing strong for climate action, not a single world leader decided to back him. Thats unprecedented, and it shows how deeply unpopular and misguided Trumps attack on the Paris agreement has been, and how much damage it has done to U.S. credibility and standing in the world.

While trade was another major sticking point in the summit, one question was notably absent from the debate: How can we move from trade rules written by and for corporate polluters to ones that support climate action? We need trade deals that enforce rather than undermine the Paris climate agreement. To achieve this, the worldonce againcannot afford to wait for Trump. Instead of a trade rethink, Trump announced plans for a trade deal with the United Kingdom to be done very, very quickly. We cannot afford to expand the old, polluter-friendly trade model with more backdoor deals that lock out public input and lock in fossil fuel dependency.
Friday, July 7, 2017

Interest in green burial keeps growing, and funeral homes are starting to take notice.

This is How I Want to Be Dead, an opinion column by Richard Conniff in the New York Times, is generating hundreds of comments about green burial and other alternatives to the traditional funeral. Among the topics he covers: alkaline hydrolysis, cremation, conventional cemeteries and conservation burial grounds. From his column:

It might be tempting to mock all this as one last baby boomer fantasy, carrying the boutique lifestyle to the grave, or maybe, recalling their better, younger selves, staging a sort of perpetual environmental lie-in protest to protect the land from development. Its also easy to disparage the one-with-the-earth sentimentality in which the natural burial ground movement tends to cloak itself: Our bodies do not belong to us, they belong to nature, one such cemetery admonishes. We believe they should be gifted back to the earth to further the cycles of life.

As with almost everything in the death care trade, skepticism makes sense. The Green Burial Council advises that a natural burial ground should have both an endowment and legal restrictions to prevent it from ever being turned into a conventional cemetery.

Read the entire column here.

Going Green: The Rise of the New Funeral

The same day this opinion piece appeared, I received an email from Frazer Consultants, a technology company that helps funeral professionals reimagine the funeral experience for their families.

They offered a free ebook titled Going Green: The Rise of the New Funeral. Its designed to help funeral directors better understand the reasons behind the trend, alternative options, and how to become the go-to funeral home in their market.

It also provides interesting information that can help the general public better understand green trends as well. Visit this webpage to get the ebook.

The Natural Burial Cemetery Guide

Speaking of ebooks, check out The Natural Burial Cemetery Guide by Ann Hoffner. The guide covers all the current natural burial grounds in the United States, divided by regions. Green burial grounds are classified in this book as hybrid, natural or conservation, which offer different shades of greenness.

The guide provides helpful details for each burial ground, including: address, phone, website, ownership, type of burial, natural setting, plot purchase, interment cost, burial containers, markers, care and maintenance, decoration and memorialization, grave digging, and the story behind the cemetery. Beautiful color photos throughout the book help illustrate.

Check out the book at www.GreenBurialNaturally.org.

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The UK is being urged to stay in the single market and customs union until a final Brexit deal has been settled, according to the CBI business group.

Head of the CBI Carolyn Fairbairn said it was "impossible to imagine" all the details of a new trade deal with the EU to be settled by March 2019.

In a lecture at the London School of Economics (LSE), she commented that uncertainty is crippling the UK's economy.

A government conference on Friday (7 July) saw a meeting with business figures from sectors across the UK.

The event, hosted at Chevening House in Kent, is part of government plans to work more closely with industries over Brexit.

'Razor-sharp'

For the agricultural industry, it has urged Brexit trade negotiators to consult with them before any negotiations are finalised to ensure agriculture is in the limelight.

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) released its report demanding 'razor-sharp political focus' at home and abroad.

The report, 'A New Outlook on International Trade', outlines the UK's 13.8bn worth of food and drink exports and how it must be protected.

The report highlights the risks and opportunities for agriculture in trade deals fundamental to the industrys future.

'Core principles'

It lists three 'core principles' for trade.

Maintaining continued access to the EU single market with minimal tariffs and non-tariff barriers.

Basing negotiations on detailed economic assessments and consulting with the industry before offers are exchanged.

Lastly, the NFU says ensuring UK farmers are not put at a competitive disadvantage to overseas producers subject to different standards is a must.

The Scottish National Party has been one of the main political powers pledging to 'protect' the agri-food industry by fighting to stay as a member of the single market.

Knock in confidence

The NFU's core principles comes as news of survey results showing that farmers confidence for the next three years has taken a significant knock.

The survey shows an 18-point drop in mid-term confidence in the last two years. It says the political environment since the UK voted to leave the EU is a key driver for this fall.

To add salt to the injury, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has previously warned of 'catastrophe' for the rural economy unless government negotiators secure the right Brexit deal.

But the CBI head Carolyn Fairbairn said negotiators on both sides of the UK-EU talks should aim to agree transitional arrangements as soon as possible to minimise this uncertainty.

She argued that staying inside the Single Market and Customs Union until a deal is in place is the simplest route and a common-sense solution, giving both negotiating teams time to iron out details and instil confidence in companies across Europe.
What happened

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG 2.41%) were unraveling last month after the burrito roller issued a warning on its second-quarter performance. According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the stock lost 13% last month.

As you can see from the chart below, the bulk of that decline came on June 20 when that warning came out.

So what

The burrito chain said in an 8-K filing that it was meeting with a group of investors and reaffirming guidance for the quarter and the year. It said food costs for the current quarter were expected to be 34.2%, and that marketing costs were expected to be 20-30 basis points higher than in the first quarter, or the equivalent of 3.6-3.7% of sales. As a result, management said that operating costs as a percentage of revenue could be slightly higher than in the first quarter.

The company also said it continued to project high-single-digit comparable sales growth for the year and 195-210 restaurant openings.

Those weren't bad numbers, but the market was clearly disappointed as shares fell 7% that day. Investors seemed to interpret the update as confirmation that Chipotle's turnaround was going more slowly than expected and that increased marketing costs and higher prices in some markets were not leading to an improvement in same-store sales.

Now what

Chipotle has put the challenges of the E. coli crisis behind it, but the burrito chain is still not back at full strength. Customers aren't visiting as frequently, CEO Steve Ells said operations in many stores were unsatisfactory, and the company experienced a credit card security breach earlier this spring.

We'll learn more when Chipotle reports earnings at the end of the month, but the window for a strong turnaround is closing with each passing month.
Ford Motor Company (F 2.26%) said this week that its sales in China rose 15% in June from a year ago, giving the Blue Oval its best-ever June sales result in the country.

That's good news, but here's the context: Last month's gain followed several months of declines -- and a strong hint that Ford would adjust its pricing in China in an attempt to recover its sales momentum.

Year to date, Ford's sales in China are still down 7%.

Why Ford has had a tough year in China

Ford's sales in China have suffered recently for a couple of reasons. First, the locals have upped their game: New models from domestic Chinese automakers, particularly in the smaller-SUV segments, have proven surprisingly competitive with those from the global brands -- and the Chinese automakers have a cost advantage.

That pressure has forced Ford, Volkswagen, General Motors (GM 3.47%), and the other global automakers into a tough choice: Cut prices (and profit margins) to compete more effectively, or lose sales.

Ford, unlike rival GM, has a second challenge: Its key models are showing their age. Small vehicles are the big sellers in China, and Ford's Focus, EcoSport, and Kuga (the Chinese version of the Escape) are getting long in the tooth by Chinese standards. Consumers who want the latest and greatest are shopping elsewhere right now.

Ford has new models in development that will address the second problem in time. But it can take action on pricing right now -- and it did.

How Ford adjusted to find sales growth in June

Early in June, Ford's Asia Pacific marketing and sales chief, Peter Fleet, said that Ford would offer "new and exciting promotions" on Ford-brand vehicles in China, a clear signal that the Blue Oval would cut prices on some models.

A glance at Ford's June sales numbers shows that the price cuts worked better for some models than others. Car models, including Ford's current China best-seller, posted gains:

Sales of the Ford Escort rose 30% last month to almost 26,000 vehicles sold. (Escort is a familiar name to Ford fans, but the current Escort is a China-only model. It's an entry-level compact sedan based on the last-generation Focus. Ford positions the current Focus as a premium model in China.)

Ford Mondeo sales rose 28% to about 8,600 sold. The Mondeo is the China-market version of the midsize Fusion sedan.

Ford Taurus sales rose 11% to about 2,100 sold. China's Taurus is a different and much newer model than the U.S. Taurus. It's mechanically related to the new Lincoln Continental. If you imagine a Fusion scaled up to Continental size, you'll have the idea.

Sales of Ford's small EcoSport SUV rose 6% to just under 3,000 sold.

But other Fords continued to lag:

Sales of the Kuga fell 5% to just under 8,000. Fleet had promised a "realigned customer offer" on the small SUV, but its sales still fell short of last year's.

Focus sales fell 4% to just over 14,000.

Sales of the Edge, a newer model that has done well in China, fell slightly (about 1%) to 8,515 sold last month.

Sales of Ford's Transit commercial van fell 24% to 3,823. The Transit had been a good story for Ford in China.

A bright light: Lincoln sales are booming

In contrast to the mixed results for Ford-brand models, Lincoln's sales have been very strong in China. Lincoln's sales in China rose 84% in June from a year ago, to 4,165 sold. Year to date, Lincoln sales in China are up 97% to 24,571.

Ford decided to roll out the Lincoln brand in China a few years ago, after research showed that Chinese consumers held Lincoln in very high regard. Chinese Lincoln dealers have put a very strong emphasis on personal service, and sales have been good.

Ford sells five Lincoln models in China, all of them imported from North America. Four posted double-digit percentage gains last month; the fifth (the Continental sedan) is new since last June.

What does this mean for Ford's profits in China?

Ford's joint ventures with Chinese automakers generated $274 million in equity income in the first quarter, down from $443 million a year ago. Ford attributed the drop in part to pricing pressure, which was obviously a factor through the second quarter as well.

That will hurt, and it's likely that Ford's China equity income in the second quarter will fall short of the $296 million it generated in the second quarter of 2016. But those pressures will be offset somewhat by the strong results for Lincoln: While Lincoln's total sales numbers are still low, those are high-profit sales.

Long story short: The June sales gain was good to see, but it's likely that Ford still has work to do in China. We'll know more when Ford reports its second-quarter earnings result on July 26.
Q: Best of luck, best of luck. Please guys, I need a handshake with you both, you [Lewis] with Sebastian. Handshake. Please my friend.

VB: I think like Sebastian said, it should be an interesting, good fight for tomorrow but theres targets, the target is not less than winning, of course for us and Im sure Lewis still has a good race ahead, a lot of time to come back and get good points for us as a team. I cant wait for tomorrow, honestly.

Q: Good luck to you. And Valtteri, please, last chat because today was amazing, Im really happy for you. Tell me, which is the aim for tomorrow: not easy to stay in front of Sebastian but here you have a good chance. But you are outside on the start, maybe it can be

LH: I have the supersofts for tomorrow. I think its generally a slower tyre than what they are on but it can go maybe longer, we will see.

Q: Maybe also the soft tyres that youre going to start on tomorrow can be the key of your race, no?

LH: I will do the best job I can, obviously. I want to get up there and try and get a one-two with Valtteri so I will do the best job I can to get further up.

Q: And Lewis, will it be the aim to catch this driver tomorrow or no? I mean the red cars, they are there

SV: We will see. Its a long race so a lot of things can happen. I think we have to look after ourselves, do our own race. It will be a tough race with Valtteri. Hes been quick all weekend, also yesterday, setting a good pace, so we will see. I think it should be a good race.

Q: Guys, sorry Lewis, come here. Seb, I would like to understand; now you have a good chance. You are on the first row, maybe Lewis is a bit behind because of the penalty. Can be good for tomorrow for you, no?

Lewis HAMILTON: Well firstly, congratulations to Valtteri. He did a fantastic job. Hes been driving well all weekend and obviously Sebastians very quick this weekend so happy to have been third. Of course I would have loved to improve my lap but yeah, just wasnt meant to be today.

Q: Lewis, look, they love you, they love you, theres no way Tell me about your last try. First corner maybe you lost the car a bit. How was the feeling on the car?

Sebastian VETTEL: Not quick enough, but I was very happy. The car was really good, last qualifying also for the last run, but then it was a bit of anti-climax with the yellow flags but yeah, very happy. Its a great track, shame its a bit short but really enjoyable with a lot of high speed corners and the cars been really phenomenal so looking forward to tomorrow. Should be a good race.

Q: Very well done. It was spectacular. First row, Sebastian, very well. Good improvement  all for you my friend. How was your lap?

Valtteri BOTTAS: Thank you. Yes, it feels good. You know I really enjoy driving here in front of you guys, so thanks for the support but I enjoyed it today. The car was getting better and better as the grip was coming up and a decent lap in the end  not quite perfect but it was good enough.

Q: What a qualifying! Valtteri Bottas on pole position, was a spectacular lap. Valtteri please, your lap was amazing. Less than one tenth in front of Sebastian. Great job my friend.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Valtteri, you looked pretty hooked up throughout that session. How good was the car, how good was that lap?

VB: Yeah, I really enjoyed it today. Always when you enjoy, normally the result is good. Definitely got the car nice and stable for the qualifying and just was able to build up the confidence and this is a track where you really need it in those high-speed corners. Yeah, found the balance, didn't really touch the car at all during the qualifying. The laps were getting better and better and that was the result. As a team again we have done a great job over the weekend to make the car better and I felt good today.

Q: Well done. Sebastian, so close between you and Valtteri in the end. Can you pinpoint where you lost out? How good was the session for you?

SV: I think it was pretty good. I think Q3 was pretty good, I was very happy with the lap. But in all fairness, what goes around, comes around. I think I have been on the lucky side a couple of times, especially against Valtteri, with tight gaps. I think the four hundredths today is tight. The story continues between us two. Well done, obviously, to him. He said that he still had a bit of margin. I was pretty happy with my lap to be honest. Maybe there was a sniff in the last corner. Its a short track, not easy to get everything right, so overall I was pretty happy. The car was good. I think we did a good step from yesterday to today, so hopefully we can carry that into the race.

Q: Lewis, it's been a difficult day for you, with problems in the final practice session and then having to run a different strategy during qualifying, just talk us through the session itself.

LH: It was a pretty straightforward session, no real issues. The car was good. Valtteri did a fantastic job today, so really happy for him. I just didnt hook it up when it got to Q3. Q1 and Q2 were good and then Q3 was just so-so.

Q: Was Q3 somehow compromised by having to run the supersoft tyre in Q2?

LH: I wouldnt say too much. Of course the tyres are a little bit different but generally Im experienced enough, shouldnt be really a big problem.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Tom Slater  Soymotor) Lewis, here in Austria in 2014 you started the race P9 and you ended P2, so do you think you will be able to do this result tomorrow and if you do will you be happy with it?

LH: Im pretty sure that back then there was a bigger difference in speed deltas between us and other cars so I think its more unlikely than it was then, but I will give it everything I can and of course I would be happy if I could get up there.

Q: (Peter Farkas  Auto Motor) Question for the Mercedes drivers. Valtteri, congratulations for the pole position, youve always been quick at this track, theres a win to take tomorrow but I dont want to suggest any gamesmanship but obviously it would be quite an easy strategy for you to go a bit slower in the front so Lewis can keep the pace and then he would be in a strategic advantage at the second part of the race. Would you be willing to do that? And Lewis, how much longer do you think you will be able to go with the supersoft than with the ultrasoft?

VB: Well, what Ive seen on the pre-race strategy notes, that kind of plan is not on those notes so, yeah, we need to focus on having a good start of the race and we need to win the race. And for sure Lewis can fight back from where hes starting. Yknow, if you start playing games like that here its quite tricky. If the car behind gets within the DRS zones and gets a good slipstream, it only needs one mistake and you can lose the win. So not planning on that at the moment.

And Lewis, your strategic options for tomorrow?

LH: It makes no sense for Valtteri to slow down. That will not be the case. It makes sense for him to push as hard as he can to win the race.

And starting on the supersoft tyre instead of the Option?

LH: I dont think its going to make a big difference if Im really honest. Its a slower tyre so, I think in the first stint, its just about length. But lots of different things could happen: safety cars, rain, who knows?

Lewis, how confident are you of winning this grand prix from P8.

LH: I couldnt say I was Valtteri has been quickest all weekend, so its not really on my mind at the moment.

Q: (Istvan Janos Simon  Automagazin) My question is mainly to Sebastian and Lewis. The weather forecast says theres a high percentage of rain for tomorrow for the race. Do you count on that? Can you calculate with that and do you think you will be able to do a strong race if it rains when weve had all the practice sessions in dry?

SV: I think its fair also to ask the question to Valtteri as well, hell be racing tomorrow as well so if it rains were all affected. But, I dont know, I think we have a different weather forecast then. I need to check with our guys  but, yeah, well see. We have the wet tyres, they are ready. Its always tricky if you havent done a single session in the wet but I think we had some experience last year so if it rains, it rains, we fit wets or inters and we try to race. Well see.

Valtteri, wet weather?

VB: Yeah, its so difficult to predict here if its going to be wet or not. A bit like Friday, we just need to wait and see what happens and react to that. But of course we all want to race if its wet  but it depends on the conditions.

LH: Not really much more to add. Could be helpful being that Im eighth or something like that. Makes it a bit more of a lottery.

Q: (Michael Schmidt  Auto Motor und Sport) Lewis, when you know already before the weekend that youre going to lose five grid positions, what is the mindset, is it still a normal race weekend or do you have different strategies during Friday and Saturday?

LH: You still approach it exactly the same. Nothing changes at all, if Im honest. Its just really trying to get yourself as high as possible and when it comes to the race its about damage-limitation. You try to minimise the damage. I found out on Tuesday, I think it was and, of course, you go in with a very positive mind about coming back and fighting and then of course something like that hits us. Its difficult for us all to swallow but we pull together as a team and we work as hard as we can. Weve still got great performance and hopefully I can do a good job for the team tomorrow and get some good points.
New Nokia feature phone spotted on TENAA News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu HMD could be planning to launch another feature phone.

The Nokia 3310 (2017) has been released in many markets across the globe since April. As the device supports only 2G connectivity, it was recently reported that HMD is in plans to come up with a 3G variant of the Nokia 3310 for the markets where 2G networks no longer exist.

Earlier this year, the company did confirm that it is all set to launch six to seven handsets by the end of the year. While there is no clarity on the number of feature phones and smartphones, it looks like HMD is in plans to launch yet another feature phone. We say this as a TENAA listing shows the pictures of an alleged feature phone in the making.

The Chinese regulatory commission shows that HMD might launch this feature phone in the following months. The listing does not reveal any information regarding the name, price or specifications of this device.

One thing that we are sure about is that this one is not the Nokia 3310's 3G variant as it does not offer support to 3G connectivity. The Nokia feature phone spotted on TENAA carries the model number TA-1017. Maybe, we can expect a variant of this handset to be launched with 3G support.

From the images, it looks like the alleged feature phone that is in the making misses out on the LED flash along with the rear camera. Also, it is likely to run the S30+ interface. For now, it remains to be known if it will be a single SIM or dual SIM device.

There is no information on when exactly HMD might unveil this feature phone under the Nokia brand name. We might have to wait for a few more weeks or months to know more.

Best Mobiles in India

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Nokia 3310 'Putin-Trump Summit' edition is priced at a whopping Rs. 1.6 lakhs News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu Would you buy this Nokia 3310 special edition model?

Undoubtedly, the Nokia 3310 (2017) is one of the popular phones that has been launched this year. Despite being a feature phone, the device has been receiving its share of luxury treatments. If you don't remember, we saw the launch of the Nokia 3310 Supremo Putin variant earlier this year.

The recent one to be added to this list is the Nokia 3310 Putin-Trump Summit edition. This is special edition variant has been launched in honor of the meeting between the US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 international forum. This Nokia 3310 Putin-Trump Summit edition has been designed by Caviar, the Russian phone customiser and spotted by Neowin. It comes with the usual features of the handset except for a luxurious leather casing with Black Velvet stripes. And, it has a gold plated circular emblem with both Trump and Putin in it.

Notably, the Nokia 3310 Putin-Trump Summit edition is made of VT-23 grade tempered titanium and there is a damask steel coating as well. Caviar notes that the emblem shows both the presidents looking in the same direction that shows the common desire for progress in the relationship between Russia and America.

With these highlights, the Nokia 3310 Putin-Trump Summit edition is priced at $2,468 (approx. Rs. 1.6 lakhs). Notably, the standard edition of this phone is priced at a meager Rs. 3,310.

Caviar also has a customized variant of the Apple flagship. The Putin-Trump edition of iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are priced starting from $3,050 (approx. Rs. 1.97 lakhs).

Best Mobiles in India

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Samsung Galaxy S8+ 128GB likely gets a price cut of Rs. 4,000 News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu Samsung Galaxy S8+ gets cheaper in India.

Samsung is likely to have slashed the price of the 128GB variant of the Galaxy S8+ in India.

Going by the tweet made by the Mumbai-based retailer and the renowned tipster @MaheshTelecom, the Galaxy S8+ 128GB variant that was launched in India at Rs. 74,900 is now available at Rs. 70,900. The tweet claims that the price cut is effective from today. However, there is no official confirmation from Samsung regarding the price cut on the Galaxy S8+. And, the Samsung online store and Flipkart are selling the device for the launch price of Rs. 74,900 only.

To refresh on the specifications of the high-end variant of the Galaxy S8+, this smartphone comes with 128GB storage capacity and 6GB RAM. The other specs are identical to the base variant of the Galaxy S8+. The device flaunts a 6.2-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2960x1440 pixels. The Infinity Display panel has an aspect ratio of 18.5:9 due to the ultra-wide screen.

Under its hood, the Galaxy S8+ makes use of the company's Exynos 8895 SoC. The camera department comprises of a 12MP Dual Pixel main snapper with f/1.7 aperture and OIS. Up front, there is an 8MP selfie camera with a similar aperture and auto focus. The 128GB of storage space can be expanded further up to 256GB in the hybrid dual SIM card slot.

The connectivity aspects of the Galaxy S8+ include 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C port and NFC. There is support for Samsung Pay as well. The smartphone has an iris scanner, facial recognition and a fingerprint scanner on board. The battery is a 3500mAh unit that supports wireless charging and fast charging. Furthermore, the device has the IP68 rating that makes it water and dust resistant.

Best Mobiles in India

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Pardee Hospital Foundation to receive $25,000 from Rug & Home

Pardee Hospital Foundation has announced that Rug & Home founder and chief executive officer Rakesh Agarwal will present the final $25,000 of a $50,000 gift to the Foundation at a ceremony on Wednesday, July 12 at Rug & Homes Asheville store, located at 799-B Brevard Road, Asheville.

Related Stories



The check will be presented by Sherry Page, Rug & Homes regional manager, to James M. Kirby II, president and chief executive officer of Pardee UNC Health Care and Kimerly Hinkelman, executive director of the Pardee Hospital Foundation. The donation is part of a $50,000 pledge the Agarwals made in support of the Pardee Hospital Cancer Center capital campaign.



"Rakesh and his wife Dolly responded to our community campaign, Right here. Right now, a $6 million capital campaign to bring advanced cancer care closer to home, with a generous donation toward the Cancer Center, Hinkelman said. Their financial support means that many people in our community will no longer have to travel to receive the care they need. They are now receiving it right here in Henderson County.



We feel fortunate enough to be in a position to support Pardee and to have a facility like the Pardee Cancer Center  to have it all under one roof is very comforting to the families undergoing cancer treatment, Agarwal said.



The Agarwals and Rug & Home recently raised nearly $28,000 for Selah Grace, the 5-year old Henderson County girl who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma cancer in early 2016. Selah and her family brought the need for the Cancer Center home for the Agarwals, and they pledged to help in any way they could.



Rug & Home has 3 locations  in Asheville and Kannapolis, North Carolina and Gaffney, South Carolina. The company has always believed in giving back to the communities they trade in. From giving the elderly a smile with their flower deliveries to local nursing homes, donating lifesaving vests to the local police departments, giving $100,000 to Flat Rock Playhouse and $100,000 to Four Seasons Hospice and Palliative care and $50,000 to Pardee, supporting local causes is very important to them.



For more information on other ways Rug & Home has become involved in the community, locally and around the world, visit www.rugandhome.com/pages/giving-back or contact Megan Flatman at (828) 667-4585.



To learn more about giving opportunities and ways you can improve health care in Henderson County, visit www.pardeehospitalfoundation.org or call 828-233-2700.
The Supreme Court has allowed parts of the Trump administration's travel ban to go into effect for foreign nationals who lack any "bona fide relationship with any person or entity in the United States." Relationships between U.S. universities and employees who have accepted jobs in the U.S. are considered formal relationships in the court's ruling. Although employees and students are allowed, the court, in an unsigned option, left the travel ban against citizens of six mostly Muslim countries on hold.

When the travel ban was announced earlier this year, it stirred emotions and created a worldwide uncertainty that was palatable. Interestingly, employee communications and engagement was the source of much of the media surrounding the topic. Taking center stage, senior executives from Ford, Google, Goldman Sachs, Salesforce, Apple, JP Morgan, Facebook, Nike, Coca-Cola, Morgan Stanley, and others have made public statements to their employees.

Political uncertainty puts employee engagement at risk  Photo by Beekeeper

Even though employees are not individually impacted by this iteration of the travel ban, many of their family members will be. Uncertainty brought into the workplace threatens to ruin the best corporate cultures and workplace diversity. Given the level of recent political and social uncertainty, we commend leaders that choose to proactively address employee concerns and reaffirm their corporate values.

Apple CEO, Tim Cook, led the charge when the travel ban was first released. The outspoken leader published a public letter to employees letting the world know that each of the potentially impacted employees would receive assistance from Apple's HR, legal, and security teams. Cook also reached out to the White House in defense of his team, but what stands out is that he also took the opportunity to reinforce his corporate culture.

Cook sent an email to all Apple employees worldwide, part of which stated: "And if there's one thing I know about the people at Apple, it's the depth of our empathy and support for one another. It's as important now as it's ever been, and it will not weaken one bit. I know I can count on all of you to make sure everyone at Apple feels welcome, respected and valued."

Cook is rightcorporate culture is more important now than ever. Gallup polls show that a mere 32% of employees are engaged within their organizations. This leaves most of the workforce uninformed and uncertain. If you haven't taken the opportunity to address your employees concerns, now is the time.

Starbucks also joined the ever-growing ranks of corporations acting to protect their workers. They launched an Immigration Advisor Program in partnership with Ernst & Young for immigration advice. Their message of leading with humanity is on point, but is it being seen by the people who matter most?

In the case of each of the mega-organizations listed above, their statements of solidarity are making headline news. Their messages were disseminated to the masses and employees with email addresses, but what about non-desk workers without corporate email addresses?

80% of the global workforce isn't sitting at a desk or given computers when they're onboarded. Hospitality, retail, manufacturing, and other industries have distributed workforces in many locations, and most employees don't have email addresses. This makes sending company-wide messages especially difficult. And unfortunately, it is this worker segment that is potentially the most impacted and needs to hear messages of solidarity from corporate leaders.

Ford has always been a leader in employee engagement. When Mark Fields took over as CEO, their internal communications team understood the importance of maintaining engagement during times of significant change and helped facilitate a seamless transition. The past few months have been no different.

Times like these are always a good reminder to address any gaps in communication your organization might have  before the next crisis or critical event hits.

At Beekeeper, we have employees from 27 different countries working within our company. We believe that we truly work better together  as a company and as a community. We are fortunate to have immediate access to information and maintain a culture of transparency and connectedness. We hope times like these serve as a reminder to all employers the importance of nurturing and defending corporate culture.

ABOUT BEEKEEPER

Beekeeper empowers frontline businesses and their workers with the digital solutions they need to do their best possible work. Founded in 2012, Beekeeper's mobile-first platform was designed and built for deskless employees who  despite representing 80% of the global workforce  have been chronically underserved when it comes to workplace technology. With Beekeeper's Frontline Success System, companies can automate paper-based processes, communicate with employees in real-time from anywhere, and improve the engagement, productivity, and safety of frontline teams.

Website: www.beekeeper.io, Blog: www.beekeeper.io/blog, LinkedIn

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We're halfway through 2017 and it's already been a jam-packed news year, so we wanted to break down the trends and statistics that have been top of mind for our global team of Phocuswright analysts. This is what's defining the global travel market in 2017:

DECEMBER

Election impact. Let's start with the immediate aftermath of the U.S. presidential election. Phocuswright fielded a survey of 1,500 European travelers November 12  14 to gauge their sentiment around travel to the U.S. and the potential impact of the U.S. election. The results should give pause: one in five travelers in the U.K. and France and nearly one in three German travelers said they are less likely to travel to the U.S. Across all three countries, women are also significantly less likely than men to visit the U.S.  27% vs. 19%.

Read More: Election Impact: Some European Travelers May Be Less Likely to Visit the U.S.

Will Experiences move the needle for Airbnb? If Airbnb continues its impressive growth and revenues for 2017 approach US$3 billion, Experiences would be only 1.1% of its overall business (using our rosy assumptions). Even under far more aggressive scenarios, Experiences would still account for a relatively small, single-digit share of the company's business. Only one third of Airbnb renters bought a tour or excursion on their last leisure trip, and Experiences would appeal to an even smaller subset.

Read More: The Media Loves Airbnb Trips, but Will Travelers

The fastest growing online markets: Developed online markets will grow just 15% from 2014 to 2017, compared to 61% for emerging online markets (led by APAC).

Read More: The Fastest Growing Online Markets

JANUARY

One in three U.S. rentals now in urban destinations. This is up dramatically from 13% in 2012. City rentals accounted for 18% of total rental revenue in 2015, and will rise to nearly one quarter of the U.S. private accommodation market as rentals take more demand away from hotels.

Read More: The New-Gen Renter

Five trends DMOs should know about. How and where travelers research vacation options is vital information to destination marketing organizations. This is the greatest opportunity for influence  especially for those who do not yet have a destination in mind.

Read More: 5 Trends You Need to Know About Destination Selection

An improving economy continues to provide a strong foundation for the European travel market.

View the infographic: 6 Quick Facts on the European Travel Market

FEBRUARY

Asia Pacific leads all markets in mobile booking adoption. APAC mobile bookings are projected to grow from 24% of the online travel market in 2015 to 37% in 2017.

Read More: APAC Leads all Markets in Mobile

Rental growth has surged in the past few years. Those gains will slow in 2017 and 2018, when the total private accommodations market will reach US$36.6 billion.

Read More: U.S. Private Accommodation Market to Reach $36.6B by 2018

U.S. online travel agencies continue their upward climb and have increased their share of the total travel market. OTAs' share of the online travel market reached 39% in 2016 and will slowly continue to increase to 41% by 2020, with $81.4 billion in online gross bookings.

Read More: Hotel and Mobile Boost OTA Online Bookings

MARCH

American travelers' desire to explore and get away remains unabated; growth in the 4-5% range is projected through 2020, bringing the total travel market to $403.3 billion that year.

View the infographic: 6 Quick Facts on U.S. Online Travel

China's airlines lag far behind OTAs in the technology department. But after treating web- and then mobile-based distribution as an afterthought, these state-owned behemoths have begun to take digital distribution seriously. They're growing their in-house mobile teams, and optimization of user experience and marketing are now strategic priorities.

Read More: Chinese Airlines Get Serious About Direct Bookings

The defining debate in online travel over the past two years: Hotels' battle for the customer and direct booking amid tough competition and skyrocketing growth of OTAs.

Read More: This One Chart Explains the Hotel Loyalty-vs.-OTA Problem

Do pivots work? TRIP's shift to metasearch and booking seems great in theory, but consumers just aren't having it  at least not yet.

Read More: The Trouble with TRIP

APRIL

In the U.S., online will continue to outpace the market through 2020, but the growth gap is narrowing as the channel approaches dominance. By 2020, online channels (including mobile) will account for 49% of the total.

Read More: U.S. Market Booking Channels Shifting



Airbnb is smoking its competitors on repeat booking with its hip brand, unique market positioning and devoted customer base. Airbnb's desktop repeat booking rate in 1H16 was roughly five times that of Booking.com and Expedia, and roughly three times that of the top hotel brands.

Read More: In Online Travel, Repeat Bookers Are Elusive, Except for Airbnb

The trends and statistics defining the global travel market so far in 2017. Source: Phocuswright

For Southeast Asian travelers, the most common motivators when planning a leisure trip are a desire to take a break, spending time with loved ones, and available vacation time away from work.

Read More: Get Inside the Mind of Southeast Asian Travelers

MAY

Are tours and activities the next big opportunity in online travel? We think so. But not for the reasons most might think.

Read More: The Real Revolution in Tours & Activities



The OTAs are crushing it. They are growing much faster than the U.S. hotel market. In fact, 2016 was the first year when OTA lodging bookings in the U.S. exceeded total hotel website gross bookings. And they're growing even faster overseas in the more fragmented hotel markets of Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

Read More: Hotels vs. the (OTA) World - What's Really at Stake as Hotels Take on Distributors

JUNE

The mobile traveler population has been growing each year as more travelers own smartphones and use them to plan and book travel. Today, two in three U.S. travelers have shopped or booked either air or hotel on a mobile device (smartphone or tablet).

Read More: In Mobile Travel, Comfort Leads to Confidence in Booking



Use of messaging apps is increasing among travelers overall. But the numbers vary greatly across demographics, specific apps and use cases.

Read More: Are U.S. Travelers Embracing Chat & Messaging?

LOOKING FOR MORE?

Check out our free downloads, explore our research publications, consider becoming a subscriber or contact us for more information.

Eugene Ko

Sr. Manager, Marketing and Communications

+1 646 380-6273

Phocuswright

View source
Citizens Bank migrates to cloud-based HCM and talent management suite

Posted by Tim Newnham on Saturday, 07-08-2017 7:03 pm

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Citizens Bank migrates in stages to Oracle HCM Cloud integrated with Taleo talent management software, leaving behind old PeopleSoft on-premises HR system. Newly independent from its former owner, Royal Bank of Scotland, Citizens Financial Group decided to move its HR operations into the cloud. Citizens, the 20th largest bank in the U.S., designed a phased migration to Oracle's cloud-based HCM, including integrating it with Oracle's Taleo talent management platform. The move toward a cloud-based HCM started in 2014, just after the Rhode Island-based bank embarked on its own, with arequest for proposal (RFP)that produced proposals from SAP and Workday, as well as Oracle, Citizens' longtime human capital management provider. The win for Oracle -- which, along with its rivals, has been aggressively trying to convert longtime customers toits HCM Cloud software-- represented a major success in landing a respected financial institution. Moving from on premises to cloud "When ...

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Montreal and New York, 7 July 2017  At a Special Meeting convened today by the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu underscored the key priorities to be addressed as the two organizations work to cooperate more effectively on mitigating terrorist threats to international civil aviation.

Foreign terrorist fighter movements, landside attacks, threats posed by insiders and airport staff, and the use of increasingly sophisticated improvised explosive devices are all significant concerns, Dr. Liu noted, and our expanding reliance on information technology in all areas of aviation  from navigation to communications to security  exposes us to cyber threats.

We must ensure that those who can counter these threats are well prepared to take the appropriate action to deter, detect, and prevent such attacks.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 2309 on Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts: Aviation security, was unanimously adopted by the UNSC last September. It was the first to broadly address international civil aviation security and called upon States to implement effective, risk-based measures that mitigate the ever-evolving threat picture.

In her remarks to the CTC, Dr. Liu stressed that meeting the objectives of Resolution 2309 requires that States Aviation Security authorities have sufficient access to current threat information. She also noted that additional challenges persist regarding the sharing of threat and risk information internally in many countries, and stressed the importance of new and existing ICAO tools to help address these concerns, such as its Global Aviation Security Plan and Global Risk Context Statement.

The Global Aviation Security Plan and Risk Context Statement, in addition to various supporting ICAO working groups, task forces and security programmes and projects, are all essential elements in addressing the security challenges, she highlighted. But, it is important that the highest levels of States governments take actions. Resources must be made available, cooperation must be increased, initiatives must be endorsed, and timelines must be met.

The outcomes of this Special Meeting are to be presented to the UN Security Council this coming September.

On the margins of the CTC Special Meeting, Dr. Liu met the Ambassador of Egypt, Chairman of CTC, and the United Nations Security Councils five Permanent Members missions of China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and United States, as well as the Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation. During these meetings, Dr. Liu thanked their States for all their support in reinforcing ICAOs leadership in aviation security. She highlighted the work done by ICAO in enhancing aviation security, especially the development of the Global Aviation Security Plan (GASeP). Additionally, she provided updates on Annex 17  Security and Annex 9  Facilitation to the Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation, which requires States to implement SARPs related to landside security, explosive detection, cybersecurity and Advance Passenger Information (API) system. The expansion of the Universal Security Audit Programme was also briefed to the Security Council representatives. Dr. Liu expressed the need for States to allocate sufficient resources at the national level, both human and financial, to effectively implement ICAO Standards on aviation security and Security Council Resolution 2309. Dr. Liu emphasized the importance that States participate in global efforts in capacity building and technical assistance activities which was echoed during the meetings.

The Representatives of France and of the United Kingdom on the Council of ICAO and senior officials from civil aviation security authorities of Canada, Israel, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, representatives from international and regional organizations as well as industry also contributed to the success of this event through their effective participation.

Resources for Editors



About ICAO



A specialized agency of the United Nations, ICAO was created in 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency, capacity and environmental protection, amongst many other priorities. The Organization serves as the forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 191 Member States.

The 2017 ICAO Aviation Security Symposium

ICAO's Security and Facilitation Strategic Objective



Contacts



Anthony Philbin

Chief, Communications

aphilbin@icao.int

+1 (514) 954-8220

+1 (438) 402-8886 (mobile)

Twitter: @ICAO



William Raillant-Clark

Communications Officer

wraillantclark@icao.int

+1 514-954-6705

+1 514 409-0705

Twitter: @wraillantclark


New Delhi, July 7 (IBNS): Eminent Robotic surgeons have urged senior specialist surgeons in the country to train themselves ahead of the spread of Surgical Robots in their hospitals.

Dr Prof Arvind Kumar, Director, Institute of Robotic Surgery at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi said robotic surgery allows a surgeons to access the inacessible areas, and tiny surgical instruments with 7 degrees of freedom of movement are the key advantages. A Robotic Surgery causes less trauma with surgeon being in full control of the entire procedure.



Dr Gagan Gautam, Head of Urologic Oncology & Robotic Surgery, Max Institute of Cancer Care said Robotic Surgery has emerged as a gold standard for removal of cancer cells of prostate.



Dr N.P. Gupta, Chairman, Kidney & Urology Institute, Medanta Medicity, Gurgaon said that his institute is beginning a training program aimed at surgeons to equip themselves fro special procedures involving robotic surgery.



Dr Rama Joshi, Director, Gynae Oncology Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon highlighted the benefits of robotic surgery for removal of endometrial and other gynaecological ailments.



Mr Gopal D Chakravarthy, CEO, Vattikuti Technologies said Vattikuti Foundation is also bridging the training gap by supporting a pool of accomplished Robotic Surgeons--by way of bi-annual Robotic Surgeons Conferences, paid fellowships and webinars. These workshops have seen a groundswell of interest from surgeons in smaller town and cities.



Since July 2016, Intuitive Surgical Inc. authorized Training and Certification center at Amrita Hospital in Kochi has trained over 100 multi-specialty surgeons from India and neighboring countries. This dual console da Vinci centre can conduct porcine based training program for 150.



India has a pool of 275 trained surgeons who are giving their best to the patients as also acting as mentors to expanding pool of robotic trained surgeons. They are alsoimprovising and creating new procedures that are becoming a world standard.
Puducherry, Jul 8 (IBNS): The dawn to dusk shut down called by various political parties on Saturday has been near total in Puducherry, according to media reports.

The call for shut down was announced on Wednesday by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi to protest against the functioning of Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi, media reported.

The Puducherry Pradesh Congress committee extended its support to the bandh, media reported.

On Tuesday, Bedi had sworn in BJP's Puducherry chief V Saminathan, treasurer K G Shankar and pro-BJP educationist S Selvaganapathye who were nominated to the Puducherry Legislative Assembly.

The ruling Congress and other parties had objected to the swearing in by the Lt Governor and said it is the prerogative of the Assembly Speaker. They also had objections to her style of functioning, media reported.

According to media reports, Bedi has said that she has remained within the ambit of law.

Police were deployed around Raj Nivas and Assembly complex with the Congress party members staging a protest against Bedi at the Governor House.

Image: SabuKurien/AIRPics Twitter
Darjeeling, Jul 8 (IBNS): Alleging that a supporter of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) was shot dead by police, supporters of GNLF and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) went on a rampage and clashed with the police on Saturday morning, reports said.

According to reports, a young supporter of GNLF, Tashi Bhutia, was shot at when police allegedly opened fire on protesters at Sonada area at around 11 pm, on Friday.

Sustaining bullet wounds, Tashi Bhutia was rushed to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Hours after the incident took place, a large number of GNLF and GJM supporters took out protest rally with the killed youth's body from Sonada to Darjeeling on Saturday morning.

When agitators torched a traffic police booth and attacked Sonada Police Station, policemen restored to lathicharge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the protesters and bring the situation under control.

"As indefinite shut down is underway in Darjeeling hills, strike supporters stopped a Darjeeling-bound vehicle at Sonada and police intervened the matter," a mouthpiece of GNLF told IBNS. "When protesters threw stones at the security personnel, police opened fire on protesters and our activists Tashi Bhutia, who went there to buy medicines, was shot dead."

A heavy police force along with paramilitary forces and Indian Army personnel have been deployed in the area to bring the situation under control. Till the latest update came in, situation at Sonada and its adjoining areas remained tense on the 24th day of GJM's indefinite general strike.

Local police, however, claimed that no bullet was fired from their side on Saturday and they don't have any idea about the death of the GNLF supporter.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that clashes in Darjeeling had been triggered in a planned way to hurt peace in Bengal.

"Clashes in Darjeeling are being provoked by foreign countries in a planned way," Mamata Banerjee said. "Centre is not cooperating with us in restoring peace in Darjeeling, they should have deployed more paramilitary forces to the hills."

Mamata Banerjee also announced a judicial probe into Baduria communal violence.

"We will investigate Basirhat clash and Sonada incident. If anyone found guilty, strict actions will be taken," Chief Minister added.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
Srinagar, July 08 (IBNS) Kashmir has shut down on Saturday on first death anniversary of Burhan Wani, the commander of Hizbul Mujahideen militant outfit who was killed by the Indian security forces a year ago in an encounter.

Strict restriction were put in place across valley to thwart any rally announced by Kashmir sepratist groups even though reports of face-offs from various parts of the state.

According to reports, authorities put severe restrictions in sensitive areas of south Kashmir and other parts of the valley.

"We have made adequate security arrangements across the valley and will not allow anyone to organize seminars or rallies," said a senior police officer in Srinagar

All Government offices are closed as employees could not reach duty because of curfew and strike.

Kashmir University postponed all exams who were scheduled for today, while authorities also suspended rail service from Banihal for next two days.

On precautionary measures the Kashmir government suspended Amarnath Yatra for a day, which will be resumed on Sunday.

On 8 July 2016 Burhan Wani along with two associates were killed in a brief encounter with forces in Bamdoora Kokernag area of south Kashmir.

Soon after his death Kashmir erupted with protests and strikes for six months. During six months of protests 96 civilians including two policemen were killed while 10,000 got injured.

Authorities have already kept several separatist leaders inside the police stations to prevent them from holding rallies and seminars

Also mobile internet services including BSNL broadband were suspended across valley in view of the militant commander's anniversary.



(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)
Darjeeling, Jul 8 (IBNS): Two strike supporters were killed during a clash with police force in Darjeeling hills, taking the death toll to 3, reports said.

Following the violence, two columns of Indian Army have been deployed in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Sonada to assist local police in restoring peace.

Alleging that a supporter of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) was shot dead by police, supporters of GNLF and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) went on a rampage and clashed with the police on Saturday morning, reports said.

According to reports, a young supporter of GNLF, Tashi Bhutia, was shot at when police allegedly opened fire on protesters at Sonada area at around 11 pm, on Friday.

Sustaining bullet wounds, Tashi Bhutia was rushed to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Hours after the incident took place, a large number of GNLF and GJM supporters took out protest rally with the killed youth's body from Sonada to Darjeeling on Saturday morning.

When agitators torched a traffic police booth and attacked Sonada Police Station, policemen restored to lathicharge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the protesters and bring the situation under control.

"As indefinite shut down is underway in Darjeeling hills, strike supporters stopped a Darjeeling-bound vehicle at Sonada and police intervened the matter," a mouthpiece of GNLF told IBNS. "When protesters threw stones at the security personnel, police opened fire on protesters and our activists Tashi Bhutia, who went there to buy medicines, was shot dead."

A heavy police force along with paramilitary forces and Indian Army personnel have been deployed in the area to bring the situation under control. Till the latest update came in, situation at Sonada and its adjoining areas remained tense on the 24th day of GJM's indefinite general strike.

Local police, however, claimed that no bullet was fired from their side on Saturday and they don't have any idea about the death of the GNLF supporter.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that clashes in Darjeeling had been triggered in a planned way to hurt peace in Bengal.

"Clashes in Darjeeling are being provoked by foreign countries in a planned way," Mamata Banerjee said. "Centre is not cooperating with us in restoring peace in Darjeeling, they should have deployed more paramilitary forces to the hills."

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
New York, July 8(Just Earth News): Countries meeting at a United Nations conference in New York on Friday adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first multilateral legally-binding instrument for nuclear disarmament to have been negotiated in 20 years.

The treaty represents an important step and contribution towards the common aspirations of a world without nuclear weapons, the spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said following its adoption.

The Secretary-General hopes that this new treaty will promote inclusive dialogue and renewed international cooperation aimed at achieving the long overdue objective of nuclear disarmament, Stephane Dujarric added.

The treaty  adopted by a vote of 122 in favour to one against (Netherlands), with one abstention (Singapore)  prohibits a full range of nuclear-weapon-related activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons.

We feel emotional because we are responding to the hopes and dreams of the present and future generations, said Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gomez of Costa Rica, who serves as the President of the conference that negotiated the treaty in response to a mandate given by the UN General Assembly.

She told a news conference at UN Headquarters that with the treaty the world is one step closer to a total elimination of nuclear weapons.

The treaty will be open for signature to all States at UN Headquarters in New York on 20 September 2017, and enter into force 90 days after it has been ratified by at least 50 countries.

However, a number of countries stayed out of the negotiations, including the United States, Russia and other nuclear-weapon States, as well as many of their allies. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) did not join the talks either.

In a joint press statement issued on Friday, the delegations of the United States, United Kingdom and France said they have not taken part in the negotiation of the treaty and do not intend to sign, ratify or ever become party to it

This initiative clearly disregards the realities of the international security environment, they said. Accession to the ban treaty is incompatible with the policy of nuclear deterrence, which has been essential to keeping the peace in Europe and North Asia for over 70 years.

In response to questions on the joint statement, Whyte Gomez recalled that when the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was adopted decades ago, it did not enjoy a large number of accessions.

Opened for signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970. Then in 1995, the Treaty was extended indefinitely. A total of 191 States have joined the Treaty, including the five nuclear-weapon States that are the permanent members of the UN Security Council  China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In the beginning, it was unimaginable that those States would be parties to the NPT, she noted. But the world changes and the circumstances change.

She added that the hibakusha, survivors of nuclear bombs, have been the driving force in the creation of the nuclear weapons prohibition treaty. The experiences they have been sharing touch the human soul, she said, adding that the negotiations were a combination of reason and heart.

UN Photo

Source: www.justearthnews.com
New York, July 8(Just Earth News): United Nations officials on Friday highlighted the benefits of a human security approach to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as tackle a range of other issues, during a high-level event held at Headquarters.

The human security approach is instrumental to sustainable development, inclusive peace, justice and the well-being and dignity of all people. It is in fact central to the 2030 Agenda, said Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, addressing the event.



As outlined by the General Assembly, human security is a people-centred framework based on national ownership, which according to Mohammed, aims to support governments in responding to threats impeding their people from living free from fear, want and indignity, while recognizing the complexity and interconnected nature of on Fridays challenges.



It really does compel us to find coherent, comprehensive and integrated solutions that combine the expertise and resources of the United Nations system with those of governments, regional and sub-regional organizations, the private sector, civil society and communities on the ground, she explained.



Based on lessons learned from over 15 years of supported programming by the UN Trust Fund for Human Security, the approach promotes greater coordination, advancing integrated actions for concrete results in improving the lives of peoples and communities.



At the UN, said Mohammed, the Secretary-General has embarked on a series of review processes and reforms, including management, development and the peace and security architecture, to fulfil his vision of a UN system that is less fragmented and much more efficient.



Their underlying premise  and promise  is prevention, she noted. Human security is an essential part of these processes.



By considering current and emerging risks and vulnerabilities, human security is an effective tool for prevention, she added. The human security approach can also help guide efforts to bridge the gap between humanitarian assistance and longer-term development aid.



She went on to say that programmes supported by the UN Trust Fund for Human Security have illustrated the power of catalytic interventions that pool resources and establish strong partnerships and better coherence of results on the ground.



Let us work together to advance prevention and promote inclusive solutions that enhance peoples ability to live together in peace and well-being, with much stronger confidence in a sustainable future, she stated.



General Assembly President Peter Thomson opened the event saying, human security provides us with a focussed, analytical lens and programming framework to aid the actions we are taking towards achieving the SDGs.



He added that with its direct focus on people, the concept of human security finds in the SDGs an agenda that is ultimately about creating the conditions  social, economic and environmental  in which humanity can flourish.



On Fridays event was organised by the UN Human Security Unit, in partnership with the Government of Japan and the Human Security Network (Austria, Chile, Costa Rica, Greece, Ireland, Jordan, Mali, Norway, Panama, Slovenia, Switzerland, Thailand and South Africa, as an observer).



Also addressing the event, Yukio Takasu, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Human Security, said that it is essential to identify and address the root causes of human insecurity, which are often interlinked and multifaceted.



There is no simple, straightforward solution. Through the human security approach, we will be able to address deep-rooted insecurity and implement the SDGs effectively, he stated.



We have to identify first who has been left out in equitable progress and are at the greatest risk of falling behind and take action on what needs to be done.



He added that there is a consensus on the need to adopt an integrated approach to achieve the SDGs, which no single government, entity or international organization can do alone.



We must strengthen a multi-stakeholder framework of cooperation at the national, regional and global levels. Partnership of all stakeholders, civil society and the private sector is absolutely essential for success.







Photo: UN Trust Fund for Human Security



Source: www.justearthnews.com




New York, July 8(Just Earth News): The global nature of aviation puts everyone at the same level of risk from potential terrorism, senior United Nations officials said on Friday, calling for greater information sharing, resources and political will to keep flights safe.

Terrorism is not someone elses problem. States and industry must commit necessary resources and provide necessary governance, the Secretary-General of the UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Fang Liu, told the opening of a special meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee on Terrorist threats to civil aviation.



The concept note for the meeting cited recent attacks against airports in Belgium, Turkey and the United States, and the explosion of a terrorist bomb aboard Daallo Airlines flight 159, as stark reminders that landside attacks, the threat posed by insiders and airport staff, and the use of increasingly sophisticated improvised explosive devices are all significant concerns.



The meeting aimed to give government representatives an opportunity to discuss enhanced security measures  such as explosive detection and new cargo rules, as well as new challenges, such as cybercrime and porous airport perimeters.



In her speech, Liu called for greater access to current threat information between States and within the local and federal authorities, as well as political will to work together.



Aviation security authorities must be provided adequate information by the States own law enforcement and intelligence organizations, in order to create a meaningful and effective threat assessment, said Liu.



She noted one pointed example of information sharing, such as the recent laptop restrictions imposed by the United States, which were then transitions to more extensive screening measures of passengers.



In his address, Jean-Paul Laborde, Executive Director of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), said more and more strict measures are clearly needed to address challenges of terrorism and to protect our lives.



But effective work can only happen through cohesiveness and cooperation, and this is what the Security Council does, he said, urging governments to implement measures cited in recent resolutions related to aviation safety.



Last September, the Security Council unanimously adopted its first resolution to address terrorist threats to civil aviation. Resolution 2309 (2016) urged governments to ensure that effective, risk-based measures are taken to protect airports, for example, to strengthen security screening procedures and utilize technology to detect explosives and other threats.



More recently, Security Council adopted resolution 2341 (2017), which recognized the urgent need to ensure reliability and resistance of critical infrastructure.



Laborde stressed the importance of collecting and sharing advance passenger information (API) to detect the departure from, entry into, or transit through their territories of individuals on the Al-Qaida sanctions list.



He said only 57 countries are capable of implementing and sharing such information with INTERPOL, which has 68 million entries.



Reiterating the importance of sharing information and cooperation in his closing remarks, Laborde again spoke about the need to cut red tape and to implement the Security Council resolutions.



Along with our hesitations and weaknesses, this is one area where multilateralism has its advantages, he said.



Photo: UN Photo/ Marco Dormino







Source: www.justearthnews.com




Kabul, July 8 (IBNS): A bomb explosion in Khewa district of eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan left one person killed on Saturday, media reports said.

The explosion has left four others injured.

Attaullah Khogyani, the governors spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News the blast took place on the main road leading to the district in Koz Kunar area.

The injured people were rushed to hospital for treatment.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
Burma UNHCR Chief Urges Freedom of Movement in Rakhine

UNHCR High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi addresses a news conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on June 21, 2017. / Tiksa Negeri / Reuters

YANGON  The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called for freedom of movement and access to services for displaced persons in Rakhine State at the end of his first visit to Myanmar that took place amid an uptick of violence in the region.

These are complex issues, but they are not intractable, said Grandi, according to a UN release, adding that efforts to increase citizenship verification and tackle poverty were also part of the solution.

The recommendations of the ex-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission of Rakhine State, which include closing internally displaced people (IDP) camps and the return of refugees from Bangladesh, provide an important roadmap for the way forward, the UN representative said.

During his five-day trip, Grandi traveled to Yangon, Rakhine States Sittwe and Maungdaw Township, and capital Naypyitaw where he met State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the social welfare minister, the labor minister, and the border affairs minister, according to the release.

They discussed humanitarian access to camps in Kachin and Rakhine states where some 100,000 and 120,000 remain displaced, respectively.

The high commissioner commended the return of mainly ethnic Karen refugees from Thailand but said that repatriation must be voluntary and sustainable.

Earlier this week, Grandis delegation met with border police Brig-Gen Thura San Lwin in Maungdaw and visited villages that suffered from arson during Myanmar Army security clearance operations, as well as with residents of the Dapaing IDP camp.

One of the camps residents U Saw Lwin told The Irrawaddy on Monday that IDPs discussed with UN officials their lack of freedom of movement, education and healthcare after nearly five years in the camp. He said they still hoped to be compensated for assets destroyed during inter-communal riots in 2012.

On July 1, the State Counselors Office Information Committee released a statement from national security adviser U Thaung Tun that highlighted a recent increase in violence in the area, some of which stemmed from incidents between the Myanmar Army and suspected militants.

It stated that from October 2016 to June 2017, 38 civilians were killed in Maungdaw district and 22 villagers were abducted or went missing. Many of the victims were village administrative officials who had collaborated with the government, according to the statement.

There has been a worrying increase in the number of murders and disappearances in recent weeks. In the past two weeks alone, six villagers have been killed and two have gone missing, read the statement.

The government has provided more than US$1.96 million in humanitarian assistance to Rakhine State in the past year. Three IDP camps in Kyaukphyu, Pauktaw and Ramree townships have been closed in line with the recommendations of the Kofi Annan-led advisory commission; among them, 55 households have been relocated to Yangon.

Grandi has worked in refugee and political affairs in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. This is his first visit to Myanmar since he was appointed high commissioner in January 2016 and his trip will continue to Thailand and Bangladesh.

Additional reporting by Moe Myint.
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By Dave Keating | Euractiv.com |  

Angela Merkel wants all countries in the group except the US to sign up to a strong statement supporting the Paris Agreement but Saudi Arabia and others may resist.

Germanys hopes to get unequivocal backing for the Paris climate agreement from the G20 in Hamburg are running into trouble, as oil-producing nations balk at some of the proposed language in a draft text.

The summits statement on climate change is one of the most tense issues being discussed at the summit.

Talks on climate begin late Friday afternoon (7 July) and are expected to continue until the end of the summit on Saturday. The key question is whether all countries in the G20, except the US, will sign up to language that strongly endorses Paris.

The G20 is the first major summit of world leaders since Donald Trumps announcement in May that he will pull the US out of the Paris Agreement.

Heated G20 hopes to bring new life to global cooperation

The worlds twenty most powerful countries will try to build a new consensus on global issues such as trade and the fight against climate change amid growing tensions among the largest partners.

The endorsement would come in two documents: a G20 Action Plan on Climate and Energy for Growth which the US will most likely not sign up to, and the final G20 communique, in which the US would have a note of disagreement outlining that it intends to pull out of the climate accord.

Since it does not have a seat at the table for negotiating the content of the action plan, which it will not sign, the US is working with other governments to water it down, according to EU sources.

It has found a willing partner in Saudi Arabia, which as an oil-producing nation has its own reasons for not wanting a strong statement.

Trump made a $500 million arms deal with the kingdom which was almost defeated in the US Senate, and Saudi Arabia is eager to keep the US on side in its diplomatic war against Qatar.

Lutz Weischer with NGO Germanwatch said that though there was wide agreement on a draft text among the 19 countries as of May, a lot has changed since, including Trumps visit to Saudi Arabia. We dont know if whats true in May is still true for all parties.

There are good chances we will get 19 but it is in no way guaranteed, he added.

Russia, Turkey and Indonesia have also been muted in their support for the draft text from Germany, according to EU sources, and may launch objections during talks over the coming hours.

Latest text

The latest draft text for the G20s final communique includes a long section on climate and energy, with language supporting the Paris Agreement. At issue are provisions over scaling up future action, and the obligations of countries that have made commitments.

The draft text also includes a section noting Americas decision to pull out. Significantly, this is contained in the main body of the text, rather than in a footnote as it was in the final statement of the G7 meeting in Italy last month.

The text leaves open the possibility that the US may still adopt new emissions-reduction legislation domestically, even after the Trump administration cancels Barack Obamas clean power plan, which was meant to implement Americas Paris commitment.

Study: Renewables will be cheapest power source by 2030

Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are set to be the cheapest form of power generation in the G20 countries by 2030, according to a new study. The EU also announced that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated.

Future strategy

The manoeuvring in Hamburg may give an indication of Washingtons climate strategy going forward.

The intention to leave the Paris Agreement means the US will lose its seat at the negotiating table to shape the agreements framework but it may work through proxy countries such as Saudi Arabia to maintain influence on the text.

This is a pattern likely to continue for the next UN climate summit in Bonn in November.

At the same time, the language in the current draft text indicates a more conciliatory approach than might have been expected from the Trump administration, which leaves the door open to the US not leaving the Paris Agreement after all.

The withdrawal process will take several years and would likely not be completed by the time of the next US presidential election.

Three years left to stop dangerous climate change, experts warn

Avoiding dangerous levels of climate change is still just about possible, but will require unprecedented effort and coordination from governments, businesses, citizens and scientists in the next three years, a group of prominent experts has warned.

Bas Eickhout, a Dutch Green MEP who is following the talks, says the US may be reacting to developments over the past two months which have seen it increasingly isolated.

No other country has joined the US in its demand that the Paris Agreement be renegotiated, leaving the US isolated. But the G20 text agreed on Saturday will be key to test the support for Paris.

It is of upmost importance that the G19 will get to a joint statement on climate action, indicating that Washington DC is alone in its actions on the Paris agreement, he said. This is an important signal towards the coming climate summit in Bonn where further implementation of the Paris agreement will be negotiated.

Positions Karsten Smid, Greenpeace Germanys climate expert said: The other G20 leaders cannot wait for Donald Trump to grow up. The G19 must make a stand by signalling that there can be no turning back and reaffirming that they have decided to leave coal, oil and gas behind, as they agreed to in Paris. Chancellor Merkel goes to the G20 Summit as a coal chancellor. Only when Germany decides to phase out coal will the countrys energy production start to benefit rather than destroy the climate.

Via Euractiv.com



Related video added by Juan Cole:

CGTN: Protesters gather in Hamburg for G20 summit with green issues high on their agenda
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By Jim Lobe | (Inter Press Service) |  

WASHINGTON, (IPS)  Iran hawks suddenly have a new mantra: the Islamic Republic is the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, and the Trump administration should work to hasten the regimes impending collapse.

Its not clear why this comparison has surfaced so abruptly. Its proponents dont cite any tangible or concrete evidence that the regime in Tehran is somehow on its last legs. But Im guessing that months of internal policy debate on Iran has finally reached the top echelons in the policy-making chaos that is the White House these days. And the hawks, encouraged by Secretary of State Rex Tillersons rather offhand statement late last month that Washington favors peaceful regime change in Iran, appear to be trying to influence the internal debate by arguing that this is Trumps opportunity to be Ronald Reagan. Indeed, this comparison is so ahistorical, so ungrounded in anything observable, that it can only be aimed at one person, someone notorious for a lack of curiosity and historical perspective, and a strong attraction to fake news that magnifies his ego and sense of destiny.

This new theme seemed to have come out of the blue Tuesday with the publication on the Wall Street Journals comicsI mean, op-edpages of a column entitled Confront Iran the Reagan Way by the South Africa-born, Canada-raised CEO of the Likudist Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), Mark Dubowitz. I wish I could publish the whole thing (which is behind a paywall), but a couple of quotes will have to suffice:

In the early 1980s, President Reagan shifted away from his predecessors containment strategy toward a new plan of rolling back Soviet expansionism. The cornerstone of his strategy was the recognition that the Soviet Union was an aggressive and revolutionary yet internally fragile regime that had to be defeated. Reagans policy was outlined in 1983 in National Security Decision Directive 75, a comprehensive strategy that called for the use of all instruments of American overt and covert power. The plan included a massive defense buildup, economic warfare, support for anti-Soviet proxy forces and dissidents, and an all-out offensive against the regimes ideological legitimacy. Mr. Trump should call for a new version of NSDD-75 and go on offense against the Iranian regime. the American pressure campaign should seek to undermine Irans rulers by strengthening the pro-democracy forces that erupted in Iran in 2009, nearly toppling the regime. Target the regimes soft underbelly: its massive corruption and human-rights abuses. Conventional wisdom assumes that Iran has a stable government with a public united behind President Hassan Rouhanis vision of incremental reform. In reality, the gap between the ruled and their Islamist rulers is expanding. .The administration should present Iran the choice between a new [nuclear] agreement and an unrelenting American pressure campaign while signaling that it is unilaterally prepared to cancel the existing deal if Tehran doesnt play ball. Only six years after Ronald Reagan adopted his pressure strategy, the Soviet bloc collapsed. Washington must intensify the pressure on the mullahs as Reagan did on the communists. Otherwise, a lethal nuclear Iran is less than a decade away.

Dubowitz, who clearly has allies inside the administration, asserts that parts of this strategy are already being implemented. CIA Director Mike Pompeo is putting the agency on an aggressive footing against [the Iranian regimes terrorist] global networks with the development of a more muscular covert action program. Dubowitz predictably urges massive economic sanctions, calls for working closely with allied Sunni governments, and arguesrather dubiouslythat Europeans may support a tougher Iran policy if it means Washington finally gets serious about Syria. As for the alleged domestic weaknesses of the regime, let alone its similarity to the USSR in its decline, he offers no evidence whatever.

Takeyh Joins In

I thought this was a crazy kind of one-off by FDD, which, of course, houses former American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Freedom Scholar Michael Ledeen, who has been predicting the imminent demise of the Islamic Republicand Supreme Leader Khameneifor some 20 years or so. Ledeen also co-authored former National Security Adviser Michael Flynns bizarre 2016 autobiography and no doubt tutored the NSCs 31-year-old intelligence director, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, whose conviction that the regime can be overthrown has been widely reported.

But then a friend brought to my attention a short piece posted Wednesday on The Washington Posts website by Ray Takeyh, a Council on Foreign Relations Iran specialist who in recent years has cavorted with Dubowitz and FDD and similarly inclined Likudist groups, notably the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA). Entitled Its Time to Prepare for Irans Political Collapse, it also compared Iran today with the Soviet Union on the verge.

Today, the Islamic republic lumbers on as the Soviet Union did during its last years. It professes an ideology that convinces no one. It commands security services that proved unreliable in the 2009 rebellion, causing the regime to deploy the Basij militias because many commanders of the Revolutionary Guards refused to shoot the protesters. Today, the Islamic republic will not be able to manage a succession to the post of the supreme leader as its factions are too divided and its public too disaffected. The task of a judicious U.S. government today is to plan for the probable outbreak of another protest movement or the sudden passing of Khamenei that could destabilize the system to the point of collapse. How can we further sow discord in Irans vicious factional politics? How can the United States weaken the regimes already unsteady security services? This will require not just draining the Islamic republics coffers but also finding ways to empower its domestic critics. The planning for all this must start today; once the crisis breaks out, it will be too late for America to be a player.

Once again, actual evidence for the regimes fragility is not offered. Indeed, although he claims that the 2009 Green Revolt forever delegitimized the system and severed the bonds between state and society, he fails to note that Mays presidential election resulted in a landslide win for President Hassan Rouhani with 73 percent voter turnout, or that reformist candidates swept the local council polls in most major cities, or that the leader of the reformist movement, leaders of the Green Movement, and prominent political prisoners encouraged participation. Nor does he address the question of whether Washingtons intervention in Irans internal politicsin whatever formwill actually help or harm efforts by the regimes domestic critics to promote reform, particularly in light of the recent disclosures of the extent and persistence of U.S. intervention in the events leading up to and including the 1953 coup that ousted the democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadeq. Or whether last months terrorist attack by ISIS in Tehran might have strengthened the relationship between society and state.

This is not to deny that the regime is both oppressive and highly factionalized, but why is it suddenly so vulnerableso much like the Soviet Union of the late 1980scompared to what it was five or ten or 20 or 25 years ago? Only because Khamenei is likely to pass from the scene sooner rather than later? That seems like a weak reed on which to base a policy as fraught as what is being proposed.

Again, Im not sure that this Iran=USSR-at-deaths-door meme is aimed so much at the public, or even the foreign-policy elite, as it is toward the fever swamps of a White House run by the likes of Steve Bannon or Stephen Miller or Cohen-Watnick. But heres why a little more research into the new equation really got my attention.

And Also Lieberman

Dubowitzs article, it turns out, was not the first recent reference. The most direct recent reference was offered by none other than former Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who incidentally is one of three members of FDDs Leadership Council, in a speech before none other than the annual conference of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and its cult leader, Maryam Rajavi, outside Paris July 1. Seemingly anticipating Takeyh (plus the Rajavi reference), Lieberman declared:

Some things have changed inside Iran, and thats at the level of the people. You can never suppress a people, you can never enslave a people forever. The people of Iran inside Iran have shown the courage to rise up To just talk about that, to just talk about that, to hold Madam Rajavis picture up in public places, is a sign of the unrest of the people and the growing confidence of the people that change is near. The same is true of the remarkable public disagreements between the various leaders of the countryIt is time for America and hopefully some of our allies in Europe to give whatever support we can to those who are fighting for freedom within Iran.

He then went on, Long before the Berlin Wall collapsed, long before the Soviet Union fell, the United States was supporting resistance movements within the former Soviet Unionan apparent reference, albeit not an entirely clear one  to the Reagan Doctrine and its purported role in provoking the Communist collapse.

And, in a passage that no doubt expressed what at least Dubowitz and his allies think but cant say publicly at this point:

The Arab nations are energized under the leadership of King Salman and Crown Prince [Mohammed] bin Salman. [Saudi Prince (and former intelligence chief) Turki Al Faisal Al Saudi addressed the Free Iran Gathering just before Lieberman.] Theyre more active diplomatically and militarily as part of a resistance against the regime in Iran than weve ever seen before. And of course for a long time the state of Israel, because its very existence is threatened by the regime in Iran, has wanted to help change that regime. So you have coming together now a mighty coalition of forces: America, the Arab world, and Israel joining with the Resistance, and that should give us hope that we can make that [regime] change.

Putting aside the question of just how popular or unpopular Madam Rajavi is in Iran for a second, there are a number of truly remarkable things about Liebermans speech. How much will it help the resistance in Iran to be seen as supported by the Saudis and the Arab nations? And how will it help to boast about Israels assistance when most Iranians already appear to believe that the Islamic State is a creation of the Saudis and/or Israel? Is there any mighty coalition more likely to permanently alienate the vast majority of Iranians? Is it possible that the MEK has become an IRGC counter-intelligence operation? Its very clear indeed that the group is lobbying heavilyand spending lavishlyto become the administrations chosen instrument for achieving regime change. But advertising Saudi and Israeli support for the enterprise will likely make that goal more elusive. The MEKs reputation in Iran was bad enough, but this is really over the top.

Lieberman no doubt received ample compensation for saying what he said. Other former prominent US officials, including John Bolton, Rudy Giuliani, and Gen. Jack Keaneall of whom probably have closer ties than Lieberman to the White House  also spoke at the MEK event, which, incidentally, makes me think that the White House is indeed seriously considering supporting the group as at least one part of its Iran policy. I suspect well find out soon enough.

This piece was originally published in Jim Lobes blog on U.S. foreign policy Lobelog.com

Licensed from Inter Press Service



Related video added by Juan Cole:

TRT: Irans Nuclear Power: Deal turns one year old amid improving economy
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA and JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA--(Marketwired - July 7, 2017) - Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (TSX:PTM) (NYSE MKT:PLG) ("Platinum Group" or the "Company") is taking steps to restructure its mining operations at the Maseve Mine in South Africa. The restructuring would involve a change in primary mining method and cost reductions to create a sustainable future for the mine. The changes are operationally driven to align costs with a more gradual ramp-up of production using more selective mining methods.

The Maseve Mine has good potential in terms of grades, underground developed access, completed infrastructure and a mill that operates in accordance with design criteria.

As a result of the anticipated restructuring process, there are a large number of employees in the service of independent contractors and staff of Maseve who could be affected. Platinum Group Metals will work closely with all its contractors, including Redpath Mining South Africa, the largest mining contractor on site, to minimize job losses while making the operation self-sustainable. It is likely that Redpath will continue to be the main contractor at the mine.

Contractors will be paid in the normal course, and the Company will honor obligations to its employees. The Company will work with all its contractors and staff under Section 189 and 189A of the Labour Relations Act in South Africa. Severance, job planning and other support will be provided. Platinum Group will also work closely with organized labor during this process.

New opportunities for contractors and employees will be created as the newly planned mining method ramps up. In the long term, the hybrid method is more labor intensive offset with better planned grade compared to bord-and-pillar mining.

"We see good potential for a sustainable mine at Maseve. The South African government and the local community have been very supportive of the Maseve Mine, and we deeply value their assistance and support," said R. Michael Jones, CEO, Platinum Group. "We will work with our contractors, employees and other stakeholders in a climate of mutual respect, as we transition through the proposed restructuring process."

The restructuring aims to reduce ongoing costs and achieve positive, sustainable cash flows as soon as possible, utilizing already-established infrastructure. A "hybrid" mining method is under consideration, which would result in a transition from the current higher volume, mechanized bord-and-pillar mining method. Hybrid mining involves mechanized access drives using the mine's current equipment as well as conventional manual methods for stoping. Both bord-and-pillar and hybrid methods were included in the mine's feasibility study.

Face grades at the Maseve mine have generally met estimates, but the fully mechanized mining method has resulted in excess dilution and therefore lower grades to the plant. The Maseve concentrator plant has performed in excess of design criteria. Completed underground conveyor infrastructure will help reduce the trucking fleet required for mining from Block 11, the target for immediate mining.

The Company has notified the Department of Mineral Resources that a restructuring is required to create a viable operation and to ensure optimal mining of the resource, and that it will comply with the applicable provisions of Section 52 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA).

As the Company develops and implements the new hybrid mining ramp-up plan, it will assess its new production guidance. Previous guidance will change. In coming months, Platinum Group will provide operational updates on the results of the hybrid mining ramp-up.

The Company has received waivers from its lenders related to working capital and production covenants to October 31, 2017. The Company will assess the new plan's ability to meet the lending covenants and loan requirements in the months ahead. The Company may require further financing in debt, equity or from asset sales.

The Company continues to work with BMO Capital Markets and Macquarie Capital to review and assess corporate and asset level strategic alternatives.

About Platinum Group Metals Ltd.

Platinum Group, based in Johannesburg, South Africa and Vancouver, Canada, has a successful track record with more than 20 years of experience in exploration, mine discovery, mine construction and mining operations.

Formed in 2002, Platinum Group holds significant mineral rights and large-scale reserves of platinum and palladium in the Bushveld Igneous Complex of South Africa, which is host to over 70% of the world's primary platinum production. The Company is currently focused on ramping up the Maseve Mine, its first near-surface platinum mine, to commercial production.

Platinum Group has delineated new low-cost, near-surface reserves on the North Limb of the Bushveld Complex on the Waterberg Project. Waterberg represents a new bulk type of large-scale, shallow low-cost platinum, palladium and gold deposit. Waterberg is one of the only large-scale dominantly palladium deposits in the world.

Qualified Person

R. Michael Jones, P.Eng., the Company's President, Chief Executive Officer and a significant shareholder of the Company, is a non-independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and is responsible for preparing the technical information contained in this news release. He has verified the data by reviewing the detailed information of the geological and engineering staff and the Independent Qualified Person reports as well as visiting the site regularly.
Korean Air's headquarters in western Seoul (above) was raided by police Friday over allegations that Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho used company funds to pay for the remodeling costs of his private home. / Yonhap



By Kim Bo-eun





Police raided Korean Air's headquarters in western Seoul, Friday, over allegations of its chairman's dereliction of duty and embezzlement.

Thirteen investigators searched the office and confiscated evidence including accounting documents and contracts.

Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho is suspected of having used part of company funds meant to build a hotel on Yeongjongdo, Incheon, to pay for interior work in his home in Pyeongchang-dong in Seoul, from May 2013 to August 2014.

The Grand Hyatt Incheon is owned by KAL Network, a subsidiary of Hanjin KAL, the Hanjin group holding company. Hyatt runs the hotel.

Police believe both projects were being worked on at the same time.

The firm responsible for the interior of Cho's home has been under investigation for alleged tax evasion. It had also been in charge of interior work on the homes of other conglomerate chiefs including Samsung Group's Lee Kun-hee.

In May, police raided the firm after suspicions arose that Samsung affiliate C&T paid for the interior construction costs of Lee's home. Investigations are ongoing.

After analyzing the confiscated data, police plan to summon officials of the firm involved in processing construction expenses. The amount of embezzled funds is estimated to exceed 1 billion won ($866,325), but police did not provide an exact figure.

"We are conducting an investigation based on allegations that (Cho) used hotel construction funds to pay the construction fees of his private home, which he should have paid," police said.

Korean Air said, "We will cooperate with the investigation and are in the process of conducting internal fact checking."

Work on the Grand Hyatt Incheon began in January 2012 and was completed in 30 months.

With 522 rooms in its east tower and 500 in its west, it is among the largest Hyatt hotels outside the U.S.
Amid a broader reorganization of its sales structure, Microsoft on Thursday confirmed plans to cut thousands of jobs around the world.

Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners, a company spokesman said.

While Microsoft has yet to announce an official figure, the company is reportedly ready to ax up to 10% of its global workforce -- or around 5,000 employees.

advertisement advertisement

The bloodletting -- which has been rumored for days -- is part of an effort to restructure the software giants sales organization.

Per its restructuring, Microsoft is expected to concentrate more on its Azure cloud service and small-to-medium-size business clients.

The shift is a no-brainer, considering the recent success the company has had selling its cloud computing services.

During its fiscal third quarter, Microsofts commercial cloud annualized revenue run rate soared to more than $15.2 billion, which helped boost quarterly profits by nearly30%.

Microsoft is in the process of notifying employees that their jobs are under consideration, or that their positions will be eliminated, the spokesman said.

News of the layoffs comes days after the surfacing of an internal memo, which alluded to major adjustments to Microsofts consumer and commercial businesses.

If executed property, Microsoft executives predicted in the memo that a restructuring could translate into a $4.5 trillion market opportunity.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, July 7, 2017

A California online privacy bill that would limit broadband providers' ability to serve ads to subscribers based on their web-browsing history advanced this week, but still appears to face an uphill battle.

On Thursday, the state legislature Rules Committee referred the bill to three separate committees -- Business, Professions and Economic Development; Judiciary; and Energy, Utilities and Communications. All of those committees must clear the measure before it can move on to the Assembly and Senate. If that doesn't happen in the next two weeks, the measure will likely die -- at least for this year.

The bill, introduced June 19 by State Assemblyman Ed Chau, aims to restore the Federal Communications Commission's nationwide broadband privacy rules. Those rules -- repealed by Congress earlier this year -- also required broadband providers to obtain subscribers' explicit consent before using their online browsing history for behavioral advertising.

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Chau's bill, which is backed by digital rights groups, has been endorsed by several California newspapers, including the San Diego Union Tribune and Press Democrat. But broadband companies and business groups oppose the measure.

A large majority of the public appeared to support the FCC's regulations. An April survey by Huffington Post and YouGov showed that more than 70% of Republicans and Democrats wanted Trump to veto the repeal.

Privacy advocates argue that broadband providers should obtain people's explicit permission before tracking them for ad purposes. Among other reasons, advocates point out that Internet service providers are uniquely positioned to capture comprehensive data about subscribers, because only ISPs have access to all unencrypted sites visited by customers.

The Association of National Advertisers -- along with broadband providers and Google -- opposed the FCC's scrapped privacy regulations. Opponents have said that all companies, including broadband providers, should be able to collect and use most Web browsing data on an opt-out basis. (Currently, many online ad companies allow allow consumers to opt out of receiving targeted ads, but require opt-in consent before serving ads based on a narrow category of "sensitive" data -- like financial account numbers, or health information.)

At least 21 states reportedly are now considering passing their own broadband privacy laws. On the federal level, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), who spearheaded the Congressional repeal of the FCC's rules, recently introduced a law that would require all Web companies (including search engines and social networking services) to obtain users' opt-in consent before serving them ads based on their Web-surfing history.
Best Buy Co., Inc. retails technology products in the United States and Canada. The company operates in two segments, Domestic and International. Its stores provide computing products, such as desktops, notebooks, and peripherals; mobile phones comprising related mobile network carrier commissions; networking products; tablets covering e-readers; smartwatches; and consumer electronics consisting of digital imaging, health and fitness, home theater, portable audio comprising headphones and portable speakers, and smart home products. The company's stores also offer appliances, such as dishwashers, laundry, ovens, refrigerators, blenders, coffee makers, and vacuums; entertainment products consisting of drones, peripherals, movies, music, and toys, as well as gaming hardware and software, and virtual reality and other software products; and other products, such as baby, food and beverage, luggage, outdoor living, and sporting goods. In addition, it provides consultation, delivery, design, health-related, installation, memberships, repair, set-up, technical support, and warranty-related services. The company offers its products through stores and websites under the Best Buy, Best Buy Ads, Best Buy Business, Best Buy Health, CST, Current Health, Geek Squad, Lively, Magnolia, Best Buy Mobile, Pacific Kitchen, Home, and Yardbird, as well as domain names bestbuy.com, currenthealth.com, lively.com, yardbird.com, and bestbuy.ca. As of January 30, 2022, it had 1,144 stores. The company was formerly known as Sound of Music, Inc. The company was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota.
Brookfield Asset Management is an alternative asset manager and REIT/Real Estate Investment Manager firm focuses on real estate, renewable power, infrastructure and venture capital and private equity assets. It manages a range of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients. It typically makes investments in sizeable, premier assets across geographies and asset classes. It invests both its own capital as well as capital from other investors. Within private equity and venture capital, it focuses on acquisition, early ventures, control buyouts and financially distressed, buyouts and corporate carve-outs, recapitalizations, convertible, senior and mezzanine financings, operational and capital structure restructuring, strategic re-direction, turnaround, and under-performing midmarket companies. It invests in both public debt and equity markets. It invests in private equity sectors with focus on Business Services include infrastructure, healthcare, road fuel distribution and marketing, construction and real estate; Industrials include manufacturers of automotive batteries, graphite electrodes, returnable plastic packaging, and sanitation management and development; and Residential/ infrastructure services. It targets companies which likely possess underlying real assets, primarily in sectors such as industrial products, building materials, metals, mining, homebuilding, oil and gas, paper and packaging, manufacturing and forest product sectors. It invests globally with focus on North America including Brazil, the United States, Canada; Europe; and Australia; and Asia-Pacific. The firm considers equity investments in the range of $2 million to $500 million. It has a four-year investment period and a 10-year term with two one-year extensions. The firm prefers to take minority stake and majority stake. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. was founded in 1997 and based in Toronto, Canada with additional offices across Northern America; South America; Europe; Middle East and Asia.
The following companies are subsidiares of Ecolab: AO Ecolab, Abednego Environmental Services, Abednego Environmental Services LLC, Abednego Mexico Holdings LLC, Abednego de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Alcide Corp., Anios America S.A., Anios Diffusion SAS, Anios Manufacturing SAS, Aqua Environmental Limited, Bioquell, Bioquell Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Bioquell Global Logistics (Ireland) Ltd., Bioquell Holding SAS, Bioquell Inc., Bioquell Limited, Bioquell SAS, Bioquell Technology (Shenzhen) Ltd., Bioquell Technology Canada Ltd., Bioquell UK Limited, Bro-Tech Limited, CALGON LLC, CID LINES NV, CID Lines, CID Lines Beijing Animal Hygiene Co Ltd., CID Lines France Sarl, CID Lines Iberica SL, CID Lines LLC, CID Lines Mexico S.A. DE C.V., CID Lines R&D NV, CID Lines Sp. z o. o., CORPAK MedSystems, Cascade Water Services, Champion Technologies, Chamtech L.L.C., Chemlawn, Chemstar Corporation, Cirlam BVBA, Copal Holding NV, Copal Invest NV, Cymru Holdings Limited, DERYPOL SA, DMD, E&M Bio-Chemicals LLC, ECOLAB NL 10 B.V., ECOLAB PEST FRANCE SAS, EPN Water Col Ltd., Ecolab (Antigua) Ltd., Ecolab (Aruba) N.V., Ecolab (Barbados) Limited, Ecolab (China) Investment Co. Ltd, Ecolab (Fiji) Pty Limited, Ecolab (GZ) Chemicals Limited, Ecolab (Guam) LLC, Ecolab (Proprietary) Limited, Ecolab (Schweiz) GmbH, Ecolab (St. Lucia) Limited, Ecolab (Taicang) Technology Co. Ltd., Ecolab (Trinidad and Tobago) Unlimited, Ecolab (U.K.) Holdings Limited, Ecolab A.E.B.E., Ecolab AB, Ecolab AU2 Pty Ltd, Ecolab Acquisition LLC, Ecolab ApS, Ecolab Argentina S.R.L., Ecolab Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Ecolab B.V., Ecolab Bahrain S.P.C., Ecolab CDN 2 Co., Ecolab CDN 4 ULC, Ecolab CH 1 GmbH, Ecolab CH 2 GmbH, Ecolab CH 3 GmbH in Liquidation, Ecolab CH 6 GmbH, Ecolab Chemicals Limited, Ecolab Co. Compagnie Ecolab, Ecolab Colombia S. A., Ecolab DE 1 GmbH, Ecolab Deutschland GmbH, Ecolab Digital Center Private Limited, Ecolab EOOD, Ecolab East Africa (Kenya) Limited, Ecolab East Africa (Tanzania) Limited, Ecolab East Africa (Uganda) Limited, Ecolab Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Ecolab Engineering GmbH, Ecolab Europe GmbH, Ecolab Export GmbH, Ecolab FR 1 SAS, Ecolab FR 4 SAS, Ecolab Finance Company Designated Activity Company, Ecolab Food Safety & Hygiene Solutions Private Limited, Ecolab G.K., Ecolab Global Business Services LLC, Ecolab GmbH, Ecolab Gulf FZE, Ecolab HK 1 Limited, Ecolab HK 2 Limited, Ecolab Hispano-Portuguesa S.L., Ecolab Holding Italy S.r.l., Ecolab Holdings (Europe) LLC, Ecolab Holdings Inc., Ecolab Holdings Mexico S. de R. L. de C. V., Ecolab Hygiene Kft., Ecolab Hygiene d.o.o., Ecolab International SDN BHD, Ecolab Israel Holdings LLC, Ecolab JVZ Limited, Ecolab Korea Ltd., Ecolab LLC, Ecolab LUX & Co Holdings S.C.A., Ecolab LUX 1 Sarl, Ecolab LUX 2 Sarl, Ecolab LUX 4 Sarl, Ecolab LUX 7 Sarl, Ecolab LUX Sarl, Ecolab Limited, Ecolab Ltd., Ecolab Lux 10 Sarl, Ecolab Lux 12 SCA, Ecolab Lux 13 Sarl, Ecolab Lux 14 Sarl, Ecolab Lux 15 Sarl, Ecolab Lux 16 Sarl, Ecolab Lux 17 Sarl, Ecolab Lux 9 Sarl, Ecolab Lux Partner LLC, Ecolab MT Holdings LLC, Ecolab MT Limited, Ecolab Malta 1 Limited, Ecolab Malta 2 Limited, Ecolab Malta GPS, Ecolab Manufacturing IE Limited, Ecolab Manufacturing Inc., Ecolab Manufacturing UK Limited, Ecolab Maroc Societe a Responsabilite Limitee, Ecolab NL 11 B.V., Ecolab NL 15 BV, Ecolab NL 16 B.V., Ecolab NL 23 B.V., Ecolab NL 3 BV, Ecolab Name Holding Limited, Ecolab New Zealand, Ecolab Peru Holdings S.R.L., Ecolab Pest Deutschland GmbH, Ecolab Philippines Inc., Ecolab Production Belgium B.V., Ecolab Production France SAS, Ecolab Production Italy Srl, Ecolab Production LLC, Ecolab Production Netherlands B.V., Ecolab Production Poland sp. z o.o., Ecolab Pte. Ltd., Ecolab Pty Ltd., Ecolab Quimica Ltda., Ecolab S. de R.L. de C.V., Ecolab S.A., Ecolab S.A. de C.V., Ecolab SAS, Ecolab SIA, Ecolab SNC, Ecolab SRL, Ecolab Sdn Bhd, Ecolab Services Argentina S.R.L., Ecolab Services Malaysia SDN. BHD., Ecolab Services Poland Sp. z o, Ecolab Sociedad Anonima, Ecolab Sp. z o, Ecolab Spain Services S.L.U., Ecolab Temizleme Sistemleri Limited Sirketi, Ecolab U.S. 2 Inc., Ecolab U.S. 6 LLC, Ecolab U.S. 7 LLC, Ecolab US 1 GP, Ecolab USA Inc., Ecolab Viet Nam Company Limited, Ecolab Water Holding LImited, Ecolab a.s., Ecolab d.o.o., Ecolab s.r.l., Ecolab s.r.o., Ecolab y Compania Colectiva de Responsabilidad Limitada, Ecolab-Importacao E. Exportacao Limitada, Ecolabone B.V., Ecolabtwo B.V., Endoclear Equipamentos Medicos Hospitalares Ltda., Enviroflo Engineering Limited, Food Protection Services, GCS Service, Gallay Medical & Scientific Pty Ltd, Gallay Medical & Scientific Pty Ltd., GallayTrac Pty. Ltd., Georgia-Pacific - Paper Chemicals Business, Gibson Chemical Industries, Green Harbour Mainland Holdings Ltd, Henkel-Ecolab, Hicopla SL, Holchem Laboratories, Huntington Laboratories, Hydenet SAS, INTERNATIONAL WATER CONSULTANT B.V., Immobiliare R.E.O.P.A. SRL, Instrunet Hospital SLU, Jianghai Environmental Protection Co., Jianghai Environmental Protection Co. Ltd., KATAYAMA NALCO INC., Kay BV, Kay Chemical Company, LHS (UK) Limited, Laboratoires Anios, Laboratoires Anios S.A.S., Laboratoires Anios-Distribution SAS, Les Produits Chimiques ERPAC Inc., Lobster Ink, Lobster Ink Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Lobster International S.A., MOBOTEC AB LLC, Master Chemicals OOO, Meratech Rus Group LLC, Microtek Dominicana S.A., Microtek Italy S.R.L., Microtek Medical B.V., Microtek Medical Holdings, Microtek Medical Holdings Inc., Microtek Medical Inc., Microtek Medical Malta Holding Limited, Microtek Medical Malta Limited, Midland Research Laboratories, NALCO (SHANGHAI) TRADING CO. LTD., NALCO AB, NALCO ACQUISITION ONE, NALCO ACQUISITION TWO LIMITED, NALCO AFRICA (PTY.) LTD., NALCO ASIA HOLDING COMPANY PTE. LTD., NALCO BELGIUM B.V., NALCO CHINA HOLDINGS LLC, NALCO COMPANY OOO, NALCO DANMARK APS, NALCO DE MEXICO S. de R. L. de C.V., NALCO DELAWARE COMPANY, NALCO DEUTSCHLAND GMBH, NALCO DUTCH HOLDINGS B.V., NALCO EGYPT LTD., NALCO EGYPT TRADING, NALCO ESPANOLA MANUFACTURING S.L.U., NALCO ESPANOLA S.L., NALCO EUROPE B.V., NALCO FINLAND MANUFACTURING OY, NALCO FINLAND OY, NALCO FRANCE SAS, NALCO FRANCE SNC, NALCO GLOBAL HOLDINGS B.V., NALCO GLOBAL HOLDINGS LLC, NALCO HOLDING B.V., NALCO HOLDING COMPANY, NALCO HOLDINGS G.m.b.H., NALCO HOLDINGS UK LIMITED, NALCO HONG KONG LIMITED, NALCO INDUSTRIAL OUTSOURCING COMPANY, NALCO INDUSTRIAL SERVICES (NANJING) CO. LTD., NALCO INDUSTRIAL SERVICES (SUZHOU) CO. LTD., NALCO INDUSTRIAL SERVICES (THAILAND) CO. LTD., NALCO INDUSTRIAL SERVICES CHILE LIMITADA, NALCO INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS B.V., NALCO INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LLC, NALCO INVESTMENTS U.K. LIMITED, NALCO ISRAEL INDUSTRIAL SERVICES LTD, NALCO ITALIANA HOLDINGS S.R.L., NALCO ITALIANA MANUFACTURING S.R.L., NALCO ITALIANA SrL, NALCO KOREA LIMITED, NALCO LIMITED, NALCO MANUFACTURING BETEILIGUNGS GMBH, NALCO MANUFACTURING LTD., NALCO NETHERLANDS B.V., NALCO OSTERREICH Ges m.b.H., NALCO OVERSEAS HOLDING B.V., NALCO PAKISTAN (PRIVATE) LIMITED, NALCO PHILIPPINES INC., NALCO PORTUGUESA (QUIMICA INDUSTRIAL) UNIPESSOAL LDA, NALCO PWS INC., NALCO SAUDI CO. LTD., NALCO TAIWAN CO. LTD., NALCO TWO INC., NALCO U.S. HOLDINGS LLC, NALCO UNIVERSAL HOLDINGS BV, NALCO WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS LLC, NALTECH INC., NANOSPECIALTIES LLC, NLC PROCESS AND WATER SERVICES SARL, Nalco (BN) SDN BHD, Nalco (China) Environmental Solution Co. Ltd., Nalco Anadolu Kimya Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Nalco Canada ULC, Nalco Company LLC (1), Nalco Contract Operations LLC, Nalco Deutschland Manufacturing GmbH, Nalco Japan G.K., Nalco Libya, Nalco Middle East FZE, Nalco Polska Sp. z o. o., Nalco Production LLC, Nalco Real Estate GmbH, Nalco Schweiz GmbH, Nalco US 1 LLC, Nalco Wastewater Contract Operations Inc., Nalco Water India Private Limited, Nalco Water Pretreatment Solutions LLC, Nalco Worldwide Holdings S.a.r.l./B.V., National Wiper Alliance Inc., Nigiko, Nuova Farmec S.r.l., Oksa Kimya Sanayi A.S., Oy Ecolab AB, PT Ecolab International Indonesia, PT Ecolab Technologies and Services, Purate business - AkzoNobel, Purolite, Purolite (China) Co. Ltd., Purolite (Int.) Ltd, Purolite (Pty) Ltd, Purolite AG, Purolite GmbH, Purolite Ileri Kimyasal Ticaret Ltd, Purolite KK, Purolite LLC, Purolite Ltd, Purolite NZ Limited, Purolite Private Limited, Purolite Pte. Ltd., Purolite Pty Ltd, Purolite S. de R.L. de C.V., Purolite SAS, Purolite SRL, Purolite do Brasil Ltda, Purolite s.r.o., Purolite sp. z o.o., Purolite C Corporation, QazSorbent LLP, Quantum Technical Services LLC, Quimicas Ecolab S.A. de C.V., Quimiproductos S.A. de C.V, RP Adam Ltd, Research Fumigation Co., Royal Pest Solutions, Shield Holdings Limited, Shield Medicare Limited, Soluscope International Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Soluscope SAS, Swisher Hygiene, TechTex Holdings Limited, Technical Textile Services Limited, Terminix, Ultrafab, VanBaele Hygiene AG, Wabasha Leasing LLC, Zhe Jiang Purosoft Home Appliances Sale Co Ltd, and vanBaerle Hygiene AG.

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Corning Incorporated engages in display technologies, optical communications, environmental technologies, specialty materials, and life sciences businesses worldwide. The company's Display Technologies segment offers glass substrates for liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting diodes used in televisions, notebook computers, desktop monitors, tablets, and handheld devices. Its Optical Communications segment provides optical fibers and cables; and hardware and equipment products, including cable assemblies, fiber optic hardware and connectors, optical components and couplers, closures, network interface devices, and other accessories. This segment also offers its products to businesses, governments, and individuals. Its Specialty Materials segment manufactures products that provide material formulations for glass, glass ceramics, crystals, precision metrology instruments, software; as well as ultra-thin and ultra-flat glass wafers, substrates, tinted sunglasses, and radiation shielding products. This segment serves various industries, including mobile consumer electronics, semiconductor equipment optics and consumables; aerospace and defense optics; radiation shielding products, sunglasses, and telecommunications components. The company's Environmental Technologies segment offers ceramic substrates and filter products for emissions control in mobile, gasoline, and diesel applications. The company's Life Sciences segment offers laboratory products comprising consumables, such as plastic vessels, liquid handling plastics, specialty surfaces, cell culture media, and serum, as well as general labware and equipment under the Corning, Falcon, Pyrex, and Axygen brands. The company was formerly known as Corning Glass Works and changed its name to Corning Incorporated in April 1989. Corning Incorporated was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Corning, New York.
Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers. It also offers investment and wealth advisory services; digital investing services; financial services and solutions; and investment management, and trust and custody services. In addition, the company provides life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, and annuity products; creditor and travel insurance to bank customers; and reinsurance solutions. Further, it offers client's debt and equity capital-raising services, as well as loan origination and syndication, and treasury management; strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations, as well as valuation and fairness opinions; and trade finance, risk mitigation, and other operating services. Additionally, the company provides research and access to markets for institutional, corporate, and retail clients; trading solutions that include debt, foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, equity, securitization and commodities; new product development and origination services, as well as risk management advice and services to hedge against fluctuations; and funding and liquidity management services to its clients. It operates through approximately 900 bank branches and 3,300 automated banking machines in Canada and the United States. Bank of Montreal was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
The following companies are subsidiares of Newmont: AC40689 Limited, Administradora de Negocios Mineros S.A. de C.V., Australian Capital Territory, Battle Mountain Resources Inc., Cayman Pampas Ltd., Con Exploration Ltd., Datawave Sciences Inc., Dawn Mining Company LLC, ELLC Grazing Membership LLC, EMH (BVI) Inc., Elko Land and Livestock Company, Empresa Minera Maria SRL, Fronteer Development (USA) LLC, Fronteer Development LLC, Fronteer Royalty LLC, GCGC LLC, GMK Investments Pty Ltd, Galore Creek Mining Corporation, Galore Creek Partnership, Glamis Rand Mining Company, Gold S.p.A., Goldcorp (Barbados) Inc., Goldcorp America Holdings Inc., Goldcorp Aureus Inc., Goldcorp Aurum Argentum Inc., Goldcorp Canada Ltd., Goldcorp Capital Corporation, Goldcorp Exeter Ltd., Goldcorp Faja de Plata S.A. de C.V., Goldcorp General Holdings Ltd., Goldcorp Global Services Inc., Goldcorp Holdings Europe B.V., Goldcorp Holdings GmbH, Goldcorp Inc., Goldcorp Insurance Company Inc., Goldcorp Internacional S.A. de C.V., Goldcorp Kaminak Ltd., Goldcorp Latin America Finance Limited, Goldcorp MC Holding S.p.A., Goldcorp Penasquito S.A. de C.V., Goldcorp Porcupine Nominee Ltd., Goldcorp Red Lake Nominee Ltd., Goldcorp Stratum Inc., Goldcorp Tesoro Inc., Goldcorp Trading GmbH, Goldcorp USA Holdings Ltd., Goldcorp USA Inc., Goldcorp USA Services Inc., Goldfields Power Pty Ltd, Hemlo Gold Mines (Ghana) Limited, Holdco S.p.A., Honduras Holdings Ltd., Hospah Holdings Company, Idarado Mining Company, International Mineral Finance S.AR.L., MMC Acquisition Limited, Mexicana Resources Inc., Minera Alumbrera Ltd., Minera BMG, Minera Choluteca S.A. de C.V., Minera Faja de Plata S.A. de C.V., Minera Los Tapados S.A., Minera Newmont (Chile) Limitada, Minera Penasquito S.A. de C.V., Minera Yanacocha S.R.L., Miramar Gold Corporation, Miramar HBG Inc., Miramar Northern Mining Ltd., Montana Exploradora de Guatemala S.A. de C.V., Moydow Limited, Musto Explorations (Bermuda) Ltd., N.I. Limited, NP Kalgoorlie Pty Ltd, NVL (USA) Limited, NVL Haiti Limited S.A., NVL PNG Limited, NVL Solomon Islands Limited, Nevada Eagle Resources LLC, Nevada Gold Mines LLC, New Verde Mines LLC, Newmont (Guyana) Incorporated, Newmont AP Power Pty Ltd, Newmont Australia Investment Limited, Newmont Boddington Pty Ltd, Newmont Bolivia Limited, Newmont CC&V Mining Corporation, Newmont Canada Corporation, Newmont Canada Holdings ULC, Newmont Capital Limited, Newmont Capital Pty Ltd, Newmont Colombia S.A.S., Newmont Euronimba B.V., Newmont FH B.V., Newmont GTR LLC, Newmont Galore Creek Holdings Corporation, Newmont Ghana Gold Limited, Newmont Gold Company, Newmont Gold Pty Ltd, Newmont Goldcorp Australia Pty Ltd, Newmont Goldcorp Boddington Pty Ltd, Newmont Goldcorp Exploration Pty Ltd, Newmont Goldcorp Integrated Services Inc., Newmont Goldcorp Red Lake Holdings Ltd., Newmont Goldcorp Services Pty Ltd, Newmont Goldcorp Tanami Pty Ltd, Newmont Golden Ridge Limited, Newmont Holdings ULC, Newmont Indonesia Investment Limited, Newmont Indonesia LLC, Newmont International Exploration Pty Ltd, Newmont International Group BV, Newmont International Services Limited, Newmont Investment Holdings LLC, Newmont Landco Pty Ltd, Newmont Latin America Limited, Newmont McCoy Cove Limited, Newmont Mineral Holdings B.V., Newmont Mines Limited, Newmont Mining Finance Pty Ltd, Newmont Mining Holdings Pty Ltd, Newmont NGL Holdings Pty Ltd, Newmont Nevada Energy Investment LLC, Newmont North America Exploration Limited, Newmont Nusa Tenggara Holdings B.V., Newmont Overseas Exploration Limited, Newmont Pacific Energy Pty Ltd, Newmont Peru Limited, Newmont Power Pty Ltd, Newmont Realty Company, Newmont Second Capital Corporation, Newmont Suriname LLC, Newmont Technologies Limited, Newmont USA Limited, Newmont Ventures Limited, Newmont Woodcutters Pty Ltd, Newmont Yandal Operations Pty Ltd, Newmont de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Normandy Company (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Normandy Overseas Holding Company Sdn Bhd, Nusa Tenggara Partnership B.V., Orcana Resources Inc., Oroplata S.A., PT Newmont Minahasa Raya, Pequop Exploration LLC, Peridot S.A., Pittston Nevada Gold Company Ltd., Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation, Red Lake Gold Mine Services Ltd., Resurrection Mining Company, Saddleback Investments Pty Ltd, San Juan Basin Holdings Company, Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corporation, Sermineros de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Sermineros de Mexico S.A. de C.V. <0.0010% Sermineros Zacatecas S.A. de C.V., Sociedad Contractual Minera El Morro, Suriname Gold Project CV, Takari Mining SAS, Talapoosa Mining Inc., The LeClair Consolidated Mines Company, The Matoa Gold Mining Company, US Mineral Company Inc., Vol Mines Limited, and West Pequop Project LLC.

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A father is a source! He was designed to be a spiritual, emotional and material provider for his family. He was designed by the Almighty to be a reflection of the presence of God upon the earth: a governor. Masculinity is a trait of fathers and was therefore intended to be a spiritual trait that portrays the workings of the Spirit of God in the hearts of males.

Only a member of the male species can be a father. When women try to do this, they ultimately degrade and pervert the institution of motherhood and contribute to another generation of young men that are clueless about manhood and fatherhood. This is a generational curse among many in the African-American, African-Canadian, Caribbean and Continental African communities today. You guessed it! This is an article that seeks to explore the workings of the spirit of folly and how it contributes to the current state of black fatherhood.

Man as Head versus the folly of woman as head

Contrary to the popular theme of women being heads in black households, it is written, But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God (1 Corinthians 11:3 KJV). What qualifies a man to be head of a woman and the rightful governor of his children in their youth? The answer is simple: it is the headship of Christ, otherwise known in Hebrew as Mashiach.

A woman was never designed to lead a man. This is why the hard-headed, stubborn kind that we typically find in Western societies today, women who claim to be both father and mother in their households, such women demonstrate certain effects on males as they mature. Either a young male will become effeminate and emasculated through such a dominating feminine presence, or he will become a man as he rebels against a mother who refuses to submit to male headship.

In a heathen culture such as Western culture, it is common to see the lines between genders being blurred. This is very much the situation in numerous black cultures; this is why we are seeing men become women and women becoming men. And as women lead the household, so do the young men become very foolish to the extent that the next generation of fathers is plagued by the spirit of folly and effeminacy.

Sex, drugs and hip-hop and their roles in folly-ridden Fatherhood

As a preacher, I have had the opportunity to watch black women of different backgrounds do life and motherhood. As I have said before, the view is very dismal from where I am looking. Black women of the 80s and 90s generation for example, are seriously dysfunctional due to the love of sex, drugs and hip-hop, among other negative influences that bear upon how they raise children.

From observing the type of motherhood that is prevalent in black culture, we are able to get a view of why black peoples are typically undersupplied with righteous and bold leaders of the caliber of Yeshua ha Mashiach (Jesus Christ). Mothers who are whores and listen to folly-ridden musiclike much of todays hip-hopshow little moral authority when it comes to counseling their young males about such subjects. The result is that such women become the counselors of heathenism in the hearts of young men.

Just take the example of the numerous kings of ancient Yisraelwho just happen to be the forebears of some of the black peoples of todayand one may learn more about the former cycle of generational curses. It is written, Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Athaliah the daughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly (2 Chronicles 22:2-3 KJV).

Mothers counsel their young to do either wickedly or righteously. During the times of the ancient Yisraelite kings, a generational curse was perpetuated in leadership as a result of mothers teaching folly in the family unit. Hence the word of God repeatedly tells us about kings [whose mothers were their counselors] to do wickedly. And so it is today that we are witnessing a similar cycle being perpetuated among black peoples.

Fatherhood is not only about Material Provision!

In the mind of the average woman today, the primary role of a fatherand many men foolishly accept thisis to provide materially for his children and a wife. Stupidly, such wisdom fails to acknowledge a primary truth about life. It is written, It is the spirit that quickeneth [makes alive]; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (Yochanan/John 6:63 KJV). The most important aspect of life is the spirit. Therefore a fathers primary role is to speak life and wisdom into his children and not just to give them food and shelter.

In a materialistic culture, because many women hate righteous headship and do not want their husbands to speak truth into their hearts, we see men settling on being sperm and food providers. It takes a Godly man to speak sense and wisdom into his wifes mind and into the hearts of his children. Provision, as I like to say it, requires a vision! A fathers job must be carried out by engaging in spiritual, emotional and material provision for his wife and children. This requires the vision of God.

Conclusion: Without God, Fatherhood is perverted and hellish

As the Word of God tells us that the man is the head of the woman, society must understand that feminism is by default a heathen and destructive practice. The role of future fathers is negatively affected by mothers who refuse righteous male headship. Next, it should be stated that since Christ is the head of man, every father who performs his role without Christs instruction through the Holy Spirit, is complicating his own life. There is a need for men to be just like Christ in character, in order for men to have a distinction in fatherhood. Amen!!
Accra, July 7, GNA - Access to cocoa inputs for farmers is expected to scale up with the introduction of the new Cocoa Input Policy soon to be implemented.

The policy would ensure Ghanaian cocoa farmers get requisite rations of cocoa inputs at subsidised prices on the market.

Mr William Agyapong Quaitoo, the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, speaking at the Ghana Cocoa Inputs Workshop on Friday, said the policy where free inputs had benefitted a section of farmers to the neglect of others, had not yielded desired results and was thus unsustainable.

The workshop, hosted by Ghana Cocoa Board with the support of the World Cocoa Foundation and Solidaridad, was to deliberate and suggest ways to enhance the policy for the growth of the cocoa sector and to increase production of the crop to the government's target of one million tonnes in 2020.

He explained that the current trend could be changed if the inputs were available and accessible to all farmers on the open market at subsidised prices, putting in place a credit system to support farmers secure the full complement of the recommended inputs.

'Let us develop the capacity of the producer to secure credit at a reasonable cost to support his farming business. Input credit at reasonable cost can be possible if the creditor believes the producer has the capacity to use the credit to create wealth.

'The farmers can invest for profitable returns if we help them to acquire the requisite managerial and leadership skills particularly when government has decided on key innovative strategies such as artificial polling trip and solar irrigation,' he said.

He said the NPP government was committed to 'reverse the dwindling fortunes of cocoa farming and return to economic levels of productivity, adding they would partner with stakeholders to develop the best workable policy document for inputs delivery and effective organisation of cocoa farmers.

Mr Quaitoo noted that climate change caused by industrialisation and unsustainable agricultural practices had altered the dynamics of the farming seasons.

This, he said, coupled with the effects of pests and diseases had resulted in a consistent decline of considerable volumes of cocoa production.

He said the downward direction of both production and price of cocoa globally had placed the sustainability of the cocoa industry under 'serious threat'.

Mr Vincent Frimpong Manu, the Country Director of World Cocoa Foundation, embraced government's new cocoa inputs policy, saying 'it would create an enabling environment to improve farmers' access to inputs in and in right quantities and in a more cost effective way'.

He said as the convener in the private sector value chain, they were committed to working with the Ghana Cocoa Board and other stakeholders to achieve a more sustainable cocoa sector in Ghana.

Mr Manu said they had been in partnership with the government on various projects and programmes including the African Cocoa Initiative.

He added that to address environmental challenges in the cocoa sector, they were implementing a Climate Smart Cocoa Programme in the West African sub-region and providing technical support to COCOBOD to help develop a Climate Smart Cocoa standard for Ghana.

He noted that the WCF had engaged in several efforts including investment in education in cocoa communities to reduce child labour in those areas and respond to land tenure challenges in the cocoa sector.

Mr Manu urged all stakeholders in the cocoa sector to take keen interest in the new policy as its implementation was colossal and government alone could not shoulder.

Mr Ron Strikker, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Ghana, lauded government's commitment to building a strong agricultural sector adding that there was the need to support cocoa farmers to become attractive for private sector investment and to be able to access credit on their own terms.

Mr Emmanuel Opoku, Executive Director Cocoa Health and Extension Division, said there was the need for stakeholders to find a suitable and better way of financing the inputs. GNA
Accra, July 7, GNA - Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has urged Ghanaians in the Diaspora to invest in the national economy to accelerate national growth.

He said it was a well-known fact that the Ghanaian Diaspora possessed tremendous assets, knowledge, skills and talents.

He, therefore, urged them to invest these in the macro, small and medium enterprises which would be an effective way of creating jobs and generating income in the local community.

He said Ghana's socio-economic development and Diaspora remittances were inextricably linked and, thus, called on them to support the efforts of government to achieve the objectives of the United Nations' Agenda 2030 of Sustainable Development Goals to reduce extreme poverty and improve the standards of living of Ghanaians.

Vice President Bawumia said this in a speech read on his behalf by Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, the Minister of Information, at the closing ceremony of the 2017 Ghana Diaspora Homecoming Summit in Accra on Friday.

The three-day event was held on the theme: ''Development, Opportunity, Value: Welcome Home'', which attracted Ghanaians in the Diaspora to access the opportunities in the economy.

The summit served as an avenue for mobilising and harnessing the resources and skills of Ghanaian Diasporan Community to accelerate economic growth.

There were exhibitions by corporate entities and state institutions who demonstrated their support for the objectives of the summit aimed at showcasing the opportunities and business prospects in the country.

The Vice President noted that using Diasporan assistance was yet to be fully explored and indicated that if the Ghanaians in the Diaspora invested in the macro-economy it would strengthen the government policy for their mutual benefits.

He acknowledged the contribution of Ghanaians living abroad saying 'you contributed significantly through remittances to your families at home that enhanced their economic life span.'

''Your remittances increased household incomes and paid some basic needs such as food, education, housing and medical services and helped to improve the standards of living,'' he explained.

He said it was part of the policy of the government to work hard through the ''One district, One Factory'' imitative aimed at industrialising the national economy.

He noted that the nation's economic growth had been largely urban-based leaving behind rural economy and, thus, compelling rural-urban migration and believed that the policy would help to evenly develop the economy and accelerate growth.

''The One district, One Factory is our attempt to catalyst broad-based and inclusive economy,'' he noted.

Vice President Bawumia said the government would ensure that the cumbersome procedures for setting up businesses and enterprises were reduced to the barest minimum to enhance the country's competitiveness.

''In keeping with our promise to ensure that Ghanaians living abroad play positive roles in the socio-economic and political development of our country, Ghana's diplomatic missions abroad are serving as focal points for running Ghanaian experts and attracting Ghanaian investors into the industrial sector, 'he explained.

He urged Ghanaians abroad to serve as avenues for attracting trade and tourism promotion, saying return home as investors or trade delegation from your countries of residence.

''If we direct our energies to these matters, then we will be serving our nation and building a resilient economy,'' he stressed.

Dr Bawumia noted that government was poised to address the issue of transparency and respond to their needs in a timely manner.

'The rationale for establishing the Diasporan Relation Office at the Presidency was to remove barriers that will prevent you from accessing the services of government and state institutions and create a sustainable and long-term relations for our mutual benefit', he said.

GNA

By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA
08.07.2017 LISTEN

Accra, July 7, 2017: The EnvironmentalHealthandSanitationDirectorate of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources would hold its fifth annual National Basic Sanitation Stock Taking Forum (STF) series from Monday July10-14, 2017 in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

The theme for this year'sevent isFive (5) years of Rural Sanitation Model and Strategy (RSMS) implementation in Ghana, learning for scaling up, now and beyond.It is being organized under the followingobjectives:

To create a platform for all stakeholders in the Sanitation sub-sector in Ghana including the Political Leadership, Sector Institutions, Decentralised Structures, Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Development Partners (DPs) to discuss, review and assess progress on the RSMS and agree on a strategy for scaling up.

To share best practices and lessons learnt in the implementation of the Rural Sanitation Model and Strategyby various organizations;

To share best practices and lessons learnt in the implementation of the Urban Sanitation interventions by various organizations;

To learn from other basic sanitation interventions in sanitation marketing, sanitation financing, sanitation Technology, Monitoring and Evaluation, etc on- going in the sector;

To share and learn innovative basic sanitation implementation experiences

Plan appropriate interventions to coordinate and support all basic sanitation activities.

The Forum will focus on the following key thematic areas; Increasing access to sanitation through Urban Sanitation Programming, Faecal Sludge management and Rural Sanitation Programming; Monitoring and Evaluation; Sanitation Marketing; Sanitation Financing; Sanitation Technology; Coordination in basic sanitation implementation and Special events (CLTS clinic).

The National Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) STF series particularly seeks to create a platform for the Private sector, Academia/research Institutions, Development Partners, MMDAs and Central Government actors to deliberate on CLTS. The scope for the fifthSFT has, however, been broadened to cover basic sanitation concerns in both rural and urban sanitation programmes.

SGND

Tony Tsekpetse Akuamoah

Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate
Warsaw (AFP) - The people of Eritrea have long said their capital Asmara is like no other city in Africa, and on Saturday the UN agreed, designating it a World Heritage site.

The proclamation ends a long-running quest by Eritrean authorities to have the city's unique architecture, which includes an art-deco bowling alley with coloured glass windows and a petrol station built to resemble a soaring aeroplane, recognised by the UN cultural body, UNESCO.

It's also a rare example of positive world recognition for the Horn of Africa nation that is a major source of migrants fleeing across the Mediterranean to Europe due to the country's repressive policies.

"The city's recognition as a heritage site of outstanding universal value fills us with tremendous pride and joy, but also with a profound sense of responsibility and duty," said Hanna Simon, Eritrea's permanent delegate to UNESCO.

The Eritrean capital Asmara boasts a unique petrol station with soaring 18-metre (60-foot) concrete wings which was designed to look like a plane taking off

The decision was taken at a meeting of the World Heritage Committee in the Polish city of Krakow.

A former Italian colony, most of the futuristic designs of the Eritrean capital date back to the rule of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini from 1936 to 1941.

Architects whose designs were unwelcome in conservative European cities found a place in Asmara at a time when about half of the city's population was Italian and the city was known as 'Piccola Roma', or "Little Rome".

While the modernist architecture of other Eritrean cities was destroyed during a decades-long war of liberation from Ethiopia, Asmara's survived and was declared a national monument by the government in 2001, which refers to it as Africa's "City of Dream" (sic).

Once known as "Little Rome", Eritrea's capital Asmara boasts buildings unlike anywhere else in Africa, a legacy of its Italian colonial past when architects were given free reign for structures judged too avant garde back home

But efforts to restore the marble facades and Roman-style pillars of the city's theatres and cinemas have been hampered by a shortage of money and local expertise, city authorities say.
08.07.2017 LISTEN

THE MINISTER of Food and Agriculture of Ghana will be among host of international guests including Heads of States attending this year's Annual Forum of World Coffee Producers taking place in Medellin, Columbia.

Hundreds of participants from accross the globe will converge in the Southern American country to discuss issues bothering on the challenges and prospects of coffee as a major export commodity.

The event, which will take place between 10-12 of July, will see prominent economists, including Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University, address participants on various topics such as Sustainable Development in the Coffee World, Coffee Global Adaptation Plan, Economic Sustainability of the Coffee Producer, Rural Development and Socioeconomic Indicators in the Coffee World, amongst others.

The forum will also tackle the "New Coffee Agenda", a new strategy that seeks to improve the production and marketing of coffee as a global commodity.

Whilst abroad, the Minister will also engage investment partners from across the world, including a trip to Brasilia to negotiate with some Brazilian who have agreed to support the country's agricultural mechanization.

Also attending the forum is the Senior Research Officer at COCOBOD, Mr. Patrick Zeal and Press Secretary to the Minister, Issah Alhassan.
New York, July 7, 2017--A Johannesburg High Court order forbidding a political organization from gathering outside the home of journalists who have reported on corruption, threatening them, or inciting others to harm them is a welcome victory for press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Today's court order came in response to a petition from the South African National Editors' Forum asking for an injunction to stop activists from the Black First Land First (BLF) group from continuing to harass, intimidate, assault, or threaten 11 journalists, editors, and commentators who have alleged corruption, according to media reports.

BLF members on June 29 picketed outside the home of Peter Bruce, editor-at-large for the Tiso Blackstar media group, spray-painted a threatening message on his home, and allegedly assaulted Business Day editor Tim Cohen and political commentator Karima Brown, who were there to express solidarity with their colleague, according to reports .

Members subsequently threatened other journalists with similar protests at their homes and places of worship, and threatened and insulted them on social media, according to reports .

"For democracy to flourish, journalists must be free to operate without attempts to intimidate them with threats and violence," said Angela Quintal, CPJ Africa Program Coordinator.

"Targeting journalists in this way sends a chilling message. Today's decision from the Johannesburg High Court reaffirms that this behavior is illegal and unacceptable."
08.07.2017 LISTEN

Time was when news was easy to define. The term referred to something that had happened; where it happened was made known; and sometimes, how it occurred was also explained. As were its consequences and if possible, why it happened.

Good newsmen and women spent hours assiduously making sure the fullest possible answers were given to all the aspects of the questions surrounding the occurrence.

Not anymore. These days, reporters, news editors and sub-editors and, indeed, editors, do not demonstrate  in some of the output of their news organisations  that they are curious human beings and that they want to answer the questions of their consumers, before the questions are asked.

Some of the unanswered questions relate to technical issues, of course, and can be laid at the door of the general lack of knowledge that journalists tend to display when they cover scientific and technological matters. But journalists have also been ignoring a far more insidious practice  the emergence of views  and often views formed from, or made to represent, distorted facts  as news.

Facebook and Twitter have been fingered as the vehicles most often used for the propagation of such non-news news. Donald Trump, in particular, has extended the phenomenon to cover what he considers the disagreeable output of respectable organisations like CNN and NBC. He often accuses these giants, in the Tweets of his own that have become his main way of communicating with the public, of disseminating fake news. A member of Trumps communications team went as far as to claim that a Trump distortion of events was only his way of presenting alternative facts!

Alternative facts? Something can either be black or white, not alternatively black and white! But because trump is President of the United States, his alternative facts receive a great deal of coverage in the media, and not only in the media that support him. Fortunately, some journalists on The New York Times and the Washington Post have realised how harmful Trumps distortions of fact are, and have started regularly fact-checking most of the important statements made by Trump. They have discovered that Trumps facts are usually outright lies  and despite the high office he holds, they have not hesitated in labelling him a liar.

In our own country, such practices have been detected in such newspapers as The Al Hajj and The Herald  among others.

Such newspapers report with authority about events that could not have taken place, or which, if they took place, could not conceivably have reached the ears of the journalists who write those articles.

Another place in Africa where fake news has made a strong appearance in recent months is South Africa. Observers of the South African scene will be no strangers to the fact that President Jacob Zuma has been reeling from scandal to scandal  relating to his using state funds to build himself a fine palace in his native district, and also, in facilitating the granting of lucrative contracts to an Indian family called the Guptas.

The Guptas appeared on the South African business scene with all the aplomb that can be expected of a bull in a china shop. They have been accused of entering into secret deals with Zuma and some members of Zumas family  to such an extent that some people believe the Guptas have captured the state of South Africa itself!

The nature of this state capture is given variously as making sure that certain Ministers (who stand in the way of the Guptas) are removed from office, while those who would promote or protect the interests of the Guptas are given lucrative portfolios.

That the Guptas intended to make their capture of the South African state permanent was indicated by their readiness to invest large sums of money in entering the media scene in South Africa. (South Africa has very well-established newspapers and electronic media, and it takes a deep pocket to go there and try to compete with these media.) However, the Guptas did not seem to mind  they apparently had too much to protect to worry about the cost of doing so.

In fact, owning their own media was not enough for them  they also tried to penetrate the editorial strongholds of their rivals! To do this, they obtained the secret services of one of the most high-profile public relations firms in Britain, Bell Pottinger. The firm used YouTube videos as well as Facebook and Twitter accounts to malign the opponents of the Guptas, and to paint a picture of the Guptas as concerned individuals who wanted to save South Africa from the vestiges of white monopoly capitalism.

Unfortunately for the Guptas, whistle-blowers leaked a large quantity of emails that described in detail, the modus operandi of the Gupta business concerns. Among these were secret emails describing the methods for mounting a propaganda campaign on behalf of the Guptas  and President Zuma. So damaging has the disclosure of the emails been that Bell and Pottinger have been forced to issue a statement, apologising to the people of South Africa, and announcing that a member of their staff in South Africa had been dismissed and three others suspended.

One South African journalist commented:

UK-based UK-based PR company and Gupta spin doctors, Bell Pottinger, have devastated progress for South Africas efforts in post-democratic race relations. This [is the view] of experts in various fields who said the company strategically used racial tension in South Africa as a platform to push an economic and political agendaBell Pottinger [used] black-ops social media campaigns to distract away from scandals surrounding the Gupta family and President Jacob Zuma. One of these campaigns is the ideology surrounding white monopoly capital.

What a great disservice to South Africa by Bell Pottinger. South Africas is a sensitive society, which must watch its step because the old antagonisms that were expected to vanish in 1994 have not yet done so. What the Guptas have done in fact reminds one of the Muldergate scandal that rocked the apartheid regime in the 1960-70s. It threatens the Zuma presidency right up to its very roots.

By Cameron Duodu
A young caretaker is currently facing trial for allegedly conspiring with others to rob a nurse, who arrived from the United States of America, of $14,000.

The accused Kofi Adonteng Boateng has been arraigned before the Accra Circuit Court for allegedly assisting the armed robbers to steal some jewelries belonging to the complainant.

According to the prosecutor, Inspector K. Adu, the accused committed the act on July 2 at Oyarifa, a suburb of Accra.

Appearing before the court, presided over by Aboagye Tandoh, Kofi denied the charge and was remanded into police custody until July 17 for the hearing of the case.

On June 30, the owner of the house, Dora Somuah asked Kofi to hand over the keys to the victim upon her arrival from the US.

Kofi opened the doors to the various rooms of the apartment and assisted the victim to pack her belongings into them.

In the process, Kofi offered to carry the victim's handbag containing the money and some valuable documents, which she declined.

After the victim moved into the apartment, Kofi took two of the keys to the main door of the apartment and gave the remaining keys to the victim.

At about 2:00am, Kofi used the keys in his possession to open the main door to the victim's apartment to enable three armed robbers, now at large, gain access.

They covered the victim's mouth and asked her to surrender the only handbag.

They threatened her with a metal cutter if she refused to comply.

The armed robbers took the handbag in her room, as well as some jewelry and escaped.

According to the prosecutor, the victim followed the armed robbers and shouted, adding that the nurse saw Kofi from the top of the storey-building on the compound where the armed robbers passed.

The nurse prompted Kofi to assist her to arrest the armed robbers but he stated that since he was unarmed, there was nothing he could do.

A report was made to the Ayimensah Police and Kofi was arrested.

During investigation, the handbag was recovered from the nearby house where the armed robbers escaped, but the money in the bag could not be traced.

By Malgu Seebaway


From left, CODEO National Coordinator, Albert Kofi Arhin, John Larvie and Togbe Adome Drayi II, Advisory Board Members and Dr Kojo Asante, CODEO Secretariat

Government and state agencies have been asked to disband vigilante groups affiliated to the various political parties.

According to the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), government and Ghana Police Service must disband all vigilante groups in Ghana to ensure security.

The call was made in a statement issued by CODEO at a press briefing in Ho recently which was addressed by John Larvie and Togbe Adome Drayi II, CODEO Advisory Board members.

The statement by CODEO was signed by the National Coordinator, Albert Kofi Arhin.

It was supported by stakeholders at a roundtable on party vigilantism in the Volta Region in Ho Last Tuesday.

The event was attended by members of the parties, Civil Society Organization (CSO), Peace Council, Police, Electoral Commission (EC) and other stakeholders.

After the discussions, the stakeholders said that vigilante groups should be disbanded as a matter of urgency and that a law should be passed to criminalise their activities.

The phenomenon has become worrying in recent times since they now attack their opponents, including their paymasters.

CODEO believes that these developments, particularly the post-election incidents, call for drastic measures to save the situation.

With the support of USAID, CODEO initiated a post-election national stakeholder workshop followed by a communique, public engagement of regional stakeholders.

The stakeholders said that countries that have poorly handled the issue of vigilante groups paid dearly for it after the groups transformed into militant groups and terrorists.

To this end, the stakeholders at the event pleaded with government and Ghanaians at large to secure the mandate of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and other top hierarchy of the police and other security agencies to stop political interference.

More so, security personnel and officers of the Electoral Commission were encouraged to be professional and non-partisan in the discharge of their duties.

They called on government to vigorously find ways of creating jobs for the teeming youth to make them productive.

The negative phenomenon of winner takes all must also be eschewed to prevent young people from finding respite in vigilante groups, and the media must show commitment to campaign against political vigilante groups as they are doing against galamsey, they stated.

From Fred Duodu, Ho ( [email protected]ail.com )


The troubles of former Minister of Transport, Dzifa Aku Attivor, are beginning to resurface following a call by colleague opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) member that she should be prosecuted and possibly jailed.

Bismark Tawiah Boateng, the Eastern Regional Chairman of the NDC, says he does not understand why Akufo-Addo's New Patriotic Party (NPP) government is allowing the former minister to walk freely when she has a case to answer in the infamous bus branding saga that sparked heated political debate.

The NDC Chairman told Okay FM in Accra that Madam Attivor needs to be invited by the new government without delay to explain issues surrounding the branding agreement that was reached between the Ministry of Transport and actress Sellasie Ibrahim's Smarttys Management and Productions Ltd for the branding of 116 Metro Mass Transport (MMT) buses at a staggering cost of GH3.6 million.

The branding had become a wasted exercise with the defeat of John Mahama, who apparently wanted to use it to gain electoral advantage as his picture and those of past presidents of Ghana were embossed on the buses, with only his portrait appearing in full colour.

You see some of these things contributed to the partys (NDC) defeat, but nobody paid attention to it, Mr Tawiah Boateng noted.

According to the NDC guru, the NPP government should be bold enough to invite Madam Attivor for questioning and not entertain the fear that the government will be accused of witch-hunting its political opponents.

The Nana Addo government should not tell us that because of witch-hunting they will let her go scot-free. No! She should be invited by the NPP government and explain to Ghanaians issues about the bus branding, he urged.

Sometime in April, 2016, Dzifa Attivor, who had resigned as Minister of Transport following the GH3.6 million bus branding scandal, at an NDC public rally at Aflao in the Ketu South Constituency, entreated the people of the Volta Region not to vote for the NPP in the December elections because it (NPP) has a track-record of putting Ewes (people from the region) in jail.

She said that the previous Kufuor administration specifically jailed former NDC appointees, who hail from the region and went on to mention some of them as Dan Abodakpi and the late Victor Selormey.

She stated that if the NPP won the December elections, it would repeat the same thing by jailing only Ewes, including herself.

When the NPP came to power in 2001, a lot of our people were sent to prison. Victor Selormey, Dan Abordakpi and so on were imprisoned. Was it because no other persons committed crime in Ghana? But it was only Ewes that they jailed I want to entreat you not to do anything for Fifi Kwetey and I to go to prison. It lies with you all to ensure that no Ewe person goes to prison. So I am pleading with you to work hard and deliver the 120,000 votes target for the party in the constituency, she was quoted as saying.

Dzifa Attivor's comment sparked heated political debate, with some opinion leaders and personalities, including former President Jerry John Rawlings, condemning her.

In late October last year  in the heat of the electioneering campaign  Tawiah Boateng, who is calling for the prosecution of Madam Attivor, had said he anticipated tough times for NDC appointees, should the party lose the elections which it eventually did.

The apprehension among some elements of the then Mahama-led NDC administration over the possibility of then opposition leader Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo becoming president became visible when Mr Tawiah Boateng said plainly that the NPP should not be voted for because the opposition leader was capable of jailing them.

But this time round it's the NDC top man who is calling for the prosecution of his fellow party member.

By William Yaw Owusu


08.07.2017 LISTEN

Politicians are perceived to be liars. They are presumed to lie to us in and out of power. Some lie convincingly, others crudely. They even lie pointlessly at times. Adwoa Safos lie is a good example of a pointless lie. It is as needless as it is disgraceful. What is her reason for lying about the school building? It appears to be for something beyond political expediency. And the brazen manner in which she publicly lied must worry everyone concerned about the integrity of our leaders.

Unfortunately, integrity doesnt matter to many Ghanaians. In more civilised countries where integrity is held in high esteem, a lying politician will have no place. Even in countries where integrity doesnt really matter and politicians are well aware that they can get away with many things, those with their conscience intact resign.

Zweledinga Pallo Jordan was a South African anti-apartheid activist and astute politician. Cerebral and well-read, he discussed complex economic issues with facility. As an MP, his contributions in parliament were insightful and profound.

He was revered for his intellect and high moral standing. No one who ever heard him speak about the South African economy and economics in general doubted that he had a doctorate degree. His views and opinions on a wide spectrum of areas -economic, political, social and historical- were so deeply informed and illuminating that he must have had a degree higher than a doctorate. But one journalist doubted him. Eventually, he uncovered that Dr Jordan had no doctorate degree. He didnt even have a university degree!

When this came to light, Mr Jordan resigned as an MP and also as a member of the African National Congress(ANC) even though there were extenuating circumstances: the doctorate title had been thrust on him and his wealth of knowledge was worth a doctorate if not more.. . Whatever the case, he had lied to the world by accepting something he did not earn, so his resignation was most honorable.

Adwoa Safo must follow Jordans example. She should resign. She has lied to us. She lied shamelessly and publicly. And by lying to us in this manner, she has made her moral character questionable. If procurement malpractices are our problem, a mendacious minister cannot be our solution. The minister appointed to clean our mess in procurement must be untainted, must have unquestionable integrity.

We must not pander to the sub-standard standards we have set for ourselves. It must not be that all politicians lie so the backlash on social media must be enough. It cannot be enough, it should not be enough. All politicians dont lie. And anybody who has evidence of any politician lying and has been quiet about it is a liability to us. If we justify the lies of our politicians, we should also justify their stealing our resources.

People defile girls every now and then but that is no justification for one to defile girls and expect to go scot-free went caught. But I go far. If a politician is caught lying to us in the face, how sure can we be that that politician will not engage in dishonest and corrupt deeds?

Adwoa Safo has put her integrity in doubt and must resign or at least be sacked. But another scandal may soon attract our attention and she will stay and even get promoted.Whatever the case, Ghana is still my country and I love her.
The tertiary Education Institutions Network for NDC TEIN Sunyani Techinical University Chapter has elected and sworn in new executives to manage the affairs of the association for the2017/2018 academic year.

TEIN-NDC was formed with the aim of bring together the youths of the party on the various campuses together and also to champion the course of the NDC.

The outgoing President thankedthe TEIN members for their support for his administration.

Captain Moris further paid tribute to the late Hon. Oppong Ababio the former MCE for Sunyani Municipal for his support for TEIN in the region at the time they were neglected by the current youth leadership in the Brong Ahafo Region. He called for change in leadership in the youth front in the region to give way for those who have the party and TEIN at heart to assume positions to reorganize and empower TEIN in the Brong Ahafo Region so that the dream of the NDC of winning 2020 elections will be a reality.

On a speech read on His behalf of new president who was indisposed due to ill health, Mr Mohammed thanked the all the TEIN members for the overwhelming endorsement they gave him and his newly sworn in executives and promised to work hard with the current executives to increase the membership of TEIN on campus and also propagate the good news of TEIN to help win more souls for the party as we gear towards 2020.

He also asked for the support of the outgone executive as well as the regional team t makes his administration a successful one.

Mr NASH, BILAL and TSEKPO who are all Brong Ahafo Regional Youth Organizer hopefuls graced the occasion and spoke about the happenings in the country and tasked the new executives to work hard in order to bring the party back in 2020.

The Chairman for the occasion EFo Worlanyo TSEKPO, a former Upper East Regional President of NASPA, a former National President of the Finance and Entrepreneurship Students Association Of Ghana and currently the NDC Director of Elections for Berekum East who is one of the Brong Ahafo Youth Organizer hopefuls after swearing in the new executives charged them to be humble and consult the leadership of the party anytime the need arises.

He reminded them the NDC party is in opposition and they should join the reorganization process and work hard to bring the party back to power in 2020 and their efforts will be highly rewarded.

The tough spoken young politician ina charged atmosphere reminded the students of the happenings in the country, the mass dismissals, illegal transfers, the killings, hardship, lawlessnessand the broken promises.

We have learnt our lesson now you go to National service secretariat and Youth Employment Agency have been turned into NPP Head office annex where TESCON members and party faithfuls are been recruited with party cards.

Am not a happy man at all, am sad, sad because most of our youths who have completed school over seven years are still jobless, and to you who have just completed, I know your chances of getting jobs are very slim but lets keep on praying and working hard for the party, hold your party cards well and keep safe the certificates presented to you today because in three years time we shall demand for the to fix all of you.

We promise our leaders as the youths of our dear party that we shall work our heart out for our great party to be victorious in 2020, but afterwards, let no man come and tell us there is something call father for all, because we will NEVER allow it and it cant even happen.

It was this father for all business that have left most of our hardworking youths jobless till date and we wont allow it anymore, NEVER AGAIN!

He also asked all the outgone and current executives to all join hands in the reorganization process to repair the broken car for 2020.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has congratulated All Nations University Space Laboratory team for putting Ghana into the Global Space community, describing their feat as 'inspiring dedication, enthusiasm and insight for the project.'

A statement issued by Mr Issah Yahaya, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Communications on behalf of Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister for Communications.

It said the Ghanasat-1 was released from the International Space Station (ISS) into orbit via Japan/KIBO Deployment system onboard the ISS at 0850 hours on Friday, July 7, 2017 and monitored by a team of the University's officials and led by Ghana's Ambassador to Japan, Mr Sylvester Parker Allotey in the control room of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) at its Tsukuba Space Centre in Japan.

The statement said the launch was also watched on the JAXA TV channel. Ghanasat-1 is of Cube Standard shape with a dimension of 100mm x 100 mm and was launched by NASA to the International Space Station via Space X CRS Flight 11 on June 3, 2017 at the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, USA and then released into orbit using Japan KIBO onboard the ISS.

In his broadcast message, relayed to the Space Station by Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister for Communications, the President, on behalf of the Government and people of Ghana, expressed gratitude to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Birds Project Management Team for their support in Ghana's quest to becoming a space faring nation.

He noted that the benefits for humankind played a major role in the socio-economic development of every country and today, Ghana is proud of the young Ghanaian engineers namely: Benjamin Bonsu (Project Manager), Ernest Matey and Joseph Quansah for this feat.

The statement said the Ghanasat-1 has Orbital inclination of 51.61 degrees, Orbital speed of 7.67 km/s and orbital period of 92 minutes and will spend 14 months after deployment at an altitude of 420 kilometres.

It said the Space Science Technology Laboratory of All Nations University, Koforidua in the Eastern Region (ANU-SSTL), formerly known as Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory (ISSL), was established in February 2012 following a sensitisation workshop held by the University.

The statement said the workshop was organised as part of ANU's celebration of a decade of innovation, excellence and quality higher education, and was the first of its kind in Ghana.

It attracted University scholars, researchers, government workers, among many others.

Its members are made of the university students and faculty members who are dedicated to championing and establishing Space Science research and study in Ghana and Africa, the statement said.

-GNA
Cairo (AFP) - Egypt held funerals on Saturday for at least 21 soldiers killed in an attack by the Islamic State group in the restive Sinai Peninsula, officials said.

The attack on Friday was one the deadliest against the military in a jihadist insurgency that has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in the past four years.

Police and provincial officials said 21 bodies had arrived in the mainland for funerals in 11 provinces.

The jihadists attacked several checkpoints with car bombs and heavy gunfire in a coordinated assault, for which IS later claimed responsibility in a statement.

The military said it killed 40 of the assailants.

Jihadists launched their insurgency after the military ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and unleashed a deadly crackdown on his supporters.

Groups other than IS have also carried out attacks targeting policemen and judges.

Gunmen on Friday shot dead a National Security Service officer as he was leaving his home north of Cairo.

The militant group Hasam claimed responsibility.
Nollywood actress, Shan George, is one of many actresses who understand how the Nollywood industry works and being a frontline player, she has been very careful on how she threads with people.

The actress has seen what the industry has to offer and how some wannabe actors push themselves just to make name in the industry but what you can never see her indulge in is to bring other people down.

Shan recently disclosed that she is not one of those actress or producers that will smile with people and go behind to hinder them from getting a source of their daily bread.

According to her, I am not a type of friend who Will advocate for you not to be called for a job behind your back, thereby removing food from your mouth, while I keep laughing with you and even be posting your pictures on social media calling u sweetheart and saying how much I love u. if I don't like u or angry with you, you will know instantly. No demonic pretences because of what I want to gain from you. I keep it true and real. have a lovely Weekend My People.
CHP patrol car View Photos

Knights Ferry, CA  A solo-vehicle rollover crash created stop and go traffic for about an hour on the westbound side of Highway 108/120 on Thursday afternoon.

As earlier reported here, the accident did not block the roadway but one of the westbound lanes had to be shut down for a tow crew to remove the wreckage in the grassy area between the four lanes of the highway. The driver, 51-year-old Lloyd Thibeaux, was heading westbound in a Honda Civic when he fell asleep at the wheel, according to the CHP. The car went off the roadway near the intersection of Tulloch Road and the CHP reports he over corrected causing the vehicle to overturn and land on its side in the median of the highway.

Thibeaux suffered minor injuries in the crash.
On Thursday, July 4, a point of order was raised, that the Senate president, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, was the acting president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Legit.ng reported that the senator representing Abia South, Eyinanya Abaribe, had raised a motion that the country had no president or acting president at the moment, adding that, President Muhammadu Buhari and Professor Yemi Osinbajo were neither in the country, as at the time.

Sahara Reporters has reported that a Saraki-led group and Aso Rock group led by Isa Funtua allegedly met in Saudi Arabia to discuss how to hijack presidency from the acting president, Yemi Osinbajo.

According to the unconfirmed report, the Senate presidents group had Ahmadu Adamu Mu'azu, a former Bauchi state governor and ex-chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party chairman who fled Nigeria on exile, as well as Bala Mohammed, a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory who is undergoing trial for money laundering.

READ ALSO: Drama: Attempt to declare Saraki Acting President fails

Below is a list of things they reportedly discussed:

1. To force Acting President Osinbajo out of power, they said they might have to bring President Buhari to Nigeria regardless of his health condition.

2. They also allegedly discussed a way to force Osinbajo to accept current Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, as the Vice President.

In that event, the cabal would prevail on President Buhari to resign, provided Osinbajo agreed to drop all corruption cases against senators and withdraw the federal governments appeal against a verdict of the Code of Conduct Tribunal that cleared Mr. Saraki of charges that he violated asset declaration laws.

3. In addition, Osinbajo would be forced to remove Ibrahim Magu from being the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

READ ALSO: Political criminal like Saraki makes free Evans campaign possible - Popular media attacks Senate President

However, another source said Mr Saraki was reportedly opposed to the plan as he aspires to become the vice president himself.

4. Lastly, the cabal was to create enough political crisis in the country as to provoke a military takeover of power.

However, that option proved problematic when Western diplomats sternly signaled that they would not accept a military coup in Nigeria as such an intervention could lead to Nigeria's break up.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara state has denied alleged presidential posters of Senator Bukola Saraki.

APC described the banners of Saraki, which were put on the internet, as fake and photo- shopped.

PAY ATTENTION: Watch more videos on Legit.ng TV

The photo-shopped banners are purportedly calling on Saraki to contest the 2019 presidential election.

Watch this Legit.ng video to learn what Nigerians think of this whole debacle:

Source: Legit.ng
- Nigeria's Senate President, Bukola Saraki held a secret meeting with Acting President Yemi Osinbajo

- Saraki's held discussions with the acting president on developments that occurred in the upper chamber which includes threats of impeachment by some senators

- Following the president's absence, a point of order was raised to make Saraki, acting president

In a report by Sahara Reporters, Nigeria's Senate President, Bukola Saraki on Thursday night, July 6, held a secret meeting with Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

Legit.ng gathered that the Sarakis meeting with the acting president was based on developments that occurred in the upper chamber during the week, which includes the suspension of consideration of further nominations by the Executive in protest against the retention of Ibrahim Magu as the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) and the consequent threats of impeachment by some Senators.

On Thursday, July 4, a point of order was raised, that Saraki, was the acting president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

READ ALSO: Dead whale found in Rivers community (photos)

The senator representing Abia South, Eyinanya Abaribe, had raised a motion that the country had no president or acting president at the moment, adding that, President Muhammadu Buhari and Professor Yemi Osinbajo were neither in the country, as at the time.

It was reported that a Saraki-led group and Aso Rock group led by Isa Funtua allegedly met in Saudi Arabia to discuss how to hijack presidency from the acting president, Yemi Osinbajo.

A source speking with the online medium said: The Senate President met with the Acting President. He actually came alone and without the paraphernalia of his office to underscore his commitment to rapprochement between the Executive and the National Assembly.

Saraki took the time to explain a few things to the Acting President, but the talks bordered on the clarification of a few misgivings, especially the rumor that he was planning to become the Acting President or instigating the Senate against the Presidency.

He also took time to explain why the Senate wanted its resolutions respected in line with the principle of separation of powers. Above all, the session was actually frank.

Saraki's visit to Aso Rock was preceded by that of the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress ( APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegunon Wednesday night, July 5.

Oyegun was said to have reached out to the Senate leadership, asking them to prevail on warring senators to tread softly so as not to plunge the nation into unnecessary crisis.

Some past leaders have reportedly teamed up with the acting president against the threats from the Senate.

These leaders have told the Acting President to remain focused and ignore elements trying to cause political upheaval in the country.

In fact, they assured Osinbajo of their support. These are leaders who the government thought had identified with the Senate, a presidency source said.

The presidency source added: Although the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, told the party leadership that the impeachment kite caught him unawares and he swiftly overruled the senators behind it, intelligence report indicated that it was a kite flying agenda by some senators.

The government does not wholly believe the defense of the Senate leadership. It is closely monitoring events and putting safety valves in place, including legal dimension.

Part of the intelligence report showed that some senators had plotted the impeachment script before the Tuesday session. Those who tabled the motion were actually not aware that the Acting President had returned to the country.

PAY ATTENTION: Watch more videos on Legit.ng TV

According to an earlier report by Legit.ng, the Nigerian Senate gave 4 requirements via its official Twitter handle on which the upper chamber is hinging its threats of impeachment.

One of them is that Osinbajo must respect the constitution and laws enacted by the National Assembly as relating to the confirmation of nominees.

Watch this Legit.ng video on what Nigerians think of President Buhari currently:

Source: Legit.ng
- Suspected kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike a.k.a. Evans, has allegedly been moved from police custody

- The Sun newspaper claims Evans was moved to an undisclosed destination few days ago by policemen

- The newspaper alleges that the billionaire kidnapper is no longer allowed to talk to the press

- However, the Nigeria Police Force denied the misleading report, confirmed the kidnapper is in custody

Nigerias infamous billionaire kidnapper, Chukwuduneme Onwuamadike a.k.a. Evans, has allegedly been moved from the Lagos police command headquarters.

The Sun reported that Evans was moved from his cell by about 30 heavily armed police men at midnight few days ago to an undisclosed destination.

In a report by Saturday Sun, some senior police officers said he was moved to Abuja.

READ ALSO: 5 dead, 3 rescued alive as container falls on fully loaded bus in Lagos (photos)

The newspaper alleges that Evans is no longer allowed to talk to the press till further notice. The secrecy surrounding his whereabouts in the official quarters baffles those who have closely followed his story since his arrest.

However, the police debunked the misleading reports on July 8:

Read the initial report by The Sun below:

Some senior police officers who spoke to Saturday Sun on condition of anonymity expressed fears that Evans might not make it to the court.

The officers argued that he might plot his escape from prison or get across to some of his members who are still on the run.

They confirmed that Evans was no longer in the police cell in Lagos. He has not been returned since he was moved out. Evans is a broken man; police cant resort to extra-judicial killings at this point. He is cooperating, and he is ready to help return all his ill-gotten wealth as soon as possible, the officer said.

Another source at the police command said: Evans is not an ordinary criminal. I guess that they took him out for further investigation but I dont know why they are yet to return him to his cell.

No one is planning to kill Evans. I believe that they will return him later. He could be in any good cell in the state for security reasons, but I can assure you that he is not dead yet. Even if anything happens to him, if he dies in custody, it will be as a result of cancer which he claims he is suffering from.

Another senior police officer who preferred anonymity assured that the suspected kidnapper is okay.

He is okay and seriously cooperating with the police in its investigation. From the look of things, he might not spend up to three months in detention before hes charged to court. As for his location, I assure you that he is in a protective custody somewhere out of town, the officer said.

The police officer speaking with Saturday Sun added: Within the short period that he spent in our cell, he is already controlling inmates in the cell. They fear and respect him; we do not want to run the risk of allowing him to form another notorious group which is common amongst them.

The officer said his family are yet to approach the police. Evans confirmed that he bought a car for his father and also gave him N3m. The police will recover such money and properties.

We will soon get a warrant to pick his father up and possibly his mother, who also benefitted.

Another reliable source at the police command told Saturday Sun Evans is not an ordinary criminal. I guess that they took him out for further investigation but I dont know why they are yet to return him to his cell.

The source further assured: No one is planning to kill Evans. I believe that they will return him later. He could be in any good cell in the state for security reasons, but I can assure you that he is not dead yet. Even if anything happens to him, if he dies in custody, it will be as a result of cancer which he claims he is suffering from.

As at the time of this report both the Lagos police spokesman, Olarinde Famous-Cole and the police force PRO, Moshood Jimoh have neither answered nor responded on Evans whereabouts.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app

Legit.ng previously reported that the Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed July 13 for hearing in a N300m fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Evans, against the Inspector-General of Police.

Evans, through his lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, filed the suit last week urging the court to order the police to charge him to court or release him immediately.

He urged the court to award N300m damages against the police in his favour for his alleged unlawful detention without being charged to court.

Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of what Nigerians think about ongoing Evans' saga:

Source: Legit.ng
According to reports, a man asked the court to dissolve his 16-year marriage because his wife dared to cook and serve pork meat to his mother.

The man identified as Mr Kolawole Adegoke, asked a customary court in Agodi, Ibadan, Oyo state, to end his 16-year marriage over a problem with his wife.

According to the fashion designer, his wife Adeyinka, had gone ahead to serve his mother pork meat, while ignoring the fact that she's a Muslim and such meat was a taboo to them.

Making his case, Adegoke said:

READ ALSO: Yusuf Buhari graduates with a Master's degree from a university in the United Kingdom

"My lord, the major grudge I have against her is that she intentionally bought and cooked pork for my mother who is a Muslim.

Her action is disgusting; I see no reason for her to cook such meat which is forbidden for my mother, a Muslim. The court should separate us to avoid unpleasant occurrence because I can no longer stay with a woman who perpetrates such a thing."

PAY ATTENTION: Read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app

He also mentioned that she has lost all respect for him and preferred to listen to her parents instead.

Giving his judgement, the president of the court, Chief Mukaila Balogun, said:

"Parties cease to be husband and wife henceforth, and the court registrar should serve the defendant a copy of the judgment."

Na wa o!

Meanwhile, see what Nigerian said when asked if they'd take a blood oath with their partners:

Source: Legit.ng
In late night for most of the U.S. on Saturday, July 1, ESPNs live boxing telecast of the WBO World Welterweight Championship: Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn in the Battle of Brisbane from Australia generated a total audience delivery (television and streaming) of 3.1 million viewers across the ESPN and ESPN Deportes networks, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen.

The bout peaked during its final half hour with 4.4 million viewers across both networks.

The ESPN TV-only telecast averaged a 1.6 household rating and 2.812 million viewers, making it the highest-rated and most-watched boxing telecast on cable TV since 2006. Carlos Baldomir vs. Arturo Gatti on HBO on July 22, 2006, earned a 1.6 household rating.

Pacquiao-Horn was also the highest-rated boxing telecast on ESPNs networks since 1995. Danell Nicholson vs. Darren Hayden on ESPN, on Dec. 21, 1995 earned a 1.7 household rating.

Las Vegas was the telecasts top local market with a 4.0 metered market rating, including a 5.1 rating during the main event. The top five markets also included Los Angeles (3.7), Raleigh-Durham (3.6), New Orleans (3.1), and San Diego (3.0).

(Sources: ESPN [1], [2])
TWIN FALLS  Diana Morita Cole doesnt remember living at the Minidoka Relocation Center but she understands the power in telling her familys story.

In a darkened room, Cole told an audience about the night her grandfather destroyed all remnants of his homeland to appear less suspicious to local authorities. He burned his granddaughters Daruma dolls, Hyakunishi cards, calligraphy and kites. What were once beloved items had now become symbols of disgrace and shame for him, Cole said.

But his actions were in vain. The family was eventually removed from their home in Mount Hood, Ore., and interned at Tule Lake in California.

They were then transferred to the Minidoka Relocation Center near Eden where Cole was born in 1944.

Cole shared her familys story Friday at the 15th annual Minidoka Pilgrimage at the College of Southern Idaho. She was one of several presenters at the CSI Fine Arts Center who shared personal and family stories, history and information. Organizers said the annual pilgrimage drew about 320 attendees to the four-day event that continues Saturday and Sunday at the Minidoka National Historic Site.

The Minidoka Relocation Center, also known as Hunt Camp, was one of 10 camps in the U.S. It operated from 1942 until November 1945. In 1942, nearly 13,000 people of Japanese-ancestry were removed from their homes in the Pacific Northwest and sent to the Minidoka camp. More than 127,000 were imprisoned during World War II.

In 2015, Cole wrote a book called Sideways: Memoir of a Misfit. She said the book is about coming to terms with my identify as a member of a despised group.

It includes family stories of life at Minidoka and her own experiences growing up in Chicago.

I have no recollections, Cole said. Its only what my family told me.

This is the second year Cole has attended the pilgrimage. The first time she visited the site, she said, she didnt feel a connection until she talked to other former internees.

It was weird, Cole said. I expected to feel something. It didnt resonate with me, but when I started hearing the stories of what the camp invoked for others, I felt a sense of community.

She now lives in British Columbia, Canada, and sits on the steering committee of the Langham Japanese Canadian Museum and is a member of the Nelson Storytelling Guild.

Cole said she felt a need to share her familys story to ensure the history and lessons of internment camps are not forgotten, especially in todays political climate.

Its a story thats bigger than us, Cole said. Especially now, so many people are in need of homes and acceptance. We need to have people develop a great empathy for the other. We want to curtail that impetus to marginalize people and accuse them of things they havent done.

The stories have also helped her own family heal in a way.

It gives my family a great sense of value, Cole said. They feel like they were nobodies. They werent prosperous in the Hood River, but people love the stories I tell them. It resonates with many people.

Like Cole, Carly Perera also ensures the stories of her family are not lost.

This year is the first time Perera, who is from San Francisco, attended the pilgrimage. Last year, Perera started the Instagram account @tommykm that documents her grandmothers life at the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center in Wyoming. Her grandmother, Tomiko Miyahara, died in 2009 and the account features family photos before WWII and Miyaharas life inside the camp.

Before the project, Perera said she and other family members knew very little of her grandmothers experiences inside the internment camp. The project initially started out as a digital photo album for her family.

We caught a glimpse of a person we didnt know very much about, she said.

Perera doesnt know how her grandmother got the camera into the camp since they were not allowed. Perera estimated she has about six months of photos and letters left to post on the account. The photos document Miyaharas life from 1938 to 1945 and has 239 followers.

After she posts all her grandmothers photos, Perera is thinking about continuing the project with her own story.

I was very close to my grandma, and this made me understand her in a different way, Perera said. It gave me a better sense of self and my history in this country.

Cousins Miya Namba, 18, and Allison Namba, 16, feel a sense of purpose to make sure their generation doesnt forget.

They speak briefly about it in history class but I dont think people realize an entire generation of people had their constitutional rights taken away from them, Allison said.

Their grandmother May Namba was incarcerated at Minidoka. This is the fifth year Miya has attend the Pilgrimage and the fourth time for Allison.

Three years ago, 22 members of the Namba family attend the Minidoka Pilgrimage. It was the last time May, now 95, attended the gathering.

Growing up, the cousins said, their grandmother often spoke about her experiences at local schools, but rarely with them.

She shares more stories here than back home, Miya said.

I think she felt it was important but didnt know the right time at home, Allison added.

Allison said her father didnt know about his mothers experiences until he went to college. He was learning about internment camps in a history class and asked her about it.

But the cousins said they are happy to see more people their age attending the pilgrimage.

Just being here and seeing more youth here in recent years  its a telltale sign they want to continue the legacy and bring back more culture, Allison said.
President Muhammadu Buhari's only son Yusuf has reportedly bagged his Master's Degree from a university in the United Kingdom.

Legit.ng recalls that Zahra and Yusuf graduated from the University of Surrey, Guildford, England, United Kingdom in July 2016.

READ ALSO: Fayose's daughter graduates, wins VC award in University of Nottingham

The president's family friend, Anas Mu'azu disclosed this new update in a post on his Facebook page, congratulating Yusuf in Hausa.

Yusuf Buhari graduates his Master's degree: Source: Facebook: Ana's Muazu

He captioned; "We congratulate the president and country. Yusuf Muhammad Buhari celebrate after graduating from his Masters Degree."

God made Grace.

Congratulations to the president and his family.

Watch this video and learn some of the things you should do before travelling abroad:

Source: Legit.ng
- Former President Goodluck Jonathans son-in-law escapes assassination attempt

- Prince Godswill Edward, was reportedly shot in his residence in Calabar by unknown gunmen

Former President Goodluck Jonathan's son-in-law, Prince Godswill Edward, was on Friday, July 7 shot at by unknown gunmen in Calabar.

Legit.ng gathered that Edward who is the Special Adviser on Youths Affairs to Governor Ben Ayade was reportedly shot in his State Housing Estate residence.

The severity of his injuries from the attack could not be ascertained as at the time of this report.

He is presently receiving treatment at an undisclosed medical facility in Calabar, The Punch reports.

Goodluck Jonathans son-in-law escapes assassination attempt Photo source: Facebook, Godswill Edward

Edward, who is from Abi Local Government Area (LGA) of the state, got married to the former president's daughter, Faith in 2014.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa, when contacted said the matter had yet to be reported officially to the police.

Inuwa said: They attempted him. This was the third or fourth time that this thing is happening. Do you know that as at now Im talking to you there is no official report about it? We are not going to wait until the matter is reported. We are the police we know our responsibility.

Even if they have a reason for not reporting which we are not going to sit down until the matter is reported, we have the responsibility to investigate and by the grace of God we will go after those responsible."

PAY ATTENTION: Get more videos on Legit.ng TV

In a previous report by Legit.ng, the House of Representatives on Thursday, July 6, received a petition from former first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan.

The former first lady alleged that she and her family members were incessantly harassed by security agencies.

Watch this Legit.ng TV video of Nigerians assessing the Jonathan presidency:

Source: Legit.ng
Hello. My name is Sally Toone. I am a registered voter. Period. As far as Im concerned, thats all the federal government needs to know about me or you when it comes to voting in Idaho. I dont know. Ive been a teacher and rancher all my life, so maybe that viewpoint is a bit naive. When I meet with Idahoans, I shake their hands, ask their names and listen to what they have to say. I dont ask if theyre Democrat or Republican. I dont ask about their voting history over the last 10 years. I sure dont ask them for the last four digits of their Social Security number or whether they have a criminal record. Thats none of my business. However, the federal government wants to know all of that about you and much, much more. Like I said, maybe Im naive, but thats none of their damn business. Im Sally Toone. Im a registered voter. If the federal government wants to know that, Ill gladly confirm it. But when it comes to my voting rights, thats all Im willing to give them.

Like millions of Americans, I was shocked last week when the federal Election Integrity Commission demanded that our state officials turn over personal information about hundreds of thousands of Idaho voters. Already more than 20 states have either rejected the demand or pushed back on the Commission. In a letter sent to all 50 states, the Commission demanded the full first and last names of all registrants, middle names or initials, addresses, dates of birth, political party, the last four digits of their social security number, voter history from 2006 onward, active/inactive status, canceled status, information regarding any felony convictions, information regarding voter registration in another state, information regarding military status, and overseas citizen information. Secretaries of state, like Idahos Lawerence Denney, have the option of submitting the information electronically.

Mississippis secretary of state recently invited the Commission to go jump into the Gulf of Mexico. Our secretary of state should send a similar message. Idaho has a lot of lakes and rivers to choose from.

This demand is problematic on several fronts. First, its a blatant federal intrusion into our state voting process and right to privacy. Idahoans value their states rights, and they should. Second, the demand is open-ended. The feds wont say what they intend to do with all of your private information, how they intend to use it, how long they plan to keep it or how it will be secured. Finally, with all of the hacking going on in this country, the feds want to create a centralized database with all of your personal information in one place. I have one question: Are they out of their minds?!

When I heard the news about demands for all of that voter information, I couldnt help but think of the many instances our own state lawmakers have tried to take your vote away from you. Just this past legislative session, Rep. Dustin Manwaring introduced a bill to suppress early voting in Idaho (HB 150). All House Democrats and more than a dozen House Republicans voted against it. Thankfully, it died in a Senate committee. Hopefully this federal government privacy grab will die a similar death.

This is not a partisan issue. Idahos Republicans and Democrats harp on the importance of states rights all the time. I would be astonished if our Republican secretary of state goes along with this blatant federal intrusion into our private lives. However, hes considering it. Thats unacceptable to me, and I know its unacceptable to you. Thats why I would encourage you to call your Republican state representatives and senators and tell them you want the feds to keep their hands out of our voting information. We can handle our own elections just fine. We dont need Washington, D.C., telling us how to vote.

As a state legislator, I am required to reveal certain information about myself to the public that I wouldnt ordinarily. Thats fine. You have a right to know about me, how I vote and where I stand on issues because youve put your trust in me to represent you at the statehouse. However, when I step into the voting booth, I am a citizen of Idaho just like you. My name is Sally Toone. Im a registered voter. Anything else is none of the feds damn business.
Legit.ng gathered that some students in a public school were humiliated by some of their teachers who stripped and flogged them for coming late to school.

Teachers have been known to devise several means of punishing their students when they err, but this seems to be the most bizarre one.

According to some pictures circulating online, some students of a public secondary school in Baham, Western region of Cameroon, were asked to strip down to their underwear (or none sef) while they flogged them for coming late to school.

The story was shared by outraged Cameroonians who couldn't understand why the teachers would choose that form of punishment. The boys and the girls were made to lie on the ground in the same space.

Some of the teachers looked on while the students were humiliated. Photo: Facebook/Song Mudoh

PAY ATTENTION: Get the latest gossip on NAIJ Gossip App

Sharing the post on Facebook, Song Mudoh wrote:

"Only in Africa will you see this type of nonsense. Student stripped naked and flogged as part of school punishment. I really don't care what they did but this is totally unacceptable. And it's so funny why these grown students allowed themselves to be punished in this manner."

See more pictures below:

The teachers made the students lie on the ground while they flogged them. Photo: Facebook/Song Mudoh

The female students were not left out of the punishment Photo: Facebook/Song Mudoh

This was their punishment for coming late to school Photo: Facebook/Song Mudoh

Na wa o!

Meanwhile, see which countries Nigerians would like to relocate to if given the chance:

Source: Legit.ng
Trademarks and patents give health and nutrition products exclusive rights to their own intellectual property (IP), but they can also bring brands an edge with transparency, research and marketing, according to Andreas Baltatzis, director, KramerAmado PC. In this podcast with Sandy Almendarez, editor in chief, Natural Products Insider, he discusses the benefits of patents and trademarks that go beyond IP protection. The podcasters cover:

The legal implications of using patent-pending on products

Why its important to consider patents and trademark applications during the product development phase

Why health and nutrition brands should keep up to date on the IP fillings in the categories of their products
This appeared in Fridays Washington Post:

Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? President Donald Trump asked during his speech in Warsaw on Thursday. Thats an important question, and so is this: Which values is he summoning us to defend?

There were encouraging elements in his address suggesting that he was referring to the universal values that America celebrated earlier this week, on the anniversary of its declaration of independence. Repeatedly, Trump invoked the parallel Polish and American devotion to freedom. He spoke of Americas commitment to your security and your place in a strong and democratic Europe. Unlike during his first trip to Europe as president, he embraced NATOs Article 5, which binds the United States and its allies to treat an attack on one as an attack on all.

Trump warned against powers that use propaganda, financial crimes and cyberwarfare against the United States and its allies- and, in case that wasnt clear enough, explicitly warned Russia to cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere and its support for hostile regimes, including Syria and Iran. He assured his audience, We treasure the rule of law and protect the right to free speech and free expression.

Yet elements of his address left doubt as to whether Trump views such values as truly universal. The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive, he said. If by the West he means anyone embracing the values of human rights, freedom and the dignity of every individual, he may be right. But those are hardly the property of the United States and Europe. They are treasured by the ailing Liu Xiaobo in China, by bloggers fighting for freedom in Uganda and by legislators fighting off the Maduro regimes thugs in Venezuela. They belong to people of all colors, all sexual orientations and allor noreligion. When Trump urges us all to fight like the Poles, for family, for freedom, for country and for God, does all truly mean all?

Perhaps what gives the most doubt is that he celebrated the right to free speech and free expression without mentioning that the government welcoming him has worked worryingly to narrow those freedoms, along with the independence of its judiciaryand without mentioning that, at home, Trump himself has been far from a tribune of the free press. Above all, he said, we value the dignity of every human life, protect the rights of every person and share the hope of every soul to live in freedom. Many people will cheer those wordsand will watch to see how his administration lives up to them in its interactions with Saudi Arabia and China, Russia and Egypt, and at home.
From Strategic Culture

The United States' hegemonic dominance in the world is heading to the exits. The decline in US unipolar power has been underway for several years, in line with the emergence of a multipolar world. This week, Russia and China showed important resolve to face down American bully tactics over North Korea. The confrontation suggests a turning point in the transition from American world dominance to a multipolar one.

US President Donald Trump reiterated the possibility of military attack on North Korea while in Poland this week. This was also while Washington was hectoring China and Russia to join in a tougher response to North Korea over its ballistic missile launch days before -- the former two nations themselves having recently been sanctioned anew by the US. Talk about American audacity and double think.

However, the crass arrogance shown by the US seems to have hit a new limit of tolerance in Moscow and Beijing. Both are beginning to demonstrate a loss of patience with the bumptious, insufferable Americans.

Reacting to North Korea's breakthrough ballistic missile launch, Washington deployed its typical conceit, casually threatening to carry out a retaliatory military strike. Trump said he was considering severe options over Pyongyang's very, very dangerous behavior.

But Russia and China's stance this time to the Americans had significantly stiffened. Both explicitly warned the US against taking military action against North Korea.

Moreover, Russia and China said that they would oppose Washington imposing further sanctions on the government of Kim Jong-un. The latter has already been subjected to six rounds of US-led sanctions.

In short, the American bully is finding that it is no longer able to dictate its unilateral way.

Addressing an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council, the Russian and Chinese ambassadors rejected the shrill American call for global action to a global threat. Russian envoy Vladimir Safronkov stood firmly with his Chinese counterpart, saying that threatened American military action was simply not an option, and that a different policy was needed from the failed American one of slapping ever-more sanctions on North Korea.

One can imagine the exasperation felt within Washington of being bluntly told no to its invariable, self-anointed belligerence.

The alternative route being proposed by Russia and China was the radical one -- radical from the American point of view -- of diplomacy. It has perhaps taken the Russians and Chinese overdue time to reach this point. But what is remarkably apparent now is that they are asserting themselves against the US with increased confidence. And what they are asserting in this case is an eminently reasonable solution to the Korean crisis. They are calling for a freeze on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program in conjunction with the US freezing its constant military exercises on the peninsula, as well as withdrawing its anti-missile THAAD system. The next step is to then hold multilateral negotiations for a comprehensive peaceful settlement, without preconditions.

Such an eminently reasonable approach is anathema to the Americans. Because it negates their unilateral arrogance and self-righteousness to dictate terms.

This is a significant development, one that portends a new determination by Russia and China to confront the American bully head-on. For too long, Washington has gotten away with outrageous aggression, lawlessness, hypocrisy and absurd hubris, not just over Korea but on countless other international issues. On the world stage it behaves like a schoolyard bully, or perhaps more accurately that should be a street thug. Going around beating up other people, usually the weak, as it likes. Then when Washington feels particularly affronted about some perceived slight, it invokes international law and righteousness.

This week, what we saw over the North Korea missile launch and the typical American over-reaction was Russia and China saying to Washington: your days of self-licensing aggression and abusing international law are over; your American unipolar hegemony is redundant.

Welcome to the multipolar world forged largely by Russia and China where all nations must abide by international norms and law, principally the paramount pursuit of diplomacy.

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Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Rob Kall's book Bottom-Up: Tapping the Power of the Connection Revolution is both a welcomed manifesto and a guide for rethinking the power of human agency, understanding the connections that both make us human and legitimate human planetary relations. Moreover it is a powerful call for providing the ideas, social practices, and relations that make human connections possible, enable them to work together from the bottom up, and to transform such connections into a powerful movement in which people take control of their lives and create a better future for everyone."



Henry Giroux, Director of the McMaster Centre for Research in the Public Interest, author of Zombie Politics and Culture in the Age of Casino Capitalism, Americas Education Deficit and The War on Youth, and dozens more.
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This is a reprint from NewsBred.

The fresh violence against Hindus in West Bengal calls for the collective conscience of this country.

DALALS (Damn Left and Lutyens Scribes), as expected, first ignored and then dumbed it down to the fabricated Governor-Chief Minister spat.

Political parties such as Congress, Communists and regional heavyweights, avoided mention of any atrocity against the Hindus. Rahul Gandhi trained his eyes and concern on PM's silence on China .

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), flogged everyday as the face of a communalist Saffron, haven't uttered a word in anger. (So next time they are termed bigots, use this instance to shut the pseudo-sikulars up).

But then what's new?

No less than 600 temples were destroyed in Bangladesh in 1992. Thousands of Hindus were killed and raped; paraded naked on the streets of Bhola town, shops looted, deities desecrated.

There was little outrage in media or from any State.

In Pakistan , among the near 300 temples destroyed, the demolition of one was personally supervised by a minister in Lahore . Dozens of Hindus were murdered.

The collective silence of the world was deafening.

The exodus of Kashmiri Pundits is a reality. A community uprooted and displaced still carries psychological and financial scars.

But don't expect it to shake the conscience of this country's intelligentsia or media.

The partition of 1947 created a Muslim state in Pakistan and afforded them the "freedom." But the Hindus "haven't been recognized as a nation or a state nor a control over their own homeland," as Abhas Chatterjee, author of The Concept of Hindu Nation, mentioned.

If any Jew is treated unfairly in any part of the world, the State of Israel, as their representative, loses no time in raising the issue. Contrast this with the case of Sunil Wadhera, a Hindu who died in an accident in Saudi Arabia a few years ago. As against a policy of compensation of 6-7 lakh dinars offered to a Muslim, Wadhera was extended only 17,000 dinars. Reason, he was a Kafir. "The value of his life was no more than a paltry sum," wrote Abhas Chatterjee "What's significant is that even against such an inhuman, outrageous affront, there was no State which could raise its voice on behalf of the Hindu."

What had upset the discerners was that India , which all along had supported the Arab cause in Palestine , didn't take up Wadhera's matter with the Saudi government.

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by Kevin Stoda

On 10 April 2017 Jamel Eddine Al-Akremi of the Salalah College of Technology in Salalah, Oman, spoke at a symposium entitled IMPROVING TEACHING QUALITY 1 held at ROTANA RESORT, SALALAH. The English Language Center at Salalah College of Technology, under the guidance of Mr. Saeed Al-Mashikhi, Head of the ELC and the Chairman of the Steering Committee, had organized a workshop at Salalah Rotana Resort entitled "Improving Teaching Quality1".





Al-Akremi's speech was entitled: "Taking Advantage of the Pre-Reading Pctivities provided in L2 Cycle 2 Basic Education Textbooks in Oman to facilitate Learners' Comprehension." NOTE: This was the first symposium organized in the Dhofar Region of Oman on this topic, and the conference organizers aim to advance the teaching and learning process in the schools, colleges, and universities in the region, i.e. by addressing staff professional needs which are aligned with staff self -- appraisals. (One other important goal of these types of symposiums and conferences is also to provide educators, academic administrators, and academics with opportunities to share ideas, or to reflect on their day-to-day teaching practices as well as to exchange knowledge and experiences in the field in a stimulating professional environment.)





SCHEMA THEORY IN L2 PRACTICE





Al-Akremi had previously taught in Omani public schools for a number of years prior to taking on this new research concerning education, teachers, and learners in Oman. Al-Akremi noted that high school textbooks in Oman employ a methodology, which is compiled under a national rubric or guideline called the L2 Cycles of Basic Education. In this current research, he focuses on both (a) whether and (b) how teachers employthe reading suggestions and coursebook material as per the national guidelines developed, especially for the L2 Cycle 2 textbooks.





As well, during the years of his own teaching experience in secondary schools in Oman and through the ongoing research, Al-Akremi has targeted or tried to answer these related questions: (1) How can we learn about the cause of employing or not employing pre-reading activities? and (2) How can we help students succeed by employing the appropriate reading/pre-reading activities? First of all, it must be noted that one of the key early objectives in Al-Akremi's research has been to discover what exactly the various secondary teachers (who participated in the study) practice or employ within their second language (English) classes in order to help their learners acquire reading skills.





It also must be made clear that much of the theoretical background for the L2 Cycle 2 Basic Education Textbook design for English coursework across Oman is currently found within the realm of schema theory.





SCHEMATIC THEORY IN PRACTICE





Schema theory "states that all knowledge is organized

into units. Within these units of knowledge, or schemata,is

stored information. A schema, then, is a generalized description or a conceptual

system for understanding knowledge-how knowledge is represented

and how it is used. According to this theory, schemata represent knowledge

about concepts: objects and the relationships they have

with other objects, situations, events, sequences of

events, actions, and sequences of actions." [1]





As per OUR field of education, a schema, or scheme, is an abstract concept proposed by J. Piaget to refer to our nearly unlimited lists of (abstract) concepts, which we all create and use on a daily basis. "Schemas(or schemata) are [defined as] units of understanding that can be hierarchically categorized as well as webbed into complex relationships with one another." A simple example could be the concept of the word: House.





For example, if you think of a house, you would probably "get an immediate mental image of something out of a kid's storybook: four windows, front door, suburban setting, chimney. However, if I were to amend the object's name slightly, your scheme would shift to a more refined version. How about: Shotgun house? One door, maybe no front windows, low income setting. Mansio n? Multiple windows, side entrance for the help, sweeping front drive." "That is a simple example, but our schemas get incredibly complex as we learn more about the world, and particularly as we become experts in a field. The more we know, the bigger and more complex our schemas become. However, the more we know, the easier it is to remember new information related to the schema -- because there is more pre-existing information in our heads that we can relate -- and thus attach -- it to." For students, their schemes prettymuch amount to what they already know about a concept. They may have learned it in other classes or through their own experiences.[However,] What they "know" may be incorrect. Our job [as instructors] is to either expand or correct their schemas about important concepts in our fields.





The main takeaway for researchers and educators, like Jamel Al-Akremi (as well as the designers of Oman's own L2 Cycle 2 textbooks), has poignantly been that "NO information will attach to their [the students'] schemas if they aren't thinking about that schema when the information comes in."





"Let's say you know a fair bit about prehistoric fossils and take a trip to the Gray Fossil Site. While the guide explains a fossil find that is new to the field (and thus to you), yet you are thinking about the design and outlay of the museum, the information will go in one ear and out the other."





In other words, the most important rule for teaching, i.e. based upon Schema or Schematic Theory, is to " Make sure students' existing schemas are up and running at a conscious level."





HOW IS THIS RELEVANT TO TEXTBOOK DESIGN?





Typically then A textbook designer ask questions like: "What can I do to make students conscious of their schemas?" Typically, answers would include the following:





1. Use advance organizers. "Advance organizer" is an educational term that refers to activities done prior to introducing new material that help students organize -- and perhaps prepare to re-organize -- their thinking. These can take multiple forms: Review previous lessons or material . This approach works well for linear material, such as mathematics, that builds upon itself.

. This approach works well for linear material, such as mathematics, that builds upon itself. Ask students what they know . By simply starting a class with, "What do you know about "?" and writing down the answers, you not only raise their schemas to consciousness,but also get a feel for what students already know, as well as where they may have things wrong. OR

. By simply starting a class with, "What do you know about "?" and writing down the answers, you not only raise their schemas to consciousness,but also get a feel for what students already know, as well as where they may have things wrong. 2. Find a "synonym" with which students are likely to be familiar. A similar concept to the one you are about to explain can help students recognize patterns and more quickly learn the new material. Examples: If the new concept is about Gandhi and nonviolent protest, you might first ask students what they know about the Civil Rights movement here in the U.S.

If teaching about balancing large-scale budgets, ask first about personal income, expenditures, and borrowing. [2] Other than those two techniques outlined above, there are a great number of other visual and brainstorming techniques which can be employed, i.e. to promote great schematic connections, which can aid students in approaching new readings on any topic.









PROCEDURE USED IN THIS RESEARCH





In his research into local Dhofar high schools in Oman, Al-Akremi set out to (1) identify both the pre-reading activities presented in the textbooks and those activities actually carried out by the instructors. Later, he set out to (2) identify specifically the common approaches already in usage by teachers, i.e. in terms of their awareness of and their employment of schema theory, as outlined in this 21st Century in the development of Oman's L2 Cycle textbooks.





Through his research, Al-Akremi learned that there are 4 types of schematic activators being practiced by some of those teachers whom he has observed and/or interviewed. Those 4 techniques were:

(a) Asking questions,

(b) Drawing,

(c) Visualization, &

(d) Connecting to learners background.









Al-Akremi explained, "Once teachers understand their role in using pre-reading activities, they can [potentially] bring new concepts and new connections to students' prior knowledge. [In any case,]Prior knowledge is always there, but to get students involved schematically and motivated through [appropriate or effective schema] activation" is a key part of our jobs as teachers.





Al-Akremi's current findings include the following caveat: "Teachers should be free to add to the curriculum", especially whereby the schematic connections become broader and stronger. "Coursebooks should be for proposed action, not as fixed sources that stand alone."





For this reason, Al-Akremi employed a mixed method in his research:





(1) Material from all levels of L2 [Second language acquisition of English in this case] in/of Omani English coursebooks, Cycle 1, Cycle 2 and Cycle 4, were sampled.

(2) Classroom practices were video-taped and observed.

(3) Semi-structured interviews with instructors were carried out.

(4) Extensive--60 question--survey of instructors was undertaken.





The purpose of using this multi-dimensional approach was first-of-all an attempt to overcome the weaknesses found throughout the literature on this topic. In addition, this multi-dimensional approach was designed to broaden and deepen understanding of the Omani educational context of L2 students and teachers of today.





FINDINGS OF RESEARCH THUS FAR:





1-After sampling all of the various textbooks used and approved for Cycles 1, 2, and 3, it was judged initially that there appeared to be more than enough schematically-appropriate materials, i.e. for carrying out pre-reading and pre-schema activities in the L2 classrooms of Dhofari schools.





2-Video recordings of the class lessons revealed that teachers from at least six different nationalities were actively instructing English in the various schools in Dhofar. However, only 2 out of every 10 instructors who were videoed actually used the pre-reading activities in their lessons.





3-Based on both the interviews and on the surveys, visual aids were the most common pre-reading schema activators by the various instructors. However, it must be stated clearly that although all those instructors interviewed and surveyed appreciated or liked schema theory, many did not employ it.





In summary, although there is/was sufficient material in the L2 Cycle 1, 2, and 3 textbooks, teachers often do/did not use the material --or felt they did not have time to do so--here in the Dhofar region of Oman.





In retrospect, following a long look at the survey and interview results, one of the key findings or discoveries for Al-Akremi is related to the coursebooks of L2 used here in Oman. Al-Akremi noted that in reviewing the textbooks further, there was an ongoing difficulty present here, i.e. in helping students link their "own story" to the story in the textbooks. This was, he felt, a common flaw in the textbooks currently. Therefore instructors needed to be called in to fill any gaps and help students expand their schemas as best as they could.





Al-Akremi added, "Looking at the textbook designs, teachers certainly do need to find ways to link the stories to the students' own world [or schemas] better." In conclusion, the key finding of the study thus far is that teachers feel schema theory and pre-schema activities are important, but for a variety of reasons, the overwhelming number of teachers in L2 Classrooms across Dhofar do not employ them [especially in the pre-reading activities, which were focused on in this study]."





Al-Akremi admitted that one key flaw in his study to-date is that it has focused only on male instructors in Dhofar. (Primary and secondary schools in Oman are usually segregated by gender.) He hopes to rectify this flaw in the near future.





In the meantime, Al-Akremi recommends that that the regional educational supervisors become more active in overseeing that implementation of pre-reading and pre-schema activators become more common in the L2 classrooms in Dhofar--and across all of Oman.






Mark Penn

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Whatever else you might want to say about the corporate types who dominate the Democratic Party, you've got to give some of them an "A" for audacity. The latest to register for top scores are Mark Penn and Andrew Stein who have raised the cry, "Back to the Center, Democrats" in a New York Times op-ed piece.

Now, in case any of you have forgotten, Bernie Sanders did not actually win the Democratic nomination. It was the centrist Hillary Clinton who did; the Clinton who lost to the most unpopular major party presidential candidate since the start of polling on such things; the Clinton that the establishment Democrats stuck with despite virtually every poll saying that Sanders ran stronger against Donald Trump than she did.

Given that Penn's byline says that he "served as pollster and senior adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton from 1995 to 2008," you'd figure he might remember that, but apparently not. In fact, Hillary Clinton appears nowhere in the these two gentlemen's telling of the story of what has led to the decline of the Democratic Party in recent years.

They tell us that "Democrats lost over 1,000 legislative seats across the country and control of both houses of Congress during the Obama years." Why was that? Well, it appears that one of the problems is that "Candidates inspired by Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren and a host of well-funded groups have embraced sharply leftist ideas." The fact is, of course, that any candidates inspired by the above mentioned Senators have attempted to stem the previous years' decline of the Democratic Party dominated by precisely the"centrist" views the authors are promoting.

Indeed, the political terrain these writers describe is barely recognizable even though they speak of events that occurred just last year. For instance, they decry the Democrats' "loss of support among working-class voters, who feel abandoned by the party's shift away from moderate positions on trade." From this, you'd never know that the presidential candidate whose name is apparently not to be mentioned is generally thought to have lost working class support to Trump precisely because of her "moderate," establishment, pro-NAFTA position on trade which these gentleman embrace.

They assert, reasonably enough, that in health care the Democrats "have a coherent message about protecting the working poor from losing coverage," and yet, just like the 2016 Democratic standard bearer, they have nothing to say about adopting a plan that would actually offer the type of universal coverage that every other industrialized country already has. And they argue that somehow the left is apparently responsible for the fact that "in special elections for Congress this year," Democrats "failed to take back any seats held by Republicans" -- even when the candidates were centrists like Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff, who also declined to support a single-payer, universal health insurance program.

It's a truism that the publication of op-ed pieces in newspapers like the New York Times has more to do with the details contained in the authors' bylines than in the quality of the ideas in the text above. Which makes one think that the editors involved might take a deeper look into the authors' bonafides. So far as Penn goes, the Times editors are probably not terribly off -- his resume also includes work for former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, the British equivalent of Bill Clinton, former right wing Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin, and a stint as a Microsoft executive -- pretty much what you might expect from a corporate Democrat arguing a "centrist" line. Stein's credentials seem a bit shakier, though. Identified as "a former Manhattan borough president and New York City Council president," he also once (unsuccessfully) sought the support of the Republican and Conservative Parties to challenge David Dinkins, a Democratic Mayor of New York City. Subsequently he pled guilty to lying about his involvement with Ken Starr, who did time for his role as a Ponzi scheme financial advisor to the stars.

Still, none of that would matter for much, if the authors had any kind of coherent message, but given that they are arguing a typical centrist corporate Democrat line while using a variety of pseudo-proletarian covers -- opposing "[i]dentity politics, class warfare and big government," that is never really a possibility. Perhaps they figure that this matters for little these days, given that the current state of White House politics is such that truth, honesty and consistency count for little. Let's hope that they are wrong. Certainly we Sanders Democrats, who supported a candidate who actually argued the pro-working class views which these confused-at-best writers claim to espouse, think that they are profoundly wrong.
The United States sponsored program, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), on Thursday submitted to the US Congress for examination and consideration, a budget proposal for the Compact program with Cote dIvoire amounting to $525 million.

Education and transport are listed among the sectors that will receive the investments boost from the MCC budget.

These two sectors are identified as areas where MCC investments can stimulate economic growth and progress, creating new opportunities for the Ivorian people, the MCC said in a statement.

The US government called on the West African nation to do much work before the Compact program between the MCC and the Ivorian government is examined by the MCC Board of Directors.

MCC Board of Directors transitioned Cote dIvoire from threshold program development to compact development in December 2015, and reselected the country to continue compact development in December 2016.

Cote dIvoire continued its trajectory of continued political stability and scorecard improvement, passing 14 of 20 indicators in fiscal year 2017, compared to 5 of 20 in fiscal year 2013.

Cote dIvoire is witnessing impressive growth, with a GDP rate of eight percent last year, according to the World Bank.

In 2016 it was Africas fastest growing economy, but 70 percent of its population still work in the agricultural sector.
From Smirking Chimp



Protesters arrested outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office Several people were arrested during a protest led by people with disabilities.

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Disabled Americans came in wheelchairs into the United States Senate to register their protest against the harsh Republican plan to slash health care. ADAPT, a disability rights group, staged a die-in right before the office of the leading Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. About 60 protesters tried to block the entrance to McConnell's office. Their goal was to show the rest of America what would come out of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which the Republicans sought to push through as an alternative to Obamacare.

The police arrested 43 protesters and wheeled out others from McConnell's hallway. The McConnell plan would slash Medicare, a government plan that provides health-care coverage for low-income Americans and for those with disabilities. One of the elements of the plan envisages cutting funds for in-home assistance that allows disabled Americans to remain in their own homes rather than move to nursing homes. Fourteen million Americans will lose any access to health insurance.

One of the people who got out of her wheelchair to be arrested was Stephanie Woodward, director of advocacy for the Center for Disability Rights. She was arrested by the officers in the Senate, who carried her out. "We have a right to live," Stephanie Woodward said. "And by live, I don't mean just breathe. I mean be a part of the American dream, be in the community, raise a family, go to work. These Medicaid cuts will force people into institutions who don't need to be there."

Harsh budget

Evidence of a major assault by the Trump administration on the social safety net in the U.S. was already there in Trump's budget proposal. He sought to cut funds for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Medicaid and the Interagency Council on Homelessness. Cuts to affordable housing and to homeless assistance programs were a centerpiece. But so too are cuts that would hurt the disabled. Sally Johnston, president of the Disabled in Action of Greater Syracuse, said: "Trump's proposed budget will cut trillions of dollars in domestic services. How can this make America better?"

Harshness towards the vulnerable defines Trump's agenda. There was a whisper of this when Trump mocked a disabled reporter for The New York Times, Serge Kovaleski, and when 12-year-old J.J. Holmes, who has cerebral palsy, was ejected from a Trump rally in Tampa, Florida. The disregard shown to people with disabilities reveals the kind of agenda that Trump was always going to drive. Generosity towards people is not his metier. His is a harsh project, to push aside the vulnerable in a social Darwinist drive to excellence. Weakness is reviled. Strength is applauded.

In late June, Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin married the Scottish actress Louise Linton. They had a lavish wedding, attended by Trump, his Vice President and most of the Cabinet. Mnuchin and Louise Linton live in a $12.6 million home in an exclusive part of Washington, D.C. The money is Mnuchin's, what he made as a partner in Goldman Sachs. Mnuchin is not the only fabulously wealthy person in Trump's cabinet. He sits at Cabinet meetings near Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Deputy Commerce Secretary Todd Ricketts. Trump's Chief Economic Adviser is Gary Cohn, another former Goldman Sachs president. All are worth hundreds of millions of dollars each.

At a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, just after the Mnuchin wedding, Trump mused about the wealth in his Cabinet. "Somebody said -- why did you appoint a rich person to be in charge of the economy? No, it's true. And Wilbur's a very rich person in charge of commerce. I said -- Because that's the kind of thinking we want." What kind of thinking would that be? The thinking of someone who was willing to set aside any social agenda for his individual gain.

Trump's base is made of a combination of people of great wealth -- who are few -- and the immense white-collar middle-class sector that has found itself made vulnerable by globalization. Business process outsourcing struck the white-collar middle class, which formed the base of the Tea Party and then the Trump movement. He promised this base that he would not become wedded to Wall Street, but would put Main Street in charge. That has not come to pass. "I love all people, rich or poor," Trump said, "but in those particular positions I don't want a poor person." No poor or middle-class person should direct commercial or budgetary policy. That should be left to the rich. This is an honest assessment of Trump's project -- to appeal to the mass of white-collar vulnerable workers, but to deliver the reins of power to the very wealthy.

In a new book, Duke University professor Nancy MacLean goes into the intellectual roots of the radical Right and the vision of the current agenda, as articulated by Trump. The Right, she shows in Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of The Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America, is interested in the destruction of "society" and the creation of pure individualism. Charles Koch, one of the major financiers of the radical Right, relied upon Baldy Harper.

Harper argued, decades ago, that support for vulnerable populations would erode liberty. He suggested that liberal policies that helped the poor and the disadvantaged would be like a disease against society. "Once the disease has advanced," he wrote, "a bitter curative medicine is required to gain already-lost liberty."

These are harsh words. The idea of a "bitter curative medicine" is something that is natural to the Trump team. The vicious knives they wield against any social policy for the poor and the vulnerable are sharp and are used with gusto. One can see the way they cut away at precious social policies in the budget and in their health care plans.

Nancy MacLean describes the agenda of the economist James Buchanan, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics. Buchanan is a favorite of the radical Right, for whom he acts as an important intellectual standard. A clear sentiment of Buchanan's vision is available in a 2005 document, where he attacks people who have not been able to save enough for unforeseen circumstances or for retirement. If they fall catastrophically ill or lose their jobs, they should have prepared for this eventuality through prudent savings. If not, Buchanan wrote, they "are to be treated as subordinate members of the species, akin to animals who are dependent." The language here is ferocious. It is mimicked by Trump and his Cabinet.

Let us return to Trump's budget. He proposes to cut $2.5 trillion in programs for the working class and the indigent. Food stamps, the essential means for the poorest Americans to access food, would go. It is important to underline that one in six Americans struggles with hunger -- 49 million Americans have a hard time putting food on their tables. One in five children is at risk of hunger, with the ratio higher -- one in three -- for African-American and Latino families. There will be no easy way for Americans who struggle with food insecurity to feed themselves. They will be left to starve, like "subordinate members of the species."

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From Consortium News



A map of Arizona.

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Arizona's resistance to allowing school books and courses that teach Mexican-American history and culture has generated resistance, both in underground efforts to provide the books to students and to challenge the ban on courses in courts as discriminatory.

The Librotraficante Caravan, co-organized in Houston Texas by writer, teacher and activist, Tony Diaz, headed back to Arizona this month with a new shipment of banned books. According to Diaz, Houston activists made the 1,000-plus-mile ride once again to draw attention to Arizona's decision to remove from classrooms books mostly dealing with Mexican-American culture.

The journey also included the restocking of the underground libraries they formed during their 2012 Caravan, and updates on the advancement of Ethnic Studies in each state they pass through. According to the group's press release, "With their 2012 Caravan, the Librotraficantes joined a nationwide movement to defy Arizona's ban and to keep it in check."

There is also a federal court case, which commenced on June 26, contesting the book ban and the ban on ethnic studies in Arizona, that the caravan was organized to call attention to. According to Diaz, the court case will be reviewed again with new evidence consisting of studies proving that the outlawed Mexican American Studies courses in Tucson increased student success and learning power at many levels. The case had been reviewed by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which sent the case back to the Arizona Supreme Court to be considered with the additional evidence.

"We were in the courtroom when a Federal Judge told America that if you have proof that a course helps a particular group of students succeed, yet you outlaw the course, that looks like discrimination," said Tony Diaz. "We hope that the upcoming Arizona Supreme Court ruling will drive a stake in the heart of this un-American law that tramples on Intellectual freedom."

The six-city caravan departed from the Casa Ramirez Folk Art Gallery in Houston on June 21, and made stops in San Antonio, El Paso, Las Cruces and Albuquerque before culminating in Tucson, Arizona.

Dennis Bernstein: Why don't you remind people all about what this caravan and what it was meant to do.

Tony Diaz: Thanks for all the work that you do for freedom of speech. And, really, that's what the first caravan was about. When our crew here in Houston, Texas heard about students lamenting that books had been yanked out of their hands from Tucson classrooms, it perked our ears. We looked into it.

That's when we found out that Arizona had passed this draconian law that prohibits courses that promote the overthrow of the government. Which is basically what they have accused books of poetry, literature, you know, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Critical Race Theory, House on Mango Street. You know what that is -- that's straight up fascism and oppression. So, we said, "If you're going to ban the books, we're going to smuggle them back."

And the students wanted the books back. So we started an 1,100 [mile], six city caravan, and we started underground libraries, basically tracing the Chicano literary history of the Southwest and making stops in each of the cities along the way. If people go to librotraficante.com they can see the original map, and it really does trace the legacy of literature in the Southwest. This time around was really powerful, Dennis, and I really want to share this with your readers, is that we revisited all the underground libraries, and we stocked them with banned books. And each of them is thriving. [...] So it was really powerful, to not only convene with our communities again, but also ... get all the way to Tucson for the Arizona Supreme Court hearing.

And it's beautiful to see our community defy that ban. I'm hoping the rest of the country catches up. But people should know that right now [week of June 26], at the Arizona Supreme Court, the ban of Mexican American Studies is being tested. We hope it will get overturned. If not, people need to know, if that is not overturned, that will be the law that suppresses African American Studies, Mexican American Studies, Asian American Studies, LGBTQ Studies, Women's Studies, in every corner of the land. So it's important that we keep an eye on this. And that we all work really hard to keep spreading all this knowledge, right now.

DB: Say a little bit more about how the banned writers have participated, what their reactions have been. It is really incomprehensible, shall we say, in 2017 that the folks in Tucson, and other places, are afraid of extraordinary, beautiful books that have been the mainstay in many libraries all over the country.

TD: No, it's shocking, it's depressing. At the same time, we gotta remind folks that it's our communities that edify us, inspire us. Because, yeah, it is troubling to know that there are forces at work that want to stifle these beautiful books, such as Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya. But we are in a Chicano Renaissance when someone who is from a Mexican American background can read those works and wind up convening with Mr. Anaya, himself.

It was wonderful because the caravan passed through Albuquerque, and we stopped at Rodolfo's house. We took some tequila shots with him just one more time to be edified spiritually and physically, but on top of it he said "Occupy Arizona." He donated books, he donated some funds to the cause. He gave us shelter and fired us up.

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The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has expressed worry over the Minoritys insistence that there was insider-trading and conflict of interest in the issuance of the $2.25 billion bond by government in April.



The IFS said the Minoritys multiplicity of petitions to foreign Securities and Exchange Commission over the bond could spell doom for the countrys economy.



The Minority on Wednesday petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission in Luxembourg in its ongoing crusade for disclosure on the saga since April by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.



This comes after a similar petition was sent to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to probe what the NDC lawmakers suspect to be riddled with underhand dealings, enabling Franklin Templeton Investments to buy a chunk of the bond.



In this new petition, the Minority wants authorities to investigate the Luxembourg-based subsidiary of Franklin Templeton, which bought the bond on behalf of its parent company.



Reacting to the development, the Executive Director of IFS, Prof. Newman Kusi cautioned that the Minority should be very careful in what they are doing, arguing that if a case of conflict of interest in the issuance of the bond is established, all the international rating agencies are going to downgrade the country, which means that when we conduct international business we dont look at issues of probity and integrity.



I really dont understand what the Minority stands to gain because the Minister of Finance had been in parliament and at that you should ask questions if there are some information that you wanted.



You [Minority] had opportunity to question the Minister of Finance, you didnt do that. So I really dont understand the benefit that the country stands to gain in pursuing this particular matter, he stated.



The Finance Minister Ofori-Atta maintained that the $2.25 billion bond issued by the government in April was done transparently without any breaches of integrity.



Responding to the Minoritys claim in an hour-long address before parliament on June 7, 2017, he explicitly stated that nothing illicit or untoward occurred in the transaction, noting, It may be tempting to say that the apparent attempt to manufacture some form of integrity deficit in the process is generally borne of out a lack of understanding of the actual process on the part of the minority.



He added: All prospective bidders bid through their primary dealers, who in turn submitted the investors bids through the Central Securities Depository platform.



The joint transaction advisers then collate these bids to build up a book on which the bonds are issued.



At no time during the book building process did the Ministry of Finance negotiate with any investor in any way, and it will indeed be quite difficult to manipulate the process when the three financial institutions are governed strictly by the Bank of Ghanas rules and regulations.



There were no breaches of integrity either on governments part or on the joint book runners part, he emphasized.

Source: starrfm









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, has expressed dissatisfaction with an Iranian Scientist Mehran Tavakoli Keshe relationship with the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.



According to the Minister, upon scrutinising the portfolio of the Iranian Scientist, he discovered that some of his activities, predictions and medicinal product purported to cure certain diseases were not genuine.



After my appointment I decided to review the operations of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission and I came across this Iranian Scientist called Mehran Tavakoli Keshe and was not convinced with his activities so I told my colleagues to look into his activities to help me have satisfaction, he said.



The Minister added that after scrutinizing the Iranians portfolio and Curriculum Vitae as well as some key members of his Foundation, he came to the realisation that, he was not genuine.



He noted that the Iranian Scientist claimed he studied Nuclear Physics at Queen Mary College, University of London, however when we checked with the University, we discovered that the University did not even offer Atomic Physics.



In addition, the Scientist was reported to be preparing to set up an Energy Space Centre at the Atomic Energy and that by next year, Ghana would go to the Space, which the President had no idea of.



The Sector Minister made these known at the swearing-in ceremony of the Governing Board of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission in Accra on Thursday.



The Minister indicated that the same Iranian Scientist made certain predictions in the United States two years ago claiming the continent was going to split into two and that there was an imminent earthquake.and all those predictions didnt happen.



He also brought certain things to Belgium that was artificial and people paid money for it.and also devised certain equipment which he brought samples to the Director-General of the Atomic Commission claiming it would reduce power consumption in peoples homes...and I dont know if this is true, he said.



The Minister cited a liquid the Iranian had manufactured known as plasma water which was examined by the Ghana Standard Authority (GSA) and the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and it came to light that it was pure water.



The Iranian Scientist alleged the liquid which he had bottled and sold at US$10 dollars each could cure diabetes and hypertension and supported his claim with a video from Youtube as a strategy to market the product.



The President is concerned and I think we must review our relationship with this foreigner who in the first place should not have been allowed to set up a camp at the Atomic Energy.



We dont want further embarrassment. if we want to go to space we have our own space programmehis theories as far as am concerned have no scientific basis, he explained.



The Minister charged the Commission to review its operations, especially regarding agreements and Memorandum of Understanding signed with companies and foreign contracts.



Prof. Frimpong-Boateng said all contracts signed with foreign agencies should be reviewed by the Attorney-General to avoid mistakes.



The Minister had earlier administered the Official Oath and Oath of Secrecy to the Board members and charged them to come out with strategic policy direction that would move the Commission from its current predicaments.



The seven-member Board comprised, Dr. Kweku Aning, Chairman, Professor Benjamin Jabez Botwe Nyarko, Director-General of the Commission, member, Professor Alexander Kwadwo Nyarko, from the University of Ghana, member, and Madam Isabel Louisa Boaten, a legal practitioner, member.



The rest are Mr. Joseph Sowa Okpoti, Former Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Volta River Authority, member, Dr. Robert Adjaye, Energy Provider Consultant, member, and Mrs Levina Owusu, Government nominee, member.

Source: GNA









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Featured Video
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and other Ghanaian civil society organisations, including the Internet Freedom CSO Coalition, Ghana, have called on the government to implement the National Cyber Security Policy and Strategy, which was adopted by Cabinet in the last quarter of 2016.



The civil society organisations (CSOs) made the call at a Stakeholders Forum on Cyber Security Issues in Ghana. The forum which was under the theme, Ghanas Cyber Security Environment: Challenges and the Way Forward, brought together sector Ministries, state security agencies, business entities and associations, academia, civil society, media and the general public.



In a statement read on behalf of the CSOs by Ms Felicia Anthonio of the MFWA, the CSOs asked government to clarify the implementation status of the Policy.



"As civil society organisations committed to promoting the interests and the rights of all Ghanaians, including women both online and offline, we believe that the National Cyber Security Policy and Strategy is a key policy document that can safeguard the safety of Ghanaians in the cyber space. We are, therefore, very concerned that there has been limited information about the implementation status of the national policy and strategy," the statement read.



The CSOs also expressed concern about the low levels of engagement by government and the private sector in forums and discussions around cyber security and other internet-related issues. They again called on the stakeholders to proactively engage CSOs to ensure that the interests of end-users (whose interests CSOs represent) are factored into decision making.



We also call on government, particularly the Ministry of Communication to include civil society in the National Cyber Security Council that the Ministry announced it will be setting up.



In response, the Deputy Minister of Communications, Hon. Vincent Sowah Odotei, indicated that the Cyber Security Policy and Strategy was being tweaked slightly so it can be implemented. He assured that the Policy will be implemented to ensure a safer cyber experience in Ghana.



In delivering the Keynote Address on behalf of the Minister of National Security, the Director of Communications at the Ministry of National Security, Kwabena Adu-Boahene, assured that stakeholders will be engaged in the implementation of the Policy.



"We shall be using a multi-stakeholder approach to ensure a successful implementation of the National Cyber Security Policy and Strategy," Kwabena Adu-Boahene said.



The Forum also featured presentations about the cyber security threat landscape in the country following a policy brief developed with the support of e-Crime Bureau with funding support from UK-based Global Partners Digital.





Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Featured Video
The Akyem Adankrono Traditional Council led by Osaberimah Sarpong Kumakunma II have recognised the role and the contributions of the National Road Safety Ambassador, Gabby Adu Gyamfi in helping curb road crashes and championing road safety in Ghana.



According to Osaberimah Sarpong Kumakunma II, he is sometimes traumatised when there is road accident in the country. And he is excited that, an accident victim has decided to go round to share his experience and tell his story to motorist for them to change their attitudes on road that leads to road accidents. The boldness and passion is very inspirational.



Mr. Gabby Adu Gyamfi is the only survivor in an accident that involved 30 pasengers which occurred on July 11, 2003 at Sewhuah Junction off the Kumasi lake Bosomtwe road in the Ashanti Region.



Mr. Gabby Adu Gyamfi is now a well known road safety Ambassador who is committed to road safety improvement in the country.



He has significantly helped to increase awareness on best road safety procedures in the country in collaboration with the DVLA, police, and the Road safety commission. Where in every district they go, they make sure motorist in the area, register their vehicles and also help them aquire driving license.



Currently over 1,648 motorists have been trained with an amount of Ghc800,000 revenue generated for the Government through DVLA.



Mr. Gabby emphasis that the nation lose so much when there is an accident in the country.



Presenting the award to him, the Akyem Adankrono Chief, Osaberimah Sarpong Kumakunma II called on all chiefs to join the campaign on road safety and always preach it at every durber.



The Akyem Kadehene Osaberimah Agyare Tenadu also commended Mr Gabby Adu Gyamfi for his dream.



He encouraged him to continue since its a good fight.



He said chiefs are ready to support the government to establish a DVLA anex office at Akyem Kade to help the drivers.



He called all and sundry to contribute to end Road accidents in the country.

Source: Michael Akrofi/ Eastern Regional Correspondent









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Adansi Asokwa has snubbed president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo after being sidelined in the elephant-size ministerial appointments.



The outspoken lawmaker has rejected a board chairmanship offer from the president because he feels he is gone past such post, having served as a deputy energy minister in the erstwhile Kufuor administration.



Starrfmonline.com can confirm Mr. Hammond was offered the position of board chairman of Ghana Gas, but turned it down when the Chief of Staff broached the news to him. Inside sources within the corridors of power have confirmed there is a frosty relationship between President Akufo-Addo and the vociferous legislator.



Mr. Hammond, according to Starrfmonline.com sources at the presidency, said he rejected the Ghana Gas board chairman offer because he qualifies to be a sector Minister and accepting the position means he will be accountable to even a deputy minister.



K.T Hammond was at the frontline hitting the John Mahama government on issues about energy, hoping he will secure the Energy Minister portfolio when the NPP came to power only for it to be given to Mr. Boakye Agyarko.



Hes not a happy man, his close associate told Starrfmonline.com.



Starrfmonline.com understands Mr. Hammond was scheduled to be at the ceremony where President Akufo-Addo turned on the valves on the FPSO John Agyekum Kufuor to signal the formal production of oil in commercial quantities from the Sankofa oil and gas fields but failed to honour the invitation.



Starrfmonline.com can also confirm that in a bid to assuage the pain of Mr. Hammond, his colleagues in Parliament gave him the first choice to choose to become the chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee but he repudiated that too.



Mr. Hammond said he will speak about the issue at the appropriate time.





Source: starrfmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The National Chairman of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) has described maverick politician and MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong as unofficial president of Ghana.



According to Bernard Mornah, even though the loud mouthed Legislator was not elected as the Leader of Ghana, Ken Agyapongs actions and utterances turn to be what is guiding policy in this country.



The PNC Chairman expressed worry over how increasingly powerful the self acclaimed financier of the ruling NPP has become, such that everyone in the party including officials in the executive arm of government tow his line anytime he speaks.



Speaking on Morning Starr on Starr FM Friday, Mr Mornah citing Ken Agyapongs threat to the National Security Minister, Kan Dapaah following the Vigilante group [Delta Force] attack on the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator to buttress his point, said it has become increasingly clear that the NPP lacks what it takes to call the eccentric politician order.



He further cited Mr Agyapongs recent outburst after the Managing Director of Bulk Oil Storage and Transport Company (BOST), Alfred Obeng was implicated in the controversial sale of five million litres of off-spec fuel.



The Minority in Parliament and some civil society groups affiliated to the NPP were calling on government to sack the BOST MD after selling million litres of contaminated fuel to Movenpiina, a company said to have been incorporated barely a month after it negotiated the deal with BOST and without NPA license.



But Hon. Ken Agyapong who was livid at what he said was undermining of Alfred Obeng whom he describes as a silent financier of the NPP was being treated by some NPP members who wanted the BOST job threatened tell the whole world how the party won the 2016 elections. Mr Mornah believes the Energy Minister was intimidated by Ken Agyapongs threat hence his decision to dissolve the investigative committee he set up to probe the sale of the contaminated fuel.



The PNC Chairman said it may be the case that Ken Agyapong is holding something dear close to his chest that Ghanaians do not know.



Hes holding something so dear to the NPP particularly President Akufo Addo so that when Ken Agyapong threatens it appears that everybody is runing under the table for cover.

Source: kasapafmonline









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Joe Cada: The Kid Who Grew Up

July 07, 2017 Paul Seaton

When a 21-year-old kid by the name of Joe Cada took down the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, he became the youngest winner in history. Eight years on, he's right back here at the Rio. He's transformed from the youngest person ever to wear the Main Event bracelet into a man on the brink of turning 30, but he's still The Kid. We sat down with the poker pro who ended Darvin Moon's dream all those years ago and who has never been eclipsed by a younger player in the Main Event.

There were detractors at the time who derided both Cada and his heads-up opponent Darvin Moon for being fortunate to make heads-up. Cada is keen to point out the luck he experienced in getting to the final confrontation in the Rio eight years ago.

"There were so many factors, you've got to put yourself in a position to win, but there's a lot of variance and a lot of luck involved," Cada told PokerNews. "I've played tens of thousands of tournaments online and there are times when you go 0 for 50 or 0 for 100 and then there are times when you catch fire and reach final table after final table. Leading up to the WSOP in 2009, I'd had a lot of success online for a few years. I put in a lot of effort and I was playing a lot of poker. I think that was a big factor in terms of getting there."

"I credit the guy for winning and walking away and having a normal life. It's awesome."

Cada's win propelled him to stardom and focus shifted in some quarters to his amateur opponent, Darvin Moon, with some calling him 'Darvin Gump.' Cada thinks that the way his heads-up counterpart was disregarded was cruel.

"I don't think it was fair. A lot of people judge people on what they do or what they win after winning the Main Event. Some people play more than others and so results aren't what they seem to be. It wasn't what he did for a living; he was a logger in Marilyn. It's something that he went and did, he won a satellite and he won [millions]. How can you take that away from the guy just because he hasn't played much since or had a really weird style that people weren't used to?

"I credit the guy for winning and walking away and having a normal life. It's awesome. Not everyone is in this to do it for a living. Some people do it for a vacation or a hobby. I think it's cool."

It won't come as a surprise to learn that the 21-year-old Cada considered other ways to spend his future than playing poker.

"I tried doing different things, but I always enjoyed playing poker. I put a lot of my time into it and it's something that I'll always continue to do because I'm good at it and I like to play. I don't play as much as I used to when I was 18,19 or 20, though. I was playing an insane, unhealthy number of hours at those ages. I was doing really well and it was addictive to keep winning at.

"Poker wasn't something I initially planned to do for a living. I had a job before turning pro because I wasn't sure if my early wins at 18 and 19 were just luck or I was playing well. I continued to put in a lot of volume and I quit my first job until I made around $150,000. I was working for $100-200 a night just so I could tell my mom, 'Hey, I still have my job.' Eventually, the poker outweighed the job and I quit. I was able to get my first house at 19 and pay it off. I was able to save it up, help my mom and then come to Vegas."

"Poker wasn't something I initially planned to do for a living."

It was a trip that would change Cada's young life. He won $8,546,435, although as he explains, he only took home half that amount because of a staking deal.

"The WSOP has so many tournaments and buy-ins that you can easily go through the whole series with only two or three cashes and lose $100,000," Cada said. "I found someone I could show my statistics to online and I got a financial backer. Everyone asks me 'Do you regret getting backed?' and the honest answer is that I never regretted it one bit. I knew what I could win and it was part of the risk. I was happy with half."

As well as being a glass half full, we put it to Cada that the financial stability of being staked helped his mental security going into the World Series.

"Yeah I agree with that. A lot of people want to put everything on the line. I can't live that lifestyle.

"Even after the Main Event, I wasn't one of those players who take shots at big games. This year was my first time playing a $100,000 tournament. That was eight years after I won the Main. I'd never want to put myself in a position where my back is completely against the wall and I need to win. It's something I always want to have fun with, be comfortable and have success."

Many players who win such a huge amount of money at such a young age would have blown a significant chunk of the profits. Cada was never going to let that happen but took some chances in areas of business.

"Everyone makes their own mistakes along the way. I opened up the business of a charity poker room where half the profits went to charity. I'd been in love with poker forever; it's what I was good at and it seemed like a really good idea. But they changed the rules and regulations in Michigan whereby you could have one charity supplementing each $2/$5 game and have eight or ten charities running tables. They changed that to only being allowed one charity in the casino per night. Instead of eight charities all making money, only one could. It's tough because casinos weren't happy about charity rooms because they lose business. I enjoyed it but there was a lot of pressure in owning a business as opposed to playing poker. There's not a lot of responsibility on a poker player."

Moving On from PokerStars

Just three years ago, Cada ended his role as a Team PokerStars Pro. It's clear that he sticks by that decision on every basis of making it.

"It's like being sponsored by Nike, then paying to use their warm-ups or something."

"I'm happy I walked away from 'Stars. I'm coming up on a different direction within poker with Norwegian Cruise Line which is great. PokerStars offered me a contract and I knew that I didn't bring a lot of value to the company in general. But it's weird to be sponsored by a company and have to pay to use their product. If someone wants me to play exclusively on one site, I'm going to be generating a lot of rake, because I play so much volume, so they'll be making almost $100,000 from that rake. If that all just goes to the company and they're making a profit from me, it's like being sponsored by Nike, then paying to use their warm-ups or something!"

Is it reasonable to assume that if players were in control then more maturity shown by poker companies across the industry would mean every player has the freedom to play every open event across all poker brands?

"Certain companies are stricter than others," Cada replied. "That was just the rule at the time where I could only play on PokerStars and I think they had that rule with a lot of players. It took away from me finding different games online. A lot of it is game selection and there are certain sites that have better games. Not having the choice of games while at the same time paying to use the product meant it was time to walk away.

"They were under different ownership and going in a completely different direction. When I left it wasn't so much 'Thanks for being part of the company for five years.' They were rude and it felt the right time for me to walk away."

An Unbreakable WSOP Record?

Cada's claim to fame remains his incredible breakthrough WSOP Main Event victory when he'd only been able to drink alcohol for a matter of months. He insists the record will be broken, but maybe not immediately.

"I play against people all the time who are younger than I was when I won it. One of these guys is going to win. One guy was sitting next to me and said, 'I'm going to break your record.' I told him, 'I said the same thing to Peter Eastgate; you might.'

"Every year, someone will have the chance to do it and it will eventually happen. It became a little harder after Black Friday with the ability to play online; it's not as easy or on the scale it was. I still think it will be done, but maybe later rather than sooner."

Eight years later, in preparing for the 2017 WSOP Main Event, Joe Cada sits underneath his banner on the wall of the Rio, being asked for his picture.

"One guy was sitting next to me and said, 'I'm going to break your record'. I told him, 'I said the same thing to Peter Eastgate.'"

"That'll never get old, seeing my picture with the money. It's still really strange. People might look at me differently or ask for a picture with me. I feel no different from the tournament player next to me. It's a level playing field. It's strange, but I was that same person with Daniel [Negreanu] and I was the same guy asking for a picture. It's weird to be on the other side of it. I just won the tournament."

Millions of ESPN viewers around the world thrilled in Cada's victory in 2009, while voicing the popular rhetoric that the win might go to his head. They needn't have worried. The Kid still has the same smile, the inner child who stunned the poker world. But in a sense, Cada was never the Kid.

He was always The Man.
@martindvassolo

Jose Mallea, a Republican running for state House in Miami-Dade County, is attempting to force his opponent to withdraw from the race for House District 116.

In a lawsuit filed Friday against fellow Republican Daniel Perez, Mallea requests that a Leon County Circuit Court rule Perez ineligible to run, citing a Miami Herald article that found Perez does not currently live at the address he listed when running for office.

The Kendall home where Perez receives his mail, is registered to vote and claims homestead exemption is under major construction, and it will be for the foreseeable future.

In the meantime, Perez said he is living with his father elsewhere in the district, although he has not disclosed that address to the Miami Herald.

The Florida Constitution requires legislators to live in the district they represent by Election Day. For Perez, thatd be Sept. 26, if he defeats Mallea in a July 25 primary. Perez has said he does not know if construction will be completed by Sept. 26.

If Perez lives with his father in the district, he would not be in violation even if he doesnt live at his listed address.

But Malleas lawsuit claims that Perez should be forced to withdraw his candidacy because the sworn statement to the states Division of Elections that he lives at his home is now false, which would be in violation of Florida statute.

Daniel Perezs relationship with the truth is estranged at best, Mallea said in a statement. To knowingly identify an uninhabitable building with no roof as his address is the latest in his pattern of lies.

Perez could not be immediately reached for comment.

Mallea has also been accused of not living in the district, although he says he has moved into a rented apartment unit in Doral. He provided the Miami Herald copies of his Florida Power and Light bill and his updated voter registration.
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.




By: Total Property Resources

Join our amazing team!

Contact

Total Property Resources, LLC

Mandy Davis

***@total-property.com Total Property Resources, LLCMandy Davis

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-- We're looking for a dynamic and professional individual to join our team as an administrative assistant. The perfect person for this position will be flexible and ready to tackle a variety of administrative tasks for our office which serves both our real estate and law firm.About us:Ambrose Law Group is a well-established Central Oregon law firm in the heart of Bend's Westside that specializes in real estate law and works cooperatively with our partner company, Total Property Resources, a boutique real estate brokerage with 4 locations in Oregon and SW Washington.About the position:We are looking to fill a full-time Administrative Assistant position with an individual who has great energy, loves the public and thrives with a diverse workload. The Administrative Assistant will be responsible for working cooperatively with both businesses, so the ability to easily transition between work is a must.The ideal candidate will be a go-getter who is both confident working independently and a team player with a great attitude. This is a public-facing position which includes answering phones, emails and taking on miscellaneous tasks as delegated.Qualifications:-Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite, especially Outlook, Excel and Publisher-Technology-minded with the ability to problem solve office equipment as needed-Detailed and organized in nature-A great multi-tasker that can work with diverse tasks-Outstanding work ethic with a commitment to being dependable-Warm and inviting personality* A basic understanding of posting to social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram is a huge plus!If you're interested in joining our team, please submit your resume and cover letter to mdavis@total-property.com for consideration.Learn more about Total Property Resources https://total- property.com/
Contact

Reannon Muth

***@fisherfornevada.com Reannon Muth

End

-- Las Vegas business owner Jared Fisher is no stranger to "being first." Fisher was the first to open a multi-state bicycle touring company and outdoor tourism business in Las Vegas. He was the first to recognize that a tremendous business opportunity existed in Southern Nevada's expansive outdoors. And he was the first business owner in Las Vegas to embrace renewable energy efficiencies, installing over 200 solar panels and one of the Vegas Valley's only vertical wind turbines at his company headquarters in Summerlin.His most recent "First", however, is perhaps his biggest and most ambitious "First" to date. In April 2017, Jared Fisher became the first 2018 candidate to declare a run for Governor of Nevada."People ask me if I'm concerned about being the first to declare," said Fisher. "But I'm not afraid to be the first."Fisher is not afraid to afraid to take risksA quality that has served him well as a business owner, an adventurer, and now, as a candidate running on the Republican ticket."I think it's important to think outside the box and to not be afraid to try something different if the old ways of doing things aren't working," explained Fisher. "My goal is to make Nevada a leadera leader in renewable energy, a leader in a diversified economy and a leader in education. I want to make Nevada the healthiest state in the nation. I want to make Nevada first."Fisher admits he has some hurdles to overcome, number one being the perception that he lacks the political experience to hold public office. While he has spent the last 25 years growing a successful national tour company, this will be his first time running for a position in government."Some people have referred to me as 'The Bike Guy,' commented Fisher. "I think that's great. My bike and I have won a lot of races over the years, so I take it as a compliment. This Bike Guy and his bicycle are committed to this raceWe're used to coming in first, and so we see no reason to stop now."Since Fisher declared, others have followed suit and announced their candidacy, however Jared remains the fistand so far, onlyRepublican candidate in the race.About Fisher for NevadaFisher for Nevada is the official campaign of Jared Fisher, 2018 candidate for Governor of Nevada. Jared Fisher is a business owner and Southern Nevada resident who is running on a platform of positive, productive leadership for a healthy Nevada. To learn more, visit the Fisher for Nevada website at https://www.fisherfornevada.com/
Attica Locke is wearing cowboy boots, visible under the trousers of her pantsuit. Were at a cafe in Los Angeles chatting about Bluebird, Bluebird (Little Brown, Sept.), her fourth mystery novel. Lockes books are all set in her native Texas, and she speaks enthusiastically about her roots. The older I get, the more affection I have for where I grew up, she says. I have a huge collection of cowboy boots. They make me feel like Im literally standing on where Im from.

After moving from Houston to attend Northwestern University in Illinois, Locke planned to become an independent filmmaker and director. In 1999, as a fellow at the Sundance Institutes Feature Filmmakers Lab, she studied screenwriting and directing. But I had to admit to myself that I might not have the fortitude to be an indie filmmaker, she says. I might not love it enough to do it, to hang out with a film idea for the amount of time it can take to bring it to the screen. And 20 years ago, indie movies were rarely made by black people. I had to let it go, and that was painful.

What appealed to Locke, she realized, was writing, and she became a successful screenwriter for every major studio in Hollywood. None of her scripts were produced but she made a lot of money in the process. Then, while she was in New York doing research on the screenplay for a remake of Wait Until Dark, she had a prescient dream. I was working in a film colony where we all lived and worked together, she says. There was some big premiere that everyone was going to, but I was on janitorial duty that night. I was cleaning up with some other women, and I stood there with the broom and said, I dont want to do this anymore. Im done. And I woke up crying. I felt like I was dying inside. So I went into Endeavor, where my agent was, and told her I was done, and everyone in the office looked at me and said, Are you crazy? 

Locke says it was the best thing she could have done for herself. In 2005, she and her husband, a public defender, took a loan on their house, and Locke spent the next year writing Black Water Rising (Harper, 2009). It was nominated for an Edgar Award for best first novel and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize; it was shortlisted for the Orange Prize in the U.K., and it established her as a respected bestselling novelist.

I was figuring everything out by trial and error, completely on my own, Locke says of her early fiction writing. It wasnt until I read Pete Dexters Brotherly Love, which is in the present tense, that I thought, I can do that. Present tense is my mother tongue. All I had to do was write what I saw, and it made me put away literary airs. Also, Im not afraid to start shit over.

Lockes second book was The Cutting Season (Harper/Lehane, 2012), her third was Pleasantville (Harper, 2015). By then, she was committed to writing mystery novels. An unexpected call from her theatrical agent about a new television drama called Empire did prove irresistible, though, and she signed on as writer and producer for the shows first three seasons. (But in order to focus full-time on writing books, Locke recently resigned from Empire and will leave at the close of the current season.)

In Bluebird, Bluebird, Lockes protagonist is Darren Mathews, a black Texas Ranger investigating a murder in a small east Texas town. Mathews is a compelling character, educated and compassionate, devoted to maintaining a complicated peace between the black and white residents along Highway 59. The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas is another player in the story, which makes Bluebird simmer with tension. Its clear at the books end that Bluebird is the first in a series, something Locke hasnt tackled before.

When I wrote that ending I said to myself, Oh, shit, thats a promise, Attica!  Locke says. Im nervous. I never intended to write a series, and Im sure writing for television was a part of that decision. Working on Empire gave me an appreciation of and a love for serialized story telling, which was a real gift.

Successfully straddling the line between television writing and fiction, Locke sees the two mediums merging. I think theyre starting to mirror each other more and more, she says. Especially the more we consume TV in time chunks of our own choosing. Streaming feels like picking up a book and putting it down and picking it back up again.

Locke feels fortunate that she is comfortable in both the culture of Hollywood and the culture of publishing. But when Im in either world, she adds, Im aware that my experience is slightly different than most other people in the room.

Locke mentions more than onceas well as in Bluebirdthe horrifying murder of James Byrd by racist white men in Jasper, Tex., in 1998. I felt both rage and shame when Jasper happened, because Texas is where I come from, she says. It was really painful, but I also felt that wasnt the whole of the Texas that I know and love.

Locke recently returned from a research trip to east Texas for the next Mathews book. She says her father, an attorney, went with her because she was anxious about being there alone. In fact, she made him bring a pistol. I hate guns, she says, but we were going to be in an isolated cottage out in the woods near Caddo Lake.

The trip was enlightening, Locke says. My dad is an affable, nonjudgmental person until he has a reason to judge. So Im looking at people in overalls: white folks, real rednecks, getting out of pickups, and my dad is saying things like, Hey, how ya doin, man? I like your boots. I got really uncomfortable and sad, because Id say 90% of the people there were so engaging. But its a gray area where you have love for black folks living next to you for over 200 years, yet a desire to keep white supremacy in place. Its a wild contradiction. Indeed, the question that Locke hopes Bluebird poses is, Is the law a thing that will elevate black life by protecting it from injury, or is the law something black people need protection from?

With the exception of The Cutting Season, all of Lockes books have had black male protagonists, something shes acutely aware of. When youre going through life as a black woman and some weird shit goes down, I dont go to gender first, I go right to race, she says. I am black before Im a woman. Right or wrong, its simply how I go through life. And thats reflected in the books Ive written. Stripping gender out of the equation lets me tell a story solely about race. Its a reflection of my psyche. When asked whether she identifies as a black writer, Locke responds without hesitation: I identify as a black person first.

Lockes husband is white. I tell our biracial daughter not to judge a book by its cover, she says. When I first met her father, I didnt like him. It wasnt that he was white; it was his long hair, the cigarettes, the leather jacket, the earring. She laughs. And now weve been together for 23 years. Were profoundly honest about race. And we can be irreverent!

Lockes been followed in stores, and ignored when speaking to retail employees. In 1997 she was pulled over by the LAPD while driving home from work late one night. This had never happened to me before, she says. Two cops approached me with guns drawn and a flashlight shining into my car. They told me I fit the description of a man who had stolen a car a few streets over. I have short hair, but when the officer on the drivers side saw my face, he realized I was a woman. No apology from either officer, and they let me go. I live with the burden and privilege of double consciousness around race and gender.
Lonsdale Re-ups at Lake Union

Kerry Lonsdale inked a six-figure, two-book world rights agreement with Lake Union Publishing. The author was represented by Gordon Warnock at Fuse Literary, who brokered the agreement with Lake Unions Danielle Marshall. The first book in this deal is a standalone novel set for summer 2019, and the second book, Everything We Give, will be the third title in Lonsdales Everything series. Lonsdales debut, Everything We Keep (which was published in July 2016 as a Kindle First and released in print from Lake Union in August 2016), has, according to the Amazon imprint, reached more than one million readers through a combination of sales and subscription downloads.

Kenyon Does Double at Tor

Bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon closed a two-book North American rights deal, for the next two titles in her Dark Hunter series, with Linda Quinton at Tor. Quinton brokered the agreement with Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group, and Claire Eddy will be editing the titles. The series, Gottlieb explained, follows an immortal cadre of warriors who fight to protect mankind from creatures seeking to steal human souls.

Morrow Nabs Authors Adult Debut

In a North American rights agreement, Jessica Williams at William Morrow bought The Binding, YA author Bridget Collinss adult debut. The two-book deal was brokered by Eleanor Jackson at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. According to Morrow, the historical novel is set within a magical world where bookbinders remove unwanted memories and trap them within books. Collins is British and often writes her childrens books under the name B.R. Collins. The Binding, which was acquired in the authors native country by Borough Press after an eight-way auction, will be published simultaneously in the U.K.

Watkinss Message Heard by Atria

Editor-at-large for Salon D. Watkins sold world rights to a nonfiction book called The Message. Todd Hunter at Atria bought the book from Barbara Poelle at the Irene Goodman Agency, who described the title as a deep dive into the topic of race and how its discussed in this country. Poelle said the book examines African-American communities in the U.S. to show how conversations around race are often misrepresented and offers practical solutions to improve them.

Pegasus Turns Red with Montefiore

British author Simon Sebag Montefiore (The Romanovs) struck a North American rights agreement with Jessica Case at Pegasus Books for his new novel, Red Sky at Noon. Montefiore was represented in the deal by his U.K. agent, Georgina Capel, who has an eponymous shingle. Case said the novel focuses on an epic cavalry ride across the grasslands outside Stalingrad during the darkest times of World War II. A character who figured in two of the authors previous novels, Benya Golden, is the central figure here, Case explained, appearing amidst a cast of unforgettable characters that includes Stalins daughter and a penal battalion of Cossacks and convicts. The novel is slated for January 2018.

Minotaur Buys Series by Anthropologist-Turned-Author

Debut author Ellison Cooper signed a three-book North American rights deal with Minotaur Books to pen a new crime series. The first book in the series, Caged, follows an FBI neuroscientist named Sayer Altair, who, as Minotaur put it, hunts for evil in the deepest recesses of the human mind; she is called upon to head up an investigation into a grisly murder in the nations capital. Cooper, who has a Ph.D. in anthropology from UCLA and a law degree from Georgetown Law School, has done fieldwork and served as a murder investigator in the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C.; the publisher said she drew from her fascinating background in writing the novel. Minotaurs Leslie Gelbman won the book at auction from Amy Tannenbaum at the Jane Rotrosen Agency; rights to the book have also sold in, to date, Germany, Italy, and France.

Abbotts Latest Goes to Katherine Tegen

For HarperCollinss Katherine Tegen Books imprint, Claudia Gabel acquired world rights to a new middle grade novel by Tony Abbott (The Copernicus Legacy) called Denis Ever After. Robert Guinsler at Sterling Lord Literistic, who did the deal, said the novel, which is scheduled for summer 2018, is a mystery about twin brothers, with a paranormal twist; Denis Egan interrupts his peaceful afterlife to join his twin brother, Matt, on a road trip in the hopes of solving the strange circumstances of his death, while trying not to jeopardize his chances in an eternity where forgetting is mandatory.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the correct print publication date for Everything We Keep.
A wave of closures has swept bricks-and-mortar retailers around the country this year. BankruptcyData, a research service, has already counted 328 retail bankruptcy filings in 2017, compared to just 251 during the same period last year.

Oren Teicher, CEO of the American Booksellers Association, has been carefully watching the retail situation and hasnt seen a catastrophe for bookstores. ABA membership numbers have shown some modest growth over the past several years, and thats continued through this year, he noted. His organization has counted 10 new member locations so far in 2017.

Keplers Books CEO Praveen Madan, on the other hand, has been preparing for the worst for years. [Booksellers] have to begin by accepting that their business models face serious existential threats, the Bay Area bookseller explains. Madan took over as CEO of Keplers at the end of 2011 as the bookstore (founded by Roy Kepler in 1955) teetered on the brink of closure. Borders had just declared bankruptcy, e-book sales had exploded, and the demise of print was widely predicted.

Five years later, Madan (who is also co-owner of San Franciscos Booksmith) and his team have transformed the bookstorefollowing a Keplers 2020 strategy designed to allow the store to survive in this difficult retail environment. The reboot began with a fund-raising campaign that collected $730,000 in start-up capital for the bookseller. Madan and his team negotiated a more affordable lease for the bookstores Menlo Park storefront, restructured its real estate footprint, upgraded its bookselling technology, and refreshed its inventory.

There are lots of things [booksellers] can do to improve their stores fundamentals and increase the likelihood of surviving, Madan noted. Instead of offering blanket advice for booksellers, he posed a series of questions that, he said, individual stores should ask, including, What are your communitys unmet needs or pain points that your bookstore is in a unique position to address?

The Keplers 2020 plan created the Keplers Literary Foundation to handle events and to better engage the community. The foundation, which was spun off earlier this month as an independent nonprofit, offers writing classes, youth programs, workshops, and community discussion groups.

Madan also urged booksellers to ask, What unique purpose can your bookstore serve? In this vein, Keplers acquired GiftLit, a subscription service that helps book lovers send age-appropriate gift-wrapped books to friends and family. This has become a key piece of business for the bookstore, a human, customized experience that algorithms cannot provide. In two years, [GiftLit] essentially doubled in size, Madan said. Theres no other part of the business at Keplers thats growing at that rate.

What are the core skills or resources you wish you had access to, and how can you find them in your community? is Madans final question for booksellers. Keplers connected with a powerful ally to seek out new digital resources: earlier this year, fellow Menlo Park business Facebook gave Keplers a seat on its U.S. Small Business Council, picking it from among the five million businesses that use Facebook as an advertising tool.

The councils 35 member companies hail from all over the country, from a skateboard shop in California to a gourmet burger restaurant in South Carolina. Members get a first look at new business tools from Facebook and a chance to take part in press and speaking opportunities. Recently, Madan and Keplers special projects director Nicole Hughes spent two days at Facebook headquarters, meeting with product and marketing teams to learn more about the platform.

Madan is 90% confident that Keplers will survive for at least the next five to 10 years, but he doesnt have much hope for the long-term prospects of old-fashioned bricks-and-mortar bookselling. I have a hard time imagining how anyone, including Keplers, is going to be able to get much growth out of a traditional retail business, he said.

In contrast, ABAs Teicher said hes heard dire predictions for 25 years, but remains guardedly optimistic about the future. If I look at the most successful indie bookstores in the country, one of the hallmarks of those stores is that they have evolved. He concluded, Flexibility and recognition that youve got to change and adapt is at the core of our continued success.
Its a beautiful day, andthrough the intercession of my dear friend Drenka Willen, Umberto Ecos U.S. editor and my go-to for all things EuropeanIve been invited to the Milan offices of La Nave di Teseo. The boutique publishing house was formed in reaction to the 2015 acquisition of book publisher RCS Libri (which includes Rizzoli and Bompiani) by publishing house Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, owned by the family of Silvio Berlusconi (yes, that Silvio Berlusconi).

Steps from Sempione Park and the impressive Castello Sforzesco, the building at 6 Via Stefano Jacini is magnificent, with a lobby of colored and leaded glass windows and, in the corner, a sensuous marble statue. Im here to meet with managing director Elisabetta Sgarbi, the powerhouse of La Nave. Im ushered into the office of president Mario Andreose and am immediately impressed with the inlaid marble desk and the painting behind it, of a horse suspended in midair. However, Im more impressed by Mario, who arrives to tell me that Elisabetta is in a meeting and that he will fill in until she becomes available.

If that much Italian is tough to process, let me give you an easy one: Umberto Eco. The bestselling author of The Name of the Rose (which has sold more than 50 million copies in 40 languages since it was published in 1980) was concerned that the acquisition of RCS by Mondadori would create a publishing monopoly in Italy. The key here is that the combination of RCS Libri and Mondadori gave the latter a 35%38% share of the entire Italian publishing market, Mario tells me. The acquisition, he says, meant a monster and was unacceptable. In Italy, each publishing house has its own paperback line, and after the acquisition, Mondadori controlled 78% of the paperback marketall of the Mondadori imprints plus Rizzoli.

Eco said it was important to save the identity and diversity of writers, Mario says. With only one publisher, it would be impossible for independents to capture the Strega, for example. Italys biggest literary prize, the Strega, is chosen by a jury of 400 of Italys cultural elitewriters, journalists, publishers, and professorsas well as some booksellers and students, who are included to balance the influence of the main editorial groups. Authors published by Mondadori and Rizzoli are typically the main competitors for the Strega. Having them under the same umbrella, Mario says, would create conflicts of interest.

And so the idea of forming a new publishing house to add diversity to the market became a reality. Eco contributed 2 million to get the new venture off the ground, and enthusiastic investors followed, among them Jean-Claude and Nicky Fasquelle (Ecos French publishers), with 1.5 million, and Fulio Colombo, a writer, journalist, and former president of Fiat USA.

Encouraged by the sound financial basis for the new publishing house, other Bompiani authors joined Eco (who, sadly, died in February 2016; 2,000 people attended the funeral at Castello Sforzesco, and Ecos French publisher said that only Sartre had as many mourners). Authors who jumped ship to La Nave and have books forthcoming this fall include Paul Coelho, with La Spia (The Spy); Michael Cunningham, with Il Cigno Selvatico (A Wild Swan); and Patrick McGrath, with La Guardarobiera (The Wardrobe Mistress).

In addition, La Nave bought Coelhos whole backlist starting with The Alchemist, a new edition of which is due out this July. And for the U.S. market, Judith Gurewich of Other Press bought Tutto e in Frantumi e Danza (Everything Is Broken Up and Dances: The Crushing of the Middle Class) by Guido Maria Brera and Edoardo Nesi, to be published in March 2018. I bought this book because it dives right into what I love about Italyits incredible aesthetic, Gurewich says. Elisabetta breaks new ground but never loses her sense of the historical and cultural parameters that make her country so satisfying to the senses. Gurewich calls the publisher a fierce independent lover of beauty.

Im invited into Elisabettas office; black bookshelves cover the wall behind her desk. With Elisabetta is La Nave editor-in-chief, Eugenio Lio. Elisabetta is the head of La Nave, but she emphasizes the importance of her colleagues. We had a success from the very beginning, she says. We took a risk when we decided to leave Bompiani. We had spent a life there. Mario was at Bompiani for 35 years, Elisabetta for 25. Ecos interest was most important, she adds. He gave us his last book, Pape Satan Aleppe. It was very exciting for us.

Pape Satan Aleppe, a collection of essays whose title comes from Dantes Inferno, was published in February, right after the authors death. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Ecos U.S. publisher, is bringing out the collection in November under the title Chronicles of a Liquid Society.

And a small house can be more nimble, Elisabetta continues. Theres definitely an advantage to being small. She cites La Naves publication of Emmanuel Macrons book, Rivoluzione (Revolution).We were able to take a gamble on it. We published it before he became president. We sent 2,000 copies to booksellers and waited for the election. And of course, he won. We sold the rights for 20,000 copies to Corriere della Sera for a special edition that was distributed with the newspaper on newsstands on April 24. Theres a tradition of special editions of books with newspapers; all of Ecos books have been sold in Argentina for newspaper distribution.

And the companys name? It was suggested by Eco during a brainstorming session with Jean-Claude, Elisabetta, Mario, and Eugenio. The ship of Theseus is a paradox about change and staying the sameif, over time, each part of a ship has been replaced, is it still the same ship it was originally? Eco had also suggested Alamo, as a symbol of resistance against the powerful editorial lobbies, Elisabetta says. But Jean-Claude pointed out that at the end of that battle, everyone was dead!

La Nave is no Alamo. The company is thriving: the staff of 10 produced 60 titles in 2016, 20 of them backlist. For 2017, the numbers increased to 80, with 30 backlist titles. In June, Elisabetta announced the acquisition of 95% of Baldini & Castoldi, the historic Milanese brand that publishes Linus of Peanuts fame. And, aware of the growing importance of comics, La Nave recently bought a 67% share in Oblamov, a small graphic novel company. Mario laughs, saying, We prefer to invest in the company rather than give the money to the investors.

Elisabetta recently told Corriere della Sera: The energy of our publishing house is contagious. By the end of the year, we should have 1% of the market.

With Elisabetta on her way to more meetings, Mario graciously escorts me to lunch. We drink wine and eat rigatoni, and he shares his risotto recipe. Im not a cook, but this Ive perfected, he says. The secret seems to be the capon broth. And on the way out of the building, he points to the erotic sculpture I noticed on the way in. Its a nymph and satyr from the 19th century, he tells me. Originally, it was in a brothel. Publishing is alive and well in Milan, as is la bella figura.

This article has been corrected to reflect that Eco's The Name of the Rose has sold 50 million copies, according to the publisher, not 10 million copies, and has been translated in 40 languages, not 30.
End-to-end unit of the Spanish agency Lavinia, LaviniaNext, and Visyon are partnering to drive new video technologies into the advertising and branded content markets.





The agreement aims to boost end-to-end virtual reality (VR) projects, addressing from clients management, to creative development and 360 video productions.We are thrilled of partnering with a leading company in VR and bringing into the partnership our strategical and creative knowledge about the audiovisual market, said Carlo Rombola, GM, LaviniaNext Emerging technologies such as VR will be key in brands communication strategies to create emotional bonds with their target. The best way to implement innovative strategies is to work hand to hand with communication agencies in order to increase the value of digital marketing campaigns, added Pere Perez, CEO, Visyon
A new casualty has emerged from the war that engulfed Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s: ethnically mixed marriages.

Once a shining example of the diversity symbolized by former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito's mantra of "brotherhood and unity," relationships between Muslim Bosniaks, Catholic Croats, and Orthodox Serbs once accounted for about 13 percent of all marriages in Bosnian territory.

But the pressure of living in postwar Bosnia, after 100,000 died during the conflict and another 2 million were displaced, has taken its toll on the country's 3.8 million inhabitants. Today, the number of mixed marriages stands at just 4 percent, according to statistics cited by local media.

"When I take a look at the bigger picture and at the people around us, a lot of people are against it," says Aleksandar Juric, who comes from Gradiska in Republika Srpska, adding that while he's never been in a mixed relationship, he's got no objections to it.

"There are signs that our society is slowly opening up, but considering the entire situation and our politicians,...there won't be any progress on this question."

Tolerance Extinguished

Competing ethnicity has long served to whip up animosities in the Balkans, from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand that set off World War I over a century ago to the disintegration of Yugoslavia that cost hundreds of thousands of lives in the 1990s.

But before the wars that accompanied Yugoslavia's demise, Bosnia was an exception to the rule. Mixed communities among its population -- 40 percent of which is Muslim, 31 percent Bosnian Serb, and 10 percent Bosnian Croat -- were commonplace.

Some point to the regime of former Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic as the turning point. Critics accuse Milosevic of whipping up animosity between ethnic groups with nationalist politics to hold onto power and try to keep Yugoslavia intact.

By the time Bosnia unilaterally declared its independence in 1992, animosity had turned to conflict amid a campaign of ethnic cleansing that was punctuated in July 1995 by the massacre of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica by units of the Bosnian Serb army of Republika Srpska.

Mirza Emirhafizovic, a lecturer at the Sarajevo Faculty of Political Sciences, says mass migrations after the war have helped redraw Bosnia's ethnic map, stifling the integration of Croats, Serbs, and Bosniaks and pushing mixed marriages to more urbanized areas where ethnic diversity remains.

"The distribution of population caused by the war and the low percentage of returnees is threatening to make this situation permanent. This is creating a low number of social contacts between different groups and leading to a low number of so-called mixed marriages," Emirhafizovic says.

According to a survey by the Pew Center, published in May, only 40 percent of non-Muslim Bosnians would accept Muslims into their family even though almost three-quarters of respondents say a multicultural society is better than a religious and ethnically homogeneous one.

There are similar figures for non-Orthodox or non-Catholic Bosnians who say the same about members of those groups.

In the Balkans, this lack of ethnic acceptance "is most pronounced in Bosnia, despite the fact that it has the most religiously diverse population and the highest percentage in favor of a multicultural society," according to the survey's authors, Scott Gardner and Jonathan Evans.

Killed In Sarajevo

Before the war, Sarajevo was the epicenter of mixed marriages at an estimated 34 percent.

Gunned down by snipers' bullets on a bridge in Sarajevo in May 1993, their bodies entwined in death's grip, Admira Ismic and Bosko Brkic came to symbolize what once was.

Their story was first brought to light by journalist Kurt Schork in a Reuters report before being immortalized as "Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo" in an award-winning Frontline documentary broadcast in 1994.

Bosko, a 24-year-old ethnic Serb, was killed instantly as the couple made a desperate dash across the Vrbanja Bridge toward freedom and safety. Seconds later, Admira, his 25-year-old Bosniak girlfriend, was gravely wounded as well. She crawled to Bosko and, after about 10 minutes, died at his side.

The bodies remained in the no-man's land of besieged Sarajevo for nearly four days before Serbian forces surrounding the city sent some Muslim prisoners to gather them.

"Difficult times always bring great romance. They were not from the same tribe, they did not have the same god, but they had each other and a dream of escaping it all," go the lyrics of Bosko And Admira, a rock song by the Sarajevo band Zabranjeno Pusenje that marked the 20th anniversary of the couple's death in 2013.

Fossilizing Divisions

Many, like Juric, see politicians as a large part of the problem.

The U.S.-brokered Dayton peace accords ended the bloodshed in 1995 but left the country deeply divided and dysfunctional by subdividing it into two separately governed entities, the Bosniak-dominated Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, which is governed by ethnic Serbs.

Many say the accord perpetuates wartime divisions and has allowed nationalist parties, who have failed to reform their wartime goals into peacetime platforms, to cling to power.

This has institutionalized the ethnic chasm and stunted reintegration of the society, critics say.

Sara Radusinovic, an ethnic Serb student from Banja Luka, Bosnia's second-largest city, knows the story of Sarajevo's "Romeo and Juliet" and sympathizes. She thinks mixed relationships shouldn't be an issue in today's Bosnia, despite the recent past, and wants politicians to stop playing the ethnic card with their policies.

"Such relationships are completely normal. Ethnicity shouldn't be a barrier at all when it comes to a relationship or marriage," she tells RFE/RL's Balkan Service.

With contributions from RFE/RL's Balkan Service
A court in Grozny handed down a 2 1/2-year suspended sentence to publicist Rizvan Ibragimov on June 20 for extremism on the basis of books he wrote that the Chechen government says contain esoteric and historically unsubstantiated arguments about the origins of the Chechen nation.*

Evidence presented against Ibragimov in the trial appeared weak, according to local media. However, Ibragimov had separately incurred the displeasure of the Chechen leadership by publicly criticizing the republic's Muslim clergy and the cult status accorded to Sufi saint Kunta-hadzhi Kishiyev by Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov. A relative of Ibragimov's was quoted by the news portal Caucasian Knot a year ago as claiming that the investigators acknowledged that the charge of extremism was absurd and admitted they were acting on orders "from above."

Ibragimov is the author of a number of popular works on Chechen history, published in print runs of several thousand, in which he argues, among other things, that the Chechens are God's chosen people and that all successive prophets were Chechens. His problems with the Chechen leadership began in October 2014, when one of his books was criticized on state television as "giving a distorted view" of the origins of Chechens.

Then in late March 2016, Ibragimov and fellow writer Abubakar Didiyev were summoned to a discussion at the National Museum that was billed as devoted to the ethno-genesis of the Chechen people and the condemnation of unspecified "nonacademic" texts whose authors allegedly failed to adopt a "balanced approach" to the issue. The real focus of the discussion, however, according to an unnamed source quoted by Caucasian Knot, was a lecture Ibragimov had given in Tehran a couple of months earlier and for which he was harshly criticized. During that lecture, Ibragimov criticized the cult of Kunta-hadzhi Kishiyev and spoke disparagingly of members of Chechnya's senior clergy, according to Novaya Gazeta.

Shortly after the discussion in Grozny, both Ibragimov and Didiyev were apprehended by Chechen security personnel and held in detention for several days. They were then summoned to Kadyrov's presence and forced to apologize in front of TV cameras to the academic community and the Chechen clergy for publishing "unscientific" works and "distorting historical facts," after which they were released. Didiyev then left Chechnya.

Ibragimov publicly denied on his release that he had been mistreated in any way, but a year later he claimed he had been subjected to torture by electric shock.

In July 2016, on the basis of a formal complaint addressed by "an outraged female reader" to Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov and the evaluation of unnamed "experts" based in Makhachkala, Grozny's Zavod district court ruled that books Ibragimov published between 2010 and 2015 were extremist and ordered that he be sent to Makhachkala to undergo psychiatric tests over a period of 30 days. At the same time, a criminal case was opened against him for "inciting interethnic or religious enmity or hatred."

Ibragimov's trial on that charge opened in mid-April at Grozny's Oktyabr district court. One month later, on May 26, Chechnya's Supreme Court annulled the earlier Zavod district court ruling, which Ibragimov had appealed, that his books were extremist and sent the case back for review.

In the course of Ibragimov's trial, the prosecution was unable to produce a single "expert" able to testify that his writings were extremist; the investigator responsible for the indictment admitted he had not read them; and the purportedly outraged female reader, Zaira Payzulayeva, told the court she could not remember why she complained about them, Caucasian Knot reported on June 10. The presiding judge nonetheless found Ibragimov guilty.

Ibragimov's 2 1/2-year suspended sentence is arguably lenient by Chechen standards, especially for someone who has incurred Kadyrov's anger. Historian Ruslan Kutayev, for example, who defied Kadyrov in 2014 by convening a conference to mark the 70th anniversary of the deportation of the entire Chechen and Ingush peoples to Central Asia on orders from Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, was subsequently sentenced to four years in prison on a charge of possession of drugs that human rights organizations are convinced was fabricated.

One possible explanation for the disparity between the two cases is the recent international criticism leveled at Kadyrov over the documented harassment, mistreatment, and possible deaths in unofficial police custody of gay men in Chechnya.

True, Kadyrov and his henchmen have categorically denied any such reprisals; but those denials did not deter several Western leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, from raising the issue with Putin personally. It is possible that Putin may therefore have warned Kadyrov to tread more softly in future, rather than risk further international protests at blatant human rights violations in Chechnya.

*This item has been AMENDED from its original version.

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy declared that Kherson is "ours after his special forces entered the strategic southern city following the retreat of Russian troops, marking another dramatic battlefield victory in Kyivs drive to recapture territory occupied by Russia since the start of its unprovoked invasion.

The Ukrainian military also said on November 11 that its troops had advanced all the way to the western bank of the Dnieper River in some areas of the Kherson region as Moscow said its forces had completed their withdrawal to the eastern bank in the face of Ukraines powerful counteroffensive.

"Our people -- Ours. Kherson," Zelenskiy wrote in a Telegram post that also included what appeared to be a video of Ukrainian troops celebrating with local residents.

Today is a historic day, Zelenskiy said in the post. We are returning Kherson. As of now, our defenders are on the approaches to the city. But special units are already in the city.

Various videos on social media from Kherson showed resident cheering and waving flags as the first Ukrainian troops reached the center of the city, the only provincial capital captured by Russian forces following their February 24 invasion.

"Kherson is returning to the control of Ukraine," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said earlier in the day. "Units of the armed forces of Ukraine are entering the city."

WATCH: Local residents welcomed Ukrainian soldiers into Snihurivka on November 10, as advance forces of the Ukrainian military recaptured the town in the southern Mykolayiv region. Other footage from the village of Blahodatne in the Kherson region shows a massive cache of abandoned weapons left by the Russian troops after their retreat.

"The Russian occupiers' routes of retreat are under the direct fire of the Ukrainian Army," the statement added. "Any Russian soldier who resists will be killed."

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet that "Ukraine is gaining another important victory right now and proves that whatever Russia says or does, Ukraine will win." The tweet included a video purporting to show Kherson residents removing a billboard that proclaimed "Russia is here forever."

Serhiy Khlan, a deputy for the Kherson Regional Council, said a Ukrainian flag had been raised in Kherson, as multiple videos circulating on social media purportedly showed Ukrainian soldiers planting their yellow-and-blue flag on administrative buildings in the city and local residents celebrating.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had finished the pullout from Kherson city and the region at 5 a.m. on November 11 and that no military equipment had been left behind, in an another embarrassing blow to Moscow's war effort, which it refers to as a "special military operation."



"In total, more than 30,000 Russian servicemen, about 5,000 pieces of hardware, and military equipment and materiel have been withdrawn," the ministry said. "Not a single piece of military equipment or weaponry was left on the right (western) bank," he added, although the report could not immediately be confirmed.

Khlan said some Russian soldiers had been unable to leave the city and had changed into civilian clothing and urged local residents to stay at home while Ukrainian troops cleared the city.

"The number of these people is not known," he told a news briefing, without citing evidence for the claim.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Khlan also said, without citing evidence, that many Russian troops had drowned attempting to flee across the river.

The head of the joint coordination press center of the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, Natalya Humenyuk, said Russian troops "have been changing into civilian clothes for two weeks."

"This should focus our forces as it means saboteur operations cannot be ruled out," Humenyuk told a separate briefing.

"Because of this, we are not rushing to announce our successes in other directions and in other towns."

Russia did not immediately comment on Khlan's or Humenyuk's remarks.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on November 10 that it would take Russia at least a week to withdraw, telling Reuters in an interview that Russia had 40,000 troops in the Kherson region and that it still had forces in the city.

Kherson 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 with a launching pad for supplies and troops to try to win back other lost territory in the south.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's public broadcaster quoted local residents as saying on November 11 that the Antonivskiy Bridge, the only nearby road crossing from Kherson city to the Russian-controlled eastern bank of the Dnieper, had collapsed.

The Suspilne broadcaster published a photograph showing whole sections of the bridge missing. The next road crossing across the Dnieper is more than 70 kilometers from Kherson city.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the collapse.

Recapturing the city could provide Ukraine a launching pad for supplies and troops to try to win back other lost territory in the south.

The Ukrainian General Staff said retreating Russian forces have been looting homes and destroying critical infrastructure, while forcibly evicting residents from the settlements still under their control.

"The Russian invaders continue to loot the settlements from which they are retreating. The enemy is also attempting to damage power lines and other elements of the transport and critical infrastructure of the Kherson region as much as possible," the military said, adding that Russian mines continue to wound civilians.

Elsewhere, six civilians were killed in a Russian rocket attack on Mykolayiv overnight, the mayor of the southern Ukrainian city said on November 11, as Ukrainian troops continued their advance in the direction of Kherson.

The mayor of Mykolayiv, Oleksandr Sienkovych, said on November 11 that the people were killed when Russian rockets hit a residential area of the city, destroying a five-story building.

"As of 10 a.m., six people were killed by the impact of the attack on the residential building," Sienkovych said.

Fierce fighting continues in Bakhmut and Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region as well as in the adjacent Luhansk region, the military said, adding that heavy Russian shelling pounded about 20 settlements in the Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, and Mykolayiv regions.

In his nightly address late on November 10, Ukrainian President Volodymyr 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 added that 41 settlements had been liberated.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and dpa
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HAMBURG, Germany -- U.S. President Donald Trump has secured key concessions on trade and climate in the final communique of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Hamburg, in what German Chancellor Angela Merkel characterized as a need for compromise.

Following a two-day summit in which tensions over climate and trade simmered, the 19 other members of the club of major industrialized and emerging economies acknowledged in the final summit statement on July 8 Washington's decision under U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate accord.

G20 leaders also conceded to the U.S. side's wish to include language on fossil fuels that other members of the club had balked at.

Addressing reporters on the second and final day of the summit, however, Merkel told news conference that she was "very happy" that all of the other members agreed that the Paris accord was "irreversible."

Describing the negotiations over climate and other issues as "complicated," Merkel stressed that her role as host included facilitating "compromise," adding that the group could "achieve more together than individually."

The final day of talks followed another night of violent riots near the venue -- clashes between antiglobalization activists and police that have overshadowed the summit of leaders of the world's major industrialized and emerging economies.

WATCH: Thousands March Against G20 Summit In Hamburg

Trade was another disputed issue during the talks, and the final statement left room for Trump to push forward with his "America First" trade policy, which has hampered consensus on globalization and trade since he took office in January.

A European Union official close to the negotiations told RFE/RL that aides worked until 2 a.m. on the G20 summit's joint statement before reaching consensus to include free-trade language on fighting "protectionism," which Washington had been reluctant to agree to, the official said.

But the communique included for the first time the right of countries to protect their markets with "legitimate trade-defense instruments."

Leaders attending the summit included Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and China's President Xi Jinping as well as European and Asian leaders.

The section on climate change had remained the subject of disagreement as leaders went into negotiations early on July 8. Reuters quoted an EU official as saying earlier on July 8 that there was a "critical mass of countries" that objected to including the reference to fossil fuels in the G20 communique.

The final statement included language sought by the U.S. side, noting Washington would "work closely with other countries to help them access and use fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently."

The standoff over the climate issue came as world leaders this week stepped up pressure on Trump in the wake of his announcement that the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.

"We are not renegotiating the Paris agreement -- that stays. But I want to see the U.S. looking for ways to rejoin it," British Prime Minister Theresa May told the BBC.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced that Paris will host a summit on December 12 to make further progress on the 2015 Paris climate agreement and to mobilize private and public financing for projects committed to in the agreement.



Macron was also quoted as saying that he still hoped to convince Trump to change his mind about withdrawing from the agreement.

On the final day of talks, Merkel, Putin, and Macron agreed during a working breakfast that a cease-fire deal for eastern Ukraine, known as the Minsk peace accords, must be implemented.



At the end of the summit, Merkel said that there was no glossing over the fact that there had been "very, very slow" progress in implementing the accords aimed at ending years of fighting in eastern Ukraine.



Merkel said she would hold four-way phone talks with the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and France following a more procedural conversation with Macron and Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

Putin, who held talks with Trump in a highly anticipated meeting the previous day, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and, separately, with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker later on July 8.

An EU official told RFE/RL that the Putin-Juncker meeting was "an open and frank meeting between the two leaders, who know each other for many years, on issues of common interests."

Meanwhile, Merkel said that "deep differences" remained between her and Erdogan after they met on the sidelines of the summit.



She stressed that Turkeys role in managing the migrant crisis and other conflicts were "honored" at the gathering of leaders.



Merkel added that Turkey's mass arrests of alleged state enemies after last year's coup attempt and a dispute centered on a NATO base show "deep differences" that were not swept under the table.

The first day of the Hamburg meeting was overshadowed by rioting and vandalism by small factions of radicals among an estimated 100,000 antiglobalization protesters who took to the streets of Hamburg.

As Trump and Putin met for more than two hours on the sidelines of the summit on July 7, smoke hovered over the city from dozens of torched cars and barricades that were set on fire by demonstrators outside.

WATCH: Trump, Putin Hold Extensive First Talks On Sidelines Of G20

After a day of burning, looting, and other havoc by radical protesters -- including members of the anticapitalist Black Bloc movement -- police managed to clear the streets of downtown Hamburg by the early morning of July 8 using armored vehicles, water cannons, and tear gas.

Authorities said more than 200 police had been injured in the violence in recent days and more than 200 demonstrators had been detained.

Despite the unrest on the streets, Trump praised Merkel's handling of the summit in comments at the start of the second day, saying the German chancellor had "been amazing and done an incredible job."

"Your leadership is absolutely incredible and very inspiring," Trump said.

Trump has previously appeared to have tense relations with Merkel and has slammed the U.S. trade gap with Germany and Berlin's military spending relative to its gross domestic product, criticism that has angered the German political establishment.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, TASS, and Interfax
Iraqi military commanders say their forces are "tens of meters" away from defeating the Islamic State (IS) group in Mosul, as the extremist group vowed to "fight to the death" in the city.



"Our units are still continuing to advance.... Not much is left before our forces reach the river." Iraqs Joint Operations Command said on July 8.



Iraqi officials have made similar pronouncements over the past week as security forces have pushed the militants in a sliver of the Old City along the Tigris River.



A U.S. General told AFP news agency by phone from Baghdad that "an announcement is imminent."



"I don't want to speculate if it's today or tomorrow but I think it's going to be very soon," Brigadier General Robert Sofge told AFP.



IS militants -- estimated to number in the hundreds -- occupy less than one square kilometer of territory in Mosul's Old City, a densely populated area of narrow streets and buildings. The militants are using civilians as human shields, making it difficult for U.S.-led warplanes to attack them.



Sofge told AFP that some militants are trying to blend in with fleeing civilians by shaving their beards and changing their clothes, while others are playing dead then detonating explosive vests as Iraqi security forces come close.



Female IS fighters have also blown themselves up amid groups of displaced civilians.



IS militants have also placed numerous booby traps in every structure they have occupied.



"They are doing as much damage as they can during these final moves," Sofge said.



Iraq's Joint Operations Command issued a statement saying that 35 IS members were killed and six captured while they were trying to escape from Iraqi forces across the Tigris River from west Mosul.



Earlier on July 8, dozens of Iraqi soldiers celebrated amid the rubble on the banks of the Tigris without waiting for a formal victory declaration. A Reuters correspondent said that some soldiers danced to music blaring out from a truck and fired machine guns into the air.



The IS news agency Amaq reported "fierce fighting" around the riverside district of Maydan and said that its fighters "were holding onto their fortified positions."



In another online post, Amaq said that IS militants were "collectively pledging to fight to the death in Maydan."



IS militants seized Mosul in 2014 along with large swathes of Iraqi and Syrian territory.



The offensive to retake Mosul from IS militants began in October. Iraqi forces declared eastern Mosul "fully liberated" in January.



Their urban offensive against IS militants in the more densely populated western side of Mosul began in late January.

With reporting by dpa and Reuters
During his first Flagstaff town hall Thursday night, Democratic congressman Tom OHalleran received both applause and pointed criticism as he spoke about healthcare reform, immigration law, public lands and more.

A crowd of about 150 people posed a constant stream of questions during the more than two-hour event.

It was a friendly crowd for the most part, without any of the yelling and chanting that greeted some legislators when they returned to their districts during recent breaks.

But attendees still forced OHalleran into some uncomfortable spots.

The majority of those times were when speakers confronted OHalleran about his recent vote for Kates Law, a bill that ups maximum penalties for undocumented immigrants, especially those with criminal records, who re-enter the country illegally after deportation.

The audience was skeptical of OHallerans reasoning that the bill was about non-citizens respecting American deportation laws and the need to secure the border and protect citizens.

If you think its really a deterrent, that there are individuals for a number of reasons that are willing to risk their lives to come into the United States either to be reunited with their families or to flee violence or something, if theyre willing to risk their lives and you think a 10-year sentence might be a deterrent?, attendee Marcus Ford said. Are we really safer because of this?

Ford also questioned the costs of incarcerating undocumented immigrants for the longer periods of time outlined in the bill.

By the end of the town hall, OHalleran appeared to be rethinking his support for the bill.

Kates bill came up, we did an evaluation in the office and we felt that evaluation was correct. Im going to take back what Ive learned tonight and what I will probably learn at a couple of other events and try to work on it a different way, OHalleran said.

He also emphasized his support for comprehensive immigration reform, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans programs and his vote against a House bill that would withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities.

OHalleran also stumbled on a broader question about his voting record, from attendee Sharon Baudelaire.

Im wondering if part of your thinking in were not going to be able to reform some of these radically Republican legislation items is due to the fact that 40 percent of the time you vote in line with Trumps agenda on items? Baudelaire said. Youve been coined as the fifth most Trump-friendly Democrat in the House.

OHalleran jumped around in his answer, saying he votes for bills that he thinks represent his district.

To identify my position as one of you didnt sign onto something, Ill live up to my votes but not signing a letter does not represent that I do not believe in that value and believe that we need to address that issue, he said, and listed off more liberal causes like Medicaid expansion, Social Security and mental healthcare that he supports.

OHalleran didnt provide a direct answer about whether he supports or opposes a single-payer healthcare system, only saying such an idea needs to be vetted in terms of costs.

Im for every American to have healthcare, what form that is in I dont know yet. I dont think anybody knows, he said.

The congressman won applause for promising to oppose any healthcare legislation that denies funding for Planned Parenthood and advocating the overturn of Citizens United, the 2010 supreme court decision that lifts restrictions on independent political expenditures by entities like nonprofits, corporations and labor unions.

Addressing climate change has to be one of the nations priorities, OHalleran said. He said he would look at a carbon fee and dividend proposal that the local Citizens Climate Lobby is pushing, and evaluate how it fits into the priorities of America.

While a strong opponent of the Trump administrations national monument review, OHalleran said he isnt supporting a bill that would reverse a land swap that allows for controversial copper mining near the Oak Flat area east of Phoenix. He said he needs to act as an arbitrator in that situation.

OHalleran also tried to temper expectations of what the nations legislators will be able to accomplish in the next year or two. Gun law reform and comprehensive immigration reform, for example, arent even being talked about in the halls of Congress, OHalleran said. Infrastructure and tax reform also likely wont be dealt with this year, he said.

Part of the challenge of getting anything done in Washington is the fact that the Trump administration hasnt filled many top positions, he said.

Part of it is the fact that we just dont have enough people in those offices right now that can make decisions, they cant do planning, OHalleran said. We run into this every day...You can only get so far up the ladder and then they say we have to wait for this office to be appointed before we can get a decision.
Pakistan has ordered Shell Pakistan to pay at least $2.6 million in compensation after more than 200 people were killed when one of its tankers overturned and exploded in a devastating inferno last month.

The tanker contracted by Royal Dutch Shell's local subsidiary crashed on a main highway in central Punjab Province while carrying some 50,000 liters of fuel from Karachi to Lahore on June 25.

It exploded minutes later, sending a fireball through crowds from a nearby village who had gathered to scavenge the spilled fuel, despite warnings by the driver and police to stay away.

The death toll from the debacle has risen steadily as dozens of people taken to hospitals with severe burns after the accident later died. It stood at 218 people on July 7, with 38 victims still in the hospital, some in critical condition.

The fines ordered by Pakistan's oil and gas regulator include a 10 million-rupee ($95,000) penalty on Shell Pakistan, 1 million-rupee ($9,400) compensation for the families of each deceased, and 500,000 ($4,700) rupees for each person injured.

That puts the total of fines at $2.48 million for the families of the dead so far. It was not immediately clear how many wounded would receive compensation.

An agency report seen by Reuters and AFP said that Shell never checked if the private tanker it hired complied with safety standards.

The report said that Shell had informed the authority previously that its lorries met technical standards and that it upgraded vehicles it rents, but the tanker involved in the accident had four axles instead of the five recommended to carry such a load.

The report also claimed the tanker's fitness certificate was "fake" and that Shell Pakistan's emergency response was "casual."

A Shell Pakistan spokesman said that the company was still investigating the incident.

"Shell Pakistan is presently reviewing the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority Investigation report in detail," he said.

"It would be unhelpful to speculate on factors that may have contributed to the incident whilst other investigations are still ongoing, but we respect the role of the regulator and will consider the report as we cooperate with investigations by authorities and as we conduct our own investigation," the spokesman said.

The company has the right to appeal the fines ordered by the regulator.

The regulator also criticized police and highway authorities for failing to cordon off the accident site.

A separate government inquiry into police conduct is being carried out, said Punjab provincial government spokesman Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan.

The chairwoman of the regulatory agency, Uzma Adil Khan, said many fuel companies were not meeting safety requirements introduced in 2009, and the regulatory body had been slow to enforce them.

"This incident is certainly a wake-up call for all of us," she said.

The regulator ordered all oil companies in Pakistan to fully implement safety standards, organize training for drivers to deal with emergencies and spills, and perform regular medical checkups.

It also asked them to organize awareness campaigns through mass media warning people about the dangers of accidents and spills.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters
Pakistan's foreign ministry praised the United Nations on July 7 for imposing sanctions on a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, which is linked to deadly attacks in the country.

In a statement, the ministry welcomed the move in which the UN Security Council on July 6 added the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar group to a list of organizations and individuals subject to freezing of assets, a travel ban, and an arms embargo.

The ministry said the UN took this step at Islamabad's request.

Pakistan claims that Jamaat-ul-Ahrar operates from Nangarhar province Afghanistan and has been involved in a series of terrorist attacks in Pakistan. It imposed a ban on the group last year and launched a crackdown to trace and arrest its leadership.

The group claimed responsibility last month for a suicide car bombing in the southwestern city of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, that killed 14 people, many of them policemen.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he held an in-depth discussion with U.S. President Donald Trump about Moscow's alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, and that his counterpart seemed to agree with Russia's position that there were "no grounds" for such accusations.

Putin made the comments at a July 8 news conference following the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, where he met with Trump the previous day.

The Russian president expressed cautious optimism about the prospect of improving ties with Washington that remain battered over the conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, and what U.S. intelligence agencies call a Kremlin-directed hacking and influence campaign aimed at helping elect Trump.

"There is every reason to believe that we will be able to at least partially reestablish the level of cooperation that we need," Putin told reporters.

Putin's account of his talks about alleged Russian election meddling, however, differed from the U.S side's portrayal.

Putin, who has repeatedly and emphatically denied the meddling charge, told reporters in Hamburg that Trump asked "several" questions about the alleged Russian influence campaign.

"Our position is very clear, and I stated it: there are no grounds to believe that Russia interfered in the U.S. electoral process," Putin said, adding that Trump took his position "into account" and seemed to "agree."

"But frankly, you should ask him about his opinion on this," Putin added.

Putin's comments of the discussion echoed an earlier claim by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Trump "accepted" Putin's denial of Russian meddling.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gave a differing account, saying the issue was "something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point."

He added that Trump pressed Putin "on more than one occasion" about Moscow's involvement in the U.S. election, and that Putin had denied any interference by the Kremlin in the election.

The White House later issued a statement refuting Lavrov's claim.

Trump, who has advocated for better ties with Moscow, has said that while Russia was likely responsible for the hacking, other actors could have been behind it as well.

'Tremendous Meeting'

Originally scheduled to last 35 minutes, the talks between Putin and Trump went on for two hours and 15 minutes as they discussed the wars in Syria and Ukraine, the crisis over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, cybersecurity, and Russia's alleged election meddling.

In his first public statement about his talks with Putin, Trump early on July 8 said that it had been a "tremendous meeting."

Putin, meanwhile, told reporters in Hamburg later in the day that "the Trump that you see on TV is very different than the real Trump."

Both sides also said Trump and Putin had focused heavily on a newly announced cease-fire deal for southwestern Syria reached by Russia and the United States on July 7.

Tillerson said that details about the cease-fire deal still need to be resolved.

But Lavrov told reporters that Russian military police would monitor the cease-fire, that it would go into effect at noon on July 9, and that a monitoring center would be set up in Jordan  which is also party to the deal.

The agreement is separate from the deal reached by Russia, Turkey, and Iran on so-called "de-escalation zones" that is being worked out in an attempt to separate combatants in Syria's six-year civil war.

Putin said in Hamburg that he believed Washington has become "more pragmatic" about the Syrian civil war under Trump, who has previously said he wants to team up with Moscow to battle Islamic State (IS) militants.

"It seems to me that the U.S. position [on Syria] has become more pragmatic. There is a comprehension that if we combine our efforts, we can achieve a lot," Putin said.

While Trump has repeatedly called for improving ties with Moscow, his administration has continued to publicly maintain pressure on Russia -- including with sanctions -- over its seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and backing of armed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Those punitive measures were introduced under Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, who had a visibly icy rapport with Putin and whose administration was loathed by the Kremlin.

Trump's administration has also been dogged by the U.S. intelligence conclusion that Russia meddled in the U.S. election.

Both the U.S. Congress and the FBI are investigating the hacking and contacts between associates of the U.S. president and Russian officials, and any serious push for detente with Moscow is would almost certainly face stiff resistance from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Washington.

The host of the G20 summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said after the conclusion of the final day that she hoped for more dialogue between Washington and Moscow.

"It is a start," Merkel told reporters, adding that there are some global problems that require cooperation between the two former Cold War foes.

"It can only be a good thing if there is an honest, frank dialogue," she said.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, TASS, and Interfax
HAMBURG, Germany -- The leaders of Germany, France, and Russia have agreed that the Minsk agreements on ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine "should be comprehensively implemented," a German official tells RFE/RL.

The characterization of the meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, suggested no significant progress on efforts to bring peace to eastern Ukraine.

Moscow's role in fighting that began in April 2014 between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists prompted Western sanctions against Russia.

A 2015 cease-fire deal under the Minsk agreements was brokered by Germany and France -- together with Russia and Ukraine -- in a bid to end the fighting.

But hostilities have continued in the war that has killed more than 10,000 people.

The United States and the European Union have accused Moscow and the separatists of failing to uphold their commitments under the Minsk agreements -- including the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the front lines in eastern Ukraine and restoration of Ukrainian-government control over border crossings with Russia.

Despite substantial evidence of Moscow's support, Russia denies the accusations by Washington, Brussels, Ukraine, and NATO that it is backing the separatists with troops and weaponry.

The Kremlin has also repeatedly accused the Ukrainian government of reneging on its obligations under the 2015 accord.

"There was agreement that the truce proposed in the Minsk agreements should be comprehensively implemented," the German official told RFE/RL about the meeting between Merkel, Macron, and Putin.

A second German officials told RFE/RL that the main goal of the working breakfast was to bring the recently elected French president up to speed on talks between Germany, France, Russia, and Ukraine about the implementation of the Minsk agreement, which was brokered by Macron's predecessor, Francois Hollande.

That official also said that during the working breakfast with Putin in Hamburg, Merkel and Macron raised the issue of the safety of monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) who work in eastern Ukraine.

The United States on June 22 accused Russia-backed separatists there of a campaign of "violence and harassment" against the OSCE monitors aimed at preventing them from reporting truce violations.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington was "deeply concerned" about the situation, describing the separatists as "Russian-led, Russian-funded, and Russian-trained."

Nauert said that on June 20, separatist forces fired at retreating OSCE vehicles carrying monitors.

In April, an American paramedic was killed and two OSCE monitors were wounded in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine when their vehicle hit explosives.

"The incidents are part of a broader effort to keep the international community from seeing what is happening in eastern Ukraine," Nauert said.

Speaking in Moscow on July 8, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that implementation of the Minsk accords had been too slow and that a genuine cease-fire was necessary.

"There is an understanding that effective measures should be taken, which would lead to real cease-fire on the front line and ensure military hardware withdrawal," Peskov said.

The second German official told RFE/RL on July 8 that Berlin welcomed the appointment by Washington a day earlier of Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, as a special U.S. envoy to negotiate over the fate of war-racked Ukraine.

The official said Germany saw Volker's appointment as an attempt to complement the peace initiative spearheaded by Berlin and Paris.

Volker was set to accompany U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on a trip to Kyiv for talks on July 9 with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa
The United States and Russia have announced a cease-fire deal in southwestern Syria in their first attempt at peacemaking in the war-torn country since President Donald Trump took office.

The cease-fire, due to start on July 9, was announced after a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 7 at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

The deal appeared to give Trump a diplomatic achievement at his first meeting with Putin, though it was months in the making.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called it the "first indication of the U.S. and Russia being able to work together in Syria" and said it would be followed by peacemaking efforts in other parts of Syria.

"We had a very lengthy discussion regarding other areas in Syria that we can continue to work together on to de-escalate the areas and the violence, once we defeat [the Islamic State extremist group]," he said.

Tillerson said Russia and the United States would "work together towards a political process that will secure the future of the Syrian people."

While the two countries back opposing sides in Syria's six-year civil war, Tillerson said by and large their objectives in Syria "are exactly the same."

Russia and Iran are the main allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while Washington supports some of the rebel groups fighting to topple him.

A senior State Department official later said the deal could be the beginning of a more robust pacification effort in Syria, where more than half a million people have been killed and millions displaced from their homes.

"Some months ago, we made a conscious decision to focus on one part of the conflict initially, and that was the southwest. For a variety of reasons, it seemed like a more manageable part.... That doesnt preclude a desire on our part to look at other parts of Syria in the coming weeks and months," he said.

"We are starting with fairly modest ambitions," he said, but the administration hopes the deal "sets the stage for a more auspicious environment for what we ultimately hope is a productive political process that can, that could lead to a more substantial and permanent resolution of the underlying conflict."

Previous cease-fires have failed to hold for long and it was not clear how much the actual combatants in Syria -- Assad's government, armed Syrian rebel groups, and Iranian-backed militias -- are committed to this latest effort.

The Syrian government and the Southern Front, the main grouping of Western-backed rebel groups in southwest Syria, did not immediately react to the announcement. The Syrian government had already announced a unilateral cease-fire in parts of the area.

One group of Syria rebels involved in Syrian peace negotiations said it had "great concern over the secret meetings between Russia and Jordan and America to conclude an individual deal for southern Syria in isolation from the north."

It called the cease-fire for only one region bordering Jordan an "unprecedented event" that "divides Syria and the opposition."

It was not immediately clear which areas of southwestern Syria would be covered by the cease-fire, but earlier talks between the United States and Russia about a "de-escalation zone" covered Deraa Province, on the border with Jordan, and Quneitra, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon welcomed any cease-fire in Syria but wanted to see results on the ground.

"The recent history of the Syrian civil war is littered with cease-fires, and it would be nice...one day to have a cease-fire" that succeeds, he said.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters
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BILLINGS  As Japan struck a multinational trade agreement in principle Thursday with the European Union, farmers in Montana watched from the outside with their noses pressed against the glass.

Japan is a Top Three customer for Montana commodities, the states largest grain buyer in the Asian Pacific, where roughly 80 percent of Montanas hard-red spring and hard-red winter wheat is exported.

The deal with the European Union promises to sew up trade terms for one-third of the world economy. It was not unlike the U.S.-brokered, 13-nation Trans Pacific Partnership that Montana farmers had hoped would level the playing field for Montana products in Japan and other Pacific countries by removing tariffs and other restrictions.

TPP nations accounted for 42 percent of the worlds gross domestic product, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. Would-be partners like Vietnam had economic growth that was three times that of more advanced nations. The deal fell apart under a new wave of nationalism in the United States. It was declared dead the day President Donald Trump took office.

Were seeing this as a direct result of us pulling out of TPP, said Gordon Stoner, an Outlook farmer and National Association of Wheat Growers past president. As long as we were at the table with TPP, Japan was not going to upset the apple cart with us.

The Trump administration has promised a bilateral agreement with Japan that includes parts of the TPP deal that the president likes, though while campaigning in 2016, Trump wrote off TPP and other multinational trade deals, like the North America Free Trade Agreement as disastrous for the U.S. employment, particularly manufacturing.

For Stoner and other Montana farmers with a voice on national farm economic issues, the issue with the bilateral trade talks is time. The United States invested years in making TPP work. Switching to bilateral agreements could take several more years.

Whether the EU deal will hurt Montana grain trade remains to be seen. Europe and the United States compete directly in global wheat markets, but on specific grain types like Montanas hard-red spring and winter wheat varieties, Europe may not be a threat. Those high-protein varieties arent grown everywhere.

Asian millers are used to importing those grains from Montana and North Dakota. The majority of Montanas large grain elevators, designed to load mile-long trains bound for Pacific Northwest ports, are at least partially owned by Asian corporations.

Stoner is hopeful theres enough of an Asian stake in the Montana grain trade and a unique enough offering by Montana farmers to gird against an EU trade deal.

A deal between Japan and the EU is generally unfavorable for the United States, said Vincent Smith, economist at Montana State University, who specializes in agricultural policy and international trade.

The United States buys steel from both Japan and European Union nations. Manufacturers in the United States could also be affected by a Japan-EU trade agreement.

The obvious win for Japan is easier sales of Japanese automobiles in Europe, an arrangement that will likely increase the price of Japanese autos in the United States by virtue of increased demand in the EU.

The biggest story is what it says about the U.S., Smith said. Is this another indicator that the U.S. is less important in the world, particularly because of the presidents attitude, at least as he articulates it to world trade?

The world is saying, If your administration is going to assume that it can play by any rules it chooses, then were not going to worry about you. Were going to work in another direction.'

There are Montanans who were opposed to the TPP regardless of what it meant for the states $5 billion agricultural economy.

Matthew Koehler, of Wild West Institute, said the inclusion of underdeveloped nations with labor policies that permitted child factory workers, poor working conditions and low pay, was reason enough to oppose TPP. There were environmental policies related to industry that also didnt line up with policies in the United States. Even if the United States insisted those policies improve, trade terms still werent supportive of U.S. workers, Koehler said.

The EU and Japan are very similar economies. They have similar regulations governing a lot of things like the rights of workers, protecting the environment, Koehler said. The TPP was including countries where slave labor was still allowed.

The TPP nations were Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Canada, Australia and the United States.

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told Lee Montana newspapers in May that the inability of lesser-developed countries to meet trade terms easily met by the United States and Japan suggested that a bilateral agreement would be more relevant.
A photo of Uranus from NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which flew by the planet in 1986. (Image credit: NASA/JPL)

The planet Uranus just keeps getting weirder.

The icy gas world that strangely orbits the sun on its side may also have a wonky magnetic field that constantly flickers on and off, new research suggests.

Magnetic fields around planets, or magnetospheres, create shields against the bombardment of radiation from the sun known as solar wind. On Earth, for example, the magnetosphere lines up pretty closely with the planet's axis of rotation, and magnetic field lines emerge from Earth's north and south poles. On Uranus, however, the magnetosphere is a bit more chaotic.

Uranus' spin axis is tilted by a whopping 98 degrees, and the planet's off-center magnetic field is tilted by another 60 degrees. Every time the planet rotates (about every 17.24 hours), this lopsided magnetic field tumbles around, opening and closing periodically as the magnetic field lines disconnect and reconnect, the study found. [Top 5 Weird Facts About Uranus]

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta figured this out by simulating Uranus' messy magnetosphere using numerical models and data from NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which flew by the planet in 1986.

"Uranus is a geometric nightmare," Carol Paty, an associate professor at Georgia Tech's School of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences and co-author of the study, said in a statement. "The magnetic field tumbles very fast, like a child cartwheeling down a hill head over heels. When the magnetized solar wind meets this tumbling field in the right way, it can reconnect, and [so] Uranus' magnetosphere goes from open to closed to open on a daily basis."

When the magnetosphere opens up, it allows solar particles to bombard the planet. Then, when the magnetic field lines reconnect, this natural shield can continue to block the solar wind.

This process may be related to auroras on Uranus. Just like the auroras on Earth and other planets, Uranus' atmosphere lights up when particles from the solar wind enter it and interact with gases like nitrogen and oxygen.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has previously observed auroras on Uranus, but astronomers face difficulties in studying how these auroras interact with the magnetosphere, because the planet is so far away  nearly 2 billion miles (3.2 billion kilometers) from Earth. The space agency is currently considering sending another spacecraft to Uranus and Neptune to investigate those planet's magnetic fields, among other things.

Xin Cao, a Ph.D. candidate at Georgia Tech who led the study, said that studying Uranus can teach scientists a lot about planets outside of the solar system. "The majority of exoplanets [worlds outside the solar system] that have been discovered appear to also be ice giants in size," he said. "Perhaps what we see on Uranus and Neptune is the norm for planets: very unique magnetospheres and less-aligned magnetic fields.

"Understanding how these complex magnetospheres shield exoplanets from stellar radiation is of key importance for studying the habitability of these newly discovered worlds," Cao added.

The results of this study were published June 27 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
WASHINGTON  XCOR Aerospace, a company developing rocket engines and a suborbital space plane, has laid off its remaining employees but is continuing efforts to raise funding to maintain at least some of its projects.

In a statement provided to SpaceNews July 5, Michael Blum, a member of the company's board of directors who is also serving as acting chief executive, said some "critical" employees would be retained as contractors as the company attempts to stay alive.

"Due to adverse financial conditions XCOR had to terminate all employees as of 30 June 2017," Blum said in the statement. "XCOR management will retain critical employees on a contract basis to maintain the company's intellectual property and is actively seeking other options that would allow it to resume full employment and activity." [Meet Lynx: XCOR Aerospace's Space Plane (Gallery)]

Blum did not disclose how many employees were laid off or how many would be kept on as contractors. In May 2016, XCOR laid off nearly half of its 50 to 60 employees as it devoted its resources to a liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine the company was developing under contract with United Launch Alliance.

At that time, XCOR said it was suspending work on Lynx, a two-seat suborbital space plane the company had been working on for several years to serve the space tourism and research markets. Company officials said earlier this year that XCOR had not entirely abandoned the Mark 1 prototype vehicle that had been under construction at its Mojave, California, facility.

"Although we have advanced the program with much of our recent efforts, completion of the prototype is funding-dependent," Marco Martinez-Venturi, head of astronaut relations at the company, told SpaceNews in March.

With its employees laid off, company sources say management and investors are working to save at least some of XCOR's products, keeping the company from folding entirely.

The company is also without a permanent chief executive. Jay Gibson, hired as chief executive in March 2015, left the company at the end of June. The Trump administration nominated Gibson June 16 to be the Deputy Chief Management Officer at the Department of Defense.

Blum, the acting chief executive, formerly was chief financial officer and a co-founder of Firefly Space Systems, a company that was seeking to develop a small launch vehicle. That company furloughed its staff in September 2016 after a planned funding round fell through. In March, it announced the sale of "virtually all" of its assets.

XCOR's decision to lay off its remaining employees could also jeopardize a $10 million financial incentive package it received in 2012 to move the company to Midland, Texas. Brent Hilliard, chairman of the board of the Midland Development Corporation, which provided the incentive package, told the Midland Reporter-Telegraph that the board will meet with XCOR July 6 to discuss the company's status.

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.
The Hubble Space Telescope captured this view of the galaxy cluster SDSS J1110+6459, which lies 6 billion light-years from Earth and contains hundreds of galaxies.

A natural magnifying glass has sharpened images captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, revealing a distant galaxy that contradicts existing theories about early star formation. By pairing Hubble with a massive galaxy cluster, scientists captured images 10 times sharper than the space telescope could snap on its own.

The resulting images reveal star-forming knots of newborn stars only 200 to 300 light-years across, in a galaxy that formed only 2.7 billion years after the Big Bang. Previous theories suggested that star-forming regions in the early universe were much larger  at least 3,000 light-years across. [Hubble Space Telescope's Latest Cosmic Views]

"There are star-forming knots as far down in size as we can see," Traci Johnson, a doctoral student in astronomy at the University of Michigan, said in a statement. Johnson is the lead author on two of the three research papers describing Hubble's new results, which were published July 6 in the The Astrophysical Journal and the The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

In this Hubble photograph of a distant galaxy cluster, a spotty blue arc stands out against a background of red galaxies. The arc consists of three separate images of a galaxy in the background called SGAS J111020.0+645950.8, which has been magnified and distorted through a process known as gravitational lensing. (Image credit: T. Johnson/NASA/ESA)

Fireworks everywhere

Though Hubble was built to peer into the early universe, even the legendary space telescope can sometimes use a boost. In this case, astronomers paired the instrument with a gravitational lens, a massive structure in space that bends and distorts light to allow glimpses at greater distances.

Gravitational lenses can be any type of object, ranging from a single massive galaxy to an entire cluster. As light from the more distant galaxy passes the massive object, it is bent and distorted into an arc. For the newfound cluster, this magnified the object almost 30 times. Scientists had to develop a special computer code to remove the distortions and reveal the galaxy as it would normally appear.

Gravitational lenses occur when the light from a more distant galaxy or quasar is warped by the gravity of a nearer object in the line of sight from Earth, as shown in this diagram. (Image credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA)

Without the boost of the gravitational lens, the disk galaxy would appear smooth and unremarkable through the Hubble telescope, Johnson said. With it, however, scientists could catch an amazing glimpse of the early universe.

"When we saw the reconstructed image, we said, 'Wow, it looks like fireworks are going off everywhere,'" said Jane Rigby, an astronomer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and lead author of the third paper.

The newly spotted galaxy lies about 11 billion light-years from the sun. Because of the connection between distance and time, that means astronomers can see it as it looked 11 billion years ago, only a few billion years after the Big Bang that kick-started the universe about 13.8 billion years ago.

Whereas Hubble revealed newborn stars, NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope will reveal older, redder stars. Scheduled to launch in October 2018, Webb will also be able to peer through the dust around the galaxy.

"With the Webb Telescope, we'll be able to tell you what happened in this galaxy in the past, and what we missed with Hubble because of dust," Rigby said.

Follow Nola Taylor Redd on Twitter @NolaTRedd Facebook or Google+. Follow us at @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
Bir Lehlu, July 06, 2017 (SPS) - the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and the Frente POLISARIO has strongly condemned in a statement the decision of the Moroccan government to decide to include Saharawi territorial waters in its territory.

"The government of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the Frente POLISARIO consider that the bill adopted today by the Moroccan government, which delimits the border between Western Sahara and the Canaries, is null," stresses the statement from the Ministry of Saharawi Information.

The Saharawi government considered that the decision adopted today by the Moroccan government "constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and the status of Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory, registered in the UN Decolonization Committee," the statement said. The decision contradicts "the decision of the International Court of Justice of 1975 and the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which established that Western Sahara and Morocco are distinct territories."

Finally, the Saharawi government argues that "this decision without political and legal effects at the international level, is a flight forward with the objective of hiding the difficult situation that Morocco is experiencing at the internal, African and international levels," the statement concludes. SPS

125/090/TRA
Bir Lahlou, July 8, 2017 (SPS) - The Sahrawi government and the Polisario Front denounced a Moroccan bill on delimitation of territorial waters between occupied Western Sahara and Canary Islands (Spain), and considered the bill "null and void," said Friday a statement of the Saharawi Ministry of Information.

"Such a decision blatantly violates international law and the status of Western Sahara as a non-autonomous territory on the agenda of the United Nations Committee in charge of decolonization and in defiance of the decision of the International Court of Justice on 1975 and the European Court of Justice in 2016, which reaffirm that Western Sahara and Morocco are different and separate territories," said the communique sent to APS.

"This decision, which has no political and legal effect at the international level, is a new a headlong policy that hides poor disbursements as well as the difficult situation that Morocco is currently facing both internally and internationally," stated the communique.

According to media, the bill, adopted Thursday by the Moroccan government, is a "decree" on the delimitation of Sahrawi territorial waters in front of Spanish Canaries Islands. (SPS)

062/090/700
T his is the heartwarming moment a policewoman is proposed to by her girlfriend amid cheers at the Pride in London parade.

The British Transport Police (BTP) officer approaches her partner before she drops to one knee and pulls out a ring on Saturday afternoon.

In tear-jerking footage posted online, the couple then kiss and embrace to cheers and applause from revellers who descended on the capital for the event.

Social media users were quick to congratulate them after the video was posted on Twitter by BTP and has been shared more than 100 times.

Pride 2017: Policewoman gets engaged at this year's parade / British Transport Police

It comes after a number of proposals to and from emergency services workers were picture and filmed at last years parade in central London.

Last year, PC Adlem was taking part in the event when he broke away from colleagues and got down on one knee in what is thought to be one of the first public marriage proposals by a gay Met Police officer.

Heartwarming: PC Phil Adlem gets down on one knee to propose to partner Jonathan Sammons / Met LGBT Network

The heartwarming moment sparked messages of support from across the world with London Mayor Sadiq Khan among those to congratulate the couple.

On the same afternoon, two uniformed Met police officers were captured celebrating their engagement following another surprise proposal at Pride.
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Nothing much has changed so far in 2017. Nevertheless there have been some new developments. Peace efforts in the north are not making a lot of progress and the corrupt generals who surrendered power in 2011 are not only still in business but increasingly fighting back against their critics and winning. The violence against Rohingya Moslems by Buddhist nationalists continues but at a greatly diminished rate. China continues to try and buy as much of the country as it can, despite growing resistance. China tends to come up with offers people cant refuse.

Rohingya Requiem

While the rest of the world sees Burma as needlessly persecuting its Moslem minority most Burmese still fear the Rohingya Moslem minority will be a source of Islamic terrorists. While Moslem majority neighbor Bangladesh has arrested a few Pakistan trained Rohingya Islamic terrorists the Rohingya in Burma have largely avoided Islamic terrorism. Bangladesh borders Burmas Rakhine State which contains most of the Burmese Rohingya. Burma insists the Rohingya are Bangladeshis who are in Burma illegally. Bangladesh has never agreed with that.

Meanwhile over 500 Rohingya were arrested (and more than twice as many are being sought) since October 9th 2016 when three guard posts on the Bangladesh border were attacked by over 200 Rohingya men armed with a few firearms and, for most of them, swords, spears and clubs. This left nine border guards dead and four soldiers died during operations after the attacks. All the weapons (fifty firearms and 10,000 rounds of ammo) and equipment at guard posts were taken as the attackers fled. Army and police reinforcements were sent to Rakhine State and the border area where the attacks took place. Foreign journalists (and foreigners in general) were kept out of the area as the attackers were sought. This led 75,000 more Rohingya to flee the country (so far). This is largely because threats towards Rohingya, mainly by Buddhist vigilantes, have continued. Whoever the Rohingya terrorists are, they are not taking credit for the violence or identifying themselves. One of the few visible (at least on the Internet) Rohingya militant groups, the ARSA (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army) denies any connection with the violence and there is no evidence to contradict that claim.

Meanwhile there are still Rohingya terrorists (the Islamic angle is not yet established) in action and they have so far (since last October) been responsible for than sixty Rohingya being murdered or kidnapped. These actions are apparently directed at Rohingya seen as collaborating with the government. That includes local Rohingya leaders and Rohingya who work for the government or foreign aid organizations. Since 2012, when the anti-Rohingya violence began, over a hundred Rohingya have been killed by Buddhist vigilantes. That sort of thing has diminished but not disappeared while the Rohingya vigilante violence against other Rohingya has become a larger problem.

The Rohingya, who trace their origin to Bangladesh, have suffered increased persecution in Burma since the 1980s, and especially since the 2011 elections that restored democracy and got lot of anti-Moslem Buddhist nationalists elected. Most Rohingyas are Bengalis, or people from Bengal (now Bangladesh) who began migrating to Burma during the 19th century. At that time the British colonial government ran Bangladesh and Burma, and allowed this movement, even though the Buddhist Burmese opposed it. Britain recognized the problem too late, and the Bengali Moslems were still in Burma when Britain gave up its South Asian colonies after World War II (1939-45). Any kind of peace deal with the Rohingya is unlikely as far as most Burmese are concerned. There is growing popular anger among Burmese towards Moslems in general and the Rohingya in particular. This is fed by the continuing reports of Islamic terrorism word-wide and especially in the region (Thailand, India, Bangladesh and China). Foreign criticism, especially from Moslem majority nations is largely ignored, in part because Burma depends on non-Moslem nations (like China, Thailand and India) for most of its trade and foreign investments.

The North Fights On

Tribal rebels accuse the army of adopting a new strategy of trying to keep foreign news media away from tribal areas, especially when tribal rebels are willing to let the foreign journalists move freely and see for themselves what is going on. The army has always been diligent about controlling media and since elected government returned in 2011 the military (with much of its political power intact) has managed to have its way in the north. This includes continuing to blame most of the violence up there on the rebels while only allowing reporters to see the army version of things. This new policy is apparently one of the aftereffects of a video that appeared on FaceBook on May 26th showing Burmese soldiers beating northern tribesmen in handcuffs. The army took a major political and media hit in the aftermath of that and the prospect of more video like that showing up led to orders that troops in the north do everything possible to avoid any further embarrassments.

Efforts to create a peace deal in the north that everyone can agree to is still a work in progress. Most of the visible progress is superficial. For example in late 2016 the government and various tribal groups agreed to continue with the twice a year Panglong Conferences in an effort to negotiate a long term peace deal. The last meeting was on May 24th and was well attended by representatives from nearly all tribal groups. But even though over 750 delegates showed up nothing was really resolved. This time everyone was invited, not just those who signed the NCA (nationwide ceasefire agreement) last year. The main dissidents are a seven member alliance led by the UWSA (United Wa State Army) plus the KIA, TNLA, AA, NDAA, SSA-N and MNDAA which did not agree to come until the last minute. The USWA was pressured by China (the Wa are ethnic Chinese living on both sides of the border) to attend and bring the rest of the alliance with them.

At the conference Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the democracy movement that ousted the army in 2011 met separately with the leaders of each the seven alliance members. Several weeks after the conference the alliance said that in the future they would only meet with government leaders, especially military ones, as a group and not one-on-one. The UWSA led alliance is the most powerful group not only because they have good connections in China and Thailand but because they are active in the drug trade and have plenty of cash. That means they are well armed and form a military opponent the Burmese Army has never been able to subdue. With the help of China the Burmese Army could defeat the rebels but the Chinese want much in return, especially in terms of cooperation in keeping the tribes from interfering with Chinese economic projects in the north. At the moment those Chinese projects are one of the major problems the tribes have with the government.

The tribes continue to find it difficult to unite, even for something that is mutually beneficial to all the tribes. Most tribal organizations now support the idea of a peace deal but have been unable to achieve much progress on key issues. The causes of all this tribal strife go back a long way. Fighting between government forces and tribal rebels has, since 1948, left about 200,000 dead and crippled economic growth in the border areas being fought over. Officially known as the Union Peace Conference 21st Century Panglong conferences this is a long sought effort to update the original 1947 Panglong Conference held between the tribes and British colonial authorities just before Burma became independent. The 1947 conference got agreement for the tribal territories to be incorporated into Burma rather than remain a collection of tribal territories independent of any central government. World War II had just ended and the tribal territories of northern Burma and northeast India had been heavily involved because these areas had been a battleground for Japanese, British, Indian and tribal forces. The British convinced the tribes that being part of a larger neighbor (in this case former British colonies India and Burma) would be preferable to the pre-colonial chaos. The goal now is to create a mutually acceptable federal form of government in the tribal territories. The idea is to keep the Panglong Conferences going until there is a general agreement. India has been more successful with its tribes but still has trouble with some separatist tribal rebels.

In Burma there are also many disputes between various tribes. Many of the tribal coalitions are held together mainly by the need to unite for mutual defense from the army attacks and sometimes other tribes as well. Peace with the national government leads to more factionalism among the tribal coalitions. This is already happening in those areas that have been a peace for a year or so. As democracy returned to Burma in 2011 the army was forced to reduce their operations against the tribes. That process is continuing and with comes more opportunities for tribes to revive ancient feuds.

In addition to the new fighting between tribes there is the fact that some major tribal militias are not quite ready to negotiate. Most of these groups were allowed to observe the late 2016 Panglong Conference but not participate. These observer groups are the MNDAA (Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army), TNLA (Tang National Liberation Army) and AA (Arakan Army), which all have serious territorial and economic disputes with the army. In Shan state, for example, the army and tribes are fighting over lucrative coal mining operations. In Kachin state the army violence is connected with the illegal gold mining.

One reason for the new attitudes by the military is that more rebels are resisting. That, in part, is because the new government has also passed laws allowing northerners to legally start and operate their own radio stations and this has brought more people up there together in opposition to the various outlaw operations they must deal with daily. Most of those illegal operations are made possible by corrupt politicians and illegal foreign investments (mainly from China) and Burmese generals paid off to keep the angry tribal rebels from interfering.

July 4, 2017: In the northwest (Rakhine State) the violence continues as a Rohingya Moslem refugee was killed during a visit to the port city of Sittwe. The victim had come from a refugee camp on a truck (with a police guard) to take care of some business in Sittwe and was attacked by a group of Buddhist vigilantes and killed. .

June 27, 2017: In the northeast (Shan State) hundreds of villagers fled army shelling and advancing troops as the soldiers searched for a TNLA base they believed was in the area. Two civilians were killed by the shelling but it is unclear if any TNLA personnel were found or hurt.

June 20, 2017: In the northwest (Rakhine State) soldiers and police swept into a remote area to check out reports that Rohingya terrorists had established a base and training camp deep in the local forests. The troops found the camp but the dozens of terrorists (including recruits in training) had been able to flee taking more of their weapons with them. But much was left behind, including twenty dummy guns (for training or actual operations) and lots of food. Over two days of searching a few Rohingya terrorists were encountered but none surrendered and three were cornered and died fighting. Some smaller camps were found as well but the Rohingya terrorists had established good security and were prepared to quickly vacate camps when troops were detected approaching.

June 5, 2017: In the north (Kachin State) army helicopters dropped leaflets over known sites for illegal gold and amber mining warning that if illegal miners and their families did not leave the area by the 15th they would face a major army operation to clear the area and anyone found in the area would be considered KIO (Kachin Independence Organization) rebels and treated as hostiles (shot at). Over a thousand people (miners and their families) fled to nearby towns that were somewhat prepared to receive them. The army carried out their sweep of the area but did not report on casualties.
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. owns and operates utilities, transport, midstream, and data businesses in North and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company's Utilities segment operates approximately 61,000 kilometers (km) of operational electricity transmission and distribution lines; 5,300 km of electricity transmission lines; 4,200 km of natural gas pipelines; 7.3 million electricity and natural gas connections; and 360,000 long-term contracted sub-metering services. This segment also offers heating and cooling solutions; gas distribution; water heaters; and heating, ventilation, and air conditioner rental, as well as other home services. Its Transport segment offers transportation, storage, and handling services for merchandise goods, commodities, and passengers through a network of approximately 22,000 km of track; 5,500 km of track network; 4,800 km of rail; 3,800 km of motorways; and 13 port terminals. The company's Midstream segment offers natural gas transmission, gathering and processing, and storage services through approximately 15,000 km of natural gas transmission pipelines; 600 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage; 17 natural gas processing plants; and 3,900 km of gas gathering pipelines, as well as one petrochemical processing complex. Its Data segment operates approximately 148,000 operational telecom towers; 8,000 multi-purpose towers and active rooftop sites; 10,000 km of fiber backbone; 1,600 cell sites and approximately 12,000 km of fiber optic cable; and 2,100 active telecom towers and 70 distributed antenna systems, as well as 50 data centers and 200 megawatts of critical load capacity. The company was founded in 2007 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. is a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
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.
Just Add Water will be the theme for the week as Faith Lutheran hosts VBS the week of July 10-14. Four young adult counselors from Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp will lead youth in bible-centered activities that include singing, games, crafts, team building exercises and worship. We welcome youngsters from the age of three up to entering sixth grade to sign up for this incredible week. Preschoolers will meet from 9 to 11:30 am. School-age children will meet from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (lunch will be served). Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, July 10. For more information and registration forms, visit faithlutheranhamilton.org or call 406-363-2964. Faith Lutheran is located at 171 Lewis Lane south of Hamilton.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE), an S&P 500<sup></sup> urban office real estate investment trust ("REIT"), is the first, longest-tenured, and pioneering owner, operator, and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, technology, and agtech campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, with a total market capitalization of $31.9 billion as of December 31, 2020, and an asset base in North America of 49.7 million square feet ("SF"). The asset base in North America includes 31.9 million RSF of operating properties and 3.3 million RSF of Class A properties undergoing construction, 7.1 million RSF of near-term and intermediate-term development and redevelopment projects, and 7.4 million SF of future development projects. Founded in 1994, Alexandria pioneered this niche and has since established a significant market presence in key locations, including Greater Boston, San Francisco, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle. Alexandria has a longstanding and proven track record of developing Class A properties clustered in urban life science, technology, and agtech campuses that provide our innovative tenants with highly dynamic and collaborative environments that enhance their ability to successfully recruit and retain world-class talent and inspire productivity, efficiency, creativity, and success. Alexandria also provides strategic capital to transformative life science, technology, and agtech companies through our venture capital platform. We believe our unique business model and diligent underwriting ensure a high-quality and diverse tenant base that results in higher occupancy levels, longer lease terms, higher rental income, higher returns, and greater long-term asset value.
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester condemned dark money donations and Russian election interference during a panel discussion at the University of Montana Friday.

The panel discussion was focused on outside influences in U.S. elections, a problem Tester said Montanans are all too familiar with. It also included former CIA analyst Nada Bakos and University of Montana law professor Anthony Johnstone.

Weve had a long history of people trying to buy our elections, Tester said.

Testers Senate seat is one of 33 expected to be challenged in the 2018 midterm elections, races already attracting millions of dollars in TV spots produced by groups like the liberal Majority Forward and conservative America First Priorities.

Both groups file as nonprofits and cannot run ads specifically supporting a candidate, although they can cast a light  either positive or negative  on candidate's positions. Campaigns by law cannot coordinate with such groups.

A candidate doesnt need to be involved or even exist for these types of ads to make a difference in an election. No challenger has yet come forward against Tester in the 2018 election, but ads condemning his positions are already running.

And that is part of roughly $1 million that outside groups have spent against Jon already this cycle, said Montana Democratic Party spokesman Chris Meagher.

Another concern for Tester as he heads into the 2018 is whether the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee will have concluded its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

We need to get to the bottom of the Russian stuff and get it behind us, Tester said. The administration would be much more effective if they just opened it up and said here it is, weve got nothing to hide.

Tester said he has spoken to committee chairman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, about the investigation ending by Christmas, but is unsure is the committee is on track to meet that deadline. But as the investigation develops, Tester said he knows that may not be possible.

But without the facts, combating future influence by Russia will be like shooting a moving target, Tester said.

Russia already has about 150 intelligence operatives working in the United States, said Bakos, the former CIA analyst.

Russia wants to have influence in the world again, Bakos said. One of the main talking points linked to Russia propaganda in 2016 was that mainstream media is not portraying American interests, Bakos said.

Still, Tester believes there is room to work with Russia, despite the possibility the country may be planning more election interference in 2018.

Tester said negotiating with Russia is like negotiating with any country the United States might disagree with.

"If Ive got somebody that I can work with on an issue, then we work with them on that issue, and then you may be arguing against them on the floor on another issue. Thats the way things work," he said.

Bakos doesn't see it the same way.

"How does that square with our fight against ISIS?" Bakos said.

A representative from U.S. Sen. Steve Daines' office was also scheduled to appear on the panel to read a statement from Daines, but had to cancel because of a scheduling conflict. But, Daines' office told the Missoulian Friday he believes in diplomacy and every effort should be made to secure peace in order to work with Russia, while still being leery of the country.

"I'm skeptical of Russia's intentions and we need to remain vigilant and maintain a watchful eye," Daines said.

The panel also discussed voter fraud, with Johnstone saying that of the billion votes cast in 2016, there were about 31 instances of fraud. The threat to American democracy is not going to come from voter fraud, Johnstone said.

There are problems with our election administrations and we need to sort it out, but something to look out for are efforts to make voting harder for Americans on the basis of the very, very low possibility of real fraud, Johnstone said.

About 200 people attended the panel organized with the help of the Montana World Affairs Council, Montanans for National Security and the Davidson Honors College.
Summit Midstream Partners, LP focuses on owning, developing, and operating midstream energy infrastructure assets primarily shale formations in the continental United States. The company provides natural gas gathering, compression, treating, and processing services, as well as crude oil and produced water gathering services. Its unconventional resource basins include the Utica and Point Pleasant shale formations in southeastern Ohio; the Williston Basin that consists of the Bakken and Three Forks shale formations in northwestern North Dakota; the Denver-Julesburg Basin, which include the Niobrara and Codell shale formations in Colorado; the Permian Basin that comprise the Bone Spring and Wolfcamp shale formations in New Mexico; the Piceance Basin, which include the Mesaverde formation, and the Mancos and Niobrara shale formations in western Colorado; the Barnett Shale formation in north-central Texas; and the Marcellus Shale formation in northern West Virginia. The company also owns an ownership interest in Ohio Gathering, which owns and operates natural gas gathering and condensate stabilization facility in the Utica Shale in southeastern Ohio. It serves natural gas and crude oil producers. Summit Midstream GP, LLC operates as a general partner of the company. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
American Midstream Partners, LP provides midstream infrastructure that links the producers of natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), condensate, and specialty chemicals to various intermediate and end-use markets in the United States and Mexico. Its Gas Gathering and Processing Services segment offers services to producers of natural gas and crude oil, including transporting raw natural gas and crude oil from various receipt points through gathering systems, treating the raw natural gas, processing raw natural gas to separate the NGLs from the natural gas, fractionating NGLs, and selling or delivering pipeline-quality natural gas and NGLs. The company's Liquid Pipelines and Services segment transports, purchases, and sells crude oil. Its Natural Gas Transportation Services segment transports and delivers natural gas from producing wells, receipt points, or pipeline interconnects for shippers, local distribution companies, and utilities, as well as industrial, commercial, and power generation customers. The company's Offshore Pipelines and Services segment gathers and transports natural gas from receipt points to other pipeline interconnects, onshore facilities, and other delivery points. Its Terminalling Services segment provides petroleum products, distillates, chemicals, and agricultural products storage services at its marine terminals for commodity brokers, refiners, and chemical manufacturers. As of May 10, 2018, the company owned approximately 5,100 miles of interstate and intrastate pipelines; gas processing plants and fractionation facilities; an offshore semisubmersible floating production system with nameplate processing capacity of 90 thousand barrels per day of crude oil and 220 million cubic feet per day of natural gas; and terminal sites with approximately 6.7 million barrels of storage capacity. American Midstream GP, LLC serves as the general partner of the company. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Every Friday, Olga Babak and her mother Natalya bake through the night to prepare for the Saturday Farmers Market. From scratch, they bake cream cheese buns, cannoli filled with sweet cream, poppy seed rolls, marzipani  pastry dough rolled up and filled with Nutella  and other Russian baked goods.

Early in the morning, after hours of baking, Natalya sends Olga to bed for a couple of hours of sleep. She works through the night so that the pastries are fresh for the market, the way her customers like them. When Olga gets up, she takes over, sending her mother to rest, even if Natalya insists she hasnt yet finished all the cinnamon rolls.

Since she was 8, Olga has stood behind the Babak familys booth at a Missoula farmers market, first the Missoula Farmers Market and now the Clark Fork Market, first selling vegetables, and then switching to her mothers pastries. Olgas parents and grandparents dont speak fluent English, she said, so she learned early on to explain to Missoulians what each traditional Russian recipe contains.

Born in the United States to immigrant parents from Ukraine and Belarus, Olga seamlessly transitions between speaking in Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian and English. In her brain, the four languages complement each other and shell often mix all four of them in one conversation, she said.

Now 20, Olgas responsibilities have grown from managing a small booth at the Clark Fork Market to running Missoulas only Eastern European market: Babaks Bakery and Deli Mart.

The store, located on West Broadway, still carries all the same pastries the family is known for selling at the farmers market. Only now they also carry Russian candies, beverages, kielbasa, cheeses, spicy babushka pickles, drakini  a meat-stuffed potato pancake  Russian bread, and more.

What you see here is kind of like my come home from fourth grade, and I have black bread on the table with borscht (a beetroot soup), Olga said. Thats just what I grew up with. And even now, thats what I eat.

In the 1980s and '90s, a handful of Belarusian families fleeing religious persecution resettled in Missoula. Olgas parents fled their countries separately, and met in Washington state. When Natalyas sister moved to Missoula, where host families helped arrange English classes for immigrant families, she and Igor followed, and married soon after.

Despite the well-established community of eastern Europeans in Missoula, there havent been many food options that reflect their heritage.

Before the Babaks opened their store in May, members of Missoulas Slavic community had to travel to Kalispell or Washington to shop at an Eastern European market.

Olga said people often come in and fill their baskets to the brim with groceries. Theyre used to having to shop in bulk for these ingredients. Its a luxury to have them 15 minutes away instead of three hours.

You know, you can come back tomorrow if you need to, Olga jokes.

Beyond the benefits to Missoulas Slavic community, the store introduces Missoulians to foods and customs with which they might otherwise be unfamiliar. Cathy Mae Carter, who works at the front counter at Butterfly Herbs, recently started shopping at Babaks Bakery and Deli Mart. She knows she wont be able to visit Eastern Europe any time soon, but the market gives her a taste of different parts of the world.

My low-budget travel plans involve renting foreign films with subtitles, going to markets and reading books, and that's how I learn what the rest of the world is like, Carter said.

When Carter moved to Missoula in 1998, there was one sushi restaurant and one Mexican restaurant, and neither compared to the affordable and authentic groceries and restaurants in Vancouver, where she lived before. Since the Babaks opened their store, Carter has shopped there several times, often asking for recommendations, since most of the packaging isnt written in English.

She loves the spicy babushka pickles, farmers cheese, red currant juice and rye bread.

Im really excited for them, and I think people need to step out of their safety zone and try something new, Carter said.

If all goes well, Olga plans to begin providing hot lunch in the market in the next few months. Both her parents have put Olga in charge of the store, and while her mother spends most nights baking, Olga is, in a sense, the bosswoman.

Theres busier days, slower days, but for the most part I think were still growing, Olga said. And you can only go up from there.
Mom always said to not run with scissors. But does that rule include paddling kayaks?

Jim Solomon and Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney cut the ceremonial ribbon at the Montana Outdoor Recreation Expo on Friday morning while both were sitting in coupled kayaks, a very Montana beginning to a day all about outdoor education and the Montana way of life.

The Expo is happening at the Missoula County Fairgrounds through Sunday and the only cost to enter is a can of food per person, which the Expo is donating to the Missoula Food Bank and Bitterroot Haven House.

Activities range from bear spray training to elk calling and rock climbing as well as archery exhibitions and a game called archery tag, where you can shoot your best friend with a bow and arrow, according to Solomon.

Solomon, the head of the Expo, is a Cherry Creek Radio host by trade and a person deeply passionate about the outdoors.

Raised in Phoenix, Solomon always was fascinated by the magazines about the outdoors, like Field and Stream.

He came to Montana because of a National Geographic special on the Craighead brothers' work with grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park. Wearing a blue plaid shirt and jeans with a Cabelas hat, Solomon was exuberant as he explained the reasons he had set up the Expo, mainly to get people educated in the outdoors and to teach them to be self-reliant.

Cooney said the Expo was celebrating recreation opportunities in Montana and the outdoors that make them available. Were lucky, Cooney said, just outside our back doors are incredible public lands that belong to all of us.

Cooney also held up the outdoors as a major driver of the Montana economy, quoting some 64,000 jobs related to recreation and some 11 million visitors to Montana, as well as $6 billion from outdoor recreation industries.

With such massive amounts of people and money involved in the Montana outdoors, Cooney said Lets advertise it!  which is why the Expo is happening this weekend.

Vendors from all over the West are coming to the Expo. Wayne Carlton is an outdoor legend, according to Solomon, and traveled to Missoula from Montrose, Colorado, for this weekends Expo. Wearing cowboy boots and a belt buckle made from the antler of a bull elk, Carlton looks like the ultimate outdoorsman.

Carlton is an elk call designer and maker and was an early pioneer of calling elk with turkey callers. He demonstrated his prowess in the empty ice rink at the fairgrounds, giving lifelike calls with the ease of an old pro, and filling the rink with the sounds of bugling.
A Missoula man who allegedly threw a horseshoe at a woman has been charged with a felony.

On Wednesday, police were sent to a mobile home on the 1700 block of Cooley Street after a woman reported that Eric Wilkins, 31, had been abusing her and destroying property at her home.

Police found the woman hiding behind a van outside the trailer. Officers said they heard yelling and the sounds of things being broken coming from inside the trailer.

The woman told officers Wilkins had become more and more violent over the past weeks, and that she eventually locked him out. He allegedly broke windows and pushed a wall-mounted air conditioning unit into the trailer, which hit the womans daughter in the arm, according to court documents.

When she left the home after calling police, Wilkins reportedly threw a horseshoe at the woman, which bounced off the wall of the trailer and hit her in the back. Wilkins reportedly then went inside the trailer and locked the woman out.

Police found broken windows, holes in the wall, a pitchfork stuck into a door and varied broken pieces of property in the trailer, but Wilkins was not there. Officers returned the next day when it was reported Wilkins had come back.

He allegedly refused to leave the residence when told to do so, going as far as calling 911 to allegedly threaten the officers that he was ready to go to war, according to his charging documents.

He was arrested after running from the trailer, and is charged with a felony for assault with a weapon, and misdemeanors for partner or family member assault, criminal mischief and obstructing a peace officer.
Julys meeting of City Club Missoula on Monday will focus on the high suicide rate in Missoula and Montana and what is being done to address it.

City Clubs monthly meetings provide a forum where experts weigh in on different topics that are important to Missoula before inviting the public to provide feedback and share ideas on the subject.

This months meeting starts at 11:30 a.m. Monday, July 10, at the DoubleTree Hilton Edgewater at 100 Madison St. in downtown Missoula.

More than 100 people in Missoula County have committed suicide in the past three years, according to a news release announcing the City Club meeting, which added the event will include discussion on how people can help prevent suicide.

Panelists for this months forum include Anton Johnson, outreach specialist for the Missoula office of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as Red Willow Learning Centers Executive Director Kathy Mangan and Matt Taylor, an organizational consultant who has worked on suicide-prevention efforts at state, national and international levels.

Missoula County Chief Deputy Treasurer Kim Seeberger, who became a suicide prevention trainer after her teenage daughter committed suicide, also will be a member of the panel.

Seeberger, along with Johnson and Taylor, are members of the leadership team for Project Tomorrow Montana, an initiative started in December that works on suicide prevention across western Montana. The project grew out of another prevention group that was started in Missoula in 2014.

Attendance at City Club, which includes lunch, costs $16 for members and $20 for non members. Reservations to attend can be made online at cityclubmissoula.com or by emailing ccm@cityclubmissoula.com.
Someone once said: If it isnt broke, dont fix it. That person does not work for Oreo.

Oreo makes a lot of cookies  40 billion of them in 18 countries each year  enough to make it the worlds best-selling cookie. Most of them are the familiar sandwich thats over 100 years old: white cream nestled between two chocolate wafers. But the company has increasingly been experimenting with limited-edition flavours that seem designed as much for an Instagram feed as they are to be eaten.

Everyone loves the classic Oreo, said Madeline Vincent, a brand manager for Oreo. We dont mess with that.

But outside that classic Oreo? Oh, there is much messing about. This year, the company released limited-edition flavours like Jelly Donut, Mississippi Mud Pie and Firework. They joined a packed shelf that has recently included flavours like Cookie Dough, Birthday Cake, Mint, SMores and Red Velvet, which proved so popular as a limited edition that the company upgraded it to everyday flavour status.

The limited-edition flavours are scarce by design, appearing on shelves for eight to 10 weeks. Some are available only in certain markets or certain stores; Mississippi Mud Pie, for example, was specific to Dollar General stores, which have their headquarters in the South.

The scarcity is not to torture you, Vincent said, but is because Oreo thinks a flavour might be better received in one area than another.

We consider a variety of factors to determine the right flavours for the right markets and partners, such as customer feedback and consumer preference, Vincent said, adding that there is no specific template for which flavour goes to which retailer. It is decided on a case-by-case basis.

But there are certain flavours that even fewer people will get to try: those that result from a social media contest that will earn one Oreo fan $500,000. The company is using the hashtag #MyOreoCreation to collect suggested flavours. The top flavors, as determined by Oreo, will be produced and available nationwide next year for the public to vote on.

And heres where things get, comparatively, weird. Some contenders so far have included English Breakfast Tea (it tastes like tea), Peach Melba (has the flavor of a gummi peach), Mermaid (a sort of lime cream), and at least three donut-adjacent flavors to complement the Jelly Donut already in mass production: Raspberry Danish, Coffee and Doughnut, and Beignet. These flavors arent available for consumers to buy, but the company has made small batches of them and sent them out into the world.

(The winning flavor may return for a limited-edition run or even as a permanent flavour, but that will be up to Oreo to decide.)

Darren Seifer, an industry analyst at the NPD Group, a market research company, said Thursday that companies need to be cautious when offering consumers a new product thats too similar to the original.

Any time you have a line extension, your main concern should be whether or not its going to be cannibalizing your main-line product, he said.

Oreos social media push, he added, could be interpreted as an effort to save on market research funds  which other companies certainly have done, he said.

Instead of going and spending lots of money on focus groups and taste testing, theyre almost using the power of social media to help them figure out whats the next road and whats the next big thing, he said.

And while Oreo has taken to crowdsourcing, its not necessarily breaking new ground there.

From 2006 to 2016, Frito-Lay received around 36,000 submissions for its Crash the Super Bowl contest; fans were asked to create homemade Doritos commercials. Each year, the winning fan-made ad was broadcast during the Super Bowl. Frito-Lay awarded nearly $7 million in prize money during that time.

In 2014, Starbucks asked customers to decorate their Starbucks cup with an original design for its White Cup Contest. Participants then posted a photo of the cup on social media with the hashtag #WhiteCupContest, and the winning design was used on a limited-edition reusable cup. Nearly 4,000 entries were received.

Companies engaging with consumers, though, is a relatively recent development, said Libby OConnell, chief historian emeritus at the History Channel who wrote the book The American Plate: A Culinary History in 100 Bites.

Aside from adding little surprises in packages, as with Cracker Jack, they really couldnt do that 100 years ago.

But not everyone is thrilled with the evolution of Oreo. One flavour, Watermelon, was widely seen as a flop when it was released in 2013. A food industry expert told U.S. News & World Report that the cookie left an unpleasant aftertaste and only vaguely tasted like watermelon.

In a 2016 post on the Ringer, after Oreo came out with a Swedish Fish flavour, Justin Charity argued that the company had gone too far.

In an interview, Charity  who said he was conditioned to love Oreos because his schools were near a Nabisco factory  doubled down on his perspective. I feel like, Why is Nabisco trying to overwhelm you with meaningless choices? he said.

The whole effort is a parody of diminishing returns, he added.

We lost the platonic ideal of what an Oreo cookie is. What is an Oreo anymore? I dont even know.

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Stop the vote and halt the debate: we can now crown the Song of Summer.

Have a seat, Drake. Better luck next year, Lorde. Too bad, so sad, to Calvin Harris, Future, Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, DJ Khaled and all other contenders. You were all in the running. You all came very close to earning the industrys seasonal distinction.

But then on Friday, Blue Ivy made her rap debut and game over.

When youre the child of musical royalty, a recording career is in the genetic cards. Does anyone really expect the eldest daughter of Beyonce and Jay Z to not end up behind a mic? No. So if future stardom is all but inevitable, I guess her parents feel there is no harm in teasing and showcasing her vocal chops at the tender age of 5.

(And to think my daughters still dont make their beds.)

Blues Freestyle/We Family is one of three bonus tracks that was released Friday from her dads new (and already platinum) album, 4:44. At the start of the track, for about 44 seconds of achingly cute warbling and jamboree-style clapping, Blue spits out rhymes about . . . actually, I have no idea what she is saying.

I tried my best to accurately transcribe the lyrics. But this proved tougher than deciphering a garbled audiogram from the Zodiac Killer.

Beyond the closing refrain of Boom Shakalaka, I think  think  Blue is riffing on metaphorical glass ceilings? Issuing a tsunami warning for Polynesia? Something about unicorn emoji? Grease patties? Everything is eel play?

Other suspected words and phrases I jotted down included and if a fossy canna be parlay, hassayblahray and the immortal inniskalsfalksmay.

And this is exactly why I am declaring it 2017s Song of Summer.

In this time of fake news, at this moment of breathtaking covfefe, this adorable and precocious child has recorded a paean to all that baffles us. Between the slodieey and the yeetiiiging, she has captured the Zeitgeist.

There may be songs that are in heavier rotation this summer. There may be songs that thunder inside clubs and turn into generational earworms. But no song will do a better job of reflecting the gibberish that engulfs the culture like a feefeegadow.

If Blue had freestyled about how we have no reason to fear nuclear annihilation, we could not in good conscience bestow the Song of Summer due to a blatant disconnect with reality. But when this spirited kindergartner keeps it real with a heavy dose of andifukanhazay and bleeteereeree, how can you not just feel the beat and revel in her pure sonic joy?

There is no situation this intro freestyle cant improve this summer. None. Watching CNN? Turn down the TV volume and crank up Blue Ivy and behold how 2017 chyrons and breaking bulletins suddenly make way more sense when they are punctuated with a teereeray and leeleeppy.

Listen to this musical prodigy if you need a jolt of inspiration while working out  YEEBEEDO!  or when driving into work on a grim Monday morning: booloowoo. I plan to slap on headphones and blast this song all summer long, especially in those terrifying moments when my wife approaches with a verbal to-do list.

HONEY, WHAT DID YOU SAY? Ill shout, shaking my head and pointing at the headphones. YOU NEED ME TO CRIPTEREEGEE THE GHEETERALIS?

Blues ability to create art that is both contagious and unintelligible is so masterful, so transfixing, it appears to have rubbed off on her dad  the other two bonus tracks released on Friday are titled Adnis and MaNyfaCedGod.

So congratulations to an amazing child with a very bright future. It will be years before anyone makes a cultural contribution this important.

Speaking of contributions, I must offer a coda to Thursdays column, in which I argued Toronto needs a permanent giant rubber duck. In joking about how we might fund this, I wrote, Or maybe Norm Kelly can help subsidize the year-round costs by volunteering to work inside the duck or by donating a slice of the revenue he generates from shamelessly hawking hats and sweats on Twitter.

The word shamelessly caught the city councillors attention. Kelly emailed to remind me hes contributed sales proceeds to help eight charities so far: Covenant House, Sick Kids, Second Harvest, Prostate Cancer Canada, Canadian Feed the Children, WoodGreens Newcomer Youth Program, Raising the Roof and War Child Canada.

Hope youll agree that theres no shame in contributing to the following charities, Kelly wrote.

Agreed. Apologies for the word shamelessly. Anyone who helps others deserves nothing less than a wildly appreciative Boom Shakalaka.

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I found this handbag  an exquisitely hand-embroidered Indigenous piece dating from the 70s  in Greenland, of all places. I say of all places not only because its weird to have stumbled upon something up at the Arctic Circle that looks exactly like a handbag from last summers Valentino collection, but because its weird that I ever ended up in Greenland.

Whenever I bring up Greenland, somebody immediately starts into how much they loved their trip to Iceland. But they really are totally different: Iceland is green and volcanic, and you can get there directly from almost anywhere (and so many are, it seems); its actually Greenland thats the icy, remote one, even though, aviationally speaking, its just a stones throw from Newfoundland.

Unless you end up (like lucky me) invited there at the last minute by a friend with a private jet, in order to get to Greenland you have to fly through Copenhagen (to the dismay of many Greenlanders, they are still a territory of Denmark), or via Iceland.

Any way you can swing it, I highly recommend a visit. Particularly one that catches you by surprise. Without any planning or expectations on my part, we were surrounded by icebergs as magnificent as cathedrals, we soaked in mineral pools with a family of Greenlandic hunters, dined on muskox and sashimi of whale skin, and drank our cocktails with chunks of highly oxygenated polar ice that crackled and fizzed like Poprocks as it melted.

On an island called Disko (short for Discovery which, story goes, didnt fit spelled out in full on the first map), we boogied on an icy mountaintop to Staying Alive, the only other partiers besides us past the velvet rope some seriously scary sled dogs tied to posts in the snow.

I still remember standing in the brilliant Arctic sun on whats left of the polar ice cap (even though its melting, its still impressively vast and crystalline) in my improvised explorers outfit of pleather leggings, a cashmere sweater and a pair of city boots, my daypack a beach tote (like I said, this was a last-minute invitation). The entire time I was unable to stop smiling, thinking, OK, aside from giving birth (twice), this is perhaps the most incredible moment in my life.

I dont know if it was the rush of oxygen (the air there was so fresh, breathing it in almost felt minty), the burst of energy one feels in near 24-hour Arctic sunlight, or just the thrill of being somewhere so totally undiscovered and remote, but there was something so magical about it that every cell in my body felt transformed.

Which is why a wonder like this intricately beaded sealskin bag seemed the perfect souvenir. This is the real thing, the owner of the tourist shop in Ilulissat told me when I asked her to bring it down for me from a dusty upper shelf. You just dont come across many like this anymore.

Ditto, Greenland.

Karen von Hahn is a Toronto-based writer, trend observer and style commentator. Her new book, What Remains: Object Lessons in Love and Loss, is published by the House of Anansi Press. Contact her at kvh@karenvonhahn.com .

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MISSOULA  Darlene Renee Guerdette, 69, of Missoula, passed away on Tuesday, June 20, 2017 of natural causes.

Darlene was born on Sept. 13, 1947 in Minot, North Dakota to Charles Guerdette and Ruby (Nelson) Guerdette.

In her early years, Darlene lived in Minot, Fairbanks and Las Vegas, but Montana and more so, Missoula soon became home for the rest of her life. She held pride in being the last graduating class, (65) from Missoula County High School. With a 66 Mustang and enrollment in a nursing program, her childhood dreams were unfolding.

In 1969 Darlene's first and only child, Michael was born. The two lived with her father, Charles, "Pa", until he passed away in '75 at the age of 58. She worked hard raising Michael, continuing education and working full time as an ICU/CCU nurse at St. Patrick's Hospital. She took on temporary employment at Nursing Homes and Labelle's/Best to make ends meet or when Christmas was near. When Michael left for the Navy, she finished her degree and became an RN in the Emergency Department at Community Hospital where she also enjoyed ambulance nursing for a short time.

Her life was full of hobbies including ceramics, cooking, dancing, knitting, sewing. She took great pride in umpiring girls little league and teaching aerobics, with the motto, "If a fat girl can do it, you can to!" She was a devoted animal lover and stray meant nothing since any wayward animal on her property immediately had a loving home.

Darlene had many names; she was a sister, (Sis), to Jerry, Auntie Dar to Kelly and Darlin Dar, (or simply "Dar") to many. But it was 1995 when her most cherished title was unveiled and "Grandma Dar" was created, with her email and license plate proudly reflecting who she was.

Darlene's career, activities and loving nature touched so many. Her loss will be felt near and far for decades.

As Ma B. would say "goodbye" means "God be with you"!

So, Goodbye Darlene, you will be missed!

We Love You,

Everyone

Funeral service will be held July 8, 2017 at First Lutheran Church at 11 a.m., followed by a potluck reception.

In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the First Lutheran Church honorarium.
A Mohawk farmer embroiled in a bitter land dispute is prohibited from entering a parcel of land near Six Nations of the Grand River after an interim injunction was granted against her.

To Kristine Hill, 52, its a direct threat to her livelihood, as well as the 25 farmhands employed by her. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are at stake, she said.

Hill was growing beans, tobacco and flint corn on the Burtch lands, about 380 acres slightly west of the reserves boundary. Some crops circulate through her community and are used for traditional ceremonies

The crops cant be tended to and theyre definitely put at risk now, she said. I have put a significant investment into the fields over the last three years.

Hill is caught in the crossfire between Six Nations Elected Band Council and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a historic union of five First Nations that issued a five-year lease to her. The Confederacy wants the land, south of Hamilton, to be independent from the Canadian government, citing expropriation concerns. The band council wants it to become part of the reserve and use it as it sees fit.

The case before the Superior Court of Justice was adjourned last week and a two-day trial is slated for Aug. 17 and 18.

Ava Hill, Six Nations elected chief, refused to comment on the matter, saying that she has been advised to not speak with the media because the issue is before the courts.

One thing I will say is that we are currently doing outreach to the community, who this land is being held for, to get their input on what they would like to see the Burtch lands used for, she said via email.

Toronto lawyer Ben Jetton is representing the band council, along with the federal corporation it established in March to hold the land in trust until it officially becomes reserve land.

The interim injunction prevents (Kristine) Hill from continuing to be on the property, or anyone else for that matter, he said. Shes required to vacate the property and has to cease farming activities. It restrains her agents, servants or representatives from trespassing, from interfering with our clients use of the property.

Ultimately, its to allow the elected council to deal with its own property and decide going forward who shall use it at Six Nations.

Hill said the band council did not adequately consult the community about its plans.

Six Nations Elected Council decided behind closed doors, without an announcement to the community, that it was going to farm Burtch this year, she said. The whole intent of them supposedly taking the land into the corporation was to get the input from the community on what they were going to do at first.

Ontario Provincial Police were spotted outside the area, she said.

Whats concerning me now is the OPP are intending on, or have already, set up an outpost at the location, she said. They definitely have a presence. We see them. Theyve communicated theres escalating tensions.

This isnt the first time pressure has built in the community. The dispute is linked to the 2006 Caledonia standoff that saw First Nations people construct blockades and occupy a housing development called the Douglas Creek Estates. A subdivision was to be built on territory granted to the Haudenosaunee people for their ties to the British military during the American Revolution, which took place between 1775 and 1783.

Ontario ameliorated tensions by transferring land back to Six Nations. A 2006 letter signed by former Ontario premier David Peterson and sent to the Confederacy states that The title of the Burtch lands will be included in the lands rights process of the Haudenosaunee/Six Nations/Canada/Ontario. It is the intention that the land title be returned to its original state, its status under the Haldimand Proclamation of 1784.

An abandoned jail that stood on the parcel was demolished and a multi-year environmental remediation project was undertaken to decontaminate soil laced with asbestos.

Petersons letter wasnt addressed to the band council, said David Schiller, Hills defence lawyer, but to the Confederacy.

The elected council didnt exist until 1924, so Im not sure how returning title to a numbered company that has some relationship with the elected council could be returning it to its original state, he said.

Hill said its heart-wrenching every time she drives by the property since being ordered off the property.

I never wanted our people to get into this situation where theyre fighting with each other, she said. There is outcry from the community in terms of what the elected council is doing. Theyre supposed to represent the community.

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Torontos deputy mayor wants the TTC to seek out other potential suppliers for the agencys next streetcar purchase, following repeated production delays to the current order from Bombardier.

In a motion going before the TTC board on Wednesday, Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong, who is also a TTC commissioner, requests that the agency conduct a market sounding and prequalification process to determine whether there are other companies interested in bidding on future contracts for light rail vehicles.

The current $1-billion order from Bombardier is for 204 streetcars, with an option to purchase an additional 60 vehicles.

The option is estimated to cost $361 million, and is currently not funded in the TTCs budget. Under the terms of the Bombardier deal the option is supposed to be exercised by the time the 60th car of the order is delivered, which will happen in November if the Quebec-based company sticks to its latest revised production schedule.

We may or may not exercise that option. But our current provider, Bombardier, has a less than outstanding record of delivery, said Minnan-Wong in an interview.

He said seeking out other potential suppliers now gives us the opportunity to make an informed, educated choice. He warned that if the TTC doesnt test the market early, we could be in a situation where the commission might say, we dont have time to go out to the marketplace to see if there are other companies out there.

TTC CEO Andy Byford said he supports Minnan-Wongs motion. I think it makes sense to keep our options open, he said.

Byford said that despite cooling ridership growth, the agency still expects it will need the extra cars to cope with future transit demand. The additional 60 vehicles would increase the capacity of the TTCs streetcar network by 70 per cent compared to the old vehicle fleet.

The CEO said that the TTC wont be rushed into any decisions, however, and its the agencys position that it shouldnt necessarily be bound to exercising the option by the 60th car. He said the option date should be negotiable.

I dont think its in Bombardiers interest to be rigid on one element of the deal when they have clearly failed on another element of it, he said.

Under the terms of the original contract with Bombardier, the company was supposed to have delivered roughly 130 of the new cars by now. Instead the TTC has just 39.

The cars the agency does have are also not yet meeting reliability targets, but the TTC is confident that their performance will improve by the time the order is complete.

Bombardier maintains that it has overcome its production problems, and will meet the original target of delivering all 204 cars by 2019.

A year ago Bombardier implemented an important turnaround plan of its operations and has since met every quarterly delivery commitment to the TTC, said spokesperson Marc-Andre Lefebvre in an email.

He said that Bombardier has an established manufacturing and supplier base geared toward meeting the needs of the TTC and would be able to meet any future order from our customer, including the 60-car option.

According to Byford, there would be some drawbacks to running a mixed fleet made up of vehicles from two different companies, but they would be relatively minor. Operators and mechanics would have to familiarize themselves with two different vehicle types, for instance, and the vehicles would require two sets of spare parts.

Once the favoured supplier of light rail vehicles for the Toronto area, Bombardier signed major contracts with the TTC and Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, at the turn of the decade.

But recently the company has seen its competitors gain ground as its production woes mounted.

In May, Metrolinx announced it had signed a $528-million deal with French-based Alstom for 61 light rail vehicles. The province described the order as a backup to a troubled, $770-million order from Bombardier for 182 cars, which has also been delayed.

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A wall of pictures and cryptic messages that the mayor of Whitchurch-Stouffville posted on the wall of his office washroom has been revealed, but dozens of those whose faces are on display  local residents, former employees and politicians  say they are disturbed, creeped out and, in some cases, concerned for their safety.

It also has left them wondering what it all means.

Its absolutely creepy, said Samantha Farrow, a longtime resident. I was horrified when I saw my picture. I couldnt believe my picture was on the bathroom wall in the mayors office, said Farrow, who said she runs her family business in town and has no personal dealings with the mayor.

The fact that he put so much effort into finding my picture on Facebook, printing it out and putting it on the wall is really unsettling.

The collection of photos, which covers three walls of Mayor Justin Altmanns washroom, sparked a probe by an integrity commissioner after a town employee came across the wall in March. The probe is still underway.

The pictures on the washroom wall are believed to have been posted there as early as January. At that time, Metroland Media-York Region reporter Ali Raza saw the walls and shot pictures of the display. The posted photos include current and former councillors, town employees, business people and even a Toronto Star reporter, who has sometimes covered Whitchurch-Stouffville.

Many of the photos are connected by hand-drawn arrows and interspersed with signs reading hired or youre fired. Some people, such as former CAO Marc Pourvahidi, who was dismissed last fall with a sizable payout, appear multiple times.

Who's who

Altmann did not respond to numerous requests for comment, from multiple Star reporters over many days. He has, however, told the Stars sister publication, Metroland Media-York Region, that the wall is a mind map or timeline.

In an interview with Metroland Media-York Region reporter Simon Martin, Altmann said having others discover the walls of photos is the best thing that could have happened.

I broke down crying, he told Martin. I am so happy that I get to tell my story now. I am so happy the integrity commissioner will get to investigate me because I have had no means to tell my story.

There is nothing criminal on the wall.

The wall is normal . . . . Theres nothing vexatious. Theres nothing nasty. Theres nothing mean.

But those who found their faces plastered on the wall dont agree that it is normal.

Im highly disturbed by this, said Darlene Shaw, who runs a project management company and has lived in the town of 45,000 her entire life. This is not a mind map. This is not innocent. This is strategic and meticulous.

As a woman, to have your photograph in the bathroom, is so demeaning, said Shaw, a volunteer in town and on several committees.

How do I deal with this man now? Im a fairly independent woman, but now I feel like I have to be more cautious.

York Region Chair and CEO Wayne Emmerson, who preceded Altmann as mayor of Whitchurch-Stouffville, said he was shocked to see his photo included on the wall.

The pair ran against each other in the 2010 mayoral election, which saw some heated discussion before Altmann was defeated, Emmerson said. But since the end of his term in 2014, Emmerson has moved out of Stouffville and does not involve himself in town politics except to take calls from current councillors asking about past projects, he said. The two do interact at York Regional council, where Altmann also holds a seat as mayor of his town.

I never did anything to disrespect Mayor Altmann. I did not campaign against him. I left that all up to the citizens, Emmerson said.

Alec Cloke, owner and operator of the local business, United Soils, whose dispute over a fill pit sparked an ongoing controversy in the town last year, had a fair share of the wall dedicated to him.

The existence of the mural is beyond creepy, he said, adding that he has gone to the police on behalf of Shaw and Farrow, who work with him and his local charity, Tiny Seedlings. The picture of his lawyer, Toronto-based William Chalmers, appears six times.

The York Regional Police did not respond to questions about if the wall has led to complaints or an investigation.

Ian Hilton, a local resident whose photo is on the wall, along with a photo of his wife, former town councillor Sue Hilton, described the photo walls as horrifying.

Some people have described the (recent staff exodus) as the implementation of a hit list against staff, said Hilton. This photograph business is, in my mind, simply an extension of that  the enemies list.

In his interview with Martin, Altmann said the photo walls were meant to help him determine why so many town officials have been resigning and who may have released in-camera council documents.

The mayor said his mind map showed back-stabbing and other bad behaviour within the town hall. I have been lied to. I have been manipulated. I have had harassment against me since Day 1 in this office, he said.

On Thursday, Altmann took out a full-page advertisement in the Stouffville Sun-Tribune newspaper, which referenced, but did not comment on, the Stars July 3 story about his walls of photos.

We have seen politicians who let their egos consume them. They appear to think the role is all about themselves and forget about the importance of the residents, Altmann wrote in the ad.

I am the sum of past generations, and the future investment for our town. I believe we need to walk the path to the future together, he wrote in another part of the ad.

Who's who

Photos of all six councillors appear on Altmanns walls. Councillor Iain Lovatt said he immediately asked Altmann about the photos when he heard about them.

He told me it was a mind map of his thoughts for varying situations hes been dealing with since taking office. I took him at his word.

Despite the disturbing display of photos, several residents have voiced their continued support for Altmann on social media.

I believe this flow chart and Mind Map is exactly that . . . a clear chart to help the mayor remain focused on those who, every day, are trying to stab him in the back, and those he can rely on to help him look after the interests of the town and the people of Stouffville, wrote Mike Burns in a July 5 Facebook post.

Keep the faith Mr. Mayor. Most of the folks around these parts are on your side.

But Daniel Lublin, a partner in the law firm Whitten & Lublin, said the wall could become a legal headache for the town.

This could be considered a form of harassment, said Lublin. I think current employees could view it as the mayor is out to get them or is prejudiced against them, he said, adding they may have grounds for legal action.

Lublin said if a similar wall was found in a corporate setting, it would be a cause for dismissal.

Shaw says she loves the town, but doesnt know how she, and the town, will move forward from this.

I dont think this can be fixed, she said. Unless he comes out and apologizes, but that hasnt happened.

I just want to know how I fit in to this mind map.

Who's who

With files from Fatima Syed

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A therapy-animal trend grips us. The San Francisco airport now deploys a pig to calm frazzled travellers. Universities bring dogs (and a donkey) onto campus to soothe students during finals. Llamas comfort hospital patients, pooches provide succour at disaster sites and horses are used to treat sex addiction.

And that duck on a plane? It might be an emotional-support animal prescribed by a mental-health professional.

The trend, which has accelerated since its initial stirrings a few decades ago, is underpinned by a widespread belief that interaction with animals can reduce distress  whether it happens over brief caresses at the airport or in long-term relationships at home.

Certainly, the groups offering up pets believe this, as do some mental health professionals.

But the popular embrace of pets as furry therapists is kindling growing discomfort among some researchers in the field, who say it has raced far ahead of scientific evidence.

Earlier this year in the Journal of Applied Developmental Science, an introduction to a series of articles on animal-assisted intervention said research into its efficacy remains in its infancy. A recent literature review by Molly Crossman, a Yale University doctoral candidate who recently wrapped up one study involving an 8-year-old dog named Pardner, cited a murky body of evidence that sometimes has shown positive short-term effects, often found no effect and occasionally identified higher rates of distress.

Overall, Crossman wrote, animals seem to be helpful in a small-to-medium way, but its unclear whether the critters deserve the credit or something else is at play.

Its a field that has been sort of carried forward by the convictions of practitioners who have seen patients mental health improve after working with or adopting animals, said James Serpell, director of the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. That kind of thing has almost driven the field, and the research is playing catch-up. In other words, people are recognizing that anecdote isnt enough.

Using animals in mental health settings is nothing new. In the 17th century, a Quaker-run retreat in England encouraged mentally ill patients to interact with animals on its grounds. Sigmund Freud often included one of his dogs in psychoanalysis sessions. Yet the subject did not become a research target until the American child psychologist Boris Levinson began writing in the 1960s about the positive effect his dog Jingles had on patients.

But the evidence to date is problematic, according to Crossmans review and others before it. Most studies had small sample sizes, she wrote, and an alarming number did not control for other possible reasons for a changed stress level, such as interaction with the animals human handler. Studies also tend to generalize across animals, she noted: If participants are measurably soothed by one golden retriever, that doesnt mean another dog  or another species  will evoke the same response.

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Even so, media headlines are often about the happiness bounce. Hal Herzog, a Western Carolina University psychologist who has long studied human-animal interactions, recalls a 2015 study on the health benefits for children of having a pet dog. Heres a reason to get a puppy, NBC announced. Kids with pets have less anxiety.

Thats actually not what the study concluded. The authors did find that children with dogs had lower anxiety based on screening scores than children without dogs. Still, they cautioned that this study does not answer whether pet dogs have direct effects on childrens mental health or whether other factors associated with acquisition of a pet dog benefit their mental health.

It was a classic case of conflating correlation and causation, which Herzog says is common. Cherry-picked positive results also are a problem, as he says happens in promotional materials from the Human-Animal Bond Research Initiative (HABRI). The pet-industry backed organization funds research on the topic.

The number of papers I see that start out, It is now well-established that there are health benefits from owning pets  that drives me crazy, Herzog said. Yes, theres literature that supports that. But theres also literature that doesnt find that.

HABRI Executive Director Steven Feldman takes a more positive view of the science while acknowledging that more research needs to be done. Just like getting vegetables and getting exercise, I would say having animals in our lives is also an essential element of human wellness, he said.

To many animal lovers and pet owners, the back-and-forth might sound horribly wonky. Theres something intuitive about the good feelings animals give us. Why overanalyze it?

Alan Beck does not disagree. Beck, who directs the Center of the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University, cites one common theory for why animals might be therapeutic. Its called the biophilia hypothesis, and it argues that humans evolved a built-in need to affiliate with other living beings.

Throughout history, animals gave us some comfort. So if it works for you and me in a relatively normal environment, maybe it has a special role for someone who has a depression and stress disorder  that just makes sense, he said. The literature does show its not bad. And thats just as important.

Focusing too much on scientific support sometimes feels like a form of physics envy, Beck added, where you try to quantify everything without appreciating it.

But there are good reasons for rigorous research on animals and mental health. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said it would not cover costs of service dogs for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, citing a lack of evidence to support a finding of mental health service dog efficacy. The department is now in the midst of a multi-year study on the topic, which could lead to government funding for these pooches.

Another reason, the scientists say, is for the animals sake. Crossman pointed to a 2014 incident at Washington University as an example of animal therapy gone wrong. A bear cub brought to campus during finals week nipped some students, causing a rabies scare that almost ended with the animal being euthanized. More generally, Serpell said, the popular idea that pets make you happier is not a harmless distortion ... If the public believes that getting an animal is going to be good for them, many times an unsuitable person will get an unsuitable animal, and it doesnt work out well for either.

The research is getting stronger, in part because funding is growing  from HABRI as well as from a public-private partnership between the National Institutes of Health and the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition. Crossmans recent study at the Yale Innovative Interactions Lab was among the work being supported.

It relied not just on the Labrador retriever Pardner, but seven other certified therapy dogs. Several times a month over much of the past year, they hung out at the university for 15-minute sessions with children who had just finished two stressful tasks: spontaneously crafting stories and telling them to strangers, followed by doing math problems.

The strangers were the researchers, and their mission was to assess whether the kids, ages 10 to 13, would find their time with the dogs to be therapeutic. The study was designed to avoid some of the pitfalls that Crossman has seen elsewhere, which is why some of the 78 young participants got to play only with a fuzzy blanket  because tactile stimulation is known to reduce stress  and why others simply waited for the 15 minutes.

Without the controls, the changes could be due to all kinds of things, like the fact that lots of time has passed, Crossman said. Kids are actually pretty good at coping.

The children completed questionnaires to assess their mood and anxiety before and after; spit samples, to measure the stress hormone cortisol, were taken at three points. At the end, all the kids got a junior scientist certificate, lots of praise and an open play session with the dogs.

Crossman, who emphasizes that she is an animal lover, declined to reveal the findings before theyre published. But hopefully they will show that dogs can affect childrens stress, she said  before quickly offering a researchers clarification.

I say hopefully not just because I think it works or hope it does, but because these programs are used so widely, she explained. Kids are already participating in this on a huge scale. Ideally, the order goes the other way around: We test the idea, and then we implement.

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The endless rip-off in car insurance rates is a never-ending tale of Ontario the good versus Ontario the bad.

We are among the best drivers on the continent, with the lowest accident rates and injury statistics. Thats the good news for nearly 10 million passengers and drivers on our roads.

And yet we have the worst premiums in the country  $1,458, on average, in 2015. Thats double the cost in Quebec, and 55 per cent higher than the national average.

How is such highway robbery  billions of dollars in excess premiums  still possible, year after year?

Our politicians love to blame crooked tow truck firms for driving up costs every time they drive our vehicles to corrupt garages, which pay kickbacks for every battered car body and greedy health clinics that maximize billings from bodily injuries.

Yes, the system is plagued by criminality and venality. But thats only part of the story.

Whats bleeding the system of billions of dollars isnt just the criminal element but the legal element. The problem isnt a lack of legality but an excess of litigation.

That means too many lawyers siphoning money from the system, lining their own pockets from a shrinking pool of accident victims. But dont blame lawyers for being lawyers  its the enablers who bear the blame.

And all of us who pay the price.

Remember that auto insurance is not a discretionary expenditure  it is mandated by law and then outsourced by our elected government to the private sector. The result is legalized anarchy  profit-focused insurers who lawyer up against accident-chasing law firms that bank on big contingency fees from desperate clients.

An adversarial system that subverts natural justice.

An investigation earlier this year by my Toronto Star colleagues Michele Henry and Kenyon Wallace found unscrupulous tactics by lawyers whose clients seek their help navigating a legal maze of insurance payouts.

No less damning is a report produced for Queens Park this spring by an outside expert, David Marshall, who documented the abuses that have resisted all previous efforts at reform. Released quietly amid the fanfare of the spring budget, it delivered a depressing verdict on a system at cross-purposes with itself.

No surprise that the governing Liberals tried to bury the report.

Four budgets ago, under pressure from the NDP during the 2011-14 minority government, they targeted a 15-per-cent reduction in average rates. The Liberals only managed an 8 per cent drop before losing traction.

Marshall doesnt mince words about the corrosive effect of cash on all players in the system: About one third of benefit costs, some $1.4 billion . . . is being paid for competing expert opinions, lawyers fees and insurer costs to defend claims  instead of going to treatment of injured parties, he writes. Lawyers need to be held accountable for much more transparency in how they advertise and how they charge their fees.

Ontarios army of accident lawyers protest that they are just helping people, poor people, who couldnt otherwise afford to pay to play when going up against insurers who hold the strongest cards. But high stakes litigation is a self-perpetuating problem, not the solution.

Accident victims are fodder in a system where cash is king. Lawyers and insurance companies fight to the death over money, rather than focusing on quality of life.

Litigation versus rehabilitation.

The report calls for more definitive health reports from independent assessors, rather than duelling experts, a simpler framework that reduces the need for high-priced legal help and an emphasis on medical care not cash  improving outcomes instead of pushing up payments.

Echoing much of the Stars investigative work, however, Marshall keeps returning to the problem of how accident victims are victimized by for-profit insurers and re-victimized by lawyers taking their outsized cut. In one case, the Star documented a victim who received only 25 per cent of her insurance settlement.

Marshall calls for restrictions on how lawyers advertise, what they pay each other for referring clients and those outsized fees. He wants any settlement cheques made jointly payable to both client and lawyer  forcing a clear accounting by law firms before they get their hands on the cash. And he urges claimants be informed in writing, when the cheque arrives, that they can appeal their legal fees  a wise suggestion that too few people know about.

Lawyers neednt be demonized for doing what they do if the law is dumb enough to allow it, but theyd better disclose it. Politicians from all parties, however, have run out of excuses for our substandard insurance regime  and should be held to account in next years election campaign.

No one government bears the responsibility for the current state of automobile insurance in Ontario, Marshall concludes. Hes right  they all do.

All major parties have perpetuated a system that pits insurers against their policyholders, with lawyers profiting from the confusion and conflict. Liberals and Tories profited from regular campaign donations by the insurance industry  now banned.

And we are all paying the price  victims, drivers and passengers.

Martin Regg Cohns political column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca , Twitter: @reggcohn

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SAN DIEGOAli Said fled war-torn Somalia two decades ago after his right leg was blown off by a grenade. Last year, the father of seven was shot in his other leg by robbers while living in a Kenyan refugee camp.

Said rolled his wheelchair up to a desk in an office hours after arriving in California from Kenya, saying he felt unbelievably lucky: He and his family are among the last refugees allowed into the United States before the Trump administrations latest travel ban rules kick in.

Until this moment, in this interview, I still dont believe that Im in the United States, Said told The Associated Press through a translator Thursday at the International Rescue Committees office in San Diego, smiling while his two sons hung at the back of his wheelchair.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

So during the flight, we all were saying that we are in a dream and its not true yet until we finally landed at LAX, and we all said to each other: Yeah, were finally here. We made it, he said.

The U.S. refugee program will be suspended Wednesday when a cap of 50,000 refugee admissions for the fiscal year  the lowest in a decade  was expected to be reached, according to the U.S. State Department.

Once the cap is hit, only refugees who have a relationship with an immediate family member or ties to a business in the United States will be eligible for admission during the 120-day suspension, State Department guidelines say.

Those guidelines come after the Supreme Court partially reinstated U.S. President Donald Trumps executive order banning citizens of six mainly Muslim countries and refugees from coming into the U.S.

The high courts ruling allowed for an exemption: Those with a bona fide relationship to the United States. Under State Department guidelines, that connection was defined as an immediate family member such as a parent, spouse, child, sibling or a business.

Said is aware of the difference a week could have made. He, his wife and children, ages 2 to 15, have no ties to the U.S. beyond the refugee resettlement agency, which the U.S. government says is not sufficient.

I was afraid our case would be closed, he said. It would have been a rough life.

He said refugees at the Kakuma refugee camp where he lived have talked every day about the travel ban since it was first issued in January.

It was blocked several times by U.S. courts before the Supreme Court partially reinstated it in June. The Trump administration says the travel ban is necessary to keep Americans safe and to allow the federal government to review the vetting process for refugees and others.

Advocates say the ban will close the doors on many of the most vulnerable.

A record 65 million people are displaced by war and persecution worldwide, according to the UN refugee agency. It selects the most at-risk refugees to be recommended to governments for resettlement, typically including victims of gender-based violence, LGBTQ refugees, members of political opposition groups and people with medical issues.

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Lawyers across Canada on standby to monitor Trumps travel ban

But the new requirements could mean many of those refugees could be passed over for those who have an immediate family member already in the United States.

This is part of the disconnect now, said David Murphy, executive director of the International Rescue Committees San Diego office. We identify families based upon need and now they have to have a U.S. tie.

Said, who spent eight years being vetted for refugee resettlement, had feared he would never leave Kakuma, a 25-year-old camp that is home to about 172,000 refugees.

About a year ago, robbers broke into his home at the camp and tried to rape his wife, he said.

Said, who was on crutches after losing his right leg to a grenade explosion in 1993, was shot in his good leg while fighting off the men. A neighbour who came to their aid shot one of the robbers to death. Saids children were home at the time.

The shooting left him with a fractured hip, and it still has not healed. He plans to get medical help now that he is in the United States.

They will spend the next three months working closely with the International Rescue Committee, taking English classes, getting adjusted culturally and finding an apartment.

The family will get $10,125 (U.S.) in one-time federal assistance to cover the costs of rent, food and other expenses for nine people to get settled  though they must pay back their airfare to the U.S. government within six months.

Said says he looks forward to his future now.

On his first night in his new country, Said and his family said they slept peacefully in a San Diego motel. But the feelings of happiness and relief are tinged with sadness, too.

I dont like it that others like me wont be able to make it here, he said. The life there is so hard. No matter how hard you work, you dont have enough to meet your basic needs.

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NEW YORKPolarizing right-wing writer Milo Yiannopoulos filed a $13 million lawsuit against a New York publishing company on Friday over a cancelled book deal.

Yiannopoulos resigned from the conservative website Breitbart News this year after comments he made about sexual relationships between boys and men. In video clips, he appeared to defend sexual relationships between men and boys as young as 13. He had planned a memoir titled Dangerous and had a deal with Simon & Schuster to publish it, but the company dumped the book after the comments surfaced.

Yiannopoulos lawsuit claims the publishing company breached its contract and bowed to false and misleading reports.

Because of political pressure ... in the space of 24 hours they suddenly decided that the book was unfit for publication, Yiannopoulos told reporters outside Simon & Schusters Manhattan offices. Well thats unacceptable. They dont get to break the deal on what I believe is a false pretext because they caved to political pressure. So they have to pay.

The publisher dismissed the lawsuit as a publicity stunt. Simon & Schuster will vigorously defend itself against any such action, and fully expects to prevail in court, the company said in a statement to the Daily News.

A vocal supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, Yiannopoulos has made vicious comments about Muslims, women and others. His harassment campaign last summer against Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones led to his banishment from Twitter.

Read more:

How Milo Yiannopoulos went from cult-hero to pariah in 96 hours

Video surfaces of Bill Maher defending adult sex with minors as comedian celebrates Yiannopoulos downfall

Milo Yiannopoulos plans to hold free-speech week at UC Berkeley this fall

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Its not unusual for teenagers to take a summer trip after graduating high school, but Malala Yousafzai is a bit different.

The 19-year-old Pakistani woman attended her last day of secondary school in Birmingham, England, on Friday, a milestone for the activist who has fought for girls education. She said on her new Twitter account that she would begin travelling next week to the Middle East, Africa and Latin America to meet with girls.

I enjoyed my school years, and I am excited for my future, she wrote in her blog. But I cant help thinking of millions of girls around the world who wont complete their education.

Yousafzai became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, having risen to international prominence as a voice against Islamist violence. She escaped to Britain in 2012 after being shot in the head by the Taliban when she was 15.

She founded the Malala Fund in 2013, an advocacy organization to ensure girls education worldwide. In April, she visited Lancaster, Pa., and Ottawa as the first two stops on her world tour.

She plans to attend college but has not said where. In an interview with Teen Vogue in April, she said she was as nervous about college as any other recent graduate.

It is quite a good moment because you live without your parents and you live in a college, and thats the exciting part, she said. After that Im not sure what Im going to do in terms of career, but Im really sure that Im going to be focused on the Malala Fund and the work we do for girls education, so thats going to be my mission.

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NAIROBI, KENYAAl-Shabab extremists from neighbouring Somalia beheaded nine civilians in an early-morning attack on a village in the southeast, Kenyan officials said Saturday, as concerns grew that the group had taken up a bloody new strategy.

The attack occurred in Jima village in Lamu County, said James Ole Serian, who leads a task force of security agencies combating al-Shabab.

Beheadings by al-Shabab have been rare in Kenya, where the extremist group has carried out dozens of deadly attacks over the years. The East African country has seen an increase in attacks claimed by al-Shabab in recent weeks, posing a security threat ahead of next months presidential election.

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab has vowed retribution on Kenya for sending troops in 2011 to Somalia to fight the group, which last year became the deadliest Islamic extremist group in Africa.

Saturdays attack occurred in the Pandaguo area, where al-Shabab fighters engaged security agencies in a daylong battle three days ago.

A police report says about 15 al-Shabab fighters on Saturday attacked Jima village and seized men, killing them with knives.

Beheadings by al-Shabab are not uncommon in Somalia, where the extremists carry them out on people who are believed to be enemies. The tactic also is used to terrorize local populations.

Al-Shabab in recent months also has increased attacks in Kenya with homemade bombs, killing at least 46 in Lamu and Mandera counties.

The increase in attacks presents a huge problem for Kenyas security agencies ahead of the Aug. 8 presidential election, said security analyst and former U.S. Marine Andrew Franklin. On election day security agencies will be strained while attempting stop any possible violence and al-Shabab could take advantage, he said.

There was no immediate government comment Saturday on the latest attack. President Uhuru Kenyatta has not issued any statement on the recent surge in al-Shabab attacks.

Kenya is among five countries contributing troops to an African Union force that is bolstering Somalias fragile central government against al-Shababs insurgency. Of the troop-contributing countries, Kenya has borne the brunt of retaliatory attacks from al-Shabab.

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SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADORInternational human rights organizations are condemning the sentencing of a woman in El Salvador to 30 years in prison after what she said was a miscarriage.

This week a court in El Salvador sentenced 19-year-old Evelyn Beatriz Hernandez Cruz following her conviction for aggravated homicide. Associated Press policy is normally not to name victims of alleged sexual assault, but Hernandez has spoken publicly about her case.

Hernandez says she became pregnant after being raped in the small community where she lived, according to her trial statements. She says she did not report the attack out of fear and did not realize she was pregnant.

In April 2016, Hernandez said, she felt strong abdominal pains and lost consciousness in the bathroom. She was taken to a hospital and treated for vaginal bleeding from an out-of-hospital delivery, but there was no newborn.

Authorities opened an investigation and later found the fetus. She was initially charged with having caused in abortion, which is illegal in all situations in El Salvador. The charge was later changed to aggravated homicide.

Hernandez said she did not know she had miscarried. She has been in prison since the incident.

The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights said Friday that El Salvador should not criminalize women who need medical care.

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I used to be hard left, and now I am left-wing on most things and centre-left on others, with good wishes to all.

One reason I abandoned the left-left, so to speak, is that it abandoned me. When the NDP allowed gun rights to overshadow womens rights, I was gone.

Another was the relentless extreme jargon. Heres an example. As Star columnist Shree Paradkar has reported, Toronto councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam this week withdrew her motion for Intersectional Awareness Week. Rather than single out only one problem, this worthy event would teach people about the overlapping unfairness resulting from intersecting identities of race, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexuality, ability and age, as Wong-Tam put it.

But Black activists including Black Lives Matter Toronto complained in an open letter that the timing was insensitive given current problems facing Blacks in Toronto  multiple oppressions as we move from moment to moment and space to space  and that the week would be celebratory rather than informational.

The letter specifically criticized diversity initiatives for erasing Black lives and Black struggles. But it made no mention of the specific struggles of other races, especially Indigenous people, which seemed ungenerous.

The term, intersectionality, said the letter, which is one of the more radical Black feminist frameworks through which questions of differential oppression can be theorized and resisted, is being deployed by the City of Toronto in furthering the uncritical claims to being a city of diversity, multiculturalism and inclusion.

Our thinking is quite straightforward, the letter said.

I disagree. I found it incoherent.

Intersectionality is theoretical. But at a recent gathering at Interval House, Torontos first battered womens shelter, I learned about the multiple employability barriers that survivors face, including education level, work experience, age, skin colour, physical pain, housing status, young children and confidence. They face all these barriers simultaneously.

The wonderful Interval House staff offer specific help without dollops of tangled theory. They get things done.

Wong-Tam is a fine councillor who graciously backed down on her motion, though she shouldnt have. As Paradkar wrote, she is an immigrant woman of colour in the LGBTQ community.

But maybe it should be LGBTQ+, the + referring to Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Transsexual Two-spirited Queer Questioning Intersex Asexual Ally or LGBTTTQQIAA.

Take note of the final A. It stands for Ally, which means someone who is a friend to the LGBTQ+ people. I am an ally, always have been.

The abbreviation (its not an acronym because each letter is sounded out) basically means all good people. Think of the people who support LGBTQ+, pretty much everyone beyond unbending social conservatives.

Its mathematically more useful to single out those who arent allies at all. I call them harsh and unfair, but then its my job to write in plain English.

The great Nigerian feminist writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie recently said she was fed up with academic code words from the left, including intersectionality.

Because cis is not a part of my vocabulary  it just isnt  it really becomes about language, she said, and the reason I find that troubling is to insist that you have to speak in a certain way and use certain expressions, otherwise we cannot have a conversation, can close up debate.

The other reason I gave up on hardliners is that they can be so exhausting. They have purges. They murder their darlings, they shun their own.

For example, British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn keeps firing colleagues from his shadow cabinet for not liking him, for being what is known in Marxism as splittist. Hes running out of qualified MPs to promote.

The problem is that Corbyn is an acquired taste, and some have failed to acquire it. As well, some Labour MPs wish to reflect Remain voters who gave them a seat. Labour wants them, Corbyns Labour doesnt.

Such MPs are periodically winnowed by Corbyn and his sinister deputy John McDonnell, as they are entitled to do but shouldnt. This is Lenins democratic centralism, and I dont like it.

When Corbyn went bolshie (Bolshevik) and said privately owned empty South Kensington flats should be seized to accommodate those displaced by the Grenfell fire in North Kensington  Occupy it, compulsory purchase it, requisition it  that was it for me. London should ban the purchase of homes as unoccupied investments, not steal them, though I agree with Corbyn that rail, water and energy should be nationalized.

But for hardliners, even a partial objection is Orwellian crimethink and it is doubleplusungood.

These men of the hard left  they have never welcomed women  have a worrying taste for purity, very similar to that of the extreme right, I notice. Ideological cleanliness is often messed up by misguided, muddle-headed voters who obviously dont know whats good for them.

Are you one of us, the extremists ask. Im not. Disagreement is in my bloodstream.

Many of us are not sure we can learn the language of this exclusive club and follow its rigid heartless ban on occasional disagreement.

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On the morning of Dec. 2, 2013, Michael MacIsaac was shot by Durham police Const. Brian Taylor in north Ajax.

He had been running through his quiet neighbourhood stark naked. And according to Ontarios police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, he was holding a table leg when confronted by police. Tragically, he died later in hospital.

The SIU cleared Taylor of criminal wrongdoing.

But MacIsaacs family, who believe the 47-year-old man left his house naked that day after having an epileptic seizure, dispute the watchdogs findings.

And at an inquest on July 17, their lawyers will finally be able to challenge the SIU report and, most importantly, shine a spotlight on whether Michael MacIsaacs death could have been prevented.

Thats something that should occur at all inquests into police shootings. But it doesnt.

Under normal circumstances there are no lawyers present to represent the families of people killed by police. Thats because while lawyers are hired to represent police officers at public expense, there is no funding for lawyers to represent the victims family. The only exception is for cases in which a police officer has been criminally charged in the shooting  something so rare as to be almost unheard-of.

That creates a stark imbalance at the inquest. Why, after all, would lawyers for police officers ask questions that challenge the SIUs findings or their clients testimony?

Without families being represented, there is no counterbalance to the police view, points out lawyer Peter Rosenthal, who has represented many families at police shooting inquests and will be one of the lawyers representing the MacIsaac family.

At the same time, that one-sidedness does not help juries come to conclusions and make recommendations about how to prevent future police shootings, something vitally important for public safety that should be done without question in a democracy. We are not, after all, living in a police state.

Indeed, lawyers will be representing the MacIsaacs only because the family has raised $12,000 so far for legal fees through a GoFundMe page.

That onus on the family has to change. In fact, hearing their viewpoints through their lawyers is so important that it was among 129 recommendations made to the province this past spring by Justice Michael Tulloch in his review of Ontarios police oversight bodies (including the SIU).

Without legal assistance or representation, they may not ask the right questions, know what arguments to make when issues arise, or understand how the inquest procedures work, he wrote of the families.

The province will only say that Tullochs recommendation is under review, although it immediately acted on some of his other recommendations.

So why would the government appear to be so committed to funding a system that isnt designed to challenge the SIU or police officers?

As Joanne MacIsaac, Michaels sister, points out: Perhaps they just want the status quo.

If thats the case, it would be both unfortunate and dangerous.

Its in everyones interests, including that of police officers, for juries to hear evidence from all points of view. Only then can they make the recommendations that are so important to preventing future police shooting deaths.

The provincial government should immediately follow up on Tullochs recommendation and fund lawyers fees for the family of any person killed by police.

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Re: Odious or overdue: Reports of Omar Khadr settlement draw sharply different reactions, July 4

Re: Deal for Khadr acknowledges violation of rights: Editorial, July 4

Re: In the U.K., terror-plotters get life not millions of dollars: DiManno, July 4

See correction appended to letter by Gary Dale



Odious or overdue: Reports of Omar Khadr settlement draw sharply different reactions, July 4

Two words will always haunt the Omar Khadr case: child soldier. U.S. rhetoric concerning what took place in the battle where U.S. Delta Force Sgt. Christopher Speer was fatally wounded doesnt change Khadrs age or the maniacal fundamentalist upbringing of his father. Khadrs human rights in both Canada and across the border particularly were trampled by governments that sided with a need for revenge and occupation after Sept. 11, 2001.

Daniel Kowbell, Mississauga

Omar Khadr was a Canadian child taken into harms way by his parents where he killed a U.S. soldier. He was caught and became a trophy captive of a U.S. military seeking revenge, whilst still a child. He was treated terribly and Canadian governments, for one reason or another, failed him.

This man is a Canadian and deserves to be treated properly.

As for the compensation, if I had lost my years from 15 to 26, there is no amount in this world that could compensate me.

Keith Parkinson, Cambridge

This young man paid his debt to society. He has turned his life around and deserves to be left alone.

Sydnae Stretton, Burlington

Only in Canada could a citizen go to a foreign country, join a terrorist group, be photographed making IEDs, kill another foreign national, then after being released from that countrys prison, claim that his rights were abused, and end up being awarded $10.5 million. I will have to look back at my life to see if there is anything that happened to me that I could sue for even one-tenth of that.

Robert Drummond, Exeter, Ont.

There was a time when treason was an offence punishable by death. Now, we welcome back traitors who have taken up arms against Canada and its allies, with an apology and a huge financial reward, making them multimillionaires so they can live in luxury for the rest of their lives. Isnt there something wrong with this picture?

David Pankhurst, East York

There are two views of the law. The view held by those on the right is that the law is there to protect the good guys and punish the bad guys. Hence Donald Trumps suggestion that James Comey should lay off Michael Flynn because Flynn is a good guy raises no concerns among the right.

The other view is that the law defines the basic parameters of a civil society. While individual circumstances may be considered in its application, the penalties and protections apply to everyone. This view is enshrined in our highest law, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The continuous violations of Khadrs rights as a Canadian citizen by successive Liberal and Conservative governments have brought shame on Canada. We should applaud our judges for their consistent upholding of our laws despite the actions of our governments.

If people dont like the courts awarding damages to people wronged by the actions of our governments, they should start voting for candidates with a greater respect for our laws and for human rights.

Gary Dale, West Hill

Correction- July 11,2017: The above letter was edited from a previous version. In his letter submission, Gary Dale referred to Donald Trump's suggestion that James Comey should lay off of Mike Flynn. The word "should" was mistakenly changed to "shouldn't" in the editing process.



The whole thing is rather confusing. The family was anti-West and associated with Osama bin Laden. Khadr admitted his guilt and accepted the punishment. Most Canadians would be happy that he is free and living a good life. But most would find it hard to accept the bounty that he is given. Many Canadians are paying taxes on their meagre income and certainly cannot understand the squandering of it on such unreasonable awards.

There have been many cases of wrongful imprisonment. Some as long as 20 years. They were not given such generous awards, though they were loyal citizens. Is it becoming a

Canadian way to support persons who aim to destroy our way of life?

Clarence McMullen, Richmond Hill

On Tuesday, your headline read that the government is preparing to apologize to Omar Khadr and award him a $10-million settlement. On Wednesday, you wrote an editorial applauding such actions and ended with the words that rights apply to everyone  including Omar Khadr.

I know the settlement is for Mr. Khadrs detention, because nobody should profit from a crime, but what about the rights of the American soldier who was killed by a Canadian citizen who was not in uniform?

I can imagine that Mr. Khadrs lawyers are busily negotiating how much taxpayers money they can get from Ottawa for their client, but I can also imagine the lawyers for the American soldiers family just waiting to see what happens before they launch actions to get as much as they can of it for their clients.

Roy Smith, Whitby

I am outraged that the Liberals are paying Omar Khadr this money. As a 15-year-old boy, he knew that killing is a criminal offence. He was not a child soldier. He was a terrorist.

Sue Brunton, Mississauga

Deal for Khadr acknowledges violation of rights: Editorial, July 4

Madness. Star editors shrug that this young killers multimillion-dollar settlement ... will upset a fair number of people, takes the prize for the journalistic understatement of the year. If Khadr and his dysfunctional family want financial recourse, sue Trump et al. What were Harper and his advisers supposed to do, send Canadian commandos to spring the kid loose from Guantanamo? I argued years ago this youth, riding a whirlwind of publicity, would reap a hefty fee from book agents when he was released. But a whopping shell out from Canadian taxpayers? Shame on the Liberals. Perhaps such government idiocy is another example why the right-wing south of the border has garnered so much power. As for the Star, that proud publication is leaning so far to the left, its 25-storey office building in downtown Toronto is beginning to tilt.

Garry Burke, Oro-Medonte, Ont.

Would the Star have also supported compensation for Omar Khadr had he killed a Canadian soldier?

Gordon Friedrich, Woodbridge

Very sad to hear the Conservative rhetoric and foolishness over the governments initiative to console the youngest prisoner in Guantanamo Bay.

Those who are filled with prejudice should pretend for a moment the case is not about a brown man but about John Smith. Only then will they be able to see things with more clarity.

Leave the young Canadian alone to establish himself, as the mental anguish he received, no amount of money will make it go away.

Abubakar N. Kasim, Toronto

In the U.K., terror-plotters get life not millions of dollars: DiManno, July 4

Rosie DiManno calls Omar Khadrs payout a reward for spending 15 years in jail.

Three Supreme Court trials came to the conclusion that there was a severe betrayal of Mr. Khadrs rights by our government. That is the salient point. The government doesnt get to pick and choose whose rights are to be protected and whose arent. Khadr is not being rewarded, hes being compensated for the abuses committed by our government to his rights. We have also paid out huge awards to others plus the costs of trials, etc. Maybe indignation should be directed at Jason Kenney, and the Harper government he served, for trouncing peoples rights and forcing us to pay compensation that could have been avoided if they had been more amenable to our Charter rights, you know, the ones that our soldiers go to fight for?

Bruce Van Dieten, Markham

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Utility companies are finding themselves in a pinch as the growing green energy movement threatens to destabilize their traditional business model.

That could one day be bad news for the investors of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PCG) - Get Free Report , Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED) - Get Free Report and the Arizona Public Service Company, a subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (PNW) - Get Free Report , among others. Of course, some utilities, such as NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) - Get Free Report , may benefit from their extensive investments in renewables and distributed generation optimization.

But across the country, from LED lighting to rooftop solar, consumers are finding ways to use less energy or generate more power themselves - and it's having a material impact on many utilities as well as poorer customers who aren't able to invest in clean energy, analysts and researchers say. The rapidly declining cost of renewables, especially wind and solar, is accelerating the trend, as consumers benefit from low prices often unavailable to utilities, which purchase their energy in long-term contracts.

"I think there's a material impact on utilities everywhere," Morningstar utilities analyst Travis Miller said. While Miller thinks that utilities will be able to adjust in the long-term, he noted that it will require a concerted effort from consumers, shareholders and regulators, groups that often find themselves at cross-purposes.

The changing dynamics of the market are most pronounced in California, situated at the intersection of sunny weather and progressive politics and home to more than 12% of the country's population. The state also leads the nation in solar energy production, with more than 13% of its electricity coming from solar, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

In California, whole counties have opted to bypass their utility, creating so-called "community choice aggregators," or CCAs, to serve as retail electric providers. While in these counties the consumers still pay to use the infrastructure provided by their utility company, the CCA sources all of the energy, sometimes seeking up to 100% in renewables.

While only five CCAs operate in California, almost half of the state's 58 counties and more than 300 cities are in the process. If all of the planned CCAs actually form, companies such as Southern California Edison (EIX) - Get Free Report and San Diego Gas & Electric, a Sempra Energy (SRE) - Get Free Report subsidiary, will see 40% of their customer load leave, according to a Moody's Investors Service report.

"It's a phenomenon that is threatening to dominate the whole California territory," Moody's analyst Toby Shea said.

While California's CCAs are likely to be the most prolific, the arrangement exists elsewhere. Besides California, CCAs are legal in six other states, including Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Rhode Island. CCAs have existed for decades as a method of sourcing electricity at lower prices than would be otherwise available, but the recent push is to use CCAs to buy cleaner energy, even if that means paying higher prices.

According to Shea, as consumers exit their utility arrangement, they're often leaving behind stranded assets. Utility companies typically buy energy in bulk, so as energy prices decline, they are stuck with prices well above the market price. While the cost can be pushed onto whatever customers remain in the system, hiking electric bills incentivizes the remaining customers to leave, possibly creating a cycle of increasing rates.

Analysts see regulators as a potential solution, noting that if utilities are able to charge CCA customers a larger price for using the utility company's infrastructure, it could solve the cost offsetting problem. Shea thinks regulators may be able to accomplish the increase in the next year or two, but said it will involve negotiations with CCAs and utilities. Getting a buy-in from the various stakeholders could prove difficult, he said.

To be sure, this wouldn't be the first time regulators have stepped in to manage changing market dynamics brought on by the green energy movement.

Regulators have been active in addressing rooftop solar ever since analysts predicted a utility "death spiral" in the mid-2010s. At least 16 states have put new regulations on the practice since 2010, including bans in states like Arizona and Nevada. Nevada has since reinstated net-metering.

This article was originally published on July 5, 2017.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) - Get Free Report told employees in a letter Wednesday that the company will spend $500 million to build a new brewery in Montreal rather than update its existing 231-year old facility in the region.

CEO Fred Landtmeters said that building a new facility would be more efficient than updating the existing one.

The company plans to hold onto the microbrewery and sales venue at the old site, with the rest of the facility to be sold for redevelopment under the auspices of the city of Montreal.

Molson Coors shares closed trading up 0.1% to $86.50 Wednesday.

What's Hot On TheStreet

Volvo is no longer feeling gas engines: Ford's (F) - Get Free Report founder Henry Ford may be rolling over in his grave on this one. Volvo Cars said Wednesday that all of its cars will feature an electric engine from 2019, as it embraces of the new technology in the face of industry-wide adoption. The Swedish car maker will roll out a mix of all-electric, hybrid and mild hybrid cars from 2019 and will no longer offer vehicles that carry just a traditional internal combustion engine, TheStreet reports.

"This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car," said CEO Hakan Samuelsson. "Volvo Cars has stated that it plans to have sold a total of 1 million electrified cars by 2025. When we said it we meant it. This is how we are going to do it." Meanwhile, Nissan said Wednesday that its new all-electric Leaf will hit markets starting September 6.

About Tesla's (TSLA) - Get Free Report Model 3...

Microsoft on the clock: With speculation swirling of impending layoffs, TheStreet takes a look back at how Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has reshaped the tech giant. Since taking over in 2014 from the energetic Steve Ballmer, Nadella has completely reorganized Microsoft by driving better internal collaboration and via the purchase of LinkedIn. The stock market has rewarded Nadella accordingly: Microsoft shares hit an all-time high in January after better than expected earnings.

Summer paychecks for tech interns are no joke: It doesn't beat working as a summer intern for Apple (AAPL) - Get Free Report . Apple pays an average of over $7,000 per-month in pay (plus paid overtime) for college interns, along with free housing near its San Francisco Bay-area headquarters, TheStreet reports.

Wait, we stand corrected. Being a college intern and logging into work for Alphabet (GOOGL) - Get Free Report and Facebook (FB) - Get Free Report isn't too shabby, either: you can pull in the equivalent of $96,000 a year.

Costco has been crushed: Shares of the membership club retailer have plunged 13% to $158.82 inside of a month, as investors have grown worried about a world where Amazon (AMZN) - Get Free Report owns organic food pioneer Whole Foods (WFM) . Costco's market cap has fallen a shade more than $9 billion, TheStreet points out. The more one looks at the grocery store landscape, the stock market has good reason to be concerned about Costco's future.

Apple, Facebook and Alphabetareholdings in Jim Cramer'sAction Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio.Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL, FB and GOOGL? Learn more now.

Visit here for the latest business headlines.
The public listing of Saudi Aramco, possibly the largest IPO in history, looked very good on paper. After decades of reliance on a single, volatile commodity, Saudi Arabia would raise hundreds of billions of dollars to modernize its economy, while using the opportunity to improve its stature on the world stage.

With at least a half a dozen nations vying for the company to list on their exchanges, the plan appeared at first to be working. But now Mohammed Bin Salman, the 31-year-old Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, must walk the frayed tightrope of Middle East politics while seeking to woo competing global superpowers. At the same time, his country continues to fight a brutal, expensive war in Yemen as a global glut in oil reduces the value of his nation's economic crown jewel.

While the country is still expected to list 5% of the company some time in 2018, recent estimates have pushed the listing to the latter half of the year, and complications could postpone it further. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser reportedly said at the World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul on Monday the IPO could take place in the second half of 2018.





The lesson: There is no easy way to take a company worth possibly $2 trillion public, especially not for Saudi Arabia.

Oil Prices

The drop in oil prices in particular could threaten the listing, with some experts saying a rebalancing of the commodity to near $60 a barrel would be necessary for the kingdom to move forward. The price of benchmark Brent crude hasn't hit $60 a barrel since July 2015, and has been on a downward slide since February.

That could mean that the partial privatization of the state-owned behemoth, designed to barricade the nation's economy from the fluctuation in oil prices, may be doomed by that same fluctuation.

"They're kind of hoisted on their own petard here," Wilson Center Middle East specialist David Ottaway told TheStreet.

Florence Eid-Oakden, the CEO and chief economist for the research and strategy firm Arabia Monitor, said an IPO wouldn't make sense given current oil pricing. The price of oil will have to be "optimal," Eid-Oakden said, suggesting a price-per-barrel of around $60.

The problems facing the possible listing extend beyond economics, however. Decisions of whether and where to list the oil giant hang on intricate regional rivalries as well as the fancies of global superpowers such as the United States and China, Saudi Arabia's foremost trading partners.

New York Stock Exchange

New York is widely seen as the top choice of the royal family, and of Prince Salman in particular. The New York Stock Exchange would provide access to the world's largest pool of capital, and is viewed as a way to solidify the Saudi-U.S. relationship, which has been on the ropes since the terrorist attacks of September 11, in which 15 of the hijackers were Saudi. The relationship took another hit during the presidency of Barack Obama, whose foreign policy was perceived in the country to be deferential to Saudi Arabia's historic antagonist Iran.

President Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabia in May, his first visit to a foreign country as president. The visit with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was seen as an important symbolic gesture for the two countries. The Saudis marked the occasion with the purchase of $110 billion in U.S. arms, a display to the new president of the kingdom's friendship and economic importance.

"It is part and parcel of a pro-America project, in contrast to Iran," Princeton University professor Bernard Haykel said. Haykel, the director of Princeton's Institute for Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, said that project included attracting more foreign direct investment, investing heavily in the U.S., and working with American forces against ISIS.

The arms purchases and a listing in New York would be part of a strategy of shoring up U.S. support against Iran, Atlantic Council Global Energy Center senior fellow Jean-Francois Seznec said.

"It all boils down to Iran," he said "The Saudis are very upset about Iran, and they want to be sure that we are keeping their back."

The kingdom has said they plan to list about 5% of Aramco publicly, and could split the listing on multiple markets. Besides London and New York, Hong Kong is also seen as a key contender for a piece of the listing, with China being the top purchaser of Saudi oil. The Saudis are also likely seeking to woo the Chinese from their close relationship with Iran, a key strategic ally for the Asian country.

A small portion of the company will also likely be listed on Saudi Arabia's own stock exchange, Tadawul.

JASTA

New York is a risky bet for the Saudis, however, because of legislation passed by Congress in late 2016 that could open the country up to liability for alleged contributions of material aid to the September 11 attackers.

The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (Jasta), the only legislation to pass despite a presidential veto from Obama, enabled insurance companies such as Liberty Mutual and Safeco as well as hundreds of families of September 11 victims to sue the kingdom. While the court cases are continuing to work through the system, experts have said that publicly listing Aramco in New York would increase its liabilities and could even put the country at risk of a seizure of its assets.

Trump has not spoken publicly about Jasta since the election, though he did chastise Obama for vetoing the law during the campaign.

Seznec said that Jasta could create "major problems" for Saudi Arabia should it decide to list the company in New York.

The general consensus is that the Saudis have not yet selected a market for the listing, leading some to speculate that civil servants may disagree with the royal family on the advantages of New York.

"A lot of the civil servants, who are extremely strong in the Kingdom, would prefer to do it in London," Seznec said. "Listing in New York was a total nonstarter until Trump went to Saudi Arabia and was dined and flattered beyond all logic, so maybe they would bite the bullet and list half of it in New York."

Local pressure

While global issues threaten to delay the listing, domestic pressures may keep it on schedule.

That is because Aramco's public listing is part of a larger economic package -- called Vision 2030 -- intended to diversify Saudi Arabia's economy, improve the country's transparency, disentangle the royal family from business dealings, and encourage foreign investment.

"Listing in London or Riyadh or both, or in Hong Kong, they will be forced to give a lot of details on the company," Seznec said, saying the listing is "the only way to make [Aramco] fully transparent."

Seznec said the listing is not designed just to raise money - but that money could be useful. Saudi Arabia has been whipping through its foreign reserves recently, spurred by its war in Yemen and declining oil prices. So far, for Saudis, Vision 2030 has meant cut bonuses, increased taxes, and decreased subsidies.

"When I was there in April people were not happy at all at the first signs of what vision 2030 means," Ottaway, the Wilson Center specialist, said.

The country's foreign assets sank below $500 billion for the first time in April, from a peak of more than $730 billion in 2014. Economists believe the decline in foreign reserves is at least partially due to the country's intervention in Yemen, now in its second year. Saudi Arabia doesn't disclose how much it spends in Yemen, but estimates suggests the number is billions of dollars per month.

"It's certainly a major expense, and it doesn't seem like it's going to end any time soon," Ottaway said. "It's constantly draining away their foreign reserves."

An IPO that could generate up to $100 billion for the country could ease some of the strain on the reserves, which might prove tempting.

"The war in Yemen confirms the need to diversify resources," Eid-Oakden said.

According to Eid-Oakden, the war in Yemen is only one example of Saudi Arabia's plans for a more proactive foreign policy - and that could require a lot of money in the years to come.

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LANDUSKY  Sitting under a tent Friday morning and eating a hot breakfast on a picnic table, the crew of firefighters from Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge focused on their food and said very little.

A couple of them were coming off a 25-hour shift.

The July Fire had flared up to an estimated 8,381 acres by Friday morning, threatening the small community of Landusky where it burned one outbuilding. To stop its spread near the town, the firefighters from the wildlife refuge, along with other crews, lit a backburn late Thursday along the mountainside just east of Landusky.

The controlled burn swept up the hillside, and by early morning Friday it had stopped the main fire from burning any lower.

By late Friday afternoon, crews were still battling the blaze north and east of Landusky, but the town itself sat quiet and relatively safe. All residents had elected to leave after the flare-up late Thursday afternoon.

"Definitely the biggest fire I've been on," said Christopher Pickering, one of the firefighters from the wildlife refuge.

Members of the crew from the wildlife refuge had joined the fire Thursday morning. As more crews arrived through the day, they were assigned night duty and worked through the dark Thursday until their shift ended shortly after 7 a.m. on Friday.

"We'll sleep today and be back at it tonight," said firefighter Stephen Warren.

Friday morning the Red Cross set up an evacuation shelter at Hays-Lodgepole High School in Hays for Landusky residents. Hays sits on the northern side of the Little Rocky Mountains across from Landusky, which is on the southeast. By Friday afternoon, no one had checked into the Red Cross shelter.

The fire started Monday afternoon, and into Tuesday easterly winds pushed the fire toward the small community of Zortman, which sits on the northeastern side of the Little Rocky Mountains. By Wednesday and into Thursday, a shift in the winds pushed the fire in the opposite direction, away from Zortman and toward Landusky.

Those winds on Thursday blew embers and burning debris across the western face of the mountains just above Landusky, creating spot fires that expanded the western perimeter of the fire.

A big reason buildings in Landusky survived Thursday's flames was "the work that the community did to firewise the property," said Hailey Graf, a press information officer with the Northern Rockies Incident Management team. "It really facilitated the success of the fire operation."

The fire grew so fast Thursday, officials are still unsure exactly how large it is. A planned flight in the dark with infrared cameras to map the fire's perimeter was scrapped at the last minute when technical issues arose with the scanning equipment. With the fire's rapid expansion on Thursday, its containment was lowered to under 10 percent.

Officials are also waiting to give an exact number of crews on the fire. Officially the count is at 189 people, but teams were arriving hourly all through the day Friday.

"They're starting to arrive in a big way," said Graf.

Officials expect to have an accurate count on crews battling the fire, its containment and the size of the blaze by Saturday morning.

While the July Fire burns between Zortman and Landusky, fire officials Friday began talking to residents of Hays and encouraging them to create defensible space around their property and to gather important items in case the fire shifts north and the sheriff's office issues an evacuation order.

It's a worst case scenario plan, Graf said.

"We're planning for the hypothetical of the fire reaching Hays," she said. "We've got the ball rolling for should the worst happen."

Right now nearly 10 miles of mountain ridges separate Hays from the northwestern perimeter of the fire.

For the first time, fire officials are requiring water tenders and tank trucks from outside the area to undergo decontamination to avoid the spread of tiger mussels, an aquatic invasive species.

Water tanks and equipment outside the region are washed in hot water or a chemical bath before they're filled with water and sent to the fire.

"We're the first group to try out those standards," Graf said.

It's an important move as the communities in the region work to stop the spread of tiger mussels, small freshwater creatures that collect and plug up water and irrigation lines and damage lake and river ecosystems.

"You never know where (outside) equipment has last drawn water," Graf said.

Authorities planned to lift the evacuation order in Landusky on Saturday.
Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (NYSE: RHP) is a leading lodging and hospitality real estate investment trust that specializes in upscale convention center resorts and country music entertainment experiences. The Company's core holdings* include a network of five of the top 10 largest non-gaming convention center hotels in the United States based on total indoor meeting space. These convention center resorts operate under the Gaylord Hotels brand and are managed by Marriott International. The Company also owns two adjacent ancillary hotels and a small number of attractions managed by Marriott International for a combined total of 10,110 rooms and more than 2.7 million square feet of total indoor and outdoor meeting space in top convention and leisure destinations across the country. The Company's Entertainment segment includes a growing collection of iconic and emerging country music brands, including the Grand Ole Opry; Ryman Auditorium, WSM 650 AM; Ole Red and Circle, a country lifestyle media network the Company owns in a joint-venture with Gray Television. The Company operates its Entertainment segment as part of a taxable REIT subsidiary. * The Company is the sole owner of Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center; Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center; Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center; and Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. It is the majority owner and managing member of the joint venture that owns the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center.
Association of Indonesian Professional Engineers, one of the largest businessmen gatherings in the Asia-Pacific region, has appointed pioneer Bahraini businessman Ahmed Ateyatalla Al Hujairi as its chief representative in GCC and Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.



One of the biggest professional communities in the districts, the Association of Indonesian Professional Engineers, said Al Hujairi's role within the organisation will be to discover more mutual opportunities across various business sectors as well as encourage trade exchange and organise relevant business activities.



Al Hujairis nomination owes to his wealth of experience in diverse commercial sectors, including IT and communications, event organisation, and his training across several countries such as Bahrain, UAE and Oman, stated its chairman Raswari Anuaras.



"We wanted Bahrain to be our point of reference to energise the Asian partnership with the Mena region as whole, thanks to the modern economic legislations and advanced investment environment that the Kingdom enjoys. It's also close to one of the most important regional markets, Saudi Arabia," remarked Anuaras.



These factors have played a significant role in our selection of Al Hujairi," he added.



On the appointment, Al Hujairi stressed that through his new position, he would further consolidate trade relations with the Asia-Pacific region.



"The region represents a strong economic gathering, as it includes a number of the biggest global economies such as China, India, Japan, Malaysia. Moreover, it incorporates countries with large markets, including Pakistan and Indonesia, and rich countries such as Brunei, where the population of Pacific countries accounts for nearly 40 per cent of the world's population," remarked Al Hujairi.



"We are witnessing major shifts in the global economic power centres, so we should be proactive in establishing close business relationships with emerging economies," noted Al Hujairi.



The foucs will be on the new mission to support trade orientations of Bahrain and the GCC as well as diversifying their trading partners, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
LAM International, a company that manufactures biopesticides at its Parkmont facility near the MSE industrial complex south of Butte, has been purchased by Maryland-based Certis USA.

Certis chief executive officer Jow-Lih Su said the Butte facility will remain open and there will be no changes to staffing as a result of the acquisition. LAM (previously called Mycotech) employs about 10 to 12 full-time employees, Su said by phone from Certis headquarters in Columbia, Maryland.

Certis, which also manufactures and distributes biopesticides, purchased LAM June 14.

We liked the technology, said Su when asked what prompted the purchase, adding that LAMs solid products will complement the liquid products his company primarily produces. Su reiterated this point in a news release stating that having both solid and liquid fermentation technology platforms allows us to commercialize more new and innovative biological pest control products worldwide.

In the same release, Certis described LAM as a developer and manufacturer of several leading bioinsecticide products, including Botanigard and Mycotrol, adding that the enterprise has a pipeline of newly registered products and others currently under registration and development.

A 2000 article in The Montana Standard said the company was founded in the 1990s and was based on the research of then-vice president of international business Clifford A. Bradley and his colleagues. At the time, the company sought to produce environmentally friendly pesticides derived from fungi. The article said that the companys sales that year were expected to be in the $3 million to $4 million range.

Mycotech merged with a small, similar company, the Lansing, Michigan-based Auxein Corp., in 2001 to form a new partnership called Emerald BioAgriculture Corp. Three years later, Emerald sold Mycotech to Laverlam International Corp. of Colombia, South America. The company eventually became LAM International.

After 12 years of leading the LAM International team, it was the right moment to find a company that we felt shared our vision and could take our line of biological products to the next level, said Luis A. Mazariegos, founder and CEO of LAM, in the Certis news release. This acquisition by Certis USA, with its line of biological products, marketing knowledge, liquid fermentation expertise and outstanding team of executives will make Certis USA a world leader in the biopesticide arena.
Australia-based StayWell Hospitality Group is set to open the kingdoms first Park Regis Hotel in Juffair district in partnership with Bahrain group VKL Group during the third quarter of 2017.

With 164 guest rooms, six food and beverage outlets including a 1000 capacity ballroom, swimming pool and gym, this upscale hotel is the perfect introduction to the Bahrain market for the Park Regis brand and its parent company StayWell Hospitality Group, said the company in a statement.

Based in Sydney, StayWell Hospitality Group, operates two high profile hotel brands  Park Regis and Leisure Inn.

Together with strategic partners, the group has a combined network of 71 properties worldwide across 14 countries with a managed turnover close to A$300 million ($278 million).

StayWell Hospitality Group CEO Simon Wan said the recent signing of the marketing license agreement with VKL Group, a major player in Bahrain's hospitality sector, will enable the group to open additional properties across Bahrain in the coming 12 months.

VKL Group operates several hotels in the kingdom managing with more than 1,300 rooms and is now working on another three hotels with over 600 rooms which will be open shortly.

"Following the signature of a 550 keys Park Regis Resort in the UAE the day before, I am encouraged by the future expansion plans into the region and confident that this partnership with VKL Group reflects our commitment to grow our presence in the Middle East region," remarked Wan.

"We are hoping that this magnificent property is the stepping stone for a further presence in Bahrain," he added.

VKL Group chairman Varghese Kurian said that formalising the partnership with StayWell Hospitality Group and opening the Park Regis Juffair in the last quarter of 2017 is the start of significant expansion in the Middle East.

We look forward to a long and successful partnership with StayWell Hospitality Group and are confident that we can move quickly with future properties under the StayWell Brands; Park Regis and Leisure Inn, stated Kurian.

On opening, the Park Regis Lotus hotel, which is located in the nations capital of Manama, will have easy access to Bahrain's largest mosque, the Al Fateh Mosque and the Bahrain causeway, which connects the Island country to Saudi Arabia.-TradeArabia News Service
- The US has spoken about the upcoming Kenya General Election

- Trump's administration says it expects peace to prevail amid warning of post election violence

- US also says it does not have any preferred candidate among the eight seeking the presidency

- The sentiments were made by US ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec

US President Donald Trump's administration has spoken about the upcoming General Election in Kenya and what it expects from Kenyans as they elect their leaders.

The election shall be held on Tuesday, August 8, 2017.

Speaking on Thursday, July 6, during the marking of US' independence day, US ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec said Trump's administration expects a peaceful election devoid of violence.

US ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec Photo: Star

READ ALSO: Raila's response to Uhuru over claims he is too old to lead the country

Godec further said that America does not have any preferred candidate among the eight seeking to become president of Kenya.

"Kenyans want peace, rule of law and prosperity just like America. And while our support is important, only Kenyans, and them alone can ensure a peaceful election," Godec said.

He said America is determined to help in ensuring that peace prevails during and after the elections.

Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga are the leading presidential candidates Photo: Nation

READ ALSO: Raila 'reveals' why govt is using concrete poles in connecting electricity across the country

His sentiments come just days after election observers from the European Union warned of a possible post-election violence similar to that witnessed after the December 2007 election.

Over 1,300 Kenyans were killed and thousands of others displaced.

The observers said the drums of violence were being beaten hard and called on the government and politicians to ensure it does not happen.

Wavinya Ndeti finally explains the "Yaliyo Ndwele Sipite" proverb

Have something to add to this article or suggestions? Send to news@tuko.co.ke

Source: TUKO.co.ke
- Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery died suddenly at the Karen hospital

- His untimely demise has left the country shaken

- Politicians from across the political divide have mourned Nkaissery as a great man

Kenyans woke up to the shocking news of the sudden demise of Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery on the morning of Saturday, July 8.

According to a statement from State House, Nkaissery fell ill on the evening of Friday, July 7, and visited Karen Hospital for a check-up where he suddenly died.

Jospeh Nkaissery last public appearance at Uhuru Park Photo: Facebook/Uhuru Kenyatta

Leaders from across the political divide have mourned the late Nkaissery as a great leader who restored security to Kenya.

READ ALSO: Uhuru appoints Nkaissery's replacement after his untimely death

President Uhuru Kenyatta led the condolences messages saying his government and indeed Kenya had suffered a blow following the demise of Nkaissery.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga also mourned Nkaissery saying despite their political differences he was a personal friend his death with a big loss to the country.

READ ALSO: CS Joseph Nkaissery's last public appearance before he met his untimely death (photos)

Deputy President William Ruto said he was taken aback by the death of Nkaissery:

Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho termed Nkaissery as a close friend who meant good for the family:

Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Aden Duale also said he was shocked by Nkaissery's sudden demise:

Retired President Daniel Moi in statement to newsrooms expressed his shock at the sudden death of Nkaissery and said Kenya has lost a true son of the soil who dedicated his entire life in serving the country.

He sent his condolences to the family and the Maa community.

NASA co-principal Moses Wetangula in a statement said he had lost a personal friend who was a statesman, a patriot, a respected leader and a neighbour.

READ ALSO: Millie Odhiambo and Mutahi Ngunyi suspect foul play in Joseph Nkaissery's sudden death

"Nkaissery was a man with a good heart, he never carried grudges and made friends across the political divide with ease," Wetangula said.

NASA deputy leader Kalonzo Musyoka also recalled his moments with Nkaissery, saying he was a great man who held no grudges despite the political differences.

Presidential aspirant Ekuru Aukot who was with Nkaissery at Uhuru Park on Friday could not believe it:

Nkaissery's colleague in the cabinet, CS Joe Mucheru, mourned him as a great man:

Nairobi Woman Rep aspirant Esther Passaris

Senator Naisula Lesuuda also mourned Nkaissery:

Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior said it is a bad way to start the day:

Nairobi deputy governor Jonathan Mueke had this to say:

Bomet Governor and NASA principal Isaac Ruto also mourned Nkaissery:

Wavinya Ndeti finally explains the "Yaliyo Ndwele Sipite" proverb

Have something to add to this article or suggestions? Send to news@tuko.co.ke

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Many people have been left without pipe-borne water in northern and eastern parts of Trinidad and some areas in Tobago.

The Water and Sewerage Authority indicates this is a result of an impact to twelve of its plants due to adverse weather, which has caused flooding in some areas.
The number of servicemen of the regular Russian troops in the occupied territories of Ukraine currently exceeds 30,000 people.

The head of the General Staff and the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Army General Viktor Muzhenko, said this at a joint meeting of the Military Science Council of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"According to military intelligence, this group currently includes more than 30,000 troops, including those deployed in Crimea," Muzhenko said.

He also noted that military groups in the occupied territories of the Donbas were controlled by the Russian command.

"The 1st and 2nd army corps numbering over 30,000 people are currently deployed in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. They are managed by the newly formed 8th military army of the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation," Muzhenko said.

He said that there was still a serious threat that Russia might begin full-scale military operations.

"The main threat is the militarization by the Russian Federation of the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions through the deployment of full-scale military groups," he said.

Muzhenko added that Russia supplies 5,000 tons of fuel and 500,000 rounds of ammunition every month for the needs of these military groups.

op
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Ukraine during their first meeting in Hamburg on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this to journalists after a meeting between Trump and Putin, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"While discussing Ukraine, the American side said that they appointed a special representative for the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. We expect him to arrive in Moscow in the near future," Lavrov said.

According to him, the parties decided to create a "channel between the representative of the Russian Federation and the representative of the United States in order to use the opportunities that the United States has and to promote the settlement on the basis of the Minsk agreements, taking into account the potential established in the contact group and "Normandy format."

ish
State Secretary for European Affairs of the Foreign Ministry of Portugal Margarida Marques in conversation with Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze expressed support for the European aspirations of Ukraine and hope for positive results of the Ukraine-EU summit.

Marques said this during a meeting within the framework of the working visit of Klympush-Tsintsadze to Portugal, the Governmental portal reported.

"Our position on Ukraine is absolutely clear, we support your aspirations and hope for positive results of the summit," the State Secretary for European Affairs of the Foreign Ministry of Portugal said during the discussion of preparations for the Ukraine-EU summit, which will be held next week in Kyiv.

Klympush-Tsintsadze thanked Portugal for supporting Ukraine's important decisions, such as granting a visa-free regime, extending sanctions against the Russian Federation, fully supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as providing assistance to wounded Ukrainian soldiers.

ish
A visit to Ukraine of the North Atlantic Council headed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg must confirm the determination of the allies to keep up the pressure on Russia and to support Ukraine.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the ex-NATO Secretary General, Adviser to the President of Ukraine, said this in exclusive comments to an Ukrinform correspondent in Brussels.

"The North Atlantic Council brings together the NATO Ambassadors from all 29 NATO member states, so it is an important opportunity to deliver messages to NATO capitals about the need to keep up the pressure on Russia, and to support Ukraine," the ex-NATO Secretary General said.

Rasmussen has stressed that Ukraines security is NATOs security, and "many of the challenges we face today  from election interference to cyber security  are areas where Ukraine has significant experience in countering."

"Dialogue and cooperation between NATO and Ukraine are already strong, and the NAC visit will strengthen them further," the Danish politician said.

Speaking about the prospects for Ukraine's membership in NATO, Rasmussen said that "it is Ukraines right to choose its own future, and it is encouraging to see that Ukraine continues to aspire to NATO membership."

"Ukraines foreign policy ambitions are also being met through domestic reforms that bring it into line with Euro-Atlantic standards. With EU and NATO support, Ukraine has come a very long way in the past three years with an ambitious reform programme, and it has begun to bear fruit with the DCFTA and visa liberalization. However, the reform process must continue. Reforms are the only way to achieve Ukraines longer-term foreign policy aims," the advisor to the President of Ukraine said.

ish
UNICEF/Hatcher-Moore

JUBA, 8 July 2017  Ahead of the sixth anniversary of South Sudans independence, the hopes and dreams for the children of this fledgling nation have not materialised, UNICEF said today. Calling the situation in South Sudan, a catastrophe for children, the UN Childrens Fund said children continue to bear the brunt of conflict and collapsing essential services.



Millions of children in South Sudan are suffering unthinkable hardships and setbacks in their education, nutrition, health and their rights, said Mahimbo Mdoe, UNICEFs Representative in South Sudan, one day before South Sudans Independence Day on 9 July. More than two million children have fled their homes to escape vicious fighting; and last month the one millionth child became a refugee. More than two thousand children have been killed or injured, and many more have witnessed horrific violence. The numbers are staggering and yet each represents the ongoing misery of a child.



In nearly all aspects of their lives children are being denied a childhood in South Sudan.



Some 2.2 million children in South Sudan are not in school. The country has the highest proportion of out of school children in the world, with more than 70% of children not receiving an education. More than one third of all schools have been attacked by armed groups.



An Integrated Food Security Phase Classification issued last month warned that six million people  more than half the population  are severely food insecure. An estimated 1.1 million children are acutely malnourished with 290,000 suffering from severe acute malnutrition, which leaves them nine times more likely to die than a well-nourished child.



The near collapse of the health and water and sanitation systems in South Sudan has exposed children to deadly viruses including measles and waterborne diseases such as cholera. The current cholera outbreak in South Sudan is the longest and most widespread in the countrys history. More than 10,000 cases have been reported since the onset of the outbreak one year ago, with children making up 51 per cent of all cholera cases.



And at least 2,500 children have been killed or injured since the conflict first erupted in December 2013 with 254 incidents of rape and sexual assault against children having been reported. More than 17,000 children are in the ranks of armed forces and armed groups in South Sudan, with recruitment ongoing.



Amid these overwhelmingly difficult circumstances for the most vulnerable citizens of South Sudan, in 2017 UNICEF and partners have:



 provided treatment services to more than 293,000 children under 5 years of age for malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea and other life-threatening conditions; and treated more than 5,000 cholera cases;

 provided 500,000 people with safe drinking water and a further 200,000 people with access to sanitation facilities;

 completed 26 UNICEF/WFP rapid response missions, reaching more than 530,000 people with life saving support, including over 100,000 children under 5;

 treated more than 80,000 children for severe acute malnutrition;

 provided 184,000 children with access to education

 and reunited 434 children (235 girls and 199 boys) with their families; provided 1,538 children (1,254 boys and 284 girls) formerly associated with armed forces and armed groups and vulnerable children with social economic reintegration services



A countrys independence day should be celebrated, said UNICEFs Mdoe. However, today in South Sudan, there will be no celebration for the millions of children caught up in this conflict. While UNICEF continues to increase our emergency response to reach those most in need, we reiterate what we have said time and again: humanitarian actors need full and safe access; and the children of South Sudan need peace.

###

Notes for editors:

Photo and video assets available for download here
To evaluate the impact of metabolic syndrome on the early recovery of urinary continence after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

The present study included a total of 302 consecutive Japanese patients with clinically localized prostate cancer who underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. In this study, postoperative urinary continence was defined as no leak or the use of a security pad. The continence status was assessed by interviews before and 1 and 3 months after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. Metabolic syndrome was defined as follows: body mass index 25 kg/m(2) and two or more of the following: hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia. The effect of the presence of metabolic syndrome on the continence status of these patients was retrospectively examined.

A total of 116 (38.4%) and 203 (67.2%) of the 302 patients were continent at 1 and 3 months after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy, respectively. A total of 31 (10.3%) patients were judged to have metabolic syndrome. Despite the operative time being longer in patients with metabolic syndrome, no significant differences were observed in the remaining preoperative, intraoperative or postoperative variables between patients with or without metabolic syndrome. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, metabolic syndrome and the duration of hospitalization were significantly correlated with the 1-month continence status. Similarly, metabolic syndrome and estimated blood loss during surgery were independent predictors of continence rates at 3 months after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

These findings suggest that the presence of metabolic syndrome could have a significant impact on the early recovery of urinary continence after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

International journal of urology : official journal of the Japanese Urological Association. 2017 Jul 07 [Epub ahead of print]

Masatomo Nishikawa, Hiromitsu Watanabe, Toshifumi Kurahashi

Department of Urology, Seirei Mikatabara Hospital, Hamamatsu, Japan.

PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28687029
Cambodia has issued orders to provide shelters and food aid to migrant workers deported from Thailand.

An order from Interior Minister Sar Kheng issued on Tuesday called on officials in provinces bordering Thailand to convene an emergency meeting with Thai officials to enhance cooperation on dealing with increasing numbers of deportees.

Cambodia is also seeking to clampdown on employment agencies who send workers to Thailand without proper documentation.

Kheng ordered municipal and provincial governors to set up reception centers stocked with medicines and doctors to treat returnees.

We appeal to all generous persons to help provide assistance voluntarily with funds, materials, food, medicines and temporary shelters and transportation in order to solve the problems of workers, Kheng wrote.

The influx of deportees came after Thailand implemented a new labor law on June 23 that contained stricter rules on migrant workers who do not have identity cards.

Labor experts criticized Phnom Penh for a lack of preparation.

Sum Chankea, a Bantaey Meanchey-based rights worker with Adhoc, said a long-term strategy was needed to deal with the problem.

The government should shift to looking for markets for Cambodian agricultural products, he said. Workers will not migrate if they earn decent wages in Cambodia.

The recent influx comes three years after the Thai junta forced some 170,000 undocumented Cambodian migrant workers to return.

Gen. Khieu Sopheak, interior spokesman, said the job faced by the government was not easy and critics should consider the difficulties the authorities face.

Last week Cambodia closed cross-border routes used by migrant workers to prevent further economic migration to Thailand and curb illicit goods smuggling.

Chin Piseth, deputy of the border relations office in Bantaey Meanchey, declined to comment.

Chankea claimed that between June 28 and Tuesday [July 4] some 4,100 migrant workers were forced to return to Cambodia from Thailand.
Hamburg is facing another day of anti-globalization protests Saturday as leaders from the world's 20 largest economies meet for the final day of the G-20 Summit in Germany.

After a pre-dawn riot Saturday, Hamburg police arrested at least 13 people. Later, Greenpeace environmental activists hung a banner from a Hamburg bridge near the summit that read - "G-20: End Coal."

Media reports say a major protest is expected Saturday afternoon. The group Hamburg Pushes Back says it is expecting 30,000 people for a demonstration at the city harbor.

Dozens injured



Protesters clashed violently Friday with police, causing injuries to nearly 200 police officers and dozens of activists.

Police say they brought more than 900 additional officers from across the country to help control the situation, bringing the total number of police in the city to more than 20,000.

Officers patrolled dozens of protest marches and while most demonstrators were peaceful, others set cars on fire, threw bottles at police, and tried to enter the convention center where leaders were meeting.

Some protesters threw gasoline bombs, lit fires in the streets, and looted businesses.

Unacceptable

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the protests were "unacceptable."

"I have every understanding for peaceful demonstrations but violent demonstrations put human lives in danger," she said.

More than 70 protesters were detained. Police used water cannons to push back protesters, including outside a closed metro station where protesters bent iron gates to force their way inside.

Violent protesters often tried to enter closed-off areas surrounding the summit venues.

A group of 22 swimmers from Greenpeace tried to reach a concert hall on the Elbe River where world leaders gathered in the evening for a concert. They were intercepted by marine divers.

Greenpeace boats also blasted music outside the concert hall in an attempt to disrupt the concert and the leaders dinner meetings.

US first lady briefly trapped

Anti-globalization protesters trapped U.S. first lady Melania Trump in her hotel, keeping her from joining the spouses of the other world leaders on a tour of Hamburg harbor.

Officials say most of the injured police were not badly hurt, but some were taken to the hospital, including an officer who was injured when a firework went off in front of him. Fire officials say at least 60 protesters were taken to hospitals, including 11 who jumped off a four-meter wall while fleeing from police.

Police say the majority of the estimated 100,000 demonstrators were peaceful, while around 1,000 militant protesters caused much of the damage.
Argentina on Friday banned embattled Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht from bidding on public works projects in the country for 12 months due to investigations of bribes the company paid here and elsewhere.



The announcement published in the government's official bulletin also cites corruption and money laundering cases in Brazil and other countries that have led to prison sentences, admission of guilt and clemency pleas by company executives.



The company said it was evaluating the decision and would make sure its rights are preserved.



"Odebrecht reiterates that it is committed to collaborating with authorities and that it is already adopting the necessary measures for an honest, ethical and transparent corporate behavior,'' a company statement said.

Odebrecht is a key focus of the "Operation Car Wash'' investigation into a mammoth kickback scheme at Brazil's state-run oil company  the biggest corruption scandal in that country's history. The initial investigation was launched in 2014 and has mushroomed into related probes abroad because companies like Odebrecht operated across Latin America.

Company executives acknowledged to U.S. prosecutors earlier this year that they paid more than $700 million bribes to officials in 10 Latin American and two African nations in exchange for multi-million-dollar contracts with local governments. About $35 million in bribes were paid in Argentina between 2007 and 2014.



Argentine Justice Minister German Garavano recently traveled to Washington to meet with a prosecutor and share information that can advance the Odebrecht case. But Argentine prosecutors say Argentina lacks a legal mechanism that would allow companies to provide information in exchange for leniency deals like those that have been signed in other nations.
Two European development banks financing construction of a controversial dam project in Honduras have pulled out following the slayings of local activists including Berta Caceres, a 2015 winner of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.

The Netherlands Development Finance Institution and the Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation said in a joint statement Thursday that the decision to halt their involvement in the Agua Zarca dam was reached after extensive local and international consultations.

The statement said the banks believe the dam would be a positive development for nearby communities and the Central American nation. They expressed hope that a dialogue will emerge in which local stakeholders decide whether they want the project.

"The lenders' exit from the project is intended to reduce international and local tensions in the area," it read.

Caceres, a 40-year-old activist who was awarded the Goldman prize for leading a years-long fight against the dam, was killed in March 2016 by gunmen who invaded her home. The dam was to be built on the Gualcarque River, considered sacred by Caceres' Lenca people.

Two weeks later, another activist from her indigenous organization known as Copinh, Nelson Garcia, was killed. And last July, the body of another Copinh activist, Lesbia Janeth Urquia, was found.

Among those arrested in Caceres' killing was a security employee working on behalf of dam developer Desarrollos Energeticos SA, or DESA.

However in announcing their withdrawal, the development banks said "no proven connection has been established between DESA and allegations regarding any illegality."

The London-based environmental rights organization Global Witness applauded the decision but criticized the lenders for not acting earlier.

"These same investors were silent when dozens of death threats were made against [Caceres]. ... Investors have a duty to speak out when activists opposing their projects are threatened,'' Global Witness campaign leader Billy Kyte said in a statement.

The organization says Honduras is the world's most dangerous country per capita for environmental activists, with 120 of them killed since 2010.
A senior Facebook official met with Pakistan's interior minister on Friday to discuss a demand the company prevent blasphemous content or be blocked.

The meeting comes after a Pakistani counter-terrorism court sentenced a 30-year-old man to death for making blasphemous comments on Facebook, part of a wider crack-down.

Joel Kaplan, Facebook's vice president of public policy, met Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan, who offered to approve a Facebook office in Pakistan, which has 33 million users of the network.

Khan said Pakistan believes in freedom of expression, but that does not include insulting Islam or stoking religious tensions.

"We cannot allow anyone to misuse social media for hurting religious sentiments," Khan said.

Facebook called the meeting "constructive."

"Facebook met with Pakistan officials to express the company's deep commitment to protecting the rights of the people who use its service, and to enabling people to express themselves freely and safely," the company said in an email.

"It was an important and constructive meeting in which we raised our concerns over the recent court cases and made it clear we apply a strict legal process to any government request for data or content restrictions."

Pakistan's social media crack-down is officially aimed at weeding out blasphemy and shutting down accounts promoting terrorism, but civil rights activists say it has also swept up writers and bloggers who criticize the government or military.

One of five prominent writers and activists who disappeared for nearly three weeks this year later told a U.N. human rights event in March that Pakistan's intelligence agencies had kidnapped him and tortured him in custody.

Others' families said right-wing and Islamist parties had filed blasphemy accusations against them to punish them for critical writings.

Anything deemed insulting to Islam or the Prophet Muhammad carries a death penalty in Pakistan, and sometimes a mere allegation can lead to mob violence and lynchings. Right groups say the law is frequently abused to settle personal scores.

In April, a Pakistani university student, Mashal Khan, was beaten to death by a mob after being accused of blasphemous content on Facebook. Police arrested 57 people accused in the attack and said they had found no evidence Khan committed blasphemy.
The shortage of housing in California's Silicon Valley has gotten so severe that Facebook Inc. on Friday proposed taking homebuilding into its own hands for the first time with a plan to construct 1,500 units near its headquarters.

The growth of Facebook, Alphabet Inc.'s Google and other tech companies has strained neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay area that were not prepared for an influx of tens of thousands of workers during the past decade. Home prices and commute times have risen.

Tech companies have responded with measures such as internet-equipped buses for employees with long commutes.

Facebook has offered at least $10,000 in incentives to workers who move closer to its offices.

Those steps, though, have not reduced complaints that tech companies are making communities unaffordable, and they have mostly failed to address the area's housing shortage.

"The problem with Silicon Valley is you don't have enough supply to keep up with the demand," said Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at real estate research firm CoreLogic.

With Facebook's construction plan, the company said it wanted to invest in Menlo Park, the city some 45 miles (72 km) south of San Francisco where it moved in 2011.

The company said it wants to build a "village" that will also have 1.75 million square feet of office space and 125,000 square feet of retail space.

"Part of our vision is to create a neighborhood center that provides long-needed community services," John Tenanes, Facebook's vice president for global facilities, said in a statement.

The 1,500 Facebook housing units would be open to anyone, not just employees, and 15 percent of them would be offered at below market rates, the company said.

Facebook said it expects the review process to take two years.

Alphabet has taken a smaller step, buying 300 modular apartment units for short-term employee housing, the Wall Street Journal reported last month.

Menlo Park Mayor Kirsten Keith said in an interview that there were concerns about whether the Facebook plan would increase traffic, a subject the city's planning department would study.

She said, though, that Facebook's plan fits with the city's own long-term plan for development, and that the city was excited about the additional housing.

Facebook's Tenanes said the density of the proposed development could also entice spending on transit projects.

"The region's failure to continue to invest in our transportation infrastructure alongside growth has led to congestion and delay," he said.
Each year, wildfires around the world devastate thousands of square kilometers of forests and grasslands and make many people homeless. Some plants recover faster from fire than others, and scientists would like to know why. In Australia, they are experimenting with a simple monitoring device relying on fiber optics. VOA's George Putic reports.
Two Western physicians visited ailing Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo in a Chinese hospital Saturday and approved of the treatment he is receiving, according to the hospital.

The 61-year-old Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for what his supporters call "his long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in China before being transferred to a hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang for treatment of terminal liver cancer.

Number One Teaching Hospital of the China Medical Sciences University said it invited the doctors, one from the U.S. and the other from Germany, to help with Liu's treatment.

The hospital identified the doctors as Joseph Herman of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in the U.S. and Markus Buchler of Germany's University of Heidelberg.

After reviewing Liu's medical history and a report on his treatment, the doctors, accompanied by Chinese experts who are treating Liu, discussed his condition with him and family members, the hospital said.

"The U.S. and Germany experts fully approved of the treatment by the national experts group and what they had done," the hospital said in a statement.

Liu was jailed following a conviction of "inciting subversion of state power" after he helped write a petition known as Charter 08 that called for democratic reforms in China.

He was granted medical parole to the hospital in late June.

On Friday evening, the hospital said that Liu's appetite was "quite poor" and that abdominal fluid that had built up had been drained.

New security measures

Security at the hospital has increased over the past few days. A section on the 23rd floor was blocked off with screens. A VOA reporter attempting to get behind the screen was stopped by men on the other side of the screen.

Two people guarded the elevator on the 23rd floor. A delivery man with food for an unknown patient was told to wait as guards called family members to pick up the order. Both the delivery man and the patients family told VOA that the security procedures were new, and are found on no other hospital floor.

WATCH: VOA Reporter Finds High Security at Hospital Where Liu Is Being Treated

On Thursday, Liu's brother-in-law, Liu Hui, denied that doctors had halted medication for him, in a letter released by the hospital, following rumors that the dissident was too ill for treatment to continue.

A family friend of Liu said his medication had been halted as his liver was unable to take it.

"The Chinese government often pressures family members to write statements or record videos to make claims in its favor," Patrick Poon, a China researcher for rights group Amnesty International, said in a message to Reuters, referring to the letter.

"If Liu Hui is free, why can't he talk to journalists?" added Poon, who is based in Hong Kong.

Calls have grown from rights groups, international bodies and Western governments for China to allow Liu and his wife, Liu Xia, to be treated overseas if they wish.

Since 2009, China has ignored international calls to free Liu while isolating him. His wife, Liu Xia, has been under strict house arrest in Beijing although shes never been accused of any crime. Since receiving medical parole, Liu, his wife and family members have been largely prevented from communicating with the outside.

The European Parliament on Thursday urged China to immediately release the couple from house arrest, and allow Liu to seek treatment freely.

Beijing declines to comment

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang declined on Friday to comment about Liu's treatment and media access to his family.

However, he expressed displeasure at the involvement of the United Nations, after Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, met Chinese officials about Liu.

"Relevant U.N. officials should strictly abide by the U.N. charter's purposes and principles, should respect China's judicial sovereignty and not interfere in China's internal affairs," Geng told a daily news briefing.

The U.N. human rights office on Friday said it was very concerned about reports of serious deterioration in Liu's health.

"The high commissioner has requested that a senior U.N. official be urgently granted access to Liu Xiaobo and to Liu Xia," it said in a briefing note. "However, we have so far received no response from the Chinese government to this request."

This report from Shenyang, China, was originated by VOA Mandarin.
A U.S. appeals court on Friday rejected Hawaii's request to issue an emergency order blocking parts of President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban while the state sought clarification over what groups of people would be barred from travel.

The U.S. Supreme Court last month let the ban on travel from six Muslim-majority countries go forward with a limited scope, saying it could not apply to anyone with a credible "bona fide relationship" with a U.S. person or entity.

The Trump administration then decided that spouses, parents, children, fiances and siblings would be exempt from the ban, while grandparents and other family members traveling from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen would be barred.

Trump said the measure was necessary to prevent attacks.

However, opponents including states and refugee advocacy groups sued to stop it, disputing its security rationale and saying it discriminated against Muslims.

A Honolulu judge this week rejected Hawaii's request to clarify the Supreme Court ruling and narrow the government's implementation of the ban.

Hawaii appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, saying in a filing on Friday that the appeals court has the power to narrow the travel ban while it decides how to interpret the Supreme Court's ruling.

A three-judge 9th Circuit panel on Friday rejected that argument and said it did not have jurisdiction to hear Hawaii's appeal.

The 9th Circuit said the Honolulu judge could issue an injunction against the government in the future, if he believed it misapplied the Supreme Court's ruling to a particular person harmed by the travel ban.

But the judge did not have the authority to simply clarify the Supreme Court's instructions now, the appeals court said.

The Justice Department declined to comment. Hawaii's attorney general could not immediately be reached for comment.

Justice Department lawyers have argued that its definition of close family "hews closely" to language found in U.S. immigration law, while Hawaii's attorney general's office said other parts of immigration law include grandparents in that group.

The roll-out of the narrowed version of the ban was more subdued last week than in January when Trump first signed a more expansive version of the order. That sparked protests and chaos at airports around the country and the world.
In a signal of a revival in ties between India and the Maldives, the president of the Indian Ocean island country committed to what he called an India-first policy on a two-day visit to New Delhi.

During talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on Monday, the two countries sought to put behind a recent spell of cooler ties. India was seen backing former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed and Chinese influence was perceived to be on the rise in the country that lies along important shipping routes in the Indian Ocean.

Six agreements signed by the two countries include a defense cooperation pact which New Delhi hopes will revive its strategic clout in the Maldives.

Modi underlined New Delhis readiness to protect its interests in the region.

The strong friendship between our two countries is important for peace and security in the entire Indian Ocean. India understands its responsibility as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean, he said.

Saying the two countries share a common perspective, the Maldivian president said that is why the Maldives pursues an India first foreign policy. The security of the Maldives is intimately linked with the security of India.

Last year, Prime Minister Modi canceled a trip to the Maldives amid a downturn in ties over political turmoil triggered by the arrest of former president Nasheed, a pro-India leader ousted in 2012.

Analysts, however, say India was prompted to repair ties with the Maldives government amid concerns over a bid by China to deepen security ties and increase its investments with strategic Indian Ocean countries such as Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Beijings investments in infrastructure projects in the archipelago have increased significantly since Yameen took power.

The two countries also agreed to cooperate in counterterrorism amid concerns that there has been a surge in young people from the Maldives leaving for West Asia to join Islamic State.

The Maldivian president said his countrys economy is in distress and opportunities are needed for the desperate and restless youth. Yameen warned that otherwise this part of the world is right open to radicalism, to militant exercises by the youth across the borders.

The Maldivian opposition is unhappy that New Delhi is repairing ties with Yameen, saying India should have reprimanded him over the arrest of Nasheed, who has been convicted on terrorism charges. Campaigners have also been pressing for travel bans and sanctions against top Maldivian officials to press them to restore democracy.

In New Delhi, Yameen lobbied India for support to thwart such moves, saying his government is upholding the rule of law. We look at India for continued support in preventing any unfair, any punitive action by the CMAG (Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group) on the Maldives.
Thousands of troops patrolled Indian Kashmir on Saturday as authorities imposed widespread restrictions to foil protests planned for the anniversary of a local militant leader, Burhan Wani, whose killing in 2016 by armed forces has pulled the Himalayan region into a fresh spiral of violence after several years of relative peace.

Internet services were shut down and police raised barricades between neighborhoods. Shops and businesses remained closed in the Kashmiri capital, Srinagar.

Police fired tear gas in at least four places where protesters attempted to march in the streets.

The tightest security was in Tral village around the house of Wani, who had joined the Hizbul Mujahideen militant group and is regarded as a hero in Kashmir. He belonged to a new rank of social media savvy young rebels who used Facebook and other social media to draw fresh recruits.

The call for a strike to mark Wanis killing was given by local Kashmiri separatist leaders and by a Pakistan-based militant commander, Syed Salahuddin, whom the United States last week added to its list of global terrorists.

Violent protests

Kashmir has been restive ever since widespread violent street protests that erupted after his killing.

The mood is defiance, not much has changed in the past one year since his killing, said Shujaat Bukhari, editor of Rising Kashmir newspaper. Calling Wani a trigger for a situation that had been simmering for a long time, Bukhari said He became a rallying point, in a way he united Kashmiris in their anger and angst against the Indian state.

The present round of unrest in Indias only Muslim majority region has shattered a long spell of relative calm that Kashmir witnessed following a violent separatist insurgency in the 1990s.

And this time, civilians are playing a greater role in the unrest. Many young students are taking part in street protests, where crowds pelting stones often target security forces. Officials estimate that about 100 local youth have joined the ranks of militants, and in villages it is not uncommon for people to resist counter militancy operations.

Lacking 'political engagement'

Analysts say New Delhis failure to engage in a political dialogue in the region is fanning the anti-India sentiment.

The continuous absence of political engagement in Kashmir and the continuous denial on part of Delhi that says there is nothing to be addressed politically has made the situation more complex in the past one year, according to Bukhari.

India blames Pakistan-based militant groups for stoking the unrest in Kashmir. Pakistan denies the allegation.

Meanwhile, Indian officials said two civilians were killed and two children were wounded by gunfire from Pakistani troops along the line of control that divides the region between the two countries.

Even as the situation in Kashmir has deteriorated, cross-border shelling between Indian and Pakistani troops also has become more intense, with each side accusing the other of violating a mutual cease-fire.
According to followers of a popular Indonesian social movement, the country would be better off without dating.

Writer La Ode Munafar, 26, started Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran (Indonesia Without Courtship) nearly two years ago to encourage young Indonesians to skip dating and go straight to marriage.

The group's message seems to have touched a nerve, acquiring over 200,000 Facebook likes and over 300,000 Instagram followers to date. Its posts often draw from Islamic culture, mixing in content about hijabs, for instance, with anti-dating graphics.

"I was concerned about the younger generation, who are victims of the doomed culture of courtship," Munafar said when asked why he started the movement.

While the anti-dating movement has grown here, there have been several high-profile, unusual marriages in local news: one between two middle school students and another between a 16-year-old boy and 71-year-old woman, both in Sumatra.

Though these stories are somewhat sensationalist, child marriage is a big problem in Indonesia. Between 14 percent and 35 percent of Indonesian girls marry before age 18, depending on the province, according to UNICEF. Some child welfare advocates worry that the movement to skip dating in favor of marriage will aggravate this issue.

Burgeoning movement

Munafar says he believes dating is largely deleterious to young people's lives.

He is 26, married, originally from Southest Sulawesi and currently lives in Yogyakarta. According to his website, he has written 60 books and runs a "quick-write" course that promises to generate a book manuscript with eight hours of training.

Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran conducts both online and offline activities, he told VOA. Online, it offers consultations to concerned individuals or facilitates discussion on WhatsApp groups, broadcasts relationship advice on Tuesdays and Fridays by "love writers," and mounts social media campaigns like #TolakValentineDay (Reject Valentine's Day). Offline, it distributes books, holds "love seminars" and organizes meetups. Members gain access to official WhatsApp channels if they pay a fee of 170,000 rupiah (about $13).

"Dating only wastes time, energy and money for a moment's pleasure," said Munafar. "It's not for serious relationships or building a house." Munafar claims the movement gains over 1,000 followers on social media every day.

As an alternative to dating, the group suggests ta'aruf, the Islamic cultural practice of getting to know prospective spouses, usually through family introductions.

Widespread trend

Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran isn't the only sign of anti-dating sentiment. Other Instagram accounts like @nikahasik (cool marriage) glorify Islamic marriage to 650,000 followers. And there are Twitter accounts like @muliatanpapacaran (nobility without dating) that do the same.

Purwakarta in West Java banned dating in 2015, installing security cameras at public intersections to monitor social interactions.

And last year, conservative politicians proposed banning all extramarital sex. The nation's highest court has not yet moved forward with discussion on the measure.

Indonesia Tanpa Pacaran has tried to lobby Indonesia's ulama (religious scholar) council to issue a fatwa against dating, but its members have resisted so far, saying that fatwas ordinarily arise in response to specific incidents.

Child marriage concerns

Indonesia ranks among the 10 countries with the most child brides. By law, girls can marry at age 16, while boys can only marry at 19 with parental permission. But younger girls or couples can often get away on the nikah siri loophole, which refers to marriage performed under Islamic law.

"Overall, the legal loopholes in Indonesia legitimize various forms of child marriage," said Emilie Minnick, a child protection specialist at UNICEF Indonesia. "Once married through nikah siri, it is extremely easy to then go through formalization of the marriage through the process of isbat, meaning that there is little incentive to go through legal marriage channels. Furthermore, the issue of child marriage in Indonesia is compounded by the fact that many authorities are proceeding on the basis of forged identity documents, which give a false age."

Child marriage has many negative effects on girls, Minnick said. "Girls who marry before 18 are six times less likely to complete secondary education than girls who marry after 18, poverty makes Indonesian girls four times as likely to be married before age 18  and globally, complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the second leading cause of death for girls ages 15 to 19," she said, citing figures from Indonesia's Central Bureau of Statistics.

Cultural pressure to skip dating is certainly not the only factor in child marriage. Poverty, cultural norms and lack of social services also play a role. But the movement seems to be symptomatic of the cultural environment that produces the practice.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed at least 23 soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula.

IS made the claim late Friday in a statement on its website. Egyptian officials said a suicide car bomber had attacked a military checkpoint in northern Sinai earlier in the day.

In the wake of the attack, which occurred near the border town of Rafah, dozens of masked militants descended on the site in vehicles and shot at the 60 soldiers present with machine guns, security officials said.

When the attack subsided, the militants apparently took weapons and ammunition from the checkpoint before fleeing, the officials said. Some militants were killed in the shootout, and some of their vehicles were abandoned.

According to the IS statement, a second car bomber struck an army convoy sent to reinforce the embattled soldiers. That claim was circulated by supporters and picked up by the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites.

The Friday attack was considered one of the deadliest against the military in the past two years. Egyptian army officials said they had foiled other attacks in the area during the day, part of a coordinated effort.

On Saturday, meanwhile, Egyptian police said they had killed at least 14 militants in raids carried out at a training camp near Ismailia. Officials said the militants were wanted in connection with recent attacks on security forces in the Sinai.

Egypt has been battling an IS insurgency on the peninsula since 2013, when the military ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi after mass protests.

Some information for this report came from AP.
Congressional support for Brazilian President Michel Temer is weakening, lawmakers said on Friday, days before the lower house is expected to vote on whether he should stand trial on a corruption charge.

Temer, whose center-right government's approval rating is languishing in single digits, is clinging to power after being charged with arranging to take millions of dollars in bribes, the first sitting Brazilian president to face such criminal proceedings.

The charge has increased tensions in an already chaotic political scenario in Latin America's biggest country and have led investors to question whether the government will be able to ush through a business-friendly agenda of social security and labor reforms.

Key to Temer's survival is whether the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), Brazil's third largest, will stick with his coalition despite deep divisions in its ranks. If it abandons Temer, many smaller parties are expected to follow suit.

PSDB deputy Caio Narcio, who has supported Temer and has cautioned his party against leaving the coalition, said on Friday the president's situation was deteriorating.

"Temer's government is being hollowed out. It is encountering weekly defeats," Narcio said.

Many in the PSDB are wary of backing Temer for too long as the party plans to run its own presidential candidate next year.

Some of its legislators are also keen to distance themselves from Temer to improve their own electoral prospects.

Several lawmakers, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, said support was growing for lower house speaker Rodrigo Maia, the first in the line of succession.

If the house votes to put Temer on trial in the Supreme Court, Maia would take office for 180 days.

"Rodrigo is now seen as a way out of the crisis, when before he was not," Narcio said.

Maia taking power would not slow efforts to pass economic reforms, lawmakers said. It might even help accelerate them as the president would no longer be embroiled in corruption charges.

Center-right Progressive Party deputy Jeronimo Goergen said Maia called him to say that, although he was not presenting himself as a candidate, he would keep the economic policy unchanged if he were to replace Temer.

Temer's press office did not respond to requests for comment. Maia's office could not immediately be reached for comment.

General Prosecutor Rodrigo Janot charged Temer last week in a graft scheme involving the world's largest meatpacker, JBS SA. Executives said the president took bribes for resolving tax matters and facilitating loans from state-run banks.

Janot said Temer made deals under which JBS would have paid him 38 million reais ($11.57 million) over the next nine months.

Temer has repeatedly denied the accusation.

Under Brazilian law, two-thirds of the lower house of congress must vote to put a sitting president on trial. Although the vote is expected as soon as next week, it could be delayed to early August after a congressional recess.

Temer is expected by most to survive the lower house vote on the first charge against him.

But Janot piled on pressure last week by saying he will likely charge Temer with racketeering and obstruction of justice in the coming weeks.

Brazilian media also reported that two former top aides, including jailed ex-house speaker Eduardo Cunha, are close to signing plea-bargain deals that could provide evidence of wrongdoing by the president.

There is a growing consensus among lawmakers and political experts that any votes on new charges would see Temer's support rapidly evaporate.

Lucas de Aragao, a political analyst with Arko Advice in Brasilia, told Reuters it was premature to envisage a Maia presidency.

"But obviously there is a movement in that direction, it is in the interests of many distinct factions within congress," Aragao said.

($1 = 3.2830 reais)
Perus president says a decision about granting a medical pardon to imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori will likely be made before the end of the year.

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski told a local radio station Friday that a pardon for the former leader would not be a pardon for his crimes, but would instead be based on the recommendations of Fujimoris doctors.

The ex-president was taken to a hospital Friday after he displayed signs of hypertension and an irregular heartbeat, according to his doctor.

Fujimori, who is 78 years old, is serving a 25-year sentence for human rights violations, corruption and the sanctioning of death squads during his presidential term.

Demonstrators took to the streets of Lima on Friday in an effort to persuade Kuczynski to withhold a pardon for Fujimori who has been in and out of the hospital several times with a host of illnesses.
Populist former martial arts star and businessman Khaltmaa Battulga has won Mongolia's presidential run-off election, according to voter data from the General Election Commission released Saturday.

The poll was seen as a referendum on the government's economic recovery plans and the role of southern neighbor China in the landlocked but resource-rich country known as the birthplace of Mongol emperor Genghis Khan.

Battulga, of the opposition Democratic Party, won with 50.6 percent of the vote on a 60.9 percent turnout, giving him the majority needed to overcome his opponent, parliament speaker Miyeegombo Enkhbold of the ruling Mongolian People's Party.

Election officials are still waiting on a final count of votes from abroad.

Political mudslinging

The election campaign was marred by political mudslinging from all sides and the public perception that none of the candidates were fit for the job, according to Luvsanvandan Sumati, the head of polling group the Sant Maral Foundation.

"The worst election in Mongolian history," said Sumati.

Enkhbold's loss was definitive. He trailed far behind Battulga with 41.2 percent of the vote because of the nearly 100,000 blank votes submitted in protest at the choice of candidates.

Friday's run-off was scheduled after the June 26 vote failed to result in a outright winner.

Investors wary

Some investors have been wary of a Battulga presidency because of his calls for more state control of some mines and his suspicions of China, Mongolia's biggest trade partner.

Despite past protests, he has said he will stand behind plans to build a key railway to China from the enormous Tavan Tolgoi coal mine and has praised China's Belt and Road pan-Asian infrastructure initiative.

Battulga rose to fame as a Mongolian wrestler. His businesses include a hotel, a Genghis Khan-themed amusement park, and food companies for baked goods and meats.

Battulga's opponent Enkhbold has stood behind the current government and prime minister, pledging to stay the course for economic recovery following a $5.5 billion rescue package from the International Monetary Fund and partners in May.

Battulga captured the attention of voters who feel Mongolia received a bad deal on investments, promising greater government control of strategic mines, such as Rio Tinto's, Oyu Tolgoi copper mine.

Mongolia is a parliamentary democracy. The government is run by a prime minister, but the president has powers to veto legislation and make judicial appointments.
MUSCATINE  Library assistant Kimi Bridgewater does not normally wear cat ears to work, and her usual garb doesnt include black and magenta tights. But on Friday evening, she donned on an anime-inspired costume for the Musser Librarys first cosplay workshop.

Cosplay, a shorthand for costume play, is when people dress up as their favorite comic book, video game or movie characters, usually, but not always for conventions that celebrate these media forms.

You can be anybody that you want to be, Bridgewater told the 10 or so teens who showed up at the Musser Library, ready to learn how to dress like their favorite characters.

Bridgewater ran the teens through some costume-making basics, encouraging them to be creative and research ways to create their own costumes from inexpensive items. She showed them some props she built, like a wooden bow she made by hand and a Snow White dress that she converted into a shirt.

That freedom, and the allure of being someone else for a bit, is perhaps the biggest draw of cosplay.

I always love acting like someone else, said Aura Niaves, 14, who attended the event.

Aura brought with her a tracksuit that she will convert into a costume for her favorite character: ice skater Yuri Katsuki.

To me he kind of feels like a relatable character, she said. In the first scene we meet him, he is crying in the bathroom because he took last place in one of the competitions.

But he learns to become a better ice skater, gaining confidence as he goes.

Bridgewater, an anime lover who makes costumes for herself, said she organized the event not only because anime is her other passion but also because she has seen increased interest in everything anime among library patrons.

Fridays event is her way of testing the waters, she said. Depending on patron interest, the library may organize other events like this one.

The teens had some time to work on projects they brought or start something completely new at the workshop. Bridgewater taught them to make tails out of yarn and cats ears out of fake fur and a headband.

Aura got to work on her black-and-white tracksuit. To transform it to Yuris clothing, she decided to color in some of the white panels in the front with a black fabric marker. Like many other Iowa cosplayers, Aura will show off her costume at the AnimeIowa convention, set to take place at Coralville later this month.

Alyssa Kritz, head of advertising for AnimeIowa, said interest in the convention has increased in the last five or six years. When the convention initially began more than two decades ago, it drew a few hundred people," she said. But now, an average of 3,500-4,000 people flock Coralville each year.

Interest has grown is in part because of social media, Kritz said. AnimeIowa publicizes its convention through social media and people who like to dress up have their own Facebook pages that attract like-minded people.

Bridgewater agrees.

People are more connected then we were in the past and kids and even adults are trying to find outlets to express themselves. That culture is all about communicating and showing your passion, she said.
Once a key ally in the U.S. war on terrorism, Pakistan finds itself increasingly isolated from Washington amid allegations that it harbors more than a dozen terrorist groups. Instead, it has been steadily cozying up to China and Russia.



Both of Americas primary rivals have been taking advantage of Pakistans paranoia about India, and gaps in Washingtons global influence as President Donald Trump continues to form his foreign policy in the strategic region.



Pakistans relations with three of its four neighbors  Afghanistan, India and Iran  are at a low point. And instead of trying to rein in extremism, the government appears to be feeding the growing conservative movement with no sign of backing off a controversial blasphemy law that has led to repeated mob violence.



Experts say 13 of the approximately 60 U.S.-designated global terrorist organizations are based in Pakistan, mostly in the tribal region that borders Afghanistan.



Major militant groups include the Pakistani Taliban and the Haqqani Network, along with Laskar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Jundullah. And despite denials that Islamic State has a presence in the country, the terror group has claimed responsibility for recent attacks there.



Two U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation last September to designate Pakistan a terror state over its inability to curb homegrown militancy and the threat it poses to its neighbors. Republicans Ted Poe and Dana Rohrabacher accused Pakistan of harboring global terrorist leaders and supporting terror groups, including the Haqqani Network, which targets Afghan and U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.



State sponsor of terrorism?

Former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said Pakistan should be designated as a state that is sponsoring terrorism.



"The Haqqani Network, which is an ally of al-Qaida and Taliban extremists, has operated as Pakistan's proxy," Khalilzad told VOA recently. "If Pakistan refuses to move against the Haqqani Network sanctuaries, the U.S. should consider actions against the sanctuaries, including striking them."



Husain Haqqani, Pakistans ambassador to the United States in 2008-11 and now director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute in Washington, has advice for Trump.



"... for Pakistan, the alliance has been more about securing weapons, economic aid and diplomatic support in its confrontation with India, Haqqani wrote recently in an op-ed column in The New York Times.



The Bush administration gave Pakistan $12.4 billion in aid, and the Obama administration forked over $21 billion. These incentives did not make Pakistan more amenable to cutting off support for the Afghan Taliban.  Mr. Trump must now consider alternatives, Haqqani wrote.





Pakistan also has done little about the thousands of unregistered Islamic schools known as madrassas, which are linked to an increase in militancy in the Afghan-Pakistan region. The schools nurture militant ideology and are known to provide foot soldiers for the Taliban.

Sense of victimhood



Instead, Pakistan has portrayed itself as a victim of terrorism and a staunch ally in the U.S. campaign.



A statement issued after a National Security Committee meeting on Friday in Islamabad said, "No other country in the world has done as much for global safety and security as Pakistan at a huge cost of both men and material."



Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakariya said the allegations about the Haqqani networks presence in tribal areas are mere rhetoric.



"This is only aimed at putting the blame of their own failures on Pakistan, he said.



The reality on the ground is different. Just three weeks ago, the most recent drone attack in Hangu, a Pakistani district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, eliminated a Haqqani Network commander. Officials confirmed his identity to local media.



Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan and India of allowing terrorists to use their territory to plot and carry out cross-border attacks. Both countries make nearly identical claims against Pakistan.



India blames the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba group for attacks in 2008 in Mumbai that killed more than 150 people, including six Americans. Afghanistan blames the Haqqani Network for a bombing in Kabul's diplomatic area that killed at least 150 and injured more than 450.

Paranoia about India



At the center of Pakistans actions and policies are its fears about India. The two countries have fought three wars, and another is always a threat. Both sides have nuclear arsenals capable of destroying the subcontinent several times over.



Last month, the U.S. State Department imposed sanctions on Syed Salahuddin, the Pakistan-based chief of Hizbul Mujahideen, one of the major anti-Indian militant groups fighting in Kashmir, saying he poses "a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States."



Islamabad criticized the move and said militants fighting New Delhis rule in Kashmir are involved in a legitimate" struggle for freedom.



Relations with Kabul have taken a downturn this year after terror attacks in Pakistan that it claims were at least planned by extremist groups in Afghanistan.



Pakistan has closed border crossings for lengthy periods and has begun construction of a border fence with Afghanistan.



In May, Tehran warned Islamabad that it would hit bases inside Pakistan if the government does not confront Sunni militants who carry out cross-border attacks. Ten Iranian border guards were killed and one abducted by militants last month.



While President Trump has yet to come up with a policy to deal with Pakistans worsening quagmire, China has stepped in as part of what appears to be a concerted effort to expand its sphere of influence. It currently is involved in a major mutually beneficial project to build a network of roads and other infrastructure from its territory to Pakistans Gwadar port in order to provide a shorter route to the Persian Gulf.



Russia, too, has been making diplomatic overtures and recently participated in joint naval exercises off Pakistan.



VOAs Afghan, Urdu and Deewa Services contributed to this article.
Tens of thousands of peaceful protesters took to the streets Saturday to demonstrate against the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, hours after masked rioters clashed with police, burned cars and looted businesses.

Marching on a route close to where some of the worst violence unfolded overnight, protesters chanted, sang, danced and played music as world leaders wrapped up their two-day summit in the German port city.

An eclectic crowd of families with infants, Kurdish groups, Scottish socialists and anarchists waving flags and shouting anti-capitalist slogans progressed through the city, accompanied by thousands of police officers.

Despite the mayhem late Friday and early Saturday, many officers patrolling the march removed their helmets and appeared relaxed as the huge crowds passed by. Organizers said 78,000 demonstrators participated, while police estimated the crowds at 50,000.

The big gathering came after aggressive riots overnight in the city's Schanzenviertel neighborhood, which is only a few hundred meters from the summit grounds. Hundreds of special riot police went into buildings to arrest rioters wearing black masks, while being attacked with iron rods and Molotov cocktails. About 500 people looted a supermarket in the neighborhood, as well as smaller stores. Cars were torched and street fires lit as activists built barricades with garbage cans and bikes.

'Not the slightest justification'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed shock and anger about "violence and uninhibited brutality" that broke out in Hamburg.

"There is not the slightest justification for looting, arson and brutal attacks on the life of police officers," Merkel said, adding that the security forces did "excellent work" and thanking them on behalf of all the summit participants.

A few thousand rioters, some of them from elsewhere in Europe, created havoc in the city. They battled riot police for two consecutive days and nights, expressing rage against capitalism and globalization and calling for open borders to let all refugees enter Europe.

Their anger was not so much focused against President Donald Trump or other leaders, but directed against police as symbols of authority.

Police arrested 143 people, and 122 activists were temporarily detained. Injuries to 213 officers have been reported since protests started Thursday night. Police and firefighters said they did not have information about how many protesters and other civilians had been hurt.

Hamburg, Germany's second-largest city, has a strong radical left scene, and many critics had warned well before the summit that its dense streets would be almost impossible to control and that clashes would be likely.

But German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said, "Any criticism of the location of the meeting misjudges cause and effect."

"These were unbounded violent excesses out of a desire for destruction and brutality," de Maiziere said. He added that police and judicial authorities must take a tough stance against such crimes and that the arrests were appropriate.

Site choice defended

Merkel also defended the choice of Hamburg as venue for the summit, saying a big city was needed to accommodate all the participants at hotels. She said she and her finance minister would consult with Hamburg's city government about how to help people affected by the violence repair the damage.

Many residents showed frustration with the violence and destruction unleashed in their neighborhood.

Laura Zeriadtke watched the full-scale clashes unfold from her street-level apartment window and witnessed about 30 black-clad anarchists tearing down a construction fence across from her home and using it as a shield to push back riot police.

"It was a civil war," Zeriadtke said.

Ludwig Geiss, a 65-year-old longtime resident living in the same building as Zeriadtke, said that he'd gotten used to the many protests in the alternative neighborhood, but had never experienced anything like the G-20 chaos.

"I know the scene, but what happened yesterday ... puts it all in the shadows," Geiss said as he was evaluating the damage outside his apartment. "I'm not staying here another night."

Police called on witnesses of the riots to upload photos and video footage on their server to help with the investigation and prosecution of violent activists.

However, most protesters expressed their views peacefully, asking for quick action on climate change and solutions to the migration crisis.

During the protest marches on Saturday afternoon, activists of the Attac group rolled a giant globe along the road, while others carried signs with slogans such as "Money for bread, not bombs" and "We are many, you are 20."
Peruvians prepared for protests on Friday to pressure President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski against pardoning the country's former leader Alberto Fujimori, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence for human rights violations.

Kuczynski's promise not to pardon Fujimori during last year's presidential election helped him scrape together a narrow victory against Fujimori's daughter, Keiko Fujimori.

But last month Kuczynski proposed a potential pardon for Fujimori, 78, for health reasons as his finance minister was ousted by Congress, which is dominated by Fujimori's supporters.

"It would be a betrayal. A betrayal of his word and his promise to the families of the victims of the dictatorship," said protest organizer Jorge Rodriguez. Protests are scheduled for cities across Peru and in foreign countries on Friday.

Fujimori has been convicted of leading groups that massacred civilians and kidnapped journalists during his years in office from 1990-2000. Despite his autocratic style, Fujimori still has a solid following among Peruvians who credit him with fixing an economy in crisis and quashing a bloody leftist insurgency.

A May Ipsos poll found that 59 percent of Peruvians back a humanitarian pardon for Fujimori.

In an interview with local broadcaster RPP on Friday, Kuczynski said his decision would be based strictly on a medical review that should be completed by the end of year.

"I'll follow the medical recommendation," Kuczynski said.

But the proposed evaluation, which was not requested by Fujimori, is widely seen as a political gesture.

While pardoning Fujimori might help Kuczynski ease tensions with Congress, it would anger the leftist groups that helped elect him and could define his presidency.

Kuczynski, who took office nearly a year ago to cap a distinguished career in finance and public administration, has vowed to transform Peru into a modern country and is leading regional efforts to pressure Venezuela to enact democratic reforms.

Human Rights Watch said any pardon or politically motivated release of Fujimori would be a setback for the rule of law.

In 2013, former President Ollanta Humala rejected Fujimori's request for a humanitarian pardon after a medical review concluded he was not suffering from a terminal illness.

Fujimori's doctor, Alejandro Aguinaga, said Friday that Kuczynski's committee for presidential pardons has not received any new information about Fujimori's health.

But Aguinaga said Fujimori suffers from various ailments that merit a pardon, including a recurrent growth on his tongue, a hernia in his back and a recent episode of an abnormally fast heart beat.
Qatar on Friday dismissed as "baseless" accusations that it was financing terrorism, in its first public response to a statement from four Arab states leading a boycott against the tiny emirate.

The four  Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain  said in a joint statement late Thursday that Doha's refusal to accept their demands to end the diplomatic standoff was proof of its links to terrorist groups.

In their statement, carried by their state media, the four said their initial list of 13 demands was now void and they pledged further political, economic and legal steps against Qatar.

In its first reaction to the statement by the four, Qatar dismissed as "baseless" the renewed accusations that it was interfering in the affairs of other states and financing terrorism.

"The State of Qatar's position on terrorism is consistent and known for its rejection and condemnation of all forms of terrorism, whatever the causes and motives," the state news agency said, quoting a senior Foreign Ministry source.

Qatar was ready to "cooperate and review all claims that do not contradict the sovereignty of the State of Qatar," it added.

Britain's foreign minister, Boris Johnson, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in a bid to help ease tension in what has become the Gulf's deepest rift in years.

Johnson will also travel to Qatar and Kuwait for talks with senior figures from both countries, Britain's Foreign Office said in London. It did not give a specific date.

The four Arab states have cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar, which they also accuse of allying with their regional arch foe, Iran. Doha also denies that accusation.

Their original 13 demands presented to Qatar included shutting down the pan-Arab Al Jazeera TV channel and closing a Turkish military base in Doha.

Qatari officials have repeatedly said the 13 demands are so strict that they suspect the four countries never seriously intended to negotiate them, and were instead seeing to hobble Doha's sovereignty.

At the same time, they have said Qatar is interested in negotiating a fair and just solution to "any legitimate issues" of concern to fellow Gulf Cooperation Council states.

In their statement, the four Arab states said any additional measures would be aimed at the Qatari government but not its people, without elaborating on when the new steps would be announced or what they would entail.

Foreign ministers from the four states convened in Cairo on Wednesday after the expiration of a 10-day deadline for their demands to be met. They condemned the tiny Gulf nation's response as "negative" and lacking in content.
Iraqi security forces said Saturday that they expected to declare victory in Mosul within hours, which could eliminate the Iraqi half of the Islamic State caliphate.

"Our units are still continuing to advance," the Joint Operations Command said. "Not much is left before our forces reach the [Tigris] river."

Earlier Saturday, an Iraqi military spokesman said on state television that militant defense lines were collapsing.

"We are seeing now the last meters, and then final victory will be announced," the spokesman said.

An Iraqi declaration of victory "is imminent," U.S. Brigadier General Robert Sofge told the AFP news agency in Baghdad.

Iraqi officials predicted the defeat of IS several times over the past week as forces confined the militants to a small area of Old Mosul along the Tigris. In recent days, however, the pace of troop advancement had slowed.

Iraqi forces are using coalition airstrikes and ground support for the offensive to take back Mosul, by far the largest city seized by Islamic State in its offensive three years ago when the ultra-hard-line group declared its caliphate over adjoining parts of Iraq and Syria.

Eight months of fighting has devastated much of Old Mosul, including the landmark 850-year-old Grand al-Nuri mosque and its leaning 45-meter minaret that jihadists recently blew up.

Stripped of Mosul, Islamic States dominion in Iraq will be reduced to mainly rural, desert areas west and south of the city, where tens of thousands of people live. The militants are expected to keep up attacks on selected targets across Iraq. They have promised to "fight to the death."

The United Nations has predicted it will cost more than $1 billion to repair basic infrastructure in Mosul. Iraqs regional Kurdish leader said Thursday in a Reuters interview that the Baghdad central government had failed to prepare a post-battle political, security and governance plan.

The offensive has damaged thousands of structures in Mosuls Old City and destroyed nearly 500 buildings, satellite imagery released Thursday by the United Nations showed.

In some of the areas hit hardest, almost no buildings appear to have escaped damage, and Mosuls dense construction means the extent of the devastation might have been underestimated, U.N. officials said.

Some information for this report came from Reuters and AFP.
Amid criticism for the slow pace of nominating ambassadors, the Trump administration is being called out specifically for the lack of an ambassador in Afghanistan, where nearly 10,000 US troops are deployed. VOA Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from the State Department.
Serbia said Saturday that six of its citizens had been arrested in Greece in the investigation of the beating death of a 22-year-old Texas man on the island of Zakynthos.

Serbia's Foreign Affairs Ministry said the detained Serbs were to appear before a judge.

The family of Bakari Henderson of Austin, Texas, identified him as the victim. His family said Henderson was in Greece working on a photo shoot to launch a clothing line. Bakari graduated from the University of Arizona in May with a business degree.

Greek police said the victim was beaten to death early Friday at a bar in Lagana. Officials haven't released a possible motive for the attack.

Greek police said Friday that a 34-year-old Greek and a 32-year-old British man of Serbian origin had been arrested.
London is a hotspot of modern slavery, with workers in hotels, restaurants and on construction sites at particular risk of exploitation, said the head of the Metropolitan police's anti-slavery unit.

Modern slavery cases surged in the first half of this year to about 820 by the end of June, compared to about 1,013 in the whole of 2016, Detective Inspector Phil Brewer told Reuters.

The growth in cases is partly due to increased awareness about slavery, and as police and local authorities are now more often considering whether those involved in potential slavery crimes are victims rather than suspects, said Brewer.

The Metropolitan police is working closely with charities and frontline workers to ensure victims are more easily identified and helped faster.

"Everyone realizes now we're never going to police our way out of this," Brewer said in an interview this week.

Government departments, local authorities and police are investigating whether people in the construction and hospitality industries are being held against their will, working under threat, for no pay or in dangerous conditions, Brewer said.

Some government departments already have systems in place  on health and safety rules and the enforcement of minimum wages, for example  to lead the battle against modern slavery in construction and hospitality, he added.

Britain passed tough anti-slavery legislation in 2015, introducing life sentences for traffickers and forcing companies to disclose what they are doing to make sure their supply chains are free from slavery.

There are an estimated 13,000 victims of forced labor, sexual exploitation and domestic servitude in Britain, according to government data.

Domestic servitude and slavery in supply chains are also major concerns for the Metropolitan police, said Brewer.

As paperwork is often only processed through embassies, police only hear about mistreatment if domestic workers come into contact with officers for other reasons, he said.

Domestic servitude is also fueled by cultural factors that might make it acceptable in some sections of London's population to have a worker from a lower social group working as a domestic slave even though it is against the law.

"Labor exploitation in London is really misunderstood or not understood, it's quite clear that it's about what we don't know rather than what we know," Brewer said.

Victims, not suspects

One of the biggest challenges for the Metropolitan police is to make sure every officer in the force of 30,000 understands and reacts appropriately to modern slavery cases, said Brewer.

He said the police had faced criticism because officers had treated potential victims as suspects, so London's police now "massively relies" on relationships with charities and advocacy organizations to ensure swift support for victims.

Under the "county lines" crime model, for example, young urban gang members are compelled and threatened to deal drugs in more rural areas. Some of these young people are now being referred as victims  a number that Brewer expects to grow.

Police also needed to have much more "grown-up conversations" with companies that find modern slavery in their supply chains, to calm their fears that reporting cases would result in them being prosecuted.

"There's not really been any conversation about how companies can actually interact with policing. There's probably some reassurance that we need to do, that if you come to us and say we found this, it won't compromise your position," he said.
During his first official visit to Kyiv Sunday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the U.S. has told Russia it must take the first steps to de-escalate violence in Eastern Ukraine.

Ive been very clear in my discussions with Russian leadership on more than one occasion, that it is necessary for Russia to take the first steps to de-escalate the situation in the east part of Ukraine, in particular by respecting the ceasefire by pulling back the heavy weapons and allowing the OSCE observers to carry out their responsibilities," Tillerson said, speaking alongside Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko after the two met to discuss ways to help end the conflict in eastern Ukraine and support its ongoing reform efforts.

Watch: Tillerson Heads to Ukraine Following Trump-Putin Meeting

As long as the parties commit themselves to these goals Im confident we can make progress," Tillerson added, referring to the Minsk agreements - a cease-fire deal that Moscow and Kyiv agreed to in 2015.

Ukraine negotiations

Tillerson has named former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker to serve as Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations.

Volker, who was traveling with Tillerson to Ukraine, will also engage regularly with all parties handling the Ukraine negotiations under the so-called Normandy Format -- Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine.



In an interview with VOAs Ukraine service recently, Volker laid out his vision on Ukraine: We need to have Ukraine, which is a sustainable, resilient, prosperous, strong democracy, so that it would be attractive to the regions in the East, and [be the place]where disinformation and propaganda attacks dont really have much traction.

Although Tillerson is seeking to rebuild trust with the Russians, Washington dismissed speculation that it will cut a deal with Moscow over Kyiv.

There certainly is no intent or desire to work exclusively with Russia, a senior State Department official said earlier this week. "This is a multiparty issue, resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine. 



State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the U.S. would not be backing away from concerns of Russias support of rebels in eastern Ukraine.



We believe that the so-called rebels are Russian-backed, Russian-financed, and are responsible for the deaths of Ukrainians, Nauert said Thursday in a briefing. "We continue to call upon the Russians and the Ukrainians to come together.

Make clear support for sovereignty



Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst told VOA on Friday that Tillerson should make it clear of U.S. strong support for Ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity, U.S. recognition that Russia is conducting a war in Ukraine, and U.S. willingness to provide necessary support.

Herbst said he expects Poroshenko to bring up the massive Russian cyberattack against Ukraine during Sundays meeting with Tillerson, and the U.S. has a great deal to learn for what Ukraine has done to counteract these Russia attacks.



I suspect we will see more cooperation in the future, Herbst added.



Tillerson had told U.S. lawmakers that the United States should not be "handcuffed" to the 2015 Minsk agreement in case the parties decide to reach their goals through a different deal.



Senior officials later clarified that Washington would not exclude looking at other options as the U.S. is still fully supportive of the Minsk agreements.



The Minsk agreements are the existing framework, a senior State Department official said. "There is no better option out there.

The so-called Minsk II agreement is a package of measures to alleviate the ongoing conflicts, including a cease-fire, between Moscow-backed rebels and government forces in eastern Ukraine. It was agreed to by Ukraine, Russia and separatists in February of 2015.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said President Donald Trump put the issue of Russian meddling in U.S. elections at the top of his agenda when the two leaders met in their first face-to-face talks on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Germany Friday.

The meeting appeared to have gone better than expected, with Tillerson describing a clear, positive chemistry between the two leaders.

The conversation was the most anticipated event of this Group of 20 summit. The encounter was scheduled to last 30 minutes but went for more than 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Watch: Trump, Putin Appear to Enjoy First Meeting as G-20 Protests Flare

Concerns of the American people

The president opened the meeting with [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin by raising the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election. They had a very robust and lengthy exchange on the subject, Tillerson told reporters.

Tillerson said Putin denied Russian involvement.

The two leaders agreed, though, that this is a substantial hindrance in the ability of us to move the U.S.-Russian relationship forward and agreed to exchange further work regarding commitments of noninterference in the affairs of the United States and our democratic processes as well as those of other countries, Tillerson said.

Russian officials said Putin asked Trump for proof of tampering.

Tillerson also confirmed an agreement had been reached among the United States, Russia and Jordan for a partial cease-fire in Syria, something he said was a first indication of the U.S. and Russia being able to work together in Syria.

It was apparent Trump and Putin enjoyed each others company.

Trump said to Putin that the U.S. looks forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia and for the United States.

He also told Putin it was an honor to meet him, and Putin reciprocated, saying he was delighted to finally meet Trump personally.

Low expectations

Leaders of the worlds richest economies opened the summit with low expectations and much anxiety on the part of those concerned about what they perceive as possible isolationist and protectionist tendencies of the new U.S. administration.

The host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was not hopeful of achieving much consensus, called on leaders to make compromises.

We all know the big global challenges, and we know that time is pressing, and thats why solutions often can only be found if we are ready for compromise and if we move toward each other, without however  and I am saying this explicitly  letting ourselves be influenced too much, Merkel said Friday.

The turmoil and discord were also evident outside the summit venue.

On the streets of Hamburg, it was another day of violent clashes between anti-capitalist demonstrators and anti-riot police.

Security forces used water cannons to disperse demonstrators who tried to prevent delegations from reaching the G-20 venue. Angry demonstrators set cars ablaze.

The demonstrators spread to various streets of the city, sometimes forming human chains to block access by delegations to the summit site.

German officials had been anticipating big protests in the city in the run-up to the two-day gathering and have deployed 20,000 officers.

Police officials said 8,000 demonstrators were in the city Friday, and they anticipated the protests to peak Saturday when they expected as many as 100,000 protesters on the streets.

Protesters goals

Protesters have set up camps in central Hamburg, where they have been sleeping in tents and lining up for free vegan meals.

Most demonstrators approached by a reporter at two camps were reluctant to be interviewed.

People are really suspicious about the media. They feel that the media is more against us than with us, that the media is more with the G-20 and not with the protests, and that makes people suspicious, a demonstrator told VOA.

The protesters general aim is to disrupt the G-20 summit.

Most support leftist and anarchist causes and see the grouping as a gathering of the worlds wealthy elite whom they blame for global economic disparities. Their target is largely Trump, and many said they were outraged by his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord.

The demonstrators, who were largely German, also took aim at Merkel.

She is representing all the connections and all the work with lobbyists, with the automobile industries, with the war industries. She is also a representative for lobbyism, for capitalism, one demonstrator said.
President Donald Trump wrapped up his European trip Saturday after several days of focus on foreign policy, especially U.S. relations with Russia. Trump returns home to tackle a stalled domestic agenda in Washington that includes health care reform, a Republican effort that has bogged down in the Senate. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more.
President Donald Trumps commission to investigate possible election fraud will convene this month, a government notice said Friday, as more U.S. states have refused to hand over at least some voter data.

Trump created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity in May, after claiming without evidence that millions of people voted illegally for his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 election.

U.S. civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers have called the panel a voter suppression tactic by Trump, a Republican who won the presidential election by securing a majority in the Electoral College tally of delegates even as he lost the popular vote to Clinton by some 3 million votes.

Voter fraud rare

The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a watchdog group, has filed a lawsuit to block the commissions data request until its privacy impact can be weighed. A hearing in the case was scheduled for Friday afternoon.

There is a wide consensus among state officials from both parties and election experts that voter fraud is rare. States rejecting the commissions attempts to gather voter information have called it unnecessary and a violation of privacy.

Most U.S. states have rejected full compliance with the commissions requests. Republican Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the commissions vice chairman, said in a statement sent by the White House that 14 states and Washington, D.C., had rejected the request outright.

The commission will meet July 19 to swear in members, formulate objectives and discuss next steps after asking the 50 states to turn over potentially sensitive voter information, according to a General Services Administration (GSA) notice published in the Federal Register.

A June 28 letter from the election panel sought names, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, addresses, birth dates, political affiliations, felony convictions and voting histories.

Most 'incredibly law abiding'

Matthew Dunlap, Maines Democratic secretary of state and a commission member, Friday dismissed Trumps claim that millions of voters illegally cast ballots.

We just dont see that, he told CNN. People are incredibly law abiding.

Although Maine is one state that has pushed back at the commissions request, Dunlap said he hopes the panel can tackle voting issues including ballot access and hacking.

A Republican commission member, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, defended the panel, telling CNN Thursday that fraud with even one vote per precinct ... can change the course of history.

A court filing in the Electronic Privacy Information Center case also showed the panel plans to house data on White House computers rather than at the GSA. The Washington Post, which earlier reported the filing, noted GSA would be required to follow specific privacy requirements.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow tried to tilt the election in Trumps favor. Moscow has dismissed the accusations. Trump has denied any collusion and has questioned the agencies conclusion as well as any Russian role.
The U.N.'s top official for refugee affairs said Friday that granting citizenship to members of Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya minority is crucial for achieving peace in the country's western state of Rakhine, but economic development is also necessary.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi spoke in Bangkok after an official visit to Myanmar. The Rohingya face severe discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and were the targets of violence in Rakhine in 2012 that killed hundreds and drove about 140,000 people  predominantly Rohingya  from their homes to displacement camps, where most remain.

Denied basic rights

The Rohingya have long been denied citizenship, freedom of movement and basic rights in Myanmar, where they are often seen as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh, although many have lived in the area for generations.

The Muslim community, the Rohingya community suffers from a set of rules and regulations that contributes to their marginalization, Grandi said at a news conference. To this you must add the general situation of poverty and underdevelopment that affects everybody in the state of Rakhine.

He said that in addition to providing the Rohingya with more freedom of movement and social services, The Rakhine state where both communities coexist must see more development. There is an urgent need for development investments that must be, however, inclusive of the two communities.

Leader offers assurances

Grandi said he received assurances from Myanmar's top leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, that refugees from her country who have been sheltering in Thailand  many for decades  will be welcome back home.

More than 100,000 refugees from Myanmar, virtually all from ethnic minorities, live in camps in Thailand near the border. Decades of fighting between the Myanmar army and ethnic guerrillas drove them to seek shelter in Thailand.

The installation of Suu Kyi's civilian government last year after five decades of military-led rule has raised hopes they can go home, but intermittent fighting in many areas and the absence of a peace agreement have stalled large-scale repatriation.

Return must be voluntary



Aung San Suu Kyi and the other ministers that I talked to agreed that the refugees were welcome back to Myanmar, but that it was important that such return must be voluntary and must be sustainable, said Grandi. We cannot go back to a situation of insecurity or lack of resources.

He said he also discussed the issue when he met with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and other Thai government officials.



We agreed that it was important to pursue, to continue, the return of refugees from Thailand to Myanmar, Grandi said.

Grandi next visits Bangladesh, which hosts hundreds of thousands of Rohingya from Myanmar who have entered since the 1970s.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions Friday visited Guantanamo Bay prison where the United States has been holding terrorism suspects.

Justice Department officials said Sessions traveled to the military prison in Cuba with his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats to understand the operations at the facility.

President Donald Trump said during the presidential campaign that he would like to see the detention facility stay open but has not announced any policy on the prison since taking office.

Sessions has previously voiced support for continuing to use Guantanamo Bay to hold detainees as opposed to holding them in the United States and having the Justice Department try the suspects.

Asked in March by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt whether the prison should remain available for new detainees, Sessions called the facility a perfectly acceptable place.

Obama administration

Former President Barack Obama tried unsuccessfully to close the prison during his eight years in office. He sent no new detainees to the facility during his administration and reduced the number of prisoners to 41.

Obamas Justice Department argued that U.S. civilian courts were the best place to try terrorism suspects and cited convictions in New York and other cities as proof. Sessions and other Republicans have argued that the legal protections offered in civilian courts, including the right to remain silent, should not be granted to terrorists.

Keeping this country safe from terrorists is the highest priority of the Trump administration, Justice Department spokesman Ian Prior said in a statement Friday.

Recent attacks in Europe and elsewhere confirm that the threat to our nation is immediate and real, and it remains essential that we use every lawful tool available to prevent as many attacks as possible.

Opened in 2002

The prison at the Guantanamo Bay military base opened in 2002 to hold and interrogate terrorism suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks against the United States.

At the height of its operations, the prison held 780 people, mostly inmates with alleged ties to al-Qaida and the Taliban. Since then, hundreds have been transferred back to their home countries or to other nations that agreed to accept them.

The remaining 41 prisoners are viewed as too dangerous to free. Several alleged co-conspirators of the Sept. 11 attacks, including accused mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are awaiting trial.
U.S. bombers, jointly with South Korean forces, have conducted rare, live-fire drills near the border with North Korea, according to the South Korean military.

The South Korean military said in a statement that the drill was designed to sternly respond to the series of North Koreas ballistic missile launches.

The military said two U.S. B-1B Lancers, deployed from Anderson Air Base in Guam, joined by U.S. and South Korean jet fighters in the eastern province of Gangwon, dropped weapons in a simulated destruction of an enemy ballistic missile launcher and underground facilities.

North Korea carried out a test launch earlier in the week of an intercontinental ballistic missile, complete with a re-entry vehicle that could allow it to be equipped with a nuclear warhead.

U.S. military officials estimated the missile had a range of 5,500 kilometers, potentially putting parts of the northwestern United States within Pyongyangs reach.

U.S. President Donald Trump said after North Koreas missile launch that he is prepared to do some pretty severe things to stop North Koreas nuclear ambitions.

They are behaving in a very, very dangerous manner and something will have to be done, he said. There are consequences for their very, very bad behavior, the president said.
The U.S. Department of Energy said on Friday it is helping U.S. firms defend against a hacking campaign that targeted power companies including at least one nuclear plant, saying the attacks have not impacted electricity generation or the grid.

News of the attacks surfaced a week ago when Reuters reported that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a June 28 alert to industrial firms, warning them of hacking targeting the nuclear, power and critical infrastructure sectors.

DOE is working with our government and industry partners to mitigate any impact from a cyber intrusion affecting entities in the energy sector, a Department of Energy representative said in an email to Reuters. At this time, there has been no impact to systems controlling U.S. energy infrastructure. Any potential impact appears to be limited to administrative and business networks.

It was not clear who was responsible for the hacks. The joint report by the DHS and the FBI did not identify the attackers, though it described the hacks as an advanced persistent threat, a term that U.S. officials typically but not always use to describe attacks by culprits.

Dozen U.S. power companies attacked

The DOE discussed its response to the attacks after Bloomberg News reported on Friday that the Wolf Creek nuclear facility in Kansas was among at least a dozen U.S. power firms breached in the attack, citing current and former U.S. officials who were not named.

A representative with the Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp. declined to say if the plant was hacked, but said it continued to operate safely.

There has been absolutely no operational impact to Wolf Creek. The reason that is true is because the operational computer systems are completely separate from the corporate network, company spokeswoman Jenny Hageman said via email.

A separate Homeland Security technical bulletin issued on June 28 included details of code used in a hacking tool that suggest the hackers sought to use the password of a Wolf Creek employee to access the network.

Hageman declined to say if hackers had gained access to that employee's account. The employee could not be reached for comment.

Tainted emails

The June 28 alert said that hackers have been observed using tainted emails to harvest credentials to gain access to networks of their targets.

"Historically, cyber actors have strategically targeted the energy sector with various goals ranging from cyber espionage to the ability to disrupt energy systems in the event of a hostile conflict," the report said.

David Lochbaum, a nuclear expert at the nonprofit group Union of Concerned Scientists, said reactors have a certain amount of immunity from cyber attacks because their operation systems are separate from digital business networks. But over time it would not be impossible for hackers to potentially do harm.

Perhaps the biggest vulnerability nuclear plants face from hackers would be their getting information on plant designs and work schedules with which to conduct a physical attack, Lochbaum said.

DOE shares information

The DOE said it has shared information about this incident with industry, including technical details on the attack and mitigation suggestions.

Security professionals from government and industry are working closely to share information so energy system operators can defend their systems, the agency representative said. Earlier, the FBI and DHS issued a joint statement saying There is no indication of a threat to public safety because the impact appears limited to administrative and business networks.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has not received any notifications of a cyber event that has affected critical systems at a nuclear plant, said spokesman Scott Burnell.

A nuclear industry spokesman told Reuters last Saturday that hackers have never gained access to a nuclear plant.
Visiting Poland this week, US President Donald Trump pledged to boost exports of American liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Central Europe, challenging Russia's dominance of the market. Many European countries accuse Moscow of using energy as a political tool. As Henry Ridgwell reports from Warsaw, analysts say the United States and Russia are on a collision course over energy supplies to the region.
Visiting Poland this week, U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to boost exports of American liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Central Europe and take on Russias stranglehold on energy supplies.

America stands ready to help Poland and other European nations diversify their energy supplies so that you can never be held hostage to a single supplier, Trump told reporters after talks with his Polish counterpart Thursday.

Up to now, that supplier has been Russia. It supplied around a third of Europes gas demand in 2016, with an even greater share in many of the former Soviet states in Central and Eastern Europe.

Watch: US, Russia on Collision Course in Competition for European Gas Market

Natural gas and dominance

Russian state-owned firm Gazprom shut off pipelines to Ukraine in 2015, depriving Kyiv of a major source of revenue and disrupting supplies to Eastern Europe.

Its a key pillar of Russian foreign policy: of using gas and energy as a means of asserting dominance over Central Europe, said Marek Matraszek, founder of the lobby firm CEC Government Relations, who played a major role in the Polish governments acquisition of U.S.-built F-16 fighter planes.

The first shipment of American liquefied natural gas arrived at the port of Swinoujscie on Polands Baltic coast last month. The port facility and liquefaction plant were finished in 2015, aimed at diversifying the countrys energy sources and enabling Poland to become a hub supplying imported gas across Central and Eastern Europe.

With that in mind, the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Warsaw Thursday brought together leaders from a dozen Eastern European nations, plus Trump. He pledged the United States will never use energy as a political tool.

Russia's pipeline

Energy analyst Grzegorz Malecki, a former head of Polands Foreign Intelligence Agency says Russia will be watching with interest.

If this new source of gas supplies is moved forward and the infrastructure built, it may cause Russia to change its approach. The Polish government is probably counting on it. Russia may change its politics towards Poland regarding energy, Malecki told VOA in an interview this week.

Russia has plans of its own to boost exports. Initially scheduled to open in 2019, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would double its capacity to export gas directly to Germany beneath the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine. Eastern European states want the project blocked.

If we want to have United States LNG supplies in Central Europe, we also want to see the United States getting tough on Nord Stream 2, which means getting tough on Russia, Matraszek said.

American LNG and the Nord Stream 2 project are on a collision course, with Poland stuck in the middle, Malecki said.

Its hard to hide the fact that these two projects compete with each other. The odds are that there will be a clash of these energy giants in Europe, he said.

Three-hundred kilometers west along the Baltic coast from where the existing Nord Stream pipeline comes ashore in Germany, Trump and Russias President Vladimir Putin held their first face-to-face meeting at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg Friday.

If the American LNG deal goes through, it could have a broader impact on U.S.-Russia relations, said John Hannah of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

I think it could all happen relatively quickly and in a way that will give us much stronger leverage over Putin and the Russians to begin pushing back against some of the more aggressive activities that weve seen, not only in Europe but against the United States as well, Hannah said.

Trump remains upbeat about his relationship with Putin, but the evolving energy policies in Europe will likely remain a source of friction.
East Libyan forces have lost at least 12 men, with 35 wounded, in fighting that raged in Benghazi despite a declaration of victory by their commander, medical and military officials said Friday.

Forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) are trying to sweep up the last pockets of resistance in Sabri, the final neighborhood in which rival armed groups still hold territory after a three-year battle for control of the city.

The battle for Benghazi between Haftar's LNA and an array of Islamist militants and other fighters has been part of a broader conflict since Libya slipped into turmoil following the 2011 fall of strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

On Wednesday evening, Haftar announced the end of the campaign in a televised speech.

But two days later, clashes were continuing in a handful of streets in Sabri. LNA forces, fighting in a restricted area, said they had stopped using heavy artillery to reduce the risk of friendly fire casualties.

Milad al-Zwai, a spokesman for special forces who are at the forefront of the fighting, said they had freed 10 prisoners held by their opponents as they pushed forward in Sabri.

At least five of the LNA's opponents were killed and 11 arrested, including six Libyans, four Egyptians and a Tunisian, LNA officials said.

Haftar launched his "Operation Dignity" campaign in May 2014, slowly gaining the upper hand against Islamist militants and former rebels who fought Gaddafi in the 2011 uprising.

Haftar is aligned with a government and parliament in eastern Libya. He has rejected a U.N.-backed government based in the capital, Tripoli, as he has gradually strengthened his position on the ground.
The G-20 summit of the leaders of the worlds richest economies wrapped up Saturday in the German city of Hamburg against a backdrop of angry protests and with U.S. President Donald Trump taking center stage.

Trumps successes included what was being characterized as a warm, engaged meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a partial cease-fire deal on Syria, and a pledge to speed up a trade deal with Britain. But the summits final communique laid bare the U.S. leaders remaining differences with some G-20 leaders on climate change and a reaction to their perception of Trumps America First policy, one widely perceived as isolationist. In their communique, the leaders said they agreed to "fight protectionism.

President Trumps schedule on the last day of the summit included a series of meetings on the sidelines with the leaders of Britain, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, and China.

Words of praise for Merkel

At a women entrepreneurs finance session, the U.S. president offered a conciliatory gesture to the summits host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, perhaps the most vocal critic among G-20 leaders of Trumps policies on trade and climate.

Trump praised Merkel for the job her country has done in hosting the summit despite unrelenting anti-capitalist protests that escalated in Hamburg Saturday and included car burnings and the looting of businesses.

It's been really incredible the way things have been handled and nothing's easy, but so professionally, without much interruption despite quite a few people and they seem to follow your G20s around, President Trump told Merkel. But you have been amazing and you have done a fantastic job and thank you very much, chancellor. Bravo, the U.S. leader said.

German officials had expected 100,000 protesters Saturday on the streets of Hamburg.

Trumps last meeting of the day was with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom he had been expected to raise the tough issues of North Korea and Chinese steel dumping. Trump has criticized the Chinese leadership for failing to use its influence on the otherwise isolated North and getting it to stop its missile tests.

The U.S. president and his entourage left Hamburg immediately after meeting with Xi. Briefing reporters aboard Air Force One, a U.S. official described Trumps meeting as substantive and said the conversation had focused on North Korea and U.S.-Chinese military and security cooperation.

The official said Trump and Xi talked about ways to "deal with North Korea together."

Trump-Putin

It was Trumps meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin a day earlier that made headlines at the two-day summit. The two men had a visibly warm encounter that went for more than two hours - far longer than expected to the point where Trump had to push a previously scheduled meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May to Saturday.

Despite the friendly tone of Trumps meeting with Putin Friday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. leader had pressed Putin repeatedly on allegations that Russia meddled in U.S. elections last year.

WATCH: Trump Is Biggest Attraction at G-20 Summit

The Russians denied any interference in the U.S. electoral process.

"President Trump said that he heard firm assertions from President Putin that it is not true and that Russian authorities have not meddled in these elections and that [Trump] said that he accepts these assertions. That's it," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

At the end of the summit, Putin told reporters they should ask Trump the question of whether the U.S. leader believed Putins assertions or not.

You have to ask about President Trumps attitude to my answers and not what happened. Nothing was happening. We werent meddling [in the election], Putin said.

U.S. officials have not confirmed Lavrovs characterization of President Trumps response to Putin.

The meeting is likely to bring returns for Putin at home. Trump is still Russias hope, said Andrei Kolesnikov, senior fellow and chair of the Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center. He is still a person who can turn the global agenda in Russias favor and Russia will attempt to use that  Trumps emotional side.

Whether the meeting represents similar gains for President Trump remains a question.

The U.S. leader appeared to focus entirely on the relationships and issues he values and not concentrate on the issues that are of less interest to him. During the summit he made no significant mention of climate change, a topic that Merkel and others said they would prioritize in the wake of Trumps decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord.

Trump-May

At his session with the British prime minister, Trump described his sit down with Putin as a tremendous meeting.

Trump and May talked about their post-Brexit relations, an especially significant theme at a time when Trumps America First policy and Britains decision to break from the EU give the two historic allies even more reason to bond.

There is no country that could possibly be closer than our countries and for a long time, Trump said. We're working on a trade deal that will be a very, very big deal, very powerful deal, great for both countries, and I think we'll have that done very, very quickly.

Trump told reporters he will be going to London but the date still needs to be worked out.
U.S. President Donald Trump "pressed" Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Moscow's meddling in last year's U.S. presidential election at their first face-to-face meeting Friday, according to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Tillerson said Putin denied Russian involvement in the election, although the two leaders had a "very robust and lengthy exchange on the subject."

"The president pressed President Putin on more than one occasion regarding Russian involvement," Tillerson told reporters after the two leaders' meeting that overshadowed the gathering in Hamburg, Germany, of the leaders of the world's 20 largest economies.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who also attended the meeting, later said that Trump accepted Putin's statements that Russia had not interfered in the election.

Tillerson said the two leaders agreed to continue the discussion, with the intent of securing a commitment from Russia not to meddle in U.S. affairs in the future. He said there was no sign that the two countries would ever agree on the issue, so both leaders were focused on moving forward.

There are several ongoing investigations into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia and interfered in last November's U.S. presidential election.

At a joint news conference Thursday in Warsaw with Polish President Andrzej Duda, Trump addressed Russia's involvement. "I think it was Russia, but I think it was probably other people and/or countries," Trump said. "Nobody really knows for sure."

Trump's stance on the issue has been somewhat at odds with the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia meddled in the election and with testimony his own nominees presented before Congress.

The meeting also produced an agreement designed to de-escalate fighting in Syria. The two leaders agreed to a cease-fire in southwestern Syria, a deal that increases U.S. involvement in the effort to resolve the Syrian civil war.

Israel and Jordan, which share a border with southern Syria, also have agreed to the cease-fire, which is set to take effect Sunday.

Although both the U.S. and Russia oppose the Islamic State militant group in Syria, the two countries have thrown their support behind opposing sides in the war. The U.S. supports rebel forces who are opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has the support of Moscow.

The agreement could give the U.S. more influence over who fills a leadership void that is developing as Islamic State is forced out of its most important Syrian strongholds.

The U.S. and Russia have been negotiating the cease-fire for some time, and it came to fruition at the formal bilateral meeting that was highly anticipated by the international community.

The meeting was fraught with symbolism as Trump, still new to the world of global diplomacy, sat down with Putin, a former KGB agent, who came to power in what amounted to a Kremlin coup 17 years ago.

The meeting was closely scrutinized for signs of how the two leaders interacted. Relations between Putin and former President Barack Obama were strained, and Trump repeatedly has said he would like to improve ties with Russia.
Ex-pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli leaves after his appearance at the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on the first day of his securities fraud trial June 26, 2017. (Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)

Not much Martin Shkreli has done the past two weeks has helped him in a trial that could put him behind bars for 20 years for eight counts of securities and wire fraud.

He was personally rebuked by the judge for speaking to reporters about his case inside the Brooklyn courthouse and on the streets outside where jurors could potentially hear him. He has mocked prosecutors on a live stream on his Facebook page and called them a junior varsity team to news outlets. One day, he strolled into a room filled with reporters and made light of a witness who had just testified against him.

And yet, despite the antics and his attorneys acknowledging that Shkreli is an odd duck, legal experts say the flamboyant former hedge fund manager is putting on a novel defense that may resonate with jurors.

At the heart of his teams legal argument is this question: Is his alleged wrongdoing worth a criminal conviction if his investors did not lose money?

Shkreli  who is often called Pharma Bro on social media  became infamous for increasing the price of a vital drug used by AIDS patients by 5,000 percent and then publicly lamenting that he didnt raise it more. But federal authorities say they arrested him because he also lied to his investors about how he was using their cash. None of those investors, however, lost money. Some even made a big profit, largely because Shkrelis bet on a biopharmaceutical start-up paid off.

If he gets off, it would be an embarrassing loss for federal prosecutors struggling to prove that they can put away prominent Wall Street figures.

If Shkreli is acquitted, jaws will drop. Given the time, taxpayer money and resources devoted to this case, a defense win would be a huge embarrassment for prosecutors, said James Goodnow, an attorney with Fennemore Craig, a corporate defense firm.

He added that a defeat could make prosecutors gun-shy about pursing other high-profile cases, at least in the short term.

To the wealthy elite he courted, Shkreli was a savvy if eccentric Wall Street insider. Even after greeting one investor while wearing fluffy slippers and a stethoscope, Shkreli collected millions from those willing to bet on the market instincts of a self-made hedge fund manager from a working-class family in Brooklyn.

His investors would reportedly crow about Shkrelis smarts, including an encyclopedic knowledge of drugs and the ability to memorize medical journals. Some pointed to an internship he had at age 17 at a hedge fund started by CNBC personality Jim Cramer.

Susan Hassan, the daughter of pharmaceutical industry giant Fred Hassan, former chairman of Bausch & Lomb, heard from a friend that Shkreli was a rising star in the hedge fund industry and forked over $300,000. She was new to the opaque hedge fund world and considered Shkreli a potential mentor, she told jurors. In the end, she walked away with $400,000 in cash and more than 50,000 shares in Retrophin, a biopharmaceutical company Shkreli launched. She eventually sold those shares for $900,000, making three times her initial investment.

At the end of the day, you made a hefty profit? Benjamin Brafman, Shkrelis bulldog defense attorney, asked her recently. Yes, Hassan said, even more than I asked for.

During a surprise visit to reporters after Hassan testified, Shkreli made light of her remarks. We should all only be this victimized in life, he said.

Darren Blanton, who is known as the cowboy venture capitalist and who served as an adviser to President Trumps transition team, met Shkreli for dinner and decided to entrust him with $1.25 million. Several years later, Blanton walked away with $200,000 in cash and Retrophin shares that he sold for $2.4 million. He has another $3 million worth in stock that he has yet to sell.

Youre $5 million ahead, Brafman asked the Texas investor. Yes, Blanton responded.

These investors were high rollers with tens of millions of dollars who understood the risks of investing in a hedge fund and ultimately made money, Brafman argued.

This is a very unusual fraud case in that there arent a line of people who lost money, cant pay rent, and the like, said Jeff Cramer, managing director of investigations firm Berkeley Research Group and a former federal prosecutor. It is an enticing argument to a jury.

But prosecutors say these handsome payoffs were only possible because of an elaborate shell game in which Shkreli used Retrophin cash and assets to pay off discontented investors in his hedge fund, MSMB Capital. MSMB Capital sustained significant losses in 2011 after an investment by Shkreli went sour. After the faulty trade, one employee testified that Shkreli seemed depressed and sat at his desk with his hoodie up, not speaking.

That day things became deathly quiet. . . . I definitely sensed something was wrong, but there was no talk, testified Caroline Stewart, who conducted research for the hedge fund. It was like somebody had died. In essence that somebody was the fund.

Rather than tell his investors of the massive loss, Shkreli raised more money for another hedge fund and then started Retrophin, according to prosecutors. Then as pressure built from unhappy investors, Shkreli gave them Retrophin cash and stock.

He looted the company of more than $10 million, according to prosecutors. Telling lies on top of lies  this is what that man, Martin Shkreli, did for years, G. Karthik Srinivasan, an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District Court in Brooklyn, told jurors.

The investors testified they spent months, and sometimes years, asking Shkreli for their money. Blanton even filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission. I was worried Martin might be lying to me, Blanton testified.

Indeed, Brafman, Shkrelis attorney, acknowledged during opening statements: Not everything he [Shkreli] said was 100 percent accurate, but he was truthful to the mission of making Retrophin successful.

But simply showing that his investors didnt lose money may not be enough to save Shkreli from a conviction, according to some legal analysts following the trial.

The no harm, no foul standard may have intuitive appeal, but thats not the way the law works, said Goodnow, the Fennemore Craig attorney.

Its like if a burglar broke into a house while its owners were out of town, threw a rager, and then left a note saying, No worries  yeah, I broke in, but I cleaned up and left you flowers, he said. The positive outcome of a clean house and flowers doesnt negate the underlying crime.

Still, the prosecutors will have to show that Shkreli lied to investors, legal experts say. Based on testimony from investors, the prosecution has already provided evidence that Shkreli mischaracterized the size of his hedge fund, lied about having an independent auditor and exaggerated his connections to high-ranking pharmaceutical executives. Instead of dismissing Shkrelis investors as faux victims, the conduct may evoke images of notorious Wall Street villains like Bernie Madoff for the jury, Goodnow said.

Regardless, the trial is giving renewed attention to Shkreli, who rarely shies away from the spotlight. In the surprise visit to reporters last week, Shkreli appeared confident and calm. He asked reporters how they thought the trial was going and then criticized their coverage while proclaiming his innocence. I think the world blames me for almost everything, he told them.

Later on a Facebook live stream, Shkreli expressed confidence that he would be back watching the markets regularly in a few weeks, during the day.

Weve got the prosecutors pretty freaked out, he said. The case is falling apart before their eyes, and they dont know how its happening. Sad.
Exceptional Excellent Very Good



(Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

Here are five wines to help you through the sweltering weather of July: Rose of course, including a top-notch Sancerre and a fun one from Italy, plus three delicious whites  two from Italy, one from Spain.

Kevin et Christian Lauverjat, Moulin des Vrilleres Sancerre Rose 2016

Loire Valley, France, $23

With bright cherry and strawberry fruit and a core of minerality familiar to fans of the regions more famous sauvignon blanc, this rose of pinot noir is textbook Sancerre. Just delicious  and with wide availability in the region. Alcohol by volume: 12.5 percent.

Distributed by Elite: Available in the District at Batch 13, the Bottle Shop, Burkas Wine & Liquor, Chats Liquors, Connecticut Avenue Wine & Liquor, Gallagher & Graham Fine Spirits, Georgetown Wine & Spirits, Harrys Reserve Fine Wine & Spirits, Mac Market, Magruders, Metro Wine & Spirits, Morris Miller Wine & Liquor, S&R Liquors, Saras Market, Streets Market and Cafe, Tenley Market, Wagshals Deli, Whole Foods Market (various locations), Wine Specialist; on the list at many restaurants. Available in Maryland at Annebeths in Annapolis, Bradley Food & Beverage in Bethesda, College Square Liquors in Westminster, Cranbrook Liquors and Shawan Liquors in Cockeysville, Dawsons Liquors in Severna Park, Finewine.com in Gaithersburg, Fairgrounds Discount Beverages in Timonium, Grauls Wine & Spirits and Wine Source in Baltimore, Highland Wine & Spirits, Landover Liquor in Cheverly, Old Town Market in Kensington, Red Run Liquors in Owings Mills, World Gourmet Wine & Beer in Potomac. Available in Virginia at Balduccis and Streets Market and Cafe in Alexandria, Cheesetique in Ballston, Culpeper Cheese Company, Dominion Wine and Beer in Falls Church, Grapevine and the Town Duck in Warrenton, Norms Beer & Wine in Vienna, Whole Foods Market (Alexandria, Arlington, Pentagon City, Reston).

GREAT VALUE

Fantini Cerasuolo dAbruzzo 2016

Abruzzo, Italy, $10

Italian roses often are a bit heavy, so this amusing wine is a little unusual with its lively acidity. Cerasuolo means cherry, referring perhaps to the bright, light pink hue the wine earns from spending six hours on the grape skins after pressing. The variety is Montepulciano dAbruzzo. This wine is gulpable by itself but pairs well with seafood dishes or light appetizers. ABV: 12.5 percent.

Distributed by Bacchus: Available in the District at Burkas Wine & Liquor, Gallagher & Graham Fine Spirits; on the list at Centrolina, Dinos Grotto, Fig and Olive, Il Canale, Urbana. Available in Maryland at Bay Wine & Spirits in North Beach, Ceriello Fine Foods-Brewers Hill in Baltimore, Giolitti Delicatessen in Annapolis; on the list at Grano Emporio in Baltimore, Scossa in Easton.

GREAT VALUE

Valdrinal de Santamaria Rueda Verdejo 2015

Spain, $10

This delicious white wine is an ideal way to start a meal or to accompany light fare such as seafood salad. It tastes like just-ripe peaches and a hint of citrus. ABV: 13 percent.

Distributed by Stefano Selections: Available in the District at Calvert Woodley, Chevy Chase Wine & Spirits, Connecticut Avenue Wine & Liquor, Potomac Wine & Spirits, Sheffield Wine & Liquor Shoppe; on the list at Silo. Available in Maryland at Bristol Liquors, Hampden Parks Liquors, the Happy Grape, Mt. Vernon Supermarket and Wells Discount Liquors in Baltimore; Decanter Fine Wines in Columbia; Dulaney Wines & Spirits in Towson; Eastport Liquors in Annapolis; Liquor Pump in Parkville. Available in Virginia at Grand Cru in Arlington, Planet Wine & Gourmet in Alexandria.

La Mesma Gavi 2015

Italy, $18

Light and slightly floral, this delicate white wine makes a nice match for salads and lighter pasta dishes.

Distributed by Elite: Available in the District at Broad Branch Market, Pauls of Chevy Chase, Quincy Liquor; on the list at Centrolina, Lapis, Oval Room, Radici, the Salt Line, Urbana. Available in Maryland at Beards Hill Liquors in Aberdeen, Frederick Wine House, Mt. Washington Wine Co. in Baltimore, State Line Liquors in Elkton, Wine Bin in Ellicott City; on the list at Gnocco in Baltimore, Pure Wine Cafe in Ellicott City, Vini Culture in Frederick. Available in Virginia at Arrowine and Cheese in Arlington, the Bottle Stop in Occoquan, Cheesetique in Ballston, Streets Market and Cafe in Alexandria, Whole Foods Market (Fair Lakes, Tysons); on the list at Bistro 360 in Arlington, Trattoria Villagio in Clifton.

Indigenous Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi 2015

Italy, $16

This white wine is medium-bodied and full of ripe tree-fruit flavors. The vintage was riper than usual, so it doesnt have the marine salinity verdicchio typically offers. But it makes up for it with extra fruit. ABV: 13 percent.

Distributed by Hop & Wine: Available in the District at Cork & Fork, Rodmans. Available in Virginia at Altura Wine & Gourmet in Alexandria, Oakton Wine Shop.

Availability information is based on distributor records. Wines might not be in stock at every listed store and might be sold at additional stores. Prices are approximate. Check Winesearcher.com to verify availability, or ask a favorite wine store to order through a distributor.
THE DISTRICT

Man is fatally shot in Georgetown

One man was killed and another was wounded in a shooting in Georgetown early Saturday, according to D.C. police.

The shooting happened in the 3500 block of Water Street shortly before 3 a.m., police said.

Kennedy Javier Amaya-Olivares, 19, of Severn, Md., died at the scene, police said. A second victim, whose name has not been disclosed, was taken to a hospital for treatment of serious injuries.

No arrests were made in connection with the shooting, and police did not comment on a possible motive.

The shooting occurred on a street below the Whitehurst Freeway and the Key Bridge nearby popular boathouses for canoeing, kayaking and rowing and close to the Capital Crescent Trail used daily by runners, hikers and cyclists.

 Sharif Hassan

MARYLAND

Two motorcyclists killed in crash

Two motorcyclists were killed in a multi-vehicle crash late Friday on Interstate 695 near Baltimore.

Both were men from the Washington area, one from Prince Georges County and the other from Montgomery County. Their identities were being withheld pending notification of their families.

Four other people involved in the incident were taken to hospitals.

Maryland State Police received calls from motorists reporting a crash shortly after 11 p.m. Friday on the inner loop of the Baltimore Beltway, just before the Sparrows Point exit, southeast of the city.

A preliminary investigation by Maryland State Police showed that the driver of a black motorcycle lost control of his vehicle for unknown reasons and drove into the back of a construction vehicle, police said. The driver of the black motorcycle then veered into four other motorcycles, causing them to crash.

 Rachel Siegel

Juvenile eagle found shot is euthanized

A juvenile bald eagle was euthanized after being found shot on Independence Day in a Maryland park, authorities said.

A group of birders at Swan Harbor Farm, a Harford County park in Havre de Grace, Md., found the bird panting and with a contorted body on Tuesday, according to Candy Thomson, a spokeswoman for Maryland Natural Resources Police.

The birders contacted an eagle rehabilitation specialist, who alerted Natural Resources Police, and an officer kept the eagle wrapped up in his air-conditioned patrol vehicle until a rehabilitation specialist came to take it to a rescue center, Thomson said. The rescue organization completed X-rays on the bird and found that it had been shot.

Someone clearly took aim at this bird, and it had a pellet lodged near its spine, Thomson said.

The rescue organization determined that the bird could not be saved, and it was euthanized, Thomson said. Because of the location of the birds injury, Thomson said, it was unlikely that it had flown far, and it may have been shot in the park.

Youve got to wonder about people, she said. Shooting an eagle on July 4. Seriously?

Killing a bald eagle is a federal offense punishable by fines up to $250,000, Thomson said.

 Justin Wm. Moyer

VIRGINIA

Crash in Alexandria kills a passenger

One person was killed and another was injured in a crash early Saturday morning in the 300 block of South Henry Street in Alexandria, police said.

An initial investigation by Alexandria police indicated that the crash occurred at approximately 3:11 a.m. when Simon Pedro Urbino-Vasquez, a 27-year-old Fairfax County resident, lost control of his vehicle while southbound on South Henry Street. Two passengers were also in the vehicle.

Police said Urbino-Vasquez sustained minor injuries and refused medical treatment. He has been charged with DUI-related vehicular manslaughter and is being held without bond, police said.

Killed in the crash was a 24-year-old Silver Spring resident. Another 24-year-old, of Fairfax County, was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, police said. The name of the deceased was being withheld so that next of kin could be notified.

 Rachel Siegel


Retired Marine Ronald L. Ridgeway, photographed at his Texas home, was 18 years old in 1968 when his patrol was attacked in Vietnam. He was captured and held prisoner for five years before being released, a time during which he was believed dead. (Matthew Busch for The Washington Post)

Ronald L. Ridgeway was killed in Vietnam on Feb. 25, 1968.

The 18-year-old Marine Corps private first class fell with a bullet to the shoulder during a savage firefight with the enemy outside Khe Sanh.

Dozens of Marines, from what came to be called the ghost patrol, perished there.

At first, Ridgeway was listed as missing in action. Back home in Texas, his old school, Sam Houston High, made an announcement over the intercom.

But his mother, Mildred, had a letter from his commanding officer saying there was little hope. And that August, she received a deeply regret telegram from the Marines saying he was dead.

On Sept. 10, he was buried in a national cemetery in St. Louis. A tombstone bearing his name and the names of eight others missing from the battle was erected over the grave. His mother went home with a folded American flag.

But as his comrades and family mourned, Ron Ridgeway sat in harsh North Vietnamese prisons for five years, often in solitary confinement, mentally at war with his captors and fighting for a life that was technically over.

Last month, almost 50 years after his supposed demise, Ridgeway, 68, a retired supervisor with Veterans Affairs, sat in his home here and recounted for the first time in detail one of the most remarkable stories of the Vietnam War.

As the United States marks a half-century since the height of the war in 1967 and 68, his back-from-the-dead saga is that of a young mans perseverance through combat, imprisonment and abuse.

A 1973 photograph of Ridgeway after his return to the United States. (Matthew Busch for The Washington Post)

He was 17 when he signed up with the Marines in 1967. He was 18 when he was captured, 19 when his funeral was held and 23 when he was released from prison in 1973.

[The lucky ones: Marines who survived Vietnam gather to remember]

You have to be willing to take it a day at a time, he said. You have to set in your mind that youre going to survive. You have to believe that they are not going to defeat you, that youre going to win.

Everybodys dead

About 9:30 on the morning of Feb. 25, Pfc. Ridgeways four-man fire team charged an enemy trench line.

The curving trench seemed empty when they got there. But as Ridgeway and the others made their way along it, suddenly an enemy grenade dropped in.

We back around the curve, he recalled. It blows up.

We throw a couple grenades, he said. We backed off. . . . Then we realized the firing [from Marines] behind us had almost died down to nothing.

When they stood up to look around, they saw North Vietnamese soldiers walking through the underbrush toward them. I guess they thought we were all dead, he said.

We cut loose on them, he recalled. They were easy targets.

Ridgeway had been part of a platoon of about 45 men sent out from the besieged Khe Sanh combat base, in what was then northern South Vietnam, to find enemy positions, and perhaps capture a prisoner.

The enemys noose around the Marine base had been tightening, with heavy mortar and artillery fire, and the patrol was hazardous. Six thousand Americans were surrounded by 20,000 to 40,000 North Vietnamese soldiers.

On that foggy morning, the patrols leader, 2nd Lt. Donald Jacques, 20, strayed off course and was drawn into a deadly ambush, said Jacquess company commander, Capt. Kenneth W. Pipes.

More than two dozen Marines, including Jacques, were killed.

[A young officers death is captured by a doomed photographer]

One of the Marines in the trench with Ridgeway, James R. Bruder, 18, of Allentown, Pa., was cut down as the enemy returned fire, according to author Ray Stubbes book about Khe Sanh, Battalion of Kings.

Stitched him across the chest and killed him, Ridgeway remembered.

The fire team leader, Charles G. Geller, 20, of East St. Louis, Ill., took a peek, and a bullet creased his forehead, knocking him down.

Everybodys dead, Geller said, according to Stubbes book. Everybody behind us is dead. . . . What are we going to do?

They had to retreat. Geller left first, running back across the field where they had charged, followed by Ridgeway.

The son of a Southern Pacific railroad worker, Ridgeway came from a working-class neighborhood of Houston. He had a younger brother.

His parents were divorced. He had left high school and joined the Marines because I wanted to get away, he recalled.

As he and Geller ran to the rear, they came upon Willie J. Ruff, 20, of Columbia, S.C., who was lying on his back with a broken arm.

We were in a hurry, Ridgeway said. But we stopped. He was wounded.

As Geller knelt beside Ruff, a bullet hit Geller in the face, leaving a terrible wound. Then Ridgeway was struck by a round that went through his shoulder. All three men were now down.

All we could do was lay there and play dead, he said. We were in the wide open.

Ridgeway said he drifted in and out of consciousness. When Geller, who was delirious, got to his knees, the enemy threw a grenade, killing him.

Ridgeway said the North Vietnamese then began shooting at Marines who had fallen in front of their trenches. Theyre popping the bodies to make sure theyre dead, he said.

One bullet hit the dirt near him. A second glanced off his helmet and struck him in the buttock, he said.

When that hit, it jarred the body, he said. They figured they got me. Left me for dead and kept working their way down past me.

Ridgeway passed out again. When he woke up, it was dark and American artillery was pounding the area.

Ruff said he had been hit again and begged Ridgeway not to leave him. Ridgeway said he wouldnt. At some point that night, Ruff died.

Ridgeway was awakened the following morning by someone pulling on his arm. He thought at first it was fellow Marines.

But when he looked up, he realized it was a young North Vietnamese soldier trying to pull off his wristwatch.

Agony and identification

After the firefight, the shattered survivors of the patrol made it back to the combat base, and the dead were left on the battlefield.

A rescue mission was deemed unwise by higher-ups, who feared losing even more men and depleting the bases defenses, according to Pipes, who is now retired and lives in California.

In a telephone interview, he said that with binoculars, he could see Marines bodies strewn on the battlefield. It was worse than agony, he said. No further patrols outside the combat base were immediately permitted.

We couldnt go get them, he said. They laid out there for six weeks.

On March 17, he wrote to Ridgeways mother: I am sorry that I can offer no tangible basis for hope concerning Ronalds welfare.

Finally, on April 6, the Marines were able to return to the battlefield, Pipes said.

What was left of the dead was brought back to Khe Sanhs temporary morgue, where Pipes and others went about the grisly task of identifying the dead. There wasnt much there but bones and shoes and boots . . . [and] dog tags, he said.

In the end, of the 26 missing and presumed killed in action on Feb. 25, remains of all but nine were positively identified, according to Pipes and Stubbe.

After his disappearance, Ridgeways name was etched onto a tombstone in a St. Louis cemetery, along with those of eight fellow Marines who went missing in the 1968 ambush. (Fred Waters/Associated Press)

The unassociated body parts were sent home and placed in two caskets that would be buried beneath a large tombstone bearing the nine names of those unaccounted for, Stubbe said.

The day of the funeral at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery was sunny and cool. Ridgeways mother attended, and there were flags and solemn honors. A newspaper photographer took pictures.

Far away, in North Vietnam, the rainy season was on, and Ridgeway was in his seventh month as a POW.

The work of surviving

As he sat alone in his windowless cell beside a wooden bed and the bucket he used for waste, Ridgeway went about creating a make-believe life.

There was no one to talk to, and he was allowed out only once a day to empty the bucket.

So he imagined that he was somewhere else, that he owned a pickup truck, that he had a wife and children, that he would go fishing.

It was a mental exercise, he said, and he found that spending three days in his make-believe world would take up a whole day in solitary.

Ridgeway said that by then, his captors considered him a die-hard reactionary and all Marines animals.

He hadnt cooperated with his guards. He had lied to interrogators, pretended he was a green kid who had never fired his rifle and gave them bogus military information.

The startled North Vietnamese soldier had locked and loaded his rifle when he realized Ridgeway was alive that morning.

Ridgeway expected to be killed. You didnt hear about prisoners being taken, he said. But he was bandaged, fed and marched away, through Laos and into North Vietnam.

He spent time in several jungle camps, held in wooden leg stocks, and he eventually wound up in enemy prisons.

He got lice, malaria and dysentery and lost 50 pounds. He wore pink-and-gray-striped POW pajamas and rubber sandals, all of which he brought home with him when he was freed.

He was beaten with bamboo canes and tied up during interrogations.

One interrogator the Americans named Cheese  because he seemed to be the big cheese  was especially cruel.

He spoke English and sat up on a high chair as he questioned POWs tied on the floor. When he nodded his head, a guard would strike the prisoner with the bamboo cane.

He had a face like a rat, Ridgeway recalled, and was a mean . . . sadistical son of a b----.

Ridgeway said he didnt dwell on the notion that people back home might think he was dead. They would be fine. His job was to survive.

In January 1973, he was in North Vietnams notorious Hanoi Hilton prison when his captors abruptly announced that the POWs were to be freed as part of a peace agreement before the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam.



Ronald Ridgeway is photographed in 1973 shortly after his release from POW camps in Vietnam. (Family photo)

(Maine Military Museum  and Learning Center)

When the list of POWs being released became public, Ridgeways name was on it.

Back in Houston, his mother banged on a neighbors door and said, Ronnies alive!

Memory etched in stone

Ron Ridgeway was released on March 16, 1973. He came home, got married and went to college.

I came back in basically one piece, he said. I came back able to live my life. . . . We went over with a job to do. We did it to the best of our ability. We were lucky enough to come back.

Several months after his return, he and his wife, Marie, went to Jefferson Barracks to see his tombstone, which was later replaced.

It brought back memories, he said. The loss of life of those that I knew. It was a solemn experience.

Carved in the surface were the words Ambushed Patrol Died in Vietnam Feb. 25, 1968.

Eight names from the top: Ronald L. Ridgeway.

Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report.
A rally here by the Ku Klux Klan and its supporters to protest the Charlottesville City Councils decision to remove a statue honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee encountered a loud and angry counterprotest Saturday afternoon.

Members of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which is based in Pelham, N.C., near the Virginia border, gathered at Justice Park, situated in a quiet, leafy residential neighborhood in downtown Charlottesville. They shouted white power, and some wore white robes.

About 30 Klansmen were escorted to and from the rally by police in riot gear who were out on a hot day to separate the rallygoers and approximately 1,000 counterprotesters who greeted them with jeers. Attempts by Klan leaders to address the crowd were repeatedly drowned out by boos and chants. Some of the Klan members arrived armed, carrying handguns in holsters at their belts.

[KKK marchers say they will be armed Saturday at Charlottesville rally]

The rally was held about a block away from Emancipation Park  the renamed Lee Park  where the statue of Lee astride a horse still stands. Charlottesville police reported that vandals had painted messages in green and red paint on the statue overnight.

A statue of Robert E. Lee collects snow in Lee Park as snow falls on Monday, March 3, 2014 in Charlottesville, Va. (Ryan M. Kelly/AP)

More than 100 officers from the Virginia State Police, Albemarle County police and University of Virginia police were prepared to assist Charlottesville police in maintaining order.

After the Klan rally ended, police led several people away in handcuffs after a large group of counterprotesters remained near the vicinity of the park. Police asked those still gathered nearby to disperse. Wearing riot gear and gas masks, the police declared the counterprotesters an unlawful assembly and used gas canisters to compel them to leave the area.

Police said Sunday that 22 people were arrested. Authorities said three people were hospitalized; two for heat related issues and one for an alcohol related issue.

I was pleased with the professionalism and commitment of our law enforcement partners as our safety plan was well executed. Officers traveled from near and far to assist the CPD in maintaining law and order during this difficult endeavor, Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said Sunday.

Hundreds of local citizens rose up in a non-violent protest against the hate that was being spewed in Justice Park, Thomas said in a statement. When Klan members arrived, the atmosphere quickly became emotionally charged. Several outside groups made it clear they would become confrontational; however, we were prepared for the unrest that occurred near the conclusion of the event which unfortunately resulted in a number of arrests. Order was quickly restored and our community remains safe.

Charlottesville, a city of close to 50,000 and home to the prestigious public flagship campus of the University of Virginia, had become increasingly tense as the rally approached. A CITY ON EDGE read the front-page headline in the local paper, the Daily Progress, on Saturday.

[White nationalist Richard Spencer leads torch-bearing protesters defending Lee statue]

1 of 18 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Photos from the scene of a Ku Klux Klan rally and counterprotest in Charlottesville, Va. View Photos Klansmen were escorted to and from a rally by police in riot gear to protect them from about 1,000 counterprotesters who greeted them with jeers of shame. The rally was held to protest the citys decision this year to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a public park and rename that park. Caption Klansmen arriving and departing from the rally were escorted by police in riot gear to protect them from about 1,000 counterprotesters, who greeted them with jeers of Shame! The rally was held to protest the citys decision this year to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a public park and rename that park. July 8, 2017 Members of the Ku Klux Klan arrive for a rally in Charlottesville, Va., to protest the planned removal of a statue of General Robert E. Lee. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images Wait 1 second to continue.

City leaders organized diversionary events elsewhere in the city and encouraged residents and visitors not to confront the KKK members directly. While many took that advice, others wanted to make sure the rally participants heard their voices.

It is important for me to be here because the Klan was ignored in the 1920s, and they metastasized, said Jalane Schmidt, a professor at the University of Virginia who has been among those leading the call for the Lee statue removal. They need to know that their ideology is not acceptable.

I teach about slavery and African American history, and its important to face the Klan and to face the demons of our collective history and our original sin of slavery. We do it on behalf of our ancestors who were terrorized by them.

Though the council voted to remove the statue, a court order has stopped the city from acting on that decision until a hearing next month. Some observers predict a protracted legal battle that would further delay the removal.

In an editorial last month, city councilwoman Kristin Szakos said the council voted to remove the statue and join a growing group of cities around the nation that have decided that they no longer want to give pride of place to tributes to the Confederate Lost Cause erected in the early part of the 20th century.

[The Ku Klux Klan was dead. The first Hollywood blockbuster revived it.]

The Klan says the citys decision to remove the Lee statue is part of a wider effort to get rid of white history.

Theyre trying to erase the white culture right out of the history books, Klan member James Moore said Thursday.

Brandi Fisher, of Ridgeley, W.Va., drove hours to attend the rally.

I dont agree with everything the Klan believes, but I do believe our history should not be taken away, said Fisher, 41. Are we going to remove the Washington and Jefferson memorials because they were slave owners?

Ezra Israel, 32, who is African American, says the statue should stay up as a reminder of slavery and the people who supported it.

Its hiding history to take it down, he said as he made his way to the rally. We need to leave it up so people can see it and see that we were oppressed and were still a product of that today.

Toung Nguyen, an immigrant from Vietnam who moved to Charlottesville as a child in the early 1980s, said he believes the money that will be spent on removing the statue could be better used improving the local school system. But he says racism has gotten worse in the last couple of years and he understands why many believe the statue needs to go.

Its just disappointing that we still have to deal with this kind of nonsense, Nguyen said. Our country feels like its going full circle.

Charlottesville is already planning for another protest next month. Several white nationalist groups have a permit for an Aug. 12 rally also calling for the councils decision on the statue to be reversed.

T. Rees Shapiro contributed to this report.
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Ms.

To Sheila Michaels, it looked like a typographical error when she saw the strange honorific, neither Miss for the unmarried nor Mrs. for the wed, on a Trotskyist mailing to her New York City roommate in the early 1960s.

But it was not a typo, and the honorific had existed at least since the turn of the 20th century, although it enjoyed only limited circulation.

In 1901, a writer for a newspaper in Springfield, Mass., proposed Ms. to guard against missteps, noting that to call a maiden Mrs. is only a shade worse than to insult a matron with the inferior title Miss.

The term had a certain utility in business correspondence, when the marital status of a female addressee was unknown. Some early feminists found it appealing, a counterpart to the masculine Mr. that did not betray ones private life.

When Ms. Michaels saw the word, she was in her early 20s and active in the civil rights and womens movements. Immediately she saw the egalitarian potential of those three characters. By the time of her death on June 22 at 78, she was widely credited with spurring society to make room for Ms.  in common English usage, in the standardized forms of officialdom and in cultural attitudes toward women.

Ms. Michaels died at a hospital in New York. The cause was acute leukemia, said a second cousin, Howard Nathanson.

The word Ms. was perhaps first introduced to a wide audience with the founding of Ms. magazine by Gloria Steinem and other feminist organizers in 1971. The title was proposed to Steinem by a friend who had reportedly heard Ms. Michaels promoting the term on Womankind, a feminist radio show in New York.

Ms. Michaels envisioned widespread use of Ms., but it also served a concern of hers in particular.

Partly because of my personal situation, partly because of my observations at large, I had a low opinion of marriage  and certainly no desire to marry, she once told the Japan Times in an interview. I felt strongly about not belonging to a man  either to my father as a Miss, or to a husband as a Mrs.

 Ms. , she said, is me!

Sheila Babs Michaels was born in St. Louis on May 8, 1939. Her mother was a radio writer, according to accounts of her life, and her biological father was a civil liberties lawyer. Her parents were not married, and she had several stepfathers, the result being a fluidity in her surname, the New York Times reported in an obituary.

She told the Japan Times that, during her upbringing in St. Louis, she developed a curiosity about a woman known as Miz Noble who lived behind our house.

I wondered whether this meant she was unmarried or a widow, Ms. Michaels said. I liked the ambiguity.

Ms. Michaels enrolled at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., where, her cousin recalled her saying, she was kicked out because administrators considered her a troublemaker and didnt agree with her views.

She became deeply involved with the civil rights movement, working with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Congress of Racial Equality in the South. For periods, she earned a livelihood as a cabdriver. Later in life, she interviewed civil rights activists for oral histories housed at Columbia University.

She expressed frustration at the slow pace with which Ms. was adopted, even among her most socially minded contemporaries, although it did eventually blossom into wide use.

No one wanted to hear about it, she once told the London Guardian. There was no feminist movement in 1961, and so no one to listen. I couldnt just go ahead and call myself Ms. without spending every hour of every day explaining myself and being laughed at, to boot. I had to learn to be brave.

Her cousin described her as a background person in the social movements for which she worked, a person for whom the cause was more important than the acclaim. But I think it would have been nice if she had been recognized when she was alive, he added.

Ms. Michaelss marriage to Hikaru Shiki, with whom she operated a Japanese restaurant in New York, ended in divorce. Survivors include a half brother.

Ms. Michaelss cousin said that, in the 1980s, she developed an intense interest in religious studies. For two decades, she gave presentations at academic conferences, with a particular focus on women in the Bible.

The Book of Ruth  recounting the Moabite Ruths fidelity to her Hebrew mother-in-law, Naomi, amid famine and deprivation  was among the topics Ms. Michaels found most captivating. Some feminist theologians cite it as an example of women banding together for survival.
Spencer Johnson, whose book "Who Moved My Cheese" sold 25 million copies and became a business and self-help phenomenon, has died. (Photo provided by Christian Johnson) (AP)

Spencer Johnson, a onetime physician and childrens book author, whose best-selling books on business management, including The One-Minute Manager and Who Moved My Cheese?, sold millions of copies and inspired a cultlike following, died July 3 at a hospital in Encinitas, Calif. He was 78.

The cause was pancreatic cancer. His death was first reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

In the mid-1970s, Dr. Johnson gave up medicine to write inspirational books for children, all with the word value in the title, such as The Value of Honesty: The Story of Confucius.

By the early 1980s, he discovered a new formula, teaming with management consultant Kenneth Blanchard on The One-Minute Manager, which urged businesspeople to connect with their workers by spending a full minute giving sincere praise (or, if necessary, a reprimand).

Dr. Johnson and Blanchard sold thousands of self-published copies of The One-Minute Manager, incorporating changes suggested by business leaders.

Thats what we call writing for the marketplace, Dr. Johnson said.

When The One-Minute Manager was picked up in 1982 by a New York publisher, Morrow, it became an instant bestseller. It also represented a marketing triumph for the authors, who insisted that it carry the steep cover price of $15, despite having barely 100 pages of text. It came with a money-back guarantee.

Dr. Johnson then spun off a series of follow-ups, including The One-Minute Father, The One-Minute Mother and One Minute for Myself.

Its the one minute you stop during the day and look at what youre thinking and what youre doing, he said in 1986. The real key is that quiet time you listen for your own wisdom.

Listening to his inner wisdom or perhaps the voice of opportunity, Dr. Johnson later embarked on his signature literary effort, Who Moved My Cheese?

Subtitled An A-Mazing Way to Deal With Change in Your Work and in Your Life, the 94-page book, published in 1998, became a No. 1 bestseller, largely through word of mouth and the testimonials of chief executives from such companies as Procter & Gamble and Hewlett-Packard.

The book is a parable built around four characters: two mice, named Sniff and Scurry, and two people, Hem and Haw. All four live in a maze and survive happily on cheese until one day their cheese disappears.

The mice immediately scamper away to find a new source of cheese, while Hem and Haw grouse about their fate and their growing hunger. Eventually, in this tale of mice and men, Haw decides the mice are right, and he goes off to discover what may be in store around the next corner.

He scrawls helpful tips on the walls of the maze, such as The Quicker You Let Go of Old Cheese, the Sooner You Find New Cheese.

The lesson, as old as commerce itself, is that it pays to adapt to changing circumstances.

People ate it up, so to speak. Although the book never reveals who actually moved the cheese, Who Moved My Cheese? was studied in business schools, was distributed by the thousands to employees and was applied to endeavors of every kind.

Preachers hailed it from the pulpit, and it was featured at conventions of dentists and hotel managers. Washington Redskins running back Brian Mitchell said the message of turning the negative into positive gave him an edge on the gridiron.

My cheese is to get to the playoffs, he said.

Even though the Financial Times described Who Moved My Cheese? as a 94-page work of stupefying banality, that didnt stop it from being translated into 44 languages and selling more than 28 million copies. Dr. Johnson reportedly kept 50 percent of the original cover price of $19.95.

Everywhere I went, people were asking me to write this book, he told The Washington Post in 2000. Its so simple and unthreatening. As you watch the characters, you can discover yourself in the story.

For some people, Dr. Johnsons cheese metaphor had an almost magical quality. Others scoffed that an idea that could mean anything really had no meaning at all.

Smell the Cheese Often, notes one of the books pungent pieces of advice, So You Know When It Is Getting Old.

Dr. Johnson went on to market a line of coffee mugs, pens, videos and conferences, known as the Cheese Experience, and published versions of his book for children.

Others, however, found Cheese ripe for mockery, and one parody was published with the inevitable title of Who Cut the Cheese?

Patrick Spencer Johnson was born Nov. 24, 1938, in Watertown, S.D., and grew up in Los Angeles. His father was a builder and investor.

Dr. Johnson graduated from the University of Southern California in 1963 and from the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin in 1968.

He abandoned medicine, he said, after concluding that the underlying causes of illness were largely rooted in the mind rather than the body. He published more than a dozen childrens books before embarking on his One-Minute series in the 1980s.

Dr. Johnson lived, at various times, in Hawaii, New Hampshire and California. He gave frequent interviews but refused to have his photograph printed with his books.

His first marriage, to Ann Donegan, ended in divorce. His second wife, Lesley Bostridge, died in 2009. Survivors include three sons, a brother and a sister.

Dr. Johnson said it took him years to write his books, which were typically composed in the simple, folksy style of the parable.

I chose it because its a most enjoyable format to read, he said in 1986. People dont like to work very hard at anything.
A federal judge in Washington heard arguments Friday on whether to block President Trumps voting commission from collecting voter data from 50 states and the District, as government lawyers announced that Arkansas is the only state so far to turn over requested data.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the District said she would rule as quickly as possible on the request for a temporary restraining order to halt the data collection sought by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) in its lawsuit against the commission.

EPIC, a watchdog group, late Friday formally added the Department of Defense  which operates a website to which the commission asks states to send their information  as a defendant to its lawsuit that already challenged the commission over what the group argues is an unprecedented White House invasion of Americans privacy.

In its complaint, EPIC asked the court to bar the creation of a secret database stored in the White House of national voter registration information, saying the move posed staggering privacy implications. The organization contends the electronic data collection lacked legal authorization and is the type of government system that should be subject upfront to a full privacy impact review.

[Trump voter commission to store data on White House computers under Pence staff direction]

In a June 28 letter to the states, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), vice chairman of the Trump panel and a leading conservative voice on concerns about voter fraud, requested that they turn over publicly available voter-roll data by July 14, including name, address, date of birth, party registration, partial Social Security numbers and voting, military, felony and overseas history, among other data.

EPIC said the proposal to gather the voter information nationwide would expose every registered voter to risks, including military families whose home addresses would be revealed, people whose partial Social Security numbers are used as passwords for commercial services and people who have felony convictions in their backgrounds.

What the administration describes as public information is in fact highly regulated and rarely disclosed, EPIC President and Executive Director Marc Rotenberg told reporters after an hour-long hearing. The commission took none of the steps it was required to take prior to making the request, and has done nothing to ensure that voter privacy is protected.

Government lawyers Friday rejected EPICs contention, saying the voting commission was requesting data that was already publicly available, and would de-identify or anonymize sensitive information before releasing documents.

Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Shapiro added that the commission was a presidential advisory panel, not a federal agency subject to the privacy review requirement, and that the Pentagon was the only federal agency she knew to be currently working with the commission. She said the Pentagon arrangement was only a temporary conduit for voter data that ultimately would be downloaded by the White House.

President Trump formed the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity by executive order in May after repeatedly suggesting that millions of illegal voters cost him the popular vote against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton last fall.

Studies and state officials of both parties have found no evidence of widespread voting fraud.

The voting commissions request for information on the more than 150 million registered voters has set off a wave of opposition from state leaders from both major parties, with critics citing its implications on privacy, states rights, and possible voter suppression.

At least 44 states have indicated that they wont provide all of their voter data, with some saying they would provide nothing and others providing what information they could under state laws.

Vice President Pences office said that 20 states have agreed to share at least some data and 16 more are reviewing the request.

[Why almost every state is partially or fully rebuffing Trumps election commission]

Trump has championed the commissions work as a way to strengthen up voting procedures by identifying vulnerabilities . . . that could lead to improper voter registrations and improper voting.

I think the public interest is there is a priority that has been set, that important work is to be done by the commission, and it should be allowed to do work the president indicates ought to be done, Shapiro said in court.

Although the May 11 executive order stated the commission would be supported by the General Services Administration  a federal agency subject to privacy requirements  the administration said Thursday in court filings that data would be downloaded onto White House servers and systems, with an employee of Pences office and White House information technology staff responsible for collecting and storing it.

The commission set a July 14 deadline for states to send data by email or a website for data transfers operated by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center.

[Trumps voting commission asked states to hand over election data. Some are pushing back.]

Judge Kollar-Kotelly, who was appointed by former president Bill Clinton in 1997, pressed both sides. She questioned whether EPIC could show its members were harmed by the commissions request, but also seemed to acknowledge arguments that its work informing and responding to the public, seeking government records and counteracting government incursions on privacy could be affected.

The judge noted she had ruled in the past that at least some components of the White House were not subject to certain requirements, such as public records requests. But she also asked If I decide DOD is a federal agency connected to the commission . . . do they have to be a defendant?  a statement that then left EPIC to add DOD as a defendant Friday.

The judge did not say when she would issue her decision on a temporary restraining order.
A juvenile bald eagle was euthanized after being found shot on Independence Day in a Maryland park, authorities said.

A group of birders at Swan Harbor Farm, a Harford County park in Havre de Grace, Md., found the bird panting and with a contorted body on Tuesday, according to Candy Thomson, a spokeswoman for Maryland Natural Resources Police.

The birders contacted an eagle rehabilitation specialist who alerted Natural Resources Police, and an officer kept the eagle wrapped up in his air-conditioned patrol vehicle until a rehabilitation specialist came to take it to a rescue center, Thomson said. The rescue organization completed X-rays on the bird and found that it had been shot.

Someone clearly took aim at this bird, and it had a pellet lodged near its spine, Thomson said.

The rescue organization determined the bird could not be saved and it was euthanized, Thomson said. Because of the location of the birds injury, Thomson said, it was unlikely that it had flown far and it may have been shot in the park.

You got to wonder about people, she said. Shooting an eagle on July 4. Seriously?

Killing a bald eagle is a federal offense punishable by fines up to $250,000, Thomson said. Police asked that anyone with information about the incident contact them at 410-260-8888.
A former CIA officer accused of spying for China had notes in his home that could have gotten clandestine sources killed, according to prosecutors in Alexandria federal court.

While Kevin Mallory is not accused of handing those documents over to Chinese intelligence agents, prosecutors noted his access to the material to underscore the seriousness of potential breaches and to argue that he should remain jailed pending trial on espionage charges. A federal judge agreed.

Mallory, a 60-year-old from Leesburg, Va., is accused of handing over classified documents revealing details of CIA intelligence.

On a phone that Mallory admitted was given to him by someone he thought worked for Chinese intelligence, eight documents were found, authorities said. Six were classified CIA documents and one was a classified Defense Intelligence Agency document, FBI agent Stephen Green testified Friday. The last is a mix of typed and handwritten pages that are still being reviewed.

At least two of the documents were transmitted to the Chinese earlier this year, according to prosecutors.

A magistrate judge last week ordered Mallorys release on a $10,000 bond. But U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis overturned that decision Friday, in part based on the new details revealed regarding Mallorys CIA career and the documents found in his possession.

Prosecutors confirmed in court Friday that Mallory worked for both the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency, the CIAs counterpart in the Defense Department.

According to court documents, Mallory was a covert CIA case officer from 1990 to 1996 and a CIA contractor from 2010 to 2012. It was not clear when he worked for the DIA.

Antoinette Shiner, an information review officer for the CIA, confirmed in a declaration filed in court Friday that Mallorys documents contained sensitive CIA intelligence, analysis of that intelligence and, in some instances, the actual human or technical sources of the intelligence.

One of the documents he is alleged to have passed on to the Chinese reveals the breadth and depth of the CIAs understanding of a specific hostile foreign intelligence service, according to Shiner, including details on that foreign services approach to counterintelligence.

Handwritten notes found in Mallorys house, she said, concern sensitive human sources and could reasonably be expected to cause the loss of critical intelligence and possibly result in the lengthy incarceration or death of clandestine human sources.

According to the criminal complaint against Mallory, he told the Chinese operatives that he had notes to offer as well as documents.

Mallory is not accused of selling intelligence that led to the death of any U.S. officer. If he were, he would be facing the death penalty. Instead he could be sentenced with up to life in prison, if convicted.

Prosecutors also played in court a phone call from jail in which Mallory asked his wife and son whether a particular memory card had been seized by FBI agents. The card had been seized, and the eight documents were on it. It was found wrapped in foil inside a shoe in Mallorys closet, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney John Gibbs.

At the end of the call, Mallory says its good that agents found the card and that he had merely hoped to give it to his lawyer first so he would know it hadnt been tampered with in some way.

Prosecutors have repeatedly emphasized that wigs, fake scar liquid and other disguise makeup were found in Mallorys bedroom closet. Defense attorney Geremy Kamens said the items are given to every CIA officer who trains for clandestine service and that they were over a decade old. In recent years, he said, Mallory had used them only on Halloween.

Kamens pointed out that Mallory repeatedly reached out to his former CIA colleagues about his contact with the Chinese agents, even before the first of his two trips to China this spring. It was after his second trip that Mallory was caught lying to Customs agents about how much money he was carrying home.

Kamens suggested Chinese intelligence runs a very sophisticated organization and could have put the classified documents on the phone themselves in hopes of blackmailing him so they could obtain information in the future. He also implied, in Elliss words, that Mallory was working as a freelance double agent, aiming to expose Chinese attempts at espionage.

The judge was not persuaded by either suggestion, noting that according to the criminal complaint Mallory was paid $25,000 by the Chinese.

While the Chinese operatives represented themselves as working for a Shanghai think tank, according to the complaint, Mallory told FBI agents he believed they were intelligence agents. The think tank, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, functions as both a legitimate academic institution and a cover for Chinese intelligence officers, according to the FBI.

Hes cleverer than most, Ellis said. By going to the CIA at the same time, hes trying to make sure he has a way out.

He ruled that Mallory was both a flight risk and a danger to the community, because he might trade the rest of his intelligence for help getting out of the country.

The Chinese, Ellis said, would love to have him so they could drain him of information and make sure he doesnt talk very much.
After living for years on Capitol Hill, Democrat Laura Moser uprooted herself to move to her native Houston, where she is running for Congress. (Michael Stravato for The Washington Post)

Before Donald Trump was elected president, Laura Moser was a freelance writer delving into a project about alternative religions in America. In the months after, she became a leader of the resistance against the president, launching a text messaging platform that enabled hundreds of thousands of shellshocked Trump opponents to contact their representatives about a different issue each day.

The success of that effort spurred the 39-year-old Capitol Hill mother of two to think about what else she could do. In the middle of the Trump-red electoral map, she saw an opportunity: The 7th Congressional District in her home town of Houston went blue for the first time, tipping to Democrat Hillary Clinton by one point. Rep. John Abney Culberson was reelected, but Moser saw the conservative Republican losing touch with the fast-growing, increasingly diverse district in which she grew up.

First she started recruiting other people to run. But she said her conversations kept circling back to What about you?

So she packed up her rowhouse and moved her three cats, two young children and political consultant husband 1,400 miles away to vie for the Democratic nomination to challenge Culberson in 2018.

I had to work up the courage to even imagine myself running for Congress, she said. But I eventually decided that our country had a moral problem in only letting white men  even the right-minded ones  have a seat at the table.

Moser meets with district residents interested in politics. (Michael Stravato for The Washington Post)

[Capitol Hill mom directs thousands of anti-Trump activists with texts sent from her living room]

The Womens March in January brought millions of women into the streets nationwide who were smarting from the defeat of the nations almost-first female president and protesting a victor who had bragged about groping women. Some carried signs that said, Dont Just March, Run.

Nationwide, women still occupy a small percentage of the more than 500,000 elected offices. They comprise 20 percent of members of Congress and 25 percent of state legislators. These numbers changed little in the past decade  not because women werent winning campaigns, but because they werent waging them.

Now theres a surge of female candidates seeking to bring back Democratic majorities and transform government from the inside out.

Emilys List, which recruits and trains Democratic female candidates, has heard from nearly 15,000 women interested in running since November. Thats up from 900 during the entire two-year 2016 election cycle.

Some of the new candidates are District women such as Moser, who, steeped in the politics of the Barack Obama era, are returning to their native states to run.

One reason some D.C. women leave is because elected positions in the city are so limited, with no county or state legislature, no representation in the Senate, and a Board of Education that, while elected, has little power, thanks to a system that puts public schools under mayoral control.

Moser greets Sigmund Jucker, a Holocaust survivor and the owner of a local bakery she frequented as a child. (Michael Stravato for The Washington Post)

[Women in the running: Number of female candidates for Va. House has jumped]

Some progressive candidates want to make an impact in the more conservative-leaning districts they grew up in.

Monica Weeks, 29, a small-business owner and feminist activist in the District, said she has long imagined she would run for public office eventually, but after Trump was elected, she started moving up her timeline. Before she runs, she plans to move back to Florida, closer to family and the Cuban American community she comes from. D.C. is home, but its still a second home, she said.

Haley Stevens, 33, former chief of staff for the auto task force at the Treasury Department during the Obama administration, recently moved home to Michigan to run against Republican Rep. Dave Trott in 2018.

Jessica Morse, 35, a national-security strategist who worked for the Defense Department and State Department under Obama, returned to her home district in Northern California to run against incumbent Republican Rep. Tom McClintock. And Laura Lombard, 33, a fifth-generation Kansan, returned home after eight years in the District working to help businesses export goods to the Middle East. She ran for the seat vacated when Rep. Mike Pompeo was selected as Trumps CIA director. She lost in the special-election primary, but she is considering another run in 2018.

She said she is heeding a key lesson Democrats learned in November. We can no longer ignore the rural Midwest, she said.

Andrea Dew Steele, president of Emerge America, another training program for female candidates that is seeing an influx of applicants, said she cautions women against running in places where they have not been living for very long.

The formula for a successful campaign, she said, relies on time in the community and deep community roots.

One caveat, she said, is that the rules may be changing in post-Trump campaigns. We are living in a new normal, she said.

Getting beyond Washington

Moser is drawing upon her familys history in Houston and an extensive Obama administration network to help her succeed.

Many of the milestones in Mosers adult life have been tied to Obamas presidency. The same weekend she and her husband, Arun Chaudhary, married in the hills of central Texas in 2007, he accepted a job as a videographer for Obamas campaign. And the following summer, on the day Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for the presidency, Moser learned she was pregnant.

The couple moved to Washington the week Obama was inaugurated, and Chaudhary became the first official White House videographer, traveling the globe with the president and recording many of his official and behind-the-scenes moves.

Moser worked as a writer and editor and was the primary parent to their son and, a few years later, their daughter, as her husband kept up a relentless schedule with long hours and frequent travel.

It was an exciting time. The family enjoyed VIP access to the White House and invitations to its holiday parties. They built up a collection of photos of their children posing with the Obamas, including one of their then-2-year-old daughter throwing a tantrum at Obamas feet before an annual Passover Seder. The photo was published online and spread quickly across the Internet.

[What it looks like when your toddler has a tantrum at Obamas feet during a fancy White House event]

Moser said she believed in the hopey-changy world she brought her children into. So when her understanding of that world was shaken by Trumps surprise victory, her impulse to resist was almost immediate.

The text messaging platform she envisioned was called Daily Action, and nearly 300,000 people signed up.

I believe in following opportunities, she said. You have to follow that next step.

For most of her marriage, career opportunities had been for her husband. This time, she saw opportunity calling her.

Moser spent much of the spring traveling back and forth from Houston, attending political events and meeting with people in her home district before she committed in May and declared her candidacy.

She rented a house in her old neighborhood and enrolled her son in her former elementary school.

Moser said hitting the campaign trail is like going back to college. All at once, she is meeting new people and learning new things. This time around, she is studying the art of public speaking, the discipline of fundraising, the nuances of transportation policy in sprawling Houston, and the complexities of the citys all-important oil and gas industry.

The demands of her new schedule required a role reversal in her marriage. After years of her being the always-available parent, her husband has, for the first time, started waking up early to pack lunches for their kids and get them ready for summer camp. And her parents, who live blocks away, are helping every day.

In early June, she addressed a crowd of friends at a fundraising party in a living room in Washington, quipping that her old neighborhood friends were probably surprised to see her wearing something other than yoga pants.

In her newly acquired, polished campaign attire, she explained why she was moving back to Texas.

My grandfather arrived as a Nazi refugee to this district, she told them.

I have been trying to get my Yankee husband back there for many years. It took Donald Trump being president to make it happen.

She talked about why it was worth investing in her campaign and the chance to turn the district blue. After she spoke, Ben Allen, one of the hosts, signaled to the guests to get out their checkbooks.

If we cant vote for you, we can support you in other ways, he said.

Mosers East Coast connections gave her a boost in the start to her campaign. Within the first five days, she raised about $100,000, more money than Culbersons previous challenger, lawyer James Cargas, had amassed during his entire 2016 campaign.

But the primary is shaping up to be competitive, with seven Democrats so far contending for the nomination, including two other women.

[Democrats field a glut of House candidates in 2018 but remain divided on how to win]

Moser believes a woman has an advantage in the race. Women constituted many of the swing voters who crossed political lines to vote for Clinton, she said. And if the resistance to Trump has a face, Moser says, its clearly female.

When she founded Daily Action, she did not target women. But through a membership poll, she learned that 86 percent of the subscribers were female. Its not surprising, she realized, that women are disproportionately committing to the kind of behind-the-scenes grunt work that powers a resistance.

Calling representatives every single day, arranging local community meetings and marching in the streets every Sunday, she said. Its not the path to glory, but its absolutely essential to maintaining a democracy under threat.
Transit advocates hold a rush-hour rally outside New York Gov. Andrew Cuomos office in June to protest train delays and MTA shutdowns. Now that New Yorks subway system is having major problems, commuters in Washington feel their pain after experiencing SafeTrack. (Kathy Willens/AP)

When Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans arrived at the panels general meeting last month, he carried a copy of the New York Post featuring a characteristically provocative front page recounting the latest troubles of that citys subway.

For Fs sake, read the headline, with a clever insertion of the orange symbol for New Yorks F train. Fix the subways!

Evans used the headline as an opportunity for reflection on his own troubled transit system.

Not that misery loves company . . . but I think this is another indicator that every one of the six subway systems throughout America is struggling with the same issues, Evans said. Were not alone in this.

Evans, it seems, is suffering from the affliction affecting many in the region: an acute case of subway schadenfreude  a slightly perverse sense of satisfaction in watching the failures of the nations premiere transit agency.

Passengers enter a subway station June 29 in New York City. Following a series of breakdowns, delays and political fingerpointing, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has declared a state of emergency for the subway system. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

A look at the recent state of affairs at New Yorks Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will probably ring familiar to D.C.-area commuters. In the last several months, chronic breakdowns and track problems have caused rush-hour meltdowns and lengthy, widespread delays. Late last year, protections for workers became a major cause for concern after one longtime employee was struck and killed by a passing train in a tunnel.

Two weeks ago, a derailment in Upper Manhattan may have been caused by equipment left on the tracks, resulting in at least 30 injuries. And soon thereafter, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) declared that the MTA was in a state of emergency and pledged an additional $1 billion to the MTAs capital budget to expedite improvements.

Suddenly, Metro isnt looking so bad, right?

Some of these stories about whats going on in New York  you could take out the proper nouns and insert Washington and theyd make sense, said Zachary M. Schrag, a historian at George Mason University and author of the seminal Metro tome, The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro. So I guess thats somewhat of a consolation.

[April 2016: Metro sank into crisis despite decades of warnings]

Thats how it looks on Twitter, where Metro riders  their tweets dripping in the usual #WMATA levels of sarcasm  seem downright defensive about the New York subway, Americas busiest public transit system, making moves to unseat Metro as Americas most dysfunctional one.

I guess New York felt left out with all the publicity @wmata got by being a bloody awful mess, quipped one Metro rider.

Hey look at New York trying to be like DC, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery @wmata, joked another.

Maybe we should invite folks to DC & show them what a truly awful commute looks like, added another.

WMATA should send the MTA a fruit basket with a note along the lines of thanks for taking the heat off us!  another tweeted.

But the similarities between the struggles at the MTA and Metro also point to a larger story  about the state of the nations infrastructure, the challenges of securing long-term investments for dull but necessary maintenance work, and about just how quickly a premiere transit system can begin to come apart at the seams.

It is a national problem. Its something thats happening in lots of different Metro areas across the country. And New York is starting to get a taste of it, said Robert Puentes, president and chief executive of the Eno Center for Transportation, a national think tank on transportation issues.

Puentes said significant responsibility for the MTAs problems lies with Cuomo, who has prioritized projects such as the recent opening of the Second Avenue Subway and the completion of the 34th Street-Hudson Yards station  perhaps at the expense of paying adequate attention to state-of-repair needs.

He has focused on newer investments and major infrastructure building projects, and now he has to play catch-up, Puentes said, because while you can cut a ribbon in front of new infrastructure, the unsexy stuff like day-to-day maintenance is much tougher to promote.

Sound familiar, Washington?

And though Puentes said he certainly does not rejoice in the challenges faced by riders and transit executives in New York, he does feel like he has firsthand knowledge of their troubles.

My brother calls me from New York and asks, Can you fix this?  Puentes said, chuckling.

Until recently, the MTA was performing better than Metro in a few categories, but much worse in others. According to the Federal Transit Administrations National Transit Database, New York City Transit  the part of the MTA which runs subway, bus and paratransit service  reported 0.053 derailments per million train revenue miles in 2015, while Metros rate was much larger  0.26 derailments per million miles. But the MTA also reported a collision rate of 2.5 per million revenue miles, vs. Metros rate of 0.51, and New York experienced 28 fires per million miles vs. Metros 4.2 fires.

In 2014, the total mechanical failure rate at New York City transit was 36 failures per million miles, compared with 20 mechanical failures per million miles for Metro.

[In ty and reliability, Metro ranks in middle of the pack of nations big systems]

But Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld has been careful not to use New Yorks worsening problems as a foil for whats happened with Metro  especially because his high-profile hires, Metros chief ty officer Patrick Lavin and chief operations officer Joseph Leader, were both brought to Washington last year after spending most of their careers at the MTA.

Its not just the MTA, Wiedefeld said recently. We all have similar issues that we deal with. San Francisco is dealing with major issues, Philadelphia, Boston. . . . Its across the board. There are things we could learn from each other.

And, in Schrags mind, New Yorks struggles also highlight the complexity of Metros problems. To many Washington-area residents, the root of Metros reliability and safety issues are found in simple, structural issues: It lacks a two-track system. Theres a complicated multi-jurisdictional governance structure. Theres no dedicated revenue source.

But New Yorks MTA has all of those things, Schrag pointed out  and yet still couldnt manage to avoid a precipitous deterioration in the quality of service.

Transit is hard, he summarized.

[Rahm Emanuel throws shade at Metros coffee coupons]

But the shared woes at Metro and the MTA are even more stark because of the historic differences between the two agencies. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority was conceived and designed in large part to be everything the MTA wasnt, according to Schrag. New Yorks subway was considered dirty and crime-ridden, and its stations cramped and inelegant. (The New York subway had such negative connotations in Washington that officials avoided calling their plans for Metro a subway system, and instead opted for the more benign sounding rapid transit system.)

Metro, in comparison, was conceived to be much grander, brighter and more futuristic. Of course, the realities of the two systems have often overlapped. In 1977, just a year after Metro opened, a rider bemoaned to The Washington Post that the breakdowns and delays he experienced on the new system reminded him of the worst of the MTA.

Then, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, New Yorks system got much worse. Scheduled maintenance fell far short of the systems needs. Derailments were a weekly event. Ridership declined rapidly. The MTA embarked on an aggressive turnaround campaign that rebuilt a large portion of the subways tracks and put the system on a path to success for years to come.

That comeback was part of what inspired Metros year-long SafeTrack maintenance project, which concluded last month. With short, intense periods of round-the-clock repair work, a transit agency could wrench itself back from the brink and win back legions of riders.

[ Metro sank into crisis despite decades of warnings]

Mortimer L. Downey, a former Metro board chairman and former executive director and chief financial officer at the MTA, said New Yorks recent challenges demonstrate the precarious state of any transit system dependent on decades-old infrastructure.

No matter how good a system might appear, he said, just a few years of inadequate maintenance can bring an agency teetering to the edge of failure.

Its awful easy to slip backward, Downey said. Youre only as good as your last rush hour.

But, he pointed out, Metro must also use New Yorks challenges as a warning of problems that may come down the road. The MTA, he said, is a prisoner of its own success. The system is experiencing its highest ridership in decades, and the chronic overcrowding on trains leads to systemwide delays when trains at stations throughout the rail network must idle for longer to allow throngs of riders to alight and disembark.

Someday, Downey said, that might be a pressing problem for Metro, too.

Metro better start thinking about what happens if they ever get to a million passengers per day, he warned.

[Ridership losses, exacerbated by SafeTrack, push Metro to financial tipping point]

Metro riders, meanwhile, say New Yorkers whining about the MTA is much ado about nothing.

D.C. resident Matthew Jacobs, 37, was among those who took to Twitter to make his own (slightly off-color) jokes about Cuomos declaration. He commutes daily from his home near Shaw to his office near the Franconia-Springfield station. Delays are a given. No way New Yorks problems are even close to Metros, he said. Besides, he visits New York frequently and never has problems.

Here in Washington, this is a system thats been in decline at least since the early 2000s, Jacobs said. The MTA stuff  theyve had some hiccups lately, but its nothing like this, like SafeTrack. They still have a world-class system.
Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
A reconstructed Neanderthal skeleton, right, and a replica of a modern human skeleton. The two may have interbred at least 219,000 years ago. (Frank Franklin II/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Its a sex-laced mystery. If modern humans didnt reach Europe until about 60,000 years ago, how has DNA from them turned up in a Neanderthal fossil in Germany from 124,000 years ago?

The answer seems to be that there was a previous migration of early humans  more than 219,000 years ago.

The thinking had been that the ancestors of modern humans diverged from Neanderthals and Denisovans between 550,000 and 765,000 years ago. While Neanderthals and Denisovans inhabited Eurasia, modern humans stayed in Africa until about 60,000 years ago. Then they entered Europe, too.

There is ample evidence of breeding between Neanderthals and the ancestors of modern humans about 50,000 years ago. Everyone knows Neanderthals gave us genes, says Cosimo Posth at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Leipzig, Germany.

Analysis of mitochondrial DNA from a Neanderthal femur found in southwestern Germany now adds to evidence that there was earlier interbreeding. The DNA in the energy-producing mitochondria in our cells is different from that in our cell nuclei, and is passed down only in the female line.

Puzzlingly, the mtDNA in Neanderthal bones is more similar to that of modern humans than it is to that of the Denisovans.

Posth and his colleagues looked at differences between the mtDNA in this femur and in other Neanderthals, and they used mutational rates to calculate that the bone is 124,000 years old. The approach also indicates that this Neanderthal split from all other known Neanderthals sometime between 316,000 and 219,000 years ago. Yet it still contains key elements of early-human mtDNA.

This means that modern human ancestors must have interbred with Neanderthals before 219,000 years ago and hence could have migrated out of Africa and into Europe much earlier than we thought.

We are realizing more and more that the evolutionary history of modern and archaic humans was a lot more reticulated than we would have thought 10 years ago, says team member Fernando Racimo of the New York Genome Center. This and previous findings are lending support to models with frequent interbreeding events.

The team says an earlier migration event is also compatible with evidence of archaeological similarities between Africa and western Eurasia.

Read More

A scientist needed help studying Neanderthal teeth  so he asked his dentist

Your Neanderthal DNA might actually be doing you some good
THE JOB of K-12 education traditionally has been considered complete when students walk across the stage to get their diploma. That is about to change in Chicago with an ambitious, and controversial, initiative requiring public school students to have a post-graduation plan to earn a diploma. Chicago leaders are right to make official what long has been recognized  the need for more than a high school diploma to succeed in todays economy  and, more importantly, to accept responsibility for helping students meet that challenge.

Starting in 2020, under a plan championed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) and unanimously approved by the school board, diplomas will be tied to students devising post-secondary plans. High school seniors must show theyve been accepted into college, or the military, or into a trade or gap-year program, or have secured a job. The idea is to raise expectations and thus produce better outcomes for students.

About 60 percent of the districts students already have post-secondary plans, and officials believe that requiring students to plan for whats next will help, not hurt, the remaining students. Critics worry that students who have completed four years of high school will be handicapped if denied a diploma, but officials point out that strengthening academic rigor has produced an increase, not a decrease, in graduation rates. Just 16 years ago, nearly half of Chicago students failed to finish school, but today almost 3 out of 4 graduate, a remarkable turnaround that came as the district added requirements for community service and raised the academic bar on core subjects.

The kids always rise to the challenge, said Arne Duncan, the former Chicago schools chief and education secretary under President Barack Obama who planted the idea of the new requirement with Mr. Emanuel. Young people, he wrote in an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune, dont drop out because school is too hard. They drop out because it is too easy and they are not engaged.

A core foundation of Mr. Emanuels efforts  largely successful  to improve public education has been to provide the types of supports and options that are taken for granted by middle- and upper-class students. Just as increased instruction time and extracurricular activities benefit students unable to get that help at home, so will the new requirement compensate for the lack of dinner-table conversations about whats next and whats expected. Just like you do with your children was Mr. Emanuels characterization of the school systems role when he unveiled plans for the new requirement in April.

Responsibility, of course, is not the students alone. It is important that the Chicago school system follow through with the counseling and related services (including outreach to parents) that will arm the neediest students with what they require to graduate  and then take that critical next step.
There were six people in the room when the president of the United States met the president of Russia: two presidents, two foreign ministers, two translators  with no aides, no advisers, no experts. There was nothing prepared in advance: The U.S. national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, said last week that there was no specific agenda  its really going to be whatever the president wants to talk about.

A nearly empty room. A blank slate. The Russian-American relationship, which has always been atypical, has now become strange, even surreal. It is not even predictable, in the way that most diplomatic relationships are usually more or less predictable, because it is not driven by the geopolitical or economic interests of either Russians or Americans. It is driven, rather, by the personal interests of the two main players.

The actual agreements reached were underwhelming: an open channel of communication on Ukraine, whatever that means; a cease-fire in part of Syria, which could be hopeful but has been tried before; some new ambassadors. Far more important, as I say, were the personal stakes  and Russian President Vladimir Putin got most of what he wanted out of the meeting in the first few seconds. Outplaying President Trump at his own silly game, he waited for the American to offer his hand. Cameras clicked and flashed; minutes later, Russian websites had the photograph  a picture of Trump holding out his hand to a haughty Putin  on their home pages.

And that was the point. For the Russian leader, 99 percent of the value of this meeting was its use in domestic propaganda. On Russias Channel One news station, a talk-show host waiting for the meeting to conclude marveled at its length (more than two hours) and called it a sign that Trump considered Putin more important than any other leader there. Snide Twitter posts kept flashing on screen (Trump is like a schoolboy sitting next to Putin). As an undemocratic leader who presides over a rocky economy, Putin needs to offer his public some reason to support him. This was it: He is at the center of the world stage. He calls the shots. He is munificently offering solutions to problems  in Ukraine, in Syria, in cybersecurity  that he himself has helped to create.

But looking at it from Trumps point of view, the meeting was also successful. In light of the ongoing FBI investigation, he had to raise the difficult question of Russian interference in the U.S. election, even though he was reluctant to admit there had been such a thing as recently as Thursday. But he managed it. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pointedly declared afterward that Trump had pressed the subject  and then dispensed with it: The two men wanted to move on and were not re-litigating the past. The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, declared that Trump had accepted Putins denial of interference as the truth. At the very least, the U.S. president can now tell himself that he doesnt need to bring up that difficult subject again.

From Trumps comments going back more than a decade, it seems that Trump also needed something else from Putin: acceptance. Im not sure why this is true, or which part of Trumps psychological profile explains it. But he has long admired the Russian dictator, whom he has praised repeatedly and never criticized. Its an honor to meet you, he said at the first encounter. Maybe its the oligarchic style represented by Putin, who used money to get political power and then used political power to make money, and a lot more money than Trump; maybe its the way Putin also used his office to empower his friends and family, something Trump does, too. From Tillersons remarks, it sounds like Trump got what he was looking for. There was positive chemistry between the two men, he said: Neither one of them wanted to stop. At one point, Melania Trump was sent in to break this love-fest up.

So there it is: Both men got what they wanted. Bragging rights for Putin; a new friend for Trump. As for the rest of us  it doesnt matter what we think. In this relationship, only two people matter.

Read more from Anne Applebaums archive, follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her updates on Facebook.
ITS AN honor to be with you, President Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday as they met for the first time. No. Wrong. It is not an honor to sit down with the leader of a regime that invades peaceable neighbors, covertly interferes in the elections of democratic nations, and orchestrates and tolerates the assassination of domestic political opponents and journalists.

That doesnt mean its wrong to meet. As Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said after the leaders ended two-plus hours of conversation, it is crucial for the worlds two major nuclear powers to engage with each other, as they did during the Cold War. How do we live with one another? How do we work with one another? Mr. Tillerson said. He said the two leaders spent much time on two specific areas where, at least in theory, cooperation could be mutually beneficial: the war in Syria and non-interference in future U.S. elections.

Whether cooperation with the Putin regime is possible in practice, in those or other areas, is less clear.

On the elections, Mr. Trump entered the talks in a weak position of his own devising. In a news conference Thursday, the U.S. president once again cast doubt on the fact of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, which U.S. intelligence agencies, and other politicians of both parties who have seen the evidence, do not doubt. He muddied the waters further on Friday morning with a bizarre tweet about John Podesta, campaign chairman for Mr. Trumps 2016 Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton. According to Mr. Tillerson, the U.S. president then raised with Mr. Putin the concerns of the American people about Russias interference; lets hope he made clear that they are his concerns as well, and that there will be consequences for that meddling.

It would be useful if the two nations could begin work on cyberwar rules of the road, as they once talked about ways to lessen the danger of nuclear conflict. (In fact, it would be useful if they resumed talking about nuclear weapons, too.) Such rules could include pledges of non-interference in future elections and ways to test those pledges. But such forward-looking endeavors, which Mr. Tillerson emphasized, cant override the ongoing investigations by Congress and the FBI into Russias past actions and the importance of making clear how unacceptable the interference was.

It would be positive, too, if the two countries could work together toward a peaceful future for the ravaged nation of Syria. Mr. Tillerson said the two leaders discussed a de-escalation agreement, with Jordan also participating, for a region in Syrias southwest. He held out hope for larger-scale cooperation. By and large, our objectives are exactly the same, Mr. Tillerson asserted. If thats so, one nation or the other has changed its objectives. Mr. Putin has long been interested in shoring up the murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad and has worked with Iran to do so; the U.S. position has been that lasting peace will be impossible as long as Mr. Assad is in power. Although neither President Barack Obama nor the current administration was willing to back up that assessment with sufficient aid to Mr. Assads opponents, the assessment was, and remains, accurate.
Seven-week-old Trinity was pronounced dead on Christmas Day. Two weeks ago, her parents, Jay Crowder, 33, and Trishelle Jabore, 26, pleaded guilty in D.C. Superior Court to voluntary manslaughter and child cruelty in Trinitys starvation-related death. Feelings of responsibility haunt me.

I never got to know Trinity. Never met her mother and father, either. And I had nothing to do with bringing her into this world. But I did have a hand in keeping her in that Southwest D.C. apartment where she was found by the D.C. Fire and EMS Department and the Metropolitan Police Department.

I helped make it possible for that little girl to live in a cluttered, dirty, drug-paraphernalia-strewn apartment unfit for a child of God. A child who weighed 4 pounds, 14.5 ounces at birth  and 10 ounces less at death. A child found emaciated with severe diaper rash, who breathed her last with 13 fractured ribs in various stages of healing and a fractured clavicle  broken bones consistent with constriction of the chest or blunt force trauma, according to a police affidavit in support of Crowders arrest warrant.

This was a child literally wasting away and with what appeared to be blood in her diaper, according a doctor at Childrens National Medical Center, where she was declared dead at 12:26 p.m. The D.C. chief medical examiner ruled her death a homicide.

Trinity could not have been where she was without my help.

As a D.C. taxpayer, and through my government, I provided Trinitys parents with subsidized housing where they paid $9.80 a month in rent. From us, they received $778 a month in SNAP, or food stamps, and $217 in monthly Temporary Assistance for Needy Families payments, or welfare.

Our funds covered Trinity and her parents, plus a 1-year-old child that Crowder and Jabore had together, and one child that each parent had with different partners  a 5-year-old and an 8-year-old.

However, one government program was missing.

Jabore had received a Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) subsidy that provided vouchers for baby formula and food for her 1-year-old. But she lost it when she failed to take the child to medical appointments  a condition for receiving WIC help. Jabore never tried to get WIC funds to buy formula for Trinity.

If we had bothered to look in on Trinity, we would have learned, as the authorities discovered after she was dead, that much of the resources given to the family were going up in smoke, literally. Jabore, according to court papers, said she and Crowder smoked marijuana cigarettes most days, which cost $5 to $10 per joint.

Public resources intended for families and dependent children also left the home by another illegal route. Around Thanksgiving, Jabore and Crowder sold a family member their food-stamp card for $150 in cash.

If we had taken the time to look, we would have found that Trinitys parents were providing her with a fraction of the recommended amount of baby formula, to make it go further. And when they werent giving her formula, they were giving their newborn evaporated and powdered cows milk, a liquid harmful to an infants digestive tract.

Authorities looking deeper into this tragedy asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to test a bottle found on the scene. Their testing revealed the bottle contained mostly water and had very little nutritional value, according to court filings.

Had we just followed up on the food stamps and welfare money, Trinity might not be dead today.

Why not look? Our city government inspects grocery stores, bars, restaurants, apartment buildings and dog parks in search of unsafe and unsanitary conditions.

What about a child?

Until the day that 911 call was answered, no city official knew that an infant car seat passed for little Trinitys bed.

Theres enough blame to go around, and some of it lands at my feet. My quickest journalistic moves, it turns out, were too slow.

For the past several months, I have been chasing down stories about life behind the glowing numbers on homelessness and dependency produced by Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and her Department of Human Services: reports that show reductions in homelessness, families moving from shelters to rapid-rehousing facilities, growth in the number of families on welfare who transition to self-sufficiency.

Indeed, there are welfare families who now get income from work. As there are people who are taking advantage of education and training programs, and people participating in case-management services that help steer them toward independence.

But social workers and service providers also complain about the Jay Crowders and Trishelle Jabores who stay on the rolls and do nothing but live off resources they get from the District. And children, on whose behalf this rant is intended, keep the citys money flowing into those wretched homes. Until one of them ends up dead.

Feed my lambs.

Oh, how I failed poor Trinity.

Read more from Colbert Kings archive.
Elizabeth Holtzman, a Democrat from New York, served in the House of Representatives from 1973 to 1981, including on the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate investigation.

Can President Trump pardon himself? Can he pardon his close associates and family members?

These questions have begun to simmer as special counsel Robert S. Mueller III ramps up his investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in its interference with the 2016 presidential election. Mueller is also, undoubtedly, looking into whether the president obstructed justice by firing FBI Director James B. Comey. Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law, is reportedly under investigation as well.

So its a live question: Infuriated by these investigations, will the president try to short-circuit them by pardoning himself and others caught up in the Mueller investigations? And, if he did, would those pardons be valid?

The Constitutions pardon provision gives the president the power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. Some argue that because the language is broad and there is no explicit prohibition, presidents may pardon themselves.

But this is simplistic and specious. Presidential self-pardoning would violate the basic structure of our Constitution, and the whole history of the pardon power strongly weighs against the concept.

Presidential power to pardon, including the impeachment exception, is directly modeled on the pardon power of the British monarch. Royal self-pardoning was inconceivable under the British system. Because British monarchs could commit no crime, they had no need to pardon themselves. Self-pardoning, therefore, was never part of the British pardon power  and was not incorporated into the U.S. version. There is no evidence the Constitutions framers ever contemplated or supported a presidential self-pardoning power, as the debates during the constitutional convention make clear.

When presidential pardoning power was proposed at the convention, an amendment was offered to prevent a president from granting pardons in cases of treason. Supporters thought that would discourage presidents from committing treason. Opponents argued that was an unnecessary precaution, because if a president were guilty of treason, he could be impeached and prosecuted. The Constitution specifically provides for indictment, trial . . . and punishment of a president under the criminal laws, in addition to impeachment.

Implicit in the opponents argument was the view that a president could not have any power to pardon himself. Otherwise he could commit treason (or any other crime), pardon himself and then, except for being removed from office through impeachment, go scot-free. The power to self-pardon would thwart any criminal prosecution of the president and stymie full accountability.

At the constitutional convention, opponents of the amendment won. Their view that the president must be subject to prosecution rules out any presidential power of self-pardon. Because it prevailed then, that view must shape our interpretation of the Constitution today.

A presidential self-pardoning power would seriously undermine the rule of law. If presidents could self-pardon, they could engage in monstrously wrongful and criminal conduct with impunity. That would utterly violate the framers belief in a limited presidency and in the idea that no president is above the law.

James Madison said, No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause. Self-pardoning presidents would be acting as their own judge and jury, which no one is permitted to do in our constitutional scheme. It would stand in jarring contrast to the rest of the Constitution.

Then theres the matter of actual precedent. No president has ever decided to pardon himself, including Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, who all faced special prosecutors investigating their conduct. Self-pardoning would have been seen as a clear-cut admission of guilt, not to mention an outrage against the constitutional order. Further, if the pardons were challenged and invalidated, presidents would have the worst of both worlds  they would be open to prosecution, and their guilt would be widely believed.

So, if Trump pardoned himself, the pardon could be challenged in prosecution brought against him, and a court could, and likely would, invalidate it.

Although presidents may not pardon themselves, they may pardon their confederates in crime. But if these pardons are intended to shield a president from prosecution or otherwise facilitate committing a crime, the president could be impeached or prosecuted for granting such pardons. Remember, the Watergate burglars were offered presidential pardons for their silence. This formed one of the many charges against Nixon in the articles of impeachment voted by the House Judiciary Committee.

The Constitution treats the pardon power as it has generally been seen throughout history  as a way of injecting mercy into the justice system. It was never viewed as a vehicle for presidential abuse of power, which is what giving the president the power of self-pardon would be.
Gary Abernathy is publisher and editor of the (Hillsboro, Ohio) Times-Gazette.

In small rural communities such as mine  places that largely supported Donald Trump for president but have higher-than-average uninsured populations  conflicting feelings about what to do about reforming health care run deep. There are divisions between health-care providers and the populations they serve, and divisions even within individuals themselves, as an inherent anti-government political bent collides with real-world struggles to pay for medical needs.

The Affordable Care Act has brought some undeniable benefits, especially for our local hospitals, by expanding Medicaid coverage and allowing more people to seek preventive care.

Even so, rising premiums and the fragile state of the insurance exchanges have people worried. They want to see Republicans follow through on their promise to repeal Obamacare, but questions about what comes next leave them anxious.

One real-world perspective comes from Highland District Hospital, a small facility in southern Ohio governed by rural township trustees, where officials are not at all torn. They cheered Ohio Gov. John Kasichs decision to expand Medicaid in 2013, noting that the percentage of uninsured people here in Highland County was higher than the state average and that the costs of treating them were driving up costs for everyone else.

That opinion hasnt changed much. Randy Lennartz, the hospitals chief executive, told me that while Obamacare isnt perfect, it did result in a wave of people seeking medical care who had previously ignored preventive-care visits. Those numbers have tailed off, but Lennartz said he believes thats largely because their conditions were successfully treated.

The downside of Obamacare, he said, was that most people who signed up through the insurance exchanges chose the cheapest plans available, plans that came with deductibles in the $5,000-to-$10,000 range that few can afford. The median household income in Highland County is just under $40,000, according to census figures.

As in other states, insurance premiums rose under Obamacare, and choices continued to shrink. Just a few weeks ago, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield announced it will not sell policies in Ohio in the Obamacare marketplace in 2018. On the heels of that announcement, Premier Health Plan said it is also pulling out, leaving as many as 20 Ohio counties with no health insurer on the state exchange.

Its not surprising that some people look at this mess and say, I told you so. Still, Republicans in Congress find themselves in a dilemma. Obamacare is not working as advertised, but it works for some, even here.

(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

With the opioid crisis in Ohio and other Midwestern states, GOP lawmakers such as my old boss, Sen. Rob Portman  a longtime proponent of recovery and second chance programs  arent comfortable with the reduction in Medicaid growth contained in the GOP health-care proposals.

But Portman is well aware of the 2016 presidential election returns from Ohio, and he likely wants to find a way to support a repeal-and-replace bill. Along those lines, Portman took the lead in promoting a separate $45 billion fund dedicated to opioid treatment that was added to the Senate bill, significantly increasing the chances of getting him to yes.

Passing a plan that hurts rural communities through Medicaid cutbacks is a risk. But for many GOP lawmakers, not repealing Obamacare is a bigger risk among voters in those same communities, where Trump reigns supreme and where people dont look to the government to solve all their problems.

That there are such people is what a lot of folks in Washington have trouble understanding. The campaign by the Democrats and many in the media to save Obamacare relies largely on dire warnings about how many people will lose health-care coverage under the GOP plan. They wonder: How can Trumps supporters stick with him when his proposals hurt them the most?

What they fail to grasp is that Trumps supporters, by and large, are more dedicated to the principle of freedom from government mandates than they are worried about the loss of government subsidies or programs that social activists in Washington think they need.

Until Democrats can figure that out, their efforts to pry Trumps supporters away from him  on health care or any other subject  will continue to be an endless source of frustration.
Many American journalists and others correctly objected to President Trumps lambasting of the U.S. media in his news conference Thursday in Poland, noting that his words were damaging to our international status and democracies around the world.

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, tweeted that Trump dilutes respect for American democracy & gives license to autocrats to crack down on their own media. Haass was also critical of Trumps denigrating of the U.S. intelligence community.

How dare the president diminish his countrys revered institutions (please, hold your laughter until the end) while abroad? Clearly, the man is a bitter, narcissistic autocrat, one would have been justified in thinking.

Then Friday, as the world turned toward the much-anticipated meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump, it seemed the media were, without much self-awareness, committing the same sins for which theyd blasted Trump  basically undermining the president on foreign soil.

There was no mistaking a negative trend among commentators as they imagined what might transpire between the two world leaders. If the media werent consciously trying to undercut the presidents authority while he was overseas, then unconsciously, they were doing a pretty good job.

No wonder Trump voters hate us.

It would seem that even his harshest critics could have found ways to highlight his likely success than broadcast to the world the many reasons why hed probably fail. Karma suggests at least this much. Moreover, its hard to claim the moral high ground when one is guilty of same. Besides, isnt it written somewhere in The Human Handbook that you can pile on your brother in your own backyard, but not when hes in someone elses. Finally, love or hate him, Trump is still the only president we have. When hes traveling abroad as this week to the Group of 20 summit, his success and failures belong to us as well.

I dont mean to suggest we scribes and pundits should have been a cheering squad, something Trump seemed to have taken with him to Warsaw. But its important to fairly consider why journalists are in such disfavor among a majority of Americans. Is Trumps aggressiveness toward the media, to some extent, earned? Hes not the first president to dislike the Fourth Estate, but he may be the president most disliked by the media since Richard Nixon.

As it turned out, Trumps meeting went well enough with our principal geopolitical adversary (hat tip: Mitt Romney). No canines were paraded to establish whose dog was bigger, stronger, faster, as Putin once bragged to President George W. Bush upon presenting his hound in Russia. (Putin had met Bushs Scottish terrier on one of his visits to the United States.) No one ripped off his shirt to wrestle a tiger.

Trump did reportedly bring up the hacking of the U.S. election, and the two did discuss Syria. Both topics were the source of much speculation beforehand: If Trump didnt bring up the hacking, then Putin, who admires power, would feel the victor and Trump would be guilty of dereliction of duty. This, more or less, was the overarching consensus. Excepting only those who gather in the Fox News green rooms, Trump was predicted to fail in his first meeting with Putin.

Or, did we in the media hope he would fail? This is a question every honest journalist must ask himself or herself. Lets be honest: If Trump didnt stand up to Putin  and several scenarios involving a fire hydrant suggest themselves  then critics early warnings about his dangerous inadequacies would have been confirmed. If he did well, or emerged with some value gained, well, its a good thing shovels are cheap. Many of us have dug some cavernously deep holes.

Let me be clear: Im not a fan. But this doesnt mean I dont want Trump to be a successful president. He has given Americans and the world few reasons to admire, respect or trust him, thanks to his impetuosity. But admittedly, we journalists dont spend much time looking for positives. Some would say, thats not our job. Holding the powerful accountable is our job. While true, our success as a democratic nation requires a balance of contending views.

As it is, we have media outlets for your view, my view and his view  with no sense of a shared American view. As wrong as I believe Trump was to air his personal grievances on the world stage, we are often wrong, too.

Some watched Trumps Poland speech on Thursday and found it tedious and meaningless. Others heard him say: The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? . . . I declare today for the world to hear the West will never, ever be broken, our values will prevail, our people will thrive, and our civilization will triumph.

These were powerful, important words, let the record show.

Read more from Kathleen Parkers archive, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook.
THE 260-mile trek from Ankara to Istanbul is a grueling journey through rough terrain and scorching heat, but this hasnt stopped more than 10,000 demonstrators from setting out on an ambitious march for justice. For the past three weeks, opposition supporters have walked for about 12 miles a day to protest President Recep Tayyip Erdogans unrelenting crackdown on dissent. Another leader would have looked at this groundswell of public outrage and refrained from persecuting critics. Mr. Erdogan went in a different direction: On Wednesday, Turkish authorities detained two foreign trainers and eight human rights activists  one of whom is the country director of Amnesty International.

Last month, we criticized Mr. Erdogan for the arbitrary imprisonment of Taner Kilic, the chairman of Amnesty International Turkey. By detaining his colleague Idil Eser, Turkey has done something unprecedented: Amnesty International tells us that this is the first time in the organizations history that a director and a chair from a single country are behind bars at the same time. But Mr. Erdogans sweeping assault on dissidents and civil society is much larger than these two arrests: In April, it was estimated that more than 110,000 people have been detained since a failed coup attempt in 2016, and nearly 50,000 of these detainees have been charged with crimes. These numbers have continued to rise in the past three months.

Mr. Erdogan should not be allowed to imprison his critics with impunity. Though the march from Ankara is an encouraging sign that opposition forces are still able to organize, they cannot be expected to stand up to their repressive government alone. Foreign governments need to apply pressure on Turkey to end its attack on civil society and release those who were arbitrarily detained. This includes Mr. Kilic and Ms. Eser, and also Enis Berberoglu, an opposition parliament member, and many more journalists, human rights activists, lawyers and academics.

It was heartening to see the State Department immediately issue a statement rebuking Turkey for these unwarranted detentions, but the Turkish government has ignored such statements before. The United States needs to send a stronger message to Mr. Erdogan and other foreign leaders who continue to stomp on human rights. For a start, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson should put this issue at the top of his agenda when he visits Turkey on Sunday and Monday.
President Trump and other world leaders on Saturday emerged from two days of talks unable to resolve key differences on core issues such as climate change and globalization, slapping an exclamation point on a divisive summit that left other nations fearing for the future of global alliances in the Trump era.

The scale of disharmony was remarkable for the annual Group of 20 meeting of world economic powers, a venue better known for sleepy bromides about easy-to-agree-on issues. Even as negotiators made a good-faith effort to bargain toward consensus, European leaders said that a chasm has opened between the United States and the rest of the world.

Our world has never been so divided, French President Emmanuel Macron said as the talks broke up. Centrifugal forces have never been so powerful. Our common goods have never been so threatened.

The divisions were most bitter on climate change, where 19 leaders formed a unified front against Trump. But even in areas of nominal compromise, such as trade, top European leaders said they have little faith that an agreement forged today could hold tomorrow.

Macron said world leaders found common ground on terrorism but were otherwise split on numerous important topics. He also said there were rising concerns about authoritarian regimes, and even within the Western world, there are real divisions and uncertainties that didnt exist just a few short years ago.

1 of 45 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  See President Trump as he travels abroad for the G-20 economic summit View Photos The president made his way to Germany for the meeting of world leaders after a stop in Poland. Caption The president made his way to Germany for the meeting of world leaders after a stop in Poland. July 8, 2017 President Trump waves as he and first lady Melania Trump arrive at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after the G-20 economic summit. Evan Vucci/AP Wait 1 second to continue.

I will not concede anything in the direction of those who are pushing against multilateralism, Macron said, without directly referring to Trump. We need better coordination, more coordination. We need those organizations that were created out of the Second World War. Otherwise, we will be moving back toward narrow-minded nationalism.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who hosted the summit in the port city of Hamburg, said there had been some areas of agreement. But she did little to hide her disappointment about U.S. actions on climate change.

Wherever there is no consensus that can be achieved, disagreement has to be made clear, Merkel said at the end of the summit. Unfortunately  and I deplore this  the United States of America left the climate agreement.

I am gratified to note that the other 19 members of the G-20 feel the Paris agreement is irreversible, Merkel said.

Perhaps as a way to emphasize global unity  minus the United States  Macron announced there would be another climate summit in Paris in December to mark the two-year anniversary of the climate accord.

On trade, G-20 leaders agreed to try to address what the White House claims is a global steel glut. Trump officials have threatened to restrict steel imports, risking the start of a global trade war, after it has repeatedly alleged that China subsidizes the industry, which helps it lower prices and put U.S. steel jobs at risk.

The promises to draw up policy changes on steel production were a victory, White House officials said.

(Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

But with the U.S. decision to impose steel restrictions still up in the air, Merkel said Saturdays agreements did little to resolve the future.

The negotiations remain difficult, but we have been able to get satisfactory results in place, Merkel said. Now, whats going to happen tomorrow or the day after, I cannot make any predictions on.

One official said that Europeans were sharply unsettled by their encounters with Trump  and they recognized that may be the intention of the White House.

It seems clear that President Trump is committed to being less predictable and not necessarily seeing predictability as positive in foreign policy, said the European official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly assess the White House.

The summit came after Trump softened his opposition to some other multilateral institutions. After challenging the NATO defense alliance, he endorsed its all-for-one, one-for-all principles just ahead of the G-20 summit. And Trump has agreed to abide by the North American Free Trade Agreement, so long as it can be renegotiated.

White House officials also saw the potential to draw a win from the Hamburg summit, even if their expectations were measured. They hoped to explain Trumps priorities and find compromises, even small ones.

Their assessment of the outcome was sharply different from Merkel and Macrons cautious tone.

Its been a really great success, a senior White House official who was not authorized to speak on the record said Saturday before Trump departed for the United States. We are going to get some of the priorities of the administration out of this summit.

White House officials pointed to several minor changes to the G-20s official statement on trade policy, saying it better reflects the Trump administrations point of view.

We recognise that the benefits of international trade and investment have not been shared widely enough, the G-20 countries said in a joint statement. We need to better enable our people to seize the opportunities.

Similar language was not in the G-20 agreement in 2016 before Trumps election.

The White House also won a bitter battle over its desire to include language that promoted U.S. fossils fuels in the final statement  wording that European leaders sharply opposed.

Trump also prodded other countries to intensify a review of the overproduction of steel, something Trump alleges has ravaged the U.S. steel industry because it cannot compete with cheaper prices from countries such as China. In response to the White House push, the G-20 agreed to share information about steel production by August and to publish a formal report with recommendations by November. There probably will not be consequences if the deadlines are missed, but it creates a formal process for the White House to amplify its complaints.

Global steel manufacturing has soared, with China accounting for half the worlds production, compared with 15 percent in 2000, although the United States imports relatively little from China. Beijing agreed to the new G-20 steel requirements on Saturday.

Although the shifts may constitute short-term victories for Trump, one former senior official with the International Monetary Fund said Washington may have incurred long-term losses.

It comes at a cost of eroding U.S. leadership, said Eswar Prasad, a senior professor at Cornell University. If even in calm times such rifts are exposed, it could make it more complicated for the group to work together in more complicated circumstances.

Trump also had the chance to forge one-on-one relationships with leaders as the summit unfolded around him. It included his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which stretched more than two hours, and also his first post-election meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Relations between the United States and Mexico have been strained since Trump took office, in part because of the U.S. leaders insistence that Mexico would pay for the creation of a new wall along the U.S. border. When reporters were briefly allowed in the room for their meeting on Friday and he was asked whether he still wanted Mexico to pay for the wall, Trump responded absolutely.

Pena Nieto did not agree to pay for the construction of the wall during the meeting, and a person briefed on the discussions said Trump did not press the issue during their talks.

There were other signs that Trump enjoyed the visit. At a dinner and reception for world leaders and their spouses Friday night, Trump was among the last to leave. At an event Saturday morning to announce an initiative to fund female entrepreneurship, Trump called Merkel incredible, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spectacular, and declared that World Bank President Jim Yong Kim would be a great appointment.

On Twitter, Trump called the summit a wonderful success that was carried out beautifully by Merkel. He also said he had an excellent meeting on trade & North Korea with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Still, Trump did little to celebrate the G-20s outcome. President Barack Obama typically marked the end of global summits with a news conference, weighing in on issues he and other leaders discussed.

And on Saturday, many other world leaders, including Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, held lengthy briefings with reporters in Hamburg.

Trump had a different plan. When the summit ended, the president and his aides got in their motorcade, went right to the airport and flew back to the United States.

Isaac Stanley-Becker and Abby Phillip contributed to this report.
President Trumps trip to Poland and the Group of 20 summit in Germany is yet another reminder that his presidency has the qualities of a three-ring circus, with activity coming from a variety of directions all at the same time and with no easy way in the moment to decide what is most important or credible.

Two events dominated the presidents European visit: his eagerly anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday and his tone-setting speech about the future of the West a day earlier in Warsaw. Each rightly drew worldwide attention. Both could prove to be potential foundational moments in the Trump presidency.

But there were other discordant moments that distracted from the big set pieces. They were a reminder of how difficult it is to find consistency or predictability in Trumps presidency. They included the presidents public equivocation about Russian interference in the 2016 election and his dissing of U.S. intelligence capabilities during a news conference in Poland, and then a bizarre and inaccurate tweet on Friday morning about John Podesta and Russian hacking hours before Trump was to see Putin.

[Podesta calls Trump our whack job president in response to error-filled tweet]

No recent meeting between world leaders came with such advance hype as the session between Trump and Putin. Thats because no relationship has been more fraught for Trump, because of Russias efforts to meddle in his behalf during the election backdropped by Trumps regular expressions of admiration for Putin.

(The Washington Post)

This was more than an opportunity for Trump and Putin to get acquainted and to take a measure of each other, more than a moment for photo ops and handshakes and other trappings that often signify little. Dangers from North Koreas nuclear pursuits, the war in Syria (where the two agreed to try to enforce a cease-fire in the southwestern part of the country) and the overall fight against the Islamic State demanded serious and presumably frank discussions.

That their meeting lasted far longer than scheduled  at two hours and 15 minutes, it was more than twice as long as planned  was not a surprise. The leaders of the nations with the worlds biggest nuclear arsenals and with clear differences about many issues had a potential agenda that could have kept them together hours longer. The lengthy meeting was a constructive sign, given the state of the relationship.

What isnt known is what Trump, who is quick to judge the strengths and weaknesses of people, made of Putin. Did he emerge from their two hours of talks and sparring with a different impression of the Russian leader? Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the two had good chemistry. Trump is susceptible to flattery. Did he leave with a feeling that Putin was more trustworthy or less trustworthy than when he entered the room?

Then, of course, there was the elephant in the room, which was Russias role in the U.S. election. Pregame speculation questioned whether Trump would even address it face to face. He did, but there were conflicting accounts of what was said on that topic.

Tillerson said Trump had started the meeting by raising the issue of Russian interference and that Putin had offered what is his standard denial that the Russians did anything nefarious during the 2016 campaign.

Just how forcefully Trump pressed the issue  Tillerson said the president brought it up more than once  is so far unknown. There was no immediate indication of any softening of the sanctions imposed by the Obama administration in retaliation to the hacking, which has been a Russian goal. But the readouts suggested that Trump had no appetite for a sustained argument about Russias behavior.

As he has signaled in other interactions with other world leaders, Trump is transactional and therefore willing to look past such things as human rights abuses and other transgressions that have drawn rebukes from previous U.S. administrations as he pursues other goals. Whether that approach will produce desired results hasnt been given a full test, although it has not prompted the kind of tough action by China toward North Korea that Trump wants.

(The Washington Post)

Tillerson told reporters in Hamburg that neither leader was eager to re-litigate the past, that their differences on Russian meddling were intractable and that each was looking for a way to put the relationship between these two adversaries on firmer and more positive footing.

On one key point, the accounts of the meeting were at odds. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Trump had listened to Putins denial of interference, had accepted those statements and had dismissed the investigation into Russian interference. Tillerson said Putin, despite the denials, had nonetheless agreed to talks about noninterference in U.S. elections.

[Kremlin defends account of Trump-Putin talks]

What Trump said in response to Putins denial is a critical question, given what he said the day before at a news conference. Asked by reporters on Thursday whether he fully accepted U.S. intelligence findings of Russian interference, Trump again declined to give a clear answer. I think it could very well have been Russia, but I think it could well have been other countries, he said. Trump added that a lot of people interfere and have been for some time. Nobody really knows for sure, he said.

If that is Trumps true belief, and he has said it often enough over many months to make it seem as though it is what he thinks, then how exactly did he raise the issue directly with Putin, and how forcefully did he press the case when Putin offered his denial? Having raised it with the Russian leader, is that the end of it for the president, at least in terms of what he plans to do either to punish the Russians or aggressively look to prevent a repeat performance in 2018 or 2020?

His true feelings may have come out on Friday morning when he tweeted, Everyone here is talking about why John Podesta refused to give the DNC server to the FBI and the CIA. Disgraceful! There are any number of inaccuracies in that tweet, and Podesta, on a road trip with his wife, pointed them out in a response published by The Washington Post. Trumps tweet was a reminder that, on matters related to Russia and the election, the president continues to look for diversions and digressions, raising more questions about what transpired in his meeting with Putin.

Trumps speech in Warsaw drew more positive reviews than his address to NATO when he was in Europe in May. In Poland, he unequivocally reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to Article 5 of the NATO treaty dealing with common defense. In May, he pointedly did not.

His speech was nationalistic in tone, yet different from some in the past. Critics found the speech still too dark in tone. The Economist called it a departure from past administrations, and not that far from the American carnage language of his inaugural address, a philosophy that champions closed borders and that does not celebrate pluralistic values.

More positively, the Wall Street Journal said that, in his affirmative defense of the western tradition, Trump offered the core of what could become a governing philosophy. The editorial ended with this statement, It was an important and, we hope, a defining speech  for the Trump presidency and for Donald Trump himself.

That, like the question of what Trump truly thinks about Putin, Russia and the interference in American democracy, is the persistent puzzle about this president. Are speeches like the one he gave in Warsaw genuine expressions of his views or more the assembled consensus of his advisers? Are his views expressed best in readouts by advisers from his private discussions with the likes of Putin, or by what he says during his infrequent news conferences or his more frequent tweets? Answers still to come.
The Republican Congress returns to Capitol Hill this week increasingly uncertain that a major legislative victory is achievable in the three weeks before lawmakers leave town for their month-long summer recess.

Most immediately, GOP leaders and President Trump are under enormous pressure to approve health-care legislation  but that is only the beginning. Virtually every piece of their ambitious legislative agenda is stalled, according to multiple Republicans inside and outside of Congress.

They have made no serious progress on a budget despite looming fall deadlines to extend spending authorization and raise the debt ceiling. Promises to launch an ambitious infrastructure-building program have faded away. And the single issue with the most potential to unite Republicans  tax reform  has yet to progress beyond speeches and broad-strokes outlines.

The fallout, according to these Republicans, could be devastating in next years midterm elections. A demoralized GOP electorate could fail to turn out in support of lawmakers they perceive as having failed to fulfill their promises, allowing Democrats to sweep back into the House majority propelled by their own energized base.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said if Republicans cannot deliver on their promises in the coming weeks, voters are going to start saying, What difference does it make whos in power? 

(Meg Kelly,Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

There is a real anxiety among the people that I serve on why were not putting more things on the presidents desk, he said. Theyre tired of excuses.

All told, Republicans are in danger of squandering their grasp on the White House, the Senate and the House after a decade of divided government and years of stoking a conservative base to expect major policy wins. Unable so far to secure progress on his top priorities, Trump is also bumping up against history: Every president of the modern era has been able to claim at least one signature legislative achievement before the first August recess.

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of the Senate GOP leadership, said he worried that his party is not seizing the early months when a new president is historically best positioned to enact the boldest parts of his agenda.

I think thered be no reason for voters to look at this yet and think, Oh my gosh, a lot of the most valuable time of an administration is already gone. But if youve watched this for years, when an administration really makes great successes, its usually in that first year  and, more importantly, in that first seven months of that first year, he said.

The immediate obstacle has been the health-care legislation, which Republicans have campaigned on relentlessly since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010 but is now mired in widespread unpopularity and GOP infighting.

[Senate GOP and White House plan final, urgent blitz to pass health-care law]

Blunt said that after weeks of stalled progress, Republicans soon must decide whether the bill is viable: This does not get better over time, and were losing valuable time to get other things that we need to do as well.

A growing number of GOP leaders and K Street advocates think the party must move quickly beyond health care, win or lose, and proceed with a less internally divisive tax bill. Leaders had already abandoned, back in the spring, their earlier goal of passing tax reform over the summer. But with health care consuming the Senate, they have shown few signs of progress.

Republicans recognize theyre not out of the woods, said Thomas M. Davis, a former Virginia congressman who directs Deloittes federal lobbying practice. Davis said he thinks the Republican victory in a special congressional election in Georgia last month granted the party a reprieve  but it wont last long without a legislative achievement.

Theyve got a high wave coming at them in the midterms, he said. I think they realize theyve got to buckle down and do things. Theyve got to produce, and tax reform would be the number one thing.

Key Republican leaders have started looking beyond health care. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has acknowledged the possibility of a bipartisan repair to ailing health insurance markets should GOP senators fail to come to terms on a more ambitious ACA replacement. And House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has turned his attention squarely to tax reform as the health-care legislation that barely passed his own chamber sits in the Senate.

Our job and our goal is to get tax reform done in 2017, so that when we roll into the new year in 2018 we roll into having a new tax code, Ryan said at a Thursday event in his home district, according to remarks released by his office.

Even staunch conservative advocates of repealing the health-care law are preparing for a quick pivot to tax legislation.

Tim Phillips, president of the Koch network group Americans for Prosperity, said Friday that his group has been disappointed by Congresss failure to act quickly to dismantle the ACA and now considers its repeal a long-term effort.

The priority is definitely tax reform, he said. If you think about the long-term direction of the nation, genuinely dramatic tax reform would do the most good for the largest number of Americans.

Watching on the sidelines are Democrats, emboldened after spending weeks generating public opposition to the GOP health-care plan and whose cooperation will be needed to pass a series of complex items in the coming months.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said shes amazed that Republicans are willing to burn time off the congressional calendar pursuing this terrible plan when deadlines are bearing down on us, like raising the debt ceiling.

Theyre in the majority in the House and the Senate, they own the White House and thats the direction they want to drive the country? A place where most of America doesnt want to go? I dont get it, she added.

Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moodys Analytics, said the dysfunction in Congress stands to roil confidence in the U.S. economy, particularly if lawmakers flirt with defaulting on the debt limit.

Companies are already growing pessimistic about prospects for aggressive tax cuts, he said, and even the suggestion that Congress might fail to increase the debt limit could have serious market consequences. The overall picture is also causing major uncertainty for businesses that are trying to plan for the months and years ahead.

Businesses are delaying investment decisions because they dont know what tax rate theyre going to have in the future, Zandi said.

Ryan has called for an ambitious restructuring of corporate taxation, eliminating loopholes and taxing imports to bring rates down from the current 35 percent rate to as low as 15 percent. But the plan to tax corporate imports, known as border adjustment, has encountered fierce head winds,even among some Republicans. Many GOP senators have rejected the idea, and lobbyists have lined up to preserve favorable treatment for various industries.

The Trump administration has yet to reach consensus with House and Senate Republicans on the parameters of a tax bill, though aides say talks are progressing.

No matter what happens on health care and tax reform, Republicans and Democrats also must agree on spending by the time the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1  but no serious discussions about a plan have begun, according to multiple congressional aides.

Equally concerning for GOP lawmakers is that they must pass a budget ahead of tax reform to enact the special instructions that would allow them to approve a tax bill on a simple majority vote rather than the 60-vote supermajority required of most legislation in the Senate.

Also in the fall, Treasury Department officials expect to hit the nations borrowing limit. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has called for Congress to increase the debt limit by the end of July without attaching additional policy measures. But conservatives are pushing to include spending cuts, and GOP leaders have not yet taken concrete steps on the issue.

The key disputes of the moment are not between Republicans and Democrats but within the GOP. But on fiscal matters, both parties see bipartisan negotiations as inevitable.

House Republicans have floated a 2018 budget that boosts defense spending beyond the caps set in a 2011 bipartisan accord, and breaking them will require negotiations with Democrats who have long insisted on a corresponding rise in nondefense spending.

Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said Democrats are also prepared to block spending bills that fund a U.S.-Mexico border wall or contain conservative policy riders they oppose.

That is an opportunity for us to have the leverage we need to take care of the folks we care about, he said.

Other legislative deadlines also loom: The Federal Aviation Administration, the National Flood Insurance Program and the Childrens Health Insurance Program are set to expire in October, and a Department of Veterans Affairs program that gives veterans more flexibility in where they seek health care  a program launched in response to years of scandal at the department  is set to run out of funding next month.

This week, McConnell is devoting most of the Senate floor time to confirming Trump nominees to mid-level Cabinet positions and the federal courts. Christopher A. Wray, Trumps choice to be the new FBI director, is set to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

And Russia looms over the Capitol: Lawmakers are negotiating the final details of a bill to stiffen sanctions against the country while multiple committees are advancing their probes into Russias meddling in U.S. elections.

Behind closed doors, McConnell will remain focused on his attempt to persuade 50 of the 52 GOP senators to back a single health-care bill.

Leaders and their staff continued to work throughout the holiday week on ways to tweak the draft legislation they released last month, according to several senior GOP aides. A major part of the work has involved near-constant talks with scorekeepers at the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan agency that provides economic analysis to Congress.

It could take at least another week before the CBO analysis is complete, the aides said, meaning that the earliest chance for a health-care vote would be the week of July 17.

Kelsey Snell and Karoun Demirjian contributed to this report.

Read more at PowerPost
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, accompanied by President Trump, center, and Ivanka Trump, left, speaks at a workforce development roundtable at Waukesha County Technical College in Pewaukee, Wis., in June. Just 41 percent of Wisconsin voters approved of Trumps job performance in late June, while 51 percent disapproved, according to a poll by Marquette Law School. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

Senate Republicans began this year thinking that they had leverage over some Democrats, particularly the 10 up for reelection next year in states that President Trump won in the fall.

Those Democrats, some GOP strategists believed, would want to work with the president to appeal to enough Trump voters to win their states in November 2018.

That didnt happen. Instead, Trumps standing has slipped in many of these states. The president has faced legislative gridlock and a deepening investigation of his campaigns connections to Russia. His focus, in public appearances and on social media, has regularly drifted away from the policy agenda on Capitol Hill.

Thats left Senate Democrats feeling stronger than they expected to be eight months after their highly disappointing showing in 2016, which left them in the minority and heading into 2018 defending 25 seats compared with Republicans eight.

If Trump had spent his first six months increasing or even maintaining his popularity in these states, he might have struck enough political fear in these 2018 Democrats to compel them to support some of his initiatives.

Thats looking more and more like the sort of negotiation that will happen only if Democrats can command a good deal in return.

McConnell says GOP must shore up ACA insurance markets if Senate bill dies

The dynamic is sure to test Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in the months ahead, particularly if Republicans fail to muster the votes solely from their side of the aisle to repeal chunks of the Affordable Care Act. McConnell has warned that such an outcome will force him to work with Democrats to shore up imploding insurance markets.

No action is not an alternative, McConnell said Thursday while in Kentucky.

Beyond the health-care fight, McConnell has also made clear that there are many other agenda items that will require the traditional 60-vote threshold to choke off filibusters, meaning he needs at least eight Democrats to move legislation such as annual government funding bills and an increase in the governments borrowing authority.

But the bargaining table is different now.

Take Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), whose state delivered a critical victory for Trump, the first by a GOP presidential nominee since 1984.

A staunch liberal, Baldwin began the year expecting her 2018 reelection bid to be a 50-50 prospect. Her state had voted Republican three straight times for governor and in two of the past three Senate races.

Trump has used the presidential bully pulpit to focus on the Badger State, making three trips there since November. But his visits have done little to boost his standing.

Just 41 percent of Wisconsin voters approved of Trumps job performance in late June, while 51 percent disapproved, according to a poll by Marquette Law School.

On basic popularity, Trump is easily the most disliked politician among Wisconsin voters, with 54 percent holding an unfavorable view of him and 40 percent a favorable one.

Baldwins image is not great, but it is far better in Wisconsins eyes than Trump: 38 percent have a favorable view and 38 percent unfavorable.

Its the same in Michigan and Pennsylvania, both states Trump narrowly won. In Michigan, just 35 percent of voters approved of his job performance in a late May poll conducted by EPIC-MRA, with 61 percent disapproving. In Pennsylvania, 37 percent supported his job performance while 49 percent did not, according to a May poll by Franklin & Marshall College.

The good news for Trump is that his image in Pennsylvania improved a little from earlier in the year. The bad news is that his image in Michigan got a bit worse. The really bad news is that Trumps image is battered enough that neither Sens. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) nor Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) are feeling much pressure to work with Trump in the run-up to their 2018 reelection bids, unless its on their terms on a critical issue for their state.

For senators who hail from states where he is completely underwater, there is no political reason to work with him unless its on an issue where they have something to gain, said Matthew Miller, a former aide to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Infrastructure was Trumps shot at a bipartisan deal, but he left Democrats waiting by the phone

Its not just Trump who is unpopular; so is his partys health-care proposal.

Late last month, two liberal super PACs, Priorities USA Action and Senate Majority PAC, released a poll of the 10 states Trump won where Democrats face reelection next year. It showed that 60 percent of voters in those key battlegrounds want the Senate to start over on a health-care plan, while only 25 percent support its passage.

The super PACs did not release Trump-specific data, but several sources familiar with the poll said that the Democratic groups also privately tested the presidents standing with voters in those 10 states. Only in the most conservative of those states, such as West Virginia and North Dakota, did Trump have a net positive approval rating, but even there his approval was only a handful of points higher than his disapproval.

Trump won West Virginia and North Dakota by 42 and 36 points, respectively. Under normal political circumstances, Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) should be trying at every turn to work with Trump  much as Southern Democrats supported Ronald Reagans early agenda when the Republican icon swept that region in 1980.

After initial meetings with Trump during the transition, during which their names were floated as potential Cabinet members, Manchin and Heitkamp have kept a respectful distance from the president on most issues. Unless Trump can regain his strong popularity in these conservative states, the two are unlikely to feel the pressure to support the president, particularly when hes pushing very conservative agenda items.

You have to demonstrate that you respect the office and are willing to work with him, but hold firm to your principles on core issues, Miller said, describing Manchin and Heitkamps approach.

During the spring negotiations over 2017 government funding, Democrats held firm against most of Trumps priorities, including money for a Mexican border wall. Republicans got very few conservative wins.

If Trump isnt careful, this dynamic might start repeating itself for the foreseeable future.

Read more from Paul Kanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) is promoting an amendment to the health-care bill that would let insurers offer plans that dont meet ACA requirements, as long as they also offer plans that do. (Ilana Panich-Linsman/For The Washington Post)

The White House and Senate Republican leaders are planning a final, urgent blitz to pressure reluctant GOP senators to pass an overhaul of the Affordable Care Act before their month-long August recess.

Aware that the next 14 days probably represent their last chance to salvage their flagging endeavor, President Trump, Vice President Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) intend to single out individual senators and escalate a broad defense of the evolving proposal, according to Republicans familiar with their plans.

When Trump returns from Europe, he plans to counter the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Offices analysis of the legislation  which shows that 22 million fewer people would have insurance coverage by 2026 than under the current law  with figures and analyses from conservative groups and Republicans that show more benefits and less disruption, should the bill pass, according to a White House official familiar with the strategy.

Pence, meanwhile, is being asked to help bring along skeptical GOP senators, including Sen. Dean Heller (Nev.), to whom he has already reached out personally.

McConnell is expected to place greater responsibility on Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) to pitch his controversial amendment that would allow insurers to offer plans that dont meet ACA requirements  provided they also offer some that do. McConnell could ask Cruz to speak to Republican senators as soon as Tuesday, according to a person familiar with his strategy. Cruz has often talked about his amendment in the senators regular Tuesday lunches, but the burden of building support for the bill could be left to the firebrand conservative.

(Kyle Hopkins for The Washington Post)

The plans, which the Republicans described on the condition of anonymity, reflect the immense pressure GOP leaders feel as they aim to bring their bill to a vote on the Senate floor the week after next.

It is far from clear that the strategy will work. Even as Trump has sought to complement McConnells efforts with his own, he has also complicated the majority leaders life  most notably urging a vote on strictly repealing the law if the current effort is unsuccessful. McConnell has floated a different backup plan: working with Democrats to stabilize the insurance markets.

The biggest challenge the leaders face is the widespread disagreement among Republican senators about how the nations health-care laws should be structured, as well as frustration about the secretive process McConnell used to craft his bill. It was that anger and discord that spoiled McConnells plan to vote on the bill before the Fourth of July recess and forced him to rewrite his draft.

It may be that there is another discussion draft. If there is, I cant tell you whats in it. Thats what happens when you dont have an open process, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Friday at an event with constituents in Homer, Alaska.

Murkowski is one of several key moderate senators whom McConnell desperately needs to win over with his next draft, the details of which could be released as soon as early next week. He can afford to lose only two of the 52 Republican senators if he hopes to pass the bill. No Democrats plan to vote for the measure, but Pence is ready to cast a tiebreaking vote if needed.

McConnell must also woo recalcitrant conservatives who came out against the initial draft the day it was released. They include Cruz, who has been pushing his amendment as a means of winning his own vote as well as those of his conservative allies.

It adds additional choices so that people who cant afford insurance now will be able to purchase some form of insurance that they want, that they desire, that helps meet their needs, Cruz said Thursday at a town hall in Austin hosted by Concerned Veterans for America, a group backed by the billionaire conservative Koch brothers.

But Cruzs amendment has drawn concern from critics who worry that it would destabilize the risk pool that brings together healthy and sick individuals, and that it could mean higher coverage costs for less-healthy people.

Theres a real feeling that thats subterfuge to get around preexisting conditions, said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), according to Iowa Public Radio. If it is subterfuge and it has the effect of annihilating the preexisting-condition requirement that we have in the existing bill, then obviously I would object to that.

Its not yet clear whether Cruzs proposal would be allowed under arcane Senate rules that Republicans are using to pass their bill with a simple majority rather than the supermajority required of most legislation. Its also unclear what the impact would be on coverage levels or the deficit. The CBO is reviewing it along with other proposed changes, according to Republicans familiar with the situation. To some in McConnells orbit, Cruz is taking a risk by waging such a public campaign for his measure before those aspects are determined.

Cruz stands to be left responsible for the success or failure of a conservative amendment that could alienate other Republicans or undermine the special protections allowing the bill to pass along GOP party lines.

A Cruz spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

GOP leaders are also trying to win the support of Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), two Cruz allies who also opposed the draft legislation.

Inside the West Wing, Trump associates are working closely with McConnells legislative aides to track Republican senators. White House legislative director Marc Short speaks regularly with McConnell chief of staff Sharon Soderstrom and with GOP Senate leaders to hear their concerns, according to two Republicans involved in the discussions.

But while the relationship between the White House and McConnells operation has been tight, it is far from the only nexus driving the process.

Other influential White House figures, such as chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, have their own networks of friendly lawmakers and aides on Capitol Hill, at times vexing the McConnell orbit as it tries to hold together the Senate Republican conference. Bannon, for instance, has built a strong rapport with Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, who is known for telling the White House what could or could not pass muster among his colleagues in the House even as the Senate leadership toils over the bill.

McConnells proposal to work with Democrats if things fall apart could be an equally stiff challenge, given the intense partisanship that has gripped lawmakers in recent years. Nevertheless, some Republicans are hopeful.

Murkowski said she has personally contacted Democrats to see whether they might be more willing partners in fixing the health-care system in a way that fits the needs of her state. She is one of a number of rank-and-file Republicans who are warming to the idea of abandoning plans for repeal and working with Democrats to fix the existing system.

This week, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), another critic of the GOP bill, said she had also been in contact with Democrats who say they are waiting for McConnell to abandon repeal so they can move on to work with moderate Republicans on bipartisan health-care legislation.

I had one Democratic senator call me last Thursday morning at 6:54 a.m. and say to me, I really want to negotiate, but until this bill fails Im prohibited from doing so,  Collins said in an interview.

McConnells troubles have spread in recent weeks from the roughly half-dozen early GOP skeptics on either ideological flank. Even reliable leadership allies such as Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) have raised questions about the bill. Moran was the only Republican senator to face constituents at an unregulated town hall meeting this week, and he found himself flooded with voters demanding that he not support the Senate bill.

I think there are many senators  more senators than are having town hall meetings  more senators out there who have genuine concerns with this legislation, Moran told reporters after the meeting.

David Weigel in Palco, Kan.; Kyle Hopkins in Homer, Alaska; and Murray Carpenter in Eastport, Maine, contributed to this report.

Read more at PowerPost
Protesters demonstrate against the Group of 20 economic summit during a protest march on July 8 in Hamburg. (Morris Macmatzen/Getty Images)

For days, protesters seethed. They marched. They chanted. They took over public parks. They refused to obey police commands to disperse. They filled this northern German port city with signs condemning global trade as world leaders descended for the Group of 20 economic summit.

Then, late Friday, violence erupted as far-left militants ravaged parts of Hamburg, setting cars on fire, smashing store windows and looting.

The turmoil created difficult questions for activists who continued to rally Saturday as some made a point of disavowing radical tactics. It also renewed concerns about whether Hamburg  whose more than 1.7 million residents make it the second-largest city in Germany, a country with federal elections several months away  was a wise location for a summit bringing together many divisive heads of state. All together, all at once, in a moment of global unease, were President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

[Growing U.S. isolation on display at G-20 as world aligns against Trump policies]

Antipathy toward Trump was a particular rallying point in demonstrations that otherwise lacked a unifying theme. Protesters railed variously against capitalism, climate change and national borders, among many other grievances.

This summit was supposed to advance the environmental movement, said Leo Lehmann, 67. Instead, because of Mr. Trump, were going nowhere.

Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, seized the mantle of international anti-Trump sentiment, announcing at the last minute that he would headline one of Saturdays demonstrations, Hamburg Shows Attitude, sponsored by the city of Hamburg. Another demonstration Saturday unfolded under the banner G-20 not welcome and featured a variety of far-left groups, including a group of black bloc activists, known for anarchist sympathies and for concealing their faces. Police warned of possible escalation as the summit came to a close Saturday.

Tensions had been running high since Thursday, the eve of talks, as police officers faced off against members of the bloc at an anti-capitalist demonstration dubbed Welcome to Hell. Authorities used water cannons and pepper spray to disperse the crowd, which numbered about 12,000.

The center of the mayhem Friday night was Schanzenviertel, a hub of the citys left-wing activism not far from where German Chancellor Angela Merkel was hosting the leaders of the worlds major economies for a concert at the lofty Elbphilharmonie. As summit participants listened to Ode to Joy, about 1,500 anarchists rioted and looted, attacking police officers with iron bars and lobbing molotov cocktails.

German special forces were deployed as authorities called in reinforcements from across the country. Police said 144 people had been arrested by Saturday evening and the same number were being held temporarily in detention.

Meanwhile, 285 officers had been injured since protests mounted Thursday. One had a broken limb. Many injures were also reported among protesters, some of whom were sheltered inside Rote Flora, a center of left-wing German radicalism and former theater where activists have squatted for nearly three decades.

Its leaders Saturday distanced themselves from the violence but dispersed blame.

This militant action was wrong, said Andreas Blechschmidt, a spokesman for Rote Flora who had helped organize the opening march on Thursday. In general, we say militant resistance is of course for us an option, but this was only rioting with no political aim. Though perhaps it was a reaction to the very strict strategy of the police in the last week.

The rioting in Schanzenviertel led many to reflect Saturday on how to voice dissent without resorting to violence. Ursula Haun, part of a group of physicians who oppose nuclear arms, said the aim should be to counter brutality, not provoke it.

Thomas Weinand, 25, carried a sign urging, Black bloc go home. Across several years living near the scene of Friday nights chaos, he had never seen anything like the hell that unfolded, he said. For several hours, militants lit fires, smashed street signs and looted a grocery store, carrying off piles of food.

Weinand said anarchists from across Europe had hijacked Hamburgs history of left-wing activism, undermining the cause of peaceful protesters, including many from Hamburg whose aim was to defend their city.

We dont want the G-20 here, said Weinand, who studies management in Hamburg.

German officials Saturday defended the decision to hold the summit in Hamburg, saying adequate precautions had been taken. Wolfgang Schmidt, a Hamburg politician involved in summit preparations, said the city did not regret playing host to world leaders. He said the purpose of sponsoring a demonstration  in the model of the international womens march after Trumps inauguration in January  was to give activists an outlet that did not entail condemning the summit itself.

I dont think we can say we shouldnt have summits in certain places, Merkel told reporters Saturday, pointing to talks held in London in 2009. Next years summit will take place in Buenos Aires.

Other world leaders weighed in as well. French President Emmanuel Macron said: Were not talking about activists really but rowdies.

Vehement protest has often marked international economic talks. A summit in 2001, in Genoa, Italy, became a site of mass anti-globalization demonstrations that left one protester dead at the hands of Italian authorities.

Read more

Heres how Hamburgs crazy G-20 protests compare with years past



Police, protesters skirmish in Hamburg as G-20 makes city site of global discord



Putin: Trump agreed with assurances that Russia did not meddle in U.S. elections



Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Bahraini Shiite clerics attend a protest against the revocation of the citizenship of Bahrains leading Shiite cleric, Sheikh Isa Qassim (shown in portrait), on June 20, 2016. Bahrain, which is majority Shiite and ruled by a Sunni minority, accused Qassim of sowing sectarian divisions. (MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH/AFP/Getty Images)

The tiny island kingdom of Bahrain is increasingly turning to a particularly draconian tool of repression: stripping dissidents of their citizenship.

Rights activists say authorities have revoked the citizenship of 103 people so far this year, already more than in 2016. All were convicted of terrorism-related crimes in trials that rights activists say lacked due process and transparency.

The pace of citizenship revocations has increased amid an intensifying crackdown on opposition. And activists charge that the silence of the West, particularly the United States and Britain, has emboldened authorities to press ahead with more repressive measures than the kingdom has employed since the response to mass protests in 2011.

Theres absolutely zero pressure for them to reform or do anything thats less than repressive, said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy and one of those deprived of his citizenship. That attitude was clear, he said, when President Trump reassured the king of Bahrain at a meeting in May that there would be no strain in their relationship.

This was an indicator that human rights is absolutely not part of the U.S. interests, Alwadaei said.

This image provided by an activist who requested to remain unnamed, shows people carrying a man who was injured in a raid on an sit-in, in Diraz, Bahrain, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. Bahrain police raided a town where the sit-in has been going on for months in support of Sheikh Isa Qassim, a prominent Shiite cleric, who had his citizenship stripped by the government. An activist said one protester was killed. Bahrain's Interior Ministry said on Twitter that the operation targeting Diraz was to "maintain security and public order." (Uncredited/AP)

An official at the Bahraini Embassy in Britain said authorities revoke citizenship in the aim of preserving security and stability while countering threats of terrorism.

Revoking citizenship is only done in accordance with the provisions of the law, in cases where the person involved were engaged in activities that has caused damage to the interest of the Kingdom and its national security, the official said in an email, responding to questions on the condition of anonymity.

Bahrain, an archipelago in the Persian Gulf that is home to the U.S. Navys 5th Fleet, has a majority-Shiite population but is governed by a Sunni monarchy. In 2011, thousands of protesters demanding democratic reforms were met with a brutal crackdown and mass arrests. International pressure led to an inquiry that documented allegations of torture and violations by security forces, and recommended reforms.

But that pressure has largely evaporated, and the government has recently taken the crackdown to new lengths, dissolving political groups and the kingdoms last independent newspaper. Many activists and opposition figures have been jailed, and security forces killed five protesters in a raid on a demonstration in May.

The kingdom has stripped 451 people of their citizenship since 2012, according to a tally kept by the rights institute. Many are activists who are outspoken about democratic reforms and human rights abuses. Last year, authorities withdrew the citizenship of the kingdoms most prominent Shiite cleric, Sheikh Isa Qassim. But others say they have done little to draw attention to themselves.

Bahrain is not alone in the practice: other gulf countries, including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, have done the same.

Bahrain has expelled many of those deprived of their citizenship, creating a growing band of exiles. Those who remain in the kingdom live as stateless people in their own country. Without identity documents, simply driving across an island dotted with police checkpoints can be a dangerous proposition. All lose access to state pensions and state services including health care, as well as the ability to manage their property. They cannot register the births of their children, which means their offspring also cannot get access to state services. Most of those deprived of their citizenship this year are in prison after being convicted under Bahrains anti-terrorism law.





Its a way of killing your identity, your existence, said Ali Abdulemam, a blogger and activist whose citizenship was revoked in 2015. He now lives in Britain, where he was granted asylum. Someone thinks he has the authority to tell me that I dont belong to my homeland.

Rights activists say the justice system in Bahrain has lost all semblance of credibility. The concern that we would have is the justice system in Bahrain has proven itself utterly incapable of providing anybody a fair trial, notably in terrorism cases. So the verdicts that theyre delivering simply cannot be relied upon either way, said Nicholas McGeehan, a Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch.

Human rights activists acknowledge that violent attacks on police occur but say authorities round up groups of uninvolved people and charge them with committing such acts.

Bahrain has close relationships with the United States and Britain, which also has a naval base in the kingdom. A British Foreign Office spokeswoman said in a statement that the British government had raised with the Bahraini government Britains concerns about the deprivation of citizenship but defended the relationship between the two.

The U.K. works closely with Bahrain in a number of areas, and we see our support as the most constructive way to achieve long-lasting and sustainable reform, the spokeswoman said.

The United States is concerned about the citizenship revocations, a State Department official said in a statement. We have raised this issue with Bahraini officials and continue to strongly urge the government to respect and protect human rights, the official said.

Thats little comfort to those who have been made stateless. Many of them say one of the most difficult consequences is the effect on their families.

Abdulemams wife gave birth to a son in March. Because nationality in Bahrain is passed through the father, the child was stateless from birth. I feel so bad that this kid is being punished because of no crime he committed. . . . Hes being punished because of his dad, Abdulemam said. This is painful on me.

Read more:

Bahrain and UAE criminalize sympathy for Qatar

After assurances by Trump, Bahrain mounts deadliest raid in years on opposition

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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The James R. Browning U.S. Court of Appeals Building, which is home to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in San Francisco. An appeals court panel late Friday declined to involve itself in the latest dispute over President Trumps travel ban. (Noah Berger/Reuters)

A federal appeals court panel late Friday declined to involve itself in the latest dispute over President Trumps travel ban, meaning, at least for now, grandparents and other extended relatives of people in the United States cannot be exempted from the presidents executive order.

The ruling from a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is another blow to those who have challenged enforcement of the ban in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that lifted earlier freezes of it.

The appeals court judges, however, did not address the merits of the challengers claims, but rather said they did not have jurisdiction to weigh in on the matter. The judges  Michael Daly Hawkins, Ronald M. Gould and Richard A. Paez, all Clinton appointees  were the same ones that had earlier ruled against Trump and upheld a freeze on his ban. Trump has been critical of their ruling.

[Federal appeals court upholds freeze on Trumps travel ban]

It is unclear what might happen next. The judges seemed to suggest that while they could not get involved, the state of Hawaii, which is challenging the ban, could go back to a lower court judge. That judge, Derrick K. Watson, had on Thursday rebuffed a similar request, saying the matter should be taken up with the Supreme Court.

In a statement, Hawaii Attorney General Douglas S. Chin said the ruling makes clear that Judge Watson does possess the ability to interpret and enforce the Supreme Courts order, as well as the authority to enjoin against a partys violation of the Supreme Courts order placing effective limitations on the scope of the district courts preliminary injunction.

We appreciate the Ninth Circuit for ruling so quickly and will comply, Chin said.

At issue is how far the administration can go in keeping relatives of U.S. people out under the presidents travel ban, which bars the issuance of new visas to residents of six Muslim-majority countries.

The Supreme Court had ruled late last month that the government could begin enforcing the measure, but not on those with a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.

The court offered only limited guidance on what type of relationship would qualify. Close familial relationships would count, the court said, as would ties such as a job offer or school acceptance letter that were formal, documented, and formed in the ordinary course.

The government put the measure into effect on June 29, suspending the refugee program and barring the issuance of new visas to residents of Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Syria without U.S. connections. Among family members, officials drew lines.

The administration said it would let into the United States from the six affected countries parents, parents-in-law, siblings, spouses, children, sons and daughters, and sons-in-law and daughters-in-law of those already here. (Officials initially wanted to keep out fiances, but later relented.)

Still banned, however, were grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. And the administration also said it would keep out refugees who had a formal assurance from a resettlement agency.

Hawaii first went to Watson, asking him to clarify that such people could not be blocked. Watson wrote that he would not usurp the prerogative of the Supreme Court, and if those suing over the ban wanted relief, they should take their claims there. The state then asked the 9th Circuit to get involved and bar the government from enforcing the measure as it has been.

These actions are grossly unlawful, and they inflict ongoing and irreparable harm to persons in the United States whose relatives and associates are being denied entry to this country each day, lawyers for the state wrote in a filing Friday.

Without even hearing from the government, the appeals court judges ruled that Watsons order neither resulted in a final judgment nor engaged in action deemed immediately appealable, and they thus lacked jurisdiction to get involved themselves. But they seemed to give Hawaii a path forward, if the state merely styled its request to Watson not as a request for clarity, but as a call to enforce the Supreme Courts order.

Finally, we note that although the district court may not have authority to clarify an order of the Supreme Court, it does possess the ability to interpret and enforce the Supreme Courts order, as well as the authority to enjoin against, for example, a partys violation of the Supreme Courts order placing effective limitations on the scope of the district courts preliminary injunction, the judges wrote. But Plaintiffs motion before the district court was clear: it sought clarification of the Supreme Courts June 26 order, not injunctive relief. Because the district court was not asked to grant injunctive relief or to modify the injunction, we do not fault it for not doing so.
This photo distributed by the North Korean government shows what was said to be the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, in North Korea's northwest. (AP)

Four months before its July 4 missile test, North Korea offered the world a rare technical preview of its latest missile engine, one said to be capable of lobbing nuclear warheads at U.S. cities. A video on state-run TV depicted a machine with thickets of tubes and vents, and a shape that struck some U.S. experts as familiar  in a distinctly Soviet way.

It shocked me, said Michael Elleman, one weapons expert who noticed jarring similarities between the engine tested by North Korea in March and one he frequently encountered in Russia at the end of the Cold War. It seemed to come out of nowhere.

After intensive study, Elleman, a former consultant at the Pentagon, and other specialists would report that they had detected multiple design features in the new North Korean missile engine that echo those of a 1960s-era Soviet workhorse called the RD-250.

There is no record of Pyongyangs obtaining blueprints for the Russian missile engine, and experts disagree on whether it ever did so. But the discovery of similarities has focused new attention on a question that has dogged U.S. analysts for at least the past two years: How has North Korea managed to make surprisingly rapid gains in its missile program, despite economic sanctions and a near-universal ban on exports of military technology to the impoverished communist state?

[Experts: North Koreas missile was a real ICBM  and a grave milestone]

(The Washington Post)

Many weapons experts say North Koreas startling display of missile prowess is a reflection of the countrys growing mastery of weapons technology, as well as its leaders fierce determination to take the country into the nuclear club. But others see continuing evidence of an outsize role by foreigners, including Russian scientists who provided designs and know-how years ago, and the Chinese vendors who supply the electronics needed for modern missile-guidance systems.

Whether outsiders played a decisive role in Tuesdays firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile is not publicly known. But the evidence from the televised engine test in March is tantalizing, and also disturbing, analysts say. While North Korea is known to have obtained other Soviet missile designs in the past, the new revelations suggest the possibility of a transfer of weapons secrets that has gone undetected until now.

It would mean that North Korea had a wider procurement network in the former Soviet Union than we had thought, said Elleman, a missile expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies who oversaw the dismantling of Soviet-era missiles in Russia and Ukraine two decades ago. My first question would be, What else have they got? 

A foundation of knowledge

It was, without a doubt, one of the strangest mass arrests in the history of Moscows Sheremetyevo-2 Airport: On Oct. 15, 1992, police detained 60 Russian missile scientists, along with their families, as they prepared to board a plane for North Korea.

Under questioning, the scientists confessed that they had been hired as a group to help the North Koreans build a modern missile fleet. In those early days after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was little work for Russias elite weapons scientists and little pay to help them feed and clothe their families.

We wanted to make money and come back, one of the scientists explained at the time to a Russian journalist.

Scores of other scientists did make the journey in the 1990s, taking with them decades of experience, as well as parts and blueprints. It was the beginning of a Russian-influenced renaissance in North Koreas missile arsenal, which until then consisted mostly of outdated, early-generation Scuds, some of them purchased on the black market. About the same time, North Korea also obtained sensitive nuclear technology from Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Soldiers watch fireworks in Pyongyang, North Korea, to celebrate the test launch of North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missile two days earlier. (Jon Chol Jin/AP)

The Russian government has insisted it had nothing to do with the transfer of missile secrets to North Korea. But Soviet designs became the templates for a series of intermediate-range ballistic missiles built and tested by North Korea over the next two decades, with extra features and capabilities added by a new generation of engineers recruited from the countrys best schools.

Still, the program struggled, with many missiles blowing up on the launchpad, said Gaurav Kampani, a University of Tulsa international security expert and fellow at the Washington-based Atlantic Council.

North Koreas ballistic missiles, especially its long-range missile project, were often considered a joke because of an unusual number of test failures, Kampani said.

Serious advances

The jokes all but stopped after North Korea achieved a series of technical breakthroughs in surprisingly rapid succession. Just in the past four years, Pyongyang has launched satellites into orbit and successfully tested one missile that can be fired from a submarine, as well as another that uses solid fuel, a significant military advance because it allows for more mobility and a much faster launch.

On Tuesday, its Hwasong-14 missile became the first in North Korean history capable of traveling more than 3,400 miles, the minimum distance needed to be classified as an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The missile is believed to be a two-stage version of the Hwasong-12, which carries the same engine North Korea put on public display in March.

[Kim Jong Uns rockets are getting an important boost  from China]

In nearly every case, the technical foundations of the new missiles can be traced to know-how acquired from Russians and others over many years. Yet, the advances of the past years suggest that North Koreas engineers are now managing quite well on their own.

The consensus has been that North Koreas program  missile as well as nuclear  is mostly indigenous, said Laura Holgate, a top adviser on nonproliferation to the Obama administration who stepped down in January as head of the U.S. mission to the United Nations in Vienna. They continue to seek to import commercial dual-use technologies for their weapons programs, but the design and innovation is homegrown.

The many failures in the past were simply part of the learning curve for a country with a demonstrated ability to benefit from its mistakes, said David Albright, a former U.N. weapons inspector and president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington think tank.

Armed with the acquisition of many goods from abroad, North Korea appears to have devoted considerable resources to making the missiles domestically and, more importantly, figuring out how to launch them successfully, Albright said. With regards to missiles, practice makes perfect.

Determined to succeed

Yet it is also clear that North Koreas engineers are continuing to benefit from designs bequeathed to them years ago. Before Pyongyangs new missile engine surfaced, U.S. officials fretted about the Hwasong-10, a mobile, intermediate-range ballistic missile that was successfully tested last June. The missile, which is capable of reaching targets as far as Guam, 2,000 miles away, has been shown in independent analyses to be a modified version of a Russian missile commonly known as the R-27 Zyb. North Korea is believed to have obtained the Russian blueprint in the 1990s and to have spent years working on prototypes, current and former U.S. officials said.

Elleman, the former Pentagon missile expert, believes that North Koreas newest missile engine has a similar past. The designs were most likely obtained years ago, through rogue scientists or on the black market, only to surface recently as part of a newly energized missile program.

Elleman is preparing to publish an analysis comparing the engine used in the Hwasong-12 and Hwasong-14 with the Soviet-era RD-250, using photos that highlight nearly identical features, including cooling tubes, exhaust nozzles and the four auxiliary engines that steer the rocket.

Theyve had these designs for a long time, and theyve probably been doing exercises around these engines for 15 years, he said. All that work was done, and all [that] was left to do was the ground testing and flight testing with these different designs. It is what has allowed them to rapidly build up and try all these things over the past few years.

[The message behind the murder: North Koreas assassination sheds light on chemical weapons arsenal]

The Kim Jong Un factor

The key new element was most likely North Korean leader Kim Jong Un himself, who accelerated the pace of the countrys nuclear and missile development soon after taking power. They are serious about trying to create a capability that could threaten the United States, Elleman said.

The lingering Soviet legacy partly explains why North Korean technology tends to be decades behind that of the United States and other modern military powers, said David S. Cohen, a former deputy director of the CIA who had advised the Obama administration on North Koreas weapons advances.

The missiles theyre shooting now have some new engineering, but its all based on old Soviet models, Cohen said.

Unable to purchase advanced technology on the open market, North Korea also remains dependent on smugglers and black-marketeers to obtain some of the parts it needs, particularly electronics, Cohen said.

But he cautioned against underestimating a North Korean leadership that repeatedly displayed ingenuity in working with old designs and systems as well as a determination to succeed in the face of international isolation and censure.

It is a mistake to think that this is really a hermit kingdom that is cut off and doesnt have access to the Internet, Cohen said. They have a lot of disadvantages, but the biggest part of the government economy is their nuclear and missiles program, so the smartest folks they have are directed to do this work.

My fear, he added,  is that people underestimate them.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson delivers remarks in May to the employees at the State Department. He is taking a personal approach to Persian Gulf issues. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)

After weeks of public statements and private phone calls with no apparent result, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has decided to personally intervene in the ongoing Persian Gulf dispute that has threatened U.S. counterterrorism operations in the Middle East.

Tillerson will travel late Monday to Kuwait, where its government has unsuccessfully tried to mediate between Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries that have blockaded and broken relations with the tiny, energy-rich nation of Qatar, home to the largest U.S. military base in the region.

He plans to spend the week talking to leaders of the warring gulf capitals, receiving them in Kuwait or shuttling among regional capitals, according to senior U.S. officials, who cautioned that a firm schedule is not yet set.

Tillersons first foray into high-stakes crisis negotiation comes as his stewardship of the State Department has been questioned in Congress, the White House and within the Department itself.

Senior White House officials have complained that he has walled himself off behind a handful of senior aides and takes neither their phone calls nor their recommendations. Lawmakers have asked what he intends to do about President Trumps proposal to slash States budget by nearly a third, and made clear they will not permit it.

Scores of high-level jobs and ambassadorships remain unfilled as the secretary has opted to review the structure of the entire organization and pare back the overall workforce before making new appointments.

According to an outside survey commissioned by Tillerson and completed last month, many of his own staffers agree that the department does not foster innovation and is too big. Many of the 35,000 who participated described a system hampered by layers of bureaucracy, including dozens of special-envoy offices created to serve temporal needs and allowed to continue in existence long after those needs have disappeared.

But the survey results, first reported last week by the Wall Street Journal, also described State employees as demoralized and unsure of the direction in which Tillerson wants to take them. Many echoed congressional complaints about crucial senior positions left unfilled while the secretary takes his time deciding which offices are important and who should occupy them.

Success in the gulf would help reestablish at least some of the goodwill with which Tillerson, considered a man experienced in both institutional management and the ways of the world, began his tenure. The former chief executive of energy giant Exxon Mobil, who brought extensive global contacts with him to the State Department, was seen on Capitol Hill, within the department and abroad as a mature counterbalance to an impetuous, inexperienced president.

But even senior officials who see Tillerson as the perfect man for the job of stopping the escalating gulf crisis warn that it will not be easy. While the dispute, at least on its surface, is about accusations of support for terrorism, all of the countries involved are key members of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State. Already, their actions have drawn in other regional friends and foes, from Iran and Turkey on Qatars side, to Jordan and a host of smaller Muslim countries supporting Saudi Arabia.

In the face of deep-seated antagonisms and dug-in positions, U.S. leverage is limited. All of the players want to stay in Americas good graces, and all see the Trump administrations focus on the region and willingness to confront shared enemies as an improvement over what they viewed as President Barack Obamas hesitancy and disengagement. But there is little sense of how far the Trump administration, with equities to preserve throughout the region, is willing to go in pressing for resolution.

More than any specific charge or countercharge the parties have leveled at each other, the major U.S. concern is that the dispute itself is undermining goals in the Middle East. Although officials insist it has not yet directly affected operations at the massive U.S. air base in Qatar, the major U.S. naval base in Bahrain or the other cooperative ventures that play a central role in the wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, it risks diverting attention from those missions.

Part of the problem is President Trump himself, who has publicly taken Saudi Arabias side in a series of tweets and statements. The Saudis, along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, have accused Qatar of financing and supporting terrorist organizations, a charge they hammered home with Trump when Riyadh hosted him for a lavish, three-day visit on his first trip abroad in May.

Tillerson, along with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, has called for the parties to resolve their differences sooner rather than later. While both agree that Qatar could do more to stem terror financing from within its borders, they believe the same, in varying degrees, of all the gulf countries.

Tillerson has pointedly suggested that the Saudis are using the headline-grabbing terrorism issue as a cover to alter other Qatari policies they have long found displeasing. After consultation with the secretary, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) last month vowed that Congress would not approve arms deals with states in the region, including most of the $110 billion in proposed U.S. weapons sales to Saudi Arabia touted by Trump during his visit there, until the dispute was resolved.

Mattis has gone out of his way to lock arms with Qatar as a security partner. He hosted its defense minister last month in Washington. On Thursday, the Pentagon announced another Mattis call to the minister, Khalid al-Attiya, in which it said the two affirmed their commitment to continued U.S. cooperation and deepening their strategic partnership.

After Qatar refused their demands last week, the Saudis and their partners vowed to impose unspecified harsher actions. Arab diplomats have said they could include freezing Qatari bank accounts as well as other sanctions, a major step in a region where economies and finance often span borders. As the situation now stands, there appears to be no way out that does not involve a humiliating stand-down by one side or the other.

Weve become increasingly concerned that the dispute is at an impasse at this point, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Thursday as Tillerson began to plan his shuttle diplomacy. We believe that this could potentially drag on for weeks. It could drag on for months. It could possibly even intensify.

The terrorism-financing charge that gained Trumps attention may be the easiest to resolve with increased U.S. monitoring, administration officials said.

But most of the demands Saudi Arabia and its partners have made, and Qatar has rejected, revolve around years-long disputes about the role of political Islam and internal control by the regions authoritarian governments. They include a demand to ban the Muslim Brotherhood, the Pan-Arab Islamist movement that operates in different guises in different countries.

Administration officials agree that Qatars position in hosting Brotherhood officials and supporting them in other countries is troublesome. But they believe a compromise could be worked out, perhaps by Qatar stopping its support for Brotherhood organizations in Egypt and Libya. Similarly, they hope the demand to shut down the Qatar-funded media operation Al Jazeera can be addressed with changes in programming.

Until now, however, Saudi Arabia has said that its demands are nonnegotiable.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said that he thinks President Trump agreed with his assurances that Moscow had not interfered in the 2016 presidential election, but suggested that reporters ask the U.S. president what he thought.

The White House did not confirm or deny Saturday the suggestion that Trump, embattled at home by an investigation into Russian meddling, had agreed with the Kremlin leader, who U.S. intelligence agencies allege oversaw a hacking and disinformation effort.

Putin on Saturday said Trump asked many questions about Russian interference during their closed-door talks on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit. The Russian president said he had repeated Moscows stance that there were no grounds to believe that Russia interfered in the U.S. electoral process.

It seemed to me that he took it into account, and agreed, Putin told reporters on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg. The Russian president added that you should ask him.

Asked on several occasions during a briefing with reporters on Air Force One whether they agreed with Russian assessments of Trumps reaction, White House officials avoided giving a direct answer. I think President Trump handled it brilliantly, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said repeatedly.

(The Washington Post)

Putins recounting of the discussion of Russian interference was at odds with that of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who attended the meeting. Speaking to reporters Friday, Tillerson said that President Putin denied such involvement, but he did not say whether Trump accepted that assertion. Rather, Tillerson said Trump decided to move on because Russia would not admit blame.

Tillerson said, though, that the United States wasnt dismissing Russian responsibility, and that the two sides had agreed to organize talks regarding commitments of noninterference in the affairs of the United States and our democratic process.

Putin expanded on that Saturday, saying that Russia and the United States had agreed to work together to prevent interference in the domestic affairs of foreign states, primarily in Russia and the U.S. Putin has repeatedly said that the United States has been interfering in Russian elections since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia meddled in the election to benefit Trump, but the president, unwilling to acknowledge allegations that cast a shadow on the legitimacy of his election victory, has refused to fully embrace the finding.

As a result, Trumps public stance on the election  that nobody really knows for sure who hacked a Democratic Party email server  has echoed Putins own words.

[Trump on Russian meddling: 'Nobody really knows for sure']

It has also put the U.S. president at odds with members of his own administration. In an interview with CNN that will air Sunday, Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said that everybody knows that Russia meddled in our elections.

1 of 45 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  See President Trump as he travels abroad for the G-20 economic summit View Photos The president made his way to Germany for the meeting of world leaders after a stop in Poland. Caption The president made his way to Germany for the meeting of world leaders after a stop in Poland. July 8, 2017 President Trump waves as he and first lady Melania Trump arrive at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after the G-20 economic summit. Evan Vucci/AP Wait 1 second to continue.

Everybody knows that theyre not just meddling in the United States election, Haley said in the interview on CNNs State of the Union. Theyre doing this across multiple continents, and theyre doing this in a way that theyre trying to cause chaos within the countries.

German leaders have said that they are concerned that Russia will try to sway their September elections in the same way U.S. intelligence says it did in the 2016 presidential vote. Putin on Saturday denied that, as well.

We did not meddle in the U.S. either; why would we need to create some problems here, too? We have good relations with Germany. It is our biggest trade and economic partner in Europe, Putin said. He added that the Western media are constantly meddling in Russias domestic affairs, but Moscow is taking this in its stride.

Fridays encounter between the leaders of the worlds nuclear superpowers had been highly anticipated at a time of increased tensions over the increasingly assertive military role in Syria, where in June Russia threatened to treat U.S. aircraft as targets.

Some in Moscow had anticipated that Trumps presidency would offer a chance for a new era in U.S.-Russian relations, but that mood had soured over the Trump administrations tough stand on Russias support for rebels in eastern Ukraine, which led to new sanctions against Moscow in June.

[Expectations of a new U.S.-Russian relationship were tanking even before Syria missile strike]

Putin said Saturday that the there is every reason to expect that we will be able to restore the level of interaction that we need, at least partially.

He also observed that The television Trump is very different from the real man.

He is absolutely specific, adequately perceives his interlocutor, analyzes quickly, answers the questions he is asked and [handles] whichever subjects arise during a discussion, Putin said.

U.S. lawmakers from both parties had urged Trump to raise the election meddling with Putin when the leaders met. Afterward, some worried whether Trump had confronted Putin firmly enough. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) dismissed the outcome as disgraceful.

President Trump had an obligation to bring up Russias interference in our election with Putin, but he has an equal obligation to take the word of our Intelligence Community rather than that of the Russian President, Schumer said in a statement.

Before the meeting, analysts in both countries had said that Putin was hoping for a signal from Trump that Moscow and Washington could put aside past differences and forge a new relationship. In Moscow, political leaders were celebrating Friday night. Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the foreign relations committee in the Russian upper house of parliament, called the talks a breakthrough.

Trump and Putin designated top officials to collaborate on the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine, Tillerson said, and also reached a de-escalation agreement regarding a section of Syria near the cities of Daraa and Quneitra. Jordan was also part of that agreement.

Past cease-fires in Syria have not lasted long, and Tillerson suggested he was skeptical that this cease-fire would endure.

[U.S., Russia agree to collaborate on backing cease-fire in southwest Syria]

Russia and the United States continue to disagree on the matter of Russias ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Putin refuted Tillersons statement that Assad has no future in Syrian politics, saying Tillerson is a respected man whom we respect and love but that he is not a Syrian citizen, and that Assads future will be decided by the Syrian people.

Putins assertive foreign policy has earned him positive marks at home, where Russians give him consistently high marks for his leadership. But the Kremlin is facing the most widespread protests since Putin returned to the presidency in 2012. Although the popular unrest is not considered enough of a threat to prevent him from winning a new six-year term next March, the discontent mars the Kremlins effort to portray Russians as unified in its support for their president.

Russian police have been raiding campaign offices of the organizer of the largest protests, anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, who has said he will run for president. On Saturday, Navalnys staff said 52 supporters had been arrested, according to the Interfax news agency.

Putin never mentions Navalny in public, and asked about that on Saturday, he avoided mentioning the activist again, saying he was not interested in dialogue with anyone who offers no constructive ideas.

Read more

Trump: Russian election interference is a big Dem HOAX

Obamas secret struggle to retaliate against Putins election assault

What is the Russian Order of Friendship, and why does Rex Tillerson have one?

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

Michael Birnbaum, Damian Paletta and Abby Phillip contributed to this report.
Islamist militants are suspected in the beheading of nine men in Lamu County, on Kenyas southeast coast. The attack occurred in Jima village, James Ole Serian, leader of a task force of government security agencies combating al-Shabab, told the Associated Press.

The attack is the latest in a series of fatal assaults by al-Shabab on Kenyan soil in retaliation for Kenyas involvement in military action against the militant group in Somalia. Kenya is one of five African nations who have sent troops to help support the fragile government in Somalia.

Friday nights attack occurred just days after a similar attack at a police station in a nearby village of Pandaguo on Wednesday in which three police officers were killed.

Johnson Kitsao, a witness to Friday nights attack, said about 16 armed militia attacked two villages, Jima and Poromoko. They were targeting only male residents, Kitsao said. They went from house to house, dragging out men, they managed to take with them 10 men. One of the men managed to escape, but the other nine were beheaded mercilessly, Kitsao said.

Kitsao said that it appeared to him that they were specifically looking for non-Muslim men.

Another eyewitness, Johnson Ndokolane, said the attackers were, ruthless, using knives to slaughter the men they had held captive.

Al-Shabab has used beheadings as a way to terrorize villagers in Somalia, but they have been rare in Kenya. The group, however, have increasingly used bomb attacks in Kenya, killing at least 46 in Lamu and Mandera counties, according to the Associated Press.

He said the number of casualties could have been greater, but after the attack on the police station in Pandaguo, a lot of nonresidents moved away.

They felt very insecure, Ndokolane said. The ones that remained were just the unlucky ones. They thought they were safe because of the heavy security presence after the attack.

Lamu County is home to Boni Forest, where the al-Shabab militiamen are believed to hide out.

Agents from the Kenya Defence Forces have responded to previous terrorist attacks by pursuing the attackers and pushing them into the forest. Locals, however, say such operations are not successful, because the militants are only pursued so far into the forest.

If the government is afraid of dealing with this militia, then they should arm us appropriately so that we can deal with them, said Kitsao. We do not feel safe at all.
People walk past a billboard in Caracas with an image of Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who was granted house arrest on Saturday after more than three years in jail. (Marco Bello/Reuters) (Marco Bello/Reuters)

The Venezuelan government freed its fiercest political rival early Saturday in a surprise move, allowing opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez to leave his prison cell and return home after nearly three and a half years behind bars.

Venezuelan authorities called the decision a humanitarian gesture, citing Lopezs allegedly poor health, but his supporters celebrated his release as a capitulation by the embattled government. Concerns about Lopezs well-being were calmed when he briefly appeared before cheering crowds outside his family home, waving a Venezuelan flag and thrusting a defiant fist skyward.

He did not address the crowd, and the conditions of his transfer from prison to house arrest were not immediately known.

Lopez, Venezuelas most prominent political prisoner, was arrested in early 2014 and handed a 13-year jail term. He became a symbol of resistance for opponents of the government, his portrait printed in bright colors on the T-shirts and flags of protesters who chant, Free Leopoldo!

Lopez, 46, was escorted out the prison at about 3 a.m. under cover of darkness, and news of his release was applauded by governments across the hemisphere, which called on Venezuelan authorities to release others held on politically related charges.

For Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the move to free Lopez presents a significant political risk. The charismatic former Caracas mayor ranks in polls as the countrys most popular politician, and in a statement from Lopez read by fellow opposition leaders Saturday, he said he was not afraid to return to jail.

If continuing my fight for freedom means going back to [prison] I am ready to do it, his statement read. I reiterate to you my commitment to fight for freedom.

Lopezs supporters were quick to point out that while the conditions of his confinement had changed, his conviction  on charges of inciting violence during 2014 protests  had not been lifted. His ability to assume leadership of the new protest movement against Maduro could be limited by the terms of his house arrest.

His father, Leopoldo Lopez Gil, told reporters that authorities placed an electronic monitoring bracelet on his son, but outside of that we dont know of any other limitation, he said, speaking from exile in Spain.

What happens now depends very much on what Leopoldo is allowed to do and whether he will have the freedom to exercise leadership of the opposition, said Caracas political analyst Carlos Romero.

Many said they were puzzled by the governments sudden decision to release him, but a statement by Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez crediting international mediators appeared to offer insight into Maduros thinking.

Today the country woke up to a gesture that was the result of dialogue, Padrino Lopez said, praising mediators led by former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Yet years of failed attempts at mediation have convinced many government opponents that such calls are hollow and cynical attempts to buy more time. They called Maduros decision the result of growing domestic and international pressure on the cash-strapped government to return to democratic norms.

[Venezuelas slide into chaos is splintering the Chavez movement]

In a statement to reporters, Lopezs staff described his release as a unilateral decision by the government, not the result of a quid pro quo negotiation.

Venezuela has been on a hair-trigger in recent weeks, as the Maduro government pushes forward with a widely condemned plan to hold a constituent assembly that will have the power to rewrite the countrys constitution. The government has set July 30 as the date for voters to begin electing delegates to the assembly, which opponents of the government say they will boycott.

On Wednesday, armed pro-government supporters forced their way inside Venezuelas parliament and beat up several opposition lawmakers, a shocking attack that deepened fears of an increasingly bloody confrontation. Nearly 100 Venezuelans have died in the past three months of political unrest, with near-daily clashes between protesters and security forces.

[Government supporters attack Venezuelan congress, injure opposition lawmakers]

Letting Lopez out of prison seems unlikely to cool the streets, analysts said, nor convince Maduros critics that his government has had a sudden democratic awakening.

Did the government merely do this to relieve some international pressure? said Phil Gunson, a Caracas-based analyst for the International Crisis Group. Seems hardly plausible, since by conceding this major point they only encourage the opposition  internal and external  to go for more.

Opposition leaders pledged to continue marching, urging Venezuelans to join them in 100 days of struggle that would kick off with mass demonstrations Sunday morning.

Rachelle Krygier contributed to this report from Madrid.

Read more:

How a new kind of protest movement has risen in Venezuela

Venezuelas paradox: people are hungry, but farmers cant feed them

Venezuela may be sliding toward civil war

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Z o.o., FIS Japan KK, FIS Kingstar Cayman Islands Limited, FIS Korea Ltd., FIS Management Services LLC, FIS Management Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., FIS Merchant Solutions Mexico S.A. de C.V., FIS Norway AS, FIS Pakistan Private Limited, FIS Payment Solutions & Services India Private Limited, FIS Payments Ireland Limited, FIS Payments LLC, FIS Payments UK Limited, FIS Pensions Limited, FIS Romania SRL, FIS SG International Holdings LLC, FIS SG Italia S.r.l., FIS SG Systems Philippines Inc., FIS Sherwood Systems Limited, FIS Solutions India Private Limited, FIS Solutions LLC, FIS Solutions Software India Private Limited, FIS Switzerland SA, FIS Systeme GmbH, FIS Systems Hong Kong Limited, FIS Systems International LLC, FIS Systems Kenya Limited, FIS Systems Limited, FIS Systems Luxembourg S.A., FIS Systems Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., FIS Systems NZ Limited, FIS Systems Pty Ltd, FIS Systems Singapore Pte. Ltd., FIS Systems South Africa Pty Limited, FIS Systems de Colombia S.A.S., FIS Technology Beijing Co. Limited, FIS Technology Services Poland Sp. z o.o., FIS Technology Services Singapore Pte. Ltd., FIS Technology Services Tunisia SARL, FIS Treasury Centre Limited, FIS Treasury Systems Europe Limited, FIS Treasury Systems UK Limited, FIS Tunisia I SARL, FIS Tunisia II SARL, FIS UK Holdings Limited, FIS Vietnam LLC, FIS Worldpay Jersey Limited, FIS Worldpay Malaysia Sdn Bhd, FIS Worldpay South Africa Pty Ltd, FIS Worldpay Thailand Co. Ltd., FIS-SG Holding Corp., FNIS Istanbul Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, FV General Partner LLC, Fidelity Holding Ltda., Fidelity Information Services Front Arena AB, Fidelity Information Services GmbH, Fidelity Information Services Hong Kong Limited, Fidelity Information Services Iberia S.L.U., Fidelity Information Services India Private Limited, Fidelity Information Services International Holdings Inc., Fidelity Information Services Israel Ltd., Fidelity Information Services LLC, Fidelity Information Services Limited, Fidelity Information Services Operations GmbH, Fidelity Information Services SARL, Fidelity Information Services Slovakia s.r.o., Fidelity Information Services South Africa Pty Ltd., Fidelity Information Services Thailand Limited, Fidelity Information Services de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fidelity International Resource Management Inc., Fidelity National Global Card Services Inc., Fidelity National Information Services Inc., Fidelity National Information Services Netherlands B.V., Fidelity National Participacoes e Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Fidelity National Servicos de Tratamento de Documentos e Informatica Ltda., Fidelity National Servicos e Contact Center Ltda., Fidelity Participacoes e Servicos Ltda., Financial Insurance Marketing Group Inc., GL Settle Limited, GL Trade CMS Thailand Limited, GL Trade Software DOO, GL Trade Solutions CMS Thailand Limited, GL Trade South Africa Proprietary Limited, Glesia S.r.l., GoCart LLC, Information Services Luxembourg S.a.r.l., IntegraPay LLC, IntegraPay Holdings Pty Ltd, IntegraPay Ltd, IntegraPay Pty Ltd, Integrity Treasury Solutions Europe Limited, Integrity Treasury Solutions Inc., Integrity Treasury Solutions Limited, Integrity Treasury Solutions Pty Limited, Link2Gov Corp., LinksPay Inc., LinksPay Ltd, LinksPay Pty Ltd, Memento, Metavante Technologies Inc, Metavante Technologies Limited, Minorca Corporation NV, Monis Software Limited, NYCE Payments Network LLC, Oshap Software Industries Ltd., PSG-A III Blocker 5 L.L.C., PT FIS Systems Indonesia, PT Fidelity Information Services Indonesia, Panther Holdco 2 Inc., Panther Holdco Inc., Payment Brasil Holdings Ltda., Payment Chile S.A., Payment Trust Limited., Payments Technology Services Limited, Paymetric Inc., Payrix, Payrix AUS Blocker LLC, Payrix Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Payrix Canada Corp., Payrix Holdings LLC, Payrix Intermediate LLC, Payrix LLC, Payrix Solutions LLC, Pazien Inc., People's United Merchant Services LLC, Platform Securities Holdings Limited, Platform Securities International Limited, Platform Securities International Nominees Limited, Platform Securities LLP, Platform Securities Nominees Limited, Platform Securities Services Limited, Proservvi Banco de Servicos, RealNet Payments LLC, Reech Capital Limited, Reliance Financial Corporation, Reliance Financial Corporation., Reliance Integrated Solutions LLC, Reliance Trust Company, Rocket Partners Holdings LLC, Secondco Limited, Ship Holdco Limited., Ship Luxco 2 S.a.r.l., Ship Luxco 3 S.a.r.l., Ship Midco Limited, Solutions Plus Consulting Services Limited, SunGard, SunGard Data Systems Beijing Co. Ltd., SunGard Global Services Tunisia III, SunGard Global Trading Australia Pty. Ltd., SunGard India Sales Private Limited, TP Technologies N.V., Tayvin 346 Limited, Trax BV, Valuelink Information Services Limited, Valutec Card Solutions LLC, Virtus Fund Services, Virtus Group LP, Virtus LP Holdings LLC, Virtus Partners Fund Services Ireland Limited, Virtus Partners Fund Services Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Virtus Partners Holdings, Virtus Partners Ireland Ltd., Virtus Partners Ltd., Virtus Trade Settlement LLC, WebTone Technologies, Worldpay, Worldpay AP Ltd., Worldpay Argentina SRL, Worldpay B.V., Worldpay Canada Corporation, Worldpay Cayman Holdings Limited, Worldpay Company LLC, Worldpay Do Brasil Instituicao de Pagamento Ltda, Worldpay Finance Limited, Worldpay Gaming Solutions LLC, Worldpay Governance Limited, Worldpay Group Limited., Worldpay HK Limited, Worldpay Holdings Barbados SRL, Worldpay Holdings Brasil Participacoes Ltda, Worldpay ISO Inc., Worldpay India Private Limited, Worldpay Integrated Payments Canada LLC, Worldpay Integrated Payments LLC., Worldpay Integrated Payments Solutions Inc., Worldpay International Group Limited, Worldpay International Holdings Limited, Worldpay International Limited, Worldpay International Payments Limited, Worldpay International Solutions Limited, Worldpay K.K., Worldpay LLC, Worldpay Latin America Limited., Worldpay Limited., Worldpay Marketing Consulting Shanghai Co. Limited, Worldpay NZ Limited, Worldpay Payments Barbados SRL, Worldpay Pte Ltd., Worldpay Pty Ltd., Worldpay S.a.r.l., Worldpay Services Company, Worldpay Services SRL, Worldpay Solutions SRL, Worldpay Technology Bucharest S.R.L., Worldpay Treasury Solutions SRL, Worldpay UK Limited, Worldpay US Inc., Worldpay eCommerce LLC, Worldpay eCommerce Limited., Xpede, YES-Secure.com Limited., YESpay International Limited., Zenmonics Inc., Zenmonics Software Private Limited, eFunds Corporation, eFunds Holdings Limited, eFunds International Limited, i DLX International B.V., and mFoundry Inc..

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BlackRock, Inc. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks. It also provides global risk management and advisory services. The firm manages separate client-focused equity, fixed income, and balanced portfolios. It also launches and manages open-end and closed-end mutual funds, offshore funds, unit trusts, and alternative investment vehicles including structured funds. The firm launches equity, fixed income, balanced, and real estate mutual funds. It also launches equity, fixed income, balanced, currency, commodity, and multi-asset exchange traded funds. The firm also launches and manages hedge funds. It invests in the public equity, fixed income, real estate, currency, commodity, and alternative markets across the globe. The firm primarily invests in growth and value stocks of small-cap, mid-cap, SMID-cap, large-cap, and multi-cap companies. It also invests in dividend-paying equity securities. The firm invests in investment grade municipal securities, government securities including securities issued or guaranteed by a government or a government agency or instrumentality, corporate bonds, and asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. It employs fundamental and quantitative analysis with a focus on bottom-up and top-down approach to make its investments. The firm employs liquidity, asset allocation, balanced, real estate, and alternative strategies to make its investments. In real estate sector, it seeks to invest in Poland and Germany. The firm benchmarks the performance of its portfolios against various S&P, Russell, Barclays, MSCI, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch indices. BlackRock, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is based in New York City with additional offices in Boston, Massachusetts; London, United Kingdom; Gurgaon, India; Hong Kong; Greenwich, Connecticut; Princeton, New Jersey; Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Sydney, Australia; Taipei, Taiwan; Singapore; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington, District of Columbia; Toronto, Canada; Wilmington, Delaware; and San Francisco, California.
The Clorox Company manufactures and markets consumer and professional products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Health and Wellness, Household, Lifestyle, and International. The Health and Wellness segment offers cleaning products, such as laundry additives and home care products primarily under the Clorox, Clorox2, Scentiva, Pine-Sol, Liquid-Plumr, Tilex, and Formula 409 brands; professional cleaning and disinfecting products under the CloroxPro and Clorox Healthcare brands; professional food service products under the Hidden Valley brand; and vitamins, minerals and supplement products under the RenewLife, Natural Vitality, NeoCell, and Rainbow Light brands in the United States. The Household segment provides cat litter products under the Fresh Step and Scoop Away brands; bags and wraps under the Glad brand; and grilling products under the Kingsford brand in the United States. The Lifestyle segment offers dressings, dips, seasonings, and sauces primarily under the Hidden Valley brand; natural personal care products under the Burt's Bees brand; and water-filtration products under the Brita brand in the United States. The International segment provides laundry additives; home care products; water-filtration systems; digestive health products; grilling products; cat litter products; food products; bags and wraps; natural personal care products; and professional cleaning and disinfecting products internationally primarily under the Clorox, Ayudin, Clorinda, Poett, Pine-Sol, Glad, Brita, RenewLife, Ever Clean and Burt's Bees brands. The Clorox Company sells its products primarily through mass retailers; grocery outlets; warehouse clubs; dollar stores; home hardware centers; drug, pet and military stores; third-party and owned e-commerce channels; and distributors, as well as a direct sales force The company was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in Oakland, California.
The following companies are subsidiares of Eaton: Abeiron III Unlimited Company, Aeroquip Iberica S.L., Aeroquip-Vickers, Aphel Technologies, Argo-Tech, Arrow Hose & Tubing, Azonix Corporation, Babco Electric Group, Baricide Inc., Beijing Yoosung Shinhwa Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Blinda Industria e Comercio Ltda., Bussmann International Holdings LLC, Bussmann International Inc., Bussmann S. de R.L. de C.V., CBE Services Inc., CEAG Notlichtsysteme GmbH, CLS (Canada) Company, COBHAM INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, CTI-VIENNA Gesellschaft zur Prufung elektrotechnischer Industrieprodukte GmbH, Cambridge International Sarl, Cannon Technologies Inc., Chagrin Highlands III Ltd., Cobham, Cobham Mission Systems Davenport AAR Inc., Cobham Mission Systems Davenport LSS Inc., Cobham Mission Systems FWB Inc., Cobham Mission Systems Orchard Park Inc., Cobham Mission Systems Wimborne Limited, Cooper (China) Co. Ltd., Cooper (Ningbo) Electric Co. Ltd., Cooper B-Line Inc., Cooper Bussmann LLC, Cooper Capri S.A.S., Cooper Crouse-Hinds (LLC), Cooper Crouse-Hinds AS, Cooper Crouse-Hinds B.V., Cooper Crouse-Hinds GmbH, Cooper Crouse-Hinds LLC, Cooper Crouse-Hinds MTL Inc., Cooper Crouse-Hinds S. de R.L. de C.V., Cooper Crouse-Hinds S.A., Cooper Csa Srl, Cooper Edison (Pingdingshan) Electronic Technologies Co. Ltd., Cooper Electric (Changzhou) Co. Ltd., Cooper Electric (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Cooper Electrical International LLC, Cooper Electronic Technologies (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Cooper Enterprises LLC, Cooper Finance USA Inc., Cooper Germany Holdings GmbH, Cooper Industrials, Cooper Industries (Canada) Company, Cooper Industries (Electrical) Inc., Cooper Industries Colombia S.A.S., Cooper Industries FZE, Cooper Industries Finance B.V., Cooper Industries Global B.V., Cooper Industries International LLC, Cooper Industries Japan K.K., Cooper Industries LLC, Cooper Industries Romania SRL, Cooper Industries Russia LLC, Cooper Industries Trading Unlimited Company, Cooper Industries Unlimited Company, Cooper Industries Vietnam LLC, Cooper Interconnect Inc., Cooper International Holdings S.a.r.l, Cooper Korea Ltd., Cooper Menvier France SARL, Cooper Notification Inc., Cooper Power Systems LLC, Cooper Power Systems do Brasil Ltda., Cooper Pretronica Unipessoal Lda., Cooper Safety B.V., Cooper Securite S.A.S., Cooper Shanghai Power Capacitor Co. Ltd., Cooper Technologies Company, Cooper Univel S.A., Cooper Wheelock Inc., Cooper Wiring Devices Inc., Cooper Wiring Devices de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Cooper Xi'an Fusegear Co. Ltd., Cooper Yuhua (Changzhou) Electric Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Copperlogic, Cutler-Hammer Electrical Company, Cutler-Hammer Industries Ltd., Cutler-Hammer SRL, Cyme International T & D Inc., D.P. Eaton Electric, Digital Lighting (Dong Guan) Co. Ltd., Digital Lighting Co. Limited, Digital Lighting Holdings Limited, Dongguan Cooper Electronics Co. Ltd., Dongguan Wiring Devices Electronics Co. Ltd., E. Begerow, E.A. Pedersen Co., ETN Asia International Limited, ETN Holding 1 Limited, ETN Holding 2 Limited, ETN Holding 3 Limited, Eaton (China) Investments Co. Ltd., Eaton (Switzerland) Holding I GmbH, Eaton (Switzerland) Holding II GmbH, Eaton (Switzerland) Holding III G.m.b.H., Eaton Aeroquip LLC, Eaton Aerospace LLC, Eaton Ann Arbor LLC, Eaton Automated Transmission Technologies Corporation, Eaton Automation G.m.b.H, Eaton Automation Holding G.m.b.H., Eaton Automotive Components Spolka z o.o., Eaton Automotive Spolka z o.o., Eaton Automotive Systems Spolka z o.o., Eaton B.V., Eaton Capital Global Holdings Unlimited Company, Eaton Capital Unlimited Company, Eaton Controls (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., Eaton Controls (UK) Limited, Eaton Corporation, Eaton Domhanda I Limited, Eaton Domhanda Unlimited Company, Eaton Electric, Eaton Electric & Engineering Services Limited, Eaton Electric (Japan) Ltd., Eaton Electric (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Eaton Electric (South Africa) Pty Ltd., Eaton Electric (Thailand) Limited, Eaton Electric (Vietnam) Company Limited, Eaton Electric AB, Eaton Electric AS, Eaton Electric ApS, Eaton Electric BV, Eaton Electric G.m.b.H., Eaton Electric Holdings LLC, Eaton Electric Limited, Eaton Electric S.I.A., Eaton Electric S.a.r.l., Eaton Electric S.r.l., Eaton Electric Spolka z.o.o., Eaton Electric d.o.o., Eaton Electric s.r.o., Eaton Electrical (Australia) Pty Ltd, Eaton Electrical Equipment Co Ltd, Eaton Electrical IP G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, Eaton Electrical Ltd., Eaton Electrical Products Limited, Eaton Electrical S.A., Eaton Electrical Srl, Eaton Electrical Systems Limited, Eaton Electro Productie S.r.l., Eaton Elektrik Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Eaton Elektrotechnika s.r.o., Eaton Enterprises (Hungary) Kft., Eaton Enterprises Limited, Eaton Enterprises S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton FZE, Eaton Filtration (Italy) S.r.l., Eaton Filtration (Poland) Sp. z o.o., Eaton Filtration (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton Filtration BV, Eaton Filtration Ltd., Eaton France Holding SAS, Eaton Fu Li An (Changzhou) Electronics Co. Ltd., Eaton Germany G.m.b.H., Eaton Germany Holdings GmbH, Eaton Global Holdings II Limited, Eaton Global Holdings III Limited, Eaton Global Holdings Limited, Eaton Global Limited, Eaton GmbH & Co. KG, Eaton Holding (Austria) G.m.b.H., Eaton Holding (Netherlands) B.V., Eaton Holding (UK) II Limited, Eaton Holding G.m.b.H., Eaton Holding I B.V., Eaton Holding II S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding III B.V., Eaton Holding IV S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding Limited, Eaton Holding S.a.r.l., Eaton Holding SE & Co. KG, Eaton Holding Turlock B.V., Eaton Holding V B.V., Eaton Holding VI B.V., Eaton Holding VII B.V., Eaton Holding VIII B.V., Eaton Holding XIII S.a.r.l., Eaton Hydraulics LLC, Eaton Hydraulics Systems (Jining) Co. Ltd., Eaton I Spolka z.o.o., Eaton II LP, Eaton III LP, Eaton IV LP, Eaton India Innovation Center LLP, Eaton Industrial Products Pvt. Ltd., Eaton Industrial Systems Private Limited, Eaton Industries (Argentina) S.A., Eaton Industries (Austria) G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries (Belgium) BV, Eaton Industries (Canada) Company, Eaton Industries (Chile) S.p.A., Eaton Industries (Colombia) S.A.S., Eaton Industries (Egypt) LLC, Eaton Industries (England) Limited, Eaton Industries (France) S.A.S., Eaton Industries (Ireland) II Limited, Eaton Industries (Ireland) Limited, Eaton Industries (Israel) Ltd., Eaton Industries (Italy) S.r.l., Eaton Industries (Jining) Co. Ltd, Eaton Industries (Korea) Limited, Eaton Industries (Morocco) LLC, Eaton Industries (Netherlands) B.V., Eaton Industries (Philippines) LLC, Eaton Industries (Spain) S.L., Eaton Industries (Thailand) Ltd., Eaton Industries (U.K.) Limited, Eaton Industries (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Eaton Industries Company, Eaton Industries EOOD, Eaton Industries G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries Holding G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries Holdings Ltd., Eaton Industries I Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries II G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries II Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries III Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries IV Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries IX LLC, Eaton Industries KFT, Eaton Industries LP, Eaton Industries Manufacturing G.m.b.H., Eaton Industries Middle East LLC, Eaton Industries Panama S.A., Eaton Industries Pte. Ltd., Eaton Industries Pty. Ltd., Eaton Industries S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Industries SAC, Eaton Industries Sdn. Bhd., Eaton Industries V Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries VI Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries VII Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries VIII LLC, Eaton Industries X Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries XI Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries XII Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries XIII Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries XIV Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries XIX Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries XV Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries XVI LLC, Eaton Industries XVIII Unlimited Company, Eaton Industries XX Unlimited Company, Eaton Industria e Comercio de Produtos Eletricos e Servicos Ltda, Eaton Intelligent Power Limited, Eaton International B.V., Eaton International Industries Nigeria Limited, Eaton Japan G.K., Eaton LLC, Eaton LP, Eaton Leasing Corporation, Eaton Limited, Eaton Ltda., Eaton MEDC Limited, Eaton Management Services LLP, Eaton Manufacturing G.m.b.H., Eaton Manufacturing Hungary Kft., Eaton Manufacturing II G.m.b.H., Eaton Manufacturing III G.m.b.H., Eaton Manufacturing LP, Eaton Manufacturing Limited, Eaton Moeller B.V., Eaton Moeller S.a.r.l., Eaton Phoenixtec MMPL Co. Ltd., Eaton Power (Shanghai) Trading Limited Partnership, Eaton Power Quality (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Eaton Power Quality Limited, Eaton Power Quality OY (Finland), Eaton Power Quality Private Limited, Eaton Production International G.m.b.H., Eaton Protection Systems IP G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, Eaton S.A.S., Eaton S.r.l., Eaton SE, Eaton Safety Limited, Eaton Science & Technology Management (Hainan) Limited Partnership, Eaton Services S.a.r.l., Eaton Solutions S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Technologies (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., Eaton Technologies G.m.b.H., Eaton Technologies Private Limited, Eaton Technologies S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Teorainn Limited, Eaton Trading (FZC) LLC, Eaton Trading Company S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Truck Components (Proprietary) Ltd., Eaton Truck Components S. de R.L. de C.V., Eaton Truck Components Spolka z o.o., Eaton eMobility France SAS, Eaton-Powerware, Electromanufacturas S. de R.L. de C.V., Electrum Group Ltd., Ephesus Lighting, FHF Bergbautechnik GmbH & Co. KG, FHF Funke+Huster Fernsig GmbH, Flight Refuelling Limited, Funke+Huster GmbH, GeCma Components electronic GmbH, Gitiesse S.r.l., Green Holding S.a.r.l., Green Motion SA, Grupo Desdemona S. de R.L. de C.V., Grupo Otello S. de R.L. de C.V., Hein Moeller Stiftung G.m.b.H., Hernis Scan Systems A/S, HuanYu High Tech, IE Power, Innovative Switchgear Solutions Inc, Institute for International Product Safety G.m.b.H., Integrated Hydraulics, Integrated Partial Discharge Diagnostics, Internormen Technology, Jeil Hydraulics, Joslyn Sunbank Company LLC, Kaicheng Funke+Huster (Tangshan) Mining Electrical Co. Ltd., Lian Zheng Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., MP Group SAS, MTL Instruments B.V., MTL Instruments LLC, MTL Instruments Private Limited, MTL Instruments SARL, MTL Italia Srl, MTL Partners II Inc., MTL Partners Inc., Marina Power and Lighting, Martek Power GmbH, Martek Power S.A. de C.V., McGraw-Edison Development Corporation, Menvier Overseas Holdings Limited, Micro Innovation Holding, Mission Systems, Moeller Electric (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Moeller Electric Ltda., Moeller Holding Gmbh & Co. KG, Moeller Industria de electro-electronicos do Amazonas Ltda., Morestana, Norex AS, Optimum Path Systems (Shanghai) Ltd., Oxalis Group, PDI Intermediate Corp., PT Eaton Industries, PT Ulusoy Electric Indonesia, PT Ulusoy Electric Industry, PT. Fluid Sciences Batam, PerkinElmer - aerospace division, Phoenixtec Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Phoenixtec International Corp., Phoenixtec Power, Pigozzi, Plumtree I Limited, Plumtree Mauritius Limited, Polimer Kaucuk Sanayi Ve Pazarlama, Power Distribution Holdings Inc., Power Distribution Inc., Pringle Electrical Manufacturing, Productos Eaton Livia S.L., Pulizzi Engineering, RTE Far East Corporation, Riseson International Limited, Rizhao Yoosung Shinhwa Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Rolec Comercial e Industrial, Royal Power Solutions, SOURIAU, Santak Electronic (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Santak Electronics Company Limited, Saturn Insurance Company Ltd., Scantronic Benelux BV, Schreder-Hazemeyer, Scoremax Limited, Sefelec GmbH, Sefelec SAS, Senyuan International Holdings Limited, Senyuan International Investments Limited, Shakespeare Holdings Inc., Silver Light International Limited, Silver Victory Hong Kong Limited, Souriau Dominican Republic Ltd., Souriau Germany GmbH, Souriau India Pvt Ltd, Souriau Italy Srl, Souriau Japan KK, Souriau MAROC Sarl, Souriau S.A.S., Souriau UK Ltd, Souriau USA Inc, Standard Automation & Control LP, Sunbank Family of Companies LLC, Sunbank de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Sure Power Inc., T.T.M.C. (2012) Ltd, TGM Automotiva, TTMC Holdings Inc., Technocontact, Telkom Kenya, The MTL Instruments Group Limited, Tractech, Tripp Lite Holdings Inc., Tripp Lite of Canada Corp., Trippe Manufacturing Company, Turlock B.V., Tuthill Coupling Group, Ultronics, Ulusoy Elektrik Imalat Taahhut ve Ticaret AS, Winner Hydraulics Ltd., Wright Line Holding Inc., and Wright Line LLC.

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The following companies are subsidiares of ABB: ABB (China) Investment Limited, ABB (China) Ltd., ABB (Hong Kong) Ltd., ABB (Namibia) (Pty) Ltd., ABB (P.J.S.C.), ABB (Private) Ltd., ABB (Pty) Ltd., ABB (Pvt) Ltd., ABB A/S, ABB AB, ABB AG, ABB AS, ABB AUTOMACAO LTDA, ABB AUTOMATION AND ELECTRIFICATION (VIETNAM)COMPANY LIMITED, ABB AUTOMATION HOLDINGS (THAILAND) CO. LTD., ABB Algeria SpA Asea Brown Boveri, ABB Algerie Produits SpA, ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd, ABB Asea Brown Boveri SRL, ABB Ausbildungszentrum Berlin gGmbH, ABB Australia Pty Limited, ABB Automation (Thailand) Co. Ltd., ABB B.V., ABB Bailey Beijing Engineering Co. Ltd., ABB Bailey Japan Limited, ABB Beijing Drive Systems Co. Ltd., ABB Beijing Switchgear Limited, ABB Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungsges. mbH, ABB Bulgaria EOOD, ABB Business Services Sp. z o.o., ABB Cable Management Products Ltd, ABB Canada EL Holding GmbH, ABB Capital AG, ABB Capital B.V., ABB Centroamerica y El Caribe S.A., ABB Chargedot Shanghai New Energy Technology Co. Ltd, ABB Colombia Ltda, ABB Construction (ABACON) S.A.E., ABB E-MOBILITY INC., ABB E-MOBILITY PTE. LTD., ABB E-mobility AB, ABB E-mobility AG, ABB E-mobility AS, ABB E-mobility GmbH, ABB E-mobility Holding Ltd, ABB E-mobility QFZ LLC, ABB E-mobility S.p.A., ABB E-mobility SAS, ABB E-mobility SL, ABB E-mobility Technology Shenzhen Co. Ltd, ABB E-mobility UK Limited, ABB ELECTRICAL & AUTOMATION W.L.L, ABB ELECTRIFICATION HOLDINGS (THAILAND) CO. LTD., ABB ELETRIFICACAO LTDA, ABB Ecuador S.A., ABB Electrical Control Systems S. de R.L. de C.V., ABB Electrical Equipment (Xiamen) Co. Ltd., ABB Electrical Equipment Ltd., ABB Electrical Industries Co. Ltd., ABB Electrical Machines Ltd., ABB Electrical Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ABB Electrification (Thailand) Co. Ltd., ABB Electrification Canada ULC, ABB Electrification Norway AS, ABB Electrification Sweden AB, ABB Elektrik Sanayi A.S., ABB Engg. Technologies Co. (KSCC), ABB Engineering (Shanghai), ABB Engineering Trading and Service Ltd., ABB Equipo de Control Y Distribucion S. de R.L. de C.V., ABB Equity Limited, ABB FZ-LLC, ABB Finance (USA) Inc., ABB Finance B.V., ABB For Feeding Industries SAE, ABB France, ABB GLOBAL BUSINESS SERVICES AND CONTRACTINGINDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, ABB Global Industries and Services Private Limited, ABB Global Marketing FZ LLC, ABB Group Holdings Pty. Ltd., ABB Group Investment Management Pty. Ltd., ABB Guangdong Sihui Instrument Transformer Co. Ltd., ABB Hangzhou Winmation Automation Company Limited, ABB Holding AS, ABB Holdings (Pty) Ltd., ABB Holdings B.V., ABB Holdings Inc., ABB Holdings Limited, ABB Holdings Sdn. Bhd., ABB INDUSTRIAL SOLUTIONS (LODZ) S.A. W LIKWIDACJI, ABB Inc., ABB Inc., ABB India Limited, ABB Industrial Solutions (Australia) Pty Ltd, ABB Industrial Solutions (Belgium) BV, ABB Industrial Solutions (Bielsko-Biala) Sp. z o.o., ABB Industrial Solutions (Canada) Inc., ABB Industrial Solutions (Klodzko) Sp.z.o.o., ABB Industries (L.L.C.), ABB Industries FZ, ABB Information Systems Ltd., ABB Installation Products Caribe LLC, ABB Installation Products European Centre S.A., ABB Installation Products Inc, ABB Installation Products International LLC., ABB Installation Products Limited, ABB Installation Products Monterrey S. de R.L. de C.V., ABB Installacios Keszulekek Kft., ABB Investment Holding 2 GmbH, ABB Investments (Pty) Ltd, ABB Inzeniring d.o.o., ABB Jiangjin Turbo Systems Company Limited, ABB K.K., ABB Kaufel GmbH, ABB LAFRENZE PROPERTY (PROPERTY) LIMITED, ABB LLC, ABB LLP., ABB LV Installation Materials Co. Ltd. Beijing, ABB Limitada, ABB Limited, ABB Limited/Jordan LLC., ABB Lineage Power Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ABB Logistics Center Europe GmbH, ABB Ltd., ABB Maghreb Services S.A., ABB Malaysia Sdn Bhd., ABB Management Services Ltd., ABB Mexico S.A. de C.V., ABB Motors and Mechanical Inc, ABB N.V., ABB Norden Holding AB, ABB Operations Center Ltd., ABB Orange B.V., ABB Oryx Motors and Generators Service LLC, ABB Oy, ABB Panama Sales S.A., ABB Power & Automation (Private) Limited, ABB Power & Automation Limited, ABB Power Electronics (Germany) GmbH, ABB Power Electronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ABB Power Electronics (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., ABB Power Electronics Inc., ABB Pte. Ltd., ABB Reinsurance AG, ABB Robotics (Zhuhai) Ltd, ABB Robotics Machine Tending Limited, ABB Robotics Solutions NV, ABB S.A., ABB S.A. de CV, ABB S.p.A., ABB SARL, ABB SAS, ABB SIA, ABB Schweiz AG, ABB Shanghai Free Trade Zone Industrial Co. Ltd., ABB Shanghai Motors Co. Ltd., ABB South Africa (Pty) Ltd., ABB Sp. z o.o., ABB Stotz-Kontakt Gmb, ABB Striebel & John GmbH, ABB Susa Inc., ABB Technologies Ltd., ABB Technologies S.A., ABB Technology SA, ABB Tianjin Switchgear Co. Ltd., ABB Transmission & Distribution Limited LLC, ABB Treasury Center (USA) Inc., ABB Turbo Systems (Hong Kong) Limited, ABB Turbochargers S.A.E., ABB UAB, ABB Verwaltungs AG, ABB Wirtschaftsbetriebe GmbH, ABB Xiamen Corporation Management Service Co. Ltd., ABB Xiamen Low Voltage Equipment Co. Ltd., ABB Xiamen Smart Technology Co. Ltd., ABB Xiamen Switchgear Co. Ltd., ABB Xinhui Low Voltage Switchgear Co. Ltd., ABB d.o.o., ABB eMobility Digital Venture GmbH, ABB for Electrical Industries (ABB ARAB) S.A.E., ABB for Electrical Solutions and Technologies K.S.C.C., ABB s.r.o., ABB s.r.o., ABBNG Limited, APS Technology Group, ASEA BROWN BOVERI Portugal Unipessoal Lda, ASTI France SAS, ASTI Mobile Robotics, Asea Brown Boveri Electrica SGPS (Angola) Limitada, Asea Brown Boveri Industrial Technical & CommercialCompany of Imports  Exports S.A., Asea Brown Boveri Lanka (Private) Limited, Asea Brown Boveri Ltd., Asea Brown Boveri S.A., Asea Brown Boveri S.A. de C.V., Asea Brown Boveri S.A.E., Asti Mobile Robotics GmbH, Asti Mobile Robotics Group SL, Asti Mobile Robotics SAU, B & R Automazione Industriale S.r.l., B & R Industrial Automation Ltd., B + R Industrie-Elektronik GmbH, B&R Automatyka Przemyslowa Sp.z.o.o., B&R Automacao Industrial Ltda., B&R Holding GmbH, B&R Industrial Automation, B&R Industrial Automation (China) Co. Ltd., B&R Industrial Automation A/S, B&R Industrial Automation AB, B&R Industrial Automation Co. Ltd., B&R Industrial Automation Corp., B&R Industrial Automation GmbH, B&R Industrial Automation Iberica S.L.U., B&R Industrial Automation Inc., B&R Industrial Automation Pte. Ltd., B&R Industrial Automation Pvt. Ltd., B&R Industrie-Automation AG, B&R Industriele Automatisering B.V., B&R K.K., B+R Automation Industrielle SARL, B+R Industrial Automation OOO, B+R automatizace spol. s.r.o., BR Endustriyel Otomasyon Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Baldor Electric Company, Busch-Jaeger Elektro GmbH, Chargedot, Cherokee India Pvt. Ltd., Codian Robotics, Codian Robotics B.V., Codian Robotics of the Americas, Combustion Engineering Inc., Cylon Controls, Cylon Controls Limited, Cylon Energy Inc., DynaMotive Ltd., ELBI Elektrik, Edison Holding Corporation, Enervalis NV, Envitech Energy, Epyon, GE Industrial Solutions, Gomtec, Gresin Grupo Estudios Industriales, IMV Invertomatic Victron UK Limited, In-Charge Energy, Industrial C&S Hungary Kft., Industrial C&S of P.R. LLC, Industrial Connections & Solutions LLC, Industrial Connections of SA Pty. Ltd., Intrimmo BVBA, Jinan ABB SRI Rail Transit Equipment Technology Co. Ltd., Jordan Acquisition Group, KEYMILE - Business, Kaufel S.A., Kuhlman Electric Corp., Lineage Overseas LLC, Lineage Power (Argentina) S.R.L., Lineage Power (Luxembourg) S.A.R.L., Lineage Power China Co. Ltd., Lineage Power Holdings Inc., Lineage Power Matamoros S.A. de C.V., Lorentzen & Wettre, Los Gatos Research, Mincom, NUB3D S.L., Newave Energy Holding, Newron System, PT ABB Sakti Industri, Pinghu Zhuangbest Technology Development Co. Ltd., Power-One, Powercorp, Powertel India Pvt. Ltd., RGM - Rail vehicle power business, RMI Automation Co. Ltd., SVIA, SWISS TURBOCHARGERS SA DE CV, Saudi Industrial Solutions Ltd., Shanghai Zhuangbest Technology Development Co. Ltd., Shantou Winride Switchgear Co. Ltd., Sirius Holdings B.V., Smart Power Technology Co. Ltd., Spirit IT, Swissturbo (Shanghai) Investment Limited, SynerLeap powered by ABB AB, TURBO SYSTEMS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TURBO SYSTEMS ITALY S.P.A., TURBO SYSTEMS RUS LLC, TURBO-SUPERIOR SYSTEMS INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, TURBOCHARGING GREECE SINGLE MEMBER SA, Thomas & Betts, Thomas & Betts Saudi Arabia Limited Liability Co., Trasfor, Tropos Networks, Turbo Systems Argentina S.A., Turbo Systems Canada Inc, Turbo Systems Colombia SAS, Turbo Systems Dominican Republic SRL, Turbo Systems Finland Oy, Turbo Systems Germany GmbH, Turbo Systems Holding Ltd, Turbo Systems Iberia S.L., Turbo Systems Korea Ltd., Turbo Systems Myanmar Limited, Turbo Systems Pakistan (Private) Limited, Turbo Systems South East Asia Pte. Ltd., Turbo Systems Switzerland Ltd, Turbo Systems The Netherlands B.V., Turbo Systems Turkey Muhendislik Makine Sanayi Ve TicaretAnonim Sirketi, Turbo Systems US Inc., Turbo Systems United Co. Ltd., Turbo Systems Verwaltungs Ltd, Turbocharging Bangladesh Limited, Turbocharging Brasil Ltda., Turbocharging Systems Co. Ltd., Turbocharging Systems France SAS, Turbocharging UK Limited, Turbosystems Nigeria Limited LTD, Validus DC Systems, Vectek Electronics, Ventyx, Verdi Holding Corporation, W.J. Furse & Co. Ltd., Yangzhou SAC Switchgear Co. Ltd, and Zhejiang Chargedot New Energy Technology Co. Ltd..

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The following companies are subsidiares of Quanta Services: (De) Lazy Q Ranch LLC, 1 Diamond LLC, 1Diamond AS, 618232 Alberta Ltd., 8246408 Canada Inc., Advanced Electric Systems, Advanced Electric Systems LLC, Advanced Utility Testing & Maintenance LLC, Alexander Publications LLC, Allteck GP Ltd., Allteck Limited Partnership, Apprenticeship Programs Inc., Arby Construction, Arcanum Chemicals LLC, Arnett & Burgess Oil Field Construction Limited, Arnett & Burgess Pipeliners (Rockies) LLC, Arnett & Burgess Pipeliners Ltd., B&N Clearing and Environmental LLC, Banister Pipelines Constructors Corp., Banister Pipelines Constructors GP Ltd., Banister Pipelines Limited Partnership, Brent Woodward Inc., Brink Constructors Inc., Brink Constructors Inc. A Corporation Of South Dakota, Brown Engineering and Testing, CAT SPEC Ltd., CAT-SPEC Limited Partnership, CAT-SPEC Limited Partnership (Regd Name) CAT SPEC Ltd., CAT-Spec Limited Partnership, Canadian Utility Construction Corp., Cat Spec Limited LP, Cat Spec Ltd, Cat Spec Ltd. L.P., Cat Spec Ltd. LP, Cat Spec. Ltd. LP, Cat-Spec Ltd (A Domestic limited Partnership), Cat-Spec Ltd LP, Cat-Spec Ltd., Cat-Spec Ltd. L.P., Cat-Spec Ltd. LP, Cat-Spec Ltd. Limited Partnership, Catalyst Changers Inc., Chatham Electric, Citadel Industrial Services L.P., Citadel Industrial Services Ltd., Citadel Industrial Services Ltd. L.P., Citadel Industrial Services Ltd. Limited Partnership, Coe Drilling Pty Ltd., Computapole, Conam Construction Co., Consolidated Power Projects Australia Pty Ltd, Conti Communications Inc., Crux Subsurface Canada Ltd., Crux Subsurface Inc., Cutting Technology - 1 Diamond LLC, DB Utilities Inc., DE Lazy Q Ranch LLC, DNR Pressure Welding Ltd., Dacon Corporation, Dashiell (DE) Corporation (Dashiell Corporation), Dashiell Corporation, Dashiell Corporation DBA Dashiell (DE) Corporation, De Mears Group, De Mears Group Inc., Delaware Quanta Technology LLC, Delaware Underground Construction Co., Didado Utility Company Inc., Digco Utility Construction L.P. Digco Utility Construction Limited Partnership, Dorado Specialty Services L.P., Dorado Specialty Services Ltd., Dorado Specialty Services Ltd. L.P., Dorado Specialty Services Ltd. Limited Partnership, Dorado Specialty Services. Ltd. L.P., Driftwood Electrical Contractors, EHV Power ULC, ELITE PIPING & CIVIL L.P., ELITE TURNAROUND SPECIALISTS LTD, Elite Fabrication Ltd. Elite Fabrication LP, Elite Piping & Civil Limited Partnership, Elite Piping & Civil Limited Partnership, Elite Piping & Civil Lp, Elite Piping & Civil Ltd L.P., Elite Piping & Civil Ltd., Elite Piping & Civil Ltd. L.P., Elite Piping & Civil Ltd. Limited Partnership, Elite Piping and Civil L.P., Elite Turnaround Specialists L.p., Elite Turnaround Specialists Limited Lp, Elite Turnaround Specialists Limited Partnership, Elite Turnaround Specialists Limited Partnership, Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd Lp, Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd., Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd. L.P., Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd. LP, Elite Turnaround Specialists Ltd. Limited Partnership, Energy Consulting Group LLC, Enscope, Enscope Pty Ltd, FIC GP LLC, Field Personnel Services LLC, First Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC, First Infrastructure Capital GP L.P., Five Points Construction Co., G-Tek, G-Vac, GEM Engineering Co., Grand Electric Inc., Great Lakes Line Builders, Grid Creative Inc., Grid Manufacturing Corporation, Grid Training Corporation, H.L. Chapman Pipeline Construction Inc., Haverfield Aviation, Haverfield Aviation Inc., Haverfield International Incorporated, Heritage Midstream LLC, IM Electric Inc., IUC ILLINOIS LLC, IUC Nebraska LLC, InfraSource Construction LLC, InfraSource Field Services LLC, InfraSource Services LLC, InfraSources Construction LLC, Infraestructura ETP de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V, Infrasource Engineering Company PC, Infrasource Iowa Underground LLC, Infrasource Of Pa LLC, Integracion Tecnologica del Peru SAC, Intermountain Electric Inc., Intermountain Electric Inc. A Corporation of Colorado, IonEarth LLC, Irby Construction Company, Irby Construction Company Inc., Iron Mountain M.J. Electric LLC, Island Mechanical Corporation, J.C.R. Construction Co. Inc., J.C.R. Utility Construction Co., J.W. Didado Electric Inc., J.W. Didado Electric LLC, J.w. Didado Electric, JBT Electric LLC, Kingston Contracting Inc., Lazy Q Ranch LLC, Lazy Q Training Center LLC The Lazy Q Lineman School, Legend Foundation Services, Lex Engineering Ltd., Lindsey Electric L.P., Logical Link, Longfellow Drilling, M. G. Dyess Inc., M. J. ELECTRIC LLC IRON MOUNTAIN, M. J. Electric LLC, M. J. Electric LLC - Iron Mountain, M. J. Electric LLC DBA M. J. Electric Iron Mountain LLC, M.J. Electric LLC DBA M.J. Electric Iron Mountain, M.J. Electric LLC Iron Mountain, MTS Field Services, MTS Field Services (Richmond Co), MTS Quanta LLC, Manuel Bros. Inc., Marathon Construction Services, Mears Canada Corp., Mears Equipment Services LLC, Mears Group Inc., Mears Group Pty Ltd, Mears Installation LLC, Mearsmex S. de R.L. de C.V., Mejia Personnel Services LLC, Mercer Technical Services, Microline Technology Corporation, Mid America Energy Services Inc., NACAP Niugini Ltd., NC Northstar Energy Services Inc, NGI Construction, NGI Construction Inc., NGI Construction Inc. (FN), NLC CA. Inc., NLC FL. Inc. Northwest Lineman Center, NLC ID. Inc. Northwest Lineman College, NLC TX. Inc., NPC Energy Services LLC, Nacap Australia, Nacap PNG Limited, Network Communication Services, North Houston Pole Line L.P., North Houston Pole Line Limited Partnership, North Sky Communications, NorthStar Energy Services Inc., Northern Powerline Constructors Inc., Northstar Energy Solutions LLC, Northwest Lineman Center, Northwest Lineman College, Northwest Lineman Training Center, Northwest Lineman Training Center Inc., Nova Constructors LLC, Nova Constructors LTD, Nova Equipment Leasing LLC, Nova Group Inc, Nova Group Inc (CA), Nova Group Inc., Nova Group Inc. DBA NGI Construction, Nova NextGen Solutions LLC, O. J. Pipelines Canada Corporation, O. J. Pipelines Canada Limited Partnership, O.J. Industrial Maintenance, O.J. Pipelines Canada, One Call Locators Canada Ltd., P.D.G. Electric, PAR Electrical Contractors Inc., PDG Electric Co., Par Internacional S. de R.L. de C.V., Performance Energy Services Guyana Ltd., Performance Energy Services L.L.C., Phasor Engineering Inc., Phoenix North Constructors Inc., Phoenix Power Group Inc., Potelco Inc., Potelco Incorporated, Power Delivery Program Inc., Price Gregory International Inc., Price Gregory Services LLC, Probst Construction Inc., Probst Electric Inc., QEPC, QEPC Power Solutions LLC, QES GP LLC, QP Energy Services LLC, QPS Engineering LLC, QPS Engineering LTD., QPS Engineering PLLC, QPS Environmental, QPS Flint Construction, QPS Flint Tank Services, QPS Global, QPS Global Services, QPS Global Services (Richmond Ci), QPS Professional Services, QPSE, QS Mats, QSI Engineering Inc., QSI Finance (Australia) Pty Ltd., QSI Finance (Cayman) Pvt. Ltd., QSI Finance Canada ULC, QSI Finance GP (US) LLC, QSI Finance I (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., QSI Finance I (US) LP, QSI Finance II (Australia) Pty Ltd., QSI Finance II (Lux) S.a r.l, QSI Finance II (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., QSI Finance III (Canada) ULC, QSI Finance III (Lux) SARL, QSI Finance IV (Canada) ULC, QSI Finance IX (Canada) Limited Partnership, QSI Finance V (US) L.P., QSI Finance VI (Canada) ULC, QSI Finance VII (Canada) Limited Partnership, QSI Finance VIII (Canada) ULC, QSI Finance X (Canada) ULC, QSI Inc., QSN Lux Holdings I SCSp, QSN Lux Holdings II SCSp, QSN Lux Holdings III SCSp, QSN Lux Holdings IV SCSp, QTSL LLC, QUANTA FOUNDATION SERVICES, Quanta APL GP II Ltd., Quanta Asset Management LLC, Quanta Associates L.P., Quanta Aviation Services LLC, Quanta Canada GP ULC, Quanta Canada Holdings III Limited Partnership, Quanta Canada Holdings LP, Quanta Canada III GP Ltd., Quanta Capital GP LLC, Quanta Capital LP L.P., Quanta Capital Solutions Inc., Quanta Cares, Quanta EPC Services, Quanta Electric Power Construction LLC, Quanta Electric Power Construction Management Inc., Quanta Electric Power Services LLC, Quanta Electric Power Services West LLC, Quanta Energized Innovations Ltd., Quanta Energized Services U.S. LLC, Quanta Energized Services of Canada Ltd., Quanta Energy Services LLC, Quanta Environmental Solutions, Quanta Equipment Company LLC, Quanta Government Solutions Inc., Quanta Holdings I (Netherlands) B.V., Quanta Holdings II (Netherlands) B.V., Quanta Infraestructura de Chile SpA, Quanta Infrastructure Services LLC, Quanta Infrastructure Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Quanta Inline Devices LLC, Quanta Inspection Services, Quanta Insurance Company Inc., Quanta International Holdings (US) LLC, Quanta International Holdings II Ltd., Quanta International Holdings Ltd., Quanta International Limited, Quanta Kingsvale LP Ltd., Quanta Lines Pty Ltd., Quanta Maine Services LLC, Quanta Middle East LLC, Quanta Pipeline Services Inc., Quanta Power Australia Pty Ltd, Quanta Power Generation Inc., Quanta Power Inc., Quanta Power Solutions India Private Limited, Quanta Resource Development, Quanta Services Africa (PTY) Ltd., Quanta Services Australia Pty Ltd., Quanta Services Chile SpA, Quanta Services Colombia S.A.S., Quanta Services Costa Rica Ltda., Quanta Services Guatemala Ltda., Quanta Services International Holdings II LP, Quanta Services International Holdings LP, Quanta Services Management Partnership L.P., Quanta Services Netherlands B.V., Quanta Services Panama S. de R.L., Quanta Services Peru S.A.C., Quanta Services Puerto Rico LLC, Quanta Services of Canada Ltd., Quanta Subsurface Canada Ltd., Quanta Subsurface LLC, Quanta Tank Services, Quanta Technology Canada ULC, Quanta Technology LLC, Quanta Technology UK Ltd., Quanta Tecnologia do Brasil Ltda., Quanta Telecom, Quanta Telecom Services, Quanta Telecommunication Services, Quanta Telecommunication Services LLC, Quanta Telecommunications Services LLC, Quanta Underground Services, Quanta Underground Services (Culpeper Co), Quanta Underground Services (Spotsylvania Co), Quanta Underground Services Inc., Quanta Utility Engineering Services Inc., Quanta Utility Installation Company Inc., Quanta Utility Operation LLC, Quanta West LLC, Quantecua Cia. Ltda., R. R. Cassidy Inc., RMS Holdings LLC, RMS Holdings LLC (Delaware), RMS Welding Systems, RMS Welding Systems LLC, Ranger Directional, Realtime Engineers Inc., Realtime Utility Engineers Inc., Redes Andinas de Comunicaciones S.R.L., Riggin & Diggin Line Construction, Rms Welding LLC, Rms Welding Systems LLC, Road Bore Corporation, Ryan Company Inc. The, Ryan Company Inc. of Massachusetts, Ryan Company Inc.(The), Seaward, Seaward Corp, Seaward Corporation, Service EC (DE) Inc., Service Electric Company (DE), Service Electric Company Inc., Service Electric Company of Delaware, Servicios Par Electric S. de R.L. de C.V., Servicios de Infraestructura del Peru S.A.C., Southwest Trenching Company Inc., Specialty Tank Services L.P., Specialty Tank Services LP, Specialty Tank Services Limited Partnership, Specialty Tank Services Limited Partnership, Specialty Tank Services Ltd., Specialty Tank Services Ltd. (LP), Specialty Tank Services Ltd. L.P., Specialty Tank Services Ltd. LP, Specialty Tank Services Ltd. LP, Specialty Tank Services Ltd. Limited Partnership, Stronghold General LLC, Stronghold Holdings (BVI) Limited, Stronghold Inspection L.P., Stronghold Inspection Limited Partnership, Stronghold Inspection Limited Partnership, Stronghold Inspection Lp, Stronghold Inspection Ltd L.P., Stronghold Inspection Ltd., Stronghold Inspection Ltd. L.P., Stronghold Inspection Ltd. Limited Partnership, Stronghold Limited Partnership, Stronghold Ltd., Stronghold Ltd. Limited Partnership, Stronghold Management Holdings LP, Stronghold Specialty General LLC, Stronghold Specialty Ltd., Stronghold Specialty Ltd., Stronghold Specialty Ltd. Limited Partnership, Stronghold Tower Group LP, Stronghold Tower Group Ltd LP, Stronghold Tower Group Ltd., Stronghold Tower Group Ltd. LP, Stronghold VI LLC, Subterra Damage Prevention Specialists Ltd., Summit Line Construction, Sumter Utilities Inc., T. G. Mercer Consulting Services Inc., TA Construction, TC Infrastructure Services Ltd., Taylor Built, Texas Specialty Tank Services Ltd. LP, The Aspen Utility Company LLC, The ComTran Group Inc., The Hallen Construction Co. Inc., The Massachusetts Ryan Company Inc., The Ryan Company Inc Of Massachusetts, The Ryan Company Inc., The Ryan Company Inc. (Massachusetts), The Ryan Company Inc. of Massachusetts, The Ryan Company Incorporated of Massachusetts, The Ryan Company Of Massachusetts Inc., The Ryan Company of Massachusetts, The Ryan Company of Massachusetts (FN), Tom Allen Construction Company Inc., Tom Allen Construction Company of Delaware, Trans Tech Electric, TurnKey Automation Limited Partnership, TurnKey Automation Limited Partnership, TurnKey Automation Ltd., TurnKey Automation Ltd. Limited Partnership, TurnKey Automation Ltd. Limited Partnership, TurnKey I&E Ltd., Turnkey Automation Ltd. L.P., Turnkey Automation Ltd. LP., UCC Underground Construction Co. Inc., Ucc - Underground Construction Co., Underground Construction Co. Inc., Underground Construction Co. Inc. (Delaware), Underground Electric Construction Company LLC, Utilco Inc., Utility Fleet Services, Utility Line Management Services Inc., Utility Testing & Maintenance LLC, Utility Training Services Corporation, VALARD Polska sp. Z o.o., Valard, Valard, Valard Construction (Ontario) Ltd., Valard Construction (Quebec) Inc., Valard Construction 2008 Ltd., Valard Construction Australia Pty Ltd, Valard Construction LLC, Valard Equipment (AB) Ltd., Valard Equipment GP Ltd., Valard Equipment Limited Partnership, Valard Geomatics (Ontario) Ltd., Valard Geomatics BC Ltd., Valard Geomatics Ltd., Valard Mechanical Ltd., Valard Norway AS, Valard Sweden AB, Valard Zagreb d. o. o., Wade D. Taylor Inc., West Coast Communications, Winco Helicopters, Winco Inc., Winco Inc. an Oregon Based Corporation, Winco Powerline Services, Winco Powerline Services Inc., Winco Powerline Services Inc., Winco Services Inc., World Fiber Inc., and mmit Line Construction Inc..

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Police in Marietta, Georgia shot and killed Brian Easley, a 33-year-old Iraq war veteran, Friday after he held up a Wells Fargo bank in an act of desperation.

Easley walked in to the bank at roughly 9:30 a.m. when the bank was empty. He took two bank employees hostage, both of whom said Easley was kind and very respectful.

Once inside, Easley then called a local ABC news affiliate to list his demand: $892. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) had arbitrarily cut his disability payment, which he wanted back. He was about to become homeless and had run out of money.

Easley claimed he had explosives in his backpack, though police have not stated whether any explosives were found. A search of the hotel where Easley was staying turned up no explosives.

He spent an hour on the phone with an ABC news receptionist. He put both employees on the phone to confirm that they were unharmed. The conversation that ensued was recorded.

The young veteran had an eight-year-old daughter. He explained that he spent two tours in the Iraq war with the Marines, but that the VA had recently decided to cut his disability payments. He feared he could not care for his child.

I have nothing, he told the receptionist. Im homeless because I dont have any money and I want my money back.

After four years in the military, Easley explained that he moved back in with his parents in Georgia. I went back to a warehouse job for a little while and I went to school for a bit. I even went back to film school for a bit.

He was not able to make ends meet, but was careful to explain that he was not robbing the bank: I just want my money back. Im not a thief. I havent taken anything from the bank.

I have no criminal record, he said. I dont know why, but they took my disability check and I have nothing and Ill be out on the street and I wont have any money for food or anything and Im going to starve.

He assured the police and WSB-TV that he would not hurt the two hostages: These ladies are very nice and they have been very helpful and supportive. I dont want them to get hurt.

Easley added, I just dont want [the police] to shoot me. But they did.

There are conflicting reports about how police carried out their pointless assassination. According to one report, a SWAT vehicle drove up to the banks front door and officers in military gear swept in, firing 10 gunshots at Easley. The hostages are fortunate to have escaped such a highly reckless police maneuver. In another version, the hostages left the building through an opening and police only shot Easley after the hostages had freed themselves or were released by Easley.

Easley indicated that this week had been particularly difficult for him. On Monday, he went to the Atlanta VA Medical Center building to request his benefits be restored. He was given an explanation that he did not understand, and when he grew agitated the VA called the police and escorted him off the property.

Easleys desperate final act was likely part mental illness, part legitimate grievance. The VA systematically blocks veterans from receiving benefits and was recently embroiled in a scandal to kick veterans down a long waitlist in order to save money. Easleys fear of homelessness is widespread. Tens of thousands of veterans are homeless on a given night.

Over 100,000 veterans have killed themselves since 2001, enough to populate a mid-sized American city.

The US government first threw Easley into the thick of the Iraq invasion when he was roughly 22 years old, then kicked him to the curb by denying his VA benefits, then killed him when he acted out in desperation. His clear hesitations, his peaceful intentions were not enough to save his life.

Easleys story is yet another tragic milestone in a society that is breaking down under the weight of permanent war and growing social inequality.
From the March 2018 issue

Theres no easy way to say this: Our long-term Nissan Titan XD Diesel was one of the most disappointing new vehicles we have evaluated in recent memory, a distinction highlighted by our trucks serious mechanical issues and grounded in its general inability to endear when it was healthy.

Spearheading Nissans then new second-generation Titan lineup for 2016, the XD leverages a near-heavy-duty build and an available Cummins turbo-diesel V-8 to serve a niche somewhere between established half-ton and three-quarter-ton pickups. While lesser, gasoline-fueled Titans have since joined the mix, the diesel XD is a brutish curiosity that, in theory, is ideal for the commuting and moderate workloads we ask of the trucks in our fleet. But therein lies this middling heavyweights paradox: For how massive and unwieldy this Titan XD is on the road, its payload and towing maximums of 2003 and 12,037 pounds, respectively, are eclipsed by those of some light-duty trucks.

While the XDs ride is undeniably stiff when empty, its control-arm front suspension and leaf-spring solid rear axle offer a bit more compliance than a full-HD pickups. For the crew-cab-only 2016 model, we settled on the midrange Pro-4X trim with standard four-wheel drive and a six-foot, six-inch cargo box for a fair $52,165. (Subtract $5000 for the XDs livelier 390-hp gas V-8 that Nissan added later in 2016.) Along with bountiful standard equipmentbright LED headlights, a towing package, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alertthe off-road-oriented Pro-4X brings a locking rear differential, Bilstein dampers, 18-inch wheels with all-terrain tires, and a bevy of underbody skid plates. The Titans nonfunctional fender vents and grossly overhung snout are offered at no additional charge.

Adding the $3310 Pro-4X Convenience package (heaters for the steering wheel and four of the five seats plus leather hides all around) along with the $1100 Pro-4X Utility and Audio package (a Rockford Fosgate stereo, front and rear parking sensors, and a host of tie-downs in the cargo bed) was a sounder decision than our trim-level choice. Our Pro-4Xs lack of any assist steps for an as-tested $57,155 truck (Nissan offers cab and box steps separately as accessories) riled its detractors. And at more than 20 feet long and weighing 7280 pounds, the XD is simply too hulking to effectively tackle off-road terrain.

Story continues

Lacks the power of current HD rigs from major players but is more stable and easier to drive when towing than half-ton offerings from the same.

Josh Jacquot, Reviews Editor

Despite the modest 310 horsepower from the Cummins turbocharged 5.0-liter V-8, the diesels 555 pound-feet of torque pulls the Titan through traffic with determination. Early logbook comments noted the stability with which the Titan tugged about three tons of trailer and jalopy, albeit without much haste. Some niggles cropped up, too, including concerns about a numb and heavy helm that continued to groan at low speeds even after we discovered the power-steering systems fluid was low and topped it off. A recalcitrant tailgate-release handle also plagued the Titan for much of its term, despite the dealer replacing a faulty electronic lock actuator at no charge.

The diesel XD was lethargic at the test track, plodding to 60 mph in 9.4 seconds after its 6000-mile break-in period and covering the quarter-mile in 17.3 seconds at 82 mph. Those times improved somewhat, to 8.9 and 17.0 seconds, once the XD had loosened up at 40,000 miles, as did its stopping distance from 70 mph (204 feet down to 197) and meager grip around the skidpad (0.66 g versus 0.71). But other diesel rigs from Ford, General Motors, and Ram churn out more than 900 pound-feet of torque, with some examples able to bolt to 60 mph in less than 7.0 seconds. The Cummins V-8 also sounds less refined in operation than its 32-valve dual-overhead-cam layout would suggest; the wavering growl that accompanied the 5.0s clatter prompted technical director Eric Tingwall to scribble Chewbacca is my co-pilot in the Titans logbook.

The Wookiee under the hood also had a voracious thirst for diesel exhaust fluida urea-based solution injected into the XDs exhaust system to limit nitrogen-oxide emissions. With our trucks laborious duty cycle (DEF consumption is relative to engine load) and the XDs small, 4.5-gallon DEF tank, the 44 gallons we fed the Nissan over 40,000 miles, at roughly $6 per, came in many small doses. The DEF monitor in the Titans info display also occasionally asked for refills when the tank was nearly full and flashed service alerts that quickly disappeared.

Other logbook entries expressed wonderment at Nissans approval of the XDs uncouth Aisin six-speed automatic. Even after two computer reflashes under warranty, the Titans transmission lurched through its ratios under acceleration and, with equal abruptness, clunked into gear at slower speeds. Its hard to believe someone could sign off on this transmission calibration, noted assistant technical editor David Beard.

Virtually every driver agreed that the Pro-4Xs cosseting Zero Gravity front seats were its best attribute, with the crew-cab interior itself stocked with amenities and storage options for long voyages and a range of work. But the cabins vibrations, chintzy materials, and outdated 7.0-inch touchscreen that washed out in sunlight never impressed its occupants. Deputy online editor Dave VanderWerp summed it up well: This new Titan feels a generation or more behind full-size pickups from the Detroit Three.

The Titan XD provides all the weight of a heavy-duty pickup but without the HD performance or capability. At least the front seats are comfortable.

Despite its many faults, our Nissan racked up miles hauling furniture and yard debris, towing off-road toys around Michigan, and fetching cars from both coasts. While the thousands of miles our truck covered with a trailer lowered the fuel-economy average to 15 mpg overall, the unladen Titan returned 18 mpg on our 200-mile highway loop. (As a heavy-duty truck, the XD is exempt from EPA fuel-economy estimates.)

Basic maintenance for the diesel Titan was substantial. Nissans service schedule calls for regular checkups every 10,000 miles unless the oil-life monitor in the cluster asks for it sooner, as our hardworking trucks did. We spent $1634 on four routine stops, plus a fifth and final $298 visit for new brake and transmission fluids that should have been changed by two separate dealers as part of the Nissans 20K- and 40K-mile jobs.

The XDs logbook reached peak negativity when the Cummins engine started acting up around 27,000 miles, ultimately stranding us several times. While en route from Ann Arbor to Santa Barbara, California, to retrieve C/Ds flame-painted Mitsubishi Eclipse GT-R, the XD limped into an Iowa dealership down on power and illuminating a check-engine light for low coolant levels. The service desk, determining nothing serious was amiss, replaced the coolant and erased the codes before clearing us to carry on in the now seemingly healthy truck.

It was 2400 miles later, on the return trip in the California desert with the Mitsu in tow, that the same check-engine alert reappeared, which we confirmed with an OBD II scanner purchased from an auto parts store (the closest Nissan shop was 60 miles away). With the last dealership experience proving uneventful, we felt reasonable in repeating the previous fix until the issue could be further investigated back home. In hindsight, given the now chronic coolant loss, we would have been wiser to seek a second opinion from another Nissan store.

Our optimism ended in Nebraska when the trucks problems went into overdrive, the Titan consuming more coolant before limping into another dealership with white smoke spewing from its tailpipe. A kaleidoscope of check-engine warnings pointed to a leaking exhaust-gas-recirculation cooler, which is a heat exchanger that uses engine coolant to reduce the temperature of exhaust that is routed back into the combustion chambers to curb NOx emissions. A fuel injector in our trucks engine had also faileda separate, known problem with the Cummins V-8 enginewhich the dealer replaced under warranty along with the Titans full exhaust system. The service techs also pressure-tested the Cumminss cooling system and EGR heat exchanger but curiously found no evidence of leaks.

Fender badge is not a vent but a branding opportunity.

We retrieved the truck from Nebraska a week later, returned home, and then dispatched it to Virginia International Raceway in support of our annual Lightning Lap event. The Titan made it to VIR, but the 5.0 began to run rough while at the track, and more engine repairs and inspections parked the XD at various Nissan outlets in Virginia, Ohio, and Ann Arbor. The trucks troubled running finally subsided when a new EGR cooler was installed under warranty at 36,000 milesthe sixth pit stop related to the original problem. While Nissan says that construction of the EGR cooler was beefed up on diesel XDs built after September 2016, we have since read of other EGR-related issues from Titan owners on the internet.

Although the malfunction of its Cummins engine and the subsequent trouble it took for Nissans service network to correct it were enough to earn our long-termer an F on its report card, that problem was merely the final straw for drivers already frustrated with the Titans many day-to-day issues. As an extra-large tweener that can disappoint even on its good days, Nissans big rig left us unconvinced that its quasi-heavy-duty niche is really in need of filling.

Rants & Raves

It is just too big for its own good and really shows Nissans inexperience with this class of vehicle. Joseph Capparella

Just over 8300 miles on the odometer and the power-steering pump feels as if its failing. Drew Dorian

This truck is just shockingly bad. Previously, I had only been in the Titan with a trailer attached. Sadly, it drives like its towing even when its not. Jeff Sabatini

Over the last two days, Ive spent 30-plus hours driving the Titan and have found the seats to be quite comfortable. Maxwell Mortimer

Never have I jumped into a vehicle this new and been this unsure of its capabilities to make it home issue-free. Nathan Petroelje

This truck feels as if its already falling apartlots of rattles and vibrations from the interior and were not even at 10K miles yet! Joseph Capparella

The Titan makes noises that should have given Nissans NVH engineers fits. Josh Jacquot

Overall, an underwhelming-from-the-ground-up effort on a new full-size pickup. Dave VanderWerp

This transmission is horrible. It feels like it has a street racers shift kit. Rusty Blackwell

I often find myself surprised at how easy it is to fit a Ford F-150 or Chevrolet Silverado into my daily life. This truck just feels unwieldy. Annie White

Access to the bed is difficult for people of average height; the easiest way up is to use the rear tire as a stool and try not to rip the crotch out of your pants. Rusty Blackwell

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-/4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door pickup



PRICE AS TESTED: $57,155 (base price: $52,165)



ENGINE TYPE: sequentially turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve diesel V-8, iron block and aluminum heads, direct fuel injection



Displacement: 305 cu in, 4997 cc

Power: 310 hp @ 3200 rpm

Torque: 555 lb-ft @ 1600 rpm



TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode



DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 151.6 in

Length: 243.6 in

Width: 80.7 in Height: 78.4 in

Passenger volume: 120 cu ft

Curb weight: 7280 lb



PERFORMANCE: NEW

Zero to 60 mph: 9.4 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 28.9 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 10.1 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 5.3 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 7.0 sec

Standing -mile: 17.3 sec @ 82 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 104 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 204 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.66 g



PERFORMANCE: 40,000 MILES

Zero to 60 mph: 8.9 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 28.3 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 10.2 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 5.4 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 7.3 sec

Standing -mile: 17.0 sec @ 82 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 104 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 197 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.71 g



C/D FUEL ECONOMY:

Observed: 15 mpg

Unscheduled oil additions: 2.5 qt



WARRANTY:

3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper;

5 years/60,000 miles powertrain;

5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;

3 years/36,000 miles roadside assistance





WHAT WE LIKE: That we can dispatch our Nissan Titan XD to far-flung places where it can undertake the heavy lifting and hauling that it was designed forthat is, when it is working properly.

WHAT WE DONT LIKE: Being stranded multiple times in far-flung places with a wounded truck that is down on power, belching white smoke, and lighting up its bank of warning lights like a Christmas tree.

WHAT WENT WRONG: The Titan was operating properly at 26,100 miles when we picked it up from a routine service visit, called for via the trucks onboard oil-life monitor. Consisting of a tire rotation, inspection, and oil changeplus new filters for the engine oil, fuel, and air entering both the engine and the cabinit set us back $503. Since then, however, a serious malady has befallen our XD, and were still in the midst of investigating what caused it. The problem started at about 30,000 miles with a check-engine light (CEL) and a reduced-power notification early in a cross-country trek from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to California and back. A Nissan dealer in Iowa investigated, determined nothing serious was amiss, and then cleared the fault code (P2560, low coolant) and topped off the engine coolant, some of which had curiously vanished on our drive, before giving us the okay to carry on. That fixed the symptom, but this was just the beginning of a long, cantankerous journey to uncover the cause. That same warning illuminated two more times on the return trip with a loaded trailer in towone that carried this multicolored Mitsubishi and weighed well under the trucks six-ton towing capacity. But given the all-clear from the Iowa dealer and experiencing no additional drivability issues with the truck, each time the warning popped up we continued on after performing the same code-clearing and add-coolant routine. (In our haste to complete our cross-country mission, and to avoid having to find another Nissan dealer every time the alert returned, we purchased a code-reading tool from an auto-parts store, which plugged into the trucks OBD II port and allowed us to clear the faults as the service technicians in Iowa had. In hindsight, we shouldnt have followed that dealers lead by continuing to drive while our Cummins was consuming coolant and shouldve instead stopped for a second opinion.)

Unfortunately, our trek ultimately came to a halt in Nebraska with the Titan limping into another Nissan dealership, plumes of white smoke billowing from its tailpipe, the Cummins V-8 diesel down on power, a clatter emanating from under the hood, the CEL again illuminated. More than 20 fault codes and warnings were logged in the Titans computer, most of which indicated an issue with the engines exhaust-gas-recirculation (EGR) system. We completed our mission in a rented U-Haul truck while the Titan received one new fuel injector and the entire exhaust system, including its accompanying emissions aftertreatment componentsall under warranty. The dealer explored several possible problem areas, including pressure testing the engine-cooling system and removing and bench testing the EGR heat exchanger for leaks. Both systems checked out, and the dealer was unable to re-create any of our coolant-loss issues or provide us with a root cause for the breakdown.

Back in Ann Arbor and cautiously hoping the problem to be fixed, we sent it off to Virginia International Raceway to support our annual Lightning Lap event. But the Titan began running rough again, throwing similar warning codes as before and necessitating another dealer visit, this time in Danville, Virginia. There, the service techs replaced the engine computers wiring harness and, curiously, the same fuel injector that had just been replaced. After we made a separate trip back to Virginia to retrieve the truck, supposedly once again with a bill of good health, the check-engine light lit up on the way home in Ohio. It was another EGR-related fault code, but this time the dealer reflashed the powertrain control module and resolved the issue. That reflash apparently didnt completely erase the computers memory, though, as a previous fault code triggered the CEL again at around 34,000 miles, which our local Nissan dealer investigated and cleared from the XDs brain.

Now with the 40K-mark approaching and the truck, at the moment, in proper working order, were still searching for the cause of our Titans woesand, more importantly, wondering whether they have actually been fixed. A quick scan of online owners forums turned up only a couple of cases like ours, with owners reporting similar experiences where, at least initially, the dealer is simply topping off the coolant and sending them on their way. Unreliability in any vehicle is a drag, but it is especially troubling to deal with in a new workhorse of a vehicle that you depend on to help get jobs done. Thankfully, our long-term Ford F-150 Raptor is around to pick up some of the Nissans slack while we continue to evaluate its health. Watch this space for a full rundown of the Titans troubles once we hit 40,000 miles.

WHERE WE WENT: Along with local commuting duties, our Titan XD chugged to VIR and sunny Santa Barbara, California. And it graced the service bays of Nissan dealerships in Ann Arbor; Davenport, Iowa; North Platte, Nebraska; Danville, Virginia; and Lima, Ohio.

Months in Fleet: 12 months Current Mileage: 34,636 miles

Average Fuel Economy: 15 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 26.0 gal Fuel Range: 390 miles

Service: $1273 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0 Urea-Solution Additions: 38.5 gal

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-/4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door pickup



PRICE AS TESTED: $57,155 (base price: $52,165)



ENGINE TYPE: sequentially turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve diesel V-8, iron block and aluminum heads, direct fuel injection



Displacement: 305 cu in, 4997 cc

Power: 310 hp @ 3200 rpm

Torque: 555 lb-ft @ 1600 rpm



TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode



DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 151.6 in

Length: 243.6 in

Width: 80.7 in Height: 78.4 in

Passenger volume: 120 cu ft

Curb weight: 7280 lb



PERFORMANCE: NEW

Zero to 60 mph: 9.4 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 28.9 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 10.1 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 5.3 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 7.0 sec

Standing -mile: 17.3 sec @ 82 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 104 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 204 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.66 g



PERFORMANCE: 40,000 MILES

Zero to 60 mph: 8.9 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 28.3 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 10.2 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 5.4 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 7.3 sec

Standing -mile: 17.0 sec @ 82 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 104 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 197 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.71 g



C/D FUEL ECONOMY:

Observed: 15 mpg

Unscheduled oil additions: 2.5 qt



WARRANTY:

3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper;

5 years/60,000 miles powertrain;

5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;

3 years/36,000 miles roadside assistance





WHAT WE LIKE: With 120 cubic feet of interior space and more than six tons of towing capacity, our long-term Nissan Titan XD is an accomplished companion that has served us well for stricken-vehicle retrievals, sundry moving jobs, and being an all-around workhorse. During snowmobile season in Michigan, the XD also handily shouldered the weight of enclosed trailers on northward adventures, and, as previously noted, its remote starter and heated seats and steering wheel let us savor our morning coffee on the couch while the Cummins diesel comes up to temperature. The Pro-4X Utility and Audio packages thundering Rockford Fosgate audio system has entertained the audiophiles among us as well, even if it lacks the refined clarity of competing higher-end stereos.

WHAT WE DONT LIKE: Single-digit fuel economy when towing a decent-size trailer, but thats to be expected with any heavy-duty truck. What continues to really grind our gears is the Nissans stubbornly uncouth Aisin automatic transmission, which abruptly clunks into each forward ratio and is easily caught out by quick, stop-and-go accelerator inputsdespite having yet another software update performed by the dealer under warranty. Weve previously derided the 5.0-liter Cummins V-8 for its lack of thrust versus the larger engines in other big trucks, yet combined with the clumsy gearbox, the pairings lethargic response is an even greater annoyance when trying to move the Titans immense bulk through traffic. Servicing this beast also hasnt been cheap, with the trucks second 10K visit (oil and filter change, fuel-filter change, tire rotation, and inspection) costing us just shy of $400. Various other complaints have been logged for the difficult ingress and egress due to the Pro-4Xs lack of side steps, the poor resolution of the rearview camera, and for how easily the central touchscreen washes out in direct sunlight.

WHAT WENT WRONG: While its not really a malfunction, the diesel V-8s emission-control system continues to irritate for how quickly it consumes its diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) solution. Weve added about 21 gallons thus faror one about every 1100 milesat roughly $6 per via the 2.5-gallon jugs weve most often purchased at auto-parts stores. And while that outlay would be considerably cheaper if we filled up at the DEF pump at a truck stop, where the fluid can run closer to $2 per gallon, the Titans filler tube is too small to accept the pump nozzle used by semi trucks. The Nissans remote tailgate-lock actuator also quit working on us, which the dealer replaced under warranty.

WHERE WE WENT: Other than a jaunt to Chicago, the Titans only far-flung adventures since our last update have been two journeys to somewhat-frozen northern Michigan in search of proper snowmobile conditions, both times with a trailer in tow. The XD was generally unfazed by the modest load (about 3500 pounds), and despite the workouts, our average fuel economy has held at a so-so 15 mpg.

Months in Fleet: 8 months Current Mileage: 21,203 miles

Average Fuel Economy: 15 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 26.0 gal Fuel Range: 390 miles Service: $770 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0 Urea-Solution Additions: 21.2 gal

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-/4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door pickup



PRICE AS TESTED: $57,155 (base price: $52,165)



ENGINE TYPE: sequentially turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve diesel V-8, iron block and aluminum heads, direct fuel injection



Displacement: 305 cu in, 4997 cc

Power: 310 hp @ 3200 rpm

Torque: 555 lb-ft @ 1600 rpm



TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode



DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 151.6 in

Length: 243.6 in

Width: 80.7 in Height: 78.4 in

Passenger volume: 120 cu ft

Curb weight: 7280 lb



PERFORMANCE: NEW

Zero to 60 mph: 9.4 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 28.9 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 10.1 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 5.3 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 7.0 sec

Standing -mile: 17.3 sec @ 82 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 104 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 204 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.66 g



PERFORMANCE: 40,000 MILES

Zero to 60 mph: 8.9 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 28.3 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 10.2 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 5.4 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 7.3 sec

Standing -mile: 17.0 sec @ 82 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 104 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 197 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.71 g



C/D FUEL ECONOMY:

Observed: 15 mpg

Unscheduled oil additions: 2.5 qt



WARRANTY:

3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper;

5 years/60,000 miles powertrain;

5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;

3 years/36,000 miles roadside assistance





WHAT WE LIKE: Our big 2016 Nissan Titan XD long-termer shines brightest when its working hard towing a trailer or carrying lots of heavy thingsbut that hasnt often been the case lately as we settle into a Michigan winter. Yet its still good to know that such capability is there, even if were just trudging through snow with an empty bed. The giant side mirrors are particularly helpful for maneuvering in traffic, and Nissans Zero Gravity front seats (touted as being inspired by the weightlessness of space, where one has no pressure points) are all-day supportive. Despite its bulky dimensions and ponderous driving dynamics, the Titans remote start, four-wheel drive, and heated seats and steering wheel make it a relatively popular commuter as temperatures plummet below freezing.

WHAT WE DONT LIKE: The rest of the Nissans logbook has been less flattering. The Cummins diesel V-8 is unpleasantly noisyand even took multiple tries to start on a recent not-that-cold morningand the six-speed automatic clunks and shudders in stop-and-go driving, despite having received a software-reflash update at the dealer. The Titans immense size, both real and perceived from the drivers seat, combines with its lackluster performance to make it cumbersome around town. (And thats before you try to park it.) A general lack of refinement manifests in the trucks cabin, with some panel vibrations being noted, some drivers describing the materials as chintzy, and the dated and slow infotainment system drawing brickbats from numerous users.

Our truck also continues to have a powerful thirst for diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), which is stored in a 4.5-gallon reservoir and is injected into the exhaust system to reduce oxides of nitrogen emissions. We may have worked our Titan pretty hard during its first couple of months with us, as we did plenty of towing, but the $125 weve already spent to add about 16 gallons of DEF over 15,000 miles seems exorbitant. Nissan doesnt give a suggested range for the DEF tankthe refilling of which in many other diesel vehicles is tied to regular service intervalsinstead relying on a digital gauge in the instrument cluster and a series of Low DEF warnings that pop up all too frequently.

WHAT WENT WRONG: Our greatest expenditure to date was $352 for the Titan diesels first scheduled service at the 10,000-mile mark, which included changing the engine oil and filter, a new fuel filter, a tire rotation, and an inspection. A recall action for the fuel tanks breather tubeconsisting of securing it to the bed rail and removing a temporary cap that was accidentally left on at the factorywas performed as well. We also heard some groans from the hydraulically assisted power-steering system. Upon investigation, the cause turned out to be low fluid level, which was topped off. During that visit the dealer also secured a loose hose for the air-conditioning system, which eliminated an annoying underhood rattle.

WHERE WE WENT: Despite its capacious interior and decent highway ride, our Titan has remained close to home since our last check-in, venturing only as far as Chicago and northern Michigan. Commuting locally means that our meager 15-mpg average hasnt budged, but we expect the Titan to embark on a few longer trips as soon as snowmobile season ramps up in the northern parts of the state.

Months in Fleet: 5 months Current Mileage: 14,873 miles

Average Fuel Economy: 15 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 26.0 gal Fuel Range: 390 miles Service: $373 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0 Urea-Solution Additions: 15.7 gal

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-/4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door pickup



PRICE AS TESTED: $57,155 (base price: $52,165)



ENGINE TYPE: sequentially turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve diesel V-8, iron block and aluminum heads, direct fuel injection



Displacement: 305 cu in, 4997 cc

Power: 310 hp @ 3200 rpm

Torque: 555 lb-ft @ 1600 rpm



TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode



DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 151.6 in

Length: 243.6 in

Width: 80.7 in Height: 78.4 in

Passenger volume: 120 cu ft

Curb weight: 7280 lb



PERFORMANCE: NEW

Zero to 60 mph: 9.4 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 28.9 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 10.1 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 5.3 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 7.0 sec

Standing -mile: 17.3 sec @ 82 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 104 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 204 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.66 g



PERFORMANCE: 40,000 MILES

Zero to 60 mph: 8.9 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 28.3 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 10.2 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 5.4 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 7.3 sec

Standing -mile: 17.0 sec @ 82 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 104 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 197 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.71 g



C/D FUEL ECONOMY:

Observed: 15 mpg

Unscheduled oil additions: 2.5 qt



WARRANTY:

3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper;

5 years/60,000 miles powertrain;

5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;

3 years/36,000 miles roadside assistance





An available Cummins V-8 diesel engine and near-heavy-duty capabilities make Nissans new-for-2016 Titan XD a unique beast, one that the company hopes will afford certain buyers an attractive middle ground between conventional half-ton pickups and full-on heavy-duty behemoths. Yet, the XDs gargantuan size and substantial mass call into question its tweener status, while some smaller, half-ton rigs can actually match its tow rating of more than 12,000 pounds. To see for ourselves how the XD fares in a real-world environmentserving as both a commuter and a general carryall for our various playthings and detrituswe ordered a 2016 Titan XD Pro-4X for 40,000 miles of servitude.

The big Nissan is the latest in a line of full-size trucks to grace our long-term fleet, including 40,000 miles with the first-generation Titan when it debuted back in 2004. The XD is the first diesel example since our 2010 Dodge Ram 2500 Mega Cab 4x4. These workhorses are in high demand around C/D HQ, accumulating their requisite miles in short order. Although we usually introduce new long-term vehicles soon after they arrive, our XDs 6000-mile break-in period meant we had to wait a couple of months before visiting the test track, during which time it racked up an impressive 7600 miles.

Although Nissan now offers a 390-hp 5.6-liter gasoline V-8 as standard in the Titan XD, and also in the conventional half-ton Titan, the optional turbocharged 5.0-liter Cummins V-8 ($5000) is a better match for moving the trucks significant 7280 pounds (its Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, or GVWR, in excess of 8500 pounds technically makes the XD a heavy-duty pickup, exempting it from EPA fuel-economy ratings). Backed by an Aisin six-speed automatic transmission, the Cummins has 310 horsepower and 555 lb-ft of torque, positioning it between the 420 lb-ft offered in the Ram 1500s EcoDiesel V-6 and the heavy-duty class of diesel engines that top the 900 lb-ft mark.

Similar to General Motors stillborn 4.5-liter Duramax V-8 diesel, the Cummins 5.0 was originally envisioned as a powerplant for half-ton pickupsa combination only Ram currently offers, although Ford has a diesel F-150 in the works. Its also thoroughly high tech, with an iron block, aluminum cylinder heads with composite valve covers, dual overhead camshafts, a 16.3:1 compression ratio, and Cummins M2 sequential-turbocharger setup for minimizing lag. A particulate filter and selective catalytic reduction (urea-based, diesel-exhaust-fluid injection) remove soot and oxides of nitrogen from the V-8s exhaust. Despite the inherent advantages in efficiency provided by energy-dense diesel fuel and compression ignition, the Nissans porky curb weight has kept any gains from materializing in the real world. Our test trucks 15-mpg average thus far is similar to the returns weve observed from other large-engine pickups (both gasoline- and diesel-fueled). And our best stint barely returned 20 mpg, which is still less than the 21-mpg figure weve recorded with the much-lighter Ram 1500 EcoDiesel.

How We Specd It

While you can get either a single- or crew-cab Titan XD for the 2017 model year, 2016 versions came only in the latter configuration, riding on a 151.6-inch wheelbase with a 6.5-foot cargo bed. Base, rear-wheel-drive S models start at $36,485 for 2016, with four-wheel drive adding about $3000, depending on the specific trim. The mid-level Pro-4X we chose, however, is four-by-four-only and begins at $47,165. Along with a two-speed transfer case, 3.92:1 axle ratios, and an electronically controlled limited-slip rear differential, the Pro-4X includes Bilstein monotube dampers, dark-finished 18-inch wheels shod with LT275/65R-18 tires (General Grabber APTs on our truck), and skid plates for the oil pan, 26-gallon fuel tank, transfer case, and lower radiator.

Additional standard equipment ranges from a spray-in bedliner to a gooseneck-hitch mount in the bed to a conventional Class IV receiver out back. An integrated trailer-brake controller also is included. Nissans Zero Gravity captains chairs coddle front-seat occupants, while the 60/40-split rear bench folds up to reveal more hauling space (extensions are there to create a flat floor, if you need it) and underseat storage. Theres also dual-zone automatic climate control, keyless entry and start, a rearview camera, a 5.0-inch color information display in the cluster, and a 7.0-inch central touchscreen with navigation, satellite radio, and USB and Bluetooth connectivity.

Along with the Cummins engine, our Cayenne Red test truck came with the $3310 Pro-4X Convenience package (leather upholstery with contrast stitching and Pro-4X embroidery, remote start, power for the tilting-and-telescoping steering column, a heated steering wheel, and heated front and rear seats); the $1100 Pro-4X Utility and Audio package (Rockford Fosgate audio with 12 speakers, front and rear parking sensors, a power sliding rear window, Nissans Utili-Track tie-down system, LED bed and tailgate lighting, and a 110-volt outlet in the bed); a $345 electronic tailgate lock; and $235 splash guards for a sizable as-tested total of $57,155.

Not a Track Star

In terms of performance, the Titan XD failed to impress on its initial outing at the test track. Its leisurely acceleration to 60 mph (9.4 seconds) and through the quarter-mile (17.3 at 82 mph) make it one of the slowest full-size trucks weve tested recently, regardless of size or engine. Not helped by its chunky all-terrain tires, the XD needed 204 feet to stop from 70 mph and circled the skidpad with just 0.66 g of lateral grip, both numbers that put it near the bottom of the segment. Nor is it especially quiet, generating slightly more noise at idle and full throttle (48 and 74 decibels, respectively) than most of the diesel pickups weve tested. The unusual warble of noises that the Cummins produces above 3000 rpm prompted one driver to declare, Chewbacca is my co-pilot.

Thats not to say the Titan isnt capable, what with 2003 pounds of payload capacity and a tow rating of 12,037 pounds. In addition to hauling various tires, people, and junk near home, the XDs break-in period included voyages to western Michigan, Illinois, and New Jersey. Notes in the logbook so far praise its respectable ride quality and the stability afforded by its long wheelbase and considerable mass. The cushy front seats also have earned fans for their long-haul comfort, and all drivers have appreciated the excellent visibility afforded by its massive, extendable towing mirrors.

While the Titan has never struggled with the heavier chores it has been tasked with, several driversperhaps accustomed to the greater outputs of heavy-duty diesel pickupswished for more passing and towing power. Others have complained about the unassisted climb up into the cabin and the poor maneuverability of its 20-foot-long bulk in traffic and parking lots. The electric tailgate release also stopped working for one driver, who resorted to removing the inner panels of the tailgate to access the latch mechanism manually.

Although the 4.5-gallon diesel-exhaust-fluid system was supposedly filled at the factory, a 20-percent-remaining notice illuminated at just 1200 miles, prompting us to add 2.5 gallons ($15.57) to the reservoir. Another 3.8 gallons ($28.37) were added at 5200 miles when the same warning returned; weve yet to determine whether the significant consumption is the result of our driving or if this is just one of the thirstier setups weve experienced in a modern diesel engine. In between, at 3000 miles on the odometer, the Cummins V-8 also ran low on oil, which cost us $21.39 for a 2.5-quart top-up.

With the Titans first service not scheduled until 10,000 miles, our only visit to the dealer was at 2170 miles for a software reflash for the transmission, which seemed to be slipping as it shifted into third gear. The fix appears to have worked, although the six-speed isnt as deft in its gearchanges as wed like, and it occasionally shudders if the driver abruptly lifts off the accelerator. The dealer also adjusted the front-wheel alignment and inspected the steering column, which produces an intermittent groaning sound when the driver twirls the wheel. The latter was deemed to be working properly, but the noise can still be heard occasionally, so well keep investigating the cause. While we remain uncertain of the true value of the Titan XDs mid-level position in the pickup world, our test truck has been immensely capable in the short time its been with us, and we expect more of the same over the next 32,000 miles.

Months in Fleet: 2 months Current Mileage: 7771 miles

Average Fuel Economy: 15 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 26.0 gal Fuel Range: 390 miles

Service: $21.39 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0 Urea-Solution Additions: 6.3 gal

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-/4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door pickup



PRICE AS TESTED: $57,155 (base price: $52,165)



ENGINE TYPE: sequentially turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve diesel V-8, iron block and aluminum heads, direct fuel injection



Displacement: 305 cu in, 4997 cc

Power: 310 hp @ 3200 rpm

Torque: 555 lb-ft @ 1600 rpm



TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode



DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 151.6 in

Length: 243.6 in

Width: 80.7 in Height: 78.4 in

Passenger volume: 120 cu ft

Curb weight: 7280 lb



PERFORMANCE: NEW

Zero to 60 mph: 9.4 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 28.9 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 10.1 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 5.3 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 7.0 sec

Standing -mile: 17.3 sec @ 82 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 104 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 204 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.66 g



PERFORMANCE: 40,000 MILES

Zero to 60 mph: 8.9 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 28.3 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 10.2 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 5.4 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 7.3 sec

Standing -mile: 17.0 sec @ 82 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 104 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 197 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.71 g



C/D FUEL ECONOMY:

Observed: 15 mpg

Unscheduled oil additions: 2.5 qt



WARRANTY:

3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper;

5 years/60,000 miles powertrain;

5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;

3 years/36,000 miles roadside assistance




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During the warmer months, most of us spend more time exposed to the elementsand to a variety of summer-related troublemakers. Warmer temperatures, prolonged sun and heat exposure, the increased prevalence of insects, and the proliferation of poisonous plants each pose unique health threats, says Amber Tully, M.D., a family medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic.

So, take a few smart summer skin-protection steps. With the proper precautions, you can enjoy the great outdoors to its fullest. And if any of the following do pop up, our expert advice will have you covered.

Bites and Stings

Both stinging insectsbees, hornets, yellowjackets, wasps, and, in some parts of the country, fire antsand insects and arachnids that bite, notably mosquitoes and ticks, are more common during warm weather. But the strategies for dealing with them can vary from pest to pest.

Insect stings usually cause temporary itching, pain, redness, and swelling. Most stings cause only mild discomfort (except in people who are allergicthey require immediate treatment).

Mosquitoes and ticks, however, may spread infectious diseases through their bite. Mosquitoes, for example, can carry diseases such as dengue, West Nile virus, Zika, and yellow fever, and ticks can spread a number of illnesses, including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and the rare but potentially deadly Powassan virus.

Protect yourself: Insect repellents wont deter bees or other stinging creatures, so minimize the risk by not aggravating themwhich means no swatting at them or disturbing hives or nests.

For mosquitoes and ticks, insect repellents are your best defense. Consumer Reports found in its testing that repellents with 15 to 30 percent deet, 20 percent picaridin, or 30 percent oil of lemon eucalyptus generally performed well.

To shield summer skin, its also smart to wear long sleeves, pants, socks, and closed shoes in areas where mosquitoes and ticks are often found.

Story continues

Mosquitoes tend to breed in wet, swampy places and swarm around lakes, ponds, and rivers, and are most likely to bite near dawn and dusk. Ticks are most common in wooded areas, high grass, and leaf piles.

Because ticks need to attach to your skin to bite, once youre back inside after being outside in a place where ticks might live, shower or bathe and do a careful skin check. If you spot a tick, remove it with tweezers and be careful to get the entire body out.

Treat it: A cold compress can soothe bites or stings, and over-the-counter topicals such as hydrocortisone cream or calamine lotion can ease summer skin itchiness.

If an insect sting leaves you very uncomfortable, Tully suggests an OTC oral antihistamine such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl Allergy and generic) to ease itching and swelling. However, swelling in your mouth or difficulty breathing or swallowing after a sting could be a sign of anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.

Seek emergency medical treatment immediately and take any OTC antihistamine medicine if you have it, Tully says. Those who know theyre allergic to stings should routinely carry an epinephrine auto-injector such as EpiPen or Adrenaclick for immediate treatment.

If you are concerned about Zika or other mosquito-borne (or tick-borne) illnesses, stay alert for fever, rash, joint or muscle pain, and headache. Let your doctor know promptly whether any of these occur so that he can evaluate you.

Sunburn

The suns ultraviolet rays can penetrate the skin, causing pain, redness, and swellingand skin damage thats directly linked to the development of skin cancer. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, an estimated one in five Americans will be diagnosed with skin cancer during his or her lifetime.

Protect yourself: Your summer skin protection plan should include sunscreen, protective clothing, and avoidance of UV rays. Consumer Reports recommends using a sunscreen labeled with an SPF of at least 40 that contains chemical active ingredients such as avobenzone (instead of natural or mineral active ingredients such as zinc oxide).

And use enough. It takes a full ounce (imagine a shot glass full) to cover your entire body at the beach. For maximum summer skin protection, add a hat with a wide brim all around (a cap leaves the back of your neck exposed) and clothing that will shield you from the sunsuch as items made of darker, thicker fabrics with a dense weave.

Try looking through the fabric, suggests Jessica Krant, M.D., a dermatologist in New York City and a member of Consumer Reports medical advisory board. If you can see the sun, the sun can see your skin.

Try to avoid UV exposure between 10 a.m and 4 p.m.when the suns intensity is at its peak.

Treat it: Your immediate goal after a sunburn should be to soothe and cool the skin, Krant says. She suggests applying a cream such as Noxzema or its generic versions, a lotion that contains aloe, or cold yogurt to burned skin and taking an OTC anti-inflammatory, such as ibuprofen (Advil and generic), to inhibit inflammation. If needed, continue strategies for several days.

And if your burn is complicated by blistering, chills, fever, and/or nausea, call your doctor.

Heat Rash

Heat rashsmall red dots that may be raised and itchyoccurs when sweat ducts become temporarily blocked. Instead of evaporating, sweat remains under the skin.

This is quite common in infants and small children whose sweat glands arent fully developed, but adults can experience it as welloften in skin folds where moisture is easily trapped.

Protect yourself: Heat is the main cause of heat rash, but humiditywhich makes it more difficult for sweat to evaporateplays a role, too. On hot, humid days, limit activities that cause you to sweat heavily and wear loose, lightweight clothing.

Treat it: This condition will usually quickly begin to resolve once you get out of the heat and your body temperature falls. You can speed up the process by taking a cool shower or bath and putting on loose, light clothing. For any itching, an OTC hydrocortisone cream will help.

Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac

These plants contain the oil urushiol, and contact with this substance causes a red, itchy rash in the approximately 85 percent of people exposed to it.

Protect yourself: In woodsy areas where these plants grow, cover up with long pants, tall socks, and long sleeves.

The oils can stay on your clothing, so if you think you may have been exposed, remove your clothes and wash them and your body immediately to get rid of the oil, Tully says. Scrub under your fingernails, too.

Treat it: Scratching will only increase inflammation and itching. Calamine lotion and an OTC steroid cream such as hydrocortisone can ease the itch, and the latter can reduce swelling.

If you have significant swelling or blistering along with a rash, your doctor can prescribe a more potent topical, oral, or injectable steroid.

Swimmer's Itch

These itchy, burning, and tingling red bumpswhich can blisterare often caused by an allergic reaction to larvae from tiny trematode parasites that may live in fresh and salt water and burrow into your skin while youre swimming. The larvae die off quickly, but the resulting itch can last more than a week.

Protect yourself: Stay out of water where you know others have recently become infected. In general, avoid wading in shallow water; any larvae may be more prevalent near the shoreline. After swimming, change out of your wet bathing suit and dry your skin off as soon as possible.

Treat it: To soothe redness and relieve discomfort, apply a cool compress, a paste of baking soda and water, or an OTC hydrocortisone cream. Because scratching can cause the rash to become infected, see your doctor if your itching is severe and not helped by the strategies above.

Editors Note: This article also appeared in the August 2017 issue of Consumer Reports on Health.





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.
Were not even to the All-Star break yet and Aaron Judge has already broken a Yankees home run record that many decades of legends couldnt touch.

With his 30th home run in the Yankees 9-4 loss to the Brewers on Friday night, Judge surpassed Joe DiMaggios franchise record for the most home runs hit by a rookie. Judge needed just 82 games to break the record that DiMaggio set over 138 games back in 1936.

Fittingly, Judges record-breaking blast landed in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium, where plaques honoring DiMaggio and other Yankees legends reside. Hes almost literally reached every nook and cranny of Yankee Stadium with his home runs during games and batting practice this season, but he could not have picked a better spot for this one.

It serves as a nod to those whose records he has broken, and to those whose records he hopes to break before hes through.

And believe us, Judge is far from through.

(Yahoo Sports)

He will have some other records in sight beginning on Saturday. He remains well ahead of the pace to break Mark McGwires all-time rookie record of 49 home runs set in 1987. Who knows, with a really big stretch he could even challenge Roger Maris all-time Yankees record of 61 homers in 1961.

Its a stretch, but Judge has shown repeatedly that theres no limit to his power.

Speaking of which, when the Yankees wrap up their weekend series against the Brewers on Sunday, Judge will take his hot bat and immense power down to Marlins Park in Miami for the Home Run Derby.

Defending Derby champion and hometown hero Giancarlo Stanton is currently listed as the favorite after hitting a Derby record 61 home runs last season. Perhaps being the underdog will give Judge some motivation to break that record as well, or maybe hes just so locked in right now it doesnt even matter.

Only time will tell, but were looking forward to watching as Judge continues challenging history.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

      

Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
Angela Merkel is the last politician you'd expect to go viral.

The German chancellor is typically careful and measured. She's consistently worn the same haircut and pantsuit combination for years. Her hands are regularly folded into what observers call the Merkel diamond. She rarely strays from her script.

SEE ALSO: Angela Merkel just eye-rolled Vladimir Putin into 2018

Enter President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladmir Putin, two men known for their showboating and sometimes threatening antics that predictably go viral. When Merkel shares the world stage with them, something seems to change  and she suddenly finds herself at the center of internet intrigue and humor.

This week at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, for example, photographers caught Merkel holding her head in her heads, perhaps in despair, as she encountered Trump. A separate video captured her appearing to roll her eyes hard at Putin in mid-conversation.

Angela Merkel is all of us. pic.twitter.com/llurfDALLa  Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) July 7, 2017

The social media captions practically wrote themselves: Merkel, she's just like us! Even one of the most powerful leaders in the world has to deal with mansplaining! And no, she's not above rolling her eyes, either.

While we don't know exactly what happened right before photographers focused their lenses on Merkel, the images make convenient memes for our dark political times.

"If youre looking to someone on the international stage who believes in democracy and international cooperation, shes the biggest and most powerful avatar of that," says Louise K. Davidson-Schmich, a professor of political science at University of Miami who's studied Merkel's career and leadership.

Story continues

The fact that Merkel and Trump are "polar opposites" helps create an easy narrative for American liberals to indulge. She's so fastidious in her decision-making, says Davidson-Schmich, that she only performed physics experiments at her high school in East Germany after she'd determined it wouldn't waste her classroom's limited resources. Trump, meanwhile, flirts with diplomatic crises daily on Twitter.

Merkel learned under communism the value of not drawing attention to yourself. Trump's braggadocio has endangered his most cherished policy objectives, like his "Muslim travel ban" and the Obamacare repeal. And where Merkel's worldview is fundamentally shaped by science, Trump weds himself to alternative facts that serve his ego.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump shake hands on July 6, 2017.

Image: AFP/Getty Images

"Theyre the antithesis of each other," says Davidson-Schmich.

So when she shows up in public, head cradled in her hands, Merkel instantly becomes the hero that Trump opponents can worship. Hillary Clinton may effectively taunt Trump and the GOP on Twitter and in interviews, but she can't wield the same elder stateswoman power before a global audience. That may also play to her advantage in Germany, where Trump's popularity is dismal. Merkel's party, after all, is up for reelection in September.

"Im not sure shes so calculating that she would put her head in her heads to score electoral points, but Im sure she doesnt want pictures floating around of her looking like shes having a good time with Trump," says Davidson-Schmich.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel shake hands at the G20 summit.

Image: MIHAIL METZEL/KREMLIN POOL/REX/Shutterstock

Merkel also happens to be one of two women representing permanent members of the G20 summit (the other is UK prime minister Theresa May)  and has long been a formidable opponent for Putin. She speaks Russian and doesn't seem permanently unnerved by Putin's efforts to intimidate her, which have included bringing a labrador to one of their meetings even though the chancellor is known to fear dogs.

If she finds a little public revenge in rolling her eyes at Putin and accidentally launching a viral gif, the internet is definitely going to burst into deafening digital applause.

Though Merkel remains the West's most powerful champion of human rights, refugees, and climate change, she's certainly not a perfect embodiment of liberal values. Last week, she voted against legalizing same-sex marriage in Germany, a detail that doesn't fit easily into a 140-character tweet mocking Trump.

But, then again, not much substance is breaking through the viral noise. The Europeans are negotiating a trade deal with Japan, and the U.S. is shockingly watching from the sidelines. A draft statement from every country in the G20 but the U.S. "takes note" of Trump's decision to withdraw America from the Paris Climate Agreement. Merkel's party, the Christian Democratic Union, has officially signaled there's been a fracture in its longstanding "friendship" with the U.S.

"If that party is pulling away, thats a big loss for the bedrock of western democracy," says Davidson-Schmich. "To my mind, it's a huge negative for the United States."

That may never go viral, but at least for now there's Merkel, head in hands, as inspiration and comedic relief.
The US president and his Russian counterpart talked for more than two hours in Hamburg on Friday  and the pair seemed to have established a warm rapport

Trump and Putin in Hamburg. There seemed little indication that Trump had held Putins feet to the fire. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

It is a blossoming bromance. In what one US-based critic called a first Tinder date, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin talked for two and a quarter hours on Friday instead of their scheduled 30 minutes.

I think there was just such a level of engagement and exchange, and neither one of them wanted to stop, US secretary of State Rex Tillerson said afterward. Several times I had to remind the president, and people were sticking their heads in the door. And they sent in the first lady at one point to see if she could get us out of there, and that didnt work either.

There were sighs of relief in Washington that Trump, an erratic and volatile president with little foreign policy experience, had avoided a major gaffe. The news website Axios summed it up: Trump survives the Putin meeting.

But diplomats and experts said this was hardly cause for celebration. Thomas Countryman, former US acting undersecretary for arms control and international security, commented: Its an indication of how rapidly our standards are falling when were reasonably pleased that President Trump has not made an obvious error.

Pre-meeting hype had focused on whether Trump would confront Putin over Russias interference in the US election. He delivered, according to Tillerson, pressing the issue repeatedly. But Putin denied it and Tillerson later admitted that the two leaders had focused on how to move on from here. There seemed little indication that Trump had held Putins feet to the fire.

Trump had accepted Putins assurances, Countryman said: It certainly was the minimum that any US president should have done in this situation. Im glad he brought it up. What we dont know  and may never know  is what he replied when Vladimir Putin looked him in the eye and falsely said: It was not us. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov claimed Trump had accepted Putins assurances, although the US disputed that.

Story continues

Failure to address what has been described as the political crime of the century would have fuelled criticism and dominated the news agenda, overshadowing other matters such as a ceasefire deal in south-west Syria. Sean Guillory, a blogger and podcaster on Russia, said: The whole thing is theatre for domestic consumption.

Alina Polyakova, director of Europe and Eurasia research at the Atlantic Council, a Washington thinktank, agreed that raising the issue of election meddling was merely pro forma. She said: There was political awareness that they had to bring it up. Not doing so would have been politically deaf and suspicious in a way.

More significant was the body language between the leaders that, in Polyakovas view, offered a night and day contrast with Barack Obamas frosty meetings with the Russian president.

The sense Im getting from the way they interacted on camera  they seem to have a very good rapport. Trump seems friendly to Putin. Putin seemed reserved but he always has on camera, except when he was with Silvio Berlusconi.

She added: Obama and Putin over time developed an uncomfortable and contentious relationship. This was obviously the first meeting so it would be expected to be more friendly and cordial.

As journalists were ushered from the room, Polyakova noted, Putin appeared to lean in and asking if these were the ones whove been hurting Trumps feelings, then chuckle. It was a clever move to show he was on his side. It was a deft move on the part of Putin to build trust.

What was also significant was who was in the room  or rather who wasnt. Trump and Tillerson were not accompanied by the national security adviser, HR McMaster, or Trumps senior Russia adviser, Fiona Hill. That was an interesting omission given that Fiona Hill is the Russia expert on the National Security Council.

Trumps handling of the issue of Russian meddling was condemned by Democrats and the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund, which declared that he had just unilaterally surrendered to Russia.

Morgan Finkelstein, its press secretary, said: After a bilateral meeting that sounded like a good first Tinder date, based on the official readout, Trump is rewarding Putins egregious behavior by giving Putin the platform he so desperately craves without getting anything in return.

Trump is unilaterally surrendering American sovereignty and the right to fair elections free of foreign interference.

She added: It makes you wonder: what does Putin have on Trump that could make Trump act like a supplicant on the international stage? How deep in trouble is Trump that he couldnt even perform the most basic task  asking Putin not to interfere in our elections?
By Karl Plume (Reuters) - Arkansas will temporarily ban the use and sale of the weed killer dicamba after a rise in complaints that the agricultural chemical is drifting into neighboring fields and damaging crops, the state's agriculture department said on Friday. The emergency 120-day ban of dicamba, produced by Monsanto Co, Germany's BASF and others, will go into effect as soon as paperwork is filed with the Arkansas Secretary of State, said agriculture department spokeswoman Adriane Barnes. Monsanto, which sells dicamba-tolerant crop seeds but does not have a dicamba formulation approved for sale in Arkansas, called the ban "premature." "It's not been clear to us that the investigation has been completed and that there is an understanding of what's going on," said Lisa Safarian, Monsanto's vice president of North America. "This puts Arkansas farmers at a competitive disadvantage." The ban will not have a material impact on Monsanto earnings, she said. The Arkansas Plant Board and Governor Asa Hutchinson recommended the ban after a spike in complaints that dicamba is drifting into neighboring fields and damaging crops. The state has logged nearly 600 complaints of crop damage as of Friday, according to the Arkansas Agriculture Department. The state's House and Senate Agriculture Committee voted on Friday to follow those recommendations. The Arkansas Legislative Committee elected to take no action, meaning the ban could go forward. Officials also approved an increase in fines for illegal use of dicamba to up to $25,000, from $1,000 currently, effective Aug. 1, Barnes said. Monsanto's newest biotech varieties of soybeans and cotton, sold under the Xtend name, are engineered to tolerate the herbicide. But most farmers in Arkansas do not plant the varieties so their crops are vulnerable to off-target drift. Supporters say dicamba is needed to control difficult-to-kill weeds. Opponents say it is prone to drifting and can damage crops not engineered to tolerate it. The ban is the latest regulatory headache for Monsanto after officials in California announced last week that the company's flagship herbicide glyphosate would be labeled as a probable carcinogen in the state. Monsanto has invested more than $1 billion in a dicamba facility in Luling, Louisiana, to supply demand it expects will blossom. Monsanto's dicamba formulation is approved for use in 33 other states. It has said the Xtend platform will be its largest-ever technology launch, with 20 million U.S. acres of Xtend soybeans this year expanding to about 55 million by 2019. (Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by David Gregorio and Cynthia Osterman)
The mother of terminally ill baby Charlie Gard spoke out Friday morning during an appearance on Good Morning Britain. Connie Yates described trying to save her son and called the situation an absolute living hell.

British authorities issued a court ruling stating that the 11-month-old could be taken off life support last week. His parents have been trying to get him to the United States to undergo an experimental treatment, but the hospital in London refused to release him.

Read: President Trump Offers To Help Charlie Gard

There is potential for him to be a completely normal boy, Yates said Friday. But we dont know  because you just dont know until you try.

Charlie was born with a rare genetic disorder called mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, which causes muscle and organ dysfunction and cerebral disorders. As a result, Charlie is unable to eat, breathe or move his limbs on his own.

His parents wanted to take him to the U.S. for a treatment known as nucleoside bypass therapy after multiple treatments in London had no effect. Charlies parents case made it all the way to the European Court of Human Rights, who ultimately ruled that the treatment would not be the best course of action and that Charlies life support could be removed. They also denied the request to travel for the treatment.

In a statement, the court said the experimental therapy would be of no effective benefit. Charlies parents, however, disagreed.

Theres further scientific research that this medication would work for Charlie, Yates told Good Morning Britain. There is now five doctors who agree with us, two of them are in England, one is in Spain, one is in Italy and one is in America. They all specialize in this particular disease, among others. But, you know, the rare forms.

People far and wide have come to throw their support behind the family. A hospital in New York City offered to treat Charlie if he could get to the U.S. New York Presbyterian and Columbia University Irving Medical Center said Thursday they would admit and evaluate Charlie, provided that arrangements are made to safely transfer him to our facility, legal hurdles are cleared and we receive emergency approval from the FDA for an experimental treatment as appropriate.

Story continues

President Donald Trump also voiced his support for the family.

If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so, the president tweeted Monday.

Read: Charlie Gards Parents Respond To Ruling Taking Baby Off Life Support

Pope Francis offered to help the boy by issuing a Vatican passport to the family so he could be treated at a Vatican hospital.

Charlie should get a chance to try these medications, said Charlies parents on a GoFundMe page. He literally has nothing to lose but potentially a healthier, happier life to gain.

Related Articles
Photo credit: Cheesecake Factory

From Delish

There are only 24 days left until National Cheesecake Day a.k.a. one of the most important holidays of the year. Not that we're counting or anything.

To prepare us for what should be considered a federally observed holiday, The Cheesecake Factory has given us a sneak peak at what it has in store for us on July 30. Essentially, it's a totally tricked-out Funfetti birthday cake.

Photo credit: Cheesecake Factory

It's been aptly named the "Celebration Cheesecake" because it looks like a freakin' party. The new dessert is intensely layered, featuring the company's original cheesecake, vanilla cake, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry mousse, and cream cheese with confetti sprinkles to top it all off.

And even though that's enough to get any cheesecake lover excited, as per tradition, The Cheesecake Factory will be offering all cheesecakes for half off until the end of July 31 at all 193 locations across the country.

To sweeten the deal even more, for every slice sold from July 30 through August, 25 cents will be donated to Feeding America, an organization devoted to ending hunger in the United States. Since the inception of this partnership, The Cheesecake Factory has donated more than $4.2 million.

So not only is that cake incredibly photogenic, it's also a philanthropist. Doesn't get any better than that.

Follow Delish on Instagram.

Download the Delish app today.

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New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno is calling for Gov. Chris Christies summer beach house to be sold, following a controversy earlier this week in which Christie was photographed spending the Fourth of July weekend on a state beach that was closed to the public amid a government shutdown.

Ive never thought there should be a beach house for the governor, Guadagno, the Republican nominee in New Jerseys gubernatorial race, told NJ Advance Media on Friday. I think it should be sold.

New Jerseys governor is allocated exclusive use of many beach houses at Island Beach State Park, among other privileges, according to NJ.com.

Christie has staunchly defended himself after drawing criticism for the beach trip, telling Good Day Philadelphia: Im sorry theyre not the governor. This is a residence. Heres the problem. We have a residence in Princeton as well and that place is a place where people can go and tour but they cant if the governments closed. Am I supposed to move out and stay in a hotel?

New Jersey Democrats have introduced legislation to offer the state-owned beach house for rent to the public, along with a bill to prohibit the governor from using state-owned property during a budget-related government shutdown, NJ.com reports.
William Blount is one of the lesser-known men who signed the Constitution, but one of the most controversial, since he put a vital part of the founding document to a critical test less than a decade after it was ratified.

Blount represented North Carolina at the 1787 convention in Philadelphia and said little at the proceedings when he was there. Blount was one of 39 delegates who signed the Constitution, and he also promoted its ratification in North Carolina.

But about a decade later, on July 7, 1797, the House of Representatives voted to impeach now Senator Blount from Tennessee, who was involved in a plot to give land to the British.

Blount, who came from a wealthy Southern landowning family, had accumulated much land west of the Mississippi on credit and was in significant debt. When France defeated Spain in the War of the Pyrenees, Blount became involved in a plan for Native Americans and frontiersmen to attack parts of present-day Missouri and Louisiana, which would ultimately be transferred to Great Britain.

Before this plan could be carried out, an incriminating letter fell into the hands of Blounts enemy, Secretary of State Timothy Pickering. President John Adams, upon receiving the letter, sent it to the Senate.

Blount was then the first federal government official to be subject to the impeachment process and the expulsion process, two of the Constitutions critical checks-and-balances.

The Constitution has several clauses that allow for the House and Senate to discipline government officials, including their own members.

Article II, Section 4, says that the President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Article I, Section 5, contains the Expulsion Clause, which says that each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.

Story continues

The Senate voted to expel the Tennessean the next day, and it also ordered him to stand trial at a later date since the House had approved impeachment proceedings.

During Blounts absentee proceedings in early 1799, the Senate didnt move forward with a trial against Blount, deciding that he had already been expelled from the Senate. By a 14-11 vote, a resolution was defeated that read that William Blount was a civil officer of the United States and therefore liable to impeachment.

Since 1797, the Senate has expelled 15 members, and the House has expelled five members, but no Congress member has been impeached.

As for Blount, he went back to his home in Tennessee, gained an appointment to the state Senate, and became its speaker. He died in 1800 after a brief illness.
President Trump warmly greeted Russian leader Vladimir Putin Friday with a highly anticipated handshake the world had been waiting to see.

They pressed the flesh again a few minutes later, but ignored questions about Russia's meddling in the 2016 election.

Read: Artist Creates Image of Vladimir Putin in Wheat Field Ahead of G20 Summit

Inside Edition showed the video of the interaction between Trump and Putin to body language expert Dr. Lillian Glass, who says the U.S. president appeared more dominant than the Russian strongman.

"Trump is completely taking control," she said. "The handshake is very strong on both of their parts. This is a very strong handshake."

She also noted some tension in Putins face, saying: "He is not used to another leader taking control. He is usually the one in control of things."

Trump and Putin also appeared to share a private joke after meeting.

During their second greeting, Dr. Glass pointed out that Trump not only shook Putin's hand, but grabbed his arm, an action she called "a power move."

Meanwhile, first lady Melania Trump was trapped inside the German guest house where she and the president are staying as riots broke out for the second straight day on the streets of Hamburg.

Protected by an impenetrable barricade of police vehicles outside the home, German authorities said it was just not safe for her to join the other spouses of world leaders on a tour of the city as protestors battled riot cops during the G20 Summit.

Read: No Room at the Inn for President Trump as All Luxury Hotels in Hamburg Are Booked

The first lady tweeted from inside the mansion.

Thinking of those hurt in #Hamburg protests. Hope everyone stays safe, she wrote.

Thinking of those hurt in #Hamburg protests. Hope everyone stay safe! #G20  Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) July 7, 2017

After the demonstrators were dispersed by water cannon and tear gas, Melania was finally able to join the president.

Story continues

Watch: Everything Must Go as Liquidation Sale Kicks Off at Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal

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The reaction was immediate, horrified and not at all complimentary.

As America woke to the news that Donald Trump had dispatched his eldest daughter, Ivanka, to fill in for him at a G20 meeting with world leaders, the response of people ran from outraged to stunned, and then back to outraged.

Why the hell is Ivanka Trump sitting in for daddy at G20 meetings?! What are her qualifications? Who voted for her? the writer Charles Blow said on Twitter.

The tweet appeared to have been subsequently deleted (Twitter)

Pulitzer-winning journalist Anne Applebaum, said: Because an unelected, unqualified, unprepared New York socialite is the best person to represent American national interests.

Nicholas Kristoff, a columnist for the New York Times, said: Ivanka fills in for her dad beside Xi Jinping. To me, it feels banana-republicky for the US to be represented by an inexperienced daughter.

Because an unelected, unqualified, unprepared New York socialite is the best person to represent American national interests https://t.co/hmRCfwebCc

 Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) July 8, 2017

The outcry was sparked after a Russian official, Svetlana Lukash, posted an image of Ms Trump  later apparently deleted  sitting at a table of world leaders alongside British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

2nd day of #G20 Hamburg summit starts with Africa, Migration & Health. Ivanka accompanies Pres Trump, wrote Ms Lukash. And replaces Pres Trump at the #G20 table as he leaves for bilateral meetings.

This kind of thing happens all the time. In dictatorships. https://t.co/CKiLwhvjDz

 Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) July 8, 2017

Matthew Dowd, a political strategist who led George W Bushs reelection campaign in 2004, said there would have been outcry among supporters of Mr Trump had Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton sent in their children.

Story continues

Can you imagine what the GOP/Trump fans would be saying if this was Chelsea or Malia doing this? We are a Republic, not a monarchy, he said.

Brian Katulis said: Trump running things like a corrupt Arab dictator.

The #G20Summit is highlighting how weak Trump is on the world stage



First Trump caves to Putin, and now he is giving up his seat to Ivanka. pic.twitter.com/v9CaZZvoZU

 Red T Raccoon (@RedTRaccoon) July 8, 2017

A White House official later told CNN: Ivanka was sitting in the back and then briefly joined the main table when the President had to step out.

Bloomberg News said that Ms Trump had taken her fathers position at the table on at least two occasions on Saturday.

A spokesman for Ms Trump told the news agency she had been sitting in the back of the room and then briefly joined the main table when the President stepped out. He said the president of the World Bank addressed the meeting, which was about African migration and health  areas that would benefit from a facility that Mr Trump and the World Bank had announced shortly before the meeting.

Mr Trump has repeatedly been accused of blurring the line between family and his official business since he entered the White House, and failed to establish a blind trust for his business interests. He also insisted on his daughter and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, joining him in the West Wing.

It was reported that later in the meeting where Ms Trump took her fathers chair that the First Lady, Melania Trump, also joined the US delegation.

Earlier, the Presidents daughter took part in a World Bank event on a fund for women entrepreneurs. Mr Trump praised her work on the fund at the event.

Im very proud of my daughter Ivanka, always have been from day one. I have to tell you that, from day one, he said. If she werent my daughter itd be so much easier for her. It might be the only bad thing she has going if you want to know the truth.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump meet in Hamburg, Germany at the G20 summit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump just spent almost two hours and 16 minutes in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

The meeting was originally scheduled for 30 minutes. It included only the leaders, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and two interpreters.

The US President went into the meeting with no set agenda that was made public, but it is reported he and Mr Putin spoke about a ceasefire in southwest Syria, Ukraine, the fight against terrorism, and cyber-security.

Ahead of meeting, Mr Trump said it was an honour to meet Mr Putin. The Russian leader, in turn, said that conversations over the phone were not enough to discuss all the matters at hand.

Tom Bernes, a Distinguished Fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation, told The Independent that the mood at the G20 was one of "curiosity" about what would be discussed in the meeting.

Mr Trump as the Uncertainty Engine in the mix is part of the issue in determining what will come out of the Trump-Putin meeting and the final document - the G20 Communique, Dr Stephen Saideman, an expert on the Western alliance at Canadas Carleton University, told The Independent.

Given the personalities of the brash Mr Trump and the ex-spy Mr Putin, this is a matter of winning and losing in the one-on-one meeting.

Mr Putin is likely to win he said.

The US leader is facing pending FBI, House, Senate, and special prosecutor investigations into his campaign teams alleged ties to Russian officials as well as obstruction of justice charges.

Mr Tillerson has said there was "positive chemistry" between the two leaders and that there was "not a lot of re-litigating of the past" between them. Much of the focus was how to "move the relationship forward".

Keir Giles, an Associate Fellow on Russian affairs at Chatham House, told The Independent that in not acknowledging past grievances - especially the topic of Russian interference in the 2016 US election - he is in a way "excus[ing] Russia [for] an absolutely inexcusable hostile action against the US".

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Mr Tillerson noted Mr Trump opened the meeting with the issue, with Mr Putin denying Russia's role in it. According to Mr Lavrov, the US leader accepted the declaration, but that was not exactly the story on the US side.

"In the context of this meeting the US side has been unable, or quite possibly unwilling, to exercise deterrence in order to constrain Russia," Mr Giles said.

The Secretary of State, who spoke to reporters off-camera, said Mr Trump had repeatedly brought up the allegations.

He noted that the leaders discussed wanting a "framework" of some sort to "judge" cyber-security threats in light of the chaos caused by the hacking allegations and email leaks from the Democratic National Committee.

However, Mr Saideman commented that this idea may be a moot point if the Russians do not admit to the hacking activity.

Mr Trump and Mr Tillerson "want[s] to bury the hacking of the election for both domestic purposes and working with Russia. They see it as an obstacle, not as an attack that needs to be addressed," he explained.

Another point that is curious is that despite the lengthy meeting - which First Lady Melania Trump interrupted and tried to end after about an hour - the pressing threat of North Korea was not brought up, at least according to Mr Tillerson.

The President has repeatedly said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and their ongoing tests of nuclear weapons was one of the most important issues for the security of the US. He has railed against the United Nations Security Council for its inaction and gone after China's President Xi Jinping on Twitter and in various speeches for continuing to trade with Pyongyang.

Mr Saideman said the President and Mr Tillerson's criticism of others is just "noise. ...[and] insincere. If it was important, it should have been discussed."

It seems though that both foreign ministers are calling the meeting as a success because of the Syrian ceasefire agreement. However, Mr Tillerson said "we'll see what happens in the ability to hold that ceasefire".

Russia has long-been one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's few allies and the Defence Ministry has noted that US warplanes will be treated as "targets" should they cross the Euphrates River.

According to Mr Giles, Moscow did indeed win "the manipulation game".

Mr Lavrov was quick to give his concise account to the Russian media, while Mr Tillerson was far more "reactive," Mr Giles said.

"In the absence of any credible US participant in the meeting, the Russian version is likely to stand."

Despite the US media's focus on the bilateral, it is not the biggest priority at the G20.

In terms of substance, were not expecting much to come out of the face-to-face, Mr Bernes noted.

Mr Bernes, who spent four decades as Canadas representative to international financial institutions, said that Germanys ambitions for the meeting were modest given their upcoming election, but Mr Trumps election threw a curveball.

He explained that Germany wanted sustainability and a focus on Africa to be the main topics of the discussion, however developments have forced protectionism and climate change to the forefront.

What everyone is hoping is a victory [in] not having a roll back from previous positions. Nothing happening is almost a good thing at this point.

It will be hard to gain consensus given that the US president does not want more action on climate change besides a re-negotiation of the Paris Agreement that several countries have already said will never happen and his America First approach to US trade.

The document is expected to be issued after the end of the summit on 8 July.
After what has felt like weeks - and even months - of anticipation, Donald Trump has finally sat down with Vladimir Putin and said it was an "honour" to meet him.

A day after Mr Trump reaffirmed - albeit reluctantly - that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election, the US President shook hands and smiled with the man who must have ordered Russians actions.

Many in America are watching for Mr Trump to press Mr Putin on the issue, something that resulted in Barack Obama imposed news sanctions and ousting around 35 Russian diplomats from the US.

It may be that he does raise the issue in his private meeting with Mr Putin, attended only by their translators, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. However, with the camera shutters flashing, Mr Trump sought to sound simply positive.

We look to a lot of positive things happening for Russia and the US and for everyone concerned, he said.

In turn, Mr Putin said he was delighted to be meeting Mr Trump personally - apparently debunking Mr Trumps election campaign claim that he had met the Russian leader - and said he hoped the meeting would bring positive results.

Phone conversations are never enough, he said.

The two leaders had gone into the meeting -which ended up lasting more than two hours - amid intense expectations. Yet, the White House had sought to ease such views. The two men were expected to talk about Syria and Ukraine, rather than on Moscow's alleged cyber-meddling in the election.

Reports suggest that Mr Putin and the Russian side have even lower anticipations. Mr Putin will want to stress Russian interests, especially in the Middle East and places such as Crimea.

Mr Putin, an experienced and skilled politician, has the benefit of having spoken to other US presidents and senior officials in his career. In contrast, this was Mr Trump's first.
(Reuters) - An inmate used wirecutters and a cell phone likely delivered by a drone to escape from a South Carolina maximum security prison this week before being captured in Texas on Friday with guns and more than $47,000 in cash, authorities said.

Jimmy Causey, 46, escaped from the Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville on Tuesday. He appeared to have coordinated the breakout using the smuggled cell phone and then used the tools to cut through fences, state Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said.

Causey, who is serving a life sentence for kidnapping, armed robbery and other charges, also left a makeshift dummy in his bed to deceive prison guards.

"We believe that a drone was used to fly in the tools that allowed him to escape," Stirling said at a news conference.

Texas Rangers captured the inmate at an Austin, Texas, motel early on Friday. He had a handgun, a shotgun, ammunition, four cell phones and more than $47,000 in cash, state Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel said.

It was Causey's second prison escape. In 2005, he and a fellow inmate escaped from another prison and were captured days later, Columbia television station WIS reported.

Deliveries of contraband to prisons by drones have become increasingly common as the unmanned aircraft grow more popular.

A Maryland inmate was convicted in 2016 of trying to smuggle drugs into a prison using an unmanned aircraft. In 2015, a drone dropped illicit drugs and tobacco into an Ohio prison's exercise yard, sparking a fight.

In Britain, police recovered two drones carrying cell phones and drugs near a London prison last year and have set up a special unit - Operation Airborne - to catch offenders trying to fly contraband into jail.

Stirling said he and prison officials from around the United States have repeatedly asked federal authorities to allow state agencies to block cell phone transmissions from prisons.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; editing by Grant McCool)
Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) - A group of jihadists tried to escape across the Tigris River from west Mosul where they hold a dwindling pocket of territory, but were killed by Iraqi forces, a senior commander said Saturday.

In the nearly nine months since Iraq launched the massive operation to retake Mosul, the Islamic State group has gone from holding the entire city to being trapped between security forces and the Tigris River on its western side.

But the jihadists have put up fierce resistance in recent days, keeping Iraqi troops from sealing what will be the biggest defeat yet suffered by IS.

"Some of them tried to cross to.... the far bank (of the river), but we have forces there," said Staff Lieutenant General Abdulghani al-Assadi, a senior commander in Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service.

The jihadists wanted to go back, but security forces "fired on them and killed them," he said, without specifying how many died.

Iraq's Joint Operations Command issued a statement saying that 35 IS members were killed and six captured when they tried to escape "the advance of our forces" in Mosul's Old City.

IS fighters remaining in Mosul's Old City -- a densely populated area of narrow streets and closely spaced buildings that Iraqi forces have struggled to retake -- have been estimated to number in the hundreds.

But the area's terrain is ideal for the outnumbered jihadist defenders, and the battle is complicated by the large number of civilians trapped amid the fighting.

Mosul is "one of the most difficult urban campaign battles we've seen since World War II, particularly in the western side of the city," Brett McGurk, the US envoy to the international anti-IS coalition, told journalists in Baghdad on Saturday.

IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes have since regained much of the territory they lost.

The recapture of Mosul will not however mark the end of the threat posed by IS, which holds territory elsewhere in Iraq and is able to carry out frequent bombings in government-held areas.
First lady Melania Trump attends a meeting of spouses at the G-20 summit meeting in Germany (Photo: AP)

While the global community is still coming to terms with, dealing with, and wrapping its head around the various outcomes of this weeks G-20 summit, first lady Melania Trump seemed perfectly comfortable and classy while attending the high-profile gathering of world leaders. Harking back to an international style of years gone by, the first lady draped a red coat in cape style over her shoulders while attending a meeting for spouses of the summit attendees.

She rounded out the superhero style with a gray patterned dress and a wide red belt  not quite Superman material but rather reflecting the first ladys signature look.

Melania Trump sporting a cape-style look, harking back to classic European styling. (Photo: AP)

While the first lady rubbed shoulders with the likes of the mayor of host city Hamburg and the wife of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, Sophie, the rest of the Trump family were raising eyebrows. First daughter Ivanka Trump generated her own headlines, most notably for momentarily sitting in for her father during the summit  something a few people have a problem with, it seems.

Ivanka Trump, unelected, unqualified, daughter-in-chief, is representing the US at the G20 summit next to May, Xi, Merkel. Photo @LanaLukash pic.twitter.com/fvs0EMy8z7  Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) July 8, 2017

As for the first lady, her bold yet measured style is apparently receiving higher performance marks than her husband. A recent poll on Fox News found Melania receiving a 51 percent favorable score, versus a 47 percent rating for the president.

One can certainly not point to Mrs. Trumps style as the sole reason for the favorable rating, but were sure her consistent approach to high-class, well-fitting, and well-designed fashion is not hurting it one bit. Its true she has received her fair share of criticism on the campaign trail and in the first few months of the Trump administration  particularly her delayed move to the White House, which generated a high price tag in security costs back in New York City. But it appears the profile of first lady Melania Trump is on the rise.

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Violent demonstrators at the G20 Summit in Germany prevented first lady Melania Trump from participating in a program for the gathered leaders spouses. Instead, she was forced to stay in her guest house in Hamburg until the city's police said it was safe.

"The Hamburg police could not give us clearance to leave," the first lady's spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement Friday. "She was prevented from participating in today's spousal program, which she was looking forward to."

The spouses of G20 leaders were scheduled to tour a climate change center in Hamburg and to later take a river cruise while the world leaders attended the summit, according to a report by CNN. The plans were canceled when the first lady said she couldn't attend.

READ: What Melania Trump Wore For 4th Of July At White House

While the first lady's activities were foiled by the protests, she tweeted her concern for those injured by the escalating violence. "Thinking of those hurt in #Hamburg protests. Hope everyone stay safe! #G20" she tweeted Friday.

Thinking of those hurt in #Hamburg protests. Hope everyone stay safe! #G20  Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) July 7, 2017

Hamburg was rocked with another day of violence Friday as protesters clashed with the city's police outside of the summit where world leaders met. During the protests, dozens of cars were set on fire, and in a video, one user on Twitter said that it "looked like war" in the city.

In retaliation, the police utilized water cannons, pepper spray, and batons to disperse marchers. Videos and photographs of the clashes were uploaded to social media.

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RAW: #Hamburg police say they used water cannons and pepper spray to disperse protesters after being attacked with bottles and stones. #G20 pic.twitter.com/HmZxcbhy98  dwnews (@dwnews) July 6, 2017

@MvdLooij police reacts with pepper spray in Hamburg, Germany while the G20 Summit https://t.co/tK5nTgze8K pic.twitter.com/EgLI9RCdJb  Hanzoy (@Hanzoy) July 7, 2017

German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the protests Friday during a statement to update reporters on the event.

"Violent demonstrations put lives at risk, they put the peoples own lives at risk, they endanger police officers and residents, so that is not acceptable," she said, thanking authorities for their "hard work" to secure the event.

READ: Why Are There Zombies At G20? Meet The 'Welcome To Hell' Protesters

The first lady was later allowed to leave the guest house where she joined the President at the G20 Summit during his meeting with Russia's Vladamir Putin. The meeting went four times as long as it was supposed to, and according to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Melania Trump was sent in to try and get the president and his team out of the meeting, but to no avail.

Several times, I had to remind the president, people were sticking their heads in the door and I think they even sent in the first lady at one point to see if she could get us out of there, and that didnt work either, Tillerson said, according to a report by the New York Post.

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Joint statement points to US decision to withdraw from Paris agreement while other G20 countries see accord as irreversible

World leaders have made clear the USs isolated stance on climate change, with 19 of the G20 countries affirming their commitment to the irreversible Paris climate agreement.

After lengthy negotiations that stretched well into Saturday, the final joint statement from the meeting in Hamburg notes Donald Trumps withdrawal from the Paris deal while stating that the worlds other major economies all still support the international effort to slow dangerous global warming.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said on Saturday she deplored the US exit from the agreement and added that she did not share the view of Theresa May, the British prime minister, that Washington could decide to rejoin the pact.

I think its very clear that we could not reach consensus, but the differences were not papered over, they were clearly stated, Merkel told reporters at the end of the two-day meeting. Its absolutely clear it is not a common position.

The communique reads: We take note of the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the Paris agreement, adding: The leaders of the other G20 members state that the Paris agreement is irreversible and we reaffirm our strong commitment to the Paris agreement.

The US did successfully manage to insert text referencing fossil fuels which read: The United States of America states it will endeavour to work closely with other countries to help them access and use fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently.

World leaders meeting in Hamburg managed to agree almost every aspect of the statement, including the potentially contentious issue of trade, but the final text was held up by the USs contrarian approach to climate change.



In June, Trump, who has enthusiastically touted coal and oil extraction, announced his countrys exit from the Paris agreement, which aims to avoid dangerous global warming of more than 2C (3.6F) compared to the pre-industrial period.

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The strongest proponents of the climate deal, including Merkel and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, have attempted to shore up support for the Paris deal among countries following Trumps decision to exit the agreement. Saudi Arabia and Indonesia were reportedly considering watering down their commitment to the deal but they ended up reiterating their support at the G20 summit.

The final communique was accompanied by an agreed climate and energy plan that supports the key planks of the Paris agreement and sets goals to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and shift countries towards affordable, reliable, sustainable and low greenhouse gas emission energy systems as soon as feasible.

A lengthy notice period means that the US withdrawal from the Paris agreement will not take place until November 2020. The US will become the only country in the world not signed up to the landmark 2015 deal other than Nicaragua, which complained that it wasnt strong enough, and Syria, currently mired in a bloody civil war.

Trumps administration has sought to unravel domestic climate policies by dismantling the clean power plan, which would slash emissions from coal-fired power plants, halting new emissions standards for cars and trucks and opening up new areas of public lands and oceans to mining and drilling.

Climate change has been one of the animating causes for protesters who have clashed with police in Hamburg, resulting in more than 100 arrests. On Friday, Greenpeace erected a giant effigy of Trump, dressed in a diaper and soiling himself with oil on the globe, on the river Elbe.

Other environmental groups were more optimistic, noting that almost all of the worlds major powers were broadly behind the transition to low-carbon energy and ameliorating the impacts of climate change.

In the end, it was a landslide victory for countries voicing support for global climate action, said Andrew Steer, president of the World Resources Institute. Chancellor Merkel demonstrated deft leadership in rallying 19 of the worlds largest economies to deliver an unmistakable message behind climate action.

The direction of travel toward clean energy is loud and clear. The question remains how quickly the world will surge forward and how far behind the Trump administration will let the United States fall.

Mohamed Adow, international climate lead at Christian Aid, said: The US presidents weak attempts to capsize the climate movement have failed: he is now marooned on a political island of his own making, with his head buried in the sand. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is moving ahead.
For a commission claiming to be serious about ensuring the integrity of elections, President Donald Trumps newly formed Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity is off to a troubling start.

Last week, the commission, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, sent a letter to chief election officials throughout the country seeking voters sensitive, personal information  including names, addresses, the last four digits of voters social security numbers, information on which elections people have voted in since 2006 and information on felony convictions  as well as answers to a number of open-ended questions. All of this information was to be provided in just two weeks.

The responses from states faced with this alarming request have varied. Some are currently reviewing the commissions letter. Others have refused to provide any voter information protected by their state laws. Others still have rejected the commissions request outright.

Secretaries of State from both parties have spoken out about their inability to turn over the information solicited by Kobach. The Mississippi Secretary of State  a Republican  said the commission could go jump into the Gulf of Mexico. Arizonas Secretary of State, Michele Reagan, also a Republican, said she could not in good conscience release sensitive voter data for a hastily organized experiment. And in a bizarre twist, even Kobach said his own state would be unable to share some information.

According to Trump, states refusing to comply with the commission must have something to hide  but the President is wrong. There are a lot of good reasons why states would be inclined to ignore the commissions request.

State officials refusing to hand over privileged, personal information and fill out lengthy questionnaires are rightfully placing their states laws, resources and citizens ahead of an ill-advised mandate from a group with dubious motives and methods. The panel  created to bolster Trumps completely baseless statement that 35 million people voted illegally in 2016  has done nothing to alleviate concerns that its no more than a bogus alternative factfinding mission, digging for non-existent evidence of fraud to impose stricter federal voting laws that could disenfranchise eligible voters.

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A spokesperson for the Vice President confirmed that the commission plans to compare the data it receives to names on other federal databases. This is a problem because weve seen that, with the wrong methods, comparing databases can lead to inaccurately large reports of people registered in two places, or alleged non-citizen registrants (thats what has happened with similar efforts in the past, including through the Kobach-led Interstate Crosscheck). Those inflated figures can become the justification for needlessly harsh voting restrictions.

One look at the commissions makeup reveals that they could end up undermining, not enhancing, public confidence in our elections. It includes proponents of the nations harshest voting restrictions and, despite claims of bipartisanship, is chaired by two members of the same political party. By contrast, past election panels were chaired by respected lawyers for President Obama and Mitt Romney, and Former President Jimmy Carter and Republican Secretary of State James A. Baker III.

The commissions request is not only poorly conceived; its also poorly executed. Kobachs letter asks states to provide information they may not, legally, be at liberty to share under state and federal law. Many states place limits on what their election officials can disclose and how that information can be used  for instance, by barring commercial use or permitting only political or campaign use. Secretaries of State who provide voter information to the panel could face various adverse legal consequences (explored in greater detail here). For instance, an individual in Washington state could be sued in civil court if they do not take reasonable precautions to prevent voter data from being used by others for barred purposes.

And even if the commission backtracked from its previous statements that any information submitted by states will also be made available to the public, a federal law would likely require the commission to make any data it received available for public consumption. Thats because commissions like this one are bound to provide a certain level of transparency to the general public. Moreover, the panels vague directive that all voter data should be submitted through an online portal means private information, regardless of whether or not its public, could be vulnerable to foreign hacking, theft or other foul play.

If this commission is truly interested in working with state officials to improve elections, there is plenty of work to be done  and it wouldnt require those officials to collect and send private information to the federal government when they have their hands full running elections. The panel instead could provide resources so voting machines and registration databases are safe from hacking or foreign interference; systems in Illinois and a reported 38 other states were targeted by Russia in 2016. It could also consider examining the benefits of implementing reforms like automatic voter registration, which would automatically register eligible citizens to vote when they interact with a government agency, unless they decline. The reform has recently been approved by eight states and Washington, D.C. It would help keep voter rolls accurate, up-to-date and secure.

Voters must continue to tell their states why standing up to Trump and his sham commission is important and the right thing to do. There is a lot at stake here, and both states and voters cannot afford to lose this battle.
Lawyers for the state of Hawaii, arguing that the Trump Administration is imposing a new Muslim ban wholly divorced from any national security rationale, urged a federal appeals court on Friday to take steps to ensure that more foreign nationals and refugees get to enter the United States in coming weeks and months.

In a swiftly drafted motion filed at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the challengers contended that a federal judge in Hawaii was wrong in refusing to put a stop to the new limitations on immigration from six Mideast nations and on immigration of refugees, put into effect three days after the Supreme Court on June 26 gave limited permission to enforce the new policy.

For over a week, the government has been ignoring the dictates of the judicial branch, the motion argued.

The challengers proposed that the appeals court take one of three steps, and to act quickly: first, the appeals court itself should order a relaxation of the new immigration restrictions and put the version that the government has implemented on hold until the court decides whether the limits are legally justified; or, second, order the Hawaii trial judge himself to clarify the Supreme Court order permitting some enforcement of the new restrictions, so that it opens entry to more family relationships and to more refugees who have arrangements to come to the U.S. or to have legal aid; or, third, order the Hawaii judge to decide, in the first instance, the challengers plea for the relaxation of the new curbs on entry.

U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson of Honolulu had refused on Thursday to clarify the scope of the Supreme Courts June 26 ruling allowing some parts of the Trump presidential order to go into effect. The judge said he lacked the authority to modify what the Supreme Court itself had chosen to do. He suggested that the dispute over the new restrictions be taken directly to the Supreme Court.

Hawaiis lawyers, in the new filing Friday in the Ninth Circuit Court, contended that the proper legal path was to contest Judge Watsons refusal to clarify in the appeals court, not to try to get the dispute directly before the Supreme Court now. It is a common practice, the new filing argued, for lower courts to fill in the gaps that the Supreme Court may have left when it issues a decision to resolve a case before it.

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The lawyers suggested that the Ninth Circuit Court assign their new challenge to the same three-judge panel that had upheld unanimously an earlier order by the Hawaii judge blocking enforcement of the key parts of the Trump executive order as issued on March 6. That was one of the two cases that the Supreme Court agreed last month to review, at its next term, even as it gave the Administration some limited freedom to put some of its new restrictions into operation.

As the new round in the controversy reached the Ninth Circuit Court on Friday, there are two core disputes between, on one side, the Hawaii challengers and their supporters (15 states and Washington, D.C.) and, on the other side, the federal government. First is the definition of what kinds of family ties with U.S. relatives must exist in order for a foreign national from the six Mideast nations or a refugee from anywhere in the world to be able to enter the U.S., and thus avoid the Administrations new restriction on entry. Second is the kind of relationship that a refugee must have established with a refugee resettlement organization or with a law firm or legal advocacy group in the U.S., in order to avoid the new restriction on entry.

The challengers want significant relaxations in both categories, the government wants no relaxation at all. The two sides are far apart, not only in their interpretations of what the Supreme Court had intended by its ruling on the controversy, but also in their arguments about what current federal immigration law has to say about who may enter the U.S. from abroad in order to be with relatives here.

The next step in the process is for the Ninth Circuit Court to set a schedule for the filing of the governments formal answer to Hawaiis new challenge, and then for the filing of a reply brief from Hawaii.

Depending upon what the Ninth Circuit Court chooses to do with the new challenge, it appears likely that the new dispute will, sooner rather than later, go to the Supreme Court. While the Justices are in their summer recess, they can be reached to act on emergency matters that arise while they are out of session.

Until the Ninth Circuit Court takes some action, the lawyers for Hawaii noted in their new filing, the government has indicated it will continue to enforce its narrower view of who is entitled to enter the country as an immigrant or as a refugee.

Legendary journalist Lyle Denniston is Constitution Dailys Supreme Court correspondent. Denniston has written for us as a contributor since June 2011 and has covered the Supreme Court since 1958. His work also appears on lyldenlawnews.com.
Markets are not governed by an unalterable rationality; rather they reflect the humanity of their participants. Thanks to big data, machine learning, not to mention the relative cheapness of computing power, we no longer have to fit everything into one efficient market model.

This is the view of Jeremy Sosabowski PhD, CEO & co-founder, AlgoDynamix. His area of expertise is identifying endogenous portfolio risk. "The risk we look at is internally generated risk. It's the panic. It's not the external stuff. It's not the Swiss central bank de-pegging their currency.

"I'm talking about tail risk - the lethal stuff that kills your portfolio, and if you are not careful it's going to kill your bank. And it's the toughest one to model by far."

AlgoDynamix provides a risk analytics engine based on deep data algorithms, scanning in real-time multiple data sources. These algorithms analyse the dynamic behaviour of market participants  buyers and sellers  to identify anomalous clusters of behaviour. It's a solution being sold to banks, hedge funds and family offices.

Sosabowski believes historical data is interesting but relying on it is the wrong way to approach financial time series. "Our platform and our insights will tell you that something is about to go really, really bad. I don't like the term predictive, this is not predictive; it's forecasting to some extent but it's already there.

"There are already problems in the time series, something is already happening, panic is building up, you just can't see it yet. You can't see it yet because you don't have the deep data insight tools. We are giving you those insights."

A good way to illustrate internally generated risk is the Millennium Bridge example. Its designers and engineers overlooked the fact that pedestrians crossing a bridge that has lateral sway have an unconscious tendency to match their footsteps to the sway, exacerbating it. This led to the bridge being closed.

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"They'd designed the bridge on the assumption that people would walk randomly on the bridge," said Sosabowski. "Random markets, random data, that's what you assume; Brownian Motion, that sort of stuff.

"I'm not a big fan of Brownian Motion or statistical distributions, you probably gather. Nobody in Cambridge on our team believes that distribution or Brownian Motion or statistics is the right tool set for financial data."

Sosabowski said these events are not one-off black swans. These are the grey swans that typically occur about 20 or 25 times a year. "When these sorts of things happen, correlation tends to spike, so you think you have the diversified portfolio, you think you are covered, but when you most need it, is when things actually stop working - so that's the painful reality."

The way groups of anonymous market participants  BlackRock, Fidelity etc  are structuring their deals leaves a unique fingerprint in the order book in any normal day. The Alogodynamix solution looks for large clusters of sellers all behaving in the same way - the stampede.

In terms of a time horizon, Sosabowski said it depends on the asset class but it's typically sort of 10, 12, 14 hours ahead of time at least. "So there's a big enough window if you want to go out there and hedge. This is not particularly intra-day. This is the big moves. This is the larger money pots getting ready."

He said the platform is plugged into most of the big futures exchanges - Eurex, CME, Cebot - looking at all their futures. Regarding FX futures, he said: "I'm going to be a bit incorrect and I'm going to stereotype. North American markets tend to cluster enormously, lots of panic; same with the Nikkei Futures. The FTSE Futures, Eurex - pretty boring. There must be a sign up saying, 'don't panic'. FTSE never panics. I don't know what it is with the UK."

Interestingly, the company originally applied its mathematics to medical data, and later migrated to finance. "We started off as a medical company, looking at cardiac arrests. At some point we figured out computing power was getting so cheap we can actually put some tick data in this. That was about two and a half years ago.

"We are happy to be in banking. You might think banking is heavily regulated, try doing something in the medical space. That's regulated. Banking is fine."

This article was first published on May 13, 2016.

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(The 5th July story refiles to reflect that the artifacts were not intended for the Museum of the Bible in paragraphs 1 and 4) By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby has agreed to forfeit thousands of illegally smuggled ancient Middle Eastern artifacts obtained from antiquities dealers, the company and U.S. officials said on Wednesday. The forfeiture will include some 5,500 artifacts purchased by Hobby Lobby Inc that originated from the region of modern-day Iraq and were shipped under false labels, as well as an additional $3 million to settle the civil charges, the Department of Justice said in a statement. "The protection of cultural heritage is a mission that (Homeland Security Investigations) and its partner U.S. Customs and Border Protection take very seriously as we recognize that while some may put a price on these artifacts, the people of Iraq consider them priceless, Angel Melendez, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New York, said in the statement. Privately held Hobby Lobby said that it was new to the world of antiquities when it began acquiring historical items in 2009 and made mistakes in relying on dealers and shippers who "did not understand the correct way to document and ship" them. The company's president, Steve Green, is the chairman and founder of the Museum of the Bible, which is under construction in Washington, D.C. The artifacts being forfeited include cuneiform tablets and bricks, clay bullae and cylinder seals. Cuneiform is an ancient system of writing on clay tablets. "At no time did Hobby Lobby ever purchase items from dealers in Iraq or from anyone who indicated that they acquired items from that country," Green said in his statement. "Hobby Lobby condemns such conduct and has always acted with the intent to protect ancient items of cultural and historical importance. ... We have accepted responsibility and learned a great deal, Green added, saying that the company has now "implemented acquisition policies and procedures based on the industry's highest standards." Federal prosecutors say that when Hobby Lobby, which is based in Oklahoma City, began assembling its collection it was warned by an expert on cultural property law to be cautious in acquiring artifacts from Iraq, which in some cases have been looted from archaeological sites. Despite that warning and other red flags the company in December 2010 purchased thousands of items from a middle-man, without meeting the purported owner, according to prosecutors. A dealer based in the United Arab Emirates shipped packages containing the artifacts to three Hobby Lobby corporate addresses in Oklahoma City, bearing false label that described their contents as "ceramic tiles" or "clay tiles" and the country of origin as Turkey. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Leslie Adler)
In its quest to amass a huge collection of biblical-era artifacts, Hobby Lobby made some big mistakes.

The craft-store chain bought thousands of ancient objects from Iraq that were smuggled into the U.S. through the United Arab Emirates and Israel, according to a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York on Wednesday (July 5).

As a result, the company will pay the U.S. government $3 million and forfeit thousands of cuneiform tablets, clay stamp seals and other artifacts that were falsely labeled and shipped to its Oklahoma offices. The settlement comes after a years-long federal investigation that kicked off when five of those packages were intercepted by U.S. Customs officials in early 2011. [In Photos: Ancient City Discovered in Iraq]

Iraq considers all antiquities found on its soil property of the state, and the U.S. has its own strict restrictions on the importation of Iraqi artifacts. Additionally, a 1970 UNESCO convention made the international sale of cultural artifacts illegal for member nations, including Iraq. Objects that entered the antiquities market before 1970 are generally legal for sale if they have proper documentation. Newly surfaced artifacts are regarded with caution, especially when they might come from a place like Iraq, where looting is a well-documented problem.

Hobby Lobby was founded by David Green in 1970, and since then, the family has built a fortune worth billions. The Greens are devout evangelical Christians; Hobby Lobby famously won a Supreme Court case in 2014 over the Greens' religious objections to a birth control mandate in the Affordable Care Act.

But their support for Christian causes doesn't end there. In 2009, the family founded the Green Collection with the purpose of amassing rare ancient texts and biblical-era artifacts. The plan is to fill the $500 million Museum of the Bible that's slated to open on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., this fall.

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The fact that the Greens built a collection of some 40,000 objects in just a few years raised eyebrows among scholars and cultural-property experts. [In Photos: See the Treasures of Mesopotamia]

"The pace of their acquisition alone suggests that the Greens may not have taken every possible step to investigate the provenance of what they have bought, a risk that they acknowledge," Candida Moss and Joel Baden wrote last year in The Atlantic. (Moss and Baden broke the news about the federal investigation into the Greens in 2015, and they have a book coming out in the fall about the Green family's quest to boost the Bible's influence in the United States.)

Court documents from the case (titled "United States of America v. Approximately Four Hundred Fifty (450) Ancient Cuneiform Tablets and Approximately Three Thousand (3,000) Ancient Clay Bullae") say that the president of Hobby Lobby, Steve Green, and a consultant met with antiquities dealers in the United Arab Emirates in mid-July 2010. There, they inspected thousands of artifacts being offered for sale, including tablets inscribed with cuneiform, an ancient writing system used in Mesopotamia, a region that covers most of modern-day Iraq.

Two Israeli dealers present during that meeting claimed that the artifacts had been legally acquired in the late 1960s by a third Israeli dealer's father "from local markets," and then moved to the United States, where they were kept in storage by another person in the 1970s, according to the court documents. These artifacts, federal officials allege, were actually never stored by the person in the U.S., but Hobby Lobby officials never looked into this alleged collecting history for themselves. [In Photos: A Mummy Hand and Other Artifacts Smuggled into the US]

In October 2010, an expert hired by Hobby Lobby warned that buying artifacts that likely came from Iraq carried "considerable risk." In a memo to Hobby Lobby's in-house counsel, the expert noted that up to 500,000 objects have been looted from Iraq since the early 1990s and that small, portable objects  like cylinder seals and cuneiform tablets  were especially popular on the black market. "Any object brought into the U.S. and with Iraq declared as 'country of origin' has a high chance of being detained,the expert wrote.

Still, Hobby Lobby went ahead with the sale, buying over 5,500 artifacts for $1.6 million, the documents revealed. A dealer in the UAE split up the collection of artifacts into several packages (a common method smugglers use to avoid scrutiny) and shipped them to three different Hobby Lobby addresses in Oklahoma City, federal officials said.

These shipments had labels that misleadingly described their contents as "ceramic tiles" or "clay tiles (sample)" that came from Turkey and Israel, federal authorities say, and they did not have proper entry documentation. U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted five of those packages, and an investigation began. The complaint alleges that the names of people, places and months inscribed on several of the cuneiform tablets confirm that these objects originated in what is now Iraq. The documents related to the artifacts' provenance also had several inconsistencies, federal authorities said.

"American collectors and importers must ensure compliance with laws and regulations that require truthful declarations to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, so that Customs officers are able to scrutinize cultural property crossing our borders and prevent the inappropriate entry of such property," Bridget M. Rohde, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement. "If they do not, and shippers use false declarations to try to clandestinely enter property into the United States, this Office and our law enforcement partners will discover the deceit and seize the property."

Hobby Lobby now says it will change its internal policies and procedures regarding purchases of cultural property, and it will submit quarterly reports to the government about its acquisitions for the next year and a half.

"We should have exercised more oversight and carefully questioned how the acquisitions were handled," Steve Green said in a statement. "Hobby Lobby has cooperated with the government throughout its investigation, and with the announcement of today's settlement agreement, is pleased the matter has been resolved."

The statement released by Hobby Lobby also said that the company was new to the collecting world. Therefore, company representatives "did not fully appreciate the complexities of the acquisitions process," and this "resulted in some regrettable mistakes," they said in the statement.

Moss and Baden, however, told Live Science in an email that "it's inexcusable that these kinds of mistakes should be made in the twenty-first century."

"What we would really like to see is the independent vetting of everything they have purchased in the past and greater transparency about the origins and nature of their collection," Moss and Baden added.

Original article on Live Science.

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Budapest (AFP) - Israel's ambassador in Budapest called on Hungary on Saturday to halt a nationwide poster campaign targeting US billionaire George Soros, which Jewish leaders say is stoking anti-Semitic feelings.

The posters show a large picture of the Hungarian-born Jewish emigre laughing, alongside the text: "Let's not leave Soros the last laugh", a reference to government claims that the 86-year-old wants to force Hungary to allow in migrants.

The campaign is the fourth media blitz by the government this year against Brussels or Soros for their alleged attacks on Hungary's hardline anti-immigration stance.

Since the latest posters appeared on billboards and at public spaces last week, several incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti daubed on them have been reported.

"It's our moral responsibility to raise a voice and call on the relevant authorities to exert their power and put an end to this cycle," Yossi Amrani, Israel's envoy in Budapest said in a statement.

"I call on those involved in the current billboard campaign and those responsible for it to reconsider the consequences.

"At the moment, beyond political criticism of a certain person, the campaign not only evokes sad memories but also sows hatred and fear."

In response to the comments, Hungary's foreign ministry said it was protecting its citizens.

"Just like Israel, Hungary too takes steps against anyone who represents a risk to the national security of the country and its citizens," it said in a statement.

Amrani's remarks follow a recent call by Hungary's largest Jewish organisation Mazsihisz to stop the campaign, saying it fuels "anti-Semitic" sentiment.

"These poisonous messages harm the whole of Hungary," said Andras Heisler, Mazsihisz head, in a letter to Prime Minister Viktor Orban published Thursday.

In a written reply to Heisler, Orban refused Friday to call off the campaign and said that his "duty is to defend our homeland and citizens" against illegal migration.

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He accused the "billionaire speculator" Soros of wanting to use his wealth and civil groups that he supports to "settle a million migrants" in Hungary and the European Union.

"Illegal migration is clearly a national security question," Orban said, that will be dealt with "without regard to (anyone's) origin, religious background, or wealth".

He also asked Hungary's 100,000-strong Jewish community to help him "fight against illegal migration" which he said "imports anti-Semitism" into Europe.

Government officials repeatedly say Hungary has a policy of "zero tolerance" of anti-Semitism.

The row comes shortly before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned visit to Hungary on July 18, the first by an Israeli premier since the EU member's transition from communism in 1989.
Baghdad (AFP) - Two Iraqi television journalists were killed by the Islamic State group while two others were trapped Friday in the same village south of Mosul but were later rescued by security forces.

IS infiltrated Imam Gharbi, seizing territory in the village and kidnapping civilians. Police forces launched a counterattack, but several officers and the accompanying journalists were instead surrounded by the jihadists.

The attack by IS highlights what is likely to be a growing danger as the group loses more ground and increasingly returns to bombings and hit-and-run attacks that were its hallmark in past years.

"Colleague Harb Hazaa al-Dulaimi, correspondent for the Hona Salaheddin channel, and Sudad al-Duri, the cameraman for the same station, were martyred" in Imam Gharbi, the channel said.

Mustafa Wahadi, a third journalist from Hona Salaheddin who was among those surrounded by IS in Imam Gharbi, posted on his Facebook page while he was trapped, calling for security forces to rescue them.

"The situation around me is very dangerous" and "Daesh is very close," Wahadi wrote, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

"This may be my last post, maybe I will be killed," the journalist wrote.

Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan later announced that "security forces were able to liberate the journalists who were surrounded in the village along with the officers who were with them."

But Iraqi forces have yet to oust the jihadists from Imam Gharbi.

"We succeeded this afternoon in liberating those who were trapped," said Staff Major General Najmeddin al-Juburi, the head of the Nineveh Operations Command, which is responsible for security in the province.

- Civilians kidnapped by IS -

"Now we are completely surrounding the village and we will storm it within hours," he said.

Imam Gharbi is more than 60 kilometres (40 miles) south of Mosul, and is located close to the Tigris River, near IS-held territory that was bypassed by Iraqi forces in their push north toward the country's second city.

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IS fighters crossed the river and infiltrated Imam Gharbi, an army brigadier general said.

Police forces "rushed" to attack the jihadists in the village but were instead surrounded themselves, according to a police colonel said.

After that, "military forces supported by army helicopters" were then dispatched to Imam Gharbi, the brigadier general said.

The jihadists have kidnapped multiple families from the village.

"It is confirmed that there are more than 10 families kidnapped by Daesh members, among them women and children," the army officer said.

Sheikh Marwan Jbara, a spokesman for tribes in the nearby Salaheddin province, said that 40 to 50 jihadists infiltrated the village and kidnapped 10 families.

The deaths of the two journalists in Imam Gharbi come after three others were killed and a fourth wounded by an explosion last month in Mosul, where they were covering the battle to retake the city from IS.

"Iraq is among the top three most deadly countries for the fourth year in a row," the Committee to Protect Journalists said of 2016.

And Reporters Without Borders, another media rights watchdog, termed it "one of the worlds most dangerous countries for journalists".

IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes have since regained much of the territory they lost.
House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith thinks that the Russian government is funding environmental groups in return for their activities to hinder U.S. oil and gas production.

A six-page letter sent by Smith and another Republican lawmaker on June 29, asks Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to launch an investigation into "what appears to be a concerted effort by foreign entities to funnel millions of dollars through various non-profit entities to influence the U.S. energy market." The letter was revealed in a Friday press release from the Science Committee.

The Russians' goal, Smith and Rep. Randy Weber of Texas wrote, is to prop up their domestic oil and gas industry by stymying the hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, for oil and gas resources in the U.S.

SEE ALSO: Summer's here: Time for people to get weird about sleeveless dresses in Congress

The natural gas boom in the U.S. has driven prices down and diminished Russia's role in the global energy market. The Trump administration is moving quickly to shelve regulations on oil and gas producers that could interfere with their efforts to take advantage of natural resources, regardless of the environmental and public health consequences.

The administration is also moving to increase U.S. oil and gas exports, which would compete with Russian exports to Europe in particular.

The letter alleges that the Russian government has been funneling money through Bermuda-based shell companies to environmental groups. Those groups are fighting for restrictions to oil and gas exploration activities.

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The letter cites news reports in conservative publications, including this story in the Washington Free Beacon, and points to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails released by Wikileaks, among other sources, as evidence of Russia's interest in bankrolling environmental groups in the U.S. However, the Free Beacon story, along with several others, were based on research done by a PR front group, known as the Environmental Policy Alliance, with a record of ties to the energy industry.

This raises the question of whether Smith is using the alleged Russian activities as cover to go after environmental groups, who are no friend of his.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, in the Capitol on Sept. 7, 2016.

Image: CQ Roll Call via AP Images

The Sierra Club, which is one of the groups named in the letter as receiving Russian funding, pushed back strongly against the allegations.

"It is pathetic that Congressional Republicans are making absurd and false smears dreamed up by deceitful front groups doing the dirty work for big polluters and big tobacco," said Melinda Pierce, the group's legislative director.

"If Congressional Republicans are so concerned about Russian influence, they should start seriously investigating that country's interference in our election, not attacking long-standing environmental organizations," she said in a statement.

"The Sierra Clubs staff, donors, and our 3 million members and supporters have been fighting for clean energy and climate action to protect the health of our communities for decades, because it is what our planet requires and what our families deserve. Thats not just key to our organizations historic mission, its what huge majorities of Americans across the country support.

Since his chairmanship began in 2013, Rep. Smith has turned the Science panel, which was one of the last bastions of bipartisanship in Congress, into a committee that regularly plays host to climate deniers and critics of the science research conducted at federal agencies. In particular, Smith has been a harsh critic of the Environmental Protection Agency and climate research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
A Louisiana police officer who was wounded in a Baton Rouge shooting last year that left three officers dead sued Black Lives Matter leaders on Friday, claiming they incited violence that prompted the attack.

Filed in a U.S. district court in Louisiana, the lawsuit names DeRay McKesson and four other leaders from Black Lives Matter as defendants and seeks at least $75,000 in damages, Reuters reports.

The attack on the police officers occurred last July, amid protests in Baton Rouge over the death of Alton Sterling, a black man who was killed by police.

Black Lives Matter leaders have denied their movement calls for violence against police officers, Reuters reports.

Gavin Long, the black gunman who killed the Baton Rouge police officers and was later killed at the scene, was targeting police and had a history of making violent and incendiary posts online.

The unnamed officer who filed the lawsuit was one of three officers injured in the shooting. The lawsuit comes on the one-year anniversary of a sniper attack in Dallas, in which five police officers were killed during a demonstration against police shootings of black men.
North Koreas test this week of an intercontinental ballistic missile has reignited interest and debate on the feasibility of ballistic missile defense systems, and whether countries such as Australia should seek to acquire them.

But what are these systems, and how do they work? How effective would they be in providing a defense against a potential missile attack?

How do they work?

All ballistic missile defense systems consist of a network of tracking and guidance radars, and the interceptor launchers.

On detecting a ballistic missile launch, the radars track the missiles trajectory, fire an interceptor to shoot it down, and prepare further interceptors to be launched if the first one misses.

This is referred to as a shoot-look-shoot strategy, as opposed to a strategy of saturation  where the defender simply shoots as many interceptors as possible in the hope of achieving a kill.

Modern defense systems use interceptor missiles carrying kinetic kill vehicles. These are warheads that are non-explosive and designed to destroy incoming ballistic missiles by simply crashing into them.

All of the systems mentioned below are intended to work in conjunction with one another. They are integrated to provide the ability to shoot down ballistic missiles throughout their flight path. However, they are also capable of operating independently, although with less effectiveness than if operated in conjunction with other systems.

Missile defense systems in the region

The US and its allies in the Asia-Pacific currently deploy several ballistic missile defense systems. These would be used in the unlikely event that North Korea decided to actually launch a ballistic missile attack.

The first and most prominent is Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, or THAAD, which the US has deployed in South Korea. THAAD is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in the terminal phase of flight  that is, as the ballistic missile is re-entering the atmosphere to strike its target.

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The second relevant system is Patriot PAC-3, which is designed to provide late terminal phase interception  that is, after the missile has re-entered the atmosphere. It is deployed by US forces operating in the region, as well as Japan.

Perhaps the most capable system currently in operation in the region is the Aegis naval system, which is deployed on US and Japanese destroyers. It is designed to intercept ballistic missiles in the mid-course phase of flight  that is, when the missile is outside of earths atmosphere and transiting to its target.

What all of these systems have in common is they are theater ballistic missile defense systems, designed to provide protection against short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. Intercontinental ballistic missiles, such as the one tested by North Korea this week, fly too high and fast for these systems to engage with.

Aegis has demonstrated some limited capability to engage targets similar to intercontinental ballistic missiles. It was used to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite in 2008, but has never been tested against an actual intercontinental ballistic missile target.

The only system expressly designed to shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles is the US Ground-based Midcourse Defence. However, this has a very patchy record in testing. By the end of 2017 it will only have 44 interceptors deployed.

How effective are they?

None of these systems is 100% effective, and most have an iffy record in testing. Aegis has succeeded in 35 out of 42 tests, while Ground-based Midcourse Defence has had only ten successes in 18 tests. However, THAAD has been successful in 18 out of 18 tests.

Tests are conducted in favorable conditions  and it is reasonable to expect the success rates to be lower in actual combat use.

The true difficulty lies with intercontinental ballistic missiles. An intercontinental ballistic missile can attain altitudes well in excess of low earth orbit. Those fired on a typical long-range trajectory can exceed 1,200km in altitude. The high-trajectory, short-range test shot North Korea conducted this week attained an altitude of 2,700km.

By way of comparison, the International Space Station orbits at an altitude of around 400km.

However, the altitude intercontinental ballistic missiles attain is only part of the problem. The other major challenge facing ballistic missile defense is the truly enormous speeds that missiles attain during the terminal phase. They often hit or exceed 20 times the speed of sound.

A common comparison used is that ballistic missile defense is akin to shooting a bullet in flight with another bullet. The reality is even more extreme.

For example, a .300 Winchester Magnum (a high-velocity hunting and sniper round) can achieve a velocity of 2,950 feet per second as it leaves the barrel. This equates to 3,237km/h, or 2.62 times the speed of sound. An intercontinental ballistic missile can achieve speeds almost eight times faster than this. As a result, it is almost impossible to reliably defend against such missiles.

This is not necessarily a problem for countries such as Japan and South Korea. Any ballistic missile used by North Korea against them would be a shorter-range ballistic missile that these systems could engage.

However, countries should be mindful that these systems provide limited-to-no capability to defend against intercontinental ballistic missiles. In Australias case, the only missiles capable of reaching this far from North Korea are intercontinental ballistic missiles. Thus, even if Australia decided to invest in ballistic missile defense, it would provide little-to-no protection from a potential North Korean nuclear attack.

James Dwyer, Teaching Fellow and PhD Candidate, Politics and International Relations Program, University of Tasmania

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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Photo credit: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Maria I. Alvarez.

From Popular Mechanics

According to The National Interest, the U.S. Navy seeks a way to reload its vertical launch system silos at sea. The silos, which house ballistic missile interceptors, cruise missiles, and more, must currently be reloaded at port. But given the way the geopolitical situation is going, the Navy is picturing a scenario in which cruisers and destroyers might fire their entire complement of missiles...and have no port left to rearm them.

For decades, the Navy has used so-called "arm" launchers to fire guided missiles. Fed from a magazine below deck, "single arm" (one missile) or "twin arm" (two missile) launchers could rapidly fill the skies with surface-to-air missiles, as well as Harpoon anti-ship missiles and ASROC anti-submarine rocket-assisted torpedoes. The downside: If the complex arm and magazine loading system broke down or suffered battle damage, the ship lost a lot of firepower.

Photo credit: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Sonja Wickard.

The introduction of the Mark 41 vertical launch system changed all of that. The Mark 41 traded arm launchers and magazines for a field of individual, single missile launchers contained in armored boxes that sat flush with the deck. With the Mark 41, a malfunction probably affected only a single missile. A Burke-class destroyer has as many as 96 Mark 41 silos.

One problem with Mark 41s is that they're not easy to reload at sea. As The National Interest explains, the Navy previously had the capability to load lighter missiles into the silos, but discarded it after the end of the Cold War. In the new, post-Cold War environment without a peer competitor naval power to challenge it, the Navy wasn't going to expend a large number of missiles in battle.

Photo credit: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Raymond D. Diaz III.

The rise of the China and Russia's newfound assertiveness have changed that. The Navy might someday be involved in major fleet actions in which large numbers of missiles are expended. Sending ships hundreds or even thousands of miles back to port just to rearm takes them out of action at a critical time. At the same time, bases where cruisers and destroyers typically go to rearm and refuel would become obvious targets in wartime and may be shut down by enemy action.

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There is no easy solution here. Missiles in pre-packed canisters are heavy and delicate, and the transfer would need to be done during while both ships are at sea, or ideally in a nearby protected harbor or atoll. As TNI notes, one possible solution may be to equip ammunition ships traveling with the fleet with robotic arms that can pluck a missile canister out of the ship's hold and gingerly slide it into a surface warship.

Read more at The National Interest.

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It is now a commonplace to argue that there are no good options on North Korea  common perhaps, but wrong. In fact, it is Pyongyang that faces militarily and economically dominant adversaries, and dim prospects for long-term success. To be sure, the threat posed by North Koreas growing nuclear and ballistic missile arsenals is changing in kind as well as magnitude and will require responses, but some perspective is warranted. Japan, South Korea, and the United States are more than capable of meeting that threat and deterring a catastrophic attack from the North.

Whether by nuclear or conventional means, general war against the United States and its allies would mean the end of North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns rule. He and his accomplices would be unlikely to survive such a conflict and would be displaced by it in any event. Because regime preservation is the Norths paramount strategic objective, Kim can be deterred from starting such a war.

It is also often said that there is no military solution to the North Korean conundrum. The costs would be far too great to try to resolve the North Korean problem through force.

An often-asserted corollary  that because there is no viable military option, diplomacy is the only solution  is dubious, and so far, flat wrong. Four U.S. presidents prior to the current one  two Democrats and two Republicans  undertook serious diplomatic efforts with the North. They all failed. In the nuclear realm alone, North Korea has violated the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, its 1992 safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the 1992 North-South denuclearization agreement, and the 1994 Agreed Framework, along with subsequent political understandings, such as the September 2005 Joint Statement and the 2012 Leap Day agreement. The 2012 North Korean constitution declares the North to be a nuclear state. There may be reasons to talk to Pyongyang, but as long as the Kim regime remains in power, negotiating denuclearization is not credibly one of them.

So if neither military nor diplomatic means are viable, are there no good options? The North can be deterred from launching a major attack, as it has been for over six decades, by the threat of an overwhelming response. Moreover, as the economic divergence between the prosperous South (the only country in the last 20 years to join the ranks of the developed world) and the pitiable North (where squalor pervades) continues to grow, so too will eventually irresistible pressures for change. Skeptics answer that we have hoped for decades that the North would collapse, but remain disappointed. The same was said of the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Moreover, as we bide our time, it is the North that suffers, not the United States or its allies. In the meantime, there are several concrete steps we must take to defend ourselves from the attacks that are emanating from the North, or might emerge in the future.

We need both better cyber defenses and an offensive strategy that will deter attacks and respond to North Korean assaults, exacting retribution for cases like the Sony hack. We should increase monitoring and interdiction efforts to guard against the possibility that North Korea could export part of its growing stocks of fissile material and nuclear weapons  for example, requiring inspection of North Korean aircraft and ships seeking to transit sovereign airspace or waters. Missile defenses against both theater and long-range systems should be further improved. We should more vigorously sanction Pyongyangs proliferation and illicit activities, including selective secondary sanctions on Chinese entities. Here, the efforts against Irans nuclear program provide a model. Seoul should consider deploying a system akin to Israels Iron Dome defense against artillery and rocket forces, especially one based an advanced technologies like laser weapons. In sum, the United States should seek to contain North Korea tightly until peaceful reunification and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula becomes possible. All of this is best done in cooperation with allies and other nations.

Fear is an understandable reaction to North Koreas progress on nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, but it clouds judgment and increases tolerances for risk. Winston Churchill said, Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision. It is time to take decisions that will ease our fears and boost our courage. Time was on North Koreas side as it worked toward nuclear weapons, but paradoxically, now that Pyongyang has them, it no longer is. There are good options for responding to the North Korean threat that do not entail war. It is time to implement them.

Photo credit: KCNA Via KNS/AFP/Getty Images
Another missile test, another step forward for North Koreas ambition to successfully deliver a nuclear weapon, another round of hand-wringing, anger, and editorials globally. Its all become rather familiar  as have the solutions proposed, from lunatic first strikes to final ultimatums to careful programs of engagement.

But we have to face an uncomfortable truth: There is no negotiating stance that can convince the North to abandon its nuclear program. North Koreas ideology, Kim Jong Uns own sense of familial destiny, and the sheer amounts of money and time spent on the project all work to ensure this. And, as 19th-century Americans said about their own conviction that their manifest destiny was to dominate the continent, the North sees possessing a deliverable weapon as both justified and inevitable.

It doesnt matter what any outsiders propose. It is now essentially a done deal. Any military response is doomed to fail. But even engagement strategies cant stop the relentless move toward a deliverable North Korea nuclear arsenal.

Lessening the sanctions regime, or perhaps even abolishing it, would make little difference to Pyongyang. The economy is humming along OK, and trade with China is continuing. Additionally, various illegal sources of money, from meth to gold to weapons tech, are virtually impossible to stop. Predictions of the Norths economic collapse have been many and constant  but there is no actual reason the current level of austerity and some black market dealing cannot sustain the population indefinitely.

Pursuing a buyout strategy, whereby Washington buys the Norths nukes and an agreement to end the program, is equally problematic. President Bill Clinton essentially attempted this in 1994 when he approved $4 billion in energy aid to North Korea. The money would be filtered into the North over a decade, primarily via the now mostly forgotten Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, in return for Pyongyang freezing and then dismantling its nuclear program. The idea was to divert the Norths nuclear program into civilian use. But the regime lied, took the money, and used it to carry on developing the weapons program.

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The reality of the dictatorship is why the reasonableness argument is not a strategy. It would be reasonable to calm tensions; it would be reasonable to take aid in return for de-escalation. But the North is not reasonable  at least not in the terms we understand. It wishes to have a nuclear arsenal, pure and simple.

Why is getting the bomb so crucial? Because its the latest big promise that the Kim clan has made to the North Korean people. And thats core to the notion of the Kims supreme leadership. The leader doesnt make mistakes; problems are never the fault of the leadership; the theories of the leader are entirely correct; and the leadership always delivers on its big promises. In some ways, that last one  the only tenet to have a faint connection to reality  props up the propaganda about the first three.

The leadership successfully delivered on all the big promises of the past  albeit at a gruesome cost in life. Kim Il Sung led the liberation struggle and built the nation into a fortress to withstand attack. Kim Jong Il took the nation through the famine of the mid-1990s and then successfully navigated the Arduous March, after the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc collapsed, to a point where the North remained independent and was able to restart its nuclear program.

Of course, all these big promises are fraught with problems. Kim Il Sung was really a proxy for the liberation of the northern portion of Korea by the Soviets, who then propped him up while he destroyed the economy though the imposition of Stalinist command economics and agricultural collectivization. Kim Jong Il took over during a famine engendered by his fathers disastrous policies and later, in 2002, failed completely to rejuvenate the economy with his own cockeyed reform process. Kim Jong Un will probably eventually attain a fully deliverable intercontinental ballistic missile as promised, but will he then switch to the economy?

He has intimated that he might, as laid out in the central plank of his own addition to his grandfathers Juche theory of self-reliance. Byungjin (parallel development) is described as a new strategic line on carrying out economic construction and building nuclear armed forces simultaneously  i.e., an attempt to restart North Koreas stalled economy and raise living standards while continuing to develop a nuclear arsenal. A nuke in every silo, and then a chicken in every pot.

Kim Jong Uns developing cult of personality seems to be based more on the legacies and style of his grandfather than his father  he speaks to the people, smiles a lot, interacts with them to a greater degree than Kim Jong Il ever did. But he also stresses, as did Kim Il Sung did very strongly, that deterrence and the protection of a nuclear arsenal are necessary. Kim Jong Un has regularly referred to the lessons of the Balkans (meaning the civil war in the former Yugoslavia) and the Middle East.

When Kim Jong Un outlines Byungjin (which he did first in March 2013), he constantly refers to his grandfather, repeatedly citing his 1962 revolutionary slogan: A gun in one hand and a hammer and sickle in the other! This echoing is not accidental; it repeatedly tells the North Korean people (and any possible dissident forces within the ruling Workers Party) that he is a modern reincarnation of his grandfather  a nation builder, a guarantor of national defense.

It is of course possible that Kim Jong Un is not serious about the second half of Byungjin, the economic portion. Instead of using his nuclear security and unchallenged position domestically to turn his full attention to economic reconstruction, he may simply demand more toys: more nukes, chemical and biological weapons, even better cyberwarfare capabilities.

But economic promises can always be brushed under the carpet or blamed on malevolent outside forces. The failure to produce a nuclear weapon  or, even worse, a humiliating climbdown under pressure  is a lot less excusable. Personally, no doubt Kim feels the weight of his father and grandfather on his shoulders. Politically, backing away from nuclear weapons could undermine the foundations of the dynastys own mythology  the great protectors of the North Korean people. If this Arduous March to achieve the Juche ideals of self-sufficiency and self-defense is suddenly bargained away after a generation of seeking nuclear defense, then the population may begin to ask some hard questions.

No amount of pressure can realistically force Kim to back off his nuclear destiny, then. But if the world accepts a nuclear North Korea (and it accepted a nuclear Pakistan, as North Koreans have reminded me), then the second half of Kims theory might just give the kind of pressure that can be used. You want to rebuild the economy, with U.S., Japanese, and South Korean assistance? Then youve got to get back into the system  into the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Nonproliferation Treaty, and back to engaging with the world again.

Of course, Kim might shy away from any economic-centered engagement  his father will have taught him that if you open the window for fresh air, you have to expect some flies to blow in, as Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping put it. But right now the economy is dependent on China and illegal money flows to get things done, and, as defector testimonies now indicate, rampant and fast-spreading corruption infects every level of the country. There will be some tough choices for Kim, but hell have his nukes  and perhaps then the political space to give his people some appliances of their own.

Photo credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images
Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - The Palestinians hailed a UNESCO decision Friday to add the heart of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron to the endangered world heritage list, but Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu called it "delusional".

"This vote is a success for the diplomatic battle fought by Palestine on all fronts, in the face of Israeli and American pressure on member states," the Palestinian foreign ministry said.

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, hailed the decision as an "affirmation of our full rights in Hebron and all Palestinian land".

UNESCO's heritage committee voted 12 to three -- with six abstentions -- to give heritage status to the Old City in the centre of Hebron, where a few hundred Jewish settlers live under heavy Israeli military protection in the midst of more than 200,000 Palestinians.

"Despite a frantic Israeli campaign spreading lies and distorting the facts about the Palestinian rights, the world has recognised our right to register Hebron and the Ibrahimi Mosque under Palestinian sovereignty," the statement added.

The Ibrahimi Mosque, known to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs, is holy to both faiths and has long been a flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Old Testament figures including Abraham are believed to be buried there.

In 1994, Israeli-American Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Muslims praying at the site, killing 29, before being beaten to death by survivors.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the vote "another delusional decision by UNESCO."

"This time they ruled the Tomb of the Patriarchs is a Palestinian site, meaning not a Jewish site, and it is in danger."

In May he slammed a UNESCO vote on Jerusalem as "absurd."

On Friday Netanyahu also decided to slash his country's contribution to the United Nations by $1 million (877,000 euros), according to an Israeli official.

Story continues

Israel has now reduced its funding to the world body four times in the past year, taking its contribution to $2.7 million from $11 million.

Its foreign ministry labelled the Friday's vote on Hebron a "moral blot" on the United Nations, saying it denied the Jewish history of the city.

"The @UNESCO decision on Hebron & Tomb of Patriarchs is a moral blot. This irrelevant organisation promotes FAKE HISTORY. Shame on @UNESCO," foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted shortly after the vote.

The YESHA council, which represents settlers across the occupied West Bank, called the resolution anti-Semitic.

"Hebron is Judaism's second holiest site, denying 4,000 years of Jewish history is pure anti-Semitism," it said in a statement.

he-jod-burs/dv/dr
An Ohio mom posted a picture on Facebook of what appeared to be a piercing on her babys cheek. Enedina Vanc's photo stirred reactions from more than a few concerned parents, but it now appears to be a hoax.

"So I got the baby girl's dimple pierced!! It looks so cute, right?" Vance wrote. "If she decides she doesn't like it, she can just take it out, no big deal I'm the parent, she is MY CHILD, I will do whatever I want!! I make all of her decisions until she's 18, I made her, I own her!!"



She added, "I don't need anyone's permission, I prefer her to have her dimple pierced. Its NOT abuse!! It would be illegal, but it's not. People pierce their babies everyday, this is no different. MY BABY, MY CHOICE!! PARENT'S CHOICE, PARENT'S RIGHTS!!"

The picture of the babys pierced cheek was later revealed to be fake. She took a picture of her 6-month-old and edited a diamond stud over the infant's cheek to make it look like real. Vance is apparently against circumcising or piercing children.

READ: Huge Great White Shark Caught By Local Fisherman In Massachusetts

She took to Facebook again last Friday and explained that the picture wasnt real.

"Wow, so as (hopefully) everyone knows, my last post was FAKE. I photoshopped that picture of the baby to look like I had her dimple pierced. It is in fact PHOTOSHOPPED," she said.

In her post, Vance spoke about circumcision and how it may be accepted over piercings in infants due to sexism, misconception and fear.

"People would rather continue to inflict an unnecessary & irreversible ritual onto their defenseless infant, than to have to admit that they don't know. They don't know why it's done, if it has to be done, what the functions of that body part are, or what happens if they were to just leave it alone!" she said. "So the cycle continues, all because parents are too afraid or too proud to admit that they just don't know."

Story continues

Despite the clarification, her second post was not as widely seen as the initial post. As a result, Facebook users commented on the original post more than 13,000 times. Vance received a lot of negative comments, but she said she was glad that the post got the attention it did.

"I didn't take any of their comments, anger, or hate to heart. They were, in their own way, try to protect my baby," she wrote. "However, I'm disappointed that it didn't really go much further than that. Once they were made aware of what my post was actually about, they just said oh & went on their way."

She continued, "Others dismissed the connection between the dimple piercing & genital cutting & felt it necessary to attempt to explain why they cut their child. Its ironic that they were ready to beat me to death over my excuses for piercing my baby, but then they used the same EXACT excuse to justify cutting their baby."

Related Articles
Paris (AFP) - Paris police on Friday moved out nearly 2,800 migrants who had been living rough in the north of the city, in the latest operation to ease strains caused by a human influx to Europe.

The evacuation, which went ahead smoothly, entailed moving out migrants who had been living around an aid centre set up in the Porte de la Chapelle area last November.

The Paris regional authority said 2,771 people, including 161 described as "vulnerable", were taken mainly to school gymnasiums that have become available during the summer holidays.

Charity groups took part in the operation.

Officials had been expecting to move out 1,600 migrants, but according to Francois Ravier, a senior regional official, "experience shows that there are always more people than estimated."

Paris became a gathering point for migrants after the closure last October of the notorious "Jungle" near Calais -- a makeshift camp near the Channel coast where thousands lived in the hope of climbing aboard trucks or trains to get into Britain.

Friday's evacuation was the 34th to take place in Paris in the last two years. The previous operation was on May 9, when more than 1,600 migrants were moved out from the same area.

Aid workers said around 200 more migrants had been coming into the area every week recently, raising security and hygiene concerns and causing tensions with locals.

Europe's migrant influx began in 2015, centering on Greece, where hundreds of thousands of people, many of them fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Afghanistan, crossed from Turkey.

The crisis receded in 2016 under an agreement with Turkey to clamp down on illegal border crossings.

However, it revived this year, focusing instead on sea crossings from Libya to Italy, mostly by people from sub-Saharan Africa.

On Thursday, EU interior ministers pledged to back a plan to help Italy, which has accepted around 85,000 people since the start of the year and says it is overwhelmed.

The city of Paris on Friday called for the creation of reception centres along the route typically taken by migrants once they arrive in France, notably in the southern port of Nice and the southeastern city of Lyon.
Philippine police said Friday they had seized 70 dead hawksbill marine turtles, a critically endangered species illegally trafficked for its prized shell, and arrested two suspects.

Hawksbills face an extremely high risk of extinction according to Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature as their shell is used for making jewellery and hair ornaments.

Two local men were arrested Thursday while transporting the dead hawksbills by boat off the coast of Dumaran town on Palawan island, police chief Arnel Bagona told AFP.

"We suspect that these two are dealing with Chinese poachers," Bagona said by telephone.

The marine turtles, who roam the tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, are typically found around coastal reefs, estuaries and lagoons.

Philippine conservation law prohibits their collection and trade.

Palawan, an archipelago of more than 1,700 islands in the South China Sea, is famous for its abundant marine life that are targeted by poachers.

Chief Inspector Bagona said poachers usually bought the hawksbills and other rare Palawan-based species from locals.

Hawksbills retailed for at least 3,500 pesos ($69) each in the black market, he added.

He said police asked prosecutors Friday to file charges against the suspects for taking endangered species, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to five million pesos (about $99,000).

The suspects told police they planned to deliver the dead sea turtles to the island of Balabac, about 400 kilometres (249 miles) south of Dumaran, he said.

Bagona said the remote island is infamous as a trading place for wildlife poachers.
(HAMBURG, Germany)  President Donald Trump opened his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday by raising U.S. concerns about Moscows meddling in the 2016 presidential election, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. He said Putin denied being involved.

Trumps decision to confront Putin directly over election interference fulfilled ardent demands by U.S. lawmakers of both parties that the president not shy away from the issue in his highly anticipated meeting with Putin. Trump has avoided stating unequivocally in the past that Russia interfered, even as investigations proceed into whether Trumps campaign colluded with Russians who sought to help him win.

Putins denial of culpability notwithstanding, he and Trump agreed that the issue has become a hindrance to better relations between the two powers, said Tillerson, who attended the more-than-two-hour meeting along with Russias foreign minister. Tillerson said the discussion about the election meddling was robust and lengthy.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Tillerson said the two leaders had agreed to continue the discussion, with an eye toward securing a commitment that Russia wont interfere in U.S. affairs in the future.

I think the president is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point, Tillerson said.

In their meeting, the two also discussed a ceasefire deal for southwestern Syria that was reached by Russia and the United States and first reported Friday by The Associated Press. Though the U.S. and Russia have held conflicting views on Syria in the past, Tillerson said Russia had an interest in seeing the Mideast nation become a stable place.

The heavily anticipated meeting has been closely scrutinized for signs of how friendly a rapport Trump and Putin will have. Trumps predecessor, President Barack Obama, had notoriously strained ties to Putin, and Trump has expressed an interest in a better U.S.-Russia relationship.

But deep skepticism about Russia in the U.S. and ongoing investigations into whether Trumps campaign coordinated with Moscow during last years election have made a U.S.-Russia detente politically risky for Trump.

The Putin meeting came midway through a hectic, four-day European visit for Trump, who addressed thousands of Poles in an outdoor speech in Warsaw, Poland, on Thursday. He met in Germany with Chancellor Angela Merkel, the summit host, and had dinner with two Asian allies  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in  to discuss North Koreas aggression.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin kicked off their highly anticipated one-one-one meeting by trading disparaging comments about the reporters gathered to cover it.

At a photo op before their private G20 summit meeting, the Russian President leaned in to Mr Trump, gestured to the journalists in the room, and asked: "These are the ones hurting you?

"These are the ones. You're right about that, Mr Trump responded.

Mr Putin appeared to be commiserating with Mr Trump on complaints that the media is attacking him. The President has repeatedly accused the news media of reporting falsely on his administration, referring to them as fake news and the enemy of the American people.

The brief aside drew outcry from journalists, many of whom pointed to the Putin regimes poor track record with the media. Almost 60 journalists have been killed in Russia since 1993, according the Committee to Protect Journalists. Most of these reporters covered topics like politics, corruption, and war.

"These are the ones who insulted you?" Putin to Trump as he points to reporters https://t.co/vxx8qcDkRp  Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) July 7, 2017

Mr Trump himself has hinted at retaliating against journalists, in increasingly violent ways.

This week, the president retweeted a gif depicting him body-slamming a man with a CNN logo superimposed on his head. He also called a female journalist 'crazy" and "dumb as a rock," and accused her of "bleeding badly from a facelift". He has also reportedly suggested jailing journalists who leak classified information.

Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has defended Mr Trump's actions by calling him a president who fights fire with fire.

"I think hes been very clear that when he gets attacked hes going to hit back," she said at a press conference.

Story continues

Just 24 hours before Fridays meeting with Mr Putin, the President mounted yet another attack on the American media, this time in a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Commenting on a recent CNN article, Mr Trump claimed that the outlet had some pretty serious problems.

They have been fake news for a long time. Theyve been covering me in a very dishonest way, he said. NBC is equally as bad, despite the fact that I made them a fortune with The Apprentice, but they forgot that.

Many felt the comments were in poor taste, especially following a speech in which Mr Trump had positioned the US as an example for the world.

Potus disparaging abroad of US media dilutes respect for American democracy & gives license to autocrats to crack down on their own media, tweeted Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations.

A trashing of the American press corps and Intel community in Eastern Europe of all places, added NBCs Chuck Todd. Could Putin have asked for anything more?
CAIRO (Reuters) - Qatar on Friday dismissed as "baseless" accusations that it was financing terrorism, in its first public response to a statement from four Arab states which are leading a boycott against the tiny emirate. The four - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain - said in a joint statement late on Thursday that Doha's refusal to accept their demands to end the diplomatic standoff was proof of its links to terrorist groups. In their statement, the four said the initial list of 13 demands they had put to Qatar was now void and they pledged further political, economic and legal steps against the emirate. In its first reaction to the statement from the four, Qatar dismissed as "baseless" the renewed accusations that it was interfering in the affairs of other states and financing terrorism. "The State of Qatar's position on terrorism is consistent and known for its rejection and condemnation of all forms of terrorism, whatever the causes and motives," the state news agency said, quoting a senior foreign ministry source. Qatar was ready to "cooperate and review all claims that do not contradict the sovereignty of the State of Qatar," it added. Britain's foreign minister, Boris Johnson, meanwhile arrived in Saudi Arabia and was to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in a bid to ease tension in what has become the Gulf's deepest rift in years. Johnson will also travel to Qatar and Kuwait for talks with senior figures from both countries, Britain's foreign office said in a statement in London. It did not give a specific date. It said Johnson would urge all parties to support Kuwait's mediation efforts and "work towards de-escalation and Gulf unity for the sake of regional stability." U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Kuwait on Monday on a similar mission. The four Arab states have cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar, which they also accuse of allying with their regional arch-foe Iran. Doha denies that accusation too. Their original 13 demands presented to Qatar included shutting down the pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV channel and closing a Turkish military base in Doha. Qatari officials have repeatedly said the 13 demands are so strict that they suspect the four countries never seriously intended to negotiate them, and were instead aimed at hobbling Doha's sovereignty. At the same time, they say Qatar is interested in negotiating a fair and just solution to 'any legitimate issues' of concern to fellow member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council. In their statement, the four Arab states said any additional measures would be aimed at the Qatari government and not its people. It did not say when the new steps would be announced or what they would entail. Foreign ministers from the four states convened in Cairo on Wednesday after the expiry of a 10-day deadline for their demands to be met. They condemned the tiny Gulf nation's response as "negative" and lacking in content. (Reporting by Ali Abdelaty; Additional reporting by Costas Pitas in London; Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein, Katie Paul and Reem Shamseddine; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia objected on Thursday to a United Nations Security Council condemnation of North Korea's latest rocket launch because the U.S.-drafted statement labeled it an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and Moscow disagrees, diplomats said. Security Council statements have to be agreed by all 15 members. The Russian mission to the United Nations said it had proposed amendments to the U.S. draft. It was not immediately clear if the United States would continue to negotiate with Russia in an effort to reach a council consensus on a statement. Moscow's resistance to defining Pyongyang's missile launch as long-range does not augur well for Washington's planned push to impose new U.N. sanctions on North Korea. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Wednesday that she plans to propose new measures in coming days. Moscow has said it believes North Korea fired an intermediate range ballistic missile on Tuesday, while China has not identified the rocket launched. North Korea said it tested an ICBM and the United States said that was likely true. "The rationale is that based on our (Ministry of Defense's) assessment we cannot confirm that the missile can be classified as an ICBM," Russia's U.N. mission said in an email to its Security Council colleagues. "Therefore we are not in a position to agree to this classification on behalf of the whole council since there is no consensus on this issue," the email said. Haley on Wednesday denounced Russia's reluctance to recognize that North Korea had test-launched an ICBM, which some experts believe has the range to reach the U.S. states of Alaska and Hawaii. "If you need any sort of intelligence to let you know that the rest of the world sees this as an ICBM, I'm happy to provide it," she told the Security Council on Wednesday. POSSIBLE SANCTIONS Haley did not give details on what sanctions would be proposed, but outlined available options. North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. "The international community can cut off the major sources of hard currency to the North Korean regime. We can restrict the flow of oil to their military and their weapons programs. We can increase air and maritime restrictions. We can hold senior regime officials accountable," Haley told the council meeting. Diplomats said Washington proposed such options to Beijing two months ago, but that China had not engaged in discussions on the measures and instead only agreed to adding some people and entities to the existing U.N. sanctions list in June. Following a nuclear weapons test by North Korea in September, while U.S. President Barack Obama was still in office, it took the U.N. Security Council three months to agree strengthened sanctions. It was not immediately clear how long U.S. President Donald Trump's administration was prepared to negotiate with China and Russia on possible new U.N. sanctions. Trump has threatened to use trade to pressure Beijing to do more to rein in North Korea and U.S. officials have said the United States might seek unilaterally to sanction more Chinese companies that do business with North Korea, especially banks. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Alistair Bell and James Dalgleish)
The image sparked widespread condemnation: Twitter

A Russian official appears to have deleted an image that showed Ivanka Trump sitting in for her father at a G20 meeting of world leaders - a photograph that led people to accuse the US President of behaving like a dictator.

Svetlana Lukash, whose Twitter bio describes her as a G20 sherpa tweeted a series of images from the meetings in Hamburg. One of them read: 2nd day of #G20 Hamburg summit starts with Africa, Migration & Health. Ivanka accompanies Pres Trump.

A follow-up tweet, that showed Ms Trump sitting next to British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese President Xi Jinping, said: And replaces Pres Trump at the #G20 table as he leaves for bilateral meetings.

2nd day of #G20 Hamburg summit starts with Africa, Migration & Health. Ivanka accompanies Pres Trump pic.twitter.com/TJN07r9ftX  Svetlana Lukash (@LanaLukash) July 8, 2017

The image sparked widespread outcry, with people condemning Mr Trump for having his daughter sit in for him, rather than a diplomat or Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Many said it was typical of someone who repeatedly blurred the lines between his official duties and his family.

Why the hell is Ivanka Trump sitting in for daddy at G20 meetings?! What are her qualifications? Who voted for her? said the writer Charles Blow.

Ms Lukash, whose official title is Deputy Chief of the Presidential Experts Directorate, appeared to have subsequently deleted the image. She did not immediately respond to inquiries.
Miercurea Ciuc (Romania) (AFP) - Two shepherds were seriously injured in a bear attack Saturday in Romania's remote Carpathian mountains, reigniting debate over a government decision to suspend an annual culling programme.

The men, whose injures are not thought to be life-threatening, were tending their sheep when they were attacked in the central Harghita region, according to a local official quoted by the Agerpress news agency.

One of the men was bitten on his head, hip and genitals, the official said.

Romania is home to around 60 percent of Europe's brown bears -- some 6,000, a quarter of which roam the mountains around Harghita.

There have been seven bear attacks there in 2017 alone, prompting anger among locals.

Hundreds of people gathered Wednesday outside the environment ministry in Bucharest demanding they be allowed to kill brown bears in the interest of safety.

The ministry responded by proposing a cull of 140 of the animals.

Romania last year suspended its annual authorisation of the extermination of more than 500 bears, a programme that had angered environmentalists.

"I think it is humans who are responsible for these animal attacks because they encroach on their territory," said local Harghita official Jean Andrei.
HAMBURG (Reuters) - South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said he was in favor of dialogue with North Korea despite the "nuclear provocation" of its test-launch earlier this week of what the isolated state said was a nuclear-capable intercontinental missile. Speaking after a meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Moon also said he saw a role for Putin in helping de-escalate the crisis on the Korean peninsula. Putin warned the parties involved against losing self-control with regard to North Korea's nuclear ambitions, urging a "pragmatic, accurate" approach to its missile program. (Reporting by Denis Dyomkin; Writing by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Noah Barkin)
(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.)  SpaceX has launched a communication satellite on the third try.

The unmanned Falcon rocket blasted off Wednesday evening from Floridas Kennedy Space Center. It successfully hoisted an Intelsat satellite that was going so high that there wasnt enough leftover fuel to attempt a booster landing. So the first stage fell into the Atlantic, as is still the custom for other rocket companies.

Launch attempts on Saturday and Sunday were foiled by last-second technical issues.

SpaceX is on a rocket roll. This is the private companys third launch in barely two weeks. A recycled Falcon carried up a satellite from the NASA-leased pad at Kennedy on June 23, followed by the launch of a new rocket two days later from Southern California. Wednesdays rocket also was new.

Read More: Eyes In the Sky

Vice President Mike Pence will view the empty pad  Launch Complex 39A, where NASAs moon rockets and shuttles once soared  during a space center tour Thursday.
Photo credit: Oli Scarff / Getty

From Delish

When you think of coffee shops, you likely have to suppress the image of the black and white two-tailed mermaid on the Starbucks logo. With more than 24,000 stores across 70 countries, the siren's become synonymous with java.

Photo credit: Getty

But like many origin stories, Starbucks as we have come to know it almost never was. Imagine a world filled of coffee shops named ... Cargo House.

Co-founder and business aficionado Gordon Bowker recently sat down with the Seattle Times to discuss some of the lesser-known facts behind the mega-chain. Besides noting that he probably could have done it on his own, Bowker admitted that the multi-billion dollar company almost had a much less pleasant name.

"It came desperately close to Cargo House," the co-founder said. The less catchy, less attractive name was ousted when Terry Heckler  with whom Bowker owned an advertising agency  said that words beginning in "st" are extra powerful. And so, they made a list of "st" words.

Photo credit: Getty

While brainstorming, an old mining town (near Washington state's Mount Rainier) named "Starbo" came to his attention. Being the avid reader he is, Bowker thought of Starbuck, a character in Herman Melville's book, Moby-Dick. "It was only coincidental that it seemed to make sense," Bowker explained.

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Brian Hall told police his neglected stepson was 'not my responsibility': Daytona Beach Police Department

The stepfather of a five-year-old boy who was found so badly malnourished that he could not stand up or speak, reportedly told authorities: "He is not my responsibility".

Brian Hall, 29, was arrested for allegedly failing to report neglect of the boy, who was discovered dehydrated and eating cereal of a filthy carpet at his family's home in Daytona Beach, Florida. He weighed just 11kg,

Naomie Hall, the boy's 24-year-old mother, was also detained.

Police were called to investigate allegations of child neglect by officials from the Florida Department of Children and Families, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

After they arrived at the home on 29 June, officers found the boy was still using nappies, suffering from dry skin and so malnourished his weight did not register on a growth chart.

The child was taken to hospital, where he was placed in intensive care.

Daytona Beach Police Department arrested his mother on suspicion of child neglect causing great bodily harm.

Mr Hall arrived home soon after investigators arrived, telling authorities: "He is not my responsibility. I'm not his father. I come from a rich and white family."

While being questioned by police he pointed to his own two children, who also lived at the home, and said: "Those two are taken care of."

Police informed him that he was legally obliged to report child neglect and arrested him.

The boy has been given physical and speech therapy in hospital, while his siblings have been taken into care by authorities.
It was the first time the two leaders had met: AP

Russian foreign minister has claimed Donald Trump accepted Vladimir Putins assurances that Russia did not meddle in the US presidential election.

After the two leaders emerged from a meeting that lasted two hours and sixteen minutes - at one point, First Lady Melania Trump entered the room to hurry them along - US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Mr Trump had raised the issue of Moscows alleged cyber-meddling in the election at the start of their conversation.

He said the US had talked about such attacks represented a threat to the democratic process. An official from the White House later indicated that the President had not in fact accepted assurances from Mr Putin that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 election.

The president opened the meeting raising the concerns of the American people about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, said Mr Tillerson. They had a very lengthy and robust conversation on this

He said Mr Trump pushed him on the issue and that Mr Putin stood firm in his denial.

I think the president is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point, Mr Tillerson said.

In his own briefing to reporters, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Mr Trump accepted Putin's assurances that Russia did not meddle in the election.

Lavrov claims Trump told Putin he had heard his entreaties that Russia did not hack the election and accepts them.  Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) July 7, 2017

"The [issue of cybersecurity] got a lot of attention, which is understandable," Mr Lavrov said. "President Trump mentioned that in the US, some circles are fuelling - even though they cannot prove [anything - the allegations of Russian meddling in the US elections."

When pressed, Mr Lavrov said that Mr Trump or Mr Tillerson would likely provide further information to the press.

Story continues

"In the course of the months that these allegations have been around, not a single fact has been presented, which is admitted by those in the [US] Congress who have led this movement at some point," Mr Lavrov said. "And President Trump said that he heard President Putin stating clearly that it is not true, that the Russian government did not meddle" in the elections."

Mr Trump left the scene of his conversation with Mr Putin, to head to Hamburgs Elbphilharmonie, a concert that is the venue for a formal G20 dinner. He was accompanied by the First Lady Melania Trump.

Earlier, the US President had spoken to reporters as he and Mr Putin posed for photographs before their discussions, accompanied only by their translators, Mr Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think its going very well, said Mr Trump. We look forward to a lot of very positive happenings for Russia and for the United States, and for everyone concerned.

For his part, Mr Putin said he was happy to be able to meet Mr Trump in person.

We spoke over the phone but phone conversations are never enough, definitely, he said. I hope that, as you have said, our meetings will yield positive results.

During the over two hours that the two presidents were in the meeting, the world leaders discussed a range of issues, including Russia's annexation of Crimea, a reported agreement for a cease fire in Syria, and ways to cooperate in the fight against terrorism in the world

"This is our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together in Syria," Mr Tillerson said of the cease fire in Syria, which was described as a potential building block to further cooperation in the war-torn country. Mr Trump and Mr Putin had a "lengthy discussion of other areas in Syria where we can work together."

Before the meeting between the two presidents, observers were keen to see how they would interract in person. The two countries haven't had the greatest relationship so far in Mr Trump's nascent presidency, and the White House has at times described the relationship with the Kremlin as at all-time lows. The relationship became exacerbated in April when Mr Trump ordered a missile strike on a Syrian government airbase in April to the chagrin of the Russian military.

The Russian government officially supports the embattled Syrian regime headed by Bashar al-Assad, while the US government has called for that president's ouster.

The 2017 G20 summit is the twelfth meeting of the Group of Twenty, which is an assembly of some of the most powerful countries on the planet, as well as the European Union.
During G20 meeting, Trump says Mexico will absolutely finance wall

Many Mexicans infuriated by Pena Nietos unwillingness to push back

Donald Trump has again humiliated Mexicos president Enrique Pena Nieto by repeating his claim  in the presence of the Mexican leader  that Americas southern neighbour would pay for a border wall.

Pena Nieto allowed Trumps comments to go unchallenged when the two leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Hamburg on Friday.

Asked by reporters if he expected Mexico to finance a border wall, Trump responded: Absolutely. Pena Nieto sat silently next to him.

The meeting  the first between the two leaders since Trump took office  again highlighted Trumps insensitivities toward Mexico, while Pena Nietos passivity brought back bad memories for many Mexicans.

Trump travelled to Mexico City when his campaign was sagging last August, and embarrassed Pena Nieto in the presidential palace by speaking publicly of his plans for fencing of the frontier. The Mexican president was fiercely criticised for failing to contradict Trump.

Earlier this year, the Mexican government announced that the two presidents had agreed not to talk in public about the wall  a deal that Trump has honored in the breach.

Trumps apparent inability to talk to Pena Nieto without offending Mexico, and the Mexican presidents apparent unwillingness to push back, have infuriated many Mexicans.

Carlos Bravo Regidor, a professor at the Centre for Teaching and Research in Economics in Mexico City, said: Trump broke the deal they had of not talking about the wall in public. And Pena Nieto should have called him, right there, to his face on. He didnt.

Trump is a bully, but Pena Nieto is a coward.

Jorge Ramos, the Univision anchor whom Trump expelled from a press conference during the campaign, tweeted: Trump says again that Mexico will pay for the wall. When will [Pena Nieto] dare to say to his face and in public that Mexico will not pay?

Story continues

Trump dice otra vez que Mexico pagara por el muro. Cuando se atrevera @epn a decirle a Trump en su cara y en publico que Mexico no pagara?  JORGE RAMOS (@jorgeramosnews) July 7, 2017

Leon Krauze, a prominent Mexican journalist, contrasted Pena Nietos behaviour with that of the French president Emanuel Macron, who greeted Trump with a white-knuckle handshake. Macron understood what EPN did not: in the face of Trumps schoolyard diplomacy, you have to act firmly in public. What counts is what is visible, he tweeted.

The two presidents were scheduled to meet 31 January in Washington, but Pena Nieto cancelled the visit after Trump tweeted his Mexican counterpart shouldnt bother coming if the wall wasnt on the agenda.

Before Trumps inauguration, Mexico had feared the worst from a Trump administration, but so far, it has not experienced the disaster many had anticipated.

The Mexican peso tumbled after Trumps election victory, but has raced back in 2017 as investors increasingly believe the president will be unable to enact his protectionism.

In a television address recorded before he headed to the G20, Trump repeated previous threat to tear up the Nafta free trade deal: We are pursuing a total renegotiation of Nafta. And if we dont get it we will terminate  that is end  Nafta forever.

Nafta negotiations are scheduled to start in August but despite Trumps threats, expectations are the treaty will be tweaked rather than terminated  which may explain Pena Nietos apparent eagerness to avoid open confrontation.



This government has decided to defend Nafta at any expense, including our dignity, said Brenda Estefan, a foreign policy analyst.



Still, many in Mexico expressed exasperation with trying to appease a president some historians have called the biggest foreign threat to Mexico since President James Polk, author of the Mexican-American war.

Pena Nieto tweeted later to say he had had a productive meeting with Trump, in which they reviewed advances in migration, security and economic development.



In a radio interview, Mexicos foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, described the meeting as friendly and respectful and said the wall was not discussed.

He said of Trumps comments: I didnt hear it. Pena also didnt hear it.
By Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton WARSAW (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Thursday to confront North Korea "very strongly" following its latest missile test and urged nations to show Pyongyang there would be consequences for its weapons program. North Korea on Tuesday test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that some experts believe has the range to reach Alaska and Hawaii and perhaps the U.S. Pacific Northwest. North Korea said it could carry a large nuclear warhead. Speaking at a news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda, Trump said North Korea was "a threat, and we will confront it very strongly". He said the United States was considering "severe things" for North Korea, but that he would not draw a "red line" of the kind that his predecessor, Barack Obama, had drawn but not enforced on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Trump added: "... they are behaving in a very, very dangerous manner and something will have to be done." U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the missile test in itself did not bring the parties closer to a war and stressed that America's focus was on diplomatic efforts to pressure Pyongyang. "We stand ready to provide (military) options if they are necessary. But this is a purely diplomatically led (effort)," Mattis told a small group of reporters at the Pentagon. "Diplomacy has not failed ... Diplomatic efforts remain underway as we speak." The issue presents Trump, who took office in January, with perhaps his biggest foreign policy challenge and has put pressure on his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom Trump had pressed without success to rein in Pyongyang. China on Thursday called for restraint and made clear it did not want to be targeted by U.S. sanctions. Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said that while China would implement relevant U.N. resolutions, "the U.S. should not use their domestic laws as excuses to levy sanctions against Chinese financial institutions". Russia objected on Thursday to U.N. Security Council condemnation of the North Korean rocket launch because the U.S.-drafted statement referred to it as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), diplomats said. Moscow has said it believes Pyongyang fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Tuesday, while China has not identified the rocket launched. North Korea said it tested an ICBM and the United States said that was likely true. "BAD BEHAVIOR" Trump flew to Hamburg on Thursday to attend a summit of leaders of Group of 20 developed nations, and was due to meet with Xi there. His frustration that Beijing has not done more to clamp down on North Korea prompted him to tweet on Wednesday: "Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!" Trump did not mention China in his remarks in Poland but his message that other countries needed to do more was clearly meant for Beijing. "President Duda and I call on all nations to confront this global threat and publicly demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences for their very, very bad behavior," he said. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday the United States would propose new U.N. sanctions in coming days, and that if Russia and China did not support the move, then "we will go our own path". Some diplomats say Beijing has not been fully enforcing existing international sanctions on its neighbor and has resisted tougher measures, such as an oil embargo, bans on the North Korean airline and guest workers, and measures against Chinese banks and other firms doing business with the North. U.S. officials have said the United States might seek unilaterally to sanction more Chinese companies that do business with North Korea, especially banks, echoing a tactic it used to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear program. (Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington, Marcin Goettig in Warsaw and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Kevin Liffey and James Dalgleish)
By Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton WARSAW (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Thursday to confront North Korea "very strongly" following its latest missile test and urged nations to show Pyongyang there would be consequences for its weapons program. North Korea on Tuesday test launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that some experts believe has the range to reach Alaska and Hawaii and perhaps the U.S. Pacific Northwest. North Korea said it could carry a large nuclear warhead. Speaking at a news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda, Trump said North Korea was "a threat, and we will confront it very strongly". He said the United States was considering "severe things" for North Korea, but that he would not draw a "red line" of the kind that his predecessor, Barack Obama, had drawn but not enforced on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Trump added: "They are behaving in a very, very dangerous manner and something will have to be done." U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the missile test in itself did not bring the parties closer to a war and stressed that America's focus was on diplomatic efforts to pressure Pyongyang. "We stand ready to provide (military) options if they are necessary. But this is a purely diplomatically led (effort)," Mattis told a small group of reporters at the Pentagon. "Diplomacy has not failed. ... Diplomatic efforts remain under way as we speak." Mattis spoke by phone with South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo on Thursday, reaffirming Washington's commitment to the U.S.-South Korea alliance and promising "the full range of U.S. capabilities." He spoke with his Japanese counterpart on Wednesday. The issue presents Trump, who took office in January, with perhaps his biggest foreign policy challenge and has put pressure on his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom the Republican president had pressed without success to rein in Pyongyang. China called on Thursday for restraint and made clear it did not want to be targeted by U.S. sanctions. Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said that while China would implement relevant U.N. resolutions, "the U.S. should not use their domestic laws as excuses to levy sanctions against Chinese financial institutions". Late on Thursday, court filings made public disclosed that U.S. authorities were trying to seize millions of dollars from companies that deal with North Korea, including the country's military, from eight large international banks. Russia objected on Thursday to U.N. Security Council condemnation of the North Korean rocket launch because the U.S.-drafted statement referred to it as an intercontinental ballistic missile, diplomats said. Moscow has said it believes Pyongyang fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Tuesday, while China has not identified the rocket launched. North Korea said it tested an ICBM and the United States said that was likely true. 'BAD BEHAVIOR' Trump flew to Hamburg on Thursday to attend a summit of leaders of the Group of 20 developed nations, and was due to meet with Xi there. His frustration that Beijing has not done more to clamp down on North Korea prompted him to tweet on Wednesday: "Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!" Trump did not mention China in his remarks in Poland but his message that other countries needed to do more was clearly meant for Beijing. "President Duda and I call on all nations to confront this global threat and publicly demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences for their very, very bad behavior," he said. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday the United States would propose new U.N. sanctions in coming days, and that if Russia and China did not support the move, then "we will go our own path." Some diplomats say Beijing has not been fully enforcing existing international sanctions on its neighbor and has resisted tougher measures, such as an oil embargo, bans on the North Korean airline and guest workers, and measures against Chinese banks and other firms doing business with the North. U.S. officials have said the United States might seek unilaterally to sanction more Chinese companies that do business with North Korea, especially banks, echoing a tactic it used to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear program. (Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington, Marcin Goettig in Warsaw, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by James Dalgleish and Peter Cooney)
Hamburg (AFP) - US President Donald Trump said Friday he still wants Mexico to pay for a planned border wall, as he met his Mexican counterpart for the first time as head of state.

Asked at the start of the meeting with Enrique Pena Nieto on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, if he still wanted Mexico to cough up the cash, Trump declared: "Absolutely".

But Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, who took part in the meeting, said the wall issue -- as agreed -- did not come up in the actual talks, and that he and Pena Nieto did not even hear Trump's comment.

"It wasnt part of our conversation (with Trump)," he told Mexicos Radio Formula.

"We didn't touch on that subject in our conversation, which lasted about half an hour -- partly because we have a well-known, significant difference of opinion on that," he said.

"Both sides had a prior agreement that the issue would not be on the agenda. If he made that comment, he must have made it very quietly, because I didn't hear it."

Building a wall between Mexico and the United States to stop illegal immigration and the inflow of drugs -- and Mexico paying for it -- was a signature campaign pledge of Trump's in last year's election.

The Trump administration has yet to make serious headway on getting it built or even on who will foot the hefty bill for the 3,200-kilometre (2,000-mile) barrier.

Under pressure from Democrats, the US Congress has so far refused to commit funding, agreeing only to finance maintenance on existing parts of a border fence.

The real battle will play out starting in October, when 2018 budget negotiations begin in earnest.

Last month Trump suggested covering the wall with solar panels and to use the energy to cover some of the construction costs.

"And this way, Mexico will have to pay much less money. And that's good. Right?", Trump told a crowd in Texas on June 22. "Pretty good imagination, right? My idea!"

Story continues

- US-Mexico relations -

US-Mexican relations have meanwhile nosedived since Trump entered the White House in January.

In January, Pena Nieto cancelled a trip to Washington in response to Trump's insistence on the issue, plunging the countries' relations into their biggest crisis in decades.

In addition Trump has angered Mexico with attacks on Mexican immigrants as "criminals, drug dealers and rapists" and his insistence on holding tough new trade negotiations with its southern neighbour.

Since the cancellation of the trip, the two leaders have since spoken by phone, and a series of high-level meetings between the two countries have eased the tension.

Trump first met Pena Nieto in August 2016 when he was still a presidential candidate.

In their Hamburg encounter Friday, before the comment about the wall, both presidents delivered statements with Trump hailing the "successful day" at the G20 so far.

"We're negotiating NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) and some other things with Mexico and we'll see how it all turns out, but I think we've made very good progress," Trump said.

Pena Nieto, through a translator, said that the meeting will help the two countries continue a "flowing dialogue", in particular "for the security of both nations, especially for our borders."

The Mexican president noted that "migration" is an issue that has "occupied" both administrations. He added that it was a "co-responsibility to deal with organised crime issues."
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tapped former U.S. ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker to be special representative to Ukraine, as the Trump administration grapples with how to end conflict in the war-shattered country more than three years after Russias invasion.

With Volkers appointment, announced hours before President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met face-to-face for the first time, the Trump administration now has a Russia hawk with extensive diplomatic experience charged with running the day-to-day slog ending a frozen conflict.

The fact that they appointed [Volker] is a sign this administration is serious about Ukraine, John Herbst, former U.S. ambassador to Kiev, told Foreign Policy.

That seriousness could push all sides into honoring the Minsk accords, an internationally-monitored ceasefire plan hastily brokered in 2015 as the conflict flared up.

Kurts wealth of experience makes him uniquely qualified to move this conflict in the direction of peace, said Secretary Tillerson in a statement released Friday. The United States remains fully committed to the objectives of the Minsk agreements, and I have complete confidence in Kurt to continue our efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine.

But his job could be made more difficult by Trump and Tillerson, who six months into office havent yet outlined a clear Ukraine strategy.

Its still a mystery as to where Trump and Tillerson are when it comes to Russia, when it comes to Ukraine, said Jim Townsend, a former senior Pentagon official for Europe and NATO policy. What will be [Volkers] marching orders? What is he supposed to do?

Volker has close ties to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a hawkish Senate heavyweight who hasnt backed down from clashing with Trump on foreign policy and defense issues. Volker is currently the executive director of Arizona State Universitys McCain Institute for International Leadership, named after the senator and his family.

Story continues

Volkers appointment could also signal growing U.S. cooperation with Germany after months of chilliness. Several diplomatic sources tell Foreign Policy German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked Trump to appoint a special envoy for Ukraine during her visit to Washington in March. While Berlin and Washington butt heads over trade and climate change, it at least appears Merkels wish was granted on Ukraine.

Germany and France have unwillingly replaced the United States in the drivers seat when it comes to ending the Ukraine conflict. Merkel and her French counterpart championed the Minsk accords in 2015 with Ukraine, Russia, and Russian-backed Ukrainian forces to bring about a ceasefire.

While the deal is a stepping-stone for long-term peace and the basis of EU sanctions on Russia, its hanging by a thread. Herbst said there are 70 to 80 ceasefire violations a day on the frontlines of the conflict, mostly by the Russian-backed separatists. The conflict in Ukraine has killed 10,000 and displaced some 2 million since it first began in 2014.

Tillersons new Ukraine envoy could breathe some much-needed life back into the drive for peace, whose momentum has slowed in recent years.

Unfortunately, there is some Ukraine fatigue in Europe right now. It has become accepted as a background condition in European security, said Tobias Bunde, a European security expert at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. Berlin would be quite happy if the United States would bring its power back to the negotiating table, he said.

Volker will be the first U.S. special representative to Ukraine who holds that position exclusively. Under former President Barack Obama, then-Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland held the special envoy role. Volker is expected to deal primarily with Vladislav Surkov, one of Putins closest advisors, in his new role.

And he could be thrown into the deep end right from the beginning. Hes expected to travel with Tillerson to Kiev on July 9 as the secretary of state meets with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and members of Ukrainian civil society.

Whats more, his appointment comes after Tillerson repeatedly insisted he wouldnt appoint any new special envoys until finishing a review of the State Departments organization. Current and former State Department officials tell Foreign Policy theres been a proliferation of special envoys in recent years that duplicate the departments efforts and suck power from the regional bureaus.

While Volker navigates the maze of peacemaking on Ukraine, hell also have to walk the tight-rope of Russia politics in Washington as the Trump administration struggles to shrug off its scandals and multiple investigations into its ties to the Kremlin.

In that sense, Volker will be a rare breed in the Trump administration, understanding how power works in the capital.

There arent many [Trump] appointees that know how to play the piano of Washington. But Kurt knows how to play the piano, Townsend told FP.

Volker served as U.S. ambassador to NATO from 2008 to 2009 under both former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Prior to that, he served in a variety of roles at the State Department and National Security Council.

Hes come out as a hawk against Russia and advocated in the past for sending Kiev lethal aid, something the last administration shied away from. That could soothe Washingtons European allies, who worried in the early days of the Trump presidency he could sell European security guarantees and support for Kiev down the river for some form of grand bargain with Putin.

[Volkers] appointment is reassuring, said Bunde. He wont be the guy who hands over eastern Ukraine to Russia.

Photo credit: AUDE VANLATHEM/AFP/Getty Images
Amid escalating tensions, the Wall Street Journal published a report Thursday estimating that North Korea could have nuclear capabilities that could reach the mainland of the United States as early as two years. On Twitter, the reaction was mixed, varying between an outcry about the threat that North Korea poses, and a distrust of the media.

Concern about North Korea's military capabilities comes as the authoritarian government, headed by Kim Jong Un, tested intercontinental ballistic missiles off their coast Tuesday. These tests have received widespread international condemnation from the U.N. and others while continuing to threaten the U.S.'s fraught relationship with the country.

To summarize the reaction on Twitter, one user asked the elephant-in-the-room: does this mean imminent war?

So how long until we're at war with North Korea?  Chuck (@cgibson412) July 6, 2017

READ: Trump Slams North Korea Missile Launch During Poland Visit: Something Will Have To Be Done About It

Others questioned the motives of The Wall St. Journal's reporting, suggesting that the media was part of "warmongering" while others suggested that the paper was part of the military-industrial complex.

We've seen this before. Warmongering narrative. Coming from the media? Disappointing!  Gordana (@Gordana15921685) July 6, 2017

Apparently the Wall st Journal is part of the military/industrial complex thru investments.  robertmramstad (@mrproam) July 6, 2017

Others observed Twitter's generally subdued attitude towards the escalation in tension between the two countries, noting that Rob Kardashian was trending over stories about North Korea's nuclear capabilities.

Story continues

#YouKnowItsBadWhen We are on the brink of nuclear war with North Korea, but Rob Kardashian is trending instead. #RobKardashian  Bob Marsdale (@BobMarsdale) July 6, 2017

Trump confronted the North Korean threat ahead of his meeting at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, promising to "confront very strongly" the issue of North Korea's "very, very bad behavior" in test-launching missiles.

"I have some pretty severe things that were thinking about," he told reporters in Poland.

READ: Why Does China Support North Korea? US Says It Would Limit Trade Deals With Nations Supporting Pyongyang

Trump also tweeted about the crisis, asking if Kim has "anything better to do with his life?" and called on China to put a "heavy move" on North Korea.

North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

....and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2017

Similarly, Nikki Haley called North Koreas first intercontinental ballistic missile test Tuesday a "clear and sharp military escalation" and warned that those "actions are quickly closing off the possibility of a diplomatic solution" to the growing crisis.

"Today is a dark day," Haley said at an emergency U.N. Security Council Meeting Wednesday. "It is a dark day because yesterdays actions by North Korea made the world a more dangerous place."

GettyImages-809706232

Photo: Photo by South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images)

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By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Amy Klobuchar, the top Democrat on the Senate antitrust panel, sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department on Friday urging that it reject any effort by the White House to inject politics into merger investigations. The letter follows a New York Times report saying that White House advisors battling television news station CNN mulled using a government review of AT&T Inc's plans to merge with CNN parent Time Warner Inc as leverage. "Any political interference in antitrust enforcement is unacceptable. Even more concerning, in this instance, is that it appears that some advisers to the president may believe that it is appropriate for the government to use its law enforcement authority to alter or censor the press," Klobuchar wrote in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Both the White House and Justice Department declined comment for this story. Klobuchar, who has herself expressed concern about the $85.4 billion megadeal, noted those concerns but added that the Justice Department's antitrust review should focus on consumer welfare rather than politics. Klobuchar also asked Sessions to report to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the antitrust subcommittee any White House staffer or presidential adviser who had contacted the Justice Department about the merger. President Donald Trump has not commented publicly on the deal since the election but during his campaign he said it was an example of a "power structure" that was rigged against him and "too much concentration of power in the hands of too few." (Reporting by Diane Bartz; editing by Diane Craft)
By Brian Ellsworth and Alexandra Ulmer CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's best-known jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez celebrated a surprise return to his family after being granted house arrest on Saturday with a promise to fight on following three years' imprisonment for leading anti-government protests. Hours after his pre-dawn transfer from the Ramo Verde military jail, Lopez appeared over a wall of his Caracas house, waving the Venezuelan flag and punching the air before a crowd of supporters who cheered and cried upon seeing him. In a message released by his party, the 46-year-old hardliner urged opposition supporters to continue street protests against President Nicolas Maduro, which are in their fourth month and have led to at least 90 deaths. "If maintaining my fight for freedom means running the risk of returning to a cell in Ramo Verde, I am more than happy to take it," he said in the message read by Freddy Guevara, the No. 2 in Lopez's Popular Will party. "Today, I am a prisoner in my house, but so are the Venezuelan people. What kept me going in the toughest days was knowing that whatever suffering I endured was nothing compared to our people." Lopez's release, aided by foreign pressure, gave some rare cheer to Venezuela's opposition who have otherwise seen Maduro give few concessions in their demands for freedom of activists, general elections and fixes for an economic crisis. "Despite being under house arrest, he showed his face to the country," said Maria Garcia, 36, a business consultant, outside his house. "What we need to do now is stay in the street, because we need to achieve not just the freedom of Leopoldo but also the freedom of the Venezuelan people." Fresh opposition street rallies were planned for Sunday. PRESIDENTIAL AMBITION A photogenic, Harvard-educated former mayor and economist, Lopez would likely be a popular opposition presidential candidate if able to run in any future vote. He is serving a sentence of nearly 14 years. While the socialist Maduro may be calculating Lopez's return home will ease pressure on him, opposition leaders presented it as a triumph for their protest strategy and a sign the government was caving. It was not clear, however, how Lopez's presence at home could materially weaken Maduro, who is plowing ahead with a plan to create a parliamentary superbody that will be able to rewrite the constitution and even dissolve state institutions. The opposition has long called Lopez a political prisoner, and leaders around the world, including U.S. President Donald Trump, had been pressing for his full freedom. The U.S. State Department called the decision a "significant step in the right direction," while urging full freedom for Lopez and another 400 opposition prisoners. Maduro for years opposed measures to release Lopez, describing him as a dangerous terrorist who sought to overthrow him through street violence. 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Though a hero to many, Lopez has also faced criticism from some within the opposition for at times being headstrong and domineering. He founded the Popular Will party after splitting with the First Justice party that he had also helped found. Though Lopez had publicly called for peaceful resistance to Maduro in 2014 and was behind bars during most of the unrest that year which killed 43 people, prosecutors said his speeches sent subliminal messages and constituted a call to violence. One of the prosecutors who led the case later fled the country and said the proceeding had been a mockery of justice. Lopez is the scion of wealthy families and a direct descendant of the sister of Latin American independence hero Simon Bolivar as well as of Venezuela's first president, Cristobal Mendoza. Pro-government critics paint him as a dangerous radical in the pocket of Venezuela's wealthy elite and the U.S. government. 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Australia's Great Barrier Reef is under serious threat as warming waters kill off large swaths of corals. But it's not "in danger"  at least not according to UNESCO.

The United Nations cultural body this week voted to leave the 133,000-square-mile World Heritage Site off its list of endangered sites, which is the last stage before a site is delisted altogether. Perplexingly, the same body last month warned the Great Barrier Reef will be dead by the end of this century unless countries sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

So, why the disconnect?

SEE ALSO: This adorable baby turtle blob is bringing hope to Southeast Asia

Because the decision has less to do with the reef's imperiled condition and more to do with avoiding political embarrassment for Australia's government and lasting damage to Australia's tourism industry.

Nemo, found.

Image: evergreen/unesco

The coral reef system represents around A$56 billion  or $42.4 billion in U.S. dollars  in economic, social, and brand value to the Australian economy, Deloitte Access Economics said in a recent report. The reef's status as a World Heritage Site is part of what makes it so iconic, recognizable, and inspiring to tourists around the world.

Australian officials breathed a sigh of relief after the World Heritage Committee voted on late Wednesday in Krakow, Poland.

"The announcement overnight was a big win for Australia and a big win for the [Malcolm] Turnbull government," Australia's Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg told Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Image: UNESCO

He said the vote was "a strong endorsement" of the government's Reef 2050 plan to improve water quality, reduce land clearing, and increase the reef's resilience to climate change by mid-century.

But coral reef experts and environmental groups said they were frustrated by the outcome.

Putting the Great Barrier Reef on the endangered list would create pressure on the Australian government to reduce planet-warming emissions and to take more aggressive steps to combat marine pollution, starfish invasions, and other local threats, critics said.

Story continues

"An endangerment listing, as tragic as that would be, would be a more realistic representation of the state of reef and would at least force the federal government to act on climate change," Alix Foster Vander Elst, Greenpeace Australia Pacific campaigner, told Reuters.

Damaged corals of Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Image: ED ROBERTS/ARC CENTRE CORAL REEF STUDIES HANDOUT/EPA/REX/Shutterstock

Even with its 2050 plan, Australia's management of the expansive natural wonder is facing increasing criticism as sweeping sections of the reef turn bleach-white.

In 2015 and 2016, the Great Barrier Reef suffered its largest die-off ever recorded due to unusually warm waters, with 35 percent of corals on the northern and central reef declared dead, the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies said in late May.

Scientists blamed human-caused global warming and a strong 2015 to 2016 El Nino for the hotter water temperatures, which can cause coral bleaching. In this phenomenon, corals expel their symbiotic algae and become more vulnerable to disease and death.

Sea surface temperature departures from average in March 2016.

Image: Mitchell Black

At the meeting in Poland, the World Heritage Committee did express "serious concern" about the health of the reef, which includes over 600 coral types and provides shelter and sustenance for thousands of marine species  everything from algae, worms, and snails to fish, turtles, and sharks.

But the decision not to list the reef as "in danger" suggests the committee believes the Australian government is doing enough to keep the precious reef from disappearing.

Given how rapidly oceans are warming, however, those efforts will likely fall far short, experts say.
Charlottesville (United States) (AFP) - Supporters of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday to protest the planned removal of a statue of General Robert E. Lee, who oversaw Confederate forces in the US Civil War.

The afternoon rally in this quiet university town has been authorized by officials in Virginia and stirred heated debate in America, where critics say the far right has been energized by Donald Trump's election to the presidency.

Be it the Ku Klux Klan, the alt-right or generic white supremacists, these conservatives have found a new cause in defending the Confederate flag and monuments in the US South that recall the era of slavery.

They are outdated, awful symbols of racism for many Americans, who are mobilizing to have them taken down from public places.

Anti-Klan protesters in Charlottesville got an early start overnight, throwing red paint on the bronze equestrian statue of the saber-wearing Confederate general. City workers were scrubbing the paint off early Saturday.

Watching the scene, Mason Pickett, a sixtyish retired businessman, said he regretted the decision by Charlottesville -- which he said had become an "ultraliberal city, even socialistic" -- to remove the statue.

"Statues can be good history, they can be bad history -- you may not like it and you may love it, but it's history," he said.

But Tina Young, a 49-year-old lawyer, said it was past time to remove signs of the state's Confederate past. Virginia and other Southern states had had plenty of time to do so, she said.

"In Washington D.C., they have put up a Martin Luther King statue, they have an Afro-American museum, they have a Jewish museum, they made the public space more fair and balanced," she said.

As to Robert E. Lee, she added, "he did represent slavery, he did fight a war against our government which killed thousands and thousands of soldiers, he could have chosen the better side but he didn't."

Story continues

- Klan members to be armed -

The debate is taking place in many former Confederate states, from Louisiana to Georgia and the Carolinas, and even in Washington, where a stained glass window in the National Cathedral depicts a Confederate soldier. Slaves in Washington were freed only a year after the start of the Civil War.

No major battle in that 1861-1865 war was fought in Charlottesville, population 50,000. But its passions have been stirred.

A pro-Democratic town linked to the university founded in 1819 by retired president Thomas Jefferson, people in Charlottesville said they abhor the planned arrival of members of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, a small white supremacist group based in North Carolina.

Many say they plan to stay away from the park where white supremacists plan to gather.

Others plan prayer services or peaceful meetings designed to show their rejection of racial intolerance.

All around, police have put up barriers and taken positions in hopes of averting any violence.

The Charlottesville police department, run by a black man, has arranged a massive security detail to keep the peace.

"I hope it doesn't turn violent," said Young, the lawyer. "We don't need more violence in this world."

In the end, the KKK adherents who turn out might only come to a few dozen. But they have warned they will be armed -- as Virginia's "open carry" law allows -- and ready to defend themselves if attacked.

- A wounding decision -

The KKK members will not be allowed to wear the pointy white hoods so emblematic of the group. The flowing white robes that were also part of the costume associated with lynchings and cross burnings against the night sky have faded away over time.

In this town of handsome red brick buildings, the decision in February to remove the Lee statue after years of debate has left deep wounds.

And it is actually on hold: a judge suspended the town council's narrow decision for six months until a court reviews the case.

"Robert E. Lee has a lot of admirers across the South, partly because Southern education has taught that he was this noble man who was a gentleman and worked very hard after the war for reconciliation," said Kristin Szakos, the town councillor behind the drive to bring down the statue.

"For a lot of people he is also more problematic, especially in the statue where he is depicted in full battle gear, riding against the United States of America," she added.

"We have lots of ways to learn history that aren't giant statues overlooking our downtowns."

In its heyday in 1925, the KKK had as many as four million members.

These days it has from 5,000 to 8,000, mainly in the deep South, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors and studies extremism in America.
Hacked emails and massive data breaches arent exclusive to big business. According to a 2016 State of SMB Cybersecurity Report, hackers have breached half of all small businesses in the United States.

Most small businesses cannot afford their own IT departments which makes them susceptible to internet attacks via email or fraudulent activity happening in their e-commerce shops.

Small businesses need all the help they can get.

One answer is the Small Business Administrations (SBA) Small Business Technology Coalition.

Formed in 2016, technology companies like Microsoft, Box, Square, Google, Wix and others pledged their support to provide technology education to the SBAs 23 million small businesses.

The SBA Tech Coalition (sba.gov/techcoalition) is a public-private partnership designed for small businesses to access the knowledge needed on topics such as e-commerce, social media and cybersecurity.

Small businesses need to be proactive and follow the top 10 Cybersecurity tips from the Federal Communications Commission:

1. Protect against viruses, spyware, and other malicious code.

Make sure each of your businesss computers are equipped with antivirus software and antispyware and updated regularly.

2. Secure your networks.

Safeguard your Internet connection by using a firewall and encrypting information.

3. Establish security practices and policies to protect sensitive information.

Establish policies on how employees should handle and protect personally identifiable information and other sensitive data.

4. Educate employees about cyber-threats and hold them accountable.

Educate your employees about online threats and how to protect your businesss data, including safe use of social networking sites.

Hold employees accountable to the businesss Internet security policies and procedures by requiring employees sign an acknowledgement statement.

5. Require employees to use strong passwords and to change them often.

Consider implementing multifactor authentication that requires additional information beyond a password to gain entry.

6. Employ best practices on payment cards.

Work with your banks or card processors to ensure the most trusted and validated tools and anti-fraud services are being used.

Isolate payment systems from other, less secure programs and do not use the same computer to process payments and surf the Internet.

7. Make backup copies of important business data and information.

Regularly back up data on all computers. Back up data automatically if possible, or at least weekly, and store the copies either offsite or on the cloud.

8. Control physical access to computers and network components.

Prevent access or use of business computers by unauthorized individuals. Administrative privileges should only be given to trusted IT staff and key personnel.

9. Create a mobile device action plan.

Mobile devices can create significant security and management challenges, require users to password protect their devices, encrypt their data, and install security apps to prevent criminals from stealing information while the phone is on public networks.

10. Protect all pages on your public-facing websites, not just the checkout and sign-up pages.

The FCCs cybersecurity hub at fcc.gov/cyberforsmallbiz has more information, including links to free and low-cost security tools.

The Napa-Sonoma Small Business Development Center at Napa Valley College provides workshops and one-on-one advising to help small businesses be successful.

For more information contact Valerie Bible at 707-256-7250 or go to napasonomasbdc.org
House Speaker Paul Ryan told members they must abide by the dress code: Getty

Women are being kicked out of parts of the US Congress for wearing sleeveless tops.

A female journalist was asked to cover up when she entered a room outside the House of Representatives chamber, because her shoulders were not covered.

Haley Byrd, who works for the Independent Journal Review website, is said to have torn pages from her notebook and stuffed them into her sleeveless dress in an attempt to create makeshift sleeves.

Officials nonetheless said her outfit was still not acceptable.

Women must not wear sleeveless blouses or dresses, trainers or open-toed shoes in the chamber or the Speakers Lobby just outside it.

Strict rules also apply to men, who are expected to wear suit jackets and ties in the House chamber and surrounding lobbies at all times.

There is no formal, written dress code in Congress and the regulations are largely based on tradition. Rules are also much more relaxed in the Senate than the House of Representatives.

The House Speaker, Paul Ryan, recently re-iterated the rules in an announcement in the chamber.

"Members should periodically rededicate themselves to the core principles of proper parliamentary practice that are so essential to maintaining order and deliberacy here in the House", he said.

"Members should wear appropriate business attire during all sittings of the House however brief their appearance on the floor may be."

Ms Byrd said the dress code has been more strictly enforced in recent months.

"When I was kicked out that day, I was just trying to pass through the area to reach another hallway, but I was told I was violating the rules, she told CBS News.

They offered to find a sweater for me to put on, so it wasn't some tyrannical end of free press, but I opted to just go around instead. But recently they've been cracking down on the code, like with open-toed shoes.

"I suspect the rules are being emphasised now that it's summertime and excruciatingly hot outside and everyone is dressing for the weather."

Story continues

The temperature in Washington DC is current 31C.

In Britain, John Bercow, the House of Commons Speaker, announced earlier this month that male MPs and journalists will no longer be required to wear ties in the chamber.

"I think the general expectation is that members should dress in businesslike attire," Mr Bercow said.

"So far as the chair is concerned... it seems to me that as long as a member arrives in the House in what might be thought to be business-like attire, the question of whether that member is wearing a tie is not absolutely front and centre stage."
This week, rumors have become reality and Microsoft has announced that its shedding sales jobs to focus on the cloud. Firing an estimated 3,000 people normally isnt a sign of good health for a company, but for Microsoft, its actually a good thing.

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Microsoft is implementing changes to better serve our customers and partners, Microsoft told CNBC. Today, we are taking steps to notify some employees that their jobs are under consideration or that their positions will be eliminated. Like all companies, we evaluate our business on a regular basis. This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time-to-time, re-deployment in others.

For once, this sounds like more than just corporatese. Reports have suggested that the layoffs will hit around 3,000 employees in the marketing and sales department, and focus mostly on sales staff who sold boxed software licenses. This is impressive, because it means that for the first half of 2017, Microsoft paid at least 3,000 people to sell boxed software licenses.

More important is what Microsoft intends to do with the money it saved. Satya Nadella, the Microsoft CEO who took over from Steve Ballmer, has always been passionate about Microsofts future in the cloud. From a consumer perspective, that means a focus on Office 365 subscriptions rather than standalone Office licenses; for Microsofts larger enterprise wing, that means more Azure.

You might not have heard much about Microsofts cloud computing platform before, but Azure is central to Microsofts plans to stay relevant for the next decade. Azure is Microsofts equivalent to Amazons wildly popular AWS cloud server product, and its proved profitable already. Microsoft doesnt break out specific financials for Azure, but we know that year-on-year, it grew 93 percent last quarter. Overall, Microsofts Commercial cloud products  which includes Azure and Office 365 Commercial  pulled down $14 billion in revenue in Q2 2017.

Story continues

Compare that to whats happened to Microsofts traditional business model. Sales of Windows licenses are difficult to break out, but the overall down trend in PC sales is terrible for trying to sell Windows. Add in that Microsoft has given up trying to charge people for upgrades, and the one thing thats overtly clear is that making money selling operating system licenses for PC is not realistic any more.

Thats why, despite the pain, Microsoft losing 3,000 sales employees to focus on cloud services, R&D, and enterprise support is the best thing the company could do in this position. All too often, we see dying internet companies trying to cling to the business model they know and love (ahem, Yahoo!). Instead, Microsoft has performed the difficult operation of pivoting a multi-billion-dollar company to a completely new way of making money.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
Boys in fourth and fifth grades in Yakir, an Israeli settlement in West Samaria, underwent weapons training camps at their school.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The girls, meanwhile, underwent "modesty and creativity" activities, involving workshops on hairdressing, manicuring and styling.

According to testimonies, the children were trained with real M16 rifles, although ones lacking the striker (the firing mechanism).

A few parents expressed outrage at the contents of the summer camp, some even calling it a "Hamas camp."

At the summer camp, which was held with the approval of the IDF, dozens of fourth and fifth graders participated under the auspices of the Shomron Regional Council.

The weapons were used as part of an "army day" held at the camp.

In his explanation, the camp director said "we did not receive any calls from (the children's) parents (against it). This was done with the approval of the security personnel in the town. They brought the weapons and everything was conducted in complete safety.

"It was part of an 'army day' in which we taught the children about the subject."

The Shomron Regional Council said in response that "Yakir is a leading community in educational and moral values. As part of the educational activities of the summer camp, an 'army and community day' was held in cooperation with the IDF, just as activities are held to familiarize (children) with the IDF on Independence Day each year."

"The activity in question is one of ten activity stations that also included awareness of Magen David Adom (MDA, Israel's national emergency medical service) activities," Shomron Regional Council added, emphasizing that it "will continue to educate children to values of Zionism, love of the land and values of the IDF without apology."
Emelia Brobbey is easily one of the best actresses in Ghana. She and stars like Nana Ama McBrown, Agya Koo, Mercy Asiedu, and Lil Win have shaped the Kumawood movie into the multi-million dollar business it is today.

Click here to get the latest news on entertainment.

Emelia Brobbey

READ ALSO: Here are the luxurious cars and costly mansion of Jackie Appiah

She has become one of the biggest names in Kumawood.

Emelia is one of the most recognisable faces in the country.

She has an enchanting personality.

And is many people's favourite movie star.

Emelia is good at what she does.

She has many awards to prove how phenomenal she is at acting.

She has also made a lot of money from her career as a movie star.

This wealth has enabled her to finance holiday trips to countries like England, France and Austria.

The actress often shares pictures from such trips with her fans on social media.

Emelia also has a taste for luxury cars.

Here, she poses for a picture on a luxurious convertible.

A Toyota Rav4 vehicles is one of the cars in the actress' fleet.

Emelia also lives in a lovely house.

Hard work really pays, and Emelia is proof of that.

YEN.com.gh wishes her all the best in her endeavours.

READ ALSO: 9 popular Ghanaian celebrities who failed at exams but won at life

Let us have your views on this article in the comments section below.

We invite your stories and tips for publication on YEN.com.gh. Contact us now on Facebook or via email at info@YEN.com.gh.

"

Source: YEN.com.gh
Dear Len and Rosie,

I am a married woman and I have a trust with my husband.

Years ago, my mother passed away and left me an inheritance, which included $50,000 that I earmarked in an account in my name for the college education of my two grandchildren.

The gift has grown to $72,000. I would like to reinvest this money in something that will give me a higher rate of return.

Can I do this without affecting our revocable trust or my husbands community property?

I do not trust my husband with this money. He does not like my family and would either spend the money or give it to his children if he gets his hands on it.

Rose

Dear Rose,

You can do anything you want with your money.

Normally everything that you acquire during your marriage is community property. Most people who have never been divorced still think in terms of his or her paycheck  this is wrong.

Our community property system recognizes that the contributions of the spouse at home are just as important to the marriage as the contributions of the breadwinner. You own half of your husbands earnings and he owns half of yours unless you signed a prenuptial agreement that says otherwise.

Anything you receive as a gift or an inheritance, and anything you acquired prior to your marriage is your separate property.

That means the money you inherited from your mother is yours to do with as you please.

If you have your separate property at an entirely different financial institution from your community assets, it will be easier for you to keep your separate property separate.

You should be careful not to accidentally turn your separate property inheritance into community property.

Do not put your husbands name on the title to the account. Keep the money in only your name and Social Security Number.

You could put the money into your revocable trust but only if your lawyer says its OK.

We think that you should keep the money out of your trust because its cleaner that way. If you die first, your husband will be in charge of your trust, and no one will be looking over his shoulder.

Who knows what he will do?

You can put the money into pay-on-death accounts with your grandchildren as beneficiaries, or even in a tax-deferred college fund with the State of Californias Scholar Share program (800-544-5428 or scholarshare.com).

Your generosity could affect your grandchildrens eligibility for scholarships, student loans and tuition assistance, so you should probably discuss this with your children first.

Once the account is set up, do not deposit your earnings or retirement income into that account, because that income or a portion of it may be community property.

When you mix community property with separate property, its called commingling and you want to avoid this at all costs. In the event of a divorce or a lawsuit after you or your husband dies, the burden of proof would be against you to show how much money in the account is actually separate property. So keep it separate.

Len and Rosie
Commemorating its 40th year in business, sparkling water company Crystal Geyser Water Company, which has a location in Calistoga, announced the re-introduction of its classic glass bottle of Sparkling Natural Mineral Water.

Sourced and bottled in California, it speaks to the companys future and legacy of purity, quality and family traditions, said a news release. It will be available for purchase in 12-ounce and one-liter bottles starting this summer.

Crystal Geyser Water Company was founded in 1977 by Peter Gordon and Leo Soong, who searched extensively for years to find the perfect water.

They discovered it in Napa Valley, known for its wines and volcanic geysers. In 1981, the entrepreneurial duo was the first to introduce sparkling flavored mineral waters to the U.S. market.

Gordon and Soong attribute the products success to the water itself, which comes entirely from private, protected and licensed sources in the state of California, said the release.

Flavored Crystal Geyser Sparkling Waters are enhanced with natural essences of fresh fruit. The essences are extracted to preserve the delicate aromas and flavor. There arent any artificial flavors or sweeteners added. Flavors include lime, lemon, orange, mixed berry, peach and pineapple-mango.

For our founders, finding the best tasting water in the world was only just the beginning, said Judy Yee Crystal Geyser, executive vice president of marketing and innovation.

For 40 years, weve brought people together. Weve been at your table, sharing in the big celebrations and the everyday moments in between. Were proud of our products and our team, but at the end of the day, we believe its the shared joy and connection with others that puts a little extra sparkle in our lives.

Over the years, Crystal Geyser has maintained its sparkling water operations in Calistoga. The company plans to open a production facility in Mt. Shasta. The company employs more than 120 people, many of whom have been with the company for decades.

The new one-liter glass bottles will be available starting in August with an average price of $2 per bottle.
Marie Stone

Marie Stone, born Sept. 7, 1914, passed peacefully on the 4th of July 2017, at her home for the last 17 years, the home of her daughter and caretaker, Bernie Edrosolan and son-in-law, David.

Marie was born in Waddington, California, to Joseph and Clothilda Katri. Marie was the second oldest of five siblings. Her father contracted pneumonia and died shortly after her ninth birthday. She happily helped her mother with the younger siblings and chores on the family farm.

Marie graduated from Ferndale High School in 1933 and went to nursing school at Providence Nursing School in Oakland, California. She developed pneumonia while in nursing school, hospitalized for three months, and placed in intensive care where she almost died. She always talked about how she nearly died in nursing school.

Marie finally finished nursing school in 1937 and returned home to get her first nursing job at St. Josephs Hospital in Eureka, California. She worked at St. Josephs until the war broke out. She decided to enlist in the U.S. Army to help her country. Marie was very patriotic; it is somewhat fitting that if she had to leave us it was on the 4th of July, a day she loved.

Marie ended up in Santa Maria, California, where she met George Stone, from Savannah, Georgia. He was the love of her life. They married as the war ended and began their lives together in their first home just outside Vallejo in Napa County near Chabot Terrace. They lived there for four years while they started their family by having their first three children: Patty, Bernie, and Rodney.

They moved to Fairfield in 1952 where they bought a home. Marie worked at the County Hospital. Their new home was close enough to where the family lived so she could walk to work.

Michael, their fourth child, was born and they thought their family was complete. But three years later a real surprise came  their fifth child, George, was born. George was named after his dad. Shortly after George Jr was born, our father had a severe heart attack and stroke which immobilized him and rendered his left side completely paralyzed.

Maries life became quite difficult as she raised her family of five children, worked full-time, and took care of her husband. Marie never complained about how hard her life became or how much she had to work to keep it all together. She always made the best of it.

In 1962, her husband passed away. Marie always worked very hard to keep her family together and instilled in her children good values and a strong work ethic. Maries mottos were: Treat everyone like you would want to be treated; never give up; where theres a will, theres a way; and have some type of spiritual belief.

Marie retired in 1984 after 37 years at the County Hospital, but then went back to work part-time at a clinic in Vallejo. After the clinic closed, she completely retired in her late 70s. Marie never remarried and devoted her life to raising her five children.

Even though she retired from working, she always kept very busy. On the weekends she drove to her childrens homes in San Rafael, Novato and Napa, to take care of her grandchildren. Marie has 15 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren and enjoyed spending time with them, as she loved them all dearly.

Marie always took pride in her yard. She mowed her lawn every week and babied her beautiful roses at her house in Fairfield. She also hand-washed her little red Mercedes every week, which she bought for herself on her 70th birthday.

In 1999, Marie decided to sell her home and move to Napa to be closer to her family. She moved in with her daughter, Bernie, and her son-in-law, David. Her sons were also close by with Rod and George in Napa and Mike in Novato.

Marie enjoyed living in Napa. Her biggest hobby consisted of watching the Giants and the Warriors and going to all of her great-grandchildrens sporting events.

Marie was nearly 103 years-old when she passed away. If you asked Marie what her secret to longevity was, she would say, Have a positive attitude, exercise, eat well, take your vitamins and enjoy each day!

Marie is survived by Bernie (David) Edrosolan, Rodney (Jocelyne) Stone, and George Stone Jr, all of Napa, and Mike (Cathy) Stone of Novato, Patricia (Earl) Hokenson of Tiburon, California, 15 grandchildren and 25 great grandchildren.

Please join the family for a celebration of Maries life on July 15, 2017, from 4-8 p.m. at Bernie and Davids home in Napa. A mass in Maries honor will be held at St. Apollinaris Catholic Church at 1 p.m., followed by burial at Tulocay Cemetery in Napa. Donations in Maries name may be made to your favorite charity or to Hospice by the Bay.
AMERICAN CANYON  The city may have a new way of adding affordable housing units to the city, thanks to some changes in state law.

The City Council gave initial approval to a new ordinance this month governing Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), otherwise known as second units, in-law units or granny flats.

These ADUs consist of converted garages, backyard cottages, or portions of a house that homeowners rent out.

American Canyon crafted a new ordinance to replace its old one addressing second dwelling units in order to comply with a series of new state laws that went into effect at the beginning of this year.

California lawmakers approved the laws (SB 1069, AB 2299, and AB 2406) in an attempt to generate more ADUs in a state where affordable housing is in short supply for many cities.

Community Development Director Brent Cooper said the state of California decided ADUs could serve as a form of affordable housing, and authorized cities to count these units toward meeting low- and very low-income housing goals for Regional Housing Needs Allocation plans.

ADUs are, in fact, the most practical way to add affordable housing in American Canyon, said Councilmember Mark Joseph.

Thats a good thing, he said.

Theyre practical from the citys standpoint because ADUs dont require funding from American Canyon, unlike new affordable housing projects, such as Valley View Seniors Homes, that must be built from scratch.

A key city role in facilitating ADUs is through the permitting process that homeowners must follow to develop these units on their property.

With this role in mind, American Canyon has decided to make it less costly for residents to convert part of a home or build a cottage on their land.

As part of its new ordinance, the city wants to slash its impact fees for ADUs. Certain fees  those related to water and wastewater  would be eliminated, while others would be trimmed to a fraction of what they once were, if the new ordinance is approved a second time by the City Council on July 18.

Altogether, the impact fees for creating an ADU would go down from $26,743 to $3,102, according to Cooper.

Some council members wondered if lowering the fees so much might result in homeowners making lots of money on this, particularly if they decide to charge more than affordable rates for their units.

Councilmember Kenneth Leary asked Cooper how the city would know if ADUs would really be as affordable as California officials believe.

The community development director said American Canyon is still a small town, and that it wouldnt be difficult for city officials to keep tabs on local ADU rents to see if they are renting at low or very low income levels.

The city, however, couldnt cap the rents on ADUs without running afoul with state law governing rent control. Cooper added that the state has an expectation that the units would fall into a low- or very low-income category.

One thing American Canyon could do to prevent the units from being misused would be to bar homeowners from using ADUs as short-term rentals, such as those listed on Airbnb.

Under the old ordinance for second dwelling units, the city didnt restrict this use. But under the new ordinance, it would bar ADUs serving as vacation rentals because state law now forbids these units from being rented for less than 30 days.

Overall, the changes in law and encouraging more ADUs will increase the housing stock, said Joseph, despite any unintended consequences and people trying to push the limits on rents.

He and other councilmembers did ask Cooper to come up with some changes to the ordinance before it returns for a second vote.

City Manager Dana Shigley told the American Canyon Eagle that two topics that remained a bit unclear were enforceability and affordability for ADUs.

We will be providing a bit more info on how we might enforce rules related to ADUs, said Shigley. Also, there is some question as to how we can count these units towards our affordable housing requirements. We will provide additional info on that, too.

Shigley added American Canyon isnt the only municipality trying to figure out how to comply with the new state laws.

Many cities are dealing with some of the same questions, and there arent necessarily good answers yet, she said. It will take time for some of the details to get sorted out.
Napa households and businesses have continued cutting back on their water use in recent years  but such civic-mindedness has also cut revenues the city needs to keep its water system in top shape.

Amid this paradox, water officials may bring a rate increase to local customers this fall, in the hope of meeting maintenance and treatment expenses that stay constant even as consumption goes down.

A rate hike proposal may come before the City Council in August, according to Joy Eldredge, manager of the Water Division. State law would then require Napa to notify property owners  and give them a chance to oppose the move  before it can take effect, a step Eldredge predicted could happen as soon as October.

The Water Division in February announced it would see $7.1 million less revenue in the 2016-17 fiscal year, which ended June 30, than its original forecast of $26.6 million. Most of the decline resulted from plunging income from water sales, which missed earlier predictions by $5 million for sales within Napa and $1 million from sales outside the city.

Although the size of any rate boost has not yet been announced, Eldredge pointed to the need to adjust to sharp reductions in water use during the drought that ran from 2012 to 2016.

Whether people consume high or low amounts, we still have to maintain the pipes, Eldredge said Wednesday. If theres a fire somewhere, people still expect us to be able to fight it.

However, neither Napa nor other local governments in the same bind can act on their own.

Giving landowners veto power over fees and charges is a requirement created by Proposition 218, which California voters passed in 1996. Cities, counties and special districts planning such a hike must notify ratepayers by mail, then hold a public forum within 45 days of sending the notice.

The prospective rate increase is voided if a majority of property holders in the city protest it either at the forum or by mail, according to Brian Cochran, Napa finance director. Otherwise, the council can approve the hike and the city would likely put it into effect for the first monthly billing cycle afterward.

Any boost in the water rate would have to mine more money out of an annual water usage level that has dropped from more than 15,000 acre-feet before the start of the California drought in 2012 to 12,013 in the 2016 calendar year.

Consumption in May reached 1,338 acre-feet  up by 165 acre-feet from the same month in 2016, but still 26 percent less than what Napans used in May of 2013. (One acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons and has traditionally been used as the yardstick for a family of fours average yearly consumption, though the Water Division has said that more efficient landscaping, plumbing and household habits can cut that level by half or more.)

An April 2015 drought declaration by Gov. Jerry Brown required cities to reduce their water consumption by 20 percent from 2013 levels, and document their savings monthly. Napa responded with a wave of rules that included irrigation curbs and other restrictions on outdoor water use, as well as more heavily promoting cash incentives to replace household grass with drought-tolerant plants.

Although the mandate expired after a year, Eldredge reported continued progress in Napa toward water thrift  enough that she saw any significant consumption increase as unlikely no matter how bountiful future winter rains are.

Theres so much information out there, and people so well informed, that I dont expect us to bounce back (in water use) the way we did after 1992, she said, referring to the tail end of a previous six-year drought in California.  Weve seen the trend since the late 90s that even with increased growth around the city, demand has been on a downward trend.
Longtime Napa Valley winemaker Dimitri Tchelistcheff died at his Hawaii home on July 5, Jarvis Estate announced Friday. He was 87.

The French-born winemaker was the son of legendary winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff and he came to Napa County with his family at age 6, in 1936. As a young man, he worked as a lab assistant for his father and later pursued an Enology degree at U.C. Davis while continuing to work summers at the historic Buena Vista Winery.

After graduation, he served in the U.S. Army and returned to Napa County to follow in his fathers footsteps, starting at Schramsberg Vineyards in 1955. Over his career, he worked at Gallo, Bodegas de Santo Tomas, the oldest winery in Baja, Mexico, and finally at Jarvis Estate, where he became winemaker in 1993 after consulting for several years. In all, he worked with Jarvis for nearly three decades and he consulted with dozens of other wineries.

He is survived by his wife Hisako Martha, his son Glen, daughter-in-law Laureen, and his granddaughter Nicole, all of whom were at his bedside at time of his death, Jarvis said. Messages of condolence and remembrance can be sent to Jarvis Estate and will be forwarded to his family in Hawaii.
Downtown Napa merchants on First and Second streets are reporting a mixed bag when it comes to business so far this summer.

Citing many factors, including construction at First Street Napa and the Archer Hotel, downtown festivals and the number of visitors, some retailers have seen a decrease in sales, while others report the opposite.

Molly Silcox of Antiques on Second and the Annex of Antiques on Second said her business is down slightly this summer.

Based on the languages she hears her customers speaking, she thinks the number of shoppers from outside of the U.S. has decreased.

Im hoping that international travel picks up, and those tourists come downtown this summer.

Silcox also said that some customers have commented on traffic speeding up and down Second Street. Now that the stop signs on the street have been removed, cars drive faster and are less likely to stop for those in the crosswalk, she said. In addition, drivers are not stopping to see the businesses, that line the streets, she said.

Silcox said one thing that will help is that the new owner of the historic post office, Jim Keller, recently cleaned up the landscaping in front of the building, which remains fenced off after the 2014 earthquake.

Jennifer Dillingham from Sole Desire on First Street said shes ready for the Archer Hotel across the street to finish and open up because the construction and empty storefronts in the former Town Center confuse visitors.

Wheres the shopping? is a common question she hears from tourists.

Muguette Renee Rinaldi of Muguette Renee Boutique on Second Street had a different perspective.

The minute the rain was over, we saw a huge change in foot traffic. I think it was so wet this winter, fewer people wanted to go out and shop, she said.

So far this summer business is going well, she said. Im happy as a clam.

Rinaldi makes a point to stay open later to catch the Uptown Theater crowds coming and going. She also has a booth at the Farmers Market which helps direct visitors to her storefront.

Her plan for the rest of the summer is to keep building her business and get ready for the holidays.

Peggy Owens Erridge, owner of Beaded Nomad, said her summer season has been lackluster so far.

Owens Erridge recently transitioned her First Street business to include clothing as well as beads, decor and other items.

She guessed that the Archer Hotel and the Shops at Napa Center would open around this time and therefore increased her inventory.

I overbought, she admitted, and the demand for some of her products hasnt been met.

When asked, the merchant said she has noticed an increased number of younger people in her store compared to last year. People in their 20s and 30s seem to use Napa as a day trip destination while they stay overnight in San Francisco.

What does help business are festivals like Napa Live: Inside & Out, she said. However, in the past, One of my best days was Blues, Brews and BBQs and now theyve moved that out of downtown, to the Oxbow Commons, she said.

As for the rest of the summer, Im hoping as we get closer to crush, things will pick back up again.

Bulah Cartwright of Inti said that sales have slowly been creeping up, since the former Town Center emptied.

Cartwright said there has been a mix of older people and younger people in her store. BottleRocks been good here, Jazz Fests also been good here, Fourth of July has been good.

Cartwright said shes anxious for the new Shops at Napa Center to begin opening. Weve been ready for years.

Asked about her summer sales, Patricia Trimble, owner of the Roost on Second Street, raised her hands in a shrugging motion and said, Its been a challenge down here.

Business at the Roost is down compared to last year, she noted. Trimble said she thinks locals are suffering from construction fatigue. She also noted shoppers are congregating at the other end of First and Second streets closer to the Main Street intersection.

To sustain her business, shes stepped up her social media and marketing. For example, Trimble recently hosted a photography exhibit of local women draped in or holding the American flag.

I continue to beat the drum to come downtown, said Trimble.
13 Reasons Why is a recently produced Netflix series in which a young girl struggles with issues of bullying and repeated victimization. It is popular among teens and parents are urged to be watchful and aware. The series graphically portrays the story of a teenage girl who recounts despair and hopelessness and efforts to obtain help but is repeatedly failed by friends, family, and professionals. The film portrays her 13 reasons for suicide. The graphic nature of the film and its contents can leave viewers feeling unsafe emotionally and may trigger acts of self harm. I am moved to write to urge parents to be aware of this series and talk openly with their children if they have viewed the film.

The following is a summary of advice from the National Association of School Psychologists:

GUIDANCE FOR FAMILIES

1. Ask your child if they have heard or seen the series 13 Reasons Why. While we dont recommend that they be encouraged to view the series, do tell them you want to watch it, with them or to catch up, and discuss their thoughts.

2. If they exhibit any of the warning signs above, dont be afraid to ask if they have thought about suicide or if someone is hurting them. Raising the issue of suicide does not increase the risk or plant the idea. On the contrary, it creates the opportunity to offer help.

3. Ask your child if they think any of their friends or classmates exhibit warning signs. Talk with them about how to seek help for their friend or classmate. Guide them on how to respond when they see or hear any of the warning signs.

4. Listen to your childrens comments without judgment. Doing so requires that you fully concentrate, understand, respond, and then remember what is being said. Put your own agenda aside.

5. Get help from a school-employed or community-based mental health professional if you are concerned for your childs safety or the safety of one of their peers.

GUIDANCE FOR TEENS

1. Suicide is never a solution. It is an irreversible choice regarding a temporary problem. There is help. If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or know someone who is, talk to a trusted adult, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or text START to 741741.

2. Don't be afraid to talk to your friends about how they feel and let them know you care about them.

3. Be an upstander and take actions to reduce bullying and increase positive connections among others. Report concerns.

4. Never promise to keep secret behaviors that represent a danger toward another person.

5. Suicide is preventable. People considering suicide typically say something or do something that is a warning sign. Always take warning signs seriously and know the warning signs.

Emily Baker

Licensed Educational Psychologist

St. Helena
We are most appreciative of the generosity of the Calistoga Soroptomists who sponsored our Register to Vote table at the Napa County Fair on July 4, 2017. The Soroptomists paid the $75 booth charge and covered us under their insurance. The Fair does not have any provision for local grass roots organizations that are not registered as non-profit.

The Calistoga and St. Helena ladies of the resistance who trained, coordinated, decorated, and staffed the table at the Fair would not have had a presence at the Napa County Fair since our organizing has never included any fund raising.

We attended training for registering voters arranged by John Tuteur, at the county election offices in preparation. Voting is one of the rights and privileges of all citizens and should be exercised by all who are qualified. It must also be protected lest it be taken from us. We are also planning to work with the League of Women Voters before the next election, to register voters in the upcoming senior classes at Calistoga and St. Helena high schools.

Karen B. Chang, on behalf of all the ladies of Calistoga and St. Helena who contributed to staffing the Register to Vote table on July 4th.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-07 20:08:34|Editor: Yang Yi

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TIANJIN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Doctors in China will soon read patient breast scans with the help of machines.

The National Clinical Research Center for Cancer (NCRCC) said Friday that it has signed a deal with the Institute of Computing Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to use artificial intelligence in medical imaging.

Their first cooperation focus lies in reading ultrasound breast scans and mammograms, two common methods used in breast screening.

The aim is to improve diagnosis accuracy and encourage breast cancer screening in regions of high prevalence and rural areas where experienced medical professionals are in short supply, according to the agreement.

"Medical imaging is where artificial intelligence can play a big role," said Zhao Yi, a CAS computer professor. "We use deep learning technology to build models based on the experience of radiologitsts."

He said the machine would have read hundreds of thousands of breast scan reports before it assumes the post of a doctor's assistant. When it is called on to read the scans, the machine can produce a highly-accurate report in just a few seconds.

It is not immediately clear when clinical use will begin and how many hospitals will benefit..

Chinese scientists with state institutions or leading tech firms are racing to achieve breakthroughs in use of artificial intelligence. Health care has been identified as a promising area for the technology.

Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor among Chinese women, with about 272,000 new cases reported in China in 2015. More than 71,000 people died of breast cancer that year.

NCRCC director Hao Xishan said that if found early, 95 percent of breast cancer patients could be cured. However, challenges remain in rural and remote areas where patients often do not get tested until it is too late.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-07 20:34:08|Editor: Yang Yi

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HAMBURG, Germany, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday called for building an open world economy and supporting the multilateral trading regime.

He made the remarks at the annual summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) major economies in Hamburg, a port city in northern Germany.

This year's summit, scheduled for July 7-8, is themed with "Shaping an Interconnected World."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 00:07:15|Editor: An

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Chinese President Xi Jinping presides over an informal leaders' meeting of the emerging-market bloc, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng)

HAMBURG, Germany, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday urged the BRICS members to unswervingly promote the building of an open world economy, multilateralism and common development.

He made the appeal at an informal leaders' meeting of the emerging-market bloc, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, ahead of a Group of 20 (G20) summit in the German port city of Hamburg.

The BRICS leaders exchanged views on the current international political and economic circumstances and the G20's priorities, and reached important agreements on strengthening BRICS unity and coordination, jointly improving global economic governance and promoting sustainable development.

"Currently, the global economy is showing some positive signs, and the prospects for the development of BRICS countries are growing brighter in general, which is very inspiring," said Xi, who presided over the meeting.

However, there have also emerged some challenges that require the BRICS countries to watch closely and handle properly, he added, pointing out that this year's G20 summit comes at a critical moment when the global political and economic situation is undergoing profound adjustments.

Noting that the BRICS countries are all important G20 members, he called on the bloc to support Germany as the host of the summit, and to send a signal that the G20 is committed to fostering partnership, building an open world economy, and boosting global economic growth.

"The BRICS countries should uphold the spirit of partnership that features openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, strengthen unity and cooperation, safeguard common interests and seek interconnected development," he said.

The Chinese leader proposed that the BRICS countries need to unswervingly promote the building of an open world economy, safeguard the multilateral trade system, and steer economic globalization towards openness, inclusiveness, universal benefit, balance and win-win results so that all the people can benefit from economic growth and globalization.

"We should unswervingly follow multilateralism," he said, urging the five-member bloc to push for political and peaceful settlement of regional conflicts and disputes as well as peaceful co-existence of different nations.

He added that the BRICS members should advocate the full use of multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations, so as to jointly negotiate international rules, build partnerships and deal with all sorts of global challenges.

Xi also called on the BRICS leaders to improve global economic governance and consolidate the role of the G20 mechanism as the premier platform for international economic cooperation.

The BRICS countries, he suggested, should push all major economies to better coordinate their macroeconomic policies, implement the consensus reached at the Hangzhou and all other previous G20 summits, and create an environment conducive to the development of emerging-market economies and developing countries.

"We should unswervingly promote common development," he added, urging the BRICS nations to push the G20 to follow through on the achievements of last year's Hangzhou summit, including an action plan on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and an initiative to support industrialization in Africa and the least developed countries, so as to support their capacity building and help them stride forward in their development.

Noting that the BRICS leaders will gather in the southeastern Chinese seaside city of Xiamen for this year's summit in two months, Xi said preparations for the event are proceeding smoothly.

Xi added that he looks forward to working with other BRICS leaders to ensure that the Xiamen summit, themed "deepening the BRICS partnership and opening up a brighter future," will deliver fruitful results, so as to inject fresh impetus into BRICS cooperation, offer new solutions on improving global governance, and make new contributions to global economic growth.

The BRICS leaders agreed that the emerging-market bloc is facing both challenges and opportunities at the moment.

They stressed that the BRICS countries should maintain the sound momentum in their cooperation in political, economic and cultural areas, deepen practical cooperation in all sectors, and boost the unity and influence of the emerging-market bloc.

They also vowed to push the G20 to send out positive messages, promote the building of a more just and reasonable world order, and foster a stable, open, inclusive and all-win development environment for emerging-market economies and developing countries.

The BRICS leaders also voiced unanimous support for China to host the upcoming summit, and pledged to work with China to achieve positive results at the Xiamen meeting.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 01:53:12|Editor: ying

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HAMBURG, Germany, July 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held their first ever and much-anticipated sit-down discussion on Friday on the sidelines of the G20 Hamburg summit.

The meeting lasted about 2 hours and 20 minutes, focusing on the situation in Ukraine and Syria, fight against terrorism and cyber security, according to Russian news agency Sputnik.

"I had a very lengthy conversation with the President of the United States. There were a lot of issues such as Ukraine, Syria, other problems, some bilateral issues," Putin said at the beginning of his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

"We again returned to the issues of fighting terrorism and cyber security," Putin added.

The Trump-Putin formal meeting came hours after a brief encounter upon arrival at the Hamburg summit, during which they shook hands and exchanged a few words.

Trump began their meeting by saying, "President Putin and I have been discussing various things. And I think it is going very well."

"We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, for the United States and for everybody concerned. And it is an honor to be with you," Trump said.

"I'm delighted to meet you personally, and I hope our meeting will bring results," Putin said after shaking hands with Trump.

Following the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Putin-Trump meeting was constructive and confirmed desire to search for mutually-beneficial agreements, according to Sputnik.

There were opportunities to speed up implementation of the Minsk Agreement on Ukraine, Lavrov said.

The Minsk agreement, which envisages a comprehensive ceasefire and a withdrawal of heavy weapons from the contact line, is aimed at a peaceful ending of the confrontation in Ukraine, which has killed more than 10,000 people and left almost 24,000 others injured.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Trump and Putin have agreed on a ceasefire deal covering part of Syria.

The ceasefire is to take effect on July 9 at noon Damascus time, according to German media. No other details were disclosed.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she welcomed the first ever personal meeting between Putin and Trump at the G20 summit.

"I very much welcome the fact that Presidents Trump and Putin met on the sidelines of the summit," Merkel said.

The two-day summit is attended by heads of state and government of the 20 major industrialized and emerging countries, as well as many international organizations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 01:58:18|Editor: yan

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BERLIN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- EU Commissioner for Justice Vera Jourova said on Friday that it was "important to now look to Germany and see how it works there" before adopting union-wide legislation against hate speech on social media.

Last week, the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) had passed a controversial bill, which would see network operators such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube face fines of up 50 million euros (57.01 million U.S. dollars) if they failed to promptly delete content that breached hate speech laws.

Under Germany's prevailing legal framework, hate speech includes the incitement to kill or be violent, threatening speech, abusive language and sedition.

According to the new legislation, network operators are obliged to offer users an easily-recognizable and immediately responsive process to lodge complaints about such offenses. Network operators must delete criminal content within 24 hours of receiving complaints, although the window for action is extended to seven days in ambiguous cases.

The bill caused heavy controversy in the run up to its passing, with a diverse range of social media operators, civil rights and interest groups warning about its purported negative implications.

Large internet companies like Facebook have voiced concerns that the German government is unloading responsibility for judging the legality of content onto networks operators.

Facebook said it wanted to see a unified European resolution to the issue rather than 27 national approaches, calling the German law "inappropriate."

Civil rights groups have warned that the law might curtail freedom of expression as social media operators would be more inclined to delete ambiguous content out of fear of fines.

Nevertheless, German Justice Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) believes that the bill which he championed could be a model for other countries.

He was supported by his Austrian colleague Wolfang Brandstetter who said that social media companies were likely to be more careful in their behavior and understanding towards governmental concerns as a consequence.

The European Commission said it would only contemplate adopting a similar law across the EU if it became clear that ongoing efforts to cooperate with network operators bore less fruit than the German approach.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) welcomes Russia's President Vladimir Putin as he arrives to attend the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany, on July 7, 2017.

HAMBURG, Germany, July 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held their first ever and much-anticipated sit-down discussion on Friday on the sidelines of the G20 Hamburg summit.

The meeting lasted about 2 hours and 20 minutes, focusing on the situation in Ukraine and Syria, fight against terrorism and cyber security, according to Russian news agency Sputnik.

"I had a very lengthy conversation with the President of the United States. There were a lot of issues such as Ukraine, Syria, other problems, some bilateral issues," Putin said at the beginning of his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

"We again returned to the issues of fighting terrorism and cyber security," Putin added.

The Trump-Putin formal meeting came hours after a brief encounter upon arrival at the Hamburg summit, during which they shook hands and exchanged a few words.

Trump began their meeting by saying, "President Putin and I have been discussing various things. And I think it is going very well."

"We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, for the United States and for everybody concerned. And it is an honor to be with you," Trump said.

"I'm delighted to meet you personally, and I hope our meeting will bring results," Putin said after shaking hands with Trump.

Following the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Putin-Trump meeting was constructive and confirmed desire to search for mutually-beneficial agreements, according to Sputnik.

There were opportunities to speed up implementation of the Minsk Agreement on Ukraine, Lavrov said.

The Minsk agreement, which envisages a comprehensive ceasefire and a withdrawal of heavy weapons from the contact line, is aimed at a peaceful ending of the confrontation in Ukraine, which has killed more than 10,000 people and left almost 24,000 others injured.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Trump and Putin have agreed on a ceasefire deal covering part of Syria.

The ceasefire is to take effect on July 9 at noon Damascus time, according to German media. No other details were disclosed.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she welcomed the first ever personal meeting between Putin and Trump at the G20 summit.

"I very much welcome the fact that Presidents Trump and Putin met on the sidelines of the summit," Merkel said.

The two-day summit is attended by heads of state and government of the 20 major industrialized and emerging countries, as well as many international organizations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 02:48:43|Editor: An

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Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 12th Summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

HAMBURG, Germany, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday called on members of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies to champion an open world economy and a multilateral trade regime as global growth remains unsteady despite signs of recovery.

Speaking at the annual G20 summit in Hamburg, a major port city in northern Germany, Xi also called for concerted efforts in fostering new drivers for growth, promoting a more inclusive growth and improving global economic governance.

"We must remain committed to openness and mutual benefit for all so as to increase the size of the global economic 'pie'," said Xi, who is at the helm of the world's second-largest economy.

OPEN ECONOMY

This year's G20 summit, scheduled for Friday and Saturday and themed "Shaping an Interconnected World," comes as global growth continues to gather momentum and both developed countries and emerging-market economies show stronger economic performance.

However, the world economy is still plagued by deep-seated problems and faces many uncertainties and destabilizing factors, Xi pointed out.

He underscored the role of innovation and development in boosting global growth, proposing that G20 members increase cooperation in digital economy and the new industrial revolution, and jointly develop new technologies, new industries, new business models and new products.

"Another source of growth derives from making greater efforts to address the issue of development and implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and such efforts will both benefit developing countries and generate business and investment opportunities for developed countries. In other words, this will be a win-win game for all," he said.

The Chinese leader also urged G20 members to cooperate more in education, training, employment, business start-up and wealth distribution-related mechanisms.

"Progress on these fronts will make economic globalization work better," he said.

In addition, Xi asked G20 members to strengthen coordination of macroeconomic policies, forestall risks in financial markets, and develop financial inclusion and green finance to make the financial sector truly drive the development of the real economy.

The Chinese president cited last year's summit in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou and the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing in May this year to expound the synergy between the Hangzhou summit and the Hamburg summit and between the commitment of the BRF and the goal of the G20.

The world economy is expected to grow by 3.5 percent this year, the best performance in recent years. China posted a forecast-beating growth rate in the first quarter, with GDP up 6.9 percent year on year, the quickest increase in 18 months.

China has been a major stabilizer and driver for the world economy, contributing more than 30 percent of global growth in recent years.

The G20 leaders said at the summit that the world economy has shown positive signs such as growth recovery and employment improvement, but is still facing instabilities and uncertainties brought by unbalanced development, increasing trade barriers and financial vulnerability.

They said that the G20 members, which are of great influence on the world economic and financial issues, should strengthen solidarity and make concerted efforts to implement the consensus and outcomes of the Hangzhou summit, advance structural reforms, and promote innovation and education.

They added that the G20 members should also promote trade that is beneficial to all and improve the international financial system, so as to achieve a balanced, resilient and sustainable global growth and deliver the development benefits to more people in the world.

Many of the leaders called for protecting free trade and the World Trade Organization rules and voiced opposition to protectionism.

COUNTER-TERRORISM

G20 leaders gathered at a meeting on counter-terrorism on Friday morning ahead of the summit, during which the Chinese president proposed that a united global front against terrorism should be created.

In recent years, the international community has strengthened cooperation on counter-terrorism and spread of terrorist organizations has been curbed, Xi stressed.

However, terrorism has not been uprooted, he added.

China proposes establishing a united global front against terrorism to eradicate the roots of terrorism, cut off the channels for terrorists to obtain funds, and stop the use of Internet by terrorists to spread terrorism, he said.

"China itself is a victim of terrorism and is on the frontline of the international fight against terrorism," Xi said.

"China will actively participate in the international counter-terrorism cooperation and offer support to other countries in strengthening capacity building in this regard, thus jointly providing a security umbrella for people around the world," he added.

The G20 is a main forum for global economic and financial cooperation that brings together the world's major advanced and emerging economies, representing around 85 percent of global GDP, 80 percent of world trade, and two-thirds of the world population.

The G20 started in 1999 as a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis. The members include 19 individual countries along with the European Union.

In 2008, the first G20 Leaders' Summit was held in Washington, D.C. in the United States, and the group played a key role in the response to the global financial crisis.
A combination of file photos show Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump. (Xinhua Photo)

MINSK, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday called for full-fledged partnership relations with the United States, local media reported.

"Over the past two or three years, a certain level of political trust between the two countries has been restored," Lukashenko said at a meeting with a U.S. Congressional delegation in Minsk.

The Belarusian leader said that the previous decade was a period of missed opportunities for relations between the two countries.

Lukashenko expressed hope that the new U.S. administration's foreign policy toward Belarus will be formulated soon, adding that the two countries should continue dialogue on sensitive topics in a constructive manner.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 02:53:48|Editor: yan

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TEHRAN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry on Friday strongly condemned the suicide bomb attack on an army checkpoint in Egypt's northern Sinai, Tasnim news agency reported.

In a statement, Foreign Minister Spokesman Bahram Qasemi offered his sympathies to the Egyptian people and the bereaved families of the victims of the terrorist attack.

Qasemi warned against a new wave of terrorist attacks across the world by the "defeated Islamic State (IS)."

"The dispersal and escape of the terrorists, following their heavy defeats in Iraq and Syria, are a serious threat to the entire region and the world," he added.

At least 10 Egyptian soldiers were killed and 20 others injured Friday in suicide bombing and shooting at an army checkpoint in North Sinai's city of Rafah.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 04:35:23|Editor: ying

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MOSUL, Iraq, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces on Friday pushed the remaining Islamic State (IS) militants into a small pocket in the Old City at the bank of Tigris River in the western side of Mosul, the Iraqi military said.

The federal police freed the commercial area of Souq al-Saghir and seized the adjacent al-Najafi thoroughfare after heavy clashes with the extremist militants, a security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The commandos of the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) forces and the army's 9th Armored Division squeezed the remaining IS militants into old houses and narrow alleys of the Old City stretching on the bank of the Tigris River, after they seized part of the neighborhoods of Shahwan and Ras al-Kour, the source said.

Meanwhile, the soldiers of the 9th Division killed Abu Zaid, an IS local leader, and seven of his aides near a mosque in the Old City, the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a brief statement.

The fighting in the Old City is becoming heavier as Iraqi forces push the extremist IS militants into the strip of land along the bank of the Tigris River. The desperate militants have been increasingly resorting to suicide attacks and showing stiff resistance that slowed the troops progress in the recent days.

And there were a large number of roadside bombs and booby-trapped buildings, in addition to IS snipers taking positions in the buildings and narrow alleys of heavily-populated neighborhoods, where thousands of civilians still live under IS rule.

Also in the day, an Iraqi army and police force from Salahudin Province, backed by helicopter gunships, rescued two Iraqi journalists and two police officers, who were surrounded by the extremist militants at a compound in the village of Imam Gharbi with some security members, a security source from Salahudin told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Earlier in the day, the source said the reporter Su'dad Faris and the photographer Harb Hazza, who work for Huna Salahudin satellite channel, were killed in Imam Gharbi village near the town of Shirqat, some 280 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

The two journalists were covering clashes of the Iraqi forces who were fighting to free the village which IS militants took control of the day before.

The troops freed the besieged group in the village, and are still fighting to dislodge the extremist militants holed up in the village, the source said.

Imam Gharbi village was freed from IS during the troops advance earlier this year, but dozens of militants came from the desert area early on Thursday and took control of it, the source said.

The Iraqi Journalists' Syndicate said in a report that up to 14 Iraqi journalists were killed in 2016, and more than 455 journalists have been killed in the country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Iraq is considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, who have been frequently targeted since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Iraqi former leader Saddam Hussein.

The incident came as Iraqi security forces, backed by the anti-IS international coalition, were simultaneously conducting a major offensive to drive IS militants out of their major stronghold in western Mosul.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 04:40:28|Editor: An

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Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

HAMBURG, Germany, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met here with British Prime Minister Theresa May amid the Group of 20 (G20) summit, calling for more stable, rapid and sound development of bilateral relations.

Xi recalled his meeting with May on the sidelines of the G20 summit held in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou in September last year when the two leaders reaffirmed the general direction of the "Golden Era" of bilateral relations.

With efforts of both sides, the two countries have deepened strategic mutual trust and promoted pragmatic cooperation in various fields to a high level, Xi said.

As 2017 marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Britain diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level, the development of bilateral ties face new opportunities, Xi said.

China is willing to work with Britain to lift the global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century to a higher level, so as to better benefit the two peoples, he added.

Xi stressed that bilateral relations should be cultivated on the basis of reinforced strategic mutual trust.

The two sides should adhere to the principle of mutual respect and equality, and respect each other's core interests and major concerns, he added.

The two countries should maintain close high-level exchanges and institutional dialogues in various fields, so as to make top-level planning for a sustainable and stable development of bilateral ties, he said.

Xi said that strengthening pragmatic cooperation is the pillar in developing China-Britain relations.

The two countries should strengthen pragmatic cooperation in various fields and enhance the synergy of the two countries' development agendas within the framework of the the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.

The two countries can also deepen cooperation in finance and nuclear energy sectors, as well as promote people-to-people exchanges, he added.

He said that cementing international coordination is a highlight in the development of bilateral relations.

The two countries should strengthen cooperation and coordination in international and regional issues, deepen exchanges within multilateral frameworks, such as the United Nations, the G20 and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Xi said.

China and Britain need to seek common ground while shelving differences, and preserve the overall development of bilateral ties through concrete efforts to achieve more stable, rapid and sound development of bilateral relations, he added.

May said that Britain is committed to boosting the global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century between the two countries, and sticking to the general direction of the "Golden Era" of bilateral relations.

Britain values China's great influence on major global issues, while the two sides share common interests in many fields, she said.

Britain will give full play to the bilateral high-level dialogue mechanisms, expand cooperation with China in such fields as trade, investment, culture, and security, as well as closely communicate and coordinate with China on international and regional hotspot issues, she added.

She said that Britain is willing to actively take part in cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative in areas such as finance.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 04:45:34|Editor: An

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Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, visits Port of Hamburg with spouses of other heads of state and government attending the Group of 20 summit in Germany, July 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

HAMBURG, Germany, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, visited Port of Hamburg Friday with spouses of other heads of state and government attending the Group of 20 summit.

Peng was briefed on the history and the general situation of Port of Hamburg while cruise touring the harbor with others.

The guide particularly introduced a Chinese container ship which was anchoring at a container quay to all the guests on board.

Peng said that Hamburg, with the time-honored ties with China, has become a bridge linking Chinese and European business circles.

The Belt and Road Initiative provides new opportunities for enhancing cooperation between China and Hamburg, she added.

Port of Hamburg is the biggest port in Germany and the second biggest container port in Europe, with almost one third of containers coming from China.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 05:41:09|Editor: yan

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RIGA, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Latvian Agriculture Minister Janis Duklavs is being probed for owning indirectly owning a land in the Freeport of Riga, local media reported Friday.

The probe was launched after a weekly magazine published transcripts of reportedly wiretapped conversations among several politicians and businessmen in which the agriculture minister admits to indirectly owning the land plot.

The anti-corruption bureau's representative Mara Priedite said the weekly Ir magazine unveiled the conversation between Duklavs and his interlocutors, in which the minister said he has an undeclared land property registered in some other people's names at the Freeport of Riga.

Jekabs Straume, the head of the Corruption Prevention Bureau told journalists earlier this week that the bureau would check the authenticity of the wiretapped conversations of several influential businessmen and politicians, including Duklavs, which reportedly took place at the Ridzene hotel in Riga in 2010.

Agriculture Minister Duklavs has dismissed the Ir magazine report as false, saying he did not own any land in the port's territory.

The minister said today, however, that he would fully cooperate with the Latvian tax and law enforcement authorities as they probe the information about his allegedly undeclared property and provide all the information they might request of him.

Ir magazine, which published the transcripts of the politicians and businessmen's conversations a few weeks ago, said it obtained the recordings from an "undisclosed source."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 05:51:23|Editor: yan

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BUENOS AIRES, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Argentine President Mauricio Macri told his G20 counterparts on Friday that his country had "put its economy in order" since he took power in December 2015.

"We are doing what needs to be done to put the country on a sustainable path," said Macri, adding that the positive results can already be seen...to generate a long-term sustainable economy.

Macri made the remarks at the annual G20 summit, currently being held in the German port city of Hamburg.

"The second quarter was the fourth consecutive of growth and we are confident of ending the year at a growth rate of three percent or more," the president said.

"We put the economy in order, we avoided a crisis and we rapidly put in place the most ambitious infrastructure plan in our history," Macri said.

Macri remarked that "the sustainable path can only be built in a more integrated international economy."

Argentina will take over the rotating presidency of the G20 from December 1 and will host the next summit in Buenos Aires in July 2018. E
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 06:06:33|Editor: Song Lifang

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LONDON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Rafael Nadal defeated big-serving Karen Khachanov in straight sets to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon here on Friday.

The 10-time French Open champion fired 41 winners to beat the Russian 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Centre Court to move into the last 16 for the first time since 2014.

"For a while I played fantastic, in the first set and a half, it was a great level," Nadal said. "Then it was a little bit tougher."

Nadal reduced the powerful 21-year-old to a mere bystander in the first 30 minutes of the match, moving energetically on the grass on a sweltering late afternoon.

It took Khachanov, ranked No. 34 in the world, half an hour to get a service hold on the board, in the first game of the second set.

The Russian managed to find his form in the third set, forcing it into a tie-break but made three unforced errors to see the chance slip off his hand.

"I played some good shots, from the forehand and the backhand," said Nadal. "Happy with almost everything. But in the third, I started to play a little bit shorter."

Since losing the 2011 final to Novak Djokovic, Nadal has been knocked out before the quarterfinals for four straight years by a player ranked outside of the top 100. He missed Wimbledon last year with a wrist injury.
COLLECTIVE MADNESS



Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 07:22:04|Editor: ying

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RIO DE JANEIRO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Brazil and Uruguay announced Friday an agreement that will allow their citizens to be granted permanent visas on both sides without a prior period of temporary residency.

The agreement will become effective 30 days after its ratification by both parliaments.

To obtain permanent residency, the applicants are required to present a personal ID and two documents proving they have no criminal history, one domestic, the other international.

In Brazil, the residency permit will be granted by the Justice Ministry and the National Migration Directorate in Uruguay.

The applications will be free and the visas will give the holders the right to work in Brazil or Uruguay under the same conditions as locals.

In 2016, bilateral trade between Brazil and Uruguay reached 4 billion U.S. dollars and has grown 30 percent in the first quarter of 2017.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 08:32:22|Editor: ying

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RIO DE JANEIRO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Johnson Kendrick, a forward for Qatari top flight club Al Gharafa, was shot dead in his native Brazil on Friday, according to local authorities.

The 25-year-old was gunned down by a motorcyclist during an attempted robbery in the coastal city of Guaruja, around 80km southeast of Sao Paulo, witnesses said.

The Globo newspaper reported that Kendrick was visiting family in the city of his birth, adding that he was due to return to Qatar on Saturday.

"It is with great sorrow that our club extends our sincere condolences to the family of the player," Al Gharafa said on their official website.

Kendrick scored three goals in 26 appearances for Al Gharafa, whom he joined from Al Muaither in 2015.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 10:57:49|Editor: ying

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MEXICO CITY, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Soldiers seized a cache of weapons Friday in the city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, on the U.S. border, the Ministry of National Defense announced.

The soldiers found the arsenal in a house in the city's Toboganes neighborhood during a patrol, and saw armed men running away from the building as they approached, said a ministry statement.

The arsenal includes 78 AR-15 rifles, 13 AK-47 rifles, three Barret 0.5 calibre guns, two G-3 rifles, an anti-tank rocket, five grenade launchers and 13 grenades.

The soldiers also reported 30,000 bullets of various sorts, 1,379 chargers for AR-15 and AK-47 rifles, as well as 20 military camouflage uniforms.

The arsenal will be turned over to Mexico's prosecutor-general and is seen as a serious blow to criminal gangs in Tamaulipas.

According to local news reports, it is the largest arsenal found in the state in recent years. Tamaulipas is one of the most violent states in Mexico with several drug cartels fighting for territory near the U.S. border.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 11:02:55|Editor: An

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Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (R) meets with visiting Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan in Nairobi July 7, 2017. (Xinhua)

NAIROBI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said his country is ready to enhance pragmatic cooperation with China.

The president made the remarks on Friday while meeting with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Chang Wanquan.

Kenyatta said the two countries have enjoyed a time-honored relationship with long-term friendly cooperation in such areas as politics, economy, culture and the military.

He said Kenya highly values its relations with China, consistently adheres to the "one-China" policy, and fully supports the Belt and Road Initiative.

The president added that Kenya stands ready to work with China to continue to deepen the all-round pragmatic cooperation in defense, security and other fields, so as to bring benefits to the two peoples.

For his part, Chang said his visit is intended to implement the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries as well as to push forward bilateral military cooperation.

Chang said that under the guidance of the leaders of China and Kenya, military relations between the two countries have developed steadily.

He said the Chinese military is willing to strengthen practical cooperation with the Kenyan side in various areas in a bid to promote the development of bilateral military ties.

During his stay in Nairobi, Chang also held talks with Kenyan Defense Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 11:07:57|Editor: ying

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MOSCOW, July 8 (Xinhua) -- A Russian company has launched a special edition of a cellphone to commemorate the first meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, media reports said.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, the two leaders held their first ever and much-anticipated sit-down discussion Friday, focusing on the situation in Ukraine and Syria, the fight against terrorism and cyber security.

The portal of Caviar phone's website displays the special edition for iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and Nokia 3310, which has gold-plated portraits of the two leaders embedded in the back of the phones.

The customized cellphone, which is made of tempered titanium, costs about 2,500 U.S. dollars for Nokia 3310, 3,000 dollars for iPhone 7 and 3,300 dollars for iPhone 7 Plus.

The company said on its website that it purposely chose to display the presidents' side profiles and they are looking in the same direction symbolizing "the common desire for progress in Russia-U.S. relations."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 11:18:03|Editor: An

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Representatives attend the fifth edition of the forum "Tunisia-China: A Partnership for the Future" in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, July 7, 2017. Tunisia and China signed on Friday three agreements to boost commercial cooperation between the two countries during the forum. (Xinhua/Adele Ezzine)

TUNIS, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The fifth edition of "Tunisia - China: A Partnership for the Future" on Friday witnessed the two countries' signing of three agreements in the fields of commerce, technology and finance.

Given the interests shown by Tunisian decision-makers, many observers described the event as highly beneficial for the promotion of bilateral cooperation.

Although the Tunisian economy showed limits due to its dependence on Europe, Tunisia has managed to balance its trade with the European Union, said Ahmed Bouzguenda, president of the Arab Institute of Business Leaders (IACE) and the organizer of the forum.

Bouzguenda said Tunisia's economic growth has been slow. Tunisia's paths to revive the economy are clear -- economic reforms and promoting growth, which would help consolidate existing partnerships and establish more.

TUNISIA'S PLACE ON BELT AND ROAD

Traditionally supported by investments and exports, the Chinese economy is in a period of transition with more emphasis on services and the Belt and Road Initiative, said Bouzguenda in a concept note exclusive to the event.

The Belt and Road Initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was brought up by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes.

Organizers of the forum believe that the Belt and Road Initiative serves as an infrastructure network to create a commercial network for all the continents.

"Tunisia could, in this sense, find its place on this axis because of its geographical and commercial position with Europe and its openness on Africa," Bouzguenda said.

Tunisian Minister for Development, Investment and International Cooperation Mohamed Fadhel Abdelkefi told Xinhua that the Belt and Road provides an opportunity for Tunisia.

"We hope that it will be the same for China, as Tunisia can offer Chinese companies a platform (with employment strengths)," he said.

"Chinese investments will be able to boost Tunisia's economic growth. We are facing two wars -- one is against terrorism, and the other is purely an economic war," Abdelkefi said.

COMPLEMENTING EACH OTHER

In order to understand each other, Tunisia and China are constantly exchanging ideas and expertise to strengthen and diversify potentials for bilateral economic cooperation.

On the Tunisian side, the organizers of the forum have proposed that the strengths of the Chinese economy could contribute to Tunisia's development.

Tunisia's tourism sector, which accounts for seven percent of Tunisia's gross domestic product (GDP), could benefit from the Chinese market with an estimated number of more than 100 million visitors and around 290 billion U.S. dollars, said Ahmed Al-Karam, a coordinator of the IACE.

The IACE recognizes that Tunisia is still suffering from a "chronic" deficit of around 6.475 million dinars (around 3.357 million U.S. dollars) during the first five months of 2017.

Eighty percent of the deficit is concentrated on ten countries, mainly China, Russia and Turkey, which together collect 52 percent of the deficit.

POSSIBLE STRATEGIC PARTNER FOR CHINA

The Belt and Road Initiative can create fruitful cooperation and solidarity between China and other countries, former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told Xinhua in an interview outside the forum.

"Today, international cooperation is the key to the harmony of the world," he added. He said Tunisia is a country "deeply connected to many cultures, very rooted yet very open."

China can make Tunisia a country of mediation, as China aims to build connectivity between Africa and Asia, Raffarin said, adding that as a result, information on investment and innovation can also be shared.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 11:23:05|Editor: ying

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JOHANNESBURG, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The Bolivian Consulate here said Friday that most South American countries have faith in BRICS when it comes to addressing challenges in Africa and the world.

Susana Galleguillos-Caputi, honorary consul of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, told Xinhua that the bloc grouping Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) has to do things differently to meet its mandate, and that most South American countries have high hopes and expectations for BRICS.

"Most South American countries see BRICS as favorable and a fair group. They see it as a way of removing monopoly where small countries have an important role to play in the development of their economies. BRICS will go a long way with a proper vision, policy and strategy in contributing to infrastructural projects," said Galleguillos-Caputi.

The BRICS countries should work for proper governance, poverty alleviation and a fair trading system. They should put social inclusion, unity and policy into an infrastructural framework, she said.

The New Development Bank (NDB) has the potential to address development challenges in railways, ports, roads and power supply, she added.

The NDB, one of the BRICS institutions, has just approved its general strategy for 2017-2021 on how to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects.

"The bank needs new methods for projects and financing and should not duplicate the archaic and outdated system of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank. They should be accountable and ensure there is no default in payment," she said.
Afghan security force members take part in a military operation in Kunduz province, Afghanistan, July 5, 2017. (Xinhua/Ajmal Kakar)

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Taliban militants have intensified activities since late last month to overrun Kunduz, the strategically important city in northern Afghanistan.

The Taliban had twice briefly captured Kunduz city, capital of the northern Kunduz province located 250 km north of Kabul, in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

This latest development has again caused concerns among Kunduz residents about the fragile security situation in their homeland.

"It is about one week that the Taliban fighters have taken positions in several parts around the Kunduz city and the status quo has caused concerns among the residents," said resident Rahmatullah.

Expressing concerns over the fragile security situation, the worrying man warned that any negligence by security organs would enable the armed oppositions to storm the besieged city.

Taliban militants, according to locals and officials, have sped up activities to take control of the roads connecting Kunduz to the neighboring Baghlan province to tighten noose around Kunduz, a key city in the northern region of Afghanistan.

The armed militants established isolated checkpoints in Madrasa and Omarkhil villages a few days ago and frisked the cars entering Kunduz city, locals said.

Expressing concerns over the delicate situation, the head of Kunduz Provincial Council, Amrudin Wali, has warned that continued status quo and government's inability to evict militants from around Kunduz city would further deteriorate the security situation.

However, security officials said Friday that the road linking Kunduz to the neighboring Baghlan province was reopened and the checkpoints set up by armed militants had been beaten back.

"Taliban rebels have fled away after suffering huge casualties and Ali Abad road linking Kunduz to Baghlan province is open for traffic today," an army spokesman in Kunduz province, Nazar Mohammad Ghiasi, told reporters here.

He also added that the security forces have begun house-to-house search since early morning to nab any militants hidden among villagers.

Confirming the report, police spokesman Mahfozullah Akbari also said that the road linking Kunduz to Baghlan province has been reopened.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 12:08:13|Editor: An

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CANBERRA, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Allowing the hunting of deer within Tasmania's Wilderness World Heritage Area could save the forest, a report released on Saturday has found.

A parliamentary inquiry into deer population growth within the protected area found that deer were damaging conservation areas across the state.

Robert Armstrong, chairman of the committee, said that while it might be controversial, hunting within the areas was a guaranteed way to stem the rapid population growth.

"Conservation groups certainly want the deer out of World Heritage Areas," Armstrong told Australian media on Saturday.

Tasmania's Department of Primary Industries estimated that the deer population in the state could range between 80,000 and 100,000, a significant increase on previous predictions of 30,000 to 40,000.

A group of Tasmanian academics, lead by University of Tasmania (UTAS) Wildlife Conservation expert Chris Johnson, in March forecast that the deer population could reach one million by 2050 if not managed.

The committee found that expanding irrigation schemes in the state's midlands had only exacerbated problem with improved crops and pastures providing ample food for deer.

The committee called for Tasmania to implement a deer management system equipped with proper data as soon as possible.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 12:18:17|Editor: An

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VANCOUVER, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A Metro Vancouver hospital is considering introducing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) among its treatment options.

The British Columbia provincial government has backed a plan for a new patient-care tower at Richmond Hospital, and work is expected to begin this fall on a business plan for the large-scale renovation.

Management at the hospital is considering introducing TCM at the hospital as part of the overall expansion project.

About half of Richmond's 220,000 residents are immigrants from China or of Chinese descent.

"During this planning phase, we are recognizing the importance of traditional Chinese medicine, knowing that Richmond has a large population of Chinese descendants," said Yong Dong You, Richmond Hospital's head of medicine. "Also, there are already quite a few clinics -- acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine clinics -- in the community."

He said offering TCM among the hospital's treatment options remains conceptual at this time.

"There is really no concrete plan yet in terms of the space, or a budget," he told Xinhua on Friday. "But there is an intention, trying to involve traditional Chinese medicine."

The Chinese medicine component in the new tower could involve either -- or both -- research and treatment services, he said.

"We want to make sure that the patient gets the best treatment possible especially at a time when we recognize the use of narcotics and painkillers do have some detrimental effect on patients, and perhaps an alternative treatment would provide better patient care," You said.

Acupuncture is already a medical service covered by British Columbia's public health care system, he said, adding that the government here now has a "fairly robust" system of regulating and monitoring the growing number of Chinese medical clinics in Richmond.

You said Chinese residents and Chinese-Canadians often inquire about TCM treatment options at the hospital.

"I think the Western medicine and Chinese traditional medicine play slightly different roles," he said.

He said the emphasis of TCM treatments could possibly focus on healing, pain control and recovery.

"Richmond is really a good place for us to look into Chinese medicine," he said. "Fifty percent of the population in Richmond is Chinese-Canadian."

The business plan for the new building will take up to a year to complete. That would be followed by procurement and construction of the new building.

"If we do this, we would obviously need to involve a traditional Chinese medicine physician, but that has not been sorted out yet," You said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 12:48:20|Editor: Song Lifang

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HOUSTON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- The United States can benefit from China's Belt and Road Initiative in terms of infrastructure, Brian Lantz, senior executive of a think tank, said Friday.

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative involves more than 70 countries, and not only the Chinese people, but the whole world can derive benefits from it, said Lantz, who works for the Executive Intelligence Review of the Schiller Institute, an international political and economic think tank.

"The new silk road can be the world bridge," he said during a conference organized by Rice University in Houston. "We need to get on board."

Lantz quoted a recent report of the American Society of Civil Engineers as saying that there is a 2 trillion U.S. dollar deficit in infrastructure in the country.

He noted that, with the help of investment and the technology of China's high-speed rail, the United States can repair and rebuild its railway system, especially in the middle area of the country, which could bring momentum to the cities there.

China's Deputy Consul General in Houston Zhao Yumin introduced the Belt and Road Initiative to the audience, emphasizing that China believes misunderstandings can be reduced through communication and negotiation on the basis of equality.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 13:38:32|Editor: Yurou Liang

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HARBIN, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Cargo ferry services between China and Russia at Heihe port were suspended due to a fall in water levels, local authorities said Saturday.

According to the Heilongjiang provincial entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau, water levels in Heilongjiang River have dropped significantly in recent days. On Tuesday, the level stood at 90.1 meters, below the designed level of 91.4 meters for the safe voyage of cargo ships.

Local governments in both China and Russia had discussions, and agreed to suspend the service.

It is not known when the service will resume.

Passenger ferry services were not affected.

Heihe city in Heilongjiang borders Blagoveshchensk across the river.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 13:43:34|Editor: ying

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A man whose actions aboard a Delta Air Lines flight prompted the plane to return was identified Friday as Joseph Daniel Hudek, from Florida.

Appearing Friday afternoon in the U.S. District Court in Seattle, Hudek faced one count of interference with flight crew members Thursday evening for allegedly assaulting flight attendants on Delta Flight 129 traveling from Seattle to Beijing.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a penalty of 250,000 U.S. dollars.

According to a federal complaint, the 23-year-old man used the lavatory twice one hour into the flight and lurched toward an exit door after leaving the lavatory the second time, grabbing the handle and attempting to open the door.

At the time, the plane was over the North Pacific Ocean, northwest of Vancouver Island, Canada. The suspect was initially seated in the first-class cabin.

A flight attendant asked for assistance from other passengers and notified the cockpit of the situation, and the pilot decided to divert the flight back to Seattle.

As two attendants struggled with Hudek, the suspect punched one of them twice in the face and hit a passenger who was trying to assist the attendant in the head with a wine bottle, and then again tried to open the exit door.

A passenger who tried to pull Hudek away from the door was punched multiple times.

Eventually, the man was subdued by flight attendants and passengers and later taken into police custody after the plane returned to Seattle's Tacoma International Airport.

Delta Flight 129 was back in the air Friday morning, heading to Beijing.

Local TV station KIRO 7 affiliated with Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) reported that Hudek's mother is a Delta employee.

Dustin Jones, who was seated directly behind the curtains separating first class from the rest of the plane, told KIRO 7 that he could tell a scuffle was going on: "One of the flight attendants ran back and said there was a Code 3. There was a serious fight up front."

Once back at the airport, being handcuffed and zip-tied to a wheelchair as he was rolled out of the terminal, Hudek appeared to remain combative. "He started yelling for help," Jones said. "And so he turned the wheelchair over in the middle of the airport, screaming for people to help him, just being belligerent."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 13:48:36|Editor: An

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JINAN, July 8 (Xinhua) -- A man surnamed Xin was caught in east China's Shandong Province, 19 years after being suspected of assault and causing a death, local police said Saturday.

According to a police officer in Jinan, capital of Shandong, Xin was going through a routine check at the entrance of a railway station, when police found his identity card suspicious.

"He was holding an ID card with the name Wang, but he looked like a fugitive whose information was spread online," the police officer said.

Xin allegedly assaulted and injured someone on Aug. 8, 1998 in Inner Mongolia, who later died.

Questioned by police, he admitted to the using a fake identity card and escaping after the attack. The case is under investigation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 14:18:49|Editor: ying

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CARACAS, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's Attorney General Luisa Ortega said Friday that President Nicolas Maduro should call a referendum to determine if the people support a new Constitution.

"If the executive wants to take this step, he should call a consultative referendum to ask (the Venezuelans) if they want the Constituent (Assembly), which will draft the new text," Ortega was quoted by the private TV station Globovision as saying.

On May 1, Maduro announced the creation of a National Constituent Assembly (ANC), which was immediately rejected by the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD). The MUD has called the process unconstitutional without a referendum, but this has been denied by the Supreme Court.

Ortega maintained that the constitutional process organized by the government seeks to "hide the true problems of the country" and "annihilate participatory democracy."

"They want to achieve this ANC with diminished popular support," said the attorney general. She said she would continue "to fight to re-establish the constitutional order" and was convinced that the overwhelming majority of Venezuelans would support this fight.

In recent days, Ortega filed a petition with the Supreme Court to cancel the ANC, which was rejected.

However, the MUD has called a referendum on July 16 for Venezuelans to express themselves on the matter, although the electoral body dismissed it as having "no legal basis."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 14:48:59|Editor: Song Lifang

A skateboarder competes during the VPS men's pro tour competition in Vancouver, Canada, July 7, 2017. Over 30 professional skateboarders around the world compete in the two-day Vans Park Series (VPS) men's pro tour competition. (Xinhua/Liang Sen)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 15:08:56|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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DHAKA, July 8 (Xinhua) -- An extremist accused of being a mastermind of Bangladesh's most horrific terror attack that killed 22 hostages last July has been held along with three others in the country's Chapainawabganj district, some 302 km northwest of capital Dhaka.

TM Mojahidul Islam, the district's police chief, told journalists that a team of law enforcers arrested the Dhaka cafe attack planner and three other militant suspects early Saturday.

He said Mahfuz, who was wanted in a case filed in connection with terrorist attack in Dhaka'diplomatic enclave Gulshan on July 1, 2016, has been taken to the capital city for further interrogation.

According to the official, Mahfuz maintained close connections with many already arrested and killed cafe attack designers.

Bangladesh police have reportedly so far hunted down and killed at least 40 militants linked to the cafe attack, including mastermind Tamim Chowdhury who was killed in a police raid on Aug. 27 last year.

Islam said all the four militant suspects who were arrested on Saturday are members of "Neo-JMB", an offshoot of banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which is blamed for the attack.

Five gunmen stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe in Dhaka's diplomatic area Gulshan on July 1, 2016, and killed the hostages, mostly foreigners, with guns and machetes, and used the victims' phones to publish images of the bodies on the social media.

Bangladesh Army commandos stormed the restaurant later and five attackers were killed and one was arrested.

Two police officers were also killed in the attack.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had then claimed responsibility for the Dhaka cafe attack. But Bangladeshi authorities rejected the claim, saying operatives of the banned local militant outfit plotted the attack to boast about their existence.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 15:13:58|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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KABUL, July 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 78 militants were killed and 43 others wounded during military operations conducted by Afghan security forces in different provinces within past 24 hours, Afghan Interior ministry said on Saturday.

"In past 24 hours, Afghan National Security Forces launched seven Counter-Terrorism operations to clear some of the areas from enemies. As a result 78 armed militants were killed and 43 others were wounded," the ministry said in a statement.

The raids were carried out in Char Chino and Khas Uruzgan districts of Uruzgan province, Haska Meena and Shinwar districts of Nangarhar, Maiwand district of Kandahar, Ali Abad district of Kunduz and Chamtal district of Balkh province, according to the statement.

Amount of weapons and ammunition were also seized by security forces during the operations, the statement said, without adding if there were any casualties on the side of security forces.

The Afghan security forces have beefed up security operations against militants recently as war-weary Afghans have been witnessing a surge in attacks by Taliban fighters and Islamic State (IS) affiliates across the country.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 16:20:06|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

Worshipers apply gold foil to a Buddha statue at a temple in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 8, 2017. Thai Buddhists across the country are ready to celebrate the Buddhist Lent Day, or "Khao Phansa". "Khao Phansa" is a three-month period that begins on the first day after the full moon of the eighth lunar month, which falls on July 9 this year. During this period, Buddhist monks stay in one location, usually in a monastery or on temple grounds, and engage in meditation and prayer. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 16:19:32|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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TEHRAN, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Valfajr Shipping Company is planning to establish a direct marine route from the Iranian port of Bushehr to Qatar in the next two weeks, Financial Tribune daily reported on Saturday.

The move is aimed at "expansion of non-oil trade" to the Persian Gulf Arab state, Abolqasem Mohammadzadeh, an official with Bushehr Ports and Maritime Organization, was quoted as saying.

Mohammadzadeh added that his institution will use refrigerated containers for shipments to Qatar.

Iran has been exporting food to Qatar via Dhow boats and planes after Saudi Arabia and its allies cut all links with the gas-rich country over Doha's alleged support for terrorism. Qatar denies the accusations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 16:19:34|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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TEHRAN, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Iranian police forces have seized large number of weapons, including an anti-aircraft gun, from a militant group in the southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan, Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.

The Police raided an arms depot of the so-called Jaish al-Adl "terrorist" group in in Koohsefid region, near the city of Saravan, and confiscated assault rifles and ammunition, the provincial police commander Hossein Rahimi told Tasnim.

The 35 AK-47 machine guns, two SPG-9 guns, an anti-aircraft 14.5 mm gun with a range of seven kilometers and tens of cartridges, as well as a huge amount of ammunition were among the arms seized in the police operation, Rahimi was quoted as saying.

"Members of Jaish al-Adl terrorist group had plans to use the weapons against civilians in Sistan and Balouchestan Province," the commander said but he did not specify the time of operation.

In April, 10 Iranian border guards were killed by the Sunni militants of Jaish al-Adl, or the Army of Justice, in a cross-border attack on the frontier with Pakistan.

The Sistan-Baluchestan province in southeast Iran has long been plagued by drug smuggling gangs and separatist militants. The population of the province is predominantly Sunni Muslim, while the majority of Iranians are Shias.

Jaish al-Adl has carried out several attacks on Iranian security forces with the aim of highlighting what they claim is "discrimination" against Sunni Muslims and the Baluch ethnic group in the province.

The militants has claimed responsibility for a number of other bloody attacks since 2013.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 16:44:59|Editor: Liangyu

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SEOUL, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The 28th meeting of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) standing committee ended here Saturday with focus on activities and future of the ICAPP.

Zheng Xiaosong, vice minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said the CPC will, as always, support the development of the ICAPP.

Attending the conference which was held from Thursday to Saturday, Zheng said the CPC will make joint efforts with related parties to contribute to communications and cooperation among Asian political parties.

The ICAPP was launched in Manila, the Philippines in 2000, with an aim to promote exchange and cooperation between Asian political parties.
An Iranian man walks past a Qatar Airways branch in the capital Tehran on June 6, 2017. A ban on Qatari flights imposed by Saudi Arabia and its allies took effect as first efforts were made to resolve the biggest feud to hit the Arab world in years. Saudi Arabia and allies including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties and transport links with Qatar on Monday, accusing the Gulf state of supporting extremism.

(AFP PHOTO)

TEHRAN, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Valfajr Shipping Company is planning to establish a direct marine route from the Iranian port of Bushehr to Qatar in the next two weeks, Financial Tribune daily reported on Saturday.

The move is aimed at "expansion of non-oil trade" to the Persian Gulf Arab state, Abolqasem Mohammadzadeh, an official with Bushehr Ports and Maritime Organization, was quoted as saying.

Mohammadzadeh added that his institution will use refrigerated containers for shipments to Qatar.

Iran has been exporting food to Qatar via Dhow boats and planes after Saudi Arabia and its allies cut all links with the gas-rich country over Doha's alleged support for terrorism. Qatar denies the accusations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 17:25:15|Editor: Liangyu

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WASHINGTON/MOSCOW, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin met face-to-face for the first time with U.S. President Donald Trump Friday during the G20 Summit which kicked off in Hamburg, Germany.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the meeting revealed "a very clear, positive chemistry" and connection between the two leaders.

CONSIDERED A SUCCESS

The much-anticipated meeting lasted about 2 hours and 20 minutes, focusing on the situation in Ukraine and Syria, fight against terrorism and cyber security.

It saw the two leaders strike a cease-fire agreement in parts of Syria in a bid to curb the bloodshed that has impacted both sides in the war-torn Middle Eastern nation.

Briefing reporters, Tillerson said the U.S. objectives in Syria "are exactly the same" as Russia's. He indicated that there might be further opportunities for cooperation.

"There is a lot more commonality to that than there are differences, so we want to build on the commonality and we spent a lot of time talking about next steps," said Tillerson.

After the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Putin-Trump meeting was constructive and confirmed the desire to work together.

Ukraine was also raised in the talks, particularly the implementation of the Minsk Agreement, Lavrov said.

The Minsk agreement, which envisages a comprehensive cease-fire and a withdrawal of heavy weapons from the contact line, is aimed at a peaceful ending of the confrontation in Ukraine, which has killed more than 10,000 people and left almost 24,000 others injured.

U.S. experts called the meeting, overall, a success, and said it may foreshadow future U.S.-Russia cooperation.

"Trump had a successful meeting with Putin. The two leaders announced a limited cease-fire in parts of Syria. If it holds, that would be a hopeful sign of further cooperation on that delicate issue," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.

West also said that the goal of this meeting was to form a personal relationship with Putin that leads to agreements down the road.

"There are many issues where each country needs the help of the other. Anything that facilitates a dialogue is worthwhile from the standpoint of each leader," West said.

CRISIS STILL AHEAD

The meeting was considered Trump's first major test of whether he can improve relations with Russia, with ties chilly in recent years amid sanctions against Moscow.

Therefore, many experts also pointed out that optimism about U.S.-Russia ties should be kept reasonable.

Given the sequence of events prior to the summit, experts from both sides have actually lowered their expectations about the possibility of any concrete outcome from the meeting.

Many analysts predict the best result would be a slight thaw in relations and the two leaders developing possible chemistry. [ Alexei Mukhin, General Director of the Center for Political Information in Moscow, said that the excitement around this meeting is much greater than its expected result.

"The U.S. media are holding their breath, because they expect some unexpected turn from Trump at the meeting. But apparently, Trump is now unable to make political maneuvers and in fact does what his opponents demand," Mukhin said.

Andrey Suzdaltsev, deputy dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow, believes that the crisis in relations between Russia and the United States is still ahead.

"The peak of the crisis has not yet been reached ... Therefore, the main thing is that the situation does not worsen after the meeting between Putin and Trump," Suzdaltsev said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 17:40:22|Editor: Yamei

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Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 12th Summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

BEIJING, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Many overseas experts and scholars have praised Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech delivered Friday at the 12th Summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies in Hamburg, a major port city in northern Germany.

Addressing the annual summit of world leaders, Xi called on members of the G20 to champion an open world economy and a multilateral trade regime as global growth remains unsteady despite signs of recovery.

Xi also called for concerted efforts in fostering new drivers for growth, promoting a more inclusive growth and improving global economic governance.

This year's G20 summit, scheduled for Friday and Saturday and themed "Shaping an Interconnected World," comes as global growth continues to gather momentum and both developed countries and emerging-market economies show stronger economic performance despite uncertainties and destabilizing factors.

"We should and must lead the way, support the multilateral trading system, observe the jointly established rules and, through consultation, seek all-win solutions to common challenges we face," Xi said.

Gu Xuewu, director of the Center for Global studies at Bonn University, said the speech showed Xi's firm determination to promote globalization.

Xi's emphasis on working together toward inclusive growth is in fact an invitation for those who think they are "losers of globalization" to join the discussion and exploration of a new path for achieving globalization, Gu said.

Also, as Xi put it, "commitment of the Belt and Road Forum is highly compatible with the goal of the G20," which indicated the Chinese government sees the Belt and Road Initiative as part of "new and inclusive globalization" and is ready to include Eurasian people who have not fully reaped the benefits of globalization in global production activities by building land and maritime connectivity mechanisms, Gu said.

Proposed by Xi in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative, comprising the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond the ancient trade routes.

Italian geopolitics expert Fabrizio Franciosi said Xi's speech reflects China's commitment to the integral development of all mankind and the aspiration of a vast majority of countries for world peace and prosperity.

Xi advocates building an open world economy, is committed to the path of openness and mutual benefit and supports a multilateral trading system, said Franciosi, adding "this serves the common interests of the international community."

Xi's suggestions map out a model for future global governance and are worth putting into practice by G20 members and the broader global community, he said.

Xi's speech at the summit allows people to understand the direction that China and the G20 members need to work toward, namely to adjust the imbalances and strive for equality, said Professor Hwang Jaeho, dean of the division of international studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and director of the Global Security Cooperation Center.

"I was very impressed by China's effort to maintain a free and open economic order, in particular China's contributions to global economic growth and sustainable development when trade protectionism is picking up," Hwang said.

"What President Xi has proposed, I think, is a new type of global economic relations and China has made it to the implementation stage of the new global economic relations as a responsible major country," he added.

As the United States is now trapped in isolationism and has adopted a closed-door policy, China has been unswervingly holding the banner of free trade, providing relief to other major economies in the world, said Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow with S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

Xi noted that innovation, more than anything else, is a new source of growth, Oh said, adding that China's attempts in this regard are a bid to bring more benefits of economic development to the people.

"The Chinese model (of growth) offers an inspiration for economic development of all countries," Oh said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 17:45:25|Editor: Liangyu

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LAMU, Kenya, July 8 (Xinhua) -- At least ten people are feared dead after suspected Al-Shabaab militants attacked a Kenyan village in the coastal Lamu region early Saturday, officials said.

Regional police commander Akello Odhiambo confirmed the attack at Jima village, saying the insurgents shot and hacked to death the villagers.

"We have sent more security reinforcement to the scene to pursue the attacks," Odhiambo said without confirming the number of casualties.

The attack comes barely a week after militants killed three police officers in the same region in raid on a police camp.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 17:50:30|Editor: Liangyu

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BEIJING, July 8 (Xinhua) -- About 7.28 million people have been restrained from purchasing plane tickets for defaulting on court rules, according to the Supreme People's Court (SPC).

Courts, public security authorities and banks have joined hands to extended penalty restrictions to people who default on court orders. About 7.49 million defaulters have been made public, according to an SPC statement Friday.

Among them, 7.28 million were restricted from purchasing plane tickets and 2.74 million barred from traveling by bullet train or high-speed train, the statement said.

Chinese courts are adopting information technology to punish those who default on court decisions, to safeguard judicial authority and credibility.

The SPC has cooperated with airlines and railway companies since December to bar those who default from purchasing tickets, based on their identity card information and passports.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 18:05:34|Editor: Liangyu

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CAIRO, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Egypt has strongly condemned the two terrorist attacks that took place in Qatif in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, leaving a Saudi security man dead and several others wounded.

"Egypt asserted its solidarity with Saudi in combating terrorism and extremism that target shaking its security and stability," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

It added Egypt supports all the measures taken by Saudi to foil the plans of the terrorist cells and organizations, to promote safety and security of its citizens, the statement added.

The statement further underlined the need of intensifying international efforts to confront terrorism, and finding a comprehensive vision to stop the spread of terrorism, and to stand against those finance and promote extremism.

The attack occurred in the same area where a policeman was killed and three others wounded in a bombing on Tuesday morning.

The Shiite-majority eastern province of Qatif has suffered attacks following the 2011 protests in which the Shiite sects asked for gaining the same right in the Sunni-dominated country.

Three people, including a police officer, were also killed last month in bombings the same province.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 18:10:40|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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TEHRAN, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran will allocate 5.3 billion U.S. dollars to tackle employment in the country, Financial Tribune daily reported on Saturday.

The Central Bank of Iran in an agreement with the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare is considering the plan to deal with the unemployment rate which recently hits 12.6 percent.

Iranian Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, Ali Rabiei, said that, out of the fund, 26 million U.S. dollars would be allocated for job creation in the first three months of the scheme, and 105 million U.S. dollars will be extended to vocational training.

A portion of 26 million U.S. dollars will also be allocated in the form of cash subsidies, Rabiei was quoted as saying.

In the meantime, the government should address many of the production concerns including "technology, marketing, sales and raw materials," which is also instrumental to deal with the unemployment issue, he said.

It was announced here on Wednesday that Iran's unemployment rate in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, started March 21, 2017, stood at 12.6 percent, a 0.4-percent rise compared with the same period of past year.

The figure also showed a 0.1-percent increase compared with the previous quarter.

Total unemployment people, among Iranians aged 10 and above, were 3.36 million, including 2.25 million men and 1.11 million women.

According to the daily, the unemployment rate was 14.4 percent for urban areas and 7.8 percent for rural areas.

Iran's unemployment rate in the last fiscal year, ended March 20, stood at 12.4 percent, registering a 1.4-percent rise from the previous year.

High unemployment rate is among the gravest challenges for the re-elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's economic team.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 18:15:40|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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HANOI, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Police of Vietnam's central Nha Trang city have detained a 47-year-old Russian woman wanted by Interpol for making, possessing and selling drugs along with her husband in their home country since 2015.

Bering Ekaterina fled to Vietnam in late 2014, and then worked as a spa attendant in a four-star hotel in Nha Trang until her arrest, local online newspaper Tuoi Tre (Youth) reported Saturday.

The Interpol National Central Bureau for Vietnam is completing procedures to send her back to Russia.
File photo shows people injured in a school bus crash being attended to by medical staff in Karatu District, northern Tanzania, on May 6, 2017. (Xinhua)

DAR ES SALAAM, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The Tanzanian government said Friday it had issued permits to employ 3,000 health workers to fill the gap left after the country sacked thousands of medics in April over fake academic certificates.

"Employment process of the health workers will start next week," Tanzanian Minister for Health Ummy Mwalimu said in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

Mwalimu was reacting to reports on Thursday in which regional medical officers appealed to the government to urgently employ 7,304 new health workers to fill the gap left by the sacked workers.

Leonard Subi, Chairman of Regional Medical Officers in Tanzania Mainland, said the 7,000-plus health workers should be employed promptly before the situation in hospitals was out of hand.

Mwalimu said the government will next year issue permits for employing other 4,000 health workers.

At least 7,000 health workers have been expelled since earlier this year after being discovered to have earned employment using fake academic certificates.

The saga left a shortage in the sector's workforce reaching 49.5 percent, which is equivalent to half of the health workers needed.

In April, President John Magufuli sacked 9,932 workers who were found using fake certificates, mostly health workers, paralyzing medical delivery in dispensaries and hospitals across the country.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 18:40:56|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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HAMBURG, Germany, July 8 (Xinhua)-- The Group of 20 (G20) leaders have reached a compromise on trade by recognizing both free trade and certain forms of protectionism, German Press Agency (DPA) reported Saturday morning.

Leaders of the G20 on the Hamburg summit said they plan to "continue the fight against protectionism, including all unfair trade practices," but also acknowledged "the role of legitimate defence instruments in trade," DPA cited officials.

But an agreement on climate change is still out of reach due to the stance of U.S. President Donald Trump, who decided to withdraw from the Paris Agreement in June.

The G20 Hamburg summit under the German Presidency kicked off Friday with discussions on terrorism, global economic growth, trade and climate change, and continued on Saturday with focus on partnership with Africa, migration and health. A communique is expected for release Saturday afternoon.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 19:00:57|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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MADRID, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Five people were injured in the second running of the bulls (encierro) at the San Fermin fiestas in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona on Saturday morning, local health authorities said.

Two of the injured were gored as the six bulls ran the 875 meters from their holding pens to the city bullring -- one was gored in his gluteus, while the other was injured in the left arm. The other three injured suffered cuts and bruises following falls.

Saturday's "encierro" follows Friday's opening run in which three people, including two American tourists, were taken to hospital after being gored.

The San Fermin fiestas were made famous by writer Ernest Hemingway in the 1920s.

This year's celebrations are expected to bring around 150 million euros (about 171 million U.S. dollars) into the city, which includes a programme of over 400 cultural events.

They are also being protected by 3,500 police with special measures taken to prevent both sexual assaults and any possible terrorist attacks, with concrete blocks placed at the entry of many pedestrian walkways and bust streets to prevent any possible attacks using vehicles.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 19:16:02|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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ISLAMABAD, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The Pakistan army said on Saturday that at least two civilians were killed in Indian firing along the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir.

"Indian army unprovoked firing of small arms and including heavy weapons and mortars along LoC in Chirikot and Satwal sectors," the army's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement.

"Pakistan Army troops effectively responded to Indian unprovoked firing," the statement said.

Two people, including a girl, were killed and three citizens were injured, the statement added.

The latest incident happened as escalation along the LoC has been seen since a militant attack on an army center in the Indian-controlled Kashmir killed 19 soldiers on Sept. 18 last year.

The Indian military blamed the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad group for the attack and also pointed fingers at Pakistan. However, Islamabad rejected the charges and suggested an independent investigation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 19:26:04|Editor: Zhou Xin

Deputy UN Special Envoy for Syria Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy (C) speaks during a press briefing in Damascus, capital of Syria, on July 8, 2017. Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy said here on Saturday that the cease-fire agreement reached Friday between the United States and Russia to quell fighting in southwest Syria is a "step in the right direction." (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)

DAMASCUS, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Deputy UN Special Envoy for Syria Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy said here on Saturday that the cease-fire agreement reached Friday between the United States and Russia to quell fighting in southwest Syria is a "step in the right direction."

In a press briefing held in Damascus, Ramzy said the U.S.-Russian agreement for creating the de-escalation zones in southwest Syria is also an important development, adding that the UN support the efforts to de-escalate violence in Syria.

"The agreement to create de-escalation zones in southern Syria...is an important development. The UN always aims to de-escalate tension and this is a step in the right direction. We hope that the other areas that have been discussed to be included in the de-escalation zones deal to reach similar agreement soon and that will support the political process," he said.

A day earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the agreement, if it holds, may be a blueprint for other parts of the country. "This area in the south is our first show of success. We hope we can replicate that elsewhere," he said.

Tillerson noted that there are more details to be discussed on the Russian side regarding who will provide the security forces to observe the cease-fire in that part, adding that such details will be finalized within a week.

The de-escalation zones deal was established in Syria last May, with Russia, Iran and Turkey signing the deal.

The U.S. had no apparent role in the deal, which included four zones that will be included in the deal, namely Homs, Idlib, Daraa and Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus.

The deal held up relatively well in Idlib, but in Daraa in southern Syria the situation got tense recently with renewed battles between the Syrian army and the rebels, which prompted Russia and the U.S. to reach the agreement for southwestern Syria, which include Daraa and Qunaitera, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Qunaitera witnessed intense battles between the Syrian army and the rebels. Also, Israel struck Syrian military positions several times over the past two weeks.

Still, the Syrian government hasn't officially commented on the new U.S.-Russian agreement.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 20:06:21|Editor: Liangyu

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Hamburg, Germany, July 8, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

HAMBURG, Germany, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron agreed here Saturday to promote bilateral relations and cooperation.

"The Chinese side is willing to make concerted efforts with the French side to continue to view the bilateral relations from a strategic height and a long-term perspective, and work for a better development of our ties," Xi said during a meeting with Macron on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies in Hamburg, Germany.

Political mutual trust, pioneering and innovative spirit, and fruitful international cooperation have been the outstanding features of the China-France relationship, Xi added.

Both China and France are permanent members of the UN Security Council, that pursue an independent foreign policy, safeguard the international order with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter at its core, and advocate exchanges and learning from each other between different civilizations, Xi said.

"The China-France relationship has become increasingly strategic under current situation," he said. "It is our shared historical responsibility to maintain and promote the China-France comprehensive strategic partnership."

Xi proposed that the two countries increase high-level exchanges and take into account each other's core interests and major concerns based on the principles of mutual respect, trust, understanding and accommodation.

The two countries should also dovetail their development strategies, he said.

Xi called on the two sides to deepen cooperation in nuclear energy, aerospace and other traditional areas, while exploring cooperation in new areas such as agricultural food, finance and sustainable development, thus making the "pie" of their common interests even bigger.

Xi also suggested that the two countries enhance communication and coordination in international and regional affairs, and jointly push for the peaceful settlement of global and regional hotspot issues.

On China's relations with the European Union (EU), Xi said that China stands ready to develop a long-term and stable cooperative relationship with the bloc, and hopes France would continue to play a leading role in this regard and make more contributions to the China-EU trade, two-way investment in a bid to realize mutually beneficial win-win cooperation.

Pursuing a green, low-carbon and sustainable development path championed in the Paris Agreement on climate change conforms to the philosophy of China's endeavors to promote ecological progress and the country's latest development concept, Xi said.

China will earnestly fulfil its due obligations in the agreement in light of its own requirements for sustainable development, he added.

Echoing Xi's remarks on bilateral ties, Macron said that the two countries enjoy a long history of friendship and lauded their bilateral relationship as the best ever in history.

The French side highly values the France-China comprehensive strategic partnership and regards China as an important partner of cooperation and an important force in international affairs, Macron said.

He added that the French side is willing to enhance cooperation with China in a wide range of areas, including the economy and trade, investment, nuclear energy, auto manufacturing and food.

France and China share similar stances on major international issues, and the two countries should reinforce communication and coordination within such multilateral frameworks as the United Nations to jointly promote world peace and prosperity, Macron said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 20:15:25|Editor: Liangyu

People of Tibetan ethnic group take part in a ceremony to celebrate the Wangguo Festival in Longzi Township of Longzi County in Shannan Prefecture, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 7, 2017. The Wangguo Festival, which has a history of more than 1,500 years, is a traditional festival of Tibetan people to greet the forthcoming harvest. (Xinhua/Purbu Zhaxi)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 20:16:29|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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GAZA, July 8 (Xinhua) -- It's been three years since Israel waged the 50-day large-scale military offensive on the Gaza Strip, but Yanis al-Masri and his family, whose home was destroyed during the war, is still living in a caravan in the northern town of Beit Hanoun.

Al-Masri was 13 when the war broke out on July 8, 2014. He still remembers how destructive the Israeli military offensive was, especially in his town close to the border area between the coastal enclave's northern tip and Israel.

"However, the last three years were the hardest," he said.

"Right at the end of the war we received money from the United Nations for a house rent, and then it stopped," said the high-school teenager. "After paying the house rent, we took refuge at schools and we moved from one school to another, until we came to live in this caravan."

The war ended on August 26 after Egypt brokered a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, with massive damage done in the sectors of housing, infrastructure, industry and agriculture in Gaza.

In October 2014, 50 Arab and international donors pledged in Cairo 5.4 billion U.S. dollars for Gaza's reconstruction plan.

Naji Serhan, deputy housing minister in Gaza, told Xinhua that since the war in 2014, 50 percent of the world-backed construction plan has been completed, with "3,500 housing units already rebuilt and 2,000 still under construction."

According to the minister, 11,000 housing units were completely destroyed, 6,800 badly damaged, 5,700 partially damaged and 147,500 slightly damaged.

On top of the slow construction in Gaza, the coastal enclave, home to a population of more than two million, has been witnessing hard living conditions, such as a severe shortage of electricity, high rates of poverty and unemployment and even a polluted beach.

"Around 500 families are still living in caravans," said Serhan. "This is due to a deficiency of 250 million dollars that was behind a decline in the reconstruction process."

Hamza al-Masri, father of Yanis, also grumbled about their hard living conditions in the caravan.

"There is no construction; there is nothing," he said. "The caravan is not a safe place at all. There's really lots of fear and suffering."

"We hope that we can go home to have a new life and have a concrete-made house," the 58-year-old father said.

Meanwhile, in the village of Khuza'a, just east of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, 16-year-old boy Oday Abu Motleq and his family are living in their partially destroyed house, waiting for its renovation.

"I have been living in this house since I was young. I was born here, I grew up in this house and I studied here. All my memories as I was young are in it," said the boy. "The ministry of work came and checked the house. They classified it as unfitting for living, but we are obliged to live in it."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 20:26:34|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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CAIRO, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian police killed two militants on Saturday in a shootout in Giza province, official news agency MENA reported.

The national security sector was tipped off that these terrorists had been sheltering in a hotbed in October City, the report added.

The two terrorists were wanted by the police, it added.

The militants started firing as security forces approached the place where they were hiding.

"Large amount of weapons and ammunition and documents about terrorist organizations were seized," the statement added.

Egypt lately has intensified wide-scale raids on the terrorist hideouts, mainly in Sinai, as the country has been suffering wave of anti-security attacks since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, in response to mass protests against his rule.

Hundreds of police and military men had been killed in the attacks that were claimed mostly by an IS affiliate in Sinai Peninsula.

On Friday, a car bombing and the following attack on an army check point in North Sinai killed or wounded 26 soldiers.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 20:46:46|Editor: Liangyu

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BEIJING, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Liu Mengping has been arrested in late June for taking bribes, 17 years after first being listed as wanted, Beijing police confirmed Saturday.

Liu, a former accountant with a subsidiary of the China International Water and Electric Corporation, was put under investigation on June 2, 2000 for allegedly taking bribes. She had fled to Southeast Asia via Hong Kong.

Following unswerving search and investigation, and on learning of her recent whereabouts, police arrested her on June 29.

Police give no further details.

The anti-graft authority in Beijing said that Liu's arrest proved again that overseas was no paradise for fugitives and giving themselves up was the only way to go.






SEATAC, Wash. - Joseph Daniel Hudek IV, 23, the Florida man accused of assaulting a flight attendant on a Delta Air Lines flight from Seattle to Beijing. He appeared Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle at 2 p.m. and is facing a federal charges.

A Delta Air Lines flight from Seattle to Beijing returned to Sea-Tac Airport Thursday evening after Hudek reportedly assaulted and injured a flight attendant.

Sea-Tac Airport spokesman Perry Cooper said 45 minutes after the departure of Delta Flight 129, there was an in-flight disturbance in the first-class cabin in which a passenger assaulted a flight attendant. The flight had departed Sea-Tac shortly after 5 p.m.

There were approximately 210 passengers and 11 flight crew onboard the plane.

Hudek was in the first-class cabin, traveling on a "dependent pass" which is a ticket that Delta offers to employees and their families.

Prior to takeoff, Hudek asked a flight attendant for a beer, which he received. He did not have any additional alcoholic drinks and he did not appear to be intoxicated court documents state.

Approximately one hour into the flight, Hudek reportedly used the lavatory -- twice -- and after exiting the lavatory the second time, he lunged toward an exit door, grabbed the handle and attempted to open the door.

At that time, the flight attendant asked for assistance from other passengers in the area and notified the cockpit of the situation.

The pilot called in the situation and the plane was diverted back to Seattle.

As the attendant continued to struggle with Hudek, he reportedly then punched the attendant twice in the face and hit a passenger who was trying to assist the attendant in the head with a wine bottle.

Witnesses then said that Hudek again attempted to open the exit door. A passenger who tried to pull Hudek away from the door was also punched multiple times.

As the struggle between the passenger and Hudek continued, a flight attendant grabbed two wine bottles and hit Hudek on the head twice, eventually breaking one of the wine bottles.

One passenger, who did not want to share his name said: They broke two bottles of wine on his head. I tried to choke him and he just threw me off like a rag doll."

Court documents state that Hudek seemed unfazed by a full bottle of wine being broken over his head and shouted something along the lines of, "Do you know who I am?"

Eventually, a passenger assisting the flight attendants was able to get Hudek into a headlock and as Hudek struggled to free himself, several other passengers came to assist in subduing him. After restraining him long enough, they were able to secure Hudek with zip ties.

Hudek reportedly remained "extremely" combative and several passengers were needed to restrain him until the plane landed at Sea-Tac.

Dustin Jones, who was seated directly behind the curtains separating first class from the rest of the plane, said he could tell a scuffle was going on.

One of the flight attendants ran back and said there was a Code 3. There was a serious fight up front, Jones said.

Britteny Gardner, who was on the flight, said that in the main cabin passengers heard an announcement asking for a doctor.

Somebody that was working had blood on their shirt, Gardner said.

Despite what happened, a passenger told KIRO 7 that the crew and the rest of the passengers remained mostly calm.

Witnesses on the plane said they were afraid for their lives when they saw the force with which Hudek attempted to open the door; he reportedly pushed the emergency lever halfway up.

A flight attendant said that given the flight's low altitude it would have been possible to open the door.

The plane landed at approximately 7:10 p.m. and officers boarded the plane and took Hudek into custody. Hudek was also combative with officers.

Once back at Sea-Tac, Hudek was handcuffed and zip-tied to a wheelchair as he was rolled out of the terminal, according to Jones.

"He started yelling for help," Jones said. "And so he turned the wheelchair over in the middle of the airport, screaming for people to help him, just being belligerent."

A flight attendant and passenger were immediately transported to a hospital
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 21:26:55|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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by Chris Mgidu and Joy Nabukewa

LAMU, Kenya, July 8 (Xinhua) -- At least ten people were killed and an unknown number injured after suspected Al-Shabaab militants attacked a Kenyan village in the coastal Lamu region early Saturday.

A senior police officer in Lamu said the militants descended on Jima/Poromoko area of Lamu County and attacked civilians at around 4:30 am.

"This morning Al-Shabaab slaughtered eight to ten people in their houses at Jima area within Pandanguo. They targeted only male who are from certain communities," said the officer, noting that the militants are now advancing towards Bargon direction.

He said about 15 armed Al-Shabaab militants of Somali origin herded together non-locals and slaughtered them using knives.

Many other people are unaccounted for in the area and there were fears the toll may increase. Police chiefs said a security team had been sent to the scene and was yet to get more information on the attack.

Regional police commander Akello Odhiambo confirmed the attack at Jima village, saying the insurgents shot and hacked to death the villagers.

"We have sent more security reinforcement to the scene to pursue the attacks," Odhiambo said without confirming the number of casualties.

Head of operations for Operation Linda Boni, James ole Seriani said there was an attack but refused to give details. He said a team of security officials had been sent to the area to pursue the attackers.

"There was an attack in the area and we are still pursuing the attackers. We will give more information later," said Seriani.

President Kenyatta in a television news conference in Nairobi on Saturday mentioned the incident but said more details would be provided later.

"We have had an unfortunate incident this morning that we are currently assessing and addressing. I wish to assure Kenyans and all our friends of good faith that Kenya is secure and I wish to take this opportunity also to let those who wish to see a destabilized Kenya, an unsettled Kenya, that we are strong and we are ready," Kenyatta said.

Other security sources on the ground said at least ten bodies had been recovered and all were beheaded and were men. The locals said the militants had earlier visited homesteads looking for food.

The scene of the incident is about two kilometers away from Pandaguo where the militants attacked last week and killed three police officers. There are fears the militants could be planning attacks in other parts of the county.

Security agencies have stepped up their efforts to address the fears calling on the public to be generally alert and report any suspicious objects and persons.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 22:02:10|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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CAPE TOWN, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Eleven teenagers have died of botched circumcision within two weeks during the winter initiation season in South Africa, authorities said on Saturday.

All the deaths were reported in Eastern Cape Province, a hotbed of circumcision-related deaths, according to the Provincial Department of Traditional Affairs.

The death toll of initiates in a short period "is alarming", said Fikile Xasa from the department.

The deaths occurred despite the "Zero Deaths" campaign launched by the government. Government-dispatched teams currently are monitoring the situation across the country during the initiation season.

Meanwhile, more than 22 boys have been rescued from illegal initiation schools in the province, according to the Community Development Foundation of South Africa (CDFSA), which deals with the safety of initiates.

In a related development, six other initiates died in the province when their initiation school caught fire, the department said.

A funeral was held on Saturday for the six initiates.

Circumcision is viewed a sacred practice in African cultures, marking a male's transition from child to adulthood. According to the tradition, young males have to be circumcised as the passage to manhood.

Last year, more than 70 boys died at initiation schools and scores of others were hospitalized in the Eastern Cape alone, according to the CDFSA.

In the last 10 years there has been an estimated 1,000 penile amputations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 22:02:13|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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RIYADH, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Two Saudi policemen were injured in a projectile attack in Saudi Arabia's Eastern province, interior ministry tweeted on Saturday.

The ministry confirmed that the two were referred to hospital for treatment.

The attack is the third one in line occurred in Qatif region of the province.

A policeman was killed and six others injured on Thursday in a similar attack, while another projectile attack killed a policeman and injured three on Tuesday.

Violence in Qatif witnessed escalation since the beginning of this year after the announcement of the construction plan to replace deserted houses, which were taken as hideouts by fugitives in Al Masoura neighborhood.

Qatif has been disturbed by violence for years, as the minority Shiite community in the conservative Sunni state is in demand for more rights.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 22:27:28|Editor: Liangyu

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Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Hamburg, Germany, July 8, 2017. (Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng)

by Xinhua Writers Chen Zhi, Zhu Dongyang, Yan Feng

HAMBURG, Germany, July 8 (Xinhua) -- In a high-profile meeting here on Saturday, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reaffirmed their readiness to strengthen the partnership and cooperation between the two countries in the future despite differences in a trove of issues and severe challenges ahead.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the ongoing Group of 20 (G20)summit in the German port city of Hamburg.

XI: JAPAN SHALL HONOR ITS WORDS ON HISTORY, TAIWAN

In the meeting, Xi said that Japan shall honor its words on issues related to history and Taiwan, and remove the distractions in bilateral relations with policies and concrete actions.

He also urged Japan to learn from history so as to ensure that bilateral relations run in the right direction and have a brighter prospect.

Xi noted that the sound neighborly relations between China and Japan concern not only the well-being of the two peoples, but also have an impact on Asia and the world at large. Xi noted that the sound neighborly relations between China and Japan concern not only the well-being of the two peoples, but also have an impact on Asia and the world at large.

China and Japan normalized their diplomatic relations 45 years ago after reaching key consensus on history, Taiwan and Diaoyu Islands, among other issues. Next year, the two nations will embrace the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

The Chinese president said the two countries shall enhance their sense of responsibility at this moment, and seize the opportunities in the new era of bilateral ties.

In spite of twists and turns, and other severe tests in the past 45 years, the development of Beijing-Tokyo relations has rendered both sides many constructive inspirations, Xi said, calling for solid efforts to boost bilateral ties in accordance with the overall strategic direction of peace, amity and cooperation.

For Japan, it shall prove its willingness for better ties with China through concrete policies and actions, he added.

Political trust is the premise of the China-Japan relations, Xi said, referring to the four political documents and the four-point agreement that serve as the guiding principles of bilateral ties on properly handling issues related to history and Taiwan, among others.

These issues, vital to the political foundation of the China-Japan ties, bear no room for compromise or regress, or the bilateral relations will veer off the right course and slow down its pace of development, he said.

The Chinese president also welcomed Japan to join in the Belt and Road pragmatic cooperation, urging wide-range exchanges between the two sides on culture, education, media, local-level and youth in a bid to garner more public support for bilateral friendship.

ABE: JAPAN READY TO DISPLAY FORESIGHT IN BILATERAL RELATIONS

For his part, Abe said his country is ready to display foresight and add momentum to its ties with China, since the two countries, the world's second and third economies, respectively, are influential players on global and regional issues.

The Japanese leader eyed more high-level exchanges with China, adding that he is willing to enhance bilateral cooperation with China in such areas as economy and trade, finance, tourism, as well as the Belt and Road collaboration.

He also promised that regarding China's Taiwan, there is no change of Japan's stance inscribed in its joint statement with China in 1972.

Bilateral trust has been marred from time to time over Tokyo's reluctance on admitting its past war crimes, the attempt to annex China's Diaoyu Islands and adjacent islets in the East China Sea, and the initiative to abolish its post-war pacifist constitution that forbids the deployment of troops overseas for fight.

Tokyo was also a vigorous advocate of the so-called "China threat," frequently participating in military drills in Asia-Pacific with the United States, and selling weapons to the former Philippine administration when the Manila-manipulated South China Sea farce peaked to a failed arbitration last year.

SOURING RELATIONS BEHIND, SERIOUS ENGAGEMENT AHEAD

To patch up the bumpy relations and souring trust, China and Japan inked a four-point agreement in 2014, in which the two sides vowed to develop mutually beneficial relations, to face history squarely to overcome political obstacles in bilateral ties, to deter any escalation of confrontation via dialogue, consultation and crisis-management mechanism, and to resume political, diplomatic and security dialogues through bilateral and multilateral channels to enhance mutual trust.

These key principles came in the run-up to the high-profile Xi-Abe meeting in 2014 on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing. Since then, the once frozen exchanges between the two neighbors have showed some signs of thawing.

The Chinese president, while meeting in May with Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who arrived in Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on behalf of the Japanese government, urged joint efforts of both sides to ensure that bilateral ties run in the right direction.

He noted that Tokyo shall reflect on the reasons behind the souring ties, and take effective measures to improve mutual trust.

China welcomes Japan to join in the Belt and Road construction, Xi added.

Later in May, Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi visited Japan and met with Abe, calling on Tokyo to accumulate "positive energy" and wipe out negative factors in bilateral relationship.

Yang also urged Japan to honor its words to take China as a partner rather than a rival, and properly handle issues related to Taiwan and history that bear vital impact on the foundation of mutual rapprochement.

Abe, for his part, said that regarding the Taiwan issue, Japan will abide by the principles established in the 1972 Japan-China joint communique that normalized bilateral relations.

Earlier in April, Japan released its diplomatic bluebook for 2017, describing its ties with China "one of the most important bilateral relationships," adding that Tokyo stands ready to cement cooperative partnership with Beijing.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 22:52:48|Editor: Zhou Xin

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ADDIS ABABA, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia inaugurated on Saturday a Chinese-built 90 million US dollars Industrial Park in Kombolcha city, in Amhara regional state, 376 km north of capital Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn who inaugurated the Kombolcha Industrial Park (KIP) said it's part of the Ethiopian government's plan to make it a manufacturing hub in Africa.

"Factories engaged in export oriented business in Kombolcha city, will have an ideal setting to export their goods through Djibouti port 480 kms away," said Desalegn.

His sentiments were echoed by Li Zhiyuan, Deputy Project Manager at China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, the company which constructed the industrial park in nine months.

"The completion of Kombolcha Industrial Park means enhanced local employment, increasing attractiveness and competitiveness of Kombolcha city, promoting industrialization of Amhara regional state and boosting the economic development of Ethiopia," said Li.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-08 23:53:38|Editor: Zhou Xin

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CAIRO, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian police killed 14 terrorists in a fire exchange in a desert area in the Suez Canal province of Ismailia, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The statement said that the gunmen were among the terrorist elements wanted over involvement in terror operations targeting policemen and soldiers in North Sinai province bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

"After getting the prosecution permission, the police on July 8 targeted the desert area in Ismailia that they took as a training camp. Once they felt the forces were approaching they opened fire heavily and the forces dealt with the source of the gunfire, killing 14 terrorist elements," said the police statement.

The security raid came one day after a car-bomb terrorist attack in North Sinai.

The attack on a checkpoint in North Sinai's Rafah killed and wounded 26 soldiers, while the security forces killed at least 40 of the terrorists, said the Egyptian military spokesman.

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi held a meeting on Saturday with the country's top officials including the ministers of defense, interior affairs and justice as well as the head of the country's general intelligence over Friday's anti-security terrorist attack.

"The forces of extremism attempt to undermine stability and security of the country," said the Egyptian president, offering condolences to the families of the army's victims.

Egypt has been facing a rising wave of terrorist activities following the military removal of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Terror attacks had been centered in restive North Sinai before they prevailed nationwide, killing hundreds of policemen and soldiers over the past few years.

They have recently started to target the Coptic minority and their churches across the country via bombings that killed dozens of them since late December 2016.

Most of the terrorist operations were claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-09 00:08:43|Editor: yan

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JAKARTA, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Home-made bombs exploded in Bandung city, the capital of Indonesia's West Java province on Saturday, Deputy Chief of National Police Commissioner General Syafruddin said.

The explosion took place in a rental house in Kampung Kubang of Buah Batu sub-district at about 3:30 p.m. local time (0830 GMT), but did not leave any casualties, Syafruddin was quoted by local Metro TV as saying.

The police arrested an alleged assembler of the pressure cooker bombs, who has initials of AW, he said.

The suspect had plotted to undertake three bomb attacks at a church, a cafe and a restaurant in the Bandung city, Syafruddin said.

The exploded bombs were initially planned to be used for the strikes at the three targets, he added.

AW learned to assemble bomb on the Internet, according to Syafruddin.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-09 00:43:54|Editor: MJ

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HAMBURG, Germany, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The Group of 20 (G20) leaders except U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement, saying it is "irreversible", read a declaration after the conclusion of the G20 summit in Hamburg.

The G20 leaders said in the declaration that they remain "collectively committed" to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through increased innovation on sustainable and clean energies and energy efficiency, but "take note of" the decision of the United States to withdraw from the agreement.

"The United States of America announced it will immediately cease the implementation of its current nationally-determined contribution and affirms its strong commitment to an approach that lowers emissions while supporting economic growth and improving energy security needs," it added.

Nevertheless, leaders of the other 19 members reaffirmed in the declaration their "strong commitment to the Paris Agreement, moving swiftly towards its full implementation in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances."

The Paris Agreement aims to tackle climate change by cutting greenhouse gas emissions and sets a global target of keeping the rise in the average temperature no higher than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Themed "Shaping an Interconnected World," the Hamburg summit kicked off Friday.

Argentina will take over the G20 presidency from Germany in December, and host the 2018 summit.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-09 00:59:02|Editor: yan

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JAKARTA, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Three home-made bombs went off in Indonesia's West Java province, before they were used for planned attacks, police said on Saturday.

Deputy Chief of National Police Commissioner General Syafruddin said militants had plotted to launch attacks at a church, a restaurant and a cafe in Bandung city, the provincial capital of West Java.

"The targets were Cafe Bali on Braga street, Celengan restaurant in Astana Anyar and Buah Batu church," he was quoted by the local Metro TV as saying.

However, the bombs exploded before they were planted, according to him.

The pressure cooker bombs exploded in a rental house in Kampung Kubang of Buah Batu sub-district at about 3:30 p.m. local time (0830 GMT) on Saturday, but did not leave any casualties, Syafruddin said.

The police arrested an alleged assembler of the home-made bombs who has initials of AW, he said, adding that the 22-year-old suspect learned to make bombs on the Internet.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-09 01:24:11|Editor: yan

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HAMBURG, Germany, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, met here Saturday to discuss bilateral ties and global hot-spot issues on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) summit.

Xi told Trump that stronger China-U.S. ties are conducive to stability and prosperity and serve the interests of both peoples and the international community in a complex world where various conflicts emerge.

Noting that the two countries have made new progress in bilateral cooperation in many fields since the Mar-a-Lago meeting despite some sensitive issues, Xi urged joint efforts with Trump to keep bilateral ties on track and coordinate in international affairs.

Xi also stressed that the two countries should stick to mutual respect and win-win cooperation to keep China-U.S. relations healthy and stable.

For his part, Trump hailed the "wonderful relationship" with Xi and expressed confidence in the "success" in addressing common problems together with China.

Trump was scheduled to pay a state visit to China later this year.

Xi and Trump set a constructive tone for the development of China-U.S. relations during their talks at the Mar-a-Lago resort in the U.S. state of Florida in April. The meeting was the first face-to-face communication between the two heads of state since the new U.S. administration took office.

In Florida, the two presidents spent more than seven hours in in-depth discussions, gained better understanding of each other, cemented mutual trust, reached consensus on many major issues, and built up a good working relationship.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-09 04:15:18|Editor: yan

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CAIRO, July 8 (Xinhua) -- At least two policemen were killed and nine others wounded in an explosion on Saturday in Egypt's North Sinai province, the Egyptian state TV reported.

A senior security official said that an improvised explosive device targeted the police's armored vehicle at Al-Safa district of Arish city in North Sinai, a place that borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, the official MENA news agency said.

"Security measures have been intensified around the explosion while a bomb disposal team is combing the area to make sure it is free of explosive devices," MENA quoted the security official as saying.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-09 04:25:22|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in Cairo on Saturday that his country supports all Arab and international efforts to uproot terrorism, official MENA news agency reported.

Abbas made the remarks during a meeting with Arab League (AL) Secretary General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit in Cairo on Saturday, which was followed by another meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

"Palestine is part of these collective efforts to fight all forms of terrorism and extremism," the Palestinian president said during his meeting with AL chief.

Abbas updated Aboul-Gheit with the recent efforts made by the Palestinian leadership to end the Israeli occupation and establish the Palestinian rights, which led the UNESCO to recently include the cities of Jerusalem and Hebron to the World Heritage List.

"The two-state solution is the only one for the Palestinian cause," said Abbas, who also briefed the AL chief of the recent U.S. peacemaking efforts in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the latest inter-Palestinian reconciliation efforts. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-09 04:45:36|Editor: Zhou Xin

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Egyptians carry the coffin of a soldier, who was killed a day earlier in the restive Sinai Peninsula in anattackby the Islamic State group, during a funeral ceremony in the 10th of Ramadan city, about 60 kms north of Cairo, on July 8, 2017. (AFP Photo)

CAIRO, July 8 (Xinhua) -- At least two policemen were killed and nine others wounded in an explosion on Saturday in Egypt's North Sinai province, the Egyptian state TV reported.

A senior security official said that an improvised explosive device targeted the police's armored vehicle at Al-Safa district of Arish city in North Sinai, a place that borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, the official MENA news agency said.

"Security measures have been intensified around the explosion while a bomb disposal team is combing the area to make sure it is free of explosive devices," MENA quoted the security official as saying.

The explosion came a day after a car bomber attacked a checkpoint in North Sinai's nearby Rafah city, causing at least 66 deaths and injuries, according to the Egyptian military spokesman.

Also on Saturday, the Egyptian police killed 14 terrorists in a fire exchange in a desert area in the Suez Canal province of Ismailia, for their alleged involvement in attacks against security forces in North Sinai.

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi called a meeting on Saturday with the country's top officials including the ministers of defense, interior affairs and justice as well as the head of general intelligence over Friday's attack.

"The forces of extremism attempt to undermine stability and security of the country," said the Egyptian president.

Egypt has been facing a rising wave of terrorist activities following the military removal of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Terror attacks had been centered in restive North Sinai before they prevailed nationwide, killing hundreds of policemen and soldiers over the past few years.

They have recently started to target the Coptic minority and their churches across the country since late December 2016.

Most of the terrorist operations were claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-09 05:35:45|Editor: yan

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KHARTOUM, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned the terror attack that took place in the Egyptian town of Rafah Friday.

"Sudan strongly condemns the terrorist attack in the Egyptian town of Rafah, which killed and injured a number of Egyptian military soldiers," said Sudan's Foreign Ministry in a statement.

The ministry described the attack as "a crime contradicting all human principles and values."

It further expressed sincere condolences from Sudan government and people to the Egyptian government and people as well as the families of the victims and the injured.

The statement also reiterated Sudan's full solidarity with Egypt in confronting all terrorist crimes.

The Egyptian army announced earlier that 26 soldiers were killed in armed attacks that targeted the military checkpoints at Rafah town in northern Sinai, adding that the army has killed 40 attackers.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-09 05:40:47|Editor: yan

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CAIRO, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian Foreign Ministry is following up the issue of the 19 people believed to be Egyptians who were found dead in a desert area in northeastern Libya, the ministry's spokesman said in a statement on Saturday.

"The Egyptian embassy in Tripoli, currently operating from Cairo, was informed by its sources at the Libyan Red Crescent that the dead bodies of about 19 persons were found in the Libyan desert area between Tobruk and Ajdabiya," Foreign Ministry's spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in the statement.

He added that the identities of only seven of them have been verified, noting they most likely have been killed by smugglers during an illegal immigration attempt.

"The Foreign Ministry is closely following up the issue to identify the rest of the bodies," the spokesman said, adding that measures are being made to transfer the seven identified bodies back home.

Egypt has been working with Libya's neighboring states to reach a political settlement in the conflict-stricken country, which is currently engaged in a civil war and run by two rival administrations, one in the capital Tripoli and the other in Tobruk city in the east.

Egypt seeks Libya's stability to maintain the Egyptian national security, secure its western borders and uproot cross-border terrorism, according to security experts.

Suffering terrorism at home, Egypt is concerned about its western borders with eastern Libya that have once been a point of infiltration of militants back and forth between the two countries.

The Egyptian forces destroyed in two airstrikes in May and June at least 27 vehicles loaded with weapons and ammunition while attempting to infiltrate into Egypt through the western borders with Libya.

The Egyptian leadership of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi supports the self-proclaimed Libyan national army led by strongman Marshall Khalifa Haftar and the parliament-backed government in Tobruk.

Tobruk's administration was internationally recognized before the Libyan Presidential Council (PC) was established in 2015 to run a unity government in Tripoli as per a UN-brokered peace deal between Libyan factions reached in Skhirat, Morocco.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-09 06:00:56|Editor: Zhou Xin

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MOSCOW, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday congratulated Khaltmaa Battulga on his election as Mongolia's new president, the Kremlin said.

In a message of congratulations, Putin stressed the "traditionally friendly and neighborly" relations between Russia and Mongolia and expressed an interest in further expanding mutually beneficial cooperation in all areas.

Battulga won Mongolia's presidential run-off election on Friday, defeating his opponent, parliament speaker Mieygombo Enkhbold of the Mongolian People's Party, according to voter data from the General Election Commission released on Saturday.

Battulga, a former martial arts star and businessman, comes from Mongolia's opposition Democratic Party.
The Railyard, a downtown Billings club known for hosting live performances of metal, punk and rock music, is closing at the end of July.

The clubs promoter, Josh Schleining, said the bar has been struggling against increased competition in the downtown music scene, particularly after the Pub Station expanded last year a few blocks away.

He added that he and the bars owner, Roger Singh, are looking for a new home for the business after the buildings owner, Mike Schaer, declined to renew their lease.

A lot of people, I would say, are sad. Weve had a lot of longtime regulars here. Its been a big thing for the music community. At the same time, its been teetering on the edge for a while, he said.

The space at 2526 Montana Ave. wont be vacant for long. Mike Uhrich, owner of Carters Brewing next door, confirmed Friday that hes planning to expand into the Railyard and said he would discuss specific plans at a later date.

Schleining, who was a Railyard customer for years before he became an employee three years ago, said he tried to focus on finding local, independent and small artists to perform.

Many were willing, but filling the bar was becoming harder, he said.

The Railyard, which opened about a decade ago, will continue holding concerts through July. On Saturday, Space Junk is playing for free.

The last weekend, July 29-30, the Railyard is planning a big send-off, with eight confirmed performers and likely more coming, according to the bars Facebook page.

The Railyard has five full-time employees and two part-timers.

We have way more good memories than bad. Business is tough, Schleining said.
DETROIT  It was any brides dream wedding  a packed church, a beautiful white dress and a palpable feeling of excitement and love.

But what made this recent Saturdays ceremony at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament really special was the groom:

Jesus.

Three women from metro Detroit were the first to become consecrated virgins in the Archdiocese of Detroit. The little-known vocation involves a commitment to lifelong chastity.

Laurie Malashanko, of Plymouth, Karen Ervin, of Northville, and Theresa Jordan, of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, are now, in the words of Catholic canon law, mystically betrothed to Christ.

Unlike nuns, they are not part of a religious order. They will continue to work regular jobs and financially support themselves, while being steadfastly dedicated to serving the church.

The focus is on how to be in the world, but not be of it, and (having) this understanding of your role as a bride of Christ, and reflecting your love of Jesus to the world, said Ervin, 42, the principal of St. Catherine of Siena Academy in Wixom.

The consecration ceremony followed years of prayer and discernment  and involved a bit of a learning curve for the Archdiocese.

There are about 250 consecrated virgins in the U.S. and 4,000 worldwide, said Judith Stegman, president of the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins.

The practice dates to the churchs earliest centuries, when there were no convents.

But by the year 1139, as more women were joining religious orders, bishops stopped consecrating virgins who werent part of those orders. The bishops believed that women would be better protected if they lived together in religious communities, Stegman said.

In 1963, the Second Vatican Council decreed that the rite of consecrated virginity should be revised. The revision took place in 1970 to again include women who were living in the world, rather than just those in religious communities.

Thats why its so misunderstood, Stegman said. For centuries, we only had the other kind of religious life in the church (for women). People arent as familiar with it.

Diocesan bishops oversee and administer the rite. A woman who has never had sex has to ask for permission and assistance to be consecrated.

There is no universal blueprint for bishops or candidates to follow.

The diocese of Lansing has consecrated seven virgins. In Detroit, Malashanko, Ervin and Jordan broke new ground.

It was a little bit scattered it first, because it was the first time we were practicing this vocation in the Archdiocese of Detroit, Jordan said. There was no set procedure or protocol.

Lifelong promise

Jordan, 40, learned about consecrated virgins through a 2013 article in the Michigan Catholic newspaper.

I felt like it was an opportunity to take my relationship with Christ one step further, she said.

The Archdiocese of Detroit tapped Susan Cummins, who was consecrated in 2002 in Lansing and now works for the Archdiocese, to mentor Jordan and the other women.

For the past few years, theyve been meeting once every six weeks or so to pray and talk about the vocation. They had dinner several times with Auxiliary Bishop Donald Hanchon. Priests served as their spiritual directors.

The women submitted character references, a biography and a statement of intent to Archbishop Allen Vigneron.

Its not a vocation you can just 1-2-3 get into, Jordan said. It takes a lot of formation, study and prayer.

Ervin said she first felt called to religious life as a child, but was intimidated by it. She was open to marriage and dated throughout her 20s. She also visited different religious orders.

Nothing seemed like the right fit.

Then one day, just before she turned 35, Ervin was talking to a professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary who mentioned consecrated virgins. Ervin had never heard about the vocation.

I had so much joy flooding my heart the more and more she talked, she said.

Malashanko, 41, who works for a publishing company, also had a calling. But she didnt feel like she needed the structure of a religious community.

There were religious orders I loved, and there were guys I dated who were great, but nothing clicked until I heard about this, she said.

Giving 100 percent

The idea behind lifelong virginity is giving 100 percent of oneself to Christ. Many consecrated virgins attend mass daily.

Stegman said 106 dioceses out of more than 190 in the U.S. have consecrated virgins  and many of those have only one or two.

Some dioceses dont even know about the vocation and are perplexed at first when a woman asks about it.

But thats changing.

Clearly, as it becomes known more and more, theres been a continual increase in women who are interested in the vocation, asking about it and becoming consecrated, especially as various bishops become more aware of it and encourage it in their dioceses, Stegman said.

One other woman in the Archdiocese of Detroit is in formation.

The idea of lifelong virginity may make some people snicker, Jordan said. But she views it as a sacred gift from the Holy Spirit.

In todays society, virginity is often criticized, its made fun of, said Jordan, who works as a French teacher and in the registrars office at Marygrove College.

To be in this world where theres a lot of sexual immorality and perversion, this is a great task set before me, but its one I look forward to overcoming, and helping others learn about the beauty of virginity and chastity in this world.

Last September, Malashanko, Ervin and Jordan had one-on-one interviews with Vigneron.

There were no promises at the end of that interview, Malashanko said. He could have said, I dont think anyone is ready yet. But that afternoon, all three of us were accepted. We set a date.

Wedding preparations began.

The big day

The women sent out invitations that listed Vigneron, rather than their parents, as the inviter.

Malashanko bought her wedding dress online. She was drawn to its boat neck, cinched waist and chiffon bottom, details that reminded her of Jackie Kennedy and Grace Kelly.

Everyone picked out rings. Ervin designed hers, with a crown of thorns inside a white gold band connected to rose gold fleur-de-lis cross.

Most important, the women spent extra time in prayer and reflection.

On that Saturday morning, the Cathedral was packed with several hundred guests and close to two dozen priests.

Each bride clutched an oil lamp as she walked down the aisle.

Like any traditional Catholic mass, there were two readings and the Gospel. The consecration rite followed.

In an especially powerful part, the women lay prostrate as Vigneron and everyone in the church recited the Litany of the Saints.

Then, Vigneron gave each woman a ring and placed a veil on her head. He presented her with a Liturgy of the Hours prayer book.

Standing before Vigneron, Jordan, Malashanko and Ervin sang, I am a spouse to Him, whom the angels serve; sun and moon stand in wonder at His glory.

Applause filled the church.

I was very happy, very elated to be wedded to Christ, Jordan said. I felt aligned with his virginity, his purity and all of his sufferings.

To be mystically espoused to him, it was very joyful.
MISSOULA  U.S. Sen. Jon Tester condemned dark money donations and Russian election interference during a panel discussion at the University of Montana Friday.

The panel discussion was focused on outside influences in U.S. elections, a problem Tester said Montanans are all too familiar with. It also included former CIA analyst Nada Bakos and University of Montana law professor Anthony Johnstone.

Weve had a long history of people trying to buy our elections, Tester said.

Testers Senate seat is one of 33 expected to be challenged in the 2018 midterm elections, races already attracting millions of dollars in TV spots produced by groups like the liberal Majority Forward and conservative America First Priorities.

Both groups file as nonprofits and cannot run ads specifically supporting a candidate, although they can cast a light  either positive or negative  on candidate's positions. Campaigns by law cannot coordinate with such groups.

A candidate doesnt need to be involved or even exist for these types of ads to make a difference in an election. No challenger has yet come forward against Tester in the 2018 election, but ads condemning his positions are already running.

And that is part of roughly $1 million that outside groups have spent against Jon already this cycle, said Montana Democratic Party spokesman Chris Meagher.

Another concern for Tester as he heads into the 2018 election is whether the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee will have concluded its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

We need to get to the bottom of the Russian stuff and get it behind us, Tester said. The administration would be much more effective if they just opened it up and said, 'Here it is, weve got nothing to hide.'

Tester said he has spoken to committee chairman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., about the investigation ending by Christmas, but is unsure is the committee is on track to meet that deadline. But as the investigation develops, Tester said he knows that may not be possible.

But without the facts, combating future influence by Russia will be like shooting a moving target, Tester said.

Russia already has about 150 intelligence operatives working in the United States, said Bakos, the former CIA analyst.

Russia wants to have influence in the world again, Bakos said. One of the main talking points linked to Russian propaganda in 2016 was that mainstream media is not portraying American interests, Bakos said.

Still, Tester believes there is room to work with Russia, despite the possibility the country may be planning more election interference in 2018.

Tester said negotiating with Russia is like negotiating with any country the United States might disagree with.

"If Ive got somebody that I can work with on an issue, then we work with them on that issue, and then you may be arguing against them on the floor on another issue. Thats the way things work," he said.

Bakos doesn't see it the same way.

"How does that square with our fight against ISIS?" Bakos said.

A representative from U.S. Sen. Steve Daines' office was also scheduled to appear on the panel to read a statement from Daines, but had to cancel because of a scheduling conflict. But, Daines' office told the Missoulian Friday he believes in diplomacy and every effort should be made to secure peace in order to work with Russia, while still being leery of the country.

"I'm skeptical of Russia's intentions and we need to remain vigilant and maintain a watchful eye," Daines said.

The panel also discussed voter fraud, with Johnstone saying that of the billion votes cast in 2016, there were about 31 instances of fraud. The threat to American democracy is not going to come from voter fraud, Johnstone said.

There are problems with our election administrations and we need to sort it out, but something to look out for are efforts to make voting harder for Americans on the basis of the very, very low possibility of real fraud, Johnstone said.

About 200 people attended the panel organized with the help of the Montana World Affairs Council, Montanans for National Security and the Davidson Honors College.
Charge us or free us

Two other men who were also arrested on Saturday, have filed writs of habeas corpus in the High Court to have the police justify their continued detention.

In an order following an hour-long hearing, Justice Ricky Rahim said while he is satisfied the continued detention of the two was not unlawful, if no charges are laid against either by 11.30 am today, they must be released.

According to senior State attorney Neil Byam, the police required additional time for the transcription of phone calls intercepted as well as to tie up loose ends in their investigations.

It was also revealed one of the two was held with $2,500 linked to a $270,000 ransom paid for Laings release as well as a mobile phone used by the kidnappers, while the other, an Imam, was linked to the phone calls intercepted by police.

It was also revealed the warrants for the interception of these phone calls were obtained by police and approved by a judge of the High Court.

The two men were represented by attorneys Criston J Williams and Karunaa Bisramsingh.

A joint team of police officers swooped down on Alicias Guest House last week Saturday, surrounded two rooms and detained three of seven suspects in Laings kidnapping.

Officers searched two rooms and detained the three suspects who were in possession of cash, cell phones and other valuables. All seven suspects were taken to different police stations and were being questioned by a joint team of police officers. The arrest of the seven suspects came after hours of surveillance following Laings release on Thursday afternoon.

Laing, 53, the owner of Puff n Stuff chain of bakeries was snatched from outside his San Fernando branch around 3 am two Thursdays ago.

Relatives were contacted by a kidnapper who demanded $270,000 for his safe return. Hours after the kidnapping, relatives went to Phase 1 in Beetham and paid $30,000.

Later that evening, they paid $240,000 in Barataria. Laing was subsequently released.
Man charged for sexual touching

Sawh, 30, appeared before Chaguanas Magistrate Sherene Murray-Bailey, in the Second Court, charged with sexual touching.

WPC Osbourne of the Child Protection Unit (CPU) laid the charge. As soon as the matter was called, court prosecutor Sgt Ken Ali informed the magistrate that the accused man has a disease of the mind.

The prosecutor noted that Sawh of Caroni Savannah Road, Chaguanas, is an outpatient of the Couva Psychiatric Centre. To support his claim, Sgt Ali produced documents which he obtained from Sawhs parents, both of whom attended the hearing yesterday. As such, Sgt Ali requested that the accused be sent for a psychiatric evaluation.

Sawh was unrepresented by counsel. The charge against him alleged that Sawh led the boy to a secluded area on the church compound at Main Road, Chaguanas, where he unzipped the boys pants and committed the act.

On Thursday, the boy pointed out the accused to his father while walking along Marc Street in Chaguanas.

Two Chaguanas Municipal police who at the time were on foot patrol apprehended the man and subsequently handed him over to the CPU.

Sawh is due to re-appear on July 19.
6 year old gun case dropped

Bakery owner Deonath Teelucksingh, 52, together with his wife Rebecca Jacob and their neighbour Andon Ragbir smiled as they left the Chaguanas courthouse yesterday accompanied by attorney Joseph Honore. The joint charges against them alleged that on October 3, 2011, at Savary Road, Las Lomas #1, they had in their possession a Glock 19 pistol and 13 rounds of ammunition.

The prosecution contended that police searched the businessmans home and found the illegal weapon.

PC Antoine laid the charge. However, defence attorney Honore submitted to the court that his clients were innocent as police had found the gun and ammunition in some bushes away from Teelucksinghs house. The trial began about four months ago and only two prosecution witnesses gave evidence. Footage of the alleged find was aired on a crime show on a local television channel. The host of the show, a civilian, was seen in the footage wearing a vest with the word Police on it. Honore cited the Police Service Act of 2006 saying that the act of wearing such vest amounted to a breach in law namely, impersonating a police officer. As part of the defences case, a summons was issued to the media house for the footage which the court viewed at the previous hearing.

After hearing Honores submissions yesterday, the magistrate dismissed the matter.
State to pay ex-ACTT employees

The State has been given seven days in which to pay the arrears amounting to $498,993.14 and interest of $13,578.24. The nine - Roshan Haracksingh, an attorney; Josette Rodney, an attorney; Crista Daniel, corporate communications officer; Kereen McPherson, quality assurance officer; Vonrick Knights, network specialist; Joy Francis, Trade Specialist; Raquel Sukhu, student; Shirvan Valley, accountant and Marsha McKay, a teacher - filed a breach of contract lawsuit claiming they had a legitimate expectation that they would be subject to the revised compensation structure as soon as the relevant approval was received from the Ministry of Education.

According to their lawsuit, they were employed by the ACTT for different periods in different capacities from November 2010 to October 2013 and November 2013 to October 2016. They said during their employment, they were given assurances that they would be subject to revised salaries and allowances.
Store in Gulf City Mall broken into

According to police, at about 4 am, a security guard heard the sound of shattering glass and went towards the main entrance of Gulf City Mall in La Romaine to investigate.

The security guard saw four men, all armed, running up the escalator in the centre of the mall.

THe intruders later held the guard up at gunpoint while they smashed the glass door entrance to the store. They then stole dozens of cellular phones including expensive iPhones. The smashing of glass set off the stores alarm system.

The owners of the store Robindranath Maharaj and Zyroon Joy Maharaj were contacted and asked if they expected anyone to be at the store at that unusual hour. When Robindranath checked camera footage of the store via his cellphone, he noticed the front glass door shattered. He quickly left his Gulf View home and headed to the mall.

The security guard said he was held up at gun point. They (the burglars) smashed two showcases and took iPhones and Samsung phones, but mostly iPhones.

They didnt take any cash. I dont know what exactly they did, but somehow the stores camera footage was also wiped, said a source from the mall.

No other stores were broken into. Despite the shattered glass and stolen items, R&J Cell Tech was open for business as usual yesterday.

Gulf City Mall Public Relations Officer Sarah Ragoonath said the style of the robbery was a first for the mall. This was a frightening experience for the security guard, but we are glad that he is safe and nobody was hurt. We have cameras in the carparks, but we are in the process of installing cameras at the main entrance and along the area where the store was broken into because these are incidents that you learn from. We are still the safest mall in South Trinidad, Ragoonath said. San Fernando police are investigating.

In 2013, the store was among several to be burglarised and over $250,000 in items stolen.
TOO MUCH STRESS

Details of the reasons for Stollmeyer and his colleague Justice Roger Hamel-Smiths resignations were contained in a statement from the Office of the President yesterday. On Thursday, that office announced the resignations. The resignation letters were delivered and accepted by the President on June 22 and became effective June 30.

Following Thursdays announcement, there were calls for the two to make public, reasons for their resignations. Former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, SC, who in a lawsuit challenged Stollmeyer and Hamel Smiths appointments as JLSC members, said on Thursday that full and frank disclosure was a necessary part of the principles of transparency and public accountability.

It is disappointing they opted for the diplomatic obscurity of personal reasons. In so doing, they have short changed the population, Ramlogan said on Thursday.

STRESS IN PUBLIC SERVICE Yesterdays statement from the Presidents Office, quoted from Stollmeyers resignation letter, which read, Recent events have given me reason to pause and reflect upon my commitment to public life and duty to my country.

It has become increasingly obvious that fulfilling that duty or those duties, faces great difficulty in light of the ever-increasing tendency in our society to criticize and condemn unjustifiablythose who undertake the task of serving. Inevitably, it causes distress both to the individual and to his or her family and friends.

It is unfair of me to continue to inflict that distress upon those for whom I have so much love and regard. I find myself with no alternative but to depart public life, Stollmeyers resignation letter stated.

The statement from the Office of the President only gave Hamel- Smiths explanation for his resignation as being, for reasons personal to me. The statement also alluded to a difficulty in retaining people to sit on commissions and boards.

It said there is a reluctance by good, competent, qualified and experienced citizens coming forward to serve. It noted that the reluctance was in large measure, sometimes due to the vitriol, unfair and unjustifiable criticism leveled against persons brave enough to serve and the resulting hardship and undue distress caused to family members and genuine friends.

SEARCH FOR REPLACEMENTS The Presidents Office assured that President Anthony Carmona will continue to persevere and will not give up in sourcing suitable persons for public office. The Office of The President is of the view that everyone has a right to criticize and be critical but no one has a right to malign and denigrate another.

Criticisms must always be grounded in civility, decency and comity, yesterdays statement said. It also noted that the Office of the President has already begun the process of finding suitable candidates to fill the vacancies in the JLSC.

In an earlier interview, communication advisor to the President Theron Boodan, said the process to replace Hamel-Smith and Stollmeyer started when the President received their resignations. He said the process is ongoing.

Boodan also noted that persons are reluctant to accept positions on certain commissions, adding, And remember we must find suitable persons that fit the strict requirements set out in the Constitution. Boodan also explained why the announcement of Hamel-Smith and Stollmeyer was only made on Thursday when the retired judges tendered their resignations since June 22.

You must remember their resignations became effective June 30, and while the announcement could have been made on that day, the Office of the President was also engaged with the swearing in of ministers, he said.

He added that the Office was then occupied with the revocation of the appointment of Port of Spain South MP Marlene McDonald, as Minister of Public Utilities, as well as the investigations on a breach of security relative to McDonalds guest, self-proclaimed community leader Cedric Burkie Burke.

On Monday, Boodan said the President was in Tobago for a mini-National Awards ceremony. He further noted that there were other issues relative to the resignations that had to be cleared up before the announcement was made. The remaining JLSC members are head of the Public Service Commission (PSC) Maureen Manchouck and attorney Ernest H.

Koylass, SC.
Policemen to stand trial for rape

They reappeared in court yesterday before Senior Magistrate Joanne Connor in the Chaguanas First Court, where she ruled there was sufficient evident for them to stand trial for the alleged offences.

The policemen have a combined 23 years service. Mitchell has eight years service while Worrell, 15 years.

The charges against the officers alleged that on March 30, 2013, at Connector Road in Chaguanas, both officers kidnapped and raped a woman. It is further alleged that on the same date and place they buggered and committed sexual assault on the woman.

The last two charges alleged that both officers misbehaved in public office.

The latter charges alleged that Mitchell and Worrell demanded $1,000 to forego a criminal charge against the womans boyfriend and they received $940 from the man to forego said charge. Sgt Deodath Seepersad of the Police Services Professional Standards Bureau laid the charges, all of which were indictable.

Therefore, the accused policemen were not called upon to plead in 2013 when they first appeared before a Port of Spain magistrate to answer the charges. The magistrate granted $250,000 bail each to be approved by the Clerk of Peace to cover the charges.

Attorney Joseph Honore represented Mitchell while Pamela Elder, SC, represented Worrell.
Medicine runs out at infirmary

The hunger strike began Monday and continued yesterday throughout the convicted prisoner sections. Relatives of some of the prisoners contacted Newsday to complain that their loved ones have been denied medication with people at the infirmary saying that medical supplies have run out.

An aggrieved relative said, Not only do they have a shortage of medication at dispensaries in the hospitals but this problem has now reached the prisons and is even worse as prisoners are being told there is no medicine. And there is nothing we on the outside can do to alleviate the suffering of our jailed loved ones. Another relative said the lack of medical supplies is affecting all prisoners especially those with diabetes or high and low blood pressure. Without a constant supply of medication for these ailments, the relative said, prisoners could die.

We know they are prisoners but they are human being as well and should not be treated like animals.

They deserve to be given their medication and if we have to protest in front of the Ministry of National Security to get our message across, we will, a relative said.

Other relatives claimed that the airing out time (time outside of the prison cell) for prisoners has been reduced and in some cases suspended, leading to much frustration and resentment.

Efforts to reach Prisons Commissioner William Alexander yesterday for a comment proved futile as a call placed to his officer went unanswered
House officer for Forensic Centre

On Thursday, Lewis summoned forensic pathologists Alexandrov and des Vignes as well as head of the Centre, Arlett Lewis and other stakeholders to a meeting at the National Security Ministry in Port of Spain.

The meeting was called to deal with concerns over no pathologist being based in Tobago as well as a shortage of mortuary attendants at the Centre.

During the meeting, Alexandrov suggested he perform autopsies in Tobago when the need arises and when he is in the sister isle, des Vignes be instructed to carry out duties at the Centre.

The suggestion was noted but no firm decision was made by the permanent secretary.

Newsday understands that a decision taken was to have pathologist Dr Eslyn McDonald- Burris be given a contract from September to carry out autopsies twice per week.

That contract will also enable her to carry out autopsies in Tobago whenever she is rostered to work and if autopsies are required in the sister island.

Dr McDonald-Burris contract came to an end in June and she is currently on vacation.

There are only two pathologists carrying out autopsies at the Centre and the permanent secretary also took a decision to have a house officer added to the staff so autopsies can be done on people who have died of natural causes.

Up until yesterday, Alexandrov who is the only person described as a forensic pathologist by the Medical Board of TT, carried out 180 autopsies for this year. Out of that 180, 95 were autopsies labeled as prosecution murders.

Under the current workload at the Centre, des Vignes and Alexandrov are rostered on a one week on, one week off basis.
A grass fire sparked by haying equipment burned through 7,800 acres of grass and wheat in northern Custer County on Friday before firefighters and ranchers were able to contain and extinguish the blaze.

"I'd like to thank all the locals and all the fire departments that showed up and gave us a hand," said Bill Ellis, deputy disaster and emergency services coordinator for Custer County. Containment was reached by about 8 p.m., he said.

As of about 10 p.m., Ellis said the "only thing smoldering is the cow turds that are out there."

Much of the fire, located about 50 miles north of Miles City between Deadman Road and Crow Rock Road, burned on private ranching land and changing winds created issues controlling the fire early on, Ellis said.

Located near the intersection of multiple counties, Ellis said agencies involved in the firefighting effort included the Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, the Custer County Fire Department and firefighting agencies from Rosebud County, Garfield County and Prairie County.

In addition to fighting the fire from the ground, multiple planes dropped retardant on the fire.

Ellis said that local ranchers played a key role in getting the fire under control. "Most of the ranchers up here have spray rigs, firefighting rigs. Without them it would've been a tougher job to get it caught," he said.

No one was injured and no structures were destroyed by the fire, according to Ellis.
The leaders of Japan, the United States and South Korea agreed Thursday to cooperate closely to have the U.N. Security Council adopt a new sanctions resolution on North Korea over the reclusive state's missile development.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in also confirmed that their countries will increase pressure on North Korea following Pyongyang's claim earlier this week of a successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The three met in Hamburg before a two-day summit of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies in the German city from Friday.

The three-way meeting, the first of its kind since Trump and Moon took office, was held over dinner for about 75 minutes.
More than 120 countries adopted the first-ever treaty to legally ban nuclear arms at a U.N. conference in New York on Friday.

The pact that prohibits the use, possession and manufacturing of nuclear weapons was adopted with 122 votes in favor, one vote against and one abstention.

The pact acknowledged that member countries are "mindful of the unacceptable suffering of and harm caused to the victims of the use of nuclear weapons (hibakusha), as well as of those affected by the testing of nuclear weapons."

The treaty also urged member states not to "threaten to use" nuclear weapons.

This is the first multilateral treaty on nuclear weapons since the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, or CTBT, was adopted in 1996. The CTBT has yet to take effect.


Japanese actor Shu Nakajima, 69, has died after falling off the stage during a live performance in Tokyo, media reported Friday.

According to police, the incident occurred during a performance on Thursday of "Other Desert Cities," starring Shinobu Terajima and Nakajima, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theater in Toshima Ward, Fuji TV reported. At around 8 p.m., an emergency call was placed from the theater, reporting that a man had fallen from the stage.

Police said Nakajima fell about one meter off the stage in front of a live audience and his head hit the theater floor. He was rushed to a hospital where he was confirmed dead.

Jul 08 (ANNnewsCH) - ezaaaaaaaYaaaaaaaaaeeaaaaaaaYaa6aa8aaZaaaeSaaaaaaeSeaSa aaezaaacaeaaYaa119cesa aaaSaaaYa
E-commerce company Rakuten Inc. has banned the sale of ivory items at its shopping site amid criticism from environmental activists that illegal trade in ivory is rampant on the internet, a company official said Thursday.

On Saturday, Rakuten changed its terms of use to ban sellers who use its mall from listing ivory products on their sites, with a grace period of roughly a month. The sale of products that make use of sea turtle parts has also been banned.

International trade in African elephant parts has been banned, but with ivory poaching worsening in recent years, calls have been mounting for a ban on domestic trade as well.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Thursday revealed that a woman in Saitama Prefecture had visited police stations in the capital multiple times to confess to killing her husband, but was turned away each time, reports the Tokyo Shimbun.

At around noon on June 9, Kinuko Wakui, a 53-year-old resident of Saitama City, approached officers at a police box in the Akabane area of Kita Ward to report that she had murdered her husband. However, the officers did not pursue the case and turned her away.

About 30 minutes later, Wakui visited a police station whose personnel declined to take her seriously. Early the next morning, she revisited the same police box but was once again ignored.

According to a previous report, Saitama Prefectural Police found the body of Toshio Wakui, 70, in a room of the residence he shared with Kinuko, located in Urawa Ward, on June 11. The body, which was heavily decayed, did not have any external wounds.

The search was conducted after Kinuko divulged to staff members upon arrival at a hospital that same day that her husband died in the residence some time ago.

Kinuko was subsequently charged with abandoning a corps. The results of an autopsy revealed that Toshio died due to trauma to his upper body. Kinuko has admitted to beating him, police said.

"Through leadership and guidance, I would like to strive to prevent a recurrence," said Tomoharu Uehara, the chief of a detective general affairs section at the Tokyo police, in commenting on Kinuko being turned away on multiple occasions.

Jul 08 (ANNnewsCH) - aeaaaaaaYaaeeaaaaYai53iaaa aaeaaaaaaaaaYa
Search and rescue operations continued on Saturday in parts of the southwestern Japan prefectures of Fukuoka and Oita that have been devastated by landslides and floods caused by record rainfall.

The death toll reached at least 18, with more than 20 people out of contact in Fukuoka and over 500 stranded in Oita, local authorities said.

Police and fire departments of the prefectures, the Self-Defense Forces and the Japan Coast Guard have mobilized some 12,000 personnel to search for missing people, racing against time as 72 hours have passed since the Japan Meteorological Agency issued special emergency warnings against downpours in Fukuoka and Oita in the early evening on Thursday. Survival rates are believed to fall rapidly after 72 hours.

An emergency warning is issued to prevent people's lives from being endangered when the agency sees an imminent risk of an unusually massive natural disaster that may happen only once in decades.

As of late Saturday, 13 people had been confirmed dead in the city of Asakura in Fukuoka, two in the village of Toho in the same prefecture and three in the city of Hita in Oita.

8318 83
Algerias living-dead President Abdelaziz Bouteflika gave an address on the occasion of his countrys Independence Day asking citizens to prepare for tough times ahead as state coffers dwindle.

Bouteflika urged the Algerian people to prepare for the pinch of economic reality as the state will cut vital subsidies and increase taxes. The speech clearly revealed the fragility of the Algerian economy and its vulnerability to international oil and gas price volatility.

Algerias ailing President, who took power in 1999, failed to oversee genuine reform that could have achieved a diversification of the Algerian economy away from oil and gas, which represent 98% of total exports. 18 years after he took office, Algeria faces the same dilemma of the beginning of the 1990s when the country depleted its reserves and had to resort to foreign debt before plunging into a decade of devastating civil war.

Instead of blaming the current crisis on a lack of reform during the era of expensive oil, Bouteflika rather ascribes the crisis to external factors trigerring a severe decrease of revenues and necessitating reforms that should be accepted by citizens.

As Algeria continues to import more than what it exports, the President noted that foreign reserves kept steadily shrinking to stand at a mere $100 billion, down from $200 billion in 2012, $194 billion in 2013 and $114 billion by the end of 2016.

Yet, as Algerian President asks citizens to accept austerity measures, he maintained lavish spending on armament. Algeria spent $1.686 billion on defense that is a 0.4% increase compared to last year, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) said in its latest report on global military expenditures.

Algerias 2017 appropriation bill was calculated on an oil price of 50 dollars per barrel, while the IMF estimates that Algeria needs a barrel price of $110 to maintain macro-economic balance at a moment economic analysts warn of an upcoming budget crisis if oil prices remain at the current levels of around $50 per barrel.

In his speech, Bouteflika seems to be preparing the Algerian public opinion for a new wave of austerity measures as Algiers is no longer capable of maintaining the same public spending spree due to the growing budget deficit since oil prices fell from about 119 dollars a barrel in 2013 to a mere 50 to 40 dollars a barrel.

In all sectors of the public service (electricity, gas, water, rail transport, telecommunications), tariffs have been kept at levels lower than the cost of operations for more than a decade for social considerations. Now, the Algerian government can no longer maintain its generous handouts, threatening the erosion of a fragile social peace.

Trimming public spending and raising revenue through VAT and taxes on electricity, fuel and tobacco have so far provoked unrest, with rioters in the eastern city of Bejaia, clashing with police and torching of state buses at the start of January 2017.

The violence highlights the risks for Algerian authorities if they alter the subsidy system that serves as a means of buying social peace disguised as a so-called policy of even distribution of wealth, but aims in the end at perpetuating the absolutist regime, which is tightly controlled by the omnipresent and powerful army.

In the absence of economic reforms to breakaway with the rentier structure of the Algerian economy, the country is running out of time and money as it remains dependent almost entirely on earnings from oil revenues.

The Algerian government released its 2030 vision for economic development, dubbed New Growth Model, meant to attract investments to compensate for the collapse in oil prices.

However, the proposed reforms in the new economic growth model seem to ignore the widespread corruption that affected almost all large-scale projects in Algeria.

Flagship development project, such as the East-West Highway, fell victim to the national corruption malaise. Originally allocated a budget of $6bn, rampant graft saw the highway eventually completed for a price of almost $15 billion, making it mile for mile the most expensive road in the world.

To make matters worse, Algeria continues to squander significant resources on the so-called Bouteflika mosque. The $1.4 billion price tag on the mosque, with a capacity for 250,000 worshippers and the worlds tallest minaret, has diverted funds away from health care and social services.

Algerias social peace is on the verge of collapse. In the absence of reforms and the continuation of the authoritarian status-quo, Algeria is experiencing times of severe uncertainty where a mix of imploding demography, unemployed youth, languishing oil prices, regional turmoil and latent militant groups make the country a tinderbox waiting to explode.
For the eight years that President Obama reigned in Washington, environmentalists cheered his agenda. There was his war on coal, his signing of the Paris Climate Accord, his executive order giving EPA regulatory authority over all Waters of the United States and his creation of more national monuments than any previous president.

With President Trump in the Oval Office, conservatives in favor of less government regulation are cheering. In a matter of months he has declared war on the war on coal, withdrawn the United States from the Paris Accord, rescinded the WOTUS executive order giving EPA power to regulate virtually every drop of water in the United States, and sent Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, on a mission to decide whether national monuments created in the past 25 years should be rescinded, resized or modified in order to better benefit our public lands.

Less well known on the national scene, but visible to those of us who live in Montana, are both administrations stance on private property rights and access to public lands. Back when politics was more civil, land management agencies cooperated with private owners whose land provides access to national forests. They purchased or negotiated easements and acknowledged the good will of landowners who allowed access, some literally through their front yards. When trying to get public access to Indian Creek south of Ennis, for example, District Ranger Mark Petroni said in 2006: They [the landowners] have offered to partner with us to acquire an easement across their property, assist with acquisition of an easement across their neighbor and help fund NEPA [an environmental review] and construction of a new trail location that avoids their lawn. This potential partnership is too good to pass up.

Such cooperation, however, changed under the Obama administration as the Forest Service took a more strident approach in asserting claims to traditional public access routes. The dramatic change is reflected in a posting by Yellowstone District Ranger Alex Sienkiewicz who publically advocated NEVER ask permission to access the National Forest Service through a traditional route shown on our maps EVEN if that route crosses private land. NEVER ASK PERMISSION; NEVER SIGN IN. ... By asking permission, one undermines public access rights and plays into their lawyers trap of establishing a history of permissive access.

According to Sienkiewicz and access advocates, traditional public access is sufficient to establish a legal right, known as a prescriptive easement, to cross private property. Centuries of legal practice, however, have required that individuals or agencies wanting to establish prescriptive easements must prove that access was continuous, open, notorious, and hostile to the owner. In other words, the access must be without expressed permission by the landowner, a burden of proof that has been difficult, to say the least.

The political winds changed when the new sheriff  President Trump  came to town. This spring, the heavy-handed approach of the Obama administration was brought to the attention of Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in a letter from Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and furthered by a meeting with Montana landowner interests in May. Thereafter, Sienkiewicz was reassigned to another district in order to create some separation between Alex ... and allegations raised concerning access issues. According to Melissa Baumann, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees Forest Service Council, this is a signal that employees are under the gun from the administration.

Now that the shoe is on the other foot, access groups who loved the previous administrations approach are crying foul. The Public Land/Water Access Association defended Sienkiewiz as a public trust employee doing his job. The Montana Wildlife Federation complains that it is a sad day when a select group of people can exert tremendous political influence to ruin a persons career, yet the groups membership constitutes a mere 0.2 percent of Montanas population.

The rule of law recognizes easements obtained by purchase or grant, and for those there is no conflict. We would all be better served by recognizing property rights and cooperating with private landowners to get access. In other words, return to the former mantra of Fish, Wildlife and Parks: Ask first. Its the right thing to do.
This could be you. Photo: Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media/AP

New Jersey assemblyman John Wisniewski wants to make sure you dont forget about Beachgate any time soon.

So on Friday, the Middlesex County Democrat introduced a bill allowing members of the public to rent the beach house currently reserved for New Jerseys governor. Its the same beach house where Governor Chris Christie and his family enjoyed Fourth of July weekend, allowing them to take advantage of a secluded stretch of Island Beach State Park that was closed to the public.

Wisniewskis bill would also bar the governor from sleeping in, and sunning his thighs in front of the beach house during a government shutdown.

If a beach is closed because of a state shutdown, it ought to be closed to everybody, he said. Having it open to the governor and his guests while its closed to all the other New Jersey residents who are paying for them to be there isnt right and it isnt fair.

Wisniewskis bill is a long shot to go very far in Trenton. Even though his approval rating is dismal and hes already interviewing for new jobs, Christie is still technically in office. The only way hed sign this bill is if he did it while sitting in a beach chair on his last day as governor.
Protesters light flares on July 7, 2017, in Hamburg, in northern Germany, where leaders of the worlds top economies gather for a G20 summit. Photo: Steffi Loos/AFP/Getty Images

Protests intensified in Hamburg Friday as world leaders gathered in the German city for the G20 summit. After a turbulent night of demonstrations that left cars burned and more than 100 officers and dozens of protesters injured, Fridays rallies appeared to start off peaceably, with demonstrators calmly chanting as they faced down riot cops.

Les forces de police se sont deployees tout autour de la #RedZone. Une action "Color the Red Zone" est prevue par les anti-#G20. #Hambourg pic.twitter.com/zYL5LJPdKH  Paul Lorgerie (@PLorger) July 7, 2017

From @karadaniellefox at protests near #G20: Police aggressively kettling in protests, who are shouting "This is what democracy looks like." pic.twitter.com/yx0Lh57Y2J  Josh Berlinger (@j_berlingerCNN) July 7, 2017

Color the red zone demonstrators peacefully sit in on Hamburg's Schwanenwik bridge, local residents bring them coffee as riot police standby pic.twitter.com/YGWxN7QVEz  Kara Fox (@karadaniellefox) July 7, 2017

And such peaceful (and, uh, creative?) rallies continued throughout the day across Hamburg.

As the world's bosses meet only a few kilometres away, thousands have gathered at Hamburg'sMillerntorplatz to say #NoG20 pic.twitter.com/DE7pdPGz0P  Kara Fox (@karadaniellefox) July 7, 2017

TOPSHOT - Demonstrators dressed as clowns face policemen as they take part in a protest titled #BlockG20 - Color the Red Zone on July 7, 2017 in Hamburg, northern Germany, where leaders of the worlds top economies gather for a G20 summit. Photo: Daniel Bockwoldt/AFP/Getty Images

But pockets of more violent protests also broke out on the streets, and some protesters tried to barricade intersections to prevent G20 leaders from getting to their meetings. (First Lady Melania Trump was reportedly unable to leave for a period because of security concerns on Friday, and a visit to a climate research center was scrapped.) Protesters tried to storm the secure areas where the world leaders were gathered, pushed back by police in riot gear. At least 15 people have been arrested across Hamburg, with dozens more detained.

Protesters are sprayed by water cannons on July 7, 2017, in Hamburg. Photo: Steffi Loos/AFP/Getty Images

'Game over capitalism' anti g20 protestors chant before clashing w riot police pic.twitter.com/swImsZDR0Y  Kara Fox (@karadaniellefox) July 7, 2017

Demonstrators are hit by water cannons of the police as they protest on July 7, 2017, in Hamburg, where leaders of the worlds top economies gathered for a G20 summit. Photo: David Young/AFP/Getty Images

Protesters also pushed close to the place where between Russian president Vladimir Putin had his very long meeting with President Trump, and in another spot about 350 protesters managed to crack the police line before being pushed back with pepper spray and billy clubs, reports the New York Times.

The Guardian described an incongruous scene Friday evening. Police used tear gas and water cannons against protesters outside the Elbphilharmonie concert hall, where within its walls leaders sat and listened to Beethovens Ode to Joy.

Greenpeace activists protest on a boat with a giant figure featuring President Donald Trump as a baby, tearing up a climate protection document, on July 7, 2017, in Hamburg. Photo: Boris Roessler/AFP/Getty Images

Fridays escalations mirrored the Thursday-night protests that also turned violent. Anti-capitalist demonstrators at the Welcome to Hell rally clashed with police officers, reportedly throwing bottles and flares. Rioters also set fire to cars and smashed windows while cops in riot gear tried to break up the crowds with water cannons and pepper spray.

A protester puts his hands in the air as riot police move in during the Welcome to Hell rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany on July 6, 2017. Photo: ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Protesters face riot police during during the Welcome to Hell rally against the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany on July 6, 2017. Photo: STEFFI LOOS/AFP/Getty Images

A burnt-down Saab on Elbchaussee. "If it had survived for another year it would have been vintage", says owner pic.twitter.com/ke6NOgrvfs  Philip Oltermann (@philipoltermann) July 7, 2017

A barricade burns in front of the autonomous center Rote Flora, in Hamburg, Germany, on July 6, 2017. Photo: NurPhoto/Getty Images

Hamburg harbour now pic.twitter.com/HeIEQL9cT3  Philip Oltermann (@philipoltermann) July 6, 2017

The police presence will remain tight in Hamburg throughout the weekend, with helicopters buzzing overhead and at least 20,000 police officers being deployed, including a hefty contingent around the convention center in Hamburgs harbor, where the G20 events are taking place. According to the Washington Post, cops are prepping for at least 30 organized anti-G20 events through Saturday, making this one of the largest police operations in Hamburgs history.

Those protests will keep up through the weekend as the G20 summit continues. More than 100,000 protesters are expected to show up on Saturday.

Many shops boarding up this morning. Say they are expecting more rioting on Saturday night pic.twitter.com/BADm1nXdGU  Philip Oltermann (@philipoltermann) July 7, 2017

At least one prominent New Yorker will be among those 100,000. The office of Bill de Blasio announced Thursday that the mayor would be heading to Hamburg to attend some events around the summit, including delivering a keynote address at a Saturday event, Hamburg Shows Attitude, to protest the policies of certain leaders at the summit, including Putin and Donald Trump. The mayor caught some pushback for leaving town in the wake of the tragic murder of an NYPD officer, but the trip had apparently been scheduled since last week.

On why he's at #HamburgG20: @BilldeBlasio says he was invited by the local govt there to talk abt how localities can lead on issues  Brigid Bergin (@brigidbergin) July 7, 2017

De Blasio, who called in long-distance for his Friday spot on WNYCs Brian Lehrer Show, called the situation with violent protesters in Hamburg very tense.

.@NYCMayor says hes calling into @BrianLehrer from Hamburgs City Hall. Its a very dynamic situation, there are a lot of protestors"  Gloria Pazmino (@GloriaPazmino) July 7, 2017

But at least de Blasio got to check out some of Hamburgs sites, including its City Hall, and he even dragged Dante (whos abroad in Germany this summer) to come along with him.

This post has been updated throughout.
Donald Trump Jr. organized the meeting, which was attended by Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort. Photo: John Moore/Getty Images

President Donald Trumps eldest son, as well as other Trump campaign leaders, met with a Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer at Trump Tower two weeks after Trump clinched the Republican nomination for president last year, according to a new report from the New York Times. The Times emphasizes that the previously undisclosed meeting is the first confirmed private meeting between a Russian national and members of Mr. Trumps inner circle during the campaign, as well as the first meeting that the presidents son Donald Trump Jr. is known to have attended himself. Also present at the June 9 meeting was Trumps son-in-law and current senior White House adviser, Jared Kushner, as well as then Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort  whose own connections to the Putin regime have already come under much scrutiny.

The meeting was not disclosed until Kushner filed an updated request for national-security clearance following an earlier report that he had failed to disclose other contacts with Russian officials in his original request. Representatives for both Kushner and Trump Jr. confirmed the meeting to the Times, and Trump Jr., in a statement, claimed that the meeting was about an adoption program, but did not clarify whether the presidential campaign was also discussed. After the report was published, a spokesperson for President Trumps outside legal team further suggested that Trump Jr. had fallen into some kind of opposition-research trap.

Trump Jr., along with his brother Eric, are now running the Trump familys corporation while their father is serving as president.

The Russian lawyer at the meeting, Natalia Veselnitskaya, has been involved in efforts to eliminate the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 U.S. law which targets Russians implicated in human-rights abuses with sanctions, freezing their U.S. assets and barring them from entering the country. At the time it was passed and signed by President Obama, Russian president Vladimir Putin was so outraged by the law that he retaliated by banning American adoptions of Russian children and blacklisting some Americans like former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara, who had led well-known convictions of Russian arms and drug dealers. (Though he had originally asked him to continue to serve as a U.S. attorney, President Trump subsequently fired Bharara in March.)

Russia suspended the adoptions as leverage to end US human rights sanctions. If youre talking about one, youre talking about the other.  Tom Malinowski (@Malinowski) July 8, 2017

Veselnitskaya, who represents the Russian owner of a company that Bharara prosecuted, is also married to a former deputy transportation minister in Russia and counts Russian state-owned businesses among her clients. In addition to hiring political and legal operatives to lobby for the repeal of the Magnitsky Act, Veselnitskaya was also involved in the making of a 2016 film meant to discredit the person for whom the act was named, Sergei Magnitsky. Magnitsky was a lawyer and auditor who was killed in a Russian prison in 2009 after exposing a massive corruption scandal in the country. A former senior U.S. law-enforcement official told the Times that Veselnitskayas associations had drawn attention from the FBI.

The attorney, Natalia Veselnitskaya, isn't just "Kremlin-connected," she'a a well-known RU mob lawyer w/FSB links https://t.co/FzMiWgdCkI  John Schindler (@20committee) July 8, 2017

In his statement, Donald Trump Jr. said that he was asked to attend the meeting by an acquaintance, but was not told the name of the person I would be meeting with beforehand. His statement added that:

It was a short introductory meeting. I asked Jared and Paul to stop by. We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up.

Its not clear why Trump Jr. would think the campaigns chair and one of his fathers closest political advisers would be needed at such a meeting, nor is it yet clear who Trump Jr.s acquaintance was who suggested the meeting. Regardless of whatever Trump Jr. knew or thought, the issue of the Magnitsky Act is definitely not about the adoption of children to the Kremlin, but about lifting sanctions that infuriate Putin.

On Saturday evening after the Times report was published, a spokesperson for President Trumps outside legal team, Mark Corallo, claimed that according to their investigation, the participants in the meeting misrepresented who they were and who they worked for, and suggested that the person who sought the meeting was associated with a firm developing opposition research on Trump, including the infamous Steele dossier. Corallo asserts that these developments raise serious issues as to exactly who authorized and participated in any effort by Russian nationals to influence our election in any manner. In other words, Trumps legal team is suggesting that the meeting, and perhaps other contact between the Trump campaign and Russians, were part of some kind of conspiratorial setup meant to smear and politically damage Trump.

Kushners lawyers have acknowledged the meeting and that Kushner disclosed it in the updated security request, and they referred the Times request for more information about the meeting to Trump Jr.s representatives. Paul Manafort had also recently disclosed the meeting to congressional investigators. Though both Manafort and Trump Jr. were a part of the Trump campaigns senior leadership, neither have roles in the Trump administration and therefore have never had to apply for security clearance; similarly, they would not have been legally required to disclose such a meeting. In March, Trump Jr. told the Times he had probably met with Russian nationals during the campaign, but denied that he had been in campaign-related meetings with Russian nationals or had any discussions about government policies with any of them:

Did I meet with people that were Russian? Im sure, Im sure I did. But none that were set up. None that I can think of at the moment. And certainly none that I was representing the campaign in any way, shape or form.

This post has been updated to reflect additional context, as well as the statement from President Trumps legal team.
Still not going quite as planned. Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Since blocking key aspects of Donald Trumps watered-down travel ban, U.S. district judge Derrick Watson has been through a lot. The president complained about his ruling. Jeff Sessions berated him and his state as some judge on an island in the Pacific. Hes gotten threats from Trump supporters. All for concluding that Trumps executive order temporarily excluding travelers and refugees from six Muslim-majority nations is likely unconstitutional for targeting members of a particular faith.

Watsons bold action in March, which prevented the Trump administration from enforcing one of its proudest policy initiatives, was followed by timidity late on Thursday, when he declined a request by the state of Hawaii to do what federal judges do all the time: interpret, implement, and apply guidance from a higher authority.

In this case, that higher power was the Supreme Court itself, which last week took the liberty of narrowing the scope of Watsons original ruling against the ban  as well as a separate one from Maryland  which effectively barred the government from moving forward at all with its plans. The justices struck a compromise: Lets keep the ban on the ban in place, but lets allow Trump to enforce it against anyone from the affected Mideast countries who lacks a bona fide relationship to a person or entity in the United States. Justice Clarence Thomas, who wouldve put the entire ban back into effect, predicted that his colleagues middle-of-the-road approach would bring a flood of litigation and uncertainty.

Indeed, Hawaii was back in court that same week, complaining that the Trump administration adopted a tortuous reading of the Supreme Courts orders  mainly by interpreting a bona fide relationship as excluding grandmothers, fiancees, aunts, and other family members of those already here. The same for refugees: Having an established relationship with a refugee resettlement agency in the U.S. doesnt mean the relationship is bona fide, or in good faith. (Not even the administration was convinced it was making the right call, as it soon after changed course and agreed that brides- and grooms-to-be are covered by the justices language.)

So it fell to Watson to clarify what the Supreme Court meant. Judges do that all the time, right? Not this time. In a strange twist, he washed his hands of this controversy and all but said, That aint my job. Thats my bosses job. They own this. He wrote:

Upon careful consideration of the parties submissions, it is evident that the parties quarrel over the meaning and intent of words and phrases authored not by this Court, but by the Supreme Court in its June 26, 2017 per curiam decision. That is, the parties disagreements derive neither from this Courts temporary restraining order, this Courts preliminary injunction, nor this Courts amended preliminary injunction, but from the modifications to this Courts injunction ordered by the Supreme Court. Accordingly, the clarification to the modifications that the parties seek should be more appropriately sought in the Supreme Court.

What a punt. But there is some truth to what Watson is saying here: He never once used the bona fide standard that the Supreme Court came up with. That was the justices doing  a pragmatic result that, as University of Chicago law professor Daniel Hemel has pointed out, prioritizes institutional legitimacy over doctrinal consistency. They literally made it up just for the purposes of this case, which is now on their docket and theyll consider more in depth when they reconvene in October at the start of the new term.

Until then, it is up to judges like Watson to figure out what the Supreme Court meant. It would be wrong for him to contradict the Supreme Court or go above and beyond its directives. But filling in the gaps in light of whats already been laid down as the law of the land is what judges do all the time. Just not here, apparently.

So whats behind all this coyness after his initial boldness? Could it be the pressure from Trump, his attorney general, and their backers is getting to him? Ilya Somin, a law professor who has been following closely the travel ban litigation, theorized that Watson genuinely believes that only the Supreme Court itself can interpret its ruling on the injunction. But its a strange and dubious conclusion nonetheless.

Hawaii wasted no time. Neal Katyal, the high-powered Supreme Court lawyer representing the Aloha State in this case, said he and his team were up most of the night getting ready to fight the Trump administrations exclusion of grandmothers and others in a similar situation, which he said inflicts great harm. But rather than taking a page from Watsons playbook, they wont go to the Supreme Court right away. Instead, theyll go to the Ninth Circuit, which hasnt been shy at all about speaking its mind, twice already, on how the travel ban is against the law.

(Update: Later Friday, the Ninth Circuit punted in its own way. The appeals court suggested that Hawaii shouldve never asked for a clarification in the first place, but instead ask outright for an order seeking to enforce the Supreme Courts guidance against the Trump administration. Hawaii did just that by going back to Watson early Saturday.)
Let me follow real quick. Love this woman

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I think this one is more to promote her tour and other activities but let's see. Anyway, I'm super tolerant with people who do so many great things that I don't mind minor mistakes.

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She's a 19-year-old activist who has been through hell, she's not a celebrity. Let her be instead of setting this strange expectation right off the bat.

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mfte

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mte

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ia

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MTE

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I'm much more scared that she is gonna be attacked for simply existing on twitter, as most female activist are....throw in that she muslim and non-american



I know she's strong but still I don't trust for one second that people will be as kind to her as she is to others

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I mean, probably - it's Twitter. Being able to immediately voice any less than stellar thought that pops into your head to an audience is always going to leave you with some mistakes.

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wow you sound dense af

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lmao what

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OMG i love her!!!

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Some already are, men from her own country and town but that was to be expected.

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Girl was shot in the head by the taliban - some useless twitter trolls aren't going to faze her.

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True, but that doesn't mean that she needs the extra bigotry from Twitter. She's still a young woman with feelings after all.

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Hope the MRA's don't bother her

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Too late.

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I bought her book ages ago and haven't gotten around to reading it yet.



Has anyone her read it? Was it good?

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it was good. her story is really sad. the book is pretty informative about her life, the political context of pakistan and her area specifically, etc.

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Her book was really inspiring.

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I love her book, it was so inspiring that after reading it I asked my teen sister to read as well, so she could have a good role model/inspiration of a girl her age.

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It's 100% worth the read

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i loved her book, it was interesting to read

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I hope it's not really her running the account. poor girl, she doesn't deserve to read all the abuse that twitter trolls are going to send her way.

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I adore her. I used to teach in a preschool class and I did a week long lesson plan on people who did great things. I read a (child attention span approved) book of her story and my 4 and 5 year olds were so engaged. Even thought the subject matter was difficult for them to really grasp. They talked about her and asked about her for months after. I had them bring in some of their own books to donate to a food pantry that handed out books and school supplies to needy children in the community. I'm just still so impressed with how well they paid attention and genuinely cared about Malala and her mission in life.

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A lot of powerful ideas and concepts get ingrained in our memories at 4-5 years old even if we don't really get it, even visual concepts like pink for girls/blue for boys, etc. You did a great job.

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what's the name of the book? would love to gift to my nieces and nephews.

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can you tell me the title of the child attention span book of her story please? i would like to use with my kids!

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Following her already. Racists are shook

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yas queen

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Bad idea, I wouldn't.

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It's sad af that after "Yes!!!" my first thought was "noooo protect her from the trolls." :(

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joining twitter is always a mistake. good luck to her.

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Early this morning (Qatar time), Qatar Petroleum announced it planned to increase production dramatically from its huge North Field in the Persian Gulf.

The increase calls for the countrys gas production to climb 30% by 2024, and thats going to have a huge impact.

Qatar is currently the global leading exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), a result of existing production from the North Field. It is also the first gas exporter in the world to put all of its gas into liquefied natural gas (LNG), ending all exports via pipeline.

LNG is natural gas cooled to about -260 F to a liquid state, transported by specially designed tankers, then regasified at a receiving terminal someplace else in the world and injected into existing delivery pipeline networks. It allows a significant expansion in gas exports.

And the LNG market worldwide is accelerating rapidly. However, so is the expected supply over the next decade.

The Qatari increase, should the country follow through, could create an LNG glut internationally, thereby reducing the price, including for U.S. LNG exporters.

It also puts a fuse on an already very charged situation

Qatar is Being Blockaded by Its Neighbors

Qatar is currently at loggerheads with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Egypt.

The four countries are demanding that Doha (Qatars capital) break ties with Iran, end funding terrorism (a charge Qatar has vehemently denied), close the Al-Jazeera news service, and over a dozen other demands.

The Saudis have closed Qatars primary overland line for trade, and all four of the nations have closed their respective air spaces for flights from Qatar, including all those by national carrier (and my personal favorite service in the region) Qatar Airways.

The strategic Strait of Hormuz, located where the Persian Gulf meets the Arabian Sea, remains open. This allows Qatars LNG to move to market, along with much of the crude oil volume from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations further north.

The Strait has the UAE on one side of its narrow opening and Iran on the other. This guarantees it remains as a flashpoint.

But the Saudis and their allies are not likely to move to obstruct traffic in the face of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy.

Quite apart from politics, Qatar relies on Iran for three other important LNG reasons.

First, the countries jointly develop the huge North and South Pars offshore gas fields, among the largest in the world.

Second, should pressure emerge at Hormuz, Qatar may need to rely on contract swaps allowing it to export LNG from Iranian ports south of the Strait in order to have any exports at all.

Third, as Iran develops its own gas and LNG projects, Doha becomes a more desirable location for joint access to capital.

Qatar, despite the current crisis, has the highest per capita wealth in the world and is a fast-rising challenger to the UAEs Dubai as the regional location to strike deals.

As Riyadh engineers a tightening of the sanctions, Doha will move closer to Tehran.

But thats not the only impact of Qatar Petroleums announcement

Once Again, U.S. Energy Companies are Under Attack

The other impact of note recalls the OPEC November 2014 decision to defend market position and the subsequent collapse in oil prices. Then, one of the targets was U.S. shale oil production.

Looks like deja vu all over again, because Qatar may throw a wrench into U.S. plans to move into the world LNG market.

Exporting LNG has been an expectation for some time. It would allow for a continuing increase in shale and tight gas production, with the additional volume moving into the export flow. Related: Saudi Reshuffle Could Completely Shake Up Oil Markets

That flow had been intended for both Europe and Asia, the latter made possible thanks to the recently completed widening and deepening of the Panama Canal, which allowed exports from the Gulf Coast.

In both cases, the local markets provide higher prices than in the U.S., although transportation costs provide temper this advantage.

Cheniere Energy Inc. (with the appropriate trading ticker symbol of LNG) currently has the sole operational LNG export terminal in the lower 48 U.S. states.

But four others are under construction, and as many as 20 in total may end up being approved. Assuming, of course, that the export market justifies the expense.

Now, Cheniere has five major multibillion-dollar long-term sales agreements with some of the largest LNG importers in both Europe and Asia.

And those agreements also have some very intriguing clauses to provide pricing protection for bringing LNG to market.

You see, Cheniere and other American exporters are relying upon the establishment of guaranteed local spot markets to make their LNG volume and availability more attractive.

At present, the exports are not cost-effective against pipelined gas, although the expansion of an LNG network would open significant new markets

Whatever Qatar Does, U.S. LNG Will Be a Strong Competitor

Yet competition in Asia from huge projects on Papua New Guinea, five major LNG export developments in Australia, and expanded Sakhalin production from Russia, along with major networks already in place for MENA (Middle East North Africa) deliveries to Europe are lowering expectations.

For its part, Qatar is dominant in both the European and Asian markets, with the largest fleet of tankers in the world, established infrastructure, and multi-year contracts.

Its decision to expand its LNG trade by some 30% is certain to put some downward pressure on prices. Related: Russian Energy Minister: No Additional Output Cuts Are Needed

U.S. companies note that Beijing has recently allowed its domestic importers to strike private deals with American exporters. However, some observers believe the Chinese may simply use the new option to leverage lower prices from Qatar.

Another element should be remembered as we watch whether Qatar delivers on the increasing gas production decision.

As the widening of the global LNG market unfolds, a rage of arbitrage and swaps will emerge quite unlike anything ever witnessed in the energy sector.

As I will explain when we reach this point, there will be a strong position for U.S. LNG

Regardless of what Qatar (or any other gas-producing nation) ends up doing.

By Kent Moors via Oilandenergyinvestor.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
On June 5, Saudi Arabia announced it was cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar and closing its land border in response to Qatar supporting terrorism. Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates quickly joined, and all denied airspace overflight rights to Qatari airlines. Saudi Arabia and its allies gave Qatar until July 4 to accede to a list of demands. For China, the spat between Saudi Arabia and its allies and Qatar is an unwanted complication between important economic partners.

China maintains close relationships with states on both sides of the Gulf. Its foreign policy statements describe both Saudi Arabia and Iran as Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships in the dense bureaucratese of the Ministry of Foreign Relations. This level of partnership means that China has built a deep relationship with both countries and maintains significant cooperation on security issues. By contrast, its relationships with Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain are primarily economic and defined as Friendly Cooperative Relations. Examining Chinas response to the Saudi embargo of Qatar as well as Chinas broader relationship with the small but strategically important state provides insight into Beijings broader Middle East strategy.

(Click to enlarge)

In 2014, during Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit to Qatar, the two countries upgraded their relationship to Strategic Partner, a status that recognized Qatars role not only as an economic partner but also as a security partner. In his speech at the signing of the joint statement on the establishment of the relationship, Xi Jinping stressed the opportunities to improve military exchanges and work together to combat terrorism (Xinhua, November 3, 2014). The text of the agreement laid out an expansive set of goals from increased security cooperation to security exchanges (Xinhua, November 3, 2014). Qatari support for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the China-led Asia Development Bank were clearly highlighted in the agreement then, and repeatedly emphasized since by members of the foreign ministry (MFA, May 18). Related: Total OPEC Crude Oil Exports Drop In June

The improvement in relations and expansion to security and political cooperation was built on a solid economic relationship. Since 2013, China has been the worlds largest consumer of oil from the Middle East. Qatar is the worlds leading exporter of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), and in 2014 was Chinas largest supplier of LNG, though imports appear to have moderated somewhat since then (EIA, April 30, 2016).

While the rate of increase in Chinas demand for energy will likely decrease, the proportion of natural gas as a percent of total consumption is projected to double to 11 percent through 2035. This demand is likely to increase the importance of the largest LNG exporting nationsparticularly Qatar, Oman and Iranto Chinese energy markets. The shift in Chinese imports could have consequences for its relations with the Gulf states.

China has largely managed to successfully navigate the animosity between Iran and Saudi Arabia, maintaining good relations with both countries. Chinese demand for oil has benefited all the states in the region, and Chinese weapons are increasingly sought out by both states. China and Saudi Arabia have recently made moves to deepen their security cooperation and have a weapons export relationship that stretches dates back to the 1980s (China Brief, March 2).

However, this delicate balance may be reaching a tipping point, as China continues to improve military relations with Iran and increase its support for the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria (China Brief, August 22, 2016). Particularly since 2014, Chinas military exchanges and exercises with Iran have become more regular and more prominent, including a joint exercise held in mid-June of this year (China Brief, February 4, 2015; China Brief, March 7, 2016; MOD, June 16).

A core part of Saudi Arabias demands is that Qatar cut all ties with Iran (Peoples Daily, June 24). These relationships make the recent flare-up between Qatar and Saudi Arabia and its allies all the more awkward for Beijing.

Related: Corpus Christi Set To Become The Next Oil Export Hotspot

Responding to a question about Chinas stance on the crisis, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Hua Chunyings response was typically subdued: We are aware of the reports. China hopes that the countries involved can resolve their differences through negotiation, remain united and together promote stability in the region (FMPRC, June 5).

In addition to maintaining economic relations throughout the Middle East, China is committed to expanding its ability to project military power across the region. This includes the aforementioned military exchanges, port visits and exercises with Oman, its naval base in Djibouti and additional bases in, according to a recent U.S. department of defense report, countries with which it has long-standing, friendly relationships (DOD, June 6). This is understood to include Pakistan, with whom China has its closest diplomatic relationshipan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership (NBC, June 19; see map).

While the embargo against Qatar has not been extended to include petroleum, Qatar has yet to respond to Saudi Arabias demands to its satisfaction, setting the stage for further escalation. Historically, Chinas non-interventionist foreign policy has allowed it to remain neutral in most inter-regional disputes. But as Iranian and Qatari LNG begin to make up a larger proportion of Chinese petroleum imports, and Chinese military involvement in the region becomes more pronounced, balancing between Iran and Saudi Arabia may no longer be possible.

By The Jamestown Foundation

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Turkey is a vulnerable actor when it comes to energy supply. Its primary energy source is natural gas, 98 percent of which is exported. The consecutive governments of the AKP, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, have used energy as a key element in their political narrative, with great success.

The AKP and Erdo?an have built a popular rhetoric around Turkeys economic development, where the main message is that their conservative-Islamic political party has been able to modernize Turkey according to Western parameters, mainly through the construction of titanic infrastructure projects - such as the third bridge in Istanbul, first-class highways in Anatolia, the Marmaray tunnel, and the future construction of a third airport in Istanbul.

Pipelines are also part of this populist political rhetoric, where the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) plays a crucial role.

Energy Lords

The most visible actors in Turkeys energy sector are President Erdo?an and his son-in-law Berat Albayrak, the current Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. Both are highly exposed to press coverage since they sign the contracts for the construction of pipelines or the exploitation of mines. The influence of these two political figures was demonstrated during the 23rd World Energy Congress in Istanbul, that took place in October 2016.

Historically, the state has determined economic policies in Turkey, where the private sector has had limited influence, until recently. The state in Turkey is seen as a quasi-sacred institution, capable of controlling the entire economy. A selective privatisation process only began in Turkey in the 1980s, but this did not have an impact on all economic sectors. This imperfect process of privatisation has only been applied partially, and not always directed by the belief that the private sector is always more efficient than the public. Under the reforms of former Minister of Economy, Kemal Dervi?, there was a plan to reduce the market share of state-owned BOTA? to 10 percent by 2010, but BOTA? was too influential and important for the state to transfer it to private hands. BOTA? has not reduced its market share; on the contrary, according to Shadow Governance sources, it has increased its control over Turkeys energy markets.

A more successful program of privatisation took place in Turkey during the early 2000s. This program targeted the distribution energy market in Turkey and triggered legislative and institutional reform. In the case of electricity distribution, the privatisation of the network has been almost total, including private investment in renewable energy, with participation of foreign investors, which began around 2009.

The exception to energy sector privatisation was natural gas; and more recently, nuclear power. Neither of these sources of energy has been exposed to free-market reforms, and their regulation is still in the hands of the state through two state-owned companies - BOTA? and TETA?. Natural Gas represents almost 50 percent of energy consumption in Turkey, and nuclear energy is expected to reduce dependency on gas and oil, reaching 6-7 percent of energy consumption in Turkey. The first atomic reactor is expected to be operational in 2018.

In this context, natural gas governance is a matter of the Turkish state. Given its exceptional economic importance inside Turkey, and its geopolitical implications, natural gas remains the priority for any Turkish government. In this sense, BOTA? continues to obey governmental policies and remains a regulatory tool for Erdo?an and Albayrak.

In the case of nuclear power, the states role is also key to its development. The construction of nuclear power plants has been taken as part of the political discourse led by the AKP. In the case of nuclear energy, the Turkish government signed a deal with the Russian government that the construction and operation of the Akkuyu power plant would be 51 percent owned by Russian companies and the rest Turkish owned. Interestingly, the Turkish companies taking part in this project are Cengiz, Kolin and Kalyon holdings and they are all believed to have close ties to President Erdo?an.

The Politicization of Natural Gas (and Nuclear Energy)

Since the very beginning of the AKPs political rise, and de facto political monopoly in Turkey, the energy sector  particularly natural gas - has become a state priority, with energy policy under the AKP administration attached to its foreign policy.

The AKP s first aspiration in joining the European Union stimulated the idea that Turkey could become an energy hub, and reduce Russias influence in Central and Eastern Europe. At the same time, Turkey was highly dependent on Russian gas, a factor that triggered the search for alternative energy sources. Related: Saudi Reshuffle Could Completely Shake Up Oil Markets

Besides its geopolitical implications, natural gas in Turkey represents the primary source for electricity generation. According to data released by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 37.8 percent of Turkish generated energy comes from natural gas. Since natural gas, alongside nuclear power, is one of the few energy sectors in Turkey that has not been privatised, the government is able to exert a high degree of influence over gas price and distribution, which at the same time directly affects domestic energy price and consumption.

The state monopoly over the natural gas sector can help stabilise prices, so citizens are covered against the volatility of the natural gas market. Although this could be a legitimate policy, controlling the natural gas market can also influence the voting of citizens, who do not pay market prices for natural gas. Instead the state fills this gap. An obvious example of the manipulation of the natural gas price was in 2009, before the March local elections. This decision implied losses of 1.3 billion Turkish Lira in 2011 for BOTA?. The AKP government applied a policy of subsidised prices until the year 2011, with excellent electoral results for the AKP.

This case was not an exception, and this practice is still carried out today.

The politicisation of natural gas and energy distribution in Turkey answers to a specific logic. Many AKP municipalities are in debt to BOTA?, and these institutions cannot pay their gas and electricity bills to the state-owned company. According to Shadow Governance sources, instead of paying these bills, municipalities prioritise participation in AKP meetings, where financial aid is given to the audience, or is directly paid for with raw materials, such as coal (i.e. the Radovan System).

Sustainability and Future

The establishment of this vicious circle makes it very hard to eradicate. Moreover, the unpredictability of Turkeys regional alliances, combined with the day-to-day politics of the AKP - where the electoral calendar and daily economic and social urgencies dictate policies - does not lend hope to BOTA? being reformed anytime soon. As long as it can be leveraged as an effective electoral tool for the AKP, it will remain in the governments hands.

According to Shadow Governance sources with direct access to BOTA?, there are two possible scenarios to consider vis-a-vis the future of BOTA?. In the short to medium-term, BOTA? could be divided into three new companies, which would focus on transportation, trade and storage. A second possible scenario is the privatisation of part of the enterprise, to decrease its public debt.

One party potentially interested in buying a stake in BOTA? is Gazprom, but the probability of this happening depends on the volatile regional political scenario of alliances. Over the past decade, these alliances have changed almost annually; with diplomatic wranglings impacted by the Syrian and Iraqi conflicts. A clear example of this volatility are Turkish-Russian relations, which - although today might appear stable  are easily disturbed by external events, such as developments in the Syrian conflict.

More recently, and following the trend of increased Russian influence over BOTA?, in early June Gazprom sold its shares of Bosphorus Gas, a key partner for Gazproms interests in the Turkish natural gas market. Bosphorus Gas is one of the major clients of BOTA? for gas distribution, and according to Shadow Governance sources, this could be an initial (preparatory) step for Gazprom to buy part of BOTA?. It is also believed that, as has happened with the Akkuyu nuclear power plant deal, businessmen related to Erdo?an are likely to take part in the sale of BOTA?.

Conclusions

The current political trends in Turkey make the future of BOTA? unpredictable. The current mechanism that sustains BOTA? is not viable for an already highly indebted Turkish economy. There is a need to speed-up the privatization process for gas supplying companies and reduce the economic and political weight of BOTA? within the Turkish energy scenario at the moment Related: Underperforming Energy Sector May Soon See M&A Wave

The recent deal between Russia and Turkey in regards to the construction and operation of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant is likely to be a future model for BOTA?.

In this sense, the Turkish government, now heavily controlled by President Erdo?an after his last referendum victory, is likely to solve the high debt of BOTA? through a controlled privatisation process. As indicated by Shadow Governance sources, Russian participation in this tender is likely to happen, alongside Erdo?an-linked companies. This last factor would allow Erdo?an to maintain control over BOTA? and keep this institution part of his arsenal for exerting informal influence.

BOTA? has been central to the political survival of the AKP, since, without state ownership of BOTA?, the market regulations of the natural gas price would put more economic pressure over the already impoverished popular classes in Turkey, the electoral base of the AKP.

Not only does BOTA? play a crucial national role, but it also plays a regional role. Most energy agreements with neighbouring countries are carried out through BOTA?, and the construction of pipelines connecting these countries are also channelled through it. In these terms, BOTA? can be seen as a political tool that ties in with the governments foreign policy, determining new areas of expansion. As an example, the recent Turkish-Israeli rapprochement has placed BOTA? as the main contender to construct the possible pipeline between these two countries.

Taking into account these factors, Erdo?an and Turkey are in need of continuing their control over BOTA?; whilst at the same time finding a way to reduce its public debt, avoiding a possible increase of energy prices that would directly affect the AKPs electoral base.

By Shadow Governance Intel

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
OPEC is thinking of putting a ceiling on the crude oil outputs of Libya and Nigeria, as rising production from these two OPEC producers exempt from the cuts is further complicating the cartels efforts to draw down oversupply and boost oil prices, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing OPEC delegates.

Nigeria is definitely becoming a worry for us, a delegate to OPEC from a Persian Gulf Arab country told The Journal, while OPEC delegates from a few other nations have expressed similar concerns.

According to a Platts survey from Thursday, Libya and Nigeria are expected to continue to increase oil production in the coming months. The two countries combined output is currently some 380,000 bpd above October levels, the month which OPEC used as a benchmark to base its production cuts. Militancy, attacks on oil infrastructure, and port terminals blockades have quieted in both African countries, therefore further increases in production are likely, according to Platts.

Last week, a new militant group in the oil-rich Niger Delta said it was calling off the war it had threatened to start on June 30, and has decided to give peace a chance, in what could be a relief for Nigeria, which had started to recover its oil production that was crippled by militant attacks last year.

Nigerias crude oil production increased to 1.68 million bpd in May, up by 174,200 bpd over Aprilthe highest level in more than a yearafter the restart of Forcados loadings for the first time since October 2016, according to OPECs latest Monthly Oil Market Report.

Libya, for its part, is reaching a 1-million-bpd productionthe highest in four yearsand in line with its target to have that output reached by the end of July.

In May, Libyas average daily production was 730,000 bpd, as per OPEC secondary sources, up by 178,200 bpd compared to April.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
When you throw a stone in the water, you can clearly see the ripple effect radiating out.

The removal of Alex Sienkiewicz as the Forest Service District Ranger, for following FS policy in administrating our federally managed public lands for multiple users, is just such a stone. The ripple effects of this orchestrated removal are the latest public land grab attempt, which could affect the entire U.S. federally managed public lands under this administration.

Under Enhancing Montana's Wildlife & Habitat, I have been researching the Crazy Mountain public access issues for years, eventually filing my first FOIA (Freedom of Information Act request)on the area early last fall. This proved providential considering the machinations that were already under way to increase privatization of the Crazy Mountains and other public lands.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, are spearheading an effort to gain greater control of our federally managed public lands by cutting off access. First, Daines took letters from certain Crazy Mountain landowners who outfit the area and are also ranking members of organizations, such as the Montana Outfitters & Guides Association, Montana Farm Bureau Federation and the Stockgrowers Association. Those letters, along with Daines' own, were sent to the newly appointed Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Purdue, who just happened to be in Montana for an Ag Summit in May, where District Ranger Alex Sienkiewicz was addressed, in relation to the FS administration of the Crazy Mountains.

The letters provide a piece of gotcha evidence, or so they thought, against Sienkiewicz. It was a screenshot of a Public Land/Water Access Association's Facebook post, which none of the accusers bothered to verify, before falsely ascribing it to Sienkiewicz. The truth is easily proven by the administrative screenshot (emwh.org), showing a PLWA member took a copy of Sienkiewicz's yearly summer email reminder to FS employees and their seasonal help, instructing them when on FS roads and trails and entering FS administrated public lands, do not ask permission, nor sign in, per Forest Service policy and documents. This is a management action that many other FS employees, including previous district rangers and supervisors, prior to Sienkiewicz, have followed for decades. Sienkiewicz was simply doing his job.

Using this gotcha false allegation post, Daines, in his official capacity, without any due diligence towards the truth, forwarded the lie to Perdue, and Sienkiewicz was removed from his position. This lie was picked up on by Sessions, who not only forwarded it to Perdue, but included the Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke, suggesting legislation against the historical prescriptive easements and statements of interest process, but also possible agency directives.

If such directives were adopted by these two secretaries, not only would the public have historical access cut off across the country, but this would also hamstring our federal agencies from the same historical public access, to properly manage our public lands. That would effectively increase privatization of our public lands.

Yet another ripple: This removal effectively makes Sienkiewicz a poster child, sending the message: Do your job, according to policy, and we will come after you too! This will increase the culture of fear growing within our natural resource agency employees.

What will we be left with, as public landowners? Will the stewards stop stewarding or simply leave for safer employment? Then who will ensure, as public landowners, that we have access to our own public lands?
From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...












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LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares?



























Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano...



Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos:



Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias.



Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera.



No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje.



En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio.



Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida.



Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella.



Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal.



Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista.



Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen.



Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che?



Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio.



Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora.



Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo.



Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo.



Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania.



No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar.



Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga.





Alguna duda?



Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino



Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia.



OZ1



OZ2



OZ3



OZ4



Homenaje a Jason Galarraga



La Victoria de Samotracia



Odalisca



Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008



























La Sierra Nevada de Merida



Nuestro precioso Churum Meru



Homenaje a Picasso



Autoretrato



Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola?

La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.

Mi profesion?

Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.

Sal en la Coca Cola?

A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.

De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:

Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto

Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)

azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)

Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas

Mucha Cafeina

Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio

Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe

Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion

El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.

Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.

Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.

En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).

Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.

La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.

Bebidas Light?

Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el

Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.



Publicado por loretahur



En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur

MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina:

1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias.

2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina.

3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard.

4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos.

5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla.

6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos.

Ahora... sobre la margarina:

1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) .

2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias.

3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno).

4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer.

5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna.

6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo.

7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina.

Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas:

* No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo).

* No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!!



No a la guerra, Si a la Paz



Misterios de la ciencia...



Los costos de la guerra



medicos y capitalismo...



Capitalismo...



medicos (2)



Quien educa a nuestros hijos?



Los Medios...



Sin Palabras...



Chistes feministas

- Cual es el problema, Eva?

- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz...

- Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.

- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...

- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.

- Que es un hombre?

- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.

- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.

- Cual es el truco?.

- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.

- Cual?

- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.





Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Ellas...



Ellas (2)...



Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1

Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije:

-Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro.

Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria.

Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre?

-Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa!



VENGANZA NUMERO 2

Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris.

A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita:

- Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!!

Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta.

La mujer paso quince dias en Francia.

El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla.

Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es:

- Y amor me trajiste mi francesita??

- Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina.



VENGANZA NUMERO 3

El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion.

- No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo.

- Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz.

Te quiero confesar algo.

- Esta bien, esta bien. Habla!

- He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga.

- Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!!



machismo y cibernetica



Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston.

-Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide.

-Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!.



.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti.

Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos.

Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco.

Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas



Gol !!!!



Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso!



Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy!


FORT EDWARD  A Milton man has been sentenced to 5 years in state prison for his latest felony conviction, stemming from the burglary of an Argyle home.

Joseph R. Gourd, 35, pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary in Washington County Court for a December 2015 theft of money from a Route 40 home.

He will spend 5 years on parole after his release and make $150 restitution, under the sentencing imposed by Judge Kelly McKeighan.

Gourd was arrested by State Police after DNA tests on evidence recovered from the home linked him to the theft. His DNA was in the state databank because of a criminal record that included three prior felony convictions.
American Indian youth can model a Lakota tradition of examining their lives while learning about healing at an overnight event Friday.

The lock-in is the first of a three-part, three-night series that allows youth to try and find their purpose, their passion.

QUEST Talks also is a time for youth, grades 7 through 12, and their parents to discuss a specialized topic  this month's focus is on healing.

A meal will be provided, beginning at 6 p.m., followed by a presentation by guest speaker Darryl Tonemah, an American Indian health psychologist and musician of Kiowa, Comanche and Tuscarora heritage.

Tonemah works to promote health and wellness among Native groups in the United States and Canada and is an award-winning recording artist who describes his musical style as Native Americana.

After Tonemah's presentation, parents will be excused and the youth lock-in begins. The evening's activities include horse therapy, "rezrobics," healing art, games and a movie.

Breakfast will be served Saturday morning, prior to youth departing for home after a night of learning, sharing and discussing ways to improve the world.

Each of the three lock-ins has a different theme.

We want to focus, first, on healing, said Cheryl Ann Kary, executive director with Sacred Pipe Resource Center. You need to come from a healthy place to get to belonging.

Kary said the third lock-in will prepare American Indian youth to take that healthy prospective and sense of community and turn it into activism.

QUEST Talks, which is free and open to the public, will take place at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship & Church, 818 E. Divide Ave., Bismarck.

Youth must preregister by visiting www.sacredpipe.net.

The second lock-in, focused on belonging, will take place Aug. 4.

Involvement will be the topic of the third lock-in, scheduled for Aug. 18.

The event is sponsored by the Sacred Pipe Resource Center through a grant from the North Dakota Humanities Council.
Daesh is transferring workshops and equipment for the production of ammunition, including those equipped with chemical agents, from the city of Raqqa to the controlled areas of Deir ez-Zor province,Zakharova said.

The intelligence reveals that ISIS has deployed laboratories and equipment for manufacturing chemical weapons from its capital of Raqqa to Deir ez-Zor, according to Zakharova.

According to information available [to us], Syrian terrorist groups plan staged provocative actions with the use of chemical poison gases to justify US strikes against the positions of the Syrian government forces, Zakharova said at a weekly press briefing.

The information exposes ongoing plans by Syrian terrorist groups to stage chemical weapons attacks, to be blamed on the Assad government, in an effort to justify U.S. attacks against Syrian government forces.

Zakharova noted that the movement of such large-scale equipment from under the nose of the coalition forces can indicate at least a selective unwillingness to see the facts.

With the U.S.-led coalition claiming to have almost completely encircled the ISIS capital of Raqqa, it begs the question of how the terrorists are able to move these chemical laboratories without complicity from the U.S.

I think you can speak with a high degree of probability about complicity with insurgents, Zakharova asserted.





Although the U.S. was quick to blame the Assad government for an April 4 chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun without any independent corroboration, MIT professor, and former DoD analyst Theodore Postol thoroughly debunked this assessment and revealed that it was much more likely the work of terrorist groups attempting to draw the U.S. further into a Syrian regime change operation.









Then just last week, the Trump administration began publicly claiming that the Syrian government was planning new chemical attacks but failed to present any evidence to support the bold assertions. The White House vowed to make the Syrian government pay a heavy price for the use of chemical weapons. These new assertions lay the groundwork for terrorists to attack civilians with chemical munitions, only to have the blame be shifted onto the Syrian government as a legitimate reason for attacking Syrian government forces. The Kremlin publicly commented on the White Houses claims and said that it considers US threats against Syrian legitimate leadership to be unacceptable. The Syrian government in Damascus also denied the information. In a press briefing at the U.S. State Department last Thursday, RT reporter Caleb Maupin took direct aim at the U.S. government position, questioning State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert whether the administrations public statement set the stage for a false flag to be blamed on the Assad government. Are you concerned that that could have created an opening for terrorist groups to carry out a chemical attack? Maupin asked Nauert during the State Departments press briefing. Nauert gave Maupin a looked stunned by the question. No, Nauert said, revealing a complete lack of logical thought. Maupin continued, Youre not concerned even though al-Nusra /al-Qaeda groups have been using chemical weapons in Syria, thats documented? Like a good little puppet for the U.S. war machine, Nauert refused to even acknowledge the possibility and quickly attempted to shift the conversation away from Maupins questioning and the very distinct reality that the administrations statements clearly set the stage for a false flag attack that could quite easily be blamed on the Assad government. It is also important to note how ignorant someone would have to be to believe that Assad would ever gas his own people given the known consequences of US intervention. He would effectively be signing his and his entire administrations death certificates. When you see statements such as these its time to be extremely vigilant, as there is a clear movement towards deepening U.S. regime change operations in Syria under the guise of humanitarian intervention.













US & Russia agree ceasefire in southwest Syria









The US and Russia have agreed on a ceasefire in southwest Syria, set to take effect on July 9 at noon Damascus time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has announced. Lavrov was speaking following the landmark meeting between the Russian and US presidents on the fringes of the G20 summit. In this zone [in southern Daraa, Quneitra and As-Suwayda provinces] the ceasefire regime will take effect on July 9 starting 12:00 Damascus time, Lavrov said. The US took an obligation that all the militant groups, located there, will comply with the ceasefire. The ceasefire was agreed to by experts from Russia, the US and Jordan, who negotiated a memorandum on the creation of a de-escalation zone in southwestern Syria at talks in Jordans capital, Amman. At first, the security around this de-escalation zone will be maintained with the help of Russian military police in coordination with the Jordanians and Americans, Lavrov said. "I think this is our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together in Syria, and as a result of that we had a very lengthy discussion regarding other areas in Syria that we can continue to work together on to de-escalate the areas," Reuters cited Tillerson as saying.



The US and Russia had previously negotiated a ceasefire in Syria in September 2016, but it collapsed after US jets bombed a Syrian government position, leading Moscow to wonder if the Pentagon was undermining the State Departments efforts.











"I think this is our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together in Syria, and as a result of that we had a very lengthy discussion regarding other areas in Syria that we can continue to work together on to de-escalate the areas,"

The Gift That Keeps on Giving: North Korea Hints at More Missile Launches









After the US threatened penalties for North Koreas Tuesday intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, Pyongyang on Friday alluded to more launches in the future. The isolated nation mockingly referred to the the Hwasong-14 launch as a "gift package" for the US Independence Day, as it took place on July 4, seemingly to reiterate its stance that the nuclear program is designed to fend off aggression from Washington. State-owned Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) published a statement from an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesperson saying, "The US will receive more 'gift packages' of different sizes from the [Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea] in endless succession, as it tries harder to destroy, by means of sanctions and pressure, the overall national power and strategic position of the DPRK," according to Yonhap News Agency The statement also seemed to hint that South Korea wont be included in denuclearization talks after liberal President Moon Jae-in said he was willing to engage the North in discussion on a possible peace treaty, their nuclear program and other issues while he was visiting Berlin ahead of the G20 summit there.













US Bombers Buzz South China Sea as Trump and Xi Prepare For G20 Meeting







As the presidents of the US and China participate in the Group of 20 Summit in Hamburg, the two nations continue to rattle their sabers in the disputed South China Sea. The latest muscle-flexing came from the United States Air Force, which flew a pair of B-1B Lancers over the contested waters Friday. This is "the first time US Pacific Command-directed B-1B Lancers have conducted combined training with JASDF [Japanese Air Force] fighters at night," according to a statement issued by the US Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs office. After the bilateral exercises, "the B-1Bs proceeded to the South China Sea before returning to Andersen Air Force Base."



The mission "demonstrates how the US will continue to exercise the rights of freedom of navigation anywhere international law allows," the US statement read. The United States has formally remained neutral in the South China Sea dispute, but the American leadership has protested Chinese activities such as building artificial islands to house military facilities in the economically-significant sea region. They have used naval power in the past to enforce "freedom of navigation" through the South China Sea.





Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told Reuters that while the American bombers were not violating any laws, it was distasteful to China that countries like the United States would use "the banner of freedom of navigation and overflight to flaunt military force and harm China's sovereignty and security."



This is the latest in a continued military build-up in the South China Sea foreshadowing next week's Malabar trilateral naval exercises between India, Japan and the US. China, which reads the exercises as a tacit threat against their claims in the sea, has deployed a small fleet of 14 vessels to patrol the waters in response to the upcoming exercises.









Positive chemistry between Trump & Putin at first meeting
















Finding Peace of Mind: Discover These Five Places in Europe to Unwind
The Alzheimers Association is offering two free educational classes for the public from 1:30- 3 p.m. Thursday, July 20, and 1:30-3 p.m. Tuesday, July 25, both at UnityPoint Moline Education Center, 500 John Deere Road, Moline. Advanced registration is required. Call 1-800-272-3900 or visit www.alz.org., browse to Caregiver Center, Community Resource Finder, Alzheimers Association Programs and Events. For more information, contact Jerry Schroeder at 563-293-8056, or at jschroeder@alz.org.

The July 20 class will cover the basics of Alzheimer's and dementia, how the diseases compare with normal aging, how they are diagnosed and treated, and what to do if you see the warning signs.

The July 25 class will cover the essential steps of caring for someone who is diagnosed with a progressive disease like Alzheimer's.

The Alzheimer's Association is the world's leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer's care, support, and research. The Association's mission is to eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research, to provide care and support for all affected, and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health.
EAST GRAND FORKS, Minn.  Steve Magenau started collecting bicycles at his home on Fourth Avenue Northeast in East Grand Forks about five years ago, with a goal of donating as many as possible. But over the years, the bikes started piling up by the dozens, irking neighbors and prompting a city hearing last week to determine if his yard has become a public nuisance.

The City Council ultimately decided to take the issue under advisement at its July 5 meeting, but hashed out a deal with Magenau, who agreed things had gotten out of hand and told council members he has been seeing a professional for hoarding issues. The deal gives him until Aug. 1 to have his yard cleaned out.

Magenau said he first began collecting the bikes when a friend mentioned an effort to fix up old bikes to be sent to Africa through a charity. He said he sent 300-400 bikes there last year.

Eventually, Magenau no longer needed to collect bikes for himself. Theyd just show up. His fenced-in backyard is lined with bicycles: old-style cruisers, three-wheeled Schwinns, mountain bikes in a wide range of conditions, antique road bikes and a 1978 Huffy Bandit among them. The side and front yard are fairly clear.

On Friday afternoon, July 7, he pointed at a blue road bike frame on a trailer near his garage.

This bike just showed up today, he said.

He estimates hes given away 800 bikes over the years and told City Council members he places as many as he can in a friends warehouse when theres space. Magenau said he provided a number of bicycles to the Northlands Rescue Mission in Grand Forks a couple of years ago.

In April, the bikes hit a high point -- Magenau estimates he had 175 lining his yard -- and the city took notice and issued a warning. Last August, the city issued a junkyard citation, which he paid.

In May, the city issued him another notice, according to City Attorney Ronald Galstad. He told the council Magenau had done a great job cleaning it up at the time. But the bikes kept coming back, and in June he was issued another junkyard ticket.

Galstad told the council Magenau seems to have good intentions, but there is a public nuisance and safety issue.

Theres been progress, but not enough, council member Mike Pokrzywinski said.

Pokrzywinski said hed be willing to be patient as long as progress continues. Other members were harsher.

Your property is the most disgraceful thing Ive ever seen, said council member Henry Tweten.

An exasperated Tweten, 93, said Magenaus yard was negatively affecting his neighbors and their property value.

On Friday afternoon, Magenau was out in his yard working on it. There was a dumpster in his driveway and a horse trailer in the street loaded up with bikes. His garage door was open, revealing a crowded space with several bike parts and miscellaneous items.

Dennis McDaniel, a Crookston man who cuts the grass across the street for Polk County Public Health, stopped by looking for a bike for his oldest grandson. Magenau, who said he doesnt sell the bikes, told McDaniel hed probably have something he could use. He might not be able to much longer, he said, explaining his situation with the city to McDaniel.

Everybody comes to you for help, but the city dont want you to help anyone, huh? McDaniel said.

Magenau understands that some of his neighbors are upset, and said he spoke to the person trying to sell a house across the street.

Hes tried to stop the bikes and other items, such as car batteries and lawn mowers, from being dropped off. This year, he said, he started adamantly telling people no.

But the stuff keeps coming, like the green snowblower parked next to a dumpster in his driveway that he said appeared that morning. The person who left it there didnt bother talking to him.

Magenau said East Grand Forks police drive by his house constantly. He believes theyre looking to an excuse to ticket him, an issue he raised with council members at the hearing. Pokrzywinski replied that police were probably responding to pressure from council members and city staff who are fielding complaints from neighbors.

Magenau claims he has had harsh interactions with some neighbors, who have exchanged words with him and his family.

Its a lot of tension, he sighed.

The city has given Magenau until Aug. 1 to have his yard cleaned out. He said it will be done by then. After Magenau acknowledged his hoarding issue to the council, Mayor Steve Gander recommended that even after that deadline, the city should check on the property every two weeks, to make sure theres no bike relapse.

Magenau is tired of dealing with the issue, and while he said he understands why some are upset and that he needs to clean it up, he cant help but feel persecuted.

Its depressing, he said. You try to do something good and get stabbed in the back.
The Western Illinois University Board of Trustees will hold a board retreat starting 9 a.m. on Thursday at Renew Moline, 1506 River Drive, Moline. The full agenda is available at wiu.edu/bot. No action items are on the board's retreat agenda.

Topics covered on the first day include a year-in-review, president's report, marketing and enrollment, finances and budget projections, strategic planning and the presidents annual review. The first day is scheduled to conclude at approximately 6:30 p.m.

A half-day retreat will begin at 8 a.m. Friday, July 14. Topics covered include board role and goals for 2017-2018. A closed session is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. The retreat is scheduled to adjourn at 11:45 a.m.

The next regular board meeting will be Sept. 28-29 on Western Illinois Universitys Macomb campus.
Eastern Iowa Community Colleges new Degree Plan for Working Adults is designed for people with busy work and family schedules. Clinton, Muscatine, and Scott Colleges are hosting an information session on Thursday, July 13 at 5:30 p.m. at various locations.

The colleges new Flexplan scheduling limits the time students are required to be in an actual classroom. With the Flexplan format, students attend each class one day a week, giving them time with their instructor and fellow students, and complete the remainder of the work online, reducing the number of times they have to travel to the classroom. For more information, visit www.eicc.edu/adultplan or call toll-free, 1-888-336-3907.

Sites for the information session include:

 Clinton Community College, 1000 Lincoln Boulevard

 CCC Maquoketa Center, 501 W. Washington St.

 Muscatine Community College, 152 Colorado St.

 West Liberty Center, 119 E. 3rd St.

 Columbus Junction Center, 1208 Colton St.

 Wilton Center, 1215 Cypress St.

 Scott Community College, 500 Belmont Road, Bettendorf

 Kahl Educational Center, 326 W. 3rd St., Davenport

The program includes three degree tracks, the Associate in Arts (AA), an AA with a Business Emphasis, and an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) in Business.

The AA programs are transferrable degrees designed for students who might continue their education toward a four-year degree. It includes all of the general education classes required in Bachelors Degree programs. As students complete the AA through EICC, their credits transfer easily to the state universities and area private colleges.

The AAS is for students who want to enter directly into the job market. It includes a heavier load of business, marketing and related courses.

The college outlines the courses students need to take to complete the program in two, three or four-year paths. Those plans are flexible and can be adapted to either speed up or slow down.
It's been nearly two weeks since the groundbreaking ceremony for the Interstate 74 bridge project, and officials say it won't be long now before people will see the first visible signs of construction in the Mississippi River.

As of Friday, contractors were awaiting approval of a permit from the U.S. Coast Guard before they could get started. Meanwhile, the departments of transportation in Iowa and Illinois said Friday they have scheduled two public meetings for later this month to let people know what to expect.

It will take three and a half years to replace the existing I-74 bridge, a project that eventually will mean significant traffic disruption. For now, however, much of the work will be in the Mississippi River, where 15 sets of new piers will be built to support the 3,400-foot bridge, which will consist of two spans  one in each direction. Another 15 sets of piers will be built on land in downtown Bettendorf, with another 10 sets in downtown Moline.

Danielle Mulholland, the project manager for the Iowa Department of Transportation, said construction on the land-based piers in Bettendorf likely will begin sometime this month. It probably will be late August before work on the piers in the river gets started. Before that work can begin, however, contractors will have to build a docking facility along the Illinois riverbank to use as a staging area for work in the river. When the Coast Guard issues a permit, Mulholland said, that work will begin fairly quickly, along with installation of silt curtains to prevent sediment from drifting into the river's main channel.

"They've got a lot of prep work before they begin the drilling," Mulholland said.

Some of that will include the construction coffer dams, enclosures that will be drained of water to permit work to go on inside. That work could start to take place in mid-August, Mulholland said.

The bulk of traffic disruption will come in 2019 and 2020, and already planners are beginning preparations for how to inform the public about closures and detours, as well as other aspects of the project.

The Iowa and Illinois departments of transportation have scheduled two public meetings for later this month to update the public on the project's progress as well as what to expect.

They've also debuted a new website at I74riverbridge.com along with YouTube, Facebook and Twitter accounts to provide updates. They're called @I-74 River Bridge.

So far, there are few posts on the Facebook and Twitter accounts except for photos of the groundbreaking last month, featuring Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. However, officials say the accounts, along with the website, will be important to informing the public about the project.

One example will be to provide guidance to boaters when work crews begin construction in the Mississippi River.

"They're going to be great sources for the public to get information about the project," said Kristina Kuehling, communications and outreach coordinator for the I-74 project who works for Chicago-based Images Inc., a consultant on the project.

Beyond that, it's still being determined just how much those social media accounts will be used to follow construction as it moves forward.

Wisconsin-based Lunda Construction is building the bridge across the Mississippi River. It was awarded a $322.7 million contract in May.

A separate contract, for $30.1 million, was awarded to Civil Constructors Inc. of Freeport, Illinois, to build a viaduct and off-ramp over downtown Bettendorf as part of the project.

The Illinois Department of Transportation accepted bids last month for work on the project from the river to 7th Avenue, but an award has not been announced yet. That work is estimated at $120 million. In September, it's expecting to accept bids for the part of the project, estimated at $128 million, extending to just south of Avenue of the Cities.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 2020, with the old bridge scheduled for demolition in 2021.
When Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin this Friday in Hamburg, Germany, the two presidents should have in the back of their minds the insignia worn by the Syrian Democratic Forces militia, which is America's main ally here. The patch shows a map of Syria bisected by the sharp blue line of the Euphrates River.

The Euphrates marks the informal "deconfliction" line between the Russian-backed Syrian regime west of the river, and the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led SDF to the east. In the past several weeks, the two powers negotiated a useful adjustment of the line -- creating a roughly 80-mile arc that stretches south, from near this battlefront city on Lake Assad, to a town called Karama on the Euphrates.

U.S.-Russian agreement on this buffer zone is a promising sign. It allows, in effect, for the U.S. and its allies to clear the Islamic State's capital of Raqqa, while Russia and the Syrian regime take the city of Deir ez-Zor, to the southeast. The line keeps the combatants focused on the Islamic State (ISIS), rather than sparring with each other.

What Trump and Putin should discuss at the G-20 summit is whether this recent agreement on this separation line is a model for wider U.S.-Russian cooperation in Syria. This broader effort would seek to defeat ISIS, stabilize a battered, fragmented Syria and, eventually, discuss a political future. But is it practical?

Russian-American cooperation on Syria faces a huge obstacle right now. It would legitimize a Russian regime that invaded Ukraine and meddled in U.S. and European elections, in addition to its intervention in Syria. Putin's very name is toxic in Congress and the U.S. media these days, and Trump is blasted for even considering compromise.

Against these negatives, there's only one positive argument: Working with Russia may be the only way to reduce the level of violence in Syria and to create a foundation for a calmer, more decentralized nation that can eventually recover from its tragic war.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis are said to favor exploring options with Russia. But there's a contrary view among some hawkish National Security Council staffers and members of Congress. They argue that working with Russia will empower its allies, Iran and the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad, and give what amounts to a green light for their future role in Syria.

An extreme version of this view argues that the U.S. should mount a military campaign to block Iran and its Shiite militia allies in Iraq and Syria from obtaining a corridor across southeast Syria that would link Iran to Lebanon. This militant stance ignores two practical points: Iran already has such a corridor, but it doesn't stop the U.S. or Israel from attacking dangerous arms shipments; and an assault on Shiite militias might draw the U.S. into a long, costly war that could spread across the Middle East.

It's worth examining the process that established the Euphrates arc of deconfliction, because it shows how different Russia's public and private actions have been. A Russian general suggested the Euphrates boundary initially, about 18 months ago, according to a U.S. official. But it wasn't formalized, so the two countries had been operating on an ad-hoc basis.

This rough deconfliction system worked at three levels. There was daily phone consultation between colonels, supplemented by occasional contacts at the one-star level between the U.S. headquarters in Baghdad and Russian headquarters near Tartous, Syria. Big issues went to the U.S. commander, Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, and his Russian counterpart, Col. Gen. Sergei Surovikin,

A crisis arose last month when several Syrian tanks pushed north of what U.S. commanders believed was the informal line of separation. When this small Syrian force was backed by a Syrian SU-22 fighter jet, the U.S. shot down the plane. The Russians announced that they were suspending contacts, and "for a few hours, it looked pretty hairy," recalls one U.S. official. But the Russians quietly resumed talking, and by late June, the two sides had agreed on the formal arc, with precisely delineated coordinates.

Similar U.S.-Russian cooperation has been calming tensions the past few weeks in southwest Syria. Those talks have been backed by Israel and Jordan, which border the zone. That, too, is a potential model for how de-escalation can work.

Cooperating with the Russians in Syria would be distasteful, given their past actions. But spurning them would keep this volatile country at the flashpoint and almost certainly make things worse rather than better for all sides.
President Donald Trump has long said China is the lynchpin to solving North Korea's saber rattling with missile tests. But his tact with the Asian superpower has run the gamut: He has thanked the Chinese for their support, argued they aren't helping defuse the situation and then written them off as willing partners -- all in the span of a few months.

On Saturday here in Germany for the G20, Trump urged action on North Korea as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"Something has to be done about it," Trump argued ominously during the brief public portion of his meeting with Xi.

There will "eventually be a success" against Pyongyang, Trump said. "It may be longer than I like, more than you like, but there will be a success ... one way or the other."

Trump's history with China -- particularly on North Korea -- will be brought to bear during the Xi meeting, their second sit down since Trump entered the White House in January.

Trump said at the start of the meeting that he and Xi had "developed a wonderful relationship."

The President also addressed trade issues before his meeting with Xi.

"Trade, as you know, is a very, very big issue for the United States now. Because over the years and -- it's really been over a long period of time many things have happened that have led to trade imbalances. And we're going to turn that around. And I know that with China in particular which is a great trading partner, we will be able to do something that will be equitable and reciprocal."

North Korea stance changing?

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson insisted in a briefing with reporters Friday that the Trump administration's "expectations are unchanged" on China's willingness to help address the growing problem in North Korea.

"We have not given up hope," Tillerson said. "I call it the peaceful pressure campaign. ... This is a campaign to lead us to a peaceful resolution because, if this fails, we don't have very many good options left."

That is not the case Trump made last month.

"While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out," he tweeted. "At least I know China tried!"

Trump echoed that sentiment earlier this month when he tweeted, "Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!"

The President even suggested earlier this year that he was holding fire on China -- by not labeling them a currency manipulator -- because of their work on North Korea.

"Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem," he wrote. "We will see what happens!"

The United States and China are currently split on the best way to deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whose recent test of what was believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile -- a significant step for the North Korean regime -- has sent shock waves around Asia, Europe and the United States.

In response to the missile test, the United States and South Korea announced they held their own missile test to counter "North Korea's destabilizing and unlawful actions."

That response ran counter to what China and Russia had hoped the United States would do. In a joint statement, the two countries called on North Korea to stop nuclear tests and asked the United States and South Korea to stop future joint military drills.

"Our experience with China has been... a bit uneven," Tillerson said Friday. "China has taken significant action, and then ... they've paused and didn't take additional action."

He added, "We've remained very closely engaged with China, both through our dialogues that have occurred face-to-face, but also on the telephone. We speak very frequently with them about the situation in North Korea."

Trump told reporters in Poland on the first day of his foreign trip that North Korea was "behaving in a very, very dangerous manner" and warned Kim he had "some pretty severe things" available to him when asked about military action against North Korea.

Fighting China on trade, climate

Trump, when speaking to domestic audiences, has long cast China as an enemy of the United States, as he did throughout the 2016 campaign.

"I beat the people from China. I win against China. You can win against China if you're smart," he said at a campaign event in 2015. "But our people don't have a clue. We give state dinners to the heads of China. ... They're ripping us left and right. Just take them to McDonald's and go back to the negotiating table."

He later said in 2016 that China was "ripping us off" and that he was "so happy they're upset" that he is slamming them on trade.

Trump has also slammed the international power on climate policy, as well. When the President announced his intention to leave the Paris climate accord earlier this year, he targeted China as a primary reason behind the decision.

"China will be allowed to build hundreds of additional coal plants. So, we can't build the plants, but they can, according to this agreement," he said, adding later that the deal "is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage" over the United States.

China announced after the United States departures that it intends to stay in the agreement and work with European countries.
CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFNS) -- The latest version of the MQ-9 Reaper, the Block 5 variant, flew its first successful combat mission June 23, 2017, in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.

The aircrew flew a sortie of more than 16 hours with a full payload of weapons including GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. During the mission, the crew employed one GBU-38 and two Hellfires while providing hours of armed reconnaissance for supported ground forces.

Working in conjunction with coalition joint terminal attack controllers, other MQ-9 aircraft and crews, our aircrews employed two Hellfires and one GBU-38, said Maj. Dan, the 432nd Wing director of operations. All three strikes met the ground force commanders intent and destroyed two defensive fighting positions, two vehicles and one mortar tube.

The Block 5 MQ-9 is equipped with improved electrical and communications systems which provides better software and hardware upgrades for future operations providing dominant persistent attack and reconnaissance to joint force commanders. The aircraft must also be flown with the new Block 30 cockpit that required different training for the aircrews.

While employing weapons from a new aircraft flown from a new cockpit is a historic milestone, the aircrew who flew the mission were humbled by the experience.

(This strike) was no different than employing weapons off the previous version of the MQ-9, said Maj. Chad, a 432nd WG pilot. Our job is to provide the ground force commanders with effective, persistent attack capability and we will continue to do that with whatever tools the Air Force provides us.

Master Sgt. Joshua, a 432nd WG sensor operator, explained that employing new weapons, tactics, software and aircraft efficiently to support the lethal and non-lethal needs of the military is just part of the job.

To take an entirely new airframe and bring it into combat with lethal effectiveness is incredible, and that such a historic milestone for this new airframe was standard operations for our unit is even more incredible, he said.

Before the Block 5 could even take off, Airmen of the 432nd Maintenance Group prepared the aircraft to fly.

The new MQ-9 aircraft arrived to Creech AFB in late February and additional modifications, such as the battery cables and enhanced generator control units, were completed in April. In May, these MQ-9s were flown locally at Creech AFB to test airworthiness after the modifications. By the end of May they were packed up again and shipped to the area of responsibility.

Bottom line, the maintainers of the 432nd MXG were instrumental in preparing the Block 5 aircraft for their first combat sorties, said Col. Matthew, the 432nd MXG commander. The men and women of the 432nd MXG were responsible for ensuring combat ready aircraft deployed to the AOR. The success of the first Block 5 sortie was not a single effort and required the 432nd Wing to come together. It was the work of a team from the test and evaluation squadron developing the aircraft, to maintenance preparing it for combat and the aircrews executing the mission. We will continue to come together as we prepare for more Block 5s in the foreseeable future.

What may be most remarkable about this accomplishment is that it was done while the Airmen of the 432nd Wing remained constantly engaged in combat during the transition activities and training.

Our Airmen make this look easy, said Col. Case Cunningham, the 432nd Wing commander. But the fact is that transitioning and training to directly field a new cockpit and a new airframe into combat with flawless execution, while simultaneously providing continuous multi-role capabilities for the joint and coalition team in our older generation cockpits and aircraft, is nothing short of incredible. Its just one more reason that these Airmen providing and enabling MQ-9 combat airpower are such highly valued members of the finest joint warfighting team on the planet.
The view from Green Mountain is so exquisite and yet so little-known that the peaks existence should probably be concealed from the masses, so as not to ruin it.

Alas, at 7,164 feet above sea level, Green Mountain is the fourth-highest among the eight recognized Black Hills peaks that stand at least 7,000 feet in elevation. And since were in the midst of publishing this series about those eight peaks, were obligated to reveal the secret.

So, we must say that when we climbed onto a natural pedestal of elevated limestone atop Green Mountain, what we saw was a revelation. Standing up there, we felt somehow suspended among the splendor around us, like one of the birds that were swooping near our heads.

Below us was an 800-foot drop to Gillette Prairie, a 2-square-mile meadow tucked into the surrounding pine forest.

Thirteen miles to the southeast, Black Elk Peak, the highest point in South Dakota, presided over a skyline of granite summits.

To the north, the tips of Custer and Terry peaks pierced the horizon 20 to 25 miles away.

And to the northwest, the glittering water of Deerfield Lake was visible, about five miles distant.

Adding to our appreciation of the view was our astonishment at its quality. Our expectations for Green Mountain had been lowered by multiple factors, including its unremarkable name, which was long ago inspired by the simple fact of the mountain's being mostly grass covered," according to the U.S. Geographic Names Information System.

Without a designated non-motorized trail to the summit, the mountain is unknown to even some avid hikers, and the mountain is literally off the map in terms of the official Black Hills National Forest motor-vehicle use maps, which do not include a place marker for it. The mountain does show up on snowmobile trail maps for the Black Hills, but under the informal name of "Clinton Overlook" rather than the official "Green Mountain."

With all of that in mind, and after some confused searching to find the peak by vehicle and then by foot, we felt like the finders of lost treasure when we finally emerged onto the summit.

Our journey was a meandering one, fraught with mistakenly traveled roads and off-trail hiking. Well spare you those details and explain the easiest route.

First, it's important to identify the correct Green Mountain, because five places share that name in the Black Hills. The one profiled here is about 45 miles west-southwest of Rapid City.

Next, arm yourself with maps, including a Black Hills National Forest road map, a gazetteer and a Black Hills snowmobile trail map. You'll need all the navigational help you can get.

Perhaps the most direct route to Green Mountain from Rapid City is via U.S. Highway 16 to Hill City, and then Deerfield Road to East Slate Road/Forest Road 300, and Medicine Mountain Road/Forest Road 297 to Six Mile Road/Forest Road 301.

Go nearly three miles on Six Mile Road/Forest Road 301 until you spot a dirt track on your right marked as Forest Road 301.1R. You could drive onto that road if its in good condition, but we recommend parking and walking. Its only 1.6 miles and 275 vertical feet to the summit from there.

Walk north on 301.1R until you come to a fork where the path to the right is marked as 2B. Thats a snowmobile trail, and its your route to the summit.

As you hike, you may notice the silence of the isolated and rural pocket of the Black Hills that youve ventured into. We heard nothing but nature and saw no other people once we got out of our vehicle. There is little hint of the view that awaits on the summit, because the hike is bordered by gently rolling hills and lots of trees.

If you come to a gated barbed-wire fence, pass through it and re-close the gate. Green Mountain is on public land in the Black Hills National Forest, and although the land might be leased for cattle grazing (hence the importance of re-closing the gate), youre allowed to be there.

On the summit, the view is not only amazing but is also a lesson in Black Hills topography. Rather than a peak in the traditional sense of the word, Green Mountain is really a cliff at the edge of a high limestone plateau. The edge of the plateau extends for many miles and has several notable high points, including nearby Odakota and Bear mountains, which will be featured in future installments of this series.

The best place to enjoy the view is from atop the natural limestone pedestal at the cliffs edge, but it takes a little scrambling to get up there, and the top of the pedestal is only about the size of a surfboard. In other words, be careful, and dont climb onto the pedestal if youre afraid of heights.

We brought our lunch in backpacks and sat down to eat on a bigger ledge, where we found evidence of others who appreciated the view as much as we did. Two small silver plaques bearing the names of a deceased married couple  one who died in 2009 and the other in 2015  were discreetly affixed to the side of the ledge.
The mother of the two toddlers found emaciated on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in November has been charged with two counts of felony child abuse and neglect.

Darcel Featherman, 34, was indicted in federal court in May, half a year after authorities said her daughters were found nearly starved to death in the home of Feathermans mother in Potato Creek. The girls were 2 and 3 years old.

Seven people, including Feathermans mother and sister, were earlier charged with two counts each of felony child abuse and neglect. The offense carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

Feathermans mother and sister are each also facing two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, punishable by up to life in prison.

Featherman, of Kyle, is facing three other charges as a result of a federal government investigation into fraudulent activities against Native American tribes.

One is theft of government property, accusing her of taking Supplemental Security Income benefits amounting to $4,293 that were meant for another person, between the years 2013 and 2016. The offense carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

Another is making a false statement to the Social Security Administration in July 2015, including allegedly saying that a beneficiary continued to live with her and that she had left the beneficiarys money in the bank.

Third is misusing her position as a beneficiarys representative by allegedly using, between 2013 and 2016, the Social Security benefits meant for another person. This offense and making a false statement are each punishable by up to five years in prison.

She pleaded not guilty to all counts. Her relationship with the legitimate beneficiaries is unclear, since the names have been redacted from court documents.

The federal investigation, called the Guardians Project, has also brought charges against a former Pine Ridge district official.

Charles Leo Cummings, 56, is charged with embezzlement and theft from an Indian tribal organization between December 2015 and January 2016.

He is accused of taking around $2,000 from the Oglala Sioux Tribe's funds while serving as vice chairman of the LaCreek District Board, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Jehangiri, head of the Guardians Project in South Dakota.

Cummings pleaded not guilty during a hearing at the Rapid City federal courthouse on Friday.

The Guardians Project in South Dakota, established in December 2015, has resulted in charges against at least 21 people and the conviction of at least 14, according to a release from the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Meanwhile, Feathermans children are now under the custody of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, according to Karin Eagle, spokeswoman for the tribe. The girls, who are in foster care, have gained weight and are around the ideal weight for their age, she said last month.

The charges against two of the child abuse defendants are slated to be dismissed under plea agreements; the other cases are still ongoing.
A familiar face will return to the Rapid City Public Library as its next director.

This week, the Rapid City Library Board chose Terri Davis as its newest director. The board made the announcement after a special meeting to confirm the selection, culminating a monthslong search.

Davis served as the library's public services manager and assistant director from 2000 to 2015 and will replace current director Jim McShane, who has held the position since December 2013 and will retire on Aug. 11. Davis will start Aug. 14.

"We want to commend Jim for his great work as our director and overseeing many great and innovative changes at the Library," said board chairwoman Becky Drury in a release. "We wish him all the best and we welcome Terri back to Rapid City and feel very confident she will provide great management to the Library, its patrons and staff moving forward."

McShane is relocating to Saudi Arabia, where his wife, Wendy, has accepted a teaching position at the American International School of Jeddah. McShane will begin a new role as consultant on a new school and library there.

Davis is returning to Rapid City from western Australia.
PIERRE | State government regulators suspended the grain-buyer licenses and ordered a financial audit for H and I Grain of Hetland.

Citizens wont know, however, what the audit might have found. South Dakota law doesnt allow those reports to be revealed to the public. It would be a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail, if that barrier were violated.

The state Public Utilities Commission took the actions against H and I Grain at a special meeting June 23.

I expect there will be additional documents filed in the docket that may be of interest to you, commission chairwoman Kristie Fiegen said in an email exchange Thursday.

Fiegen said the commission would decide at some future time whether to permanently revoke the grain-buyer licenses that cover H and I Grain.

The company has operations at Hetland, Arlington and DeSmet.
WASHINGTON | "A little learning is a dangerous thing," wrote the poet Alexander Pope. Three centuries later, Pope's aphorism perfectly  and dangerously  describes President Trump's understanding of history as a zero-sum clash of civilizations in which "the West" can triumph by imposing its will.

The speech Trump delivered Thursday in Warsaw's Krasinski Square might have been appropriate when Britannia ruled the waves and Europe's great powers held dominion over "lesser" peoples around the globe. It had nothing useful to say about today's interconnected world in which goods, people and ideas have contempt for borders.

"The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive," the president said. "Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?"

Trump added what he probably thought of as a Churchillian flourish: "I declare today for the world to hear that the West will never, ever be broken. Our values will prevail. Our people will thrive. And our civilization will triumph."

Triumph over whom? Trump mentioned "radical Islamic terrorism" as one of the enemies posing "dire threats to our security and to our way of life," but he didn't stop there. He went on to add Russia and  weirdly  "the steady creep of government bureaucracy" to the list. It is appalling that the president would describe patriotic public servants as a kind of fifth column that "drains the vitality and wealth of the people," and I guess some precious bodily fluids as well.

But what does Trump mean when he speaks of "the West" and its civilization? "Americans, Poles and the nations of Europe value individual freedom and sovereignty," he said. "We must work together to confront forces, whether they come from inside or out, from the South or the East, that threaten over time to undermine these values and to erase the bonds of culture, faith and tradition that make us who we are. ... We write symphonies. We pursue innovation. We celebrate our ancient heroes, embrace our timeless traditions and customs, and always seek to explore and discover brand-new frontiers."

That's what I mean about a little learning. If the president read a few history books, he'd know that for most of the last 2,000 years, China and India were the world's leading economic powers and Europe was a relatively primitive backwater. He'd know that Europe rose to dominance not by erecting walls, but by opening itself to the rest of the world  its resources, products and people.

There is nothing pure about Western civilization. Its ability to absorb and incorporate outside influences has proved a great strength, not a weakness. Imagine Italy without tomato sauce, a gift from the New World  or the United States without the high-tech companies founded by immigrants, gifts from the Old.

Of course Trump is right to call for a united front against terrorism. But the solution, in a globalized world, cannot be to hunker behind walls, however big and beautiful those walls might be. Industrial supply chains cross borders and span oceans. Words and images flash around the globe at the speed of light. Global issues, such as nuclear proliferation and climate change, demand global solutions. Like it or not, we are all in this together.

The correct response to the terrorism threat, which is real, is to isolate it as an abomination that is as much a grievous insult to Islam as to any other faith  and that has taken the lives of far more Muslims than non-Muslims. The wrong response is to posit that "the West" is besieged by, and therefore at war with, a hostile civilization. That's a fight in which everyone loses.

Trump did finally make clear that the United States remains fully committed to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which states that an attack on one member of the alliance is tantamount to an attack on all. He was tougher on Russia than in the past, and he cited "propaganda, financial crimes and cyberwarfare" as "new forms of aggression" that must be countered.

But viewing the fight against terrorism as some kind of civilizational Armageddon is wrong. Trump seems to view himself as the West's defender against 1.6 billion Muslims, almost all of whom want only to live in peace. We need a capable president, not a crusader in chief.
When the new U.S. ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, welcomed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to Beijing a week ago Friday, he did so with prime rib, straight from America's heartland.

The scene must have been a welcome sight for the sore eyes of ranchers and farmers who have been shut off from the large, growing Chinese demand for beef since 2003 when China banned American beef over concern about bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

Credit the administration of President Donald Trump for closing what is a big deal in states like Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. All three states rank among the top 10 states for beef production.

Chinese markets reopened to U.S. beef on June 12. On June 14, Greater Omaha Packing Company made the first shipment of U.S. beef  40 boxes of ribeyes, tenderloins and New York strip steaks  to China since the ban was lifted. On Friday, Perdue traveled to China where he joined Branstad and Chinese leaders for a celebration to mark return of American beef products.

In 2016, China ranked third for beef consumption, behind the United States and the European Union. The Chinese account for more than 13 percent of the beef consumed in the world. Since 2012 alone, annual China beef imports have grown from $275 million to more than $2 billion.

"It's a very big market; it's at least a $2.5 billion market that's being opened up for U.S. beef," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on May 11 when he announced the resumption of beef exports as part of a larger U.S.-China trade deal.

Seizing the moment for continued momentum, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will lead a trade mission to China this month. The trip, planned for July 19 to 28, will focus on expansion of the market in China for Iowa agriculture products, including beef. Making the trip with Reynolds will be individuals from commodity organizations representing the state's corn, soybean, pork, beef, egg, poultry, dairy, and turkey industries, marking the first time all of those organizations will participate in one joint Iowa trade mission.

At the time of the 2003 ban, the U.S. was the largest supplier of China's beef imports. With Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota among the leaders and biggest beneficiaries, we look forward to what we are confident will be a robust American re-entry into this lucrative market.
BILLINGS  As Japan struck a multinational trade agreement in principle Thursday with the European Union, farmers in Montana watched from the outside with their noses pressed against the glass.

Japan is a top three customer for Montana commodities, the states largest grain buyer in the Asian Pacific, where roughly 80 percent of Montanas hard-red spring and hard-red winter wheat is exported.

The deal with the European Union promises to sew up trade terms for one third of the world economy. It was not unlike the U.S. brokered, 13-nation Trans Pacific Partnership that Montana farmers had hoped would level the playing field for Montana products in Japan and other Pacific countries by removing tariffs and other restrictions.

TPP nations accounted for 42 percent of the worlds gross domestic product, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. Would-be partners like Vietnam had economic growth that was three times that of more advanced nations. The deal fell apart under a new wave of nationalism in the United States. It was declared dead the day President Donald Trump took office.

Were seeing this as a direct result of us pulling out of TPP, said Gordon Stoner, an Outlook farmer and National Association of Wheat Growers past president. As long as we were at the table with TPP, Japan was not going to upset the apple cart with us.

The Trump administration has promised a bilateral agreement with Japan that includes parts of the TPP deal that the president likes, though while campaigning in 2016, Trump wrote off TPP and other multinational trade deals, like the North America Free Trade Agreement as disastrous for the U.S. employment, particularly manufacturing.

For Stoner and other Montana farmers with a voices on national farm economic issues, the issue with the bilateral trade talks is time. The United States invested years in making TPP work. Switching to bilateral agreements could take several more years.

Whether the EU deal will hurt Montana grain trade remains to be seen. Europe and the United States compete directly in global wheat markets, but on specific grain types like Montanas hard-red spring and winter wheat varieties, Europe may not be a threat. Those high-protein varieties arent grown everywhere.

Asian millers are used to importing those grains from Montana and North Dakota. The majority of Montanas large grain elevators, designed to load mile-long trains bound for Pacific Northwest ports, are at least partially owned by Asian corporations.

Stoner is hopeful theres enough of an Asian stake in the Montana grain trade and a unique enough offering by Montana farmers to gird against an EU trade deal.

A deal between Japan and the EU is generally unfavorable for the United States, said Vincent Smith, economist at Montana State University, who specializes in agricultural policy and international trade.

The United States buys steel from both Japan and European Union nations. Manufacturers in the United States could also be affected by a Japan-EU trade agreement.

The obvious win for Japan is easier sales of Japanese automobiles in Europe, an arrangement that will likely increase the price of Japanese autos in the United States by virtue of increased demand in the EU.

The biggest story is what it says about the U.S., Smith said. Is this another indicator that the U.S. is less important in the world, particularly because of the presidents attitude, at least as he articulates it to world trade?

The world is saying If your administration is going to assume that it can play by any rules it chooses, then were not going to worry about you. Were going to work in another direction.' 

There are Montanans who were opposed to the TPP regardless of what it meant for the states $5 billion agricultural economy.

Matthew Koehler, of Wild West Institute, said the inclusion of underdeveloped nations with labor policies that permitted child factory workers, poor working conditions and low pay, was reason enough oppose TPP. There were environmental policies related to industry that also didnt line up with policies in the United States. Even if the U.S. insisted those policies improve, trade terms still werent supportive of U.S. workers, Koehler said.

The EU and Japan are very similar economies. They have similar regulations governing a lot of things like the rights of workers, protecting the environment, Koehler said. The TPP was including countries where slave labor was still allowed.

The TPP nations were Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Canada, Australia, and the United States.

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told Lee Montana newspapers in May that the inability of lesser-developed countries to meet trade terms easily met by the United States and Japan suggested that a bilateral agreement would be more relevant.
LANDUSKY  Sitting under a tent Friday morning and eating a hot breakfast on a picnic table, the crew of firefighters from Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge focused on their food and said very little.

A couple of them were coming off a 25-hour shift.

The July Fire had flared up to an estimated 8,381 acres by Friday morning, threatening the small community of Landusky where it burned one outbuilding. To stop its spread near the town, the firefighters from the wildlife refuge, along with other crews, lit a backburn late Thursday along the mountainside just east of Landusky.

The controlled burn swept up the hillside, and by early morning Friday it had stopped the main fire from burning any lower.

By late Friday afternoon, crews were still battling the blaze north and east of Landusky, but the town itself sat quiet and relatively safe. All residents had elected to leave after the flare-up late Thursday afternoon.

"Definitely the biggest fire I've been on," said Christopher Pickering, one of the firefighters from the wildlife refuge.

Members of the crew from the wildlife refuge had joined the fire Thursday morning. As more crews arrived through the day, they were assigned night duty and worked through the dark Thursday until their shift ended shortly after 7 a.m. on Friday.

"We'll sleep today and be back at it tonight," said firefighter Stephen Warren.

Friday morning the Red Cross set up an evacuation shelter at Hays-Lodgepole High School in Hays for Landusky residents. Hays sits on the northern side of the Little Rocky Mountains across from Landusky, which is on the southeast. By Friday afternoon, no one had checked into the Red Cross shelter.

The fire started Monday afternoon, and into Tuesday easterly winds pushed the fire toward the small community of Zortman, which sits on the northeastern side of the Little Rocky Mountains. By Wednesday and into Thursday, a shift in the winds pushed the fire in the opposite direction, away from Zortman and toward Landusky.

Those winds on Thursday blew embers and burning debris across the western face of the mountains just above Landusky, creating spot fires that expanded the western perimeter of the fire.

A big reason buildings in Landusky survived Thursday's flames was "the work that the community did to firewise the property," said Hailey Graf, a press information officer with the Northern Rockies Incident Management team. "It really facilitated the success of the fire operation."

The fire grew so fast Thursday, officials are still unsure exactly how large it is. A planned flight in the dark with infrared cameras to map the fire's perimeter was scrapped at the last minute when technical issues arose with the scanning equipment. With the fire's rapid expansion on Thursday, its containment was lowered to under 10 percent.

Officials are also waiting to give an exact number of crews on the fire. Officially the count is at 189 people, but teams were arriving hourly all through the day Friday.

"They're starting to arrive in a big way," said Graf.

Officials expect to have an accurate count on crews battling the fire, its containment and the size of the blaze by Saturday morning.

While the July Fire burns between Zortman and Landusky, fire officials Friday began talking to residents of Hays and encouraging them to create defensible space around their property and to gather important items in case the fire shifts north and the sheriff's office issues an evacuation order.

It's a worst case scenario plan, Graf said.

"We're planning for the hypothetical of the fire reaching Hays," she said. "We've got the ball rolling for should the worst happen."

Right now nearly 10 miles of mountain ridges separate Hays from the northwestern perimeter of the fire.

For the first time, fire officials are requiring water tenders and tank trucks from outside the area to undergo decontamination to avoid the spread of tiger mussels, an aquatic invasive species.

Water tanks and equipment outside the region are washed in hot water or a chemical bath before they're filled with water and sent to the fire.

"We're the first group to try out those standards," Graf said.

It's an important move as the communities in the region work to stop the spread of tiger mussels, small freshwater creatures that collect and plug up water and irrigation lines and damage lake and river ecosystems.

"You never know where (outside) equipment has last drawn water," Graf said.
Guwahati : The flood situation in Assam turns more worsen on Friday after flood waters submerged more areas in the state as resulting over 4.25 people are affected the current flood.

The current spate of flood inducted 32,148 hactares agricultural land in Assam and claimed 24 lives so far.

According to the reports of Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), over 4.25 lakh people of 17 districts are affected in the current flood.

On Friday, three more persons including a minor girl lost their lives after they drowning in flood waters in Nalbari, Karimganj and South Salmara district and the death toll rose to 24.

A top official of ASDMA said that, a total of 4,25,764 people of 1037 villages of 17 districts are affected till Friday.

'Over 1.60 lakh affected alone in Karimganj district, while 77,974 people affected in Lakhimpur, 50,521 in Golaghat, 31,264 in Cachar, 21,364 in Barpeta district,'A the government official said.

On the other hand, Assam forest department has introduced Time Report Card at National Highway 37 in Kaziranga National Park to control speed of all type of vehicles for protecting wild animals following flood waters submerged over 75 per cent areas of the park.

'Most of wild animals have taken shelter in nearby Karbi Anglong hills area by crossing the highway following the critical flood situation. In view of the current spate of flood in Kaziranga, we have introduced Time Report Card at night to control speed of the vehicles,'A Assam forest minister Pramila Rani Brahma said.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday directed ministers of his cabinet to immediately rush to affected areas to take stock of flood situation and step up relief and rescue operations ensuring proper arrangement of facilities for flood affected and relief camp inmates.

Sonowal directed this while reviewing state flood situation in a meeting held at Brahmaputra State Guest House in Guwahati which was attended by several ministers of his cabinet.

As per Chief Minister's direction while Agriculture Minister Atul Bora will visit Sivasagar, Golaghat and Jorhat, Environment & Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma will go to South Salmara and Goalpara. Water Resouces Minister Keshav Mahanta was directed to visit Nagaon, Morigaon and Hojai, PWD Minister Parimal Suklabaidya to visit all districts of Barak valley, Irrigation Minister Ranjit Dutta and Cultural Affairs Minister Naba Kumar Doley to visit Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Biswanath and Majuli, PHE Minister Rihon Daimary and Revenue Minister Pallab Lochan Das to visit all the districts of lower Assam.

The Assam CM directed the ministers to assess the damage caused by flood & erosion and also to interact with the affected and take stock of their needs and grievances.

Sonowal further referred to the difficulties faced by people due to potholes on roads and directed the PWD Minister to complete repairing of all roads of the state within the month of July, 2017.

Keeping in view the damages caused by erosion during flood, the Chief Minister directed the Water Resources Minister to take necessary steps including ensuring availability of anti-erosion materials for prompt action at affected sites.

He also directed the WR Minister to take measures for procurement of dredger for excavation of river bed apart from preparing plan for anti-erosion adopting latest technology.

State Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary. WR Minister Keshav Mahanta, PWD Minister Parimal Suklabaidya, PHE Minister Rihon Daimary, Irrigation Minister Ranjit Dutta, Cultural Affairs Minister Naba Kumar Doley, Revenue Minister Pallab Lochan Das, Chief Minister's Media Adviser Hrishikesh Goswami, MLA Bimal Bora, Chief Secretary VK Pipersenia, Principal Secretary to CM Sanjay Lohia, senior officers of Revenue and Disaster Management Department and Water Resources Department were present in the meeting.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Guwahati: Assam governor Banwarilal Purohit handed credence to the valediction of the 68th Vana Mahotsava on Friday when he inaugurated the Greater Green Guwahati programme by planting saplings and distributing them to school students at a function to mark the end of 68th Vana Mahotsava at MG Road Kharguli.

The programme entails plantation of saplings along the city roads, in the premises of educational institutions, government and non-government offices, and reserve forests to increase the green cover of the city.

Speaking at the function, Purohit appealed to everybody to take a pledge to increase the green coverage of the city by planting more saplings as trees can only sustain lives of future generations and said that trees are the precondition of existence of human beings.

He also hailed the initiative of the Environment and Forest Department along with other line departments, NGOs and other stake holders for taking the Green Guwahati Project.

Lauding the endeavour of the Forest Department which also conceived of a project namely Avenue Plantation Programme from Kaliabor Tri-junction to Numaligarh which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on July 1 synchronising with the 68thVana Mahotsava at Kaliabor, Purohit said

that these saplings would augur well in securing future of the next generation.

He also asked Environment and Forest Department to ensure corresponding actions for the sustenance of the saplings.

Referring to a sloka from Purana, Purohit said that 'one tree is equivalent to 10 sons' and urged upon the people at large to plant saplings and contribute to increase the green cover of the environment and facilitate development in sync with the nature.

He also requested the media fraternity to play a pivotal role for spreading awareness for tree plantation.

Environment and Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma also underlined the importance of tree plantation drives and said that since Guwahati is the gateway of North East, major plantation drives are being taken to enhance the glitz and grandeur of the city.

MLA East-Guwahati Siddhartha Bhattacharya, GMC Mayor Mrigen Sarania, Additional Chief Secretary Environment & Forest Department K.V.Eapen, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Bikash Brahma, Chairman of GMDA Dhiren Baruah along with a host of other dignitaries were present in the function.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
KATHMANDU, July 8: Nepali Congress (NC) central member Mahendra Yadav has accused the main opposition CPN (UML) of widening conflict in the country by not allowing amendment to the constitution.

At an interaction program on Saurday, he said UML would be tainted in the history if it continuously remains apathetic to the campaign of making the constitution a well-accepted national charter by impeding the constitution amendment.

Two political forces, NC and CPN (Maoist Centre), are putting their efforts to ensure bye-in and ownership of the Madhesi people to the constitution, he said, claiming that the Prime Minister would be successful in this mission.

CPN (MC) central member Mahendra Bahadur Shahi said the UML was constraining the constitution amendment and provincial and parliamentary elections and the country was being taken hostage with UML's obstinacy.

He also said it was the responsibility of all political parties including main opposition to institutionalize the constitution.

However, CPN-UML Province-2 coordinator Satya Narayan Mandal said that their party was never a constraint to resolve the problems of Madhesi people while accusing the government of not enabling environment in the parliament for endorsing the amendment proposal.

Also speaking on the occasion, Rastriya Janata Party (RJP) leader Mahendra Roy Yadav asserted that his party had not given up its earlier demand for federating the country into 14 provinces and naming them on the basis of identity as per the high-level commission to determine provincial boundary.

He added that their main demand still was amendment to the constitution and the RJP would not take part in the third phase of polls until their three point demands  addition to the number of local levels, withdrawal of fraudulent cases registered against their cadres and declaring those killed as martyrs.

Yadav noted that they had served a weeklong ultimatum ot the government to address these demands. RSS
The city of Lompoc may be headed toward a significant change in the way that its animal control services are handled.
If you're 18 or over, a United Kingdom resident, and love writing weird scripts, an awesome opportunity was recently announced. FrightFest is teaming up to produce scripts with MPI Media Group --- as well as with genre titan producer Travis Stevens of Snowfort Pictures, Barbara Crampton, Dominic Brunt, and Giles Edwards, Head of Acquisition and Development at MPI.

This could be a fantastic opportunity for talented writers looking to bring your work to screen. Jump on it now --- you have until August 4th to get those scripts in!

From the press release:

HORROR CHANNEL FRIGHTFEST, MPI MEDIA GROUP, DARK SKY FILMS & SCREEN INTERNATIONAL JOIN FORCES IN TALENT SEARCH FOR GENRE SCREENWRITERS

Barbara Crampton, Dominic Brunt and Travis Stevens named as mentors.

Are you a writer concocting fiendishly fantastic ideas in the witching hours? Have you hidden away your script in the deepest darkest catacombs but are now ready to unleash it onto the unsuspecting world?

As an innovative addition to this years main event, which runs from Aug 24 - Aug 28, Horror Channel FrightFest has teamed up with international production and distribution company MPI Media and their sister production company Dark Sky Films to create NEW BLOOD, an initiative which aims to find new genre writers and nurture their projects from script to screen. This initiative has the support of the UKs leading film industry magazine Screen international.

MPI/Dark Sky Films, with its proven track record in producing and distributing a wide array of genre features including THE INNKEEPERS, STARRY EYES, STAKE LAND and IT STAINS THE SANDS RED, is on the search for exciting new ideas to develop into feature films budgeted below $1m for an international market.

The successful shortlisted applicants will have the opportunity to explore their ideas and scripts in a group setting under the mentorship of top industry professionals and genre experts including Travis Stevens, acclaimed producer of Starry Eyes and We Are Still Here; actor, producer and horror icon Barbara Crampton, actor / director Dominic Brunt and Giles Edwards, MPI Medias Head Of Acquisitions & Development.

The NEW BLOOD event will be held on Thursday 23rd August, the opening day of this years festival, at the Radisson Hampshire Hotel.

Giles Edwards, MPI Medias Head of Acquisition and Development, said today: We are looking for original scripts or treatments for feature films which would appeal both critically and commercially to a global audience hungry for bold, diverse new voices in the realm of daring, thrilling, fiercely entertaining genre cinema. We want to unearth the UK's Julie Ducournau or Ti West, Jennifer Kent or Simon Barrett, Jordan Peele, Ana Lily Amirpour or David Robert Mitchell. We know you're out there, so dont hold back. If you think your idea is original the chances are we will too. Suckerpunch us with your brilliance.

Applications are now open through submission forms. The deadline is Fri 4th August. All successful applicants will be notified by Mon 14th August. All participants are expected to pay for their own travel and accommodation.

FrightFest

Dubbed the Woodstock of Gore by director Guillermo Del Toro, FrightFest was created in 2000 by film producer Paul McEvoy, journalist and broadcaster Alan Jones and film distributor/booker Ian Rattray. Greg Day, the festivals long standing PR, became a joint director in 2007. From its cult roots at the Prince Charles Cinema it has grown to become one of the genres most vibrant, credible and recognisable brands, helping to launch the careers of directors such as Simon Rumley, Christopher Smith, Eli Roth, Neil Marshall and Simon Hunter. Apart from the annual 5-day event in London, FrightFest has an ever-growing strand at the Glasgow Film Festival, hosts a nationwide Halloween horrorthon and showcases special screenings throughout the year. It recently teamed up with Icon Films Distribution to release FrightFest curated films under the banner FrightFest Presents.

MPI Media Group

MPI Media Group is a leading producer and distributor of films, television, and more. MPI works with top filmmakers and partners to produce original, director-driven films that enjoy strong festival play and critical acclaim as well as commercial appeal. Recent original productions and co-financing projects include TIFF world premiere Catfight, Sundance Film Festival selection Tickled, anthology horror Southbound, and Sundance documentary Call Me Lucky. MPI has co-produced films in the Netherlands, Ireland, Mexico and across the United States with partners including Syfy and the New Zealand Film Commission.

Dark Sky Films

Dark Sky Films is an independent film production and distribution label founded in 2008, working with emerging talent as well as established veterans to develop, package, produce and finance feature films and episodic television projects. Representing films from some of most talented directors working today, such as Ti Wests THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL and THE INNKEEPERS, and Jim Mickles STAKE LAND, Dark Sky continues to identify original talent and projects. Dark Sky brings a vibrant slate of films to the world market with original productions and releases such as WE ARE STILL HERE, DEATHGASM, EMELIE, CATFIGHT and the upcoming BITCH and M.F.A.
 "Criminal justice reform starts before the trial and sentence" | Main | "Death Row Dogs, Hard Time Prisoners, and Creative Rehabilitation Strategies: Prisoner-Dog Training Programs" 

July 8, 2017

DOJ urges SCOTUS not to review Sixth Circuit panel decision finding retroactive application of Michigan sex offender law unconstitutional

As reported in this post from last summer, a Sixth Circuit panel concluded in Does v. Snyder, No. 15-1536 (6th Cir. Aug. 25, 2016) (available here), that Michigan's amendments to its Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) "imposes punishment" and thus the state violates the US Constitution when applying these SORA provisions retroactively. Michigan appealed this decision to the US Supreme Court, and SCOTUS in March asked for the US Acting Solicitor General to express its views on the case.

Yesterday, the Acting SG filed this brief with SCOTUS stating that in "the view of the United States, the petition for a writ of certiorari should be denied." The discussion section of the brief begins this way:

Michigans sex-offender-registration scheme contains a variety of features that go beyond the baseline requirements set forth in federal law and differ from those of most other States. After applying the multi-factor framework set out in Smith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84 (2003), the court of appeals concluded that the cumulative effect of SORAs challenged provisions is punitive for ex post facto purposes. While lower courts have reached different conclusions in analyzing particular features of various state sex-offender-registration schemes, the court of appeals analysis of the distinctive features of Michigans law does not conflict with any of those decisions, nor does it conflict with this Courts holding in Smith. Every court of appeals that has considered an ex post facto challenge to a sex-offender-registry statutory scheme has applied the same Smith framework to determine whether the aggregate effects of the challenged aspects of that scheme are punitive. And although most state sex-offender-registry schemes share similar features, they vary widely in their form and combination of those features. Accordingly, to the extent the courts of appeals have reached different outcomes in state sexoffender-registry cases, those outcomes reflect differences in the statutory schemes rather than any divergence in the legal framework. Finally, petitioners concern (Pet. 26-29) that the court of appeals decision will prevent the State from receiving some federal funding does not warrant review. That concern is premature, as it may well be the case that Michigan can continue to receive federal funds notwithstanding this decision. And the decision does not prevent the State from implementing a sex-offender-registration scheme that is consistent with federal law. Further review is therefore not warranted.

July 8, 2017 at 04:32 PM | Permalink

Comments

If cert is denied, does that mean that the decision is binding only in the 6th circuit and not nationwide? Perhaps that is a reason they are suggesting denying cert. Also worth mentioning again, is that decision in Doe was based on a early-generation registration scheme that bears little resemblance to the add-ons now plaguing most state registration schemes today.

Posted by: Salmon | Jul 8, 2017 8:23:59 PM

My my a state was finally stupid enough to appeal one of these rulings. Last I heard there were at least two states trying to amend their state constitution to allow retroactively in sex crimes to overturn their states orders that day dif.

Of course that is why the D O J wants this to die.

Posted by: rodsmith3510 | Jul 8, 2017 8:36:30 PM

Another thing I notice is that the SG/DOJ document erroneously mis-states what CA6 said about recidivism. The document states "The court acknowledged

that recidivism rates of sex offenders are frightening and high, when in fact the CA6 said that empirical studies have cast doubt on this. It referred to the frightening and high when quoting from Smith v Doe, but was using it to point out its inaccuracy.

Posted by: Salmon | Jul 8, 2017 10:28:00 PM

Typical. For the last 15 years anytime one of the lower courts allows one of these illegal laws they simply state the United States Supreme Court approved never mind that what they approved is so far from what we now have you would need the starship enterprise to reach it. In reality that place the courts have not been in years. Everything the 2002 doe v Smith court said would have made the registry Illegal they now require on pain of prison.

Posted by: rodsmith3510 | Jul 9, 2017 9:29:55 AM

How many of these convictions were made by incompatible spouses? How many were really investigated and proved evidence?

Posted by: LC in Texas | Jul 9, 2017 12:23:46 PM

Let me see if I understand, as a non-lawyer, the wonderful legal reasoning behind the Acting SG's request for denial of certiorari to the Michigan Appeal:

- With respect to the Michigan Sex-Offender laws, the 6th Circuit was definitely correct (with-in the BS framework specified in Smith vs. Doe) and the Michigan laws are retroactive and punitive and ergo unconstitutional.

- other lower court rulings in other states/jurisdictions finding that "similar" provisions as found in other states/localities laws sharing similar features, are sufficiently different in their legal framework (whatever that means?) that residency restrictions, lifetime monitoring, requiring the immediate reporting of changes in (internet identifiers, car make/model, workplace, etc.) registration fees and etc. are non-punitive, non-retroactive and therefore constitutional.

- That retroactive application of International Megan's Law requiring notification to the feds of international travel well in advance and subsequent denial into a destination country (where SO laws don't exist and reciprocity is non-existent) does not interfere with the widely recognized right to travel and is therefore non-punitive and constitutional.

Me thinks, again, I thank God I am not a lawyer, that the SG is blowing smoke from where the sun don't shine.

Quit pi_sing on me and tell me its raining.

However, in our great country, because of Robert's lies in 2002 to the Supreme Court, this charade will be permitted to continue.

Posted by: albeed | Jul 9, 2017 12:29:43 PM

Won't be long at the rate they are creating rso 's another 10-15 years should give them the numbers to take over and drag everyone who supported pushed or ran the Megan's law registry scheme in front of one of their new judged and since that registry has cost multiple ex sex offenders to lose their lives it will be a capital charge with the appropriate final punishment to follow.

And sorry but the excuse "I was just following orders" excuse will go no where since the U.S. Killed to for all time after ww2 and Nuremburg Nazi trials.

Posted by: rodsmith3510 | Jul 9, 2017 8:58:27 PM

@Salmon:

That's a pretty egregious mis-statement. They assert the Court concluded the exact opposite of what it actually concluded.

Posted by: Guy | Jul 10, 2017 9:50:24 AM

Guy -

Agree and exactly the point I was trying to make.

I guess it is wishful thinking on my part to wish the SG/DOJ would ever go back and correct their brief.

Posted by: Salmon | Jul 10, 2017 12:02:08 PM

@Salmon,

Oh, I think it's already "corrected." I'm not sure that an error of that magnitude just kind of slides by without anything other than willful denial. I assume that the DOJ will continue to insist that the sky is purple, despite evidence to the contrary, so long as it suits their agenda. That's the same thing that's been happening on this issue for the last couple decades, I don't see any reason for it to change now.

Posted by: Guy | Jul 11, 2017 11:12:51 AM

Guy:

You of all people should know that the "Law" is sacred and since the Supreme Court p__ped it out of their butts in 2003 it has become reality on their planet, wherever that is.

I, however, refuse to respect any person(s) who refuse to recognize any semblance of reality, no matter what their title or position. Some things are debatable, this isn't.

Posted by: albeed | Jul 11, 2017 2:55:40 PM

So, now how do we get what we lost, this is punishment,fees , time out of our life,stress, and tons more? Is civil suit next? Sign me up!

Posted by: Bill | Jul 12, 2017 8:44:03 AM

@albeed:

Agree with you. I suppose it is just disheartening for the last remnants of patriotism that I still hopelessly harbored.

Posted by: Guy | Jul 12, 2017 8:44:50 AM

Now that the Solicitor General has urged the Supreme Court not to accept Michigan's request for review; when does the court make a decision? The original date for a decision was back in March; is there a timeline for this decision to accept or not to accept?

Posted by: Bill | Jul 19, 2017 6:17:21 PM

I read on other post should be in October? If the supreme court hears it it should have a ruling by March 2018

Posted by: Bill | Jul 20, 2017 7:42:18 PM

I am on the SOR in Michigan. I am engaged to a wonderful woman in the Philippines for some years now. I have traveled there many times without any problems, just to be with her. Adam walsh law says she can't come here to me on a fiance visa because of my CSC 2 plea in 2003. This is also been made retroactive, supposedly to fight against human trafficking. My claim is legitimate. It has nothing to do with trafficking, but politicians make blanket laws including words like "ALL" and "If you've ever been". So She can't come here to be my wife. She knows all about the incident that happened to me and feels that after 15 years to still be punished beyond the courts requirements at that time is BS. And now we have the International Megans law. Another piece of trash that has ended my ability to see her ever again. I was traveling there as I had many times before, in July 2017. This time our wedding was all paid for and meticulously planned, but as I reached immigration officials in manila, This Notification that was sent to them, caused me to be deported and black listed from returning. 2 hearts completely destroyed, even though our love is very real and our intentions honorable, and even after 15 years of abiding by every rule of law, We can't catch a break. How unjust is this. We are Christian people who have a strong faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that God will open the hearts of these people who turn a blind eye to injustice like this. I am a widowed, middle aged furniture maker, looking to fight against both of these terrible laws in any way I can

Posted by: Jerry | Jul 22, 2017 8:18:45 PM

Post a comment
The City and County of San Francisco is full of snitches  1,114 of them to be exact.

The San Francisco Examiner reports that the number of calls to the city's non-emergency hotline complaining about illegal 4th of July fireworks doubled this year, from 522 in 2016 to 1,114 on Tuesday. Just a sign of the times in New San Francisco?

Most longtime residents are aware that their neighbors might explode a few pyrotechnics every Independence Day weekend, but some claim that this year was out of control.

"It is the first time we have contacted the police about this in the past 20 years because it was that bad and I can't believe law enforcement personnel wasn't aware what was going on," Excelsior District resident Di Stangl told the Ex.

Residents were asked to call the non-emergency line to report illegal fireworks so as not to tie-up 911 dispatchers dealing with actual emergencies. But the non-emergency line got so backed-up that very few people got through and when they did, reportedly, no one really did anything about it. "Police officers will respond to those calls, but it will be determined by headquarters if it happens to be lower on the priority compared to the queue of other calls," said SFPD spokesperson Officer Robert Rueca.

Meanwhile, between 7 p.m. and midnight on the 4th of July, 911 got 694 calls for service, including many reports of "shots fired"  which could have been fireworks. Or it could have been calls similar to this story of a Newark, CA resident who blew his hand off with illegal explosives.

An 18-year-old man was putting a mortar into a tube when an explosion occurred, blowing away part of the his hand and leaving the teen with life-threatening injuries according to a report from SFGate. The teen was rushed to a nearby hospital and is expected to survive.

Newark apparently allows folks to play with fireworks as long as they are "safe and sane," which sounds awfully subjective. "It was a mortar round, definitely illegal, not safe and sane," said Newark Police Capt. Chomnan Loth.

KTVU says that the victim lost "most of his fingers."

Charges will not be filed against the teenager. "He has to adapt now to you know being handicapped in a way. So it's real important for kids to know the consequences of playing with illegal fireworks," neighbor Ricardo Myers told KTVU.

Related: Once Again, SF Fireworks Were Half Obscured By Fog, But Not In The Mission And Lower Haight!

Fireworks Sever Man's Fingers
Despite a reported "litany" of complaints and letters of objection from the always cantankerous dwellers of Telegraph Hill, the Planning Commission unanimously approved a developer's plans to revive 93-year-old Julius' Castle for a new generation of diners. We heard last month that Paul Scott, himself a Telegraph Hill resident, bought the property in 2012, and recently presented plans to return it to its former glory as a view restaurant and cocktail lounge after it's lain dormant for a decade. Now the Chronicle brings word that the Planning Commissioners were all on his side, with one, Kathrin Moore, addressing complaining NIMBYs thusly: "That is city life. We are not living in the suburbs, where everything has to be quiet 24/7. This is the reactivation of something that has been here longer than any of us have been alive."

Julius' Castle, as some may remember, had become a worn down tourist trap before closing in 2007, but it is still beloved in many San Franciscans' memories, including Scott's. He calls it "a special place that represents "old-time San Francisco," and he looks forward to bringing his own son there when it reopens in the next year.

The restaurant, opened in 1924 by Italian-American restaurateur Julius Roz, survived 83 years and played host over the decades to the likes of Robert Redford, Cary Grant, Sean Connery, Marlon Brando, Ginger Rogers, and famed Mount Everest climber Sir Edmund Hillary. And, reportedly, parts of the interior paneling were taken out of the citys 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition  the same one for which the Palace of Fine Arts was constructed.

Also dismissing the complaints of (mostly wealthy) Telegraph Hill residents who said the neighborhood had been gloriously quiet since the restaurant's closure a decade ago, Commissioner Rich Hillis reportedly said that such a place, "gives those of us who dont have the luxury of living on Telegraph Hill an opportunity to go up there and have a meal."

It remains to be seen what Scott's plans are for the menu, chef, bar, etc., but stay tuned for those details now that he'll be able to get going on a renovation.

Previously: Julius' Castle May Finally Reopen On Telegraph Hill, Despite NIMBY Objections
Driven nearly to extinction a century ago, gray wolves, also known as timber wolves, are slowly coming back into California  and brand new wildlife camera images show a family of three pups, which represent only the second known litter born in the state in 100 years. As the Associated Press reports, Lassen National Forest has been under the close watch of biologists since May when the first evidence of the wolves appeared. Then, on June 30, after multiple attempts, researchers captured an adult female gray wolf and collared her with a GPS tracking device  the first time that one of the species has been fitted with such a device in California  also discovering before releasing her that she had recently given birth.

The Chronicle picks up the story from there, saying that what was believed to be a pair of wolves in the area turned out to be a new family of five, which has now been named the Lassen Pack. Scat samples found in the forest turned up a genetic connection between the adult male the female mated with, and OR-7, the first wolf that was known to have entered California in 90 years, back in 2011: he is OR-7's son.

Last weekend, researchers in the forest discovered puppy tracks, and then found the incredible images above and below on wildlife cameras stationed in the forest, showing the three pups at play with their mother.

"This is a pretty incredible conservation moment, says Amaroq Weiss, the West Coast wolf organizer for the Center for Biological Diversity, speaking to the Chronicle. "Its the second time in 100 years that we know wolves have tried to raise a family in California, and its another sign that the state is good wolf territory."







Photo: U.S. Forest Service



Photo: U.S. Forest Service

Back in January 2016, a male gray wolf dubbed OR-25 was spotted in California, and it was surmised at the time that he might have been venturing south out of Oregon in search of a mate. And back in the summer of 2015, a family of five gray wolf pups was spotted in Northern California and dubbed the Shasta Pack, and as the Chronicle reports, "The seven members of the Shasta Pack  which all sport distinctive black coats  have not been seen in Siskiyou County since May 2016, but one of the grown pups was confirmed in northwestern Nevada in November." Also, this pack was believed to be responsible for first reported case of livestock predation in the state in more than a hundred years.

Gray wolves were granted endangered species protection in California after OR-7's appearance in 2011, and this was opposed both by big game hunters and by ranchers who fear for their livestock. Back in the early part of the century there were as many as 2 million gray wolves in North America, but European settlers fearful of wolves from fairy tales (and of losing livestock), hunted them to near extinction and completely eradicated them in California by 1924.

Wildlife officials are hoping, as the AP says, that "the tracking collar on the Lassen Pack's adult female could help minimize the friction with ranchers by learning the animal's survival, reproduction and prey preferences."

Related: Entire Gray Wolf Pack Sighted In NorCal Woods, Including Five Pups


What's more American than a huge, juicy, cast-iron seared, wood roasted, or charcoal grilled steak? In this week of celebrating American independence and all things "red-blooded," SFist brings you a roundup of the best steaks in town, at the upper end of the price spectrum  all of which are meant to be shared by at least two people, so these prices need to be taken in that context. Still, if you have a hankering for steak, and especially if it's an irregular indulgence, you should be seeking out the best of the best, am I right? Here you go, in order:

7. Ruth's Chris Steak House, 40-oz. Tomahawk Ribeye for 2-3 - $119

Sure, it's a national chain, and with that comes a certain sterility and some inconsistencies in service and execution. But nevertheless, this institution on Van Ness satisfies steak lovers offers some decent value on their martinis and USDA prime cut steaks, which always arrive to the table still sizzling, and full of flavor.

1601 Van Ness Avenue near Pacific





6. Boboquivari's, 49-er Porterhouse for 2 - $149.95

This old-school SF institution  which has a spinoff called Osso Steakhouse on Nob Hill  specializing in two things only: steak and crab. Their biggest steak on offer is the 49-er Porterhouse which occasionally can top at more than 49 oz., depending on the day, and always comes juicy at medium rare. Executive chef Andrea Froncillo prides himself on good hospitality and he's part of a cadre of Italian chefs who've made their mark on SF in the past few decades, having also headed up kitchens at The Stinking Rose, and both the Franciscan and the Crab House at Pier 39.

1450 Lombard Street near Van Ness



Photo: Miika M./Yelp

5. Alexander's Steakhouse, 48-oz. Flannery Porterhouse for 2 - $190

Alexander's boasts a baller's playground when it comes to wagyu and a super pricy wine list, and just for one person you could drop $145 to $165 just for three measly ounces of A5 wagyu at this joint. But just sticking to the California-raised section of the menu, their Porterhouse steak for two is the priciest on this list by weight, coming from Marin-based Flannery Beef, dry-aged for 45 days, and roasted in a wood oven. You'll want some caramelized onions and "shichimi" fries to go with it, which will cost extra. So, yeah, this place is tops among expense-account holders.

448 Brannan Street between Third and Fourth





This is actually the Porterhouse dinner x3, for 12 people. Photo: Facebook

4. Alfred's Steakhouse, 64-oz. Porterhouse Dinner for 4, $340

The dining experience at Alfred's is old-school to say the least  it's tucked on an alley in the Financial District, essentially windowless, and lined with red leather booths. One of the simplest plans here, for a group of four, is just to go with this prix-fixe dinner, which includes an Alfred's (Caesar) Salad, roasted bone marrow, choice of four sides, all five sauces, and bananas Foster for dessert. At $85 per person before drinks and tip, that's not half bad with steakhouse prices being what they are, and this Daniel Patterson-run operations gets high marks for service and execution all around. Also, the steaks are grass-fed and from Marin-based Flannery Beef, and this dinner deal can be scaled up  the photo above shows it being served for 12.

659 Merchant Street



Photo: Facebook

3. Epic Steak, "Dude Ranch" 5-lb. Ribeye, $225

Is five pounds (80 oz.) too much steak? Not if you're a group of four or five people and you come hungry. A lot of that poundage does come from the huge bone on this one, but Epic Steak's "Epic 'Dude Ranch' Steak" is a sight for sore eyes for beef fanatics, and feast no matter how you slice it (and yes, it comes sliced). They use only prime beef from California's Schmitz Ranch, and this thing is dry-aged for 21 days and served piping hot on a platter surrounded by roasted vegetables, salad, and potatoes. It's up to you and your friends or family how many this thing can serve, and you'd better come hungry.





Photo: Jay Barmann/SFist

2. Octavia, Ribeye for 3-4, $100

One of the standout dishes on the new Octavia menu by chef de cuisine Sara Hauman is a petit filet that is served beneath some charred scallions, and with a bone marrow salsa verde. By special request, however, or if you're setting up a private dining affair at the chef's table, you have the option of ordering a family-style ribeye steak served this way, and I kid you not that bone marrow salsa verde is possibly the best steak condiment I've had in a long time  at once deeply rich, herbal, and brightly acidic. There's one catch: Only a limited number of ribeyes are available each night, they're not on the regular menu, and you have to call ahead to reserve one for your table. But it's so worth it.

1701 Octavia Street at Bush





Photo: TartineManufactory/Instagram

1. Tartine Manufactory, Ribeye for 2-3 - $110

It's not always on the menu, so you'd better call ahead or check the website to confirm, but the bone-in ribeye at Tartine Manufactory is pretty much to die for. Hugely thick, charred perfectly, and served with a house-made steak sauce made with black garlic and green walnut, this is a steak that will leave you day dreaming about it the next day, if not the next month. And it doesn't hurt that the restaurant is firing on all cylinders in the vegetable and wine departments too, and could easily lay claim to the title Best New SF Restaurant of 2016.

595 Alabama Street at 18th
Tay Tien (Marching West) Regiment 52, known as Tay Tien Regiment, was set up on February 27, 1947. The regiment was based in Son La province during the anti-French resistance war (1945-1954). The soldiers were dispatched to the battlefields in the northwest region and Upper Lao, contributing to the glorious victory of the Vietnamese revolution and international missions in Laos.Writing in the memorial book, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan noted that the Tay Tien historic relic site plays a significant role in educating Vietnamese younger generations about patriotism.Meanwhile, Lao NA Chairwoman Pany Yothotou underlined that the relic site is a symbol of the combat alliance between the peoples armies of Vietnam and Laos. Vietnam and Laos will further the special traditional solidarity for benefits of the two peoples.

Vietnamplus
SIOUX CITY | Arm floaties and inner tubes won't be enough to protect children from drowning in a pool or natural body of water this summer.

UnityPoint Health -- St. Luke's trauma program manager Alan Faith said Coast Guard-approved life jackets should be worn around water, no matter what the water's depth, as, "Kids don't float." That message is printed on two wooden life jacket kiosks to be installed this week at Brown's Lake near Salix and Hillview Recreation Area near Hinton. Neither public swimming area has lifeguards on duty.

Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children ages 1 to 14 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In response to near-drownings over the years, St. Luke's has handed out some 200 life jackets to children and is installing the kiosks, which store several bright blue-and-yellow life jackets for use. The purchase of the safety equipment was made possible through funding provided by St. Luke's Children's Miracle Network, while Lowe's donated the lumber to build the kiosks.

"We always get concerned when the water's deeper because we think they'll be submerged, but studies have shown that children can drown in two inches of water," said Faith, who also worked with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on the project. "It just has to be enough to actually cover their face and their airway."

Josh Van Voorst, district resource manager for Brown's Lake and Synder Bend Park, said there's usually one or two near drowning incidents at the swimming area each year involving either children or adults. He said the addition of a life jacket kiosk is a "great, great thing for any beach."

"It's like wearing a seat belt in a car," he said of a life jacket. "There's no guarantee it's going to save them, but it really can."

Last year, St. Luke's gave away bike helmets, which Faith said there has been an even greater demand for this year. He attributes the popularity of bike helmets to media attention placed on sports-related concussions.

"This year we gave away approximately 100 more (bike helmets) than we did last year, so we saw an increase in the number of people that came and took advantage of it," he said.

In addition to having proper safety equipment, such as life jackets and bike helmets, Faith said adult supervision is extremely important in preventing summer injuries.

The campground can be a dangerous place for children, who may become fascinated with the glowing flames of a hot campfire and unintentionally burn themselves.

Fire pit embers can remain hot for several hours after a fire pit has been put out. Faith warns caregivers to keep a close eye on children around fires and avoid using an accelerant, which increases the likelihood of getting burned.

"Be aware of what you're putting in the fire and what you're burning," he said. "Cover the coals with water and such. It may look dark, but it's not necessarily out."

Toy trouble

The fidget spinner, a metal or plastic gadget that can be spun on the fingers, is a top toy with children and adults alike, but it has also been labeled a "summer safety trap" by the World Against Toys Causing Harm, Inc. (W.A.T.C.H.).

The non-profit organization that works to educate the public about child safety says this trendy toy may not be safe for children because some fidget spinners have fallen apart.

Although St. Luke's emergency department hasn't recorded any injuries related to fidget spinners, Faith said the toy's small parts could pose a choking hazard for young children with airways the size of an adult's little finger.

"We look at the fidget spinner and we think it's one big piece, but it's not. It's several pieces that make up one large piece," he said. "Supervision with any type of toys."

The trampoline, which made W.A.T.C.H.'s list of hazards, has been the source of many broken bones treated by staff at St. Luke's. Faith said not following manufacturer recommendations, which advise having only one person on a trampoline at a time, is a no-no.

"We have seen a decrease in (trampoline injuries) over the past couple of years," he said. "Parents and caregivers are becoming more aware of the safety concerns that they're actually digging holes and dropping (the trampoline) into the ground or they put enough safety nets around it."
CLEGHORN, Iowa | A short standoff occurred after a Cleghorn man confronted law enforcement with a rifle Friday night.

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said they received a call of a fight in the street at 10:40 p.m. Friday in the 200 block of West Grace Street in Cleghorn.

Upon arrival, Todd Michael Brown, 42, allegedly confronted officers with an AR-15 rifle.

The department said Brown refused their commands to drop the weapon and made several threatening statements towards the officers. He then retreated to the backyard of his home and continued refusing orders from authorities.

A perimeter was established around the residence and a short standoff ensued with multiple agencies involved at the scene. Brown eventually surrendered his weapon about 12:30 a.m. Saturday, according to a press release.

Brown was charged with two felony counts of assaulting a peace officer, assault causing bodily injury, assault while displaying a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The sheriff's office was assisted by the Iowa State Patrol, Aurelia Police Department, Plymouth County Sheriff's Office, Ida County Sheriff's Office, Cherokee Police Department, Cherokee Regional Medical Center Ambulance, Cleghorn and Meriden Fire Department and Cherokee County Emergency Management.

Cleghorn is located 16 miles northwest of Cherokee in Cherokee County.
SIOUX CITY | The phone calls, text messages and emails have been pouring in.

From fireworks enthusiasts to frazzled pet owners to veterans to parents of small children, Sioux City Council members say the public has been writing, calling and in some cases stopping them at the grocery store to weigh in on the city's fireworks ordinance in the aftermath of the state's first Fourth of July in 84 years with legalized pyrotechnics.

Monday, council members plan to discuss whether changes to the ordinance are in order before next year's holiday.

Currently, every one of them believes some are.

All five council members told the Journal Friday they favor cutting the current 10-day window of legal fireworks discharge down to two or three days surrounding Independence Day.

Mayor Bob Scott, who wrote a viral Facebook post on Monday saying he would propose a complete ban at Monday's meeting, told the Journal Friday that after having discussions with other council members, he believes a reduction is more likely to pass.

"Ive talked to a couple council members, and theyre more inclined to do two or three days, and thats plenty," he said.

Scott said in the aftermath of Monday's Facebook post, the personal messages he's received side more with banning the discharge completely rather than keeping it as-is.

Councilman Alex Watters also said Friday that most communication he's received has shown a desire from the public to limit the use, not to expand it or even keep the dates the same.

But he said since the state of Iowa has legalized fireworks, he doesn't support a complete ban.

"From what I'm hearing and currently feeling, I think that a drastic reduction in the number of days and hours and perhaps an increase in fines would be most appropriate," Watters said. "People aren't out there to celebrate the 29th of June, they're out there to celebrate the Fourth of July, and I think our ordinance should reflect that."

Councilwoman Rhonda Capron, who owns a home care business for senior citizens, said she has heard from elderly people and veterans that the loud noises from fireworks have been disruptive and potentially traumatic. She said she currently favors a reduction in discharge dates to July 3 and 4.

"The Fourth of July is about freedoms, and it goes both ways," she said.

Councilman Pete Groetken said he also is open to discussion and could support a restriction to a two- or three-day window beginning either July 2 or 3, as well as a stricter limit on hours so fireworks don't begin until around dusk.

"If we can reduce the number of days or hours that they can discharge to something reasonable, I think even those who express concerns about the noise would be appreciative," Groetken said.

Councilman Dan Moore, who had originally proposed a three-day window when the council considered its initial ordinance in May, said he favors two days or even one day of discharge on the Fourth of July.

"I dont think anybodys saying, 'Gee, lets wait until next year and do another (ten) days and see,'" he said.

Moore said he plans to bring up discussion about the dates Monday and will value public input in making a final decision. He said he would also be open to considering whether to ban fireworks surrounding New Year's Day. The city has currently legalized fireworks on Dec. 30-31 and Jan. 1.

No change to the Fourth of July dates is on Monday's agenda as a voting item, but the council could bring it up for discussion and direct staff to draft an amended ordinance.

One fireworks item that is on agenda is a proposed revision to the ordinance that would eliminate the city's current local permitting and inspection process for fireworks vendors.

Scott said the reasoning behind the revision is to protect the city from lawsuits by vendors regarding zoning regulations, such as those that have appeared in some other Iowa cities.

City documents say once the lawsuits surrounding the state rules produce clearer guidelines, the council can come back and reinstate whatever local rules it deems necessary.

The state of Iowa legalized fireworks for the first time in more than eight decades this spring. Over the Fourth of July holiday, vendors may sell fireworks across the state from June 1 to July 8 and again from Dec. 10 to Jan. 3. Cities can set their own limitations, or complete bans, on fireworks discharge.

Sioux City's ordinance currently allows fireworks discharge from 1 to 10 p.m. June 25 to July 4, with discharge an hour later the Saturday and Sunday preceding the holiday and on July 4. Fireworks discharge is also legal Dec. 30, 31 and Jan. 1.
Despite having no refugees in Samoa, the Samoa Government has been praised for their eagerness to understand what asylum and refugees is all about, says United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Thomas Albrecht.

He further commended Samoa for their due diligence and cooperation when it comes to the refugees issues in the Pacific.

Albrecht was one of the delegates who was here last week for the Pacific Immigration Directors Conference.

Responding to Samoa Observer questions on the issue of refugees in the Pacific, he further applauded Samoa.

Big compliments for being extremely cooperative and really setting a good example. Both with the interim of reviewing the legislations and reviewing procedures.

There are a few asylum seekers in the Pacific. Nonetheless its still very important to have a structure to know if a family comes, what to do and how to quickly cooperate with each other and how to best protect the refugees and to find a solution for their future.

Albrecht said, Many other parts of the world see much more of tragedy for example in South Sudan, where 2,000 refugees are crossing into Uganda over the last year.

Here in the Pacific we only have very limited number of refugees and it is a fortunate situation.

Still it is very important to be aware of the importance of protecting these refugees well.

Also to try and see how you can give them an opportunity to start their life again.

Last month the Papua New Guinea immigration officials announced that refugees that were housed in an area of the Manus camp would close with the rest of the compound to be shut on June 30, 2017. However an unspecified number of asylum-seekers would be relocated to a transit centre. An agreement between the Papua New Guinea and Australia was condemned by human rights groups and the United Nations.

People who tried to reach Australia by boat were placed in the detention center as their refugee claims were being considered.

We have already been here for a long period of time and supported this cause to close Manus island but also close the facilities in Nauru because the refugees who have been there for a very long period time, need to have a future.

They need to have normal circumstances where small children to grandmothers can start a new life again, said Albrecht.

However there is challenge in terms of closing these facilities.

That is the challenge to find the appropriate response there, I think Australia needs to accept its responsibilities.

There is also the role of the community to see how best to help in a tragic situation.

Like the United States of America, they have been stepping forward to help many of the refugees now to hopefully start a new life in the US, said Albrecht.
M.P.M.C. Press Secretary  Samoas national carrier, Polynesian Airlines is on the brink of entering into a mutual arrangement with Fiji Airways, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi has confirmed.

The arrangement will be formalized in a Memorandum of Understanding yet to be signed between the two parties as it remains subject to Cabinet approval, the Prime Minister revealed in his weekly television program, Taimi ma le Palemia, a production by Samoa Quality Broadcasting Limited or TV1.

But Tuilaepa was quick to note that its been approved that Polynesian Airlines will be renamed as Samoa Airways.

The Prime Minister added that the arrangement with Fijian Airways however is competed different from the joint venture with Virgin Australia as they will be no shareholding and code sharing in terms of airline tickets and routes.

For instance, Samoa Airways is expected to make its money by selling seats on flights from and to Samoa.

Samoa Airways will also sell tickets on Fijian Airways routes. In reality, the more tickets sold the bigger the profits.

Details of the proposed arrangements have yet to unfold until the M.O.U. is signed.

But the Prime Minister indicated that Samoa Airways will have its own aircraft to start commercial flights between Samoa, Australia and New Zealand.

Because of the confidentially clause in M.O.U between the two parties, the Prime Minister is not at liberty to divulge further details.

But he indicated that the MOU which has been under the microscope for some time now will represent the best interest of the national carrier Samoa Airways Airlines will commence begins comeback to the international circuit.

The international press however has reported that Fijis partnership with the Samoan government would also include a joint venture covering any additional flights that Fiji Airways operates from Samoa, reported Blue Swan Daily

Under this arrangement, Fiji Airways could soon be operating up to three weekly return flights from Apia to Honolulu.

Two additional flights will also come under the new deal.

Along with this, Fiji Airways is also planning to upgrade three of the Nadi-Apia frequencies from the ATR 72-600 turboprops to Boeing 737-800 jets, continued the Blue Swan Daily.

And Fiji Airways is receptive to the joint venture, according to Fiji Sun.

This is about a deal which would both help Samoa reestablish its own national flag carrier, and provide work for Fiji Airways, including increased aircraft utilization, Shaenaz Voss, Fiji Airways Executive General Manager Corporate Affairs is quoted by the Fiji Sun as she confirmed an agreement in principal. But she said they were unable to release further details yet.

We have an agreement in principal with the Samoan Government to assist them with support for their new national airline, she said.

The exact nature of this support is still subject to negotiation.

Fiji Airways currently operates nine weekly flights to the Samoa. These include seven from Nadi, one from Suva and one weekly flight from Honolulu, Blue Swan reported.

Back to Prime Minister Tuilaepa, he says that in the long run, Polynesian Airlines will acquire her own aircraft indicating that one option is for a lease purchase agreement with Fiji Airways.

The arrangement comes after the announcement of the coming dissolution of Virgin Samoa.

Virgin Samoa, formerly Polynesian Blue, is the current flag carrier of Samoa. It is owned by Virgin Australia, the Samoan Government and Samoas Grey Investment hotel group and operated and managed by Virgin Australia.

Virgin Samoa has served as the national carrier for Samoa since 2005, when a joint venture was forged between Virgin Australia and the Samoan Government. The government announced in May 2017 the termination of the joint venture by November 2017.

The Samoan Government had expressed disappointment with the level of service Samoa has been getting.

The joint venture with Virgin was set up after Samoas then government-owned flag carrier, Polynesian Airlines, expanded its international services and ran into major financial problems.

Polynesian now focuses on operating small turboprop flights between and within the two Samoas.
This Week at NASA - Vice President Mike Pence Visits Kennedy Space Center. NASA

Vice President Mike Pence spoke to employees on July 6 at our Kennedy Space Center in Florida, highlighting the public/private partnerships transforming the center into a multi-user spaceport, and changing the way we do business in low-Earth orbit.

Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot and Kennedy Director Bob Cabana accompanied the Vice President on tours of several facilities currently being leased by private space companies. The tour showcased hardware, systems and infrastructure, that will soon facilitate U.S. based astronaut launches and eventual missions to deep space. Also, SpaceX Dragon Released from Space Station, Happy July 4th from Space, and 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge.
Addis-Ababa (Ethiopia), July 3, 2017 (SPS) - The chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed Monday, in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), his concern with the current deadlock regarding the conflict in Western Sahara, which has been occupied by Morocco since 1975.

Even though we welcome the decrease in tensions around Al-Guerguerat in Western Sahara, the nomination of a new personal representative of the United Nations Secretary General and his intention to launch a new initiative to settle the political conflict, we remain concerned with the current deadlock, said Moussa Faki at the opening of the 29th African Union Summit.

We hope that the presence of both parties (Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) as members of our Union will facilitate a consensual solution, in conformity with international law, which will guarantee the Sahrawi peoples right to self-determination, he said, adding that the issues of peace and security continue to highly worry us.

On Sunday, the AU Executive Council reaffirmed, at the end of its 31st session held since Friday in the Ethiopian capital, its support to the Sahrawi cause by confirming the dispatch of an African mission for the evaluation of Human Rights, to the occupied Sahrawi territories despite Moroccos attempts to block a resolution in this regard. (SPS)

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The 49th running of the Governors Plate will soon be upon us as Red Shores at the Summerside Raceway hosts two $5,000 elimination races on Sunday afternoon for the Prince County Classic.

First race post time is 1 p.m. for the 12-dash card with the Governors Plate eliminations lining up in races 11 and 12. The top four finishers from each elimination will advance to next Saturdays (July 15) $22,000 Governors Plate final, presented by Summerside Chrysler Dodge.

The first Sunday afternoon elimination lines up in race 11 with Hot Deuce shipping in from Ontario to draw post four for trainer Patrick Shepherd and owner Mike McAllister of Beaumont, Alta. The five-year-old son of Armbro Deuce has proven to be a half-mile track specialist even without wearing hopples, as the pacer was a recent winner in 1:52.1 over Buffalo Raceway in New York. Walter Cheverie picks up the catch drive.

Former Red Shores Charlottetown track record holder Crombie A ships in from New York and draws post two with Summersides leading driver, Marc Campbell, getting the call for owners Allard Racing of St. Esprit, Que., and Kapildeo Singh of Yorktown Heights, New York, and new trainer Earl Watts. The veteran pacer took his 1:50.1 lifetime best while breaking the Yonkers Raceway track record in New York shortly before coming to contest the 2015 Gold Cup and Saucer.

The first elimination also features top East Coast pacers Forever Paradise (Adam Merner) and Mr Irresistible (Jason Hughes).

The second $5,000 elimination has Do Over Hanover getting top call from post five with Campbell in the bike for trainer Chris MacKay and new owners Allard Racing, Red Isle Racing of North Granville and Steven MacRae of Vernon Bridge, P.E.I. The four-year-old son of Western Ideal was purchased by his new connections after winning a $20,000 claimer in 1:53 over a sloppy track rated two seconds off at Saratoga Raceway in New York on July 1. With Saratogas half-mile oval rated two seconds off that day, that 1:51 equivalent effort could demolish Ys Lotus 1:51.4 Summerside track record from last years Governors Plate final.

Other elimination two contenders include Adkins Hanover (Merner), Invictus Hanover (Hughes) and Junebugs Baby (Myles Heffernan).

The 12-dash program also features two fields of Open pacing mares in races five and seven, with the top four from each race getting an invite to the Governors Plate Open Mares Invitational next Saturday in Summerside.

Check out Redshores.ca for live video, race programs and promotional information including the ongoing $100,000 Dash For Cash featured again this weekend.

Complete fields for Sundays Governors Plate eliminations:

Race 11

$5,000 Purse

Post - Horse  Driver  Trainer

1. Forever Paradise  Adam Merner  Kevin MacLean

2. Crombie A  Marc Campbell  Earl Watts

3. Goliath Reigns  Todd Trites  Dawn Ellis Abbott

4. Hot Deuce  Walter Cheverie  Patrick Shepherd

5. Allstar Seelster  Norris Rogers  Ed Harvey

6. Give Em Heck  Gilles Barrieau  Jackie Matheson

7. Mr Irresistible  Jason Hughes  Jennifer Trainor

8. Mando Fun  Dale Spence  Paul Biggar

Race 12

$5,000 Purse

Post  Horse  Driver  Trainer

1. Adkins Hanover  Adam Merner  Trevor Hicken

2. Invictus Hanover  Jason Hughes  Jason Hughes

3. Junebugs Baby  Myles Heffernan  Myles Heffernan

4. Good Friday Three  Kenny Arsenault  Austin Sorrie

5. Do Over Hanover  Marc Campbell  Chris MacKay

6. Nogreatmischief  Walter Cheverie  Walter Cheverie

7. His Boy Elroy  Bernard McCallum  Bernard McCallum

8. Perfect Escape  Gilles Barrieau  Jackie Matheson

Experience A Factor In Saturday Red Shores Feature

A sophomore and a veteran will lock horns in the Saturday evening feature at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

First race post time is 6 p.m. for the 10-dash card as the capital oval holds its final card of live racing until July 20 when Governors Plate week racing action is wrapped up at Red Shores Summerside.

The Saturday evening top class goes postward in race 10 carrying a $1,900 purse with Mick Dundee the morning line choice for owner/trainer/driver Don MacNeill of Charlottetown. The three-year-old son of Aahm Canadian Now is fresh off a 1:56.3 lifetime best last Sunday in Charlottetown but gets his biggest test to date from post four with a hard-hitting field of eight pacers including $400,000 winner Mach Of Ballykeel riding a two-race win streak. Mach Of Ballykeel is undefeated since relocating to the East Coast and gets the services of Marc Campbell at the lines as he leaves from post five. Kyle Wilkie of Charlottetown trains and co-owns the nine-year-old pacer with co-owner Mallory Lewis.

Race analyst Les MacIsaac will place his faith in the rookie in the field as he sees Mick Dundee landing in the Red Shores winners circle.

Usually a three-year-old facing older horses is at a bit of a disadvantage but not this guy, MacIsaac said of Mick Dundee. He just wore down an excellent group last week despite being first up before the half and looked like he still had something in the tank finishing. He is quite possibly the one to beat.

Other entries include Twin B Shadow (Brian MacPhee), Mach It Big (Brian Andrew), Fly With Max (Jason Hughes), Clic K (Gilles Barrieau), My Lucky Killean (Ken Murphy) and Rash B Havior (Walter Cheverie).

Race eight had Dontcallme Dude riding a two-race win streak from post three for driver Campbell, trainer Michael MacDonald and owner Gwr Visser Farm of Orwell, P.E.I.

Hes The Man also carries a two-race win streak into race six while shouldered with post seven for driver Cheverie and owner/trainer Jeff Holmes of Orwell.

(With files from Red Shores)
Like the weather, David Glasser is also heating up. The insurance and financial services professional notched his second victory in his last three trips behind the mobile starting gate when he reined Winwood Scout to a 1:59.1 wire-to-wire triumph in the fifth division of the North American Amateur Drives Associations summer trotting series on Friday night (July 7) at Yonkers Raceway.

Two weeks ago, on June 24 at Tioga Downs, Glasser was victorious with Celebrity Stimulus, another trotter that he owns.

Up behind his own Winwood Scout tonight, Glasser hustled the veteran trotter to the front and they had a two-length lead on Rev It Now and driver Hannah Miller as they passed the first stanza in :28.4.

From there, Glasser let his horse breeze as the next two fractions of :59.4 and 1:29 flashed on the timer.

After putting away Rev It Now, Winwood Court had a three-length lead on the final turn but braced from late challenges from Wygant Prince (Paul Minore) and Tony Verrusos Flirting Duezy. But through the lane, Glassers charge hung tough and went on to a one-length victory over Wygant Prince with Flirting Duezy garnering the show dough.

After the race Glasser, shared his thoughts: I drew the rail with a nice horse who fit the non-winners of $6,001 class by $80, he offered, and then continued, Scout gets fussy at the gate and I've lost him twice there in races at The Meadowlands (meaning he went off-stride) and I was determined not to let that happen tonight. After we got past the gate and to the front, he knew what to do better than me."

Winwood Scout notched his sixth victory in 16 starts this year and raised his lifetime earnings to over $280,000. Glasser scored his fourth seasonal driving victory and the 36th of his amateur career.

(NAADA)
Four divisions are set to kick off for the Mark Austin Pacing Series this Sunday (July 9) at Dresden Raceway.

The series for non-winners of a race or $5,000 lifetime (fillies and mares $6,000) will honour former Dresden horseman Mark Austin, who passed away in 2014. Austin broke trotting legend A Worthy Lad and trained such stars as Sparky Mark and Fool Me Once.

There will be two legs to the series as each division will go for $5,000 and the final will be held July 23 for a purse of $10,000.

Four-year-old Rambaran gelding Step In My Groove is the 9-5 morning line favourite in the first division of the series. Step In My Groove will score from post two for driver Nick Steward while 5-2 shot and second favourite You Said It has drawn the rail with Lorne House at the controls.

Donnie Rankin will be in the race bike for the 2-1 favourite of the second division, CRJ Hottie. The three-year-old Major Hottie colt will score from post four. Senior Player is the 5-2 second favourite for driver Garrett Rooney and will score from post one.

Mark Williams will be between the shafts behind Got It Made, the favourite of the third division. The four-year-old Rambarran horse will score form post six. Rankin will be driving 7-2 second favourite Action Town from post three.

Rooney will be the teamster for the favourite of the fourth division, Pull the Shade. The three-year-old Dragon Again filly is listed at 9-5 and will score from the rail. The second favourite is the elder statesmen of the 25 horses entered. Abitofalright will score from post five and is a seven-year-old Blissful Hall gelding and will be driven by Williams.

Sunday is also Derby Day at Dresden Raceway as all patrons are asked to wear their best hats for the day for great prizes provided by the Dresden B.I.A. and hot dogs are half price.

Post time for Sunday's card of racing is 1:30 p.m.

To view Sunday's harness racing entries, click on the following link: Sunday Entries - Dresden Raceway.

(Dresden Raceway)
A pair of Canadian-campaigned freshman pacing fillies from the Blake MacIntosh stable were victorious in their respective divisions of the New York Sire Stakes (NYSS) contested at Vernon Downs on Friday night (July 7).

The MacIntosh-trained Twin B Peaches ($23.60) and driver Mark MacDonald came on late to get an upset win during the first $27,750 division of the NYSS for freshman pacing fillies. All On Top Hanover (Marcus Miller) went to the front first, however, Hurrikane Shorty (Jimmy Marohn Jr.) took over before the half. As the field went to the top of the stretch, the two favourites duked it out for the lead. Meanwhile, Twin B Peaches watched from third then fired out at mid-stretch and went by to take the victory at the wire in 1:52 by a quarter-length. Hurrikane Shorty was second-best while All On Top Hanover got third.

The Betterthancheddar-Beach Bound, who is now two-for-two to start her career, is owned by Onaroll Stable of Embro, Ont., Touch Stone Farms of Guelph, Ont., Ozzie Mackay of Moncton, N.B., and Reginald Petitpas of Shediac Bridge, N.B.

The second $28,250 division went to another longshot, Walk From Heaven ($37.80), driven by Brett Miller, trained by Kevin Lare and owned by Frank Chick.

The Rock N Roll Heaven-Walk Of Shame filly followed the lead of Dance Blue (Mark MacDonald), who put up the fractions of :27.4, :57 and 1:24.4 but went off stride just before the top of the stretch. This left an opening for Walk From Heaven and she then held off the late charge of Classy Chris (Jim Morrill Jr.) to win her career debut in 1:53.2. Classy Chris finished second and Lets Fall In Love (Matt Kakaley) was third.

The third $27,750 division went to another MacIntosh-trained filly, Ubettergo Go ($9.80). The career-debuting Art Major-Ubetterthink Think filly is co-owned by her trainer along with Petitpas, MacKay and Toronto's Tony Basile.

Also driven by MacDonald, Ubettergo Go went gate-to-wire in 1:53, putting all the rest away with a :26.3 last quarter. Line Dancer (Brett Miller) finished second and Step Beyond (Matt Kakaley) was third.

The final $28,250 division went to the big favourite Betterthangraduate ($2.70), who was driven by Jim Morrill Jr. and trained by Ron Burke for Burke Racing Stable, Silva Purnel And Libby, Phillip Collura, and Weaver Bruscemi.

The Betterthancheddar-Western Graduate filly followed leader Silk Reed (Tyler Buter) all the way to the stretch and then went by. Betterthangraduate held off a late charge by Speedo Miss (Marcus Miller) to score her maiden-breaking victory in 1:55 by half a length. Mark MacDonald steered Lulu De Vie to a third-place finish.

Live harness racing returns to Vernon Downs on Saturday (July 8) with a 13-race card starting at 6:45 p.m.

(With files from Vernon Downs)
Longview and Kelso seniors who were unable to pass a controversial biology assessment test but met all other graduation obligations will still receive diplomas. The new legislation is designed to offer some relief to struggling high school students.

Last Saturday, the Legislature voted unanimously to decouple the test from state graduation requirements until 2021, as part of a sweeping new budget deal that makes dramatic changes to the way Washington funds K-12 public education.

Under previous state law, the graduating class of 2017 had been the first class required to pass the states high-stakes biology assessment test. Many students in the state who had failed the test but met all other requirements were left wondering if they would still receive a diploma as state lawmakers in Olympia worked on a compromise that would lift the requirement.

Tony VanderMaas, the Longview School Districts new executive director of leadership and learning, said the district has not yet been able to determine how many students the changes will retroactively effect. VanderMaas said high schools are responsible for sending out individual diplomas and most school employees took the week of Fourth of July off.

VanderMaas, who spent the last 10 years working as a principal at Ridgefield High School, added that he can only remember one student who did not graduate on time solely due to state testing requirements.

My experience has been that there are always additional factors that are affecting them other than just state testing, he said in an interview. Those factors usually include struggling with regular coursework and failing core classes, he said.

The new legislation, signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday, also moves the states standardized English and math assessments from the 11th grade to the 10th grade and allows school districts to come up with alternative ways for students to demonstrate proficiency.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal praised the move, saying the new law will allow more time for learning interventions and supports to help students meet state standards.

Students need and deserve multiple ways to show they know the state learning standards and have those competencies tied to career or college opportunities, he said in a press release.

According to the Superintendents office, roughly 3,300 high school seniors in Washington were unable to pass the biology assessment test this year  about 4 percent of all seniors.

Just under 70 percent of students in the Longview School District passed the states end of course biology test in the 10th grade during the 2015-2016 school year, while a little over 72 percent of students in the Kelso School District met the requirement. That represents a decrease from the nearly 80 percent of students in both districts who managed to pass the assessment during the 2013-2014 school year, according to data from OSPI. However students are allowed to retake the test multiple times if they fail on the first try.

If they cant pass the test by graduation, students can alternatively take the ACT and the requirement is waived if they score high enough on the science section. Students are also allowed to work with a teacher to submit a collection of evidence demonstrating proficiency.

The science test has not been an issue until now because the state has always sort of kicked it down the road, VanderMaas said.

Despite the numerous ways for students to demonstrate proficiency in science, none had been required by the state in order to receive a diploma  until this year.

In a recent interview, Longview School District Superintendent Dan Zorn expressed support for decoupling the states biology assessment from graduation requirements.

One test, one moment in time negating an entire 12-year educational career ... you could argue for a lot of students that one test is not reflective of the work and the effort these kids have put forth in terms of their credit attainment, he said.

VanderMaas said the new law will give students more opportunities to meet the state standard in different ways. But, as with much of the education legislation passed by the Legislature over the weekend, it will take some time to sort out the details.

OSPI must sign off on any new assessments used by districts instead of the state test. This means the Longview School District will probably wait until the 2018-2019 year to devise and implement alternative assessments, VanderMaas said.

It all hinges on what OSPI approves, he said.

VanderMaas said the district will remain focused on the broader goal of improving on-time graduation rates.

Longview had an adjusted four-year cohort graduation rate of 78.1 percent in 2015, according to OSPI, which mirrors the statewide average for that year. Kelsos four-year cohort graduation rate for 2015 was 82.5 percent, the most recent data available. The nations high school graduation climbed to a record 83.2 percent that same year.
Some non-union Longview officials will likely get pay raises, although not as much as was originally proposed, now that the City Council tentatively agreed to the increases.

In May, city staff presented the results of a salary survey of 59 professional, technical and administrative (PTA) positions compared with salaries in 13 cities across Washington of similar population and property values.

The survey found that Longview was an average of 5.85 percent below the average of comparison cities.

However, council members expressed concern that the 13 cities did not adequately compare to Longview and asked staff to conduct the survey again with different cities.

Some of the comparables were up around Seattle where the cost of living is really up there in the stratosphere and they dont compare with Longview, Mayor Don Jensen said Friday. When staff went back and looked at it, they used comparables that were more in line with Longview.

At the workshop Thursday, city staff presented the results of an updated salary survey with 10 cities that are more comparable to Longview. The survey replaced Bonney Lake, Kenmore, Maple Valley, University Place and Des Moines with Walla Walla and Wenatchee.

The new survey found that Longview PTA positions combined are an average of 1.73 percent below the average of comparable cities.

The new recommendations include creating one additional pay grade, which would affect 14 of the 59 surveyed positions, instead of the 26 positions originally impacted.

The adjusted survey made the recommendations more realistic, Councilwoman Mary Jane Melink said.

It was just too big of a bite, so this makes it more manageable and acceptable, Melink said. Were taking baby steps instead of trying to catch everyone up at the same time.

The council voted unanimously to put the salary increases on the agenda for the next regular council meeting on July 27, which will include a public hearing.

The unanimous support at the workshop suggests that the proposal will be approved, Jensen said.

My direction would be that (the proposal) would go on the consent agenda and be approved with the other things that we dont need to spend time talking about because we already did it in workshop, Jensen said.

Melink said she fully supports the pay raises because it is the right thing to do.

We have some great staff people that are being paid below comparable positions in other cities, Melink said. You have good staff so you want to make sure they are paid fairly.
Some of Longview worst streets will get a facelift this summer, starting with repaving of 15th Avenue in front of City Hall.

A 2011 study recommended the city spend $2.8 million annually on its streets. The city budgeted about $610,000 for street maintenance in 2016, Public Works Director Jeff Cameron said.

Last December, the City Council created a Transportation Benefit District (TBD) to pay for street maintenance and repairs and adopted an ordinance to charge an additional $20 on motor vehicle registration renewal fees. The new fee is expected to bring in about $560,000 a year to be used for street improvements.

Due to state statute, the city had to wait six months after passing the ordinance before the car tabs fees could be put into effect, Cameron said. This meant the TBD charges wont appear on car registration renewals until Aug. 1 and then it will be a full year before the city will know exactly how much revenue the fee will generate.

To get started on five priority projects this summer, the city plans to issue about $2.5 million in bonds which would be reimbursed later with TBD funds.

The five projects include repaving three streets: 15th Avenue from Washington Way to Olympia Way; Nichols Boulevard from Louisiana Street to 25th Avenue; and Oregon Way from Tennant Way to Alabama Street. The last two street projects were proposed in two phases each.

The projects are estimated to cost about $2.9 million, but that number might be low in the current bidding climate, Cameron said.

The City Council is expected to begin accepting bids on July 19, and award the project on July 27.

The city is hoping to start construction in mid August, Cameron said.

In the meantime, the new city street crew is just getting started on smoothing over other roads around the city. The third crew was hired this summer with funds from the general budget, but could be funded with TBD money in the future, Public Works Maintenance Manager Chris Collins said.

Based on weather, (the crew was) unable to get started until just recently on pavement activities, Cameron said. Now weather has improved and they are able to start on road rehabilitation.

Since hiring for the third crew just finished in June, it is a little early for a progress report, Cameron said.

However, Collins said he was confident they would meet their goal of doubling the output of street repairs this year.

We started our chip seal program three weeks early this year  earlier than we ever have in the past, Collins said.

Chip sealing, the main city street crew initiative this year, involves placing a new layer of surface over the roadway to keep water from getting into the upgrade.

While the city is moving in the right direction toward their goal of dedicating $2.8 million to street maintenance a year, there is still a long ways to go, Cameron said.

Collins expects a positive response from the public once citizens start to see the benefits of the street improvements.

As our infrastructure ages, our streets are our most visible asset for the city of Longview, Collins said. We need to put in the repairs needed to maintain our streets.
IANS

Facebook and Google have decided to participate in the 'Internet-wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality' protest scheduled for July 12 in the US.

Being organized by advocacy groups Fight for the Future, Free Press, and Demand Progress, the 'Day of Action' has already received support from Amazon, Netflix, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), among others. "The protest is being organised against the US Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) recent regulatory behaviour (or lack thereof) that open internet advocates fear could roll back years of legislative progress," Fortune reported on Saturday.

"The participation of Google and Facebook could be a game-changer because their sites are visited by hundreds of millions and a message from them could rally new opposition to the FCC plan," the report added. The July 12 campaign is reminiscent of another day in 2012 when the tech industry rebelled against a controversial copyright bill known as SOPA by altering or even blacking out their websites. The resulting uproar resulted in Congress withdrawing the bill, the report noted.

President Donald Trump had appointed Indian-origin Ajit Pai to head the powerful FCC, the US communications regulatory agency. The advocacy groups are urging tech companies and others to oppose Pai's plan to gut the net neutrality order which was issued in 2015. It reclassifies broadband as a utility service and imposed several common carrier regulations, including prohibitions on throttling or blocking content, and on charging companies higher fees for prioritised delivery.
MOSS POINT, Mississippi --- The future of the Moss Point School Board was a hot topic of discussion at the meeting of the new mayor, aldermen meeting Wednesday night.

There were two items related to the school board. The first dealt with the drawing of district lines for upcoming school board elections in November.

The board also discussed whether or not to appoint someone to fulfill the unexpired term of board member, Jerold Shepherd, who recently resigned.

During the last legislative session, Representative Jeramey Anderson, amended Senate Bill 2463 to reflect a new process to elect Moss Point School District board members instead of the board of aldermen appointing them. The new bill went into effect July 1 and requires officials to divide the city into five voting districts.

City attorney Amy St. Pe' says the city has been in touch with the Jackson County Board of Supervisors to begin the process of drawing district lines.

"The county may be able to provide the services free of charge," St. Pe' told the aldermen. "The good news is that they will pay Southern Mississippi Planning and Development to draw them and it will not come out of the district 2 funds. Instead, the money will come out of the county's general fund."

City officials unanimously voted to allow the Jackson County Board of Supervisors pay $7,600 to have the district lines established.

The school board will consist of five members, each to be elected for a term of four years. The first round of elections for districts 1, 3, and 5 will be in November.

"The law approached us really quickly, so I want to do all I can to ensure the success of this election and to ensure that we can move our city forward," said Mayor Mario King.

City officials continued to discuss the Moss Point School Board. King suggested the board consider appointing someone to serve on the school board for the remaining four months of Shepherd's unexpired term.

After a brief discussion, Ward 1 alderman Sherwood Bradford suggested to advertise for applicants who may be interested in filling the position.

Ward 1 alderman Sherwood Bradford (file photo)

"I think that we should always advertise, let everyone in the city have an opportunity and not just hand pick them," Bradford said. "This will set a good tone for the citizens to let them know that we are going to be fair. It's not private interpretation. The school board is our most pressing issue."

The administration decided it would advertise for the school board seat and have a work session on July 18 to interview for the position.

In addition to school board issues, the aldermen also voted Ward 3 alderman Robert Byrd Sr., would serve as Mayor Pro-Tempore to fill in for the mayor in his absence and act as an assistant.

This vote passed 3-2 with Byrd abstaining from voting on the matter. Prior to the vote, there was much discussion on the agenda item.

"In years past, the alderman at-large acted as Mayor Pro-Tempore. My question is why are we reverting it to a different format," Chapman asked.

King pointed out that state statue "doesn't require the alderman at-large be Mayor Pro-Tempore," but allows the board to choose.

"The reason I recommended alderman Byrd is because of his experience and because of his demonstration of non-partisanship on this board for three terms," he said.

Bradford voted against the change.

"Nothing against Byrd, I really like him," said Bradford. "We ought to get off to a good start. Mr. Chapman ran city-wide, got more votes than any candidate, including all the mayor candidates in this election. So that tells me that the people of Moss Point are looking for him to be in some part of a leadership role. I know that he is new, but he can learn."

"This administration will do different things than we have done," King said. "It's important to me that we do not do things the same way. Mr. Chapman will not be left out. He will be very involved in processes. I can assure you that. I think he has a host of knowledge and leadership. We will use him to his fullest potential."

Other items voted on by the Moss Point Board of Aldermen include:
'Victory' over Islamic State in Mosul to be announced in hours

An armoured personnel carrier of Iraqi security forces fire against Islamic State militants at the frontline in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq.

Reuters, Mosul :

Iraqi security forces expect to take full control of Mosul in the next hours as Islamic State's defensive lines collapse, state TV reported on Saturday.

Air strikes and artillery salvoes pounded the jihadists' last bastion in the city as black smoke billowed over it, a Reuters TV crew said.

"We are seeing now the last meters and then final victory will be announced," said a TV speaker, citing the channel's correspondents embedded with security forces battling in Islamic State's redoubt in the Old City of Mosul, by the Tigris river. "It's a matter of hours," she said.

A military spokesman cited by the TV said the insurgents' defense lines were collapsing. Iraqi commanders say the insurgents are fighting for each meter with snipers, grenades and suicide bombers, forcing security forces to fight house-to-house in the densely populated maze of narrow alleyways.

A U.S.-led international coalition is providing air and ground support to the eight-month-old offensive to wrest back Mosul, once the de facto capital of Islamic State in Iraq.

Months of urban warfare have displaced 900,000 people, about half the city's pre-war population, and killed thousands, according to aid organizations.

Mosul was by far the largest city seized by Islamic State in its offensive three years ago where the ultra-hardline group declared its "caliphate" over adjoining parts of Iraq and Syria.

Stripped of Mosul, Islamic State's dominion in Iraq will be reduced to mainly rural, desert areas west and south of the city where tens of thousands of people live. The militants are expected to keep up attacks on selected targets across Iraq.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the end of Islamic State's "state of falsehood" a week ago, after security forces took Mosul's mediaeval Grand al-Nuri mosque - although only after retreating militants blew it up.

The United Nations predicts it will cost more than $1 billion to repair basic infrastructure in Mosul. Iraq's regional Kurdish leader said on Thursday in a Reuters interview that the Baghdad central government had failed to prepare a post-battle political, security and governance plan.

The offensive has damaged thousands of structures in Mosul's Old City and destroyed nearly 500 buildings, satellite imagery released by the United Nations on Thursday showed.
India puts Kashmir in lockdown on rebel`s death anniversary

Paramilitary troops patrol the deserted streets of Srinagar as Indian Kashmir marks the first anniversary of a hugely popular rebel leader\'s death.

AP, Srinagar :

Residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir clashed with government forces Saturday as they defied a stringent curfew on the anniversary of the killing of a charismatic rebel leader, whose death triggered open defiance against Indian rule.

Officials and witnesses said residents in at least four places in southern Kashmir tried to march on the streets while chanting slogans in favor of rebels and ending Indian rule. Police and paramilitary soldiers fired tear gas to disperse the crowds. The protesters responded by hurling rocks at troops. No one was immediately reported injured in the clashes.

While Kashmir has remained on edge, the Indian and Pakistani armies, which regularly trade fire and blame across the de-facto militarized frontier that divides the disputed territory between them, fired at each other's positions, killing three civilians and an off-duty soldier, officials said.

Pakistan's military said two civilians were killed and three others wounded in the Indian army's "unprovoked" firing and shelling at two places along the highly militarized Line of Control.

India's military said an off-duty army soldier visiting home was killed along with his wife after a shell fired from the Pakistani side hit their home in Poonch sector. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Manish Mehta called it an "unprovoked" violation of the 2003 cease-fire between India and Pakistan.

India has accused Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, which Pakistan denies.

Government forces for the second day sealed off the hometown of the 22-year-old Burhan Wani, who was killed along with two associates in a gunbattle with Indian troops last year. Witnesses said security forces ordered residents in southern Tral town to stay indoors. "I've never seen so many soldiers in aggressive posturing enforcing a curfew in my town. This is unprecedented restriction," resident Mohammed Hanief told The Associated Press by phone.

Troops laid steel barricades and coiled razor wire on roads and intersections to cut off neighborhoods as authorities anticipated widespread protests. They also shut mobile internet services as part of the lockdown to stop activists from rallying online support.

"We're enforcing strict restrictions to deal with any law and order issues," said S.P. Vaid, the region's police chief.

Separatist leaders, who challenge India's sovereignty over Kashmir, called for a strike and protests to honor Wani. Most of the top leaders have either been detained or put under house arrest.

Wani's killing had set off months of protests and deadly clashes across the region, during which at least 90 people were killed and thousands injured, while hundreds among them were blinded and maimed in the firing of shotgun pellets by government forces.
UN needs a 21st century development system

Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General :

Allow me first of all to express my deep gratitude to all the colleagues that have worked hard - in the Secretariat, in the Agencies, Funds and Programmes - to allow for this report to be ready on time. And to the leader of the team - the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed - who has been not only the inspiration, but also the centre of management and strength to make things happen, and to make things happen with the required ambition and with the required detail.

I also want to thank Member States for the very important possibility of interaction that were given to us allowing, even in this first report, to take as much as possible into account - the concerns, the aspirations, the desires of Member States, because this basically is a reform to serve Member States in the implementation of an agenda in which the leaders are the Member States themselves.

The 2030 Agenda is our boldest agenda for humanity, and requires equally bold changes in the UN development system.

You tasked me with putting forward proposals that match the ambition needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

This report is the first step of that response.

It is my offering for debate and discussion on what I am convinced is the most ambitious yet realistic roadmap for change.

It includes 38 concrete ideas and actions to usher in a new era of strengthened implementation founded on leadership, cohesion, accountability and results.

This effort is not about what individual entities do alone - it is about what we can and must do together to better support your efforts in implementing such a transformative agenda.

The UN development system has a proud history of delivering results. Across the decades, it has generated ideas and solutions that have changed the world for millions of the poorest and most vulnerable people on earth.

In many countries, we have supported flagship national policies and the reinforcement of institutions, which have made a profound difference in people's lives.

The system made significant contributions to supporting countries in their pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals, the most successful global anti-poverty effort in history.

All of you were critical to producing the 2030 Agenda, the most ambitious anti-poverty, pro-planet agenda ever adopted by the UN. Yet we all know that the system is not functioning at its full potential.

We are held back by insufficient coordination and accountability on system-wide activities.

Yes, there may often be good reasons why things are the way the way they are.

But far too much of what we do is rooted in the past rather than linked to the future we want.

We need to change in order to secure the promise of sustainable development, human rights and peace for our grandchildren. And we have no time to lose.

The 2030 Agenda points the way and has to be given life as the defining agenda of our time, because it is the integrated platform to respond to the needs of people and governments.

The UN development system, therefore, must itself be far more integrated in our response  more aligned  and more able to work seamlessly across sectors and specializations - and to do so more effectively.

Our shared goal is a 21st century UN development system that is focussed more on people and less on process, more on results for the most poor and excluded and less on bureaucracy, more on integrated support to the 2030 Agenda and less on "business as usual".

This means asking some deep and difficult questions about our structures, skillsets and the architecture for action.

This is our collective responsibility.

After all, sustainable development is pivotal to the lives of every person, everywhere.

It is a means to improve the lives of people, communities and societies without harming our planet; and a route to advancing the realization of economic, cultural, social and political rights for all as well as for enabling global peace and security.

It is our most powerful tool for prevention.

For all these reasons, I made a very conscious decision to be as explicit as possible in this first report in the interests of full transparency - to put ideas on the table in black and white for discussion and debate.

This report is also an integral component of a broader reform agenda to strengthen the United Nations to better meet today's complex and interlinked challenges.

These actions include reforming the peace and security architecture - giving adequate priority to prevention and sustaining peace.

It includes management reform - to simplify procedures and decentralize decisions, with transparency, efficiency and accountability.

It includes clear strategies and actions to achieve gender parity, end sexual exploitation and abuse; and strengthen counter-terrorism structures.

But reform is not an end in itself. And, of course - we all know - reform is not easy.

We undertake reforms keenly aware of our obligation to live up to the values of the United Nations Charter in the 21st century.

Ultimately this is about ensuring we are positioned to better deliver for people.

Those who suffer most from poverty or exclusion, those who have been left behind and who have no access to development, to peace or to respect for their rights and dignity and who look to us with hope to help better their lives.

To meet the mandates of the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review, we held extensive and inclusive consultations with Member States and the UN system.

We created an internal mechanism with DESA and the UN Development Group to work together, with transparency and accountability.

We initiated technical work and drew on previous studies on accountability, transparency, coordination and oversight of the UN development system.

We worked with external experts in the largest-such effort to gather and analyze data on system-wide functions and capacities across the UN.

The proposals reflect the leadership needed at the country level to help Member States achieve their goals, and the leadership needed at headquarters to meet the ambition of the 2030 Agenda on the ground.

Some require further consultations. Others can be set in motion immediately.

I will continue to engage with you in the coming months before I put forward a more detailed report in December as required.

Allow me to outline the eight guiding ideas:

First, the UN development system must accelerate its transition from the Millennium Development Goals to the 2030 Agenda. There are major gaps in the system's current skillsets and mechanisms.

The system is still set up to perform on a narrower set of goals focused on certain sectors, rather than across the entire sustainable development agenda.

Of course, we must be humble. The UN cannot do everything, everywhere.

But we must be able to provide advice, pool expertise and help Governments implement the Sustainable Development Goals in their entirety. And we must help convene the partners they require to take actions to scale.

Better coordination, planning and accountability will provide the platform for UN Country Teams to transform overlaps into synergies and to help government identify partners to bridge gaps.

Second principle, we need a much stronger focus on financing for development.

Governments and people expect the UN to help deliver on Official Development Assistance and unlock doors to financing, expertise, know-how and technologies. And we must do so working with the international financial institutions, the private sector and all other partners.

The report envisions a role for Resident Coordinator offices as a country-level hub to support governments in broadening their own resource bases and for leveraging financing for development and mobilizing agency-specific expertise.

A strengthened DESA will work in collaboration with Regional Commissions and the UN development system to provide policy guidance and backing that Resident Coordinators and UN Country Teams need to help Governments leverage financing.

Third principle, we need a new generation of Country Teams that are tailored to the specific needs of each country.

Our country offices around the world have an average of 18 agencies.

The 2030 Agenda compels us to move to Country Teams that are more cohesive, flexible, leaner, and more efficient and focussed in their scope. We need teams that can respond to evolving national priorities in an integrated and holistic way.

This includes the imperative of addressing the humanitarian-development nexus and its links with building and sustaining peace in a way that does not lead to a diversion of funds or shift in focus from development to other objectives, while also preserving the autonomy of the humanitarian space. We have discussed this for years; it is now time for action.

The old way of working has been based on weak collective accountability. This approach has not, and will not lead, to transformative change to improve people's lives.

We must make the most of the strengths of individual agencies with their strong mandates while trying to achieve greater coherence, unity and accountability - including at the top.

By December, we will put forward for your consideration specific criteria that could help determine the optimal UN configuration on a country-by-country basis.

Fourth principle, we must resolve the ambiguity in the role of Resident Coordinators.

Today, Resident Coordinators are expected to steer UN Country Team support at the national level, but with limited tools and no formal authority over other UN agencies and offices.

To lead this new generation of Country Teams, Resident Coordinators must be well-staffed and supported with sufficient resources, and have direct supervisory lines over all UN Country Teams on system-wide responsibilities.

The members will naturally preserve the reporting lines to their headquarters in the exercise of their respective mandates. With greater authority must also come greater accountability. These are two sides of the same coin.

Our consultations and analysis point to the value of delinking the functions of Resident Coordinators from UNDP Resident Representatives while ensuring continued access to the substantive policy support, operational tools and joint financing they need.

The current "firewall" between these two functions cannot guarantee the level of impartiality needed for Resident Coordinators to generate confidence and lead effectively.

The reporting lines from the Resident Coordinators to the Secretary-General will need to be clarified and strengthened, alongside increased accountability to Member States for UN development system-wide results.

(To be continued)
Rape in Banani again

RAPID Action Battalion on Friday morning said the lone accused in the case of raping a 21-year old young woman in the capital's Banani area, Bahauddin Ivan, confessed to have violated the young woman.



Ivan was arrested on Thursday in Narayanganj after a case was lodged against him by the victim alleging that she was raped in Ivan's house where she was invited to attend Ivan's birthday party, as per a local daily report.

A Dhaka court on Friday afternoon granted police four days to question Ivan in police custody about the rape allegation. The Metropolitan Magistrate passed the order after the concerned Sub-Inspector placed Ivan before the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate with a prayer to quiz Ivan for seven days.



In the morning, RAB's Legal and Media Wing Director in a press conference in the elite force's media centre at Karwanbazar in Dhaka said Bahauddin Ivan confessed to have violated the 21-year-old woman. RAB conducted drives to arrest Ivan according to the information given by the family.



The Battalion Official further said that Ivan was a drug addict. On Wednesday, the victim filed a case with the Banani police station against Ivan, father of two children, for 'raping' her at his house. Ivan invited her to join his 'birthday party' on Tuesday night where he was supposed to introduce the girl to his mother, the victim told police, according to the first information report.



It is unacceptable to believe that the police don't have the necessary technology to find out where Ivan had been hiding and had to rely on the friendly cooperation of his honest father to find out and arrest Ivan. It is a simple procedure for the police to request the IMEI number of Ivan's phone and track him by pinpointing his location - regardless of whether he changed his SIM card or not. But the police could not find him as apparently he was hiding in his own roof when they came to arrest him in his house.



The police force must be given more training, including the use of modern technology and advanced detective techniques, to find real criminals.



If the police spend all their time guarding VVIPs and arresting opposition members, it is highly unlikely that they would become efficient anytime soon. While they have shown success in areas like counter-terrorism, the units which handle domestic violence and other non-violent crimes must be brought upto international standards. Otherwise the real criminals will go scott free and our jails will be filled with political prisoners instead of the real undesirables.






Undesirable export earnings fall

EXPORT earnings' growth of the country in 2016-17 fiscal hit a 15-year low at 1.69 percent as the earnings from readymade garment products witnessed a sluggish growth in the major destinations including the European Union and the United States. Available data showed that export earnings in FY17 stood at $34.83 billion with a shortfall of more than $2 billion from the government-set target of $37 billion. Despite the prevailing comparatively stable political environment and infrastructural development, the failure to meet the export targets exposes the fact that a dark cloud is gathering over the economy while the government is untiringly propagating its economic success. Almost all the macro-economic variables of the economy is shrinking when the government claims its success to ensure re-election.



Available data showed that the earnings' growth was the lowest since the FY 2001-02 when it was negative 7.43 percent. The export earnings from goods in FY17 fell short of target by 5.85 percent. Officials said that export earnings from goods in FY17 stood at nearly $35 billion with about 2 per cent growth. Export earnings in June 2017 stood at $3.04 billion with a 15.27-percent negative growth against $3.59 billion in the same month of FY16. There were both external and internal factors, including, shrinking global demand for apparel products and devaluation of currencies, behind the undesirable export earnings growth. Worried exporters said that the negative growth has sent a signal to Bangladesh that the country is losing its competitive edge while other competitors are doing well. Experts suggested that the nation should go for productivity-driven growth, diversification of markets and products and cut the cost of doing business.



According to the provisional data, export earnings from RMG products in FY17 stood at $28.15 billion with a minimal growth of 0.20 percent, which fell short by 7.34 percent the government-set target of $30.38 billion. Export earnings from knitwear stood at $13.75 billion with 3.01 percent growth while earnings from woven fell by 2.35 percent to $14.39 billion in FY17. In last 15 years, the export earnings registered a poor growth of 3.35 per cent in FY 2014-15 while the earnings registered highest 41.47 percent growth in FY 2010-11.



If the government provides policy support, ensures gas and electricity on a priority basis, the export earnings growth would rebound in the new fiscal. Bangladesh would have to focus on ensuring the quality of products as well as on diversifying markets and products. The government should work to increase the export earning as it is the fuel of economy and the largest hub of employment.
PORTLAND, OREGON -- July 6, 2017 -- Standard Insurance Company (The Standard) announced today that AJ Ijaz has been named vice president of Retirement Plan Services.



In his new role, Ijaz leads the teams responsible for the service, operations and administration of the Retirement Plans division for The Standard.



Ijaz's career includes nearly 20 years of senior leadership experience in financial services at Allstate. Most recently, he was vice president of Life and Retirement Agency Operations at Allstate where he successfully developed an accredited financial services education program and reduced financial specialist turnover. Prior to that, he was vice president for Allstate Financial National Sales and assistant vice president of Allstate Financial Customer Service.



"AJ is a versatile executive leader and operations transformation specialist with over 30 years of experience improving business processes and customer service, developing exceptional teams and leaders and increasing cross-organizational collaboration and performance," said Scott Hibbs, vice president and chief investment officer at The Standard. "We're delighted to have him leading our Retirement Plans team."



Ijaz earned a bachelor's degree in finance and insurance from Radford University in Virginia and a Master of Business Administration with honors from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.



About The Standard

The Standard is a leading provider of financial products and services, including group and individual disability insurance, group life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance, group dental and vision insurance, absence management services, retirement plans products and services, and individual annuities. For more information about The Standard, visit www.standard.com.



The Standard is the marketing name for StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., and its subsidiaries: Standard Insurance Company, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York, Standard Retirement Services, Inc., StanCorp Mortgage Investors, LLC, StanCorp Investment Advisers, Inc., StanCorp Real Estate, LLC, and StanCorp Equities, Inc.



###





Contact

Bob Speltz, Senior Director, Public Affairs

971.321.3162

bob.speltz@standard.com



SOURCE: The Standard
Export earning $2b less

Badrul Ahsan :

Bangladesh's export earnings in the just concluded financial year (FY) fell short of target mainly due to poor performance of the main earning sector-RMG, data shows.

The country's overall export earnings stood at $34.83 billion in FY'17 against target of $ 37 billion, less than the target by 2.17 billions, but 1.68 percent higher over the previous FY export performance.

According to provisional data of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh's export earnings from the RMG sector stood at $28.14 billion, posting 0.20 pc growth in the past fiscal year.

In the last fiscal year, Bangladesh earned $28.09 billion from the clothing industry.

Of the total amount, Knitwear products earned $13.76 billion, which is Three pc higher than $13.35 billion in the same period a year ago. Woven products earned $14.39 billion, down by 2.35 pc, compared to $14.73 billion a year ago.

However, trade analysts and businessmen have blamed average price fall of products, ongoing structural reforms in the apparel industry, economic slowdown and sluggish demand in export destinations, devaluation of Euro and appreciation of BDT against US dollar, for the lackluster export growth. "The meager growth is a reality in the Bangladesh RMG sector. It comes as no surprise as the apparel industry is going through many challenges, including remediation, devaluation of Euro and labour unrest," Exporters Association President Abdus Salam Murshedy told The New Nation. RMG manufacturers are working hard to face the challenges by introducing production engineering and technological upgrade, but it is not enough, said Abdus Salam. In continuation with the existing policy support, the government should offer special incentives, including five pc cash incentives on the value of Freight on Board (FoB) for at least next two years, the former BGMEA president said.

On the other hand, to bring about sound export growth, the government has to come up with long-term policy support, including tax holiday for 10 years, for new investors to attract investment.

"The average price fall of products and slow demand for products in the global market has led to sluggish growth in export earnings while our competitors are doing better in the global arena," Prof Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told The New Nation Bangladesh has to develop competitive edge by increasing workers' productivity as there is pressure for hike in workers wage, he said. The CPD fellow suggested that the country should focus on RMG product diversification, and to do that, the businessmen, as well as the government, need to come up with newer efforts.

"Our export earnings, stood at about $35 billion in the just concluding fiscal. In the current fiscal year, Bangladesh will see a sharp rise in export as the clothing industry is very close to the end of the remediation process," Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told The New Nation .

"Export earnings, especially from clothing products, have witnessed meager growth due to price fall and devaluation of Euro and Pound," Bijoy Bhattacharjee, Vice-Chairman of EPB, told The New Nation.

Bangladesh has to focus on quality products and EPB in the current fiscal year will work on the issue, he said, adding that on the other hand, the government is working very hard to diversify products and market in line with its Seventh Five-Year Plan.


Trump says he had a 'tremendous meeting' with Putin

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian\'s President Vladimir Putin hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany Internet photo

AP, Hamburg :

Fresh from his lengthy head-to-head encounter with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday was meeting with a long list of world leaders, including British Prime Minister Theresa May and President Xi Jinping of China, as he wraps up his second trip abroad.

Trump said he had a "tremendous meeting" with Putin as he sat alongside May for a morning exchange on the sidelines of an international summit in Germany. It marked Trump's first comments on his high-profile talks with Putin in which he raised the issue of Russia's meddling in the 2016 elections and discussed plans for a ceasefire agreement in Syria. Trump was expected to focus on talks to counter North Korea's push for ballistic missile and nuclear programs, address international trade and ways to combat terrorism. The president was holding the meetings at the annual Group of 20 meetings, which have been marked by violent riots in the city between anti-globalization activists and police.

Noting his "special relationship" with the British prime minister, the president said he and May were working on a trade agreement that he described as a "very, very big deal, very powerful, great deal for both countries."

May was the first foreign leader to visit Trump at the White House and he told her he would soon "be going to London" once details were worked out. Independent trade negotiations between the two countries are a possibility as Britain exists the European Union - a move Trump has supported.

Trump's long list of meetings with world leaders on Saturday included Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore. He also attended a women's entrepreneurial finance event with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other leaders who were joined by his daughter, Ivanka Trump. Ivanka Trump and the World Bank rolled out a new fund that aims to help female entrepreneurs access capital, financing and other support. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative fund had so far raised $325 million from various governments.

Trump planned to return to Washington on Saturday evening after the conclusion of the annual Group of 20 meetings. He won't be stateside for long. The president is scheduled to return to Europe next week to attend Bastille Day celebrations in Paris. The European trip to Poland and Germany has centered around the exchange with Putin, Trump's first in-person meeting as president. But both sides offered differing explanations of what took place. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump and Putin had a "robust and lengthy" discussion about the election interference but Putin denied any involvement. His Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said Trump had accepted Putin's assurances that Russia didn't meddle in the U.S. election - a characterization that the U.S. disputed. "I think the president is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point," said Tillerson, who took part in the meeting along with Lavrov. Chuck Schumer of New York said it was "disgraceful" and said it was a "grave dereliction of duty" to give "equal credence to the findings of the American Intelligence Community and the assertion by Mr. Putin." U.S. officials have said Russia tried to hack election systems in 21 states and sway the election for Trump, representing a level of interference in the U.S. political system that security experts said represents a top-level threat. Trump's meeting with Putin, which was originally scheduled for 35 minutes, wrapped up after more than 2 hours, and focused heavily on a just-announced ceasefire deal for southwestern Syria that was reached by Russia and the United States. While the U.S. and Russia have held conflicting views on Syria in the past, Tillerson said Russia had an interest in seeing the Mideast nation become a stable place.

Tillerson said details about the ceasefire still need to be worked out, but Lavrov told reporters that Russian military police will monitor the ceasefire, with a monitoring center set up in Jordan - another party to the deal.

Both the Russians and the Americans took pains to describe the meeting as "constructive," cordial and wide-ranging, covering key topics including cyber security and North Korea.

"The two leaders connected very quickly," Tillerson said. "There was a very clear positive chemistry."
Farhad Mazhar not abducted: IGP

Poet and columnist Farhad Mazhar may not have been abducted as claimed, according to information received by the law enforcing agencies till now.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) A K M Shahidul Hoque himself told reporters on Saturday that as per information available to police, it appeared Farhad Mazhar had not been abducted.

"We think he was not abducted," the police boss said, adding that more information is needed to reach a final conclusion on the matter. He came up with the observation in a seminar on Measures to Prevent Drug Abuse at the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB Bhaban) organized by Jamuna Bank Foundation on Saturday.

In reply to another question about fake drug case against Ashik, Daily Observer photojournalist, by police, the IGP said if they received any proof that it was a fake case, action would be taken against the responsible police officer.

There will be an investigation into the matter, he added.

Earlier on July 3, Farhad Mazhar was said to have been kidnapped by unknown miscreants from Adabar in the capital in the early hours.

Later, police found him aboard a 'Hanif Paribahan' bus at Nayapara in Abhaynagar upazila of Jessore district while he was returning to Dhaka from Khulna.
Gulshan cafe attack planner among six militants held

Staff Reporter :

Law enforcers arrested six suspected militants of banned outfit 'Neo-JMB', including a planner of the deadly cafe attack in the city's Gulshan last year.

They were from Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj and Dhaka early Saturday.

The arrestees are Shohel Mahfuz, planner and bombs and explosives supplier to the cafe attackers, Jamal, Hafiz and Jewel.

Two other persons Md Alamin and Ahsan Habib were arrested from Savar and Dhamrai of Dhaka district, Police said.

Abdul Mannan, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, who led the drive team, said "Mahfuz along with three other "Neo JMB" members-Jamal, Hafiz and Jewel-were arrested from a house in Kanshat area around 3:30am."

Shohel Mahfuz has been taken to the capital for interrogation on Gulsha cafe attack incident, Mannan said.

Police produced the three suspected militants of "Neo JMB" before journalists during a press briefing in Chapainawabganj on Saturday, he said.

He carries the nickname 'Hatkata' (hand-less) because he lost his left hand to an explosion while manufacturing bombs, the detective official said.

"Shohel Mahfuz is one of the five most wanted 'militants' in the Holey Artisan Bakery militant attack case, Monirul Islam, chief of the CTTC unit, told reporters on Saturday.

Four other wanted people are Mizanur Rahman alias Chhoto Mizan, Hadisur Rahman Sagar alias Joypurhat Sagar, Basharuzzan Chocolate and Rashed Alias Rash.

"CTTC identifies Mahfuz as the leading explosives expert of Neo-JMB. He has been organising the terrorist group in Rajshahi in recent times. One of the founding members of the old JMB, Mahfuz has eluded arrest for almost two decades. Police believe he was the mastermind behind the snatching of three militants from a prison van in Mymensingh in 2014," the CTTC chief said.

Calling him the military chief of Neo-JMB, the regional news outlet South Asian Monitor reported that Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies had informed Indian officials that they had detained Mahfuz on Thursday night.

In response to a query, the CTTC unit chief Monirul Islam described the report as baseless.

Mahfuz was wanted in the Indian state of West Bengal on charges of terrorism and illegal manufacture and procurement of weapons and explosives in the famous Khagragarh case. There he is known as Nasirullah. Indian authorities have a bounty of Tk10 lakh on his head, said a media report quoting an official of National Investigation Agency (NIA) in New Delhi headquarters.

Meanwhile, a team of CTTC unit arrested Alamin and Ahsan Habib, while conducting a drive in Savar and Dhamrai of Dhaka.

The arrestees were involved in supplying firearms found at the militant dens in Savar's Genda area busted on 27 May, our correspondent reported quoting CTTC Assistant Commissioner SK Imran Hossain.

Earlier on the night of July 1, 2016, five armed militants stormed into Holet Artisan Bakery in the Gulshan diplomatic zone and held diners hostage at gunpoint. They then brutally murdered nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian and three Bangladeshis.

Two police officers also lost their lives as law enforcers in groups tried to close in on the place. The siege ended through a commando operation in which five militants and a chef died. Another staffer died of his injuries in hospital.


Floods continue to play havoc

Fresh areas inundated: Diarrhoea, water-borne diseases spreading: Thousands marooned

At least two lakh people of Jamalpur district were marooned as onrush of hilly waters from the upper stream engulfed fresh areas. This photo was taken from Dewanganj on Saturday.

Staff Reporter :

While several parts of the country have already went under floodwaters, more fresh areas of different districts also inundated on Saturday leaving thousands of people marooned.

Apart from Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Nilphamari, Shariatpur, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Sunamganj, Bandarban, Chittagong and Cox's Bazar districts, the floods yesterday also covered vast areas of Jamalpur, Sirajganj, Bogra and Tangail.

However, flood situation in the country's northeastern parts has improved as floodwaters started receding from the affected areas, officials and local people said.

As the floodwaters started receding in the northeastern region, diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases have been spreading sporadically among the affected people, intensifying the sufferings of the flood victims.

The victims are mainly suffering from diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery, fever, eczema, itches and other water-borne diseases.

Besides, the flood-hit people, who took shelter on the flood control embankment and in school and college buildings, are facing acute crisis of food and pure drinking water.

The river erosion and stagnant floodwaters destroyed hectares of the croplands and engulfed innumerable houses of the people.

The affected people are passing their days in great misery with their belongings including domestic animals and poultry birds for want of shelter, food and drinking water.

The onrush of hilly water triggered by heavy downpour over the last 12 days inundated vast areas in many upazilas of the districts, also disrupting communications and, with rains continuing on Saturday more areas are likely to be engulfed.

Houses, different government and non-government organisations, educational institutions and crops land went under water by the recent flood, as the rivers beside the districts have been flowing above their danger level.

In Jamalpur, many low-lying areas of Dewanganj upazila went under water leaving over two lakh people marooned.

In Sirajganj, as the under-construction riverbank protection embankment at Chauhali upazila in district collapsed again on Saturday, panic is running high among the people who live beside the banks of River Jamuna.

The Khogen Ghat portion of the seven-kilometre embankment, which was constructed at a cost of Tk 109 core, collapsed into the River Jamuna. This is for the sixth time that the embankment collapsed at different spots.

In Tangail, over one lakh people of Bhuapur and Gopalpur Upazilas were marooned as the floodwaters inundated the low-lying areas.

Talking to journalists, Mohammad Shahjahan, Executive Engineer, Water Development Board, said on Saturday the water level crossed the danger level on Saturday.

"However, we have all out preparation to face the flood situation," he added.

Meanwhile, water levels at 58 river stations monitored by Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) have marked rise while 23 stations recorded fall.

Among the 90 monitored water level stations, two river stations have been registered steady while water level at four river stations are flowing above danger level, a bulletin issued by the FFWC said on Saturday.

The Surma at Kanaighat, the Kushiyara at Amalshid, Sheola and Sherpur- Sylhet are flowing above danger level 59cm, 94cm, 76cm, and 22cm respectively.

Significant rainfall was recorded at some stations in different districts during the last 24 hours ending at 6:00am yesterday.

A total of 103 millimetres (mm) rainfall was recorded at Lama, 87mm at Dhaka, 85mm at Barguna, 80mm at Khulna, 80mm at Cox's Bazar, 75mm at Sunamganj, 75 at Narayanhat, 69.7mm at Noakhali, 76mm at Teknaf, 55mm at Rangamati, 53.4mm at Jessore, 52.7mm at Ramgarh, 52mm at Panchpukuria and 50mm at Brahmanbaria.

Beside, a warning message of Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) yesterday asked all rivers ports in the country to hoist cautionary signal number one till 6:00pm yesterday.

"Rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary south or south-easterly, gusty or squally wind with speed 45-60 kilometers per hour (kph) is likely to occur over the regions of Rangpur, Rajshahi, Pabna, Bogra,

Tangail, Mymensingh, Dhaka, Faridpur, Jessore, Kushtia, Khulna, Barisal, Patuakhali, Noakhali, Comilla, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Sylhet wherein river-ports shall hoist cautionary signal number one," it said.

Even as receding Kushiara waters improve the situation in northeastern region of Sylhet, forecasts of heavy rain and the downstream flow along the Jamuna River have exacerbated flooding in the northern Bangladesh.

According to the Met office, the coming days are likely to see an increase in rainfall.

Such an increase could further deteriorate the situation in northern areas, the Water Development Board said.

Sylhet and Moulvibazar districts were badly affected by first spell of heavy monsoon rains this season, said Sarder Udoy Raihan, an official FFWC.

Crops on about 3,000 hectares of land in the district were damaged by the flood.

In Moulvibazar, flood situation in two upazilas has improved slightly with receding of floodwater.

In Kurigram, several thousands of people were marooned by monsoon flood.

Local people said onrush of water from upstream inundated low-lying areas and chars of the district damaging crops on vast tract of land.

The District Administration officials said flood situation is improving gradually in the district with receding of floodwater. Besides, the Disaster Management and Rrelief Ministry also has disbursed 2100 tonnes of rice and Tk 42 lakh in advance for flood-prone 21 districts.

"We are carrying out a massive relief operation as the flash flood already has affected the districts like Sylhet, Moulvibazar and Cox's Bazaar and it would continue till the receding of flood waters," said Disaster Management and Relief Secretary Shah Kamal.

At least 50 families have been affected by flooding in Gaibandha's Phuljhuri Upazila in the past few days.
Andy and Jamie Murray add to criticism of courts



Andy and Jamie Murray have become the latest players to criticise the state of the courts at Wimbledon this year.

France's 12th seed Kristina Mladenovic complained about a "damaged" court in her second-round defeat on Thursday.

Following his four-set win against against Fabio Fognini on Centre Court, Andy Murray said the court conditions were "not as good as previous years", while Jamie added they "weren't good."

Italian Fognini went further, saying they are "really, really bad".

At one point in Friday's third-round match, a return from Fognini bounced on the baseline underneath Andy Murray's racket.

"There's quite a few spots on the court, just behind the baseline and just in front of the baseline, where there are quite big lumps of grass, almost like little divots there, which I don't remember really being the case before," defending champion Murray said."I don't think the court is in as good a condition as previous years.

"I don't know if it's anything to do with the weather that they've had over the last few weeks and months. It's been pretty hot, pretty extreme conditions. Not much rain."

The 30-year-old is back on Centre Court against Frenchman Benoit Paire on Monday.

And he added: "The court, when I played the first match, was great. I think it's just getting a bit beaten up early. A few of the players have said that about some of the outside courts as well."

Temperatures have reached 30C in the first week at Wimbledon, with little rain.

Mladenovic twisted an ankle in the warm-up and damaged a knee during her defeat by American Alison Riske on Court 18.She said both players wanted to stop after only two games "in case something bad happened".

Jamie Murray was knocked out of the men's doubles in the second round on Friday on Court 18.

He told the Times: "Wimbledon think they're the best tournament in the world, so they need to be held to those standards, and I don't think that this year the courts were [of] as high a standard as they could have been."

Despite his strong criticism, Fognini agreed that the hot conditions had caused the problem, adding: "They do the best that they can. It's not their fault. I think this year was really sunny days, so the grass is not really good like the last years."
Housemaid missing from BD diplomat's Los Angeles home

bdnews24.com :

A domestic worker employed at the home of Kazi Anarkoly, the deputy consul general of the Bangladesh consulate in Los Angeles, has been missing for six months.

The US state department has been informed of the matter. Bangladesh foreign ministry has also been informed of the situation, said Bangladesh Embassy Press Secretary Shameem Ahmed

The incident comes soon after the arrests of Shahedul Islam, the deputy consul general in New York, and Bangladesh UNDP employee Hamidur Rashid, over charges related to domestic aides.

Anarkoly brought Sabbir, 40, to the US in 2015 when she was appointed to the position of deputy consul general.

The charges of physical abuse against Islam and Rashid have given rise to speculation that a similar situation existed in Anarkoly's home.

"The consulate office has not said much, so nothing is confirmed," Bangladeshi expatriate and pantomime artist Kazi Moshhuru Huda told bdnews24.com. "But there is no doubt that something happened."

Los Angeles Consul General Priyatosh Saha and Anarkoly could not be reached for comment.

According to a consulate official, an order has been issued to transfer Anarkoly to Jakarta.

US-based diplomats from India, Indonesia, Iraq and Qatar have been accused of violence against domestic workers in recent time.

Some believe domestic workers are bringing charges against their employers in the US to get permanent resident status.

A Bangladeshi diplomat at the UN, on condition of anonymity, told bdnews24.com. "It seems domestic aides are getting trapped by a quarter and they are bringing charges against their employers only to stay in the United States permanently."
As Malala graduates high school, global luminaries including Bill Gates, Trudeau greet her

Timesofindia.com, New Delhi :

Shot in the head by the Taliban for daring to go to school, Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai yesterday graduated high school, joined Twitter, and was immediately congratulated by a host of global luminaries including Bill Gates and Justin Trudeau.

Within minutes of her saying "Hi Twitter" on Friday, dozens of people and high-profile organisations welcomed the plucky young woman - who's also a Nobel Peace laureate - to the microblogging platform. And in fewer than 24 hours she gained close to 370,000 followers (and counting). "Today is my last day of school and my first day on @Twitter," she wrote. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who met Malala a few months ago, congratulated her for finishing high school.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates called her an "inspiration". Malala, who will be 20 this month according to AFP, was shot by Taliban terrorists in 2012. She was well known much before that, though, as a girls' education activist, which is why the Islamic fundamentalists targeted her. The BBC says Malala was 11 years old when she began writing a diary for its Urdu service. "Her blogs described life under Taliban rule from her home town of Mingora, in the northwest region of Pakistan she affectionately calls 'My Swat' ", the BBC says.

Education for young girls is still uppermost in Malala's mind, which is probably why she said on Twitter that finishing high school is a "bittersweet" experience for her.

Malala wrote further - she posted seven tweets in total - that her "fight" for girls worldwide will continue. She will soon embark on what she calls a "girl power trip". US senator Kamala Harris said Malala, with her fight on behalf of young girls around the world, is "the change we want to see in the world".
Murders or suicide?

Bullet-hit SI, wife die at DMCH

Staff Reporter :

A Sub Inspector of police and his wife were shot dead in their Rupnagar residence in the city on Saturday.

The victim, Abdus Sattar, 32, was a Sub Inspector of Badda Police Station under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Another one was his second wife Shompa, 28.

On information from the locals, members of Rupnagar Police Station rescued the duo with fatal bullet wounds yesterday evening and sent them to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) in a critical condition where the doctors declared them dead at 9:00pm.

Officer-in-Charge of Rupnagar Police Station said the incident took place in a six-storey flat at house no: 32, road no: 22 of Rupnagar Residential Area.

"We primarily assume that the SI Sattar shot his wife at first and then shot himself from point blank range," the OC said.

Deputy Commissioner of DMP [Mirpur Zone] Masudur Rahman told The New Nation last night that they were viewing it as an incident of suicide.

"We're not yet confirm whether it is an incident of suicide or homicide. But the circumstantial evidences pointing that it might be suicide," the DC said.

Sources said, SI Abdus Sattar got married with Shompa, a cousin sister of his first wife, one year back. Sattar and his first wife have two sons-one is 10 years and another 6 years old.

Police sent the bodies to DMCH morgue for autopsy.


Trump-Putin meeting has shown a world without leader

With complete different gestures and postures it was initially convincing to have witnessed two arch rivals and nefarious foes Trump and Putin to shake hands the day before yesterday during the G20 Summit held in Germany. However, the meeting which was expected to be a meaningful discourse soon turned into signal of a great worry for the rest of the world.



Given the outcome of it, for nearly seven decades it was usually the successive American presidents who had represented America and also the rest of the free world. People from all across the globe had put their unquestionable trust in them to raise and discuss all common welfare matters with other important global topics, but this trend has now been shattered in Hamburg. Not only did Donald Trump lack in leadership capabilities in the international stage, but he had also shown clear deficiencies in understanding and then applying the art of astute diplomacy. He also appeared needlessly bafflingly weak and submissive.



From the way round, we hadn't expected Vladimir Putin to have had the upper hand going into the meeting. Once again he has proved to be a master in the art of cleverly manipulating the international stage. Like never before it was the Russians to have set the global expectations from the meeting. The problem is - other than previewing exchange of views and discussing global matters - highly important summits like the G20 sends the clear message about what the United States expects to accomplish. How prepared is it for engaging in difficult topics on the table - more importantly to define America's role in today's' world. These are usually the core purpose of such globally important summits. This time the outcome was completely different both for America and the other 19 member states.



Trump reportedly pressed his Russian counterpart on findings of Russia's interference in the 2016 US presidential election. The two Presidents had also agreed on a prearranged limited Syrian cease-fire. Temporary ceasefire options in Syria were applied many times before by yielding little result while making the humanitarian situation even worse in that country.



Following a set of irrelevant discussions like - former president Obama's indolence to properly investigate the Russian meddling in US elections, how the Iraq war could have been averted and intelligence community's wrong information of Iraq possessing weapon of mass destruction and etc... It evidently turned into a meeting where Donald. J. Trump had informally handed off the 'World Leader' baton to the Russian President. In the midst of so many age-old prevailing international disputes and deadlocks there was no conclusive agreement on any issue either. For instance, on the ever changing Climate Change issue the victim countries will now start eyeing Russia.



What's extremely odd about the meeting is that - The White House and the Russian government had released completely different accounts of Trump and Putin's conversation. To put it simply - even if the Russians are proved to have meddled in US elections - neither Trump nor Putin will ever admit it. The twos' one-sided meeting was also a missed opportunity for the world to solve long-standing crises mutually.



The final point, however, the Trump-Putin first time meeting clearly hints at the quick shifting of America's global leadership role, it can be said to have commenced from their very first meeting, but the question is to whom and when? To sum it up in short - chasing huge uncertainty the world now has no leader to look up to.
Portland, Ore., July 6, 2017 - Unitus Community Credit Union celebrates 80 years of service to their membership and communities in July. Founded by seven Pacific Telephone & Telegraph employees in July 1937, Unitus has grown steadily on the principles of developing trusted long-term relationships and providing legendary service for members. Unitus currently has more than $1 billion in assets and now serves nearly 90,000 members across the country. There are nine Unitus branches serving Salem, Portland Metro and Southwest Washington, with two more branches scheduled to open in the next year.

Unitus has differentiated itself in the financial services industry by providing an uncommon level of member service and no-cost access to high quality local financial education. Services offered include a series of interactive online financial learning videos, an active blog promoting financial improvement, regular community seminars about key financial topics like home buying and understanding credit, and longstanding community partnerships with nonprofits throughout the Northwest.

"We certainly have a storied history to celebrate as one of the longest established credit unions in the Northwest, but what really excites me are the opportunities we are pursuing to improve the lives of our members moving forward," said Steven Stapp, President and CEO of Unitus. "We're getting more active in the mobile space, recently launching a mobile-responsive website, upgrading our mobile app and offering full support for Apple Pay(r), Samsung Pay(r) and other tokenization platforms. We have a streamlined application upgrade on the way to make it easier to apply for membership and loans, and we have been getting great feedback on Financial Life Minutes, our new series of self-paced interactive financial learning videos. We want to embrace the convenience of new financial technologies, but also expand our in-person service with new branch openings in new communities. We are humbled to support the generations of families in our membership, and energized by the possibilities to further improve our service, dedication and support for our members."

"One of the reasons I love Unitus is that both individually and collectively, we don't believe in shortcuts. I believe our organization has grown so consistently for so long because we prioritize investing in our communities. Our jobs become more rewarding when we regularly get to visit Doernbecher Children's Hospital, hold rallies to provide school supplies for underprivileged kids, mentor the Court Princesses in the Portland Rose Festival, or share once-in-a-lifetime opportunities with young children as part of our award-winning Dream Come True program. When your main goal is to help people, the internal rewards are continuous and external rewards often follow," added Laurie Kresl, Chief Marketing Officer. "Our success would not have been possible without our Board of Directors and Leadership team but most importantly, our amazing team of employees devoted to improving the financial well-being of our members."

Join the Celebration!

Unitus will be hosting member celebration events throughout the branches this summer. Visit any Unitus branch on July 24 to enjoy delicious anniversary treats and enter a raffle to win $80! On August 2, reserve your spot at a fun, family-friendly event at the Plaza. Refreshments will be served and attendees will be treated to a live concert featuring Hit Machine!

Unitus has also been active on social media. They are inviting members to visit their Facebook page and share a story of how Unitus helped them reach their personal or financial goals. Members who share their story by July 17 will be automatically entered to win an $80 gift card in honor of the milestone!

About Unitus Community Credit Union

Unitus Community Credit Union is a not-for-profit, member-owned financial institution serving people living or working in Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Marion, Polk, Yamhill, Benton, Columbia, Deschutes, Douglas, Hood River, Jackson, Josephine, Linn and Lane counties in Oregon and the state of Washington. Additional information about Unitus is available at www.unitusccu.com or by calling (800) 452-0900.

###
Looking for the vulture assist with Neolithic burials

2 years ago
MURPHYSBORO  In about 2014, Mary Frazer became aware that she knew almost every establishment between Southern Illinois and St. Louis with video gaming.

With that awareness, she realized that if she did not stop visiting these gambling sites, she was going to lose everything  including her family, which included her eight younger children.

She took advantage of a system she'd heard of, a self-exclusion policy, in which a person willingly decides to ask gambling-establishment managers to forbid them to come in. By doing this, the person agrees that the business managers may have them arrested or otherwise removed from the property, possibly charging her with trespassing.

Frazer, who recently started a Gamblers Anonymous group at United Methodist Church in Murphysboro, would like to introduce the notion of self-exclusion to local businesses that have video-gaming terminals and to people who are struggling with an addiction to gambling.

She said she has already reported herself to three Murphysboro establishments with video gaming, asking them to turn her away if she shows up to gamble.

Their management was understanding and empathetic, she said.

The responsibility for self-policing

Why should an establishment bear the responsibility of policing adults with their gambling issues?

Because self-exclusion works, Frazer said. If someone struggling with a gambling addiction goes to a place where they have selected to self-exclude themselves as persona non grata, they could experience embarrassment when the management, police officer, bouncer or other authority figure tells them they have to leave.

That, Frazer said in her experience, is a powerful deterrent.

"(Most) won't go back because they don't want the embarrassment," Frazer said.

A 2010 report that examined the self-exclusion programs noted that they were a growing trend that started in Missouri.

"Enrolling in a self-exclusion program is a form of help-seeking behavior, akin to attending a Gamblers Anonymous meeting or entering talk therapy," Glenn Christenson, then the chairman of the National Center for Responsible Gaming, wrote in an intro to the report. "Because most people struggling with addiction, including those with disordered gambling, do not seek external help, it is vital for scientists, health care providers and policymakers to understand what motivates the people who do seek assistance. "

Movement afoot to create video-gaming self-exclusion

Based on research from 2010, self-exclusion works, said Christine Reilly, senior research director with the National Center for Responsible Gaming in Massachusetts.

She said the concept could be used as part of a "cocktail therapy" approach to dealing with gambling addiction, an approach that could also include medical treatment, counseling and talk-therapy, among other means.

Based on what we know from the research, it is safe and can be effective for some people, not all, Reilly said. You should not load the program with great expectation.

Frazer might not be too far off, according to information from the Illinois Gaming Board's office on self-exclusion.

The Illinois Gaming Board has submitted proposed rules on self-exclusion in establishments with video-gaming to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, or JCAR, said Gene O'Shea, director of the state's self-exclusion program. He said that process of approval would take some time, as it took time, two years, to approve the state's casino self-exclusion rules. The public, he said, will have a chance to respond to the proposed rules once the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules makes them public.

Since the state adopted its casino gamblers' self-exclusion policy in 2002, some 12,651 people have registered to exclude themselves from the state's 10 casinos. There have been 4,317 arrests, with gaming officials seizing $1,958,293.43 in seizures from those who previously self-excluded, O'Shea said.

Within the past week, authorities arrested a woman who had abandoned $16,000 she won in summer 2016 at Casino Queen. She had returned to that casino, where she had self-excluded herself, and been arrested. The most seized at one time was $23,000, O'Shea said.

"They're addicted," O'Shea said.

Notes on the issue locally

According to the Illinois Gaming Board, there are a handful of Southern Illinois cities and villages where video gaming is not allowed or has limited use.

Baldwin in Randolph County and Campbell Hill in Jackson County do not permit video gaming at licensed truck-stop establishments.

Some don't allow it at all: De Soto, Elkville and Makanda in Jackson County; Brookport in Massac County; Bush, Cambria and Colp in Williamson County; Cave in Rock in Hardin County; and Karnak in Pulaski County.

It is, however, allowed in Murphysboro and nearby Carbondale.

Carbondale's 88 video-gaming terminals, in 20 establishments, netted $3.016 million this past year, with $150,806.88 going to the city. (Carbondale has a cap of 100 video gaming terminals in the city, according to the Illinois Gaming Board website.)

Murphysboro's 39 video-gaming terminals, in eight establishments, netted $1.328 million this past year, with $66,443.90 going to the City of Murphysboro.

Also for this past year, Du Quoin had 48 terminals, in 10 locations, that netted $1.785 million: some $89,283.95 of that went to the city.

Addressing an issue, filling a void

Two weeks ago, Frazer held her first meeting of Gamblers Anonymous, a 12-step program that attracted three people  she's hoping for many more. Though the program stresses anonymity, Frazer said she is publicizing her identity and struggle to help others facing the challenge in this area. She said those who struggle with gambling addiction face many challenges, including stress and broken marriages and families, money and job loss and even suicide.

In an online group that she is a part of, she says nine people, unable to find ways to deal with their gambling addictions, have taken their own lives in the past six months.

She said this area needs a local chapter of Gamblers Anonymous. According to the Gamblers Anonymous website, the closest meeting to Southern Illinois is in Belleville.

Murphysboro Mayor Will Stephens said he hasn't heard of gambling being a problem in the city.

"Although gambling brings with it certain challenges for individuals with addictions, the city council has not heard any complaints about video gambling in bars, fraternal organizations, or video gaming parlors," Stephens shared in an email to The Southern.

"I think Mary is on the right track," Stephens wrote. "It will allow her to establish relationships with those business owners, and allow her to better accomplish her goal of helping those who need help. Mostly because it will be the business owners who will most easily be able to identify problem gamblers."

Life in recovery

Now that she's no longer gambling, Frazer said she is filling that void with a transportation business she and her husband have established.

They provide rides, to and from work, for people who frequently work for some local employment agencies and don't have their own vehicles.

"What I'm doing is helping families that don't have transportation (so) they can get to work," she said.

Additionally, she noted, "My house is more in order."
After the Illinois House overrode Gov. Bruce Rauners veto and ended the budget stalemate Thursday, local legislators weighed in on the vote and what it means for the state.

Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, broke ranks with the GOP to vote against Rauner's veto. In a statement issued Thursday, she said she was voting to save small businesses, K-12 schools, Southern Illinois University and social service agencies.

I understand that some may argue that a 1.2 percentage point tax increase is not fiscally conservative, but our current government-by-court-order system is already costing the State of Illinois hundreds of millions of dollars more than what it takes in every month.

SB 6 is a bipartisan balanced budget bill that restrains spending. Since the impasse began, I and many other leaders at the Capitol have acknowledged that a mix of cuts and revenues would be necessary to balance the budget. SB 6 contains nearly $3 billion in state spending cuts. It is balanced and it will be a key to stabilizing the fiscal ship of the State of Illinois. The financial consequences of failing to act on a balanced budget at this point in our history were just too severe. I believe our action today will save the State of Illinois, Bryant said.

Rep. Dave Severin, R-Benton, voted against the spending plan and tax increase. In a statement issued Friday, he said his district office has been flooded with calls from families deciding whether to leave Illinois and that he believes the tax increase might be the last straw for many.

I understand that things like our schools, universities, and healthcare facilities are in dire straits and that the threat of junk bond status loomed large over everyones head. What passed yesterday will help address those issues in the short term but also means that a 32 percent, permanent tax increase will be imposed on every Illinois family, and that is wrong. We already know that simply raising taxes without making significant structural changes doesn't work. It didn't work in 2011 and it won't work today, Severin said.

After the Senates override vote Tuesday, Sen. Dale Fowler, R-Harrisburg, released a statement denouncing the tax increase.

Southern Illinois cant afford another tax increase, our region is already suffering from an exodus of residents to Indiana, Kentucky, or Missouri or other points across the nation. I made a promise to my constituents, that I would oppose tax increases if they were not coupled with reforms to make Illinois more competitive, Fowler said. To lend my support for another tax increase without the assurances that it would be applied to the states $14.7 billion backlog, would be irresponsible. It is a shame that the legislative majorities backed away from any meaningful reforms and decided to instead proceed with a tax package which endangers our already fragile Illinois economy.

Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo, voted against the tax increase and spending plan. He also issued a statement after Tuesdays Senate vote.

The residents of the 58th Senate District demand truth, hard work, and consistency from their elected officials. I have consistently stated that I will not support stand-alone tax increases that are not accompanied by reforms. Unfortunately, because the legislative majorities simply walked away from negotiations this past weekend, that is the choice before me, Schimpf said. We cannot ask Illinois taxpayers for more revenues without equal or greater amounts of economic reforms and budget cuts. A tax increase, at this time without the prerequisite reforms, will not solve our problems. Voting against this budget was not a decision I made lightly, as there are thousands of constituents that for months have demanded a fiscal plan to end the impasse. I am more than willing to work with the legislative majorities to obtain a real solution to the states economic predicament.
CARBONDALE  Southern Illinois businesses reliant on state funding expressed relief Friday over the passage of Illinois first budget in two years, although the uncertainty that accompanied the unprecedented impasse still lingers.

On Thursday evening, the Illinois Department of Transportation sent out word that road construction projects could resume. E.T. Simonds Construction Company, based in Carbondale, said it was able to rehire the employees it lost after shutting down 25 projects on June 30.

Id say about 90 percent of our revenue comes through work from the Department of Transportation, so it was a major blow for us to have that much of our workload ultimately come to a halt there last week, said Vice President Beck Simonds.

The company directly laid off about 250 workers; factoring in subcontractors, material haulers and material suppliers, the shutdown likely affected about double that number, Simonds said.

Workers resumed work on some projects Friday, and the company plans to get the remainder going by the middle of next week.

IDOTs mandatory shutdown brought the companys major construction projects  including work on U.S. 51 in Dowell and on Giant City Road south of Carbondale  to a grinding halt.

Basically the traveling public was just inconvenienced for a longer duration during this shutdown than what necessarily it would have been, Simonds said.

Simonds said he had mixed emotions about the legislatures passage of the major income tax increase and spending plan.

This is our busy time of year  so yes, were relieved to get back to work. In the same right, from a business perspective, I dont know what all is encompassed in this budget that was just signed into law by our legislators, but I hope that theres measures in there to move the state in the right direction, not only for next week but for years to come, he said.

Cathy McClanahan, executive director of the Womens Center in Carbondale, an agency that provides services to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault across eight Southern Illinois counties, said staff members were feeling a great relief.

We were on pins and needles (Thursday) just waiting to hear the news about what happened.  Were just really grateful that some of the representatives went against party and did whats best for Southern Illinois, McClanahan said.

The state owes the Center about $550,000 and represents about a third of its revenue source; the rest of its funding comes from federal and local sources.

When Illinois entered its third year without a budget on July 1, the Center was forced to lay off two domestic violence program staff members, eliminate two more positions and require 11 staff members to take one furlough day per week.

McClanahan said she doesnt yet know how much the Center will receive for its sexual assault program this year; that state revenue flows through the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault. She said she believes the domestic violence program, which did not receive any funding for fiscal year 2017, should be covered for the past year and for FY18.

Im anxious to see what thats going to look like when we get it on paper, and Im anxious to see how long its going to take to actually start seeing some of that revenue, McClanahan said.

McClanahan said she wasnt sure when the agency will be able to reverse its staff reductions.

 The uncertainty of when were going to start seeing those payments still has us on edge. Were relieved that were going to get it sooner or later, but were still going to need to stretch our money as long as we can so that we can stay open until we receive those funds, McClanahan said.
News / Africa

by Staff reporter

In what some may see as Mugabe finally realising that he cannot continue to drive foreign companies out of Zimbabwe, he warned his supporters to lay off Tongaat Hulett sugar plantations after the company complained that some ZANU PF supporters had invaded parts of their land.Mugabe made a public statement encouraging Zimbabweans to work the land they have, instead of taking that which does not belong to them."Surely, you cannot harvest where you did not sow," Mugabe warned supporters in the Masvingo province after Hulett reported that its plantations in the Lowveld were being targeted."We gave you the land. So, make fully use of it or seek skills from those with the know-how."Tongaat Hulett owns land in Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland and Namibia and is one of the largest  and probably last  big employers in Zimbabwe, with some 10,000 employees.Not that long ago Mugabe forbade any foreign-owned companies from owning land in Zimbabwe.
News / National

by Staff reporter

BUSINESS mogul and Econet Wireless founder Mr Strive Masiyiwa has revealed that he is planning an international investors conference to help revive Bulawayo.Mr Masiyiwa said he would be in the city soon for the conference, but did not give specific dates for the international indaba.The businessman, who is based in London, the United Kingdom, posted this on his Facebook Timeline yesterday.He was responding to questions from Zimbabweans after he announced that he would address a Town Hall meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania next Thursday.One Facebook user asked him to hold a similar meeting at the City Hall in Bulawayo and he responded that he was planning something bigger for the city."I would love that very much but we would need a bigger venue because I have so many friends in that city, some of whom I have not seen for 17 years. I fast and pray for Zimbabwe one full day every week. It shall surely come to pass that I will visit you one day because God is faithful to those who diligently seek after Him. So let's continue to pray together for a huge Entrepreneurship Summit which will bring entrepreneurs from all over the world to help restore your great city. God bless you!" wrote Mr Masiyiwa.The business mogul will be in Tanzania next week where he is scheduled to speak at a meeting of Mobile Network Operators in Africa.He will take the opportunity to hold a Town Hall meeting on entrepreneurship at the Aga Khan Diamond Jubilee Hall in Dar es Salaam.Recently, Mr Masiyiwa had another Town Hall meeting in Rwanda and last year he held some events in Kenya.Last December, he dismissed speculation that he would run for president in next year's polls."Not interested in politics, not in the past, not now, and not in the future," Mr Masiyiwa said then.
Dogs and puppies

Bandit, a 15-month-old Boxer/Lab-mix, knows basic obedience (case 0276).

Rambler, an 18-month-old male Min Pin-mix, looking for a forever home (case 0260).

Shannon, an 8-week-old female Shepherd-mix, wants to be involved with everything (case 0256).

Santee, an 8-week-old female Shepherd-mix, an all-purpose pup (case 0255).

Rayne, an 8-week-old female Shepherd-mix, the original "party girl (case 0254).

Denver, an 8-week-old male Boxer-mix, ready to commit 100 percent (case 0252).

Remo, an 8-week-old male Rottie-mix, will steal your heart (case 0251).

Brandi, a 10-week-old female Carolina-mix, loves to play around (case 0232).

Kenzie, a 10-week-old female Lab/Carolina-mix with a gorgeous brindle coat (case 0231).

Petey, a 7-month-old Hound-mix, needs some gentle socialization (case 0227).

Cinder, a 3-year-old female Pit-mix, a perfect lady and already housebroken (case 0224).

Sugar, a 6-month-old female Shepherd-mix, just a little sassy (case 0223).

Bella, a 7-month-old female Shepherd-mix, sweet as sugar (case 0221).

Autumn, a 1-year-old female Vizla-mix, needs some gentle guidance (case 0218).

Charlie, a 5-month-old male Boston-mix with personality plus (case 0217).

Brin, a 14-week-old female Hound-mix, loves belly rubs (case 0188).

Blair, a 14-week-old female Hound-mix, wants to be a partner in life's adventures (case 0185).

Brenna, a 14-week-old female Hound-mix, loves toys and treats (case 0184).

Brook, an 8-month-old male Australian Cattle-mix, is ready to learn anything (case 0179).

Murphy, a 4-month-old male Shepherd-mix, is shy but starting to come around (case 0177).

Dugan, a 1-year-old male Boxer-mix, sweet and playful (case 0168).

Shadow, a 2-year-old male Akita-mix -- think big teddy bear (case 0167).

Rusty, a 1-year-old male Shepherd-mix, will be devoted to you (case 0166).

Ethan, a 5-year-old male Hound-mix, has had a really rough life (case 0162).

Sweet Potato, a 10-month-old female Hound-mix, as sweet as her name (case 0161).

Oscar, a 14-week-old male black Lab-mix, wants to be your new best friend (case 0156).

Teddy, a 2-year-old male Lab/Shepherd-mix, is a walking teddy bear, personality wise (case 0457).

Cats and kittens

Jade, a 7-week-old female tabby, a fun disposition (case 0265).

Watson, a 7-week-old male tabby, smart and furry (case 0264).

Felix, a 7-week-old gray-and-white male tabby, loves to crawl on your shoulder (case 0263).

Sarabi, an 8-week-old Siamese, is very vocal (case 0249).

Max, a 7-week-old black male, a real Romeo (case 0247).

Chelsea, an 8-week-old female calico, looking for that special family (case 0246).

Pansy, an 8-week-old female calico with a smudged face (case 0245).

Wylie, an 8-week-old beige male, loves to play (case 0242).

Nike, a 7-week-old orange male, is full of surprises (case 0241).

Jodie, a 7-week-old female calico, sweet and sassy (case 0239).

Grady, a 7-week-old orange male, typical little boy (case 0238).

Joey, a 9-week-old black male, loves to snuggle (case 0237).

Alfie, a 10-week-old orange-and-white male, looking for a human to serve him (case 0215).

Tempe, an 11-week-old female Siamese Snowshoe-mix, constantly on the go (case 0213).

Claus, a 10-week-old orange-and-white male, will keep you on your toes (case 0202).

Chandler, a 10-week-old orange-and-white male, a real lover (case 0201).

Liza, an 8-week-old dark gray female tabby who lets everyone know she is around (case 0200).

Kylee, an 8-week-old gray female, the ticket to a lifetime of happiness (case 0199).

Munch, an 8-week-old gray-and-white male tabby, loves human interaction (case 0198).

Sosa, a 10-week-old gray male whose little motor runs all the time (case 0196).

Carson, a 10-week-old black-and-white male, loves to explore (case 0195).

Libby, a 9-week-old gray female, is on the move (case 0193).

Casey, a 10-week-old black male, is a bundle of energy (case 0191).

Quinn, a 10-week-old old black male, loves to snuggle (case 0189).

Gypsy, a 9-week-old female diluted calico, sweet and sassy (case 0192).

Patches, a 1-year-old female black-and-white, a real purring machine (case 0159).

Shadow, an 8-month-old black female, just a little shy (case 0048).

Coco, a 12-week-old female, typical kitten (case 0011).

Josie, a 12-week-old black-and-white female, loves to play (case 0009).

Jenny, a 9-month-old female tabby, gorgeous patterned coat (case 0202).

Kiki , a 1-year-old female diluted calico DLH, needs some TLC (case 0385).

Snarf, a 1-year-old male DLH gray tabby, just a little shy (case 0384).

Chloe, a 2-year-old black-and-white female, loves to purr (case 0311).

The Orangeburg SPCA is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and the first and third Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We are located at 225 Ruf Road and our phone number is 803-536-3918. Check out our available adoptions on the internet at orangeburgspca.petfinder.com, our interactive website at www.OrangeburgSPCA.org and our Facebook page at Orangeburg SPCA. Email questions to adopt@orangeburgspca.org.

The Orangeburg SPCA will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 15 for adoptions. Come in and pick out your new best friend.
A Columbia man has admitted burglarizing the vacant Ryans restaurant at 2580 North Road.

Bryan S. Marra, 41, of 1005 Craven Street, Suite B, pleaded guilty to malicious injury to telephone/electric utility system, second-degree burglary and possession of implements capable of being used in a crime.

Circuit Judge Ed Dickson recently sentenced Marra to three concurrent terms of five years in prison.

Prosecutors dropped the charges of grand larceny and malicious injury to personal property since Marra pleaded guilty to other charges.

At about 1 a.m. Saturday, March 25, a passing motorist called law enforcement after observing suspicious activity at the former Ryans restaurant.

The caller told a dispatcher that someone was using a flashlight inside the building.

Outside the building, Orangeburg County deputies found power tools and spare batteries, metal sheets folded up for easier carrying and a bin filled with copper wire.

Inside the building, an industrial transformer had been taken apart.

The total damage to the building was estimated at $10,000.

Deputies found Marra hiding in some leaves outside.

In other pleas:

* Joe Patrick Simpson, 24, of 5822 Freedom Road, Branchville, pleaded guilty to third-degree domestic violence, second-degree domestic violence and four counts of unlawful neglect of a child.

Dickson sentenced him to 18 months in prison.

According to indictments, Simpson struck four children  ages 9, 8, 6 and 3  with a belt on Dec. 17, 2016.

He inflicted violence on non-minors on Dec. 17, 2016 and Jan. 9, 2017, the indictments state.

* Kirk Manning Hoover, 50, of 867 Carolina Street, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to stalking.

Dickson sentenced him to prison for four years, suspending the term to one year of probation.

Dickson credited him for having served 274 days at the Orangeburg County Detention Center.

He ordered Hoover to take prescribed medications.

* Terrell Sha Rif Robinson, 31, of 1688 Hunting Road, Branchville, pleaded guilty to carrying weapons on school property.

Dickson sentenced him to five years in prison, suspending the term to three years of probation.

He ordered Robinson to continue taking prescribed medication, forfeit his weapon and not to go on the campuses of any schools in Branchville.

According to Robinsons indictment, on Oct. 3, 2016, he unlawfully and without authorization of school officials did have in his possession a pistol capable of inflicting bodily injury or death on the property of Branchville High School.

* Isreal Jamison, 76, of 192 Sings Lane, Vance, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine, first offense.

Dickson sentenced him to prison for three years, suspending the sentence to nine months of probation.

* Derrick Maurice Charles, 36, of 118 Goldenleaf Lane, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to third-degree domestic violence.

Dickson sentenced him to jail for 90 days, suspending the sentence to one year of probation.

His probation terminates upon his completion of batterers treatment and anger management programs.

* Jerry Jones, 24, of 1617 Charles Street, Columbia, pleaded guilty to second-degree non-violent burglary.

Dickson sentenced him to prison for eight years, provided that after he completes two years of service, the balance of the sentence will be suspended to two years of probation.

Dickson credited him for having served time in jail since Sept. 18, 2016.

He also ordered Jones to obtain his GED.

* Shamell Hakeem Brown, 22, of 277 Berrywood Road, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty unlawful carrying of a handgun.

Dickson sentenced Brown under the Youthful Offender Act not to exceed one year in prison or a fine of $100.

Dickson also ordered Brown to pay all of the courts fines, fees and costs on or before Aug. 28, 2017.

* Messiah Shabar Wright, 23, of 8065 Ruggs Lake Road, Rembert, pleaded guilty to first-offense possession with intent to distribute marijuana and carrying a weapon on school property (South Carolina State University).

Dickson sentenced him to prison under the Youthful Offender Act not to exceed five years, suspending the balance to three years of probation.

Prosecutors dropped the following charges because Wright pleaded to other charges: carrying a weapon on school property and possession with intent to distribute marijuana near a school.

* Teneka Suzzette Bomar, 40, of 141 Shedburn Drive, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and battery.

Dickson sentenced her to prison for three years, suspending the term to probation for 18 months.

Bomar was accused of choking a 16-year-old girl and biting her on the arm.

* Scott Stuempfig, 57, of 1215 W. Shore Drive, Big Pine Key, Florida, pleaded guilty to possession of more than one ounce of marijuana, first offense.

Dickson sentenced him to prison for six months or a fine of $200.

* Swantony Lekeast Jefferson, 29, of 144 Peach Shed Road, Vance, pleaded guilty to unlawful carrying of a handgun and two counts of manufacturing scheduled drugs.

Dickson sentenced Jefferson to 10 years in prison, suspending the sentence to three years of probation.

* Tyrelle Jermall Vincent, 36, of 597 Resort Drive, Santee, pleaded guilty to unlawful carrying of a handgun.

Dickson sentenced him to prison for one year or a fine of $100.

Vincent has until July 27 to pay all fines, fees and court costs.

* Vincent Hawkins, 48, of 311 Iva Road, North, pleaded guilty to reckless driving.

Dickson sentenced him to jail for 30 days or a fine of $100.

Hawkins has until July 27 to pay all fines, fees and court costs.

* Terry Markell Stephens, 42, of 143 Advent Road, Smoaks, pleaded guilty to unlawful carrying of a handgun.

Dickson sentenced him to time served.

* Ryan Matthew Feller, 38, of 171 Londonderry Road, Goose Creek, pleaded guilty to habitual traffic offender and driving under the influence, first offense.

Dickson sentenced him to prison for five years, provided that upon the service of one year, the balance of the sentence is suspended to 18 months of probation.

* Damonte Lawson, 29, of 5240 Wash Davis Road, Summerton, pleaded guilty to possession of a handgun by a person convicted of a crime of violence.

Dickson sentenced him to prison for two years or a fine of $500.

* Ismael Moore, 47, of 719 Greet Street, Orangeburg, pleaded guilty to receiving a stolen vehicle valued at $2,000 but less than $10,000.

Dickson sentenced him to prison for five years, suspending the balance to 30 months of probation.
By Trend

Armenias attack on Azerbaijani civilians is against the UN and European Parliament resolutions, Member of the European Parliament Ramona Nicole Manescu told Trend July 8.

I strongly condemn the recent attack, which happened in Alkhanli village of Fuzuli region of Azerbaijan, by the armed forces of Armenia with mortars and heavy grenade launchers. This attack came totally against the multiple UN and European Parliament Resolutions, which all call upon the withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied territories, she said.

It is even more worrying, considering that the place where all happened is not the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region but other territories of Azerbaijan, Manescu said.

It is inadmissible, under any international or national legislation, for the peaceful citizens of one country to be killed in their own homeland by the armed forces of another country. It is a direct attack on the sovereignty of the state.

The MEP noted that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is already a huge instability factor for the whole Caucasus region, bringing more trouble and losses to all the parts involved.

Its extension to new, yet uncontaminated areas is too much, she added.

It should be noted that on July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces again violated ceasefire and, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled Azerbaijani positions and territories where the civilian population lives, namely the Alkhanli village of the countrys Fuzuli district. As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sahiba Allahverdiyeva, 50, and Zahra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Salminaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on.

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.




Leading industry experts in corporate governance highlighted the importance of diversity and the independence of boards in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region at a recent summit held in Dubai.



The Corporate Governance Forum organised by UAE-based Hawkamah, a leading centre for corporate governance, at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) drew corporate governance practitioners, drivers and regulators from across the region.



The event kicked off with opening remarks from Dr Ashraf Gamal El Din, CEO of Hawkamah, who facilitated the discussion on enhancing corporate governance through independent Boards and highlighted key areas where boards play an important role, such as accountability, foresight, strategy and supervision.



The board is responsible to the shareholders for the proper management of the company and meets regularly to set the overall direction and strategy of the organisation, to review scientific, operational and financial performance, and to advise on management appointments. All key operational and investment decisions are subject to Board approval. As such, it is important that the Board is independent, remarked Dr Ashraf.



According to him, adequate and effective corporate governance is considered by many to be a critical component in supporting boards and management to navigate uncertainty and deliver long term sustainable value to shareholders and stakeholders.



Accentuating the importance of an independent board as a benchmark to judge the performance of a corporate entity and its contribution to the national economy, the forum facilitated discussions on the independence of boards in the region, the value created by independent board members and regional challenges.



Dr Ashraf also outlined and explored the four important pillars of corporate governance including accountability, fairness, transparency and responsibility which serve as a catalyst for the continuous improvement of the Board and business.



The discussion, which featured distinguished speakers such as Omar Al Shunnar, the co-founder and chairman of Aquagas Group of Companies, Tarek Fadlallah, the chief executive of Nomura Asset Management (Middle East), and Johan Brand, an experienced leadership professional and the owner of a leadership advisory firm, explored how corporate governance in the Mena region has been directed by promoters and owners of family owned businesses.



In view of the emerging and growing nature of the corporate world, the experts stressed the importance of increasing diversity and the significance of balancing the skills and experience of Board members to ensure stronger governance practices.



Boards in the Mena region comprise known members and while this makes them quite comfortable and enhances the trust, there can also be some negative implications. As such, independent Boards should be encouraged in order to facilitate a stronger and more concrete business model, remarked Brand.



As the boards role is to oversee the management and governance of the company and to monitor the performance of senior management, experts suggested that it should be independent from the management allowing them to be objective without any conflict of interest or the influence of interested parties.



The experts also highlighted the importance of diversity across age, ethnicity and gender in order to manage the goals of the company and meet the expectations of the shareholders.



Al Shunnar pointed out that the Mena region has significantly less women serving on boards.



"However, strides have been made to provide women with the opportunity to showcase their skills and talent. The government of Dubai has been very progressive and has introduced a number of processes and regulations in an effort to increase the number of women in senior positions," he noted.



The recent status in the UAE indicates that female board members amount 1.9 per cent despite the fact that there is an increased value for the company by having female board members.



A recent report by Hawkamah on Gender Diversity also highlighted that women feel a constant pressure to prove themselves capable of being on Boards. It was therefore suggested to mandate gender quota, but this could lead to trophy hunting. Thus, there was the call to ensure the qualification of women becoming Board members.



The forum also highlighted the global trends adopted by companies to make Boards as diverse as their operating environments. They highlighted that Boards built on diversity in regard to age, language, ethnicity, gender, education and experience provide a different dimension to the decision making process which has the potential to ensure greater business opportunities.



At the close of the event, experts accentuated the need for boards that have a majority of independent members, who are neither members of the family, employees of the company, advisors, customers or suppliers, to add greater value to the business.-TradeArabia News Service
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), a leading international aluminium smelter, has announced that the first concrete for the foundations of Potline 6 was successfully poured in May with the commencement of early works in the construction site.



Potline 6 has two pot rooms (E&F) wherein each pot room is approximately 1.4 km long. These two are considered the longest buildings on the Line 6 Expansion Project plot,, said a statement from the company.



Upon completion in December 2018, the concrete foundations for Potline 6 will be spread over 85,000 cu m, it stated.



Commenting on the achievement, Albas chairman of board of directors Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa said: "We are very pleased with the fast-track approach adopted by our team towards our landmark project."



"We also remain optimistic that by reducing the lead time activities, we will be able to get Line 6 Expansion Project off to a successful start as per schedule and have the first hot metal by January 2019," stated Shaikh Daij.-TradeArabia News Service
News / National

by Staff reporter

THE High Court has dismissed an application by a Bulawayo-based organisation representing prostitutes which was suing Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo and the police for refusing to sanction a march by its members to commemorate International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers.The International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers is observed annually by sex workers, their advocates, friends and families in several cities around the world on December 17 each year.The ruling by the Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Martin Makonese follows an application by Sexual Rights Centre which sought an order interdicting police from interfering with its future marches.The organisation also wanted an order declaring the prohibition of its march, which was scheduled for December 17 last year, a violation of its members' rights.Sexual Rights Centre last year applied to the police in Bulawayo seeking permission to hold a march in Bulawayo.Police, who are the regulating authority in terms of the Public Order and Security Act (Posa), refused to grant the organisation permission to demonstrate, arguing that prostitution was an illegal practice in the country.In papers before the court, Sexual Rights Centre cited Minister Chombo, Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri and Chief Superintendent Fungai Dengu, the officer commanding police in Bulawayo Central District, as the respondents.Justice Makonese said prostitution was associated with immorality."The court does not operate in a vacuum and has to be sensitive to the acceptable moral standards of the society it operates in. It cannot be said that the sex industry is something that can be glorified or celebrated even in an open and democratic society," said the judge.He said although sex workers ply their trade for the purpose of fending for their families, societal values and expectations do not promote prostitution as a legitimate means of earning a living."It is not a trade the young generation is encouraged to emulate. It is a trade devoid of moral values and is demeaning and the normative values in our jurisdiction do not sit well with the promotion and glorification of sex trade and what it represents," said Justice Makonese.The judge said the promotion of sex work by holding commemorative marches further stigmatises sex workers."If this court allows prostitutes to parade, promote and glorify their trade, other groups of like-minded persons will be encouraged to promote perverse acts. A court of law cannot sanction such an absurdity. I am of the view that the enjoyment of the fundamental rights under section 58 and 59 of the constitution must recede and give way to the values of decency, human dignity and morality."I hereby dismiss the application with costs," ruled Justice Makonese.Sexual Rights Centre, through its lawyers Phulu and Ncube Legal Practitioners, said police had no legal basis to bar its members from staging a march, arguing that the cops' actions was a violation of their constitutional rights.Mr Humphrey Melusi Ndondo, who is director of the organisation, in his founding affidavit, said the march sought to bring to the fore the challenges faced by sex workers in the country as they go through day-today business."We merely wish to exercise our constitutional rights to freely demonstrate and assemble peacefully. We do not intend to harm anyone, but to create awareness on acts of violence and abuse perpetrated against sex workers," said Mr Ndondo."Many sex workers and women in Zimbabwe and around the world are victims of harassment, stigma and violence. The first respondent (Chief Supt Dengu)'s decision to deny us the right to demonstrate is based on misinterpretation of the law and therefore it was unlawful and irrational."
Abu Dhabi Electricity and Water Authority (Adwea) said it has signed an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (DED) in bid to boost joint partnership and co-operation.



The authorities aim to develop these relations through information exchange and the activation of e-exchange of data by means of the Abu Dhabi e-Government platform, said the statement from Adwea.



The agreement also looks to ensure that joint ventures are completed more quickly and efficiently, it added.



It comes within the frame of launching active co-operation among government entities in Abu Dhabi as one of the strategic objectives of the government stemming from Abu Dhabi Vision 2030, remarked Khalifa bin Salem Al Mansuri, deputy director, DED, after signing the deal with Dr Saif Saleh Asseiari, acting director-general, Adwea.



As per the terms of the agreement, Adwea will be able to access data from the Abu Dhabi Business Centre, which is affiliated with DED, via the Abu Dhabi e-Government platform, to inquire about all data concerning economic licences.



Dr Asseiari said the agreement comes within the framework of the integration of government services and the mutual support of government entities for each other in order to provide high quality public services and simplify administrative procedures.



This new measure will help the bodies save time, simplify procedures, and safeguard their safety and accuracy, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Forging ahead with its ambitious plans to be the region's premier destination for adventure tourism, the northern emirates of Ras Al Khaimah is set to open a new observation deck close to the summit of Jebel Jais, providing adventure seekers and nature lovers unrivalled and breathtaking views and experience of the UAEs highest peak at 1,934 m above sea level.



The solar-powered facility, due to open in October 2017, will provide an ideal opportunity for nature lovers to enjoy fabulous views of sundown and sunrise while enjoying temperatures of around 10 degrees C, said a statement from Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA).



Developed by RAKTDA, the Jebel Jais Observation Deck will include a series of viewing platforms to experience bird life and flora and fauna of the emirates Al Hajar Mountain range.



"The facility is a step forward to increase tourist arrivals to the emirate as it will provide our local and international guests with unmatched experience to enjoy the breathtaking atmosphere and the Arabian spirit," said its CEO Haitham Matar.



The facility has been designed by Naga and is being built on RAKTDAs behalf by Botanical around 1,300 m above sea level, said the emirate's tourism development authority.



As part of its Ras Al Khaimahs Vision 2019 tourism strategy, which aims to attract one million visitors by the end of next year, RAKTDA is investing in a range of adventure and wellness projects involving the emirates natural assets, with a key focus on Jebel Jais and the surrounding area.



It has signed up as a sponsor of the UN World Tourism Organisation's International Year for Sustainable Tourism for Development, rendering sustainability a key component of the emirate's overall tourism proposition.-TradeArabia News Service
UAE-based Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower) has reached an agreement with US-based Trane Commercial to purchase new eco-friendly chillers for its ongoing projects.



The deal, said to be the biggest one in the district cooling industry worldwide, was signed at the end of the Idea Annual Conference and Tradeshow 2017 held in Arizona, US.



In accordance with the agreement, Trane Commercial will supply Empower with 30 advanced, eco-friendly chillers, with total refrigeration tons (RT) of 100,000, according to a company statement.



By virtue of the deal, Empower has the right to buy additional 30 chillers with a total RT of 100,000 in the future, which sets this agreement as the biggest in the district cooling industry worldwide, it stated.



"We are excited to partner with Trane Commercial for our new line of chillers, which will serve as an important part of Empowers advanced assets," remarked its CEO Ahmad Bin Shafar.



"These new chillers will have a significant role in supporting the companys growth, in accordance with the increasing demand for district cooling solutions now and in the future as a result of our global leadership position in the industry and our customers trust in our qualitative services and costs," he noted.



Dave Regnery, the president of Trane Commercial for North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said Trane is committed to delivering innovative, energy-efficient products and services to help organisations lower their environmental impact and achieve sustainability targets.



We are excited to work with Empower, the worlds largest district cooling services provider, to drive toward their carbon emission reduction goals with the use of next-generation refrigerants that deliver advanced efficiency with a near-zero global warming potential (GWP). This business partnership for highly eco-friendly chillers with Empower stands to make a significant and positive environmental impact, he added.



Empower has recently announced significant growth in its business with around 920 buildings and facilities using its district cooling solutions towards the end of 2016.



The company boasts a portfolio of more than 65,000 clients and operates 69 cooling plants across major locations in Dubai.



One of the key features of the new chillers is that they follow the highest international standards of environmental excellence and use advanced ecofriendly gas," stated Bin Shafar.



They will be used in our projects at Tecom C, Dubai World Trade Centre Residences, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, and International Media Production Zone (IMPZ), he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Bahri Logistics, one of the top 10 breakbulk carriers in the world, has added Alexandria to its portfolio of ports in Egypt.



The company, which is one of the six business units within Bahri, a global leader in transportation and logistics sector, said the addition of Alexandria will enable Bahri to offer breakbulk and ro/ro transportation service on its North American itinerary from key US ports to Alexandria and from Alexandria to the Middle East and India.



Alexandria is our third direct port call in Egypt after Suez and Port Said," remarked Ahmed Al Ghaith, the president, Bahri Logistics.



"Our decision to operate at this port comes after an increasing demand for logistics services to and from this destination, and this move will allow Bahris customers to take advantage of our growing regional connectivity and high flexibility through access to three direct port calls in the country. In addition, this will also result in enhanced transit times and better service coverage," stated Al Ghaith.



The port will be serviced by Bahri Logistics fleet of new state-of-the-art multipurpose vessels on a regular liner schedule; four of which connect the US to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and major ports in the Gulf, the Indian subcontinent and the Mediterranean, while the remaining two connect Europe to the Kingdom and key ports in the Gulf and the Mediterranean, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Canon Europe has announced that following a number of successful activities to engage young people across Europe on visual storytelling, its Young People Programme will now offer a series of interactive workshops.



Young students will be encouraged to take photos or videos of subjects that relate to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and express their views on the need for change. The aim is to show the power of visual storytelling and raise awareness of the need to deliver the 17 SDGs, which were created to eliminate poverty, protect the planet and achieve prosperity for all.



Xavier Longan, European officer-in-charge at the United Nations SDG Action Campaign said: Engaging young people and giving them the tools they need to tell their stories and raise their voices is critical to make sure we make the 17 Sustainable Development Goals a reality by 2030. We are confident this program will inspire creativity, raise awareness on the importance of the Goals and encourage people to take action."



Stuart Poore, director of Sustainability and Government Affairs at Canon Europe said: The Young People Programme is one of several sustainability projects Canon Europe is currently running in the EMEA region that deliver social and environmental benefits through our people and products, demonstrating our commitment to our corporate philosophy of Kyosei: living and working together for the common good. We hope this programme will help us grow the positive power of imaging technology and services whilst amplifying the voice of young people in developing the United Nations SDGs. We look forward to seeing the results of each local initiative.



The first event took place on June 22 in Cologne, Germany, where a group of 15 students were joined by Pulitzer prize winner and highly acclaimed photographer Daniel Etter and Instagrammer Karla Schwede to learn about visual storytelling.



Both Daniel and Karla guided the students in the task of documenting some of the 17 SDGs through photography. The workshop was closely followed by events in the UK, Finland and Poland in 2017, and in other locations throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the future, in order to reach as many young people as possible.



Canon Europe has been delivering visual storytelling workshops for young people since 2015, and to date, 14 countries across Europe have run events, reaching more than 1,100 students including many who would not have had the chance to have their talents identified.  TradeArabia News Service
Meet award-winning artisans and buy their products at Kerala Arts and Crafts Village
We have an opportunity to give something to Wyoming friends and neighbors who gave, fought, accomplished and came home to silence. Wyoming Vietnam vets whose stories are told in the new book They Served With Honor meet in Casper on July 15 to receive a small measure of the long overdue recognition that we owe them.

Our part in this rare moment to get a wrong right comes in a public reception from 1 to 3 p.m. July 15 at the Natrona County International Airport second floor lounge. Many of the vets, now in their 70s, whose stories shock, frighten and touch us will meet each other for the first time in the morning, then talk with the public and autograph copies of the book honoring them.

They are the young men and a few women who climbed onto planes to go to the faraway jungles of Vietnam when they were barely old enough to buy a beer or vote. The controversy and doubt that surrounded the war in Asia was far from them as they did what their country asked them to do. It may be hard to remember or, for the young, impossible to imagine a draft that impacted all manner of people in Wyoming, from college students to new high school graduates, from Native Americans on Wyoming reservations to men who went because its what their fathers had done in World War II.

What surprised me in reading their profiles was how many of our community members had fought in Vietnam, but I knew nothing about that part of their lives: The interim president of University of Wyoming flew giant planes. The former Cheyenne mayors life was saved many times by a dog named Toni. The mom of a young man I once hired served as an emergency room nurse on a Navy hospital ship off the shore of Vietnam, a ship that handled 35,005 patients during her time aboard.

The vets stories are sometimes horrifyingly blood-curdling and yet many of the soldiers wives listened for the very first time during interviews for the book to unimaginable hardships their husbands experienced, but never talked about. For Cody native Larry Baker, it wasnt until he began connecting with fellow soldiers 45 years after he was airlifted out of Vietnam with a serious head injury that he learned what had actually happened to him in a booby-trapped hut. Many of the soldiers in the book expressed gratitude to finally be heard.

What a privilege it is to be alive for the late but important and fascinating look at a war that shaped so many people of our time. Its a previously untold story for so many of a sudden disruption to life in a call to duty and then a quiet integration back into the society that failed to give them the support previous and future veterans would receive.

Whether you come to meet these vets for the drama and thrill of their stories or the acknowledgement of their willingness to serve, the gathering of our hitherto unsung veterans 50 years after their service is a remarkable event, not to be missed.
CASPER -- Memorial services for Edward L. Bratt, 89, will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, July 10, 2017, at the First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Mary Shivers Schmidt officiating. Interment will follow at the Highland Cemetery with military honors accorded by the Wyoming Army National Guard and the Natrona County United Veterans Council. He died Monday, June 26, 2017, in Casper. Mr. Bratt served in the U.S. Army. Bustards Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements. Memorial contributions may be made to the First United Methodist Church, 332 E. 2nd St., Casper, WY 82601.
Wildfires, and the threats they pose to people and property, are a fact of life in Wyoming. Every summer fires of various sizes ignite across the state. Across western states, fires have increased significantly over the last 30 years. But University of Colorado Denver professor Gregory Simon argues in a recent book that weve been thinking about such fires all wrong.

By allowing development in areas where fires are known to regularly occur, it is inevitable that damage will occur, Simon argues. In Flame and Fortune in the American West, the author says that the way we often discuss dangerous wildfires -- as unstoppable natural events, rather than the result of building homes and businesses in unwise places -- contributes to this view and he proposes a new model of viewing the interaction between fires and development. Simon also takes issue with how climate change has been used to explain the increase in fires, arguing that global warming is often used as an easy explanation to cover up poor decision making by planners and developers.

As a teenager, your family home in California came very close to being engulfed by the largest urban wildfire ever. How did that experience impact your academic work on this subject?

I probably would not have researched this topic, or even written this book, without having had this personal experience. It was pretty traumatic to be here alone and witness that and have the ripple effect of other people who did lose their homes and their grief over a number of decades. Those memories lasted for a long time.

Your book tackles the shortcomings for the Wildland Urban Interface, which is the main system that developers and planners use to deal with wildfire risk. You argue that it focuses too much on what is there -- residential development encroaching on nature -- and too little on how it got there. Instead you propose the affluence-vulnerability interface. What does the AFI do differently?

The WUI still remains important and it does make sense of -- in a pretty clear, binary way -- a really complicated, messy overlap between urban and rural. And thinking about an area that way, being vulnerable or prone to wildfire, is helpful. But the WUI doesnt get at some of the more structural, systemic forces that are driving the transformation of exurban and rural areas into suburban residential developments and the various factors that make these landscapes very lucrative landscapes for builders. So the affluence-vulnerability interface is meant to prompt people who are interested in managing these areas to look backwards and think about some of the factors that converted these landscapes into what we see today and using those lessons to prevent that from happening again and again.

Given the strong private property protections we have in the United States and how much money can be made by developing fire-prone areas, can the risky behavior you criticize be stopped without significantly reforming our economic system?

Look, if we could have things totally differently -- unconstrained by the inertia that exists in the political-economic system -- then absolutely the best way to resolve this would be to amend how profit and value is applied to suburban and exurban landscape. That would be ideal. But we live in a capitalist economic system that is not going anywhere anytime soon. So in the book I propose ways in which we can slow down this process of converting landscape, and adding risk to the landscapes and extracting profits from landscapes, by doing things like taking land out of availability through conservation easements or making development more costly, whether that means reducing fire protection services or reducing home ownership incentives. I offer approaches that try to soften the blow, as opposed to saying weve just got to do away with capitalism -- because that just doesn't sound very realistic to me. But the problem really boils down to economics and cultural preference.

Is your book anti-development?

The problem of high-risk wildfires and all of the cost and loss of life that occurs as a result of them is not because of the fire itself. It's because of the presence of these large, residential developments being placed in harm's way. We wouldn't be concerned if the fires were just running through boreal forest, for example. The placement of massive amounts of human assets, like large residential developments, is what makes fire a problem with fire -- fire is actually a natural thing and good for the environment. But stopping these developments altogether is nearly impossible. At this point we need to be mitigating these risks and slowing down development if not eliminating it. There's so much room for more development that something needs to be done.

Are you simply giving people the tools to make personal decisions or implement changes on a local level or are you calling for wholesale re-evaluation of urban development in the West?

My book isn't meant to prescribe steps. I'm not suggesting that if you check boxes one through 10 youll solve the problem. Im showing a suite of options that might be useful for cities and planners and Id like them to trickle down to residents as well. This book is meant to start the conversation. One objective of the book is to say, look, you can change land use planning in this way or that way, you can change the rules, you can change development to reduce fire risks and costs. But the other part of the book is concerned with how we talk about fire. I argue that when we suggest the problem is caused mainly by climate change and environmental factors we are actually exonerating -- unfairly -- the role of humans and city developers in creating these risks in the first place. I don't want to hear another report on the news that says this is just an inevitable and natural result of a changing climate. We keep spreading cities farther and farther out and I think that needs to be part of the discourse. Fires disasters aren't natural, theyre very social.

How is climate change used to wrongly exonerate human behavior when it comes to wildfires?

Climate change is abstract. It's easy to deny it because it is abstract. On the other hand, it's also easy to place blame on climate change for fire is because it is abstract: Its just a broad climate issue, its global warming. Placing blame on urban development hits closer to home and a lot of people are uncomfortable with that because then theyre pointing the finger at themselves. Especially for people in the construction and development and planning side of things, and also the at-risk homeowners, that would place blame on themselves as opposed to blaming the coal industry and the fossil fuel industry somewhere else in the country -- or even natural weather cycles. While climate change is certainly important, it's not typically what turns a normal fire into a wildfire disaster.

A second challenge is that its very difficult for a lot of people to critique capitalism, and that makes it difficult for people to critique the social cause of wildfires: the rapid development of suburban landscapes. For a lot of people that's what makes America, America: What makes us special as a country is were not encumbered by government. To critique this and say the footloose, fancy free, laissez-faire approach to sprawling metropolitan areas is really the driving force behind these growing fire disasters makes people feel really uncomfortable.

Wyoming has the lowest percentage of developed WUI out of all western states. It seems like this may protect us from some of the wildfire danger you describe in your book. Should we be comforted by our relative lack of sprawl, or should we be worried about what may come?

The answer lies in the development regulations and planning rules that exist for major populated areas in the state. What do they say in terms of what's allowable development? That basically portends what the future holds. If it's simply been a lack of demand, but then demand comes, you're likely going to have runaway development and that's probably cause for alarm. But if there has been demand and the citizens and government of Wyoming have been good about protecting suburban areas from development, then I think you can feel pretty safe and comforted by those statistics.

Interview has been edited and condensed.
Is Casper the next Oklahoma City? What about Omaha?

When City Council approved a new comprehensive plan for Casper last week, it backed a course of action that supporters hope will allow the Oil City to move past historic limitations: Make it an even nicer place to live.

Casper is remote. Its known first as an oil and gas town and has struggled for respect since its founding, as a cluster of tents and temporary buildings, in the late 19th century.

The prospects for Casper in the early days to grow beyond a shambling, temporary frontier village were anything but inviting, Natrona County Tribune editor Alfred Mokler wrote nearly 100 years ago.

But it has grown and, if nothing else, survived, in the decades since.

Generation Casper, the ambitious document approved by City Council on Wednesday, seeks to help overhaul the city's economy -- joining cities like Oklahoma City in spirit if not details.

'Generation Casper' looks to city's future What will Casper look like in 15 years? Thats the question the city has set out to answer a

Bruce Meighen, a planner with Logan Simpson, the Colorado firm that helped create Generation Casper, said Oklahoma City represents a successful model for cities that previously relied on oil and inevitably succumbed to busts.

These other Midwestern cities that lack that economic boom are going through renaissances right now, Meighen said. If you talked to them 30 years ago, people would have never imagined it was possible.

That doesnt mean Casper is seeking to mirror those places. For example, Meighen points out that the high plains of central Wyoming, with a distinct frontier identity and outdoor recreation, is a far cry from the landscape of Nebraska or Oklahoma. It also lacks some advantages of some of the cities Meighen cited, like four-year universities.

Casper City Planner Aaron Kloke goes further in describing the departure between Casper's future and that of other boom towns. He declines to list any cities that Casper might grow to become like.

The best that we can do is create a plan that is intrinsically Casper and builds off the Casper vernacular and the history of Casper, Kloke said.

But Meighen highlighted that other former industry towns have forged economic stability through strategies that might be replicated in Casper. Specifically, Generation Casper emphasizes the connection between quality of life and economic development.

A focus on livability

If city planning used to focus on the bare-bones concept of compatibility -- avoiding an oil refinery setting up shop next to a nursing home, for example -- it is a field that is increasingly proposing a more assertive role for local governments in creating so-called livable cities.

That role for government in Casper is one that has been embraced even by otherwise conservative officials, like former Vice Mayor Steve Cathey, who spoke in favor of Generation Caspers adoption on Wednesday.

While on Council, Cathey spoke frequently about the importance of making Casper attractive to young people.

One of their things is, I can live anywhere -- why should I come to Casper? Cathey said at a forum last fall. You cant just go out and carte blanche cut amenities and keep our kids, your kids, my grandkids, here.

Generation Casper emphasizes the facilitation of these amenities. It encourages planning that embraces the North Platte River, crafts downtown into a vibrant city center and calls for Casper to not just continue as a regional economic center but for it to be a distinctive one.

Meighen said that focusing on quality of life in a citys comprehensive plan carries certain political risks. Its relatively straightforward to convince a community and its officials that a new road or water line will lead to economic development. Its harder to convince them that new bike paths or public wireless internet access will do the same.

But, Meighen said, there is ample evidence that focusing on the human experience pays dividends. That doesn't mean ignoring or forsaking Casper's current industries but rather looking at how new companies and residents can be lured.

Energy is very important to us. Its who we are, he said. But lets focus on the things we dont have.

The document is meant as a guideline and Councils approval is more of a green light to move forward with its suggestions rather than explicit approval for every item. But the plan, which was based largely on public feedback gathered through dozens of events and surveys, calls for doing this in ways small and large. For example, it recommends reducing parking requirements for developers that boost pedestrian-friendly elements like landscaping and walkways.

Nearing completion, 'Generation Casper' plans city's growth It was a daunting task: define Casper, find what people want it to be and craft the necessar

But it also tackles larger zoning issues, suggesting that Casper may need more unique zoning rules -- like those currently used in the Old Yellowstone District -- to encourage distinct neighborhoods.

Kloke highlighted the semi-industrial area northeast of downtown, south of the train tracks, as one that could serve as a makers' district that allows residents to work and live in the same location. Right now the zoning does not allow residential occupancy.

It is an idea that has worked in cities like Omaha but one that Kloke notes would be tailored to Caspers needs.

In some cities, this idea of makers' districts is a little fluffy and they just want artists to hang out, he said. We want it to be a place where we can encourage fabricators, welders and artists to work and where they could also live.

For such a broad plan, Generation Casper impressively received universal support at its public hearing on Wednesday and passed Council by a unanimous vote.

Casper Area Economic Development Agency CEO Charles Walsh spoke in favor of the plan, saying that it would position Casper to receive state funding for capital improvements that could help attract new industries and businesses.

The state is moving into a diversified model, whether we want to or not, Walsh said. This plan gives us a leg up.